Description of the Giotto fresco Kiss of Judas. Kiss of Judas - Giotto

The calmly solemn previous scenes of the Last Supper and the Washing of the Feet are followed by the pandemonium of the Kiss of Judas, in which Giotto reaches full artistic penetration. The fresco is unusually deep in content and psychological fullness of the images.

The fresco of the Kiss of Judas - one of the most famous and impressive paintings of the Arena Chapel in Padua - tells about the duel between good and evil, nobility and baseness. Against the background of the blue sky, among a tightly closed crowd, raised spears and torches, Christ and Judas hugging him are depicted in profile. They are separated from the mass minor characters a white wide cloak thrown over the shoulders of Judas.

They look into each other's eyes, the beautiful face of the Savior is contrasted with the low-browed, ugly traitor Judas. Giotto achieves hitherto unknown psychological depth in this dramatic scene. The heads of Christ and Judas are close to each other, and each reveals human character. The face of Jesus remains surprisingly calm, full of high nobility and moral greatness, this is the only area of ​​\u200b\u200bpeace in the very center of the emotional storm. Judas's face looks demonic, filled with base deceit. These are not individual portraits, but also not symbols, these are, as it were, images of the human race itself, affirming its greatness in the contrast of good and evil. The extraordinary expressiveness of the images in the composition is created precisely due to contrast.

Judas betrays Christ with his kiss, but Christ reads in the soul of Judas and triumphs over him with one glance. This is perhaps the first and perhaps the best depiction of a silent duel of views in the history of art - the most difficult for a painter. Giotto loved and knew how to convey silent, meaningful pauses, moments when the flow inner life as if it stops, having reached the highest climax. Giotto shows not the hypocritical kiss of Judas itself, but the minute preceding it. He still has the opportunity to turn his action into a misdemeanor; until the very last step, he can make a different choice.

The fresco is dominated by the massive figure of the traitorous disciple, extended by the parted cloak, repeating the gesture of embrace, the folds of the clothes and the priest's mantle drape the body, plunging it into shadow - this is one of the most impressive examples of the objectification of plastic mass achieved by Giotto.

The images of Giott's heroes occupy a special place in the art of the late Ducento; they are natural, devoid of pathos and endowed with moral greatness and integrity of feelings. The feelings of the characters are restrainedly expressed in the plasticity of gestures and glances, in the silent dialogue of Christ and Judas against the backdrop of only the blue sky.

All characters in Giotto's paintings they become participants in one dramatic event, they all contribute to the revelation of a single plan. Even the crossing spears of the guards, as background details, have extraordinary capacity. Giotto painted the weapons of the guards using the dry fresco technique, which was used to draw small parts, therefore many details of the guards’ weapons are poorly distinguishable. By placing in the foreground a kind of “living scenes” - minor characters, Giotto creates the impression of depth of space, in which the main action is moved away from the front edge of the picturesque field.

Thanks to the calculation of the so-called. "sutures day job“Researchers were able to find out that the master worked on the frescoes for 852 days.

“And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

He who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying: Whomever I kiss is He, take Him.

And immediately approaching Jesus, he said: Rejoice, Rabbi! And kissed Him.

Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” Then they came and laid their hands on Jesus and took Him.

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus, stretching out his hand, drew his sword, and striking the servant of the high priest, cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him: Return your sword to its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword;

or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will present to Me more than twelve legions of Angels?

How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that this must be so?

At that hour Jesus said to the people, “It is as if you came out against a thief with swords and staves to take Me; Every day I sat with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not take Me.

All this happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left Him and fled."

Gospel of Matthew 26:47-56. .

Biblical stories: The Kiss of Judas through the eyes of artists

Judas Iscariot. This biblical name and the story associated with it became a symbol of betrayal. Thirty pieces of silver, for which Judas agreed to tell about Jesus, is payment for this betrayal. All biblical stories have inspired representatives for two thousand years. different types art. The story of Judas, along with others, often appears on the canvases of artists.

History of the painting Caravaggio"The Kiss of Judas" is amazing in itself. The master painted it by order of Chiriaco Mattei in 1602. However, two centuries later the work disappeared. It was discovered quite recently, when in 1990 the painting was identified by the chief restorer of the National Gallery of Ireland, Sergio Benedetti. For a long time Caravgio's painting hung in the Society of Jesus, Dublin. It was considered a copy of a painting by the Dutch painter Gerard van Honthorst. The work is currently in National Gallery Ireland.

An Italian artist, one of the most prominent representatives of the Siena school, turns to the image of Judas Duccio di Buoninsegna. Main job The altar image of the Siena Cathedral "Maesta" is considered to be the master's. Its creation dates back to the beginning of the 14th century.

