Lot 139 Dα

Giotto's life is documented in the "Commentarii" of Lorenzo Ghiberti, which found general publicity in the ammended version written by Giorgio Vasari in the mid 16th century.
According to these records, Giotto grew up in humble circumstances in Vespignano near Florence. Vasari writes that the painter Cimabue discovered the young Giotto drawing a sheep on a stone whilst he was tending his flock in the woods. Cimabue was apparently so impressed by the boy's naturalistic depiction of the animal that he took him to Florence to train as a painter.
According to tradition, Giotto once painted such a realistic depiction of a fly on one of Cimabue's works that the elder painter tried several times to shoo it away before he recognised the trick. This successful optical illusion thus led Cimabue to consider Giotto's skills as a painter superior to his own.