While Buonamico was employed at Florence, a countryman came and engaged
him to paint a picture of St. Christopher for his parish church; the
contract was, that the figure should be twelve braccia in length,[B] and
the price eight florins. But when the painter proceeded to look at the
church for which the picture was ordered, he found it but nine braccia
high, and the same in length; therefore, as he was unable to paint the
saint in an upright position he represented him reclining, bent the legs
at the knees, and turned them up against the opposite wall. When the
work was completed, the countryman declared that he had been cheated,
and refused to pay for it. The matter was then referred to the
authorities, who decided that Buffalmacco had performed his contract,
and ordered the stipulated payment to be made.
[Footnote B: The braccio, (arm, cubit) is an Italian measure which
varies in length, not only in different parts of Italy, but also
according to the thing measured. In Parma, for example, the braccio for
measuring silk is 23 inches, for woolens and cottons 25 and a fraction,
while that for roads and buildings is 21 only. In Siena, the braccio for
cloth is 14 inches, while in Florence it is 23, and in Milan it is 39
inches, English measure.]
The writer of these pages, in his intercourse with artists, has met with
incidents as comical as that just related of Buonamico. Some artists
proceed to paint without having previously designed, or even sketched
out their subject on the canvass. We know an artist, who painted a fancy
portrait of a child, in a landscape, reclining on a bank beside a
stream; but when he had executed the landscape, and the greater part of
the figure, he found he had not room in his canvass to get the feet in;
so he turned the legs up in such a manner, as to give the child the
appearance of being in great danger of sliding into the water. We
greatly offended the painter by advising him to drive a couple of stakes
into the bank to prevent such a catastrophe. Another artist, engaged in
painting a full-length portrait, found, when he had got his picture
nearly finished, that his canvass was at least four inches too short.
"What shall I do," said the painter to a friend, "I have not room for
the feet." "Cover them up with green grass," was the reply. "But my
background represents an interior." "Well, hay will do as well."
"Confound your jokes; a barn is a fine place to be sure for fine
carpets, fine furniture, and a fine gentleman. I'll tell you what I'll
do; I'll place one foot on this stool, and hide the other beneath this
chair." He did so, but the figure looked all body and no legs, and the
sitter refused to take the portrait.