Heaven on earth, Duccio's Rucellai Madonna
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- čas přidán 28. 10. 2020
- A conversation between Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker in front of Duccio di Buoninsegna, Rucellai Madonna, 1285-86, tempera and gold on panel, 450 x 290 cm, painted for the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence)
One of the best channels on CZcams. Keep it up.
This is appreciated. All your work is top notch.
Thank - Wonderful video. Among the three Madonnas presented on a slide, the Duccio execution is far more advanced then others. I DO treasure Giotto and Cimabue, but Duccio is a major creator. A Van Eyck ... a century back. Perfect line, marvelous pigments and unaccountable flows of interaction with our eyes! A treat! Thanks again.
Mary's expression gets to me in this one. It's like she's thinking about what Simeon told her in the temple.. Love the blue and gold of her cloak, though. The detail of the pseudo-script is beautiful.
BEAUTIFUL
Truly amazing!
How is it that the colors remain so vibrant after over 700 years?
Do you have a video on painting materials and technology over the years? I would love to see it, if you do!
We do! Smarthistory has an entire section dedicated to materials and their conservation: smarthistory.org/overview/creating-and-conserving/
@@smarthistory-art-history because it was prepared so well before being painted and because the blue color is usually made of lapis lazuli. In this video we see the already restored version. The blue had become way darker over the years, cause it was made with a cheaper material than was mentioned in the contract, which is azurite (source: Uffizi website). Otherwise it would‘ve kept it‘s color. It was restored to it‘s original vividness by the Uffizi gallery. The skin color (called incarnate in professional terms) wasn’t so green when the painting had been originally finished, but because Ducchio di Buoninsegna made an underpainting for the skin in green (which was usual back then) and it has been so many years, the green came through. So to answer your question: very costly and/or high quality materials, elaborate techniques to prepare the painting surface, many layers of paint that have been carefully considered (back then learning how to make the paint keep it‘s vibrancy for centuries was part of the skill repertoire of an artist), the fact that it had been save by the Florentines and wasn‘t exposed to light or weather.
Maybe Cecilia Giménez can restore it?
She not taking calls....funny post👍👍👍😂🤣😅🤣😂
The symbols at the top of the throne looks like mosque icons.
Well observed. It’s because Byzantine (it‘s capital was Constantinople, now the city of Istanbul) was so near to the Ottoman empire the ornaments and decorations in their art was greatly inspired by muslim ornaments (cause, well, they are beautiful). And because Byzantine (which was the eastern catholic empire) had spread to parts of Italy and Constantinople (back then) was invaded by catholic crusaders (yes, because money), bringing back art etc. around that time, these influences where going strong in Florence.
1:23 Can we talk about that church, though?
Yes, we have an entire video about it, smarthistory.org/alberti-santamarianovella/