farther,--but only in the same path, however; so we must not take from
Cimabue any of the honor that is due him. But for Giotto the old
Byzantine method of painting on all gold backgrounds was abolished. This
boy, though born of peasants, was not only gifted with keen powers of
observation of nature and mankind and a devotion to the representation
of things truly as they are, but, beyond and above all this, with one
other quality that made his work of incalculable worth to the people
among whom he painted. This was a delicate appreciation of the true
relations between earthly and spiritual things.

"Before him, as we have seen, all art was most unnatural and
monastic,--utterly destitute of sympathy with the feelings of the common
people. Giotto changed all this. He made the Christ-child a loving baby;
the Madonna a loving mother into whose joy and suffering all mothers'
hearts could enter; angels were servants of men; miracles were wrought
by God because He loved and desired to help men; the pictured men and
women were like themselves because they smiled and grieved and acted
even as they did. All this change Giotto made in the spirit of pictures;
and in the ways of painting he also wrought a complete revolution.
'There are no such things as gold backgrounds in nature,' he said; 'I
will have my people out of doors or in their homes.' And so he painted
the blue sky and rocks and trees and grass, and dressed his men and
women in pure, fresh colors, and represented them as if engaged in home
duties in the house or in the field. He introduced many characters into
his story pictures,--angel visitants, neighbors, wandering shepherds,
and even domestic animals. He brought the art of painting _down_ into
the minds and hearts of all who looked upon them."

"I never have realized until lately," said Barbara, "how painting can be
made a source of education and pleasure to everybody. It is so different