Saint Stephen

Giotto 1267–1337

Saint Stephen (1320) by Giotto. Its palette is led by light amber (#ba9855, 39%) and amber (#9b7540, 24%), with accents of dark rich brown, bone, scarlet orange and very dark reddish brown. Overall the canvas is light, vivid and warm.

Color note

Giotto gave painting solid figures in real space. In the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua (c. 1305) his scenes sit beneath a deep blue vault scattered with gold stars.

Palette

#ba9855 MG 033 light amber 39.2% of canvas
#9b7540 MG 034 amber 24.1% of canvas
#835e32 MG 161 rich scarlet brown 12.9% of canvas
#b12318 MG 019 scarlet red 6.7% of canvas
#67331b MG 160 dark rich brown 6.4% of canvas
#d7c9a3 MG 171 bone 6.4% of canvas
#b45a2e MG 026 scarlet orange 2.8% of canvas
#2d160a MG 157 very dark reddish brown 1.5% of canvas

Color families

Yellow 51%, Brown 36%, Red 8%, Orange 4%, White 1%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.61
Contrast: 0.37
Vividness: 0.093
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 172 cells
Hue range: 0.33
Focus: 0.00

Composition

51% of the visual weight is in the right half, 55% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.70 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 20% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 31% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1320
Medium: Tempera on panel
Size: 84.0 × 54.0 cm
Genre: religious art
Collection: Museo Horne, Florence

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More by Giotto

St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, c. 1297
Flight into Egypt, 1305
Madonna Enthroned, 1300–1309