Who Is Giotto?

Learn About the Life and Art of the

Father of the Renaissance
By Margherita Cole on January 20, 2020
The Italian Renaissance is regarded as one of the most vibrant periods in western art history.
Artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo created highly realistic works that emphasized
a renewed interest in anatomy and proportion. To find the catalyst for this remarkable change, one
has to look back to a painter from the Proto-Renaissance period named Giotto.

At a time when the Byzantine style of flat, stylized compositions dominated Italy, Giotto based
his art on life. His naturalistic paintings set the foundation for successors like Botticelli and
Michelangelo. So much so that Giotto is often regarded as the father of the Italian Renaissance,
and even the father of European painting.

Here, we explore Giotto's mythic life and the development of his naturalist style.

Figura 1Stock Photos from EQRoy/Shutterstock

E ARL Y LI FE

Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267-1337) was estimated to have been born around the year 1267 near
Florence. According to myth, Giotto was raised in the countryside as a young shepherd, where he
often drew pictures of sheep on the ground. The story goes that one day, the esteemed Byzantine-
style painter Cimabue spotted Giotto's talent and offered him an apprenticeship.

The Renaissance historian Vasari writes many allegorical examples of Giotto's prodigious talent.
In one incident, Giotto painted a fly on the wall that was so realistic, Cimabue tried in vain to
brush it off. In another, Giotto demonstrated his skill to the current pope by drawing a perfect
circle without the use of any tool. Although the accuracy of these episodes is dubious, it is true
that Giotto's skills surpassed his tutor after not too long, and he established himself as a dominant
painter.
 Figura 2Cimabue, “Maesta of Santa Trinita,” c. 1280-90. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain])

T HE S CRO VEG NI CH APEL

Between 1303 and 1310, Giotto produced his most famous work inside the Scrovegni Chapel in
Padua. His frescoes were divided into 37 narrative scenes which focused on the theme of Salvation
and emphasized the Virgin Mary. He arranged the cycle into 3 tiers on the walls and placed the
painting of The Last Judgement on the counterfacade. The entire decoration of the Scrovegni
Chapel is unified by Giotto's heavy use of the expensive ultramarine blue—although much of it
has decayed over time.
 Figura 3 Stock Photos from EQRoy/Shutterstock

ST YLE

Unlike his tutor Cimabue, Giotto did not follow the Byzantine style, in which figures were stylized
and floating. Instead, he drew from life—imbuing his characters with emotion and realism. Even
the figures' clothes have naturalistic drapery. Additionally, Giotto uses foreshortening and forced
perspective in many of his compositions, giving a sense of depth to his paintings.

Figura 4Giotto, “No. 36 Scenes from the Life of Christ: 20. Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ),” c. 1304-1306. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons
[Public Domain])
L AT ER YE ARS

Giotto achieved remarkable fame and prestige during his lifetime and traveled to commissions
across Italy, including Rome, Naples, and Assisi. In Naples, Giotto was made first court painter
by King Robert with a yearly pension. Eventually, however, Giotto returned to Florence, where
he worked until his death in January of 1337.

Figura 5 Giotto, “Ognissanti Madonna,” 1310. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain])
L EG ACY

Giotto's greatness was not only renowned among artist circles during his lifetime. He was also
immortalized by his contemporary Dante in The Divine Comedy when a painter
in Purgatorio (XI, 94-96) said: “Cimabue believed that he held the field/In painting, and now
Giotto has the cry,/ So the fame of the former is obscure.”

The emotion and naturalism of Giotto's painting was highly popular and spurred an increased
interest in concepts of realism and perspective that had been dormant since antiquity. Eventually,
these humanist interests culminated in the Renaissance, where Giotto's name became legend.

Figura 6 Domenico di Michelino, “Dante and the Divine Comedy,” 1465. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain])

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