Stories Of The Italian Artists From Vasari

125410

STORIES FROM VASAR.I

FROM ^VAS Alii

A1&AN6ED&AND

PREFACE

THE title of this book seems to me to describe
its contents so clearly that there will be no need
to say much in explanation of its purport. I
have tried in these stories to give an idea of
the liveliness of the Renaissance in Italy and
of that exuberant enjoyment of the revived arts,
which finds such vivid expression in the pages
of Vasari. That he is often incorrect has of
course been discovered long since. As he
himself said, "If writers of history were to
live somewhat longer than is usually granted
to the course of human life, they would often
have to alter the things written by them; for
as it is not possible that one man, however
diligent he may be, should in so short a time
discover all the truth, so it is as clear as the sun
that Time, who is called the father of truth,
will daily discover to students new things."
As this book, however, has no pretensions to
be a critical work, I have simply followed

vi PREFACE

Vasari, and tell the tales as nearly as I can in
his own words. His treatment of Raphael has
been attributed to prejudice, and indeed he was
such a devoted disciple of Michael Angelo, and
so vain of his intimacy with the great man, that
his judgment could scarcely be unbiassed. Many
great names will be missed here, for Vasari's
account is often confined to a bare description
of the painter's works with a meagre outline
of his life ; and it must not be forgotten that
he did not carry on his history to the later
painters, such as Tintoretto and Veronese.

CONTENTS

CHAP, . PAGE

I. CIMABUE AND GIOTTO j

II. THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO . . 13

III. ANDREA DE CIONE ORCAGNA, SPINELLO, DELLO,

AND PAOLO UCCELLO 31

IV. LUCA DELLA ROBBIA AND LORENZO GHIBERTI . 45
V. FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO . . -55

VI. DONATELLO 72

VII. ;FRA ANGELICO 8l

VIII. ANTONELLO DA MESSINA, ANDREA DAL CAS-

TAGNO, AND DOMENICO VENEZIANO . . , 86

IX. FILIPPO LIPPI AND BOTTICELLI ... 96

X. PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA AND LUCA SIGNORELLI 106

V

XL GHIRLANDAJO, COSIMO ROSSELLI, AND PIERO DI

COSIMO 112

XII. FRA BARTOLOMMEO AND MARIOTTO ALBERTI-

NELLI 126

/

XIII. THE BELLINI AND ANDREA MANTEGNA . .134

XIV. tSoNARDO DA VINCI 140

viii CONTENTS

CHAP. PACE

XV. GIORGIONE AND FRA SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO 1 62

XVI. PERUGINO AND RAFFAELLO . . . , 17 1

XVII. ANDREA DEL SARTO 1 86

XVIII. MATURING AND POLIDORO AND MONSIGNORI . 199

XIX. IL ROSSO 208

XX. PARMIGIANO 215

XXI. PERINO DEL VAGA 222

XXII. BACCIO BANDINELLI 233

XXIII. RUSTICI 248

XXIV. SALVIATI 258

XXV. TITIAN 269

XXVI. MICHAEL ANGELO 278

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

COLOURED PLATES

THE CRUCIFIXION (after the central portion of
the fresco by Perugino in the Convent of
S. Maria Maddalena d Pazzi at Flor-
ence) Frontispiece

PAGE

3. FRANCIS FEEDING THE BIRDS (after the fresco
by Giotto in the Church of S. Francis at
Assist) .... . To face 7

THE ENTOMBMENT (after the fresco by Fra
Angelico in the Convent of 5. Mark at
Florence) ,,82

THE VISION OF S. BERNARD (from the painting
by Filippino Lippi in the Badia at Flor-
ence) . 99

THE DEATH OF S. FRANCIS (after the fresco by
Ghirlandajo in the Church of S. Trinfta at

Florence) , ,,115

ix b

x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

THE VIRGIN AND CHILD (after the fresco by Fra
Bartolommeo in the Convent of S. Marfc
at Florence) To face 131

THE NATIVITY (after the fresco by Pinturicchio
in the Church of S. Maria del Popolo at
Rome) ,,176

THE PROCESSION OF THE MAGI ON THEIR WAY
TO BETHLEHEM (after the fresco by Andvtq
del Sarto in the Cloister of the Annunziata
at Florence) , 188

HALF-TONE PLATES
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD. (Cimabue) 4

S. JOACHIM RETIRES HUMILIATED TO HIS FLOCKS

IN THE WILDERNESS. (Giotto) 9

THE MARTYRDOM OF S. CATHERINE. (Buffal-

macco) ,,26

PART OF AN ALTAR-PIECE (fainted for the
Church of S. Pietro Maggiore at Florence^
now in the National Gallery, London).
(Orcagna) ,,33

EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF POPE ALEXANDER

III, (Spinello) ,,36

MEETING OF S. DOMINIC AND S. FRANCIS.

(Andrea della Robbia) 47

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi

PAGE

BRONZE GATES OF THE BAPTISTERY AT FLOR-
ENCE. (Ghiberti) .... To face 52

GENERAL GATTAMELATA. (Donatetto) 76

HEAD or THE VIRGIN. (Filippo Lippi) . 96

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. (Botticelli) . 101

VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH S. JEROME AND S.

FRANCIS. (Gentile Bellini) . . . 137

PARNASSUS. (Mantegnd) . . . 138

THE ANNUNCIATION. (Lorenzo di Credi) . 143

DETAIL OF "Two ANGELS" (from the "S.
John baptizing Christ"} (Verocchio and

Lionardo da Vinci) ,,146

MONNA LISA. (Lionardo da Vinci) . . . 154

POPE CLEMENT VII. (Sebastiano delPiombd) . 168

POPE LEO X. BETWEEN CARDINAL DE J MEDICI

AND CARDINAL DE' Rossi. (Raffaello) . 194

HEAD OF A SAINT, (Francesco Monsignon) . 203

ALEXANDER FARNESE EMBRACED BY MINERVA.

(Parmigtano) ,,217

GALATEA. (Perino del Vaga) 224

PORTRAIT OF JACOPA DONI. ( Charcoal drawing?)

(Bandinelli) 5 , 234

xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

SACRED AND PROFANE LOVE. (Titian) . To face 276

PAGE

MARBLE PIETA IN S. PETER'S, ROME. (Michael

Angela) 290

DAVID. (Michael Angelo) . . . . ,, 291

The design on the title-page of this volume was drawn by
Mrs. Harding Andrews from the middle thirteenth century
B.M. Royal MS. 2, B. ii., and the binding- design is copied
from a fine fifteenth century example in the Laurentian Library,
Florence. The letterpress is wholly revised from a previous
publication.

STORIES FROM VASARI

CHAPTER I

CIMABUE AND GIOTTO

THE great flood of misfortunes, by which poor
Italy had been afflicted and overwhelmed, had
not only reduced to ruins all buildings of note
throughout the land, but what was of far more
importance, had caused an utter lack of the very
artists themselves. At this time, when the supply
seemed entirely exhausted, in the year 1 240, by
the will of God, there was born in the city of
Florence, Giovanni, surnamed Cimabue, of the
noble family of that name, who was to shed the
first light on the art of painting. He, as he
grew, being judged by his father and others to
possess a fine acute intellect, was sent to S. Maria
Novella to be instructed in letters by a relative of
his who taught grammar to the novices of that
convent. But instead of attending to his lessons,
Cimabue spent all the day in painting on his
books and papers, men, horses, houses, and such

2 STORIES FROM VASARI

things. To this natural inclination fortune was
favourable, for certain painters of Greece, who
had been summoned by the rulers of Florence to
restore the almost forgotten art of painting in
the city, began at this time to work in the chapel
of the Gondi in S. Maria Novella ; and Cimabue
would often escape from school and stand all day
watching them, until his father and the painters
themselves judging that he was apt for painting,
he was placed under their instruction. Nature,
however, aided by constant practice, enabled him
greatly to surpass both in design and colouring
the masters who had taught him. For they,
never caring to advance in their art, did every-
thing not in the good manner of ancient Greece,
but after the rude manner of those times.

He painted in churches both in Florence and
Pisa, and made the name of Cimabue famous
everywhere, on which account he was summoned
to Assisi, a city of Umbria, to paint in company
with some Greek masters the lower church of
S. Francis. For in those times the order of the
Minor Friars of S. Francis having been confirmed
by Pope Innocent III., both the devotion and the
numbers of the. friars grew so great not only in
Italy, but in all parts of the world, that there was
scarcely a city of any account which did not
build for them churches and convents at great
expense. Two years before the death of S-

CIMABUE AND GIOTTO 3

Francis, while that saint was absent preaching,
Fra Elia was prior in Assisi, and built a church
for our Lady ; but when S. Francis was dead, and
all Christendom was coming to visit the body of
a saint who in life and death was known by all to
have been the friend of God, and every man at
the holy spot was making gifts according to his
power, it was ordained that the church begun by
Fra E1& should be made much larger and more
magnificent. But there being a scarcity of good s
architects, and the work needing an excellent one,
for it was necessary to build on a very steep hill
at the roots of which runs a torrent called Tescio,
after much consideration they brought to Assisi,
as the best architect that could then be found,
one Master Jacopo Tedesco. He having con-
sidered the site, and heard the will of the Fathers,
who held a chapter-general for the purpose in
Assisi, designed a very fine church and convent,
making in the model three storeys, one below
ground, and two churches, one of which on the
first slope should serve as the vestibule, having a
very large colonnade round it, and the other for
the sanctuary. And he arranged that you should
go up from the first to the second by a most
convenient order of stairs, which wound round
the larger chapel, dividing into two, to enter the
second church. To this he gave the form of a
T, making it five times as long as it was wide.

4 STORIES FROM VASARI

In the larger chapel of the lower church was
placed the altar, and below it, when it was
finished, was laid with solemn ceremonies the
body of S. Francis. And because the tomb
which encloses the body of the glorious saint is
in the first, that is the lowest church, which no
one ever enters, the doors of it are walled up,
and around the altar are gratings of iron, with
rich ornaments of marble and mosaic. This work
was brought to a conclusion in the space of four
years, and no more, by the skill of Master
Jacopo and the careful labours of Fra Elii.
After his death there were made round the lower
church twelve fine towers, and in each of them a
staircase from the ground to 'the top, and in time
there were added many chapels and many rich
ornaments: As for Master Jacopo, by this work
he acquired such fame through all Italy that he
was called to Florence, and received there with
the greatest honour possible, although according
to the habit the Florentines have (and used to
have still more) of shortening names, they called
him not Jacopo but Lapo all the days of his
life.

So in the lower church Cimabue painted in
company with the Greeks, and greatly surpassed
the Greek painters. Therefore, his courage
rising, he began to paint by himself in fresco
in the upper church, and painted many things,

DKTAIL KKOM TUB VIKCilN AND CIIIU).
(ISStti J

CIMABUE AND GIOTTO 5

especially the ascent of the Virgin into heaven,
and the Holy Spirit descending upon the
apostles. This work, being truly very great
and rich and well executed, must in my judg-
ment have astonished the world in those days,
painting having been so long in such darkness,
and to myself, who saw it in the year 1563, it
appeared most beautiful, and I marvelled how
Cimabue could have had such light in the midst
of such heavy gloom. Being called to Florence,
however, Cimabue did not continue his labours,
but they were finished many years after by
Giotto, as we will tell in its place.

After his return to Florence he made for the
church of S, Maria Novella a picture of our
Lady, which work was of larger size than those
that had been made before that time, and the
angels that stand round, although they are in
the Greek manner, yet show something of the
modern style. Therefore this work caused such
marvel to the people of that time, never having
seen a better, that it was borne in solemn pro-
cession with trumpets and great rejoicing from
the house of Cimabue to the church, and he
himself received great honours and rewards. It
is said, and you may read it in certain records
of old pictures, that while Cimabue was paint-
ing this picture, King Charles of Anjou passed
through Florence, and among other entertain-

6 STORIES FROM VASARI

ments provided for him by the people of the
city, 'they took him to see Cimabue's picture ;
and as no one had seen it before it was shown
to the king, there was a great concourse of all
the men and women of Florence to see it, with
the greatest rejoicing and running together in
the world. From the gladness of the whole
neighbourhood that part was called Borgo-
Allegri, the Joyful Quarter, and though it is
now within the walls of the city, it has always
preserved the same name.

Now in the year 1276, in the country of
Florence, about fourteen miles from the city,
in the village of Vespignano, there was born to
a simple peasant named Bondone a son, to whom
he gave the name of Giotto, and whom he
brought up according to his station. And when
he had reached the age of ten years, showing
in all his ways though still childish an extra-
ordinary vivacity and quickness of mind, which
made him beloved not only by his father but
by all who knew him, Bondone gave him the
care of some sheep. And he leading them for
pasture, now to one spot and now to another,
was constantly driven by his natural inclination
to draw on the stones or the ground some object
in nature, or something that came into his mind.
One day Cimabue, going on business from
Florence to Vespignano, found Giotto, while his

S, PKAMI.S I''KKIUN(J T1IK ItlKKS.

CIMABUE AND GIOTTO 7

sheep were feeding, drawing a sheep from nature
upon a smooth and solid rock with a pointed
stone, having never learnt from any one but
nature. Cimabue, marvelling at him, stopped
and asked him if he would go and be with him.
And the boy answered that if his father were
content he would gladly go. Then Cimabue
asked Bondohe for him, and he gave him up
to him, and was content that he should take
him to Florence. There in a little time, by the
aid of nature and the teaching of Cimabue, the
boy not only equalled his master, but freed
himself from the rude manner of the Greeks,
and brought back to life the true art of painting,
introducing the drawing from nature of living
persons, which had not been practised for two
hundred years ; or at least if some had tried it,
they had not succeeded very happily. Giotto
painted among others, as may be seen to this
day in the chapel of the Podesti's Palace at
Florence, Dante Alighieri, his contemporary and
great friend, and no less famous a poet than
Giotto was a painter.

After this he was .called to Assisi by Fra
Giovanni di Muro, at that time general of the
order of S. Francis, and painted in fresco in the
upper church thirty-two stories from the life
and deeds of S, Francis, which brought him
great fame. It is no wonder therefore that

8 STORIES FROM VASARI

Pope Benedict sent one of his courtiers into
Tuscany to see what sort of a man he was and
what his works were like, for the Pope was
planning to have some paintings made in S.
Peter's. This courtier, on his way to see Giotto
and to find out what other masters of painting
and mosaic there were in Florence, spoke with
many masters in Sienna, and then, having received
some drawings from them, he came to Florence.
And one morning going into the workshop of
Giotto, who was at his labours, he showed him
the mind of the Pope, and at last asked him
to give him a little drawing to send to his
Holiness. Giotto, who was a man of courteous
manners, immediately took a sheet of paper,
and with a pen dipped in red, fixing his arm
firmly against his side to make a compass of
it, with a turn of his hand he made a circle
so perfect that it was a marvel to see it.
Having done it, he turned smiling to the
courtier and said, "Here is the drawing." But
he, thinking he was being laughed at, asked,
"Am I to have no other drawing than this?*'
"This is enough and too much," replied Giotto,
" send it with the others and see if it will be
understood." The messenger, seeing that he
could get nothing else, departed ill pleased, not
doubting that he had been made a fool of.
However, sending the other drawings to the

S, JOACHIM KKI'IKKS IlUMll.fATKI) TO HIS KUKXS IN THE WILDERNESS,

CIMABUE AND GIOTTO 9

Pope with the names of those who had made
them, he sent also Giotto's, relating how he
had made the circle without moving his arm
and without compasses, which when the Pope
and many of his courtiers understood, they saw
that Giotto must surpass greatly all the other
painters of his time. This thing being told,
there arose from it a proverb which is still used
about men of coarse clay, "You are rounder
than the O of Giotto," which proverb is not
only good because of the occasion from which
it sprang, but also still more for its significance,
which consists in its ambiguity, tondo, " round,"
meaning in Tuscany not only a perfect circle,
but also slowness and heaviness of mind.

So the Pope made him come to Rome, and
he painted for him in S. Peter's, and there never
left his hands work better finished ; wherefore
the Pope, esteeming himself well served, gave
him six hundred ducats of gold, besides having
shown him so many favours that it was spoken
of through all Italy.

After Giotto was returned to Florence, Robert,
King of Naples, wrote to his eldest son, Charles,
King of Calabria, who was at that time in Flor-
ence, that he must by some means or other send
him Giotto to Naples. Giotto, hearing himself
called by a king so famous and so much praised,
went very willingly to serve him, and did many

io STORIES FROM VASARI

works which pleased the king greatly. And he
was so much beloved by him that the king
would often visit him, and took pleasure in
watching him and listening to his conversation,
and Giotto, who had always some jest or some
witty answer ready, would converse with him
while going on with his painting. So one day
the king saying to him that he would make
him the first man in Naples, Giotto answered,
"And that is why I am lodged at the Porta
Reale, that I may be the first man in Naples."
And another time the king saying to him,
" Giotto, if I were you, now that it is hot, I
would give up painting a little," he answered,
" And so would I, certainly, if I were you."

So pleasing the king well, he painted him a
good number of pictures, and the portraits of
many famous men, Giotto himself among them ;
and one day the king, as a caprice, asked him
to paint his kingdom. Giotto, it is said, painted
a laden ass with a new load lying at his feet,
which while it refused it seemed to desire, and
both on the new and old burden was the royal
crown and sceptre of power. And when Giotto
was asked by the king what the picture signified,
he replied, "Such must be the subjects and such
the kingdom which every day desired a new lord."

There are many other stories remaining of the
witty sayings of Giotto, and besides those that

CIMABUE AND GIOTTO n

are told by Boccaccio, Franco Sacchetti tells
many good ones, some of which I will give in
Franco's own words.

"How a man of low station gives Giotto
the great painter a shield to paint.

"Every one must have heard of Giotto, who
was a great painter above any other. A rough
workman, hearing of his fame, came to Giotto's
workshop followed by one carrying his shield.
Arrived there, he found Giotto, and said, * God
save you, master, I want you to paint my arms
on this shield.' Giotto, considering the man
and his manner of speech, said nothing but,
'When do you want it?' And he told him.
Giotto said, 'Leave me to do it;' so he went
away. And Giotto, left alone, said to himself,
* What did he mean ? Has some sent him for
a joke? I never had a shield to paint before.
And this man was a simple fellow, and bade
me paint his arms as if he were of the royal
house of France. Certainly I shall have to
make him some new arms.' So considering the
matter, he put the shield before him and made
a design and bade one of his pupils paint it,
and so it was done. There was a helmet, a
gorget, a pair of iron gloves, a cuirass, and
cuisses, a sword, dagger, and lance. So the
worthy man came again and said, 'Master, is
my shield painted ? ' Giotto answered, * Cer-

12 STORIES FROM VASARI

tainly, bring it down.' But when it came the
would-be gentleman looked at it and said,
* What is this you have been painting ? I won't
pay four farthings for it.' Giotto said, c What
did you tell me to paint?' And he answered,
'My arms.' 'Are not they all here?' asked
Giotto; 'what is wanting? Nay, you are a
great fool, for if any one were to ask you who
you are, you would hardly know what to answer ;
and you come here and say, Paint me my arms.
What arms do you bear? Whence are you?
Who were your ancestors? I have painted all
your armour on the shield, and if there is
anything else, tell me and I will add it.' But
the other answered, 'You are giving me vile
words, and have spoilt my shield.' And he
went away and summoned Giotto before the
justice. Giotto appeared, and on his side sum-
moned him, demanding two florins for his paint-
ing. And when the court had heard the matter,
they gave sentence that the man should take his
shield so painted, and pay six lire to Giotto."

It is said that when Giotto was only a boy
with Cimabue, he once painted a fly on the nose of
a face that Cimabue had drawn, so naturally that
the master returning to his work tried more than
once to drive it away with his hand, thinking it
was real. And I might tell you of many other
jests played by Giotto, but of this enough.

CHAPTER II

THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO

AMONG the old painters who were much alarmed
by the praises so deservedly bestowed upon
Cimabue and Giotto was one Margaritone, a
painter of Arezzo, who having held a high rank
among those who practised the art in that
unhappy age became aware that the works of
these new men would almost entirely eclipse
his fame. He had been considered excellent
by the other painters of his time who worked
in the old Greek style, and had painted many
pictures in Arezzo, both in tempera and fresco.
For the church of S. Margherita he painted a
work on canvas stretched on a panel, in which
are many pictures containing little figures repre-
senting stories from the lives of our Lady and
the saints; and the picture is noteworthy not
only because the little figures are painted so
well that they- seem to be miniatures, but also
because it is a marvel to see a work on canvas
that has been preserved three hundred years.
He made a great number of pictures all over
the city, and having painted on wood a large

i 4 STORIES FROM VASARI

crucifix in the Greek style, he sent it to Florence
to the famous citizen Farinata degli Uberti,
because he had, among his other great works,
saved his country from danger and ruin. After-
wards he gave himself to sculpture with so much
application that he succeeded much better than
he had in painting. He died at the age of
seventy-seven, disgusted, it is said, with life,
because he had seen the age change so much
and new artists obtain honour.

Andrea Tafi for his works in mosaic was
greatly admired, and he himself was considered
almost divine; but Gaddo the Florentine, who
worked with him at Pisa, showed more know-
ledge of design, and perhaps this arose from
his friendship with Cimabue. For either through
conformity of nature or the goodness of their
hearts, they were united in a close attachment,
and while discoursing lovingly together over
the difficulties of their art, the noblest and
greatest conceptions were ever in their minds.
And this so much the more because they were
aided by the subtle air of Florence, which is
wont to produce ingenious and subtle spirits.
For those who are studying any science find
that by conferring together they clear it from
obscurity and make it more easy. But some
on the contrary have wickedly made a pro-
fession of friendship with specious appearance

THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO 15

of love, only in malice and envy to defraud
others of their conceptions. True love, however,
bound together Gaddo and Cimabue, and also
Andrea Tafi and Gaddo. Andrea took him to
aid him in the mosaics of S. Giovanni, and
afterwards he worked alone and applied himself
to the study of the Greek manner, together
with that of Cimabue. So his fame being
spread abroad, he was called to Rome and to
other cities. Afterwards returning to Florence
for rest after his labours, he set himself to
making little tablets of mosaic, some of which
he made of egg-shells, with incredible patience
and diligence. He painted also many pictures
maintaining his reputation, but because the
manner of painting in those times cannot greatly
help artists, I will pass them over in silence.
Gaddo lived seventy- three years, dying in 1312,
and was honourably buried in S. Croce by
Taddeo his son, and although he had many
sons, Taddeo, who had been held at the font
by Giotto, alone applied himself to painting,
learning the rudiments from his father and
the rest from Giotto, who was his master four
and twenty years. He, surpassing his fellow
scholars, produced his first works with a facility
given him by nature rather than by art. He
was indeed an imitator of Giotto's manner, whom
he always held in the greatest veneration.

1 6 STORIES FROM VASARI

At the command of the commune he con-
tinued the building of Orsanmichele, begun by
Arnolfo di Lapo, and repaired the pillars of the
loggia, building them of well-hewn stone where
they had first been made of brick, yet without
altering the design that Arnolfo di Lapo had
left for a palace of two storeys over the loggia,
for storing the grain of the people and commune
of Florence. And that the work might be
finished, the Guild of S. Maria, which had the
charge of the building, gave orders that the
tax on the sale of grain and other little customs
should go towards it. But what was of more
importance, it was ordained with great wisdom
that each of the guilds of Florence should make
a pillar and set up in a niche in it the patron
saint of the guild, and every year on the feast-
day the consuls of the guild should go there
for offerings, setting up their standard and
standing by the pillar the whole day, but the
offerings given to the Madonna should still be
for the help of those in need.

In the year 1333 a great flood of waters swept
away the defences of the bridge Rubaconte,
overthrew the castle Altafronte, and left nothing
of the old bridge but the two middle piers.
The bridge of the Holy Trinity was altogether
destroyed except one pier, which was left in a
shattered state; and half the bridge at Carraja

THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO 17

was swept away, the sluices of Ogni Santi burst-
ing. So those who had the rule of the city
deliberated upon this matter, and not being
willing that those who lived on the other side
of the Arno should be subjected to such dis-
comfort as to have to pass to and from their
houses by boats, they called for Taddeo Gaddo
and bade him make a model and design for re-
building the old bridge, charging him to make
it as handsome and fine as could be. He there-
fore, sparing neither expense nor trouble, built
it with great piers and with magnificent arches
of hewn stone, so that to this day it bears the
weight of twenty-two shops on each side, in all
forty-four, to the great advantage of the com-
mune, which receives from them every year
eight hundred florins for rent. For this work,
which cost sixty thousand gold florins, Taddeo
deserved infinite praise then, and is more to
be commended now than ever, for, not to speak
of other floods, it remained unmoved on the
1 3th day of September, 1537, when the water
brought down the bridge of the Holy Trinity,
two arches of the Carraja bridge, ruined a great
part of the Rubaconte, besides domg other
notable damage. And indeed no one of any
judgment can fail to be astonished and to
marvel that this old bridge should have sus-
tained unmoved the shock of the water, the

1 8 STORIES FROM VASARI

drift wood, and the ruins swept down from
above,

Taddeo, however, did not cease from painting,
and made a great number of pictures of import-
ance both in Florence and elsewhere ; and in
process of time he gained so much wealth that
he laid the foundation of the riches and nobility
of the family, being always held to be a wise
man and prudent. He painted the chapter-
house of S. Maria Novella, being called to the
work by the prior of the place. But because
the work was great, and the chapter-house of
Santo Spirito had been by that time uncovered,
to the great fame of Simone Memmi who had
painted it, the prior desired to give Simone half
of the work, and conferring with Taddeo about
it, found him right content, for he loved Simone
greatly, they having been schoolfellows together
under Giotto, and ever loving friends and com-
panions. Oh, truly noble souls ! without emu-
lation or envy, loving one another like brothers,
and rejoicing each one at the honour and praise
of the other, as if it were his own ! So the
work was divided between them, three sides
being given to Simone, and to Taddeo the left
side and all the ceiling.

So Taddeo, having procured to himself by
his industry and labours not only a name but
also great riches, passed to the other life, leaving

THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO 19

behind him his sons Agnolo and Giovanni, and
hoping that Agnolo particularly would become
excellent in painting. But he who in his youth
showed signs of far surpassing his father, did
not succeed according to the opinion that had
been conceived of him, for having been born
and brought up in ease, which has often proved
an impediment to study, he gave himself more
to trade and merchandise than to the art of
painting, which thing should not be thought
either new or strange, for avarice has often
hindered many who would have risen to great
heights if the desire of gain in their first and
better years had not impeded their way. Never-
theless he worked as the caprice took him,
sometimes with more care and sometimes with
less, and having in a sense inherited the secret
of working in mosaic, having also in his house
the instruments and other things that Gaddo
his grandfather had used, he for pastime, when
it seemed good to him, made some things in
mosaic. Thus many of his works may be seen
in Florence, at which he laboured much to his
own profit, though he worked rather for the
sake of doing as his fathers had done than for
the love of it, his mind going after merchan-
dise ; and when his sons, refusing to be painters,
gave themselves up wholly to trade, establishing
a house at Venice in partnership with their

20 STORIES FROM VASARI

father, he worked no more at his art, except
for his pleasure.

Buonamico di Cristofano, nicknamed Buffal-
macco, was a pupil of Andrea Tafi, and has
been celebrated as a jester by Boccaccio. Franco
Sacchetti also tells how when Buffalmacco was
still a boy with Andrea, his master had the
habit, when the nights were long, of getting up
before day to work, and calling his boys. This
was displeasing to Buonamico, who had to rise
in the middle of his best sleep, and he con-
sidered how he might prevent Andrea from
getting up before day to work, and this was
what occurred to him. Having found thirty
great beetles in an ill-kept cellar, he fastened on
each of their backs a little candle, and at the
hour when Andrea was used to rise, he put
them one by one through a hole in the door
into Andrea's chamber, having first lighted the
candles. His master awaking, the time being
come to call Buffalmacco, and seeing the lights,
was seized with terror and began to tremble,
like a fearful old man as he was, and to re-
commend his soul to heaven, and say his
prayers, and repeat the psalms, and at last,
putting his head under the clothes, he thought
no more that night of calling Buffalmacco, but
lay trembling with fear till daybreak. The
morning being come, he asked Buonamico if,

THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO 21

like him, he had seen more than a thousand
demons. To which Buonamico answered no,
for he had kept his eyes closed and wondered
he had not been called. "What!" said Tafi,
"I had something else to think of than paint-
ing, and I am resolved to go into some other
house." The next night, although Buonamico
only put three beetles into Tafi's chamber, yet
he from the last night's terror and the fear of
these few demons, could get no sleep at all, and
as soon as it was day left the house determined
never to return, and it took a great deal of
good counsel to make him change his mind.
At last Buonamico brought the priest to him
to console him. And Tafi and Buonamico dis-
cussing the matter, Buonamico said, "I have
always heard say that demons are the greatest
enemies of God, and consequently they ought
to be the chief adversaries of painters, because
not only do we always make them hideous,
but we also never cease making saints on all
the walls, and so cause men in despite of the
demons to become better and more devout.
So these demons being enraged against us, as
they have greater power by night than by day,
they come playing us these tricks, and it will
be worse if this custom of getting up early is
not quite given up." With such words Buffal-
macco managed the matter, what the priest said

22 STORIES FROM VASARI

helping him, so that Tafi left off getting up
early, and the demons left off going about the
house at night with candles. But not many
months after, Tafi, drawn by the desire of gain,
and having forgotten his fears, began afresh to
get up early and to call Buffalmacco, whereupon
the beetles began again to appear, until he was
forced by his fears to give it up entirely, being
earnestly counselled to do so by the priest.
And the matter being noised abroad in the city
for a time, neither Tafi nor any other painter
ventured to get up at night to work.

But after a time Buffalmacco, having become
a good master himself, left Tafi, as Franco
relates, and began to work for himself, work
never failing him. Now he had taken a house
both to work and to live in next to a worker
in wool, very well to do, who was nicknamed
Capodoca (Goosehead), and this man's wife used
to rise at daybreak just when Buffalmacco, having
worked till then, was going to rest. Sitting
down to her spinning-wheel, which by ill fortune
was just behind Buffalmacco's bed, she would set
to work to spin. So Buffalmacco, not being able
to sleep, began to think what he could do to
remedy the evil. And before long he perceived
that, on the other side of the wall of brick which
divided him from Capodoca, was the chimney of
his neighbour, and through a hole he could see

THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO 23

all that she did at the fire. So having considered
his trick, he hollowed out a tube, by means of
which, whenever she was not at the fire, through
the hole in the wall he could put as much salt
as he liked into his neighbour's saucepan.
Capodoca then, coming home to his dinner or
supper, often found that he could eat neither
soup nor meat, because everything was too salt.
The first time or two he was patient and
only grumbled a little, but when he found
words were not enough, several times he struck
the poor woman, who was in despair, for she
thought herself very careful about seasoning her
cookery. And once when her husband beat
her, she began to excuse herself, which making
Capodoca more angry, he set to work again until
she began to cry as loud as she could, and all
the neighbours ran to see what was the matter.
Among the rest came Buffalmacco, and hearing
of what Capodoca accused his wife, and how she
excused herself, he said to Capodoca, " In faith,
comrade, do you think you are reasonable ? You
complain that morning and evening your food is
too salt, but I wonder how your good woman
does anything right. I don't know how she
keeps "on her feet, considering that all night she
is at her spinning-wheel, and does not sleep an
hour, I believe. Stop her getting up at mid-
night, and you will see that when she has her fill

24 STORIES FROM VASARI

of sleep her brains will be clear and she will run
into no more such errors." And turning to the
other neighbours, he put the matter before them,
so that they all said that Buonamico said the
truth, and he had better do as he advised. And
he believing that it was so, commanded her not
to get up so early. So the food was found to be
reasonably salt, unless the woman got up early,
when Buffalmacco returned to his remedy, and
Capodoca made her give it up.

Among the first works that Buffalmacco un-
dertook was the painting of the church of the
convent of Faenza in Florence, and among other
stories was the slaughter of the Innocents by
Herod, in which he represented in a most lively
manner the emotions both of the slayers and the
other figures, some of the nurses and mothers
tearing their children out of the murderers'
hands, and helping themselves as best they could
with their hands and their nails and their teeth,
and showing themselves as full of rage and fury
as of grief.

While doing this work for the ladies of
Faenza, Buffalmacco, who was very careless and
negligent in his dress as in other things, did not
always wear his hood and mantle as was the
fashion at the time, and the nuns, watching him
through the screen he had erected, began to
complain that it did not please them to see him

THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO 25

in his doublet. At last, as he always appeared
in the same fashion, they began to think that he
was only some boy employed in mixing colours,
and they gave him to understand through their
abbess that they should prefer to see his master
and not always him. To this Buonamico
answered good humouredly that when the master
came he would let them know, understanding
nevertheless how little confidence they had in
him. Then he took a stool and placed it upon
another, and on the top he put a pitcher or
water-jug and fastened a hood on the handle, and
covered up the rest of the jug with a cloak,
fastening it well behind the tables, and having
fixed a pencil in the spout of the jug, he went
away. The nuns, coming again to see the picture
through a hole that they had made in the screen,
saw the supposed master in his fine attire, and
not doubting that he was working with all his
might, doing very different work from what that
boy did, for several days were quite content. At
last, being desirous to see what fine things the
master had done in the last fortnight (during
which time Buonamico had not been there at all),
one night, thinking the master was gone, they
went to see his picture, and were overcome with
confusion, when one more bold than the rest
detected the solemn master who during the fort-
night had done no work at all. But acknow-

26 STUKJJttb JfKUM VAbAKl

ledging that he had only treated them as they
deserved, and that the work which he had done
was worthy of praise, they sent their steward to
call Buonamico back, and he with great laughter
went back to his work, letting them see the
difference between men and water-jugs, and that
it does not do always to judge a man's work by
his clothes. So in a few days he finished a
picture with which they were greatly pleased,
except that the faces seemed to them too pale and
wan. Buonamico having heard this, and know-
ing that the abbess had some wine which was the
best in Florence, and which she kept for the
mass, told them that if they wished to remedy
the defect it could only be done by mixing the
colours with good wine, and then if the cheeks
were touched with the colour they would become
red and of a more lively colour. The good
sisters hearing this, and ready to believe every-
thing, kept him always supplied with excellent
wine while he worked, and he, while enjoying the
wine himself, to please them made his colours
more fresh and bright.

It is said that in 1302 he was fetched to Assisi,
and in the church of S. Francis painted the
chapel of S. Catherine with her history. When
passing through Arezzo after finishing the
chapel, he was stopped by the Bishop Guido,
who having heard that he was a pleasant man

Ihiffalmaro

MAKTYKDOM OK SAINT CATHERINE.
(Lovitr Church tf S. Franci

THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO 27

and a painter of worth, desired him to paint the
chapel in his house. Buonamico set to work,
and had already done a great part when there
befel him the strangest accident in the world,
according to Franco Sacchetti. The bishop had
a monkey the most amusing and the most mis-
chievous that ever was seen. This animal being
sometimes on the scaffold watching Buonamico
work, gave his whole mind to the matter, and
never took his eyes off him when he was mixing
his colours, handling his paintpots, beating up
the eggs to make the tempera, or in fact doing
any part of his work. Now Buonamico left his
work one Saturday evening, and on Sunday
morning this monkey, in spite of a great log
of wood which the bishop had had tied to his
feet to prevent his jumping about everywhere,
climbed on to the scaffold where he was used
to sit and watch Buonamico work, and having
got hold of the paintpots, poured their contents
one into the other and made up a mixture,
breaking up all the eggs there were, and began
to paint with the brushes, and never stopped
until he had repainted everything. 'This done,
he mixed up again all the colour that was left,
though that was little, and came down from
the scaffold and went away. So on Monday
morning Buonamico returned to his work, and
finding the painting spoilt, and the paintpots in a

28 STORIES FROM VASARI

mess, and everything wrong side upwards, he was
thrown into great confusion and dismay. But
having- considered the matter well, he came to
the conclusion that it was some native of Arezzo
who had done it out of envy or some other
reason; therefore going to the bishop, he told
him what had happened and what he supposed.
The bishop was greatly troubled, but he en-
couraged Buonamico to set to work again, and
repaint what had been spoiled. And because he
thought what he suspected was very likely true,
he gave him six of his armed soldiers with orders
to lie in wait with their swords drawn whenever
he was not working, and to cut down without
mercy any one who came. So he painted it over
a second time, and one day when the soldiers
were on guard they heard a noise in the church,
and behold in a moment the monkey sprang on
the scaffold, and the new master set to work
upon Buonamico's saints. So they called him
and showed him the malefactor, and stood
watching him, all bursting with laughter, Buon-
amico especially, who could not help laughing
till he cried. At last, dismissing the soldiers from
their guard, he went himself to the bishop and
said, " My lord, you want the painting done one
way, and your monkey wants it done another."
And having told him the thing, he added, " You
had no need to send for painters elsewhere when

THE GADDI AND BUFFALMACCO 29

you had a master in your own house; but perhaps
he did not know then how to mix his colours.
But now that he knows and can do it all, I am
no longer any good, and recognising his talents,
I am content to take nothing for my work, but
leave to return to Florence."

The bishop hearing the story, though it dis-
pleased him, could not restrain his laughter,
particularly considering that an animal should
have played a joke upon the greatest joker in the
world. So when they had talked and laughed
the matter over, Buonamico set to work a third
time and finished the picture. And the monkey
as a punishment was shut up in a great wooden
cage and kept where Buonamico worked until he
had quite finished, and no one can imagine the
grimaces and gesticulations that the little animal
made with his face and his hands and his whole
body at seeing some one else at work and not
being able to help.

The work in the chapel being finished, the
bishop, either in jest or from some caprice,
ordered that Buffalmacco should paint on the
fa9ade of his palace an eagle on the back of a
lion which it had killed. 1 The crafty painter,
having promised to do what the bishop wished,
had a great screen erected, saying he did not

1 The eagle being the emblem of Arezzo and the lion of
Florence.

30 STORIES FROM VASARI

wish to be seen painting such a subject. And
there, shut in all by himself, he painted the
contrary of what the bishop desired, a lion tear-
ing an eagle. When he had finished, he asked
leave of the bishop to go to Florence for some
colours that he needed. And having locked up
his screen, he went to Florence, intending to
return no more to the bishop, who seeing the
time going on and the painter not returning,
had the screen opened, and found that the painter
had been sharper than he. Then, moved to great
anger, he published his ban against him, which
Buonamico hearing, he sent to bid him do his
worst. But finally the bishop, considering that
it was he who had begun the joke, and that it
served him right to have it turned against him,
pardoned Buonamico, and rewarded him liberally
for his labours. And more than that, not long
after he fetched him again to Arezzo, and gave
him many things to do in the old cathedra],
treating him as his familiar and most faithful
servant. But lest I should be too long if I were
to tell of all the jokes that Buonamico Buffal-
macco played, as well as of all the pictures that
he painted, I will end by saying that he died at
the age of seventy-eight, and was nursed in his
illness by the Society of the Misfcricordia, for
he was very poor, and had spent more than he
earned, being a man of that nature.

CHAPTER III

ANDREA DI CIONE ORCAGNA, SPINELLO, DELLO,
AND PAOLO UCCELLO

IT is rarely the case that a man is excellent in
one thing who could not easily learn another;
and so we find that Orcagna the Florentine was
painter, sculptor, architect, and poet. Born in
Florence, he began as a boy the study of sculp-
ture under Andrea Pisano ; then he gave himself
up to the study of drawing, and aided by Nature,
who desired to make him a universal genius, he
practised colouring in distemper and fresco, and
succeeded so well with the aid of Bernardo, his
brother, that this Bernardo took him with him
to paint in S. Maria Novella, and by the works
he painted in company with his brother, his fame
spread so far that hejwas summoned to Pisa to
paint in the Campo Santo.

Afterwards he gave himself with all his might
to the study of architecture, thinking it might
be of use to him. Nor was he mistaken, for in
the year 1355 the commune of Florence, having
bought some houses near the palace that they

32 STORIES FROM VASARI

might enlarge the Piazza, and make a place
where the citizens might retire under cover in
winter and in time of rain, ordered designs to
be made for a magnificent loggia near the palace.
Among the designs made by the best masters in
the 1 city Orcagna's was universally approved and
accepted as the best, the most beautiful, and
most magnificent. So he began the work, and
brought it to a conclusion in a little time.

And a little after the company of Orsanmichele,
having in their possession much money, chiefly
from the alms presented to the Madonna there
during the mortality of 1348, resolved to make
over her a chapel, or rather a tabernacle, not
only carved in marble and adorned with precious
stones, but also with mosaics and bronze-work,
so that it should surpass in material and in ex-
cellent work everything made before that time.
And the charge being given to Orcagna, he
made many designs for it, until one pleased the
governors as better than all the others, and the
whole matter was left to his judgment. And he
giving to different masters from many countries
the other parts, kept for himself and his brother
all the figures in the work; and when it was
finished he caused it to be built up and joined
together without cement with fastenings of copper
and lead, that the polished marble might not be
stained, which succeeded so well that the whole

Oreetffnet. Mansell,

I'AKT OF AN AT.TAR-MKCB ORIGINALLY PAWTBD FOR THE CHURCH OF S. HETRO MACGIOKE,
KI,(>KKNCK, NOW IN THK NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON.

ANDREA DI CIONE ORCAGNA 33

chapel seems to be cut out of one piece of
marble. But what great efforts he made in that
dark age to display his subtle genius is chiefly
seen in a great work in relief of the Twelve
Apostles watching the Madonna borne up to
heaven by angels. For one of the apostles he
sculptured himself as he was, aged, with shaven
face, with his cowl about his head. Below he
wrote upon the marble these words, "Andreas
Cionis pictor Florentinus Oratorii archimagister
extitit hujus, MCCCLIX." The building of
the loggia and the tabernacle cost ninety-six
thousand gold florins, which were very well
spent, for whether as regards architecture, sculp-
ture, or ornament, it is as beautiful as anything
of those times, and such that it will always keep
alive the name of Andrea Orcagna, who used on
his paintings to write, " Fece Andrea di Cione
scultore," and on his sculpture, "Fece Andrea
di Cione pittore."

In the year 1350 was formed the Company
and Fraternity of the Painters in Florence, for the
masters were there in great numbers, and they
considered that the arts of design had been born
again in Tuscany, and indeed in Florence itself.
They put their company under the protection of
S. Luke the Evangelist, and their oratory was
the larger chapel of S. Maria Nuova. The
company was ruled by two councillors and two

34 STORIES FROM VASARI

treasurers, and when it was formed, Jacopo di
Casentino painted the picture for their chapel
representing S. Luke pourtraying the Virgin.

This Jacopo di Casentino had for his pupil the
painter Spinello. For Luca Spinelli having gone
to dwell at Arezzo at a time when the Ghibellines
were driven out of Florence, there was born to
him there a son to whom he gave the name of
Spinello. He was so naturally inclined to paint-
ing that when he was a mere boy, and almost
without teaching, he seemed to know much that
those who have been under the discipline of the
best masters do not know. Having formed a
friendship with Jacopo di Casentino while he was
working in Arezzo, he learned somewhat from
him, but before he was twenty years old he be-
came a far greater master than old Jacopo was.

Beginning soon then to acquire a name as a
good painter, Spinello was called to Florence,
and painted in the churches of S. Niccol6 and
S. Maria Maggiore, and in other places, until the
sixty, citizens who governed Arezzo recalled him,
and gave him work in the old cathedral outside
the city.

A little before this time a number of good and
honourable citizens had begun to go round col-
lecting alms for the poor to aid them in their
need; and in the plague of the year 1348, the
good men of this fraternity, called the Fraternity

SPINELLO 35

of S. Mary of Mercy, acquired so great a name
by helping the poor and sick, burying the dead,
and like works of charity, that gifts and legacies
fell into their hands until they became possessors
of the third part of the wealth of Arezzo.
Spinello therefore, being of the fraternity, and
having often to visit the sick and bury the dead,
painted for the company in the church of S.
Laurentino and Bergentino, a Madonna spreading
her mantle over the people of Arezzo, among
whom are many of the first men of the frater-
nity, painted from life, with the wallet on their
shoulder, and the wooden mallet in their hands
that they used in knocking at the doors when
they went seeking alms.

