artists. Historians are unsure of his birth-
place, although by some accounts he was
born in Colle di Vespignano, in rural Tus-
cany. The son of a peasant, he spent his
youth as a shepherd. By one tradition,
while walking in the countryside the
painter Cimabue came across one of
Giotto’s drawings, rendered in chalk on
the rough surface of a stone, and was so
impressed by the simple power of the work
that he invited the boy to join his work-
shop.
In the late thirteenth century, the Byz-
antine style of painting had reached the
height of its expressive power but was in
the process of being replaced by new tech-
niques of the more realistic Gothic style.
As a pupil of Cimabue, Giotto became a
leading figure of this transition. Early in
his career he was commissioned to direct
the painting of a series of frescoes for the
church of San Francesco in Assisi, a church
dedicated to the founder of the Franciscan
order. The series illustrates the life of Saint
Francis and dozens of stories from the
Bible, including the Resurrection, the Lam-
entation of Christ, and the stories of Isaac
and Joseph. The humble life and heartfelt
devotion of Saint Francis called for a new
style, in which the severe, ethereal figures
of Byzantine paintings were replaced by
figures with earthy, simple emotions that
ordinary Christians could understand.
In 1302 Giotto traveled to Padua,
where over the next four years he painted
a series of frescoes in the Arena Chapel for
a local nobleman, Enrico Scrovegni. Raised
on the site of an ancient Roman arena, the
chapel was meant to atone for the sins of
Scrovegni’s father, a usurer made famous
by his appearance in the works of Dante.
Considered to be among the finest works
of Italian art of any period, the Arena
Chapel frescoes cover the interior walls of
the chapel and include theLife of Christ,
Flight into Egypt, The Betrayal of Judas,
Adoration of the Magi, Lamentationand
many other scenes. The frescoes are star-
tlingly lifelike; the figures convey emotion
through simple gestures and expression,
while the painter guides the viewer’s eye
through the stories by the use of architec-
tural elements and the deep perspective
provided by the background of a dark blue
sky. The Arena Chapel had a major influ-
ence on Masaccio, a later master of per-
spective, as well as Michelangelo, who imi-
tated Giotto’s painted architectural
framework for his frescoes on the ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel.
Giotto is also credited as the painter of
theMadonna Enthroned, a painting of the
Virgin Mary and Jesus seated on a throne,
surrounded by angels and gazing at the
viewer with simple, direct expressions. For
the Peruzzi Chapel of the church of Santa
Croce, in Florence, he painted a fresco se-
ries of the lives of Saint John the Baptist
and Saint John the Evangelist. An adjacent
chapel, known as the Bardi Chapel, con-
tains the story of Saint Francis in a series
of six scenes. The complex design and use
of perspective in Santa Croce took Giotto
even further beyond his work in the Arena
Chapel.
In 1328 Giotto began working as a
court painter for Duke Robert of Anjou,
the ruler of Naples. None of his work from
this period survived, however, and he re-
turned to Florence in 1334; his wide ac-
claim as a painter had convinced the town
fathers to appoint him as chief architect
and engineer of the city and its cathedral.
Giotto executed designs for the campanile
(bell tower) of the cathedral, which still
stands and is commonly known as Giotto’s
Tower. The two lower stories carry sculp-
tural reliefs designed by Giotto and laterGiotto di Bondone