The Last Judgement by Pietro Cavallini
Title
Subject
Description
The painting is currently located on the inner façade of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, right above the entrance. The Last Judgement scene was first made to occupy the entire east wall, opposite to the west apse. However, it was later covered up by plaster and a nuns’ choir room was built around it. This architectural design is implied to enclose women and limit female use within church space. The painting was created by a prominent painter in 13th century — Pietro Cavallini. This masterpiece was rediscovered in 19th century and the scene has only been partially excavated: in the middle is the enthroned Christ, to the right and the left are Maria, angels, John the Baptist and twelve Apostles.
The work itself should be comprehended as a fusion of arts from Gothic France and Byzantine, contributing to the trend in the 1270s to bring back Roman antiquity. However, the pictorial creativity of Cavallini does not accord very well with the prevailing ecclesiastical taste: for example, the angel wings with colorful shades were interleaved to impart three-dimensionality. The more naturalistic style made it harder for people to read the messages passed through, such as the promotion of papacy, thus this public imagery was considered as a less effective political and religious propaganda.
Abstract
Creator
Source
Brentano, Robert, Rome Before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-century Rome, (University of California Press, 1991), 67.
Bruzelius, Caroline A., “Hearing Is Believing: Clarissan Architecture, ca. 1213-1340”, in Gesta, Vol. 31, No. 2, Monastic Architecture for Women, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 87.
Hetherington, Paul, “Pietro Cavallini, Artistic Style and Patronage in Late Medieval Rome”, in The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 114, No. 826 (Jan.), (The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd, 1972), 9.
Krautheimer, Richard, Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308, (Princeton University Press, 2000), 225.
Identifier
Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Description
The painting is currently located on the inner façade of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, right above the entrance. The Last Judgement scene was first made to occupy the entire east wall, opposite to the west apse. However, it was later covered up by plaster and a nuns’ choir room was built around it. This architectural design is implied to enclose women and limit female use within church space. The painting was created by a prominent painter in 13th century — Pietro Cavallini. This masterpiece was rediscovered in 19th century and the scene has only been partially excavated: in the middle is the enthroned Christ, to the right and the left are Maria, angels, John the Baptist and twelve Apostles.
The work itself should be comprehended as a fusion of arts from Gothic France and Byzantine, contributing to the trend in the 1270s to bring back Roman antiquity. However, the pictorial creativity of Cavallini does not accord very well with the prevailing ecclesiastical taste: for example, the angel wings with colorful shades were interleaved to impart three-dimensionality. The more naturalistic style made it harder for people to read the messages passed through, such as the promotion of papacy, thus this public imagery was considered as a less effective political and religious propaganda.
Creator
Ruyi Shen (2017)Coverage
1200sSource
Brentano, Robert, Rome Before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-century Rome, (University of California Press, 1991), 67.
Bruzelius, Caroline A., “Hearing Is Believing: Clarissan Architecture, ca. 1213-1340”, in Gesta, Vol. 31, No. 2, Monastic Architecture for Women, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 87.
Hetherington, Paul, “Pietro Cavallini, Artistic Style and Patronage in Late Medieval Rome”, in The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 114, No. 826 (Jan.), (The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd, 1972), 9.
Krautheimer, Richard, Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308, (Princeton University Press, 2000), 225.