In the church of S. Stefano he painted a
Madonna giving the Child a rose, which was
held in such veneration by the people of Arezzo
that when the church was pulled down, regard-
less of difficulty and expense they cut it out of
the wall, and carried it into the city and placed
it in a chapel, that they might honour it with
the same devotion as heretofore. Nor was this
strange, for Spinello had a natural power of
giving to his figures a certain simple grace, so
that his saints, and especially his virgins, breathe
a divine holiness, which draws men to hold them
in the highest reverence. Having painted in
many other cities whither his fame carried him,

36 STORIES FROM VASARI

he returned to Arezzo, his home, or rather that
which he considered his home, at the age of
seventy-seven, and was received by his friends
and relatives with affection, and held in honour
to the end of his life, which was in the ninety-
second year of his age. And although he was
very old when he returned, and being rich, might
have ceased from working, he knew not how to
rest, but took upon him to paint for the Com-
pany of S. Agnolo the story of S. Michael. He
painted the Fall of the Angels, who are changed
into devils as they fall from heaven, and S.
Michael in the air fighting with the old serpent
with seven heads and ten horns, and Lucifer
changed already into a horrible beast. And be-
cause Spinello took great pleasure in making
him horrible and deformed, it is said that the
figure as he had painted it appeared to him in a
dream, demanding why he had made him so ugly
and done him so much injury with his pencil.
He then awaking from his sleep, could not cry
from the greatness of his terror, but such a
trembling fell upon him that his wife awoke and
hastened to his succour. He was near dying of
terror at the moment, and though he lingered a
short time with an affrighted air and wide staring
eyes, yet it led to his death. Such a sad event
grieved the Aretines much, and they lamented
him for his talents and goodness, although he

DELLO 37

was so old. He died at the age of ninety, and
was buried in S. Agostino, where may be seen a
stone bearing his arms, designed by himself, con-
taining a hedgehog.

Although Dello the Florentine has a name
as a painter only, his first works were in
sculpture. And it was not only that he was
changeable by nature, he also perceived that
he earned little, and that his poverty required
him to change. So he applied himself to paint-
ing arid succeeded, especially in little figures.
At that time it was the custom of the people
to have in their chambers great wooden chests
of various forms, and every one used to have
them painted with stories from the myths of
Ovid and other poets, or hunting scenes, or
jousts, or tales of love, according to the taste
of each one. And in the same way were painted
the beds and chairs and other furniture of the
rooms. This practice was long in fashion, and
the most excellent painters employed themselves
in such work with no such sense of shame as
many would feel now in painting and gilding
such things. Dello then, being a good painter
and well skilled especially, as we have said, in
little pictures, spent many years in painting
chests and chairs and such things, and particu-
larly he painted for Giovanni di Medici the
whole furniture of a room, which was considered

38 STORIES FROM VASARI

marvellous and most beautiful of its kind. It
is said that Donatello, then a youth, aided him,
making with stucco, gesso, and paste ornaments
in bas-relief, which being gilded brought out
well the painted pictures. Afterwards Dello
went to Spain into the king's service, where he
obtained such favour that no artist could desire
more. And though it is not known what works
he did in those parts, yet as he returned very
rich and with great honour, we may suppose
that they were many and fine and good. But
after having been royally rewarded for his
labours for some years, the desire arose within
him to return to Florence, that he might
show his friends how from extreme poverty he
had risen to great riches. He asked therefore
leave of the king, and he not only granted it
graciously, although he would willingly have
retained him, but in gratitude for his service
this most generous king made him a knight.
So he returned to Florence and demanded his
pension and the confirmation of his privileges,
but they were refused him by Filippo Spano
degli Scolari, who had just returned victorious
over the Turks, as grand seneschal of the King
of Hungary. Dello thereupon wrote in haste
to the king complaining of the injury done
him; and the king interceded for him with the
Signory so warmly that the desired honour was

PAOLO UCCELLO 39

granted him. It is said that Dello, returning
to his house on horseback with his banner, and
clad in brocade, as he passed along the Vac-
chereccia, where were then many goldsmiths'
shops, was jeered at by certain who had known
him familiarly in youth, and he turning to the
side where he heard the voices, made a gesture
of contempt, and without saying anything passed
on his way, so that none perceived it but those
who had scoffed at him. But seeing by this
and other signs that the envy felt towards him
was as great as the unkindness shown him when
he was poor, he determined to return to Spain.
There he was received with great favour and
looked upon kindly, and there he lived and
laboured like a lord, painting always attired in
a brocaded apron. Thus retreating before envy,
he dwelt in honour with the king. He died
at the age of forty-nine, and was buried honour-
ably. He was not a very good draughtsman,
but was one of the first to show good judgment
in the marking of the muscles in the human
body. His portrait was painted by Paolo
Uccello in S. Maria Novella, in the picture re-
presenting the drunkenness of Noah.

Paolo Uccello would have been the cleverest
and most original genius since the time of Giotto
if he would have studied figures and animals as
much as he studied and wasted his time over

40 STORIES FROM VASARI

perspective, for although it is an ingenious and
fine science, yet he who pursues it out of measure
throws away his time, makes his manner dry,
and often himself becomes solitary and strange,
melancholy and poor, as Paolo Uccello did.
Donatello, his great friend, many times said to
him when Paolo showed him his circles and his
squares and his balls with seventy-two faces, all
drawn in perspective, and all the other fancies in
which he wasted his time, " Eh, Paolo, this per-
spective of yours makes you leave what is certain
for the uncertain ; these are things which are no
use except for men who make inlaid work." In
S. Miniato, outside Florence, he painted the lives
of the Fathers, in which pictures he made the
fields azure, the cities red, and the buildings
varied, according to his own pleasure ; and in
this he did wrong, for things that we suppose to
be of stone ought not to be painted of any other
colour. It is said that while Paolo was engaged
on this work, the abbot of the place gave him
scarcely anything but cheese to eat; and this
thing becoming an annoyance, Paolo, who was
timid, determined not to go there any more to
work. And when the abbot sent for him, and
he heard himself asked for by the friars, he
always sent word that he was not at home ; and
if by chance he met a couple of that order In
Florence he would set off running as hard as

PAOLO UCCELLO 41

he could to escape them. But one day two of
the youngest and more curious of them overtook
him, and asked him why he did not come to
finish the work he had begun, and why he took
to flight whenever he met any of the friars.
Paolo replied, " You have ruined me altogether,
so that not only do I flee from you, but I dare
not pass by any place where there are carpenters ;
for your abbot, with his tarts and soup all made
of cheese, has so filled me with it that I am
afraid of being boiled down for glue, and if I
had gone on any longer I should have left off
being Paolo and become cheese." The friars
returned home in fits of laughter and told the
abbot about it ; whereupon he persuaded him to
return to his work, promising that other food
besides cheese should be supplied him.

He painted many pictures of animals, of
which he was very fond. He made a great
study of them, and had always in his house
paintings of birds, cats, and dogs, and any kind
of strange animal that he could get a drawing
of, not being able to keep live animals because
he was poor ; and because he delighted most in
birds (uccelli) he was surnamed Paolo Uccello.
Among other pictures of animals he made some
lions fighting together, which by their motions
and terrible fierceness seem to be alive. But the
most strange was a serpent fighting with a lion,

42 STORIES FROM VASARI

exhibiting his fury in fierce contortions, with the
poison issuing from his eyes and mouth, while a
peasant woman who is present taking care of an
ox, most beautifully foreshortened, is running
away in terror.

In the cloister of S. Maria Novella also he
painted the creation of the animals and the
deluge. He was the first who gained a name
for landscapes, carrying them to more perfection
than any other painter before him. In S. Maria
del Fiore he also made a monument to Sir John
Hawkwood, the English captain of the Floren-
tines, who died in the year 1393, a horse of
extraordinary size, with the captain upon it.
The work was considered and really is very fine
for pictures of that sort, and if Paolo had not
made the horse moving his legs on one side
only, which horses do not naturally do or they
would fall, the work would be perfect. Perhaps
he made the mistake because he was not used
to ride or study horses as he did other animals ;
but the foreshortening of the horse is very fine.
Paolo was taken by Donatello to Padua where
he was working, and there he painted some
giants, which were so fine that Andrea Man-
tegna held them in the highest esteem. He
also painted in fresco the loggia of the Peruzzi,
introducing in the corners the four elements
accompanied by an appropriate animal ; for the

PAOLO UCCELLO 43

earth there was a mole, for water a fish, for fire
a salamander, and for air the chameleon, which
lives upon it and takes every colour. And
because he had never seen a chameleon, in his
great simplicity he made in its stead a camel
opening its mouth and swallowing the air to fill
its stomach.

Such great pains did Paolo take in his works
that he left behind him chests full of drawings,
as I have heard from his relatives themselves.
In his house he had a picture of five men who
had distinguished themselves in art: Giotto
the painter, as the beginning and light of art,
Filippo di Ser Brunellesco for architecture,
Donatello for sculpture, himself for perspec-
tive and animals, and for mathematics Giovanni
Manetti, his friend.

It is said that being entrusted with the paint-
ing of S. Thomas over the gate of the church
dedicated to that saint in the Old Market, he
resolved to put into the work all he knew, and
to show how much he was capable of; and so
he made a screen round him that none might
be able to see his work until it was finished.
And one day Donatello, meeting him all alone,
asked him, " What is this work of yours which
you keep shut up so close ? " To which Paolo
replied, "You will see in time." Donatello
would not urge him any more, expecting to

44 STORIES FROM VASARI

see something marvellous. But one morning,
going into the old market to buy fruit, he saw
Paolo uncovering his work, and saluting him
courteously, Paolo called upon him to say what
he thought of his picture, eagerly desiring to
know his opinion. Donatello, looking at the
work carefully, replied, "Ah, Paolo, now that
it is time to cover it up you are uncovering it."
Paolo was greatly afflicted, that by this his last
effort he had earned much more blame than he
hoped to have earned praise ; and he shut him-
self up in his house as if he had disgraced
himself, not having courage to walk abroad any
longer, giving himself up to perspective, and
remained poor and obscure until his death. His
wife used to say that Paolo would sit studying
perspective all night, and when she called him
to come to bed he would answer, "Oh, what
a sweet thing this perspective is ! " And if it
was sweet to him, his work has made it valuable
and useful indeed to those who have studied
it after him.

CHAPTER IV

LUCA DELLA ROBBIA AND LORENZO GHIBERTI

LUCA DELLA ROBBIA was born in Florence, and
was put by his father to learn the goldsmith's
trade. But having made trial of his skill in
some things in marble and bronze, he gave him-
self up entirely to sculpture, modelling by day
and drawing by night, with such earnestness that
many times when his feet were chilled with cold
at night, rather than give up his drawing, he
would put them into a basket of shavings to
warm them. He was scarcely fifteen years of
age when he was taken to Rimini to work with
other sculptors on the monument which Sigis-
mondo di Pandolfo Malatesti was raising to his
wife. He was called back, however, to work on
the campanile of S. Maria del Fiore, and was
afterwards, at the request of Vieri de' Medici, a
very popular citizen who loved him much, en-
trusted with the marble ornaments of the organ.
In this work he represented the choristers singing,
and although it was sixteen braccia from the
ground, he worked it with great care. Donatello,

45

46 STORIES FROM VASARI

however, who made the ornaments of the organ
opposite, worked with more judgment and ex-
perience, leaving it rougher and less finished,
so that it appeared better at a distance than
Luca's.

But after he had finished these and other
works for the cathedral, upon reckoning up how
much he had received and the time he had spent
upon it, and seeing that the profit was very little
and the fatigue very great, he resolved to let
marble and bronze alone, and see if he could not
earn more in some other way. And considering
that working in clay was easy, he set himself to
find a way by which it might be defended from
the injuries of. time. And after many experi-
ments he found a way of covering it with a glaze
by which it was made almost eternal. And not
being satisfied at having made an invention so
useful, especially for damp places, he added a
method by which he could give it colour, to the
marvel and great pleasure of every one. The
fame of these works soon spread not only through
Italy, but through all Europe, and the demand
was so great that the Florentine merchants kept
him continually at work and sent them all over
the world. Not being able to supply them as
fast as they required, he took his brothers away
from the chisel and set them to the work, and
they made much more by it than they had ever

LUCA BELLA ROBBIA 47

done before. If he had lived longer, no doubt
greater works would have issued from his hands,
but death, which carries off the best, took him
away.

After his death there were left his brothers,
Ottaviano and Agostino, and of the same family
was Andrea, who died in 1528. I remember
talking to him when I was a boy, and hearing
him say he had helped to carry Donatello to the
grave, and I remember the good old man seemed
to take much pride in the recollection. Andrea
left two sons, Lucai and Girolamo, who devoted
themselves to sculpture. Of these two Luca
specially applied himself to the glazed works.
But when they died not only was their family
extinct, but the art itself was lost, for although
some have since professed to practise it, none
have ever arrived at the excellence of old Luca
or Andrea or any others of that family.

There is no doubt that those in every city
who by their merits obtain fame become a blessed
light to those who are born after them. For
there is nothing that arouses the minds of men,
and makes them indifferent to the hardships of
study, so much as the thought of the honour and
advantage that the labour may bring them. This
Lorenzo di Clone Ghiberti, otherwise Di Barto-
luccio, knew well. He in his first years was put
to the art of the goldsmith, but delighting more

48 STORIES FROM VASARI

in the arts of sculpture and design, he studied
colours and also cast little figures in bronze.
About this time the Signory of Florence, with
the Guild of the Merchants, seeing that there
were at that time many excellent sculptors, both
Florentines and strangers, determined that they
would make the second pair of gates for S.
Giovanni, the oldest and the chief church of that
city. So they called upon all the best masters in
Italy to come to Florence and make trial of their
skill, requiring them to produce a subject pic-
ture worked in bronze, like one of those which
Andrea Pisano had made in the first gate. Barto-
luccio Ghiberti thereupon wrote to Lorenzo his
son, 1 who was then working in Pesaro, urging
him to return to Florence, for this was an oppor-
tunity of making himself known and showing his
skill. These words so moved Lorenzo that
although Pandolfo Malatesti and all his court
were heaping him with caresses, and would
scarcely let him go, he took his leave of them,
and neither promise nor reward would detain
him, for it seemed to him to be a thousand years
before he could get to Florence. So setting forth
he came safely to his own city. Many strangers
had already arrived and made known their
coming to the consuls of the guild. They made

1 Or rather stepson.

LORENZO GHIBERTI 49

choice of seven, three being Florentines and
the rest Tuscans, ordaining for them a certain
provision of money, and requiring that within a
year each one should finish one subject in bronze
of the same size as those of the first gate. And
the subject was Abraham sacrificing Isaac his son,
for they thought that it contained all the diffi-
culties of the art, landscape, figures nude and
draped, and animals. Those who took part in
the contest were Filippo di Ser Brunellesco,
Donatello, and Lorenzo, all Florentines; and
Jacopo della Quercia of Sienna and Niccol6
ti'Arezzo his pupil, Francesco di Vandabrina, and
Simone da Colle, famous for his bronzes, and
they all made promise to finish the work in the
time appointed. So each one set to work, and
with all diligence and study put forth all his
strength and knowledge to surpass the others in
excellence, working secretly and keeping con-
cealed what they did that they might not do the
same things. Lorenzo alone, who worked by
Bartoluccio's counsel, and who was required by
him to make essays and many models before he
resolved upon using them for the work, con-
tinually brought in the citizens to see, and some-
times strangers who were passing through, if they
understood the matter, that he might hear their
opinions ; and so it came about that the model
was very well done and without any defect. And

50 STORIES FROM VASARI

having made the mould and cast it in bronze, it
came out very well indeed, and he, with Barto-
luccio his father, polished it with such patience
and earnestness that it could not have been better
finished.

So the time being come when they were to
be exhibited in competition, they were all finished
and brought before the Guild of the Merchants
for judgment. And when the consuls and many
other citizens had seen them, opinions were very
diverse about them. And there came many
strangers to Florence, painters and sculptors
and some goldsmiths, called by the consuls to
aid them to give judgment, with others of that
trade who dwelt at Florence. The number of
them was thirty-four, each one most skilful in
his art. And although their opinions were
different, one being pleased with the manner of
this one, and another with that, nevertheless
they agreed that Filippo Brunellesco and Lorenzo
had composed and finished the subject better
than Donatello, although there was good drawing
in his. Jacopo della Quercia had good figures,
but there was no finish, although it was done
with diligence. Francesco di Vandabrina's work
had good heads and was well polished, but was
confused in the composition. That by Simone
da Colle was a good cast, that being his special
art, but the design was not good. Niccol6

LORENZO GHIBERTI 51

d'Arezzo's figures were stunted and the work
was not well polished. Only the piece which
Lorenzo had brought as his specimen, which
may still be seen in the merchants' hall, was
perfect in all its parts; the work was well
designed and well composed, the figures were
graceful and their attitudes very beautiful, and
it was finished with so much care that it had
no appearance of having been cast and worked
upon with iron tools, but seemed rather to have
been breathed into existence.

Then Donatello and Filippo, seeing the care
that Lorenzo had taken with his work, withdrew
into a corner, and talking together resolved that
the work ought to be entrusted to Lorenzo, for
it seemed to them that it would be both for
public and private good that Lorenzo being
^ young, for he was no more than twenty, should
be enabled to bring forth those greater fruits
of which this was a promise; and in their
judgment he had executed it more excellently
than the others, so that it would be rather the
part of envy to take the work from him than
a virtue to give it up to him.

Therefore the work being entrusted to Lorenzo,
he made a wooden frame of the proper size, and
worked all the ornaments and decorations of the
gate, and those that were to surround each
compartment, and having dried the model in

52 STORIES FROM VASARI

a house which he had bought over against
S. Maria Nuova, where now stands the weavers'
hospital, he made a great furnace, which I can
remember to have seen, and cast the frame in
metal. But as fortune would have it, it did
not come out well ; however, without losing
courage, or being dismayed, he made another
mould so quickly that none knew of it, and
cast it again, and this time it came out excel-
lently well. And so continuing his work he
cast each subject by itself, and fitted it into its
place. And the work was brought to perfec-
tion without sparing time or fatigue, and the
composition of each portion was so well arranged
that it deserves that praise which Filippo had
given to the first part, and yet greater. And
so he was honoured by his fellow citizens and
greatly praised by the artists both of his own
land and strangers. The work with the orna-
ments round, of animals and festoons of fruit,
cost twenty-two thousand florins, and the gates
weighed thirty-four thousand pounds.

After this the fame of Lorenzo went on in-
creasing every day, and he worked for an infinite
number of persons, making for Pope Martin a
clasp for his cope, with figures in high relief, and
a mitre with leaves of gold, and among them
many little figures which were held to be most
beautiful. Also when Pope Eugenius came to

Loreneo Ghibertt. Anderson,

I1RONZE GATE OF THE BAPTISTERY OF S. GIOVANNI, FLORENCE.

LORENZO GHIBERTI 53

Florence, to the council held in 1439, an d saw
the works of Lorenzo, he caused him to make
for him a mitre of gold, in weight fifteen pounds,
and the pearls of it weighed five and a half
pounds.

And when Florence saw that the works of their
great artist were so much praised, it was deter-
mined by the merchants to entrust to him the
third pair of gates of S. Giovanni. And although
the one he had made before had been by their
orders made with ornaments like those on the
gates of Andrea Pisano, yet seeing that Lorenzo
had surpassed his, they gave him leave to make
it in any manner he liked, so that it should be
the most highly adorned, the richest, most per-
fect, and most beautiful that could be imagined.
Neither was he to regard time or expense, but as
he had surpassed all other sculptors, so was he to
surpass all his other works.

Lorenzo therefore began his work, and put
into it all that he knew. And in truth it may
be said that the work is perfect in everything,
and is the most beautiful work in the world that
has ever been seen in ancient or modern times.
And that Lorenzo merits praise we know, for
one day Michael Angelo Buonarroti stopped to
look at the work, and some one asked him what
he thought of it, and if these gates were beauti-
ful, and he answered, "They are so beautiful that

54 STORIES FROM VASARI

they might well be the gates of Paradise," Praise
truly just, and given by one who could judge !

Lorenzo was aided in polishing and finish-
ing the work after it was cast by many young
men who afterwards became excellent masters,
as Filippo Brunellesco, Paolo Uccello, Antonio
del Pollaiuolo, and others. And besides the
payment which the consuls of the guild gave
him, the Signory bestowed upon him a good
estate near the abbey of Settimo. Nor was it
long before he was received among the Signory,
and honoured with the supreme magistracy of
the city. For which grateful conduct the Floren-
tines deserve to be praised, as they have deserved
to be blamed for the little gratitude they have
shown towards others.

CHAPTER V

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO

IT is a habit of Nature when she makes one man
very great in any art, not to make him alone,
but at the same time and in the same place to
produce another to rival him, that they may
aid each other by emulation. And that this is
true may be seen by the example of Florence,
which produced at one epoch Filippo, Donatello,
Lorenzo, Paolo Uccello, and Masaccio, each one
most excellent in his way. This last, who came
from Castello San Giovanni di Valdarno, was a
most absent-minded man, and seemed like one
who, having fixed his mind on things of art only,
cared little for himself and less for others. And
because he would never trouble himself about
the things of the world, not even about dressing
himself, and never took the pains to get money
from those who owed it him, unless he were in
extreme need, he was by every one nicknamed
Masaccio 1 for Tommaso, which was his real
name, and this not because he was a bad man,

1 Big Tom, a contemptuous epithet.

CHAPTER V

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO

IT is a habit of Nature when she makes one man
very great in any art, not to make him alone,
but at the same time and in the same place to
produce another to rival him, that they may
aid each other by emulation. And that this is
true may be seen by the example of Florence,
which produced at one epoch Filippo, Donatello,
Lorenzo, Paolo Uccello, and Masaccio, each one
most excellent in his way. This last, who came
from Castello San Giovanni di Valdarno, was a
most absent-minded man, and seemed like one
who, having fixed his mind on things of art only,
cared little for himself and less for others. And
because he would never trouble himself about
the things of the world, not even about dressing
himself, and never took the pains to get money
from those who owed it him, unless he were in
extreme need, he was by every one nicknamed
Masaccio 1 for Tommaso, which was his real
name, and this not because he was a bad man,

1 Big Tom, a contemptuous epithet.

55

56 STORIES FROM VASARI

but merely from his slovenliness, for he was
goodness itself, and as ready to do another a
service as any one could desire. All the most
celebrated sculptors and painters from his time
until now have studied his works in the Bran-
cacci chapel, as Lionardo da Vinci, Perugino,
the divine Michael Angelo, Raffaello da Urbino,
Andrea del Sarto, and many more, and if I have
not mentioned many Florentines and strangers
who have gone to that chapel to study there,
it is because where the heads of the art go, there
the members are sure to follow. Yet although
his works have always been held in such reputa-
tion, it is the firm belief of many that he would
have brought forth much greater fruit if death -
had not carried him off, at the age of twenty-
six, so suddenly that there were not wanting
those who laid it down to poison. It is said
that when Filippo di Ser Brunellesco heard of his
death, he said, "We have suffered a great loss
in Masaccio," and mourned for him deeply.

There are some whom Nature has created
little of stature, but with a soul of greatness
and a heart of such immeasurable daring that if
they do not set themselves to difficult and almost
impossible things, and do not complete them to
the wonder of those who behold, they have no
peace in their lives. Thus it was with Filippo
di Ser Brunellesco, who was small in stature like

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO 57

Giotto, but great in genius. His father, Ser
Brunellesco, taught him in his childhood the
first principles of letters, in which he showed
himself intelligent, but careless of perfecting
himself in these matters. Therefore, seeing
him occupied with matters of art, he put him
under a goldsmith, to Filippo's great satisfac-
tion. Having become skilled in setting stones,
and in niello work, and in the science of the
motion of weights and wheels, not content with
this, there awoke within him a great desire for
the study of sculpture. And Donatello, then a
young man, being held in esteem as a sculptor,
Filippo began to hold intercourse with him, and
such an affection sprang up between them that
it seemed as if the one could not live without
the other. Filippo, who was capable of many
things, was held also by those who understood
such matters to be a good architect. He studied
also perspective, and taught it to Masaccio his
friend.

Messer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, having
returned from his studies, invited Filippo with
other friends to supper in a garden, and the dis-
course falling on mathematical subjects, Filippo
formed a friendship with him and learned
geometry from him. And although he was not
learned, he would reason on all [matters from his
own practical experience so as frequently to con-

58 STORIES FROM VASARI

found Toscanelli. He also applied himself to
the study of the sacred scriptures, never failing
to be present at the disputations or lectures of
learned men, and making such good use of his
wonderful memory that Messer Paolo used to
say when he heard Filippo argue, he seemed to
him a new St. Paul.

Filippo, as we have said, entered into com-
petition with Lorenzo and the others for the
gates of S. Giovanni, but when the work was
assigned to Lorenzo at the request of Filippo
and Donatello, they determined to set out to-
gether from Florence and to spend some years
in Rome, that Filippo might study architecture
and Donatello sculpture. And when he came
to Rome, and saw the grandeur of the buildings
and the perfection of the form of the temples,
he remained lost in thought and like one out
of his mind; and he and Donatello set them-
selves to measure them and to draw out the
plan of them, sparing neither time nor expense.
And Filippo gave himself up to the study of
them, so that he cared neither to eat or to sleep,
having two great ideas in his mind, the one to
restore the knowledge of good architecture,
hoping thus to leave behind no less a memory
of himself than Cimabue and Giotto had done,
and the other to find a way, if it were possible,
of raising the cupola of S. Maria del Fiore in

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO 59

Florence, the difficulty of which was so great
that since the death of Arnolfo Lapi none had
had courage enough to attempt it. He con-
fided his intention neither to Donatello or any
soul living, but gave himself no rest until he
had considered all the difficulties of the Pantheon
and had noted and drawn all the ancient vaulted
roofs, continually studying this matter, and if
by chance they found any pieces of capitals or
columns they set to work and had them dug
out. And the story ran through Rome that
they were " treasure seekers," the people think-
ing that they studied divination to find treasures,
it having befallen them once to find an ancient
pitcher filled with medals.

Then money becoming scarce with Filippo,
he set himself to work for the goldsmiths, and
remained thus alone in Rome when Donatello
returned to Florence. Neither did he cease from
his studies, until he had drawn every kind of
building, temples round and square and eight-
sided, basilicas, aqueducts, baths, arches, and
others, and the different orders, Doric, Ionic,
and Corinthian, until he was able to see in
imagination Rome as she was before she fell
into ruins.

In the year 1407 he returned to Florence,
and the same year there was held a meeting of
architects and engineers to consider how to raise

60 STORIES FROM VASARI

the cupola of S. Maria del Fiore. Among them
came Filippo, and gave it as his opinion that
it should not be done according to the design
of Arnolfo, but in another fashion, of which he
made a model.

Some months after, Filippo being one morning
in the Piazza of S. Maria del Fiore with Dona-
tello and other artists, talking about ancient
sculpture, Donatello began -telling them how
when he was returning from Rome he had
journeyed by Orvieto to see the famous marble
facade of the cathedral, and afterwards passing
through Cortona went into the church there
and found a most beautiful piece of ancient
sculpture, which was then a rare thing, for they
had not then disinterred such an abundance as
they have in our times. So Donatello, going on
to describe the manner of the work and its per-
fection and excellence, kindled such an ardent
desire in Filippo to see it that, without saying
where he was going, he set out on foot in his
mantle and hood and sandals, and was carried
to Cortona by the love he bore to art. The
sculpture pleasing him much, he made a drawing
of it with the pen, and returned to Florence
before Donatello or any one else had discovered
that he was gone. And when he showed him
the careful drawing he had made, Donatello
marvelled greatly at his love for art.

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO 61

The other architects meanwhile being dis-
mayed at the difficulties in raising the cupola,
the masters of the works in S. Maria and the
consuls of the Guild of the Woollen Merchants
assembled together, and sent to pray Filippo to
come to them. And he being come, they laid
before him the difficulties small and great which
the architects felt who were also present. And
Filippo answered them, <c Sirs, there is no doubt
that in great undertakings you have always to
encounter great difficulties, and in this one of
yours there are greater than you perhaps imagine,
for I do not think that even the ancients ever
raised such a vaulted roof as this will be. And
I, having considered it much, have never been
able to come to any conclusion, the width as
well as the height of the building dismaying me.
But remembering that it is a temple conse-
crated to God and the Virgin, I believe that the
wisdom and skill of any one who undertook it
would not be allowed to fail, and if it were
my affair I would resolutely set myself to find
out a way. But if you resolve upon doing it
you must take counsel not alone of me, who am
not sufficient to give counsel in so great a matter,
but summon to Florence upon a fixed day within
a year's time architects, not only Tuscan and
Italian but German and French, and those of
every nation, and lay before them this matter,

62 STORIES FROM VASARI

that having been discussed and decided by so
many masters, it may be entrusted to him who
has the best judgment and knows the best way."

And this counsel pleased them well, and they
desired that he also would consider the matter
and make a model for it. But he made believe
not to care about the matter, and took his leave
of them to return to Rome. And they, seeing
that their prayers availed not to stop him, made
many of his friends implore him also ; and when
he would not be moved, the members of the
council voted him an offering of money. But
he, keeping firm to his resolution, left Florence
and returned to Rome, where he applied him-
self to continual study of the matter, thinking,
as was true, that none but he could accom-
plish it.

So the Florentine merchants who dwell in
France and England and Spain were commanded
to obtain from the princes of those lands, with-
out sparing expense, the most skilled and gifted
men in those regions. And when the year 1420
was come, there were assembled in Florence all
these masters from other lands and those of
Tuscany, and the skilled artificers of Florence
itself, and Filippo returned from Rome. And
they came together in S. Maria del Fiore, with
the consuls and members of the guild, and some
ingenious men chosen from among the citizens,

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO 63

that the minds of all might be known, and the
manner of raising the dome decided upon. So
one by one each architect was called upon to
give his opinion and describe the way in which
it should be done. And it was a fine thing to
hear the strange and diverse opinions in the
matter. For 'some proposed that it should be
built of sponge-stone that the weight might be
less, and many agreed that it would be best to
put a pillar in the middle, while there were
not wanting those who suggested that they
should fill the space with earth, mixing money
with it, and when the dome was built give leave
to every one to take the money, by which means
the earth would be cleared away without ex-
pense. Filippo alone declared that he could
make a vaulted roof without much wood, with-
out pillars or supports, and with little expense
of arches. It seemed to all who heard him that
what he had said was foolish, and they mocked
him and laughed at him, saying he was speaking
like a madman. Then Filippo, being offended,
said, " Though you laugh at me, you will find
out that it can be done in no other manner."
And as he grew warm in explaining his ideas,
they doubted him the more, and held him to
be a mere chattering fool. And when they had
bidden him depart several times and he would
not go, he was carried out by force, all supposing

64 STORIES FROM VASARI

him to be mad. And this was how it came
about that Filippo used to say afterwards that
he dared not at that time pass along any part
of the city lest it should be said, "There goes
that madman." So the consuls in the assembly
were left altogether confused with the difficult
methods proposed by the other masters, and
Filippo's plan, which seemed to them foolish.
And on his part Filippo was many times tempted
to leave Florence ; but desiring to conquer, he
had to arm himself with patience. He might
have shown a little model that he had made, but
he would not, knowing how little the consuls
understood the matter, and aware of the jealousy
of the artists, and the unstable character of the
citizens, who favoured now one, now another.
And I do not marvel at this, for in that city
every one professes to know as much as skilled
masters themselves, although there are few who
really understand such things.

So Filippo, not having succeeded at the
assembly, began to treat with them separately,
talking now to this consul, now to that member
of the guild, and to some of the citizens, show-
ing them part of his design. And so, having
been moved by his arguments, they met again
and disputed of the matter. The other archi-
tects desired that Filippo would tell all his
mind and show his model. This he would not

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO 65

do, but made a proposal that the building of
the cupola should be given to him who could
make an egg stand firmly on the smooth marble,
for by doing this he would show his skill. And
an egg being brought, all the masters tried to
make it stand upright, but none found the
way. And when they bade Filippo set it up,
he took it, and striking it on the marble made it
stand. And the architects murmured, saying that
they could have done that ; but Filippo replied
laughing that they could have built the cupola,
too, if they had seen his model and designs.
So it was resolved that the charge of the work
should be entrusted to him.

But while he was making ready to begin
to build, some began to say that such a
work as this ought not to be entrusted to one
only, as too great a burden for one to bear
alone. And Lorenzo Ghiberti, having obtained
great credit by his gates of S. Giovanni, and
being beloved by certain who had power with
the Government, he was joined with Filippo
in this work. What was Filippo's bitter despair
when he heard of this may be imagined from
his desiring to leave Florence; and had it not
been for Donatello and Luca della Robbia, who
comforted him, he would have gone out of his
mind. He set to work with little will, know-
ing that he should have all the trouble and yet

66 STORIES FROM VASARI

be obliged to share the honour and fame with
Lorenzo. In this state of torment they went on
working together until the end of 1426, when
they had raised the walls twelve braccia, and it
was time to begin works of wood and stone to
strengthen it, which, being a difficult thing, he
consulted Lorenzo to see whether he had con-
sidered this difficulty, and he was so barren of
suggestions that he only replied that he would
leave it to him. The answer pleased Filippo,
for he thought he had found a way of driving
him from the work. One morning, therefore,
he did not come to the place, but took to his
bed, and lay groaning and causing hot cloths
to be brought him constantly, pretending to
be ill.

So the masons, having waited for his orders
in vain, went to Lorenzo, and asked what they
were to do. But he replied that it was for
Filippo to order, and they must wait for him.
And one asked him, "Do you not know his
mind ? " and Lorenzo answered, " Yes, but I wiil
do nothing without him." And this he said to
excuse himself, for he had never seen Filippo* s
model. But when this had lasted two days the
chief masons went to Filippo to ask what they
were to do. And he answered, " You have
Lorenzo, let him do a little." So there arose
great murmuring among the men, some saying

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO 67

that Lorenzo was good at taking his salary, but
at giving orders, no !

Then the wardens of S. Maria went to see
Filippo, and after having condoled with him on
his sickness, told him how it had brought all the
building into confusion. But he answered with
passionate words, " Is not he there Lorenzo ? "
And they answered, " He will do nothing with-
out you." " I could do very well without him,"
said Filippo.

But seeing that Lorenzo was willing to take
his salary without any work for it, he thought
of another way of bringing him to scorn; so,
returning to his work, he made proposition to
the wardens, Lorenzo being present, that as they
had divided the salary so they should divide the
work. "There are now two difficulties to be
overcome, the one the matter of the scaffolding
to bear the men, and the other the chain-work
to bind the building together. Let Lorenzo
take which he will, and I will do the other, that
no time may be lost." Lorenzo, being forced
in honour not to refuse, chose the chain-work,
trusting to the advice of the masons, and re-
membering that there was something like it in
S. Giovanni. So they set to work, and Filippo's
scaffolds were made so that the men could work
as if they were on firm ground. Lorenzo with
great difficulty made the chain-work on one of

68 STORIES FROM VASARI

the eight faces, and when it was finished the
wardens took Filippo to see it, but he said
nothing. But to his friends he said it ought to
be secured in another way to that, and that it
was not sufficient for the weight to be put upon
it. And his words being heard, they called upon
him to show how the thing ought to be done.
So he brought out his models and designs, and
they saw into what an error they had fallen in
favouring Lorenzo. Then they made Filippo
sole head and manager of the building, and
commanded that none should work thereon but
with his consent.

Lorenzo, although vanquished and shamed,
was so favoured by his friends that he was
allowed to go on drawing his salary, having
proved that they could not legally withdraw it
for three years.

So the works went forward, but the masons,
being urged on by Filippo more than they were
used to, began to grow weary, and joining to-
gether in a body, they said it was hard work
and perilous, and they would not go on without
great pay, although they had more than was
usual. Thereupon Filippo and those who had
the management of the works, being displeased,
took counsel together, and resolved on the
Saturday evening to dismiss them all. And on
the Monday following Filippo set ten Lombards

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO 69

to the work, and being constantly with them,
saying, "Do this here, and do that there," he
taught them in a day so much that for many
weeks they were able to carry on the works.
The masons, on the other hand, seeing them-
selves dismissed and their work taken from them,
and finding no other work so profitable, sent
men to intercede for them with Filippo. But
for many days he kept them in suspense, and
then received them at lower wages than they
had received before.

The building had now proceeded so far that
it was a long way for any one to climb, and
much time was lost in going down to dinner and
to drink, for they suffered much from thirst in
the heat of the day. So Filippo ordered that
eating-houses should be opened in the cupola,
where wine should be sold, and that no one
should leave his work till the evening, which
was a great convenience to them and profit to
the work.

Although he had now overcome envy and was
everywhere praised, he could not prevent all the
architects in Florence, after they had seen his
model, from producing others; even a lady of
the Gaddi family venturing to compete with
him. He, however, laughed at them all, and
some of them having introduced in their models
parts of Filippo's work, he remarked one day

70 STORIES FROM VASARI

when looking at them, "The next model will
be all mine." His own was infinitely praised,
but because people could not see the staircase
leading up to the ball, they said it was defective.
So some of those presiding over the work came
to him concerning the matter, and Filippo,
raising a little piece of wood in his model,
showed them the staircase in one of the piers,
formed like a pipe, with bars of bronze on one
side by which one could climb up. He did not
live to see the lantern finished, but he left orders
in his will that it should be done as it was in
his model, otherwise he protested the building
would fall.

While this work was going on, Filippo under-
took many other buildings, and his fame was
spread abroad, so that any one who desired to
build sent for him, among whom were the
Marquis of Mantua and Count Francesco Sforza.
Cosimo de' Medici also proposing to build him-
self a palace, Filippo laid aside all his other
occupations and made a large and most beautiful
model for it. But Cosimo, thinking it too
sumptuous a building, and fearing not so much
the expense as the envy it would excite, did not
have it put in execution. While he was working
at the model, Filippo used to say he thanked
fortune for the opportunity of designing a house,
which he had desired for many years. Therefore

FILIPPO DI SER BRUNELLESCO 71

when he heard that Cosimo had decided not to
have it carried out, in his anger he broke it
into a thousand pieces. But Cosimo afterwards
repented not having followed Filippo's design.

Filippo was a facetious man in conversation,
and would often give a witty answer. Lorenzo
Ghiberti had bought a farm at Mount Morello,
called Lepriano, on which he had to spend twice
as much as it brought him in, so that it being
an annoyance to him he sold it. Some one
therefore asking Filippo what was the best
thing Lorenzo had ever done, expecting as they
were enemies he would begin to find fault with
his works, he answered, "Selling Lepriano."
Filippo at his death was greatly lamented by
other artists, especially by those who were poor,
whom he often assisted. So having lived as a
Christian should, he left behind him a fragrant
memory of his goodness and his great talents.

CHAPTER VI

DQNATELLO

FILIPPO'S friend Donate, who was always called
Donatello, was born in Florence in the year
1383, and produced many works in his youth;
but the first thing that caused him to be known
was an Annunciation carved in stone for the
church of S. Croce in Florence. For the same
church he made a crucifix of wood, which he
carved with extraordinary patience ; and when it
was done, thinking it a very fine piece of work,
he showed it to Filippo that he might have his
opinion upon it. Filippo, who expected from
what Donatello had said to see something better,
when he looked at it could not help smiling a
little. Donatello, seeing it, prayed him by their
friendship to speak his mind truly, upon which
Filippo, who was frank enough, replied that he
seemed to him to have put on the cross a peasant
and not Jesus Christ, who was the man most
perfect in everything that ever was born. Dona-
tello, feeling the reproach more bitterly because
he had expected praise, replied, "If it were as

DONATELLO 73

easy to do a thing as to judge it, my Christ
would not look like a peasant; but take some
wood yourself and make one." Filippo with-
out another word returned home, and, saying
nothing to any one, set to work upon a crucifix,
and aiming to surpass Donatello that he might
not condemn himself, he brought it to great
perfection after many months. Then one
morning he invited Donatello to dine with him.
Donatello accepted his invitation, and they went
together to Filippo's house. Coming to the
old market, Filippo bought some things and
gave them to Donatello, saying, "Go on to the
house and wait for me, I am just coming." So
Donatello, going into the house, found Filippo's
crucifix arranged in a good light ; and stopping
to consider it, he found it so perfect that, over-
come with surprise and admiration, he let his
apron drop, and the eggs and cheese and all the
other things that he was carrying in it fell to
the ground and were broken. Filippo, coming
in and finding him standing thus lost in
astonishment, said, laughingly, "What are you
about, Donatello? How are we to dine when
you have dropped all the things?" "I," said
Donatello, "have had enough. If you want
anything, take it. To you it is given to do
Christs, and to me peasants."

After this he made for the fa9ade of S. Maria

74 STORIES FROM VASARI

del Fiore a Daniel and a S. John the Evangelist,
and within the same church, for the organ
gallery, those figures which, though they are
only roughly sketched, seem when you look
at them to be alive and move. For Donatello
made his figures in such a way that in the room
where he worked they did not look half as well
as when they were put in their places. It was
so with the S. Mark, which in company with
Filippo he undertook for the joiners (though
with Filippo's goodwill he completed it all him-
self). When the masters of the company saw
it while it was on the ground they did not
recognise its value, and stopped the work; but
Donatello begged them to let him put it up
and work upon it, and he would turn it into
quite another figure. Then, having set it up
and screened it from view for a fortnight, when
he uncovered it, although he had not touched
it, every one was astonished at it. For the
armourers he made a S. George in armour,
very full of life, with all the beauty of youth
and the courage of the soldier.

For the fa?ade of S. Maria del Fiore he made
also four figures, two of which were portraits
from life, one young Francesco Soderini, and
the other Giovanni de Barduccio Cherichini,
which is now called the Zuccone, the bald man.
This being considered more beautiful than any-

DONATELLO 75

thing he had ever done, Donatello used to
swear by it, saying, " By the faith I bear to my
bald man." While he was working upon it he
would look at it and say, "Speak, speak!"

Duke Cosimo de' Medici admired his talents
so much that he made him work for him con-
stantly; and he on his part bore such love to
Cosimo that he undertook what he wished at
the least sign, and obeyed him. There is a
story told of a Genoese merchant who, by the
'mediation of Cosimo, prevailed upon Donatello
to make a bronze head for him. When it was
finished, the merchant coming to pay him,
thought that Donatello asked too much, so the
matter was referred to Cosimo. He had it
brought to the upper court of the palace and
placed on the wall overlooking the street, that
it might be seen better. But when he tried to
settle the difference, he found the merchant's
offer very much below Donatello's demand, and
turning to him he said it was too little. The
merchant, who thought it too much, answered
that Donatello had worked upon it for a month,
or a little more, and that would give him more
than half a florin a day. Donatello upon that
turned upon him in anger, thinking these words
too great an insult, and telling the merchant
that he had found means in a hundredth part
of an hour to destroy the work of a year, he

76 STORIES FROM VASARI

gave the head a stidden blow and knocked it
down into the street, where it was broken into
many pieces, adding that it was evident he was
in the habit of bargaining about beans and not
statues. The merchant repenting, offered to
give him double as much if he would make it
again, but neither his promises nor Cosimo's
entreaties could make him consent.

In the houses of the Martelli are many works
done by Donatello, and among them a David
three braccia high, with many other things given
to that family out of his love and devotion,
particularly a S. John in high relief worked in
marble, a most rare thing, belonging now to the
heirs of Ruberto Martelli, who left command
that it should never be pledged or sold or given
away, under heavy penalties, in testimony of the
kindness shown them by Donatello.

At this time the Signory of Venice, hearing
the fame of him, sent for him to make the
monument to Gattamelata in the city of Padua.
He undertook it very gladly, and made the
statue that stands in the Piazza of S. Antonio,
with the horse chafing and neighing, and its
proud, spirited rider. Donatello showed himself
in this so admirable, both for proportion and
execution, that truly it may be compared to
any ancient work. The Paduans sought by
every means to prevail upon him to become a

Donatello.

Anderson,

GENERAL GATTAMELATA
(Patna)

DONATELLO 77

citizen and to stay there, giving him much work
to do ; but finding himself considered a marvel,
and praised on all sides, he determined to return
to Florence, saying if he stayed there longer he
should forget all he knew, being praised so
much, and that he must return to his own city
to be continually found fault with, for this
fault-finding would be the cause of his studying
more, and thereby winning greater glory.

To sum up, Donatello was so admirable in
knowledge, in judgment, and in the practice of
his art that he may be said to have been the
first to ^illustrate the art of sculpture among the
moderns ; and he deserves the more commenda-
tion because in his time few antiquities had been
uncovered. He was one of those who aroused
in Cosimo de* Medici the desire to bring anti-
quities into Florence. He was most liberal and
courteous, and kinder to his friends than him-
self; nor did he care for money, keeping it in
a basket hanging from the ceiling, where his
workmen and friends could help themselves
without saying anything to him. When he
got old, therefore, and could not work, he was
supported by Cosimo and his friends. Cosimo
dying, recommended him to Piero his son, who,
to carry out his father's wishes, gave him a farm
in Cafaggiuolo on which he could live comfort-
ably. Donatello was greatly pleased, thinking

78 STORIES FROM VASARI

he was now more than secure from dying of
hunger. But he had not held it a year before
he came to Piero and gave it him back, saying
that he could not give up all his quiet to attend
to domestic matters and to listen to the troubles
of the farmer, who was at him every third day,
now to complain that the wind had taken the
roof off the pigeon-house, now that all the cattle
had been taken to pay the taxes, and again that
the storm had destroyed his vines and fruit trees ;
that he was weary of the trouble, and would
rather die of hunger than have to think of such
things. Piero laughed at his simplicity, and
taking back the land, made him a provision of
the same value in money paid him every week,
with which he was quite content, and passed all
the rest of his life as friend and servant of the
Medici without trouble or care.