The betrayal of Jesus' disciple was included in the series of works "Great Passions" Albrecht Durer. On the engraving German painter and graphics we see how the Savior is taken into custody. Judas sits and stretches out next to him. There is suffering and pain on the face of Jesus, while the traitor nervously and hastily tries to explain himself to the teacher.

The Prado Museum in Madrid houses the Kiss of Judas, written by a representative of the Neapolitan school. Giordano Luca. The traitor peers into the face of Jesus with despair. But the eyes of the son of God are closed, his head is turned, his hand reaches to his heart.

On the fresco Giotto Di Bondone drama unfolds. Illustrating biblical story, the author uses all means artistic expression to emphasize the significance and greatness of Christ and contrast him with the ugliness and meanness of Judas. The artist confronts the high and the low, morality and its absence. The calm and confident gaze of Jesus meets the repulsive and unpleasant eyes of the traitor. Giotto enlivens the composition by surrounding the teacher and student, frozen in tension. Staticity and concentration in the center contrasts with the dynamics around.

"Kiss of Judas" The story of a treacherous betrayal by a student of his teacher. The depiction of this plot from the New Testament is often found on frescoes, psalters, and canvases. This story has been depicted more than once both before and after Giotto.

But Giotto’s “Kiss of Judas” (1303-1305) is special. The difference between his fresco and the works of his predecessors is colossal. Judge for yourself. Below is a miniature from a 12th century psalter.



Kiss of Judas Psalter of Melisende
Miniature “Kiss of Judas”. Psalter of Melisende. Jerusalem ( Byzantine Empire). 12th century (1131-1143). Stored in British Library, London

Flat figures. Faces instead of faces. The folds of clothing seem to live their own lives. An unnatural semicircle of people's heads. The characters seem to be hanging in the air. And the figures of St. Peter and the slave in the right corner of the picture are three times smaller than the other figures.

The fact is that the medieval master neglected the realism of the image. Since the physical world was much less important than the spiritual. The viewer had to focus only on the biblical story.

And this is the work of an older contemporary of Giotto. Guido da Siena. It was written 20 years before Giotto’s “Kiss of Judas”.

Guido da Siena. Kiss of Judas. 1275-1280
Stored in the National Pinacoteca of Siena, Italy

At least Guido da Siena's figures no longer hang in the air. But iconographic canons still clearly prevail. Faces instead of faces. Gold abstract background.

Imagine that similar works Giotto saw it. But by some miracle he was able to create something completely different. Look at his mural.

Giotto. Kiss of Judas. 1303-1305

For the first time, the artist makes the figures three-dimensional. The composition appears for the first time. For the first time we see real emotions. There are a lot of “firsts” like this.

How did he do it? Obviously, he must have had extraordinary thinking. One incident from his life confirms this.

Giotto's character
Vasari, a biographer of the Renaissance, writes about such a story from the life of the master.

One day, an envoy from the Pope came to Giotto. To borrow a couple of drawings from the artist. They would evaluate his skill. And they would decide whether it was worth inviting him to Rome. As you understand, fulfill orders Papal Court it was very prestigious.

Paolo Uccello. Giotto di Bondoni.
Fragment of the painting “Five Masters of the Florentine Renaissance.” Early 16th century. Louvre, Paris

After listening to the messenger, Giotto took a brush and painted it perfectly on a piece of paper smooth circle. He refused to hand over any other drawings. The messenger was sure that they were playing a joke on him. But still, I decided to leave the sheet with the circle in the stack of drawings by other artists.

In Rome, the artist’s skill was appreciated. Giotto carried out orders from the Pope and cardinals for several years.

This story reveals Giotto's character. He was a daring, brave, witty man. Clearly with an original outlook on life. This may explain his penchant for innovation.

Giotto and Cimabue

Let's compare Giotto's fresco with the work of his teacher Cimabue. He also made timid attempts to move away from iconographic canons. But in this the student clearly surpassed the teacher.

Cimabue. Kiss of Judas. 1277-1280
Fresco in the Church of San Francesco, Assisi, Italy

In Cimabue we already see the blue of the sky and elements of the landscape instead of an abstract golden background. The faces of those depicted are already more or less different from each other.

But still Cimabue is far from Giotto. His fresco does not contain Giotto's most important innovations. Emotions. And volume. And that means realism.

His figures are flat. Judas seems glued to Jesus. And he can’t even reach the ground with his feet. The face of Christ expresses nothing. The figures of St. Peter with a slave in the left corner of the fresco are very small compared to the other characters.

