Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia Italian the greatest Byzantine Style Painter of the Sienese School

Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia

1403-1483

Early Renaissance Italian Painter of the Sienese School

Influences: Taddeo di Bartolo, Simone Martini, Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Duccio di Buoninsegna

Mediums - panel painting, frescoes and manuscript illumination

Cause of Death - old age, he was 80

The Nativity

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Expulsion from Paradise

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Biography of the Artist and Information About His Biblically Themed Style

Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia had a romantic concept of God and man. He believed the bible should be the sole source of inspiration for artistic expression. He avoided dazzling contrasts; his edges were smooth. The Sienna School was the part of a vibrant, rich tradition that epitomized Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia's living and painting style. His style was typified by a certain whimsical enthusiasm, and carefully articulated composition. Giovanni's paintings became prized by the church and royal court for their unique style of religious mystery and fantastic exuberance. His art was intensely individual, intensely human, and overall intensely spiritual. Church commissioned paintings created during the Early Renaissance period were the work of artists permeated with religious consciousness and with the fervent comprehension of the omniscience and omnipresence of their God. Giovanni explored in his art a new world of emotion and passion, but with a lyricism and sensitivity to color that became the personified Sienese painting. His greatest masterpieces reflect his search for mans connection with Christ: in his vision, his material, and himself.

His subjects, like his predecessors, are all religious – the Virgin Mary, the Life of Christ, the Apostles, Angeles and the Life of St. Francis.

Key Descriptive Words and Phrases associated with the Renaissance Movement - rebirth, rediscovery of the classical world, publication of Della Pittura, a book about the laws of mathematical perspective for artists, sfumato, chiaroscuro, Savonarola, spiritually significant, illuminated manuscript, idealized biblical themes, scriptorium, illuminator, Age of Discovery, axonometric drawing, curiosity about the natural world, realistic use of colours and light, Bonfire of the Vanities, Old Testament stories, ethereal and foggy backgrounds, Gospel parables, The Blackdeath, romanticized landscapes, Christian symbolism.

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