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Concerning the chronology of Cimabue's oeuvre and the origin of pictorial depth in
Italian painting of the later middle ages

Article  in  Zograf · January 2002

DOI: 10.2298/ZOG0329119P · Source: DOAJ

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 Concerning the Chronology of Cimabue’s Oeuvre
and the Origin of Pictorial Depth in Italian Painting
of the Later Middle Ages
Joseph Polzer

UDK 75.071.1 Cimabue : 75.033/.034.046.3(450)“12/13”

A study devoted to the gradual emergence of pictorial

depth in Cimabue’s paintings, and how it applies, together with
other factors, to the understanding of their sequential chronol-
ogy. The conclusions reached underscore the vast difference in
Cimabue’s conservative art and the exceptional naturalism of
the evolving Life of Saint Francis mural cycle lining the lower
nave walls in the upper church of San Francesco at Assisi

Background
The purpose of this study is to examine the reawak-
ening of spatial realism in the art of central Italy during the
latter part of the dugento and the early years of the trecento.
It will focus particularly on the oeuvre of Cimabue, generally
considered the most outstanding painter Florence produced
in the generation preceding Giotto.
Articulating developmental artistic patterns and their
sources in this crucial period, when Italian painters gradually
became aware of three-dimensional form and space, and the
intricacies of nature and human appearance and behaviour, is
a difficult task. Overriding fundamental differences in time
and culture, the aesthetic power of some masterpieces then
produced, including Cimabue’s Santa Trinità Madonna (Figu-
re 1) and Giotto’s Ognissanti Madonna (Figure 2), seems as
strong today as it ever was.
Retrospectively considered, their appeal seems sub-
stantially rooted in the particular artists’ resolutions integrat-
ing fundamental aspects of the flat and symbolic, spiritually
oriented, pictorial vision of the Middle Ages, with an emer-
gent realism which could not be denied.
This emergent realism, as it applied to the represen-
tation of three-dimensional form and pictorial depth, pro-
gressed gradually and painfully from within the resisting
force of the former. As will be examined, in the works of
specific painters, especially Cimabue, this progress assumed Fig. 1. Cimabue, Santa Trinità Madonna, Panel Painting,
the form of successive steps which, it is here assumed, can be Uffizi Gallery, Florence (Foto Soprintendenza
reasonably defined, thus assisting in the establishment of a BAS di Firenze e Pistoia)
progressive chronological sequence.
According to the criterion of pictorial space, the evo- hieri’s Saint Francis altarpiece in Pescia painted in 1235; and
lution of central Italian painting covering this period offers the mid-century Acton Collection Madonna by the Bigallo
convenient chronological limits. Around mid century and Master (Figure 3); etc.
before, the imagery highly flat and reduced, an interest in However, a half century later, in his Ognissanti Ma-
pictorial depth and three-dimensional form virtually wholly donna (Figure 2), usually dated around 1310, Giotto con-
absent, figures and objects are essentially pleated against the structs a substantial coherent depth reaching from the picture
picture plane. This can be seen in the murals of the Life of plane into a middle ground, including steps rising from the
Saint Sylvester in the church of the Santi Quattro Coronati base line toward a platform which supports the Virgin’s
in Rome, dated into the later fourties; Bonaventura Berling- substantial throne. Although beyond the throne the usual flat
 the rendering of objects: thrones, chairs, tables and platforms
supporting figures. Here only that part of the object closest
to the observer really matters. Connected to the hierarchic
medieval presentation of significant beings, be they personi-
fications, emperors, saints or Divinity, reverse perspective
effectively converted spatial rendering, however abbreviated
and arbitrary, toward serving spiritual ends.
Consider a Byzantine icon of the Madonna Enthroned
at Mount Sinai (Figure 4), usually dated into the twelfth
century,2 on which her feet rest on two platforms, one set
on top of the other. Both throne and platforms are spotted
against a spatially neutral golden background. Although
the throne itself is flat, here the use of reverse perspective
in the rendering of these two platforms serves to endow the
Madonna and Child by association with a degree of three-di-
mensional substance, thus contributing to their hierarchic,
that is, spiritual significance. The same visual symbolism ap-
plies to Byzantine representations of significant beings either
standing or seated on such platforms.3 Reverse perspective
can be applied subtly to objects of great refinement, such as
Christ’s ivory throne on the Harbaville Triptych in the Mu-
sée du Louvre. Reverse perspective is widely used in later
dugento Italian painting. It is still found, subtly presented,
in Duccio’s Rucellai Madonna (Figure 5), dating close after
1285.4 However, at a certain point, as in Giotto’s Ognissanti
Madonna, usually placed around 1310, it is suppressed, its
obvious diametric opposition to real visual experience caus-
ing its dismissal from artistic usage.5
Medieval figures enthroned frequently offer another
“distorted” spatial convention. It applies to the orientation of
the foot stool (suppedaneum), which, sharply upward tilted,
diverges often radically from that of the throne. This conven-
tion, already evident on a sixth century Byzantine ivory Ma-
donna relief in Berlin,6 is still widely found in later dugento
Italian painting, appearing in the significant mural of Christ
Enthroned in the Sancta Sanctorum Chapel in Rome (Figure
6), painted during the papacy of Nicholas III (1277–1280).7

Fig. 2. Giotto, Ognissanti Madonna, Panel Painting, Uffizi 1

For examples in early Christian art of reverse perspective see the table in
Gallery, Florence (Foto Soprintendenza BAS di Firenze e Pistoia) the mosaics of Abraham serving the three Angels in the nave of Santa Maria
Maggiore in Rome, dating from the papacy of Sixtus III (432–440), and in
medieval golden background takes over, a vast difference in the forechoir of the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, dedicated in 548.
spatial thinking separates Giotto’s Madonna from the one 2
For a recent discussion of the icon of the Virgin Brephokratousa in the
by the Bigallo Master. This comparison can be used for esta- monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai, dated into the mid-twelfth
century, see T. Papamastorakis, in: Mother of God. Representations of the
blishing the approximate limits within which the paintings Virgin in Byzantine Art, ed. M. Vassilaki, Milan 2000, 314ff.
here considered will find their spatial niches. 3
A tall hierarchic Virgin stands on a platform depicted in reverse perspective
In dealing with this revolutionary change in spatial as she introduces the small monk Abbas to the Heavenly Christ, in a mid-
-twelfth century psalter in the Dionysiou Monastery on Mount Athos [MS 65,
parlance caution is advised. It has to be viewed from within
fol. 12v; illustrated in Mother of God (n. 2 supra), 161, fig. 102]. The small
the dialectic of its own late medieval period for its meaning monk Abbas kneeling before her is spotted against the golden background.
to be properly understood. Here the later quattrocento develo- 4
Duccio’s Rucellai Madonna will be treated in a separate study to follow.
5
pments in rational perspective by Brunelleschi and Alberti, The rejection of reverse perspective from representations of the Madonna en-
throned around the beginning of the fourteenth century in central Italian paint-
including the concept of spatial infinity, simply do not apply. ing is connected to the dismissal of her oblique throne. From that time onward
One must realize that certain reduced and “distorted” the throne seen directly from the front, already appearing in Cimabue’s Santa
pictorial spatial devices, reverting to the Late Antique, were Trinità Madonna, to be discussed, takes over. See also J. Polzer, The “Byzan-
used throughout the Middle Ages, in Italy well into the later tine” Kahn and Mellon Madonnas: Concerning their Chronology, Place of
origin, and method of Analysis, Arte Cristiana XC, 813 (2002), 410.
dugento. The most prominent of these, preferred in Byzantine 6
Illustrated in Mother of God (n. 2 supra), 29, pl. 12.
art, is reversed perspective.1 Contrary to actual visual experi- 7
The recently restored face of Christ closely resembles that of God the
ence, it applies to objects which get larger as they recede into Father in the mural of the Creation of Adam and Eve painted in the bay
next to the crossing on the upper tier of the northern nave wall in the upper
distance. This convention conveys the idea that the objects so
church of San Francesco at Assisi. As is well known, this mural copies in
presented, and the figures connected to them, should project large measure the early Christian mural of the same subject matter once in
forward, in the direction of the beholder. It is widely used in the basilica of Saint Paul flm in Rome. Jacopo Torriti has been considered its

120
 Fig. 3. Bigallo Master, Madonna, Panel Painting, Fig. 4. Icon, Madonna Glykophilousa with Saints, Saint Catherine’s
Acton Collection, Florence Monastery, Mount Sinai, Detail: Madonna Enthroned with Child
(Foto Soprintendenza BAS di Firenze e Pistoia) (Foto courtesy of the Michigan–Princeton–Alexandria
Expedition to Mount Sinai)
Throughout the Middle Ages the exceptional art of
Byzantium was bound to influence Western Europe, and es- in which he was weaned, with the early stirrings of the new
pecially Italy, given its proximity to the Near East. Its influ- realism he partly also investigated.
ence increased significantly during the political disintegration
of the Byzantine Empire following the Frankish conquest of
Constantinople in 1204. The particular conservative spiritual painter since Christ’s faces, here and in the Sancta Sanctorum Chapel mu-
refinement of Byzantine art was difficult to resist. However, rals, resemble the Christ in the mosaic of the Virgin and Christ Enthroned
in Heaven in the apse of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The
as will be examined, in the course of the later thirteenth cen- latter dates from the papacy of Nicholas IV (1288–1292) and bears Torriti’s
tury its influence in central Italy gradually diminished under name. Whether by Torriti or not, the close dependence of the Assisi mural
pressure from the emergent wave of realism challenging its (and others) on the early Christian mural of the same subject matter in Saint
conservative medieval stance. Paul’s basilica underscores the probability that the master following Ci-
mabue in the decoration of the upper church received his artistic training in
This is the period when Cimabue held a leading posi- Rome. Nicholas III saw to the extensive restoration of the Early Christian
tion in central Italian art. Unquestionably, he was profoundly murals in the Roman churches of Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint John
influenced by artistic conventions reverting to Byzantium. As in the Lateran (see Bartolomeo Fiadoni, Historia Ecclesiastica, in: L. A.
Muratori, Rerum italicarum scriptores, annales seu gesta Tuscorum XI,
will be seen, his artistic evolution demonstrates the difficul-
Milan 1727, 1180: “[Nicholas III] hic ecclesiam quasi totam renovavit et
ties he faced in reconciling the conceptual and symbolic par- numerum summ. Pontificium fecit describi sec, imagines in ecclesia b. Petri
lance of the Byzantine and local medieval artistic traditions, in loco eminenti et b. Pauli ac S. Joannis in Laterano”).

