BEYOND THE OBVIOUS: the Glory of Jesus as expressed by the Genius of Giotto in the ‘The Resurrection of Lazarus’ ; a frescos he painted inside the Arena or Scrovegni Chapel located in Padua, Italy

The story of art has been ruled by great artist like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli etc. but the influence they sought as a ‘father figure’ began his life as a shepherd boy. He used his brush to bring the Bible to life and made art more natural, more real. His name was Giotto. Regarded as the ‘Father of the Renaissance’, Ambrogiotto (Little Ambrose) was born in Tuscany in 1267.

Legend states that while tending sheep, Giotto would sketch on a sharp stone. His nature based drawings were so spectacular that it caught the attention of Cimabue, the then famous, ‘bull headed’ artist. With his father’s consent, Cimabue carried off the boy to Florence to be his apprentice. However he was not spared of the young boy’s banter. When Cimabue was absent, Giotto painted a lifelike fly on the face of the painting which was so realistic that Cimabue, on his return, tried several times to shove it off.

Giotto’s greatest masterpieces are the frescos he painted inside the Arena or Scrovegni Chapel located in Padua, Italy. It was commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni, a wealthy Italian banker in the early 1300’s. It was meant to be restitution for his father’s involvement in unjust usury dealings. In fact Dante, friend of Giotto, in his famous ‘Divine Comedy’ singles out Scrovegni’s father for one of the most treacherous parts of hell.