solitary, but with respect to art devoted and very studious, as it is
clearly seen from a panel in the Church of S. Romeo in Florence, wrought
by him in distemper with so great diligence and love that there has
never been seen a better work on wood by his hand. In this panel, which
is placed in the tramezzo[21] of the church, on the right hand, is a
Dead Christ with the Maries and Nicodemus, accompanied by other figures,
who are bewailing His death with bitterness and with very sweet and
affectionate movements, wringing their hands with diverse gestures, and
beating themselves in a manner that in the air of the faces there is
shown very clearly their sharp sorrow at the so great cost of our sins.
And it is something marvellous to consider, not that he penetrated with
his genius to such a height of imagination, but that he could express it
so well with the brush. Wherefore this work is consummately worthy of
praise, not so much by reason of the subject and of the invention, as
because in it the craftsman has shown, in some heads that are weeping,
that although the lineaments of those that are weeping are distorted in
the brows, in the eyes, in the nose, and in the mouth, this, however,
neither spoils nor alters a certain beauty which is wont to suffer much
in weeping when the painters do not know well how to avail themselves of
the good methods of art. But it is no great thing that Giottino should
have executed this panel with so much consideration, since in his
labours he ever aimed rather at fame and glory than at any other reward,
being free from the greed of gain, that makes our present masters less
diligent and good. And even as he did not seek to have great riches, so
he did not trouble himself much about the comforts of life--nay, living
poorly, he sought to satisfy others rather than himself; wherefore,
taking little care of himself and enduring fatigue, he died of
consumption at the age of thirty-two, and was given burial by his
relatives at the Martello Gate without S. Maria Novella, beside the tomb
of Bontura.
Disciples of Giottino, who left more fame than wealth, were Giovanni
Tossicani of Arezzo, Michelino, Giovanni dal Ponte, and Lippo, who were
passing good masters of this art, but above all Giovanni Tossicani, who
made many works throughout all Tuscany after Tommaso and in the same
manner as his, and in particular the Chapel of S. Maria Maddalena,
belonging to the Tuccerelli, in the Pieve of Arezzo, and a S. James on a
pillar in the Pieve of the township of Empoli. In the Duomo of Pisa,
also, he wrought some panels which have since been removed in order to
make room for the modern. The last work that he made was in a chapel of
the Vescovado of Arezzo, for the Countess Giovanna, wife of Tarlato da
Pietramala--namely, a very beautiful Annunciation, with S. James and S.
Philip; which work, by reason of the back of the wall being turned to
the north, was little less than completely spoilt by damp, when Maestro
Agnolo di Lorenzo of Arezzo restored the Annunciation, and shortly
afterwards Giorgio Vasari, still a youth, restored the S. James and S.
Philip, to his own great profit, having learnt much, at that time when
he had not the advantage of other masters, by studying Giovanni's method
of painting and the shadows and colours of that work, spoilt as it was.
In this chapel there are still read these words in an epitaph of marble,
in memory of the Countess who had it built and painted:
ANNO DOMINI 1335, DE MENSE AUGUSTI, HANC CAPELLAM CONSTITUI FECIT
NOBILIS DOMINA COMITISSA JOANNA DE SANCTA FLORA, UXOR NOBILIS
MILITIS DOMINI TARLATI DE PETRAMALA, AD HONOREM BEATAE MARIAE
VIRGINIS.
Of the works of the other disciples of Giottino there is no mention
made, seeing that they were but ordinary and little like those of the
master and of Giovanni Tossicani, their fellow-disciple. Tommaso drew
very well, as it may be seen in our book, in certain drawings wrought by
his hand with much diligence.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 21: See note on p. 57.]
