THE LIVES OF THE PAINTERS, SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS

by

GIORGIO VASARI

In Eight Volumes

Vol. One

CONTENTS

 CIMABUE (1240-1302) ARNOLFO DI LAPO (1232-1310) BONANNO (fl. 1174-1186 LAPO (1190-1260) NICCOLA AND GIOVANNI PISANI fl 1205, 1278, 1250-1328) ANDREA TAFI (1250-1320) GADDO GADDI (1259-1333) MARGARITONE (1210-1293) GIOTTO (1267-1337) PUCCIO CAPANNA (fl. 1350) AGOSTINO AND AGNOLO (fl. 1286-1330) STEFANO AND UGOLINO (1301-1350, 1260-1339) PIETRO LAURATI (died c. 1350) ANDREA PISANO (1270-1348) BUONAMICO BUFFALMACCO (fl. 1311-1351) AMBRUOGIO LORENZETTI (died c. 1338) PIETRO CAVALLINI (1259-1334) SIMONE MARTINI AND LIPPO MEMMI (1285-1344; died 1357)

PREFACE TO THE LIVES

I am aware that it is commonly held as a fact by most writers thatsculpture, as well as painting, was naturally discovered originallyby the people of Egypt, and also that there are others who attributeto the Chaldeans the first rough carvings of statues and the firstreliefs. In like manner there are those who credit the Greeks withthe invention of the brush and of colouring. But it is my opinionthat design, which is the creative principle in both arts, came intoexistence at the time of the origin of all things. When the Most Highcreated the world and adorned the heavens with shining lights, Hisperfect intellect passing through the limpid air and alighting on thesolid earth, formed man, thus disclosing the first form of sculptureand painting in the charming invention of things. Who will deny thatfrom this man, as from a living example, the ideas of statues andsculpture, and the questions of pose and of outline, first took form;and from the first pictures, whatever they may have been, arose thefirst ideas of grace, unity, and the discordant concords made by theplay of lights and shadows? Thus the first model from which the firstimage of man arose was a lump of earth, and not without reason, forthe Divine Architect of time and of nature, being all perfection, wished to demonstrate, in the imperfection of His materials, whatcould be done to improve them, just as good sculptors and paintersare in the habit of doing, when, by adding additional touches andremoving blemishes, they bring their imperfect sketches to such astate of completion and of perfection as they desire. God alsoendowed man with a bright flesh colour, and the same shades may bedrawn from the earth, which supplies materials to counterfeiteverything which occurs in painting. It is indeed true that it isimpossible to feel absolutely certain as to what steps men took forthe imitation of the beautiful works of Nature in these arts beforethe flood, although it appears, most probable that even then theypractised all manner of painting and sculpture; for Bel, son of theproud Nimrod, about 200 years after the flood, had a statue made, from which idolatry afterwards arose; and his celebrateddaughter-in-law, Semiramis, queen of Babylon, in the building of thatcity, introduced among the ornaments there coloured representationsfrom life of divers kinds of animals, as well as of herself and ofher husband Ninus, with the bronze statues of her father, hermother-in-law, and her great-grandmother, as Diodorus relates, calling them Jove, Juno, and Ops--Greek names, which did not thenexist. It was, perhaps, from these statues that the Chaldeans learnedto make the images of their gods. It is recorded in Genesis how 150years later, when Rachel was fleeing from Mesopotamia with herhusband Jacob, she stole the idols of her father Laban. Nor were theChaldeans singular in making statues, for the Egyptians also hadtheirs, devoting great pains to those arts, as is shown by themarvellous tomb of that king of remote antiquity, Osimandyas, described at length by Diodorus, and, as the severe command of Mosesproves, when, on leaving Egypt, he gave orders that no images shouldbe made to God, upon pain of death. Moses also, after having ascendedthe Mount, and having found a golden calf manufactured and adored byhis people, was greatly troubled at seeing divine honours accorded tothe image of a beast; so that he not only broke it to powder, but, inthe punishment of so great a fault, caused the Levites to put todeath many thousands of the false Israelites who had committed thisidolatry. But as the sin consisted in adoring idols and not in makingthem, it is written in Exodus that the art of design and of makingstatues, not only in marble but in all kinds of metal, was given bythe mouth of God himself to Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, and toAholiab, of the tribe of Dan, who made the two cherubim of gold, thecandles, the veil, and the borders of the sacerdotal vestments, together with a number of other beautiful things in the tabernacle, for no other purpose than that people should put them on for theirown adornment and delight. From the things seen before the flood, thepride of man found the means to make statues of those who wishedtheir fame in the world to be immortal; and the Greeks, who give adifferent origin to this, say that the Ethiopians found the firststatues, according to Diodorus, the Egyptians imitated these, whilethe Greeks followed the Egyptians. From this time until Homer's dayit is clear that sculpture and painting were perfect, as we may seefrom the description of Achilles' shield by that divine poet, whorepresents it with such skill that the image of it is presented toour minds as clearly as if we had seen the thing itself. LactantiusFirmianus attributes the credit of the invention to Prometheus, wholike God formed the human form out of dust. But according to Plinythis art was introduced into Egypt by Gyges of Lydia, who on seeinghis shadow cast by the fire, at once drew a representation of himselfon the wall with a piece of coal. For some time after that it was thecustom to draw in outline only, without any colouring, Pliny againbeing our authority. This was afterwards introduced by Philocles ofEgypt with considerable pains, and also by Cleanthes and Ardices ofCorinth and by Telephanes of Sicyon. Cleophantes of Corinth was thefirst of the Greeks to use colours, and Apollodorus was the first tointroduce the brush. Polignotus of Thasos, Zeuxis and Timagoras ofChalcis, Pythia and Aglaphon followed them, all most celebrated, andafter them came the renowned Apelles who was so highly esteemed andhonoured for his skill by Alexander the Great, for his wonderfuldelineation of Calumny and Favour, as Lucian relates. Almost all thepainters and sculptors were of high excellence, being frequentlyendowed by heaven, not only with the additional gift of poetry, aswe read in Pacuvius, but also with that of philosophy. Metrodorus isan instance in point, for he was equally skilled as a philosopher andas a painter, and when Apelles was sent by the Athenians to PaulusEmilius to adorn his triumph he remained to teach philosophy to thegeneral's sons. Sculpture was thus generally practised in Greece, where there flourished a number of excellent artists, among thembeing Phidias of Athens, Praxiteles and Polycletus, very greatmasters. Lysippus and Pyrgoteles who were of considerable skill inengraving, and Pygmalion in ivory carving in relief, it beingrecorded of him that he obtained life by his prayers for the figureof a maid carved by him. The ancient Greeks and Romans also honouredand rewarded painting, since they granted the citizenship and veryliberal gifts to those who excelled in this art. Painting flourishedin Rome to such an extent that Fabius gave a name to his house, subscribing himself in the beautiful things he did in the temple ofsafety as Fabius the painter. By public decree slaves were prohibitedfrom practising painting, and so much honour was continually affordedby the people to the art and to artists that rare works were sent toRome among the spoils to appear in the triumphs; excellent artistswho were slaves obtained their liberty and received notable rewardsfrom the republic. The Romans bore such a reverence for the art thatwhen the city of Syracuse was sacked Marcellus gave orders that hismen should treat with respect a famous artist there, and also thatthey should be careful not to set fire to a quarter in which therewas a very fine picture. This was afterwards carried to Rome to adornhis triumph. To that city in the course of time almost all the spoilsof the world were brought, and the artists themselves gathered therebeside these excellent works. By such means Rome became anexceedingly beautiful city, more richly adorned by the statues offoreign artists than by those made by natives. It is known that inthe little island city of Rhodes there were more than 30, 000 statues, in bronze and marble, nor did the Athenians possess less, while thoseof Olympus and Delphi were more numerous still, and those of Corinthwere without number, all being most beautiful and of great price. Does not every one know how Nicomedes, king of Lycia, expended almostall the wealth of his people owing to his passion for a Venus by thehand of Praxiteles? Did not Attalus do the same? who without anafterthought expended more than 6000 sesterces to have a picture ofBacchus painted by Aristides. This picture was placed by LuciusMummius, with great pomp to adorn Rome, in the temple of Ceres. Butalthough the nobility of this art was so highly valued, it isuncertain to whom it owes its origin. As I have already said, it isfound in very ancient times among the Chaldeans, some attribute thehonour to the Ethiopians, while the Greeks claim it for themselves. Besides this there is good reason for supposing that the Tuscans mayhave had it earlier, as our own Leon Batista Alberti asserts, andweighty evidence in favour of this view is supplied by the marvelloustomb of Porsena at Chiusi, where not long ago some tiles ofterracotta were found under the ground, between the walls of theLabyrinth, containing some figures in half-relief, so excellent andso delicately fashioned that it is easy to see that art was not inits infancy at that time, for to judge by the perfection of thesespecimens it was nearer its zenith than its origin. Evidence to thesame purport is supplied every day by the quantity of pieces of redand black Aretine vases, made about the same time, to judge by thestyle, with light carvings and small figures and scenes inbas-relief, and a quantity of small round masks, cleverly made by themasters of that age, and which prove the men of the time to have beenmost skilful and accomplished in that art. Further evidence isafforded by the statues found at Viterbo at the beginning of thepontificate of Alexander VI. , showing that sculpture was valued andhad advanced to no small state of perfection in Tuscany. Although thetime when they were made is not exactly known, yet from the style ofthe figures and from the manner of the tombs and of the buildings, noless than by the inscriptions in Tuscan letters, it may beconjectured with great reason that they are of great antiquity, andthat they were made at a time when such things were highly valued. But what clearer evidence can be desired than the discovery made inour own day in the year 1554 of a bronze figure representing theChimĉra of Bellerophon, during the excavation of the fortificationsand walls of Arezzo. This figure exhibits the perfection of the artattained by the Tuscans. Some small letters carved on a paw arepresumed, in the absence of a knowledge of the Etruscan language, togive the master's name, and perhaps the date. This figure, on accountof its beauty and antiquity, has been placed by Duke Cosimo in achamber in his palace in the new suite of rooms which contains mypaintings of the deeds of Pope Leo X. The Duke also possesses anumber of small bronze figures which were found in the same place. But as the antiquity of the works of the Greeks, Ethiopians, Chaldeans, and Tuscans is enveloped in darkness, and because it isnecessary in such matters to base one's opinions on conjectures, although these are not so ill founded that one is in danger of goingvery far astray, yet I think that anyone who will take the trouble toconsider the matter carefully will arrive at the same conclusion as Ihave, that art owes its origin to Nature herself, that this beautifulcreation the world supplied the first model, while the originalteacher was that divine intelligence which has not only made ussuperior to the other animals, but like God Himself, if I may ventureto say it. In our own time it has been seen, as I hope to show quiteshortly, that simple children, roughly brought up in the woods, havebegun to draw by themselves aided by the vivacity of their intellect, instructed solely by the example of these beautiful paintings andsculptures of Nature. Much more then is it probable that the firstmen, being less removed from their divine origin, were more perfect, possessing a brighter intelligence, and that with Nature as a guide, a pure intellect for master, and the lovely world as a model, theyoriginated these noble arts, and by gradually improving them broughtthem at length, from small beginnings, to perfection. I do not denythat there must have been an originator, since I know quite well thatthere must have been a beginning at some time, due to someindividual. Neither will I deny that it is possible for one personto help another, and to teach and open the way to design, colour, andrelief, because I know that our art consists entirely of imitation, first of Nature, and then, as it cannot rise so high of itself, ofthose things which are produced from the masters with the greatestreputation. But I will say that an attempt to determine the exactidentity of such men is a very dangerous task, and the knowledge whengained would probably prove unprofitable, since we have seen the trueand original root of all. But the life and fame of artists dependupon their works which are destroyed by time one after the other inthe order of their creation. Thus the artists themselves are unknownas there was no one to write about them and could not be, so thatthis source of knowledge was not granted to posterity. But whenwriters began to commemorate things made before their time, they wereunable to speak of those of which they had seen no notice, so thatthose who came nearest to these were the last of whom no memorialremains. Thus Homer is by common consent admitted to be the first ofthe poets, not because there were none before him, for there werealthough they were not so excellent, and in his own works this isclearly shown, but because all knowledge of these, such as they were, had been lost two thousand years before. But we will now pass overthese matters which are too vague on account of their antiquity andwe will proceed to deal with clearer questions, namely, the rise ofthe arts to perfection, their decline and their restoration or ratherrenaissance, and here we stand on much firmer ground. The practice ofthe arts began late in Rome, if the first figures were, as reported, the image of Ceres made of the money of Spurius Caasius, who wascondemned to death without remorse by his own father, because he wasplotting to make himself king. But although the arts of painting andsculpture continued to flourish until the death of the last of thetwelve Cĉsars, yet they did not maintain that perfection andexcellence which had characterised them before, as is seen as seen inthe buildings of the time. The arts declined steadily from day today, until at length by a gradual process they entirety lost allperfection of design. Clear testimony to this is afforded by theworks in sculpture and architecture produced in Rome in the time ofConstantine, notably in the triumphal arch made for him by the Romanpeople at the Colosseum, where we see, that for lack of good mastersnot only did they make use of marble works carved in the time ofTrajan, but also of spoils brought to Rome from various places. Thesebas-reliefs, statues, the columns, the cornices and other ornamentswhich belong to another epoch only serve to expose the defects inthose parts of the work which are entirely due to the sculptors ofthe day and which are most rude. Very rude also are some scenes ofsmall figures in marble under the circles and the pediment, representing victories, while between the side arches there are somerivers also very crude and so poor that they leave one firmly underthe impression that the art of sculpture had been in a state ofdecadence for a long while. Yet the Goths and the other barbarous andforeign nations who combined to destroy all the superior arts inItaly had not then appeared. It is true that architecture sufferedless than the other arts of design. The bath erected by Constantineat the entrance of the principal portico of the Lateran contains, inaddition to its porphyry columns, capitals carved in marble andbeautifully carved double bases taken from elsewhere, the wholecomposition of the building being very well ordered. On the otherhand, the stucco, the mosaic and some incrustations of the walls madeby the masters of the time are not equal to those which had beentaken away for the most part from the temples of the gods of theheathen, and which Constantine caused to be placed in the samebuilding. Constantine observed the same methods, according to report, with the garden of Ĉquitius in building the temple which heafterwards endowed and gave to Christian priests. In like manner themagnificent church of S. John Lateran, built by the same emperor, mayserve as evidence of the same fact, namely, that sculpture hadalready greatly declined in his time, because the figures of theSaviour and of the twelve apostles in silver, which he caused to bemade, were very base works, executed without art and with very littledesign. In addition to this, it is only necessary to examine themedals of this emperor, and other statues made by the sculptors ofhis day, which are now at the Capitol, to clearly perceive how farremoved they are from the perfection of the medals and statues of theother emperors, all of which things prove that sculpture had greatlydeclined long before the coming of the Goths to Italy. Architecture, as I have said, maintained its excellence at a higher though not atthe highest level. Nor is this a matter for surprise, since largebuildings were almost entirely constructed of spoils, so that it waseasy for the architects to imitate the old in making the new, sincethey had the former continually before their eyes. This was an easiertask for them than far the sculptors, as the art of imitating thegood figures of the ancients had declined. A good illustration of thetruth of this statement is afforded by the church of the chief of theapostles in the Vatican, which is rich in columns, bases, capitals, architraves, cornices, doors and other incrustations and ornamentswhich were all taken from various places and buildings, erectedbefore that time in very magnificent style. The same remarks apply toS. Croce at Jerusalem, which Constantine erected at the entreaty ofhis mother, Helena; of S. Lorenzo outside the wall, and of S. Agnesa, built by the same emperor at the request of his daughter Constance. Who also is not aware that the font which served for the baptism ofthe latter and of one of her sisters, was ornamented with fragmentsof great antiquity? as were the porphyry pillar carved with beautifulfigures and some marble candelabra exquisitely carved with leaves, and some children in bas-relief of extraordinary beauty? In short, bythese and many other signs, it is clear that sculpture was indecadence in the time of Constantine, and with it the other superiorarts. If anything was required to complete their ruin it was suppliedby the departure of Constantine from Rome when he transferred theseat of government to Byzantium, as he took with him to Greece notonly all the best sculptors and other artists of the age, such asthey were, but also a quantity of statues and other beautiful worksof sculpture. 

After the departure of Constantine, the Caesars whom he left inItaly, were continually building in Rome and elsewhere, endeavouringto make these works as good as possible, but as we see, sculpture, painting and architecture were steadily going from bad to worse. Thisarose perhaps from the fact that when human affairs begin to decline, they grow steadily worse until the time comes when they can no longerdeteriorate any further. In the time of Pope Liberius the architectsof the day took considerable pains to produce a masterpiece when theybuilt S. Maria Maggiore, but they were not very happy in the result, because although the building, which is also mostly constructed ofspoils, is of very fair proportions, it cannot be denied that, not tospeak of other defects, the decoration of the church with stucco andpainting above the columns is of very poor design, and that manyother things to be seen there leave no doubt as to the degradation ofthe arts. Many years later, when the Christians were sufferingpersecution under Julian the Apostate, a church was erected on theCelian Hill to SS. John and Paul, the martyrs, in so inferior a styleto the others mentioned above that it is quite clear that at thattime, art had all but entirely disappeared. The edifices erected inTuscany at the same time bear out this view to the fullest extent. The church outside the walls of Arezzo, built to St Donato, bishop ofthat city, who suffered martyrdom with Hilarion the monk, under thesame Julian the Apostate, is in no way superior to the others, andthis is only one of many. It cannot be contended that such a state ofaffairs was due to anything but the lack of good architects, sincethe church in question, which is still standing, has eight sides, andwas built of the spoils of the theatre, colosseum and other buildingserected in Arezzo before it was converted to the Christian faith. Noexpense has been spared, its columns being of granite and porphyryand variegated marble which, had formerly adorned the ancientbuildings. For my own part, I have no doubt, seeing the expenseincurred, that if the Aretines had been able to employ betterarchitects they would have produced something marvellous, since whatthey actually accomplished proves that they spared themselves nothingin order to make this building as magnificent and complete aspossible. But as architecture had lost less of its excellence thanthe other arts, as I have often said before, some good things may beseen there. At the same period the church of S. Maria in Grado wasenlarged in honour of St Hilarion, who had lived in the city a longtime before he accompanied Donato to receive the palm of martyrdom. But as Fortune, when she has brought men to the top of the wheel, either for amusement or because she repents, usually turns them tothe bottom, it came to pass after these things that almost all thebarbarian nations rose in divers parts of the world against theRomans, the result being the abasement of that great empire in ashort time, and the destruction of everything, notably of Romeherself. That fall involved the complete destruction of the mostexcellent artists, sculptors, painters and architects who abandonedtheir profession and were themselves buried and submerged under thedebris and ruins of that most celebrated city. The first to go werepainting and sculpture, as being arts which served rather forpleasure than for utility, the other art, namely architecture, beingnecessary and useful for the welfare of the body, continued in use, but not in its perfection and purity. The very memory of painting andsculpture would have speedily disappeared had they not representedbefore the eyes of the rising generation, the distinguished men ofanother age. Some of them were commemorated by effigies and byinscriptions placed on public and private buildings, such asamphitheatres, theatres, baths, aqueducts, temples, obelisks, colosseums, pyramids, arches, reservoirs and treasuries, yes, andeven on the very tombs. The majority of these were destroyed andobliterated by the barbarians, who had nothing human about them buttheir shape and name. Among others there were the Visigoths, whohaving made Alaric their king, invaded Italy and twice sacked Romewithout respect for anything. The Vandals who came from Africa withGenseric, their king, did the like. But he, not content with hisplunder and booty and the cruelties he inflicted, led into servitudethe people there, to their infinite woe, and with them Eudoxia thewife of the Emperor Valentinian, who had only recently beenassassinated by his own soldiers. These men had greatly degeneratedfrom the ancient Roman valour, because a great while before, the bestof them had all gone to Constantinople with the Emperor Constantine, and those left behind were dissolute and abandoned. Thus true men andevery sort of virtue perished at the same time; laws, habits, namesand tongues suffered change, and these varied misfortunes, collectively and singly, debased and degraded every fine spirit andevery lofty soul. But the most harmful and destructive force whichoperated against these fine arts was the fervent zeal of the newChristian religion, which, after long and sanguinary strife, had atlength vanquished and abolished the old faith of the heathen, bymeans of a number of miracles and by the sincerity of its acts. Everyeffort was put forth to remove and utterly extirpate the smallerthings from which errors might arise, and thus not only were themarvellous statues, sculptures, paintings, mosaics and ornaments ofthe false pagan gods destroyed and thrown down, but also thememorials and honours of countless excellent persons, to whosedistinguished merits statues and other memorials had been set up by amost virtuous antiquity. Besides all this, in order to build churchesfor the use of the Christians, not only were the most honouredtemples of the idols destroyed, but in order to ennoble and decorateS. Peter's with more ornaments than it then possessed, the mole ofHadrian, now the castle of S. Angelo, was despoiled of its stonecolumns, as well as of many other things which are now seen in ruins. 

Now, although the Christian religion did not act thus from any hatredfor talent, but only because of its contempt for the heathen gods, yet the utter ruin of these honourable professions, which entirelylost their form, was none the less entirely due to this burning zeal. That nothing might be wanting to these grave disasters there followedthe rage of Totila against Rome, who destroyed the walls, ruined allthe most magnificent and noble buildings with fire and sword, burnedit from one end to another, and having stripped it of every livingcreature left it a prey to the flames, so that for the space ofeighteen days not a living soul could be found there. He utterlydestroyed the marvellous statues, paintings, mosaics and stuccos, sothat he left Rome not only stripped of every trace of her formermajesty, but destitute of shape and life. The ground floors of thepalaces and other building had been adorned with paintings, stuccosand statues, and these were buried under the debris, so that manygood things have come to light in our own day. Those who came after, judging everything to be ruined, planted vines over them so thatthese ruined chambers remained entirely underground, and the modernshave called them grottos and the paintings found there grotesques. The Ostrogoths being exterminated by Narses, the ruins of Rome wereinhabited in a wretched fashion when after an interval of a hundredyears there came the Emperor Constans of Constantinople, who wasreceived in a friendly manner by the Romans. However he wasted, plundered and carried away everything that had been left in thewretched city of Rome, abandoned rather by chance than by thedeliberate purpose of those who had laid it waste. It is true thathe was not able to enjoy this booty, for being driven to Sicily by astorm at sea, he was killed by his followers, a fate he richlydeserved, and thus lost his spoils, his kingdom and his life. But asif the troubles of Rome had not been sufficient, for the things whichhad been taken away could never return, there came an army ofSaracens to ravage that island, who carried away the property of theSicilians and the spoils of Rome to Alexandria, to the infinite shameand loss of Italy and of all Christendom. Thus what the popes had notdestroyed, notably St Gregory, who is said to have put under the banall that remained of the statues and of the spoils of the buildings, finally perished through the instrumentality of this traitorousGreek. Not a trace or a vestige of any good thing remained, so thatthe generations which followed being rough and material, particularlyin painting and sculpture, yet feeling themselves impelled by natureand inspired by the atmosphere of the place, set themselves toproduce things, not indeed according to the rules of art, for theyhad none, but as they were instructed by their own intelligence. 

The arts of design having arrived at this pitch, both before andduring the time that the Lombards ruled Italy, they subsequently grewworse and worse, until at length they reached the lowest depths ofbaseness. An instance of their utter tastelessness and crudeness maybe seen in some figures over the door in the portico of S. Peter's atRome, in memory of some holy fathers who had disputed for Holy Churchin certain councils. Further evidence is supplied by a number ofexamples in the same style in the city and in the whole of theExarchate of Ravenna, notably some in S. Maria Rotonda outside thatcity, which were made shortly after the Lombards were driven fromItaly. But I will not deny that there is one very notable andmarvellous thing in this church, and that is the vault or cupolawhich covers it, which is ten braccia across and serves as the roofof the building, and yet is of a single piece and so large that itappears impossible that a stone of this description, weighing morethan 200, 000 pounds, could be placed so high up. But to return to ourpoint, the masters of that day produced nothing but shapeless andclumsy things which may still be seen to-day. It was the same witharchitecture, for it was necessary to build, and as form and goodmethods were lost by the death of good artists and the destruction ofgood buildings, those who devoted themselves to this profession builterections devoid of order or measure, and totally deficient in grace, proportion or principle. Then new architects arose who created thatstyle of building, for their barbarous nations, which we call German, and produced some works which are ridiculous to our modern eyes, butappeared admirable to theirs. This lasted until a better formsomewhat similar to the good antique manner was discovered by betterartists, as is shown by the oldest churches in Italy which are notantique, which were built by them, and by the palaces erected forTheoderic, King of Italy, at Ravenna, Pavia, and Modena, though thestyle is barbarous and rather rich and grand than well conceived orreally good. The same may be said of S. Stefano at Rimini and of S. Martino at Ravenna, of the church of S. Giovanni Evangelista in thesame city built by Galla Placida about the year of grace 438, of S. Vitale which was built in the year 547, and of the abbey of Classi difuori, and indeed of many other monasteries and churches built afterthe time of the Lombards. All these buildings, as I have said, aregreat and magnificent, but the architecture is very rude. Among themare many abbeys in France built to S. Benedict and the church andmonastery of Monte Casino, the church of S. Giovanni Battista builtby that Theodelinda, Queen of the Goths, to whom S. Gregory the Popewrote his dialogues. In this place that queen caused the history ofthe Lombards to be painted. We thus see that they shaved the backs oftheir heads, and wore tufts in front, and were dyed to the chin. Their clothes were of broad linen, like those worn by the Angles andSaxons, and they wore a mantle of divers colours; their shoes wereopen to the toes and bound above with small leather straps. Similarto the churches enumerated above were the church of S. Giovanni, Pavia, built by Gundiperga, daughter of Theodelinda, and the churchof S. Salvatore in the same city, built by Aribert, the brother ofthe same queen, who succeeded Rodoaldo, husband of Gundiberta, in thegovernment; the church of S. Ambruogio at Pavia, built by Grimoald, King of the Lombards, who drove from the kingdom Aribert's sonPerterit. This Perterit being restored to his throne afterGrimoald's death built a nunnery at Pavia called the MonasterioNuovo, in honour of Our Lady and of St Agatha, and the queen builtanother dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Pertica outside the walls. Cunibert, Perterit's son, likewise built a monastery and church to StGeorge called di Coronato, in a similar style, on the spot where hehad won a great victory over Alahi. Not unlike these was the churchwhich the Lombard king Luit-prand, who lived in the time of KingPepin, the father of Charlemagne, built at Pavia, called S. Piero, inCieldauro, or that which Desiderius, who succeeded Astolf, built toS. Piero Clivate in the diocese of Milan; or the monastery of S. Vincenzo at Milan, or that of S. Giulia at Brescia, because all ofthem were very costly, but in a most ugly and rambling style. InFlorence the style of architecture was slightly improved somewhatlater, the church of S. Apostolo built by Charlemagne, althoughsmall, being very beautiful, because the shape of the columns, although made up of pieces, is very graceful and beautifully made, and the capitals and the arches in the vaulting of the side aislesshow that some good architect was left in Tuscany, or had arisenthere. In fine the architecture of this church is such that Pippo diSer Brunnellesco did not disdain to make use of it as his model indesigning the churches of S. Spirito and S. Lorenzo in the same city. The same progress may be noticed in the church of S. Mark's atVenice, not to speak of that of S. Giorgio Maggiore erected byGiovanni Morosini in the year 978. S. Mark's was begun under the DogeGiustiniano and Giovanni Particiaco next to S. Teodosio, when thebody of the Evangelist was brought from Alexandria to Venice. Afterthe Doge's palace and the church had suffered severely from a seriesof fires, it was rebuilt upon the same foundations in the Byzantinestyle as it stands to-day, at a great cost and with the assistanceof many architects, in the time of the Doge Domenico Selvo, in theyear 973, the columns being brought from the places where they couldbe obtained. The construction was continued until the year 1140, M. Piero Polani being then Doge, from the plans of several masters whowere all Greeks, as I have said. Erected at the same time, and alsoin the Byzantine style, were the seven abbeys built in Tuscany byCount Hugh, Marquis of Brandenburg, such as the Badia of Florence, the abbey of Settimo, and the others. All these structures and thevestiges of others which are not standing bear witness to the factthat architecture maintained its footing though in a very bastardform far removed from the good antique style. Further evidence isafforded by a number of old palaces erected in Florence in Tuscanwork after the destruction of Fiesole, but the measurements of thedoors and the very elongated windows and the sharp-pointed archesafter the manner of the foreign architects of the day, denote someamount of barbarism. In the year after 1013 the art appears to havereceived an access of vigour in the rebuilding of the beautifulchurch of S. Miniato on the Mount in the time of M. Alibrando, citizen and bishop of Florence, for, in addition to the marbleornamentation both within and without, the façade shows that theTuscan architects were making efforts to imitate the good ancientorder in the doors, windows, columns, arches and cornices, so far asthey were able, having as a model the very ancient church of S. Giovanni in their city. At the same period, pictorial art, which hadall but disappeared, seems to have made some progress, as is shown bya mosaic in the principal chapel of the same church of S. Miniato. 

From such beginnings design and a general improvement in the artsbegan to make headway in Tuscany, as in the year 1016 when the Pisansbegan to erect their Duomo. For in that time it was a considerableundertaking to build such a church, with its five aisles and almostentirely constructed of marble both inside and out. This church, built from the plans and under the direction of Buschetto, a cleverGreek architect from Dulichium, was erected and adorned by the Pisanswhen at the zenith of their power with an endless quantity of spoilsbrought by sea from various distant parts, as the columns, bases, capitals, cornices and other stones there of every description, amplydemonstrate. Now since all these things were of all sizes, great, medium, and small, Buschetto displayed great judgment in adaptingthem to their places, so that the whole building is excellentlydevised in every part, both within and without. Amongst other thingshe devised the façade, which is made up of a series of stages, gradually diminishing toward the top and consisting of a great numberof columns, adorning it with other columns and antique statues. Hecarried out the principal doors of that façade in the same style, beside one of which, that of the Carroccio, he afterwards receivedhonourable burial, with three epitaphs, one being in Latin verse, notunlike other things of the time:

 _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. _

As I have mentioned the church of S. Apostolo at Florence above, Iwill here give an inscription which may be read on a marble slab onone of the sides of the high altar, which runs:

 VIII. V. Die vi. Aprilis in resurrectione Domini Karolus Francorum Rex Roma revertens, ingressus Florentiam cum magno gaudio et tripudio succeptus, civium copiam torqueis aureis decoravit. Ecclesia Sanctorum Apostolorum in altari inclusa est laminea plumbea, in qua descripta apparet praefacta fundatio et consecratio facta per Archiepiscopum Turpinum, testibus Rolando et Uliverio. 

The edifice of the Duomo at Pisa gave a new impulse to the minds ofmany men in all Italy, and especially in Tuscany, and led to thefoundation in the city of Pistoia in 1032 of the church of S. Paolo, in the presence of S. Atto, the bishop there, as a contemporary deedrelates, and indeed of many other buildings, a mere mention of whichwould occupy too much space. 

I must not forget to mention either, how in the course of time theround church of S. Giovanni was erected at Pisa in the year 1060, opposite the Duomo and on the same piazza. A marvellous and almostincredible statement in connection with this church is that of anancient record in a book of the Opera of the Duomo, that the columns, pillars and vaulting were erected and completed in fifteen days andno more. The same book, which may be examined by any one, relatesthat an impost of a penny a hearth was exacted for the building ofthe temple, but it does not state whether this was to be of gold orof base metal. The same book states that there were 34, 000 hearths inPisa at that time. It is certain that the work was very costly andpresented formidable difficulties, especially the vaulting of thetribune, which is pear-shaped and covered outside with lead. Theexterior is full of columns, carving, scenes, and the middle part ofthe frieze of the doorway contains figures of Christ and the twelveapostles in half-relief and in the Byzantine style. 

About the same time, namely in 1061, the Lucchese, in emulation ofthe Pisans, began the church of S. Martino at Lucea, from the designsof some pupils of Buschetto, there being no other artists then inTuscany. The façade has a marble portico in front of it containingmany ornaments and carvings in honour of Pope Alexander II. , who hadbeen bishop of the city just before he was raised to the pontificate. Nine lines in Latin relate the whole history of the façade and of thePope, repeated in some antique letters carved in marble inside thedoors of the portico. The façade also contains some figures and anumber of scenes in half-relief below the portico relating to thelife of St Martin executed in marble and in the Byzantine style. Butthe best things there, over one of these doors, were done by NiccolaPisano, 170 years later, and completed in 1233, as will be related inthe proper place, Abellenato and Aliprando being the craftsmen at thebeginning, as some letters carved in marble in the same place fullyrelate. The figures by Niccola Pisano show to what an extent the artwas improved by him. Most of the buildings erected in Italy from thistime until the year 1250 were similar in character to these, forarchitecture made little or no apparent progress in all these years, but remained stationary, the same rude style being retained. Manyexamples of this may be seen to-day, but I will not now enumeratethem, because I shall refer to them again as the occasion presentsitself. 

The admirable sculptures and paintings buried in the ruins of Italyremained hidden or unknown to the men of this time who were engrossedin the rude productions of their own age, in which they used nosculptures or paintings except such as were produced by the oldartists of Greece, who still survived, making images of clay orstone, or painting grotesque figures and only colouring the firstlineaments. These artists were invited to Italy for they were thebest and indeed the only representatives of their profession. Withthem they brought the mosaics, sculptures, and paintings which theythemselves produced and thus they taught their methods to theItalians, after their own rough and clumsy style. The Italianspractised the art in this fashion up to a certain time, as I shallrelate. 

As the men of the age were not accustomed to see any excellence orgreater perfection than the things thus produced, they greatlyadmired them, and considered them to be the type of perfection, baseas they were. Yet some rising spirits aided by some quality in theair of certain places, so far purged themselves of this crude stylethat in 1250 Heaven took compassion on the fine minds that the Tuscansoil was producing every day, and directed art into its formerchannels. And although the preceding generations had before them theremains of arches, colossi, statues, pillars or stone columns whichwere left after the plunder, ruin and fire which Rome had passedthrough, yet they could never make use of them or derive any profitfrom them until the period named. Those who came after were able todistinguish the good from the bad, and abandoning the old style theybegan to copy the ancients with all ardour and industry. That thedistinction I have made between old and ancient may be betterunderstood I will explain that I call ancient the things producedbefore Constantine at Corinth, Athens, Rome and other renownedcities, until the days of Nero, Vaspasian, Trajan, Hadrian andAntoninus; the old works are those which are due to the survivingGreeks from the days of St Silvester, whose art consisted rather oftinting than of painting. For the original artists of excellence hadperished in the wars, as I have said, and the surviving Greeks, ofthe old and not the ancient manner, could only trace profiles on aground of colour. Countless mosaics done by these Greeks in everypart of Italy bear testimony to this, and every old church of Italypossesses examples, notably the Duomo of Pisa, S. Marco at Veniceand yet other places. Thus they produced a constant stream offigures in this style, with frightened eyes, outstretched hands andon the tips of their toes, as in S. Miniato outside Florence betweenthe door of the sacristy and that of the convent, and in S. Spiritoin the same city, all the side of the cloister towards the church, and in Arezzo in S. Giuliano and S. Bartolommeo and other churches, and at Rome in old S. Peter's in the scenes about the windows, all ofwhich are more like monsters than the figures which they are supposedto represent. They also produced countless sculptures, such as thosein bas-relief still over the door of S. Michele on the piazza Padellaat Florence, and in Ognissanti, and in many places, in tombs andornaments for the doors of churches, where there are some figuresacting as corbels to carry the roof, so rude and coarse, so grosslymade, and in such a rough style, that it is impossible to imagineworse. 

Up to the present, I have discoursed exclusively upon the origin ofsculpture and painting, perhaps more at length than was necessary atthis stage. I have done so, not so much because I have been carriedaway by my love for the arts, as because I wish to be of service tothe artists of our own day, by showing them how a small beginningleads to the highest elevation, and how from so noble a situation itis possible to fall to utterest ruin, and consequently, how thenature of these arts resembles nature in other things which concernour human bodies; there is birth, growth, age, death, and I hope bythis means they will be enabled more easily to recognise the progressof the renaissance of the arts, and the perfection to which they haveattained in our own time. And again, if ever it happens, which Godforbid, that the arts should once more fall to a like ruin anddisorder, through the negligence of man, the malignity of the age, orthe ordinance of Heaven, which does not appear to wish that thethings of this world should remain stationary, these labours of mine, such as they are (if they are worthy of a happier fate), by means ofthe things discussed before, and by those which remain to be said, may maintain the arts in life, or, at any rate, encourage the betterspirits to provide them with assistance, so that, by my good will andthe labours of such men, they may have an abundance of those aids andembellishments which, if I may speak the truth freely, they havelacked until now. 

But it is now time to come to the life of Giovanni Cimabue, whooriginated the new method of design and painting, so that it is rightthat his should be the first of the Lives. And here I may remark thatI shall follow the schools rather than a chronological order. And indescribing the appearance and the arts of the artists, I shall bebrief, because their portraits, which I have collected at greatexpense, and with much labour and diligence, will show what manner ofmen they were to look at much better than any description could everdo. If some portraits are missing, that is not my fault, but becausethey are not to be found anywhere. If it chance that some of theportraits do not appear to be exactly like others which are extant, it is necessary to reflect that a portrait of a man of eighteen ortwenty years can never be like one made fifteen or twenty yearslater, and, in addition to this, portraits in black and white arenever so good as those which are coloured, besides which theengravers, who do not design, always take something from the faces, because they are never able to reproduce those small details whichconstitute the excellence of a work, or to copy that perfection whichis rarely, if ever, to be found in wood engravings. To conclude, thereader will be able to appreciate the amount of labour, expense, andcare which I have bestowed upon this matter when he sees what effortsI have made in my researches. 

VASARI'S LIVES OF THE PAINTERS. 

Cimabue, Painter of Florence. 

The endless flood of misfortunes which overwhelmed unhappy Italy notonly ruined everything worthy of the name of a building, butcompletely extinguished the race of artists, a far more seriousmatter. Then, as it pleased God, there was born in the year 1240 inthe city of Florence, Giovanni, surnamed Cimabue, of the noble familyof the Cimabui, to shed the first light on the art of painting. As hegrew up he appeared to his father and others to be a boy of quickintelligence, so that he was accordingly sent to receive instructionin letters to a relation, a master at S. Maria Novella, who thentaught grammar to the novices of that convent. Instead of payingattention to his lessons, Cimabue spent the whole day in drawing men, horses, houses, and various other fancies on his books and oddsheets, like one who felt himself compelled to do so by nature. Fortune proved favourable to this natural inclination, for some Greekartists were summoned to Florence by the government of the city forno other purpose than the revival of painting in their midst, sincethat art was not so much debased as altogether lost. Among the otherworks which they began in the city, they undertook the chapel of theGondi, the vaulting and walls of which are to-day all but destroyedby the ravages of time. It is situated in S. Maria Novella, next theprincipal chapel. In this way Cimabue made a beginning in the artwhich attracted him, for he often played the truant and spent thewhole day in watching the masters work. Thus it came about that hisfather and the artists considered him so fitted to be a painter that, if he devoted himself to the profession, he might look for honourablesuccess in it, and to his great satisfaction his father procured himemployment with the painters. Then, by dint of continual practice andwith the assistance of his natural talent, he far surpassed themanner of his teachers both in design and in colour. For they hadnever cared to make any progress, and had executed their works, notin the good manner of ancient Greece, but in the rude modern style ofthat time. But although Cimabue imitated the Greeks he introducedmany improvements in the art, and in a great measure emancipatedhimself from their awkward manner, bringing honour to his country byhis name and by the works which he produced. The pictures which heexecuted in Florence bear testimony to this, such as the antipendiumto the altar of St Cecilia, and a Madonna in S. Croce, which wasthen and still is fastened to a pillar on the right hand side of thechoir. Subsequently he painted on a panel a St Francis, on a goldground. He drew this from nature, to the best of his powers, althoughit was a novelty to do so in those days, and about it he representedthe whole of the saint's life in twenty small pictures full of littlefigures, on a gold ground. He afterwards undertook a large picturefor the monks of Vallombrosa in their abbey of S, Trinita atFlorence. This was a Madonna with the child in her arms, surroundedby many adoring angels, on a gold ground. To justify the high opinionin which he was already held, he worked at it with great industry, showing improved powers of invention and exhibiting our lady in apleasing attitude. The painting when finished was placed by the monksover the high altar of the church, whence it was afterwards removedto make way for the picture of Alesso Baldovinetti, which is thereto-day. It was afterwards placed in a small chapel of the south aislein that church. Cimabue next worked in fresco at the hospital of thePorcellana, at the corner of the via Nuova which leads to the BorgoOgnissanti. On one side of the façade, in the middle of which is theprincipal door, he represented an Annunciation, and on the otherside, Jesus Christ with Cleophas and Luke, life-size figures. In thiswork he abandoned the old manner, making the draperies, garments, andother things somewhat more life-like, natural and soft than the styleof the Greeks, full as that was of lines and profiles as well inmosaics as in painting. The painters of those times had taught oneanother that rough, awkward and common-place style for a great numberof years, not by means of study but as a matter of custom, withoutever dreaming of improving their designs by beauty of colouring or byany invention of worth. After this was finished Cimabue againreceived a commission from the same superior for whom he had done thework at S. Croce. He now made him a large crucifix of wood, which maystill be seen in the church. The work caused the superior, who waswell pleased with it, to take him to their convent of S. Francesco atPisa, to paint a picture of St Francis there. When completed it wasconsidered most remarkable by the people there, since they recogniseda certain quality of excellence in the turn of the heads and in thefall of the drapery which was not to be found in the Byzantine stylein any work executed up to that time not only in Pisa but throughoutItaly. 

For the same church Cimabue afterwards painted a large picture of OurLady with the child in her arms, surrounded by several angels, on agold ground. In order to make room for the marble altar which is nowthere it was soon afterwards removed from its original situation andplaced inside the church, near the door on the left hand. For thiswork he was much praised and rewarded by the Pisans. In Pisa also hepainted a panel of St Agnes surrounded by a number of small figuresrepresenting scenes from her life, at the request of the Abbot of S. Paolo in Ripa d'Arno. The panel is to-day over the altar of theVirgin in that church. 

The name of Cimabue having become generally known through theseworks, he was taken to Assisi, a city of Umbria, where, inconjunction with some Greek masters, he painted a part of thevaulting of the lower Church of S. Franceso, and on the walls, thelife of Jesus Christ and that of St Francis. In these paintings hefar surpassed the Greek masters, and encouraged by this, he began topaint the upper church in fresco unaided, and on the large galleryover the choir, on the four walls, he painted some subjects from thehistory of Our Lady, that is to say, her death, when her soul iscarried to Heaven by Christ on a throne of clouds, and when He crownsher in the midst of a choir of angels, with a number of saintsbeneath. These are now destroyed by time and dust. He then paintedseveral things at the intersections of the vaulting of that church, which are five in number. In the first one over the choir herepresented the four Evangelists, larger than life-size, and so welldone, that even to-day they are acknowledged to possess some merit;and the freshness of the flesh colouring shows, that by his efforts, fresco-painting was beginning to make great progress. The secondintersection he filled with gilt stars on an ultramarine field. Inthe third he represented Jesus Christ, the Virgin his mother, St Johnthe Baptist and St Francis in medallions, that is to say, a figure ineach medallion and a medallion in each of the four divisions of thevault. The fourth intersection like the second he painted with giltstars on ultramarine. In the fifth he represented the four Doctors ofthe church, and beside each of them a member of the four principalreligious orders. This laborious undertaking was carried out withinfinite diligence. When he had finished the vaults he painted theupper part of the walla on the left side of the church from one endto the other, also in fresco. Near the high altar between the windowsand right up to the vaulting he represented eight subjects from theOld Testament, starting from the beginning of Genesis and selectingthe most noteworthy incidents. In the space flanking the windows tothe point where they terminate at the gallery which runs round theinside of the church, he painted the remainder of the Old Testamenthistory in eight other subjects. Opposite these and correspondingto them he painted sixteen subjects representing the deeds of OurLady and of Jesus Christ, while on the end wall over the principalentrance and about the rose window above it, he painted the Ascensionand the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. This work whichis most extraordinary for richness and beauty, must, in my opinion, have astounded the people of those times, painting having been insuch blindness for so long a apace. When I saw it again in the year1563 it seemed most beautiful, as I reflected how marvellous it wasthat Cimabue should see so much light in the midst of so greatdarkness. But it is worthy of note that of all these paintings thoseof the vaults are much the best preserved since they are less injuredby the dust and other accidents. When these works were finishedGiovanni set about painting the walls beneath, namely those beneaththe windows, and he did some things there, but as he was summoned toFlorence on some affairs of his own, he did not pursue the task, which was finished by Giotto many years after, as will be relatedwhen the time comes. 

Cimabue having thus returned to Florence painted in the cloister ofS. Spirito, where the whole length of wall towards the church is donein the Byzantine style by other masters, events from the life ofChrist, in three arches, with considerable excellence of design. Atthe same time, he sent to Empoli some things executed by him inFlorence, which are held in great reverence to this day in the Pieveof that town. He next painted a picture of Our Lady for the church ofS. Maria Novella, where it hangs high up between the chapel of theRucellai and that of the Bardi of Vernio. The figure was of a largersize than any which had been executed up to that time, and the angelsabout it show that, although be still had the Byzantine style, he wasmaking, some progress towards the lineaments and methods of moderntimes. The people of that day, who had never seen anything better, considered this work so marvellous, that they carried it to thechurch from Cimabue's house in a stately procession with greatrejoicing and blowing of trumpets, while Cimabue himself was highlyrewarded and honoured. It is reported, and some records of the oldpainters relate that while Cimabue was painting this picture in somegardens near the gate of S. Piero, the old king Charles of Anjoupassed through Florence. Among the many entertainments prepared forhim by the men of the city, they brought him to see the picture ofCimabue. As it had not then been seen by anyone, all the men andwomen of Florence flocked thither in a crowd, with the greatestrejoicings, so that those who lived in the neighbourhood called theplace Borgo Allegri (Joyful Quarter), because of the rejoicing there. This name it has ever afterwards retained, being in the course oftime enclosed within the walls of the city. 

At S. Francesco, at Pisa, where Cimabue executed some other works, which have been mentioned above, in the cloister, at a corner besidethe doorway leading into the church, is a small picture in tempera byhis hand, representing Christ on the cross, surrounded by some angelswho are weeping, and hold in their hands certain words written aboutthe head of Christ, and which they are directing towards the ears ofour Lady, who is standing weeping on the right hand side; and on theother side to St John the Evangelist, who is there, plunged in grief. The words to the Virgin are: "_Mulier, ecce filius tuus_, " and thoseto St John: "_Ecce mater tua_. " Another angel, separated from these, holds in its hands the sentence: "_Ex illa hora accepit eamdiscipulus in suam_. " In this we perceive how Cimabue began to givelight and open the way to inventions, bringing words, as he doeshere, to the help of his art in order to express his meaning, acurious device certainly and an innovation. 

By means of these works Cimabue had now acquired a great name andmuch profit, so that he was associated with Arnolfo Lapi, anexcellent architect of that time, in the building of S. Maria delFiore, at Florence. But at length, when he had lived sixty years, hepassed to the other life in the year 1300, having achieved hardlyless than the resurrection of painting from the dead. 

He left behind a number of disciples, and among others Giotto, whowas afterwards an excellent painter. Giotto dwelt in his master's oldhouse in the via del Cocomero after Cimabue's death. Cimabue wasburied in S. Maria del Fiore, with this epitaph made for him by oneof the Nini:--

 "Credidit ut Clmabos picturĉ castra tenere Sic tenuit vivens, nunc tenet astra poli. "

I must not omit to say that if the greatness of Giotto, his pupil, had not obscured the glory of Cimabue, the fame of the latter wouldhave been more considerable, as Dante points out in his Commedia inthe eleventh canto of the Purgatorio, with an allusion to theinscription on the tomb, where he says:

 "Credette Cimabue nella pintura Tener lo campo, ed ora ha Giotto il grido Si che la fama di colui oscura. "

A commentator on Dante, who wrote during Giotto's lifetime, about1334, some ten or twelve years after the poet's death, in hisexplanation of these lines, says the following words in speaking ofCimabue: "Cimabue was a painter of Florence in the time of ourauthor, a man of unusual eminence and so arrogant and haughty withal, that if any one pointed out a fault or defect in his work, or if hediscovered any himself, since it frequently happens that an artistmakes mistakes through a defect in the materials which he employs, orbecause of some fault in the instrument with which he works, heimmediately destroyed that work, however costly it might be. Giottowas, and is, the most eminent among the painters of the same city ofFlorence, as his works testify, at Rome, Naples, Avignon, Florence, Padua, and many parts of the world, " etc. This commentary is now inthe possession of the Very Rev. Vincenzio Borghini, prior of theInnocents, a man distinguished for his eminence, piety and learning, but also for his love for and skill in all the superior arts, so thathe has well deserved his judicious selection by Duke Cosimo to be theducal representative in our academy of design. 

