Guided tours of the exhibition "Revisiting Cimabue: The Origins of Italian Painting"

Do these neutral, stereotypical faces of religious figures against a gold background, all painted on wooden panels, seem unfamiliar? Yet, they are the work of the Italian artist Cimabue (c. 1240–1302), a pioneering artist of the Renaissance "primitives," in other words, one of the pioneers of Italian Renaissance art.

Building on the museum's current focus on the painter—namely, the restoration of the Maestà (Virgin and Child), usually displayed in the Salon Carré, and the acquisition of a previously unknown panel, rediscovered in 2019 and designated a National Treasure, The Mocking of Christ, also slated for restoration in 2024—the Louvre offers an in-depth look into the artist's work. By bringing together some forty works, the Louvre invites us to rediscover Cimabue's contribution to Western art. He was one of the first painters in Europe to suggest three-dimensional space and to bring a form of naturalism to his religious subjects (play of shadows, relief of figures, natural gestures).

This unprecedented exhibition, which concludes with a dialogue with Giotto, the other great precursor of the Renaissance, is essential for understanding the transition between medieval conventions and Renaissance art. I invite you to join me in exploring the exhibition's key paintings through a selection of works.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like a guided tour or simply more information about this exhibition.