Giotto (di Bondone) (c. 1267–1337) Italian painter
Born near Florence, Giotto, above all his contemporaries,
is credited with effecting the transformation of European
art from the earlier flat Byzantine model to the humanis-
tic naturalism of the Italian Renaissance. Tradition has it
that he was a pupil of the Florentine artist CIMABUE, who
was lauded with Giotto in Dante’s Purgatorio as the great-
est of all artists. Giotto’s early works also show the influ-
ence of PISANOand other contemporary sculptors in his
adoption of a new three-dimensional realism. The work
of Giotto most celebrated among his contemporaries was
the mosaic Navicella (c. 1300) for St. Peter’s, Rome, now
largely destroyed.
More influential in the long term were his frescoes for
the ARENA CHAPEL, Padua (begun c. 1305). This cycle, the
Lives of the Virgin and Christ, covers most of the interior of
the chapel and epitomizes Giotto’s achievement as the first
great creative personality of European painting. The three
tiers of scenes are remarkable for their rejection of color
and conventional elegance and for their concentration
upon moral content, expressed with a simplicity and dig-
nity hitherto unknown. Giotto’s altarpiece of the Madonna
Enthroned for Ognissanti, Florence (c. 1310; Uffizi, Flo-
rence) and his frescoes for the chapels of the Bardi and Pe-
ruzzi families in the church of Sta. Croce, Florence,
painted during the 1320s, consolidated his reputation as
the most important painter of the Trecento. Also often at-
tributed to him is the fresco cycle in the upper church of
San Francesco at Assisi (c. 1297–c. 1305). In Florence,
where he was director of public works, he was entrusted
with the major architectural commission for the building
of the campanile of the cathedral (1334). An ugly but
witty man, Giotto exercised enormous influence upon al-
most all the Florentine painters who succeeded him, in-
cluding MASACCIOand MICHELANGELO.
Further reading: Bruce Cole, Giotto and Florentine
Painting, 1280–1375 (New York: Harper & Row, 1976);
Andrew Lodis (ed.), Giotto, Master Painter and Architect:
Florence (New York: Garland, 1998).
Giovanni (da) Bologna See GIAMBOLOGNA
Giovanni Capistrano, St. (John of Capistrano)
(1386–1456) Italian Franciscan
Born in Capistrano in the Abruzzi, Giovanni studied law
and was appointed magistrate at Perugia in 1412. While a
prisoner of war of the MALATESTA FAMILY, he experienced a
religious conversion; on his release in 1416 he joined the
Franciscan Order. With BERNARDINO OF SIENAhe became a
leading figure in the Observants, the Franciscan faction
that aimed to restore the original rule of St. Francis in all
its austerity. These activities led to his trial (but acquittal)
for heresy in 1429. During this period he became a famous
preacher and in 1451 he was chosen by Pope Nicholas V
to lead a mission to Austria, where the spread of HUSSITE
teachings was causing alarm. Preaching missions to many
parts of eastern Europe followed. In his last years he be-
came preoccupied with the threat to the whole region
from the OTTOMAN TURKS. Having failed to persuade other
European leaders to act, he joined the Hungarian general
János Hunyadi (c. 1407–56) in raising and leading a
largely untrained peasant army to relieve the Turkish siege
of Belgrade. The result was a remarkable victory over the
Turks (July 22, 1456) but Giovanni died of illness on the
return journey.Giovanni da Udine (Giovanni Recamador) (1487–
1561/4) Italian painter and architect
Born at Udine, he was a pupil of RAPHAELin Rome and
played a leading part in the decoration of the Vatican Log-
gie (1517–19) and the Villa Madama (1520), together
with such colleagues as GIULIO ROMANO. He made exten-
sive use of GROTESQUESin his decorative style, which lent
itself particularly well to stucco and fresco, and after his
return to Udine he was made responsible for all public ar-
chitectural projects there (1552), as well as continuing his
decorative work. His graceful style was imitated through-
out Europe during the 18th century by neoclassical de-
signers. His other works include stained-glass windows,
incorporating arabesque features, in Florence.Giovanni da Verona See GIOCONDO, FRAGiovanni di Paolo (c. 1403–1482) Italian painter
A native of Siena, Giovanni may have been a pupil of Tad-
deo di Bartol. He probably never visited the other artistic
centers in Italy, thus remaining virtually unaffected by the
growing trend towards naturalism and classical humanism
in such cities as Florence. Instead Giovanni was, with SAS-
SETTA, the leading exponent of the mystical and conserva-
tive style of the 15th-century Sienese school and was
dubbed the “El Greco of the Quattrocento” by the U.S. art
critic Bernard Berenson. Although archaic in form, such
works as St. John in the Wilderness (date unknown), Pu-
rification of the Virgin (1447–49), and the Madonna altar-
piece in Pienza cathedral (1463) illustrate Giovanni’s
ability as a narrative painter. At his best Giovanni ex-
presses a dramatic and tormented intensity, which has
been seen by some to anticipate mannerist and expres-
sionist art; at his worst he repeats the conventional for-
mulae of medieval decoration. For many years his work
was neglected, but the 20th century saw a revival in criti-
cal interest, despite the fact that he was already outmoded
in his own time and had no very profound influence upon
his immediate successors.Giovio, Paolo (Paulus Jovinus) (1483–1552) Italian
historian and biographer
Educated as a doctor, Giovio left his native Como to be-
come a servant of the papacy under Leo X (1513) and221144 GGiioottttoo