Title: The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors & Architects, Volume 1 (of 8)
Author: Vasari, Giorgio, 1511-1574
Language: English
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SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS, VOLUME 1 (OF 8)***


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 that
sculpture, as well as painting, was naturally discovered originally
by the people of Egypt, and also that there are others who attribute
to the Chaldeans the first rough carvings of statues and the first
reliefs. In like manner there are those who credit the Greeks with
the invention of the brush and of colouring. But it is my opinion
that design, which is the creative principle in both arts, came into
existence at the time of the origin of all things. When the Most High
created the world and adorned the heavens with shining lights, His
perfect intellect passing through the limpid air and alighting on the
solid earth, formed man, thus disclosing the first form of sculpture
and painting in the charming invention of things. Who will deny that
from this man, as from a living example, the ideas of statues and
sculpture, and the questions of pose and of outline, first took form;
and from the first pictures, whatever they may have been, arose the
first ideas of grace, unity, and the discordant concords made by the
play of lights and shadows? Thus the first model from which the first
image of man arose was a lump of earth, and not without reason, for
the Divine Architect of time and of nature, being all perfection,
wished to demonstrate, in the imperfection of His materials, what
could be done to improve them, just as good sculptors and painters
are in the habit of doing, when, by adding additional touches and
removing blemishes, they bring their imperfect sketches to such a
state of completion and of perfection as they desire. God also
endowed man with a bright flesh colour, and the same shades may be
drawn from the earth, which supplies materials to counterfeit
everything which occurs in painting. It is indeed true that it is
impossible to feel absolutely certain as to what steps men took for
the imitation of the beautiful works of Nature in these arts before
the flood, although it appears, most probable that even then they
practised all manner of painting and sculpture; for Bel, son of the
proud Nimrod, about 200 years after the flood, had a statue made,
from which idolatry afterwards arose; and his celebrated
daughter-in-law, Semiramis, queen of Babylon, in the building of that
city, introduced among the ornaments there coloured representations
from life of divers kinds of animals, as well as of herself and of
her husband Ninus, with the bronze statues of her father, her
mother-in-law, and her great-grandmother, as Diodorus relates,
calling them Jove, Juno, and Ops--Greek names, which did not then
exist. It was, perhaps, from these statues that the Chaldeans learned
to make the images of their gods. It is recorded in Genesis how 150
years later, when Rachel was fleeing from Mesopotamia with her
husband Jacob, she stole the idols of her father Laban. Nor were the
Chaldeans singular in making statues, for the Egyptians also had
theirs, devoting great pains to those arts, as is shown by the
marvellous tomb of that king of remote antiquity, Osimandyas,
described at length by Diodorus, and, as the severe command of Moses
proves, when, on leaving Egypt, he gave orders that no images should
be made to God, upon pain of death. Moses also, after having ascended
the Mount, and having found a golden calf manufactured and adored by
his people, was greatly troubled at seeing divine honours accorded to
the image of a beast; so that he not only broke it to powder, but, in
the punishment of so great a fault, caused the Levites to put to
death many thousands of the false Israelites who had committed this
idolatry. But as the sin consisted in adoring idols and not in making
them, it is written in Exodus that the art of design and of making
statues, not only in marble but in all kinds of metal, was given by
the mouth of God himself to Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, and to
Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, who made the two cherubim of gold, the
candles, 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 their
own adornment and delight. From the things seen before the flood, the
pride of man found the means to make statues of those who wished
their fame in the world to be immortal; and the Greeks, who give a
different origin to this, say that the Ethiopians found the first
statues, according to Diodorus, the Egyptians imitated these, while
the Greeks followed the Egyptians. From this time until Homer's day
it is clear that sculpture and painting were perfect, as we may see
from the description of Achilles' shield by that divine poet, who
represents it with such skill that the image of it is presented to
our minds as clearly as if we had seen the thing itself. Lactantius
Firmianus attributes the credit of the invention to Prometheus, who
like God formed the human form out of dust. But according to Pliny
this art was introduced into Egypt by Gyges of Lydia, who on seeing
his shadow cast by the fire, at once drew a representation of himself
on the wall with a piece of coal. For some time after that it was the
custom to draw in outline only, without any colouring, Pliny again
being our authority. This was afterwards introduced by Philocles of
Egypt with considerable pains, and also by Cleanthes and Ardices of
Corinth and by Telephanes of Sicyon. Cleophantes of Corinth was the
first of the Greeks to use colours, and Apollodorus was the first to
introduce the brush. Polignotus of Thasos, Zeuxis and Timagoras of
Chalcis, Pythia and Aglaphon followed them, all most celebrated, and
after them came the renowned Apelles who was so highly esteemed and
honoured for his skill by Alexander the Great, for his wonderful
delineation of Calumny and Favour, as Lucian relates. Almost all the
painters and sculptors were of high excellence, being frequently
endowed by heaven, not only with the additional gift of poetry, as
we read in Pacuvius, but also with that of philosophy. Metrodorus is
an instance in point, for he was equally skilled as a philosopher and
as a painter, and when Apelles was sent by the Athenians to Paulus
Emilius to adorn his triumph he remained to teach philosophy to the
general's sons. Sculpture was thus generally practised in Greece,
where there flourished a number of excellent artists, among them
being Phidias of Athens, Praxiteles and Polycletus, very great
masters. Lysippus and Pyrgoteles who were of considerable skill in
engraving, and Pygmalion in ivory carving in relief, it being
recorded of him that he obtained life by his prayers for the figure
of a maid carved by him. The ancient Greeks and Romans also honoured
and rewarded painting, since they granted the citizenship and very
liberal gifts to those who excelled in this art. Painting flourished
in Rome to such an extent that Fabius gave a name to his house,
subscribing himself in the beautiful things he did in the temple of
safety as Fabius the painter. By public decree slaves were prohibited
from practising painting, and so much honour was continually afforded
by the people to the art and to artists that rare works were sent to
Rome among the spoils to appear in the triumphs; excellent artists
who were slaves obtained their liberty and received notable rewards
from the republic. The Romans bore such a reverence for the art that
when the city of Syracuse was sacked Marcellus gave orders that his
men should treat with respect a famous artist there, and also that
they should be careful not to set fire to a quarter in which there
was a very fine picture. This was afterwards carried to Rome to adorn
his triumph. To that city in the course of time almost all the spoils
of the world were brought, and the artists themselves gathered there
beside these excellent works. By such means Rome became an
exceedingly beautiful city, more richly adorned by the statues of
foreign artists than by those made by natives. It is known that in
the little island city of Rhodes there were more than 30,000 statues,
in bronze and marble, nor did the Athenians possess less, while those
of Olympus and Delphi were more numerous still, and those of Corinth
were without number, all being most beautiful and of great price.
Does not every one know how Nicomedes, king of Lycia, expended almost
all the wealth of his people owing to his passion for a Venus by the
hand of Praxiteles? Did not Attalus do the same? who without an
afterthought expended more than 6000 sesterces to have a picture of
Bacchus painted by Aristides. This picture was placed by Lucius
Mummius, with great pomp to adorn Rome, in the temple of Ceres. But
although the nobility of this art was so highly valued, it is
uncertain to whom it owes its origin. As I have already said, it is
found in very ancient times  among the Chaldeans, some attribute the
honour to the Ethiopians, while the Greeks claim it for themselves.
Besides this there is good reason for supposing that the Tuscans may
have had it earlier, as our own Leon Batista Alberti asserts, and
weighty evidence in favour of this view is supplied by the marvellous
tomb of Porsena at Chiusi, where not long ago some tiles of
terracotta were found under the ground, between the walls of the
Labyrinth, containing some figures in half-relief, so excellent and
so delicately fashioned that it is easy to see that art was not in
its infancy at that time, for to judge by the perfection of these
specimens it was nearer its zenith than its origin. Evidence to the
same purport is supplied every day by the quantity of pieces of red
and black Aretine vases, made about the same time, to judge by the
style, with light carvings and small figures and scenes in
bas-relief, and a quantity of small round masks, cleverly made by the
masters of that age, and which prove the men of the time to have been
most skilful and accomplished in that art. Further evidence is
afforded by the statues found at Viterbo at the beginning of the
pontificate of Alexander VI., showing that sculpture was valued and
had advanced to no small state of perfection in Tuscany. Although the
time when they were made is not exactly known, yet from the style of
the figures and from the manner of the tombs and of the buildings, no
less than by the inscriptions in Tuscan letters, it may be
conjectured with great reason that they are of great antiquity, and
that they were made at a time when such things were highly valued.
But what clearer evidence can be desired than the discovery made in
our own day in the year 1554 of a bronze figure representing the
Chimæra of Bellerophon, during the excavation of the fortifications
and walls of Arezzo. This figure exhibits the perfection of the art
attained by the Tuscans. Some small letters carved on a paw are
presumed, in the absence of a knowledge of the Etruscan language, to
give the master's name, and perhaps the date. This figure, on account
of its beauty and antiquity, has been placed by Duke Cosimo in a
chamber in his palace in the new suite of rooms which contains my
paintings of the deeds of Pope Leo X. The Duke also possesses a
number 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 is
necessary in such matters to base one's opinions on conjectures,
although these are not so ill founded that one is in danger of going
very far astray, yet I think that anyone who will take the trouble to
consider the matter carefully will arrive at the same conclusion as I
have, that art owes its origin to Nature herself, that this beautiful
creation the world supplied the first model, while the original
teacher was that divine intelligence which has not only made us
superior to the other animals, but like God Himself, if I may venture
to say it. In our own time it has been seen, as I hope to show quite
shortly, that simple children, roughly brought up in the woods, have
begun to draw by themselves aided by the vivacity of their intellect,
instructed solely by the example of these beautiful paintings and
sculptures of Nature. Much more then is it probable that the first
men, 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, they
originated these noble arts, and by gradually improving them brought
them at length, from small beginnings, to perfection. I do not deny
that there must have been an originator, since I know quite well that
there must have been a beginning at some time, due to some
individual. Neither will I deny that it is possible for one person
to help another, and to teach and open the way to design, colour, and
relief, because I know that our art consists entirely of imitation,
first of Nature, and then, as it cannot rise so high of itself, of
those things which are produced from the masters with the greatest
reputation. But I will say that an attempt to determine the exact
identity of such men is a very dangerous task, and the knowledge when
gained would probably prove unprofitable, since we have seen the true
and original root of all. But the life and fame of artists depend
upon their works which are destroyed by time one after the other in
the order of their creation. Thus the artists themselves are unknown
as there was no one to write about them and could not be, so that
this source of knowledge was not granted to posterity. But when
writers began to commemorate things made before their time, they were
unable to speak of those of which they had seen no notice, so that
those who came nearest to these were the last of whom no memorial
remains. Thus Homer is by common consent admitted to be the first of
the poets, not because there were none before him, for there were
although they were not so excellent, and in his own works this is
clearly shown, but because all knowledge of these, such as they were,
had been lost two thousand years before. But we will now pass over
these matters which are too vague on account of their antiquity and
we will proceed to deal with clearer questions, namely, the rise of
the arts to perfection, their decline and their restoration or rather
renaissance, and here we stand on much firmer ground. The practice of
the arts began late in Rome, if the first figures were, as reported,
the image of Ceres made of the money of Spurius Caasius, who was
condemned to death without remorse by his own father, because he was
plotting to make himself king. But although the arts of painting and
sculpture continued to flourish until the death of the last of the
twelve Cæsars, yet they did not maintain  that perfection and
excellence which had characterised them before, as is seen as seen in
the buildings of the time. The arts declined steadily from day to
day, until at length by a gradual process they entirety lost all
perfection of design. Clear testimony to this is afforded by the
works in sculpture and architecture produced in Rome in the time of
Constantine, notably in the triumphal arch made for him by the Roman
people at the Colosseum, where we see, that for lack of good masters
not only did they make use of marble works carved in the time of
Trajan, but also of spoils brought to Rome from various places. These
bas-reliefs, statues, the columns, the cornices and other ornaments
which belong to another epoch only serve to expose the defects in
those parts of the work which are entirely due to the sculptors of
the day and which  are most rude. Very rude also are some scenes of
small figures in marble under the circles and the pediment,
representing victories, while between the side arches there are some
rivers also very crude and so poor that they leave one firmly under
the impression that the art of sculpture had been in a state of
decadence for a long while. Yet the Goths and the other barbarous and
foreign nations who combined to destroy all the superior arts in
Italy had not then appeared. It is true that architecture suffered
less than the other arts of design. The bath erected by Constantine
at the entrance of the principal portico of the Lateran contains, in
addition to its porphyry columns, capitals carved in marble and
beautifully carved double bases taken from elsewhere, the whole
composition of the building being very well ordered. On the other
hand, the stucco, the mosaic and some incrustations of the walls made
by the masters of the time are not equal to those which had been
taken away for the most part from the temples of the gods of the
heathen, and which Constantine caused to be placed in the same
building. Constantine observed the same methods, according to report,
with the garden of Æquitius in building the temple which he
afterwards endowed and gave to Christian priests. In like manner the
magnificent church of S. John Lateran, built by the same emperor, may
serve as evidence of the same fact, namely, that sculpture had
already greatly declined in his time, because the figures of the
Saviour and of the twelve apostles in silver, which he caused to be
made, were very base works, executed without art and with very little
design. In addition to this, it is only necessary to examine the
medals of this emperor, and other statues made by the sculptors of
his day, which are now at the Capitol, to clearly perceive how far
removed they are from the perfection of the medals and statues of the
other emperors, all of which things prove that sculpture had greatly
declined long before the coming of the Goths to Italy. Architecture,
as I have said, maintained its excellence at a higher though not at
the highest level. Nor is this a matter for surprise, since large
buildings were almost entirely constructed of spoils, so that it was
easy for the architects to imitate the old in making the new, since
they had the former continually before their eyes. This was an easier
task for them than far the sculptors, as the art of imitating the
good figures of the ancients had declined. A good illustration of the
truth of this statement is afforded by the church of the chief of the
apostles in the Vatican, which is rich in columns, bases, capitals,
architraves, cornices, doors and other incrustations and ornaments
which were all taken from various places and buildings, erected
before that time in very magnificent style. The same remarks apply to
S. Croce at Jerusalem, which Constantine erected at the entreaty of
his 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 of
the latter and of one of her sisters, was ornamented with fragments
of great antiquity? as were the porphyry pillar carved with beautiful
figures and some marble candelabra exquisitely carved with leaves,
and some children in bas-relief of extraordinary beauty? In short, by
these and many other signs, it is clear that sculpture was in
decadence in the time of Constantine, and with it the other superior
arts. If anything was required to complete their ruin it was supplied
by the departure of Constantine from Rome when he transferred the
seat of government to Byzantium, as he took with him to Greece not
only all the best sculptors and other artists of the age, such as
they were, but also a quantity of statues and other beautiful works
of sculpture.

After the departure of Constantine, the Caesars whom he left in
Italy, were continually building in Rome and elsewhere, endeavouring
to make these works as good as possible, but as we see, sculpture,
painting and architecture were steadily going from bad to worse. This
arose perhaps from the fact that when human affairs begin to decline,
they grow steadily worse until the time comes when they can no longer
deteriorate any further. In the time of Pope Liberius the architects
of the day took considerable pains to produce a masterpiece when they
built S. Maria Maggiore, but they were not very happy in the result,
because although the building, which is also mostly constructed of
spoils, is of very fair proportions, it cannot be denied that, not to
speak of other defects, the decoration of the church with stucco and
painting above the columns is of very poor design, and that many
other things to be seen there leave no doubt as to the degradation of
the arts. Many years later, when the Christians were suffering
persecution under Julian the Apostate, a church was erected on the
Celian Hill to SS. John and Paul, the martyrs, in so inferior a style
to the others mentioned above that it is quite clear that at that
time, art had all but entirely disappeared. The edifices erected in
Tuscany at the same time bear out this view to the fullest extent.
The church outside the walls of Arezzo, built to St Donato, bishop of
that city, who suffered martyrdom with Hilarion the monk, under the
same Julian the Apostate, is in no way superior to the others, and
this is only one of many. It cannot be contended that such a state of
affairs was due to anything but the lack of good architects, since
the church in question, which is still standing, has eight sides, and
was built of the spoils of the theatre, colosseum and other buildings
erected in Arezzo before it was converted to the Christian faith. No
expense has been spared, its columns being of granite and porphyry
and variegated marble which, had formerly adorned the ancient
buildings. For my own part, I have no doubt, seeing the expense
incurred, that if the Aretines had been able to employ better
architects they would have produced something marvellous, since what
they actually accomplished proves that they spared themselves nothing
in order to make this building as magnificent and complete as
possible. But as architecture had lost less of its excellence than
the other arts, as I have often said before, some good things may be
seen there. At the same period the church of S. Maria in Grado was
enlarged in honour of St Hilarion, who had lived in the city a long
time 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 to
the bottom, it came to pass after these things that almost all the
barbarian nations rose in divers parts of the world against the
Romans, the result being the abasement of that great empire in a
short time, and the destruction of everything, notably of Rome
herself. That fall involved the complete destruction of the most
excellent artists, sculptors, painters and architects who abandoned
their profession and were themselves buried and submerged under the
debris and ruins of that most celebrated city. The first to go were
painting and sculpture, as being arts which served rather for
pleasure than for utility, the other art, namely architecture, being
necessary and useful for the welfare of the body, continued in use,
but not in its perfection and purity. The very memory of painting and
sculpture would have speedily disappeared had they not represented
before the eyes of the rising generation, the distinguished men of
another age. Some of them were commemorated by effigies and by
inscriptions placed on public and private buildings, such as
amphitheatres, theatres, baths, aqueducts, temples, obelisks,
colosseums, pyramids, arches, reservoirs and treasuries, yes, and
even on the very tombs. The majority of these were destroyed and
obliterated by the barbarians, who had nothing human about them but
their shape and name. Among others there were the Visigoths, who
having made Alaric their king, invaded Italy and twice sacked Rome
without respect for anything. The Vandals who came from Africa with
Genseric, their king, did the like. But he, not content with his
plunder and booty and the cruelties he inflicted, led into servitude
the people there, to their infinite woe, and with them Eudoxia the
wife of the Emperor Valentinian, who had only recently been
assassinated by his own soldiers. These men had greatly degenerated
from the ancient Roman valour, because a great while before, the best
of them had all gone to Constantinople with the Emperor Constantine,
and those left behind were dissolute and abandoned. Thus true men and
every sort of virtue perished at the same time; laws, habits, names
and tongues suffered change, and these varied misfortunes,
collectively and singly, debased and degraded every fine spirit and
every lofty soul. But the most harmful and destructive force which
operated against these fine arts was the fervent zeal of the new
Christian religion, which, after long and sanguinary strife, had at
length vanquished and abolished the old faith of the heathen, by
means of a number of miracles and by the sincerity of its acts. Every
effort was put forth to remove and utterly extirpate the smaller
things from which errors might arise, and thus not only were the
marvellous statues, sculptures, paintings, mosaics and ornaments of
the false pagan gods destroyed and thrown down, but also the
memorials and honours of countless excellent persons, to whose
distinguished merits statues and other memorials had been set up by a
most virtuous antiquity. Besides all this, in order to build churches
for the use of the Christians, not only were the most honoured
temples of the idols destroyed, but in order to ennoble and decorate
S. Peter's with more ornaments than it then possessed, the mole of
Hadrian, now the castle of S. Angelo, was despoiled of its stone
columns, as well as of many other things which are now seen in ruins.

Now, although the Christian religion did not act thus from any hatred
for talent, but only because of its contempt for the heathen gods,
yet the utter ruin of these honourable professions, which entirely
lost their form, was none the less entirely due to this burning zeal.
That nothing might be wanting to these grave disasters there followed
the rage of Totila against Rome, who destroyed the walls, ruined all
the most magnificent and noble buildings with fire and sword, burned
it from one end to another, and having stripped it of every living
creature left it a prey to the flames, so that for the space of
eighteen days not a living soul could be found there. He utterly
destroyed the marvellous statues, paintings, mosaics and stuccos, so
that he left Rome not only stripped of every trace of her former
majesty, but destitute of shape and life. The ground floors of the
palaces and other building had been adorned with paintings, stuccos
and statues, and these were buried under the debris, so that many
good things have come to light in our own day. Those who came after,
judging everything to be ruined, planted vines over them so that
these ruined chambers remained entirely underground, and the moderns
have called them grottos and the paintings found there grotesques.
The Ostrogoths being exterminated by Narses, the ruins of Rome were
inhabited in a wretched fashion when after an interval of a hundred
years there came the Emperor Constans of Constantinople, who was
received in a friendly manner by the Romans. However he wasted,
plundered and carried away everything that had been left in the
wretched city of Rome, abandoned rather by chance than by the
deliberate purpose of those who had laid it waste. It is true that
he was not able to enjoy this booty, for being driven to Sicily by a
storm at sea, he was killed by his followers, a fate he richly
deserved, and thus lost his spoils, his kingdom and his life. But as
if the troubles of Rome had not been sufficient, for the things which
had been taken away could never return, there came an army of
Saracens to ravage that island, who carried away the property of the
Sicilians and the spoils of Rome to Alexandria, to the infinite shame
and loss of Italy and of all Christendom. Thus what the popes had not
destroyed, notably St Gregory, who is said to have put under the ban
all that remained of the statues and of the spoils of the buildings,
finally perished through the instrumentality of this traitorous
Greek. Not a trace or a vestige of any good thing remained, so that
the generations which followed being rough and material, particularly
in painting and sculpture, yet feeling themselves impelled by nature
and inspired by the atmosphere of the place, set themselves to
produce things, not indeed according to the rules of art, for they
had none, but as they were instructed by their own intelligence.

The arts of design having arrived at this pitch, both before and
during the time that the Lombards ruled Italy, they subsequently grew
worse and worse, until at length they reached the lowest depths of
baseness. An instance of their utter tastelessness and crudeness may
be seen in some figures over the door in the portico of S. Peter's at
Rome, in memory of some holy fathers who had disputed for Holy Church
in certain councils. Further evidence is supplied by a number of
examples in the same style in the city and in the whole of the
Exarchate of Ravenna, notably some in S. Maria Rotonda outside that
city, which were made shortly after the Lombards were driven from
Italy. But I will not deny that there is one very notable and
marvellous thing in this church, and that is the vault or cupola
which covers it, which is ten braccia across and serves as the roof
of the building, and yet is of a single piece and so large that it
appears impossible that a stone of this description, weighing more
than 200,000 pounds, could be placed so high up. But to return to our
point, the masters of that day produced nothing but shapeless and
clumsy things which may still be seen to-day. It was the same with
architecture, for it was necessary to build, and as form and good
methods were lost by the death of good artists and the destruction of
good buildings, those who devoted themselves to this profession built
erections devoid of order or measure, and totally deficient in grace,
proportion or principle. Then new architects arose who created that
style of building, for their barbarous nations, which we call German,
and produced some works which are ridiculous to our modern eyes, but
appeared admirable to theirs. This lasted until a better form
somewhat similar to the good antique manner was discovered by better
artists, as is shown by the oldest churches in Italy which are not
antique, which were built by them, and by the palaces erected for
Theoderic, King of Italy, at Ravenna, Pavia, and Modena, though the
style is barbarous and rather rich and grand than well conceived or
really 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 the
same 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 di
fuori, and indeed of many other monasteries and churches built after
the time of the Lombards. All these buildings, as I have said, are
great and magnificent, but the architecture is very rude. Among them
are many abbeys in France built to S. Benedict and the church and
monastery of Monte Casino, the church of S. Giovanni Battista built
by that Theodelinda, Queen of the Goths, to whom S. Gregory the Pope
wrote his dialogues. In this place that queen caused the history of
the Lombards to be painted. We thus see that they shaved the backs of
their heads, and wore tufts in front, and were dyed to the chin.
Their clothes were of broad linen, like those worn by the Angles and
Saxons, and they wore a mantle of divers colours; their shoes were
open to the toes and bound above with small leather straps. Similar
to the churches enumerated above were the church of S. Giovanni,
Pavia, built by Gundiperga, daughter of Theodelinda, and the church
of S. Salvatore in the same city, built by Aribert, the brother of
the same queen, who succeeded Rodoaldo, husband of Gundiberta, in the
government; the church of S. Ambruogio at Pavia, built by Grimoald,
King of the Lombards, who drove from the kingdom Aribert's son
Perterit. This Perterit being restored to his throne after
Grimoald's death built a nunnery at Pavia called the Monasterio
Nuovo, in honour of Our Lady and of St Agatha, and the queen built
another dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Pertica outside the walls.
Cunibert, Perterit's son, likewise built a monastery and church to St
George called di Coronato, in a similar style, on the spot where he
had won a great victory over Alahi. Not unlike these was the church
which the Lombard king Luit-prand, who lived in the time of King
Pepin, the father of Charlemagne, built at Pavia, called S. Piero, in
Cieldauro, or that which Desiderius, who succeeded Astolf, built to
S. Piero Clivate in the diocese of Milan; or the monastery of S.
Vincenzo at Milan, or that of S. Giulia at Brescia, because all of
them were very costly, but in a most ugly and rambling style. In
Florence the style of architecture was slightly improved somewhat
later, the church of S. Apostolo built by Charlemagne, although
small, 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 aisles
show that some good architect was left in Tuscany, or had arisen
there. In fine the architecture of this church is such that Pippo di
Ser Brunnellesco did not disdain to make use of it as his model in
designing 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 at
Venice, not to speak of that of S. Giorgio Maggiore erected by
Giovanni Morosini in the year 978. S. Mark's was begun under the Doge
Giustiniano and Giovanni Particiaco next to S. Teodosio, when the
body of the Evangelist was brought from Alexandria to Venice. After
the Doge's palace and the church had suffered severely from a series
of fires, it was rebuilt upon the same foundations in the Byzantine
style as it stands to-day, at a great cost and  with the assistance
of many architects, in the time of the Doge Domenico Selvo, in the
year 973, the columns being brought from the places where they could
be obtained. The construction was  continued until the year 1140, M.
Piero Polani being then Doge, from the plans of several masters who
were all Greeks, as I have said. Erected at the same time, and also
in the Byzantine style, were the seven abbeys built in Tuscany by
Count Hugh, Marquis of Brandenburg, such as the Badia of Florence,
the abbey of Settimo, and the others. All these structures and the
vestiges of others which are not standing bear witness to the fact
that architecture maintained its footing though in a very bastard
form far removed from the good antique style. Further evidence is
afforded by a number of old palaces erected in Florence in Tuscan
work after the destruction of Fiesole, but the measurements of the
doors and the very elongated windows and the sharp-pointed arches
after the manner of the foreign architects of the day, denote some
amount of barbarism. In the year after 1013 the art appears to have
received an access of vigour in the rebuilding of the beautiful
church of S. Miniato on the Mount in the time of M. Alibrando,
citizen and bishop of Florence, for, in addition to the marble
ornamentation both within and without, the façade shows that the
Tuscan architects were making efforts to imitate the good ancient
order in the doors, windows, columns, arches and cornices, so far as
they were able, having as a model the very ancient church of S.
Giovanni in their city. At the same period, pictorial art, which had
all but disappeared, seems to have made some progress, as is shown by
a mosaic in the principal chapel of the same church of S. Miniato.

From such beginnings design and a general improvement in the arts
began to make headway in Tuscany, as in the year 1016 when the Pisans
began to erect their Duomo. For in that time it was a considerable
undertaking to build such a church, with its five aisles and almost
entirely constructed of marble both inside and out. This church,
built from the plans and under the direction of Buschetto, a clever
Greek architect from Dulichium, was erected and adorned by the Pisans
when at the zenith of their power with an endless quantity of spoils
brought by sea from various distant parts, as the columns, bases,
capitals, cornices and other stones there of every description, amply
demonstrate. Now since all these things were of all sizes, great,
medium, and small, Buschetto displayed great judgment in adapting
them to their places, so that the whole building is excellently
devised in every part, both within and without. Amongst other things
he devised the façade, which is made up of a series of stages,
gradually diminishing toward the top and consisting of a great number
of columns, adorning it with other columns and antique statues. He
carried out the principal doors of that façade in the same style,
beside one of which, that of the Carroccio, he afterwards received
honourable burial, with three epitaphs, one being in Latin verse, not
unlike 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, I
will here give an inscription which may be read on a marble slab on
one 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 of
many men in all Italy, and especially in Tuscany, and led to the
foundation 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 deed
relates, and indeed of many other buildings, a mere mention of which
would occupy too much space.

I must not forget to mention either, how in the course of time the
round church of S. Giovanni was erected at Pisa in the year 1060,
opposite the Duomo and on the same piazza. A marvellous and almost
incredible statement in connection with this church is that of an
ancient record in a book of the Opera of the Duomo, that the columns,
pillars and vaulting were erected and completed in fifteen days and
no more. The same book, which may be examined by any one, relates
that an impost of a penny a hearth was exacted for the building of
the temple, but it does not state whether this was to be of gold or
of base metal. The same book states that there were 34,000 hearths in
Pisa at that time. It is certain that the work was very costly and
presented formidable difficulties, especially the vaulting of the
tribune, which is pear-shaped and covered outside with lead. The
exterior is full of columns, carving, scenes, and the middle part of
the frieze of the doorway contains figures of Christ and the twelve
apostles in half-relief and in the Byzantine style.

About the same time, namely in 1061, the Lucchese, in emulation of
the Pisans, began the church of S. Martino at Lucea, from the designs
of some pupils of Buschetto, there being no other artists then in
Tuscany. The façade has a marble portico in front of it containing
many ornaments and carvings in honour of Pope Alexander II., who had
been 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 the
Pope, repeated in some antique letters carved in marble inside the
doors of the portico. The façade also contains some figures and a
number of scenes in half-relief below the portico relating to the
life of St Martin executed in marble and in the Byzantine style. But
the best things there, over one of these doors, were done by Niccola
Pisano, 170 years later, and completed in 1233, as will be related in
the proper place, Abellenato and Aliprando being the craftsmen at the
beginning, as some letters carved in marble in the same place fully
relate. The figures by Niccola Pisano show to what an extent the art
was improved by him. Most of the buildings erected in Italy from this
time until the year 1250 were similar in character to these, for
architecture made little or no apparent progress in all these years,
but remained stationary, the same rude style being retained. Many
examples of this may be seen to-day, but I will not now enumerate
them, because I shall refer to them again as the occasion presents
itself.

The admirable sculptures and paintings buried in the ruins of Italy
remained hidden or unknown to the men of this time who were engrossed
in the rude productions of their own age, in which they used no
sculptures or paintings except such as were produced by the old
artists of Greece, who still survived, making images of clay or
stone, or painting  grotesque figures and only colouring the first
lineaments. These artists were invited to Italy for they were the
best and indeed the only representatives of their profession. With
them they brought the mosaics, sculptures, and paintings which they
themselves produced and thus they taught their methods to the
Italians, after their own rough and clumsy style. The Italians
practised the art in this fashion up to a certain time, as I shall
relate.

As the men of the age were not accustomed to see any excellence or
greater perfection than the things thus produced, they greatly
admired them, and considered them to be the type of perfection, base
as they were. Yet some rising spirits aided by some quality in the
air of certain places, so far purged themselves of this crude style
that in 1250 Heaven took compassion on the fine minds that the Tuscan
soil was producing every day, and directed art into its former
channels. And although the preceding generations had before them the
remains of arches, colossi, statues, pillars or stone columns which
were left after the plunder, ruin and fire which Rome had passed
through, yet they could never make use of them or derive any profit
from them until the period named. Those who came after were able to
distinguish the good from the bad, and abandoning the old style they
began to copy the ancients with all ardour and industry. That the
distinction I have made between old and ancient may be better
understood I will explain that I call ancient the things produced
before Constantine at Corinth, Athens, Rome and other renowned
cities, until the days of Nero, Vaspasian, Trajan, Hadrian and
Antoninus; the old works are those which are due to the surviving
Greeks from the days of St Silvester, whose art consisted rather of
tinting than of painting. For the original artists of excellence had
perished in the wars, as I have said, and the surviving Greeks, of
the old and not the ancient manner, could only trace profiles on a
ground of colour. Countless mosaics done by these Greeks in every
part of Italy bear testimony to this, and every old church of Italy
possesses examples, notably the Duomo of Pisa, S. Marco at Venice
and yet other places. Thus they produced a constant stream of
figures in this style, with frightened eyes, outstretched hands and
on the tips of their toes, as in S. Miniato outside Florence between
the door of the sacristy and that of the convent, and in S. Spirito
in 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 of
which are more like monsters than the figures which they are supposed
to represent. They also produced countless sculptures, such as those
in bas-relief still over the door of S. Michele on the piazza Padella
at Florence, and in Ognissanti, and in many places, in tombs and
ornaments for the doors of churches, where there are some figures
acting as corbels to carry the roof, so rude and coarse, so grossly
made, and in such a rough style, that it is impossible to imagine
worse.

Up to the present, I have discoursed exclusively upon the origin of
sculpture and painting, perhaps more at length than was necessary at
this stage. I have done so, not so much because I have been carried
away by my love for the arts, as because I wish to be of service to
the artists of our own day, by showing them how a small beginning
leads to the highest elevation, and how from so noble a situation it
is possible to fall to utterest ruin, and consequently, how the
nature of these arts resembles nature in other things which concern
our human bodies; there is birth, growth, age, death, and I hope by
this means they will be enabled more easily to recognise the progress
of the renaissance of the arts, and the perfection to which they have
attained in our own time. And again, if ever it happens, which God
forbid, that the arts should once more fall to a like ruin and
disorder, through the negligence of man, the malignity of the age, or
the ordinance of Heaven, which does not appear to wish that the
things of this world should remain stationary, these labours of mine,
such as they are (if they are worthy of a happier fate), by means of
the things discussed before, and by those which remain to be said,
may maintain the arts in life, or, at any rate, encourage the better
spirits to provide them with assistance, so that, by my good will and
the labours of such men, they may have an abundance of those aids and
embellishments which, if I may speak the truth freely, they have
lacked until now.

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



VASARI'S LIVES OF THE PAINTERS.



Cimabue, Painter of Florence.


The endless flood of misfortunes which overwhelmed unhappy Italy not
only ruined everything worthy of the name of a building, but
completely extinguished the race of artists, a far more serious
matter. Then, as it pleased God, there was born in the year 1240 in
the city of Florence, Giovanni, surnamed Cimabue, of the noble family
of the Cimabui, to shed the first light on the art of painting. As he
grew up he appeared to his father and others to be a boy of quick
intelligence, so that he was accordingly sent to receive instruction
in letters to a relation, a master at S. Maria Novella, who then
taught grammar to the novices of that convent. Instead of paying
attention to his lessons, Cimabue spent the whole day in drawing men,
horses, houses, and various other fancies on his books and odd
sheets, like one who felt himself compelled to do so by nature.
Fortune proved favourable to this natural inclination, for some Greek
artists were summoned to Florence by the government of the city for
no other purpose than the revival of painting in their midst, since
that art was not so much debased as altogether lost. Among the other
works which they began in the city, they undertook the chapel of the
Gondi, the vaulting and walls of which are to-day all but destroyed
by the ravages of time. It is situated in S. Maria Novella, next the
principal chapel. In this way Cimabue made a beginning in the art
which attracted him, for he often played the truant and spent the
whole day in watching the masters work. Thus it came about that his
father and the artists considered him so fitted to be a painter that,
if he devoted himself to the profession, he might look for honourable
success in it, and to his great satisfaction his father procured him
employment with the painters. Then, by dint of continual practice and
with the assistance of his natural talent, he far surpassed the
manner of his teachers both in design and in colour. For they had
never cared to make any progress, and had executed their works, not
in the good manner of ancient Greece, but in the rude modern style of
that time. But although Cimabue imitated the Greeks he introduced
many improvements in the art, and in a great measure emancipated
himself from their awkward manner, bringing honour to his country by
his name and by the works which he produced. The pictures which he
executed in Florence bear testimony to this, such as the antipendium
to the altar of St Cecilia, and a Madonna  in S. Croce, which was
then and still is fastened to a pillar on the right hand side of the
choir. Subsequently he painted on a panel a St Francis, on a gold
ground. He drew this from nature, to the best of his powers, although
it was a novelty to do so in those days, and about it he represented
the whole of the saint's life in twenty small pictures full of little
figures, on a gold ground. He afterwards undertook a large picture
for the monks of Vallombrosa in their abbey of S, Trinita at
Florence. This was a Madonna with the child in her arms, surrounded
by many adoring angels, on a gold ground. To justify the high opinion
in which he was already held, he worked at it with great industry,
showing improved powers of invention and exhibiting our lady in a
pleasing attitude. The painting when finished was placed by the monks
over the high altar of the church, whence it was afterwards removed
to make way for the picture of Alesso Baldovinetti, which is there
to-day. It was afterwards placed in a small chapel of the south aisle
in that church. Cimabue next worked in fresco at the hospital of the
Porcellana, at the corner of the via Nuova which leads to the Borgo
Ognissanti. On one side of the façade, in the middle of which is the
principal door, he represented an Annunciation, and on the other
side, Jesus Christ with Cleophas and Luke, life-size figures. In this
work he abandoned the old manner, making the draperies, garments, and
other things somewhat more life-like, natural and soft than the style
of the Greeks, full as that was of lines and profiles as well in
mosaics as in painting. The painters of those times had taught one
another that rough, awkward and common-place style for a great number
of years, not by means of study but as a matter of custom, without
ever dreaming of improving their designs by beauty of colouring or by
any invention of worth. After this was finished Cimabue again
received a commission from the same superior for whom he had done the
work at S. Croce. He now made him a large crucifix of wood, which may
still be seen in the church. The work caused the superior, who was
well pleased with it, to take him to their convent of S. Francesco at
Pisa, to paint a picture of St Francis there. When completed it was
considered most remarkable by the people there, since they recognised
a certain quality of excellence in the turn of the heads and in the
fall of the drapery which was not to be found in the Byzantine style
in any work executed up to that time not only in Pisa but throughout
Italy.

For the same church Cimabue afterwards painted a large picture of Our
Lady with the child in her arms, surrounded by several angels, on a
gold ground. In order to make room for the marble altar which is now
there it was soon afterwards removed from its original situation and
placed inside the church, near the door on the left hand. For this
work he was much praised and rewarded by the Pisans. In Pisa also he
painted a panel of St Agnes surrounded by a number of small figures
representing 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 the
Virgin in that church.

The name of Cimabue having become generally known through these
works, he was taken to Assisi, a city of Umbria, where, in
conjunction with some Greek masters, he painted a part of the
vaulting of the lower Church of S. Franceso, and on the walls, the
life of Jesus Christ and that of St Francis. In these paintings he
far surpassed the Greek masters, and encouraged by this, he began to
paint the upper church in fresco unaided, and on the large gallery
over the choir, on the four walls, he painted some subjects from the
history of Our Lady, that is to say, her death, when her soul is
carried to Heaven by Christ on a throne of clouds, and when He crowns
her in the midst of a choir of angels, with a number of saints
beneath. These are now destroyed by time and dust. He then painted
several things at the intersections of the vaulting of that church,
which are five in number. In the first one over the choir he
represented the four Evangelists, larger than life-size, and so well
done, 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 second
intersection he filled with gilt stars on an ultramarine field. In
the third he represented Jesus Christ, the Virgin his mother, St John
the Baptist and St Francis in medallions, that is to say, a figure in
each medallion and a medallion in each of the four divisions of the
vault. The fourth intersection like the second he painted with gilt
stars on ultramarine. In the fifth he represented the four Doctors of
the church, and beside each of them a member of the four principal
religious orders. This laborious undertaking was carried out with
infinite diligence. When he had finished the vaults he painted the
upper part of the walla on the left side of the church from one end
to the other, also in fresco. Near the high altar between the windows
and right up to the vaulting he represented eight subjects from the
Old Testament, starting from the beginning of Genesis and selecting
the most noteworthy incidents. In the space flanking the windows to
the point where they terminate at the gallery which runs round the
inside of the church, he painted the remainder of the Old Testament
history in eight other subjects. Opposite  these  and corresponding
to them he painted sixteen subjects representing the deeds of Our
Lady and of Jesus Christ, while on the end wall over the principal
entrance and about the rose window above it, he painted the Ascension
and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. This work which
is most extraordinary for richness and beauty, must, in my opinion,
have astounded the people of those times, painting having been in
such blindness for so long a apace. When I saw it again in the year
1563 it seemed most beautiful, as I reflected how marvellous it was
that Cimabue should see so much light in the midst of so great
darkness. But it is worthy of note that of all these paintings those
of the vaults are much the best preserved since they are less injured
by the dust and other accidents. When these works were finished
Giovanni set about painting the walls beneath, namely those beneath
the windows, and he did some things there, but as he was summoned to
Florence on some affairs of his own, he did not pursue the task,
which was finished by Giotto many years after, as will be related
when the time comes.

Cimabue having thus returned to Florence painted in the cloister of
S. Spirito, where the whole length of wall towards the church is done
in the Byzantine style by other masters, events from the life of
Christ, in three arches, with considerable excellence of design. At
the same time, he sent to Empoli some things executed by him in
Florence, which are held in great reverence to this day in the Pieve
of that town. He next painted a picture of Our Lady for the church of
S. Maria Novella, where it hangs high up between the chapel of the
Rucellai and that of the Bardi of Vernio. The figure was of a larger
size than any which had been executed up to that time, and the angels
about it show that, although be still had the Byzantine style, he was
making, some progress towards the lineaments and methods of modern
times. The people of that day, who had never seen anything better,
considered this work so marvellous, that they carried it to the
church from Cimabue's house in a stately procession with great
rejoicing and blowing of trumpets, while Cimabue himself was highly
rewarded and honoured. It is reported, and some records of the old
painters relate that while Cimabue was painting this picture in some
gardens near the gate of S. Piero, the old king Charles of Anjou
passed through Florence. Among the many entertainments prepared for
him by the men of the city, they brought him to see the picture of
Cimabue. As it had not then been seen by anyone, all the men and
women of Florence flocked thither in a crowd, with the greatest
rejoicings, so that those who lived in the neighbourhood called the
place Borgo Allegri (Joyful Quarter), because of the rejoicing there.
This name it has ever afterwards retained, being in the course of
time 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 beside
the doorway leading into the church, is a small picture in tempera by
his hand, representing Christ on the cross, surrounded by some angels
who are weeping, and hold in their hands certain words written about
the head of Christ, and which they are directing towards the ears of
our Lady, who is standing weeping on the right hand side; and on the
other side to St John the Evangelist, who is there, plunged in grief.
The words to the Virgin are: "_Mulier, ecce filius tuus_," and those
to St John: "_Ecce mater tua_." Another angel, separated from these,
holds in its hands the sentence: "_Ex illa hora accepit eam
discipulus in suam_." In this we perceive how Cimabue began to give
light and open the way to inventions, bringing words, as he does
here, to the help of his art in order to express his meaning, a
curious device certainly and an innovation.

By means of these works Cimabue had now acquired a great name and
much profit, so that he was associated with Arnolfo Lapi, an
excellent architect of that time, in the building of S. Maria del
Fiore, at Florence. But at length, when he had lived sixty years, he
passed to the other life in the year 1300, having achieved hardly
less than the resurrection of painting from the dead.

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

     "Credidit ut Clmabos picturæ 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 would
have been more considerable, as Dante points out in his Commedia in
the eleventh canto of the Purgatorio, with an allusion to the
inscription 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, about
1334, some ten or twelve years after the poet's death, in his
explanation of these lines, says the following words in speaking of
Cimabue: "Cimabue was a painter of Florence in the time of our
author, 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 he
discovered any himself, since it frequently happens that an artist
makes mistakes through a defect in the materials which he employs, or
because of some fault in the instrument with which he works, he
immediately destroyed that work, however costly it might be. Giotto
was, and is, the most eminent among the painters of the same city of
Florence, as his works testify, at Rome, Naples, Avignon, Florence,
Padua, and many parts of the world," etc. This commentary is now in
the possession of the Very Rev. Vincenzio Borghini, prior of the
Innocents, a man distinguished for his eminence, piety and learning,
but also for his love for and skill in all the superior arts, so that
he has well deserved his judicious selection by Duke Cosimo to be the
ducal representative in our academy of design.

