Cennino Cennini

After training as an artist with Agnolo Gaddi in Florence he worked at the court of Francesco Novello da Carrara in Padua for some years before apparently returning to Colle di Val d'Elsa.

Your life should be arranged just as if you were studying theology, or philosophy, or other disciplines, 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.

According to Victoria Finlay, in her book Colour: Travels Through The Paintbox, the infamous UK forger, Eric Hebborn was greatly influenced by Cennino Cennini.

Finlay writes that he "used and adapted Cennino's advice extensively - preparing panels, tinting papers different colours, and making brand new works look as if they had been varnished some time before (by beating egg-white, left overnight and then applying it with a brush), just as the master advised."

This includes frescoes in the church of San Lucchese in Poggibonsi and a panel painting depicting the birth of the Virgin in the Museo Comunale in Colle di Val d'Elsa.