1. Discuss the composition of the work, and how this informs its meaning.
Giotto’s buon fresco Lamentation (circa 1305), located in the Scrovegni Chapel, is a devotional work of the Renaissance Period that depicts the mourning of Christ after he has been taken off the cross. The composition is arranged to draw the viewer in a narrative manner to the central focus of Jesus and Mary’s figures. This is achieved through the dramatic angle of the hill that both attracts the viewer’s focus down to Jesus and also places the figures in the foreground of the image thus intensifying the subject matter. The angle of the hill, starting in the upper right and moving down towards the lower left of the work, allows the viewer to work their way through the …show more content…
Each of the figures featured in Lamentation, both humans and angels, gesture in various emotive ways with their gaze faced inwards towards Christ – once again supporting the significance of his figure in the artwork and nature of the devotional work. The gesture of the figures also conveys their relationship to Christ, each figure has a different expression and engagement with the central figure. Mary is placed closest to Jesus and her gesture is cradled over him in a caring and compassionate manner, indicative of her relationship as his mother. This is contrasted with figures such as Saint John or the two figures behind him (who may be Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus). Saint John’s gesture is extreme: he throws his arms backwards and his body is pushed towards Jesus. This gesture of incredible anguish at the death of Christ, coupled with the pale pink of his clothing, works to express who he represents in the work and his relationship with Jesus. It also indicates to the audience one of the many range of emotions they too may feel at the witnessing of the death of Christ within the artwork. Comparatively, the pair behind Saint John hold gestures of a more sombre grief. Their heads are held downwards, with their gaze still holding Christ, and their arms are held together respectfully. Through the gesture of figures in …show more content…
Artworks were often commission for religious environments, such as the Scrovegni Chapel, and therefore had a practical purpose as devotional works as well as their aesthetic beauty. The change from monasticism, in which religious practices were separated from the world, to mendicants, a more communal approach to devotional practice, thus impacted on the meaning of artworks in this period. There was an evident shift to engagement and relation to the religious figures of the artworks where there had been a level of separation in early art. Giotto’s Lamentation is one example of art that clearly responds to this shift. It’s meaning, and thus its formation of meaning in the work through composition, gesture and audience engagement, is to invite the audience into the emotional state of the figures in the artwork as they respond to the death of Christ and thus evoke a similar reverence in the responder. This is achieved through the composition of the figures and landscape that highlights the significance of the figure of Christ in the work – all figures surround Christ, with their gaze facing in towards him, and the steep angle of the hill is a vector drawing you through the scene in towards Christ. Furthermore, this is complemented by the relationship between the viewer and figures in the work. The viewer is positioned
Giotto’s buon fresco Lamentation (circa 1305), located in the Scrovegni Chapel, is a devotional work of the Renaissance Period that depicts the mourning of Christ after he has been taken off the cross. The composition is arranged to draw the viewer in a narrative manner to the central focus of Jesus and Mary’s figures. This is achieved through the dramatic angle of the hill that both attracts the viewer’s focus down to Jesus and also places the figures in the foreground of the image thus intensifying the subject matter. The angle of the hill, starting in the upper right and moving down towards the lower left of the work, allows the viewer to work their way through the …show more content…
Each of the figures featured in Lamentation, both humans and angels, gesture in various emotive ways with their gaze faced inwards towards Christ – once again supporting the significance of his figure in the artwork and nature of the devotional work. The gesture of the figures also conveys their relationship to Christ, each figure has a different expression and engagement with the central figure. Mary is placed closest to Jesus and her gesture is cradled over him in a caring and compassionate manner, indicative of her relationship as his mother. This is contrasted with figures such as Saint John or the two figures behind him (who may be Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus). Saint John’s gesture is extreme: he throws his arms backwards and his body is pushed towards Jesus. This gesture of incredible anguish at the death of Christ, coupled with the pale pink of his clothing, works to express who he represents in the work and his relationship with Jesus. It also indicates to the audience one of the many range of emotions they too may feel at the witnessing of the death of Christ within the artwork. Comparatively, the pair behind Saint John hold gestures of a more sombre grief. Their heads are held downwards, with their gaze still holding Christ, and their arms are held together respectfully. Through the gesture of figures in …show more content…
Artworks were often commission for religious environments, such as the Scrovegni Chapel, and therefore had a practical purpose as devotional works as well as their aesthetic beauty. The change from monasticism, in which religious practices were separated from the world, to mendicants, a more communal approach to devotional practice, thus impacted on the meaning of artworks in this period. There was an evident shift to engagement and relation to the religious figures of the artworks where there had been a level of separation in early art. Giotto’s Lamentation is one example of art that clearly responds to this shift. It’s meaning, and thus its formation of meaning in the work through composition, gesture and audience engagement, is to invite the audience into the emotional state of the figures in the artwork as they respond to the death of Christ and thus evoke a similar reverence in the responder. This is achieved through the composition of the figures and landscape that highlights the significance of the figure of Christ in the work – all figures surround Christ, with their gaze facing in towards him, and the steep angle of the hill is a vector drawing you through the scene in towards Christ. Furthermore, this is complemented by the relationship between the viewer and figures in the work. The viewer is positioned