Brief Biography-Giotto di Bondone was born in the village of Vespignano, near Florence, in 1267. His father was a peasant farmer who let Giotto mind sheep as a young boy. The story shows that Giotto used to draw nature subjects on rocks with a sharp stone to pass the time. One day the renowned artist Cimabue observed his work while passing and enquired to take him to his studio for training. Although with the consent of Giotto’s father, Bordone, Cimabue tutored him to the extent that he could not teach him anymore, Giotto’s skills surpassed that of his master.
Cimabue was called to Assisi to work. Giotto remained behind doing works in the city, the first of many being the polyptych at the Badia Fiorentina’s high altar. After some time, Cimabue returned to Florence, and Giotto went to Assisi, where he frescoed thirty-two stories from the life and deeds of Saint Francis; these works held him in the highest esteem. Pope Boniface VIII summoned him to Rome to undertake a commission in the Lateran Palace. When he returned to Florence, he set up a permanent residence, married, and raised a large family of eight. He journeyed to Padua to paint in the private chapel of Enrico degli Scrovegni; it was his first secular commission, and this work led to further acclaim. The poet Dante lavished praise on him and declared him the creator of a new era in art.
He lived in Florence for the remainder of his life, where he undertook many commissions. In Rome, Pope Benedict XI wanted paintings for Saint Peter’s and sent a courtier to Giotto to ask for a sample of his work. Giotto drew a perfect circle on a sheet of paper without an instrument’s aid. When the courtier took the ring to the Pope with embarrassment and explained how he drew it, the Pope was so impressed with Giotto’s sleight of hand; that he engaged him over other artists. The proverb you are rounder than Giotto’s O, meaning dull of wit, was coined from this event. In 1328, he worked for King Robert Anjou in Naples, thus gaining an annual pension. In 1334, he became appointed Director of the Cathedral works in Florence; this was his last major work; he died after an excursion to Milan in 1337. He was given the prestigious honour of a burial in the Duomo, where a grand memorial tomb remains. He is to this day regarded as the forefather of renaissance art.