One of his pupils was Nanni d' Antonio di
Banco, who, although he inherited riches and
was not of low birth, yet delighting in sculpture,
was not only not ashamed to learn it and to
practise it, but obtained not a little glory in
it. He was by nature rather slow, but modest,
humble, and agreeable in conversation. The
S. Philip in marble which is outside the Orsan-
michele in Florence is from his hand. The
work had been first allotted to Dpnatello by
the guild of the shoemakers, but not being able

DONATELLO 79

to agree with him about the price, to spite
Donatello they gave it to Nanni, who promised
to take whatever they would give him. But
when the statue was finished and set up, he
asked a greater price than Donatello had asked.
The consuls of the guild therefore turned again
to Donatello, thinking that envy would make
him estimate the value of the statue much lower
than if it had been his work. But they were
deceived, for Donatello gave judgment that
more should be given to Nanni than he had
asked. And they, not willing to agree to such
a judgment, cried out to Donatello, "Why, if
you would have done the work for less, do you
value it more highly from the hand of another,
and constrain us to pay more than he himself
asks, and yet you acknowledge that it would
have been better done if you had done it?"
Donatello answered, laughing, "The good man
is not as good at the art as I am, and suffers
much more fatigue than I ; therefore it appears
to me that as just men you are bound to pay
him for the time that he has spent." So his
decision was accepted, the two parties having
agreed to abide by it.

Below the niche in which it was placed are
four saints in marble, made by Nanni for the
guilds of the smiths, carpenters, and masons.
It is said that when they were all finished he

78 STORIES FROM VASARI

he was now more than secure from dying of
hunger. But he had not held it a year before
he came to Piero and gave it him back, saying
that he could not give up all his quiet to attend
to domestic matters and to listen to the troubles
of the farmer, who was at him every third day,
now to complain that the wind had taken the
roof off the pigeon-house, now that all the cattle
had been taken to pay the taxes, and again that
the storm had destroyed his vines and fruit trees ;
that he was weary of the trouble, and would
rather die of hunger than have to think of such
things. Piero laughed at his simplicity, and
taking back the land, made him a provision of
the same value in money paid him every week,
with which he was quite content, and passed all
the rest of his life as friend and servant of the
Medici without trouble or care.

One of his pupils was Nanni d' Antonio di
Banco, who, although he inherited riches and
was not of low birth, yet delighting in sculpture,
was not only not ashamed to learn it and to
practise it, but obtained not a little glory in
it. He was by nature rather slow, but modest,
humble, and agreeable in conversation. The
S. Philip in marble which is outside the Orsan-
michele in Florence is from his hand. The
work had been first allotted to Dpnatello by
the guild of the shoemakers, but not being able

DONATELLO 79

to agree with him about the price, to spite
Donatello they gave it to Nanni, who promised
to take whatever they would give him. But
when the statue was finished and set up, he
asked a greater price than Donatello had asked.
The consuls of the guild therefore turned again
to Donatello, thinking that envy would make
him estimate the value of the statue much lower
than if it had been his work. But they were
deceived, for Donatello gave judgment that
more should be given to Nanni than he had
asked. And they, not willing to agree to such
a judgment, cried out to Donatello, "Why, if
you would have done the work for less, do you
value it more highly from the hand of another,
and constrain us to pay more than he himself
asks, and yet you acknowledge that it would
have been better done if you had done it?"
Donatello answered, laughing, "The good man
is not as good at the art as I am, and suffers
much more fatigue than I ; therefore it appears
to me that as just men you are bound to pay
him for the time that he has spent." So his
decision was accepted, the two parties having
agreed to abide by it.

Below the niche in which it was placed are
four saints in marble, made by Nanni for the
guilds of , the smiths, carpenters, and masons.
It is said that when they were all finished he

80 STORIES FROM VASARI

found that it was not possible to get more than
three into the niche, he having made some of
them extending their arms. Then in despair he
came to Donatello and prayed him to advise
him how to repair his mistake, Donatello,
laughing at his dilemma, said, "If you will
promise to pay for a supper for me and my
lads I will undertake to make the saints go
into the niche without any trouble." Nanni
then, having given the promise very readily,
Donatello sent him to take some measures t
Prato, and to do some other matters that would
take a few days. And when he was gone,
Donatello, with all his pupils and workmen,
set to work and cut off from the statues here
a shoulder and there the arms, making them
fit in close together, with the hand of one
appearing over the next one's shoulder. So
Donatello having linked them together to con-
ceal Nanni's mistake, they remain as tokens of
concord and brotherly kindness; while those
who know nothing of the matter would never
perceive the error. Nanni, on his return, find-
ing that Donatello had rectified his mistake,
gave him infinite thanks, and most willingly
paid for the supper.

CHAPTER VII

FRA ANGELICO

FRA GIOVANNI ANGELICO DA FIESOLE, whose
secular name was Guido, deserves to be held in
most honourable remembrance, both as an excel-
lent painter and illuminator, and also as a perfect
monk. He might have lived comfortably in the
world, earning whatever he wished by his art,
in which he excelled when still young, but being
by nature good and serious, for his satisfaction
and quiet, and also principally to save his soul,
he entered the order of the Preaching Friars.
There are in the convent of S. Marco in Florence
some choir books illuminated by his hand, which
are so beautiful that nothing could be better,
and some others like them, which he left at
S. Domenico of Fiesole, painted with incredible
patience. It is true that in these he was aided by
an elder brother, who was also an illuminator and
skilled in painting.

One of the first of this good father's paint-
ings was in the Certosa of Florence, our Lady
with the Child in her arms and angels at her feet

82 STORIES FROM VASARI

singing and playing. He also painted in fresco
in S. Maria Novella. He was so beloved by
Cosimo de' Medici that when the church and
convent of S. Marco were built, he caused him
to paint in it all the Passion of Jesus Christ,
with many of the Saints. They say that for the
figure of S. Cosimo Fra Giovanni drew from

o

life his friend the sculptor, Nanni d' Antonio
di Banco. Below he painted S. Domenic at the
foot of a tree, and in medallions among the
branches all the popes, cardinals, bishops, saints,
and doctors who had belonged to the order h of
the Preaching Friars. In these the friars aided
him by sending to different places and obtaining
portraits from life.

He also painted a picture for the high altar of
S. Domenico of Fiesole, but this has been re-
touched by other masters and injured; but
other pictures there by him have been better
preserved, and there are a number of little
figures in celestial glory, which are so beautiful
that they seem really in Paradise, and no one
who sees them can ever weary of looking at
them. But beyond all that Fra Giovanni ever
did is a painting in the same, church of the
Coronation of the Virgin in the midst of a choir
of angels and an infinite number of saints, which
it gives one a wonderful pleasure to look at,
for it seems as if blessed spirits could look no

THK KNTOMBMKNT.
(J/terthefmw by 1'raJngtlttt) in the Convent ffS. Mark at Flormu, i

FRA ANGELICO 83

otherwise in heaven, at least if they had bodies,
and they are all so lifelike and so sweet ; and
the whole colouring also of the work seems to
be from the hand of a saint or an angel, so that
it was with good reason that he was always
called Fra Giovanni Angelico.
- By so many works the name of Fra Giovanni
became famous in all Italy, and Pope Nicholas V.
sent for him, and made him paint the chapel of
the palace where the Pope hears mass, and also
illuminate some books, which are most beautiful.
And because Fra Giovanni seemed to the Pope,
as he was indeed, a man of most holy life, quiet
and modest, when the archbishopric of Florence
fell vacant he adjudged him worthy of the rank ;
but the friar, hearing of it, prayed his Holiness
to give it to another, because he did not feel,
himself "apt at governing men, and said that
his order had another friar, loving to the poor,
learned, skilled in government, and God-fearing,
whom the dignity would much better become
than it would him. The Pope hearing this, and
perceiving that what he said was true, granted
him the favour, and so. Fra Antonino, of the
order of Preaching Friars, was made Archbishop
of Florence, a man of such holiness that he was
canonised by Adrian VI. in our days. And this
great goodness of Fra Giovanni was in truth a
rare thing, thus to give up a dignity and honour

84 STORIES FROM VASARI

offered him to one whom in sincerity of heart he
judged more worthy of it than himself. And
would to God that all religious men would
spend their time as this truly angelical father
did, in the service of God and to the benefit of
the world and their neighbours. Fra Giovanni
was a simple man and most holy in his habits,
and one day when Pope Nicholas V. desired him
to dine with him, he had scruples of conscience
about eating meat without his prior's leave, not
considering the Pope's authority. He would
not follow the ways of the world, but lived
purely and holily, and was a great friend of the
poor. He painted constantly, and would never
represent anything but the saints. He might
have been rich, but did not care about it, saying
that true riches are nothing else than being con-
tent with little. He might have governed many,
and would not, saying it was less troublesome to
obey, and one was less liable to err in obeying.
It was in his power to hold dignities among
the friars and elsewhere, but he did not esteem
them, affirming that he sought no other dignity
than to escape hell and attain to Paradise. He
was most kind and sober, keeping himself free
from all worldly ties, often saying that he who
practised art had need of quiet and to be able to
live without cares, and that he who represents
the things of Christ should always live with

FRA ANGELICO 85

Christ. He was never seen in anger by the
friars, which is a great thing, and seems to me
almost impossible to believe ; and he had a way
of admonishing his friends with smiles. To
those who sought his works he would answer,
that they must content the prior, and then he
would not fail. To sum up, this father, who
can never be enough praised, was in all his works
and words most humble and modest, and in his
paintings facile and devout ; and the saints whom
he painted have more the air and likeness of
saints than those of any one else. It was his
habit never to retouch or alter any of his paint-
ings, but to leave them as they came the first
time, believing, as he said, that "such was the will
of God. Some say he would never take up his
pencil until he had first made supplication, and
he never made a crucifix but he was bathed in
tears.

., CHAPTER VIII

ANTONEIXO DA MESSINA, ANDREA DAL CAS-
TAGNO, AND DOMENICO VENEZIANO

FROM the time of Cimabue pictures either on
panel or canvas had been painted in distemper,
although the artists felt that a certain softness
and freshness was wanting. But although many
had sought for some other method, none had
succeeded, either by using liquid varnishes, or by
mixing the colours in any other way. They
could not find any way by which pictures on
panels could be made durable like those on the
walls, and could be washed without losing the
colour. And though many times artists had
assembled to discuss the matter, it had been in
vain. This same want was felt also by painters
out of Italy, in France, Spain, and Germany, and
elsewhere. But while matters were in this state
John of Bruges, 1 a painter much esteemed in
Flanders, set himself to try various kinds of
colours and different oils to make varnishes, being
one who delighted in alchemy. For having once

1 Johann van Eyck.

86

ANTONELLO DA MESSINA 87

taken great pains in painting a picture, when he
had brought it to a conclusion with great care,
he put on the varnish and put it to dry in the
sun, as is usual. But either the heat was too
great or the wood not seasoned enough, for the
panel opened at all the joints. Upon which
John, seeing the harm that the heat of the sun
had done, determined to do something so that
the sun should not spoil any more of his works.
And he began to consider whether he could
not find a varnish that should dry in the shade
without his having to put his pictures in the sun.
He made many experiments, and at last found
that the oil of linseed and the oil of nuts were
the best for drying of all that he tried. Having
boiled them with his other mixtures, he made
the varnisli that he, or rather all the painters of
the world, had been so long desiring. He saw
also that when the colours were mixed with these
oils, not only were they safe from injury by
water when once they were dry, but the colours
also had more lustre without the aid of any
varnish, and besides, which seemed more mar-
vellous to him, the colours blended better than
in tempera.

The fame of this invention soon spread not
only through Flanders, but to Italy and many
other parts of the world, and great desire was
aroused in other artists to know how he brought

88 STORIES FROM VASARI

his works to such perfection. And seeing his
pictures, and not knowing how they were done,
they were obliged to give him great praise, while
at the same time they envied him with a virtuous
envy, especially because for a time he would not
let any one see him work, or teach any one his
secret. But when he was grown old he at last
favoured Roger of Bruges, his pupil, with the
knowledge, and Roger taught others. But
although the merchants bought the paintings
and sent them to princes and other great
personages to their great profit, the thing was
not known beyond Flanders. The pictures,
however, especially when they were new, had
that strong smell which mixing oil with colours
gives them, so that it would seem the secret
might have been discovered ; but for many years
it was not.

It came about then that some Florentines who
traded in Flanders and Naples sent a picture by
John containing many figures painted in oil to
King Alfonso I. of Naples, and the picture
pleasing him from the beauty of the figures and
the new method of colouring, all the painters in
the kingdom came together to see it, and it was
highly praised by all.

Now there was a certain Antonello da Messina,
a man of an acute mind and well skilled in his
art, who had studied drawing at Rome for many

ANTONELLO DA MESSINA 89

years, and afterwards worked at Palermo, and
finally came back to Messina, his native place,
having obtained a good repute for his skill in
painting. He, going on business from Sicily to
Naples, heard that this picture by John of Bruges
had come from Flanders to the King Alfonso,
and that it could be washed, and was altogether
perfect. He contrived therefore to see it, and
the vivacity of the colours, and the way in which
they were blended, had such an effect upon him
that, laying aside all other matters, he set off for
Flanders. And when he came to Bruges he
presented himself to John, and made him many
presents of drawings in the Italian manner, and
other things, so that John, moved by these and
the deference Antonello paid him, and feeling
himself growing old, allowed Antonello to see
his method of painting in oil, and he did not
leave the place until he had learnt all that he
desired. But when John was dead Antonello
returned to his country to make Italy participate
in his useful and convenient secret. And after
having spent some months- in Messina he went
to Venice, where, being a person much given to
pleasure, he determined to settle and end his
days. There he painted many pictures in oil,
and acquired a great name.

Among the other painters of name who were
then in Venice, the chief was a Master Domenico.

9 o STORIES FROM VASARI

He received Antonello when he came to Venice
with as much attention and courtesy as if he
were a very dear friend. Antonello therefore,
not to be outdone in courtesy, after a little while
taught him the secret of painting in oil. No act
of courtesy or kindness could have been more
pleasing to him, for it caused him to gain lasting
honour in his native place.

Now emulation and honest rivalry are things
praiseworthy and to be held in esteem, being
necessary and useful to the world ; but envy,
which cannot endure that another should have
praise and honour, deserves the utmost scorn and
reproach, as may be seen in the story of the un-
happy Andrea dal Castagno, who, great as he was
in painting and design, was greater still in the
hatred and envy that he bore to other painters, so
that the shadow of his sin has hidden the splen-
dour of his talents. He was born at a small farm
called Castagno, from which he took his surname
when he came to live in Florence.- Having been
left an orphan in his childhood, he was taken by
his uncle and employed by him many years in
keeping cattle. While at such work it happened
one day that to escape the rain he took refuge in
a place where one of those country painters who
work for little pay was painting a countryman's
tabernacle. Andrea, who had never seen anything
like it before, excited by curiosity, set himself to

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO 91

watch and to consider the manner of such work,
and there awoke within him suddenly such a
strong desire and passionate longing for art that
without loss of time he began to draw little
figures and animals in charcoal, and carve them
with the point of a knife on the walls or the
stones, so as to excite no little marvel in those
who saw them. The fame of this new study of
Andrea's spread among the country people, and,
as fortune would have it, it came to the ears of
a Florentine gentleman, named Bernardetto de'
Medici, 'who had land in those parts, and he
desired to see the boy. And having heard him
talk with much quickness and intelligence, he
asked him if he would like to be a painter. And
Andrea answering that there was nothing he
desired more, he took him with him to Florence,
and placed him with one of the masters who were
at that time held to be the best. So Andrea,
giving himself to study, showed great intelligence
in overcoming the difficulties of the art. His
colour was somewhat crude, but he was excellent
in the movement of figures and in the heads both
of men and women. One picture of his which
excited the astonishment of artists was a fresco
of the Flagellation, which would be the finest of
all his works if it had not been so scratched
and spoiled by children and simple people, who
destroyed the heads and arms of the Jews to

92 STORIES FROM VASARI

avenge, as it were, the injury done to the
Lord.

Afterwards he was charged to paint a part of
the larger chapel of S. Maria Nuova, another
part being given to Alesso Baldovinetti, and a
third to Domenico da Venezia, who had been
brought to Florence on account of his new
method of painting in oil. Then Andrea was
seized with envy of Domenico, for although he
knew himself to be more excellent than he in
drawing, yet he could not bear that a foreigner
should be caressed and honoured in such a
manner by the citizens, and his rage and anger
grew so hot that he began to think how he could
rid himself of him. Nevertheless, Andrea was
as clever in dissimulation as he was in painting,
and could assume a cheerful countenance when-
ever he liked ; he was ready in speech, proud,
resolute in mind and in every gesture of his body.
Being jealous of others as well as of Domenico,
he used secretly to scratch their paintings. Even
in his youth, if any one found fault with his
works, he would let him know by blows or insults
that he knew how to defend himself from injury.

But now, resolving to do by treachery what he
could not do openly without manifest danger, he
feigned great friendship for this Domenico ; and
he, being a good fellow and amiable, fond of
singing and playing the lute, willingly made

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO 93

friends with him, Andrea appearing to be both
a man of talent and good company. And this
friendship continuing, on one side real and on
the other feigned, every night they were found
together enjoying themselves, and serenading their
loves, which Domenico much delighted in. He
also, loving Andrea truly, taught him how to paint
in oils, which was not yet known in Tuscany.

Meanwhile, in the chapel of S. Maria Nuova,
Andrea painted the Annunciation, which is con-
sidered very fine ; and on the other side
Domenico painted in oils S. Joachim and S.
Anna and the birth of our Lady, and below the
Betrothal of the Virgin, with a good number of
portraits from life: Bernardetto de' Medici,
constable of the Florentines, in a red cap, Ber-
nardo Guadagni, the gonfalonier, Folco Portinari,
and others of that family. But this work was
left unfinished, as will be seen. Andrea, on his
side, painted in oils the death of the Virgin, and
showed that he knew how to manage oil colours
as well as Domenico his rival. In this picture
also he put many portraits from life, and in a
circle himself like Judas Iscariot, as he was in
truth and deed.

Then having brought this work to a successful
termination, blinded by envy at the praises he
heard given to Domenico, he meditated how to
rid himself of him ; and having thought of many

94 STORIES FROM VASARI

ways, he at last proceeded in this manner. One
evening in summer, Domenico as usual took his
lute and departed from S. Maria Nuova, leaving
Andrea in his chamber drawing, he having re-
fused to accompany him on the excuse of having
to make certain drawings of importance. So
Domenico being gone out to his pleasure, Andrea
disguised himself and went to wait for him at the
corner, and when Domenico came up, returning
home, he struck at him with a leaden instru-
ment, and breaking his lute, pierced him in the
stomach at the same moment. But thinking he
had not done his work as he wished, he struck
him on the head heavily, and leaving him on
the ground, returned to his room in S. Maria
Nuova, and sat down to his drawing as Domenico
had left him. In the meantime the servants,
having heard a noise, ran out and heard what
had happened, and came running to bring the
evil tidings to Andrea, the traitor and mur-
derer, whereupon he ran to the place where lay
Domenico, and could not be consoled, crying
out without ceasing, "Oh, my brother, my
brother ! " At last Domenico died in his arms,
and it could not be found out who it was that
had slain him. Nor would it ever have been
known, if Andrea on his death-bed had not
made confession of the deed.

He lived in honour ; but spending much, par-

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO 95

ticularly on his dress and in his manner of living,
he left little wealth behind him. When Giuliano
de' Medici was slain, and his brother Lorenzo
wounded, by the Pazzi and their adherents, the
Signory resolved that the conspirators should be
painted as traitors on the facade of the palace
of the Podesta. And the work being offered to
Andrea, he accepted it willingly, being much
beholden to the house of Medici. He painted
it surprisingly well, and it would be impossible
to describe how much art he displayed in the
portraits, painted for the most part from the
men themselves, representing them hanging by
their feet in all sorts of strange attitudes. The
work pleased the people so much that from that
time he was called no more Andrea dal Cas-
tagno, but Andrea degli Impiccati, Andrea of
the hanged men.

CHAPTER IX

FILIPPO LIPPI AND BOTTICELLI

FRA FILIPPO DI TOMMASO LIPPI was born in
Florence in a street called Ardiglione, behind the
convent of the Carmelite fathers. By the death
of Tommaso, his father, he was left an orphan
when a poor little boy of two years old, his
mother having died at his birth. He remained
with his aunt until he was eight years old, when,
being no longer able to support him, she made
him a Carmelite friar. In the convent, although
he was clever and dexterous with his fingers, he
showed himself stupid at his letters, and would
never apply his mind to learning. For the boy,
who was still called by the name of Filippo, in-
stead of studying while he was in his noviciate
and under the discipline of the grammar master,
did nothing but cover his books with drawings
of figures, until at last the prior determined to
give him every help in learning to paint. The
chapel in the Carmine had been recently painted
by Masaccio, and being most beautiful, pleased
Fra Filippo greatly, and he used to go there

DETAIL FROM THE VIRGIN AND CHILD.
fPtUt Gallery, Florence.)

FILIPPO LIPPI AND BOTTICELLI 97

every day for his recreation. Working there in
company with the many other youths who were
always drawing there, he surpassed them greatly
both in knowledge and skill, so that it was
considered certain that he would do something
wonderful in time. But even in his tender years
he did something so good that it was marvel-
lous ; for he painted a pope confirming the rule
of the Carmelites and other pictures so much in
Masaccio's style that many said that the spirit of
Masaccio had entered into Fra Filippo.

Finding himself thus praised by every one, at
the age of seventeen he threw off the cowl. And
going to Ancona, he was disporting himself one
day with some of his friends in "a boat in the sea,
when they were all captured by some Moorish
ships that were scouring the bay, and carried off
to Barbary, where they were chained as slaves.
In this condition, in much suffering, he remained
for eighteen months, but being much with his
master, it came into his head one day to make
his portrait, and taking a piece of charcoal out
of the fire, he drew him at full length on the
white wall in his Moorish dress. The other
slaves told his master what he had done, and
he thought it was a miracle, neither drawing nor
painting being known in those parts, and this was
the cause of his being set free from captivity.
For having completed some works in colour for

G

98 STORIES FROM VASARI

his master, he was conducted in safety to Naples,
whence he soon returned to Florence. He was
taken into great favour by Cosimo de' Medici,
but being devoted to pleasure, he neglected his
work for it. Cosimo therefore, when he was
working for him in his house, caused him to be
shut in, so that he could not go out and waste
his time; but he, cutting up the sheets of the
bed with a pair of scissors, made a rope and let
himself down by the window. When after many
days he returned to his work, Cosimo gave him
his liberty, considering the peril he had run,
and sought to keep him for the future by many
favours, and so he served him more readily,
saying that genius is a heavenly being, and not
a beast of burden.

While he was painting for the nuns of S.
Margherita, he saw one day the daughter of
Francesco Buti, a Florentine citizen, who was
there either as a boarder or a novice. Fra
Filippo, seeing Lucrezia, who was very beautiful,
persuaded the nuns to let him paint her for the
figure of our Lady. And falling in love with
her, he contrived, when she was going to see
the girdle of our Lady, the chief relic of the
place, to carry her away. The nuns were much
distressed at it, and Francesco, her father, was
never happy again, and dicl all he could to re-
cover her, but she would not return.

( l>'rom t

TIIK VISION 01- S. BERNARD.
HtiHtf (*>' b'dippmo Lippi tn thf Baiim at Flo

FILIPPO LIPPI AND BOTTICELLI 99

Sandro Botticelli was a disciple of his, and his
Own son Filippo was also a painter of fine genius.
After his 'father's death, being then very young,
he became Sandro Botticelli's pupil, . though his
father in dying had commended him to Fra
Diamante his friend, almost his brother. He
was a man of great talent, copious invention in
ornament, and introduced new methods of vary-
ing the dresses, attiring many of his figures in
antique garments. He made great use of ancient
Roman vases, trophies, armour, swords, togas,
and other such things. And when he died he
was wept by all who had known him, not only
for his excellence in his art, but for his good life
and his courteous and amiable disposition.

It was in the time of the magnificent Lorenzo
de' Medici, which was indeed an age of gold
for men of genius, that that Alessandro flourished
who was -nicknamed according to our custom
Sandro di Botticello. He was the son of a
Florentine citizen, Mariano Filipepi, and was
carefully taught all that it was usual to teach
children in those times before they were ap-
prenticed; but though he learnt readily all he
wished, he was restless and discontented, so that
his father, wearied with his fancies, placed him
in despair with one of his acquaintances, a gold-
smith named Botticello. There was at that time
great intimacy and continual intercourse between

ioo STORIES FROM VASARI

the goldsmiths and the painters, and Sandro,
attracted by painting, determined to take to it.
His father, learning his wish, took him therefore
to Fra Filippo, and placed him with him to learn
his art. Giving himself to study, he followed
his master so closely that he won Fra Filippo's
affection, and was so well instructed by him as
to rise rapidly to unexpected success. Having
made himself a reputation, he was employed to
paint in S. Marco, and did many things in the
house of Lorenzo de' Medici, especially a Pallas
as large as life, and a Sebastian. - He painted
also in many houses in the city, and among
them are a bust of Venus, and another Venus
whom the Graces deck with flowers, denoting the
spring.

In S. Pietro Maggiore he made a picture for
Matteo Palmieri with an infinite number of
figures. This is the Assumption of our Lady,
with the Zones of the heavens, the Patriarchs,
Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Martyrs, Con-
fessors, Doctors, and Hierarchies, according to
the design given him by Matteo Palmieri, and
this work he painted in a masterly manner and
with infinite diligence. At the foot of the
picture are Matteo and his wife kneeling. But
although this work is most beautiful and ought
to have overcome envy, some evil-minded persons,
not able to find any other fault, said that Matteo

FILIPPO LIPPI AND BOTTICELLI 101

and Sandro were guilty of grave heresy, which,
whether it be true or not, is not for me to judge.
It is enough that Sandro deserves praise for his
labours and the skill with which he represents
the circles of the heavens, and for the fore-
shortening of the figures of the angels and their
various postures, all being well carried out with
good drawing.

About this time Sandro was charged with the
painting of a little picture to be placed in S.
Maria Novella, between the two doors. This is
the Adoration of the Magi, and you may notice
the first old man kissing the feet of our Lord,
and overcome with tender emotion at the con-
summation of his long journey. The figure of
this king is the portrait of old Cosimo de'
Medici, the most lifelike and most natural to
be found in our days. The second king is
Giuliano de' Medici, the father of Clement VII.,
who may be seen intent on offering devout
reverence to the Child, and presenting his gift.
The third, who is kneeling, and appears to
be adoring Him and confessing Him the true
Messiah, is Giovanni, son of Cosimo.

Having made a name by such works, he was
sent for by Pope Sixtus IV., who had built the
chapel in his palace at Rome, and desired to
have it adorned with paintings. He appointed
Sandro master of the works, and there he painted

102 STORIES FROM VASARI

many things, by which he gained among his
fellow-workers, both from Florence and other
cities, fame and a great name. He received
from the Pope a good sum of money, but this
being soon consumed by living improvidently,
as was his custom, and the work assigned him
being finished, he returned to Florence. Being
fond of sophistry, he made a commentary on
Dante, and made illustrations for the " Inferno "
and engraved them, spending much time upon
them. He also engraved many of his designs,
but in a bad manner, the best from his hand
being the triumph of the faith of Fra Girolamo
Savonarola of Ferrara, of whose sect he was such
a strong partisan that he gave up painting. As
he had no means of his own, this threw him
into great difficulties; but adhering obstinately
to that party, and becoming, as they called it, a
Piagnone, he gave up working, so that at last
he found himself old and poor ; and if Lorenzo
de' Medici while he lived, and after him other
of his friends, had not remembered him, he
would have died of hunger.

Sandro was a very amusing person, and fond of
playing tricks on his pupils and friends. There
is a story that he had a pupil named Biagio, who
copied a round picture of his master's, repre-
senting the Madonna with angels round her, for
sale, and Sandro sold it for him to a citizen for

FILIPPO LIPPI AND BOTTICELLI 103

six gold florins. Meeting Biagio afterwards he
said to him, " I have sold your picture at last,
so to-night you must hang it where it will be
better seen, and to-morrow go and fetch the man
and bring him here that he may see it well, then
he will pay the money." " Oh, how well you
have done, master ! " said Biagio ; and going to
the workshop he hung the picture up and went
away. Then Sandro and Jacopo, another of his
pupils, made of paper eight red caps, such as
the citizens of Florence wear, and fixed them
with some white wax on the heads of the eight
angels round the Madonna in the picture. The
next morning Biagio appears, bringing with him
the man who had bought the picture, and who
knew all about the trick. And coming in,
Biagio raised his eyes and saw his Madonna,
not in the midst of the angels, but sitting in the
midst of the Signory of Florence; and he was
about to cry out and to begin to excuse himself
to the purchaser, when he perceived that he was
silent and only praised the picture, so he re-
mained silent also. At last Biagio, going with
the man to his house, received his six florins as
his master had agreed, and returned to- the work-
shop. Meanwhile Sandro and Jacopo had taken
off the caps, and he saw his angels were angels,
and not citizens in caps. Altogether stupefied,
he knew not what to say, but at last, turning

104 STORIES FROM VASARI

to Sandro, he cried, "Master, I do not know
whether I am dreaming, or whether it was true.
These angels when I came in had red caps on
their heads, and now they have not ; what does
it mean ? " " You are out of your mind, Biagio,"
answered Sandro. "This money has sent you
mad. If it had been so do you think the man
would have bought it?" "That is true,'*
answered Biagio, <e he said nothing about it ; it
seemed to me strange all the time.'' And all the
other boys came round him and talked till they
made him believe he had been off his head.

A cloth weaver came at one time to live next
door to Sandro, and set up eight looms, which
when they were at work not only deafened poor
Sandro with the noise of the treadles, but also
shook the house, so that there was no wall
strong enough to stand it, and with one thing
and another it was impossible to work or to stay
in the house. He asked his neighbour many
times to put a stop to this annoyance, but he
only answered that in his own house he could
and would do what pleased him. Then Sandro,
getting angry, set up on his wall, which was
higher than his neighbour's, and not very strong,
a huge stone, poised so that every time the wall
shook it seemed to be just about to fall and
crush the roof and beams and the looms of his
neighbour. The man, alarmed at the danger,

F1LIPPO LIPPI AND BOTTICELLI 105

came running to Sandro, but he gave him answer
in his own words, that in his own house he could
and would do whatever pleased him ; and the
weaver could get no other answer, until at last
he was forced to come to terms, and be a better
neighbour to Sandro.

It is said that he held in high honour those
whom he knew to be studious in art, and that
he earned much himself, but from want of
management and carelessness things went wrong.
When he was old he became infirm, and used to
go about with two sticks, not being able to stand
upright ; and so he died at the age of seventy-
eight, and was buried in Ogni Santi in Florence,
in the year 1515.

CHAPTER X

PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA AND LUCA
SIGNORELLI

THERE are some unhappy men who, having
striven by labour and study to produce work
profitable to others which will keep their names
in memory, are prevented by infirmity or death
from bringing their work to perfection. And
often it happens that their works left unfinished
are appropriated by others, who seek thus to hide
their ass's hide under the lion's skin. So it befell
Piero della Francesca dal Borgo S. Sepolcro, a
great master in perspective, arithmetic, and geo-
metry, who was prevented by blindness in his
old age from bringing to light the books he had
written. And he who, having learnt all he knew
from him, ought to have used all his powers to
win for him glory and a great name, sought
instead to conceal the name of Piero his pre-
ceptor, and to usurp his honour, by publishing
the good old man's works under his own name,
that of Fra Luca dal Borgo.

Piero was born in Borgo S. Sepolcro, now a

106

PIERO BELLA FRANCESCA 107

city, but not so at that time, and he was called
della Francesca after his mother, because his
father was dead before he was born, and it was
she who brought him up, and aided him to attain
to the rank he reached. Piero studied mathe-
matics in his youth, and although from the age
of fifteen he became a painter, he never gave
up his mathematical studies, and his productions
brought him so much credit that he was em-
ployed by the Duke of Urbino, and left in that
place many of his writings on geometry and per-
spective, which are inferior to none of his time.

Afterwards, being fetched to Rome by Nicholas
V., he painted in his palace two pictures, which
were afterwards destroyed by Pope Julius II.,
that Raffaello might paint there the imprison-
ment of S. Peter. Thence he went to Loreto,
and painted there in company with Domenico
Veneziano ; but the plague breaking out, he left
his work unfinished, and it was afterwards com-
pleted by Luca of Cortona his pupil. From
Loreto he went to Arezzo, where he painted
the whole history of the Cross, from the time
when the sons of Adam, laying him in the tomb,
placed under his tongue the seeds of the tree
from which the cross sprang, to the exaltation
of the Cross by the Emperor Heraclius.

Piero was, as we have said, most studious in
his art, and had a good knowledge of Euclid,

io8 STORIES FROM VASARI

so that Maestro Luca dal Borgo, who wrote on
geometry, was his pupil. Lorentino d'Angelo
was also his pupil, and finished the works that
he left incomplete at his death. There is a
story told of this Lorentino that once when
the carnival was near his children kept begging
him to kill a pig, as the custom was in those
parts. Then, remembering that he had no
money, they said, " What will father do to buy
the pig without money ? " To which he replied,
"Some saint will help us." But when he had
said this many times and no pig appeared, their
hopes began to fail. But at last there came a
countryman who, to fulfil a vow, wanted a S.
Martin painted, but had nothing to give for the
picture but a pig that was worth five lire. When
Lorentino heard this he said he would paint the
picture, and would take nothing but the pig for
it. Lorentino painted the saint, and the country-
man brought the pig, and so the saint provided
the pig for the poor children.

Piero Perugino was also his pupil, but the
one who did him most honour was Luca
Signorelli of Cortona. For Luca Signorelli was
in his time as famous a painter in Italy as any
one has ever been. While he worked in Arezzo
with Piero, dwelling in the house of Lazzaro
Vasari his uncle, he imitated the manner of Piero
his master, so that one could be hardly known

LUCA SIGNORELLI 109

from the other. His first works were in Arezzo,
where he painted in many churches. There is
a S. Michael weighing souls, which is admirable,
and in which may be seen his power in painting
the splendour of armour with all the reflections
of light. Having come to Florence to see the
works of the masters there, he painted on a
canvas some of the old gods, which were much
admired, and a picture of our Lady, and pre-
sented them both to Lorenzo, who would never
be surpassed by any one in magnificent liberality.

In the principal church of Orvieto he com-
pleted the chapel begun by Fra Giovanni da
Fiesole, painting the story of the end of the
world with a strange and fantastical imagination ;
with angels, demons, earthquakes, fire, and ruin,
together with many beautiful figures, and essaying
to represent the terror of the last tremendous
day. So that I do not marvel that Luca's works
were always highly praised by Michael Angelo,
nor that some things in his own divine Judg-
ment were taken in part from Luca, such as
angels, demons, the. order of the heavens, and
other things in which he imitated him, as any
one can see.

It is told of him that when one of his sons
whom he loved much was killed at Cortona,
being very beautiful in face and form, Luca in
the midst of his grief set himself with great

i io STORIES FROM VASARI

constancy to paint his portrait, shedding no tears,
nor giving way to grief, that he might always
see through the work of his hands him whom
nature had given to him and adverse fortune
taken from him.

At last, having produced works for almost all
the princes of Italy, he returned to Cortona, and
in his last years worked rather for pleasure than
anything else. Thus in his old age he painted a
picture for the nuns of Santa Margherita in
Arezzo, and another for the company of S.
Girolamo, which was borne from Cortona to
Arezzo on the shoulders of men of the com-
pany. Luca, old as he was, came to put it up,
desiring again also to see his friends and relations.
He lodged in the house of the Vasari; I was
then a little boy of eight years old, and I
remember how the good old man, who was very
courteous and gracious, having heard from the
master who gave me my first instruction that
I attended to nothing at school but drawing
figures, I remember, I say, how he turned to
Antonio, my father, and said, "Antonio, let
Giorgino learn to draw by all means, for even
if later he takes to literature, drawing will still
be of use and honour and profit to him, as it
is to all men." Then turning to me, as I was
standing in front of him, he said, " Study, little
kinsman," adding many other things of which

LUCA SIGNORELLI in

I will say nothing, because I know I have not
confirmed the opinion which the good old man
had of me. When he heard that I suffered from
nose-bleeding to such a degree that I was often
left half dead, he with great tenderness hung a
piece of jasper round my neck, and this remem-
brance of Luca is for ever fixed in my mind.

So having put the picture in its place, he
returned to Cortona, accompanied for a great
distance by many of the citizens and of his
friends and relatives.

CHAPTER XI

GHIRLANDAJO, COSIMO ROSSELLI, AND
PIERO DI COSIMO

DOMENICO DI TOMMASO DEL GHIRLANDAJO

was put by his father to his own art of a gold-
smith. Tommaso had been the first to make
those ornaments for the head which are worn by
Florentine girls, and which are called garlands,
whence he acquired the name of Ghirlandajo.
But although Domenico was a goldsmith he was
continually drawing, and became so quick and
ready at it, that many say he could draw a like-
ness of any one who passed the shop ; and this
is the more readily to be believed as there are in
his works a great number of lifelike portraits.

Having brought himself into notice by his
works, he was employed by Francesco Sassetti to
paint a chapel with the story of S. Francesco, in
which he introduced among many other noted
citizens the magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici.
Afterwards he was called to Rome to help in
the painting of the Sistine Chapel, atnd while
there was employed by Francesco Tornabuoni in

GHIRLANDAJO 113

painting the wall round the tomb of his wife
which Andrea Verrocchio made. He painted
here four pictures, with which Francesco was
so pleased that when Domenico returned to Flo-
rence, he recommended him by letter to Giovanni,
one of his relatives. When Giovanni heard it,
he began to wish to employ him upon some
magnificent work which would bring honour to
his own memory and fame to Domenico. And
at that time it happened that the principal chapel
in S. Maria Novella, which had been painted by
Andrea Orcagna, through a fault in the roof had
been spoilt by water. Many of the citizens had
been wishing to have it restored or repainted,
but the owners, being the Ricci, would not agree,
not being able to bear the expense themselves,
and not willing that others should do it, lest
they should lose their rights and their arms
should be taken down. Giovanni, desiring to
give it to Domenico to paint, set himself to
obtain leave in some way or other, and at last
promised the Ricci to bear all the expense him-
self, and to put their arms in the most con-
spicuous and honourable place in the chapel.
So, having come to terms, and a contract being
drawn up of very strict tenour, Giovanni set
Domenico to work, the price to be twelve hundred
ducats of gold, and if the work pleased him two
hundred more.

ii 4 STORIES FROM VASARI

So Domenico set to work and never rested till
he had finished it in four years, which was in
1485, to the very great satisfaction of this
Giovanni, who allowed that he had been well
served, and confessed ingenuously that Domenico
had earned the two hundred ducats extra, but
said it would give him pleasure if he would be
content with the first sum ; and Domenico, who
loved glory more than riches, gave up the re-
mainder at once, saying he cared more to satisfy
him than to have the money.

Then Giovanni had two great coats-of-arms
made in stone, one of the Tornaquinci family
and the other of the Tornabuoni, and set them
up on. piers outside the chapel, and in the arch,
besides other arms of the same family with
different names and different shields, the Gia-
chinotti, Popoleschi, Marabottini, and Cardinali.
And when Domenico made the altar-piece under
an arch in the gilded ornament of the picture, he
had a very beautiful tabernacle for the Sacrament
made, and in the front of it he put a little shield
blazoned with the arms of the Ricci. And the
best of it was at the opening of the chapel, for
the Ricci having sought with a great outcry for
their arms, not being able to find them, went to
the magistrates, taking the contract with them.
But the Tornabuoni showed that their arms had
been placed in the most conspicuous and the

GHIRLANDAJO 115

most honourable place in the chapel, and though
they exclaimed .that they could not be seen,
they were told that they were wrong, and that
as they had been placed in the most honourable
place, near to the Holy Sacrament, they must
be content. And so it was decided by the
magistrates.

For the same Giovanni Tornabuoni Domenico
painted a chapel in his house a little way from
the city. He was so fond of work, and so
anxious to please every one, that he used to tell
his scholars to take any commission that was
brought to the shop, if it were only the hoops
for women's petticoat panniers, for if they would
not do them he would paint them himself rather
than that any one should go away from his shop
discontented. He disliked greatly any domestic
cares, and therefore left all the management to
his brother David, saying, "Let me work and
you see about providing everything, for now that
I have begun to understand the methods of the
art, I am sorry that they have not given me the
whole circuit of the walls of Florence to paint."
They say that when he was drawing the anti-
quities at Rome, arches, columns, coliseums, and
amphitheatres, he did it all by eye, without rule
or measurement. Drawing the Coliseum in this
way, he put at the foot of it a figure erect, by
measuring which you can find the measurement

ii6 STORIES FROM VASARI

of the whole building, for, being tried by capable
men after his death, it was found correct.

He painted some things at the Abbey of
Passignano belonging to the monks of Vallom-
brosa, together with his brother David and
Bastiano da S. Gimignano. Before the arrival
of Domenico, the painters found themselves very
ill entertained by the monks, so they requested
the abbot to serve them better, saying it was not
fair to treat them like labourers. The abbot
promised to do so, and excused himself, saying
it came from ignorance and not malice. But
Domenico came, and all went on in the same
way, so David, going to the abbot again, said he
came not on his own account, but because of his
brother's worth and talents. The abbot, being
however an ignorant man, made a similar reply.
In the evening, as they sat down to supper, the
monk who had the charge of the strangers, came
bringing a board with porringers and food fit
only for coarse people just as before ; upon which
David, springing up in a rage, flung the soup
over the friar's back, and taking up the loaf from
the table attacked him with it, and struck him
so fiercely that he was carried half dead to his
cell. The abbot, who was already in bed, hear-
ing the noise, sprang up and came out, thinking
the monastery was falling into ruins, and finding
the friar in bad case began to reproach David.

GHIRLANDAJO 117

But he, being infuriated, bade him take himself
off, for his brother Domenico was worth more
than all the pigs of abbots that ever were in that
monastery. And from that time the abbot took
pains to treat them as they ought to have been
treated.

Domenico had a pupil named Jacopo 1'Indaco,
who was a reasonably good master in his time.
It is not strange that few works left his hands,
for he was a merry, idle fellow, and would never
work if he could help it. He used to say it was
not a Christian thing to do nothing but labour
and take no pleasure. He was very intimate
with Michael Angelo, and that great artist, when
he wanted recreation after his great labours of
mind and body, could find no one more to his
humour. And because he found pleasure in his
chatter and his jokes, he used to have him
constantly to dine with him. But one day,
becoming wearisome, as such people generally
do become to their friends by their continual
chatter without discretion and at wrong times,
Michael Angelo, to get rid of him, having
something else to do, sent him out to buy some
figs. And as soon as Jacopo was out of the
house he fastened the door behind him, deter-
mined not to let him in when he came back.
So when 1'Indaco came back from the market,
and found, after knocking at the door in vain

n8 STORIES FROM VASARI

for some time, that Michael Angelo would not
open it, he took the figs and the leaves in which
they were wrapped and strewed them all over the
threshold. Then he went away, and for many
months he would not speak to Michael Angelo ;
and though they afterwards made it up, they
were never such friends as before.

Cosimo Rosselli was called to Rome at the
same time as Domenico Ghirlandajo to paint in
the Sistine Chapel, and there, working in company
with Sandro Botticelli, Luca da Cortona, and
Piero Perugino, he painted three pictures. There
is a story told that the Pope had offered a prize
to the painter who, according to the Pope's own
judgment, should work best. When the pictures
were finished, his Holiness went to see -them,
every painter having done his utmost to deserve
the reward. Cosimo, knowing himself to be weak
in invention and design, had sought to hide his
defects by covering his picture with the finest
ultramarine and other bright colours, and there
was not a tree, or a blade of grass, 'or a garment,
or a cloud that was not shining with gold, for he
thought that the Pope, understanding little of
art, would give him the prize on that account.
When the day was come that all their works
were uncovered, and his was seen, it was received
with great laughter and many scoffing jests by
the other artists, who all mocked him without

HERO DI COSIMO 119

pity. But in the end the laughter was turned
against them, for, as Cosimo had imagined, the
colours dazzled the eyes of the Pope, who did
not much understand such matters, although he
took great pleasure in them, and he decided that
Cosimo had done much better than all the others.
And having given him the prize, Jhe commanded
the others to cover their pictures with the best
azure that could be found, and to touch them up
with gold, that they might be like Cosimo's in
colour and richness. So the poor painters, filled
with despair at having to satisfy the Holy Father's
small understanding, set themselves to spoil all
their good work, and Cosimo laughed at those
who a little before had laughed at him.