GIOVANNI DAL PONTE
LIFE OF GIOVANNI DAL PONTE,
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
Although there is no truth and not much confidence to be placed in the
ancient proverb that the prodigal's purse is never empty, and although,
on the contrary, it is very true that he who does not live a
well-ordered life in his own degree lives at the last in want and dies
miserably, it is seen, nevertheless, that fortune sometimes aids rather
those who squander without restraint than those who are in all things
careful and self-restrained; and when the favour of fortune ceases,
there often comes death, to make up for her defection and for the bad
management of men, supervening at the very moment when such men would
begin with infinite dismay to recognize how miserable a thing it is to
have squandered in youth and to want in old age, living and labouring in
poverty, as would have happened to Giovanni da Santo Stefano a Ponte of
Florence, if, after having consumed his patrimony and much gain which
had been brought to his hands rather by fortune than by his merits, with
some inheritances that came to him from an unexpected source, he had not
finished at one and the same time the course of his life and all his
means.
This man, then, who was a disciple of Buonamico Buffalmacco, and who
imitated him more in attending to the pleasures of life than in seeking
to become an able painter, was born in the year 1307, and after being in
early youth a disciple of Buffalmacco, he made his first works in the
Chapel of S. Lorenzo, in the Pieve of Empoli, painting there in fresco
many scenes of the life of that Saint, with so great diligence that he
was summoned to Arezzo in the year 1344, a better development being
expected after so fine a beginning; and there he painted the Assumption
of Our Lady in a chapel in S. Francesco. And a little time afterwards,
being in some credit in that city for lack of other painters, he
painted the Chapel of S. Onofrio in the Pieve, with that of S. Antonio,
which to-day is spoilt by damp. He also made some other pictures that
were in S. Giustina and in S. Matteo, but these were thrown to the
ground by Duke Cosimo, together with the said churches, in the making of
fortifications for that city; and exactly in that place, at the foot of
the abutment of an ancient bridge beside the said S. Giustina, where the
stream entered the city, there were then found a head of Appius Caecus
and one of his son, both in marble and very beautiful, with an ancient
epitaph, likewise very beautiful, which are all now in the
guardaroba[22] of the said Lord Duke.
Giovanni, having returned to Florence at the time when there was
finished the closing of the middle arch of the Ponte a S. Trinita,
painted many figures both within and without a chapel built over one
pier and dedicated to S. Michelagnolo, and in particular all the front
wall; which chapel, together with the bridge, was carried away by the
flood of the year 1557. It is by reason of these works that some
maintain, besides what has been said about him at the beginning, that he
was ever afterwards called Giovanni dal Ponte. In Pisa, also, in the
year 1355, he made some scenes in fresco behind the altar of the
principal chapel of S. Paolo a Ripa d'Arno, which are now all spoilt by
damp and by time. Giovanni also painted the Chapel of the Scali in S.
Trinita in Florence, with another that is beside it, and one of the
stories of S. Paul by the side of the principal chapel, where is the
tomb of Maestro Paolo, the astrologer. In S. Stefano al Ponte Vecchio he
painted a panel, with other pictures in distemper and in fresco both
within and without Florence, which brought him considerable credit.
He gave contentment to his friends, but more in his pleasures than in
his works, and he was the friend of men of learning, and in particular
of all those who pursued the studies of his own profession in order to
become excellent therein; and although he had not sought to have in
himself that which he desired in others, yet he never ceased to
encourage others to work valiantly. Finally, having lived fifty-nine
years, Giovanni was seized by pleurisy and in a few days departed
this life, wherein, had he survived a little longer, he would have
suffered many discomforts, there being left in his house scarce as much
as sufficed to give him decent burial in S. Stefano al Ponte Vecchio.
His works date about 1365.
[Illustration: _Alinari_
S. PETER ENTHRONED
(_After the painting by_ Giovanni dal Ponte. _Florence: Uffizi, 1292_)]
In our book of drawings by diverse ancients and moderns there is a
drawing in water-colour by the hand of Giovanni, wherein is a S. George
on horseback who is slaying the Dragon, and a skeleton, which bear
witness to the method and manner that he had in drawing.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 22: Guardaroba, the room or rooms where everything of value
was stored--clothes, linen, art treasures, furniture, etc.]
