John
W. Dixon, Jr., Art
as a Means of Thinking and of Grace
Giotto’s great quality is simultaneity. The whole event is presented
in its immediacy so all its elements are woven together into singleness.
This is done in a way not accessible to words. The verbal narrative
tells what happened. The painting shows it in greater human depth, showing
the feelings, the emotions, of those who were part of the action, if
only as spectators.
This leads us to the most important contribution Giotto made to Christian
art: He has shown the event in its fullness and immediacy. The persons
in it are participating in the grace of God. He has shown it as something
that happened to them. What’s in it for us?
