History of World Art II: Day 23 - Landscape and Commentary in 14th and 15th Century

Landscape and Commentary Used in Pre-Renaissance Italy and 15th Century Northern Europe

Ambrogio Lorenzetti was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active between approximately 1317 to 1348. His elder brother was the painter Pietro Lorenzetti. He painted the fresco shown - Peaceful Country, detail from Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country in Siena, Italy, 1338-1339, Fresco. It is one of the masterworks of early renaissance secular painting that adorn the Room of nine, "nine" was what they called the oligarchal assembly of guild and monetary interests that governed the republic. The first evidence of the existence of the hourglass can be found in one of his paintings, perhaps to indicate how little time we have on earth. Like his brother, he is believed to have died of bubonic plague in 1348.

It is The first appearance of landscape in Western art since antiquity. Although flat the detail is extraordinary and in the foreground you can see moments of daily life in a happy and peaceful country-side.

Not sure what form of fresco was used, but I’m assuming, since it has lasted so long, that it was Buon fresco technique which consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet, fresh, lime mortar or plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster, intonaco, is used. From a chemical reaction with the air, fixes the pigment in the plaster. The other technique, Secco, needs a binding medium such as egg, glue, or oil to attach pigment to the wall – which would not last as long, although many times secco work would be done on top of buon fresco work.

Konrad Witz (c. 1400-1410 probably in Rottweil (Württemberg/Germany) - c. Winter 1445/Spring 1446 in Basel/Switzerland) was a German painter, active mainly in Basel, Switzerland. Witz is most famous for painting three altarpieces, all of which survive only partially. The work shown is an Altarpiece commissioned fro the Cathedral of Saint Peter in 1444. It is Oil on Wood and is a commentary on the church, the Pope, and their hold over Switzerland. He shows how the church and it's administrators and leaders are mere humans by illustrating the first Pope, Peter in the water after attempting to walk on it. It is an unusual image for an Altarpiece, since it is clearly a critical view and shows weakness in the church.

Both works with landscapes treat the landscape in significant ways. Ambrogio Lorenzetti is the first artist to use landscape in Western art since antiquity. He flips it up like a map or an extreme view over the whole countryside so that nothing is missed - he is speaking to the fact the governing bodies and their decisions are far reaching. Konrad Witz depicted the countryside so well that historians have identified the location on the shores of Lake Geneva where this view can be seen. By treating the landscape with as much care - I would even say more - and detail as in the figures says that place effects what is going on in the image and speaks to the importance of country.

Both are commentaries. Effects of Good Government in City and in Country and the Effects of Bad Government in City and in Country portray how happy people go about life happily and unhappy people do not – Especially with the plague taking people all around, it must have been comforting to see the detail of a Peaceful country-side.

In the water images the one by Ambrogio Lorenzetti Saint-Nicolas Miraculously Filling the Holds of the Ships with Grain, c.1332 he is elevating the figures he portrays, whereas Konrad Witz is using his painting to show that the Pope has no hold over Swizterland and it depicts the first Pope, Peter who has fallen in the water, unable to walk on top of it like Jesus - a scornful Jesus looks on. Peaceful Country, detail from Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country are commentary of tyranny of governing bodies and the black plague, as well as how peace can be attained by non-tyrannical government.

The direction of art seems to be moving away from purely religious as the artists begin to look at their surrounding and the individuals place within the landscape. It also seems that outspoken commentary against the church is becoming more blatant - something that becomes more predominant after the plague and the increasing idea that there is pervasive mis-management within the church. There is also increased realization they are not above the common people, or more protected by God, since the plague did not discriminate based on status.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Peaceful Country detail from Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country, c.1332, Fresco done for Siena Italy's Palazzo Pubblico

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Saint-Nicolas Miraculously Filling the Holds of the Ships with Grain, c.1332

Konrad Witz, Miraculous Draught of Fish, 1444, Oil on Wood - Altarpiece of Saint Peter from the Cathedral of Saint Peter.

References:

History of World Art II

Friday, February 11, 2011

Day 23 - Landscape and Commentary in 14th and 15th Century

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