Returning to Cimabue, Giotto certainly overshadowed his renown, justas a great light eclipses a much smaller one, and although Cimabuewas, as it were, the first cause of the revival of the art ofpainting, yet Giotto, his disciple, moved by a praiseworthy ambition, and aided by Heaven and by Nature, penetrated deeper in thought, andthrew open the gates of Truth to those who afterwards brought art tothat perfection and grandeur which we see in our own age. In fact themarvels, miracles, and impossibilities executed at the present timeby those who practise this art, and which are to be seen every day, have brought things to such a pitch, that no one marvels at themalthough they are rather divine than human, and those who make themost praiseworthy efforts may consider themselves fortunate, if, instead of being praised and admired, they escape censure, and evendisgrace. The portrait of Cimabue by the hand of Simone of Siena maybe seen in the chapter-house of S. Maria Novella, executed in profilein the picture of the Faith. The face is thin the small beard issomewhat red and pointed, and he wears a hood after the fashion ofthe day, bound gracefully round his head and throat. The one besidehim is Simone himself, the designer of the work, who drew himselfwith the aid of two mirrors placed opposite each other, which haveenabled him to draw his head in profile. The soldier in armourbetween them is said to be Count Guido Novello, lord of Poppi. Inconcluding this life I have to remark that I have some small thingsby Cimabue's hand in the beginning of a book in which I havecollected drawings by the hand of every artist, from Cimabue onwards. These little things of Cimabue are done like miniatures, and althoughthey may appear rather crude than otherwise to modern eyes, yet theyserve to show to what an extent the art of design profited by hislabours. 

Arnolfo di Lapo, Florentine Architect. 

In the preface to these lives I have spoken of some edifices in theold but not antique style, and I was silent respecting the names ofthe artists who executed the work, because I did not know them. Inthe introduction to the present life I propose to mention some otherbuildings made in Arnolfo's time, or shortly before, the authors ofwhich are equally unknown, and then to speak of those which wereerected during his lifetime, the architects of which are known, either because they may be recognised through the style of thebuildings, or because there is some notice of them in the writingsand memorials left by them in the works done. This will not be besidethe point, for although the buildings are neither beautiful nor ingood style, but only very large and magnificent, yet they are nonethe less worthy of some consideration. 

In the time of Lapo, and of Arnolfo his son, many buildings ofimportance were erected in Italy and outside, of which I have notbeen able to find the names of the architects. Among these are theabbey of Monreale in Sicily, the Piscopio of Naples, the Certosa ofPavia, the Duomo of Milan, S. Pietro and S. Petrodio of Bologna, andmany others, which may be seen in all parts of Italy, erected atincredible cost. I have seen and examined all these buildings, aswell as many sculptures of these times, particularly at Ravenna, butI have never found any memorial of the masters, and frequently noteven the date when they were erected, so that I cannot but marvel atthe simplicity and indifference to fame exhibited by the men of thatage. But to return to our subject. After the buildings justenumerated there arose some persons of a more exalted temper, who, ifthey did not succeed in lighting upon the good, at least made theattempt. 

The first was Buono, of whom I knew neither the country nor thesurname, since he himself has put nothing beyond his simple name tothe works which he has signed. He was both a sculptor and architect, and he worked at first in Ravenna, building many palaces andchurches, and executing some sculptures, in the year of grace 1152. Becoming known by these things, he was summoned to Naples, where hebegan the Castel Capoano and the Castel dell' Uovo, although theywere afterwards finished by others, as will be related. Subsequently, in the time of the Doge Domenico Morosini, he founded the campanileof S. Marco at Venice, with much prudence and good judgment, and sowell did he drive the piles and lay the foundations of that tower, that it has never moved a hair's breadth, as many buildings erectedin that city before his time may be seen to have done. Perhaps it wasfrom him that the Venetians learned their present method of layingthe foundations of the rich and beautiful edifices which are erectedevery day to adorn that most noble city. At the same time it must beadmitted that the tower has no other excellence of its own, either instyle or decoration, or indeed anything which is worthy of muchpraise. It was finished under the Popes Anastasius IV. And Adrian IV. In the year 1154. Buono was also the architect of the Church of S. Andrea at Pistoia, and a marble architrave over the door, full offigures executed in the Gothic style, is his work; On this architravehis name is carved, as well as the date at which the work was done byhim, which was in the year 1166. Being afterwards summoned toFlorence, he prepared the design for enlarging the Church of S. MariaMaggiore, which was carried out. The church was then outside thecity, and was held in veneration, because Pope Pelagius hadconsecrated it many years before, and because it was in size andstyle a building of considerable merit. 

Buono was next invited by the Aretines to their city, where he builtthe old residence of the lords of Arezzo, a palace in the Gothicstyle, and near it a tower for a bell. This building, which was verytolerable for that style, was thrown down in 1533 because it wasopposite and too near the fortifications of the city. 

The art now began to receive some amount of improvement through theworks of a certain Guglielmo, a German by race, as I believe, andsome buildings were erected at a great expense and in a slightlybetter style. In the year 1174 this Guglielmo, in conjunction withBonanno, a sculptor, is said to have founded the campanile of theDuomo at Pisa, where the following words are carved:

 _A. D. M.. C. 74 campanile hoc fuit fundatum Mense Aug. _

But these two architects had not much experience in layingfoundations in Pisa, and since they did not drive in piles as theyshould have done, before they were half through the work, there was asubsidence on one side, and the building leant over on its weakerside, so that the campanile hangs 6-1/2 braccia out of the straightaccording to the subsidence on that side, and although this appearsslight from below, it is very apparent above, so that one is filledwith amazement that the tower can stand thus without falling andwithout the walls being cracked. The reason is that the building isround both within and without, and the stones are so arranged andbound together, that its fall is all but impossible, and it issupported moreover by foundations raised 3 braccia above the groundlevel, which were made to maintain it after the subsidence had takenplace, as may be seen. Had it been square; I am convinced that itwould not be standing, to-day, as the corners of the square wouldhave pushed out the sides so that they would have fallen, a thingwhich frequently happens. And if the Carisenda tower at Bologna, which is square, leans without falling, that is because it islighter and does not hang over so much, nor is it nearly so heavy astructure as this campanile, which is praised, not because of itsdesign or good style, but simply by reason of its extraordinaryposition, since to a spectator it does not appear possible that itcan remain standing. The Bonanno mentioned above, while he wasengaged on the campanile, also executed in 1180 the principal door ofthe Duomo of Pisa in bronze. On it may be seen these words:

 _Ego Bonannus Pis, mea arle hanc portam uno anno perfeci tempore Benedicti operarii. _

That the art was making steady progress may be seen by the walls ofS. Giovanni Lateran at Rome, which were constructed of the spoils ofantiquity under Popes Lucius III. And Urban III. , when the EmperorFrederick was crowned by the latter, because certain small templesand chapels there, made with these spoils, possess considerable meritof design and contain some things which are worth notice, and this, among others, that the vaults were made of small tubes withcompartments of stucco, so as not to overload the side walls of thebuildings, a very praiseworthy contrivance for those times. Thecornices and other parts show that the artists were helping oneanother to find the good. 

Innocent III. Afterwards caused two palaces to be erected on theVatican hill, and from what can be seen of them they appear to havebeen in a fairly good style, but since they were destroyed by otherpopes, and especially by Nicholas V. , who pulled down and rebuilt thegreater part of the palace, I will say no more about them, exceptthat a part of them may be seen in the great round tower, and a partin the old sacristy of St Peter's. This Innocent III. , who wore thetiara for nineteen years, took great delight in architecture, anderected many buildings in Rome, notably the tower of the Conti, socalled after the name of his family, from designs by Marchionne, anarchitect and sculptor of Arezzo. In the year that Innocent died thisartist completed the Pieve of Arezzo, as well as the campanile. Headorned the front of the church with three rows of columns, one abovethe other, in great variety, not only in the shape of the capitalsand bases, but even in the shafts, some being heavy, others slender, some bound together in pairs, others in fours. In like manner someare covered with representations of the vine, while others are madeto become supporting figures, variously carved. He further introducedmany animals of different kinds, which carry the weight of thecolumns on their backs, the whole exhibiting the strangest and mostextravagant fantasies imaginable, not only altogether removed fromthe excellent antique order, but opposed to all good and reasonableproportion. Yet in spite of all this, anyone who will justly considerthe matter will see that he was making strenuous efforts to do well, and possibly he imagined that he had discovered the way in thismanner of work and in this wondrous variety. The same artist carved arather large God the Father, with certain angels in half-relief inthe arch over the door of that church in a rude style, together withthe twelve months of the year, adding underneath his name, cut inround letters, as was customary, and the date, 1216. It is said thatMarchionne also erected for Pope Innocent the old building and churchof the hospital of S. Spirito in Sassia, in the Borgo Vecchio atRome, where some part of the old work may still be seen. Indeed theold church remained standing to our own day, when It was restored inthe modern style, with more ornament and design, by Pope Paul III. Of the house of the Farnese. In S. Maria Maggiore, also in Rome, hemade the marble chapel, which contains the manger of Jesus Christ, inwhich he placed a portrait of Pope Honorius III. , drawn from life. Healso made that Pope's tomb, decorating it with ornaments which weresomewhat better than, and very different from, the style thenprevalent throughout Italy. At the same time also Marchionne made thelateral door of S. Pietro at Bologna, which truly was a very greatwork for those times, because of the number of sculptures which areseen in it, such as lions in relief, which sustain columns, with menand other animals, also bearing burdens. In the arch above he madethe twelve months in relief, with varied fancies, each month with itszodiacal sign, a work which must have been considered marvellous inthose times. 

About the same time the order of the friars minors of St Francis wasestablished, which, after it had been confirmed by Pope InnocentIII. , increased the general devoutness and the number of friars, notonly in Italy, but in every part of the world, to such an extent, that there was scarcely a city of note which did not build churchesand convents for them at very great cost, each one according to itsability. Thus brother Elias, who was superior of that order atAssisi, founded a church, dedicated to Our Lady in that place, twoyears before the death of St Francis, while the saint, as general ofthe order, was away preaching. After the death of St Francis allChristendom crowded to visit the body of a man, who, both in life andin death, was known to have been so much beloved of God. As every mandid alms to the saint according to his ability, it was determinedthat the church begun by friar Elias should be made much larger andmore magnificent. But since there was a scarcity of good architects, and as the work demanded an excellent one, it being necessary toerect the building on a very high hill, round the base of which runsa torrent called Tescio, a German master named Jacopo was brought toAssisi after much deliberation, as being the best man who was then tobe found. After he had examined the site and understood the wishes ofthe friars, who held a chapter general at Assisi for the purpose, hedesigned a most beautiful church and convent, making it in threestories. One of these was underground, while the two others served aschurches, the lower one to be a vestibule with a portico ofconsiderable size about it, the other as the church proper. Theascent from the first to the second was managed by means of a veryconvenient arrangement of steps, which encircled the chapel and whichwere divided into two flights for the sake of greater comfort, leading up to the second church. He built this in the form of theletter T, making it five times as long as it was broad, dividing onenave from the other by great stone pillars, uniting them with stoutarches, between which he set up the vaulting. This truly monumentalwork then was carried out from such plans in every detail, exceptthat he did not use the Cross vaulting on the walls between the bodyof the church and the principal chapel, but employed barrel vaultingfor the sake of greater strength. He afterwards placed the altarbefore the principal chapel of the lower church, and when this wasfinished he deposited the body of St Francis beneath, after a mostsolemn translation. And because the tomb of the glorious saint is inthe first or lower church, where no one ever goes, and which has itsdoors walled up, there is a magnificent iron railing about the altar, richly adorned with marble and mosaic which permits the tomb to beseen. On one side of the building were erected two sacristies and alofty campanile, five times as high as it is broad. Above it therewas originally a lofty spire of eight sides, but it was removedbecause it threatened to fall down. The work was brought to aconclusion in the space of four years and no more by the ability ofMaster Jacopo the German, and by the industry of friar Elias. Afterthe friar's death twelve strong towers were erected about the lowerchurch in order that the vast erection should never be destroyed; ineach of these is a spiral staircase ascending from the ground to thesummit. In the course of time, moreover, several chapels were addedand other rich ornaments, of which it is not necessary to speakfurther, as enough has been said about the matter for the present, especially as it is in the power of every one to see how much that isuseful, ornamental, and beautiful has been added to this beginning ofMaster Jacopo, by popes, cardinals, princes, and many other greatpersons of all Europe. 

And now to return to Master Jacopo. By means of this work he acquiredsuch renown throughout Italy that he was invited to Florence by thegovernment of the city, and was afterwards received there with theutmost goodwill. But the Florentines, in accordance with a custom ofabbreviating names which they practised then as they do now, calledhim not Jacopo, but Lapo, all his life, for he settled permanently inthat city with all his family. And although at divers times he wentaway to erect a number of buildings in Tuscany his residence wasalways at Florence. As examples of such buildings I may cite thepalace of the Poppi at Casentino which he built for the count there, who had married the beautiful Gualdrada, with the Casentino as herdower; the Vescovado for the Aretines, and the Palazzo Vecchio of thelords of Pietramela. It was at Florence that he laid the piles of theponte alla Carraia, then called the ponte Nuovo, in 1218, andfinished them in two years. A short while afterwards it was completedin wood, as was then the custom. In the year 1221 he prepared plansfor the church of S. Salvadore del Vescovado which was begun underhis direction, as was the church of S. Michele on the piazza Padellawhere there are some sculptures in the style of those days. He nextdesigned a system of drainage for the city, raised the piazza S. Giovanni, and in the time of M. Rubaconte da Mandella of Milan, constructed the bridge which still bears his name. It was he whodiscovered the useful method of paving the streets with stone, whenthey had previously been paved only with bricks. He designed theexisting Podesta palace, which was originally built for the_amziani_, and finally, after he had designed the tomb of the EmperorFrederick for the abbey of Monreale in Sicily, by the order ofManfred, he died, leaving Arnolfo, his son, heir to his ability, noleas than to his fortune. 

Arnolfo, by whose talents architecture was no less improved thanpainting had been by Cimabue, was born in the year 1232, and wasthirty-two years of age at his father's death. He was at that timeheld in very great esteem, because, not only had he learned all thathis father had to teach, but had studied design under Cimabue inorder to make use of it in sculpture, so that he was reputed the bestarchitect in Tuscany. Thus not only did the Florentines found, underhis direction, the last circuit of the walls of their city in theyear 1284, but they also built, after his design, the loggia andpillars of Or San Michele, where grain is sold, constructing it ofbrick with a simple roof above. It was also in conformity with hisadvice that when the cliff of the Magnoli fell, on the slope of S, Giorgio above S. Lucia in the via dei Bardi, a public decree wasissued the same year that no walls or edifices should ever more beerected in that place seeing that they would always be in dangerowing to the undermining of the rock by water. That this is true hasbeen seen in our day in the fall of many buildings and fine houses ofthe aristocracy. The year after, 1285, he founded the loggia andpiazza of the priors, and in the Bödia of Florence he constructed theprincipal chapel and those on either side of it, restoring both thechurch and choir, which had originally been built on a much smallerscale by Count Ugo, the founder. For the cardinal Giovanni degliOrsini, papal legate in Tuscany, he built the campanile of thatchurch, which woo some praise among the works of those times, but itdid not receive its stone finishing until after the year 1303. Hisnext work was the foundation, in 1294, of the church of S, Croce, where the friars minors are. Arnolfo designed the nave and sideaisles of this church on such a large scale that he was unable tovault the space under the roof owing to the great distances, so withmuch judgment he made arches from pillar to pillar, and on these heplaced the roof with stone gutters along the top of the arches tocarry off the water, inclined at such an angle that the roof shouldbe safe, as it is, from the danger of damp. This thing was so noveland ingenious that it well deserves the consideration of our day. Henext prepared plans for the first cloisters of the old convent ofthat church, and shortly after he removed from the outside of thechurch of S. Giovanni all the arches and tombs of marble and stonewhich were there and put a part of them behind the campanile in thefaçade of the Canonical Palace, beside the oratory of S. Zanobi, whenhe proceeded to incrust all the eight sides of the exterior of thechurch with black Prato marble, removing the rough stone which wasoriginally used with the antique marbles. 

In the meantime the Florentines were desirous of erecting buildingsin Valdarno above the castle of S. Giovanni and Castelfranco for theconvenience of the city and for the supply of victuals to theirmarkets. Arnolfo prepared the plan for this in the year 1295, andgave such general satisfaction, as indeed he had in his other works, that he was awarded the citizenship of Florence. 

After these things the Florentines took counsel together, as GiovanniVillani relates in his History, to build a principal church for theircity, and to make it so grand and magnificent that nothing larger orfiner could be desired by the industry and power of man; and thusArnolfo prepared the plans for the church of S. Maria del Fiore, abuilding which it is impossible to praise too highly. He providedthat the exterior should be entirely incrusted with polished marble, with all the cornices, pillars, columns, carvings of leaves, figures, and other things which may be seen to-day, and which were broughtvery near completion, although not quite. But the most marvellouscircumstance of all in this undertaking was the care and judgmentwith which he made the foundations, for in clearing the site, whichis a very fine one, other small churches and houses about S. Reparatawere involved beside that edifice itself. He made the foundations ofthis great structure both broad and deep, filling them with goodmaterials, such as gravel and lime, with large stones at the bottom, so that they have been able without difficulty to bear the weight ofthe huge dome with which Filippo di Ser Brunellesco vaulted thechurch, as may be seen to-day. The excellence of this initial workwas such that the place is still called Lungo i Fondamenti (besidethe foundations). The laying of the foundations and the initiation ofso great a church was celebrated with much ceremony. The first stonewas laid on the day of the Nativity of Our Lady 1298 by the cardinallegate of the Pope, in the presence not only of many bishops and ofall the clergy, but also of the podesta, captains, priors, and othermagistrates of the city, and indeed of all the people of Florence, the church being called S. Maria del Fiore. Now, as it was estimatedthat the expenses of this work would be very heavy, as theyafterwards proved to be, a tax of four deniers the pound was imposedat the chamber of the commune on everything exported from the city, as well as a tax of two soldi per head yearly. In addition to this, the Pope and the legate offered the most liberal indulgences to thosewho would contribute alms towards the work. I must not omit tomention, however, that besides the broad foundations of 15 bracciadeep, buttresses were, with great foresight, placed at each angle ofthe eight sides, and it was the presence of these which encouragedBrunellesco to impose a much greater weight there than Arnolfo hadoriginally contemplated. 

It is said that when Arnolfo began the two first lateral doors of S. Maria del Fiore, he caused some fig leaves to be carved in a frieze, which were the armorial bearings of his father Lapo, from which itmay be inferred that the family of the Lapi, now among the nobilityof Florence, derives its origin from him. Others say that Filippo diSer Brunellesco was also among the descendants of Arnolfo. But I letthis pass for what it is worth, and return to Arnolfo, for there aresome who say that the Lapi originally came from Figaruolo, a castlesituated at the mouth of the Po. I say that for this magnificentachievement he deserved unstinted praise and an immortal renown, since he caused the exterior of the building to be incrusted withmarble of various colours, and the interior with hard stone, makingeven the most insignificant corners of the building of the samestone. But, in order that every one may know the proportions of thismarvellous edifice, I will add that from the doorway to the far endof the chapel of St Zanobi the length is 260 braccia, the breadth atthe transepts is 166 braccia, that of nave and aisles 66. The nave is72 braccia high, and the aisles 48. The external circumference of theentire church is 1280 braccia; the cupola, from the ground to thebase of the lantern, is 154 braccia; the lantern, without the ball, is 36 braccia high, the ball 4 braccia high, and the cross 8 braccia;the entire cupola, from the ground to the top of the cross, is 202braccia. But to return to Arnolfo, I say that he was considered soexcellent, and so much confidence was felt in him, that nothing ofimportance was discussed without his advice being first asked. Thusthe foundation of the final circuit of the city walls having beenfinished that same year by the community of Florence, thecommencement of which was referred to above, and also the gatetowers, and the work being well forward, he began the palace of theSignori, making it similar in design to that which his father Lapohad erected for the counts of Poppi. But he was unable to realise thegrand and magnificent conception which he had formed in thatperfection which his art and judgment required, because a piazza hadbeen made by the dismantling and throwing down of the houses of theUberti, rebels against the Florentine people and Ghibellines, and theblind prejudice of certain persons prevailed against all thearguments brought forward by Arnolfo to such an extent that he couldnot even obtain permission to make the palace square, because therulers of the city were most unwilling to allow the building to haveits foundations in the land of the Uberti, and they would rathersuffer the destruction of the south nave of S. Piero Scheraggio thangive him free scope in the space designated. They were also desirousthat he should include and adapt to the palace the tower of theFieraboschi, called the Torre della Vacca (Cow Tower), 50 braccia inheight, in which the great bell was hung, together with some housesbought by the commune for such a building. For these reasons it is nomarvel if the foundations of the palace are awry and out of thesquare, as, in order to get the tower in the middle and to make itstronger, he was obliged to surround it with the walls of the palace. These were found to be in excellent condition in the year 1561 byGiorgio Vasari, painter and architect, when he restored the palace inthe time of Duke Cosimo, Thus, as Arnolfo filled the tower with goodmaterials, it was easy for other masters to erect upon it the loftycampanile which we see to-day, since he himself finished no more thanthe palace in the space of two years. It was in later years that thebuilding received those improvements to which it owes its presentgrandeur and majesty. 

After all these things, and many others not less useful thanbeautiful, Arnolfo died at the age of seventy, in the year 1300, about the time when Giovanni Villani began to write the generalhistory of his times. And since he left S. Maria del Fiore not onlywith its foundations laid, but saw three principal apses under thecupola vaulted in, to his great praise, he deserves the memorial setup to him in the church on the side opposite the campanile, withthese lines carved in the marble in round letters:--

 "Anno millenis centum bis octo nogenis Venit legatus Roma bonitate donatus Qui lapidem fixit fundo, simul et benedixit Praesule Francisco, gestante pontificatum Istud ab Arnolpho templum fuit aedificatum Hoc opus insigne decorans Florentia digne Reginĉ coeli construxit mente fideli Quam tu, Virgo pia, semper defende, Maria, "

I have written the life of Arnolfo with the greatest possible brevitybecause, although his works do not nearly approach the perfection ofthose of the present time, yet he none the less deserves to beremembered with affection, since, in the midst of so great darkness, he pointed out the road to perfection to those who came after him. The portrait of Arnolfo, by the hand of Giotto, may be seen in S. Croce, next to the principal chapel, where the friars are mourningthe death of St Francis. He is represented in the foreground as oneof the two men who are talking together. A representation of theexterior of the church of S. Maria del Fiore, with the dome, by thehand of Simon of Siena, may be seen in the chapter-house of S. MariaNovella. It was taken from the actual model of wood which Arnolfomade. From this representation it is clear that Arnolfo proposed tobegin to vault his space, starting immediately above the firstcornice, whilst Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, desiring to lighten theweight and make the appearance of the structure more graceful, addedabove this the whole of the space which contains the round windowsbefore he began his vaulting. This matter would be even more obviousthan it is had not the negligence and carelessness of those who hadcharge of the works of S. Maria del Fiore in past years allowedArnolfo's own model, as well as those of Brunellesco and others, tobe lost. 

Niccola and Giovanni Pisani, Sculptors and Architects. 

Having discussed the arts of design and painting in dealing withCimabue, and that of architecture in the life of Arnolfo Lapo, we nowpropose to treat of sculpture, and of the very importantarchitectural works of Niccola and Giovanni Pisani. Theirachievements in both sculpture and architecture are alike remarkablefor the manner in which they have been conceived as well as for thestyle in which they are executed, since to a great extent theyemancipated themselves from the clumsy and ill-proportionedByzantine style in both arts, showing more originality in thetreatment of their subjects and arranging their figures in betterpostures. 

Niccola Pisani was originally associated with some Greek sculptorswho were engaged upon the figures and other ornaments in relief forthe Duomo at Pisa and the church of San Giovanni there. Among thespoils brought home by the Pisan fleet was a very fine sarcophaguson which was an admirable representation of the chase of Meleager, hunting the Calydonian boar. Both the nude and the draped figures ofthis composition are executed with much skill, while the design isperfect. This sarcophagus, on account of its beauty, was afterwardsplaced by the Pisans in the façade of the Duomo opposite S, Rocco, against the principal door on that side. It originally served as atombstone for the mother of the Countess Matilda, if we may creditthe inscription cut in the marble:

_Anno Domini MCXVI. Kal. Aug. Obiit D. Matilda felisis memoriaecomitissa, quae pro anima genetricis suae D. Beatricis comitissaevenerabilis in hoc tumba honorabili quiescsnts in multis partismirificc hanc dotavit ecclesiam, quarum animae requiescent in pace_. 

And then follows:

_Anno Domini MCCCIII. Sub dignissimo optrario Burgundio Tadioccasione graduum fiendorum per ipsum circa ecclesiam supradictamtumba superius notata bis trantlata fuit, nunc de sedibus primis inecclesiam, nunc de ecclesia in hunc locum, ut cernitis eccelentem_. 

Niccola, considering the excellence of this work, which greatlydelighted him, applied such diligence in imitating that style, studying carefully both the sarcophagus and other excellentsculptures on other antique sarcophagi, that before long he wasconsidered the best sculptor of his time. There was indeed, afterArnolfo, no other sculptor of repute in Tuscany except Fuccio, aFlorentine architect and sculptor. Fuccio designed S. Maria sopraArno at Florence in 1229, putting his name over the door. The marbletomb of the queen of Cyprus in the church of St Francis of Assisi isalso his work. It contains a number of figures, the principal onebeing the queen herself, seated on a lion, as emblematical of herstrength of mind. She had bequeathed a large sum of money for thecompletion of these works. 

Niccola having proved himself a much greater master than Fuccio, wassummoned to Bologna in 1225 to make a marble tomb for St DomenicCalagora, founder of the order of the Friars Preachers, thenrecently deceased. Having, arranged with those who had charge of thework, he designed a tomb full of figures, as may be seen at thisday. The task was completed in 1231, and the finished tomb wasgreatly praised, it being considered a remarkable work, and the bestpiece of sculpture executed up to that time. He further made plansfor the church there and for a great part of the convent. Onreturning to Tuscany, he learned that Fuccio had set out fromFlorence and was gone to Rome, at the time when the Emperor Frederickwas crowned there by Honorius. From Rome Fuccio accompanied Frederickto Naples, where he finished the castle of Capoana, now called "laVicheria, " where all the courts of that kingdom are held. He alsocompleted the Castel del' Uovo, founding the towers, made the gate onthe side of the River Volturno at Capua, constructed a park nearGravina for fowling, enclosing it by a wall, and made another atAmalfi for winter hunting, besides many other things which areomitted for the sake of brevity. 

Meanwhile Niccola was staying at Florence, obtaining practice notonly in sculpture but also in architecture by means of the workswhich were in progress throughout Italy, but especially in Tuscany, with some amount of good design. Thus he contributed not a little tothe abbey of Settimo, left unfinished by the executors of Count Hughof Brandenburg, as the other six had been, as we have noticed above. For although an inscription on the campanile of the abbey reads"_Gugliel me fecit_" yet it is clear from the style of the work thatit was carried out under the control of Niccola. At the same time hewas building the old palace of the _anziani_ at Pisa. Thisbuilding has been dismantled at the present time by Duke Casino, who has used a part of the old edifice for the erection of themagnificent palace and convent of the new order of the knights of StStephen, after the designs of Giorgio Vasari, Aretine painter andarchitect, who has done his best with the old walls, to adapt them tothe modern style. Niccola designed many other palaces and churches atPisa, and he was the first, after the loss of good methods ofconstruction, who introduced the founding of buildings at Pisa uponpillars connected by arches, first driving piles in under thepillars. This method renders the building absolutely secure, as isshown by experience, whereas without the piles, the foundations areliable to give way, causing the walls to fall down. The church of S. Michele in Borgo of the monks of Gamaldoli was also built after hisplans. But the most beautiful, ingenious and fanciful piece ofarchitecture that Niccola ever constructed was the campanile of S. Niccola at Pisa, where the friars of St Augustine are. Outside it isoctagonal, but the interior is round with a winding staircase risingto the top leaving the middle space void like a well, while on everyfourth step there are columns with lame arches, which follow thecurve of the building. The spring of the vaulting rests upon thesearches, and the ascent is of such sort that anyone on the groundalways sees those who are going up, those who are at the top seethose who are on the ground, while those who are in the middle seeboth those who are above and those below. This curious invention wasafterwards adopted by Bramante in a better style with more balancedmeasurements and richer ornamentation, for Pope Julius II. In theBelvedere at Rome, and by Antonio da Sangallo for Pope Clement VII. In the well at Orvieto, as will be said when the time comes. 

To return to Niccola who excelled no less as a sculptor than as anarchitect. For the church of S. Martino at Lucca he executed adeposition from the Cross, which is under the portico above the minordoorway on the left hand as one enters the church. It is executed inmarble, and is full of figures in half relief, carried out with greatcare, the marble being pierced through, and the whole finished insuch style as to give rise to hopes in those who first practised thisart with the most severe labour, that one would soon come who wouldgive them more assistance with greater ease. It was Niccola also whoin the year 1240 designed the church of S. Jacopo at Pistoia, and setsome Tuscan masters to work there in mosaic, who did the vaulting ofthe apse. But although it was considered a difficult and costly thingat the time, it rather moves one to laughter and compassion to-day, and not to admiration, oh account of the poorness of the design, adefect which was prevalent not only in Tuscany, but throughout Italy, where the number of buildings and other things erected without methodand without design betray the poverty of their minds no less than thebountiful riches lavished on them by the men of their day; a wastefulexpenditure of wealth, because there was no masters capable ofexecuting in a good style the things which they made for them. NowNiccola was steadily increasing his renown in both sculpture andarchitecture, and was of greater account than the sculptors andarchitects who were then at work in the Romagna, as one may see inS. Ippolito and S. Giovanni at Faenza, in the Duomo of Ravenna, inS. Francesco, in the houses of the Traversari, and in the church ofPrato, and at Rimini, in the public palace, in the houses of theMalatesti, and in other buildings which are much worse than the oldbuildings erected in Tuscany at the same time; and what is here saidof the Romagna, may be repeated with even more truth of a part ofLombardy. It is only necessary to see the Duomo of Ferrara and theother buildings erected for the Marquis Azzo, to perceive at once howdifferent they are from the Santo of Padua, built from Niccola'smodel, and from the church of the friars minors at Venice, both ofthem magnificent and famous buildings. 

In Niccola's day there were many moved by a laudable spirit ofemulation, who applied themselves more diligently to sculpture thanthey had done before, especially in Milan, where many Lombards andGermans were gathered for the building of the Duomo. These wereafterwards scattered throughout Italy by the dissensions which arosebetween the Milanese and the Emperor Frederick. They then began tocompete among themselves, both in carving marble and in erectingbuildings, and produced works of some amount of excellence. The samething happened in Florence after the works of Arnolfo and Niccolawere seen. The latter, while the little church of the Misericordia onthe piazza S. Giovanni was being built after his designs, carved amarble statue of Our Lady with St Domenic and another saint on eitherside, which may still be seen on the façade of that church. It wasalso in Niccola's time that the Florentines began to demolish manytowers, erected previously in a rude style in order that the peopleshould suffer less by their means in the frequent collisions betweenthe Guelphs and Ghibellines, or for the greater security of thecommonweal. One of these, the tower of Guardamorto, situated on thepiazza S; Giovanni, presented unusual difficulty to those who wishedto destroy it because the walls were so well knit that the stonescould not be removed with the pickaxe, and also because the tower wasa very high one. Niccola, however, caused a piece to be cut out ofone of the sides of the tower and closed the gap with woodensupports, a braccia and a half long, he then set fire to the props, and so soon as these were consumed the tower fell down and wastotally destroyed. The idea seemed so ingenious and so well adaptedfor such emergencies, that it afterwards came into general use, sothat whenever it was necessary to destroy a building, the task wasspeedily accomplished in this most facile manner. 

Niccola was present when the foundations of the Duomo of Siena werelaid, and he designed the Church of S. Giovanni in that city. He wentback to Florence in the year of the return of the Guelphs, anddesigned the church of S. Trinita, and the women's convent at Faenza, pulled down in recent years to make the citadel. Being subsequentlysummoned to Naples, and not wishing to abandon his enterprises inTuscany, he sent thither his pupil Maglione, sculptor and architect, who in the time of Conrad afterwards built the church of S. Lorenzoat Naples, finished a part of the Vescorado, and made some tombsthere, in which he closely imitated the manner of his master, Niccola. In the meantime Niccola went to Volterra, in the year thatthe people of that place came under the dominion of the Florentines(1254), in response to a summons, because they wished him to enlargetheir Duomo, which was small; and although it was very irregular, heimproved its appearance, and made it more magnificent than it wasoriginally. Then at length he returned to Pisa and made the marblepulpit of S. Giovanni, devoting all his skill to it, so that he mightleave a memory of himself in his native place. Among other things init he carved the Last Judgment, filling it with a number of figures, and if they are not perfectly designed they are at any rate executedwith patience and diligence, as may be seen; and because heconsidered that he had completed a work which was worthy of praise, as indeed he had, he carved the following lines at the foot:

 "Anno milleno bis centum bisque trideno. Hoc opus insigne sculpsit Nicola Pisanus. "

The people of Siena, moved by the fame of this work, which greatlydelighted not only the Pisans, but whoever saw it, assigned toNiccola the task of making for their Duomo the pulpit from which thegospel is sung, at the time when Guglielmo Mariscotti was praetor. Inthis Niccola introduced a number of subjects from the life of JesusChrist, especially remarkable for the figures which they contain, which stand out in high relief, all but severed from the background, a work of great difficulty. He likewise designed the church andconvent of S. Domenico at Arezzo, for the lords of Pietramela whobuilt it, and at the request of the bishop Ubertini he restored thePieve of Cortona, and founded the church of S. Margherita for thefriars of St Francis, on the highest ground in that city. The fame ofNiccola was continually on the increase, owing to these works, sothat in 1267 he was invited by Pope Clement IV. To Viterbo, where, among many other things he restored the church and convent of theFriars Preachers. From Viterbo he went to Naples to King Charles, whohaving defeated and slain Curradino on the plain of Tagliacozzo, founded a wealthy church and abbey on the spot, for the burial-placeof the large number of men who had fallen on that day, ordaining thatprayers should be offered for their souls both day and night by manymonks. King Charles was so delighted with the work of Niccola in thisbuilding that he loaded him with honours and rewards. On the way backfrom Naples to Tuscany Niccola stayed to take part in the building ofS. Maria at Orvieto, where he worked in the company of some Germans, making figures in high relief in marble for the front of that church, and more particularly a Last Judgment, comprising both Paradise andHell; and as he took the greatest pains to render the souls of theblessed in Paradise as beautifully as he possibly could, so heintroduced into his Hell the most fantastic shape of devilsimaginable, all intent on tormenting the souls of the damned. In thiswork not only did he surpass the Germans who were working there, buteven himself, to his great glory, and because he introduced a greatnumber of figures and spared no pains, it has been praised even toour own day by those whose judgment does not extend beyond suchcircumstances. 

Among other children Niccola had a son called Giovanni, who wasalways with his father, and under his care learned both sculpture andarchitecture, so that in the course of a few years he became not onlythe equal of his father, but his superior in some things. Thus, asNiccola was already old, he withdrew to Pisa and lived quietly there, leaving the control of everything to his son. At the death in Perugiaof Pope Urban IV. , Giovanni was sent for to make the tomb, which heexecuted in marble; but it was afterwards thrown down, together withthat of Pope Martin IV. , when the Perugians enlarged their Vescovado, so that only a few remains may be seen to-day dispersed about thechurch. At the same time the Perugians, thanks to the skill andindustry of a friar of the Silvestrini, had brought to their cityfrom the hill of Pacciano, two miles away, an abundance of water. Theornamentation of the fountain in both bronze and marble was entrustedto Giovanni, so that he thereupon set his hand to the work, makingthree basins, one above the other, two in marble and one in bronze. The first is placed at the top of a flight of steps of twelve faces, the second rests on some pillars which rise from the centre of thefirst, while the third, which is of bronze, is supported by threefigures; and in the middle are griffins, also of bronze, which throwout water on every side. And as Giovanni considered that he hadexecuted an excellent piece of work, he put his name to it. Thearches and conduits of this fountain, which cost 160, 000 gold ducats, were found to be very much worn and broken about the year 1560, butVincenzio Danti, sculptor of Perugia, contrived a means, to his greatglory, of bringing water to the fountain in the original way, withoutrebuilding the arches, which would have been very costly. When thework was finished Giovanni felt anxious to return to see his oldfather, who was sick, and he set out from Perugia intending to returnto Pisa; but on his way through Florence he was compelled to staythere, to assist with others at the mills of the Arno, which werebeing made at S. Gregorio, near the piazza dei Mozzi. But at lengthreceiving word that his father Niccola was dead, he departed forPisa, where he was received with great honour by all the city, onaccount of his worth, since everyone rejoiced that although Niccolawas lost to them, yet they still possessed Giovanni, who inheritedhis father's ability as well as his property. Nor were they deceivedin him when the time of testing arrived, for when it was necessary todo some few things for the tiny but highly-ornate church of S. Mariadella Spina, the task was entrusted to Giovanni. He therefore put hishand to the work and brought the ornamentation of that oratory to thestate of perfection which it possesses to-day, the more so as heintroduced the portrait of Niccola, taken from life, executed to thebest of his ability. When the Pisans had seen this they decided toentrust him the construction of the Campo Santo, which is against thepiazza del Duomo towards the walls, as they had long desired andtalked of having a place for the burial of all their dead, bothgentle and simple, so that the Duomo should not be filled with tombs, or for other reasons. Thus Giovanni with good designs and greatjudgment erected the building as we now see it, in style, size, andmarble ornamentation, and as no expense was spared, it was roofedwith lead. On the outside of the principle entrance may be readthese words, carved in the marble:

 "A. D. MCCLXXVIII. Tempore Domini Federigi archiepiscopi Pisani, et Domini Terlati potestatis operario Orlando Sardella, Johanne magistro aedificante. "

In the completion of this work, 1283, Giovanni went to Naples, wherehe erected the Castel Nuovo for King Charles; and in order to enlargeit and add to its strength, he was compelled to pull down a number ofhouses and churches, among them a convent of the friars of StFrancis, which was afterwards rebuilt on a larger and grander scaleat some distance from the castle, with the title of S. Maria dellaNuova. After these building had been set on foot and were welladvanced, Giovanni left Naples to return to Tuscany, but when hereached Siena he was not allowed to go farther, but was induced todesign the façade of the Duomo of that city, which was subsequentlyerected from his plans in a very rich and magnificent style. In thefollowing year, 1286, while the bishop's palace at Arezzo was beingbuilt from the design of Margaritone, architect of Arezzo, Giovanniwas fetched from Sienna to that city by Guglielmo Ubertini, thebishop there. He there executed in marble the table of the highaltar, full of figures cut in relief of leaves and other ornaments, dividing the work into compartments by fine mosaics and enamels onsilver plates, fixed into the marble with great care. In the midst isOur Lady with the child at her neck, and on one side of her is StGregory the Pope (which is a portrait of Pope Honorius IV. Drawn fromlife), and on the other side St Donato, the bishop and protector ofthat city, whose body, with those of St Antilia and other saints, rest under that same altar. And as the altar stands out by itself, the sides are decorated with small representations in bas-relief fromthe life of St Donato, and the work is crowned with a series ofniches, full of marble figures in relief, of exquisite workmanship. On the Madonna's breast is an ornament shaped like a gold casket, containing, if report be true, jewels of great value, although it isbelieved that they, as well as some other small figures on the topand about the work, were taken away by the soldiers, who do not oftenrespect the even most Holy Sacrament. On these works the Aretinesexpended 30, 000 florins, as is found in some records. Nor does thisappear impossible, because at that time it was considered to be athing of the most precious and rare description, so that whenFrederick Barbarossa returned from his coronation at Rome, and waspassing through Arezzo many years after its completion, he praisedand admired it infinitely, and indeed with good cause, since thejoints are constructed of tiny pieces so excellently weldedtogether, that to an inexperienced eye, the whole work seems to bemade in one piece. In the same church Giovanni made the chapel of theUbertini, a noble family, and lords of a castle, as they still are, though they were formerly of greater estate. He adorned this withmany marble ornaments, which are to-day covered over by many largeornaments of stone, placed there in the year 1535, after plans byGiorgio Vasari, for the support of an organ of extraordinaryexcellence and beauty which rests upon them. Giovanni Pisano alsodesigned the church of S. Maria dei Servi, which has been destroyedin our day, together with many palaces of the noblest families of thecity, for the reasons mentioned above. I must not omit to note thatin the construction of the marble altar Giovanni was assisted by someGermans, who associated with him, rather for the sake of learning theart, than for gain, and who profited so much by his instruction, thatwhen they went to Rome, after the completion of that work, theyserved Pope Boniface VIII. In many works of sculpture executed for StPeter's, and also in architecture, when he made Civita Castellana. They were, moreover, sent by that Pope to S. Maria at Orvieto, wherethey made a number of marble figures for the façade of the church, which were very tolerable for those times. But among the others whoassisted Giovanni in his undertakings for the Vescovado at Arezzo, were Agostino and Agnolo, sculptors and architects of Siena, who farsurpassed all the others, as will be said in the proper place. Butto return to Giovanni. When he left Orvieto he came to Florence tosee Arnolfo's building of S. Maria del Fiore, and also to see Giotto, of whom he had heard a great deal elsewhere; but no sooner had hearrived in Florence than he was appointed by the intendants of thefabric of S. Maria del Fiore to make the Madonna, which standsbetween two small angels above the door of that church, which leadsinto the canons' quarters, a work much praised at the time. He nextmade the small font for S. Giovanni, containing representations fromthe life of that saint in half-relief. Proceeding thence to Bolognahe directed the construction of the principal chapel of the church ofSt Domenico, in which he was also commissioned to make the marblealtar by Teodorico Borgognoni of Lucca, then bishop, a friar of thatorder. Later on (1298), in the same place, he made the marble tablein which are Our Lady and eight other figures, all of very tolerableworkmanship. In the year 1300, when Niccola da Prato was at Florenceas cardinal legate of the Pope, for the purpose of settling thediscords among the Florentines, he caused Giovanni to build a nunneryfor him at Prato, which was called S. Niccola after him, and in thesame district he made him restore the convent of S. Domenico, as wellas that of Pistoia, in both of which the arms of that cardinal maystill be seen. And since the Pistolese held the name of Niccola, Giovanni's father, in great respect, because he had displayed histalents in that city, they commissioned Giovanni to make a marblepulpit for the church of S. Andrea, similar to that which he had madefor the Duomo of Siena, and in competition with one which had beenmade shortly before for the church of S. Giovanni Evangelista by aGerman, which had been much praised. Giovanni finished his task infour years, dividing the work into four subjects from the life ofJesus Christ, and further introducing a Last Judgment, working withthe utmost diligence in order to equal, and perhaps surpass, thatcelebrated pulpit of Orvieto. About the pulpit above some columnswhich support it and in the architrave he carved the following lines, since he thought that he had completed a great and beautiful work, asindeed he had, considering the attainments of the age:

 Hoc opus sculpsit Johannes, qui res non egit inanes. Nicoli natus . . . Meliora beatus Quam genuit Pisa, doctum super omnia visa. 

At the same time Giovanni made the holy water vessel in marble forthe same church of S. Giovanni Evangelista, borne by three figures, Temperance, Prudence and Justice, and as it was then considered awork of great beauty, it was placed in the middle of the church as aremarkable object. Before he left Pistoia he made the model for thecampanile of S. Jacopo, the principal church of the city, althoughthe work was not then begun. The tower is situated beside the churchin the piazza of S. Jacopo, and bears the date A. D. 1301. On thedeath of Pope Benedict IX. At. Perugia, Giovanni was sent for to makehis tomb, which he executed in marble in the old church of S. Domenico of the Friars Preachers, placing the Pope's effigy, takenfrom life, and in his pontifical habit, upon the sarcophagus with twoangels holding a curtain, one on either side, and Our Lady above, between two saints, executed in relief, as well as many otherornaments carved on the tomb. Similarly in the new church of the sameorder he made the tomb of M. Niccolo Guidalotti of Perugia, bishop ofRecanati, who was the founder of the new University of Perugia. Inthis same new church, which had been previously founded by others, hedirected the construction of the principal nave, and this part of thebuilding was much more securely founded than the rest, which leansover to one side, and threatens to fall down, owing to the faultylaying of the foundations. And in truth he who undertakes to build orperform any things of importance ought always to take the advice, notof those who know little, but of those most competent to help him, sothat he may not afterwards have to repent with loss and shame that hewas ill-directed when he was in most need of assistance. 

When he had completed his labours in Perugia, Giovanni wished to goto Rome to learn from the few antique things there, as his father haddone, but being hindered by good reasons, he was never able to fulfilhis desire, chiefly because he heard that the court had just gone toAvignon. So he returned to Pisa, where Nello di Giovanni Falconi, craftsman, entrusted to him the great pulpit of the Duomo, which isfixed to the choir on the right hand side as one approaches the highaltar. He set to work on this, and on a number of figures in fullrelief, three braccia high, which he intended to use for it, andlittle by little he brought it to its present form, resting in parton the said figures and in part upon lions, while on the sides herepresented scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. It is truly a sinthat so much money, such diligence and labour should not beaccompanied by good design, and that it should lack that perfection, invention, grace, and good style which any work of our own day wouldpossess, even were it executed at much less cost and with lessdifficulty. Yet it must have excited no small admiration among themen of the time, who had only been accustomed to see the rudestproductions. It was finished in the year 1320, as appears in certainlines which run round the pulpit and read thus:

 "Laudo Deum verum, per quem sunt optima rerum Qui dedit has puras homini formate figuras; Hoc opus, his annis Domini sculpsere Johannis Arte manus sole quandam, natique Nicole. Cursis undenis tercentum milleque plenis. "

There are thirteen other lines, which I do not write here, because Ido not wish to weary the reader, and because these are sufficient toshow not only that the pulpit is by the hand of Giovanni, but thatthe men of that time were alike in their shortcomings. A Madonnabetween St John the Baptist and another saint may be seen over theprincipal of the door of the Duomo; it is in marble, and by the handof Giovanni, and the figure kneeling at her feet is said to be PieroGambacorti, the warden. However this may be, the following words arecut in the pedestal, on which the image of Our Lady stands:

 "Sub Petri cura haec pia fuit scutpta figura Nicoli nato sculptore Johanne vocato. "

Moreover there is another marble Madonna, by Giovanni, over the sidedoor, which is opposite the campanile, while on one side of her kneela lady and two children, representing Pisa, and on the other side theEmperor Henry. On the base are these words:

 Ave gratia plena, Dominus teum, and then--

 Nobilis arte manus sculpsit Johannes Pisanus Sculpsit sub Burgundio Tadi benigno. 

And about the base of Pisa:

 Virginis ancilla sum Pisa quieta sub illa, and about the base of Henry:

 Imperat Henricus qui Cliristo fertur amicus. 

In the old Pieve at Prato, beneath the altar of the principal chapel, was preserved for many years the girdle of Our Lady, which Michele daPrato had brought back with him from the Holy Land, and had depositedit with Uberto, provost of the church, who laid it in the said place, where it was always held in great veneration. In the year 1312 anattempt to steal it was made by a native of Prato, a man of a mostevil life, another Ser Ciappelletto, but he was discovered and put todeath for sacrilege. Moved by this deed, the people of Prato proposedto make a strong and suitable receptacle in which the girdle shouldbe kept with greater security, and sent for Giovanni, who was now anold man. Acting upon his advice, they constructed the chapel in theprincipal church, where Our Lady's girdle now reposes. They thengreatly increased their church also from his plans, and incrustedboth the church and the campanile with white and black marble on theoutside, as may be seen. At length Giovanni died at a ripe old age inthe year 1320, after having completed many works in sculpture andarchitecture besides those which are mentioned here. And in truth agreat debt is due to him and to Niccola his father, since in an agewhich lacked every element of good design, in the midst of all thedarkness they threw so much light on those arts in which they werereally excellent. 

