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How did Giorgio Vasari portray Giotto’s place in the history of Italian art?
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Giotto
Lamentation, fresco by Giotto, 1303–05; in the Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy.
In his 1550 work, Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Giorgio Vasari positioned Giotto as the foundational figure of Italian art history.1
Vasari portrayed Giotto as the pivotal artist who broke away from the stylized traditions of the Middle Ages. By doing so, he credited Giotto with ushering in the "good modern manner," effectively marking the beginning of a new era in painting. In Vasari's narrative, Giotto’s departure from medieval conventions was more significant than that of his teacher, Cimabue, establishing him as the primary catalyst for the stylistic evolution that would eventually lead to the Renaissance masters like Masaccio and Michelangelo.1