Bones Under Church May Be Giotto's
R O M E, Nov. 20, 2000 -- Almost 700 years after his death, the remains ofpre-Renaissance painter Giotto can’t rest in peace. That is, ifthey really are Giotto’s remains.
A scholarly war is raging over a skeleton found under Florence’sDuomo cathedral. One side says it is the man renowned as the fatherof European painting. The other says it’s not.
Despite the dispute, the city has decided to go ahead with aceremonial burial on Jan. 8, the anniversary of Giotto’s death. Ithad been put on hold after an American archaeologist, FranklinToker, said the bones weren’t Giotto’s
“Let’s not render honor to the bones of some fat butcher,” hepleaded in a letter to Florence’s Archbishop Silvano Piovanelli.
“What Kind of Science Is This?”
Toker, a professor of art history at the University ofPittsburgh, took part in the excavations that unearthed the bonesin the 1970s. He doesn’t believe they are Giotto’s
On the other side of the debate are author Stefano Sieni andFrancesco Mallegni, an anthropology and paleontology professor atthe universities of Pisa and Palermo. They base theiridentification on an analysis of the skeleton. Reconstructing theface, they came up with a strong likeness to what may or may not bea Giotto self-portrait in a fresco.
“What kind of science is this?” Toker demanded in a telephoneinterview. “You take the bones, take the fresco and make the bust.You can produce anyone that way.”
Sieni concurred “any face” might have emerged, but “Giotto’swas the one that in fact did.”
Although he attained fame in his lifetime, little is known aboutGiotto’s life. Scholars think he died in Florence in 1337, probablyat age 70.
Sieni’s reconstruction came up with a short, squarely built man— a well-nourished person who was probably affluent. Indentationsin the teeth, Sieni maintains, were made by paintbrushes held inthe mouth.
Clues in the Bones
Giotto’s masterpiece is a cycle of frescoes in Padua’s ScrovegniChapel, which contain a figure some scholars think is aself-portrait. Sieni’s reconstruction resembles this figure.
Still, Toker argues, there is no proof the fresco painting is aself portrait. “This is just speculation, it is touristliterature,” Toker said.
Another scholar, Luciano Bellosi, said flatly the figure “isnot Giotto.”
Toker has also raised other questions. The skeleton was found ina grave of the Church of Santa Reparata, which was later replacedby the Duomo cathedral. It was found on the right side of thebuilding, while Toker maintains there are documents from the 16thcentury saying Giotto was buried on the left side.
In addition, he argues, someone of Giotto’s prominence wouldhave had his own tomb. The skeleton was found in a tomb containinga “jumble of three skeletons,” he said.
Sieni argues there are a series of clues pointing to theidentity of the skeleton.
He said the bones showed high levels of aluminum, arsenic andother chemicals commonly found in the pigments used by 14th-centurypainters. In addition, the neck shows a contraction typical ofsomeone who spent a lot of time looking upward, as a fresco painterwould have.
The dispute comes at a time when there is a renewed interest inGiotto. A huge exhibit opens Saturday in Padua to celebrate theartist, whose works prefigure the innovations of the Renaissancestyle a century later.