Giovanni was honourably buried in the Campo Santo, in the same tombin which his father Niccola was laid. Many disciples of hisflourished after him, but especially Lino, sculptor and architect ofSiena, who made the chapel which contains the body of St Ranieri inthe Duomo of Pisa, richly decorated with marble; and also thebaptismal font of that cathedral which bears his name. Let no onemarvel that Niccola and Giovanni executed so many works, for besidesthe fact that they lived to a good age, they were the foremostmasters in Europe of their time, so that nothing of importance wasundertaken without their taking part in it, as may be seen in manyinscriptions besides those which have been quoted. Whilst speaking ofthese two sculptors and architects, I have often referred to Pisa, sothat I do not hesitate at this stage to quote some words written onthe pedestal of a vase mounted on a column of porphyry and supportedby a lion, which is situated on the steps of the new hospital there. They are as follows:

"This is the talent which the Emperor Cĉesar gave to Pisa, to theintent that the tribute which they rendered to him should beregulated thereby. The talent was set upon this column and lion inthe time of Giovanni Rosso, master of the work of S. Maria Maggiore, Pisa, A. D. MCCCXIII. , the second Indiction, in March. "

Andrea Tafi, Florentine Painter. 

Just as the works of Cimabue excited no small amount of wonder in themen of that time, since he introduced a better design and form intothe art of painting, whereas they had only been accustomed to seethings executed on the Byzantine style, so the mosaics of AndreaTafi, who was a contemporary, were much admired and even considereddivine, for the people of that day, who had not been used to seeanything different did not think that it was possible to producebetter works in that art. But in truth, as he was not the mostcapable man in the world, and having reflected that working in mosaicwas more valued on account of its greater durability, be leftFlorence for Venice, where some Greek painters were working in mosaicat S. Marco. There he formed a close intimacy with them, and by dintof persuasion, money, and promises he at length contrived to bring toFlorence Master Apollonio, a Greek painter, who taught him how tobake the glass of the mosaic, and how to make the cement in which tofix it. With him Andrea worked at the tribune of S. Giovanni, doingthe upper part which contains the Dominions, Principalities, andPowers. Afterwards when he had gained more experience, he did theChrist which is in the same church above the principal chapel as willbe related below. But as I have mentioned S. Giovanni, I will takethis opportunity of saying that that ancient sanctuary is incrustedboth within and without with marbles of the Corinthian order, and notonly is it perfectly proportioned and finished in all its parts, butmost beautifully adorned with doors and windows. Each face issupplied with two columns of granite, 11 braccia high, forming threecompartments, above which are the architraves, which rest on thecolumns, to carry the whole weight of the double roof, which ispraised by modern architects as a remarkable thing, and justly, because this church helped to demonstrate to Filippo di SerBrunellesco, Donatello, and the other masters of their time whatpossibilities there were in that art. They all studied architecturefrom this building and from the church of S. Apostolo at Florence, awork of such a good style that it approaches the true antique, since, as I have said before, all the columns are measured and arranged withsuch care that much may be learned from a careful examination of theentire structure. But I will refrain from saying more about the goodarchitecture of this church, though much might be added to whatprecedes, and I will content myself by saying that those who rebuiltthe marble façade of the church of S. Miniato del Monte, deviatedwidely from this model and from this excellent style. This work wascarried out in honour of the conversion of the blessed GiovanniGualberto, citizen of Florence and founder of the congregation of themonks of Vallombrosa, because these and many other works erectedafterwards are not to be compared for excellence to those twobuildings. The art of sculpture experienced a similar fate becauseall the masters of the time who were then working in Italy, as hasbeen said in the preface to the lives, were very rude. This may beseen in many places, but especially in S. Bartolommeo of the regularcanons at Pistoia where there is a pulpit very rudely executed byGuido da Como, containing the beginning of the life of Jesus Christ, with these words inscribed there by the artist himself in the year1199:

 "Sculptor laudatur, quod doctus in arte probatur, Guido da Como me cunctis carmine promo. "

But to return to S. Giovanni, I pass by the history of its foundationbecause that has been written by Giovanni Villani and other authors, and, as I have already remarked that the good architecture in useto-day is derived from that building, I will now add that, to judgeby appearances, the tribune is of a later date. At the time whenAlesso Baldovinetti, succeeding the Florentine painter Lippo, repaired the mosaics it appeared as if it had anciently been paintedin red, the designs being executed on the stucco. Now Andrea Tafi andApollonius the Greek, in their scheme for the decoration of thetribune, divided it into compartments. Starting from the top of thevault next to the lantern these became gradually larger until theyreached the cornice below. The upper part is divided into ringsrepresenting various subjects. The first contains all the ministersand performers of the Divine will, such as the Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Dominions, Principalities, Powers. The second, inwhich the mosaics are executed in the Byzantine style, are theprincipal acts of God from the creation of light to the flood. Thecircle underneath this which descends with increased space to theeight faces of the tribune contains the history of Joseph and histwelve brethren. These are followed by other spaces of the same sizeand a like situation containing the life of Jesus Christ in mosaicfrom the Conception of Mary to the Ascension. Next, following thesame order, under the three friezes, is the life of St John theBaptist, beginning with the apparition of the angel to Zacharias thepriest and continuing to John's beheading and the burial of his bodyby the disciples. All these things are rude, without design andwithout art, and they are no advance upon the Byzantine style of thetime so that I cannot praise them absolutely, though they merit somecommendation, when one considers the methods in use at the time andthe imperfect state in which pictorial art then was. Besides, thework is sound and the pieces of mosaic are very well set. In short, the latter part of the work is much better or rather less bad than isthe beginning, although the whole, when compared with the worksof to-day rather excites laughter than pleasure or admiration. Ultimately Andrea made the Christ, 7 braccia high, for the tribune onthe wall of the principal chapel, which may be seen there to-day, andthis he did by himself without the aid of Apollonio, to his greatglory. Having become famous throughout Italy by these works and beingreputed excellent in his own land, he received the richest honoursand rewards. It was certainly a great good fortune for Andrea to beborn at a time when only rude works were produced, so that thingswhich should have been considered of very slight account or evenworthless, were held in reasonable repute. The same thing happenedto fra Jacopo da Turrita, of the order of St Francis, who receivedextraordinary rewards for the mosaics which he executed for thesmall choir behind the altar of S. Giovanni, although they deservedlittle praise, and he was afterwards invited to Rome as a greatmaster, where he was employed on some works in the chapel of the highaltar of S. Giovanni Lateram and in that of S. Maria Maggiore. He wasnext invited to Pisa, where he did the Evangelists and other thingswhich are in the principal tribune of the Duomo, in the same style asthe other things which he executed, although he was assisted byAndrea Tafi and Gaddo Gaddi. These were finished by Vicino, forJacopo left them in a very imperfect state. The works of thesemasters obtained credit for some time, but when the productions ofAndrea, Cimabue, and the rest had to bear comparison with those ofGiotto, as will be said when the time comes, people came to recognisein which direction perfection in art lay, for they saw how great adifference there was between the first manner of Cimabue and that ofGiotto in the delineation of figures, a difference equally stronglymarked in the case of their pupils and imitators. From this timeothers gradually sought to follow in the footsteps of the bettermasters, surpassing each other more and more every day, so that artrose from these humble beginnings to that summit of perfection towhich it has attained to-day. Andrea lived eighty-one years and diedbefore Cimabue in 1294. The reputation and honour which he won by hismosaics, because it was he who had first brought to Tuscany thebetter manner of executing and who had taught it to the men of thatprovince, led to the execution of the excellent works in that art byGaddo Gaddi, Giotto, and the rest, which have brought them fame andimmortality. After Andrea's death his merits were magnified in thefollowing inscription:

 Here lies Andrea, who produced graceful and beautiful works In all Tuscany. Now he has gone. To adorn the realm of the stars. 

Buonamico Buffalmacco was a pupil of Andrea, and played many prankson him when a youth. From his master Buonamico had the portraits ofPope Celestine IV. And Innocent IV. , both of which he afterwardsintroduced in the paintings which he made in S. Paolo a Ripa d'Arnoat Pisa. Another pupil was Antonio di Andrea Tafi, who may possiblyhave been his son. He was a fair painter, but I have not been able tofind any works by his hand, and there is nothing beyond a baremention of him in the old book of the company of artists in design. 

But Andrea Tafi deserves a high place among the old masters, because, although he learned the principles of mosaic from the craftsman whomhe brought from Venice to Florence, yet he introduced suchimprovements into the art, uniting the pieces with great care, andmaking his surfaces as smooth as a table (a very important thing inmosaics), that he prepared the way for Giotto among others, as willbe said in that artist's life; and not for Giotto alone, but for allthose who have since practised this branch of pictorial art to ourown day. Thus it may be asserted with perfect truth that themarvellous works in mosaic, which are now being carried out in S. Marco, at Venice, owe their origin to Andrea Tafi. 

Gaddo Gaddi, Florentine Painter. 

Gaddo, painter of Florence, who flourished at this same time, showedmore design in the works which he produced in the Byzantine style, and which he executed with great care, than did Andrea Tafi and theother painters who preceded him. This was possibly due to his closefriendship and intercourse with Cimabue, for, whether it was throughcongeniality of disposition or through the goodness of their hearts, they became very much attached to each other, and their frequentconversations together, and their friendly discussions upon thedifficulties of the arts, gave rise to many great and beautiful ideasin their minds. This came to pass the more readily, because they wereaided by the quality of the air of Florence, which usually producesingenious and subtle spirits, and which made them strangers to thatruggedness and coarseness from which Nature cannot entirely freeherself even when assisted by the rivalry of the good craftsmen andthe precepts laid down by them in every age. It is, indeed, abundantly clear that, when things have been talked over in afriendly way, without any reserve of convention, although this rarelyhappens, they may be brought to a great state of perfection. The sameremark applies to those who study the sciences; for, by discussingdifficulties among themselves when they arise, they remove them, rendering the path so clear and easy, that the greatest glory may bewon thereby. But, on the other hand, there are some who, withdevilish arts, and led by envy and malice, make profession offriendship under the guise of truth and affection, give the mostpernicious advice, so that the arts do not attain to excellence sosoon as they do where the minds of noble spirits are united by such abond of love as that which drew together Gaddo and Cimabue, and, inlike manner, Andrea Tafi and Gaddo. It was Andrea who took Gaddo intohis companionship to finish the mosaics of S. Giovanni. Here Gaddolearned so much, that he was able, without assistance, to make theprophets, which may be seen round the walls of that sanctuary, in thesquares under the windows; and, as he executed these unaided and in amuch improved style, they brought him great renown. Encouraged bythis, he prepared himself to work alone, and devoted himselfconstantly to the study of the Byzantine style, combined with that ofCimabue. By such means, it was not long before he became an excellentartist; so that the wardens of S. Maria del Fiore entrusted to himthe semi-circular space within the building above the principalentrance, where he introduced a Coronation of the Virgin, in mosaic. Upon its completion, it was pronounced by all the foreign and nativemasters to be the finest work of its kind that had yet been seen inItaly, for they recognised that it possessed more design and morejudgment, and displayed the results of more study, than were to befound in all the remaining works in mosaic then in existence in thepeninsula. Thus, his fame being spread abroad by this work, he wassummoned to Rome by Clement V. In the year 1308, --that is to say, inthe year following the great fire, in which the church and palaces ofthe Lateran were destroyed. There he completed for the Pope someworks in mosaic, which had been left unfinished by Jacopo da Turrita. 

His next work, also in mosaic, was in the church of St Peter's, wherehe executed some things in the principal chapel and for other partsof the church; but especially a God the Father, of large size withmany figures, which he did for the façade. He also assisted in thecompletion of some mosaics on the façade of S. Maria Maggiore, somewhat improving the style, and departing slightly from theByzantine manner, which was entirely devoid of merit. On his returnto Tuscany, he did some work in mosaic for the Tarlati, lords ofPietramala, in the old Duomo, outside Arezzo, in a vault entirelyconstructed of spungite. He covered the middle part of thisbuilding with mosaics; but the church fell down in the time of BishopGentile Urbinate, because the old stone vaulting was too heavy forit, and it was afterwards rebuilt in brick by that bishop. On hisdeparture from Arezzo, Gaddo went to Pisa, where he made, for a nichein the chapel of the Incoronata in the Duomo, the Ascension of OurLady into Heaven, where Jesus Christ is awaiting her, with a richlyappareled throne for her seat. This work was executed so well and socarefully for the time, that it is in an excellent state ofpreservation to-day. After this, Gaddo returned to Florence, intending to rest. Accordingly he amused himself in making some smallmosaics, some of which are composed of egg-shells, with incrediblediligence and patience, and a few of them, which are in the church ofS. Giovanni at Florence, may still be seen. It is related that hemade two of these for King Robert, but nothing more is known of thematter. This much must suffice for the mosaics of Gaddo Gaddi. Ofpictures he painted a great number, among them that which is on thescreen of the chapel of the Minerbetti in S. Maria Novella, and manyothers sent to different places in Tuscany. Thus, by producing nowmosaics and now paintings, he executed many very tolerable works inboth mediums, which will always assure him good credit andreputation. There is a great deal more which I might say about Gaddo, but I will pass it over in silence, because the manner of thepainters of those days cannot be of great assistance to artists; andI shall dwell at greater length upon the lives of those who may be ofsome help, because they introduced improvements into the art. 

Gaddo lived seventy-three years, and died in 1312. He was honourablyburied in S. Croce by his son Taddeo. This Taddeo, who had Giotto forhis godfather, was the only one of all Gaddo's children who became apainter, learning the rudiments of the art from his father and therest from Giotto. Besides Taddeo, a Pisan painter named Vicino wasalso a pupil of Gaddo. He did some excellent work in mosaic for thegreat tribune of the Duomo of Pisa, where the following words stilltestify to his authorship:

 "Tempore Domini Johannis Rossi operarii istius ecclesiĉ, Vicinus pictor incepit et perfecit hanc imaginem B. Mariĉ, sed Majestatis, et Evangelistae per alios inceptĉ, ipse complevit et perfecit. Anno Domini 1321. De mense Septembris. Benedictum sit nomen Domini Dei nostri Jesu Christi. Amen. "

The portrait of Gaddo, by the hand of Taddeo his son, may be seen inthe Baroncelli chapel in the church of S. Croce, where he stands bythe side of Andrea Tafi, in the marriage of the Virgin. In the book, which I have mentioned above, there is a miniature by Gaddo, likethose of Cimabue, and which serves to show his ability as adraughtsman. 

Now, because an old book from which I have extracted these fewnotices about Gaddo Gaddi, speaks of the building of the church of S. Maria Novella in Florence for the Friars Preachers, a trulymagnificent and imposing structure, I will take this opportunity ofrelating the circumstances of its erection. While St Dominic was atBologna, the place of Ripoli outside Florence was granted to him. Accordingly he sent twelve friars thither under the care of theblessed Giovanni da Salerno. Not many years after they came toFlorence, to the church and place of S. Pancrazio, and establishedthemselves there. When Dominic himself came to Florence they left it, and went to stay in the church of S. Paolo, as he wished them to do. Subsequently when the place of S. Maria Novella and all itspossessions were granted to Blessed Giovanni by the papal legate andby the bishop of the city, they entered into possession and began tolive in that place on the last day of October 1221. But as thischurch was rather small, with a western aspect and the entrance onthe old piazza, the friars, who had increased in numbers and who werein great credit in the city, began to think of enlarging their churchand convent. So, having collected a great sum of money, and manypeople of the city having promised every assistance, they began theconstruction of a new church on St Luke's day, 1278, when the firststone was laid with great ceremony by the Cardinal Latino degliOrsini, legate of Pope Nicholas III. To the Florentines. Thearchitects of the church were fra Giovanni of Florence, and fraRistoro of Campi, lay brethren of the order, who had restored theponte alia Carraia, and that of S. Trinita, after their destructionby the flood of October 1264. The greater part of the land covered bythe church and convent was given to the friars by the heirs of M. Jacopo, de' Tornaquinci knight. The cost, as has been said, wasdefrayed partly by alms, partly by the money of various persons whogave assistance readily, but especially by the good offices of friarAldobrandino Cavalcanti, who was, afterwards bishop of Arezzo, andwho is buried over the gate of the Virgin. Besides other things thisfriar is said to have collected by his industry all the labour andmaterials required for the church. It was completed when fra JacopoPassavanti was prior of the convent, who thus deserved his marbletomb which is on the left hand side in front of the principal chapel. The church was consecrated by Pope Martin V. In the year 1470, asappears by an inscription on marble on a pillar on the right of theprincipal chapel, which runs:

 Anno Domini 1420 die Septembris, Dominus Martinus divina providentia Papa V personaliter hanc ecclesiam consecravit, et magnas indulgentias contulit visitantibus eamdem. 

All these things and many more are related in a chronicle of thebuilding of this church, which is in the possession of the fathers ofS. Maria Novella, as well as in the history of Giovanni Villani. Idid not wish to omit these few particulars, because the church is oneof the finest and most important in Florence, and also because itcontains many excellent works of the most famous artists of a latertime, as will be related hereafter. 

Margaritone, Painter, Sculptor and Architect of Arezzo. 

Among the other painters of old time, in whom the well-deservedpraise accorded to Cimabue and his pupil Giotto aroused a great dealof fear, for their good workmanship in painting was hailed throughoutItaly, was one Margaritone, painter of Arezzo, who recognised equallywell with the others who previously occupied the foremost positionsin painting in that unhappy age, that the work of these two men wouldprobably all but obliterate his own reputation. Margaritone wasconsidered excellent among the painters of the age who worked in theByzantine style, and he did a number of pictures in tempera atArezzo. He worked in fresco also, painting almost the whole of thechurch of S. Clemente, an abbey of the order of the Camaldolites, butthese occupied him a long time and cost him much trouble. The churchis entirely destroyed to-day, together with many other buildings, including a strong fortress called S. Dementi, because the DukeCosimo de' Medici not only here, but round the whole circuit of thecity, pulled down many buildings and the old walls which had beenrestored by Guido Petramalesco, a former bishop and lord of the city, in order to reconstruct them with curtains and bastions much strongerand of less circuit than the former ones had been, and consequentlymore easy to defend with a smaller number of men. Margaritone'spictures in this church contained many figures both small and great, and although they were executed in the Byzantine style, yet they wereadmitted to show evidence of having been executed with good judgmentand with love of art, as may be inferred from the works of thispainter which are still extant in that city. Of these the principalis a picture, now in the chapel of the Conception in S. Francesco, representing a Madonna with modern ornamentation, which is held ingreat veneration by the friars there. In the same church he did alarge crucifix, also in the Byzantine style, which is now placed inthe chapel where the quarters of the superintendent are situated. TheSaviour is delineated upon the axes of the cross, and Margaritonemade many such crucifixes in that city. For the nuns of S. Margherita he painted a work which is now placed in the transept oftheir church. This is canvas stretched on a panel, containingsubjects from the life of Our Lady and of St John the Baptist insmall figures, executed in a much better style, and with morediligence and grace than the large ones. This work is noteworthy, notonly because the little figures in it are so carefully finished thatthey resemble the work of an illuminator, but because it is awonderful thing that a picture on canvas should have lasted threehundred years. He did an extraordinary number of pictures for all thecity, and a St Francis drawn from life at Sargiano, a convent of thebare-footed friars. To this he placed his name, because he consideredthat it was more than usually well done. He afterwards made a largecrucifix in wood, painted in the Byzantine manner, and sent it toFlorence to M. Farinata degli Uberti, a most famous citizen who, inaddition to many other notable exploits, had saved his native cityfrom imminent danger and ruin. This crucifix is now in S. Croce, between the chapel of the Peruzzi and that of the Giugni. In S. Domenico, at Arezzo, a church and convent built by the lords ofPietramela in the year 1275, as their coat of arms proves, he didmany things before returning to Rome, where he had already givengreat satisfaction to Pope Urban IV. By doing some things in frescofor him in the portico of St Peter's; for although in the Byzantinestyle of the time, they were not without merit. After he hadfinished a St Francis at Ganghereto, a place above Terranuova in theValdarno, he devoted himself to sculpture, as he was of an ambitiousspirit, and he studied with such diligence that he succeeded muchbetter than he had done in painting; for although his firstsculptures were in the Byzantine style, as may be seen in fourfigures in wood of a Deposition from the Cross in the Pieve, and someother figures in relief which are in the chapel of St Francis abovethe baptismal font, yet he adopted a much better manner after he hadvisited Florence and had seen the works of Arnolfo, and of the othermore celebrated sculptors of the time. In the year 1275 he returnedto Arezzo in the suite of Pope Gregory, who passed through Florenceon his journey from Avignon to Rome. Here an opportunity presenteditself to make himself better known, for the Pope died at Arezzoafter having given 30, 000 scudi to the Commune wherewith to finishthe building of the Vescovado which had been begun by Master Lapo, and had made but little progress. The Aretines therefore ordainedthat the chapel of St Gregory should be made in memory of the Pope inthe Vescovado, in which Margaritone afterwards placed a picture, andin addition that Margaritone should make a marble tomb for the Popein the Vescovado. He set to work upon the task and brought it to sucha successful completion, introducing the Pope's portrait from lifeboth in marble and in painting, that it was considered to be the bestwork which he had ever produced. 

Margaritone then set to work to complete the Vescovado, following thedesign of Lapo, and he displayed great activity; but he did notcomplete it, for a few years later, in 1289, war broke out againbetween the Florentines and Aretines, through the fault of GuglielmoUbertini, bishop and lord of Arezzo, aided by the Tarlati ofPietramela and by the Pazzi of Val d'Arno, when all the money left bythe Pope for the building of the Vescovado was expended upon the war, while evil befell the leaders, who were routed and slain atCampaldino. The Aretines then ordained that the tolls paid by thesurrounding country, called a _dazio_, should be set aside for theuse of the building, and this toll has lasted to our own day. Toreturn to Margaritone, he seems to have been the first, so far as onecan judge by his works, who thought it necessary to take precautions, when painting on wood, that the joints should be secure, so that nocracks or fissures should appear after the completion of thepainting, and it was his practice to cover the panel completely withcanvas, fastened on by a strong glue made of shreds of parchment andboiled in the fire; he then treated the surface with gypsum, as maybe seen in many of his own pictures and in those of others. Over thegypsum, thus mixed with the glue, he made lines and diadems and otherrounded ornaments in relief; and it was he who invented the method ofgrounding in bol-ar-moniac, on which he laid gold leaf which heafterwards burnished. All these things which had never been seenbefore may be noticed in his works, especially in an antependium inthe Pieve of Arezzo, which contains scenes from the life of StDonate, and also in S. Agnesa and S. Niccolo in the same city. 

Margaritone produced many works in his own country which were sentout of it, part of which were at Rome in S. Giovanni and in StPeter's, and some at S. Caterina at Pisa, where there is a StCatherine of his over an altar in the transept, containing many smallfigures in a representation of her life, and also a panel of StFrancis with many subjects from his life, on a gold ground. In theupper church of S. Francesco at Assisi is a crucifix by his handpainted in the Byzantine style, on a beam which spans the church. Allthese works were greatly prized by the people of the time, althoughthey are not valued to-day, except as being curious on account oftheir age; indeed they could only be considered good in an age whenart was not at its zenith, as it is to-day. Margaritone also paidsome attention to architecture, although I have not mentioned anythings made from his designs because they are of slight importance. However, I must not forget to say that he designed the palace of thegovernors of the city of Ancona, as I have found, in 1270, in theByzantine style; and what is more, he carved in sculpture eightwindows for the façade, each of which has two columns in the middle, which support two arches. Over each window is a representation inhalf relief, occupying the space between the arches and the top ofthe window, of an Old Testament subject, carved in a species of stonefound in the country. Under the windows and on the façade are someletters, the purport of which must be conjectured, so badly are theydone, which give the date and time at which the work was executed. The design of the church of S. Ciriaco at Ancona was also by hishand. Margaritone died at the age of seventy-seven, regretting, it issaid, that he had lived long enough to see the changes of the age andthe honours accorded to the new artists. He was buried in the oldDuomo of Arezzo, in a tomb of Travertine, which has been destroyed inour own time by the demolition of that church. The following epitaphwas written for him:

 Hic jacet ille bonus pictura Margaritonus, Cui requiem Dominus tradat uhique plus. 

Margaritone's portrait was in the old Duomo by the hand of Spinello, in the Adoration of the Magi, and was copied by me before the churchwas pulled down. 

Giotto, Painter, Sculptor, and Architect of Florence. 

The debt which painters owe to Nature, which serves continually as anexample to them, that from her they may select the best and finestparts for reproduction and imitation, is due also to the Florentinepainter, Giotto; because, when the methods and outlines of goodpainting had been buried for so many years under the ruins caused bywar, he alone, although born in the midst of unskilful artists, wasable, through God's gift in him, to endow art with a proper formafter it had been revived in a bad style. Certainly it was nothingshort of a miracle, in so gross and unskilful an age, that Giottoshould have worked to such purpose that design of which the men ofthe time had little or no conception, was revived to a vigorous lifeby his means. The birth of this great man took place in the year1276, fourteen miles from Florence, in the town of Vespignano, hisfather, who was a simple field labourer, being named Bondone. Hebrought up Giotto as well as his position in life allowed. When theboy had attained the age of ten years he exhibited, in all hischildish ways, an extraordinary quickness and readiness of mind, which made him a favourite, not only with his father, but with allwho knew him, both in the village and beyond it. Bondone then set himto watch a few sheep, and while he was following these from place toplace to find pasture, he was always drawing something from nature orrepresenting the fancies which came into his head, with a stone onthe ground or on sand, so much was he attracted to the art of designby his natural inclination. Thus one day when Cimabue was going onsome business from Florence to Vespignano, he came upon Giotto, who, while his sheep were grazing, was drawing one of them from life witha pointed piece of stone upon a smooth surface of rock, although hehad never had any master but nature. Cimabue stopped in amazement atthe sight, and asked the boy if he would like to come and stay withhim. Giotto replied he would go willingly if his father wouldconsent. Cimabue lost no time in finding Bondone, who joyfullyconsented and allowed his son to accompany Cimabue to Florence. After his arrival there, assisted by his natural talent and taught byCimabue, the boy not only equalled his master's style in a shorttime, but became such a good imitator of nature that he entirelyabandoned the rude Byzantine manner and revived the modern and goodstyle of painting, introducing the practice of making good portraitsof living persons, a thing which had not been in use for more thantwo hundred years. And although there were some few portraits made inthis manner, as has been said above, yet they had not been verysuccessful, nor were they nearly so well executed as those of Giotto. Among other portraits which he made, the chapel of the Podesta palaceat Florence still contains that of Dante Aligheri, his closecompanion and friend, no less famous as a poet than Giotto then wasas a painter. This poet has been warmly praised by M. GiovanniBoccaccio in the introduction to the story of M. Forese da Rabatta. In this same chapel Giotto has also painted his own portrait as wellas those of Ser Brunetto Latini, Dante's master, and M. Corso Donati, a famous citizen of the time. Giotto's first paintings were in thechapel of the high altar of the Badia at Florence, in which he made anumber of things which were considered beautiful, but especially anAnnunciation. In this he has represented with extraordinary truth thefear and astonishment of the Virgin Mary at the salutation ofGabriel, who, in her terror seems ready to run away. The picture ofthe high altar in the same chapel is also by Giotto's hand, and ithas continued to retain its position there, rather because of acertain reverence which is felt for the work of such a man than forany other reason. In S. Croce there are four chapels decorated by hishand, three between the sacristy and the principal chapel, and one onthe other side. In the first of these, that of M. Ridolfo de' Bardi, in which the bell ropes hang, is the life of St Francis, at whosedeath a number of friars exhibit the effect of weeping withconsiderable fidelity to nature. In the second, which is that of thefamily of the Peruzzi, are two subjects from the life of St John theBaptist, to whom the chapel is dedicated. Here is a very life-likerepresentation of the dancing of Herodias, and of the promptitudewith which some servants are performing the service of the table. Inthe same chapel are two miracles of St John the Evangelist, the onerepresenting the raising of Drusiana, the other his being caught upinto Heaven. The third chapel, that of the Giugni and dedicated tothe Apostles, contains representations by Giotto of the martyrdom ofmany of them. In the fourth, that of the Tosinghi and Spinelli, whichis on the north side of the church and is dedicated to the Assumptionof Our Lady, Giotto painted the Nativity of the Virgin, her marriage, the Annunciation, the adoration of the Magi, and the presentation ofthe Christ child to Simeon. This last is a most beautiful thing, fornot only is the warmest love depicted in the face of the old man ashe receives the Christ, but the action of the child, who is afraid ofhim and stretches out his arms to return to his mother, could not berepresented with more tenderness or greater beauty. In the Death ofOur Lady the Apostles are represented with a number of very beautifulangels. The Baroncelli chapel in the same church contains a paintingin tempera by Giotto's hand, in which he has represented with greatcare the coronation of Our Lady. It contains a very large number ofsmall figures and a choir of angels and saints, produced with greatdiligence. On this work he has written his name and the date in goldletters. Artists who reflect that at this time Giotto was laying thefoundations of the proper method of design and of colouring, unaidedby the advantages of seeing the light of the good style, will becompelled to hold him in the highest veneration. In the same churchof S. Croce there are in addition a crucifix above the marble tomb ofCarlo Marzuppini of Arezzo, Our Lady with St John and the Magdaleneat the foot of the cross, and opposite on the other side of thebuilding an Annunciation towards the high altar over the tomb ofLionardo Aretino, which has been restored by modern artists withgreat lack of judgment. In the refectory he has done the history ofSt Louis, a Last Supper, and a Tree of the Cross, while the pressesof the sacristy are decorated with some scenes from the lives ofChrist and of St Francis in small figures. At the church of theCarmine in the chapel of St John the Baptist he represented the wholeof that saint's life in several pictures; and in the Palazzo dellaparte Guelfa at Florence there is the history of the Christian faithpainted admirably by him in fresco, and containing the portrait ofPope Clement IV. , who founded that monastery to which he gave hisarms, retained by them ever since. 

After these works Giotto set out from Florence for Assisi in order tofinish what Cimabue had begun there. On his way through Arezzo hepainted the chapel of St Francis, which is above the baptistery inthe Pieve there, and a St Francis and a St Dominic, portraits fromlife, on a round pillar near to a most beautiful antique Corinthiancapital. In the Duomo outside Arezzo he decorated the interior of alarge chapel with the Stoning of St Stephen, an admirable compositionof figures. On completing these things he proceeded to Assisi, acity of Umbria, whither he was summoned by fra Giovanni di Muro dellaMarca, at that time general of the friars of St Francis. In the upperchurch of this town he painted a series of thirty-two frescoes of thelife of St Francis, under the corridor which traverses the windows, sixteen on each side, with such perfection that he acquired thehighest reputation thereby. In truth the work exhibits great variety, not only in the postures of the different figures, but in thecomposition of each subject, besides which it is very interesting tosee the various costumes of those times and certain imitations andobservations of Nature. One of the most beautiful of these representsa thirsty man, whose desire for water is represented in the mostlively manner as he kneels on the ground to drink from a spring, withsuch wonderful reality that one might imagine him to be a realperson. There are many other things most worthy of notice into whichI will not enter now, because I do not wish to be tedious. Let itsuffice to say that by these works Giotto acquired the highestreputation for the excellence of his figures, for his arrangement, sense of proportion, fidelity to Nature, and his innate facilitywhich he had greatly increased by study, while in addition to this henever failed to express his meaning clearly. Giotto indeed was not somuch the pupil of any human master as of Nature herself, for inaddition to his splendid natural gifts, he studied Nature diligently, arid was always contriving new things and borrowing ideas from her. 

When these works were completed Giotto painted in the lower church ofthe same place the upper part of the walls beside the high altar, andall four angles of the vaulting over the spot where the body of StFrancis lies, the whole displaying his beautiful and inventiveimagination. The first contains St Francis glorified in Heaven, surrounded by those Virtues which are required of those who wish tobe perfect in the sight of God. On the one side Obedience puts a yokeon the neck of a friar who kneels before her, the bands of which aredrawn by hands to Heaven. With one finger on her mouth she signifiessilence, and her eyes are turned towards Jesus Christ, who isshedding blood from his side. Beside her are Prudence and Humility toshow that where true obedience exists, there also will be humilityand prudence, causing everything to prosper. In the second angle isChastity, who will not allow herself to be won by the kingdoms, crowns, or palms which are being offered to her. At her feet standsPurity who is washing the naked, while Fortitude is bringing othersto be washed and cleansed. On one side of Chastity is Penitence, chasing a winged Love with the cord of discipline and putting toflight Uncleanness. Poverty occupies the third space, treading onthorns with her bare feet; behind her barks a dog, while a boy isthrowing stones at her and another is pushing thorns into her legswith a stick. Poverty here is espoused by St Francis, while JesusChrist holds her hand in the mystical presence of Hope and Chastity. In the fourth and last of these places is a St Francis in glory, clothed in the white tunic of a deacon, in triumph and surrounded bya multitude of angels who form a choir about him and hold a banner onwhich are a cross and seven stars, while over all is the Holy Spirit. In each of these angles are some Latin words explanatory of thesubject. Besides these four angles the paintings on the side wallsare most beautiful, and deserve to be highly valued both for theperfection which they exhibit and because they were produced withsuch skill that they are in an excellent state of preservationto-day. These paintings contain an excellent portrait of Giottohimself, and over the door of the sacristy is a fresco by his hand ofSt Francis receiving the stigmata, so full of tenderness and devotionthat it seems to me to be the most excellent painting that Giotto hasproduced here, though all are really beautiful and worthy of praise. 

When S. Francesco was at length finished Giotto returned to Florence, where he painted with extraordinary care, a picture of St Francis inthe fearful desert of Vernia, to be sent to Pisa. Besides a landscapefull of trees and rocks, a new thing in those days, the attitude ofthe saint, who is receiving the stigmata on his knees with greateagerness, exhibits an ardent desire to receive them and an infinitelove towards Jesus Christ, who is in the air surrounded by seraphimgranting them to him, the varied emotions being all represented inthe most telling manner imaginable. The predella of the picturecontains three finely executed subjects from the life of the samesaint. The work may now be seen in S. Francesco at Pisa, on a pillarbeside the high altar, where it is held in high veneration in memoryof so great a man. It led the Pisans, on the completion of theirCampo Santo from the plan of Giovanni di Niccola Pisano, as alreadyrelated, to entrust to Giotto the painting of a part of the walls. For as the exterior of the walls was incrusted with marble andsculptures at a great cost, the roof being of lead, and the interiorfilled with antique sarcophagi and tombs of Pagan times, gatheredtogether in that city from all parts of the world, the Pisans wishedthe walls to be decorated with a series of noble paintings. Accordingly Giotto went to Pisa, and beginning at the end of one ofthe walls of the Campo Santo he depicted the life of the patient Jobin six frescoes. Now it occurred to him that the marbles of the partof the building in which he was at work were turned towards the sea, and being exposed to the south-east wind, they are always moist andthrow out a certain saltness, as do nearly all the bricks of Pisa, and because the colours and paintings are eaten away by these causes, and as he wished to protect his work from destruction as far aspossible, he prepared a coating for the whole of the surface on whichhe proposed to paint his frescoes, which consisted of a plaster orincrusture made up of lime, chalk and brick-dust. This device hasproved so successful, that the paintings which he subsequentlyexecuted on this surface, have endured to this day, and they wouldhave stood better had not the neglect of those who should have takencare of them, allowed them to be much damaged by the damp. The wantof attention to this detail, which would have involved littletrouble, has caused the pictures to suffer a great deal in someplaces where the damp has converted the crimsons into black andcaused the plaster to fall off. Besides this it is the nature ofchalk when mixed with lime to become corroded and to peel, whence ithappens that the colours are destroyed, although they may originallyappear to take well. These frescoes contain the portrait of M. Farinata degli Uberti, besides many fine figures, among which one mayremark some countrymen, who in bringing the sad news to Job, exhibitthe utmost sorrow for the lost animals and the other misfortunes. There is also much grace in the figure of a servant, who with a fanof branches stands near the bowed figure of Job, abandoned byeveryone else, for in addition to the figure being well executed inevery particular, his attitude is wonderful, as with one hand hedrives away the flies from his leprous and noisome master, and holdshis nose with the other with disgust, to escape the smell. Very finealso are the other figures of these pictures and the heads of bothmen and women, and the delicate treatment of the drapery, so that itis small wonder that the work brought Giotto such renown in that cityand elsewhere; that Pope Benedict IX. , who was proposing to decorateSt Peter's with some paintings, sent a courtier from Treviso toTuscany, to see what manner of man Giotto was, and to report on thequality of his work. On the way the courtier learned that there wereother excellent masters in painting and mosaic in Florence, and heinterviewed a number of artists at Siena. When he had receiveddesigns from these, he proceeded to Florence. Entering Giotto's shopone morning, as he was at work, the envoy explained to him the Pope'sintention, and the manner in which he wished to make use of his work, and finally asked Giotto for some small specimen of work to send toHis Holiness. Giotto, who was always courteous, took a sheet of paperand a red pencil, pressed his arm to his side to make a compass ofit, and then with a turn of his hand, produced a circle so perfect inevery particular that it was a marvel to see. This done, he turnedsmiling to the courtier and said: "Here is the design. " The latter, who thought he was joking, said: "Am I to have no other design butthis?" "It is enough and more than enough, " replied Giotto; "send itin with the others and you will see if it is recognised. " Themessenger perceived that he would obtain nothing else, and left in astate of considerable dissatisfaction, imagining that he had beenlaughed at. However, when he sent in the other designs with the namesof their authors, he included that of Giotto, and related how theartist had executed it without moving his arm and without compasses. From this the Pope and all the courtiers present recognised to whatan extent Giotto surpassed all the other painters of the time inexcellence. When the story became public it gave rise to a sayingwhich is still used for people of dull wits: "You are more round(_tondo_) than Giotto's O. " This proverb deserves to be considered agood one, not only from the circumstances out of which it arose, butmuch more for its meaning, which is due to the two-fold significanceof the word _tondo_ in Tuscany, that of a perfect circle, andslowness and heaviness of mind. Accordingly the Pope sent for Giottoto Rome, where he received him with great honour, and recognised hisworth. He caused him to paint for the tribune of St Peter's fivesubjects from the life of Christ, and the principal picture for thesacristy, all of which were executed with great care, nothing intempera ever leaving his hands before it was perfectly finished; thushe richly deserved the reward of 600 gold ducats which the delightedPope gave to him, bestowing many other favours upon him, so that itbecame the talk of all Italy. 

As I do not wish to omit a memorable circumstance concerning art, Iwill notice here that there happened to be in Rome at this time agreat friend of Giotto named Oderigi d'Aggobbio, an excellentilluminator of the day, who adorned many books for the Pope for thepalace library, though they are now mostly destroyed by time. In myown book of old designs there are some remnants by his hand, and hecertainly was a clever artist. But a much better master than he wasFrancis, an illuminator of Bologna, who did some very fair things forthe Pope for the same library at that very time, in a like style, asmay be seen in my book, where I have some designs by his hand, bothfor painting and illuminations, among them an eagle, excellentlydone, and a fine lion tearing up a tree. These two excellentilluminators are referred to by Dante in the passage on thevainglorious in the eleventh chapter of the Purgatorio, in theselines:

 "Oh, dissi lui, non se' tu Oderisi L'onor d'Aggobbio e l'onor di quell' arte Ch' alluminare è chimata in Parisi? Frate, diss' egli, più ridon le carte, Che pennelleggia Franco Bolognese L'onor è tutto or suo, e mio in parte. "

When the Pope had seen these works he was so enchanted by Giotto'sstyle that he commissioned him to surround the walls of St Peter'swith scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Giotto therefore beganthese, and painted the fresco of the angle, seven braccia high, whichis above the organ, and many other paintings, of which some have beenrestored by other artists in our own day, and some have been eitherdestroyed or carried away from the old building of St Peter's duringthe founding of the new walls and set under the organ. Among thesewas a representation of Our Lady on a wall. In order that it mightnot be thrown down with the rest, it was cut out, supported by beamsand iron, and so taken away. On account of its great beauty, it wasafterwards built into a place selected by the devotion of M. NiccoloAcciancoli, a Florentine doctor enthusiastic over the excellentthings of art, who has richly adorned it with stucco and other modernpaintings. Giotto is also the author of the mosaic known as theNavicella, which is over the three doors of the portico in thecourtyard of St Peter's. This is a truly marvellous work, welldeserving its high reputation among all persons of taste. In additionto its excellent design, the apostles are admirably disposed, toilingin different ways in the midst of the tempest, while the winds fillthe sail, which bellies out exactly like a real one; and yet it is adifficult task so to unite those pieces of glass to form the lightand shade of so real a sail, which, even with the brush, could onlybe equalled by a great effort. Besides all this, there is a fishermanwho is standing on a rock and fishing with a line, whose attitude isexpressive of the extreme patience proper to that art, while his facebetrays his hope and desire to catch something. Beneath the Navicellaare three small arches painted in fresco, but as they are almostentirely effaced, I will say no more about them. All artists, however, unite in praise of these works. 

At last, when Giotto had painted a large crucifix in tempera in theMinerva, a church of the Friars Preachers, which was then muchadmired, he returned to his own country, from which he had beenabsent for six years. But soon after Pope Clement V. Was elected atPerugia, on the death of Pope Benedict IX. , and Giotto was obliged toaccompany the new pontiff to his court at Avignon to execute someworks there. Thus, not only in Avignon, but in several other placesof France, he painted many very beautiful frescoes and pictures, which greatly delighted the Pope and all his court. When he at lengthreceived his dismissal, he was sent away kindly with many gifts, sothat he returned, home no less rich than honoured and famous. Amongother things which he brought away with him was the Pope's portrait, which he afterwards gave to Taddeo Gaddi, his pupil. The date of thisreturn to Florence was the year 1316. But he was not long permittedto remain in Florence, as he was invited to Padua to do some work forthe lords della Scala, for whom he painted a beautiful chapel in theSanto, a church built in those times. He thence proceeded to Verona, where he did some pictures for the palace of Messer Cane, particularly the portrait of that lord, and a picture for the friarsof S. Francesco. On the completion of these things he was detained atFerrara, on his way back to Tuscany, to paint for the lords of Estiin their palace and S. Agostino some things which may be seen thereto this day. When the news of Giotto's presence at Ferrara reachedthe Florentine poet Dante, he succeeded in inducing his friend tovisit Ravenna, where the poet was exiled, and caused him to paintsome frescoes about the church of S. Francesco for the lords ofPolenta, which are of considerable merit. From Ravenna Giottoproceeded to Urbino, and did a few things there. Afterwards hehappened to be passing through Arezzo, and being unable to refuse afavour to Piero Saccone, who had been very kind to him, he executedin fresco, on a pillar of the principal chapel of the Vescovado, a StMartin, who is cutting his mantle in two and giving part of it to abeggar who is all but naked. Then, when he had painted in tempera alarge crucifix in wood for the Abbey of S. Fiore, which is now in themiddle of that church, he at length reached Florence. Here, amongmany other things, he painted some pictures in fresco and tempera forthe Nunnery of Faenza, which no longer exist owing to the destructionof that house. 

In 1321 occurred the death of Giotto's dearest friend Dante, to hisgreat grief; and in the following year he went to Lucca, where, atthe request of Castruccio, then lord of that city, his birthplace, hemade a picture of St Martin, with Christ above in the air, and thefour patron saints of the city--St Peter, St Regulus, St Martin, andSt Paulinus--who seem to be presenting a pope and an emperor, believed by many to be Frederick of Bavaria and the anti-PopeNicholas V. There are also some who believe that Giotto designed theimpregnable fortress of the Giusta at S. Fridiano at Lucca. WhenGiotto had returned to Florence, King Robert of Naples wrote to hiseldest son Charles, King of Calabria, who was then in that city, touse every means to induce the painter to go to Naples, where the kinghad just completed the building of the Nunnery of S. Chiara and theroyal church, which he wished to have decorated with noble paintings. When Giotto learned that he was wanted by so popular and famous aking, he departed to serve him with the greatest alacrity, and on hisarrival he painted many scenes from the Old and New Testaments insome chapels of the monastery. It is said that the scenes from theApocalypse which he made in one of those chapels were suggested byDante, as also perchance were some of the much-admired works atAssisi, of which I have already spoken at length; and although Dantewas dead at this time, it is possible that they had talked over thesethings, as friends frequently do. To return to Naples, Giotto didmany works in the Castel dell' Uovo, especially in the chapel, whichgreatly delighted the king, who became so fond of him that he oftencame to talk with the artist while he was at work, and took delightin seeing him at work and in listening to his conversation. Giotto, who always had a jest ready or some sharp retort, entertained theking with his hand in painting and with his tongue by his pleasantdiscourse. Thus it once happened that the king told him it was hisintention to make him the first man in Naples, to which Giottoreplied: "No doubt that is why I am lodged at the Porta Reale to bethe first man in Naples. " Another day the king said to him: "Giotto, if I were you, this hot day, I would leave off painting for a while. "He answered: "So I should, certainly, if I were you. " Being thus onvery friendly terms with the king, he painted a good number ofpictures for him in the chamber which King Alfonso I. Pulled down tomake the castle, and also in the Incoronata, and among those in thechamber were the portraits of many famous men, Giotto among thenumber. One day, by some caprice, the king asked Giotto to paint hiskingdom. It is said that Giotto painted for him a saddled ass, withanother new saddle at its feet at which it was sniffing, as if hewished for it in place of the one he had on. On each saddle were theroyal crown and the sceptre of power. When the king asked Giotto forthe meaning of this picture, he replied: "Such are your subjects andsuch is the kingdom, where every day they are wanting to change theirmaster. "

On his departure from Naples for Rome, Giotto stayed at Gaeta, wherehe was constrained to paint some subjects from the New Testament inthe Nunziata, which have suffered from the ravages of time, but notto such an extent that it is not possible to distinguish a portraitof Giotto himself near a large crucifix of great beauty. This done, he remained a few days at Rome, in the service of the SignorMalatesta, whom he could not refuse this favour, and then he went onto Rimini, of which city Malatesta was lord, and there in the churchof S. Francesco he painted a large number of pictures, which wereafterwards destroyed by Gismondo, son of Pandolfo Malatesta, whorebuilt the whole of that church. In the cloister of the same church, towards the church front, he painted in fresco the life of theBlessed Michelina, which ranks with the best things which he everdid, on account of the many fine things which he took intoconsideration in executing it, for, quite apart from the beauty ofthe drapery and the grace and vigour of the heads, which are trulymarvellous, there is a young woman of the most exquisite beauty, whoin order to free herself from an accusation of adultery, takes a mostsolemn oath upon a book, keeping her eyes fixed on those of herhusband, who has made her swear because his suspicions had beenaroused by her giving birth to a black son, whom he could not bepersuaded to acknowledge as his own. Just as the husband shows hisanger and mistrust in his face, so his wife betrays, to those wholook carefully at her, her innocence and simplicity, by the troublein her face and eyes, and the wrong which is done to her in makingher swear and in proclaiming her publicly as an adulteress. Giottohas also expressed with great realism a man afflicted with sores, asall the women who are about him, disgusted by the stench, turn awaywith various contortions in the most graceful manner imaginable. Thenagain the foreshortening in a picture containing a number of lamebeggars is highly praiseworthy, and should be much prized by artists, since it is from these works that the origin of foreshortening isderived; and when it is remembered that they are the first, they mustbe considered very tolerable achievements. But the most remarkablething of all in this series is the action of the saint with regard tocertain usurers who are paying her the money realised by the sale ofher possessions, which she intends to give to the poor. Her facedisplays contempt for money and other earthly things, which she seemsto abhor, while the usurers are the very picture of human avarice andgreed. Similarly the face of one who is counting the money, which heappears to be communicating to the notary who is writing, is veryfine, for although his eyes are turned towards the notary, yet hekeeps his hand over the money, thus betraying his greed, avarice, andmistrust. Also the three figures in the air representing Obedience, Patience, and Poverty, who are holding up the habit of St Francis, are worthy of the highest praise, chiefly on account of the naturalfolds of the drapery, showing that Giotto was born to throw light onthe art of painting. Finally he has introduced into this work aportrait of the Signor Malatesta in a ship, which is most life-like;and his excellence is also displayed in the vigour, disposition, andposture of the sailors and other people, particularly of one figurewho is speaking with others and putting his hand to his face spitsinto the sea. Certainly these things may be classed among the verybest works in painting produced by the master, because, in spite ofthe large number of figures, there is not one which is not producedwith the most consummate art, being at the same time exhibited in anattractive posture. Accordingly there is small need for wonder thatthe Signor Malatesta loaded him with rewards and praise. When Giottohad completed his works for this Signor, he did a St Thomas Aquinasreading to his brethren for the outside of the church door of S. Cataldo at Rimini at the request of the prior, who was a Florentine. Having set out thence he returned to Ravenna, where he executed amuch admired painting in fresco in a chapel of S. GiovanniEvangelista. When he next returned to Florence, laden with honoursand riches, he made a large wooden crucifix in tempera for S. Marco, of more than life-size, with a gold ground, and it was put on theright-hand side of the church. He made another like it for S. MariaNovella, in which his pupil Puccio Capanna collaborated with him. This is now over the principal entrance to the church, on theright-hand side, above the tomb of the Gaddi. For the same church hemade a St Louis, for Paolo di Lotto Ardinghelli, with portraits ofthe donor and his wife at the saint's feet. This picture is placed onthe screen. 

