Editing Italian art (section)

=== Duecento ===
{{Main|Duecento}}
[[File:San Francesco Cimabue.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Cimabue]]'s ''[[Maestà]]'', [[Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi|Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi]], {{circa|1290}}]]

Duecento is the Italian term referring to the 13th century, a formative period in Italian cultural and artistic history. During this time, [[Gothic architecture]], which had originated in northern Europe, began to spread into Italy, particularly in the northern regions. However, Italian Gothic developed distinctive local variations, often more restrained and less vertically ambitious than its northern counterparts.

Two major religious orders—the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], founded by [[Saint Dominic]], and the [[Franciscan Order|Franciscans]], founded by [[Francis of Assisi]]—gained widespread popularity and financial support in this period. These mendicant orders undertook extensive church-building projects, often adopting simplified versions of Gothic architecture suited to their preaching missions and vows of poverty.

The use of large-scale [[fresco]] cycles became widespread during the Duecento, as frescoes were both cost-effective and useful for conveying religious narratives to largely illiterate congregations. A landmark example is the [[Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi]], a complex structure comprising two superimposed churches built on a hillside and begun shortly after Francis's canonization in 1228. The basilica was adorned with frescoes by many of the leading painters of the period, including [[Cimabue]], [[Giotto di Bondone|Giotto]], [[Simone Martini]], [[Pietro Lorenzetti]], and possibly [[Pietro Cavallini]].

These artistic developments laid the groundwork for the innovations of the [[Trecento]] and the later [[Italian Renaissance]].