Cimabue

Cimabue (1240 - 1302), also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was a Florentine painter and creator of mosaics. Cimabue is generally regarded as one of the first great Italian painters to break from the Italo-Byzantine style, although he still relied on Byzantine models. The art of this period comprised scenes and forms that appeared relatively flat and highly stylized. Cimabue was a pioneer in the move towards naturalism; his figures were depicted with more lifelike proportions and shading. Even though he was a pioneer in that move, his Maestà paintings evidence Medieval techniques and characteristics. According to Giorgio Vasari, he was the teacher of Giotto, the first great artist of the Italian Proto-Renaissance.

"Cimabue believed in painting
Keep the field, and now Giotto has the cry,
That the fame of him is dark "

At Cimabue, however, it is a fundamental step in the transition from ieratic and idealized (of Byzantine tradition) to true subjects, endowed with humanity and emotions, which will be the basis of Italian and Western painting. He was a painter of unprejudiced innovative capacity (think of the gimmicks with which he made dramatic such as ever before the Crucifixion in Assisi, or the incredible inclination of the Crucifix of Holy Cross), which, nevertheless, without ever detaching himself from the Byzantine ways, led them To the extreme consequences, a step from the renewal already pursued in sculpture by Nicola Pisano and then painting by Giotto.

Recent studies have shown that, in reality, the renewal of Cimabue was not completely isolated in the European context, since the Byzantine painting itself showed signs of evolution towards greater volume yield and better dialogue with the observer. For example, in the frescoes of the monastery of Sopoćani dated 1265, there are now figures without contour where the finest nuances point to volumetric roundness. Moreover, Vasari himself, who is so much attributed to Cimabue for the initiation of the Renaissance of Italian painting, claims that he had "Greek masters".

Certain newspapers, supported by documents, on Cimabue's life are very small: present in Rome in 1272; Commissioned to make a cardboard for the mosaic of the apsidal cathedral of the Cathedral of Pisa on November 1, 1301; Died in Pisa in 1302. From these very few information critics and art historians have reconstructed, not without controversy and uncertainty, the catalog of works

The approximate date of birth is based on the mention of Vasari and on a calculation of the age that he ought to have in 1272, when in Rome he was quoted as a witness in a major public act, so probably in the thirty years. Recalled the birthplace of the artist, "Florentia", confirmed also in the Pisan document. There is no mention of Giovanni Villani's mention that the artist was called "Giovanni" and Cimabue of last name

The document of Rome dated 8 June 1272 records the testimony of the patron of Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi assuming the office of Pope Gregory X of a monastery of nuns of St. Damian, who for the occasion was relegated to St. Augustine and to His Rule In Rome, he had to know classical art and local school

The reconstruction of the chronology of works based on stylistic data from the recent and rigorous analysis of Luciano Bellosi puts the artist at work in Florence, Pisa and Bologna at the end of the seventies and the beginning of the next decade. During this period he would, among other things, Other works, the Crucifix of Santa Croce, the Louvre Majesty and the mosaics of the Baptistery of Florence

The eighties had to be the most popular moment of the artist, with the task of decorating the transept and apse of the Upper Basilica of St. Francis, a firm built between 1288 and 1292. Since the nineties its star had to start to be Obscured by that of the student Giotto, as recorded the famous Dante's mention There was, however, space for a work famous as the Majesty of Santa Trinita

As mentioned above, on November 1 and 5, 1301, he was in Pisa, where he signed for the execution of a great Majesty with sacred stories for the Church of the Santa Chiara Hospital, to be performed in collaboration with the lucchese Giovanni di Apparecchiato, called " Nuchulus ": a work lost or perhaps never performed for the death of the artist On March 19, 1302, just four months later, a Florentine document speaks of the" heirs "of Cimabue regarding a house in the people of San Maurizio in Fiesole On July 4 That year in the camerlengo of Pisa were handed over some objects (iron gloves, a tablecloth and so on) that belonged to the painter, which then had to be dead while waiting for a work for the Duomo of Pisa, or cartons for the mosaic in Absidal cap