Returning to Cimabue, Giotto certainly overshadowed his renown, just
as a great light eclipses a much smaller one, and although Cimabue
was, as it were, the first cause of the revival of the art of
painting, yet Giotto, his disciple, moved by a praiseworthy ambition,
and aided by Heaven and by Nature, penetrated deeper in thought, and
threw open the gates of Truth to those who afterwards brought art to
that perfection and grandeur which we see in our own age. In fact the
marvels, miracles, and impossibilities executed at the present time
by 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 them
although they are rather divine than human, and those who make the
most praiseworthy efforts may consider themselves fortunate, if,
instead of being praised and admired, they escape censure, and even
disgrace. The portrait of Cimabue by the hand of Simone of Siena may
be seen in the chapter-house of S. Maria Novella, executed in profile
in the picture of the Faith. The face is thin the small beard is
somewhat red and pointed, and he wears a hood after the fashion of
the day, bound gracefully round his head and throat. The one beside
him is Simone himself, the designer of the work, who drew himself
with the aid of two mirrors placed opposite each other, which have
enabled him to draw his head in profile. The soldier in armour
between them is said to be Count Guido Novello, lord of Poppi. In
concluding this life I have to remark that I have some small things
by Cimabue's hand in the beginning of a book in which I have
collected drawings by the hand of every artist, from Cimabue onwards.
These little things of Cimabue are done like miniatures, and although
they may appear rather crude than otherwise to modern eyes, yet they
serve to show to what an extent the art of design profited by his
labours.



Arnolfo di Lapo, Florentine Architect.


In the preface to these lives I have spoken of some edifices in the
old but not antique style, and I was silent respecting the names of
the artists who executed the work, because I did not know them. In
the introduction to the present life I propose to mention some other
buildings made in Arnolfo's time, or shortly before, the authors of
which are equally unknown, and then to speak of those which were
erected during his lifetime, the architects of which are known,
either because they may be recognised through the style of the
buildings, or because there is some notice of them in the writings
and memorials left by them in the works done. This will not be beside
the point, for although the buildings are neither beautiful nor in
good style, but only very large and magnificent, yet they are none
the less worthy of some consideration.

In the time of Lapo, and of Arnolfo his son, many buildings of
importance were erected in Italy and outside, of which I have not
been able to find the names of the architects. Among these are the
abbey of Monreale in Sicily, the Piscopio of Naples, the Certosa of
Pavia, the Duomo of Milan, S. Pietro and S. Petrodio of Bologna, and
many others, which may be seen in all parts of Italy, erected at
incredible cost. I have seen and examined all these buildings, as
well as many sculptures of these times, particularly at Ravenna, but
I have never found any memorial of the masters, and frequently not
even the date when they were erected, so that I cannot but marvel at
the simplicity and indifference to fame exhibited by the men of that
age. But to return to our subject. After the buildings just
enumerated there arose some persons of a more exalted temper, who, if
they did not succeed in lighting upon the good, at least made the
attempt.

The first was Buono, of whom I knew neither the country nor the
surname, since he himself has put nothing beyond his simple name to
the works which he has signed. He was both a sculptor and architect,
and he worked at first in Ravenna, building many palaces and
churches, and executing some sculptures, in the year of grace 1152.
Becoming known by these things, he was summoned to Naples, where he
began the Castel Capoano and the Castel  dell' Uovo, although they
were afterwards finished by others, as will be related. Subsequently,
in the time of the Doge Domenico Morosini, he founded the campanile
of S. Marco at Venice, with much prudence and good judgment, and so
well did he drive the piles and lay the foundations of that tower,
that it has never moved a hair's breadth, as many buildings erected
in that city before his time may be seen to have done. Perhaps it was
from him that the Venetians learned their present method of laying
the foundations of the rich and beautiful edifices which are erected
every day to adorn that most noble city. At the same time it must be
admitted that the tower has no other excellence of its own, either in
style or decoration, or indeed anything which is worthy of much
praise. 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 of
figures executed in the Gothic style, is his work; On this architrave
his name is carved, as well as the date at which the work was done by
him, which was in the year 1166. Being afterwards summoned to
Florence, he prepared the design for enlarging the Church of S. Maria
Maggiore, which was carried out. The church was then outside the
city, and was held in veneration, because Pope Pelagius had
consecrated it many years before, and because it was in size and
style a building of considerable merit.

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

The art now began to receive some amount of improvement through the
works of a certain Guglielmo, a German by race, as I believe, and
some buildings were erected at a great expense and in a slightly
better style. In the year 1174 this Guglielmo, in conjunction with
Bonanno, a sculptor, is said to have founded the campanile of the
Duomo 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 laying
foundations in Pisa, and since they did not drive in piles as they
should have done, before they were half through the work, there was a
subsidence on one side, and the building leant over on its weaker
side, so that the campanile hangs 6-1/2 braccia out of the straight
according to the subsidence on that side, and although this appears
slight from below, it is very apparent above, so that one is filled
with amazement that the tower can stand thus without falling and
without the walls being cracked. The reason is that the building is
round both within and without, and the stones are so arranged and
bound together, that its fall is all but impossible, and it is
supported moreover by foundations raised 3 braccia above the ground
level, which were made to maintain it after the subsidence had taken
place, as may be seen. Had it been square; I am convinced that it
would not be standing, to-day, as the corners of the square would
have pushed out the sides so that they would have fallen, a thing
which frequently happens. And if the Carisenda tower at Bologna,
which is square, leans without falling, that is because it is
lighter and does not hang over so much, nor is it nearly so heavy a
structure as this campanile, which is praised, not because of its
design or good style, but simply by reason of its extraordinary
position, since to a spectator it does not appear possible that it
can remain standing. The Bonanno mentioned above, while he was
engaged on the campanile, also executed in 1180 the principal door of
the 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 of
S. Giovanni Lateran at Rome, which were constructed of the spoils of
antiquity under Popes Lucius III. and Urban III., when the Emperor
Frederick was crowned by the latter, because certain small temples
and chapels there, made with these spoils, possess considerable merit
of design and contain some things which are worth notice, and this,
among others, that the vaults were made of small tubes with
compartments of stucco, so as not to overload the side walls of the
buildings, a very praiseworthy contrivance for those times. The
cornices and other parts show that the artists were helping one
another to find the good.

Innocent III. afterwards caused two palaces to be erected on the
Vatican hill, and from what can be seen of them they appear to have
been in a fairly good style, but since they were destroyed by other
popes, and especially by Nicholas V., who pulled down and rebuilt the
greater part of the palace, I will say no more about them, except
that a part of them may be seen in the great round tower, and a part
in the old sacristy of St Peter's. This Innocent III., who wore the
tiara for nineteen years, took great delight in architecture, and
erected many buildings in Rome, notably the tower of the Conti, so
called after the name of his family, from designs by Marchionne, an
architect and sculptor of Arezzo. In the year that Innocent died this
artist completed the Pieve of Arezzo, as well as the campanile. He
adorned the front of the church with three rows of columns, one above
the other, in great variety, not only in the shape of the capitals
and bases, but even in the shafts, some being heavy, others slender,
some bound together in pairs, others in fours. In like manner some
are covered with representations of the vine, while others are made
to become supporting figures, variously carved. He further introduced
many animals of different kinds, which carry the weight of the
columns on their backs, the whole exhibiting the strangest and most
extravagant fantasies imaginable, not only altogether removed from
the excellent antique order, but opposed to all good and reasonable
proportion. Yet in spite of all this, anyone who will justly consider
the matter will see that he was making strenuous efforts to do well,
and possibly he imagined that he had discovered the way in this
manner of work and in this wondrous variety. The same artist carved a
rather large God the Father, with certain angels in half-relief in
the arch over the door of that church in a rude style, together with
the twelve months of the year, adding underneath his name, cut in
round letters, as was customary, and the date, 1216. It is said that
Marchionne also erected for Pope Innocent the old building and church
of the hospital of S. Spirito in Sassia, in the Borgo Vecchio at
Rome, where some part of the old work may still be seen. Indeed the
old church remained standing to our own day, when It was restored in
the modern style, with  more ornament and design, by Pope Paul III.
of the house of the Farnese. In S. Maria Maggiore, also in Rome, he
made the marble chapel, which contains the manger of Jesus Christ, in
which he placed a portrait of Pope Honorius III., drawn from life. He
also made that Pope's tomb, decorating it with ornaments which were
somewhat better than, and very different from, the style then
prevalent throughout Italy. At the same time also Marchionne made the
lateral door of S. Pietro at Bologna, which truly was a very great
work for those times, because of the number of sculptures which are
seen in it, such as lions in relief, which sustain columns, with men
and other animals, also bearing burdens. In the arch above he made
the twelve months in relief, with varied fancies, each month with its
zodiacal sign, a work which must have been considered marvellous in
those times.

About the same time the order of the friars minors of St Francis was
established, which, after it had been confirmed by Pope Innocent
III., increased the general devoutness and the number of friars, not
only 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 churches
and convents for them at very great cost, each one according to its
ability. Thus brother Elias, who was superior of that order at
Assisi, founded a church, dedicated to Our Lady in that place, two
years before the death of St Francis, while the saint, as general of
the order, was away preaching. After the death of St Francis all
Christendom crowded to visit the body of a man, who, both in life and
in death, was known to have been so much beloved of God. As every man
did alms to the saint according to his ability, it was determined
that the church begun by friar Elias should be made much larger and
more magnificent. But since there was a scarcity of good architects,
and as the work demanded an excellent one, it being necessary to
erect the building on a very high hill, round the base of which runs
a torrent called Tescio, a German master named Jacopo was brought to
Assisi after much deliberation, as being the best man who was then to
be found. After he had examined the site and understood the wishes of
the friars, who held a chapter general at Assisi for the purpose, he
designed a most beautiful church and convent, making it in three
stories. One of these was underground, while the two others served as
churches, the lower one to be a vestibule with a portico of
considerable size about it, the other as the church proper. The
ascent from the first to the second was managed by means of a very
convenient arrangement of steps, which encircled the chapel and which
were divided into two flights for the sake of greater comfort,
leading up to the second church. He built this in the form of the
letter T, making it five times as long as it was broad, dividing one
nave from the other by great stone pillars, uniting them with stout
arches, between which he set up the vaulting. This truly monumental
work then was carried out from such plans in every detail, except
that he did not use the Cross vaulting on the walls between the body
of the church and the principal chapel, but employed barrel vaulting
for the sake of greater strength. He afterwards placed the altar
before the principal chapel of the lower church, and when this was
finished he deposited the body of St Francis beneath, after a most
solemn translation. And because the tomb of the glorious saint is in
the first or lower church, where no one ever goes, and which has its
doors walled up, there is a magnificent iron railing about the altar,
richly adorned with marble and mosaic which permits the tomb to be
seen. On one side of the building were erected two sacristies and a
lofty campanile, five times as high as it is broad. Above it there
was originally a lofty spire of eight sides, but it was removed
because it threatened to fall down. The work was brought to a
conclusion in the space of four years and no more by the ability of
Master Jacopo the German, and by the industry of friar Elias. After
the friar's death twelve strong towers were erected about the lower
church in order that the vast erection should never be destroyed; in
each of these is a spiral staircase ascending from the ground to the
summit. In the course of time, moreover, several chapels were added
and other rich ornaments, of which it is not necessary to speak
further, 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 is
useful, ornamental, and beautiful has been added to this beginning of
Master Jacopo, by popes, cardinals, princes, and many other great
persons of all Europe.

And now to return to Master Jacopo. By means of this work he acquired
such renown throughout Italy that he was invited to Florence by the
government of the city, and was afterwards received there with the
utmost goodwill. But the Florentines, in accordance with a custom of
abbreviating names which they practised then as they do now, called
him not Jacopo, but Lapo, all his life, for he settled permanently in
that city with all his family. And although at divers times he went
away to erect a number of buildings in Tuscany his residence was
always at Florence. As examples of such buildings I may cite the
palace of the Poppi at Casentino which he built for the count there,
who had married the beautiful Gualdrada, with the Casentino as her
dower; the Vescovado for the Aretines, and the Palazzo Vecchio of the
lords of Pietramela. It was at Florence that he laid the piles of the
ponte alla Carraia, then called the ponte Nuovo, in 1218, and
finished them in two years. A short while afterwards it was completed
in wood, as was then the custom. In the year 1221 he prepared plans
for the church of S. Salvadore del Vescovado which was begun under
his direction, as was the church of S. Michele on the piazza Padella
where there are some sculptures in the style of those days. He next
designed 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 who
discovered the useful method of paving the streets with stone, when
they had previously been paved only with bricks. He designed the
existing Podesta palace, which was originally built for the
_amziani_, and finally, after he had designed the tomb of the Emperor
Frederick for the abbey of Monreale in Sicily, by the order of
Manfred, he died, leaving Arnolfo, his son, heir to his ability, no
leas than to his fortune.

Arnolfo, by whose talents architecture was no less improved than
painting had been by Cimabue, was born in the year 1232, and was
thirty-two years of age at his father's death. He was at that time
held in very great esteem, because, not only had he learned all that
his father had to teach, but had studied design under Cimabue in
order to make use of it in sculpture, so that he was reputed the best
architect in Tuscany. Thus not only did the Florentines found, under
his direction, the last circuit of the walls of their city in the
year 1284, but they also built, after his design, the loggia and
pillars of Or San Michele, where grain is sold, constructing it of
brick with a simple roof above. It was also in conformity with his
advice 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 was
issued the same year that no walls or edifices should ever more be
erected in that place seeing that they would always be in danger
owing to the undermining of the rock by water. That this is true has
been seen in our day in the fall of many buildings and fine houses of
the aristocracy. The year after, 1285, he founded the loggia and
piazza of the priors, and in the Bödia of Florence he constructed the
principal chapel and those on either side of it, restoring both the
church and choir, which had originally been built on a much smaller
scale by Count Ugo, the founder. For the cardinal Giovanni degli
Orsini, papal legate in Tuscany, he built the campanile of that
church, which woo some praise among the works of those times, but it
did not receive its stone finishing until after the year 1303. His
next work was the foundation, in  1294, of the church of S, Croce,
where the friars minors are. Arnolfo designed the nave and side
aisles of this church on such a large scale that he was unable to
vault the space under the roof owing to the great distances, so with
much judgment he made arches from pillar to pillar, and on these he
placed the roof with stone gutters along the top of the arches to
carry off the water, inclined at such an angle that the roof should
be safe, as it is, from the danger of damp. This thing was so novel
and ingenious that it well deserves the consideration of our day. He
next prepared plans for the first cloisters of the old convent of
that church, and shortly after he removed from the outside of the
church of S. Giovanni all the arches and tombs of marble and stone
which were there and put a part of them behind the campanile in the
façade of the Canonical Palace, beside the oratory of S. Zanobi, when
he proceeded to incrust all the eight sides of the exterior of the
church with black Prato marble, removing the rough stone which was
originally used with the antique marbles.

In the meantime the Florentines were desirous of erecting buildings
in Valdarno above the castle of S. Giovanni and Castelfranco for the
convenience of the city and for the supply of victuals to their
markets. Arnolfo prepared the plan for this in the year 1295, and
gave 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 Giovanni
Villani relates in his History, to build a principal church for their
city, and to make it so grand and magnificent that nothing larger or
finer could be desired by the industry and power of man; and thus
Arnolfo prepared the plans for the church of S. Maria del Fiore, a
building which it is impossible to praise too highly. He provided
that 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 brought
very near completion, although not quite. But the most marvellous
circumstance of all in this undertaking was the care and judgment
with which he made the foundations, for in clearing the site, which
is a very fine one, other small churches and houses about S. Reparata
were involved beside that edifice itself. He made the foundations of
this great structure both broad and deep, filling them with good
materials, such as gravel and lime, with large stones at the bottom,
so that they have been able without difficulty to bear the weight of
the  huge dome with which Filippo di Ser Brunellesco vaulted the
church, as may be seen to-day. The excellence of this initial work
was such that the place is still called Lungo i Fondamenti (beside
the foundations). The laying of the foundations and the initiation of
so great a church was celebrated with much ceremony. The first stone
was laid on the day of the Nativity of Our Lady 1298 by the cardinal
legate of the Pope, in the presence not only of many bishops and of
all the clergy, but also of the podesta, captains, priors, and other
magistrates of the city, and indeed of all the people of Florence,
the church being called S. Maria del Fiore. Now, as it was estimated
that the expenses of this work would be very heavy, as they
afterwards proved to be, a tax of four deniers the pound was imposed
at 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 those
who would contribute alms towards the work. I must not omit to
mention, however, that besides the broad foundations of 15 braccia
deep, buttresses were, with great  foresight, placed at each angle of
the eight sides, and it was the presence of these which encouraged
Brunellesco to impose a much greater weight there than Arnolfo had
originally 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 it
may be inferred that the family of the Lapi, now among the nobility
of Florence, derives its origin from him. Others say that Filippo di
Ser Brunellesco was also among the descendants of Arnolfo. But I let
this pass for what it is worth, and return to Arnolfo, for there are
some who say that the Lapi originally came from Figaruolo, a castle
situated at the mouth of the Po. I say that for this magnificent
achievement he deserved unstinted praise and an immortal renown,
since he caused the exterior of the building to be incrusted with
marble of various colours, and the interior with hard stone, making
even the most insignificant corners of the building of the same
stone. But, in order that every one may know the proportions of this
marvellous edifice, I will add that from the doorway to the far end
of the chapel of St Zanobi the length is 260 braccia, the breadth at
the transepts is 166 braccia, that of nave and aisles 66. The nave is
72 braccia high, and the aisles 48. The external circumference of the
entire church is 1280 braccia; the cupola, from the ground to the
base 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 202
braccia. But to return to Arnolfo, I say that he was considered so
excellent, and so much confidence was felt in him, that nothing of
importance was discussed without his advice being first asked. Thus
the foundation of the final circuit of the city walls having been
finished that same year by the community of Florence, the
commencement of which was referred to above, and also the gate
towers, and the work being well forward, he began the palace of the
Signori, making it similar in design to that which his father Lapo
had erected for the counts of Poppi. But he was unable to realise the
grand and magnificent conception which he had formed in that
perfection which his art and judgment required, because a piazza had
been made by the dismantling and throwing down of the houses of the
Uberti, rebels against the Florentine people and Ghibellines, and the
blind prejudice of certain persons prevailed against all the
arguments brought forward by Arnolfo to such an extent that he could
not even obtain permission to make the palace square, because the
rulers of the city were most unwilling to allow the building to have
its foundations in the land of the Uberti, and they would rather
suffer the destruction of the south nave of S. Piero Scheraggio than
give him free scope in the space designated. They were also desirous
that he should include and adapt to the palace the tower of the
Fieraboschi, called the Torre della Vacca (Cow Tower), 50 braccia in
height, in which the great bell was hung, together with some houses
bought by the commune for such a building. For these reasons it is no
marvel if the foundations of the palace are awry and out of the
square, as, in order to get the tower in the middle and to make it
stronger, he was obliged to surround it with the walls of the palace.
These were found to be in excellent condition in the year 1561 by
Giorgio Vasari, painter and architect, when he restored the palace in
the time of Duke Cosimo, Thus, as Arnolfo filled the tower with good
materials, it was easy for other masters to erect upon it the lofty
campanile which we see to-day, since he himself finished no more than
the palace in the space of two years. It was in later years that the
building received those improvements to which it owes its present
grandeur and majesty.

After all these things, and many others not less useful than
beautiful, Arnolfo died at the age of seventy, in the year 1300,
about the time when Giovanni Villani began to write the general
history of his times. And since he left S. Maria del Fiore not only
with its foundations laid, but saw three principal apses under the
cupola vaulted in, to his great praise, he deserves the memorial set
up to him in the church on the side opposite the campanile, with
these 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
     Reginæ coeli construxit mente fideli
     Quam tu, Virgo pia, semper defende, Maria,"

I have written the life of Arnolfo with the greatest possible brevity
because, although his works do not nearly approach the perfection of
those of the present time, yet he none the less deserves to be
remembered 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 mourning
the death of St Francis. He is represented in the foreground as one
of the two men who are talking together. A representation of the
exterior of the church of S. Maria del Fiore, with the dome, by the
hand of Simon of Siena, may be seen in the chapter-house of S. Maria
Novella. It was taken from the actual model of wood which Arnolfo
made. From this representation it is clear that Arnolfo proposed to
begin to vault his space, starting immediately above the first
cornice, whilst Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, desiring to lighten the
weight and make the appearance of the structure more graceful, added
above this the whole of the space which contains the round windows
before he began his vaulting. This matter would be even more obvious
than it is had not the negligence and carelessness of those who had
charge of the works of S. Maria del Fiore in past years allowed
Arnolfo's own model, as well as those of Brunellesco and others, to
be lost.



Niccola and Giovanni Pisani, Sculptors and Architects.


Having discussed the arts of design and painting in dealing with
Cimabue, and that of architecture in the life of Arnolfo Lapo, we now
propose to treat of sculpture, and of the very important
architectural works of Niccola and Giovanni Pisani. Their
achievements in both sculpture and architecture are alike remarkable
for the manner in which they have been conceived as well as for the
style in which they are executed, since to a great extent they
emancipated themselves from the clumsy  and ill-proportioned
Byzantine style in both arts, showing more originality in the
treatment of their subjects and arranging their figures in better
postures.

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

_Anno Domini MCXVI. Kal. Aug. obiit D. Matilda felisis memoriae
comitissa, quae pro anima genetricis suae D. Beatricis comitissae
venerabilis in hoc tumba honorabili quiescsnts in multis partis
mirificc hanc dotavit ecclesiam, quarum animae requiescent in pace_.

And then follows:

_Anno Domini MCCCIII. sub dignissimo optrario Burgundio Tadi
occasione graduum fiendorum per ipsum circa ecclesiam supradictam
tumba superius notata bis trantlata fuit, nunc de sedibus primis in
ecclesiam, nunc de ecclesia in hunc locum, ut cernitis eccelentem_.

Niccola, considering the excellence of this work, which greatly
delighted him, applied such diligence in imitating that style,
studying carefully both the sarcophagus and other excellent
sculptures on other antique sarcophagi, that before long he was
considered the best sculptor of his time. There was indeed, after
Arnolfo, no other sculptor of repute in Tuscany except Fuccio, a
Florentine architect and sculptor. Fuccio designed S. Maria sopra
Arno at Florence in 1229, putting his name over the door. The marble
tomb of the queen of Cyprus in the church of St Francis of Assisi is
also his work. It contains a number of figures, the principal one
being the queen herself, seated on a lion, as emblematical of her
strength of mind. She had bequeathed a large sum of money for the
completion of these works.

Niccola having proved himself a much greater master than Fuccio, was
summoned to Bologna in 1225 to make a marble tomb for St Domenic
Calagora, founder of the order of the Friars Preachers, then
recently deceased. Having, arranged with those who had charge of the
work, he designed a  tomb  full  of figures, as may be seen at this
day. The task was completed in 1231, and the finished tomb was
greatly praised, it being considered a remarkable work, and the best
piece of sculpture executed up to that time. He further made plans
for the church there and for a great part of the convent. On
returning to Tuscany, he learned that Fuccio had set out from
Florence and was gone to Rome, at the time when the Emperor Frederick
was crowned there by Honorius. From Rome Fuccio accompanied Frederick
to Naples, where he finished the castle of Capoana, now called "la
Vicheria," where all the courts of that kingdom are held. He also
completed the Castel del' Uovo, founding the towers, made the gate on
the side of the River Volturno at Capua, constructed a park near
Gravina for fowling, enclosing it by a wall, and made another at
Amalfi for winter hunting, besides many other things which are
omitted for the sake of brevity.

Meanwhile Niccola was staying at Florence, obtaining practice not
only in sculpture but also in architecture by means of the works
which were in progress throughout Italy, but especially in Tuscany,
with some amount of good design. Thus he contributed not a little to
the abbey of Settimo, left unfinished by the executors of Count Hugh
of 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 that
it was carried out under the control of Niccola. At the same time he
was building  the  old  palace of the _anziani_ at Pisa. This
building  has  been dismantled at the present time by Duke Casino,
who has used a part of the old edifice for the erection of the
magnificent palace and convent of the new order of the knights of St
Stephen, after the designs  of Giorgio Vasari, Aretine painter and
architect, who has done his best with the old walls, to adapt them to
the modern style. Niccola designed many other palaces and churches at
Pisa, and he was the first, after the loss of good methods of
construction, who introduced the founding of buildings at Pisa upon
pillars connected by arches, first driving piles in under the
pillars. This method renders the building absolutely secure, as is
shown by experience, whereas without the piles, the foundations are
liable 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 his
plans. But the most beautiful, ingenious and fanciful piece of
architecture that Niccola ever constructed was the campanile of S.
Niccola at Pisa, where the friars of St Augustine are. Outside it is
octagonal, but the interior is round with a winding staircase rising
to the top leaving the middle space void like a well, while on every
fourth step there are columns with lame arches, which follow the
curve of the building. The spring of the vaulting rests upon these
arches, and the ascent is of such sort that anyone on the  ground
always sees those who are going up, those who are at  the top see
those who are on the ground, while those who are in the middle see
both those who are above and those below. This curious invention was
afterwards adopted by Bramante in a better style with more balanced
measurements and richer ornamentation, for Pope Julius II. in the
Belvedere 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 an
architect. For the church of S. Martino at Lucca he executed a
deposition from the Cross, which is under the portico above the minor
doorway on the left hand as one enters the church. It is executed in
marble, and is full of figures in half relief, carried out with great
care, the marble being pierced through, and the whole finished in
such style as to give rise to hopes in those who first practised this
art with the most severe labour, that one would soon come who would
give them more assistance with greater ease. It was Niccola also who
in the year 1240 designed the church of S. Jacopo at Pistoia, and set
some Tuscan masters to work there in mosaic, who did the vaulting of
the apse. But although it was considered a difficult and costly thing
at the time, it rather moves one to laughter and compassion to-day,
and not to admiration, oh account of the poorness of the design, a
defect which was prevalent not only in Tuscany, but throughout Italy,
where the number of buildings and other things erected without method
and without design betray the poverty of their minds no less than the
bountiful riches lavished on them by the men of their day; a wasteful
expenditure of wealth, because there was no masters capable of
executing in a good style the things which they made for them. Now
Niccola was steadily increasing his renown in both sculpture and
architecture, and was of greater account than the sculptors and
architects who were then at work in the Romagna, as one may see in
S. Ippolito and S. Giovanni at Faenza, in the Duomo of Ravenna, in
S. Francesco, in the houses of the Traversari, and in the church of
Prato, and at Rimini, in the public palace, in the houses of the
Malatesti, and in other buildings which are much worse than the old
buildings erected in Tuscany at the same time; and what is here said
of the Romagna, may be repeated with even more truth of a part of
Lombardy. It is only necessary to see the Duomo of Ferrara and the
other buildings erected for the Marquis Azzo, to perceive at once how
different they are from the Santo of Padua, built from Niccola's
model, and from the church of the friars minors at Venice, both of
them magnificent and famous buildings.

In Niccola's day there were many moved by a laudable spirit of
emulation, who applied themselves more diligently to sculpture than
they had done before, especially in Milan, where many Lombards and
Germans were gathered for the building of the Duomo. These were
afterwards scattered throughout Italy by the dissensions which arose
between the Milanese and the Emperor Frederick. They then began to
compete among themselves, both in carving marble and in erecting
buildings, and produced works of some amount of excellence. The same
thing happened in Florence after the works of Arnolfo and Niccola
were seen. The latter, while the little church of the Misericordia on
the piazza S. Giovanni was being built after his designs, carved a
marble statue of Our Lady with St Domenic and another saint on either
side, which may still be seen on the façade of that church. It was
also in Niccola's time that the Florentines began to demolish many
towers, erected previously in a rude style in order that the people
should suffer less by their means in the frequent collisions between
the Guelphs and Ghibellines, or for the greater security of the
commonweal. One of these, the tower of Guardamorto, situated on the
piazza S; Giovanni, presented unusual difficulty to those who wished
to destroy it because the walls were so well knit that the stones
could not be removed with the pickaxe, and also because the tower was
a very high one. Niccola, however, caused a piece to be cut out of
one of the sides of the tower and closed the gap with wooden
supports, 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 was
totally destroyed. The idea seemed so ingenious and so well adapted
for such emergencies, that it afterwards came into general use, so
that whenever it was necessary to destroy a building, the task was
speedily accomplished in this most facile manner.

Niccola was present when the foundations of the Duomo of Siena were
laid, and he designed the Church of S. Giovanni in that city. He went
back to Florence in the year of the return of the Guelphs, and
designed the church of S. Trinita, and the women's convent at Faenza,
pulled down in  recent years to make the citadel. Being subsequently
summoned to Naples, and not wishing to abandon his enterprises in
Tuscany, he sent thither his pupil Maglione, sculptor and architect,
who in the time of Conrad afterwards built the church of S. Lorenzo
at Naples, finished a part of the Vescorado, and made some tombs
there, in which he closely imitated the manner of his master,
Niccola. In the meantime Niccola went to Volterra, in the year that
the people of that place came under the dominion of the Florentines
(1254), in response to a summons, because they wished him to enlarge
their Duomo, which was small; and although it was very irregular, he
improved its appearance, and made it more magnificent than it was
originally. Then at length he returned to Pisa and made the marble
pulpit of S. Giovanni, devoting all his skill to it, so that he might
leave a memory of himself in his native place. Among other things in
it he carved the Last Judgment, filling it with a number of figures,
and if they are not perfectly designed they are at any rate executed
with patience and diligence, as may be seen; and because he
considered 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 greatly
delighted not only the Pisans, but whoever saw it, assigned to
Niccola the task of making for their Duomo the pulpit from which the
gospel is sung, at the time when Guglielmo Mariscotti was praetor. In
this Niccola introduced a number of subjects from the life of Jesus
Christ, 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 and
convent of S. Domenico at Arezzo, for the lords of Pietramela who
built it, and at the request of the bishop Ubertini he restored the
Pieve of Cortona, and founded the church of S. Margherita for the
friars of St Francis, on the highest ground in that city. The fame of
Niccola was continually on the increase, owing to these works, so
that in 1267 he was invited by Pope Clement IV. to Viterbo, where,
among many other things he restored the church and convent of the
Friars Preachers. From Viterbo he went to Naples to King Charles, who
having defeated and slain Curradino on the plain of Tagliacozzo,
founded a wealthy church and abbey on the spot, for the burial-place
of the large number of men who had fallen on that day, ordaining that
prayers should be offered for their souls both day and night by many
monks. King Charles was so delighted with the work of Niccola in this
building that he loaded him with honours and rewards. On the way back
from Naples to Tuscany Niccola stayed to take part in the building of
S. 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 and
Hell; and as he took the greatest pains to render the souls of the
blessed in Paradise as beautifully as he possibly could, so he
introduced into his Hell the most fantastic shape of devils
imaginable, all intent on tormenting the souls of the damned. In this
work not only did he surpass the Germans who were working there, but
even himself, to his great glory, and  because he introduced a great
number of figures and spared no pains, it has been praised even to
our own day by those whose judgment does not extend beyond such
circumstances.

Among other children Niccola had a son called Giovanni, who was
always with his father, and under his care learned both sculpture and
architecture, so that in the course of a few years he became not only
the equal of his father, but his superior in some things. Thus, as
Niccola was already old, he withdrew to Pisa and lived quietly there,
leaving the control of everything to his son. At the death in Perugia
of Pope Urban IV., Giovanni was sent for to make the tomb, which he
executed in marble; but it was afterwards thrown down, together with
that of Pope Martin IV., when the Perugians enlarged their Vescovado,
so that only a few remains may be seen to-day dispersed about the
church. At the same time the Perugians, thanks to the skill and
industry of a friar of the Silvestrini, had brought to their city
from the hill of Pacciano, two miles away, an abundance of water. The
ornamentation of the fountain in both bronze and marble was entrusted
to Giovanni, so that he thereupon set his hand to the work, making
three 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 the
first, while the third, which is of bronze, is supported by three
figures; and in the middle are griffins, also of bronze, which throw
out water on every side. And as Giovanni considered that he had
executed an excellent piece of work, he put his name to it. The
arches and conduits of this fountain, which cost 160,000 gold ducats,
were found to be very much worn and broken about the year 1560, but
Vincenzio Danti, sculptor of Perugia, contrived a means, to his great
glory, of bringing water to the fountain in the original way, without
rebuilding the arches, which would have been very costly. When the
work was finished Giovanni felt anxious to return to see his old
father, who was sick, and he set out from Perugia intending to return
to Pisa; but on his way through Florence he was compelled to stay
there, to assist with others at the mills of the Arno, which were
being made at S. Gregorio, near the piazza dei Mozzi. But at length
receiving word that his father Niccola was dead, he departed for
Pisa, where he was received with great honour by all the city, on
account of his worth, since everyone rejoiced that although Niccola
was lost to them, yet they still possessed Giovanni, who inherited
his father's ability as well as his property. Nor were they deceived
in him when the time of testing arrived, for when it was necessary to
do some few things for the tiny but highly-ornate church of S. Maria
della Spina, the task was entrusted to Giovanni. He therefore put his
hand to the work and brought the ornamentation of that oratory to the
state of perfection which it possesses to-day, the more so as he
introduced the portrait of Niccola, taken from life, executed to the
best of his ability. When the Pisans had seen this they decided to
entrust him the construction of the Campo Santo, which is against the
piazza del Duomo towards the walls, as they had long desired and
talked of having a place for the burial of all their dead, both
gentle and simple, so that the Duomo should not be filled with tombs,
or for other reasons. Thus Giovanni with good designs and great
judgment erected the building as we now see it, in style, size, and
marble ornamentation, and as no expense was spared, it was roofed
with lead. On the outside of the principle entrance may be read
these 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, where
he erected the Castel Nuovo for King Charles; and in order to enlarge
it and add to its strength, he was compelled to pull down a number of
houses and churches, among them a convent of the friars of St
Francis, which was afterwards rebuilt on a larger and grander scale
at some distance from the castle, with the title of S. Maria della
Nuova. After these building had been set on foot and were well
advanced, Giovanni left Naples to return to Tuscany, but when he
reached Siena he was not allowed to go farther, but was induced to
design the façade of the Duomo of that city, which was subsequently
erected from his plans in a very rich and magnificent style. In the
following year, 1286, while the bishop's palace at Arezzo was being
built from the design of Margaritone, architect of Arezzo, Giovanni
was fetched from Sienna to that city by Guglielmo Ubertini, the
bishop there. He there executed in marble the table of the high
altar, full of figures cut in relief of leaves and other ornaments,
dividing the work into compartments by fine mosaics and enamels on
silver plates, fixed into the marble with great care. In the midst is
Our Lady with the child at her neck, and on one side of her is St
Gregory the Pope (which is a portrait of Pope Honorius IV. drawn from
life), and on the other side St Donato, the bishop and protector of
that 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 from
the life of St Donato, and the work is crowned with a series of
niches, 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 is
believed that they, as well as some other small figures on the top
and about the work, were taken away by the soldiers, who do not often
respect the even most Holy Sacrament. On these works the Aretines
expended 30,000 florins, as is found in some records. Nor does this
appear impossible, because at that time it was considered to be a
thing of the most precious and rare description, so that when
Frederick Barbarossa returned from his coronation at Rome, and was
passing through Arezzo many years after its completion, he praised
and admired it infinitely, and indeed with good cause, since the
joints are constructed of tiny pieces so excellently welded
together, that to an inexperienced eye, the whole work seems to be
made in one piece. In the same church Giovanni made the chapel of the
Ubertini, a noble family, and lords of a castle, as they still are,
though they were formerly of greater estate. He adorned this with
many marble ornaments, which are to-day covered over by many large
ornaments of stone, placed there in the year 1535, after plans by
Giorgio Vasari, for the support of an organ of extraordinary
excellence and beauty which rests upon them. Giovanni Pisano also
designed the church of S. Maria dei Servi, which has been destroyed
in our day, together with many palaces of the noblest families of the
city, for the reasons mentioned above. I must not omit to note that
in the construction of the marble altar Giovanni was assisted by some
Germans, who associated with him, rather for the sake of learning the
art, than for gain, and who profited so much by his instruction, that
when they went to Rome, after the completion of that work, they
served Pope Boniface VIII. in many works of sculpture executed for St
Peter's, and also in architecture, when he made Civita Castellana.
They were, moreover, sent by that Pope to S. Maria at Orvieto, where
they made a number of marble figures for the façade of the church,
which were very tolerable for those times. But among the others who
assisted Giovanni in his undertakings for the Vescovado at Arezzo,
were Agostino and Agnolo, sculptors and architects of Siena, who far
surpassed all the others, as will be said in the proper place. But
to return to Giovanni. When he left Orvieto he came to Florence to
see 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 he
arrived in Florence than he was appointed by the intendants of the
fabric of S. Maria del Fiore to make the Madonna, which stands
between two small angels above the door of that church, which leads
into the canons' quarters, a work much praised at the time. He next
made the small font for S. Giovanni, containing representations from
the life of that saint in half-relief. Proceeding thence to Bologna
he directed the construction of the principal chapel of the church of
St Domenico, in which he was also commissioned to make the marble
altar by Teodorico Borgognoni of Lucca, then bishop, a friar of that
order. Later on (1298), in the same place, he made the marble table
in which are Our Lady and eight other figures, all of very tolerable
workmanship. In the year 1300, when Niccola da Prato was at Florence
as cardinal legate of the Pope, for the purpose of settling the
discords among the Florentines, he caused Giovanni to build a nunnery
for him at Prato, which was called S. Niccola after him, and in the
same district he made him restore the convent of S. Domenico, as well
as that of Pistoia, in both of which the arms of that cardinal may
still be seen. And since the Pistolese held the name of Niccola,
Giovanni's father, in great respect, because he had displayed his
talents in that city, they commissioned Giovanni to make a marble
pulpit for the church of S. Andrea, similar to that which he had made
for the Duomo of Siena, and in competition with one which had been
made shortly before for the church of S. Giovanni Evangelista by a
German, which had been much praised. Giovanni finished his task in
four years, dividing the work into four subjects from the life of
Jesus Christ, and further introducing a Last Judgment, working with
the utmost diligence in order to equal, and perhaps surpass, that
celebrated pulpit of Orvieto. About the pulpit above some columns
which support it and in the architrave he carved the following lines,
since he thought that he had completed a great and beautiful work, as
indeed 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 for
the same church of S. Giovanni Evangelista, borne by three figures,
Temperance, Prudence and Justice, and as it was then considered a
work of great beauty, it was placed in the middle of the church as a
remarkable object. Before he left Pistoia he made the model for the
campanile of S. Jacopo, the principal church of the city, although
the work was not then begun. The tower is situated beside the church
in the piazza of S. Jacopo, and bears the date A.D. 1301. On the
death of Pope Benedict IX. at. Perugia, Giovanni was sent for to make
his tomb, which he executed in marble in the old church of S.
Domenico of the Friars Preachers, placing the Pope's effigy, taken
from life, and in his pontifical habit, upon the sarcophagus with two
angels holding a curtain, one on either side, and Our Lady above,
between two saints, executed in relief, as well as many other
ornaments carved on the tomb. Similarly in the new church of the same
order he made the tomb of M. Niccolo Guidalotti of Perugia, bishop of
Recanati, who was the founder of the new University of Perugia. In
this same new church, which had been previously founded by others, he
directed the construction of the principal nave, and this part of the
building was much more securely founded than the rest, which leans
over to one side, and threatens to fall down, owing to the faulty
laying of the foundations. And in truth he who undertakes to build or
perform any things of importance ought always to take the advice, not
of those who know little, but of those most competent to help him, so
that he may not afterwards have to repent with loss and shame that he
was ill-directed when he was in most need of assistance.

When he had completed his labours in Perugia, Giovanni wished to go
to Rome to learn from the few antique things there, as his father had
done, but being hindered by good reasons, he was never able to fulfil
his desire, chiefly because he heard that the court had just gone to
Avignon. So he returned to Pisa, where Nello di Giovanni Falconi,
craftsman, entrusted to him the great pulpit of the Duomo, which is
fixed to the choir on the right hand side as one approaches the high
altar. He set to work on this, and on a number of figures in full
relief, three braccia high, which he intended to use for it, and
little by little he brought it to its present form, resting in part
on the said figures and in part upon lions, while on the sides he
represented scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. It is truly a sin
that so much money, such diligence and labour should not be
accompanied by good design, and that it should lack that perfection,
invention, grace, and good style which any work of our own day would
possess, even were it executed at much less cost and with less
difficulty. Yet it must have excited no small admiration among the
men of the time, who had only been accustomed to see the rudest
productions. It was finished in the year 1320, as appears in certain
lines 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 I
do not wish to weary the reader, and because these are sufficient to
show not only that the pulpit is by the hand of Giovanni, but that
the men of that time were alike in their shortcomings. A Madonna
between St John the Baptist and another saint may be seen over the
principal of the door of the Duomo; it is in marble, and by the hand
of Giovanni, and the figure kneeling at her feet is said to be Piero
Gambacorti, the warden. However this may be, the following words are
cut 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 side
door, which is opposite the campanile, while on one side of her kneel
a lady and two children, representing Pisa, and on the other side the
Emperor 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 da
Prato had brought back with him from the Holy Land, and had deposited
it 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 an
attempt to steal it was made by a native of Prato, a man of a most
evil life, another Ser Ciappelletto, but he was discovered and put to
death for sacrilege. Moved by this deed, the people of Prato proposed
to make a strong and suitable receptacle in which the girdle should
be kept with greater security, and sent for Giovanni, who was now an
old man. Acting upon his advice, they constructed the chapel in the
principal church, where Our Lady's girdle now reposes. They then
greatly increased their church also from his plans, and incrusted
both the church and the campanile with white and black marble on the
outside, as may be seen. At length Giovanni died at a ripe old age in
the year 1320, after having completed many works in sculpture and
architecture besides those which are mentioned here. And in truth a
great debt is due to him and to Niccola his father, since in an age
which lacked every element of good design, in the midst of all the
darkness they threw so much light on those arts in which they were
really excellent.

