Cimabue

===Cimabue is a Florentine painter from the medieval period. He was born in 1240 and died in 1302. He was well know for his painting Madonna Enthroned (pictured below), which he did in from 1280-1290. He is known to be one of the first artists to break away from the traditional Byzantine characteristics (flat, frontal, strict, and rigid).=== ===His painting Madonna Enthroned resembles Mary and her son Christ. He is sitting on her lap and reading from a scroll and teaching his followers. Cimabue used paint called Ultramarine, the most extravagant and expensive paint of the time, for Madonna, showing her value and extravagance. In this painting, he attempted to give the figures volume. He also made the painting more naturalistic, by making their clothing flowing and natural looking.=== ===There are not many documents found about Cimabue and his early life. He was born in Florence and died in Pisa. He did his art training in Florence, probably under artists that followed the Byzantine traditions. His first work is titled the Crucifixion and was made in 1270. It is located in the church of San Domenico in Rizzo. Later he made another Crucifixion for Santa Croce, a Florentine church. Unfortunately, this painting was damaged by the 1966 Arno River flood. Around the same time that he painted the 2nd Crucifixion, he painted the Maestà located at the Louvre Museum, but it was originally located at the San Fransesco in Pisa. The Maestà created a new style of art that was continued by many artists, for example Duccio di Buoninsegna in his Rucellai Madonna and also Giotto. Some of his other works from this time period include a Flagellation, mosaics for the Baptistery of Florence, the Maestà of Santa Maria dei Servi at Bologna, and the Madonna in the Pinacoteca of Castelfiorentino. The Maestà with Saints Francis and Dominic at the Uffizi was a workshop painting that Cimabue made a bit later than the previous artworks stated.=== ===After all of the fame that he received in Rome, he worked at Assisi. During the time that he worked at Assisi, he made a fresco of Madonna with Child Enthroned, Four Angels and St. Francis. He was also commissioned to decorate the apse and the transept of the Upper Basilica of Asissi. His fresco contains scenes from the Gospels, the life of Mary and of St. Peter and St. Paul.=== ===Now located at the Uffizi Gallery, the Maestà of Santa Trinita dates from around 1290-1300 and was originally painted for the church of Santa Trinita. This painting was probably characterized by Giotto because of the characters soft expressions. Later on, Cimabue moved to Pisa and stayed there until he died in 1302. In Pisa, he completed the apse mosaic for the city's cathedral with other collaborators.===

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