Giotto and the "Things Not Seen, Hidden in the Shadow of Natural Ones"

Author(s): Mary Pardo

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 18, No. 36 (1997), pp. 41-53
Published by: IRSA s.c.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1483597 .
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MARY PARDO
Giottoand the ThingsNot Seen,
Hiddenin the Shadow of NaturalOnes
In the scene of the Recognitionof the Cross in Piero della
Francesca'sTrueCrosscycleat Arezzo,a dead man is raisedto life
withinthe semi-circularenclosurecreatedby a gatheringof radially
disposed,kneeling onlookers [Fig. 1].1The story'schiefhumanpro-
tagonists-St. Helena, the resurrected corpse, and the impassive
figurewho holds the miracle-workingcross, markthe pointsof a tri-
angularspace wedgedintothe largerarc of witnesses.The miracle
properhas occurredin the chargedintervalbetween the revived
man's torso,perpendicular to the coffinin whichhe is now seated,
and the cross cantedlengthwiseover his body.Ifthe near-architec-
tonic layout and crystallinemodelingof the group produce an
illuminated
impressionof finalityand logic,the brilliantly backviewof
the miracle'sbeneficiaryfrustratesour access to the narrative'scen-
ter:unlikeSt. Helena,who gazes straightintothe space of the mir-
acle, we mayonlyimaginethe expressionon the face of a manjust
awakenedfrom the dead-yet are encouragedto do so by the
space-piercing effect of the foreshortenedcross, whose near-
perpendicularityto the torso's eloquentverticalsomehow conveys
the abruptnessof the transformation. Whatwe are given to see of
the miracle-the incandescenceof a body whose Adamicbeauty
suggests a new creation-is a threshhold to the invisible.Forall its
outwardcalm, Piero'snarrative is poweredby an effectof disruption,
the near-vacuumproducedby the avertedand conspicuouslyfore-
shortenedformsthatsignalbeyondthemselvesto a realmof super-
naturalforces.2As we shallsee, such devices-whichare consistent
withthe image'sspatialillusionism but introducein it an elementof
stress-are centralto the evocationof '"things not seen" (supernat-
uralor otherwise)by an art that groundsits persuasivenessin the
'"truth"of opticalexperience.3
If we allowthateffectsof formaldisruption are often crucialto
the activationof Renaissancenarrative images,such devices of eli-
sion as foreshortening and blockedor avertedviews have broad
implications for our understanding of Renaissancepicture-reading
habits,and of the assumptionsunderlying the Renaissancedescrip-
tionof paintedimages.A well-knownpassage, GiorgioVasari'stele-
graphically briefaccount,in the Livesof 1568,of Piero'sRecognition
of the Cross, convenientlyraises the issue of pictorialnarrative
strategy.As a citizenof Arezzo,Vasariwas well acquaintedwiththe
True Cross cycle, whichhe praisedin both editionsof his Lives.
While his brief remarkson the Recognitiondo not specifically
address Piero'sillusionisticeffects,the orderof his description
does
suggest that he experienced the drama of the scene by way its
of
compositionalstress-points,beginning with the virtuoso renderingof
the key event,and tracingits effect,throughSt. Helena'sfigure,to
the outercircleof onlookers:'The corpsethatresurrectsuponbeing
touchedby the cross is also done extremelywell;as is St. Helena's
41
MARY PARDO

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1) Piero della Francesca, <<Recognitionof the Cross,,. Arezzo,San Francesco (TrueCross Cycle). Photo: Alinari/ArtResource, N.Y.

rejoicing,togetherwiththe amazementof the onlookerskneelingin both for its perfectionas an anatomicalstudy,and for its powerto
worship."4 I wouldventureto say thatVasaripraisesthe bare torso the arrangement
'l"focus" of secondaryfigures.Withoutso muchas a