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

"This is the talent which the Emperor Cæesar gave to Pisa, to the
intent that the tribute which they rendered to him should be
regulated thereby. The talent was set upon this column and lion in
the 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 the
men of that time, since he introduced a better design and form into
the art of painting, whereas they had only been accustomed to  see
things executed on the Byzantine style, so the mosaics of Andrea
Tafi, who was a contemporary, were much admired and even considered
divine, for the people of that day, who had not been used to see
anything different did not think that it was possible to produce
better works in that art. But in truth, as he was not the most
capable man in the world, and having reflected that working in mosaic
was more valued on account of its greater durability, be left
Florence for Venice, where some Greek painters were working in mosaic
at S. Marco. There he formed a close intimacy with them, and by dint
of persuasion, money, and promises he at length contrived to bring to
Florence Master Apollonio, a Greek painter, who taught him how to
bake the glass of the mosaic, and how to make the cement in which to
fix it. With him Andrea worked at the tribune of S. Giovanni, doing
the upper part which contains the Dominions, Principalities, and
Powers. Afterwards when he had gained more experience, he did the
Christ which is in the same church above the principal chapel as will
be related below. But as I have mentioned S. Giovanni, I will take
this opportunity of saying that that ancient sanctuary is incrusted
both within and without with marbles of the Corinthian order, and not
only is it perfectly proportioned and finished in all its parts, but
most beautifully adorned with doors and windows. Each face is
supplied with two columns of granite, 11 braccia high, forming three
compartments, above which are the architraves, which rest on the
columns, to carry the whole weight of the double roof, which is
praised by modern architects as a remarkable thing, and justly,
because this church helped to demonstrate to Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco, Donatello, and the  other masters of their time what
possibilities there were in that art. They all studied architecture
from this building and  from the church of S. Apostolo at Florence, a
work of such a good style that it approaches the true antique, since,
as I have said before, all the columns are measured and arranged with
such care that much may be learned from a careful examination of the
entire structure. But I will refrain from saying more about the good
architecture of this church, though much might be added to what
precedes, and  I will content myself by saying that those who rebuilt
the marble façade of the church of S. Miniato del Monte, deviated
widely from this model and from this excellent style. This work was
carried out in honour of the conversion of the blessed Giovanni
Gualberto, citizen of Florence and founder of the congregation of the
monks of Vallombrosa, because these and many other works erected
afterwards are not to be compared for excellence to those two
buildings. The art of sculpture experienced a similar fate because
all the masters of the time who were then working in Italy, as has
been said in the preface to the lives, were very rude. This may be
seen in many places, but especially in S. Bartolommeo of the regular
canons at Pistoia where there is a pulpit very rudely executed by
Guido da Como, containing the beginning of the life of Jesus Christ,
with these words inscribed there by the artist himself in the year
1199:

      "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 foundation
because that has been written by Giovanni Villani and other authors,
and, as I have already remarked that the good architecture in use
to-day is derived from that building, I will now add that, to judge
by appearances, the tribune is of a later date. At the time when
Alesso Baldovinetti, succeeding the Florentine painter Lippo,
repaired the mosaics it appeared as if it had anciently been painted
in red, the designs being executed on the stucco. Now Andrea Tafi and
Apollonius the Greek, in their scheme for the decoration of the
tribune, divided it into compartments. Starting from the top of the
vault next to the lantern these became gradually larger until they
reached the cornice below. The upper part is divided into rings
representing various subjects. The first contains all the ministers
and performers of the Divine will, such as the Angels, Archangels,
Cherubim, Seraphim, Dominions, Principalities, Powers. The second, in
which the mosaics are executed in the Byzantine style, are the
principal acts of God from the creation of light to the flood. The
circle underneath this which descends with increased space to the
eight faces of the tribune contains the history of Joseph and his
twelve brethren. These are followed by other spaces of the same size
and a like situation containing the life of Jesus Christ in mosaic
from the Conception of Mary to the Ascension. Next, following the
same order, under the three friezes, is the life of St John the
Baptist, beginning with the apparition of the angel to Zacharias the
priest and continuing to John's beheading and the burial of his body
by the disciples. All these things are rude, without design and
without art, and they are no advance upon the Byzantine style of the
time so that I cannot praise them absolutely, though they merit some
commendation, when one considers the methods in use at the time and
the imperfect state in which pictorial art then was. Besides, the
work 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 is
the beginning, although the whole, when compared with the works
of to-day rather excites laughter than pleasure or admiration.
Ultimately Andrea made the Christ, 7 braccia high, for the tribune on
the wall of the principal chapel, which may be seen there to-day, and
this he did by himself without the aid of Apollonio, to his great
glory. Having become famous throughout Italy by these works and being
reputed excellent in his own land, he received the richest honours
and rewards. It was certainly a great good fortune for Andrea to be
born at a time when only rude works were produced, so that things
which should have been considered of very slight account or even
worthless, were held in reasonable repute. The same thing happened
to fra Jacopo da Turrita, of the order of St Francis, who received
extraordinary rewards for the mosaics which he executed for the
small choir behind the altar of S. Giovanni, although they deserved
little praise, and he was afterwards invited to Rome as a great
master, where he was employed on some works in the chapel of the high
altar of S. Giovanni Lateram and in that of S. Maria Maggiore. He was
next invited to Pisa, where he did the Evangelists and other things
which are in the principal tribune of the Duomo, in the same style as
the other things which he executed, although he was assisted by
Andrea Tafi and Gaddo Gaddi. These were finished by Vicino, for
Jacopo left them in a very imperfect state. The works of these
masters obtained credit for some time, but when the productions of
Andrea, Cimabue, and the rest had to bear comparison with those of
Giotto, as will be said when the time comes, people came to recognise
in which direction perfection in art lay, for they saw how great a
difference there was between the first manner of Cimabue and that of
Giotto in the delineation of figures, a difference equally strongly
marked in the case of their pupils and imitators. From this time
others gradually sought to follow in the footsteps of the better
masters, surpassing each other more and more every day, so that art
rose from these humble beginnings to that summit of perfection to
which it has attained to-day. Andrea lived eighty-one years and died
before Cimabue in 1294. The reputation and honour which he won by his
mosaics, because it was he who had first brought to Tuscany the
better manner of executing and who had taught it to the men of that
province, led to the execution of the excellent works in that art by
Gaddo Gaddi, Giotto, and the rest, which have brought them fame and
immortality. After Andrea's death his merits were magnified in the
following 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 pranks
on him when a youth. From his master Buonamico had the portraits of
Pope Celestine IV. and Innocent IV., both of which he afterwards
introduced in the paintings which he made in S. Paolo a Ripa d'Arno
at Pisa. Another pupil was Antonio di Andrea Tafi, who may possibly
have been his son. He was a fair painter, but I have not been able to
find any works by his hand, and there is nothing beyond a bare
mention 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 whom
he brought from Venice to Florence, yet he introduced such
improvements into the art, uniting the pieces with great care, and
making his surfaces as smooth as a table (a very important thing in
mosaics), that he prepared the way for Giotto among others, as will
be said in that artist's life; and not for Giotto alone, but for all
those who have since practised this branch of pictorial art to our
own day. Thus it may be asserted with perfect truth that the
marvellous 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, showed
more design in the works which he produced in the Byzantine style,
and which he executed with great care, than did Andrea Tafi and the
other painters who preceded him. This was possibly due to his close
friendship and intercourse with Cimabue, for, whether it was through
congeniality of disposition or through the goodness of their hearts,
they became very much attached to each other, and their frequent
conversations together, and their friendly discussions upon the
difficulties of the arts, gave rise to many great and beautiful ideas
in their minds. This came to pass the more readily, because they were
aided by the quality of the air of Florence, which usually produces
ingenious and subtle spirits, and which made them strangers to that
ruggedness and coarseness from which Nature cannot entirely free
herself even when assisted by the rivalry of the good craftsmen and
the precepts laid down by them in every age. It is, indeed,
abundantly clear that, when things have been talked over in a
friendly way, without any reserve of convention, although this rarely
happens, they may be brought to a great state of perfection. The same
remark applies to those who study the sciences; for, by discussing
difficulties among themselves when they arise, they remove them,
rendering the path so clear and easy, that the greatest glory may be
won thereby. But, on the other hand, there are some who, with
devilish arts, and led by envy and malice, make profession of
friendship under the guise of truth and affection, give the most
pernicious advice, so that the arts do not attain to excellence so
soon as they do where the minds of noble spirits are united by such a
bond of love as that which drew together Gaddo and Cimabue, and, in
like manner, Andrea Tafi and Gaddo. It was Andrea who took Gaddo into
his companionship to finish the mosaics of S. Giovanni. Here Gaddo
learned so much, that he was able, without assistance, to make the
prophets, which may be seen round the walls of that sanctuary, in the
squares under the windows; and, as he executed these unaided and in a
much improved style, they brought him great renown. Encouraged by
this, he prepared himself to work alone, and devoted himself
constantly to the study of the Byzantine style, combined with that of
Cimabue. By such means, it was not long before he became an excellent
artist; so that the wardens of S. Maria del Fiore entrusted to him
the semi-circular space within the building above the principal
entrance, where he introduced a Coronation of the Virgin, in mosaic.
Upon its completion, it was pronounced by all the foreign and native
masters to be the finest work of its kind that had yet been seen in
Italy, for they recognised that it possessed more design and more
judgment, and displayed the results of more study, than were to be
found in all the remaining works in mosaic then in existence in the
peninsula. Thus, his fame being spread abroad by this work, he was
summoned to Rome  by Clement V. in the year 1308,--that is to say, in
the year following the great fire, in which the church and palaces of
the Lateran were destroyed. There he completed for the Pope some
works 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, where
he executed some things in the principal chapel and for other parts
of the church; but especially a God the Father, of large size with
many figures, which he did for the façade. He also assisted in the
completion of some mosaics on the façade of S. Maria Maggiore,
somewhat improving the style, and departing slightly from the
Byzantine manner, which was entirely devoid of merit. On his return
to Tuscany, he did some work in mosaic for the Tarlati, lords of
Pietramala, in the old Duomo, outside Arezzo, in a vault entirely
constructed of spungite. He covered the  middle  part  of this
building with mosaics; but the church fell down in the time of Bishop
Gentile  Urbinate, because the old stone vaulting was too heavy for
it, and it was afterwards  rebuilt in  brick by that bishop. On his
departure from Arezzo, Gaddo went to Pisa, where he made, for a niche
in the chapel of the Incoronata in the Duomo, the Ascension of Our
Lady into Heaven, where Jesus Christ is awaiting her, with a richly
appareled throne for her seat. This work was executed so well and so
carefully for the time, that it is in an excellent state of
preservation to-day. After this, Gaddo returned to Florence,
intending to rest. Accordingly he amused himself in making some small
mosaics, some of which are composed of egg-shells, with incredible
diligence and patience, and a few of them, which are in the church of
S. Giovanni at Florence, may still be seen. It is related that he
made two of these for King Robert, but nothing more is known of the
matter. This much must suffice for the mosaics of Gaddo Gaddi. Of
pictures he painted a great number, among them that which is on the
screen of the chapel of the Minerbetti in S. Maria Novella, and many
others sent to different places in Tuscany. Thus, by producing now
mosaics and now paintings, he executed many very tolerable works in
both mediums, which will always assure him good credit and
reputation. There is a great deal more which I might say about Gaddo,
but I will pass it over in silence, because the manner of the
painters of those days cannot be of great assistance to artists; and
I shall dwell at greater length upon the lives of those who may be of
some help, because they introduced improvements into the art.

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

  "Tempore Domini Johannis Rossi operarii istius ecclesiæ, Vicinus
   pictor incepit et perfecit hanc imaginem B. Mariæ, sed Majestatis,
   et Evangelistae per alios inceptæ, 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 in
the Baroncelli chapel in the church of S. Croce, where he stands by
the side of Andrea Tafi, in the marriage of the Virgin. In the book,
which I have mentioned above, there is a miniature by Gaddo, like
those of Cimabue, and which serves to show his ability as a
draughtsman.

Now, because an old book from which I have extracted these few
notices about Gaddo Gaddi, speaks of the building of the church of S.
Maria Novella in Florence for the Friars Preachers, a truly
magnificent and imposing structure, I will take this opportunity of
relating the circumstances of its erection. While St Dominic was at
Bologna, the place of Ripoli outside Florence was granted to him.
Accordingly he sent twelve friars thither under the care of the
blessed Giovanni da Salerno. Not many years after they came to
Florence, to the church and place of S. Pancrazio, and established
themselves 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 its
possessions were granted to Blessed Giovanni by the papal legate and
by the bishop of the city, they entered into possession and began to
live in that place on the last day of October 1221. But as this
church was rather small, with a western aspect and the entrance on
the old piazza, the friars, who had increased in numbers and who were
in great credit in the city, began to think of enlarging their church
and convent. So, having collected a great sum of money, and many
people of the city having promised every assistance, they began the
construction of a new church on St Luke's day, 1278, when the first
stone was laid with great ceremony by the Cardinal Latino degli
Orsini, legate of Pope Nicholas III. to the Florentines. The
architects of the church were fra Giovanni of Florence, and fra
Ristoro of Campi, lay brethren of the order, who had restored the
ponte alia Carraia, and that of S. Trinita, after their destruction
by the flood of October 1264. The greater part of the land covered by
the church and convent was given to the friars by the heirs of M.
Jacopo, de' Tornaquinci knight. The cost, as has been said, was
defrayed partly by alms, partly by the money of various persons who
gave assistance readily, but especially by the good offices of friar
Aldobrandino Cavalcanti, who was, afterwards bishop of Arezzo, and
who is buried over the gate of the Virgin. Besides other things this
friar is said to have collected by his industry all the labour and
materials required for the church. It was completed when fra Jacopo
Passavanti was prior of the convent, who thus deserved his marble
tomb 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, as
appears by an inscription on marble on a pillar on the right of the
principal 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 the
building of this church, which is in the possession of the fathers of
S. Maria Novella, as well as in the history of Giovanni Villani. I
did not wish to omit these few particulars, because the church is one
of the finest and most important in Florence, and also because it
contains many excellent works of the most famous artists of a later
time, as will be related hereafter.



Margaritone, Painter, Sculptor and Architect of Arezzo.


Among the other painters of old time, in whom the well-deserved
praise accorded to Cimabue and his pupil Giotto aroused a great deal
of fear, for their good workmanship in painting was hailed throughout
Italy, was one Margaritone, painter of Arezzo, who recognised equally
well with the others who previously occupied the foremost positions
in painting in that unhappy age, that the work of these two men would
probably all but obliterate his own reputation. Margaritone was
considered excellent among the painters of the age who worked in the
Byzantine style, and he did a number of pictures in tempera at
Arezzo. He worked in fresco also, painting almost the whole of the
church of S. Clemente, an abbey of the order of the Camaldolites, but
these occupied him a long time and cost him much trouble. The church
is entirely destroyed to-day, together with many other buildings,
including a strong fortress called S. dementi, because the Duke
Cosimo de' Medici not only here, but round the whole circuit of the
city, pulled down many buildings and the old walls which had been
restored by Guido Petramalesco, a former bishop and lord of the city,
in order to reconstruct them with curtains and bastions much stronger
and of less circuit than the former ones had been, and consequently
more easy to defend with a smaller number of men. Margaritone's
pictures in this church contained many figures both small and great,
and although they were executed in the Byzantine style, yet they were
admitted to show evidence of having been executed with good judgment
and with love of art, as may be inferred from the works of this
painter which are still extant in that city. Of these the principal
is a picture, now in the chapel of the Conception in S. Francesco,
representing a Madonna with modern ornamentation, which is held in
great veneration by the friars there. In the same church he did a
large crucifix, also in the Byzantine style, which is now placed in
the chapel where the quarters of the superintendent are situated. The
Saviour is delineated upon the axes of the cross, and Margaritone
made many such crucifixes in that city. For the nuns of S.
Margherita he painted a work which is now placed in the transept of
their church. This is canvas stretched on a panel, containing
subjects from the life of Our Lady and of St John the Baptist in
small figures, executed in a much better style, and with more
diligence and grace than the large ones. This work is noteworthy, not
only because the little figures in it are so carefully finished that
they resemble the work of an illuminator, but because it is a
wonderful thing that a picture on canvas should have lasted three
hundred years. He did an extraordinary number of pictures for all the
city, and a St Francis drawn from life at Sargiano, a convent of the
bare-footed friars. To this he placed his name, because he considered
that it was more than usually well done. He afterwards made a large
crucifix in wood, painted in the Byzantine manner, and sent it to
Florence to M. Farinata degli Uberti, a most famous citizen who, in
addition to many other notable exploits, had saved his native city
from 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 of
Pietramela in the year 1275, as their coat of arms proves, he did
many things before returning to Rome, where he had already given
great satisfaction to Pope Urban IV. by doing some things in fresco
for him in the portico of St Peter's; for although in the Byzantine
style of the time, they were not without merit. After he had
finished a St Francis at Ganghereto, a place above Terranuova in the
Valdarno, he devoted himself to sculpture, as he was of an ambitious
spirit, and he studied with such diligence that he succeeded much
better than he had done in painting; for although his first
sculptures were in the Byzantine style, as may be seen in four
figures in wood of a Deposition from the Cross in the Pieve, and some
other figures in relief which are in the chapel of St Francis above
the baptismal font, yet he adopted a much better manner after he had
visited Florence and had seen the works of Arnolfo, and of the other
more celebrated sculptors of the time. In the year 1275 he returned
to Arezzo in the suite of Pope Gregory, who passed through Florence
on his journey from Avignon to Rome. Here an opportunity presented
itself to make himself better known, for the Pope died at Arezzo
after having given 30,000 scudi to the Commune wherewith to finish
the building of the Vescovado which had been begun by Master Lapo,
and had made but little progress. The Aretines therefore ordained
that the chapel of St Gregory should be made in memory of the Pope in
the Vescovado, in which Margaritone afterwards placed a picture, and
in addition that Margaritone should make a marble tomb for the Pope
in the Vescovado. He set to work upon the task and brought it to such
a successful completion, introducing the Pope's portrait from life
both in marble and in painting, that it was considered to be the best
work which he had ever produced.

Margaritone then set to work to complete the Vescovado, following the
design of Lapo, and he displayed great activity; but he did not
complete it, for a few years later, in 1289, war broke out again
between the Florentines and Aretines, through the fault of Guglielmo
Ubertini, bishop and lord of Arezzo, aided by the Tarlati of
Pietramela and by the Pazzi of Val d'Arno, when all the money left by
the Pope for the building of the Vescovado was expended upon the war,
while evil befell the leaders, who were routed and slain at
Campaldino. The Aretines then ordained that the tolls paid by the
surrounding country, called a _dazio_, should be set aside for the
use of the building, and this toll has lasted to our own day. To
return to Margaritone, he seems to have been the first, so far as one
can judge by his works, who thought it necessary to take precautions,
when painting on wood, that the joints should be secure, so that no
cracks or fissures should appear after the completion of the
painting, and it was his practice to cover the panel completely with
canvas, fastened on by a strong glue made of shreds of parchment and
boiled in the fire; he then treated the surface with gypsum, as may
be seen in many of his own pictures and in those of others. Over the
gypsum, thus mixed with the glue, he made lines and diadems and other
rounded ornaments in relief; and it was he who invented the method of
grounding in bol-ar-moniac, on which he laid gold leaf which he
afterwards burnished. All these things which had never been seen
before may be noticed in his works, especially in an antependium in
the Pieve of Arezzo, which contains scenes from the life of St
Donate, and also in S. Agnesa and S. Niccolo in the same city.

Margaritone produced many works in his own country which were sent
out of it, part of which were at Rome in S. Giovanni and in St
Peter's, and some at S. Caterina at Pisa, where there is a St
Catherine of his over an altar in the transept, containing many small
figures in a representation of her life, and also a panel of St
Francis with many subjects from his life, on a gold ground. In the
upper church of S. Francesco at Assisi is a crucifix by his hand
painted in the Byzantine style, on a beam which spans the church. All
these works were greatly prized by the people of the time, although
they are not valued to-day, except as being curious on account of
their age; indeed they could only be considered good in an age when
art was not at its zenith, as it is to-day. Margaritone also paid
some attention to architecture, although I have not mentioned any
things made from his designs because they are of slight importance.
However, I must not forget to say that he designed the palace of the
governors of the city of Ancona, as I have found, in 1270, in the
Byzantine style; and what is more, he carved in sculpture eight
windows for the façade, each of which has two columns in the middle,
which support two arches. Over each window is a representation in
half relief, occupying the space between the arches and the top of
the window, of an Old Testament subject, carved in a species of stone
found in the country. Under the windows and on the façade are some
letters, the purport of which must be conjectured, so badly are they
done, 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 his
hand. Margaritone died at the age of seventy-seven, regretting, it is
said, that he had lived long enough to see the changes of the age and
the honours accorded to the new artists. He was buried in the old
Duomo of Arezzo, in a tomb of Travertine, which has been destroyed in
our own time by the demolition of that church. The following epitaph
was 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 church
was pulled down.



Giotto, Painter, Sculptor, and Architect of Florence.


The debt which painters owe to Nature, which serves continually as an
example to them, that from her they may select the best and finest
parts for reproduction and imitation, is due also to the Florentine
painter, Giotto; because, when the methods and outlines of good
painting had been buried for so many years under the ruins caused by
war, he alone, although born in the midst of unskilful artists, was
able, through God's gift in him, to endow art with a proper form
after it had been revived in a bad style. Certainly it was nothing
short of a miracle, in so gross and unskilful an age, that Giotto
should have worked to such purpose that design of which the men of
the time had little or no conception, was revived to a vigorous life
by his means. The birth of this great man took place in the year
1276, fourteen miles from Florence, in the town of Vespignano, his
father, who was a simple field labourer, being named Bondone. He
brought up Giotto as well as his position in life allowed. When the
boy had attained the age of ten years he exhibited, in all his
childish ways, an extraordinary quickness and readiness of mind,
which made him a favourite, not only with his father, but with all
who knew him, both in the village and beyond it. Bondone then set him
to watch a few sheep, and while he was following these from place to
place to find pasture, he was always drawing something from nature or
representing the fancies which came into his head, with a stone on
the ground or on sand, so much was he attracted to the art of design
by his natural inclination. Thus one day when Cimabue was going on
some business from Florence to Vespignano, he came upon Giotto, who,
while his sheep were grazing, was drawing one of them from life with
a pointed piece of stone upon a smooth surface of rock, although he
had never had any master but nature. Cimabue stopped in amazement at
the sight, and asked the boy if he would like to come and stay with
him. Giotto replied he would go willingly if his father would
consent. Cimabue lost no time in finding Bondone, who joyfully
consented and allowed his son to accompany Cimabue to Florence.
After his arrival there, assisted by his natural talent and taught by
Cimabue, the boy not only equalled his master's style in a short
time, but became such a good imitator of nature that he entirely
abandoned the rude Byzantine manner and revived the modern and good
style of painting, introducing the practice of making good portraits
of living persons, a thing which had not been in use for more than
two hundred years. And although there were some few portraits made in
this manner, as has been said above, yet they had not been very
successful, nor were they nearly so well executed as those of Giotto.
Among other portraits which he made, the chapel of the Podesta palace
at Florence still contains that of Dante Aligheri, his close
companion and friend, no less famous as a poet than Giotto then was
as a painter. This poet has been warmly praised by M. Giovanni
Boccaccio in the introduction to the story of M. Forese da Rabatta.
In this same chapel Giotto has also painted his own portrait as well
as those of Ser Brunetto Latini, Dante's master, and M. Corso Donati,
a famous citizen of the time. Giotto's first paintings were in the
chapel of the high altar of the Badia at Florence, in which he made a
number of things which were considered beautiful, but especially an
Annunciation. In this he has represented with extraordinary truth the
fear and astonishment of the Virgin Mary at the salutation of
Gabriel, who, in her terror seems ready to run away. The picture of
the high altar in the same chapel is also by Giotto's hand, and it
has continued to retain its position there, rather because of a
certain reverence which is felt for the work of such a man than for
any other reason. In S. Croce there are four chapels decorated by his
hand, three between the sacristy and the principal chapel, and one on
the 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 whose
death a number of friars exhibit the effect of weeping with
considerable fidelity to nature. In the second, which is that of the
family of the Peruzzi, are two subjects from the life of St John the
Baptist, to whom the chapel is dedicated. Here is a very life-like
representation of the dancing of Herodias, and of the promptitude
with which some servants are performing the service of the table. In
the same chapel are two miracles of St John the Evangelist, the one
representing the raising of Drusiana, the other his being caught up
into Heaven. The third chapel, that of the Giugni and dedicated to
the Apostles, contains representations by Giotto of the martyrdom of
many of them. In the fourth, that of the Tosinghi and Spinelli, which
is on the north side of the church and is dedicated to the Assumption
of Our Lady, Giotto painted the Nativity of the Virgin, her marriage,
the Annunciation, the adoration of the Magi, and the presentation of
the Christ child to Simeon. This last is a most beautiful thing, for
not only is the warmest love depicted in the face of the old man as
he receives the Christ, but the action of the child, who is afraid of
him and stretches out his arms to return to his mother, could not be
represented with more tenderness or greater beauty. In the Death of
Our Lady the Apostles are represented with a number of very beautiful
angels. The Baroncelli chapel in the same church contains a painting
in tempera by Giotto's hand, in which he has represented with great
care the coronation of Our Lady. It contains a very large number of
small figures and a choir of angels and saints, produced with great
diligence. On this work he has written his name and the date in gold
letters. Artists who reflect that at this time Giotto was laying the
foundations of the proper method of design and of colouring, unaided
by the advantages of seeing the light of the good style, will be
compelled to hold him in the highest veneration. In the same church
of S. Croce there are in addition a crucifix above the marble tomb of
Carlo Marzuppini of Arezzo, Our Lady with St John and the Magdalene
at the foot of the cross, and opposite on the other side of the
building an Annunciation towards the high altar over the tomb of
Lionardo Aretino, which has been restored by modern artists with
great lack of judgment. In the refectory he has done the history of
St Louis, a Last Supper, and a Tree of the Cross, while the presses
of the sacristy are decorated with some scenes from the lives of
Christ and of St Francis in small figures. At the church of the
Carmine in the chapel of St John the Baptist he represented the whole
of that saint's life in several pictures; and in the Palazzo della
parte Guelfa at Florence there is the history of the Christian faith
painted admirably by him in fresco, and containing the portrait of
Pope Clement IV., who founded that monastery to which he gave his
arms, retained by them ever since.

After these works Giotto set out from Florence for Assisi in order to
finish what Cimabue had begun there. On his way through Arezzo he
painted the chapel of St Francis, which is above the baptistery in
the Pieve there, and a St Francis and a St Dominic, portraits from
life, on a round pillar near to a most beautiful antique Corinthian
capital. In the Duomo outside Arezzo he decorated the interior of a
large chapel with the Stoning of St Stephen, an admirable composition
of figures. On completing these things he proceeded to Assisi, a
city of Umbria, whither he was summoned by fra Giovanni di Muro della
Marca, at that time general of the friars of St Francis. In the upper
church of this town he painted a series of thirty-two frescoes of the
life of St Francis, under the corridor which traverses the windows,
sixteen on each side, with such perfection that he acquired the
highest reputation thereby. In truth the work exhibits great variety,
not only in the postures of the different figures, but in the
composition of each subject, besides which it is very interesting to
see the various costumes of those times and certain imitations and
observations of Nature. One of the most beautiful of these represents
a thirsty man, whose desire for water is represented in the most
lively manner as he kneels on the ground to drink from a spring, with
such wonderful reality that one might imagine him to be a real
person. There are many other things most worthy of notice into which
I will not enter now, because I do not wish to be tedious. Let it
suffice to say that by these works Giotto acquired the highest
reputation for the excellence of his figures, for his arrangement,
sense of proportion, fidelity to Nature, and his innate facility
which he had greatly increased by study, while in addition to this he
never failed to express his meaning clearly. Giotto indeed was not so
much the pupil of any human master as of Nature herself, for in
addition 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 of
the same place the upper part of the walls beside the high altar, and
all four angles of the vaulting over the spot where the body of St
Francis lies, the whole displaying his beautiful and inventive
imagination. The first contains St Francis glorified in Heaven,
surrounded by those Virtues which are required of those who wish to
be perfect in the sight of God. On the one side Obedience puts a yoke
on the neck of a friar who kneels before her, the bands of which are
drawn by hands to Heaven. With one finger on her mouth she signifies
silence, and her eyes are turned towards Jesus Christ, who is
shedding blood from his side. Beside her are Prudence and Humility to
show that where true obedience exists, there also will be humility
and prudence, causing everything to prosper. In the second angle is
Chastity, who will not allow herself to be won by the kingdoms,
crowns, or palms which are being offered to her. At her feet stands
Purity who is washing the naked, while Fortitude is bringing others
to be washed and cleansed. On one side of Chastity is Penitence,
chasing a winged Love with the cord of discipline and putting to
flight Uncleanness. Poverty occupies the third space, treading on
thorns with her bare feet; behind her barks a dog, while a boy is
throwing stones at her and another is pushing thorns into her legs
with a stick. Poverty here is espoused by St Francis, while Jesus
Christ 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 by
a multitude of angels who form a choir about him and hold a banner on
which are a cross and seven stars, while over all is the Holy Spirit.
In each of these angles are some Latin words explanatory of the
subject. Besides these four angles the paintings on the side walls
are most beautiful, and deserve to be highly valued both for the
perfection which they exhibit and because they were produced with
such skill that they are in an excellent state of preservation
to-day. These paintings contain an excellent portrait of Giotto
himself, and over the door of the sacristy is a fresco by his hand of
St Francis receiving the stigmata, so full of tenderness and devotion
that it seems to me to be the most excellent painting that Giotto has
produced 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 in
the fearful desert of Vernia, to be sent to Pisa. Besides a landscape
full of trees and rocks, a new thing in those days, the attitude of
the saint, who is receiving the stigmata on his knees with great
eagerness, exhibits an ardent desire to receive them and an infinite
love towards Jesus Christ, who is in the air surrounded by seraphim
granting them to him, the varied emotions being all represented in
the most telling manner imaginable. The predella of the picture
contains three finely executed subjects from the life of the same
saint. The work may now be seen in S. Francesco at Pisa, on a pillar
beside the high altar, where it is held in high veneration in memory
of so great a man. It led the Pisans, on the completion of their
Campo Santo from the plan of Giovanni di Niccola Pisano, as already
related, to entrust to Giotto the painting of a part of the walls.
For as the exterior of the walls was incrusted with marble and
sculptures at a great cost, the roof being of lead, and the interior
filled with antique sarcophagi and tombs of Pagan times, gathered
together in that city from all parts of the world, the Pisans wished
the walls to be decorated with a series of noble paintings.
Accordingly Giotto went to Pisa, and beginning at the end of one of
the walls of the Campo Santo he depicted the life of the patient Job
in six frescoes. Now it occurred to him that the marbles of the part
of 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 and
throw 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 as
possible, he prepared a coating for the whole of the surface on which
he proposed to paint his frescoes, which consisted of a plaster or
incrusture made up of lime, chalk and brick-dust. This device has
proved so successful, that the paintings which he subsequently
executed on this surface, have endured to this day, and they would
have stood better had not the neglect of those who should have taken
care of them, allowed them to be much damaged by the damp. The want
of attention to this detail, which would have involved little
trouble, has caused the pictures to suffer a great deal in some
places where the damp has converted the crimsons into black and
caused the plaster to fall off. Besides this it is the nature of
chalk when mixed with lime to become corroded and to peel, whence it
happens that the colours are destroyed, although they may originally
appear to take well. These frescoes contain the portrait of M.
Farinata degli Uberti, besides many fine figures, among which one may
remark some countrymen, who in bringing the sad news to Job, exhibit
the utmost sorrow for the lost animals and the other misfortunes.
There is also much grace in the figure of a servant, who with a fan
of branches stands near the bowed figure of Job, abandoned by
everyone else, for in addition to the figure being well executed in
every particular, his attitude is wonderful, as with one hand he
drives away the flies from his leprous and noisome master, and holds
his nose with the other with disgust, to escape the smell. Very fine
also are the other figures of these pictures and the heads of both
men and women, and the delicate treatment of the drapery, so that it
is small wonder that the work brought Giotto such renown in that city
and elsewhere; that Pope Benedict IX., who was proposing to decorate
St Peter's with some paintings, sent a courtier from Treviso to
Tuscany, to see what manner of man Giotto was, and to report on the
quality of his work. On the way the courtier learned that there were
other excellent masters in painting and mosaic in Florence, and he
interviewed a number of artists at Siena. When he had received
designs from these, he proceeded to Florence. Entering Giotto's shop
one morning, as he was at work, the envoy explained to him the Pope's
intention, 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 to
His Holiness. Giotto, who was always courteous, took a sheet of paper
and a red pencil, pressed his arm to his side to make a compass of
it, and then with a turn of his hand, produced a circle so perfect in
every particular that it was a marvel to see. This done, he turned
smiling to the courtier and said: "Here is the design." The latter,
who thought he was joking, said: "Am I to have no other design but
this?" "It is enough and more than enough," replied Giotto; "send it
in with the others and you will see if it is recognised." The
messenger perceived that he would obtain nothing else, and left in a
state of considerable dissatisfaction, imagining that he had been
laughed at. However, when he sent in the other designs with the names
of their authors, he included that of Giotto, and related how the
artist had executed it without moving his arm and without compasses.
From this the Pope and all the courtiers present recognised to what
an extent Giotto surpassed all the other painters of the time in
excellence. When the story became public it gave rise to a saying
which is still used for people of dull wits: "You are more round
(_tondo_) than Giotto's O." This proverb deserves to be considered a
good one, not only from the circumstances out of which it arose, but
much more for its meaning, which is due to the two-fold significance
of the word _tondo_ in Tuscany, that of a perfect circle, and
slowness and heaviness of mind. Accordingly the Pope sent for Giotto
to Rome, where he received him with great honour, and recognised his
worth. He caused him to paint for the tribune of St Peter's five
subjects from the life of Christ, and the principal picture for the
sacristy, all of which were executed with great care, nothing in
tempera ever leaving his hands before it was perfectly finished; thus
he richly deserved the reward of 600 gold ducats which the delighted
Pope gave to him, bestowing many other favours upon him, so that it
became the talk of all Italy.

As I do not wish to omit a memorable circumstance concerning art, I
will notice here that there happened to be in Rome at this time a
great friend of Giotto named Oderigi d'Aggobbio, an excellent
illuminator of the day, who adorned many books for the Pope for the
palace library, though they are now mostly destroyed by time. In my
own book of old designs there are some remnants by his hand, and he
certainly was a clever artist. But a much better master than he was
Francis, an illuminator of Bologna, who did some very fair things for
the Pope for the same library at that very time, in a like style, as
may be seen in my book, where I have some designs by his hand, both
for painting and illuminations, among them an eagle, excellently
done, and a fine lion tearing up a tree. These two excellent
illuminators are referred to by Dante in the passage on the
vainglorious in the eleventh chapter of the Purgatorio, in these
lines:

          "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's
style that he commissioned him to surround the walls of St Peter's
with scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Giotto therefore began
these, and painted the fresco of the angle, seven braccia high, which
is above the organ, and many other paintings, of which some have been
restored by other artists in our own day, and some have been either
destroyed or carried away from the old building of St Peter's during
the founding of the new walls and set under the organ. Among these
was a representation of Our Lady on a wall. In order that it might
not be thrown down with the rest, it was cut out, supported by beams
and iron, and so taken away. On account of its great beauty, it was
afterwards built into a place selected by the devotion of M. Niccolo
Acciancoli, a Florentine doctor enthusiastic over the excellent
things of art, who has richly adorned it with stucco and other modern
paintings. Giotto is also the author of the mosaic known as the
Navicella, which is over the three doors of the portico in the
courtyard of St Peter's. This is a truly marvellous work, well
deserving its high reputation among all persons of taste. In addition
to its excellent design, the apostles are admirably disposed, toiling
in different ways in the midst of the tempest, while the winds fill
the sail, which bellies out exactly like a real one; and yet it is a
difficult task so to unite those pieces of glass to form the light
and shade of so real a sail, which, even with the brush, could only
be equalled by a great effort. Besides all this, there is a fisherman
who is standing on a rock and fishing with a line, whose attitude is
expressive of the extreme patience proper to that art, while his face
betrays his hope and desire to catch something. Beneath the Navicella
are three small arches painted in fresco, but as they are almost
entirely 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 the
Minerva, a church of the Friars Preachers, which was then much
admired, he returned to his own country, from which he had been
absent for six years. But soon after Pope Clement V. was elected at
Perugia, on the death of Pope Benedict IX., and Giotto was obliged to
accompany the new pontiff to his court at Avignon to execute some
works there. Thus, not only in Avignon, but in several other places
of France, he painted many very beautiful frescoes and pictures,
which greatly delighted the Pope and all his court. When he at length
received his dismissal, he was sent away kindly with many gifts, so
that he returned, home no less rich than honoured and famous. Among
other things which he brought away with him was the Pope's portrait,
which he afterwards gave to Taddeo Gaddi, his pupil. The date of this
return to Florence was the year 1316. But he was not long permitted
to remain in Florence, as he was invited to Padua to do some work for
the lords della Scala, for whom he painted a beautiful chapel in the
Santo, 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 friars
of S. Francesco. On the completion of these things he was detained at
Ferrara, on his way back to Tuscany, to paint for the lords of Esti
in their palace and S. Agostino some things which may be seen there
to this day. When the news of Giotto's presence at Ferrara reached
the Florentine poet Dante, he succeeded in inducing his friend to
visit Ravenna, where the poet was exiled, and caused him to paint
some frescoes about the church of S. Francesco for the lords of
Polenta, which are of considerable merit. From Ravenna Giotto
proceeded to Urbino, and did a few things there. Afterwards he
happened to be passing through Arezzo, and being unable to refuse a
favour to Piero Saccone, who had been very kind to him, he executed
in fresco, on a pillar of the principal chapel of the Vescovado, a St
Martin, who is cutting his mantle in two and giving part of it to a
beggar who is all but naked. Then, when he had painted in tempera a
large crucifix in wood for the Abbey of S. Fiore, which is now in the
middle of that church, he at length reached Florence. Here, among
many other things, he painted some pictures in fresco and tempera for
the Nunnery of Faenza, which no longer exist owing to the destruction
of that house.

In 1321 occurred the death of Giotto's dearest friend Dante, to his
great grief; and in the following year he went to Lucca, where, at
the request of Castruccio, then lord of that city, his birthplace, he
made a picture of St Martin, with Christ above in the air, and the
four patron saints of the city--St Peter, St Regulus, St Martin, and
St Paulinus--who seem to be presenting a pope and an emperor,
believed by many to be Frederick of Bavaria and the anti-Pope
Nicholas V. There are also some who believe that Giotto designed the
impregnable fortress of the Giusta at S. Fridiano at Lucca. When
Giotto had returned to Florence, King Robert of Naples wrote to his
eldest son Charles, King of Calabria, who was then in that city, to
use every means to induce the painter to go to Naples, where the king
had just completed the building of the Nunnery of S. Chiara and the
royal church, which he wished to have decorated with noble paintings.
When Giotto learned that he was wanted by so popular and famous a
king, he departed to serve him with the greatest alacrity, and on his
arrival he painted many scenes from the Old and New Testaments in
some chapels of the monastery. It is said that the scenes from the
Apocalypse which he made in one of those chapels were suggested by
Dante, as also perchance were some of the much-admired works at
Assisi, of which I have already spoken at length; and although Dante
was dead at this time, it is possible that they had talked over these
things, as friends frequently do. To return to Naples, Giotto did
many works in the Castel dell' Uovo, especially in the chapel, which
greatly delighted the king, who became so fond of him that he often
came to talk with the artist while he was at work, and took delight
in seeing him at work and in listening to his conversation. Giotto,
who always had a jest ready or some sharp retort, entertained the
king with his hand in painting and with his tongue by his pleasant
discourse. Thus it once happened that the king told him it was his
intention to make him the first man in Naples, to which Giotto
replied: "No doubt that is why I am lodged at the Porta Reale to be
the 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 on
very friendly terms with the king, he painted a good number of
pictures for him in the chamber which King Alfonso I. pulled down to
make the castle, and also in the Incoronata, and among those in the
chamber were the portraits of many famous men, Giotto among the
number. One day, by some caprice, the king asked Giotto to paint his
kingdom. It is said that Giotto painted for him a saddled ass, with
another new saddle at its feet at which it was sniffing, as if he
wished for it in place of the one he had on. On each saddle were the
royal crown and the sceptre of power. When the king asked Giotto for
the meaning of this picture, he replied: "Such are your subjects and
such is the kingdom, where every day they are wanting to change their
master."

On his departure from Naples for Rome, Giotto stayed at Gaeta, where
he was constrained to paint some subjects from the New Testament in
the Nunziata, which have suffered from the ravages of time, but not
to such an extent that it is not possible to distinguish a portrait
of Giotto himself near a large crucifix of great beauty. This done,
he remained a few days at Rome, in the service of the Signor
Malatesta, whom he could not refuse this favour, and then he went on
to Rimini, of which city Malatesta was lord, and there in the church
of S. Francesco he painted a large number of pictures, which were
afterwards destroyed by Gismondo, son of Pandolfo Malatesta, who
rebuilt the whole of that church. In the cloister of the same church,
towards the church front, he painted in fresco the life of the
Blessed Michelina, which ranks with the best things which he ever
did, on account of the many fine things which he took into
consideration in executing it, for, quite apart from the beauty of
the drapery and the grace and vigour of the heads, which are truly
marvellous, there is a young woman of the most exquisite beauty, who
in order to free herself from an accusation of adultery, takes a most
solemn oath upon a book, keeping her eyes fixed on those of her
husband, who has made her swear because his suspicions had been
aroused by her giving birth to a black son, whom he could not be
persuaded to acknowledge as his own. Just as the husband shows his
anger and mistrust in his face, so his wife betrays, to those who
look carefully at her, her innocence and simplicity, by the trouble
in her face and eyes, and the wrong which is done to her in making
her swear and in proclaiming her publicly as an adulteress. Giotto
has also expressed with great realism a man afflicted with sores, as
all the women who are about him, disgusted by the stench, turn away
with various contortions in the most graceful manner imaginable. Then
again the foreshortening in a picture containing a number of lame
beggars is highly praiseworthy, and should be much prized by artists,
since it is from these works that the origin of foreshortening is
derived; and when it is remembered that they are the first, they must
be considered very tolerable achievements. But the most remarkable
thing of all in this series is the action of the saint with regard to
certain usurers who are paying her the money realised by the sale of
her possessions, which she intends to give to the poor. Her face
displays contempt for money and other earthly things, which she seems
to abhor, while the usurers are the very picture of human avarice and
greed. Similarly the face of one who is counting the money, which he
appears to be communicating to the notary who is writing, is very
fine, for although his eyes are turned towards the notary, yet he
keeps his hand over the money, thus betraying his greed, avarice, and
mistrust. 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 natural
folds of the drapery, showing that Giotto was born to throw light on
the art of painting. Finally he has introduced into this work a
portrait of the Signor Malatesta in a ship, which is most life-like;
and his excellence is also displayed in the vigour, disposition, and
posture of the sailors and other people, particularly of one figure
who is speaking with others and putting his hand to his face spits
into the sea. Certainly these things may be classed among the very
best works in painting produced by the master, because, in spite of
the large number of figures, there is not one which is not produced
with the most consummate art, being at the same time exhibited in an
attractive posture. Accordingly there is small need for wonder that
the Signor Malatesta loaded him with rewards and praise. When Giotto
had completed his works for this Signor, he did a St Thomas Aquinas
reading 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 a
much admired painting in fresco in a chapel of S. Giovanni
Evangelista. When he next returned to Florence, laden with honours
and 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 the
right-hand side of the church. He made another like it for S. Maria
Novella, in which his pupil Puccio Capanna collaborated with him.
This is now over the principal entrance to the church, on the
right-hand side, above the tomb of the Gaddi. For the same church he
made a St Louis, for Paolo di Lotto Ardinghelli, with portraits of
the donor and his wife at the saint's feet. This picture is placed on
the screen.

In the following year, 1327, occurred the death of Guido Tarlati da
Pietramala, bishop and lord of Arezzo, at Massa di Maremma, on his
return from Lucca, where he had been visiting the Emperor. His body
was brought to Arezzo, where it received the honour of a stately
funeral, and Pietro Saccone and Dolfo da Pietramala, the bishop's
brother, determined to erect a marble tomb which should be worthy of
the greatness of such a man, who had been both spiritual and temporal
lord and the leader of the Ghibelline party in Tuscany. Accordingly
they wrote to Giotto, desiring him to design a very rich tomb, as
ornate as possible; and when they had supplied him with the necessary
measurements, they asked him to send them at once the man who was, in
his opinion, the most excellent sculptor then living in Italy, for
they relied entirely upon his judgment. Giotto, who was very
courteous, prepared the design and sent it to them, and from it the
tomb was made, as will be said in the proper place. Now Pietro
Saccone was a great admirer of Giotto's worth, and when, not long
after, he took the Borgo a S. Sepolero, he brought from that place to
Arezzo a picture by the artist's hand, of small figures, which was
afterwards broken into fragments; but Baccio Gondi, a Florentine of
gentle 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 was
commissioner at Arezzo, and succeeded in finding some. He brought
them to Florence, where he holds them in great veneration, as well as
some other things in his possession, also by Giotto, who produced so
much that an enumeration of all his works would excite incredulity.
It is not many years since that I happened to be at the hermitage of
Camaldoli, where I have done a number of things for the fathers, and
in 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 beautiful
crucifix, on a gold ground, by Giotto, with his signature. I am
informed by the Rev. Don Silvano Razza, a Camaldolian monk, that this
crucifix is now in the cell of the principal, where it is treasured
for its author's sake as a most precious thing, together with a very
beautiful little picture by the hand of Raphael of Urbino.

