Giotto di Bondone
The human form, rediscovered during the Dark Ages

“There in a little time, by the aid of nature and the teaching of Cimabue, the boy not only equalled his master, but freed himself from the rude manner of the Greeks, and brought back to life the true art of painting, introducing the drawing from nature of living persons, which had not been practiced for two hundred years” — Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists

“Giotto touched me the most—always suffering and always full of kindness and ardour as if he were already living in a world other than this” — Vincent Van Gogh, Letter to Theo #446