Gothic 1280-1510
The Gothic style began in the 12th century when Europe was putting the memory of the Dark Ages behind it and moving into a new era of prosperity and confidence. This era spanned more than two hundred years, starting in Italy and then spreading to the rest of Europe. The term "Gothic" denotes a period of time rather than describing a set of recognizable characteristics of the style. Early in the period, art was produced chiefly for religious purposes, mainly to use as teaching aids to make Christianity visible to illiterate populations. Near the end of this era some artists resisted the Renaissance influences and kept to the Gothic traditions. As a result the Gothic era overlaps the Italian and Northern Renaissance periods.

Duccio di Buoninsegna active 1278-1319
An Italian painter who broke from the conventions of the Byzantine school by giving his figures more volume, an epic sense of scale, and a bold simplicity. Sienese painters who followed him were often content to remain detached from the search for more natural forms of representation which was being pursued in Florence and elsewhere. His greatest work was the Maestá which he was commissioned to paint in 1308.
Rucellai Madonna

Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew

Maesta (front view)

Maesta (reverse view)

Temptation of Christ on the Mountain

Giotto di Bondone 1266-1337
Giotto was the king of the proto-renaissance, he was the man who invented modern painting. He was a child prodigy and as the story goes he was discovered by his teacher while tending sheep and doodling realistic scenes on a rock. He was a keen entrepreneur and cornered the market on pigs' bristles and made fabulous brushes that made him rich. His two best known works are the frescoes in the church of St Francis in Assisi and the Arena Chapel in Padua.

Poor Clares Mourn the Death of St Francis
Crucifix

Madonna and Child Unthroned

Betrayal of Christ

Lamentation