The painting titled "Giotto and Cimabue" by Jose Maria Obregon is one of the finest artworks produced by a 19th century Mexican painter due to several factors. It integrates a significant textual narrative into a mimetic composition which is procured with an extremely unique intuitive approach used by the artist, as he creates an innovative pastiche effect. The painting was produced by Obregon while he was pursuing training at the San Carlos academy in Mexico City. During this phase, Obregon under the mentorship of Pelegrin Clave was inspired by the European Purismo tradition; a movement closely linked to the Nazarenes and Italian artists who sought to revitalise art by actively copying the clear lines and serene compositions of early renaissance masters like Cimabue, Giotto etc. A fascinating historical paradox can be highlighted within the painting, as Obregon utilises the highly refined linear perspective, ideal proportions and the theatrical lighting of the high renaissance to illustrate a story about the late medieval or proto-renaissance period. This eclecticism is only possible because of Giotto's innovations that eventually made it possible to paint Giotto before he ever learned how to paint. The composition's stylistic anachronism combined with Obregon's novel treatment of the subject creates a feeling of temporal collapse, in this case the breakage in the timeline is directly leading to hyper-idealisation; a typical trait seen due to the pastiche effect which selects only the most iconic elements of a past style, leading to an even more classical visualisation of the resulting image. Belonging to the neoclassical era, Obregon demonstrates his masterly ability as he synthesizes scattered elements from the icon painting tradition and hagiographic narratives. This specific artistic approach can be termed as a secularised biblical typology due to the elevation of an anecdote into a holy portrayal. Giotto acts as a secular "Christ figure", while Cimabue mirrors a biblical patriarch or saint, turning Vasari's narrative into a hagiography which treats the "divine gift" of artistic creation as a sacred revelation. All of these factors make the artwork a highly relevant piece as many contemporary practitioners employ these methods and approaches in their art practice today.
It is interesting to see how the artist is influenced by the trends of his time to create a piece of art that is temporally multifaceted in way, combining different stylistic elements.
