GIOTTO di Bondone
(b. 1267, Vespignano, d. 1337, Firenze)

Allegory of Poverty (detail)

c. 1320
Fresco
Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi

The rich man do not wish to know of the angels' demands that they follow St Francis. They cling to their sacks of money, and the elegant falconer mocks the heavenly messenger with an obscene gesture. Such narrative liveliness in art is new with respect to allegorical representations.