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| Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna Originally an altarpiece for Santa Trinita, now in the Uffizi. Photograph by Flychild courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons, (Photographs are not allowed in the Uffizi) |
Cimabue is often touted as the founder
of Italian painting by many, including Vasari. This appointment is not
fair-fetched considering his great influence and the ways in which he turned
away from the Italo-Byzantine style popular in the Medieval period, creating
instead the basis of the Proto-Renaissance style.
Take, for example, his Santa Trinita Madonna. Sometimes
referred to as his Maesta, this
tempera on wood panel altarpiece features the Madonna in majesty, surrounded by
angels with Christ on her lap. She is elevated to a position of power as she is
by far the largest figure in the work. Her position of power does not make her
someone to be feared, however, her more realistic features distinguish her as
human, as someone the viewer can relate to. Her hand gesture underscores her approachability
as it connotes her willingness to intercede with her son, Christ as Judge, on
the viewer’s behalf. She also appears to be able to cross from the heavenly
world in which she is depicted into the human world as her left foot is on the
bottom step of her throne. This suggests that she could come down to this world
to greet the viewer and give them aid in a time of need.
This is very different from the
Italo-Byzantine style that strives to separate the viewer from the figures in
this kinds of works. Artists wanted to depict the figures to be unreachable,
not of this earth, something beyond the viewer’s understanding and therefore
something to fear and respect. Cimabue on the other hand, is making a
connection between God and man, in this case through the Virgin Mary.
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