Elucidating Opposites
Dawn Cunningham
A religious diptych provided medieval people with opportunities to access the transcendental and engage in meditation on spiritual routes salvation. The binary format of lent itself pairings images that could include oppositions or iconographic contradictions. By manipulating these pairings, artists patrons enhance complexity theological messages as well relationship between art user. Like many Gothic diptychs from Italy, an early-fourteenth-century example by Giotto is comprised a Crucifixion vision Mary’s heavenly court. celestial group around Virgin child includes seven prominent personifications virtues. properly identifying moral qualities through comparisons Giotto’s other works examining they possibly addressed, we can elucidate some concerns original patron(s) who paid for engaged this diptych.
Religion and The Arts