AGNOLO GADDI
LIFE OF AGNOLO GADDI,
PAINTER OF FLORENCE
How honourable and profitable it is to be excellent in a noble art is
manifestly seen in the talent and management of Taddeo Gaddi, who,
having acquired very good means as well as fame with his industry and
labours, left the affairs of his family so well arranged, when he passed
to the other life, that Agnolo and Giovanni, his sons, were easily able
to give a beginning to the very great riches and to the exaltation of
the house of Gaddi, to-day very noble in Florence and in great repute
throughout all Christendom. And in truth it has been very reasonable,
seeing that Gaddo, Taddeo, Agnolo, and Giovanni adorned many honoured
churches with their talent and their art, that their successors have
been since adorned by the Holy Roman Church and by the Supreme Pontiffs
of the same with the greatest ecclesiastical dignities.
Taddeo, then, of whom we have already written the Life, left his sons
Agnolo and Giovanni in company with many of his disciples, hoping that
Agnolo, in particular, would become very excellent in painting; but he,
who in his youth showed promise of surpassing his father by a great
measure, did not succeed further in justifying the opinion that had
already been conceived of him, for the reason that, being born and bred
in easy circumstances, which are often an impediment to study, he was
given more to traffic and to trading than to the art of painting; which
should not appear a thing new or strange, seeing that avarice very often
bars the way to many intellects which would ascend to the greatest
height of excellence, if the desire of gain did not impede their path in
their earliest and best years. Working as a youth in S. Jacopo tra'
Fossi in Florence, Agnolo wrought a little scene, with figures little
more than a braccio high, of Christ raising Lazarus on the fourth day
after death, wherein, imagining the corruption of that body, which had
been dead three days, with much thought he made the grave-clothes which
held him bound discoloured by the decay of the flesh, and round the eyes
certain livid and yellowish marks in the flesh, that seems half living
and half dead; not without stupefaction in the Apostles and in other
figures, who, with attitudes varied and beautiful, and with their
draperies to their noses in order not to feel the stench of that corrupt
body, are no less afraid and awestruck at such a marvellous miracle than
Mary and Martha are joyful and content to see life returning to the dead
body of their brother. This work was judged so excellent that many
deemed the talent of Agnolo to be destined to surpass all the disciples
of Taddeo, and even Taddeo himself; but the event proved otherwise,
because, even as in youth the will conquers every difficulty in order to
acquire fame, so a certain negligence that the years bring with them
often causes a man, instead of advancing, to go backwards, as did
Agnolo. Having given so great a proof of his talent, he was commissioned
by the family of Soderini, who had great hopes of him, to paint the
principal chapel of the Carmine, and he painted therein all the life of
Our Lady, so much less well than he had done the resurrection of
Lazarus, that he gave every man to know that he had little wish to
attend with every effort to the art of painting; for the reason that in
all that great work there is nothing else of the good save one scene,
wherein, round Our Lady, in a room, are many maidens who are wearing
diverse costumes and head-dresses, according to the diversity of the use
of those times, and are engaged in diverse exercises: this one is
spinning, that one is sewing, that other is winding thread, one is
weaving, and others working in other ways, all passing well conceived
and executed by Agnolo.
For the noble family of the Alberti, likewise, he painted in fresco the
principal chapel of the Church of S. Croce, making therein all that came
to pass in the discovery of the Cross, and he executed that work with
much mastery of handling but not with much design, for only the
colouring is beautiful and good enough. Next, in painting in fresco some
stories of S. Louis in the Chapel of the Bardi in the same church, he
acquitted himself much better. And because he used to work by caprice,
now with more zeal and now with less, working in S. Spirito, also in
Florence, within the door that leads from the square into the convent,
he made in fresco, over another door, a Madonna with the Child in her
arms, and S. Augustine and S. Nicholas, so well that the said figures
appear as if made only yesterday.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF S. CATHARINE
(_After the painting by_ Agnolo Gaddi. _Philadelphia, U.S.A.: J. G.
