Giotto - Sermon of the Birds

Fragment of Sermon of the Birds c. 1302 - Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337) 

France Stamp Issued 2008

Louvre, Paris

Giotto is now regarded as one of the key artists whose work signaled the end of Medieval Gothic and Byzantine Arts towards the early Renaissance.  This is one of his most important works - one of a series of paintings depicting the life of St Francis of Assisi - these frescos are also subject to some dispute as to whether they can be attributed to Giotto.

 Extract from "Renaissance Art" - Chambers Library:

"This is a famous fragment of the predella of a signed picture, which the artist executed for the Franciscans in Pisa.  The aura of spontaneous intimacy - with the saint portrayed in the presence of birds which are not depicted in the manner of medieval art but are individuated- authenticates this panel."