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Art in English

 

    BAROQUE Style

    Irregular Spanish pearl, or whatever it meant originally,

    Baroque is synonymous with extravagant inventions

    of theatrical effects of movement and strong light contrast.

    Sumptuous is the interpretation of a credible reality,

    rendered touchingly passionate, colourful and spectacular,

    through the illusion of the unlimited space perceived.

 

    Even in architecture, influenced by science discoveries,

    visible inner space becomes more elusive,

    in the elliptic shapes of squares and palace-halls,

    churches and the complex geometry of their domes.

    Sinuous façades, richly decorated, enhance the sense of motion

    through columns and cornices, chiaroscuro and colour.

 

    Sculptures can heighten the drama

    reciting myths or live ecstasies in progress;

    the agitated robes reveal the immediacy of the dream.

    White and coloured marbles, gilded bronze and decorations,

    figures in tension and motion, draw us into a world

    of religious passion and dogmas, of greatness and chimera.

 

    Splendour and huge size of frescoes tending to infinity,

    and canvases of altar pieces, dramatic in the convincing scenes.

    Merchants and prophets, myths and portraits of kings:

    majesty and personality.

    Light and shadows, strong or soft, suggest

    both place and inner thoughts and moods of the portrayed. 

            

                                                                      Prof.ssa  C.  L I A

 

 

 

 

 

         The following short lesson on Giotto is addressed to the

           3^rd year Students of the Liceo Copernico of Turin,

           with the wish that they might have a good time reading it.

 

GIOTTO  (Florence ~ 1267-1337)

Renouncing the traditional golden background of

Byzantine origin, Giotto sets the sacred scenes narrated

into a believable, tangible, three-dimensional world.

With his clear drawing he simplifies the landscape and the

human figures, that thanks to the chiaroscuro, appear

as solid volumes, occupying a real space, although

not casting any shadows.

The composition - that’s the placing of the elements in

the picture in relation to each other – shows that

Giotto’s landscape is functional to the narration, that’s to

say that the landscape is used to enhance the narration,

to make it more eloquent by remarking some aspects

of it.

At the same time, he wants us to believe that the sacred

facts depicted have really happened here, on this very

earth.

Giotto’s pictorial language is simple, popular and

expressive.  

His colours are bright, primary and

secondary and, in the Scrovegni’s Chapel in Padua,

the intense blue of the sky becomes the unifying element

for all the scenes.

This important cycle, created between the years

1304 -1306, is reputed to be one of the most prized

multiple masterpieces of middle ages in Italy.

Of course it was considered a marvel right then

and not only by the rich Scrovegni, who had called

Giotto from Florence to paint it. 

Anyone who could see it would marvel at it, even

illiterates, as it was easily understood by anyone.

In fact, it must have appeared as a very large book,

narrating Jesus’ life story through images.

The illustrated “pages” of this impressive art book

develop on three parallel levels, upon the Chapel

walls; a fourth monochromatic level, that’s the lowest

one, presents fourteen allegories of vices and

virtues, made to appear as statues by the

chiaroscuro.

Giotto’s human forms are not elegant, yet there’s a

dignity and greatness to them.

They appear calm, balanced, clear, plain, familiar and

expressive, both in movements and in countenance.

As for the holy group, a bright halo and a greater

dignity differentiates them, since Giotto avoids

hierarchy. (The Flight to Egypt is a good example

for that).

At times, some elements present in the landscape

acquire a symbolic value, simple enough, though,

as to be understood by anyone.

In some scenes, tension and drama, although contained,

appear credible and reinforced by the perception of a

real space and the heaviness of forms.

In the Mourning of Christ, each figure is capable of

conveying a choral despair, whatever posture and place

it occupies in the scene.

The brightness of colours might soften the tragedy, but

the simplicity and immediacy with which the mourning

is rendered, make it appear too true and heartfelt

not to be touching.

Giotto’s perspective-drawing of buildings and backgrounds

is intuitive but quite effective.

Surprisingly, in the Scrovegni’s Chapel,

lateral to the apse, as if to amplify the space,

the artist painted two extraordinary small “choirs”

with their vaults in perspective.

Looking towards the exit of the Chapel, we see the

counter façade, that’s the façade-wall visible from inside.

It is all covered by the large fresco of the Last Judgement,

in which some dramatic scenes remind us of Dante’s

Inferno.

That’s no wonder, since the two Florentines were friends.

Moreover, Giotto’s popular, unrefined style is often

seen in parallel with Dante’s choice to avoid Latin

in his works.                                              Prof.ssa  C. LIA

                             

“Lesson-dialogue”

       The NIKE of  SAMOTHRACE                 

   It’s a Greek statue. It’s got beautiful wings, but it has lost its

   head and arms.Yet, it is still a gorgeous statue, isn’t it?