Johnson Collection_)]
And because in a certain manner there had come to Agnolo, by way of
inheritance, the secret of working in mosaic, and he had at home the
instruments and all the materials that his grandfather Gaddo had used in
this, he would make something in mosaic when it pleased him, merely to
pass time and by reason of that convenience of material, rather than for
aught else. Now, seeing that time had eaten away many of those marbles
that cover the eight faces of the roof of S. Giovanni, and that the damp
penetrating within had therefore spoilt much of the mosaic which Andrea
Tafi had wrought there at a former time, the Consuls of the Guild of
Merchants determined, to the end that the rest might not be spoilt, to
rebuild the greater part of that covering with marble, and in like
manner to have the mosaic restored. Wherefore, the direction and
commission for the whole being given to Agnolo, he, in the year 1346,
had it recovered with new marbles and the pieces laid over each other at
the joinings, with unexampled diligence, to the breadth of two fingers,
cutting each slab to the half of its thickness; then, joining them
together with cement made of mastic and wax melted together, he fitted
them with so great diligence that from that time onwards neither the
roof nor the vaulting has received any damage from the rains. Agnolo,
having afterwards restored the mosaic, brought it about by means of his
counsel and of a design very well conceived that there was rebuilt,
round the said church, all the upper cornice of marble below the roof,
in that form wherein it now remains; which cornice was much smaller than
it is and very commonplace. Under direction of the same man there was
also made the vaulting of the Great Hall of the Palace of the Podesta,
which before was directly under the roof, to the end that, besides the
adornment, fire might not again be able to do it damage, as it had done
a long time before. After this, by the counsel of Agnolo, there were
made round the said Palace the battlements that are there to-day, which
before were in no wise there.
The while that these works were executing, he did not desert his
painting entirely, and painted in distemper, in the panel that he made
for the high-altar of S. Pancrazio, Our Lady, S. John the Baptist, and
the Evangelist, and beside them the Saints Nereus, Archileus, and
Pancratius, brothers, with other Saints. But the best of this work--nay,
all that is seen therein of the good--is the predella alone, which is
all full of little figures, divided into eight stories of the Madonna
and of S. Reparata. Next, in 1348, he painted the panel of the
high-altar of S. Maria Maggiore, also in Florence, for Barone Cappelli,
making therein a passing good dance of angels round a Coronation of Our
Lady. A little afterwards, in the Pieve of the district of Prato,
rebuilt under direction of Giovanni Pisano in the year 1312, as it has
been said above, Agnolo painted in fresco, in the chapel wherein was
deposited the Girdle of Our Lady, many scenes of her life; and in other
churches of that district, which was full of monasteries and convents
held in great honour, he made other works in plenty. In Florence, next,
he painted the arch over the door of S. Romeo; and in Orto S. Michele he
wrought in distemper a Disputation of the Doctors with Christ in the
Temple. And at the same time, many houses having been pulled down in
order to enlarge the Piazza de' Signori, and in particular the Church of
S. Romolo, this was rebuilt with the design of Agnolo. There are many
panels by his hand throughout the churches in the said city, and many of
his works may also be recognized in the domain, which were wrought by
him with much profit to himself, although he worked more in order to do
as his forefathers had done than for any love of it, having his mind
directed on commerce, which brought him better profit; as it is seen
when his sons, not wishing any longer to be painters, gave themselves
over completely to commerce, holding a house open for this purpose in
Venice together with their father, who, from a certain time onward, did
not work save for his own pleasure, and, in a certain manner, in order
to pass time. Having thus acquired great wealth by means of trading and
by means of his art, Agnolo died in the sixty-third year of his life,
overcome by a malignant fever which in a few days made an end of him.