42
 GIOTTOAND THE THINGSNOT SEEN, HIDDENIN THE SHADOWOF NATURALONES
second thought,the Cinquecentoartist-critic translatesspatialinto
emotive relationships,and his own aesthetic admirationinto the
and "amazement"
"rejoicing" provokedby the miracle.
In an influential
analysisof Vasari'sapproachto the description
of paintings,SvetlanaAlperssingledout this verypassage as telling
evidenceof Vasari'srelianceon the conventionsof ekphrasis,the
ancientrhetorical genre that specializedin the embellished"portray-
al"of persons,objects,places.5As Alpersput it, "rather thandescrib-
ing Piero'sparticular presentation of the raisingof the dead man-
Helena'sexpressionlessface and the stony,staringcrowd-Vasari
is describingthe emotionsthat belongto the scene";and this is so
because Vasari(in conformity withthe narrativebias of traditional
ekphrasis) "assumes all good to be a narration
art of humanemo-
tions"appropriateto the subject-matterillustrated.6 Accordingto
Alpers, whenever Vasari praises an artist'snarrativeimages he is
constrainedto describethem as he believesthey oughtto appear
(emotionally expressive).The critiqueof particular styles-that is, of
the means forachievingexpressiveness--according to a standardof
historical
progress is reserved for a differentcontext (the Prefacesto
the threebiographical sections),wherethe objectis to rankthe con-
tributorsto the three succeeding "manners"of Italianpainting
between1300 and 1500.7Piero's"expressionless," "stony,""staring"
figuressimplyhave no place in the bodyof his Life,whereemotion-
ally colored descriptionsof his finest narrativecompositionsare
mandatory.
More recently,MichaelBaxandallmade it possibleto connect
Vasari'sstory-telling responses to ostensibly"inexpressive" images,
and certainlong-standing habitsof "interior visualization,"
originally
developedfor meditation on religioustexts.8Baxandallarguedcredi-
blythatQuattrocento painterstookintoaccounttheirviewers'habitof
empatheticidentification withthe holy histories;he even suggested
thatthey deliberately fashionedgeneralized,if sculptural-looking and
expressivelyposed figures,becausethey expectedthe viewerto pro-
ject uponthe paintedformsspecificdetails(physiognomic, affective)
of his or herown imagining.9 By thisstandard, Vasari's"completion" of
the emotivecontentof Piero'sRecognitionis quitethe oppositeof a
deliberatemisreadingof the image'sappearance.Rather,in "seeing
through"Piero's generalizedforms but attendingcarefullyto their
arrangement, Vasarishows himselfbetterequippedto respondto the
artist'snarrativestrategythanthe modernviewerwho assignsto indi-
vidualstylea largershareof the image'smeaning.
Baxandalldoes not state outrightthat the Renaissanceartist
made use of irreducibly visual means for focusinghis audience's
visualizingskills on a particular narrativereading.10 The devices I
have singledout in Piero'sRecognitionof the Crosswere in contin-
uous use longbeforethe mid-fifteenth century,butsincetheyare not
prominently addressedin the Renaissanceliterature on the arts (L.
B. Alberti'sDe picturafor example),we are not alwaysconsciousof
theirimportance. Even so, somethingof theireffect-which presup-
poses a viewersensitiveto the implications of illusionistic
represen-
tation-is still retrievable.
In the pages thatfollow,we shallbe concemedwithone of the
historicalthreshholdsin this tradition,Giotto's pioneering(and
deeply consequential)experimentsin the evocationof "thingsnot
seen" by means of spatialand atmosphericdevices analogousto
those we have encounteredin Piero'sRecognition."The wayformy
analysishas been paved by HowardM. Davis'insightfulessay on
Giotto'suses of the illusionof weightto enhancethe narrative and
symbolicchargeof his iconography, and to linkthe different partsof
his muralcompositions.12 Davisinvestigatesthe concomitant freeing
up of emptyspace aboveGiotto'sfigures,and the expressiveeffects
derivedfromthe interplay of heavyand lightformswithina gravita-
tionallystratifiedfield.13Myown concernis withsome of the ways in
whichGiotto(likePieroafterhim)exploitsthe mysterious"invisibili-
ty"of emptyspace. Togetherwiththe gravitational effects discussed
by Davis, these strategiesmay be placed in relationto the one
Renaissance text that distills Giotto'sTuscan legacy, Cennino
Cennini'sLibrodel arteof ca. 1400.
Cennini'sopeningchapterprovidesa suggestivedefinitionof
the purposesof Trecentonaturalism: "thisis an art calledpainting,
for whichit is necessaryto have fantasyand skillof hand,to find
thingsnot seen, hidingin the shadowof naturalones, and fix (or
trace)themwiththe hand,thus demonstrating thatthatwhichis not,
is. Andrightlydoes it deserveto be enthronedin the seconddegree
to science, and to be crownedwith poetry."14Cenninigoes on to
dividepaintingintodrawingand coloring;the thirty-odd chaptersthat
follow, concerningthe young artist'sdrawingapprenticeship, also
makeit clearthatdrawingis the heartof painting, the keyto its per-
suasiveness.Itbecomesevidentthatthe "shadow" of naturalobjects
in Cennini'sintroductory definitionrefers in the first place to the
appearanceof thingsseen in a consistentlight,fromwhichthe tech-
niqueof systematicmonochromemodellingis deduced.15 This prac-
tice of modellingis, in turn,the prerequisite for an understanding of
the book's remaining190 chapters,whichdeal primarily with the
mixtureand embellishment of colors,or colorire.Itis noteworthy that
Cenninionlydiscusses contouras the darkenedrecedingedge of a
volumestrokedintovisibility tone upontone-never as lineinscribed
on a surface.16Cennini'sgraphicmethodis ideallyexemplified in a
grisaillesuch as Giotto'sJusticeon the dadoof the ArenaChapel
[Fig.2], and shouldbe contrastedwiththe more traditional proce-
dure followedin Villardde Honnecourt's thirteenth-century sketch-
book [Fig.3], wherevolumetric and even tonaleffects are certainly
not denied,butcontouris treatedas a kindof incisionintothe mate-
rialgroundof the sheet. The differenceis crucial,since the demate-
rializationof the surfaceproducedby tonalgradation does not mere-
ly lead Trecento artists to the investigationof the figure's
atmosphericenvelope,but directlyopens a space for the sensory
evocationof the invisible.17
43
MARYPARDO

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2) Giotto, <<Justice>>.Padua, Arena Chapel. Photo: Alinari/Art 3) Villard de Honnecourt, <<ChristEnthroned>>. Paris,
Resource, N.Y. Bibliotheque Nationale, ms franqais 19093, fol. 16v. Photo:
Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale.

Itis obviousenoughto us thatto modelan objectis also to define well as three-dimensionalexemplarsfromwhichthe painterderives
a void,but such simplecomplementarity takeson a different orderof his patternsof shading.Cenninidoes not proposethe imitation of
when
significance it also can the
represent relationship between nat- appearances as the goal of but
painting, as an artificialmeans
uraland supernatural "being."In Cennini's the
definition, phrase "hid- (derivedfromthe natural)of adumbrating mentalrealities:
the painter
den in the shadowof natural(things)" has a doublesense, since it uses shadedformsmuchas the poet uses metaphor, description,and
impliesthatthe vividlyconcrete,shadow-casting objectsof sightare the otherfiguresof speech,to conveyan insightor an ideain a sen-
themselvesa kindof shadow--projections of a less visiblereality-as suous, immediateform.18 Evenpriorto the fashioning
of eloquentnar-

