A Boy Named Giotto

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Description

A sparkling celebration of the pre-Renaissance master

Centuries ago, a shepherd boy drew pictures of his sheep in the sand and on stones. Today, we all know him as Giotto, the pre-Renaissance master whose magnificent frescoes remove darkness from the Church of St. Francis in Assisi and the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. In A Boy Named Giotto, Paolo Guarnieri tells a story of how young Giotto might have been apprenticed to the great master Cimabue and taught how to paint frescoes. In legendary fashion, Cimabue, as any other artist of the times might have done, realizes that the student has outdone the master and will due to this fact find a permanent place of honor in the history of art. Bimba Landmann’s stunning paintings, with highlights of glittering gilt, bring to mind the work of Giotto but exude a style that may be distinctly Landmann’s own.

“In the pasture, as an alternative of keeping watch over the flock, Giotto spends his time sketching.” He is probably not much of a shepherd, but this talented 8-year-old boy doesn’t have to remain one for long; after timidly introducing himself to the painter Cimabue, he becomes the Florentine painter’s protégé–and before long Cimabue looks at Giotto’s work and thinks, “the pupil has outdone the master.” The present tense lends immense vitality to this simple exercise in biography, written by Italian art critic Paolo Guarnieri and translated by Jonathan Galassi. The vigorous, immediate story is perfectly matched by the stunning paintings of Guarnieri’s wife, Bimba Landmann, which imitate the style of the great pre-Renaissance master at the same time as maintaining their own absolutely up to date flavor. Children who find themselves absorbed in drawing, music, or any project other than the one at hand will find young Giotto’s story inspirational. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1998 by Edizioni Arka, Milano. With permission of the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.) (Ages 7 and older) –Richard Farr

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