with other words which cannot be made out, and similar lines composed in the old style by Orcagna himself, as I have discovered, for he was addicted to poetry, and wrote some sonnets. About these bodies are some devils, who take their souls out of their mouths and carry them to gulfs full of fire upon the top of a very high mountain. On the other hand, there are some angels who, in like manner, take the souls of the dead, who happen to have been good, out of their mouths, and carry them flying to Paradise. In this scene is a large scroll, held by two angels, containing the following words:
Ischermo di savere e di richezza,
Di nobilitate ancora e di prodezza,
Vale neente ai colpi di costei,
with some other words which cannot easily be understood. Underneath in the ornamentation of these scenes are nine angels who hold some words written in the border of the painting, in the vulgar tongue and in Latin, put there because they would spoil the scene if placed higher, and to omit them altogether did not appear fitting to the author, who considered this method very fine, and perhaps it was to the taste of that age. The greater part of these are omitted here in order not to tire the reader with impertinent matter of little interest, and moreover the greater number of the scrolls are obliterated, while the remainder are in a very imperfect condition. After this Orcagna made the Last Judgment. He placed Jesus Christ on high above the clouds in the midst of his twelve Apostles to judge the quick and the dead, exhibiting on the one side, with great art and vigour, the despair of the damned, as they are driven weeping to Hell by furious demons; and on the other side the joy and rejoicing of the elect, who are transported to the right hand side of the blessed by a troop of Angels led by the Archangel Michael. It is truly lamentable that for lack of writers, the names and identity of few or none of these can be ascertained out of such a multitude of magistrates, knights and other lords, who are evidently drawn from life, although the pope there is said to be Innocent IV. the friend of Manfred.
After this work and some sculptures in marble executed to his great glory in the Madonna, which is on the side of the Ponte Vecchio, Andrea left his brother Bernardo to work by himself in the Campo Santo at a Hell made according to Dante's description, which was afterwards much damaged in 1530, and restored by Solazzino, a painter of our own day. Meanwhile Andrea returned to Florence, where he painted in fresco in the middle of the Church of S. Croce on a very large wall on the right hand, the same things which he had done in the Campo Santo at Pisa, in three similar pictures, but omitting the scene in which St Macario is showing human wretchedness to the three kings, and the life of the hermits who are serving God on the mountain. But he did all the rest of that work, displaying better design and more diligence than at Pisa, but retaining almost the same methods in the inventions, style, scrolls and the rest, without changing anything except the portraits from life; because in this work he introduced the portraits of some of his dearest friends into his Paradise, while he condemned his enemies to hell. Among the elect may be seen the portrait in profile of Pope Clement VI. with the tiara on his head, who reduced the Jubilee from a hundred to fifty years, was a friend of the Florentines, and possessed some of their paintings which he valued highly. Here also is Maestro Dino del Garbo, then a most excellent physician, clothed after the manner of the doctors of that day with a red cap on his head lined with miniver, while an angel holds him by the hand. There are also many other portraits which have not been identified. Among the damned he drew the Guardi, sergeant of the Commune of Florence, dragged by the devil with a hook. He may be recognised by three red lilies on his white hat, such as were worn by the sergeants and other like officials. Andrea did this because the sergeant had upon one occasion distrained his goods. He also drew there the notary and the judge who were against him in that cause. Next to Guardi is Cecco d'Ascoli, a famous wizard of the time, and slightly above him, and in the middle is a hypocritical friar, who is furtively trying to mingle with the good, while an angel discovers him and thrusts him among the damned. Besides Bernardo, Andrea had another brother called Jacopo, who devoted himself, but with little success, to sculpture. For this brother Andrea had sometimes made designs in relief in clay, and this led him to wish to do some things in marble to see if he remembered that art, which he had studied at Pisa, as has been said. Accordingly he applied himself earnestly to that pursuit, and attained to such a measure of success that he afterwards made use of it with credit, as will be said. He next devoted all his energies to the study of architecture, thinking that he might have occasion to make use of it. Nor was he mistaken, for in the year 1355 the Commune of Florence bought some private houses near the palace to enlarge that building and increase the piazza, and also to make a place where citizens could withdraw in time of rain, and in winter to do under cover the things which were done in the uncovered arcade when bad weather did not interfere. They procured a number of designs for the construction of a large and magnificent loggia near the palace for this purpose as well as for a mint for coining money. Among these designs prepared by the best masters of the city, that of Orcagna was universally approved and accepted as being larger, finer and more magnificent than the