The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (103 page)
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Cimabue
(Cenni di Peppi )
(Cenni di Peppi )
(
c.
1240–1302?).
Florentine painter. His nickname means ‘Ox-head’. He was a contemporary of Dante, who refers to him in
The Divine Comedy
(
Purg
. xi. 94–6) as an artist who was ‘believed to hold the field in painting’ only to be eclipsed by
Giotto's
fame. Ironically enough this passage, meant to illustrate the vanity of short-lived earthly glory, has become the basis for Cimabue's fame; for, embroidering on this reference, later writers made him into the discoverer and teacher of Giotto and regarded him as the first in the long line of great Italian painters. He was said to have worked in the ‘Greek’ (i.e.
Byzantine
) manner, but to have begun the movement towards greater realism which culminated in the
Renaissance
. Documentary evidence is insufficient to confirm or deny this estimate of Cimabue's art. The only work that can be proved to be by his hand is a
St John
forming part of a larger mosaic in Pisa Cathedral (1302), but tradition has tended to attribute to Cimabue many works of outstanding quality from the end of the 13th cent., such as the
Madonna of Sta Trinità
(Uffizi, Florence), a cycle of frescos in the Upper Church of S. Francesco in Assisi, and a majestic
Crucifix
in Sta Croce (badly damaged in the Florence flood of 1966). If these highly plausible attributions are correct, Cimabue was indeed the outstanding master of the generation before Giotto. The movement towards greater naturalism, however, may owe more to contemporary Roman painters and mosaicists (
Cavallini
,
Torriti
) than to him; he is documented in Rome in 1272 and could have known their work.
c.
1240–1302?).
Florentine painter. His nickname means ‘Ox-head’. He was a contemporary of Dante, who refers to him in
The Divine Comedy
(
Purg
. xi. 94–6) as an artist who was ‘believed to hold the field in painting’ only to be eclipsed by
Giotto's
fame. Ironically enough this passage, meant to illustrate the vanity of short-lived earthly glory, has become the basis for Cimabue's fame; for, embroidering on this reference, later writers made him into the discoverer and teacher of Giotto and regarded him as the first in the long line of great Italian painters. He was said to have worked in the ‘Greek’ (i.e.
Byzantine
) manner, but to have begun the movement towards greater realism which culminated in the
Renaissance
. Documentary evidence is insufficient to confirm or deny this estimate of Cimabue's art. The only work that can be proved to be by his hand is a
St John
forming part of a larger mosaic in Pisa Cathedral (1302), but tradition has tended to attribute to Cimabue many works of outstanding quality from the end of the 13th cent., such as the
Madonna of Sta Trinità
(Uffizi, Florence), a cycle of frescos in the Upper Church of S. Francesco in Assisi, and a majestic
Crucifix
in Sta Croce (badly damaged in the Florence flood of 1966). If these highly plausible attributions are correct, Cimabue was indeed the outstanding master of the generation before Giotto. The movement towards greater naturalism, however, may owe more to contemporary Roman painters and mosaicists (
Cavallini
,
Torriti
) than to him; he is documented in Rome in 1272 and could have known their work.
Cima da Conegliano , Giovanni Battista
(1459/60–1517/18).
Italian painter, named after the town of his birth (Conegliano), and active mainly in nearby Venice, where he was one of the leading artists from about 1490 to 1510. His paintings are mostly quiet devotional scenes, often in landscape settings, in the manner of Giovanni
Bellini
. He has been called ‘the poor man's Bellini’, but because of his calm and weighty figures he was also known in the 18th cent. (rather incongruously) as ‘the Venetian Masaccio’. Nine of his works are in the National Gallery, London.
Italian painter, named after the town of his birth (Conegliano), and active mainly in nearby Venice, where he was one of the leading artists from about 1490 to 1510. His paintings are mostly quiet devotional scenes, often in landscape settings, in the manner of Giovanni
Bellini
. He has been called ‘the poor man's Bellini’, but because of his calm and weighty figures he was also known in the 18th cent. (rather incongruously) as ‘the Venetian Masaccio’. Nine of his works are in the National Gallery, London.
cinquecento
.
.
Cione , Andrea di
,
Cione , Nardo di
, and
Cione , Jacopo di
.
,
Cione , Nardo di
, and
Cione , Jacopo di
.
Cipriani , Giovanni Battista
(1727–85).
Florentine decorative painter and designer, active mainly in England. In 1756 he was brought to London by the architect Sir William Chambers and the sculptor
Wilton
, whom he had met in Rome. He was employed in the decoration of many public buildings and private houses and in some cases designed such architectural details as plasterwork, woodwork, and stone carving. Good examples of his paintings are at Somerset House (where he worked for Chambers) and in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (a series originally executed for Lansdowne House, London). He was also active as a teacher at the
Royal Academy
(he was a foundation member in 1768 and designed its diploma) and his numerous decorative designs (many engraved by
Bartolozzi
, his friend since student days) had wide influence. Cipriani's work is accomplished rather than inspired, but he was, in the words of Sir Ellis
Waterhouse
, ‘one of the great backroom figures of the
Neoclassic
style in England’.
Florentine decorative painter and designer, active mainly in England. In 1756 he was brought to London by the architect Sir William Chambers and the sculptor
Wilton
, whom he had met in Rome. He was employed in the decoration of many public buildings and private houses and in some cases designed such architectural details as plasterwork, woodwork, and stone carving. Good examples of his paintings are at Somerset House (where he worked for Chambers) and in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (a series originally executed for Lansdowne House, London). He was also active as a teacher at the
Royal Academy
(he was a foundation member in 1768 and designed its diploma) and his numerous decorative designs (many engraved by
Bartolozzi
, his friend since student days) had wide influence. Cipriani's work is accomplished rather than inspired, but he was, in the words of Sir Ellis
Waterhouse
, ‘one of the great backroom figures of the
Neoclassic
style in England’.
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