00:00At that time, the city's rulers had summoned Greek painters to Florence to revive the nearly forgotten art of painting.
00:13Among their projects was the Gandhi Chapel in Santa Maria Novella.
00:20Today, time has badly worn its vaults and walls.
00:26Simabue often skipped school to watch these masters at work.
00:33His father and the painters soon recognized his exceptional talent, and with his father's approval, apprenticed him to these painters.
00:46Simabue applied himself relentlessly.
00:50With nature as his guide, he quickly surpassed his teachers in both drawing and coloring.
01:00The Greeks worked in the crude style common to their era.
01:05Not the refined ancient Greek manner, but the rough technique of their own time.
01:14When Simabue learned from them, he greatly improved upon their approach, shedding much of its roughness.
01:23In doing so, he brought honor to his country through his name and his works.
01:31Examples of his paintings can still be seen in Florence.
01:36The front of the altar in Santa Cecilia, a large Madonna panel in Santa Croce,
01:44placed against a pilaster on the right side of the choir,
01:49and a small panel of Saint Francis on a gold background.
01:56For this last work, he portrayed the Saint from Life, a novelty at the time,
02:03surrounding the figure with twenty small scenes from his life, also on gold.
02:09Outro Music
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