Painted Cross
Giotto·1400
Historical Context
The Painted Cross, attributed to Giotto, represents the monumental crucifix format that hung in Italian churches. Giotto's crucifixes, following the innovations of Cimabue, gave the suffering Christ a new physical weight and emotional intensity that transformed the genre Giotto di Bondone fundamentally transformed Western painting by introducing a new sense of three-dimensional figures, emotional expression, and narrative coherence that would underpin European art for centuries.
Technical Analysis
The crucified figure displays the volumetric modeling and human pathos that distinguished Giotto's approach from the more stylized crucifixes of his predecessors.