He afterwards returned to Florence with a little
money, and lived comfortably there, having as his
pupil Piero, who was always called Piero di Cosimo.

This Piero was the son of one Lorenzo, a
goldsmith, but is never known under any other
name than Piero di Cosimo. His father, seeing
his inclination to drawing, gave him into Cosimo's
care, who received him willingly, and loved him
as his son; and always considered him as such.
The boy had by nature a lofty spirit, being
absent-minded, and very different from the other
boys who studied under Cosimo. He would
get so intent -on what he was doing that if a
matter was being discussed with him it would

120 STORIES FROM VASARI

sometimes be necessary to begin again, and go
over the whole matter a second time, because
his mind had gone away to something else.
And he was so fond of solitude that he had
no greater pleasure than going by himself to
weave fancies and build castles in the air. His
master Cosimo made great use of him, and
could leave him to conduct matters of import-
ance, knowing that Piero had a better manner
and more judgment than himself. He took him
with him to Rome when Pope Sixtus summoned
him to work in his chapel, and in one of his
pictures there Piero painted a most beautiful
landscape. And because he drew well from
nature he painted in Rome the portraits of
many distinguished men.

After the death of Cosimo he shut himself
up, and would let no one see him work, living
more like a wild beast than a man. He would
never have his rooms swept, eat just when he
felt hungry, would not have his garden dug or
the fruit trees pruned, but let the vines grow
and their branches trail on the ground, and
seemed to find pleasure in seeing everything as
wild as his own nature, saying that things of
this sort ought to be left to nature to take
care of. He would often go to see any animal
or plant that was made strangely, and would
talk of it until he wearied his hearers.

PIERO DI COSIMO 121

He had seen some things of Leonardo's,
finished with the extreme care that Lionardo
would take when he wished to show his art,
and this manner pleasing Piero, he sought to
imitate it, though he was very far from attaining
to Leonardo's skill, and was unlike him ; indeed,
he may be said to have changed his manner in
almost everything he did. If he had not been
so abstracted, and had taken more care of
himself, he would have made his great genius
known, so that he would have been adored;
whereas he was generally held to be mad,
though he did no harm except perhaps to
himself, and did good to his art by his works.

I must not forget to say that Piero in his
youth, having a fantastic and strange invention,
was often employed in the masquerades at the
carnival, and was therefore much in favour with
the noble Florentine youths, greatly improving
with his invention that pastime. Some say he
was the first to turn them into a kind of
triumphal procession ; at any rate, he improved
them, introducing music appropriate to the
subjects represented, and adding pompous and
splendid processions of men and horses in suit-
able habits and costumes. And certainly it was
a fine thing to see at night twenty-five or
thirty pairs of horses, richly accoutred, with
their masters attired according to the subject

122 STORIES FROM VASARI

represented, six or eight attendants in livery
following each cavalier, torch in hand, perhaps
to the number of four hundred, and behind
them the car with trophies and fantastical
extravagances, all which things give great plea-
sure to the people. I will just touch briefly
on one of his inventions in mature years, not
because of its agreeableness, but, on the con-
trary, because by its strange and unexpected
horror it gave no- little pleasure to the people.
This was the car of Death, made in such secrecy
in the hall of the Pope that no one was allowed
to see it. It was a triumphal car, hung in black
and painted with dead men's bones and white
crosses, and drawn by buffaloes; and on the
car was a great figure of Death with a scythe
in his hand, and all round were tombs. At the
places where the triumphal procession was used
to stop to sing, the tombs opened and there
came out figures dressed in black, on which
were painted the bones of the skeleton, horrible
to look at, and they sang to the sound of muffled
trumpets in melancholy music that noble song

" Dolor, pianto e penitenza," &c.

Before and after the car rode a great number
of the dead on horseback, singing in a trembling
voice the Miserere.

PIERO DI COSIMO 123

This spectacle, from its novelty, satisfied all,
and Piero, the author and inventor, was much
praised and commended.

I heard Andrea di Cosimo, and Andrea del
Sarto, his pupils, who aided him in the prepara-
tion, say that it was the opinion of the time
that it was intended to signify the return of
the house of Medici, for they were then exiles,
or, as you may say, dead, and were soon to rise
again ; and so some of the words of the song
were interpreted.

None could paint horrible dragons better than
he, as may be seen from a sea monster which
he presented to the magnificent Giuliano de'
Medici. This monster is now in the Guardaroba
of Duke Cosimo de' Medici, where is also a
book of animals of the same kind, most beautiful
and strange, and drawn with the greatest patience.
Indeed, in all his works there is a spirit very
different from that of others, and a certain sub-
tilty in investigating nature regardless of time
or fatigue, only for his own pleasure. And
indeed it could not be otherwise, for, enamoured
of nature, he cared not for his own comfort,
but brought himself to living on hard eggs,
which, to spare firing, he cooked when he boiled
his varnishes, not six or eight at once, but by
fifties, keeping them in a basket to consume
by degrees. This sort of life he enjoyed so

i2 4 STORIES FROM VASARI

much that he thought all other to be mere
slavery. He could not endure the crying of
children, the sound of coughing, the ringing of
bells, or the chanting of friars; but when the
skies were pouring down rain he liked to see
it rushing from the roofs and streaming down
the streets. He had great fear of lightning,
and when it thundered he would wrap himself
in his cloak, and shutting his windows and the
door of his room, would hide himself in a
corner until it was over. His conversation was
so varied that sometimes he would say things
that would make people shake with laughing.
But with old age he grew more strange and
fantastical, and would not even have his pupils
near him. He wanted still to work, but could
not, being paralysed, and in paroxysms of rage
would try to force his hands to keep steady,
and would drop now his mahlstick, and now
his pencils, until it made one sad to see him.
The flies and even the shadows irritated him.
He would talk of the sufferings of those who have
lingering diseases, and would accuse physicians
and nurses of letting sick men die of hunger,
besides torturing them with syrups and medicines.
He would say that it was a fine thing to die by
the hand of justice in the open air, with many
people round you, supported by good words,

PIERO DI COSIMO

and having the priest and the people praying
for you, and going with the angels to Paradise.
In such strange talk and ways he lingered on,
till one morning he was found lying dead at
the foot of the stairs.

CHAPTER XII

FRA BARTOLOMMEO AND MARIOTTO
ALBERTINELLI

IN the country of Prato, distant from Florence
ten miles, at a village called Savignano, was born
Bartolommeo, whose name, according to Tuscan
use, was shortened into Baccio. Showing apti-
tude for drawing in his childhood, through the
mediation of Benedetto da Maiano he was placed
in Cosimo Rosselli's workshop, dwelling for many
years with some of his relatives near the gate
of S. Piero Gattolini, so that he was never known
by any other name than Baccio della Porta. In
the same workshop was Mariotto Albertinelli,
who formed such a close intimacy with Baccio
della Porta that they were one soul and one
body, and there was such a brotherly friendship
between them that, when Baccio left Cosimo to
practise his art by himself as a master, Mariotto
went with him, and there at the gate of S. Piero
Gattolini they lived, producing many works
together. But as Mariotto was not so well

grounded in drawing as Baccio, he gave himself

126

FRA BARTOLOMMEO 127

to the study of the antiquities that were then in
Florence, the greater number and the best of
which were in the house of the Medici. For the
garden there was full of antique fragments, the
study not of Mariotto alone, but of all the
sculptors and painters of his time. Mariotto
profited greatly by the study of these antiquities,
and took service with Madonna Alfonsina, the
mother of Duke Lorenzo, who gave him every
assistance. He drew Madonna Alfonsina from
life very well, and seemed to have found his
fortune by being admitted to her friendship.
But in the year 1494, Piero de' Medici being
banished, her aid failed him, and he returned
to the house of Baccio, where he set himself to
study from nature, and to imitate Baccio* s works,
until in a little while many mistook his paintings
for Baccio's.

Baccio was much beloved in Florence, being
assiduous at work, quiet, good-hearted, and God-
fearing. A quiet life pleased him best; he
avoided all vicious habits, delighted in hearing
preaching, and sought the company of learned
and grave persons. At this time Fra Girolamo
Savonarola from Ferrara, the famous theologian
of the order of Preaching Friars, was at S. Mark's,
and Baccio, constantly frequenting his preaching,
came into close intercourse with him, and almost
lived at the convent, being joined in friendship

128 STORIES FROM VASARI

with the other friars also. Fra Girolamo preach-
ing constantly that evil pictures and amorous
books and music tempted men to evil deeds, the
people were heated by his words; and at the
Carnival, when it was the custom to make bon-
fires on the piazzas, and on the Tuesday evening
to dance round them, Fra Girolamo's influence
prevailed so greatly that they brought to that
place pictures and sculpture, many even from the
hands of great masters, and also books, lutes, and
songs, and there was great destruction, especially
of pictures. Baccio brought all the studies and
drawings that he had made from nude figures,
and Lorenzo di Credi imitated his example, and
many others also who were known as Piagnoni.
Also from the affection he bore to Fra Girolamo
he painted his portrait, which was a most beautiful
work. Afterwards it happened that the contrary
party rose against Fra Girolamo to seize him
and deliver him into the hands of justice. The
friends of the friar, being aware of it, assembled
in S. Mark's to the number of more than five
hundred, and shut themselves up there, Baccio
being one of them. But being 'indeed a man of
little courage, or rather, very timid and cowardly,
when he heard them attack the convent, and saw
some wounded and killed, he began to be in
great fear, and made a vow that if he escaped
he would assume the religious habit. So when

FRA BARTOLOMMEO 129

the tumult was over, and the friar was taken and
condemned to death, as historians have related,
Baccio went away to Prato, and made himself a
friar of S. Domenic at that place, as you will find
written in the chronicles of the convent, on the
26th day of July, 1500, to the great grief of all
his friends, who lamented his loss exceedingly,
and chiefly because they had heard that he had
made up his mind not to have anything more to
do with painting.

Mariotto, losing his companion, was almost
beside himself, and so strange did it seem to him
that he could take no pleasure in anything ; and
if he had not always disliked the society of
friars, whom he constantly spoke against, being
of the party that was contrary to the faction of
Fra Girolamo, his love for Baccio would have
operated so strongly that he would himself have
assumed the cowl in the same convent. But
Gerozzo^Dini prayed him to finish a picture of
the Judgment which Baccio had left unfinished,
and Fra Bartolommeo entreated him also, having
received money for the picture, and his conscience
therefore reproaching him; so Mariotto applied
himself to it, and completed it with such dili-
gence and earnestness that many would think it
was done by one hand alone.

Afterwards Mariotto, with his pupils, painted
a picture of the Crucifixion in the Certosa of

130 STORIES FROM VASARI

Florence. But the friars not treating them in
the matter of food to their taste, some of the
boys who were studying with him, without
Mariotto knowing anything about it, contrived
to counterfeit the keys of the windows through
which the friars received their pittance into their
cells, and secretly, sometimes from one and
sometimes from another, they stole the food.
There were great complaints on the subject
among the friars, for in questions of eating they
are as quick to feel as others ; but the boys doing
it dexterously, and being supposed honest, the
blame was laid on some of the friars, until at
last one day the thing was found out. Then
the friars, that the work might be finished, con-
sented to give double rations to Mariotto and his
scholars.

Mariotto was a restless person and fond of
good living, and taking a dislike to the mental
exertion necessary to painting, being also often
stung by the tongues of other painters, as is their
way, he resolved to give himself to a less labo-
rious and more jovial profession, and so opened a
hostelry outside the gate S. Gallo, and the tavern
of the Dragon at the old bridge. This life he
led for many months, saying that he had taken
up an art that was without muscles, foreshorten-
ing, or perspective, and what was better still,
without fault-finding, and that the art that he

( . l/ttr t

THE VIRGIN AND CHILD.
I>v l-ra Krtoh>tttt\t in the t onrfni o/ i*. Mark at /'/< f. ?, 1

MARIOTTO ALBERTINELLI 131

had given up imitated flesh and blood, but this
made flesh and blood ; in this if you had good
wine you heard yourself praised, but in that
every day you were blamed. But at last the low
life became an annoyance to him, and, filled with
remorse, he returned to painting.

After Fra Bartolommeo had been many months
at Prato, he was. sent by his superiors to
S. Mark's at Florence, where the brethren re-
ceived him gladly. And in those days Bernardo
del Bianco had made a chapel in the abbey of
Florence, and desiring to put a picture there
worthy of the ornament, it came into his mind
that Fra Bartolommeo would be the right man,
and he set all his friends to work to obtain him.
Now Fra Bartolommeo was in the convent, think-
ing of nothing but the holy services and his rule,
although the prior had prayed him earnestly, and
the friends most" dear to him besought him, to
paint something, and already four years had
passed since he had done anything; but now,
being pressed by Bernardo del Bianco, he at last
began the picture of the Vision of S. Bernard.

Raffaello da Urbino came at this time to study
art at Florence, and taught the rules of perspec-
tive to Fra Bartolommeo; for Raffaello, being
desirous to colour in the friar's manner, was
always with him. Afterwards, when he heard of
the great things that the graceful Raffaello and

1 32 STORIES FROM VASARI

Michael Angelo were doing in Rome, Fra Bar-
tolommeo obtained leave to go there, and being
entertained by Fra Mariano del Piombo, he
painted for him two pictures of S. Peter and
S. Paul. But because he could not succeed there
as he had done at Florence, being, as it were,
overwhelmed by the ancient and modern works
which he saw in such abundance, he determined
to depart, leaving Raffaello to finish one of the
pictures, the S. Peter, which was given to Fra
Mariano, entirely retouched by Raffaello's hand.
So he came back to Florence ; and many having
reproached him with not being able to paint the
human body, he set himself to work to show he
was as apt at it as any one else, and painted a
S. Sebastian, which received great praise from
artists. But the friars removed it from the
church, and it was afterwards sent to the King
of France.

Fra Bartolommeo held that it was best when
you were working to have the things before
you, and for the draperies and armour, and such
things, he made a model of wood as large as life,
with joints, and clothed it with garments, by
which he accomplished great things, being able at
his pleasure to keep them without being moved
until he had finished his work.

While he was painting for Pietro Soderini, in
the Council Hall, it happened that he had to

MARIOTTO ALBERTINELLI 133

work under a window, and the light striking
upon him constantly, he was paralysed on that
side, and could not move himself. He was ad-
vised, therefore, to go to the baths of S. Fiiippo,
where he stayed a long time, but to little purpose.
Fra Bartolommeo was very fond of fruit, but it
was hurtful to him; and one morning, having
eaten a great many figs, he was taken with a
violent fever, which cut short his life in four
days, at the age of forty-eight. His friends,
and especially the friars, mourned him much, and
they gave him honourable burial in S. Mark's.

CHAPTER XIII

THE BELLINI AND ANDREA MANTEGNA

JACOPO BELLINI, the Venetian painter, had been
a pupil of Gentile da Fabriano, and after the
departure of Domenico Veniziano from Venice,
found himself without a rival there. He had
also two sons of fine genius, the one named
Giovanni and the other Gentile, named after
Gentile da Fabriano, whom he held in memory
as his loving master and father. As his two sons
grew up, Jacopo himself taught them diligently
the principles of drawing, but before long they
both surpassed their father greatly. This re-
joiced him much, and he constantly encouraged
them, saying that as the Tuscans boasted that they
grew strong by conquering each other, so he desired
that Giovanni should first conquer him, and then
that he and Gentile should contend together.

He painted many pictures with the aid of his
sons on canvas, as they almost always do in that
city, using very seldom the panels of maple or
poplar, which are so pleasant to work upon. For
if they use wood in Venice, it is always the wood

134

THE BELLINI 135

of the fir-tree, which is brought in abundance to
that city down the river Adige from Germany.
But usually they paint on canvas, either because
it does not crack or because you can make the
picture any size you will, or for the convenience
of sending them about.

Afterwards separating, they lived apart, but
none the less did the two sons reverence each
other, and both their father, praising each the
other, and each esteeming himself inferior, thus
seeking to surpass one another no less in kindness
and courtesy than in the excellence of their art.

The admiration excited by their paintings
caused many of the Venetian gentlemen to pro-
pose that they should take advantage of the
presence of such rare masters to have the Hall
of the Great Council painted with stories of the
great deeds done by the city in war, and other
things worthy of memory. And this work was
entrusted by those in rule to Giovanni and
Gentile Bellini, and the painter Vivarino; but
poor Vivarino, having accomplished part with
great honour, died, and it was necessary that
Giovanni Bellini should complete his work.

Not long after, some portraits having been
taken to Turkey to the Grand Turk by an
ambassador, that emperor was so struck with
astonishment that, although the Mahometan laws
prohibit pictures, he accepted them with great

136 STORIES FROM VASARI

goodwill, praising the work without end, and
what is more, requesting that the master himself
be sent to him. But the senate, considering that
Giovanni could ill support the hardships, resolved
to send Gentile his brother, and he was conveyed
safely in their galleys to Constantinople, where
being presented to Mahomet, he was received
with much kbdness as a new thing. He pre-
sented a beautiful picture to the prince, who
admired it much, and could not persuade himself
to believe that a mortal man had in him so much
of the divinity as to be able to express the things
of nature in such a lively manner. Gentile
painted the Emperor Mahomet himself from life
so well that it was considered a miracle, and the
emperor, having seen many specimens of his art,
asked Gentile if he had the courage to paint
himself; and Gentile having answered "Yes,"
before many days were over he finished a life-like
portrait by means of a mirror, and brought it to
the monarch, whose astonishment was so great
that he would have it a divine spirit dwelt in
him. And had not this art been forbidden by
the law of the Turks, the emperor would never
have let him go. But either from fear that
people would murmur, or from some other cause,
he sent for him one day, and having thanked
him, and given him great praise, he bade him to
ask whatever he would and it should be granted

THE BELLINI 137

him without fail. Gentile modestly asked for
nothing more than that he would graciously give
him a letter of recommendation to the Senate and
Signory of Venice. His request was granted in
as fervent words as possible, and then, loaded
with gifts and honours, and with the dignity of a
cavalier, he was sent away. Among the other
gifts was a chain of gold of two hundred and
fifty crowns weight, worked in the Turkish
manner. So, leaving Constantinople, he came
safely to Venice, where he was received by his
brother Giovanni and the whole city with joy,
every one rejoicing in the honours which Mahomet
had paid him. When the Doge and Signory
saw the letters of the emperor, they ordered
that a provision of two hundred crowns a year
should be paid him all the rest of his life.

Gentile painted a few works after his return ;
but at last, being near eighty, he passed away to
another life, and was buried honourably by his
brother Giovanni. Giovanni, widowed of Gentile,
whom he had always loved tenderly, continued
to work for some time, and applied himself to
painting portraits from life with such success
that it became the custom for every one who
attained to any rank or position to have their
portraits painted by him, or some other. At
last, having attained to the age of ninety, he died
and was buried by the side of his brother.

138 STORIES FROM VASARI

Connected with this family by marriage was
Andrea Mantegna, who came of very low birth,
and when a boy kept cattle in the country round
Mantua ; but as he grew up, Jacopo Squarcione,
a Paduan painter, took him into his house and,
perceiving his talents, adopted him as a son.
Squarcione, however, knowing himself to be not
the best painter in the world, and desiring that
Andrea might learn more than he knew himself,
made him study from copies of antique statues
and pictures, which he fetched from different
places, particularly Tuscany and Rome. By
these means Andrea learnt much, and began to
produce works of so great promise that Jacopo
Bellini, the father of Gentile and Giovanni, and
the rival of Squarcione, gave him for a wife one
of his daughters. But when Squarcione heard of
it, he was so enraged with Andrea that he became
his enemy, always finding fault with his pictures
publicly, saying it would be better if he did not
colour his pictures, but made them the colour
of marble, for they had no resemblance to life.
These reproaches stung Andrea much, but 'they
were of use to him, for he perceived that they
were in great part true, and set himself therefore
to study from life. Nevertheless it was always
Andrea's opinion that for study good antique
figures were 'better than life, because in them
the perfection of nature taken from many

ANDREA MANTEGNA 139

persons is united, which is rarely the case in
one body.

For Lodovico Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua,
who esteemed him greatly, he painted much, re-
presenting for him the Triumph of Caesar, which
is the best thing he ever did. He gained so
much fame by it that Innocent VIII. , hearing of
him, sent for him to Rome. It is said that the
Pope, being much occupied, did not give money
to Mantegna as often as he wanted it, and there-
fore when he was painting the Virtues he put
among them Discretion. And the Pope, going
one day to see the work, asked Andrea what it
was, and he answered, "She is Discretion/* So
the Pope answered, " If you would have her well
accompanied, put by her side Patience." And the
painter saw what the Holy Father meant, and said
no more. But when the work was finished, the
Pope sent him away with many rewards and
favours.

He delighted, as Pollaiuolo did, in engraving,
and among other things engraved his Triumph.
He was a man of gentle manners, and will be
remembered not only in his country but through
all the world, so that he deserved to be celebrated
by Ariosto, who at the beginning of the 33rd
canto, enumerating the most illustrious painters
of his time, says

" Lionardo, Andrea Mantegna, Gian Bellino."

CHAPTER XIV

LIONARDO DA VINCI

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO was in his time a
goldsmith, sculptor, carver in wood, painter, and
musician. For, having made a name for himself
as a goldsmith, he was sent for to Rome, to work
in the Pope's chapel, and perceiving the great
esteem in which the ancient statues which had
been found in Rome were held, he determined
to apply himself to sculpture, and, entirely aban-
doning his goldsmith's trade, he set himself
to cast some figures in bronze. These being
much praised, he took courage and began to
work in marble also. Just at that time the
wife of Francesco Tornabuoni died, and the
husband, who had loved her much, desired to
set up a monument to her honour, and entrusted
it to Andrea, who carved upon it the death of
the lady and three figures of Virtues, which
brought him much praise. So he returned to
Florence with money, fame, and honour, and
was employed to cast in bronze the ornaments

for the tomb of Giovanni and Piero di Cosimo

140

LIONARDO DA VINCI 141

de* Medici, and other works. But finding that
he could not increase his fame in this art, being
also a person to whom it was not enough to excel
in one thing only, he turned his thoughts to
painting, and made some sketches for pictures.
He began to work upon them in colour, but
from some cause they were left unfinished.
There are many drawings by his hand, and
among them some heads of women, with the
hair arranged in that manner that Lionardo
da Vinci always imitated.

The cupola of S. Maria del Fiore was now
finished, and after much consultation it was
resolved to make the ball of copper, to be placed
on the top according to the directions left by
Filippo Brunellesco. The work was entrusted
to Andrea, and he made it four braccia high,
and set it up, fixing it firmly so that the cross
could be put upon it securely. The work was
finished and set up with great feasting and
rejoicing. It required great ingenuity and care,
for it had to be made so that it could be entered
from below, and strengthened with supports, lest
the wind should do it injury.

Andrea was never at rest, but always working
at something, though he often changed from
one work to another, growing weary of the
same thing. Though he never carried out the
sketches for pictures which we mentioned before,

i 4 2 STORIES FROM VASARI

he did paint some pictures, and among them
was one for the friars of Vallombrosa, of
S. John baptizing Christ, in which Lionardo
helped him, and which was the cause that Andrea
resolved never to touch a brush again.

At this time the Venetians were desiring to
pay honour to Bartolommeo Colleoni da Bergamo,
who had won them many victories ; and having
heard of the fame of Andrea, they fetch3T~iiim
to Venice, and gave him command to make a
bronze statue of the captain, to be set up on
the Piazza of S. Giovanni and S. Paolo. He
made therefore the model of a horse, and was
preparing to cast it in bronze, when it was
decided, at the wish of some of the nobles, that
Vellano da Padova should make the figure of
the general, and Andrea the horse only. As
soon as Andrea heard this, he broke off the head
and the legs of his model, and, without saying
a word, returned to Florence in a rage. When
the Signory heard of his departure, they sent
a message to him that he had better not dare
ever to return to Venice, or they would cut.
off his head, to which he replied in writing that
he would take - care, for if they cut off people's
heads, it was not in their power to put them
on again, while he could restore the head to
the horse that he had broken off, or a finer one
still. The reply did not displease the Signory,

orenzodi Credt.

THE ANNUNCIATION.
( Vffisi Gallery, Florenct )

Anderson.

LIONARDO DA VINCI 143

and they made him return to Venice, doubling
the money for his provision. So he mended
his first model, and cast it in bronze ; but , he
did not perfectly finish it, for being heated in
casting it, he caught a chill, of which he died
in a few days.

Among his many disciples the one he loved
most was Lorenzo di Credi. He was the son
of Andrea Sciarpelloni, and was apprenticed by
his father to Master Credi the goldsmith, where
before long he became so excellent in the work
that to the great honour of Credi he was always
called not Lorenzo Sciarpelloni, but Lorenzo
di Credi. Afterwards he attached himself to
Andrea Verrocchio, having Piero Perugino and
Lionardo da Vinci for his companions ; and
because Lionardo's manner of painting pleased
him greatly, he learnt to imitate him. Lorenzo
was so much beloved by his master that when
Andrea went to Venice he left Lorenzo in charge
of all his business and his revenues, with all his
drawings and statues and materials for work.
And Lorenzo on his side was so attached to his
master that, besides attending to his affairs in
Florence with wonderful affection, he went more
than once to Venice to see him and render him
account of his management. This gave Andrea
so much satisfaction that, if Lorenzo would have
consented, he would have made him his heir.

i 4 4 STORIES FROM VASARI

When Andrea died Lorenzo went to Venice
and brought his body back to Florence, giving
up to the heirs everything that was Andrea's,
except the statues and drawings and things
of art.

But the greatest of all Andrea's pupils was
Lionardo da Vinci, in whom, besides a beauty
of person never sufficiently admired and a won-
derful grace in all his actions, there was such
a power of intellect that whatever he turned
his mind to he made himself master of with
ease.

Marvellous and divine, indeed, was Lionardo
the son of Ser Piero da Vinci. In erudition and
letters he would have distinguished himself, if
he had not been variable and unstable. For he
set himself to learn many things, and when he
had begun them gave them. up. In arithmetic,
during the few months that he applied himself
to it, he made such progress that he often
perplexed his master by the doubts and diffi-
culties that he propounded. He gave some
time to the study of music, and learnt to play
on the lute, improvising songs most divinely.
But though he applied himself to such various
subjects, he never laid aside drawing and
modelling in relief, to which his fancy inclined
him more than to anything else; which Ser
Piero perceiving, he took some of his drawings

LIONARDO DA VINCI 145

one day and carried them to Andrea del
Verrocchio, with whom he was in close friend-
ship, and prayed him to say whether he thought,
if Lionardo gave himself up to drawing, he
would succeed. Andrea was astounded at the
great beginning Lionardo had made, and urged
Ser Piero to make him apply himself to it.
So he arranged with Lionardo that he was to
go to Andrea's workshop, which Lionardo did
very willingly, and set himself to practise every
art in which design has a part. For he had
such a marvellous mind that, besides being a
good geometrician, he worked at modelling
(making while a boy some laughing women's
heads, and some heads of children which seem
to have come from a master's hand), and also
made many designs for architecture ; and he
was the first, while he was still quite young,
to discuss the question of making a channel
for the river Arno from Pisa to Florence.
He made models of mills and presses, and
machines to be worked by water, and designs
for tunnelling through mountains, and levers
and cranes for raising great weights, so that it
seemed that his brain never ceased inventing ;
and many of these drawings are still scattered
about. Among them was one drawn for some
of the citizens then governing Florence, to show
how it would be possible to lift up the church

K

146 STORIES FROM VASARI

of S. Giovanni, and put steps under it without
throwing it down ; and he supported -his scheme
with such strong reasons as made it appear
possible, though as soon as he was gone every
one felt in his mind how impossible it really
was.

He delighted much in horses and also in all
other animals, and often when passing by the
places where they sold birds he would take
them out of their cages, and paying the price
that was asked for them, .would let them fly
away into the air, restoring to them their lost
liberty.

While, as we have said, he was studying art
under Andrea del Verrocchio, the latter was
painting a picture of S. John baptizing Christ ;
Lionardo worked upon an angel who was holding
the clothes, and although he was so young, he
managed it so well that Lionardo's angel was
better than Andrea's figures, which was the
cause of Andrea's never touching colours again,
being angry that a boy should know - more
than he.

There is a story that Ser Piero, being at his
country house, was asked by one of the country
people to get a round piece of wood, which he
had cut from a fig-tree, painted for him in
Florence, which he very willingly undertook
to do, as the man was skilled in catching birds

Verocchio and Lionardo.

DETAIL FROM SAINT JOHN BAPTISING CHRIST.
(Accademia, Florence.)

LIONARDO DA VINCI 147

and fishing, and was very serviceable to Ser
Piero in these sports. So having it brought to
Florence without telling Lionardo where it came
from, he asked him to paint something upon
it. Lionardo, finding it crooked and rough,
straightened it by means of fire, and gave it to
a turner that it might be made smooth and even.
Then having prepared it for painting, he began
to think what he could paint upon it that would
frighten every one that saw it, having the effect
of the head of Medusa. So he brought for this
purpose to his room, which no one entered but
himself, lizards, grasshoppers, serpents, butterflies,
locusts, bats, and other strange animals of the
kind, and from them all he produced a great
animal so horrible and fearful that it seemed to
poison the air with its fiery breath. This he
represented coming out of some dark broken
rocks, with venom issuing from its open jaws,
fire from its eyes, and smoke from its nostrils,
a monstrous and horrible thing indeed. And
he suffered much in doing it, for the smell in
the room of these dead animals was very bad,
though Lionardo did not feel it from the love
he bore to art. When the work was finished,
Lionardo told his father that he could send for
it when he liked. And Ser Piero going one
morning to the room for it, when he knocked
at the door, Lionardo opened it, and telling him

148 STORIES FROM VASARI

to wait a little, turned back into the room, placed
the picture in the light, and arranged the window
so as to darken the room a little, and then
brought him in to see it. Ser Piero at the first
sight started back, not perceiving that the creature
that he saw was painted, and was turning to go,
when Lionardo stopped him saying, "The work
answers the purpose for which it was made.
Take it then, for that was the effect I wanted
to produce." The thing seemed marvellous to
Ser Piero, and he praised greatly Lionardo's
whimsical idea. And secretly buying from a
merchant another circular piece of wood, painted
with a heart pierced with a dart, he gave it to
the countryman, who remained grateful to him
as long as he lived. But Lionardo's Ser Piero
sold to some merchants in Florence for a hun-
dred ducats, and it soon came into the hands of
the Duke of Milan, who bought it of them for
three hundred ducats.

Lionardo was so pleased whenever he saw a
strange head or beard or hair of unusual appear-
ance that he would follow such a person a whole
day, and so learn him by heart, that when he
reached home he could draw him as if he were
present. There are many of these heads to be
seen, both of men and women, such as the head
of Americo Vespucci, which is the head of an
old man most beautifully drawn in chalk ; and

LIONARDO DA VINCI 149

also of Scaramuccia, captain of the gipsies.
When Giovan Galeazzo, Duke of Milan, was
dead, and Lodovico Sforza became duke in the
year 1494, Lionardo was brought to Milan to
play the lute before him, in which he greatly
delighted. Lionardo brought an instrument
which he had made himself, a new and strange
thing made mostly of silver, in the form of a
horse's head, that the tube might be larger and
the sound more sonorous, by which he surpassed
all the other musicians who were assembled there.
Besides, he was the best improvisatore of his
time. The duke, hearing his marvellous dis-
course, became enamoured of his talents to an
incredible degree, and prayed him to paint an
altar-piece of the Nativity, which he sent to the
emperor.

He also painted in Milan for the friars of
S. Domenic, at S. Maria delle Grazie, a Last
Supper, a thing most beautiful and marvellous.
He gave to the heads of the apostles great
majesty and beauty, but left that of Christ im-
perfect, not thinking it possible to give that
celestial divinity which is required for the re-
presentation of Christ. The work, finished after
this sort, has always been held by the Milanese
in the greatest veneration, and by strangers also,
because Lionardo imagined, and has succeeded in
expressing, the desire that has entered the minds

150 STORIES FROM VASARI

of the apostles to know who is betraying their
Master. So in the face of each one may be seen
love, fear, indignation, or grief at not being able
to understand the meaning of Christ; and this
excites no less astonishment than the obstinate
hatred and treachery to be seen in Judas. Be-
sides this, every lesser part of the work shows
an incredible diligence; even in the table-cloth
the weaver's work is imitated in a way that could
not be better in the thing itself.

It is said that the prior of the place was very
importunate in urging Lionardo to finish the
work, it seeming strange to him to see Lionardo
standing half a day lost in thought; and he
would have liked him never to have put down
his pencil, as if it were a work like digging the
garden. And this not being enough, he com-
plained to the duke, and was so hot about it that
he was constrained to send for Lionardo and
urge him to the work. Lionardo, knowing the
prince to be acute and intelligent, was ready to
discuss the matter with him, which he would not
do with the prior. He reasoned about art, and
showed him that men of genius may be working
when they seem to be doing the least, working
out inventions in their minds, and forming those
perfect ideas which afterwards they express with
their hands. He added that he still had two
heads to do ; that of Christ, which he would not

LIONARDO DA VINCI 151

seek for in the world, and which he could not
hope that his imagination would be able to con-
ceive of such beauty and celestial grace as was
fit for the incarnate divinity. Besides this, that
of Judas was wanting, which he was considering,
not thinking himself capable of imagining a form
to express the face of him who after receiving so
many benefits had a soul so evil that he was
resolved to betray his Lord and the creator of
the world; but this second he was looking for,
and if he could find no better there was always
the head of this importunate and foolish prior.
This moved the duke marvellously to laughter,
and he said he was a thousand times right. So
the poor prior, quite confused, left off urging
him and left him alone, and Lionardo finished
Judas's head, which is a true portrait of treachery
and cruelty. But that of Christ, as we have
said, he left imperfect. The excellence of this
picture, both in composition and incomparable
finish of execution, made the King of France
desire to carry it into his kingdom, and he tried
every way to find architects who could bring it
safely, not considering the expense, so much he
desired to have it. But as it was painted on the
wall his Majesty could not have his will, and it
remained with the Milanese.

In the refectory, and while he was working at
the Last Supper, he painted Lodovico with his

152 STORIES FROM VASARI

eldest son, Massimiliano, and on the other side
the Duchess Beatrice with Francesco her other
son, both afterwards Dukes of Milan. While
he was employed upon this work he proposed to
the duke that he should make a bronze eques-
trian statue of marvellous size to perpetuate the
memory of the Duke (Francesco Sforza). He
began it, but made the model of such a size that
it could never be completed. There are some
who say that Lionardo began it so large because
he did not mean to finish it, as with many of his
other things. But in truth his mind, being so
surpassingly great, was often brought to a stand
because it was too venturesome, and the cause of
his leaving so many things imperfect was his
search for excellence after excellence, and perfec-
tion after perfection. And those who saw the
clay model that Lionardo made, said they had
never seen anything more beautiful or more
superb, and this was in existence until the French
came to Milan with Louis, King of France, when
they broke it to pieces. There was also a small
model in wax, which is lost, which was considered
perfect, and a book of the anatomy of the horse
which he made in his studies. Afterwards with
greater care he gave himself to the study of
human anatomy, aided by, and in his turn aiding,
that Messer Marc Antonio della Torre who was
one of the first to shed light upon anatomy,

LIONARDO DA VINCI 153

which up to that time had been lost in the shades
of ignorance. In this he was much helped by
Lionardo, who made a book with drawings in
red chalk, outlined with a pen, of the bones
and muscles which he had dissected with his
own hand. There are also some writings of
Lionardo written backward with the left hand,
treating of painting and methods of drawing and
colouring.

In his time the King of France came to Milan,
and Lionardo was entreated to make something
strange for his reception, upon which he con-
structed a lion, which advanced some steps and
then opened his breast and showed it full of
lilies. Having returned to Florence, he found
that the Servite monks had entrusted Filippino
with the work of painting an altar-piece; but
when Filippino heard that Lionardo had said he
should have liked such a piece of work, like the
courteous man he was he left off working at it,
and the friars brought Lionardo to their convent
that he might paint it, providing both for himself
and his household. For a long time, however,
he did nothing, but at last he made a cartoon of
our Lady with S. Anne and the infant Christ,
which not only astonished all artists, but when
it was finished, for two days his room was filled
with men and women, young and old, going as
to a solemn festival to see Lionardo's marvels.

154 STORIES FROM VASARI

This cartoon afterwards went to France. But
he gave up the work for the friars, who recalled
Filippino, but he was surprised by death before
he could finish it.

Lionardo undertook to paint for Francesco del
Giocondo a portrait of Mona Lisa his wife, but
having spent four years upon it, left it unfinished.
This work now belongs to King Francis of
France, and whoever wishes to see how art can
imitate nature may learn from this head. Mona
Lisa being most beautiful, he used, while he was
painting her, to have men to sing and play to
her and buffoons to amuse her, to -take away that
look of melancholy which is so often seen in
portraits ; and in this of Lionardo's there is a
peaceful smile more divine than human. By the
excellence of the works of this most divine of
artists his fame was grown so great that all who
delighted in art, and in fact the whole city,
desired to have some memorial of it. And the
Gonfalonier and the chief citizens agreed that, the
Great Hall of the Council having been rebuilt,
Lionardo should be charged to paint some great
work there. Therefore, accepting the work,
Lionardo began a cartoon representing the story
of Nicoli Piccinino, captain of the Duke Filippo
of Milan, in which he drew a group of cavalry
fighting for a standard, representing vividly the
rage and fury both of the men and the horses,

Ltonardo da Vinci.

Manittt

MONNA LISA.
(TheLoitvre.)

LIONARDO DA VINCI 155

two of which, with their fore feet entangled,
are making war no less fiercely with their teeth
than those who ride them. We cannot describe
the variety of the soldiers' garments, with their
crests and other ornaments, and the masterly
power he showed in the forms of the horses,
whose muscular strength and beauty of grace he
knew better than any other man. It is said that
for drawing this cartoon he erected an ingenious
scaffolding that could be raised and lowered.
And desiring to paint the wall in oil, he made a
composition to cover the wall ; but when he began
to paint upon it, it proved so unsuccessful that
he shortly abandoned it altogether.

There is a story that having gone to the bank
for the sum which he was accustomed to receive
from the Gonfalonier Piero Soderini every month,
the cashier wanted to give him some packets of
farthings, but he refused to take them, saying,
" I am no farthing painter." As some accused
him of having cheated Soderini in not finishing
the picture, there arose murmurs against him,
upon which Lionardo, by the help of his friends,
collected the money and restored it to him, but
Piero would not accept it.

When Leo was made Pope, Lionardo went
to Rome with Duke Giuliano de' Medici, and
knowing the Pope to be fond of philosophy,
especially alchemy, he used to make little animals

156 STORIES FROM VASARI

of a wax paste, which as he walked along he
would fill with wind by blowing into them, and
so make them fly in the air, until the wind being
exhausted, they dropped to the ground. The
vinedresser of the Belvedere having found a very
strange lizard, Lionardo made some wings of the
scales of other lizards and fastened them on its
back with a mixture of quicksilver, so that they
trembled when it walked; and having made for
it eyes, horns, and a beard, he tamed it and kept
it in a box, but all his friends to whom he
showed it used to run away from fear.

It is said that when the Pope entrusted him
with some work for him he immediately began
to distil oil for the varnish, upon which Pope
Leo said, " Oh, this is a man to do nothing,
for he thinks of the end before he begins his
work."

There was great ill-feeling between him and
Michael Angelo Buonarroti, on which account
Michael Angelo left Florence. But when Lio-
nardo heard this, he set out and went into
France, where the king, having already some
of his works, was well affectioned towards him,
and desired that he should colour his cartoon
of S. Anne ; but he, according to his custom,
kept him waiting a long time. At last, having
become old, he lay ill for many months, and
seeing himself near death, he set himself to study

LIONARDO DA VINCI 157

the holy Christian religion, and though he could
not stand, desired to leave his bed with the help
of his friends and servants to receive the Holy
Sacrament. Then the king, who used often and
lovingly to visit him, came in, and he, raising
himself respectfully to sit up in bed, spoke of
his sickness, and how he had offended God and
man by not working at his art as he ought.
Then there came a paroxysm, a forerunner of
death, and the king raised him and lifted his
head to help him and lessen the pain, whereupon
his spirit, knowing it could have no greater
honour, passed away in the king's arms in the
seventy-fifth year of his age.

The loss of Lionardo was mourned out of
measure by all who had known him, for there
was none who had done such honour to painting.
The splendour of his great beauty could calm
the saddest soul, and his words could move the
most obdurate mind. His great strength could
restrain the most violent fury, and he could
bend an iron knocker or a horseshoe as if it
were lead. He was liberal to his friends, rich
and poor, if they had talent and worth; and
indeed as Florence had the greatest of gifts in
his birth, so she suffered an infinite loss in his
death.

I think I have said that it was in the little
town of Vinci in the Valdarno that Ser Piero

158 STORIES FROM VASARI

the father of the great Lionardo dwelt. To
this Piero was born after Lionardo another son,
Bartolommeo, who remained at Vinci, and when
he was come to years of discretion, took to wife
one of the first ladies of the town. Bartolommeo
was very desirous of having a son, and he used often
to tell his wife of the great genius of his brother
Lionardo, and to pray God to make her worthy
to bring forth another Lionardo, he being already
dead. And when according to his desire a boy
was born, he desired to name it Lionardo, but by
the counsel of his relations he gave it the name
of Piero after his father. At the age of three
years it was a child of beautiful countenance and
curling hair, with much grace in all its gestures
and a wonderful quickness of mind. And there
came to Vinci and lodged in the house of Barto-
lommeo an excellent astrologer named Giuliano
del Carmine, and with him a priest skilled in
palmistry, and they, looking at the head and
hand of the child, predicted both of them alike
that he would be a great genius, and in a very
short time would make great progress in the arts,
but that his life would be very short. And too
true was their prophecy !

Piero, then, as he grew was taught his letters
by his father, but without a master he set himself
to draw and to make little figures of clay, so
Bartolommeo trusted that his prayer had been

LIONARDO DA VINCI 159

heard and his brother given back to him in his
son. Therefore, taking him to Florence, he
placed him first with Bandinello and afterwards
with II Tribolo. This master being then em-
ployed on some fountains at Castello, set Piero
to work upon the figure of a boy, and he finished
this so well that II Tribolo prophesied he would
show himself of rare skill. Taking courage by
his success, he produced other works which
astonished those who saw them. At this time
few knew that he was the nephew of lionardo
da Vinci; but when his works had made him
known, it was discovered of what family he
came, and they left off calling him Piero and
called him II Vinci. II Vinci, therefore, having
heard much of Rome, felt a great desire to go
there, not only to see the antiquities, but also
Michael Angelo's works and Michael Angelo
himself, then living in Rome. He went there-
fore with some of his friends, but having seen all
that he desired, returned to Florence, considering
wisely that the works there were too profound
for him, and should be seen not by beginners,
but by those who have greater knowledge of
art. Nevertheless after more study he returned
again to Rome, and spent there a year making
many things worthy of memory, and for his
friend Luca Martini he made a copy in wax of
Michael Angelo's Moses. While he was there

160 STORIES FROM VASARI

Luca Martini was made by the Duke of Florence
Proveditore of Pisa. And not forgetting his
friend, he wrote to him that he had prepared
a room for him and provided a piece of marble.
Vinci therefore, moved by this invitation and
the love he bore to Luca, left Rome and chose
Pisa for his residence for some time. And the
duke being then intent on benefiting and em-
bellishing the city of Pisa, II Vinci was employed
by him.

II Vinci's name and talents were now known
and admired by all, and being still young, it
appeared likely that he would equal any man
in art, when the term prescribed by Heaven came
to an end, and his rapid course was stopped.
It happened that the Duke sent Luca Martini
to Genoa on matters of importance, and he,
loving II Vinci and his company, and thinking
it would be an amusement to him to see Genoa,
took him with him. But almost immediately
he was seized with a fever, and the distress was
doubled by his friend being obliged to leave
him and return to the Duke in Florence. He (
commended him to the care of Abate Nero;
but II Vinci, finding himself growing daily worse,
sent for one of his pupils from Pisa, and with
his aid was brought to Leghorn by water, and
thence to Pisa in a litter. Arriving at Pisa one
evening at twenty-two o'clock, worn out with

LIONARDO DA VINCI 161

the hardships of the road and the sea and the
fever, he could get no rest that night, and the
next morning at break of day passed away to
another life, not having reached the age of three
and twenty.

