Views of Giovanni Boccaccio in regards to the Renaissance painting of Giotto.

Giotto crossed a barrier painters before him could not. In fact with his teacher, Cimabue, the two are often regarded as the founders of modern painting. The question at hand is found in this very foundation, as Giotto had a sort of "naturalness" in his paintings that others lacked, as Giovanni Boccaccio stated. This essay will then explore the reasoning of Boccaccio, in an attempt to portray the view of this 14th Century Florentine humanist. …

…emotion and sense of space must have been overwhelming. Although our contemporary eyes tell us differently, Boccaccio saw a revolutionary form of painting in Giotto's work; one that transcended color and pastel on a wall, to a depiction that was as natural as nature itself. Therefore by pioneering the use of geometric perspective and portraying dramatic situations, showing specific events from specific times, Giotto's work emitted a revolutionary level of emotion, as recognized by Boccaccio.