The Lamentation

THE LAMENTATION Giotto was one of the earliest artists to portray the illusions of real life, in terms of emotion and space on a flat surface. With Cimabue, Giotto is often regarded as the founder on modern painting, as he broke away from the rigid formula that had been the foundation of religious paintings. His painting turned from the flatter, Byzantine style to a more naturalistic approach full of life even a century before the …

…more fluent and shows expression in the faces that had never been previously seen. The background landscapes too, seem to follow the movement of the characters and change with them. Giotto's work was a source of inspiration and instruction for generations of painters; it was studied and followed by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, artists whose own work was to be of such fundamental importance for the history of European art.