Artist Spotlight: Giotto

Welcome back to the Accessible Art History YouTube channel. This week's video is going to focus on one of the most important figures in the history of art, Giotto de' Bondone. His work and techniques helped to usher in the Renaissance, while still including traditions from the past. To showcase this concept, this video will examine three of his major works. There's also a video on this channel covering his most famous series, The Arena Chapel. To watch it, simply click the link in the description box below, Although Giotto's life is covered in the other video, it's still important to include it here for reference. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, there are a few sources concerning Giotto's life. He was born in either 1267 or 1276. These 10 years make a big difference in the analysis of his works. If it is the latter date, then he was a prodigy due to his young age. There is also a debate about the location of Giotto's birth. For centuries, Colle di Romagno has claimed the honor. In fact, there is even a building designated as his birthplace. But recent scholarship seems to suggest that he was actually born in Florence. Cimabue is often identified as the teacher of Giotto. According to legend, Giotto was a simple shepherd, but he liked to draw his sheep. Cimabue stumbled upon his work and was so taken by the realistic depiction of the animal that he begged Giotto to let him teach him. But this is not confirmed and might just be a legend made up by Vasari. Around 1290, Giotto was married to a woman named Recipia di Lapo da Pelle. Together, they had eight children, four sons and four daughters. One of these sons would follow in his father's footsteps to become an artist. Giotto's name is attached to some of the most famous buildings of the medieval era. They include the Arena Chapel, the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Florence Cathedral, and old Saint Peter's Basilica. Giotto di Bondone died on January 8th, 1337. Most sources agree that he was buried in the Florence Cathedral. This is partially due to the fact that he worked on the project, but also because he was one of the most beloved citizens of this art-oriented town. Fascinatingly, excavations in the 1970s revealed a male skeleton near where records showed that Giotto had been buried. Forensic anthropologists were brought in and said that there was evidence in his bones that he was a painter. Not only were there traces of arsenic and lead in the bone material, but his neck showed evidence of being constantly bent down and his teeth were worn down as if he held a brush between them. These details make Edwards almost positive that the skeleton belonged to Giotto. It was moved to be placed next to another famous Florentine, Filippo Brunelleschi. The life of Saint Francis is perhaps the topic that Giotto painted the most works about. This particular painting shows a saint receiving the stigmata, or the wounds that Christ endured during the crucifixion, from an angel. Saint Francis was praying for guidance on Mount Alverno when this event occurred and literally marked him as blessed. At the bottom of the work, there are three major scenes from his life. The dream of Pope Innocent III, the approval of the Franciscan rule, and Saint Francis feeding the birds. According to Giorgio Vasari, it once hung in the Pisa Cathedral, but thanks Napoleon's looting campaign, it now hangs in the Louvre. Giotto painted this work between 1295 and 1300. At this point, it was clear that the Byzantine Gothic style was on the way out and the Renaissance was on the horizon. This painting is a great example of how we can see this transition. The golden background and slightly flat figures are hallmarks of the Byzantine style. However, the expressive emotions, landscape details, and the attempt at three-dimensionality are clearly works of the new Renaissance ideal. About a decade later, Giotto painted the Ognisanti Madonna. This painting is perhaps the most important of his career, as it is considered to be the first painting of the Renaissance. In fact, it hangs in the Uffizi, a shrine to the great names of the Italian Renaissance. The Ognisanti Madonna is a fairly traditional icon. It shows the Virgin Mary and Christ seated on a grand throne. They are surrounded by a choir of angels and a group of Old Testament prophets. It has a similar composition to the Madonna and Child Enthroned by Giotto's teacher, Cimabue. Giotto just took things a few steps closer to Renaissance ideals. The viewer can see this in the symmetrical composition, the three-dimensionality and weight of Mary and Jesus's body, and the fact that both Mary and Jesus make meaningful eye contact with the viewer. This creates an intimate connection between human and the divine. However, there are still some holdovers from the previous style. Although we have eye contact with the figures, there's still a formality to the piece. This is due to the hierarchy of scale. Mary and Jesus are, by far, the most important figures, so they take up the most space. Finally, there's the same golden background that we see in the work of Saint Francis. The final work being discussed in this video is a bit of a mysterious one. It is called the Navicella, Italian for little ship, and was a mosaic decorating the old St. Peter's Basilica. This work was commissioned to celebrate the Jubilee of 1300, clearly showing that Giotto was well known. It depicts a story of Jesus walking on water, the version from the book of Matthew, where St. Peter is called to join Christ. Unfortunately, this piece was mostly destroyed in the 17th century when the basilica was renovated. A few pieces did survive and were incorporated into the new mosaic. Thankfully, a full-size oil copy was painted, so we are able to see what the piece looked like. Again, like past works, this one has the Byzantine element of a golden background. However, from the drawing and oil painting, we can see the dynamic movement and emotional elements that Giotto added. There's also a sense of three-dimensionality to the figures, a definite Renaissance development. Giotto di Bondone is one of the most important figures in art history. He was able to seamlessly blend elements of the past and future together, inspiring artists to try something new. This helped to usher in the Renaissance, one of the greatest periods of art.