29. How you should regulate your manner of living so as to preserve decorum, and keep your hand in proper condition, and what company you should frequent; […] Your manner of living should be always regulated as if you were studying theology, philosophy, or any other science; that is to say, eating and drinking temperately – at the most twice a day, using light and good food, and but little wine; keeping in good condition, and restraining your hand, preserving it from fatigue, throwing stones or iron bars for instance, and many other things which are injurious to the hand, causing it to shake. There is still another cause, the occurrence of which may render your hand so unsteady that it will oscillate and tremble more than leaves shaken by the wind, and this is, frequenting too much the company of ladies. […]”
2. Anonymous, 13th century, English, The Building of Clifford’s Tower (from the Lives of the Offas by Matthew Paris, 1200–1259), c. 1250–1254. Ink on vellum. British Library, London. High Middle Ages.
3. Queen Mary Master, 14th century, English, Noah and the Ark (from the Queen Mary Psalter), c. 1310–1320. Ink on parchment. British Library, London. Late Middle Ages.
4. Queen Mary Master, 14th century, English, Hunting Scene (from the Queen Mary Psalter), c. 1310–1320. Ink on parchment. British Library, London. Late Middle Ages.
5. Anonymous, 14th century, Leo (illustration to Treatise on Astrology by Albumazar, 787–886), c. 1325–1375. Ink on parchment, 27 × 18 cm. British Library, London. Late Middle Ages.
6. Anonymous, 14th century, Taurus (illustration to Treatise on Astrology by Albumazar, 787–886), c. 1325–1375. Ink on parchment, 27 × 18 cm. British Library, London. Late Middle Ages.
7. Jean Pucelle, c. 1300–1334, French, Annunciation to the Shepherds (folio from The Hours of Jeanne d’Évreux), 1324–1328. Grisaille, tempera and ink on vellum, 9.2 × 6.2 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. International Gothic.
8. Jean Pucelle, c. 1300–1334, French, Christ Bearing the Cross (folio from The Hours of Jeanne d’Évreux), 1324–1328. Grisaille, tempera and ink on vellum, 9.2 × 6.2 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. International Gothic.
9. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1285–1348, Italian, Annunciation (detail of the angel), c. 1340. Sinopia. Oratorio di San Galgano, San Galgano. International Gothic.
AMBROGIO LORENZETTI
(Siena, 1285–1348)
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, like his brother Pietro, belonged to the Sienese School dominated by the Byzantine tradition. They were the first Sienese to adopt the naturalistic approach of Giotto. There is also evidence that the brothers borrowed tools from each other. They were both major masters of naturalism. With the three-dimensional, Ambrogio foreshadowed the art of the Renaissance. He is well known for the fresco cycle Allegory of the Good and Bad Government, remarkable for its depiction of characters and of Sienese scenes. The frescos on the wall of the Hall of Nine (Sala della Pace) in the Palazzo Pubblico are one of the masterworks of their secular programmes. Ghiberti regarded Ambrogio as the greatest of Sienese 14th-century painters.
10. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1285–1348, Italian, Annunciation (detail of the Virgin), c. 1340. Sinopia. Oratorio di San Galgano, San Galgano. International Gothic.
11. Buonamico Buffalmacco, active 1315–1336, Italian, The Triumph of Death (detail of a woman with a little dog), c. 1330–1340. Sinopia. Camposanto, Pisa. Trecento.
12. Buonamico Buffalmacco, active 1315–1336, Italian, The Triumph of Death (detail of Saint Macarius the Great), c. 1330–1340. Sinopia. Camposanto, Pisa. Trecento.
13. Andrés Marçal de Sas, active c. 1393–1410, German, St. Catherine of Alexandria, date unknown. Pen and ink on parchment. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Late Gothic.
14. Andrés Marçal de Sas, active c. 1393–1410, German, Page of the Alphabet with the Letters R, S, T, U, date unknown. Pen and ink on parchment. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Late Gothic.
15. Andrés Marçal de Sas, active c. 1393–1410, German, Virgin of the Annunciation, date unknown. Pen and ink on parchment. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Late Gothic.
16. Giovanni da Milano, c. 1325–1370, Italian, Crucifixion, 1365. Brush and ink on brown prepared paper, 28.4 × 22 cm. Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin. Late Gothic.
17. Anonymous, 14th century, Italian, The Visitation, c. 1350. Pen and ink on parchment, 21.2 × 33.3 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. International Gothic.
18. Jean d’Orleans (attributed to), active c. 1356–1408, French, Parement of Narbonne, c. 1375. Grisaille on silk, 78 × 286 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. International Gothic.
19. Giovannino de’Grassi, c. 1350–1398, Italian, Two Young Women Playing Music, 1380–1398. Pen, ink and watercolour on parchment, 26 × 19 cm. Civica Biblioteca Angelo Mai, Bergamo. International Gothic.
20. Giovannino de’Grassi, c. 1350–1398, Italian, A Group of Young Men Singing, 1380–1398. Pen and ink on parchment, 26 × 19 cm. Civica Biblioteca Angelo Mai, Bergamo. International Gothic.
21. Giovannino de’Grassi, c. 1350–1398, Italian, A Prehistoric Man, 1380–1398. Pen and ink on parchment, 26 × 19 cm. Civica Biblioteca Angelo Mai, Bergamo. International Gothic.
22. Giovannino de’Grassi, c. 1350–1398, Italian, A Lion Eating a Deer, 1380–1398. Ink, traces of silver shades, white tempera and watercolour on parchment, 26 × 19 cm. Civica Biblioteca Angelo Mai, Bergamo. International Gothic.
15th Century
23. Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni), c. 1370–1425, Italian, Saint Benedict Sitting in a Throne, date unknown. Pen and ink on parchment, 24.5 × 17.5 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. International Gothic.
Florence of the 15th century saw the birth of the Renaissance. The first theorist of this revolutionary art was Leon Battista Alberti, an architect and humanist who represented the ideal of the ‘universal man’. His De Pictura, published in 1435–1436, laid the foundations for the long line of Renaissance theorists that would follow. Although his treatise gives practical examples of techniques for drawing and painting, as earlier texts had done, Alberti’s ‘recipes’ are aimed at a new kind of sensibility.