CHAPTER XV

GIORGIONE AND FRA SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO

AT the same time that Florence was acquiring
such fame by the works of Lionardo, Venice
received no little honour by the talents and
excellence of one of its citizens, who far sur-
passed the Bellini, who were held in such esteem,
and every other who had up to that time painted
in their city. This was Giorgio, born at Castel-
franco in the Trevisan in the year 1478, after-
wards called Giorgione, from his fine person and
the greatness of his soul, for he, though of low
birth, was all his life distinguished for his gentle
manners. He was brought up in Venice, and
sang and played so divinely that he was often
invited to musical entertainments, and received
by noble persons. He gave himself, however,
to drawing, and was so favoured by nature that
he, falling in love with her beauty, would never
use anything in his works which he had not
drawn from life^ so that he acquired the repu-
tation not only of having surpassed Gentile
and Giovanni Bellini, but of having equalled

GIORGIONE 163

those who worked in Tuscany, and were the
authors of the modern manner. Giorgione had
seen some things of Lionardo's worked with great
depth of shadow but blended and softened, and
this manner pleased him so much that all his life
he used it and imitated it when painting in oil.

It was in 1504 that a great fire destroyed the
German Exchange near the bridge of the Rialto,
consuming all the merchandise, to the very great
loss of the merchants. The Signory of Venice
ordered that it should be rebuilt, and it was
speedily completed, with greater accommodation
and magnificence and beauty; and the fame of
Giorgione having by this time grown great, it
was decided by those in authority that he should
paint it in fresco according to his own fancy,
provided he displayed his utmost powers, and
made an excellent work of it, for it was in the
best situation, and the finest view of the whole
city. Giorgione, setting to work, thought only
how he could design figures that would best
display his art ; and in fact there is no story in
it, nor does it represent the story of any person,
ancient or modern. I for my part have never
understood it, nor have I ever found anybody
who did ; for here is a woman and there a man,
in certain attitudes, one with the head of a lion
near him, and the other with an angel in the
guise of Cupid. In short, his figures look well

1 64 STORIES FROM VASARI

together, and there are heads very well drawn
and coloured, and all he did was evidently from
life, and not in imitation of any manner.

There is a story that Giorgione was talking to
some sculptors at the time that Andrea Verrocchio
was making his bronze horse, and they contended
that because sculpture showed in one figure dif-
ferent sides, and could be seen all round, it
surpassed painting, which only showed one part.
Giorgione argued that a picture could show all
sorts of views of a man at one glance, without his
having to walk round it, and he undertook to
show in one picture the back and the front and
the two sides of one single figure, a thing which
puzzled them ; but he did it in this way. He
painted a man, turning his back to the spectators,
and having at his feet some smooth water, in which
the front view was reflected ; on one. side of him
was a polished corslet which he had taken off, on
which was plainly reflected his left profile, while
on the other hand was a mirror, in which might
be clearly seen his other side a fanciful conceit
which was highly admired.

He made many portraits of different Italian
princes, and painted from life Caterina, Queen of
Cyprus. But while he was expecting still to add
to his honours and those of his country, he fell
ill of the plague, in the year 1511, and at the
age of thirty-four passed to another life, to the

FRA SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO 165

infinite grief of his many friends and with damage
to the world who lost him. Nevertheless there
remained his two excellent pupils, Sebastiano
Veniziano del Piombo and Titian, who not only
equalled him but greatly surpassed him. Sebas-
tiano's first profession was not painting but
music, which made him very acceptable to the
nobles of Venice, with whom he lived on inti-
mate terms. But when still young, desiring to
learn painting, he studied first with Giovanni
Bellini, who was then an old man, and afterwards,
when Giorgione had introduced a more modern
manner, he left Bellini and joined Giorgione, and
stayed with him until he had acquired his style
so accurately that many who have no great know-
ledge of art mistake his works for Giorgione's.

A rich merchant of Sienna, Agostino Chigi,
hearing of his fame, sought to persuade him to
go to Rome, being pleased not only with his
painting but also with his music and his agree-
able conversation. It was not hard to persuade
Bastiano to go, for he knew that that city had
always been the protector of men of genius. So
when he was come to Rome Agostino set him
to work, and he did some things in Agostino's
palace in the style that he had brought from
Venice, very different from that which the
best painters in Rome employed. Afterwards,
Raffaello having painted the story of Galatea in

1 66 STORIES FROM VASARI

the same place, Bastiano painted by the side of it
a Polyphemus. He also painted some things in
oil, and having learnt a soft style of colouring
from Giorgione, he obtained by them a great
reputation.

Raffaello by this time had earned such honour
by his paintings that his friends and adherents
said that they were better than Michael Angelo's,
being pleasant in colouring, fine in invention,
excellent in expression, and good in drawing,
while Buonarroti's had none of these qualities
but the drawing. And so they said that Raffaello
was at least equal to him in drawing, and sur-
passed him in his colour. But Sebastiano was not
of these, being a man of exquisite judgment. So
Michael Angelo being drawn towards Sebastiano,
and being pleased with his colouring and graceful
style, took him under his protection, thinking
that, if he aided Sebastiano in his drawing, he
could through him contend with those who
opposed him. Sebastiano's paintings being there-
fore more highly valued through the praise that
Michael Angelo had given them, a gentleman
from Viterbo much favoured by the Pope gave
Sebastiano a picture of a dead Christ to paint
for a chapel in San Francesco at Viterbo. But
though Sebastiano carried it out with great
diligence, the design was by Michael Angelo.
The work was held by all who saw it to be most

FRA SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO 167

beautiful, and Sebastiano gained great credit by
it And Pier Francesco Borgherini, a Florentine
merchant, having taken a chapel in S. Piero in
Montorio, entrusted the painting of it to Sebasti-
ano, thinking, as was indeed the case, that Michael
Angelo would make the design. Sebastiano
carried it out with great diligence and care, and
thinking he had found a way of painting in oil
on a wall, he covered the plaster with a suitable
preparation, and all that part which has the
scourging of Christ he painted in oil. Nor
will I conceal that many think that Michael
Angelo not only made a little drawing for the
work, but that the figure of Christ was put in
altogether by him, there being a great difference
between that and the other figures. When
Sebastiano had uncovered this work his enemies'
tongues were silenced, and few ventured to attack
him. Afterwards, when Raffaello painted for the
Cardinal de' Medici that picture of the Trans-
figuration which was placed after his death in
S. Piero in Montorio, Sebastiano painted another
picture of the same size, as if in rivalry, repre-
senting the raising of Lazarus, and this also was
worked under the guidance of Michael Angelo,
and in some parts from his drawings. The two
pictures when they were finished were exhibited
together, and both received great praise, for
although Raffaello's works have no equals for

1 68 STORIES FROM VASARI

grace and beauty, yet none the less Sebastiano 1 s
efforts were universally applauded.

This man had to labour greatly at all his
works ; they did not come with the facility that
nature and study sometimes give. So in the
chapel of Agostino Chigi, where Raffaello had
made the sibyls and prophets, there was a niche
below in which Bastiano undertook to paint
something to surpass Raffaello, and set to work to
prepare the wall ; but he left it untouched when
he died ten years after. Sebastiano indeed could
draw quickly and easily from life, but it was just
the contrary in subject pictures. Indeed portrait
painting was his true work.

When Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was made
Pope under the name of Clement VII., he inti-
mated to Sebastiano that he would seek occasion
to favour him. Therefore, upon the death of
Fra Mariano Fetti, the Frate del Piombo, Sebas-
tiano reminded him of his promise, and made
request for the office of the Piombo. And
although Giovanni da Udine, who had served his
Holiness long, preferred the same request, the
Pope gave orders that Sebastiano should have the
office, on the agreement to pay to Giovanni a
pension of three hundred crowns. So Sebastiano
assumed the habit of a friar, and at the same
time his nature seemed to change; for having
wherewith to satisfy his desires without using his

Fro, Sebastiano del Piombo.

Anderson.

POPE Ct.EMENT VII.
(Museo Naaionale, Naples,)

FRA SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO 169

pencil, he let it repose, and made up for his labori-
ous days by rest and ease. Thus the magnificent
liberality of Clement VII. rewarding Sebastiano
too highly was the cause that from a hardworking,
industrious man he became slothful and negligent,
and having laboured constantly when he was
competing with Raffaello and his fortune was low,
he ceased to work as soon as he had enough.
He had a very good house, which he had built
himself, and in this he lived in the greatest con-
tentment, without any wish to paint. He used
to say that it was just as prudent to live a quiet
life as to be ever struggling restlessly to leave
a great name behind. And he acted according
to his words, having always the best wines and
rarest dainties he could get, taking more account
of good living than of art. Being censured by
some, who said it was a shame that now that he
had the means of living he worked no more, he
answered, " Now that I have the means of living
I do no work, because there are clever men in the
world now, who can do in two months as much
as I used to do in two years, and I think if I live
much longer everything will have been painted ;
so as these men do so much, it is a good thing
that there should be some who do nothing, that
they may have more to do." And in pleasantries
of this kind he would run on, and indeed there
was no better companion than he.

170 STORIES FROM VASARI

As we have said, Bastiano was much beloved
by Michael Angelo, but when the Pope's chapel
was to be painted, where now is Michael Angelo's
Judgment, there was some ill-feeling between
them. For Fra Sebastiano had persuaded the
Pope to make Michael Angelo paint it in oil,
whereas he would not do it except in fresco.
Michael Angelo therefore saying neither yes or
no, the wall was prepared in Fra Sebastiano's
way ; Michael Angelo left it untouched for some
months, and when they implored him to begin it,
he said at last that he would not do it except in
fresco, for oil painting was an art for women and
lazy people like Fra Sebastiano. So the plaster
being taken down it was prepared for working in
fresco, and Michael Angelo set to work upon it,
but never forgot the injury Fra Sebastiano had
done him.

Fra Sebastiano, having brought himself to
doing nothing whatever except the work of his
office, and living well, fell sick at last of a violent
fever and died. Art lost little by his death, for
he might have been counted among those whom
it had lost from the time he put on the friar's
habit ; but many of his friends mourn him still
for his pleasant converse. He had at different
times many young men with him to study art,
but to no great profit, for they learnt little from
him but how to live well.

CHAPTER XVI

PERUGINO AND RAFFAELLO

OF what great use poverty may be to genius,
and how it may be powerful in perfecting it,
may be clearly seen in the life of Pietro Perugino,
who, driven from Perugia by want, came to
Florence, desiring to make a position for himself
by his talents. For many months, having no
other bed to lie on, he slept in a box, applying
himself with the utmost fervour to the study
of his profession, and knowing no other pleasure
than painting. For he had always before his
eyes the fear of poverty, and he was spurred
by want, desiring, if he could not be highest
and supreme, at least to have wherewith to
support himself. Therefore he cared neither
for cold, nor hunger, nor discomfort, nor fatigue,
that he might one day live at ease, quoting always
the proverbs, that after bad weather must come
good, and that in fine weather you should build
the house to cover you when you need it.

According to the common story, he was born
in Perugia, the son of a poor man of Castello

172 STORIES FROM VASARI

della Pieve, named Cristofano, who gave him
in baptism the name of Pietro. Growing up
in misery and want, he was apprenticed to a
painter of Perugia, who, though he was not very
good at his trade, held in great veneration art
and the men who excelled in it. He did nothing
but impress upon Pietro what an honour and
advantage painting was to those who practised
it well, relating the glory of ancient and modern
painters, by which he kindled in Pietro the
desire to become one of them. So he used to
be always asking where men could prepare
themselves for the trade best, and his master
always answered in the same way, that it was
in Florence more than anywhere else that men
grew perfect in all the arts, especially painting.
For in that city men are spurred by three things :
First there are many there ready to find fault,
the air of the place making men independent in
mind and not easily contented with mediocre
works. Secondly, if a man wished to live there
he must be industrious, for Florence, not having
a large and fertile country, could not provide
for the wants of those who dwelt there at little
expense. And thirdly, there is the desire of
glory and honour, which the air excites to a
high degree in men of every profession, so that
no man who has any spirit will consent to be
only like others, much less be left behind.

PERUGINO 173

Moved therefore by this advice, Pietro came
to Florence and studied under the discipline of
Andrea Verrocchio, And in a few years he
obtained such reputation that not only were
Florence and Italy full of his works, but they
were sent also to France, Spain, and many other
countries, and the merchants began to purchase
them that they might send them abroad to their
own great profit.

There is a story which I have heard told of
a prior of a convent who had employed him to
paint in its cloisters. This prior was very good
at making ultramarine, and having therefore
abundance of it, he desired that Pietro should
put a great deal into his works; he was,
however, so miserably suspicious that he would
not trust Pietro, but would always be present
when he was using the ultramarine. Pietro,
being by nature upright and honest, took it ill
that the prior should distrust him, and thought
how he could shame him out of it. So he took
a basin of water, and setting himself to his work,
for every two brushfuls that he took he washed
his brush in the basin, so that there was more
colour left in the water than he put into his
work. The prior, seeing his bag getting empty,
and the picture not getting on, kept saying,
" Oh, how much ultramarine that plaster con-
sumes ! " " You see ! " answered Pietro. But

174 STORIES FROM VASARI

when the prior was gone, Pietro collected the
ultramarine that was at the bottom of the basin ;
and when the time seemed to him to be come,
he gave it back to the prior, saying, "Father,,
this is yours; learn to trust honest men who
never deceive those who trust in them, but know
how to deceive, when they choose, suspicious
men like you."

The fame of Pietro was so spread abroad in
Italy that he was sent for by Pope Sixtus IV.
to work in his chapel in the company of many
excellent artists ; but these works were destroyed
in the time of Pope Paul III. to make place for
the Judgment of the divine Michael Angelo.
Pietro worked so much, and had always so much
to do, that he often repeated the same things
in his pictures, and his art was thus reduced to
a manner, so that he gave to all his figures the
same air. About this time, Michael Angelo
made his appearance on the scene, and Pietro
had a great desire to see his works from the
report which artists gave of them. But when
he perceived that he himself would be eclipsed
by the greatness of him who had made so great
a beginning, he allowed himself in his anger to
attack with bitter sarcasm many of the artists
in Florence. Therefore he deserved not only
to be attacked by other artists, but even
that Michael Angelo should declare in public

PERUGINO 175

that his art was rude. Pietro, however, could
not endure such an insult, and brought the
matter before the magistrates ; but came off with
little honour. When his friends told him that
he had wandered away from the good path,
either from avarice or from fear of losing time,
Pietro would answer, " I have put into rny work
the figures which you formerly praised and which
pleased you greatly. If now they displease you,
what am I to do?"

But when sonnets were written upon him
attacking him, he left Florence and returned
to Perugia. There he painted in fresco in the
church of S. Severo, the young Raffaello da
Urbino, his pupil, doing some of the figures.
He also began a work in fresco of no little im-
portance at Castello della Pieve, but this he did
not finish. For, as if he could trust nobody, he
used to carry about him all the money he had,
as he went backwards and forwards to Castello ;
and so it fell out that some men, laying wait for
him, robbed him, but at his earnest entreaty they
spared his life. Afterwards, by means of his
friends, he recovered a great part of the money
that had been taken from him; nevertheless he
was near dying of grief. For Pietro was a man
of very little religion, and would never believe
in the immortality of the soul. His hopes were
all set on the gifts of fortune, and he would

176 STORIES FROM VASARI

have done anything for money. He had a most
beautiful young woman for his wife, and took so
much pleasure in seeing her well adorned, both
at home and abroad, that it is said he often
dressed her with his own hands.

He died at last in Castello della Pieve, an old
man of seventy-eight. He made many masters
in painting, and one who surpassed him by a
long way, the wonderful Raffaello Sanzio da
Urbino. Pinturicchio, the Perugian painter, was
also his pupil, who, although he executed many
works, had a much greater name than he deserved.
He was called to Sienna by Cardinal Piccolomini
to paint the library erected there by Pope Pius II.
But the sketches and drawings for these pictures
were all by the hand of Raffaello, then very
young, who had been his schoolfellow under
Pietro. He worked also in Rome under Pope
Sixtus, and painted an infinite number of pic-
tures all over Italy, which as they were not very
excellent I will pass over in silence.

When he was fifty- nine years of age he was
charged to paint the Birth of our Lady in S.
Francesco in Sienna, and the friars there gave
him a room to dwell in, which at his desire
they emptied of everything except a great chest,
which seemed to them too big to move. But
Pinturicchio, being a strange, fanciful man, made
so much disturbance about it that the friars at

THE NATIVITY.
( After the fresio by Pmittriichw in the C/iitrth ofS> .Maria del Popoloat Rome.)

RAFFAELLO 177

last set to work to carry it away, and in moving
it a plank gave way, and discovered five hundred
ducats of gold, Pinturicchio, however, was so
much vexed at the friars' good fortune that, not
being able to forget it, he fell sick and died.

His great schoolfellow, Raffaello, one of those
possessed of such rare gifts that it is impossible
to call ' them simply men, but rather, if it is
allowable so to speak, mortal gods, was born in
the famous city of Urbino in Italy, in the year
1483, on Good Friday, at three o'clock of the
night. He was the son of Giovanni de' Santi,
a painter but not a very excellent one, a man of
good understanding, and capable of directing his
son in that good way which unfortunately had
not been shown to himself in his youth. And
because Giovanni knew of what consequence it
was that the child should be nursed by his own
mother and not left to the care of a hired nurse,
he kept him in his own house that he might learn
good ways, rather than the rough customs of
common men. And as soon as he was grown,
he began to teach him painting, so that it was
not long before he was able to help his father in
many of his works. But at last the good father,
knowing that his son could learn little from him,
determined to put him with Pietro Perugino,
and going to Perugia, told him his desire. And
Pietro, who was very courteous, and a lover of

M

178 STORIES FROM VASARI

men of talent, accepted Raffaello. Therefore
Giovanni, returning joyfully to Urbino, took the
boy, not without many tears, from his mother,
who tenderly loved him, and brought him to
Perugia. And when Pietro saw his manner of
drawing and his pleasant ways, he pronounced
that judgment upon him which time has proved
most true. It is a very remarkable thing that
while Raffaello was studying under Pietro he
imitated him so closely that it is impossible to
distinguish their works.

When Pinturicchio was entrusted with the
painting of the library of Sienna, Raffaello accom-
panied him thither; but while they were there,
some painters spoke to him of the cartoons
of Lionardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo at
Florence, praising them so much that the desire
came upon him to see them, and he set out for
Florence. He was no less pleased with the city
than with the works he came to see, and he
determined to tarry there some time, making
friends with many young painters. And after he
had been to Florence his manner changed greatly,
for while there he studied the old works of
Masaccio and the labours of Lionardo and
Michael Angelo, and he was in close intercourse
with Fra Bartolommeo di S. Marco, whose colour
pleasing him much, he sought to imitate it, while
in return he taught the good father perspective.

RAFFAELLO 179

Then Bramante da Urbino, who was in the
service of Julius IL, being distantly related to
Raffaello and of the same district, wrote to him
that he had been using his influence with the
Pope to obtain for him leave to display his
powers in certain rooms of the palace. The
tidings pleased Raffaello, and leaving his works
at Florence unfinished, he departed for Rome,
where he found that many of the chambers of
the palace had been already painted, or were
being painted, by other masters. Being received
with much kindness by Pope Julius, he began
in the chamber of the Segnatura, and painted a
picture of the reconciliation between Philosophy
and Astrology, and Theology. He enriched this
work with many figures, and finished it in so
delicate and sweet a manner that Pope Julius
caused all the pictures of the other masters,
both ancient and modern, to be destroyed that
Raffaello might have all the work of the
chambers. So Raffaello painted the ceiling of
this chamber with the figures of Knowledge,
Poetry, Theology, and Justice, and on the walls
represented Parnassus with the Poets, and Heaven
with the Saints and Doctors of the Church, and
Justinian giving the laws to the Doctors, and
Pope Julius the canon laws. And the Pope,
being satisfied with the work, gave him the
second chamber to paint.

178 STORIES FROM VASARI

men of talent, accepted Raffaello. Therefore
Giovanni, returning joyfully to Urbino, took the
boy, not without many tears, from his mother,
who tenderly loved him, and brought him to
Perugia. And when Pietro saw his manner of
drawing and his pleasant ways, he pronounced
that judgment upon him which time has proved
most true. It is a very remarkable thing that
while Raffaello was studying under Pietro he
imitated him so closely that it is impossible to
distinguish their works.

When Pinturicchio was entrusted with the
painting of the library of Sienna, Raffaello accom-
panied him thither; but while they were there,
some painters spoke to him of the cartoons
of Lionardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo at
Florence, praising them so much that the desire
came upon him to see them, and he set out for
Florence. He was no less pleased with the city
than with the works he came to see, and he
determined to tarry there some time, making
friends with many young painters. And after he
had been to Florence his manner changed greatly,
for while there he studied the old works of
Masaccio and the labours of Lionardo and
Michael Angelo, and he was in close intercourse
with Fra Bartolommeo di S. Marco, whose colour
pleasing him much, he sought to imitate it, while
in return he taught the good father perspective.

RAFFAELLO 179

Then Bratnante da Urbino, who was in the
service of Julius II., being distantly related to
Raflkello and of the same district, wrote to him
that he had been using his influence with the
Pope to obtain for him leave to display his
powers in certain rooms of the palace. The
tidings pleased Raffaello, and leaving his works
at Florence unfinished, he departed for Rome,
where he found that many of the chambers of
the palace had been already painted, or were
being painted, by other masters. Being received
with much kindness by Pope Julius, he began
in the chamber of the Segnatura, and painted a
picture of the reconciliation between Philosophy
and Astrology, and Theology. He enriched this
work with many figures, and finished it in so
delicate and sweet a manner that Pope Julius
caused all the pictures of the other masters,
both ancient and modern, to be destroyed that
Raffaello might have all the work of the
chambers. So Raffaello painted the ceiling of
this chamber with the figures of Knowledge,
Poetry, Theology, and Justice, and on the walls
represented Parnassus with the Poets, and Heaven
with the Saints and Doctors of the Church, and
Justinian giving the laws to the Doctors, and
Pope Julius the canon laws. And the Pope,
being satisfied with the work, gave him the
second chamber to paint.

i8o STORIES FROM VASARI

Raffaello had now acquired a great name,
having moreover gentle manners admired by all ;
but though he studied continually the antiquities
in the city, he had not yet given to any of his
figures that grandeur and majesty which appeared
in his later works. It happened at this time that
Michael Angelo, having that difference with the
Pope of which we shall speak in his life, had fled
to Florence, and Bramante,- having the key of
the Sistine Chapel, showed it to Raffaello his
friend, that he might learn Michael Angelo's
methods. And this was the cause of his
repainting the prophet Isaiah, which he had
already finished in the church of S. Agostino,
greatly improving and elevating his manner in
this work, and giving it more majesty.

Not long after, Agostino Chigi, a very rich
merchant of Sienna, entrusted him with the
painting of a chapel, Raffaello having before
painted for him in the loggia of his palace a
picture of Galatea. So Raffaello, having made
the cartoon for the chapel which is in the church
of S. Maria della Pace, carried it out in fresco
in his new and grander manner, painting there
some of the Prophets and Sibyls ; and this work
is the best and most excellent that he produced
in his life.

Continuing then his work in the chambers of
the Vatican, he painted the Miracle of the Mass

RAFFAELLO 181

of Bolsena and S. Peter in prison, with the
punishment of Heliodorus, and on the ceiling
pictures from the Old Testament. But at this
time Pope Julius died, who had ever been an
encourager of talent. Nevertheless Leo X.,
being created pope, desired the work to continue,
so Raffaello painted the coming of Attila to
Rome, and Pope Leo III. going out to meet
him.

Meanwhile Raffaello painted many other pic-
tures, and his fame grew great, and reached to
France and Flanders, and Albert Dlirer, the great
German painter and engraver, sent to Raffaello
a tribute of his own works, a portrait of himself
painted in water-colour on very fine linen, so
that it showed equally on both sides. And
Raffaello, marvelling at it, sent to him many
drawings from his own hand, which were much
prized by Albert. The goldsmith Francesco
Francia of Bologna also heard of him, and desired
greatly to see him. For while he was enjoying
in peace the glory he had earned by his labours
in Bologna, many gentlemen of that city going
tjp Rome went to see Raffaello and his works.
And as men usually like to praise to others
those of their own house who have talent, so
these Bolognese began to talk to Raffaello in
praise of Francia's works, and his life and
virtues; and thus between them there sprang

182 STORIES FROM VASARI

up a kind of friendship, and Francia and Raffaello
saluted each other by letter. Francia, hearing
of the fame of the divine works of Raffaello,
desired much to see them, but being already old
was loth to leave his Bologna. Then it happened
that Raffaello painted a picture of S. Cecilia,
which was to be sent to Bologna and placed in
a chapel in S. Giovanni in Monte, and having
packed it, he directed it to Francia as his friend
that he might set it up in the chapel. At which
Francia was very glad, having so long desired
to see one of Raffaello's works. And having
opened Raffaello's letter (in which he prayed
him, if he found it scratched, to mend it, and
also, if he saw any error, like a true friend, to
correct it), with great delight he drew the picture
out of the case and put it in a good light. But
so great was his astonishment at what he saw
that, recognising his foolish presumption, he fell
sick of grief, and in a short time died. The
picture of Raffaello was indeed divine, not a
painted thing but living ; and Francia, half dead
with the shock, and altogether disheartened by
the extreme beauty of the picture compared with
those which he saw around him done by his
own hand, had it placed carefully in the chapel
where it was to be, and then in a few days took
to his bed, feeling that in art he was nothing
compared to what he had thought himself to

RAFFAELLO 183

be and was* reputed by others, and thus died of
grief and melancholy. However, some people
say that his death was so sudden that it was
more like poison or apoplexy.

After this Raffaello painted for the Brothers
of Monte Oliveto, in the monastery called S.
Maria dello Spasimo of Palermo, a picture of
Christ bearing His cross, which when it was
finished nearly came to a bad end. For as it
was being borne by sea to Palermo, a great
tempest cast the ship upon a rock, and it was
broken to pieces, and the crew lost, and all the
cargo, except this picture, which was carried in
its case by the sea to Genoa. Here being drawn
to shore, it was seen to be a thing divine, and
was taken care of, being found uninjured, even
the winds and waves in their fury respecting the
beauty of such a work. When the news of it
was spread abroad, the monks sought to regain
it, and with the intercession of the Pope obtained
it, satisfying the demands of those that saved
it. It was carried safe to Sicily, and placed in
Palermo, where it has a greater reputation than
the volcano itself.

While Raffaello was working at these paintings
he did not cease to labour in the Pope's chambers,
keeping men constantly employed in painting
from his designs, and himself overlooking every-
thing.

1 84 STORIES FROM VASARI

It was not long, therefore, before he uncovered
the chamber of the Borgia Tower, in which he
had painted the burning of the Borgo Vecchio
of Rome, and Leo IV. stopping it with his
blessing, with another picture of the life of
St. Leo. The ceiling of this room had been
painted by Perugino his master, and Raffaello
therefore would not have it destroyed.

He also embellished the other parts of the
palace, making the designs for the staircases and
for the loggie which Bramante had begun. And
Leo X. wishing to display great magnificence and
liberality, Raffaello made the designs for the
ornaments in stucco, and for the pictures to be
painted in the loggie, setting Giovanni da Udine
over the stucco work, and Giulio Romano over
the figures, though he worked little upon them,
Giovan Francesco, called II Fattore, Perino del
Vaga, and others chiefly painting them.

The Pope also desiring to have some arras
woven of gold and silk, Raffaello made some
coloured cartoons of the proper form and size
with his own hands, which were sent into
Flanders to be woven, and when the cloth was
finished it was sent back to Rome. For Giulio
Cardinal de' Medici he painted the Transfigura-
tion of Christ, and brought it to the greatest per-
fection, working at it continually with his own
hand, and it seemed as if he put forth all his

RAFFAELLO 185

strength to show the power of art in the face of
Christ ; and having finished it, as the last thing
he had to do, he laid aside his pencil, death over-
taking him.

For, being seized with a fever, he made his
will, and having confessed, he ended his course
on the same day that he was born, that is, Good
Friday, being thirty-seven years of age. They
placed at the head of the room in which he lay,
the picture of the Transfiguration, which he had
finished for the Cardinal de' Medici, and the
sight of the dead body and the living work filled
all with grief.

CHAPTER XVII

ANDREA DEL SARTO

ONE of Piero di Cosimo's pupils was Andrea del
Sarto, the son of a tailor, who took his name
from his father's trade. At the age of seven
years he was put with a goldsmith, but Gian
Barile, a Florentine painter, seeing his drawings,
took him to work with him. After three years'
earnest study, Gian Barile perceived that the boy
would have extraordinary success if he attended
to his studies, and he spoke of him to Piero di
Cosinio, who was then considered one of the
best painters in Florence, and put him under his
care. Andrea, desirous to learn, never rested
from his studies, and being a born painter, he
managed his colours as if he had worked for fifty
years. So Piero loved him much, and was
wonderfully pleased to hear that whenever he
had time, especially on feast-days, he would
spend it in the hall of the Pope, where were the
cartoons of Michael Angelo and Lionardo da
Vinci, and that he surpassed, though young, all
the other artists, natives or strangers, who came

186

ANDREA DEL SARTO 187

constantly to study there. Among these Andrea
was most pleased with the conversation of Francia
Bigio, and Francia being equally so with Andrea,
they became friends; and Andrea told Francia
that he could endure no longer the eccentricities
of Piero, who was then getting old, and that he
must take a room for himself. Francia being
forced to do the same, because Mariotto Alberti-
nelli, his master, had given up painting, proposed
that they should join together. So they took
a room in the Piazza del Grano, and did many
works in company. Afterwards they took new
rooms near the convent 'of the Nunziata, and it
happened that Jacopo Sansovino, then a youth,
was working in the same place under Andrea
Contucci, and he and Andrea formed so close a
friendship that they were never apart day or
night ; and as all their conversation was about art
it is no wonder that they both became excellent
masters.

In the convent of the Servites there was a
sacristan named Fra Mariano, who constantly
hearing Andrea praised and spoken of as one
making marvellous progress, thought to get
something out of him at little expense. So to
try Andrea, who was soft and pliable where
honour was concerned, he began to express a wish
to help him in a matter which would bring him
honour and profit. Now some years before,

1 88 STORIES FROM VASARI

Cosimo Rosselli had begun in the first cloister
a picture of S. Filippo, the founder of the order,
taking the habit of monk, but the picture was
not finished when he died. The friar, therefore,
wishing the rest to be painted, thought by making
Andrea and Francia rivals, to get it at less ex-
pense. So opening his mind to Andrea, he per-
suaded him to undertake it, pointing out that it
was a public place and much frequented, and he
would become known to strangers as well as
Florentines; he ought not therefore to consider
the price, and if he would not do it there was
Francia, who had offered to do it and left the
price to him. The first suggestions inclined
Andrea to undertake it, but when he heard of
Francia he resolved at once, and an agreement
was made in writing that no one else might
interfere. So the friar having set him to work,
he was first to finish the life of S. Filippo, having
no more than ten ducats for each picture, which
the friar said he gave him out of his own money,
more for his good than for the profit of the
convent. But when he ha'd painted one side of
the cloisters, finding the price too little, and that
they made too much of the honour, he deter-
mined to give up the rest of the work, at which
the friar complained greatly, and held him to his
agreement. So Andrea promised to do two more
if he would raise the price. ' Francia Bigio mean-

THK PROCESSION OF THK MAGI O.V THKIR WAY TO KKTIOIIEM.
/tv rtc//VM liy . Imfi ca dd barto in tkt Cht.\ter ofiht . Inintnztatit at Mown e i

ANDREA DEL SARTO 189

while was entrusted with the painting in the
cloister, and represented there the Marriage of
the Virgin. The friars, desiring that Andrea's
and Francia's pictures should be uncovered for a
certain feast, on the night that Francia had finished
his they presumptuously went and uncovered it
themselves, not understanding that Francia might
retouch it. In the morning the news was brought
to Francia that his work and Andrea's had been
uncovered, and it grieved him almost to death.
But falling into a passion with the friars for their
presumption in showing him so little respect, -he
rushed to his picture, and climbing on to the
scaffold, which had not yet been taken down,
seized a mason's hammer which was lying there
and struck at some of the women's faces, spoiling
the Virgin's altogether. The friars and others,
running in at the noise, held his hands to prevent
his spoiling the whole picture. But although
they offered him double payment he would never
mend it, and he was so much honoured that no
other would ever finish it. So the work remained
in this state.

These works brought Andrea into greater
notice, and many pictures and works of import-
ance were entrusted to him, and he made for
himself so great a name in the city that he was
considered one of the first painters, and although
he had asked little for his works he found himself

1 90 STORIES FROM VASARI

in a position to help his relatives. But falling in
love with a young woman who was left a widow,
he took her for his wife, and had enough to do
all the rest of his life, and had to work harder
than he had ever done before, for besides the
duties and liabilities which belong to such a
union, he took upon him many more troubles,
being constantly vexed with jealousy and one
thing and another. And all who knew his case
felt compassion for him, and blamed the sim-
plicity which had reduced him to such a con-
dition. He had been much sought after by his
friends before, but now he was avoided. For
though his pupils stayed with him, hoping to
learn something from him, there was not one,
great or small, who did not suffer by her evil
words or blows during the time he was there.

Nevertheless, this torment seemed to him the
highest pleasure. He never put a woman in any
picture which he did not draw from her, for
even 'if another sat to him, through seeing her
constantly and having drawn her so often, and,
what is more, having her impressed on his mind,
it always came about that the head resembled hers.

A certain Florentine, Giovanni Battista Puccini,
being extraordinarily pleased with Andrea's work,
charged him to paint a picture of our Lady to
send to France, but it was so beautiful that he
kept it himself and did not send it away. How-

ANDREA DEL SARTO 191

ever, trafficking constantly with France, and being
employed to send good pictures there, he gave
Andrea another picture to paint, a dead Christ
supported by angels. When it was done every
one was so pleased with it that Andrea was
entreated to let it be engraved in Rome by
Agostino Veniziano, but as it did not succeed
very well he would never let any other of his
pictures be engraved. The picture itself gave
no less pleasure in France than it had done in
Italy, and the king gave orders that Andrea
should do another, in consequence of which he
resolved at his friend's persuasion to go himself
to France. But- that year 1515 the Florentines,
hearing that Pope Leo X. meant to honour his
native place with a visit, gave orders that he should
be received with great feasting, and such mag-
nificent decorations were prepared, with arches,
statues, and other ornaments, as had never been
seen before, there being at that time in the city a
greater number of men of genius and talent than
there had ever been before. And what was most
admired was the fa9ade of S. Maria del Fiore,
made of wood and painted with pictures by
Andrea del Sarto, the architecture being by
Jacopo Sansovino, with some bas-reliefs and
statues, and the Pope pronounced that it could
not have been more beautiful if it had been in
marble.

192 STORIES FROM VASARI

Meanwhile King Francis L, greatly admiring
his works, was told that Andrea would easily be
persuaded to remove to France and enter into his
service; and the thing pleased the king well.
So he gave command that money should be paid
him for his journey ; and Andrea set out joyfully
for France, taking with him Andrea Sguazzella
his pupil. And having arrived at the court, he
was received lovingly by the king, and before the
first day was over experienced the liberality of
that magnanimous king, receiving gifts of money
and rich garments. He soon began to work,
and won the esteem of the king and the whole
court, being caressed by all, so that it seemed to
him he had passed from a state of extreme un-
happiness to the greatest felicity. Among his
first works he painted from life the Dauphin,
then only a few months old, and therefore in
swaddling clothes, and when he brought it to the
king he received for it three hundred crowns of
gold. And the king, that he might stay with
him willingly, ordered that great provision should
be made for him, and that he should want for
nothing. But one day, while he was working
upon a S. Jerome for the king's mother, there
came to him letters from Lucrezia his wife,
whom he had left in Florence, and she wrote
that when he was away, although his letters told
her he was well, she could not cease from sorrow

ANDREA DEL SARTO 193

and constant weeping, using many sweet words
apt to touch the heart of a man who loved her
only too well, so that the poor man was nearly
beside himself when he read that if he did not
return soon he would find her dead. So he
prayed the king for leave to go to Florence and
put his affairs in order, and bring his wife to
France, promising to bring with him on his
return pictures and sculptures of price. The
king, trusting him, gave him money for this
purpose, and Andrea swore on the Gospels to
return in a few months. He arrived in Florence
happily, and enjoyed himself with his beautiful
wife and his friends. At last, the time having
come when he ought to return to the king, he
found himself in extremity, for he had spent on
building and on his pleasures his own money and
the king's also. Nevertheless he would have
returned, but the tears and prayers of his wife
prevailed against his promise to the king. When
he did not return the king was so angered that
for a long time he would not look at a Florentine
painter, and swore that if ever Andrea fell into
his hands, it should be to his hurt, without regard
to his talents.

When Frederick II., Duke of Mantua, passed
through Florence, going to pay homage to Pope
Clement VII., he saw over a door in the Medici
Palace that portrait of Pope Leo between Cardinal

I 9 4 STORIES FROM VASARI

Giulio de' Medici and Cardinal de' Rossi, which
was made by the great Raffaello da Urbino.
Being extraordinarily pleased with it, he con-
sidered how he could make it his own, and when
he was in Rome, choosing his time, he made
request for it from Pope Clement, who granted
it to him courteously, and orders were sent to
Florence to Ottaviano de' Medici to put it into
a case and send it to Mantua. But the thing
greatly displeased Ottaviano, who would not
have Florence deprived of such a picture. He
replied therefore that he would not fail to serve
the duke, but that the frame of the picture
being bad, he would have a new one made, and
when it was gilded, he would send the picture
securely to Mantua. Then Ottaviano, with the
view, as we say, of saving both the goat and
its fodder, sent secretly for Andrea and told him
how matters stood, and that there was nothing
else to be done but to have the picture copied
as fast as possible, and to send the copy to the
duke, secretly keeping the picture from Raffaello's
hand. So Andrea promised to do the best he
could, and having had a panel made of the
same size, he worked at it secretly in Ottaviano's
house, and laboured to such effect that, when
it was finished, Ottaviano himself, who under-
stood these things well, did not know one from
the other, Andrea having even copied some dirty

POPE LEO X WITH CARDINALS DE* MEDICI AND DE* KOSSI.
(Pita Gallery, Florence )

Anderson

ANDREA DEL SARTO 195

stains that were on the original. So having
hidden Raffaello's picture, they sent Andrea's
to Mantua, and the duke was perfectly satisfied.
Even Giulio Romano the painter, Raffaello's
disciple, did not perceive the thing, and would
always have believed it to be from Raffaello's
hand if Giorgio Vasari (who, being Ottaviano's
favourite, had seen Andrea working at the
picture) had not discovered the matter to him.
For when Giorgio came to Mantua, Giulio paid
him much attention, and showed him the anti-
quities and pictures, and among them this picture
of Raffaello's, as the best thing that was there ;
and Giorgio answered, "The work is most
beautiful, but not from the hand of Raffaello."
"No?" said Giulio; "do not / know, when
I can recognize the touches that I put upon
it ? " " You have forgotten," answered Giorgio,
" for this is by Andrea del Sarto, and in proof
of it look at this sign (showing it to him), which
was put upon it in Florence, because the two
being together were mistaken the one for the
other." When he heard this Giulio -had the
picture turned round, and when he saw the
countersign, he shrugged his shoulders and said,
" I esteem it none the less than if it were from
Raffaello's hand, rather the more, for it is a thing
beyond nature that a good painter should imitate
so well another's manner and make it so like."

196 STORIES FROM VASARI

Not long after, Baldo Magini of Prato, desiring
to have a picture painted for the Madonna della
Carcere, among many other painters Andrea was
proposed to him, and Baldo, though he did not
know much about the matter, was more inclined
to him than any other, and had already intimated
to him that he would employ him, when a
Niccol6 Soggi of Sansovino, having friends in
Prato, was recommended so strongly to Baldo
that the work was given to him. Nevertheless
Andrea's friends sent for him, and he, thinking
certainly the work was to be his, went with
Domenico Puligo and some other painters his
friends to Prato. But when he arrived he found
that Niccol6 had not only turned Baldo against
him, but was himself so daring and insolent as
to propose in the presence of Baldo that they
should make a wager who could paint the best
picture. Andrea, knowing what Niccol6 was
worth, answered (though he was generally a
man of little spirit), " I have this pupil of mine
with me who has not been studying long ; if you
like to have a wager with him, I will put down
the money for him ; but nothing will make me
consent to compete with you, for if I were to
win, it would be no honour to me, and if I lost,
it would be the greatest disgrace." Then telling
Baldo that he did right to give the work to
Niccoli, for he would do it so that it would

ANDREA DEL SARTO 197

please people going to market, he returned to
Florence.

Here he was employed by Giacomo, a Servite
friar, who, when absolving a woman from a vow,
had commanded her to have the figure of our
Lady painted over a door in the Nunziata.
Finding Andrea, he told him that he had this
money to spend, and although it was not much,
it would be well done of him to undertake it ;
and Andrea, being soft-hearted, was prevailed
upon by the father's persuasions, and painted
in fresco our Lady with the Child in her arms,
and St. Joseph leaning on a sack. This picture
needs none to praise it, for all can see it to be
a most rare work.

One day Andrea had been painting the
intendant of the monks of Vallombrosa, and
when the work was done some of the colour
was left over, and Andrea, taking a tile, called
Lucrezia, his wife, and said, cc Come here, for as
this colour is left, I will paint you, that it may
be seen how well you are preserved for your age,
and yet how you have changed and how different
you are from your first portraits." But the
woman, having some fancy or other, would not
sit still, and Andrea, as if he guessed that he was
near his end, took a mirror and painted himself
instead so well that the portrait seems alive. This
portrait is still in possession of Lucrezia his wife.

198 STORIES FROM VASARI

During the siege of Florence some of the
captains of the city escaped, carrying with them
the pay of their soldiers ; therefore Andrea was
charged to paint them in the Piazza del Podesd,
together with some other citizens who had
escaped and become rebels. That he might not
be nicknamed Andrea of the Hanged Men, as
Andrea dal Castagno had been, he gave it out
that one of his pupils, Bernardo del Buda, was
doing it; but, having enclosed the place with
a hoarding, he used to go in and out by night,
and carried out the work with his own hand
so well that the figures appeared alive. The
paintings on the fa?ade of the old Mercatanzia
were many years afterwards covered with white-
wash that they might not be seen.

After the siege was over, Florence was filled
with the soldiers from the camp, and some of
the spearmen being ill with the plague caused
no little panic in the city, and in a short time
the infection spread. Either from the fear
excited by it, or from having committed some
excess in eating after the privations of the siege,
Andrea one day fell ill, and taking to his bed,
he died, it is said, almost without any one
perceiving it, without medicine and without
much care, for his wife kept as far from him
as she could for fear of the plague.

CHAPTER XVIII

MATURING AND POLIDORO AND MONSIGNORI

IN that age of gold, as we may well call the happy
age of Leo X., among the most noble minds
Polidoro da Caravaggio has an honourable place.
He came to Rome about the time when the
loggie of the Pope's palace were being built,
under the direction of Raffaello, and until he was
eighteen years of age was employed in carrying
the bricklayer's hod for the builders. But when
the painting began Polidoro's desires turned to
painting, and he made himself intimate with all
the young men of talent that he might learn their
method of working. But from among them all
he chose for a companion Maturino, a Florentine,
with whom he worked, taking so much pleasure
in the art that in a few months he did things
which astonished every one who had known
him in his former condition. And the love
of Maturino for Polidoro, and Polidoro's for
Maturino, grew so strong that they resolved to
live and die together like brothers, having their
work and money in common. And because

199

200 STORIES FROM VASARI

Baldassare of Sienna had been doing the fa?ades
of some houses in chiaroscuro they determined
to follow his example. They began, therefore,
to study the antiquities of Rome, and copied the
ancient marbles until they both alike acquired
the antique style, and the one was so like the
other that, as their minds were moved by the
same will, so their hands expressed the same
knowledge. Of what great use they have been to
the art of painting may be seen by the number of
foreign artists who continually study their works ;
for all artists in Rome copy the pictures of
Polidoro and Maturino more than all the other
modern paintings. Nevertheless they could never
give that beauty to works in colour which they
constantly gave to works in chiaroscuro, or in
bronze or clay, and some children whom they
painted in colour in S. Agostino in Rome do
not look as if they came from the hands of
illustrious men, but rather to have been done by
some novices learning to paint. But if I were to
name all their works, I should have to make a
whole book of the doings of these two men, for
there is no house or palace or garden or vine-
yard where there are not works by Polidoro and
Maturino.