For the Umiliati brethren of Ognissanti at Florence Giotto painted a
chapel and four pictures, one of them representing Our Lady
surrounded by a number of angels, with the child at her neck, on a
large crucifix of wood, the design of which was subsequently copied
by Puccio Capanna, and reproduced in every part of Italy, for he
closely followed Giotto's style. When this work of the Lives was
printed for the first time, the screen of that church contained a
picture painted in tempera by Giotto, representing the death of Our
Lady, surrounded by the apostles, while Christ receives her soul into
His arms. The work has been much praised by artists, and especially
by Michelagnolo Buonarotti who declared, as is related elsewhere,
that it was not possible to represent this scene in a more realistic
manner. This picture, being as I say held in great esteem, has been
carried away since the publication of the first edition of this work,
by one who may possibly have acted from love of art and reverence for
the work, which may have seemed then to be too little valued, and who
thus from motives of pity showed himself pitiless, as our poet says.
It is certainly a marvel that Giotto should have produced such
beautiful paintings in those times, especially when it is considered
that he may in a certain sense be said to have learned the art
without a master.

After these things, in the year 1334, on the ninth day of July, he
began work on the campanile of S. Maria del Fiore, the foundations of
which were laid on a surface of large stones, after the ground had
been dug out to a depth of 20 braccia, the materials excavated being
water and gravel. On this surface he laid 12 braccia of concrete, the
remaining 8 braccia being filled up with masonry. In the inauguration
of this work the bishop of the city took part, laying the first stone
with great ceremonial in the presence of all the clergy and
magistrates. As the work was proceeding on its original plan, which
was in the German style in use at the time, Giotto designed all the
subjects comprised in the ornamentation, and marked out with great
care the distribution of the black, white, and red colours in the
arrangement of the stones and lines. The circuit of the tower at the
base was 100 braccia, or 25 braccia on each side, and the height 144
braccia. If what Lorenzo di Cione Giberti has written be true, and I
most firmly believe it, Giotto not only made the model of this
campanile, but also executed some of the marble  sculptures in
relief, which represent the origin of all the arts. Lorenzo asserts
that he had seen models in relief by the hand of Giotto, and
particularly those of these works, and this may readily be credited,
since design and invention are the father and mother of all the fine
arts, and not of one only. According to Giotto's model, the campanile
should have received a pointed top or quadrangular pyramid over the
existing structure, 50 braccia in height, but because it was a German
thing, and in an old-fashioned style, modern architects have always
discountenanced its construction, considering the building to be
better as it is. For all these things Giotto received the citizenship
of Florence, in addition to a pension of one hundred gold florins
yearly from the Commune of Florence, a great thing in those days. He
was also appointed director of the work which was carried on after
him by Taddeo Gaddi, as he did not live long enough to see its
completion.

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

Giotto made a second visit to Padua, where besides painting a number
of chapels and other things, he executed a famous series of pictures
in the place of the Arena, which brought him much honour and profit.
In Milan also he left a few things which are scattered about the
city, and which are considered very beautiful to this day. At length,
shortly after his return from Milan, he rendered his soul to God in
the year 1336, to the great grief of all his fellow-citizens, and of
all those who had known him or even heard his name, for he had
produced so many beautiful works in his life, and was as good a
Christian 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. Besides
Dante, of whom we have spoken above, he and his works were highly
esteemed by Petrarch, who in his will left to Signor Francesco da
Carrara, lord of Padua, among other things which were held in the
greatest veneration, a Madonna by Giotto's hand, as a rare thing, and
the gift most worthy to be offered to him. The words of this part of
the will ran thus:--_Transeo ad dispositionem aliarum rerum; et
predicto igitur domino meo Paduano, quia et ipse per Dei gratiam nan
eget, et ego nihil aliud habeo dignum se, mitto tabulam meam sive
historiam Beatæ Vlrginis Mariae, operis Jocti pictoris egregii, quæ
mihi ab amico meo Michaele Vannis de Florentia missa est, in cujus
pulchritudinem ignorantes non intelligunt, magistri autem artis
stupent: hanc iconem ipsi domino lego, ut ipsa  Virgo benedicta sibi
sit propitia apud filium suum Jesum Christum, &c_. It was Petrarch
also who said the following words in the fifth book of his Familiari
written  to his intimate friends: _Atquc (ut a veteribus ad nova, ab
externis ad nostra transgrediar) duos ego  novi pictores egregios,
nec formosos, Jottum Florentinorum civem, cujus inter modernos fama
urgens est, et Simonem Sanensem. Novi scultores aliquot, &c_. Giotto
was buried in S. Maria del Fiore, on the left hand as one enters the
church, where a white marble slab is set up to the memory of this
great man. As I remarked in the life of Cimabue, a contemporary
commentator of Dante said: "Giotto was, and is the chief among the
painters 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 already
said, and Puccio Capanna, a Florentine, who painted for the Dominican
church of S. Cataldo at Rimini a most perfect fresco representing a
ship apparently about to sink, while the men are throwing their goods
into the water. Puccio has here portrayed himself in the midst of the
sailors. After Giotto's death, the same artist painted a number of
things in the church of S. Francesco at Assisi, and for the chapel of
the Strozzi, beside the door on the river front of the church of
Trinita he did in fresco a coronation of the Virgin with a choir of
angels, in which he followed Giotto's style rather closely, while on
the side walls are some very well executed scenes from the life of St
Lucy. In the Badia of Florence he painted the chapel of S. Giovanni
Evangelista of the family of the Covoni, which is next to the
sacristy. At Pistoia he did frescoes in the principal chapel of S.
Francesco, and the chapel of S. Ludovico, with scenes from the lives
of the patron saints, which are very tolerable productions. In the
middle of the church of S. Domenico in the same city is a crucifix
with a Madonna and St John, executed with much softness, and at the
feet an entire human skeleton, an unusual thing at that time, which
shows that Puccio had made efforts to understand the principles of
his art. This work contains his name, written after this fashion:
_Puccio di Fiorenza me Fece_. In the same church, in the tympanum
above the door of S. Maria Nuova are three half-length figures,--Our
Lady, with the Child on her arm, St Peter on the one side and St
Francis on the other, by the same artist. In the lower church of S.
Francesco at Assisi he further painted in fresco some scenes from the
passion of Jesus Christ, with considerable skill and much vigour, and
in the chapel of S. Maria degli Angeli of that church he executed in
fresco a Christ in glory, with the Virgin, who is interceding with
Him for Christian people, a work of considerable merit, but much
smoked by the lamps and candles which are always burning there in
great quantity. In truth, so far as one can judge, although Puccio
adopted the style and methods of his master Giotto, yet he did not
make sufficient use of them in his works, although, as some assert,
he did not live long, but sickened and died through working too much
in fresco. His hand may also be recognised in the chapel of St Martin
in the same church, in the history of the saint, done in fresco for
the Cardinal Gentile. In the middle of a street called Portica may
also be seen a Christ at the Column, and a picture of Our Lady
between St Catherine and St Clare. His works are scattered about in
many other places, such as Bologna, where there is a picture of the
passion of Christ in the transept of the church, and scenes from the
life of St Francis, besides other things which I omit for the sake of
brevity. But at Assisi, where the majority of his works are, and
where I believe he helped Giotto to paint, I found that they consider
him to be a fellow-citizen, and there are some members of the family
of the Capanni in that city to this day. From this we may gather that
he was born in Florence, since he himself wrote that he was a pupil
of Giotto, but that he took his wife from Assisi, and had children
there, whose descendants still inhabit the town. But this matter is
of very slight importance, and it is enough to know that he was a
skilful master. Another pupil of Giotto, and a very skilful painter
was Ottaviano da Faenza, who painted many things in  S. Giorgio at
Ferrara, a convent of the monks of Monte Oliveto. In Faenza, where he
lived and died, he painted in the tympanum above the door of S.
Francesco, Our Lady and St Peter and St Paul, and many other things
in his own country and at Bologna.

Another pupil was Pace di Faenza, who was often with his master, and
helped him in many things. At Bologna there are some scenes in fresco
by his hand on the outside front of S. Giovanni Decollato. This Pace
was a clever artist, especially in painting small figures, as may be
seen to-day in the church of S. Francesco at Forli, in a tree of the
cross and in a panel in tempera containing the life of Christ, and
four small subjects from the life of Our Lady, which are all very
well executed. It is said that he executed in fresco for the chapel
of St Anthony at Assisi, some scenes from the life of that saint for
a duke of Spoleto, who is buried there with a son. These two princes
had been killed while fighting in the suburbs of Assisi, as may be
seen by a long inscription on the sarcophagus of their tomb. The old
book of the company of painters records that one Francesco, called
"of Master Giotto," was another pupil of the master, but I know
nothing more about him.

Yet another pupil of Giotto was Guglielmo da Forli, who, besides many
other works, painted the chapel of the high altar for S. Domenico at
Forli, his native place. Other pupils were Pietro Laureati, Simone
Memmi of Siena, Stefano of Florence, and Pietro Cavallini of Rome.
But as I intend to deal fully with these in their lives, I shall
content myself here with simply saying that they were pupils of
Giotto. That the master drew extremely well for his day may be seen
on a number of parchments containing some water colours, pen and ink
drawings, chiaroscuros with the lights in white, by his hand, in our
book of designs, which are truly marvellous when compared with those
of the masters who preceded him, and afford a good example of his
style.

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

TALE LXIII.

Every one must have heard of Giotto, and how as a painter he
surpassed 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, with
a 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 this
buckler." Giotto took stock of the man and his manners, but he said
nothing except "When do you want it," and the man told him. "Leave it
to me," said Giotto, and the man departed. When Giotto was alone he
reflected: "What is the meaning of this? Has someone sent him here to
play a trick on me? Be that as it may, no one has ever before brought
me a buckler to paint. And the fellow who brought it is a simple
creature, and asks me to paint his arms as if he was of the royal
house of France. Decidedly I shall have to make him some new arms."
Reflecting thus with himself he sat down before the buckler, and
having designed what he thought proper, he called a pupil and told
him to complete the painting of it, which he accordingly did. The
painting represented a light helmet, a gorget, a pair of arm pieces,
a pair of iron gauntlets, a pair of cuirasses, a pair of cuisses and
gambadoes, a sword, a knife, and a lance. When the worthy man
returned, who knew nothing of all this, he came up and said: "Master,
is the buckler finished." "Oh yes," said Giotto, "go you and bring it
here." When it arrived this gentleman by proxy looked hard at it and
said to Giotto: "What rubbish have you painted here?" "Will you think
it rubbish to pay for it?" said Giotto. "I won't pay you four
deniers," 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 who
you were you would be at a loss to tell him, and yet you come here
and say, 'paint me my arms.' If you had been one of the Bardi, well
and good, but what arms do you bear? Where do you come from? Who were
your ancestors? Begin at least by coming into the world before you
talk of arms as if you were the Dusnam of Bavaria. I have represented
all your arms on the buckler, and if you have any more tell me and I
will have them painted." "You have given me rough words," said the
man, "and spoilt my buckler." He then departed to the justice, and
procured a summons against Giotto. The latter appeared, and on his
side issued a summons against the man for two florins, as the price
of the painting. When the magistrates had heard the arguments, which
were much better advanced on Giotto's side, they adjudged that the
man 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 not
know his place, had it pointed out to him, and may this befall all
such fellows who wish to have arms and found houses, and whose
antecedents have often been picked up at the foundling hospitals!

It is said that while Giotto was still a boy, and with Cimabue, he
once painted a fly on the nose of a figure which Cimabue had made, so
naturally 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. I
could tell many more of Giotto's practical jokes, and relate many of
his sharp retorts, but I wish to confine myself to the things which
concern 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 notices
left by the writers of his day, since it was he who found once again
the true method of painting, which had been lost many years before
his time, it was decreed by public order that his bust in marble,
executed by Benedetto da Maiano, an Excellent sculptor, should be
placed in S. Maria del Fiore. This was due to the activity and zeal
displayed by Lorenzo dei Medici, the Magnificent, the elder, who
greatly admired Giotto's talents. The following verses by that divine
man, Messer Angelo Poliziano, were inscribed on the monument, so that
all men who excelled in any profession whatever, might hope to earn
such a memorial, which Giotto, for his part, had most richly deserved
and 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 own
designs the nature of the excellence of this great man, there are
some magnificent specimens in my book, which I have collected with
great 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 Giovanni
and Niccola Pisani were Agostino and Agnolo, sculptors of Siena,
whose lives we are now writing, and who achieved great success
according to the standard of the time. I have discovered that their
father and mother were both Sienese, and their antecedents were
architects, for the Fontebranda was completed by them in the year
1190, under the government of the three Consols, and in the following
year they founded the Custom House and other buildings of Siena,
under the same consulship. Indeed it is often seen that where the
seeds of talent have existed for a long time they often germinate and
put forth shoots so that they afterwards produce greater and better
fruit than the first plants had done. Thus Agostino and Agnolo added
many improvements to the style of Giovanni and Niccola Pisani, and
enriched art with better designs and inventions, as their works
clearly show. It is said that when Giovanni Pisano returned to Pisa
from Naples in the year 1284, he stopped at Siena to design and found
the façade of the Duomo, where the three principal doors are, so that
it should be entirely adorned with marble. It was then that Agostino,
who was not more than fifteen years of age at the time, associated
with him in order to study sculpture, of which he had learned the
first principles, being no less attracted by that art than by
architecture. Under Giovanni's instruction and by means of
unremitting study he surpassed all his fellow-pupils in design, grace
and style, so that everyone remarked that he was his master's right
eye. And because it is natural to desire for those whom one loves
beyond all other gifts of nature, mind or fortune, that quality of
worth which alone renders men great and noble in this life and
blessed in the next, Agostino took advantage of Giovanni's presence
to secure the same advantages for his younger brother Agnolo; nor was
if very difficult to do so, for the practice already enjoyed by
Agnolo with Agostino and the other sculptors, and the honour and
benefits which he perceived could be gained from this art, had so
inflamed him with a desire to take up the study of sculpture, that he
had already made a few things in secret before the idea had occurred
to Agostino. The elder brother was engaged with Giovanni in making
the marble reliefs for the high altar of the Vescovado of Arezzo,
which has been mentioned above, and he succeeded in securing the
co-operation of Agnolo in that work, who did so well, that when it
was completed, it was found that he had surpassed Agostino in
excellence. When this became known to Giovanni, he employed both
brothers in many other works undertaken by him subsequently in
Pistoia, Pisa, and other places. And because Agostino practised
architecture as well as sculpture, it was not long before he designed
a palace in Malborghetto for the Nine who then ruled in Siena, that
is to say, in the year 1308. The execution of this work won the
brothers such a reputation in their native place, that, when they
returned to Siena after the death of Giovanni, they were both
appointed architects of the State, so that in the year 1317 the north
front of the Duomo was made under their direction, and in 1321 the
building of the wall of the porta Romana, then known as the porta S.
Martino, was begun from their plans in its present style, being
finished in 1326. They restored the Tufi Gate, originally called the
Gate of S. Agata all Arco, and in the same year the church and
convent of S. Francesco were begun from their design, in the presence
of the cardinal of Gaeta, the papal legate. Not long afterwards
Agostino and Agnolo were invited by means of some of the Tolomei who
were staying in exile at Orvieto, to make some sculptures for the
work of S. Maria in that city. Going thither they made in sculpture
some prophets which are now on the façade, and are the finest and
best proportioned parts of that celebrated work. Now in the year 1326
it chanced that Giotto was summoned to Naples by means of Charles,
Duke of Calabria, who was then staying in Florence, to do some things
in S. Chiara and other places there for King Robert, as has been
related in that master's life. On his way to Naples Giotto stopped at
Orvieto to see the work which had been executed there and which was
still being carried on by so many men, wishing to examine everything
minutely. But the prophets of Agostino and Agnolo of Siena pleased
him more than all the other sculptures, from which circumstance it
arose that Giotto not only commended them, but counted them among
the number of his friends, to their great delight, and further
recommended them to Piero Saccone of Pietramala, as the best
sculptors 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 of
Giotto. Thus the fact that Giotto had seen the work of many sculptors
at Orvieto and had considered that of Agostino and Agnolo of Siena to
be the best, gave rise to their being commissioned to make this tomb
after his designs and in accordance with the model which he had sent
to 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 chapel
of the Sacrament in the church of the Vescovado of Arezzo. Above the
sarcophagus, which rests on brackets carved in a really admirable
manner, is stretched the form of the bishop, in marble, while at the
side are some angels drawing curtains, done with considerable skill.
Twelve square panels contain scenes of the life and acts of the
bishop in an infinite number of small figures carved in half-relief.
I do not think it too much trouble to relate the subjects of these
scenes, so that it may appear with what labour they were executed,
and how these sculptors endeavoured to discover the good style by
study.

The first shows how the bishop, aided by the Ghibelline party of
Milan, who sent him 400 masons and money, entirely rebuilt the wall
of Arezzo, lengthening it more than it had previously been so that it
took the shape of a galley. The second is the taking of Lucignano di
Valdichiana; the third, that of Chiusi; the fourth, that of Fronzoli,
a strong castle of that time above Poppi, held by the sons of the
count of Battifolle. The fifth contains the final surrender to the
bishop of the castle of Rondine, after it had been besieged by the
Aretines for many months. The sixth is the capture of the castle del
Bucine in Valdarno. The seventh contains the storming of the Rocca di
Caprese, which belonged to the Count of Romena, after it had been
besieged for several months. In the eighth the bishop is dismantling
the castle of Laterino, and causing the hill which rises above it to
be cut in form of a cross, so that it should not be possible to make
another fortress there. The ninth represents the destruction and
burning of Monte Sansavino and the driving out of all the
inhabitants. The eleventh contains the bishop's coronation, with a
number of richly dressed  soldiers, both horse and foot, and of other
people. The twelfth and last represents the bishop being carried by
his men from Montenero, where he fell sick, to Massa, and thence,
after his death, to Arezzo. In many places about the tomb are the
Ghibelline insignia and the bishop's arms, which are six-squared
stones or on a field _azure_, following the same arrangements as the
six balls in the arms of the Medici. These arms of the bishop's house
were described by friar Guittone, knight and poet of Arezzo, when he
wrote of the site of the castle of Pietramala, whence the family
derived 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 in
this work than had ever been employed on anything before their time.
And indeed they deserve the highest praise, having introduced into it
so many figures, such a variety of landscapes, places, towns, horses,
men, and other things, that it is a veritable marvel. And although
the tomb has been almost entirely destroyed by the French of the Duke
of Anjou, who sacked the greater part of the city in revenge for some
injuries received by them from their enemies, yet it is still clear
that it was executed with the most excellent judgment by Agostino and
Agnolo, who carved on it in rather large letters: _Hoc opus fecit
magister Augustinus et magister Angelus de Senis_. In 1329 they did a
marble bas-relief for the church of S. Francesco at Bologna, which is
in a very fair manner, and besides the  carved ornamentation, which
is very fine, they introduced figures a braccia and a half high, of
Christ 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 carved
in bas-relief a scene from the life of the saint above. All these
scenes contain a great number of half-length figures, which make a
rich  and  beautiful ornamentation after the manner of those times.
It is very apparent that Agostino and Agnolo threw an immense amount
of labour into this work, and that they applied all their care and
knowledge to make it worthy of praise, as it truly was, and even now
when it is half destroyed, it is possible to read their names and the
date, by means of which and of a knowledge of the time when they
began it, one may see that they spent eight whole years upon it,
although it is true that at the  same  time they made many other
small things in different places for various persons.

Now while they were at work at Bologna, that city gave itself freely
to the Church, through the mediation of the papal legate, and the
Pope in return promised that he and his court would go to live at
Bologna, but that for his security he wished to build a castle or
fortress there. This was granted by the Bolognese, and the castle was
quickly built under the direction and from the design of Agostino and
Agnolo; but it had a very short life, for when the Bolognese
discovered that all the promises made by the Pope were vain, they
dismantled 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 the
territories of Mantua and Ferrara, causing the death of more than ten
thousand persons, and wasting the country for miles around. Being
clever and worthy men, the assistance of Agostino and Agnolo was
requested, and they succeeded in finding means of reducing that
terrible river to its bed, and of confining it there with ditches and
other effective remedies. This brought them much praise and benefit,
for besides the fame which they acquired thereby, their services were
acknowledged by the lords of Mantua and by the house of Este with
most liberal rewards.

When they next returned to Siena in the year 1338, the new church of
S. Maria, near the old Duomo, towards the piazza Manetti, was made
under their direction from their design, and not long after, the
Sienese, who were greatly pleased with all the works which they
executed for them, decided to seize this excellent opportunity of
carrying into effect a plan which they had long discussed, but till
then without any result, namely, the erection of a public fountain on
the principal piazza opposite the palace of the Signoria. The charge
of this undertaking was entrusted to Agostino and Agnolo, and
although it was a matter of great difficulty they brought water to
the fountain by pipes made of lead and earth, and the first jet of
water was thrown up on 1st June 1343, to the great delight and
contentment of all the city, which on this account was under a great
obligation to the talent of these two citizens. At the same time the
hall of the greater council was made in the Palazzo del Pubblico, and
the same artists directed and designed the building of the tower of
that palace, which they completed in the year 1344, hanging two great
bells on it, one of which came from Grosseto, while the other was
made at Siena. In the course of time Agnolo arrived at Assisi, where
he made a chapel in the lower church of S. Francesco, and a marble
tomb for a brother of Napoleone Orsini, a cardinal and a Franciscan
friar, who had died in that place. Agostino, who had remained at
Siena in the service of the State, died while he was engaged upon the
designs for the ornamentation of the piazza fountain, mentioned
above, and was buried in the Duomo with honour. I have not been able
to discover how or when Agnolo died, so that I can say nothing about
it, nor do I know of any other works of importance by his hand, and
so this is the end of their lives. It would, however, be an error, as
I am following a Chronological order, not to make mention of some,
who, although they have not done things which would justify a
narration of their whole life, have nevertheless in some measure
added things of utility and beauty to art and to the world. Therefore
in connection with the mention made above of the Vescovado and Pieve
of Arezzo, let me here relate that Pietro and Paolo, goldsmiths of
Arezzo, who learned design from Agnolo and Agostino of Siena, were
the first who executed great works of any excellence with the chisel;
for they made for the head priest of the Pieve of Arezzo a silver
head of life-size, in which was put the head of St Donato, bishop and
protector of that city, a work which was certainly praiseworthy, if
only because they introduced into it some figures in enamel, which
were, as I have said, among the first things executed with the
chisel.

About the same time, or shortly before, the art of the Calimara at
Florence, entrusted to Master Cione, an excellent goldsmith, the
greater part, if not the whole, of the silver altar of S. Giovanni
Batista, which contains many scenes from the life of that saint,
engraved in a very creditable manner on a silver plate. This work, on
account of its dimensions, and the novelty of its execution, was
considered marvellous by everyone who saw it. The same Master Cione,
in 1330, when the body of St Zenobius was found under the vaults of
St Reparata, placed in a silver head of life-size, the piece of the
head of that saint which is still preserved therein, and is carried
in procession. This head was considered a most beautiful thing at the
time, 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 Spinello
of Arezzo, who did all manner of engraving excellently, but was
especially good in making scenes in enamel on silver, such as may be
seen in the Vescovado at Arezzo, for which he made a mitre with a
beautiful border of enamel, and a fine pastoral staff in silver. He
also executed many things in silver for the Cardinal Galeotto da
Pietramala, who bequeathed them to the friars of la Vernia, where he
wished to be buried, and where, besides the wall, which the Count
Orlando, lord of Chiusi, a small castle below la Vernia, had caused
to be set up, he built the church and many rooms in the convent, and
all this without leaving any notice or other memorial of himself in
any part of that place. Another pupil of Master Cione was Lionardo di
Ser Giovanni of Florence, who executed a number of works with the
chisel and with solder, with a better design than those who preceded
him, especially the altar and silver bas-reliefs of S. Jacopo at
Pistoia, where, beside a large number of subjects, the half-length
figure of St James, more than a braccia high, is much admired. It is
in full relief, and finished with such elaboration, that it seems to
have been cast rather than engraved. The figure is placed in the
midst of the scenes of the altar table, about which runs a legend in
letters 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 who
produced many works after them in architecture and sculpture in
Lombardy and other places in Italy. Among them was Jacopo Lanfrani of
Venice, who founded S. Francesco of Imola, and executed the
sculptures for the principal door, where he carved his name and the
date, 1343; for the church of S. Domenico at Bologna the same Master
Jacopo made a marble tomb for Gio. Andrea Calduino, doctor of law and
secretary of Pope Clement VI., and another very well executed also in
marble and in the same church for Taddeo Peppoli, protector of the
people and of justice at Bologna. In the same year, that is to say in
1347, after the completion of this tomb, or shortly before, Master
Jacopo returned to his native Venice and there founded the church of
S. Antonio, which was originally of wood, at the request of a
Florentine abbot of the ancient family of the Abati, M. Andrea
Dandolo, being doge at the time. This church was completed in the
year 1349.

Then again Jacobello and Pietro Paolo, Venetians, who were pupils of
Agostino and Agnolo, erected in S. Domenico at Bologna a marble tomb
for M. Giovanni da Lignano, doctor of laws, in the year 1383. All
these and many other sculptors continued for a long space of time to
employ the same manner, so that they filled all Italy with examples
of it. It is further believed that the native of Pesaro, who besides
many other things did the door of the church of S. Domenico in his
native town, with the three marble figures of God the Father, St John
the Baptist and St Mark, was a pupil of Agostino and Agnolo, and the
style of the work gives colour to the supposition. This work was
completed in the year 1385. But since it would take much too long to
enter into particulars of the works made in this style by many
masters of the time, I will let what I have said, in this general
way, suffice, chiefly because they have not exercised a great
influence 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 not
so 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 excellent
that not only did he surpass all the artists who had studied the arts
before him, but he so far surpassed his master himself that he was
deservedly considered the best of the painters up to that time, as
his works clearly prove. He painted the Madonna in fresco for the
Campo Santo at Pisa, and it is somewhat superior in design and
colouring to the work of Giotto. In the cloister of S. Spirito at
Florence he painted three arches in fresco, in the first of which,
containing the Transfiguration with Moses and Elias, he represented
the three disciples in fine and striking attitudes. He has formed a
fine conception of the dazzling splendour which astonished them,
their clothes being in disorder, and falling in new folds, a thing
first seen in this picture, as he tried to base his work upon the
nude figures, an idea which had not occurred to anyone before, no not
even to Giotto himself. Under that arch, in which he made a Christ
releasing a demoniac, he drew an edifice in perspective, perfectly,
in a style then little known, displaying improved form and more
science. He further executed it in the modern manner with great
judgment, and displayed such art and such invention and proportion in
the columns, doors, windows and cornices, and such different methods
from the other masters that it seemed as if he had begun to see some
glimpses of the light of the good and perfect manner of the moderns.
Among other ingenious things he contrived a very difficult flight of
steps, which are shown both in painting and in relief, and possess
such design, variety, and invention, and are so useful and convenient
that Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, the elder, made use of the
design for the steps outside the palace of Poggio a Caiano, now the
principal villa of the Most Illustrious Duke. In the other arch is a
representation 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 than
the other, because, besides the grace of the draperies, there is a
sweetness in the bearing of the heads, a fear of the fortunes of the
sea, while the terror of the apostles at various motions and
appearances of the water, are represented in very suitable attitudes
and with great beauty. And although time has partly destroyed the
labour expended  by Stefano on this work, one may still discern
confusedly that the apostles are defending themselves with spirit
from the fury of the winds and waves. This work, which has been
highly praised by the moderns, must certainly have appeared a miracle
in all Tuscany at the time when it was  produced, Stefano then
painted in the first cloister of S. Maria Novella a St Thomas
Aquinas, next a door, where he also made a crucifix which has since
been much damaged by other painters in restoring it. He also left
unfinished a chapel in the church, which he began, now much damaged
by time. In it may be seen the fall of the angels through the pride
of Lucifer, in divers forms. Here it is noteworthy that the
foreshortening of the arms, busts, and legs of the figures is much
better done than ever before, and this shows us that Stefano began to
recognise and had partially overcome the difficulties which stand in
the way of the highest excellence, the mastery of which by his
successors, by means of unremitting study, has rendered their works
so remarkable. For this cause artists have well named him the ape of
nature.

Some time after Stefano was invited to Milan where he began many
things for Matteo Visconti, but was not able to complete them,
because having fallen sick owing to the change of air, he was
compelled to return to Florence. There he regained his strength and
executed in fresco in the chapel of the Asini in S. Croce, the story
of the martyrdom of St Mark by being drawn asunder, with many figures
which possess merit. As a pupil of Giotto he was then invited to Rome
where he did in fresco for the principal chapel of St Peter's, which
contains the altar of that saint, some scenes from the life of Christ
between the windows of the large apse, with such care that he
approaches very closely to the modern style and surpasses his master
Giotto in design and other things. After this he executed in fresco,
at Araceli, on a pillar beside the principal chapel on the left, a St
Louis, which is much admired because it possesses a vivacity which
had not been apparent in any works up to that time, not even in those
of Giotto. Indeed Stefano had great facility in design, as  may be
seen in a drawing by his hand in our book, in which the
transfiguration is represented which he made for the cloister of S.
Spirito, and indeed in my opinion he designed much better than
Giotto. He next went to Assisi and in the apse of the principal
chapel of the lower church, where the choir is, he began a
representation in fresco of the Heavenly Glory; and although he did
not finish it, what he did perform shows that he used the utmost
diligence. In this work he began a series of saints with such
beautiful variety in the faces of the youths, the men of middle age
and the old men, that nothing better could be desired, and those
blessed spirits exhibit so sweet and so united a style that it
appears all but impossible that they could have been done by Stefano
at that time. He however did execute them, although no more than the
heads of the figures are finished. Above them is a choir of angels
rejoicing in various attitudes, appropriately carrying theological
symbols in their hands. All are turned towards a crucified Christ who
is in the midst of the work immediately above a St Francis, who is
surrounded by a multitude of saints. Besides this he made some angels
as a border for the work, each of them holding one of those churches
of which St John the Evangelist writes in the Apocalypse. These
angels are represented with such grace that I am amazed to find a man
of that age capable of producing them. Stefano began this work with
the intention of thoroughly completing it, and he would have
succeeded had he not been forced to leave it imperfect and to return
to Florence on some important affairs of his own. During this stay at
Florence and in order to lose no time, he painted for the
Granfigliazzi lung' Arno, between their houses and the ponte alle
Carraia in a small tabernacle on one side, Our Lady seated sewing, to
whom a clothed child who is seated, is offering a bird, done with
such care that although it is small it merits no less praise than the
more 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 by
them to paint the chapel of St James in the year 1346. In the vault
he did a God the Father with some apostles, and on the side walls the
life of the saint, notably the scene where his mother, the wife of
Zebedee, asks Jesus Christ to permit that her two sons shall sit, one
on His right hand and the other on His left in the kingdom of His
Father. Near this is a fine presentation of the beheading of the
saint. It is thought that Maso, called Giottino, of whom I shall
speak afterwards, was the son of this Stefano, and although, on
account of his name, many believe him to be the son of Giotto, I
consider it all but certain that he was rather the son of Stefano,
both because of certain documents which I have seen, and also because
of some notices written in good faith by Lorenzo Ghiberti and by
Domenico del Grillandaio. However, this may be, and to return to
Stefano, to him is due the credit of the greatest improvement in
painting since the days of Giotto; because, besides being more varied
in his inventions, he showed more unity in colouring and more shading
than all the others, and above all, in diligence he had no rival. And
although the foreshortenings which he  made exhibit, as I  have said,
a bad manner owing to the difficulties of execution, yet as the first
investigator of these difficulties he deserves a much higher place
than those who follow after the path has been made plain for them.
Thus a great debt is due to Stefano, because he who presses on
through the darkness and shows the way, heartens the others, enabling
them to overcome the difficulties of the way, so that in time they
arrive at the desired haven. In Perugia also, in the church of S.
Domenico, Stefano began in fresco the chapel of St Catherine which
is still unfinished.

At the same time there lived a Sienese painter, called Ugolino, of
considerable repute, and a great friend of Stefano. He did many
pictures and chapels in all parts of Italy. But he kept in great part
to the Byzantine style, to which he had become attached by habit, and
always preferred, from a caprice of his own, to follow the manner of
Cimabue 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 a
gold ground, and another picture which stood for many years on the
high altar of S. Maria Novella, and which is now in the
chapter-house, where every year the Spanish nation celebrates with a
solemn feast the day of St James and its other offices and burial
services. Besides these he did many other things in a good style, but
without in the least departing from the manner of his master. It was
he who painted on a pillar of bricks in the loggia, which Lapo had
built on the piazza of Orsanmichele, that Madonna which, not many
years after, worked so many miracles that the loggia was for a great
time full of images, and to this day is held in the highest
veneration. Finally, in the chapel of M. Ridolfo de' Bardi, in S.
Croce, where Giotto painted the life of St Francis, he did a
crucifix in tempera with the Magdalene and St John weeping, and two
friars on either side. Ugolino died at an advanced age in the year
1349, 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 this
epitaph:

   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 how
great may be the contentment of men of undoubted talent, who realise
that their works are valued, both in their native land and outside
it, and who see themselves in request by all men; for in the course
of his life he was employed and caressed by all Tuscany. The first
works which brought him into notice were the scenes which he painted
in fresco in la  Scala, a hospital of Siena, in which he imitated the
style of Giotto so successfully that these paintings became known
throughout Tuscany and gave rise to the well-founded belief that he
would become a better master than Cimabue, Giotto, and the others, as
he actually did. In these scenes he represented the Virgin mounting
the steps of the Temple, accompanied by Joachim and Anna, and
received by the priest; then her marriage, both remarkable for good
ornamentation, well-draped figures with simple folds of the clothes,
and a majesty in the carnage of the heads, while the disposition of
the figures is in the finest style. During the progress of this work,
which introduced the good style of painting to Siena, being the first
gleam of light for the many fine spirits who have flourished in that
land in every age, Pietro was summoned to Monte Oliveto di Chiusuri,
where he painted a picture in tempera which is now placed in the
paradiso under the church. He next painted a tabernacle at Florence,
opposite the left door of the church of S. Spirito, on the side where
a butcher's shop  now stands, which merits the highest praise from
every attentive artist, on account of the grace of the heads and the
smoothness which it exhibits. Proceeding from Florence to Pisa, he
did for the Campo Santo on the wall next the principal door, all the
life of the Holy Fathers, with such striking reality and in such fine
attitudes, that they rival Giotto. For this work he won the highest
praise, having expressed in some heads, in drawing and colour, all
the vivacity of which the manner of the time was capable. From Pisa
he passed to Pistoia, and in S. Francesco did a picture of Our Lady
in tempera, surrounded by some angels, very well arranged, the
predella beneath containing some scenes with small figures, presented
with a vigour and life remarkable for those times. This work
satisfied him as much as it delighted others, and accordingly he put
his name to it in these words: _Petrus Laurati de Senis_. Afterwards,
in the year 1355, Pietro was summoned to Arezzo by M. Guglielmo, head
priest, and by Margarito  Boschi and the other wardens of the Pieve
of Arezzo. This church had been brought to an advanced stage in a
better style and manner than had been practised in Tuscany up to that
time, being ornamented with squared stones and carvings by the hand
of Margaritone, as has been said. There Pietro painted in fresco the
tribune and all the great apse of the chapel of the high altar,
representing twelve scenes from the life of Our Lady, with life-size
figures, from the chasing of Joachim out of the Temple, to the birth
of Jesus Christ. In these works in  fresco  one meets with the ideas,
lineaments, carriage of the heads, and attitudes of the figures
characteristic of Giotto, his master. And although the whole of this
work is beautiful, yet the paintings in the vault of the apse are
certainly much better than the  rest, because, in the place where he
represented the ascent of Our Lady to heaven, besides making the
apostles four braccia high each, in which he showed his greatness of
mind, being the first artist who attempted to aggrandise his style,
he gave such a beautiful turn to the heads and such grace to the
vestments that more could not have been desired in those days. In
like manner he painted in the vaulting a choir of angels flying in
the air about a Madonna. As they gracefully dance they appear to be
singing, with a joy truly angelic and divine; whilst they are playing
various instruments their eyes are fixed and intent on another choir
of angels, sustained by a cloud of almond shape bearing the Madonna
to heaven arranged in beautiful attitudes and surrounded by rainbows.
This work, which was deservedly popular, procured him a commission to
paint in tempera the picture of the high altar of that Pieve, where
in five panels of life-size figures, represented to the knees, he
made Our Lady with the Child on her arm, with St John the Baptist and
St Matthew on one side of her, and on the other the Evangelist and St
Donate. In the predella are many small figures, as well as in the
frame of the picture above, all really fine and executed in the best
style. I have entirely restored this altar at my own expense and with
my own hands, so that this picture has been placed above the altar of
St Christopher, at the bottom of the church. I may take this
opportunity, without appearing to be impertinent, of saying in this
place that I have myself restored this ancient collegiate church,
moved by Christian piety and by the affection which I bear to the
venerable building, because it was my first instructress in my early
childhood. This I did also because it appeared to me to be as it were
abandoned, and it may now be said to have been called back to life
from the dead. Besides increasing the light, for it was very dark, by
enlarging the original windows and making new ones, I also took away
the choir, which used to occupy a great part of the church, and put
it behind the high altar, to the great satisfaction of the canons
there. The new altar stands alone, and has on the table before it a
Christ calling Peter and Andrew from their nets, and on the side next
the choir is another picture of St George killing the serpent. On the
sides are four panels, each of which contains two saints of
life-size. Above and below in the predella are numerous other
figures, which are omitted for the sake of brevity. The ornamentation
of the altar is thirteen braccia high, and the predella two braccia.
The interior is hollow and is approached by a staircase through a
small iron door, very well arranged. Many valuable relics are
preserved there, which may be seen from the outside through two iron
gratings in the front. Among others is the head of St Donato, bishop
and protector of Arezzo. In a chest of various materials, three
braccia high, which I have caused to be newly made, are the bones of
four saints. The predella of the altar, which entirely surrounds it,
has in front of it the tabernacle or _ciborium_ of the Sacrament,  in
carved wood, all gilt, about three braccia high, and it may be seen
from the choir side as well as from the front. As I have spared
neither pains nor expense, since I considered myself bound to do my
best to honour God, I may venture to affirm that, so far as my
ability would allow, this work lacks nothing in the way of ornament,
whether of gold, carving, painting, marble, trevertine, porphyry, or
other stones.

Now to return to Pietro Laurati. When he had completed the picture
mentioned above, he did many things for St Peter's at Rome, which
were afterwards destroyed in building the new church. He also
executed some works at Cortona and at Arezzo, besides those already
mentioned, and some others in the church of S. Fiore e Lucilla, a
monastery of black monks, notably a representation in a chapel of St
Thomas putting his hand into the wound in Christ's side.

A pupil of Pietro was Bartolommeo Bologhini of Siena, who executed
many pictures at Siena and other places in Italy. There is one by his
hand 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 drawing
by Pietro, representing a shoemaker sewing in a simple but most
natural manner with an admirable expression. It affords a good
example of Pietro's peculiar style. His portrait by the hand of
Bartolommeo Bologhini was in a picture at Siena, where not many years
ago I copied it, in the manner seen above.



Andrea Pisano, Sculptor and Architect.