44
 GIOTTOAND THE THINGSNOT SEEN, HIDDENIN THESHADOWOF NATURALONES

rativegroupings,of gesturesand facialmimicryrichin psychological

nuance,the mereprojection of volumeis alreadyfraughtwithexpres-
sive possibilities.
As the personification of a moralconcept,Giotto's
Justiceon the dadoof the ArenaChapelis a characteristic embodi-
mentof the sort of "unseenthing"on whichCennini'spaintermight
trainhis fantasy.As a seeming-sculpture solidlyenthronedin a niche
feignedupon a perfectlyflat wall, it embodiesthe more intrinsically
poeticaspect of pictorialillusion.The painter'shand,tracingshad-
ow-contourson the bare plaster,has conjuredup a phantasmthat
borrowsits concretenessfromthe actualityof the architectural sur-
faces that boundthe viewer'sspace; but by virtueof its watchful
expression,focused on the viewer's space, this "stone"figureof
Justice is made magicallyalive, and not merelygraspable.Davis
of her seated formis directlyapprehended
notes thatthe stability as
a propertyof the virtueitself;Giottounderscoresthis metaphorical
passage fromtangibleto intangible-from the illusionof physicalto
that of psychicproperties-byaccelerating the figure'sspatiality(and
concentratingthe expressionof its meaning)in the area occupiedby
the beautifully
foreshortened arms and hands,whichenact the sym-
bolicattribute's The balanceas such is non-functional
part.19 (it lacks
a pivot),so that Justicemay herselfbecome the balancingdevice,
holdingout her hands (withthe pans of the balance)preciselylevel
withthe middleof her seated body.Andyet the visibleand the inner 4) Giotto, <<JoachimAmong the Shepherds>,. Padua, Arena
propertiesof the Justiceare reallyno more than translucent stains Chapel. Photo: Foto Marburg/ArtResource, N.Y.
madewitha waterysupensionof pigment.The invisible, whichhas no
properbody,has been visualizedthroughthe intangible.
Giotto's skill in manipulating the devices of pictorialillusion
(modelling,perspectivaldeployment,foreshortening)to suggest
realitiesbeyond the threshholdof representation -indeed beyond event-much as Joachim'srefusalto acknowledgetheirpresence
naming--comes into its own in the narrative scenes at Padua, bothintriguesand excludesthe witnessesto his distress.Joachimis
beginningwiththe Lifeof the Virginalongthe upperregisterof the doublyinaccessibleto us, because in the effortto fillin the shep-
chapel. This entiresequence is a prologueto the mysteryof the herds'interaction, we jointheirpsychologicalspace and standoppo-
Incarnation(enactedin the Annunciation scene over the archto the site his. The viewerfamiliarwiththe storymay respondempatheti-
apse). Appropriately, Giotto'snarrationplaces a particular emphasis callyto Joachim'spredicament; but the Joachimthat Giottodepicts
on the hiddenforcesthat preparethe conceptionand birthof Mary. experiencesan unimaginable psychicexile,a kindof penitential
sus-
This is even apparentin a scene frequently admiredfor its psycho- pension from the depths of whichhe readieshimself,withoutknow-
logical penetration, the Joachim Among the Shepherds [Fig. 4], ing it, for the miraculousrevelations
to come.
which is the second in the Mariancycle. Giottoshows the aged These revelationsfirstbecome manifestin the Annunciation to
Joachim,who has been expelledfromthe Templeon accountof his Anna [Fig. 5], immediatelyfollowingthe Joachim Among the
wife Anna's barrenness,retiringto the countrysidein shame.20 Shepherds:the angel squeezingthrougha high windowinto the
Joachim'sradicalestrangement fromeven the humblestmembersof saint's chamber,to let her knowthatshe is pregnantwithMary,is in
his community is broughtintofocus by a kindof warpin the space partialforeshortening, and the very strangenessof its spatialcom-
between the protagonists.Apartfrom his loweredgaze, the old pressionsuggests all at once the suddennessof the apparition and
man's isolationis measuredby the partially occludedexchangeof the ruptureit causes in the ordinaryfabricof appearances.21 It is
glances betweenthe shepherds.The near shepherd'slost profile,a characteristic of Giottoto be very sparingin the use of steep and
deviceof omissionwitha strongspatialsuggestiveness(as we saw uncommonforeshortenings; wherethey appearthey makea striking
in Piero'streatmentof the manresurrected by the TrueCross),is the impression.Since a foreshortened image presentsthe sectionof a
key to the scene's expressiveeffect. It invitesimaginativecomple- formprojectedin depth,Anna'sangel,cut at the waistby the win-
tionof the avertedfeatureseven as it blocksour participationin the dow-frame,is twice-sectioned,as if to reinforcethe effect of its

45
MARYPARDO
to Anna,>. Padua,ArenaChapel.
5) Giotto, <<Annunciation
Photo: Alinari/ArtResource, N.Y.
abruptpassing frominvisibility It willbe noticedthat
to corporeality.
we can read its facialexpressiononly marginally more easily than
thatof the avertedshepherdin the previousscene. Witha brigtlylit
handsuspendedbeforethe shadowycomerof the room,the angel
hoversover a prismof space fromwhichAnna is compositionally
isolatedby the planarexpanse of bed-curtainthat silhouettesher.
This space belongsto the supematural and is in principleunavail-
ableto us, whileAnna's raptexpressioneffectivelybridgesthe gap
and offersus indirectaccess to the core of the miracle.22
Giotto's most vivid renderingof the seam between the two
ordersof realityis in the Raisingof Lazarus[Fig.6], wherean empty
space clearas a diamondconstitutesthe narration's Christ's
pivot.23
isolatedgestureof blessingis weighedagainstthe compactcrowd
massed beside the resurrectedLazarusand the hillsideintowhich
his tombis cut. The disjunction betweenthe miracleas a transcen-
dent act beyond representation,and its corporealeffect in a
time-boundworld is expressed--across a pregnantgap, like a
momentary breakin the structureof reality-inthe contrastbetween
the dorsalview of Christ'sfullyilluminated, raised hand, and the
foreshortened,shadowedhand of the young man whose sweeping
gestureand glance lead straightto Lazarus.The youth'shandis at
46
of Lazarus,>. Padua,ArenaChapel. Photo:
6) Giotto, <<Raising
Alinari/ArtResource, N.Y.
rightanglesto the directionof the light,and acts likea two-sidedmir-
ror, its brightback orientedtowardsChrist,the shadowed palm
turnedtowardsthe realmof contingencypresidedover by Lazarus,
who is struggling awakeyet stillvisiblya corpse.The purityof the
space allottedto Christ'sgestureis made all the morevividby its
implicitjuxtapositionto an equallyinvisible,but decidedlyphysical
substance:throughthe emphaticmodellingof the cloakwithwhich
one of the Apostlesshields his face and body,Giottosuggests the
almostpalpablequalityof the stench that permeatesthe space of
Lazarus'mortality.
Thoughthey are authorizedby the Gospel text (whichthus
underscoresthe magnitudeof the miracle)and by a lengthyicono-
graphictradition,the Apostlesprotectingthemselvesfromthe smell
of the graveare potential sourcesof humoron accountof theiralto-
getherhumandiscomfort, made so vividby Giotto'sillusionistic skill;
even the majesticfigureto the rightof Lazarus,as a kindof robust
counterpart to the heavilyshrouded,emaciatedcorpse,provokesan
ironicreflectionon flesh as the garmentof mortality.24 I wouldpro-
pose that Giotto'svisualwit, whichhas receivedsome attentionin
the recentliterature,be reconsideredin lightof Cennini'smoregen-
eral concernwithshadowingforththe invisible.25 Thereis a bodyof
 GIOTTOAND THE THINGSNOT SEEN, HIDDENIN THESHADOWOF NATURALONES

