298 Giovanni da Fiesole
MASTERPIECESThe frescoes in the Arena Chapel in PADUA, which were
probably created between 1304 and 1312, were his great
masterpieces. In these paintings all the innovations for
which Giotto was known during his lifetime and up to
the present day can be found. Solid monumental figures
were set in a narrow, three-dimensional space. They
moved and turned as in nature, even reacting psychologi-
cally on a human scale. A viewer might identify with the
drama portrayed.
In 1311 or 1312, Giotto painted an innovative image
of the Blessed Virgin MARYfor the Ognissanti Church,
now in the Uffizi Museum in Florence. The space of the
painting was three-dimensional. The throne and figures
were supported by horizontal surface, obeying gravity.
The infant Christ was represented with more natural and
human qualities.
Giotto’s only other major works to survive were the
Navicella in Rome, an altarpiece, and an image of BONI-
FACEVIII proclaiming the Jubilee, and two fresco cycles
in the Florentine church of Santa Croce. Probably painted
about 10 years or more after the Arena Chapel frescoes,
these two cycles portrayed scenes from the lives of FRAN-
CISof Assisi in the Bardi Chapel and Saints John the Bap-
tist and John the Evangelist in the Peruzzi Chapel. The
Bardi and Peruzzi frescoes consisted of three large rectan-
gular scenes, which were arranged vertically and face
each other. The narrative moved from above to below.
Just as in the Arena Chapel frescoes, those in Santa Croce
demonstrated dramatic tension and psychological insight
revealed through human pose and gesture. Other attribu-
tions to Giotto have been made for paintings at ASSISIand
at Santa Maria Novella in Florence but have not been uni-
versally accepted as his work.
Giotto’s innovations had enormous influence during
his lifetime, but his real impact was not completely felt
until the beginning of the 15th century in Florence. Reac-
tion to the Black Death of 1348 has been posited as
inhibiting artistic change for several decades. He died on
January 8, 1337.
See alsoDUCCIO DIBONINSEGNA;FRESCO PAINTING.
Further reading:Bruce Cole, Giotto and Florentine
Painting, 1280–1375(New York: Harper & Row, 1976);
Creighton E. Gilbert, “Giotto (di Bondone),” The Dictio-
nary of Art12.681–696; Rona Goffen, Spiritually in Con-
flict: Saint Francis and Giotto’s Bardi Chapel(University
Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988); Andrew
Ladis, ed., Giotto as a Historical and Literary Figure(New
York: Garland, 1998); Hayden B. J. Maginnis, Painting in
the Age of Giotto: A Historical Reevaluation(University
Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997); Laurie
E. Schneider, ed., Giotto in Perspective(Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1974.
Giovanni da Fiesole SeeANGELICO,FRA.
Giraldus Cambrensis SeeGERALD OFWALES.Glagolitic alphabet and rite This was the first alpha-
bet of Old Church Slavonic and was probably invented by
CYRILin about 863 for his western or Roman Catholic
mission to MORAVIA. It was a new and original alphabet
for religious rites, although some of the letters are derived
from the Hebrew alphabet and others from Greek cursive
writing or minuscule. It should not be confused with the
CYRILLIC alphabet, a later invention. That medieval
Slavonic alphabet was also generally thought to have been
devised by Saint Cyril, as the Eastern Orthodox apostle of
the Slavs, in the ninth century. Other surviving literature
in the alphabet included translations of the GOSPELSand
collections of homilies; they survive only from 1309.
Further reading: Sharon Golke Fullerton, Paleo-
graphic Methods Used in Dating Cyrillic and Glagolitic
Slavic Manuscripts(Columbus: Department of Slavic Lan-
guages and Literatures, Ohio State University, 1975);
Stephen Smrzík, The Glagolitic or Roman-Slavonic Liturgy
(Cleveland: Slovak Institute, 1959).glassware Many techniques were in use in the Middle
Ages for making glassware for simple and elaborate
domestic use and, in Christendom, for vessels used in the
liturgy. The techniques of the manufacture of glass in the
central Middle Ages can be discovered in clerical trea-
tises. The On Diverse Artsby the monk Theophilus (fl.
1225) was composed in Germany early in the 12th cen-
tury and is one of the best sources of information for
methods and styles. Religious centers in the Middle Ages
supported by rich landed proprieties primarily had the
wherewithal, raw material, and access to the expensive
fuel needed in this art. The best examples to survive are
often found near VENICE.
The most common surviving examples of fine
medieval glassware are lamps or cruets for serving water
and wine at MASSor for containing holy oils used in the
liturgy. On ALTARS, ancient or contemporary glassware
was used as reliquaries. The earliest examples, from the
11th century, were mostly initially Islamic or antique
glassware. Tombs from the 11th to the 16th century fre-
quently included glass but are not representative of the
forms of domestic crockery. Moreover, they were not
funeral offerings intended to bear drink or nourishment
in the afterlife, as had been their common intent in antiq-
uity. Their intended uses were derived from Christian
beliefs about the dangers a soul might encounter. So they
were vials full of holy water for encounters with DEMONS
and lamps used symbolically to light the way to Christ.
Glass chalices were signs and reminders of a deceased
person’s ecclesiastical office or dignity.
See alsoART AND ARCHITECTURE,ISLAMIC; CEMETERIES
AND GRAVEYARDS; LIGHTING DEVICES; RELIQUARY; STAINED
GLASS.