But now while Rome in smiles was embellish-
ing herself with their works, and they were
looking for the reward of their labours, envious

MATURING AND POLIDORO 201

fortune sent to Rome the Constable Bourbon,
who in the year 1527 sacked the city. By this
disaster it befell not only Maturino and Polidoro
but many thousands of friends and relatives to
be separated. Maturino, taking flight, had not
gone far when he died of the plague, and was
buried in S. Eustachio. Polidoro took his way
to Naples, but finding the nobles there little
curious in matters of art, he was like to die of
hunger, and was forced to support life by work-
ing for other painters. Seeing, therefore, that
the people of Naples took more account of a
horse that could jump than of a man who could
paint figures that seemed alive, he went on board
a galley and departed to Messina, where he
found more honour, and there he produced many
works, which are scattered in different places.

When Charles V. returned from his victory at
Tunis he passed through Messina, and Polidoro
made some very fine triumphal arches, by which
he earned a name and great rewards. And he in
whom was always burning the desire to see again
that Rome for which those who have lived there
many years always pine, set himself to paint, as
his last picture, Christ bearing His Cross, after
which he resolved to depart from that country,
although he was held in good account there ; and
he took out of the bank a good sum of money
that he had, and prepared to set out. Now

202 STORIES FROM VASARI

Polidoro had had in his service for a long time
a boy of the country, who bore greater love to
Polidoro's money than to himself, but because he
kept it in the bank he had never been able to
touch it. But now a wicked and cruel thought
came into his mind, and he resolved with the aid
of some of his friends to put his master to death
the next night while he was sleeping, and to
share his money with them. So they set upon
him while he was in his first sleep and strangled
him with a cord, and afterwards inflicted many
wounds upon him ; and to show it was not they
who had done it, they carried him to the door
of a house where dwelt a lady whom Polidoro
loved, that it might be supposed it was her
kinsmen who had slain him.

Then the boy, having given a good part of the
money to the ruffians who had aided him and
sent them away, went weeping to the house of a
count who was a friend of his dead master, and
told him what had happened, and a diligent
search was made for those who had done the
treacherous deed ; but nothing came to light.
At last, as Heaven would have it, one who had
no interest in the matter chanced to say that it
was impossible that any one but the boy himself
could have assassinated him. Upon that the
count caused him to be seized and put to torture,
when he confessed his crime and was condemned

MONSIGNORI 203

to the gallows. But this would not give back
life to Polidoro. So they celebrated his obsequies
with solemn ceremonies, and with the infinite grief
of all Messina he was buried in the cathedral.

There have always flourished in Verona from
the time of Fra Giocondo men excellent in paint-
ing and architecture. Among these was Fran-
cesco Monsignori, who being encouraged by his
father to apply himself to drawing, went to
Mantua to find Mantegna, who was working in
that city. He laboured so unweariedly, spurred
on by the fame of his preceptor, that it was not
long before Francesco II., Marquis of Mantua,
who delighted in every kind of painting, took
him into his service, gave him a house in Mantua
to live in, and assigned him an honourable pro-
vision. Francesco was not ungrateful for these
benefits, and served this lord with the greatest
fidelity and affection, and the marquis, on his
side, grew daily more fond of him, until at last
he never left the city without Francesco, and was
heard to say that Francesco was dearer to him
than his whole state.

One day the marquis was watching him while
he was working upon a picture of S. Sebastian,
and said to him, "Francesco, you must have
a finely formed model for this saint?" And
Francesco replied, " I am drawing from a porter
whose body is very finely formed, and I tie

204 STORIES FROM VASARI

him up, as I want to make my work look
natural." And the marquis answered, "But
the limbs of your saint do not look right, for
there is no appearance of constraint ; and there
is not that terror which one would imagine in
a man who is tied up and being shot at ; but
if you like, I will show you what you should
do to make the figure right." "I pray you
to do so, my lord," said Francesco. And he
answered, " When you have tied up your porter
send for me, and I will show you what you
ought to do." So the next day Francesco tied
him up as he wanted him and sent secretly to
call the marquis, not knowing what he meant
to do. Then the marquis rushed into the room
in a fury, with a loaded cross-bow in his hand,
and ran at the porter, crying aloud, "Traitor,
you are a dead man ; I have caught you at last,"
and other like words, and the poor fellow, hearing
them, and thinking himself a dead man, struggled
to free himself from the ropes with which he
was bound, and in his panic fear represented
vividly the horror of death in his face and in
his distorted limbs. Then the marquis said to
Francesco, "There, that is how he should be;
the rest you must do yourself." And the painter,
considering the matter, gave his figure all the
perfection that could be imagined.

The Grand Turk had sent by one of his men

MONSIGNORI 205

a present to the marquis of a very fine dog, a
bow, and a quiver. Thereupon the marquis
set Francesco to paint the dog and the man
who had brought it and the other things; and
when it was done, wishing to see if the dog
was lifelike, he caused one of -his own dogs,
who was a great enemy to the Turkish dog,
to be brought into the room where the dog
was painted, standing on a stone pavement. And
as soon as the live dog saw the painted one
standing as if it were alive, and just like the
one whom he mortally hated, he threw himself
upon it to seize it, breaking away from the
man who held him, and striking his head with
such force against the wall that he dashed his
skull to pieces.

Benedetto Baroni, Francesco's nephew, had a
picture of his, about which a story has been told
by some people who were present. It was a
picture of little more than two spans in length,
a half-length of the Madonna, and at her side
the Child from His shoulder upwards, with His
arm lifted in the act of caressing His mother ;
and it is said that when the Emperor was master
of Verona, Don Alonzo of Castile, and Alarcone,
the famous captain, were in that city, and being
in the house of Count Lodovico da Sesso, said
that they should like very much to see this pic-
ture. So having sent for it, they were standing

206 STORIES FROM VASARI

one evening looking at it in a good light and
admiring the skill of the work, when the count's
wife, the Lady Caterina, came by with one of
her sons, who had in his hand one of those green
birds which are called in Verona " terrazzani,"
because they make their nest on the ground,
and which will perch on your wrist like a hawk.
It happened then that while she was standing
with the others looking at the picture, this bird,
seeing the outstretched arm of the painted Child,
flew up to perch upon it, and not being able to
attach itself to the picture, fell down, but twice
it returned, thinking it was one of the living
children who were always carrying it on their
wrists. The lords, greatly astonished, would
have paid Benedetto a great price to have had
the picture, but they could not get it from him
by any means. And when, not long after, they
planned to steal it from him at a feast, he was
warned of it, and their design did not succeed.

Francesco was a man of holy life, and an
enemy of vice, so that he would never paint
any evil pictures though the marquis many
times prayed him. And his brothers were like
him in goodness. The third, who was a friar
of the Observantines of S. Dominic, called Fra
Girolamo, was also a reasonably good painter.
He was a person of most simple habits, and
quite a stranger to the things of the world.

MONSIGNORI 207

He lived at a farm belonging to the convent,
and that he might escape all trouble and dis-
turbance, he kept the money which was sent
him for his work, and which he used for buying
colours and such things, in an uncovered box
hanging to a beam in the middle of his room,
so that any one could take it. And that he
might not have trouble every day about his
food, he used on Monday to cook a saucepan
of beans to last him the week. When the plague
came to Mantua, and the sick were abandoned,
as has often happened in such cases, Fra Giro-
lamo, moved by the noblest charity, would not
leave the poor sick fathers, but served them
with his own hands, caring not that for the
love of God he lost his own life, and so he took
the infection and died, to the grief of all who
knew him.

CHAPTER XIX

IL ROSSO

THE Florentine painter II Rosso, whowas honoured
above every one of his trade by so great a king
as the King of France, was endowed with many
gifts besides that of painting. For he was a
man of splendid presence, with a gracious and
serious manner of speaking, a good musician,
and with a knowledge of philosophy. In archi-
tecture also he was excellent, and always, however
poor he might be, he showed himself rich and
great in soul. In his youth he drew from
Michael Angelo's cartoon in the Council Hall,
but would have little to do with any masters.
Having obtained some reputation by his works,
he was entrusted with the painting of a picture
which Raffaello had left unfinished. He also
painted for Gio. Bandini a story from the life
of Moses, which I think was sent to France.
Another for Cavalcanti, who was going to
England, was of Jacob at the well. II Rosso
was living while he was at work upon it in the
Borgo de' Tintori which joins on to the garden

IL ROSSO 209

of the friars of S. Croce, and he was at that
time much attached to a monkey, which had
the nature of a man rather than an animal.
He kept him always with him, and loved him
as himself, and because he had a marvellous
understanding, he taught him to perform many
services. The animal attached himself to one
of his lads named Battistino, who was very
beautiful, and he seemed to understand every-
thing he wanted him to do. Now against the
back of the house which looked out on the
friars' garden, there was a. trellis covered with
a vine full of great San Colombo grapes, and
the young fellows used to send the monkey
down and draw him up again by a rope with
his hands full of grapes. The friar, who had
the charge of the vines, finding his vines getting
thinned and suspecting the mice, kept watch,
and discovered II Rosso's monkey descending.
Full of rage, he snatched up a stick and ran
towards him to beat him. The monkey, seeing
that if he began to climb he would catch him,
and the same if he stood still, began leaping
about in a way that threatened to bring down
the vine, and took hold of the trellis, intending
to throw himself on the friar's back. At the
same moment the friar waved his stick, and the
monkey in his terror shook the trellis so violently
that the beams gave way, and trellis and monkey

210 STORIES FROM VASARI

and all carne down on the top of the friar, who
cried out for mercy, while Battistino and the
others pulled the monkey up safe into their
room. The friar meanwhile went off in a rage,
and proceeded in great anger to the office of
the Council of Eight, magistrates who were
much feared in Florence. Having lodged his
complaint, II Rosso was summoned, and the
monkey was jokingly condemned to have a
weight attached to him, that he might not be
able to jump about as he had done. So II Rosso
made a roller which turned on an iron bar, so
that he might go about the house, but not
climb into other people's gardens. The monkey,
finding himself condemned to such a piece of
torture, seemed to guess that the friar' was the
cause of it; he set to work therefore, and
practised himself every day in leaping, carrying
the weight in his hands, until at last he was
ready for his design. Then one day, being left
loose by accident, he leaped from roof to roof
until he came to the friar's own room, just at
the hour when the friar was at vespers. Then
dropping the weight, he had such a merry dance
on the roof for half-an-hour that there was not
a tile that was not broken when he returned
to the Jiouse.

When II Rosso had finished his work he went
off with Battistino and the monkey to Rome,

IL ROSSO in

where great things were expected of him, for
some of his drawings had been seen which were
considered marvellous. He produced one work
in the Pace above Raffaello's paintings, but he
never painted anything worse in all his life ;
nor can I imagine how this came about unless
it was the change of place. It may be that
with the air of Rome and the astounding things
that he saw, the architecture and sculpture and
the pictures and statues of Michael Angelo, he
was not himself; in the same way Fra Barto-
lommeo and Andrea del Sarto fled from Rome
without leaving any works behind them. What-
ever was the cause, II Rosso never did worse, and
moreover the painting has to stand comparison
with Raffaello's.

When the sack of Rome happened, poor
II Rosso was made prisoner by the Germans,
and very badly treated, for having stripped him
of his clothes, they made him go barefoot and
bareheaded carrying heavy weights, until he
succeeded in escaping to Perugia. Afterwards
he came to Arezzo, and was entrusted with a
painting in fresco in the Madonna delle Lagrime.
But when "the siege of Florence began in 1530,
the people of Arezzo looked with an evil eye
upon the Florentines, and II Rosso would not
trust himself to them, and went away to Borgo
S. Sepolcro, leaving the cartoons and the drawings

212 STORIES FROM VASARI

for the work shut up in the citadel, and he
would never return, but finished the picture
there.

He had always had a desire to end his life
in France, and escape, as he said, from the certain
misery and poverty which befall men who work
in Tuscany, and in the lands where they are
born; so he determined now to depart, and
studied for that purpose the Latin language,
that he might take a better position. He was
forced, however, to hasten his departure, for on
Holy Thursday, being in church with a young
Aretine who was a pupil of his, the young fellow,
with a candle and some pitch, produced some
flames while they were holding the service of
the Tenebrae, for which he was reproved and
somewhat knocked about by some of the priests.
II Rosso, who was sitting by the side of the
boy, started up angrily in the priest's face, which
occasioned a disturbance, and no one knowing
exactly what was the matter, all rushed sword
in hand against poor II Rosso, who was struggling
with the priests. He betook himself to flight,
and dexterously made his escape to his abode
without being hurt. However, considering
himself insulted, he set off at night, and went
by the way of Pesaro to Venice and thence to
France, where he was received with many caresses
by the Florentines there.

IL ROSSO 213

He presented some pictures to King Francis
which pleased him greatly, but still more did his
presence and bearing and conversation ; for he
was tall in person, of a red complexion, agreeing
with his name, and in all his gestures grave
and judicious. The king therefore immediately
ordered him a provision of four hundred crowns,
and gave him a house in Paris, where, however,
he lived but little, spending most of his time
at Fontainebleau. He also set him over all the
buildings and pictures of that place, and he
adorned it with paintings. The king was so
pleased with them that before long he gave him
a canonry in the chapel of the Madonna at Paris,
with other gifts. Here II Rosso lived like a
lord, with a great number of servants and horses,
and gave banquets to all his friends and acquaint-
ances, especially to the Italians, and had his
house supplied with tapestry and silver and
furniture of value. But fortune, who seldom
or never leaves undisturbed the glory of those
who trust too much in her, brought him most
strangely to a miserable end. For while Fran-
cesco di Pellegrino, a Florentine, one who de-
lighted greatly in painting, and a great friend
of his, was working with him, it happened that
II Rosso was robbed of some hundreds of ducats,
and not knowing whom to suspect except this
Francesco, he caused him to be brought before

2i 4 STORIES FROM VASARI

the courts and subjected to a rigorous examina-
tion and put to the torture. But he confessing
nothing was found innocent and let go free, and
moved by a just anger, resented the injurious
charge which had been brought against him, and
summoning II Rosso in his turn, pressed his com-
plaint in such a manner that II Rosso, not know-
ing how to defend himself, found himself in evil
case. For he had not only falsely accused his
friend, but had stained his own honour. So
he determined rather to kill himself than be
punished by others. One day, therefore, when
the' king was at Fontainebleau, he sent a man to
Paris for a certain poison, representing that he
wanted to use it for his colours or varnishes.
The man while returning with it held his thumb
over the mouth of the bottle, which, however,
was stopped with wax ; but such was the malignity
of the poison that he almost lost his finger, which
was as it were eaten away by it. II Rosso himself
taking it, in a few hours cut short his life. The
news being brought to the king displeased him
greatly, for it seemed to him that by his death he
had Jost the greatest artist of his time.

CHAPTER XX

PARMIGIANO

AMONG the many in Lombardy who have been
endowed with a gift for drawing and a spirit
of invention and a talent for painting beautiful
landscapes, none is to be put before Francesco
Mazzuoli Parmigiano. If he had only kept to
the study of painting, and not gone after the
nonsense of congealing mercury to make him-
self rich, he would have been without compare.
Francesco was born in Parma in 1504, and his
father dying when he was a child of tender age,
he was left in the custody of two old uncles, both
painters, who brought him up with the tenderest
love, and taught him all that a Christian and a
citizen ought to know. He had no sooner taken
a pen in his hand to learn to write than he began
to draw marvellously, and his master, perceiving
this, persuaded his uncles to let him apply him-
self to painting. They, although they were old,
and painters of no great fame, were men of
good judgment, and placed him under excellent
masters. And because they found that he had

215

216 STORIES FROM VASARI

been born, as they say, with a pencil in his hand,
sometimes they urged him on, and sometimes,
fearing that too much study would injure his
health, they restrained him. At length, having
reached the age of sixteen, he completed a picture
of S. John baptizing Christ, which even now
causes astonishment that a boy could have done
such a thing.

Many others he painted before he attained the
age of nineteen. Then came upon him the desire
to see Rome, hearing men greatly praise the
works of the masters there, especially of Raffaello
and Michael Angelo, and he told his desire to
his old uncles. They, seeing nothing in the
desire that was not praiseworthy, agreed, but said
that it would be well to take something with
him which would gain him an introduction to
artists. And the counsel seeming good to Fran-
cesco, he painted three pictures, two small and
one very large. Besides these, inquiring one day
into the subtleties of art, he began to draw himself
as he appeared in a barber's convex glass. He had
a ball of wood made at a turner's and divided in
half, and on this he set himself to paint all that
he saw in the. glass, and because the mirror en-
larged everything that was near and diminished
what was distant, he painted the hand a little
large. Francesco himself, being of very beauti-
ful countenance and more like an angel than a

Anderson.

ALEXANDER FARNE8E EMBRACED BY MINERVA.
(Ahtseo Naxionale> Naples )

PARMIGIANO 217

man, his portrait on the ball seemed a thing
divine, and the work altogether was a happy
success, having all the lustre of the glass, with
every reflection and the light and shade so true,
that nothing more could be hoped for from the
human intellect.

The picture being finished and packed, together
with the portrait, he set out, accompanied by one
of his uncles, for Rome ; and as soon as the
Chancellor of the Pope had seen the pictures,
he introduced the youth and his uncle to Pope
Clement, who seeing the works produced and
Francesco so young, was astonished, and all his
court with him. And his Holiness gave him the
charge of painting the Pope's hall.

Francesco studying in Rome wished to see
everything, ancient and modern, sculpture and
painting, that there was in the city ; but he held
in special veneration the works of Michael Angelo
and Raffaello da Urbino, and people said when
they saw a youth of such rare art and such
gentle, graceful manners, that the spirit of
Raffaello had passed into the body of Fran-
cesco, seeing also that he strove to imitate him
in everything, especially in painting, and not
in vain.

But while he was painting a picture for S.
Salvadore del Lauro came the ruin and the sack of
Rome, which not only banished all art for the time,

2i8 STORIES FROM VASARI

but cost the lives of many artists, and Francesco
was very near losing his ; for at the beginning
of the tumult he was so intent on his work that
when the soldiers began entering the houses
and some Germans were already in his he, for
all the noise they made, did not move from his
place. But they, coming suddenly upon him,
and seeing his painting, were so astonished by it
that, like good fellows, they let him alone. And
while the poor city was ruined by the impious
cruelty of the barbarians, sacred and profane
things alike suffering, without respect to God or
man, he was taken care of by these Germans, and
honoured and defended from injury. All the
annoyance that he suffered from them was that,
one of them being a great connoisseur in paint-
ing, he was forced to make a number of drawings
in water-colour or in pen and ink, which were
taken as the payment of his ransom. But on
the soldiers being changed, Francesco fell into
trouble, for while he was going to look for some
friends, he was made prisoner by some other
soldiers, and obliged to give up the few crowns
he had. His uncle, seeing that all hope of Fran-
cesco's acquiring knowledge, fame, and wealth
was cut off, and that Rome was little less than
ruined, and the Pope a prisoner in the hands of
the Spaniards, determined to take him back to
Parma.

PARMIGIANO 219

But having reached Bologna, and meeting
there many friends, he stayed some months in
that city, and caused some of his works to be
engraved, having with him for that purpose
one Antonio da Trento. But this Antonio one
morning when Francesco was in bed opened a
chest, took out all the engravings and wood-
cuts, and whatever drawings he could find, and
took himself off it was never known where ; and
though Francesco recovered the engravings, which
the fellow had left with a friend, intending pro-
bably to get them when it was convenient, he
never saw his drawings again. Half desperate,
he returned to his painting, and was forced for
the sake of earning some money to paint the
portrait of some Bolognese Count or other.

When the Emperor Charles V. came to
Bologna that Clement VII. might crown him,
Francesco went to see him dine, and without
drawing his portrait painted a very large picture
of this Caesar, with Fame crowing him with laurel.
And when it was finished, he showed it to Pope
Clement, and it pleased him so much that he
sent both the picture and Francesco to the
emperor, accompanied by -the Bishop of Verona.
The picture pleasing his Majesty also, he gave
him to understand that he was to leave it ; but
Francesco, by the counsel of a not very faithful
or not very wise friend, said it was not finished,

220 STORIES FROM VASARI

and so his Majesty did not have it, and he was
not rewarded as he certainly would have been.

So Francesco, after many years' absence from
his home, having gained experience in art, and
acquired friends but no wealth, returned at last
to Parma. And immediately he was set to paint
in fresco in the church of S. Maria della Steccata.
He was also employed in painting a picture for a
gentleman of Parma, and for the church of S.
Maria de' Servi. But it soon appeared that he
was neglecting the work in the Steccata, or at
least taking it very easily ; it was evident things
were going badly with him ; and the reason was
that he had begun to study alchemy, and to put
aside painting for it, hoping to enrich himself
quickly by congealing mercury. He used his
brains no longer for working out fine conceptions
with his pencils and colours, but wasted all his
days instead over his charcoal and wood and glass
bottles and such trash, spending more in a day than
he earned in a week by his painting in the Steccata.
Having no other means, he began to find that his
furnaces were ruining him little by little, and
what was worse still, the company of the Steccata,
seeing that he neglected his work, and having
perhaps paid him beforehand, began a suit against
him. He therefore fled by night with some of
his friends to Casal Maggiore, where putting his
alchemy for a while out of his head, he returned

PARMIGIANO 221

to his painting, and made a Lucretia, which was
the best thing that had ever been seen from his
hand. But his mind was constantly turning to
his alchemy, and he himself was changed from
the gentle, delicate youth to a savage with long,
ill-kept hair and beard, and in this melancholy
state he was attacked by a fever, which carried
him off in a few days.

CHAPTER XXI

PERINO DEL VAGA

THERE was in the city of Florence one Giovanni
Buonaccorsi, who being young and high-spirited,
joined the service of Charles VIII. , and spent all
his property in the wars and in gambling. To
him was born a son named Piero, whose mother
died of the plague when he was only two months
old, and he was brought up in great poverty,
being fed with goat's milk, until his father going
to Bologna took as his second wife a woman who
had lost her first husband and her sons of the
plague. She nursed the little Piero, calling him
by the pet name of Pierino, and this name clung
to him always. His father afterwards brought
him to Florence, and left him with some of his
relations there when he returned to France. He
was taken as he grew older by Andrea de' Ceri, a
painter who was pleased with his ways and looks.
Andrea was a very ordinary painter, and kept an
open shop, working in public all sorts of mecha-
nical things, and he used to paint tapers every
year for the feast of S. John, by which he obtained

PEKING DEL VAGA 223

the name of Andrea de' Ceri, and Perino for a
time was known as Perino de' Ceri. Andrea
kept Perino for some years, and taught him to
the best of his power the principles of art, but
was forced when he reached the age of eleven
years to put him with a better master, and being
intimate with Ridolfo, son of Domenico Ghirlan-
daio, who had many youths in his workshop, he
put Perino with him. There was one among
them named Toto del Nunziata, who was a con-
tinual spur to urge him on, and Perino competing
with him was not long in becoming an excellent
scholar.

There came at that time to Florence II Vaga
the. Florentine^ who was working in Toscanella,
and though he was not an excellent master, work
was abundant with him, and he needed helpers.
Therefore, seeing Perino working in Ridolfo's
workshop, and superior to the other scholars,
being also a beautiful youth, and courteous,
modest, and gentle, he asked him if he would
go with him to Rome. Perino had such a great
desire to attain a high rank in his profession
that when he heard of Rome his heart glowed,
but he said he must speak to Andrea de' Ceri,
for he would not abandon him who had helped
him till that time. So Vaga persuaded Ridolfo
and Andrea to let him go, and took him with
him to Toscanella, where he began to work, and

224 STORIES FROM VASARI

Perino to help him. And when Perino lamented
that the promise of taking him to Rome was
delayed, and began. to think of going by himself,
Vaga left his work and took him himself to
Rome ; and when he would return to Toscanella
he recommended Perino to all the friends he
had that they might help him, and so from that
time forward he was always called Perino del
Vaga.

Perino, burning with the love of art and his
desire to become great in it, was forced to work
like a day labourer, now with one painter and
now with another, but finding this very incon-
venient for his studies, he determined to work
half the week for pay, and to give the other
half to study, reserving also all the feast days
and a great part of the nights. So he studied
in the Pope's chapel, taking Raffaello as his
model, and learnt how to work in stucco, 'and
copied ancient marbles, stinting himself to the
utmost and begging his bread, if only he might
through any misery become excellent in his pro-
fession. And before long he became the best
draughtsman among those who were studying
in Rome, and Giulio Romano and Giovan Fran-
cesco, called II Fattore, made him known to
their master, RafFaello. Now Raffaello was then
working at the loggie that Leo X. had ordered,
and he had chosen in Rome or brought thither

Pcrino del Vagst.

GALATEA.
(Doria Gallery, Rome.)

Anderson.

PEKING DEL VAGA 225

many masters, a company of men of worth, to
work, some In stucco, some in grotesques, some
on leaves, festoons, and such things ; and as soon
as he found that any one did well, he brought
him forward and gave him better wages, and
by this means many youths were perfected who
afterwards became well known. Into this com-
pany Perino was brought, and soon showed
himself the best for drawing and colour. He
always showed submission and reverent obedience
towards Raffaello, so that he was loved by him
as his own son. And his name becoming known,
he was employed by others, accomplishing many
works in Rome and making himself famous.

In the year 1523 the plague broke out in
Rome, and Perino, to save his life, determined
to leave; and Piloto the goldsmith, a friend
of Perino's, being at table with him one day,
persuaded him to go with him to Florence. It
was many years since he had been there, but
although Andrea de' Ceri and his wife were
dead, it was still dear to him as the place of
his birth. So it was not long before he and
Piloto set off one morning and came to Florence.
And being arrived there, he found the greatest
pleasure in looking again at the old things
painted by masters long dead, which had been
his study in his childish years, and also in seeing
the works of the masters then living.

226 STORIES FROM VASARI

One day it happened that many artists,
sculptors, architects, and goldsmiths, having met
together according to the old custom to do
him honour, some wishing to see Perino and
hear what he had to say, and some wanting
to see what was the difference between the
artists of Rome and those of Florence in their
methods of working, it happened, I say, that
talking of one thing and another, they came
to the church of the Carmine to see Masaccio's
chapel. And each one considering it attentively,
and adding his mite to the praise of this great
master, all affirmed that it was marvellous that
he who had seen nothing but Giotto's paintings
should have worked in so modern a style, and
that even now there was no one who could equal
him in relief and in execution. This conversation
pleased Perino well, and he replied to the artists,
" I do not deny that what you say is true, and
much more besides, but that no one has equalled
his manner, I deny; rather, I should say, that
I know many a one whose style is bolder and
more graceful, and I, who am not among the
first in art I am sorry that there is no room
here for me to paint a figure by the side of one
of these in fresco, that you may see if there is
no one among the moderns who can equal him."
There was present a master who was considered
the first in Florence, and he being curious to

PERINO DEL VAGA 227

see Perino's work, and perhaps desirous to lower
his pride, said, " Although this side is full, yet
as you have such a desire certainly a good and
praiseworthy one there is a space on the other
side where his S. Paul is, and you can easily
show us what you say, by painting another
apostle by the side either of Masolino's S. Peter
or Masaccio's S. Paul." The S. Peter was nearest
the window, and there was more space there
and better light, while it was as fine a figure as
the S. Paul. So they all urged Perino to do it,
because they wanted to see this Roman manner,
and many said he would be the means of ridding
their minds of a fancy which they had held to
for scores of years, and if his was better they
would all run after the modern things. So
Perino was persuaded at last by hearing one of
the masters say that he might paint a figure in
fresco in a fortnight, and they would spend
years in praising it, and he resolved to make
the attempt. And the prior of the convent
was called, and courteously gave them leave to
paint in the place. And they took the measure
of the space, the height and the width, and
departed,

Then Perino made a cartoon, choosing the
apostle S. Andrew, and finished it carefully, and
had the scaffolding prepared for painting it. But
before his coming some j|f his friends, who had

228 STORIES FROM VASARI

seen his works in Rome, had procured for him
a commission for a painting in fresco. There
were a number of men in the Camaldoli in
Florence who had formed themselves into a com-
pany called the Company of the Martyrs ; and
they desired to have painted the story of those
martyrs who having been taken in battle were
condemned by the two Roman emperors "to be
crucified. And this had been entrusted to Perino,
who undertook it gladly, although the price was
small, for he thought it would bring him the
consideration he deserved among the citizens and
artists in Florence. He made therefore a small
drawing, which was pronounced divine, and then
began a cartoon as large as the work. And
when this was seen, all said that nothing equal
in beauty and drawing had been seen since Michael
Angelo had made his cartoon for the Council
Hall.

Now Perino had long been friendly with a Ser
Raffaello di Sandro, a priest of S. Lorenzo, and
he persuaded him to take up his quarters with
him, and Perino lodged there many weeks. But
the plague began to show itself in certain places
in Florence, and Perino for fear of it determined
to depart. He wished first, however, to re-
munerate Ser Raffaello, but he would not con-
sent to take anything, saying, " A scrap of paper
from your hand would be enough." So Perino

PEKING DEL VAGA 229

took a thick piece of cloth about four braccia in
size, and fixed it to a wall, and painted on it in
bronze colour in a day and a night the Crossing
of the Red Sea. And this he gave to Ser Raffaello,
who was as glad of it as if he had made him prior
of S. Lorenzo.

Then Perino departed from Florence, leaving
the Martyrs unfinished, to his great regret ;
indeed, if it had been in any other place than
the Camaldoli he would have finished it, but that
convent had been set apart for the infected, and
he chose rather to save his life than to leave a
fame of himself in Florence, having already shown
by his drawings what he was worth.

For many months he fled from place to place
to escape the plague, but when it had ceased he
returned to Rome. Now after the death of
Raffaello it had been resolved to make Giulio
Romano and Giovan Francesco, called II Fattore,
directors of the works, that they might divide
the work among the other painters ; but Perino
showed himself so excellent that they did not
doubt he would be placed above them, being also
a disciple of Raffaello. They therefore deter-
mined to attach him to their interests, and for
that purpose gave him the sister of Giovan Fran-
cesco to wife, and thus changed their friendship
into kinship.

And this lasted until in the year 1527 came

230 STORIES FROM VASARI

the ruin of Rome, and Perino, with his wife and
his little girl hanging on his neck, ran about from
place to place seeking a shelter, and at last was
made prisoner. And they made him pay such a
sum for his ransom that he was nearly out of
his mind ; and even after the fury of the sack
was over, he was so much overwhelmed by his
ruin that he could do nothing in his art, until
II Baviera, who was the only one who had not
lost much, made him draw for him the Meta-
morphoses of the Gods, which was engraved by
Jacopo Caraglio.

But while he was in such misery there came
to Rome Niccola Veniziano, a servant of Prince
Dona's, and he out of old friendship for Perino
persuaded him to go to Genoa, promising him
that the prince, who was a lover of painting,
would give him work ; and Perino was not hard
to persuade. So leaving his wife and child with
their relatives in Rome, he set out for Genoa,
and was received with great kindness by the
prince. And the prince determined to make a
palace adorned with stucco and with pictures in
fresco and oil ; and there Perino produced those
works which are his best.

It is said that before his coming Girolamo da
Trevigi had been painting there, and when he
saw Perino making cartoons and sketches on
different sheets of papers, and not beginning the

PEKING DEL VAGA 231

work itself, he began to raise a complaint against
him, saying, "Cartoons, nothing but cartoons!
I carry my art at the end of my brush." These
words came to Perino's ears, and being angry, he
caused his cartoon to be fixed on the ceiling
where he was to paint, and taking away some of
the scaffolding that it might be seen from below,
he opened the hall. And all Genoa ran to see
the picture, and were astonished at it. And
among them came Girolamo da Trevigi, and
seeing what he had never expected to see from
Perino's hand, overwhelmed by its beauty, he
departed from Genoa, without even , taking leave
of Prince Doria, and returned to Bologna.

So Perino proceeded with his work, and adorned
many of the rooms with his paintings; and deco-
rated the poops of Prince Doria's galleys, and
made many banners and standards, so that he was
much loved by the prince, and would have been
greatly rewarded by him. But while he was
working there the fancy took him to fetch his
wife from Rome, and to buy himself a house in
Pisa. He intended, as he was growing old, to
settle there, but the remembrance of Rome in the
happy days of Leo filled him with a great desire
to return, and one morning the whim took him
and he left Pisa and went to Rome.

Nevertheless for some months he was left
without employment, and was tempted to depart

232 STORIES FROM VASARI

again ; but his friends comforted him, and bade
him have patience, saying that Rome was no
longer what she had been. And after a time
he was employed in the chapel of the Pope, where
Michael Angelo painted the Last Judgment, and
by degrees much work came into his hands.

But in his last works he followed the example
of Raffaello, and the designing of his works
pleasing him more than the completing of them,
he gave them to others to carry out. He,
however, who would preserve his name should
do the whole work himself. But Perino had so
many things entrusted to him that he was forced
to employ others; besides, he had now a thirst
for gain rather than glory, having prospered so
ill in his youth. He acquired such an influence
that almost all the work in Rome was entrusted
to him. But he had taken upon himself too
great a burden, considering his infirmities. He
had to work day and night, not only at great
works, but at drawings for embroidery, carving,
and all kinds of ornaments, so that he had not
an hour of repose, except when he sat with his
friends at the tavern, which he held to be the
true blessedness of life. So, worn out with his
labours and the hardships of his life, he fell into
a consumption, and one evening while talking
to a friend near his house he fell dead, at the
age of forty-seven.

CHAPTER XXII

BACCIO BANDINELLI

IN the days when art was flourishing at Florence,
under the favour of the magnificent Lorenzo
de' Medici, there was in the city a goldsmith
named Michael Angelo di Viviano da Gaiuole,
who worked excellently with his chisel, and was
skilled in niello work, and had great knowledge
of jewels, so that his shop was considered the
first in Florence. He was also very familiar
with the sons of Lorenzo, and when the Medici
fled from Florence in the year 1494, they left
with him much plate and treasure, which he
kept secretly and restored faithfully when they
returned. To him was born a son whom he
named Bartolommeo, but who was always called,
after the manner of Florence, Baccio. And as
in those times no one was thought to be a good
goldsmith who was not a good draughtsman
and could not work well in relief, he put him
with other boys to learn drawing. While Baccio
was still a child he was one day in the shop of
Girolamo del Bada, on the Piazza of S. Pulinari,

933

234 STORIES FROM VASARI

and there had been a heavy fall of snow, which
had been piled up in heaps. Girolamo, turning
to Baccio, said to him in jest, "Baccio, if that
snow were marble we might carve out of it a
great giant like Marforio lying down." "So
we might," said Baccio; "let us treat it as if
it were marble." So putting on his cloak he
set to work, and helped by some other boys,
he made a rough model of a Marforio eight
braccia long, lying down, which astonished every
one, not so, much at the work itself, as at the
spirit with which so small a boy set himself to
so great a work.

His father, seeing his inclination, put him
under the care of Rustici, the best sculptor of
the city, with whom Lionardo da Vinci had
constant intercourse. He saw Baccio's drawings
and was pleased with them, and praising to him
Donatello's works, bade him do something in
marble.

It was at this time that the cartoon of Michael
Angelo in the Council Hall was uncovered, and
all the artists ran to copy it, and Baccio among
others. He went more frequently than any one,
having counterfeited the key of the chamber.
In the year 1512, Piero Soderini was deposed
and the house of Medici reinstated. In the
tumult, therefore, Baccio, being by himself,
secretly cut the cartoon into several pieces.

CHARCOAL PORTRAIT OF JACOPA DOW.
(Tlit I.onvrt.)

BACCIO BANDINELLI 235

Some said he did it that he might have a piece
of the cartoon always near him, and others that
he wanted to prevent other youths from making
use of it; others again say that he did it out
of affection for Lionardo da Vinci, or from the
hatred he bore to Michael Angelo. The loss
anyhow to the city was no small one, and Baccio's
fault very great.

Having obtained the reputation of being a
good draughtsman, he desired to learn how to
paint in colours, being firmly of opinion that he
should not only equal Buonarroti but surpass him
greatly ; however, he wished to pretend that he
had found out how to manage the colours by
himself and had not been taught by others. He
went therefore to his friend Andrea del Sarto,
and asked him to paint his portrait in oils,
thinking he should get two things by this scheme ;
first, he should see how the colours were mixed,
and then the picture would be his and he could
use it as a model. But Andrea perceived what
Baccio was about, and was angry at his artfulness,
although he would have been ready to show him
all he wanted if he had asked him as a friend.
However, he did not pretend to have found him
out, but instead of mixing his colours as he
usually did, he put them all on to his palette at
once, and mixed them together with his brush,
taking a little now of one and now of another

236 STORIES FROM VASARI

with great rapidity, so that Baccio, being obliged
to sit still if he wanted to be painted, could not
discover what he wished to know. Nevertheless
Baccio did not give up his desire, but obtained
assistance from the painter II Rosso, whom he
told more openly what he wanted. He also gave
himself to the study of anatomy, persevering in
it for many months and years. And certainly
the man had a desire to do good work and gain
honour by it, which is greatly to be praised. He
spared no fatigue and wasted no time, but was
always intent on his work.

When Leo X. passed through Florence and
the city was decorated in his honour, a colossal
statue was entrusted to Baccio. It was a Her-
cules, and from Baccio's talk it was expected
to surpass Buonarroti's David ; but as his deeds
did not correspond with his words, nor the work
to his boasts, Baccio lost greatly in the esteem of
artists and of all the city. Pope Leo then sent
him to help Andrea Contucci in some works that
he was employed upon at Loreto. And when he
came there he wa$ received gladly by Andrea,
and welcomed because of his fame and because
the Pope had recommended him. A piece of
marble being assigned him, he set to work, but
being a person who could not endure rivalry, and
seldom praised other people's work, he began
to find fault with Andrea's work to the other

BACCIO BANDINELLI 237

sculptors, saying it was wanting in drawing, and
he said the same of the others, so that in a little
while he had aroused a great deal of ill-will.
Then what he had said coming to Andrea's ears,
he, like a wise man, began to reprove him gently,
saying that sculpture was to be done with the
hands and not with the tongue, and that he
ought to speak of him with more respect. But
Baccio replied to him with such insulting lan-
guage that Andrea could bear it no longer, and
attacked him as if he were going to murder him,
but some people coming in hindered him. So
Baccio was forced to depart from Loreto and
come to Rome.

Now about that time two ambassadors arrived
from King Francis, and they went to see the
Belvedere statues, and expressed much admiration
for the Laocoon. The Cardinals de' Medici and
Bibbiena, who were with them, asked if the king
would value such a thing, but they replied it
would be too great a gift. Then the cardinal
answered that either this statue, or one so like
it that the difference could not be found out,
should be sent to his Majesty. And he resolved
to have a copy made of it, and remembering
Baccio, he sent for him and asked if he had
courage to try to make a Laocoon equal to the
original. Baccio replied that not only would he
make one equal to it, but he would surpass it.

238 STORIES FROM VASARI

So the cardinal resolved it should be done, and
while he was waiting for the marble Baccio made
a model in wax, and a cartoon in black and white
of the same size as the statue. Then the marble
arrived, and Baccio, having made a screen in the
Belvedere, set to work. But before it was very
far advanced the Pope died, and Adrian VI.
being made pope in his room, Baccio returned
with the cardinal to Florence. But when Adrian
was dead, and Clement VII. became pope, he
returned to Rome and to his Laocoon, which he
completed in two years with greater excellence
than he had ever shown in his work. He also
restored the right arm of the ancient statue which
had been broken off and was never found. The
work appeared so good to his Holiness that he
changed his mind and determined to send some
other ancient statues to the king, and to send
this to Florence, where it was placed in the palace
of the Medici.

Now in the time of Leo X., while the marble
for the S. Lorenzo of Florence was being hewn
in Carrara, another piece had been cut nine and
a half braccia high and five broad. Michael
Angelo had designed to carve from this Hercules
killing Cacus, to be placed by the side of his
colossal David, and had made many drawings for
it ; but the death of Leo had stopped everything.
When Clement was made pope, however, he

BACCIO BANDINELLI 239

desired that Michael Angelo should resume his
work on the tombs of the Medici heroes in
S. Lorenzo, and it was necessary to get more
marble. The works were under the care of
Domenico Boninsegni. He tried secretly to per-
suade Michael Angelo to join him in defrauding
the Pope, but Michael Angelo refusing, Domenico
took such a hatred to him that he did everything
he could to annoy him, but covertly. He per-
suaded the Pope to give the marble for the
colossal statue to Baccio, who at that time had
nothing to do, saying that his Holiness would be
better served by stirring up two such great men
to emulation. His counsel pleased the Pope, and
he followed it. Baccio was granted the marble,
and made a wax model of the Hercules. He was
sent to Carrara to see the marble, and orders were
given that it should be brought by water to Signa
on the river Arno. But when it arrived there,
the river being low between Signa and Florence,
they determined to take it by land, and while
being disembarked it fell into the water, and
through its great weight sank so deep in the mud
that they could not get it out. However the
Pope commanded that the marble was to be re-
covered by some means or other, and at Piero
Rosselli's suggestion they turned the river out of
its course, and by means of cranes and levers
brought it to land. The accident tempted many

2 4 o STORIES FROM VASARI

to write Tuscan and Latin verses satirising Baccio,
who was much hated. One of them related how
the marble, knowing the genius of Buonarroti,
and fearing to be disfigured by Baccio's hands,
had flung itself into the river in despair at such
a fate. While the marble was being brought to
land, Baccio measuring it found that he could
not cut out of it the statue he had modelled.
Going therefore to Rome he showed the Pope
that he must give up his first model and make
another. Having planned many, he at last made
one that pleased the Pope, and returning to
Florence, he found that the marble had been
brought thither, and began therefore to work
upon it. But in the year 1527 the Medici left
Florence after the sack of Rome, and Baccio, not
feeling himself secure in consequence of a private
quarrel with a neighbour who was of the popular
faction, went away to Lucca. The popular party
thus ruling Florence, entrusted Michael Angelo
with the fortifications of the city, and showed him
the marble upon which Baccio had begun to work,
proposing, if it were not too much spoilt, that he
should take it and make two figures after his own
manner. Michael Angelo considering it, deter-
mined to give up the Hercules and make instead
Samson with two Philistines, having killed one of
them, and being about to slay the other with the
jawbone of the ass. But the war being directed

BACCIO BANDINELLI 241

against the city of Florence, Michael Angelo
had other things to think about than polishing
marble, and was obliged to leave the city.

When the war was over Pope Clement made
Michael Angelo return to the sacristy of S.
Lorenzo, and sent Baccio back to his giant.
He, to show himself affectionately attached to
his Holiness, wrote to him every week, not only
about things of art, but entering into particulars
about the citizens and those who administered
the government. This behaviour brought down
upon him more hatred than ever, and the citizens
hindered his work as much as ever they could.
But when Pope Clement and the emperor met
at Bologna, Baccio went to kiss the Pope's feet,
and told him of the hindrances and annoyances
to which he was subjected, -and being terrible
with his tongue, he persuaded the Pope to charge
Duke Alessandro to take care that the work
was brought to a conclusion. So he returned
to Florence, and working at it continually, at
last finished it. Duke Alessandro, in consequence
of the ill-feeling of the citizens, did not care to
have it set up, but the Pope interceding, it was
with great labour brought to the piazza and
set in its place. It would not be easy to describe
the multitude that filled the piazza for two days,
coming to see the giant directly he was uncovered ;
and many different opinions were given, but all

242 STORIES FROM VASARI

finding fault with the work and the sculptor.
Tuscan and Latin verses were affixed to the
pedestal, but some of them going beyond any
reasonable limit. Duke Alessandro, considering
that the statue was a public monument, was
forced to throw some of the writers into prison,
which stopped people's mouths. Baccio, con-
sidering his work, thought that in the open air
the muscles seemed too weakly marked, so he
set up a new scaffold and deepened the markings.
But by those who are capable of judging, it has
been always held to be well studied, and the
figure of Cacus specially well managed. In truth
Michael Angelo's David, standing near it, and
being the most beautiful colossal statue that
ever was made, deprives it of much of the
praise it deserves ; but if one considers Baccio's
Hercules by itself, it cannot but receive great
commendation.

