Cimabue, << `chee` mah BOO eh, >> Giovanni (1240?-1302?), an Italian painter, was the first famous painter of the city of Florence. He began an era of famous Florentine painters that included Leonardo da Vinci.
Cimabue’s art does not show obvious originality. He painted in a traditional style based on the medieval art of the Byzantine Empire, and his paintings show little of the realism used by the later Florentine painters. His faces and figures are the formalized types of the Byzantine period. But his works have great personal force and effect, even though the forms are traditional.
A small number of Cimabue’s works exist today. The most famous include the altarpiece called The Madonna Enthroned with Angels in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and religious frescoes in the church of Saint Francis at Assisi. Cimabue’s church frescoes show great power and grandeur. His Crucifixion in the church combines those qualities with dramatic impact.
