Art history ruminations from a waterfowl. Honk honk. “The story
of the adulterous woman is taken from St. John’s Gospel in the
New Testament. In the biblical text, a woman caught in the act
of adultery has been brought to the Temple to be judged… Holding
the hand of the accused, Jesus is seen here declaring to the
scribes and Pharisees around him: ‘He that is without sin among
you, let him first cast a stone at her.’ The figure representing
Jesus bears the tell-tale physical traits of one of Cranach’s
northern German countrymen.” - National Gallery of Canada Lucas
Cranach the Elder Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, c.
1535-1540 Gaddi was a student of Giotto and he paints in a very
similar style except he had an obsession with studying the
effects of light. His work at the Baroncelli Chapel in Florence,
where this scene is from, is his best known art. Small ivory
devotional altars like this were popular for those who could
afford them throughout the medieval and early renaissance era.
They acted as a sor