Francesco Giotto di Bondone
(1267 - 1337) |
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Secular Narratives Art Work
| Name: |
Francesco Giotto di Bondone |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Vespignano, Italy |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1267 |
| Death: |
1337 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Secular Narratives |
| Medium: |
Fresco, Oil |
| Method: |
Fresco |
| Style: |
Italian Renaissance |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
Sculpture
Architecture |
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Biography
| Giorgio Vasari relates that Giotto's talent was first discovered by Cimabue, who saw him drawing a sheep on a rock and brought the young apprentice to Florence to train him in the art of painting. Although an apocryphal tale, what is not in doubt is Giotto's prodigious talent. It is no small measure of the magnitude of Giotto's abilities that his talents were celebrated during his own lifetime. Dante Alighieri, for one, noted in a passage in his Purgatorio (1308-1321) that the fame of Cimabue had been eclipsed by that of his young apprentice. Giotto's frescoes in the Capella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel) at Padua, which narrate the life of the Virgin, the life of Christ, and the Passion, comprise his earliest attributed work. They were painted between circa 1305 and 1313. Instead of simply relying on a standardized repertoire of religious iconographic types, Giotto assimilated elements from established styles of painting, notably Byzantine, into a more heightened naturalistic style to compelling effect. This is most readily identifiable with the artist's treatment of the figures that populate the various religious episodes depicted within the chapel. They are imbued with a psychology and an interior life; Giotto enabled their motivations and vulnerability to be palpably felt by the viewer. Attribution of Giotto's work after this has been subject to much debate, compounded by the fact that much of his work, including everything he produced as court painter to King Robert of Anjou in Naples, has been lost. However, the large Madonna (c 1310), made for the church of Ognissanti, and the frescoes of the adjacent Bardi (cl320) and Peruzzi (c.1320) chapels are known to be his. It is testimony to the lasting [significance of Giotto's ability to create figures that appear convincingly lifelike and three-dimensional that British sculptor (sir Henry Moore, after returning from his first trip to Italy in 925, considered the paintings of Giotto to have been the best sculptures he had seen. |
Samples of Work
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