humorousanecdotes associatedwithGiotto'searlylegend,butthe -A --d -,- - ~

ingegno,or wit,forwhichthe painterwas famousshouldnot be lim-
~141
ited to the comicobservations detectablein the ArenaChapelfres-
coes. Giotto'sintellectualkeenness and representational accuracy
were also praisedas marksof ingenuityby his earliestcritics.The f
wordingegno,likethe morearchaicdenotations of its Englishequiv- "MR.Ai I

alent 'Wit,"means above all naturaltalent,includinga quicknessof

insightthatdiscernssolutionsto unconventional problems.26 This is 400

the sense underlying its use as a criticalcategoryin Plinythe Elder's

celebratedchapterson ancientpainting.According to Pliny,the chief
representative of artisticingeniumwas Timanthes,who painteda
Sacrificeof Iphigeniain whichthe crescendoof grief among the
onlookersculminated withthe veilingof the father'shead,to suggest
that his sorrowwas beyondthe reach of painting.In Pliny'sbrief
characterization, "Timanthes... is the onlyartistwhose worksalways
suggest more than is painted, greatas his art is, his ingenium
and
surpasses it."27Without claimingthatGiottoknewthe Pliniantext, it
can be fairlyarguedthat he alwayssoughtto ingeniously"suggest
morethan is painted," and did so by exploiting devices of conceal-
ment or omissionvery like those ascribedto Timanthes.It hardly
needs saying that, in orderto properlyappreciateGiotto'sperfor-
mance,the viewerhad to bringto it a comparably readywit.28
In Giotto'sKiss of Judas [Fig.7], an imageno less famousfor
its dramaticcompressionthan the Raisingof Lazarus,a marginal
detail illustratesthe ambivalentoscillationbetween artisticdisplay
and moralprofundity in certainexpressionsof Giottesqueingegno.
The compositiondominatedby Judas'embraceof Christ(whois vir-
tuallyshroudedin the traitor's cloak),is dosed on the leftby the fig-
ures of Petercuttingoff Malchus' ear, and of a hoodedcaptorin the
immediateforeground,with his back whollyturnedto the viewer.
This character,smallerthan the others,is like the very image of
anonymousmischief,butit takes a momentto realizethathis behav-
ioris focusedon the leftedge of the scene, wherewe glimpse-ina
cut-offhaloedface that looks back in distress-the last remnantof
Christ'sfleeingretinue.Fromthe shadowsat Peter'sback,the hood-
ed figuregraspsthe rose cloakof anotherdisciplewho has already
slippedout of the scene. We readabouthimin the Gospelof Mark
(14:50-52):"Andthey all forsookhim and fled./And there followed
hima certainyoungman, havinga linenclothcast abouthis naked
body;andthe youngmen laidholdof himJAndhe leftthe linencloth,
and fled fromthem naked."29 Is it witha touchof perversehumor
thatGiottoinducesus to imagine,beyondthe narrative's tragiccen-
ter, the unwilling flasherwho evades bothour sightand his captor?
Is there a deliberateformalrelationship betweeenthe mutilation of
Malchusand the sectioningof the lingeringApostle's face, and
betweenthe invisibility of the youthrelinquishing his cloak,and the
impenetrable anonymityof his cloakedtormentor? My guess is that
all of these images of the partialand the concealedcommentin
some way on the momentof dissolutionthat is Judas'betrayal.In
*?IP, S:
ir'
*: , : ?-.;~
f~~'. i.4
?*.
l
7) Giotto, ((Kissof Judas>>.Padua,ArenaChapel. Photo:
Alinari/ArtResource, N.Y.
particular, the cloakof the man runningoff nakedto save his skin
seems preciselycounterposedto the unwaveringChrist,who not
only refuses to escape, but freelysubmitsto Judas'impositionon
himof a mortalfate,cloakedin an embrace.
In closing,I wishto brieflyconsiderthe ArenaChapel'sencom-
passing illusion,the incorporationof the beholderintothe temporal
unfoldingof the narrativecycle. It is well knownthat-with some
strategicexceptions-the frescoed scenes on the long walls are
modelledas if lit fromthe building'slargestwindow,on the west
wall.30This is in parta fiction,since the primaryillumination
comes
fromthe six windowsalongthe chapel'ssouthwall;but in the after-
noon the viewerand the surrounding willindeedappear
narratives
bathedin a commonlight.31 Becauseit is an indexof time'spassage,
directedlightcan serve to unifythe time of the paintednarratives
(singlyand in relationto one another),the liturgicaltime enactedin
the chapel'spatternsof use, and the viewer'sphenomenaltime. In
the ArenaChapelfrescoes,the prevalenceof a westernillumination
quite simplyembodiesthe fact that in this microcosmof Salvation
directedat the individualviewer,everythingis ultimatelyapprehend-
ed in the lightof the Dayof Judgmentdepictedon the west wall[Fig.
8].32As the effectivelightsource,the greattriple-window above the

47
MARYPARDO

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8) Giotto, <<LastJudgement,,. Padua, Arena Chapel. Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, N.Y.

