Cimabue and the Franciscans

Abstract

Cimabue and the Franciscans sheds new light on the legendary artist Cimabue, revealing his sophisticated engagement with complicated intellectual and theological ideas about materials, memory, beauty, and experience. This book offers a fresh look at the broader question of artistic change in the late thirteenth century by examining the intersection of two histories: that of the artist Cimabue (ca. 1240-1302), and that of the Franciscan Order. While focused on the work of a single artist, this study sheds new light on the religious motives and artistic means that fueled the period's visual and spiritual transformations. Flora's study reveals that Cimabue was not just a crucial figure in processes of stylistic change. He and his Franciscan patrons engaged with complicated intellectual and theological ideas about materials, memory, beauty, and experience, creating innovative works of art that celebrated the Order and enabled new modes of Christian devotion. Cimabue's contributions to the history of art thus can finally be recognized for their wide-ranging scope and impact within the rapidly-evolving religious culture of the late thirteenth century.

Contents

Introduction: intersecting histories -- New light on Cimabue's white -- Sensory engagement and contemplative transformation: the Assisi transepts -- The virgin made church: the Marian Apse and evangelists' vault at Assisi -- Place and memory: the Franciscan Maestà -- Word and paint made flesh: Cimabue's Santa Croce crucifix -- Pictures, words, and the imagination in Cimabue's Vita Christi -- Epilogue: last transformations in Pisa.