In the following year, 1327, occurred the death of Guido Tarlati daPietramala, bishop and lord of Arezzo, at Massa di Maremma, on hisreturn from Lucca, where he had been visiting the Emperor. His bodywas brought to Arezzo, where it received the honour of a statelyfuneral, and Pietro Saccone and Dolfo da Pietramala, the bishop'sbrother, determined to erect a marble tomb which should be worthy ofthe greatness of such a man, who had been both spiritual and temporallord and the leader of the Ghibelline party in Tuscany. Accordinglythey wrote to Giotto, desiring him to design a very rich tomb, asornate as possible; and when they had supplied him with the necessarymeasurements, they asked him to send them at once the man who was, inhis opinion, the most excellent sculptor then living in Italy, forthey relied entirely upon his judgment. Giotto, who was verycourteous, prepared the design and sent it to them, and from it thetomb was made, as will be said in the proper place. Now PietroSaccone was a great admirer of Giotto's worth, and when, not longafter, he took the Borgo a S. Sepolero, he brought from that place toArezzo a picture by the artist's hand, of small figures, which wasafterwards broken into fragments; but Baccio Gondi, a Florentine ofgentle birth, a lover of the noble arts and of every kind of virtue, made a diligent search for the pieces of this picture when he wascommissioner at Arezzo, and succeeded in finding some. He broughtthem to Florence, where he holds them in great veneration, as well assome other things in his possession, also by Giotto, who produced somuch that an enumeration of all his works would excite incredulity. It is not many years since that I happened to be at the hermitage ofCamaldoli, where I have done a number of things for the fathers, andin a cell to which I was taken by the Very Rev. Don Antonio da Pisa, then general of the congregation of Camaldoli, I saw a very beautifulcrucifix, on a gold ground, by Giotto, with his signature. I aminformed by the Rev. Don Silvano Razza, a Camaldolian monk, that thiscrucifix is now in the cell of the principal, where it is treasuredfor its author's sake as a most precious thing, together with a verybeautiful little picture by the hand of Raphael of Urbino. 

For the Umiliati brethren of Ognissanti at Florence Giotto painted achapel and four pictures, one of them representing Our Ladysurrounded by a number of angels, with the child at her neck, on alarge crucifix of wood, the design of which was subsequently copiedby Puccio Capanna, and reproduced in every part of Italy, for heclosely followed Giotto's style. When this work of the Lives wasprinted for the first time, the screen of that church contained apicture painted in tempera by Giotto, representing the death of OurLady, surrounded by the apostles, while Christ receives her soul intoHis arms. The work has been much praised by artists, and especiallyby Michelagnolo Buonarotti who declared, as is related elsewhere, that it was not possible to represent this scene in a more realisticmanner. This picture, being as I say held in great esteem, has beencarried away since the publication of the first edition of this work, by one who may possibly have acted from love of art and reverence forthe work, which may have seemed then to be too little valued, and whothus from motives of pity showed himself pitiless, as our poet says. It is certainly a marvel that Giotto should have produced suchbeautiful paintings in those times, especially when it is consideredthat he may in a certain sense be said to have learned the artwithout a master. 

After these things, in the year 1334, on the ninth day of July, hebegan work on the campanile of S. Maria del Fiore, the foundations ofwhich were laid on a surface of large stones, after the ground hadbeen dug out to a depth of 20 braccia, the materials excavated beingwater and gravel. On this surface he laid 12 braccia of concrete, theremaining 8 braccia being filled up with masonry. In the inaugurationof this work the bishop of the city took part, laying the first stonewith great ceremonial in the presence of all the clergy andmagistrates. As the work was proceeding on its original plan, whichwas in the German style in use at the time, Giotto designed all thesubjects comprised in the ornamentation, and marked out with greatcare the distribution of the black, white, and red colours in thearrangement of the stones and lines. The circuit of the tower at thebase was 100 braccia, or 25 braccia on each side, and the height 144braccia. If what Lorenzo di Cione Giberti has written be true, and Imost firmly believe it, Giotto not only made the model of thiscampanile, but also executed some of the marble sculptures inrelief, which represent the origin of all the arts. Lorenzo assertsthat he had seen models in relief by the hand of Giotto, andparticularly those of these works, and this may readily be credited, since design and invention are the father and mother of all the finearts, and not of one only. According to Giotto's model, the campanileshould have received a pointed top or quadrangular pyramid over theexisting structure, 50 braccia in height, but because it was a Germanthing, and in an old-fashioned style, modern architects have alwaysdiscountenanced its construction, considering the building to bebetter as it is. For all these things Giotto received the citizenshipof Florence, in addition to a pension of one hundred gold florinsyearly from the Commune of Florence, a great thing in those days. Hewas also appointed director of the work which was carried on afterhim by Taddeo Gaddi, as he did not live long enough to see itscompletion. 

While the campanile was in progress, Giotto made a picture for thenuns of S. Giorgio, and three half-length figures in the Badia ofFlorence, in an arch over the doorway inside, now whitewashed over tolighten the church. In the great hall of the podesta at Florence, hepainted a representation of the Commune, which has been appropriatedby many people. The figure represents a judge, seated with a sceptrein his hand, over whose head are the scales, equally poised toindicate the just measures meted out by him, while he is assisted byfour Virtues, Fortitude with the soul, Prudence with the laws, Justice with arms, and Temperance with words; a fine painting, and anappropriate and plausible idea. 

Giotto made a second visit to Padua, where besides painting a numberof chapels and other things, he executed a famous series of picturesin the place of the Arena, which brought him much honour and profit. In Milan also he left a few things which are scattered about thecity, and which are considered very beautiful to this day. At length, shortly after his return from Milan, he rendered his soul to God inthe year 1336, to the great grief of all his fellow-citizens, and ofall those who had known him or even heard his name, for he hadproduced so many beautiful works in his life, and was as good aChristian as he was an excellent painter. He was buried with honour, as his worth deserved, for in his life he was beloved by everyone, and especially by distinguished men of every profession. BesidesDante, of whom we have spoken above, he and his works were highlyesteemed by Petrarch, who in his will left to Signor Francesco daCarrara, lord of Padua, among other things which were held in thegreatest veneration, a Madonna by Giotto's hand, as a rare thing, andthe gift most worthy to be offered to him. The words of this part ofthe will ran thus:--_Transeo ad dispositionem aliarum rerum; etpredicto igitur domino meo Paduano, quia et ipse per Dei gratiam naneget, et ego nihil aliud habeo dignum se, mitto tabulam meam sivehistoriam Beatĉ Vlrginis Mariae, operis Jocti pictoris egregii, quĉmihi ab amico meo Michaele Vannis de Florentia missa est, in cujuspulchritudinem ignorantes non intelligunt, magistri autem artisstupent: hanc iconem ipsi domino lego, ut ipsa Virgo benedicta sibisit propitia apud filium suum Jesum Christum, &c_. It was Petrarchalso who said the following words in the fifth book of his Familiariwritten to his intimate friends: _Atquc (ut a veteribus ad nova, abexternis ad nostra transgrediar) duos ego novi pictores egregios, nec formosos, Jottum Florentinorum civem, cujus inter modernos famaurgens est, et Simonem Sanensem. Novi scultores aliquot, &c_. Giottowas buried in S. Maria del Fiore, on the left hand as one enters thechurch, where a white marble slab is set up to the memory of thisgreat man. As I remarked in the life of Cimabue, a contemporarycommentator of Dante said: "Giotto was, and is the chief among thepainters in that same city of Florence, as his works in Rome, Naples, Avignon, Florence, Padua, and many other parts of the world testify. "

Giotto's pupils were Taddeo Gaddi, his godson as I have alreadysaid, and Puccio Capanna, a Florentine, who painted for the Dominicanchurch of S. Cataldo at Rimini a most perfect fresco representing aship apparently about to sink, while the men are throwing their goodsinto the water. Puccio has here portrayed himself in the midst of thesailors. After Giotto's death, the same artist painted a number ofthings in the church of S. Francesco at Assisi, and for the chapel ofthe Strozzi, beside the door on the river front of the church ofTrinita he did in fresco a coronation of the Virgin with a choir ofangels, in which he followed Giotto's style rather closely, while onthe side walls are some very well executed scenes from the life of StLucy. In the Badia of Florence he painted the chapel of S. GiovanniEvangelista of the family of the Covoni, which is next to thesacristy. At Pistoia he did frescoes in the principal chapel of S. Francesco, and the chapel of S. Ludovico, with scenes from the livesof the patron saints, which are very tolerable productions. In themiddle of the church of S. Domenico in the same city is a crucifixwith a Madonna and St John, executed with much softness, and at thefeet an entire human skeleton, an unusual thing at that time, whichshows that Puccio had made efforts to understand the principles ofhis art. This work contains his name, written after this fashion:_Puccio di Fiorenza me Fece_. In the same church, in the tympanumabove the door of S. Maria Nuova are three half-length figures, --OurLady, with the Child on her arm, St Peter on the one side and StFrancis on the other, by the same artist. In the lower church of S. Francesco at Assisi he further painted in fresco some scenes from thepassion of Jesus Christ, with considerable skill and much vigour, andin the chapel of S. Maria degli Angeli of that church he executed infresco a Christ in glory, with the Virgin, who is interceding withHim for Christian people, a work of considerable merit, but muchsmoked by the lamps and candles which are always burning there ingreat quantity. In truth, so far as one can judge, although Puccioadopted the style and methods of his master Giotto, yet he did notmake sufficient use of them in his works, although, as some assert, he did not live long, but sickened and died through working too muchin fresco. His hand may also be recognised in the chapel of St Martinin the same church, in the history of the saint, done in fresco forthe Cardinal Gentile. In the middle of a street called Portica mayalso be seen a Christ at the Column, and a picture of Our Ladybetween St Catherine and St Clare. His works are scattered about inmany other places, such as Bologna, where there is a picture of thepassion of Christ in the transept of the church, and scenes from thelife of St Francis, besides other things which I omit for the sake ofbrevity. But at Assisi, where the majority of his works are, andwhere I believe he helped Giotto to paint, I found that they considerhim to be a fellow-citizen, and there are some members of the familyof the Capanni in that city to this day. From this we may gather thathe was born in Florence, since he himself wrote that he was a pupilof Giotto, but that he took his wife from Assisi, and had childrenthere, whose descendants still inhabit the town. But this matter isof very slight importance, and it is enough to know that he was askilful master. Another pupil of Giotto, and a very skilful painterwas Ottaviano da Faenza, who painted many things in S. Giorgio atFerrara, a convent of the monks of Monte Oliveto. In Faenza, where helived and died, he painted in the tympanum above the door of S. Francesco, Our Lady and St Peter and St Paul, and many other thingsin his own country and at Bologna. 

Another pupil was Pace di Faenza, who was often with his master, andhelped him in many things. At Bologna there are some scenes in frescoby his hand on the outside front of S. Giovanni Decollato. This Pacewas a clever artist, especially in painting small figures, as may beseen to-day in the church of S. Francesco at Forli, in a tree of thecross and in a panel in tempera containing the life of Christ, andfour small subjects from the life of Our Lady, which are all verywell executed. It is said that he executed in fresco for the chapelof St Anthony at Assisi, some scenes from the life of that saint fora duke of Spoleto, who is buried there with a son. These two princeshad been killed while fighting in the suburbs of Assisi, as may beseen by a long inscription on the sarcophagus of their tomb. The oldbook of the company of painters records that one Francesco, called"of Master Giotto, " was another pupil of the master, but I knownothing more about him. 

Yet another pupil of Giotto was Guglielmo da Forli, who, besides manyother works, painted the chapel of the high altar for S. Domenico atForli, his native place. Other pupils were Pietro Laureati, SimoneMemmi of Siena, Stefano of Florence, and Pietro Cavallini of Rome. But as I intend to deal fully with these in their lives, I shallcontent myself here with simply saying that they were pupils ofGiotto. That the master drew extremely well for his day may be seenon a number of parchments containing some water colours, pen and inkdrawings, chiaroscuros with the lights in white, by his hand, in ourbook of designs, which are truly marvellous when compared with thoseof the masters who preceded him, and afford a good example of hisstyle. 

As has been said, Giotto was a very witty and pleasant person, veryready in speech, many of his sayings being still fresh in the memoryof his fellow-citizens. Besides the one related by M. GiovanniBoccaccio, several very good stories are told by Franco Sacchetti inhis "Three Hundred Tales. " I give one in the author's own words, because it contains many expressions and phrases characteristic ofthe time. The rubric of this one runs: "Giotto, the great painter, isrequested by a person of low birth to paint his buckler. Making ajest of the matter, he paints it so as to cover the applicant withconfusion. "

TALE LXIII. 

Every one must have heard of Giotto, and how as a painter hesurpassed all others. His fame came to the ears of a rude artizan, who, having to do service in some castle, wanted his buckler painted. Accordingly he presented himself abruptly at Giotto's workshop, witha man to carry the buckler behind him. He found Giotto in, and began:"God save thee, Master, I want to have my arms painted on thisbuckler. " Giotto took stock of the man and his manners, but he saidnothing except "When do you want it, " and the man told him. "Leave itto me, " said Giotto, and the man departed. When Giotto was alone hereflected: "What is the meaning of this? Has someone sent him here toplay a trick on me? Be that as it may, no one has ever before broughtme a buckler to paint. And the fellow who brought it is a simplecreature, and asks me to paint his arms as if he was of the royalhouse of France. Decidedly I shall have to make him some new arms. "Reflecting thus with himself he sat down before the buckler, andhaving designed what he thought proper, he called a pupil and toldhim to complete the painting of it, which he accordingly did. Thepainting represented a light helmet, a gorget, a pair of arm pieces, a pair of iron gauntlets, a pair of cuirasses, a pair of cuisses andgambadoes, a sword, a knife, and a lance. When the worthy manreturned, who knew nothing of all this, he came up and said: "Master, is the buckler finished. " "Oh yes, " said Giotto, "go you and bring ithere. " When it arrived this gentleman by proxy looked hard at it andsaid to Giotto: "What rubbish have you painted here?" "Will you thinkit rubbish to pay for it?" said Giotto. "I won't pay you fourdeniers, " said the man. "What did you ask me to paint?" asked Giotto. "My arms, " replied the man. "Well, " said Giotto, "are they not here, are any wanting?" "That is so, " said the man. "A plague on you, "said Giotto, "you must needs be very simple. If anyone asked you whoyou were you would be at a loss to tell him, and yet you come hereand say, 'paint me my arms. ' If you had been one of the Bardi, welland good, but what arms do you bear? Where do you come from? Who wereyour ancestors? Begin at least by coming into the world before youtalk of arms as if you were the Dusnam of Bavaria. I have representedall your arms on the buckler, and if you have any more tell me and Iwill have them painted. " "You have given me rough words, " said theman, "and spoilt my buckler. " He then departed to the justice, andprocured a summons against Giotto. The latter appeared, and on hisside issued a summons against the man for two florins, as the priceof the painting. When the magistrates had heard the arguments, whichwere much better advanced on Giotto's side, they adjudged that theman should take away his buckler, and give six lire to Giotto, because he was in the right. Accordingly the rustic took his buckler, paid the money, and was allowed to go. Thus this man, who did notknow his place, had it pointed out to him, and may this befall allsuch fellows who wish to have arms and found houses, and whoseantecedents have often been picked up at the foundling hospitals!

It is said that while Giotto was still a boy, and with Cimabue, heonce painted a fly on the nose of a figure which Cimabue had made, sonaturally that when his master turned round to go on with his work, he more than once attempted to drive the fly away with his hand, believing it to be real, before he became aware of his mistake. Icould tell many more of Giotto's practical jokes, and relate many ofhis sharp retorts, but I wish to confine myself to the things whichconcern the arts, and I must leave the rest to Franco and the others. 

In conclusion, in order that Giotto should not be without a memorial, in addition to the works which came from his hand, and to the noticesleft by the writers of his day, since it was he who found once againthe true method of painting, which had been lost many years beforehis time, it was decreed by public order that his bust in marble, executed by Benedetto da Maiano, an Excellent sculptor, should beplaced in S. Maria del Fiore. This was due to the activity and zealdisplayed by Lorenzo dei Medici, the Magnificent, the elder, whogreatly admired Giotto's talents. The following verses by that divineman, Messer Angelo Poliziano, were inscribed on the monument, so thatall men who excelled in any profession whatever, might hope to earnsuch a memorial, which Giotto, for his part, had most richly deservedand earned:

 Ille ego sum, per quem pictura extincta revixit, Cui quam recta manus. Tam fuit et facilis. Naturae deerat nostrae, quod defait arti: Plus licuit nulli pingere, nec melius. Miraris turrim egregiam sacro aere sonantem? Haec quoque de modulo crevit ad astra meo. Denique sum Jottus, quid opus fuit illa referre? Hoc nomen longi carminis instar erit. 

And in order that those who come after may see by Giotto's owndesigns the nature of the excellence of this great man, there aresome magnificent specimens in my book, which I have collected withgreat care as well as with much trouble and expense. 

Agostino and Agnolo, Sculptors and Architects of Siena. 

Among the others who worked in the school of the sculptors Giovanniand Niccola Pisani were Agostino and Agnolo, sculptors of Siena, whose lives we are now writing, and who achieved great successaccording to the standard of the time. I have discovered that theirfather and mother were both Sienese, and their antecedents werearchitects, for the Fontebranda was completed by them in the year1190, under the government of the three Consols, and in the followingyear they founded the Custom House and other buildings of Siena, under the same consulship. Indeed it is often seen that where theseeds of talent have existed for a long time they often germinate andput forth shoots so that they afterwards produce greater and betterfruit than the first plants had done. Thus Agostino and Agnolo addedmany improvements to the style of Giovanni and Niccola Pisani, andenriched art with better designs and inventions, as their worksclearly show. It is said that when Giovanni Pisano returned to Pisafrom Naples in the year 1284, he stopped at Siena to design and foundthe façade of the Duomo, where the three principal doors are, so thatit should be entirely adorned with marble. It was then that Agostino, who was not more than fifteen years of age at the time, associatedwith him in order to study sculpture, of which he had learned thefirst principles, being no less attracted by that art than byarchitecture. Under Giovanni's instruction and by means ofunremitting study he surpassed all his fellow-pupils in design, graceand style, so that everyone remarked that he was his master's righteye. And because it is natural to desire for those whom one lovesbeyond all other gifts of nature, mind or fortune, that quality ofworth which alone renders men great and noble in this life andblessed in the next, Agostino took advantage of Giovanni's presenceto secure the same advantages for his younger brother Agnolo; nor wasif very difficult to do so, for the practice already enjoyed byAgnolo with Agostino and the other sculptors, and the honour andbenefits which he perceived could be gained from this art, had soinflamed him with a desire to take up the study of sculpture, that hehad already made a few things in secret before the idea had occurredto Agostino. The elder brother was engaged with Giovanni in makingthe marble reliefs for the high altar of the Vescovado of Arezzo, which has been mentioned above, and he succeeded in securing theco-operation of Agnolo in that work, who did so well, that when itwas completed, it was found that he had surpassed Agostino inexcellence. When this became known to Giovanni, he employed bothbrothers in many other works undertaken by him subsequently inPistoia, Pisa, and other places. And because Agostino practisedarchitecture as well as sculpture, it was not long before he designeda palace in Malborghetto for the Nine who then ruled in Siena, thatis to say, in the year 1308. The execution of this work won thebrothers such a reputation in their native place, that, when theyreturned to Siena after the death of Giovanni, they were bothappointed architects of the State, so that in the year 1317 the northfront of the Duomo was made under their direction, and in 1321 thebuilding of the wall of the porta Romana, then known as the porta S. Martino, was begun from their plans in its present style, beingfinished in 1326. They restored the Tufi Gate, originally called theGate of S. Agata all Arco, and in the same year the church andconvent of S. Francesco were begun from their design, in the presenceof the cardinal of Gaeta, the papal legate. Not long afterwardsAgostino and Agnolo were invited by means of some of the Tolomei whowere staying in exile at Orvieto, to make some sculptures for thework of S. Maria in that city. Going thither they made in sculpturesome prophets which are now on the façade, and are the finest andbest proportioned parts of that celebrated work. Now in the year 1326it chanced that Giotto was summoned to Naples by means of Charles, Duke of Calabria, who was then staying in Florence, to do some thingsin S. Chiara and other places there for King Robert, as has beenrelated in that master's life. On his way to Naples Giotto stopped atOrvieto to see the work which had been executed there and which wasstill being carried on by so many men, wishing to examine everythingminutely. But the prophets of Agostino and Agnolo of Siena pleasedhim more than all the other sculptures, from which circumstance itarose that Giotto not only commended them, but counted them amongthe number of his friends, to their great delight, and furtherrecommended them to Piero Saccone of Pietramala, as the bestsculptors of the day, and the best fitted to make the tomb of Guido, the lord and bishop of Arezzo, a matter referred to in the life ofGiotto. Thus the fact that Giotto had seen the work of many sculptorsat Orvieto and had considered that of Agostino and Agnolo of Siena tobe the best, gave rise to their being commissioned to make this tombafter his designs and in accordance with the model which he had sentto Piero Saccone. They finished the tomb in the space of four years, conducting the work with great care, and they set it up in the chapelof the Sacrament in the church of the Vescovado of Arezzo. Above thesarcophagus, which rests on brackets carved in a really admirablemanner, is stretched the form of the bishop, in marble, while at theside are some angels drawing curtains, done with considerable skill. Twelve square panels contain scenes of the life and acts of thebishop in an infinite number of small figures carved in half-relief. I do not think it too much trouble to relate the subjects of thesescenes, so that it may appear with what labour they were executed, and how these sculptors endeavoured to discover the good style bystudy. 

The first shows how the bishop, aided by the Ghibelline party ofMilan, who sent him 400 masons and money, entirely rebuilt the wallof Arezzo, lengthening it more than it had previously been so that ittook the shape of a galley. The second is the taking of Lucignano diValdichiana; the third, that of Chiusi; the fourth, that of Fronzoli, a strong castle of that time above Poppi, held by the sons of thecount of Battifolle. The fifth contains the final surrender to thebishop of the castle of Rondine, after it had been besieged by theAretines for many months. The sixth is the capture of the castle delBucine in Valdarno. The seventh contains the storming of the Rocca diCaprese, which belonged to the Count of Romena, after it had beenbesieged for several months. In the eighth the bishop is dismantlingthe castle of Laterino, and causing the hill which rises above it tobe cut in form of a cross, so that it should not be possible to makeanother fortress there. The ninth represents the destruction andburning of Monte Sansavino and the driving out of all theinhabitants. The eleventh contains the bishop's coronation, with anumber of richly dressed soldiers, both horse and foot, and of otherpeople. The twelfth and last represents the bishop being carried byhis men from Montenero, where he fell sick, to Massa, and thence, after his death, to Arezzo. In many places about the tomb are theGhibelline insignia and the bishop's arms, which are six-squaredstones or on a field _azure_, following the same arrangements as thesix balls in the arms of the Medici. These arms of the bishop's housewere described by friar Guittone, knight and poet of Arezzo, when hewrote of the site of the castle of Pietramala, whence the familyderived its origin, in the lines:

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

Agnolo and Agostino displayed more art, invention, and diligence inthis work than had ever been employed on anything before their time. And indeed they deserve the highest praise, having introduced into itso many figures, such a variety of landscapes, places, towns, horses, men, and other things, that it is a veritable marvel. And althoughthe tomb has been almost entirely destroyed by the French of the Dukeof Anjou, who sacked the greater part of the city in revenge for someinjuries received by them from their enemies, yet it is still clearthat it was executed with the most excellent judgment by Agostino andAgnolo, who carved on it in rather large letters: _Hoc opus fecitmagister Augustinus et magister Angelus de Senis_. In 1329 they did amarble bas-relief for the church of S. Francesco at Bologna, which isin a very fair manner, and besides the carved ornamentation, whichis very fine, they introduced figures a braccia and a half high, ofChrist crowning Our Lady, with three similar figures on either side, St Francis, St James, St Domenic, St Anthony of Padua, St Petronio, and St John the Evangelist, and under each of these figures is carvedin bas-relief a scene from the life of the saint above. All thesescenes contain a great number of half-length figures, which make arich and beautiful ornamentation after the manner of those times. It is very apparent that Agostino and Agnolo threw an immense amountof labour into this work, and that they applied all their care andknowledge to make it worthy of praise, as it truly was, and even nowwhen it is half destroyed, it is possible to read their names and thedate, by means of which and of a knowledge of the time when theybegan it, one may see that they spent eight whole years upon it, although it is true that at the same time they made many othersmall things in different places for various persons. 

Now while they were at work at Bologna, that city gave itself freelyto the Church, through the mediation of the papal legate, and thePope in return promised that he and his court would go to live atBologna, but that for his security he wished to build a castle orfortress there. This was granted by the Bolognese, and the castle wasquickly built under the direction and from the design of Agostino andAgnolo; but it had a very short life, for when the Bolognesediscovered that all the promises made by the Pope were vain, theydismantled and destroyed it much more quickly than it had been made. 

It is said that while these two sculptors were staying at Bologna, the Po impetuously burst its banks, doing incredible damage to theterritories of Mantua and Ferrara, causing the death of more than tenthousand persons, and wasting the country for miles around. Beingclever and worthy men, the assistance of Agostino and Agnolo wasrequested, and they succeeded in finding means of reducing thatterrible river to its bed, and of confining it there with ditches andother effective remedies. This brought them much praise and benefit, for besides the fame which they acquired thereby, their services wereacknowledged by the lords of Mantua and by the house of Este withmost liberal rewards. 

When they next returned to Siena in the year 1338, the new church ofS. Maria, near the old Duomo, towards the piazza Manetti, was madeunder their direction from their design, and not long after, theSienese, who were greatly pleased with all the works which theyexecuted for them, decided to seize this excellent opportunity ofcarrying into effect a plan which they had long discussed, but tillthen without any result, namely, the erection of a public fountain onthe principal piazza opposite the palace of the Signoria. The chargeof this undertaking was entrusted to Agostino and Agnolo, andalthough it was a matter of great difficulty they brought water tothe fountain by pipes made of lead and earth, and the first jet ofwater was thrown up on 1st June 1343, to the great delight andcontentment of all the city, which on this account was under a greatobligation to the talent of these two citizens. At the same time thehall of the greater council was made in the Palazzo del Pubblico, andthe same artists directed and designed the building of the tower ofthat palace, which they completed in the year 1344, hanging two greatbells on it, one of which came from Grosseto, while the other wasmade at Siena. In the course of time Agnolo arrived at Assisi, wherehe made a chapel in the lower church of S. Francesco, and a marbletomb for a brother of Napoleone Orsini, a cardinal and a Franciscanfriar, who had died in that place. Agostino, who had remained atSiena in the service of the State, died while he was engaged upon thedesigns for the ornamentation of the piazza fountain, mentionedabove, and was buried in the Duomo with honour. I have not been ableto discover how or when Agnolo died, so that I can say nothing aboutit, nor do I know of any other works of importance by his hand, andso this is the end of their lives. It would, however, be an error, asI am following a Chronological order, not to make mention of some, who, although they have not done things which would justify anarration of their whole life, have nevertheless in some measureadded things of utility and beauty to art and to the world. Thereforein connection with the mention made above of the Vescovado and Pieveof Arezzo, let me here relate that Pietro and Paolo, goldsmiths ofArezzo, who learned design from Agnolo and Agostino of Siena, werethe first who executed great works of any excellence with the chisel;for they made for the head priest of the Pieve of Arezzo a silverhead of life-size, in which was put the head of St Donato, bishop andprotector of that city, a work which was certainly praiseworthy, ifonly because they introduced into it some figures in enamel, whichwere, as I have said, among the first things executed with thechisel. 

About the same time, or shortly before, the art of the Calimara atFlorence, entrusted to Master Cione, an excellent goldsmith, thegreater part, if not the whole, of the silver altar of S. GiovanniBatista, which contains many scenes from the life of that saint, engraved in a very creditable manner on a silver plate. This work, onaccount of its dimensions, and the novelty of its execution, wasconsidered marvellous by everyone who saw it. The same Master Cione, in 1330, when the body of St Zenobius was found under the vaults ofSt Reparata, placed in a silver head of life-size, the piece of thehead of that saint which is still preserved therein, and is carriedin procession. This head was considered a most beautiful thing at thetime, and brought much reputation to the artist, who died soon after, a wealthy man, and held in high esteem. 

Master Cione left many pupils, and among others, Forzore di Spinelloof Arezzo, who did all manner of engraving excellently, but wasespecially good in making scenes in enamel on silver, such as may beseen in the Vescovado at Arezzo, for which he made a mitre with abeautiful border of enamel, and a fine pastoral staff in silver. Healso executed many things in silver for the Cardinal Galeotto daPietramala, who bequeathed them to the friars of la Vernia, where hewished to be buried, and where, besides the wall, which the CountOrlando, lord of Chiusi, a small castle below la Vernia, had causedto be set up, he built the church and many rooms in the convent, andall this without leaving any notice or other memorial of himself inany part of that place. Another pupil of Master Cione was Lionardo diSer Giovanni of Florence, who executed a number of works with thechisel and with solder, with a better design than those who precededhim, especially the altar and silver bas-reliefs of S. Jacopo atPistoia, where, beside a large number of subjects, the half-lengthfigure of St James, more than a braccia high, is much admired. It isin full relief, and finished with such elaboration, that it seems tohave been cast rather than engraved. The figure is placed in themidst of the scenes of the altar table, about which runs a legend inletters of enamel:

 Ad honorem Dei et S. Jacobi Apostoli, hoc opus factum fuit tempore Domini Franc. Pagni dictae operae operarii sub anno 1371 per me Leonardum Ser Jo. De Floren. Aurific. 

Now to return to Agostino and Agnolo, they had many pupils whoproduced many works after them in architecture and sculpture inLombardy and other places in Italy. Among them was Jacopo Lanfrani ofVenice, who founded S. Francesco of Imola, and executed thesculptures for the principal door, where he carved his name and thedate, 1343; for the church of S. Domenico at Bologna the same MasterJacopo made a marble tomb for Gio. Andrea Calduino, doctor of law andsecretary of Pope Clement VI. , and another very well executed also inmarble and in the same church for Taddeo Peppoli, protector of thepeople and of justice at Bologna. In the same year, that is to say in1347, after the completion of this tomb, or shortly before, MasterJacopo returned to his native Venice and there founded the church ofS. Antonio, which was originally of wood, at the request of aFlorentine abbot of the ancient family of the Abati, M. AndreaDandolo, being doge at the time. This church was completed in theyear 1349. 

Then again Jacobello and Pietro Paolo, Venetians, who were pupils ofAgostino and Agnolo, erected in S. Domenico at Bologna a marble tombfor M. Giovanni da Lignano, doctor of laws, in the year 1383. Allthese and many other sculptors continued for a long space of time toemploy the same manner, so that they filled all Italy with examplesof it. It is further believed that the native of Pesaro, who besidesmany other things did the door of the church of S. Domenico in hisnative town, with the three marble figures of God the Father, St Johnthe Baptist and St Mark, was a pupil of Agostino and Agnolo, and thestyle of the work gives colour to the supposition. This work wascompleted in the year 1385. But since it would take much too long toenter into particulars of the works made in this style by manymasters of the time, I will let what I have said, in this generalway, suffice, chiefly because they have not exercised a greatinfluence upon our arts. Yet I thought it good to mention these men, because even if they do not deserve a long notice, yet they are notso insignificant as to be altogether passed over in silence. 

Stefano, Painter of Florence, and Ugolino of Siena. 

Stefano, painter of Florence and pupil of Giotto, was so excellentthat not only did he surpass all the artists who had studied the artsbefore him, but he so far surpassed his master himself that he wasdeservedly considered the best of the painters up to that time, ashis works clearly prove. He painted the Madonna in fresco for theCampo Santo at Pisa, and it is somewhat superior in design andcolouring to the work of Giotto. In the cloister of S. Spirito atFlorence he painted three arches in fresco, in the first of which, containing the Transfiguration with Moses and Elias, he representedthe three disciples in fine and striking attitudes. He has formed afine conception of the dazzling splendour which astonished them, their clothes being in disorder, and falling in new folds, a thingfirst seen in this picture, as he tried to base his work upon thenude figures, an idea which had not occurred to anyone before, no noteven to Giotto himself. Under that arch, in which he made a Christreleasing a demoniac, he drew an edifice in perspective, perfectly, in a style then little known, displaying improved form and morescience. He further executed it in the modern manner with greatjudgment, and displayed such art and such invention and proportion inthe columns, doors, windows and cornices, and such different methodsfrom the other masters that it seemed as if he had begun to see someglimpses of the light of the good and perfect manner of the moderns. Among other ingenious things he contrived a very difficult flight ofsteps, which are shown both in painting and in relief, and possesssuch design, variety, and invention, and are so useful and convenientthat Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, the elder, made use of thedesign for the steps outside the palace of Poggio a Caiano, now theprincipal villa of the Most Illustrious Duke. In the other arch is arepresentation of Christ saving St Peter from the fury of the waters, so well done that one seems to hear the voice of Peter saying:_Domine, salva nos, perimus_. This work is considered much finer thanthe other, because, besides the grace of the draperies, there is asweetness in the bearing of the heads, a fear of the fortunes of thesea, while the terror of the apostles at various motions andappearances of the water, are represented in very suitable attitudesand with great beauty. And although time has partly destroyed thelabour expended by Stefano on this work, one may still discernconfusedly that the apostles are defending themselves with spiritfrom the fury of the winds and waves. This work, which has beenhighly praised by the moderns, must certainly have appeared a miraclein all Tuscany at the time when it was produced, Stefano thenpainted in the first cloister of S. Maria Novella a St ThomasAquinas, next a door, where he also made a crucifix which has sincebeen much damaged by other painters in restoring it. He also leftunfinished a chapel in the church, which he began, now much damagedby time. In it may be seen the fall of the angels through the prideof Lucifer, in divers forms. Here it is noteworthy that theforeshortening of the arms, busts, and legs of the figures is muchbetter done than ever before, and this shows us that Stefano began torecognise and had partially overcome the difficulties which stand inthe way of the highest excellence, the mastery of which by hissuccessors, by means of unremitting study, has rendered their worksso remarkable. For this cause artists have well named him the ape ofnature. 

Some time after Stefano was invited to Milan where he began manythings for Matteo Visconti, but was not able to complete them, because having fallen sick owing to the change of air, he wascompelled to return to Florence. There he regained his strength andexecuted in fresco in the chapel of the Asini in S. Croce, the storyof the martyrdom of St Mark by being drawn asunder, with many figureswhich possess merit. As a pupil of Giotto he was then invited to Romewhere he did in fresco for the principal chapel of St Peter's, whichcontains the altar of that saint, some scenes from the life of Christbetween the windows of the large apse, with such care that heapproaches very closely to the modern style and surpasses his masterGiotto in design and other things. After this he executed in fresco, at Araceli, on a pillar beside the principal chapel on the left, a StLouis, which is much admired because it possesses a vivacity whichhad not been apparent in any works up to that time, not even in thoseof Giotto. Indeed Stefano had great facility in design, as may beseen in a drawing by his hand in our book, in which thetransfiguration is represented which he made for the cloister of S. Spirito, and indeed in my opinion he designed much better thanGiotto. He next went to Assisi and in the apse of the principalchapel of the lower church, where the choir is, he began arepresentation in fresco of the Heavenly Glory; and although he didnot finish it, what he did perform shows that he used the utmostdiligence. In this work he began a series of saints with suchbeautiful variety in the faces of the youths, the men of middle ageand the old men, that nothing better could be desired, and thoseblessed spirits exhibit so sweet and so united a style that itappears all but impossible that they could have been done by Stefanoat that time. He however did execute them, although no more than theheads of the figures are finished. Above them is a choir of angelsrejoicing in various attitudes, appropriately carrying theologicalsymbols in their hands. All are turned towards a crucified Christ whois in the midst of the work immediately above a St Francis, who issurrounded by a multitude of saints. Besides this he made some angelsas a border for the work, each of them holding one of those churchesof which St John the Evangelist writes in the Apocalypse. Theseangels are represented with such grace that I am amazed to find a manof that age capable of producing them. Stefano began this work withthe intention of thoroughly completing it, and he would havesucceeded had he not been forced to leave it imperfect and to returnto Florence on some important affairs of his own. During this stay atFlorence and in order to lose no time, he painted for theGranfigliazzi lung' Arno, between their houses and the ponte alleCarraia in a small tabernacle on one side, Our Lady seated sewing, towhom a clothed child who is seated, is offering a bird, done withsuch care that although it is small it merits no less praise than themore ambitious efforts of the master. 

On the completion of this work and the settling of his affairs, Stefano was summoned to Pistoia by the lords there, and was set bythem to paint the chapel of St James in the year 1346. In the vaulthe did a God the Father with some apostles, and on the side walls thelife of the saint, notably the scene where his mother, the wife ofZebedee, asks Jesus Christ to permit that her two sons shall sit, oneon His right hand and the other on His left in the kingdom of HisFather. Near this is a fine presentation of the beheading of thesaint. It is thought that Maso, called Giottino, of whom I shallspeak afterwards, was the son of this Stefano, and although, onaccount of his name, many believe him to be the son of Giotto, Iconsider it all but certain that he was rather the son of Stefano, both because of certain documents which I have seen, and also becauseof some notices written in good faith by Lorenzo Ghiberti and byDomenico del Grillandaio. However, this may be, and to return toStefano, to him is due the credit of the greatest improvement inpainting since the days of Giotto; because, besides being more variedin his inventions, he showed more unity in colouring and more shadingthan all the others, and above all, in diligence he had no rival. Andalthough the foreshortenings which he made exhibit, as I have said, a bad manner owing to the difficulties of execution, yet as the firstinvestigator of these difficulties he deserves a much higher placethan those who follow after the path has been made plain for them. Thus a great debt is due to Stefano, because he who presses onthrough the darkness and shows the way, heartens the others, enablingthem to overcome the difficulties of the way, so that in time theyarrive at the desired haven. In Perugia also, in the church of S. Domenico, Stefano began in fresco the chapel of St Catherine whichis still unfinished. 

At the same time there lived a Sienese painter, called Ugolino, ofconsiderable repute, and a great friend of Stefano. He did manypictures and chapels in all parts of Italy. But he kept in great partto the Byzantine style, to which he had become attached by habit, andalways preferred, from a caprice of his own, to follow the manner ofCimabue rather than that of Giotto, which was held in such esteem. His works consist of a picture for the high altar of S. Croce, on agold ground, and another picture which stood for many years on thehigh altar of S. Maria Novella, and which is now in thechapter-house, where every year the Spanish nation celebrates with asolemn feast the day of St James and its other offices and burialservices. Besides these he did many other things in a good style, butwithout in the least departing from the manner of his master. It washe who painted on a pillar of bricks in the loggia, which Lapo hadbuilt on the piazza of Orsanmichele, that Madonna which, not manyyears after, worked so many miracles that the loggia was for a greattime full of images, and to this day is held in the highestveneration. Finally, in the chapel of M. Ridolfo de' Bardi, in S. Croce, where Giotto painted the life of St Francis, he did acrucifix in tempera with the Magdalene and St John weeping, and twofriars on either side. Ugolino died at an advanced age in the year1349, and was honourably buried at Siena, his native place. 

But to return to Stefano, who, they say, was also a good architect, and what has been said above makes this likely; he died, it is said, at the beginning of the Jubilee of 1350, at the age of forty-nine, and was buried at S. Spirito in the tomb of his ancestors with thisepitaph:

 Stephano Florentino pictori, faciundis imaginibus ac colorandis figuris nulli unquam inferiori; Affines moestiss. Pos. Vix. An. XXXXIX. 

Pietro Laurati, Painter of Siena. 

Pietro Laurati, an excellent painter of Siena, proved by his life howgreat may be the contentment of men of undoubted talent, who realisethat their works are valued, both in their native land and outsideit, and who see themselves in request by all men; for in the courseof his life he was employed and caressed by all Tuscany. The firstworks which brought him into notice were the scenes which he paintedin fresco in la Scala, a hospital of Siena, in which he imitated thestyle of Giotto so successfully that these paintings became knownthroughout Tuscany and gave rise to the well-founded belief that hewould become a better master than Cimabue, Giotto, and the others, ashe actually did. In these scenes he represented the Virgin mountingthe steps of the Temple, accompanied by Joachim and Anna, andreceived by the priest; then her marriage, both remarkable for goodornamentation, well-draped figures with simple folds of the clothes, and a majesty in the carnage of the heads, while the disposition ofthe figures is in the finest style. During the progress of this work, which introduced the good style of painting to Siena, being the firstgleam of light for the many fine spirits who have flourished in thatland in every age, Pietro was summoned to Monte Oliveto di Chiusuri, where he painted a picture in tempera which is now placed in theparadiso under the church. He next painted a tabernacle at Florence, opposite the left door of the church of S. Spirito, on the side wherea butcher's shop now stands, which merits the highest praise fromevery attentive artist, on account of the grace of the heads and thesmoothness which it exhibits. Proceeding from Florence to Pisa, hedid for the Campo Santo on the wall next the principal door, all thelife of the Holy Fathers, with such striking reality and in such fineattitudes, that they rival Giotto. For this work he won the highestpraise, having expressed in some heads, in drawing and colour, allthe vivacity of which the manner of the time was capable. From Pisahe passed to Pistoia, and in S. Francesco did a picture of Our Ladyin tempera, surrounded by some angels, very well arranged, thepredella beneath containing some scenes with small figures, presentedwith a vigour and life remarkable for those times. This worksatisfied him as much as it delighted others, and accordingly he puthis name to it in these words: _Petrus Laurati de Senis_. Afterwards, in the year 1355, Pietro was summoned to Arezzo by M. Guglielmo, headpriest, and by Margarito Boschi and the other wardens of the Pieveof Arezzo. This church had been brought to an advanced stage in abetter style and manner than had been practised in Tuscany up to thattime, being ornamented with squared stones and carvings by the handof Margaritone, as has been said. There Pietro painted in fresco thetribune and all the great apse of the chapel of the high altar, representing twelve scenes from the life of Our Lady, with life-sizefigures, from the chasing of Joachim out of the Temple, to the birthof Jesus Christ. In these works in fresco one meets with the ideas, lineaments, carriage of the heads, and attitudes of the figurescharacteristic of Giotto, his master. And although the whole of thiswork is beautiful, yet the paintings in the vault of the apse arecertainly much better than the rest, because, in the place where herepresented the ascent of Our Lady to heaven, besides making theapostles four braccia high each, in which he showed his greatness ofmind, being the first artist who attempted to aggrandise his style, he gave such a beautiful turn to the heads and such grace to thevestments that more could not have been desired in those days. Inlike manner he painted in the vaulting a choir of angels flying inthe air about a Madonna. As they gracefully dance they appear to besinging, with a joy truly angelic and divine; whilst they are playingvarious instruments their eyes are fixed and intent on another choirof angels, sustained by a cloud of almond shape bearing the Madonnato heaven arranged in beautiful attitudes and surrounded by rainbows. This work, which was deservedly popular, procured him a commission topaint in tempera the picture of the high altar of that Pieve, wherein five panels of life-size figures, represented to the knees, hemade Our Lady with the Child on her arm, with St John the Baptist andSt Matthew on one side of her, and on the other the Evangelist and StDonate. In the predella are many small figures, as well as in theframe of the picture above, all really fine and executed in the beststyle. I have entirely restored this altar at my own expense and withmy own hands, so that this picture has been placed above the altar ofSt Christopher, at the bottom of the church. I may take thisopportunity, without appearing to be impertinent, of saying in thisplace that I have myself restored this ancient collegiate church, moved by Christian piety and by the affection which I bear to thevenerable building, because it was my first instructress in my earlychildhood. This I did also because it appeared to me to be as it wereabandoned, and it may now be said to have been called back to lifefrom the dead. Besides increasing the light, for it was very dark, byenlarging the original windows and making new ones, I also took awaythe choir, which used to occupy a great part of the church, and putit behind the high altar, to the great satisfaction of the canonsthere. The new altar stands alone, and has on the table before it aChrist calling Peter and Andrew from their nets, and on the side nextthe choir is another picture of St George killing the serpent. On thesides are four panels, each of which contains two saints oflife-size. Above and below in the predella are numerous otherfigures, which are omitted for the sake of brevity. The ornamentationof the altar is thirteen braccia high, and the predella two braccia. The interior is hollow and is approached by a staircase through asmall iron door, very well arranged. Many valuable relics arepreserved there, which may be seen from the outside through two irongratings in the front. Among others is the head of St Donato, bishopand protector of Arezzo. In a chest of various materials, threebraccia high, which I have caused to be newly made, are the bones offour saints. The predella of the altar, which entirely surrounds it, has in front of it the tabernacle or _ciborium_ of the Sacrament, incarved wood, all gilt, about three braccia high, and it may be seenfrom the choir side as well as from the front. As I have sparedneither pains nor expense, since I considered myself bound to do mybest to honour God, I may venture to affirm that, so far as myability would allow, this work lacks nothing in the way of ornament, whether of gold, carving, painting, marble, trevertine, porphyry, orother stones. 

Now to return to Pietro Laurati. When he had completed the picturementioned above, he did many things for St Peter's at Rome, whichwere afterwards destroyed in building the new church. He alsoexecuted some works at Cortona and at Arezzo, besides those alreadymentioned, and some others in the church of S. Fiore e Lucilla, amonastery of black monks, notably a representation in a chapel of StThomas putting his hand into the wound in Christ's side. 

A pupil of Pietro was Bartolommeo Bologhini of Siena, who executedmany pictures at Siena and other places in Italy. There is one by hishand at Florence, on the altar of the chapel of St Silvester in S. Croce. The paintings of this man were executed about the year 1350. In my book, which I have so often referred to, may be seen a drawingby Pietro, representing a shoemaker sewing in a simple but mostnatural manner with an admirable expression. It affords a goodexample of Pietro's peculiar style. His portrait by the hand ofBartolommeo Bologhini was in a picture at Siena, where not many yearsago I copied it, in the manner seen above. 

Andrea Pisano, Sculptor and Architect. 

While the art of painting has flourished, sculptors have never beenlacking who could produce excellent work. To the attentive mind, theworks of every age bear testimony to this fact, for the two arts arereally sisters, born at the same time and nourished and animated bythe same spirit. This is seen in Andrea Pisano, who practisedsculpture in the time of Giotto, and made so much improvement in thatart, both by practice and study, that he was considered the bestexponent of the profession who had until then appeared in Tuscany, especially in casting bronze. For this reason his works were sohonoured and prized by those who knew him, and especially by theFlorentines, that he was able without a pang to change his country, relations, property, and friends. It was a great advantage to himthat the masters who had preceded him in sculpture had experienced somuch difficulty in the art that their works were rough and common, sothat those who saw his productions, judged him a miracle bycomparison. That these first works were rude may be credited, as hasbeen said elsewhere, upon an examination of some which are over theprincipal door of S. Paolo at Florence, and some stone ones in thechurch of Ognissanti, which are so executed as to move to laughterthose who regard them, rather than to excite in them any admirationor pleasure. It is certain that it was much more easy to recover theart of sculpture when the statues had been lost, as a man is a roundfigure by nature, and is so represented by that art, whereas inpainting, on the other hand, it is not so easy to find the rightshapes and the best manner of portraying them, which are essential tothe majesty, beauty, grace, and ornament of a picture. In onecircumstance fortune was favourable to Andrea, because, as has beensaid elsewhere, by means of the numerous victories won by the Pisansat sea, many antiquities and sarcophagi were brought to Pisa, whichare still about the Duomo and Campo Santo. These gave him greatassistance and much light, advantages which could not be enjoyed byGiotto, because the ancient paintings which have been preserved arenot so numerous as the sculptures. And although statues havefrequently been destroyed by fire, devastation, and the fury of war, or buried or transported to various places, yet it is easy for aconnoisseur to recognise the productions of all the differentcountries by their various styles. For example, the Egyptian isslender, with long figures; the Greek is artificial, and much care isdisplayed on the nude, while the heads nearly always have the sameturn; and the ancient Tuscan is careful in the treatment of hair andsomewhat rude. As regards the Romans, and I call Roman for the mostpart those things which were brought to Rome after Greece wassubjugated, as all that was good and beautiful in the world wascarried thither; this Roman work, I say, is so beautiful inexpression, attitudes, movements both in nude figures and indraperies, that the Romans may be said to have extracted thebeautiful from all the other provinces and gathered it into asingle style, making it the best and the most divine of all the arts. 

