An excerpt from Giotto: The Arena Chapel Frescoes
by James Stubblebine
One aspect of Giotto's genius is, as we have already observed, his ability to suggest different types of people and even their conditions in life. A good example of this is the youngest of the three Magi in The Adoration of the Magi, a figure which embodies youth, beauty, and regality. His figure is ramrod straight; the simple robe has folds as carved and regular as the flutes of a column. Like Piero della Francesca in a later age, Giotto assimilates such a figure to an abstract, geometric form-a way of idealizing the young king and lifting him above the common man. In contrast, the groom just behind him, in an ill-fitting costume, is shown in a foreshortened view, more realistic and more mobile-all this because he represents a servant type. An even greater contrast to the young Magus is afforded by the two shepherds in the preceding scene of The Nativity: their shifting gait, irregular hems, hunched-over shoulders, and the entire stance of these figures is at a far remove from the proud, elegant perfection of the young Magus.

Or again, Giotto can convey something very different in his treatment of the figure, as in The Betrothal of the Virgin . Perhaps the single most enchanting figure in the Arena Chapel is the Virgin in this scene. Demure yet smiling, she exudes a glow universally recognized as the particular quality of a bride. All this is confirmed by the harmonious lines of her white gown falling in a graceful train behind her. This lyrical mood persists in the representation of the Virgin in the next scene, The Return Home. Here again the beauty of the figure depends to a great extent on the flowing rhythms of the gown, enhanced now by the delicate sway of the Virgin as she moves along to the tune of the musicians and daintily lifts the drapery in front.