Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone (1266 – 1337) was a creator of colossal works, an exemplary decorator and a master storyteller, who realistically expressed human emotions through his art. Believed to be a gifted painter since age 12, Giotto profoundly revolutionized the course of painting in Western Europe by breaking away from impersonal Byzantine art and introducing new standards of naturalism, perspective and three-dimensionality. His virtuoso religious works include frescoes, mosaics and statues for churches and a palace. Giotto’s art ultimately influenced the Renaissance, and was even studied and copied by Michelangelo.

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