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 now housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy. It represents the Madonna enthroned with the Baby Jesus and surrounded by eight angels and, below, four half portraits of prophets.
History
The commissioning client of the painting is unknown, but they could have been a member of the order of Vallombrosians, who governed the Santa Trinita at the time, or a member of another religious order that intended the painting for another destination.
According to Vasari's testimony in his Lives, the work remained at the Santa Trinita until 1471, when it was replaced by the Trinitá of Alesso Baldovinetti and transferred to a side chapel of the church, since it was less respected than the newer Renaissance paintings. Over the years, it was eventually relegated to the infirmary of the monastery. With the reconsideration of "primitive" Italian art, the painting passed to the Florentine Galleria dell'Accademia in 1810 and then on to the Uffizi in 1919.
At an unknown date, the painting was cut into a rectangular shape by removing the uppermost part of the painting's apex and the addition of two parts on which angels were painted. The panel was returned to its original pointed form during its first restoration in 1890 by Oreste Cambi. Cambi removed the two additions and creating an appropriately styled point for the painting, which is still present. A second restoration was completed by Marcucci in 1947–1948 and a third by Alfio Del Serra in 1993.
Vasari, and the attributed this painting to Cimabue, and the attribution has been confirmed by most modern scholars, with the exception of Guglielmo della Valle in the 18th century and Langton Douglas in the 19th. Critics are more divided, however, over the work's dating. It's uncertain whether the painting was executed before or after the frescoes at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. Contemporary critics have tended to date the work to after the frescoes, between 1290–1300.
Description
The painting displays Byzantine iconography much like the Hodegetria archetype (in Greek, the name means "pointing the way"), because the Virgin is indicating toward the Baby Jesus. In this style, the Madonna symbolizes the Christian church and Jesus life, truth, and the proper way. The Madonna is depicted in three-quarters profile, while Jesus looks straight ahead.
The throne is depicted from an innovative frontal view, with a large gap at the center and seen in perspective, which gives it a sense of three dimensions unusual for the time. (The preceding Maestás of Cimabue depicted more angular thrones.) The throne assumes a new sense of might, as an architectural mass embellished with carvings and marquetry. This central perspective, used by the mature Cimabue, was taken up again by Giotto, Duccio, and other artists of the 14th century.
In a striking composition, the throne creates a stage with the wide opening in its base through which four prophets are depicted in half bust view. They are recognizable by their cartouchesm which contain verses from the Old Testament that refer to Marie and the Incarnation of Jesus. The verses certify their prophecies and evoke the descent of Jesus from their lineage. The first, with the text "Creavit Dominus Novum super terram foemina circundavit viro" is Jeremiah, followed by Abraham toward the center ("In semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes") and David ("De fructu ventris tuo ponam super sedem tuam"), and finally Isaiah at right ("Ecce virgo concipet et pariet"). The gold behind the prophets, instead of flattening the painting, seems to accentuate the feeling of emptiness, which makes the prophets seem to stare out of windows or caves rather than that they are pressed against a wall.
Composed and solemn, Abraham and David in the center below the throne recall that Jesus descended from their lineage. The Christian meaning of the work, well-fitted to a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is thus focused on the threefold nature of the Virgin who is surrounded by the Holy Spirit. Below, at the sides of the throne, Jeremiah and Isaiah gaze up towards the child as if to confirm the prophecies written in their documents on the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus. With their gaze, they create a triangle whose vertex is the throne of Marie.