others, and the large loggia of the piazza was begun under his direction by order of the Signoria and Commune, upon foundations laid in the time of the Duke of Athens, and was carried forward with much diligence in squared stones excellently laid. The arches of the vaults were constructed in a manner new for that time, not being pointed as had previously been customary, but in half circles after a new pattern, with much grace and beauty, and the building was completed under Andrea's direction in a short time. If it had occurred to him to erect it next to S. Romolo and to turn its back towards the north, which he perhaps omitted to do in order that it should be convenient for the door of the palace, it would have been a most useful construction for all the city, as it is a most beautiful piece of work, whereas it is impossible to remain there in winter owing to the strong wind. In the decoration of this loggia Orcagna made seven marble figures in half relief between the arches of the façade representing the seven virtues, theological and cardinal. These are so fine, that taken in conjunction with the whole work they prove their author to have been an excellent sculptor as well as a distinguished painter and architect. Besides this he was in all his deeds a pleasant, well-bred and amiable man so that his fellow was never seen. And since he never abandoned the study of one of his three professions when he took up another, he painted a picture in tempera with many small figures while the loggia was building, and a predella of small figures for that chapel of the Strozzi where his brother Bernardo had already done some things in fresco. On this picture he wrote his name thus: Anno Domini MCCCLVII Andreas Cionis de Florentia me pinxit, being of opinion that it would exhibit his powers to better advantage than his works in fresco could. When this was finished he did some paintings on a panel which were sent to the pope to Avignon, in the cathedral church of which they still remain. Shortly afterwards, the men of the company of Orsanmichele, having collected a quantity of money of alms and goods given to the Madonna there on account of the mortality of 1348, they decided that they would make about her a chapel or tabernacle richly adorned not only with marble carved in every manner and with other stones of price, but also with mosaic and ornaments of bronze, the best that could be desired, so that in workmanship and material it should surpass every other work produced up to that day. The execution of this was entrusted to Orcagna as being the foremost man of the age. He made a number of designs, one of which was chosen by the directors of the work as being the best of all. Accordingly the task was allotted to him and everything was committed to his judgment and counsel. He and his brother undertook to do all the figures, giving the rest to various masters from other countries. On the completion of the work, he caused it to be built up and joined together very carefully without lime, the joints, being of lead and copper so that the shining and polished marbles should not be blemished. This proved so successful and has been of such use and honour to those who came after him, that it appears to an observer that the chapel is hollowed out of a single piece of marble, so excellently are parts welded together, thanks to this device of Orcagna. Although in the German style its grace and proportions are such that it holds the first place among the things of the time, owing chiefly to the excellent composition of its great and small figures and of the angels and prophets in half-relief about the Madonna. The casting of the carefully polished bronze ornaments which surround it is marvellous, for they encircle the whole work, enclose it and bind it together, so that this part is as remarkable for its strength as the other parts are for their beauty. But he devoted the highest powers of his genius to the scene in half-relief on the back of the tabernacle, representing in figures of a braccia and a half, the twelve apostles looking up at the Madonna ascending to heaven in a mandorla, surrounded by angels. He represented himself in marble as one of the apostles, an old man, clean shaven, a hood wound round his head, with a flat round face as shown in his portrait above, which it taken from this. On the base he wrote these words in the marble: Andreas Cionis pictor florentinus oratorii archimagister extitit hujus, MCCCLIX. It appears that the erection of the loggia and of the marble tabernacle, with all the workmanship involved cost 96,000 gold florins, which were very well expended, because in architecture, in sculpture and other ornaments they are comparable in beauty with any other work of the time, without exception, and so excellent as to assure to the name of Andrea Orcagna immortality and greatness. In signing his paintings he used to write Andrea di Clone, sculptor, and on his sculptures, Andrea di Cione, painter, wishing his sculpture to recommend his painting and his painting his sculpture. Florence is full of his paintings, some of which may be recognised by the name, such as those in S. Romeo, and some by his style, like that in the chapter-house of the monastery of the Angeli. Some which he left imperfect were finished by his brother Bernardo, who survived him, though not for many years. Andrea, as I have said, amused himself in making verses and other poems, and when he was an old man he wrote some sonnets to Burchiello, then a youth. At length at the age of sixty he completed the course of his life in 1389, and was borne with honour to burial from his house in the via Vecchia de' Corazzai.
