Title – Artist (date)• Painting

Artist Biographical SketchGiotto was a Florentine painter and architect. He was recognized as the first genius of art in the Italian Renaissance. He was born around 1266 in the town of Vespignano, close to Florence. Cimabue, his mentor, supposedly spotted him when he was 12, sketching one of Giotto’s father’s sheep on a rock. The earliest known works by Giotto were a series of 38 frescos in the Arena Chapel Padua. Throughout his life, he executed commissions from princes and high churchmen in Rome, Naples, and Florence. In 1334 the city of Florence honored Giotto with the title of Magnus Magister and appointed him city architect and superintendent of public works. During this time he designed the famous campanile. He died in 1337, before the work was finished.

Title – Artist (date)• Painting