Contrasting and comparing "Madonna Enthroned' by Cimabue and Giotto

 

Artist	Giotto
Year	c. 1310
Type	Tempera on panel
Dimensions	325 cm × 204 cm (128 in × 80 in)
Location	Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Madonna Enthroned, also known as the Ognissanti Madonna, is a painting by the Italian late medieval artist Giotto di Bondone, housed in the Uffizi Gallery

Artist:  Cimabue

Maestà, 1280-1285, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

 These images were taken from Wikipedia. http.//en.wikipedia.org

Compare and  contrast “Madonna Enthroned” by Cimabue and Giotto.

     Both Cimabue and Giotto created their Madonna Enthroned with tempera on panels, and they were both created as altar pieces. The panels were made of poplar which was glued and braced on the back with strips of wood. A frame was also made and attached. The wood was sanded until it was smooth, and was then sealed with size. This made a stable surface. Strips of linen reinforced it and prevented warping. It was then covered with several layers of gesso. It was sanded again and smoothed out, and at this point the painting would begin. The artist would use brushes to outline the figures in charcoal. The artist would reinforce the painting with ink or a stylus. They next applied the decorative gold design. These were things like halos and backgrounds which were polished, so they would glow in the dim lighting in the church. The paint was made of pigment from minerals and vegetable extracts. They were made into a paste, and then the artist used animal hair brushes. It took a year to dry, and was then varnished.

     Cimabue’s and Giotto’s Madonna had a Byzantine influence, and they both had a gold background. They both have a flat round halo that doesn’t turn illusionistic ally with the head. Cimabue’s Madonna has long thin proportions that creates a very elegant figure. There are lines of gold in Mary’s drapery folds. She sets on an elaborate throne that has no visible means of support at the back. It appears to rise upward. There is no apparent floor which appears to deny the material reality of its weight. Giotto’s throne has a horizontal support approached by steps. It also has the Gothic pointed arches, and like Cimabue the throne is elegant. His Mary is more bulky with drapery that corresponds to the organic form, and obeys the laws of gravity. The folds in her drapery are created by shading. There are V shaped folds between Mary’s knees. This identifies their solidity and the void between them. The curving folds above the waist indicate a slight spatial turn, and directs the viewer’s attention to Jesus. Cimabue and Giotto had a different approach to space, and to the relationship between space and form. Giotto created the illusion of three dimensional space and his figures turn and move in a natural way. Cimabue’s Christ child has the proportions and gestures of a man much like the homunculus. He has a small head and thin proportions. He is not supported by Mary’s lap. Giotto was more interested in reality, and his Christ child has the cubby proportions of an infant. Christ sets firmly on the horizontal surface of Mary’s leg. His pose is regal as he raises his hand as though to bless the people. He has more natural proportions. In Cimabue’s painting there are four prophets at the foot of the throne. Giotto’s contemporaries felt he had surpassed Cimabue, because of his rendition of nature. They felt that he” herald a new generation of artists”.