Giotto Di Bondone was born around 1267 near Florence, Italy. He was an Italian painter and architect better known as Giotto. He married in 1827 to Ricevuta di Lapo del Pela and had several children together. Its said that he was a very ugly man and that is children were also very plain in appearance. Reconstruction shows him as a very short man with a large head and a hooked nose. It is said that he died on January 8, 1337 in Florence, but as with almost everything else in his life, that is a controversial subject.
Giotto is said to have altered the course of painting in Western Europe, striking out of the Gothic and Byzantine styles towards the Renaissance. Giotto was under the apprenticeship of a great Florentine painter named Cimabue, from around the age of 10. Some of this earliest works were for the Dominicans at the Santa Maria Novello, including the Crucifix, which is about 5 meters high and is dated around 1290. Giotto was thought to have worked in Rome from around 1297-1300 and in this time his work became wide spread. His works influenced the start of the Riminese school or Giovanni and Pietro do Rimini.
After his time in Rome he went to create some of his most influential work in the Scrovegno Chapel in Padua. The chapel was dedicated to the Annunciation and was heavily decorated with painting s of Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. The was divided into 37 scenes and arranged around the walls, telling the story of Mary. The life of Jesus and the The Last Judgement fills the other spaces. His figures are usually in compressed settings with more natural elements. His work is often set apart from others due to the fact that he placed great emphasis on the human face and their emotions.
His paintings created a realism that is unique to others in his time. Of the several artworks that Giotto created, the one that is my favorite would be The Mourning of Christ or Lamentation. This piece of art was painted around 1305 when he was in the chapel in Padua. I think that this artwork is very thoughtful. It shows the Virgin Mary laying over her dead sons body, mourning the death of her son. I think that his artwork is unique in the fact that he places such care in the expression of each character.
He also did not forget to place detail on other objects in the artwork, as the dead tree on the hill and the angels flying above head. His artwork shows such life like characteristics, that you can almost place yourself at the location, like feeling the Virgin Mary’s pain. I think in some of his designs that Giotto was trying to tell a story. I think this particular painting shows several of the principles of design. The contrast used in his paintings to me is unique. And the variety that he brought to it made you pay close attention to the feelings of the bystanders in the painting.
His lines seem solid and often three-dimensional. The clothing that is worn by the people have such a life like appearance to them. In the painting of Lamentation there was an illusion of weight as mass. To me the colors that he choose were interesting, as they were natural and not flashy. I would have thought he may have used more defying colors to draw more attention to Christ himself, but instead all was placed on those surrounding him. I really enjoyed looking into Giottos past and paintings. I think that I have a greater understanding of some of his artwork and his life.
