Cennini, Cennino (d'Andrea)

(born c. 1370, near Florence—died c. 1440, Florence) Italian painter and writer active in Florence. A few surviving paintings are attributed to him, but he is best known as the author of Il libro dell'arte (1437; The Craftsman's Handbook), the most important sourcebook on artistic practice in the late Middle Ages. His detailed descriptions of tempera and fresco painting reflect the technical procedures of the great Florentine painting tradition. He believed that painting held a high place among occupations because it combined theory or imagination with the skill of the hand.

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