Like all the works in the Chapel del Arena, this fresco was made by Giotto in the technique of “bouillon fresco”, which involves painting on wet plaster. When drying, the plaster and paint form a single unit, which allows you to retain the original color for a long time. True, individual colors, especially blue, are applied in the technique of “dry fresco”. Such a surface is more susceptible to destruction, and the fragment with the dress of the Virgin is an exemplary example.
Giotto is the first painter in the history of Western European painting who broke with the canons of medieval art and brought elements of realism into his works. In his biblical scenes live people live, experiencing living human emotions. However, for a modern, sophisticated eye, his painting may seem “primitive.” It is really far from photographic realism. But any phenomenon of art is adequately understood only in the context of the historical movement.
And for his time, Giotto was the greatest revolutionary. Before him, the plane reigned in painting; his space of the picture became voluminous. Before him the heroes of artists were emblematic; from him they acquired individual traits. Before him the painting was strictly functional; his atmosphere was filled with a variety of emotions. Giotto was the first to begin realistically writing clothes, using folds, as if laying out a three-dimensional form hidden under the fabric. In this case, some echoes of Byzantine canons can be heard in his work. Thus, the holy characters in it are equipped with haloes, evidencing their election.
Realism Giotto is based on two pillars: it is the internal motivation of the character’s behavior and the external manifestations of feelings that have gripped the person. Omitting the minor details, he concentrates the viewer’s attention on significant gestures and poses, delineating the figures with a thick expressive contour. The artist’s color is strict and muffled. Paints he applied widely and freely, thereby “exacerbating” the linear rhythm of the whole picture, making it more dynamic.
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