who shares with Cimabue the honour of creating, or at least of restoring, modern art, was born at Vespuignano, a little village about 15 miles from Florence. His father's name was Bondone, and his own was a diminutive either of Ambrogiotto, his Christian name, or of Angiolotto, a term of endearment formed from Angiolo or Angelo. The date of his birth is not very accurately determined. Vasari and Baldinucci refer it to the year 1276, which would make Giotto only twenty-two years of age when he executed his famous mosaic of the Miraculous Draught of Fishes in 1296, before which date he had produced some of his most famous works. Other authorities refer it to the year 1270; others, considering that Vasari had made a mistake of a figure, put the real date as 1266, thus making him almost exactly coeval with Dante, his coetano ed amico suo grandissimo. He died at Florence, January 8, 1336. The best of his works were executed in fresco in various cities of Italy, especially Florence, Rome, Naples, Padua, and Assisi. Giotto may also be considered the creator of the art of portrait-painting. (For an estimate of his genius, and an account of his principal works, see PAINTING.)—See Lanzi, Stor. Pit.