Editing Cimabue (section)

== In Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' ==
In Canto XI of his ''[[Purgatorio]]'', [[Dante]] laments the quick loss of public interest in Cimabue in the face of Giotto's revolution in art.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Aligheri|first=Dante|title=Purgatorio|publisher=Anchor Books, Random House Inc.|year=2003|isbn=0-385-49700-8|location=New York|pages=245|translator-last=Hollander|translator-first=Jean|translator-last2=Hollander|translator-first2=Robert}}</ref> Cimabue himself does not appear in ''Purgatorio'', but is mentioned by Oderisi, who is also repenting for his pride. The artist serves to represent the fleeting nature of fame in contrast with the Enduring God.<ref name=":0" />

<blockquote><poem>
O vanity of human powers,
how briefly lasts the crowning green of glory,
unless an age of darkness follows!
In painting Cimabue thought he held the field
but now it's Giotto has the cry,
so that the other's fame is dimmed.
</poem><ref>{{Cite book|last=Aligheri|first=Dante|title=Purgatorio|publisher=Anchor Books, Random House|year=2003|isbn=0-385-49700-8|location=New York|pages=236–237|translator-last=Hollander|translator-first=Jean|translator-last2=Hollander|translator-first2=Robert}}</ref></blockquote>