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Duccio's Maesta (front)
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Duccio's Maesta (back)
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Duccio, The Rucellai Madonna, 1285-86
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Duccio's Madonna and Child
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Duccio's The Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and Aurea
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Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Palazzo Pubblico frescos: Allegory and Effect of Good and Bad Government
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Lorenzetti's Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
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Simone Martini's Annunciation
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Nicola, Pulpit, Pisa Baptistery; and Giovanni Pisano, Slaughter of the Innocents, Pulpit, Sant'Andrea church, Pistoia
Duccio's Madonna and Child Duccio di Buoninsegna, Madonna and Child, tempera and gold on panel, c. 1300 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Speakers: David Drogin and Beth Harris For more videos, visit www.smarthistory.org Speakers: Dr. David Drogin, Dr. Beth Harris
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- David Drogin: This a small painting by the Sienese artist--Duccio
- active at the end of the 13th and very beginning of the 14th centuries
- --and Duccio was one of the artists who helps establish
- a Sienese gothic style--and this well rather well
- preserved painting is an excellent example of that
- Beth Harris: We're lucky because this painting is at
- the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- --and there's not a lot of the great paintings
- of the 1200s and early 1300s that are here
- in New York City
- David Drogin: That's right--and in fact there are
- very very few Duccio paintings that survive
- anywhere in the world
- --there's only thirteen of them total in the world
- Beth Harris: And the Met actually just purchased
- this one a few years ago
- for a very very large sum of money
- David Drogin: That's right because there are only
- thirteen of them--and all of the other paintings
- besides this one--at the time--were already in
- museum collections and museums don't sell
- or get rid of works of art
- --and so when this painting came up to sale
- it was the only opportunity the Met
- was ever going to have to buy a painting by Duccio
- Beth Harris: So we should all go and look at this one
- because we are really fortunate that it's here
- --but it's hard not to look at it and think about
- how much money it cost
- David Drogin: That's right--the Met--the Metropolitan Museum
- won't officially confirm how much money they spent
- but people estimate that they probably paid
- $45 million for this painting
- which is less than one foot tall
- Beth Harris: Oh my gosh
- David Drogin: It's quite a lot
- Beth Harris: So let's talk about what makes
- it so special--so we're looking at just a typical
- Madonna and child painting
- --and its got that Sienese interest
- in all that gold that we were talking about
- David Drogin: It's very other worldly looking in some sense
- because of the intense gold in the background
- that has patterns incised into it
- that also made it more reflective
- when candles were burning in front of it
- --and the halo makes it very other worldly
- the disparity and the unevenness in scale
- between the infant Christ and the Virgin Mary
- --the flowing undulous liquid-like weightless fabric
- that covers her body
- --all of these thing help us understand
- that these figures are other-worldly figures
- not a scene that you would glimpse
- through a window as you were walking down the street
- Beth Harris: And why does he look like
- a little man and not like a child?
- David Drogin: Well that's a good question
- --it's not that Duccio didn't know how to represent
- an infant if he wanted to
- --but by choosing to represent the infant Christ
- looking mature--looking like a little man
- --Duccio and viewers would have understood
- this as acknowledging his maturity
- --in other words that Christ had the wisdom
- of man--the wisdom of God--even though he
- was a small child
- --and not only that these paintings--and even sculptures
- of the Virgin Mary with the infant Christ
- are supposed to remind you of the scene
- at the end of Christ's life
- when the dead adult Christ is lying
- across his mother's lap
- --so by painting the figure in this way
- --looking as a mature sort of older man
- Duccio is doing all of things
- suggesting maturing and also referencing Christ's death
- Beth Harris: And we can see Mary looking down at Christ
- and there's a kind of connection between them
- as mother and son
- --and he lifts up her headdress here
- and gazes back at her
- --she looks sad--and maybe there's a sense
- of foreboding of his future
- and how she will hold him on her lap
- after the crucifiction
- David Drogin: Even though the painting
- is generally other-worldly
- there are some things that help us understand
- exactly what's going on--there are some things here
- are descriptive and naturalistic
- such as the child-like gesture of him pulling her vail
- --the way she looks at him--and also the fact
- that they stand behind a painted parapet or balcony
- Beth Harris: I didn't realize that was painted
- David Drogin: This is painted here
- --and it serves to--in a way--separate them from us
- that's a boundary between them and us
- --but at the same time is also connects
- there space with our space
- because it's as if we glimpse them
- across that wall--over that balcony
- and that also is something that was rather
- unusual and innovative for the time
- Beth Harris: Now it looks like Mary is dressed in very dark clothing
- but it would have been a very vivid blue--right?
- David Drogin: Originally it would have been a brighter
- stronger blue that would also have been
- a very decorative effect
- Beth Harris: What happened down here--to the frame?
- David Drogin: Well--as I said before
- this painting is very well preserved
- but you notice these areas down in the bottom
- this is actually where this small painting
- was burnt by candles
- that were burning in front of it
- --this was not an altar piece
- --but it was a devotional image
- Beth Harris: So it wasn't in a church?
- David Drogin: It might have been in a church
- but it wouldn't have been over an altar
- --it could have been hanging on the sidewall
- of a chapel or even on a column or pier
- and there would have been candles
- burning in front of it as people prayed
- in front of it and those candles
- have left their mark
- Beth Harris: So its smallness helps it to be
- a very person image
- David Drogin: Absolutely
- it has a kind of intimacy because of its scale
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