48
 GIOTTO AND THE THINGS NOT SEEN, HIDDEN IN THE SHADOW OF NATURAL ONES

....
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Ile,

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Air
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... MAITT
I

Padua,ArenaChapel,ChancelArch. Photo: Alinari/ArtResource, N.Y.

9) Giotto, <<Gabriel'sMission>>and ((<<Annunciation>>.

apocalypticChristalso performsa symbolictask, evokingthe invisi-
at workin the resolution
ble Trinity of the createduniverse.
Giotto'sfrescoes proposeto the viewer an abridgedvoyage
throughthe whole of redemptivetime. Our own presenttense is
acknowledgedat eye-levelby the personifications of virtueand vice
thatspellout everyindividual's
moral choices in the face of time'sfini-
tude [Fig.2].33Incontrast,Gabriel'sMissionandthe Annunciation on
the triumphal archbeforethe chancelare litfromthe throneof God
the Father,locatedat the highestpointon the face of the arch[Fig.
9]-as if to signalthatthe Incarnation,
the prototypeof all mediations
betweenthe visibleand the invisible,is the ever-renewedoriginof
redemptivetime, symmetrical with the Second Comingthat closes
ourtemporalcycle.As we prepareto leavethe chapelwe see, direct-
ly overthe exit[Fig.10],the groupwiththe patron,EnricoScrovegni,

49
MARYPARDO
Judgement),,detail with <<EnricoScrovegni
10) Giotto, <<(Last
presenting the Chapelto te Virgin,,.Padua,ArenaChapel.
Photo: Alinari/ArtResource, N.Y.
presentinga modelof the Arena Chapelto his holy intercessors.
Such is the concretenessof Giotto'srepresentationallanguagethat
the miniaturebuildingseems a portraitfrom the life, so fully
three-dimensionalthatwe can envisionourselvesinside,just beyond
the open door-and proportionately scaled down--experiencing the
eventat its proper,colossal measure.34
Yet even as we pause to inhabitit, this whole eschatological
visionis beingdismantledby the archangelswho have begunrolling
up the heavenslikea scroll[Fig.11]-and who are also peelingaway,
at anotherlevel,the chapel'smany-colored garment,the "shadowof
naturalthings"by whichbare wallsbecamea spiritual cosmos.35Of
50
Judgement,,,detail of <<(Angelrollingup the
11) Giotto, <<Last
Heavens,,. Padua, ArenaChapel. Photo: Scala/ArtResource,
N.Y.
course,Giottothe painterand Christianbelieverdoes not reallyundo
his fictionto revealthe blanknessundemeath.Rather,he invitesus
to an imaginedglimpseof the worldbeyondtime.The artistmight
wellbe saying,alongwiththe authorof the Bookof Revelation: "And
I saw a new heavenand a new earth:forthe firstheavenandthe first
earthwere passed away;and therewas no moresea./ And I John
saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,comingdown fromGod out of
heaven,preparedas a brideadomedfor her husband"-words that
referus back, along the chapel'slongitudinal axis, to the Virgin's
divinebetrothalabove the sanctuary[Fig.9], and thus to the tran-
scendentrenewalof our participationin the invisible.36
 GIOTTOAND THE THINGSNOT SEEN, HIDDENIN THESHADOWOF NATURALONES

