The plague epidemic has left a lasting impression in the minds of the artists. At the end of the XIVth century the christianity revealed in the new secularised art is truggling with the eternal question: what happens to the body after death? Major art works of this period are no longer cathedrals or palaces, they are tombs. People want imposing resting places and funeral art evolves from a simple head stone to mausoleums and chapels in which the iconographies features rituals of death (such as embalming) and realistic representation of dead bodies. The centre of artistic innovation has shifted to Florence and to the Duchy of Burgundy. The most important signs of a change of direction in art occur in sculpture, with Claus Sluter in Dijon and Donatello in Florence. Major works featured in this episode include: Giotto’s frescos for the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, the mausoleum for Cardinal de la Grange, Donatello’s statue of St Georges and Sluter’s Well of Moses.
Credits: Director, Roland Darbois ; writers, Roger Stephane, Roland Darbois, photography, Roland Dantigny.
Cast: Narrated by Georges Duby.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000703
Language
English
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)