An Iconographic and Semiological Reading of “Lamentation” by Giotto

Abstract

The narrative of the Lamentation over Dead Christ, recounted specificallyin the late medieval religious literature and not mentioned in canonicalGospels, finds its most striking visual equivalent in Giotto’s frescoes inthe Arena Chapel (1304-6), as the precursor of a new mode of representationin Western art. The artist’s concept of depicting the subject announcesa break from the preceding canon. Focusing on the innovation in the representation of the Lamentation, this study aims to present an iconographicand semiological dual reading in the context of an analysis of the layers ofmeaning in the scene.