Italo-Byzantine art, this Eastern-À avored style, was dominant in Italian
painting in the 12th century and most of the 13th century. Cimabue moves away
from this style even while he incorporates elements of it. Even the pointed
gable of the panel is a break with Byzantine art. Note the architectural throne,
especially at the bottom, where the concavity of the base houses prophets.
The throne emphasizes an unexpected solidity. This painting is called the
Santa Trinitá Madonna because it comes from that Florentine church.
Next, we will consider Duccio’s Madonna Enthroned (c. 1285). Seeing it in
reproduction, most people would guess that Duccio’s Madonna was smaller
than Cimabue’s, but in fact, it is larger. The difference in style might lead to
such a mistake, because Duccio is a far more lyrical painter, and that lyricism
is expressed through smaller ¿ gures, more linear curves, fewer massive
shapes, and gentle expressions.
Comparatively, we see that Cimabue’s eight standing angels are densely
packed in a cascade of wings, while Duccio’s four angels seem to À oat.
Cimabue’s angels look directly at us, and Duccio’s look at the Madonna and
Christ Child. Further, Duccio’s throne is placed on a slight diagonal, while
Cimabue’s is insistently frontal. In art historical literature, Duccio’s painting
is often mistakenly called the “Rucellai Madonna,” but that is only because it
was later moved into the chapel of the Rucellai family in Sta. Maria Novella
in Florence—the family did not commission the painting.
The third painting is Giotto’s Madonna Enthroned (Ognissanti Madonna)
(c. 1310). From the church of the Ognissanti (All Saints) in Florence, this
great painting of the Madonna and Christ Child represents the greatest
stylistic advance but is the smallest of the three. By “advance,” I do not
mean improved or better; I refer only to the technical advances made by
Giotto that are found here. First, the architecture of the throne wraps around,
enclosing the Madonna and Christ Child. Second, her head is held erect and
is, therefore, less stylized; we feel that she is looking at us with a shared
humanity. Third, the angels and saints that À ank the throne, while crowded,
overlap with greater naturalness and more variety. The two angels who kneel
beside the front steps of the throne possess a noble bearing that is absent in
the otherwise superb angels of Cimabue and Duccio. Ŷ