Giotto di Bondone, known mononymously as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic and Proto-Renaissance period. Giotto's contemporary, the banker and chronicler Giovanni Villani, wrote that Giotto was "the most sovereign master of painting in his time, who drew all his figures and their postures according to nature" and of his publicly recognized "talent and excellence". Giorgio Vasari described Giotto as making a decisive break from the prevalent Byzantine style and as initiating "the great art of painting as we know it today, introducing the technique of drawing accurately from life, which had been neglected for more than two hundred years".
Paintings by Giotto
Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (Giotto) (1297)
Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata is a panel painting in tempera by the Italian artist Giotto, painted around 1295–1300 for the Church of Saint Francis in Pisa and it is now in the Musée du Louvre in Paris. It shows an episode from the life of Saint Francis of Assisi togther with three scenes from his life in a predella below, and is 314 cm high (to the top of the triangle) by 162 cm wide. It is signed, or at least inscribed, OPUS IOCTI FLORENTINI ("the work of Florentine Giotto") in painted letters on a flat and now dark strip of the frame at the bottom, the inscription centred below the middle predella scene.
In his Le Vite, Giorgio Vasari mentions the work in a transept chapel of the church of San Francesco in Pisa. Despite having been disputed, the work is now generally recognized to be by Giotto, being also signed; it has been dated from shortly before or after the Stories of St. Francis in Assisi, around 1295–1300.
Navicella (mosaic) (1330)
The Navicella (literally "little ship") or Bark of St. Peter, of Old Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, was a large and famous mosaic by Giotto di Bondone that occupied a large part of the wall above the entrance arcade, facing the main facade of the basilica across the courtyard. It depicted the version from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 14:24–32) of Christ walking on the water, the only one of the three gospel accounts where Saint Peter is summoned to join him. It was almost entirely destroyed during the construction of the new Saint Peter's Basilica in the 17th century, but fragments were preserved from the sides of the composition, and what is effectively a new work, incorporating some original fragments, was restored to a position at the centre of the portico of the new building in 1675.
The mosaic, designed to be seen from a distance, was extremely large. A full-scale copy in oil, commissioned by the Vatican from Francesco Berretta in 1628, after much of the work had already been lost round the edges, measures 7.4 by 9.9 metres (24 ft × 32 ft). The full mosaic was probably about 9.4 by 13 metres (31 ft × 43 ft), with an inscription in Latin verse running below the image.
Ognissanti Madonna (1300)
Madonna Enthroned, also known as the Ognissanti Madonna or Madonna Ognissanti, is a painting in tempera on wood panel by the Italian late medieval artist Giotto di Bondone, now in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy.
The painting has the traditional Christian subject, of the Madonna and Child, representing the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child seated on her lap, with saints and angels surrounding them on all sides. This particular representation of the Virgin, enthroned and surrounded by a court-like company, is called a Maestà, a popular representation at the time. It is often celebrated as the first painting of Italian Renaissance painting due to its newfound naturalism and escape from the constraints of Italo-Byzantine and Gothic art.
Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ) (1305)
Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ) is a fresco painted c.1305 by the Italian artist Giotto as part of his cycle of the Life of Christ on the interior walls of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy.
The Scrovegni Chapel was built as a private chapel next to the Eremitani Monastery by the wealthy Scrovegni family and consecrated in 1305. Between 1304 and 1306, Davis decorated the interior walls of the chapel with a series of frescoes depicting scenes from the Life of Jesus. The upper sections of the walls also include stories of Joachim and Anna, parents of the Virgin Mary. The works are considered a masterpiece.
Saint Stephen (Giotto) (1320)
Saint Stephen is a panel painting by Giotto, dating to around 1330–1335. It is painted in tempera on gold ground. It is in the collection of and serves as the logo of the Museo Horne in Florence.