In the days of the Orcagna there were many who were skilful in sculpture and architecture, whose names are unknown, but their works show that they are worthy of high praise and commendation. An example of such work is the Monastery of the Certosa of Florence, erected at the cost of the noble family of the Acciaiuoli, and particularly of M. Niccola, Grand Seneschal of the King of Naples, containing Niccola's tomb with his effigy in stone, and those of his father and a sister, both of whose portraits in the marble were made from life in the year 1366. There also and by the same hand may be seen the tomb of M. Lorenzo, Niccola's son, who died at Naples, arid was brought to Florence and buried there with most honourable obsequies. Similarly the tomb of the Cardinal S. Croce of the same family, which is before the high altar in a choir then newly built, contains his portrait in a marble stone very well executed in the year 1390.
The pupils of Andrea in painting were Bernardo Nello di Giovanni Falconi of Pisa, who did a number of pictures for the Duomo of Pisa, and Tommaso di Marco of Florence, who, besides many other things, painted a picture in the year 1392, which is in S. Antonio at Pisa on the screen of the church. After Andrea's death, his brother Jacopo, who, as has been said, professed sculpture and architecture, was employed in the year 1328 in building the tower and gate of S. Pietro Gattolini, and it is said that the four gilded stone lions at the four corners of the principal palace of Florence are by his hand. This work incurred no little censure, because it was placed there without reason, and was perhaps a greater weight than was safe. Many would have preferred the lions to have been made of copper gilded over and hollow inside, and then set up in the same place, when they would have been much less heavy and more durable. It is said that the horse in relief in S. Maria del Fiore at Florence is by the same hand. It is gilded, and stands over the door leading to the oratory of S. Zanobi. It is believed to be a monument to Pietro Farnese, captain of the Florentines, but as I know nothing more of the matter I cannot assert this positively. At the same time Andrea's nephew Mariotto made a Paradise in fresco for S. Michel Bisdomini in the via de' Servi at Florence, over the altar, and another picture with many figures for Mona Cecilia de' Boscoli, which is in the same church near the door. But of all Orcagna's pupils none excelled Francesco Traini, who executed for a lord of the house of Coscia, buried at Pisa in the chapel of St Dominic in the church of S. Caterina, a St Dominic on a panel on a gold ground, with six scenes from his life surrounding him, very vigorous and life-like and excellently coloured. In the chapel of St Thomas Aquinas in the same church he made a picture in tempera, with delightful invention, and which is much admired. He introduced a figure of St Thomas seated, from life; I say from life because the friars of the place brought a portrait of him from the abbey of Fossanuova, where he had died in 1323. St Thomas is seated in the air with some books in his hand, illuminating with their rays and splendour the Christian people; kneeling below him are a large number of doctors and clerks of every condition, bishops, cardinals and popes, including the portrait of Pope Urban VI. Under the saint's feet are Sabellius, Arius, Averroes, and other heretics and philosophers with their books all torn. On either side of St Thomas are Plato, showing the Timæus, and Aristotle pointing to his Ethics. Above is Jesus Christ, also in the air, with the four Evangelists about him. He is blessing St Thomas, and apparently sending the Holy Spirit upon him, filling him therewith and with His grace. On the completion of this work Francesco Traini acquired great name and fame, for he had far surpassed his master Andrea in colouring, in unity, and in invention. Andrea was very careful in his designs, as may be seen in our book.
