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Gothic Art
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ARCHITECTURE
Architecture in France
AVIGNON
Papal Palace, Avignon 1342-52
During the 14th century, the Papal Seat was centred at Avignon. As desired by Benedict XII. the main pontifical residence reflected the image of a castle-convent, characterized by turrets and high walls. The Palazzo Nuovo, commissioned in the middle of the century by Clement VI, conceived the interior as a sumptuous court, with salons, great stairways, and halls. Everywhere, decorations abounded with corbels, portals, and windows designed with great finesse. In these rooms and the adjoining chapels, the full flowering of the Avignon pictorial school could be found, with the refined realism of Matteo Giovannetti meeting the graphic elegance of French artists. Matteo, who painted the frescos between 1343 and 1347 in the chapels of San Marziale and San Giovanni, reproduced the strong Tuscan architectonic style of the early 14th century in a lively chromatic way. In many rooms, there were courtly scenes in elegant natural surroundings, in which every action and detail carried a moral message that ensured its popularity in ecclesiastical residences.
Paul Signac
The Papal Palace, Avignon
1900
Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France.