121
 The specific analytical criterion here used for measur-
ing the later Italian medieval painter’s awareness of pictorial
depth simply involves the precise placement of an object’s
feet, should they be represented, on the ground. Let us assume
that the artist places the beholder directly in front of a seated
person, as is usually the case in representations of Christ or
the Madonna enthroned. According to the beholder’s angle of
vision, if both the front and rear feet of a painted throne, or
chair, come to rest at the same level, they will appear flat, as
well as the ground around them, conforming more or less to
a vertical plane. However, if they connect at differing levels,
the rear feet duly located above those in front, then some
awareness of the object’s three-dimensionality is introduced,
extending to a ground receding into depth, even if other clues
to its recession may not be present.

Concerning the Chronology of Cimabue’s Oeuvre

Our understanding of Cimabue’s art is based on a li-

mited group of paintings sharing a distinctive dramatic figure
style generally considered autograph. With one exception, a
mosaic produced close to the time of his death, no work by
him is precisely named and dated. Vital aspects of Cimabue’s
artistic progress are still under discussion. It is here assumed,
as above indicated, that the stepped increase in his awareness
of pictorial depth, and that of concrete form dependent on the
latter, contribute to the understanding of his artistic evolu-
tion, and its place in contemporary central Italian art.
A document places Cimabue as a witness in Rome in
1272, by which time he was certainly an established master.8
His only extant documented and dated work is the mosaic of
Fig. 5. Duccio, Rucellai Madonna, Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Saint John the Evangelist of 1302 located in the eastern apse (Foto Soprintendenza BAS di Firenze e Pistoia)
of Pisa Cathedral (Figure 7).9 He died shortly after. That is
all the documentary evidence remaining regarding both his 9
For the document stating that Cimabue made the mosaic of Saint John the
life and work, beside what can be gleaned from his paintings. Evangelist in Pisa Cathedral (MS Opera del Duomo LXXIX, fol. 129r) see
Ragioneri, in: Bellosi, op. cit. (n. 8 supra), 292. For more complete docu-
Assisted by Renaissance historiography and his distinctive mentation regarding the production of the apse mosaic of Christ enthroned
dramatic figure style, modern scholarship is generally agreed flanked by Cimabue’s John the Evangelist and the pleading Virgin see G.
on a nucleus of works constituting his autograph oeuvre. Trenta, I musaici del Duomo di Pisa e i loro autori, Florence 1896, 71–95.
The documents refer consistently to the mosaic as a “Magiestas”, although
Most prominent is his monumental mural decoration of the its Christ wears no crown. This bare headed Christ and the pleading Virgin
eastern choir, crossing vault and much of the transept in the belong traditionally to the Deesis. Differently, in Siena the contemporary
upper church of San Francesco at Assisi, assigned to him vir- sources apply the term “Maiestà” specifically to the Virgin who is crowned,
tually unanimously since the end of the nineteenth century, as she appears in Simone’s mural in the Sala del Consiglio in the Palazzo
Pubblico. Duccio’s Siena Cathedral altarpiece is usually referred to in
although not attested by documentation from the time of its modern scholarship as a Maestà, although there the Virgin enthroned is not
production.10 No archival or documentary evidence informs crowned. Significantly, the term is not used in the early sources referring
directly on its chronology. Recent interpretation yields essen- to Duccio’s Siena Cathedral altarpiece. In a document of November 28,
1310, the altarpiece is referred to as “nove et magne tabule beate Marie
tially two views. Majority opinion connects these murals to seper Virginis gloriose” (see J. White, Duccio. Tuscan Art and the Medieval
the papacy of Nicholas III covering the years 1277–1280.11 Workshop, New York 1979, 195).
10
However, recently it has also been linked to that of Nicho- For a comprehensive review of how Cimabue’s activity in the upper
church has been dated and interpreted see, conveniently, H. Belting, Die
las IV during 1288–1292.12
Oberkirche von San Francesco in Assisi, Berlin 1977, 205ff. H. Thode
Here one has to consider the sequential position of (Franz von Assisi und die Anffänge der Kunst der Renaissance in Italien,
Cimabue’s murals within the interior decoration of the upper Berlin 1885, 225ff), and after him Nicholson [The Roman School at Assisi,
church, which extended from about the church’s consecra- The Art Bulletin XII (1930), passim, esp. 20ff] already assigned to Cimabue
the murals located in the choir, the crossing vault, and those following the
tion by Innocent IV on May 23, 1253, to circa 1300, since by activity of the northern Gothic shop in the transept wings. See also, for a
1307–1308 its latest murals were already copied.13 It began fuller account, Ragioneri, in: Bellosi, op. cit. (n. 8 supra), 278ff.
with the stained glass windows of the choir by a northern 11
See conveniently Belting’s review of the chronology of the decoration of
Gothic shop (Figure 8) whose sophisticated supple rhythmic the upper church, op. cit. (n. 10 supra), 87ff.
12
Bellosi, op. cit. (n. 8 supra), 150ff, esp. 162.
13
Giuliano da Rimini’s Urbania altarpiece of 1307 in the Isabella Gardner Mu-
seum, Boston, as well as the altarpiece dated 1308 in the church of Santa Maria
8
G. Ragioneri quotes the document dated June 8, 1272, in the archive of the in Cesi, already quote the Life of Saint Francis murals at Assisi [see J. White,
church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome (Parchment A. 45), in: L. Bellosi, The Date of the Legend of St. Francis at Assisi, The Burlington Magazine IIC
Cimabue, New York 1998, 290. (1956), 344ff, and M. Meiss, Giotto and Assisi, New York 1967, 3ff].

122
 Fig. 6. Christ Enthroned, Sancta Sanctorum Chapel, Rome Fig. 7. Cimabue, Saint John the Evangelist, Mosaic,
(Foto Musei Vaticani) Pisa Cathedral (Foto Primaziale Pisa)

figure style stands in sharp contrast to anything then available type of painted cross had a wider geographic currency, since it
on Italian soil.14 A northern master was also active in the mural closely resembles the one in the monastic library in the church
decoration of the northern transept.15 The importation of the of San Francesco in Bologna, etc.19 Of course, here there is
northern stained glass masters, considered the most “modern” much room left open for speculation. What counts is this:
available, would have reflected the papacy’s promotion of the that Cimabue’s artistic origin is rooted in an artistic current
sanctuary’s international significance. Some time after they grounded in central Italian painting since the early part of the
left Cimabue took over, painting the interior of the upper dugento. The possibility that an element of local familiarity
choir, the remainder of the transept, and the crossing vault.16 contributed to his appointment for decorating the most sacred
Considering the drastic differences in style, one would portion of the upper church must be taken seriously.
like to know what went on in the respective patrons’ minds, All this preceded the exceptional artistic ferment oc-
whether representing the papal curia in Rome or the Francis- curring in Rome and Assisi during the last decades of the du-
can community at Assisi. Were they motivated by questions of
cost, or aesthetic preference? Compared to the sophisticated 14
Regarding the stained glass windows in upper choir see G. Marchini,
figure style of the northern stained glass masters, Cimabue’s Le vetrate dell’Umbria (Corpus vitrearum meddiaevi. Italia I. L’Umbria),
seems downright archaic. However, his byzantinising par- Rome 1973; H. Wentzel, Die ältesten Farbfenster in der Oberkirche von
lance and his sense for drama would have been familiar to the San Francesco zu Assisi, Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch XIV (1952), 45ff; and
Franciscan community at Assisi. It strongly recalled the style Belting, op. cit. (n. 10 supra), 45ff.
15
Concerning the activity of the northern master in the northern transept
of Giunta Pisano, probably central Italy’s most prominent see, comprehensively, Belting, op. cit. (n. 10 supra), 112–119, 182–204.
painter of the middle of the century, who had painted a cross 16
For the sequential progress of Cimabue’s activity in Assisi see J. White
at Assisi for friar Elias as early as 1236. This painted cross no and B. Zanardi, Cimabue and the decorative sequence in the upper church
of S. Francesco, Assisi, in: Roma anno 1300. Atti della IV settimana di studi
longer exists, but a cross he signed is still in the sanctuary of di toria dell’arte medievale dell’Università di Roma “La Sapienza” (10–24
S. Maria degli Angeli below Assisi, and another in the church maggio 1980), ed. A. M. Romanini, Rome 1983, 103–118; also White,
of San Domenico in Bologna (Figure 9).17 Although we hear Cimabue and Assisi: working method and art historical consequences, Art
no more of Giunta after the mid-fifties, in Umbria the impact History IV–4 (December 1981), 355–383.
17
Regarding Giunta see, comprehensively, A. Tartuferi, Giunta Pisano,
of his dramatic version of the crucified Christ lasts into the Sancino 1991.
seventies of the dugento as evident from the monumental 18
S. Romano discusses the Perugia painted cross of 1272 in: Dipinti, scul-
cross by the so-called Saint Francis Master, which, signifi- ture e ceramiche della Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria. Studi e restauri, ed.
C. Bon Valsassina and V. Garibaldi, Florence 1994, 63–65.
cantly, is dated 1272.18 The mural decoration of the life of 19
S. Giorgi discusses the painted cross in the church of San Francesco,
Christ and Saint Francis in the lower nave of the church of San Bologna, in: Duecento. Forme e colori del Medioeva a Bologna, ed. M.
Francesco at Assisi has been assigned to the same master. His Medica and S. Tumidei, Venice 2000, 210–212.

123
 Fig. 8. Northern Master, Christ Speaking to Moses, Stained Glass, Upper Choir, San Francesco, Assisi
(Foto Stefan Diller)

gento. Cimabue contributed to its early phase. It included the The Orsini arms located on the façade of Rome’s se-
restoration of the murals in Rome’s principal early Christian natorial palace, depicted in Cimabue’s mural of Saint Mark
basilicas and the erection and decoration of the Sancta Sanc- located on the crossing vault of the upper church serve as
torum Chapel during the papacy of Nicholas III.20 And some primary evidence connecting the mural to the papacy of
years after followed Cavallini’s paintings and mosaics in the Nicholas III. He was the first Orsini pope, occupying Saint
churches of Santa Cecilia and Santa Maria in Trastevere; Peter’s chair from 1277 to 1280.25 He named his nephew,
Torriti’s apse mosaics in Santa Maria Maggiore21 and San the prominent cardinal Matteo Rosso Orsini, senator of the
Giovanni in Laterano; Arnolfo’s ciboria in Santa Cecilia,22
San Paolo flm and San Giovanni; Giotto’s Navicella mosaic
20
in the atrium of old Saint Peter’s Basilica; etc. Regarding the restoration of the Early Christian murals in the basilicas of
Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint John in the Lateran under pope Nicholas III
The very intensity of this later dugento Roman artistic see, conveniently, Belting, op. cit. (n. 10 supra), 91ff, with bibliography. For
revival, involving a renewed awareness of late antique mural the mural decoration of the Sancta Sanctorum Chapel after recent restora-
painting conventions, contributed to a profound questioning of tion see: Sancta Sanctorum, Milan 1995.
21
Torriti’s apse mosaic of the Virgin and Christ Enthroned in Heaven in-
established medieval and Byzantine artistic thought. Here the cludes the artist’s name in the lower left corner as well as the portrait of
revival of sculpture headed in Rome by Arnolfo also played Pope Nicholas IV beside the heavenly throne.
its part.23 This questioning, and its consequences, is imprinted 22
The plaque with the inscription giving Arnolfo’s name and the date 1293
of the completion of his ciborium in the church of Santa Cecilia is illus-
in the evolving decoration of the nave and vaulting of the up-
trated in: Roma anno 1300 (n. 16 supra), 11.
per church at Assisi, culminating in the murals of the Isaac 23
See Angiola Maria Romanini’s tempting stylistic connection of Arnolfo’s
Master and the later murals of the cycle of the Life of Saint sculpture to the Isaac Master’s Assisi murals in Arnolfo e gli “Arnolfo”
Francis lining the lower nave walls. The masters, some surely apocrifi, in: Roma anno 1300 (n. 16 supra), 45ff.
24
See Bellosi, op. cit. (n. 8 supra), 150ff.
themselves Roman, were fully aware of what was happening 25
For a comprehensive account, with bibliography, covering the
in Rome. Their artistic vision came to differ categorically from connection of the Orsini arms on the façade of Rome’s senatorial
Cimabue’s in the same church. In essence, the latter connects palace in Cimabue’s mural of Saint Mark with the papacy of Nicholas
III, see Belting, op. cit. (n. 10 supra), 87ff. For the presence of the
with earlier Italian painting. It follows that the later Cimabue’s Orsini arms in the medieval portion of the senatorial palace see C.
murals in Assisi are placed, say around 1290, as has been re- Pietrangeli, Il Palazzo Senatorio nel medioevo, Capitolium 1960, 3ff
cently proposed,24 the more retarditaire they would appear. and 17, n. 24.

