A Study of Giotto di Bondone's Life and Artistic Impact

This essay examines the life and artistic contributions of Giotto di Bondone, a pivotal figure in the development of Italian painting. The paper begins with Giotto's background, including his birth and early life in Florence, and highlights his unique artistic talent, which was recognized early on by Cimabue. The essay then delves into his successful career, emphasizing his influence on architecture and entrepreneurship, as well as his impact on the Forlivese school. It explores key events in his lifetime, including the development of his innovative style, the creation of significant artworks like the Madonna Enthroned and the Arena Chapel, and his use of art to convey complex concepts. Furthermore, the essay discusses the influences on Giotto, particularly the impact of Cimabue and other artists. The conclusion reflects on the lessons learned from studying Giotto's work, including his contributions to spatial illusion, naturalism, and the patronage of art in growing cities. The essay provides a comprehensive overview of Giotto di Bondone's legacy in the art world, supported by cited sources.

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The art
The selected artist in this paper was Giotto di Bondone (1267–1336/37).
Artist Background
Different authors argue that Giotto di Bondone was born in 1627 in a place known as the Colle di
Vespignano which now is the municipality of Vicchio. He was from a small family and they
moved to Florence (Janson,267).
It is argued that Giotto di Bondone had unique personality traits in his life. Giorgio Vasari once
said that Giotto di Bondone was in the position to draw a perfect circumference without the use
of the compass. Through this capability, the artist was able to draw beautiful art. His skill was
discovered by Cimabue who noticed Giotto di Bondone drawing a fly on a table. This painting
on the table proved the capability of Giotto di Bondone (Hampl, Jana & Luboslav. 54).
In 1287 Giotto di Bondone married with Ciuta and the two couple were able to get four children
one of whom became a painter.
Career
The success of the artist was evident through his artwork. The Vasari in his book argues that
Giotto di Bondone was pointed out as the painter sculptor and architect (Adams,34). His work

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was good and almost all people liked Giotto's paintings. Different authors show that Giotto di
Bondone is the bell tower of the Santa Maria del Fiore. He has been associated with the field of
architecture whereby Giotto di Bondone paintings were highly used in architectural design. This
proved his success in the field of architecture and at the same time improved paintings. Some of
his paintings were related to the field of entrepreneurship. Some of his paintings attracted the
Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals which shows the difficulties faced by the artist in his work.
Through his artwork, Giotto di Bondone influenced the school forlivese which was attracted by
his work such as Taddeo Gaddi, the Guglielmo da Fori, and the Puccio Capanna together with
the work of Augustinus (Janson & Anthony,64).
Lifetime
From the book, the author clearly explains some of the major events that occurred at the reign of
the artist. There were a large number of events which marked the life of Giotto di Bondone. By
1290s Giotto di Bondone had acquired enough fame from different people in Italy. The authors
show that Giotto di Bondone influenced the development of Italian painting after learning the
artwork form the Cimabue.
The author shows that Giotto di Bondone at first he formed an innovative style which was unique
in the entire nation. Giotto di Bondone synthesized his knowledge of Byzantine traditions and
the early Christian life in Rome to form new paintings which had message directed to Christians
in Italy (Janson,287).
His first painting was the largest project which executed different altarpieces including the art
piece Madonna Enthroned for the church of saints. By 1310, the painting had been adjusted to
represent the work of Cimabue but later Giotto's work was revealed to better than the Cimabue's

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work. The Giotto's work attracted viewers as it was directed towards the Christ Child in a lap.
Later on, Giotto di Bondone invented a noted painting which depicted earthbound figures of
mother and child.
The throne of the painting was related to the Italian Gothic architecture which establishes a
crucial context of the society.
Giotto di Bondone Madonna Enthroned.ca.1310 (Janson, 287).
In addition, there was the Arena Chapel which was the great work of Giotto di Bondone. This
has been identified as the Diottos work in fresco in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. The chapel
was next to the palace of the banker Enrico Scrovegni painted in 1306 by Giotto di Bondone
(Steele, 234). The artist painted the floor of the chapel to the ceiling in the fresco technique

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which was common during that time. Giotto di Bondone used different paintings to reveal key
concepts. He was in the position to use a blue field with gold stars which were symbolic of
heaven. In addition, Giotto di Bondone painted the walls by using unique features related to the
chapel.
Giotto. Interior of Arena Chapel(Janson,291).
Through all these capabilities by Giotto di Bondone to use different paintings to illustrate
different phenomena's, Giotto di Bondone was in the position to use paintings to distinguish
good and evil in society. Through his artwork, Giotto di Bondone uses the lamentation artwork
to indicate the knowledge of good and evil as seen by the sin committed by Adam and Eve in the
garden of Eden.The artwork seems to indicate the sorrow of Christians over the power of the
death of Jesus Christ.

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Giotto.The Lamentation (Janson,296).
The other artwork revealed by the artist was through the Sienese painting. The artist directed
another busy and influential workshop in the city of Siena. Giotto was encouraged to paint a
large altarpiece in the city which was called Maesta since it depicted the Virgin and Child in
Majesty as evident in the work of Giotto.
Influences
From the book, the author clearly indicates those people who influenced the Giotto di, Bondone.
The book argues that artists such as Cimabue influenced the work of Giotto di Bondone (Corbett,
50).The Giotto di Bondone figures and paintings seemed to represent the work of Cimabue
although Giotto's paintings were more beautiful and attractive as compared to Cimabue's work.
Also, Cimabue's work to use different paintings to represent various phenomes influenced the

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work of Giotto which is depicted in the earthbound figure of the mother and child. In addition,
the author has revealed how Giotto influenced artists such as the Ambrogio Lorenzetti who used
Giotto's. For example, the good government in the city as revealed by the Ambrogio uses similar
paintings which are related to the work of Giotto (Alpers, 290).
Conclusion
Through the book, the reason why I have selected chapter 13 was that the topic has different
paintings which try to reveal early life in Italy. Through the work of an artist, I have learned
different concepts. I have learned steps taken by artists in the chapter toward the spatial illusion
and naturalism. I have also learned the impact of growing cities on art patronage. The last
content I have learned is the spread of art in Italy through different artists (Broude,76).

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Works cited
Adams, Laurie Schneider. The methodologies of art: An introduction. Routledge, 2018.
Alpers, Svetlana. "Art history and its exclusions: The example of Dutch art." Feminism and art
history. Routledge, 2018. 182-199.
Broude, Norma. Feminism and art history: Questioning the litany. Routledge, 2018.
Corbett, David Peters. "Visual culture and the history of art." Dealing with the Visual.
Routledge, 2017. 33-52.
Hampl, Richard, Jana Kubátová, and Luboslav Stárka. "Steroids and endocrine disruptors—
History, recent state of art and open questions." The Journal of steroid biochemistry and
molecular biology 155 (2016): 217-223.
Janson, H. W., History of art: the Western tradition, 9th edition. Prentice Hall Professional New
York, (2011).
Janson, Horst Woldemar, and Anthony F. Janson. History of art: the Western tradition. Prentice
Hall Professional, 2014.
Steele, Valerie. Paris fashion: a cultural history. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.