The New Student's Reference Work/Cimabue, Giovanni

Cimabue (chē′mȧ-bo͞o′ắ), Giovanni, an Italian painter, was born at Florence in 1240. The art of painting had in his day fallen into decay, and Cimabue's attempt to follow nature, painting from a living model, was called “a new thing in these times.” His two madonnas are still preserved in Florence, but he is best known as the teacher of Giotto and as the founder of the Florentine school of painters which included Michael Angelo and Raphael. He died about 1302.