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.