Itinerary to discover Giotto’s works in Florence

Giotto di Bondone, known simply as Giotto, was a famous painter and architect. A pupil of Cimabue, he was so highly regarded by his contemporaries that Boccaccio called him ‘the best painter in the world’. He revolutionised painting between the 13th and 14th centuries, becoming an innovator of taste and style and a model of inspiration for Renaissance artists. Here we propose an interesting itinerary that will guide you to discover his Florentine masterpieces.

The first stop on the itinerary is the Church of San Salvatore in Ognissanti, located in the western part of the centre of Florence. It was founded in the 13th century by the Umiliati friars, a religious order that was dedicated to the processing and trade of wool. Its interior houses works of extraordinary artistic value, among which is the Crucifix of Ognissanti, a tempera and gold painting on wood made around 1315 by Giotto. Remarkable are the details of the anatomical representation as well as the painfully intense expression of Christ. On either side of the cross are four-lobed tables with half-length mourners (the Madonna and St John the Evangelist) and at the top the figure of the blessing Redeemer.

The second stop is the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, one of the most important churches in Florence. Located near the railway station that bears its name, it was founded by friars of the Dominican Order in the first half of the 13th century. In the centre of the nave, above the steps separating the lower from the upper church, is another grandiose Crucifix by Giotto, which the master most probably painted between 1288 and 1289. It is a revolutionary work: the body of Christ is painted vertically, with bent legs, in a ‘human’ position and depiction. At the sides of the cross, as usual, the Madonna and St John the Evangelist are depicted.

The itinerary then continues to Piazza del Duomo, where the Campanile di Giotto (Giotto’s Bell Tower) stands, the imposing bell tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and one of the greatest examples of 14th-century Florentine Gothic architecture. The construction of the bell tower was entrusted to Giotto in 1334, who led the work until his death in 1337. After that, the task passed to his pupil Andrea Pisano and then to Francesco Talenti, who completed the building in 1359. Giotto was responsible for overseeing the polychrome decoration and the iconographic programme of the reliefs. Not to be missed is the spectacular view from the panoramic terrace, which can be reached by climbing 400 steps.

Also in Piazza del Duomo is the Museum of the Opera del Duomo, housing more than 750 Renaissance masterpieces. Giotto’s small Madonna and Child of San Giorgio alla Costa, considered by some scholars to be the oldest panel painted independently by the artist, can be admired. It was painted in the late 13th century for the Florentine church of San Giorgio alla Costa and is currently on loan to the museum. In this work, Giotto kicks off his pictorial ‘revolution’, marked by the search for a more realistic representation and the humanisation of the characters. Stored for years in a storeroom near the church of Santo Stefano al Ponte, it was badly damaged in the attack in Via dei Georgofili in 1993. It was restored by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.

The next stop is the Bargello National Museum, housed in the ancient Palazzo del Podestà in Florence. It houses sculptures, bronzes, majolica, waxes, enamels, medals, ivories, tapestries, seals and textiles, mostly from the Medici collections, suppressed convents and private collections. The decoration of the Magdalene Chapel, on the first floor of the palazzo, was executed by Giotto and his school in two phases between 1321 and 1337. The pictorial cycle depicts the Stories of Mary Magdalene (hence the name of the chapel) and the Last Judgement, which also contains the oldest portrait of Dante Alighieri.

A few steps from the Bargello National Museum stands the Basilica of Santa Croce, one of the greatest achievements of the Gothic style in Italy. Located in the square of the same name, it was built starting in 1294 to a design by Arnolfo di Cambio but was not consecrated until 1443. Giotto’s frescoes in the Peruzzi Chapel (depicting scenes from the lives of St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist) and in the Bardi Chapel (facts from the life of St Francis according to the Legenda maior by Bonaventura da Bagnoregio) are of great value. The latter is considered to be the great painter’s artistic testament.

The seventh and penultimate stop is the Horne Museum. Opened for the first time in 1921, it originates from the testamentary will of Herbert Percy Horne and consists of a rich collection of works of art left to the Italian State together with the palace in which it is housed. Among the works of exceptional value and beauty it holds is Giotto’s panel painting of Saint Stephen. This painting from his extreme maturity (around 1330) was part of a polyptych (probably created after the frescoes in the Bardi Chapel). The saint is depicted in a half-length pose, wearing a preciously embroidered dalmatic and a rich missal decorated with gold leaf; the stones on his head allude to his martyrdom by stoning.

Finally, the itinerary ends with a visit to the Uffizi, one of the most famous museums in the world. Housed in a large building constructed between 1560 and 1580 to a design by Giorgio Vasari, it holds extraordinary collections of sculptures and paintings, ranging from the medieval to the modern era. Two of Giotto’s masterpieces are preserved here: the Majesty of All Saints (also known as the Madonna and Child Enthroned, Angels and Saints), executed when the artist had already achieved great fame; and the Badia Polyptych, a capital work in the history of Italian art, created between the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century.

Photo gallery © Santa Croce Opera