By using stylistic and technical investigation, interpreting the iconographic codes and inspecting working methods in the workshops and on the construction sites of that time, Serena Romano recreates an all-accomplished picture of Italy during the time of Giotto...
Written by one of the most prominent scholars of Italian and European Medieval history, this book is not another mere monograph about Giotto. By using stylistic and technical investigation, interpreting the iconographic codes and inspecting working methods in the workshops and on the construction sites of that time, Serena Romano recreates an all-accomplished picture of Italy during the time of Giotto.
The artistic revolution that took place around the year 1300 is the main theme of this book, with a young Giotto as a protagonist. Following the trail of the painter, who was probably one of the most vagabond and international artists of the Middle Ages, we get the picture of some Italian cities of that period, Florence and Rome, Assisi and Padua, through an ideal dialogue between some of the most outstanding works of art of all the times.
This book is also the history of a meeting point between ancient times and modernity, between classical style and gothic. Giotto was able to represent better than anyone else the new perspective on the world, the modern ability to tell a story by means of pictures, the recovered affection for nature. At the same time, he was able to consolidate the connection with the classical tradition that was so strong in Rome, the city where he was trained