What is Cimabue known for?
Cimabue, original name Bencivieni di Pepo, modern Italian Benvenuto di Giuseppe, (born before 1251—died 1302), painter and mosaicist, the last great Italian artist in the Byzantine style, which had dominated early medieval painting in Italy.
Where is Cimabue from?
Florence, ItalyCimabue / Place of birth
What type of artist was Cimabue?
PaintingCimabue / FormPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and airbrushes, can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. Wikipedia
Who inspired Cimabue?
He was influenced by Dietisalvi di Speme. While he was at work in Florence, Duccio was the major artist, and perhaps his rival, in nearby Siena. Cimabue was commissioned to paint two very large frescoes for the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
Who painted Cimabue?
The Legacy of Cimabue Vasari called Cimabue the one "who shed first light upon the art of painting". The legacy of Cimabue is intricately connected to a long literary tradition shaped by no less a figure than Dante, but Cimabue was destined to be outshone by the genius and talent of his greatest student, Giotto.
Is Cimabue famous for discovering Giotto?
Legend has it that Giotto was discovered by Cimabue while he was portraying his sheeps on a stone. Thereby around 1272 Giotto is apprentice of Cimabue in Florence near Santa Maria Novella.
When was Giotto born?
Biography. An artist who played a decisive role in the development of Italian painting in his century and beyond (his works were studied and copied by masters of the stature of Masaccio and Michelangelo), Giotto was probably born in Florence c. 1265.
What was Giotto's style?
Gothic artProto-RenaissanceItalian Renaissance paintingGiotto/Periods
Who was Giotto's teacher?
CimabueAccording to Italian painter and historian Giorgio Vasari, Cimabue was the teacher of Giotto, the first great artist of the Italian Proto-Renaissance.
What elements from the Byzantine style did Cimabue include in his version of Madonna Enthroned?
Cimabue's, Madonna Enthroned is one of his most important works due to the use of gold leaf and blue pigment (very rare at the time). Also, the Byzantine influence is clearly shown in the emphasis of patterns to show textures of the figures.
What form did Byzantine artists?
Byzantine art developed iconographic types that were employed in icons, mosaics, and frescoes and influenced Western depictions of sacred subjects.
Who sits on the throne in Cimabue's painting at the its center?
Mary and ChristSet against a gleaming gold leaf background, Mary and Christ sit on a monumental throne fashioned of intricately carved wood and studded with gems. This throne has often been celebrated by art historians as an example of how Cimabue experimented with perspectival effects.
Overview
Cimabue , also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian painter and designer of mosaics from Florence.
Although heavily influenced by Byzantine models, Cimabue is generally regarded as one of the first great Italian painters to break from the Italo-Byzantine style. While medieval art then was scenes and forms that appeared relatively flat and …
Life
Little is known about Cimabue's early life. One source that recounts his career is Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, but its accuracy is uncertain.
He was born in Florence and died in Pisa. Hayden Maginnis speculates that he could have trained in Florence under masters who were culturally connected to Byzantine …
Character
According to Vasari, quoting a contemporary of Cimabue, "Cimabue of Florence was a painter who lived during the author's own time, a nobler man than anyone knew but he was as a result so haughty and proud that if someone pointed out to him any mistake or defect in his work, or if he had noted any himself... he would immediately destroy the work, no matter how precious it might be."
Legacy
History has long regarded Cimabue as the last of an era that was overshadowed by the Italian Renaissance. As early as 1543, Vasari wrote of Cimabue, "Cimabue was, in one sense, the principal cause of the renewal of painting," with the qualification that, "Giotto truly eclipsed Cimabue's fame just as a great light eclipses a much smaller one."
In Dante's Divine Comedy
In Canto XI of his Purgatorio, Dante laments the quick loss of public interest in Cimabue in the face of Giotto's revolution in art: In Purgatorio, although not seen, Cimabue is mentioned by Oderisi, who is also repenting for his pride. Cimabue serves to represent the fleeting nature of fame in contrast with the Enduring God.
O vanity of human powers, how briefly lasts the crowning green of glory, unless an age of darkne…
In Canto XI of his Purgatorio, Dante laments the quick loss of public interest in Cimabue in the face of Giotto's revolution in art: In Purgatorio, although not seen, Cimabue is mentioned by Oderisi, who is also repenting for his pride. Cimabue serves to represent the fleeting nature of fame in contrast with the Enduring God.
O vanity of human powers, how briefly lasts the crowning green of glory, unless an age of darkne…
Market
On 27 October 2019, Christ Mocked, discovered the previous month in northern France, in the kitchen of an elderly French woman, sold for €24m (£20m; $26.6m) at auction, setting a new record. The sale price was four times the estimate. Acteon Auction House said the sum, paid by an anonymous buyer from northern France, was a new world record for a medieval painting sold at auction.
External links
Media related to Cimabue at Wikimedia Commons
• Cimabue. Pictures and Biography
• Cimabue Santa Trinita Madonna (1280–1290). A video discussion about the painting from smarthistory.khanacademy.org
• "Cimabue, Giovanni" . The New Student's Reference Work . 1914.