His disciples were Maestro Antonio da Ferrara, who made many beautiful
works in S. Francesco at Urbino, and at Citta di Castello; and Stefano
da Verona, who painted in fresco most perfectly, as it is seen in many
places at Verona, his native city, and also in many of his works at
Mantua. This man, among other things, was excellent in giving very
beautiful expressions to the faces of children, of women, and of old
men, as it may be seen in his works, which were all imitated and copied
by that Piero da Perugia, illuminator, who illuminated all the books
that are in the library of Pope Pius in the Duomo at Siena, and was a
practised colourist in fresco. A disciple of Agnolo, also, was Michele
da Milano, as was Giovanni Gaddi, his brother, who made, in the cloister
of S. Spirito where are the little arches of Gaddo and of Taddeo, the
Disputation of Christ in the Temple with the Doctors, the Purification
of the Virgin, the Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness, and the
Baptism of John; and finally, having created very great expectation, he
died. A pupil of the same Agnolo in painting was Cennino di Drea Cennini
of Colle di Valdelsa, who, having very great affection for the art,
wrote a book describing the methods of working in fresco, in distemper,
in size, and in gum, and, besides, how illuminating is done, and all the
methods of applying gold; which book is in the hands of Giuliano,
goldsmith of Siena, an excellent master and a friend of these arts. And
in the beginning of this his book he treated of the nature of colours,
both the minerals and the earth-colours, according as he learnt from
Agnolo his master, wishing, for the reason perchance that he did not
succeed in learning to paint perfectly, at least to know the nature of
the colours, the distempers, the sizes, and the application of gesso,
and what colours we must guard against as harmful in making the
mixtures, and in short many other considerations whereof there is no
need to discourse, there being to-day a perfect knowledge of all those
matters which he held as great and very rare secrets in those times. But
I will not forbear to say that he makes no mention (and perchance they
may not have been in use) of some earth-colours, such as dark red
earths, cinabrese, and certain vitreous greens. Since then there have
been also discovered umber, which is an earth-colour, giallo santo,[23]
the smalts both for fresco and for oils, and some vitreous greens and
yellows, wherein the painters of that age were lacking. He treated
finally of mosaics, and of grinding colours in oils in order to make
grounds of red, blue, green, and in other manners; and of the mordants
for the application of gold, but not then for figures. Besides the works
that he wrought in Florence with his master, there is a Madonna with
certain saints by his hand under the loggia of the hospital of Bonifazio
Lupi, coloured in such a manner that it has been very well preserved up
to our own day.
This Cennino, in the first chapter of his said book, speaking of
himself, uses these very words: "I, Cennino di Drea Cennini, of Colle di
Valdelsa, was instructed in the said art for twelve years by Agnolo di
Taddeo of Florence, my master, who learnt the said art from Taddeo, his
father, who was held at baptism by Giotto and was his disciple for
four-and-twenty years; which Giotto transmuted the art of painting from
Greek into Latin, and brought it to the modern manner, and had it for
certain more perfected than anyone ever had it." These are the very
words of Cennino, to whom it appeared that even as those who translate
any work from Greek into Latin confer very great benefit on those who do
not understand Greek, so, too, did Giotto in transforming the art of
painting from a manner not understood or known by anyone, save perchance
as very rude, to a beautiful, facile, and very pleasing manner,
understood and known as good by all who have judgment and the least
grain of reason.
All these disciples of Agnolo did him very great honour, and he was
buried by his sons, to whom it is said that he left the sum of fifty
thousand florins or more, in S. Maria Novella, in the tomb that he
himself had made for himself and for his descendants, in the year of our
salvation 1387. The portrait of Agnolo, made by himself, is seen in the
Chapel of the Alberti, in S. Croce, beside a door in the scene wherein,
the Emperor Heraclius is bearing the Cross; it is painted in profile,
with a little beard, and with a rose-coloured cap on his head according
to the use of those times. He was not excellent in draughtsmanship, in
so far as is shown by some drawings by his hand that are in our book.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 23: A yellow-lake made from the unripe berries of the spin
cervino, a sort of brier.]