124
 Fig. 9. Giunta Pisano, Painted Cross, Church
of San Domenico, Bologna
(Foto su concessione del Ministero per i Beni
e le Attività Culturali, Archivio Fotografico
Soprintendenza PSAD – Bologna)

city.26 All this happened after King Charles of Naples left the Would a Cimabue have been invited to work in Assisi
Roman senate to which he had been previously appointed. so late in the dugento? Commenting on the uncertainties of for-
The arguments recently advanced for placing Ci- tune, in a well-known passage in his Purgatory, Dante wrote
mabue’s mural decoration in the upper church, differently, that Giotto’s fame had eclipsed Cimabue’s.27 Dante completed,
into the papacy of Nicholas IV around 1290, make little
sense. This would mean that the bulk of the mural deco-
26
ration of the upper church would have to be compressed Pope Nicholas III also appointed the Cardinal Matteo Rosso general
protector of the Franciscan Order in 1279, and archpriest of Saint Peter’s
within about one decade or less. Compared to the most Basilica starting in 1278.
“progressive” murals of the Life of Saint Francis cycle, 27
O vana gloria dell’umane posse,
dating around the later nineties of the dugento, Cimabue’s com’poco verde in su la cima dura,
murals are obviously extremely conservative. This includes se non è giunta dall’etati grosse!
Credette Cimabue nella pittura
the significant changes they respectively reveal in the treat- tener lo campo ed ora ha Giotto il grido,
ment of pictorial depth. All this will be considered in some sì che la fama di colui è oscura.
detail. (Dante, Purgatory, XI, 91–96)

125
 Fig. 10. Cimabue, Crucifixion, Right Transept, Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi
(Foto Kunsthistorisches Institut Florenz)

the Purgatory by the middle of the second decade of the trecen- forming him of his adoption of the Virgin; the angels catching
to, placing his journey through the afterlife, however, into the the blood flowing from Christ’s wounds in their vessels; and
year 1300. Dante surely knew Giotto in person, and he would the centurion who gestures sharply toward Christ as he stands
also have known Cimabue. Given the exceptional contempo- in front of a group of soldiers. Here the painter even copied Ci-
rary speed of artistic change, around 1280 his murals in the up- mabue’s arbitrary superposed placement of the soldiers’ tilted
per church might still have had a leading artistic role, but hardly feet! The painter of the panel did make one significant change.
ten years after! In essence, the stylistic direction endorsed by He substituted Stephaton, holding pail and staff topped with
the later masters of the Saint Francis cycle represented a clear a sponge, for Cimabue’s soldier clasping his shield and lance
rejection of Cimabue’s style, and especially its byzantinising standing directly in back of the centurion. Here Cimabue’s
baggage. This seems confirmed, in addition to the latest murals direct influence seems persuasive. Gertrud Coor-Achenbach
in the upper church, by Giotto’s earliest certain dated work: the placed the Edinburgh tabernacle close to Guido da Siena, dat-
mural decoration of the Arena Chapel completed around 1305, ing it around 1285,29 and more recently Miklos Boskovits has
and this would correspond to Dante’s first hand verdict! identified the painter, according to his reading of a fragmentary
Substantial evidence challenging the dating of Ci- inscription on the tabernacle’s lower border, as the Florentine
mabue’s activity in the upper church around 1290 is given by Grifo di Tancredi, who appears in a document of 1295.30
two panel paintings closely resembling his Crucifixion in the
upper southern transept, one of the most dramatic murals of 28
See, for example, J. White, Art and Architecture in Italy. 1250–1400, New
the period (Figure 10).28 One is the Crucifixion located on the Haven – London 1966, 190.
29
G. Coor-Achenbach, An Early Italian Tabernacle, Gazette des Beaux-
left wing of a tabernacle in the National Gallery of Scotland in -Arts, ser. 6, XXV–1 (1944), 144f. Regarding the tabernacle see also J. R.
Edinburgh (Figure 11) whose central panel offers the earliest Martin, The “Death of Ephraim” in Byzantine and Early Italian Painting,
known image of the death of Ephraim. Consider the similari- Art Bulletin XXXIII (1951), 217–225; and C. Harvey, The Thebaid Taber-
nacle in the Collection of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, M.A. Thesis,
ties. Both Crucifixions share the same pronounced S-curve of University of London, 1986.
Christ’s dead body, his head sunken deep into his right shoul- 30
Miklos Boskovits read the fragmentary inscription as follows: “… H(oc)
der. They also share Christ’s loin cloth windswept sharply to op(us) q(uod?) fec(it) m(agister) Gri(fus) Fl(orentinus)” (Frühe italienische
the right; the identical poses of the Virgin and Saint John hold- Malerei. Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Katalog der Gemälde, Berlin 1988, 122);
the document of 1295 citing Grifo di Tancredi is given in: R. Davidsohn,
ing hands as they stand beside the cross; John’s gesture of pre- Forschungen zur Geschichte von Florenz III, Berlin 1901, 225. Harvey, op.
senting the open palm of his left hand to the beholder, thus in- cit. (n. 29 supra), considers that two painters worked on the tabernacle.

126
 Assuming that Cimabue’s Assisi Crucifixion belongs
from the time of Pope Nicholas IV, is it reasonable to date the
Edinburgh tabernacle so late? Its style would place it consi-
derably earlier. A late date might be explained if one were to
consider the painter of the tabernacle unusually retarditaire,
plausibly a provincial removed from the vital progressive artis-
tic events then occurring in central Italy. On the other hand, the
Byzantine image of the funeral of Ephraim at the center of the
tabernacle would indicate a wider artistic awareness on the part
of the painter and the patron. Such a late date is improbable.
A small Crucifixion panel in the Pinacoteca Nazionale
of Siena (Figure 12) also closely resembles Cimabue’s Assisi
Crucifixion in a number of details. These include the Virgin
and Saint John holding hands and bowing their heads toward
each other as they stand beside the cross; the centurion point-
ing toward Christ; and beside the latter the unusual soldier
clasping his shield and spear before his body as he moves
away from the cross. I should not be surprised if he were to
represent the contrite Longinas.31 Beyond this figure also ap-
pears the same thoughtful older man pensively stroking his
beard. All appear in both paintings. In spite of the compara-
tive smallness of the crucified Christ, and the absence of his
wind agitated loin cloth, in the small panel painting the sharp
sideward curve of his body is also repeated. That there is a
close connection can hardly be doubted! There remains the
question of how it is to be interpreted.
In a recent exemplary investigation, Holger Manzke
and Barbara John have established that the small Crucifixion
panel in Siena formed part of an elaborate altarpiece made
for the high altar of the cathedral of Siena some time after the
battle of Montaperti, which occurred in 1260.32 It consisted of
the central image of the half figure of the Virgin holding the
Christ Child, flanked by twelve scenes of the life of Christ,
six to each side, with a coronation of the Virgin located in the
gable. Sawn apart around the middle of the fifteenth century,
its principal image is no less than the Madonna del Voto who
receives a cult in the cathedral to this day. The other dispersed
members of the altarpiece have found their way into various
museums the world over. Although the altarpiece is not dated,
its production has been placed into the later sixties of the du-
gento when the construction of the choir and domed crossing
of Siena Cathedral would have been completed, corresponding
roughly to the production of Nicola’s Siena pulpit made in the
years 1265–1268.33 Barbara John attributes the altarpiece to
two masters, one anonymous, named the master of the Ma-
donna del Voto, the other being Guido da Siena.34 From its ex-
tended use in the Madonna del Voto and the Coronation of the
Virgin, here chrysography-mania partly prevailed, as it did in
many other contemporary Tuscan paintings, reflecting a phase
of strong Byzantine influence, as will be discussed.

