Figure 1.--Although Giotto is universally honnored as the first great master of Western paintung, few of his documented works survive. Here is one of the best known -- St. Francis' 'Renunciation of Wordly Goods'. Notice how the universal attire id medieval robes, including the girls.

Giotto di Bondone was probably a nickname for Ambrogio (Ambrogiotto) di Bondone. He is so important that he is usually known as just Giotto. We have little information on Giotto's childhood. He is believed to have been born in a farm house near Florence. We note that French artist Léon Bonnat depicted him as a sheppard boy. Giotto is very important in the history of art. He is widely comdidered the most important Italian painter of the 14th century, which means the important painter in the world at the time. His work was an early hint of the seismic innovations of the Renaissance that would begin a century later. Most art historians see him as the father of European painting and the first of the great Italian masters that would lead art into modernity. He thus played a major role in revolutionizing Western art which is why we include him on our Italian list. Before Giotto, Italian art art was flat and strongly influenced by Byzantine forms. Giotto brought realism, depth, and individuality to his painting. The people in his paintings are depicted in the long robes commonly worn in medieval Europe for centuries. We notice few children in his paintings that we can use to illustrate how children dressed at the time. The subjects of Giotto, like virually all art at the time are religious. Jesus as a baby is always depicted wearing a tunic. In St. Francis' 'Renunciation of Wordly Goods', a fresco in Assisi basilica, we can see two girls about the same age. St. Francis took off all his garments returning them to his father. Giotto put two girls in this scene. Unfortunately, little of his life and only a few of his documented works have survived.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main Italian page]
[Return to the Working children: Country trends]
[Introduction] [Activities][Biographies][Chronology] [Clothing styles][Countries]
[Bibliographies][Contributions][FAQs][Glossaries][Images][Links][Registration][Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 11:39 PM 8/1/2020
Last updated: 11:39 PM 8/1/2020