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Cennino Cennini was born about 1360 in Colle Di Val D'elsa, Toscana, Italy. The dates of Cennini's life are highly speculative. His father, Andrea Cennini, was probably a painter. Cennino had also a brother, Matteo Cennini, who served as a trumpeter at the court of Francesco Novello da Carrara in Padua.
Cennino Cennini was a student of Agnolo Gaddi in Florence.
After training as an artist with Agnolo Gaddi, Cennini worked at the court of Francesco Novello da Carrara in Padua for some years before apparently returning to Colle di Val d'Elsa.
In his book "Il libro dell’arte", probably written in the late 1390s, Cennini gave the first known explanation of the technique of painting with egg tempera.
Cennino Cennini died before 1427. The dates of his life are highly speculative. It is often falsely assumed that he was alive in 1437 because that date appears on the earliest of the four extant copies of his manuscript. However, an administrative document from Colle di Val d'Elsa dated 1427 probably refers to his son; if this is the case then the document makes it clear that Cennini was dead by this time.
Painting, according to Cennini, holds a high place among human occupations because it combines theory or imagination with the skill of the hand.
Quotations: "Your life should be arranged just as if you were studying theology, or philosophy, or other theories, that is to say, eating and drinking moderately, at least twice a day, electing digestible and wholesome dishes, and light wines; saving and sparing your hand, preserving it from such strains as heaving stones, crowbars, and many other things which are bad for your hand, from giving them a chance to weary it. There is another cause which, if you indulge it, can make your hand so unsteady that it will waver more, and flutter far more, than leaves do in the wind, and this is indulging too much in the company of women."
Cennino Cennini married Ricca di Cittadella on August 19, 1398.
Francesco Novello da Carrara was Lord of Padua.