31
The expanding narrative treatment of the Crucifixion in late medieval
Italian art also involved Longinas. For example, he appears twice in Nicola
Pisano’s Crucifixion relief on his Siena Cathedral pulpit: once spearing
Christ; and another time moving sorrowfully away from Christ at the op-
posite side of the Cross. Consider the close resemblance of the two youthful
faces. The diversified iconography of the Crucifixion in the proto-Renais-
sance deserves thorough separate scrutiny.
32
B. John and H. Manzke, Claritas. Das Hauptaltarbild im Dam zu Siena
nach 1260. Die Rekonstruktion, Altenburg 2001. Fig. 11. Tabernacle, Private Collection,
33
John, Manzke, op. cit. (n. 32 supra), 104: late sixties or early seventies on loan to the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.
of the dugento. Detail: Crucifixion
34
Ibid., 107. (Foto National Gallery of Scotland)

127
 Fig. 12. Guido da Siena (attrib.), Crucifixion, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena (Foto su concessione del Ministero per i Beni
e le Attività Culturali, Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza PSAD Siena e Grosseto)

How does all this bear on the chronology of Ci- Cimabue’s Santa Trinità Madonna (Figure 1)
mabue’s Assisi Crucifixion? What are the possibilities?
Could Cimabue’s painting have copied the Madonna del The restoration of Cimabue’s Santa Trinità Madonna
Voto altarpiece Crucifixion? Given the substantial differences by Alfio del Sera in the years 1992–1993 has transformed
in quality and in monumental and dramatic concept, this op- its appearance. Belying its age, it looks virtually new. One
tion can be excluded. Conversely, if the Sienese Crucifixion keeps in mind that the frame is not original, and was initially
panel copied Cimabue’s mural the latter would have to be considerably wider than it is now.35
dated much earlier than has been thought. Of course, this
chronology would be in conflict with the connection of the
35
Orsini arms on the façade of the senatorial palace of Rome in In a recent study P. Aminti and O. Casazza examined the size of Ci-
mabue’s Santà Trinità Madonna [Le “vere” dimensioni della Maestà di Ci-
Cimabue’s Assisi mural of the Evangelist Mark to the papacy mabue, Critica d’arte LVIII–3 (1995), 25–44]. It now measures 424 cm by
of Nicholas III. 244 cm. However, the present frame is not original. The authors concluded
There remains the third possibility of a shared con- that it would have measured 458 cm by 275 cm. It would thus have matched
the height and approached the width of Duccio’s Rucellai Madonna which
temporary source. Considering all relevant factors, this may measures 456 by 292 cm. However, Vasari, who knew both paintings (he at-
be, tentatively, the most plausible explanation. Nothing is tributed Duccio’s Rucellai Madonna to Cimabue), clearly stated in his Lives
known of Cimabue’s artistic activity before the undated that the latter was the largest Madonna painting he knew: “… la quale opera
Aretine cross, usually considered his earliest known work. In fu di maggior grandezza che figura che fusse stata fata insin a quel tempo”
(G. Vasari, Le vite de’più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori nelle re-
any case, the close connection of these Crucifixions strongly dazioni del 1550 e 1568, ed. P. Barrochi and R. Bettarini, II. Testo, Florence
indicates that Cimabue’s Assisi mural belongs well before the 1967, 40). Of course, the one in the sanctuary of the Virgin at Montevergine,
papacy of Nicholas IV. measuring 460 cm by 238 cm, in its present condition, possibly trimmed
at the sides, is the tallest. For a review of the dating and authorship of the
For further evidence regarding the chronology of
Montevergine Madonna panel see G. Mongelli, L’autore dell’immagine
Cimabue’s paintings we turn to his Madonnas. We find that della “Madonna di Montevergine” alla luce della critica storica, in: Atti
their detailed scrutiny reveals certain characteristics lending del convegno nazionale di studi storici promosso dalla Società Patria di
themselves to chronological sequencing not yet sufficiently Terra di Lavoro, ottobre 1966, Rome 1967, 439–490; F. Bologna, I pittori
alla corte Angioina di Napoli 1266–1414, Rome 1969, 102–105, pl. II–50,
explored. As indicated, they include the comparative treat- dating the painting around 1290–1295, with an attribution to Montano
ment of pictorial depth, as well as others, such as the realistic d’Arezzo; also P. Leone de Castris, Arte di corte nella Napoli Angioina,
consideration of pliant cloth. Florence 1986, 196f. L. Tintori informed me that when he restored the

128
 On stylistic grounds the attribution of this large paint-
ing to Cimabue, reverting to Renaissance sources, is gene-
rally accepted.36 Recently it has been placed late: into his
“final period”, some time after his assumed activity at Assisi
under the pontificate of Nicholas IV.37 As has been discussed,
the latter makes little sense, and, accordingly, the chronology
of the Santa Trinità Madonna must be reconsidered.

The basic composition

The monumental throne dominates the total image in

frontal view. It consists of the throne proper set on a separate
structure resting on arches. No such throne appears elsewhere
in late medieval panel painting. Of its supports only the four
in front of the base structure are depicted, consisting of com-
posite piers with engaged columns at the front and pilasters
at the sides. The side piers connect with the adjacent panel
borders so that this lower structure covers the entire width of
the pictorial field. In its impressive scale and the articulation
of the piers the lower structure gives the impression of archi-
tecture, although some of its surface decoration, such as the
leaves on the lower panels, suggests relief carved in wood.
The throne proper recedes into distance as it rises
from the platform on which it rests. The latter also supports Fig. 13. Cimabue, Fig. 1. Detail: Suppedaneum
the Virgin’s concave foot stool (suppedaneum) consisting of
two steps (Figure 13). This foot stool is not connected to the ceives and gives birth) (Isaiah 7, 14). It can be assumed that
throne since the luxuriously embroidered cloth covering the the choice of these Old Testament figures and their texts was
latter descends between them. Its concave shape is implicitly made, not by the painter, but by the commissioning body.38
transmitted to the throne, assumed to curve around the back of The basic composition of Cimabue’s Old Testament
the monumental Virgin, thus underscoring her full volume. half figures set within a seeming arcade brings to mind the
The unique treatment of pictorial depth in this paint- shape of contemporary dossals offering half-figures of saints
ing excludes any indication of a receding ground on which flanking the Madonna or Christ, set below an arcade, as in
the base structure is set, since only its front supports, shaped Guido da Siena’s Dossal 7 in the Siena Pinacoteca, dated by
as composite piers, are depicted, rising from the base line. inscription 1272. In the latter, however, the arches form part
These connect with three upward rising curved architectural of the wooden frame, while Cimabue’s “arcade” is painted.
shapes, which frame the upper bodies of four Old Testament The imitation chrysography on the throne supporting
figures. These curved shapes consist of two side arches, and platform consists of a pattern of diagonally disposed pointed
a wider central concave form extending into distance. All this lines converging upward in distance. It appears as well, simi-
is spotted against a flat golden background. Depth recession larly disposed, on all of the other level architectural parts.
begins only with the upper surface of the base structure. Accordingly, here reverse perspective is not used, plausibly a
The latter is spatially ambivalent. On the one hand “logical” consequence of the adoption of the frontal throne.
the side arches follow a vertical direction, while the larger As stated, the base structure and the foot stool are
central curved shape connects with the receding upper level separate entities since the respective curves defining their
surface on which the Virgin’s throne and foot stool are set. concave shapes do not quite agree. At the same time Cimabue
Here the absence of a receding foreground in the lower integrates the two by making the concave sections of both
part of the image serves symbolic ends: the idea that the New units darker than the rest.
Testament is founded on the Old. Cimabue’s Old Testament Obviously, here the entire elaborate architectural
figures set close to the observer prophecy the incarnation of formation of the throne and its supporting structure signifies
the Divine Child in the Virgin’s womb and her intercession the Church. One is reminded that the Church emerged from
for mankind. Beginning with Jeremiah at the left side, the
text on his scroll reads: “creavit Dominus novum super ter-
Montevergine panel he had a number of missing metal plaques originally
ram: femina circumdavit virum” (The Lord has created a new covering the background remade by a Florentine goldsmith. Concerning the
thing on earth: woman who protects man) (Jeremiah 31, 22). exceptional insertion of the wood piece, presumably taken from an early
Abraham’s scroll states: “In semine tuo benedicentur omnes icon, serving as support for the Virgin’s head and halo, see PP. Benedettini
gentes” (In your seed will all peoples be blessed) (Genesis di Montevergine, La prodigiosa immagine di Maria SS. di Montevergine.
Tradizione e memorie, Rome 1904; and, recently, C. S. Hoeniger, The Reno-
22, 18), words spoken by the angel after God kept Abraham vations of Paintings in Tuscany, 1250–1500, Cambridge 1995, 56ff.
from sacrificing his son as he had been commanded. On King 36
See, regarding the history of its attribution, Ragioneri, in: Bellosi, op. cit.
David’s scroll is written: “De fructu ventris tui ponam super (n. 8 supra), 282f.
37
Bellosi, op. cit. (n. 8 supra), 249ff.
sedem tuam” (The fruit of your womb I shall set on your 38
Regarding these texts see E. Sindona, L’opera completa di Cimabue e il
throne) (Psalm 131, 11); and, finally, on Isaiah’s scroll one momento figurativo pregiottesco, Milan 1976, 112; and Aminti and Casaz-
reads: “Ecce Virgo concipiet et pariet” (Behold a virgin con- za, op. cit. (n. 35 supra), 44, n. 3.

129
 Fig. 14. Cimabue, Madonna and Child with Angels, Fig. 15. Cimabue, Madonna and Child with Angels,
Musée du Louvre, Paris Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna (Foto su concessione
(Foto Réunion des Musées Nationaux) del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, Archivio
Fotografico, Soprintendenza PSAD – Bologna)
the Virgin’s womb in Christ. This was a commonplace medi-
eval symbolic equation, especially during the high and later appearing beneath the Virgin and Child enthroned, while
Middle Ages when the cult of the Virgin reached its apogee. far below Old Testament figures lined the jambs of the
Perhaps the most obvious expression of this symbolism is central entrance. It can be concluded that the unique spatial
found, about a century-and-a-half later, in Jan van Eyck’s di- structure of Cimabue’s monumental throne depended on its
minutive painting of the Madonna in the Church in Berlin! symbolic role.
This symbolism would explain the presence of the Cimabue’s Virgin is clearly of the Hodegetria type,
Old Testament figures within the lower arched structure. referring the beholder to the Christ Child who is the teacher
Here the basic theme of Christian history, that the New holding a small scroll which represents the Word of God.
Testament emerged from the Old, is expressed in archi- Both Virgin and Child dominate the composition in their
tectural form. This scheme is hardly new, since it appears extreme hierarchic scale. Four superposed angels sym-
effectively on northern cathedral portals. There one often metrically flank each side of the throne, all holding onto
finds Old Testament figures: patriarchs, kings, queens and the latter. They are tightly fitted between it and the panel
prophets, applied on the jambs located below the New border, their wings partly extending beyond. The rhythmic
Testament subject matter appearing above in the tympana, variations in the symmetry of the angels’ poses, tilting their
as on the royal portal of Chartres Cathedral. Projecting the heads one way and the other, serve to enliven the composi-
same idea, the thirteenth century also witnessed the blos- tion. With the exception of the two who are second from the
soming of the Throne of Solomon theme as the Virgin and bottom, the angels join the Virgin and the Christ Child in
Child enthroned, representing the Wisdom of the Church, looking directly at the beholder. This contributes strongly
are identified with King Solomon’s Old Testament temple. to the idea of the image’s forward projection toward the lat-
Close in time to Cimabue’s painting, the Throne of Solo- ter, here strongly felt. Although the two closest angels, like
mon was represented rising high on the sharp gable above the others, are placed in back of the throne, their visible leg
the west portal of Strasbourg Cathedral, King Solomon and foot extend sharply forward so that the toes protrude

