CENNINI, Cennino. – Painter and writer, born in Colle Val d’Elsa, died perhaps in Padua after 1398. In Padua, Cennino worked for the Carraresi, as attested by documents from 1398, and married a woman from Cittadella.
His name is linked to the *Libro dell’arte*, composed in Florence around 1390; the oldest surviving copy dates to 1437. Cennino claims artistic descent from Giotto, having been a pupil of Agnolo Gaddi, son of Taddeo, who was a disciple of Giotto. The *Libro dell’arte* is a technical manual but aims to teach the aspiring painter, setting forth concepts—even theoretical ones—related to painting. This is an art called *di-pingere*, which requires having imagination... to discover things unseen (by venturing beneath the shadow of nature)... demonstrating what does not exist. The artist must therefore create from imagination, yet ensure that the imagination appears as reality. The book addresses in various short chapters the techniques of drawing, colors, fresco, oil painting, and dry painting; it teaches how to grind and prepare colors, how to apply gold leaf to panels, and touches on the doctrine of proportions. Other passages reflect the late Florentine Gothic taste in style, if not in craftsmanship, particularly regarding line, relief, color, and the portrayal of faces, buildings, and landscapes. The novice is advised, among other things, to follow a master if he wishes to develop a personal style; he is warned against the dangers of eclecticism and urged to draw inspiration from nature. Finally, practical advice is given for decorative works, such as cassoni, textiles, and metal objects, among others.
The *Libro dell’arte* stands apart from medieval writings of its kind not only because it is the first in the vernacular but also because it reveals a new consciousness of art: in it, its author understands that Giotto “transformed the art of painting from Greek into Latin and reduced it to the modern.” Moreover, Cennino inaugurates, in matters of art, a terminology that would be used in the centuries to come: to him we owe expressions such as *disegno*, *rilievo*, *sfumare*, *ignudo*, *maniera*, etc., which already bear their modern meanings.