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  WHAT IS ART ? Art is something we do, a verb. Art is an expression of our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and desires, but it is even more personal than that: it’s about sharing the way we experience the world, which for many is an extension of personality. It is the communication of intimate concepts that cannot be faithfully portrayed by words alone. And because words alone are not enough, we must find some other vehicle to carry our intent. But the content that we instill on or in our chosen media is not in itself the art. Art is to be found in how the media is used, the way in which the content is expressed. Art’ is where we make meaning beyond language.  Because what art expresses and evokes is in part ineffable , we find it difficult to define and delineate it. It is known through the experience of the audience as well as the intention and expression of the artist. The meaning is made by all the participants, and so can never be fully known. It is multifarious and on-g...
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 The Proto Renaissance


The Proto Renaissance is the name given to that uncertain period of transition in Italian art as the creative influence of the Byzantine tradition began to decline. Artists saw the need for a more relevant art form that reflected the aspirations of an ambitious Italy, desperate to emerge from the stagnation of its medieval past.
During the Proto Renaissance, there was a gradual development of naturalism in Italian art which was inspired by the values of Classical humanism and the anatomical beauty of Classical sculpture. You can see the start of this process when you compare two paintings by Duccio di Buonninsegna and Giotto di Bondone.


In Duccio's 'Maestà', the huge altarpiece that he painted for Siena Cathedral, the artist still has one foot stuck in the flat frontal conventions of Byzantine composition. The other tries to free itself through the greater naturalism of the figures, as they turn to focus on the Christ child or, in a few distracted cases, on one another.



In Giotto's 'Betrayal of Christ', a scene from his fresco cycle of the Life of Christ in the Arena Chapel in Padua, the naturalism of his figures and their layered composition is turned up a notch to let the dramatic narrative unfold in a more naturalistic space. The figures have a greater three-dimensional form, more expressive body language and eye contact, with a particular focus on the revealing look between Jesus and Judas, just at the moment of his betrayal.

 The main artists associated with the Proto Renaissance are:
  • Giotto di Bondonne (c.1267-1337) - Florence
  • Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255/60-1319) - Sienna
  • Simone Martini (1284-1344) - Sienna
  • Ambrogio Lorenzetti (c.1290-1352) - Sienna
  • Pietro Lorenzetti (c.1280-1348) - Sienna
















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