The Lamentation
Giotto was one of the earliest artists to portray the illusions of real life, in terms of emotion and space on a flat surface. With Cimabue, Giotto is often regarded as the founder on modern painting, as he broke away from the rigid formula that had been the foundation of religious paintings. His painting turned from the flatter, Byzantine style to a more naturalistic approach full of life even a century before the Renaissance. The "Lamentation" is an excellent example of the emotion displayed in Giotto's work. The Lamentation is painted on a wall of the Arena Chapel in Italy. It required the artist to paint directly on the chapel walls, hence, Giotto used a medium that would adhere to a wall, like fresco. The lamentation was another traditional subject that showed figures mourning the death of Christ. Lamentation is asymmetrical compared to Byzantine compositions with symmetry. Giotto concentrates on the dramatic scene in the lower left area where the face of Mary who is grief-stricken over the loss of her son, and the lifeless face of the dead Christ are painted. The focus is on Mary and Jesus who are surrounded by saints, people, and angels. Both earthly and heavenly mourners show individual illustrations
The scenery - a bare, rocky landscape with a dead tree, intensifies the feeling of pain and suffering which dominates the painting. The figures with the sad eyes, the partly opened mouths, the tilted or clasped hands are deeply emotional. Not to forget the movement of the weeping angels among the clouds. All of this situated in a simple setting of a descending slope of the hill. Your eye is drawn visually to lower left corner by several effects, including the eyes of the mourners and the rock wall behind the figures. Compositionally the diagonal rocks lead the viewer's eye directly to the head of Christ in the arms of his mother. Gestures like the tilted heads and people bent over with arched backs help to show individual emotion. For example Duccio in his paintings also uses the figures to create this, but does it in a more linear way using lines evident in 'The Betrayal'. His faces aren't as expressive, they are all very similar but do not show expression. The painting arouses our compassion even before we have grasped the meaning of the event depicted. Each character is different in its own way. Giotto created individuals with personality, identity and expression. They are personified. Some figures throw their arms out and some are controlled. T
Some common words found in the essay are:
Mary Jesus, Italy Giotto's, Christ Lamentation, Cimabue Giotto, Chapel Italy, LAMENTATION Giotto, Michelangelo Raphael, Humanism Giotto's, Renaissance Lamentation, Giotto's Lamentation, lower left, byzantine style, illusion space,
Approximate Word count = 848
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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