While the art of painting has flourished, sculptors have never been
lacking who could produce excellent work. To the attentive mind, the
works of every age bear testimony to this fact, for the two arts are
really sisters, born at the same time and nourished and animated by
the same spirit. This is seen in Andrea Pisano, who practised
sculpture in the time of Giotto, and made so much improvement in that
art, both by practice and study, that he was considered the best
exponent of the profession who had until then appeared in Tuscany,
especially in casting bronze. For this reason his works were so
honoured and prized by those who knew him, and especially by the
Florentines, that he was able without a pang to change his country,
relations, property, and friends. It was a great advantage to him
that the masters who had preceded him in sculpture had experienced so
much difficulty in the art that their works were rough and common, so
that those who saw his productions, judged him a miracle by
comparison. That these first works were rude may be credited, as has
been said elsewhere, upon an examination of some which are over the
principal door of S. Paolo at Florence, and some stone ones in the
church of Ognissanti, which are so executed as to move to laughter
those who regard them, rather than to excite in them any admiration
or pleasure. It is certain that it was much more easy to recover the
art of sculpture when the statues had been lost, as a man is a round
figure by nature, and is so represented by that art, whereas in
painting, on the other hand, it is not so easy to find the right
shapes and the best manner of portraying them, which are essential to
the majesty, beauty, grace, and ornament of a picture. In one
circumstance fortune was favourable to Andrea, because, as has been
said elsewhere, by means of the numerous victories won by the Pisans
at sea, many antiquities and  sarcophagi were brought to Pisa, which
are still about the Duomo and Campo Santo. These gave him great
assistance and much light, advantages which could not be enjoyed by
Giotto, because the ancient paintings which have been preserved are
not so numerous as the sculptures. And although statues have
frequently been destroyed by fire, devastation, and the fury of war,
or buried or transported to various places, yet it is easy for a
connoisseur to recognise the productions of all the different
countries by their various styles. For example, the Egyptian is
slender, with long figures; the Greek is artificial, and much care is
displayed on the nude, while the heads nearly always have the same
turn; and the ancient Tuscan is careful in the treatment of hair and
somewhat rude. As regards the Romans, and I call Roman for the most
part those things which were brought to Rome after Greece was
subjugated, as all that was good and beautiful in the world was
carried thither; this Roman work, I say, is so beautiful in
expression, attitudes, movements both in nude figures and in
draperies, that the Romans may be said to have extracted the
beautiful from all the other provinces and gathered it into a
single 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, and
the only style in use was that which had been brought to Tuscany by
the Goths and the rude Greeks. Thus he noted the new style of Giotto
and such few antiquities as were known to him, and somewhat refined a
great part of the grossness of that wretched manner by his own
judgment, so that he began to work in better style, and endow his
works with far more beauty than had hitherto been seen. When his
intelligence, skill, and dexterity had become known he was assisted
by many of his compatriots, and while he was still a young man, he
was commissioned to make some small figures in marble for S. Maria a
Ponte. These brought him such a good name that he was most earnestly
desired to come to work at Florence by those in charge of the
building of S. Maria del Fiore, as after the façade of the three
doors had been begun, there was a lack of masters to execute the
subjects which Giotto had designed for the beginning of that
structure. Accordingly Andrea went to Florence in order to undertake
that work, and because at that time the Florentines were desirous of
making themselves agreeable and friendly to Pope Boniface VIII., who
was then chief pontiff of the church of God, they wished Andrea,
before everything else, to make his statue in marble. Andrea
therefore set to work, and did not rest until he had finished the
Pope's figure placed between St Peter and St Paul, the three figures
being set up on the façade of S. Maria del Fiore, where they still
are. Afterwards Andrea made some figures of prophets for the middle
door of that church, in some tabernacles or niches. These showed that
he had made great improvements in the art, and that in excellence and
design he surpassed all those who had laboured for that structure up
to that time. Hence it was decided that all works of importance
should be entrusted to him and not to others. Soon after he was
commissioned to make four statues of the principal doctors of the
church--St Jerome, St Ambrose, St Augustine, and St Gregory. When
these were finished they brought him favour and renown with the
craftsmen and throughout the city, and he was commissioned to make
two other figures in marble of the same size. These were St Stephen
and St Laurence, which are on the front of S. Maria del Fiore at the
outside angle. By Andrea's hand also is the marble Madonna, three and
a half braccia high with the child at her neck, which is over the
altar of the little church and company of the Misericordia on the
piazza of S. Giovanni at Florence. This was much praised in those
times, especially as on either side of the Madonna he put an angel
two and a half braccia high. A setting of very finely carved wood has
been made for this in our own day by Maestro Antonio called "Il
Carota," with a predella beneath, full of most beautiful figures
coloured in oil by Ridolfo, son of Domenico Grillandai. In like
manner the half-length Madonna in marble which is over the
side-door of the Misericordia, on the façade of the Cialdonai, is by
Andrea's hand, and was highly praised, because in it he had imitated
the good antique manner, contrary to his habit, which was always
different from it, as shown by some designs of his which are in our
book, and in which he represents all the scenes from the Apocalypse.
Now Andrea had studied architecture in his youth, and an opportunity
occurred for his employment in this art by the commune of Florence,
for as Arnolfo was dead and Giotto absent, he was entrusted with the
preparation of plans for the castle of Scarperia, which is in Mugello
at the foot of the Alps. Some say, though I will not vouch for the
truth of it, that Andrea stayed a year at Venice, and there executed
some small marble figures which are on the façade of S. Marco, and
that in the time of M. Piero Gradenigo, doge of that republic, he
designed the Arsenal. But as I know nothing of this beyond the bare
mention of it which occurs in some writers, I must leave the matter
to the judgment of my readers. From Venice he returned to Florence,
where the city, fearing the coming of the emperor, with Andrea's
co-operation, hastily added eight braccia to part of the wall between
S. 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 cross
which he had sent to the Pope at Avignon, by means of his close
friend Giotto; accordingly he was commissioned to make in bronze one
of the doors of the church of S. Giovanni, for which Giotto had
already made a very fine design. This, as I say, was given to him to
finish, because he was considered the most talented, skilful, and
judicious master of all those who had worked until then, not only in
Tuscany, but throughout Italy. He set to work, resolved to spare
neither time, pains, nor diligence upon the completion of a task of
such importance. Fate was propitious to him in his casting, at a time
when men were ignorant of the secrets known today, so that in the
space of twenty-two years he brought the door to its present stage of
perfection; and what is more, at the same time he made not only the
tabernacle of the high altar of S. Giovanni, with an angel on either
side which were considered most beautiful, but also the small marble
figures about the base of the door of the campanile of S. Maria del
Fiore, after Giotto's design, and about that campanile, in certain
mandorle, the seven planets, the seven virtues, and the seven works
of mercy in small figures in half-relief, which were then much
admired. At the same time he made the three figures of four braccia
high, which were placed in niches in that campanile, on the side
towards the place where the Pupilli now are, that is towards the
south, figures which were considered at the time to be of
considerable merit. But to return to my starting-point, I say that
the bronze door contains scenes in bas-relief from the life of St
John the Baptist, from his birth to his death, most happily conceived
and executed with great care. And  although many are of opinion that
these stories do not exhibit that fine design nor that high art which
should be put into figures, yet Andrea merits the highest praise,
because he was the first who undertook to complete a work which
rendered it possible for those who came after him to produce what is
beautiful, difficult and good in the other two doors, and in the
exterior ornaments now to be seen. This work was set in the middle
door of the church, and remained there until Lorenzo Ghiberti made
the present one, when it was removed and set up opposite the
Misericordia, where it is at the present time. I must not omit to say
that in making this door Andrea was assisted by his son Nino, who
afterwards became a much better master than his father had been, and
that it was finished in the year 1339--that is to say, not only
polished and cleaned, but gilt at the fire. It is thought that the
metal was cast by some Venetian masters very skilful in founding; and
a 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 in
particular the model of the church of S. Giovanni at Pistoia, which
was founded in the year 1337. In this same year, on the 25th day of
January, was found the body of St Atto, bishop of that city, in
excavating the foundations of the church. The body had been buried in
that place for 137 years. The architecture of that temple, which is
round, was meritorious for the time. Also by the hand of Andrea is a
marble tomb in the principal church of Pistoia, the body of the
sarcophagus of which is full of small figures, with some larger ones
above. In this tomb rests the body of M. Cino d'Angibolgi, doctor of
laws, and a very famous man of letters in his day, as M. Francesco
Petrarca 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 is
represented as teaching a number of his scholars, who are about him,
with such a fine attitude and style that it must have been considered
a marvellous thing in those days, although it would not be valued
now.

Walter, Duke of Athens and tyrant of Florence, also employed Andrea
to enlarge the piazza, and to fortify his palace by barring the
bottom of all the windows on the first floor, where the hall of the
Two Hundred now is, with very strong square iron bars. The same duke
also added, opposite S. Piero Scheraggio, the rough stone walls which
are beside the palace to augment it, and in the thickness of the wall
he made a secret staircase, to mount and descend unperceived. At the
bottom face of the wall he made a great door, which now serves for
the Customs, and over this he set his arms, the whole after the
designs and with the advice of Andrea. Although the arms were defaced
by the magistracy of the twelve, who took pains to obliterate every
memorial of that duke, yet on the square shield there remained the
form of the lion rampant with two tails, as any attentive observer
may 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 its
present form, but also made the walls of the portals and all the
gates of the city, and the smaller gates for the convenience of the
people. And, because the duke purposed to make a fortress on the hill
of 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 year
1343. The duke's plan to convert the palace into a strong castle was
in great measure effected, for a considerable addition was made to
the original building, as may be seen to-day, the circuit comprising
the houses of the Filipetri, the tower and houses of the Amidei, and
Mancini, and those of the Bellaberti. And because, after this great
undertaking was begun, all the materials required for it and for the
great walls and barbicans were not ready, he kept back the building
of the Ponte Vecchio, which was being hurried forward as a necessary
thing, and made use of the dressed stones and timber designed for
this without any consideration. Although Taddeo Gaddi was probably
not inferior to Andrea Pisano as an architect, the duke would not
employ him on these works because he was a Florentine, but made use
of Andrea. The same Duke Walter wished to pull down S. Cicilia, in
order to obtain a view of the Strada Romana and the Mercato Nuovo
from his palace, and would also have destroyed S. Piero Scheraggio
for his convenience, but the Pope would not grant him licence. At
length, as has been said above, he was driven out by the fury of the
people.

For his honoured labours of so many years Andrea not only deserved
the highest rewards, but also civil honours. Accordingly he was made
a Florentine citizen by the Signoria, offices and magistracies in the
city were given to him, and his works were valued during his life and
after his death, as no one was found to surpass him in workmanship
until the advent of Niccolo of Arezzo, Jacopo della Quercia of Siena,
Donatello, Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, and Lorenzo Ghiberti, whose
sculptures and other works were such that people recognised in what
error they had been living up till then, as these men had again
discovered the true excellence which had been hidden for so great a
number of years. The works of Andrea were executed about the year of
grace 1340.

The pupils of Andrea were numerous, and, among others, Tommaso,
architect and sculptor, of Pisa, who finished the chapel of the Campo
Santo, and brought the campanile of the Duomo to completion--that is
to say, the last part, where the bells are. This Tommaso was Andrea's
son, if we may believe an inscription on the high altar of S.
Francesco at Pisa, on which a Madonna and other saints are carved by
him in half relief, with his name and that of his father beneath.
Andrea left a son Nino, who devoted himself to sculpture, his first
work being in S. Maria Novella at Florence, where he finished a
marble Madonna, begun by his father, which is inside the door, near
the chapel of the Minerbetti. Going afterwards to Pisa, he made for
the Spina a half-length marble Madonna suckling the infant Jesus
Christ, clothed in delicate draperies. In the year 1522 a marble
ornament for this Madonna was made for M. Jacopo Corbini, who had a
much larger and finer one made for another full-length marble Madonna
of Nino, representing with great grace the mother offering a rose to
the child, who takes it in childish fashion, and so prettily, that
one may say that Nino had made some steps to subduing the roughness
of 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 of
the latter being a portrait of Andrea. Nino also made two marble
statues for an altar of S. Caterina at Pisa--that is to say, the
Madonna and an angel in an Annunciation, executed, like his other
works, with such care that they may be considered as the best
productions of those times. On the base beneath this Madonna Nino
carved the following words: "On the first day of February  1370;" and
beneath the angel: "Nino, son of Andrea Pisano, made these figures."

He produced yet other works in that city and at Naples which it is
not necessary to mention here. Andrea died at the age of
seventy-five, in the year 1345, and was buried by Nino in S. Maria
del 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 the
close companion of Bruno and Calandrino, painters, and themselves
facetious and pleasant men. He possessed a very fair judgment in the
art of painting, as may be seen by his works, which are scattered
throughout Tuscany. Franco Sacchetti relates in his "Three Hundred
Tales" (to begin with the deeds of this artist while he was still
young) that, while Buffalmacco was a boy with Andrea, it was his
master's custom, when the nights were long, to rise to work before
dawn and to call the boys. This thing displeased Buonamico, who
enjoyed a good sleep, and he tried to devise a plan that should
induce Andrea to leave off calling them to work so much before
daylight. He soon found one, for in an ill-swept loft  he happened to
find thirty great beetles or cockroaches. With some thin needles and
corks he fixed a small candle on the back of each beetle, and when
the hour came for Andrea to rise he lighted the candles and put the
beetles one by one through a hole leading into Andrea's room. When
the master awoke, just about the hour when he was accustomed to call
Buffalmacco, and saw these lights he began to tremble with fear, and
to recommend himself to God, repeating his prayers and psalms. At
length he put his head under the clothes and did not call Buffalmacco
that night, but remained trembling in that posture until the day. The
following morning when he arose he asked Buonamico if he, like
himself, had seen more than a thousand devils. Buonamico said "No,"
because he had kept his eyes shut, and had wondered why he had not
been called. "What!" said Tafi; "I had something else to think of
besides painting, and I am resolved to go and live in another house."
The following night, although Buonamico only put three beetles into
Tafi's chamber, yet the poor man did not sleep a jot, owing to his
fear of the past night and to those devils which he saw. No sooner
was day come than he left the house, declaring he would never return
to it, and it was long before they were able to induce him to change
his mind. But Buonamico brought him the priest of the parish, who
consoled him as best he could. When Tafi and Buonamico were talking
over the matter afterwards, the latter said: "I have always heard
tell that the devils are the greatest enemies of God, and
consequently they must also be the chief adversaries of painters,
because, besides the fact that we always make them very ugly, We do
nothing else but represent saints on walls and tables, in order to
render men more devout or better in despite of the devils. For this
cause the devils are enraged with us, and as they have more power at
night than during the day, they come and play these pranks, and will
do worse if this practice of early rising is not entirely abandoned."
With these words, and many others, Buffalmacco succeeded in settling
the matter, as the priest supported his arguments, so that Tafi left
off his early rising and the devils ceased to go through the house at
night with lights. But not many months afterwards, when Tafi, induced
by desire of gain, and crushing every fear, began once more to rise
and work at night and to call Buffalmacco, the beetles also began to
make their rounds, so that the master was compelled by fear to give
it up entirely, being strongly advised to this by the priest.

When this thing became known through the city, it for a while
prevented other painters as well as Tafi from rising to work at
night. When, shortly afterwards, Buffalmacco himself became a fairly
good master he left Tafi, as the same Franco relates, and began to
work by himself, and he never lacked employment. Accordingly he took
a house to serve equally as a workshop and a dwelling-house, next
door to a worker of wool in easy circumstances, who, being a raw
simpleton, was called Goosehead. This man's wife rose early every
night, when Buffalmacco, who had worked up to that time, was going to
rest, and setting herself at her spinning wheel, which she
unfortunately placed over against Buffalmacco's bed, she spent all
the 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 which
separated him from Goosehead, was the fire of his objectionable
neighbour, and by means of a crack he could see everything that she
did at the fire. Accordingly he devised a new trick, and provided
himself with a long tube. When he found that the wife of Goosehead
was not at the fire, he every now and again put through that hole in
the wall into his neighbour's pot as much salt as he wished. When
Goosehead returned either to dine or to sup he could, as a rule,
neither eat nor drink or taste either soup or meat, as everything was
made bitter by too much salt. For a little while he had patience, and
only spoke of it or grumbled; but when he found that words did not
suffice, he frequently gave blows to the poor woman, who was in
despair, because she thought she had been more than cautious in
salting the dish. As her husband beat her from time to time, she
tried 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 top
of her voice, the noise penetrated the whole neighbourhood, and drew
thither Buffalmacco among others. When he heard of what Goosehead
accused his wife and how she excused herself, he said to Goosehead:
"Worthy friend, you should be reasonable; you complain that your
morning and evening dishes are too salt, but I only wonder that your
wife makes them so well as she does. I cannot understand how she is
able to keep going all day, considering that she is sitting up the
whole night over her spinning, and does not, I believe, sleep an
hour. Let her give up rising at midnight, and you will see, when she
has enough sleep, her brain will not wander, and she will not fall
into such serious mistakes." Then he turned to the other neighbours,
and succeeded so well in convincing them that he had found the true
explanation that they all told Goosehead that Buonamico was right,
and that he should follow this advice. Goosehead, believing what he
was told, ordered his wife not to rise so soon, and the dishes were
afterwards reasonably salted, except sometimes when the goodwife had
risen early, because then Buffalmacco had recourse to his remedy, a
fact which induced Goosehead to cause his wife to give up early
rising altogether.

One of the earliest works Buffalmacco did was the decoration of the
church of the nunnery of Faenza at Florence, where the  citadel of
Prato now is. Here he represented scenes from the life of Christ,
among other things, everything in which is in good style, and he also
did there the massacre of the Innocents by Herod's order. Here he
displays with considerable vigour the expressions of the murderers as
well as of the other figures, because some nurses and mothers, who
are snatching the children from the hands of the murderers, are using
their hands, nails, teeth, and every bodily agent to help them as
much as possible, showing that their minds are not less full of rage
and fury than of grief. As the monastery is destroyed to-day, nothing
more of this work is to be seen than a coloured drawing in our book
of designs, which contains the sketch for this by Buonamico's hand.
In executing this work for the nuns of Faenza, Buffalmacco, who was
as eccentric in his dress as his behaviour, did not always happen to
wear the hood and mantle customary in those times, and the nuns who
sometimes looked at him through the screen which he had caused to be
made, began to say to the custodian that they objected to seeing him
always in his doublet. After he had reassured them, they remained
quiescent for a while. At length, as they always saw him attired
after the same fashion, they thought he must be the boy to mix the
colours and accordingly they induced the abbess to tell him that they
should like to see the master himself at work and not this other one
always. Buonamico, who always loved his joke, told them that so soon
as the master arrived he would let them know, although he was
sensible 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 a
water jug on this, over the handle of which he put a hood and then
covered the rest of the pitcher in a civilian's mantle, fastening it
firmly about the tables. After this he put a brush in the spout from
which the water flows, and there left it. When the nuns returned to
see the work through an opening where he had torn the canvas, they
saw the supposed master in his attire. They believed that he was
working there to the utmost of his power, and would do much better
than the mere boy had done, so they were several days thinking of
nothing else. At last they were anxious to see what beautiful things
the master had made. Fifteen days had passed since Buonamico had set
foot in the place, and one night they went to see the paintings,
thinking that the master could no longer be there. They were covered
with confusion and blushes when one bolder than the rest discovered
the nature of the solemn master, who had not done a stroke in the
fortnight. When they learned that Buonamico had treated them
according to their deserts, and that the works which he had made were
excellent, they recalled him and he returned with much laughter and
joking to take up the work, making them see that there is a
difference between men and dummies, and that works must not always be
judged by the clothes of those who produce them. After a few days he
finished one subject there, with which they were very delighted since
it appeared to them to be satisfactory in all its parts, except that
the figures in the flesh colouring seemed to them to be rather too
pale. When Buonamico heard this and learning that the abbess had the
best vernaccia in Florence, which served for the sacrifice of the
mass, he told them that in order to remedy such a defect, nothing
would be serviceable except to temper the colours with a good
vernaccia, for if the cheeks and other flesh parts of the figures
were touched with this, they would become red and very freshly
coloured. When the good sisters heard this they believed it
completely and afterwards kept him supplied with the best vernaccia
so long as the work lasted, while he on his part made merry and
thenceforward with his ordinary colours rendered his figures more
fresh and brilliant.

On the completion of this work Buffalmacco painted in the abbey of
Settimo some scenes from the life of St James in the chapel dedicated
to that saint which is in the cloister, on the vault of which he did
the four Patriarchs and the four Evangelists, among whom the attitude
of Luke is noteworthy for the natural way in which he is blowing his
pen to make the ink flow. In the subjects for the walls, which are
five, the figures are represented in fine attitudes and everything is
carried out with originality and judgment. In order to make his flesh
colouring easier to paint Buonamico used a ground of _pavonazzo di
sale_, as is seen in this work, which in the course of time has
caused a saltness by which the white and other colours are corroded
and consumed so that it is no marvel that the work is damaged and
destroyed, while many that were made long before have been
excellently preserved. I formerly considered that the  injury was
caused by the damp, but afterwards by an examination of his other
works I have proved by experience that it is not the damp, but this
peculiar practice of Buffalmacco which has caused them to be so
damaged 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 anyone
who desires a long life for his paintings.

After the two pictures mentioned above, Buonamico did two others in
tempera for the monks of the Certosa at Florence, one of which is in
the place where the singing books for the choir rest, and the other
is below in the old chapels. In the Badia at Florence he painted in
fresco the chapel of the Gondi and Bastari, beside the principal
chapel, which was afterwards granted to the family of the Boscoli,
and still retains these paintings of Buffalmacco. Here he did the
Passion of Christ, with fine and original expressions, showing in
Christ, when He washes the disciples' feet, the greatest humility and
benignity, and cruelty and fierceness in the Jews who lead Him to
Herod. But he displayed especial originality and facility in a Pilate
whom he painted in prison and in Judas, hung to a tree, from which we
may readily believe what is related of this pleasant painter, that
when he wished to be diligent and take pains, which rarely happened,
he was not inferior to any other artist of his time. That this is
true is proved by his works in fresco in Ognissanti, where the
cemetery now is, produced with such diligence and with such
precautions that the water which has rained upon them for many years
has not injured them or caused any harm except by preventing a
recognition of their excellence. They are so well preserved because
they were done simply upon fresh lime. On the walls are the Nativity
of Jesus Christ and the Adoration of the Magi, that is to say, over
the tomb of the Aliotti. After these works Buonamico went to Bologna,
where he painted in fresco on the vaults of the chapel of the
Bolognini in S. Petronio, but did not finish them, for some reason
unknown to me. It is said that in the year 1302 he was summoned to
Assisi, and in the chapel of St Catherine in the church of S.
Francesco he painted the history of the former saint's life in
fresco, works which are very well preserved, and containing some
figures well worthy of praise. When he had completed the chapel and
was on his way through Arezzo, the bishop Guido, who had heard that
Buonamico was a pleasant man and a painter of talent, wished him to
stay in the city and paint for him the chapel in the Vescovado
containing the Baptism of Christ. Buonamico put his hand to the work
and had already done a considerable part of it when a very strange
adventure happened to him, related by Franco Sacchetti in his "Three
Hundred Tales." The bishop possessed a baboon, the most mischievous
and malignant creature that ever was seen. This animal was one day
standing on his perch and watching Buonamico work, having lost
thought of everything else, and never taking his eyes off him as he
mixed the colours, managed the tools, broke the eggs to make the
tempera, or did any other thing, no matter what. One Saturday evening
Buonamico left the work and this baboon; on Sunday morning, although
he had a great log of wood attached to his legs, which the bishop
made him carry so that he should not leap everywhere, notwithstanding
this heavy weight, leapt on to the scaffolding where Buonamico used
to stand to work, and there took up the phials and emptied them one
by one, made the mixtures, broke as many eggs as were there, and
began to daub all the figures with the brush, never resting until he
had repainted everything himself. That done he made a fresh mixture
of all the colours which were left over, although they happened to be
few, and then descended from the scaffolding and departed. When
Buonamico came back to his work on Monday morning and saw his figures
spoiled, his phials emptied and everything upside down, he was filled
with amazement and confusion. After turning the matter over in his
mind for some time he concluded that some Aretine had done this from
envy or for some other reason. Accordingly he went to the bishop and
told him what had happened and what he suspected, at which the bishop
was much troubled, yet he encouraged Buonamico to go on with the
work, and to repaint the part which had been spoiled. He further
pledged himself to give the artist six armed men of his infantry, who
should stand with falchions to watch, when he was not working, and to
cut to pieces without mercy anyone who should come. Accordingly the
figures were repainted a second time, and one day while the soldiers
were on the watch they heard a curious rolling noise in the church,
and soon after the baboon appeared, jumped upon the seat, made the
mixtures in an instant, and set to work upon the saints of Buonamico.
The guard then called the master, and showed him the criminal, and
when they saw him standing with them and watching the animal work,
they burst into laughter, and Buonamico himself, though grieved at
the damage, could not help laughing in the midst of his sorrow. At
length he dismissed the soldiers who had been on guard with their
falchions, and went to the bishop and said to him: "My lord, you like
my manner of painting, but your baboon prefers another." He then
related the matter, adding: "It was not necessary for you to send
away for painters since you had a master in the house, although
perhaps he did not know how to mix his colours properly. Now that he
knows, let him work by himself, for I am of no further use here, and
as his worth is now recognised, I shall be contented with no other
wages for my work except permission to return to Florence." Although
much displeased, the bishop could not refrain from laughing when he
heard this, especially when he considered that a beast had made a
jest of the most jest-loving man in the world. After they had laughed
and talked over this new adventure, the bishop prevailed so far, that
Buonamico set himself a third time to do the work, and he finished
it. The baboon, as a punishment and penance for his fault, was shut
up in a large cage of wood, and kept there while Buonamico worked,
until the painting was quite finished. It is not possible to imagine
the 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 able
to imitate them. When the decoration of the chapel was completed the
bishop asked, for a jest or for some other reason, that Buffalmacco
should paint him on a wall of his palace an eagle on the back of a
lion which it had killed. The cunning painter promised to do as the
bishop desired, and made a large partition of boards, saying that he
did not wish anyone to see such a thing being painted. This done, and
while being shut up all alone inside, he painted the contrary to what
the bishop wished, a lion crushing an eagle. When the work was
completed, he asked licence from the bishop to go to Florence to
procure some colours which he needed. Accordingly, having locked up
his picture, he went to Florence intending never to return. The
bishop after waiting some time and seeing that the painter did not
return, caused the painting to be opened, and found that Buonamico
was wiser than himself. Furious at the trick which had been played
upon him he threatened to take the artist's life. When Buonamico
heard this, he sent to tell him to do his worst, wherefore the bishop
menaced him with a malediction. But at length he reflected that the
artist had only been jesting, and that he should take the matter as a
jest, whereupon he pardoned Buonamico the insult, and acknowledged
his pains most liberally. What is more, he induced him to come again
to Arezzo not long after, and caused him to paint many things in the
old Duomo, which have been thrown down to-day, treating him always as
his friend and most faithful servant. The same artist also painted in
Arezzo the apse of the principal chapel of S. Giustino. Some write
that when Buonamico was in Florence he was often in the workshop of
Maso del Saggio with his friends and companions. He was also present
with many others in arranging the regatta which the men of the borgo
S. Friano in Arno celebrate on the calends of May, and that when the
ponte alla Carraia, which was then of wood, broke down because it was
too crowded with people, who had run thither to see the spectacle, he
did not perish then like many others, because when the bridge fell
right on a machine, representing Hell in a barque on the Arno, he had
gone to buy some things that were wanted for the feast.

Not long after these things Buonamico was invited to Pisa, and
painted a series of subjects from the Old Testament, from the
Creation of Man to the building of the Tower of Nimrod, for the abbey
of S. Paolo a ripa d'Arno, which then belonged to the monks of
Vallombrosa, on the whole of the crossing of that church, on three
sides, from the roof to the ground. This work, which is now almost
entirely destroyed, is remarkable for the vigour of the figures, the
skill and beauty of the colouring and artist's faculty of expressing
his ideas, although he was not very good in design. On the wall of
this crossing opposite that which contains the side door, there are
some scenes of the life of St Anastasia, where some women, painted in
a graceful manner, exhibit certain antique habits and gestures, very
prettily and well. No less fine are some figures in a barque,
arranged in well designed attitudes, among them being the portrait of
Pope Alexander IV., which it is said Buonamico had from his master
Tafi, who had represented that pontiff in mosaic in St Peter's.
Similarly in the last subject which represents the martyrdom of the
saint, and of others, Buonamico finely expresses in the faces the
fear of death, the grief and dread of those who are standing by to
see her tormented and put to death, while she stands bound to a tree,
and above the fire. Bruno di Giovanni, a painter, assisted Buonamico
in 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 St
Ursula for the same church, with her company of virgins, inserting in
one hand of the saint a standard with the arms of Pisa, which are a
white cross on a red ground, while she places the other on a woman
who is rising between two mountains, and touches the sea with one
foot and places her hands together in an act of entreaty. This woman
represents Pisa, her head being circled with a gold crown, while she
wears a garment full of circles and eagles, and being in much trouble
at sea she petitions the saint. But because Bruno complained when he
executed those figures that they were not life-like as those of
Buonamico were, the latter in jest, to teach him to make figures,
which if not life-like, should at least converse, made him put some
words issuing from the mouth of the woman who is entreating the
saint, and also the saint's reply to her, a device which Buonamico
had seen in the works executed by Cimabue in the same church. This
thing pleased Bruno and other foolish men of the time, just as to-day
it pleases certain clumsy fellows, who have thus employed vulgar
devices worthy of themselves. It is certainly curious that in this
way advice intended simply as a jest has been generally followed, so
much so that a great part of the Campo Santo done by masters of
repute is full of this clumsiness.

The works of Buonamico having greatly pleased the Pisans, those in
charge of the fabric of the Campo Santo commissioned him to do four
scenes in fresco from the beginning of the world until the building
of Noah's ark, surrounding them with an ornamentation, in which he
drew his own portrait from life, that is to say, in a border in the
middle and  at the corners of which are some heads, among which, as I
have said, is his own. He wears a hood, just like the one that may be
seen above. This work contains a God who holds in his arms the
heavens and the elements, and all the apparatus of the universe, so
that Buonamico, explaining his scene with verses, like the paintings
of the age, wrote at the foot in capital letters with his own hand
the following sonnet, as may be seen, which for its antiquity and
simplicity of diction peculiar to the time, has seemed to me to be
worth insertion in this place, so that if it does not perchance give
much pleasure, though I think it will, yet it is a matter which will
perhaps bear testimony to the amount of the knowledge of the men of
that 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 the
Father five braccia high, the hierarchy, the heavens, the angels, the
zodiac, and all the things above to the sky of the moon, and then the
element of fire, the air, the earth, and finally the centre. For the
two lower corners he did a St Augustine and a St Thomas Aquinas. At
the top of this Campo Santo, where the marble tomb of the Corte now
is, Buonamico painted the Passion of Christ, with a great number of
figures on foot and on horse, all in varied and beautiful attitudes,
and in conformity with the story. He also did the Resurrection and
the Apparition of Christ to the apostles very satisfactorily. When he
had completed these labours, and had at the same time spent
everything that he had gained at Pisa, which was not a little, he
returned to Florence as poor as he had left it, and there he did many
pictures and works in fresco, which it is not necessary to describe
further. When his close friend Bruno, with whom he had returned from
Pisa after squandering everything, was employed to do some works in
S. Maria Novella, because he had not much skill in design or
invention, Buonamico designed for him all that he afterwards did for
a wall of that church opposite the pulpit, filling the space between
column and column. This was the story of St Maurice and his
companions, who were beheaded for the faith of Jesus Christ. Bruno
executed this work for Guido Campese, then constable of the
Florentines. The artist took his portrait before  his death, in the
year 1320, and afterwards put it in this work, as an armed man, as
was customary in those days, and behind him he made an array of
warriors, all armed in the antique style, forming a fine spectacle,
while Guido himself kneels before Our Lady, who has the child Jesus
in her arms while St Domenic and St Agnes, who are on either side of
her, intercede for him. Although this painting is not remarkable for
its design and invention, yet it is worthy of some amount of praise,
chiefly on account of the variety of clothing, and of the barbed and
other armour of the time. I myself made use of it in some scenes
which I did for Duke Cosimo, in which it was necessary to represent
an armed man in the antique style and other similar things of that
age. This thing greatly pleased His Most Illustrious Excellency and
others who have seen it. From this it may be seen what an advantage
it is to draw materials from inventions and works made by these
ancients, for although they are not perfect, yet it is useful to know
in what manner they can be made of service, since they opened the
way to the  marvels which have since been produced. Whilst Bruno was
engaged upon these works, a rustic desired him to do a St
Christopher, and they made an agreement at Florence, the terms being
that the price should be eight florins, and the figure should be
twelve braccia high. Accordingly Buonamico went to the church where
he was to do the St Christopher, and found that as its length and
breadth did not exceed nine braccia he could not manage to get the
figure in, so he determined, in order to fulfil the agreement, to
make the figure lying down, but as even then it would not entirely
come in, he was compelled to turn it from the knees downwards on to
another wall. When the work was completed the rustic refused to pay
for it, exclaiming that he had been cheated. The matter thus came
before the official of the Grascia, who judged that Buonamico was
justified by the terms of the contract.

At S. Giovanni in l'Arcore there was a very fine Passion of Jesus
Christ by Buonamico's hand, and among other much admired things it
contained a Judas hanging from a tree, done with much judgment and in
good style. There was also an old man blowing his nose very
naturally, and the Maries are represented with such a sad air in
weeping that they merit high praise for a time when men had not
acquired the facility of expressing the emotions of the soul with the
brush. In the same wall is a St Ivo of Brittany with many widows and
orphans at his feet--a good figure--and two angels in the air who
crown him, executed in the sweetest style. This building, together
with the paintings, was thrown down in the year of the war of 1529.
Again Buonamico painted many things in the Vescovado of Cortona for
M. Aldebrando, bishop of that city, especially the chapel and the
picture of the high altar; but as during the restoration of the
palace and church everything was thrown down, it is not worth while
to say more about them. In S. Francesco and in S. Margherita of the
same city, there are still some pictures by the hand of Buonamico.
From Cortona he went once more to Assisi, where in the lower church
of S. Francesco he painted in fresco all the chapel of the Cardinal
Egidio Alvaro of Spain, and because he was successful he was
liberally recognised by the cardinal. Finally, after Buonamico had
done many pictures in every part of la Marca, he stayed at Perugia on
his way back to Florence, and there painted the chapel of the
Buontempi in fresco in the church of S. Domenico, representing scenes
from the life of St Catherine, virgin and martyr. In the old church
of S. Domenico he painted also in fresco on the wall the scene where
St Catherine, daughter of King Costa, disputes with, convinces, and
converts certain philosophers to the faith of Christ. As this scene
is the finest that Buonamico ever produced, it may be said with truth
that he has surpassed himself, and moved by this, as Franco Sacchetti
writes, the Perugians directed that he should paint on the piazza St
Ercolano, bishop and protector of that city. Accordingly when the
terms had been settled a screen of boards and wicker work was made in
the place where he was to paint, so that the master should not be
seen at work, and this done he set himself to the task. But before
ten days had passed everyone who passed asked when the picture would
be finished, as if such things were cast in moulds. This disgusted
Buonamico, who was angered by such importunity, and when the work was
finished he resolved to be quietly avenged on the people for their
impatience. An idea came to him, and before he uncovered his work he
showed it to the people, who were delighted. But when the Perugians
wanted to remove the screen, Buonamico said that they must let it
remain for two days longer, because he wished to retouch some things
_a secco_, and this was done. Buonamico then climbed up to where he
had made a great diadem of gold for the saint, done in relief with
the lime, as was customary in those days, and replaced it by a crown
or garland of fish. That done, permission to depart being granted to
him, he went away to Florence. When two days had passed, the
Perugians not seeing the painter about, as he was accustomed to be,
enquired what had become of him, and learned that he had returned to
Florence. Accordingly they at once went to uncover the work, and
found their St Ercolano solemnly crowned with fishes. They
immediately informed their magistrates, and horsemen were sent off
in haste to find Buonamico. But all was in vain, since he had
returned with great speed to Florence. They, therefore, agreed to get
one of their own painters to remove the crown of fishes and to
repaint the saint's diadem, saying all the evil things imaginable of
Buonamico and of the other Florentines. Thus Buonamico returned to
Florence, caring little for what the Perugians said, and began to do
many works which I shall not mention for fear of being too tedious. I
will only remark that having painted a Madonna and child at
Calcinaia, the man who had commissioned him to paint it, gave him
promises instead of gold. Buonamico, who had not reckoned upon being
used and cheated in this way, determined to be even with him.
Accordingly he went one morning to Calcinaia and converted the child
which he had painted in the Virgin's arms into a little bear, with
simple tints, without glue or tempera, but made with water only. When
the countryman saw this not long after, he was in despair, and went
to find Buonamico, begging him to be so good as to remove the bear
and repaint a child as at first, because he was ready to satisfy him.
Buonamico did this with pleasure, for a wet sponge sufficed to set
everything right, and he was paid for his first and second labours
without further delay. As I should occupy too much space if I wished
to 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 and
jest-loving men in Florence, I shall conclude this notice of him. He
died at the age of seventy-eight, and he was of the company of the
Misericordia, because he was very poor, and had spent more than he
had earned, that being his temperament, and in his misfortunes he
went to S. Maria Nuova, a hospital of Florence. He was buried in the
year 1340, like the other poor in the Ossa, the name of a cloister or
cemetery of the hospital. His works were valued during his lifetime,
and they have since been considered meritorious for productions of
that 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 our
cities with noble and useful buildings and with beautiful paintings,
while they usually win fame and riches for themselves. This was the
case with Ambruogio Lorenzetti, painter of Siena, whose powers of
invention were fine and prolific, and who excelled in the arrangement
and disposition of the figures in his subjects. Evidence of this may
be seen at the Friars Minors at Siena in a very gracefully painted
scene by him in the cloister. Here he represented the manner in which
a 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. In
this painting he has very admirably and skilfully depicted the
disturbance of the and the fury of the rain and wind, by the efforts
of the figures. From these modern masters have learned originally how
to treat such a scene, for which reason the artist deserves the
highest commendation. Ambruogio was a skilful colourist in fresco,
and he exhibited great address and dexterity in his treatment of
colours in tempera, as may still be seen in the pictures which he
completed at Siena in the hospital called Mona Agnesa, in which he
painted and finished a scene with new and beautiful composition. On
the front of the great hospital he did in fresco the Nativity of Our
Lady, and when she goes among the virgins to the temple. For the
friars of St Augustine in that city he did the chapterhouse, on the
vault of which are represented the Apostles holding scrolls
containing that part of the Credo which each of them made. At the
foot of each is a small scene representing the meaning of the writing
above. On the principal wall are three scenes of the life of St
Catherine the Martyr, representing her dispute with the tyrant in the
temple, and in the middle is the Passion of Christ with the thieves
on the Cross and the Maries below, supporting the Virgin, who has
fallen down. These things were finished by Ambruogio with
considerable grace, and in a good style. He also depicted in the
great hall of the palace of the Signoria at Siena the war of
Asinalunga, the peace following, and the events which then took
place, comprising a map, perfect for the time. In the same palace he
did eight scenes in _terra verde_ very smoothly. It is said that he
also sent to Volterra a picture in tempera, which was much admired in
that city; and at Massa, in conjunction with others, he did a chapel
in fresco and a picture in tempera, showing the excellence of his
judgment and talent in the art of painting. At Orvieto he painted in
fresco the principal chapel of St Mary. After these works he betook
himself to Florence, and in S. Procolo did a picture and the life of
St Nicholas on small figures in a chapel, to please some of his
friends, who were anxious to see a specimen of his work. He completed
this painting in so short a time, and with such skill, that he
greatly increased his name and reputation. This work, in the predella
of which he made his own portrait, procured him an invitation to
Cortona, by command of the Bishop degli Ubertini, then lord of that
city, where he worked in the church of S. Margherita, which had
shortly before been erected on the summit of the mountain for the
friars of St Francis. Some of this, particularly parts of the
vaulting and walls, is so well done, that even now when they are
almost destroyed by time, it is clear that the figures had very good
expressions, and show that he deserved the commendation which he
received. On the completion of this work Ambruogio returned to Siena,
where he passed the remainder of his days, honoured not only because
he was an excellent master in painting, but also because in his youth
he had devoted himself to letters, which were a sweet and useful
companion to painting, and such an ornament to all his life, that
they rendered him no less amiable and pleasing than the profession of
painting had done. Thus he not only conversed with men of letters and
of worth, but was also employed on the affairs of his republic with
much honour and profit. The manners of Ambruogio were in every
respect meritorious, and rather those of a gentleman and a
philosopher than of an artist. Moreover, and this tests the prudence
of men more severely, he was always ready to accept what the world
and time brought him, so that he supported with an equable mind the
good and the evil which Fortune sent him. In truth it is impossible
to overestimate what art gains by good society, gentle manners, and
modesty, joined with other excellent traits, especially when these
emanate from the intellect and from superior minds. Thus everyone
should render himself no less pleasing by his character than by the
excellence of his art. At the end of his life Ambruogio executed a
much admired picture for Monte Oliveto of Chiusuri. Soon after, at
the age of eighty-three, he passed in a happy and Christian manner to
the better life. His works were executed about 1340.

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



Pietro Cavallini, Painter of Rome.


At a time when  Rome had been deprived for many centuries, not only
of good letters and of the glory of arms, but also of all the
sciences 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 said
to have restored life to painting, had attained to the  chief place
among 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 after
him who illuminated that art, and who first showed signs that he was
not an unworthy pupil of so great a master, when he painted over the
door of the sacristy at Araceli, some scenes which are now destroyed
by time, and in S. Maria di Trastevere very many coloured things in
fresco for the whole church. Afterwards he worked in mosaic in the
principal chapel, and did the front of the church, proving that he
was capable of working in mosaic without Giotto's assistance, as he
had already succeeded in doing in painting. In the church of S.
Grisogono he also did many scenes in fresco and endeavoured to make
himself known as the best pupil of Giotto and as a good artist. In
the Trastevere also he painted almost the whole of the church of S.
Cecilia in fresco, and many things in the church of S. Francesco
appresso Ripa. He then executed in mosaic the front of S. Paolo,
outside Rome, and in the middle nave did many scenes from the Old
Testament. In executing some things in fresco for the chapter-house
of the first cloister, he displayed such diligence that he was
considered by men of judgment to be a most excellent master, and was
for the same reason so much favoured by the prelates, that they
employed him to do the wall space between the windows inside St
Peter's. Among these things he did the four Evangelists, of
extraordinary size as compared with the figures of the time usually
seen, 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 the
Byzantine style greatly pleased him, he always used it in conjunction
with that of Giotto. We see by this work that he spared no effort to
give his figures the utmost possible relief. But the best work
produced by him in that city was in the church of Araceli sul
Campidoglio mentioned above, where he painted in fresco on the
vaulting 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 much
better preserved than the others, because dust cannot attack the
vaulting so seriously as the walls. After these things Pietro came to
Tuscany in order to see the works of the other pupils of his master
Giotto, and those of the master himself. Upon this occasion he
painted in S. Marco at Florence many figures which are not visible
to-day, the church having been whitewashed with the exception of an
Annunciation which is beside the principal door of the church, and
which is covered over. In S. Basilio, by the aide of the Macine,
there is another Annunciation in fresco on the wall, so similar to
the one which he had previously made for S. Marco, and to another
which is at Florence that there are those who believe, not without
some amount of reason, that all of them are by the hand of this
Pietro; certainly it is impossible that they could more closely
resemble each other. Among the figures which he made for S. Marco
of Florence was the portrait of Pope Urban V., with the heads of St
Peter and St Paul. From this portrait Fra Giovanni da Fiesole copied
the one which is in a picture in S. Domenico, also at Fiesole. This
is a fortunate circumstance because the portrait which was in S.
Marco was covered with whitewash as I have said, together with many
other figures in fresco in that church, when the convent was taken
from the monks who were there originally and given to the Friars
Preachers, everything being whitewashed with little judgment and
discretion. On his way back to Rome Pietro passed through Assisi in
order not only to see the buildings and notable works done then by
his master and by some of his fellow-pupils, but to leave something
of his own there. In the transept on the sacristy side of the lower
church of S. Francesco he painted in fresco a Crucifixion of Jesus
Christ with armed men on horseback, in varied fashions, with a great
variety of extraordinary costumes characteristic of divers foreign
nations. In the air he made some angels floating on their wings in
various attitudes; all are weeping, some pressing their hands to
their 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 the
middle upwards. In this work which is well executed in fresh and
vivacious colouring, the joints of the lime are so well made that it
looks as if it had all been done in a single day: in it I have found
the arms of Walter, Duke of Athens, but as it contains no date or
other writing, I cannot affirm that it was executed by command of
that prince. But besides the fact that everyone considers it to be by
Pietro's hand, the style alone is a sufficient indication, while it
seems most probable that the work was made by Pietro at the duke's
command seeing that the painter flourished at the time when the duke
was in Italy. Be that as it may, the painting is certainly admirable
for an antique production, and its style, besides the common report,
proclaims it as being by Pietro's hand. In the church of S. Marco at
Orvieto, which contains the most holy relic of the Corporale, Pietro
executed 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 the
city. Some further affirm that Pietro made some sculptures with
success, because he excelled in whatever he set himself to do, and
that the Crucifix which is in the great church of S. Paolo outside
Rome is by him. This is said to be the same one that spoke to St
Brigida in the year 1370, and we are bound to believe it. By the same
hand were some other things in that style which were thrown down when
the old church of St Peter's was destroyed to make the new one.

Pietro was very diligent in all his efforts and endeavoured steadily
to do himself honour and to acquire fame in art. Not only was he a
good Christian, but very devoted and kind to the poor, and beloved
for his goodness, not only in his native city of Rome, but by every
one who knew him or his works. In his extreme old age he devoted
himself so thoroughly to religion, leading an exemplary life, that he
was considered almost a saint. Thus there is no cause for marvel if
his crucifix spoke to the saint, as is said, nor that a Madonna, by
his hand, has worked and still works miracles. I do not propose to
speak of this work, although it is famous throughout Italy, and
although it is all but certain that it is by Pietro's hand by the
style of the painting, but Pietro's admirable life and piety to God
are worthy of imitation by all men. Let no one believe by this that
it is impossible to attain to honoured rank without good conduct, and
without the fear and grace of God, for constant experience proves the
contrary. Giovanni of Pistoia was a pupil of Pietro, and did some
things of no great importance in his native place. Pietro died at
length in Rome, at the age of eighty-five, of a malady in his side
caused by working at a wall, by the damp and by standing continually
at that exercise. His paintings were executed about 1364. He was
buried 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 to
those arts which may bring them not only honour and great profit, but
what is more, fame, and an all but immortal name. How much more happy
then are those who, from their cradle, besides such an inclination,
exhibit gentleness and civil manners, which render them very
acceptable to all men. But the most happy of all, I speak of artists,
are those who, besides having a natural inclination to the good, and
whose manners are noble by nature and training, live in the time of
some famous writer, by whose works they sometimes receive a reward of
eternal honour and fame in return for some small portrait or other
courtesy of an artistic kind. This reward should be specially desired
and sought after by painters, since their works, being on a surface
and a field of colour, cannot hope for that eternity that bronze and
marble give to sculpture, and which the strength of building
materials afford to the architect. It was thus a very fortunate
matter 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; because
when he had received one as beautiful as he desired, he celebrated
Simone 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 his
intimate letters in the fifth book, beginning _Non sum nescius_, have
given more fame to the poor life of Simone than all his own works
have done or ever will do, for a day will come when they will be no
more, whereas the writings of such a man as Petrarch endure for all
time.

