Chapter VII: Part 7

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.