Giotto

Giotto di Bondone, better known only by his first name (Colle di Vespignano, 1267 - Florence, January 8, 1337) was a noted painter, sculptor and architect Italian Trecento. He is considered the first artist of many who contributed to the creation of the Italian Renaissance and one of the first to break the limitations of art and medieval concepts. He devoted himself mainly to painting religious subjects, being able to give them an earthy appearance, full of blood and life force.

Biography
Children and Learning: Giotto was born , according to the most credible sources in Vespignano Colle , near Vicchio del Mugello , a town near Florence. According to his main biographer, Giorgio Vasari , was the son of a peasant named Bondone , and spent his childhood as a shepherd in the fields. While most authors believe that was actually named Giotto di Bondone , others believe that his real name was Ambrogio or Angelo , and that the name by which he is known , Giotto , would just be a nickname , derived of Ambrogiotto or Angelotto . There are controversies about his year of birth, but it is likely to be born in 1266 or 1267. These dates are deduced from the statement of the Florentine chronicler Antonio Pucci , who says that Giotto died at seventy years of age in 1337 ( Florentine calendar year , which began on March 25 ) . The exact date is unknown. According to his biographers , was a pupil of the Florentine painter Cimabue, the artist best known for his time. Vasari relates how the little 11 year old first demonstrated his artistic talent : that , with the child in the care of a sheep , killed time drawing one of them on a flat stone with chalk . There happened to pass by Cimabue , who, impressed by the natural talent of Giotto , who had drawn a sheep dimensional , so natural and lifelike - perfect , accompanied him to his cabin and managed to convince his father to let him make the boy its aprendiz.1 Another version of the biography of Giotto2 said that his father sent him to Florence to work as a apprentice with a wool merchant . The young man, very interested in art , took the habit of visiting the studio of Cimabue to see the artists work . Eager to join the workshop , both his father insisted that finally allowed him to learn from the great master . Vasari relates that Giotto was a trainee fun and joking , to the point that once painted a fly on the nose of a portrait. His technique was such that Cimabue tried to scare her hand before realizing that was painted . This story of youth and technique portends Giotto feature that enabled him to paint lifelike figures .

Earliest known works:

When Giotto averaged thirty, his fame had extended the borders of Florence and spread throughout Italy and , to the extent that Pope Boniface VIII sent a messenger to ask for some samples of his art , intending to see for yourself if the renowned painter was worthy to receive proposals for work in Rome. According to Vasari , Giotto took a white cloth in the presence of the messenger , dipped his brush in red paint and , with a single continuous line , freehand drew a circle geometrically perfect man saying : " The value of this work will be recognized." Vasari writes : " When the pope saw the canvas instantly perceived that Giotto was superior to all other painters of his time." Armed with his natural talent and teachings of Cimabue , Giotto soon began to deal with commissions from third parties, mainly religious works . Thus, early works attributed as two series of frescoes in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. A first cycle, in the upper part of the walls of the temple, made possibly in the first half of the last decade of the thirteenth century , and rather dubious attribution , develops biblical themes. Later, between 1297 and 1299 , a new series of frescoes was most likely executed by Giotto in the bottom of the walls of the church , about the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Watched the excellent results , was asked to paint , between 1305 and 1306 - the frescos in the Arena Chapel in Padua.

Travels in Italy: Giotto traveled for almost all of Italy , running dozens of portraits of princes , nobles and church officials in his hometown of Naples and Rome. The Peruzzi and Bardi chapels of the Church of the Holy Cross frescoes show . In 1334, the city of Florence decided to honor the great painter was awarded the title of magister et gubernator ( "master and governor " ) of the Works of Santa Reparata , which was responsible for the construction of the cathedral as well as chief architect of the city and public works superintendent . In this last stage of his life , Giotto designed the famous campanile ( " bell ") of the Florence Cathedral , whose construction began in the same year of 1334, but could not see over. According Ghiberti, the bas-reliefs of the lower body of the bell were also his work . Interestingly , although ultimately the campanile was not built in accordance with their projects , is universally known as " Campanile di Giotto"

Character and habit:

Giotto was a man hearty and home life , a great talker and jokester mood . Married , left six children who survived. He was no friend of extravagance and wasteful spending . This practice , along with the good prices obtained for their work , let him save your money - the reverse of most of his colleagues as a man and die rich. Ease is related to both the rich and noble as with men of the people known to have much confidence with Pope Boniface and King Robert I of Naples wrote to him that it was his " great friend." There is a tradition that Dante Alighieri was also his friend, and he had visited during the execution of the frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel , but has not been confirmed by reliable sources . In any case , in the "Divine Comedy ," Dante says that Giotto was above his master Cimabue. Boccaccio portrays him in the Decamern3 and in 1400 Cennino Cennini wrote that "Giotto translated the art of painting from Greek into Latin "

His painting: Giotto 's art was extremely innovative and is considered a precursor of evolution that led to the Renaissance soon after . His works were the turning point between the Byzantine art of the late Middle Ages and the much more realistic and humanist who flourished in the Renaissance. The symbolic plane and Byzantine led to the modeled and individual perspective . Giotto adopted the visual language of sculpture to give volume and weight. The comparison between the Madonna of Giotto and Cimabue his master shows us why his contemporaries regarded his paintings as "miracles of naturalism " . Like other artists of his time , Giotto lacked the technical knowledge of anatomy and theory of perspective that later painters got used to learn. Regardless, those who did have were infinitely superior to those that preceded and followed suit. With his compositions of deep emotion , Giotto is the great initiator of three dimensional space in European painting , dealing with a new spirit of religious themes that dominated medieval art . His style is characterized by an unexpected freshness and life , for what critics speak of human emotion and burden of all that is important to the human being as the clearest features of their work. By focusing on these core concepts , Giotto was able to create stunning images of people under pressure, people in crisis and men you can clearly see they are taking very serious spiritual decisions . Modern painters , who often used the Florentine works as inspiration , he claimed to have found a way to directly approach the most intimate and intricate experience of the human spirit . This feature is timeless and has remained valid for all times later than yours .

Works:

Despite his fame and the incredible demand that his services as a painter, architect, decorator and sculptor Giotto had in life, none of his surviving works can be documented as theirs beyond reasonable doubt. Indeed, it is one of the painters who have greater problems of attribution.