Why Not Giotto?

I love that line from Monty Python—“And now for something completely different.” So how about some Giotto? He was an Italian painter, born in 1266, an upbeat artist in a very weird time—the late Middle Ages. I’ll let his brush strokes do the talking. The photo on the left is one of Giotto’s works—I took this shot at the house he was born in, or so said the sign. The colors in this painting are vibrant and the buildings, Lego-like. Remember, this was painted over 700 years ago in an age when most people died young.

I imagine that each of us have viewed paintings that have stayed with us. Here is my list van Gogh’s Starry Night, Hopper’s Nighthawks, Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Dutch Proverbs (makes for a great jigsaw puzzle) and the Giotto work (don’t know the name).  I’ve seen the Mona Lisa, but didn’t think it was special. Portraits don’t work for me.

Giotto di Bondone is the name. Check him out on the net. He was a triple-threat artist: sculptor, painter and architect.