Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)

Giovanni Boccaccio was born in or near Florence in 1313, the (likely illegitimate) son of a minor Florentine banker. His father made an advantageous marriage, got appointed head of the Bardi bank in Naples, and moved there with his family in 1326.

In Naples Giovanni studied accounting and then church law but never cared for either. Instead he pursued reading, writing, and relationships with women. All three benefited from his access to the royal court made possible by his father’s role as financial advisor to the king of Naples.

Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337)

Giotto was the first significant painter of the Renaissance--the rebirth of classical culture which began in Latinia (see "Map of Olympia" above). He depicted humans more realistically than painters had for a thousand years.

He apparently was the son of a blacksmith and born around 1267 in a village near Florence. Little is known of his childhood and youth.

Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)

Francesco Petrarch was born on July 20, 1304, in a small town in Tuscany near Florence. Although his father and Dante were friends, Francesco later claimed he never read Dante’s Divine Comedy.

At his father’s insistence, he studied law for seven long years (1319-26) at universities in Montpelier and Bologna. He never, however, became a lawyer. He believed the legal system made a commodity of justice and simply sold it to the highest bidder. In 1325 he bought his first book: The City of God by Augustine of Hippo.

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

Thomas Aquinas finished the greatest theological synthesis of Latin Christendom, his monumental Summa Theologica, in 1274. Dante Alighieri, finished the greatest literary synthesis of Latin Christendom, his Divine Comedy, in 1321.

Dante was born in Florence around 1265, the same year that Thomas Aquinas began writing his great Summa.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Thomas was born on January 28, 1225, in Roccasecca, a town about 75 miles (120 km) from both Rome and Naples. His mother was Theodora, countess of Teano, and his father was Landulf, count of Aquino, and he was the youngest of nine children. His father’s brother, Sinibald, was the abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, about 16 miles (25 km) from Roccasecca. His parents planned to have Thomas eventually replace his uncle as abbot there.

Vincent van Gogh: End (1886-1890)

Life as a Painter (continued)

In Paris (1886-1888)
Vincent moved to Paris in March 1886 and shared the flat of his brother Theo. He continued to be a prolific painter. During this time he created a series of paintings of the neighborhood of Montmartre where he and Theo lived. He also painted portraits of people he knew. One of these, Julien "Père" Tanguy, owned the art supplies store which also served as a gallery and gathering place for Vincent and other young painters.

Vincent van Gogh: Finding His Way (1853-1886)

Childhood and Youth: 1853-1869
Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853. His parents lived in the village of Groot-Zundert, near the city of Breda, in the historically Catholic area of southern Netherlands. He was their oldest surviving child. His father was a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. His grandfather had received a degree in theology from the University of Leiden and one of his uncles, Johannes Stricker, was a respected and published theologian. In contrast, three other uncles were art dealers. Both theology and art would profoundly influence his life.