Giotto

Biography

Giotto di Bondone was born in 1267 in the village of Vespignano, Italy, and died on January 8, 1337, in Florence. He was a painter, architect, sculptor, designer, and art figure working during the Proto-Renaissance and Gothic eras. Giotto became a pivotal figure in the history of Western European art by developing a new approach to depicting space, moving beyond the Byzantine iconographic tradition. He founded the Italian school of painting, whose works inspired masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Sanzio, and Michelangelo Buonarroti. Among his notable works are the Scrovegni Chapel, Giotto's Campanile, a mosaic fragment of the Navicella, a portrait of Dante, and an image of Saint Stephen. He worked in genres including religious painting, mythological painting, and allegory.