GIOTTO, properly AMBROG/OTTO BONDONE, born in 1276, in the district of Vespignano, near Florence, was the eon of a simple peasant and followed his father's occupation. In the half-Idle employment of tending the sheep in the fields, he used to amuse himself by sketch ing figures, and being found by Cimabue drawing a sheep with a sharp stone on a piece of slate, this artist was so struck with the per formance that he asked Giotto'e father to entrust his son to him. He took him to Florence, where he instructed him in painting (in fresco or distemper, oil painting not being yet discovered). Giotto applied with great diligence to the art, and fully realised the anticipation of his master, whom he soon excelled. Ile first freed art from the dry gothic manner which then prevailed, and gavo expression and action to his figures. Ile was distinguished above all his contemporaries by nobler forms, a pleasing disposition of his figures, the broad majestic folds of his draperies, and especially by a gracefulness which remained unequalled till the appearance of Mamma It seems likely that he was partly indebted for his superiority to the study of the antique, with which he might have become acquainted at Florence, and after wards at Rome ; and it is the more probable, as we know that he was also an architect and sculptor, and that models of his still existed iu the time of Lorenzo Ghiberti. His reputation spread throughout
Italy, many cities of which are adorned with his works. The greatest proof of his powers was the once celebrated mosaic of the Navicella, or boat of St. Peter, placed over the grand entrance of the church nt Rome; but it hes undergone so many alterations that it now affords little evidence of his talents, which however we may judge of by his still remaining works at Florence, in the 'Coronation of the Virgin,' in the church of Santa Croce, the 'Entombment of the Virgin' at Assisi, and in the 'History of St. Francis, in Sacro Convent°. He may also be called the restorer of portrait painting, and has, together with the features, given the air and character of Dante, Brunetto Latini, and Donati, the first of whom mentions him in his poems. Ile was a man of genius and knowledge, pleasant in conversation, and fond of poetry. Boccaccio and Sacehetti often mention him in their novels, and record his witty sayings; and Tetrarch speaks of him in his letters. He went with Pope Clement V. to France, where he executed many fresco paintings. He died in 1336.