Stefaneschi Triptych (1320)
The Stefaneschi Altarpiece is a triptych by the Italian painter Giotto, from c. 1320. It was commissioned by Cardinal Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi to serve as an altarpiece for one of the altars of Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is now at the Pinacoteca Vaticana, in Rome.
It is a rare example in Giotto's work of a documented commission, and includes Giotto's signature, although the date, like most dates for Giotto, is disputed, and many scholars feel the artist's workshop was responsible for its execution. It had long been thought to have been made for the main altar of the church; more recent research suggests that it was placed on the "canon's altar", located in the nave, just to the left of the huge arched opening into the transept. The altar was freestanding, and the altarpiece is painted on both sides so it could be seen by the congregation from the front and the canons of the church from the back.
Strasbourg Crucifixion (1315)
The Strasbourg Crucifixion is a painting in tempera and gold on panel of c. 1315 attributed to Giotto, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts (inventory number 167) of Strasbourg, France.
Previously attributed to the school of Giotto, Roberto Longhi attributed it to the master himself in 1948. It probably formed a diptych with the Madonna Enthroned between the Virtues (Wildenstein Collection, New York), attributed to the Master of the Sails. Art historians Gnudi and Salvini did not include the work in their catalogue of Giotto's works. William Suida, Pietro Toesca, and Offner attribute the work to a "Master of the Strasbourg Crucifixion" to which they also attribute the Berlin Crucifixion, a similar work in small format. Even today critics are uncertain about the work's attribution, although it has unambiguously been attributed to Giotto on major occasions such as the 2013 Giotto exhibition in the Louvre. In any case, the work is dated to the late phase of Giotto's career, as demonstrated by the voluminous drapery, as found in both the Cappella Peruzzi and Cappella Bardi.
Badia Polyptych (1300)
The Badia Polyptych (Italian: Polittico di Badia) is a painting by the Italian artist Giotto, painted around 1300 and housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence.
Earlier sources such as Lorenzo Ghiberti's Commentarii and Giorgio Vasari's Lives agree in mentioning the presence of a polyptych by Giotto at the high altar in the Badia Fiorentina. However, the work was not documented anymore for centuries, and was considered to be lost. In the 19th century, however, it was found in the archives of the Museum of Santa Croce of Florence, and identified thanks to a cartouche on it saying "Badia di Firenze", which was added in 1810. The dating of the work is disputed, ranging from the early 14th century to a period following Giotto's work in the Cappella degli Scrovegni.when?
Life of Christ (Giotto) (1320)
The Life of Christ is a series of seven paintings in tempera and gold on panel, attributed to Giotto and dating to around 1320–1325. Depicting the Nativity and Passion of Christ, and Pentecost, they are now housed in a number of museums: three are in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Berenson Collection in Settignano and the National Gallery in London all have one each.
Bologna Polyptych (1333)
The Bologna Polyptych (Italian: Polittico di Bologna) is a polyptych altarpiece in tempera on panel with gold backgrounds, attributed to Giotto with workshop participation and generally dated to the early 1330s. It is preserved in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna.
An inscription is visible on the step of the Virgin’s throne. In modern summaries it is transcribed as opus magistri jocti de florentia.
Berlin Crucifixion (1317)
The Berlin Crucifixion is a tempera and gold on panel painting that was created c. 1320 and is attributed to Giotto. It is stored at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
The first studies of the Berlin Crucifixion by Wilhelm von Bode attributed the work to Giotto. Following critics, like Roberto Longhi in 1948, have doubted the attribution. Others like William Suida, Pietro Toesca, and Richard Offner theorized a "Master of the Strasbourg Crucifixion", placing the Berlin Crucifixion in relation with other similar small-format works. Roberto Salvini, on the other hand, believed it to be the work of follower of Giotto. In each case, it is believed to be a work from late in Giotto's life, based on the voluminous drapery the painting displays as is seen in the Cappella Bardi (Santa Croce) and Cappella Peruzzi.