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Giotto di Bondone:
(1267?-1337), was the most important painter of the 1300's.
His realistic style
His realistic style revolutionized painting in Italy and became a strong
influence on the Renaissance masters of the 1400's.
Giotto's Works
At the time of Giotto's birth, Italian painters followed the medieval
Byzantine style, which portrayed subjects in a flat, unrealistic manner.
Giotto, on the other hand, painted solid, natural-looking forms. For
example, to show how light shines on an object in nature, he illuminated
one side of it in shadow. Giotto's Madonna Enthroned with Saints shows
some of the natural , lifelike qualities he introduced into the art of
his time.
The Ognissanti
Madonna
The painting, also called the Ognissanti Madonna, was painted for the
Church of the Ognissanti in Florence, Italy. Giotto painted the throne
of the Madonna "Virgin Mary" with open sides. He showed two bearded men
looking through the opening. In this way, Giotto increased the feeling
that the scene is not just a flat panel but realistically recedes into
space. However, Giotto followed the medieval of making the Madonna
larger than the saints and angels who surround her.
Scrovegni frescoes
Giotto's greatest achievement was the series of frescoes he painted
inside the Scrovegni, or Arena, Chapel in Padua. Most of these frescoes
are scenes from the lives of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The scenes show
Giotto's genius at painting natural and simple compositions that express
deep human emotions in a moving but restrained manner. Giotto's last
great surviving paintings are frescoes in the Bardi and Peruzzi chapels
in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence. In these works, Giotto used
more complicated compositions and a greater variety of Santa Croce in
Florence. In these works, Giotto used more complicated compositions and
a greater varity of subject matter than he did when he painted the
Scrovegni frescoes.
Architect
Giotto was also an architect. In 1334, he became chief architect of the
Cathedral of Florence. Giotto designed the campanile (bell tower) that
still stands beside the cathedral. For a picture of the cathedral and
tower.
His Life
Giotto, the son of a poor sheperd, was born in a village near Florence.
His real name was Giotto di Bondone. Scholars know little about Giotto's
early life or his beginnings as an artist. According to one story,
Giotto was watching his father's flock and sketching pictures of the
sheep on a rock with a piece of sharp stone.
Giovanni Cimabue
The famous Italian painter Giovanni Cimabue happened to be passing by
and saw him, The youth's talent impressed Cimabue so much that the
artist made Giotto his apprentice.
Saint Francis
The earliest surviving works definitely attributed to Giotto are the
Scrovegni frescoes, about 1305 to 1310. But he had become famous much
earlier. In the late 1200's, a cathedral was built at Assisi to honor
Saint Francis. The leading Italian artists were asked to paint frescoes
in cathedral. There is no definitive evidence that Giotto worked on the
project. But scholars believe he was commissioned to paint the most
important frescoes-those portraying scenes from the life of Saint
Francis.
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Giotto's works of art
§ "St. Francis" mourned by St. Clare before 1300 fresco Upper Church of
San Francesco at Assisi
§ "
The Doctors of the Church" before 1300 vault above the high altar at the
Upper Church of San Francesco at Assisi
§ "The Devils Cast Out of Arezzo" before 1300 fresco Upper Church of San
Francesco at Assisi
§ "Saint Francis Giving his Mantle to a Poor Man" before 1300 fresco
Upper Church of San Francesco at Assisi
§ "Scenes from the Life of the Virgin" 1303-05 fresco Arena Chapel at
Padua Italy
§ "Scenes from the Life of Christ.. Nativity" fresco Arena Chapel at
Padua Italy
§ "The Ascension" 1305-13 Fresco Arena Chapel at Padua Italy
§ "The Last Judgement" 1305-13 fresco Arena Chapel at Padua Italy
§ "Scenes from the Life of Joachim.. Expulsion of Joachim from the
Temple 1305-13 fresco Arena Chapel at Padua Italy
§ "Scenes from the Life of Joachim.. Joachim's Dream" 1305-13 fresco
Arena Chapel at Padua Italy
§ "Scenes from the Life of Joachim.. Joachim's Dream" 1305-13 fresco
Arena Chapel at Padua Italy
§ "Scenes from the Life of the Virgin.. The Flight into Egypt" 1304-13
fresco Arena Chapel at Padua Italy
§ "Scenes from the Life of the Virgin.. The Presentation at the Temple"
1305-13 fresco Arena Chapel at Padua
§ "The Madonna in Glory" 1310 Tempera on wood Galleria degli Uffizi in
Florence
§ "Pentecoste" 1300-10 Wood National Gallery London
§ "The Mourning of Christ" c. 1305 fresco Cappella dell'Arena Padua
§ "Stigmatization of St Francis" 1300 tempera on wood
Musée du Louvre Paris
§ "Madonna and Child" 1320-30 tempera on panel National Gallery of Art
Washington
§ "Ognissanti Madonna" c. 1310 tempera on wood Galleria degli Uffizi
Florence
§ "The Stefaneschi Triptych" c. 1330 tempera on panel
Pinacoteca Vatican
§ "Stories of Virgin Mary"
§ "Stories of Christ"
§ "Allegories of Virtues and Vices"
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