Giotto's innovations. Composition. Volume.

Now let's take another look at Giotto's fresco. To fully appreciate all his innovations.

Giotto creates a thoughtful composition. Composition center coincides with the center of the picture. These are the heads of Christ and Judas. Giotto highlights the center with the raised hand of the priest and the hand with the knife of St. Peter. If you mentally draw lines from their hands, then they will just converge on the heads of the main characters.

Before Giotto, composition was not even thought about. The main characters were placed in the middle. They were singled out large sizes or hovering above everyone else. Minor characters were depicted smaller or shorter.

Look how voluminous Giotto's figures are. The master boldly uses the technique of chiaroscuro. Of course, his figures are heavy and heavy. After all, at that time painters did not study human anatomy. But the draping of clothes is much more natural.

Silent dialogue between Christ and Judas

The faces of his heroes are individual. And most importantly, they express emotions. Just look at the silent dialogue between Christ and Judas.

These are no longer just frozen faces. These are two very different faces. Two different views. Noble face Christ. Ugly face Judas. Strength of spirit and acceptance of your destiny alone. The weakness and treachery of another.

By agreement with the guards, Judas was supposed to point to Christ with his kiss. He did not point at it from afar, so as not to be confused with another in the dark.

However, Giotto does not show the kiss itself. It shows the moment a second before. Judas extended his face to the face of Christ. And then there's a pause...

Their gazes met. It’s as if we see Judas’s little eyes running over the face of Christ. He is looking for something in the teacher's face. He is waiting for some kind of reaction. Perhaps condemnation or disgust. But he doesn't find it. Christ does not answer him.

He looks calm. There is nothing in his gaze that a traitor expects. He doesn't stoop to his level. He's above that.

Giotto managed to show this clash between the high and the low very expressively.

Saint Peter and the slave with the cut off ear

Now look at the figures of St. Peter and the slave. And remember how Giotto’s predecessors portrayed them.

Giotto. Kiss of Judas. 1303-1305
Fresco in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy

Their figures are normal sizes. They are harmoniously integrated into the composition. We believe that St. Peter is trying to rush to the defense of Christ. He pulled out a knife to stab Judas. But he cut off the ear of the person who came under his arm. It is no longer just stuck somewhere on the side. He's in the crowd. He is angry.

Other characters and hidden symbols

Giotto. Kiss of Judas. 1303-1305 Fresco in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy

Another unusual moment. This is how Giotto conveys the tension of people. Pay attention to the soldier in a black helmet and a red cloak. He leaned forward all over. He doesn't even notice that he stepped on the foot of the person walking behind him. And he is also so focused that he does not notice the pain.

Giotto brings another beautiful element to his creation. In the background, a man raised his horn and blew. This means a quick ascension to Paradise.

That is, Judas has not yet had time to kiss Christ, and the angel is already trumpeting his resurrection. All the upcoming sufferings of Christ seem to flash before our eyes. From kiss to resurrection. Extraordinary.

Giotto is considered the father of the Renaissance. Before him there were centuries of icon painting. When a person was unworthy realistic image. And suddenly such a breakthrough in the person of one master! For Giotto, man is the main character. It is precisely this centricity of man that will be the main feature of the Renaissance.

True, this will happen only in a couple of centuries. But why the Renaissance did not come immediately after Giotto, read the article “Frescoes by Giotto. Between the icon and the realism of the Renaissance." In the same article you will find another very interesting fact about the fresco “Kiss of Judas”.

Paola Volkova. Bridge over the abyss. Giotto. Kiss of Judas

Giotto - Kiss of Judas
ALPATOV M.V.

In Padua, where on the foundations of a Roman theater in 1305 a rich merchant built the Arena Chapel, which is also called the Scrovegni Chapel after the customer, the great Florentine Giotto di Bondone created frescoes that determined the path further development painting in Europe. A type of wall panel was created here, which from now on becomes the main decorative and compositional theme monumental painting era, later called by historians the Renaissance. Giotto, born around 1266, came, according to legend, from a peasant or artisan background. This is probably why viewers first saw the faces and squat figures of common people in the paintings based on scenes from the lives of Christ and Mary. His heroes were decidedly different from the conventional and refined characters of Byzantine and Gothic art.

Today these paintings, with their dense, stocky figures and spare landscape backgrounds, may seem archaic in their naive narrative, but then, at the turn of the Middle Ages and modern times, they were a bold innovation. Giotto destroyed the iconographic rigidity of the figures, he made them move, gesticulate, express their passion, bitterness, anger and delight. Spatial depth appeared for the first time in his compositions, and the volumes of figures were energetically modeled using chiaroscuro. In a word, Giotto was an artist who awakened the interest of Italian art masters in constructing real volume and space - a certain stage area, to which he brought out his humanized heroes.