130
 Fig. 16. Cimabue, Madonna and Child with Angels and Saint Francis, Crossing,
Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi (Foto Stefan Diller)

into space in front of the platforms supporting them. Ac- suspended position of the Divine Child in the Uffizi panel
cordingly, the space occupied by both the angels and throne simply informs that the incarnate Christ transcends natural
is compressed. The angels are evenly superposed holding law. Used for similar religious ends, the arbitrary elevation of
onto the throne’s side posts, thus spatially wedded to the the Christ Child above the Virgin’s lap returns, significantly,
latter. The two uppermost angels are placed beyond the in Giotto’s later Ognissanti Madonna, as well as on Arnolfo’s
back of the throne, as if space were partly reaching into dis- Madonna statue originally serving the façade of the Cathe-
tance. Altogether, pictorial recession, insofar as it applies, dral of Florence. Accordingly, this particular arbitrary grav-
involves the throne and the angels occupying the upper por- ity denying convention, extending into the trecento, has no
tion of the painting. bearing on the establishment of Cimabue’s painting’s closer
Typical of medieval spatial convention, here the picto- chronology.
rial recession of the throne and the adjoining angels does not When was the Santa Trinità Madonna painted? Here
exclude the very opposite: the strong impression of forward one must compare it to Cimabue’s other extant Madonnas
projection. Beside her huge scale, which contributes to this generally considered autograph: the Madonna Enthroned
effect, this is indicated by the position of the Virgin’s pointed from the church of San Francesco in Pisa in the Musée du
feet, like those of the front angels extending forward beyond Louvre (Figure 14); the Madonna in the Servite Church
the steps on which they rest. in Bologna (Figure 15); the Madonna mural in the lower
The description of the painting must include reference crossing of the church of San Francesco in Assisi (Figure
to the arbitrary physical connection of the Virgin and her Di- 16); and the small Madonna recently discovered in England
vine Son. He is plainly suspended in space. Given the low po- now in the National Gallery, London (Figure 17).39 We shall
sition of the Virgin’s left foot, neither her left knee nor thigh
could have supported him! This denial of the force of gravity
was deliberate. Conversely, in Cimabue’s other Madonnas, to 39
See the CD issued by Sotheby’s, London, on Thursday, 6 July 2000,
be discussed, including the earlier in the Louvre, Mary’s left which discusses the painting in detail. I am most grateful to R. Charlton-
knee is clearly placed directly beneath the Child’s body! The -Jones for forwarding the CD and photos of the painting.

131
 other bars, the latter equally changing directions. Cut off by
the base line, they approach the beholder. From their side ter-
minations it is evident that the lower bars are seen from the
right side, while the upper bars are seen from the left, these
conforming to the oblique position of the throne. Beneath
the Virgin’s foot stool’s curved front face the space between
them consists of a neutral gold ground. These ground bars,
in spite of their arbitrary spatial presentation, introduce an
element of pictorial depth and material substance closely
connected to the picture plane.
To my knowledge, these segmented ground bars used
to support the feet of the Virgin’s throne and foot stool are
only found in Cimabue’s paintings. They return in his Ser-
vite Madonna in Bologna and in the small Madonna panel
recently discovered in England, now in the National Gallery,
London.
Rhythmically superposed, three angels flank both sides
of the Louvre throne. Significantly, similar to the Uffizi panel,
here too the placement of their two visible feet projects the
closest angels toward the beholder. Touching the base line in
their slanted positions, they seem to float in space. As a result,
here throne and angels remain closely tied to the picture plane.
Interestingly, while in the Uffizi panel chrysography
covers the entire attire of the Virgin and Christ Child, in the
Louvre painting it is restricted to the red dress of the latter.
And, as in the Bologna Madonna, to be considered, here the
gold background is decorated with a fine grid made with dot-
ted lines, less complicated than the one in the Uffizi painting.
The Madonna in the Servite church in Bologna is
much restored.41 Its throne is now lyre shaped and there are
only two angels present, placed in back of the throne. Unfor-
Fig. 17. Cimabue, Madonna and Child with Angels,
National Gallery, London (Foto courtesy of Sotheby’s)
tunately, close to the base line the painting is largely oblite-
rated. Enough remains, however, to indicate a similar use of
also refer to the mural of Christ and the Virgin Enthroned in ground bars serving as supports for the throne feet. Here the
Heaven in the choir of the upper church of San Francesco at back of the throne, covering nearly the entire available image
Assisi (Figure 18), since its space filling monumental throne width, is still centered,42 while the throne seat is again seen
bears a substantial resemblance to the one in the Santa Trinità in oblique view from the left. As a consequence, as in the
Madonna. Louvre painting, on her seat the body of the Virgin is shifted
somewhat to the left of center. The Virgin’s head is also set
Cimabue’s other Madonnas along the vertical axis, and reverse perspective still applies.
However, from what remains it is evident that now the throne
The Louvre Madonna is generally placed earlier than is less tied to the picture plane. The oblique ground bar at the
the Santa Trinità Madonna. Their thrones differ in substance left side is aligned with the receding side of the throne, its
and orientation. The Louvre throne is made of wood and length determined by the locations of the throne’s respective
presented in oblique view, as is often the case in dugento Ita- rear and front feet resting on it.
lian painting. It differs from the frontally depicted masonry Significantly, now the Virgin’s foot stool is clearly
structure in the other. Typically shown in reverse perspective, placed in front of the throne. It is a separate structure, and has
here, as in other dugento Madonnas with oblique thrones,
Cimabue connected the centered position of the back of the
40
throne with the asymmetrical oblique view of throne seat, so A similarly disposed throne appears in the Madonna and Child by the
Master of San Martino in the Pisa museum, and in the circular stained glass
that the Virgin’s central hierarchic presence could be main- window of Siena Cathedral dated 1287–1288, where the throne supports
tained.40 A The frame of the Louvre Madonna is original. both the Virgin and the heavenly Christ, etc. However, in Duccio’s Rucellai
Here the connection of the throne to the ground on Madonna the back of the throne is shifted subtly to one side. In the case
which it rests deserves close attention. Beneath the throne of the Byzantine Kahn Madonna in the National Gallery of Washington
the back of the throne is shifted sharply to one side, in accordance with its
Cimabue introduced two solid oblong bars, one at each side. oblique disposition. As a consequence, here the central placement of the
They change directions, from lateral to oblique. The bar at Virgin required that she be moved to one side of the throne seat.
41
the left side is the more prominent, receding further into Regarding the Servite Madonna in Bologna see the recent entry by M.
Boskovits in the exhibition catalogue: Duecento. Forme e colori del me-
depth than the other. Significantly, the throne’s four feet rest
dioevo a Bologna. 15 aprile – 16 luglio 2000. Museo Civico Archeologico,
on these bars at different levels, the front feet set duly below Bologna 2000, 271–278, placing the painting around the years 1286-1287.
those at the rear. In turn, these bars are set arbitrarily on two 42
This cannot be stated with certainty since the frame is modern.

132
its own supporting platform. Also, its rear and front feet, the
latter partly obliterated, were originally duly set at different
levels. Further, now ground bars and platform conform to the
same oblique view as both the throne and foot stool. Clearly,
compared to the Louvre Madonna here foreground spatial
recession is more coherently presented and reaches further
into depth!
The small Madonna panel recently acquired by the Na-
tional Gallery, London, was recently discovered in a private
collection in England. It constitutes an important contribution
to Cimabue’s autograph oeuvre.43 Here only two angels flank
the throne. They are as tall as the Virgin in her seated position,
so that her hierarchic presence is reduced. And the throne de-
mands less proportionate space than in the previous paintings.
Significantly, its feet still rest on solid ground bars. The ground
bar at the left side, again changing direction from lateral to
oblique, offers support to the throne’s respective rear and front
feet at appropriate levels, the projecting portion of the ground
bar cut off by the base line. Significantly, now the angels stand
on the rear portions of these ground bars, that is, beside the
throne’s rear side posts. Accordingly, they have been moved
into depth! Their spatial location shows that here Cimabue has
become more aware of coherent pictorial recession.
The mural of the Madonna Enthroned with Saint
Francis in the lower crossing of the church of San Francesco
at Assisi cannot be excluded from this enquiry. Considering
the mural’s poor condition, the basic composition is still
legible. It has been reduced at the left side.44 Now flanked
by the murals of a Giottesque shop active sometime in the
second decade of the trecento, it is the earliest extant mural
in the crossing of the lower church. Considering its reduction Fig. 18. Cimabue, Virgin and Christ Enthroned in Heaven
at the left side, the assumed original central location of the with many figures, Upper Choir, San Francesco, Assisi
throne and the Virgin and Child cannot be confirmed. (Foto P. Gerhard Ruf, OFM. Sacro Convento, Assisi)
In essence, its composition follows that of Cimabue’s
two previous Madonnas considered. However, there are dress of the Uffizi and Louvre Christ Children. Instead, he
some significant changes. The carpenter’s throne now rests holds onto part of his cloak with his left hand. His position
on a platform, which replaces the ground bars found in the substantially conforms to that of Duccio’s Child in the Rucel-
former. This platform is presented in oblique view and in tra- lai Madonna dated close after 1285!
ditional reverse perspective. It duly supports the throne’s rear The tendency toward presenting the Child in a more
and front feet at appropriate different levels. However, the intimate and child like manner is even more pronounced in
forward projecting foot stool, here connected to the throne, both the Servite Madonna in Bologna and the small Madonna
is still spatially compressed, since its front feet are laterally in London. In the former the Child, properly supported by the
closely aligned with those of the throne near the platform’s Virgin, strides affectionately toward his mother holding onto
front edge. her shoulder. He wears a light purple dress slit at the bottom
Significantly, of the four angels here included, accord- so that his forward striding foot is visible. This type of Christ
ing to the placement of their feet the closest two are clearly Child appears in other Tuscan paintings from around 1300.45
placed behind the throne, near the rear edge of the platform And in the London Madonna, wearing a plain white shirt and
supporting them. Their projection into depth even exceeds dress, the Child is seated on his mother’s lap playfully hold-
that of the angels in the London Madonna! Similarly, Saint ing her right wrist and fingers.46
Francis, standing to the right of the throne, is also set in a
middle ground according to the location of his feet. Smaller 43
See n. 39.
than the Virgin and the angels, he submits to a clear hierarchic 44
The painting has been shortened at the left side, where a saint would have
order. In its treatment of pictorial depth, among Cimabue’s stood corresponding to Saint Francis who appears at the right side.
45
extant Madonnas the Assisi mural is clearly among the most See, for example, Giuliano da Rimini’s altarpiece of 1307 in the Isabella
Gardner Museum in Boston. Given the child’s slit dress, it may be partly
advanced! based on Cimabue’s Bologna Madonna. The latter surely influenced the
One wonders if the appearance of the Christ Child Gualino Madonna in the Galleria Sabauda in Turin, and also the Child in
would corroborate this conclusion. He looks to the side, the Giottesque Madonna flanked by Saints mural in the Saint Nicholas Cha-
pel in the lower church of San Francesco at Assisi.
firmly seated on the Virgin’s left knee. The speaking-blessing 46
For another early Italian example of the Child holding onto his mother’s
gesture of his right hand follows the direction of his face. fingers see Duccio’s Virgin and the three Franciscans in the Pinacoteca
Discarding the scroll, he also lacks the formal position and Nazionale, Siena.

