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Giunta Pisano (also named Giunta da Pisa or Giunta Capitini) was an Italian painter. He is the earliest Italian painter whose name is found inscribed on an extant work. He is best known for his crucifixes.


Works

He is said to have exercised his art from 1202 to 1236. He may perhaps have been born towards 1180 in Pisa, and died in or soon after 1250, but other accounts give 1202 as the date of his birth, and the more probable date of 1258 or thereabouts for his death. There is some ground for thinking that his family name was Capiteno or Capitino. Giunta Pisano usually painted upon cloth stretched on wood and prepared with plaster. The inscribed work, referred to above, is also one of his earliest. It is the ''Crocefisso di San Raniero'', a crucifix, that hung for a long time in the kitchen of the convent of St Anne in
Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
. Other Pisan works of about the same date (as the one in
National Museum of San Matteo, Pisa The National Museum of San Matteo in Pisa (''Museo Nazionale di San Matteo'') displays works from historic ecclesiastical buildings in the city and Province of Pisa. Collections The works span from early medieval period to the 16th century. The co ...
) are very barbarous, and, some of them may be also from the hand of Giunta Pisano before he had achieved his virtuosity (such as S. Benedetto Crucifixion). A painting of a crucifixion (1236) for the High Altar of the upper church of Assisi no longer exists,'Giunta Pisano'
Encyclopædia Britannica online (part of article requires subscription to view).
but there exists an 18th-century engraving based on a copy of this portrait In the sacristy is a portrait of St Francis, also ascribed to Giunta; but it more probably belongs to the close of the 13th century. His masterpiece is the imposing Crucifix (1250) in the left transept of Basilica of Saint Dominic in
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, with the writing in Latin "''Cuius docta manus me pixit Junta Pisanus''" (painted by the learned or skilled hand of Giunta Pisano). It is still much influenced by the Byzantine style and represents one of the best examples of 13th-century Italian painting.


Influence

These crucifixes show that he initiated a new way of representing Christ, eventually substituting once and for all the traditional Byzantine image of Jesus serene though crucified (''Christus gloriosus'') with a Christ dying in agony (''Christus patiens''). This representation of Christ, and especially the crucifix in Basilica of St Dominic in Bologna, has much influenced
Cimabue Giovanni Cimabue ( , ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian p ...
, who would continue on this style and develop his own more emotional style (as seen in his Crucifix in
Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence The (Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is a minor basilica and the principal Franciscan church of Florence, Italy. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres southeast of the Duomo, on what was once marshland beyond ...
). Another thoroughly Giuntesque Crucifixion is the right wing of a
diptych A diptych (, ) is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by a hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world was a diptych consisting of a pair of such plates that contained a ...
from the
Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...
, found at the
Chicago Art Institute The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park. Its collection, stewarded by 11 curatoria ...
. A number of unknown Italian artists have been identified as members of Giunta's circle; among them are the
Master of the Blue Crucifixes The Master of the Blue Crucifixes was an Italian artist active either in the region of Umbria or Emilia during the middle of the thirteenth century. He is associated with the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi, and may have been an assistant o ...
, the
Master of the Treasury The master of the treasury or treasurerSegeš 2002, p. 316.Rady 2000, p. 113. (Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 80. or , ,Zsoldos 2011, p. 61. , or , )General Encyclopedia of the Yugoslav Lexicographical Institute, second edition, sixth volume SKA-ŽV. p 3 ...
, and Vicino da Pistoia. He appears to have influenced Rainaldetto di Ranuccio of Spoleto.Pinacoteca of Fabriano
website, painting of Rainaldetto di Ranuccio.


Gallery

Image:San Domenico39.jpg, Giunta Pisano, ''Crucifix in the Basilica of Saint Dominic,
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
'' Image:Giunta Pisano Crusifix.JPG, ''Crucifix in
National Museum of San Matteo, Pisa The National Museum of San Matteo in Pisa (''Museo Nazionale di San Matteo'') displays works from historic ecclesiastical buildings in the city and Province of Pisa. Collections The works span from early medieval period to the 16th century. The co ...
'' Image:Giunta Pisano. St Francisc.1260-70. Vatican. Pinacoteca.jpg, Giunta Pisano, '' St. Francis'',
Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...
File:Giunta Pisano - Crucifix - WGA09628.jpg, '' Crocifisso di Santa Maria degli Angeli'', Assisi


Notes


References

* * Benezit E., Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, 10 tomes; Librairie Gründ, Paris 1976; (in French) {{Authority control 13th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Tuscany Gothic painters