Tommaso called Giottino, painter of Florence.
When there is emulation among the arts which are based on design and when artists work in competition with each other there is no doubt that men's abilities, being stimulated by constant study, discover new things every day to satisfy the varied tastes of man. Thus in painting, some introduce obscure and eccentric things into their work and by a mastery of the difficulties display the brightness of their talent in the midst of darkness. Others employ themselves on soft and delicate things conceiving that these should be more pleasing to the eye of the beholder; so that they pleasantly attract the greater number of men. Others again paint smoothly, softening the colours and confining the lights and shades of the figures to their places, for which they merit the highest praise, displaying their intention with wonderful skill. This smooth style is always apparent in the works of Tommaso di Stefano, called Giottino, who was born in the year 1324, and after he had learned the elements of painting from his father, he resolved while still a youth, that he would most carefully imitate Giotto's style rather than that of Stefano. He succeeded so well in this that he won thereby in addition to the style, which was much finer than his master's, the nickname of Giottino, which he always retained. Hence many, misled by his manner and name, believed him to be Giotto's son, but they fell into a very great error, for it is certain, or rather highly probable (since no one can affirm such things absolutely), that he was the son of Stefano, painter of Florence. Tommaso was so diligent in painting and so fond of it, that although not many of his works have been found, yet those which are extant are good and in excellent style. For the draperies, hair, beards, and other details are executed and composed with such grace and care that they prove him to have possessed a far better idea of unity in art than was to be found in the works of Giotto, master of Stefano his father. In his youth Giottino painted in S. Stefano at the Ponte Vecchio at Florence, a chapel by the side door, and although it has suffered a great deal from the damp, yet enough remains to prove the skill and genius of the craftsman. He next did SS. Cosmo and Damian beside the mills in the Frati Ermini, of which but little can now be seen owing to the ravages of time. He did a chapel in fresco in the old S. Spirito of that city, which was afterwards destroyed at the burning of that church. Over the principal door of the same church he painted in fresco the Descent of the Holy Spirit, and on the piazza of the church, leading to the side of the Cuculia, next the convent, he did the tabernacle which may still be seen there, with Our Lady and other saints about her, who in their heads and other parts approach very closely to the modern style, because Tommaso endeavoured to vary and change the flesh tints and to combine a graceful and judicious treatment of the figures with variety in the colouring and in the draperies. In the chapel of St Silvester at S. Croce he did the history of Constantine with great care, with many fine ideas in the gestures of the figures. His next work was to be placed behind a marble ornament made for the tomb of M. Bettino de' Bardi, a man of eminent military rank of the time. He represented him from life, in armour, rising on his knees from the tomb, summoned by the Last Trump sounded by two angels who accompany a Christ in the clouds, very well done. At the entrance to S. Pancrazio, on the right hand side, he did a Christ carrying the cross, and some saints near, markedly in Giotto's style. In S. Gallo, a convent outside the gate of that name, and which was destroyed at the siege, he painted a Pieta in fresco in a cloister, a copy of which is in S. Pancrazio mentioned above, on a pilaster beside the principal chapel. He painted SS. Cosmo and Damian in fresco in S. Maria Novella at the chapel of St Lorenzo de' Giuochi, at the entry of the church by the right hand door, on the front wall. In Ognissanti he did a St Christopher and a St George, which were ruined by bad weather and were restored by some ignorant painters. An uninjured work of Tommaso in the same church is in the tympanum over the sacristy door, which contains a Madonna in fresco, with the child in her arms; it is a good thing as he took pains with it.
