Virgin and Child,  from the Auvrgne region, France. c1150-1200 Oak with polychromy, height 31",  Metropolitan Museum of Art French Romanesque Greek Classic, Pheidias Pediment of the Parthenon Three Goddesses c438BCE	Detail of Pulpit from Pisa's Baptistry c1259 Italian Gothic, Mary as the "Throne of Wisdom" Also see the images from Chartres
Cimabue, Virgin and Child Enthroned,  from the Church of Santa Trinita, Florence c 1310. Tempera and gold on wood, 12' 7"x7'4" Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence	Giotto di Bondone, Virgin and Child Enthroned,  (Ognissanti Altar,) c 1310.  Tempera and gold on wood, 10'8"x6'8" Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Cimabue, Crucifix, 1268-71 Tempera on wood,  64,5 x 53 cm, San Domenico, Arezzo

 
Gothic and Late Gothic Paintings Altar or panel paintings (600's-1300's)

Patron
Guild and Apprentice System

How Paintings were commissioned and bought.

• The patron and artist negotiate the price.  The cost is established by how many figures are present in the painting, the size, the amount of gold leaf and the colors that are used.
• The artist orders a wood panel from a furniture maker. It is very important that the wood is "gassed out." This means the older the wood, the more petrified, the better. This can be the most expensive part.
• Panel is prepared by apprentices or an assistant by coating it with gesso.  Gesso is a mixture of chalk or calcium carbonate (marble dust) mixed with rabbit skin glue.
• Now the paint is made. For tempera, egg yolk is mixed with ground-up minerals (sometimes even semiprecious stones) to make a very durable paint.
• When all this is done and the painting is complete, there is a procession from the artist's studio to the church.