 Section 4 of Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Morgan Scorpion Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Volume 1 by Giorgio Versari, translated by Gaston Devere, Section 04 Lives of Giovanni Cimabue, Painter of Florence By the infinite flood of evils which had laid prostrate and submerged poor Italy, there had not only been ruined everything that could truly claim the name of building, but there had been blotted out, and this was of grave import, the whole body of the craftsman when, by the will of God in the city of Florence in the year 1240, there was born to give the first light to the art of painting Giovanni, surnamed Cimabue, of the family noble in those times of Cimabue. He, while growing up, being judged by his father and by others to have a beautiful and acute intelligence, was sent to the end that he might exercise himself in letters to a master in Santa Maria Novella, his relative, who was then teaching grammar to the novices of that convent. But Cimabue, in place of attending to his letters, would spend the whole day, as one who felt himself led there too by nature, in drawing, on books and other papers, men, horses, houses, and diverse other things of fancy, to which natural inclination, fortune, was favourable. For certain Greek painters had been summoned to Florence by those who then governed the city, for nothing else but to restore to Florence the art of painting, which was rather out of mind than out of fashion, and they began, among other works undertaken in the city, the chapel of the Gondi, whereof today the vaulting and the walls are little less than eaten away by time, as may be seen in Santa Maria Novella beside the principal chapel where it stands. Wherefore Cimabue, having begun to take his first steps in this art which pleased him, playing truant often from school, would stand the live-long day watching these masters at work, in a manner that, being judged by his father and by these painters to be in such wise fitted for painting, that there could be hoped for him, applying himself to this profession, an honourable success. To his own no small satisfaction he was apprenticed by the said father to these men, whereupon, exercising himself without seizing, in a short time nature assist him so greatly that he surpassed by a long way, both in drawing and in colouring, the manner of the masters who were teaching him. For they, giving no thought to making any advance, had made those works in that fashion wherein they are seen today, that is, not in the good ancient manner of the Greeks, but in that rude modern manner of those times, and because, although he imitated these Greeks, he added much perfection to the art, relieving it of a great part of their rude manner, he gave honour to his country with his name, and with the works that he made, to which witness is borne in Florence by the pictures that he wrought, such as the front of the altar in Santa Cecilia, and in Santa Croce a panel with Madonna, which was, and still is, placed against a pilaster on the right within the door. After this he made a St. Francis on a small panel on a gold ground, and portrayed him from nature, which was something new in those times, as best he knew, and round him all the stories of his life, in twenty small pictures full of little figures on a gold ground. Having next undertaken to make a large panel for the monks of Valombrosa in the Abbey of Santa Trinita in Florence, he showed in that work, using therein great diligence, so as to rise equal to the esteem which had already been conceived of him, better inventions and a beautiful method in the attitude of a Madonna, whom he made with the child in her arms, and with many angels round her in adoration, on a gold ground, which panel, being finished, was placed by these monks over the high altar of the said church, and being afterwards removed in order to give that place to the panel by Alessio Baldovinetti, which is there today. It was placed in a smaller chapel in the left-hand aisle of the said church. Working next in Fresco on the hospital of the Portia Lana, at the corner of the Via Nuova, which goes into the Borg-Ognisanti, on the façade which has in the middle the principal door, and making on one side the Annunciation of the Virgin by the Angel, and on the other Jesus Christ with Cleopas and Luke, figures as large as life. He swept away that ancient manor, making the draperies, the vestments, and everything else in this work, a little more lively, and more natural and softer than the manor of these Greeks, all full of lines and profiles both in mosaic and in painting, which manor, rough, rude, and vulgar, the painters of those times, not by means of study, but by a certain convention, had taught one to the other for many and many a year, without ever thinking of bettering their draftsmanship, of beauty of colour. Not following, or of any invention that might be good. Being summoned again after this work by the same prior who had caused him to make the works in Santa Croce, made him a large crucifix on wood, which is still seen today in the church, which work was the reason, it appearing to the prior that he had been well served, that he took him to San Francesco in Pisa, their convent, in order to make a St. Francis on a panel, which was held by these people to be a most rare work, there being seen therein a certain greater quality of excellence, both in the air of the hands and in the folds of the draperies, than had been shown in the Greek manner up to that time by anyone who had wrought anything, not only in Pisa, but in all Italy. Cimabue, having next made for the same church on a large panel the image of our lady with the child in her arms, and with many angels round her, also on a ground of gold, it was after no long time removed from where it had been set up the first time, in order to make there the marble altar that is there at present, and was placed within the church beside the door on the left hand, and for this work he was much praised and rewarded by the people of Pisa. In the same city of Pisa, at the request of the then-arret of San Paolo in Ripadano, he made a St. Agnes on a little panel, and round her, with little figures, all the stories of her life, which little panel is today over the altar of the virgins in the said church. By reason of these works then, the name of Cimabue being very famous everywhere, he was brought to Assisi, a city of Umbria, where, in company with certain Greek masters in the lower church of San Francesco, he painted part of the vaulting, and on the walls the life of Jesus Christ and that of St. Francis. In these pictures he surpassed by a long way those Greek painters, wherefore, growing in courage, he began by his own self to paint the upper church in Fresco, and in the chief apse over the choir on four sides he made certain stories of our Lady, namely her death, when her soul is born by Christ to Heaven upon a throne of clouds, and when, in the midst of a choir of angels, he crowns her with a great number of saints below, both male and female, now eaten away by time and by dust. Next, in the sections of the vaulting of the said church, which are five, he painted in like manner many scenes. In the first, over the choir, he made the four evangelists, larger than life, and so well that today there is still recognised in them much that is good, and the freshness of the colours in the flesh shows that painting began to make a great progress in Fresco work through the labours of Cimabue. The second section he made full of golden stars on a ground of ultramarine. In the third he made in certain medallions Jesus Christ, the Virgin, his mother, St. John the Baptist, and St. Francis, namely, in every medallion one of these figures, and in every quarter-segment of the vaulting a medallion, and between this and the fifth section he painted the fourth with golden stars, as above, on a ground of ultramarine. In the fifth he painted the four doctors of the church, and beside each one of these one of the four chief religious orders, a work truly laborious and executed with infinite diligence. The vaulting finished, he wrought, also in Fresco, the upper walls of the whole left-hand side of the church, making towards the high altar, between the windows and right up to the vaulting, eight scenes from the Old Testament, commencing from the beginning of Genesis and following the most notable events. And in the space that is round the windows, up to the point where they end in the gallery that encircles the interior of the wall of the church, he painted the remainder of the Old Testament in eight other scenes. An opposite this work, in sixteen other scenes corresponding to these, he painted the acts of Our Lady and of Jesus Christ, and on the end wall over the principal door and round the rose window of the church he made her ascension into heaven and the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles. This work, truly very great and rich and most excellently executed, must have, in my judgment, amazed the world in those times, seeing above all that painting had lain so long in such great darkness. And to me, who saw it again in the year 1563, it appeared very beautiful, thinking how in so great darkness Jimabue could see so great light. But of all these pictures, and to this we should give consideration, those on the roof, as being less injured by dust and by other accidents, have been preserved much better than the others. These works finished. Giovanni put his hand to painting the lower walls, namely, those that are from the windows downwards, and made certain works upon them. But being called to Florence on some business of his own, he did not carry this work further, but it was finished, as it will be told in the proper place, by Giotto many years afterwards. Having returned then to Florence, Jimabue painted in the cloister of San Spirito, wherein there is painted in the Greek manner, by other masters, the whole side facing the church, three small arches by his own hand, from the life of Christ, and truly with much design. And at the same time he sent certain works wrought by himself in Florence to Empoli, which works are still held today in great veneration in the behaviour of that township. Next he made for the church of Santa Maria Novella the panel of Our Lady, that is set on high between the chapel of the Ruccelli and that of the Bardi d'Avernia, which work was of greater size than any figure that had been made up to that time. And certain angels that are round it show that, although he still had the Greek manner, he was going on approaching in part to the line and method of the modern. Wherefore this work caused so great marvel to the people of that age, by reason of their not having been seen up to then anything better, that it was born in most solemn procession from the house of Jimabue to the church, with much rejoicing and with trumpets, and he was thereby much rewarded and honoured. It is said, and it may be read in certain records of old painters, that while Jimabue was painting the said panel in certain gardens close to the Porta San Pietro, they passed through Florence King Charles the Elder of Anjou, and that, among the many signs of welcome made to him by the men of this city, they brought him to see Jimabue's panel, whereupon, for the reason that it had not yet been seen by any one, in the showing it to the King, they flopped together to it all the men and all the women of Florence, with the utmost rejoicing and in the greatest crowd in the world. Wherefore, by reason of the joy that the neighbours had thereby, they caught that place the borgo allegri, which place, although enclosed in time within the walls, has ever after retained the same name. In San Francesco in Pisa, where he wrought, as had been said above, certain other works, there is in the cloister beside the door that leads into the church, in a corner, a small panel in its temper by the hand of Jimabue, wherein is a Christ on the cross, with certain angels round him, who, weeping, are taking with their hands certain words that are written round the head of Christ, and are