1 This essay began as a note in my articleon 'The Subjectof (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress, 1987), and especiallythe con-
Savoldo'sMagdalene," ArtBulletin71 (1989):85, n. 65. I presenteda short- cludingchapter,pp.311-317.
er versionat the symposium on '"TheSpiritual Eye,"aidedby a JuniorFaculty 10 Baxandall,Painting,107-108,does speak of the emphaticperspec-
DevelopmentGrantfromthe Universityof NorthCarolinaat ChapelHill. tivalrecessionin certainimagesas servingto denotespiritual dramaor man-
AndreaBollandand Ann Petersongave me crucialhelp in developingthe ifestationsof the visionary.
paperintoan article. 11 In his willof 1370, Petrarchdeclaredthatpeopleunschooledin the
2 Spatially,the concentric dischargeof the miracle'simpactis coor- art couldnot graspthe beautyof a paintedMadonnaand Childby Giotto:
dinatedwiththe direction of the light,in explicitopposition to the entirewall's "cuiuspulchritudinem ignorantesnon intelligunt,magistriautem artis stu-
narrativelayout(whichis sustainedby the kneelingonlookers'
left-to-right pent";see MichaelBaxandall,Giottoand the Orators(Oxford:Oxford
rightward patternof attention). University Press, 1971),60. By implication, these ignorantes(contrastedwith
3 This readingis consistentwiththe conclusionsof DanielArasse, the appreciative masterpainters)are viewersunschooledin the possibilities
"Pierodella Francesca,peintred'histoire?" in Piero, teoricodell'arte,ed. of illusionisticrendering:in Petrarch'sDe remediisutriusquefortunaethe
OmarCalabrese(Rome:GangemiEditore,1985), 85-114, and especially rudeor untutored vieweris virtually indifferent
to the varietiesof pictorialillu-
107-109,whereArasseclaimsthat Pierouses the "modern" means of per- sion,whereasthe morelearnedviewersare totallyenthralled (see Baxandall,
spective to challenge--rather than sustain-the equallymodernhumanist Giotto,54). Boccaccioimpliesas muchin Decameron,Giornata VI,novella5:
(thatis to say,Albertian)treatmentof historical narration as a legibleunfold- "nature, motherof all things,bringsforthnothingthat[Giotto], withstilus,and
ing of circumstantiallydeterminedactions. pen andpaintbrush, didnotpaintso likeher,thatit seemednotlike,butrather
4 GiorgioVasari,Le vitede'pi&eccelentipittori scultoried architettori, by her;inasmuchas we oftenfindthatin thosethingsmadeby himthe visu-
8 vols., ed. Gaetano Milanesi(1906; reprint,Flprence:G. C. Sansoni al sense of men was led to error,believingthatto be realwhichwas only
Editore,1981),vol. 2, 496: "11mortoancorae benissimofatto,che al toccar painted.Wherefore, havingreturned thatartto life,whichhad been buriedfor
dellacroce resuscita;e la letiziasimilmente di Sant'Elena, con la maraviglia manycenturiesunderthe errorof some who paintedmoreto pleasethe eyes
dei circostanti che s'inginocchiano ad adorare." of the ignorant thanthe intellectof the wise, he justlydeservesto be called
5 Svetlana LeontiefAlpers, "Ekphrasisand AestheticAttitudesin one of the lightsof Florentine glory." See GiovanniBoccaccio,, IIdecameron,
Vasari'sLives,"Journalof the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes23 (1960): 2 vols., ed. CarloSalinari(Bari:EditoriLaterza,1973), 2:445.
190-215,but especially192-203. 12 Howard M. Davis,"Gravity in the Paintings of Giotto,"
in Giottoe il ut
6 Alpers,"Ekphrasis": 201. suo tempo:Attidel congressointernazionale per la celebrazionedel Viidella
7 See also Alpers,"Ekphrasis": 210-215. nascitadi Giotto(Rome:De LucaEditore,1971),367-382,reprinted in Giotto
8 See MichaelBaxandall, Paintingand Experiencein Fifteenth-centu- in Perspective,ed. LaurieSchneider(EnglewoodCliffs,NJ: PrenticeHall,
ryItaly(London: OxfordUniversity Press, 1972),45-56.The best-knowguide 1974), 142-159.Davis'articlealso makesfruitful use of the suggestiveanaly-
to a practiceof devotionalabsorption in the Gospeltext is the anonymous sis of the verticalcompositional linkagesbetweenGiotto's ArenaChapelnar-
Meditationson the Life of Christof the later thirteenthcentury,which rativesin MichelAlpatoff's'The Parallelism of Giotto'sPaduanFrescoes,"Art
remainedenormouslypopularthroughthe fifteenthcentury.See Pseudo Bulletin29 (1947):149-154,reprinted in Giotto:TheArenaChapelFrescoes,
Bonaventure,Meditations on the Lifeof Christ:An Illustrated Manuscriptof ed. James Stubblebine (New York:W.W. Norton& Co,1969),156-169.
the FourteenthCentury(PricetonMonographson Artand Archaeology 13 Davis"Gravity," 147-157.
XXXV),ed. Isa Ragusa and Rosalie B. Green (Princeton:Princeton 14 "Quest'b un'arteche si chiamadipignereche convieneavere fanta-
University Press, 1961). Baxandallcites a "how-to" manualof devotionwrit- sia e operazionedi mano, di trovarecose non vedute,cacciandosisotto
ten in 1454,the Zardinode oration. ombradi naturali, e fermarle con la mano,dandoa dimostrare quelloche non
9 Baxandall,Painting,45-47: "Inthis respect,the fifteenth-century e, sia. E con ragionemeritametterlaa sederein secondogradoallascienza
experienceof a painting was notthe painting we see nowso muchas a mar- e coronarla di poesia."IILibrodell'arte,ed. FrancoBrunello(Vicenza:Neri
riage betweenthe paintingand the beholder'spreviousvisualizingactivity Pozza Editore,1971), 3-4.
on the same matter... Paintersspecially popularin pious circles, like 15 Brunello gives a well-balanced accountof the centrality of modelling
Perugino...provideda base-firmlyconcreteand very evocativein its pat- for Cennini'smethodin his introduction to Cennini,Libro,xv-xix;see also ch.
terns of people-on whichthe pious beholdercould impose his personal 8, p. 10:'Then,froman exemplar, beginto portray thingsthatare as easy as
detail,more particular but less structured than what the painteroffered." possible,in orderto trainthe hand,passingthe stylusover the [gessoed]
Baxandall focuses his remarkson the viewer'sprivateimageof the outward tabletso lightlythatyou can barelysee the firstbeginnings of whatyou are
appearanceof religiouspersonagesand settings,but this aspect of interior making,and graduallystrengthening your strokes,repeatedlygoing over
visualization was merelypreliminary to the psychologically engaged "reen- them to makethe shadows.At the edges you willwantto make
actment" of the religiousnarrative. The latteris impliedin Baxandall's them darker,goingover themthatmuchmore (stremita)
often;and so, conversely,
larger go
argument, whichon the surfaceappearsrestrictive, since it does not accom- over the eminences(rilievi)the leastoften.Andthe rudderand guideof this
modate artistswho used more particularized figures and settings as a powerof sight(potervedere)consistsin the sun's light,the lightof youreye,
means of stimulating the viewer'semotionalparticipation. DavidFreedberg, and yourhand;forwithoutthese threethingsnothingcan be done by rule.
The Power of Images (Chicagoand London:The Universityof Chicago Butwhen you draw,contriveto have a temperateillumination, withthe sun
Press, 1989), 168-191,providesa usefulsurveyof the chieftextsand ideas shiningfromyourleft:and withthisrule,beginto trainyourselfin drawing..."
concerning"interiorvisualization"in the period from 1200 to 1700. The requirement thatthe light,whereverpossible,come fromthe left,would
Freedberg(471, n. 25) also questionsBaxandall's insistenceon the generic seem aimedat keepingthe (right-handed) draughtsman's handfromcasting
appearanceof religiousimages aimed at "interior visualizers."His argu- a shadowoverits own work.
ments on pp. 164-166 for the Platonizingorigins of this meditational 16 Brunello makesthis pointin Cennini,Libro,xviii,wherehe contrasts
approachshould be read against David Summers'discussion of the Cennini'sterminology withAlberti'suse of the term"circumscription."
Aristotelianpsychologicaltraditionthat informedthe developmentof 17 Gian LorenzoMellini,"RileggendoCennini:chiaroscuroe gusto
Renaissance naturalism;see Summers, The Judgment of Sense materico"Criticad'arte11 (1964):43-47, discusses Cennini'stext as evi-