Baccio, desiring to hear what people said of
it, sent an old pedagogue whom he kept in the
house into the piazza, bidding him report to
him what he heard. He returned in quite a
melancholy state to the house, having heard
nothing but evil, and when Baccio questioned
him, replied that all with one voice found fault
with it, and that it did not please them. cc And
you, what do you say of it?" said Baccio.
"I speak well of it, and it pleases me." "I

BACCIO BANDINELLI 243

do not want it to please you/' said Baccio;
" speak evil of it too, for, as you may remember,
I never speak well of anybody, so we are quits."
Thus he dissembled his vexation and, according
to his custom, pretended not to care that people
found fault with his works. Nevertheless his
disappointment was really great, for when men
labour hard for honour and only earn blame,
although the blame may be unjust, the heart
is secretly distressed and tormented by it. He
was consoled by the gift of an estate from Pope
Clement, which was doubly dear to him because
it was close by his villa of Pinzerimonte and
had belonged to Rignadori the rebel, his mortal
enemy.

After the death of Pope Clement he heard
that the Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, with three
other of the cardinals and Baldassare Turini,
were appointed executors in his will, and that
they were to name the sculptors who were to
make the statues of Leo and Clement. The
work had been promised to Alfonso Lombardi
by Cardinal de' Medici, but as he was going
to meet Charles V. he died of poison. As soon
as Baccio heard this he set off for Rome, and
went to Madonna Lucrezia Salviata de' Medici,
Pope Leo's sister, and sought to show her that
no one could do greater honour to the memory
of these pontiffs than himself, and that Alfonso

244 STORIES FROM VASARI

could not without the aid of others accomplish
such an undertaking. He worked also by other
means and in other ways, and succeeded in
making them change their minds and entrust
the statues and reliefs to him. He made there-
fore two models, in which he showed either too
little religion or too much adulation, or perhaps
both, and when they were finished he took them
to the garden of Cardinal Ridolfi, where the
other cardinals and Baldassare were assembled.
While they were at dinner II Solosmeo a sculptor
arrived, a bold, witty man, who was fond of
saying hard things of every one, and who was
no friend of Baccio's. A message came in that II
Solosmeo was asking leave to enter. Ridolfi
bade them open to him, and then turning to
Baccio said, "I should like to know what
II Solosmeo says about the monuments ; lift the
tapestry and go behind it." Baccio obeyed, and
when II Solosmeo had come in and they had
given him something to drink, they began upon
the monuments that had been given to Baccio
to make. II Solosmeo reproached the cardinals
with the bad choice they had made, and began
saying all kinds of evil of Baccio, accusing him
of ignorance in art and arrogance and avarice.
Baccio, hidden behind the tapestry, could not
wait till II Solosmeo had done, but issuing forth
in a rage cried out, " What have I done to you

BACCIO BANDINELLI 245

that you speak of me with so little respect?"
At the sight of Baccio II Solosmeo became mute ;
then turning to Ridolfi he said, " What deceivers
these lords are! I will have no more to do
with priests ; " and he went away. But the
cardinals laughed heartily at both of them, and
Salviati turning to Baccio said, " You hear what
is the judgment of men of art ; see to it that
by your work you give them the lie."

Nevertheless Baccio took little pains with the
work, and left it half finished; and having
received all the money, left Rome and went to
Florence to serve Duke Cosimo. And by little
and little he grew into, such familiar favour with
the duke that every one feared him. He per-
suaded the duke to ask Michael Angelo for
some marbles that he had in Florence, among
which were some statues begun and one more
advanced, and when the duke had obtained them
and given them to Baccio, he cut them to pieces
and ground them to powder, thinking thus
to revenge himself and spite Michael Angelo.
Baccio made for the duke the ornaments of his
audience chamber, and many things for S. Maria
del Fiore.

In those days came Benvenuto Cellini from
France, who had served the King Francis as a
goldsmith, and he made for the duke a statue
of Perseus and other things. But as the potter

246 STORIES FROM VASARI

always envies the potter, so the sculptor does
the sculptor, and Baccio could not endure the
favours that were shown to Benvenuto. He
thought it was a strange thing that a goldsmith
should suddenly become a sculptor, and one who
was used to medals and little figures should
undertake colossal statues. Nor could Baccio
conceal his opinion, but betrayed it to every
one, and he now found one ready to answer
him ; for saying evil things of Benvenuto in
the presence of the duke, Benvenuto, who was
no less proud, gave him back what he received.
The duke took pleasure in hearing them, for
there was wit and acuteness in their satire, and
he gave them free leave to say what they liked
before him, but not abroad. However, one day
Benvenuto, after many bitter things had been
said, came up threatening and menacing Baccio,
saying, "Prepare yourself for another world,
for I will send you out of this ; " to which
Baccio replied, "Let me know the day before,
that I may confess and make my will, and not
die like the beast you are." Upon this the
duke imposed silence upon them, fearing some
ill end to the matter.

After that came Giorgio Vasari to do some
work for his Excellency, and Baccio thought the
duke had no more use for him because he em-
ployed others; and in his grief and displeasure

BACCIO BANDINELLI 247

he became so strange and full of humours that
no one could hold any converse with him ; even
his son Clemente suffered many things from him,
and went to Rome to escape from him, where the
same year he died, a great loss to his father and
to art, as Baccio found out when he was dead.
He had left behind him a half-finished sculpture
of the dead Christ supported by Nicodemus, and
when Baccio heard that Michael Angelo was
working upon the same subject in Rome, intend-
ing to put it over his tomb in S. Maria Maggiore,
he began to work upon his son's, and with the
aid of others finished it. Then he went through
all the principal churches in Florence seeking for
a place in which to make his own tomb. And
having by the intercession of the duchess, who
was ever his friend, obtained a place in the
church of the Servites, he removed thither the
bones of his father. But whether it were from
disturbance of mind, or from fatigue in moving
the marble, he went to his house ill, and growing
every day worse, died at the age of seventy-two,
having been until then so robust that he had
never known sickness.

CHAPTER XXIII

RUSTICI

IT is a wonderful thing that all those who studied
in the school of the Medici garden, and were
favourites of the magnificent Lorenzo, became
excellent masters. It could not have happened
if this true Mecsenas of men of talent had not
been a man of great judgment, able to recognise
genius as well as to reward it. Giovan Francesco
Rustici, having distinguished himself there, was
placed by Lorenzo with Andrea del Verrocchio,
with whom was the rarely gifted youth, Lionardo
da Vinci. And Lionardo's manner greatly pleas-
ing Rustici, when Andrea went away to work in
Venice he joined himself to him, serving him
with loving submission. Being of a noble family,
he had enough to live upon, and gave himself to
art for his pleasure and from desire of honour.
To have to work indeed, as many have to do, to
supply the need of the day, is not good for men
who should be working for glory and honour,
for good work does not come without long

consideration. Rustici used to say in his mpre

248

RUSTICI 249

mature years that you should first think over
your subject, then make sketches, afterwards
drawings, and then put them away for weeks and
months and not look at them, after that choosing
the best, set to work upon them, which no one
can do who works for gain.

When the Medici family returned to Florence,
Rustici made himself known to Cardinal Giovanni
as one who had been favoured by his father
Lorenzo, and was received by him with many
caresses. But the ways of the court did not
please him, being contrary to his nature, which
was quiet and sincere, and not full of envy and
ambition.

When he had gained some reputation, the
consuls of the Guild of the Merchants entrusted
to him the making of three bronze figures for
the door of S. Giovanni, the subject being
S. John preaching, with a Levite and Pharisee
beside him. The work was greatly to his taste,
being for a place so celebrated and important.
He would have nobody near him when he worked
but Lionardo da Vinci, who, while he was making
the mould, and in fact until the statues were
cast, did not leave him, so that many said (but
they did not really know), that Lionardo worked
at them himself, or at least aided him with his
counsel. While he was working upon them
Rustici, not liking the annoyance of having to

250 STORIES FROM VASARI

ask the consuls or their servants for money, sold
a farm which he had outside Florence. But
after all the expense and trouble, he was badly
remunerated by the consuls and the citizens.
For one of the Ridolfi, out of private spite,
or perhaps because Rustici had not shown him
enough honour, nor let him see the figures before
they were finished, was always against him. And
when his work was to be valued, Rustici having
called Michael Angelo Buonarroti to act for him,
at the persuasion of Ridolfi, Baccio d'Agnolo was
named for the other side. At this Rustici was
much grieved, saying before them all that it was
strange that a wood carver should have to value
the labours of a statuary, and almost told the
magistrates they were a herd of oxen, to which
Ridolfi answered that Rustici was a proud,
arrogant man. But what was worse, the work,
which was well worth two thousand crowns, was
only estimated at five hundred, and this was
never entirely paid, but only four hundred,
through the intercession of Cardinal Giulio de*
Medici. Rustici therefore, almost in despair,
resolved never to work for the public again, nor
to undertake anything where the matter would
depend upon more than one man.

So he withdrew into private, and lived a
solitary life, only working for pastime and not
to be idle. He used to go and stroll about out-

RUSTICI 251

side the city, taking off his long robe and carry-
ing it over his shoulder ; and once, finding it hot,
he hid it in a wood among some bushes, and
going on to the palace of the Salviati, stayed
there two days before he remembered it. Then
sending one of his men to seek for it, when he
saw he had found it, he exclaimed, " The world
is too good ; it will not last long." He was a
man of great kindness and very good to the poor,
and would never let any one go away without
assistance, but keeping his money in a basket,
whether he had little or much, he gave to those
who asked. A poor man, therefore, who often
went to him for alms, seeing him always go to
the basket, said, not thinking to be heard, " Oh,
if I only had what is in that basket, my difficulties
would soon be over." Rustici heard him, and
looking at him fixedly said, " Come here, I will
content you," and he emptied the basket into a
corner of his cloak. Niccoli Buoni, a great
friend of his, managed all his matters for him,
and gave him so much money every week.
There never was a man who delighted- more in
animals. He had a porcupine which was so
tame that it went about under the table like a
dog, and used to rub itself against people's' legs
and make them draw back very quickly. He
had an eagle, and a crow who could say many
things as clearly as a human being. He also

252 STORIES FROM VASARI

gave himself to necromancy, and by the things
he did caused great terror to, his pupils and
acquaintances. He had walled up a place like a
fishpond, and in this he kept a great many snakes
and worms, which could not get out, and he used
to take great pleasure in standing watching their
mad gambols.

There used to assemble in his rooms a number
of good fellows called the Company of the
Saucepan, which was limited to twelve members,
and each one of the twelve might bring four
and no more to their suppers. And each one
was bound to bring something to the supper
made with skill and invention, and when he
came he presented it to the master of the feast,
who handed it on to any one he liked. One
evening when Rustici was giving a supper to
his Company of the Saucepan, he ordered that,
instead of a table, a great kettle or saucepan
should be made out of a wine vat, and they all
sat inside it, and it was lighted from the handle
which was over their heads. And when they
were all comfortably settled, there rose up in
the middle a tree with many branches bearing
the supper, that is, the food on plates. And
then it descended again and brought up a second
course, and afterwards a third, and so on, while
there were servants going round with precious
wines and musicians playing below. This was

RUSTICI 253

greatly praised by the men of the Company.
Rustici's dish that time was a cauldron made of
pastry, in which Ulysses was dipping his father
to make him young again. The two figures
were capons with their limbs arranged to make
them look like men. Andrea del Sarto, who
was one of the Company, presented a temple
with eight sides, like S. Giovanni, but resting
on columns. The pavement was of gelatine,
like different-coloured mosaics ; the pillars, which
looked like porphyry, were great sausages, the
base and capitals of Parmesan cheese, the cornices
of sugar, and the tribunes of marchpane. In the
middle was placed the choir desk of cold veal,
with a book of macaroni paste, having the letters
and notes for singing made with peppercorns,
and those who were singing were thrushes with
their beaks open and wearing little surplices,
and behind these for the bassi were two fat
pigeons, with six ortolans for the soprani. Spillo,
another member, brought the model of a smith,
made of a great goose, or some such bird, with
all the tools for mending the saucepan if it were
necessary. Domenico Puligo brought a roast
pig, made to represent a girl with her distaff
by her side watching a brood of chickens. The
other things represented were also very good,
but we cannot tell them one by one.

There was also the Company of the Trowel

254 STORIES FROM VASARI

to which Giovan Francesco belonged, and which
began in this way. A supper was being given
by Feo d'Agnolo, a humpbacked piper and a
very amusing fellow, in his garden in the Cam-
paccio, and while they were eating their ricotta,
II Baja, one of the guests, noticed a little heap
of mortar, with a trowel lying by it, as a mason
had left it the day before. Taking a little of
the mortar on the trowel, he popped it into
Feo's mouth, which happened to be opening for
a great mouthful of ricotta, upon which all the
company cried aloud, " A trowel ! a trowel ! "
Out of this incident the Company was formed,
which was to contain twenty-four members, the
sign of which was a trowel (cazzuola\ to which
they added those little black vessels with a large
body and a tail which are also called cazzuote.
Their patron saint was S. Andrew, and they
celebrated his feast day with a solemn supper.
Before many years had passed it grew into
such reputation that Giuliano de' Medici and
many other important people joined it. Their
feasts were innumerable. On one occasion,
under the direction of Bugiardino and Rustic!,
they all appeared in the dress of masons and
labourers, and set to work to build an edifice
for the Company with ricotta for mortar, cheese
for sand. The bricks, carried in baskets and
barrows, were loaves of bread and cakes. But

RUSTICI 255

their building being pronounced badly done, it
was condemned to be pulled down, upon which
they threw themselves upon the materials and
devoured them all. At the end, when it was
time to break up, there came a cleverly managed
shower of rain with much thunder, which forced
them to leave off work and return home.

Another time Ceres seeking Proserpine came
to the members of the Company and prayed
them to accompany her to the lower regions.
Descending, they found Pluto, who refused to
give her up, but invited them to his wedding
feast, where all the provisions were in the form
of horrid and disgusting animals, snakes, spiders,
frogs, and scorpions, and such creatures, which
being opened contained food of the most delicate
kinds.

Another time the master of the feast, intend-
ing to reprove some who had spent too much
on the banquets of the Company, eating them-
selves alive, as the expression is, arranged his
banquet in this way. At the place where they
were used to meet, he caused to be painted on
the fa9ade such figures as are usually seen
represented on the outside of an almshouse
or hospital, the master receiving the poor and
strangers, and this picture was uncovered just
as the members arrived. They were received
in a large room like the wards of a hospital,

256 STORIES FROM VASARI

with beds on each side, and in the middle of
the room near a great fire were some of the
members dressed like beggars, who taking no
notice of the others coming in, carried on a con-
versation about the Company and themselves,
abusing them for throwing away more than was
right in feasts and suppers. And when all the
guests were come, S. Andrew, their patron, came
in, and delivering them from the poor-house, led
them to another room magnificently prepared,
where they sat down to supper and feasted
gaily, after which their saint commanded them
to content themselves with one feast a year, and
so save themselves from the poor-house. And
this command they obeyed, having one magnifi-
cent feast only, with a dramatic representation.

But to return to the life of Rustici. After
the Medici were driven out in 1528, not finding
life at Florence to his taste, he went to France,
and was received by King Francis with great
favour, and received a provision of five hundred
crowns a year. But when King Francis died and
Henry began his reign, the expenses of the court
being curtailed, his pension was taken from him,
and he, being now old, was reduced to living on
the rent of a palace which Francis I. had given
him. But fortune inflicted another blow upon
him, for King Henry presented this palace to
Signer Piero Strozzi, and Rustici found himself

RUSTICI 257

in extreme need. But Strozzi, hearing of his ill
fortune, came to his aid and sent him to an
abbey, or some such place, which belonged to his
brother, where he was taken care of to the end
of his life.

CHAPTER XXIV

SALVIATI

IN the year 1523 Silvio Passerini, Cardinal of
Cortona, passed through Arezzo, and Antonio
Vasari, being a kinsman of his, went to pay his
respects to him, taking his eldest son Giorgio
with him. The cardinal, finding that the child,
who was only nine years old, had been already
introduced to the study of letters, and that he
knew a great part of Virgil by heart, and that he
had learnt drawing from a French painter, desired
that Antonio Vasari should take his child to
Florence. There he placed him in the house of
Niccol6 Vespucci, a knight of Rhodes, who dwelt
near the Ponte Vecchio, and sent him to study
under Michael Angelo Buonarroti. At this time
Francesco was living in the lane by Messer Bivi-
gliano's house with his father, a velvet weaver;
and as every creature loves its like, he made
friends with Giorgio through M. Marco da Lodi.
He had shown Giorgio a portrait painted by this
Francesco, who had just been placed with the

painter Giuliano Bugiardini, which pleased him

258

SALVIATI 259

greatly. Vasari had not then given up the study
of letters, but by the cardinal's orders was work-
ing for two hours every day with Ippolito and
Alessandro de' Medici, under their master II
Pierio. The friendship then contracted between
Vasari and Francesco has always lasted between
them, though from a certain haughty way of
speaking which Francesco had, and from their
competing against each other, some have thought
otherwise. Vasari, having been some months
with Michael Angelo, was placed by him with
Andrea del Sarto when he had to go to Rome ;
and then Giorgio used secretly to convey his
master's drawings to Francesco, who had no
greater desire than to study them day and night.
Afterwards also, when Giorgio was placed by the
magnificent Ippolito with Baccio Bandinelli, who
was glad to have the boy, he would not rest till
he had got Francesco there too, to the great
profit of both, for learning and working together,
they made more progress in a month than they
would have done otherwise in two years.

When the Medici were driven out in 1527,
during the fighting round the palace of the
Signoria, a bench was thrown down upon those
who were fighting round the gate, but, as fortune
would have it, it struck the arm of Buonarroti's
David, and broke it into three pieces. And when
the pieces had lain on the ground for three days

260 STORIES FROM VASARI

without any one touching them, Francesco went
to the Ponte Vecchio and sought out Giorgio,
and the two boys together went to the piazza;
and going among the soldiers on guard, without
considering the danger, they picked up the pieces
and carried them to the house of Francesco's
father, where afterwards Duke Cosimo found them
and had them repaired with copper rivets.

The Medici being thus banished, and with
them the Cardinal of Cortona, Antonio Vasari
took his son back to Arezzo, to the no small
grief both of himself and of Francesco, for they
loved each other like brothers. But they were
not long separated, for the next August Giorgio
lost his father and others of his family by the
plague, and being urged by letters from Fran-
cesco, who had himself nearly died of it, he
returned to Florence, and they worked together
for two years with such incredible earnestness
that they made marvellous progress. Afterwards
Francesco went to be with Andrea del Sarto, and
was there during the siege, suffering such hard-
ships that he repented he had not gone with
Giorgio, who was staying that year at Pisa.

Not long afterwards Benvenuto dalla Volpaia,
the clockmaker, being in Rome, was asked by
Cardinal Salviati to tell him of a young painter
to live with him and paint for him, and Ben-
venuto proposed Francesco. The cardinal, being

SALVIATI 261

pleased with his description of him, gave him
money for his journey ; and so Francesco went to
Rome, where his manners pleasing the cardinal,
he ordered that rooms should be given him and
four crowns a month, and a place at his gentle-
men's table. Francesco, being in Rome, had no
greater desire than to see his friend Giorgio
Vasari in that city, and fortune was favourable
to him, and still more to Vasari ; for Cardinal
Ippolito, passing through Arezzo, found Giorgio,
who had lost his father and was getting on as
best he could, and gave orders that he should
go to Rome. As soon as Giorgio arrived there
he went at once to Francesco, who told him
joyfully in what high favour he was with the
cardinal his master, and that he was in a place
where he could satisfy every desire for study,
adding, " I am not only enjoying myself now, but
I hope for better things still, for besides having
you here in Rome to talk with over matters of
art, I am hoping to get into the service of Car-
dinal Ippolito de' Medici, from whose liberality
and the favour of the Pope I may expect more
than I have at present, and I shall be a made
man, if a youth who is expected does not come."
Giorgio knew that the youth who was expected
was himself, and that the place was kept for him,
but he would not say anything, thinking it pos-
sible that the cardinal might have some one else

262 STORIES FROM VASARI

in his mind. At length they went to the palace,
and Giorgio was received kindly by the cardinal,
and orders were given that rooms should be pre-
pared for him, and a place at the page's table.
Francesco thought it strange that Giorgio had
not confided the matter to him, but concluded
he had done it for good reasons, and all that
winter they studied together, leaving nothing
noteworthy in Rome which they did not draw.
And because they could not draw when the Pope
was in the palace, as soon as he had ridden forth
to his villa of the Magliana, they went into the
rooms and stayed there from morning to night
without eating anything but a little bread, and
sometimes chilled with cold. But in the July
of the next year Giorgio, from the hardships of
the winter and the heat of the summer, fell ill
and was carried in a litter to Arezzo, to the great
grief of Francesco, who also was taken ill and
nearly died. He recovered, however, and was
entrusted with some work in S. Maria della Pace,
and considering that it was not only for a public
place, but also in a church where were pictures
by the greatest men, Raffaello and others, he put
his whole powers into the work, and succeeded
very well. As Francesco was living with Car-
dinal Salviati, and was known as his dependant,
he began to be called Cecchino Salviati, which
name he bore till his death.

SALVIATI 263

In the year 1536 great and sumptuous pre-
parations were made for the coming of Charles
V., and all the artists good and bad were em-
ployed under the direction of Antonio da San
Gallo. Francesco was charged with some pictures
in chiaroscuro, which were placed on the Arch
of San Marco, and which were the best in the
decorations. At the same time there was paint-
ing there a Venetian, Battista Franco, who had
given much time to drawing, studying only the
drawings, pictures, and sculptures of Michael
Angelo. If, however, he had learnt earlier to
paint, and had studied the management of colours,
he would have excelled. But remaining obsti-
nately of the opinion, which many hold, that
drawing is enough for a painter, he did himself
great harm. When Salviati afterwards was em-
ployed by the Company of the Misericordia,
Battista sought to be employed there also, think-
ing to show himself greater than Francesco, and
the best master in Rome. But although he
carried out the picture with great labour and
pains, it was a long way from being equal to
Salviati's, being in a crude, melancholy manner,
and without the grace and pleasant colouring
that Francesco's had.

Afterwards entering the service of Duke Giu-
dobaldo of Urbino, Battista was employed in
making designs for the pottery works at Castel

264 STORIES FROM VASARI

Durante, where they made great use of engrav-
ings from the works of Raffaello and others.
This porcelain, as far as the quality of the clay
goes, resembles much what used to be made in
old days in Arezzo, in the time of Porsena, King
of Tuscany. But the Romans had not this sort
of painting on their vases, as far as we can tell.
For the vases which are found from those days
containing the ashes of the dead, and others be-
sides, have figures outlined on one colour only,
black or red or white, but never with a vitreous
lustre, nor with those pleasant pictures which we
see in our time. Nor can it be said that the
colours were once there, but that they have been
destroyed by time or by being buried in the
earth ; for we see that ours can resist time and
everything, and they might be buried for four
thousand years under the ground and the pictures
would not be spoilt. But although vases and
painted china are made all over Italy, the best
and most beautiful are those which are made at
Castel Durante, a place in the State of Urbino,
and those of Faenza, wjiich are for the most
part very white, with the design in the centre or
round the border, very pleasantly and gracefully
drawn.

But to return to Francesco Salviati. He was
called upon now for many other pictures, which
he showed Giorgio when he went to Rome for

SALVIATI 265

two months, after the death of Duke Alessand.ro.
And he told him that when he had finished some
pictures upon which he was employed he meant
to return to Florence, that he might see his
native city and his friends, for his father and
mother were still living. He had always assisted
them greatly, especially in settling his sisters, one
of whom was married, and the other a nun in
the convent of Monte Domini. He came there-
fore to Florence, and was received with great
joy by his relatives and friends ; and coming just
at the time of the wedding of Duke Cosimo, one
of the pictures to be painted for the occasion
was entrusted to him. He undertook it gladly,
but before it was finished went away to Venice,
leaving it to another to complete. He was
afterwards urged to return, as being certain to
be employed by Duke Cosimo, who had no good
masters round him ; so being persuaded, he came
and obtained permission to paint a hall of the
ducal palace, desiring no payment, but only
leave to paint there. He put forth his utmost
efforts in this work, desiring to leave a worthy
memorial of himself in his native place. But
he had many vexatious hindrances. He was of
a melancholy nature, and did not care to have
people round him when he was working ; but at
first, doing violence to his feelings, he allowed
his friends to see him work. When, however, he

266 STORIES FROM VASARI

found himself growing in favour with the court,
he returned to his old choleric and satirical ways,
and, what was worse, found fault with the works
of others, and exalted his own to the skies. By
this means he earned for himself such hatred
that his former friends became his enemies, and
did all they could to hinder him ; and by their
malice and envy he was reduced to such a state
that he wanted to leave the place altogether.
His friends outside Florence, however, com-
forted him, and Giorgio Vasari, replying to a
letter that Salviati wrote to him, desired him
to have patience. So, in spite of all his per-
secutions, poor Francesco finished the hall, and
produced other works for the duke.

In 1554 Andrea Tassini was charged to send
a painter to the King of France, and having
asked Giorgio Vasari in vain (for he replied he
would not leave the service of Duke Cosimo for
any money), he agreed with Francesco. Before
he left for France he sold all he had, thinking
he should never return. But as soon as he
arrived in Paris he was discovered to be a strange
kind of man, and, from whatever cause, his works
were not much applauded. Neither was he him-
self much liked by the men of that country, for
just as much as they like cheerful and jovial men
who are fond of company and banquets, so are
men like Francesco, who are melancholy, sober,

SALVIATI 267

and morose, I will not say avoided, but less loved
and caressed. And although his constitution did
not allow him to eat and drink too much, he
might have been more pleasant in conversation.
Finding the king therefore occupied in war, he
determined to return to Italy, and coming to
Florence, told Vasari he had done well in refusing
to go to France, relating such things as would
have checked any one's desire to go there. From
Florence he went to Rome, and sought to have
a share in the painting of the Hall of the Kings,
which had been entrusted to Danielle da Volterra,
and the matter was long in dispute between them,
Michael Angelo favouring Daniello ; but Vasari,
loving the man, recommended him to Duke
Cosimo, who did him so much service with the
Pope that half the hall was entrusted to him.
He set to work therefore, but first of all threw
down a picture begun by Daniello, and paid no
attention to Pirro Ligorio the architect, who had
been his friend. Pirro therefore, becoming in
some sort his enemy, proposed to the Pope to
employ many young men in the hall, which
when Francesco heard, and saw that the Pope was
favourable to his proposal, he mounted his horse
and rode away to Florence, where he established
himself at an inn, as if he had had no friends and
had not been a native of the place at all. Vasari
therefore advised him to sell his things in Rome

268 STORIES FROM VASARI

and settle at Florence. He, however, moved
by anger and the desire of revenge, returned to
Rome ; but, afflicted in mind and of an unhealthy
constitution, which he had weakened by con-
stantly doctoring himself, he fell sick of a mortal
disease, which brought him to his end.

CHAPTER XXV

TITIAN

TITIAN was born in the little town of Cadore,
on the Piave, five miles from the Alps. He
sprang from the family of the Vecelli, one of the
most noble of those parts ; and when he reached
the age of ten years, showing a fine spirit and
quickness of mind, he was sent to Venice to the
house of one of his uncles, an honoured citizen.
He, seeing that the boy was much inclined to
painting, put him with the famous painter Gian
Bellini, under whose discipline he studied draw-
ing, and showed himself in a short time to be
endowed by nature with all that was necessary
for the art of painting. Gian Bellini and the
other painters of that country, having no know-
ledge of ancient art, were accustomed mostly, in
fact entirely, to draw from life, though in a dry,
crude manner, Titian therefore learnt in this
way. But when Giorgione da Castelfranco came,
the manner of working did not altogether please
him, and he began to give his works more soft-
ness and greater relief, following nature indeed,

269

270 STORIES FROM VASARI

and imitating her as well as he could in colour,
but not making any drawing, holding firmly that
painting in colours without studying the drawing
in a cartoon was the true and best way of work-
ing. Titian then, seeing Giorgione's method, left
Gian Bellini's manner and adopted the new way,
imitating it so well that his pictures were mis-
taken for works of Giorgione. And when Gior-
gione was employed upon the fafade of the
German Exchange a part was given to Titian.
Some gentlemen, not knowing that Giorgione
had ceased to work there, and that Titian was
employed upon it, meeting Giorgione one day,
began to congratulate him, saying he was doing
better on this facade than he had done on that
one on the Grand Canal. And this vexed Gior-
gione so much that until the work was finished,
and it was known that Titian had done that
part, he would not be seen, and from that time
he would not let Titian work with him or be
his friend.

In the year 1508 Titian published a woodcut
of his Triumph of the Faith. And I remem-
ber Fra Sebastiano del Piombo talking to me
about it, and saying that if Titian had been to
Rome, and had seen Michael Angelo's work,
and Raffaello's, and the ancient statues, and had
studied drawing, he would have done astonishing
things, because he had such' a fine method of

TITIAN 271

colouring, and deserved the praise of being the
best imitator of nature in the matter of colour
of our time.

Giovanni Bellini left unfinished at his death
the picture, in the hall of the Great Council,
of Frederic Barbarossa kneeling before Pope
Alexander III. Titian completed it, altering
many things, and introducing many portraits of
his friends and others. For this he obtained from
the Signory an office which is called the Senseria,
which brings in three hundred crowns a year.
This office has usually been given to the best
painter of that city, with the duty of painting
from time to time their prince or Doge, at the
price of eight crowns only, paid them by this
prince, and this portrait is afterwards placed in
his memory in the palace of S. Mark's.

The Duke Alfonso of Ferrara had engaged
Giovanni Bellini to paint a picture for a room
in his palace, but he had been unable to complete
it on account of his age, and, Titian therefore
was summoned to finish it, and for this prince
he painted several things, and was liberally re-
warded by him. At this time he formed a
friendship with the divine Ludovico Ariosto,
who celebrated him in his " Orlando Furioso."

After his return to Venice he painted many
pictures for the churches, and among others for
the church of S. Rocco he painted Christ bearing

272 STORIES FROM VASARI

the Cross. This, which many have supposed to
be from Giorgione's hand, has become the chief
object of devotion in Venice, and has received
in alms more crowns than Titian and Giorgione
earned in their whole life. Bembo, who was
then secretary to Pope Leo X., pressed him to
come to see Rome, Raffaello, and others; but
Titian went on putting it off from day to day
until Leo and Raffaello both were dead.

When Pietro Aretino, before the sack of Rome,
came to stay in Venice, he formed a great friend-
ship with Titian, which was very useful to him,
for he made him known as far as his pen could
reach, and to princes of importance.

But to return to Titian's works. For the
church of S. Giovanni and S. Paolo he painted
an altarpiece representing S. Peter Martyr in a
wood of high trees, struck down by a fierce
soldier, who has wounded him in the head, and
as he lies but half alive you can see in his face
the horror of death, while another friar fleeing
shows signs of fear. In the sky are two angels
coming in the light of heaven, which lights up
a beautiful landscape. The work is the most
finished one that Titian ever did.

When the emperor Charles V. was in Bologna,
Titian, at the suggestion of Pietro Aretino, was
summoned by Cardinal Ippolito de 7 Medici to
the palace, and painted a very fine portrait of

TITIAN 273

his Majesty in full armour. Alfonso Lombard!
had a great desire to portray him also, and having
no other way of accomplishing it, he begged
Titian to take him in the place of one of the
men who carried the colours, not telling him
what he was intending to do. Titian, like the
courteous man he always showed himself, agreed,
and took him with him into the emperor's room.
Then, afc soon as Titian had set to work, Alfonso
placed himself where he could not be seen by
him, and taking out a little box, he modelled in
gypsum a portrait medallion of the emperor, and
had just brought it to completion when Titian
had finished his portrait. When at last the
emperor rose, Alfonso closed the box, and was
hiding it in his sleeve that Titian might not see
it, when his Majesty said to him, "Show me
what you have done ; " and he was obliged to
put it into his hand. The emperor, having con-
sidered it and praised it much, said, " Have you
the courage to do it in marble?" "Yes, your
sacred Majesty," answered Alfonso. "Do it
then," replied the emperor, " and bring it to me
at Genoa." Any one can imagine how strange
this seemed to Titian. I fancy he thought he
had compromised himself. But what must have
seemed most strange to him was that his Majesty,
sending him one thousand crowns, bade him give
half to Alfonso and keep the other five hundred

274 STORIES FROM VASARI

himself. Alfonso, applying himself with the
utmost diligence, completed the head so success-
fully that it was pronounced a very rare piece of
work, and when he brought it to the emperor,
his Majesty gave him another three hundred
crowns.

In the year 1546 he was called by Cardinal
Farnese to Rome, where he found Vasari em-
ployed in the hall of the cardinal, and Titian
being recommended to his care, he took him
about to see Rome. And after he had rested
some days, rooms were given him in the Belve-
dere that he might paint the Pope Paul IIL,
Cardinal Farnese, and Duke Ottavio, which he
completed to their great satisfaction. After-
wards he painted an Ecce Homo to present to
the Pope ; but whatever the' cause might be, it
did not appear to painters equal to his other
paintings, especially his portraits.

One day Michael Angelo and Vasari went
together to see Titian in the Belvedere, and he
showed them a picture he had just painted of
Danae in the shower of gold, and they praised
it much. After they had left him, talking over
Titian's work, Buonarroti commended him greatly,
saying that his colour pleased him, but that it
was a mistake that at Venice they did not learn
first of all to draw well, for if this man, he
said, were assisted by art as he is by nature,

. TITIAN 275

especially in imitating life, it would not be pos-
sible to surpass him, for he has the finest talent
and a very pleasant, vivacious manner.

Titian left Rome at length, having received
many gifts, particularly a benefice with good
revenues for his son Pomponio. Coming to
Florence, he saw the rare things in that city, and
was no less astonished than he had been at Rome,
and so returned to Venice.

But because his works are infinite, especially
his portraits, it is impossible to mention them
all. So to speak only of the most remarkable
without order of time. He painted Charles V.
many times, and was at last called to his court
that he might paint him as he was almost in his
last years ; and so much did he please that in-
vincible emperor that he would never afterwards
be painted by any other painter, and every time
Titian painted him he had a donative of one
thousand crowns of gold. His Majesty also
made him a knight, with a provision of two
hundred crowns from the treasury of Naples.
When he painted the portraits of Philip, King of
Spain, and his son Carlos, he received from him
a settled provision of two hundred crowns; so
that, adding these four hundred to the three
hundred that he had from the Venetian Signory,
he received seven hundred crowns a year, without
any labour for it. He painted Ferdinand, King

276 STORIES FROM VASARI

of the Romans, and his sons, and the Queen
Maria. But what is the use of losing time in
enumerating his portraits? There is no lord of
note or prince or great lady who has not been
painted by Titian ; and besides, at different times,
he produced many other works.

It is true that his way of working in his last
pictures is very different from that of his youth.
For his first works were finished with great dili-
gence, and might be looked at near or far, but
the last are worked with great patches of colour,
so that they cannot be seen near, but at a distance
they look perfect. This is the reason that many
think they are done without any trouble, but
this is not true. And this way of working is
most judicious, for it makes the pictures seem
living.

All these works, with a great many others,
which cannot be mentioned lest I should become
tedious, he has completed, having now reached
the age of seventy-six. He has been most
healthy, and as fortunate as any one has ever
been. In his house at Venice he has received
all the princes, and learned and famous men,
who have come to Venice ; for besides his ex-
cellence in art, his manners have been most
pleasant and courteous. He has had some rivals,
but not very dangerous ones. He has earned
much, for his works have always been well paid ;

TITIAN 277

but it would be well for him, in these his last
years, to work only for pastime, lest he diminish
his reputation.

When the present writer was in Venice in
1566, he went to visit Titian, and found him,
old as he was, with his brush in his hand paint-
ing, and he found great pleasure in seeing his
works and talking with him.

Thus Titian having adorned Venice, or rather
Italy, and indeed other parts of the world, with the
finest pictures, deserves to be loved and studied by
artists, and in many things imitated, for he has
done works worthy of infinite praise, which will
last as long as illustrious men are remembered.

CHAPTER XXVI

MICHAEL ANGELO

IN 1474, under a lucky star, was born a son to
Lodovico di Lionardo Buonarroti Simoni, de-
scended, it is said, from the ancient and noble
family of the Counts of Canossa. This Lodovico
was Podesti that year of Chiusi and Caprese,
near Vernia, where S. Francis Deceived the stig-
mata, and, as I have said, there was born to him
on Sunday the 6th of March, in the eighth hour
of the night, a son, to whom he gave the name
of Michael Angelo, perceiving that he was some-
thing greater than usual, Mercury and Venus
at his birth being in the second house of Jove,
which demonstrated that he would produce mar-
vellous and stupendous works of art and genius.
Lodovico, his time of office being finished, re-
turned to Florence to Settignano, three miles
from the city, where he had a small estate. The
place was rich in a hard stone, which was con-
stantly being worked by stonecutters, mostly
born in the place, and the wife of one of these
stonecutters was made nurse to Michael Angelo.
Speaking of this once to Vasari, Michael Angelo

MICHAEL ANGELO 279

said jestingly, " Giorgio, if I have anything of
genius, it came to me from being born in the
subtle air of your country of Arezzo, while from
my nurse I got the chisel and hammer with which
I make my figures."

As in time many sons were born to Lodovico,
and his revenues were small, he set them to the
woollen and silk trades, Michael Angelo, who was
already growing up, being placed at school with
Master Francesco da Urbino. But his inclination
to the arts of design being strong, he spent all
his time in drawing, as far as he could do so
secretly, for he was often scolded by his father
and those who were over him, and sometimes
beaten for it, they supposing, perhaps, that it
was a low thing, and unworthy of his ancient
house. At that time Michael Angelo made
friends with Francesco Granacci, who, being
then a youth, had been placed with Domenico
del Ghirlandajo to learn painting ; and Granacci
loving Michael Angelo, and seeing him clever
at drawing, used to give him every day drawings
of Ghirlandajo's, who was esteemed not only in
Florence but through all Italy as one of the best
masters then living. By this means the desire
grew stronger every day in Michael Angelo, and
Lodovico, seeing there was no help for it, by
the advice of his friends determined to put him
with Ghirlandajo.

280 STORIES FROM VASARI

Michael Angelo was at this time fourteen
years old, and he made such progress that he
astonished Domenico, who saw that he not only
surpassed his other pupils, of whom he had a
great number, but often equalled the things he
did himself. It happened once that one of the
boys who was learning there had copied with a pen
some women out of one of Ghirlandajo's works,
and Michael Angelo, taking the paper, with a
thicker pen outlined one of the women again,
as she should have been drawn; and it is a
wonderful thing to see the difference, and con-
sider the courage of the youth who was daring
enough to correct his master's things. I have
this drawing still, as a relic, having received it
from Granaccio; and in the year 1550, when he
was in Rome, Giorgio showed it to Michael
Angelo, who recognised it and was glad to see
it, saying modestly that he knew more of the
art when he was a boy than now he was old.

At that time the magnificent Lorenzo de'
Medici had filled his garden on the Piazza of
S. Marco with ancient and good sculpture, so
that the terraces and alleys were adorned with
good antique figures in marble, and with pictures
and other things by the best masters in Italy and -
elsewhere. And not only were they a great orna-
ment to the garden, but they became a school
and academy for young painters and sculptors,

MICHAEL ANGELO 281

particularly for young nobles ; for Lorenzo held
that those who are born of noble blood can
more easily attain perfection in anything than
those who come of low birth. Lorenzo there-
fore always favoured men of talent, but parti-
cularly nobles who had any inclination to art ;
so it is no wonder that some came forth from
that school to astound the world. Besides this,
he not only provided food and clothing for those
who being poor could not afford time for study,
but he also offered rewards for those who excelled
in anything, that the youths by competing to-
gether might become more perfect. The head
of this academy was Bertoldo, an old Floren-
tine sculptor and a pupil of Donatello's. He
taught the youths, and at the same time had
the care of the things in the garden, and many
drawings, cartoons, and models from the hand of
Donatello, Brunellesco, Masaccio, Paolo Uccello,
Fra Giovanni, and other masters native and
foreign. And, indeed, these arts cannot be
learned except by long study and by copying
good works, and he who has not the opportunity,
although he may be greatly endowed by nature,
will be long in attaining perfection.

Lorenzo, therefore, lamenting that there were
no great sculptors in his time, though there
were many painters of the greatest fame, asked
Domenico Ghirlandajo if he had in his workshop

282 STORIES FROM VASARI

any youths who were inclined to sculpture, to
send them to his garden. Now Domenico held
Michael Angelo and Francesco Granacci to be
the best of his pupils. So these two going to
the garden, found young Torrigiano there work-
ing upon some figures in clay as Bertoldo had
directed him. This Torrigiano was by nature
very proud and choleric, and being robust and
fierce and courageous, he domineered over all the
others. His principal occupation was sculpture,
but he also worked in clay in a very beautiful
manner. He could not endure, however, that
any one should ever surpass him, and would
with his own hands injure any work of another
which he could not equal; and if the other
resented it, they often came to something more
than words about it. He took a particular dis-
like to Michael Angelo, for no other reason
than because he saw that he worked studiously,
and knew that he drew at home secretly at night
and on feast days, by which means he surpassed
all the others in the garden, and was much in
favour with the great Lorenzo. Therefore,
moved by envy, he was always seeking to offend
him in word or deed, and having one day come
to blows, Torrigiano gave Michael Angelo such
a blow with his fist on his nose that he broke
it, and Michael Angelo bore the mark of it as
long as he lived. The thing having come to

MICHAEL ANGELO 283

the ears of Lorenzo, he was so angry that if
Torrigiano had not fled from Florence he would
have been severely punished. He fled to Rome,
and was employed by Alexander VI. in the
building of the Borgia tower, but being led
astray by some Florentine youths, he turned
soldier, and joining the Duke Valentino, bore
himself valiantly in the war in Romagna. He
was afterwards in the war of Pisa, and was with
Pietro de' Medici in the deed of arms on the
Garigliano, where he obtained a pair of colours
and earned the name of the brave standard-bearer.
But finding he was never likely to attain to the
rank of captain, and had not advanced his own
affairs by war, but had rather lost his time, he
returned to sculpture. He made some little
figures in marble and bronze for some Florentine
merchants, and was by them brought to Eng-
land. There he worked for the king many
things in marble, bronze, and wood, competing
with the masters of that land, all of whom he
surpassed ; and he earned such honours and re-
wards that if he had not been a person without
any self-control, he would have lived and died
there quietly. However, leaving England, he
went to Spain, where he produced many works
which are much esteemed, and was charged by
the Duke of Arcos to make a Madonna and
Child for him, the duke making him such fine

284 STORIES FROM VASARI

promises that he thought he should be rich for
ever. Having finished the work, the duke paid
him in those coins which are called maravedis,
which are worth little or nothing; but Torri-
giano, seeing two men laden with money come
to his house, was fully persuaded that he was
very rich. When, however, he had had it
counted by one of his Florentine friends, and
reduced to Italian money, he found there was
not quite thirty ducats. Upon this, supposing
himself to have been cheated, he went and
destroyed in his fury the statue he had made
for the duke. The Spaniard in his turn, con-
sidering himself insulted, accused Torrigiano of
heresy. He was taken to prison, and brought
up day after day, being sent from one inquisitor
to another, and finally adjudged worthy of the
gravest punishment. But meanwhile Torrigiano
had fallen into a state of melancholy, and passed
several days without eating, by which he brought
himself to such weakness that he died, saving
himself thus from shame, for it is said he had
been condemned to death.

Another of the students in the garden of the
Medici was Giuliano Bugiardini, who was united
in close and intimate friendship with Michael
Angelo, and loved him much. Michael Angelo
returned his love, not because he saw anything
very profound in him, but because he bore so

MICHAEL ANGELO 285

much love to art. There was a certain natural
goodness and simplicity in him, without any envy
or malice, which pleased Buonarroti infinitely.
He had no other fault than loving his own
works too much. For though this is a common
fault with men, he passed all bounds ; for which
reason Michael Angelo used to call him blessed,
because he was content with what he knew, and
himself unhappy because his works never satisfied
him fully.

Ottaviano de' Medici having secretly asked
him to draw Michael Angelo, he set to work,
and having kept him still for two hours, for he
was fond of his conversation, he said to him,
" Michael Angelo, if you would like to see
yourself, come here, for I have just caught your
look." Michael Angelo got up, and looking at
the portrait said, " What have you done ? you
have put one of my eyes in my temple; look
and see." Giuliano looked at it several times,
and said, "It does not seem so to me; but sit
down and I shall see a little better how it is."
Buonarroti, who saw what the mistake was, sat
down laughing, and Giuliano looked again and
again at Michael Angelo and the portrait, and
then getting up at last said, " It seems that the
thing is exactly as I have drawn it." " Then,"
answered Buonarroti, " it is a defect of nature ;
go on, and do not spare pencils or art."

