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Friday
May012015

Duccio: Grave and Austere Beauty

DateFriday, May 1, 2015 at 8:00AM
Duccio - Ezekiel - 1308-11 - Tempera on wood, 43,5 x 16 cm - National Gallery of Art, Washington (click photo for larger image)Duccio di Buoninsegna (b. ca. 1255, Siena, d. 1319, Siena) was the first great Sienese painter, and he stands in relation to the Sienese School as Giotto does to the Florentine—yet without the powerful naturalism that makes the art of Giotto so revolutionary. Rather, Duccio sums up the grave and austere beauty of centuries of Byzantine tradition and infuses it with a breath of the new humanity which was being spread by the new Orders of SS. Francis and Dominic. 
The statues carved on the Cathedral facade have been identified as the most likely models for the figures of the prophets. In spite of their small size they preserve a solemn aspect, and the linearity of contour is enhanced by the gleaming gold ground. Ezekiel's scroll reads: "Porta haec clausa erit; non aperietur, et vir non transibit per eam" (Ezekiel 44, 2: This gate shall be kept shut: it shall not be opened, and no man may pass through it).
AuthorJill | CommentPost a Comment |

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