presenting them to the ears of a Madonna, who stands weeping on the right, and on the other side to St John the Evangelist, who is on the left, all grieving. And the words to the Virgin are, Moulier, Etche Philius Tours, and those to St John, Etche Marta Tours, and those that an angel standing apart hold in his hand say, Ex Ila Hora Aksepit, a Amdiskipulus in Suram. Wherein it is to be observed that Jimabue began to give light, and to open the way to invention, assisting art with words in order to express his conception, which was certainly something whimsical and new. Now, because by means of these works Jimabue had acquired a very great name, together with much profit, he was appointed as architect, in company with Anolfo Lapi, a man then excellent in architecture, for the building of Santa Maria del Piorre in Florence. But at length, having lived sixty years, he passed to the other life in the year thirteen hundred, having little less than resurrected painting. He left many disciples, and among others Giotto, who was afterwards an excellent painter. Which Giotto dwelt, after Jimabue, in his master's own house in the Via del Cocomero, Jimabue was buried in Santa Maria del Piorre, with that epitaph made for him by one of the nini. I will not refrain from saying that if to the glory of Jimabue there had not been contrasted the greatness of Giotto, his disciple, his fame would have been greater, as Dante demonstrates in his Commedia, wherein, alluding in the eleventh canto of the Purgatorio to this very inscription on the tomb, he said In explanation of these verses, a commentator of Dante, who wrote at the time when Giotto was alive, and ten or twelve years after the death of Dante himself, that is, about the year of Christ thirteen thirty-four, says, speaking of Jimabue, precisely these words Giotto was, and is, the most exalted among the painters of the same city of Florence, and his works bear testimony for him in Rome, in Naples, in Avignon, in Florence, in Padua, and in many parts of the world. This commentary is now in the hands of the very reverend Don Vincenzo Borghini, prior of the Innocenti, a man not only most famous for his nobility, goodness and learning, but also endowed with such love and understanding for all the finer arts that he has deserved to be elected by the Lord Duke Costimo, most properly as his lieutenant in our Academy of Design. But to return to Jimabue, Giotto truly obscured his fame, not otherwise than as a great light does the splendour of one much less, for the reason that although Jimabue was, as it were, the first cause of the renovation of the art of painting, yet Giotto, his pupil, moved by laudable ambition and assisted by heaven and by nature, was he who, rising higher with his thought, opened the gate of truth to those who have brought her to that perfection and majesty wherein we see her in our own century, which being used to see every day the marvels, the miracles, nay the impossibilities wrought by the craftsmen in that art, is now brought to such a pitch that nothing that men do, be it even more divine than human, causes it in any way to marvel. Well is it, with those whose labours deserve all praise, if, in place of being praised and admired, they do not thereby incur blame and many times even disgrace. The portrait of Jimabue, by the hand of Simone Sanese, is to be seen in the chapter house of Santa Maria Novella, made in profile in the story of the late Giotto. The portrait of Jimabue, by the hand of Simone Sanese, is to be seen in the chapter house of Santa Maria Novella, made in profile in the story of the faith, in a figure that has the face thin, the beard small, reddish and pointed, with a cap according to the use of those times, that is, round round and round under the throat in lovely fashion. He who is beside him is Simone himself, the author of that work, who, portrayed himself with two mirrors in order to make his head in profile, placing the one opposite to the other, and that soldier, Claudine Armour, who is between them, is said to be Count Guido Novello, then Lord of Poppy. There remains for me to say of Jimabue, that in the beginning of our book, where I have put together drawings from his own hand of all those who have made drawings from his time to ours, there are to be seen certain small things made by his hand in the way of miniature, wherein, although today perchance they appear rather rude than otherwise, it is seen how much excellence was given by his work to draftsmanship. End of section 4 Volume 1 by Giorgio Vasari, translated by Gaston de Verre. Section 5 Life of Arnauflo de Lapo, Architect of Florence Arnauflo, of certain other edifices built in his time, or a little before, whereof in like manner it is not known who were the masters, and then of those that were built in the same times, whereof it is known who were the architects, either because the manner of the edifices themselves is recognized very well, or because we have had information about them by means of the writings and memorials left by them in the works that they made. Nor will this be outside our subjects, seeing that, although they are neither in a beautiful nor in a good manner, but only vast and magnificent, they are worthy nonetheless of some consideration. There were built then, in the time of Lapo and of Arnauflo his son, many edifices of importance both in Italy and abroad, whereof I have not been able to find the architects, such as the Abbey of Monriale in Sicily, the Piscopio of Naples, the Certoza of Pavia, the Duomo of Milan, San Pietro and Saint Petronio in Bologna, and many others which are seen throughout all Italy, built at incredible cost. Having seen all these buildings for myself, and studied them, and likewise many sculptures of those times, particularly in Ravenna, and not having ever found, I do not say any memorials of the masters, but even many times the date when they were built, I cannot but marvel at the rudeness and little desire for glory of the men of that age. But returning to our subject, after the buildings named above, there began at last to arise men of a more exalted spirit who, if they did not find, sought at least to find something of the good. The first was Buono, of whom I know neither the country nor the surname. For the reason that in making record of himself and some of his works he put nothing but simply his name. He, being both sculptor and architect, first made many palaces and churches and, as will be told, the Castel Capuano and the Castel de l'Ovo. And afterwards, in the time of Domenico Morossini, doge of Venice, he founded the Capañele of San Marco with much consideration and judgment, having caused the foundation of that tower to be so well fixed with piles that it has never been moved a hair's breadth, as many buildings constructed in that city before his day have been seen and still are seen to have done. And from him, perchance, the Venetians learned to found, in the manner in which they do it today, the very beautiful and very rich edifices that every day are being built so magnificently in that most noble city. It is true indeed that this tower has nothing else good in it, neither manner, nor ornament, nor, in short, anything that might be worthy of much praise. It was finished under Andasasius IV and Adrian IV Pontiffs in the year 1154. Architecture likewise, Buono made the Church of St. Andrea in Pistoia, and in sculptor he made an Architrave of marble that is over the door, full of figures made in the manner of the Goths, on which Architrave, his name is carved, when the date when this work was made by him, which was the year 1166. Next, being summoned to Florence, he gave the design for enlarging, as was done, the Church of St. Maria Maggiore, which was then without the city, and held in great veneration for the reason that Pope Pelagius had consecrated it many years before, and because, as decisive a manner, it was a very fair body of a church. Being then summoned by the artisans to their city, Buono built the old habitation of the Lords of Arezzo, namely a palace in the manner of the Goths, and beside it, a bell tower. This edifice, which for that manner was good enough, was thrown to the ground, because it was opposite and very near to the fortress of that city in the year 1533. Afterwards, the artist made some little improvement through the works of one Guglielmo, German, I believe, in origin. There were built certain edifices of the greatest cost, and in a slightly better manner, for this Guglielmo, so it is said, in the year 1174, together with Buonanno, a sculptor, founded in Pisa, the Campanile of the Duomo, where there are certain words carved that say A.D., 1174, Campanile, Hock, Fuit, Fundatum, Mensa Old. But these two architects, not having much practice of founding in Pisa, and therefore not supporting the platform with piles as they ought, before they had gone half way with that building, it inclined to one side and bent over to the weakest part. In a manner that the said Campanile leans six and a half Brachia out of the Strait, according as the foundation sank on this side, and although in the lower part this is not much, up above it shows clear enough to make men stand fast in a marvel how it can be that it has not fallen down and has not thrown out cracks. The reason is that this edifice is round, both without and within, and built in the shape of a hollow well, and bound together with the stones in a manner that it is well nigh impossible that it should fall, and it is assisted, above all, by the foundations, which have an outwork three Brachia wide outside the tower, made as it is seen after the sinking of the Campanile in order to support it. I am convinced that if it had been square, it would not have been standing today, for the reason that the cornerstones of the square size, as is often seen to happen, would have forced them out in a manner that it would have fallen down. And if the Garisenda, a tower in Bologna, although square leans and does not fall, that comes to pass because it is slender and does not lean so much, not being burdened by so great a weight. By a great measure, as is this Campanile, which is praised, not because it has in it any design or beautiful manner, but simply for its extravagance, it appearing impossible to anyone who sees it, that it can in any wise keep standing. And the same Bonanno, while the said Campanile was building, made in the year 1180, a royal door of bronze for the said Duomo of Pisa, wherein are seen these letters. Igo Bononos, Pismea, Arte Honk, Portum Unoano, Perfecchi, Tempore Benedicti, Aperari. Next, from the walls that were made from ancient spoils at St. Giovanni Laterno in Rome under Lucius III and Urban III Pontiff, while the Emperor Frederick was crowned by this urban, it is seen that the art was going on continually improving, as certain little temples and chapels built, as it has been said, of spoils, have been passing good design in certain things in them worthy of consideration. And among others this, that in order not to overburden the walls of these buildings, the vaulting was made of small tubes, and with partitions of stucco, praiseworthy enough for these times. And from the moldings and other parts, it is seen that the craftsmen were going on striving in order to find the good way. Innocent III afterwards caused two palaces to be built on the Vatican Hill, which were passing good in so far as it has been possible to discover. But since they were destroyed by other popes, and in particular by Nicholas V, who pulled down and rebuilt the greater part of one palace, there will be nothing said of them but this, that a part of them is to be seen in the great round tower, and part in the old sacristy of St. Pietro. Innocent III, who ruled for nineteen years, and took much delight in building, made many edifices in Rome, and in particular with the design of Marchione Arretino, both architect and sculptor, the Conte Tower, so-called from his own surname, seeing that he was of that family. The same Marchione, in the year when Innocent III died, finished the building of the Piave of Arezzo, and likewise the