133
 On the basis of the previous considerations the fol-
lowing chronological sequence can be proposed: the usual
early placement of the Aretine cross, followed by the Louvre
Madonna, seems valid; the Servite Madonna in Bologna and
the new English Madonna would date considerably later; so
would his Madonna mural in the lower church of San Fran-
cesco at Assisi; and the Santa Trinità Madonna would be lo-
cated somewhere between, certainly before the pliant throne
cloth asserted itself.
Of all of Cimabue’s known thrones, the monumental
throne in his mural of the Virgin and Christ Enthroned in
Heaven in the choir of the upper church of San Francesco at
Assisi (Figure 18) is closest to the one in the Santa Trinità
Madonna. Frontally disposed, it also nearly covers the full
height of the available space. And it also consists of two
parts: a substantial lower concave structure resting directly
on the mural’s base line, and the actual throne rising above,
set two steps back. As a consequence, as in the Uffizi Ma-
donna, the Virgin is seated high in the image, this time beside
her Divine Son.
Here the stool supporting the feet of the Virgin and
Christ is set on two projecting steps. The spatial connection
of the throne to this foot stool, also consisting of two steps
and viewed obliquely in reverse perspective from the right
side, remains unclear. Seen from above, the placement of the
foot stool’s three visible feet suggests that it floats somewhat
before the throne. It is clearly presented as a separate struc-
ture since the lower portion of the throne cloth descends be-
Fig. 19. Cimabue, Saint Luke, Upper Crossing Vault, tween the two. The gold lines of the imitation chrysography
San Francesco, Assisi (Archivio Franco Cosimo located on all plane parts of the throne and the lower structure
Panini Editore, Modena) reach upward and inward in distance, as in the Santa Trinità
Madonna, while those on the foot stool do the opposite.
The change in treatment of the luxurious throne cloth The material of which the throne is made is uncertain.
offers further information bearing on their chronology. In the On the one hand, the sheer monumental size of the throne
Louvre Madonna it covers the back of the throne in rigid ver- suggests masonry. On the other, the visible parts of the throne
tical folds. And, as has been noted, in its treatment the throne back, the knobs lining its upper edge, the intricate shape of
cloth of the Santa Trinità Madonna is not far removed. Con- the rear side posts, and the leaves covering much of its visible
sider the similar rigid edges along their left (our right) sides. surface, suggest rather that it is made of wood. Interestingly,
Significantly, the throne cloth of the Servite Madonna the upper side posts, seemingly turned on a lathe, resemble
categorically differs from the former in its pliant aspect. those in his Santa Trinità Madonna in the detail! The leaves
Covering the back of the throne, it responds to the pressure on the thrones’ vertical surfaces are also of similar shape.
of Virgin’s body as it extends over her seat cushions, before Further, the disposition of the throne cloth is also
descending in back of her legs. similar. In both paintings it decends sharply in a straight line
In the recently discovered Madonna in the National at the right side, its descent continuing behind the foot stool
Gallery, London, the throne cloth consists of two parts. A red below the seat.
cloth covers the back of the throne, while another, pliant, trans- Finally, the two thrones share the same symbolic
parent and white, reaches over the Virgin’s seat cushion and role of representing the Church and its salutory Divine
then descends beyond her feet. The transparency of the latter mission. Arranged in overlapping registers, here Old Testa-
corresponds to that of the loin cloth of the crucified Christ on
Cimabue’s Santa Croce cross in Florence, imitated by Deodato
47
Orlandi in his Lucchese cross bearing the date 1288.47 See also The painted cross by Deodato Orlandi bearing the date 1288 in the Museo
di Villa Giunigi, Lucca, is reproduced in Bellosi, op. cit. (n. 8 supra), 100.
Christ’s loin cloth on Cimabue’s Flagellation panel in the Frick 48
J. Cannon’s connection of Cimabue’s small English Madonna to the same
Collection in New York, connected by Joanna Cannon to the polyptych which included the Frick Collection Flagellation is mentioned in
London Madonna.48 In its pliant coverage of the Virgin’s seat Sotheby’s CD (see n. 38).
49
cushions the throne cloth in the lower crossing mural at Assisi In his recent book (n. 8 supra) Bellosi has repeatedy referred to the loos-
ening of the rigid Byzantinising fold patterns in the portion of the cloak
also resembles the Servite Madonna in Bologna.49 Assuming covering the Virgin’s head in the Santa Trinità Madonna as indicative of her
Cimabue’s progressive interest in the tactile quality and ap- late date, placing her into the nineties of the dugento. I find that particular
pearance of cloth, incompatible with the arbitrary character of criterion, interesting in itself, insufficient in the light of those others relating
to the painting’s chronology here adduced. I also find that in his Madonna
chrysography, the Bologna and English Madonnas, including mural in the lower church of San Francesco at Assisi the respective treat-
the mural in the lower church at Assisi, would substantially ment of the Virgin’s cloak already offers a loosening of folds leading away
postdate both the Louvre and Uffizi paintings! from rigorous Byzantinising fold pattern conventions.

134
 Fig. 20. Cavallini, Annunciation, Mosaic, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome
(Foto Gabinetto Fotografico, Soprintendenza BAS di Roma)

ment figures, located at the right side, are present in greater Cimabue’s Evangelists in the Upper Crossing Vault
abundance. Joined by saints and angels, they all turn toward
the heavenly pair in gestures of awe and adoration. Similarly Cimabue’s awareness of Byzantine art is clearly
composed, at the left side of the throne appear kneeling friars evident in his Evangelist murals in the upper crossing vault
and clerics. While all figures at the right side have haloes, the of the church of San Francesco at Assisi (Figure 19). This
crowded clerics and friars at the left side do not. Accordingly, includes their spatial rendering. There he covered the sur-
they would represent the living church. The scale of the side face of their cells with gold leaf, imitating, using a different
figures is arbitrary, since those in front, that is, closest to the medium, the gold mosaic ground found in many Byzantine
beholder, are smaller than the figures located beyond, follow- church interiors and on the apses of many Italian Early
ing common medieval practice reverting to late antiquity. Christian and medieval churches. On these spatially neutral
Exclusive of the two angels putting their hands on the golden surfaces he then applied the Evangelists, their chairs
Virgin’s and Christ’s cushion, here only the praying hands of and pulpits. Significantly, he set each of these on a separate
a friar, and those of a cleric below him, reach over the throne platform, which he then stacked one on top of the other,
in their direction. In turn the heavenly pair gestures toward this successively supporting their pulpit, the Evangelists’ chair,
friar. The figure above him repeats the Virgin’s gesture as he and the lowest their feet. As has been indicated, this use of
extends his open hand diagonally downward. Significantly, his platforms, appearing single or sometimes doubled, for sup-
halo differs from the others in the mural in that it is not radially porting particular objects or figures, appears widely in me-
grooved. His head is also unusually worn, suggestive of having dieval Byzantine art: on ivory reliefs, in panel paintings and
originally been painted in secco, which did not last. Interest- book illuminations. However, to my knowledge, Cimabue’s
ingly, neither the praying friar whom the Virgin introduces to three-fold superposition of such platforms, contributing,
Christ has a halo. This would exclude his being Saint Francis, somewhat incoherently, to the Evangelists’ spatial presence,
although one would expect him to be the person introduced to is unprecedented. Here Cimabue takes a Byzantine conven-
God in his funerary church. Whoever he may have been, the tion and elaborates on it! This solution seems connected to
mural surely represented, sanctioned by Christ and the Virgin, the ground bars in his Madonna paintings used to support the
the renewal of the earthly church by the order of Saint Francis. Virgin’s throne.

135
 Fig. 21. Saint Francis’ Renunciation of Worldly Goods, Nave,
Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi
(Foto Stefan Diller)

Concerning Chrysography
Fig. 22. Cimabue, Papal Throne, Upper Choir, San Francesco,
Chrysography, the application of gold striation pat- Assisi (Archivio Franco Cosimo Panini Editore, Modena)
terns on Christ’s garments, probably originally transferred
and adapted to painting and mosaic from cloisonné enamel On the whole, insofar as one can tell from their poor
technique, is widely found in Byzantine art and its sphere condition, the chrysography in Cimabue’s murals in the up-
of influence. It is traditionally selectively used as a divine per church of San Francesco conforms to its appearance in
attribute. As here interpreted, Cimabue’s “chrysography” the Santa Trinità Madonna. Significantly, in the scene of
would include both: typical striation patterns using actual Christ and the Virgin enthroned in Heaven, the attire of both
gold; and also its imitation using related colours.50 On the is covered with it, with the exception of the decorated cloth
whole, his use of chrysography does not seem to follow a cast over the Virgin’s feet. It appears as well on portions of
straightforward evolutionary pattern. In the Louvre Madonna the attire of the angels and Old Testament figures. And chryso-
chrysography is used sparingly. It is absent from the Virgin’s graphy also appears on all plane sections of the throne and
blue cloak, and in the Christ Child’s attire it is restricted to foot stool. Its extended use is also found in other murals of
his tailored orange dress. It is also applied on the orange up- the same cycle, including the Angel inspiring Saint John on
per portions of the angels’ attire. And imitation chrysography the Island of Patmos.
appears on much of the throne.
Significantly, in the Santa Trinità Madonna its pres-
ence is more prominent. It appears on the entire attire of the 50
I have not had the opportunity to examine the striation patterns typical
Virgin and the Christ Child, as well as portions of those of of chrysography in all of the Cimabue’s works regarding whether, as in
thrones, gold or other related colours were used.
the angels and Jeremiah. And, as in the Louvre painting, 51
Regarding the excessive use of chrysography in Italian Dugento panel
imitation chrysography is applied on all plane sections of the painting see J. Polzer, Some Byzantine and Byzantinising Madonnas
elaborate throne. This particular emphasis on chrysography painted during the later Middle Ages, Arte cristiana LXXXVII–791
(1999), 85ff. See also the Madonna del Popolo by the Saint Agatha Master
corresponds to its extended presence in a number of Tuscan in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine (reproduced in: M. Boskovits,
paintings dating from the sixties and seventies of the Du- The Origins of Florentine Painting. 1100–1270, Florence 1993, plates
gento, where it is often used to excess!51 LXIXff), etc.

