The Adoration of the Magi
ca. 1320
Giotto breaks away from stiff medieval traditions here by giving his figures actual weight and emotion, even if the perspective looks a bit wonky to modern eyes. Notice how Mary isn't sitting up politely but is actually lying down exhausted on a red mattress under a rustic wooden shelter, while the three kings in their fancy crowns crowd around the baby Jesus to offer gifts. The heavily cracked gold background reminds us this panel is over 700 years old, surviving from the very dawn of the Italian Renaissance when artists first started caring about human feelings and realistic storytelling.