Pietro Cavallini, Painter of Rome.
At a time when Rome had been deprived for many centuries, not only of good letters and of the glory of arms, but also of all the sciences and fine arts, there was born in that city, by God's will, one Pietro Cavallini, at the very time when Giotto, who may be said to have restored life to painting, had attained to the chief place among the painters of Italy. Pietro, who had been a pupil of Giotto, and had done some mosaics with him in St Peter's, was the first after him who illuminated that art, and who first showed signs that he was not an unworthy pupil of so great a master, when he painted over the door of the sacristy at Araceli, some scenes which are now destroyed by time, and in S. Maria di Trastevere very many coloured things in fresco for the whole church. Afterwards he worked in mosaic in the principal chapel, and did the front of the church, proving that he was capable of working in mosaic without Giotto's assistance, as he had already succeeded in doing in painting. In the church of S. Grisogono he also did many scenes in fresco and endeavoured to make himself known as the best pupil of Giotto and as a good artist. In the Trastevere also he painted almost the whole of the church of S. Cecilia in fresco, and many things in the church of S. Francesco appresso Ripa. He then executed in mosaic the front of S. Paolo, outside Rome, and in the middle nave did many scenes from the Old Testament. In executing some things in fresco for the chapter-house of the first cloister, he displayed such diligence that he was considered by men of judgment to be a most excellent master, and was for the same reason so much favoured by the prelates, that they employed him to do the wall space between the windows inside St Peter's. Among these things he did the four Evangelists, of extraordinary size as compared with the figures of the time usually seen, executed very finely in fresco; also a St Peter and a St Paul, and in the nave a good number of figures, in which, because the Byzantine style greatly pleased him, he always used it in conjunction with that of Giotto. We see by this work that he spared no effort to give his figures the utmost possible relief. But the best work produced by him in that city was in the church of Araceli sul Campidoglio mentioned above, where he painted in fresco on the vaulting of the principal apse, Our Lady with the child in her arms, surrounded by a circle of suns; beneath her is the Emperor Octavian, adorning the Christ who is pointed out to him by the Tiburtine sybil. The figures in this work, as has been said elsewhere, are much better preserved than the others, because dust cannot attack the vaulting so seriously as the walls. After these things Pietro came to Tuscany in order to see the works of the other pupils of his master Giotto, and those of the master himself. Upon this occasion he painted in S. Marco at Florence many figures which are not visible to-day, the church having been whitewashed with the exception of an Annunciation which is beside the principal door of the church, and which is covered over. In S. Basilio, by the aide of the Macine, there is another Annunciation in fresco on the wall, so similar to the one which he had previously made for S. Marco, and to another which is at Florence that there are those who believe, not without some amount of reason, that all of them are by the hand of this Pietro; certainly it is impossible that they could more closely resemble each other. Among the figures which he made for S. Marco of Florence was the portrait of Pope Urban V., with the heads of St Peter and St Paul. From this portrait Fra Giovanni da Fiesole copied the one which is in a picture in S. Domenico, also at Fiesole. This is a fortunate circumstance because the portrait which was in S. Marco was covered with whitewash as I have said, together with many other figures in fresco in that church, when the convent was taken from the monks who were there originally and given to the Friars Preachers, everything being whitewashed with little judgment and discretion. On his way back to Rome Pietro passed through Assisi in order not only to see the buildings and notable works done then by his master and by some of his fellow-pupils, but to leave something of his own there. In the transept on the sacristy side of the lower church of S. Francesco he painted in fresco a Crucifixion of Jesus Christ with armed men on horseback, in varied fashions, with a great variety of extraordinary costumes characteristic of divers foreign nations. In the air he made some angels floating on their wings in various attitudes; all are weeping, some pressing their hands to their breasts, some crossing them, and some beating their hands, showing the extremity of their grief at the death of the Son of God, and all melt into the air, from the middle downwards, or from the middle upwards. In this work which is well executed in fresh and vivacious colouring, the joints of the lime are so well made that it looks as if it had all been done in a single day: in it I have found the arms of Walter, Duke of Athens, but as it contains no date or other writing, I cannot affirm that it was executed by command of that prince. But besides the fact that everyone considers it to be by Pietro's hand, the style alone is a sufficient indication, while it seems most probable that the work was made by Pietro at the duke's command seeing that the painter flourished at the time when the duke was in Italy. Be that as it may, the painting is certainly admirable for an antique production, and its style, besides the common report, proclaims it as being by Pietro's hand. In the church of S. Marco at Orvieto, which contains the most holy relic of the Corporale, Pietro executed in fresco some scenes of the life of Christ and of His body, with much diligence. It is said that he did this for M. Benedetto, son of M. Buonconte Monaldeschi, at that time lord and tyrant of the city. Some further affirm that Pietro made some sculptures with success, because he excelled in whatever he set himself to do, and that the Crucifix which is in the great church of S. Paolo outside Rome is by him. This is said to be the same one that spoke to St Brigida in the year 1370, and we are bound to believe it. By the same hand were some other things in that style which were thrown down when the old church of St Peter's was destroyed to make the new one.
