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Essay on The Success of Artisit Giotto di Bondone

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Giotto di Bondone, usually referred to as Giotto, was a very well known and highly respected Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late 13th to mid 14th centuries. He is remembered not just for his own outstanding work, but for the lasting effects he had on the evolution of painting in Europe. Giotto is considered one of the first of many artists who took part in the foundation the Italian Renaissance in both painting and architecture by breaking away from traditional styles. Giotto was born at Colle, near Florence in 1266. A late 16th century Italian painter, architect, writer and historian known as Giorgio Vasari, best known for his book “Lives of the Artists,” recounts that Giotto was a bright and intelligent shepherd boy …show more content…

After a few years his reputation spread and he became very well known. When it was time to leave his apprenticeship and begin working for himself, it was said that he had far surpassed the skills of his master. Giotto’s style includes figures that are monumental with a formal and slow-moving feel. He is able to build up a organized rhythm into a incredibly powerful drama. Giotto was also able to achieve a convincing representation of space. The technique (fresco) used by Giotto and most Italian painters would be to paint directly onto walls with tempura paint, which required great skill and patience. Tempura paint were powdered pigments made from the combination of items such as egg yolks, water, and glue mixed with dangerous elements like lead and arsenic. The first step in creating a fresco would be to cover the wall with gypsum soaked linen strips. This created the initial surface to paint on. After the correct number of linen strip layers have been applied, artists would then paint with a mixture of the tempura pigments mixed with wet plaster. As a result, the prepared wall would absorb the paints. Most paintings were done in multiple phases, with one small section completed each day. It would be difficult to complete it all at once because each section had to be done quickly before the plaster paint dried. Giotto is known for completing many impressive and

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