Cenni di Pepo, better known as Cimabue, was a late 13th century artist and one of the first to begin breaking away from the Italo-Byzantine style that dominated 13th century Italian painting. With an influence from Gothic sculpture, Cimabue was in pursuit of a new naturalism, as his works were depicted with more lifelike proportions and more natural, realistic shading compared to his predecessors. Cimabue's Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets is a great example of this "new naturalism."" In comparison, Fra Filippo Lippi, a 15th century Italian Renaissance painter, who often shadowed naturalism in his works as well, created his own version of Madonna: "Madonna and Child with Angels." Unlike Cimabue, Lippi rejected the elegance of Gothic tradition, and developed sort of his own style under the influence of prestigious Italian artist such as Masaccio and Ghiberti. Each of these artists' styles influenced their techniques, of course, and techniques are the basis of the overall quality of an artwork. After examining Cimabue's Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets and Lippi's Madonna and Child with Angels, I believe Fra Filippo Lippi's techniques were more effective, realistic, and created an overall better piece of artwork than Cimabue's.
To begin the 3-round-Madonna-Throwdown, let's take a look at the form of each work. In Cimabue's Madonna, the form of the work doesn't come off as natural or realistic at all to me. To start, Madonna is entirely too big compared to the rest of the figures, and she is not attractive to the eye. Her nose length is way out of proportion, and her fingers are extremely long and unrealistic. This is thought to be intentional as a way to emphasize the importance and prominence of Madonna compared to the other figures in the picture, but it doesn't follow the techniques that need to be evident in order to effectively pursue a natural looking piece.
