SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Freuler, you examined the panel painting with the "taunting of Jesus" on the original. How did you realize that they are dealing with a real Cimabue?
Gaudenz Freuler: When I first saw the "Mocking of the Jesus" in June 2019, it was immediately clear to me that it formed a unity with the two pictures of Cimabue in London and New York. The format and the engraved border ornaments are identical to the two sister pieces.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Cimabue is one of the most famous Italian painters of the pre-Renaissance. Did not people in France know about the uniqueness of this painting?
Freuler: In this specific case, the family really did not know that she had such a valuable painting. It hung in their kitchen for decades and had been considered a relatively worthless Byzantine panel painting, of which there are still thousands. It was discovered because the family auctioned off their collection.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why are art historians so excited about it?
Freuler: The fact that the work has been preserved for more than 700 years and is now made accessible to the art market is sensational. But also from an art historical point of view, the find is a dream. We now have a very well preserved, narrative painting by Cimabue with many characters interacting. The other significant narrative work of his are the frescoes in the Basilica of Assisi, which, however, are poorly preserved. Now it is possible to check exactly how skillfully Cimabue realized this novel dramaturgy.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What was new about the lively scenes?
Freuler: Cimabue can now really be described as the founder of modern painting. He attributed the Byzantine, iconic painting to a new visual world, that of the West. This had the goal to make painted narratives on the emotional level comprehensible, through naturalistic images. On the French plaque, a Gospel story is described with an eerily expressive forcefulness, which was later perfected even further from Giotto to the Renaissance.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What makes the painting so insistent that it stands out from the painting of the time?
Freuler: Above all, the dynamics and physicality of the characters - something like this has not been painted before. Even the faces have left the old iconics behind, you can individually understand the feelings of the figures carved around Christ. I date the work to the period between 1280 and 1285. At this time, Giotto was at the beginning of his career and worked in the following years in Cimabue's immediate vicinity, to implement its specifications revolutionary and create a new image reality.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The picture is for sale at the end of October through an auction. Will it disappear in private rooms?
Freuler: There is a good chance that it will not happen. France has various possibilities that make it difficult or impossible to export important art treasures. If an institution like the Louvre, which is likely to be interested in the outstanding work, does not play a part in the auction, it has three years to buy the picture from the new owner. He then dictates the price. Therefore, you can be very curious what will happen to the board.
