In late medieval period, from about 1000 AD, paintings mainly took place in monasteries.
Paintings were done in the manuscripts, monks would use gold leaf in the illumination and a range of stylized imagery was used.
Occasionally, walls were decorated with the scenes from Bible, thus the paintings made at that time was very much religious….
There were no TRUE PORTRAITS
No TRUE LANDSCAPES either
Consequently no TRUE ARTISTS…
In 13th century Sculptures were produced for Cathedrals of Naumburg and Strasbourg.
These statues were convincing and life-like because of their knowledge of human body.
But same was not the case in paintings.
Paintings were flat and lifeless.
All that changed with the arrival of GIOTTO in FLORENCE…
Giotto not only broke the old traditions of painting….
…But also had a great influence on the generation of artists to come….
And Hence on WESTERN ART…
That’s why GIOTTO is called “Father of Western Pictorial Art”…..
Giotto’s painted figures are no longer stiff, and cardboard cut-outs.
It had solidity and depth.
Both physical and emotional.
Giotto could paint range of human figures with emotions.
His painted religious stories were convincing and compelling.
They were deeply compassionate.
For the first time viewers could empathize the key characters of the stories.
By the time Giotto was painting the walls of small chapels of Padua and Assisi in northern Italy at the beginning of 14th century,…the world around him was beginning to change.
Trade routes in northern Europe had opened up new markets.
There was an exchange of goods and ideas.
Authority of church was questions due to the rise of merchant class with their new wealth…
Wealthy patrons brought humanistic philosophy of classical influence on art and architecture.