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

Scenes from the Life of St Francis: 2. Renunciation of Wordly Goods (detail)

1325-28
Fresco
Bardi Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence

Crying children, curious city-dwellers and shocked clergymen observe St. Francis' decision to turn away from his earthly father for good. Compared with the work in the Peruzzi Chapel, Giotto s depiction of people in these later paintings has changed again. These figures do not seem to occupy so much space. Their movements are lithe, they have rather longer necks and their robes wider necklines - both correspond to the fashion of the time and show a certain tendency towards elegant Gothic painting.