IN " Kiss of Judas “Giotto acts as the true director of the tragic plot of the gospel story: a student’s betrayal of his teacher. Same as on theater stage, where the second exists independent life, in Giotto’s fresco, in the enclosed space of the composition, the magic of art is performed, which makes the viewer believe in this second world, as convincing as life itself. Judas, hypocritically embracing his teacher, led the guards to arrest Christ. IN blue sky the fire of torches is blazing, the flickering rhythm of raised lances and clubs gives the scene an alarming emotional coloring. The excitement of the crowd only emphasizes the hidden power of the dramatic tension of the central group. Judas has already betrayed, Christ knows that he has been betrayed! Judas brings his lips closer to the teacher’s lips, and the contrast of their faces is striking. Christ calmly and simply looks into the eyes of the one whose name will become a symbol of treachery and human baseness. The tension is rising. It seems that the space between the clear, almost antique profile of Christ and the ape-like face of Judas is charged with electricity. Opposites collided - high and low, moral and immoral, black and white. Giotto, through the means of painting, managed to convey the whole sea in the silent dialogue of Christ and Judas human feelings- the very path of the origin and development of thought: disbelief, replaced by insight, and then a calm awareness of one’s rightness. Giotto was able to show how interlocutors open up to each other in just their glances, gestures, thoughts, not yet expressed in words. In this sharp dialogue, simply and artlessly captured on the fresco, human meaning legends, as for Giotto history: Christ is moral feat, the victory of the individual over himself and his fate. Giotto makes the viewer worry, indignant, believe. He strives by all means to enliven the scene; the artist turns the figures in profile and with their backs, brings them closer and leads them into the depths, as if inviting the viewer to enter the world of the fresco, take a place to the right or left of Christ and determine his moral position.
In the images of Giotto, earthly man, filled with consciousness of his own dignity, again became glorious theme visual arts. Thus, creating typical, truly folk images, Giotto, like his great contemporary Dante Alighieri, rebuilt the relationship between the artist, the church, society and the individual. In his light, light frescoes, striking with the harmony of blue, pink and ocher colors, an ancient legend acquired a new existence and divine deeds became human.
Author- M. V. ALPATOV
smirnova.net

Giotto di Bondone, these are the lines of the poet Arseny Tarkovsky:

I'm a man, I'm in the middle of the world,

Behind me are myriads of ciliates,

There are myriads of stars in front of me.

I lay down between them at my full height -

Two shores connecting sea,

A bridge connecting two cosmos.

These words characterize not only the writer, but also the entire era in which he lived. Giotto's paintings are the very bridge that connected two stages in the art of painting.

Founder of modern painting

Giotto lived at the turn of two centuries - the 13th and 14th. Exactly the middle of his life fell on this period, and this era throughout world culture is usually called the era of Dante and Giotto. They were contemporaries.

The philosopher Merab Mamardashvili once said about Giotto’s paintings: “Giotto has reached transcendental zero.” This complex phrase made many laugh at one time. But if you think about it, it’s still impossible to say more precisely. After all, Giotto as an artist started from scratch.

Paintings by Giotto with titles other than Padua, Florence and the Vatican are in the collection catalogs of museums such as Jacquemart-André and the Louvre in France, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and Raleigh (the University of North Carolina), Paris, Germany and the UK .

Before him in European world the icon or Byzantine painting was adopted. Giotto di Bondone's paintings with titles based on biblical scenes speak for themselves. But these are by no means icons. This is the famous “Ognisanti Madonna”, stored in the Uffizi, and Giotto’s painting “The Flight into Egypt”.

Giving biblical characters physicality

Biographer Italian artists tells us a legend that existed at that time: Giotto was a student of the artist Cimabue. And in the Uffizi Museum there are two paintings hanging next to each other, two Madonnas - the Cimabue Madonna and the Giotto Madonna.

When you look at both Madonnas and compare them, even if you know nothing about art, you see the difference not only between two artists, but also between two eras, between two completely different principles. You see the absolute difference. You understand that they perceive this world completely differently.

Cimabue's paintings are unusually refined and elegant; one can say that he is not just a Byzantine, medieval, but a Gothic artist. His Madonna is ethereal, amazingly beautiful, decorative. Long fingers Long hands do not hold the baby, but make a sign that they are holding it. Her face conveys accepted in Byzantine painting Eastern canon: narrow face, long eyes, thin nose, sadness in the eyes.