Campanile, making in sculpture for the façade of the said church three rows of columns, one above the other, with great variety not only in the fashion of the capitals and the bases, but also in the shafts of the columns, some among them being thick, some slender, some joined together two by two and others four by four. In like manner, there are some twined in the manner of vines, and some made in the shapes of figures acting as supports with diverse carvings. He also made therein many animals of diverse sorts that support on the middle of their backs the reasonable proportion. But with all this, whosoever sets out well to consider the whole sees that he went on striving to do well, and thought per adventure to have found it in that method of working and in that whimsical variety. The same man made in sculpture, on the arch that is over the door of the said church, in barbaric manner, a god the father with certain angels, in half-relief and rather large, and in the arch he carved the twelve months, placing his own name underneath in round letters, as was the custom, and the date, namely the year 1216. It is said that Marchioni built in the Borgio Vecchio, in Rome, for the same Pope innocent III, the ancient edifice of the hospital and church of St. Spirito, in Sacia, where there is still seen something of the old, and the ancient church was still standing in our own day when it was rebuilt in modern fashion, with greater ornament and design by Pope Paul III of the House of Farnese. And in St. Maria Maggiore, also in Rome, he built the marble chapel where there is the manger of Jesus Christ. Here he portrayed from the life Pope Honorius III, whose tomb also he made with ornaments some little better than, and different enough from, the manner that was then in universal use throughout all Italy. About the same time Marchioni also made the side door of St. Pietro in Bologna, which was truly for those times a work of the greatest mastery, by reason of the many carvings that are seen therein such as lions in the round that sustain columns, and men in the use of porters, and other animals that support weights, and in the arch above he made the twelve months in full relief, with various fancies, and for each month its celestial sign, which work must have been held marvellous in those times. About the same time there was founded the Order of the Friars Minor of St. Francis, which was conferred by the said innocent III Pontiff in the year 1206. And there came such growth, not only in Italy but in all the other parts of the world, both to the devoutness and to the number of the Friars, that there was scarce a city of account that did not erect for them churches and convents of the greatest cost, each according to its power. Wherefore Frate Elia, having erected two years before the death of St. Francis, while the saint himself as general was abroad preaching, and he, prior in Assisi, a church with the title of Our Lady, and St. Francis having died in all Christendom flocking together to visit the body of the saint, who in life and in death had been known as so much the friend of God, and every man making offering to the holy place according to his power, it was ordained that the said church begun by Frate Elia should be built much greater and more magnificent. But there being a dearth of good architects in the work which was to be done having need of an excellent one, seeing that it had to be built upon a very high hill at the foot of which there runs a torrent called Teschio, there was brought to Assisi after much consideration as the best of all that were then to be found, one maestro Jacopo Tedesco. He, having considered the site and grasped the wishes of the fathers, who held there unto a general chapter in Assisi, designed a very beautiful body of a church and convent, making in the model three tiers one to be made underground and the others for two churches, one of which on the lower level should serve as a court with a fairly large portico rounded, and the other for a church, planning that from the first one should climb to the second by a most convenient flight of steps, which should wind round the principal chapel, opening out into two parts in order to lead more easily into the second church, to which he gave the form of a tea, making it five times as long as it is broad, and dividing one bay from another with great piers of stone, on which he afterwards threw very bold arches, with groin vaulting between one and another. From a model so made then was built this truly very great edifice, and it was followed in every part, saving the buttresses above that had to surround the apse and the principal chapel, and in making the vaulting groin'd, because they did not make it as it has been said, but barrel-shaped, in order that it might be stronger. Next in front of the principal chapel of the lower church they placed the altar, and under that, when it was finished, they laid with most solemn translation the body of St. Francis, and because the true sepulcher which holds the body of the glorious saint is in the first that is in the lower church where no one ever goes, and the doors are walled up, round the said altar there are very large gradings of iron, with rich ornaments in marble and mosaic that look down therein. This building is flanked on one of the sides by two sacrestes, and by a very high campanile, namely five times as high as it is broad. It had on top a very high octagonal spire, but this was removed because it threatened to fall. This whole work was brought to a finish in the space of four years, and no more by the genius of maestro Jacopo Tedesco, and by the solicitude of Frathe Elia, after whose death to the end that such a pile might never through any lapse of time fall into ruin, there were built round the lower church twelve very stout towers, and in each of these a spiral staircase that climbs from the ground up to the summit. And in time afterwards there were made therein many chapels and other very rich ornaments, whereof there is no need to discourse further, since this is enough on the subject for the present, and above all because everyone can see how much of the useful, the ornamental, and the beautiful has been added to this beginning of maestro Jacopo's by many supreme pontiffs, cardinals, princes, and other people of importance throughout all Europe. Now, to return to maestro Jacopo by means of this work he acquired so great fame throughout all Italy that he was summoned by those who then governed the city of Florence and afterwards received with the greatest possible friendliness, although according to the use that the Florentines have and had still more in ancient times of abbreviating names he was called not Jacopo, but Lapo throughout all the course of his life, for he dwelt ever with his whole family in that city. And although he went at diverse times to wreck many buildings throughout Tuscany, such as the Palazzo Popi in the Castantino for that count who had had for wife the beautiful Gueldrada and for her dower the Castantino and for the Arantines the Vescovado and the Palazzo Vecchio of the lords of Pietramala nonetheless his home was always in Florence where having found in the year 1218 the peers of the Ponte della Caraglia which was then called the Ponte Nuovo he delivered them finished in two years and a little time afterwards the rest was finished of wood as was then the custom. And in the year 1221 he gave the design for the church of St. Salvedore del Vescovado which was begun under his direction and that of San Michel in Piazza Padiglia where there are certain sculptures in the manner of those times. Next having given the design for draining the water of the city having caused the Piazza di St. Giovanni to be raised having built in the time of Messa Rubicante de Mandela a Milanese, the bridge that retains the same man's name and having discovered that most useful method of paving streets which before were covered with bricks he made the model of the palace today of the Podesta which was then built for the Anziani and finally having sent the model of a tomb to Sicily to the Abbey of Monriola for the Emperor Frederick and by order of Manfred he died leaving Arnolfo his son heir no less to the talent than to the wealth of his father. This Arnolfo from whose talent architecture gained no less betterment than painting had gained from that of Cimabue being born in the year 1232 was 30 years of age when his father died and was held in very great esteem for the reason that having not only learned from his father all that he knew but having also given attention under Cimabue to design in order to make use of it in sculpture he was held by so much the best architect in Tuscany that not only did the Florentines found the last circle of the walls of their city under his direction in the year 1284 and make after his design the loggio and the piers of Ors San Michele where the grain was sold building them of bricks and with a simple room above but by his council in the same year when the Poggio de Manuole collapsed on the brow of St. Giorgio above St. Lucia in the Via de Bardi they determined by means of a public decree that there should be no more building on the said spot nor should any edifice be ever made seeing that by the sinking of the stones which have water trickling under them there would be always danger in what so ever edifice might be made there that this is true has been seen in our own day from the ruin of many buildings and magnificent houses of noblemen in the next year 1285 he founded on the loggia and piazza de priori and built the principal chapel of the Badia of Florence and the two that are on either side of it renovating the church and the choir which at first had been made much smaller by Count Hugo, founder of that abbey and for Cardinal Giovanni, Delia Orsini legate of the Pope in Tuscany he built the Campanile of the said church which, according to the works of those times was much praised, although it did not have its completion of grey stone until afterwards in the year 1330 after this there was founded with his design in the year 1294 the Church of Saint Croci where the friars minor have their seat what with the middle nave and the two lesser ones are also constructed this so wide that being unable to make the vaulting below the roof by reason of the two great space he with much judgment caused arches to be made from pier to pier and upon these he placed the roofs on a slope building stone gutters over the said arches in order to carry away the rain water giving them so much fall as to make the roofs secure as they are from the danger of rotting which device was not only new and ingenious then but is equally useful and worthy of being considered today he then gave the design for the first cloisters of the old convent of that church and a little time after he caused to be removed from round the church of Saint Giovanni on the outer side all the arches and tombs of marble and grey stone that were there and had part of them placed behind the Campanile on the facade of the cannon's house beside the company of Saint Zanobi and then he encrusted with black marble from Prato all the eight outer walls of the said Saint Giovanni removing the grey stone that there had been before these ancient marbles the Florentines in the meanwhile wishing to build walls in the Baldarno di Sopra round Castello di San Giovanni and Castelfranco for the convenience of the city and of their viddling by means of the markets Arnolfo made the design for them in the year 1295 and satisfied them in such a manner as well in this as he had done in the other works that he was made citizen of Florence after these works the Florentines determined as Giovanni Villani relates in his history to build a principal church in their city and to build it such that in point of greatness and magnificence there could be desired none larger or more beautiful from the industry and knowledge of men and Arnolfo made the design in the model of the never to be sufficiently praised church of Saint Maria del Fiore ordering that it should be all encrusted without with polished marbles and