Hall Of Fame

Ten people who, through their power, influence, ambition and skill, shaped the artworks of the European Middle Ages

Makers of the Gothic movement

The tabernacle of Orsanmichele, Florence, has at least 117 figural reliefs and statues, including scenes of the life of the Virgin. Giotto was appointed as capomaestro of Florence Cathedral in 1334, where he designed and partly oversaw the construction of its campanile.

Abbot Suger of Saint-denis Northern France c.1081-1151

Although not a great theologian or designer, Suger is inexorably linked with the development of Gothic architecture and an early appreciator of its aesthetics. Of obscure background, in 1091 aged ten he joined the monastery of Saint-denis near Paris and was appointed abbot in 1122. Suger’s flair for administration made him the ideal figure to oversee the logistics of rebuilding his abbey, and is depicted multiple times in the stained glass. The consecration of the new church in 1141 inspired bishops and their chapters all around France to rebuild their cathedrals with glazed clerestories supported by flying buttresses.

MICHAEL OF CANTERBURY KENT, ENGLAND, C.1275-C.1321

An architect, his gatehouse for the abbey of St Augustine in Canterbury (c.1308) demonstrates his knowledge of French Rayonnant forms and his deployment of multiple contrasting modes on a single monument. He was one of the masters who worked on the series of Eleanor Crosses in memory of the queen of King Edward I, although his cross at Cheapside is lost. His most influential work was the chapel at the Palace of Westminster, mostly destroyed in the fire of 1834.

Florence, Italy c.1315-68 GIOTTO DI BONDONE VESPIGNANO, ITALY C.1267 OR 1276 – 1337

Somewhat of a celebrity of his time and considered to be the first of the great Italian masters, the actual path of Giotto di Bondone’s rise to fame is difficult to trace. It is most likely that he trained in Rome, where he was commissioned by Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi to make the Navicella mosaic for the courtyard in front of the basilica of Old St Peter’s, possibly for the jubilee of 1300. His masterwork, the Scrovegni Chapel at Padua, was completed in 1303-5. Di Bondone’s works paved the way for the Renaissance style.

Andrea di Cione

Andrea di Cione, often called ‘Orcagna’, was perhaps the most important artist in Florence working after the Black Death of 1348. He was primarily a painter, but his most important work is the tabernacle of Orsanmichele, commissioned 1352 by a religious fraternity to hold a miracle-working painting. Orcagna joined the guild of stonemasons to take the commission. From 1357 he became capomaestro for the cathedral, realising one of the largest churches in the world.