Cimabue, one of the finest and most admired artists from Tuscany and Central Italy had a definite approach to portraying art with naturalism, seeking to describe the world, objects, and bodies in the way they truly exist. Having known as an inventor whose somber crucifixion scenes are well complemented by the shining mosaic in the Florence Baptistery, Cimabue was the beginning of the Renaissance. Remembering these achievements that he achieved in the 13th century, the Musée du Louvre is dedicating an exhibition on Cimabue for the first time from January 22, 2025, to May 12, 2025.
The exhibition marks the importance of two ‘Cimabue-centric’ events: the restoration of the Maestà and the honorable acquisition of the heretofore unseen Cimabue panel Christ Mocked, which was rediscovered in France in 2019. The two paintings are the primary reason for this event as they provide a starting point for the exhibition, further bringing together some forty works of the artist that aim to portray the invention behind Cimabue’s art. Interestingly, both these paintings underwent restorations that ended in 2024, making them now fit for display. The paintings of Cimadue hold immense importance as most of his artworks were destroyed by the earthquakes in Central Italy in 1997 and the Florentine floods of 1966. Hence, the restoration and the art display is an achievement that must be celebrated.
The paintings of Cimabue have the conventions of representation inherited from Eastern art, which were highly valued at this period, further giving an inventive art of painting to evoke a three-dimensional space, bodies in volume shaped by subtle shading, articulated limbs, natural postures, and human emotions.
The exhibition will start with an introductory section that is dedicated to the context of painting in Tuscany and then focuses on a good deal of visits to the Louvre’s Maestà. Several innovations appear in this painting that led art historians to consider it ‘the founding act of Western painting.’ Moreover, the restoration is also visible, acting as a resource of the differences that the painting carries now.
Next, the relationship between Cimabue and Duccio will also be addressed. The fact that Duccio is not only more enchanting as a painter but is also widely known than Cimabue for several reasons: there are more surviving works of Duccio, they are in good state of preservation and there are considerable documentary references, is not uncommon. Since Cimabue’s documentary references are less than him; he was only present in Rome in 1272 and later he had reference to his Pisan activity in 1301-2, the discussion of Cimabue is far more challenging than a discussion of Duccio. This is one of the fascinating aspects of the exhibition that is relevant to the people learning about Renaissance and invention in art.
Lastly, the event will conclude with the presentation of Giotto’s great Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, intended for the same architectural placement as the Louvre’s Maestà: the tramezzo, or rood screen (the partition separating the nave from the choir) of the church of San Francesco in Pisa, painted a few years later by Cimabue’s talented young disciple. The aspects of Duccio and Giotto’s art that were influenced by the great Cimabue will embody several possibilities in the art of painting.
Featured Image: Cimabue – Maestà du Louvre; Cimabué, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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