with the so many cornices pilasters columns carved foliage figures and other ornaments with which today it is seen brought if not to the whole to a great part at least of its perfection and what was marvellous therein above everything else was this that incorporating besides Saint Reparata other small churches and houses that were rounded in making the site which is most beautiful he showed so great diligence and judgment in causing the foundations of so great a fabric to be made broad and deep filling them with good material namely with gravel and lime and with great stones below wherefor the square is still called loño y fondemente that they have been very well able as is to be seen today to support the weight of the great mass of the cupola which Filippo di Ser Brunellesco raised over them the laying of such foundations for so great a church was celebrated with much solemnity for on the day of the nativity of Our Lady in 1298 the first stone was laid by the cardinal legate of the Pope in the presence not only of many bishops and of all the clergy but of the Podesta as well the captains, priors and other magistrates of the city nay of the whole people of Florence calling it St. Maria del Fiore and because it was estimated that the expenses of this fabric must be very great as they afterwards were there was imposed a tax at the Chamber of Commune of Fordonare in the lira on everything that was put out at interest and two solde per head per annum not to mention that the Pope and the legate granted very great indulgences to those who should make them offerings therein too I will not forebear to say moreover that besides the fountains very broad much consideration was shown in making those buttresses of masonry at every angle of the eight sides seeing that it was these afterwards that emboldened the mind of Brutalesco to superimpose a much greater weight than that which Arnolfo per chance had thought to impose thereon it is said that while the two first side doors of St. Maria del Fiore were being begun in marble Arnolfo caused some fig leaves to be carved on a frieze these being the arms of himself and of Maestro Lapo his father and that therefore it may be believed that from him the family of the Lappie had its origin today a noble family in Florence others say likewise that from the descendants of Arnolfo there descended Filippo di Ser Brunalesco but leaving this seeing that others believed that the Lappie came from Ficaruolo a township on the mouth of the Po and returning to Arnolfo I say that by reason of the greatness of his work he deserves infinite praise and an eternal name above all because he caused it to be all encrusted without with marbles of many colors and within with hard stone and made even the smallest corner of that same stone but in order that everyone may know the exact size of this marvelous fabric I say that from the door up to the end of the chapel of St. Zenobe the length is 260 bracha get across the transeps 166 across the three naves it is 66 bracha the middle nave alone is 72 bracha in height and the other two lesser naves 48 bracha the external circuit of the whole church is 1280 bracha the cupola from the ground up to the base of the lantern is 154 bracha the lantern without the ball is 36 bracha in height the ball 4 bracha in height the cross 8 bracha in height the whole cupola from the ground up to the summit of the cross is 202 bracha but returning to Arnolfo I say that being held as he was excellent he had acquired so great trust that nothing of importance was determined without his council wherefore in the same year the commune of Florence having finished the foundation of the last circle of the walls of the city even as it was said above that they were formerly begun and so too the towers of the gate and all being in great part well advanced he made a beginning for the palace of the signore designing it in resemblance to that which his father Lapo had built in the Castantino for the counts of pulpi but yet however magnificent and great he designed it he could not give it that perfection which is art and his judgment required for the following reason the houses of the uberte and rebels against the people of Florence had been pulled down and thrown to the ground and a square had been made on the site and the stupid obstinacy of certain men prevailed so greatly that Arnolfo could not bring it about through whatsoever arguments he might urge thereunto that it should be granted to him to put the palace on a square base because the governors had refused that the palace should have its foundations in any way whatsoever on the ground of the rebel uberte and they brought it about that the northern isle of St. Pietro Scaraggio should be thrown to the ground rather than let him work in the middle of the square with his own measurements not to mention that they insisted moreover that there should be united and incorporated with the palace the tower of the Foraboschi called the Torre della Vaca in height 50 bracha for the use of the great bell and together with it some houses bought by the commune for this edifice for which reasons no one must marvel if the foundations of the palace is a rye and out of the square it having been necessary in order to incorporate the tower in the middle and to render it stronger to bind it round with the walls of the palace which walls having been laid open in the year 1561 by Giorgio Vasari painter and architect were found excellent Arnolfo then having filled up the said tower with good material it was afterwards easy for other masters to make thereon the very high campanile that is seen there today for within the limits of two years he finished only the palace which has subsequently received from time to time those improvements which give it today that greatness and majesty that are to be seen after all these works and many more that Arnolfo made no less convenient and useful than beautiful he died at the age of 70 in 1300 at the very time when Giovanni Villani began to write the universal history of his times and because he not only left St. Maria del Fiora founded but its three principal tribunes which are under the cupula devoted to his own great glory he well deserved that there should be made a memorial of him on the corner of the church opposite the campanile with these verses carved in marble in round letters anis millenis centum bis octo no genis venit legatus roma boneteti dotatus qui lapidem fixit fundo simul et benedicit presule francisco gestante pantificatum istud ab Arnolfo templum fuit edificatum hoc opus insigne decorans florentia digne retgine cile constroxit mente fidele quom tu vergo pia semper difende maria of this Arnolfo we have written the life with the greatest brevity that has been possible for the reason that although his works do not approach by a great measure the perfection of the things of today he deserves nonetheless to be celebrated with loving memory having shown amid so great darkness to those who lived after him the way to walk to perfection the portrait of Arnolfo by the hand of Giotto is to be seen in Saint Croce beside the principal chapel at the beginning of the story where the friars are weeping for the death of Saint Francis in one of two men that are talking together and the picture of the church of Saint Maria Del Fiori namely of the outer side with the cupola by the hand of Simone Sanese is to be seen in the chapter house of Saint Maria Novella copied from the original in wood that Arnolfo made wherein it is noticeable that he had thought to raise the dome immediately over the walls at the edge of the first cornice whereas Filippo di ser Brunalesco in order to relieve them of weight and to make it more graceful added there too before he began to raise it all that height wherein today are the round windows which circumstance would be even clearer than it is if the little care and diligence of those who have directed the works of Saint Maria Del Fiori in the years past had not left the very model that Arnolfo made to go to ruin and afterwards those of Brunalesco and the others and of section five recording by Miriam Esther Goldman section six of the lives of the most eminent painters sculptors and architects volume one this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rachel Steeley lives of the most eminent painters sculptors and architects volume one by Giorgio Vasari translated by Gaston de Verre section six life of Nicola and Giovanni of Pisa Nicola Bassano and Giovanni Bassano sculptors and architects having discourse of design and of painting in the life of Chimabua and of architecture outside of Arnolfo de Lapo in this one concerning Nicola and Giovanni of Pisa we will treat of sculpture and also of the most important buildings that they made for the reason that their works in sculpture and in architecture truly deserve to be celebrated not only as being large and magnificent but also well enough conceived since both in working marble and in building swept away in great part that old Greek manner rude and void of portion showing better invention in their stories and giving better attitudes to their figures Nicola Bassano then chancing to be under certain Greek sculptors who are working the figures and other carved ornaments of the Duomo of Pisa and of the Church of San Giovanni and their being among many marble spoils brought by the fleet of the Piscins certain ancient sarcophagi that are today in the Campo Santo of that city there was one of them most beautiful among them all where on there was carved the Chase of Miligar after the Caledon Boar in very beautiful manner seeing that both the nude figures and the draped were wrought with much mastery and with most perfect design this sarcophagus was placed by the Piscins by reason of its beauty in the side of the Duomo opposite San Rocco beside the principal side door and it served for the body of the mother of Countess Matilda if indeed these words are true that are to be read carved in the marble AD 1116 9 Cal August a bit died Matilda Policis memore cometisa che pro anima genetrix su domen bietrectis cometise venerabellis in Haktum anerabellic vintis in Muldis partibis mirefis hank dotavat ecclesium quorum aneme requisant in passe and then AD 13003 sub dognissimo appararecchio di vergundio adi acasion redum fiendorum per ipsum circa ecclesium sucraditta tumo superios notata bis translata fuit tungtei sedipus primis in ecclesium nungtei ecclesitia in hung locom ut sentinicis excelentum Nicola pondering over the beauty of this work and being greatly pleased therewith but so much study and diligence into imitating this manner and some other good sculptures that were in these other ancient sarcophagi that he was judged after no long time the best sculptor of his day there being in Tuscany in those times after Onolfo no other sculptor of repute say Fuccio, an architect and sculptor in Florence who made Santa Maria Saptopra Arno in Florence in the year 1229 placing his name there over a door and in the church of San Francisco in Assisi he made the marble tomb of the queen of Cyprus with many figures and in particular a portrait of her sitting on a lion in order to show the strength of her soul which queen after her death left her a great sum of money to the end that this fabric might be finished Nicolae then having made himself known as a much better master than Fuccio was summoned to Bologna in the year 1225 after the death of Santo Menaco Caligora first founder of the Order of Preaching Fires in order to make a marble tomb for the said saint wherefore after agreement with those who had the charge of it he made it full of figures in that manner wherein it is to be seen today and delivered it finished in the year 1231 with much credit to himself for it was held something remarkable and the best of all the work that had been wrought in sculpture up to that time he made likewise the model of the church and of a great part of the convent afterwards Nicolae returning to Tuscany found that Fuccio had departed from Florence and had gone to Rome in those days when the emperor Friedrich was crowned by Honorius and from Rome with