Cimabuie At The Louvre

After a day of unpacking, moving in, stocking up, and coping with a cold (Mark), we headed off to the nearest Metro station (Rennes) to charge up our Navigo cards and then took the Metro to the Louvre to re-up our memberships in the Amis du Louvre. That done, we walked over to the north end of the Denon wing to see the Cimabuie exhibit, which was in its last days. 

Students of this blog will recall our visiting the "Siena and the Rise of Painting, 1300-1350" exhibit at the Met last fall, mostly about Duccio, which I fittingly ridiculed here. As soon as I learned of the Cimabuie exhibit at the Louvre, I thought to myself, "Aha! Dueling museums! Have to see that!" Cimabuie, you see, was a generation older than Duccio and Giotto, and the younger guys both seem to have absorbed elements of Cimabuie's "new" style, emphasis on the natural, etc. Vasari even claimed that Duccio was Cimabuie's pupil, but that's disputed (despite some fun anecdotes, e.g., about Cimabuie trying to swat a fly the young Duccio had painted onto one of his figures). 

Comparisons are invidious, especially in art and among art museums, and the two exhibits had very different goals, apart from glorifying their own holdings. The Louvre won this one, I'd say, and will explain in passing, below. For a more expert appraisal of the Cimabuie exhibit, see Daniel Larkin's article in Hyperallergic, "Will the Real Cimabuie Please Stand Up?" (Thanks, Vicki). Wikipedia's article on Cimabuie is a really, seriously, extensive and very much up to date survey. If you're really, seriously, extensively into pre-Renaissance Italian painting and the 13th century, don't miss it.

Exhibits such as this generally consist of the star items plus a small galaxy of more or less contemporaneous items, so you can see things in context, where they came from, where they were going. Very helpful, but not for a blog such as this. I'll focus on the stars. 

A re-examination...

You have to like a museum that can laugh at itself: this is
the Louvre's first acquisition attributed to Cimabuie, in 1802;
among us rank amateurs, it might pass for a "follower" of
Botticelli, certainly nothing from the 13th or 14th centuries;
it is the first thing displayed, with grins, as you enter the
exhibit...
 

Click to enlarge; says it all better than I can

The occasion for the exhibit was the restoration of both
the Louvre's Cimabuies; among the things discovered, after
the 19th century over-painting and layers of varnish were
removed, was the vividness and complexity of Cimabuie's
palette, using only the finest materials...such as the above
lapis lazuli, a rare mineral found only in Afghanistan,
source of the richest deep blue pigment, the only thing fit
for the Madonna's mantle...

The Louvre's recently restored Cimabuie Maesta; very large,
almost life-sized; painted 1280, Pisa

One of the more interesting provenances we've seen; fittingly, the Maesta
sits in the Denon wing of the Louvre

Moving right along, we are now on to the Louvre's 
2nd Cimabuie piece, The Mocking of Christ, with its
own interesting provenance...found in a widow's kitchen
in Senlis, authenticated, sold at auction for 20 million 
euros, declared a national treasure (see below) and thus
installed at the Louvre

Thus; definitely a step beyond what you would normally
see in Byzantine pix in terms of detail, facial expressions, 
etc.; compare Giotto's much larger Arena Chapel frescoes

Displayed with the Frick's Flagellation; both painted on the same panel!

Comparison/context department: Giotto's much later 
St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, 1298; don't miss the
lower mini-pix, all of which got blown-up into huge frescoes
when Giotto did the upper nave of St. Francis' church in 
Assisi...some pix here...the point of the Stigmata displayed
in this exhibit is to demonstrate how quickly things moved
as Cimabuie, Duccio, and Giotto rubbed elbows together
all over Italy

Rare dorsal view of the aforementioned

Duccios on loan from New York, Siena, etc.

Lastly, a Madonna and Bambino, the Vierge Gualino, that was for centuries
identified as a Duccio, now recognized as a Cimabuie; from Turin

Restorations always win over round-ups, especially when the restorations
reveal new perspectives, permit new insights...advantage: Louvre...
and despite the hi-tech presentation on the restorations...Vicki disagrees