Main works:
The Crucifix of Arezzo:
Probably his training took place in Florence, amongst Byzantine masters of history. Already with the Crucifixion of the church of San Domenico di Arezzo, dating back to 1270, he marked a Byzantine detachment

In this work, Cimabue moved to the recent portrayal of the Crucifixion with the Christus patiens painted by Giunta Pisano in 1250, but updated the iconography by further articulating the body of the Christ, which now emerged occupying the whole band to the left of the cross. Also exasperated Pittoricism based on the use of thin filaments lying with the tip of the brush for the rendering of the incarnate, realizing a muscular force and a volumetry never seen before. Always on the models of Junta, they point the two figures on the tablets on the sides of the arms of the cross (Mary And San Giovanni depicted in a bust in a lumpy position) and the dry, almost "calligraphic" style of the anatomical rendering of the body of the Christ

The similarity with the juntesque model is also explained by the explicit request of the Dominican aretines, being one of the crucifixes of Giunta preserved in the main church of order, the basilica of San Domenico in Bologna

Another novelty compared to the model was the use of gold streaks (agemina) in the drapery that covers the body of Christ or in the garments of the two sorrows, a motif derived from Byzantine icons

The Crucifixion of the Holy Cross:
Shortly after the trip to Rome in 1272, at the end of the seventies, he carried out the Crucifix for the Florentine church of Santa Croce, now semidistrutto due to the flood of Florence in 1966. This work is similar to the Archbishopric Crucifix, But a careful analysis of the pictorial style has changed a lot

Three meters and 90's high is a great crucifix, with the more sinuous Christ laying, where the whole figure is even more serious and sloping downward dragged by its own weight, with an even more pointed bush that goes beyond the margin Of the cross

But it is above all the pictorial delicately shaded performance to represent a revolution with a moving naturalism (perhaps inspired by the works of Nicola Pisano) and devoid of the hard brush strokes found in the archtin crucifix. Unlike the previous aretina work, the body is not Divided into distinct and distinct areas such as the pieces of a removable armor: the passages between the various areas of the body are always carried out with gradual passages, charac- teristic modulation, always blurred, never net The light is now calculated and modeled with a chiaroscuro a volume Realistic: the light colors of the abdomen turned to the hypothetical source of light, for example, are not the same as the shoulders and shoulders, wisely represented as illuminated with a different angle of light. This allows to imagine the whole figure and To the individual parts of the body, providing the muscles of vigor and power, as has already been the case in the previous c Rogue, but unlike before it has more realism

Many of the legends of Byzantine art are also overcome, such as the net separation between the muscles of the arm and the forearm, now fused at the elbows

A true example of virtuosity is the yield of soft drape, delicately transparent After centuries of crude colors Cimabue was therefore the first to spread soft nuances

The Majesty of the Louvre:
Cimabue also in the traditional iconography of the Madonna with the child established a new canon with which he had to compare the later painters, especially Giotto

In 1280 he performed the Madonna with the Child or Majesty of the Louvre, coming from the church of San Francesco in Pisa. This work amplifies the majesty through a wider field around the Madonna (think of the Madonna del Bordone di Coppo of Marcovaldo) , And better is naturalistic yield, though without concessions to sentimentality (Madonna and child do not look and their hands are not touched) The throne is designed with intuitive assonometry and therefore placed precisely in space, though it remains shallow and The angels are arranged rhythmically around the divinity according to precise patterns of rhythm and symmetry, without interest in a real disposition in space, in fact they levitate one above the other (not one behind each other)

The typical pictorialism of the crucifixes is reproduced, which allows the chiaroscuro to be articulated in a soft, subtle, and realistic manner. Many archaic traces disappear in this work, such as the deep split in wedge, at the point where the eyebrow meets the root of the nose , Which we still find in the sorrowful Virgin of the Crucifix of San Domenico in Arezzo (circa 1270) and of the Crucifix of Santa Croce (just before 1280) or even the white lines overlapped above the upper lip that produced a "splitting effect" And we still find ourselves in the two previous works. The characteristic furrow that departed from the corner of the eye and crossed all the cheek that Cimabue had inherited from the Bolognese crucifix of San Domenico di Giunta Pisano