Friedrich to Daples where he finished the Castel di Capoena today called the Vacaria wherein are all the tribunals of that kingdom and likewise the Castel della Uva and where he likewise founded the towers he also made the gates over the river Volterno for the city of Capua and a park girt with walls for fouling near Gravina and another for sport in winter at Melfi besides many other things that are not revealed for the sake of brevity Nicolae meanwhile busy himself in Florence was going on exercising himself not only in sculpture but in architecture as well by means of the buildings that were going on being made with some little goodness of design throughout all Italy and in particular in Tuscany wherefore he occupied himself not a little with the building of the Abbey of Settimo which had not been finished by the executors of Count Hugo of Bradenburg like the other six as was said above and although it is read in a marble epitaph on the campanile of the said Abbey Gellium me facit it is known nevertheless by the manner that it was directed with the Council of Nicola about the same time he made the Palazzo Vecchio of the Anziani in Pisa pulled down in our day by Duke Cosimo in order to make the magnificent palace of the convent of the Knights of St. Stephen on the same spot using some part of the old from the design and model of Giorgio Vasari painter and architect of Arezzo who has accommodated himself to those old walls as well as he has been able in fitting them into the new Nicola made likewise in Pisa many other palaces and churches and he was the first since the loss of the good method of building who made it the custom to found edifices in Pisa on piers and on these to raise arches piles having first been sunk under this said piers because with any other method these solid base of the foundation cracked and the walls always collapsed whereas the sinking of piles rendered the edifice absolutely safe even as experience shows with his design also was made the church of St. Michel in Borgo for the monks of Commodore but the most beautiful, the most ingenious and the most whimsical work of architecture that Nicola ever made was the Campanile of St. Nicola of Pisa whereas the seat of the friars of St. Augustine for the reason that it is octagonal on the outer side and round within with stairs that wind in a spiral and lead to the summit leaving a hollow space in the middle free in the shape of a well and on every fourth step are columns that have arches above them on slant and wind around and round where for the spring of the vaulting rests on the said arches one goes climbing to the summit in a manner that he who is on the ground always sees all those who are climbing those who are climbing see those who are on the ground and those who are halfway up see both the first and the second that is those who are above and those who are below this fanciful invention with better method and more just proportions and with more adornment was afterwards put into execution by the architect Brommente in the Belvedere in Rome for Pope Julius II and by Antonio de Sangallo in the well that is at Orvieto by order of Pope Clement VII as will be told when the time comes but returning to Nicola who is no less excellent as sculptor than as architect in the facade of the church of Saint Martino in Lucia under the portico that is above the lesser door on the left as one enters into the church where there is seen a Christ deposed from the cross he made a marble scene in half relief all full of figures wrought with much diligence having hollowed out the marble and finished the whole in a manner that gave hope to those who were previously working at the art of great difficulty that there soon should come one who with more facility would give them better assistance the same Nicola in the year 1240 gave the design for the church of Saint Jacopo in Pistoia and put to work there in mosaic certain Tuscan masters who made the vaulting of the choir niche which although in those times it was held as something difficult and of great cost moves us today rather to laughter and to compassion than to marble and all the more because such confusion which comes from lack of design existed not only in Tuscany but throughout all Italy where many buildings and other works that were being wrought without method and without design give us to know no less the poverty of their talents than the unmeasured riches wasted by the men of those times by reason of their having no masters who might execute in a good manner any work that they might do Nicola then by means of the works that he was making in sculpture and in architecture was going on ever acquiring a greater name than the sculptors and architects who were then working in Romagna as can be seen in Saint Ippolito and Saint Giovanni of Fianza of Ravenna in Saint Francisco in the houses of the Traversari and in the Church of Porto and at Rimini in the fabric of the public buildings in the houses of the Malatesti and in other buildings which are all much worse than the old edifices made about the same time in Tuscany and what has been said of Romagna can also be said with truth of a part of Lombardy a glance at the Duomo of Parara and at the other buildings made by the Marquis Azo will give us to know that this is the truth in how different they are from the Santo of Padua made with the model of Nicola and from the Church of the Friars Minor in Venice both magnificent and honored buildings many in the time of Nicola moved by laudable envy applied themselves with more zeal to sculpture than they had done before and particularly in Milan whether they assembled for the building of the Duomo many Lombards and Germans who afterwards scattered throughout Italy by reason of the discords that arose between the Milanese and the Emperor Frederick and so these craftsmen beginning to compete among themselves both in marble and in buildings found some little of the good the same came to pass in Florence after the works of Nicola had been seen and the latter while the little church of the Miss Accordia was being erected from his design in the piazza di St. Giovanni made therein in marble with his own hand a Madonna with St. Dominic and another saint one on either side of her which may still be seen on the outer facade of the said church the Florentines had begun in the time of Nicola to throw to the ground many towers made formerly in barbaric manner throughout the whole city in order that the people might be less hurt by reason of these in the brawls that were often taking place between the Guelphs and the Givolines or in order that there might be greater security for the state and it appeared to them that it would be very difficult to pull down the tower of Guademorto which was in the piazza di St. Giovanni because the walls had been made so stoutly that they could not be pulled to pieces with pickaxes and all the more because it was very high wherefore Nicola causing the foot of the tower to be cut away on one side and supporting it with wooden props of braccio and a half in length and then setting fire to them as soon as the props were burnt away it fell and was almost entirely shattered which was held something so ingenious and useful for such affairs that later it passed into use in so much that when there is need any building is destroyed in very little time with this most easy method Nicola was present at the first foundation of the Duomo of Siena and designed the Church of St. Giovanni in the same city then having returned to Florence in the same year that the Guelphs returned he designed the Church of St. Trinita and the Convent of the Nuns of Franza destroyed in our day in order to make the citadel being next summoned to Naples in order not to desert the work in Tuscany he sent Thither, Miglion, his pupil a sculptor and architect who afterwards made in the time of Conroydon the Church of St. Lorenzo in Naples finished part of the Piscopio and made there certain tombs wherein he imitated closely the manner of Nicola his master Nicola meanwhile being summoned by the people of Volterra in the year 1254 when they came under the power of the Florentines in order that their Duomo which was small might be enlarged he brought it to better form although it was very irregular and made it more magnificent than it was before then having returned finally to Pisa he made the pulpit of St. Giovanni in marble putting therein all diligence in order to leave a memorial of himself to his country and among other things carving in the universal judgment he made therein many figures if not with perfect design at least with infinite patience and diligence as can be seen and because it appeared to him as was true that he had done a work worthy of praise he carved at the foot of it these verses the people of Siena moved by the fame of this work which greatly pleased not only the peasants but everyone who sought gave to Nicola the making of the pulpit of their Duomo in which there is sung the Gospel being greater in this Nicola made many stories of Jesus Christ with much credit to himself by reason of the figures that are there wrought and with great difficulty almost wholly detached from the marble Nicola likewise made the design of the church and covenant of St. Domenico in a rezzo for the lords of Pietramala who erected it and at the entreaty of Bishop Ubertini he restored the piazza of Cortona and founded the church of St. Margarita for the friars of St. Francis on the highest point of that city where for the fame of Nicola ever growing greater by reason of so great works he was summoned in the year 1267 by Pope Clement IV to Viterbo where besides many other works he restored the church and covenant of the preaching friars from Viterbo he went to Naples to King Charles I who having routed in slain Conradion on the plain of Pagliacoso caused to be made on that spot a very rich church in Abbey burying therein the infinite number of bodies slain on that day and ordaining afterwards that there should be prayers offered by the monks day and night for their souls in which building King Charles was so well pleased with the work of Nicola he was so honored and rewarded him very greatly returning from Naples to Tuscany Nicola stayed in the Overtto for the building of St. Maria and working there in company with some Germans he made in marble for the façade of that church certain figures in the round and in particular two scenes of the universal judgment containing paradise and hell and even as he strove in the paradise to give the greatest beauty that he knew to the souls of the blessed restored to their bodies so too in the hell he made the strangest forms of devils that can possibly be seen most intent on tormenting the souls of the damned and in this work he surpassed not merely the Germans who were working there but even his own self to his own great credit and for the reason that he made therein a great number of figures with much fatigue it has been nothing but praised to our own times by those who have no more judgment than this much in sculpture Nicola had, among others a son called Giovanni who because he ever followed his father and applied himself under his teaching to sculpture and to architecture in a few years became not only equal to his father but in some ways superior wherefore Nicola, being now old retired to Pisa and living there quietly left the management of everything to his son Pope Urban IV having died at the time in Perugia a summons was sent to Giovanni who having gone there made a tomb of marble for that pontiff which together with that of Pope Martin IV was afterwards thrown to the ground when the people of Perugia enlarged their viscavato in a manner seen only a few relics of it scattered throughout the church and the people of Perugia at the same time having brought a very great body of water through lead in pipes from the hill of Paciano two miles distant from the city by means of the genius and industry of a friar of the silver streams it was given to Giovanni Pesano to make all the ornaments of the fountain both in bronze and in marble wherefore he put his hand there too and