Ognissanti Madonna

(c. 1310)

   Painted by Giotto for the Church of the Ognissanti in Florence (now in the Uffizi) belonging to the mendicant Order of the Umiliati, the panel follows the tradition of presenting an iconic image of the enthroned Virgin and Child surrounded by saints and angels set against a gilded background often depicted by masters of the Maniera Greca style. Giotto, however, rejected the flattened, simplified, abstracted forms of the earlier examples in favor of a more naturalistic mode of representation. The compartmentalization of anatomical parts of the Byzantine tradition are gone, as are the gold striations that denote the drapery's folds. Giotto's figures have volume, their draperies fall naturally and define the contours of their bodies, and the Virgin and Child are enclosed within a three-dimensional throne. With this, Giotto humanized the divine characters depicted, therefore allowing for a more intimate connection between viewer and devotional art.