About the Artist

Cimabue (c.1240-1302?) whose real name was Cenno di Peppo, probably received his training in themosaic workshop of the Baptistery in Forence, leaving it sometime around 1260. There is documentary evidence placing him in Rome in 1272 and in Pisa in 1301/02. Cimabue was still very much influenced by Byzantine art, but began to move beyond it by the suggestion of plasticity, three dimensionality and movement apparent in his works. He also increasingly turned away from the tendency to distort figures prevalant in the medieval tradition of western Europe. He was able to create pictures that were monumental and intense without being stylized. This new style made him one of the pioneers of new Italian painting. The poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was already describing him as the best artist prior to Giotto. Significant works by the artist include Crucifix, c. 1260-1270, San Domenico, Arezzo, Frescoes, c. 1277. Basilica Superiore di San Francesco, Assisi; and Virgin and Child Enthroned with St. Francis, c. 1277, Basilica inferiore di San Francesco, Assisi.