Which one seems to be a warmer, more inviting atmosphere? Why?
Proto-Renaissance


This period, roughly 1200 1400 A.D., is the time that the Italian style was just beginning to show breaks from the Byzantine and Gothic styles. We see the first attempts to display realism and greater interest in depicting the human form.
Renaissance Art


The changes that the Renaissance precipitated are most evident in the art of that period. There was an evolution from the strict, symbolic figures of the Middle Ages, to the fluid, emotion-filled figures that gave life to Renaissance art.
Proto-Renaissance Art: Giotto

Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267 - 1337) was a Florentine painter and architect.


He was recognized as the first artistic genius of the Italian Renaissance. He dealt largely in the traditional religious subjects, but he gave these subjects an earthly, fullblooded life and force.

The Romanesque and Gothic styles preceded the Renaissance.

Romanesque was round and sturdy Gothic was tall and pointed up to heaven.
Romanesque round arches of St Savin Gothic rib vaults of Durham Cathedral
Early 15th Century Renaissance Innovation: Perspective
Late Middle Ages Treatment of Space: It Encompasses Viewer


Artists have always portrayed space in ways that suit their worldview. In the religious painting of the late Middle Ages, space seems to open out from the picture plane. It encompasses the viewer to make him part of the sacred events taking place.
Giotto’s Ognissanti Madonna
13th c. Madonna -Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna
Early 15th Century Renaissance


In the early 15th century, the spirit of the Italian Renaissance was strongest in Florence. One Italian family, the Medici, bankers to all Europe, were such generous patrons of the arts that it has been said they "financed" the Renaissance.
Art of the Italian Renaissance
The Renaissance



The Renaissance was a time of rebirth, revival of learning, and renewed cultural awareness. As the Middle Ages drew to a close, a new spirit emerged and the focus of study shifted from theology to humanity. This exciting cultural movement began in Italy in the late 1300's and ended in about 1600.

A sad, remote, inscrutable Virgin from the 13th century

A very human woman, her lips parted in a hint of a smile that reveals the white of her teeth.
Byzantine v. Proto-Renaissance


Compare a Byzantine painting with one of Giotto's paintings. Which one looks more realistic?
Byzantine Art
Detail from Giotto’s Mourning of Christ
ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱ
Pre-Renaissance Art


The Byzantine art style preceded the Renaissance. Does the style seem warm and inviting, or cold and distant to you?
Pre-Renaissance Architecture