Includes 16-page booklet examining many of the most famous works

The Roots of Modern Painting

At the dawn of the 14th century, Giotto’s painting was the expression of a world evolving towards new horizons. A new confidence in mankind, the awareness of playing an active role in his own time, having a ‘moral’ and ‘material’ place in the world – all these features, typical of the Italian Renaissance, can be traced in his work.

Focused on emotions, people and lives, Giotto’s frescos make a decisive break with the abstract and affected mysticism of Byzantine art and depict his own times, starting one of the most sensational revolutions in the history of art.

In this absorbing programme we trace Giotto’s amazing career and life, from the shepherd boy plucked from obscurity in Mugello to the great master whose work dominated Italian artistic style and launched the Renaissance movement. We follow in the footsteps of Giotto, retracing his journeys throughout Italy and discovering how his distinct, innovative Tuscan style changed the face of art in the country.

His most spectacular works are captured in breathtaking footage, with lingering close-ups allowing us an unrivalled view of the detail and devotion as we assess and explore the most famous masterpieces. Giotto, the man, may in many ways be an enigma, but his works are bold statements rejecting tradition, freeing future generations from the bonds of the past.

The DVD includes a series of bonus features provide wider information about Giotto and his work;
• Assisi; the Legends of Saint Francis
• Florence; the Crucifix in Santa Maria Novella, the Cathedral’s Bell Tower, the Peruzzi Chapel and the Ognissanti Maddona
• Padua; the Scrovegni Chapel

"Brilliant dvds of the classic art & artists each with individual history of their career & works and detailed examples of their paintings & sculptures. Highly recommended." (Grahame, UK,  Jan 2017)