The ''Maestà'' is a painting by the Italian artist

Cimabue Giovanni Cimabue ( , ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian p ...

, executed around 1280 and now in the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

in Paris.

History

It was acquired by the Louvre in 1813 as part of

Napoleonic looting Napoleonic looting of art () was a series of confiscations of artworks and precious objects carried out by the French Army or French officials in the conquered territories of the French First Republic, French Republic and First French Empire, Emp ...

of artworks in Italy, together with

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

's '' Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata'', also from the church of San Francesco in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

Description

The work is considered to be from around 1280, thus preceding the ''

Santa Trinita Maestà The ''Santa Trinita Maestà'' (Italian: ''Maestà di Santa Trinita'') is a panel painting by the Italian medieval artist Cimabue, dating to -1292. Originally painted for the church of Santa Trinita, Florence, where it remained until 1471, it is ...

''. It is also stylistically earlier to that work, being painted without pseudo-perspective, and having the angels around the Virgin simply placed one above the other, rather than being spatially arranged. The throne is similar to the ''Maestà'' painted by Cimabue in the Basilica of San Francesco di Assisi (1288–1292). This work established a new canon for the Madonna with Child, which was subsequently used by other painters, such as

Duccio di Buoninsegna Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religi ...

in his '' Rucellai Maestà''.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maesta (Cimabue) 1280s paintings Paintings by Cimabue Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists Paintings of the Madonna and Child Angels in art