made three tiers of basins two of marble and one of bronze the first is placed above twelve rows of steps each with twelve sides the other on some columns that stand on the lower level of the first basin that is in the middle and the third which is of bronze rests on three figures and has in the middle certain griffins also of bronze that pour water on every side of Giovanni that he had done very well in this work he put on it his name about the year fifteen sixty the arches and the conduits of this fountain which cost a hundred sixty thousand do-guts of gold having become in great parts spoiled and ruined Vincenzo Dante a sculptor of Perugia without rebuilding the arches which would have been a thing of the greatest cost very ingeniously he constructed the water to the fountain in the way that it was before with no small credit to himself this work finished Giovanni desiring to see again his old and ailing father departed from Perugia in order to return to Pisa but passing through Florence he was forced to stay to the end that he might apply himself together with others to the work of the mills that he did at St. Gregorio near the piazza di Mozzi but finally having had news that his father Nicola was dead he went to Pisa where by reason of his worth he was received by the whole city with great honor every man rejoicing that after the loss of Nicola there still remained Giovanni as heir both of his talents and of his wealth and the occasion having come making proof of him their opinion was in no way disappointed because there being certain things to do in the small but most ornate church of St. Maria della Spina they were given to Giovanni to do and he putting his hand there on too with the help of some of his boys brought many ornaments in that oratory to that perfection that is seen today which work in so far as we can judge have been held miraculous in those times and all the more that he made in one figure the portrait of Nicola from nature as best he knew seeing this the peasants who long before had had the idea and the wish to make a place of burial for all the inhabitants of the city both noble and plebeian either in order not to fill the Duomo with graves or for some other reason caused Giovanni to make of the Camposanto which is on the Piazza del Duomo towards the walls wherefore he with good design and with much judgment made it in that manner and with those ornaments of marble and of that size which are to be seen and because there was no consideration of expense the roof was made of lead and outside the principal door there are seen these words carved in marble AD 1278 Tempore Domini Verrigi Archie Piscubi Pisani Et Domini Tarlatti Pottestassis Operario Orlando Sardella Johann Magistro Dificcante This work finished in the same year 1283 Giovanni went to Naples wherefore King Charles he made the Castel Nuovo of Naples and in order to have room and to make it stronger he was forced to pull down many houses and churches and in particular a convent of Friars of St. Francis which was afterward rebuilt no little larger and more magnificent than it was before far from the castle and under the title of St. Maria della Nuovo these buildings being begun and considerably advanced Giovanni departing from Naples in order to return to Tuscany but arriving at Siena without being allowed to go on further he was caused to make the model of the façade of the Duomo of that city and afterwards the said façade was made very rich and magnificent from this model next in the year 1286 when the Vescavato of Arezzo was building with the design of Margariton architect of Arezzo Giovanni was brought from Siena to Arezzo by Guiglionmino Ubertini Bishop of that city where he made in marble the panel of the high altar all filled with carvings of figures of folioge and other ornaments distributing throughout the whole work certain things in delicate mosaic and enamels laid on plates of silver let into the marble with much diligence in the middle is a Madonna with the child in her arms and on one side Saint Gregory the Pope whose face is the portrait from life of Pope Honorius IV and on the other side is Saint Donatus Bishop and protector of that city whose body with those of Saint Antilla and of other saints is laid under that same altar and because the said altar stands out by itself round it and on the sides there are small scenes in low relief from the life of Saint Donatus and the crown of the whole work are certain tabernacles full of marble figures in the round wrought with much subtlety and the breast of the said Madonna is a bezel shaped setting of gold wherein, so it is said were jewels of much value which have been carried away in the wars so it is thought by soldiers who have no respect very often even for the most holy sacrament, together with some little figures in the round that were on the top of and around the work on which the aeritines spent all together according to what is found in certain records 30,000 florins of gold nor does this seem anything great seeing that at that time it was something as precious and rare as it could well be wherefore Frederick Barbarossa returning from Rome where he had been crowned and passing through a rezzo many years after it had been made raised it, nay admired it infinitely and in truth with great reason seeing that besides everything else the joining of this work made of innumerable pieces and cemented and put together so well that the whole work is easily judged by anyone who has not much practice in the matters of the art to be all of one piece in the same church Giovanni made the chapel of the Ubertini a most noble family and lords of castles as they still are today and reformerly even more with many ornaments of marble which today have been covered over with other ornaments of grey stone many and fine which were set up in that place with the design Giorgio Vasari in the year 1535 for the supporting of an organ of extraordinary excellence and beauty that stands there on Giovanni Pessano likewise made the design of the church of St. Maria de Servi which today has been destroyed together with many palaces of the most noble families of the city for the reason mentioned above I will not for bear to say that Giovanni made use in working on the said marble altar of certain Germans who had apprenticed themselves to him rather for learning than for gain and under his teaching they made such that having gone after this work to Rome they served Boniface VIII in many works of sculpture for St. Pietro and in architecture when he made Saviti Castellana besides this they were sent to St. Maria in Ovietto where for its façade they made many figures in marble which were passing good for those times but among others who assisted Giovanni in the work of the Viscato of Arezzo Agostino and Agnolo sculptors and architects of Siena surpassed in time all the others as will be told in the proper place but returning to Giovanni having departed from Ovietto he came to Florence in order to see the fabric of St. Maria del Fior that Arnolfo was making and likewise to Sigiato of whom he had heard great things spoken abroad and no sooner had he arrived in Florence than he was charged by the wardens of the said fabric of St. Maria de Fior to make the Madonna which is over the door of the church that leads to the cannon's house making two little angels which work was then much praised next he made the little baptismal front of St. Giovanni wherein are certain scenes in half relief in the life of that saint having then gone to Bologna he directed the building of the principal chapel of the church of St. Domenico wherein he was charged by the bishop Tiodorico Borgagnoni Avlucha a friar of that order to make an altar of marble and in the same place he afterwards made in the year 1298 the marble panel wherein are the Madonna and eight other figures reasonably good in the year 1300 Nicola di Prato Cardinal legate of the Pope being in Florence in order to accommodate the dissensions of the Florentines caused him to make a convent for nuns in Prato St. Nicola from his name and to restore in the same territory the convent of St. Domenico and so too that of Pistoya in both the one and the other of which there are still seen the arms of the said Cardinal and because the people of Pistoya held in veneration the name of Nicola father of Giovanni by reason of that which he had wrought in the city with his talent they caused Giovanni himself of marble for the Church of St. Andrea like to the one which he had made in the Duomo of Siena and this he did in order to compete with one which had been made a little before in the Church of St. Giovanni Evangelista by a German who was therefore much praised Giovanni then delivered his finished in four years having divided this work into five scenes from the life of Jesus Christ and having made therein this a universal judgment with the greatest diligence that he knew in order to equal or perchance to surpass the one of Orvieto then so greatly renowned and round the said pulpit on the architrave over some columns that supported thinking as was the truth according to the knowledge of that age that he had done a great and beautiful work he carved these verses Hock Opus Sculpset Joannes Chires Nan Ejit Inans Nicoli Natus Meliora Bitas Quem Genut Pisa Daktum Super Amnia Visa At the same time Giovanni made three figures that supported temperance, prudence and justice which work by reason of its having then been held very beautiful was placed in the center of that church as something remarkable and before he departed from Pistoia although the work had not up to then Ben begun he made the model of the Campanile of Saint Jacopo the principal church of that city on which Campanile which is on the square of the said Saint Jacopo and beside the church there is this state AD 1301 Afterwards Pope Benedict IX having died in Perugia, a summons was sent to Giovanni who having gone to Perugia made a tomb of marble for that pontiff in the old church of Saint Domenico belonging preaching friars the Pope portrayed from nature and robed in his pontifical habits is lying at full length on the beer with two angels one on either side that are holding up a curtain and above there is a Madonna with two saints in relief one on either side of her and many other ornaments are carved around that tomb in like manner in the new church of the said preaching friars the tomb of Messer Nicolo Ghilalotti of Perugia Bishop of Arcanity who was founder of the Sapienza Nova of Perugia in this new church which had been founded before this by others he executed the central nave which was founded by him with much better method than the remainder of the church had been for on one side it leans and threatens to fall down by reason of having been badly founded and in truth he who puts his hand to building and to doing anything of importance should ever take counsel not from him who knows little but from the best in order not to have to repent after the act with loss and shame that where he most needed good counsel he took the bad Giovanni having dispatched his business in Perugia wished to go to Rome in order to learn from those few ancient things that were to be seen there even as his father had done but being hindered by good reasons this his desire did not take effect and the red there as he heard that the court had just gone to Evingnon returning then to Pisa Nello di Giovanni Falcone Warden caused him to make the great pulpit of the Duomo which is on the right hand going towards the high altar attached to the choir and having made a beginning with this and with many figures in the round three brought you high that were to serve it little by little he brought them to that form which is seen today placing the pulpit partly on the said figures and partly on some columns sustained by lions and on the side he made some scenes from the life of Christ it is a pity truly that so great cost so great diligence and so great labor should not have been accompanied by good design and should be wanting in perfection and in excellence of invention grace and manner such as any work of her own times would