Front cover image for Storytelling in Christian art from Giotto to Donatello

Storytelling in Christian art from Giotto to Donatello

"Recounting the biblical stories through visual images was the most prestigious form of commission for a Renaissance artist. In this book, Jules Lubbock examines some of the most famous of these pictorial narratives by artists of the caliber of Giovanni Pisano, Duccio, Giotto, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio. He explains how these artists portrayed the major biblical events, such as: the Sacrifice of Isaac, the Annunciation, the Feast of Herod and the Trial and Passion of Jesus, so as to be easily recognizable and, at the same time, to capture our attention and imagination for long enough to enable us to search for deeper meanings. He provides evidence showing that the Church favoured the production of images that lent themselves to being read and interpreted in this way, and he describes the works themselves to demonstrate how the pleasurable activity of deciphering these meanings can work in practice." "This book is richly illustrated, and many of its photographs have been specially taken to show how the paintings and relief sculptures appear in the settings, for which they were originally designed. Seen from these viewpoints, they become more readily intelligible. Likewise, the starting point and the originality of Lubbock's interpretations lies in his accepting that these works of art were primarily designed to help people to reflect upon the ethical and religious significance of the biblical stories. The early Renaissance artists developed their highly innovative techniques to further these objectives, not as ends in themselves. Thus, the book aims to appeal to students, scholars and the general public, who are interested in Renaissance art and to those with a religious interest in biblical imagery."--Jacket
Print Book, English, ©2006
Yale University Press, New Haven [Conn.], ©2006
illustrations (layout features)
xiii, 353 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm
9780300120134, 9780300117271, 0300120133, 0300117272
62152898
pt. I. 1298-1311
Divine and earthly justice in Duccio's Maestà
Giotto : Scrovegni's Temple
Giovanni Pisano's Pistoia pulpit
The correct law : Giovanni Pisano's Pisa pulpit
pt. II. 1401-1465
The second baptistery doors : Ghiberti and Brunelleschi
Donatello's head of St. John and the invention of geometric perspective
Masaccio's Brancacci Chapel frescoes
Ghiberti's Gates of paradise
Donatello's pulpits in San Lorenzo
Conclusion : visible speech