Visual culture in the sacred spaces figurative representation. The Duccio di Buoninsegna’s Majesty cycle of stories

Abstract

Starting from the XIII century the figurative arts underwent a profound transformation. In fact, we can note the gradual passage of the use of mosaic to the pictorial representation on the table and then on the wall, initially used for the altar paintings and then in all the sacred works. The figurative arts begin to break away from a predominantly symbolic conception to arrive to a narrative communication. Therefore, one of the first elements of representative experimentation begins to be the architectural space (interior and/or exterior) where to set up scenes of a sacred nature. The present contribution offers the graphic analysis of the cycle of stories present on the back of the large table depicting the Majesty of Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1318) which constitutes the triumphal epilogue of the Siena artist itinerary.The ‘putting into shape’ of any iconographic apparatus (pictorial, engraved or graphical) depends fundamentally on the point of view from which one chooses to represent it. The determination of the latter is a function of distance from the representation framework; the direction of observation of the observer's height with respect to the station plan. With respect to this assumption, the present paper examines both the similarities and the differences that distinguish themselves in the use of different geometrical representation modalities for the staging of different spatial configurations that extract or immerse the observer in the context. Furthermore, graphic artifices designed to resolve points of incongruity obtained by the incorrect application of such codified methodologies which only in the following centuries are identified.The research has currently obtained the graphic analysis and the identification of the different methods of geometric representation.