- Cennino Cennini
Cennino d 'Andrea Cennini (c. 1370 – c. 1440) was an Italian painter influenced by Giotto. He was a student of
Agnolo Gaddi .Cennini was born in
Colle Val d'Elsa ,Tuscany .He is remembered mainly for having authored "Il libro dell'arte", often translated as "The Craftsman's Handbook". Written in the early 15th century, the book is a "how to" on Renaissance art. It contains information on
pigment s,brush es,panel painting , the art offresco , and techniques and tricks, including detailed instructions forunderdrawing ,underpainting andoverpainting in eggtempera . Cennini also provides an early, if somewhat crude, discussion of painting in oils. His discussion of oil painting was important for dispelling the myth, propagated byGiorgio Vasari andKarel Van Mander , thatoil painting was invented byJan van Eyck (although Theophilus (Roger of Helmerhausen) clearly gives instructions for oil-based painting in his treatise, On Divers Arts, written in 1125).The dates of Cennini's life are highly speculative. It is often falsely assumed that he was alive in 1437 because that date appears on one of the copies of his manuscript. This is discussed by
Daniel V. Thompson in the preface to his authoritative translation of "Il libro dell'arte". Thompson himself does not speculate on Cennini's years of life, a sure indication of the lack of evidence on this point. Thus, dating Cennini's book to the "early 15th century" as above is only a guess. The techniques Cennini describes are grounded in the late 13th and mid 14th centuries. There is no evidence in his writing of the exciting developments in oil painting taking place in the early 15th century. This suggests that his book was indeed written sometime in the 14th century.Editions and translations
*Thompson, D. V., Jr. (1932–3) "Cennino d’Andrea Cennini da Colle di Val d’Elsa. Il Libro dell’Arte", 2 vols. New Haven: Yale University Press. [Edition and English translation]
*Thompson, D. V., Jr. (1933) "The Craftsman’s Handbook ‘Il Libro dell’ Arte’ by Cennino d’A. Cennini", New Haven: Yale University Press. [Reprint of the English translation volume only of the above: Dover Publications, New York, 1960] .ources and external links
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9022051 Encyclopaedia Britannica]
* [http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Cennini/ The text of "Il libro dell'arte"]
* [http://www.zipser.nl/2006/04/art-and-imagination-cennino-says.html Cennini on art and imagination]
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