51
MARYPARDO
dence torthe self-consciousness
of Giotto'sdematerialization
of the pictorial
means;however,the bodyof his essay is givenoverto a comparisonwiththe
of pigmentas such in modernpainting.
revalorization
18 David Summers, Michelangelo and the Language of Art (Princeton:
PrincetonUniversity Press,1981),41-51 and 128-134,elucidatesthe history
of tonalpaintingas "paradoxical and placesCennini's
illusion," in its
definition
Horatian context.His insightsprovidethe basis for my analysisof Giotto's
procedures.
19 See Davis,"Gravity," 149-150.The Justiceis renderedas if fullyin
the round,detachedon all sides fromthe framework of her throne,whereas
the Injusticeon the facingwall-though comparablymassive-is wedged
betweenhis throne'sarmrests,whichin turnare wedgedbetweenthe spurs
of a perilouslyfracturedcliff.The enhancedspatialityof the Justicerefersto
the autonomousnatureof her power,as Injustice'sphysicalembeddedness
figuresthat vice's absolutelysubordinate relationto the inherentlyunstable
authorityof bruteforce.
20 The episode receiveslittleelaborationin the textualsourcesand is
also extremelyrarein visualrepresentations.See DiegaGiunta,"Appunti sul-
dellestoriedellaVerginenellaCappelladegliScrovegni,"
I'iconografia Rivista
dell'lstitutoNazionale d'Archeologiae Storia dell'Arten.s. 21-22 (1974-1975):
95-97. The textual sources for the episode are the Gospel of
Pseudo-Matthew,II, 1: "Passus itaqueverecundiamin conspectupopuli
abcessitde templodominiplorans,et non est reversusin domumsum, sed
abiitad pecorasua, et duxitsecum pastoresintermontesin longinquam ter-
ram,ita ut per quinquemenses nullumnuntiampotuissetaudirede eo Anna
uxoreius";and also the Gospelof the Birthof Mary,II,2: "Cuiusopprobrii
obiectupudoremagnosuffususloachimad pastoresquicum pecudibuserant
in pascuis suis secessit..." The texts are found in Constantinusde
Tischendorf, ed., EvangeliaApocrypha(1876; reprint,Hildesheim:Georg
Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), 55 and 114. An accessible medieval
sourceforthe narrative is the Legendaaurea;see Jacobusde Voragine,The
GoldenLegend,tr.and adaptedfromthe Latinby GrangerRyanand Helmut
Ripperger,2 vols. (London,New Yorkand Toronto:Longman,Green and
Co.,1941),vol. 2, 522.
21 See Giunta,"Appunti," of the
97-106fora discussionand illustration
of the episode.As Giuntademonstates,Giotto'streat-
earliervisualtradition
mentof the scene is highlyoriginal;
the Annunciation is usuallydepicted--fol-
lowingthe textualsources-in a gardensettingwhereAnna,surrounded by
lamentsher own barrenness.See the Protoevangelium
nature'sfruitfulness,
of James, II, 1-IV,1(Tischendorf, Evangelia,4-9); the Gospelof Pseudo-
Matthew,II,2-11,3 (Tischendorf, 56-57);and the Gospelof the Birthof Mary,
IV,1-2 (Tischendorf,115-116). On the use of the windowas a vehicleof reve-
lationin Christianart, see CarlaGottlieb,The Windowin Art:Fromthe
Windowof God to the Vanityof Man (New York:Abaris,1981); on p. 119, she
notes that the use of the windowdistinguishesthis scene from the
Annunciationof the birthof Christ,where Gabrielappearsthrougha door
as the doorof Paradise).
(whichshe arguesis to be identified
22 LorenzoGhiberti'scompetitionpanel for the FlorentineBaptistery
doors,the Sacrificeof Isaac, makesuse of devicesverylikethose in Giotto's
Joachim Among the Shepherds and Annunciationto Anna, to impresson the
beholderthe miraculous othernessof the event. The angel breaksintothe
head-on,almostperpendicular
space of the narrative to the planeof the relief,
and the expressionof his avertedfeaturesmustbe extrapolated fromthaton
Isaac'sface.The boy looksup and sees his salvation, andthusmakesit vis-
ibleto Abraham, who is staringhypnoticallyintohis son's face. Inthe empty
space betweenthe protagonists, Ghibertitranslatesthe angel'smessage of
deliveryin Gen. 22:10-13-a voiceout of heaventhatis heardbyAbraham,
ram-intoa visualrelayfromthe invis-
who looksup onlyto see the sacrificial
ible (markedby the angel'sorthogonal) to the visible.(Evidently, I do not
agree with the narrativereading of RichardKrautheimer and Trude
52
Krautheimer-Hess in theirclassic LorenzoGhiberti,[1956; 2nd printing
Princeton,NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1970], 48-49, thoughit is most
sensitiveto the sculptor'sattention
to spatialeffect).
23 See John 11:1-45
24 See John 11:39:"Jesussaid, Takeye awaythe stone. Martha, the
sisterof himthatwas dead,saithuntohim,Lord,by thistimehe stinketh: for
he hathbeen dead fourdays."The motifof the figuresholdingtheirnoses
appearsas earlyas the sixthcentury,in the RossanoGospels,and remains
a constantin thedepictionsof the Raising;see GertrudeSchiller,
Iconography
of ChristianArt, tr. Janet Seligman(Greenwich,CN: New YorkGraphic
Society,1971),vol. 1, 183.
25 See AndrewLadis, "The Legend of Giotto'sWit and the Arena
