The subject of this book is the artistic revolution that took place
around the year 1300. Young Giotto is the protagonist of this
revolution, whose trajectory of development can be traced across the
most vibrant and fashionable centres of culture of the time, at the
court of the Pope, in the city of Florence, in the rich and cultivated
north-eastern Italy, between the court of the Malatesta in Rimini and
the Veneto region with its power-house and financial heart in Padua.
Above all, the book is about two huge projects that marked the first
part of Giottos life: the Basilica of Assisi and, in Padua, the
Scrovegni Chapel and the Basilica of Saint Anthony. Within his work and
in his workshops places and people of Italy at the turn of the century
come to life. Relying on stylistic and technical analysis, on a careful
reading of iconographical programmes, studying working methods and
culling information from artistic works themselves and historical
documents, one may gain insights into how Giotto, like no one else, was
able to become a catalyst of a new contact with the world, a modern
ability to narrate with images and a newly rediscovered love of nature.