In this class, we finished up 13th Century and 14th Century Italy, and started discussing 15th Century Northern Europe. We primarily focused on looking at both Cimabue and Giotto’s versions of the Madonna Enthroned, and compared the two. When comparing them, we looked at how Giotto made what he believed to be improvements, which demonstrated the changing of the times. Giotto’s depiction had much more of a sense of depth and perspective compared to Cimabue. Additionally, the painting has many more realistic details and intricacies. We then briefly looked at Duccio’s Madonna Enthroned, which stylistically resembled Giotto’s, but showed much more detail. We also compared the use of space and perspective between other works of Duccio and Giotto.
In the second part of class, we began discussing 15th Century Northern Europe. In particular, we looked at John, Duke of Berry, in France. In a manuscript created about him, we viewed the wishful perspective of the upper class from the upper class. This manuscript portrayed the wealthy as very good, which tied back to a piece we looked at earlier, Allegory of a Good and Bad Government. We also viewed how the different pages showed extreme detail and employed rising perspective to allow the viewer to see more.