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Giotto and painting of reality in Frescoes of Assisi

Giotto and the renewal of painting: realism and intuitive perspective, in four frescoes in Assisi.

The changes in painting from medieval to modern times can be seen in the work of the great early Renaissance artist Giotto. The simplicity and strength of his forms, as well as the humanism he infused in his works, set him apart from his Byzantine contemporaries and at the forefront of Italian painting in the early years of the Renaissance.

The Story of St. Francis Assisi

A famous cycle depicting the life of St. Francis, adorns the walls of the Upper Church of St. Francis at Assisi. The cycle consists of twenty-eight panels around the lower part of the walls of the nave and entrance.

The gift of mantle

This work stunned the poet Dante!

GIOTTO BREAKS WITH BYZANTINE ART

St. Francis is giving his mantle to a poor man in a landscape with natural elements. The lanscape is real, it isn’t abstract, as in the earlier painting.

The Renunciation Of Worldly Goods

This is the fifth of the twenty-eight scenes of Legend of Saint Francis.

When Francis' father accuses his son of squandering his fortune, Francis returns to him even the clothes he is wearing, and repudiates him. Giotto illustrates this sensational public separation, which signifies the decisive step towards the saint's future life of poverty, by means of the two groups of people on opposite sides. The buildings further reinforce the gulf between the two worlds.

How are the architecture of these frescoes? What about their depth?

The renunciation of wordly goods

The building in this scene has a real loggia and is threedimensional.

The Institution of the Crib at Greccio

Giotto paints the scene with exquisite tenderness.

No painter had never driven to such realism: the viewer viewed from the usually reserved only for the priests. There is a wooden cross obliquely inclined towards the nave.

The preaching before Onorio III

The room is open in the illusionary wall. There are slender columns and three groups of characters, arranged in a curved line. All the elements give a sense of depth.