By means of these works Giottino acquired so much renown, imitating his master, as I have said, both in design and in inventions, that the spirit of Giotto himself was said to be in him, owing to the freshness of his colouring and to his skill in design. Now, on 2nd July 1343, when the Duke of Athens was hunted from Florence, and had by oath renounced the government and rendered the Florentines their liberty, Giottino was constrained by the Twelve Reformers of the State, and especially by the prayers of M. Agnolo Acciaiuoli, then a very distinguished citizen, who had great influence over him, to paint on the tower of the Podesta Palace the duke and his followers, M. Ceritieri Visdomini, M. Maladiasse, his Conservator and M. Ranieri da S. Gimignano, all with mitres of Justice on their heads, represented thus shamefully as a sign of contempt. About the duke's head he painted many beasts of prey and other sorts, indicative of his nature and quality; and one of these counsellors had in his hand the palace of the priors of the city, which he was offering to the duke, like a false traitor. Beneath everyone of them were the arms and insignia of their families, with inscriptions which can now only be read with difficulty owing to the ravages of time. This work, because it was well designed and very carefully executed, gave universal satisfaction, and the method of the artist pleased everyone. He next made a St Cosmo and a St Damian at the Campora, a place of the black monks outside the gate of S. Piero Gattolini. These were afterwards destroyed in whitewashing the church. On the bridge at Romiti in Valdarno he did the tabernacle which is built in the middle, painting it in fresco in a very fine style. It is recorded by many writers that Tommaso practised sculpture, and did a marble figure four braccia high for the campanile of S. Maria del Fiore at Florence, towards the place where the orphan asylum now stands. At Rome again he successfully completed a scene in S. John Lateran in which he represented the pope in various dignities, but the painting is now much damaged and eaten by time. In the house of the Orsini he did a hall full of famous men, and a very fine St Louis on a pilaster at Araceli, on the right-hand side at the high altar. Above the pulpit in the lower church of S. Francesco at Assisi, that being the only place left undecorated, he painted a coronation of Our Lady, in an arch, surrounded by many angels, so graceful, with such beautiful faces, so soft and so delicate, exhibiting that union of colours customary in the artist, and which constitutes his peculiar excellence, that he may clearly be compared with any of his predecessors. About this arch he did some stories of St Nicholas. Similarly, in the middle of the church, in the monastery of S. Chiara, in the same city, he painted a scene in fresco of St Clare, upheld in the air by two angels, represented with much life, raising a dead child, whilst many beautiful women standing about are filled with amazement, all being dressed in very graceful costumes of the time. In the same city of Assisi, in an arch over the inside of the city door which leads to the Duomo, he did a Madonna and child with so much care that she seems alive, and a very fine St Francis, with other saints. These two works, although the scene with St Clare is unfinished, for Tommaso returned sick to Florence, are perfect and worthy of all praise.
It is said that Tommaso was a melancholy and solitary man, but very diligent and fond of his art. This is clearly shown in a picture of his in tempera in the church of S. Romeo at Florence, placed on the screen on the right-hand side, for nothing was ever better done on wood. It represents a dead Christ with Mary and Nicodemus, accompanied with other figures, who are weeping bitterly for the dead. Their gentleness and sweetness are remarkable as they twist their hands and beat themselves, showing in their faces the bitter sorrow that our sins should cost so dear. It is a marvellous thing, not that Tommaso could rise to this height of imagination, but that he could express his thought so well with his brush. Consequently this work deserves the highest praise, not so much because of the subject and conception as for the art in which he exhibited the heads of some who are weeping, for although the brows, eyes, nose and mouth are distorted by the emotion, yet this does not mar or destroy the beauty of his faces, which usually suffers much at the hands of those who represent weeping if they are not versed in the good methods of art. But it is no wonder that Giottino was so successful with this picture, because the object of all his labour was rather fame and glory than any other reward or desire of gain, which causes the masters of our own time to be less careful and good. Not only Tommaso did not endeavour to acquire great wealth, but he went without many of the comforts of life, living in poverty, seeking rather to please others than to live at ease; so managing badly and working hard, he died of phthisis at the age of thirty-two, and was buried by his relations outside S. Maria Novella at the gate of Martello, near the tomb of Bontura.