This is a flat, ethereal canonical conventional painting of an icon, a face. Not a face, not a personality type, but a face.

And next to it hangs an icon, or, let’s say, a painting, of Giotto. On a throne, an inlaid throne, a beautiful throne, in a style that was only then accepted, only then coming into fashion. This is marble inlay. A woman is sitting, broad-shouldered, powerful, young, with a blush all over her cheek. He holds the baby tightly in his hands. Beautiful White shirt. The body emphasizes her power. And she looks at us calmly. There is no suffering in her face. It is full of high human dignity and peace. This is no longer the Madonna, not the icon of the Virgin Mary. This is Madonna in Italian later sense and understanding of this plot. That is, this is both Mary and the Beautiful Lady.

It is safe to say that what Giotto did in painting lasted in European fine arts before impressionism. It was Giotto who created what is on modern language called composition. What is composition? This is how the artist sees the plot, how he imagines it. He acts as a witness, a participant in the event. He creates the illusion that he was personally there.

Involvement in the action of the plot

That is, the artist himself is the screenwriter, director and actor of his films. His creations are a kind of theater in which actors act, and he, the artist, directs these actors. "I was there! I give you my word, I was present, and it was so,” Giotto practically says with his creations. Well, is it conceivable for the medieval consciousness to say such a thing!

Giotto appears to us as a person who is responsible for what he writes. And his paintings, in particular, “The Kiss of Judas” and “Flight into Egypt,” were written by an eyewitness to the action.

Fresco painted by the artist himself

Around 1303, Giotto received a wonderful offer - an order to paint a small church that was built in the city of Padua in the Roman Arena. Joto's biographer, or rather one of his biographers, Giorgio Vasari, leaves very interesting information. He says that Giotto came to paint the Padua church, slightly ahead of his company, that is, his comrades. Just as in the Middle Ages Andrei Rublev painted his comrades, in the same way in the West churches were painted by an artist with big name, comrades, that is, with his artistic team. “The Kiss of Judas” is a fresco that he painted himself. In all likelihood, this is one of his few absolutely original works, like Rublev’s “Trinity,” and it really reveals Giotto’s personality very fully.

“The Kiss of Judas”: description of the painting

And when we look at the fresco “The Kiss of Judas,” we immediately highlight the center of the composition with our eyes. Major events take place in this center dramatic events. We see how Judas, embracing Christ, absorbs him. And these two figures are central. We see on the right how the high priest of the Jerusalem temple entered. He points his finger at Christ. And on the left we see the Apostle Peter, who, although he denied three times while the rooster crowed three times, still pulled out a bread knife and cut off his ear. We see how he rushes at Judas with this knife, but the crowd blocks his path, and if we follow the direction of the high priest’s hand and the direction of the knife, we will find that these lines converge above Judas’s cloak, just on their faces. Therefore, we can say that the center of the composition is not even two figures joined together, but two faces. It is from this point of view that it is interesting to read this composition.

Energy and tension

They always talk about Giotto with some irony: “What did Giotto discover?” For example, in Fellini’s Amarcord, when the art teacher at school asks about what Giotto created, the students shout in unison: “Perspective.” This is very funny. After all, Giotto did not create any perspective. This is an incorrect statement. He did not create perspective, but another space in the picture, where space should be understood as the action unfolding in front of the viewer.

Take a look at the Kiss of Judas fresco. There's a crowd of people there. And this crowd entered the night. Across the dark sky there are torches burning left and right. You feel movement against the sky. These lights and flames fluctuate across the dark sky, you feel the excitement and electricity of the crowd. What's interesting about the crowd? That she is by no means indifferent. In this crowd, if you look carefully, almost every participant is developed. There are simply incredibly conveyed states there.

Multi-temporality

Giotto was the first, but also the last. He, as they say, not only set, but also decided great amount tasks, not just by creating the composition “I, Giotto, I see this dramatic solution like this: here are my characters, here is my choir!”, but when he worked it out psychologically, when he still shows multi-temporality in one action.

Each of his frescoes causes great amazement, and even bewilderment. How did a person, in one life, without precedents, as they say, reach a transcendental zero, create with clean slate modern european art, composition as a temporary action, as a cause-and-effect relationship, saturating it with multitemporality and a very large number of psychological shades?

Conclusion

In this article, we examined in more or less detail only two paintings by Giotto with the titles “The Kiss of Judas” and “The Ognisanti Madonna.” You can admire the master’s works endlessly. You can look at them for hours, but also whole life it is not enough to tell about all the creations of Giotto di Bondone, whose paintings were both valued by time and remained in time. They are all creatures greatest artist and a man who started from scratch.