Cimabue
Lesson 2
Giovanni Cimabue, CHEEmah BOO eh, (~1240-~1302)
Most fairy tales begin with the phrase, “Once upon a time…,” and end with the phrase, “And they lived happily ever after.” What stories do you know that begin and end this way? These stories are full of knights, young maidens, and magnificent castle towers. Our story is about a real person who lived in just such a time.
Once upon a time, children began moving into towns with their families in hopes of finding a safer place to live. However, the feuds and battles that they had hoped to escape continued in cities too. So many battles took place in the city of Florence, Italy, that little was left of their buildings. Wealthy families began to build towers for protection. So many towers were built that the city was a maze of fortresses. The towers became very tall. Men feared that they would no longer be able to see the sky. Children’s fathers gathered in groups to discuss the
trouble. The men soon discovered that groups could agree upon actions to solve problems. They set limits for how tall a tower could be built. Other problems were soon solved in groups. Each group set up its own rules. These groups were called guilds. In guilds, they discussed how things were sold, how they should be made, and how to train young boys to take the jobs one day. With rules in place, young boys were given the opportunities to learn skills that could be used for their lifetime. As different guilds worked together, much of the fighting stopped. Cimabue was born during this time of building. When his father sent him to study writing, he “spent the whole day drawing men, horses, houses, and various other fantasies in his books and papers” (Vasari 7). At the same time, painters were called from Greece to work on the Gondi Chapel because no one in Florence knew how to paint. Cimabue skipped school to watch the masters at their work. He spent so much time there that it was decided he should study with them. He quickly improved on their techniques and later became a leader of the Craftsman’s Guild. Soon everyone in Florence was talking about him. Young boys hoped Cimabue could train them to draw and paint. Many boys got their wishes. So our story ends with that old line, “and they lived happily ever after.” The people of Florence did live more happily after the guild system was in place. It brought the peace that was needed so that people did not spend so much time protecting themselves. Instead, they could work on making beautiful things for their churches.
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