Cennino Cennini was an artist working on the Italian peninsula in the later fourteenth and early fifteenth century. A small number of paintings have been attributed to him, but he is mostly remembered for having produced the book known as the
Libro dell’arte[
The Book of the Art, c. 1400], in which he describes in detail the materials and techniques of his trade.
Although Cennino himself gives us some insight into his life in his book, and he is mentioned by Vasari in the second edition of his Lives (1568), the only objective evidence that we have about Cennino comes from a handful of notarial documents. From these we learn that his father was called Andrea Cennini and that he lived and worked in Colle di Val d’Elsa, a hill town under Florentine political control but geographically
2571 words
Citation: Broecke, Lara. "Cennino Cennini". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 February 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13866, accessed 13 December 2024.]