136
 All this does not mean that Cimabue used chrysogra-
phy consistently in the course of his artistic career. As time
progressed his interest in realistic optical and physical quali-
ties of cloth proved incompatible with its obvious arbitrary
aspect. Consider his painted crosses in Arezzo and S. Croce,
Florence. In the former chrysography is prominent, covering
all garments. However, it had no place in the latter, where
the loin cloth is largely transparent, nor, for the same rea-
son, in the small Flagellation panel in the Frick Collection,
which has been connected by Joanna Cannon, as indicated, to
Cimabue’s recently discovered London Madonna.52 Nor does
it appear on the attire of the Virgin and Child in the Servite
Madonna in Bologna, except for the thin bands at the edges
of her dress at the neck and wrists.
Unquestionably, in later dugento Italian painting
the use of chrysography, given its obvious connection to
Byzantium, was widely debated. In the mural decoration
of the upper church of San Francesco at Assisi the presence
of chrysography diminishes after Cimabue’s presence, duly
restricted to Christ’s or God the Father’s attire. This can be
seen in Torriti’s scene of the Creation of Man on the upper
north nave wall close to the crossing. It also covers the entire
red dress of Christ in the mural of the Road to Calvary in the
second bay of the south nave wall. Its restricted use applies as
well to the Life of Saint Francis cycle lining the lower nave
walls as well. Interestingly, chrysography is also absent from
Giotto’s representations of Christ in the mural decoration of
the Arena Chapel. Exceptionally, however, there it does ap-
pear on the attire of the Old Testament figures flanking Christ
ascending to Heaven. Here its application has clearly a sym-
bolic value, connecting the Old Testament figures with an
Fig. 23. Saint Francis dividing his Cloak with the Beggar, Mural,
antiquated stylistic practice obviously known to Giotto. Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi (Foto Stefan Diller)
In overview, chrysography was a Byzantine import on
central Italian soil. Its use escalated in the later sixties and plain console band extending above Cimabue’s Life of the
seventies of the dugento, often applied to excess according Virgin murals in the upper choir differs fundamentally in
to its original Byzantine purpose.53 Judging by the murals of its perspective rendering from the framing system of the Life
the Sancta Sanctorum Chapel, in Rome it met with resistance, of Saint Francis cycle, which presents a covered passage ex-
since it was excluded from the red dress of Christ enthroned, tending before the murals between the engaged nave piers.
modeled by the partial superposition of sharply contrasting Significantly, the latter offers, within the space of each
light blue colour (Figure 6). In the mid-twelfth century apse bay, console friezes located below and above the narrative
mosaic of the Virgin and Christ Enthroned in Heaven in the scenes, as well as a coffered ceiling serving the covered
church of Santa Maria in Trastevere one already observes, passage. Here the orthogonals get duly closer in distance,
excluding chrysography’s purely decorative aspect, the use approximating correct perspective structure (Figure 21). Dif-
of golden tessere on divine or saintly garments for obtaining ferently, in the case of Cimabue’s console series the principle
luminous modeling effects. This tradition carried into the lat- of reverse perspective still applies, since the direction of the
er dugento, as can be seen in Torriti’s apse mosaic of Christ orthogonals is reversed, since in distance they get farther
and the Virgin enthroned in Heaven in the church of Santa apart. Accordingly, both sides of the central console, located
Maria Maggiore and Cavallini’s Life of the Virgin mosaic directly above the papal throne, are visible, seen simultane-
cycle in Santa Maria in Trastevere (Figure 20); etc. ously from opposite oblique directions (Figure 22). One must
keep in mind that here we are dealing with architectural illu-
Concerning Cimabue’s artistic connection sion important for its own sake, rather than serving narrative
to the Saint Francis Cycle or iconic ends. Nevertheless, this radical change from reverse
toward real perspective representation shows that this issue
In his Assisi murals the sharp contrast of Cimabue’s was discussed around the time that the framing scheme of the
concept of spatial depth and narrative structure with the Saint Francis cycle was invented.
later murals of the Life of Saint Francis in the same up- The closer reading of the initiation of the Saint Francis
per church has already been underscored. In the view of cycle still largely defies resolution. In the first place, we do
its masters Cimabue’s style had become thoroughly out-
dated, this including his Byzantine legacy. A vital aspect
of this contrast, often examined, involves the perspective 52
See n. 39.
conventions used in the respective mural borders. Here the 53
See n. 51.

137
 And the slanting sides of the hills are directed toward his
head. Last but not least, his diagonally downward tilted feet
suggest that rather than standing on it he floats before the
ground. Differently, the feet of the poor knight standing at
the side are more believably laterally oriented. And all the
feet, including the horse’s hooves, are sharply spotted against
a light ground, the chiaroscuro contrast contributing to the
impression of their collective forward projection. Moreover,
the rocky ledge following closely the base line is a traditional
Byzantine feature in outdoor settings, already found in the
Good Shepherd mosaic in the mid-fifth century mausoleum
of Galla Placidia in Ravenna. Altogether, compared to the lat-
er murals of the cycle, here a reduced conservative visual nar-
rative parlance prevails. Certain of its components, including
the frontal position of Saint Francis and his diagonally tilted
feet, conform to that of the soldiers in Cimabue’s Crucifixion
mural in the southern transept. Wholly dismissing the idea of
a supporting ground, there the figures flanking the cross stand
on each others’ slanting crossing feet (Figure 10)!
In the light of the conservatism of Cimabue’s Assisi
murals, one wonders what went on in the minds of the paint-
ers responsible for the Life of Saint Francis cycle as it pro-
gressed. Where in all this brew the young Giotto belonged,
struggling to find his own way, and the Isaac Master, whoever
he may have been,56 remains for me as elusive as ever, al-
though it can be assumed that they were close.

Cimabue’s Architectural Forms

Obviously, compared to the most progressive architec-
Fig. 24. Saint Francis preaching before Pope Honorius, Mural, tural representations in the Life of Saint Francis cycle, those
Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi (Foto Stefan Diller) in Cimabue’s Assisi murals are yet downright primitive and
archaic. The contrast is so extreme that it alone excludes a
not know precisely when the cycle was begun. It is generally closely compacted chronology of the mural decoration in the
accepted that it was painted sequentially following the course upper church as has been recently proposed.57 Consider, on
of Saint Francis’ life, offering a stepped increase in realism the one hand, the elaborate Gothic interior hall in the mural
and compositional complexity. This assumption is confirmed, of Saint Francis preaching before Pope Honorius (Figure
on the whole, by the sequence of the giornate.54 The narrative, 24). Occupying the entire mural, the hall, duly receding in
moving clockwise around the lower nave wall, begins next to distance, effectively contains all the figures in their respec-
the northern transept. However, the very first narrative scene tive spatial locations, separated from the beholder by a triple
there located, of Saint Francis honoured by a simpleton, was arcade crossing the mural close to the picture plane. And in
actually painted last. This is confirmed by both the sequence the Miracle of the Christmas Crib at Greccio (Figure 25) the
of the giornate and its unusual style, connecting the latter to painter places the event within a church: in the choir in front
the three murals by the same hand located in the same bay of the high altar, a crowd pressing through the central door of
on the opposite nave wall. Their painter has been identified the iconostasis. Here the realistic representation of the parts
as the Santa Cecilia Master, after his altarpiece in the Uffizi in their respective locations enables the beholder to place the
Gallery. This is the only painter partaking of the Saint Francis event within a greater familiar architectural whole. Interest-
cycle on whose identity there is closer agreement. ingly, in another mural of the Saint Francis cycle, the funeral
The first scenes of the cycle painted are the two fol- of the Saint, the orientation of the same interior ambient is
lowing the simpleton honouring the saint. They offer Saint reversed, with the scene set in the nave. Now the iconostasis
Francis giving his cloak to the poor knight (Figure 23) and his is viewed from the opposite side since the icons rising from
dream vision of the palace filled with arms bearing the sign
of the cross. Interestingly, the investigation of the sequence
54
of the giornate indicates that the main part of the latter scene M. Meiss and L. Tintori, in: The painting of the Life of St. Francis in
Assisi, New York 1967, first considered the sequence of the giornate in
was painted before the gift of the cloak.55 Be this is it may, the the Saint Francis mural cycle. Their findings have been superceded by B.
mural of the gift of the cloak is surely the most conservative Zanardi’s careful scrutiny of their sequence, in his Il cantiere di Giotto. Le
in the whole Saint Francis cycle. Its composition is among Storie di San Francesco ad Assisi, Milan 1996 (commentary by Ch. Frugoni
the least complicated. There the figures are the largest. They and introduction by F. Zeri).
55
Zanardi, op. cit. (n. 54 supra) graphs giving the sequence of the giornate
are simply laterally rowed close to the picture plane. The in the two murals on pages 81 and 91.
frontally posed Saint Francis stands along the vertical axis. 56
See n. 23 supra.
57
The very center of the pictorial field is located on his halo. Bellosi, op. cit. (n. 8 supra), 150ff, esp. 162.

138
 Fig. 25. The Miracle at the Christmas Crib at Greccio, Mural,
Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi
(Foto Stefan Diller)

it are no longer seen from the back but from the front. The
painter even includes a portion of the coffered apse vault be-
yond the icon of Saint Michael. Here, moving from one scene Fig. 26. Cimabue, Saint Peter healing a Cripple,
Northern Transept, Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi
to another, the painter shifts the viewer’s position within one
(Foto Kunsthistorisches Institut Florenz)
and the same greater structure.
Differently, in Cimabue’s choir and transept murals
The Role of Legend in our understanding
nothing even approaching this kind of sophisticated archi-
tectural rendering can be found. Individual buildings are
of Cimabue’s connection to Giotto
yet reduced in shape and scale. In the scene of Saint Peter
Virtually nothing is known of Giotto’s origins. Vasari
healing a Cripple (Figure 26) the reduced buildings at the
writes that Giotto was born in 1276,58 that his father was a
two sides simply converge, according to their roof lines,
farmer in the region of Vespignano. He relates that when
toward the lower center where the principal action is set.
Giotto was ten years old his father sent him to pasture sheep,
Also, following medieval tradition, here the symbolic role
and while doing so he drew one on a rock. It just so hap-
of reduced architecture often takes precedence. Consider
pened that Cimabue was passing by. Struck by the realism
the central location of the plain domed church set directly
of Giotto’s drawing Cimabue, with the father’s permission,
in back of Saint Peter healing the lame, or the plain bal-
took the young artist into his shop, and that is how Giotto’s
dacchino similarly placed in back of Saint Peter exorcising
career got started.59 Obviously, all this is the stuff of legend.
demons from the bodies of men. As previously considered,
It conveniently connects the lives of Florence’s two greatest
in his Evangelist portraits in the upper crossing vault (Figure
painters of the proto-Renaissance. Vasari did not invent it, but
19), the platforms stacked one on top of another, supporting
borrowed it from Ghiberti’s Commentaries.60 Where Ghiberti
separate objects and figures and set against a neutral ground,
got it is not known.
yet clearly indicate a disinterest in rendering a unified archi-
tectural setting. By contrast the latter is substantially realised
in the vault murals of the Doctors of the Church in the first 58
Giotto’s birth is most usually placed a decade before Vasari’s date of
bay of the upper nave. There each cell offers one extended 1276; see Vasari, op. cit (n. 35 supra), Commento II–1, 347; also G. Previ-
tali, Giotto e la sua bottegga, Milan 1967, 131, n. 21; etc.
platform which supports all figures, objects and structures 59
Vasari, op. cit. (n. 35 supra), I. Testo, 96f.
there located, the platform consisting of the flat roof of a 60
Ghiberti, Commentari, quoted in: J. von Schlosser, Denkwürdigkeiten
building barely rising beyond the lower cell borders (Figure des florentinischen Bildhauers Lorenzo Ghiberti, Berlin 1928, 51f (German
translation). Ghiberti’s legendary account reminds one that the painters of
27)! All this information clearly separates Cimabue’s upper
later trecento Florence idealised Giotto’s exemplary oeuvre, considered
church murals from the latter, as well as the cycle of the Life beyond their reach (see, recently, W. Jacobsen, Die Maler von Florenz zu
of Saint Francis. Beginn der Renaissance, Berlin–Munich 2001, 202f and 206ff).

