Giotto di Bondone (1305 to 1310). Virgin and Child Enthroned [tempera and gold on wood]. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

“Enthroned” is the perfect word to use to describe the subject of this work. The enlarged Virgin’s form is more substantial than the chapel that frames her and seems to cause its volume to shrink. Her dense, statue-like formatting grounds her dead-center on the canvas, and still more emphasis is placed on her by the reverent attention of the audience of angels that surrounds her. Works of this subject matter and from this relative era intimidate me because they make me feel small. |

A reasonable attempt at realism is made. The architectural elements are built with realistic consistency and envelope a sense of volume. The patterned, orderly manner of the overlapping angels and strong detail through value support this realism. This is broken by the flattened stiffness of the forms and the extreme enlargement of the primary subjects.

The formally massive figure of the Virgin pictorially dominates. Next, interlaced patterns direct the eye. In my opinion, this is this works greatest strength. Perpendicular and angled edges and lines format the picture plane and are repeated by the frame. They are in a form of balanced conflict with the perfectly circular halos layered across the central vertical third of the canvas. Last, value is reasonably developed; it’s use is typical of the time period, when its potential for providing detail and spatial enrichment is being explored by western artists.

Pictorially, this work is approximately symmetric, reflecting along a centered vertical axis. This is built on the rigid arrangement of elements and their formatting. For example, the placement of the densest values is obvious, but framed in a mirror-like design by the lightest values, specific greens and rigid, linear edges. Overall harshness, or an architectural “substantialness”, binds the canvas together.

I would argue that plastic depth characterizes this work. Personally, I am impressed by this because Giotto does not rely on the tenebristic advantages of value to build it, although this is evident, especially in the clothing details. The organized, overlapping design-related arrangement of the audience of figures, especially the halos, does the heavy lifting for establishing depth.