Vogon Today

Selected News from the Galaxy

Filthy

Art. The comet? Giotto didn’t want to draw it, he leaned against the fresco with his yellow-tinted hand

Padua (PD) – Cappella Scrovegni. Giotto di Bondone, better known as Giotto1267 or more simply Giotto , one of the greatest painters and influencers in the history of our nation, what Boccaccio called “the best painter in the world” after seven centuries never ceases to amaze there, revealing one more of his extraordinary artistic secrets.

Giotto was the first to insert the comet into a crib (Adoration of the Magi), which later became the absolute icon of Christmas and a symbol of the most sincere moment of Christianity. But the event that has forever changed the course of art history and all pictorial representations from the birth of Jesus to the present day will be the result of his distraction.

Thousands of painters, art historians and scholars, in past centuries, have been deceived by a misinterpretation of a simple "spot" of Tuscan genius. That strange comet, disproportionate to the other elements of the fresco, was nothing more than a clumsy slap (or skull) probably because of an attempt to recover from the painter’s stupor. forced to work sleepless hours.

Critic Vittorio Sgarbi was one of the first to hypothesize that this was probably not a comet: “Yes, Giotto saw Halley’s comet shortly before he painted the Scrovegni chapel, but like most the fears of God of the fourteenth century, it is much more likely that he spent the whole week in paranoia locked in the house waiting for the end of the world – commented Sgarbi – so he would never have wanted to immortalize that thing, which also brought bad luckily, in one of his most majestic and well paid jobs ” .

At first it was thought to be finished in blue , the most expensive color of the time, to such an extent that the Scrovegni were forced to increase wear rates to continue to supply it. The indication that it would not be a comet, however, is found in the theme of "therapy of opposites" inspired by Alberto da Padova, which the Florentine artist used in the fresco, namely the contrast of vices and virtues, in a continual balance to create a kind of path to happiness. To respect the Augustinian conception of the theological program of the Scrovegni Chapel, Giotto runs for the cover by attaching, on the left side , an inscription in bad Latin: canem circulus virgam Dei – a detail that could support the hypothesis of the skull on to the breath but also constitute a blasphemy of personal compensation.

Vittorio Lattanzi

The article Art. The comet? Giotto did not want to draw it, he leaned against the fresco with his hand dyed yellow by Lerciu .


This is an automatic translation from the Italian language of a post published in Lercio at the URL https://www.lercio.it/arte-la-cometa-giotto-non-voleva-disegnarla-si-appoggio-allaffresco-con -la-mano-sporca-di-giallo / u Wed, 21 Apr 2021 08:58:19 +0000.

The article Art. The comet? Giotto didn't want to draw it, he leaned against the fresco with his yellow hand coming from Latest News .


This is a machine translation from Corsican language of a post published on Ultimi Nutizie at the URL https://ultiminutizie.vogon.today/art-a-cometa-giotto-un-vulia-disegnallu-si-appughjo-a-laffrescu-cu-a-manu-tinta-di-giallu/ on Thu, 22 Apr 2021 22:56:00 +0000.