Cimabue And Giotto Comparison

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At first glance, both Cimabue’s Enthroned Madonna and Child and Giotto’s Ognissanti Madonna look nearly identical. Both paintings center around Madonna holding Christ as she sits on an elaborate throne. In both paintings, baby Christ is seated in the same position on her left knee blessing with his right hand while holding a scroll in his left hand (Adams). Both Cimabue and Giotto’s paintings have angels symmetrically arranged on both sides of Madonna and Christ. All of the individuals within both paintings are wearing halos. When I studied these two paintings in more depth, I noticed that the paintings differed in several small ways. First of all, besides all the gold in both paintings, the main colors in the Cimabue painting are red, purple, …show more content…

They noted how Cimabue used only lines to convey depth in his painting because the paint he used wasn’t able to blend very well. On the other hand, Giotto used shading to convey depth which ultimately his painting look more realistic to the eye. They also noted that Madonna appeared more flat in Cimabue’s painting being that this was the common style used before the Renaissance. The difference that stood out the most to me was the difference in the perspective of the viewer in the paintings. Cimabue’s painting places the viewer in multiple places throughout the painting (in other words, the viewer sees the painting from several different angles). According to Harris and Zucker, the multiple perspectives were not a result of Cimabue’s lack of ability but rather his intention to have the painting be almost as if the viewer was actually seeing Heaven. Giotto on the other hand places the viewer directly facing Christ but positioned slightly below him. This is in accordance with the beliefs of the time that everyone belongs below Christ. The difference in perspective was especially interesting because of the fact that (according to Harris and Zucker), the perspectives were not different because of the talent of the painter but rather because of the intent of the painter. Harris and Zucker also noted how the paintings major differences were a result of Cimabue’s being more medieval because it was painted at the very beginning of the

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