Giotto's Work

Giotto’s use of cycles can be seen in his fresco works in the Arena Chapel as well as in the church of Santa Croce. These cycles depict a series of connected images. In these frescoes, Giotto’s simplistic style is emphasized; while he focused little on landscape and background, he centered his attention on figures placed in the foreground. Although both the figures and the background lack ornate detail or intricate facial expressions, the position and placement of the figures portray a specific mood or tone. Giotto’s choice of colors and brightness of tones also take a minimalist form and vary slightly. This can be seen in The Ascension of St. John as well as his other frescoes found in the Arena Chapel. In The Ascension of St. John, the large figures become the focus. Additionally, there are two major groupings among the figures, and here, the groupings provide balance and order.

Unlike the flat figures in the works of other artists during his time, Giotto focused his energies on making his figures, which were painted on a flat surface, appear three-dimensional. This technique gave his painted figures a more humanlike quality which he admired in theFrench sculptures he had seen.

The Last Judgment

In addition to the early drawings, there are aspects of Michelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel that provide similarities to Giotto’s frescoes. Although Michelangelo had the opportunity to view the frescoes in Santa Croce, his exposure to Giotto's The Last Judgment remains unknown. Even though he was taught newer fresco techniques during his apprenticeship with Ghirlandaio, Michelangelo preferred older techniques that artists, such as Giotto, had used. These techniques involved painting the plastered walls while they were still wet.

The portrayal of figures in Giotto’s frescoes and The Last Judgment is important. In Michelangelo’s work, little attention is focused on the background. Like Giotto, Michelangelo places the central focus on large groupings and on individual figures, which both take up most of the given space. In The Ascension of St. John and The Last Judgment both artists place attention on the position of the figures. While the stiff and solid figures of Giotto portray a somber mood, the positions of Michelangelo’s figures are used to portray movement.

Giotto's influences on the development of Michelangelo as an artist can be seen today. In his early drawings, Michelangelo copied Giotto's frescoes and admired their sculpture-like qualities; consequently, Giotto's work impacted the early development of Michelangelo. What he learned whilestudying and copying Giotto's frescoes first-hand provided a basis for many of his most famous works, including the magnificent frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.

Further Readings

De Tolnay, Charles. The Youth of Michelangelo. Vol. 1 of Michelangelo. Princeton:Princeton University Press, 1943.

Hartt, Frederick. History of Italian Renaissance Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1969.

Hirst, Michael. Michelangelo Draftsman. Milan: Olivetti, 1988.

Hughes, Anthony. Michelangelo. New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 1997.

Janson, H. W. and Anthony F. Janson. History of Art: The Western Tradition. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1969.

Michelangelo's pen and ink drawing of The Ascension of St. John can be found in Charles De Tolnay's The Youth of Michelangelo.

All other images used with permission can be found at: The Web Gallery of Art

Early Drawings

During Michelangelo’s apprenticeship in the workshop of Ghirlandaio, he copied the work of Giotto and other artists with pen and ink drawings. During his early years as an artist, Michelangelo had the opportunity to view Giotto’s work first-hand during visits to Santa Croce. Although few of his drawings of the Giotto frescoes remain today, Michelangelo's copy of The Ascension of St. John provides a clear example of Giotto’s early influence on him as a young artist. While Giotto’s work did function as a training tool, Michelangelo added various changes with the copy, showing at an early age his ability to add his own elements and techniques to the great work of others.

Giotto’s tendency to create a few large groupings in each fresco can be seen in The Ascension of St. John. Michelangelo experimented with cross-hatching as he copied the left-hand group of figures found in Giotto’s fresco. Although the cross-hatching technique used here resembles chisel marks, Michelangelo had not yet started working with sculpture at this point in time. There are elements of the work that Michelangelo altered; he slightly changed the placement of the upright figure’s arms and feet. These changes make the figure look balanced and unified. Also, the detail of the figure’s robes was simplified to give a smoother appearance. These deliberate changes provide insight to Michelangelo’s attention to making figures appear as realistic as possible.