According to a tale, Giotto di Bondone's (1266-1337) talent was first spotted in his village. It was one day while he was drawing a picture of a sheep on a rock with a burnt stick (charcoal). The man who recognized Giotto's gift was Giovanni Cimabue, the most well-known painter in Italy at the time. Cimabue asked Giotto's father if his boy could become his apprentice. His father said yes and it was then that Giotto began learning about painting. Again, this is a tale; however, we can be fairly certain that Giotto helped Cimabue make Byzantine mosaics for the cupola of the Florence Baptistry (Battistero). The Baptistry is located in the Piazza San Giovanni and also features Ghiberti's bronze doors.

Giotto di Bondone focused his work around churches, creating alterpieces and frescoes. Some of the most famous are the frescos in the Capella degli Scrovegni (thought to be his most significant achievement) and in the Church of Santa Croce. He was inspired by St. Francis of Assisi and was given the honor of painting scenes from his life in a church dedicated to the saint (Basilica di San Francesco). The first 21 scenes were completed entirely by him. These still exist, but most of his works in general have not lasted through the centuries. Giotto's primary focus was on imitating life in a three dimensional and rounded way on two-dimensional surfaces. This concern with realism was said to be a "milestone in the development of Western art." Later painters like Raphael and da Vinci noted Giotto as an inspiration due to this. As well as a painter, Giotto was a poet, sculptor, composer, and architect. He was given the title of city architect in Florence upon the death of Arnolfo di Cambio. In 1334 he designed the Bell Tower (Campanile) for the cathedral. He married Cinta di Lapo del Pela in 1290 and they had eight children.

He brought back to light an art which had been buried for centuries beneath the blunders of those who, in their paintings, aimed to bring visual delight to the ignorant rather than intellectual satisfaction to the wise.
-Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron (1349-51)

Giotto transformed the art of painting from Greek into Latin, and made it modern. He mastered our art more completely than any other.
-Cennino Cennini, The Book of the Art (14th/15th century)

Giotto saw in art what others had not attained. He introduced natural art and refinement never departing from the correct proportions.
-Lorenzo Ghiberti, Commentaries (c. 1440-50)