According to legend, he was discovered by Cimabue as a boy, sketching his father's sheep. Giotto di Bodone (1266 1337) was the most famous and in uential painter of his generation in Italy. As the pioneer of modern painting, his impact was so enormous that his artist colleagues in Florence, however capable, were left struggling to keep up. His services were engaged by numerous high o cials and princes, including the Pope and his cardinals, King Robert of Anjou, and the Scaligeri and Visconti.
