Herald of the Renaissance, the first to paint people as people again
Hailed as the "father of European painting," he all but single-handedly repainted the stiff, flat icons of the Middle Ages as living people — with volume, weight, and real grief and pain. In the Scrovegni Chapel at Padua, he set the Virgin and Christ in believable space, faces bearing true joy and sorrow. Every Renaissance master for the next century and more walked down the road he opened.
Legend says the pope sent a messenger to find the best painter and asked Giotto for a sample. Giotto drew no elaborate picture — with one sweep of his hand he made a perfect freehand circle, and said "that is enough." The story of "Giotto’s O" tells of a master’s confidence: true skill hides in the simplest of strokes.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.