Simone Memmi of Siena then was an excellent painter, remarkable in
his own day and much esteemed at the Pope's court, because, after the
death of his master Giotto, whom he had followed to Rome when he did
the _Navicella_ in mosaic, and other things, he had imitated his
master'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 pine
apple is, in a wall between the arches of the portico, on the
outside. For this style he was praised, especially as he had
introduced into the work a portrait of a sacristan of St Peter's
lighting some lamps, and has made his figures very vigorous. This led
to Simone being summoned very urgently to the Pope's court at
Avignon, where he executed so many pictures in fresco and on panels
that his works realised the fame which had preceded him thither.
Returning to Siena in great credit and high in favour, he was
employed by the Signoria to paint in fresco a Virgin Mary, with many
figures about her in a chamber in their palace. He completed this
with every perfection, to his great glory and advantage. In order to
show that he was no less skilful in painting on panels than in
fresco, he executed a panel in that palace, for which reason he was
afterwards commissioned to do two in the Duomo and a Madonna with
the child in her arms in a most beautiful attitude, above the door of
the opera of that building. In this picture some angels which are
holding up a standard in the air, are flying and looking down on
saints below them, who are surrounding Our Lady, forming a very
beautiful and decorative composition. That done, Simone was invited
to Florence by the general of St Augustine and did the chapter-house
in S. Spirito, showing remarkable invention and judgment in the
figures and horses, as may be believed on seeing the story of the
Passion of Christ, remarkable alike for the ingenuity, discretion,
and exquisite grace displayed by the artist. The thieves on the
cross are seen in the act of expiring, the soul of the good one being
carried with rejoicing to heaven by angels, while that of the guilty
one is roughly dragged down by devils to hell. Simone has also shown
originality and judgment in the disposition and bitter weeping of
some angels about the cross. But most remarkable of all is the way in
which the spirits cleave the air with their shoulders, because they
maintain the movement of their flight while turning in a circle. This
work would supply much clearer evidence of Simone's excellence if, in
addition to the ravages of time, it had not been further damaged in
the year 1560, through the fathers who, not being able to use the
chapter-house on account of the damp, and throwing down the little
that remained of the paintings of this man, in replacing a worm-eaten
floor by vaulting. About the same time Simone painted in tempera on a
panel Our Lady and a St Luke with other saints, which is to-day in
the chapel of the Gondi in S. Maria Novella, signed with his name.
Simone afterwards did three sides of the chapter-house of S. Maria
Novella very successfully. On the first, that over the entrance door,
he did the life of St Domenic; on the next one towards the church he
represented the religious and order of that saint fighting against
the 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 who
have been convinced in the disputes and are tearing up their books,
and, having repented, they confess, and their souls pass to the gate
of Paradise, in which are many small figures doing various things. In
heaven is seen the glory of the saints and Jesus Christ. In the world
below the pleasures and delights are represented by human figures,
especially some ladies, seated among whom is Petrarch's Laura drawn
from life, clothed in green, with a small flame of fire between her
breast and her throat. There also is the Church of Christ, guarding
which are the Pope, the Emperor, the King, Cardinals, Bishops, and
all the  Christian Princes, among them, beside a knight of Rhodes, M.
Francesco Petrarch, also drawn from life, which Simone did in order
to keep green the memory of the man who had made him immortal. For
the Church Universal he made the church of S. Maria del Fiore, not as
it stands to-day, but as he had taken it from the model and design
left by the architect Arnolfo in the Opera, as a guide to those who
were to continue the building after his death. As I have said
elsewhere, no  memory of these models would have been preserved,
owing to the negligence of the wardens of S. Maria del Fiore, had not
Simone painted them in this work. On the third side, that of the
altar, he did the Passion of Christ, who is going up from Jerusalem
with the cross on His shoulder, and proceeds to Mount Calvary,
followed by a throng of people, where He is seen raised on the cross
between the thieves, together with the other incidents of that story.
I shall not attempt to describe the presence of a good number of
horses, the throwing of lots by the servants of the court for the
raiment of Christ, the release of the Holy Fathers from limbo, and
all the other clever inventions which would be most excellent in a
modern master and are remarkable in an ancient one. Here he occupies
the entire wall and carefully makes the different scenes, one above
the other, not dividing the separate subjects from one another by
ornaments, as  the  ancients used to do, and according to the
practice of many moderns, who put the earth above the air four or
five times. This has been done in the principal chapel of the same
church, and in the Campo Santo at Pisa, where Simone painted many
things in fresco, and was compelled against his will to make such
divisions, as the other painters who had worked there, such as Giotto
and Buonamico his master, had  begun the scenes in this bad style.
Accordingly he continued that style in the Campo Santo, and made in
fresco a Madonna above the principal door on the inside. She is borne
to heaven by a choir of angels, who sing and play so realistically
that they exhibit all the various expressions which musicians are
accustomed to show when playing or singing, such as bending the ear
to the sound, opening the mouth in various ways, raising the eyes to
heaven, puffing the cheeks, swelling the throat, and in short all the
movements which are made in music. Under this Assumption, in three
pictures, he did the life of St Ranieri of Pisa. In the first is the
youth playing the psalter, to the  music of which some little
children are dancing,--very beautiful for the arrangement of the
folds, the ornamentation of the clothes, and the head-dresses of
those times. The same Ranieri is next seen rescued from such
lasciviousness by St Albert the hermit. He stands weeping with his
face down, and his eyes red with tears, full of repentance for his
sin, while God in the air, surrounded by a heavenly light, makes as
if to pardon him. The second picture represents Ranieri distributing
his property among God's poor, then mounting into a barque he has
about him a throng of poor and maimed, of women and children,
anxiously pressing forward to petition and to thank him. In the same
picture is when the saint after receiving the pilgrim's dress in the
church, stands before Our Lady, who is  surrounded by many angels,
and shows him that he shall rest, in her bosom at Pisa. The heads of
all these figures are vigorous with a fine bearing. The third picture
represents the saint's return after seven years from beyond the sea,
where he had spent three terms of forty days in the Holy Land, and
how while standing in the choir and hearing the divine offices where
a number of boys are singing, he is tempted by the devil, who is seen
to be repelled by the firm purpose guiding Ranieri not to offend God,
assisted by a figure made by Simone to represent Constancy, who
drives away the ancient adversary represented with fine originality
not only as terrified, but holding his hands to his head in his
flight, with his head buried as far as possible in his shoulders, and
saying, according to the words issuing from his mouth: "I can do no
more." The last scene in the same picture is when  Ranieri kneeling
on Mount Tabor sees Christ miraculously in the air with Moses and
Elias. All the parts of this work and other things which concern it
show that Simone was very ingenious, and understood the good method
of composing figures lightly in the style of the time. When these
scenes were finished he made two pictures in tempera in the same
city, assisted by Lippo Memmi his brother, who had also helped him to
paint the chapter-house of S. Maria Novella and other works. Although
Lippo did not possess Simone's genius, yet he followed his style so
far as he was able, and did many things in fresco, in conjunction
with his brother in S. Croce at Florence, the picture of the high
altar of the Friars Preachers in S. Catarina at Pisa, and in S. Paolo
on the River Arno, and besides many beautiful scenes in fresco, he
did the picture in tempera now over the high altar, comprising Our
Lady, St Peter, St Paul, St John the Baptist, and other saints, to
which work Lippo put his name. After these things he did by himself a
picture in tempera for the friars of St Augustine in S. Gimigniano,
and acquired such fame thereby, that he was obliged to send to Arezzo
to the Bishop Guido de' Tarlati a picture with three half-length
figures, which is now in the chapel of St Gregory in the Vescovado.
While Simone was working at Florence, a cousin of his who was a
clever architect, Neroccio by name, succeeded in the year 1332 in
sounding the great bell of the commune of Florence, which no one had
been able to accomplish for the space of seventeen years, except by
the efforts of twelve men. This man, however, balanced it so that it
could be moved by two persons, and when once in motion one person
alone could ring it, although it weighed more than sixteen thousand
pounds; accordingly, in addition to the honour, he received three
hundred gold florins as his reward, a considerable sum for that time.
But to return to our two masters of Siena. Besides the things already
mentioned, Lippo executed from Simone's design a picture in tempera,
which was taken to Pistoia and put over the high altar of the church
of S. Francesco, where it was considered very fine. When Simone and
Lippo at length returned to their native Siena, the former began a
large coloured work over the great gate of Camollia. Here he
represented the coronation of Our Lady with a quantity of figures,
but the work remained incomplete, as he fell very sick, and
succumbing 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,  who
gave him honoured burial in S. Francesco. Lippo afterwards finished
many pictures which Simone had left imperfect. Among these were a
Passion of Jesus Christ at Ancona, over the high altar of S. Niccola,
in which Lippo finished what Simone had begun, imitating what he had
done in the chapter-house of S. Spirito at Florence, and which
Simone had entirely completed. This work is worthy of a longer life
than it appears likely to enjoy, for it contains many finely posed
horses and soldiers, actively engaged in various matters, wondering
whether or no they have crucified the Son of God. At Assisi he also
finished some figures which Simone had begun in the lower church of
S. Francesco, at the altar of St Elizabeth, which is at the entrance
of the door leading into the chapel, representing Our Lady, a St
Louis, King of France, and other saints, eight figures in all, from
the knees upwards, but good and very well coloured. Besides this
Simone had begun in the principal refectory of that monastery, at the
top of the wall, many small scenes and a crucifix with a Tree of the
Cross. 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 by
the old masters in order to work in fresco with greater rapidity, for
after they had sectioned out all their work on the rough wall, they
drew it with the brush, following a small design which served as a
guide, increasing this to the proper size, and this done they at once
set to work. That many other works were painted in the same manner as
this is seen in those cases where the work has peeled off, the design
in red remaining on the rough wall. But to return to Lippo. He drew
very fairly, as may be seen in our book, in a hermit with his legs
crossed. He survived Simone twelve years, doing many things for all
parts of Italy, but especially two pictures in S. Croce at Florence.
As the style of the two brothers is somewhat similar, their works may
be distinguished thus:  Simone wrote at the bottom of his: _Simonis
Memmi Senensis opus_; Lippo omitted his surname and careless of his
Latinity wrote: _Opus Memmi de Seals me fecit_. On the wall of the
chapter-house of S. Maria Novella, besides the portraits of Petrarch
and Laura mentioned above by Simone's hand, are those of Cimabue,
Lapo the architect, Arnolfo his son, and Simone himself, the Pope
being a portrait of Benedict XI. of Treviso, a friar preacher, whose
figure had been given to Simone by his master Giotto, when the latter
returned from the Pope's court at Avignon. In the same place, next to
the Pope, he portrayed the Cardinal Niccola da Prato, who had at that
time come to Florence as the Pope's legate, as Giov. Villani relates
in 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 not
excel greatly in design, but was naturally full of invention and was
very fond of drawing from life. In this he was considered the best
master of his time, so that the lord Pandolfo Malatesta sent him to
Avignon to make the portrait of M. Francesco Petrarch, at whose
request he afterwards made the much admired portrait of Madonna
Laura.



Taddeo Gaddi, Painter of Florence.


It is a truly useful and admirable task to reward talent largely at
every opportunity, because great abilities which would otherwise lie
dormant, are excited by this stimulus and endeavour with all
industry, not only to learn, but to excel, to raise themselves to a
useful 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 and
noble, as did the descendants of Taddeo Gaddi the painter, by means
of his works. This Taddeo di Gaddo Gaddi of Florence, after the death
of Gaddo, had been the pupil of his godfather Giotto for twenty-four
years, as Cennino di Drea Ceninni, painter of Colle di Valdelsa
writes. On the death of Giotto he became the first painter of the
day, by reason of his judgment and genius, surpassing his
fellow-pupils. His first works, executed with a facility due to
natural ability rather than to acquired skill, were in the church of
S. Croce at Florence in the chapel of the sacristy, where, in
conjunction with his fellow-pupils of the dead Giotto, he did some
fine scenes from the life of St Mary Magdalene, the figures and
draperies being very remarkable, the costumes being those then worn.
In the chapel of the Baroncelli and Bandini, where Giotto had already
done a picture in tempera, Taddeo did some scenes from the life of
the Virgin in fresco on the wall, which were considered very
beautiful. Over the door of the same sacristy he painted the scene of
Christ disputing with the doctors in the temple, which was afterwards
destroyed when Cosimo de' Medici the elder built the noviciate, the
chapel and the vestibule of the sacristy, in order to put a stone
cornice above that door. In the same church he painted in fresco the
chapel of the Bellacci and that of St Andrew, next to one of the
three done by Giotto, in which he represented Christ calling Andrew
and Peter from their nets, and the crucifixion of the latter apostle
with such truth that it was much admired and praised when it was
completed, and is still held in esteem at the present day. Over the
side door and under the tomb of Carlo Marsupini of Arezzo, he made a
dead Christ with Mary, in fresco, which was much admired. Below the
screen 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 boy
killed by a fall from a terrace, with an apparition in the air. In
this scene he drew the portraits of his master Giotto, the poet
Dante, Guido Cavalcanti, and some say of himself. In different places
in the same church he made a number of figures, which are recognised
by artists from their style. For the company of the Temple he painted
the 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, in
one of which he represented Judas selling Christ, and in the other
the Last Supper with the Apostles. In the same convent over the door
of the refectory he painted a crucifix and some saints, which
distinguish him, among the others who worked there, as a true
imitator of the style of Giotto, whom he always held in the highest
veneration. In S. Stefano of the Ponte Vecchio he painted the picture
and predella of the high altar with great care, and in the oratory of
S. Michele in Orto he very skilfully represented in a picture a dead
Christ, wept over by Mary, and deposited in the sepulchre by
Nicodemus with great devotion. In the church of the Servites he
painted the chapel of St Nicholas, belonging to the Palagio family,
with stories of that saint, where, in his painting of a barque, he
has clearly shown with the greatest judgment and grace, that he had a
thorough knowledge of a tempestuous sea and of the fury of Fortune.
In this work St Nicholas appears in the air, while the mariners are
emptying the ship and throwing out the merchandise, and frees them
from their danger. This work gave great satisfaction and was much
admired, so that Taddeo was commissioned to paint the chapel of the
high altar of that church. Here he did in fresco some stories of Our
Lady, and in tempera on a panel, Our Lady with many saints, a very
vigorous representation. Similarly, on the predella of this picture
he did some stories of Our Lady in small figures, into the details of
which it is not necessary to enter, because everything was destroyed
in the year 1467 when Ludovico, Marquis of Mantua, made in that place
the tribune which is there now, from the design of Leon Battista
Alberti, and the choir of the friars, causing the picture to be taken
to the chapter-house of that convent, in the refectory of which he
made above the wooden backs, the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the
Apostles, and above that a crucifix with many saints. When Taddeo had
completed this work he was invited to Pisa where he painted the
principal chapel of S. Francesco in fresco, very well coloured, for
Gherardo and Bonaccorso Gambacorti, with many figures and stories of
the saint, and of St Andrew and St Nicholas. On the vaulting and the
wall is Pope Honorius confirming the rule, and a representation of
Taddeo from life, in profile, with a hood folded over his head. At
the bottom of this scene are these words:

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

In the cloister of the same convent he further made a Madonna in
fresco, with the child at her neck, very well coloured. In the middle
of the church, on the left hand on entering, is seated a St Louis the
bishop, to whom St Gherardo da Villamagna, who was a friar of the
order, is recommending one fra Bartolommeo, then superior of the
convent. The figures of this work, being drawn from life, exhibit the
utmost vivacity and grace, in that simple style which was in some
respects better than Giotto's, particularly in the expression of
intercession, joy, grief, and other feelings, the good representation
of which always constitutes the highest claim of the painter to
honour. Taddeo then returned to Florence and continued for the
commune the work of Orsan-michele, refounding the pillars of the
Loggia, using dressed and hewn stones in place of the original
bricks, but without making any change in the design left by Arnolfo,
who provided that a palace with two vaults should be made above the
Loggia for the preservation of the provisions of grain made by the
people and commune of Florence. For the completion of this work the
Art of the Porta S. Maria, to whom the charge of the structure had
been entrusted, ordained the payment of the gabelle of the piazza and
of the grain market, and some other changes of very small importance.
But an ordinance of far more importance was that each of the arts of
Florence should make a pilaster for itself, placing on a niche in it
the patron saint of each, and that every year the consuls of the arts
should go to make offerings on their saints' feast days and keep
their standard and insignia there all that day, but that the alms so
collected should be made to the Virgin for the needy poor.

In the year 1333 a great flood had carried away the parapets of the
Ponte Rubaconte, thrown down the castle of Altafronte, left nothing
of the Ponte Vecchio except the two middle piles, entirely destroyed
the Ponte S. Trinita, a single shattered pile alone standing, and
half the Ponte alla Carraia, breaking down the flood-gates of
Ognissanti. For this cause the rulers of the city took counsel
together, because they did not wish that those who dwelt beyond the
Arno should again suffer this inconvenience of having to cross by
barques. Accordingly they called in Taddeo Gaddi, because his master
Giotto had gone to Milan, and instructed him to make the model and
design of the Ponte Vecchio, directing him to render it as strong and
as beautiful as it could possibly be. To this end he spared neither
pains nor expense, building it with such strong piers and  such fine
arches, all of hewn stone, that it now sustains twenty-two shops on
either side, making forty-four in all, to the great benefit of the
commune, who that year expended upon it eight hundred florins of
rent. The length of the span from one side to the other is 32
braccia, the middle way is 16, and the shops on either side 8
braccia. 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 the
year 1537, on 13th September, when the Ponte a Santa Trinita, two
arches of the Carraia, and a great part of the Rubaconte all fell,
and more damage was done. Certainly no man of judgment can refrain
from amazement, or at least wonder, when he considers how firmly the
Ponte Vecchio resisted the impetus of the water, the timber, and
other debris, without yielding. At the same time Taddeo laid the
foundations of the Ponte a Santa Trinita, which was finished with
less success in the year 1346 at a cost of twenty thousand gold
florins. I say with less success, because, unlike the Ponte Vecchio,
it was ruined by the flood of 1557. It was also under Taddeo's
direction that the wall on the side of S. Gregorio was made at the
same time, with driven piles, two piers of the bridge being taken to
enlarge the ground on the side of the piazza de' Mozzi, and to set up
the mills which are still there.

Whilst all these things were being done under Taddeo's direction and
from his plans, he did not allow them to stop his painting, and did
the tribunal of the old Mercanzia, where, with poetical imagination,
he represented the tribunal of six men, that being the number of the
chief of that magistracy, who are watching Truth taking out
Falsehood'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 carried
out with the greatest perfection with the aid of his pupil Giovanni
da Milano. One of these, representing the Passion of Jesus Christ,
may still be seen in the oratory of the Holy Spirit, in front of the
high altar. It contains many horses, and the thieves on the cross,
and is considered a very beautiful thing on account of his conception
of the nailing to the cross, where there are some figures which
vividly express the rage of the Jews, some drawing Him by the legs
with a rope, others bringing the sponge, and others in various
attitudes, such as Longinus, who pierces His side with the spear, and
the three soldiers who are playing for His garments, their faces
depicting hope and fear in throwing the dice. The first of these men
stands in a constrained attitude awaiting his turn, and is so eager
to draw that he apparently does not notice the discomfort; the second
is loading the dice-box, and frowns as he looks at the dice, his
mouth and eyes open as if from suspicion of fraud, showing clearly to
an observant beholder his eagerness to win; the third, who is about
to throw the dice, spreads out on the ground with trembling arm the
garments, 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 John
the Evangelist, which are executed with such wonderful style and
design that they cannot fail to excite astonishment. In the chapel of
St Sebastian, next the sacristy in S. Agostino, he did the life of
that martyr and the dispute of Christ with the doctors, so well
executed and finished that the beauty and variety displayed, as well
as the grace of their colouring, are marvellous.

In Casentino, in the church of the Sasso del Vernia, he painted in
the chapel the scene where S. Francis receives the stigmata. Here
Taddeo was assisted in matters of minor importance by Jacopo di
Casentino, who thus became his pupil. When this was completed Taddeo
returned with Giovanni of Milan to Florence, where in the city and
without they made a number of panels and pictures of importance. In
the process of time Taddeo acquired so much money that, by steadily
saving, he founded the wealth and nobility of his family, being
always considered a wise and courteous man. In S. Maria Novella he
painted the chapter-house which was allotted to him by the prior of
the place, who supplied him with the idea. It is known that, because
the work was a great one, and as the chapter-house of S. Spirito was
uncovered at the same time as the bridges were building, to the great
glory of Simone Memmi who painted it, the prior wished to secure
Simone to do half of the work; accordingly he consulted Taddeo, who
was very willing to agree to this, since Simone had been a
fellow-pupil of Giotto with him, and they had always remained close
friends and companions. O truly noble souls to love one another
fraternally without emulation, ambition, or envy, so that each
rejoiced at the advancement and honour of his friend as if it had
been his own. The work was accordingly divided, three sides being
allotted to Simone, as I have said in his life, and the left side and
the whole of the vaulting to Taddeo, who divided his work into four
divisions or quarters, according to the disposition of the vaulting.
In the first he made the Resurrection of Christ, in which he
apparently endeavours to cause the glorified body to emit light,
which is reflected on a city and on some mountain rocks; but he
abandoned this device in the figures and in the rest of the
composition, possibly because he was not confident of his ability to
carry it out, owing to the difficulties which presented themselves.
In the second compartment he made Jesus Christ delivering Peter from
drowning, when the apostles, who are managing the boat, are certainly
very fine, and especially a man who is fishing with a line on the
sea-shore (a thing first attempted by Giotto in the mosaic of the
_Navicella_ in St Peter's), represented with vigorous and life-like
expression. In the third he painted the Ascension of Christ, while
the fourth represents the Descent of the Holy Spirit, remarkable for
the fine attitudes of the Jews, who are endeavouring to enter the
door. On the wall beneath are the seven sciences, with their names,
and appropriate figures below each. Grammar habited like a woman is
teaching a boy; beneath her sits the writer Donato. Next to Grammar
sits Rhetoric, at whose feet is a figure with its two hands resting
on books, while it draws a third hand from beneath a mantle and holds
it to its mouth. Logic has a serpent in her hand, and is veiled, with
Zeno Eleate at her feet reading. Arithmetic holds the table of the
Abacus, and under her sits Abraham, its inventor. Music has musical
instruments, with Tubal Cain beneath, beating with two hammers upon
an anvil, with his ears listening to the sound. Geometry has the
quadrant and sextant, with Euclid beneath. Astrology has the sphere
of the heavens in her hands, and Atlas under her feet. On the other
side sit the seven theological sciences, each one having beneath it a
person 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 his
feet, Arius, Sabellius, and Averroes. About him are Moses, Paul, John
the Evangelist, and some other figures with the four cardinal
virtues, and the three theological ones, in addition to an infinite
number of other ideas set forth by Taddeo with no small design and
grace, so that this may be considered the best devised and the most
finely preserved of all his works. In the same S. Maria Novello, over
the transept he did a St Jerome dressed as a cardinal. He held that
saint in reverence, choosing him as the protector of his house, and
after Taddeo's death his son Agnolo made a tomb for his descendants
covered with a marble slab adorned with the arms of the Gaddi under
this picture. For these descendants the cardinal Jerome, aided by
their merits and the goodness of Taddeo, has obtained from God most
distinguished places in the church, such as clerkships of the
chamber, bishoprics, cardinalates, provostships, and most honourable
knighthoods. The descendants of Taddeo have uniformly valued and
encouraged men of genius in painting and sculpture, assisting them to
the utmost of their power. At length when Taddeo had reached the age
of fifty years, he was seized with a severe fever and passed from
this life in the year 1350, leaving Agnolo his son and Giovanni to
carry on the painting, recommending them to Jacopo di Casentino for
their material well being, and to Giovanni da Milano for instruction
in art. This Giovanni, besides many other things, made a picture,
after Taddeo's death, which was placed in S. Croce at the altar of St
Gherardo da Villamagna, fourteen years after he had been left without
his master, and also the high altar picture of Ognissanti, where the
Umiliati friars are stationed, a much admired work; and in Assisi he
made for the tribune of the high altar a crucifix, Our Lady, and St
Clare, and on the side wall stories of Our Lady. He subsequently went
to Milan, where he did many works in tempera and in fresco, and at
length died there.

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

Taddeo was buried by Agnolo and Giovanni his sons in S. Croce, in the
first cloister, and in the tomb which he had made for Gaddo his
father. He was much honoured in the verses of the learned of the time
as a man who had deserved much for his character, and because he had,
besides his pictures, successfully completed many structures very
useful to his city. In addition to the works already mentioned, he
had with care and diligence completed the campanile of S. Maria del
Fiore from the design of his master Giotto. This campanile was so
constructed that it would be impossible to join stones with more
care, or to make a tower which should be finer in the matter of
ornament, expense, and design. The epitaph made for Taddeo was as
follows:

          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 seen
in our book, which contains a drawing by his hand of the scene which
he did in the chapel of St Andrew in S. Croce, at Florence.



Andrea di Cione Orcagna, Painter, Sculptor, and Architect of
Florence.


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 to
his first profession, and which proceed, as it were, from the same
source. An example of this is Orcagna of Florence, who was painter,
sculptor, architect, and poet, as will be said below. He was born in
Florence, and while quite a child began to practise sculpture under
Andrea Pisano, and so continued for many years. When he afterwards
became desirous of enriching his invention for the purpose of
composing beautiful scenes, he carefully studied design, aided as he
was by nature, who wished to make him a universal genius, and as one
thing leads to another, he practised painting in colours in tempera
and fresco, and succeeded so well with the aid of Bernardo Orcagna
his brother, that Bernardo himself procured his assistance to do the
life of Our Lady in the principal chapel of S. Maria Novella, which
then belonged to the family of the Ricci. This work was considered
very beautiful, although, owing to the neglect of those who
afterwards had charge of it, it was destroyed by water through the
breaking of the roof not many years after, and consequently it is
restored in its present manner, as will be said in the proper place.
Suffice it to say, that Domenico Grillandai, who repainted it, made
considerable use of the inventions of Orcagna which were there. In
the same church, and in conjunction with his brother Bernardo, Andrea
did in fresco the chapel of the Strozzi, which is near the door of
the sacristy and the belfry. In this chapel, which is approached by
some stone steps, he painted on one wall the glory of Paradise, with
all the saints in the various habits and head-dresses of the time. On
the other wall he did Hell, with the holes, centres, and other things
described by Dante, of whom Andrea was a diligent student. In the
church of the Servites, in the same city he painted in fresco, also
in conjunction with Bernardo, the chapel of the family of the Cresci,
and in S. Pier Maggiore in a picture of considerable size, the
Coronation of the Virgin, and another picture in S. Romeo near the
side door.

He and his brother Bernardo also painted in fresco together the
façade of S. Apollinare, with such diligence that the colours are
bright and beautiful and marvellously preserved to this day in that
exposed place. The governors of Pisa, moved by the renown of these
works of Orcagna, which were much admired, sent for him to do a part
of the wall in the Campo Santo of that city, as Giotto and
Buffalmacco had previously done. Accordingly he put his hand to the
work, and painted a Last Judgment, with some fancies of his own, on
the wall towards the Duomo, next to the Passion of Christ made by
Buffalmacco. In the first scene he represented all ranks of temporal
lords enjoying the pleasures of this world, seating them in a flowery
meadow under the shadow of many orange trees, forming a most
agreeable wood. Above the branches are some cupids, who are flying
round and over a number of young women, evidently portraits of noble
women and ladies of the day, though they are not recognisable after
this lapse of time. The cupids are preparing to transfix the hearts
of the ladies, near whom are young men and lords listening to playing
and singing and watching the amorous dancing of men and maidens,
delighting in the sweetness of their loves. Among these lords Orcagna
drew Castruccio, the lord of Lucca, a youth of the most striking
aspect, with a blue hood bound about his head and a sparrowhawk on
his hand. Near him are other lords of the time, whose identity is not
known. In fine, in this first part he represented in a most gracious
manner all the delights of the world in accordance with the demands
of the place and the requirements of art. On the other side of the
same scene he represented, on a high mountain, the life of those who,
being moved by penitence for their sins and by the desire of
salvation, have escaped from the world to this mountain, which is
thus full of holy hermits serving the Lord, and doing various things
with very realistic expressions. Some are reading and praying, and
are all intent on contemplation; while others are working to earn
their living, and are exercising themselves in various activities.
Here is a hermit milking a goat in the most vigorous and realistic
manner. Below this is St Macario showing to three kings, who are
riding to hunt with their ladies and suite, the corpses of three
kings, partly consumed in a tomb, emblematic of human misery, and
which are regarded with attention by the living kings in fine and
varied attitudes, expressive of wonder, and they seem to be
reflecting that they themselves must shortly become such. One of
these kings is the portrait of Uguccione della Faggiuola of Arezzo,
in a figure represented as holding his nose with his hand in order
not to smell the odour of the dead kings. In the middle of this scene
is Death, flying through the air and clothed in black, while he
raises his scythe to take the life of many who are on the earth, of
every state and condition, poor, rich, lame, whole, young, old, men,
women, and, in short, a multitude of every age and sex. And because
Orcagna knew that the invention of Buffalmacco had pleased the
Pisans, by which Bruno caused his figures in S. Paolo a ripa d'Arno
to speak, making letters issue from their mouths, he has filled all
these works of his with such writings, of which the greater number,
being destroyed by time, cannot be deciphered. He makes some lame old
men 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 composed
in the old style by Orcagna himself, as I have discovered, for he was
addicted to poetry, and wrote some sonnets. About these bodies are
some devils, who take their souls out of their mouths and carry them
to gulfs full of fire upon the top of a very high mountain. On the
other hand, there are some angels who, in like manner, take the souls
of the dead, who happen to have been good, out of their mouths, and
carry them flying to Paradise. In this scene is a large scroll, held
by 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. Underneath
in the ornamentation of these scenes are nine angels who hold some
words written in the border of the painting, in the vulgar tongue and
in Latin, put there because they would spoil the scene if placed
higher, and to omit them altogether did not appear fitting to the
author, who considered this method very fine, and perhaps it was to
the taste of that age. The greater part of these are omitted here in
order not to tire the reader with impertinent matter of little
interest, and moreover the greater number of the scrolls are
obliterated, while the remainder are in a very imperfect condition.
After this Orcagna made the Last Judgment. He placed Jesus Christ on
high above the clouds in the midst of his twelve Apostles to judge
the quick and the dead, exhibiting on the one side, with great art
and vigour, the despair of the damned, as they are driven weeping to
Hell by furious demons; and on the other side the joy and rejoicing
of the elect, who are transported to the right hand side of the
blessed by a troop of Angels led by the Archangel Michael. It is
truly lamentable that for lack of writers, the names and identity of
few or none of these can be ascertained out of such a multitude of
magistrates, knights and other lords, who are evidently drawn from
life, although the pope there is said to be Innocent IV. the friend
of Manfred.

After this work and some sculptures in marble executed to his great
glory in the Madonna, which is on the side of the Ponte Vecchio,
Andrea left his brother Bernardo to work by himself in the Campo
Santo at a Hell made according to Dante's description, which was
afterwards much damaged in 1530, and restored by Solazzino, a painter
of our own day. Meanwhile Andrea returned to Florence, where he
painted in fresco in the middle of the Church of S. Croce on a very
large wall on the right hand, the same things which he had done in
the Campo Santo at Pisa, in three similar pictures, but omitting the
scene in which St Macario is showing human wretchedness to the three
kings, and the life of the hermits who are serving God on the
mountain. But he did all the rest of that work, displaying better
design and more diligence than at Pisa, but retaining almost the same
methods in the inventions, style, scrolls and the rest, without
changing anything except the portraits from life; because in this
work he introduced the portraits of some of his dearest friends into
his Paradise, while he condemned his enemies to hell. Among the elect
may be seen the portrait in profile of Pope Clement VI. with the
tiara on his head, who reduced the Jubilee from a hundred to fifty
years, was a friend of the Florentines, and possessed some of their
paintings which he valued highly. Here also is Maestro Dino del
Garbo, then a most excellent physician, clothed after the manner of
the doctors of that day with a red cap on his head lined with
miniver, while an angel holds him by the hand. There are also many
other portraits which have not been identified. Among the damned he
drew the Guardi, sergeant of the Commune of Florence, dragged by the
devil with a hook. He may be recognised by three red lilies on his
white hat, such as were worn by the sergeants and other like
officials. Andrea did this because the sergeant had upon one occasion
distrained his goods. He also drew there the notary and the judge who
were against him in that cause. Next to Guardi is Cecco d'Ascoli, a
famous wizard of the time, and slightly above him, and in the middle
is a hypocritical friar, who is furtively trying to mingle with the
good, while an angel discovers him and thrusts him among the damned.
Besides Bernardo, Andrea had another brother called Jacopo, who
devoted himself, but with little success, to sculpture. For this
brother Andrea had sometimes made designs in relief in clay, and this
led him to wish to do some things in marble to see if he remembered
that art, which he had studied at Pisa, as has been said. Accordingly
he applied himself earnestly to that pursuit, and attained to such a
measure of success that he afterwards made use of it with credit, as
will be said. He next devoted all his energies to the study of
architecture, thinking that he might have occasion to make use of it.
Nor was he mistaken, for in the year 1355 the Commune of Florence
bought some private houses near the palace to enlarge that building
and increase the piazza, and also to make a place where citizens
could withdraw in time of rain, and in winter to do under cover the
things which were done in the uncovered arcade when bad weather did
not interfere. They procured a number of designs for the construction
of a large and magnificent loggia near the palace for this purpose as
well as for a mint for coining money. Among these designs prepared by
the best masters of the city, that of Orcagna was universally
approved and accepted as being larger, finer and more magnificent
than the others, and the large loggia of the piazza was begun under
his direction by order of the Signoria and Commune, upon foundations
laid in the time of the Duke of Athens, and was carried forward with
much diligence in squared stones excellently laid. The arches of the
vaults were constructed in a manner new for that time, not being
pointed as had previously been customary, but in half circles after a
new pattern, with much grace and beauty, and the building was
completed under Andrea's direction in a short time. If it had
occurred to him to erect it next to S. Romolo and to turn its back
towards the north, which he perhaps omitted to do in order that it
should be convenient for the door of the palace, it would have been
a most useful construction for all the city, as it is a most
beautiful piece of work, whereas it is impossible to remain there in
winter owing to the strong wind. In the decoration of this loggia
Orcagna made seven marble figures in half relief between the arches
of the façade representing the seven virtues, theological and
cardinal. These are so fine, that taken in conjunction with the whole
work they prove their author to have been an excellent sculptor as
well as a distinguished painter and architect. Besides this he was in
all his deeds a pleasant, well-bred and amiable man so that his
fellow was never seen. And since he never abandoned the study of one
of his three professions when he took up another, he painted a
picture in tempera with many small figures while the loggia was
building, and a predella of small figures for that chapel of the
Strozzi where his brother Bernardo had already done some things in
fresco. On this picture he wrote his name thus: _Anno Domini
MCCCLVII Andreas Cionis de Florentia me pinxit_, being of opinion
that it would exhibit his powers to better advantage than his works
in fresco could. When this was finished he did some paintings on a
panel which were sent to the pope to Avignon, in the cathedral church
of which they still remain. Shortly afterwards, the men of the
company of Orsanmichele, having collected a quantity of money of alms
and goods given to the Madonna there on account of the mortality of
1348, they decided that they would make about her a chapel or
tabernacle richly adorned not only with marble carved in every manner
and with other stones of price, but also with mosaic and ornaments of
bronze, the best that could be desired, so that in workmanship and
material it should surpass every other work produced up to that day.
The execution of this was entrusted to Orcagna as being the foremost
man of the age. He made a number of designs, one of which was chosen
by the directors of the work as being the best of all. Accordingly
the task was allotted to him and everything was committed to his
judgment and counsel. He and his brother undertook to do all the
figures, giving the rest to various masters from other countries. On
the completion of the work, he caused it to be built up and joined
together very carefully without lime, the joints, being of lead and
copper so that the shining and polished marbles should not be
blemished. This proved so successful and has been of such use and
honour to those who came after him, that it appears to an observer
that the chapel is hollowed out of a single piece of marble, so
excellently are parts welded together, thanks to this device of
Orcagna. Although in the German style its grace and proportions are
such that it holds the first place among the things of the time,
owing chiefly to the excellent composition of its great and small
figures and of the angels and prophets in half-relief about the
Madonna. The casting of the carefully polished bronze ornaments which
surround it is marvellous, for they encircle the whole work, enclose
it and bind it together, so that this  part is as remarkable for its
strength as the other parts are for their beauty. But he devoted the
highest powers of his genius to the scene in half-relief on the back
of the tabernacle, representing in figures of a braccia and a half,
the twelve apostles looking up at the Madonna ascending to heaven in
a mandorla, surrounded by angels. He represented himself in marble as
one of the apostles, an old  man, clean shaven, a hood wound round
his 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 the
marble: _Andreas Cionis pictor florentinus oratorii archimagister
extitit hujus, MCCCLIX_. It appears that the erection of the loggia
and of the marble tabernacle, with all the workmanship involved cost
96,000 gold florins, which were very well expended, because in
architecture, in sculpture and other ornaments they are comparable in
beauty with any other work of the time, without exception, and so
excellent as to assure to the name of Andrea Orcagna immortality and
greatness. In signing his paintings he used to write Andrea di Clone,
sculptor, and on his sculptures, Andrea di Cione, painter, wishing
his sculpture to recommend his painting and his painting his
sculpture. Florence is full of his paintings, some of which may be
recognised by the name, such as those in S. Romeo, and some by his
style, 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 an
old man he wrote some sonnets to Burchiello, then a youth. At length
at the age of sixty he completed the course of his life in 1389, and
was 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 in
sculpture and architecture, whose names are unknown, but their works
show that they are worthy of high praise and commendation. An example
of such work is the Monastery of the Certosa of Florence, erected at
the cost of the noble family of the Acciaiuoli, and particularly of
M. Niccola, Grand Seneschal of the King of Naples, containing
Niccola's tomb with his effigy in stone, and those of his father and
a sister, both of whose portraits in the marble were made from life
in the year 1366. There also and by the same hand may be seen the
tomb of M. Lorenzo, Niccola's son, who died at Naples, arid was
brought to Florence and buried there with most honourable obsequies.
Similarly the tomb of the Cardinal S. Croce of the same family, which
is before the high altar in a choir then newly built, contains his
portrait in a marble stone very well executed in the year 1390.

The pupils of Andrea in painting were Bernardo Nello di Giovanni
Falconi 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 on
the screen of the church. After Andrea's death, his brother Jacopo,
who, as has been said, professed sculpture and architecture, was
employed in the year 1328 in building the tower and gate of S. Pietro
Gattolini, and it is said that the four gilded stone lions at the
four corners of the principal palace of Florence are by his hand.
This work incurred no little censure, because it was placed there
without reason, and was perhaps a greater weight than was safe. Many
would have preferred the lions to have been made of copper gilded
over and hollow inside, and then set up in the same place, when they
would have been much less heavy and more durable. It is said that the
horse in relief in S. Maria del Fiore at Florence is by the same
hand. It is gilded, and stands over the door leading to the oratory
of S. Zanobi. It is believed to be a monument to Pietro Farnese,
captain of the Florentines, but as I know nothing more of the matter
I cannot assert this positively. At the same time Andrea's nephew
Mariotto made a Paradise in fresco for S. Michel Bisdomini in the via
de' Servi at Florence, over the altar, and another picture with many
figures for Mona Cecilia de' Boscoli, which is in the same church
near the door. But of all Orcagna's pupils none excelled Francesco
Traini, who executed for a lord of the house of Coscia, buried at
Pisa in the chapel of St Dominic in the church of S. Caterina, a
St Dominic on a panel on a gold ground, with six scenes from his life
surrounding him, very vigorous and life-like and excellently
coloured. In the chapel of St Thomas Aquinas in the same church he
made a picture in tempera, with delightful invention, and which is
much admired. He introduced a figure of St Thomas seated, from life;
I say from life because the friars of the place brought a portrait of
him from the abbey of Fossanuova, where he had died in 1323. St
Thomas is seated in the air with some books in his hand, illuminating
with their rays and splendour the Christian people; kneeling below
him are a large number of doctors and clerks of every condition,
bishops, cardinals and popes, including the portrait of Pope Urban
VI. Under the saint's feet are Sabellius, Arius, Averroes, and other
heretics and philosophers with their books all torn. On either side
of St Thomas are Plato, showing the Timæus, and Aristotle pointing to
his Ethics. Above is Jesus Christ, also in the air, with the four
Evangelists about him. He is blessing St Thomas, and apparently
sending the Holy Spirit upon him, filling him therewith and with His
grace. On the completion of this work Francesco Traini acquired great
name and fame, for he had far surpassed his master Andrea in
colouring, in unity, and in invention. Andrea was very careful in his
designs, 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 and
when artists work in competition with each other there is no doubt
that men's abilities, being stimulated by constant study, discover
new things every day to satisfy the varied tastes of man. Thus in
painting, some introduce obscure and eccentric things into their work
and by a mastery of the difficulties display the brightness of their
talent in the midst of darkness. Others employ themselves on soft and
delicate things conceiving that these should be more pleasing to the
eye of the beholder; so that they pleasantly attract the greater
number of men. Others again paint smoothly, softening the colours and
confining the lights and shades of the figures to their places, for
which they merit the highest praise, displaying their intention with
wonderful skill. This smooth style is always apparent in the works of
Tommaso di Stefano, called Giottino, who was born in the year 1324,
and after he had learned the elements of painting from his father, he
resolved while still a youth, that he would most carefully imitate
Giotto's style rather than that of Stefano. He succeeded so well in
this that he won thereby in addition to the style, which was much
finer than his master's, the nickname of Giottino, which he always
retained. Hence many, misled  by his manner and name, believed him to
be Giotto's  son, but they fell into a very great error, for it is
certain, or rather highly probable (since no one  can  affirm  such
things absolutely), that he was the son of Stefano, painter of
Florence. Tommaso was so diligent in painting and so fond of it, that
although not many of his works have been found, yet those which are
extant are good and in excellent style. For the draperies, hair,
beards, and other details are executed and composed with such grace
and care that they prove him to have possessed a far better idea of
unity in art than was to be found in the works of Giotto, master of
Stefano his father. In his youth Giottino painted in S. Stefano at
the Ponte Vecchio at Florence, a chapel by the side door, and
although it has suffered a great deal from the damp, yet enough
remains to prove the skill and genius of the craftsman. He next did
SS. Cosmo and Damian beside the mills in the Frati Ermini, of which
but little can now be seen owing to the ravages of time. He did a
chapel in fresco in the old S. Spirito of that city, which was
afterwards destroyed at the burning of that church. Over the
principal door of the same church he painted in fresco the Descent of
the Holy Spirit, and on the piazza of the church, leading to the side
of the Cuculia, next the convent, he did the tabernacle which may
still be seen there, with Our Lady and other saints about her, who in
their heads and other parts approach very closely to the modern
style, because Tommaso endeavoured to vary and change the flesh tints
and to combine a graceful and judicious treatment of the figures with
variety in the colouring and in the draperies. In the chapel of St
Silvester at S. Croce he did the history of Constantine with great
care, with many fine ideas in the gestures of the figures. His next
work was to be placed behind a marble ornament made for the tomb of
M. Bettino de' Bardi, a man of eminent military rank of the time. He
represented him from life, in armour, rising on his knees from the
tomb, summoned by the Last Trump sounded by two angels who accompany
a Christ in the clouds, very well done. At the entrance to S.
Pancrazio, on the right hand side, he did a Christ carrying the
cross, and some saints near, markedly in Giotto's style. In S.
Gallo, a convent outside the gate of that name, and which was
destroyed at the siege, he painted a Pieta in fresco in a cloister, a
copy of which is in S. Pancrazio mentioned above, on a pilaster
beside the principal chapel. He painted SS. Cosmo and Damian in
fresco 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 were
ruined by bad weather and were restored by some ignorant painters. An
uninjured work of Tommaso in the same church is in the tympanum over
the sacristy door, which contains a Madonna in fresco, with the child
in her arms; it is a good thing as he took pains with it.