At the time of Andrea all these good methods and arts were lost, andthe only style in use was that which had been brought to Tuscany bythe Goths and the rude Greeks. Thus he noted the new style of Giottoand such few antiquities as were known to him, and somewhat refined agreat part of the grossness of that wretched manner by his ownjudgment, so that he began to work in better style, and endow hisworks with far more beauty than had hitherto been seen. When hisintelligence, skill, and dexterity had become known he was assistedby many of his compatriots, and while he was still a young man, hewas commissioned to make some small figures in marble for S. Maria aPonte. These brought him such a good name that he was most earnestlydesired to come to work at Florence by those in charge of thebuilding of S. Maria del Fiore, as after the façade of the threedoors had been begun, there was a lack of masters to execute thesubjects which Giotto had designed for the beginning of thatstructure. Accordingly Andrea went to Florence in order to undertakethat work, and because at that time the Florentines were desirous ofmaking themselves agreeable and friendly to Pope Boniface VIII. , whowas then chief pontiff of the church of God, they wished Andrea, before everything else, to make his statue in marble. Andreatherefore set to work, and did not rest until he had finished thePope's figure placed between St Peter and St Paul, the three figuresbeing set up on the façade of S. Maria del Fiore, where they stillare. Afterwards Andrea made some figures of prophets for the middledoor of that church, in some tabernacles or niches. These showed thathe had made great improvements in the art, and that in excellence anddesign he surpassed all those who had laboured for that structure upto that time. Hence it was decided that all works of importanceshould be entrusted to him and not to others. Soon after he wascommissioned to make four statues of the principal doctors of thechurch--St Jerome, St Ambrose, St Augustine, and St Gregory. Whenthese were finished they brought him favour and renown with thecraftsmen and throughout the city, and he was commissioned to maketwo other figures in marble of the same size. These were St Stephenand St Laurence, which are on the front of S. Maria del Fiore at theoutside angle. By Andrea's hand also is the marble Madonna, three anda half braccia high with the child at her neck, which is over thealtar of the little church and company of the Misericordia on thepiazza of S. Giovanni at Florence. This was much praised in thosetimes, especially as on either side of the Madonna he put an angeltwo and a half braccia high. A setting of very finely carved wood hasbeen made for this in our own day by Maestro Antonio called "IlCarota, " with a predella beneath, full of most beautiful figurescoloured in oil by Ridolfo, son of Domenico Grillandai. In likemanner the half-length Madonna in marble which is over theside-door of the Misericordia, on the façade of the Cialdonai, is byAndrea's hand, and was highly praised, because in it he had imitatedthe good antique manner, contrary to his habit, which was alwaysdifferent from it, as shown by some designs of his which are in ourbook, and in which he represents all the scenes from the Apocalypse. Now Andrea had studied architecture in his youth, and an opportunityoccurred for his employment in this art by the commune of Florence, for as Arnolfo was dead and Giotto absent, he was entrusted with thepreparation of plans for the castle of Scarperia, which is in Mugelloat the foot of the Alps. Some say, though I will not vouch for thetruth of it, that Andrea stayed a year at Venice, and there executedsome small marble figures which are on the façade of S. Marco, andthat in the time of M. Piero Gradenigo, doge of that republic, hedesigned the Arsenal. But as I know nothing of this beyond the baremention of it which occurs in some writers, I must leave the matterto the judgment of my readers. From Venice he returned to Florence, where the city, fearing the coming of the emperor, with Andrea'sco-operation, hastily added eight braccia to part of the wall betweenS. Gallo and the Prato Gate, and in other places he made bastions, palisades and works in earth and wood. Now some three years before, he had shown his skill in casting bronze in a much admired crosswhich he had sent to the Pope at Avignon, by means of his closefriend Giotto; accordingly he was commissioned to make in bronze oneof the doors of the church of S. Giovanni, for which Giotto hadalready made a very fine design. This, as I say, was given to him tofinish, because he was considered the most talented, skilful, andjudicious master of all those who had worked until then, not only inTuscany, but throughout Italy. He set to work, resolved to spareneither time, pains, nor diligence upon the completion of a task ofsuch importance. Fate was propitious to him in his casting, at a timewhen men were ignorant of the secrets known today, so that in thespace of twenty-two years he brought the door to its present stage ofperfection; and what is more, at the same time he made not only thetabernacle of the high altar of S. Giovanni, with an angel on eitherside which were considered most beautiful, but also the small marblefigures about the base of the door of the campanile of S. Maria delFiore, after Giotto's design, and about that campanile, in certainmandorle, the seven planets, the seven virtues, and the seven worksof mercy in small figures in half-relief, which were then muchadmired. At the same time he made the three figures of four bracciahigh, which were placed in niches in that campanile, on the sidetowards the place where the Pupilli now are, that is towards thesouth, figures which were considered at the time to be ofconsiderable merit. But to return to my starting-point, I say thatthe bronze door contains scenes in bas-relief from the life of StJohn the Baptist, from his birth to his death, most happily conceivedand executed with great care. And although many are of opinion thatthese stories do not exhibit that fine design nor that high art whichshould be put into figures, yet Andrea merits the highest praise, because he was the first who undertook to complete a work whichrendered it possible for those who came after him to produce what isbeautiful, difficult and good in the other two doors, and in theexterior ornaments now to be seen. This work was set in the middledoor of the church, and remained there until Lorenzo Ghiberti madethe present one, when it was removed and set up opposite theMisericordia, where it is at the present time. I must not omit to saythat in making this door Andrea was assisted by his son Nino, whoafterwards became a much better master than his father had been, andthat it was finished in the year 1339--that is to say, not onlypolished and cleaned, but gilt at the fire. It is thought that themetal was cast by some Venetian masters very skilful in founding; anda record of this is in the library of the art of the Calimara, guardians of the work of S. Giovanni. Whilst the door was being made, Andrea not only made the altars aforesaid, but many others, and inparticular the model of the church of S. Giovanni at Pistoia, whichwas founded in the year 1337. In this same year, on the 25th day ofJanuary, was found the body of St Atto, bishop of that city, inexcavating the foundations of the church. The body had been buried inthat place for 137 years. The architecture of that temple, which isround, was meritorious for the time. Also by the hand of Andrea is amarble tomb in the principal church of Pistoia, the body of thesarcophagus of which is full of small figures, with some larger onesabove. In this tomb rests the body of M. Cino d'Angibolgi, doctor oflaws, and a very famous man of letters in his day, as M. FrancescoPetrarca testifies in the sonnet:

 "Piangette donne, e con voi pianga Amore;"

and in the fourth chapter of the _Trionfo d'Amore_, where he says:

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

This marble tomb of Andrea's contains the portrait of M. Cino, who isrepresented as teaching a number of his scholars, who are about him, with such a fine attitude and style that it must have been considereda marvellous thing in those days, although it would not be valuednow. 

Walter, Duke of Athens and tyrant of Florence, also employed Andreato enlarge the piazza, and to fortify his palace by barring thebottom of all the windows on the first floor, where the hall of theTwo Hundred now is, with very strong square iron bars. The same dukealso added, opposite S. Piero Scheraggio, the rough stone walls whichare beside the palace to augment it, and in the thickness of the wallhe made a secret staircase, to mount and descend unperceived. At thebottom face of the wall he made a great door, which now serves forthe Customs, and over this he set his arms, the whole after thedesigns and with the advice of Andrea. Although the arms were defacedby the magistracy of the twelve, who took pains to obliterate everymemorial of that duke, yet on the square shield there remained theform of the lion rampant with two tails, as any attentive observermay see. For the same duke Andrea made many towers about the city, and not only began the fine gate of S. Friano, leaving it in itspresent form, but also made the walls of the portals and all thegates of the city, and the smaller gates for the convenience of thepeople. And, because the duke purposed to make a fortress on the hillof S. Giorgio, Andrea prepared a model for it, which was never used, as the work was not begun, the duke being driven out in the year1343. The duke's plan to convert the palace into a strong castle wasin great measure effected, for a considerable addition was made tothe original building, as may be seen to-day, the circuit comprisingthe houses of the Filipetri, the tower and houses of the Amidei, andMancini, and those of the Bellaberti. And because, after this greatundertaking was begun, all the materials required for it and for thegreat walls and barbicans were not ready, he kept back the buildingof the Ponte Vecchio, which was being hurried forward as a necessarything, and made use of the dressed stones and timber designed forthis without any consideration. Although Taddeo Gaddi was probablynot inferior to Andrea Pisano as an architect, the duke would notemploy him on these works because he was a Florentine, but made useof Andrea. The same Duke Walter wished to pull down S. Cicilia, inorder to obtain a view of the Strada Romana and the Mercato Nuovofrom his palace, and would also have destroyed S. Piero Scheraggiofor his convenience, but the Pope would not grant him licence. Atlength, as has been said above, he was driven out by the fury of thepeople. 

For his honoured labours of so many years Andrea not only deservedthe highest rewards, but also civil honours. Accordingly he was madea Florentine citizen by the Signoria, offices and magistracies in thecity were given to him, and his works were valued during his life andafter his death, as no one was found to surpass him in workmanshipuntil the advent of Niccolo of Arezzo, Jacopo della Quercia of Siena, Donatello, Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, and Lorenzo Ghiberti, whosesculptures and other works were such that people recognised in whaterror they had been living up till then, as these men had againdiscovered the true excellence which had been hidden for so great anumber of years. The works of Andrea were executed about the year ofgrace 1340. 

The pupils of Andrea were numerous, and, among others, Tommaso, architect and sculptor, of Pisa, who finished the chapel of the CampoSanto, and brought the campanile of the Duomo to completion--that isto say, the last part, where the bells are. This Tommaso was Andrea'sson, if we may believe an inscription on the high altar of S. Francesco at Pisa, on which a Madonna and other saints are carved byhim in half relief, with his name and that of his father beneath. Andrea left a son Nino, who devoted himself to sculpture, his firstwork being in S. Maria Novella at Florence, where he finished amarble Madonna, begun by his father, which is inside the door, nearthe chapel of the Minerbetti. Going afterwards to Pisa, he made forthe Spina a half-length marble Madonna suckling the infant JesusChrist, clothed in delicate draperies. In the year 1522 a marbleornament for this Madonna was made for M. Jacopo Corbini, who had amuch larger and finer one made for another full-length marble Madonnaof Nino, representing with great grace the mother offering a rose tothe child, who takes it in childish fashion, and so prettily, thatone may say that Nino had made some steps to subduing the roughnessof the stone, and endowing it with the attributes of living flesh. The figure is between a St John and a St Peter in marble, the head ofthe latter being a portrait of Andrea. Nino also made two marblestatues for an altar of S. Caterina at Pisa--that is to say, theMadonna and an angel in an Annunciation, executed, like his otherworks, with such care that they may be considered as the bestproductions of those times. On the base beneath this Madonna Ninocarved the following words: "On the first day of February 1370;" andbeneath the angel: "Nino, son of Andrea Pisano, made these figures. "

He produced yet other works in that city and at Naples which it isnot necessary to mention here. Andrea died at the age ofseventy-five, in the year 1345, and was buried by Nino in S. Mariadel Fiore with the following epitaph:

 "Ingenti Andreas jacet hie Pisanus in urna, Marmore qui potuit spirantes ducere vultus Et simulacra Deum mediis imponere templis Ex acre, ex auro, candenti et pulcro elephanto. "

Buonamico Buffalmacco, Painter of Florence. 

Buonamico di Cristofano, called Buffalmacco, painter of Florence, who was a pupil of Andrea Tafi, celebrated for his jests by M. Giovanni Boccaccio in his "Decameron, " is well known to have been theclose companion of Bruno and Calandrino, painters, and themselvesfacetious and pleasant men. He possessed a very fair judgment in theart of painting, as may be seen by his works, which are scatteredthroughout Tuscany. Franco Sacchetti relates in his "Three HundredTales" (to begin with the deeds of this artist while he was stillyoung) that, while Buffalmacco was a boy with Andrea, it was hismaster's custom, when the nights were long, to rise to work beforedawn and to call the boys. This thing displeased Buonamico, whoenjoyed a good sleep, and he tried to devise a plan that shouldinduce Andrea to leave off calling them to work so much beforedaylight. He soon found one, for in an ill-swept loft he happened tofind thirty great beetles or cockroaches. With some thin needles andcorks he fixed a small candle on the back of each beetle, and whenthe hour came for Andrea to rise he lighted the candles and put thebeetles one by one through a hole leading into Andrea's room. Whenthe master awoke, just about the hour when he was accustomed to callBuffalmacco, and saw these lights he began to tremble with fear, andto recommend himself to God, repeating his prayers and psalms. Atlength he put his head under the clothes and did not call Buffalmaccothat night, but remained trembling in that posture until the day. Thefollowing morning when he arose he asked Buonamico if he, likehimself, had seen more than a thousand devils. Buonamico said "No, "because he had kept his eyes shut, and had wondered why he had notbeen called. "What!" said Tafi; "I had something else to think ofbesides painting, and I am resolved to go and live in another house. "The following night, although Buonamico only put three beetles intoTafi's chamber, yet the poor man did not sleep a jot, owing to hisfear of the past night and to those devils which he saw. No soonerwas day come than he left the house, declaring he would never returnto it, and it was long before they were able to induce him to changehis mind. But Buonamico brought him the priest of the parish, whoconsoled him as best he could. When Tafi and Buonamico were talkingover the matter afterwards, the latter said: "I have always heardtell that the devils are the greatest enemies of God, andconsequently they must also be the chief adversaries of painters, because, besides the fact that we always make them very ugly, We donothing else but represent saints on walls and tables, in order torender men more devout or better in despite of the devils. For thiscause the devils are enraged with us, and as they have more power atnight than during the day, they come and play these pranks, and willdo worse if this practice of early rising is not entirely abandoned. "With these words, and many others, Buffalmacco succeeded in settlingthe matter, as the priest supported his arguments, so that Tafi leftoff his early rising and the devils ceased to go through the house atnight with lights. But not many months afterwards, when Tafi, inducedby desire of gain, and crushing every fear, began once more to riseand work at night and to call Buffalmacco, the beetles also began tomake their rounds, so that the master was compelled by fear to giveit up entirely, being strongly advised to this by the priest. 

When this thing became known through the city, it for a whileprevented other painters as well as Tafi from rising to work atnight. When, shortly afterwards, Buffalmacco himself became a fairlygood master he left Tafi, as the same Franco relates, and began towork by himself, and he never lacked employment. Accordingly he tooka house to serve equally as a workshop and a dwelling-house, nextdoor to a worker of wool in easy circumstances, who, being a rawsimpleton, was called Goosehead. This man's wife rose early everynight, when Buffalmacco, who had worked up to that time, was going torest, and setting herself at her spinning wheel, which sheunfortunately placed over against Buffalmacco's bed, she spent allthe night in spinning thread. Buonamico was unable to sleep a moment, and began to devise a means whereby to rid himself of this nuisance. It was not long before he perceived that, behind the brick wall whichseparated him from Goosehead, was the fire of his objectionableneighbour, and by means of a crack he could see everything that shedid at the fire. Accordingly he devised a new trick, and providedhimself with a long tube. When he found that the wife of Gooseheadwas not at the fire, he every now and again put through that hole inthe wall into his neighbour's pot as much salt as he wished. WhenGoosehead returned either to dine or to sup he could, as a rule, neither eat nor drink or taste either soup or meat, as everything wasmade bitter by too much salt. For a little while he had patience, andonly spoke of it or grumbled; but when he found that words did notsuffice, he frequently gave blows to the poor woman, who was indespair, because she thought she had been more than cautious insalting the dish. As her husband beat her from time to time, shetried to excuse herself, which only increased the anger of Goosehead, so that he began to strike her again, and as she cried out at the topof her voice, the noise penetrated the whole neighbourhood, and drewthither Buffalmacco among others. When he heard of what Gooseheadaccused his wife and how she excused herself, he said to Goosehead:"Worthy friend, you should be reasonable; you complain that yourmorning and evening dishes are too salt, but I only wonder that yourwife makes them so well as she does. I cannot understand how she isable to keep going all day, considering that she is sitting up thewhole night over her spinning, and does not, I believe, sleep anhour. Let her give up rising at midnight, and you will see, when shehas enough sleep, her brain will not wander, and she will not fallinto such serious mistakes. " Then he turned to the other neighbours, and succeeded so well in convincing them that he had found the trueexplanation that they all told Goosehead that Buonamico was right, and that he should follow this advice. Goosehead, believing what hewas told, ordered his wife not to rise so soon, and the dishes wereafterwards reasonably salted, except sometimes when the goodwife hadrisen early, because then Buffalmacco had recourse to his remedy, afact which induced Goosehead to cause his wife to give up earlyrising altogether. 

One of the earliest works Buffalmacco did was the decoration of thechurch of the nunnery of Faenza at Florence, where the citadel ofPrato now is. Here he represented scenes from the life of Christ, among other things, everything in which is in good style, and he alsodid there the massacre of the Innocents by Herod's order. Here hedisplays with considerable vigour the expressions of the murderers aswell as of the other figures, because some nurses and mothers, whoare snatching the children from the hands of the murderers, are usingtheir hands, nails, teeth, and every bodily agent to help them asmuch as possible, showing that their minds are not less full of rageand fury than of grief. As the monastery is destroyed to-day, nothingmore of this work is to be seen than a coloured drawing in our bookof designs, which contains the sketch for this by Buonamico's hand. In executing this work for the nuns of Faenza, Buffalmacco, who wasas eccentric in his dress as his behaviour, did not always happen towear the hood and mantle customary in those times, and the nuns whosometimes looked at him through the screen which he had caused to bemade, began to say to the custodian that they objected to seeing himalways in his doublet. After he had reassured them, they remainedquiescent for a while. At length, as they always saw him attiredafter the same fashion, they thought he must be the boy to mix thecolours and accordingly they induced the abbess to tell him that theyshould like to see the master himself at work and not this other onealways. Buonamico, who always loved his joke, told them that so soonas the master arrived he would let them know, although he wassensible of the small amount of confidence which they placed in him. Then he took a table and put another on the top of it, setting awater jug on this, over the handle of which he put a hood and thencovered the rest of the pitcher in a civilian's mantle, fastening itfirmly about the tables. After this he put a brush in the spout fromwhich the water flows, and there left it. When the nuns returned tosee the work through an opening where he had torn the canvas, theysaw the supposed master in his attire. They believed that he wasworking there to the utmost of his power, and would do much betterthan the mere boy had done, so they were several days thinking ofnothing else. At last they were anxious to see what beautiful thingsthe master had made. Fifteen days had passed since Buonamico had setfoot in the place, and one night they went to see the paintings, thinking that the master could no longer be there. They were coveredwith confusion and blushes when one bolder than the rest discoveredthe nature of the solemn master, who had not done a stroke in thefortnight. When they learned that Buonamico had treated themaccording to their deserts, and that the works which he had made wereexcellent, they recalled him and he returned with much laughter andjoking to take up the work, making them see that there is adifference between men and dummies, and that works must not always bejudged by the clothes of those who produce them. After a few days hefinished one subject there, with which they were very delighted sinceit appeared to them to be satisfactory in all its parts, except thatthe figures in the flesh colouring seemed to them to be rather toopale. When Buonamico heard this and learning that the abbess had thebest vernaccia in Florence, which served for the sacrifice of themass, he told them that in order to remedy such a defect, nothingwould be serviceable except to temper the colours with a goodvernaccia, for if the cheeks and other flesh parts of the figureswere touched with this, they would become red and very freshlycoloured. When the good sisters heard this they believed itcompletely and afterwards kept him supplied with the best vernacciaso long as the work lasted, while he on his part made merry andthenceforward with his ordinary colours rendered his figures morefresh and brilliant. 

On the completion of this work Buffalmacco painted in the abbey ofSettimo some scenes from the life of St James in the chapel dedicatedto that saint which is in the cloister, on the vault of which he didthe four Patriarchs and the four Evangelists, among whom the attitudeof Luke is noteworthy for the natural way in which he is blowing hispen to make the ink flow. In the subjects for the walls, which arefive, the figures are represented in fine attitudes and everything iscarried out with originality and judgment. In order to make his fleshcolouring easier to paint Buonamico used a ground of _pavonazzo disale_, as is seen in this work, which in the course of time hascaused a saltness by which the white and other colours are corrodedand consumed so that it is no marvel that the work is damaged anddestroyed, while many that were made long before have beenexcellently preserved. I formerly considered that the injury wascaused by the damp, but afterwards by an examination of his otherworks I have proved by experience that it is not the damp, but thispeculiar practice of Buffalmacco which has caused them to be sodamaged that it is not possible to see the design or anything else, and where the flesh colour should be there remains nothing but the_pavonazzo_. This method of working should not be practised by anyonewho desires a long life for his paintings. 

After the two pictures mentioned above, Buonamico did two others intempera for the monks of the Certosa at Florence, one of which is inthe place where the singing books for the choir rest, and the otheris below in the old chapels. In the Badia at Florence he painted infresco the chapel of the Gondi and Bastari, beside the principalchapel, which was afterwards granted to the family of the Boscoli, and still retains these paintings of Buffalmacco. Here he did thePassion of Christ, with fine and original expressions, showing inChrist, when He washes the disciples' feet, the greatest humility andbenignity, and cruelty and fierceness in the Jews who lead Him toHerod. But he displayed especial originality and facility in a Pilatewhom he painted in prison and in Judas, hung to a tree, from which wemay readily believe what is related of this pleasant painter, thatwhen he wished to be diligent and take pains, which rarely happened, he was not inferior to any other artist of his time. That this istrue is proved by his works in fresco in Ognissanti, where thecemetery now is, produced with such diligence and with suchprecautions that the water which has rained upon them for many yearshas not injured them or caused any harm except by preventing arecognition of their excellence. They are so well preserved becausethey were done simply upon fresh lime. On the walls are the Nativityof Jesus Christ and the Adoration of the Magi, that is to say, overthe tomb of the Aliotti. After these works Buonamico went to Bologna, where he painted in fresco on the vaults of the chapel of theBolognini in S. Petronio, but did not finish them, for some reasonunknown to me. It is said that in the year 1302 he was summoned toAssisi, and in the chapel of St Catherine in the church of S. Francesco he painted the history of the former saint's life infresco, works which are very well preserved, and containing somefigures well worthy of praise. When he had completed the chapel andwas on his way through Arezzo, the bishop Guido, who had heard thatBuonamico was a pleasant man and a painter of talent, wished him tostay in the city and paint for him the chapel in the Vescovadocontaining the Baptism of Christ. Buonamico put his hand to the workand had already done a considerable part of it when a very strangeadventure happened to him, related by Franco Sacchetti in his "ThreeHundred Tales. " The bishop possessed a baboon, the most mischievousand malignant creature that ever was seen. This animal was one daystanding on his perch and watching Buonamico work, having lostthought of everything else, and never taking his eyes off him as hemixed the colours, managed the tools, broke the eggs to make thetempera, or did any other thing, no matter what. One Saturday eveningBuonamico left the work and this baboon; on Sunday morning, althoughhe had a great log of wood attached to his legs, which the bishopmade him carry so that he should not leap everywhere, notwithstandingthis heavy weight, leapt on to the scaffolding where Buonamico usedto stand to work, and there took up the phials and emptied them oneby one, made the mixtures, broke as many eggs as were there, andbegan to daub all the figures with the brush, never resting until hehad repainted everything himself. That done he made a fresh mixtureof all the colours which were left over, although they happened to befew, and then descended from the scaffolding and departed. WhenBuonamico came back to his work on Monday morning and saw his figuresspoiled, his phials emptied and everything upside down, he was filledwith amazement and confusion. After turning the matter over in hismind for some time he concluded that some Aretine had done this fromenvy or for some other reason. Accordingly he went to the bishop andtold him what had happened and what he suspected, at which the bishopwas much troubled, yet he encouraged Buonamico to go on with thework, and to repaint the part which had been spoiled. He furtherpledged himself to give the artist six armed men of his infantry, whoshould stand with falchions to watch, when he was not working, and tocut to pieces without mercy anyone who should come. Accordingly thefigures were repainted a second time, and one day while the soldierswere on the watch they heard a curious rolling noise in the church, and soon after the baboon appeared, jumped upon the seat, made themixtures in an instant, and set to work upon the saints of Buonamico. The guard then called the master, and showed him the criminal, andwhen they saw him standing with them and watching the animal work, they burst into laughter, and Buonamico himself, though grieved atthe damage, could not help laughing in the midst of his sorrow. Atlength he dismissed the soldiers who had been on guard with theirfalchions, and went to the bishop and said to him: "My lord, you likemy manner of painting, but your baboon prefers another. " He thenrelated the matter, adding: "It was not necessary for you to sendaway for painters since you had a master in the house, althoughperhaps he did not know how to mix his colours properly. Now that heknows, let him work by himself, for I am of no further use here, andas his worth is now recognised, I shall be contented with no otherwages for my work except permission to return to Florence. " Althoughmuch displeased, the bishop could not refrain from laughing when heheard this, especially when he considered that a beast had made ajest of the most jest-loving man in the world. After they had laughedand talked over this new adventure, the bishop prevailed so far, thatBuonamico set himself a third time to do the work, and he finishedit. The baboon, as a punishment and penance for his fault, was shutup in a large cage of wood, and kept there while Buonamico worked, until the painting was quite finished. It is not possible to imaginethe antics which the great beast played in that cage with his mouth, his body and his hands, at seeing others work while he was not ableto imitate them. When the decoration of the chapel was completed thebishop asked, for a jest or for some other reason, that Buffalmaccoshould paint him on a wall of his palace an eagle on the back of alion which it had killed. The cunning painter promised to do as thebishop desired, and made a large partition of boards, saying that hedid not wish anyone to see such a thing being painted. This done, andwhile being shut up all alone inside, he painted the contrary to whatthe bishop wished, a lion crushing an eagle. When the work wascompleted, he asked licence from the bishop to go to Florence toprocure some colours which he needed. Accordingly, having locked uphis picture, he went to Florence intending never to return. Thebishop after waiting some time and seeing that the painter did notreturn, caused the painting to be opened, and found that Buonamicowas wiser than himself. Furious at the trick which had been playedupon him he threatened to take the artist's life. When Buonamicoheard this, he sent to tell him to do his worst, wherefore the bishopmenaced him with a malediction. But at length he reflected that theartist had only been jesting, and that he should take the matter as ajest, whereupon he pardoned Buonamico the insult, and acknowledgedhis pains most liberally. What is more, he induced him to come againto Arezzo not long after, and caused him to paint many things in theold Duomo, which have been thrown down to-day, treating him always ashis friend and most faithful servant. The same artist also painted inArezzo the apse of the principal chapel of S. Giustino. Some writethat when Buonamico was in Florence he was often in the workshop ofMaso del Saggio with his friends and companions. He was also presentwith many others in arranging the regatta which the men of the borgoS. Friano in Arno celebrate on the calends of May, and that when theponte alla Carraia, which was then of wood, broke down because it wastoo crowded with people, who had run thither to see the spectacle, hedid not perish then like many others, because when the bridge fellright on a machine, representing Hell in a barque on the Arno, he hadgone to buy some things that were wanted for the feast. 

Not long after these things Buonamico was invited to Pisa, andpainted a series of subjects from the Old Testament, from theCreation of Man to the building of the Tower of Nimrod, for the abbeyof S. Paolo a ripa d'Arno, which then belonged to the monks ofVallombrosa, on the whole of the crossing of that church, on threesides, from the roof to the ground. This work, which is now almostentirely destroyed, is remarkable for the vigour of the figures, theskill and beauty of the colouring and artist's faculty of expressinghis ideas, although he was not very good in design. On the wall ofthis crossing opposite that which contains the side door, there aresome scenes of the life of St Anastasia, where some women, painted ina graceful manner, exhibit certain antique habits and gestures, veryprettily and well. No less fine are some figures in a barque, arranged in well designed attitudes, among them being the portrait ofPope Alexander IV. , which it is said Buonamico had from his masterTafi, who had represented that pontiff in mosaic in St Peter's. Similarly in the last subject which represents the martyrdom of thesaint, and of others, Buonamico finely expresses in the faces thefear of death, the grief and dread of those who are standing by tosee her tormented and put to death, while she stands bound to a tree, and above the fire. Bruno di Giovanni, a painter, assisted Buonamicoin this work. He is called painter in the old book of the company. This Bruno, also celebrated as a joke-loving man by Boccaccio, finished the said scenes for the walls, and painted the altar of StUrsula for the same church, with her company of virgins, inserting inone hand of the saint a standard with the arms of Pisa, which are awhite cross on a red ground, while she places the other on a womanwho is rising between two mountains, and touches the sea with onefoot and places her hands together in an act of entreaty. This womanrepresents Pisa, her head being circled with a gold crown, while shewears a garment full of circles and eagles, and being in much troubleat sea she petitions the saint. But because Bruno complained when heexecuted those figures that they were not life-like as those ofBuonamico were, the latter in jest, to teach him to make figures, which if not life-like, should at least converse, made him put somewords issuing from the mouth of the woman who is entreating thesaint, and also the saint's reply to her, a device which Buonamicohad seen in the works executed by Cimabue in the same church. Thisthing pleased Bruno and other foolish men of the time, just as to-dayit pleases certain clumsy fellows, who have thus employed vulgardevices worthy of themselves. It is certainly curious that in thisway advice intended simply as a jest has been generally followed, somuch so that a great part of the Campo Santo done by masters ofrepute is full of this clumsiness. 

The works of Buonamico having greatly pleased the Pisans, those incharge of the fabric of the Campo Santo commissioned him to do fourscenes in fresco from the beginning of the world until the buildingof Noah's ark, surrounding them with an ornamentation, in which hedrew his own portrait from life, that is to say, in a border in themiddle and at the corners of which are some heads, among which, as Ihave said, is his own. He wears a hood, just like the one that may beseen above. This work contains a God who holds in his arms theheavens and the elements, and all the apparatus of the universe, sothat Buonamico, explaining his scene with verses, like the paintingsof the age, wrote at the foot in capital letters with his own handthe following sonnet, as may be seen, which for its antiquity andsimplicity of diction peculiar to the time, has seemed to me to beworth insertion in this place, so that if it does not perchance givemuch pleasure, though I think it will, yet it is a matter which willperhaps bear testimony to the amount of the knowledge of the men ofthat age:

 "Voi che avvisate 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 et è motore, Ciascuna cosa fecie buona e pura. Levate gli occhi del vostro intelletto Considerate quanto è ordinato Lo mondo universale; e con affetto Lodate lui che l' ha si ben creato: Pensate di passare a tal diletto Tra gli angeli, dove e ciascun beato. Per questo mondo si vede la gloria, Lo basso, e il mezzo, e Palto in questa storia. "

It was indeed bold of Buonamico to set himself to make a God theFather five braccia high, the hierarchy, the heavens, the angels, thezodiac, and all the things above to the sky of the moon, and then theelement of fire, the air, the earth, and finally the centre. For thetwo lower corners he did a St Augustine and a St Thomas Aquinas. Atthe top of this Campo Santo, where the marble tomb of the Corte nowis, Buonamico painted the Passion of Christ, with a great number offigures on foot and on horse, all in varied and beautiful attitudes, and in conformity with the story. He also did the Resurrection andthe Apparition of Christ to the apostles very satisfactorily. When hehad completed these labours, and had at the same time spenteverything that he had gained at Pisa, which was not a little, hereturned to Florence as poor as he had left it, and there he did manypictures and works in fresco, which it is not necessary to describefurther. When his close friend Bruno, with whom he had returned fromPisa after squandering everything, was employed to do some works inS. Maria Novella, because he had not much skill in design orinvention, Buonamico designed for him all that he afterwards did fora wall of that church opposite the pulpit, filling the space betweencolumn and column. This was the story of St Maurice and hiscompanions, who were beheaded for the faith of Jesus Christ. Brunoexecuted this work for Guido Campese, then constable of theFlorentines. The artist took his portrait before his death, in theyear 1320, and afterwards put it in this work, as an armed man, aswas customary in those days, and behind him he made an array ofwarriors, all armed in the antique style, forming a fine spectacle, while Guido himself kneels before Our Lady, who has the child Jesusin her arms while St Domenic and St Agnes, who are on either side ofher, intercede for him. Although this painting is not remarkable forits design and invention, yet it is worthy of some amount of praise, chiefly on account of the variety of clothing, and of the barbed andother armour of the time. I myself made use of it in some sceneswhich I did for Duke Cosimo, in which it was necessary to representan armed man in the antique style and other similar things of thatage. This thing greatly pleased His Most Illustrious Excellency andothers who have seen it. From this it may be seen what an advantageit is to draw materials from inventions and works made by theseancients, for although they are not perfect, yet it is useful to knowin what manner they can be made of service, since they opened theway to the marvels which have since been produced. Whilst Bruno wasengaged upon these works, a rustic desired him to do a StChristopher, and they made an agreement at Florence, the terms beingthat the price should be eight florins, and the figure should betwelve braccia high. Accordingly Buonamico went to the church wherehe was to do the St Christopher, and found that as its length andbreadth did not exceed nine braccia he could not manage to get thefigure in, so he determined, in order to fulfil the agreement, tomake the figure lying down, but as even then it would not entirelycome in, he was compelled to turn it from the knees downwards on toanother wall. When the work was completed the rustic refused to payfor it, exclaiming that he had been cheated. The matter thus camebefore the official of the Grascia, who judged that Buonamico wasjustified by the terms of the contract. 

At S. Giovanni in l'Arcore there was a very fine Passion of JesusChrist by Buonamico's hand, and among other much admired things itcontained a Judas hanging from a tree, done with much judgment and ingood style. There was also an old man blowing his nose verynaturally, and the Maries are represented with such a sad air inweeping that they merit high praise for a time when men had notacquired the facility of expressing the emotions of the soul with thebrush. In the same wall is a St Ivo of Brittany with many widows andorphans at his feet--a good figure--and two angels in the air whocrown him, executed in the sweetest style. This building, togetherwith the paintings, was thrown down in the year of the war of 1529. Again Buonamico painted many things in the Vescovado of Cortona forM. Aldebrando, bishop of that city, especially the chapel and thepicture of the high altar; but as during the restoration of thepalace and church everything was thrown down, it is not worth whileto say more about them. In S. Francesco and in S. Margherita of thesame city, there are still some pictures by the hand of Buonamico. From Cortona he went once more to Assisi, where in the lower churchof S. Francesco he painted in fresco all the chapel of the CardinalEgidio Alvaro of Spain, and because he was successful he wasliberally recognised by the cardinal. Finally, after Buonamico haddone many pictures in every part of la Marca, he stayed at Perugia onhis way back to Florence, and there painted the chapel of theBuontempi in fresco in the church of S. Domenico, representing scenesfrom the life of St Catherine, virgin and martyr. In the old churchof S. Domenico he painted also in fresco on the wall the scene whereSt Catherine, daughter of King Costa, disputes with, convinces, andconverts certain philosophers to the faith of Christ. As this sceneis the finest that Buonamico ever produced, it may be said with truththat he has surpassed himself, and moved by this, as Franco Sacchettiwrites, the Perugians directed that he should paint on the piazza StErcolano, bishop and protector of that city. Accordingly when theterms had been settled a screen of boards and wicker work was made inthe place where he was to paint, so that the master should not beseen at work, and this done he set himself to the task. But beforeten days had passed everyone who passed asked when the picture wouldbe finished, as if such things were cast in moulds. This disgustedBuonamico, who was angered by such importunity, and when the work wasfinished he resolved to be quietly avenged on the people for theirimpatience. An idea came to him, and before he uncovered his work heshowed it to the people, who were delighted. But when the Perugianswanted to remove the screen, Buonamico said that they must let itremain for two days longer, because he wished to retouch some things_a secco_, and this was done. Buonamico then climbed up to where hehad made a great diadem of gold for the saint, done in relief withthe lime, as was customary in those days, and replaced it by a crownor garland of fish. That done, permission to depart being granted tohim, he went away to Florence. When two days had passed, thePerugians not seeing the painter about, as he was accustomed to be, enquired what had become of him, and learned that he had returned toFlorence. Accordingly they at once went to uncover the work, andfound their St Ercolano solemnly crowned with fishes. Theyimmediately informed their magistrates, and horsemen were sent offin haste to find Buonamico. But all was in vain, since he hadreturned with great speed to Florence. They, therefore, agreed to getone of their own painters to remove the crown of fishes and torepaint the saint's diadem, saying all the evil things imaginable ofBuonamico and of the other Florentines. Thus Buonamico returned toFlorence, caring little for what the Perugians said, and began to domany works which I shall not mention for fear of being too tedious. Iwill only remark that having painted a Madonna and child atCalcinaia, the man who had commissioned him to paint it, gave himpromises instead of gold. Buonamico, who had not reckoned upon beingused and cheated in this way, determined to be even with him. Accordingly he went one morning to Calcinaia and converted the childwhich he had painted in the Virgin's arms into a little bear, withsimple tints, without glue or tempera, but made with water only. Whenthe countryman saw this not long after, he was in despair, and wentto find Buonamico, begging him to be so good as to remove the bearand repaint a child as at first, because he was ready to satisfy him. Buonamico did this with pleasure, for a wet sponge sufficed to seteverything right, and he was paid for his first and second labourswithout further delay. As I should occupy too much space if I wishedto describe all the jests and paintings of Buonamico Buffalmacco, especially these perpetrated in the workshop of Maso del Saggio, which was a resort of citizens and of all the pleasant andjest-loving men in Florence, I shall conclude this notice of him. Hedied at the age of seventy-eight, and he was of the company of theMisericordia, because he was very poor, and had spent more than hehad earned, that being his temperament, and in his misfortunes hewent to S. Maria Nuova, a hospital of Florence. He was buried in theyear 1340, like the other poor in the Ossa, the name of a cloister orcemetery of the hospital. His works were valued during his lifetime, and they have since been considered meritorious for productions ofthat age. 

Ambruogio Lorenzetti, Painter of Siena. 

Great as the debt owed by artists of genius to Nature undoubtedly is, our debt to them is far greater, seeing that they labour to fill ourcities with noble and useful buildings and with beautiful paintings, while they usually win fame and riches for themselves. This was thecase with Ambruogio Lorenzetti, painter of Siena, whose powers ofinvention were fine and prolific, and who excelled in the arrangementand disposition of the figures in his subjects. Evidence of this maybe seen at the Friars Minors at Siena in a very gracefully paintedscene by him in the cloister. Here he represented the manner in whicha youth becomes a friar, and how he and some others go to the Soldan, and are there beaten and sentenced to the gallows, hung to a tree, and finally beheaded, during the progress of a fearful tempest. Inthis painting he has very admirably and skilfully depicted thedisturbance of the and the fury of the rain and wind, by the effortsof the figures. From these modern masters have learned originally howto treat such a scene, for which reason the artist deserves thehighest commendation. Ambruogio was a skilful colourist in fresco, and he exhibited great address and dexterity in his treatment ofcolours in tempera, as may still be seen in the pictures which hecompleted at Siena in the hospital called Mona Agnesa, in which hepainted and finished a scene with new and beautiful composition. Onthe front of the great hospital he did in fresco the Nativity of OurLady, and when she goes among the virgins to the temple. For thefriars of St Augustine in that city he did the chapterhouse, on thevault of which are represented the Apostles holding scrollscontaining that part of the Credo which each of them made. At thefoot of each is a small scene representing the meaning of the writingabove. On the principal wall are three scenes of the life of StCatherine the Martyr, representing her dispute with the tyrant in thetemple, and in the middle is the Passion of Christ with the thieveson the Cross and the Maries below, supporting the Virgin, who hasfallen down. These things were finished by Ambruogio withconsiderable grace, and in a good style. He also depicted in thegreat hall of the palace of the Signoria at Siena the war ofAsinalunga, the peace following, and the events which then tookplace, comprising a map, perfect for the time. In the same palace hedid eight scenes in _terra verde_ very smoothly. It is said that healso sent to Volterra a picture in tempera, which was much admired inthat city; and at Massa, in conjunction with others, he did a chapelin fresco and a picture in tempera, showing the excellence of hisjudgment and talent in the art of painting. At Orvieto he painted infresco the principal chapel of St Mary. After these works he betookhimself to Florence, and in S. Procolo did a picture and the life ofSt Nicholas on small figures in a chapel, to please some of hisfriends, who were anxious to see a specimen of his work. He completedthis painting in so short a time, and with such skill, that hegreatly increased his name and reputation. This work, in the predellaof which he made his own portrait, procured him an invitation toCortona, by command of the Bishop degli Ubertini, then lord of thatcity, where he worked in the church of S. Margherita, which hadshortly before been erected on the summit of the mountain for thefriars of St Francis. Some of this, particularly parts of thevaulting and walls, is so well done, that even now when they arealmost destroyed by time, it is clear that the figures had very goodexpressions, and show that he deserved the commendation which hereceived. On the completion of this work Ambruogio returned to Siena, where he passed the remainder of his days, honoured not only becausehe was an excellent master in painting, but also because in his youthhe had devoted himself to letters, which were a sweet and usefulcompanion to painting, and such an ornament to all his life, thatthey rendered him no less amiable and pleasing than the profession ofpainting had done. Thus he not only conversed with men of letters andof worth, but was also employed on the affairs of his republic withmuch honour and profit. The manners of Ambruogio were in everyrespect meritorious, and rather those of a gentleman and aphilosopher than of an artist. Moreover, and this tests the prudenceof men more severely, he was always ready to accept what the worldand time brought him, so that he supported with an equable mind thegood and the evil which Fortune sent him. In truth it is impossibleto overestimate what art gains by good society, gentle manners, andmodesty, joined with other excellent traits, especially when theseemanate from the intellect and from superior minds. Thus everyoneshould render himself no less pleasing by his character than by theexcellence of his art. At the end of his life Ambruogio executed amuch admired picture for Monte Oliveto of Chiusuri. Soon after, atthe age of eighty-three, he passed in a happy and Christian manner tothe better life. His works were executed about 1340. 

As has been said, the portrait of Ambruogio by his own hand may beseen in S. Procolo in the predella of his picture, where he iswearing a hood on his head. His skill as a designer may be seen inour book, which contains some things by his hand of considerablemerit. 

Pietro Cavallini, Painter of Rome. 

At a time when Rome had been deprived for many centuries, not onlyof good letters and of the glory of arms, but also of all thesciences and fine arts, there was born in that city, by God's will, one Pietro Cavallini, at the very time when Giotto, who may be saidto have restored life to painting, had attained to the chief placeamong the painters of Italy. Pietro, who had been a pupil of Giotto, and had done some mosaics with him in St Peter's, was the first afterhim who illuminated that art, and who first showed signs that he wasnot an unworthy pupil of so great a master, when he painted over thedoor of the sacristy at Araceli, some scenes which are now destroyedby time, and in S. Maria di Trastevere very many coloured things infresco for the whole church. Afterwards he worked in mosaic in theprincipal chapel, and did the front of the church, proving that hewas capable of working in mosaic without Giotto's assistance, as hehad already succeeded in doing in painting. In the church of S. Grisogono he also did many scenes in fresco and endeavoured to makehimself known as the best pupil of Giotto and as a good artist. Inthe Trastevere also he painted almost the whole of the church of S. Cecilia in fresco, and many things in the church of S. Francescoappresso Ripa. He then executed in mosaic the front of S. Paolo, outside Rome, and in the middle nave did many scenes from the OldTestament. In executing some things in fresco for the chapter-houseof the first cloister, he displayed such diligence that he wasconsidered by men of judgment to be a most excellent master, and wasfor the same reason so much favoured by the prelates, that theyemployed him to do the wall space between the windows inside StPeter's. Among these things he did the four Evangelists, ofextraordinary size as compared with the figures of the time usuallyseen, executed very finely in fresco; also a St Peter and a St Paul, and in the nave a good number of figures, in which, because theByzantine style greatly pleased him, he always used it in conjunctionwith that of Giotto. We see by this work that he spared no effort togive his figures the utmost possible relief. But the best workproduced by him in that city was in the church of Araceli sulCampidoglio mentioned above, where he painted in fresco on thevaulting of the principal apse, Our Lady with the child in her arms, surrounded by a circle of suns; beneath her is the Emperor Octavian, adorning the Christ who is pointed out to him by the Tiburtine sybil. The figures in this work, as has been said elsewhere, are muchbetter preserved than the others, because dust cannot attack thevaulting so seriously as the walls. After these things Pietro came toTuscany in order to see the works of the other pupils of his masterGiotto, and those of the master himself. Upon this occasion hepainted in S. Marco at Florence many figures which are not visibleto-day, the church having been whitewashed with the exception of anAnnunciation which is beside the principal door of the church, andwhich is covered over. In S. Basilio, by the aide of the Macine, there is another Annunciation in fresco on the wall, so similar tothe one which he had previously made for S. Marco, and to anotherwhich is at Florence that there are those who believe, not withoutsome amount of reason, that all of them are by the hand of thisPietro; certainly it is impossible that they could more closelyresemble each other. Among the figures which he made for S. Marcoof Florence was the portrait of Pope Urban V. , with the heads of StPeter and St Paul. From this portrait Fra Giovanni da Fiesole copiedthe one which is in a picture in S. Domenico, also at Fiesole. Thisis a fortunate circumstance because the portrait which was in S. Marco was covered with whitewash as I have said, together with manyother figures in fresco in that church, when the convent was takenfrom the monks who were there originally and given to the FriarsPreachers, everything being whitewashed with little judgment anddiscretion. On his way back to Rome Pietro passed through Assisi inorder not only to see the buildings and notable works done then byhis master and by some of his fellow-pupils, but to leave somethingof his own there. In the transept on the sacristy side of the lowerchurch of S. Francesco he painted in fresco a Crucifixion of JesusChrist with armed men on horseback, in varied fashions, with a greatvariety of extraordinary costumes characteristic of divers foreignnations. In the air he made some angels floating on their wings invarious attitudes; all are weeping, some pressing their hands totheir breasts, some crossing them, and some beating their hands, showing the extremity of their grief at the death of the Son of God, and all melt into the air, from the middle downwards, or from themiddle upwards. In this work which is well executed in fresh andvivacious colouring, the joints of the lime are so well made that itlooks as if it had all been done in a single day: in it I have foundthe arms of Walter, Duke of Athens, but as it contains no date orother writing, I cannot affirm that it was executed by command ofthat prince. But besides the fact that everyone considers it to be byPietro's hand, the style alone is a sufficient indication, while itseems most probable that the work was made by Pietro at the duke'scommand seeing that the painter flourished at the time when the dukewas in Italy. Be that as it may, the painting is certainly admirablefor an antique production, and its style, besides the common report, proclaims it as being by Pietro's hand. In the church of S. Marco atOrvieto, which contains the most holy relic of the Corporale, Pietroexecuted in fresco some scenes of the life of Christ and of His body, with much diligence. It is said that he did this for M. Benedetto, son of M. Buonconte Monaldeschi, at that time lord and tyrant of thecity. Some further affirm that Pietro made some sculptures withsuccess, because he excelled in whatever he set himself to do, andthat the Crucifix which is in the great church of S. Paolo outsideRome is by him. This is said to be the same one that spoke to StBrigida in the year 1370, and we are bound to believe it. By the samehand were some other things in that style which were thrown down whenthe old church of St Peter's was destroyed to make the new one. 

Pietro was very diligent in all his efforts and endeavoured steadilyto do himself honour and to acquire fame in art. Not only was he agood Christian, but very devoted and kind to the poor, and belovedfor his goodness, not only in his native city of Rome, but by everyone who knew him or his works. In his extreme old age he devotedhimself so thoroughly to religion, leading an exemplary life, that hewas considered almost a saint. Thus there is no cause for marvel ifhis crucifix spoke to the saint, as is said, nor that a Madonna, byhis hand, has worked and still works miracles. I do not propose tospeak of this work, although it is famous throughout Italy, andalthough it is all but certain that it is by Pietro's hand by thestyle of the painting, but Pietro's admirable life and piety to Godare worthy of imitation by all men. Let no one believe by this thatit is impossible to attain to honoured rank without good conduct, andwithout the fear and grace of God, for constant experience proves thecontrary. Giovanni of Pistoia was a pupil of Pietro, and did somethings of no great importance in his native place. Pietro died atlength in Rome, at the age of eighty-five, of a malady in his sidecaused by working at a wall, by the damp and by standing continuallyat that exercise. His paintings were executed about 1364. He wasburied in S. Paolo outside Rome, with honour, and with this epitaph:

 "Quantum Romans Petrus decus addidit urbi Pictura, tantum, dat decus ipse polo. "

Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, Painters of Siena. 

