What is the political purpose of a work of art?

The Bayeux Tapestry Romanesque Period 1050-1150 1066 Battle of Hastings Duke Williams II of Normandy The Bayeux Tapestry (actually an embroidery measuring over 230 feet long and 20 inches wide) describes the Norman invasion of England and the events that led up to it. It is believed that the Tapestry was commissioned by Bishop Odo, bishop of Bayeux and the half-brother of William the Conqueror. The Tapestry contains hundreds of images divided into scenes each describing a particular event. The scenes are joined into a linear sequence allowing the viewer to "read" the entire story starting with the first scene and progressing to the last. The Tapestry would probably have been displayed in a church for public view.

The Bayeux Tapestry Romanesque Period 1050-1150 1066 Battle of Hastings Duke Williams II of Normandy History is written by the victors and the Tapestry is above all a Norman document. In a time when the vast majority of the population was illiterate, the Tapestry's images were designed to tell the story of the conquest of England from the Norman perspective. It focuses on the story of William, making no mention of Hardrada of Norway nor of Harold's victory at Stamford Bridge.

The story that is told is fairly clear: Harold swore an oath of fealty (of loyalty) to Duke William of Normandy. When King Edward died, Harold never should have assumed the throne. Even though he was essentially a “foreigner,” Duke William was well within his rights to invade England and seize the throne. The fact that William was victorious is an outward proof of his righteousness. In other words, God supported William’s cause.

What is the political purpose of a work of art? Good and Bad Government Ambrogio Lorenzetti These frescoes offer an argument about what constitutes good government. The frescoes also make a further argument about why good government matters….

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's most revolutionary achievement - one of the most remarkable accomplishments of the Renaissance - is the fresco series that lines three walls of the room in the Palazzo Pubblico where Siena's chief magistrates, the Nine, held their meetings (Sala dei Nove).

Ambrogio's task was unprecedented, for he was apparently called upon to paint allegorical depictions of good and bad government and to represent the effects such regimes would have in the town and the country. The result is the first panoramic city/countryscape since antiquity, and the first expansive portrait that we have of an actual city and landscape. Today, the cycle is usually identified as Good and Bad Government. Ambrogio chose the best-illuminated walls for Good Government and its effects, leaving Bad Government in the shadows on a wall that has also suffered considerable damage. Ambrogio Lorenzetti View of the frescoes Sala dei Nove, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena 1338-40

The two 14th-century Italian painters Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti were brothers. Pietro and Ambrogio were both born in Siena and belonged to the Sienese School which was dominated by the stylized Byzantine tradition developed by Duccio di Buoninsegna and Simone Martini. They were the first Sienese to adopt the dramatic quality of the Tuscan sculptor Giovanni Pisano and the naturalistic approach of the Florentine painter Giotto. In their experiments with three-dimensional, spatial arrangements, the brothers, particularly Ambrogio, foreshadowed the art of the Renaissance. Lorenzetti, two 14th-century Italian painters who were brothers. Pietro and Ambrogio, born in Siena, belonged to the Sienese school dominated by the stylized Byzantine tradition developed by Duccio di Buoninsegna and Simone Martini. They were the first Sienese to adopt the dramatic quality of the Tuscan sculptor Giovanni Pisano and the naturalistic approach of the Florentine painter Giotto. In their experiments with three-dimensional, spatial arrangements, the brothers, particularly Ambrogio, foreshadowed the art of the Renaissance. Pietro (circa 1280-1348) was the more traditional of the two brothers, showing harmony, refinement, and detail but also dramatic emotion. his work includes the altarpiece Madonna and Child with Saints (1320, Santa Maria Della Pieve, Arezzo), dramatic frescoes in the lower Church of San Francisco in Assisi, and the Calmer, later masterpiece the Birth of the Virgin (C. 1342, Opera del Duomo, Siena). Ambrogio (1290-1348), more realistic, inventive, and influential than Pietro, is best known for the fresco cycles Good Government and Bad Government (1338-39, Palazzo Publico, Siena), remarkable for their depiction of character and of the Sienese scene. He also painted Presentation in the Temple (1342, Uffizi, Florence) and Annunciation (1344, Pinacoteca, Siena).

Commune of Siena (with orb and specter) Faith, Hope and Charity are above his head… Virtues flank him…. Justice is to the Commune’s left—Wisdom floats above her, on either side Commutative Justice and Distributive Justice Concordia presides over the 24 members of the great Council of the Siena Republic Ambrogio Lorenzetti Allegory of the Good Government 1338-40 Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

Detail: Allegory of the Good Government Commune of Siena (with orb and specter); Faith, Hope and Charity float above his head; the Virtues flank him: Prudence on the left and Magnanimity, Temperance and Justice on the right.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Detail: Allegory of the Good Government 1338-40 Peace—based on a Roman sarcophagus fragment—Fortitude and Prudence Peace—based on a Roman sarcophagus fragment

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Detail: Allegory of the Good Government 1338-40 Justice is to the Commune’s left Wisdom floats above Justice On either side are Commutative Justice and Distributive Justice Concordia presides over the 24 members of the Great Council of the Siena Republic; what does Concordia hold in her lap?

Commune of Siena (with orb and specter) Faith, Hope and Charity are above his head… Virtues flank him…. Justice is to the Commune’s left—Wisdom floats above her, on either side Commutative Justice and Distributive Justice Concordia presides over the 24 members of the great Council of the Siena Republic Ambrogio Lorenzetti Allegory of the Good Government 1338-40 Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

The mother Earth (Tellus Mater) nurtures the Roman People Altar of Augustan Peace the Ara Pacis commemorates Augustus’s triumphal return to Rome after establishing Roman rile in Gaul (present day France and Belgium) this work is a carefully articulated expression of political propaganda: it is meant to celebrate Augustus as both a warrior and peacemaker Allegory of Peace, a relief on the east side of the Ara Pacis—Altar of Augustan Peace Emperor Augustus—13-9 BCE, marble The mother Earth (Tellus Mater) nurtures the Roman People on either side: the land wind (left): swan, jug of fresh water, and the vegetation symbolizes fertility of Roman farms and the sea wind (right): Rome’s dominance over the Mediterranean

Ambrogio Lorenzetti detail: Effects of Good Government on the City Life 1338-40 Palazzo Pubblico, Siena This fresco is meant to demonstrate what is possible if a city is governed well. Notice the 1. overall visual coherence and 2. feeling of natural scale between the figures and their environment. …note the panoramic composition….

Ambrogio Lorenzetti detail: Effects of Good Government on the City Life Can you find the dome of the Cathedral of Siena and the Cathedral’s campanile? Can you find the foreshortened city wall that encircles this city-state? Can you find the men working on the roof of a building? Can you see the drying racks outside the houses and the wooden awnings?

What are the people doing inside their shops What are the people doing inside their shops? What are the people in the street doing?

Who is this person? How can we tell that she is important?

Ambrogio Lorenzetti detail: Effects of Good Government in the Countryside No such comprehensive panorama of the natural world and its human inhabitants is know to us from the entire previous history of art-- There is no single point of view (he is a medieval painter)—the artist instead wants to show the viewer as much as possible of the landscape.

This figure is the Allegory of Security—the scroll in her hand bids those who enter through the Porta Roma to come in peace—the gallows reminds viewers of what will happen if a person does not come in peace.

detail: Effects of Good Government in the Countryside What is the man leaving Siena intending to do outside the gates? There is a man with a pig about to enter Siena—what might his intention be? Notice that the space of the countryside appears very orderly and peaceful.