Pietro was very diligent in all his efforts and endeavoured steadily to do himself honour and to acquire fame in art. Not only was he a good Christian, but very devoted and kind to the poor, and beloved for his goodness, not only in his native city of Rome, but by every one who knew him or his works. In his extreme old age he devoted himself so thoroughly to religion, leading an exemplary life, that he was considered almost a saint. Thus there is no cause for marvel if his crucifix spoke to the saint, as is said, nor that a Madonna, by his hand, has worked and still works miracles. I do not propose to speak of this work, although it is famous throughout Italy, and although it is all but certain that it is by Pietro's hand by the style of the painting, but Pietro's admirable life and piety to God are worthy of imitation by all men. Let no one believe by this that it is impossible to attain to honoured rank without good conduct, and without the fear and grace of God, for constant experience proves the contrary. Giovanni of Pistoia was a pupil of Pietro, and did some things of no great importance in his native place. Pietro died at length in Rome, at the age of eighty-five, of a malady in his side caused by working at a wall, by the damp and by standing continually at that exercise. His paintings were executed about 1364. He was buried in S. Paolo outside Rome, with honour, and with this epitaph:
"Quantum Romans Petrus decus addidit urbi
Pictura, tantum, dat decus ipse polo."
Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, Painters of Siena.
Happy indeed may we call those men who are inclined by nature to those arts which may bring them not only honour and great profit, but what is more, fame, and an all but immortal name. How much more happy then are those who, from their cradle, besides such an inclination, exhibit gentleness and civil manners, which render them very acceptable to all men. But the most happy of all, I speak of artists, are those who, besides having a natural inclination to the good, and whose manners are noble by nature and training, live in the time of some famous writer, by whose works they sometimes receive a reward of eternal honour and fame in return for some small portrait or other courtesy of an artistic kind. This reward should be specially desired and sought after by painters, since their works, being on a surface and a field of colour, cannot hope for that eternity that bronze and marble give to sculpture, and which the strength of building materials afford to the architect. It was thus a very fortunate matter for Simone that he lived in the time of M. Francesco Petrarca, and happened to meet this amorous poet at the court of Avignon, anxious to have the portrait of Madonna Laura by his hand; because when he had received one as beautiful as he desired, he celebrated Simone in two sonnets, one of which begins:
"Per mirar Policleto a prova fiso
Con gli altri, che ebber fama di quell' arte;"
and the other:
"Quando giunse a Simon l'alto concetto
Ch'a mio nome gli pose in man lo stile."
In truth these sonnets and the mention of the artist in one of his intimate letters in the fifth book, beginning Non sum nescius, have given more fame to the poor life of Simone than all his own works have done or ever will do, for a day will come when they will be no more, whereas the writings of such a man as Petrarch endure for all time.