A LOOK AT

Lamentation of Christ Painting

who was giotto di bondone?

Giotto di Bondone was a Florentine artist from the late Gothic and Proto-Renaissance period. He was known for his artistic talent from a young age.

giotto & the arena chapel

The Arena Chapel, also named the Scrovegni Chapel, was built on a site that was previously a Roman arena.

formal analysis of the artwork

subject matter

In Giotto’s Lamentation painting, there are several figures arranged around the figure of Jesus Christ, who is lying lifeless on the ground after He was removed from the cross.

color

Giotto portrayed his subject matter in a naturalistic color scheme, incorporating soft pastel hues of blues, reds, greens, pinks, oranges, and yellows, all of which create a color harmony.

texture

Texture is implied in the soft drapery of the clothing and smoothed skin tones of the figures, which also creates a contrasting effect against the rougher, rocky texture from the sloping ridge and ground.

line

More diagonal and curved lines are created by the body postures of the angels in the sky as well as the hunched-over figures in the foreground.

shape & form

There is a variety of shapes and forms in The Lamentation of Christ, for example, the rounded forms of the figures in the foreground who are sitting with their backs to us, the viewers.

space

Giotto creates a three-dimensional space, which was not a norm for paintings during the medieval period. The proportion between the larger figures in the foreground and the smaller figures in the background provides a sense of depth.