By means of these works Giottino acquired so much renown, imitating
his master, as I have said, both in design and in inventions, that
the spirit of Giotto himself was said to be in him, owing to the
freshness of his colouring and to his skill in design. Now, on 2nd
July 1343, when the Duke of Athens was hunted from Florence, and had
by oath renounced the government and rendered the Florentines their
liberty, Giottino was constrained by the Twelve Reformers of the
State, and especially by the prayers of M. Agnolo Acciaiuoli, then a
very distinguished citizen, who had great influence over him, to
paint on the tower of the Podesta Palace the duke and his followers,
M. Ceritieri Visdomini, M. Maladiasse, his Conservator and M. Ranieri
da S. Gimignano, all with mitres of Justice on their heads,
represented thus shamefully as a sign of contempt. About the duke's
head he painted many beasts of prey and other sorts, indicative of
his nature and quality; and one of these counsellors had in his hand
the palace of the priors of the city, which he was offering to the
duke, like a false traitor. Beneath everyone of them were the arms
and insignia of their families, with inscriptions which can now only
be read with difficulty owing to the ravages of time. This work,
because it was well designed and very carefully executed, gave
universal satisfaction, and the method of the artist pleased
everyone. He next made a St Cosmo and a St Damian at the Campora, a
place of the black monks outside the gate of S. Piero Gattolini.
These were afterwards destroyed in whitewashing the church. On the
bridge at Romiti in Valdarno he did the tabernacle which is built in
the middle, painting it in fresco in a very fine style. It is
recorded by many writers that Tommaso practised sculpture, and did a
marble figure four braccia high for the campanile of S. Maria del
Fiore at Florence, towards the place where the orphan asylum now
stands. At Rome again he successfully completed a scene in S. John
Lateran in which he represented the pope in various dignities, but
the painting is now much damaged and eaten by time. In the house of
the Orsini he did a hall full of famous men, and a very fine St Louis
on 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, that
being the only place left undecorated, he painted a coronation of Our
Lady, in an arch, surrounded by many angels, so graceful, with such
beautiful faces, so soft and so delicate, exhibiting that union of
colours customary in the artist, and which constitutes his peculiar
excellence, that he may clearly be compared with any of his
predecessors. 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, raising
a dead child, whilst many beautiful women standing about are filled
with amazement, all being dressed in very graceful costumes of the
time. In the same city of Assisi, in an arch over the inside of the
city door which leads to the Duomo, he did a Madonna and child with
so much care that she seems alive, and a very fine St Francis, with
other saints. These two works, although the scene with St Clare is
unfinished, for Tommaso returned sick to Florence, are perfect and
worthy of all praise.

It is said that Tommaso was a melancholy and solitary man, but very
diligent and fond of his art. This is clearly shown in a picture of
his in tempera in the church of S. Romeo at Florence, placed on the
screen on the right-hand side, for nothing was ever better done on
wood. It represents a dead Christ with Mary and Nicodemus,
accompanied with other figures, who are weeping bitterly for the
dead. Their gentleness and sweetness are remarkable as they twist
their hands and beat themselves, showing in their faces the bitter
sorrow that our sins should cost so dear. It is a marvellous thing,
not that Tommaso could rise to this height of imagination, but that
he could express his thought so well with his brush. Consequently
this work deserves the highest praise, not so much because of the
subject and conception as for the art in which he exhibited the heads
of some who are weeping, for although the brows, eyes, nose and mouth
are distorted by the emotion, yet this does not mar or destroy the
beauty of his faces, which usually suffers much at the hands of those
who represent weeping if they are not versed in the good methods of
art. But it is no wonder that Giottino was so successful with this
picture, because the object of all his labour was rather fame and
glory than any other reward or desire of gain, which causes the
masters of our own time to be less careful and good. Not only Tommaso
did not endeavour to acquire great wealth, but he went without many
of the comforts of life, living in poverty, seeking rather to please
others than to live at ease; so managing badly and working hard, he
died of phthisis at the age of thirty-two, and was buried by his
relations outside S. Maria Novella at the gate of Martello, near the
tomb of Bontura.

The pupils of Giottino, who left more fame than property, were
Giovanni Tossicani of Arezzo, Michelino, Giovanni dal Ponte, and
Lippo, who were meritorious masters of the art. Giovanni Tossicani
excelled the others, and after Tommaso's death he executed many works
in that same style, in all Tuscany, and particularly in the Pieve of
Arezzo, where he did the chapel of St Maria Maddalena of the
Tuccerelli, and in the Pieve of Empoli, where he did a St James on a
pilaster. Again, he did some things in the Duomo at Pisa, which were
afterwards removed to make way for modern works. His last work was
executed in a chapel of the Vescovado of Arezzo, for the Countess
Giovanna, wife of Tarlato di Pietramala, and represented an
Annunciation, with St James and St Philip. As this work was on a
wall, the back of which is exposed to the north, it was almost
destroyed by the damp, when Master Agnolo di Lorenzo of Arezzo
restored the  Annunciation, and Giorgio Vasari, then a youth,
restored the SS. James and Philip, to his great advantage, as he
learnt a great deal which he had not been able to obtain from other
masters, by observing Giovanni's methods, and from the shadows and
colours of this work, damaged as it was. The following words of the
epitaph to the Countess, who caused the work to be done, may still be
read: Anno Domini 1335 de mense Augusti hanc capellam constitui fecit
nobilis Domina comitissa Joanna de Sancta Flora uxor nobilis militis
Domini Tarlati de Petramela ad honorem Beatæ Mariæ Virginis.

I make no mention of the works of the other pupils of Giottino,
because they are quite ordinary and bear little resemblance to those
of their master and of Giovanni Tossicani, their fellow-pupil.
Tommaso drew very well, as appears by some sheets by his hand which
are 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 is
untrue and unworthy of confidence, the contrary being the case, since
a man who does not live within his means comes at last to live in
want, and dies in misery; yet it sometimes happens that Fortune
rather assists those who throw away without reserve than those who
are orderly and careful in all things. When the favour of Fortune is
wanting, Death frequently repairs the defect and remedies the
consequences of men's thoughtlessness, for it comes at the very
moment when they would begin to realise, with sorrow, how wretched a
thing it is to have squandered everything when young to pass one's
age on shortened means in poverty and toil. This would have been the
fate of Giovanni da S. Stefano a Ponte of Florence, if, after he had
devoured his patrimony as well as the gains which came into his hand,
rather through good fortune than by his desserts, and some legacies
which came to him from unexpected quarters, he had not reached the
end of his life at the very time when he had exhausted his means. He
was a pupil of Buonamico Buffalmacco, and imitated his master more in
following worldly pleasures than in endeavouring to make himself a
skilful painter. He was born in the year 1307, and was Buffalmacco's
pupil in his youth. He executed his first works in fresco in the
Pieve of Empoli in the chapel of St Laurence, painting many scenes
from the life of that saint with such care, that so good a beginning
was considered to promise much better things in the future.
Accordingly he was invited in the year 1344 to Arezzo, where he did
an Assumption in a chapel in S. Francesco. Being in some credit in
that city, for lack of other artists, he next painted in the Pieve
the chapel of St Onofrio and that of St Anthony, ruined to-day by the
damp. He left other paintings in S. Giustina and S. Matteo, which
were pulled down with the churches when Duke Cosimo was fortifying
the city. Almost on this very spot, near S. Giustina, at the foot of
the abutment of an ancient bridge, at the point where the river
enters the city, they there found a fine marble head of Appius
Ciccus, and one of his son, with an ancient epitaph, which are now in
the Duke's wardrobe. When Giovanni returned to Florence, at the time
when the middle arch of the Ponte a S. Trinita was being completed,
he decorated a chapel built on a pile, and dedicated to St Michael
the Archangel, an ancient and beautiful building, doing many figures,
both inside and out, and the whole of the principal front. This
chapel was carried away, together with the bridge, in the flood of
1557. Some assert that he owed his name of Giovanni dal Ponte to
these works. In Pisa, in the year 1335, he did some scenes in fresco
behind 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 the
chapel 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 in
tempera and fresco for Florence and elsewhere, which won him
considerable renown. He was beloved by his friends, but rather in his
pleasures 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 hope
of excelling in it; and although he had not troubled to acquire for
himself what he desired for others, he never ceased to advise others
to work diligently. At length, when he had lived fifty-nine years, he
departed this life in a few days in consequence of a disorder of the
chest. Had he lived a little longer, he would have suffered much
inconvenience, as there remained hardly sufficient in his house to
afford him decent burial in S. Stefano dal Ponte Vecchio. His works
were executed about 1345.

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



Agnolo Gaddi, Painter of Florence.


The virtue and husbandry of Taddeo Gaddi afford an excellent
illustration of the advantages and honours accruing from excellence
in a noble art, for by his industry and labour he provided a
considerable property, and left the affairs of his family so ordered
that when he passed to the other life his sons Agnolo and Giovanni
were enabled without difficulty to lay the foundations of the vast
wealth and distinction of the house of Gaddi, which is now amongst
the noblest in Florence and of high repute in all Christendom. Indeed
it was no more than reasonable, after Gaddo, Taddeo, Agnolo and
Giovanni had adorned with their art and talents so many considerable
churches, that their descendants should be decorated with the highest
ecclesiastical dignities by the Holy Roman Church and her Pontiffs.
Taddeo, whose life we have already written, left two sons, Agnolo and
Giovanni, among his many pupils, and he hoped that Agnolo in
particular would attain to considerable excellence in painting. But
although Agnolo when a youth promised to far surpass his father, he
did not realise the good opinions which were then formed about him.
Being born and brought up in ease, which is often a hindrance to
application, he was more devoted to trading and commerce than to the
art of painting. This is no new or strange circumstance, for avarice
almost invariably proves a bar to those geniuses who would have
attained the summit of their powers, had not the desire of gain stood
in their way in their first and best years.

In his youth Andrea did a small scene for S. Jacopo tra fossi at
Florence, in figures of little more than a braccia high, representing
the Resurrection of Lazarus, who had been four days dead. Considering
the corrupt state of the body, which had been in the tomb three days,
he presented the grave clothes bound about him as soiled by the
putrefaction of the flesh, and certain livid and yellowish marks in
the flesh about the eyes, between quick and dead, very well
considered. He also shows the astonishment of the disciples and other
figures, who in varied and remarkable attitudes are holding their
garments to their noses so as not to smell the stench of the corrupt
body, and exhibit every shade of fear and terror at this marvellous
event, as well as the joy and delight of Mary and Martha at seeing
the dead body of their brother return to life. This work was deemed
so excellent that there were many who thought that the talents of
Andrea would prove superior to those of all the pupils of Taddeo and
even to those of the master himself. But the event proved otherwise,
for as in youth will conquers every difficulty in the effort after
fame, so it often happens that the years bring with them a certain
heedlessness which causes men to go backwards instead of forwards, as
was the case with Agnolo. Owing to the high repute of his ability,
the family of the Soderini, expecting a great deal, allotted to him
the principal chapel of the Carmine, where he painted the whole of
the life of Our Lady, but in a style so inferior to the Resurrection
of Lazarus that anyone could perceive that he had little desire to
devote all his energies to the study of painting. In the whole of
this 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 of
maidens, whose habits and headdresses vary according to the divers
customs of the time, and who are engaged in various employments, some
spinning, some sewing, some winding silk, and some weaving and doing
other things, all very well conceived and executed by Agnolo.

Similarly in painting in fresco the principal chapel of the church of
S. Croce for the noble family of the Alberti, he represented the
incidents which took place on the finding of the Cross, executing the
work with much skill, though it is somewhat lacking in design, the
colouring alone being meritorious. He succeeded much better
afterwards in some other paintings in fresco in the chapel of the
Bardi, and in some stories of St Louis in the same church. He worked
capriciously, sometimes with great care and sometimes with little.
Thus in S. Spirito at Florence, where he did the inside of a door
leading from the piazza to the convent, and above another door a
Madonna and child, with St Augustine and St Nicholas, all in
fresco--they are all so well done that they look as if they had been
painted yesterday. The secret of working in mosaic had as it were
descended to Agnolo by inheritance, and in his house he had the
instruments and other apparatus used by his grandfather Gaddo;
accordingly to para the time, and for one reason or another, he did
some things in mosaic when he had the whim. Thus since many of the
marble facings of the exterior of S. Giovanni were wasted by time,
and as the damp had pierced through and done considerable injury to
the mosaics previously executed there by Andrea Tafi, the Consuls of
the Art of the Merchants proposed to restore the greater part of this
marble covering, in order that no further damage should be done, and
also to repair the mosaics. The commission for this was given to
Agnolo, and in the year 1346 he caused the building to be covered
with new marble, overlaying the joints to a distance of two fingers
with great care, notching the half of each stone as far as the
middle. He then cemented them together with a mixture of mastic and
wax, and completed the whole with such care that from that time
forward neither the vaulting nor the roof has ever suffered any harm
from the water. His subsequent restoration of the mosaics led by his
advice to the reconstruction from his well-devised plans of the whole
of the cornice of the church above the marble, under the roof, in its
present form, whereas it was originally much smaller and by no means
remarkable. He also directed the construction of the vaulting for the
hall of the Podesta palace, where an ordinary roof had formerly
existed, so that in addition to the added beauty which it gave the
room, it rendered it proof against damage by fire, which it had
frequently suffered before. By his advice the present battlements
were added to the palace, where nothing of the kind had previously
existed.

While these works were proceeding, he did not entirely abandon
painting, but executed in tempera a picture of Our Lady for the high
altar of S. Pancrazio, with St John the Baptist, St John the
Evangelist, the brothers St Nereus, Achilleus, and Prancrazius, and
other saints hard by. But the best part of this work, and indeed the
only part of it which is really good, is the predella filled with
small figures, divided into eight scenes dealing with the Madonna and
St Reparata. Subsequently in a picture for the high altar of S. Maria
Novella at Florence, executed for Barone Capelli in 1348, he made a
very fair group of angels about a Coronation of the Virgin. Shortly
afterwards he painted in fresco a series of subjects from the life of
the Virgin in the Pieve of Prato, which had been rebuilt under the
direction of Giovanni Pisano in 1312, as has been said above, in the
chapel where Our Lady's girdle was deposited, and he did a number of
other works in other churches of that same country which is full of
very considerable monasteries and convents. In Florence he next
painted the arch over the gate of S. Romeo, and in Orto S. Michele
did in tempera a Christ disputing with the doctors in the temple. At
the same time for the enlargement of the piazza of the Signori a
large number of buildings was pulled down, and notably the church of
S. Romolo, which was rebuilt from Agnolo's plans. In the churches of
this city many pictures by his hand may be seen, and a quantity of
his works may be met with in the lordship. These he produced with
great advantage to himself, although he worked rather for the sake of
following in the steps of his ancestors than from any inclination of
his own; for he had devoted all his attention to trading, which was
of great service to him, as appeared when his sons, who did not wish
to live by painting any longer, devoted themselves entirely to
commerce, opening an establishment at Venice in conjunction with
their father, who after a certain time abandoned painting altogether,
only to take it up as an amusement and pastime. By dint of trading
and practising his art, Agnolo had amassed considerable wealth when
he came to die in the sixty-third year of his life, succumbing to a
malignant fever which carried him off in a few days. His pupils were
Maestro Antonio da Ferrara, who did many fine works in Urbino and at
Citta di Castello, and Stefano da Verona, who painted with the
greatest perfection in fresco, as may be seen in several places in
his native Verona, and at Mantua, where his works are numerous. Among
other things he excelled in beautifully rendering the expressions of
the faces of children, women and old men, as his works show, which
were all imitated and copied by that Piero da Perugia, miniature
painter, who illuminated all the books in the library of Pope Pius in
the Duomo of Siena, and who was a skilful colourist in fresco. Other
pupils of Agnolo were Michaele da Milano and his own brother
Giovanni, who in the cloister of S. Spirito, where the arches of
Gaddo and Taddeo are, painted the dispute of Christ with the doctors
in the temple, the Purification of the Virgin, the Temptation of
Christ in the wilderness, and the baptism of John, but after having
given rise to the highest expectations he died. Cennino di Drea
Cennini da Colle of Valdelsa also learned painting from Andrea. He
was very fond of his art and wrote a book describing the methods of
working in fresco, in tempera, in glue and in gum, and also how to
illuminate and all the ways of laying on gold. This book is in the
possession of Giuliano, goldsmith of Siena, an excellent master and
fond of that art. The first part of the book deals with the nature of
colours, both minerals and earths, as he had learned it of Agnolo his
master. As he did not perhaps succeed in painting with perfection, he
was at least anxious to know the peculiarities of the colours, the
temperas, the glues and of chalks, and what colours one ought to
avoid mixing as injurious, and in short many other hints which I need
not dilate upon, since all these matters, which he then considered
very great secrets, are now universally known. But I must not omit to
note that he makes no mention of some earth colours, such as dark
terra rossa, cinnabar and some greens in glass, perhaps because they
were not in use. In like manner umber, yellow-lake, the smalts in
fresco and in oil, and some greens and yellows in glass which the
painters of that age lacked, have since been discovered. The end of
the treatise deals with mosaics, with the grinding of colours in oil
to make red, blue, green and other kinds of grounds, and with
mordants for the application of gold but not at that time for
figures. Besides the works which he produced with his master in
Florence, there is a Madonna with saints by his hand under the loggia
of the hospital of Bonifazio Lupi, of such style and colouring that
it has been very well preserved up to the present day.

In the first chapter of his book Cennino says these words in speaking
of himself: "I, Cennino di Drea Cennini da Colle of Valdelsa, was
instructed in this art for twelve years by Agnolo di Taddeo of
Florence, my master, who learned the art of his father Taddeo, whose
godfather was Giotto and who was Giotto's pupil for twenty-four
years. This Giotto transmuted the art of painting from Greek into
Latin, and modernised it, and it is certain that he gave more
pleasure than any one else had ever done." These are Cennino's very
words, by which it appears that as those who translate from Greek
into Latin render a very great service to those who do not understand
Greek, so Giotto, in transmuting the art of painting from a style
which was understood by no one, except perhaps as being extremely
rude, into a beautiful, facile, and smooth manner, known and
understood 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 buried
by his sons, to whom he is said to have left the value of 50,000
florins or more, in S. Maria Novella, in the tomb which he had made
for himself and his descendants, in the year 1387. The portrait of
Agnolo 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 the
cross; he is painted in profile standing beside a door. He wears a
small beard and has a red hood on his head, after the manner of the
time. He was not a good draughtsman, according to the evidence of
some 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 noble
profession was not frequently cut off by death in the best years,
there is no doubt that many geniuses would attain the goal desired by
them and by the world. But the short life of man and the bitterness
of the various accidents which intervene on every hand sometimes
deprive us too early of such men. An example of this was poor Berna
of Siena, who died while quite young, although the nature of his
works would lead one to believe that he had lived very long, for he
left such excellent productions that it is probable, had he not died
so soon, he would have become a most excellent and rare artist. Two
of 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 a
wall which has recently been demolished to make chapels there, a
scene of a young man led to punishment, of the highest imaginable
excellence, the representation of pallor and of the fear of death
being so realistic that it merits the warmest admiration. Beside the
youth is a friar who is consoling him, with excellent gestures, and
in fine the entire scene is executed with such vigour as to leave no
doubt that Berna had penetrated deeply into the horror of that
situation, full of bitter and cold fear, since he was able to
represent it so well with the brush that the actual event passing
before one's eyes could not move one more. In Cortona, besides many
things scattered up and down the city, he painted the greater part of
the vaulting and walls of the church of S. Margherita where the
Zoccolanti friars now are. From Cortona he proceeded to Arezzo in the
year 1369, at the very time when the Tarlati, formerly lords of
Pietramela, had finished the convent and church of S. Agostino, under
the direction of Moccio, sculptor and architect of Siena. In the
aisles of this building where many citizens had erected chapels and
tombs for their families, Berna painted in fresco in the chapel of St
James, some scenes from the life of that saint. Among these the most
remarkable is the story of the cozener Marino, who through love of
gain had contracted his soul to the devil and then recommended his
soul to St James, begging him to free him from his promise, whilst a
devil shows him the deed and makes a great disturbance. Berna
expresses the emotions of all these figures with great vigour,
especially in the face of Marino, who is divided between his fear and
his faith and confidence in St James, although he sees the
marvellously ugly devil against him, employing all his eloquence to
convince the saint. St James, after he has brought Marino to a
thorough penitence for his sin, promises him immunity, delivers him
and brings him back to God. According to Lorenzo Ghiberti, Berna
reproduced this story in S. Spirito at Florence before it was burned,
in a chapel of the Capponi dedicated to St Nicholas. After these
works Berna painted a large crucifix in a chapel of the Vescovado of
Arezzo for M. Guccio di Vanni Tarlati of Pietramela, with Our Lady at
the foot of the cross, St John the Baptist, St Francis la a very sad
attitude, and St Michael the archangel, with such care that he
deserves no small praise, especially as it is so well preserved that
it might have been made yesterday. At the foot of the cross, lower
down, is the portrait of Guccio himself, in armour and kneeling. In
the Pieve of the same city he did a number of stories of Our Lady for
the chapel of the Paganelli, and there drew from life a portrait of
St Ranieri, a holy man and prophet of that house, who is giving alms
to a crowd of poor people surrounding him. Again in S. Bartolommeo he
painted 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 the
Evangelist, drawing his own portrait and those of many of his noble
friends of the city in some figures there. When these labours were
completed he returned to his native city and did many pictures on
wood, both small and great. But he did not remain there long, because
he was invited to Florence to decorate the chapel of St Nicholas in
S. Spirito, as mentioned above, and which was greatly admired, as
well as to do some other things which perished in the unfortunate
fire at that church. In the Pieve of S. Gimignano di Valdelsa he did
in fresco some scenes from the New Testament. When he was on the
point of completing these things he fell to the ground from the
scaffolding, suffering such severe injuries that he expired in two
days, by which art suffered a greater loss than he, for he passed to
a better sphere. The people of S. Gimignano gave him honourable
burial in that Pieve, with stately obsequies, having the same regard
for him when dead as they had entertained for him while alive, while
for many months they were constantly affixing to the tomb epitaphs in
the Latin and vulgar tongues, for the people of those parts take a
natural pleasure in _belles lettres_. This then was the fitting
reward of the honourable labours of Berna, that those whom he had
honoured with his paintings should celebrate him with their pens.
Giovanni da Asciano, who was a pupil of Berna, completed his work and
did some pictures for the hospital of the Scala at Siena. In Florence
also he did some things in the old houses of the Medici, by which he
acquired a considerable reputation. The works of Berna of Siena were
produced about 1381. Besides what we have already said, he was a
fairly facile draughtsman and the first who began to draw animals
well, as we see by some sheets by his hand in our book, covered with
wild beasts of various parts, so that he merits the highest praise
and that his name should be honoured among artists. Another pupil of
his was Luca di Tome of Siena who painted many works in Siena and in
all Tuscany, but especially the picture and chapel of the Dragomanni
in S. Domenico at Arezzo. The chapel is in the German style and was
very handsomely decorated by that picture and by the frescoes
executed there by the skill and talent of Luda of Siena.



Duccio, Painter of Siena.


There is do doubt that those who invent anything noteworthy occupy
the greatest share of the attention of historians, The reason for
this is that original inventors are more noticed and excite more
wonder, because new things always possess a greater charm than
improvements subsequently introduced to perfect them. For if no one
ever made a beginning, there would never be any advance or
improvement, and the full achievement of marvellous beauty would
never be attained. Accordingly Duccio, a much esteemed painter of
Siena, is worthy to receive the praise of those who have followed him
many years after, since in the pavement of the Duomo of Siena he
initiated the treatment in marble of figures in chiaroscuro, in which
modern artists have performed such wonders in these days. Duccio
devoted himself to the imitation of the old style and very
judiciously gave the correct forms to his figures, overcoming the
difficulty presented by such an art. Imitating the paintings in
chiaroscuro, he designed the first part of the pavement with his own
hand; and painted a picture in the Duomo which was then put at the
high altar and afterwards removed to make room for the tabernacle of
the body of Christ which is now seen there. According to Lorenzo di
Bartolo Ghiberti, this picture was a Coronation of Our Lady, very
much in the Byzantine style, though mingled with much that is modern.
It was painted on both sides, as the altar stood out by itself, and
on the back Duccio had with great care painted all the principal
incidents of the New Testament in some very fine small figures. I
have endeavoured to discover the whereabouts of the picture at the
present time, but although I have taken the utmost pains in the
search, I have not succeeded in finding it or of learning what
Francesco di Giorgio the sculptor did with it, when he restored the
tabernacle in bronze as well as the marble ornaments there. At Siena
Duccio did many pictures on a gold ground and an Annunciation for S.
Trinita, Florence. He afterwards painted many things at Pisa, Lucca
and Pistoia for different churches, which were all much admired and
brought him much reputation and profit. The place of his death is not
known, nor are we aware what relations, pupils or property he left.
It is enough that he left to art the inheritance of his inventions in
painting, marble and chiaroscuro, for which he is worthy of the
highest commendation and praise. He may safely be enumerated among
the benefactors who have increased the dignity and beauty of our
craft, and those who pursue investigations into the difficulties of
rare inventions, deserve a special place in our remembrance for this
cause apart from their marvellous productions.

It is said at Siena that in 1348 Duccio designed the chapel which is
on the piazza in front of the principal palace. It is also recorded
that another native of Siena called Moccio, flourished at the same
time. He was a fair sculptor and architect and did many works in
every part of Tuscany, but chiefly at Arezzo in the Church of S.
Domenico, where he made a marble tomb for of the Cerchi. This tomb
supports and decorates the organ of that church, and if some object
that it is not a work of high excellence, I reply that it must be
considered a very fair production seeing that he made it in the year
1356 while quite a youth. He was employed on the work of S. Maria del
Fiore as under architect and as sculptor, doing some things in marble
for that structure. In Arezzo he rebuilt the Church of S. Agostino,
which was small, in its present form, the expense being borne by
heirs of Piero Saccone de' Tarlati, who had provided for this before
his death at Bibbiena in the territory of Casentino. As Moccio
constructed this church without vaulting, he imposed the burden of
the roof on the arcading of the columns, running a considerable risk,
for the enterprise was too bold. He also built the Church and
Convent of S. Antonio, which were at the Faenza gate before the siege
of Florence, and are now entirely in ruins. In sculpture he decorated
the gate of S. Agostino at Ancona, with many figures and ornaments
like those which are at the gate of S. Francesco in the same city. In
this church of St Agostino he also made the tomb of Fra Zenone
Vigilanti, bishop and general of the order of St Augustine, and
finally the loggia of the merchants in that city, which has from time
to time received, for one cause and another, many improvements in
modern style, and ornamentation of various descriptions. All these
things, although very much below the general level of excellence of
to-day, received considerable praise then owing to the state of
information of the time. But to return to Duccio, his works were
executed about the year of grace 1350.



Antonio, Painter of Venice.


There are many men who, through being persecuted by the envy and
oppressed by the tyranny of their fellow-citizens, have left their
native place and have chosen for a home some spot where their worth
has been recognised and rewarded, producing their works there and
taking the greatest pains to excel, in order, in a sense, to be
avenged on those by whom they have been outraged. In this way they
frequently become great men, whereas had they remained quietly at
home they might possibly have achieved little more than mediocrity in
their art. Antonio of Venice, who went to Florence, in the train of
Agnolo Gaddi, to learn painting, so far acquired the proper methods
that not only was he esteemed and loved by the Florentines, but made
much of for this talent and for his other good qualities. Then,
becoming possessed by a desire to return to his native city and enjoy
the fruits of his labours, he went back to Venice. There, having made
himself known by many things done in fresco and tempera, he was
commissioned by the Signoria to paint one of the walls of the Council
Chamber, a work which he executed with such skill and majesty that
its merits should have brought him honours and rewards; but the
rivalry, or rather the envy, of the other artists, together with the
preference accorded by some noblemen to other and alien painters,
brought about a different result. Hence poor Antonio, feeling himself
repelled and rebutted, thought it would be as well to go back to
Florence, deciding that he would never again return to Venice, but
would make Florence his home. Having reached that city, he painted in
an arch in the cloister of S. Spirito the calling of Peter and Andrew
from their nets, with Zebedee and his sons. Under the three arches of
Stefano he painted the miracle of the loaves and fishes, exhibiting
great diligence and love, as may be seen in the figure of Christ
Himself, whose face and aspect betray His compassion for the crowd
and the ardent charity which leads Him to distribute the bread. The
same scene also shows very beautifully the affection of an apostle,
who is very active in distributing the bread from a basket. The
picture affords a good illustration of the value in art of always
painting figures so that they appear to speak, for otherwise they are
not prized. Antonio showed this on the façade in a small
representation of the Fall of the Manna, executed with such skill and
finished with such grace, that it may truly be called excellent. He
next did some stories of St Stephen in the predella of the high altar
of S. Stefano at the Ponte Vecchio, with so much loving care that
even in illuminations it would not be possible to find more graceful
or more delicate work. Again he painted the tympanum over the door of
S. Antonio on the Ponte alla Carraia. This and the church were both
pulled down in our own day by Monsignor Ricasoli, bishop of Pistoia,
because they took away the view from his houses, and in any case even
if 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 arches
on this side, as well as that part of the bridge on which the little
church of S. Antonio was situated. After these works Antonio was
invited to Pisa by the wardens of the Campo Santo, and there
continued the series dealing with the life of St Ranieri, a holy man
of that city, which had been begun by Simone of Siena and under his
direction. In the first part of Antonio's portion of the work is a
representation of the embarkation of Ranieri to return to Pisa, with
a goodly number of figures executed with diligence, including the
portrait of Count Gaddo, who had died ten years before, and of Neri,
his uncle, who had been lord of Pisa. Another notable figure in the
group is that of a man possessed, with distorted, convulsive
gestures, his eyes glistening, and his mouth grinning and showing his
teeth, so remarkably like a person really possessed that nothing more
true or life-like can be imagined. The next picture contains three
really beautiful figures, lost in wonder at seeing St Ranieri reveal
the devil in the form of a cat on a tub to a fat innkeeper, who looks
like a boon companion, and who is commending himself fearfully to the
saint; their attitudes are excellently disposed in the style of the
draperies, the variety of poses of the heads, and in all other
particulars. Hard by are the maidservants of the innkeeper, who could
not possibly be represented with more grace as Antonio has made them
with disengaged garments arranged after the manner of those worn by
the servants at an inn, so that nothing better can be imagined.
Nothing of this artist gives more pleasure than the wall containing
another scene from the same series in which the canons of the  Duomo
of Pisa, in the fine robes of the time, very different from those in
use to-day and very graceful, receive St Ranieri at table, all the
figures being made with great care. The next of his scenes is the
death of the saint, containing fine representations not only of the
effect of weeping, but of the movements of certain angels who are
carrying his soul to heaven surrounded by a brilliant light, done
with fine originality. In the scene where the saint's body is being
carried by the clergy to the Duomo one can but marvel at the
representation of the priests singing, for in their gestures,
carriage, and all their movements they exactly resemble a choir of
singers. This scene is said to contain a portrait of the Bavarian.
Antonio likewise painted with the greatest care the miracles wrought
by Ranieri when he was being carried to burial, and those wrought in
another place, after his body had been deposited in the Duomo, such
as blind who receive their sight, withered men who recover the use of
their limbs, demoniacs who are released, and other miracles
represented with great vigour. But one of the most remarkable figures
of all is a dropsical man, whose withered face, dry lips, and swollen
body exhibit with as much realism as a living man could, the
devouring thirst of those suffering from dropsy and the other
symptoms of that disease. Another marvellous thing for the time in
this work is a ship delivered by the saint after it had undergone
various mishaps. It contains an excellent representation of the
activity of the mariners, comprising everything that is usually done
in such case. Some are casting into the greedy sea without a thought
the valuable merchandise won with so much toil, some are running to
preserve the ship which is splitting, and in short performing all the
other duties of seamen which it would take too long to tell. Suffice
it to say that all are executed with remarkable vigour, and in a fine
style. In the same place beneath the lives of the holy fathers
painted by Pietro Laurati of Siena, Antonio did the bodies of St
Oliver and the Abbot Paphnuce, and many circumstances of their lives,
represented on a marble sarcophagus, the figure being very well
painted. In short, all the works of Antonio in the Campo Santo are
such that they are universally considered, and with good cause, to be
the best of the entire series of works produced there by many
excellent masters over a considerable interval of time. In addition
to the particulars already mentioned, Antonio did everything in
fresco, and never retouched anything _a secco_. This is the reason
why his colours have remained so fresh to the present day, and this
should teach artists to recognise the injury that is done to pictures
and works by retouching _a secco_ things done in fresco with other
colours, as is said in the theories, for it is an established fact
that this retouching ages the painting, and the new colours which
have no body of their own will not stand the test of time, being
tempered with gum-tragacanth, egg, size, or some such thing which
varnishes what is beneath it, and it does not permit the lapse of
time and the air to purge what has been actually painted in fresco
upon the soft stucco, as they would do had not other colours been
superimposed after the drying. Upon the completion of this truly
admirable work Antonio was worthily rewarded by the Pisans, who
always entertained a great affection for him. He then returned to
Florence, where he painted at Nuovoli outside the gate leading to
Prato, in a tabernacle at Giovanni degli Agli, a dead Christ, with a
quantity of figures, the story of the Magi and the Last Judgment, all
very fine. Invited next to the Certosa, he painted for the
Acciaiuoli, who built that place, the picture of the high altar,
which survived to our own day, when it was consumed by fire through
the carelessness of a sacristan of the monastery, who left the censer
hung 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 in
fresco on a cupboard in the chapel. Being much inclined by nature to
the 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 to
distilling simples with great assiduity. Having thus transformed
himself from a painter into a physician, he pursued the latter
profession for some time. At length he fell-sick of a disorder of the
stomach, or, as some say, through treating the plague, and finished
the 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 physician
equalled his diligence as a painter, for he gained an extensive
experience in medicine from those who had employed him in their need,
and he left behind him a high reputation in both arts. Antonio was a
very graceful designer with the pen, and so excellent in chiaroscuro
that 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 a
pupil of Antonio, and closely imitated him, while another pupil of
his, Paolo Uccello, brought him no small credit. The portrait of
Antonio 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 had
been spread abroad for many years, many, who were desirous of
obtaining fame and riches by means of the art of painting, began to
be animated by the hope of glory, and by natural inclination, to make
progress 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 di
Casentino, who was born, as we read, of the family of M. Cristoforo
Landino of Pratovecchio, and was associated by the friar of
Casentino, then superior at the Sasso del Vernia, with Taddeo Gaddi,
while he was working in that convent, in order that he might learn
design and colour. In a few years he so far succeeded, that, being
taken to Florence in the company of Giovanni di Milano, in the
service of their master, Taddeo, where they were doing many things,
he was asked to paint in tempera the tabernacle of the Madonna of the
Old Market, with the picture there, and also the one on the Via del
Cocomoro side of the Piazza S. Niccolo. A few years ago both of these
were restored by a very inferior master to Jacopo. For the Dyers, he
did the one at S. Nofri, on the side of their garden wall, opposite
S. Giuseppe. While the vaulting of Orsanmichele, upon its twelve
pillars, was being completed, and covered with a low, rough roof,
awaiting the completion of the building of the palace, which was to
be the granary of the Commune, the painting of these vaults was
entrusted to Jacopo di Casentino, as a very skilled artist. Here he
painted some prophets and the patriarchs, with the heads of the
tribes, sixteen figures in all, on an ultramarine ground, now much
damaged, without other ornamentation. He next did the lower walls and
pilasters with many miracles of Our Lady, and other things which may
be recognised by their style. This done, he returned to Casentino,
and after painting many works in Pratovecchio, Poppi, and other
places of that valley, he proceeded to Arezzo, which then governed
itself with a council of sixty of the richest and most honoured
citizens, to whom all the affairs of the state were entrusted. Here,
in the principal chapel of the Vescovado, he painted a story of St
Martin, and a good number of pictures in the old Duomo, now pulled
down, including a portrait of Pope Innocent VI. in the principal
chapel. He next did the wall where the high altar is, and the chapel
of St Maria della Neve, in the church of S. Bartolommeo, for the
chapter 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 that
saint, which are now whitewashed over. He also did the chapel of St
Christopher in the church of S. Domenico, introducing a portrait of
the blessed Masuolo releasing from prison a merchant of the Fei
family, who built the chapel. This saint was a contemporary of the
artist, and a prophet who predicted many misfortunes for the
Aretines. In the church of S. Agostino, Jacopo did some stories of St
Laurence in fresco in the chapel and at the altar of the Nardi with
marvellous style and skill. Since he also practised architecture, he
was employed by the sixty chief citizens mentioned above to bring
under the walls of Arezzo the water which comes from the slopes of
Pori, 300 braccia from the city. In the time of the Romans this water
had been originally brought to the theatre, traces of which still
exist, and thence from its situation on the hill where the fortress
now is, to the amphitheatre of the city in the plain, the buildings
and conduits of this being afterwards entirely destroyed by the
Goths. Thus after Jacopo had, as I  have said, brought the water
under the wall, he made the fountain, then known as the Fonte
Guizianelli, but is  now called by corruption Fonte Viniziana. It
remained standing from 1354 until 1527, but no longer, because the
plague of the following year, and the war which followed, deprived it
of many of its advantages for the use of the gardens, particularly as
Jacopo did not bring it inside, and for these reasons it is not
standing to-day, as it should be.

Whilst Jacopo was engaged in bringing water to the city he did not
abandon 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 Bishop
Guide and of Piero Sacconi, who had done great and notable things for
the city both in peace and war. He also did the story of St Matthew
under the organ in the Pieve, and a considerable number of other
works. By these paintings, which he did in every part of the city, he
taught Spinello of Arezzo the first principles of that art which he
himself had learned from Agnolo, and which Spinello afterwards taught
to Bernardo Daddi, who worked in the city and adorned it with many
fine paintings, which, united to his other excellent qualities,
brought him much honour among his fellow-citizens, who employed him a
great deal in magistracies and other public affairs. The paintings of
Bernardo were numerous and highly valued, first in St Croce, the
chapel of St Laurence and those of St Stephen of the Pulci and
Berardi, and many other paintings in various other parts of that
church. At length, after he had painted some pictures on the inside
of the gates of the city of Florence, he died, full of years, and was
buried honourably in S. Felicita in the year 1380.

To return to Jacopo. In the year 1350 was founded the company and
brotherhood of the Painters. For the masters who then flourished,
both those who practised the old Byzantine style and those who
followed the new school of Cimabue, seeing that they were numerous,
and that the art of design had been revived in Tuscany and in their
own Florence, created this society under the name and protection of
St Luke the Evangelist, to render praise and thanks to God in the
sanctuary of that saint, to meet together from time to time,
remembering the welfare of their souls as well as of the bodies of
those who might be in need of assistance at various times. This is
still the practice of many of the Arts in Florence, but it was much
more common in former times. Their first sanctuary was the principal
chapel of the hospital of S. Maria Nuova, which was granted them by
the family of the Portinari. The first governors of the company were
six in number, with the title of captains, and in addition there were
two councillors and two chamberlains. This may be seen in the old
book of the company begun then, the first chapter of which opens
thus:

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

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

At length Jacopo, overwhelmed with years and toil, returned to
Casentino and died there at Prato Vecchio, at the age of eighty. He
was buried by his relations and friends in S. Agnolo, an abbey of the
Camaldoline order, outside Prato Vecchio. Spinello introduced his
portrait into a picture of the Magi in the old Duomo, and his style
of draughtsmanship may be seen in our book.



Spinello, Painter of Arezzo.


Upon one of the occasions when the Ghibellines were driven from
Florence and when they settled at Arezzo, Luca Spinelli had a son
born to him there, to whom he gave the name of Spinello. This boy had
so much natural inclination to be a painter, that almost without a
master and while still quite a child he knew more than many who have
practised under the best teachers, and what is more, he contracted a
friendship with Jacopo di Casentino while the latter was working at
Arezzo, and learned something from him, so much so indeed that before
he was twenty years of age he was a far better master, young as he
was, than Jacopo, who was already an old man. Spinello's early
reputation as a good painter induced M. Dardano Acciaiuoli to employ
him to decorate the church of S. Niccolo at the pope's halls, which
he had just erected, behind S. Maria Novella in the Via dei Scala,
and there buried a brother who was a bishop. Here Spinello painted
scenes from the life of St Nicholas, bishop of Bari, in fresco,
completing the work in 1334 after two years of unremitting labour. In
it he exhibited equal excellence as a colourist and as a designer, so
that the colours remained in excellent preservation up to our own
day, and the excellence of the figures was well expressed, until a
few years ago when they were in great part damaged by a fire which
unfortunately broke out in the church at a time when it happened to
be full of straw, brought there by some indiscreet persons who made
use of the building as a barn for the storage of straw. The fame of
the work induced M. Barone Capelli, citizen of Florence, to employ
Spinello to paint in the principal chapel of S. Maria Maggiore, a
number of stories of the Madonna in fresco, and some of St Anthony
the abbot, and near them the consecration of that very ancient church
by Pope Paschal II. Spinello did all this so well that it looks as if
it had all been the work of a single day and not of many months, as
was actually the case. Near the pope is the portrait of M. Barone
from life, in the dress of the time, excellently done and with good
judgment. On the completion of this, Spinello worked in the church of
the Carmine in fresco, doing the chapel of St James and St John,
apostles, where, among other things, he has given a very careful
representation of the request made of Christ by the wife of Zebedee
and mother of James, that her sons should sit the one on the right
and the other on the left of the Father in the kingdom of Heaven. A
little further over one sees Zebedee, James and John leaving their
nets and following Christ, done with wonderful vigour and style. In
another chapel of the same church, beside the principal one, Spinello
also did in fresco some stories of the Madonna and the Apostles,
their miraculous appearance to her before her death, her death and
her being carried to Heaven by angels. As the scene was on a large
scale, and the chapel being a very small one of not more than ten
braccia in length and five in height, would not take it all,
especially in the case of the Assumption of Our Lady, Spinello very
judiciously continued the scene to the vaulting on one of the sides
at the place where Christ and the angels are receiving her. In a
chapel of S. Trinita, Spinello made a very fine Annunciation and for
the high altar picture of the church of S. Apostolo he painted in
tempera the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in tongues
of fire. In S. Lucia de' Bardi he also painted a panel and did a
larger one for the chapel of St John the Baptist, decorated by
Giotto.

