Influence of Technique

I am constantly amazed at how art circles around and how the influence changes throughout history. I think what is the most shocking for me is how much a student and a teacher can differ. I know that everyone develops their own style but I find it hard to believe that technique can change that much over a short period of time. For example Picasso started out being classically trained by his father but over the course of his life became more and more abstract. I realized this in the Uffizi museum. We were looking at one of Giotto’s altarpieces in the center of the room while on the left and right there were similar pieces by Giotto’s teacher, Ciambue, and the teacher of Giotto’s teacher, Duccio da Buoninsegna. The difference was outstanding. The earliest piece was very flat and reminiscent of the Byzantine time period. The saints were stacked on top of each other without any sense of depth. I think there were three or four saints on each side of the Madonna and child. The next piece had the same subject and nearly similar composition. The only think that was a bit different is the drapery was a bit more lifelike. The Giotto piece was recognizably more modern. The forms had shadow and detail. Instead of the saints that flock around Mary looking like “grape-heads” (a term for when the heads look like a bunch of grapes piled on top of each other rather than individual forms) they actually looked like they are going back into the painting. They had individual characteristics. Despite the fact that they all use gold as the background and the halo/discs on the saints and Mary, Giotto’s was the one that had form and that you could make a differentiation between the purposes of the gold. The details in the fabric were also substantially better. It looked realistic and more natural than the folds in the fabric of the two previous works. Giotto was truly the father of perspective but I also think he had an impact on three-dimensionality. His figures were not flat. They had depth and something more than just paint on a surface. It was more realistic than what had previously been done before. This would allow the influence of artists to carry on and people like Michelangelo would have seen this and used it for their own work.


Buoninsegna's "Rucellai Madonna"



Cimabue's "Santa Trinita Madonna"

Giotto's "Ognissanti Madonna"