Giotto
Topic: Renaissance, Reformation and the Scientific Revolution · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Changing Cultural Traditions"
Meaning
Giotto (1267–1337) was a painter from Florence. He is known for painting lifelike portraits, meaning figures that look like real people. Earlier figures were often stiff. This lifelike style pointed the way to the 'realism' of later Renaissance art. Together with Dante, Giotto made Florence famous before it became Italy's leading centre of art and learning.
Example
In late thirteenth- and early fourteenth-century Florence, Giotto's lifelike portraits made the city known for its art. This happened well before artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
Don't confuse with
- Donatello (1386–1466): also from the early Renaissance, but a sculptor. He broke new ground with lifelike statues in 1416. Giotto was a painter.