Cimabue and the Franciscans

By (author) Holly Flora

Book cover: Cimabue and the Franciscans

Extent: 291 pages

Publisher: Harvey Miller

Subjects: Art & Art History, Early Modern & Renaissance Studies

Series: Renovatio Artium

Series volume number: 4

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(February 2019)

ISBN: 9781912554010

8.62 x 10.98 inches

Price: $195.00

On back order

Awarded with the 2020 “Premio San Francesco” by the Pontificia Universita Antonianum in Rome Cimabue and the Franciscans sheds new light on the legendary artist Cimabue, revealing his sophisticated engagement with complicated intellectual and theological ideas about materials, memory, beauty, and experience.


This book offers a fresh look at the broader question of artistic change in the late thirteenth century by examining the intersection of two histories: that of the artist Cimabue (ca. 1240-1302), and that of the Franciscan Order. While focused on the work of a single artist, this study sheds new light on the religious motives and artistic means that fueled the period’s visual and spiritual transformations. Flora’s study reveals that Cimabue was not just a crucial figure in processes of stylistic change. He and his Franciscan patrons engaged with complicated intellectual and theological ideas about materials, memory, beauty, and experience, creating innovative works of art that celebrated the Order and enabled new modes of Christian devotion. Cimabue’s contributions to the history of art thus can finally be recognized for their wide-ranging scope and impact within the rapidly-evolving religious culture of the late thirteenth century.

  • By (author) Holly Flora