"—— Cimabue thought
To lord it over painting's field; and now
The cry is Giotto, and his name's eclips'd."
Cary's Dante.
And Giotto has left us an interesting portrait of the poet, on the wall of the Podesta, or council chamber of Florence, his first recorded work. Giotto was, in fact, a fellow pupil with Dante under the same master, Brunetto Latini, since Cimabue gave him all the cultivation of his time in books as well as art. The fame of Giotto as a painter spread all over Italy, and his services were required by the Church, and by rich and great persons.
There is a well-known story, which throws light upon his skill and certainty of hand, that once, when an emissary from Pope Boniface VIII. came to him for a specimen of his handiwork to show to his master, Giotto took a piece of paper and drew a circle in one stroke, without compasses.
The pope's emissary was disappointed at not getting a prettier picture, but it proved convincing, and the legend passed into a proverb which runs: Rounder than the O of Giotto—"Più tondo che l' O di Giotto."
Alinari Photo.]
GIOTTO. PORTRAIT OF DANTE. (FLORENCE, PRETORIAN PALACE.)]
C. Naya Photo.]