INDEX OF NAMES OF THE CRAFTSMEN MENTIONED IN VOLUME I
Aglaophon, xxxix
Agnolo (of Siena), _Life_, 97-105. 39
Agnolo di Lorenzo, 208
Agnolo Gaddi, _Life_, 217-223. 185, 186
Agobbio, Oderigi d', 79
Agostino (of Siena), _Life_, 97-105. 39
Aholiab, xxxviii
Alberti, Leon Batista, xli, 179
Alesso Baldovinetti, 4, 48
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, _Life_, 155-157
Andrea di Cione Orcagna, _Life_, 189-199
Andrea Pisano, _Life_, 123-131. 189
Andrea Tafi, _Life_, 47-51. 55, 56, 58, 135, 136, 145, 219
Angelico, Fra (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), 162
Antonio (called Il Carota), 125
Antonio d'Andrea Tafi, 51
Antonio da Ferrara, 221
Antonio da San Gallo, 32
Antonio Pollaiuolo, xxxiv
Apelles, xxviii, xxxix
Apollodorus, xxxix
Apollonio, 47, 49
Ardices, xxxix
Aretino, Marchionne, 17, 18
Aretino, Niccolo, 130
Aretino, Spinello, 67
Aristides, xli
Arnolfo di Lapo (Arnolfo Lapo, Arnolfo Lapi), _Life_, 20-26. 8, 13, 14,
20-26, 29, 30, 33, 39, 65, 113, 126, 170, 174, 180
Baldovinetti, Alesso, 4, 48
Bartolommeo Bologhini, 120
Benedetto da Maiano, 94
Bernardo di Cione Orcagna, 189, 190, 193-195, 197
Bernardo Nello di Giovanni Falconi, 197
Bezaleel, xxxviii
Bologhini, Bartolommeo, 120
Bolognese, Franco, 79
Bonanno, 15, 16
Bramante da Urbino, 32
Brunelleschi, Filippo (Filippo di Ser Brunellesco), lii, 22, 23, 26, 48,
130
Bruno di Giovanni, 135, 145, 147, 148, 191
Buffalmacco, Buonamico, _Life_, 135-151. 50, 51, 135-151, 170, 190, 191,
211
Buonarroti, Michelagnolo, xxvi, xxxiv, 87
Buono, 14, 15
Buschetto, liv, lvi
Calandrino, 135
Campi, Fra Ristoro da, 59
Capanna, Puccio, 85, 89-91
Carota (Antonio, called Il Carota), 125
Casentino, Jacopo di, 183, 185
Castelfranco, Giorgione da, xxxii
Cavallini, Pietro, _Life_, 161-164. 92
Cennini, Cennino di Drea, 177, 221, 222
Cimabue, Giovanni, _Life_, 3-10. xxiv, xxxv, lix, 3-10, 20, 21, 29, 47,
50, 55, 56, 58, 63, 72, 74, 89, 94, 113, 117, 145, 174
Cione, 103, 104
Cleanthes, xxxix
Cleophantes, xxxix
Como, Guido da, 48
Danti, Vincenzio, 36
Domenico Ghirlandajo, 112, 126, 189
Donato (Donatello), 48, 130, 178
Fabius, xl
Faenza, Ottaviano da, 91
Faenza, Pace da, 91
Falconi, Bernardo Nello di Giovanni, 197
Ferrara, Antonio da, 221
Fiesole, Fra Giovanni da (called Fra Angelico), 162
Filippo Brunelleschi (Filippo di Ser Brunellesco), lii, 22, 23, 26, 48,
130
Fonte, Jacopo della (Jacopo della Quercia), 130
Forli, Guglielmo da, 92
Forzore di Spinello, 104
Fra Angelico (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), 162
Fra Giovanni, 59
Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (called Fra Angelico), 162
Fra Jacopo da Turrita, 49, 50, 56
Fra Ristoro da Campi, 59
Francesco (called di Maestro Giotto), 91
Francesco Traini, 198, 199
Franco Bolognese, 79
Fuccio, 30, 31
Gaddi, Agnolo, _Life_, 217-223. 185, 186
Gaddi, Gaddo, _Life_, 55-58. 50, 55-58, 177, 186, 217, 219, 221
Gaddi, Giovanni, 185, 186, 217, 221
Gaddi, Taddeo, _Life_, 177-186. 57, 58, 81, 88, 89, 129, 177-186, 217,
218, 221, 222
Ghiberti, Lorenzo (Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti), 87, 112, 127, 130
Ghirlandajo, Domenico, 112, 126, 189
Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, 125
Giorgio Vasari, see Vasari
Giorgione da Castelfranco, xxxii
Giottino (Tommaso, or Maso), _Life_, 203-208. 112