As Duecento, the 13th century is described in literature and art in Italy. What is meant here is, above all, the time of the Protestant Renaissance, that is, the predecessors of the Renaissance, which were reflected in art and architecture, as well as the tendencies which they favored. For the first time the ancient models, which then became the central motif in the Renaissance, were imitated. In terms of architecture, this is mainly due to the marble cladding of buildings, with Italian gothic flourishing during this period. There is a new self-awareness in the literature, which led to Italian authors writing in their language for the first time. Other centuries that revolve around the Italian Renaissance are described by art historians as Duecento, Trecento, Quattrocento, Cinquecento, and Seicento (cf. Literaturepochen).
The term goes back to the Italian numerator duecento, which literally translates as two hundred. Consequently, this is a form of shortening, since the term in fact means mille duecento, and consequently the year 1200 and therefore the 13th century (1200-1299) in Italy.
In this century, numerous innovative economic ideas were born in Italy, with the exception of the artistic one. In DueCento, accountancy, first stock corporations, banking, the foreign exchange market developed. The center of these financial and economic developments is the Italian Florence, where the Florin – gold coins that were coined in Florence from 1252 to 1533 – became the main currency of international trade.
Italy was, therefore, an important economic location, so many poets and thinkers came to Italy, producing all sorts of ideas and works. These favorable conditions in the Italian Duecento ensured that numerous ideas could be created, and the predecessors of the Renaissance as well as the flourishing of the Gothic were favored.
Architecture in Duecento
In the early Duecento it was above all the Italian Gothic, whose characteristics influenced the buildings of the time. Buildings of this kind can be found all over Italy, although Tuscany is one of the areas most architectural buildings of that time.
In contrast to other countries whose gothic style was characterized above all by high-rise rooms, large-scale breakthroughs of the walls with large tracery windows, open strutwork and rich buildup, large figures portals and double tower façades, the ialienian builders used clear and straight construction very large, often richly painted wall surfaces and lower and often wide rooms, the exterior buildings being rather simple.
The principal and most important monuments are: the Sanctuary of San Francesco in Assisi (1228-1253), the church of Santa Maria della Spina in Pisa (1230), the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua (1290), and the five- Bologna (1393-1479), which is the fifth-largest church in the world.
What is nowadays known as the Protorenaissance can be seen in the Duecento. In architecture, this means, in particular, that buildings have been increasingly clad in marble, which is clearly an imitation of the ancient models. Amongst others, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is a typical example of this architecture built between Duecento and Quattrocento.
Literature in the Duecento
The literature in the 13th century in Italy was characterized above all by the fact that Italian authors began to write in their own language, that is, Italian. Consequently, in addition to Greek and Latin texts, works were first made in Italian, which favors the later development in the actual Renaissance. In lyric poetry the punch was a popular form.
Another characteristic feature of the Duecento is the fact that the flow of Italian literature developed: the dolce stil nuovo. This is characterized above all by his love affair. Here, with the help of numerous symbols and metaphors, love was enormously increased and considered a divine force, taking into account the Platonic ideas of doctrine and courtly-literary views. Another new feature is that the poet represented female beauty and its effect on the soul of the writer. Guido Guinizelli, Cino da Pistoia, as well as Dante Alighieri, are the main representatives.
Art in Duecento
The art and, above all, painting was influenced mainly by two masters: Cimabue, a Florentine painter and mosaic artist, and Duccio di Buoninsegna, an Italian painter. Their works were mostly religious and were found on altars, such as the numerous representations of the Madonna (the mother of Jesus) as well as the Jesus child himself.
Another representative of this period is Giotto di Bondone, who is considered the decisive pioneer of the Renaissance. He was discovered by Cimabue while drawing his sheep, his style being characterized by an enormous detail. Here, the fundamental idea of the renaissance is already evident, that an artistic genius is already born as such. An anecdote states that Giotto once painted a fly on a masterpiece of the Ciambues, which looked so real that the master tried to hunt them off the screen and only after some time noticed that it was just an illusion.
It is also the most important aspect of Giotto’s work: his art, which originated in the Italian Duecento, was characterized by a high naturalness and liveliness of the figures, even though Giotto mainly worked on religious themes in his works. As an example of his art, the following section of the Adoration of the Magi can be found in the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua. There are numerous frescoes by Giotto di Bondone.