show even if made with much less cost and labor nonetheless it must have caused no small marvel to the men of those times used to seeing only the rudest works this work was finished in the year 1320 as appears in certain verses that are round the said pulpit which runs thus courses with other 13 verses which are not written in order not to wary the reader and because these are enough not only to bear witness that the said pulpit is by the hand of Giovanni but also that the men of these times were in all things made thus a Madonna of Marble also that is seen between Saint John the Baptist and another saint over the principal door of the Duomo is by the hand of Giovanni and he who is at the feet of the Madonna on his knees is said to be Piero Gombo Corti warden of works however this may be on the base where on stands the image of our lady there are carved these words sub pizri chira haq pia fut sculpta figura picoli nato sculptor johana in like manner over the side door that is opposite the companel there is a Madonna of Marble by the hand of Giovanni having on one side a woman kneeling with two babies representing Pisa and on the other the emperor Henry on the base where on stands the Madonna are these words ave craccia plena domines tecum and beside them nobiles arte manas sculpted johana pizanas sculpted sub burglundi tady beningo and around the base of Pisa virginus ansila sum pisa coeta sub illa and around the base of Henry imperat Henry che Cristo amicus in the old piave of the territory of Prato under the altar of the principal chapel there had been kept for many years the girdle of our lady which mckel de Prato returning from the holy land had brought to his country in the year 1141 and consigned to orberto provost of that church who placed it where it had been said and where it had been ever held in great veneration and in the year 1312 an attempt was made to steal it by a man of Prato a fellow of the basis sort and as it were another ser chipolato but having been discovered he was put to death for sacrilege by the hand of justice moved by this the people of Prato determined to make a strong and suitable resting place in order to hold the said girdle more securely wherefore having summoned Giovanni who is now old they made with his council in the greater church the chapel wherein there is now preserved the said girdle of our lady and next with the same man's design they made the said church much larger than it was before and encrusted it without with white and black marbles and likewise the Campanile as may be seen finally being now very old Giovanni died in the year 1320 after having made besides those that have been mentioned many other works in sculpture and in architecture and in truth there is much owed to him and to his father Nicola seeing that in times void of all goodness and design they gave in so great darkness no small light to the matters of these arts wherein they were for that truly excellent Giovanni was buried in the Campo Santo with great honor in the same grave wherein had been laid Nicola his father there were as disciples of Giovanni many who flourished after him but in particular Lino sculptor and architect of Siena who made in the Duomo of Chisa the chapel all adorned with marble wherein is the body of San Raniero likewise the baptismal font that is in the said Duomo with his name nor let anyone marvel that Nicola and Giovanni did so many work because not to mention that they lived very long being the first masters that were in Europe at that time there was nothing done of any importance in which they did not have a hand as can be seen in many inscriptions besides those that have been mentioned and seeing that while touching on these two sculptors and architects there has been something said of matters in Pisa I will not forbear to say that on the top of the steps in front of the new hospital round the base that supports a lion and the vase that rests on the porphyry column are these words this is the measure which the emperor Caesar gave to Pisa wherewith there he measured the tribute that was paid to him which has been set up over this column and lion in the time of Giovanni Rosso warden of the works of St. Maria Majori in Pisa AD 1313 in the second indiction in March end of section 6 recording by Rachel Steely www.rachelsteely.com section 7 of lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors and architects volume 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Morgan Scorpion lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors and architects volume 1 by Giorgio Vasari translated by Gaston de Vier section 07 life of Andrea Tafi painter of Florence even as the works of Timo Bué awakened no small marvel he having given better design and form to the art of painting in the men of those times used to seeing nothing save the works done after the Greek manner even so the works in Mosaic of Andrea Tafi who lived in the same times were admired by the world excellent, née, divine these people were not thinking being unused to see anything else that better work could be done in such an art but not being in truth the most able man in the world and having considered that Mosaic by reason of its long life was held in estimation more than all the other forms of painting he went from Florence to Venice where some Greek painters were working in San Marco in Mosaic and becoming intimate with them with money and with promises he contrived in such a manner that he brought to Florence Maestro Apollonio a Greek painter who taught him to fuse the glass for Mosaic and to make the cement for putting it together and in his company he wrought the upper part of the tribune of San Giovanni where there are the powers the thrones and the dominions in which place Andrea when more practised afterwards made as will be said below the Christ that is over the side of the principal chapel but having made mention of San Giovanni I will not pass by in silence that this ancient temple is all wrought both without and within with marbles of the Corinthian order and that it is not only designed and executed perfectly in all its parts and with all its proportions but also very well adorned with doors and with windows and enriched with two columns of granite on each wall-face each eleven braccia high to make the three spaces over which are the architraves that rest on the set columns in order to support the whole mass of the double vaulted roof which has been praised by modern architects as something remarkable and deservedly for reason that it showed the good which that art had already in itself to Filippo deserve Brunellesco to Donatello and to the other masters of those times who learnt the art by means of this work and of the church of San Ampostolo in Florence a work so good in manner that it casts back to the true ancient goodness having all the columns in sections as it has been said above measured and put together with so great diligence that much can be learnt by studying it in all its parts but to be silent about many things that could be said about the good architecture of this church I will say only that there was a great departure from this example and from this good method of working when the façade of San Minato without Florence was rebuilt in marble in honour of the conversion of the blessed San Giovanni Gralberto citizen of Florence and founder of the Order of the Monks of Vallon Brossa because that and many other works that were made later were in no way similar in beauty to those mentioned the same in like manner came to pass in the works of sculpture for all those that were made in Italy by the masters of that age as has been said in the preface to the lives were very rude as can be seen in many places and in particular in San Bartolomeo at Pistoia a church of the canons regular where in a pulpit very rudely made by Guido D'Arcomo there is the beginning of the life of Jesus Christ with these words carved thereon by the craftsmen himself in the year 1199 Sculptor Laudato called doctors in Arte probato Guido D'Arcomo Mecumptis Carmine Promo but to return to the church of San Giovanni for bearing to elate its origin by reason of its having been described by Giovanni Bellani and by other writers and having already said that from this church there came the good architecture that is today in use I will add that the tribune was made later so far as it is known and that at the time when Alesso Baldorvinetti succeeding Lipo a painter of Florence restored those mosaics that had been in the past painted with designs in red and all worked on stucco Andrea Tafi and of Polonia the Greek then in order to cover this tribune with mosaics made therein a number of compartments which now at the top beside the lantern went on widening as far as the level of the cornice below and they divided the upper part into circles of various scenes in the first are all the ministers and executors of the divine will namely the angels, the archangels the caribim, the seraphim the powers, the thrones and the dominions in the second row also in mosaic and after the Greek manner are the principal works done by God from the creation of light down to the flood in the circle that is below these which goes on widening with the eight sides of that tribune are all the acts of Joseph and of his twelve brethren below these then there follow as many other spaces in the same size that circle in like manner onward where in there is the life of Jesus Christ also in mosaic from the time when he was conceived in Mary's womb up to the ascension into heaven then resuming the same order under the three freezes there is the life of St John the Baptist beginning with the appearance of the angel to Zacharias the priest up to his beheading and to the burial that his disciples gave him all these works being rude without design and without art I do not absolutely praise but of a truth having regard to the method of working of that age and to the imperfection that the art of painting then showed not to mention that the work is solid and that the pieces of the mosaic are very well put together the end of this work is much better or to speak more exactly less bad than is the beginning although the whole with respect to the work of today rather to laughter than to pleasure or marvel finally over the side of the principal chapel in the said tribune Andrea made by himself and without the help of Apollonio to his own great credit the Christ that is seen there today Severin Braccia High becoming famous for these works throughout all Italy and being reputed in his own country as excellent he well deserved to be largely honoured and rewarded it was truly very great good fortune that of Andrea to be born at a time when all work being rudely done there was great esteem even for that which deserved to be esteemed very little or rather not at all this same thing befell Fradjacopo de Turita of the order of St. Francis seeing that having made the works in mosaic that are in the recess behind the altar of the said San Giovanni notwithstanding that they were little worthy of praise he was remunerated of them with extraordinary rewards and afterwards as an excellent master summoned to Rome where he wrought certain things in the chapel of the high altar of San Giovanni laterano and in that of San Maria Maggiore next being summoned to Pisa he made the evangelists in the principal apps of the Dromo with other works that are there assisted by Andrea Tafi and Gado Gaddi and using the same manner wherein he had done his other works but he left them little less than wholly imperfect and they were afterwards finished by Bertino the works of these men then were prized for some time but when the works of Giotto as will be said in its own place were set in comparison with those of Andrea of Tumabue and of the others people recognized in part the perfection of the art seeing the difference that there was between the early manner of Tumabue and that of Giotto in the figures of the one and of the other and in those that their disciples and imitators made from this beginning the others sought step by step to follow in the path of the best masters