The Pre-Renaissance. Trecento Paintings.
Pre-Renaissance Paintings
In the late 13th century in Pisa and Florence, flat
Byzantine-style paintings began to give way to a relatively more
realistic style.# Many historians attribute this to the sculptor,
Nicola Pisano, whose Roman-looking sculptures were the
inspiration of late medieval painters like Duccio di Buoninsegna
and Cimabue. Other names for this pre-renaissance painting style
is "proto-renaissance" and "Trecento".
This uniquely Italian style is called the maneira greca or
the Greek Style, and was set during the Late Gothic era. This
style features bold, linear compositions of Gothic paintings with
the added expression of human emotions and skillful renderings of
realism in the figures; trending towards the style of the
Renaissance.
Cimabue Paintings
Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned with the Child, St Francis St. Domenico and two Angels, c.1278, Tempera on wood, 133 x 81 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Cimabue (c. 1240-1302) (originally known as Bencivieni Di Pepo) is generally regarded as the last great Byzantine-style painter... Read more.
Duccio di Buoninsegna Paintings
Duccio di Buoninsegna, Appearence Behind Locked Doors , 1308, Tempera on wood, 39,5 x 51,5 cm, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena
Duccio di Buoninsegna (c. 1255-1319) painted in traditional Byzantine style, with added realism not unlike fellow painter, Cimabue. His innovations began the transition to the style we know as late Gothic...Read more.
Giotto Di Bondone Paintings
Giotto Di Bondone, partial image of The Lamentation Of Christ , see page for full image
Giotto di Bondone (1270-1337) is the undisputed king of the Proto-Renaissance! A child prodigy said to be discovered by a teacher doodling extrodinarily realistic scenes on a rock while tending sheep... Read more.
Lorenzetti Brothers Paintings
Ambrogio Lorenzetti , partial image of Allegory of the Good Government, see page for full image.
Ambrogio Lorenzetti (c. 1290-13348) and his elder brother Pietro (1280-1348) were both painters belonging to the 14th century Sienese School of Paintings dominated by the stylized Byzantine tradition... Read more.
Simone Martini Paintings
Simone Martini, Christ, c. 1317, Tempera on wood, 76 x 46 cm, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
Simone Martini (c. 1284-1344) was a pupil of Duccio di Buoninsegna. Like his teacher, Martini renders his figures in a realistic style, adding even more refinement to the lines... Read more.