Where can you see Giotto in Rome?

At the Vatican Museums: The Stefaneschi Triptych. At St Peter's Basilica: The Navicella. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Giotto's most famous work in Rome?

The Stefaneschi Triptych, of about 1320 to 1330, at the Vatican Museums. An altarpiece painted on both sides for the high altar of old St Peter's, ordered by Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi, who is shown kneeling with a model of the altarpiece in his hands. It is in the Pinacoteca.

When and where was Giotto born?

About 1267, at Vespignano, near Florence, Italy. Giotto died on 8 January 1337, at Florence, Italy, aged about 70.

What is Giotto known for?

Frescoed the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Praised by Dante in his own lifetime. Painted the altarpiece of the high altar of old St Peter's. Giotto was an Italian painter, of the Proto-Renaissance.

Painter, 1267 to 1337

Giotto

Before Giotto, painted figures floated on gold. He gave them weight, a ground to stand on and faces that feel something, and the next two centuries of painting followed from it.

Florentine school, 15th century, Public domain

Born: 1267, Vespignano, near Florence, Italy
Died: 1337, Florence, Italy
Movement: Proto-Renaissance
In Rome: 2 works in 2 museums

Where to see Giotto in Rome

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Vatican Museums1 work

The Stefaneschi Triptych
about 1320 to 1330
An altarpiece painted on both sides for the high altar of old St Peter's, ordered by Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi, who is shown kneeling with a model of the altarpiece in his hands. It is in the Pinacoteca.

St Peter's Basilica1 work

The Navicella
about 1305 to 1313
A huge mosaic of Christ walking on the water towards the apostles' boat, made for the old basilica. What you see in the portico today was almost wholly remade in the seventeenth century.

The life of Giotto

Giotto di Bondone was born near Florence around 1267. His best-known work is the chapel he frescoed in Padua around 1305. He was the first painter in Italy whose fame was personal: Dante names him in the Divine Comedy as the man who had taken the field from his master Cimabue.

He was called to Rome more than once to work at St Peter's, the old basilica that stood before the present one. He died in Florence in 1337, in charge of building the bell tower of its cathedral.

What to know

Frescoed the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua
Praised by Dante in his own lifetime
Painted the altarpiece of the high altar of old St Peter's

Born: About 1267, Vespignano, near Florence, Italy
Died: 8 January 1337, Florence, Italy

Giotto: common questions

Where can you see Giotto in Rome?: At the Vatican Museums: The Stefaneschi Triptych. At St Peter's Basilica: The Navicella. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Giotto's most famous work in Rome?: The Stefaneschi Triptych, of about 1320 to 1330, at the Vatican Museums. An altarpiece painted on both sides for the high altar of old St Peter's, ordered by Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi, who is shown kneeling with a model of the altarpiece in his hands. It is in the Pinacoteca.
When and where was Giotto born?: About 1267, at Vespignano, near Florence, Italy. Giotto died on 8 January 1337, at Florence, Italy, aged about 70.
What is Giotto known for?: Frescoed the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Praised by Dante in his own lifetime. Painted the altarpiece of the high altar of old St Peter's. Giotto was an Italian painter, of the Proto-Renaissance.