286 STORIES FROM VASARI

M. Palla Rucellai had given him a picture to
paint for his altar in S. Maria Novella, and
Giuliano began the martyrdom of S. Catherine ;
but he kept it on hand for' twelve years, not
having invention or knowledge enough for such
a work. But Rucellai pressing for it to be done,
he resolved one day to take Michael Angelo to
see it, and having told him with what trouble
he had made the lightning coming down from
heaven and breaking the wheel, and the sun
coming out of a cloud, he prayed Michael
Angelo, who could not help laughing at his
troubles, to tell him how to do eight or ten
principal figures of the soldiers standing in file
on guard, for he could not see how to fore-
shorten them so that they should appear all in
a row, or how he could find room for them in
so narrow a place. Buonarroti, feeling com-
passion for the poor man, took up a piece of
charcoal and sketched a file of naked figures
with all the judgment and excellence proper to
him, and went away with many thanks from
Giuliano. Not long after, the latter brought
II Tribolo his friend to see what Buonarroti had
done, and told him all about it ; but because
Buonarroti had only sketched them in outline,
without any shadow, Bugiardini could not carry
them out; so II Tribolo resolved to help him,
and he made some rough models in clay, giving

MICHAEL ANGELO 287

them all that rough force which Michael Angelo
had put into the drawing, and so he brought
them to Giuliano. But this manner did not
please Bugiardini's smooth fancy, and as soon
as II Tribolo was gone he took a brush and,
dipping it in water, smoothed them all down.
II Tribolo, hearing about it from Giuliano him-
self, laughed at his honest simplicity, and the
work was at last finished, so that none would
have known that Michael Angelo had ever
looked at it.

Giuliano, when he was old and poor, and
doing little work, took great pains over a Pieti
in a tabernacle which was to go to Spain. To
represent the darkness at the death of the
Saviour, he made a Night on a black ground,
copying the figure from Michael Angelo's in the
sacristy of S. Lorenzo. But that statue having
no emblem but an owl, Giuliano added his
own conceits a net with a lantern for catching
thrushes at night, a little vessel with a candle
in it, besides nightcaps and pillows and bats.
And when Michael Angelo saw the work he
nearly killed himself with laughing at the strange
things with which Bugiardini had enriched his
Night.

Giuliano was once telling II Bronzino how he
had seen a very beautiful woman, and after he
had praised her a great deal, II Bronzino asked,

288 STORIES FROM VASARI

" Do you know her ? " " No," he replied ; " but
she is very beautiful. Think she is like a picture
of mine, and that is enough."

But to return to Michael Angelo in the garden.
When he saw Torrigiano's work in clay he was
fired with emulation. He set himself to imitate
an ancient head of an old faun, and although he
had never touched marble or a chisel before, he
succeeded so well that Lorenzo was quite as-
tonished. Seeing that out of his own fancy he
had opened the mouth and shown the tongue
and teeth, De' Medici said in jest, but speaking
gravely, as was his wont, "You ought to know
that old men never have all their teeth, but have
always lost some." Michael Angelo, with his
simple respect and love for Jthis lord, thought he
spoke in earnest, and no sooner was he departed
than he broke away a tooth and altered the gum
to look as if he had lost it, and waited with
desire the return of his Magnificence. He,
when he came and saw the simplicity of Michael
Angelo, laughed much, telling the story to his
friends. But desiring to assist him, he sent for
Lodovico his father, and prayed him to give him
his son, promising that he would treat him like
a son of his own. And he willingly consenting,
Lorenzo gave him a room in his house, and he
eat continually at his table with his sons and the
noble persons who were around his Magnificence.

MICHAEL ANGELO 289

This was in the year after he had gone to
Domenico, when he was about fifteen or sixteen
years old, and he stayed in that house four years,
until the death of the magnificent Lorenzo.

Afterwards Michael Angelo returned to his
father's house, but Piero de' Medici, Lorenzo's
heir, often sent for him, and one winter when it
snowed heavily in Florence, he made him make
a statue of snow in his courtyard, which was
most beautiful. When the Medici were driven
out of Florence, Michael Angelo had gone to
Bologna and Venice, having left some weeks
before, for he feared some evil would befall him
from his intimacy with that house, seeing the
insolence and bad government of Piero de'
Medici. He tarried in Bologna a year and then
returned to Florence, where he made a sleeping
Cupid, which being shown by Baldassari del
Milanese to Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de'
Medici, he said, " If you were to bury it till
it looked old, and then sent it to Rome, I am
sure it would pass for an antique, and you would
get much more for it than if you sold it here."
Some say that Michael Angelo did so, making
it look old, and others that Milanese carried it
to Rome and buried it in one of his vineyards,
and then sold it as an antique for two hundred
ducats to the Cardinal S. Giorgio. However it
may be, it brought such reputation to Michael

2 9 o STORIES FROM VASARI

Angelo that he was summoned to Rome by the
Cardinal S. Giorgio, and tarried there a year, but
the cardinal, knowing little of art, g&ve him
nothing to do. Nevertheless during his stay in
Rome he made much progress in the study of
art, and the Cardinal de S. Denis, desiring to
leave some worthy memorial of himself in so
famous a city, caused him to make a Piet& in
marble for the chapel of the Virgin in S. Peter's.
To this work Michael Angelo bore such love
that he inscribed his name on the girdle of our
Lady, a thing he never did again. For one day
Michael Angelo, entering the place where it stood,
found a number of Lombard strangers there.
And as they were giving it great praise, one of
them asked another who had made it, and he an-
swered, " Our hunchback from Milan." Michael
Angelo remained silent, but it seemed strange to
him that his labours should be attributed to
another. And one night he shut himself into
the place with a light and cut his name upon it.

At this time some of his friends wrote to him
advising him to come back to Florence, because
there was some talk of having the great piece
of marble which was lying spoilt made into a
statue, and Piero Soderini the Gonfaloniere had
talked of giving it to Lionardo da Vinci, and
now was preparing to give it to Andrea Contucci.
Michael Angelo had desired to have it many

icha.il Angela.

MARBLE 1'IKTA IN ST. PKTER*S.

(Rome.)

MICHAEL ANGELO 291

years before; so he returned to Florence, and
tried for it. It was a piece of marble nine
braccia in size, out of which a Master Simone
da Fiesole had begun to carve a giant, and had
managed it so badly that the heads of the works
at S. Maria del Fiore, without caring to have
it finished, had abandoned it, and it had been
lying thus for many years. Michael Angelo
measured it again, and examined it to see if a
reasonable figure could be cut out of the rock
by accommodating its attitude to the maimed
condition in which Master Simone had left it,
and resolved to make request for it from the
architects and Soderini. They, considering it a
useless thing, granted it to him, thinking that
anything would be better than the state it was
in. Then Michael Angelo made a model in wax
of a young David with a sling in his hand, and
began to work in S. Maria del Fiore, setting up
a hoarding round the marble, and working at
it continually without any seeing it until he had
brought it to perfection. Master Simone had so
spoilt the marble that in some places there was
not enough left for Michael Angelo' s purpose,
and certainly it was a miracle restoring thus one
that was dead.

When Piero Soderini saw it, it pleased him
much, but he said to Michael Angelo, who was
engaged in retouching it in certain places, that

292 STORIES FROM VASARI

he thought the nose was too thick. Michael
Angelo, perceiving that the Gonfaloniere was
below the statue, and could not see it truly, to
satisfy him went up the scaffold, taking a chisel
in his left hand with a little marble dust, and
began to work with his chisel, letting a little
dust fall now and then, but not touching the
nose. Then looking down to the Gonfaloniere,
who was watching, he said, " Look at it now."
" It pleases me better," said the Gonfaloniere ;
"you have given it life." So Michael Angelo
came down pitying those who make a show of
understanding matters about which they really
know nothing. Michael Angelo received from
Soderini for the statue four hundred crowns,
and it was set up in the year 1504.

Lionardo da Vinci was now occupied in paint-
ing the great Council Hall, and Pietro Soderini
assigned one part of it to Michael Angelo, who
chose for his subject the war of Pisa. He took
a room in the dyers' hospital at S. Onofrio, and
began a great cartoon, which he would not allow
any one to see. He covered it with nude figures
of the soldiers bathing in the river Arno and
suddenly called to arms, the enemy making an
assault. Some are coming out of the water,
others are hastening to arm themselves and go
to the help of their companions, buckling on
their cuirasses and their other arms. When it

Michael Angtlo.

Andersen,

THE VOUNG DAVID.
(AccadcnHa, Florenrt.J

MICHAEL ANGELO 293

was shown, many said that such a thing had
never been seen before, either from his hand or
another's. And indeed this must be true, for
all who have studied this cartoon have become
men excellent in the art. And because it be-
came thus a study for artists it was carried to
the Medici palace, and was left in too great
security in the hands of the artists. For during
the sickness of Duke Giuliano, when no one was
thinking of the matter, it was torn and cut into
many pieces, and dispersed in many places, some
pieces being to be seen now in Mantua.

Michael Angelo's fame was grown so great
that in the year 1503, when he was twenty-nine
years of age, Julius II. sent for him to come and
build his tomb. Therefore he proceeded to
Rome, and after many months he completed
a design which in beauty, ornament, and the
number of the statues surpassed every ancient
or imperial sepulchre. Thereupon Pope Julius
enlarged his projects, and resolved to rebuild
the church of S. Peter's that it might contain
it. So Michael Angelo set to work and went
to Carrara with two of his youths to obtain
the marble, and spent in those mountains eight
months. Having chosen a quantity of marble,
he caused it to be carried to the sea and thence
to Rome, where it filled half the Piazza of S.
Peter's, and the part round S. Caterina, and the

294 STORIES FROM VASARI

space between the church and the corridor that
goes to the castle, where Michael Angelo had
made a room in which to work at the statues
and the rest of the tomb. And that the Pope
might easily come and see the work, he had a
drawbridge made from the corridor to the room.
Being treated with such familiarity he became
exposed to great persecution, and much envy
was aroused among the artists.

Of this work Michael Angelo finished four
statues and began eight more. Some of the
marble was carried to Florence, where he worked
for some time to escape the bad air of Rome.
In Rome he made the two Captives, and the
Moses, which no other modern work will ever
equal in beauty. Meanwhile the rest of the
marble, which had been left at Carrara, arrived;
and was carried to the Piazza of S. Peter's, and
it being necessary to pay those who had brought
it, Michael Angelo went as usual to the Pope,
but finding that his Holiness was occupied with
important business concerning the affairs of
Bologna, he returned home and paid for the
marble himself. He returned another day to
speak of it to the Pope, but found difficulty
in obtaining admission, one of the lacqueys
bidding him have patience, for he had orders
not to let him in. A bishop said to the lacquey,
"Perhaps you do not know this man;" but he

MICHAEL ANGELO 295

answered, " I know him too well, but I am here
to do what my superiors and the Pope command
me." This displeased Michael Angelo, and
thinking it treatment contrary to what he had
before experienced, he replied in anger to the
Pope's lacquey, bidding him say, when his Holi-
ness asked for him, that he had gone elsewhere.
He returned home and set off in haste at two
o'clock of the night, leaving two servants with
orders to sell all the things in the house to
the Jews, and to follow him to Florence. He
journeyed on till he reached Poggibonsi, a place
in the Florentine district. It was not long before
five couriers arrived with letters from the Pope
to bring him back ; but he would listen neither
to their prayers nor to the letters, which com-
manded him to return to Rome under pain of
disgrace. At last the couriers' entreaties induced
him to write a few words to his Holiness, saying
that he must pardon him for not returning to
his presence since he had been driven away, that
his faithful service had not deserved such treat-
ment, and therefore his Holiness must seek else-
where for one to serve him. And so coming to
Florence he set himself to finish the cartoon for
the Great Hall, which Pier Soderini greatly de-
sired he should execute. In the meantime there
came three briefs to the Signory, commanding
them to send back Michael Angelo to Rome.

296 STORIES FROM VASARI

He, perceiving the fury of the Pope, meditated
going to Constantinople to serve the Turk, who
desired to have him to construct a bridge from
Constantinople to Pera. At last Pier Soderini
persuaded him against his will to go back to the
Pope, sending him back as a public person, with
the title of ambassador of the city, and recom-
mending him to his brother, Cardinal Soderini.
So he came to Bologna, whither his Holiness had
come from Rome.

Some tell the story of his departure from
Rome in another manner, and say that the Pope
was angry with Michael Angelo because he would
not let him see his work, and that he came more
than once disguised when Michael Angelo was
not at home, and corrupted his lads with money
to let him in to see the chapel of Sixtus his
uncle, which he was painting, and that once
Michael Angelo, doubting his boys, hid himself
and let something fall upon the Pope as he
entered the chapel, which, made him rush out
in a fury.

However it was, as soon as he reached Bologna,
before he had taken off his boots, he was con-
ducted by the Pope's servant to his Holiness,
accompanied by a bishop from Cardinal Soderini,
the cardinal himself being ill. Arrived in the
Pope's presence, Michael Angelo knelt down,
and his Holiness looked at him severely as if in

MICHAEL ANGELO 297

anger, saying, " Instead of coming to us, you
have .waited for us to come to you/' meaning
that Bologna was nearer to Florence than Rome.
Michael Angelo humbly begged pardon, saying
he had not done it to offend, but that he could
not endure to be driven away in such a manner.
And the bishop who had brought him in began to
excuse him, saying that such men were ignorant,
except in matters of art, and were not like other
men. Upon this the Pope grew angry, and with
a stick he had in his hand he struck the bishop,
saying, "It is you who are ignorant and speak
evil of him, which we did not do/' So the
bishop was driven out from his presence by the
lacquey, and the Pope, having vented his anger
upon him, blessed Michael Angelo, and showered
upon him gifts and promises.

He was employed to make a bronze statue of
Pope Julius, five braccia high, for the city of
Bologna. The attitude is most beautiful, having
great dignity, and in the drapery there is richness
and magnificence, and in the countenance vivacity
and force, promptness and terrible majesty. It
was set up in a niche over the gate of S.
Petronio. It is said that while Michael Angelo
was working upon it, Francia the goldsmith and
also a most excellent painter came to see it,
having heard much of him and his works, and
never having seen any of them. Gazing upon

298 STORIES FROM VASARI

the work with astonishment, he was asked by
Michael Angelo what he thought of it, and he
answered that it was a very beautiful cast and
a fine material. Michael Angelo, thinking that
he was praising the bronze rather than the artist,
said, " I am as much obliged to Pope Julius who
gave it to me as you are to the men from whom
you get your colours for painting," adding before
some gentlemen that he was a fool.

Michael Angelo finished this statue in clay
before the Pope left Bologna for Rome, and his
Holiness went to see it. He asked what was to
be in his left hand, and whether the right hand,
which was raised with so haughty a gesture, was
blessing or cursing. Michael Angelo replied
that he was advising the people of Bologna to
conduct themselves well, and prayed him to
decide if he should put a book in his left hand,
but he answered, "Put a sword, for I am not
a man of letters." This statue was afterwards
destroyed by Bentivogli, and the bronze sold to
Duke Alphonso of Ferrara, who made it into
a cannon called the Julia, but the head is still
preserved.

When the Pope was returned to Rome,
Bramante (a friend of Raffaello's, and therefore
little a friend to Michael Angelo) tried to turn
his mind from finishing his sepulchre, saying it
was an evil augury and seemed like hastening

MICHAEL ANGELO 299

his death to make his own grave; and he per-
suaded him that on Michael Angelo's return he
should set him to paint the ceiling of the chapel
in the palace, in memory of Sixtus his uncle.
For Bramante and Michael Angelo's other rivals
thought to draw him away from sculpture, in
which they saw he was perfect, and make him
produce less worthy works, not to be compared
with Raffaello's, knowing he had had no experience
in painting in fresco. So when he was returned
and proposed to the Pope to finish his tomb,
he desired him instead to paint the ceiling of
the chapel Michael Angelo sought in every
way to shift the load off his back, proposing
Raffaello instead. But the more he excused
himself, the more impetuous the Pope became.
So seeing that his Holiness persevered, he re-
solved to do it, and the Pope ordered Bramante
to make the scaffold. He made it hanging by
ropes passed through holes in the ceiling, which
when Michael Angelo saw, he asked Bramante
how the holes were to be stopped up when the
painting was finished. He answered, " We must
think of that afterwards, but there is no other
way." So Michael Angelo knew that either
Bramante was worth little or that he was no
friend to him, and he went to the Pope and told
him the scaffolding would not do. So he told
him to do it his own way. He therefore ordered

300 STORIES FROM VASARI

it to be made on supports, not touching the wall,
and he gave to a poor carpenter who made it
so many of the useless ropes that by the sale
of them he obtained a dowry for one of his
daughters.

The Pope having resolved that the pictures
which had been painted there by the masters
before him in the time of Sixtus should be de-
stroyed, Michael Angelo was forced by the great-
ness of the undertaking to ask aid, and sent
to Florence for men. And having begun and
finished the cartoons, and never having coloured
before in fresco, he brought from Florence some
of his friends to aid him, and that he might see
their method of working in freseo, among whom
were Granacci, Bugiardini, and others. So he
set them to begin the work, but their efforts being
far from satisfying him, one morning he resolved
to destroy all that they had done, and shutting
himself up in the chapel, would not open the
door for them, nor show himself to them at
home. They therefore, after this had gone on*
some time, were offended, and took leave and went
back to Florence with shame. Then Michael
Angelo prepared to do the whole work himself,
and brought it to a successful termination with
great labour and study, nor would he let any one
see it, by which means the desire grew strong in
all. When the half was done and uncovered,

MICHAEL ANGELO 301

all Rome went to see it, the Pope the first ;
and Raffaello da Urbino, who was excellent in
imitating, having seen it, changed his manner.
Then Bramante sought to persuade the Pope to
give the other half to Raffaello. But the Pope,
seeing every day the powers of Michael Angelo,
judged that he should finish the other half. So
he brought it to an end in twenty months by
himself without even the help of a man to grind
the colours. Michael Angelo complained that
from the haste of the Pope he could not finish it
as he would, for the Pope constantly asked him
when it would be finished. Once he answered,
" It will be finished when I have satisfied myself."
"But we will," replied the Pope, "that you
should satisfy us in our desire to have it quickly."
And he added that if it was not done soon he
would have him thrown from his scaffold. The
Pope used often to tell Michael Angelo to make
the chapel rich in colour and gold, but Michael
Angelo would answer the Holy Father, "In
those times men did not wear gold, and those
whom I am painting were never very rich, but
holy men despising riches."

The work was done in great discomfort from
constantly looking up, and it so injured his sight
that he could only read or look at drawings
in. the same position, an ffeect which lasted
many months. But in the ardour of labour

302 STORIES FROM VASARI

he felt no fatigue and cared for no discomfort.
The work has been, indeed, a light of our art,
illuminating the world which had been so many
centuries in darkness. Oh, truly happy age,
and oh, blessed artists, who at such a fountain
can purge away the dark films from your eyes !
Give thanks to Heaven, and imitate Michael
Angelo in all things.

So when it was uncovered every one from
every part ran to see it, and gazed in silent
astonishment ; and the Pope, inspired by it and
encouraged to greater undertakings, rewarded
him liberally with money and rich gifts. The
great favours that the Pope showed him proved
that he recognised his talents, and if sometimes
he did him an injury, he healed it with gifts
and signal favours ; as when, for instance,
Michael Angelo once asked leave of him to
go to work in S. Giovanni in Florence, and
requested money for the purpose, and he said,
"Well, and this chapel, when will it be
finished?" "When I can, Holy Father."
The Pope having a stick in his hand struck
Michael Angelo, saying, "When I can! when
I can ! I will make you finish it ! " Michael
Angelo therefore returned to his house and
prepared to leave for Florence, but the Pope
in haste sent his chamberlain after him with
five hundred crowns to pacify him, and ordered

MICHAEL ANGELO 303

him to make his excuses and say it was all
done in love and kindness. And he, seeing it
was the nature of the Pope and really loving
him, took it in good part and laughed at it,
finding also that it turned to his profit, for
the Pope would do anything to keep him his
friend.

But when the chapel was finished, and before
the Pope died, he gave orders to Cardinal
Santiquattro and Cardinal Aginense, his nephew,
that in the case of his death they were to
complete his monument, but after a less magni-
ficent design than the first. So Michael Angelo
returned again to his work upon the tomb,
hoping to carry it out to the end without
hindrance, but it was to him the cause of more
annoyance and trouble than anything else he
did in his life. At that time befell the death
of Julius, and the whole plan was abandoned
upon the creation of Pope Leo X. For he
having a mind and talents no less splendid
than those of Julius, desired to leave in his
native city, of which he was the first pontiff",
such a marvellous work in memory of himself
and of the divine artist, his fellow-citizen, as
a great prince like himself was able to produce.
So he gave orders that the fa9ade of S. Lorenzo
m Florence, a church built by the house of
Medici, should be erected, and he commanded

3 o 4 STORIES FROM VASARI

that the sepulchre of Julius should be abandoned
that Michael Angelo might prepare plans and
designs for this work. Michael Angelo made
all the resistance he could, alleging that he was
bound to Santiquattro and Aginense for the
tomb. But the Pope replied that he was not
to think about that, for he had already con-
sidered that, and had procured their consent
to his departure. So the matter was settled
to the displeasure both of the cardinals and
Michael Angelo, and he departed weeping. He
consumed many years in procuring marble,
though in the meantime he made models in
wax and other things for the work; but the
matter was so delayed that the money set apart
for it was consumed in the war of Lombardy,
and the work was left unfinished at the death
of Leo.

At this time, in the year 1525, Giorgio Vasari
was brought as a boy to Florence by the Cardinal
of Cortona and put with Michael Angelo to
learn the art. But he being called by Pope
Clement VII. to Rome, determined that Vasari
should go to Andrea del Sarto, and went himself
to Andrea's workshop to recommend him to
his care.

When Clement VII. was made pope he sent
for Michael Angelo, and he agreed with the
Pope to finish the sacristy and library of S.

MICHAEL ANGELO 305

Lorenzo, and to make four tombs for the bodies
of the fathers of the two Popes, Lorenzo and
Giuliano, his brother, and for Giuliano, brother
of Leo, and Duke Lorenzo, his nephew. At
this time befell the sack of Rome and the
banishment of the Medici from Florence. Those
who governed the city desired to re-fortify it,
and made Michael Angelo commissary-general
of all the fortifications. He surrounded the
hill of S. Miniato with bastions and fortified
the city in many places, and he was sent to
Ferrara to view the fortifications of Duke
Alfonso, who received him with much courtesy,
and prayed him at his leisure to make some
work of art for him. Returning to Florence,
and engaged again upon the fortifications, he
nevertheless found time both to make a painting
of Leda in tempera for the duke, and to work
upon the statues for the monument in S.
Lorenzo. Of this monument, partly finished,
there are seven statues. The first is Our Lady,
and though it is not finished, the excellence of
the work may be seen. Then there are the
four statues of Night and Day, Dawn and
Twilight, most beautiful, and sufficient of them-
selves, if art were lost, to restore it to light.
The other statues are the two armed captains,
the one the pensive Duke Lorenzo, and the
other the proud Duke Giuliano.

306 STORIES FROM VASARI

Meanwhile the siege of Florence began, and
the enemy closing round the city, and the hope
of aid failing, Michael Angelo determined to
leave Florence and go to Venice. So he departed
secretly without any one knowing of it, taking
with him Antonio Mini his pupil, and his faith-
ful friend Piloto the goldsmith, wearing each one
their money in their quilted doublets. And they
came to Ferrara and rested there. And it hap-
pened because of the war that Duke Alfonso had
given orders that the names of those who were
at the inns and of all strangers should be brought
him every day. So it came about that Michael
Angelo' s coming was made known to the duke.
And he sent some of the chief men of his court
to bring him to the palace, with his horses and
all he had, and give him good lodging. So
Michael Angelo, finding himself in the power of
another, was forced to obey and went to the
duke. And the duke received him with great
honour, and making him rich gifts, desired him
to tarry in Ferrara. But he would not remain,
though the duke, praying him not to depart
while the war lasted, offered him all in his power*
Then Michael Angelo, not willing to be outdone
in courtesy, thanked him much, and turning to
his two companions, said that he had brought to
Ferrara twelve thousand crowns, and that they
were quite at his service.

MICHAEL ANGELO 307

And the duke took him through his palace
and showed him all his treasures, especially his
portrait by the hand of Titian, which Michael
Angelo commended much; but he would not
stop at the palace, and returned to the inn, and
the host where he lodged received from the duke
an infinite number of things with which to do
him honour, and command to take nothing from
him for his lodging.

He proceeded thence to Venice, but many de-
siring to make his acquaintance, for which he had
no wish, he departed from the Giudecca where he
had lodged. It is said that he made a design for
the bridge of the Rialto at the request of the
Doge Gritti, a design most rare for invention and
ornament.

But Michael Angelo was recalled by his native
city, and earnestly implored not to abandon her,
and they sent him a safe conduct. At last, over-
come by his love for her, he returned, not without
peril of his life. He restored the tower of S.
Miniato, which did much injury to the enemy,
so they battered it with great cannon, and would
have overthrown it, but Michael Angelo defended
it, hanging bales of wool and mattresses to
shield it.

When the peace was made, Baccio Valore was
commissioned by the Pope to seize some of the
ringleaders, and they sought for Michael Angelo,

308 STORIES FROM VASARI

but he had fled secretly to the house of a friend,
where he lay hid many days. When his anger
was passed, Pope Clement remembered his great
worth, and bade them seek him, ordering them
to say nothing to him, but that he should have
his usual provision and should go on with his
work at S. Lorenzo.

Then Duke Alfonso of Ferrara, having heard
that he had completed a rare piece of work for
him, sent one of his gentlemen to him that he
might not lose such a jewel, and he came to
Florence and presented his letters of credence.
Then Michael Angelo showed him the Leda,
and Castor and Pollux coming out of the egg ;
but the messenger of the duke thought he ought
to have produced some great work, not under-
standing the skill and excellence of the thing,
and he said to Michael Angelo, "Oh, this is a
little thing." Then Michael Angelo asked him
what was his trade, for he knew that none are
such good judges of a thing as those who have
some skill in it themselves. He replied con-
temptuously, "I am a merchant," thinking that
Michael Angelo did not know he was a gentle-
man; and so, being rather offended by the question,
he expressed some contempt for the industry of
the Florentines. Michael Angelo, who perfectly
understood his meaning, answered, "You have
shown yourself a bad merchant this time, and

MICHAEL ANGELO 309

to your master's damage; take yourself off."
Afterwards, Anton Mini, his pupil, having two
sisters about to be married, asked him for the
picture, and he gave it to him willingly, together
with the greater part of his drawings and cartoons,
and also two chests of models. And when Mini
went into France he took them with him there,
and the Leda he sold to King Francis, but the
cartoons and drawings were lost, for he died in
a short time and they were stolen.

Afterwards the Pope desired Michael Angelo
to come to him in Rome and paint the walls
of the Sistine Chapel. Clement wished that he
should paint the Last Judgment and Lucifer
driven out of heaven for his pride, for which
many years before he had made sketches and
designs. However, in 1533 followed the death
of Pope Clement, and Michael Angelo again
thought himself free to finish the tomb of
Julius II. But when Paul III, was made pope, it
was not long before he sent for him, and desired
him to come into his service. Then Michael
Angelo refused, saying he was bound by contract
to the Duke of Urbino to finish the tomb of,
Julius II. But the Pope m anger cried out, " I
have desired this for thirty years, and now that
I am Pope I will not give it up. I will destroy
the contract, and am determined that you shall
serve me." Michael Angelo thought of de-

3 io STORIES FROM VASARI

parting from Rome, but fearing the greatness
of the Pope, and seeing him so old, thought
to satisfy him with words. And the Pope came
one day to his house with ten cardinals, and
desired to see all the statues for the tomb of
Julius, and they appeared to him miraculous,
particularly the Moses ; and the Cardinal of
Mantua said this figure alone was enough to
do honour to Pope Julius. And when he saw
the cartoons and drawings for the chapel, the
Pope urged him again to come into his service,
promising to order matters so that the Duke of
Urbino should be contented with three statues,
the others being made from his designs by good
masters. The new contract, therefore, being
confirmed by the duke, the work was completed
and set up, a most excellent work, but very far
from the first design; and Michael Angelo,
since he could do no other, resolved to serve
Pope Paul, who desired him to carry out the
commands of Clement without altering anything.
When Michael Angelo had completed about
three-quarters of the work, Pope Paul went to
see it, and Messer Biagio da Cesena, the master
of the ceremonies, was with him, and when he
was asked what he thought of it, he answered
that he thought it not right to have so many
naked figures in the Pope f s chapel. This dis-
pleased Michael Angelo, and to revenge himself,

MICHAEL ANGELO 311

as soon as he was departed, he painted him in
the character of Minos with a great serpent
twisted round his legs. Nor did Messer Biagio's
entreaties either to the Pope or to Michael
Angelo himself, avail to persuade him to take
it away. At this time it happened that the
master fell from the scaffold, from no little
height, and hurt one of his legs, but would not
be doctored for it. Thereupon Master Baccio
Rontini, the Florentine, his friend and a clever
doctor, feeling pity for him, went one day and
knocked at his door, and receiving no answer,
made his way to the room of Michael Angelo,
who had been given over, and would not leave
him until he was cured. When he was healed,
returning to his painting, he worked at it
continually, until in a few months it was
brought to an end, and the words of Dante
verified, "The dead seem dead and the living
living." And when this Last Judgment was
uncovered, he was seen to have vanquished
not only all the painters who had worked there
before, but even to have surpassed his own work
on the ceiling- He laboured at this work eight
years, and uncovered it in the year 154?-, on
Christmas Day, I think, to the marvel of all
Rome, or rather all the world ; and 1 who went
that year to Rome was astounded.

Afterwards he painted for Pop6 Paul the Con-

3 i2 STORIES FROM VASARI

version of S. Paul and the Crucifixion of S. Peter.
These were the last pictures he painted, at the
age of seventy-five, and with great fatigue, as he
told me; for painting, and especially working
in fresco, is not an art for old men. But his
spirit could not remain without doing something,
and since he could not paint, he set to work
upon a piece of marble, to bring out of it four
figures larger than life, for his amusement and
pastime, and as he said, because working with
the hammer kept him. healthy in body. It repre-
sented the dead Christ, and was left unfinished,
although he had intended it to be placed over
his grave.

It happened in 1546 that Antonio de Sangallo
died, and one being wanted in his place to super-
intend the building of S. Peter's, his Holiness
sent for Michael Angelo and desired to put him
in the office, but he refused, saying that archi-
tecture was not his proper art. Finally, entreaties
availing nothing, the Pope commanded him to
accept it, and so, to his great displeasure and
against his will, he was obliged to enter upon
this office. Then one day going to S. Peter's to
see the model of wood which Sangallo had made,
he found the whole Sangallo party there. They
coming up to him said they were glad that the
charge of the work was to be his, adding that
the model was a field which would never fail to

MICHAEL ANGELO 313

provide pasture. "You say the truth," answered
Michael Angelo, meaning to infer, as he told a
friend, " for sheep and oxen, who do not under-
stand art." And he used to say publicly that
Sangallo held more to the German manner than
to the good antique, and besides that fifty years*
labour might be spared and 300,000 crowns'
expense, and yet the building might be carried
out with more grandeur and majesty. And he
showed what he meant in a model which made
every one acknowledge his words to be true.
This model cost him twenty-five crowns, and was
made in fifteen days. Sangallo's model cost more
than four thousand, it is said, and took many
years to make, for he seemed to think that this
building was a way of making money, to be
carried on with no intention of its being finished.
This seemed to Michael Angelo dishonest, and
when the Pope was urging him to become the
architect, he said one day openly to all those
connected with the building, that they had better
do everything to prevent him having the care of
it, for he would have none of them in the build-
ing; but these words, as may be supposed, did
him much harm, and made him many enemies,
who were always seeking to hinder him. But at
last the Pope issued his commands, and created
him the head of the building with all authority.
Then Michael Angelo, seeing the Pope's trust

314 STORIES FROM VASARI

in him, desired that it should be put into the
agreement that he served for the love of God
and without any reward. But when a new Pope
was made, the set that was opposed to him in
Rome began again to trouble him ; therefore the
Duke Cosimo desired that he should leave Rome
and return to Florence, but he, being sick and
infirm, could not travel. At that time Paul IV.
thought to have the Last Judgment amended,
which when Michael Angelo heard he bade them
tell the Pope that this was a little matter, and
might easily be amended; let him amend the
world, and then the pictures would soon amend
themselves.

The same year befell the death of Urbino his
servant, or rather, to speak more truly, his com-
panion. He had come to him in Florence after
the siege in 1530, and during twenty-six years
served him with such faithfulness that Michael
Angelo made him rich, and loved him so much
that when he was ill he nursed him and lay all
night in his clothes to watch him. After he was
dead, Vasari wrote to him to comfort him, and
he replied in these words :

"Mr DEAR MESSER GIORGIO, It is hard
for me to write ; nevertheless, in reply to your
letter, I will say something. You know that
Urbino is dead, to my great loss and infinite
grief, but in the great mercy of God. The

MICHAEL ANGELO 315

mercy is that dying he has taught me how to
die, not in sorrow, but with desire of death. I
have had him twenty-six years, and have found
him most rare and faithful ; and now that I had
made him rich, and hoped that he would have
been the support of my old age, he has left me,
and nothing remains but the hope of meeting
him again in Paradise. And of this God gave
me promise in the happy death he died, for he
regretted, far more than death, leaving me in
this treacherous world with so many infirmities,
although the chief part of me is gone with him,
and nothing remains but infinite misery."

Until this time Michael Angelo worked almost
every day at that stone of which we have spoken
before, with the four figures, but now he broke
it, either because the stone was hard or because
his judgment was now so ripe that nothing he
did contented him. His finished statues were
chiefly made in his youth ; most of the others
were left unfinished, for if he discovered a mis-
take, however small, he gave up the work and
applied himself to another piece of marble. He
often said this was the reason why he had finished
so few statues and pictures. This Pieti, broken
as it was, he gave to Francesco Bandini. Tiberio
Calcagni, the Florentine sculptor, had become a
great friend of Michael Angelo's through Ban-
dim, and being one day in Michael Angelo's

316 STORIES FROM VASARI

house, and seeing this Pied broken, he asked
him why he had broken it, and spoilt so much
marvellous work. He answered it was because
of his servant Urbino's importunity, who was
always urging him to finish it, and besides that,
among other things, he had broken a piece off
the Virgin's arm, and before that he had taken
a dislike to it, having many misfortunes because
of a crack there was in it; so at last, losing
patience, he had broken it, and would have
destroyed it altogether if his servant Antonio
had not begged him to give it him as it was.
Then Tiberio spoke to Bandini about it, for
Bandini desired to have a work of Michael
Angelo's, and he prayed Michael Angelo to
allow Tiberio to finish it for him, promising
that Antonio should have two hundred crowns
of gold, and he being content, made them a
present of it. So Tiberio took it away and
joined it together, but it was left unfinished
at his death. However, it was necessary for
Michael Angelo to get another piece of marble,
that he might do a little carving every day.

The architect Pirro Ligorio had entered the
service of Paul IV., and was the cause of renewed
vexation to Michael Angelo, for he went about
everywhere saying that he was becoming childish.
Indignant at this treatment, Michael Angelo
would willingly have returned to Florence, and

MICHAEL ANGELO 317

Giorgio urged him to do so. But he felt he was
getting old, having already reached the age of
eighty-one, and he wrote to Vasari saying he
knew he was at the end of his life, as it were in
the twenty-fourth hour, and that no thought
arose in his mind on which death was not carved.
He sent also a sonnet, by which it may be seen
that his mind was turning more and more to-
wards God, and away from the cares of his art.
Duke Cosimo also commanded Vasari to en-
courage him to return to his native place; but
though his will was ready, his infirmity of body
kept him in Rome.

Many of his friends, seeing that the work at
S. Peter's proceeded but slowly, urged him at
least to leave a model behind him. He was for
many months undecided about it, but at last he
began, and little by little made a small clay
model, from which, with the help of his plans
and designs, Giovanni Franzese made a larger one
of wood.

When Pius V. became pope, he showed Michael
Angelo much favour, and. employed him in many
works, particularly in making the design of a
monument for the Marquis Marignano,his brother.
The work was entrusted by his Holiness to Lione
Lioni, a great friend of Michael Angelo's, and
about the same time Lione pourtrayed Michael
Angelo on a medallion, putting at his wish on

3 i 8 STORIES FROM VASARI

the reverse a blind man led by a dog, with the
words, " Docebo iniquos vias tuas, et impii ad te
convertentur," and because the thing pleased him
much, Michael Angelo gave him a model in wax
of Hercules and Antaeus. There are only two
painted portraits of Michael Angelo, the one by
Bugiardini and the other by Jacopo del Conte,
besides one in bronze by Daniello Ricciarelli, and
this one of Lione's, of which there have been so
many copies made that I have seen a great number
in Italy and elsewhere.

About a year before his death, Vasari, seeing
that Michael Angelo was much shaken, prevailed
upon the Pope to give orders concerning the
care of him, and concerning his drawings and
other things, in case anything should befall him,
His nephew Lionardo desired to come to Rome
that Lent, as if foreboding that Michael Angelo
was near his end, and when he fell sick of a slow
fever, he wrote for him to come. But the sick-
ness increasing, in the presence of his physician
and other friends, in perfect consciousness, he
made his will in three words, leaving his soul in
the hands of God, his body to the earth, and his
goods to his nearest relations, charging his friends
when passing out of this life to remember the
sufferings of Jesus Christ ; and so, on the seven-
teenth day of February, at twenty-three o'clock
of the year 1563, according to the Florentine

MICHAEL ANGELO 319

style, which after the Roman would be 1564, he
expired to go to a better life.

Michael Angelo's imagination was so perfect
that, not being able to express with his hands
his great and terrible conceptions, he often aban-
doned his works and destroyed many of them.
I know that a little before his death he burnt
a great number of drawings and sketches. It
should appear strange to none that Michael
Angelo delighted in solitude, being as it were in
love with art. Nevertheless he held dear the
friendship of many great and learned persons,
among whom were many cardinals and bishops.
The great Cardinal Ippolito de* Medici loved him
much, and once, having heard that Michael
Angelo was greatly pleased with a Turkish horse
of his, he sent it to him as a gift with ten mules'
burden of hay and a servant to keep it. He
loved the society of artists, and held intercourse
with them; and those who say he would not
teach are wrong, for he was ready to give counsel
to any one who asked. But he was unfortunate
with those pupils who lived in his house ; for
Piero Urbano was a man of talent, but would
never do anything to tire himself; Antonio Mini
would have done anything, but he had not a
brain capable of much, and when the wax is hard
you cannot get a good impression ; Ascanio dalla
Ripa Transone worked very hard, but nothing

320 STORIES FROM VASARI

came of it : he spent years over a picture of which
Michael Angelo had given him the drawing, but
at last all the great expectations that had been
formed of him went off into smoke, and I re-
member Michael Angelo had so much compas-
sion for his difficulty in painting that he helped
him with his own hand.

He has often said to me that he would have
written something for the help of artists, but
feared not being able to express in writing what
he wished. But he delighted much in reading
the poets, particularly Dante and Petrarca, and
in making madrigals and sonnets. And he sent
much, both in rhyme and prose, to the illustrious
Marchioness of Pescara, of whose virtues he was
greatly enamoured, and she of his. Many times
she went from Viterbo to Rome to visit him, and
Michael Angelo made many things for her. He
delighted much in the sacred scriptures, like the
good Christian he was, and held in veneration the
works of Fr. Girokmo Savonarola, having heard
him preach. In his manner of life he was Itiost
abstemious, being content when young with a
little bread and wine while at his work, and until
he had finished the Last Judgment he always
waited for refreshment till the evening, when he
had done his work. Though rich he lived poorly,
never taking presents from any one. He took
little sleep, but often at night he would rise to

MICHAEL ANGELO 321

work, having made himself a paper cap, in the
middle of which he could fix his candle, so that
he could have the use of his hands. Vasari, who
often saw this cap, noticed that he did not use
wax candles, but candles made of goats' tallow,
and so he sent him four bundles, which would
be 40 Ibs. , His servant took them to him in the
evening, and when Michael Angelo refused to
take them, he answered, " Sir, carrying them here
has almost broken my arms, and I will not carry
them back again ; but there is some thick mud
before your door in which they will stand straight
enough, and I will set light to them all." Upon
which Michael Angelo answered, "Put them
down here, then, for I will not have you playing
tricks before my door." He told me that often
in his youth he had slept in his clothes, too worn
out with his labours to undress himself. Some
have accused him of being avaricious, but they
are mistaken, for he freely gave away his draw-
ings and models and pictures, for which he
migl^t have obtained thousands of crowns. And
then, as for the money earned by the sweat of
his brow, by his own study and labour can any
one be called avaricious who remembered so
many poor as he did, and secretly provided for
the marriage of many girls, and enriched his
servant Urbino ? He had served him long, and
once Michael Angelo asked him, " If I die, what

x

322 STORIES FROM VASARI

will you do?" He answered, "I shall serve
another." " Oh, poor fellow ! " answered Michael
Angelo, "I will mend your poverty." And he
gave him at once two thousand crowns, a gift for
a Caesar or a great pontiff.

He had a most tenacious memory; he could
remember and make use of the works of others
when he 'had only once seen them; while he
never repeated anything of his own, because he
remembered all he had done. In his youth,
being one evening with some painters, his friends,
it was proposed that they should try who could
make a figure without any drawing in it, like
those things that ignorant fellows draw on the
walls, and the one that could make the best
should have a supper given him. He remem-
bered having seen one of these rude drawings on
a wall, and drew it as if he had it in front of
him, and so surpassed all the other painters a
difficult thing for a man to do who had such
knowledge of drawing.

He felt very strongly against those who had
done him an injury, but he never had recourse
to vengeance. His conversation was full of
wisdom and gravity, mixed with clever or
humorous sayings. Many of these have been
noted down, and I will give some. A friend of
his was once talking to him about death, and
saying that he must dread it very much because

MICHAEL ANGELO 323

he was so continually labouring in his art ; but
he answered, " All that was nothing, and if life
pleased us, death was a work from the hand of
the same Master, and ought not to displease
us." A citizen found him once at Orsanmichele
in Florence, looking at the statue of S. Mark by
Donatello, and asked him what he thought of
it. He answered that he had never seen a more
honest face, and that if S. Mark was like that,
we might believe all that he had written. A
painter had painted a picture in which the best
thing was an ox, and some one asked why it was
that the painter had made the ox more lifelike
than anything else ? Michael Angelo answered,
" Every painter can pourtray himself well/'

He took pleasure in certain men like II Meni-
ghella,- a common painter, who would come to
him and get him to make a drawing for a S.
Rocco or a S. Antonio, which he was to paint for
some peasant. And Michael Angelo, who could
hardly be persuaded to work for kings, would at
once lay aside his work, and make simple designs
suited to II Menighella's wishes. He was also
attached to Topolino, a stone-cutter, who fancied
himself a sculptor of worth. He resided for
many years in the mountains of Carrara for the
purpose of sending marble to Michael Angelo,
and he never sent a boatload without three or
four roughly hewn figures of his own carving,

324 STORIES FROM VASARI

which used to make Michael Angelo die with
laughing. After he came back from Carrara
he set himself to finish a Mercury which he
had begun in marble, and one day, when it was
nearly completed, he asked Michael Angelo to
look at it and give him his opinion on it.
"You are a fool," said Michael Angelo, "to
try to make figures. Don't you see that this
Mercury is the third part of a braccio too short
from the knee to the foot that you have made
him a lame dwarf?" "Oh, that is nothing!
If that is all, I will soon remedy that." Michael
Angelo laughed again at his simplicity, but when
he was gone Topolino took a piece of marble,
and having cut Mercury under the knees, inserted
the marble, joining it neatly, and giving Mercury
a pair of boots, the top of which hid the join.
When he showed his work to Michael Angelo
he laughed again, but marvelled that ignorant
fellows like him, when driven by necessity, should
be capable of doing daring things which sculptors
of real worth would not think of.

Michael Angelo was a very healthy man, thin
and muscular, although as a boy he was sickly.
When grown up he had also two serious illnesses;
nevertheless he could support any amount of
fatigue. He was of middle height, wide across
the shoulders, but the rest of his body in good
proportion.

MICHAEL ANGELO 325

Certainly he was sent into the world to be an
example to men of art, that they should learn
from his life and from his works; and I, who
have to thank God for felicity rare among men
of our profession, count among my greatest
blessings that I was born in the time when
Michael Angelo was alive, and was counted
worthy to have him for my master, and to be
treated by him as a familiar friend, as every
one knows.

THE END

Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON 6* Co,
Edinburgh 6* London