In the Resurrection of Christ (fig. r) Giotto has placed two angels instead of one on the open sepulchre; this license is not so great, how ever, as that of turning a rock-cut tomb into a sarcophagus. On the right Christ is represented iu the act of forbidding the kneeling Magdalene to touch him. Among the symbolical figures in the Arena Chapel we select the two symbols of Faith and Idolatry (fig. 3). Faith is a tall and majestic female figure, holding the cross in her right hand, and in her left a scroll inscribed with her profession of faith. At her belt hangs the key of heaven. Idolatry is a repulsive-looking male figure, whom the fire of hell stands ready to devour. Around his neck is a halter, held by an idol which he raises aloft in his hand.
The School of Giotto Orcagna. —Giotto had many pupils and followers, and his influence lasted a century. Among those who acquired most fame were Taddeo Gaddi, Maso, Giovanni da Milano, and, greatest of all, Andrea While, as a rule, the followers of Giotto fall far short of their master's excellence and show a regular degradation as the four teenth century progresses, Orcagna alone rises superior to all, including even Giotto, and Woltinann rightly remarks: " For the study of the figure Orcagna did all that was possible within the limits of his epoch; he is more assured than other men of his time in the rendering of the extremities, so that his figures walk and stand with unusual firmness; and he evLn ventures on bold foreshortenings, although he had no proper the oretical knowledge of perspective. He also advanced a long step in the treatment of shadow, attaining thereby an increase of solidity; but, above all, lie had mastered the life of the soul, and knew how to express energy no less than tenderness." As a religious painter he excels Giotto: he is more refined and full of sentiment.
Sienese School: Simone di most important acquisition to the history of Italian painting has been the recognition of the par amount importance of the early Sienese school, which may be said to equal, if not to surpass, the Florentine up to the close of the fourteenth century. We have seen in Duccio the rival of Ciivabne, and now Giotto's competitor stands forth in the person of Simone di Martino (1284-1344), until lately called Simone Memmi, so highly praised by Petrareh. The Sienese school has not the same naturalistic tendencies as the Florentine; it retains a highly religious and ideal character. The portraits of Pelrarch and Laura (pl. 29, 4, 5) give but an imperfect idea of the style of Simone, which is shown iu all its beauty in the frescos of the Palazzo Pubblico at Siena.
Frescos in the Campo Santo at Campo Santo at Pisa is a sanc tuary of art and one of the most interesting edifices of the Middle Ages. It was erected by Giovanni Pisano in the round Gothic style of which the cathedrals of Siena and Orvieto are examples, and was finished between 127S and 12S3. It consists of a vast quadrangle, the open burial-ground
being surrounded by a wide gallery the broad expanse of whose walls was well suited to a magnificent series of monumental frescos. Artists were invited crow all sides to decorate these walls, and a great part of their work remains, showing, however defaced, that with one exception none of these artists were great masters.
The exception, however, is of great importance, for the unknown master who painted the Triumph of Dcalh (j. 6) and the Las/Judgment yields to none of the successors of Giotto in ability and dramatic power. Ills imagination evidently delighted in the grim contrasts with \ vhich his Triumph of Dealh abounds. The composition is divided into two parts. On the left a gorgeous procession of nobles, with their suite, are returning from the chase with hounds and falcons, and stop suddenly in terror before three open tombs in which lie bodies in various stages of dissolution. Mingled curiosity and horror are depicted on the counte nances of the spectators, while the moral of the fable is given by a hermit who stands there with open scroll warning them to repent. In the dis tance the peaceful life of the hermits in the desert is represented, in con trast to the gay life of the world.
On the right a similar lesson is taught. On the ground lies a heap of dead bodies—kings and queens, warriors, nobles, bishops, and monks— whose souls, flying out in the form of naked children, are caught up by angels or demons. All are victims of the grim figure of Death, a hideous hag who hovers over them wielding a scythe and sparing none but the poor, the lame, the halt, and the blind, who, tired of life, stretch out their arms, imploring her to come to their relief. But she directs her flight toward a gay and festive group of gallants and fair ladies who are seated in a bower of trees listening to the soft strains of music, caressing falcons and lap-dogs, and holding sweet converse all-unconscious of the fearful doom that awaits them. Above, two angels are hovering with inverted torches. The atmosphere is filled with figures of angels and demons flying to and fro on their mission of saving or damning souls; and the damned are in the large majority.
Decay of Me Giottesque School and Gothic the close of the fourteenth century approaches, the decay of the schools of painting that had arisen at its beginning in Florence and Siena becomes very evident. Instead of rising to a greater height than that to which Giotto had attained, there had been a steady decline. We now reach the period of the Renaissance, during which painting became subject to another radical change, as will appear in the next section.