Chapel,"TheArtBulletin,68 (1986):581-596.
26 See Pardo,"Savoldo's Magdalene," 87-89,for a discussionof artis-
tic ingenium.
27 See Pliny,NaturalHistory,vol. 8, ed. and tr. H. Rackham,Loeb
Classical Library(Cambridge,Mass: HarvardUniversityPress, 1952),
314-315 (XXXV, 73-74),forthe description
of the Sacrificeof Iphigenia;
and
"atquein uniushuiusoperibus
316-317 (XXXV,74) for the characterization,
plussemperquampingitur
intelligitur et, cum sit ars summa,ingenium tamen
ultraartemest."
28 See above,n. 11, forPetrarchand Boccaccioon Giotto'sartbeingfor
those "inthe know."
29 This image is discussedby Mariavon Nagy, Die Wandbilderder
Scrovegni-Kapellezu Padua: Giotto's Verhiltniszu seinen Quellen (Bern and
Munich:FranckeVerlag,1962),28. She interprets it as an allusionto Christ's
(since the youthescapes), and assigns the cloakbeing
ultimateinviolability
pulledby the hoodedfigureto the fleeingApostlestillvisibleat the edge of the
scene. However,the latter'sfigureis set backbeyondPeter,and an ocher
cloakis drapedover his leftshoulder,whereasthe cloakbeingpulledin the
foreground is rose-colored.I preferto readthe pulledcloakas Giotto'sdevice
for makingus supplythe otherwiseindecorous figureof a nakedyouth.
30 See Julia I. Miller,"SymbolicLight in Giotto and the Early
Quattrocento in Florence,"Source5 no. 1 (Fall1985):7-13.
31 See Paul Hills, The Lightof Early ItalianPainting (New Haven and
Press, 1987),43.
London:YaleUniversity
32 See von Nagy, Die Wandbilder,34-36.
150, on Giotto'swittylinkageof this zone
33 See Davis, "Gravity,"
(throughthe personifications of Hope and Despair)to the groupsof the
blessedand the damnedin the LastJudgmentscene.
34 The imageof the donorholdinga miniature versionof his buildingis
common enough in medievalart (a notableexample is the portraitof
Ecclesiusin the apse mosaicat San Vitalein Ravenna),butGiottoexploitsits
withan unprecedented
possibilities verve by placingit in a narrativecontext
of greatcomplexity. Eventhe vertigoof infinite regressinducedby visualizing
oneselfin the chapel withinthe LastJudgmentscene visualizing oneself in
the chapelwithinthe LastJudgment scene, and so forth,seems utterlyappro-
priateto this moment'ssignificance as the end of time-or shouldone say, as
the entry-point of divinetime.
to the infinitesimultaneity
35 See Rev.6:12-14:"AndI beheldwhenhe hadopenedthe sixthseal,
and, lo, therewas a greatearthquake; and the sun becameblackas sack-
clothof hair,and the moonbecameas blood;Andthe starsof heavenfell
untothe earth.../Andthe heavendepartedas a scrollwhenit is rolledtogeth-
er; and everymountain and islandwere movedout of theirplaces."Forthe
traditionof apocalypticillustrationto whichthis scene belongs,see Ursula
Schlegel,"Onthe PictureProgram of the ArenaChapel," in Giotto:TheArena
Chapel Frescoes (as in n. 12, above), 202-204, n. 83 (reprintedfrom
Zeitschriftfur Kunstgeschichte 20 [1957]: 125-146). Julia Kristevaseizes on
this imageof the simultaneous undoingof the cosmos and the fabricof pic-
torialillusionin a remarkable powerof Giotto'spic-
essay on the transgressive
 GIOTTOAND THE THINGSNOT SEEN, HIDDENIN THESHADOWOF NATURALONES
torial innovations, "Giotto'sJoy,"repr.in Calligram:Essays in New ArtHistory
from France, Norman Bryson ed. (Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University
Press, 1988), 27-33, and especially p. 29.
36 See Rev. 21:1-2. Giotto's image conflates passages on the opening
and the concludingevents of the Second Coming.Von Nagy, Die Wandbilder,
44, suggests that the archangels rollingup the heavens direct their glances
to the chancel arch, promptingthe beholderto a renewed meditationupon it.
This is difficultto verifybecause of their location (each angel is partiallycon-
cealed behind his portionof scroll, and it is unclear whether he could "see"
around it).
FrequentlyCited Sources
Alpers,S. "Ekphrasisand Aesthetic Attitudesin Vasari's Lives."Journalof the
Warburgand CourtauldInstitutes23 (1960). Pp. 190-215.
Baxandall,M. Giottoand the Orators. Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 1971.
Baxandall, M. Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-CenturyItaly. London:
Oxford UniversityPress, 1972.
Cennini, C. II Libro dell'arte. Ed. Franco Brunello. Vicenza: Neri Pozza
Editore, 1971.
Davis, H. M. "Gravityin the Paintingsof Giotto."Giottoe il suo tempo:Attidel
congresso internazionaleper la celebrazione del VIIdella nascita di Giotto.
Rome: De Luca Editore,1971. pp. 367-382. (Repr. in L. Schneidered. Giotto
in Perspective. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1974. Pp. 142-159.)
Pardo M. '"TheSubject of Savoldo's Magdalene."Art Bulletin71 (1989). Pp.
67-91.
Von Nagy, M. Die Wandbilderder Scrovegni-Kapelle zu Padua: Giotto's
Verhaltniszu seinen Quellen. Bern and Munich:FranckeVerlag, 1962.
53