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Paolo Veneziano
c. 1339
Doge Francesco Dandolo and his wife presented to the Madonna
Basilica of the Frari, Venice
The Doge and his wife are presented to the Madonna and Child by St Francis and St Elisabeth of Hungary. Beneath the lunette is the Doge's Byzantine sarcophagus.
The figures retain the stiffness characteristic of Byzantine painting. However, the damask background and the rich robe of the Virgin point the way to the International Gothic style.
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Paolo Veneziano
1350
Polyptych
Accademia, Venice
Painted for the church of Santa Chiara in Venice. Center: the Coronation of the Virgin. Side panels: Stories from the Life of Christ. Upper register: Pentecost and Christ the Judge at each end and saints in between.
The sumptuousness of the International Gothic frame combines the new developments of western art - livelier figures, a wider palette - with the Byzantine style typical during the reign of the Palaeologus dynasty.
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Attributed to Lorenzo Veneziano
c. 1360
The Madonna of Humility with Saints Mark and John the Baptist
National Gallery
The Virgin is represented here as the Madonna of Humility, seated on the ground. Saint Mark at the left is identified by the inscription, and at the right Saint John the Baptist, dressed in skins, points to the Christ Child. The cusped arches and twisted columns of the frame are typical of Venetian Gothic.
The inclusion of Saint Mark may mean the panel was intended for the Venetian market, probably for private devotion.
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Lorenzo Veneziano
1357-59
The Lion Polyptych
Accademia, Venice
The panels were completed in 1359 for the Venetian church of St. Anthony Abbot, commissioned by Domenico Lion who had held temporary membership of the Venetian Senate in 1356 and 1357.
In the central panel of the Annunciation, traditional iconography is set aside and the figure of the Virgin is moved from the centre to leave more space for the angel. In the foreshortened image above the Virgin's head the Eternal Father launches the dove of the Holy Spirit.
The colours, ignoring Veneto-Byzantine tradition, are made up of a refined range of shadings: blues, reds and greens paling into pearl-grey and light-pink reflections.
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Niccolò di Pietro
1394
Madonna and Child and a Donor
Accademia, Venice
Commissioned by Vulciano Belgarzone da Zara who kneels at the feet of the Virgin, traditionally minute in scale. His name and the date are inscribed at the foot of the throne.
Niccolò di Pietro absorbed influences from Bologna, the Rhineland and Bohemia. The decorative elegance of Lorenzo and Paolo Veneziano has been replaced by plastic figures in a more clearly defined space.
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Jacobello del Fiore
1421
Justice and the Archangels
Accademia, Venice
Commissioned for the Palazzo Ducale. At the center is the Allegory of Justice, flanked on the left by St Michael and on the right by the Archangel Gabriel.
Justice is clearly identified both with Venice, by the lions, and with the Virgin Mary.
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Jacobello del Fiore
1438
Coronation of the Virgin
Accademia, Venice
Commissioned by Antonio Correr, the bishop of Ceneda, who kneels in the right foreground. He commissioned this work for the high altar of his church. The row of flowers at the bottom of the painting signifies that the location is the Garden of Eden.
Jacobello uses the Gothic architectural framework to emphasise the strict ceremony of the scene.