Giotto di Bondone: Encyclopedia II - Giotto di Bondone - Major Works

Giotto di Bondone - Major Works

Giotto's earliest credited major work is the fresco cycle depicting the life of St. Francis in the Upper Church of the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi though there are some disputes of authorship. The cycle shows the influence on Giotto of Roman Art as well as his attempt to assimilate the prevalent fashion for French Gothic types. According to Vasari Giotto's depiction of St. Francis caused some controversy due to its sculptural nature making the Saint to much of the world. The Crucifixion in Santa Maria Novella in Florence is one of the major early works and clearly distinguishes Giotto's treatment of the subject from that of Cimabue and Duccio.

Giotto's master work is the Arena Chapel cycle of the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua depicting the life of the Virgin and the passion of Christ completed around 1305. The scheme has 100 major scenes with the heavily sculptural figures set in compressed but naturalistic settings often using forced perspective devices. Giotto's major innovation was to conceive of a painted architectural framework or grisaille using trompe-l'oeil effects that directly influenced Masaccio and in turn Michelangelo in his scheme for the Sistine Chapel. Famous panels in the series include the Adoration of the Magi in which a comet like Star of Bethlehem streaks across the sky and the Flight from Egypt in which Giotto broke many traditions for the depiction of the scene. The scenes from the Passion were much admired by artists of the Renaissance for their concentrated emotional and dramatic force, especially the "Lamentation over the Dead Christ", and studies of the sequence by Michelangelo exist. The Ognissanti Madonna now in the Uffizi and the sole surviving major panel work by the artist also dates from this period.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Major Works", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki