LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS AND ARCHITECTS BY GIORGIO VASARI VOLUME I. CIMABUE TO AGNOLO GADDI 1912

LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS

BY GIORGIO VASARI:

NEWLY TRANSLATED BY GASTON Du C. DE VERE. WITH FIVE HUNDREDILLUSTRATIONS: IN TEN VOLUMES

[Illustration: 1511-1574]

LONDON: MACMILLAN AND CO. LD. & THE MEDICI SOCIETY, LD. 1912-14

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I

 PAGE

 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE TO THIS EDITION xi

 DEDICATIONS TO COSIMO DE' MEDICI EDITION OF 1550 xiii EDITION OF 1568 xvii

 IMPRIMATUR OF POPE PIUS V xxi

 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE WHOLE WORK xxiii

 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE LIVES xxxvii

 GIOVANNI CIMABUE 1

 ARNOLFO DI LAPO 11

 NICCOLA AND GIOVANNI OF PISA [NICCOLA PISANO: GIOVANNI PISANO] 27

 ANDREA TAFI 45

 GADDO GADDI 53

 MARGARITONE 61

 GIOTTO 69

 AGOSTINO AND AGNOLO OF SIENA 95

 STEFANO AND UGOLINO SANESE [UGOLINO DA SIENA] 107

 PIETRO LAURATI [PIETRO LORENZETTI] 115

 ANDREA PISANO 121

 BUONAMICO BUFFALMACCO 133

 AMBROGIO LORENZETTI 153

 PIETRO CAVALLINI 159

 SIMONE SANESE [SIMONE MEMMI _OR_ MARTINI] 165

 TADDEO GADDI 175

 ANDREA DI CIONE ORCAGNA 187

 TOMMASO, CALLED GIOTTINO 201

 GIOVANNI DAL PONTE 209

 AGNOLO GADDI 215

 INDEX OF NAMES 225

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME I

PLATES IN COLOUR

 FACING PAGE

 CIMABUE Madonna and Child Florence: Accademia, 102 10

 GIOTTO Madonna and Child Florence: Accademia, 103 82

 PIETRO LAURATI Madonna and Child, Assisi: Lower Church 118 with SS. Francis and John

 AMBROGIO Madonna and Child, Siena: Pinacoteca, 77 156 LORENZETTI with SS. Mary Magdalen and Dorothy

 SIMONE SANESE The Knighting of Assisi: Lower Church, S. Martin Chapel of S. Martin 168

 LIPPO MEMMI Madonna and Child Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum, 1081A 172

 TADDEO GADDI The Presentation Florence: Accademia, 107 182 in the Temple

 ANDREA DI CIONE Christ Enthroned Florence: S. Maria ORCAGNA Novella, Strozzi Chapel 192

 GIOTTINO The Descent from Florence: Uffizi, 27 206 the Cross

PLATES IN MONOCHROME

 CIMABUE Madonna, Child, Paris: Louvre, 1260 2 and Angels

 ROMAN SCHOOL Isaac's Blessing Assisi: Upper Church 6

 ROMAN SCHOOL The Deposition Assisi: Upper Church 6 from the Cross

 CIMABUE The Crucifixion Assisi: Upper Church 8

 ARNOLFO DI LAPO Reclining Female Florence: (SCHOOL OF) Figure from a Tomb Collection Bardini 18

 ARNOLFO DI LAPO Tomb of Adrian V Viterbo: S. Francesco 24 (SCHOOL OF)

 NICCOLA PISANO Pulpit Pisa: The Baptistery 30

 NICCOLA PISANO Detail: The Pisa: Relief from the Adoration of Pulpit of the Baptistery 32 the Magi

 NICCOLA PISANO Detail: The Siena: Relief from Visitation and the Pulpit The Nativity of the Baptistery 34

 GIOVANNI PISANO Detail: A Sibyl Siena: Duomo (façade) 38

 GIOVANNI PISANO Detail: The Massacre Pistoia: Relief from the of the Innocents Pulpit, S. Andrea 40

 GIOVANNI PISANO Madonna and Child Padua: Arena Chapel 42

 MARGARITONE The Virgin and Child, London: N. G. , 5040 64 with Scenes from the Lives of the Saints

 GIOTTO The Death of S. Francis Florence: S. Croce 70

 ROMAN SCHOOL S. Francis Preaching Assisi: Upper Church 72 before Pope Honorius III

 ROMAN SCHOOL The Body of S. Francis Assisi: Upper Church 74 before the Church of S. Damiano

 GIOTTO AND HIS The Raising of Lazarus Assisi: Lower Church 78 PUPILS

 GIOTTO The Flight into Egypt Padua: Arena Chapel 88

 GIOTTO The Crucifixion Assisi: Lower Church 90 (SCHOOL OF)

 UGOLINO SANESE SS. Paul, Peter, Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich and John the Baptist Museum, 1635 112

 PIETRO LAURATI The Madonna Enthroned Arezzo: S. Maria della Pieve 116

 PIETRO LAURATI The Deposition from the Assisi: Lower Church 120 Cross

 ANDREA PISANO Details: Salome and The Florence: Gates of the Beheading of S. John the Baptistery 126 Baptist

 ANDREA PISANO The Creation of Man Florence: Relief on the Campanile 128

 NINO PISANO Madonna and Child Orvieto: Museo dell'Opera 130

 AMBROGIO Madonna and Child Milan: Cagnola Collection 154 LORENZETTI

 AMBROGIO Central Panel of Massa Marittima: Municipio LORENZETTI Polyptych: Madonna 158 and Child

 PIETRO Detail from The Last Rome: Convent of S. Cecilia CAVALLINI Judgment: Head of an 162 Apostle

 PIETRO Detail from The Last Rome: Convent of S. Cecilia CAVALLINI Judgment: Head of the 164 Christ in Glory

 SIMONE SANESE Altar-piece: S. Louis Naples: S. Lorenzo 166 crowning King Robert of Naples

 SIMONE SANESE The Annunciation Antwerp: Royal Museum, 257-8 170

 LIPPO MEMMI Madonna and Child Altenburg: Lindenau Museum, 43 174

 TADDEO GADDI The Last Supper Florence: S. Croce, the Refectory 178

 BERNARDO DI CIONE Detail from The Florence: S. Maria Novella 190 ORCAGNA Paradise: Christ with the Virgin Enthroned

 ANDREA DI CIONE The Death and Assumption Florence: Relief on the ORCAGNA of the Virgin Tabernacle, Or San Michele 194

 FRANCESCO TRAINI S. Thomas Aquinas Pisa: S. Caterina 198

 GIOVANNI DAL S. Peter Enthroned Florence: Uffizi, 1292 212 PONTE

 AGNOLO GADDI The Marriage of S. Philadelphia: J. G. Johnson 218 Catharine Collection

 * * * * *

+-------------------------------------------------+|Transcriber's note: || ||The CORRIGENDA have been corrected in this etext. |+-------------------------------------------------+

CORRIGENDA

Page 49, lines 1, 27, _for_ "Apollonius" _read_ "Apollonio. "

Page 120, line 10, _for_ "which tabernacle is quite round" _read_ "whichtabernacle is in the round. "

Page 127, lines 11, 12, _for_ "oval spaces" _read_ "mandorle. "

Page 196, line 18, _for_ "an oval space" _read_ "a mandorla. "

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE TO THIS EDITION

Vasari introduces himself sufficiently in his own prefaces andintroduction; a translator need concern himself only with the system bywhich the Italian text can best be rendered in English. The style ofthat text is sometimes laboured and pompous; it is often ungrammatical. But the narrative is generally lively, full of neat phrases, andabounding in quaint expressions--many of them still recognizable in themodern Florentine vernacular--while, in such Lives as those of Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelagnolo, Vasari shows how well he can riseto a fine subject. His criticism is generally sound, solid, and direct;and he employs few technical terms, except in connection witharchitecture, where we find passages full of technicalities, often soloosely used that it is difficult to be sure of their exact meaning. Insuch cases I have invariably adopted the rendering which seemed most inaccordance with Vasari's actual words, so far as these could beexplained by professional advice and local knowledge; and I haveincluded brief notes where they appeared to be indispensable. 

In Mrs. Foster's familiar English paraphrase--for a paraphrase it israther than a translation--all Vasari's liveliness evaporates, evenwhere his meaning is not blurred or misunderstood. Perhaps I have gonetoo far towards the other extreme in relying upon the Anglo-Saxon sideof the English language rather than upon the Latin, and in taking noliberties whatever with the text of 1568. My intention, indeed, has beento render my original word for word, and to err, if at all, in favour ofliteralness. The very structure of Vasari's sentences has usually beenretained, though some freedom was necessary in the matter of thepunctuation, which is generally bewildering. As Mr. Horne's only toorare translation of the Life of Leonardo da Vinci has proved, it is bysome such method that we can best keep Vasari's sense and Vasari'sspirit--the one as important to the student of Italian art as is theother to the general reader. Such an attempt, however, places an Englishtranslator of the first volume at a conspicuous disadvantage. Throughoutthe earlier Lives Vasari seems to be feeling his way. He is not sure ofhimself, and his style is often awkward. The more faithful the attemptedrendering, the more plainly must that awkwardness be reproduced. 

Vasari's Introduction on Technique has not been included, because it hasno immediate connection with the Lives. In any case, there alreadyexists an adequate translation by Miss Maclehose. All Vasari's otherprefaces and introductions are given in the order in which they arefound in the edition of 1568. 

With this much explanation, I may pass to personal matters, and recordmy thanks to many Florentine friends for help in technical andgrammatical questions; to Professor Baldwin Brown for the notes ontechnical matters printed with Miss Maclehose's translation of "Vasarion Technique"; and to Mr. C. J. Holmes, of the National PortraitGallery, for encouragement in a task which has proved no less pleasantthan difficult. 

 G. DU C. DE V. 

 LONDON, _March 1912_. 

TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND MOST EXCELLENT SIGNOR COSIMO DE' MEDICI, DUKE OF FLORENCE

MY MOST HONOURED LORD, Seeing that your Excellency, following in this the footsteps of yourmost Illustrious ancestors, and incited and urged by your own naturalmagnanimity, ceases not to favour and to exalt every kind of talent, wheresoever it may be found, and shows particular favour to the arts ofdesign, fondness for their craftsmen, [1] and understanding and delightin their beautiful and rare works; I think that you cannot but takepleasure in this labour which I have undertaken, of writing down thelives, the works, the manners, and the circumstances of all those who, finding the arts already dead, first revived them, then step by stepnourished and adorned them, and finally brought them to that height ofbeauty and majesty whereon they stand at the present day. And becausethese masters have been almost all Tuscans, and most of theseFlorentines, of whom many have been incited and aided by your mostIllustrious ancestors with every kind of reward and honour to putthemselves to work, it may be said that in your state, nay, in your mostblessed house the arts were born anew, and that through the generosityof your ancestors the world has recovered these most beautiful arts, through which it has been ennobled and embellished. 

Wherefore, through the debt which this age, these arts, and thesecraftsmen owe to your ancestors, and to you as the heir of their virtueand of their patronage of these professions, and through that debt whichI, above all, owe them, seeing that I was taught by them, that I wastheir subject and their devoted servant, that I was brought up underCardinal Ippolito de' Medici, and under Alessandro, your predecessor, and that, finally, I am infinitely attached to the blessed memory of theMagnificent Ottaviano de' Medici, by whom I was supported, loved andprotected while he lived; for all these reasons, I say, and because fromthe greatness of your worth and of your fortunes there will come muchfavour for this work, and from your understanding of its subject therewill come a better appreciation than from any other for its usefulnessand for the labour and the diligence that I have given to its execution, it has seemed to me that to your Excellency alone could it be fittinglydedicated, and it is under your most honoured name that I have wished itto come to the hands of men. 

Deign, then, Excellency, to accept it, to favour it, and, if this may begranted to it by your exalted thoughts, sometimes to read it; havingregard to the nature of the matter therein dealt with and to my pureintention, which has been, not to gain for myself praise as a writer, but as craftsman to praise the industry and to revive the memory ofthose who, having given life and adornment to these professions, do notdeserve to have their names and their works wholly left, even as theywere, the prey of death and of oblivion. Besides, at the same time, through the example of so many able men and through so many observationson so many works that I have gathered together in this book, I havethought to help not a little the masters of these exercises and toplease all those who therein have taste and pleasure. This I havestriven to do with that accuracy and with that good faith which areessential for the truth of history and of things written. But if mywriting, being unpolished and as artless as my speech, be unworthy ofyour Excellency's ear and of the merits of so many most illustriousintellects; as for them, pardon me that the pen of a draughtsman, suchas they too were, has no greater power to give them outline and shadow;and as for yourself, let it suffice me that your Excellency should deignto approve my simple labour, remembering that the necessity of gainingfor myself the wherewithal to live has left me no time to exercisemyself with any instrument but the brush. Nor even with that have Ireached that goal to which I think to be able to attain, now thatFortune promises me so much favour, that, with greater ease and greatercredit for myself and with greater satisfaction to others, I mayperchance be able, as well with the pen as with the brush, to unfold myideas to the world, whatsoever they may be. For besides the help andprotection for which I must hope from your Excellency, as my liege lordand as the protector of poor followers of the arts, it has pleased thegoodness of God to elect as His Vicar on earth the most holy and mostblessed Julius III, Supreme Pontiff and a friend and patron of everykind of excellence and of these most excellent and most difficult artsin particular, from whose exalted liberality I expect recompense formany years spent and many labours expended, and up to now without fruit. And not only I, who have dedicated myself to the perpetual service ofHis Holiness, but all the gifted craftsmen of this age, must expect fromhim such honour and reward and opportunities for practising the arts sogreatly, that already I rejoice to see these arts arriving in his timeat the greatest height of their perfection, and Rome adorned bycraftsmen so many and so noble that, counting them with those ofFlorence, whom your Excellency is calling every day into activity, Ihope that someone after our time will have to write a fourth part to mybook, enriching it with other masters and other masterpieces than thosedescribed by me; in which company I am striving with every effort not tobe among the last. 

Meanwhile, I am content if your Excellency has good hope of me and abetter opinion than that which, by no fault of mine, you have perchanceconceived of me; beseeching you not to let me be undone in yourestimation by the malignant tales of other men, until at last my lifeand my works shall prove the contrary to what they say. 

Now with that intent to which I hold, always to honour and to serveyour Excellency, dedicating to you this my rough labour, as I havededicated to you every other thing of mine and my own self, I imploreyou not to disdain to grant it your protection, or at least toappreciate the devotion of him who offers it to you; and recommendingmyself to your gracious goodness, most humbly do I kiss your hand. 

 Your Excellency's most humble Servant, GIORGIO VASARI, _Painter of Arezzo_. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: The word "artist" has become impossible as a translation of"artefice. " Such words as "artificer, " "art-worker, " or "artisan, " seemeven worse. "Craftsman" loses the alliterative connection with "art, "but it comes nearest to expressing Vasari's idea of the "artefice" as apractical workman (_cf. _ his remark about Ambrogio Lorenzetti: "The waysof Ambrogio were rather those of a 'gentiluomo' than of an'artefice'"). ]

TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND MOST EXCELLENT SIGNOR COSIMO DE' MEDICI, DUKE OF FLORENCE AND SIENA

MY MOST HONOURED LORD, Behold, seventeen years since I first presented to your most IllustriousExcellency the Lives, sketched so to speak, of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects, they come before you again, not indeed whollyfinished, but so much changed from what they were and in such wiseadorned and enriched with innumerable works, whereof up to that time Ihad been able to gain no further knowledge, that from my endeavour andin so far as in me lies nothing more can be looked for in them. 

Behold, I say, once again they come before you, most Illustrious andtruly most Excellent Lord Duke, with the addition of other noble andright famous craftsmen, who from that time up to our own day have passedfrom the miseries of this life to a better, and of others who, althoughthey are still living in our midst, have laboured in these professionsto such purpose that they are most worthy of eternal memory. And intruth it has been no small good-fortune for many that I, by the goodnessof Him in whom all things have their being, have lived so long that Ihave almost rewritten this book; seeing that, even as I have removedmany things which had been included I know not how, in my absence andwithout my consent, and have changed others, so too I have added many, both useful and necessary, that were lacking. And as for the likenessesand portraits of so many men of worth which I have placed in this work, whereof a great part have been furnished by the help and co-operation ofyour Excellency, if they are sometimes not very true to life, and ifthey all have not that character and resemblance which the vivacity ofcolours is wont to give them, that is not because the drawing and thelineaments have not been taken from the life and are not characteristicand natural; not to mention that a great part of them have been sent meby the friends that I have in various places, and they have not all beendrawn by a good hand. Moreover, I have suffered no small inconveniencein this from the distance of those who have engraved these heads, because, if the engravers had been near me, it might perchance have beenpossible to use in this matter more diligence than has been shown. Buthowever this may be, our lovers of art and our craftsmen, for theconvenience and benefit of whom I have put myself to so great pains, must be wholly indebted to your most Illustrious Excellency for whateverthey may find in it of the good, the useful, and the helpful, seeingthat while engaged in your service I have had the opportunity, throughthe leisure which it has pleased you to give me and through themanagement of your many, nay, innumerable treasures, to put together andto give to the world everything which appeared to be necessary for theperfect completion of this work; and would it not be almost impiety, notto say ingratitude, were I to dedicate these Lives to another, or werethe craftsmen to attribute to any other than yourself whatever they mayfind in them to give them help or pleasure? For not only was it withyour help and favour that they first came to the light, as now they doagain, but you are, in imitation of your ancestors, sole father, solelord, and sole protector of these our arts. Wherefore it is very rightand reasonable that by these there should be made, in your service andto your eternal and perpetual memory, so many most noble pictures andstatues and so many marvellous buildings in every manner. 

But if we are all, as indeed we are beyond calculation, most deeplyobliged to you for these and for other reasons, how much more do I notowe to you, who have always had (would that my brain and my hand hadbeen equal to my desire and right good will) so many valuableopportunities to display my little knowledge, which, whatsoever it maybe, fails by a very great measure to counterbalance the greatness andthe truly royal magnificence of your mind? But how may I tell? It is intruth better that I should stay as I am than that I should set myself toattempt what would be to the most lofty and noble brain, and much moreso to my insignificance, wholly impossible. 

Accept then, most Illustrious Excellency, this my book, or rather indeedyour book, of the Lives of the craftsmen of design; and like theAlmighty God, looking rather at my soul and at my good intentions thanat my work, take from me with right good will not what I would wish andought to give, but what I can. 

 Your most Illustrious Excellency's most indebted servant, GIORGIO VASARI. 

 FLORENCE, _January 9, 1568_. 

PIUS PAPA QUINTUS

Motu proprio (et cet. ). Cum, sicut accepimus, dilectus filius PhilippusJunta, typographus Florentinus, ad communem studiosorum utilitatem, suaimpensa, Vitas Illustrium Pictorum et Sculptorum Georgii Vasarii demumauctas et suis imaginibus exornatas, Statuta Equitum Melitensium inItalicam linguam translata, Receptariumque Novum pro Aromatariis, aliaque opera tum Latina, tum Italica, saneque utilia et necessaria, imprimi facere intendat, dubitetque ne hujusmodi opera postmodum abaliis sine ejus licentia et in ejus grave præjudicium imprimantur; nospropterea, illius indemnitati consulere volentes, motu simili et excerta scientia, eidem Philippo concedimus et indulgemus ne prædictaopera, dummodo prius ab Inquisitore visa et approbata fuerint, per ipsumimprimenda, infra decennium a quoquo sine ipsius licentia imprimi autvendi vel in apothecis teneri possint; inhibentes omnibus et singulisChristi fidelibus tam in Italia quam extra Italiam existentibus, subexcommunicationis lata sententia, in terris vero S. R. E. Mediate velimmediate subjectis, etiam ducentorum ducatorum auri Cameræ Apostolicæapplicandorum et amissionis librorum p[oe]nis, totiens ipso facto etabsque alia declaratione incurrendis quotiens contraventum fuerit, neintra decennium præfatum dicta opera sine ejusdem Philippi expressalicentia imprimere, seu ab ipsis aut aliis impressa vendere, vel venaliahabere; mandantes universis veneralibus fratribus nostrisArchiepiscopis, Episcopis, eorumque Vicariis in spiritualibusgeneralibus, et in Statu S. R. E. Etiam Legatis, Vicelegatis, Præsidibuset Gubernatoribus, ut quoties pro ipsius Philippi parte fuerintrequisiti, vel eorum aliquis fuerit requisitus, eidem, efficacisdefensionis præsidio assistentes, præmissa contra inobedientes etrebelles, per censuras ecclesiasticas, etiam sæpius aggravando, et peralia juris remedia, auctoritate Apostolica exequantur; invocato etiam adhoc, si opus fuerit, auxilio brachii sæcularis. Volumus autem quodpræsentis motus proprii nostri sola signatura sufficiat, et ubique fidemfaciat in judicio et extra, regula contraria non obstante et officiisanctissimæ Inquisitionis Florentinæ. 

 Placet motu proprio M. 

 Datum Romæ apud Sanctum Petrum, quintodecimo Cal. Maij, anno secundo. 

PREFACE TO THE WHOLE WORK

It was the wont of the finest spirits in all their actions, through aburning desire for glory, to spare no labour, however grievous, in orderto bring their works to that perfection which might render themimpressive and marvellous to the whole world; nor could the humblefortunes of many prevent their energies from attaining to the highestrank, whether in order to live in honour or to leave in the ages to comeeternal fame for all their rare excellence. And although, for zeal anddesire so worthy of praise, they were, while living, highly rewarded bythe liberality of Princes and by the splendid ambition of States, andeven after death kept alive in the eyes of the world by the testimony ofstatues, tombs, medals, and other memorials of that kind; none the less, it is clearly seen that the ravening maw of time has not only diminishedby a great amount their own works and the honourable testimonies ofothers, but has also blotted out and destroyed the names of all thosewho have been kept alive by any other means than by the right vivaciousand pious pens of writers. 

Pondering over this matter many a time in my own mind, and recognizing, from the example not only of the ancients but of the moderns as well, that the names of very many architects, sculptors, and painters, bothold and modern, together with innumerable most beautiful works wroughtby them, are going on being forgotten and destroyed little by little, and in such wise, in truth, that nothing can be foretold for them but acertain and wellnigh immediate death; and wishing to defend them as muchas in me lies from this second death, and to preserve them as long asmay be possible in the memory of the living; and having spent much timein seeking them out and used the greatest diligence in discovering thenative city, the origin, and the actions of the craftsmen, and havingwith great labour drawn them from the tales of old men and from variousrecords and writings, left by their heirs a prey to dust and food forworms; and finally, having received from this both profit and pleasure, I have judged it expedient, nay rather, my duty, to make for themwhatsoever memorial my weak talents and my small judgment may be able tomake. In honour, then, of those who are already dead, and for thebenefit, for the most part, of all the followers of these three mostexcellent arts, Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting, I will write theLives of the craftsmen of each according to the times wherein theylived, step by step from Cimabue down to our own time; not touching onthe ancients save in so far as it may concern our subject, seeing thatno more can be said of them than those so many writers have said whohave come down to our own age. I will treat thoroughly of many thingsthat appertain to the science of one or other of the said arts; butbefore I come to the secrets of these, or to the history of thecraftsmen, it seems to me right to touch a little on a dispute, born andbred between many without reason, as to the sovereignty and nobility, not of architecture, which they have left on one side, but of sculptureand painting; there being advanced, on one side and on the other, manyarguments whereof many, if not all, are worthy to be heard and discussedby their craftsmen. 

I say, then, that the sculptors, as being endowed, perchance by natureand by the exercise of their art, with a better habit of body, with moreblood, and with more energy, and being thereby more hardy and more fierythan the painters, in seeking to give the highest rank to their art, argue and prove the nobility of sculpture primarily from its antiquity, for the reason that God Almighty made man, who was the first statue; andthey say that sculpture embraces many more arts as kindred, and has manymore of them subordinate to itself than has painting, such aslow-relief, working in clay, wax, plaster, wood, and ivory, casting inmetals, every kind of chasing, engraving and carving in relief on finestones and steel, and many others which both in number and in difficultysurpass those of painting. And alleging, further, that those thingswhich stand longest and best against time and can be preserved longestfor the use of men, for whose benefit and service they are made, arewithout doubt more useful and more worthy to be held in love and honourthan are the others, they maintain that sculpture is by so much morenoble than painting as it is more easy to preserve, both itself and thenames of all who are honoured by it both in marble and in bronze, against all the ravages of time and air, than is painting, which, by itsvery nature, not to say by external accidents, perishes in the mostsheltered and most secure places that architects have been able toprovide. Nay more, they insist that the small number not merely of theirexcellent but even of their ordinary craftsmen, in contrast to theinfinite number of the painters, proves their greater nobility; sayingthat sculpture calls for a certain better disposition, both of mind andof body, that are rarely found together, whereas painting contentsitself with any feeble temperament, so long as it has a hand, if notbold, at least sure; and that this their contention is proved by thegreater prices cited in particular by Pliny, by the loves caused by themarvellous beauty of certain statues, and by the judgment of him whomade the statue of sculpture of gold and that of painting of silver, andplaced the first on the right and the second on the left. Nor do theyeven refrain from quoting the difficulties experienced before thematerials, such as the marbles and the metals, can be got intosubjection, and their value, in contrast to the ease of obtaining thepanels, the canvases, and the colours, for the smallest prices and inevery place; and further, the extreme and grievous labour of handlingthe marbles and the bronzes, through their weight, and of working them, through the weight of the tools, in contrast to the lightness of thebrushes, of the styles, and of the pens, chalk-holders, and charcoals;besides this, that they exhaust their minds together with all the partsof their bodies, which is something very serious compared with the quietand light work of the painter, using only his mind and hand. Moreover, they lay very great stress on the fact that things are more noble andmore perfect in proportion as they approach more nearly to the truth, and they say that sculpture imitates the true form and shows its workson every side and from every point of view, whereas painting, beinglaid on flat with most simple strokes of the brush and having but onelight, shows but one aspect; and many of them do not scruple to say thatsculpture is as much superior to painting as is truth to falsehood. Butas their last and strongest argument, they allege that for the sculptorthere is necessary a perfection of judgment not only ordinary, as forthe painter, but absolute and immediate, in a manner that it may seewithin the marble the exact whole of that figure which they intend tocarve from it, and may be able to make many parts perfect without anyother model before it combines and unites them together, as Michelagnolohas done divinely well; although, for lack of this happiness ofjudgment, they make easily and often some of those blunders which haveno remedy, and which, when made, bear witness for ever to the slips ofthe chisel or to the small judgment of the sculptor. This never happensto painters, for the reason that at every slip of the brush or error ofjudgment that might befall them they have time, recognizing itthemselves or being told by others, to cover and patch it up with thevery brush that made it; which brush, in their hands, has this advantageover the sculptor's chisels, that it not only heals, as did the iron ofthe spear of Achilles, but leaves its wounds without a scar. 

To these things the painters, answering not without disdain, say, in thefirst place, that if the sculptors wish to discuss the matter on theground of the Scriptures the chief nobility is their own, and that thesculptors deceive themselves very grievously in claiming as their workthe statue of our first father, which was made of earth; for the art ofthis performance, both in its putting on and in its taking off, belongsno less to the painters than to others, and was called "plastice" by theGreeks and "fictoria" by the Latins, and was judged by Praxiteles to bethe mother of sculpture, of casting, and of chasing, a fact which makessculpture, in truth, the niece of painting, seeing that "plastice" andpainting are born at one and the same moment from design. And they saythat if we consider it apart from the Scriptures, the opinions of theages are so many and so varied that it is difficult to believe one morethan the other; and that finally, considering this nobility as theywish it, in one place they lose and in the other they do not win, as maybe seen more clearly in the Preface to the Lives. 

After this, in comparison with the arts related and subordinate tosculpture, they say that they have many more than the sculptors, becausepainting embraces the invention of history, the most difficult art offoreshortening, all the branches of architecture needful for the makingof buildings, perspective, colouring in distemper, and the art ofworking in fresco, an art different and distinct from all the others;likewise working in oils on wood, on stone, and on canvas; illumination, too, an art different from all the others; the staining of glass, mosaics in glass, the art of inlaying and making pictures with colouredwoods, which is painting; making sgraffito[2] work on houses with irontools; niello[3] work and printing from copper, both members ofpainting; goldsmith's enamelling, and the inlaying of gold fordamascening; the painting of glazed figures, and the making onearthenware vessels of scenes and figures to resist the action of water;weaving brocades with figures and flowers, and that most beautifulinvention, woven tapestries, that are both convenient and magnificent, being able to carry painting into every place, whether savage orcivilized; not to mention that in every department of art that has to bepractised, design, which is our design, is used by all; so that themembers of painting are more numerous and more useful than those ofsculpture. They do not deny the eternity, for so the others call it, ofsculpture, but they say that this is no privilege that should make theart more noble than it is by nature, seeing that it comes simply fromthe material, and that if length of life were to give nobility to souls, the pine, among the plants, and the stag, among the animals, would havea soul more noble beyond compare than that of men; although they couldclaim a similar immortality and nobility in their mosaics, seeing thatthere may be seen some as ancient as the most ancient sculptures thatare in Rome, and that they used to be made of jewels and fine stones. And as for their small or smaller number, they declare that this is notbecause the art calls for a better habit of body and greater judgment, but that it depends wholly on the poverty of their resources and on thelittle favour, or avarice, as we would rather call it, of rich men, whogive them no supply of marble and no opportunity to work; in contrastwith what may be believed, nay, seen to have happened in ancient times, when sculpture rose to its greatest height. Indeed, it is manifest thathe who cannot use and waste a small quantity of marble and hard stone, which are very costly, cannot have that practice in the art that isessential; he who does not practise does not learn it; and he who doesnot learn it can do no good. Wherefore they should rather excuse withthese arguments the imperfection and the small number of their masters, than seek to deduce nobility from them under false colours. As for thehigher prices of sculptures, they answer that, although theirs might bemuch less, they have not to share them, being content with a boy whogrinds their colours and hands them their brushes or their cheap stools, whereas the sculptors, besides the great cost of their material, requiremany aids and spend more time on one single figure than they themselvesdo on very many; wherefore their prices appear to come from the qualityand the durability of the material itself, from the aids that itrequires for its completion, and from the time that is taken in workingit, rather than from the excellence of the art itself. And although thatdoes not suffice and no greater price is found, as would be easily seenby anyone who were willing to consider it diligently, let them find agreater price than the marvellous, beautiful, and living gift thatAlexander the Great made in return for the most splendid and excellentwork of Apelles, bestowing on him, not vast treasures or high estate, but his own beloved and most beautiful Campaspe; let them observe, inaddition, that Alexander was young, enamoured of her, and naturallysubject to the passions of love, and also both a King and a Greek; andthen, from this, let them draw what conclusion they please. As for theloves of Pygmalion and of those other rascals no more worthy to be men, cited as proof of the nobility of the art, they know not what to answer, if, from a very great blindness of intellect and from a licentiousnessunbridled beyond all natural bounds, there can be made a proof ofnobility. As for the man, whosoever he was, alleged by the sculptors tohave made sculpture of gold and painting of silver, they are agreed thatif he had given as much sign of judgment as of wealth, there would be nodisputing it; and finally, they conclude that the ancient Golden Fleece, however celebrated it may be, none the less covered nothing but anunintelligent ram; wherefore neither the testimony of riches nor that ofdishonest desires, but those of letters, of practice, of excellence, andof judgment are those to which we must pay attention. Nor do they makeany answer to the difficulty of obtaining the marbles and the metals, save this, that it springs from their own poverty and from the littlefavour of the powerful, as has been said, and not from any degree ofgreater nobility. To the extreme fatigues of the body and to the dangerspeculiar to them and to their works, laughing and without any ado theyanswer that if greater fatigues and dangers prove greater nobility, theart of quarrying the marbles from the bowels of mountains by means ofwedges, levers, and hammers must be more noble than sculpture, that ofthe blacksmith must surpass the goldsmith's, and that of masonry must besuperior to architecture. 

They say, next, that the true difficulties lie rather in the mind thanin the body, wherefore those things that from their nature call for morestudy and knowledge are more noble and excellent than those that availthemselves rather of strength of body; and they declare that since thepainters rely more on the worth of the mind than the others, thishighest honour belongs to painting. For the sculptors the compasses andsquares suffice to discover and apply all the proportions andmeasurements whereof they have need; for the painters there isnecessary, besides the knowledge how to make good use of the aforesaidinstruments, an accurate understanding of perspective, for the reasonthat they have to provide a thousand other things beyond landscapes andbuildings, not to mention that they must have greater judgment by reasonof the quantity of the figures in one scene, wherein more errors cancome than in a single statue. For the sculptor it is enough to beacquainted with the true forms and features of solid and tangiblebodies, subordinate on every side to the touch, and moreover of thoseonly that have something to support them. For the painter it isnecessary to know the forms not only of all the bodies supported and notsupported, but also of all those transparent and intangible; and besidesthis they must know the colours that are suitable for the said bodies, whereof the multitude and the variety, so absolute and admitting of suchinfinite extension, are demonstrated better by the flowers, the fruits, and the minerals than by anything else; and this knowledge is supremelydifficult to acquire and to maintain, by reason of their infinitevariety. They say, moreover, that whereas sculpture, through thestubbornness and the imperfection of the material, does not representthe emotions of the soul save with motion, which does not, however, findmuch scope therein, and with the mere shape of the limbs and not even ofall these; the painters demonstrate them with all the forms of motion, which are infinite, with the shape of the limbs, however subtle they maybe, and even with breath itself and the spiritual essence of sight; andthat, for greater perfection in demonstrating not only the passions andemotions of the soul but also the events of the future, as living mendo, they must have, besides long practice in the art, a completeunderstanding of physiognomy, whereof that part suffices for thesculptor which deals with the quantity and the quality of the members, without troubling about the quality of colours, as to the knowledge ofwhich anyone who judges by the eye knows how useful and necessary it isfor the true imitation of nature, whereunto the closer a man approachesthe more perfect he is. 

After this they add that whereas sculpture, taking away bit by bit, atone and the same time gives depth to and acquires relief for thosethings that have solidity by their own nature, and makes use of touchand sight, the painters, in two distinct actions, give relief and depthto a flat surface with the help of one single sense; and this, when ithas been done by a person intelligent in the art, has caused many greatmen, not to speak of animals, to stand fast in the most pleasingillusion, which has never been seen to be done by sculpture, for thereason that it does not imitate nature in a manner that may be calledas perfect as their own. And finally, in answer to that complete andabsolute perfection of judgment which is required for sculpture, byreason of its having no means to add where it takes away; declaring, first, that such mistakes are irreparable, as the others say, and not tobe remedied save by patches, which, even as in garments they are signsof poverty of wardrobe, so too both in sculpture and in pictures aresigns of poverty of intellect and judgment; and saying, further, thatpatience, at its own leisure, by means of models, protractors, squares, compasses, and a thousand other devices and instruments for enlarging, not only preserves them from mistakes but enables them to bring theirwhole work to its perfection; they conclude, then, that this difficultywhich they put down as the greater is nothing or little when compared tothose which the painters have when working in fresco, and that the saidperfection of judgment is in no way more necessary for sculptors thanfor painters, it being sufficient for the former to execute good modelsin wax, clay, or something else, even as the latter make their drawingson corresponding materials or on cartoons; and that finally, the qualitythat little by little transfers their models to the marble is ratherpatience than aught else. 

But let us consider about judgment, as the sculptors wish, and seewhether it is not more necessary to one who works in fresco than to onewho chisels in marble. For here not only is there no place for patienceor for time, which are most mortal enemies to the union of the plasterand the colours, but the eye does not see the true colours until theplaster is well dry, nor can the hand judge of anything but of the softor the dry, in a manner that anyone who were to call it working in thedark, or with spectacles of colours different from the truth, would notin my belief be very far wrong. Nay, I do not doubt at all that such aname is more suitable for it than for intaglio, for which wax serves asspectacles both true and good. They say, too, that for this work it isnecessary to have a resolute judgment, to foresee the end in the freshplaster and how the work will turn out on the dry; besides that the workcannot be abandoned so long as the plaster is still fresh, and that itis necessary to do resolutely in one day what sculpture does in a month. And if a man has not this judgment and this excellence, there are seen, on the completion of his work or in time, patches, blotches, corrections, and colours superimposed or retouched on the dry, which issomething of the vilest, because afterwards mould appears and revealsthe insufficiency and the small knowledge of the craftsmen, even as thepieces added in sculpture lead to ugliness; not to mention that when itcomes about that the figures in fresco are washed, as is often doneafter some time to restore them, what has been worked on the freshplaster remains, and what has been retouched on the dry is carried awayby the wet sponge. 

They add, moreover, that whereas the sculptors make two figurestogether, or at the most three, from one block of marble, they make manyof them on one single panel, with all those so many and so variedaspects which the sculptors claim for one single statue, compensatingwith the variety of their postures, foreshortenings, and attitudes, forthe fact that the work of the sculptors can be seen from every side;even as Giorgione da Castelfranco did once in one of his pictures, wherein a figure with its back turned, having a mirror on either side, and a pool of water at its feet, shows its back in the painting, itsfront in the pool, and its sides in the mirrors, which is something thatsculpture has never been able to do. In addition to this, they maintainthat painting leaves not one of the elements unadorned and not aboundingwith all the excellent things that nature has bestowed on them, givingits own light and its own darkness to the air, with all its varieties offeeling, and filling it with all the kinds of birds together; to water, its clearness, the fishes, the mosses, the foam, the undulations of thewaves, the ships, and all its various moods; and to the earth, themountains, the plains, the plants, the fruits, the flowers, the animals, and the buildings; with so great a multitude of things and so great avariety of their forms and of their true colours, that nature herselfmany a time stands in a marvel thereat; and finally, giving to fire somuch of its heat and light that it is clearly seen burning things, and, almost quivering with its flames, rendering luminous in part thethickest darkness of the night. Wherefore it appears to them that theycan justly conclude and declare that contrasting the difficulties of thesculptors with their own, the labours of the body with those of themind, the imitation of the mere form with the imitation of theimpression, both of quantity and of quality, that strikes the eye, thesmall number of the subjects wherein sculpture can and does demonstrateits excellence with the infinite number of those which painting presentsto us (not to mention the perfect preservation of them for the intellectand the distribution of them in those places wherein nature herself hasnot done so); and finally, weighing the whole content of the one withthat of the other, the nobility of sculpture, as shown by the intellect, the invention, and the judgment of its craftsmen, does not correspond bya great measure to that which painting enjoys and deserves. And this isall that on the one side and on the other has come to my ears that isworthy of consideration. 

But because it appears to me that the sculptors have spoken with toomuch heat and the painters with too much disdain, and seeing that I havelong enough studied the works of sculpture and have ever exercisedmyself in painting, however small, perhaps, may be the fruit that is tobe seen of it; none the less, by reason of that which it is worth, andby reason of the undertaking of these writings, judging it my duty todemonstrate the judgment that I have ever made of it in my own mind (andmay my authority avail the most that it can), I will declare my opinionsurely and briefly over such a dispute, being convinced that I will notincur any charge of presumption or of ignorance, seeing that I will nottreat of the arts of others, as many have done before to the end thatthey might appear to the crowd intelligent in all things by means ofletters, and as happened, among others, to Phormio the Peripatetic ofEphesus, who, in order to display his eloquence, lecturing and makingdisputation about the virtues and parts of the excellent captain, madeHannibal laugh not less at his presumption than at his ignorance. 

I say, then, that sculpture and painting are in truth sisters, born fromone father, that is, design, at one and the same birth, and have noprecedence one over the other, save insomuch as the worth and thestrength of those who maintain them make one craftsman surpass another, and not by reason of any difference or degree of nobility that is intruth to be found between them. And although by reason of the diversityof their essence they have many different advantages, these are neitherso great nor of such a kind that they do not come exactly into balancetogether and that we do not perceive the infatuation or the obstinacy, rather than the judgment, of those who wish one to surpass the other. Wherefore it may be said with reason that one and the same soul rulesthe bodies of both, and by reason of this I conclude that those do evilwho strive to disunite and to separate the one from the other. Heaven, wishing to undeceive us in this matter and to show us the kinship andunion of these two most noble arts, has raised up in our midst atvarious times many sculptors who have painted and many painters who haveworked in sculpture, as will be seen in the Life of Antonio delPollaiuolo, of Leonardo da Vinci, and of many others long since passedaway. But in our own age the Divine Goodness has created for usMichelagnolo Buonarroti, in whom both these arts shine forth so perfectand appear so similar and so closely united, that the painters marvel athis pictures and the sculptors feel for the sculptures wrought by himsupreme admiration and reverence. On him, to the end that he might notperchance need to seek from some other master some convenientresting-place for the figures that he wrought, nature has bestowed sogenerously the science of architecture, that without having need ofothers he has strength and power within himself to give to this or theother image made by himself an honourable and suitable resting-place, ina manner that he rightly deserves to be called the king of sculptors, the prince of painters, and the most excellent of architects, nayrather, of architecture the true master. And indeed we can affirm withcertainty that those do in no way err who call him divine, seeing thathe has within his own self embraced the three arts most worthy of praiseand most ingenious that are to be found among mortal men, and that withthese, after the manner of a God, he can give us infinite delight. Andlet this suffice for the dispute raised between the factions, and forour own opinion. 

Now, returning to my first intention, I say that, wishing in so far asit lies within the reach of my powers to drag from the ravening maw oftime, the names of the sculptors, painters, and architects, who, fromCimabue to the present day, have been of some notable excellence inItaly, and desiring that this my labour may be no less useful than ithas been pleasant to me in the undertaking, it appears to me necessary, before we come to the history, to make as briefly as may be anintroduction to these three arts, wherein those were valiant of whom Iam to write the Lives, to the end that every gracious spirit may firstlearn the most notable things in their professions, and afterwards maybe able with greater pleasure and benefit to see clearly in what theywere different among themselves, and how great adornment and conveniencethey give to their countries and to all who wish to avail themselves oftheir industry and knowledge. 

I will begin, then, with architecture, as the most universal and themost necessary and useful to men, and as that for the service andadornment of which the two others exist; and I will expound briefly thevarieties of stone, the manners or methods of construction, with theirproportions, and how one may recognize buildings that are good andwell-conceived. Afterwards, discoursing of sculpture, I will tell howstatues are wrought, the form and the proportion that are looked for inthem, and of what kind are good sculptures, with all the most secret andmost necessary precepts. Finally, treating of painting, I will speak ofdraughtsmanship, of the methods of colouring, of the perfect executionof any work, of the quality of the pictures themselves, and ofwhatsoever thing appertains to painting; of every kind of mosaic, ofniello, of enamelling, of damascening, and then, lastly, of the printingof pictures. And in this way I am convinced that these my labours willdelight those who are not engaged in these pursuits, and will bothdelight and help those who have made them a profession. For not tomention that in the Introduction they will review the methods ofworking, and that in the Lives of the craftsmen themselves they willlearn where their works are, and how to recognize easily theirperfection or imperfection and to discriminate between one manner andanother, they will also be able to perceive how much praise and honourthat man deserves who adds upright ways and goodness of life to theexcellencies of arts so noble. Kindled by the praise that those soconstituted have obtained, they too will aspire to true glory. Nor willlittle fruit be gathered from the history, true guide and mistress ofour actions, in reading of the infinite variety of innumerable accidentsthat befell the craftsmen, sometimes by their own fault and very oftenby chance. 

It remains for me to make excuse for having on occasion used some wordsof indifferent Tuscan, whereof I do not wish to speak, having ever takenthought to use rather the words and names particular and proper to ourarts than the delicate or choice words of precious writers. Let me beallowed, then, to use in their proper speech the words proper to ourcraftsmen, and let all content themselves with my good will, which hasbestirred itself to produce this result not in order to teach to otherswhat I do not know myself, but through a desire to preserve this memoryat least of the most celebrated craftsmen, seeing that in so manydecades I have not yet been able to see one who has made much record ofthem. For I have wished with these my rough labours, adumbrating theirnoble deeds, to repay to them in some measure the debt that I owe totheir works, which have been to me as masters for the learning ofwhatsoever I know, rather than, living in sloth, to be a malignantcritic of the works of others, blaming and decrying them as men areoften wont to do. But it is now time to come to our business. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 2: The process of sgraffito work is described in ProfessorBaldwin Brown's notes to "Vasari on Technique" as follows: "A wall iscovered with a layer of tinted plaster, and on this is superimposed athin coating of white plaster. This outer coating is scratched through(with an iron tool), and the colour behind is revealed. Then all thesurface outside the design is cut away, and a cameo-like effect is givento the design. "]

[Footnote 3: The process of niello is as follows: A design is engravedon silver or bronze, and the lines of the design are filled with acomposition of silver and lead. On the application of fire to the whole, this composition turns black, leaving the design strongly outlined. ]

PREFACE TO THE LIVES

I have no manner of doubt that it is with almost all writers a commonand deeply-fixed opinion that sculpture and painting together were firstdiscovered, by the light of nature, by the people of Egypt, and thatthere are certain others who attribute to the Chaldæans the first roughsketches in marble and the first reliefs in statuary, even as they alsogive to the Greeks the invention of the brush and of colouring. But Iwill surely say that of both one and the other of these arts the design, which is their foundation, nay rather, the very soul that conceives andnourishes within itself all the parts of man's intellect, was alreadymost perfect before the creation of all other things, when the AlmightyGod, having made the great body of the world and having adorned theheavens with their exceeding bright lights, descended lower with Hisintellect into the clearness of the air and the solidity of the earth, and, shaping man, discovered, together with the lovely creation of allthings, the first form of sculpture; from which man afterwards, step bystep (and this may not be denied), as from a true pattern, there weretaken statues, sculptures, and the science of pose and of outline; andfor the first pictures (whatsoever they were), softness, harmony, andthe concord in discord that comes from light and shade. Thus, then, thefirst model whence there issued the first image of man was a lump ofclay, and not without reason, seeing that the Divine Architect of timeand of nature, being Himself most perfect, wished to show in theimperfection of the material the way to add and to take away; in thesame manner wherein the good sculptors and painters are wont to work, who, adding and taking away in their models, bring their imperfectsketches to that final perfection which they desire. He gave to man thatmost vivid colour of flesh, whence afterwards there were drawn forpainting, from the mines of the earth, the colours themselves for thecounterfeiting of all those things that are required for pictures. It istrue, indeed, that it cannot be affirmed for certain what was made bythe men before the Flood in these arts in imitation of so beautiful awork, although it is reasonable to believe that they too carved andpainted in every manner; seeing that Belus, son of the proud Nimrod, about 200 years after the Flood, caused to be made that statue wherefromthere was afterwards born idolatry, and his son's wife, the very famousSemiramis, Queen of Babylon, in the building of that city, placed amongits adornments not only diverse varied kinds of animals, portrayed andcoloured from nature, but also the image of herself and of Ninus, herhusband, and, moreover, statues in bronze of her husband's father, ofher husband's mother, and of the mother of the latter, as Diodorusrelates, calling them by the Greek names (that did not yet exist), Jove, Juno, and Ops. From these statues, perchance, the Chaldæans learnt tomake the images of their gods, seeing that 150 years later Rachel, inflying from Mesopotamia together with Jacob her husband, stole the idolsof Laban her father, as is clearly related in Genesis. Nor, indeed, werethe Chaldæans alone in making sculptures and pictures, but the Egyptiansmade them also, exercising themselves in these arts with that so greatzeal which is shown in the marvellous tomb of the most ancient KingOsimandyas, copiously described by Diodorus, and proved by the sterncommandment made by Moses in the Exodus from Egypt, namely, that underpain of death there should be made to God no image whatsoever. He, ondescending from the mountain, having found the golden calf wrought andadored solemnly by his people, and being greatly perturbed to see Divinehonours paid to the image of a beast, not only broke it and reduced itto powder, but for punishment of so great a sin caused many thousands ofthe wicked sons of Israel to be slain by the Levites. But because notthe making of statues but their adoration was a deadly sin, we read inExodus that the art of design and of statuary, not only in marble but inevery kind of metal, was bestowed by the mouth of God on Bezaleel, ofthe tribe of Judah, and on Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, who were thosethat made the two cherubim of gold, the candlesticks, the veil, theborders of the priestly vestments, and so many other most beautifulcastings for the Tabernacle, for no other reason than to bring thepeople to contemplate and to adore them. 

From the things seen before the Flood, then, the pride of men found theway to make the statues of those for whom they wished that they shouldremain famous and immortal in the world. And the Greeks, who thinkdifferently about this origin, say that the Ethiopians invented thefirst statues, as Diodorus tells; that the Egyptians took them from theEthiopians, and, from them, the Greeks; for by Homer's time sculptureand painting are seen to have been perfected, as it is proved, indiscoursing of the shield of Achilles, by that divine poet, who shows itto us carved and painted, rather than described, with every form of art. Lactantius Firmianus, by way of fable, attributes it to Prometheus, who, in the manner of Almighty God, shaped man's image out of mud; and fromhim, he declares, the art of statuary came. But according to what Plinywrites, this came to Egypt from Gyges the Lydian, who, being by the fireand gazing at his own shadow, suddenly, with some charcoal in his hand, drew his own outline on the wall. And from that age, for a time, outlines only were wont to be used, with no body of colour, as the samePliny confirms; which method was rediscovered with more labour byPhilocles the Egyptian, and likewise by Cleanthes and Ardices of Corinthand by Telephanes of Sicyon. 

Cleophantes of Corinth was the first among the Greeks who used colours, and Apollodorus the first who discovered the brush. There followedPolygnotus of Thasos, Zeuxis, and Timagoras of Chalcis, with Pythias andAglaophon, all most celebrated; and after these the most famous Apelles, so much esteemed and honoured by Alexander the Great for his talent, andthe most ingenious investigator of slander and false favour, as Lucianshows us; even as almost all the excellent painters and sculptors wereendowed by Heaven, in nearly every case, not only with the adornment ofpoetry, as may be read of Pacuvius, but with philosophy besides, as maybe seen in Metrodorus, who, being as well versed in philosophy as inpainting, was sent by the Athenians to Paulus Emilius to adorn histriumph, and remained with him to read philosophy to his sons. 

The art of sculpture, then, was greatly exercised in Greece, and thereappeared many excellent craftsmen, and, among others, Pheidias, anAthenian, with Praxiteles and Polycletus, all very great masters, whileLysippus and Pyrgoteles were excellent in sunk reliefs, and Pygmalion inreliefs in ivory, of whom there is a fable that by his prayers heobtained breath and spirit for the figure of a virgin that he made. Painting, likewise, was honoured and rewarded by the ancient Greeks andRomans, seeing that to those who made it appear marvellous they showedfavour by bestowing on them citizenship and the highest dignities. Sogreatly did this art flourish in Rome that Fabius gave renown to hishouse by writing his name under the things so beautifully painted by himin the temple of Salus, and calling himself Fabius Pictor. It wasforbidden by public decree that slaves should exercise this artthroughout the cities, and so much honour did the nations pay withoutceasing to the art and to the craftsmen that the rarest works were sentamong the triumphal spoils, as marvellous things, to Rome, and thefinest craftsmen were freed from slavery and recompensed with honoursand rewards by the commonwealths. 

The Romans themselves bore so great reverence for these arts thatbesides the respect that Marcellus, in sacking the city of Syracuse, commanded to be paid to a craftsman famous in them, in planning theassault of the aforesaid city they took care not to set fire to thatquarter wherein there was a most beautiful painted panel, which wasafterwards carried to Rome in the triumph, with much pomp. Thither, having, so to speak, despoiled the world, in course of time theyassembled the craftsmen themselves as well as their finest works, wherewith afterwards Rome became so beautiful, for the reason that shegained so great adornment from the statues from abroad more than fromher own native ones; it being known that in Rhodes, the city of anisland in no way large, there were more than 30, 000 statues counted, either in bronze or in marble, nor did the Athenians have less, whilethose at Olympia and at Delphi were many more and those in Corinthnumberless, and all were most beautiful and of the greatest value. Isit not known that Nicomedes, King of Lycia, in his eagerness for a Venusthat was by the hand of Praxiteles, spent on it almost all the wealth ofhis people? Did not Attalus the same, who, in order to possess thepicture of Bacchus painted by Aristides, did not scruple to spend on itmore than 6, 000 sesterces? Which picture was placed by Lucius Mummius inthe temple of Ceres with the greatest pomp, in order to adorn Rome. 

But for all that the nobility of these arts was so highly valued, it isnone the less not yet known for certain who gave them their firstbeginning. For, as has been already said above, it appears most ancientamong the Chaldæans, some give it to the Ethiopians, and the Greeksattribute it to themselves; and it may be thought, not without reason, that it is perchance even more ancient among the Etruscans, as our LeonBatista Alberti testifies, whereof we have clear enough proof in themarvellous tomb of Porsena at Chiusi, where, no long time since, therewere discovered underground, between the walls of the Labyrinth, someterracotta tiles with figures on them in half-relief, so excellent andin so beautiful a manner that it can be easily recognized that the artwas not begun precisely at that time, nay rather, by reason of theperfection of these works, that it was much nearer its height than itsbeginning. To this, moreover, witness is likewise borne by our seeingevery day many pieces of those red and black vases of Arezzo, made, asmay be judged from the manner, about those times, with the most delicatecarvings and small figures and scenes in low-relief, and many smallround masks wrought with great subtlety by masters of that age, men mostexperienced, as is shown by the effect, and most excellent in that art. It may be seen, moreover, by reason of the statues found at Viterbo atthe beginning of the pontificate of Alexander VI, that sculpture was ingreat esteem and in no small perfection among the Etruscans; andalthough it is not known precisely at what time they were made, it maybe reasonably conjectured, both from the manner of the figures and fromthe style of the tombs and of the buildings, no less than from theinscriptions in those Etruscan letters, that they are most ancient andwere made at a time when the affairs of this country were in a good andprosperous state. But what clearer proof of this can be sought? seeingthat in our own day--that is, in the year 1554--there has been found abronze figure of the Chimæra of Bellerophon, in making the ditches, fortifications, and walls of Arezzo, from which figure it is recognizedthat the perfection of that art existed in ancient times among theEtruscans, as may be seen from the Etruscan manner and still more fromthe letters carved on a paw, about which--since they are but few andthere is no one now who understands the Etruscan tongue--it isconjectured that they may represent the name of the master as well asthat of the figure itself, and perchance also the date, according to theuse of those times. This figure, by reason of its beauty and antiquity, has been placed in our day by the Lord Duke Cosimo in the hall of thenew rooms in his Palace, wherein there have been painted by me the actsof Pope Leo X. And besides this there were found in the same place manysmall figures in bronze after the same manner, which are in the hands ofthe said Lord Duke. 

But since the dates of the works of the Greeks, the Ethiopians, and theChaldæans are as doubtful as our own, and perhaps more, and by reason ofthe greater need of founding our judgment about these works onconjectures, which, however, are not so feeble that they are in everyway wide of the mark, I believe that I strayed not at all from the truth(and I think that everyone who will consent to consider this questiondiscreetly will judge as I did), when I said above that the origin ofthese arts was nature herself, and the example or model, the mostbeautiful fabric of the world, and the master, that divine light infusedby special grace into us, which has not only made us superior to theother animals, but, if it be not sin to say it, like to God. And if inour own times it has been seen (as I trust to be able to demonstrate alittle later by many examples) that simple children roughly reared inthe woods, with their only model in the beautiful pictures andsculptures of nature, and by the vivacity of their wit, have begun bythemselves to make designs, how much more may we, nay, must weconfidently believe that these primitive men, who, in proportion as theywere less distant from their origin and divine creation, were therebythe more perfect and of better intelligence, that they, by themselves, having for guide nature, for master purest intellect, and for examplethe so lovely model of the world, gave birth to these most noble arts, and from a small beginning, little by little bettering them, broughtthem at last to perfection? I do not, indeed, wish to deny that therewas one among them who was the first to begin, seeing that I know verywell that it must needs be that at some time and from some one man therecame the beginning; nor, also, will I deny that it may have beenpossible that one helped another and taught and opened the way todesign, to colour, and relief, because I know that our art is allimitation, of nature for the most part and then, because a man cannot byhimself rise so high, of those works that are executed by those whom hejudges to be better masters than himself. But I say surely that thewishing to affirm dogmatically who this man or these men were is a thingvery perilous to judge, and perchance little necessary to know, providedthat we see the true root and origin wherefrom art was born. For since, of the works that are the life and the glory of the craftsmen, the firstand step by step the second and the third were lost by reason of time, that consumes all things, and since, for lack of writers at that time, they could not, at least in that way, become known to posterity, theircraftsmen as well came to be forgotten. But when once the writers beganto make record of things that were before their day, they could notspeak of those whereof they had not been able to have information, in amanner that there came to be first with them those of whom the memoryhad been the last to be lost. Even as the first of the poets, by commonconsent, is said to be Homer, not because there were none before him, for there were, although not so excellent, which is seen clearly fromhis own works, but because of these early poets, whatever manner of menthey were, all knowledge had been lost quite 2, 000 years before. However, leaving behind us this part, as too uncertain by reason of itsantiquity, let us come to the clearer matters of their perfection, ruin, and restoration, or rather resurrection, whereof we will be able todiscourse on much better grounds. 

I say, then, it being true indeed, that they began late in Rome, if thefirst figure was, as is said, the image of Ceres made of metal from thetreasure of Spurius Cassius, who, for conspiring to make himself King, was put to death by his own father without any scruple; and thatalthough the arts of sculpture and of painting continued up to the endof the twelve Cæsars, they did not, however, continue in that perfectionand excellence which they had enjoyed before, for it may be seen fromthe edifices that the Emperors built in succession one after the otherthat these arts, decaying from one day to another, were coming little bylittle to lose their whole perfection of design. And to this cleartestimony is borne by the works of sculpture and of architecture thatwere wrought in the time of Constantine in Rome, and in particular thetriumphal arch raised for him by the Roman people near the Colosseum, wherein it is seen that in default of good masters they not only madeuse of marble groups made at the time of Trajan, but also of the spoilsbrought from various places to Rome. And whosoever knows that the votiveofferings in the medallions, that is, the sculptures in half-relief, andlikewise the prisoners, and the large groups, and the columns, and themouldings, and the other ornaments, whether made before or from spoils, are excellently wrought, knows also that the works which were made tofill up by the sculptors of that time are of the rudest, as also arecertain small groups with little figures in marble below the medallions, and the lowest base wherein there are certain victories, and certainrivers between the arches at the sides, which are very rude and so madethat it can be believed most surely that by that time the art ofsculpture had begun to lose something of the good. And there had not yetcome the Goths and the other barbarous and outlandish peoples whodestroyed, together with Italy, all the finer arts. It is true, indeed, that in the said times architecture had suffered less harm than theother arts of design had suffered, for in the bath that Constantineerected on the Lateran, in the entrance of the principal porch it may beseen, to say nothing of the porphyry columns, the capitals wrought inmarble, and the double bases taken from some other place and very wellcarved, that the whole composition of the building is very wellconceived; whereas, on the contrary, the stucco, the mosaics, andcertain incrustations on the walls made by masters of that time are notequal to those that he caused to be placed in the same bath, which weretaken for the most part from the temples of the heathen gods. Constantine, so it is said, did the same in the garden of Æquitius, inmaking the temple which he afterwards endowed and gave to the Christianpriests. In like manner, the magnificent Church of S. Giovanni Laterano, erected by the same Emperor, can bear witness to the same--namely, thatin his day sculpture had already greatly declined; for the image of theSaviour and the twelve Apostles in silver that he caused to be made werevery debased sculptures, wrought without art and with very littledesign. Besides this, whosoever examines with diligence the medals ofConstantine and his image and other statues made by the sculptors ofthat time, which are at the present day in the Campidoglio, may seeclearly that they are very far removed from the perfection of the medalsand statues of the other Emperors; and all this shows that long beforethe coming of the Goths into Italy sculpture had greatly declined. 

Architecture, as has been said, continued to maintain itself, if not soperfect, in a better state; nor is there reason to marvel at this, seeing that, as the great edifices were made almost wholly of spoils, itwas easy for the architects, in making the new, to imitate in greatmeasure the old, which they had ever before their eyes, and that muchmore easily than the sculptors could imitate the good figures of theancients, their art having wholly vanished. And that this is true ismanifest, because the Church of the Prince of the Apostles on theVatican was not rich save in columns, bases, capitals, architraves, mouldings, doors, and other incrustations and ornaments, which were alltaken from various places and from the edifices built most magnificentlyin earlier times. The same could be said of S. Croce in Gierusalemme, which Constantine erected at the entreaty of his mother Helena, of S. Lorenzo without the walls of Rome, and of S. Agnesa, built by him at therequest of Constantia, his daughter. And who does not know that the fontwhich served for the baptism of both her and her sister was all adornedwith works wrought long before, and in particular with the porphyrybasin carved with most beautiful figures, with certain marblecandlesticks excellently carved with foliage, and with some boys inlow-relief that are truly most beautiful? In short, for these and manyother reasons it is clear how much, in the time of Constantine, sculpture had already declined, and together with it the other finerarts. And if anything was wanting to complete this ruin, it was suppliedto them amply by the departure of Constantine from Rome, on his going toestablish the seat of the Empire at Byzantium; for the reason that hetook with him not only all the best sculptors and other craftsmen ofthat age, whatsoever manner of men they were, but also an infinitenumber of statues and other works of sculpture, all most beautiful. 

After the departure of Constantine, the Cæsars whom he left in Italy, building continually both in Rome and elsewhere, exerted themselves tomake their works as fine as they could; but, as may be seen, sculpture, as well as painting and architecture, went ever from bad to worse, andthis perchance came to pass because, when human affairs begin todecline, they never cease to go ever lower and lower until such time asthey can grow no worse. So, too, it may be seen that although at thetime of Pope Liberius the architects of that day strove to do somethinggreat in constructing the Church of S. Maria Maggiore, they were yet nothappy in the success of the whole, for the reason that although thatbuilding, which is likewise composed for the greater part of spoils, wasmade with good enough proportions, it cannot be denied any the less, notto speak of certain other parts, that the frieze made right round abovethe columns with ornaments in stucco and in painting is wholly wantingin design, and that many other things which are seen in that greatchurch demonstrate the imperfection of the arts. 

Many years after, when the Christians were persecuted under Julian theApostate, there was erected on the C[oe]lian Mount a church to S. Johnand S. Paul, the martyrs, in a manner so much worse than those namedabove, that it is seen clearly that the art was at that time little lessthan wholly lost. The buildings, too, that were erected at the same timein Tuscany, bear most ample testimony to this; and not to speak of manyothers, the church that was built outside the walls of Arezzo to S. Donatus, Bishop of that city (who, together with the monk Hilarian, suffered martyrdom under the said Julian the Apostate), was in no waybetter in architecture than those named above. Nor can it be believedthat this came from anything else but the absence of better architectsin that age, seeing that the said church (as it has been possible to seein our own day), which is octagonal and constructed from the spoils ofthe Theatre, the Colosseum and other edifices that had been standing inArezzo before it was converted to the faith of Christ, was built withoutthought of economy and at the greatest cost, and adorned with columns ofgranite, of porphyry, and of many-coloured marbles, which had belongedto the said buildings. And for myself I do not doubt, from the expensewhich was clearly bestowed on that church, that if the Aretines had hadbetter architects they would have built something marvellous; for it maybe seen from what they did that they spared nothing if only they mightmake that work as rich and as well designed as they possibly could, andsince, as has been already said so many times, architecture had lostless of its perfection than the other arts, there was to be seen thereinsome little of the good. At this time, likewise, was enlarged the Churchof S. Maria in Grado, in honour of the said Hilarian, for the reasonthat he had been for a long time living in it when he went, withDonatus, to the crown of martyrdom. 

But because Fortune, when she has brought men to the height of herwheel, is wont, either in jest or in repentance, to throw them downagain, it came about after these things that there rose up in variousparts of the world all the barbarous peoples against Rome; whence thereensued after no long time not only the humiliation of so great an Empirebut the ruin of the whole, and above all of Rome herself, and with herwere likewise utterly ruined the most excellent craftsmen, sculptors, painters, and architects, leaving the arts and their own selves buriedand submerged among the miserable massacres and ruins of that mostfamous city. And the first to fall into decay were painting andsculpture, as being arts that served more for pleasure than for use, while the other--namely, architecture--as being necessary and useful forbodily weal, continued to exist, but no longer in its perfection andexcellence. And if it had not been that the sculptures and picturespresented, to the eyes of those who were born from day to day, those whohad been thereby honoured to the end that they might have eternal life, there would soon have been lost the memory of both; whereas some ofthem survived in the images and in the inscriptions placed in privatehouses, as well as in public buildings, namely, in the amphitheatres, the theatres, the baths, the aqueducts, the temples, the obelisks, thecolossi, the pyramids, the arches, the reservoirs, the publictreasuries, and finally, in the very tombs, whereof a great part wasdestroyed by a barbarous and savage race who had nothing in them of manbut the shape and the name. These, among others, were the Visigoths, who, having created Alaric their King, assailed Italy and Rome andsacked the city twice without respect for anything whatsoever. The same, too, did the Vandals, having come from Africa with Genseric, their King, who, not content with his booty and prey and all the cruelties that hewrought there, carried away her people into slavery, to their exceedinggreat misery, and among them Eudoxia, once the wife of the EmperorValentinian, who had been slaughtered no long time before by his ownsoldiers. For these, having fallen away in very great measure from theancient Roman valour, for the reason that all the best had gone a longtime before to Byzantium with the Emperor Constantine, had no longer anygood customs or ways of life. Nay more, there had been lost at one andthe same time all true men and every sort of virtue, and laws, habits, names, and tongues had been changed; and all these things together andeach by itself had caused every lovely mind and lofty intellect tobecome most brutish and most base. 

But what brought infinite harm and damage on the said professions, evenmore than all the aforesaid causes, was the burning zeal of the newChristian religion, which, after a long and bloody combat, with itswealth of miracles and with the sincerity of its works, had finally castdown and swept away the old faith of the heathens, and, devoting itselfmost ardently with all diligence to driving out and extirpating root andbranch every least occasion whence error could arise, not only defacedor threw to the ground all the marvellous statues, sculptures, pictures, mosaics, and ornaments of the false gods of the heathens, but even thememorials and the honours of numberless men of mark, to whom, for theirexcellent merits, the noble spirit of the ancients had set up statuesand other memorials in public places. Nay more, it not only destroyed, in order to build the churches for the Christian use, the most honouredtemples of the idols, but in order to ennoble and adorn S. Pietro (tosay nothing of the ornaments which had been there from the beginning) italso robbed of its stone columns the Mausoleum of Hadrian, now calledthe Castello di S. Angelo, and many other buildings that to-day we seein ruins. And although the Christian religion did not do this by reasonof hatred that it bore to the arts, but only in order to humiliate andcast down the gods of the heathens, it was none the less true that fromthis most ardent zeal there came so great ruin on these honouredprofessions that their very form was wholly lost. And as if aught werewanting to this grievous misfortune, there arose against Rome the wrathof Totila, who, besides razing her walls and destroying with fire andsword all her most wonderful and noble buildings, burnt the whole cityfrom end to end, and, having robbed her of every living body, left her aprey to flames and fire, so that there was not found in her in eighteensuccessive days a single living soul; and he cast down and destroyed socompletely the marvellous statues, pictures, mosaics, and works instucco, that there was lost, I do not say only their majesty, but theirvery form and essence. Wherefore, it being the lower rooms chiefly ofthe palaces and other buildings that were wrought with stucco, withpainting, and with statuary, there was buried by the ruins from aboveall that good work that has been discovered in our own day, and thosewho came after, judging the whole to be in ruins, planted vines thereon, in a manner that, since the said lower rooms remained under the ground, the moderns have called them grottoes, and "grotesque" the pictures thatare therein seen at the present day. 

After the end of the Ostrogoths, who were destroyed by Narses, men wereliving among the ruins of Rome in some fashion, poorly indeed, whenthere came, after 100 years, Constantine II, Emperor of Constantinople, who, although received lovingly by the Romans, laid waste, robbed, andcarried away all that had remained, more by chance than by the good willof those who had destroyed her, in the miserable city of Rome. It istrue, indeed, that he was not able to enjoy this booty, because, beingcarried by a sea-tempest to Sicily and being justly slain by his ownmen, he left his spoils, his kingdom, and his life a prey to Fortune. But she, not yet content with the woes of Rome, to the end that thethings stolen might never return, brought thither for the ruin of theisland a host of Saracens, who carried off both the wealth of theSicilians and the spoils of Rome to Alexandria, to the very great shameand loss of Italy and of Christendom. And so all that the Pontiffs hadnot destroyed (and above all S. Gregory, who is said to have decreedbanishment against all the remainder of the statues and of the spoils ofthe buildings) came finally, at the hands of that most rascally Greek, to an evil end; in a manner that, there being no trace or sign to befound of anything that was in any way good, the men who came after, although rude and boorish, and in particular in their pictures andsculptures, yet, incited by nature and refined by the air, setthemselves to work, not according to the rules of the aforesaid arts, which they did not know, but according to the quality of their ownintelligence. 

The arts of design, then, having been brought to these limits bothbefore and during the lordship of the Lombards over Italy and alsoafterwards, continued gradually to grow worse, although some little workwas done, insomuch that nothing could have been more rudely wrought orwith less design than what was done, as bear witness, besides many otherworks, certain figures that are in the portico of S. Pietro in Rome, above the doors, wrought in the Greek manner in memory of certain holyfathers who had made disputation for Holy Church in certain councils. Tothis, likewise, bear witness many works in the same manner that are tobe seen in the city and in the whole Exarchate of Ravenna, and inparticular some that are in S. Maria Rotonda without that city, made alittle time after the Lombards had been driven out of Italy. In thischurch, as I will not forbear to say, there may be seen a thing mostnotable and marvellous, namely, the vault, or rather cupola, that coversit, which, although it is ten braccia wide and serves for roof andcovering to that building, is nevertheless of one single piece, so greatand ponderous that it seems almost impossible that such a stone, weighing more than 200, 000 libbre, [4] could have been set into place sohigh. But to return to our subject; there issued from the hands of themasters of these times those puppet-like and uncouth figures that arestill to be seen in the works of old. The same thing happened toarchitecture, seeing that, since it was necessary to build, and sinceform and the good method were completely lost by reason of the death ofthe craftsmen and the destruction and ruin of their works, those whoapplied themselves to this exercise built nothing that either inordering or in proportion showed any grace, or design, or reasonwhatsoever. Wherefore there came to arise new architects, who broughtfrom their barbarous races the method of that manner of buildings thatare called by us to-day German; and they made some that are rather asource of laughter for us moderns than creditable to them, until bettercraftsmen afterwards found a better style, in some measure similar tothe good style of the ancients, even as that manner may be seenthroughout all Italy in the old churches (but not the ancient), whichwere built by them, such as a palace of Theodoric, King of Italy, inRavenna, and one in Pavia, and another in Modena; all in a barbarousmanner, and rather rich and vast than well-conceived or of goodarchitecture. The same may be affirmed of S. Stefano in Rimini, of S. Martino in Ravenna, and of the Church of S. Giovanni Evangelista, erected in the same city by Galla Placidia about the year of oursalvation 438; of S. Vitale, which was erected in the year 547, of theAbbey of Classi di Fuori, and in short of many other monasteries andchurches erected after the Lombard rule. All these buildings, as hasbeen said, are both large and magnificent, but of the rudestarchitecture, and among them are many abbeys in France erected to S. Benedict, the Church and Monastery of Monte Casino, and the Church of S. Giovanni Battista at Monza, built by that Theodelinda, Queen of theGoths, to whom S. Gregory the Pope wrote his Dialogues; in which placethat Queen caused to be painted the story of the Lombards, wherein itwas seen that they shaved the back of their heads, and in front they hadlong locks, and they dyed themselves as far as the chin. Their garmentswere of ample linen, as was the use of the Angles and Saxons, and belowa mantle of diverse colours; their shoes open as far as the toes andtied above with certain straps of leather. Similar to the aforesaidchurches were the Church of S. Giovanni in Pavia, erected by Gondiberta, daughter of the aforesaid Theodelinda, and in the same city the Churchof S. Salvadore, built by the brother of the said Queen, Aribert, whosucceeded to the throne of Rodoald, husband of Gondiberta; and theChurch of S. Ambrogio in Pavia, erected by Grimoald, King of theLombards, who drove Bertrid, son of Aribert, from his throne. ThisBertrid, being restored to his throne after the death of Grimoald, erected, also in Pavia, a monastery for nuns called the MonasterioNuovo, in honour of Our Lady and of S. Agatha; and the Queen erected onewithout the walls, dedicated to the "Virgin Mary in Pertica. " Cunibert, likewise, son of that Bertrid, erected a monastery and church after thesame manner to S. Giorgio, called di Coronate, on the spot where he hadgained a great victory over Alahi. Not unlike to these, too, was thechurch that the King of the Lombards, Luitprand (who lived in the timeof King Pepin, father of Charlemagne), built in Pavia, which is calledS. Pietro in Cieldauro; nor that one, likewise, that Desiderius built, who reigned after Astolf--namely, S. Pietro Clivate, in the diocese ofMilan; nor the Monastery of S. Vincenzo in Milan, nor that of S. Giuliain Brescia, seeing that they were all built at the greatest cost, but inthe most ugly and haphazard manner. 

Later, in Florence, architecture made some little progress, and theChurch of S. Apostolo, that was erected by Charlemagne, although small, was most beautiful in manner; for not to mention that the shafts of thecolumns, although they are of separate pieces, show much grace and aremade with beautiful proportion, the capitals, also, and the archesturned to make the little vaulted roofs of the two small aisles, showthat in Tuscany there had survived or in truth arisen some goodcraftsman. In short, the architecture of this church is such thatFilippo di Ser Brunellesco did not disdain to avail himself of it as amodel in building the Church of S. Spirito and that of S. Lorenzo in thesame city. The same may be seen in the Church of S. Marco in Venice, which (to say nothing of S. Giorgio Maggiore, erected by GiovanniMorosini in the year 978) was begun under the Doge Giustiniano andGiovanni Particiaco, close by S. Teodosio, when the body of thatEvangelist was sent from Alexandria to Venice; and after many fires, which greatly damaged the Doge's palace and the church, it was finallyrebuilt on the same foundations in the Greek manner and in that stylewherein it is seen to-day, at very great cost and under the direction ofmany architects, in the year of Christ 973, at the time of Doge DomenicoSelvo, who had the columns brought from wheresoever he could find them. And so it continued to go on up to the year 1140, when the Doge wasMesser Piero Polani, and, as has been said, with the design of manymasters, all Greeks. In the same Greek manner and about the same timewere the seven abbeys that Count Ugo, Marquis of Brandenburg, caused tobe built in Tuscany, as can be seen in the Badia of Florence, in that ofSettimo, and in the others; which buildings, with the remains of thosethat are no longer standing, bear testimony that architecture was stillin a measure holding its ground, although greatly corrupted and farremoved from the good manner of the ancients. To this can also bearwitness many old palaces built in Florence after the ruin of Fiesole, inTuscan workmanship, but with barbaric ordering in the proportions ofthose doors and windows of immense length, in the curves of the pointedquarter-segments, and in the turning of the arches, after the wont ofthe foreign architects of those times. 

The year afterwards, 1013, it is clear that the art had regained some ofits vigour from the rebuilding of that most beautiful church, S. Miniatoin Sul Monte, in the time of Messer Alibrando, citizen and Bishop ofFlorence; for the reason that, besides the marble ornaments that areseen therein both within and without, it may be seen from the façadethat the Tuscan architects strove as much as they could in the doors, the windows, the columns, the arches, and the mouldings, to imitate thegood order of the ancients, having in part recovered it from the mostancient temple of S. Giovanni in their city. At the same time painting, which was little less than wholly spent, may be seen to have begun towin back something, as the mosaic shows that was made in the principalchapel[5] of the said Church of S. Miniato. 

From such beginnings, then, these arts commenced to grow better indesign throughout Tuscany, as is seen in the year 1016, from thecommencement made by the people of Pisa for the building of their Duomo, seeing that in those times it was a great thing for men to put theirhands to the construction of a church made, as this was, with fivenaves, and almost wholly of marble both within and without. This church, which was built under the direction and design of Buschetto, a Greek ofDulichium, an architect of rarest worth for those times, was erected andadorned by the people of Pisa with innumerable spoils brought by sea(for they were at the height of their greatness) from diverse mostdistant places, as is well shown by the columns, bases, capitals, cornices, and all the other kinds of stonework that are therein seen. And seeing that these things were some of them small, some large, andsome of a middle size, great was the judgment and the talent ofBuschetto in accommodating them and in making the distribution of allthis building, which is very well arranged both within and without; andbesides other work, he contrived the frontal slope of the façade veryingeniously with a great number of columns, adorning it besides withcolumns carved in diverse and varied ways, and with ancient statues, even as he also made the principal doors in the same façade, betweenwhich--that is, beside that of the Carroccio--there was afterwards givenan honourable burial-place to Buschetto himself, with three epitaphs, whereof this is one, in Latin verses in no way dissimilar to others ofthose times:

 QUOD VIX MILLE BOUM POSSENT JUGA JUNCTA MOVERE, ET QUOD VIX POTUIT PER MARE FERRE RATIS, BUSCHETTI NISU, QUOD ERAT MIRABILE VISU, DENA PUELLARUM TURBA LEVAVIT ONUS. 

And seeing that there has been made mention above of the Church of S. Apostolo in Florence, I will not forbear to say that on a marble slabtherein, on one side of the high-altar, there may be seen these words:

 VIII. V. DIE VI. APRILIS IN RESURRECTIONE DOMINI, KAROLUS FRANCORUM REX A ROMA REVERTENS, INGRESSUS FLORENTIAM, CUM MAGNO GAUDIO ET TRIPUDIO SUSCEPTUS, CIVIUM COPIAM TORQUEIS AUREIS DECORAVIT ... ECCLESIA SANCTORUM APOSTOLORUM ... IN ALTARI INCLUSA EST LAMINA PLUMBEA, IN QUA DESCRIPTA APPARET PRÆFATA FUNDATIO ET CONSECRATIO FACTA PER ARCHIEPISCOPUM TURPINUM, TESTIBUS ROLANDO ET ULIVERIO. 

The aforesaid edifice of the Duomo in Pisa, awaking the minds of many tofair enterprises throughout all Italy, and above all in Tuscany, was thecause that in the city of Pistoia, in the year 1032, a beginning wasmade for the Church of S. Paolo, in the presence of the Blessed Atto, Bishop of that city, as may be read in a contract made at that time, and, in short, for many other buildings whereof it would take too longto make mention at present. I cannot forbear to say, however, followingthe course of time, that afterwards, in the year 1060, there was erectedin Pisa the round church of S. Giovanni, opposite the Duomo and in thesame square. And something marvellous and almost wholly incredible is tobe found recorded in an old book of the Works of the said Duomo, namely, that the columns of the said S. Giovanni, the pillars, and the vaultingwere raised and completed in fifteen days and no more. In the same book, which anyone can see who has the wish, it may be read that for thebuilding of this church there was imposed a tax of one danaio for eachfire, but it is not said therein whether of gold or of small coin; andat that time there were in Pisa, as may be seen in the same book, 34, 000fires. Truly this work was vast, of great cost, and difficult toexecute, and above all the vaulting of the tribune, made in the shape ofa pear and covered without with lead. The outer side is full of columns, carvings, and groups, and on the frieze of the central door is a JesusChrist with the twelve Apostles in half-relief, after the Greek manner. 

The people of Lucca, about the same time--that is, in the year 1061--asrivals of the people of Pisa, began the Church of S. Martino in Luccafrom the design of certain disciples of Buschetto, there being then noother architects in Tuscany. Attached to the façade of this church theremay be seen a marble portico with many ornaments and carvings made inmemory of Pope Alexander II, who had been, a short time before he waselected to the Pontificate, Bishop of that city. Of this constructionand of Alexander himself everything is fully told in nine Latin verses, and the same may be seen in certain other ancient letters engraved onthe marble under the portico, between the doors. On the said façade arecertain figures, and under the portico many scenes in marble from thelife of S. Martin, in half-relief, and in the Greek manner. But thebest, which are over one of the doors, were made 170 years after byNiccola Pisano and finished in 1233, as will be told in the properplace; the Wardens, when these were begun, being Abellenato andAliprando, as it may be clearly seen from certain letters carved inmarble in the same place. These figures by the hand of Niccola Pisanoshow how much improvement there came from him to the art of sculpture. Similar to these were most, nay, all of the buildings that were erectedin Italy from the times aforesaid up to the year 1250, seeing thatlittle or no acquisition or improvement can be seen to have been made inthe space of so many years by architecture, which stayed within the samelimits and went on ever in that rude manner, whereof many examples arestill to be seen, of which I will at present make no mention, for thereason that they will be spoken of below according to the occasions thatmay come before me. 

In like manner the good sculptures and pictures which had been buriedunder the ruins of Italy remained up to the same time hidden from or notknown to the men boorishly reared in the rudeness of the modern use ofthat age, wherein no other sculptures or pictures existed than thosewhich a remnant of old Greeks were making either in images of clay orstone, or painting monstrous figures and covering only the barelineaments with colour. These craftsmen, as the best, being the onlyones in these professions, were summoned to Italy, whither they broughtsculpture and painting, together with mosaic, in that style whereinthey knew them; and even so they taught them rudely and roughly to theItalians, who afterwards made use of them, as has been told and will betold further, up to a certain time. And the men of those times, notbeing used to see other excellence or greater perfection in any workthan that which they themselves saw, marvelled and took these for thebest, for all that they were vile, until the spirits of the generationthen arising, helped in some places by the subtlety of the air, becameso greatly purged that about 1250, Heaven, moved to pity for the lovelyminds that the Tuscan soil was producing every day, restored them totheir first condition. And although those before them had seen remainsof arches, of colossi, of statues, of urns, and of storied columns inthe ages that came after the sackings, the destructions, and theburnings of Rome, and never knew how to make use of them or draw fromthem any benefit, up to the time mentioned above, the minds that cameafter, discerning well enough the good from the bad and abandoning theold manners, turned to imitating the ancient with all their industry andwit. 

But in order that it may be understood more clearly what I call "old"and what "ancient, " the "ancient" were the works made before Constantinein Corinth, in Athens, in Rome, and in other very famous cities, untilthe time of Nero, the Vespasians, Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus;whereas those others are called "old" that were executed from S. Silvester's day up to that time by a certain remnant of Greeks, who knewrather how to dye than how to paint. For since the excellent earlycraftsmen had been killed in these wars, as has been said, to theremainder of these Greeks, old but not ancient, there had been leftnothing but elementary outlines on a ground of colour; and to this atthe present day witness is borne by an infinity of mosaics, which, wrought throughout all Italy by these Greeks, are to be seen in everyold church in any city whatsoever of Italy, and above all in the Duomoof Pisa, in S. Marco at Venice, and in other places as well; and so, too, they kept making many pictures in that manner, with eyes staring, hands outstretched, and standing on tiptoe, as may still be seen in S. Miniato without Florence, between the door that leads into the sacristyand that which leads into the convent; and in S. Spirito in the saidcity, the whole side of the cloister opposite the church; and in likemanner at Arezzo, in S. Giuliano and S. Bartolommeo and in otherchurches; and in Rome, in the old Church of S. Pietro, scenes rightround between the windows--works that have more of the monstrous intheir lineaments than of likeness to whatsoever they represent. Ofsculptures, likewise, they made an infinity, as may still be seen inlow-relief over the door of S. Michele in the Piazza Padella ofFlorence, and in Ognissanti; and tombs and adornments in many places forthe doors of churches, wherein they have certain figures for corbels tosupport the roof, so rude and vile, so misshapen, and of such agrossness of manner, that it appears impossible that worse could beimagined. 

Thus far have I thought fit to discourse from the beginning of sculptureand of painting, and peradventure at greater length than was necessaryin this place, which I have done, indeed, not so much carried away by myaffection for art as urged by the common benefit and advantage of ourcraftsmen. For having seen in what way she, from a small beginning, climbed to the greatest height, and how from a state so noble she fellinto utter ruin, and that, in consequence, the nature of this art issimilar to that of the others, which, like human bodies, have theirbirth, their growth, their growing old, and their death; they will nowbe able to recognize more easily the progress of her second birth and ofthat very perfection whereto she has risen again in our times. And Ihope, moreover, that if ever (which God forbid) it should happen at anytime, through the negligence of men, or through the malice of time, or, finally, through the decree of Heaven, which appears to be unwillingthat the things of this earth should exist for long in one form, thatshe falls again into the same chaos of ruin; that these my labours, whatsoever they may be worth (if indeed they may be worthy of a happierfortune), both through what has been already said and through whatremains to say, may be able to keep her alive or at least to encouragethe most exalted minds to provide them with better assistance; so muchso that, what with my good will and the works of these masters, she mayabound in those aids and adornments wherein, if I may freely speak thetruth, she has been wanting up to the present day. 

But it is now time to come to the Life of Giovanni Cimabue, and even ashe gave the first beginning to the new method of drawing and painting, so it is just and expedient that he should give it to the Lives, inwhich I will do my utmost to observe, the most that I can, the order oftheir manners rather than that of time. And in describing the forms andfeatures of the craftsmen I will be brief, seeing that their portraits, which have been collected by me with no less cost and fatigue thandiligence, will show better what sort of men the craftsmen themselveswere in appearance than describing them could ever do; and if theportrait of any one of them should be wanting, that is not through myfault but by reason of its being nowhere found. And if the saidportraits were not peradventure to appear to someone to be absolutelylike to others that might be found, I wish it to be remembered that theportrait made of a man when he was eighteen or twenty years old willnever be like to the portrait that may have been made fifteen or twentyyears later. To this it must be added that portraits in drawing arenever so like as are those in colours, not to mention that theengravers, who have no draughtsmanship, always rob the faces (beingunable or not knowing how to make exactly those minutenesses that makethem good and true to life) of that perfection which is rarely or neverfound in portraits cut in wood. In short, how great have been therein mylabour, expense, and diligence, will be evident to those who, inreading, will see whence I have to the best of my ability unearthedthem. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 4: The libbra is twelve ounces of our ordinary pound(avoirdupois). ]

[Footnote 5: It is difficult to find a rendering of "cappella maggiore"that is absolutely satisfactory. There may be a chapel in some churchesthat is actually larger than the "principal chapel. " The principalchapel generally contains the choir, but not always, and when Vasariwants to say "choir" he uses the word "coro. " The rendering "principalchapel" has therefore been adopted as the least misleading. ]

CONCERNING THE LIVES OF THE PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND ARCHITECTS, WHOHAVE LIVED FROM CIMABUE TO THE PRESENT DAY. WRITTEN BY MESSER GIORGIOVASARI, PAINTER OF AREZZO

GIOVANNI CIMABUE

[Illustration: _Alinari_

MADONNA, CHILD AND ANGELS

(_After the painting by_ Cimabue. _Paris: Louvre, 1260_)]

LIFE OF GIOVANNI CIMABUE, PAINTER OF FLORENCE

By the infinite flood of evils which had laid prostrate and submergedpoor Italy there had not only been ruined everything that could trulyclaim the name of building, but there had been blotted out (and this wasof graver import) the whole body of the craftsmen, when, by the will ofGod, in the city of Florence, in the year 1240, there was born, to givethe first light to the art of painting, Giovanni, surnamed Cimabue, ofthe family, noble in those times, of Cimabue. He, while growing up, being judged by his father and by others to have a beautiful and acuteintelligence, was sent, to the end that he might exercise himself inletters, to a master in S. Maria Novella, his relative, who was thenteaching grammar to the novices of that convent; but Cimabue, in placeof attending to his letters, would spend the whole day, as one who felthimself led thereto by nature, in drawing, on books and other papers, men, horses, houses, and diverse other things of fancy; to which naturalinclination fortune was favourable, for certain Greek painters had beensummoned to Florence by those who then governed the city, for nothingelse but to restore to Florence the art of painting, which was ratherout of mind than out of fashion, and they began, among the other worksundertaken in the city, the Chapel of the Gondi, whereof to-day thevaulting and the walls are little less than eaten away by time, as maybe seen in S. Maria Novella beside the principal chapel, where itstands. Wherefore Cimabue, having begun to take his first steps in thisart which pleased him, playing truant often from school, would stand thelivelong day watching these masters at work, in a manner that, beingjudged by his father and by these painters to be in such wise fittedfor painting that there could be hoped for him, applying himself to thisprofession, an honourable success, to his own no small satisfaction hewas apprenticed by the said father to these men; whereupon, exercisinghimself without ceasing, in a short time nature assisted him so greatlythat he surpassed by a long way, both in drawing and in colouring, themanner of the masters who were teaching him. For they, giving no thoughtto making any advance, had made those works in that fashion wherein theyare seen to-day--that is, not in the good ancient manner of the Greeksbut in that rude modern manner of those times; and because, although heimitated these Greeks, he added much perfection to the art, relieving itof a great part of their rude manner, he gave honour to his country withhis name and with the works that he made, to which witness is borne inFlorence by the pictures that he wrought, such as the front of the altarin S. Cecilia, and in S. Croce a panel with a Madonna, which was andstill is placed against a pilaster on the right within the choir. Afterthis, he made a S. Francis on a small panel on a gold ground, andportrayed him from nature (which was something new in those times) asbest he knew, and round him all the stories of his life, in twenty smallpictures full of little figures on a gold ground. 

Having next undertaken to make a large panel for the monks ofVallombrosa, in the Abbey of S. Trinita in Florence, he showed in thatwork (using therein great diligence, so as to rise equal to the esteemwhich had already been conceived of him) better inventions and abeautiful method in the attitude of a Madonna, whom he made with theChild in her arms and with many angels round her in adoration, on a goldground; which panel, being finished, was placed by these monks over thehigh-altar of the said church, and being afterwards removed, in order togive that place to the panel by Alesso Baldovinetti which is thereto-day, it was placed in a smaller chapel in the left-hand aisle of thesaid church. 

Working next in fresco on the Hospital of the Porcellana, at the cornerof the Via Nuova which goes into the Borg' Ognissanti, on the façadewhich has in the middle the principal door, and making on one side theAnnunciation of the Virgin by the Angel, and on the other Jesus Christwith Cleophas and Luke, figures as large as life, he swept away thatancient manner, making the draperies, the vestments, and everything elsein this work, a little more lively and more natural and softer than themanner of these Greeks, all full of lines and profiles both in mosaicand in painting; which manner, rough, rude, and vulgar, the painters ofthose times, not by means of study, but by a certain convention, hadtaught one to the other for many and many a year, without ever thinkingof bettering their draughtsmanship, of beauty of colouring, or of anyinvention that might be good. 

Cimabue, being summoned again after this work by the same Prior who hadcaused him to make the works in S. Croce, made him a large Crucifix onwood, which is still seen to-day in the church; which work was thereason, it appearing to the Prior that he had been well served, that hetook him to S. Francesco in Pisa, their convent, in order to make a S. Francis on a panel, which was held by these people to be a most rarework, there being seen therein a certain greater quality of excellence, both in the air of the heads and in the folds of the draperies, than hadbeen shown in the Greek manner up to that time by anyone who had wroughtanything, not only in Pisa, but in all Italy. Cimabue having next madefor the same church on a large panel the image of Our Lady, with theChild in her arms and with many angels round her, also on a ground ofgold, it was after no long time removed from where it had been set upthe first time, in order to make there the marble altar that is there atpresent, and was placed within the church beside the door on the lefthand; and for this work he was much praised and rewarded by the peopleof Pisa. In the same city of Pisa, at the request of the then Abbot ofS. Paolo in Ripa d'Arno, he made a S. Agnes on a little panel, and roundher, with little figures, all the stories of her life; which littlepanel is to-day over the altar of the Virgins in the said church. 

By reason of these works, then, the name of Cimabue being very famouseverywhere, he was brought to Assisi, a city of Umbria, where, incompany with certain Greek masters, in the lower Church of S. Francesco, he painted part of the vaulting, and on the walls the life ofJesus Christ and that of S. Francis. In these pictures he surpassed by along way those Greek painters; wherefore, growing in courage, he beganby his own self to paint the upper church in fresco, and in the chiefapse, over the choir, on four sides, he made certain stories of OurLady--namely, her death; when her soul is borne by Christ to Heaven upona throne of clouds; and when, in the midst of a choir of angels, Hecrowns her, with a great number of saints below, both male and female, now eaten away by time and by dust. Next, in the sections of thevaulting of the said church, which are five, he painted in like mannermany scenes. In the first, over the choir, he made the four Evangelists, larger than life, and so well that to-day there is still recognized inthem much that is good, and the freshness of the colours in the fleshshows that painting began to make great progress in fresco work throughthe labours of Cimabue. The second section he made full of golden starson a ground of ultramarine. In the third he made in certain medallionsJesus Christ, the Virgin His mother, S. John the Baptist, and S. Francis--namely, in every medallion one of these figures, and in everyquarter segment of the vaulting a medallion. And between this and thefifth section he painted the fourth with golden stars, as above, on aground of ultramarine. In the fifth he painted the four Doctors of theChurch, and beside each one of these one of the four chief ReligiousOrders--a work truly laborious and executed with infinite diligence. Thevaulting finished, he wrought, also in fresco, the upper walls of thewhole left-hand side of the church, making towards the high-altar, between the windows and right up to the vaulting, eight scenes from theOld Testament, commencing from the beginning of Genesis and followingthe most notable events. And in the space that is round the windows, upto the point where they end in the gallery that encircles the interiorof the wall of the church, he painted the remainder of the Old Testamentin eight other scenes. And opposite this work, in sixteen other scenescorresponding to these, he painted the acts of Our Lady and of JesusChrist. And on the end wall over the principal door, and round the rosewindow of the church, he made her Ascension into Heaven and the HolySpirit descending on the Apostles. This work, truly very great andrich and most excellently executed, must have, in my judgment, amazedthe world in those times, seeing, above all, that painting had lain solong in such great darkness; and to me, who saw it again in the year1563, it appeared very beautiful, thinking how in so great darknessCimabue could see so great light. But of all these pictures (and to thiswe should give consideration), those on the roof, as being less injuredby dust and by other accidents, have been preserved much better than theothers. These works finished, Giovanni put his hand to painting thelower walls--namely, those that are from the windows downwards--and madecertain works upon them, but being called to Florence on some businessof his own, he did not carry this work further; but it was finished, aswill be told in the proper place, by Giotto, many years afterwards. 

[Illustration: _Anderson_

"ISAAC'S BLESSING"

(_After the fresco of the_ Roman School. _Assisi: Upper Church of S. Francesco_)]

[Illustration: _Anderson_

THE DEPOSITION FROM THE CROSS

(_After the fresco by_ Pietro Laurati [Lorenzetti]. _Assisi: LowerChurch of S. Francesco_)]

Having returned, then, to Florence, Cimabue painted in the cloister ofS. Spirito (wherein there is painted in the Greek manner, by othermasters, the whole side facing the church) three small arches by his ownhand, from the life of Christ, and truly with much design. And at thesame time he sent certain works wrought by himself in Florence toEmpoli, which works are still held to-day in great veneration in thePieve of that township. Next, he made for the Church of S. Maria Novellathe panel of Our Lady that is set on high between the Chapel of theRucellai and that of the Bardi da Vernia; which work was of greater sizethan any figure that had been made up to that time. And certain angelsthat are round it show that, although he still had the Greek manner, hewas going on approaching in part to the line and method of the modern. Wherefore this work caused so great marvel to the people of that age, byreason of there not having been seen up to then anything better, that itwas borne in most solemn procession from the house of Cimabue to thechurch, with much rejoicing and with trumpets, and he was thereby muchrewarded and honoured. It is said, and it may be read in certain recordsof old painters, that while Cimabue was painting the said panel incertain gardens close to the Porta S. Pietro, there passed throughFlorence King Charles the Elder of Anjou, and that, among the many signsof welcome made to him by the men of this city, they brought him to seeCimabue's panel; whereupon, for the reason that it had not yet been seenby anyone, in the showing it to the King there flocked together to itall the men and all the women of Florence, with the utmost rejoicing andin the greatest crowd in the world. Wherefore, by reason of the joy thatthe neighbours had thereby, they called that place the Borgo Allegri;which place, although enclosed in time within the walls, has ever afterretained the same name. 

In S. Francesco in Pisa, where he wrought, as has been said above, certain other works, there is in the cloister, beside the door thatleads into the church, in a corner, a small panel in distemper by thehand of Cimabue, wherein is a Christ on the Cross, with certain angelsround Him, who, weeping, are taking with their hands certain words thatare written round the head of Christ and are presenting them to the earsof a Madonna who stands weeping on the right, and on the other side toS. John the Evangelist, who is on the left, all grieving. And the wordsto the Virgin are: MULIER, ECCE FILIUS TUUS; and those to S. John: ECCEMATER TUA; and those that an angel standing apart holds in his hand, say: EX ILLA HORA ACCEPIT EAM DISCIPULUS IN SUAM. Wherein it is to beobserved that Cimabue began to give light and to open the way toinvention, assisting art with words in order to express his conception;which was certainly something whimsical and new. 

Now because, by means of these works, Cimabue had acquired a very greatname, together with much profit, he was appointed as architect, incompany with Arnolfo Lapi, a man then excellent in architecture, for thebuilding of S. Maria del Fiore in Florence. But at length, having livedsixty years, he passed to the other life in the year 1300, having littleless than resurrected painting. He left many disciples, and among othersGiotto, who was afterwards an excellent painter; which Giotto dwelt, after Cimabue, in his master's own house in the Via del Cocomero. Cimabue was buried in S. Maria del Fiore, with that epitaph made for himby one of the Nini:

 CREDIDIT UT CIMABOS PICTURÆ CASTRA TENERE, SIC TENUIT, VIVENS: NUNC TENET ASTRA POLI. 

[Illustration: _Anderson_

THE CRUCIFIXION

(_After the fresco by_ Cimabue. _Assisi: Upper Church of S. Francesco_)]

I will not refrain from saying that if to the glory of Cimabue there hadnot been contrasted the greatness of Giotto, his disciple, his famewould have been greater, as Dante demonstrates in his _Commedia_, wherein, alluding in the eleventh canto of the _Purgatorio_ to this veryinscription on the tomb, he said:

 Credette Cimabue nella pittura Tener lo campo, ed hora ha Giotto il grido, Si che la fama di colui s' oscura. 

In explanation of these verses, a commentator of Dante, who wrote at thetime when Giotto was alive and ten or twelve years after the death ofDante himself--that is, about the year of Christ 1334--says, speaking ofCimabue, precisely these words: "Cimabue was a painter of Florence inthe time of the author, very noble beyond the knowledge of man, andwithal so arrogant and so disdainful that if there were found by anyoneany failing or defect in his work, or if he himself had seen one (evenas it comes to pass many times that the craftsman errs, through a defectin the material whereon he works, or through some lack in the instrumentwherewith he labours), incontinently he would destroy that work, howevercostly it might be. Giotto was and is the most exalted among thepainters of the same city of Florence, and his works bear testimony forhim in Rome, in Naples, in Avignon, in Florence, in Padua, and in manyparts of the world. " This commentary is now in the hands of the VeryReverend Don Vincenzio Borghini, Prior of the Innocenti, a man not onlymost famous for his nobility, goodness, and learning, but also endowedwith such love and understanding for all the finer arts that he hasdeserved to be elected by the Lord Duke Cosimo, most properly, as hisLieutenant in our Academy of Design. 

But to return to Cimabue: Giotto, truly, obscured his fame not otherwisethan as a great light does the splendour of one much less, for thereason that although Cimabue was, as it were, the first cause of therenovation of the art of painting, yet Giotto, his pupil, moved bylaudable ambition and assisted by Heaven and by nature, was he who, rising higher with his thought, opened the gate of truth to those whohave brought her to that perfection and majesty wherein we see her inher own century, which, being used to see every day the marvels, themiracles, nay, the impossibilities wrought by the craftsmen in that art, is now brought to such a pitch that nothing that men do, be it even moreDivine than human, causes it in any way to marvel. Well is it with thosewhose labours deserve all praise, if, in place of being praised andadmired, they do not thereby incur blame and many times even disgrace. 

The portrait of Cimabue, by the hand of Simone Sanese, is to be seen inthe Chapter-house of S. Maria Novella, made in profile in the story ofthe Faith, in a figure that has the face thin, the beard small, reddish, and pointed, with a cap according to the use of those times--that is, wound round and round and under the throat in lovely fashion. He who isbeside him is Simone himself, the author of that work, who portrayedhimself with two mirrors in order to make his head in profile, placingthe one opposite to the other. And that soldier clad in armour who isbetween them is said to be Count Guido Novello, then Lord of Poppi. There remains for me to say of Cimabue that in the beginning of ourbook, where I have put together drawings from the own hand of all thosewho have made drawings from his time to ours, there are to be seencertain small things made by his hand in the way of miniature, wherein, although to-day perchance they appear rather rude than otherwise, it isseen how much excellence was given by his work to draughtsmanship. 

[Illustration: CIMABUE: MADONNA AND CHILD

(_Florence: Accademia 102 Panel_)]

ARNOLFO DI LAPO

LIFE OF ARNOLFO DI LAPO, ARCHITECT OF FLORENCE

 [NOTICE TO READERS IN THE LIFE OF ARNOLFO. --The said Arnolfo began, in S. Maria Maggiore in Rome, the tomb of Pope Honorius III, of the house of Savelli; which tomb he left imperfect, with the portrait of the said Pope, which was afterwards placed with his design in the principal chapel of mosaic of S. Paolo in Rome, with the portrait of Giovanni Gaetano, Abbot of that monastery. And the marble chapel, wherein is the Manger of Jesus Christ, was one of the last pieces of sculpture in marble that Arnolfo ever made; and he made it at the instance of Pandolfo Ippotecorvo, in the year twelve (?), as an epitaph bears witness that is on the wall beside the chapel; and likewise the chapel and tomb of Pope Boniface VIII, in S. Pietro in Rome, whereon is carved the same name of Arnolfo, who wrought it. ]

Having discoursed, in the Preface to the Lives, of certain buildings ina manner old but not ancient, and having been silent, for the reasonthat I did not know them, about the names of the architects who hadcharge of their construction, I will make mention, in the Preface tothis Life of Arnolfo, of certain other edifices built in his time or alittle before, whereof in like manner it is not known who were themasters; and then of those that were built in the same times, whereof itis known who were the architects, either because the manner of theedifices themselves is recognized very well, or because we have hadinformation about them by means of the writings and memorials left bythem in the works that they made. Nor will this be outside our subject, seeing that, although they are neither in a beautiful nor in a goodmanner but only vast and magnificent, they are worthy none the less ofsome consideration. 

There were built, then, in the time of Lapo and of Arnolfo his son, manyedifices of importance both in Italy and abroad, whereof I have not beenable to find the architects, such as the Abbey of Monreale in Sicily, the Piscopio of Naples, the Certosa of Pavia, the Duomo of Milan, S. Pietro and S. Petronio in Bologna, and many others which are seenthroughout all Italy, built at incredible cost. Having seen all thesebuildings for myself and studied them, and likewise many sculptures ofthose times, particularly in Ravenna, and not having ever found, I donot say any memorials of the masters, but even many times the date whenthey were built, I cannot but marvel at the rudeness and little desirefor glory of the men of that age. But returning to our subject; afterthe buildings named above, there began at last to arise men of a moreexalted spirit, who, if they did not find, sought at least to findsomething of the good. The first was Buono, of whom I know neither thecountry nor the surname, for the reason that in making record of himselfin some of his works he put nothing but simply his name. He, being bothsculptor and architect, first made many palaces and churches and somesculptures in Ravenna, in the year of our salvation 1152; and havingbecome known by reason of these works, he was called to Naples, where hefounded (although they were finished by others, as will be told) theCastel Capoano and the Castel dell' Uovo; and afterwards, in the time ofDomenico Morosini, Doge of Venice, he founded the Campanile of S. Marcowith much consideration and judgment, having caused the foundation ofthat tower to be so well fixed with piles that it has never moved ahair's-breadth, as many buildings constructed in that city before hisday have been seen and still are seen to have done. And from him, perchance, the Venetians learnt to found, in the manner in which they doit to-day, the very beautiful and very rich edifices that every day arebeing built so magnificently in that most noble city. It is true, indeed, that this tower has nothing else good in it, neither manner, norornament, nor, in short, anything that might be worthy of much praise. It was finished under Anastasius IV and Adrian IV, Pontiffs, in the year1154. In architecture, likewise, Buono made the Church of S. Andrea inPistoia, and in sculpture he made an architrave of marble that is overthe door, full of figures made in the manner of the Goths, on whicharchitrave his name is carved, with the date when this work was made byhim, which was the year 1166. Next, being summoned to Florence, he gavethe design for enlarging, as was done, the Church of S. Maria Maggiore, which was then without the city, and held in great veneration for thereason that Pope Pelagius had consecrated it many years before, andbecause, as to size and manner, it was a very fair body of a church. 

Being then summoned by the Aretines to their city, Buono built the oldhabitation of the Lords of Arezzo, namely, a palace in the manner of theGoths, and beside it a bell-tower. This edifice, which for that mannerwas good enough, was thrown to the ground, because it was opposite andvery near to the fortress of that city, in the year 1533. Afterwards, the art making some little improvement through the works of oneGuglielmo, German (I believe) in origin, there were built certainedifices of the greatest cost and in a slightly better manner; for thisGuglielmo, so it is said, in the year 1174, together with Bonanno, asculptor, founded in Pisa the Campanile of the Duomo, where there arecertain words carved that say: A. D. MCLXXIV, CAMPANILE HOC FUITFUNDATUM, MENSE AUG. But these two architects not having much practiceof founding in Pisa and therefore not supporting the platform withpiles, as they ought, before they had gone halfway with that building itinclined to one side and bent over to the weakest part, in a manner thatthe said campanile leans six and a half braccia[6] out of the straight, according as the foundation sank on this side; and although in the lowerpart this is not much, up above it shows clear enough to make men standfast in a marvel how it can be that it has not fallen down and has notthrown out cracks. The reason is that this edifice is round both withoutand within and built in the shape of a hollow well, and bound togetherwith the stones in a manner that it is well-nigh impossible that itshould fall; and it is assisted, above all, by the foundations, whichhave an outwork three braccia wide outside the tower, made, as it isseen, after the sinking of the campanile, in order to support it. I amconvinced that if it had been square it would not have been standingto-day, for the reason that the corner-stones of the square sides, as isoften seen to happen, would have forced them out in a manner that itwould have fallen down. And if the Garisenda, a tower in Bologna, although square, leans and does not fall, that comes to pass because itis slender and does not lean so much, not being burdened by so great aweight, by a great measure, as is this campanile, which is praised, notbecause it has in it any design or beautiful manner, but simply for itsextravagance, it appearing impossible to anyone who sees it that it canin any wise keep standing. And the same Bonanno, while the saidcampanile was building, made, in the year 1180, the royal door of bronzefor the said Duomo of Pisa, wherein are seen these letters:

 EGO BONANNUS PIS. MEA ARTE HANC PORTAM UNO ANNO PERFECI, TEMPORE BENEDICTI OPERARII. 

Next, from the walls that were made from ancient spoils at S. GiovanniLaterano in Rome, under Lucius III and Urban III, Pontiffs, when theEmperor Frederick was crowned by this Urban, it is seen that the art wasgoing on continually improving, because certain little temples andchapels, built, as has been said, of spoils, have passing good designand certain things in them worthy of consideration, and among othersthis, that in order not to overburden the walls of these buildings thevaulting was made of small tubes and with partitions of stucco, praiseworthy enough for these times. And from the mouldings and otherparts it is seen that the craftsmen were going on striving in order tofind the good way. 

Innocent III afterwards caused two palaces to be built on the VaticanHill, which were passing good, in so far as it has been possible todiscover; but since they were destroyed by other Popes, and inparticular by Nicholas V, who pulled down and rebuilt the greater partof one palace, there will be nothing said of them but this, that a partof them is to be seen in the great Round Tower and part in the oldsacristy of S. Pietro. This Innocent III, who ruled for nineteen yearsand took much delight in building, made many edifices in Rome; and inparticular, with the design of Marchionne Aretino, both architect andsculptor, the Conti Tower, so called from his own surname, seeing thathe was of that family. The same Marchionne, in the year when InnocentIII died, finished the building of the Pieve of Arezzo and likewise thecampanile, making in sculpture, for the façade of the said church, threerows of columns one above the other, with great variety not only in thefashion of the capitals and the bases but also in the shafts of thecolumns, some among them being thick, some slender, some joined togethertwo by two, and others four by four. In like manner there are sometwined in the manner of vines, and some made in the shape of figuresacting as supports, with diverse carvings. He also made therein manyanimals of diverse sorts that support on the middle of their backs theweights of those columns, and all with the most strange and extravagantinventions that can possibly be imagined, and not only wide of the goodorder of the ancients but almost wide of all just and reasonableproportion. But with all this, whosoever sets out well to consider thewhole sees that he went on striving to do well, and thought peradventureto have found it in that method of working and in that whimsicalvariety. The same man made in sculpture, on the arch that is over thedoor of the said church, in barbaric manner, a God the Father withcertain angels, in half-relief and rather large; and in the arch hecarved the twelve months, placing his own name underneath in roundletters, as was the custom, and the date--namely, the year 1216. It issaid that Marchionne built in the Borgo Vecchio in Rome, for the samePope Innocent III, the ancient edifice of the Hospital and Church of S. Spirito in Sassia, where there is still seen something of the old; andthe ancient church was still standing in our own day, when it wasrebuilt in modern fashion, with greater ornament and design, by PopePaul III of the house of Farnese. 

And in S. Maria Maggiore, also in Rome, he built the marble chapel wherethere is the Manger of Jesus Christ; here he portrayed from the lifePope Honorius III, whose tomb, also, he made, with ornaments some littlebetter than and different enough from the manner that was then inuniversal use throughout all Italy. About the same time Marchionne alsomade the side door of S. Pietro in Bologna, which was truly for thosetimes a work of the greatest mastery, by reason of the many carvingsthat are seen therein, such as lions in the round that sustain columns, and men in the use of porters, and other animals that support weights;and in the arch above he made the twelve months in full relief, withvarious fancies, and for each month its celestial sign; which work musthave been held marvellous in those times. 

[Illustration: RECLINING FEMALE FIGURE FROM A TOMB

(_After the_ School of Arnolfo di Lapo. _Florence: Collection Bardini_)]

About the same time there was founded the Order of the Friars Minor ofS. Francis, which was confirmed by the said Innocent III, Pontiff, inthe year 1206; and there came such growth, not only in Italy but in allthe other parts of the world, both to the devoutness and to the numberof the Friars, that there was scarce a city of account that did noterect for them churches and convents of the greatest cost, eachaccording to its power. Wherefore, Frate Elia having erected, two yearsbefore the death of S. Francis (while the Saint himself, as General, wasabroad preaching, and he, Prior in Assisi), a church with the title ofOur Lady, and S. Francis having died, and all Christendom flockingtogether to visit the body of the Saint, who, in life and in death, hadbeen known as so much the friend of God, and every man making offeringto the holy place according to his power, it was ordained that the saidchurch begun by Frate Elia should be built much greater and moremagnificent. But there being a dearth of good architects, and the workwhich was to be done having need of an excellent one, seeing that it hadto be built upon a very high hill at the foot of which there runs atorrent called Tescio, there was brought to Assisi, after muchconsideration, as the best of all that were then to be found, oneMaestro Jacopo Tedesco. He, having considered the site and grasped thewishes of the fathers, who held thereunto a general Chapter in Assisi, designed a very beautiful body of a church and convent, making in themodel three tiers, one to be made underground and the others for twochurches, one of which, on the lower level, should serve as a court, with a fairly large portico round it, and the other for a church;planning that from the first one should climb to the second by a mostconvenient flight of steps, which should wind round the principalchapel, opening out into two parts in order to lead more easily into thesecond church, to which he gave the form of a [Symbol: T], making itfive times as long as it is broad and dividing one bay from another withgreat piers of stone, on which he afterwards threw very bold arches, with groined vaulting between one and another. From a model so made, then, was built this truly very great edifice, and it was followed inevery part, save in the buttresses above that had to surround the apseand the principal chapel, and in making the vaulting groined, becausethey did not make it as has been said, but barrel-shaped, in order thatit might be stronger. Next, in front of the principal chapel of thelower church, they placed the altar, and under that, when it wasfinished, they laid, with most solemn translation, the body of S. Francis. And because the true sepulchre which holds the body of theglorious Saint is in the first--that is, in the lowest church--where noone ever goes, and the doors are walled up, round the said altar thereare very large gratings of iron, with rich ornaments in marble andmosaic, that look down therein. This building is flanked on one of thesides by two sacristies, and by a very high campanile, namely, fivetimes as high as it is broad. It had on top a very high octagonal spire, but this was removed because it threatened to fall. This whole work wasbrought to a finish in the space of four years, and no more, by thegenius of Maestro Jacopo Tedesco and by the solicitude of Frate Elia, after whose death, to the end that such a pile might never through anylapse of time fall into ruin, there were built round the lower churchtwelve very stout towers, and in each of these a spiral staircase thatclimbs from the ground up to the summit. And in time, afterwards, therewere made therein many chapels and other very rich ornaments, whereofthere is no need to discourse further, since this is enough on thissubject for the present, and above all because everyone can see how muchof the useful, the ornamental, and the beautiful has been added to thisbeginning of Maestro Jacopo's by many supreme Pontiffs, Cardinals, Princes, and other people of importance throughout all Europe. 

Now, to return to Maestro Jacopo; by means of this work he acquired sogreat fame throughout all Italy that he was summoned by those who thengoverned the city of Florence, and afterwards received with the greatestpossible friendliness; although, according to the use that theFlorentines have, and had still more in ancient times, of abbreviatingnames, he was called not Jacopo but Lapo throughout all the course ofhis life; for he dwelt ever with his whole family in that city. Andalthough he went at diverse times to erect many buildings throughoutTuscany, such as the Palace of Poppi in the Casentino, for that Countwho had had for wife the beautiful Gualdrada, and for her dower, theCasentino; and for the Aretines, the Vescovado, [7] and the PalazzoVecchio of the Lords of Pietramala; none the less his home was always inFlorence, where, having founded in the year 1218 the piers of the Pontealla Carraja, which was then called the Ponte Nuovo, he delivered themfinished in two years; and a little time afterwards the rest wasfinished of wood, as was then the custom. And in the year 1221 he gavethe design for the Church of S. Salvadore del Vescovado, which was begununder his direction, and that of S. Michele in Piazza Padella, wherethere are certain sculptures in the manner of those times. Next, havinggiven the design for draining the waters of the city, having caused thePiazza di S. Giovanni to be raised, having built, in the time of MesserRubaconte da Mandella, a Milanese, the bridge that retains the sameman's name, and having discovered that most useful method of pavingstreets, which before were covered with bricks, he made the model of thePalace, to-day of the Podestà, which was then built for the Anziani. Andfinally, having sent the model of a tomb to Sicily, to the Abbey ofMonreale, for the Emperor Frederick and by order of Manfred, he died, leaving Arnolfo, his son, heir no less to the talent than to the wealthof his father. 

This Arnolfo, from whose talent architecture gained no less bettermentthan painting had gained from that of Cimabue, being born in the year1232, was thirty years of age when his father died, and was held in verygreat esteem, for the reason that, having not only learnt from hisfather all that he knew, but having also given attention under Cimabueto design in order to make use of it in sculpture, he was held by somuch the best architect in Tuscany, that not only did the Florentinesfound the last circle of the walls of their city under his direction, inthe year 1284, and make after his design the Loggia and the piers of OrSan Michele, where the grain was sold, building them of bricks and witha simple roof above, but by his counsel, in the same year when thePoggio de' Magnuoli collapsed, on the brow of S. Giorgio above S. Luciain the Via de' Bardi, they determined by means of a public decree thatthere should be no more building on the said spot, nor should anyedifice be ever made, seeing that by the sinking of the stones, whichhave water trickling under them, there would be always danger inwhatsoever edifice might be made there. That this is true has been seenin our own day from the ruin of many buildings and magnificent houses ofnoblemen. In the next year, 1285, he founded the Loggia and Piazza de'Priori, and built the principal chapel of the Badia of Florence, and thetwo that are on either side of it, renovating the church and the choir, which at first had been made much smaller by Count Ugo, founder of thatabbey; and for Cardinal Giovanni degli Orsini, Legate of the Pope inTuscany, he built the campanile of the said church, which, according tothe works of those times, was much praised, although it did not have itscompletion of grey-stone until afterwards, in the year 1330. 

After this there was founded with his design, in the year 1294, theChurch of S. Croce, where the Friars Minor have their seat. What withthe middle nave and the two lesser ones Arnolfo constructed this sowide, that, being unable to make the vaulting below the roof by reasonof the too great space, he, with much judgment, caused arches to be madefrom pier to pier, and upon these he placed the roofs on a slope, building stone gutters over the said arches in order to carry away therain-water, and giving them so much fall as to make the roofs secure, asthey are, from the danger of rotting; which device was not only new andingenious then, but is equally useful and worthy of being consideredto-day. He then gave the design for the first cloisters of the oldconvent of that church, and a little time after he caused to be removedfrom round the Church of S. Giovanni, on the outer side, all the archesand tombs of marble and grey-stone that were there, and had part of themplaced behind the campanile on the façade of the Canon's house, besidethe Company of S. Zanobi; and then he incrusted with black marble fromPrato all the eight outer walls of the said S. Giovanni, removing thegrey-stone that there had been before between these ancient marbles. TheFlorentines, in the meanwhile, wishing to build walls in the Valdarno diSopra round Castello di San Giovanni and Castel Franco, for theconvenience of the city and of their victualling by means of themarkets, Arnolfo made the design for them in the year 1295, andsatisfied them in such a manner, as well in this as he had done in theother works, that he was made citizen of Florence. 

After these works, the Florentines determined, as Giovanni Villanirelates in his History, to build a principal church in their city, andto build it such that in point of greatness and magnificence there couldbe desired none larger or more beautiful from the industry and knowledgeof men; and Arnolfo made the design and the model of the never to besufficiently praised Church of S. Maria del Fiore, ordering that itshould be all incrusted, without, with polished marbles and with the somany cornices, pilasters, columns, carved foliage, figures, and otherornaments, with which to-day it is seen brought, if not to the whole, toa great part at least of its perfection. And what was marvellous thereinabove everything else was this, that incorporating, besides S. Reparata, other small churches and houses that were round it, in making the site, which is most beautiful, he showed so great diligence and judgment incausing the foundations of so great a fabric to be made broad and deep, filling them with good material--namely, with gravel and lime and withgreat stones below--wherefore the square is still called "Lungo iFondamenti, " that they have been very well able, as is to be seento-day, to support the weight of the great mass of the cupola whichFilippo di Ser Brunellesco raised over them. The laying of suchfoundations for so great a church was celebrated with much solemnity, for on the day of the Nativity of Our Lady, in 1298, the first stone waslaid by the Cardinal Legate of the Pope, in the presence not only ofmany Bishops and of all the clergy, but of the Podestà as well, theCaptains, Priors, and other magistrates of the city, nay, of the wholepeople of Florence, calling it S. Maria del Fiore. And because it wasestimated that the expenses of this fabric must be very great, as theyafterwards were, there was imposed a tax at the Chamber of the Communeof four danari in the lira on everything that was put out at interest, and two soldi per head per annum; not to mention that the Pope and theLegate granted very great indulgences to those who should make themofferings thereunto. I will not forbear to say, moreover, that besidesthe foundations, very broad and fifteen braccia deep, much considerationwas shown in making those buttresses of masonry at every angle of theeight sides, seeing that it was these afterwards that emboldened themind of Brunellesco to superimpose a much greater weight than that whichArnolfo, perchance, had thought to impose thereon. It is said that whilethe two first side-doors of S. Maria del Fiore were being begun inmarble Arnolfo caused some fig-leaves to be carved on a frieze, thesebeing the arms of himself and of Maestro Lapo, his father, and thattherefore it may be believed that from him the family of the Lapi hadits origin, to-day a noble family in Florence. Others say, likewise, that from the descendants of Arnolfo there descended Filippo di SerBrunellesco. But leaving this, seeing that others believe that the Lapicame from Ficaruolo, a township on the mouth of the Po, and returning toour Arnolfo, I say that by reason of the greatness of this work hedeserves infinite praise and an eternal name, above all because hecaused it to be all incrusted, without, with marbles of many colours, and within, with hard stone, and made even the smallest corners of thatsame stone. But in order that everyone may know the exact size of thismarvellous fabric, I say that from the door up to the end of the Chapelof S. Zanobi the length is 260 braccia, and the breadth across thetransepts 166; across the three naves it is 66 braccia. The middle navealone is 72 braccia in height; and the other two lesser naves, 48braccia. The external circuit of the whole church is 1, 280 braccia. Thecupola, from the ground up to the base of the lantern, is 154 braccia;the lantern, without the ball, is 36 braccia in height; the ball, 4braccia in height; the cross, 8 braccia in height. The whole cupola, from the ground up to the summit of the cross, is 202 braccia. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

TOMB OF ADRIAN V

(_After the_ School of Arnolfo di Lapo. _Viterbo: Church of S. Francesco_)]

But returning to Arnolfo, I say that being held, as he was, excellent, he had acquired so great trust that nothing of importance was determinedwithout his counsel; wherefore, in the same year, the Commune ofFlorence having finished the foundation of the last circle of the wallsof the city, even as it was said above that they were formerly begun, and so too the towers of the gates, and all being in great part welladvanced, he made a beginning for the Palace of the Signori, designingit in resemblance to that which his father Lapo had built in theCasentino for the Counts of Poppi. But yet, however magnificent andgreat he designed it, he could not give it that perfection which his artand his judgment required, for the following reason: the houses of theUberti, Ghibellines and rebels against the people of Florence, had beenpulled down and thrown to the ground, and a square had been made on thesite, and the stupid obstinacy of certain men prevailed so greatly thatArnolfo could not bring it about, through whatsoever arguments he mighturge thereunto, that it should be granted to him to put the Palace on asquare base, because the governors had refused that the Palace shouldhave its foundations in any way whatsoever on the ground of the rebelUberti. And they brought it about that the northern aisle of S. PietroScheraggio should be thrown to the ground, rather than let him work inthe middle of the square with his own measurements; not to mention thatthey insisted, moreover, that there should be united and incorporatedwith the Palace the Tower of the Foraboschi, called the "Torre dellaVacca, " in height fifty braccia, for the use of the great bell, andtogether with it some houses bought by the Commune for this edifice. Forwhich reasons no one must marvel if the foundation of the Palace is awryand out of the square, it having been necessary, in order to incorporatethe tower in the middle and to render it stronger, to bind it round withthe walls of the Palace; which walls, having been laid open in the year1561 by Giorgio Vasari, painter and architect, were found excellent. Arnolfo, then, having filled up the said tower with good material, itwas afterwards easy for other masters to make thereon the very highcampanile that is to be seen there to-day; for within the limits of twoyears he finished only the Palace, which has subsequently received fromtime to time those improvements which give it to-day that greatness andmajesty that are to be seen. 

After all these works and many more that Arnolfo made, no lessconvenient and useful than beautiful, he died at the age of seventy, in1300, at the very time when Giovanni Villani began to write theUniversal History of his times. And because he not only left S. Mariadel Fiore founded, but its three principal tribunes, which are under thecupola, vaulted, to his own great glory, he well deserved that thereshould be made a memorial of him on the corner of the church oppositethe Campanile, with these verses carved in marble in round letters:

 ANNIS . MILLENIS . CENTUM . BIS . OCTO . NOGENIS . VENIT . LEGATUS . ROMA . BONITATE . DOTATUS . QUI . LAPIDEM . FIXIT . FUNDO . SIMUL . ET . BENEDIXIT . PRÆSULE . FRANCISCO . GESTANTE . PONTIFICATUM . ISTUD . AB . ARNOLFO . TEMPLUM . FUIT . ÆDIFICATUM . HOC . OPUS . INSIGNE . DECORANS . FLORENTIA . DIGNE . REGINÆ . C[OE]LI . CONSTRUXIT . MENTE . FIDELI . QUAM . TU . VIRGO . PIA . SEMPER . DEFENDE . MARIA . 

Of this Arnolfo we have written the Life, with the greatest brevity thathas been possible, for the reason that, although his works do notapproach by a great measure the perfection of the things of to-day, hedeserves, none the less, to be celebrated with loving memory, havingshown amid so great darkness, to those who lived after him, the way towalk to perfection. The portrait of Arnolfo, by the hand of Giotto, isto be seen in S. Croce, beside the principal chapel, at the beginning ofthe story, where the friars are weeping for the death of S. Francis, inone of two men that are talking together. And the picture of the Churchof S. Maria del Fiore--namely, of the outer side with the cupola--by thehand of Simone Sanese, is to be seen in the Chapter-house of S. MariaNovella, copied from the original in wood that Arnolfo made; wherein itis noticeable that he had thought to raise the dome immediately over thewalls, at the edge of the first cornice, whereas Filippo di SerBrunellesco, in order to relieve them of weight and to make it moregraceful, added thereto, before he began to raise it, all that heightwherein to-day are the round windows; which circumstance would be evenclearer than it is, if the little care and diligence of those who havedirected the Works of S. Maria del Fiore in the years past had not leftthe very model that Arnolfo made to go to ruin, and afterwards those ofBrunellesco and of the others. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 6: The braccio is a very variable standard of measurement. Asused by Vasari, it may be taken to denote about 23 inches. ]

[Footnote 7: Vescovado includes both the Cathedral and the Episcopalbuildings of Arezzo. Vasari generally uses it to denote the Cathedral. ]

NICCOLA AND GIOVANNI OF PISA

LIFE OF NICCOLA AND GIOVANNI OF PISA, [_NICCOLA PISANO AND GIOVANNI PISANO_], SCULPTORS AND ARCHITECTS

Having discoursed of design and of painting in the Life of Cimabue andof architecture in that of Arnolfo di Lapo, in this one concerningNiccola and Giovanni of Pisa we will treat of sculpture, and also of themost important buildings that they made, for the reason that their worksin sculpture and in architecture truly deserve to be celebrated, notonly as being large and magnificent but also well enough conceived, since both in working marble and in building they swept away in greatpart that old Greek manner, rude and void of proportion, showing betterinvention in their stories and giving better attitudes to their figures. 

Niccola Pisano, then, chancing to be under certain Greek sculptors whowere working the figures and other carved ornaments of the Duomo of Pisaand of the Church of S. Giovanni, and there being, among many marblespoils brought by the fleet of the Pisans, certain ancient sarcophagithat are to-day in the Campo Santo of that city, there was one of them, most beautiful among them all, whereon there was carved the Chase ofMeleager after the Calydonian Boar, in very beautiful manner, seeingthat both the nude figures and the draped were wrought with much masteryand with most perfect design. This sarcophagus was placed by the Pisans, by reason of its beauty, in the side of the Duomo opposite S. Rocco, beside the principal side-door, and it served for the body of the motherof Countess Matilda, if indeed these words are true that are to be readcarved in the marble:

 A. D. MCXVI. IX KAL. AUG. OBIIT D. MATILDA FELICIS MEMORIÆ COMITISSA, QUÆ PRO ANIMA GENETRICIS SUÆ DOMINÆ BEATRICIS COMITISSÆ VENERABILIS, IN HAC TUMBA HONORABILI QUIESCENTIS, IN MULTIS PARTIBUS MIRIFICE HANC DOTAVIT ECCLESIAM; QUARUM ANIMÆ REQUIESCANT IN PACE

And then:

 A. D. MCCCIII. SUB DIGNISSIMO OPERARIO D. BURGUNDIO TADI, OCCASIONE GRADUUM FIENDORUM PER IPSUM CIRCA ECCLESIAM, SUPRADICTA TUMBA SUPERIUS NOTATA BIS TRANSLATA FUIT, TUNC DE SEDIBUS PRIMIS IN ECCLESIAM, NUNC DE ECCLESIA IN HUNC LOCUM, UT CERNITIS, EXCELLENTEM. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

THE PULPIT OF THE BAPTISTERY OF PISA

(_After_ Niccola Pisano. _Pisa_)]

Niccola, pondering over the beauty of this work and being greatlypleased therewith, put so much study and diligence into imitating thismanner and some other good sculptures that were in these other ancientsarcophagi, that he was judged, after no long time, the best sculptor ofhis day; there being in Tuscany in those times, after Arnolfo, no othersculptor of repute save Fuccio, an architect and sculptor of Florence, who made S. Maria sopra Arno in Florence, in the year 1229, placing hisname there, over a door, and in the Church of S. Francesco in Assisi hemade the marble tomb of the Queen of Cyprus, with many figures, and inparticular a portrait of her sitting on a lion, in order to show thestrength of her soul; which Queen, after her death, left a great sum ofmoney to the end that this fabric might be finished. Niccola, then, having made himself known as a much better master than was Fuccio, wassummoned to Bologna in the year 1225, after the death of S. DomenicoCalagora, first founder of the Order of Preaching Friars, in order tomake a marble tomb for the said Saint; wherefore, after agreement withthose who had the charge of it, he made it full of figures in thatmanner wherein it is to be seen to-day, and delivered it finished in theyear 1231 with much credit to himself, for it was held somethingremarkable, and the best of all the works that had been wrought insculpture up to that time. He made, likewise, the model of that churchand of a great part of the convent. Afterwards Niccola, returning toTuscany, found that Fuccio had departed from Florence and had gone toRome in those days when the Emperor Frederick was crowned by Honorius, and from Rome with Frederick to Naples, where he finished the Castel diCapoana, to-day called the Vicaria, wherein are all the tribunals ofthat kingdom, and likewise the Castel dell' Uovo; and where he likewisefounded the towers he also made the gates over the River Volturno forthe city of Capua, and a park girt with walls, for fowling, nearGravina, and another for sport in winter at Melfi; besides many otherthings that are not related, for the sake of brevity. Niccola, meanwhile, busying himself in Florence, was going on exercising himselfnot only in sculpture but in architecture as well, by means of thebuildings that were going on being made with some little goodness ofdesign throughout all Italy, and in particular in Tuscany; wherefore heoccupied himself not a little with the building of the Abbey of Settimo, which had not been finished by the executors of Count Ugo ofBrandenburg, like the other six, as was said above. And although it isread in a marble epitaph on the campanile of the said abbey, GUGLIELM. ME FECIT, it is known, nevertheless, by the manner, that it was directedwith the counsel of Niccola. About the same time he made the PalazzoVecchio of the Anziani in Pisa, pulled down in our day by Duke Cosimo, in order to make the magnificent Palace and Convent of the Knights of S. Stephen on the same spot, using some part of the old, from the designand model of Giorgio Vasari, painter and architect of Arezzo, who hasaccommodated himself to those old walls as well as he has been able infitting them into the new. Niccola made, likewise in Pisa, many otherpalaces and churches, and he was the first, since the loss of the goodmethod of building, who made it the custom to found edifices in Pisa onpiers, and on these to raise arches, piles having first been sunk underthe said piers; because, with any other method, the solid base of thefoundation cracked and the walls always collapsed, whereas the sinkingof piles renders the edifice absolutely safe, even as experience shows. With his design, also, was made the Church of S. Michele in Borgo forthe Monks of Camaldoli. But the most beautiful, the most ingenious, andthe most whimsical work of architecture that Niccola ever made was theCampanile of S. Niccola in Pisa, where is the seat of the Friars of S. Augustine, for the reason that it is octagonal on the outer side andround within, with stairs that wind in a spiral and lead to the summit, leaving the hollow space in the middle free, in the shape of a well, andon every fourth step are columns that have the arches above them on aslant and wind round and round; wherefore, the spring of the vaultingresting on the said arches, one goes climbing to the summit in a mannerthat he who is on the ground always sees all those who are climbing, those who are climbing see those who are on the ground, and those whoare halfway up see both the first and the second--that is, those who areabove and those who are below. This fanciful invention, with bettermethod and more just proportions, and with more adornment, wasafterwards put into execution by the architect Bramante in the Belvederein Rome, for Pope Julius II, and by Antonio da San Gallo in the wellthat is at Orvieto, by order of Pope Clement VII, as will be told whenthe time comes. 

But returning to Niccola, who was no less excellent as sculptor than asarchitect; in the façade of the Church of S. Martino in Lucca, under theportico that is above the lesser door, on the left as one enters intothe church, where there is seen a Christ Deposed from the Cross, he madea marble scene in half-relief, all full of figures wrought with muchdiligence, having hollowed out the marble and finished the whole in amanner that gave hope to those who were previously working at the artwith very great difficulty, that there soon should come one who, withmore facility, would give them better assistance. The same Niccola, inthe year 1240, gave the design for the Church of S. Jacopo in Pistoia, and put to work there in mosaic certain Tuscan masters who made thevaulting of the choir-niche, which, although in those times it was heldas something difficult and of great cost, moves us to-day rather tolaughter and to compassion than to marvel, and all the more because suchconfusion, which comes from lack of design, existed not only in Tuscanybut throughout all Italy, where many buildings and other works, thatwere being wrought without method and without design, give us to know noless the poverty of their talents than the unmeasured riches wasted bythe men of those times, by reason of their having had no masters whomight execute in a good manner any work that they might do. 

Niccola, then, by means of the works that he was making in sculpture andin architecture, was going on ever acquiring a greater name than thesculptors and architects who were then working in Romagna, as can beseen in S. Ippolito and S. Giovanni of Faenza, in the Duomo of Ravenna, in S. Francesco, in the houses of the Traversari, and in the Churchof Porto; and at Rimini, in the fabric of the public buildings, in thehouses of the Malatesti, and in other buildings, which are all muchworse than the old edifices made about the same time in Tuscany. Andwhat has been said of Romagna can be also said with truth of a part ofLombardy. A glance at the Duomo of Ferrara, and at the other buildingsmade by the Marquis Azzo, will give us to know that this is the truthand how different they are from the Santo of Padua, made with the modelof Niccola, and from the Church of the Friars Minor in Venice, bothmagnificent and honoured buildings. Many, in the time of Niccola, movedby laudable envy, applied themselves with more zeal to sculpture thanthey had done before, and particularly in Milan, whither there assembledfor the building of the Duomo many Lombards and Germans, who afterwardsscattered throughout Italy by reason of the discords that arose betweenthe Milanese and the Emperor Frederick. And so these craftsmen, beginning to compete among themselves both in marble and in building, found some little of the good. The same came to pass in Florence afterthe works of Arnolfo and Niccola had been seen; and the latter, whilethe little Church of the Misericordia was being erected from his designin the Piazza di S. Giovanni, made therein in marble, with his own hand, a Madonna with S. Dominic and another Saint, one on either side of her, which may still be seen on the outer façade of the said church. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

(_Detail, after_ Niccola Pisano, _from the Pulpit of the Baptistery, Pisa_)]

The Florentines had begun, in the time of Niccola, to throw to theground many towers made formerly in barbaric manner throughout the wholecity, in order that the people might be less hurt by reason of these inthe brawls that were often taking place between the Guelphs and theGhibellines, or in order that there might be greater security for theState, and it appeared to them that it would be very difficult to pulldown the Tower of Guardamorto, which was in the Piazza di S. Giovanni, because the walls had been made so stoutly that they could not be pulledto pieces with pickaxes, and all the more because it was very high. Wherefore, Niccola causing the foot of the tower to be cut away on oneside and supporting it with wooden props a braccio and a half in length, and then setting fire to them, as soon as the props were burnt away itfell and was almost entirely shattered; which was held something soingenious and useful for such affairs that later it passed into use, insomuch that, when there is need, any building is destroyed in verylittle time with this most easy method. Niccola was present at the firstfoundation of the Duomo of Siena, and designed the Church of S. Giovanniin the same city; then, having returned to Florence in the same yearthat the Guelphs returned, he designed the Church of S. Trinita, and theConvent of the Nuns of Faenza, destroyed in our day in order to make thecitadel. Being next summoned to Naples, in order not to desert the workin Tuscany he sent thither Maglione, his pupil, a sculptor andarchitect, who afterwards made, in the time of Conradin, the Church ofS. Lorenzo in Naples, finished part of the Piscopio, and made therecertain tombs, wherein he imitated closely the manner of Niccola, hismaster. 

Niccola, meanwhile, being summoned by the people of Volterra, in theyear 1254 (when they came under the power of the Florentines), in orderthat their Duomo, which was small, might be enlarged, he brought it tobetter form, although it was very irregular, and made it moremagnificent than it was before. Then, having returned finally to Pisa, he made the pulpit of S. Giovanni, in marble, putting therein alldiligence in order to leave a memorial of himself to his country; andamong other things, carving in it the Universal Judgment, he madetherein many figures, if not with perfect design, at least with infinitepatience and diligence, as can be seen. And because it appeared to him, as was true, that he had done a work worthy of praise, he carved at thefoot of it these verses:

 ANNO MILLENO BIS CENTUM BISQUE TRIDENO HOC OPUS INSIGNE SCULPSIT NICOLA PISANUS. 

The people of Siena, moved by the fame of this work, which greatlypleased not only the Pisans but everyone who saw it, gave to Niccola themaking of the pulpit of their Duomo, in which there is sung the Gospel;Guglielmo Mariscotti being Prætor. In this Niccola made many stories ofJesus Christ, with much credit to himself, by reason of the figures thatare there wrought and with great difficulty almost wholly detachedfrom the marble. Niccola likewise made the design of the Church andConvent of S. Domenico in Arezzo for the Lords of Pietramala, whoerected it. And at the entreaty of Bishop Ubertini he restored the Pieveof Cortona, and founded the Church of S. Margherita for the Friars of S. Francis, on the highest point of that city. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

THE VISITATION AND THE NATIVITY

(_Detail, after_ Niccola Pisano, _from the Pulpit of the Baptistery, Siena_)]

Wherefore, the fame of Niccola ever growing greater by reason of sogreat works, he was summoned in the year 1267, by Pope Clement IV, toViterbo, where, besides many other works, he restored the Church andConvent of the Preaching Friars. From Viterbo he went to Naples to KingCharles I, who, having routed and slain Conradin on the plain ofTagliacozzo, caused to be made on that spot a very rich church andabbey, burying therein the infinite number of bodies slain on that day, and ordaining afterwards that there should be prayers offered by manymonks, day and night, for their souls; in which building King Charleswas so well pleased with the work of Niccola that he honoured andrewarded him very greatly. Returning from Naples to Tuscany, Niccolastayed in Orvieto for the building of S. Maria, and working there incompany with some Germans, he made in marble, for the façade of thatchurch, certain figures in the round, and in particular two scenes ofthe Universal Judgment containing Paradise and Hell; and even as hestrove, in the Paradise, to give the greatest beauty that he knew to thesouls of the blessed, restored to their bodies, so too in the Hell hemade the strangest forms of devils that can possibly be seen, mostintent on tormenting the souls of the damned; and in this work hesurpassed not merely the Germans who were working there but even his ownself, to his own great credit. And for the reason that he made therein agreat number of figures and endured much fatigue, it has been nothingbut praised up to our own times by those who have had no more judgmentthan this much in sculpture. 

Niccola had, among others, a son called Giovanni, who, because he everfollowed his father and applied himself under his teaching to sculptureand to architecture, in a few years became not only equal to his fatherbut in some ways superior; wherefore Niccola, being now old, retired toPisa, and living there quietly left the management of everything to hisson. Pope Urban IV having died at that time in Perugia, a summons wassent to Giovanni, who, having gone there, made a tomb of marble for thatPontiff, which, together with that of Pope Martin IV, was afterwardsthrown to the ground when the people of Perugia enlarged theirVescovado, in a manner that there are seen only a few relics of itscattered throughout the church. And the people of Perugia, at the sametime, having brought a very great body of water through leaden pipesfrom the hill of Pacciano, two miles distant from the city, by means ofthe genius and industry of a friar of the Silvestrines, it was given toGiovanni Pisano to make all the ornaments of the fountain, both inbronze and in marble; wherefore he put his hand thereto and made threetiers of basins, two of marble and one of bronze. The first is placedabove twelve rows of steps, each with twelve sides; the other on somecolumns that stand on the lowest level of the first basin--that is, inthe middle; and the third, which is of bronze, rests on three figures, and has in the middle certain griffins, also of bronze, that pour wateron every side; and because it appeared to Giovanni that he had done verywell in this work, he put on it his name. About the year 1560, thearches and the conduits of this fountain (which cost 160, 000 ducats ofgold) having become in great part spoilt and ruined, Vincenzio Danti, asculptor of Perugia, without rebuilding the arches, which would havebeen a thing of the greatest cost, very ingeniously reconducted thewater to the fountain in the way that it was before, with no smallcredit to himself. 

This work finished, Giovanni, desiring to see again his old and ailingfather, departed from Perugia in order to return to Pisa; but, passingthrough Florence, he was forced to stay, to the end that he might applyhimself, together with others, to the work of the Mills on the Arno, which were being made at S. Gregorio near the Piazza de' Mozzi. Butfinally, having had news that his father Niccola was dead, he went toPisa, where, by reason of his worth, he was received by the whole citywith great honour, every man rejoicing that after the loss of Niccolathere still remained Giovanni, as heir both of his talents and of hiswealth. And the occasion having come of making proof of him, theiropinion was in no way disappointed, because, there being certain thingsto do in the small but most ornate Church of S. Maria della Spina, theywere given to Giovanni to do, and he, putting his hand thereunto, withthe help of some of his boys brought many ornaments in that oratory tothat perfection that is seen to-day; which work, in so far as we canjudge, must have been held miraculous in those times, and all the morethat he made in one figure the portrait of Niccola from nature, as besthe knew. 

Seeing this, the Pisans, who long before had had the idea and the wishto make a place of burial for all the inhabitants of the city, bothnoble and plebeian, either in order not to fill the Duomo with graves orfor some other reason, caused Giovanni to make the edifice of the CampoSanto, which is on the Piazza del Duomo, towards the walls; whereforehe, with good design and with much judgment, made it in that manner andwith those ornaments of marble and of that size which are to be seen;and because there was no consideration of expense, the roof was made oflead. And outside the principal door there are seen these words carvedin marble:

 A. D. MCCLXXVIII. TEMPORE DOMINI FREDERIGI ARCHIEPISCOPI PISANI, ET DOMINI TARLATI POTESTATIS, OPERARIO ORLANDO SARDELLA, JOHANNE MAGISTRO ÆDIFICANTE. 

This work finished, in the same year, 1283, Giovanni went to Naples, where, for King Charles, he made the Castel Nuovo of Naples; and inorder to have room and to make it stronger, he was forced to pull downmany houses and churches, and in particular a convent of Friars of S. Francis, which was afterwards rebuilt no little larger and moremagnificent than it was before, far from the castle and under the titleof S. Maria della Nuova. These buildings being begun and considerablyadvanced, Giovanni departed from Naples, in order to return to Tuscany;but arriving at Siena, without being allowed to go on farther he wascaused to make the model of the façade of the Duomo of that city, andafterwards the said façade was made very rich and magnificent from thismodel. Next, in the year 1286, when the Vescovado of Arezzo wasbuilding with the design of Margaritone, architect of Arezzo, Giovanniwas brought from Siena to Arezzo by Guglielmino Ubertini, Bishop of thatcity, where he made in marble the panel of the high-altar, all filledwith carvings of figures, of foliage, and other ornaments, distributingthroughout the whole work certain things in delicate mosaic, and enamelslaid on plates of silver, let into the marble with much diligence. Inthe middle is a Madonna with the Child in her arms, and on one side S. Gregory the Pope, whose face is the portrait from life of Pope HonoriusIV; and on the other side is S. Donatus, Bishop and Protector of thatcity, whose body, with those of S. Antilla and of other Saints, is laidunder that same altar. And because the said altar stands out by itself, round it and on the sides there are small scenes in low-relief from thelife of S. Donatus, and the crown of the whole work are certaintabernacles full of marble figures in the round, wrought with muchsubtlety. On the breast of the said Madonna is a bezel-shaped setting ofgold, wherein, so it is said, were jewels of much value, which have beencarried away in the wars, so it is thought, by soldiers, who have norespect, very often, even for the most holy Sacrament, together withsome little figures in the round that were on the top of and around thatwork; on which the Aretines spent altogether, according to what is foundin certain records, 30, 000 florins of gold. Nor does this seem anythinggreat, seeing that at that time it was something as precious and rare asit could well be; wherefore Frederick Barbarossa, returning from Rome, where he had been crowned, and passing through Arezzo, many years afterit had been made, praised it, nay, admired it infinitely; and in truthwith great reason, seeing that, besides everything else, the joinings ofthis work, made of innumerable pieces, are cemented and put together sowell that the whole work is easily judged, by anyone who has not muchpractice in the matters of the art, to be all of one piece. In the samechurch Giovanni made the Chapel of the Ubertini, a most noble family, and lords of castles, as they still are to-day and were formerly evenmore; with many ornaments of marble, which to-day have been covered overwith other ornaments of grey-stone, many and fine, which were set up inthat place with the design of Giorgio Vasari in the year 1535, forthe supporting of an organ of extraordinary excellence and beauty thatstands thereon. 

[Illustration: _Lombardi_

A SYBIL

(_Detail, after_ Giovanni Pisano, _from the façade of the Duomo, Siena_)]

Giovanni Pisano likewise made the design of the Church of S. Maria de'Servi, which to-day has been destroyed, together with many palaces ofthe most noble families of the city, for the reasons mentioned above. Iwill not forbear to say that Giovanni made use, in working on the saidmarble altar, of certain Germans who had apprenticed themselves to himrather for learning than for gain; and under his teaching they becamesuch that, having gone after this work to Rome, they served BonifaceVIII in many works of sculpture for S. Pietro, and in architecture whenhe made Cività Castellana. Besides this, they were sent by the same manto S. Maria in Orvieto, where, for its façade, they made many figures inmarble which were passing good for those times. But among others whoassisted Giovanni in the work of the Vescovado in Arezzo, Agostino andAgnolo, sculptors and architects of Siena, surpassed in time all theothers, as will be told in the proper place. But returning to Giovanni;having departed from Orvieto, he came to Florence, in order to see thefabric of S. Maria del Fiore that Arnolfo was making, and likewise tosee Giotto, of whom he had heard great things spoken abroad; and nosooner had he arrived in Florence than he was charged by the Wardens ofthe said fabric of S. Maria del Fiore to make the Madonna which is overthat door of the church that leads to the Canon's house, between twolittle angels; which work was then much praised. Next, he made thelittle baptismal font of S. Giovanni, wherein are certain scenes inhalf-relief from the life of that Saint. Having then gone to Bologna, hedirected the building of the principal chapel of the Church of S. Domenico, wherein he was charged by Bishop Teodorigo Borgognoni ofLucca, a friar of that Order, to make an altar of marble; and in thesame place he afterwards made, in the year 1298, the marble panelwherein are the Madonna and eight other figures, reasonably good. 

In the year 1300, Niccola da Prato, Cardinal Legate of the Pope, beingin Florence in order to accommodate the dissensions of the Florentines, caused him to make a convent for nuns in Prato, which is called S. Niccola from his name, and to restore in the same territory the Conventof S. Domenico, and so too that of Pistoia; in both the one and theother of which there are still seen the arms of the said Cardinal. Andbecause the people of Pistoia held in veneration the name of Niccola, father of Giovanni, by reason of that which he had wrought in that citywith his talent, they caused Giovanni himself to make a pulpit of marblefor the Church of S. Andrea, like to the one which he had made in theDuomo of Siena; and this he did in order to compete with one which hadbeen made a little before in the Church of S. Giovanni Evangelista by aGerman, who was therefore much praised. Giovanni, then, delivered hisfinished in four years, having divided this work into five scenes fromthe life of Jesus Christ, and having made therein, besides this, aUniversal Judgment, with the greatest diligence that he knew, in orderto equal or perchance to surpass the one of Orvieto, then so greatlyrenowned. And round the said pulpit, on the architrave, over somecolumns that support it, thinking (as was the truth, according to theknowledge of that age) that he had done a great and beautiful work, hecarved these verses:

 HOC OPUS SCULPSIT JOANNES, QUI RES NON EGIT INANES, NICOLI NATUS ...... MELIORA BEATUS, QUEM GENUIT PISA, DOCTUM SUPER OMNIA VISA. 

At the same time Giovanni made the holy-water font, in marble, of theChurch of S. Giovanni Evangelista in the same city, with three figuresthat support it--Temperance, Prudence, and Justice; which work, byreason of its having then been held very beautiful, was placed in thecentre of that church as something remarkable. And before he departedfrom Pistoia, although the work had not up to then been begun, he madethe model of the Campanile of S. Jacopo, the principal church of thatcity; on which campanile, which is on the square of the said S. Jacopoand beside the church, there is this date: A. D. 1301. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS

(_Detail, after_ Giovanni Pisano, _from the Pulpit of the Church of S. Andrea, Pistoia_)]

Afterwards, Pope Benedict IX having died in Perugia, a summons was sentto Giovanni, who, having gone to Perugia, made a tomb of marble for thatPontiff in the old Church of S. Domenico, belonging to the PreachingFriars; the Pope, portrayed from nature and robed in his pontificalhabits, is lying at full length on the bier, with two angels, one oneither side, that are holding up a curtain, and above there is a Madonnawith two saints in relief, one on either side of her; and many otherornaments are carved round that tomb. In like manner, in the new churchof the said Preaching Friars he made the tomb of Messer NiccolòGuidalotti of Perugia, Bishop of Recanati, who was founder of theSapienza Nuova of Perugia. In this new church, which had been foundedbefore this by others, he executed the central nave, which was foundedby him with much better method than the remainder of the church hadbeen; for on one side it leans and threatens to fall down, by reason ofhaving been badly founded. And in truth, he who puts his hand tobuilding and to doing anything of importance should ever take counsel, not from him who knows little but from the best, in order not to have torepent after the act, with loss and shame, that where he most neededgood counsel he took the bad. 

Giovanni, having dispatched his business in Perugia, wished to go toRome, in order to learn from those few ancient things that were to beseen there, even as his father had done; but being hindered by goodreasons, this his desire did not take effect, and the rather as he heardthat the Court had just gone to Avignon. Returning, then, to Pisa, Nellodi Giovanni Falconi, Warden, caused him to make the great pulpit of theDuomo, which is on the right hand going towards the high-altar, attachedto the choir; and having made a beginning with this and with manyfigures in the round, three braccia high, that were to serve for it, little by little he brought them to that form that is seen to-day, placing the pulpit partly on the said figures and partly on some columnssustained by lions; and on the sides he made some scenes from the lifeof Christ. It is a pity, truly, that so great cost, so great diligence, and so great labour should not have been accompanied by good design andshould be wanting in perfection and in excellence of invention, grace, and manner, such as any work of our own times would show, even if madewith much less cost and labour. None the less, it must have caused nosmall marvel to the men of those times, used to seeing only the rudestworks. This work was finished in the year 1320, as appears in certainverses that are round the said pulpit, which run thus:

 LAUDO DEUM VERUM, PER QUEM SUNT OPTIMA RERUM, QUI DEDIT HAS PURAS HOMINEM FORMARE FIGURAS; HOC OPUS HIS ANNIS DOMINI SCULPSERE JOHANNIS ARTE MANUS SOLE QUONDAM, NATIQUE NICOLE, CURSIS VENTENIS TERCENTUM MILLEQUE PLENIS;

with other thirteen verses, which are not written, in order not to wearythe reader, and because these are enough not only to bear witness thatthe said pulpit is by the hand of Giovanni, but also that the men ofthese times were in all things made thus. A Madonna of marble, also, that is seen between S. John the Baptist and another Saint, over theprincipal door of the Duomo, is by the hand of Giovanni; and he who isat the feet of the Madonna, on his knees, is said to be PieroGambacorti, Warden of Works. However this may be, on the base whereonstands the image of Our Lady there are carved these words:

 SUB PETRI CURA HÆC PIA FUIT SCULPTA FIGURA, NICOLI NATO SCULPTORE JOHANNE VOCATO. 

In like manner, over the side door that is opposite the campanile, thereis a Madonna of marble by the hand of Giovanni, having on one side awoman kneeling with two babies, representing Pisa, and on the other theEmperor Henry. On the base whereon stands the Madonna are these words:

 AVE GRATIA PLENA, DOMINUS TECUM;

and beside them:

 NOBILIS ARTE MANUS SCULPSIT JOHANNES PISANUS SCULPSIT SUB BURGUNDIO TADI BENIGNO.... 

And round the base of Pisa:

 VIRGINIS ANCILLA SUM PISA QUIETA SUB ILLA. 

And round the base of Henry:

 IMPERAT HENRICUS QUI CHRISTO FERTUR AMICUS. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

MADONNA AND CHILD

(_After_ Giovanni Pisano. _Padua: Arena Chapel_)]

In the old Pieve of the territory of Prato, under the altar of theprincipal chapel, there had been kept for many years the Girdle of OurLady, which Michele da Prato, returning from the Holy Land, had broughtto his country in the year 1141 and consigned to Uberto, Provost of thatchurch, who placed it where it has been said, and where it had been everheld in great veneration; and in the year 1312 an attempt was made tosteal it by a man of Prato, a fellow of the basest sort, and as it were, another Ser Ciappelletto; but having been discovered, he was put todeath for sacrilege by the hand of justice. Moved by this, the people ofPrato determined to make a strong and suitable resting-place, in orderto hold the said Girdle more securely; wherefore, having summonedGiovanni, who was now old, they made with his counsel, in the greaterchurch, the chapel wherein there is now preserved the said Girdle of OurLady. And next, with the same man's design, they made the said churchmuch larger than it was before, and encrusted it without with white andblack marbles, and likewise the campanile, as may be seen. Finally, being now very old, Giovanni died in the year 1320, after having made, besides those that have been mentioned, many other works in sculptureand in architecture. And in truth there is much owed to him and to hisfather Niccola, seeing that, in times void of all goodness of design, they gave in so great darkness no small light to the matters of thesearts, wherein they were, for that age, truly excellent. Giovanni wasburied in the Campo Santo, with great honour, in the same grave whereinhad been laid Niccola, his father. There were as disciples of Giovannimany who flourished after him, but in particular Lino, sculptor andarchitect of Siena, who made in the Duomo of Pisa the chapel all adornedwith marble wherein is the body of S. Ranieri, and likewise thebaptismal font that is in the said Duomo, with his name. 

Nor let anyone marvel that Niccola and Giovanni did so many works, because, not to mention that they lived very long, being the firstmasters that were in Europe at that time, there was nothing done of anyimportance in which they did not have a hand, as can be seen in manyinscriptions besides those that have been mentioned. And seeing that, while touching on these two sculptors and architects, there has beensomething said of matters in Pisa, I will not forbear to say that on thetop of the steps in front of the new hospital, round the base thatsupports a lion and the vase that rests on the porphyry column, arethese words:

 THIS IS THE MEASURE WHICH THE EMPEROR CÆSAR GAVE TO PISA, WHEREWITH THERE WAS MEASURED THE TRIBUTE THAT WAS PAID TO HIM; WHICH HAS BEEN SET UP OVER THIS COLUMN AND LION, IN THE TIME OF GIOVANNI ROSSO, WARDEN OF THE WORKS OF S. MARIA MAGGIORE IN PISA, A. D. MCCCXIII. , IN THE SECOND INDICTION, IN MARCH. 

ANDREA TAFI

LIFE OF ANDREA TAFI, PAINTER OF FLORENCE

Even as the works of Cimabue awakened no small marvel (he having givenbetter design and form to the art of painting) in the men of thosetimes, used to seeing nothing save works done after the Greek manner, even so the works in mosaic of Andrea Tafi, who lived in the same times, were admired, and he thereby held excellent, nay, divine; these peoplenot thinking, being unused to see anything else, that better work couldbe done in such an art. But not being in truth the most able man in theworld, and having considered that mosaic, by reason of its long life, was held in estimation more than all the other forms of painting, hewent from Florence to Venice, where some Greek painters were working inS. Marco in mosaic; and becoming intimate with them, with entreaties, with money, and with promises he contrived in such a manner that hebrought to Florence Maestro Apollonio, a Greek painter, who taught himto fuse the glass for mosaic and to make the cement for putting ittogether; and in his company he wrought the upper part of the tribune ofS. Giovanni, where there are the Powers, the Thrones, and the Dominions;in which place Andrea, when more practised, afterwards made, as will besaid below, the Christ that is over the side of the principal chapel. But having made mention of S. Giovanni, I will not pass by in silencethat this ancient temple is all wrought, both without and within, withmarbles of the Corinthian Order, and that it is not only designed andexecuted perfectly in all its parts and with all its proportions, butalso very well adorned with doors and with windows, and enriched withtwo columns of granite on each wall-face, each eleven braccia high, inorder to make the three spaces over which are the architraves, that reston the said columns in order to support the whole mass of the doublevaulted roof, which has been praised by modern architects as somethingremarkable, and deservedly, for the reason that it showed the good whichthat art already had in itself to Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, toDonatello, and to the other masters of those times, who learnt the artby means of this work and of the Church of S. Apostolo in Florence, awork so good in manner that it casts back to the true ancient goodness, having all the columns in sections, as it has been said above, measuredand put together with so great diligence that much can be learnt bystudying it in all its parts. But to be silent about many things thatcould be said about the good architecture of this church, I will sayonly that there was a great departure from this example and from thisgood method of working when the façade of S. Miniato sul Monte withoutFlorence was rebuilt in marble, in honour of the conversion of theBlessed S. Giovanni Gualberto, citizen of Florence and founder of theOrder of the Monks of Vallombrosa; because that and many other worksthat were made later were in no way similar in beauty to thosementioned. The same, in like manner, came to pass in the works ofsculpture, for all those that were made in Italy by the masters of thatage, as has been said in the Preface to the Lives, were very rude, ascan be seen in many places, and in particular in S. Bartolommeo atPistoia, a church of the Canons Regular, where, in a pulpit very rudelymade by Guido da Como, there is the beginning of the life of JesusChrist, with these words carved thereon by the craftsman himself in theyear 1199:

 SCULPTOR LAUDATUR, QUOD DOCTUS IN ARTE PROBATUR, GUIDO DE COMO ME CUNCTIS CARMINE PROMO. 

But to return to the Church of S. Giovanni; forbearing to relate itsorigin, by reason of its having been described by Giovanni Villani andby other writers, and having already said that from this church therecame the good architecture that is to-day in use, I will add that thetribune was made later, so far as it is known, and that at the time whenAlesso Baldovinetti, succeeding Lippo, a painter of Florence, restoredthose mosaics, it was seen that it had been in the past painted withdesigns in red, and all worked on stucco. 

Andrea Tafi and Apollonio the Greek, then, in order to cover thistribune with mosaics, made therein a number of compartments, which, narrow at the top beside the lantern, went on widening as far as thelevel of the cornice below; and they divided the upper part into circlesof various scenes. In the first are all the ministers and executors ofthe Divine Will, namely, the Angels, the Archangels, the Cherubim, theSeraphim, the Powers, the Thrones, and the Dominions. In the second row, also in mosaic, and after the Greek manner, are the principal works doneby God, from the creation of light down to the Flood. In the circle thatis below these, which goes on widening with the eight sides of thattribune, are all the acts of Joseph and of his twelve brethren. Belowthese, then, there follow as many other spaces of the same size thatcircle in like manner onward, wherein there is the life of Jesus Christ, also in mosaic, from the time when He was conceived in Mary's womb up tothe Ascension into Heaven. Then, resuming the same order, under thethree friezes there is the life of S. John the Baptist, beginning withthe appearing of the Angel to Zacharias the priest, up to his beheadingand to the burial that his disciples gave him. All these works, beingrude, without design and without art, I do not absolutely praise; but ofa truth, having regard to the method of working of that age and to theimperfection that the art of painting then showed, not to mention thatthe work is solid and that the pieces of the mosaic are very well puttogether, the end of this work is much better--or to speak more exactly, less bad--than is the beginning, although the whole, with respect to thework of to-day, moves us rather to laughter than to pleasure or marvel. Finally, over the side of the principal chapel in the said tribune, Andrea made by himself and without the help of Apollonio, to his owngreat credit, the Christ that is still seen there to-day, seven bracciahigh. Becoming famous for these works throughout all Italy, and beingreputed in his own country as excellent, he well deserved to be largelyhonoured and rewarded. It was truly very great good-fortune, that ofAndrea, to be born at a time when, all work being rudely done, there wasgreat esteem even for that which deserved to be esteemed very little, orrather not at all. This same thing befell Fra Jacopo da Turrita, of theOrder of S. Francis, seeing that, having made the works in mosaic thatare in the recess behind the altar of the said S. Giovanni, notwithstanding that they were little worthy of praise he wasremunerated for them with extraordinary rewards, and afterwards, as anexcellent master, summoned to Rome, where he wrought certain things inthe chapel of the high-altar of S. Giovanni Laterano, and in that of S. Maria Maggiore. Next, being summoned to Pisa, he made the Evangelists inthe principal apse of the Duomo, with other works that are there, assisted by Andrea Tafi and by Gaddo Gaddi, and using the same mannerwherein he had done his other works; but he left them little less thanwholly imperfect, and they were afterwards finished by Vicino. 

The works of these men, then, were prized for some time; but when theworks of Giotto, as will be said in its own place, were set incomparison with those of Andrea, of Cimabue, and of the others, peoplerecognized in part the perfection of the art, seeing the difference thatthere was between the early manner of Cimabue and that of Giotto, in thefigures of the one and of the other and in those that their disciplesand imitators made. From this beginning the others sought step by stepto follow in the path of the best masters, surpassing one anotherhappily from one day to another, so that from such depths these artshave been raised, as is seen, to the height of their perfection. 

Andrea lived eighty-one years, and died before Cimabue, in 1294. And byreason of the reputation and the honour that he gained with his mosaic, seeing that he, before any other man, introduced and taught it in bettermanner to the men of Tuscany, he was the cause that Gaddo Gaddi, Giotto, and the others afterwards made the most excellent works of that craftwhich have acquired for them fame and an eternal name. After the deathof Andrea there was not wanting one to magnify him with thisinscription:

 QUI GIACE ANDREA, CH' OPRE LEGGIADRE E BELLE FECE IN TUTTA TOSCANA, ED ORA E ITO A FAR VAGO LO REGNO DELLE STELLE. 

A disciple of Andrea was Buonamico Buffalmacco, who, being very young, played him many tricks, and had from him the portrait of Pope CelestineIV, a Milanese, and that of Innocent IV, both one and the other of whomhe portrayed afterwards in the pictures that he made in S. Paolo a Ripad' Arno in Pisa. A disciple and perhaps a son of the same man wasAntonio d'Andrea Tafi, who was a passing good painter; but I have notbeen able to find any work by his hand. There is only mention made ofhim in the old book of the Company of the Men of Design. 

Deservedly, then, did Andrea Tafi gain much praise among the earlymasters, for the reason that, although he learnt the principles ofmosaic from those whom he brought from Venice to Florence, he addednevertheless so much of the good to the art, putting the pieces togetherwith much diligence and executing the work smooth as a table, which isof the greatest importance in mosaic, that he opened the way to goodwork to Giotto, among others, as will be told in his Life; and not onlyto Giotto, but to all those who have exercised themselves in this sortof painting from his day up to our own times. Wherefore it can be trulyaffirmed that those marvellous works which are being made to-day in S. Marco at Venice, and in other places, had their first beginning fromAndrea Tafi. 

GADDO GADDI

LIFE OF GADDO GADDI, PAINTER OF FLORENCE

Gaddo, painter of Florence, displayed at this same time more design inhis works, wrought after the Greek manner, than did Andrea Tafi and theother painters that were before him, and this perchance arose from theintimate friendship and intercourse that he held with Cimabue, seeingthat, by reason either of their conformity of blood or of the goodnessof their minds, finding themselves united one to the other by a straitaffection, from the frequent converse that they had together and fromtheir discoursing lovingly very often about the difficulties of the artsthere were born in their minds conceptions very beautiful and grand; andthis came to pass for them the more easily inasmuch as they wereassisted by the subtlety of the air of Florence, which is wont toproduce spirits both ingenious and subtle, removing continually fromround them that little of rust and grossness that most times nature isnot able to remove, together with the emulation and with the preceptsthat the good craftsmen provide in every age. And it is seen clearlythat works concerted between those who, in their friendship, are notveiled with the mask of duplicity (although few so made are to befound), arrive at much perfection; and the same men, conferring on thedifficulties of the sciences that they are learning, purge them andrender them so clear and easy that the greatest praise comes therefrom. Whereas some, on the contrary, diabolically working with profession offriendship, and using the cloak of truth and of lovingness to concealtheir envy and malice, rob them of their conceptions, in a manner thatthe arts do not so soon attain to that excellence which they would iflove embraced the minds of the gracious spirits; as it truly boundtogether Gaddo and Cimabue, and in like manner Andrea Tafi and Gaddo, who was taken by Andrea into company with himself in order to finish themosaics of S. Giovanni, where that Gaddo learnt so much that afterwardshe made by himself the Prophets that are seen round that church in thesquare spaces beneath the windows; and having wrought these by his ownself and with much better manner, they brought him very great fame. Wherefore, growing in courage and being disposed to work by himself, heapplied himself continually to studying the Greek manner together withthat of Cimabue. Whence, after no long time, having become excellent inthe art, there was allotted to him by the Wardens of Works of S. Mariadel Fiore the lunette over the principal door within the church, whereinhe wrought in mosaic the Coronation of Our Lady; which work, whenfinished, was judged by all the masters, both foreign and native, themost beautiful that had yet been seen in all Italy in that craft, therebeing recognized therein more design, more judgment, and morediligence than in all the rest of the works in mosaic that were thento be found in Italy. 

Wherefore, the fame of this work spreading, Gaddo was called to Rome inthe year 1308 (which was the year after the fire that burnt down theChurch and the Palaces of the Lateran) by Clement V, for whom hefinished certain works in mosaic left imperfect by Fra Jacopo daTurrita. He then wrought certain works, also in mosaic, in the Church ofS. Pietro, both in the principal chapel and throughout the church, andin particular a large God the Father, with many other figures, on thefaçade; and helping to finish some scenes in mosaic that are in thefaçade of S. Maria Maggiore, he somewhat improved the manner, anddeparted also a little from that manner of the Greeks, which had in itnothing whatever of the good. 

Next, having returned to Tuscany, he wrought in the Duomo Vecchiowithout the city of Arezzo, for the Tarlati, Lords of Pietramala, certain works in mosaic on a vault that was all made of sponge-stone andserved for roof to the middle part of that church, which, being too muchburdened by the ancient vault of stone, fell down in the time of BishopGentile of Urbino, who had it afterwards all rebuilt with bricks. Departing from Arezzo, Gaddo went to Pisa, where, in the niche over theChapel of the Incoronata in the Duomo, he made a Madonna who isascending into Heaven, and, above, a Jesus Christ who is awaiting herand has a rich chair prepared as a seat for her; which work, for thosetimes, was wrought so well and with so great diligence that it has beenvery well preserved, even to our own day. After this Gaddo returned toFlorence, in mind to rest; wherefore, undertaking to make little panelsin mosaic, he executed some with egg-shells, with incredible diligenceand patience, as can be seen, among others, in some that are stillto-day in the Church of S. Giovanni in Florence. It is read, also, thathe made two of them for King Robert, but nothing more is known of these. And let this be enough to have said of Gaddo Gaddi with regard to workin mosaic. 

In painting he made many panels, and among others that which is in S. Maria Novella, in the tramezzo[8] of the church, in the Chapel of theMinerbetti, and many others that were sent into diverse parts ofTuscany. And working thus, now in mosaic and now in painting, he madeboth in the one and in the other exercise many passing good works, whichmaintained him ever in good credit and reputation. I could here enlargefurther in discoursing of Gaddo, but seeing that the manners of thepainters of those times cannot, for the most part, render greatassistance to the craftsmen, I will pass this over in silence, reservingmyself to be longer in the Lives of those who, having improved the arts, can give some measure of assistance. 

Gaddo lived seventy-three years, and died in 1312, and was givenhonourable burial in S. Croce by his son Taddeo. And although he hadother sons, Taddeo alone, who was held at the baptismal font by Giotto, applied himself to painting, learning at first the principles from hisfather and then the rest from Giotto. A disciple of Gaddo, besidesTaddeo his son, was Vicino, painter of Pisa, who wrought very wellcertain works in mosaic in the principal apse of the Duomo of Pisa, asthese words demonstrate, that are still seen in that apse:

 TEMPORE DOMINI JOANNIS ROSSI, OPERARII ISTIUS ECCLESIÆ, VICINUS PICTOR INCEPIT ET PERFECIT HANC IMAGINEM BEATÆ MARIÆ; SED MAJESTATIS, ET EVANGELISTÆ, PER ALIOS INCEPTÆ, IPSE COMPLEVIT ET PERFECIT, A. D. 1321, DE MENSE SEPTEMBRIS. BENEDICTUM SIT NOMEN DOMINI DEI NOSTRI JESU CHRISTI. AMEN. 

In the Chapel of the Baroncelli, in the same Church of S. Croce, thereis a portrait of Gaddo by the hand of his son Taddeo, in a Marriage ofOur Lady, and beside him is Andrea Tafi. And in our aforesaid book thereis a drawing by the hand of Gaddo, made in miniature, like that ofCimabue, wherein it is seen how strong he was in draughtsmanship. 

Now, seeing that in an old book, from which I have drawn these few factsthat have been related about Gaddo Gaddi, there is also an account ofthe building of S. Maria Novella, the Church of the Preaching Friars inFlorence, a building truly magnificent and highly honoured, I will notpass by in silence by whom and at what time it was built. I say, then, that the Blessed Dominic being in Bologna, and there being conceded tohim the property of Ripoli without Florence, he sent thither twelvefriars under the care of the Blessed Giovanni da Salerno; and not manyyears afterwards these friars came to Florence to occupy the church andprecincts of S. Pancrazio, and they were settled there, when Dominichimself came to Florence, whereupon they left that place and went tosettle in the Church of S. Paolo, according to his pleasure. Later, there being conceded to the said Blessed Giovanni the precincts of S. Maria Novella, with all its wealth, by the Legate of the Pope and by theBishop of the city, they were put in possession and began to occupy thesaid precincts on the last day of October, 1221. And because the saidchurch was passing small and faced westward, with its entrance on thePiazza Vecchia, the friars, being now grown to a good number and havinggreat repute in the city, began to think of increasing the said churchand convent. Wherefore, having got together a very great sum of money, and having many in the city who were promising every assistance, theybegan the building of the new church on St. Luke's Day, in 1278; thefirst stone of the foundations being most solemnly laid by CardinalLatino degli Orsini, Legate of Pope Nicholas III to the Florentines. Thearchitects of the said church were Fra Giovanni, a Florentine, and FraRistoro da Campi, lay-brothers of the same Order, who rebuilt the Pontealla Carraja and that of S. Trinita, destroyed by the flood of 1264 onOctober 1. The greater part of the site of the said church and conventwas presented to the friars by the heirs of Messer Jacopo, Cavaliere de'Tornaquinci. The cost, as has been said, was met partly by alms andpartly by the money of diverse persons who assisted gallantly, and inparticular with the assistance of Frate Aldobrandino Cavalcanti, who wasafterwards Bishop of Arezzo and is buried over the door of the Virgin. Some say that, besides everything else, he got together by his ownindustry all the labour and material that went into the said church, which was finished when the Prior of this convent was Fra JacopoPassavanti, who was therefore deemed worthy of a marble tomb in front ofthe principal chapel, on the left hand. This church was consecrated inthe year 1420, by Pope Martin V, as is seen in an inscription on marbleon the righthand pillar of the principal chapel, which runs thus:

 A. D. 1420. DIE SEPTIMA SEPTEMBRIS, DOMINUS MARTINUS DIVINA PROVIDENTIA PAPA V. PERSONALITER HANC ECCLESIAM CONSECRAVIT, ET MAGNAS INDULGENTIAS CONTULIT VISITANTIBUS EANDEM. 

Of all these things and of many others there is an account in achronicle of the building of the said church, which is in the hands ofthe fathers of S. Maria Novella, and in the History of Giovanni Villanilikewise; and I have not wished to withhold these few facts regardingthis church and convent, both because it is one of the most importantand most beautiful churches in Florence, and also because they havetherein, as will be said below, many excellent works made by the mostfamous craftsmen that have lived in the years past. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 8: The literal meaning of tramezzo is "something that acts asa partition between one thing and another. " There are cases where itmight be translated "rood-screen"; but in general it may be taken tomean transept, which may be said to divide a church into two parts. Inall cases where the word occurs, reference will be made to this note. ]

MARGARITONE

LIFE OF MARGARITONE, PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT, OF AREZZO

Among the old painters who were much alarmed by the praises rightlygiven by men to Cimabue and to his disciple Giotto, whose good work inpainting was making their glory shine throughout all Italy, was oneMargaritone, painter of Arezzo, who, with the others who in that unhappycentury were holding the highest rank in painting, recognized that theirworks were little less than wholly obscuring his own fame. Margaritone, then, being held excellent among the other painters of these times whowere working after the Greek manner, wrought many panels in distemper atArezzo, and he painted in fresco--in even more pictures, but in a longtime and with much fatigue--almost the whole Church of S. Clemente, Abbey of the Order of Camaldoli, which is to-day all in ruins and throwndown, together with many other buildings and a strong fortress called S. Chimenti, for the reason that Duke Cosimo de' Medici, not only on thatspot but right round that city, pulled down many buildings and the oldwalls (which were restored by Guido Pietramalesco, formerly Bishop andPatron of that city); in order to rebuild the latter with connectingwings and bastions, much stronger and smaller than they were, and inconsequence more easy to guard and with few men. There were, in the saidpictures, many figures both small and great, and although they werewrought after the Greek manner, it was recognized, none the less, thatthey had been made with good judgment and lovingly; to which witness isborne by works by the same man's hand which have survived in that city, and above all a panel that is now in S. Francesco, in the Chapel of theConception, with a modern frame, wherein is a Madonna held by thesefriars in great veneration. He made in the same church, also after theGreek manner, a great Crucifix which is now placed in that chapel wherethere is the Office of the Wardens of Works; this is wrought on theplanking, with the Cross outlined, and of this sort he made many in thatcity. For the Nuns of S. Margherita he wrought a work that is to-day setup against the tramezzo[9] of the church--namely, a canvas fixed on apanel, wherein are scenes with small figures from the life of Our Ladyand of S. John the Baptist, in considerably better manner than thelarge, and executed with more diligence and grace. This work is notable, not only because the said small figures are so well made that they looklike miniatures, but also because it is a marvel to see that a work oncanvas has been preserved for three hundred years. He made throughoutthe whole city an infinity of pictures, and at Sargiano, a convent ofthe Frati de' Zoccoli, a S. Francis portrayed from nature on a panel, whereon he placed his name, as on a work, in his judgment, wroughtbetter than was his wont. Next, having made a large Crucifix on wood, painted after the Greek manner, he sent it to Florence to MesserFarinata degli Uberti, a most famous citizen, for the reason that hehad, among other noble deeds, freed his country from imminent ruin andperil. This Crucifix is to-day in S. Croce, between the Chapel of thePeruzzi and that of the Giugni. In S. Domenico in Arezzo, a church andconvent built by the Lords of Pietramala in the year 1275, as their armsstill prove, he wrought many works, and then returned to Rome (where hehad already been held very dear by Pope Urban IV), to the end that hemight do certain works in fresco at his commission in the portico of S. Pietro; these were in the Greek manner, and passing good for thosetimes. 

[Illustration: _Mansell_

THE VIRGIN AND CHILD, WITH SCENES FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS

(_After the painting by_ Margaritone. _London: National Gallery, 5040_)]

Next, having made a S. Francis on a panel at Ganghereto, a place aboveTerra Nuova in Valdarno, his spirit grew exalted and he gave himself tosculpture, and that with so much zeal that he succeeded much better thanhe had done in painting, because, although his first sculptures were inGreek manner, as four wooden figures show that are in a Deposition fromthe Cross in the Prieve, and some other figures in the round placed inthe Chapel of S. Francesco over the baptismal font, none the less headopted a better manner after he had seen in Florence the works ofArnolfo and of the other then most famous sculptors. Wherefore, havingreturned to Arezzo in the year 1275, in the wake of the Court of PopeGregory, who passed through Florence on his return from Avignon to Rome, there came to him opportunity to make himself more known, for the reasonthat this Pope died in Arezzo, after having presented thirty thousandcrowns to the Commune to the end that there might be finished thebuilding of the Vescovado, formerly begun by Maestro Lapo and littleadvanced, and the Aretines, besides making the Chapel of S. Gregorio(where Margaritone afterwards made a panel) in the Vescovado, in memoryof the said Pontiff, also ordained that a tomb of marble should be madefor him by the same man in the said Vescovado. Putting his hand to thework, he brought it to completion, including therein the portrait of thePope from nature, done both in marble and in painting, in a manner thatit was held the best work that he had ever yet made. Next, work beingresumed on the building of the Vescovado, Margaritone carried it veryfar on, following the design of Lapo; but he did not, however, deliverit finished, because a few years later, in the year 1289, the warsbetween the Florentines and the Aretines were renewed, by the fault ofGuglielmino Ubertini, Bishop and Lord of Arezzo, assisted by the Tarlatida Pietramala and by the Pazzi di Valdarno, although evil came to themthereby, for they were routed and slain at Campaldino; and there wasspent in that war all the money left by the Pope for the building of theVescovado. And therefore the Aretines ordained that in place of thisthere should serve the impost paid by the district (thus do they call atax), as a particular revenue for that work; which impost has lasted upto our own day, and continues to last. 

Now returning to Margaritone: from what is seen in his works, as regardspainting, he was the first who considered what a man must do when heworks on panels of wood, to the end that they may stay firm in thejoinings, and that they may not show fissures and cracks opening outafter they have been painted; for he was used to put over the wholesurface of the panels a canvas of linen cloth, attached with a strongglue made from shreds of parchment and boiled over a fire; and thenover the said canvas he spread gesso, as is seen in many panels by himand by others. He wrought, besides, on gesso mingled with the same glue, friezes and diadems in relief and other ornaments in the round; and hewas the inventor of the method of applying Armenian bole, and ofspreading gold-leaf thereon and burnishing it. All these things, neverseen before, are seen in many of his works, and in particular in thePieve of Arezzo, in an altar-front wherein are stories of S. Donatus, and in S. Agnesa and S. Niccolò in the same city. 

Finally, he wrought many works in his own country, which went abroad;some of which are at Rome, in S. Giovanni and in S. Pietro, and some atPisa, in S. Caterina, where, in the tramezzo[10] of the church, there isset up over an altar a panel with S. Catherine on it, and many scenesfrom her life with little figures, and a S. Francis with many scenes ona panel, on a ground of gold. And in the upper Church of S. Francescod'Assisi there is a Crucifix by his hand, painted in the Greek manner, on a beam that crosses the church. All which works were in great esteemamong the people of that age, although to-day by us they are notesteemed save as old things, good when art was not, as it is to-day, atits height. And seeing that Margaritone applied himself also toarchitecture, although I have not made mention of any buildings madewith his design, because they are not of importance, I will yet notforbear to say that he, according to what I find, made the design andmodel of the Palazzo de' Governatori in the city of Ancona, after theGreek manner, in the year 1270; and what is more, he made in sculpture, on the principal front, eight windows, whereof each one has, in thespace in the middle, two columns that support in the middle two arches, over which each window has a scene in half-relief that reaches from thesaid small arches up to the top of the window; a scene, I say, from theOld Testament, carved in a kind of stone that is found in that district. Under the said windows, on the façade, there are certain words that areunderstood rather at discretion than because they are either in goodform or rightly written, wherein there is read the date and in whosetime this work was made. By the hand of the same man, also, was thedesign of the Church of S. Ciriaco in Ancona. Margaritone died at theage of seventy-seven, disgusted, so it is said, to have lived so long, seeing the age changed and the honours with the new craftsmen. He wasburied in the Duomo Vecchio without Arezzo, in a tomb of travertine, nowgone to ruin in the destruction of that church; and there was made forhim this epitaph:

 HIC JACET ILLE BONUS PICTURA MARGARITONUS, CUI REQUIEM DOMINUS TRADAT UBIQUE PIUS. 

The portrait of Margaritone, by the hand of Spinello, is in the Story ofthe Magi, in the said Duomo, and was copied by me before that church waspulled down. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 9: See note on p. 57. ]

[Footnote 10: See note on p. 57. ]

GIOTTO

[Illustration: _Anderson_

THE DEATH OF S. FRANCIS

(_After the fresco by_ Giotto. _Florence: S. Croce_)]

LIFE OF GIOTTO, PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT, OF FLORENCE

That very obligation which the craftsmen of painting owe to nature, whoserves continually as model to those who are ever wresting the good fromher best and most beautiful features and striving to counterfeit and toimitate her, should be owed, in my belief, to Giotto, painter ofFlorence, for the reason that, after the methods of good paintings andtheir outlines had lain buried for so many years under the ruins of thewars, he alone, although born among inept craftsmen, by the gift of Godrevived that art, which had come to a grievous pass, and brought it tosuch a form as could be called good. And truly it was a very greatmiracle that that age, gross and inept, should have had strength to workin Giotto in a fashion so masterly, that design, whereof the men ofthose times had little or no knowledge, was restored completely to lifeby means of him. And yet this great man was born at the village ofVespignano, in the district of Florence, fourteen miles distant fromthat city, in the year 1276, from a father named Bondone, a tiller ofthe soil and a simple fellow. He, having had this son, to whom he gavethe name Giotto, reared him conformably to his condition; and when hehad come to the age of ten, he showed in all his actions, althoughchildish still, a vivacity and readiness of intelligence much out of theordinary, which rendered him dear not only to his father but to allthose also who knew him, both in the village and beyond. Now Bondonegave some sheep into his charge, and he, going about the holding, now inone part and now in another, to graze them, and impelled by a naturalinclination to the art of design, was for ever drawing, on stones, onthe ground, or on sand, something from nature, or in truth anythingthat came into his fancy. Wherefore Cimabue, going one day on somebusiness of his own from Florence to Vespignano, found Giotto, while hissheep were browsing, portraying a sheep from nature on a flat andpolished slab, with a stone slightly pointed, without having learnt anymethod of doing this from others, but only from nature; whence Cimabue, standing fast all in a marvel, asked him if he wished to go to live withhim. The child answered that, his father consenting, he would gowillingly. Cimabue then asking this from Bondone, the latter lovinglygranted it to him, and was content that he should take the boy with himto Florence; whither having come, in a short time, assisted by natureand taught by Cimabue, the child not only equalled the manner of hismaster, but became so good an imitator of nature that he banishedcompletely that rude Greek manner and revived the modern and good art ofpainting, introducing the portraying well from nature of living people, which had not been used for more than two hundred years. If, indeed, anyone had tried it, as has been said above, he had not succeeded veryhappily, nor as well by a great measure as Giotto, who portrayed amongothers, as is still seen to-day in the Chapel of the Palace of thePodestà at Florence, Dante Alighieri, a contemporary and his very greatfriend, and no less famous as poet than was in the same times Giotto aspainter, so much praised by Messer Giovanni Boccaccio in the preface tothe story of Messer Forese da Rabatta and of Giotto the painter himself. In the same chapel are the portraits, likewise by the same man's hand, of Ser Brunetto Latini, master of Dante, and of Messer Corso Donati, agreat citizen of those times. 

[Illustration: _Anderson_

S. FRANCIS PREACHING BEFORE POPE HONORIUS III

(_After the fresco of the_ Roman School. _Assisi: Upper Church of S. Francesco_)]

The first pictures of Giotto were in the chapel of the high-altar in theBadia of Florence, wherein he made many works held beautiful, but inparticular a Madonna receiving the Annunciation, for the reason that inher he expressed vividly the fear and the terror that the salutation ofGabriel inspired in Mary the Virgin, who appears, all full of thegreatest alarm, to be wishing almost to turn to flight. By the hand ofGiotto, likewise, is the panel on the high-altar of the said chapel, which has been preserved there to our own day, and is still preservedthere, more because of a certain reverence that is felt for the work ofso great a man than for any other reason. And in S. Croce there arefour chapels by the same man's hand: three between the sacristy and thegreat chapel, and one on the other side. In the first of the three, which is that of Messer Ridolfo de' Bardi, and is that wherein are thebell-ropes, is the life of S. Francis, in the death of whom a goodnumber of friars show very naturally the expression of weeping. In thenext, which is that of the family of Peruzzi, are two stories of thelife of S. John the Baptist, to whom the chapel is dedicated; whereingreat vivacity is seen in the dancing and leaping of Herodias, and inthe promptness of some servants bustling at the service of the table. Inthe same are two marvellous stories of S. John the Evangelist--namely, when he brings Drusiana back to life, and when he is carried off intoHeaven. In the third, which is that of the Giugni, dedicated to theApostles, there are painted by the hand of Giotto the stories of themartyrdom of many of them. In the fourth, which is on the other side ofthe church, towards the north, and belongs to the Tosinghi and to theSpinelli, and is dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady, Giotto paintedher Birth, her Marriage, her Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi, and when she presents Christ as a little Child to Simeon, which issomething very beautiful, seeing that, besides a great affection that isseen in that old man as he receives Christ, the action of the child, stretching out its arms in fear of him and turning in terror towards itsmother, could not be more touching or more beautiful. Next, in the deathof the Madonna herself, there are the Apostles, and a good number ofangels with torches in their hands, all very beautiful. In the Chapel ofthe Baroncelli, in the said church, is a panel in distemper by the handof Giotto, wherein is executed with much diligence the Coronation of OurLady, with a very great number of little figures and a choir of angelsand saints, very diligently wrought. And because in that work there arewritten his name and the date in letters of gold, craftsmen who willconsider at what time Giotto, with no glimmer of the good manner, gave abeginning to the good method of drawing and of colouring, will be forcedto hold him in the highest veneration. In the same Church of S. Croce, over the marble tomb of Carlo Marsuppini of Arezzo, there is a Crucifix, with the Madonna, S. John, and Magdalene at the foot of the Cross; andon the other side of the church, exactly opposite this, over theburial-place of Lionardo Aretino, facing the high-altar, there is anAnnunciation, which has been recoloured by modern painters, with smalljudgment on the part of him who has had this done. In the refectory, ona Tree of the Cross, are stories of S. Louis and a Last Supper by thesame man's hand; and on the wardrobes in the sacristy are scenes withlittle figures from the life of Christ and of S. Francis. He wrought, also, in the Church of the Carmine, in the Chapel of S. GiovanniBattista, all the life of that Saint, divided into a number of pictures;and in the Palace of the Guelph party, in Florence, there is a story ofthe Christian Faith, painted perfectly in fresco by his hand; andtherein is the portrait of Pope Clement IV, who created that magisterialbody, giving it his arms, which it has always held and holds still. 

[Illustration: _Anderson_

THE BODY OF S. FRANCIS BEFORE THE CHURCH OF S. DAMIANO

(_After the fresco of the_ Roman School. _Assisi: Upper Church of S. Francesco_)]

After these works, departing from Florence in order to go to finish inAssisi the works begun by Cimabue, in passing through Arezzo he paintedin the Pieve the Chapel of S. Francesco, which is above the place ofbaptism; and on a round column, near a Corinthian capital that is bothancient and very beautiful, he portrayed from nature a S. Francis and aS. Dominic; and in the Duomo without Arezzo he painted the Stoning of S. Stephen in a little chapel, with a beautiful composition of figures. These works finished, he betook himself to Assisi, a city of Umbria, being called thither by Fra Giovanni di Muro della Marca, then Generalof the Friars of S. Francis; where, in the upper church, he painted infresco, under the gallery that crosses the windows, on both sides of thechurch, thirty-two scenes of the life and acts of S. Francis--that is, sixteen on each wall--so perfectly that he acquired thereby very greatfame. And in truth there is seen great variety in that work, not only inthe gestures and attitudes of each figure but also in the composition ofall the scenes; not to mention that it enables us very beautifully tosee the diversity of the costumes of those times, and certain imitationsand observations of the things of nature. Among others, there is onevery beautiful scene, wherein a thirsty man, in whom the desire forwater is vividly seen, is drinking, bending down on the ground by afountain with very great and truly marvellous expression, in a mannerthat it seems almost a living person that is drinking. There are alsomany other things there most worthy of consideration, about which, inorder not to be tedious, I do not enlarge further. Let it suffice thatthis whole work acquired for Giotto very great fame, by reason of theexcellence of the figures and of the order, proportion, liveliness, andfacility which he had from nature, and which he had made much greater bymeans of study, and was able to demonstrate clearly in all his works. And because, besides that which Giotto had from nature, he was mostdiligent and went on ever thinking out new ideas and wresting them fromnature, he well deserved to be called the disciple of nature and not ofothers. The aforesaid scenes being finished, he painted in the sameplace, but in the lower church, the upper part of the walls at the sidesof the high-altar, and all the four angles of the vaulting above in theplace where lies the body of S. Francis; and all with inventions bothfanciful and beautiful. In the first is S. Francis glorified in Heaven, surrounded by those virtues which are essential for him who wishes to beperfectly in the grace of God. On one side Obedience is placing a yokeon the neck of a friar who is before her on his knees, and the bands ofthe yoke are drawn by certain hands towards Heaven; and, enjoiningsilence with one finger to her lips, she has her eyes on Jesus Christ, who is shedding blood from His side. And in company with this virtue arePrudence and Humility, in order to show that where there is trueobedience there are ever humility and prudence, which enable us to carryout every action well. In the second angle is Chastity, who, standing ina very strong fastness, is refusing to be conquered either by kingdomsor crowns or palms that some are presenting to her. At her feet isPurity, who is washing naked figures; and Force is busy leading peopleto wash and purify themselves. Near to Chastity, on one side, isPenitence, who is chasing Love away with a Discipline, and putting toflight Impurity. In the third space is Poverty, who is walking with barefeet on thorns, and has a dog that is barking at her from behind, andabout her a boy who is throwing stones at her, and another who is busypushing some thorns with a stick against her legs. And this Poverty isseen here being espoused by S. Francis, while Jesus Christ is holdingher hand, there being present, not without mystic meaning, Hope andCompassion. In the fourth and last of the said spaces is a S. Francis, also glorified, in the white tunic of a deacon, and shown triumphant inHeaven in the midst of a multitude of angels who are forming a choirround him, with a standard whereon is a Cross with seven stars; and onhigh is the Holy Spirit. Within each of these angles are some Latinwords that explain the scenes. In like manner, besides the said fourangles, there are pictures on the side walls which are very beautifuland truly to be held in great price, both by reason of the perfectionthat is seen in them and because they were wrought with so greatdiligence that up to our own day they have remained fresh. In thesepictures is the portrait of Giotto himself, very well made, and over thedoor of the sacristy, by the same man's hand and also in fresco, thereis a S. Francis who is receiving the Stigmata, so loving and devout thatto me it appears the most excellent picture that Giotto made in theseworks, which are all truly beautiful and worthy of praise. 

Having finished, then, for the last, the said S. Francis, he returned toFlorence, where, on arriving there, he painted, on a panel that was tobe sent to Pisa, a S. Francis on the tremendous rock of La Vernia, withextraordinary diligence, seeing that, besides certain landscapes full oftrees and cliffs, which was something new in those times, there are seenin the attitude of a S. Francis, who is kneeling and receiving theStigmata with much readiness, a most ardent desire to receive them andinfinite love towards Jesus Christ, who, being surrounded in the sky byseraphim, is granting them to him with an expression so vivid thatanything better cannot be imagined. In the lower part of the same panelthere are three very beautiful scenes of the life of the same Saint. This panel, which to-day is seen in S. Francesco in Pisa on a pillarbeside the high-altar, and is held in great veneration as a memorial ofso great a man, was the reason that the Pisans, having just finished thebuilding of the Campo Santo after the design of Giovanni, son of NiccolaPisano, as has been said above, gave to Giotto the painting of part ofthe inner walls, to the end that, since this so great fabric was allincrusted on the outer side with marbles and with carvings made at verygreat cost, and roofed over with lead, and also full of sarcophagi andancient tombs once belonging to the heathens and brought to Pisa fromvarious parts of the world, even so it might be adorned within, on thewalls, with the noblest painting. Having gone to Pisa, then, for thispurpose, Giotto made in fresco, on the first part of a wall in thatCampo Santo, six large stories of the most patient Job. And because hejudiciously reflected that the marbles of that part of the buildingwhere he had to work were turned towards the sea, and that, all beingsaline marbles, they are ever damp by reason of the south-east winds andthrow out a certain salt moisture, even as the bricks of Pisa do for themost part, and that therefore the colours and the paintings fade andcorrode, he caused to be made over the whole surface where he wished towork in fresco, to the end that his work might be preserved as long aspossible, a coating, or in truth an intonaco or incrustation--that is tosay, with lime, gypsum, and powdered brick all mixed together; sosuitably that the pictures which he afterwards made thereon have beenpreserved up to the present day. And they would be still better if thenegligence of those who should have taken care of them had not allowedthem to be much injured by the damp, because the fact that this was notprovided for, as was easily possible, has been the reason that thesepictures, having suffered from damp, have been spoilt in certain places, and the flesh-colours have been blackened, and the intonaco has peeledoff; not to mention that the nature of gypsum, when it has been mixedwith lime, is to corrode in time and to grow rotten, whence it arisesthat afterwards, perforce, it spoils the colours, although it appears atthe beginning to take a good and firm hold. In these scenes, besides theportrait of Messer Farinata degli Uberti, there are many beautifulfigures, and above all certain villagers, who, in carrying the grievousnews to Job, could not be more full of feeling nor show better than theydo the grief that they felt over the lost cattle and over the othermisadventures. Likewise there is amazing grace in the figure of aman-servant who is standing with a fan beside Job, who is covered withulcers and almost abandoned by all; and although he is well done inevery part, he is marvellous in the attitude that he strikes in chasingthe flies from his leprous and stinking master with one hand, while withthe other he is holding his nose in disgust, in order not to notice thestench. In like manner, the other figures in these scenes and the headsboth of the males and of the women are very beautiful; and the draperiesare wrought to such a degree of softness that it is no marvel if thiswork acquired for him so great fame, both in that city and abroad, thatPope Benedict IX of Treviso sent one of his courtiers into Tuscany tosee what sort of man was Giotto, and of what kind his works, havingdesigned to have some pictures made in S. Pietro. This courtier, comingin order to see Giotto and to hear what other masters there were inFlorence excellent in painting and in mosaic, talked to many masters inSiena. Then, having received drawings from them, he came to Florence, and having gone into the shop of Giotto, who was working, declared tohim the mind of the Pope and in what way it was proposed to make use ofhis labour, and at last asked him for some little drawing, to the endthat he might send it to His Holiness. Giotto, who was most courteous, took a paper, and on that, with a brush dipped in red, holding his armfast against his side in order to make a compass, with a turn of thehand he made a circle, so true in proportion and circumference that tobehold it was a marvel. This done, he smiled and said to the courtier:"Here is your drawing. " He, thinking he was being derided, said: "Am Ito have no other drawing but this?" "'Tis enough and to spare, " answeredGiotto. "Send it, together with the others, and you will see if it willbe recognized. " The envoy, seeing that he could get nothing else, lefthim, very ill-satisfied and doubting that he had been fooled. All thesame, sending to the Pope the other drawings and the names of those whohad made them, he also sent that of Giotto, relating the method that hehad followed in making his circle without moving his arm and withoutcompasses. Wherefore the Pope and many courtiers that were versed in thearts recognized by this how much Giotto surpassed in excellence all theother painters of his time. This matter having afterwards spread abroad, there was born from it the proverb that is still wont to be said to menof gross wits: "Tu sei più tondo che l' O di Giotto!" ("Thou artrounder than Giotto's circle"). This proverb can be called beautiful notonly from the occasion that gave it birth, but also for itssignificance, which consists in the double meaning; tondo being used, inTuscany, both for the perfect shape of a circle and for slowness andgrossness of understanding. 

[Illustration: _Anderson_

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

(_After the fresco by_ Giotto and his Pupils. _Assisi: Lower Church ofS. Francesco_)]

The aforesaid Pope then made him come to Rome, where, honouring him muchand appreciating his talents, he made him paint five scenes from thelife of Christ in the apse of S. Pietro, and the chief panel in thesacristy, which were all executed by him with so great diligence thatthere never issued from his hands any more finished work in distemper. Wherefore he well deserved that the Pope, holding himself to have beenwell served, should cause to be given to him six hundred ducats of gold, besides granting him so many favours that they were talked of throughoutall Italy. 

About this time--in order to withhold nothing worthy of remembrance inconnection with art--there was in Rome one Oderigi d'Agobbio, who wasmuch the friend of Giotto and an excellent illuminator for those days. This man, being summoned for this purpose by the Pope, illuminated manybooks for the library of the palace, which are now in great part eatenaway by time. And in my book of ancient drawings are some remains fromthe very hand of this man, who in truth was an able man; although a muchbetter master than Oderigi was Franco Bolognese, who wrought a number ofworks excellently in that manner for the same Pope and for the samelibrary, about the same time, as can be seen in the said book, wherein Ihave designs by his hand both in painting and in illumination, and amongthem an eagle very well done, and a very beautiful lion that is tearinga tree. Of these two excellent illuminators Dante makes mention in theeleventh canto of the _Purgatorio_, where he is talking of thevainglorious, in these verses:

 O, dissi a lui, non se' tu Oderigi, L'onor d'Agobbio, e l'onor di quell'arte Che alluminare è chiamata in Parigi? Frate, diss'egli, più ridon le carte Che pennelleggia Franco Bolognese; L'onor è tutto suo, e mio in parte. 

The Pope, having seen these works, and the manner of Giotto pleasing himinfinitely, ordered him to make scenes from the Old Testament and theNew right round S. Pietro; wherefore, for a beginning, Giotto made infresco the Angel that is over the organ, seven braccia high, and manyother paintings, whereof part have been restored by others in our owndays, and part, in founding the new walls, have been either destroyed orremoved from the old edifice of S. Pietro, up to the space below theorgan; such as a Madonna on a wall, which, to the end that it might notbe thrown to the ground, was cut right out of the wall and made fastwith beams and iron bars and thus removed, and afterwards built in, byreason of its beauty, in the place that pleased the pious love that isborne towards everything excellent in art by Messer Niccolò Acciaiuoli, doctor of Florence, who richly adorned this work of Giotto withstucco-work and also with modern paintings. By his hand, also, was theNavicella in mosaic that is over the three doors of the portico in thecourt of S. Pietro, which is truly marvellous and deservedly praised byall beautiful minds, because in it, besides the design, there is thegrouping of the Apostles, who are travailing in diverse manners throughthe sea-tempest, while the winds are blowing into a sail, which has sohigh a relief that a real one would not have more; and moreover it isdifficult to have to make with those pieces of glass a unity such asthat which is seen in the lights and shadows of so great a sail, whichcould only be equalled by the brush with great difficulty and by makingevery possible effort; not to mention that in a fisherman, who isfishing from a rock with a line, there is seen an attitude of extremepatience proper to that art, and in his face the hope and the wish tomake a catch. Under this work are three little arches in fresco, ofwhich, since they are for the greater part spoilt, I will say no more. The praises universally given by craftsmen to this work are welldeserved. 

Giotto, having afterwards painted on a panel a large Crucifix colouredin distemper, for the Minerva, a church of the Preaching Friars, returned to his own country, having been abroad six years. But no longtime after, by reason of the death of Pope Benedict IX, Clement V wascreated Pope in Perugia, and Giotto was forced to betake himself withthat Pope to the place where he brought his Court, to Avignon, in orderto do certain works there; and having gone there, he made, not only inAvignon but in many other places in France, many very beautiful panelsand pictures in fresco, which pleased the Pontiff and the whole Courtinfinitely. Wherefore, the work dispatched, the Pope dismissed himlovingly and with many gifts, and he returned home no less rich thanhonoured and famous; and among the rest he brought back the portrait ofthat Pope, which he gave afterwards to Taddeo Gaddi, his disciple. Andthis return of Giotto to Florence was in the year 1316. But it was notgranted to him to stay long in Florence, because, being summoned toPadua by the agency of the Signori della Scala, he painted a verybeautiful chapel in the Santo, a church built in those times. From therehe went to Verona, where, for Messer Cane, he made certain pictures inhis palace, and in particular the portrait of that lord; and a panel forthe Friars of S. Francis. These works completed, in returning to Tuscanyhe was forced to stay in Ferrara, and he painted at the behest of thoseSignori d'Este, in their palace and in S. Agostino, some works that arestill seen there to-day. Meanwhile, it coming to the ears of Dante, poetof Florence, that Giotto was in Ferrara, he so contrived that he broughthim to Ravenna, where he was living in exile; and he caused him to makeround the Church of S. Francesco, for the Signori da Polenta, somescenes in fresco that are passing good. Next, having gone from Ravennato Urbino, there too he wrought some works. Then, chancing to passthrough Arezzo, he could not but comply with the wish of Piero Saccone, who had been much his friend; wherefore he made for him in fresco, on apillar in the principal chapel of the Vescovado, a S. Martin who has cuthis cloak in half and is giving one part of it to a beggar, who isstanding before him almost wholly naked. Then, having made for the Abbeyof S. Fiore a large Crucifix painted in distemper on wood, which isto-day in the middle of that church, he returned finally to Florence, where, among many other works, he made some pictures in the Convent ofthe Nuns of Faenza, both in fresco and in distemper, that are not inexistence to-day, by reason of the destruction of that convent. In theyear 1322, likewise--Dante, very much his friend, having died in theyear before, to his great sorrow--he went to Lucca, and at the requestof Castruccio, then Lord of that city, his birthplace, he made a panelin S. Martino with a Christ in air and four Saints, Protectors of thatcity--namely, S. Peter, S. Regulus, S. Martin, and S. Paulinus--whoappear to be recommending a Pope and an Emperor, who, according to whatis believed by many, are Frederick of Bavaria and the Anti-Pope NicholasV. Some, likewise, believe that Giotto designed the castle and fortressof Giusta, which is impregnable, at San Frediano, in the same city ofLucca. 

Afterwards, Giotto having returned to Florence, Robert, King of Naples, wrote to Charles, King of Calabria, his first-born son, who chanced tobe in Florence, that he should send him Giotto to Naples at all costs, for the reason that, having finished the building of S. Chiara, aconvent of nuns and a royal church, he wished that it should be adornedby him with noble paintings. Giotto, then, hearing himself summoned by aKing so greatly renowned and famous, went more than willingly to servehim, and, on arriving, painted many scenes from the Old Testament andthe New in some chapels of the said convent. And the scenes from theApocalypse that he made in one of the said chapels are said to have beeninventions of Dante; and this may be also true of those at Assisi, sogreatly renowned, whereof there has been enough said above. And althoughDante at that time was dead, they may have held discourse on thesematters, as often comes to pass between friends. 

[Illustration: GIOTTO: MADONNA AND CHILD

(_Florence: Accademia 103. Panel_)]

But to return to Naples; Giotto made many works in the Castel dell'Uovo, and in particular the chapel, which much pleased that King, by whom hewas so greatly beloved that many times, while working, Giotto foundhimself entertained by the King in person, who took pleasure in seeinghim at work and in hearing his discourse. And Giotto, who had ever somejest on his tongue and some witty repartee in readiness, would entertainhim with his hand, in painting, and with pleasant discourse, in hisjesting. Wherefore, the King saying to him one day that he wished tomake him the first man in Naples, Giotto answered, "And for that endam I lodged at the Porta Reale, in order to be the first in Naples. "Another time, the King saying to him, "Giotto, an I were you, now thatit is hot, I would give over painting for a little;" he answered, "AndI, i' faith, an I were you. " Being then very dear to the King, he madefor him a good number of pictures in a hall (that King Alfonso I pulleddown in order to make the Castle), and also in the Incoronata; and amongothers in the said hall were the portraits of many famous men, and amongthem that of Giotto himself. Now the King having one day out of capricebesought him to paint his realm for him, Giotto, so it is said, paintedfor him an ass saddled, that had at its feet a new pack-saddle, and wassniffing at it and making semblance of desiring it; and on both the oldpack-saddle and the new one were the royal crown and the sceptre ofsovereignty; wherefore Giotto, being asked by the King what such apicture signified, answered that such were his subjects and such thekingdom, wherein every day a new lord was desired. 

Departing from Naples in order to go to Rome, Giotto stopped at Gaeta, where he was forced to paint some scenes from the Old Testament in theNunziata, which are now spoilt by time, but yet not so completely thatthere may not be seen in them very well the portrait of Giotto himself, near a large and very beautiful Crucifix. This work finished, not beingable to refuse this to Signor Malatesta, he first occupied himself inhis service for some days in Rome, and afterwards he betook himself toRimini, of which city the said Malatesta was lord; and there, in theChurch of S. Francesco, he made very many pictures, which wereafterwards thrown to the ground and destroyed by Gismondo, son ofPandolfo Malatesta, who rebuilt the whole said church anew. In thecloisters of the said place, also, opposite to the wall of the church, he painted in fresco the story of the Blessed Michelina, which was oneof the most beautiful and excellent works that Giotto ever made, byreason of the many and beautiful ideas that he had in working thereon;for besides the beauty of the draperies, and the grace and vivacity ofthe heads, which are miraculous, there is a young woman therein asbeautiful as ever a woman can be, who, in order to clear herself fromthe false charge of adultery, is taking oath over a book in a mostwonderful attitude, holding her eyes fixed on those of her husband, whowas making her take the oath by reason of mistrust in a black son bornfrom her, whom he could in no way bring himself to believe to be his. She, even as the husband is showing disdain and distrust in his face, ismaking clear with the purity of her brow and of her eyes, to those whoare most intently gazing on her, her innocence and simplicity, and thewrong that he is doing to her in making her take oath and in proclaimingher wrongly as a harlot. 

In like manner, very great feeling was that which he expressed in a sickman stricken with certain sores, seeing that all the women who are roundhim, overcome by the stench, are making certain grimaces of disgust, themost gracious in the world. The foreshortenings, next, that are seen inanother picture among a quantity of beggars that he portrayed, are veryworthy of praise and should be held in great price among craftsmen, because from them there came the first beginning and method of makingthem, not to mention that it cannot be said that they are not passinggood for early work. But above everything else that is in this work, most marvellous is the gesture that the aforesaid Blessed Michelina ismaking towards certain usurers, who are disbursing to her the money fromthe sale of her possessions for giving to the poor, seeing that in herthere is shown contempt of money and of the other things of this earth, which appear to disgust her, and, in them, the personification of humanavarice and greed. Very beautiful, too, is the figure of one who, whilecounting the money, appears to be making sign to the notary who iswriting, considering that, although he has his eyes on the notary, he isyet keeping his hands on the money, thus revealing his love of it, hisavarice, and his distrust. In like manner, the three figures that areupholding the garments of S. Francis in the sky, representing Obedience, Patience, and Poverty, are worthy of infinite praise, above all becausethere is in the manner of the draperies a natural flow of folds thatgives us to know that Giotto was born in order to give light topainting. Besides this, he portrayed Signor Malatesta on a ship in thiswork, so naturally that he appears absolutely alive; and some marinersand other people, in their promptness, their expressions, and theirattitudes--and particularly a figure that is speaking with some othersand spits into the sea, putting one hand up to his face--give us to knowthe excellence of Giotto. And certainly, among all the works of paintingmade by this master, this may be said to be one of the best, for thereason that there is not one figure in so great a number that does notshow very great craftsmanship, and that is not placed in somecharacteristic attitude. And therefore it is no marvel that SignorMalatesta did not fail to reward him magnificently and to praise him. 

Having finished his labours for that lord, he complied with the requestof a Prior of Florence who was then at S. Cataldo d'Arimini, and made aS. Thomas Aquinas, reading to his friars, without the door of thechurch. Departing thence, he returned to Ravenna and painted a chapel infresco in S. Giovanni Evangelista, which is much extolled. Having nextreturned to Florence with very great honour and ample means, he painteda Crucifix on wood and in distemper for S. Marco, larger than life andon a ground of gold, which was placed on the right hand in the church. And he made another like it in S. Maria Novella, whereon Puccio Capanna, his pupil, worked in company with him; and this is still to-day over theprincipal door, on the right as you enter the church, over the tomb ofthe Gaddi. And in the same church, over the tramezzo, [11] he made a S. Louis for Paolo di Lotto Ardinghelli, and at the foot thereof theportrait of him and of his wife, from the life. 

Afterwards, in the year 1327, Guido Tarlati da Pietramala, Bishop andLord of Arezzo, died at Massa di Maremma in returning from Lucca, wherehe had been to visit the Emperor, and after his body had been brought toArezzo and the most magnificent funeral honours had been paid to it, Piero Saccone and Dolfo da Pietramala, the brother of the Bishop, determined that there should be made for him a tomb in marble worthy ofthe greatness of so notable a man, who had been a lord both spiritualand temporal, and head of the Ghibelline party in Tuscany. Wherefore, having written to Giotto that he should make the design of a tomb veryrich and with all possible adornment, and having sent him themeasurements, they prayed him afterwards that he should place at theirdisposal the sculptor who was the most excellent, according to hisopinion, of all that were in Italy, because they were relying wholly onhis judgment. Giotto, who was most courteous, made the design and sentit to them; and after this design, as will be told in the proper place, the said tomb was made. And because the said Piero Saccone had infinitelove for the talent of this man, having taken Borgo a San Sepolcro nolong time after he had received the said design, he brought from thereto Arezzo a panel with little figures by the hand of Giotto, whichafterwards fell to pieces; and Baccio Gondi, nobleman of Florence, alover of these noble arts and of every talent, being Commissary ofArezzo, sought out the pieces of this panel with great diligence, andhaving found some brought them to Florence, where he holds them in greatveneration, together with some other works that he has by the hand ofthe same Giotto, who wrought so many that their number is almost beyondbelief. And not many years ago, chancing to be at the Hermitage ofCamaldoli, where I have wrought many works for those reverend Fathers, Isaw in a cell, whither it had been brought by the Very Reverend DonAntonio da Pisa, then General of the Congregation of Camaldoli, a verybeautiful little Crucifix on a ground of gold, with the name of Giottoin his own hand; which Crucifix, according to what I hear from theReverend Don Silvano Razzi, monk of Camaldoli, is kept to-day in thecell of the Superior of the Monastery of the Angeli, as being a veryrare work and by the hand of Giotto, in company with a most beautifullittle picture by Raffaello da Urbino. 

For the Frati Umiliati of Ognissanti in Florence, Giotto painted achapel and four panels, in one of which there was the Madonna, with manyangels round her and the Child in her arms, and a large Crucifix onwood, whereof Puccio Capanna took the design and wrought many of themafterwards throughout all Italy, having much practice in the manner ofGiotto. In the tramezzo[12] of the said church, when this book of theLives of the Painters, Sculptors, and Architects was printed the firsttime, there was a little panel in distemper painted by Giotto withinfinite diligence, wherein was the death of Our Lady, with theApostles round her and with a Christ who is receiving her soul into Hisarms. This work was much praised by the craftsmen of painting, and inparticular by Michelagnolo Buonarroti, who declared, as was said anothertime, that the quality of this painted story could not be more like tothe truth than it is. This little panel, I say, having come into noticefrom the time when the book of these Lives was first published, wasafterwards carried off by someone unknown, who, perhaps out of love forart and out of piety, it seeming to him that it was little esteemed, became, as said our poet, impious. And truly it was a miracle in thosetimes that Giotto had so great loveliness in his painting, considering, above all, that he learnt the art in a certain measure without a master. 

After these works, in the year 1334, on July 9, he put his hand to theCampanile of S. Maria del Fiore, whereof the foundation was a platformof strong stone, in a pit sunk twenty braccia deep from which water andgravel had been removed; upon this platform he made a good mass ofconcrete, that reached to the height of twelve braccia above the firstfoundation, and the rest--namely, the other eight braccia--he caused tobe made of masonry. And at this beginning and foundation thereofficiated the Bishop of the city, who, in the presence of all theclergy and all the magistrates, solemnly laid the first stone. Thiswork, then, being carried on with the said model, which was in theGerman manner that was in use in those times, Giotto designed all thescenes that were going into the ornamentation, and marked out the modelwith white, black, and red colours in all those places wherein themarbles and the friezes were to go, with much diligence. The circuitround the base was one hundred braccia--that is, twenty-five braccia foreach side--and the height, one hundred and forty-four braccia. And ifthat is true, and I hold it as of the truest, which Lorenzo di CioneGhiberti has left in writing, Giotto made not only the model of thiscampanile, but also part of those scenes in marble wherein are thebeginnings of all the arts, in sculpture and in relief. And the saidLorenzo declares that he saw models in relief by the hand of Giotto, andin particular those of these works; which circumstance can be easilybelieved, design and invention being father and mother of all thesearts and not of one alone. This campanile was destined, according to themodel of Giotto, to have a spire, or rather a pyramid, four-sided andfifty braccia high, as a completion to what is now seen; but, for thereason that it was a German idea and in an old manner, modern architectshave never done aught but advise that it should not be made, the workseeming to be better as it is. For all these works Giotto was not onlymade citizen of Florence, but was given a pension of one hundred florinsyearly by the Commune of Florence, which was something very great inthose times; and he was made overseer over this work, which was carriedon after him by Taddeo Gaddi, for he did not live so long as to be ableto see it finished. 

Now, while this work continued to be carried forward, he made a panelfor the Nuns of S. Giorgio, and three half-length figures in an archover the inner side of the door of the Badia in Florence, now coveredwith whitewash in order to give more light to the church. And in theGreat Hall of the Podestà of Florence he painted the Commune (an ideastolen by many), representing it as sitting in the form of Judge, sceptre in hand, and over its head he placed the balanced scales assymbol of the just decisions administered by it, accompanying it withfour Virtues, that are, Strength with courage, Wisdom with the laws, Justice with arms, and Temperance with words; this work is beautiful asa picture, and characteristic and appropriate in invention. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT

(_After the fresco by_ Giotto. _Padua: Arena Chapel_)]

Afterwards, having gone again to Padua, besides many other works andchapels that he painted there, he made a Mundane Glory in the precinctsof the Arena, which gained him much honour and profit. In Milan, also, he wrought certain works, that are scattered throughout that city andheld most beautiful even to this day. Finally, having returned fromMilan, no long time passed before he gave up his soul to God, havingwrought so many most beautiful works in his life, and having been noless good as Christian than he was excellent as painter. He died in theyear 1336, to the great grief of all his fellow-citizens--nay, of allthose who had known him or even only heard his name--and he was buried, even as his virtues deserved, with great honour, having been loved byall while he lived, and in particular by the men excellent in all theprofessions, seeing that, besides Dante, of whom we have spokenabove, he was much honoured by Petrarca, both he and his works, sogreatly that it is read in Petrarca's testament that he left to SignorFrancesco da Carrara, Lord of Padua, among other things held by him inthe highest veneration, a picture by the hand of Giotto containing aMadonna, as something rare and very dear to him. And the words of thatclause in the testament run thus:

"Transeo ad dispositionem aliarum rerum; et prædicto igitur domino meoPaduano, quia et ipse per Dei gratiam non eget, et ego nihil aliud habeodignum se, mitto tabulam meam sive historiam Beatæ Virginis Mariæ, opusJocti pictoris egregii, quæ mihi ab amico meo Michæle Vannis deFlorentia missa est, in cujus pulchritudinem ignorantes non intelligunt, magistri autem artis stupent; hanc iconam ipsi domino lego, ut ipsaVirgo benedicta sibi sit propitia apud filium suum Jesum Christum. "

And the same Petrarch, in a Latin epistle in the fifth book of his_Familiar Letters_, says these words:

"Atque (ut a veteribus ad nova, ab externis ad nostra transgrediar) duosego novi pictores egregios, nec formosos, Joctum Florentinum civem, cujus inter modernos fama ingens est, et Simonem Senensem. Noviscultores aliquot, " etc. 

Giotto was buried in S. Maria del Fiore, on the left side as you enterthe church, where there is a slab of white marble in memory of so greata man. And, as was told in the Life of Cimabue, a commentator of Dante, who lived at the same time as Giotto, said: "Giotto was and is the mosteminent among painters in the same city of Florence, and his works beartestimony for him in Rome, in Naples, in Avignon, in Florence, in Padua, and in many other parts of the world. "

His disciples were Taddeo Gaddi, held by him at baptism, as has beensaid, and Puccio Capanna of Florence, who, working at Rimini in theChurch of S. Cataldo, belonging to the Preaching Friars, paintedperfectly in fresco the hull of a ship which appears to be sinking inthe sea, with men who are throwing things into the sea, one of whom isPuccio himself portrayed from life among a good number of mariners. Thesame man painted many works after the death of Giotto in the Church ofS. Francesco at Assisi, and in the Church of S. Trinita in Florence, near the side-door towards the river, he painted the Chapel of theStrozzi, wherein is the Coronation of the Madonna in fresco, with achoir of angels which draw very much to the manner of Giotto; and on thesides are stories of S. Lucia, very well wrought. In the Badia ofFlorence he painted the Chapel of S. Giovanni Evangelista, belonging tothe family of Covoni, beside the sacristry; and in Pistoia he wrought infresco the principal chapel of the Church of S. Francesco and the Chapelof S. Lodovico, with the stories of those Saints, passing well painted. In the middle of the Church of S. Domenico, in the same city, there area Crucifix, a Madonna, and a S. John, wrought with much sweetness, andat their feet a complete human skeleton, wherein (and this was somethingunusual in those times) Puccio showed that he had sought to find thefoundations of art. In this work there is read his name, written byhimself in this fashion: PUCCIO DI FIORENZA ME FECE. In the arch overthe door of S. Maria Nuova in the said church there are threehalf-length figures by his hand, Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and S. Peter on one side, and on the other S. Francis. He also paintedin the aforesaid city of Assisi, in the lower Church of S. Francesco, some scenes of the Passion of Jesus Christ in fresco, with good and veryresolute mastery, and in the chapel of the Church of S. Maria degliAngeli he wrought in fresco a Christ in Glory, with the Virgin prayingto Him for the Christian people; this work, which is passing good, hasbeen all blackened by the smoke of the lamps and the candles that areburning there continually in great quantity. And in truth, in so far asit can be judged, Puccio had the manner and the whole method of workingof his master Giotto, and knew how to make good use of it in the worksthat he wrought, even if, as some have it, he did not live long, havingfallen sick and died by reason of labouring too much in fresco. By hishand, in so far as is known, is the Chapel of S. Martino in the samechurch, with the stories of that Saint, wrought in fresco for CardinalGentile. There is seen, also, in the middle of the street calledPortica, a Christ at the Column, and in a square picture there is OurLady, with S. Catherine and S. Clara, one on either side of her. Thereare works by his hand scattered about in many other places, such as apanel with the Passion of Christ, and stories of S. Francis, in thetramezzo[13] of the church in Bologna; and many others, in short, thatare passed by for the sake of brevity. I will say, indeed, that inAssisi, where most of his works are, and where it appears to me that heassisted Giotto in painting, I have found that they hold him as theirfellow-citizen, and that there are still to-day in that city some of thefamily of the Capanni. Wherefore it may easily be believed that he wasborn in Florence, having written so himself, and that he was a discipleof Giotto, but that afterwards he took a wife in Assisi, that there hehad children, and that now he has descendants there. But because it isof little importance to know this exactly, it is enough to say that hewas a good master. 

Likewise a disciple of Giotto and a very masterly painter was Ottavianoda Faenza, who painted many works at Ferrara in S. Giorgio, the seat ofthe Monks of Monte Oliveto; and in Faenza, where he lived and died, hepainted, in the arch over the door of S. Francesco, a Madonna, S. Peterand S. Paul, and many other works in his said birthplace and in Bologna. 

A disciple of Giotto, also, was Pace da Faenza, who stayed with him longand assisted him in many works; and in Bologna there are some scenes infresco by his hand on the façade of S. Giovanni Decollato. This Pace wasan able man, particularly in making little figures, as can be seen tothis day in the Church of S. Francesco at Forlì, in a Tree of the Cross, and in a little panel in distemper, wherein is the life of Christ, withfour little scenes from the life of Our Lady, all very well wrought. Itis said that he wrought in fresco, in the Chapel of S. Antonio atAssisi, some stories of the life of that Saint, for a Duke of Spoletowho is buried in that place together with his son, both having diedfighting in certain suburbs of Assisi, according to what is seen in along inscription that is on the sarcophagus of the said tomb. In the oldbook of the Company of Painters it is found that the same man hadanother disciple, Francesco, called di Maestro Giotto, of whom I havenothing else to relate. 

Guglielmo of Forlì was also a disciple of Giotto, and besides many otherworks he painted the chapel of the high-altar in S. Domenico at Forlì, his native city. Disciples of Giotto, also, were Pietro Laurati andSimon Memmi of Siena, Stefano, a Florentine, and Pietro Cavallini, aRoman; but, seeing that of all these there is account in the Life ofeach one of them, let it suffice to have said in this place that theywere disciples of Giotto, who drew very well for his time and for thatmanner, whereunto witness is borne by many sheets of parchment drawn byhis hand in water-colour, outlined with the pen, in chiaroscuro, withthe high lights in white, which are in our book of drawings, and aretruly a marvel in comparison with those of the masters that lived beforehim. 

Giotto, as it has been said, was very ingenious and humorous, and verywitty in his sayings, whereof there is still vivid memory in that city;for besides that which Messer Giovanni Boccaccio wrote about him, FrancoSacchetti, in his three hundred Stories, relates many of them that arevery beautiful. Of these I will not forbear to write down some with thevery words of Franco himself, to the end that, together with the storyitself, there may be seen certain modes of speech and expressions ofthose times. He says in one, then, to give it its heading:

"To Giotto, a great painter, is given a buckler to paint by a man ofsmall account. He, making a jest of it, paints it in such a fashion thatthe other is put to confusion. "

The story: "Everyone must have heard already who was Giotto, and howgreat a painter he was above every other. A clownish fellow, havingheard his fame and having need, perchance for doing watch and ward, tohave a buckler of his painted, went off incontinent to the shop ofGiotto, with one who carried his buckler behind him, and, arriving wherehe found Giotto, said, 'God save thee, master, I would have thee paintmy arms on this buckler. ' Giotto, considering the man and the way ofhim, said no other word save this, 'When dost thou want it?' And he toldhim; and Giotto said, 'Leave it to me'; and off he went. And Giotto, being left alone, ponders to himself, 'What meaneth this? Can thisfellow have been sent to me in jest? Howsoever it may be, never wasthere brought to me a buckler to paint, and he who brings it is asimple manikin and bids me make him his arms as if he were of theblood-royal of France; i' faith, I must make him a new fashion of arms. 'And so, pondering within himself, he put the said buckler before him, and, having designed what seemed good to him, bade one of his disciplesfinish the painting, and so he did; which painting was a helmet, agorget, a pair of arm-pieces, a pair of iron gauntlets, a cuirass and aback-piece, a pair of thigh-pieces, a pair of leg-pieces, a sword, adagger, and a lance. The great man, who knew not what he was in for, onarriving, comes forward and says, 'Master, is it painted, that buckler?'Said Giotto, 'Of a truth, it is; go, someone, and bring it down. ' Thebuckler coming, that would-be gentleman begins to look at it and says toGiotto, 'What filthy mess is this that thou hast painted for me?' SaidGiotto, 'And it will seem to thee a right filthy business in thepaying. ' Said he, 'I will not pay four farthings for it. ' Said Giotto, 'And what didst thou tell me that I was to paint?' And he answered, 'Myarms. ' Said Giotto, ' And are they not here? Is there one wanting?' Saidthe fellow, 'Well, well!' Said Giotto, 'Nay, 'tis not well, God helpthee! And a great booby must thou be, for if one asked thee, "Who artthou?" scarce wouldst thou be able to tell; and here thou comest andsayest, "Paint me my arms!" An thou hadst been one of the Bardi, thatwere enough. What arms dost thou bear? Whence art thou? Who were thyancestors? Out upon thee! Art not ashamed of thyself? Begin first tocome into the world before thou pratest of arms as if thou wert Dusnamof Bavaria. I have made thee a whole suit of armour on thy buckler; ifthere be one piece wanting, name it, and I will have it painted. ' Saidhe, 'Thou dost use vile words to me, and hast spoilt me a buckler;' andtaking himself off, he went to the justice and had Giotto summoned. Giotto appeared and had him summoned, claiming two florins for thepainting, and the other claimed them from him. The officers, havingheard the pleadings, which Giotto made much the better, judged that theother should take his buckler so painted, and should give six lire toGiotto, since he was in the right. Wherefore he was constrained to takehis buckler and go, and was dismissed; and so, not knowing his measure, he had his measure taken. "

It is said that Giotto, while working in his boyhood under Cimabue, oncepainted a fly on the nose of a figure that Cimabue himself had made, sotrue to nature that his master, returning to continue the work, sethimself more than once to drive it away with his hand, thinking that itwas real, before he perceived his mistake. Many other tricks played byGiotto and many witty retorts could I relate, but I wish that these, which deal with matters pertinent to art, should be enough for me tohave told in this place, leaving the rest to the said Franco and others. 

Finally, seeing that there remained memory of Giotto not only in theworks that issued from his hands, but in those also that issued from thehand of the writers of those times, he having been the man who recoveredthe true method of painting, which had been lost for many years beforehim; therefore, by public decree and by the effort and particularaffection of the elder Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, inadmiration of the talent of so great a man his portrait was placed in S. Maria del Fiore, carved in marble by Benedetto da Maiano, an excellentsculptor, together with the verses written below, made by that divineman, Messer Angelo Poliziano, to the end that those who should becomeexcellent in any profession whatsoever might be able to cherish a hopeof obtaining, from others, such memorials as these that Giotto deservedand obtained in liberal measure from his goodness:

 Ille ego sum, per quem pictura extincta revixit, Cui quam recta manus, tam fuit et facilis. Naturæ deerat nostræ quod defuit arti; Plus licuit nulli pingere, nec melius. Miraris turrim egregiam sacro ære sonantem? Hæc quoque de modulo crevit ad astra meo. Denique sum Jottus, quid opus fuit illa referre? Hoc nomen longi carminis instar erit. 

And to the end that those who come after may be able to see drawings bythe very hand of Giotto, and from these to recognize all the more theexcellence of so great a man, in our aforesaid book there are some thatare marvellous, sought out by me with no less diligence than labour andexpense. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 11: See note on p. 57. ]

[Footnote 12: See note on p. 57. ]

[Footnote 13: See note on p. 57. ]

AGOSTINO AND AGNOLO OF SIENA

LIFE OF AGOSTINO AND AGNOLO OF SIENA, SCULPTORS AND ARCHITECTS

Among others who exercised themselves in the school of the sculptorsGiovanni and Niccola of Pisa, Agostino and Agnolo, sculptors of Siena, of whom we are at present about to write the Life, became very excellentfor those times. These, according to what I find, were born from afather and mother of Siena, and their forefathers were architects, seeing that in the year 1190, under the rule of the three Consuls, theybrought to perfection the Fontebranda, and afterwards, in the followingyear, under the same Consulate, the Customs-house of that city and otherbuildings. And in truth it is clear that very often the seeds of talentgerminate in the houses where they have lain for some time, and throwout shoots which afterwards produce greater and better fruits than thefirst plants had done. Agostino and Agnolo, then, adding greatbetterment to the manner of Giovanni and Niccola of Pisa, enriched theart with better design and invention, as their works clearlydemonstrate. It is said that the aforesaid Giovanni, returning fromNaples to Pisa in the year 1284, stayed in Siena in order to make thedesign and foundation for the façade of the Duomo, wherein are the threeprincipal doors, to the end that it might be all adorned very richlywith marbles; and that then Agostino, being no more than fifteen yearsof age, went to be with him in order to apply himself to sculpture, whereof he had learnt the first principles, being no less inclined tothis art than to the matters of architecture. And so, under the teachingof Giovanni, by means of continual study he surpassed all hisfellow-disciples in design, grace, and manner, so greatly that it wassaid by all that he was the right eye of his master. And because, between people who love each other, there is no gift, whether ofnature, or of soul, or of fortune, that is mutually desired so much asexcellence, which alone makes men great and noble, and what is more, most happy both in this life and in the other, therefore Agostino, seizing this occasion of assistance from Giovanni, drew his brotherAgnolo into the same pursuit. Nor was it a great labour for him to dothis, seeing that the intercourse of Agnolo with Agostino and with theother sculptors had already, as he saw the honour and profit that theywere drawing from such an art, fired his mind with extreme eagerness anddesire to apply himself to sculpture; nay, before Agostino had given athought to this, Agnolo had wrought certain works in secret. 

Agostino, then, being engaged in working with Giovanni on the marblepanel of the high-altar in the Vescovado of Arezzo, whereof there hasbeen mention above, contrived to bring there the said Agnolo, hisbrother, who acquitted himself in this work in such a manner that whenit was finished he was found to have equalled Agostino in the excellenceof his art. Which circumstance, becoming known to Giovanni, was thereason that after this work he made use of both one and the other inmany other works of his that he wrought in Pistola, in Pisa, and inother places. And seeing that he applied himself not only to sculpturebut to architecture as well, no long time passed before, under the ruleof the Nine in Siena, Agostino made the design of their Palace inMalborghetto, which was in the year 1308. In the making of this heacquired so great a name in his country, that, returning to Siena afterthe death of Giovanni, they were made, both one and the other, architects to the State; wherefore afterwards, in the year 1317, therewas made under their direction the front of the Duomo that faces towardsthe north, and in the year 1321, with the design of the same men, therewas begun the construction of the Porta Romana in that manner wherein itstands to-day, and it was finished in the year 1326; which gate wasfirst called Porta S. Martino. They rebuilt, also, the Porta a Tufi, which at first was called Porta di S. Agata all'Arco. In the same year, with the design of the same Agostino and Agnolo, there was begun theChurch and Convent of S. Francesco in the presence of Cardinal di Gaeta, Apostolic Legate. No long time after, by the action of some of theTolomei who were living as exiles at Orvieto, Agostino and Agnolo weresummoned to make certain sculptures for the work of S. Maria in thatcity; wherefore, going there, they carved some prophets in marble whichare now, in comparison with the other statues in that façade, the finestand best proportioned in that so greatly renowned work. 

Now it came to pass in the year 1326, as it has been said in his Life, that Giotto was called by means of Charles, Duke of Calabria, who wasthen staying in Florence, to Naples, in order to make some things forKing Robert in S. Chiara and other places in that city; whereforeGiotto, passing by way of Orvieto on his way to Naples, in order to seethe works that had been made and were still being made there by so manymen, wished to see everything minutely. And because the prophets ofAgostino and Agnolo of Siena pleased him more than all the othersculptures, it came about therefore that Giotto not only commended themand held them, much to their contentment, among his friends, but alsopresented them to Piero Saccone da Pietramala as the best of all thesculptors then living, for the making of the tomb of Bishop Guido, Lordand Bishop of Arezzo, which has been mentioned in the Life of Giottohimself. And so then Giotto having seen in Orvieto the works of manysculptors and having judged the best to be those of Agostino and Agnoloof Siena, this was the reason that the said tomb was given to them tomake--in that manner, however, wherein he had designed it, and accordingto the model which he himself had sent to the said Piero Saccone. Agostino and Agnolo finished this tomb in the space of three years, executing it with much diligence, and built it into the Church of theVescovado of Arezzo, in the Chapel of the Sacrament. Over thesarcophagus, which rests on certain great consoles carved more thanpassing well, there is stretched the body of that Bishop in marble, andat the sides are some angels that are drawing back certain curtains verygracefully. Besides this, there are carved in half-relief, incompartments, twelve scenes from the life and actions of that Bishop, with an infinite number of little figures. I will not grudge the labourof describing the contents of these scenes, to the end that it may beseen with what great patience they were wrought, and how zealouslythese sculptors sought the good manner. 

In the first is the scene when, assisted by the Ghibelline party ofMilan, which sent him money and four hundred masons, he is rebuildingthe walls of Arezzo all anew, making them much longer than they were andgiving them the form of a galley. In the second is the taking ofLucignano di Valdichiana. In the third, that of Chiusi. In the fourth, that of Fronzoli, then a strong castle above Poppi, and held by the sonsof the Count of Battifolle. The fifth is when the Castle of Rondine, after having been many months besieged by the Aretines, is surrenderingfinally to the Bishop. In the sixth is the taking of the Castle ofBucine in Valdarno. The seventh is when he is taking by storm thefortress of Caprese, which belonged to the Count of Romena, after havingmaintained the siege for several months. In the eighth the Bishop ishaving the Castle of Laterino pulled down and the hill that rises aboveit cut into the shape of a cross, to the end that it may no longer bepossible to build a fortress thereon. In the ninth he is seen destroyingMonte Sansovino and putting it to fire and flames, chasing from it allthe inhabitants. In the eleventh is his coronation, wherein are to beseen many beautiful costumes of soldiers on foot and on horseback, andof other people. In the twelfth, finally, his men are seen carrying himfrom Montenero, where he fell sick, to Massa, and thence afterwards, nowdead, to Arezzo. Round this tomb, also, in many places, are theGhibelline insignia, and the arms of the Bishop, which are six squarestones "or, " on a field "azure, " in the same ordering as are the sixballs in the arms of the Medici; which arms of the house of the Bishopwere described by Frate Guittone, chevalier and poet of Arezzo, when hesaid, writing of the site of the Castle of Pietramala, whence thatfamily had its origin:

 Dove si scontra il Giglion con la Chiassa Ivi furono i miei antecessori, Che in campo azurro d'or portan sei sassa. 

Agnolo and Agostino of Siena, then, executed this work with better artand invention and with more diligence than there had been shown in anywork executed in their times. And in truth they deserve nothing butinfinite praise, having made therein so many figures and so great avariety of sites, places, towers, horses, men, and other things, that itis indeed a marvel. And although this tomb was in great part destroyedby the Frenchmen of the Duke of Anjou, who sacked the greater part ofthat city in order to take revenge on the hostile party for certainaffronts received, none the less it shows that it was wrought with verygood judgment by the said Agostino and Agnolo, who cut on it, in ratherlarge letters, these words:

 HOC OPUS FECIT MAGISTER AUGUSTINUS ET MAGISTER ANGELUS DE SENIS. 

After this, in the year 1329, they wrought an altar-panel of marble forthe Church of S. Francesco at Bologna, in a passing good manner; andtherein, besides the carved ornamentation, which is very rich, they madea Christ who is crowning Our Lady, and on each side three similarfigures--S. Francis, S. James, S. Dominic, S. Anthony of Padua, S. Petronius, and S. John the Evangelist, with figures one braccio and ahalf in height. Below each of the said figures is carved a scene inlow-relief from the life of the Saint that is above; and in all thesescenes is an infinite number of half-length figures, which make a richand beautiful adornment, according to the custom of those times. It isseen clearly that Agostino and Agnolo endured very great fatigue in thiswork, and that they put into it all diligence and study in order to makeit, as it truly was, a work worthy of praise; and although they are halfeaten away, yet there are to be read thereon their names and the date, by means of which, it being known when they began it, it is seen thatthey laboured eight whole years in completing it. It is true, indeed, that in that same time they wrought many other small works in diverseplaces and for various people. 

Now, while they were working in Bologna, that city, by the mediation ofa Legate of the Pope, gave herself absolutely over to the Church; andthe Pope, in return, promised that he would go to settle with his Courtin Bologna, saying that he wished to erect a castle there, or truly afortress, for his own security. This being conceded to him by theBolognese, it was immediately built under the direction and design ofAgostino and Agnolo, but it had a very short life, for the reason thatthe Bolognese, having found that the many promises of the Pope werewholly vain, pulled down and destroyed the said fortress, with muchgreater promptness than it had been built. 

It is said that while these two sculptors were staying in Bologna the Poissued in furious flood from its bed and laid waste the whole countryround for many miles, doing incredible damage to the territory of Mantuaand Ferrara and slaying more than ten thousand persons; and that they, being called on for this reason as ingenious and able men, found a wayto put this terrible river back into its course, confining it with dykesand other most useful barriers; which was greatly to their credit andprofit, because, besides acquiring fame thereby, they were recompensedby the Lords of Mantua and by the D'Este family with most honourablerewards. 

After this they returned to Siena, and in the year 1338, with theirdirection and design, there was made the new Church of S. Maria, nearthe Duomo Vecchio, towards Piazza Manetti; and no long time after, thepeople of Siena, remaining much satisfied with all the works that thesemen were making, determined with an occasion so apt to put into effectthat which had been discussed many times, but up to then invain--namely, the making of a public fountain on the principal square, opposite the Palagio della Signoria. Wherefore, this being entrusted toAgostino and Agnolo, they brought the waters of that fountain throughpipes of lead and of clay, which was very difficult, and it began toplay in the year 1343, on the first day of June, with much pleasure andcontentment to the whole city, which remained thereby much indebted tothe talent of these its two citizens. 

About the same time there was made the Great Council Chamber in theMunicipal Palace; and so too, with the direction and design of the samemen, there was brought to its completion the tower of the said Palace, in the year 1344, and there were placed thereon two great bells, whereofthey had one from Grosseto and the other was made in Siena. Finally, while Agnolo chanced to be in the city of Assisi, where he made achapel and a tomb in marble in the lower Church of S. Francesco for abrother of Napoleone Orsino, a Cardinal and a friar of S. Francis, whohad died in that place--Agostino, who had remained in Siena in theservice of the State, died while he was busy making the design for theadornments of the said fountain in the square, and was honourably buriedin the Duomo. I have not yet found, and cannot therefore say anythingabout the matter, either how or when Agnolo died, or even any otherworks of importance by their hand; and therefore let this be the end oftheir Life. 

Now, seeing that it would be without doubt an error, in following theorder of time, not to make mention of some who, although they have notwrought so many works that it is possible to write their whole life, have none the less contributed betterment and beauty to art and to theworld, I will say, taking occasion from that which has been said aboveabout the Vescovado of Arezzo and about the Pieve, that Pietro and Paolo, goldsmiths of Arezzo, who learnt design from Agnolo and Agostino ofSiena, were the first who wrought large works of some excellence withthe chasing-tool, since, for an arch-priest of the said Pieve of Arezzo, they executed a head in silver as large as life, wherein was placed thehead of S. Donatus, Bishop and Protector of that city; which work wasworthy of nothing but praise, both because they made therein some verybeautiful figures in enamel and other ornaments, and because it was oneof the first works, as it has been said, that were wrought with thechasing-tool. 

About the same time, the Guild of Calimara in Florence caused MaestroCione, an excellent goldsmith, to make the greater part, if not thewhole, of the silver altar of S. Giovanni Battista, wherein are manyscenes from the life of that Saint embossed on a plate of silver, withpassing good figures in half-relief; which work, both by reason of itssize and of its being something new, was held marvellous by all who sawit. In the year 1330, after the body of S. Zanobi had been found beneaththe vaults of S. Reparata, the same Maestro Cione made a head of silverto contain a piece of the head of that Saint, which is still preservedto-day in the same head of silver and is borne in processions; whichhead was then held something very beautiful and gave a great name to itscraftsman, who died no long time after, rich and in great repute. 

Maestro Cione left many disciples, and among others Forzore di Spinelloof Arezzo, who wrought every kind of chasing very well but wasparticularly excellent in making scenes in silver enamelled over fire, to which witness is borne by a mitre with most beautiful adornments inenamel, and a very beautiful pastoral staff of silver, which are in theVescovado of Arezzo. The same man wrought for Cardinal Galeotto daPietramala many works in silver that remained after his death with thefriars of La Vernia, where he wished to be buried. There, besides thewall that was erected in that place by Count Orlando, Lord of Chiusi, asmall town below La Vernia, the Cardinal built the church, together withmany rooms in the convent and throughout that whole place, withoutputting his arms there or leaving any other memorial. A disciple ofMaestro Cione, also, was Leonardo di Ser Giovanni, a Florentine, whowrought many works in chasing and soldering, with better design than theothers before him had shown, and in particular the altar and panel ofsilver in S. Jacopo at Pistoia; in which work, besides the scenes, whichare numerous, there was much praise given to a figure in the round thathe made in the middle, representing S. James, more than one braccio inheight, and wrought with so great finish that it appears rather to havebeen made by casting than by chasing. This figure is set in the midst ofthe said scenes on the panel of the altar, round which is a frieze ofletters in enamel, that run thus:

 AD HONOREM DEI ET SANCTI JACOBI APOSTOLI, HOC OPUS FACTUM FUIT TEMPORE DOMINI FRANC. PAGNI DICTÆ OPERÆ OPERARII SUB ANNO 1371 PER ME LEONARDUM SER JO. DE FLOREN. AURIFIC. 

Now, returning to Agostino and Agnolo: they had many disciples who, after their death, wrought many works of architecture and of sculpturein Lombardy and other parts of Italy, and among others Maestro JacopoLanfrani of Venice, who founded S. Francesco of Imola and wrought theprincipal door in sculpture, where he carved his name and the date, which was the year 1343. And at Bologna, in the Church of S. Domenico, the same Maestro Jacopo made a tomb in marble for Giovanni AndreaCalduino, Doctor of Laws and Secretary to Pope Clement VI; and another, also in marble and in the said church, very well wrought, for TaddeoPeppoli, Conservator of the people and of Justice in Bologna. And in thesame year, which was the year 1347, or a little before, this tomb beingfinished, Maestro Jacopo went to his native city of Venice and foundedthe Church of S. Antonio, which was previously of wood, at the requestof a Florentine Abbot of the ancient family of the Abati, the Doge beingMesser Andrea Dandolo. This church was finished in the year 1349. Jacobello and Pietro Paolo, also, Venetians and disciples of Agostinoand Agnolo, made a tomb in marble for Messer Giovanni da Lignano, Doctorof Laws, in the year 1383, in the Church of S. Domenico at Bologna. 

All these and many other sculptors went on for a long space of timefollowing one and the same method, in a manner that with it they filledall Italy. It is believed, also, that the Pesarese, who, besides manyother works, built the Church of S. Domenico in his native city, andmade in sculpture the marble door with the three figures in the round, God the Father, S. John the Baptist, and S. Mark, was a disciple ofAgostino and Agnolo; and to this the manner bears witness. This work wasfinished in the year 1385. But, seeing that it would take too long if Iwere to make mention minutely of the works that were wrought by manymasters of those times in that manner, I wish that this, that I havesaid of them thus in general, should suffice me for the present, andabove all because there is not any benefit of much account for our artsfrom such works. Of the aforesaid it has seemed to me proper to makemention, because, if they do not deserve to be discussed at length, yet, on the other hand, they were not such as to need to be passed overcompletely in silence. 

STEFANO AND UGOLINO SANESE

LIFE OF STEFANO, PAINTER OF FLORENCE, AND OF UGOLINO SANESE

[_UGOLINO DA SIENA_]

Stefano, painter of Florence and disciple of Giotto, was so excellent, that he not only surpassed all the others who had laboured in the artbefore him, but outstripped his own master himself by so much that hewas held, and deservedly, the best of all the painters who had lived upto that time, as his works clearly demonstrate. He painted in fresco theMadonna of the Campo Santo in Pisa, which is no little better in designand in colouring than the work of Giotto; and in Florence, in thecloister of S. Spirito, he painted three little arches in fresco. In thefirst of these, wherein is the Transfiguration of Christ with Moses andElias, imagining how great must have been the splendour that dazzledthem, he fashioned the three Disciples with extraordinary and beautifulattitudes, and enveloped in draperies in a manner that it is seen thathe went on trying to do something that had never been donebefore--namely, to suggest the nude form of the figures below new kindsof folds, which, as I have said, had not been thought of even by Giotto. Under this arch, wherein he made a Christ delivering the womanpossessed, he drew a building in perspective, perfectly and in a mannerthen little known, executing it in good form and with better knowledge;and in it, working with very great judgment in modern fashion, he showedso great art and so great invention and proportion in the columns, inthe doors, in the windows, and in the cornices, and so great diversityfrom the other masters in his method of working, that it appears thatthere was beginning to be seen a certain glimmer of the good and perfectmanner of the moderns. He invented, among other ingenious ideas, aflight of steps very difficult to make, which, both in painting andbuilt out in relief--wrought in either way, in fact--is so rich indesign and variety, and so useful and convenient in invention, that theelder Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, availed himself of it inmaking the outer staircase of the Palace of Poggio a Cajano, now theprincipal villa of the most Illustrious Lord Duke. In the other littlearch is a story of Christ when he is delivering S. Peter from shipwreck, so well done that one seems to hear the voice of Peter saying: "Domine, salva nos, perimus. " This work is judged much more beautiful than theothers, because, besides the softness of the draperies, there are seensweetness in the air of the heads and terror in the perils of the sea, and because the Apostles, shaken by diverse motions and by phantoms ofthe sea, have been represented in attitudes very appropriate and allmost beautiful. And although time has eaten away in part the laboursthat Stefano put into this work, it may be seen, although but dimly, that the Apostles are defending themselves from the fury of the windsand from the waves of the sea with great energy; which work, being veryhighly praised among the moderns, must have certainly appeared a miraclein all Tuscany in the time of him who wrought it. After this he painteda S. Thomas Aquinas beside a door in the first cloister of S. MariaNovella, where he also made a Crucifix, which was afterwards executed ina bad manner by other painters in restoring it. In like manner he left achapel in the church begun and not finished, which has been much eatenaway by time, wherein the angels are seen raining down in diverse formsby reason of the pride of Lucifer; where it is to be noticed that thefigures, with the arms, trunks, and legs foreshortened much better thanany foreshortenings that had been made before, give us to know thatStefano began to understand and to demonstrate in part the difficultiesthat those men had to reduce to excellence, who afterwards, with greaterscience, showed them to us, as they have done, in perfection; whereforethe surname of "The Ape of Nature" was given him by the other craftsmen. 

Next, being summoned to Milan, Stefano made a beginning for many worksfor Matteo Visconti, but was not able to finish them, because, havingfallen sick by reason of the change of air, he was forced to return toFlorence. There, having regained his health, he made in fresco, in thetramezzo[14] of the Church of S. Croce, in the Chapel of the Asini, thestory of the martyrdom of S. Mark, when he was dragged to death, withmany figures that have something of the good. Being then summoned toRome by reason of having been a disciple of Giotto, he made some storiesof Christ in S. Pietro, in the principal chapel wherein is the altar ofthe said Saint, between the windows that are in the great choir-niche, with so much diligence that it is seen that he approached closely to themodern manner, surpassing his master Giotto considerably indraughtsmanship and in other respects. 

After this, on a pillar on the left-hand side of the principal chapel ofthe Araceli, he made a S. Louis in fresco, which is much praised, because it has in it a vivacity never displayed up to that time even byGiotto. And in truth Stefano had great facility in draughtsmanship, ascan be seen in our said book in a drawing by his hand, wherein is drawnthe Transfiguration (which he painted in the cloister of S. Spirito), insuch a manner that in my judgment he drew much better than Giotto. 

Having gone, next, to Assisi, he began in fresco a scene of theCelestial Glory in the niche of the principal chapel of the lower Churchof S. Francesco, where the choir is; and although he did not finish it, it is seen from what he did that he used so great diligence that nogreater could be desired. In this work there is seen begun a circle ofsaints, both male and female, with so beautiful variety in the faces ofthe young, the men of middle age, and the old, that nothing better couldbe desired. And there is seen a very sweet manner in these blessedspirits, with such great harmony that it appears almost impossible thatit could have been done in those times by Stefano, who indeed did do it;although there is nothing of the figures in this circle finished savethe heads, over which is a choir of angels who are hovering playfullyabout in various attitudes, appropriately carrying theological symbolsin their hands, and all turned towards a Christ on the Cross, who is inthe middle of this work, over the head of a S. Francis, who is in themidst of an infinity of saints. Besides this, in the border of thewhole work, he made some angels, each of whom is holding in his hand oneof those Churches that S. John the Evangelist described in theApocalypse; and these angels are executed with so much grace that I amamazed how in that age there was to be found one who knew so much. Stefano began this work with a view to bringing it to the fullestperfection, and he would have succeeded, but he was forced to leave itimperfect and to return to Florence by some important affairs of hisown. 

During that time, then, that he stayed for this purpose in Florence, inorder to lose no time he painted for the Gianfigliazzi, by the side ofthe Arno, between their houses and the Ponte alla Carraja, a littleshrine on a corner that is there, wherein he depicted a Madonna sewing, to whom a boy dressed and seated is handing a bird, with such diligencethat the work, small as it is, deserves to be praised no less than dothe works that he wrought on a larger and more masterly scale. 

This shrine finished and his affairs dispatched, being called to Pistoiaby its Lords in the year 1346, he was made to paint the Chapel of S. Jacopo, on the vaulting of which he made a God the Father with someApostles, and on the walls the stories of that Saint, and in particularwhen his mother, wife of Zebedee, asks Jesus Christ to consent to placeher two sons, one on His right hand and the other on His left hand, inthe Kingdom of the Father. Close to this is the beheading of the saidSaint, a very beautiful work. 

It is reputed that Maso, called Giottino, of whom there will be mentionbelow, was the son of this Stefano; and although many, by reason of thesuggestiveness of the name, hold him the son of Giotto, I, by reason ofcertain records that I have seen, and of certain memoirs of goodauthority written by Lorenzo Ghiberti and by Domenico del Ghirlandajo, hold it as true that he was rather the son of Stefano than of Giotto. Bethis as it may, returning to Stefano, it can be credited to him that hedid more than anyone after Giotto to improve painting, for, besidesbeing more varied in invention, he was also more harmonious, moremellow, and better blended in colouring than all the others; andabove all he had no peer in diligence. And as for those foreshorteningsthat he made, although, as I have said, he showed a faulty manner inthem by reason of the difficulty of making them, none the less he who isthe pioneer in the difficulties of any exercise deserves a much greatername than those who follow with a somewhat more ordered and regularmanner. Truly great, therefore, is the debt that should be acknowledgedto Stefano, because he who walks in darkness and gives heart to others, by showing them the way, brings it about that its difficult steps aremade easy, so that with lapse of time men leave the false road andattain to the desired goal. At Perugia, too, in the Church of S. Domenico, he began in fresco the Chapel of S. Caterina, which remainedunfinished. 

[Illustration: _Berlin Photo. Co. _

SS. PAUL, PETER AND JOHN THE BAPTIST

(_After the painting by_ Ugolino Sanese [da Siena]. _Berlin: K. Friedrich Museum, 1635_)]

There lived about the same time as Stefano a man of passing good repute, Ugolino, painter of Siena, very much his friend, who painted many panelsand chapels throughout all Italy, although he held ever in great part tothe Greek manner, as one who, grown old therein, had wished by reason ofa certain obstinacy in himself to hold rather to the manner of Cimabuethan to that of Giotto, which was so greatly revered. By the hand ofUgolino, then, is the panel of the high-altar of S. Croce, on a groundall of gold, and also a panel which stood many years on the high-altarof S. Maria Novella and is to-day in the Chapter-house, where theSpanish nation every year holds most solemn festival on the day of S. James, with other offices and funeral ceremonies of its own. Besidesthese, he wrought many other works with good skill, without departing, however, from the manner of his master. The same man made, on abrick-pier in the Loggia that Lapo had built on the Piazzad'Orsanmichele, that Madonna which worked so many miracles, not manyyears later, that the Loggia was for a long time full of images, and isstill held in the greatest veneration. Finally, in the Chapel of MesserRidolfo de' Bardi, which is in S. Croce, where Giotto painted the lifeof S. Francis, he painted a Crucifix in distemper on the altar-panel, with a Magdalene and a S. John weeping, and two friars, one on eitherside. Ugolino passed away from this life, being old, in the year 1349, and was buried with honour in Siena, his native city. 

But returning to Stefano, of whom they say that he was also a goodarchitect, which is proved by what has been said above, he died, so itis said, in the year when there began the jubilee, 1350, at the age offorty-nine, and was laid to rest in the tomb of his fathers, in S. Spirito, with this epitaph:

 STEPHANO FLORENTINO PICTORI, FACIUNDIS IMAGINIBUS AC COLORANDIS FIGURIS NULLI UNQUAM INFERIORI, AFFINES MOESTISS. POS. VIX. AN. XXXXIX. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 14: See note on p. 57. ]

PIETRO LAURATI

[Illustration: _Alinari_

THE MADONNA ENTHRONED

(_After the polyptych_ by Pietro Laurati [Lorenzetti]. _Arezzo: S. Mariadella Pieve_)]

LIFE OF PIETRO LAURATI

[_PIETRO LORENZETTI_], PAINTER OF SIENA

Pietro Laurati, an excellent painter of Siena, proved in his life howgreat is the contentment of the truly able, who feel that their worksare prized both at home and abroad, and who see themselves sought afterby all men, for the reason that in the course of his life he was sentfor and held dear throughout all Tuscany, having first become knownthrough the scenes that he painted in fresco for the Scala, a hospitalin Siena, wherein he imitated in such wise the manner of Giotto, thenspread throughout all Tuscany, that it was believed with great reasonthat he was destined, as afterwards came to pass, to become a bettermaster than Cimabue and Giotto and the others had been; for the figuresthat represent the Virgin ascending the steps of the Temple, accompaniedby Joachim and Anna, and received by the priest, and then in theMarriage, are so beautifully adorned, so well draped, and so simplywrapped in their garments, that they show majesty in the air of theheads, and a most beautiful manner in their bearing. By reason of thiswork, which was the first introduction into Siena of the good method ofpainting, giving light to the many beautiful intellects which haveflourished in that city in every age, Pietro was invited to MonteOliveto di Chiusuri, where he painted a panel in distemper that isplaced to-day in the portico below the church. In Florence, next, opposite to the left-hand door of the Church of S. Spirito, on thecorner where to-day there is a butcher, he painted a shrine which, byreason of the softness of the heads and of the sweetness that is seen init, deserves the highest praise from every discerning craftsman. 

Going from Florence to Pisa, he wrought in the Campo Santo, on the wallthat is beside the principal door, all the lives of the Holy Fathers, with expressions so lively and attitudes so beautiful that he equalledGiotto and gained thereby very great praise, having expressed in certainheads, both with drawing and with colour, all that vivacity that themanner of those times was able to show. From Pisa he went to Pistoia, where he made a Madonna with some angels round her, very well grouped, on a panel in distemper, for the Church of S. Francesco; and in thepredella that ran below this panel, in certain scenes, he made certainlittle figures so lively and so vivid that in those times it wassomething marvellous; wherefore, since they satisfied himself no lessthan others, he thought fit to place thereon his name, with these words:PETRUS LAURATI DE SENIS. 

[Illustration: PIETRO LORENZETTI: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH S. S. FRANCISAND JOHN

_(Assisi: Lower Church of S. Francesco. Fresco)_]

Pietro was summoned, next, in the year 1355, by Messer Guglielmo, arch-priest, and by the Wardens of Works of the Pieve of Arezzo, whowere then Margarito Boschi and others; and in that church, built longbefore with better design and manner than any other that had been madein Tuscany up to that time, and all adorned with squared stone and withcarvings, as it has been said, by the hand of Margaritone, he painted infresco the apse and the whole great niche of the chapel of thehigh-altar, making there twelve scenes from the life of Our Lady withfigures large as life, beginning with the expulsion of Joachim from theTemple, up to the Nativity of Jesus Christ. In these scenes, wrought infresco, may be recognized almost the same inventions (the lineaments, the air of the heads, and the attitudes of the figures) which had beencharacteristic of and peculiar to Giotto, his master. And although allthis work is beautiful, what he painted on the vaulting of this niche iswithout doubt better than all the rest, for in representing the Madonnaascending into Heaven, besides making the Apostles each four bracciahigh, wherein he showed greatness of spirit and was the first to try togive grandness to the manner, he gave so beautiful an air to the headsand so great loveliness to the vestments that in those times nothingmore could have been desired. Likewise, in the faces of a choir ofangels who are flying in the air round the Madonna, dancing withgraceful movements, and appearing to sing, he painted a gladnesstruly angelic and divine, above all because he made the angelssounding diverse instruments, with their eyes all fixed and intent onanother choir of angels, who, supported by a cloud in the form of analmond, are bearing the Madonna to Heaven, with beautiful attitudes andall surrounded by rainbows. This work, seeing that it rightly gavepleasure, was the reason that he was commissioned to make in distemperthe panel for the high-altar of the aforesaid Pieve; wherein, in fiveparts, with figures as far as the knees and large as life, he made OurLady with the Child in her arms, and S. John the Baptist and S. Matthewon the one side, and on the other the Evangelist and S. Donatus, withmany little figures in the predella and in the border of the panelabove, all truly beautiful and executed in very good manner. This panel, after I had rebuilt the high-altar of the aforesaid Pieve completelyanew, at my own expense and with my own hand, was set up over the altarof S. Cristofano at the foot of the church. Nor do I wish to grudge thelabour of saying in this place, with this occasion and not wide of thesubject, that I, moved by Christian piety and by the affection that Ibear towards this venerable and ancient collegiate church, and for thereason that in it, in my earliest childhood, I learnt my first lessons, and that it contains the remains of my fathers: moved, I say, by thesereasons, and by it appearing to me that it was wellnigh deserted, I haverestored it in a manner that it can be said that it has returned fromdeath to life; for besides changing it from a dark to a well-lightedchurch by increasing the windows that were there before and by makingothers, I have also removed the choir, which, being in front, used tooccupy a great part of the church, and to the great satisfaction ofthose reverend canons I have placed it behind the high-altar. This newaltar, standing by itself, has on the panel in front a Christ callingPeter and Andrew from their nets, and on the side towards the choir ithas, on another panel, S. George slaying the Dragon. On the sides arefour pictures, and in each of these are two saints as large as life. Then above, and below in the predella, there is an infinity of otherfigures, which, for brevity's sake, are not enumerated. The ornamentalframe of this altar is thirteen braccia high, and the predella is twobraccia high. And because within it is hollow, and one ascends to it bya staircase through an iron wicket very conveniently arranged, there arepreserved in it many venerable relics, which can be seen from withoutthrough two gratings that are in the front part; and among others thereis the head of S. Donatus, Bishop and Protector of that city, and in acoffer of variegated marble, three braccia long, which I have hadrestored, are the bones of four Saints. And the predella of the altar, which surrounds it all right round in due proportion, has in front of itthe tabernacle, or rather ciborium, of the Sacrament, made of carvedwood and all gilt, about three braccia high; which tabernacle is in theround and can be seen as well from the side of the choir as from infront. And because I have spared no labour and no expense, consideringmyself bound to act thus in honour of God, this work, in my judgment, has in all those ornaments of gold, of carvings, of paintings, ofmarbles, of travertines, of variegated marbles, of porphyries, and ofother stones, the best that could be got together by me in that place. 

But returning now to Pietro Laurati; that panel finished whereof therehas been talk above, he wrought in S. Pietro at Rome many works whichwere afterwards destroyed in making the new building of S. Pietro. Healso wrought some works in Cortona and in Arezzo, besides those thathave been mentioned, and some others in the Church of S. Fiora eLucilla, a monastery of Black Friars, and in particular, in a chapel, aS. Thomas who is putting his hand on the wound in the breast of Christ. 

A disciple of Pietro was Bartolommeo Bologhini of Siena, who wroughtmany panels in Siena and other places in Italy, and in Florence there isone by his hand on the altar of the Chapel of S. Silvestro in S. Croce. The pictures of these men date about the year of our salvation 1350; andin my book, so many times cited, there is seen a drawing by the hand ofPietro, wherein a shoemaker who is sewing, with simple but very naturallineaments, shows very great expression and the characteristic manner ofPietro, the portrait of whom, by the hand of Bartolommeo Bologhini, wasin a panel in Siena, when I copied it from the original in the mannerthat is seen above. 

[Illustration: _Anderson_

THE DEPOSITION FROM THE CROSS

(_After the fresco of the_ Roman School. _Assisi: Upper Church of S. Francesco_)]

ANDREA PISANO

LIFE OF ANDREA PISANO, SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT

The art of painting never flourished at any time without the sculptorsalso pursuing their exercise with excellence, and to this the works ofall ages bear witness for the close observer, because these two arts aretruly sisters, born at one and the same time, and fostered and governedby one and the same soul. This is seen in Andrea Pisano, who, practisingsculpture in the time of Giotto, made so great improvement in this art, that both in practice and in theory he was esteemed the greatest manthat the Tuscans had had up to his times in this profession, and aboveall in casting in bronze. Wherefore his works were honoured and rewardedin such a manner by all who knew him, and above all by the Florentines, that it was no hardship to him to change country, relatives, propertyand friends. He received much assistance from the difficultiesexperienced in sculpture by the masters who had lived before him, whosesculptures were so uncouth and worthless that whosoever saw them incomparison with those of this man judged the last a miracle. And thatthese early works were rude, witness is borne, as it has been saidelsewhere, by some that are over the principal door of S. Paolo inFlorence and some in stone that are in the Church of Ognissanti, whichare so made that they move those who view them rather to laughter thanto any marvel or pleasure. And it is certain that the art of sculpturecan recover itself much better, in the event of the essence of statuarybeing lost (since men have the living and the natural model, which iswholly rounded, as that art requires), than can the art of painting; itbeing not so easy and simple to recover the beautiful outlines and thegood manner, in order to bring the art to the light, for these are theelements that produce majesty, beauty, grace and adornment in the worksthat the painters make. In one respect fortune was favourable to thelabours of Andrea, because there had been brought to Pisa, as it hasbeen said elsewhere, by means of the many victories that the Pisans hadat sea, many antiquities and sarcophagi that are still round the Duomoand the Campo Santo, and these brought him such great assistance andgave him such great light as could not be obtained by Giotto, for thereason that the ancient paintings had not been preserved as much as thesculptures. And although statues are often destroyed by fires and by theruin and fury of war, and buried or transported to diverse places, nevertheless it is easy for the experienced to recognize the differencein the manner of all countries; as, for example, the Egyptian is slenderand lengthy in its figures, the Greek is scientific and shows much studyin the nudes, while the heads have almost all the same expression, andthe most ancient Tuscan is laboured in the hair and somewhat uncouth. That of the Romans (I call Romans, for the most part, those who, afterthe subjugation of Greece, betook themselves to Rome, whither all thatthere was of the good and of the beautiful in the world wascarried)--that, I say, is so beautiful, by reason of the expressions, the attitudes, and the movements both of the nude and of the drapedfigures, that it may be said that they wrested the beautiful from allthe other provinces and moulded it into one single manner, to the endthat it might be, as it is, the best--nay, the most divine of all. 

All these beautiful manners and arts being spent in the time of Andrea, that alone was in use which had been brought by the Goths and by theuncivilized Greeks into Tuscany. Wherefore he, having studied the newmethod of design of Giotto and those few antiquities that were known tohim, refined in great part the grossness of so miserable a manner withhis judgment, in such wise that he began to work better and to give muchgreater beauty to statuary than any other had yet done in that art up tohis times. Therefore, his genius and his good skill and dexteritybecoming known, he was assisted by many in his country, and while stillyoung he was commissioned to make for S. Maria a Ponte some littlefigures in marble, which brought him so good a name that he was soughtout with very great insistence to come to work in Florence for theOffice of Works of S. Maria del Fiore, which, after a beginning had beenmade with the façade containing the three doors, was suffering from adearth of masters to make the scenes that Giotto had designed for thebeginning of the said fabric. Andrea, then, betook himself to Florence, for the service of the said Office of Works. And because the Florentinesdesired at that time to gain the friendship and love of Pope BonifaceVIII, who was then Supreme Pontiff of the Church of God, they wishedthat, before anything else, Andrea should make a portrait in marble ofthe said Pontiff, from the life. Wherefore, putting his hand to thiswork, he did not rest until he had finished the figure of the Pope, witha S. Peter and a S. Paul who are one on either side of him; which threefigures were placed in the façade of S. Maria del Fiore, where theystill are. Andrea then made certain little figures of prophets for themiddle door of the said church, in some shrines or rather niches, fromwhich it is seen that he had brought great betterment to the art, andthat he was in advance, both in excellence and design, of all those whohad worked up to then on the said fabric. Wherefore it was resolved thatall the works of importance should be given to him to do, and not toothers; and so, no long time after, he was commissioned to make the fourstatues of the principal Doctors of the Church, S. Jerome, S. Ambrose, S. Augustine, and S. Gregory. And these being finished and acquiring forhim favour and fame with the Wardens of Works--nay, with the wholecity--he was commissioned to make two other figures in marble of thesame size, which were S. Stephen and S. Laurence, now standing in thesaid façade of S. Maria del Fiore, at the outermost corners. By the handof Andrea, likewise, is the Madonna in marble, three braccia and a halfhigh, with the Child in her arms, which stands on the altar of thelittle Church of the Company of the Misericordia, on the Piazza di S. Giovanni in Florence; which was a work much praised in those times, andabove all because he accompanied it with two angels, one on either side, each two braccia and a half high. Round this work there has been made inour own day a frame of wood, very well wrought by Maestro Antonio, called Il Carota; and below, a predella full of most beautiful figurescoloured in oil by Ridolfo, son of Domenico Ghirlandajo. In likemanner, that half-length Madonna in marble that is over the side door ofthe same Misericordia, in the façade of the Cialdonai, is by the hand ofAndrea, and it was much praised, because he imitated therein the goodancient manner, contrary to his wont, which was ever far distant fromit, as some drawings testify that are in our book, wrought by his hand, wherein are drawn all the stories of the Apocalypse. 

Now, seeing that Andrea had applied himself in his youth to the study ofarchitecture, there came occasion for him to be employed in this by theCommune of Florence; for Arnolfo being dead and Giotto absent, he wascommissioned to make the design of the Castle of Scarperia, which is inthe Mugello, at the foot of the mountains. Some say, although I wouldnot indeed vouch for it as true, that Andrea stayed a year in Venice, and there wrought, in sculpture, some little figures in marble that arein the façade of S. Marco, and that at the time of Messer PieroGradenigo, Doge of that Republic, he made the design of the Arsenal; butseeing that I know nothing about it save that which I find to have beenwritten by some without authority, I leave each one to think in his ownway about this matter. Andrea having returned from Venice to Florence, the city, fearful of the coming of the Emperor, caused a part of thewalls to be raised with lime post-haste to the height of eight braccia, employing in this Andrea, in that portion that is between San Gallo andthe Porta al Prato; and in other places he made bastions, stockades, andother ramparts of earth and of wood, very strong. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

SALOME AND THE BEHEADING OF S. JOHN THE BAPTIST

(_Details, after_ Andrea Pisano, _from the Gates of the Baptistery, Florence_)]

Now because, three years before, he had shown himself to his own greatcredit to be an able man in the casting of bronze, having sent to thePope in Avignon, by means of Giotto, his very great friend, who was thenstaying at that Court, a very beautiful cross cast in bronze, he wascommissioned to complete in bronze one of the doors of the Church of S. Giovanni, for which Giotto had already made a very beautiful design;this was given to him, I say, to complete, by reason of his having beenjudged, among so many who had worked up to then, the most able, the mostpractised and the most judicious master not only of Tuscany but ofall Italy. Wherefore, putting his hand to this, with a mind determinednot to consent to spare either time, or labour, or diligence inexecuting a work of so great importance, fortune was so propitious tohim in the casting, for those times when the secrets were not known thatare known to-day, that within the space of twenty-two years he broughtit to that perfection which is seen; and what is more, he also madeduring that same time not only the shrine of the high-altar of S. Giovanni, with two angels, one on either side of it, that were heldsomething very beautiful, but also, after the design of Giotto, thoselittle figures in marble that act as adornment for the door of theCampanile of S. Maria del Fiore, and round the same Campanile, incertain mandorle, the seven planets, the seven virtues, and the sevenworks of mercy, little figures in half-relief that were then muchpraised. He also made during the same time the three figures, each fourbraccia high, that were set up in the niches of the said Campanile, beneath the windows that face the spot where the Orphans now are--thatis, towards the south; which figures were thought at that time more thanpassing good. But to return to where I left off: I say that in the saidbronze door are little scenes in low relief of the life of S. John theBaptist, that is, from his birth up to his death, wrought happily andwith much diligence. And although it seems to many that in these scenesthere do not appear that beautiful design and that great art which arenow put into figures, yet Andrea deserves nothing but the greatestpraise, in that he was the first to put his hand to the completeexecution of such a work, which afterwards enabled the others who livedafter him to make whatever of the beautiful, of the difficult and of thegood is to be seen at the present day in the other two doors and in theexternal ornaments. This work was placed in the middle door of thatchurch, and stood there until the time when Lorenzo Ghiberti made thatone which is there at the present day; for then it was removed andplaced opposite the Misericordia, where it still stands. I will notforbear to say that Andrea was assisted in making this door by Nino, hisson, who was afterwards a much better master than his father had been, and that it was completely finished in the year 1339, that is, not onlymade smooth and polished all over, but also gilded by fire; and it isbelieved that it was cast in metal by some Venetian masters, very expertin the founding of metals, and of this there is found record in thebooks of the Guild of the Merchants of Calimara, Wardens of the Works ofS. Giovanni. 

While the said door was making, Andrea made not only the other worksaforesaid but also many others, and in particular the model of theChurch of S. Giovanni at Pistoia, which was founded in the year 1337. Inthat same year, on January 25, in excavating the foundations of thischurch, there was found the body of the Blessed Atto, once Bishop ofthat city, who had been buried in that place one hundred andthirty-seven years. The architecture, then, of this church, which isround, was passing good for those times. In the principal church of thesaid city of Pistoia there is also a tomb of marble by the hand ofAndrea, with the body of the sarcophagus full of little figures, andsome larger figures above; in which tomb is laid to rest the body ofMesser Cino d' Angibolgi, Doctor of Laws, and a very famous scholar inhis time, as Messer Francesco Petrarca testifies in that sonnet:

 Piangete, donne, e con voi pianga Amore;

and also in the fourth chapter of the _Triumph of Love_, where he says:

 Ecco Cin da Pistoia, Guitton d'Arezzo, Che di non esser primo par ch'ira aggia. 

In that tomb there is seen the portrait of Messer Cino himself inmarble, by the hand of Andrea; he is teaching a number of his scholars, who are round him, with an attitude and manner so beautiful that, although to-day it might not be prized, in those days it must have beena marvellous thing. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

THE CREATION OF MAN

(_After a relief, by_ Andrea Pisano, _on the Campanile, Florence_)]

Andrea was also made use of in matters of architecture by Gualtieri, Duke of Athens and Tyrant of the Florentines, who made him enlarge thesquare, and caused him, in order to safeguard himself in his palace, tosecure all the lower windows on the first floor (where to-day is theSala de' Dugento) with iron bars, square and very strong. The said Dukealso added, opposite S. Pietro Scheraggio, the walls of rustic workthat are beside the palace, in order to enlarge it; and in the thicknessof the wall he made a secret staircase, in order to ascend and descendunseen. And at the foot of the said wall of rustic work he made a greatdoor, which serves to-day for the Customs-house, and above that hisarms, and all with the design and counsel of Andrea; and although thesearms were chiselled out by the Council of Twelve, which took pains toefface every memorial of that Duke, there remained none the less in thesquare shield the form of the lion rampant with two tails, as anyone cansee who examines it with diligence. For the same Duke Andrea built manytowers round the walls of the city, and he not only made a magnificentbeginning for the Porta a S. Friano and brought it to the completionthat is seen, but also made the walls for the vestibules of all thegates of the city, and the lesser gates for the convenience of thepeople. And because the Duke had it in his mind to make a fortress onthe Costa di S. Giorgio, Andrea made the model for it, which afterwardswas not used, for the reason that the work was never given a beginning, the Duke having been driven out in the year 1343. Nevertheless, therewas effected in great part the desire of that Duke to bring the palaceto the form of a strong castle, because, to that which had been madeoriginally, he added the great mass which is seen to-day, enclosingwithin its circuit the houses of the Filipetri, the tower and the housesof the Amidei and Mancini, and those of the Bellalberti. And because, having made a beginning with so great a fabric and with the thick wallsand barbicans, he had not all the material that was essential equally inreadiness, he held back the construction of the Ponte Vecchio, which wasbeing worked on with all haste as a work of necessity, and availedhimself of the stone hewn and the wood prepared for it, without theleast scruple. And although Taddeo Gaddi was not perhaps inferior in thematters of architecture to Andrea Pisano, the Duke would not availhimself of him in these buildings, by reason of his being a Florentine, but only of Andrea. The same Duke Gualtieri wished to pull down S. Cecilia, in order to see from his palace the Strada Romana and theMercato Nuovo, and likewise to destroy S. Pietro Scheraggio for his ownconvenience, but he had not leave to do this from the Pope; andmeanwhile, as it has been said above, he was driven out by the fury ofthe people. 

Deservedly then did Andrea gain, by the honourable labours of so manyyears, not only very great rewards but also the citizenship; for he wasmade a citizen of Florence by the Signoria, and was given offices andmagistracies in the city, and his works were esteemed both while helived and after his death, there being found no one who could surpasshim in working, until there came Niccolò Aretino, Jacopo della Querciaof Siena, Donatello, Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, and Lorenzo Ghiberti, who executed the sculptures and other works that they made in such amanner that people recognized in how great error they had lived up tothat time; for these men recovered with their works that excellencewhich had been hidden and little known by men for many and many a year. The works of Andrea date about the year of our salvation 1340. 

Andrea left many disciples; among others, Tommaso Pisano, architect andsculptor, who finished the Chapel of the Campo Santo and added thefinishing touch to the Campanile of the Duomo--namely, that final partwherein are the bells. Tommaso is believed to have been the son ofAndrea, this being found written in the panel of the high-altar of S. Francesco in Pisa, wherein there is, carved in half-relief, a Madonna, with other Saints made by him, and below these his name and that of hisfather. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

MADONNA AND CHILD

(_After_ Nino Pisano. _Orvieto: Museo dell'Opera_)]

Andrea was survived by Nino, his son, who applied himself to sculpture;and his first work was in S. Maria Novella, where he finished a Madonnain marble begun by his father, which is within the side door, beside theChapel of the Minerbetti. Next, having gone to Pisa, he made in theSpina a half-length figure in marble of Our Lady, who is suckling aninfant Jesus Christ wrapped in certain delicate draperies. For thisMadonna an ornamental frame of marble was made in the year 1522, by theagency of Messer Jacopo Corbini, and another frame, much greater andmore beautiful, was made then for another Madonna of marble, which wasof full length and by the hand of the same Nino; in the attitude ofwhich Madonna the mother is seen handing a rose with much grace to herSon, who is taking it in a childlike manner, so beautiful that it maybe said that Nino was beginning to rob the stone of its hardness and toreduce it to the softness of flesh, giving it lustre by means of thehighest polish. This figure is between a S. John and a S. Peter inmarble, the head of the latter being a portrait of Andrea from the life. Besides this, for an altar in S. Caterina, also in Pisa, Nino made twostatues of marble--that is, a Madonna, and an Angel who is bringing herthe Annunciation, wrought, like his other works, with so great diligencethat it can be said that they are the best that were made in thosetimes. Below this Madonna receiving the Annunciation Nino carved thesewords on the base: ON THE FIRST DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1370; and below theAngel: THESE FIGURES NINO MADE, THE SON OF ANDREA PISANO. He also madeother works in that city and in Naples, whereof it is not needful tomake mention. 

Andrea died at the age of seventy-five, in the year 1345, and was buriedby Nino in S. Maria del Fiore, with this epitaph:

 INGENTI ANDREAS JACET HIC PISANUS IN URNA, MARMORE QUI POTUIT SPIRANTES DUCERE VULTUS, ET SIMULACRA DEUM MEDIIS IMPONERE TEMPLIS EX ÆRE, EX AURO CANDENTI, ET PULCRO ELEPHANTO. 

BUONAMICO BUFFALMACCO

LIFE OF BUONAMICO BUFFALMACCO, PAINTER OF FLORENCE

Buonamico di Cristofano, called Buffalmacco, painter of Florence, whowas a disciple of Andrea Tafi, and celebrated for his jokes by MesserGiovanni Boccaccio in his _Decameron_, was, as is known, a very dearcompanion of Bruno and Calandrino, painters equally humorous and gay;and as may be seen in his works, scattered throughout all Tuscany, hewas a man of passing good judgment in his art of painting. FrancoSacchetti relates in his three hundred Stories (to begin with the thingsthat this man did while still youthful), that Buffalmacco lived, whilehe was a lad, with Andrea, and that this master of his used to make it acustom, when the nights were long, to get up before daylight to labour, and to call the lads to night-work. This being displeasing to Buonamico, who was made to rise out of his soundest sleep, he began to think offinding a way whereby Andrea might give up rising so much beforedaylight to work, and he succeeded; for having found thirty largecockroaches, or rather blackbeetles, in a badly swept cellar, withcertain fine and short needles he fixed a little taper on the back ofeach of the said cockroaches, and, the hour coming when Andrea was wontto rise, he lit the tapers and put the animals one by one into the roomof Andrea, through a chink in the door. He, awaking at the very hourwhen he was wont to call Buffalmacco, and seeing those little lights, all full of fear began to tremble and in great terror to recommendhimself under his breath to God, like the old gaffer that he was, and tosay his prayers or psalms; and finally, putting his head below thebedclothes, he made no attempt for that night to call Buffalmacco, butstayed as he was, ever trembling with fear, up to daylight. In themorning, then, having risen, he asked Buonamico if he had seen, as hehad himself, more than a thousand demons; whereupon Buonamico said hehad not, because he had kept his eyes closed, and was marvelling that hehad not been called to night-work. "To night-work!" said Tafo, "I havehad something else to think of besides painting, and I am resolved atall costs to go and live in another house. " The following night, although Buonamico put only three of them into the said room of Tafo, none the less, what with terror of the past night and of those fewdevils that he saw, he slept not a wink; nay, no sooner was it daylightthan he rushed from the house, meaning never to return, and a greatbusiness it was to make him change his mind. At last Buonamico broughtthe parish priest, who consoled him the best that he could. Later, Tafoand Buonamico discoursing over the affair, Buonamico said: "I have everheard tell that the greatest enemies of God are the demons, and that inconsequence they must also be the most capital adversaries of painters;because, besides that we make them ever most hideous, what is worse, wenever attend to aught else than to making saints, male and female, onwalls and panels, and to making men more devout and more uprightthereby, to the despite of the demons; wherefore, these demons having agrudge against us for this, as beings that have greater power by nightthan by day they come and play us these tricks, and worse tricks willthey play if this use of rising for night-work is not given upcompletely. " With these and many other speeches Buffalmacco knew so wellhow to manage the business, being borne out by what Sir Priest keptsaying, that Tafo gave over rising for night-work, and the devils ceasedgoing through the house at night with little lights. But Tafo beginningagain, for the love of gain, not many months afterwards, having almostforgotten all fear, to rise once more to work in the night and to callBuffalmacco, the cockroaches too began again to wander about; whereforehe was forced by fear to give up the habit entirely, being above alladvised to do this by the priest. Afterwards this affair, spreadingthroughout the city, brought it about that for a time neither Tafo norother painters made a practice of rising to work at night. Later, and nolong time after this, Buffalmacco, having become a passing good master, took leave of Tafo, as the same Franco relates, and began to work forhimself; and he never lacked for something to do. 

Now, Buffalmacco having taken a house, to work in and to live in aswell, that had next door a passing rich woolworker, who, being asimpleton, was called Capodoca (Goosehead), the wife of this man wouldrise every night very early, precisely when Buffalmacco, having up tothen been working, would go to lie down; and sitting at her wheel, whichby misadventure she had planted opposite to the bed of Buffalmacco, shewould spend the whole night spinning her thread; wherefore Buonamico, being able to get scarce a wink of sleep, began to think and think howhe could remedy this nuisance. Nor was it long before he noticed thatbehind a wall of brickwork, that divided his house from Capodoca's, wasthe hearth of his uncomfortable neighbour, and that through a hole itwas possible to see what she was doing over the fire. Having thereforethought of a new trick, he bored a hole with a long gimlet through acane, and, watching for a moment when the wife of Capodoca was not atthe fire, he pushed it more than once through the aforesaid hole in thewall and put as much salt as he wished into his neighbour's pot;wherefore Capodoca, returning either for dinner or for supper, moreoften than not could not eat or even taste either broth or meat, sobitter was everything through the great quantity of salt. For once ortwice he had patience and only made a little noise about it; but afterhe saw that words were not enough, he gave blows many a time for this tothe poor woman, who was in despair, it appearing to her that she wasmore than careful in salting her cooking. She, one time among othersthat her husband was beating her for this, began to try to excuseherself, wherefore Capodoca, falling into even greater rage, set himselfto thrash her again in a manner that the woman screamed with all hermight, and the whole neighbourhood ran up at the noise; and among othersthere came up Buffalmacco, who, having heard of what Capodoca wasaccusing his wife and in what way she was excusing herself, said toCapodoca: "I' faith, comrade, this calls for a little reason; thou dostcomplain that the pot, morning and evening, is too much salted, and Imarvel that this good woman of thine can do anything well. I, for mypart, know not how, by day, she keeps on her feet, considering that thewhole night she sits up over that wheel of hers, and sleeps not, to mybelief, an hour. Make her give up this rising at midnight, and thou wiltsee that, having her fill of sleep, she will have her wits about her byday and will not fall into such blunders. " Then, turning to the otherneighbours, he convinced them so well of the grave import of the matter, that they all said to Capodoca that Buonamico was speaking the truth andthat it must be done as he advised. He, therefore, believing that it wasso, commanded her not to rise in the night, and the pot was thenreasonably salted, save when perchance the woman on occasion rose early, for then Buffalmacco would return to his remedy, which finally broughtit about that Capodoca made her give it up completely. 

Buffalmacco, then, among the first works that he made, painted with hisown hand the whole church of the Convent of the Nuns of Faenza, whichstood in Florence on the site of the present Cittadella del Prato; andamong other scenes that he made there from the life of Christ, in allwhich he acquitted himself very well, he made the Massacre that Herodordained of the Innocents, wherein he expressed very vividly theemotions both of the murderers and of the other figures; for in somenurses and mothers who are snatching the infants from the hands of themurderers and are seeking all the assistance that they can from theirhands, their nails, their teeth, and every movement of the body, thereis shown on the surface a heart no less full of rage and fury than ofwoe. 

Of this work, that convent being to-day in ruins, there is to be seennothing but a coloured sketch in our book of drawings by diversemasters, wherein there is this scene drawn by the hand of Buonamicohimself. In the doing of this work for the aforesaid Nuns of Faenza, seeing that Buffalmacco was a person very eccentric and careless both indress and in manner of life, it came to pass, since he did not alwayswear his cap and his mantle, as in those times it was the custom to do, that the nuns, seeing him once through the screen that he had caused tobe made, began to say to the steward that it did not please them to seehim in that guise, in his jerkin; however, appeased by him, they stayedfor a little without saying more. But at last, seeing him ever in thesame guise, and doubting whether he was not some knavish boy forgrinding colours, they had him told by the Abbess that they would haveliked to see the master at work, and not always him. To which Buonamicoanswered, like the good fellow that he was, that as soon as the masterwas there, he would let them know; taking notice, none the less, of thelittle confidence that they had in him. Taking a stool, therefore, andplacing another above it, he put on top of all a pitcher, or rather awater-jar, and on the mouth of that he put a cap, hanging over thehandle, and then he covered the rest of the jar with a burgher's mantle, and finally, putting a brush in suitable fashion into the spout throughwhich the water is poured, he went off. The nuns, returning to see thework through an opening where the cloth had slipped, saw thesupposititious master in full canonicals; wherefore, believing that hewas working might and main and was by way of doing different work fromthat which the untidy knave was doing, they left it at that for somedays, without thinking more about it. Finally, having grown desirous tosee what beautiful work the master had done, fifteen days having passed, during which space of time Buonamico had never come near the place, onenight, thinking that the master was not there, they went to see hispaintings, and remained all confused and blushing by reason of onebolder than the rest discovering the solemn master, who in fifteen dayshad done not one stroke of work. Then, recognizing that he had servedthem as they merited and that the works that he had made were worthy ofnothing but praise, they bade the steward recall Buonamico, who, withthe greatest laughter and delight, returned to the work, having giventhem to know what difference there is between men and pitchers, and thatit is not always by their clothes that the works of men should bejudged. In a few days, then, he finished a scene wherewith they weremuch contented, it appearing to them to be in every way satisfactory, except that the figures appeared to them rather wan and pallid thanotherwise in the flesh-tints. Buonamico, hearing this, and having learntthat the Abbess had some Vernaccia, the best in Florence, which was usedfor the holy office of the Mass, said to them that in order to remedythis defect nothing else could be done but to temper the colours withsome good Vernaccia; because, touching the cheeks and the rest of theflesh on the figures with colours thus tempered, they would become rosyand coloured in most lifelike fashion. Hearing this, the good sisters, who believed it all, kept him ever afterwards furnished with the bestVernaccia, as long as the work lasted; and he, rejoicing in it, fromthat time onwards made the figures fresher and more highly coloured withhis ordinary colours. 

This work finished, he painted some stories of S. James in the Abbey ofSettimo, in the chapel that is in the cloister, and dedicated to thatSaint, on the vaulting of which he made the four Patriarchs and the fourEvangelists, among whom S. Luke is doing a striking action in blowingvery naturally on his pen, in order that it may yield its ink. Next, inthe scenes on the walls, which are five, there are seen beautifulattitudes in the figures, and the whole work is executed with inventionand judgment. And because Buonamico was wont, in order to make hisflesh-colour better, as is seen in this work, to make a ground ofpurple, which in time produces a salt that becomes corroded and eatsaway the white and other colours, it is no marvel if this work is spoiltand eaten away, whereas many others that were made long before have beenvery well preserved. And I, who thought formerly that these pictures hadreceived injury from the damp, have since proved by experience, studyingother works of the same man, that it is not from the damp but from thisparticular use of Buffalmacco's that they have become spoilt socompletely that there is not seen in them either design or anythingelse, and that where the flesh-colours were there has remained nothingelse but the purple. This method of working should be used by no one whois anxious that his pictures should have long life. 

Buonamico wrought, after that which has been described above, two panelsin distemper for the Monks of the Certosa of Florence, whereof one iswhere the books of chants are kept for the use of the choir, and theother below in the old chapels. He painted in fresco the Chapel of theGiochi and Bastari in the Badia of Florence, beside the principalchapel; which chapel, although afterwards it was conceded to the familyof the Boscoli, retains the said pictures of Buffalmacco up to our ownday. In these he made the Passion of Christ, with effects ingenious andbeautiful, showing very great humility and sweetness in Christ, who iswashing the feet of His Disciples, and ferocity and cruelty in the Jews, who are leading Him to Herod. But he showed talent and facility moreparticularly in a Pilate, whom he painted in prison, and in Judashanging from a tree; wherefore it is easy to believe what is told aboutthis gay painter--namely, that when he thought fit to use diligence andto take pains, which rarely came to pass, he was not inferior to anypainter whatsoever of his times. And to show that this is true, theworks in fresco that he made in Ognissanti, where to-day there is thecemetery, were wrought with so much diligence and with so manyprecautions, that the water which has rained over them for so many yearshas not been able to spoil them or to prevent their excellence frombeing recognized, and that they have been preserved very well, becausethey were wrought purely on the fresh plaster. On the walls, then, arethe Nativity of Jesus Christ and the Adoration of the Magi--that is, over the tomb of the Aliotti. After this work Buonamico, having gone toBologna, wrought some scenes in fresco in S. Petronio, in the Chapel ofthe Bolognini--that is, on the vaulting; but by reason of some accident, I know not what, supervening, he did not finish them. 

It is said that in the year 1302 he was summoned to Assisi, and that inthe Church of S. Francesco, in the Chapel of S. Caterina, he painted allthe stories of her life in fresco, which have been very well preserved;and there are therein some figures that are worthy to be praised. Thischapel finished, on his passing through Arezzo, Bishop Guido, by reasonof having heard that Buonamico was a gay fellow and an able painter, desired him to stop in that city and paint for him, in the Vescovado, the chapel where baptisms are now held. Buonamico, having put his handto the work, had already done a good part of it when there befell himthe strangest experience in the world, which was, according to whatFranco Sacchetti relates, as follows. The Bishop had an ape, thedrollest and the most mischievous that there had ever been. This animal, standing once on the scaffolding to watch Buonamico at work, had givenattention to everything, and had never taken his eyes off him when hewas mixing the colours, handling the flasks, beating the eggs for makingthe distempers, and in short when he was doing anything elsewhatsoever. Now, Buonamico having left off working one Saturday evening, on the Sunday morning this ape, notwithstanding that he had, fastened tohis feet, a great block of wood which the Bishop made him carry in orderthat thus he might not be able to leap wherever he liked, climbed on tothe scaffolding whereon Buonamico was used to stand to work, in spite ofthe very great weight of the block of wood; and there, seizing theflasks with his hands, pouring them one into another and making sixmixtures, and beating up whatever eggs there were, he began to daub overwith the brushes all the figures there, and, persevering in thisperformance, did not cease until he had repainted everything with hisown hand; and this done, he again made a mixture of all the colours thatwere left him, although they were but few, and, getting down from thescaffolding, went off. Monday morning having come, Buonamico returned tohis work, where, seeing the figures spoilt, the flasks all mixed up, andeverything upside down, he stood all in marvel and confusion. Then, having pondered much in his own mind, he concluded finally that someAretine had done this, through envy or through some other reason;wherefore, having gone to the Bishop, he told him how the matter stoodand what he suspected, whereat the Bishop became very much disturbed, but, consoling Buonamico, desired him to put his hand again to the workand to repaint all that was spoilt. And because the Bishop had put faithin his words, which had something of the probable, he gave him six ofhis men-at-arms, who should stand in hiding with halberds while he wasnot at work, and, if anyone came, should cut him to pieces withoutmercy. The figures, then, having been painted over again, one day thatthe soldiers were in hiding, lo and behold! they hear a certain rumblingthrough the church, and a little while after the ape climbing on to thescaffolding; and in the twinkling of an eye, the mixtures made, they seethe new master set himself to work over the saints of Buonamico. Callinghim, therefore, and showing him the culprit, and standing with him towatch the beast at his work, they were all like to burst with laughter;and Buonamico in particular, for all that he was vexed thereby, couldnot keep from laughing till the tears came. Finally, dismissing thesoldiers who had mounted guard with their halberds, he went off to theBishop and said to him: "My lord, you wish the painting to be done inone fashion, and your ape wishes it done in another. " Then, relating theaffair, he added: "There was no need for you to send for painters fromelsewhere, if you had the true master at home. But he, perhaps, knew notso well how to make the mixtures; now that he knows, let him do it byhimself, since I am no more good here. And his talent being revealed, Iam content that there should be nothing given to me for my work saveleave to return to Florence. " The Bishop, hearing the affair, althoughit vexed him, could not keep from laughing, and above all as he thoughthow an animal had played a trick on him who was the greatest tricksterin the world. However, after they had talked and laughed their fill overthis strange incident, the Bishop persuaded Buonamico to resume the workfor the third time, and he finished it. And the ape, as punishment andpenance for the crime committed, was shut up in a great wooden cage andkept where Buonamico was working, until this work was entirely finished;and no one could imagine the contortions which that creature kept makingin this cage with his face, his body, and his hands, seeing othersworking and himself unable to take part. 

The work in this chapel finished, the Bishop, either in jest or for someother reason known only to himself, commanded that Buffalmacco shouldpaint him, on one wall of his palace, an eagle on the back of a lionwhich it had killed. The crafty painter, having promised to do all thatthe Bishop wished, had a good scaffolding made of planks, saying that herefused to be seen painting such a thing. This made, shutting himself upalone inside it, he painted, contrary to what the Bishop wished, a lionthat was tearing to pieces an eagle; and, the work finished, he soughtleave from the Bishop to go to Florence in order to get some coloursthat he was wanting. And so, locking the scaffolding with a key, he wentoff to Florence, in mind to return no more to the Bishop, who, seeingthe business dragging on and the painter not returning, had thescaffolding opened, and discovered that Buonamico had been too much forhim. Wherefore, moved by very great displeasure, he had him banished onpain of death, and Buonamico, hearing this, sent to tell him to do hisworst; whereupon the Bishop threatened him to a fearful tune. Butfinally, remembering that he had begun the playing of tricks and that itserved him right to be tricked himself, he pardoned Buonamico for hisinsult and rewarded him liberally for his labours. Nay, what is more, summoning him again no long time after to Arezzo, he caused him to makemany works in the Duomo Vecchio, which are now destroyed, treating himever as his familiar friend and very faithful servant. The same manpainted the niche of the principal chapel in the Church of S. Giustino, also in Arezzo. 

Some writers tell that Buonamico being in Florence and often frequentingthe shop of Maso del Saggio with his friends and companions, he wasthere, with many others, arranging the festival which the men of theBorgo San Friano held on May 1 in certain boats on the Arno; and thatwhen the Ponte alla Carraia, which was then of wood, collapsed by reasonof the too great weight of the people who had flocked to that spectacle, he did not die there, as many others did, because, precisely at themoment when the bridge collapsed on to the structure that wasrepresenting Hell on the boats in the Arno, he had gone to get somethings that were wanting for the festival. 

Being summoned to Pisa no long time after these events, Buonamicopainted many stories of the Old Testament in the Abbey of S. Paolo aRipa d'Arno, then belonging to the Monks of Vallombrosa, in bothtransepts of the church, on three sides, and from the roof down to thefloor, beginning with the Creation of man, and continuing up to thecompletion of the Tower of Nimrod. In this work, although it is to-dayfor the greater part spoilt, there are seen vivacity in the figures, good skill and loveliness in the colouring, and signs to show that thehand of Buonamico could very well express the conceptions of his mind, although he had little power of design. On the wall of the righttransept which is opposite to that wherein is the side door, in somestories of S. Anastasia, there are seen certain ancient costumes andhead-dresses, very charming and beautiful, in some women who are paintedthere with graceful manner. Not less beautiful, also, are those figuresthat are in a boat, with well-conceived attitudes, among which is theportrait of Pope Alexander IV, which Buonamico had, so it is said, fromTafo his master, who had portrayed that Pontiff in mosaic in S. Pietro. In the last scene, likewise, wherein is the martyrdom of that Saint andof others, Buonamico expressed very well in the faces the fear of deathand the grief and terror of those who are standing to see her torturedand put to death, while she stands bound to a tree and over the fire. 

A companion of Buonamico in this work was Bruno di Giovanni, a painter, who is thus called in the old book of the Company; which Bruno (alsocelebrated as a gay fellow by Boccaccio), the said scenes on the wallsbeing finished, painted the altar of S. Ursula with the company ofvirgins, in the same church. He made in one hand of the said Saint astandard with the arms of Pisa, which are a white cross on a field ofred, and he made her offering the other hand to a woman who, risingbetween two mountains and touching the sea with one of her feet, isstretching both her hands to her in the act of supplication; whichwoman, representing Pisa, and having on her head a crown of gold andover her shoulders a mantle covered with circlets and eagles, is seekingassistance from that Saint, being much in travail in the sea. Now, forthe reason that in painting this work Bruno was bewailing that thefigures which he was making therein had not the same life as those ofBuonamico, the latter, in his waggish way, in order to teach him to makehis figures not merely vivacious but actually speaking, made him paintsome words issuing from the mouth of that woman who is supplicating theSaint, and the answer of the Saint to her, a device that Buonamico hadseen in the works that had been made in the same city by Cimabue. Thisexpedient, even as it pleased Bruno and the other thick-witted men ofthose times, in like manner pleases certain boors to-day, who are servedtherein by craftsmen as vulgar as themselves. And in truth it seemsextraordinary that from this beginning there should have passed into usea device that was employed for a jest and for no other reason, insomuchthat even a great part of the Campo Santo, wrought by masters of repute, is full of this rubbish. 

The works of Buonamico, then, finding much favour with the Pisans, hewas charged by the Warden of the Works of the Campo Santo to make fourscenes in fresco, from the beginning of the world up to the constructionof Noah's Ark, and round the scenes an ornamental border, wherein hemade his own portrait from the life--namely, in a frieze, in the middleof which, and on the corners, are some heads, among which, as I havesaid, is seen his own, with a cap exactly like the one that is seenabove. And because in this work there is a God, who is upholding withhis arms the heavens and the elements--nay, the whole body of theuniverse--Buonamico, in order to explain his story with verses similarto the pictures of that age, wrote this sonnet in capital letters at thefoot, with his own hand, as may still be seen; which sonnet, by reasonof its antiquity and of the simplicity of the language of those times, it has seemed good to me to include in this place, although in myopinion it is not likely to give much pleasure, save perchance assomething that bears witness as to what was the knowledge of the men ofthat century:

 Voi che avisate questa dipintura Di Dio pietoso, sommo creatore, Lo qual fe' tutte cose con amore, Pesate, numerate ed in misura; In nove gradi angelica natura, In ello empirio ciel pien di splendore, Colui che non si muove ed è motore, Ciascuna cosa fece buona e pura. Levate gli occhi del vostro intelletto, Considerate quanto è ordinato Lo mondo universale; e con affetto Lodate lui che l'ha sì ben creato; Pensate di passare a tal diletto Tra gli Angeli, dov'è ciascun beato. Per questo mondo si vede la gloria, Lo basso e il mezzo e l'alto in questa storia. 

And to tell the truth, it was very courageous in Buonamico to undertaketo make a God the Father five braccia high, with the hierarchies, theheavens, the angels, the zodiac, and all the things above, even to theheavenly body of the moon, and then the element of fire, the air, theearth, and finally the nether regions; and to fill up the two anglesbelow he made in one, S. Augustine, and in the other, S. ThomasAquinas. At the head of the same Campo Santo, where there is now themarble tomb of Corte, Buonamico painted the whole Passion of Christ, with a great number of figures on foot and on horseback, and all invaried and beautiful attitudes; and continuing the story he made theResurrection and the Apparition of Christ to the Apostles, passing well. 

Having finished these works and at the same time all that he had gainedPisa, which was not little, he returned to Florence as poor as he hadleft it, and there he made many panels and works in fresco, whereofthere is no need to make further record. Meanwhile there had beenentrusted to Bruno, his great friend (who had returned with him fromPisa, where they had squandered everything), some works in S. MariaNovella, and seeing that Bruno had not much design or invention, Buonamico designed for him all that he afterwards put into execution ona wall in the said church, opposite to the pulpit and as long as thespace between column and column, and that was the story of S. Mauriceand his companions, who were beheaded for the faith of Jesus Christ. This work Bruno made for Guido Campese, then Constable of theFlorentines, whose portrait he had made before he died in the year 1312;in that work he painted him in his armour, as was the custom in thosetimes, and behind him he made a line of men-at-arms, armed in ancientfashion, who make a beautiful effect, while Guido himself is kneelingbefore a Madonna who has the Child Jesus in her arms, and is appearingto be recommended to her by S. Dominic and S. Agnes, who are on eitherside of him. Although this picture is not very beautiful, yet, considering the design and invention of Buonamico, it is worthy to be inpart praised, and above all by reason of the costumes, helmets, andother armour of those times. And I have availed myself of it in somescenes that I have made for the Lord Duke Cosimo, wherein it wasnecessary to represent men armed in ancient fashion, and other similarthings of that age; which work has greatly pleased his most IllustriousExcellency and others who have seen it. And from this it can be seen howmuch benefit may be gained from the inventions and works made by theseancients, although they may not be very perfect, and in what fashionprofit and advantage can be drawn from their performances, since theyopened the way for us to the marvels that have been made up to our dayand are being made continually. 

While Bruno was making this work, a peasant desiring that Buonamicoshould make him a S. Christopher, they came to an agreement in Florenceand arranged a contract in this fashion, that the price should be eightflorins and that the figure should be twelve braccia high. Buonamico, then, having gone to the church where he was to make the S. Christopher, found that by reason of its not being more than nine braccia either inheight or in length, he could not, either without or within, accommodatethe figure in a manner that it might stand well; wherefore he made uphis mind, since it would not go in upright, to make it within the churchlying down. But since, even so, the whole length would not go in, he wasforced to bend it from the knees downwards on to the wall at the head ofthe church. The work finished, the peasant would by no means pay for it;nay, he made an outcry and said he had been cozened. The matter, therefore, going before the Justices, it was judged, according to thecontract, that Buonamico was in the right. 

In S. Giovanni fra l'Arcore was a very beautiful Passion of Christ bythe hand of Buonamico, and among other things that were much praisedtherein was a Judas hanging from a tree, made with much judgment andbeautiful manner. An old man, likewise, who was blowing his nose, wasmost natural, and the Maries, broken with weeping, had expressions andaspects so sad, that they deserved to be greatly praised, since that agehad not as yet much facility in the method of representing the emotionsof the soul with the brush. On the same wall there was a good figure ina S. Ivo of Brittany, who had many widows and orphans at his feet, andtwo angels in the sky, who were crowning him, were made with thesweetest manner. This edifice and the pictures together were thrown tothe ground in the year of the war of 1529. 

In Cortona, also, for Messer Aldobrandino, Bishop of that city, Buonamico painted many works in the Vescovado, and in particular thechapel and panel of the high-altar; but seeing that everything wasthrown to the ground in renovating the palace and the church, there isno need to make further mention of them. In S. Francesco, however, andin S. Margherita, in the same city, there are still some pictures by thehand of Buonamico. From Cortona going once more to Assisi, Buonamicopainted in fresco, in the lower Church of S. Francesco, the whole Chapelof Cardinal Egidio Alvaro, a Spaniard; and because he acquitted himselfvery well, he was therefore liberally rewarded by that Cardinal. Finally, Buonamico having wrought many pictures throughout the wholeMarch, in returning to Florence he stopped at Perugia, and painted therein fresco the Chapel of the Buontempi in the Church of S. Domenico, making therein stories of the life of S. Catherine, virgin and martyr. And in the Church of S. Domenico Vecchio, on one wall, he painted infresco the scene when the same Catherine, daughter of King Costa, makingdisputation, is convincing and converting certain philosophers to thefaith of Christ; and seeing that this scene is more beautiful than anyother that Buonamico ever made, it can be said with truth that in thiswork he surpassed himself. The people of Perugia, moved by this, according to what Franco Sacchetti writes, commanded that he shouldpaint S. Ercolano, Bishop and Protector of that city, in the square;wherefore, having agreed about the price, on the spot where the paintingwas to be done there was made a screen of planks and matting, to the endthat the master might not be seen painting; and this made, he put hishand to the work. But before ten days had passed, every passer-by askingwhen this picture would be finished, as though such works were cast inmoulds, [15] the matter disgusted Buonamico; wherefore, having come tothe end of the work and being distracted with such importunity, hedetermined within himself to take a gentle vengeance on the impatienceof these people. And this came to pass, for, when the work was finished, before unveiling it, he let them see it, and it was entirely to theirsatisfaction; but on the people of Perugia wishing to remove the screenat once, Buonamico said that for two days longer they should leave itstanding, for the reason that he wished to retouch certain parts on thedry; and so it was done. Buonamico, then, having mounted thescaffolding, removed the great diadem of gold that he had given to theSaint, raised in relief with plaster, as was the custom in those times, and made him a crown, or rather garland, right round his head, ofroaches; and this done, one morning he settled with his host and wentoff to Florence. Now, two days having passed, the people of Perugia, notseeing the painter going about as they had been used, asked the hostwhat had become of him, and, hearing that he had returned to Florence, went at once to remove the screen; and finding their S. Ercolano crownedsolemnly with roaches, they sent word of it immediately to theirgovernors. But although these sent horsemen post-haste to look forBuonamico, it was all in vain, seeing that he had returned in greathaste to Florence. Having determined, then, to make a painter of theirown remove the crown of roaches and restore the diadem to the Saint, they said all the evil that can be imagined about Buonamico and the restof the Florentines. 

Buonamico, back in Florence and caring little about what the people ofPerugia might say, set to work and made many paintings, whereof, inorder not to be too long, there is no need to make mention. I will sayonly this, that having painted in fresco at Calcinaia a Madonna with theChild in her arms, he who had charged him to do it, in place of payinghim, gave him words; whence Buonamico, who was not used to being trifledwith or being fooled, determined to get his due by hook or by crook. Andso, having gone one morning to Calcinaia, he transformed the child thathe had painted in the arms of the Virgin into a little bear, but incolours made only with water, without size or distemper. This changebeing seen, not long after, by the peasant who had given him the work todo, almost in despair he went to find Buonamico, praying him for thesake of Heaven to remove the little bear and to paint another child asbefore, for he was ready to make satisfaction. This the other didamicably, being paid for both the first and the second labour withoutdelay; and for restoring the whole work a wet sponge sufficed. Finally, seeing that it would take too long were I to wish to relate all thetricks, as well as all the pictures, that Buonamico Buffalmacco made, and above all when frequenting the shop of Maso del Saggio, which wasthe resort of citizens and of all the gay and mischievous spirits thatthere were in Florence, I will make an end of discoursing about him. 

He died at the age of seventy-eight, and being very poor and having donemore spending than earning, by reason of being such in character, he wassupported in his illness by the Company of the Misericordia in S. MariaNuova, the hospital of Florence; and then, being dead, he was buried inthe Ossa (for so they call a cloister, or rather cemetery, of thehospital), like the rest of the poor, in the year 1340. The works ofthis man were prized while he lived, and since then, for works of thatage, they have been ever extolled. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 15: Proverbial expression, equivalent to our "twinkling of aneye. "]

AMBROGIO LORENZETTI

[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD

(_After the painting by_ Ambrogio Lorenzetti. _Milan: CagnolaCollection_)]

LIFE OF AMBROGIO LORENZETTI, PAINTER OF SIENA

If that debt is great, as without doubt it is, which craftsmen of finegenius should acknowledge to nature, much greater should that be that isdue from us to them, seeing that they, with great solicitude, fill thecities with noble and useful buildings and with lovely historicalcompositions, gaining for themselves, for the most part, fame and richeswith their works; as did Ambrogio Lorenzetti, painter of Siena, whoshowed beautiful and great invention in grouping and placing his figuresthoughtfully in historical scenes. That this is true is proved by ascene in the Church of the Friars Minor in Siena, painted by him verygracefully in the cloister, wherein there is represented in what mannera youth becomes a friar, and how he and certain others go to the Soldan, and are there beaten and sentenced to the gallows and hanged on a tree, and finally beheaded, with the addition of a terrible tempest. In thispicture, with much art and dexterity, he counterfeited in the travailingof the figures the turmoil of the air and the fury of the rain and ofthe wind, wherefrom the modern masters have learnt the method and theprinciple of this invention, by reason of which, since it was unknownbefore, he deserved infinite commendation. Ambrogio was a practisedcolourist in fresco, and he handled colours in distemper with greatdexterity and facility, as it is still seen in the panels executed byhim in Siena for the little hospital called Mona Agnesa, where hepainted and finished a scene with new and beautiful composition. And atthe great hospital, on one front, he made in fresco the Nativity of OurLady and the scene when she is going with the virgins to the Temple. Forthe Friars of S. Augustine in the same city he painted theirChapter-house, where the Apostles are seen represented on the vaulting, with scrolls in their hands whereon is written that part of the Creedwhich each one of them made; and below each is a little scene containingin painting that same subject that is signified above by the writing. Near this, on the main front, are three stories of S. Catherine themartyr, who is disputing with the tyrant in a temple, and, in themiddle, the Passion of Christ, with the Thieves on the Cross, and theMaries below, who are supporting the Virgin Mary who has swooned; whichworks were finished by him with much grace and with beautiful manner. 

In a large hall of the Palazzo della Signoria in Siena he painted theWar of Asinalunga, and after it the Peace and its events, wherein hefashioned a map, perfect for those times; and in the same palace he madeeight scenes in terra-verde, highly finished. It is said that he alsosent to Volterra a panel in distemper which was much praised in thatcity. And painting a chapel in fresco and a panel in distemper at Massa, in company with others, he gave them proof how great, both in judgmentand in genius, was his worth in the art of painting; and in Orvieto hepainted in fresco the principal Chapel of S. Maria. After these works, proceeding to Florence, he made a panel in S. Procolo, and in a chapelhe painted the stories of S. Nicholas with little figures, in order tosatisfy certain of his friends, who desired to see his method ofworking; and, being much practised, he executed this work in so short atime that there accrued to him fame and infinite repute. And this work, on the predella of which he made his own portrait, brought it about thatin the year 1335 he was summoned to Cortona by order of Bishop Ubertini, then lord of that city, where he wrought certain works in the Church ofS. Margherita, built a short time before for the Friars of S. Francis onthe summit of the hill, and in particular the half of the vaulting andthe walls, so well that, although to-day they are wellnigh eaten away bytime, there are seen notwithstanding most beautiful effects in thefigures; and it is clear that he was deservedly commended for them. 

[Illustration: AMBROGIO LORENZETTI: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH S. S. MARYMAGDALENE AND DOROTHY

(_Siena: Pinacoteca 77. Panel_)]

This work finished, Ambrogio returned to Siena, where he livedhonourably the remainder of his life, not only by reason of being anexcellent master in painting, but also because, having given attentionin his youth to letters, they were a useful and pleasantaccompaniment to him in his painting, and so great an ornament to hiswhole life that they rendered him no less popular and beloved than didhis profession of painting; wherefore he was not only intimate with menof learning and of taste, but he was also employed, to his great honourand advantage, in the government of his Republic. The ways of Ambrogiowere in all respects worthy of praise, and rather those of a gentlemanand a philosopher than of a craftsman; and what most demonstrates thewisdom of men, he had ever a mind disposed to be content with that whichthe world and time brought, wherefore he supported with a mind temperateand calm the good and the evil that came to him from fortune. And trulyit cannot be told to what extent courteous ways and modesty, with theother good habits, are an honourable accompaniment to all the arts, andin particular to those that are derived from the intellect and fromnoble and exalted talents; wherefore every man should make himself noless beloved with his ways than with the excellence of his art. 

Finally, at the end of his life, Ambrogio made a panel at Monte Olivetodi Chiusuri with great credit to himself, and a little afterwards, beingeighty-three years of age, he passed happily and in the Christian faithto a better life. His works date about 1340. 

As it has been said, the portrait of Ambrogio, by his own hand, is seenin the predella of his panel in S. Procolo, with a cap on his head. Andwhat was his worth in draughtsmanship is seen in our book, wherein aresome passing good drawings by his hand. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

MADONNA AND CHILD

(_Central panel of the polyptych by_ Ambrogio Lorenzetti. _MassaMarittima: Municipio_)]

PIETRO CAVALLINI

LIFE OF PIETRO CAVALLINI, PAINTER OF ROME

For many centuries Rome had been deprived not only of fine letters andof the glory of arms but also of all the sciences and fine arts, when, by the will of God, there was born therein Pietro Cavallini, in thosetimes when Giotto, having, it may be said, restored painting to life, was holding the sovereignty among the painters in Italy. He, then, having been a disciple of Giotto and having worked with Giotto himselfon the Navicella in mosaic in S. Pietro, was the first who, after him, gave light to that art, and he began to show that he had been nounworthy disciple of so great a master when he painted, over the door ofthe sacristy of the Araceli, some scenes that are to-day eaten away bytime, and very many works coloured in fresco throughout the whole Churchof S. Maria di Trastevere. Afterwards, working in mosaic on theprincipal chapel and on the façade of the church, he showed in thebeginning of such a work, without the help of Giotto, that he was noless able in the execution and bringing to completion of mosaics than hewas in painting. Making many scenes in fresco, also, in the Church of S. Grisogono, he strove to make himself known both as the best disciple ofGiotto and as a good craftsman. In like manner, also in Trastevere, hepainted almost the whole Church of S. Cecilia with his own hand, andmany works in the Church of S. Francesco appresso Ripa. He then made thefaçade of mosaic in S. Paolo without Rome, and many stories of the OldTestament for the central nave. And painting some works in fresco in theChapter-house of the first cloister, he put therein so great diligencethat he gained thereby from men of judgment the name of being a mostexcellent master, and was therefore so much favoured by the prelatesthat they commissioned him to do the inner wall of S. Pietro, betweenthe windows. Between these he made the four Evangelists, wrought verywell in fresco, of extraordinary size in comparison with the figuresthat at that time were customary, with a S. Peter and a S. Paul, and agood number of figures in a ship, wherein, the Greek manner pleasing himmuch, he blended it ever with that of Giotto; and since he delighted togive relief to his figures, it is recognized that he used thereunto thegreatest efforts that can be imagined by man. But the best work that hemade in that city was in the said Church of Araceli on the Campidoglio, where he painted in fresco, on the vaulting of the principal apse, theMadonna with the Child in her arms, surrounded by a circle of sunlight, and beneath is the Emperor Octavian, to whom the Tiburtine Sibyl isshowing Jesus Christ, and he is adoring Him; and the figures in thiswork, as it has been said in other places, have been much betterpreserved than the others, because those that are on the vaulting areless injured by dust than those that are made on the walls. 

After these works Pietro went to Tuscany, in order to see the works ofthe other disciples of his master Giotto and those of Giotto himself;and with this occasion he painted many figures in S. Marco in Florence, which are not seen to-day, the church having been whitewashed, exceptthe Annunciation, which stands covered beside the principal door of thechurch. In S. Basilio, also, in the Canto alla Macine, he made anotherAnnunciation in fresco on a wall, so like to that which he had madebefore in S. Marco, and to another one that is in Florence, that somebelieve, and not without probability, that they are all by the hand ofthis Pietro; and in truth they could not be more like, one to another, than they are. Among the figures that he made in the said S. Marco inFlorence was the portrait of Pope Urban V from the life, with the headsof S. Peter and S. Paul; from which portrait Fra Giovanni da Fiesolecopied that one which is in a panel in S. Domenico, also of Fiesole; andthat was no small good-fortune, seeing that the portrait which was in S. Marco and many other figures that were about the church in fresco werecovered with whitewash, as it has been said, when that convent was takenfrom the monks who occupied it before and given to the PreachingFriars, the whole being whitewashed with little attention andconsideration. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

HEAD OF AN APOSTLE

(_Detail from_ "The Last Judgment, " _after the fresco by_ PietroCavallini. _Rome: Convent of S. Cecilia_)]

Passing afterwards, in returning to Rome, through Assisi, not only inorder to see those buildings and those notable works made there by hismaster and by some of his fellow-disciples, but also to leave somethingthere by his own hand, he painted in fresco in the lower Church of S. Francesco--namely, in the transept that is on the side of thesacristy--a Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, with men on horseback armed invarious fashions, and with many varied and extravagant costumes ofdiverse foreign peoples. In the air he made some angels, who, poised ontheir wings in diverse attitudes, are in a storm of weeping; and somepressing their hands to their breasts, others wringing them, and othersbeating the palms, they are showing that they feel the greatest grief atthe death of the Son of God; and all, from the middle backwards, orrather from the middle downwards, melt away into air. In this work, wellexecuted in the colouring, which is fresh and vivacious and so wellcontrived in the junctions of the plaster that the work appears all madein one day, I have found the coat of arms of Gualtieri, Duke of Athens;but by reason of there not being either a date or other writing there, Icannot affirm that it was caused to be made by him. I say, however, thatbesides the firm belief of everyone that it is by the hand of Pietro, the manner could not be more like his than it is, not to mention that itmay be believed, this painter having lived at the time when DukeGualtieri was in Italy, that it was made by Pietro as well as by orderof the said Duke. At least, let everyone think as he pleases, the work, as ancient, is worthy of nothing but praise, and the manner, besides thepublic voice, shows that it is by the hand of this man. 

In the Church of S. Maria at Orvieto, wherein is the most holy relic ofthe Corporal, the same Pietro wrought in fresco certain stories of JesusChrist and of the Host, with much diligence; and this he did, so it issaid, for Messer Benedetto, son of Messer Buonconte Monaldeschi and lordat that time, or rather tyrant, of that city. Some likewise affirm thatPietro made some sculptures, and that they were very successful, becausehe had genius for whatever he set himself to do, and that he made theCrucifix that is in the great Church of S. Paolo without Rome; whichCrucifix, as it is said and may be believed, is the one that spoke to S. Brigida in the year 1370. 

By the hand of the same man were some other works in that manner, whichwere thrown to the ground when the old Church of S. Pietro was pulleddown in order to build the new. Pietro was very diligent in all hisworks, and sought with every effort to gain honour and to acquire famein the art. He was not only a good Christian, but most devout and verymuch the friend of the poor, and he was beloved by reason of hisexcellence not only in his native city of Rome but by all those who hadknowledge of him or of his works. And finally, he devoted himself at theend of his old age to religion, leading an exemplary life, with so muchzeal that he was almost held a saint. Wherefore there is no reason tomarvel not only that the said Crucifix by his hand spoke to the Saint, as it has been said, but also that innumerable miracles have been andstill are wrought by a certain Madonna by his hand, which I do notintend to call his best, although it is very famous in all Italy andalthough I know very certainly and surely, by the manner of thepainting, that it is by the hand of Pietro, whose most praiseworthy lifeand piety towards God were worthy to be imitated by all men. Nor letanyone believe, for the reason that it is scarcely possible and thatexperience continually shows this to us, that it is possible to attainto honourable rank without the fear and grace of God and withoutgoodness of life. A disciple of Pietro Cavallini was Giovanni daPistoia, who made some works of no great importance in his native city. 

Finally, at the age of eighty-five, he died in Rome of a colic caughtwhile working in fresco, by reason of the damp and of standingcontinually at this exercise. His pictures date about the year 1364, andhe was honourably buried in S. Paolo without Rome, with this epitaph:

 QUANTUM ROMANÆ PETRUS DECUS ADDIDIT URBI PICTURA, TANTUM DAT DECUS IPSE POLO. 

His portrait has never been found, for all the diligence that has beenused; it is therefore not included. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

HEAD OF THE CHRIST IN GLORY

(_Detail from_ "The Last Judgment, " _after the fresco by_ PietroCavallini. _Rome: Convent of S. Cecilia_)]

SIMONE SANESE

[Illustration: _Anderson_

S. LOUIS CROWNING KING ROBERT OF NAPLES

(_After the Altarpiece by_ Simon Sanese [Memmi _or_ Martini]. _Naples:Church of S. Lorenzo_)]

LIFE OF SIMONE SANESE

[_SIMONE MEMMI OR MARTINI_]

PAINTER

Truly happy can those men be called, who are inclined by nature to thosearts that can bring to them not only honour and very great profit, butalso, what is more, fame and a name wellnigh eternal, and happier stillare they who have from their cradles, besides such inclination, courtesyand honest ways, which render them very dear to all men. But happiest ofall, finally, talking of craftsmen, are they who not only receive a loveof the good from nature, and noble ways from the same source and fromeducation, but also live in the time of some famous writer, from whom, in return for a little portrait or some other similar courtesy in theway of art, they gain on occasion the reward of eternal honour and name, by means of their writings; and this, among those who practise the artsof design, should be particularly desired and sought by the excellentpainters, seeing that their works, being on the surface and on a groundof colour, cannot have that eternal life which castings in bronze andworks in marble give to sculpture, or buildings to the architects. 

Very great, then, was that good-fortune of Simone, to live at the timeof Messer Francesco Petrarca and to chance to find that most amorouspoet at the Court of Avignon, desirous of having the image of MadonnaLaura by the hand of Maestro Simone, because, having received it asbeautiful as he had desired, he made memory of him in two sonnets, whereof one begins:

 Per mirar Policleto a prova fiso Con gli altri che ebber fama di quell'arte;

and the second:

 Quando giunse a Simon l'alto concetto Ch'a mio nome gli pose in man lo stile. 

These sonnets, in truth, together with the mention made of him in one ofhis _Familiar Letters_, in the fifth book, which begins: "Non sumnescius, " have given more fame to the poor life of Maestro Simone thanall his own works have ever done or ever will, seeing that they must atsome time perish, whereas the writings of so great a man will live foreternal ages. Simone Memmi of Siena, then, was an excellent painter, remarkable in his own times and much esteemed at the Court of the Pope, for the reason that after the death of Giotto his master, whom he hadfollowed to Rome when he made the Navicella in mosaic and the otherworks, he made a Virgin Mary in the portico of S. Pietro, with a S. Peter and a S. Paul, near to the place where the bronze pine-cone is, ona wall between the arches of the portico on the outer side; and in thishe counterfeited the manner of Giotto very well, receiving so muchpraise, above all because he portrayed therein a sacristan of S. Pietrolighting some lamps before the said figures with much promptness, thathe was summoned with very great insistence to the Court of the Pope atAvignon, where he wrought so many pictures, in fresco and on panels, that he made his works correspond to the reputation that had been bornethither. Whence, having returned to Siena in great credit and muchfavoured on this account, he was commissioned by the Signoria to paintin fresco, in a hall of their Palace, a Virgin Mary with many figuresround her, which he completed with all perfection to his own greatcredit and advantage. And in order to show that he was no less able towork on panel than in fresco, he painted in the said Palace a panelwhich led to his being afterwards made to paint two of them in theDuomo, and a Madonna with the Child in her arms, in a very beautifulattitude, over the door of the Office of the Works of the said Duomo. Inthis picture certain angels, supporting a standard in the air, areflying and looking down on to some saints who are round the Madonna, andthey make a very beautiful composition and great adornment. 

[Illustration: SIMONE MARTINI: KNIGHTING OF S. MARTIN

(_Assisi: Lower Church of S. Francesco, Chapel of S. Martin. Fresco_)]

This done, Simone was brought by the General of the Augustinians toFlorence, where he painted the Chapter-house of S. Spirito, showinginvention and admirable judgment in the figures and the horses that hemade, as is proved in that place by the story of the Passion ofChrist, wherein everything is seen to have been made by him withingenuity, with discretion, and with most beautiful grace. There areseen the Thieves on the Cross yielding up their breath, and the soul ofthe good one being carried to Heaven by the angels, and that of thewicked one going, accompanied by devils and all harassed, to thetorments of Hell. Simone likewise showed invention and judgment in theattitudes and in the very bitter weeping of some angels round theCrucifix. But what is most worthy of consideration, above everythingelse, is to see those spirits visibly cleaving the air with theirshoulders, almost whirling right round and yet sustaining the motion oftheir flight. This work would bear much stronger witness to theexcellence of Simone, if, besides the fact that time has eaten it away, it had not been spoilt by those Fathers in the year 1560, when they, being unable to use the Chapter-house, because it was in bad conditionfrom damp, made a vaulted roof to replace a worm-eaten ceiling, andthrew down the little that was left of the pictures of this man. Aboutthe same time Simone painted a Madonna and a S. Luke, with some otherSaints, on a panel in distemper, which is to-day in the Chapel of theGondi in S. Maria Novella, with his name. 

Next, Simone painted three walls of the Chapter-house of the said S. Maria Novella, very happily. On the first, which is over the doorwhereby one enters, he made the life of S. Dominic; and on that whichfollows in the direction of the church, he represented the ReligiousOrder of the same Saint fighting against the heretics, represented bywolves, which are attacking some sheep, which are defended by many dogsspotted with black and white, and the wolves are beaten back and slain. There are also certain heretics, who, being convinced in disputation, are tearing their books and penitently confessing themselves, and sotheir souls are passing through the gate of Paradise, wherein are manylittle figures that are doing diverse things. In Heaven is seen theglory of the Saints, and Jesus Christ; and in the world below remain thevain pleasures and delights, in human figures, and above all in theshape of women who are seated, among whom is the Madonna Laura ofPetrarca, portrayed from life and clothed in green, with a little flameof fire between her breast and her throat. There is also the Church ofChrist, and, as a guard for her, the Pope, the Emperor, the Kings, theCardinals, the Bishops, and all the Christian Princes; and among them, beside a Knight of Rhodes, is Messer Francesco Petrarca, also portrayedfrom the life, which Simone did in order to enhance by his works thefame of the man who had made him immortal. For the Universal Church hepainted the Church of S. Maria del Fiore, not as it stands to-day, butas he had drawn it from the model and design that the architect Arnolfohad left in the Office of Works for the guidance of those who had tocontinue the building after him; of which models, by reason of thelittle care of the Wardens of Works of S. Maria del Fiore, as it hasbeen said in another place, there would be no memorial for us if Simonehad not left it painted in this work. On the third wall, which is thatof the altar, he made the Passion of Christ, who, issuing from Jerusalemwith the Cross on His shoulder, is going to Mount Calvary, followed by avery great multitude. Arriving there, He is seen raised on the Crossbetween the Thieves, with the other circumstances that accompany thisstory. I will say nothing of there being therein a good number ofhorses, of the casting of lots by the servants of the court for thegarments of Christ, of the raising of the Holy Fathers from the Limbo ofHell, and of all the other well-conceived inventions, which belong notso much to a master of that age as to the most excellent of the moderns;inasmuch as, taking up the whole walls, with very diligent judgment hemade in each wall diverse scenes on the slope of a mountain, and did notdivide scene from scene with ornamental borders, as the old painterswere wont to do, and many moderns, who put the earth over the sky fouror five times, as it is seen in the principal chapel of this samechurch, and in the Campo Santo of Pisa, where, painting many works infresco, he was forced against his will to make such divisions, for theother painters who had worked in that place, such as Giotto andBuonamico his master, had begun to make their scenes with this badarrangement. 

[Illustration: _G. H. _

THE ANNUNCIATION

(_After the painting by_ Simone Sanese [Memmi _or_ Martini]. _Antwerp:Royal Museum, 257, 258_)]

In that Campo Santo, then, following as the lesser evil the method usedby the others, Simone made in fresco, over the principal door and on theinner side, a Madonna borne to Heaven by a choir of angels, who aresinging and playing so vividly that there are seen in them all thosevarious gestures that musicians are wont to make in singing or playing, such as turning the ears to the sound, opening the mouth in diverseways, raising the eyes to Heaven, blowing out the cheeks, swelling thethroat, and in short all the other actions and movements that are madein music. Under this Assumption, in three pictures, he made some scenesfrom the life of S. Ranieri of Pisa. In the first scene he is shown as ayouth, playing the psaltery and making some girls dance, who are mostbeautiful by reason of the air of the heads and of the loveliness of thecostumes and head-dresses of those times. Next, the same Ranieri, havingbeen reproved for such lasciviousness by the Blessed Alberto the Hermit, is seen standing with his face downcast and tearful and with his eyesred from weeping, all penitent for his sin, while God, in the sky, surrounded by a celestial light, appears to be pardoning him. In thesecond picture Ranieri, distributing his wealth to God's poor beforemounting on board ship, has round him a crowd of beggars, of cripples, of women, and of children, all most touching in their pushing forward, their entreating, and their thanking him. And in the same picture, also, that Saint, having received in the Temple the gown of a pilgrim, isstanding before a Madonna, who, surrounded by many angels, is showinghim that he will repose on her bosom in Pisa; and all these figures havevivacity and a beautiful air in the heads. In the third Simone paintedthe scene when, having returned after seven years from beyond the seas, he is showing that he has spent thrice forty days in the Holy Land, andwhen, standing in the choir to hear the Divine offices, he is tempted bythe Devil, who is seen driven away by a firm determination that isperceived in Ranieri not to consent to offend God, assisted by a figuremade by Simone to represent Constancy, who is chasing away the ancientadversary not only all in confusion but also (with beautiful andfanciful invention) all in terror, holding his hands to his head in hisflight, and walking with his face downcast and his shoulders shrunk asclose together as could be, and saying, as it is seen from the writingthat is issuing from his mouth: "I can no more. " And finally, there isalso in this picture the scene when Ranieri, kneeling on Mount Tabor, is miraculously seeing Christ in air with Moses and Elias; and all thefeatures of this work, with others that are not mentioned, show thatSimone was very fanciful and understood the good method of groupingfigures gracefully in the manner of those times. These scenes finished, he made two panels in distemper in the same city, assisted by LippoMemmi, his brother, who had also assisted him to paint the Chapter-houseof S. Maria Novella and other works. 

He, although he had not the excellence of Simone, none the less followedhis manner as well as he could, and made many works in fresco in hiscompany for S. Croce in Florence; the panel of the high-altar in S. Caterina at Pisa, for the Preaching Friars; and in S. Paolo a Ripa d'Arno, besides many very beautiful scenes in fresco, the panel indistemper that is to-day over the high-altar, containing a Madonna, S. Peter, S. Paul, S. John the Baptist, and other Saints; and on this Lippoput his name. After these works he wrought by himself a panel indistemper for the Friars of S. Augustine in San Gimignano, and therebyacquired so great a name that he was forced to send to Arezzo, to BishopGuido de' Tarlati, a panel with three half-length figures which isto-day in the Chapel of S. Gregorio in the Vescovado. 

While Simone was at work in Florence, one his cousin, an ingeniousarchitect called Neroccio, undertook in the year 1332 to make to ringthe great bell of the Commune of Florence, which, for a period ofseventeen years, no one had been able to make to ring without twelve mento pull at it. He balanced it, then, in a manner that two could move it, and once moved one alone could ring it without a break, although itweighed more than six thousand libbre; wherefore, besides the honour, hegained thereby as his reward three hundred florins of gold, which wasgreat payment in those times. 

[Illustration: LIPPO MEMMI: MADONNA AND CHILD

(_Berlin: K. Friedrich Museum 1081A. Panel_)]

But to return to our two Memmi of Siena; Lippo, besides the worksmentioned, wrought a panel in distemper, with the design of Simone, which was carried to Pistoia and placed over the high-altar of theChurch of S. Francesco, and was held very beautiful. Finally, bothhaving returned to their native city of Siena, Simone began a very largework in colour over the great gate of Camollia, containing theCoronation of Our Lady, with an infinity of figures, which remainedunfinished, a very great sickness coming upon him, so that he, overcomeby the gravity of the sickness, passed away from this life in the year1345, to the very great sorrow of all his city and of Lippo his brother, who gave him honourable burial in S. Francesco. 

Lippo afterwards finished many works that Simone had left imperfect, andamong these was a Passion of Jesus Christ over the high-altar of S. Niccola in Ancona, wherein Lippo finished what Simone had begun, imitating that which the said Simone had made and finished in theChapter-house of S. Spirito in Florence. This work would be worthy of alonger life than peradventure will be granted to it, there being in itmany horses and soldiers in beautiful attitudes, which they are strikingwith various animated movements, doubting and marvelling whether theyhave crucified or not the Son of God. At Assisi, likewise, in the lowerChurch of S. Francesco, he finished some figures that Simone had begunfor the altar of S. Elizabeth, which is at the entrance of the door thatleads into the chapels, making there a Madonna, a S. Louis King ofFrance, and other Saints, in all eight figures, which are only as far asthe knees, but good and very well coloured. Besides this, in the greatrefectory of the said convent, at the top of the wall, Simone had begunmany little scenes and a Crucifix made in the shape of a Tree of theCross, but this remained unfinished and outlined with the brush in redover the plaster, as may still be seen to-day; which method of workingwas the cartoon that our old masters used to make for painting infresco, for greater rapidity; for having distributed the whole work overthe plaster, they would outline it with the brush, reproducing from asmall design all that which they wished to paint, and enlarging inproportion all that they thought to put down. Wherefore, even as thisone is seen thus outlined, and many others in other places, so there aremany others that had once been painted, from which the work afterwardspeeled off, leaving them thus outlined in red over the plaster. 

But returning to our Lippo, who drew passing well, as it may be seen inour book in a hermit who is reading with his legs crossed; he lived fortwelve years after Simone, executing many works throughout all Italy, and in particular two panels in S. Croce in Florence. And seeing thatthe manner of these two brothers is very similar, one can distinguishthe one from the other by this, that Simone used to sign his name at thefoot of his works in this way: SIMONIS MEMMI SENENSIS OPUS; and Lippo, leaving out his baptismal name and caring nothing about a Latinity sorough, in this other fashion: OPUS MEMMI DE SENIS ME FECIT. 

On the wall of the Chapter-house of S. Maria Novella--besides Petrarcaand Madonna Laura, as it has been said above--Simone portrayed Cimabue, the architect Lapo, his son Arnolfo, and himself, and in the person ofthat Pope who is in the scene he painted Benedetto XI of Treviso, one ofthe Preaching Friars, the likeness of which Pope had been brought toSimone long before by Giotto, his master, when he returned from theCourt of the said Pope, who had his seat in Avignon. In the same place, also, beside the said Pope, he portrayed Cardinal Niccola da Prato, whohad come to Florence at that time as Legate of the said Pontiff, asGiovanni Villani relates in his History. 

Over the tomb of Simone was placed this epitaph:

 SIMONI MEMMIO PICTORUM OMNIUM OMNIS ÆTATIS CELEBERRIMO. VIXIT ANN. LX, MENS. II, D. III. 

As it is seen in our aforesaid book, Simone was not very excellent indraughtsmanship, but he had invention from nature, and he took muchdelight in drawing portraits from the life; and in this he was held somuch the greatest master of his times that Signor Pandolfo Malatestisent him as far as Avignon to portray Messer Francesco Petrarca, at therequest of whom he made afterwards the portrait of Madonna Laura, withso much credit to himself. 

[Illustration: _M. S. _

MADONNA AND CHILD

(_After the painting by_ Lippo Memmi. _Altenburg: Lindenau Museum, 43_)]

TADDEO GADDI

LIFE OF TADDEO GADDI, PAINTER OF FLORENCE

It is a beautiful and truly useful and praiseworthy action to rewardtalent largely in every place, and to honour him who has it, seeing thatan infinity of intellects which might otherwise slumber, roused by thisencouragement, strive with all industry not only to learn their art butto become excellent therein, in order to advance themselves and toattain to a rank both profitable and honourable; whence there may followhonour for their country, glory for themselves, and riches and nobilityfor their descendants, who, upraised by such beginnings, very oftenbecome both very rich and very noble, even as the descendants of thepainter Taddeo Gaddi did by reason of his work. This Taddeo di GaddoGaddi, a Florentine, after the death of Giotto--who had held him at hisbaptism and had been his master for twenty-four years after the death ofGaddo, as it is written by Cennino di Drea Cennini, painter of Colle diValdelsa--remained among the first in the art of painting and greaterthan all his fellow-disciples both in judgment and in genius; and hewrought his first works, with a great facility given to him by naturerather than acquired by art, in the Church of S. Croce in Florence, inthe chapel of the sacristy, where, together with his companions, disciples of the dead Giotto, he made some stories of S. Mary Magdalene, with beautiful figures and with most beautiful and extravagant costumesof those times. And in the Chapel of the Baroncelli and Bandini, whereGiotto had formerly wrought the panel in distemper, he made by himselfin fresco, on one wall, some stories of Our Lady which were held verybeautiful. He also painted over the door of the said sacristy the storyof Christ disputing with the Doctors in the Temple, which was afterwardshalf ruined when the elder Cosimo de' Medici, in making the noviciate, the chapel, and the antechamber in front of the sacristy, placed acornice of stone over the said door. In the same church he painted infresco the Chapel of the Bellacci, and also that of S. Andrea by theside of one of the three of Giotto, wherein he made the scene of JesusChrist taking Andrew and Peter from their nets, and the crucifixion ofthe former Apostle, a work greatly commended and extolled both then whenit was finished and still at the present day. Over the side-door, belowthe burial-place of Carlo Marsuppini of Arezzo, he made a Dead Christwith the Maries, wrought in fresco, which was very much praised; andbelow the tramezzo[16] that divides the church, on the left hand, abovethe Crucifix of Donato, he painted in fresco a story of S. Francis, representing a miracle that he wrought in restoring to life a boy whowas killed by falling from a terrace, together with his apparition inthe air. And in this story he portrayed Giotto his master, Dante thepoet, Guido Cavalcanti, and, some say, himself. Throughout the saidchurch, also, in diverse places, he made many figures which are known bypainters from the manner. For the Company of the Temple he painted theshrine that is at the corner of the Via del Crocifisso, containing avery beautiful Deposition from the Cross. 

In the cloister of S. Spirito he wrought two scenes in the little archesbeside the Chapter-house, in one of which he made Judas selling Christ, and in the other the Last Supper that He held with the Apostles. And inthe same convent, over the door of the refectory, he painted a Crucifixand some Saints, which give us to know that among the others who workedhere he was truly an imitator of the manner of Giotto, which he heldever in the greatest veneration. In S. Stefano del Ponte Vecchio hepainted the panel and the predella of the high-altar with greatdiligence; and on a panel in the Oratory of S. Michele in Orto he made avery good picture of a Dead Christ being lamented by the Maries and laidto rest very devoutly by Nicodemus in the Sepulchre. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

THE LAST SUPPER

(_After the fresco by_ Taddeo Gaddi, _in the Refectory of S. Croce, Florence_)]

In the Church of the Servite Friars he painted the Chapel of S. Niccolò, belonging to those of the palace, with stories of that Saint, wherein heshowed very good judgment and grace in a boat that he painted, demonstrating that he had complete understanding of the tempestuousagitation of the sea and of the fury of the storm; and while themariners are emptying the ship and jettisoning the cargo, S. Nicholasappears in the air and delivers them from that peril. This work, havinggiven pleasure and having been much praised, was the reason that he wasmade to paint the chapel of the high-altar in that church, wherein hemade in fresco some stories of Our Lady, and another figure of Our Ladyon a panel in distemper, with many Saints wrought in lively fashion. Inlike manner, in the predella of the said panel, he made some otherstories of Our Lady with little figures, whereof there is no need tomake particular mention, seeing that in the year 1467 everything wasdestroyed when Lodovico, Marquis of Mantua, made in that place thetribune that is there to-day and the choir of the friars, with thedesign of Leon Battista Alberti, causing the panel to be carried intothe Chapter-house of that convent; in the refectory of which Taddeomade, just above the wooden seats, the Last Supper of Jesus Christ withthe Apostles, and above that a Crucifix with many saints. 

Having given the last touch to these works, Taddeo Gaddi was summoned toPisa, where, for Gherardo and Bonaccorso Gambacorti, he wrought infresco the principal chapel of S. Francesco, painting with beautifulcolours many figures and stories of that Saint and of S. Andrew and S. Nicholas. Next, on the vaulting and on the front wall is Pope Honorius, who is confirming the Order; here Taddeo is portrayed from the life, inprofile, with a cap wrapped round his head, and at the foot of thisscene are written these words:

 MAGISTER TADDEUS GADDUS DE FLORENTIA PINXIT HANC HISTORIAM SANCTI FRANCISCI ET SANCTI ANDREÆ ET SANCTI NICOLAI, ANNO DOMINI MCCCXLII, DE MENSE AUGUSTI. 

Besides this, in the cloister also of the same convent he made in frescoa Madonna with her Child in her arms, very well coloured, and in themiddle of the church, on the left hand as one enters, a S. Louis theBishop, seated, to whom S. Gherardo da Villamagna, who had been a friarof this Order, is recommending a Fra Bartolommeo, then Prior of thesaid convent. In the figures of this work, seeing that they were takenfrom nature, there are seen liveliness and infinite grace, in thatsimple manner which was in some respects better than that of Giotto, above all in expressing supplication, joy, sorrow, and other similaremotions, which, when well expressed, ever bring very great honour tothe painter. 

Next, having returned to Florence, Taddeo continued for the Commune thework of Orsanmichele and refounded the piers of the Loggia, buildingthem with stone dressed and well shaped, whereas before they had beenmade of bricks, without, however, altering the design that Arnolfo left, with directions that there should be made over the Loggia a palace withtwo vaults for storing the provisions of grain that the people andCommune of Florence used to make. To the end that this work might befinished, the Guild of Porta S. Maria, to which the charge of the fabrichad been given, ordained that there should be paid thereunto the tax ofthe square of the grain-market and some other taxes of very smallimportance. But what was far more important, it was well ordained withthe best counsel that each of the Guilds of Florence should make onepier by itself, with the Patron Saint of the Guild in a niche therein, and that every year, on the festival of each Saint the Consuls of thatGuild should go to church to make offering, and should hold there thewhole of that day the standard with their insignia, but that theoffering, none the less, should be to the Madonna for the succour of theneedy poor. And because, during the great flood of the year 1333, thewaters had swept away the parapets of the Ponte Rubaconte, thrown downthe Castle of Altafronte, left nothing of the Ponte Vecchio but the twopiers in the middle, and completely ruined the Ponte a S. Trinita exceptone pier that remained all shattered, as well as half the Ponte allaCarraia, bursting also the weir of Ognissanti, those who then ruled thecity determined no longer to allow the dwellers on the other side of theArno to have to return to their homes with so great inconvenience as wascaused by their having to cross in boats. Wherefore, having sent forTaddeo Gaddi, for the reason that Giotto his master had gone to Milan, they caused him to make the model and design of the Ponte Vecchio, giving him instructions that he should have it brought to completion asstrong and as beautiful as might be possible; and he, sparing neithercost nor labour, made it with such strength in the piers and with suchmagnificence in the arches, all of stone squared with the chisel, thatit supports to-day twenty-two shops on either side, which make in allforty-four, with great profit to the Commune, which drew from them eighthundred florins yearly in rents. The extent of the arches from one sideto the other is thirty-two braccia, that of the street in the middle issixteen braccia, and that of the shops on either side eight braccia. Forthis work, which cost sixty thousand florins of gold, not only didTaddeo then deserve infinite praise, but even to-day he is more thanever commended for it, for the reason that, besides many other floods, it was not moved in the year 1557, on September 13, by that which threwdown the Ponte a S. Trinita and two arches of that of the Carraia, andshattered in great part the Rubaconte, together with much otherdestruction that is very well known. And truly there is no man ofjudgment who can fail to be amazed, not to say marvel, considering thatthe said Ponte Vecchio in so great an emergency could sustain unmovedthe onset of the waters and of the beams and the wreckage made above, and that with so great firmness. 

At the same time Taddeo directed the founding of the Ponte a S. Trinita, which was finished less happily in the year 1346, at the cost of twentythousand florins of gold; I say less happily, because, not having beenmade like the Ponte Vecchio, it was entirely ruined by the said flood ofthe year 1557. In like manner, under the direction of Taddeo there wasmade at the said time the wall of the Costa a S. Gregorio, with pilesdriven in below, including two piers of the bridge in order to gainadditional ground for the city on the side of the Piazza de' Mozzi, andto make use of it, as they did, to make the mills that are there. 

While all these works were being made by the direction and design ofTaddeo, seeing that he did not therefore stop painting, he decorated theTribunal of the Mercanzia Vecchia, wherein, with poetical invention, herepresented the Tribunal of Six (which is the number of the chief men ofthat judicial body), who are standing watching the tongue being tornfrom Falsehood by Truth, who is clothed with a veil over the nude, whileFalsehood is draped in black; with these verses below:

 LA PURA VERITÀ, PER UBBIDIRE ALLA SANTA GIUSTIZIA, CHE NON TARDA, CAVA LA LINGUA ALLA FALSA BUGIARDA. 

And below the scene are these verses:

 TADDEO DIPINSE QUESTO BEL RIGESTRO; DISCEPOL FU DI GIOTTO IL BUON MAESTRO. 

Taddeo received a commission for some works in fresco in Arezzo, whichhe carried to the greatest perfection in company with his discipleGiovanni da Milano. Of these we still see one in the Company of the HolySpirit, a scene on the wall over the high-altar, containing the Passionof Christ, with many horses, and the Thieves on the Cross, a work heldvery beautiful by reason of the thought that he showed in placing Him onthe Cross. Therein are some figures with vivid expressions which showthe rage of the Jews, some pulling Him by the legs with a rope, othersoffering the sponge, and others in various attitudes, such as theLonginus who is piercing His side, and the three soldiers who aregambling for His raiment, in the faces of whom there is seen hope andfear as they throw the dice. The first of these, in armour, is standingin an uncomfortable attitude awaiting his turn, and shows himself soeager to throw that he appears not to be feeling the discomfort; theother, raising his eyebrows, with his mouth and with his eyes wide open, is watching the dice, in suspicion, as it were, of fraud, and showsclearly to anyone who studies him the desire and the wish that he has towin. The third, who is throwing the dice, having spread the garment onthe ground, appears to be announcing with a grin his intention ofcasting them. In like manner, throughout the walls of the church areseen some stories of S. John the Evangelist, and throughout the cityother works made by Taddeo, which are recognized as being by his hand byanyone who has judgment in art. In the Vescovado, also, behind thehigh-altar, there are still seen some stories of S. John the Baptist, which are wrought with such marvellous manner and design that they causehim to be held in admiration. In the Chapel of S. Sebastiano in S. Agostino, beside the sacristy, he made the stories of that martyr, and aDisputation of Christ with the Doctors, so well wrought and finishedthat it is a miracle to see the beauty in the changing colours ofvarious sorts and the grace in the pigments of these works, which arefinished to perfection. 

[Illustration: TADDEO GADDI: THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE

(_Florence: Accademia 107. Panel_)]

In the Church of the Sasso della Vernia in the Casentino he painted thechapel wherein S. Francis received the Stigmata, assisted in the minordetails by Jacopo di Casentino, who became his disciple by reason ofthis visit. This work finished, he returned to Florence together withGiovanni, the Milanese, and there, both within the city and without, they made very many panels and pictures of importance; and in process oftime he gained so much, turning all into capital, that he laid thefoundation of the wealth and the nobility of his family, being ever helda prudent and far-sighted man. 

He also painted the Chapter-house in S. Maria Novella, beingcommissioned by the Prior of the place, who suggested the subject tohim. It is true, indeed, that by reason of the work being large and ofthere being unveiled, at that time when the bridges were being made, theChapter-house of S. Spirito, to the very great fame of Simone Memmi, whohad painted it, there came to the said Prior a desire to call Simone tothe half of this work; wherefore, having discussed the whole matter withTaddeo, he found him well contented therewith, for the reason that hehad a surpassing love for Simone, because he had been hisfellow-disciple under Giotto and ever his loving friend and companion. Oh! minds truly noble! seeing that without emulation, ambition, or envy, ye loved one another like brothers, each rejoicing as much in the honourand profit of his friend as in his own! The work was divided, therefore, and three walls were given to Simone, as I said in his Life, and Taddeohad the left-hand wall and the whole vaulting, which was divided by himinto four sections or quarters in accordance with the form of thevaulting itself. In the first he made the Resurrection of Christ, wherein it appears that he wished to attempt to make the splendour ofthe Glorified Body give forth light, as we perceive in a city and insome mountainous crags; but he did not follow this up in the figures andin the rest, doubting, perchance, that he was not able to carry it outby reason of the difficulty that he recognized therein. In the secondsection he made Jesus Christ delivering S. Peter from shipwreck, whereinthe Apostles who are manning the boat are certainly very beautiful; andamong other things, one who is fishing with a line on the shore of thesea (a subject already used by Giotto in the mosaics of the Navicella inS. Pietro) is depicted with very great and vivid feeling. In the thirdhe painted the Ascension of Christ, and in the fourth the coming of theHoly Spirit, where there are seen many beautiful attitudes in thefigures of the Jews who are seeking to gain entrance through the door. On the wall below are the Seven Sciences, with their names and withthose figures below them that are appropriate to each. Grammar, in theguise of a woman, with a door, teaching a child, has the writer Donatoseated below her. After Grammar follows Rhetoric, and at her feet is afigure that has two hands on books, while it draws a third hand frombelow its mantle and holds it to its mouth. Logic has the serpent in herhand below a veil, and at her feet Zeno of Elea, who is reading. Arithmetic is holding the tables of the abacus, and below her is sittingAbraham, its inventor. Music has the musical instruments, and below heris sitting Tubal-Cain, who is beating with two hammers on an anvil andis standing with his ears intent on that sound. Geometry has the squareand the compasses, and below, Euclid. Astrology has the celestial globein her hands, and below her feet, Atlas. In the other part are sittingseven Theological Sciences, and each has below her that estate orcondition of man that is most appropriate to her--Pope, Emperor, King, Cardinals, Dukes, Bishops, Marquises, and others; and in the face of thePope is the portrait of Clement V. In the middle and highest place is S. Thomas Aquinas, who was adorned with all the said sciences, holdingbelow his feet some heretics--Arius, Sabellius, and Averroes; and roundhim are Moses, Paul, John the Evangelist, and some other figures, thathave above them the four Cardinal Virtues and the three Theological, with an infinity of other details depicted by Taddeo with no littledesign and grace, insomuch that it can be said to have been the bestconceived as well as the best preserved of all his works. 

In the same S. Maria Novella, over the tramezzo[17] of the church, healso made a S. Jerome robed as a Cardinal, having such a devotion forthat Saint that he chose him as the protector of his house; and belowthis, after the death of Taddeo, his son caused a tomb to be made fortheir descendants, covered with a slab of marble bearing the arms of theGaddi. For these descendants, by reason of the excellence of Taddeo andof their merits, Cardinal Jerome has obtained from God most honourableoffices in the Church--Clerkships of the Chamber, Bishoprics, Cardinalates, Provostships, and Knighthoods, all most honourable; andall these descendants of Taddeo, of whatsoever degree, have everesteemed and favoured the beautiful intellects inclined to the mattersof sculpture and painting, and have given them assistance with everyeffort. 

Finally, having come to the age of fifty and being smitten with a mostviolent fever, Taddeo passed from this life in the year 1350, leavinghis son Agnolo and Giovanni to apply themselves to painting, recommending them to Jacopo di Casentino for ways of life and toGiovanni da Milano for instruction in the art. After the death of Taddeothis Giovanni, besides many other works, made a panel which was placedon the altar of S. Gherardo da Villamagna in S. Croce, fourteen yearsafter he had been left without his master, and likewise the panel of thehigh-altar of Ognissanti, where the Frati Umiliati had their seat, whichwas held very beautiful, and the tribune of the high-altar at Assisi, wherein he made a Crucifix, with Our Lady and S. Chiara, and stories ofOur Lady on the walls and sides. Afterwards he betook himself to Milan, where he wrought many works in distemper and in fresco, and therefinally he died. 

Taddeo, then, adhered constantly to the manner of Giotto, but did notbetter it much save in the colouring, which he made fresher and morevivacious than that of Giotto, the latter having applied himself soardently to improving the other departments and difficulties of thisart, that although he gave attention to this, he could not, however, attain to the privilege of doing it, whereas Taddeo, having seen thatwhich Giotto had made easy and having learnt it, had time to addsomething and to improve the colouring. 

Taddeo was buried by Agnolo and Giovanni, his sons, in the firstcloister of S. Croce, in that tomb which he had made for Gaddo hisfather, and he was much honoured with verses by the men of culture ofthat time, as a man who had been greatly deserving for his ways of lifeand for having brought to completion with beautiful design, besides hispictures, many buildings of great convenience to his city, and besideswhat has been mentioned, for having carried out with solicitude anddiligence the construction of the Campanile of S. Maria del Fiore, fromthe design left by Giotto his master; which campanile was built in sucha manner that stones could not be put together with more diligence, norcould a more beautiful tower be made, with regard either to ornament, orcost, or design. The epitaph that was made for Taddeo was this that isto be read here:

 HOC UNO DICI POTERAT FLORENTIA FELIX VIVENTE; AT CERTA EST NON POTUISSE MORI. 

Taddeo was very resolute in draughtsmanship, as it may be seen in ourbook, wherein is drawn by his hand the scene that he wrought in theChapel of S. Andrea, in S. Croce at Florence. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 16: See note on p. 57. ]

[Footnote 17: See note on p. 57. ]

ANDREA DI CIONE ORCAGNA

LIFE OF ANDREA DI CIONE ORCAGNA, PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT, OF FLORENCE

Rarely is a man of parts excellent in one pursuit without being ableeasily to learn any other, and above all any one of those that are akinto his original profession, and proceed, as it were, from one and thesame source, as did the Florentine Orcagna, who was painter, sculptor, architect, and poet, as it will be told below. Born in Florence, hebegan while still a child to give attention to sculpture under AndreaPisano, and pursued it for some years; then, being desirous to becomeabundant in invention in order to make lovely historical compositions, he applied himself with so great study to drawing, assisted by nature, who wished to make him universal, that having tried his hand at paintingwith colours both in distemper and in fresco, even as one thing leads toanother, he succeeded so well with the assistance of Bernardo Orcagna, his brother, that this Bernardo took him in company with himself topaint the life of Our Lady in the principal chapel of S. Maria Novella, which then belonged to the family of the Ricci. This work, whenfinished, was held very beautiful, although, by reason of the neglect ofthose who afterwards had charge of it, not many years passed before, theroof becoming ruined, it was spoilt by the rains and thereby brought tothe condition wherein it is to-day, as it will be told in the properplace. It is enough for the present to say that Domenico Ghirlandajo, who repainted it, availed himself greatly of the invention put into itby Orcagna, who also painted in fresco in the same church the Chapel ofthe Strozzi, which is near to the door of the sacristy and of thebelfry, in company with Bernardo, his brother. In this chapel, to whichone ascends by a staircase of stone, he painted on one wall the glory ofParadise, with all the Saints and with various costumes and head-dressesof those times. On the other wall he made Hell, with the abysses, centres, and other things described by Dante, of whom Andrea was anardent student. In the Church of the Servites in the same city hepainted in fresco, also with Bernardo, the Chapel of the family ofCresci; with a Coronation of Our Lady on a very large panel in S. PietroMaggiore, and a panel in S. Romeo, close to the side-door. In likemanner, he and his brother Bernardo painted the outer façade of S. Apollinare, with so great diligence that the colours in that exposedplace have been preserved marvellously vivid and beautiful up to our ownday. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

CHRIST WITH THE VIRGIN ENTHRONED

(_Detail from the_ "Paradise, " _after the fresco by_ Bernardo di CioneOrcagna. _Florence: S. Maria Novella_)]

Moved by the fame of these works of Orcagna, which were much praised, the men who at that time were governing Pisa had him summoned to work ona portion of one wall in the Campo Santo of that city, even as Giottoand Buffalmacco had done before. Wherefore, putting his hand to this, Andrea painted a Universal Judgment, with some fanciful inventions ofhis own, on the wall facing towards the Duomo, beside the Passion ofChrist made by Buffalmacco; and making the first scene on the corner, herepresented therein all the degrees of lords temporal wrapped in thepleasures of this world, placing them seated in a flowery meadow andunder the shade of many orange-trees, which make a most delicious groveand have some Cupids in their branches above; and these Cupids, flyinground and over many young women (all portraits from the life, as itseems clear, of noble ladies and dames of those times, who, by reason ofthe long lapse of time, are not recognized), are making a show ofshooting at the hearts of these young women, who have beside them youngmen and nobles who are standing listening to music and song and watchingthe amorous dances of youths and maidens, who are sweetly taking joy intheir loves. Among these nobles Orcagna portrayed Castruccio, Lord ofLucca, as a youth of most beautiful aspect, with a blue cap wound roundhis head and with a hawk on his wrist, and near him other nobles of thatage, of whom we know not who they are. In short, in that first part, inso far as the space permitted and his art demanded, he painted all thedelights of the world with exceeding great grace. In the other part ofthe same scene he represented on a high mountain the life of those who, drawn by repentance for their sins and by the desire to be saved, have fled from the world to that mountain, which is all full of saintlyhermits who are serving the Lord, busy in diverse pursuits with mostvivacious expressions. Some, reading and praying, are shown all intenton contemplation, and others, labouring in order to gain theirlivelihood, are exercising themselves in various forms of action. Thereis seen here among others a hermit who is milking a goat, who could notbe more active or more lifelike in appearance than he is. Below there isS. Macarius showing to three Kings, who are riding with their ladies andtheir retinue and going to the chase, human misery in the form of threeKings who are lying dead but not wholly corrupted in a tomb, which isbeing contemplated with attention by the living Kings in diverse andbeautiful attitudes full of wonder, and it appears as if they arereflecting with pity for their own selves that they have in a short timeto become such. In one of these Kings on horseback Andrea portrayedUguccione della Faggiuola of Arezzo, in a figure which is holding itsnose with one hand in order not to feel the stench of the dead andcorrupted Kings. In the middle of this scene is Death, who, flyingthrough the air and draped in black, is showing that she has cut offwith her scythe the lives of many, who are lying on the ground, of allsorts and conditions, poor and rich, halt and whole, young and old, maleand female, and in short a good number of every age and sex. And becausehe knew that the people of Pisa took pleasure in the invention ofBuffalmacco, who gave speech to the figures of Bruno in S. Paolo a Ripad'Arno, making some letters issue from their mouths, Orcagna filled thiswhole work of his with such writings, whereof the greater part, beingeaten away by time, cannot be understood. To certain old men, then, hegives these words:

 DACCHÈ PROSPERITADE CI HA LASCIATI, O MORTE, MEDICINA D' OGNI PENA, DEH VIENI A DARNE OMAI L' ULTIMA CENA!

with other words that cannot be understood, and verses likewise inancient manner, composed, as I have discovered, by Orcagna himself, whogave attention to poetry and to making a sonnet or two. Round these deadbodies are some devils who are tearing their souls from their mouths, and are carrying them to certain pits full of fire, which are on thesummit of a very high mountain. Over against these are angels who arelikewise taking the souls from the mouths of others of these deadpeople, who have belonged to the good, and are flying with them toParadise. And in this scene there is a scroll, held by two angels, wherein are these words:

 ISCHERMO DI SAVERE E DI RICCHEZZA, DI NOBILTADE ANCORA E DI PRODEZZA, VALE NIENTE A I COLPI DI COSTEI;

with some other words that are difficult to understand. Next, belowthis, in the border of this scene, are nine angels who are holdinglegends both Italian and Latin in some suitable scrolls, put into thatplace below because above they were like to spoil the scene, and not toinclude them in the work seemed wrong to their author, who consideredthem very beautiful; and it may be that they were to the taste of thatage. The greater part is omitted by us, in order not to weary otherswith such things, which are not pertinent and little pleasing, not tomention that the greater part of these inscriptions being effaced, theremainder is little less than fragmentary. After these works, in makingthe Judgment, Orcagna set Jesus Christ on high above the clouds in themidst of His twelve Apostles, judging the quick and the dead; showing onone side, with beautiful art and very vividly, the sorrowful expressionsof the damned who are being dragged weeping by furious demons to Hell, and, on the other, the joy and the jubilation of the good, whom a bodyof angels guided by the Archangel Michael are leading as the elect, allrejoicing, to the right, where are the blessed. And it is truly a pitythat for lack of writers, in so great a multitude of men of the robe, chevaliers, and other lords, that are clearly depicted and portrayedthere from the life, there should be not one, or only very few, of whomwe know the names or who they were; although it is said that a Pope whois seen there is Innocent IV, friend[18] of Manfredi. 

[Illustration: ANDREA DI CIONE ORCAGNA: CHRIST ENTHRONED

(_Florence: S. Maria Novella, Strozzi Chapel. Fresco_)]

After this work, and after making some sculptures in marble for theMadonna that is on the abutment of the Ponte Vecchio, with great honourfor himself, he left his brother Bernardo to execute by himself a Hellin the Campo Santo, which is described by Dante, and which wasafterwards spoilt in the year 1530 and restored by Sollazzino, a painterof our own times; and he returned to Florence, where, in the middle ofthe Church of S. Croce, on a very great wall on the right, he painted infresco the same subjects that he painted in the Campo Santo of Pisa, inthree similar pictures, excepting, however, the scene where S. Macariusis showing to three Kings the misery of man, and the life of the hermitswho are serving God on that mountain. Making, then, all the rest of thatwork, he laboured therein with better design and more diligence than hehad done in Pisa, holding, nevertheless, to almost the same plan in theinvention, the manner, the scrolls, and the rest, without changinganything save the portraits from life, for those in this work werepartly of his dearest friends, whom he placed in Paradise, and partly ofmen little his friends, who were put by him in Hell. Among the good isseen portrayed from life in profile, with the triple crown on his head, Pope Clement VI, who changed the Jubilee in his reign from every hundredto every fifty years, and was a friend of the Florentines, and had someof Orcagna's pictures, which were very dear to him. Among the same isMaestro Dino del Garbo, a most excellent physician of that time, dressedas was then the wont of doctors, with a red bonnet lined with miniver onhis head, and held by the hand by an angel; with many other portraitsthat are not recognized. Among the damned he portrayed Guardi, serjeantof the Commune of Florence, being dragged along by the Devil with ahook, and he is known by three red lilies that he has on his whitebonnet, such as were then wont to be worn by the serjeants and othersimilar officials; and this he did because Guardi once made distraint onhis property. He also portrayed there the notary and the judge who hadbeen opposed to him in that action. Near to Guardi is Ceccho d'Ascoli, afamous wizard of those times; and a little above--namely, in themiddle--is a hypocrite friar, who, having issued from a tomb, is seekingfurtively to put himself among the good, while an angel discovers himand thrusts him among the damned. 

Besides Bernardo, Andrea had a brother called Jacopo, who was engaged insculpture, but with little profit; and in making on occasion for thisJacopo designs in relief and in clay, there came to him the wish to makesomething in marble and to see whether he remembered the principles ofthat art, wherein, as it has been said, he had worked in Pisa; and so, putting himself with more study to the test, he made progress therein insuch a fashion that afterwards he made use of it with honour, as it willbe told. Afterwards he devoted himself with all his energy to the studyof architecture, thinking that at some time or another he would have tomake use of it. Nor did his thought deceive him, seeing that in the year1355, the Commune of Florence having bought some citizens' houses neartheir Palace (in order to have more space and to make a larger square, and also in order to make a place where the citizens could take shelterin rainy or wintry days, and carry on under cover such business as wastransacted on the Ringhiera when bad weather did not hinder), theycaused many designs to be made for the building of a magnificent andvery large Loggia for this purpose near the Palace, and at the same timefor the Mint where the money is struck. Among these designs, made by thebest masters in the city, that of Orcagna being universally approved andaccepted as greater, more beautiful, and more magnificent than all theothers, by decree of the Signori and of the Commune there was begununder his direction the great Loggia of the square, on the foundationsmade in the time of the Duke of Athens, and it was carried on withsquared stone very well put together, with much diligence. And what wassomething new in those times, the arches of the vaulting were made nolonger quarter-acute, as it had been the custom up to that time, butthey were turned in half-circles in a new and laudable method, whichgave much grace and beauty to this great fabric, which was brought tocompletion in a short time under the direction of Andrea. And if therehad been taken thought to put it beside S. Romolo and to turn the archeswith the back to the north, which they did not do, perchance, in orderto have it conveniently near to the gate of the Palace, it would havebeen as useful a building for the whole city as it is beautiful inworkmanship; whereas, by reason of the great wind, in winter no onecan stand there. In this Loggia, between the arches on the front wall, in some ornamental work by his own hand, Orcagna made seven marblefigures in half-relief representing the seven Theological and CardinalVirtues, as accompaniment to the whole work, so beautiful that they madehim known for no less able as sculptor than as painter and architect;not to mention that he was in all his actions as pleasant, courteous, and lovable a man as was ever any man of his condition. And because hewould never abandon the study of any one of his professions for that ofanother, while the Loggia was building he made a panel in distemper withmany large figures, with little figures in the predella, for that chapelof the Strozzi wherein he had formerly made some works in fresco withhis brother Bernardo; on which panel, it appearing to him that it couldbear better testimony to his profession than the works wrought in frescocould do, he wrote his name with these words: ANNO DOMINI MCCCLVII, ANDREAS CIONIS DE FLORENTIA ME PINXIT. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

THE DEATH AND ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN

(_Relief on the Tabernacle by_ Andrea di Cione Orcagna, _Or San Michele, Florence_)]

This work completed, he made some pictures, also on panel, which weresent to the Pope in Avignon and are still in the Cathedral Church ofthat city. A little while afterwards the men of the Company ofOrsanmichele, having collected large sums of money from offerings anddonations given to their Madonna by reason of the mortality of 1348, resolved to make round her a chapel, or rather shrine, not only veryornate and rich with marbles carved in every way and with other stonesof price, but also with mosaic and ornaments of bronze, as much as couldpossibly be desired, in a manner that both in workmanship and inmaterial it might surpass every other work of so great a size wrought upto that day. Wherefore, the charge of the whole being given to Orcagnaas the most excellent of that age, he made so many designs that finallyone of them pleased the authorities, as being better than all theothers. The work, therefore, being allotted to him, they put completereliance in his judgment and counsel; wherefore, giving the making ofall the rest to diverse master-carvers brought from several districts, he applied himself with his brother to executing all the figures of thework, and, the whole being finished, he had them built in and puttogether very thoughtfully without mortar, with clamps of copper fixedwith lead, to the end that the shining and polished marbles might notbecome discoloured; and in this he succeeded so well, with profit andhonour from those who came after him, that to one who studies that workit appears, by reason of such union and methods of joining discovered byOrcagna, that the whole chapel has been shaped out of one single pieceof marble. And although it is in a German manner, for that style it hasso great grace and proportion that it holds the first place among theworks of those times, above all because its composition of figures greatand small, and of angels and prophets in half-relief round the Madonna, is very well executed. Marvellous, also, is the casting of the bands ofbronze, diligently polished, which, encircling the whole work, encloseand bind it together in a manner that it is therefore as stout andstrong as it is beautiful in all other respects. But how much helaboured in order to show the subtlety of his intellect in that grossage is seen in a large scene in half-relief on the back part of the saidshrine, wherein, with figures of one braccio and a half each, he madethe twelve Apostles gazing on high at the Madonna, while she, in an ovalspace, surrounded by angels, is ascending to Heaven. In one of theseApostles he portrayed himself in marble, old, as he was, with the beardshaven, with the cap wound round the head, and with the face flat andround, as it is seen above in his portrait, drawn from that one. Besidesthis, he inscribed these words in the marble below: ANDREAS CIONIS, PICTOR FLORENTINUS, ORATORII ARCHIMAGISTER EXTITIT HUJUS, MCCCLIX. 

It is known that the building of this Loggia and of the marble shrine, with all the master-work, cost ninety-six thousand florins of gold, which were very well spent, for the reason that it is, both in thearchitecture and in the sculptures and other ornaments, as beautiful asany other work whatsoever of those times, and is such that, by reason ofthe parts made therein by him, the name of Andrea Orcagna has been andwill be ever living and great. 

He used to write in his pictures: FECE ANDREA DI CIONE, SCULTORE; and inhis sculptures: FECE ANDREA DI CIONE, PITTORE; wishing that his paintingshould be known by his sculpture, and his sculpture by his painting. There are throughout all Florence many panels made by him, which arepartly known by the name, such as a panel in S. Romeo, and partly by themanner, such as one that is in the Chapter-house of the Monastery of theAngeli. Some of them that he left unfinished were completed by Bernardo, his brother, who survived him, but not for many years. And because, asit has been said, Andrea delighted in making verses and various forms ofpoetry, when already old he wrote some sonnets to Burchiello, then ayouth; and finally, being sixty years of age, he finished the course ofhis life in 1389, and was borne with honour from his dwelling, which wasin the Via Vecchia de' Corazzai, to his tomb. 

There were many men able in sculpture and in architecture at the sametime as Orcagna, of whom the names are not known, but their works are tobe seen, and these are worthy of nothing but praise and commendation. Among their works is not only the Monastery of the Certosa of Florence, made at the expense of the noble family of the Acciaiuoli, and inparticular of Messer Niccola, Grand Seneschal of the King of Naples, butalso the tomb of the same man, whereon he is portrayed in stone, andthat of his father and one of his sisters, which has a covering ofmarble, whereon both were portrayed very well from nature in the year1366. There, too, wrought by the hand of the same men, is the tomb ofMesser Lorenzo, son of the said Niccola, who, dying at Naples, wasbrought to Florence and laid to rest there with the most honourable pompof funeral obsequies. In like manner, in the tomb of Cardinal SantaCroce of the same family, which is in a choir then built anew in frontof the high-altar, there is his portrait on a slab of marble, very wellwrought in the year 1390. 

Disciples of Andrea in painting were Bernardo Nello di Giovanni Falconiof Pisa, who wrought many panels in the Duomo of Pisa, and Tommaso diMarco of Florence, who, besides many other works, made in the year 1392a panel that is in S. Antonio in Pisa, set up against the tramezzo[19]of the church. 

After the death of Andrea, his brother Jacopo, occupied himself insculpture, as it has been said, and in architecture, was employed in theyear 1328 on the foundation and building of the Tower and Gate of S. Piero Gattolini, and it is said that he made the four marzocchi[20] ofstone which were placed on the four corners of the Palazzo Principale ofFlorence, all overlaid with gold. This work was much censured, by reasonof there being laid on those places, without necessity, a greater weightthan peradventure was expedient; and many would have been pleased tohave the marzocchi made rather of plates of copper, hollow within, andthen, after being gilded in the fire, set up in the same place, becausethey would have been much less heavy and more durable. It is said, too, that the same man made the horse, gilded and in full relief, that is inS. Maria del Fiore, over the door that leads to the Company of S. Zanobi, which horse is believed to be there in memory of Piero Farnese, Captain of the Florentines; however, knowing nothing more about this, Icould not vouch for it. About the same time Mariotto, nephew of Andrea, made in fresco the Paradise of S. Michele Bisdomini, in the Via de'Servi in Florence, and the panel with an Annunciation that is on thealtar; and for Monna Cecilia de' Boscoli he made another panel with manyfigures, placed near the door of the same church. 

But among all the disciples of Orcagna none was more excellent thanFrancesco Traini, who made a panel with a ground of gold for a noblemanof the house of Coscia, who is buried at Pisa in the Chapel of S. Domenico, in the Church of S. Caterina; which panel contained a S. Dominic standing two braccia and a half high, with six scenes of hislife on either side of him, animated and vivacious and well coloured. And in the same church, in the Chapel of S. Tommaso d'Aquino, he made apanel in distemper with fanciful invention, which is much praised, placing therein the said S. Thomas seated, portrayed from the life: Isay from the life, because the friars of that place had an image of himbrought from the Abbey of Fossa Nuova, where he died in the year 1323. Below, round S. Thomas, who is placed seated in the air with some booksin his hand, which are illuminating the Christian people with their raysand lustre, there are kneeling a great number of doctors and clergy ofevery sort, Bishops, Cardinals, and Popes, among whom is the portraitof Pope Urban VI. Under the feet of S. Thomas are standing Sabellius, Arius, Averroes, and other heretics and philosophers, with their booksall torn; and the said figure of S. Thomas is placed between Plato, whois showing him the _Timæus_, and Aristotle, who is showing him the_Ethics_. Above, a Jesus Christ, in like manner in the air between thefour Evangelists, is blessing S. Thomas, and appears to be in the act ofsending down upon him the Holy Spirit, and filling him with it and withHis grace. This work, when finished, acquired very great fame and praisefor Francesco Traini, for in making it he surpassed his master Andrea bya great measure in colouring, in harmony, and in invention. This Andreawas very diligent in his drawings, as it may be seen in our book. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

S. THOMAS AQUINAS

(_After the painting by_ Francesco Traini. _Pisa: Church of S. Caterina_)]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 18: This is probably a printer's error for "nemico, " as thatPope was anything but the friend of Manfredi. ]

[Footnote 19: See note on p. 57. ]

[Footnote 20: Lions of stone, emblems of the city of Florence. ]

TOMMASO, CALLED GIOTTINO

LIFE OF TOMMASO, CALLED GIOTTINO, PAINTER OF FLORENCE

When those arts that proceed from design come into competition and theircraftsmen work in rivalry, without doubt the good intellects, exercisingthemselves with much study, discover new things every day in order tosatisfy the various tastes of men; and some, speaking for the present ofpainting, executing works obscure and unusual and demonstrating in themthe difficulty of making them, make known by the shadows the brightnessof their genius. Others, fashioning the sweet and delicate, thinkingthese to be likely to be more pleasing to the eyes of all who beholdthem by reason of their having more relief, easily attract to themselvesthe minds of the greater part of men. Others, again, painting with unityand lowering the tones of the colours, reducing to their proper placesthe lights and shades of their figures, deserve very great praise, andreveal the thoughts of the intellect with beautiful dexterity of mind;even as they were ever revealed with a sweet manner in the works ofTommaso di Stefano, called Giottino, who, being born in the year 1324and having learnt from his father the first principles of painting, resolved while still very young to attempt, in so far as he might beable with assiduous study, to be an imitator of the manner of Giottorather than of that of his father Stefano. In this attempt he succeededso well that he gained thereby, besides the manner, which was much morebeautiful than that of his master, the surname of Giottino, which neverleft him; nay, by reason both of the manner and of the name it was theopinion of many, who, however, were in very great error, that he was theson of Giotto; but in truth it is not so, it being certain, or to speakmore exactly, believed (it being impossible for such things to beaffirmed by any man) that he was the son of Stefano, painter ofFlorence. 

He was, then, so diligent in painting and so greatly devoted to it, that, although many of his works are not to be found, those neverthelessthat have been found are good and in a beautiful manner, for the reasonthat the draperies, the hair, the beards, and all the rest of his workwere made and harmonized with so great softness and diligence, that itis seen that without doubt he added harmony to this art and had it muchmore perfect than his master Giotto and his father Stefano. In his youthGiottino painted a chapel near the side-door of S. Stefano al PonteVecchio in Florence, wherein, although it is to-day much spoilt by damp, the little that has remained shows the dexterity and the genius of thecraftsman. Next, he made the two Saints, Cosimo and Damiano, for theFrati Ermini in the Canto alla Macine, but little is seen of themto-day, for they too have been ruined by time. And he wrought in frescoa chapel in the old S. Spirito in that city, which was afterwards ruinedin the burning of that church; and in fresco, over the principal door ofthe church, the story of the Sending of the Holy Spirit; and on thesquare before the said church, on the way to the Canto alla Cuculia, onthe corner of the convent, he painted that shrine that is still seenthere, with Our Lady and other Saints round her, wherein both the headsand the other parts lean strongly towards the modern manner, for thereason that he sought to vary and to blend the flesh-colours, and toharmonize all the figures with grace and judgment by means of a varietyof colours and draperies. In like manner he wrought the stories ofConstantine with much diligence in the Chapel of S. Silvestro in S. Croce, showing very beautiful ideas in the gestures of the figures; andthen, behind an ornament of marble made for the tomb of Messer Bertinode' Bardi, a man who at that time had held honourable military rank, hemade this Messer Bertino in armour, after the life, issuing from asepulchre on his knees, being summoned with the sound of the trumpets ofthe Judgment by two angels, who are in the air accompanying abeautifully-wrought Christ in the clouds. On the right hand of theentrance of the door of S. Pancrazio the same man made a Christ who isbearing His Cross, and some Saints near Him, that have exactly themanner of Giotto. In S. Gallo (which convent was without the Gate calledby the same name, and was destroyed in the siege) in a cloister, therewas a Pietà painted in fresco, whereof there is a copy in the aforesaidS. Pancrazio, on a pillar beside the principal chapel. In S. MariaNovella, in the Chapel of S. Lorenzo de' Giuochi, as one enters by thedoor on the left, on the front wall, he wrought in fresco a S. Cosimoand a S. Damiano, and, in Ognissanti, a S. Christopher and a S. George, which were spoilt by the malice of time, and then restored by otherpainters by reason of the ignorance of a Provost little conversant withsuch matters. In the said church there has remained whole the arch thatis over the door of the sacristy, wherein there is in fresco a Madonnawith the Child in her arms by the hand of Tommaso, which is a good work, by reason of his having wrought it with diligence. 

By means of these works Giottino had acquired so good a name, imitatinghis master both in design and in invention, as it has been told, thatthere was said to be in him the spirit of Giotto himself, both becauseof the vividness of his colouring and of his mastery in draughtsmanship;and in the year 1343, on July 2, when the Duke of Athens was driven outby the people and when he had renounced the sovereignty and restoredtheir liberty to the Florentines, Giottino was forced by the twelveReformers of the State, and in particular by the prayers of MesserAgnolo Acciaiuoli, then a very great citizen, who had great influencewith him, to paint in contempt, on the tower of the Palace of thePodestà, the said Duke and his followers, who were Messer CeritieriVisdomini, Messer Maladiasse, his Conservator, and Messer Ranieri da SanGimignano, all with the cap of Justice ignominiously on their heads. Round the head of the Duke were many beasts of prey and other sorts, signifying his nature and his character; and one of those hiscounsellors had in his hand the Palace of the Priors of the city, andwas handing it to him, like a disloyal traitor to his country. And allhad below them the arms and emblems of their families, and some writingswhich can hardly be read to-day because they have been eaten away bytime. In this work, both by reason of the draughtsmanship and of thegreat diligence wherewith it was executed, the manner of the craftsmangave universal pleasure to all. Afterwards, at the Campora, a seat ofthe Black Friars without the Porta a S. Piero Gattolini, he made a S. Cosimo and a S. Damiano, which were spoilt in the whitewashing of thechurch; and on the bridge of Romiti in Valdarno he painted in fresco theshrine that is built over the middle, with his own hand and in abeautiful manner. 

It is found recorded by many who wrote thereon that Tommaso appliedhimself to sculpture and wrought a figure in marble on the Campanile ofS. Maria del Fiore in Florence, four braccia high and facing the placewhere the Orphans now dwell. In S. Giovanni Laterano in Rome, likewise, he brought to fine completion a scene wherein he represented the Pope inseveral capacities, which is now seen to have been eaten away andcorroded by time; and in the house of the Orsini he painted a hall fullof famous men; with a very beautiful S. Louis on a pillar in theAraceli, on the right hand beside the altar. 

In the lower church of S. Francesco at Assisi, in an arch over thepulpit (there being no other space that was not painted) he wrought theCoronation of Our Lady, with many angels round her, so gracious, sobeautiful in the expressions of the faces, and so sweet and delicate inmanner, that they show, with the usual harmony of colour which wassomething peculiar to this painter, that he had proved himself the peerof all who had lived up to that time; and round this arch he made somestories of S. Nicholas. In like manner, in the Monastery of S. Chiara inthe same city, in the middle of the church, he painted a scene infresco, wherein is S. Chiara supported in the air by two angels whoappear real; she is restoring to life a child that was dead, while roundher are standing many women all full of wonder, with great beauty in thefaces and in the very gracious head-dresses and costumes of those timesthat they are wearing. In the same city of Assisi, over the gate of thecity that leads to the Duomo--namely, in an arch on the inner side--hemade a Madonna with the Child in her arms, with so great diligence thatshe appears alive, and a S. Francis and another Saint, both verybeautiful; both of which works, although the story of S. Chiararemained unfinished by reason of Tommaso having fallen sick and returnedto Florence, are perfect and most worthy of all praise. 

[Illustration: GIOTTINO: THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS

(_Florence: Uffizi 27. Panel_)]

It is said that Tommaso was melancholic in temperament and verysolitary, but with respect to art devoted and very studious, as it isclearly seen from a panel in the Church of S. Romeo in Florence, wroughtby him in distemper with so great diligence and love that there hasnever been seen a better work on wood by his hand. In this panel, whichis placed in the tramezzo[21] of the church, on the right hand, is aDead Christ with the Maries and Nicodemus, accompanied by other figures, who are bewailing His death with bitterness and with very sweet andaffectionate movements, wringing their hands with diverse gestures, andbeating themselves in a manner that in the air of the faces there isshown very clearly their sharp sorrow at the so great cost of our sins. And it is something marvellous to consider, not that he penetrated withhis genius to such a height of imagination, but that he could express itso well with the brush. Wherefore this work is consummately worthy ofpraise, not so much by reason of the subject and of the invention, asbecause in it the craftsman has shown, in some heads that are weeping, that although the lineaments of those that are weeping are distorted inthe brows, in the eyes, in the nose, and in the mouth, this, however, neither spoils nor alters a certain beauty which is wont to suffer muchin weeping when the painters do not know well how to avail themselves ofthe good methods of art. But it is no great thing that Giottino shouldhave executed this panel with so much consideration, since in hislabours he ever aimed rather at fame and glory than at any other reward, being free from the greed of gain, that makes our present masters lessdiligent and good. And even as he did not seek to have great riches, sohe did not trouble himself much about the comforts of life--nay, livingpoorly, he sought to satisfy others rather than himself; wherefore, taking little care of himself and enduring fatigue, he died ofconsumption at the age of thirty-two, and was given burial by hisrelatives at the Martello Gate without S. Maria Novella, beside the tombof Bontura. 

Disciples of Giottino, who left more fame than wealth, were GiovanniTossicani of Arezzo, Michelino, Giovanni dal Ponte, and Lippo, who werepassing good masters of this art, but above all Giovanni Tossicani, whomade many works throughout all Tuscany after Tommaso and in the samemanner as his, and in particular the Chapel of S. Maria Maddalena, belonging to the Tuccerelli, in the Pieve of Arezzo, and a S. James on apillar in the Pieve of the township of Empoli. In the Duomo of Pisa, also, he wrought some panels which have since been removed in order tomake room for the modern. The last work that he made was in a chapel ofthe Vescovado of Arezzo, for the Countess Giovanna, wife of Tarlato daPietramala--namely, a very beautiful Annunciation, with S. James and S. Philip; which work, by reason of the back of the wall being turned tothe north, was little less than completely spoilt by damp, when MaestroAgnolo di Lorenzo of Arezzo restored the Annunciation, and shortlyafterwards Giorgio Vasari, still a youth, restored the S. James and S. Philip, to his own great profit, having learnt much, at that time whenhe had not the advantage of other masters, by studying Giovanni's methodof painting and the shadows and colours of that work, spoilt as it was. In this chapel there are still read these words in an epitaph of marble, in memory of the Countess who had it built and painted:

 ANNO DOMINI 1335, DE MENSE AUGUSTI, HANC CAPELLAM CONSTITUI FECIT NOBILIS DOMINA COMITISSA JOANNA DE SANCTA FLORA, UXOR NOBILIS MILITIS DOMINI TARLATI DE PETRAMALA, AD HONOREM BEATÆ MARIÆ VIRGINIS. 

Of the works of the other disciples of Giottino there is no mentionmade, seeing that they were but ordinary and little like those of themaster and of Giovanni Tossicani, their fellow-disciple. Tommaso drewvery well, as it may be seen in our book, in certain drawings wrought byhis hand with much diligence. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 21: See note on p. 57. ]

GIOVANNI DAL PONTE

LIFE OF GIOVANNI DAL PONTE, PAINTER OF FLORENCE

Although there is no truth and not much confidence to be placed in theancient proverb that the prodigal's purse is never empty, and although, on the contrary, it is very true that he who does not live awell-ordered life in his own degree lives at the last in want and diesmiserably, it is seen, nevertheless, that fortune sometimes aids ratherthose who squander without restraint than those who are in all thingscareful and self-restrained; and when the favour of fortune ceases, there often comes death, to make up for her defection and for the badmanagement of men, supervening at the very moment when such men wouldbegin with infinite dismay to recognize how miserable a thing it is tohave squandered in youth and to want in old age, living and labouring inpoverty, as would have happened to Giovanni da Santo Stefano a Ponte ofFlorence, if, after having consumed his patrimony and much gain whichhad been brought to his hands rather by fortune than by his merits, withsome inheritances that came to him from an unexpected source, he had notfinished at one and the same time the course of his life and all hismeans. 

This man, then, who was a disciple of Buonamico Buffalmacco, and whoimitated him more in attending to the pleasures of life than in seekingto become an able painter, was born in the year 1307, and after being inearly youth a disciple of Buffalmacco, he made his first works in theChapel of S. Lorenzo, in the Pieve of Empoli, painting there in frescomany scenes of the life of that Saint, with so great diligence that hewas summoned to Arezzo in the year 1344, a better development beingexpected after so fine a beginning; and there he painted the Assumptionof Our Lady in a chapel in S. Francesco. And a little time afterwards, being in some credit in that city for lack of other painters, hepainted the Chapel of S. Onofrio in the Pieve, with that of S. Antonio, which to-day is spoilt by damp. He also made some other pictures thatwere in S. Giustina and in S. Matteo, but these were thrown to theground by Duke Cosimo, together with the said churches, in the making offortifications for that city; and exactly in that place, at the foot ofthe abutment of an ancient bridge beside the said S. Giustina, where thestream entered the city, there were then found a head of Appius Cæcusand one of his son, both in marble and very beautiful, with an ancientepitaph, likewise very beautiful, which are all now in theguardaroba[22] of the said Lord Duke. 

Giovanni, having returned to Florence at the time when there wasfinished the closing of the middle arch of the Ponte a S. Trinita, painted many figures both within and without a chapel built over onepier and dedicated to S. Michelagnolo, and in particular all the frontwall; which chapel, together with the bridge, was carried away by theflood of the year 1557. It is by reason of these works that somemaintain, besides what has been said about him at the beginning, that hewas ever afterwards called Giovanni dal Ponte. In Pisa, also, in theyear 1355, he made some scenes in fresco behind the altar of theprincipal chapel of S. Paolo a Ripa d'Arno, which are now all spoilt bydamp and by time. Giovanni also painted the Chapel of the Scali in S. Trinita in Florence, with another that is beside it, and one of thestories of S. Paul by the side of the principal chapel, where is thetomb of Maestro Paolo, the astrologer. In S. Stefano al Ponte Vecchio hepainted a panel, with other pictures in distemper and in fresco bothwithin and without Florence, which brought him considerable credit. 

He gave contentment to his friends, but more in his pleasures than inhis works, and he was the friend of men of learning, and in particularof all those who pursued the studies of his own profession in order tobecome excellent therein; and although he had not sought to have inhimself that which he desired in others, yet he never ceased toencourage others to work valiantly. Finally, having lived fifty-nineyears, Giovanni was seized by pleurisy and in a few days departedthis life, wherein, had he survived a little longer, he would havesuffered many discomforts, there being left in his house scarce as muchas sufficed to give him decent burial in S. Stefano al Ponte Vecchio. His works date about 1365. 

[Illustration: _Alinari_

S. PETER ENTHRONED

(_After the painting by_ Giovanni dal Ponte. _Florence: Uffizi, 1292_)]

In our book of drawings by diverse ancients and moderns there is adrawing in water-colour by the hand of Giovanni, wherein is a S. Georgeon horseback who is slaying the Dragon, and a skeleton, which bearwitness to the method and manner that he had in drawing. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 22: Guardaroba, the room or rooms where everything of valuewas stored--clothes, linen, art treasures, furniture, etc. ]

AGNOLO GADDI

LIFE OF AGNOLO GADDI, PAINTER OF FLORENCE

How honourable and profitable it is to be excellent in a noble art ismanifestly seen in the talent and management of Taddeo Gaddi, who, having acquired very good means as well as fame with his industry andlabours, left the affairs of his family so well arranged, when he passedto the other life, that Agnolo and Giovanni, his sons, were easily ableto give a beginning to the very great riches and to the exaltation ofthe house of Gaddi, to-day very noble in Florence and in great reputethroughout all Christendom. And in truth it has been very reasonable, seeing that Gaddo, Taddeo, Agnolo, and Giovanni adorned many honouredchurches with their talent and their art, that their successors havebeen since adorned by the Holy Roman Church and by the Supreme Pontiffsof the same with the greatest ecclesiastical dignities. 

Taddeo, then, of whom we have already written the Life, left his sonsAgnolo and Giovanni in company with many of his disciples, hoping thatAgnolo, in particular, would become very excellent in painting; but he, who in his youth showed promise of surpassing his father by a greatmeasure, did not succeed further in justifying the opinion that hadalready been conceived of him, for the reason that, being born and bredin easy circumstances, which are often an impediment to study, he wasgiven more to traffic and to trading than to the art of painting; whichshould not appear a thing new or strange, seeing that avarice very oftenbars the way to many intellects which would ascend to the greatestheight of excellence, if the desire of gain did not impede their path intheir earliest and best years. Working as a youth in S. Jacopo tra'Fossi in Florence, Agnolo wrought a little scene, with figures littlemore than a braccio high, of Christ raising Lazarus on the fourth dayafter death, wherein, imagining the corruption of that body, which hadbeen dead three days, with much thought he made the grave-clothes whichheld him bound discoloured by the decay of the flesh, and round the eyescertain livid and yellowish marks in the flesh, that seems half livingand half dead; not without stupefaction in the Apostles and in otherfigures, who, with attitudes varied and beautiful, and with theirdraperies to their noses in order not to feel the stench of that corruptbody, are no less afraid and awestruck at such a marvellous miracle thanMary and Martha are joyful and content to see life returning to the deadbody of their brother. This work was judged so excellent that manydeemed the talent of Agnolo to be destined to surpass all the disciplesof Taddeo, and even Taddeo himself; but the event proved otherwise, because, even as in youth the will conquers every difficulty in order toacquire fame, so a certain negligence that the years bring with themoften causes a man, instead of advancing, to go backwards, as didAgnolo. Having given so great a proof of his talent, he was commissionedby the family of Soderini, who had great hopes of him, to paint theprincipal chapel of the Carmine, and he painted therein all the life ofOur Lady, so much less well than he had done the resurrection ofLazarus, that he gave every man to know that he had little wish toattend with every effort to the art of painting; for the reason that inall that great work there is nothing else of the good save one scene, wherein, round Our Lady, in a room, are many maidens who are wearingdiverse costumes and head-dresses, according to the diversity of the useof those times, and are engaged in diverse exercises: this one isspinning, that one is sewing, that other is winding thread, one isweaving, and others working in other ways, all passing well conceivedand executed by Agnolo. 

For the noble family of the Alberti, likewise, he painted in fresco theprincipal chapel of the Church of S. Croce, making therein all that cameto pass in the discovery of the Cross, and he executed that work withmuch mastery of handling but not with much design, for only thecolouring is beautiful and good enough. Next, in painting in fresco somestories of S. Louis in the Chapel of the Bardi in the same church, heacquitted himself much better. And because he used to work by caprice, now with more zeal and now with less, working in S. Spirito, also inFlorence, within the door that leads from the square into the convent, he made in fresco, over another door, a Madonna with the Child in herarms, and S. Augustine and S. Nicholas, so well that the said figuresappear as if made only yesterday. 

[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF S. CATHARINE

(_After the painting by_ Agnolo Gaddi. _Philadelphia, U. S. A. : J. G. Johnson Collection_)]

And because in a certain manner there had come to Agnolo, by way ofinheritance, the secret of working in mosaic, and he had at home theinstruments and all the materials that his grandfather Gaddo had used inthis, he would make something in mosaic when it pleased him, merely topass time and by reason of that convenience of material, rather than foraught else. Now, seeing that time had eaten away many of those marblesthat cover the eight faces of the roof of S. Giovanni, and that the damppenetrating within had therefore spoilt much of the mosaic which AndreaTafi had wrought there at a former time, the Consuls of the Guild ofMerchants determined, to the end that the rest might not be spoilt, torebuild the greater part of that covering with marble, and in likemanner to have the mosaic restored. Wherefore, the direction andcommission for the whole being given to Agnolo, he, in the year 1346, had it recovered with new marbles and the pieces laid over each other atthe joinings, with unexampled diligence, to the breadth of two fingers, cutting each slab to the half of its thickness; then, joining themtogether with cement made of mastic and wax melted together, he fittedthem with so great diligence that from that time onwards neither theroof nor the vaulting has received any damage from the rains. Agnolo, having afterwards restored the mosaic, brought it about by means of hiscounsel and of a design very well conceived that there was rebuilt, round the said church, all the upper cornice of marble below the roof, in that form wherein it now remains; which cornice was much smaller thanit is and very commonplace. Under direction of the same man there wasalso made the vaulting of the Great Hall of the Palace of the Podestà, which before was directly under the roof, to the end that, besides theadornment, fire might not again be able to do it damage, as it had donea long time before. After this, by the counsel of Agnolo, there weremade round the said Palace the battlements that are there to-day, whichbefore were in no wise there. 

The while that these works were executing, he did not desert hispainting entirely, and painted in distemper, in the panel that he madefor the high-altar of S. Pancrazio, Our Lady, S. John the Baptist, andthe Evangelist, and beside them the Saints Nereus, Archileus, andPancratius, brothers, with other Saints. But the best of this work--nay, all that is seen therein of the good--is the predella alone, which isall full of little figures, divided into eight stories of the Madonnaand of S. Reparata. Next, in 1348, he painted the panel of thehigh-altar of S. Maria Maggiore, also in Florence, for Barone Cappelli, making therein a passing good dance of angels round a Coronation of OurLady. A little afterwards, in the Pieve of the district of Prato, rebuilt under direction of Giovanni Pisano in the year 1312, as it hasbeen said above, Agnolo painted in fresco, in the chapel wherein wasdeposited the Girdle of Our Lady, many scenes of her life; and in otherchurches of that district, which was full of monasteries and conventsheld in great honour, he made other works in plenty. In Florence, next, he painted the arch over the door of S. Romeo; and in Orto S. Michele hewrought in distemper a Disputation of the Doctors with Christ in theTemple. And at the same time, many houses having been pulled down inorder to enlarge the Piazza de' Signori, and in particular the Church ofS. Romolo, this was rebuilt with the design of Agnolo. There are manypanels by his hand throughout the churches in the said city, and many ofhis works may also be recognized in the domain, which were wrought byhim with much profit to himself, although he worked more in order to doas his forefathers had done than for any love of it, having his minddirected on commerce, which brought him better profit; as it is seenwhen his sons, not wishing any longer to be painters, gave themselvesover completely to commerce, holding a house open for this purpose inVenice together with their father, who, from a certain time onward, didnot work save for his own pleasure, and, in a certain manner, in orderto pass time. Having thus acquired great wealth by means of trading andby means of his art, Agnolo died in the sixty-third year of his life, overcome by a malignant fever which in a few days made an end of him. 

His disciples were Maestro Antonio da Ferrara, who made many beautifulworks in S. Francesco at Urbino, and at Città di Castello; and Stefanoda Verona, who painted in fresco most perfectly, as it is seen in manyplaces at Verona, his native city, and also in many of his works atMantua. This man, among other things, was excellent in giving verybeautiful expressions to the faces of children, of women, and of oldmen, as it may be seen in his works, which were all imitated and copiedby that Piero da Perugia, illuminator, who illuminated all the booksthat are in the library of Pope Pius in the Duomo at Siena, and was apractised colourist in fresco. A disciple of Agnolo, also, was Micheleda Milano, as was Giovanni Gaddi, his brother, who made, in the cloisterof S. Spirito where are the little arches of Gaddo and of Taddeo, theDisputation of Christ in the Temple with the Doctors, the Purificationof the Virgin, the Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness, and theBaptism of John; and finally, having created very great expectation, hedied. A pupil of the same Agnolo in painting was Cennino di Drea Cenniniof Colle di Valdelsa, who, having very great affection for the art, wrote a book describing the methods of working in fresco, in distemper, in size, and in gum, and, besides, how illuminating is done, and all themethods of applying gold; which book is in the hands of Giuliano, goldsmith of Siena, an excellent master and a friend of these arts. Andin the beginning of this his book he treated of the nature of colours, both the minerals and the earth-colours, according as he learnt fromAgnolo his master, wishing, for the reason perchance that he did notsucceed in learning to paint perfectly, at least to know the nature ofthe colours, the distempers, the sizes, and the application of gesso, and what colours we must guard against as harmful in making themixtures, and in short many other considerations whereof there is noneed to discourse, there being to-day a perfect knowledge of all thosematters which he held as great and very rare secrets in those times. ButI will not forbear to say that he makes no mention (and perchance theymay not have been in use) of some earth-colours, such as dark redearths, cinabrese, and certain vitreous greens. Since then there havebeen also discovered umber, which is an earth-colour, giallo santo, [23]the smalts both for fresco and for oils, and some vitreous greens andyellows, wherein the painters of that age were lacking. He treatedfinally of mosaics, and of grinding colours in oils in order to makegrounds of red, blue, green, and in other manners; and of the mordantsfor the application of gold, but not then for figures. Besides the worksthat he wrought in Florence with his master, there is a Madonna withcertain saints by his hand under the loggia of the hospital of BonifazioLupi, coloured in such a manner that it has been very well preserved upto our own day. 

This Cennino, in the first chapter of his said book, speaking ofhimself, uses these very words: "I, Cennino di Drea Cennini, of Colle diValdelsa, was instructed in the said art for twelve years by Agnolo diTaddeo of Florence, my master, who learnt the said art from Taddeo, hisfather, who was held at baptism by Giotto and was his disciple forfour-and-twenty years; which Giotto transmuted the art of painting fromGreek into Latin, and brought it to the modern manner, and had it forcertain more perfected than anyone ever had it. " These are the verywords of Cennino, to whom it appeared that even as those who translateany work from Greek into Latin confer very great benefit on those who donot understand Greek, so, too, did Giotto in transforming the art ofpainting from a manner not understood or known by anyone, save perchanceas very rude, to a beautiful, facile, and very pleasing manner, understood and known as good by all who have judgment and the leastgrain of reason. 

All these disciples of Agnolo did him very great honour, and he wasburied by his sons, to whom it is said that he left the sum of fiftythousand florins or more, in S. Maria Novella, in the tomb that hehimself had made for himself and for his descendants, in the year of oursalvation 1387. The portrait of Agnolo, made by himself, is seen in theChapel of the Alberti, in S. Croce, beside a door in the scene wherein, the Emperor Heraclius is bearing the Cross; it is painted in profile, with a little beard, and with a rose-coloured cap on his head accordingto the use of those times. He was not excellent in draughtsmanship, inso far as is shown by some drawings by his hand that are in our book. 

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 23: A yellow-lake made from the unripe berries of the spincervino, a sort of brier. ]

INDEX OF NAMES OF THE CRAFTSMEN MENTIONED IN VOLUME I

 Aglaophon, xxxix

 Agnolo (of Siena), _Life_, 97-105. 39

 Agnolo di Lorenzo, 208

 Agnolo Gaddi, _Life_, 217-223. 185, 186

 Agobbio, Oderigi d', 79

 Agostino (of Siena), _Life_, 97-105. 39

 Aholiab, xxxviii

 Alberti, Leon Batista, xli, 179

 Alesso Baldovinetti, 4, 48

 Ambrogio Lorenzetti, _Life_, 155-157

 Andrea di Cione Orcagna, _Life_, 189-199

 Andrea Pisano, _Life_, 123-131. 189

 Andrea Tafi, _Life_, 47-51. 55, 56, 58, 135, 136, 145, 219

 Angelico, Fra (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), 162

 Antonio (called Il Carota), 125

 Antonio d'Andrea Tafi, 51

 Antonio da Ferrara, 221

 Antonio da San Gallo, 32

 Antonio Pollaiuolo, xxxiv

 Apelles, xxviii, xxxix

 Apollodorus, xxxix

 Apollonio, 47, 49

 Ardices, xxxix

 Aretino, Marchionne, 17, 18

 Aretino, Niccolò, 130

 Aretino, Spinello, 67

 Aristides, xli

 Arnolfo di Lapo (Arnolfo Lapo, Arnolfo Lapi), _Life_, 20-26. 8, 13, 14, 20-26, 29, 30, 33, 39, 65, 113, 126, 170, 174, 180

 Baldovinetti, Alesso, 4, 48

 Bartolommeo Bologhini, 120

 Benedetto da Maiano, 94

 Bernardo di Cione Orcagna, 189, 190, 193-195, 197

 Bernardo Nello di Giovanni Falconi, 197

 Bezaleel, xxxviii

 Bologhini, Bartolommeo, 120

 Bolognese, Franco, 79

 Bonanno, 15, 16

 Bramante da Urbino, 32

 Brunelleschi, Filippo (Filippo di Ser Brunellesco), lii, 22, 23, 26, 48, 130

 Bruno di Giovanni, 135, 145, 147, 148, 191

 Buffalmacco, Buonamico, _Life_, 135-151. 50, 51, 135-151, 170, 190, 191, 211

 Buonarroti, Michelagnolo, xxvi, xxxiv, 87

 Buono, 14, 15

 Buschetto, liv, lvi

 Calandrino, 135

 Campi, Fra Ristoro da, 59

 Capanna, Puccio, 85, 89-91

 Carota (Antonio, called Il Carota), 125

 Casentino, Jacopo di, 183, 185

 Castelfranco, Giorgione da, xxxii

 Cavallini, Pietro, _Life_, 161-164. 92

 Cennini, Cennino di Drea, 177, 221, 222

 Cimabue, Giovanni, _Life_, 3-10. Xxiv, xxxv, lix, 3-10, 20, 21, 29, 47, 50, 55, 56, 58, 63, 72, 74, 89, 94, 113, 117, 145, 174

 Cione, 103, 104

 Cleanthes, xxxix

 Cleophantes, xxxix

 Como, Guido da, 48

 Danti, Vincenzio, 36

 Domenico Ghirlandajo, 112, 126, 189

 Donato (Donatello), 48, 130, 178

 Fabius, xl

 Faenza, Ottaviano da, 91

 Faenza, Pace da, 91

 Falconi, Bernardo Nello di Giovanni, 197

 Ferrara, Antonio da, 221

 Fiesole, Fra Giovanni da (called Fra Angelico), 162

 Filippo Brunelleschi (Filippo di Ser Brunellesco), lii, 22, 23, 26, 48, 130

 Fonte, Jacopo della (Jacopo della Quercia), 130

 Forlì, Guglielmo da, 92

 Forzore di Spinello, 104

 Fra Angelico (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), 162

 Fra Giovanni, 59

 Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (called Fra Angelico), 162

 Fra Jacopo da Turrita, 49, 50, 56

 Fra Ristoro da Campi, 59

 Francesco (called di Maestro Giotto), 91

 Francesco Traini, 198, 199

 Franco Bolognese, 79

 Fuccio, 30, 31

 Gaddi, Agnolo, _Life_, 217-223. 185, 186

 Gaddi, Gaddo, _Life_, 55-58. 50, 55-58, 177, 186, 217, 219, 221

 Gaddi, Giovanni, 185, 186, 217, 221

 Gaddi, Taddeo, _Life_, 177-186. 57, 58, 81, 88, 89, 129, 177-186, 217, 218, 221, 222

 Ghiberti, Lorenzo (Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti), 87, 112, 127, 130

 Ghirlandajo, Domenico, 112, 126, 189

 Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, 125

 Giorgio Vasari, see Vasari

 Giorgione da Castelfranco, xxxii

 Giottino (Tommaso, or Maso), _Life_, 203-208. 112

 Giotto, _Life_, 71-94. 7-9, 25, 39, 50, 51, 57, 63, 71-94, 99, 109, 111-113, 117, 118, 123-127, 161, 162, 168, 170, 174, 177, 178, 180, 182, 184-186, 190, 203-205, 222

 Giovanni, Bruno di, 135, 145, 147, 148, 191

 Giovanni, Fra, 59

 Giovanni Cimabue, _Life_, 3-10. Xxiv, xxxv, lix, 3-10, 20, 21, 29, 47, 50, 55, 56, 58, 63, 72, 74, 89, 94, 113, 117, 145, 174

 Giovanni da Milano, 182, 183, 185

 Giovanni da Pistoia, 164

 Giovanni dal Ponte (Giovanni da Santo Stefano a Ponte), _Life_, 211-213, 208

 Giovanni Gaddi, 185, 186, 217, 221

 Giovanni Pisano, _Life_, 35-44. 29, 35-44, 76, 97, 98, 220

 Giovanni Tossicani, 208

 Giuliano, 221

 Guglielmo, 15, 31

 Guglielmo da Forlì, 92

 Guido da Como, 48

 Gyges the Lydian (fable), xxxix

 Jacobello, 105

 Jacopo da Turrita, Fra, 49, 50, 56

 Jacopo della Quercia (or della Fonte), 130

 Jacopo di Casentino, 183, 185

 Jacopo di Cione Orcagna, 194, 197, 198

 Jacopo Lanfrani, 104, 105

 Jacopo Tedesco (Lapo), 14, 18-20, 23, 24, 65, 174

 Lanfrani, Jacopo, 104, 105

 Lapo, Arnolfo di (Arnolfo Lapo, Arnolfo Lapi), _Life_, 20-26. 8, 13, 14, 20-26, 29, 30, 33, 39, 65, 113, 126, 170, 174, 180

 Lapo (Maestro Jacopo Tedesco), 14, 18-20, 23, 24, 65, 174

 Laurati, Pietro (called Lorenzetti), _Life_, 117-120. 92

 Leonardo da Vinci, xxxiv

 Leonardo di Ser Giovanni, 104

 Leon Batista Alberti, xli, 179

 Lino, 43

 Lippo, 48, 208

 Lippo Memmi, 172-174

 Lorenzetti, Ambrogio, _Life_, 155-157

 Lorenzetti, Pietro (Laurati), _Life_, 117-120. 92

 Lorenzo, Agnolo di, 208

 Lorenzo Ghiberti (Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti), 87, 112, 127, 130

 Lysippus, xl

 Maglione, 34

 Maiano, Benedetto da, 94

 Marchionne Aretino, 17, 18

 Marco, Tommaso di, 197

 Margaritone, _Life_, 63-67. 38, 118

 Mariotto, 198

 Martini, Simone (Memmi or Sanese), _Life_, 167-174. 10, 25, 89, 92, 167-174, 183

 Memmi, Lippo, 172-174

 Memmi, Simone (Martini or Sanese), _Life_, 167-174. 10, 25, 89, 92, 167-174, 183

 Metrodorus, xxxix, xl

 Michelagnolo Buonarroti, xxvi, xxxiv, 87

 Michele da Milano, 221

 Michelino, 208

 Milano, Giovanni da, 182, 183, 185

 Milano, Michele da, 221

 Neroccio, 172

 Niccola Pisano, _Life_, 29-37. Lvi, 29-37, 40, 41, 43, 44, 76, 97

 Niccolò Aretino, 130

 Nino Pisano, 127, 130, 131

 Oderigi d'Agobbio, 79

 Orcagna, Andrea di Cione, _Life_, 189-199

 Orcagna, Bernardo di Cione, 189, 190, 193-195, 197

 Orcagna, Jacopo di Cione, 194, 197, 198

 Ottaviano da Faenza, 91

 Pace da Faenza, 91

 Pacuvius, xxxix

 Paolo, 103

 Perugia, Piero da, 221

 Pesarese, 105

 Pheidias, xl

 Philocles, xxxix

 Piero da Perugia, 221

 Pietro, 103

 Pietro Cavallini, _Life_, 161-164. 92

 Pietro Laurati (called Lorenzetti), _Life_, 117-120. 92

 Pietro Paolo, 105

 Pisano, Andrea, _Life_, 123-131. 189

 Pisano, Giovanni, _Life_, 35-44. 29, 35-44, 76, 97, 98, 220

 Pisano, Niccola, _Life_, 29-37. Lvi, 29-37, 40, 41, 43, 44, 76, 97

 Pisano, Nino, 127, 130, 131

 Pisano, Tommaso, 130

 Pistoia, Giovanni da, 164

 Pollaiuolo, Antonio, xxxiv

 Polycletus, xl, 167

 Polygnotus, xxxix

 Ponte, Giovanni dal (Giovanni da Santo Stefano a Ponte), _Life_, 211-213, 208

 Praxiteles, xxvi, xl, xli

 Prometheus (fable), xxxix

 Puccio Capanna, 85, 89-91

 Pygmalion, xxviii, xl

 Pyrgoteles, xl

 Pythias, xxxix

 Quercia, Jacopo della (called della Fonte), 130

 Raffaello Sanzio (or da Urbino), 86

 Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, 125

 Ristoro da Campi, Fra, 59

 Sanese, Simone (Martini or Memmi), _Life_, 167-174. 10, 25, 89, 92, 167-174, 183

 Sanese, Ugolino (Ugolino da Siena), _Life_, 113

 San Gallo, Antonio da, 32

 Sanzio, Raffaello (Raffaello da Urbino), 86

 Ser Giovanni, Leonardo di, 104

 Siena, Ugolino da (Sanese), _Life_, 113

 Simone Sanese (Martini or Memmi), _Life_, 167-174. 10, 25, 89, 92, 167-174, 183

 Sollazzino, 193

 Spinello, Forzore di, 104

 Spinello, Aretino, 67

 Stefano, _Life_, 109-114. 92, 203, 204

 Stefano da Verona, 221

 Taddeo Gaddi, _Life_, 177-186. 57, 58, 81, 88, 89, 129, 177-186, 217, 218, 221, 222

 Tafi, Andrea, _Life_, 47-51. 55, 56, 58, 135, 136, 145, 219

 Tafi, Antonio d'Andrea, 51

 Tedesco, Jacopo (Lapo), 14, 18-20, 23, 24, 65, 174

 Telephanes, xxxix

 Timagoras, xxxix

 Tommaso (or Maso, called Giottino), _Life_, 203-208. 112

 Tommaso di Marco, 197

 Tommaso Pisano, 130

 Tossicani, Giovanni, 208

 Traini, Francesco, 198, 199

 Turrita, Fra Jacopo da, 49, 50, 56

 Ugolino Sanese (Ugolino da Siena), _Life_, 113

 Urbino, Bramante da, 32

 Urbino, Raffaello da (Raffaello Sanzio), 86

 Vasari, Giorgio-- as art-collector, xvii, xviii, lix, 10, 58, 79, 92, 94, 111, 120, 126, 138, 157, 173, 174, 199, 208, 213, 223 as author, xiii-xix, xxi, xxiii, xxiv, xxxi, xxxiii-xxxvii, xlii, xliii, xlvii, xlix, l, lv-lix, 7, 9, 10, 13-16, 23-25, 29, 44, 47-49, 51, 57-59, 66, 75, 79, 80, 86, 87, 89, 91, 92, 94, 97, 99, 103, 105, 109, 112, 113, 124, 126, 127, 140, 141, 146, 150, 163, 164, 170, 181, 183, 191, 192, 198, 217, 222 as painter, xlii, 67, 86, 119, 120, 147, 208 as architect, 25, 31, 38, 39, 119, 120

 Verona, Stefano da, 221

 Vicino, 50, 57, 58

 Vincenzio Danti, 36

 Vinci, Leonardo da, xxxiv

 Zeuxis, xxxix

END OF VOL. I. 

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