Happy indeed may we call those men who are inclined by nature tothose arts which may bring them not only honour and great profit, butwhat is more, fame, and an all but immortal name. How much more happythen are those who, from their cradle, besides such an inclination, exhibit gentleness and civil manners, which render them veryacceptable to all men. But the most happy of all, I speak of artists, are those who, besides having a natural inclination to the good, andwhose manners are noble by nature and training, live in the time ofsome famous writer, by whose works they sometimes receive a reward ofeternal honour and fame in return for some small portrait or othercourtesy of an artistic kind. This reward should be specially desiredand sought after by painters, since their works, being on a surfaceand a field of colour, cannot hope for that eternity that bronze andmarble give to sculpture, and which the strength of buildingmaterials afford to the architect. It was thus a very fortunatematter for Simone that he lived in the time of M. Francesco Petrarca, and happened to meet this amorous poet at the court of Avignon, anxious to have the portrait of Madonna Laura by his hand; becausewhen he had received one as beautiful as he desired, he celebratedSimone in two sonnets, one of which begins:

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

and the other:

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

In truth these sonnets and the mention of the artist in one of hisintimate letters in the fifth book, beginning _Non sum nescius_, havegiven more fame to the poor life of Simone than all his own workshave done or ever will do, for a day will come when they will be nomore, whereas the writings of such a man as Petrarch endure for alltime. 

Simone Memmi of Siena then was an excellent painter, remarkable inhis own day and much esteemed at the Pope's court, because, after thedeath of his master Giotto, whom he had followed to Rome when he didthe _Navicella_ in mosaic, and other things, he had imitated hismaster's style in making a Virgin Mary in the porch of St Peter's, and a St Peter and a St Paul in that place near where the bronze pineapple is, in a wall between the arches of the portico, on theoutside. For this style he was praised, especially as he hadintroduced into the work a portrait of a sacristan of St Peter'slighting some lamps, and has made his figures very vigorous. This ledto Simone being summoned very urgently to the Pope's court atAvignon, where he executed so many pictures in fresco and on panelsthat his works realised the fame which had preceded him thither. Returning to Siena in great credit and high in favour, he wasemployed by the Signoria to paint in fresco a Virgin Mary, with manyfigures about her in a chamber in their palace. He completed thiswith every perfection, to his great glory and advantage. In order toshow that he was no less skilful in painting on panels than infresco, he executed a panel in that palace, for which reason he wasafterwards commissioned to do two in the Duomo and a Madonna withthe child in her arms in a most beautiful attitude, above the door ofthe opera of that building. In this picture some angels which areholding up a standard in the air, are flying and looking down onsaints below them, who are surrounding Our Lady, forming a verybeautiful and decorative composition. That done, Simone was invitedto Florence by the general of St Augustine and did the chapter-housein S. Spirito, showing remarkable invention and judgment in thefigures and horses, as may be believed on seeing the story of thePassion of Christ, remarkable alike for the ingenuity, discretion, and exquisite grace displayed by the artist. The thieves on thecross are seen in the act of expiring, the soul of the good one beingcarried with rejoicing to heaven by angels, while that of the guiltyone is roughly dragged down by devils to hell. Simone has also shownoriginality and judgment in the disposition and bitter weeping ofsome angels about the cross. But most remarkable of all is the way inwhich the spirits cleave the air with their shoulders, because theymaintain the movement of their flight while turning in a circle. Thiswork would supply much clearer evidence of Simone's excellence if, inaddition to the ravages of time, it had not been further damaged inthe year 1560, through the fathers who, not being able to use thechapter-house on account of the damp, and throwing down the littlethat remained of the paintings of this man, in replacing a worm-eatenfloor by vaulting. About the same time Simone painted in tempera on apanel Our Lady and a St Luke with other saints, which is to-day inthe chapel of the Gondi in S. Maria Novella, signed with his name. Simone afterwards did three sides of the chapter-house of S. MariaNovella very successfully. On the first, that over the entrance door, he did the life of St Domenic; on the next one towards the church herepresented the religious and order of that saint fighting againstthe heretics, who are represented by wolves attacking some sheep, these being defended by a number of dogs, spotted white and black, the wolves being repulsed and slain. There are also some heretics whohave been convinced in the disputes and are tearing up their books, and, having repented, they confess, and their souls pass to the gateof Paradise, in which are many small figures doing various things. Inheaven is seen the glory of the saints and Jesus Christ. In the worldbelow the pleasures and delights are represented by human figures, especially some ladies, seated among whom is Petrarch's Laura drawnfrom life, clothed in green, with a small flame of fire between herbreast and her throat. There also is the Church of Christ, guardingwhich are the Pope, the Emperor, the King, Cardinals, Bishops, andall the Christian Princes, among them, beside a knight of Rhodes, M. Francesco Petrarch, also drawn from life, which Simone did in orderto keep green the memory of the man who had made him immortal. Forthe Church Universal he made the church of S. Maria del Fiore, not asit stands to-day, but as he had taken it from the model and designleft by the architect Arnolfo in the Opera, as a guide to those whowere to continue the building after his death. As I have saidelsewhere, no memory of these models would have been preserved, owing to the negligence of the wardens of S. Maria del Fiore, had notSimone painted them in this work. On the third side, that of thealtar, he did the Passion of Christ, who is going up from Jerusalemwith the cross on His shoulder, and proceeds to Mount Calvary, followed by a throng of people, where He is seen raised on the crossbetween the thieves, together with the other incidents of that story. I shall not attempt to describe the presence of a good number ofhorses, the throwing of lots by the servants of the court for theraiment of Christ, the release of the Holy Fathers from limbo, andall the other clever inventions which would be most excellent in amodern master and are remarkable in an ancient one. Here he occupiesthe entire wall and carefully makes the different scenes, one abovethe other, not dividing the separate subjects from one another byornaments, as the ancients used to do, and according to thepractice of many moderns, who put the earth above the air four orfive times. This has been done in the principal chapel of the samechurch, and in the Campo Santo at Pisa, where Simone painted manythings in fresco, and was compelled against his will to make suchdivisions, as the other painters who had worked there, such as Giottoand Buonamico his master, had begun the scenes in this bad style. Accordingly he continued that style in the Campo Santo, and made infresco a Madonna above the principal door on the inside. She is borneto heaven by a choir of angels, who sing and play so realisticallythat they exhibit all the various expressions which musicians areaccustomed to show when playing or singing, such as bending the earto the sound, opening the mouth in various ways, raising the eyes toheaven, puffing the cheeks, swelling the throat, and in short all themovements which are made in music. Under this Assumption, in threepictures, he did the life of St Ranieri of Pisa. In the first is theyouth playing the psalter, to the music of which some littlechildren are dancing, --very beautiful for the arrangement of thefolds, the ornamentation of the clothes, and the head-dresses ofthose times. The same Ranieri is next seen rescued from suchlasciviousness by St Albert the hermit. He stands weeping with hisface down, and his eyes red with tears, full of repentance for hissin, while God in the air, surrounded by a heavenly light, makes asif to pardon him. The second picture represents Ranieri distributinghis property among God's poor, then mounting into a barque he hasabout him a throng of poor and maimed, of women and children, anxiously pressing forward to petition and to thank him. In the samepicture is when the saint after receiving the pilgrim's dress in thechurch, stands before Our Lady, who is surrounded by many angels, and shows him that he shall rest, in her bosom at Pisa. The heads ofall these figures are vigorous with a fine bearing. The third picturerepresents the saint's return after seven years from beyond the sea, where he had spent three terms of forty days in the Holy Land, andhow while standing in the choir and hearing the divine offices wherea number of boys are singing, he is tempted by the devil, who is seento be repelled by the firm purpose guiding Ranieri not to offend God, assisted by a figure made by Simone to represent Constancy, whodrives away the ancient adversary represented with fine originalitynot only as terrified, but holding his hands to his head in hisflight, with his head buried as far as possible in his shoulders, andsaying, according to the words issuing from his mouth: "I can do nomore. " The last scene in the same picture is when Ranieri kneelingon Mount Tabor sees Christ miraculously in the air with Moses andElias. All the parts of this work and other things which concern itshow that Simone was very ingenious, and understood the good methodof composing figures lightly in the style of the time. When thesescenes were finished he made two pictures in tempera in the samecity, assisted by Lippo Memmi his brother, who had also helped him topaint the chapter-house of S. Maria Novella and other works. AlthoughLippo did not possess Simone's genius, yet he followed his style sofar as he was able, and did many things in fresco, in conjunctionwith his brother in S. Croce at Florence, the picture of the highaltar of the Friars Preachers in S. Catarina at Pisa, and in S. Paoloon the River Arno, and besides many beautiful scenes in fresco, hedid the picture in tempera now over the high altar, comprising OurLady, St Peter, St Paul, St John the Baptist, and other saints, towhich work Lippo put his name. After these things he did by himself apicture in tempera for the friars of St Augustine in S. Gimigniano, and acquired such fame thereby, that he was obliged to send to Arezzoto the Bishop Guido de' Tarlati a picture with three half-lengthfigures, which is now in the chapel of St Gregory in the Vescovado. While Simone was working at Florence, a cousin of his who was aclever architect, Neroccio by name, succeeded in the year 1332 insounding the great bell of the commune of Florence, which no one hadbeen able to accomplish for the space of seventeen years, except bythe efforts of twelve men. This man, however, balanced it so that itcould be moved by two persons, and when once in motion one personalone could ring it, although it weighed more than sixteen thousandpounds; accordingly, in addition to the honour, he received threehundred gold florins as his reward, a considerable sum for that time. But to return to our two masters of Siena. Besides the things alreadymentioned, Lippo executed from Simone's design a picture in tempera, which was taken to Pistoia and put over the high altar of the churchof S. Francesco, where it was considered very fine. When Simone andLippo at length returned to their native Siena, the former began alarge coloured work over the great gate of Camollia. Here herepresented the coronation of Our Lady with a quantity of figures, but the work remained incomplete, as he fell very sick, andsuccumbing to the disease he passed from this life in the year 1345, to the great sorrow of the whole city, and of Lippo his brother, whogave him honoured burial in S. Francesco. Lippo afterwards finishedmany pictures which Simone had left imperfect. Among these were aPassion of Jesus Christ at Ancona, over the high altar of S. Niccola, in which Lippo finished what Simone had begun, imitating what he haddone in the chapter-house of S. Spirito at Florence, and whichSimone had entirely completed. This work is worthy of a longer lifethan it appears likely to enjoy, for it contains many finely posedhorses and soldiers, actively engaged in various matters, wonderingwhether or no they have crucified the Son of God. At Assisi he alsofinished some figures which Simone had begun in the lower church ofS. Francesco, at the altar of St Elizabeth, which is at the entranceof the door leading into the chapel, representing Our Lady, a StLouis, King of France, and other saints, eight figures in all, fromthe knees upwards, but good and very well coloured. Besides thisSimone had begun in the principal refectory of that monastery, at thetop of the wall, many small scenes and a crucifix with a Tree of theCross. This remained unfinished, and is drawn, as may be seen to-day, in red with the brush on the rough wall. This method was favoured bythe old masters in order to work in fresco with greater rapidity, forafter they had sectioned out all their work on the rough wall, theydrew it with the brush, following a small design which served as aguide, increasing this to the proper size, and this done they at onceset to work. That many other works were painted in the same manner asthis is seen in those cases where the work has peeled off, the designin red remaining on the rough wall. But to return to Lippo. He drewvery fairly, as may be seen in our book, in a hermit with his legscrossed. He survived Simone twelve years, doing many things for allparts of Italy, but especially two pictures in S. Croce at Florence. As the style of the two brothers is somewhat similar, their works maybe distinguished thus: Simone wrote at the bottom of his: _SimonisMemmi Senensis opus_; Lippo omitted his surname and careless of hisLatinity wrote: _Opus Memmi de Seals me fecit_. On the wall of thechapter-house of S. Maria Novella, besides the portraits of Petrarchand Laura mentioned above by Simone's hand, are those of Cimabue, Lapo the architect, Arnolfo his son, and Simone himself, the Popebeing a portrait of Benedict XI. Of Treviso, a friar preacher, whosefigure had been given to Simone by his master Giotto, when the latterreturned from the Pope's court at Avignon. In the same place, next tothe Pope, he portrayed the Cardinal Niccola da Prato, who had at thattime come to Florence as the Pope's legate, as Giov. Villani relatesin his "History. " Over Simone's tomb was set the following epitaph:"_Simoni Memmio pictorum omnium omnis aetatis celeberrimo, Vixit ann. Ix. Metis ii. D. Iii_. " As may be seen in our book, Simone did notexcel greatly in design, but was naturally full of invention and wasvery fond of drawing from life. In this he was considered the bestmaster of his time, so that the lord Pandolfo Malatesta sent him toAvignon to make the portrait of M. Francesco Petrarch, at whoserequest he afterwards made the much admired portrait of MadonnaLaura. 

Taddeo Gaddi, Painter of Florence. 

It is a truly useful and admirable task to reward talent largely atevery opportunity, because great abilities which would otherwise liedormant, are excited by this stimulus and endeavour with allindustry, not only to learn, but to excel, to raise themselves to auseful and honourable rank, from which flow honour to their country, glory to themselves, and riches and nobility to their descendants, who, being brought up on such principles, often become very rich andnoble, as did the descendants of Taddeo Gaddi the painter, by meansof his works. This Taddeo di Gaddo Gaddi of Florence, after the deathof Gaddo, had been the pupil of his godfather Giotto for twenty-fouryears, as Cennino di Drea Ceninni, painter of Colle di Valdelsawrites. On the death of Giotto he became the first painter of theday, by reason of his judgment and genius, surpassing hisfellow-pupils. His first works, executed with a facility due tonatural ability rather than to acquired skill, were in the church ofS. Croce at Florence in the chapel of the sacristy, where, inconjunction with his fellow-pupils of the dead Giotto, he did somefine scenes from the life of St Mary Magdalene, the figures anddraperies being very remarkable, the costumes being those then worn. In the chapel of the Baroncelli and Bandini, where Giotto had alreadydone a picture in tempera, Taddeo did some scenes from the life ofthe Virgin in fresco on the wall, which were considered verybeautiful. Over the door of the same sacristy he painted the scene ofChrist disputing with the doctors in the temple, which was afterwardsdestroyed when Cosimo de' Medici the elder built the noviciate, thechapel and the vestibule of the sacristy, in order to put a stonecornice above that door. In the same church he painted in fresco thechapel of the Bellacci and that of St Andrew, next to one of thethree done by Giotto, in which he represented Christ calling Andrewand Peter from their nets, and the crucifixion of the latter apostlewith such truth that it was much admired and praised when it wascompleted, and is still held in esteem at the present day. Over theside door and under the tomb of Carlo Marsupini of Arezzo, he made adead Christ with Mary, in fresco, which was much admired. Below thescreen of the church, on the left hand above the crucifix of Donato, he painted in fresco a miracle of St Francis, where he raises a boykilled by a fall from a terrace, with an apparition in the air. Inthis scene he drew the portraits of his master Giotto, the poetDante, Guido Cavalcanti, and some say of himself. In different placesin the same church he made a number of figures, which are recognisedby artists from their style. For the company of the Temple he paintedthe tabernacle which is at the corner of the via del Crocifisso, containing a fine deposition from the cross. In the cloister of S. Spirito he did two scenes in the arches next the chapter-house, inone of which he represented Judas selling Christ, and in the otherthe Last Supper with the Apostles. In the same convent over the doorof the refectory he painted a crucifix and some saints, whichdistinguish him, among the others who worked there, as a trueimitator of the style of Giotto, whom he always held in the highestveneration. In S. Stefano of the Ponte Vecchio he painted the pictureand predella of the high altar with great care, and in the oratory ofS. Michele in Orto he very skilfully represented in a picture a deadChrist, wept over by Mary, and deposited in the sepulchre byNicodemus with great devotion. In the church of the Servites hepainted the chapel of St Nicholas, belonging to the Palagio family, with stories of that saint, where, in his painting of a barque, hehas clearly shown with the greatest judgment and grace, that he had athorough knowledge of a tempestuous sea and of the fury of Fortune. In this work St Nicholas appears in the air, while the mariners areemptying the ship and throwing out the merchandise, and frees themfrom their danger. This work gave great satisfaction and was muchadmired, so that Taddeo was commissioned to paint the chapel of thehigh altar of that church. Here he did in fresco some stories of OurLady, and in tempera on a panel, Our Lady with many saints, a veryvigorous representation. Similarly, on the predella of this picturehe did some stories of Our Lady in small figures, into the details ofwhich it is not necessary to enter, because everything was destroyedin the year 1467 when Ludovico, Marquis of Mantua, made in that placethe tribune which is there now, from the design of Leon BattistaAlberti, and the choir of the friars, causing the picture to be takento the chapter-house of that convent, in the refectory of which hemade above the wooden backs, the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with theApostles, and above that a crucifix with many saints. When Taddeo hadcompleted this work he was invited to Pisa where he painted theprincipal chapel of S. Francesco in fresco, very well coloured, forGherardo and Bonaccorso Gambacorti, with many figures and stories ofthe saint, and of St Andrew and St Nicholas. On the vaulting and thewall is Pope Honorius confirming the rule, and a representation ofTaddeo from life, in profile, with a hood folded over his head. Atthe bottom of this scene are these words:

 _Magister Taddeus Gaddus de Florentia pinxit hanc hittoriam Sancti Francisci et Sancti Andreĉ et Sancti Nicolai anno Domini MCCCXLII. De mense Augusti. _

In the cloister of the same convent he further made a Madonna infresco, with the child at her neck, very well coloured. In the middleof the church, on the left hand on entering, is seated a St Louis thebishop, to whom St Gherardo da Villamagna, who was a friar of theorder, is recommending one fra Bartolommeo, then superior of theconvent. The figures of this work, being drawn from life, exhibit theutmost vivacity and grace, in that simple style which was in somerespects better than Giotto's, particularly in the expression ofintercession, joy, grief, and other feelings, the good representationof which always constitutes the highest claim of the painter tohonour. Taddeo then returned to Florence and continued for thecommune the work of Orsan-michele, refounding the pillars of theLoggia, using dressed and hewn stones in place of the originalbricks, but without making any change in the design left by Arnolfo, who provided that a palace with two vaults should be made above theLoggia for the preservation of the provisions of grain made by thepeople and commune of Florence. For the completion of this work theArt of the Porta S. Maria, to whom the charge of the structure hadbeen entrusted, ordained the payment of the gabelle of the piazza andof the grain market, and some other changes of very small importance. But an ordinance of far more importance was that each of the arts ofFlorence should make a pilaster for itself, placing on a niche in itthe patron saint of each, and that every year the consuls of the artsshould go to make offerings on their saints' feast days and keeptheir standard and insignia there all that day, but that the alms socollected should be made to the Virgin for the needy poor. 

In the year 1333 a great flood had carried away the parapets of thePonte Rubaconte, thrown down the castle of Altafronte, left nothingof the Ponte Vecchio except the two middle piles, entirely destroyedthe Ponte S. Trinita, a single shattered pile alone standing, andhalf the Ponte alla Carraia, breaking down the flood-gates ofOgnissanti. For this cause the rulers of the city took counseltogether, because they did not wish that those who dwelt beyond theArno should again suffer this inconvenience of having to cross bybarques. Accordingly they called in Taddeo Gaddi, because his masterGiotto had gone to Milan, and instructed him to make the model anddesign of the Ponte Vecchio, directing him to render it as strong andas beautiful as it could possibly be. To this end he spared neitherpains nor expense, building it with such strong piers and such finearches, all of hewn stone, that it now sustains twenty-two shops oneither side, making forty-four in all, to the great benefit of thecommune, who that year expended upon it eight hundred florins ofrent. The length of the span from one side to the other is 32braccia, the middle way is 16, and the shops on either side 8braccia. For this work, which cost sixty thousand gold florins, Taddeo not only deserved the praise accorded by his contemporaries, but he merits our commendation to-day to an even greater degree, for, not to speak of many other floods, the bridge did not move in theyear 1537, on 13th September, when the Ponte a Santa Trinita, twoarches of the Carraia, and a great part of the Rubaconte all fell, and more damage was done. Certainly no man of judgment can refrainfrom amazement, or at least wonder, when he considers how firmly thePonte Vecchio resisted the impetus of the water, the timber, andother debris, without yielding. At the same time Taddeo laid thefoundations of the Ponte a Santa Trinita, which was finished withless success in the year 1346 at a cost of twenty thousand goldflorins. I say with less success, because, unlike the Ponte Vecchio, it was ruined by the flood of 1557. It was also under Taddeo'sdirection that the wall on the side of S. Gregorio was made at thesame time, with driven piles, two piers of the bridge being taken toenlarge the ground on the side of the piazza de' Mozzi, and to set upthe mills which are still there. 

Whilst all these things were being done under Taddeo's direction andfrom his plans, he did not allow them to stop his painting, and didthe tribunal of the old Mercanzia, where, with poetical imagination, he represented the tribunal of six men, that being the number of thechief of that magistracy, who are watching Truth taking outFalsehood's tongue, the former clothed in velvet over her naked skin, the latter in black: underneath are these lines:

 "La pura Verita per ubbidire Alla santa Giustizia che non tarda Cava la lingua alla falsa bugiarda. "

Lower down are the following lines:

 "Taddeo dipinse questo bel rigestro Discepol fu di Giotto il buon maestro. "

In Arezzo some works in fresco were allotted to him, which he carriedout with the greatest perfection with the aid of his pupil Giovannida Milano. One of these, representing the Passion of Jesus Christ, may still be seen in the oratory of the Holy Spirit, in front of thehigh altar. It contains many horses, and the thieves on the cross, and is considered a very beautiful thing on account of his conceptionof the nailing to the cross, where there are some figures whichvividly express the rage of the Jews, some drawing Him by the legswith a rope, others bringing the sponge, and others in variousattitudes, such as Longinus, who pierces His side with the spear, andthe three soldiers who are playing for His garments, their facesdepicting hope and fear in throwing the dice. The first of these menstands in a constrained attitude awaiting his turn, and is so eagerto draw that he apparently does not notice the discomfort; the secondis loading the dice-box, and frowns as he looks at the dice, hismouth and eyes open as if from suspicion of fraud, showing clearly toan observant beholder his eagerness to win; the third, who is aboutto throw the dice, spreads out on the ground with trembling arm thegarments, where he shows with a smile that he intends to throw them. On the sides of the church also may be seen some stories of St Johnthe Evangelist, which are executed with such wonderful style anddesign that they cannot fail to excite astonishment. In the chapel ofSt Sebastian, next the sacristy in S. Agostino, he did the life ofthat martyr and the dispute of Christ with the doctors, so wellexecuted and finished that the beauty and variety displayed, as wellas the grace of their colouring, are marvellous. 

In Casentino, in the church of the Sasso del Vernia, he painted inthe chapel the scene where S. Francis receives the stigmata. HereTaddeo was assisted in matters of minor importance by Jacopo diCasentino, who thus became his pupil. When this was completed Taddeoreturned with Giovanni of Milan to Florence, where in the city andwithout they made a number of panels and pictures of importance. Inthe process of time Taddeo acquired so much money that, by steadilysaving, he founded the wealth and nobility of his family, beingalways considered a wise and courteous man. In S. Maria Novella hepainted the chapter-house which was allotted to him by the prior ofthe place, who supplied him with the idea. It is known that, becausethe work was a great one, and as the chapter-house of S. Spirito wasuncovered at the same time as the bridges were building, to the greatglory of Simone Memmi who painted it, the prior wished to secureSimone to do half of the work; accordingly he consulted Taddeo, whowas very willing to agree to this, since Simone had been afellow-pupil of Giotto with him, and they had always remained closefriends and companions. O truly noble souls to love one anotherfraternally without emulation, ambition, or envy, so that eachrejoiced at the advancement and honour of his friend as if it hadbeen his own. The work was accordingly divided, three sides beingallotted to Simone, as I have said in his life, and the left side andthe whole of the vaulting to Taddeo, who divided his work into fourdivisions or quarters, according to the disposition of the vaulting. In the first he made the Resurrection of Christ, in which heapparently endeavours to cause the glorified body to emit light, which is reflected on a city and on some mountain rocks; but heabandoned this device in the figures and in the rest of thecomposition, possibly because he was not confident of his ability tocarry it out, owing to the difficulties which presented themselves. In the second compartment he made Jesus Christ delivering Peter fromdrowning, when the apostles, who are managing the boat, are certainlyvery fine, and especially a man who is fishing with a line on thesea-shore (a thing first attempted by Giotto in the mosaic of the_Navicella_ in St Peter's), represented with vigorous and life-likeexpression. In the third he painted the Ascension of Christ, whilethe fourth represents the Descent of the Holy Spirit, remarkable forthe fine attitudes of the Jews, who are endeavouring to enter thedoor. On the wall beneath are the seven sciences, with their names, and appropriate figures below each. Grammar habited like a woman isteaching a boy; beneath her sits the writer Donato. Next to Grammarsits Rhetoric, at whose feet is a figure with its two hands restingon books, while it draws a third hand from beneath a mantle and holdsit to its mouth. Logic has a serpent in her hand, and is veiled, withZeno Eleate at her feet reading. Arithmetic holds the table of theAbacus, and under her sits Abraham, its inventor. Music has musicalinstruments, with Tubal Cain beneath, beating with two hammers uponan anvil, with his ears listening to the sound. Geometry has thequadrant and sextant, with Euclid beneath. Astrology has the sphereof the heavens in her hands, and Atlas under her feet. On the otherside sit the seven theological sciences, each one having beneath it aperson of an appropriate condition, pope, emperor, king, cardinal, duke, bishop, marquis, etc. , the pope being a portrait of Clement V. In the middle, and occupying a higher place, is St Thomas Aquinas, who was master of all these sciences, and certain heretics under hisfeet, Arius, Sabellius, and Averroes. About him are Moses, Paul, Johnthe Evangelist, and some other figures with the four cardinalvirtues, and the three theological ones, in addition to an infinitenumber of other ideas set forth by Taddeo with no small design andgrace, so that this may be considered the best devised and the mostfinely preserved of all his works. In the same S. Maria Novello, overthe transept he did a St Jerome dressed as a cardinal. He held thatsaint in reverence, choosing him as the protector of his house, andafter Taddeo's death his son Agnolo made a tomb for his descendantscovered with a marble slab adorned with the arms of the Gaddi underthis picture. For these descendants the cardinal Jerome, aided bytheir merits and the goodness of Taddeo, has obtained from God mostdistinguished places in the church, such as clerkships of thechamber, bishoprics, cardinalates, provostships, and most honourableknighthoods. The descendants of Taddeo have uniformly valued andencouraged men of genius in painting and sculpture, assisting them tothe utmost of their power. At length when Taddeo had reached the ageof fifty years, he was seized with a severe fever and passed fromthis life in the year 1350, leaving Agnolo his son and Giovanni tocarry on the painting, recommending them to Jacopo di Casentino fortheir material well being, and to Giovanni da Milano for instructionin art. This Giovanni, besides many other things, made a picture, after Taddeo's death, which was placed in S. Croce at the altar of StGherardo da Villamagna, fourteen years after he had been left withouthis master, and also the high altar picture of Ognissanti, where theUmiliati friars are stationed, a much admired work; and in Assisi hemade for the tribune of the high altar a crucifix, Our Lady, and StClare, and on the side wall stories of Our Lady. He subsequently wentto Milan, where he did many works in tempera and in fresco, and atlength died there. 

Now Taddeo always adopted Giotto's style, but did not greatly improveit, except in the colouring, which he made fresher and more vivid. Giotto had made such efforts to overcome other difficulties of thisart, that although he considered colouring also, yet it was notgranted to him to master this completely. Taddeo, on the other hand, profiting by his master's labours, had an easier task, and was ableto add something of his own in improving the colouring. 

Taddeo was buried by Agnolo and Giovanni his sons in S. Croce, in thefirst cloister, and in the tomb which he had made for Gaddo hisfather. He was much honoured in the verses of the learned of the timeas a man who had deserved much for his character, and because he had, besides his pictures, successfully completed many structures veryuseful to his city. In addition to the works already mentioned, hehad with care and diligence completed the campanile of S. Maria delFiore from the design of his master Giotto. This campanile was soconstructed that it would be impossible to join stones with morecare, or to make a tower which should be finer in the matter ofornament, expense, and design. The epitaph made for Taddeo was asfollows:

 Hoc uno dici poterat Florentia felix Vivente: at certa est non potuisse mori. 

Taddeo's method of designing was very broad and bold, as may be seenin our book, which contains a drawing by his hand of the scene whichhe did in the chapel of St Andrew in S. Croce, at Florence. 

Andrea di Cione Orcagna, Painter, Sculptor, and Architect ofFlorence. 

It frequently happens that when a man of genius excels in one thing, he is easily able to learn another, especially such as are similar tohis first profession, and which proceed, as it were, from the samesource. An example of this is Orcagna of Florence, who was painter, sculptor, architect, and poet, as will be said below. He was born inFlorence, and while quite a child began to practise sculpture underAndrea Pisano, and so continued for many years. When he afterwardsbecame desirous of enriching his invention for the purpose ofcomposing beautiful scenes, he carefully studied design, aided as hewas by nature, who wished to make him a universal genius, and as onething leads to another, he practised painting in colours in temperaand fresco, and succeeded so well with the aid of Bernardo Orcagnahis brother, that Bernardo himself procured his assistance to do thelife of Our Lady in the principal chapel of S. Maria Novella, whichthen belonged to the family of the Ricci. This work was consideredvery beautiful, although, owing to the neglect of those whoafterwards had charge of it, it was destroyed by water through thebreaking of the roof not many years after, and consequently it isrestored in its present manner, as will be said in the proper place. Suffice it to say, that Domenico Grillandai, who repainted it, madeconsiderable use of the inventions of Orcagna which were there. Inthe same church, and in conjunction with his brother Bernardo, Andreadid in fresco the chapel of the Strozzi, which is near the door ofthe sacristy and the belfry. In this chapel, which is approached bysome stone steps, he painted on one wall the glory of Paradise, withall the saints in the various habits and head-dresses of the time. Onthe other wall he did Hell, with the holes, centres, and other thingsdescribed by Dante, of whom Andrea was a diligent student. In thechurch of the Servites, in the same city he painted in fresco, alsoin conjunction with Bernardo, the chapel of the family of the Cresci, and in S. Pier Maggiore in a picture of considerable size, theCoronation of the Virgin, and another picture in S. Romeo near theside door. 

He and his brother Bernardo also painted in fresco together thefaçade of S. Apollinare, with such diligence that the colours arebright and beautiful and marvellously preserved to this day in thatexposed place. The governors of Pisa, moved by the renown of theseworks of Orcagna, which were much admired, sent for him to do a partof the wall in the Campo Santo of that city, as Giotto andBuffalmacco had previously done. Accordingly he put his hand to thework, and painted a Last Judgment, with some fancies of his own, onthe wall towards the Duomo, next to the Passion of Christ made byBuffalmacco. In the first scene he represented all ranks of temporallords enjoying the pleasures of this world, seating them in a flowerymeadow under the shadow of many orange trees, forming a mostagreeable wood. Above the branches are some cupids, who are flyinground and over a number of young women, evidently portraits of noblewomen and ladies of the day, though they are not recognisable afterthis lapse of time. The cupids are preparing to transfix the heartsof the ladies, near whom are young men and lords listening to playingand singing and watching the amorous dancing of men and maidens, delighting in the sweetness of their loves. Among these lords Orcagnadrew Castruccio, the lord of Lucca, a youth of the most strikingaspect, with a blue hood bound about his head and a sparrowhawk onhis hand. Near him are other lords of the time, whose identity is notknown. In fine, in this first part he represented in a most graciousmanner all the delights of the world in accordance with the demandsof the place and the requirements of art. On the other side of thesame scene he represented, on a high mountain, the life of those who, being moved by penitence for their sins and by the desire ofsalvation, have escaped from the world to this mountain, which isthus full of holy hermits serving the Lord, and doing various thingswith very realistic expressions. Some are reading and praying, andare all intent on contemplation; while others are working to earntheir living, and are exercising themselves in various activities. Here is a hermit milking a goat in the most vigorous and realisticmanner. Below this is St Macario showing to three kings, who areriding to hunt with their ladies and suite, the corpses of threekings, partly consumed in a tomb, emblematic of human misery, andwhich are regarded with attention by the living kings in fine andvaried attitudes, expressive of wonder, and they seem to bereflecting that they themselves must shortly become such. One ofthese kings is the portrait of Uguccione della Faggiuola of Arezzo, in a figure represented as holding his nose with his hand in ordernot to smell the odour of the dead kings. In the middle of this sceneis Death, flying through the air and clothed in black, while heraises his scythe to take the life of many who are on the earth, ofevery state and condition, poor, rich, lame, whole, young, old, men, women, and, in short, a multitude of every age and sex. And becauseOrcagna knew that the invention of Buffalmacco had pleased thePisans, by which Bruno caused his figures in S. Paolo a ripa d'Arnoto speak, making letters issue from their mouths, he has filled allthese works of his with such writings, of which the greater number, being destroyed by time, cannot be deciphered. He makes some lame oldmen say--

 Da che prosperitade ci ha lasciati. O morte medecina d'ogni pena Deh vieni a darne omai l'ultima cena, with other words which cannot be made out, and similar lines composedin the old style by Orcagna himself, as I have discovered, for he wasaddicted to poetry, and wrote some sonnets. About these bodies aresome devils, who take their souls out of their mouths and carry themto gulfs full of fire upon the top of a very high mountain. On theother hand, there are some angels who, in like manner, take the soulsof the dead, who happen to have been good, out of their mouths, andcarry them flying to Paradise. In this scene is a large scroll, heldby two angels, containing the following words:

 Ischermo di savere e di richezza, Di nobilitate ancora e di prodezza, Vale neente ai colpi di costei, with some other words which cannot easily be understood. Underneathin the ornamentation of these scenes are nine angels who hold somewords written in the border of the painting, in the vulgar tongue andin Latin, put there because they would spoil the scene if placedhigher, and to omit them altogether did not appear fitting to theauthor, who considered this method very fine, and perhaps it was tothe taste of that age. The greater part of these are omitted here inorder not to tire the reader with impertinent matter of littleinterest, and moreover the greater number of the scrolls areobliterated, while the remainder are in a very imperfect condition. After this Orcagna made the Last Judgment. He placed Jesus Christ onhigh above the clouds in the midst of his twelve Apostles to judgethe quick and the dead, exhibiting on the one side, with great artand vigour, the despair of the damned, as they are driven weeping toHell by furious demons; and on the other side the joy and rejoicingof the elect, who are transported to the right hand side of theblessed by a troop of Angels led by the Archangel Michael. It istruly lamentable that for lack of writers, the names and identity offew or none of these can be ascertained out of such a multitude ofmagistrates, knights and other lords, who are evidently drawn fromlife, although the pope there is said to be Innocent IV. The friendof Manfred. 

After this work and some sculptures in marble executed to his greatglory in the Madonna, which is on the side of the Ponte Vecchio, Andrea left his brother Bernardo to work by himself in the CampoSanto at a Hell made according to Dante's description, which wasafterwards much damaged in 1530, and restored by Solazzino, a painterof our own day. Meanwhile Andrea returned to Florence, where hepainted in fresco in the middle of the Church of S. Croce on a verylarge wall on the right hand, the same things which he had done inthe Campo Santo at Pisa, in three similar pictures, but omitting thescene in which St Macario is showing human wretchedness to the threekings, and the life of the hermits who are serving God on themountain. But he did all the rest of that work, displaying betterdesign and more diligence than at Pisa, but retaining almost the samemethods in the inventions, style, scrolls and the rest, withoutchanging anything except the portraits from life; because in thiswork he introduced the portraits of some of his dearest friends intohis Paradise, while he condemned his enemies to hell. Among the electmay be seen the portrait in profile of Pope Clement VI. With thetiara on his head, who reduced the Jubilee from a hundred to fiftyyears, was a friend of the Florentines, and possessed some of theirpaintings which he valued highly. Here also is Maestro Dino delGarbo, then a most excellent physician, clothed after the manner ofthe doctors of that day with a red cap on his head lined withminiver, while an angel holds him by the hand. There are also manyother portraits which have not been identified. Among the damned hedrew the Guardi, sergeant of the Commune of Florence, dragged by thedevil with a hook. He may be recognised by three red lilies on hiswhite hat, such as were worn by the sergeants and other likeofficials. Andrea did this because the sergeant had upon one occasiondistrained his goods. He also drew there the notary and the judge whowere against him in that cause. Next to Guardi is Cecco d'Ascoli, afamous wizard of the time, and slightly above him, and in the middleis a hypocritical friar, who is furtively trying to mingle with thegood, while an angel discovers him and thrusts him among the damned. Besides Bernardo, Andrea had another brother called Jacopo, whodevoted himself, but with little success, to sculpture. For thisbrother Andrea had sometimes made designs in relief in clay, and thisled him to wish to do some things in marble to see if he rememberedthat art, which he had studied at Pisa, as has been said. Accordinglyhe applied himself earnestly to that pursuit, and attained to such ameasure of success that he afterwards made use of it with credit, aswill be said. He next devoted all his energies to the study ofarchitecture, thinking that he might have occasion to make use of it. Nor was he mistaken, for in the year 1355 the Commune of Florencebought some private houses near the palace to enlarge that buildingand increase the piazza, and also to make a place where citizenscould withdraw in time of rain, and in winter to do under cover thethings which were done in the uncovered arcade when bad weather didnot interfere. They procured a number of designs for the constructionof a large and magnificent loggia near the palace for this purpose aswell as for a mint for coining money. Among these designs prepared bythe best masters of the city, that of Orcagna was universallyapproved and accepted as being larger, finer and more magnificentthan the others, and the large loggia of the piazza was begun underhis direction by order of the Signoria and Commune, upon foundationslaid in the time of the Duke of Athens, and was carried forward withmuch diligence in squared stones excellently laid. The arches of thevaults were constructed in a manner new for that time, not beingpointed as had previously been customary, but in half circles after anew pattern, with much grace and beauty, and the building wascompleted under Andrea's direction in a short time. If it hadoccurred to him to erect it next to S. Romolo and to turn its backtowards the north, which he perhaps omitted to do in order that itshould be convenient for the door of the palace, it would have beena most useful construction for all the city, as it is a mostbeautiful piece of work, whereas it is impossible to remain there inwinter owing to the strong wind. In the decoration of this loggiaOrcagna made seven marble figures in half relief between the archesof the façade representing the seven virtues, theological andcardinal. These are so fine, that taken in conjunction with the wholework they prove their author to have been an excellent sculptor aswell as a distinguished painter and architect. Besides this he was inall his deeds a pleasant, well-bred and amiable man so that hisfellow was never seen. And since he never abandoned the study of oneof his three professions when he took up another, he painted apicture in tempera with many small figures while the loggia wasbuilding, and a predella of small figures for that chapel of theStrozzi where his brother Bernardo had already done some things infresco. On this picture he wrote his name thus: _Anno DominiMCCCLVII Andreas Cionis de Florentia me pinxit_, being of opinionthat it would exhibit his powers to better advantage than his worksin fresco could. When this was finished he did some paintings on apanel which were sent to the pope to Avignon, in the cathedral churchof which they still remain. Shortly afterwards, the men of thecompany of Orsanmichele, having collected a quantity of money of almsand goods given to the Madonna there on account of the mortality of1348, they decided that they would make about her a chapel ortabernacle richly adorned not only with marble carved in every mannerand with other stones of price, but also with mosaic and ornaments ofbronze, the best that could be desired, so that in workmanship andmaterial it should surpass every other work produced up to that day. The execution of this was entrusted to Orcagna as being the foremostman of the age. He made a number of designs, one of which was chosenby the directors of the work as being the best of all. Accordinglythe task was allotted to him and everything was committed to hisjudgment and counsel. He and his brother undertook to do all thefigures, giving the rest to various masters from other countries. Onthe completion of the work, he caused it to be built up and joinedtogether very carefully without lime, the joints, being of lead andcopper so that the shining and polished marbles should not beblemished. This proved so successful and has been of such use andhonour to those who came after him, that it appears to an observerthat the chapel is hollowed out of a single piece of marble, soexcellently are parts welded together, thanks to this device ofOrcagna. Although in the German style its grace and proportions aresuch that it holds the first place among the things of the time, owing chiefly to the excellent composition of its great and smallfigures and of the angels and prophets in half-relief about theMadonna. The casting of the carefully polished bronze ornaments whichsurround it is marvellous, for they encircle the whole work, encloseit and bind it together, so that this part is as remarkable for itsstrength as the other parts are for their beauty. But he devoted thehighest powers of his genius to the scene in half-relief on the backof the tabernacle, representing in figures of a braccia and a half, the twelve apostles looking up at the Madonna ascending to heaven ina mandorla, surrounded by angels. He represented himself in marble asone of the apostles, an old man, clean shaven, a hood wound roundhis head, with a flat round face as shown in his portrait above, which it taken from this. On the base he wrote these words in themarble: _Andreas Cionis pictor florentinus oratorii archimagisterextitit hujus, MCCCLIX_. It appears that the erection of the loggiaand of the marble tabernacle, with all the workmanship involved cost96, 000 gold florins, which were very well expended, because inarchitecture, in sculpture and other ornaments they are comparable inbeauty with any other work of the time, without exception, and soexcellent as to assure to the name of Andrea Orcagna immortality andgreatness. In signing his paintings he used to write Andrea di Clone, sculptor, and on his sculptures, Andrea di Cione, painter, wishinghis sculpture to recommend his painting and his painting hissculpture. Florence is full of his paintings, some of which may berecognised by the name, such as those in S. Romeo, and some by hisstyle, like that in the chapter-house of the monastery of the Angeli. Some which he left imperfect were finished by his brother Bernardo, who survived him, though not for many years. Andrea, as I have said, amused himself in making verses and other poems, and when he was anold man he wrote some sonnets to Burchiello, then a youth. At lengthat the age of sixty he completed the course of his life in 1389, andwas borne with honour to burial from his house in the via Vecchia de'Corazzai. 

In the days of the Orcagna there were many who were skilful insculpture and architecture, whose names are unknown, but their worksshow that they are worthy of high praise and commendation. An exampleof such work is the Monastery of the Certosa of Florence, erected atthe cost of the noble family of the Acciaiuoli, and particularly ofM. Niccola, Grand Seneschal of the King of Naples, containingNiccola's tomb with his effigy in stone, and those of his father anda sister, both of whose portraits in the marble were made from lifein the year 1366. There also and by the same hand may be seen thetomb of M. Lorenzo, Niccola's son, who died at Naples, arid wasbrought to Florence and buried there with most honourable obsequies. Similarly the tomb of the Cardinal S. Croce of the same family, whichis before the high altar in a choir then newly built, contains hisportrait in a marble stone very well executed in the year 1390. 

The pupils of Andrea in painting were Bernardo Nello di GiovanniFalconi of Pisa, who did a number of pictures for the Duomo of Pisa, and Tommaso di Marco of Florence, who, besides many other things, painted a picture in the year 1392, which is in S. Antonio at Pisa onthe screen of the church. After Andrea's death, his brother Jacopo, who, as has been said, professed sculpture and architecture, wasemployed in the year 1328 in building the tower and gate of S. PietroGattolini, and it is said that the four gilded stone lions at thefour corners of the principal palace of Florence are by his hand. This work incurred no little censure, because it was placed therewithout reason, and was perhaps a greater weight than was safe. Manywould have preferred the lions to have been made of copper gildedover and hollow inside, and then set up in the same place, when theywould have been much less heavy and more durable. It is said that thehorse in relief in S. Maria del Fiore at Florence is by the samehand. It is gilded, and stands over the door leading to the oratoryof S. Zanobi. It is believed to be a monument to Pietro Farnese, captain of the Florentines, but as I know nothing more of the matterI cannot assert this positively. At the same time Andrea's nephewMariotto made a Paradise in fresco for S. Michel Bisdomini in the viade' Servi at Florence, over the altar, and another picture with manyfigures for Mona Cecilia de' Boscoli, which is in the same churchnear the door. But of all Orcagna's pupils none excelled FrancescoTraini, who executed for a lord of the house of Coscia, buried atPisa in the chapel of St Dominic in the church of S. Caterina, aSt Dominic on a panel on a gold ground, with six scenes from his lifesurrounding him, very vigorous and life-like and excellentlycoloured. In the chapel of St Thomas Aquinas in the same church hemade a picture in tempera, with delightful invention, and which ismuch admired. He introduced a figure of St Thomas seated, from life;I say from life because the friars of the place brought a portrait ofhim from the abbey of Fossanuova, where he had died in 1323. StThomas is seated in the air with some books in his hand, illuminatingwith their rays and splendour the Christian people; kneeling belowhim are a large number of doctors and clerks of every condition, bishops, cardinals and popes, including the portrait of Pope UrbanVI. Under the saint's feet are Sabellius, Arius, Averroes, and otherheretics and philosophers with their books all torn. On either sideof St Thomas are Plato, showing the Timĉus, and Aristotle pointing tohis Ethics. Above is Jesus Christ, also in the air, with the fourEvangelists about him. He is blessing St Thomas, and apparentlysending the Holy Spirit upon him, filling him therewith and with Hisgrace. On the completion of this work Francesco Traini acquired greatname and fame, for he had far surpassed his master Andrea incolouring, in unity, and in invention. Andrea was very careful in hisdesigns, as may be seen in our book. 

Tommaso called Giottino, painter of Florence. 

When there is emulation among the arts which are based on design andwhen artists work in competition with each other there is no doubtthat men's abilities, being stimulated by constant study, discovernew things every day to satisfy the varied tastes of man. Thus inpainting, some introduce obscure and eccentric things into their workand by a mastery of the difficulties display the brightness of theirtalent in the midst of darkness. Others employ themselves on soft anddelicate things conceiving that these should be more pleasing to theeye of the beholder; so that they pleasantly attract the greaternumber of men. Others again paint smoothly, softening the colours andconfining the lights and shades of the figures to their places, forwhich they merit the highest praise, displaying their intention withwonderful skill. This smooth style is always apparent in the works ofTommaso di Stefano, called Giottino, who was born in the year 1324, and after he had learned the elements of painting from his father, heresolved while still a youth, that he would most carefully imitateGiotto's style rather than that of Stefano. He succeeded so well inthis that he won thereby in addition to the style, which was muchfiner than his master's, the nickname of Giottino, which he alwaysretained. Hence many, misled by his manner and name, believed him tobe Giotto's son, but they fell into a very great error, for it iscertain, or rather highly probable (since no one can affirm suchthings absolutely), that he was the son of Stefano, painter ofFlorence. Tommaso was so diligent in painting and so fond of it, thatalthough not many of his works have been found, yet those which areextant are good and in excellent style. For the draperies, hair, beards, and other details are executed and composed with such graceand care that they prove him to have possessed a far better idea ofunity in art than was to be found in the works of Giotto, master ofStefano his father. In his youth Giottino painted in S. Stefano atthe Ponte Vecchio at Florence, a chapel by the side door, andalthough it has suffered a great deal from the damp, yet enoughremains to prove the skill and genius of the craftsman. He next didSS. Cosmo and Damian beside the mills in the Frati Ermini, of whichbut little can now be seen owing to the ravages of time. He did achapel in fresco in the old S. Spirito of that city, which wasafterwards destroyed at the burning of that church. Over theprincipal door of the same church he painted in fresco the Descent ofthe Holy Spirit, and on the piazza of the church, leading to the sideof the Cuculia, next the convent, he did the tabernacle which maystill be seen there, with Our Lady and other saints about her, who intheir heads and other parts approach very closely to the modernstyle, because Tommaso endeavoured to vary and change the flesh tintsand to combine a graceful and judicious treatment of the figures withvariety in the colouring and in the draperies. In the chapel of StSilvester at S. Croce he did the history of Constantine with greatcare, with many fine ideas in the gestures of the figures. His nextwork was to be placed behind a marble ornament made for the tomb ofM. Bettino de' Bardi, a man of eminent military rank of the time. Herepresented him from life, in armour, rising on his knees from thetomb, summoned by the Last Trump sounded by two angels who accompanya Christ in the clouds, very well done. At the entrance to S. Pancrazio, on the right hand side, he did a Christ carrying thecross, and some saints near, markedly in Giotto's style. In S. Gallo, a convent outside the gate of that name, and which wasdestroyed at the siege, he painted a Pieta in fresco in a cloister, acopy of which is in S. Pancrazio mentioned above, on a pilasterbeside the principal chapel. He painted SS. Cosmo and Damian infresco in S. Maria Novella at the chapel of St Lorenzo de' Giuochi, at the entry of the church by the right hand door, on the front wall. In Ognissanti he did a St Christopher and a St George, which wereruined by bad weather and were restored by some ignorant painters. Anuninjured work of Tommaso in the same church is in the tympanum overthe sacristy door, which contains a Madonna in fresco, with the childin her arms; it is a good thing as he took pains with it. 