surpassing one another happily from one day to another so that from such depths these arts have been raised as is seen to the height of their perfection Andrea lived 81 years and died before Tumabue in 1294 and by reason of the reputation and the honor that he gained with his mosaic seeing that he before any other man introduced and taught it in better manner to the men of Tuscany he was the cause that Giotto and the others afterwards made the most excellent works of that craft which have acquired for them fame and an eternal name after the death of Andrea there was not wanting one to magnify him with this inscription Edora Eito a favago lo reño de listele A disciple of Andrea was Buonamico Bufalmacho who, being very young played him many tricks and had from him the portrait of Pope Celestine IV a Milanese and that of Innocent IV both one and the other of whom he portrayed afterwards in the pictures that he made in San Paolo Aripadano in Pisa a disciple and perhaps the son of the same man Antonio d'Andrea Tafi who was a passing good painter but I have not been able to find any work by his hand there is only mention made of him in the old book of the company of the men of design deservedly then did Andrea Tafi gain much praise among the early masters for the reason that although he learnt the principles of mosaic from those whom he brought from Venice to Florence he added nevertheless so much of the good to the art putting the pieces together with much diligence and executing the work smooth as a table which is of the greatest importance in mosaic that he opened the way to good work to Giotto among others as will be told in his life and not only to Giotto but to all those who have exercised themselves in this sort of painting from his day up to our own times wherefore it can be truly affirmed that those marvellous works which are being made today in San Marco at Venice and in other places had their first beginning from Andrea Tafi end of section 07 section 08 of lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors and architects volume 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Morgan Scorpion lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors and architects volume 1 by Giorgio Vasari translated by Gaston Devere section 08 life of Gadot Gaddi painter of Florence Gadot, painter of Florence displayed at this same time more design in his works wrought after the Greek manner then did Andrea Tafi and the other painters that were before him and this perchance arose from the intimate friendship and intercourse that he held with Chimabue seeing that by reason either of their conformity of blood or of the goodness of their minds finding themselves united one to the other by a straight affection from the frequent converse that they had together and from their discoursing lovingly very often about the difficulties of the arts they were born in their minds, conceptions very beautiful and grand and this came to pass for them continually inasmuch as they were assisted by the subtlety of the air of Florence which is one to produce spirits of both ingenious and subtle removing continually from round them that little of rust and grossness that most times nature is not able to remove together with the emulation and with the precepts that the good craftsman provide in every age and it is seen clearly that works concerted between those who in their friendship are not veiled with the mask of duplicity that are so made are to be found arrive at much perfection and the same men conferring on the difficulties of the sciences that they are learning purge them and render them so clear and easy that the greatest praise comes therefrom whereas some on the contrary diabolically working with profession of friendship and using the cloak of truth and of lovingness to conceal their envy and malice rob them of their conceptions in a manner that the arts do not so soon have the excellence which they would if love embraced the minds of the gracious spirits as it truly bound together Gado and Jimabue and in like manner Andrea Tafi and Gado who was taken by Andrea into company with himself in order to finish the mosaics of San Giovanni where that Gado learnt so much that afterwards he made by himself the profits that are seen round that church in the square spaces beneath the windows and having wrought these by his own self and with much better manner they brought him very great fame wherefore growing in courage and being disposed to work by himself he applied himself continually to studying the Greek manner together with that of Jimabue once after no long time having become excellent in the art there was allotted to him by the wardens of works of Santa Maria del Fiore the lunette over the principal door within the church wherein he wrought in mosaic the foundation of our Lady which work, when finished was judged by all the masters both foreign and native the most beautiful that had yet been seen in all Italy in that craft there being recognised therein more design more judgement and more diligence than in all the rest of the works in mosaic that were then to be found in Italy wherefore the fame of this work spreading Gado was caught to Rome in the year 1308 which was the year after the fire burned down the church from the palaces of the laterum by Clement V for whom he finished certain works in mosaic left imperfect by Fajacobo da Torita he then wrought certain works also in mosaic in the church of San Pietro both in the principal chapel and throughout the church and in particular a large god the father with many other figures on the façade and helping to finish some scenes in mosaic that are in the façade of Santa Maria Maggiore he somewhat improved the manner and departed also a little from that manner of the Greeks which had in it nothing whatever of the good next having returned to Tuscany he wrought in the Dromo Vettio without the city of Arezzo for the Tarlatti Lords of Pietromala certain works in mosaic on a vault that was all made of sponge stone and served for roof to the middle part of that church which being too much burdened by the ancient vault of stone fell down in the time of Bishop Gentile of Urbino who had it afterwards all rebuilt with bricks departing from Arezzo Gatto went to Pisa where in the niche over the chapel of the Incoronata in the Dromo he made a Madonna who is ascending into heaven and above a Jesus Christ who is awaiting her and has a rich chair prepared as a seat for her which work for those times was wrought so well and with so great diligence very well preserved even to our own day after this Gatto returned to Florence in mind to rest wherefore undertaking to make little panels in mosaic he executed some with eggshells with incredible diligence and patience as can be seen among others in some that are still today in the church of San Giovanni in Florence it is read also that he made two of them for King Robert but nothing more is known of these and let this be enough to have said of Gatto Gatti with regard to work in mosaic in painting he made many panels and among others that which is in Santa Maria Novella in the Tramezzo of the church in the chapel of the Mino Betti and many others that were sent into diverse parts of Tuscany and working thus now in mosaic and now in painting he made both in the one and in the other exercise many passing good works which maintained him ever in good credit and reputation I could hear in large further in discoursing of Gatto but seeing that the manners of the painters of those times cannot for the most part render great assistance to the craftsmen I will pass this over in silence reserving myself to be longer in the lives of those who having improved the arts can give some measure of assistance Gatto lived 73 years and died in 1312 and was given honourable burial in San Croce by his son Tadeo and although he had other sons Tadeo alone who was held at the baptismal front by Giotto applied himself to painting learning at first the principles from his father and then the rest from Giotto a disciple of Gatto besides Tadeo his son was Vicino, painter of Pisa who wrote very well certain works in mosaic in the principal apps of the Dromo of Pisa as these words demonstrate that are still seen in that apps Temporae Domini Gioranis Rossi Operari Istus Ecclesii Vicino's Pictor in Capit et Perfecet Hant Imaginem Beethae Mariae Sed Magistatis et Evangelistai Per Allios in Capitai Ibsae Complevit et Perfecet AD 1321 Domensae Septembris Benedictum sed Norman Domini de Nostri Jesu Christi Amen In the Chapel of the Baron Jelly in the same church of San Quoce there is a portrait by Gatto by the hand of his son Tadeo in a marriage of Our Lady and beside him is Andrea Taffi and in our aforesaid book there is a drawing by the hand of Gatto made in miniature like that of Chimabue wherein it is seen how strong he was in draftsmanship Now seeing that in an old book which I have drawn these few facts that have been related about Gatto Gaddi there is also an account of the building of Santa Maria Novella the church of the preaching friars in Florence a building truly magnificent and highly honoured I will not pass by in silence by whom and at what time it was built I say then that the Blessed Dominic being in Bologna and there being conceded to him the property of Ripoli without Florence he sent thither twelve friars to Giovanni da Salerno and not many years afterwards these friars came to Florence to occupy the church and precincts of San Pancrazio and they were settled there when Dominic himself came to Florence whereupon they left that place and went to settle in the church of San Paolo according to his pleasure later there being conceded to the said Blessed Giovanni the precincts of Santa Maria Novella with all its wealth by the legate of the pope and by the bishop of the city they were put in possession and began to occupy the said precincts on the last day of October 1221 and because the said church was passing small and faced westward with its entrance on the piazza Vettia the friars being now grown to a good number and having great repute in the city began to think of increasing the said church and convent wherefore having got together a very great sum of money and having many in the city who were promising every assistance and began the building of the new church on St. Luke's Day in 1278 the first stone of the foundations being most solemnly laid by Cardinal Latino Dele Orsini legate of Pope Nicholas III to the Florentines the architects of the said church were Fra Giovanni of Florentine and Fra Restora da Campi lay brothers of the same order who rebuilt the Ponte Alla Caragia and that of Sant'Rinita destroyed by the flood of 1264 on October the 1st the greater part of the site of the said church and convent were presented to the friars by the heirs of Messer Giacopo Cavalliero de Torna Quinti the cost, as has been said was met partly by alms and partly by the money of diverse persons who assisted gallantly and in particular with the assistance of Frato Aldo Brandino Cavalcanti who was afterwards Bishop of Arezzo and is buried over the door of the Virgin some say that besides everything else he got together by his own industry all the labour and material that went into the said church which was finished when the prior of this convent was Fra Giacopo Passavanti who was therefore deemed worthy of a marble tomb in front of the principal chapel on the left hand this church was consecrated in the year 1420 by Pope Martin V as is seen in an inscription on marble on the right hand pillar of the principal chapel which runs thus Of all these things and of many others there is an account in a chronicle of the building of the said church which is in the hands of the fathers of Santa Maria Novella Giovanni Villani likewise and I have not wished to withhold these few facts regarding this church and convent both because it is one of the most important and most beautiful churches in Florence and also because they have therein as will be said below many excellent works made by the most famous craftsmen that have lived in the years past End of section 08