Assignment 2

Cimabue, Giotto, and Duccio all share a different view of the Virgin with child painting. Cimabue, painted the Virgin and Child Enthroned. Cimabue used the traditional Byzantine iconography were the Virgin is pointing to the child while the child is sitting in her lap which represents a path to salvation. Angles, the Old Testament prophets, and the saints surround the Virgin and the child. He uses Byzantine style to determine the positions of saints and angles realistic style. This image is very symmetrical the angles and the saints have the same gestures of the opposite side. The Virgin is in the middle of the painting sitting in a gold throne putting all the attention to her. Her drapery is long which cover most of her body; the drapery has thin lines of gold to indicate divinity. Camabue, used dark colors for the Virgin and lights colors for the saints and angles. This elements Cimabue used the main focus in his painting of the Virgin and Child Enthroned.
Giotto, painted the same Virgin and Child Enthroned with his own unique style. Giotto also used a golden throne in the middle with Virgin and child. He uses some techniques like Camabue, having all the saints in symmetrical from each other. But in this painting Giotto has the Virgin holding the child instead pointing to the child like in Camabue painting. This makes Virgin look like a mother who is holding her child dearly. In his painting its look 3 dimensional instead of a flat surface, because of the colors and shadows he used, seems like a real space. The drapery of the Virgin makes her look larger and focuses the attention on her. These techniques made it different from the other painters. Duccio painted the Virgin and Child in Majesty. Duccio used art from the 13 century by having elongates angels piled up to each other, and the used of gold. In this painting the Virgin is holding her child while all the angles look at her. Instead of having everything symmetrical like Camabue and Giotto, he has the angles in different directions making the Virgin the main focus. Duccio uses black drapery to make her look slender. This elements help differential himself from the other painters.
Duccio also painted Nativity with prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, which represents the Nativity in the tradition of Byzantine. In this painting Duccio has Mary lying in a mattress in a cave near a mountain. In this painting Jesus appears twice lying in a table and below that with a midwife. Duccio followed the Western tradition, by placing a shed in the painting. The light and intense colors were details from the Gothic style.
All the painters had unique way drawing pictures by using different colors, textures and techniques.