After these things, and on account of the great reputation which his
labours in Florence had procured for him, Spinello was recalled to
Arezzo by the sixty citizens who governed it, and was commissioned by
the Commune to paint the story of the Magi in the old Duomo outside
the city, and in the chapel of St Gismondo, a St Donate, who by means
of a benediction causes a serpent to burst. Similarly he made some
various figures on many pilasters of that Duomo, and on a wall he did
a Magdalene in the house of Simon anointing Christ's feet, with other
paintings which there is no need to mention, since that church is now
entirely destroyed, though it was then full of tombs, the bones of
saints and other notable things. But in order that the memory of it
may at least remain, I will remark that it was built by the Aretines
more than thirteen hundred years ago, at the time when they were
first converted to the faith of Jesus Christ by St Donato, who
afterwards became bishop of the city. It was dedicated to him, and
richly adorned both within and without with very ancient spoils of
antiquity. The ground plan of the church, which is discussed at
length elsewhere, was divided on the outside into sixteen faces, and
on the inside into eight, and all were full of the spoils of those
times which had originally been dedicated to idols; in short, it was,
at the time of its destruction, as beautiful as such a very ancient
church could possibly be. After the numerous paintings which he had
done in the Duomo, Spinello painted for the chapel of the Marsupini
in S. Francesco, Pope Honorius confirming and approving the rule of
that saint, the pope being a portrait of Innocent IV., he having by
some means obtained the likeness. In the chapel of St Michael, the
Archangel, in the same church in which the bells are rung, he painted
many scenes relating to him; and rather lower down, in the chapel of
M. Giuliano Baccio, he did an Annunciation, with other figures, which
are much admired. The whole of the works in this church were done in
fresco with great boldness and skill between the years 1334 and 1338.
In the Pieve of the same city he afterwards painted the chapel of St
Peter and St Paul, and below it that of St Michael the Archangel; for
the fraternity of S. Maria della Misericordia he did the chapel of St
James and St Philip; and over the principal door of the fraternity
which is on the piazza, that is to say, in the tympanum, he painted a
Pieta, with a St John, at the request of the rectors of the
fraternity. The foundation of the brotherhood took place in this way.
A certain number of good and honourable citizens began to go about
asking alms for the poor who were ashamed to beg, and to succour them
in all their necessities, in the year of the plague of 1348. The
fraternity acquired a great reputation, acquired by means of the
efforts of these good men, in helping the poor and infirm, burying
the dead, and performing other kindred acts of charity, so that the
bequests, donations and inheritances left to them became so
considerable that they amounted to one-third of the entire wealth of
Arezzo. The same happened in 1383, which was also a year of severe
plague. Spinello then being of the company, often undertook to visit
the infirm, bury the dead, and perform other like pious duties which
the best citizens have always undertaken and still do in that city.
In order to leave a memorial of this in his paintings, he painted for
the company on the wall of the church of S. Laurentino and
Pergentino, a Madonna with her mantle open in front, and beneath her
the people of Arezzo, comprising portraits of many of the earliest
members of the fraternity, drawn from life, with wallets round their
necks and a wooden hammer in their hands, like those with which they
knocked at the doors to ask alms. Similarly, in the company of the
Annunciation he painted the large tabernacle which is outside the
church, and part of a portico which is opposite it, and the picture
of the company, which is an Annunciation, in tempera. The picture
which is now in the church of the nuns of S. Giusto, where a little
Christ, who is at His mother's neck, is espousing St Catherine, with
six small scenes in little figures of the acts of that saint, is also
a work of Spinello and much admired. Being afterwards invited to the
famous abbey of Camaldoli in Casentino in the year 1361, he painted
for the hermits of that place the picture of the high altar, which
was taken away in the year 1539, when the entire church was rebuilt
and Giorgio Vasari did a new picture, painting the principal chapel
of the abbey all in fresco, the transept of the church in fresco and
two pictures. Summoned thence to Florence by D. Jacopo d'Arezzo,
Abbot of S. Miniato in Monte of the order of Monte Oliveto, Spinello
painted the vaulting and four walls of the sacristy of that
monastery, besides the picture of the altar, all in tempera, with
many stories of the life of St Benedict, executed with much skill and
a great vivacity in the colouring, learned by him by means of long
practice and continual labour, with study and diligence, such as are
necessary to every one who wishes to acquire an art perfectly. After
these things the said abbot left Florence and received the direction
of the monastery of S. Bernardo of the same order, in his native
land, at the very time when it was almost entirely completed on the
land granted by the Aretines, on the site of the Colosseum. Here the
abbot induced Spinello to paint in fresco two chapels which are
beside the principal chapel, and two others, one on either side of
the door leading to the choir in the screen of the church. In one of
the two, next the principal chapel, is an Annunciation in fresco,
made with the greatest diligence, and on a wall beside it, is the
Madonna ascending the steps of the Temple, accompanied by Joachim and
Anna; in the other chapel is a Crucifix with the Madonna and St John
weeping, and a St Bernard adoring on his knees. On the inner wall of
the church where the altar of Our Lady stands, he painted the Virgin
with the child at her neck, which was considered a very beautiful
figure, and did many other things for the church, painting above the
choir Our Lady, St Mary Magdalene and St Bernard, very vivaciously.
In the Pieve of Arezzo in the Chapel of St Bartholomew, he did a
number of scenes from the life of that saint, and on the opposite
side of the church, in the chapel of St Matthew, under the organ,
which was painted by his master Jacopo di Casentino, besides many
stories of that saint, which are meritorious, he did the four
Evangelists in some medallions, in an original style, for above the
bust and human limbs he gave St John the head of an eagle, St Mark
the head of a lion, St Luke that of an ox, while only St Matthew has
a human face, that is to say an angel's. Outside Arezzo, he decorated
the church of S. Stefano, built by the Aretines upon many columns of
granite and marble, to honour and preserve the names of several
martyrs who were put to death by Julian the Apostate. Here he did a
number of figures and scenes with great diligence and such a style of
colouring that they were in a wonderfully fresh state of preservation
when they were destroyed not many years ago. But the really
remarkable piece of work in that place, besides the stories of St
Stephen, in figures larger than life size, is the sight of Joseph, in
the story of the Magi, beside himself with joy at the coming of those
kings, and keenly watching the kings as they are opening the vessels
of their treasures and are offering them to him. In the same church
is a Madonna offering a rose to the Christ child, which was and is
considered a most beautiful figure, and so highly reverenced by the
Aretines that when the church of S. Stefano was pulled down, without
sparing either pains or expense, they cut it out of the wall,
ingeniously removed it and carried it into the city, depositing it in
a small church in order to honour it, as they do, with the same
devotion which they bestowed upon it at first. There is no wonder
that the work inspired such reverence, for it is a natural
characteristic of Spinello to endow his figures with a certain simple
grace, partaking of modesty and holiness, so that his saints and
particularly his Virgins breathe an indefinable sanctity and divinity
which inspire men with devotion. This may be seen also in a Madonna
which is on the side of the Albergetti, in one on an outside wall of
the Pieve in Seteria, and in another of the same kind on the side of
the canal. By Spinello's hand also is the descent of the Holy Spirit
on the Apostles, on the wall of the hospital of S. Spirito, which is
very fine, as are the two scenes below representing St Cosmo and St
Damian cutting a healthy leg off a dead Moor to attach it to a man
whose broken limb they have removed. In like manner the _Noli me
tangere_ between these two works is very beautiful. In a chapel of
the company of the Puracciuoli on the piazza of St Agostino he did a
very finely coloured Annunciation, and in the cloister of that
convent he painted a Madonna in fresco with St James and St Anthony
and the portrait of an armed soldier kneeling there, with these
words: _Hoc opus fecit fieri Clemens Pucci de Monte Catino, cujus
corpus jacet hic, etc. Anno Domini 1367 die 15 mensis Maii_. The
representations in the chapel of that church, of St Anthony and other
saints are known by their style to be by Spinello's hand, and he
afterwards painted the whole of a portico in the hospital of S.
Marco, now the monastery of the nuns of St Croce as their original
house, which was outside, was pulled down. The figure of St Gregory
the Pope, among the many represented in this work, standing beside a
Misericordia, is a portrait of Pope Gregory IX. The chapel of St
Philip and St James at the entry into the church of S. Domenico in
the same city, was done in fresco by Spinello in a fine and vigorous
style, as was also a three-quarter length figure of St Anthony,
painted on the wall of the church, which is so fine that it apes
life. It is placed in the midst of four scenes from his life, and
these and many other scenes of the life of St Anthony, also by
Spinello's hand, are in the chapel of St Anthony, in the church of
S. Giustino. On one side of the church of S. Lorenzo he painted some
stories of the Madonna, and outside the church he painted her seated,
doing the work very gracefully in fresco. In a small hospital
opposite of the nuns of S. Spirito, near the gate on the road to
Rome, the whole of the portico is painted by his hand with a
representation of the dead Christ in the lap of the Maries, executed
with so much skill and judgment that it proves him to have equalled
Giotto in the matter of design and to have far surpassed him as a
colourist. In the same place he has represented Christ seated, with a
very ingenious theological signification, having placed the Trinity
inside a Sun so that the same rays and the same glory issue from each
of the three figures. But the same fate has befallen this work as has
happened to many others, to the infinite loss of the lovers of this
art, for it was thrown down to make way for the fortifications of the
city. At the company of the Trinity may be seen a tabernacle outside
the church, by Spinello very finely worked in fresco, comprising the
Trinity, St Peter and SS. Cosmo and Damian dressed in the robes
habitually worn by the physicians of the time. During the production
of these works D. Jacopo d'Arezzo was appointed general of the
congregation of Monte Oliveto, nineteen years after he had employed
Spinello to do a number of things at Florence and at Arezzo, as has
been said above. Being stationed according to the custom of the
order, at Monte Oliveto the greater, of Chiusuri in the Siena
district, as being the principal house of that body, he conceived a
longing to have a beautiful picture made in that place. Accordingly
he sent for Spinello, remembering how well he had been served upon
other occasions, and induced him to do the picture for the principal
chapel. Here Spinello produced a large number of figures in tempera,
both small and great, on a gold ground, with great judgment, and
afterwards caused it to be framed in an ornament in half-relief by
Simone Cini of Florence, while in some parts he put an additional
ornament with stucco of a rather firm glue, which proved very
successful. It was gilded all over by Gabriello Saracini, who wrote
at the bottom the three names: Simone Cini of Florence did the
carving, Gabriello Saracini the gilding, and Spinello di Luca of
Arezzo the painting, in the year 1385.

On the completion of this work, Spinello returned to Arezzo having
received numerous favours from the general and other monks, besides
his payment. But he did not remain long there for the city was in
disorder owing to the feuds of the Guelph and Ghibelline parties and
was just then sacked. He removed with his family and his son Parri,
who was learning painting, to Florence, where he had a goodly number
of friends and relations. In that city, in order to pass the time, he
painted an Annunciation in a tabernacle outside the gate at S. Piero
Gattolini on the Roman road, where the way branches to Pozzolatico, a
work which is now half destroyed, and  other pictures in another
tabernacle, where the ruin of Galluzzo is. Being afterwards invited
to Pisa to finish in the Campo Santo beneath the life of St Ranieri
the remainder of other subjects in a blank space, in order to unite
them to the scenes painted by Giotto, Simone of Siena, and Antonio of
Venice, he there executed in fresco six stories of St Petitus and St
Epirus. The first represents the saint as a young man, presented by
his mother to the Emperor Diocletian, and appointed general of the
armies which were to march against the Christians. As he is riding
with his troop Christ appears to him, and showing him a white cross
commands the youth not to persecute Him. Another scene represents the
angel of the Lord giving to the saint, while he is riding, the
banner of the Faith, with a white cross on a red field, which has
ever afterwards constituted the arms of the Pisans, because St Epirus
had besought God to give him a sign to wear against the enemy. Next
to this is another scene of a fierce battle engaged between the saint
and the Pagans, many armed angels fighting for the victory of the
former. Here Spinello produced many things worthy of consideration in
that day when art had not yet the ability nor any good method of
expressing the ideas of the mind in colour in a lively manner. Among
many other things in this composition are two soldiers, who have
seized each other by the beard, and are endeavouring to kill each
other with the naked rapiers which they hold in their disengaged
hands; their faces and all the movement of their limbs show the
desire of victory, their proud spirits being without fear and of the
highest courage. Also among those who are fighting on horseback there
is a finely executed knight who is fastening the head of an enemy to
earth with his lance, the other having fallen backward from his
terrified horse. Another scene shows the saint presented to the
Emperor Diocletian, who is questioning him about the faith, and who
afterwards consigns him to the torture, putting him in a furnace in
which he remains uninjured, whilst the servants who are very ready on
every side are burned in his stead. In short, all the acts of the
saint are shown, to his beheading, after which his soul is carried to
Heaven. The last scene shows the transportation of the bones and
relics of St Petitus from Alexandria to Pisa. The whole work in its
colouring and conception is the finest, most finished, and best
executed of Spinello's paintings, and this is shown by its present
excellent state of preservation, for its fresh appearance excites the
wonder of everyone who sees it. When this work in the Campo Santo was
completed, Spinello painted in the church of S. Francesco, in the
second chapel from the high altar, many stories of St Bartholomew, St
Andrew, St James, and St John the apostles, and he might perhaps have
remained longer at work in Pisa, because his paintings were admired
and rewarded there, but seeing the city thrown into an uproar and
turned upside down through the murder of M. Pietro Gambacorti by the
Lanfranchini, who were Pisan citizens, he once more removed to
Florence with all his family, for he was by this time an old man. He
remained there for one year only, and in the chapel of the
Macchiavelli in S. Croce, dedicated to SS. Philip and James, he did
many stories of the life and death of those saints. The picture of
the chapel he did at Arezzo, and sent it on from there in the year
1400, for he was anxious to return to his native place, or, to speak
more correctly, to the place which he looked upon as such. Having
thus returned thither at the age of seventy-seven or more, he was
lovingly received  by his relations and friends, and remained there,
much loved and honoured, until the end of his life, which was in the
ninety-second year of his age. Although at the time of his return to
Arezzo he was quite an old man, and had enough property to enable him
to live without working, yet he could not remain idle, since he had
always been accustomed to work, and undertook to do some stories of
St Michael for the company of S. Agnolo in that city. These are
roughly drawn in red on the plastered wall, as was the most ordinary
method of the old artists, and as an example he did a single scene in
one corner, colouring it entirely, which gave considerable
satisfaction. Having afterwards agreed upon the price with the
wardens, he completed the entire front of the high altar,
representing Lucifer establishing his seat in the north, and the fall
of the angels who change into devils as they rain upon the earth. In
the air is St Michael fighting with the serpent of seven heads and
ten horns, and in the middle of the lower part is Lucifer already
changed into a hideous monster. It gave Spinello so much satisfaction
to make him horrible and distorted that it is said (so great is the
power of imagination) that the figure in the picture appeared to him
in a dream, and demanded when the artist had seen him so ugly, asking
why he did him so great an indignity with his brush. Spinello awoke
from his dream speechless from fear, and shook so violently that his
wife hastened to assist him. Yet he ran considerable risk of dying
suddenly, through the failure of the heart, owing to this misfortune,
and it caused his death a short while afterwards, until when he lived
in an utterly dispirited manner with wide open eyes. He died greatly
lamented by his friends, and left the world two sons--one called
Forzore was a goldsmith, who did some admirable work in _niello_ in
Florence; the  other, Parri, who followed his father and pursued the
art of painting, far surpassing Spinello in design. The Aretines were
much grieved at this sad chance, although Spinello was old, at being
deprived of ability and excellence such as his. He died at the age of
ninety-two, and was buried in S. Agostino at Arezzo, where there is a
stone with a coat of arms made after a fancy of his own, containing a
hedgehog. Spinello was far better able to design than to put his
thoughts into practice, as our book of designs shows, which contains
two Evangelists and a St Louis by his hand, all very fine. His
portrait given above was taken by me from one which was in the old
Duomo before it was pulled down. His paintings were executed between
the years 1380 and 1400.



Gherardo Stamina, Painter of Florence.


Certainly those who travel far from home to dwell in other parts very
frequently do so to the advantage of their temperament, for by seeing
divers customs abroad, even if they be of rather an extraordinary
nature, they learn to be reasonable, kind and patient with
considerably greater ease than they would have done had they remained
at home. Indeed those who desire to refine men in their worldly
conversation need no other fire and no better cement than this,
because those who are naturally rough become gentle, and the gentle
become even more gracious. Gherardo di Jacopo Stamina, painter of
Florence, though rather hasty than good-natured, being very hard and
rough in his dealings, did more harm by this to himself than to his
friends, and it would have been even worse for him had he not
remained a long time in Spain, where he learned to be gentle and
courteous, for he there became so changed from his former nature that
when he returned to Florence a very large number of those who had
mortally hated him before his departure, received him with very great
friendliness and continued to cherish a great affection for him, so
gentle and courteous had he become. Gherardo was born in Florence in
the year 1354, and as he grew up and was naturally bent to the art of
designing, he was put with Antonio da Vinezia to learn to design and
to paint. In the space of many years he not only learned the art and
practice of colours, but had shown his ability by some things
produced in a good style; accordingly he left Antonio and began to
work 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 honoured
citizen of that family, he did in fresco many stories of St Anthony
the abbot and of St Nicholas the bishop, in such a good style that
they attracted the attention of certain Spaniards then staying in
Florence on business, and ultimately led to his being invited to
Spain to their king, who saw and received him very gladly, there
being at that time a great lack of good painters in that country. Nor
was 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 the
Ciompi and the appointment of Michele di Lando as gonfaloniere, he
was in considerable danger of his life. Accordingly he went to Spain
and did many things for the king there, and became rich and honoured
by the great rewards which he earned for his labours. At length
becoming desirous of showing himself to his friends in his improved
estate, he returned home and was warmly welcomed and received in a
very friendly manner by all his fellow-citizens. It was not long
before he was employed to paint the chapel of St Jerome in the
Carmine, where he did many stories of that saint, and in the story of
Paul, Eustace and Jerome he represented some of the Spanish habits of
the day with very happy invention and an abundance of fashions and
ideas in the attitudes of the figures. Among other things, in a scene
where St Jerome is receiving his earliest instruction, he represented
a master who has caused one boy to mount upon the back of another and
strikes him with the whip in such a manner that the poor child is
twisting his legs with pain and appears to be crying out and trying
to bite the ear of the boy who is holding him. The whole is executed
with much grace and lightness, and Gherardo appears to have delighted
in these touches of nature. In like manner, when St Jerome, being at
the point of death, is making his will, he has hit off some friars in
a delightful and realistic manner, for some are writing, others
listening attentively and looking about, observing all the words of
their master with great earnestness. This work won Stamina much fame
and a high rank among artists, and his courteous and mild manners
gave him a great reputation, so that his name was famous throughout
Tuscany and indeed in all Italy. Being at this time invited to Pisa to
paint the chapter-house of S. Niccola in that city, he sent in his
place Antonio Vite of Pistoia, because he did not wish to leave
Florence. Antonio, who had learned Stamina's style under him, did the
Passion of Jesus Christ there, completing it in its present form in
the year 1403, to the great delight of the Pisans. Afterwards, it is
said, he finished the chapel of the Pugliesi; and as the works which
he did there at S. Girolamo greatly pleased the Florentines, because
he had expressed in a lively manner many gestures and attitudes which
had not been attempted by any painters before his time, the Commune
of Florence in the year that Gabriel Maria, lord of Pisa, sold that
city to the Florentines for  200,000 scudi (after Giovanni Gambacorta
had stood a siege of thirteen months, although even he at length
agreed to the sale), employed Stamina to paint on a wall of the
Palazzo di parte Guelfa, St Denis the bishop, with two angels, and
below it an accurate representation of the city of Pisa. In the
execution of this he displayed such diligence in every detail,
especially in the colouring in fresco, that notwithstanding the
action of air and water and a northern aspect, the picture has always
remained in excellent condition, and even now it has all the
appearance of having been newly painted, an achievement worthy of
high praise. Gherardo having by this and other works acquired a great
reputation and much renown both at home and abroad, death, the
envious enemy of virtuous deeds, cut off at the height of his powers
the great promise of much better things than the world had yet seen
from him; and having come to his end unexpectedly in the forty-ninth
year 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 an
excellent goldsmith and then a painter, and some others whom it is
not necessary to mention, as they did not possess any remarkable
talent.

The portrait of Gherardo occurs in the story of St Jerome, mentioned
above; he is one of the figures who are standing about the dying
saint, represented in profile with a hood about his head and a mantle
buttoned about him. In our book are some designs of Gherardo done
with the pen on parchment, which are of considerable excellence.



Lippo, Painter of Florence.


Invention has been, and always will be considered the true mother of
architecture, painting and poetry, as well as of all the superior
arts and of all the marvels produced by man. By its aid artists
develop their ideas, caprices and fancies, and are able to display
more variety, for all those who work at these honourable professions
always seek after a laudable diversity, and possess the power of
delicate flattery and of tactful criticism. Lippo, then, painter of
Florence, who was as varied and choice in his inventions as his works
were really unfortunate and his life short, was born at Florence
about the year of grace 1354; and although he took up the art of
painting somewhat late, when he was already a man, yet he was so far
assisted by natural inclination and by his fine talents that he soon
distinguished himself brilliantly. He first painted in Florence and
in S. Benedetto, a large and fine monastery outside the gate of the
Pinti belonging to the Camaldoline order, now destroyed; he did a
number a figures which were considered very beautiful, particularly
the whole of a chapel, which affords an example of how close study
quickly leads to great performances in anyone who honestly takes
pains with the desire for fame. Being invited to Arezzo from
Florence, 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 Christopher
for the family of the Ubertini. All these things were very fine, for
the invention displayed in the composition of scenes and in the
colouring. He was the first who began, as it were, to play with his
figures, and to awaken the minds of those who came after him, a thing
which had never been done before, only attempted. After he had done
many things in Bologna and a meritorious picture at Pistoia, he
returned to Florence, where he painted the chapel of the Beccuti in
S. Maria Maggiore in the year 1383 with scenes from the life of St
John the evangelist. Following on from this chapel, which is beside
the principal one, on the left hand, six scenes from the life of
this saint are represented along the wall, by the same hand. Their
composition is excellent and they are well arranged, one scene in
particular being very vivid, namely, that in which St John causes St
Dionisius the Areopagite to put his vest on some dead men, who come
to life again in the name of Jesus Christ, to the great wonderment of
some who are present who can hardly believe their own eyes. The
foreshortening of some of the dead figures shows great art and proves
that Lippo was conscious of some of the difficulties of his
profession and endeavoured to some extent to overcome them. It was
Lippo also who painted the wings of the tabernacle of the church of
S. Giovanni, where are Andrea's angels and his St John, in relief,
doing some stories of St John the Baptist in tempera, with great
diligence. Being very fond of working in mosaic, he did some in that
church over the door leading towards the Misericordia, between the
windows, which was considered very beautiful and the best work in
mosaic produced in that place with them. In the same church he
further repaired some mosaics which had been damaged. Outside
Florence, in S. Giovanni fra l'Arcora, without the gate leading to
Faenza, he painted a number of figures in fresco beside Buffalmacco's
Crucifixion, which was considered very beautiful by all who saw them.
In certain small hospitals near the Fænza gate and in S. Antonio
inside that gate near the hospital, he did some poor men, in fresco,
in some varied styles and attitudes, very beautifully executed, and
in the cloister within he made, with beautiful and new invention, the
vision of St Anthony of the deceits of the world, and next to that
the desires and appetites of men, who are drawn hither and thither to
divers things of this world, the whole of the work being executed
with much consideration and judgment. Lippo also did mosaic work in
many places of Italy, and in the Guelph quarter at Florence he made a
figure with a glass head, while Pisa contains a number of his
productions. Yet in spite of all this he must be considered a really
unfortunate man, since at the present time the greater part of his
works have disappeared, having been destroyed in the siege of
Florence, and also because his career was terminated in a very tragic
manner; for being a quarrelsome man and liking turmoil belter than
quiet, he happened one morning to say some very insulting words to an
opponent at the tribunal of the Mercanzia, and that evening as he was
returning home, he was dogged by this man and stabbed in the breast
with a knife, so that in a few days he perished miserably. His
paintings were produced about 1410. There flourished at Bologna in
Lippo's time another painter whose name was also Lippo Dalmasi, who
was a worthy man, and among other things he painted a Madonna in the
year 1407, which may still be seen in S. Petronio at Bologna and
which is held in great veneration. He also painted in fresco the
tympanum 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. He
also designed very fairly, as may be seen in our book, and he
afterwards taught the art to M. Galante da Bologna, who afterwards
designed much better than he, as may be seen in the same book in a
portrait 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 to
find some honourable employment for their hands whether it be
letters, music, painting or other liberal and mechanical arts which
involve no reproach but are on the contrary useful and helpful to
other men, for after the divine offices the time may be passed with
the pleasure taken in the easy labours of peaceful exercises. To
these advantages we may add that not only is such a monk esteemed and
valued by others during his life-time, except by such as are envious
and malignant, but he is honoured by all men after his death, for his
works and the good name which he has left behind him. Indeed whoever
spends his time in this manner, lives in quiet contemplation without
any danger from those ambitious stirrings which are almost always to
be seen among the idle and slothful, who are usually ignorant, to
their shame and hurt. If it should happen that a man of ability
acting thus is slandered by the malicious, the power of virtue is
such that time will reestablish his reputation and bury the malignity
of the evil disposed, while the man of ability will remain
distinguished and illustrious in the centuries which succeed. Thus
Don Lorenzo, painter of Florence, being a monk of the order of the
Camaldolines in the monastery of the Angeli (founded in 1294 by Fra
Giuttone of Arezzo of the order of the Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ,
or of the Rejoicing friars as the monks of that order were commonly
called), devoted so much time in his early years to design and to
painting, that he was afterwards  deservedly numbered among the best
men of his age in that profession. The first works of this painter
monk, who adopted the style of Taddeo Gaddi and his school, were in
the monastery of the Angeli, where besides many of the things he
painted the high altar picture, which may still be seen in their
church. When completed it was placed there in the year 1413 as may be
seen by the letters written at the bottom of the frame. He also
painted a picture for the monastery of S. Benedetto of the same order
of the Camaldoli, outside the Pinti gate, destroyed at the siege of
Florence in 1529. It represented the Coronation of Our Lady and
resembled the one he had previously done for the church of the
Angeli. It is now in the first cloister of the monastery of the
Angeli, on the right hand side in the chapel of the Alberti. At the
same time, and possibly before, he painted in fresco the chapel and
altar picture of the Ardinghelli in S. Trinita, Florence, which was
then much admired, and into this he introduced portraits of Dante and
Petrarch. In S. Piero Maggiore he painted the chapel of the
Fioravanti and in a chapel of S. Piero Scheraggio he did the altar
picture, while in the church of S. Trinita he further painted the
chapel of the Bartolini. In S. Jacopo sopra Arno a picture by his
hand may still be seen, executed with infinite diligence, after the
manner of the time. Also in the Certosa outside Florence he painted
some things with considerable skill, and in S. Michele at Pisa, a
monastery of his own order, he did some very fair pictures. In
Florence, in the church of the Romiti (Hermits), which also belonged
to the Camaldolines, and which is now in ruins as well as the
monastery, leaving nothing but its name Camaldoli to that part beyond
the Arno, he did a crucifix on a panel, besides many other things,
and a St John, which were considered very beautiful. At last he fell
sick of a cruel abscess, and after lingering for many months he died
at the age of fifty-five, and was honourably buried by the monks in
the chapter-house of their monastery as his virtues demanded.

Experience shows that in the course of time many shoots frequently
spring 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 had
always paid considerable attention to painting and design. Don
Lorenzo was not the only excellent artist among them, but men
distinguished in design flourished there for a long time both before
and after him. Thus I cannot possibly pass over in silence one Don
Jacopo of Florence, who flourished a long time before D. Lorenzo,
because as he was the best and most methodical of monks, so he was
the best writer of large letters who has ever existed before or
since, not only in Tuscany but in all Europe, as is clearly testified
not only by the twenty large choir books which he left in his
monastery, the writing in which is most beautiful, the books
themselves being perhaps the largest in Italy, but an endless number
of other books which may still be found in Rome and in Venice and
many other places, notably in S. Michele and S. Mania at Murano, a
monastery of the Camaldoline order. By these works the good father
has richly deserved the honours accorded to him many years after he
had passed to a better life, his celebration in many Latin verses by
D. Paolo Orlandini, a very learned monk of the same monastery, as
well as the preservation of the right hand which wrote the books,
with great veneration in a tabernacle, together with that of another
monk, D. Silvestro, who illuminated the same books with no less
excellence, when the conditions of the time are taken into
consideration, than D. Jacopo had written them. I, who have seen them
many times, am lost in astonishment that they should have been
executed with such good design and with so much diligence at that
time, when all the arts of design were little better than lost, since
the 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 said
books. 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 the
Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici, his father; and that after he had
attentively looked through them and admired them as they were all
lying open on the choir-desks, he  said, "If they were in accordance
with the rules of the Roman Church and not of the Camaldolines, I
should like some specimens for S. Peter's at Rome, for which I would
pay the monks a just price." There were, and perhaps still are, two
very fine ones at S. Peter's by the same monks. In the same monastery
of the Angeli is a quantity of very ancient embroidery, done in a
very fine style, with excellent designs by the fathers of the house
while they were in perpetual seclusion, with the title not of monks
but of hermits, and who never came out of the monastery as the nuns
and monks do in our day. This practice of seclusion lasted until
1470. 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 the
Pope's chamber. He also had another pupil, a Pisan, who painted in
the chapel of Rutilio di Ser Baccio Maggiolini, in the church of S.
Francesco at Pisa, Our Lady, a St Peter, St John the Baptist, St
Francis and St Ranieri, with three scenes of small figures in the
predella of the altar. This painting, executed in 1315, was
considered meritorious for a work done in tempera. In our book of
designs I have the theological virtues done by D. Lorenzo's hand in
chiaroscuro, with good design and a beautiful and graceful style, so
that they are perhaps better than the designs of any other master of
the time. Antonio Vite of Pistoia was a meritorious painter in
Lorenzo's time, and is said to have painted, among many other things
described in the life of Stamina, in the palace of the Geppo of
Prato, the life of Francesco di Marco, who was the founder of that
pious place.



Taddeo Bartoli, Painter of Siena.


Those artists who put themselves to a great deal of pains in painting
in order to win fame, deserve a better fate than the placing of their
works in obscure  and unhonoured  places where they may be blamed  by
persons whose knowledge of the subject is not considerable. Their
productions ought to be so prominently placed with plenty of light
and air that they may be properly seen and examined by every one.
This is the case of the public work of Taddeo Bartoli, painter of
Siena for the chapel of the palace of the Signoria at Siena. Taddeo
was the son of Bartoli son of the master Fredi, who was a mediocre
painter in his day, and painted scenes from the Old Testament on a
wall 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 not
very good, the following inscription may still be read: _Ann: Dom
1356 Bartolus magistri Fredi de Senis me pinxit_. Bartoli must have
been young at the time, for there is a picture of his of the year
1388, in S. Agostino of the same district, on the left hand side on
entering the principal door. The subject is the Circumcision of our
Lord with certain saints, and it is in a far better style both as
regards design and colouring, some of the heads being really fine
although the feet of the figures are in the ancient style. In fact
many other works of Bartoli may be seen about that district. But to
return to Taddeo, as the best master of the time, he received a
commission, as I have said, to paint the chapel of the palace of the
Signoria for his native place, and he executed it with such
diligence, with consideration for so honoured a place, and he was so
richly rewarded by the Signoria, that he greatly increased his glory
and renown. Thus not only did he afterwards make many pictures for
his native land, to his great honour and benefit, but he was invited
and asked of the Signoria of Siena as a great favour by Francesco da
Carrara, lord of Padua, to go there, as he did, and do some things in
that most noble city. He did some pictures and other things there,
notably in the Arena and in the Santo with great care, to his own
great honour and to the infinite satisfaction of the said lord and of
the whole city. Returning subsequently to Tuscany he did a picture in
tempera in S. Gimignano, which is something in the style of Ugolino
of Siena and is now behind the high altar of the Pieve facing the
choir of the priests. He next went to Siena, but did not remain long
there as he was summoned to Pisa by one of the Lanfranchi, a warden
of the Duomo. Having proceeded thither he did for the chapel of the
Nunziata the scene where the Madonna is ascending the steps of the
temple, where the priest in his pontificals is awaiting her, a highly
finished work. The face of the priest is the portrait of the man who
had invited him, while his own is hard by. On the completion of this
work, the same patron induced him to paint over the chapel in the
Campo Santo, the Coronation of Our Lady by Jesus Christ, with many
angels, in most beautiful attitudes and very finely coloured. For the
chapel of the sacristy of St Francesco at Pisa, Taddeo also painted a
picture in tempera of the Madonna and some saints, signing his name
to it and the year 1394. About the same time he did some pictures in
tempera at Volterra, and another picture at Monte Oliveto, while on
the wall he did an Inferno, following the arrangement of Dante as
regards the division of the damned and the nature of their
punishment, but as regards the site he either could not or would not
imitate him, or perhaps he lacked the necessary knowledge. He also
sent to Arezzo a picture which is in S. Agostino containing a
portrait of Pope Gregory IX., the one who returned to Italy after the
papal court had been so many decades in France. After these things he
returned to Siena, but did not make a long stay there as he was
invited to Perugia to work in the church of S. Domenico. Here he
painted the whole of the life of St Catherine in the chapel dedicated
to that saint, and did some figures in S. Francesco beside the
sacristy door, which may still be discerned to-day, and are
recognisable as being by Taddeo, because he always retained the same
manner. Shortly after, in the year 1398, Biroldo, lord of Perugia,
was assassinated. Taddeo accordingly returned to Siena, where he
devoted constant work and steady application to the study of art, in
order to make himself a worthy painter. It may be affirmed that if he
did not perhaps attain his purpose, it was not on account of any
defect or negligence on his part, but solely because of an
obstructive malady which prevented him from ever realising his
desire. Taddeo died at the age of fifty-nine, after having taught the
art to a nephew of his called Domenico. His paintings were done about
the year of grace 1410. Thus, as I have said, he left Domenico
Bartoli, his nephew and pupil, who devoted himself to the art of
painting, and painted with superior skill. In the subjects which he
represented he exhibited much more wealth and variety in various
matters than his uncle had done. In the hall of the pilgrims of the
great hospital of Siena there are two large scenes in fresco by
Domenico, which contain prospectives and other ornaments, composed
with considerable ingenuity. It is said that Domenico was modest and
gentle and of a singularly amiable and liberal courtesy, which did no
less honour to his name than the art of painting itself. His works
were executed about the year of our Lord 1436, and the last were in
S. Trinita at Florence, a picture of the Annunciation and the high
altar picture in the church of the Carmine.

Alvaro di Piero of Portugal flourished at the same time, and adopted
a very similar style, but made his colouring more clear and his
figures shorter. In Volterra he did several pictures, and there is
one in S. Antonio at Pisa and others in various places, but as they
are of no great excellence it is not necessary to mention them. In
our book there is a sheet of drawings by Taddeo, containing a Christ
and 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 of
good breeding, and especially courtesy, serving those who employ them
with speed and goodwill, there is no doubt that they are pursuing to
their great honour and advantage almost everything which can be
desired in this world. This was the case with Lorenzo di Bicci,
painter of Florence, born in Florence in the year 1400, at the very
moment when Italy was beginning to be disturbed by the wars which
ended so badly for her, was in very good credit from his earliest
years; for under his father's discipline he learned good manners, and
from Spinello's instruction he acquired the art of painting, so that
he had a reputation not only of being an excellent painter, but of
being a most courteous and able man. While he was still a youth,
Lorenzo did some works in fresco at Florence and outside to gain
facility, and Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, having remarked the
excellence of his style, employed him to paint in the hall of the old
house of the Medici, which afterwards was left to Lorenzo, natural
brother of Cosmo the Ancient, after the great palace was built, all
those famous men who may still be seen in a fairly good state of
preservation. This work being completed, Lorenzo di Bicci was
anxious, like the doctors who experiment in their art on the skins of
poor rustics, to have practice in the art of painting in a place
where things are not so closely criticised, and for some time he
accepted everything which presented itself; hence, outside the gate
of S. Friano at the ponte a Scandicci, he painted a tabernacle, as it
may now be seen, and at Cerbaia under a portico he painted very
agreeably a Madonna and many saints on a wall. Afterwards a chapel in
S. Marco at Florence was allotted to him by the family of the
Martini, and on the walls he painted in fresco a number of scenes
from the life of Our Lady, and on the altar picture the Virgin
herself in the midst of many saints. In the same church over the
chapel of St John the Evangelist, of the family of the Landi, he
painted in fresco the angel Raphael and Tobias. In the year 1418 for
Ricciardo di M. Niccolo Spinello, on the piazza front of the  convent
of S. Croce he painted a large scene in fresco of St Thomas examining
the wounds of Jesus Christ in the presence of all the other apostles
who are kneeling reverently at the sight. Next to this scene and also
in fresco he did a St Christopher, twelve and a half braccia high,
which is a rare thing, because with the exception of the St
Christopher of Buffalmacco, a larger figure had never been seen, and
although the style is not good it is the most meritorious and best
proportioned representation of the saint. Besides this the pictures
were executed with such skill that although they have been exposed to
the air for many years, and being turned to the north, they have
suffered the violence of rain and storm, yet they have never lost the
brilliancy of their colouring and are in no wise injured by these
accidents. Lorenzo also made a crucifix with many figures inside the
door which is in the middle of these figures, called the door of the
knocker, at the request of the same Ricciardo and of the superior of
the convent, and on the encircling wall he did the confirmation of
the rule of St Francis by Pope Honorius, and then the martyrdom of
some friars of that order, who are going to preach the faith to the
Saracens. In the arches and on the vaulting he did some kings of
France, friars and followers of St Francis, drawing them from life,
as well as many learned men of the order, distinguished by their
several dignities of bishop, cardinal and pope. Among these are the
portraits from life of Popes Nicholas IV. and Alexander V., in
medallions. For all these figures Lorenzo made the grey habits, but
with variety owing to his skill in workmanship, so that they all
differ from one another, some inclining towards red, others to blue,
some being dark and others more light, so that all are varied and
worthy of consideration. What is more, it is said that he produced
these works with such facility and speed that when the superior, who
paid his expenses in designing, called him one day, when he had just
made the colour for a figure and was beginning it, he answered, "Make
the soup and I will come when I have finished this figure."
Accordingly it is said with a great show of reason that no one ever
exhibited such quickness of the hands, such skill in colouring, or
was so resolute as he. By his hand also is the tabernacle in fresco
which is beside the nunnery of Foligno and the Madonna and saints
over the door of the church of that nunnery, among them being a St
Francis espousing Poverty. In the church of Camaldoli at Florence, he
painted for the company of the Martyrs some scenes of the martyrdom
of certain saints, and decorated the chapels on either side of the
principal chapel. As these paintings gave considerable satisfaction
to the whole city, he was commissioned on their completion, to paint
a wall of the church in the Carmine for the family of the
Salvestrini, now almost extinct, there being so far as I know, no
other surviving member than a friar of the Angeli at Florence, called
Fra Nemesio, a good and courteous monk. Here he did the martyrs, when
they are condemned to death, being stripped naked and made to walk
bare-footed on thorns sown by the servants of the tyrants, whilst
they are on the way to be crucified, and higher up they are
represented on the cross in varied and extraordinary attitudes. In
this work, the largest which had ever been produced, everything is
done with great skill and design, according to the knowledge of the
time, being full of the expressions showing the divers ways of dying
of those who are put to death with violence. For this cause I am not
surprised that many men of ability have made use of some things found
in this picture. After this Lorenzo did many other figures in the
same church, and decorated two chapels in the screen. At the same
time he did the tabernacle on the side of the Cuculia, and the one in
the via de' Martelli on the wall of the houses, and over the knocker
door of S. Spirito he did a St Augustine in fresco, who is giving the
rule to his brethren. In S. Trinita in the chapel of Neri Capponi he
painted in fresco the life of St John Gualbert. In the principal
chapel of S. Lucia in the via de' Bardi he did some scenes in fresco
from the life of St Lucy for Niccolo da Uzzano, whose portrait he
introduced there from life together with those of some other
citizens. This Niccolo with the assistance and model of Lorenzo,
built his own palace near the church, and began a magnificent college
or 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 not
completed, because the immense sum of money which Niccolo left in his
bank at Florence for the building and endowment of it were expended
by the Florentines on war and other needs of the city. Although
Fortune can never obscure the memory and greatness of the spirit of
Niccolo da Uzzano, the community suffered a great loss by the
non-completion of the work. Therefore, let anyone who desires to help
the world in such a manner, and to leave an honourable memorial of
himself, do so himself in his life-time, and not trust to the
faithfulness of posterity and of his heirs, as it very rarely happens
that a thing is carried out where it is left to successors. But to
return to Lorenzo. Besides what has been already mentioned, he
painted a Madonna and certain saints very fairly in a tabernacle on
the ponte Rubaconte in fresco. Not long after, Ser Michele di
Fruosino, master of the hospital of S. Maria Nuova at Florence, a
building founded by Folco Portinari, citizen of Florence, proposed,
as the property of the  hospital had increased, to enlarge his church
outside Florence, dedicated to St Giles, which was of small
importance. Accordingly he consulted Lorenzo di Bicci, his close
friend, and on 5th September 1418 he began the new church, which was
completed in its present form in a year, and then solemnly
consecrated by Pope Martin V. at the request of Ser Michele, who was
the eighth master and a member of the family of the Portinari.
Lorenzo afterwards painted this consecration, at the desire of Ser
Michele, on the front of the church, introducing the portrait of the
Pope and of some cardinals. This work was then much admired as
something new and beautiful. For this cause Lorenzo was judged worthy
to 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 the
pillars and through the church, he did the twelve Apostles with the
crosses of the consecration, as the church was solemnly consecrated
in that very year by Pope Eugenius IV. of Venice. In the same church
the wardens, by a public ordinance, employed him to paint on the wall
in fresco a deposition, finished in marble, in memory of the Cardinal
de' Corsini, whose effigy is there, upon the sarcophagus. Above this
is another like it, in memory of Master Luigi Marsili, a most famous
theologian, who went as ambassador with M. Luigi Giuccardini and M.
Guccio di Gino, most honoured knights, to the Duke of Anjou. Lorenzo
was afterwards invited to Arezzo by D. Laurentino, abbot of S.
Bernardo, a monastery of the order of Monte Oliveto, where he painted
scenes from the life of St Bernard in fresco for the principal chapel
for M. Carlo Marsupino. But as he was about to paint the life of St
Benedict in the cloister of the convent, after he had painted the
principal chapel of the church of S. Francesco, for Francesco de'
Bacci, the elder, where he alone did the vaulting and half the
tympanum, he fell sick of a chest affection. Accordingly he caused
himself to be  carried to Florence, and left instructions that Marco
da Montepulciano, his pupil, should do these scenes from the life of
St Benedict in the cloister, from a design which he had made and left
with D. Laurentino. These Marco did to the best of his ability,
completing them in the year 1448 on 24th  April, the whole work being
in chiaroscuro, and his name may be seen written there, with verses
which are not less rude than the painting. Lorenzo returned to his
country, and, having recovered, he painted on the same wall of the
convent of S. Croce, where he had done the St Christopher, the
Assumption of Our Lady surrounded in Heaven by a choir of angels, and
below a St Thomas receiving the girdle. In the execution of this
work, as Lorenzo was sick, he was assisted by Donatello, then quite a
youth, and by means of such effective aid it was completed in the
year 1450, so that I believe it to be the best work both in design
and in colouring that Lorenzo ever produced. Not long after, being an
old 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, drew
the portraits of his father and himself in the chapel of the Lenzi in
Ognissanti, in two medallions, with letters about them giving the
names 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 of
men and women. He did the altar picture for the chapel in tempera,
and painted some pictures in the Abbey of S. Felice, of the
Camaldoline order, on the piazza of Florence, as well as the high
altar of S. Michele of Arezzo of the same order. Outside Arezzo, at
S. Maria delle Grazie, in the church of S. Bernardino, he did a
Madonna with the people of Arezzo under her mantle, and on one side
St Bernardino is kneeling, with a wooden cross in his hand, such as
he was accustomed to carry when he went through Arezzo preaching; and
on the other side are St Nicholas and St Michael the Archangel. The
predella contains the acts of St Bernardino and the miracles which,
he performed, especially those done in that place. The same Neri did
the high altar picture for S. Romolo at Florence, and in the chapel
of the Spini in S. Trinita he did the life of St John Gualbert in
fresco, 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 dying
at the age of thirty-six, he would have done many better and more
numerous works than his father Lorenzo. The latter was the last
master to adopt the old manner of Giotto, and accordingly his life
will be the last in this first part, which I have now completed, with
God's help.



Notes


PAGE     LINE

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.





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