which to hang an artistic career that German scholars
in the early twentieth century thought Cimabue to have
been a legendary fi gure. A number of works survive,
however, which correlate stylistically with the fi gure
of Saint John; and most recent scholars agree that these
constitute a core body of works defi nitely attributable
to Cimabue.
Cimabue’s greatest surviving cycle of works is the
series of frescoes (at one point badly disfi gured by
chemical corrosion over much of the surface) in the
transept and presbytery of the upper basilica of San
Francesco of Assisi. These frescoes were most likely
executed, with considerable participation by workshop
assistants, during the papacy of either of two Francis-
cans: Nicholas III Orsini (1277–1280) or Nicholas IV
Masci (1288–1292).
Despite their variety of narratives and decorative
elements, Cimabue took great pains to give the fres-
coes in San Francesco overall unity as a program. This
work—one of the fi rst and most ambitious of such
efforts—successfully conveys the impression that the
east end of the church is, in terms of its decoration, a
single cohesive entity.
Other works often attributed to Cimabue and his
workshop include some of the mosaics in the Bap-
tistery in Florence, a fresco of the Maestà and Saint
Francis in the lower basilica of San Francesco at As-
sisi, a Maestà from San Francesco in Pisa (now at the
Louvre in Paris), and a Maestà from Santa Maria dei
Servi in Bologna.
See also Dante Alighieri; Francis of Assisi, Saint;
Nicholas III, Pope
Further Reading
Battisti, Eugenio. Cimabue, trans. R. Enggass and C. Enggass.
University Park: Pennsylvania Stare University Press, 1966.
Bellosi, Luciano. La pecora di Giotto. Turin: Einaudi, 1985.
Chiellini, Monica. Cimabue, trans. Lisa Pelletti. Florence: Scala,
- Nicholson, Alfred. Cimabue: A Critical Study. Princeton,
N.J: Princeton University Press, 1932.
Sindona, Enio. L’opera completa di Cimabue e il momenta fi gu-
rativo pregiottesco. Milan: Rizzoli, 1975.
White, John, and B. Zanardi. “Cimabue and the Decorative
Sequence in the Upper Church of San Francesco, Assisi.” In
Roma Anno 1300: Atti del Convegno (1980). Rome: L’Erma
di Bretschneider, 1983.
Gustav Medicus
CINO DA PISTOIA
(c. 1270-c. 1336 or 1337)
The jurist and poet Cino, or Guittoncino, da Pistoia
(Cino dei Sighibuldi) was born in the properous city
of Pistoia, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of
Florence. His father, Francesco dei Sighibuldi (Sinib-
uldi, Sigisbuldi), was a notary who belonged to one of
the older and powerful families of Pistoia, adherents of
the Black faction. Cino’s mother, Diamante, was the
daughter of the well-known physician Bona-ventura
di Tonello. We know very little about Cino’s early life
except that for fi ve years he was the pupil of Francesco
da Colle, who provided excellent instruction in gram-
mar and the classics. Cino may have begun his legal
studies in Pistoia in 1279–1284, under Dino dei Rossoni
of Mugello; he then went to Bologna to continue his
studies and remained there, in all probability, from 1284
to 1292, because the normal course for a law degree
required eight years. The period in Bologna was critical
for Cino’s development both as a jurist and as a poet. He
benefi ted from the lectures of Francesco d’Accursio and
Lambertino Ramponi. In Bologna, Cino felt the linger-
ing poetic infl uence of Guido Guinizzelli and Guittone
d’Arezzo, as well as that of Onesto degli Onesti, with
whom he exchanged several sonnets. Perhaps during
these years in Bologna Cino met Dante, who visited
there in 1287. The fi rst textual evidence we have of
their friendship is Cino’s canzone Avegna che io aggia
più per tempo, written to console Dante on the death of
Beatrice (1290).
In 1292–1294, Cino may have traveled to France
(in particular, to Orléans and Paris), for in his major
juridical work, Lectura in codicem, he makes specifi c
references to the legal writings of Frenchmen such as
Pierre de Belleperche and Jacob da Revigni. Cino and
Dante united in their fervent support of Henry VII of
Luxumbourg. The solemn canzone Da poi che la natura
ha fi ne posto, written to commemorate the death of
Henry, conveys Cino’s sense of loss and desolation. Cino
also wrote the moving canzone Su per la costa, Amor, de
l’alto monte to commemorate the death of Dante.
While Henry’s death marked the end of Cino’s ac-
tive involvement in partisan politics, it did not dimin-
ish his fi rm adherence to Ghibelline ideals, and this
may be clearly seen in his legal writings. On 11 June
1314, probably in Pistoia, Cino completed Lectura in
codicem, his great commentary on the fi rst nine books
of the Justinian code of laws. He had been working on
this commentary desultorily since the last decade of
the thirteenth century and had fi nally succeeded in as-
sembling it in fi nal form in two years. On 9 December
1314, he successfully completed a public examination
(the conventus) and was awarded, in Bologna, a doctoral
degree in legal studies. In the diploma, Cino is called
sapientissimus et eloquentissimus vir (“a very wise and
eloquent man”).
As a lawyer and teacher, Cino was active in Florence,
Macerata, Siena, Bologna, and Perugia. In 1324 in Bo-
logna, Cino probably met Petrarch, who was a student
in the studium. Cino, having earned a great reputation
through his legal writings and lectures, was much soughtCINO DA PISTOIA