Very fine is the way the draperies envelop the body of the figures, especially the Madonna, which creates a realistic physical volume There is no use of agemina (golden streaks)

This blade had an immediate echo, resumed for example in 1285 by Siena's Duccio di Buoninsegna, in his aristocratic Madonna Rucellai - a work for a long time mistakenly attributed to Cimabue himself - already in Santa Maria Novella and today in the Uffizi

Eighties of the 13th century:
During this period a number of works are placed in various locations: in addition to the aforementioned Majesty of the Louvre (circa 1280), the Flagellation of the Frick Collection, the small Majesty of the National Gallery in London (both around 1280), mosaics for the (The last two scenes of Battista's life and the first scenes of Genesis), the Majesty of Santa Maria dei Servi in Bologna (around 1281-1285) and the Madonna of the Pinacoteca di Castelfiorentino, perhaps in collaboration with Giotto (1283- About 1284)

The works of Assisi:

It is not clear which papal Cimabue worked in Assisi, probably within Niccolò IV's, in 1288-1292 Cimabue's arrival at the great yard marked the entrance to the prestigious Pope of Florentine artists and the choice of the master was almost certainly dictated From the fame he had purchased in Rome in 1272, although there are no known works of Cimabue of the Roman period

In the right transept of the lower basilica, he painted the Madonna with the Child on the throne, four angels and St. Francis, painted clearly on the left side where it is supposed to have a St. Anthony of Padua to the pendant of Poverello d'Assisi. Framed some decades later by the Giottesque masters who freshened the rest of the transept The work was subject to heavy redecorations in the later epoch The Saint Francis who appears there is similar to that portrayed in a table kept in the Museum of Santa Maria degli Angeli L The authenticity of this last panel (acknowledged by Longhi) has been the subject of controversy, probably due to its technical peculiarities. In particular, it is devoid of the usual plaster preparatory layer, nor does it engulf the preparatory proceedings, especially the first, almost impermissible In medieval painting on the table Based on these circumstances, there are those who have speculated that they can The painting was a fake modern. However, last but not least, it reconciled the authenticity of the table with these technical exceptions, Luciano Bellosi (2004), assuming that the painting in question was originally created to be placed on the first tomb of Francesco, a destination that would make it incongruous The usual preparation of the table

It was perhaps because of the pictorial high quality of the frescoes of the lower Basilica that Cimabue was called to make the paintings in the apse and in the transept of the upper basilica of St. Francis, in the same years as perhaps Roman maestrances were beginning to freshen the upper part Of the nave

It is difficult to have an idea of the frescoes of Cimabue and its workshop because today they are the most damaged of the Upper Basilica, having undergone a process of oxidation of the white lead (white lead) that made dark light tones (so it looks like To be in front of a photo negative)

The most interesting scene is that of the Crucifixion in the left transept, where the many figures at the bottom with their tattered gestures converge the lines of force toward the crucifix, around which a sling of angels is expelled. The almost pathetic dramaticness of the representation is considered The point of arrival of Franciscan reflection on the subject of the Cross in a dramatic way

The Majesty of Holy Trinity
In the church of Santa Trinita in Florence there was another Majesty of Cimabue, now preserved in the Uffizi, of which the date is unknown but attributed to a later date between 1290 and 1300 The main novelty of this It is the greatest three-dimensional sense of the throne of Mary, which creates a real stage under which a door opens which for an illusionist effect appears in the center as an esedra: here lie the busts of Jeremiah, Abraham, David and Isaiah appearing to appear in a realistically defined space More inclined to the deeper arrangement are also the figures of the angels at the sides of the throne

The expressions are also sweeter, as in the mosaic of the Duomo of Pisa, so it is likely that it is likely to place the work at a time when Giotto was already active and his novelties also influenced the master

