Maesta (Cimabue)
1280 · Louvre, Paris
Six angels stack up the sides of the throne against gold. Cimabue taught Giotto, and the throne here is just beginning to recede into space.
★ 7.3
Browse by time · century
13th century
1201 – 1300
Showing 9 artworks from the 13th century
Rucellai Madonna
1285 · Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Four and a half meters tall, the largest panel painted in its century, with six angels kneeling to steady a throne that seems to float.
★ 7.3
Crucifix
1288 · Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence
The Arno flood of 1966 stripped most of the paint off it, and the ruined cross became the emblem of the whole disaster.
★ 6.8
Madonna and Child (Duccio)
1300 · Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Christ reaches up to push his mother's veil aside. Scorch marks on the original frame record centuries of candles set before it.
★ 6.8
Madonna Enthroned
1290 · Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Four prophets peer from arches under the throne holding scrolls that foretell the Virgin Birth, and the throne is angled to suggest depth.
★ 6.6
Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata
1300 · Louvre, Paris
Golden rays come off a winged crucified figure in the sky and strike Francis in the hands, feet and side. Giotto signed this one.
★ 6.5
Saint Francis Preaching to the Birds
1299 · San Francesco Church (Assisi), Assisi
Two trees, a strip of ground, and a flock that stays to listen. Giotto tells the miracle as though it simply happened.
★ 6.3
Saint Francis Preaching to the Birds (Louvre)
1300 · Louvre, Paris
The same story at miniature scale, squeezed into a predella panel, and Giotto loses none of the plainness that made it convincing.
★ 5.7
The Flagellation of Christ (Cimabue)
1280 · The Frick Collection, New York City
No bigger than a page, and one of very few works securely given to Cimabue, whom Dante named the best painter of his day.
★ 4.0