Giotto

The story and the biography of the extraordinary painter and architect Giotto are part of the legend. His name is not known, since some sources cite him as Giotto di Bondone, while others call him Ambrogio. He was born from a farmers' family in 1267 in Vicchi, on the Vespignano hill.

Initially, he was one pupil of Cimabue's. According to the legend, this illustrious artist allowed the young Giotto to enter his shop after he was stunned in seeing Giotto painting one of the sheep he brought to pasture. As a young man, Giotto partly studied in Rome, where an important painting school, based on the recovery of classic art, was starting to grow. He left Rome and went to work in the site of Assisi.
Giotto carried out a cycle of 28 frescoes that represents numerous episodes of Saint Francis's life and that his pupils probably finished . For the first time in the Middle Ages's iconography, the saint is represented as a real man among people and as part of an actual and recognizable environment. The "Rinuncia dei Beni", where Francis is represented partially naked, provides an example of this. Moreover, the studies on perspective, which were later deepened in the Renaissance, were anticipated.
After working in Rome again, Giotto returned to Florence where he realized numerous works. Among the most meaningful, there is the Crucifix on board that is still kept in the church of Santa Maria Novella's sacristy. In this second artistic cycle, the medieval two-dimensional style is being abandoned and the use of perspective, which is highlighted by the overlapping of Christ's legs fixed by one nail, emerges.
Some studies on the Gothic style enriched the period Giotto spent in Padova. The "Compianto su Cristo", which is characterized by a dramatic intensity and by the concreteness of the space where the figures are set, is an example of this. Between 1305 and 1310, the painter, who was already famous, worked on the "Madonna di Ognissanti" where he dared to attribute a physical appearance different from the Byzantine dignified sacredness to one of the main figures of the catholic religion. Today, this work is preserved in the Uffizi of Florence.
In 1334, Giotto worked on the project of the bell tower near the Dome of Florence. He elaborated its model and drew the stories and the friezes that would have constituted the decorations. Unfortunately, the artist supervised the operations only until the first frame, because he died in Florence in 1337. He fell ill after he came back from a journey in Milan, where he had gone on behalf of the municipality of Florence. Francesco Talenti finished the bell tower, that has Giotto's name still today.