The last few years in Pisa:
From September 2, 1301 to February 19, 1302, the year of death, he was in Pisa where he realized the apsidal mosaic of the cathedral: this remains the figure of St. John the Evangelist, served to modern criticism to reconstruct his catalog: in fact, it is the only one A work by Cimabue for which an attribution based on certain document sources is possible

Recently a painter was assigned to a diptych, consisting of two boards with the Madonna on the throne with Child and Saints and Flagellation, respectively held at the National Gallery in London and at the Frick Collection in New York

Works:
The assignment and chronology of the works listed here follows the recent and rigorous analysis by Luciano Bellosi

Crucifix of San Domenico, circa 1268-1271, tempera and gold on table, 336x267 cm, Arezzo, church of San Domenico
Crucifix of Santa Croce, circa 1275-1280, tempera and gold on table, 448x390 cm, Florence, Santa Croce Museum
Majesty of the Louvre, circa 1280, tempera and gold on table, 424 × 276 cm, Paris, Louvre Museum
Majesty with two angels, 1280-1285, tempera and gold on table, 25,6x20,8 cm, London, National Gallery
Flagellation (uncertain attr), 1280-1285, tempera and gold on the table, 24,7x20 cm, New York, Frick Collection
Participation in mosaics of the baptistery of Florence, circa 1280-1285, Florence, baptistery of St. John
Madonna di Castelfiorentino, circa 1283-1284, tempera and gold on table, 68x47 cm, Castelfiorentino, Museo di Santa Verdiana
Majesty of Santa Maria dei Servi (workshop), circa 1281-1285, tempera and gold on table, 218 × 188 cm, Bologna, basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi
Majesty of Assisi, circa 1288, fresco, 320x340 cm, Assisi, lower basilica of San Francesco
Frescoes in the upper basilica of San Francesco in Assisi, circa 1288-1292
Four evangelists' time with ribs decorated with leaf foliage and kisses;
Stories of the Virgin (apse)
Announcement to Gioacchino and his offer
Madonna between two angels (shop)
Nativity and marriage of the Virgin
Madonna with Child, Light Virgin, Holy Striking a Wood (Cimabue's Shop)
The passing of the Virgin
Dormitory Virginis
Assumption of the Virgin
Christ and the Virgin in glory
Two clipe with busts of saints (shop)
Apocalyptic scenes (left transept)
Crucifixion
Christ in glory
A vision of the throne and book of the seven seals
View of angels at the four corners of the earth
Apocalyptic Christ
Fall of Babylon
St. John and the Angel (shop)
San Michele and the dragon (shop)
Angels at full figure
Stories of the saints Peter and Paul (right transept)
Crucifixion
St. Peter cures the cripple
St. Peter heals the sick and releases the demigods
Fall of Simon Wizard
St. Peter's Crucifixion
Decapitation of Saint Paul
Full-length angels (very damaged, on the sides of the quadretch of the lunette at the head of the transept)
Majesty of Santa Trinita, circa 1290-1300, tempera and gold on table, 385x223 cm, Florence, Uffizi
Saint John the Evangelist, 1301-1302, mosaic (drawing), Pisa, Duomo
Works of uncertain attribution or workshop:
Majesty Kress (uncertain attr), circa 1290, tempera and gold on table, 34.3x24.4 cm, Washington, National Gallery of Art
San Francesco (uncertain attr), Tempera on table, 107x57 cm, Assisi, Museum of Santa Maria degli Angeli
Tablets with stories of Jesus (uncertain attr, perhaps of the Master of Badia in Isola), tempera and gold on the table
Nativity, 17x19 cm, Florence, Longhi Foundation
Last Supper, 17x18 cm, New Orleans, New Orleans Museum of Art
Capture of Christ, 18x16 cm, Portland, Portland Art Museum
Crucifixion, 17x18,2 cm, Barcelona, Monastery of Pedralbes
Universal Judgment, 17x19 cm, Milan, Bagnarelli Collection
Crucifixion (uncertain attr, perhaps of Venetian school), circa 1300, tempera and gold on table, 93x58 cm, Kreuzlingen, Kisters collection
https://hisour.com/artist/cimabue/