THE CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME,
PARIS. COMPLETED IN THE YEAR 1250,
AFTER A NEAR CENTURY OF CONSTRUCTION, THIS MAGNIFICENT
GOTHIC BUILDING IS A STRIKING REMINDER OF THE STRENGTH
OF THE CHURCH IN EUROPE AT THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
IN A TIME WHEN THE MAJORITY OF EUROPEANS ENDURED AN
EXISTENCE OF FEUDAL POVERTY, THE CHURCH WAS BY FAR THE
WEALTHIEST, MOST POWERFUL INSTITUTION ON THE CONTINENT,
AND ONE CAN IMAGINE THE AWE AN ORDINARY PERSON WOULD HAVE FELT
UPON ENCOUNTERING A STRUCTURE SUCH AS THIS.
AND THE CHURCH'S DOMINANCE OF SOCIETY ALSO EXPRESSED ITSELF
IN THE WORLD OF ART, NOT ONLY IN ARCHITECTURE BUT IN ALL
THE VISUAL ARTS. THE ANONYMOUS PAINTERS
AND SCULPTORS OF THOSE DAYS WERE CONCERNED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY
WITH RELIGIOUS THEMES. THEIR AIM WAS SIMPLY TO USE
TIME-HONORED TECHNIQUES TO PRODUCE IMAGES THAT WOULD
COMMUNICATE A SPIRITUAL MESSAGE. THE REPRESENTATION OF REALITY
IN THE ORDINARY TEMPORAL WORLD WAS NOT THEIR INTENTION.
BUT ART AND ARTISTS WERE ABOUT TO CHANGE FOREVER.
AND THE LATE MEDIEVAL WORLD WOULD SEE THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW
IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES THAT WOULD LEAD ON TO THE GLORY OF THE
16th-CENTURY HIGH RENAISSANCE AND ART AS WE KNOW IT TODAY.
AS THE 13th CENTURY DREW TO A CLOSE, THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
FABRIC OF EUROPE WAS SLOWLY BEGINNING TO CHANGE.
ALTHOUGH MOST PEOPLE STILL LIVED AS PEASANTS ON THE LAND TIED TO
A FEUDAL LORD, THE LATE MIDDLE AGES SAW THE TENTATIVE
BEGINNINGS OF A NEW MIDDLE CLASS ACROSS EUROPE.
GRADUALLY, SECULAR THINKING EMPHASIZING THE IMPORTANCE
OF TRADE, COMMERCE, AND AN ECONOMY BASED ON MONEY
BEGAN TO BE ESTABLISHED. IN ENGLAND AND NORTHWEST EUROPE,
WOOL AND TEXTILES WERE A SUBSTANTIAL SOURCE OF NEW
WEALTH, WHILE IN ITALY, WITH ITS HISTORIC LINKS TO THE EAST,
MERCHANTS, TRADESMEN, AND BANKERS BEGAN TO PLY
INCREASINGLY PROFITABLE TRADE IN URBAN CENTERS SUCH AS PADUA,
SIENA, AND FLORENCE. IT WAS AGAINST THIS NEW SECULAR
BACKGROUND THAT THE GREAT ARTISTS OF THE LATE MEDIEVAL
WORLD WOULD ACHIEVE THEIR GREATEST RESULTS, MOST
ESPECIALLY IN THE TUSCAN REPUBLIC OF FLORENCE,
150 MILES NORTH OF ROME. THE FIRST OF THE GREAT ARTISTS
TO COME FROM HERE WAS GIOTTO di BONDONE.
BORN NEAR FLORENCE AROUND 1267, LITTLE IS KNOWN OF GIOTTO'S
EARLY LIFE, LIKE SO MANY ARTISTS OF HIS TIME.
BUT BETWEEN 1302 AND 1305, WE KNOW HE WAS WORKING IN THE
NORTHERN ITALIAN TOWN OF PADUA, PAINTING THE WALLS OF THE
CAPILLA del ARENA, USING A TECHNIQUE VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN
SINCE ANCIENT TIMES. ALONG WITH HIS CONTEMPORARY,
CIMABUE, GIOTTO REDISCOVERED THE FRESCO, THE METHOD
OF PAINTING WITH WATERCOLORS ON PLASTER WHILE THE PLASTER
IS STILL WET.