Virgin and Child Enthroned
2. Giotto
Virgin and Child Enthroned
The Giotto and Cimabue are obviously different versions of the Virgin and Child Enthroned. But because they are different versions they have their differences. When i first look at the Cimabue piece the first thing i focus my eyes on is the sweet, tender, loving face the Virgin has on her warm yellow face. Her eyes are looking outward towards the audience which i feel helps you feel like you are part of the enthroning. Giotto depicted the Virgins face with a little bit more of a stern look to it. Its not as soft as the one in Giotto. Also the colors are much more cooler so when i look at Giotto's piece i look at the creamy colors like her shirt first instead of her face. The Cimabue piece has angels who all look pretty identical to each other and also look very similar to the virgins face. They all have a soft look and are looking out towards the audience and at the virgin and child unlike the Giotto painting where the angels are all focusing on the virgin and the child on her lap.
The angels in Giotto's piece are really praising the child and virgin and have this look of awe and amazement on their face while the two on the front hold crowns in their hands. The angels are stacked up on one another in Cimabue piece while in Giotto is stacked up but is a bit more spread out. Cimabue's painting is very flat compared to Giotto's because Giotto actually added light or white paint in order to make body parts, drapes and shades pop and look more realistic. Cimabue's users firm outlines to try to get the feel of realism in his painting which at the time did look realistic till Giotto used lighting to active realistic look.
The painting are both very symmetrical for the exemption of the virgin and the cild in both pieces. In the Cimabue piece all the angels have crowns and are four in each side. Also at the bottom of the piece he has four men holding scripts which are doing similar gestures.