139
 In essence, Vasari was fully aware of their distinct his-
torical roles. This is how he comments on the art of the young
Giotto: “… in poco tempo, aiutato della natura e ammaestrato
da Cimabue, non solo pareggiò il fanciullo la maniera del
maestro suo, ma divenne cosi buono imitatore della natura che
sbandi affatto quella goffa maniera greca, e risuscitó la mod-
erna e buona arte della pittura…” (in a short time, assisted
by nature and taught by Cimabue, the boy not only equalled
the manner of his master, but became such a good imitator of
nature that he effectively rid himself of that awkward Greek
manner, and revived the good and modern art of painting).61
Considering the fundamental differences of their styles, and
how little we really know of Giotto’s formative years, does it
make sense to assume that Cimabue was Giotto’s teacher? If
so, the apprentice would have thoroughly rejected the elder
master’s way of painting in the search for his own artistic
identity. As indicated, the extant visual evidence raises severe
doubts. For what this may be worth, Vasari is known to have
inserted legend in certain of his artists’ biographies. He did so
in his life of Buffalmacco, of whose work in his time virtually
nothing was known, referring to Sacchetti’s and Boccaccio’s
literary accounts of the master’s practical jokes.62 The con-
temporary Dante was certainly aware that Cimabue’s and
Giotto’s artistic personalities differed, implied in the assertion
that the fame of one eclipsed that of the other. According to
the present state of knowledge the connection of the young
Giotto to Cimabue, if not discarded, is best left open.

Appendix. A comment on Giotto’s symbolic use

of architecture in his Arena Chapel murals

According to the narrative sequence of Giotto’s mu-

rals of the Life of the Virgin and Christ in the Arena Chapel,
Fig. 27. Saint Ambrose, Mural Painting, the earliest scene is the Refusal of Joachim’s Sacrifice in the
Vault of the Four Doctors of the Church, Upper Church, Temple located on the upper right side of the nave (Figure 28).
San Francesco, Assisi Taken from the apocrypha of pseudo-Matthew, it initiates the
(Archivio Franco Cosimo Panini Editore, Modena) account of the Virgin’s miraculous birth, contributing to the ab-
solute purity of the future mother of the incarnate God. Giotto
devoted the uppermost nave tier to her early life up to the time
of her marriage to Joseph, which legitimized her forthcoming
miraculous maternity according to man’s terrestrial law.
The upper portion of the triumphal arch offers the
second scene marking a crucial moment in the mural cycle’s
narrative progress (Figure 29). According to its shared bor-
der it includes two successive events. The first fills the wall
space above the arch. There one observes the heavenly court
in session as God the Father, reconciling the contrary claims
of Truth and Justice, decides on Christ’s salutory earthly mis-
sion.63 Below appears the Annunciation, with Gabriel located

61
Vasari, op. cit. (n. 35 supra), I. Testo, 97.
62
In a letter dated August 5, 1564, Borghini wrote Vasari concerning the
life and work of Giotto as follows: “… perché e tanto piena e tanto copiosa,
basta, che certe cose sieno accennate, come le sono, che danno più gratia.
Nella vita di buffalmacco, perché era più povera di cose, non fù male ag-
giungervi quelle novelle più diffusamente; perio io non toccherei più de
quello che vi è hora” (K. Frey, Der literarische Nachlass Giorgio Vasaris
II, Munich 1930, cdlvi, 93).
63
Giotto’s mural of God seated among angels in Heaven deciding on Gabri-
Fig. 28. Giotto, The Refusal of Joachim’s Sacrifice el’s earthbound mission recalls the account of the dispute between Mercy
in the Temple, Mural Painting, Arena Chapel, Padua and Peace versus Truth and Justice, reverting to Psalm lxxxiv, 11f, and Saint
(Gabinetto Fotografico, Musei Civici Padova) Bernard, Serm. 1 in festo annuntiationis beatae Virginis, MPL clxxxiii, cols.

140
 Fig. 29. Giotto, Mural Painting on Triumphal Arch, Arena Chapel, Padua
(Foto Gabinetto Fotografico, Musei Civici, Padova)

at the viewer’s left side of the arch and the Virgin at the other. 387ff, in the near contemporary Meditations of the Life of Christ, a popular
The total scene introduces the narrative of Christ’s life, which Franciscan treatise dating from the later dugento [see I. Ragusa and R. B.
Green, Meditations of the Life of Christ. An illustrated Manuscript of the
occupies the lower nave walls, beginning with his birth repre- Fourteenth Century. Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms Ital. 115, Princeton,
sented in the adjacent mural on the right nave side. N. J., 1961, 5ff; also C. Fischer, Die “Meditationes vitae Christi”: ihre hand-
Interestingly, it is precisely in these two scenes that schriftliche Überlieferung und die Verfasserfrage, Archivum franciscanum
Giotto deliberately reverted to obsolete spatial practices at historicum XXV (1932), 3–35]. Regarding the difficult issue of who painted
the God the Father on wooden support, inserted on the triumphal arch in
the time long since discarded. He does so, however, with
the opening leading to the space between the shed roof and the vault of the
exceptional sophistication. If my reading is correct, he did so choir, replacing Giotto’s earlier mural of God the Father filling this space,
deliberately for symbolic reasons, using them as chronologi- and when and why the opening was made, see L. Jacobus, Giotto’s design of
cal indicators. the Arena Chapel, Padua, Apollo CXLII, no 406 (1995), 37–42.

141
 The decoration of the triumphal arch offers obvious ception of the rear pulpit, on a solid platform which recedes
conflicting perspective views. On the one hand, viewed by sharply into distance. It is seen from a vantage point roughly
the observer duly standing toward the middle of the nave, at level with the painted figures. This platform is set obliquely
the empty vaulted rooms located at the lower sides conform on a lateral brown band suggestive of the ground. Above the
to coherent perspective construction, since the orthogonals latter extends a flat blue ground. Awareness of spatial depth is
get closer in distance. However, their spatial treatment con- restricted here to the platform and the figures and structures it
tradicts that of the two flanking structures appearing above, supports. It is roughly rectangular in shape, projecting slightly
opened at the front, revealing Gabriel and the Annunciate at the rear sides. Its front corners are cut off at an angle, so
Virgin kneeling inside (Figure 33). At the sides of these that the closest part connects with the base line and the pic-
structures appear two projecting balconies supporting a ture plane, thus keeping the platform from projecting into the
flat roof. Seen from below, both balconies and roofs project viewer’s space. On this platform the figures and structures are
obliquely upward and forward into the interior of the cha- closely compacted. This eminent use of a platform for support-
pel, their oblique direction leading one’s eye toward God ing objects and figures is reminiscent of their traditional use in
the Father. According to real perspective they are viewed Byzantine painting, and especially Cimabue’s Evangelists in
respectively impossibly from beyond the nave walls. Ac- the upper crossing vault of the church of San Francesco at As-
cordingly, considered as a unit, their orthogonals separate sisi. These, it can be assumed, Giotto certainety knew.
as they extend into distance. Here the principle of reverse The presentation of key interior parts of a sanctuary
perspective applies! as a coherent unit, evident in the previous mural, is already
The mural of Joachim’s Sacrifice Refused also reveals found in the Life of Saint Francis cycle in the upper church
an obsolete convention, but of a different kind. Here Giotto of San Francesco at Assisi, as in the Miracle of the Crib at
locates all his figures and structures, with the plausible ex- Grecchio (Figure 25).

О хронологији Чимабуеових дела и пореклу дубине сликаног

простора у италијанском сликарству позног средњег века
Јозеф Полцер

У студији се истражује хронолошко место Чима- тију и уметност Ђунта Пизана (Giunta Pisano) (слика 9).
буеових Мадона у развоју сликарства централне Италије Упоређене са њима, касније фреске Житија светог Фрање
током друге половине дуећента и првих година трећента. показују дотад невиђени натурализам. Ово потоње дело
Назначени период пружа сведочанство о револуционар- претпоставља јасно одбацивање Чимабуеовог стила. То
ним променама у третману сликаног простора, који би, даље, требало да значи како су Чимабуеoве зидне сли-
се развија од плошности, око 1250. године, до знатне ке у Асизију настале знатно пре Житија светог Фрање.
артикулације просторне дубине, што досеже до средње Како то утиче на хронологију сваког од поменутих
дистанце у каснијим радовима. Тамо где нема друге вр- остварења? Њих дели период од приближно две децени-
сте података, као када је реч о Чимабуеовим сликарским је. Житије светог Фрање припада последњој деценији дуе-
делима (осим касног мозаика светог Јована Јеванђелисте ћента. Чимабуеове зидне слике морале су настати знатно
у катедрали у Пизи, слика 7), постепени развој у предста- раније. На основу иконографских и историјских података
вљању дубине сликаног простора може, стога, послужи- његове представе јеванђелиста у горњем крстастом сво-
ти као хронолошки показатељ. И особености у моделова- ду (слика 19) датоване су у време понтификата Николе
њу драперије у Чимабуеовим сликарским делима, које се III (1277–1280). Наративна структура Распећа у горњем
крећу од произвољне крутости набора одеће, изведених јужном трансепту (слика 10), које припада касном пери-
у оквирима средњовековне конвенције, до осећаја за гип- оду његове делатности у горњој цркви, још је потпуно
кост тканине, пружају могућност за датовање. средњовековна. И Чимабуеова зидна слика Мајка Божија
Аутор студије такође се усредсређује на Чимабуе- и Христос на небеском трону (слика 18) у горњем хору
ову зидну декорацију у хору и трансепту горње цркве Све- открива чврсте везе са Богородицом на престолу (Santa
тог Фрање у Асизију (слике 10, 18, 19, 26) и њен однос, Trinità Madonna) у Фиренци (слика 1). Оба дела сигурно
у погледу сликаног простора и префињености у припо- припадају периоду понтификата Николе III.
ведачком изражавању, са зидним сликама Живота светог Тачна улога Ђота у стварању циклуса Житија све-
Фрање насликаним дуж доње зоне зидова наоса (слике тог Фрање остаје неодређена као и до сада. Узимајући у
21, 23, 24, 25). Утврђено је да те две целине представљају обзир темељне стилске разлике, може се закључити да
потпуно различите развојне стадијуме. Чимабуеове позне нема потврде за Вазаријеву тврдњу да је млади Ђото изра-
зидне слике у Асизију остају још чврсто везане за Визан- стао из Чимабуеове радионице.

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