CENNINI, CENNINO. - Painter and writer, b. at Colle Val d'Elsa, d. perhaps at Padua after 1398. At Padua, C. worked for the Carraresi, as the documents of 1398 attest, and he married a woman from Cittadella.
His name is linked to the Libro dell'arte, written in Florence around 1390; the oldest copy is from 1437. C. claims his artistic descent from Giotto, having had as his master Agnolo Gaddi, son of Taddeo, a pupil of Giotto. The Libro dell'arte is a recipe book but tends to teach how to become a painter and sets out concepts, even theoretical ones, relating to painting. "This is an art that is called painting, which must have imagination... to find things not seen (hunting them under the shadow of natural things)... giving to show that which is not, as it were." The artist therefore must create from imagination, but must make the imagination appear as reality. The Libro deals in various short chapters with the technique of drawing, of colors, of fresco, of oil painting, of dry painting; it teaches how to grind colors, to prepare them, to lay gold on the panel; it touches on the doctrine of proportions. Other passages echo the late-Gothic Florentine taste in relation to style, not to craft: with regard to line, for example, and to relief, to color, to the manner of portraying faces, buildings, landscapes. Among other things, the beginner is advised to follow a master, if he wishes to obtain a personal style; he is warned against the dangers of eclecticism; he is urged to draw inspiration from nature. Finally, suggestions are given for works of decorative purpose, such as chests, fabrics, metal objects, etc.
The Libro dell'arte is distinguished from medieval writings of the genre, not only for being the first in the vernacular, but also because it reveals a new awareness of art: through it its author understands that Giotto "changed the art of painting from Greek into Latin and reduced it to the modern." C. moreover inaugurates, with regard to art, a terminology that would be that used in the following centuries: to him are owed expressions such as "disegno, rilievo, sfumare, ignudo, maniera," etc., which already have their present-day meaning.
Bibliography3 works
Mary Pittaluga