Where can you see Cimabue in Florence?

At the Uffizi Gallery: The Santa Trinita Madonna. At the Basilica of Santa Croce: Crucifix. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Cimabue's most famous work in Florence?

The Santa Trinita Madonna, of about 1280 to 1290, at the Uffizi Gallery. The Virgin on a towering throne held up by eight angels, with four prophets looking out from arches beneath. Nearly four metres high.

When and where was Cimabue born?

About 1240, at Florence, Italy. Cimabue died in 1302, at Pisa, Italy, aged about 62.

What is Cimabue known for?

Vasari begins his Lives of the Artists with him. His Crucifix in Santa Croce lost much of its paint in the flood of 1966. His Madonna hangs in the Uffizi beside Giotto's and Duccio's. Cimabue was an Italian painter, of Italo-Byzantine.

Painter, 1240 to 1302

Cimabue

Dante wrote that Cimabue thought he held the field in painting until Giotto took the cry. He is the last of the old manner and the first of the new, and you can see both in the first room of the Uffizi.

Born: 1240, Florence, Italy
Died: 1302, Pisa, Italy
Movement: Italo-Byzantine
In Florence: 2 works in 2 museums

Where to see Cimabue in Florence

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Uffizi Gallery1 work

The Santa Trinita Madonna
about 1280 to 1290
The Virgin on a towering throne held up by eight angels, with four prophets looking out from arches beneath. Nearly four metres high.

Basilica of Santa Croce1 work

Crucifix
about 1265 to 1288
A painted cross more than four metres high. The Arno covered it in November 1966 and washed away most of the body. What could be saved hangs in the sacristy.

The life of Cimabue

Cenni di Pepo, known as Cimabue, was born in Florence about 1240. He worked in the Byzantine style he had been taught, with gold grounds and patterned drapery, but gave his figures more roundness and feeling than anyone before him.

Vasari tells that he found the boy Giotto drawing a sheep on a rock and took him as a pupil. Whether or not it is true, the story is how Florence has always explained the start of its painting. He died in Pisa in 1302.

What to know

Vasari begins his Lives of the Artists with him
His Crucifix in Santa Croce lost much of its paint in the flood of 1966
His Madonna hangs in the Uffizi beside Giotto's and Duccio's

Born: About 1240, Florence, Italy
Died: 1302, Pisa, Italy

Cimabue: common questions

Where can you see Cimabue in Florence?: At the Uffizi Gallery: The Santa Trinita Madonna. At the Basilica of Santa Croce: Crucifix. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Cimabue's most famous work in Florence?: The Santa Trinita Madonna, of about 1280 to 1290, at the Uffizi Gallery. The Virgin on a towering throne held up by eight angels, with four prophets looking out from arches beneath. Nearly four metres high.
When and where was Cimabue born?: About 1240, at Florence, Italy. Cimabue died in 1302, at Pisa, Italy, aged about 62.
What is Cimabue known for?: Vasari begins his Lives of the Artists with him. His Crucifix in Santa Croce lost much of its paint in the flood of 1966. His Madonna hangs in the Uffizi beside Giotto's and Duccio's. Cimabue was an Italian painter, of Italo-Byzantine.