Giovanni Cimabue, the father of Florentine painting as Arnolfo of
Florentine architecture, survives only as a name in Dante's immortal
verse. Not a single authentic work remains from his hand in Florence.
His supposed portrait in the cloisters of Santa Maria Novella is now
held to be that of a French knight; the famous picture of the Madonna
and Child with her angelic ministers, in the Rucellai Chapel, is shown
to be the work of a Sienese master; and the other paintings once
ascribed to him have absolutely no claims to bear his name. But the
Borgo Allegro still bears its title from the rejoicings that hailed
his masterpiece, and perhaps it is best that his achievement should
thus live, only as a holy memory:--
"Credette Cimabue nella pittura
tener lo campo, ed ora ha Giotto il grido,
sì che la fama di colui è oscura."[15]
[15] "In painting Cimabue thought that he
Should hold the field, now Giotto has the cry,
So that the other's fame is growing dim."
Of Cimabue's great pupil, Dante's friend and contemporary, Giotto, we
know and possess much more. Through him mediæval Italy first spoke out
through painting, and with no uncertain sound. He was born some ten
years later than Dante. Cimabue--or so the legend runs, which is told
by Leonardo da Vinci amongst others--found him among the mountains,
guarding his father's flocks and drawing upon the stones the movements
of the goats committed to his care. He was a typical Florentine
craftsman; favoured by popes, admitted to the familiarity of kings, he
remained to the end the same unspoilt shepherd whom Cimabue had found.
Many choice and piquant tales are told by the novelists about his
ugly presence and rare personality, his perpetual good humour, his
sharp and witty answers to king and rustic alike, his hatred of all
pretentiousness, carried to such an extent that he conceived a rooted
objection to hearing himself called _maestro_. Padua and Assisi
possess some of his very best work; but Florence can still show much.
Two chapels in Santa Croce are painted by his hand; of the smaller
pictures ascribed to him in churches and galleries, there is one
authentic--the Madonna in the Accademia; and, perhaps most beautiful
of all, the Campanile which he designed and commenced still rises in
the midst of the city. Giotto died in 1336; his work was carried on by
Andrea Pisano and practically finished by Francesco Talenti.
Andrea di Ugolino Pisano (1270-1348), usually simply called Andrea
Pisano, is similarly the father of Florentine sculpture. Vasari's
curiously inaccurate account of him has somewhat blurred his real
figure in the history of art. His great achievements are the casting
of the first gate of the Baptistery in bronze, his work--apparently
from Giotto's designs--in the lower series of marble reliefs round the
Campanile, and his continuation of the Campanile itself after Giotto's
death. He is said by Vasari to have built the Porta di San Frediano.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account