By means of these works Giottino acquired so much renown, imitatinghis master, as I have said, both in design and in inventions, thatthe spirit of Giotto himself was said to be in him, owing to thefreshness of his colouring and to his skill in design. Now, on 2ndJuly 1343, when the Duke of Athens was hunted from Florence, and hadby oath renounced the government and rendered the Florentines theirliberty, Giottino was constrained by the Twelve Reformers of theState, and especially by the prayers of M. Agnolo Acciaiuoli, then avery distinguished citizen, who had great influence over him, topaint on the tower of the Podesta Palace the duke and his followers, M. Ceritieri Visdomini, M. Maladiasse, his Conservator and M. Ranierida S. Gimignano, all with mitres of Justice on their heads, represented thus shamefully as a sign of contempt. About the duke'shead he painted many beasts of prey and other sorts, indicative ofhis nature and quality; and one of these counsellors had in his handthe palace of the priors of the city, which he was offering to theduke, like a false traitor. Beneath everyone of them were the armsand insignia of their families, with inscriptions which can now onlybe read with difficulty owing to the ravages of time. This work, because it was well designed and very carefully executed, gaveuniversal satisfaction, and the method of the artist pleasedeveryone. He next made a St Cosmo and a St Damian at the Campora, aplace of the black monks outside the gate of S. Piero Gattolini. These were afterwards destroyed in whitewashing the church. On thebridge at Romiti in Valdarno he did the tabernacle which is built inthe middle, painting it in fresco in a very fine style. It isrecorded by many writers that Tommaso practised sculpture, and did amarble figure four braccia high for the campanile of S. Maria delFiore at Florence, towards the place where the orphan asylum nowstands. At Rome again he successfully completed a scene in S. JohnLateran in which he represented the pope in various dignities, butthe painting is now much damaged and eaten by time. In the house ofthe Orsini he did a hall full of famous men, and a very fine St Louison a pilaster at Araceli, on the right-hand side at the high altar. Above the pulpit in the lower church of S. Francesco at Assisi, thatbeing the only place left undecorated, he painted a coronation of OurLady, in an arch, surrounded by many angels, so graceful, with suchbeautiful faces, so soft and so delicate, exhibiting that union ofcolours customary in the artist, and which constitutes his peculiarexcellence, that he may clearly be compared with any of hispredecessors. About this arch he did some stories of St Nicholas. Similarly, in the middle of the church, in the monastery of S. Chiara, in the same city, he painted a scene in fresco of St Clare, upheld in the air by two angels, represented with much life, raisinga dead child, whilst many beautiful women standing about are filledwith amazement, all being dressed in very graceful costumes of thetime. In the same city of Assisi, in an arch over the inside of thecity door which leads to the Duomo, he did a Madonna and child withso much care that she seems alive, and a very fine St Francis, withother saints. These two works, although the scene with St Clare isunfinished, for Tommaso returned sick to Florence, are perfect andworthy of all praise. 

It is said that Tommaso was a melancholy and solitary man, but verydiligent and fond of his art. This is clearly shown in a picture ofhis in tempera in the church of S. Romeo at Florence, placed on thescreen on the right-hand side, for nothing was ever better done onwood. It represents a dead Christ with Mary and Nicodemus, accompanied with other figures, who are weeping bitterly for thedead. Their gentleness and sweetness are remarkable as they twisttheir hands and beat themselves, showing in their faces the bittersorrow that our sins should cost so dear. It is a marvellous thing, not that Tommaso could rise to this height of imagination, but thathe could express his thought so well with his brush. Consequentlythis work deserves the highest praise, not so much because of thesubject and conception as for the art in which he exhibited the headsof some who are weeping, for although the brows, eyes, nose and mouthare distorted by the emotion, yet this does not mar or destroy thebeauty of his faces, which usually suffers much at the hands of thosewho represent weeping if they are not versed in the good methods ofart. But it is no wonder that Giottino was so successful with thispicture, because the object of all his labour was rather fame andglory than any other reward or desire of gain, which causes themasters of our own time to be less careful and good. Not only Tommasodid not endeavour to acquire great wealth, but he went without manyof the comforts of life, living in poverty, seeking rather to pleaseothers than to live at ease; so managing badly and working hard, hedied of phthisis at the age of thirty-two, and was buried by hisrelations outside S. Maria Novella at the gate of Martello, near thetomb of Bontura. 

The pupils of Giottino, who left more fame than property, wereGiovanni Tossicani of Arezzo, Michelino, Giovanni dal Ponte, andLippo, who were meritorious masters of the art. Giovanni Tossicaniexcelled the others, and after Tommaso's death he executed many worksin that same style, in all Tuscany, and particularly in the Pieve ofArezzo, where he did the chapel of St Maria Maddalena of theTuccerelli, and in the Pieve of Empoli, where he did a St James on apilaster. Again, he did some things in the Duomo at Pisa, which wereafterwards removed to make way for modern works. His last work wasexecuted in a chapel of the Vescovado of Arezzo, for the CountessGiovanna, wife of Tarlato di Pietramala, and represented anAnnunciation, with St James and St Philip. As this work was on awall, the back of which is exposed to the north, it was almostdestroyed by the damp, when Master Agnolo di Lorenzo of Arezzorestored the Annunciation, and Giorgio Vasari, then a youth, restored the SS. James and Philip, to his great advantage, as helearnt a great deal which he had not been able to obtain from othermasters, by observing Giovanni's methods, and from the shadows andcolours of this work, damaged as it was. The following words of theepitaph to the Countess, who caused the work to be done, may still beread: Anno Domini 1335 de mense Augusti hanc capellam constitui fecitnobilis Domina comitissa Joanna de Sancta Flora uxor nobilis militisDomini Tarlati de Petramela ad honorem Beatĉ Mariĉ Virginis. 

I make no mention of the works of the other pupils of Giottino, because they are quite ordinary and bear little resemblance to thoseof their master and of Giovanni Tossicani, their fellow-pupil. Tommaso drew very well, as appears by some sheets by his hand whichare in our book, which are very carefully executed. 

Giovanni da Ponte, Painter of Florence. 

Although the old proverb that a bon vivant never lacks means isuntrue and unworthy of confidence, the contrary being the case, sincea man who does not live within his means comes at last to live inwant, and dies in misery; yet it sometimes happens that Fortunerather assists those who throw away without reserve than those whoare orderly and careful in all things. When the favour of Fortune iswanting, Death frequently repairs the defect and remedies theconsequences of men's thoughtlessness, for it comes at the verymoment when they would begin to realise, with sorrow, how wretched athing it is to have squandered everything when young to pass one'sage on shortened means in poverty and toil. This would have been thefate of Giovanni da S. Stefano a Ponte of Florence, if, after he haddevoured his patrimony as well as the gains which came into his hand, rather through good fortune than by his desserts, and some legacieswhich came to him from unexpected quarters, he had not reached theend of his life at the very time when he had exhausted his means. Hewas a pupil of Buonamico Buffalmacco, and imitated his master more infollowing worldly pleasures than in endeavouring to make himself askilful painter. He was born in the year 1307, and was Buffalmacco'spupil in his youth. He executed his first works in fresco in thePieve of Empoli in the chapel of St Laurence, painting many scenesfrom the life of that saint with such care, that so good a beginningwas considered to promise much better things in the future. Accordingly he was invited in the year 1344 to Arezzo, where he didan Assumption in a chapel in S. Francesco. Being in some credit inthat city, for lack of other artists, he next painted in the Pievethe chapel of St Onofrio and that of St Anthony, ruined to-day by thedamp. He left other paintings in S. Giustina and S. Matteo, whichwere pulled down with the churches when Duke Cosimo was fortifyingthe city. Almost on this very spot, near S. Giustina, at the foot ofthe abutment of an ancient bridge, at the point where the riverenters the city, they there found a fine marble head of AppiusCiccus, and one of his son, with an ancient epitaph, which are now inthe Duke's wardrobe. When Giovanni returned to Florence, at the timewhen the middle arch of the Ponte a S. Trinita was being completed, he decorated a chapel built on a pile, and dedicated to St Michaelthe Archangel, an ancient and beautiful building, doing many figures, both inside and out, and the whole of the principal front. Thischapel was carried away, together with the bridge, in the flood of1557. Some assert that he owed his name of Giovanni dal Ponte tothese works. In Pisa, in the year 1335, he did some scenes in frescobehind the altar in the principal chapel of St Paolo a ripa d'Arno, which are now ruined by damp and time. Another work of his is thechapel of the Scali in S. Trinita at Florence, and another beside it, as well as one of the stories of St Paul beside the principal chapel, which contains the tomb of Maestro Paolo, the astrologer. In S. Stefano, at the Ponte Vecchio, he did a panel and other paintings intempera and fresco for Florence and elsewhere, which won himconsiderable renown. He was beloved by his friends, but rather in hispleasures than in his labours, and he was a friend of men of letters, and especially of all those who were studying his own art in the hopeof excelling in it; and although he had not troubled to acquire forhimself what he desired for others, he never ceased to advise othersto work diligently. At length, when he had lived fifty-nine years, hedeparted this life in a few days in consequence of a disorder of thechest. Had he lived a little longer, he would have suffered muchinconvenience, as there remained hardly sufficient in his house toafford him decent burial in S. Stefano dal Ponte Vecchio. His workswere executed about 1345. 

Our book of designs of various ancient and modern masters contains awater-colour by Giovanni representing St George on horseback killinga serpent; also a skeleton, the two affording an excellentillustration of his method and his style in designing. 

Agnolo Gaddi, Painter of Florence. 

The virtue and husbandry of Taddeo Gaddi afford an excellentillustration of the advantages and honours accruing from excellencein a noble art, for by his industry and labour he provided aconsiderable property, and left the affairs of his family so orderedthat when he passed to the other life his sons Agnolo and Giovanniwere enabled without difficulty to lay the foundations of the vastwealth and distinction of the house of Gaddi, which is now amongstthe noblest in Florence and of high repute in all Christendom. Indeedit was no more than reasonable, after Gaddo, Taddeo, Agnolo andGiovanni had adorned with their art and talents so many considerablechurches, that their descendants should be decorated with the highestecclesiastical dignities by the Holy Roman Church and her Pontiffs. Taddeo, whose life we have already written, left two sons, Agnolo andGiovanni, among his many pupils, and he hoped that Agnolo inparticular would attain to considerable excellence in painting. Butalthough Agnolo when a youth promised to far surpass his father, hedid not realise the good opinions which were then formed about him. Being born and brought up in ease, which is often a hindrance toapplication, he was more devoted to trading and commerce than to theart of painting. This is no new or strange circumstance, for avaricealmost invariably proves a bar to those geniuses who would haveattained the summit of their powers, had not the desire of gain stoodin their way in their first and best years. 

In his youth Andrea did a small scene for S. Jacopo tra fossi atFlorence, in figures of little more than a braccia high, representingthe Resurrection of Lazarus, who had been four days dead. Consideringthe corrupt state of the body, which had been in the tomb three days, he presented the grave clothes bound about him as soiled by theputrefaction of the flesh, and certain livid and yellowish marks inthe flesh about the eyes, between quick and dead, very wellconsidered. He also shows the astonishment of the disciples and otherfigures, who in varied and remarkable attitudes are holding theirgarments to their noses so as not to smell the stench of the corruptbody, and exhibit every shade of fear and terror at this marvellousevent, as well as the joy and delight of Mary and Martha at seeingthe dead body of their brother return to life. This work was deemedso excellent that there were many who thought that the talents ofAndrea would prove superior to those of all the pupils of Taddeo andeven to those of the master himself. But the event proved otherwise, for as in youth will conquers every difficulty in the effort afterfame, so it often happens that the years bring with them a certainheedlessness which causes men to go backwards instead of forwards, aswas the case with Agnolo. Owing to the high repute of his ability, the family of the Soderini, expecting a great deal, allotted to himthe principal chapel of the Carmine, where he painted the whole ofthe life of Our Lady, but in a style so inferior to the Resurrectionof Lazarus that anyone could perceive that he had little desire todevote all his energies to the study of painting. In the whole ofthis great work there is not more than a single good scene, namely, that in which Our Lady is in an apartment surrounded by a number ofmaidens, whose habits and headdresses vary according to the diverscustoms of the time, and who are engaged in various employments, somespinning, some sewing, some winding silk, and some weaving and doingother things, all very well conceived and executed by Agnolo. 

Similarly in painting in fresco the principal chapel of the church ofS. Croce for the noble family of the Alberti, he represented theincidents which took place on the finding of the Cross, executing thework with much skill, though it is somewhat lacking in design, thecolouring alone being meritorious. He succeeded much betterafterwards in some other paintings in fresco in the chapel of theBardi, and in some stories of St Louis in the same church. He workedcapriciously, sometimes with great care and sometimes with little. Thus in S. Spirito at Florence, where he did the inside of a doorleading from the piazza to the convent, and above another door aMadonna and child, with St Augustine and St Nicholas, all infresco--they are all so well done that they look as if they had beenpainted yesterday. The secret of working in mosaic had as it weredescended to Agnolo by inheritance, and in his house he had theinstruments and other apparatus used by his grandfather Gaddo;accordingly to para the time, and for one reason or another, he didsome things in mosaic when he had the whim. Thus since many of themarble facings of the exterior of S. Giovanni were wasted by time, and as the damp had pierced through and done considerable injury tothe mosaics previously executed there by Andrea Tafi, the Consuls ofthe Art of the Merchants proposed to restore the greater part of thismarble covering, in order that no further damage should be done, andalso to repair the mosaics. The commission for this was given toAgnolo, and in the year 1346 he caused the building to be coveredwith new marble, overlaying the joints to a distance of two fingerswith great care, notching the half of each stone as far as themiddle. He then cemented them together with a mixture of mastic andwax, and completed the whole with such care that from that timeforward neither the vaulting nor the roof has ever suffered any harmfrom the water. His subsequent restoration of the mosaics led by hisadvice to the reconstruction from his well-devised plans of the wholeof the cornice of the church above the marble, under the roof, in itspresent form, whereas it was originally much smaller and by no meansremarkable. He also directed the construction of the vaulting for thehall of the Podesta palace, where an ordinary roof had formerlyexisted, so that in addition to the added beauty which it gave theroom, it rendered it proof against damage by fire, which it hadfrequently suffered before. By his advice the present battlementswere added to the palace, where nothing of the kind had previouslyexisted. 

While these works were proceeding, he did not entirely abandonpainting, but executed in tempera a picture of Our Lady for the highaltar of S. Pancrazio, with St John the Baptist, St John theEvangelist, the brothers St Nereus, Achilleus, and Prancrazius, andother saints hard by. But the best part of this work, and indeed theonly part of it which is really good, is the predella filled withsmall figures, divided into eight scenes dealing with the Madonna andSt Reparata. Subsequently in a picture for the high altar of S. MariaNovella at Florence, executed for Barone Capelli in 1348, he made avery fair group of angels about a Coronation of the Virgin. Shortlyafterwards he painted in fresco a series of subjects from the life ofthe Virgin in the Pieve of Prato, which had been rebuilt under thedirection of Giovanni Pisano in 1312, as has been said above, in thechapel where Our Lady's girdle was deposited, and he did a number ofother works in other churches of that same country which is full ofvery considerable monasteries and convents. In Florence he nextpainted the arch over the gate of S. Romeo, and in Orto S. Micheledid in tempera a Christ disputing with the doctors in the temple. Atthe same time for the enlargement of the piazza of the Signori alarge number of buildings was pulled down, and notably the church ofS. Romolo, which was rebuilt from Agnolo's plans. In the churches ofthis city many pictures by his hand may be seen, and a quantity ofhis works may be met with in the lordship. These he produced withgreat advantage to himself, although he worked rather for the sake offollowing in the steps of his ancestors than from any inclination ofhis own; for he had devoted all his attention to trading, which wasof great service to him, as appeared when his sons, who did not wishto live by painting any longer, devoted themselves entirely tocommerce, opening an establishment at Venice in conjunction withtheir father, who after a certain time abandoned painting altogether, only to take it up as an amusement and pastime. By dint of tradingand practising his art, Agnolo had amassed considerable wealth whenhe came to die in the sixty-third year of his life, succumbing to amalignant fever which carried him off in a few days. His pupils wereMaestro Antonio da Ferrara, who did many fine works in Urbino and atCitta di Castello, and Stefano da Verona, who painted with thegreatest perfection in fresco, as may be seen in several places inhis native Verona, and at Mantua, where his works are numerous. Amongother things he excelled in beautifully rendering the expressions ofthe faces of children, women and old men, as his works show, whichwere all imitated and copied by that Piero da Perugia, miniaturepainter, who illuminated all the books in the library of Pope Pius inthe Duomo of Siena, and who was a skilful colourist in fresco. Otherpupils of Agnolo were Michaele da Milano and his own brotherGiovanni, who in the cloister of S. Spirito, where the arches ofGaddo and Taddeo are, painted the dispute of Christ with the doctorsin the temple, the Purification of the Virgin, the Temptation ofChrist in the wilderness, and the baptism of John, but after havinggiven rise to the highest expectations he died. Cennino di DreaCennini da Colle of Valdelsa also learned painting from Andrea. Hewas very fond of his art and wrote a book describing the methods ofworking in fresco, in tempera, in glue and in gum, and also how toilluminate and all the ways of laying on gold. This book is in thepossession of Giuliano, goldsmith of Siena, an excellent master andfond of that art. The first part of the book deals with the nature ofcolours, both minerals and earths, as he had learned it of Agnolo hismaster. As he did not perhaps succeed in painting with perfection, hewas at least anxious to know the peculiarities of the colours, thetemperas, the glues and of chalks, and what colours one ought toavoid mixing as injurious, and in short many other hints which I neednot dilate upon, since all these matters, which he then consideredvery great secrets, are now universally known. But I must not omit tonote that he makes no mention of some earth colours, such as darkterra rossa, cinnabar and some greens in glass, perhaps because theywere not in use. In like manner umber, yellow-lake, the smalts infresco and in oil, and some greens and yellows in glass which thepainters of that age lacked, have since been discovered. The end ofthe treatise deals with mosaics, with the grinding of colours in oilto make red, blue, green and other kinds of grounds, and withmordants for the application of gold but not at that time forfigures. Besides the works which he produced with his master inFlorence, there is a Madonna with saints by his hand under the loggiaof the hospital of Bonifazio Lupi, of such style and colouring thatit has been very well preserved up to the present day. 

In the first chapter of his book Cennino says these words in speakingof himself: "I, Cennino di Drea Cennini da Colle of Valdelsa, wasinstructed in this art for twelve years by Agnolo di Taddeo ofFlorence, my master, who learned the art of his father Taddeo, whosegodfather was Giotto and who was Giotto's pupil for twenty-fouryears. This Giotto transmuted the art of painting from Greek intoLatin, and modernised it, and it is certain that he gave morepleasure than any one else had ever done. " These are Cennino's verywords, by which it appears that as those who translate from Greekinto Latin render a very great service to those who do not understandGreek, so Giotto, in transmuting the art of painting from a stylewhich was understood by no one, except perhaps as being extremelyrude, into a beautiful, facile, and smooth manner, known andunderstood by all people of taste who possess the slightest judgment, conferred a great benefit upon mankind. 

All these pupils of Agnolo did him the greatest credit. He was buriedby his sons, to whom he is said to have left the value of 50, 000florins or more, in S. Maria Novella, in the tomb which he had madefor himself and his descendants, in the year 1387. The portrait ofAgnolo by his own hand may be seen in the chapel of the Alberti in S. Croce in the scene in which the Emperor Heraclius is bearing thecross; he is painted in profile standing beside a door. He wears asmall beard and has a red hood on his head, after the manner of thetime. He was not a good draughtsman, according to the evidence ofsome sheets from his hand which are in our book. 

Berna, Painter of Siena. 

If the thread of life of those who take pains to excel in some nobleprofession was not frequently cut off by death in the best years, there is no doubt that many geniuses would attain the goal desired bythem and by the world. But the short life of man and the bitternessof the various accidents which intervene on every hand sometimesdeprive us too early of such men. An example of this was poor Bernaof Siena, who died while quite young, although the nature of hisworks would lead one to believe that he had lived very long, for heleft such excellent productions that it is probable, had he not diedso soon, he would have become a most excellent and rare artist. Twoof his works may be seen in Siena in two chapels of S. Agostino, being some small scenes of figures in fresco, and in the church on awall which has recently been demolished to make chapels there, ascene of a young man led to punishment, of the highest imaginableexcellence, the representation of pallor and of the fear of deathbeing so realistic that it merits the warmest admiration. Beside theyouth is a friar who is consoling him, with excellent gestures, andin fine the entire scene is executed with such vigour as to leave nodoubt that Berna had penetrated deeply into the horror of thatsituation, full of bitter and cold fear, since he was able torepresent it so well with the brush that the actual event passingbefore one's eyes could not move one more. In Cortona, besides manythings scattered up and down the city, he painted the greater part ofthe vaulting and walls of the church of S. Margherita where theZoccolanti friars now are. From Cortona he proceeded to Arezzo in theyear 1369, at the very time when the Tarlati, formerly lords ofPietramela, had finished the convent and church of S. Agostino, underthe direction of Moccio, sculptor and architect of Siena. In theaisles of this building where many citizens had erected chapels andtombs for their families, Berna painted in fresco in the chapel of StJames, some scenes from the life of that saint. Among these the mostremarkable is the story of the cozener Marino, who through love ofgain had contracted his soul to the devil and then recommended hissoul to St James, begging him to free him from his promise, whilst adevil shows him the deed and makes a great disturbance. Bernaexpresses the emotions of all these figures with great vigour, especially in the face of Marino, who is divided between his fear andhis faith and confidence in St James, although he sees themarvellously ugly devil against him, employing all his eloquence toconvince the saint. St James, after he has brought Marino to athorough penitence for his sin, promises him immunity, delivers himand brings him back to God. According to Lorenzo Ghiberti, Bernareproduced this story in S. Spirito at Florence before it was burned, in a chapel of the Capponi dedicated to St Nicholas. After theseworks Berna painted a large crucifix in a chapel of the Vescovado ofArezzo for M. Guccio di Vanni Tarlati of Pietramela, with Our Lady atthe foot of the cross, St John the Baptist, St Francis la a very sadattitude, and St Michael the archangel, with such care that hedeserves no small praise, especially as it is so well preserved thatit might have been made yesterday. At the foot of the cross, lowerdown, is the portrait of Guccio himself, in armour and kneeling. Inthe Pieve of the same city he did a number of stories of Our Lady forthe chapel of the Paganelli, and there drew from life a portrait ofSt Ranieri, a holy man and prophet of that house, who is giving almsto a crowd of poor people surrounding him. Again in S. Bartolommeo hepainted some scenes from the Old Testament and the story of the Magi, and in the church of S. Spirito he did some stories of St John theEvangelist, drawing his own portrait and those of many of his noblefriends of the city in some figures there. When these labours werecompleted he returned to his native city and did many pictures onwood, both small and great. But he did not remain there long, becausehe was invited to Florence to decorate the chapel of St Nicholas inS. Spirito, as mentioned above, and which was greatly admired, aswell as to do some other things which perished in the unfortunatefire at that church. In the Pieve of S. Gimignano di Valdelsa he didin fresco some scenes from the New Testament. When he was on thepoint of completing these things he fell to the ground from thescaffolding, suffering such severe injuries that he expired in twodays, by which art suffered a greater loss than he, for he passed toa better sphere. The people of S. Gimignano gave him honourableburial in that Pieve, with stately obsequies, having the same regardfor him when dead as they had entertained for him while alive, whilefor many months they were constantly affixing to the tomb epitaphs inthe Latin and vulgar tongues, for the people of those parts take anatural pleasure in _belles lettres_. This then was the fittingreward of the honourable labours of Berna, that those whom he hadhonoured with his paintings should celebrate him with their pens. Giovanni da Asciano, who was a pupil of Berna, completed his work anddid some pictures for the hospital of the Scala at Siena. In Florencealso he did some things in the old houses of the Medici, by which heacquired a considerable reputation. The works of Berna of Siena wereproduced about 1381. Besides what we have already said, he was afairly facile draughtsman and the first who began to draw animalswell, as we see by some sheets by his hand in our book, covered withwild beasts of various parts, so that he merits the highest praiseand that his name should be honoured among artists. Another pupil ofhis was Luca di Tome of Siena who painted many works in Siena and inall Tuscany, but especially the picture and chapel of the Dragomanniin S. Domenico at Arezzo. The chapel is in the German style and wasvery handsomely decorated by that picture and by the frescoesexecuted there by the skill and talent of Luda of Siena. 

Duccio, Painter of Siena. 

There is do doubt that those who invent anything noteworthy occupythe greatest share of the attention of historians, The reason forthis is that original inventors are more noticed and excite morewonder, because new things always possess a greater charm thanimprovements subsequently introduced to perfect them. For if no oneever made a beginning, there would never be any advance orimprovement, and the full achievement of marvellous beauty wouldnever be attained. Accordingly Duccio, a much esteemed painter ofSiena, is worthy to receive the praise of those who have followed himmany years after, since in the pavement of the Duomo of Siena heinitiated the treatment in marble of figures in chiaroscuro, in whichmodern artists have performed such wonders in these days. Ducciodevoted himself to the imitation of the old style and veryjudiciously gave the correct forms to his figures, overcoming thedifficulty presented by such an art. Imitating the paintings inchiaroscuro, he designed the first part of the pavement with his ownhand; and painted a picture in the Duomo which was then put at thehigh altar and afterwards removed to make room for the tabernacle ofthe body of Christ which is now seen there. According to Lorenzo diBartolo Ghiberti, this picture was a Coronation of Our Lady, verymuch in the Byzantine style, though mingled with much that is modern. It was painted on both sides, as the altar stood out by itself, andon the back Duccio had with great care painted all the principalincidents of the New Testament in some very fine small figures. Ihave endeavoured to discover the whereabouts of the picture at thepresent time, but although I have taken the utmost pains in thesearch, I have not succeeded in finding it or of learning whatFrancesco di Giorgio the sculptor did with it, when he restored thetabernacle in bronze as well as the marble ornaments there. At SienaDuccio did many pictures on a gold ground and an Annunciation for S. Trinita, Florence. He afterwards painted many things at Pisa, Luccaand Pistoia for different churches, which were all much admired andbrought him much reputation and profit. The place of his death is notknown, nor are we aware what relations, pupils or property he left. It is enough that he left to art the inheritance of his inventions inpainting, marble and chiaroscuro, for which he is worthy of thehighest commendation and praise. He may safely be enumerated amongthe benefactors who have increased the dignity and beauty of ourcraft, and those who pursue investigations into the difficulties ofrare inventions, deserve a special place in our remembrance for thiscause apart from their marvellous productions. 

It is said at Siena that in 1348 Duccio designed the chapel which ison the piazza in front of the principal palace. It is also recordedthat another native of Siena called Moccio, flourished at the sametime. He was a fair sculptor and architect and did many works inevery part of Tuscany, but chiefly at Arezzo in the Church of S. Domenico, where he made a marble tomb for of the Cerchi. This tombsupports and decorates the organ of that church, and if some objectthat it is not a work of high excellence, I reply that it must beconsidered a very fair production seeing that he made it in the year1356 while quite a youth. He was employed on the work of S. Maria delFiore as under architect and as sculptor, doing some things in marblefor that structure. In Arezzo he rebuilt the Church of S. Agostino, which was small, in its present form, the expense being borne byheirs of Piero Saccone de' Tarlati, who had provided for this beforehis death at Bibbiena in the territory of Casentino. As Moccioconstructed this church without vaulting, he imposed the burden ofthe roof on the arcading of the columns, running a considerable risk, for the enterprise was too bold. He also built the Church andConvent of S. Antonio, which were at the Faenza gate before the siegeof Florence, and are now entirely in ruins. In sculpture he decoratedthe gate of S. Agostino at Ancona, with many figures and ornamentslike those which are at the gate of S. Francesco in the same city. Inthis church of St Agostino he also made the tomb of Fra ZenoneVigilanti, bishop and general of the order of St Augustine, andfinally the loggia of the merchants in that city, which has from timeto time received, for one cause and another, many improvements inmodern style, and ornamentation of various descriptions. All thesethings, although very much below the general level of excellence ofto-day, received considerable praise then owing to the state ofinformation of the time. But to return to Duccio, his works wereexecuted about the year of grace 1350. 

Antonio, Painter of Venice. 

There are many men who, through being persecuted by the envy andoppressed by the tyranny of their fellow-citizens, have left theirnative place and have chosen for a home some spot where their worthhas been recognised and rewarded, producing their works there andtaking the greatest pains to excel, in order, in a sense, to beavenged on those by whom they have been outraged. In this way theyfrequently become great men, whereas had they remained quietly athome they might possibly have achieved little more than mediocrity intheir art. Antonio of Venice, who went to Florence, in the train ofAgnolo Gaddi, to learn painting, so far acquired the proper methodsthat not only was he esteemed and loved by the Florentines, but mademuch of for this talent and for his other good qualities. Then, becoming possessed by a desire to return to his native city and enjoythe fruits of his labours, he went back to Venice. There, having madehimself known by many things done in fresco and tempera, he wascommissioned by the Signoria to paint one of the walls of the CouncilChamber, a work which he executed with such skill and majesty thatits merits should have brought him honours and rewards; but therivalry, or rather the envy, of the other artists, together with thepreference accorded by some noblemen to other and alien painters, brought about a different result. Hence poor Antonio, feeling himselfrepelled and rebutted, thought it would be as well to go back toFlorence, deciding that he would never again return to Venice, butwould make Florence his home. Having reached that city, he painted inan arch in the cloister of S. Spirito the calling of Peter and Andrewfrom their nets, with Zebedee and his sons. Under the three arches ofStefano he painted the miracle of the loaves and fishes, exhibitinggreat diligence and love, as may be seen in the figure of ChristHimself, whose face and aspect betray His compassion for the crowdand the ardent charity which leads Him to distribute the bread. Thesame scene also shows very beautifully the affection of an apostle, who is very active in distributing the bread from a basket. Thepicture affords a good illustration of the value in art of alwayspainting figures so that they appear to speak, for otherwise they arenot prized. Antonio showed this on the façade in a smallrepresentation of the Fall of the Manna, executed with such skill andfinished with such grace, that it may truly be called excellent. Henext did some stories of St Stephen in the predella of the high altarof S. Stefano at the Ponte Vecchio, with so much loving care thateven in illuminations it would not be possible to find more gracefulor more delicate work. Again he painted the tympanum over the door ofS. Antonio on the Ponte alla Carraia. This and the church were bothpulled down in our own day by Monsignor Ricasoli, bishop of Pistoia, because they took away the view from his houses, and in any case evenif he had not done so, we should have been deprived of the work, for, as I have said elsewhere, the flood of 1557 carried away two archeson this side, as well as that part of the bridge on which the littlechurch of S. Antonio was situated. After these works Antonio wasinvited to Pisa by the wardens of the Campo Santo, and therecontinued the series dealing with the life of St Ranieri, a holy manof that city, which had been begun by Simone of Siena and under hisdirection. In the first part of Antonio's portion of the work is arepresentation of the embarkation of Ranieri to return to Pisa, witha goodly number of figures executed with diligence, including theportrait of Count Gaddo, who had died ten years before, and of Neri, his uncle, who had been lord of Pisa. Another notable figure in thegroup is that of a man possessed, with distorted, convulsivegestures, his eyes glistening, and his mouth grinning and showing histeeth, so remarkably like a person really possessed that nothing moretrue or life-like can be imagined. The next picture contains threereally beautiful figures, lost in wonder at seeing St Ranieri revealthe devil in the form of a cat on a tub to a fat innkeeper, who lookslike a boon companion, and who is commending himself fearfully to thesaint; their attitudes are excellently disposed in the style of thedraperies, the variety of poses of the heads, and in all otherparticulars. Hard by are the maidservants of the innkeeper, who couldnot possibly be represented with more grace as Antonio has made themwith disengaged garments arranged after the manner of those worn bythe servants at an inn, so that nothing better can be imagined. Nothing of this artist gives more pleasure than the wall containinganother scene from the same series in which the canons of the Duomoof Pisa, in the fine robes of the time, very different from those inuse to-day and very graceful, receive St Ranieri at table, all thefigures being made with great care. The next of his scenes is thedeath of the saint, containing fine representations not only of theeffect of weeping, but of the movements of certain angels who arecarrying his soul to heaven surrounded by a brilliant light, donewith fine originality. In the scene where the saint's body is beingcarried by the clergy to the Duomo one can but marvel at therepresentation of the priests singing, for in their gestures, carriage, and all their movements they exactly resemble a choir ofsingers. This scene is said to contain a portrait of the Bavarian. Antonio likewise painted with the greatest care the miracles wroughtby Ranieri when he was being carried to burial, and those wrought inanother place, after his body had been deposited in the Duomo, suchas blind who receive their sight, withered men who recover the use oftheir limbs, demoniacs who are released, and other miraclesrepresented with great vigour. But one of the most remarkable figuresof all is a dropsical man, whose withered face, dry lips, and swollenbody exhibit with as much realism as a living man could, thedevouring thirst of those suffering from dropsy and the othersymptoms of that disease. Another marvellous thing for the time inthis work is a ship delivered by the saint after it had undergonevarious mishaps. It contains an excellent representation of theactivity of the mariners, comprising everything that is usually donein such case. Some are casting into the greedy sea without a thoughtthe valuable merchandise won with so much toil, some are running topreserve the ship which is splitting, and in short performing all theother duties of seamen which it would take too long to tell. Sufficeit to say that all are executed with remarkable vigour, and in a finestyle. In the same place beneath the lives of the holy fatherspainted by Pietro Laurati of Siena, Antonio did the bodies of StOliver and the Abbot Paphnuce, and many circumstances of their lives, represented on a marble sarcophagus, the figure being very wellpainted. In short, all the works of Antonio in the Campo Santo aresuch that they are universally considered, and with good cause, to bethe best of the entire series of works produced there by manyexcellent masters over a considerable interval of time. In additionto the particulars already mentioned, Antonio did everything infresco, and never retouched anything _a secco_. This is the reasonwhy his colours have remained so fresh to the present day, and thisshould teach artists to recognise the injury that is done to picturesand works by retouching _a secco_ things done in fresco with othercolours, as is said in the theories, for it is an established factthat this retouching ages the painting, and the new colours whichhave no body of their own will not stand the test of time, beingtempered with gum-tragacanth, egg, size, or some such thing whichvarnishes what is beneath it, and it does not permit the lapse oftime and the air to purge what has been actually painted in frescoupon the soft stucco, as they would do had not other colours beensuperimposed after the drying. Upon the completion of this trulyadmirable work Antonio was worthily rewarded by the Pisans, whoalways entertained a great affection for him. He then returned toFlorence, where he painted at Nuovoli outside the gate leading toPrato, in a tabernacle at Giovanni degli Agli, a dead Christ, with aquantity of figures, the story of the Magi and the Last Judgment, allvery fine. Invited next to the Certosa, he painted for theAcciaiuoli, who built that place, the picture of the high altar, which survived to our own day, when it was consumed by fire throughthe carelessness of a sacristan of the monastery, who left the censerhung at the altar full of fire, which led to the picture being burnt. It was afterwards made entirely of marble by the monks, as it is now. In the same place this same master did a very fine Transfiguration infresco on a cupboard in the chapel. Being much inclined by nature tothe study of herbs, he devoted himself to the mastery of Dioscorides, taking pleasure in learning the properties and virtues of each plant, so that he ultimately abandoned painting and devoted himself todistilling simples with great assiduity. Having thus transformedhimself from a painter into a physician, he pursued the latterprofession for some time. At length he fell-sick of a disorder of thestomach, or, as some say, through treating the plague, and finishedthe course of his life at the age of seventy-four in the year 1384, when the plague was raging in Florence. His skill as a physicianequalled his diligence as a painter, for he gained an extensiveexperience in medicine from those who had employed him in their need, and he left behind him a high reputation in both arts. Antonio was avery graceful designer with the pen, and so excellent in chiaroscurothat some sheets of his in our book, in which he did the arch of S. Spirito, are the best of the age. Gherardo Starnini of Florence was apupil of Antonio, and closely imitated him, while another pupil ofhis, Paolo Uccello, brought him no small credit. The portrait ofAntonio of Venice by his own hand is in the Campo Santo at Pisa. 

Jacopo di Casentino, Painter. 

As the fame and renown of the paintings of Giotto and his pupils hadbeen spread abroad for many years, many, who were desirous ofobtaining fame and riches by means of the art of painting, began tobe animated by the hope of glory, and by natural inclination, to makeprogress towards the improvement of the art, feeling confident that, with effort, they would be able to surpass in excellence Giotto, Taddeo, and the other painters. Among these was one Jacopo diCasentino, who was born, as we read, of the family of M. CristoforoLandino of Pratovecchio, and was associated by the friar ofCasentino, then superior at the Sasso del Vernia, with Taddeo Gaddi, while he was working in that convent, in order that he might learndesign and colour. In a few years he so far succeeded, that, beingtaken to Florence in the company of Giovanni di Milano, in theservice of their master, Taddeo, where they were doing many things, he was asked to paint in tempera the tabernacle of the Madonna of theOld Market, with the picture there, and also the one on the Via delCocomoro side of the Piazza S. Niccolo. A few years ago both of thesewere restored by a very inferior master to Jacopo. For the Dyers, hedid the one at S. Nofri, on the side of their garden wall, oppositeS. Giuseppe. While the vaulting of Orsanmichele, upon its twelvepillars, was being completed, and covered with a low, rough roof, awaiting the completion of the building of the palace, which was tobe the granary of the Commune, the painting of these vaults wasentrusted to Jacopo di Casentino, as a very skilled artist. Here hepainted some prophets and the patriarchs, with the heads of thetribes, sixteen figures in all, on an ultramarine ground, now muchdamaged, without other ornamentation. He next did the lower walls andpilasters with many miracles of Our Lady, and other things which maybe recognised by their style. This done, he returned to Casentino, and after painting many works in Pratovecchio, Poppi, and otherplaces of that valley, he proceeded to Arezzo, which then governeditself with a council of sixty of the richest and most honouredcitizens, to whom all the affairs of the state were entrusted. Here, in the principal chapel of the Vescovado, he painted a story of StMartin, and a good number of pictures in the old Duomo, now pulleddown, including a portrait of Pope Innocent VI. In the principalchapel. He next did the wall where the high altar is, and the chapelof St Maria della Neve, in the church of S. Bartolommeo, for thechapter of the canons of the Pieve, and for the old brotherhood of S. Giovanni de' Peducci he did a number of scenes from the life of thatsaint, which are now whitewashed over. He also did the chapel of StChristopher in the church of S. Domenico, introducing a portrait ofthe blessed Masuolo releasing from prison a merchant of the Feifamily, who built the chapel. This saint was a contemporary of theartist, and a prophet who predicted many misfortunes for theAretines. In the church of S. Agostino, Jacopo did some stories of StLaurence in fresco in the chapel and at the altar of the Nardi withmarvellous style and skill. Since he also practised architecture, hewas employed by the sixty chief citizens mentioned above to bringunder the walls of Arezzo the water which comes from the slopes ofPori, 300 braccia from the city. In the time of the Romans this waterhad been originally brought to the theatre, traces of which stillexist, and thence from its situation on the hill where the fortressnow is, to the amphitheatre of the city in the plain, the buildingsand conduits of this being afterwards entirely destroyed by theGoths. Thus after Jacopo had, as I have said, brought the waterunder the wall, he made the fountain, then known as the FonteGuizianelli, but is now called by corruption Fonte Viniziana. Itremained standing from 1354 until 1527, but no longer, because theplague of the following year, and the war which followed, deprived itof many of its advantages for the use of the gardens, particularly asJacopo did not bring it inside, and for these reasons it is notstanding to-day, as it should be. 

Whilst Jacopo was engaged in bringing water to the city he did notabandon his painting, and in the palace which was in the old citadel, destroyed in our day, he did many scenes of the deeds of the BishopGuide and of Piero Sacconi, who had done great and notable things forthe city both in peace and war. He also did the story of St Matthewunder the organ in the Pieve, and a considerable number of otherworks. By these paintings, which he did in every part of the city, hetaught Spinello of Arezzo the first principles of that art which hehimself had learned from Agnolo, and which Spinello afterwards taughtto Bernardo Daddi, who worked in the city and adorned it with manyfine paintings, which, united to his other excellent qualities, brought him much honour among his fellow-citizens, who employed him agreat deal in magistracies and other public affairs. The paintings ofBernardo were numerous and highly valued, first in St Croce, thechapel of St Laurence and those of St Stephen of the Pulci andBerardi, and many other paintings in various other parts of thatchurch. At length, after he had painted some pictures on the insideof the gates of the city of Florence, he died, full of years, and wasburied honourably in S. Felicita in the year 1380. 

To return to Jacopo. In the year 1350 was founded the company andbrotherhood of the Painters. For the masters who then flourished, both those who practised the old Byzantine style and those whofollowed the new school of Cimabue, seeing that they were numerous, and that the art of design had been revived in Tuscany and in theirown Florence, created this society under the name and protection ofSt Luke the Evangelist, to render praise and thanks to God in thesanctuary of that saint, to meet together from time to time, remembering the welfare of their souls as well as of the bodies ofthose who might be in need of assistance at various times. This isstill the practice of many of the Arts in Florence, but it was muchmore common in former times. Their first sanctuary was the principalchapel of the hospital of S. Maria Nuova, which was granted them bythe family of the Portinari. The first governors of the company weresix in number, with the title of captains, and in addition there weretwo councillors and two chamberlains. This may be seen in the oldbook of the company begun then, the first chapter of which opensthus:

"These articles and regulations were agreed upon and drawn up by thegood and discreet men of the art of the Painters of Florence, and inthe time of Lapo Gucci, painter; Vanni Cinuzzi, painter; CorsinoBuonaiuti, painter; Pasquino Cenni, painter; Segnia d'Antignano, painter. The councillors were Bernardo Daddi and Jacopo di Casentino, painters. Consiglio Gherardi and Domenico Pucci, painters, thechamberlains. "

The company being thus formed by the consent of the captains andothers, Jacopo di Casentino painted the picture of their chapel, representing St Luke drawing a picture of Our Lady, and in thepredella, all the men of the company kneeling on one side and all thewomen on the other. From this beginning, whether they meet or no, thecompany has existed continuously from this time and has recently beenremodelled, as is related in the new articles of the company approvedby the Most Illustrious Lord, Duke Cosimo, the very benignantprotector of these arts of design. 

At length Jacopo, overwhelmed with years and toil, returned toCasentino and died there at Prato Vecchio, at the age of eighty. Hewas buried by his relations and friends in S. Agnolo, an abbey of theCamaldoline order, outside Prato Vecchio. Spinello introduced hisportrait into a picture of the Magi in the old Duomo, and his styleof draughtsmanship may be seen in our book. 

Spinello, Painter of Arezzo. 

Upon one of the occasions when the Ghibellines were driven fromFlorence and when they settled at Arezzo, Luca Spinelli had a sonborn to him there, to whom he gave the name of Spinello. This boy hadso much natural inclination to be a painter, that almost without amaster and while still quite a child he knew more than many who havepractised under the best teachers, and what is more, he contracted afriendship with Jacopo di Casentino while the latter was working atArezzo, and learned something from him, so much so indeed that beforehe was twenty years of age he was a far better master, young as hewas, than Jacopo, who was already an old man. Spinello's earlyreputation as a good painter induced M. Dardano Acciaiuoli to employhim to decorate the church of S. Niccolo at the pope's halls, whichhe had just erected, behind S. Maria Novella in the Via dei Scala, and there buried a brother who was a bishop. Here Spinello paintedscenes from the life of St Nicholas, bishop of Bari, in fresco, completing the work in 1334 after two years of unremitting labour. Init he exhibited equal excellence as a colourist and as a designer, sothat the colours remained in excellent preservation up to our ownday, and the excellence of the figures was well expressed, until afew years ago when they were in great part damaged by a fire whichunfortunately broke out in the church at a time when it happened tobe full of straw, brought there by some indiscreet persons who madeuse of the building as a barn for the storage of straw. The fame ofthe work induced M. Barone Capelli, citizen of Florence, to employSpinello to paint in the principal chapel of S. Maria Maggiore, anumber of stories of the Madonna in fresco, and some of St Anthonythe abbot, and near them the consecration of that very ancient churchby Pope Paschal II. Spinello did all this so well that it looks as ifit had all been the work of a single day and not of many months, aswas actually the case. Near the pope is the portrait of M. Baronefrom life, in the dress of the time, excellently done and with goodjudgment. On the completion of this, Spinello worked in the church ofthe Carmine in fresco, doing the chapel of St James and St John, apostles, where, among other things, he has given a very carefulrepresentation of the request made of Christ by the wife of Zebedeeand mother of James, that her sons should sit the one on the rightand the other on the left of the Father in the kingdom of Heaven. Alittle further over one sees Zebedee, James and John leaving theirnets and following Christ, done with wonderful vigour and style. Inanother chapel of the same church, beside the principal one, Spinelloalso did in fresco some stories of the Madonna and the Apostles, their miraculous appearance to her before her death, her death andher being carried to Heaven by angels. As the scene was on a largescale, and the chapel being a very small one of not more than tenbraccia in length and five in height, would not take it all, especially in the case of the Assumption of Our Lady, Spinello veryjudiciously continued the scene to the vaulting on one of the sidesat the place where Christ and the angels are receiving her. In achapel of S. Trinita, Spinello made a very fine Annunciation and forthe high altar picture of the church of S. Apostolo he painted intempera the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in tonguesof fire. In S. Lucia de' Bardi he also painted a panel and did alarger one for the chapel of St John the Baptist, decorated byGiotto. 

