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 …

2571 words

Citation: Broecke, Lara. "Cennino Cennini". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 February 2017 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13866, accessed 28 March 2024.]

13866 Cennino Cennini 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.