After these things, and on account of the great reputation which hislabours in Florence had procured for him, Spinello was recalled toArezzo by the sixty citizens who governed it, and was commissioned bythe Commune to paint the story of the Magi in the old Duomo outsidethe city, and in the chapel of St Gismondo, a St Donate, who by meansof a benediction causes a serpent to burst. Similarly he made somevarious figures on many pilasters of that Duomo, and on a wall he dida Magdalene in the house of Simon anointing Christ's feet, with otherpaintings which there is no need to mention, since that church is nowentirely destroyed, though it was then full of tombs, the bones ofsaints and other notable things. But in order that the memory of itmay at least remain, I will remark that it was built by the Aretinesmore than thirteen hundred years ago, at the time when they werefirst converted to the faith of Jesus Christ by St Donato, whoafterwards became bishop of the city. It was dedicated to him, andrichly adorned both within and without with very ancient spoils ofantiquity. The ground plan of the church, which is discussed atlength elsewhere, was divided on the outside into sixteen faces, andon the inside into eight, and all were full of the spoils of thosetimes which had originally been dedicated to idols; in short, it was, at the time of its destruction, as beautiful as such a very ancientchurch could possibly be. After the numerous paintings which he haddone in the Duomo, Spinello painted for the chapel of the Marsupiniin S. Francesco, Pope Honorius confirming and approving the rule ofthat saint, the pope being a portrait of Innocent IV. , he having bysome means obtained the likeness. In the chapel of St Michael, theArchangel, in the same church in which the bells are rung, he paintedmany scenes relating to him; and rather lower down, in the chapel ofM. Giuliano Baccio, he did an Annunciation, with other figures, whichare much admired. The whole of the works in this church were done infresco with great boldness and skill between the years 1334 and 1338. In the Pieve of the same city he afterwards painted the chapel of StPeter and St Paul, and below it that of St Michael the Archangel; forthe fraternity of S. Maria della Misericordia he did the chapel of StJames and St Philip; and over the principal door of the fraternitywhich is on the piazza, that is to say, in the tympanum, he painted aPieta, with a St John, at the request of the rectors of thefraternity. The foundation of the brotherhood took place in this way. A certain number of good and honourable citizens began to go aboutasking alms for the poor who were ashamed to beg, and to succour themin all their necessities, in the year of the plague of 1348. Thefraternity acquired a great reputation, acquired by means of theefforts of these good men, in helping the poor and infirm, buryingthe dead, and performing other kindred acts of charity, so that thebequests, donations and inheritances left to them became soconsiderable that they amounted to one-third of the entire wealth ofArezzo. The same happened in 1383, which was also a year of severeplague. Spinello then being of the company, often undertook to visitthe infirm, bury the dead, and perform other like pious duties whichthe best citizens have always undertaken and still do in that city. In order to leave a memorial of this in his paintings, he painted forthe company on the wall of the church of S. Laurentino andPergentino, a Madonna with her mantle open in front, and beneath herthe people of Arezzo, comprising portraits of many of the earliestmembers of the fraternity, drawn from life, with wallets round theirnecks and a wooden hammer in their hands, like those with which theyknocked at the doors to ask alms. Similarly, in the company of theAnnunciation he painted the large tabernacle which is outside thechurch, and part of a portico which is opposite it, and the pictureof the company, which is an Annunciation, in tempera. The picturewhich is now in the church of the nuns of S. Giusto, where a littleChrist, who is at His mother's neck, is espousing St Catherine, withsix small scenes in little figures of the acts of that saint, is alsoa work of Spinello and much admired. Being afterwards invited to thefamous abbey of Camaldoli in Casentino in the year 1361, he paintedfor the hermits of that place the picture of the high altar, whichwas taken away in the year 1539, when the entire church was rebuiltand Giorgio Vasari did a new picture, painting the principal chapelof the abbey all in fresco, the transept of the church in fresco andtwo pictures. Summoned thence to Florence by D. Jacopo d'Arezzo, Abbot of S. Miniato in Monte of the order of Monte Oliveto, Spinellopainted the vaulting and four walls of the sacristy of thatmonastery, besides the picture of the altar, all in tempera, withmany stories of the life of St Benedict, executed with much skill anda great vivacity in the colouring, learned by him by means of longpractice and continual labour, with study and diligence, such as arenecessary to every one who wishes to acquire an art perfectly. Afterthese things the said abbot left Florence and received the directionof the monastery of S. Bernardo of the same order, in his nativeland, at the very time when it was almost entirely completed on theland granted by the Aretines, on the site of the Colosseum. Here theabbot induced Spinello to paint in fresco two chapels which arebeside the principal chapel, and two others, one on either side ofthe door leading to the choir in the screen of the church. In one ofthe two, next the principal chapel, is an Annunciation in fresco, made with the greatest diligence, and on a wall beside it, is theMadonna ascending the steps of the Temple, accompanied by Joachim andAnna; in the other chapel is a Crucifix with the Madonna and St Johnweeping, and a St Bernard adoring on his knees. On the inner wall ofthe church where the altar of Our Lady stands, he painted the Virginwith the child at her neck, which was considered a very beautifulfigure, and did many other things for the church, painting above thechoir Our Lady, St Mary Magdalene and St Bernard, very vivaciously. In the Pieve of Arezzo in the Chapel of St Bartholomew, he did anumber of scenes from the life of that saint, and on the oppositeside of the church, in the chapel of St Matthew, under the organ, which was painted by his master Jacopo di Casentino, besides manystories of that saint, which are meritorious, he did the fourEvangelists in some medallions, in an original style, for above thebust and human limbs he gave St John the head of an eagle, St Markthe head of a lion, St Luke that of an ox, while only St Matthew hasa human face, that is to say an angel's. Outside Arezzo, he decoratedthe church of S. Stefano, built by the Aretines upon many columns ofgranite and marble, to honour and preserve the names of severalmartyrs who were put to death by Julian the Apostate. Here he did anumber of figures and scenes with great diligence and such a style ofcolouring that they were in a wonderfully fresh state of preservationwhen they were destroyed not many years ago. But the reallyremarkable piece of work in that place, besides the stories of StStephen, in figures larger than life size, is the sight of Joseph, inthe story of the Magi, beside himself with joy at the coming of thosekings, and keenly watching the kings as they are opening the vesselsof their treasures and are offering them to him. In the same churchis a Madonna offering a rose to the Christ child, which was and isconsidered a most beautiful figure, and so highly reverenced by theAretines that when the church of S. Stefano was pulled down, withoutsparing either pains or expense, they cut it out of the wall, ingeniously removed it and carried it into the city, depositing it ina small church in order to honour it, as they do, with the samedevotion which they bestowed upon it at first. There is no wonderthat the work inspired such reverence, for it is a naturalcharacteristic of Spinello to endow his figures with a certain simplegrace, partaking of modesty and holiness, so that his saints andparticularly his Virgins breathe an indefinable sanctity and divinitywhich inspire men with devotion. This may be seen also in a Madonnawhich is on the side of the Albergetti, in one on an outside wall ofthe Pieve in Seteria, and in another of the same kind on the side ofthe canal. By Spinello's hand also is the descent of the Holy Spiriton the Apostles, on the wall of the hospital of S. Spirito, which isvery fine, as are the two scenes below representing St Cosmo and StDamian cutting a healthy leg off a dead Moor to attach it to a manwhose broken limb they have removed. In like manner the _Noli metangere_ between these two works is very beautiful. In a chapel ofthe company of the Puracciuoli on the piazza of St Agostino he did avery finely coloured Annunciation, and in the cloister of thatconvent he painted a Madonna in fresco with St James and St Anthonyand the portrait of an armed soldier kneeling there, with thesewords: _Hoc opus fecit fieri Clemens Pucci de Monte Catino, cujuscorpus jacet hic, etc. Anno Domini 1367 die 15 mensis Maii_. Therepresentations in the chapel of that church, of St Anthony and othersaints are known by their style to be by Spinello's hand, and heafterwards painted the whole of a portico in the hospital of S. Marco, now the monastery of the nuns of St Croce as their originalhouse, which was outside, was pulled down. The figure of St Gregorythe Pope, among the many represented in this work, standing beside aMisericordia, is a portrait of Pope Gregory IX. The chapel of StPhilip and St James at the entry into the church of S. Domenico inthe same city, was done in fresco by Spinello in a fine and vigorousstyle, as was also a three-quarter length figure of St Anthony, painted on the wall of the church, which is so fine that it apeslife. It is placed in the midst of four scenes from his life, andthese and many other scenes of the life of St Anthony, also bySpinello's hand, are in the chapel of St Anthony, in the church ofS. Giustino. On one side of the church of S. Lorenzo he painted somestories of the Madonna, and outside the church he painted her seated, doing the work very gracefully in fresco. In a small hospitalopposite of the nuns of S. Spirito, near the gate on the road toRome, the whole of the portico is painted by his hand with arepresentation of the dead Christ in the lap of the Maries, executedwith so much skill and judgment that it proves him to have equalledGiotto in the matter of design and to have far surpassed him as acolourist. In the same place he has represented Christ seated, with avery ingenious theological signification, having placed the Trinityinside a Sun so that the same rays and the same glory issue from eachof the three figures. But the same fate has befallen this work as hashappened to many others, to the infinite loss of the lovers of thisart, for it was thrown down to make way for the fortifications of thecity. At the company of the Trinity may be seen a tabernacle outsidethe church, by Spinello very finely worked in fresco, comprising theTrinity, St Peter and SS. Cosmo and Damian dressed in the robeshabitually worn by the physicians of the time. During the productionof these works D. Jacopo d'Arezzo was appointed general of thecongregation of Monte Oliveto, nineteen years after he had employedSpinello to do a number of things at Florence and at Arezzo, as hasbeen said above. Being stationed according to the custom of theorder, at Monte Oliveto the greater, of Chiusuri in the Sienadistrict, as being the principal house of that body, he conceived alonging to have a beautiful picture made in that place. Accordinglyhe sent for Spinello, remembering how well he had been served uponother occasions, and induced him to do the picture for the principalchapel. Here Spinello produced a large number of figures in tempera, both small and great, on a gold ground, with great judgment, andafterwards caused it to be framed in an ornament in half-relief bySimone Cini of Florence, while in some parts he put an additionalornament with stucco of a rather firm glue, which proved verysuccessful. It was gilded all over by Gabriello Saracini, who wroteat the bottom the three names: Simone Cini of Florence did thecarving, Gabriello Saracini the gilding, and Spinello di Luca ofArezzo the painting, in the year 1385. 

On the completion of this work, Spinello returned to Arezzo havingreceived numerous favours from the general and other monks, besideshis payment. But he did not remain long there for the city was indisorder owing to the feuds of the Guelph and Ghibelline parties andwas just then sacked. He removed with his family and his son Parri, who was learning painting, to Florence, where he had a goodly numberof friends and relations. In that city, in order to pass the time, hepainted an Annunciation in a tabernacle outside the gate at S. PieroGattolini on the Roman road, where the way branches to Pozzolatico, awork which is now half destroyed, and other pictures in anothertabernacle, where the ruin of Galluzzo is. Being afterwards invitedto Pisa to finish in the Campo Santo beneath the life of St Ranierithe remainder of other subjects in a blank space, in order to unitethem to the scenes painted by Giotto, Simone of Siena, and Antonio ofVenice, he there executed in fresco six stories of St Petitus and StEpirus. The first represents the saint as a young man, presented byhis mother to the Emperor Diocletian, and appointed general of thearmies which were to march against the Christians. As he is ridingwith his troop Christ appears to him, and showing him a white crosscommands the youth not to persecute Him. Another scene represents theangel of the Lord giving to the saint, while he is riding, thebanner of the Faith, with a white cross on a red field, which hasever afterwards constituted the arms of the Pisans, because St Epirushad besought God to give him a sign to wear against the enemy. Nextto this is another scene of a fierce battle engaged between the saintand the Pagans, many armed angels fighting for the victory of theformer. Here Spinello produced many things worthy of consideration inthat day when art had not yet the ability nor any good method ofexpressing the ideas of the mind in colour in a lively manner. Amongmany other things in this composition are two soldiers, who haveseized each other by the beard, and are endeavouring to kill eachother with the naked rapiers which they hold in their disengagedhands; their faces and all the movement of their limbs show thedesire of victory, their proud spirits being without fear and of thehighest courage. Also among those who are fighting on horseback thereis a finely executed knight who is fastening the head of an enemy toearth with his lance, the other having fallen backward from histerrified horse. Another scene shows the saint presented to theEmperor Diocletian, who is questioning him about the faith, and whoafterwards consigns him to the torture, putting him in a furnace inwhich he remains uninjured, whilst the servants who are very ready onevery side are burned in his stead. In short, all the acts of thesaint are shown, to his beheading, after which his soul is carried toHeaven. The last scene shows the transportation of the bones andrelics of St Petitus from Alexandria to Pisa. The whole work in itscolouring and conception is the finest, most finished, and bestexecuted of Spinello's paintings, and this is shown by its presentexcellent state of preservation, for its fresh appearance excites thewonder of everyone who sees it. When this work in the Campo Santo wascompleted, Spinello painted in the church of S. Francesco, in thesecond chapel from the high altar, many stories of St Bartholomew, StAndrew, St James, and St John the apostles, and he might perhaps haveremained longer at work in Pisa, because his paintings were admiredand rewarded there, but seeing the city thrown into an uproar andturned upside down through the murder of M. Pietro Gambacorti by theLanfranchini, who were Pisan citizens, he once more removed toFlorence with all his family, for he was by this time an old man. Heremained there for one year only, and in the chapel of theMacchiavelli in S. Croce, dedicated to SS. Philip and James, he didmany stories of the life and death of those saints. The picture ofthe chapel he did at Arezzo, and sent it on from there in the year1400, for he was anxious to return to his native place, or, to speakmore correctly, to the place which he looked upon as such. Havingthus returned thither at the age of seventy-seven or more, he waslovingly received by his relations and friends, and remained there, much loved and honoured, until the end of his life, which was in theninety-second year of his age. Although at the time of his return toArezzo he was quite an old man, and had enough property to enable himto live without working, yet he could not remain idle, since he hadalways been accustomed to work, and undertook to do some stories ofSt Michael for the company of S. Agnolo in that city. These areroughly drawn in red on the plastered wall, as was the most ordinarymethod of the old artists, and as an example he did a single scene inone corner, colouring it entirely, which gave considerablesatisfaction. Having afterwards agreed upon the price with thewardens, he completed the entire front of the high altar, representing Lucifer establishing his seat in the north, and the fallof the angels who change into devils as they rain upon the earth. Inthe air is St Michael fighting with the serpent of seven heads andten horns, and in the middle of the lower part is Lucifer alreadychanged into a hideous monster. It gave Spinello so much satisfactionto make him horrible and distorted that it is said (so great is thepower of imagination) that the figure in the picture appeared to himin a dream, and demanded when the artist had seen him so ugly, askingwhy he did him so great an indignity with his brush. Spinello awokefrom his dream speechless from fear, and shook so violently that hiswife hastened to assist him. Yet he ran considerable risk of dyingsuddenly, through the failure of the heart, owing to this misfortune, and it caused his death a short while afterwards, until when he livedin an utterly dispirited manner with wide open eyes. He died greatlylamented by his friends, and left the world two sons--one calledForzore was a goldsmith, who did some admirable work in _niello_ inFlorence; the other, Parri, who followed his father and pursued theart of painting, far surpassing Spinello in design. The Aretines weremuch grieved at this sad chance, although Spinello was old, at beingdeprived of ability and excellence such as his. He died at the age ofninety-two, and was buried in S. Agostino at Arezzo, where there is astone with a coat of arms made after a fancy of his own, containing ahedgehog. Spinello was far better able to design than to put histhoughts into practice, as our book of designs shows, which containstwo Evangelists and a St Louis by his hand, all very fine. Hisportrait given above was taken by me from one which was in the oldDuomo before it was pulled down. His paintings were executed betweenthe years 1380 and 1400. 

Gherardo Stamina, Painter of Florence. 

Certainly those who travel far from home to dwell in other parts veryfrequently do so to the advantage of their temperament, for by seeingdivers customs abroad, even if they be of rather an extraordinarynature, they learn to be reasonable, kind and patient withconsiderably greater ease than they would have done had they remainedat home. Indeed those who desire to refine men in their worldlyconversation need no other fire and no better cement than this, because those who are naturally rough become gentle, and the gentlebecome even more gracious. Gherardo di Jacopo Stamina, painter ofFlorence, though rather hasty than good-natured, being very hard andrough in his dealings, did more harm by this to himself than to hisfriends, and it would have been even worse for him had he notremained a long time in Spain, where he learned to be gentle andcourteous, for he there became so changed from his former nature thatwhen he returned to Florence a very large number of those who hadmortally hated him before his departure, received him with very greatfriendliness and continued to cherish a great affection for him, sogentle and courteous had he become. Gherardo was born in Florence inthe year 1354, and as he grew up and was naturally bent to the art ofdesigning, he was put with Antonio da Vinezia to learn to design andto paint. In the space of many years he not only learned the art andpractice of colours, but had shown his ability by some thingsproduced in a good style; accordingly he left Antonio and began towork on his own account. In the chapel of the Castellani at S. Croce, which was given to him to paint by Michaele di Vanno, an honouredcitizen of that family, he did in fresco many stories of St Anthonythe abbot and of St Nicholas the bishop, in such a good style thatthey attracted the attention of certain Spaniards then staying inFlorence on business, and ultimately led to his being invited toSpain to their king, who saw and received him very gladly, therebeing at that time a great lack of good painters in that country. Norwas it a difficult matter to induce Gherardo to leave his country, for as he had had hard words with some men after the affair of theCiompi and the appointment of Michele di Lando as gonfaloniere, hewas in considerable danger of his life. Accordingly he went to Spainand did many things for the king there, and became rich and honouredby the great rewards which he earned for his labours. At lengthbecoming desirous of showing himself to his friends in his improvedestate, he returned home and was warmly welcomed and received in avery friendly manner by all his fellow-citizens. It was not longbefore he was employed to paint the chapel of St Jerome in theCarmine, where he did many stories of that saint, and in the story ofPaul, Eustace and Jerome he represented some of the Spanish habits ofthe day with very happy invention and an abundance of fashions andideas in the attitudes of the figures. Among other things, in a scenewhere St Jerome is receiving his earliest instruction, he representeda master who has caused one boy to mount upon the back of another andstrikes him with the whip in such a manner that the poor child istwisting his legs with pain and appears to be crying out and tryingto bite the ear of the boy who is holding him. The whole is executedwith much grace and lightness, and Gherardo appears to have delightedin these touches of nature. In like manner, when St Jerome, being atthe point of death, is making his will, he has hit off some friars ina delightful and realistic manner, for some are writing, otherslistening attentively and looking about, observing all the words oftheir master with great earnestness. This work won Stamina much fameand a high rank among artists, and his courteous and mild mannersgave him a great reputation, so that his name was famous throughoutTuscany and indeed in all Italy. Being at this time invited to Pisa topaint the chapter-house of S. Niccola in that city, he sent in hisplace Antonio Vite of Pistoia, because he did not wish to leaveFlorence. Antonio, who had learned Stamina's style under him, did thePassion of Jesus Christ there, completing it in its present form inthe year 1403, to the great delight of the Pisans. Afterwards, it issaid, he finished the chapel of the Pugliesi; and as the works whichhe did there at S. Girolamo greatly pleased the Florentines, becausehe had expressed in a lively manner many gestures and attitudes whichhad not been attempted by any painters before his time, the Communeof Florence in the year that Gabriel Maria, lord of Pisa, sold thatcity to the Florentines for 200, 000 scudi (after Giovanni Gambacortahad stood a siege of thirteen months, although even he at lengthagreed to the sale), employed Stamina to paint on a wall of thePalazzo di parte Guelfa, St Denis the bishop, with two angels, andbelow it an accurate representation of the city of Pisa. In theexecution of this he displayed such diligence in every detail, especially in the colouring in fresco, that notwithstanding theaction of air and water and a northern aspect, the picture has alwaysremained in excellent condition, and even now it has all theappearance of having been newly painted, an achievement worthy ofhigh praise. Gherardo having by this and other works acquired a greatreputation and much renown both at home and abroad, death, theenvious enemy of virtuous deeds, cut off at the height of his powersthe great promise of much better things than the world had yet seenfrom him; and having come to his end unexpectedly in the forty-ninthyear of his age, he was buried with much pomp in the church of S. Jacopo sopra Arno. 

The pupils of Gherardo were Masolino da Panicale, who was at first anexcellent goldsmith and then a painter, and some others whom it isnot necessary to mention, as they did not possess any remarkabletalent. 

The portrait of Gherardo occurs in the story of St Jerome, mentionedabove; he is one of the figures who are standing about the dyingsaint, represented in profile with a hood about his head and a mantlebuttoned about him. In our book are some designs of Gherardo donewith the pen on parchment, which are of considerable excellence. 

Lippo, Painter of Florence. 

Invention has been, and always will be considered the true mother ofarchitecture, painting and poetry, as well as of all the superiorarts and of all the marvels produced by man. By its aid artistsdevelop their ideas, caprices and fancies, and are able to displaymore variety, for all those who work at these honourable professionsalways seek after a laudable diversity, and possess the power ofdelicate flattery and of tactful criticism. Lippo, then, painter ofFlorence, who was as varied and choice in his inventions as his workswere really unfortunate and his life short, was born at Florenceabout the year of grace 1354; and although he took up the art ofpainting somewhat late, when he was already a man, yet he was so farassisted by natural inclination and by his fine talents that he soondistinguished himself brilliantly. He first painted in Florence andin S. Benedetto, a large and fine monastery outside the gate of thePinti belonging to the Camaldoline order, now destroyed; he did anumber a figures which were considered very beautiful, particularlythe whole of a chapel, which affords an example of how close studyquickly leads to great performances in anyone who honestly takespains with the desire for fame. Being invited to Arezzo fromFlorence, he did for the chapel of the Magi in the church of S. Antonio a large scene in fresco in which they are adoring Christ;and in the Vescovado he did the chapel of St James and St Christopherfor the family of the Ubertini. All these things were very fine, forthe invention displayed in the composition of scenes and in thecolouring. He was the first who began, as it were, to play with hisfigures, and to awaken the minds of those who came after him, a thingwhich had never been done before, only attempted. After he had donemany things in Bologna and a meritorious picture at Pistoia, hereturned to Florence, where he painted the chapel of the Beccuti inS. Maria Maggiore in the year 1383 with scenes from the life of StJohn the evangelist. Following on from this chapel, which is besidethe principal one, on the left hand, six scenes from the life ofthis saint are represented along the wall, by the same hand. Theircomposition is excellent and they are well arranged, one scene inparticular being very vivid, namely, that in which St John causes StDionisius the Areopagite to put his vest on some dead men, who cometo life again in the name of Jesus Christ, to the great wonderment ofsome who are present who can hardly believe their own eyes. Theforeshortening of some of the dead figures shows great art and provesthat Lippo was conscious of some of the difficulties of hisprofession and endeavoured to some extent to overcome them. It wasLippo also who painted the wings of the tabernacle of the church ofS. Giovanni, where are Andrea's angels and his St John, in relief, doing some stories of St John the Baptist in tempera, with greatdiligence. Being very fond of working in mosaic, he did some in thatchurch over the door leading towards the Misericordia, between thewindows, which was considered very beautiful and the best work inmosaic produced in that place with them. In the same church hefurther repaired some mosaics which had been damaged. OutsideFlorence, in S. Giovanni fra l'Arcora, without the gate leading toFaenza, he painted a number of figures in fresco beside Buffalmacco'sCrucifixion, which was considered very beautiful by all who saw them. In certain small hospitals near the Fĉnza gate and in S. Antonioinside that gate near the hospital, he did some poor men, in fresco, in some varied styles and attitudes, very beautifully executed, andin the cloister within he made, with beautiful and new invention, thevision of St Anthony of the deceits of the world, and next to thatthe desires and appetites of men, who are drawn hither and thither todivers things of this world, the whole of the work being executedwith much consideration and judgment. Lippo also did mosaic work inmany places of Italy, and in the Guelph quarter at Florence he made afigure with a glass head, while Pisa contains a number of hisproductions. Yet in spite of all this he must be considered a reallyunfortunate man, since at the present time the greater part of hisworks have disappeared, having been destroyed in the siege ofFlorence, and also because his career was terminated in a very tragicmanner; for being a quarrelsome man and liking turmoil belter thanquiet, he happened one morning to say some very insulting words to anopponent at the tribunal of the Mercanzia, and that evening as he wasreturning home, he was dogged by this man and stabbed in the breastwith a knife, so that in a few days he perished miserably. Hispaintings were produced about 1410. There flourished at Bologna inLippo's time another painter whose name was also Lippo Dalmasi, whowas a worthy man, and among other things he painted a Madonna in theyear 1407, which may still be seen in S. Petronio at Bologna andwhich is held in great veneration. He also painted in fresco thetympanum above the door of S. Procolo, and in the church of S. Francesco in the tribune of the high altar, he made a large Christ, half length, and a St Peter and a St Paul, in a very graceful style. Under these works may be seen his name written in large letters. Healso designed very fairly, as may be seen in our book, and heafterwards taught the art to M. Galante da Bologna, who afterwardsdesigned much better than he, as may be seen in the same book in aportrait of a figure dressed in a short coat with wide open sleeves. 

Don Lorenzo, Monk of the Angeli of Florence, Painter. 

I believe that it is a great joy to a good and religious person tofind some honourable employment for their hands whether it beletters, music, painting or other liberal and mechanical arts whichinvolve no reproach but are on the contrary useful and helpful toother men, for after the divine offices the time may be passed withthe pleasure taken in the easy labours of peaceful exercises. Tothese advantages we may add that not only is such a monk esteemed andvalued by others during his life-time, except by such as are enviousand malignant, but he is honoured by all men after his death, for hisworks and the good name which he has left behind him. Indeed whoeverspends his time in this manner, lives in quiet contemplation withoutany danger from those ambitious stirrings which are almost always tobe seen among the idle and slothful, who are usually ignorant, totheir shame and hurt. If it should happen that a man of abilityacting thus is slandered by the malicious, the power of virtue issuch that time will reestablish his reputation and bury the malignityof the evil disposed, while the man of ability will remaindistinguished and illustrious in the centuries which succeed. ThusDon Lorenzo, painter of Florence, being a monk of the order of theCamaldolines in the monastery of the Angeli (founded in 1294 by FraGiuttone of Arezzo of the order of the Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ, or of the Rejoicing friars as the monks of that order were commonlycalled), devoted so much time in his early years to design and topainting, that he was afterwards deservedly numbered among the bestmen of his age in that profession. The first works of this paintermonk, who adopted the style of Taddeo Gaddi and his school, were inthe monastery of the Angeli, where besides many of the things hepainted the high altar picture, which may still be seen in theirchurch. When completed it was placed there in the year 1413 as may beseen by the letters written at the bottom of the frame. He alsopainted a picture for the monastery of S. Benedetto of the same orderof the Camaldoli, outside the Pinti gate, destroyed at the siege ofFlorence in 1529. It represented the Coronation of Our Lady andresembled the one he had previously done for the church of theAngeli. It is now in the first cloister of the monastery of theAngeli, on the right hand side in the chapel of the Alberti. At thesame time, and possibly before, he painted in fresco the chapel andaltar picture of the Ardinghelli in S. Trinita, Florence, which wasthen much admired, and into this he introduced portraits of Dante andPetrarch. In S. Piero Maggiore he painted the chapel of theFioravanti and in a chapel of S. Piero Scheraggio he did the altarpicture, while in the church of S. Trinita he further painted thechapel of the Bartolini. In S. Jacopo sopra Arno a picture by hishand may still be seen, executed with infinite diligence, after themanner of the time. Also in the Certosa outside Florence he paintedsome things with considerable skill, and in S. Michele at Pisa, amonastery of his own order, he did some very fair pictures. InFlorence, in the church of the Romiti (Hermits), which also belongedto the Camaldolines, and which is now in ruins as well as themonastery, leaving nothing but its name Camaldoli to that part beyondthe Arno, he did a crucifix on a panel, besides many other things, and a St John, which were considered very beautiful. At last he fellsick of a cruel abscess, and after lingering for many months he diedat the age of fifty-five, and was honourably buried by the monks inthe chapter-house of their monastery as his virtues demanded. 

Experience shows that in the course of time many shoots frequentlyspring from a single germ owing to the diligence and ability of men, and so it was in the monastery of the Angeli, where the monks hadalways paid considerable attention to painting and design. DonLorenzo was not the only excellent artist among them, but mendistinguished in design flourished there for a long time both beforeand after him. Thus I cannot possibly pass over in silence one DonJacopo of Florence, who flourished a long time before D. Lorenzo, because as he was the best and most methodical of monks, so he wasthe best writer of large letters who has ever existed before orsince, not only in Tuscany but in all Europe, as is clearly testifiednot only by the twenty large choir books which he left in hismonastery, the writing in which is most beautiful, the booksthemselves being perhaps the largest in Italy, but an endless numberof other books which may still be found in Rome and in Venice andmany other places, notably in S. Michele and S. Mania at Murano, amonastery of the Camaldoline order. By these works the good fatherhas richly deserved the honours accorded to him many years after hehad passed to a better life, his celebration in many Latin verses byD. Paolo Orlandini, a very learned monk of the same monastery, aswell as the preservation of the right hand which wrote the books, with great veneration in a tabernacle, together with that of anothermonk, D. Silvestro, who illuminated the same books with no lessexcellence, when the conditions of the time are taken intoconsideration, than D. Jacopo had written them. I, who have seen themmany times, am lost in astonishment that they should have beenexecuted with such good design and with so much diligence at thattime, when all the arts of design were little better than lost, sincethe works of these monks were executed about the year of grace 1350, or a little before or after, as may be seen in each of the saidbooks. It is reported, and some old men relate that when Pope Leo X. Came to Florence he wished to see and closely examine these books, since he remembered having heard them highly praised by theMagnificent Lorenzo de' Medici, his father; and that after he hadattentively looked through them and admired them as they were alllying open on the choir-desks, he said, "If they were in accordancewith the rules of the Roman Church and not of the Camaldolines, Ishould like some specimens for S. Peter's at Rome, for which I wouldpay the monks a just price. " There were, and perhaps still are, twovery fine ones at S. Peter's by the same monks. In the same monasteryof the Angeli is a quantity of very ancient embroidery, done in avery fine style, with excellent designs by the fathers of the housewhile they were in perpetual seclusion, with the title not of monksbut of hermits, and who never came out of the monastery as the nunsand monks do in our day. This practice of seclusion lasted until1470. But to return to D. Lorenzo. He taught Francesco Fiorentino, who, after his death, did the tabernacle which is on the side of S. Maria Novella at the head of the via della Scala leading to thePope's chamber. He also had another pupil, a Pisan, who painted inthe chapel of Rutilio di Ser Baccio Maggiolini, in the church of S. Francesco at Pisa, Our Lady, a St Peter, St John the Baptist, StFrancis and St Ranieri, with three scenes of small figures in thepredella of the altar. This painting, executed in 1315, wasconsidered meritorious for a work done in tempera. In our book ofdesigns I have the theological virtues done by D. Lorenzo's hand inchiaroscuro, with good design and a beautiful and graceful style, sothat they are perhaps better than the designs of any other master ofthe time. Antonio Vite of Pistoia was a meritorious painter inLorenzo's time, and is said to have painted, among many other thingsdescribed in the life of Stamina, in the palace of the Geppo ofPrato, the life of Francesco di Marco, who was the founder of thatpious place. 

Taddeo Bartoli, Painter of Siena. 

Those artists who put themselves to a great deal of pains in paintingin order to win fame, deserve a better fate than the placing of theirworks in obscure and unhonoured places where they may be blamed bypersons whose knowledge of the subject is not considerable. Theirproductions ought to be so prominently placed with plenty of lightand air that they may be properly seen and examined by every one. This is the case of the public work of Taddeo Bartoli, painter ofSiena for the chapel of the palace of the Signoria at Siena. Taddeowas the son of Bartoli son of the master Fredi, who was a mediocrepainter in his day, and painted scenes from the Old Testament on awall of the Pieve of S. Gimignano, on the left hand side on entering. In the middle of this work, which if the truth must be told was notvery good, the following inscription may still be read: _Ann: Dom1356 Bartolus magistri Fredi de Senis me pinxit_. Bartoli must havebeen young at the time, for there is a picture of his of the year1388, in S. Agostino of the same district, on the left hand side onentering the principal door. The subject is the Circumcision of ourLord with certain saints, and it is in a far better style both asregards design and colouring, some of the heads being really finealthough the feet of the figures are in the ancient style. In factmany other works of Bartoli may be seen about that district. But toreturn to Taddeo, as the best master of the time, he received acommission, as I have said, to paint the chapel of the palace of theSignoria for his native place, and he executed it with suchdiligence, with consideration for so honoured a place, and he was sorichly rewarded by the Signoria, that he greatly increased his gloryand renown. Thus not only did he afterwards make many pictures forhis native land, to his great honour and benefit, but he was invitedand asked of the Signoria of Siena as a great favour by Francesco daCarrara, lord of Padua, to go there, as he did, and do some things inthat most noble city. He did some pictures and other things there, notably in the Arena and in the Santo with great care, to his owngreat honour and to the infinite satisfaction of the said lord and ofthe whole city. Returning subsequently to Tuscany he did a picture intempera in S. Gimignano, which is something in the style of Ugolinoof Siena and is now behind the high altar of the Pieve facing thechoir of the priests. He next went to Siena, but did not remain longthere as he was summoned to Pisa by one of the Lanfranchi, a wardenof the Duomo. Having proceeded thither he did for the chapel of theNunziata the scene where the Madonna is ascending the steps of thetemple, where the priest in his pontificals is awaiting her, a highlyfinished work. The face of the priest is the portrait of the man whohad invited him, while his own is hard by. On the completion of thiswork, the same patron induced him to paint over the chapel in theCampo Santo, the Coronation of Our Lady by Jesus Christ, with manyangels, in most beautiful attitudes and very finely coloured. For thechapel of the sacristy of St Francesco at Pisa, Taddeo also painted apicture in tempera of the Madonna and some saints, signing his nameto it and the year 1394. About the same time he did some pictures intempera at Volterra, and another picture at Monte Oliveto, while onthe wall he did an Inferno, following the arrangement of Dante asregards the division of the damned and the nature of theirpunishment, but as regards the site he either could not or would notimitate him, or perhaps he lacked the necessary knowledge. He alsosent to Arezzo a picture which is in S. Agostino containing aportrait of Pope Gregory IX. , the one who returned to Italy after thepapal court had been so many decades in France. After these things hereturned to Siena, but did not make a long stay there as he wasinvited to Perugia to work in the church of S. Domenico. Here hepainted the whole of the life of St Catherine in the chapel dedicatedto that saint, and did some figures in S. Francesco beside thesacristy door, which may still be discerned to-day, and arerecognisable as being by Taddeo, because he always retained the samemanner. Shortly after, in the year 1398, Biroldo, lord of Perugia, was assassinated. Taddeo accordingly returned to Siena, where hedevoted constant work and steady application to the study of art, inorder to make himself a worthy painter. It may be affirmed that if hedid not perhaps attain his purpose, it was not on account of anydefect or negligence on his part, but solely because of anobstructive malady which prevented him from ever realising hisdesire. Taddeo died at the age of fifty-nine, after having taught theart to a nephew of his called Domenico. His paintings were done aboutthe year of grace 1410. Thus, as I have said, he left DomenicoBartoli, his nephew and pupil, who devoted himself to the art ofpainting, and painted with superior skill. In the subjects which herepresented he exhibited much more wealth and variety in variousmatters than his uncle had done. In the hall of the pilgrims of thegreat hospital of Siena there are two large scenes in fresco byDomenico, which contain prospectives and other ornaments, composedwith considerable ingenuity. It is said that Domenico was modest andgentle and of a singularly amiable and liberal courtesy, which did noless honour to his name than the art of painting itself. His workswere executed about the year of our Lord 1436, and the last were inS. Trinita at Florence, a picture of the Annunciation and the highaltar picture in the church of the Carmine. 

Alvaro di Piero of Portugal flourished at the same time, and adopteda very similar style, but made his colouring more clear and hisfigures shorter. In Volterra he did several pictures, and there isone in S. Antonio at Pisa and others in various places, but as theyare of no great excellence it is not necessary to mention them. Inour book there is a sheet of drawings by Taddeo, containing a Christand two angels, etc. , very skilfully executed. 

Lorenzo di Bicci, Painter of Florence. 

When those who excel in any honourable employment, no matter what, unite with their skill as craftsmen, a gentleness of manners and ofgood breeding, and especially courtesy, serving those who employ themwith speed and goodwill, there is no doubt that they are pursuing totheir great honour and advantage almost everything which can bedesired in this world. This was the case with Lorenzo di Bicci, painter of Florence, born in Florence in the year 1400, at the verymoment when Italy was beginning to be disturbed by the wars whichended so badly for her, was in very good credit from his earliestyears; for under his father's discipline he learned good manners, andfrom Spinello's instruction he acquired the art of painting, so thathe had a reputation not only of being an excellent painter, but ofbeing a most courteous and able man. While he was still a youth, Lorenzo did some works in fresco at Florence and outside to gainfacility, and Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, having remarked theexcellence of his style, employed him to paint in the hall of the oldhouse of the Medici, which afterwards was left to Lorenzo, naturalbrother of Cosmo the Ancient, after the great palace was built, allthose famous men who may still be seen in a fairly good state ofpreservation. This work being completed, Lorenzo di Bicci wasanxious, like the doctors who experiment in their art on the skins ofpoor rustics, to have practice in the art of painting in a placewhere things are not so closely criticised, and for some time heaccepted everything which presented itself; hence, outside the gateof S. Friano at the ponte a Scandicci, he painted a tabernacle, as itmay now be seen, and at Cerbaia under a portico he painted veryagreeably a Madonna and many saints on a wall. Afterwards a chapel inS. Marco at Florence was allotted to him by the family of theMartini, and on the walls he painted in fresco a number of scenesfrom the life of Our Lady, and on the altar picture the Virginherself in the midst of many saints. In the same church over thechapel of St John the Evangelist, of the family of the Landi, hepainted in fresco the angel Raphael and Tobias. In the year 1418 forRicciardo di M. Niccolo Spinello, on the piazza front of the conventof S. Croce he painted a large scene in fresco of St Thomas examiningthe wounds of Jesus Christ in the presence of all the other apostleswho are kneeling reverently at the sight. Next to this scene and alsoin fresco he did a St Christopher, twelve and a half braccia high, which is a rare thing, because with the exception of the StChristopher of Buffalmacco, a larger figure had never been seen, andalthough the style is not good it is the most meritorious and bestproportioned representation of the saint. Besides this the pictureswere executed with such skill that although they have been exposed tothe air for many years, and being turned to the north, they havesuffered the violence of rain and storm, yet they have never lost thebrilliancy of their colouring and are in no wise injured by theseaccidents. Lorenzo also made a crucifix with many figures inside thedoor which is in the middle of these figures, called the door of theknocker, at the request of the same Ricciardo and of the superior ofthe convent, and on the encircling wall he did the confirmation ofthe rule of St Francis by Pope Honorius, and then the martyrdom ofsome friars of that order, who are going to preach the faith to theSaracens. In the arches and on the vaulting he did some kings ofFrance, friars and followers of St Francis, drawing them from life, as well as many learned men of the order, distinguished by theirseveral dignities of bishop, cardinal and pope. Among these are theportraits from life of Popes Nicholas IV. And Alexander V. , inmedallions. For all these figures Lorenzo made the grey habits, butwith variety owing to his skill in workmanship, so that they alldiffer from one another, some inclining towards red, others to blue, some being dark and others more light, so that all are varied andworthy of consideration. What is more, it is said that he producedthese works with such facility and speed that when the superior, whopaid his expenses in designing, called him one day, when he had justmade the colour for a figure and was beginning it, he answered, "Makethe soup and I will come when I have finished this figure. "Accordingly it is said with a great show of reason that no one everexhibited such quickness of the hands, such skill in colouring, orwas so resolute as he. By his hand also is the tabernacle in frescowhich is beside the nunnery of Foligno and the Madonna and saintsover the door of the church of that nunnery, among them being a StFrancis espousing Poverty. In the church of Camaldoli at Florence, hepainted for the company of the Martyrs some scenes of the martyrdomof certain saints, and decorated the chapels on either side of theprincipal chapel. As these paintings gave considerable satisfactionto the whole city, he was commissioned on their completion, to painta wall of the church in the Carmine for the family of theSalvestrini, now almost extinct, there being so far as I know, noother surviving member than a friar of the Angeli at Florence, calledFra Nemesio, a good and courteous monk. Here he did the martyrs, whenthey are condemned to death, being stripped naked and made to walkbare-footed on thorns sown by the servants of the tyrants, whilstthey are on the way to be crucified, and higher up they arerepresented on the cross in varied and extraordinary attitudes. Inthis work, the largest which had ever been produced, everything isdone with great skill and design, according to the knowledge of thetime, being full of the expressions showing the divers ways of dyingof those who are put to death with violence. For this cause I am notsurprised that many men of ability have made use of some things foundin this picture. After this Lorenzo did many other figures in thesame church, and decorated two chapels in the screen. At the sametime he did the tabernacle on the side of the Cuculia, and the one inthe via de' Martelli on the wall of the houses, and over the knockerdoor of S. Spirito he did a St Augustine in fresco, who is giving therule to his brethren. In S. Trinita in the chapel of Neri Capponi hepainted in fresco the life of St John Gualbert. In the principalchapel of S. Lucia in the via de' Bardi he did some scenes in frescofrom the life of St Lucy for Niccolo da Uzzano, whose portrait heintroduced there from life together with those of some othercitizens. This Niccolo with the assistance and model of Lorenzo, built his own palace near the church, and began a magnificent collegeor studium between the convent of the Servites and that of S. Marco, that is to say, where the lions now are. This truly magnificent work, rather worthy of a prince than of a private citizen, was notcompleted, because the immense sum of money which Niccolo left in hisbank at Florence for the building and endowment of it were expendedby the Florentines on war and other needs of the city. AlthoughFortune can never obscure the memory and greatness of the spirit ofNiccolo da Uzzano, the community suffered a great loss by thenon-completion of the work. Therefore, let anyone who desires to helpthe world in such a manner, and to leave an honourable memorial ofhimself, do so himself in his life-time, and not trust to thefaithfulness of posterity and of his heirs, as it very rarely happensthat a thing is carried out where it is left to successors. But toreturn to Lorenzo. Besides what has been already mentioned, hepainted a Madonna and certain saints very fairly in a tabernacle onthe ponte Rubaconte in fresco. Not long after, Ser Michele diFruosino, master of the hospital of S. Maria Nuova at Florence, abuilding founded by Folco Portinari, citizen of Florence, proposed, as the property of the hospital had increased, to enlarge his churchoutside Florence, dedicated to St Giles, which was of smallimportance. Accordingly he consulted Lorenzo di Bicci, his closefriend, and on 5th September 1418 he began the new church, which wascompleted in its present form in a year, and then solemnlyconsecrated by Pope Martin V. At the request of Ser Michele, who wasthe eighth master and a member of the family of the Portinari. Lorenzo afterwards painted this consecration, at the desire of SerMichele, on the front of the church, introducing the portrait of thePope and of some cardinals. This work was then much admired assomething new and beautiful. For this cause Lorenzo was judged worthyto be the first to paint in the principal church of his native city, that is S. Maria del Fiore, where, under the windows of each chapel, he did the saints to which they are dedicated; and afterwards, on thepillars and through the church, he did the twelve Apostles with thecrosses of the consecration, as the church was solemnly consecratedin that very year by Pope Eugenius IV. Of Venice. In the same churchthe wardens, by a public ordinance, employed him to paint on the wallin fresco a deposition, finished in marble, in memory of the Cardinalde' Corsini, whose effigy is there, upon the sarcophagus. Above thisis another like it, in memory of Master Luigi Marsili, a most famoustheologian, who went as ambassador with M. Luigi Giuccardini and M. Guccio di Gino, most honoured knights, to the Duke of Anjou. Lorenzowas afterwards invited to Arezzo by D. Laurentino, abbot of S. Bernardo, a monastery of the order of Monte Oliveto, where he paintedscenes from the life of St Bernard in fresco for the principal chapelfor M. Carlo Marsupino. But as he was about to paint the life of StBenedict in the cloister of the convent, after he had painted theprincipal chapel of the church of S. Francesco, for Francesco de'Bacci, the elder, where he alone did the vaulting and half thetympanum, he fell sick of a chest affection. Accordingly he causedhimself to be carried to Florence, and left instructions that Marcoda Montepulciano, his pupil, should do these scenes from the life ofSt Benedict in the cloister, from a design which he had made and leftwith D. Laurentino. These Marco did to the best of his ability, completing them in the year 1448 on 24th April, the whole work beingin chiaroscuro, and his name may be seen written there, with verseswhich are not less rude than the painting. Lorenzo returned to hiscountry, and, having recovered, he painted on the same wall of theconvent of S. Croce, where he had done the St Christopher, theAssumption of Our Lady surrounded in Heaven by a choir of angels, andbelow a St Thomas receiving the girdle. In the execution of thiswork, as Lorenzo was sick, he was assisted by Donatello, then quite ayouth, and by means of such effective aid it was completed in theyear 1450, so that I believe it to be the best work both in designand in colouring that Lorenzo ever produced. Not long after, being anold man and worn out, he died at the age of about sixty years, leaving two sons who practised painting, one of whom, named Bicci, assisted him in many of his works, and the other, called Neri, drewthe portraits of his father and himself in the chapel of the Lenzi inOgnissanti, in two medallions, with letters about them giving thenames of both. In this same chapel Neri did some stories of Our Lady, and took great pains to copy many of the costumes of his day, both ofmen and women. He did the altar picture for the chapel in tempera, and painted some pictures in the Abbey of S. Felice, of theCamaldoline order, on the piazza of Florence, as well as the highaltar of S. Michele of Arezzo of the same order. Outside Arezzo, atS. Maria delle Grazie, in the church of S. Bernardino, he did aMadonna with the people of Arezzo under her mantle, and on one sideSt Bernardino is kneeling, with a wooden cross in his hand, such ashe was accustomed to carry when he went through Arezzo preaching; andon the other side are St Nicholas and St Michael the Archangel. Thepredella contains the acts of St Bernardino and the miracles which, he performed, especially those done in that place. The same Neri didthe high altar picture for S. Romolo at Florence, and in the chapelof the Spini in S. Trinita he did the life of St John Gualbert infresco, as well as the picture in tempera which is above the altar. From these works it is clear that if Neri had lived, instead of dyingat the age of thirty-six, he would have done many better and morenumerous works than his father Lorenzo. The latter was the lastmaster to adopt the old manner of Giotto, and accordingly his lifewill be the last in this first part, which I have now completed, withGod's help. 

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xxiii. 5. "braccia, " may be considered roughly to represent about two feet; literally translated it means an arm. 

7. 6. "fresco, " Painting _al fresco_, upon fresh or wet ground is executed with mineral and earthy pigments upon a freshly laid stucco ground of lime or gypsum. --_Fairholt_. 

9. 28. "old king Charles of Anjou, " the brother of St Louis, crowned king of Sicily in 1266. 

10. 10. "tempera, " a method in which the pigments are mixed with chalk or clay and diluted with size. 

11. 19. "Credette, " etc. "Cimabue thought To lord it over painting's field; and now The cry is Giotto's, and his name eclips'd. "--_Cary_. 

15. 13. "drawings. " It is stated that the knight Gaddi sold five volumes of drawings to some merchants for several thousands of scudi, which composed Vasari's famous book, so often referred to by h m. Card. Leopold de' Medici collected several of those by the most famous artists. This collection was sent to the Uffizi gallery in 1700, where they are merged with the other drawings. 

25. 11. "bridge which still bears his name. " M. Rubaconte was podesta of Florence in 1237 and in addition to laying the foundation stone of this bridge, he also caused the city to be paved. _Villani_, vi. 26. The bridge is now known as the Ponte alle Grazie. 

45. 32. "Frederick Barbarossa. " Impossible, for Barbarossa died two centuries before. Perhaps Vasari means the Emperor Frederick III. 

51. 31. "Ser Ciappelletto, " the hero of the first story in Boccaccio's _Decameron_, forger, murderer, blasphemer, fornicator, drunkard and gambler, "he was probably the worst man who was ever born, " to crown all, he so deceived the priest to whom he confessed that he was canonised. 

55. 23. "S. Giovanni. " Bk. I. , cap. 42. Villani states that it was originally built by the Romans in the time of Octavian as a temple to Mars. 

67. 25. "M. Farinata degli Uberti. "_Cf_, p. 30 above. After the battle of Montaperti in 1260, in which the Sienese aided by the Ghibelline exiles of Florence won a complete victory over the Florentines, a council was held in which it was proposed to destroy Florence utterly. The project was defeated by Farinata, one of the most prominent of the victorious Florentines. _Villani_, bk. Vi. , cap. 81. _Cf_, Dante _Inferno_, x. 1. 92. 

75. 19. "M. Forese da Rabatta, " _Decameron_, 6th Day, Novella 5. 

81. 23. "life of the patient Job. " It is now a well established fact that these frescoes were painted by Francesco da Volterra in 1371, several years after Giotto's death. 

85. 10. "Oh dissi lui, " etc. "Oh, " I exclaimed, "Art thou not Oderigi, art not thou Agobbio's glory, glory of that art Which they of Paris call the limner's skill? Brother, said he, with tints that gayer smile, Bolognian Franco's pencil lines the leaves. His all the honour now; mine borrowed light. " --Cary. 

102. 4. "Franco Sacchetti, " born at Florence in 1335. His Novelle were considered the best after those of Boccaccio. 

110. 24. Where the Giglion joins the Chiassa There did my ancestors flourish Who bear six golden stones on azure ground. 

151. 14. "An eagle on the back of a lion. " The bishop was a prominent Ghibelline, whose figure was the imperial eagle, while the lion signified the opposing Guelph party. Buffalmacco as a Florentine would belong to the latter faction. 

155. 5. "Voi che avvisate, " etc. Ye who behold this painting Think, weigh and consider Upon the merciful God, supreme creator, Who made all things in love. He fashioned that angelic nature in new orders, In that resplendent empire of heaven. Motionless Himself yet the source of all motion He made everything good and pure. Raise the eyes of your mind, Reflect upon the ordering Of the entire globe and reverently Praise Him who has created so well. Think that you also may taste the delight Of living among the angels, where all are blessed. In this scene also we see the glory of the world, The base, the mean, and the lofty. 

188. Ii. "arts of Florence. " The arts or guilds of Florence formed the basis of the government of the city. They were of two orders, the greater and the lesser. The seven greater arts were: Lawyers (St Luke), the Calimara or dealers in foreign cloth (St John Baptist), money-changers (St Matthew), woollen manufacturers (St Thomas), physicians (Virgin Mary), silk manufacturers (St John the Divine), and the furriers (St James). The lesser arts were fourteen in number, including armourers (St George), locksmiths (St Mark), farriers (St Eloi), drapers (St Stephen), shoemakers (St Philip), butchers (St Peter). They were admitted to the full citizenship in 1378. 

199. 21. "Da che prosperitade, " etc. "Since every happiness has abandoned us, Come death, the cure of every grief, Come and give us our last meal. "

200. 3. "Ischermo di saveri, " etc. "Knowledge and wealth, Birth and valour, all Are alike powerless against his strokes. "

212. 10. "the Duke of Athens. " Walter de Brienne, a Frenchman, elected captain and protector of Florence in June 1342;. He endeavoured to become master of the city, but was expelled in the popular rising referred to. 

239. 31. "the Bavarian. " Louis of Bavaria, the emperor who died in 1347. 

241. 3 "_a secco_. " Fresco painting in secco is that kind which absorbs the colours into the plaster and gives them a dry sunken appearance. --_Fairholt_. 

263. 31 "affair of the Ciompi": the name given to the rising of the lesser people against the powerful guilds, resulting in a wider distribution of the powers of government. The lower classes won and appointed Michele del Lando as their Gonfaloniere. Ciompi means the lowest classes. 

265. 14. "200, 000 scudi, " worth about £44, 444, 9s.