Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Description of the Works of Giorgio Vasari, Painter and Architect, of Arezzo

by Giorgio Vasari

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKS OF GIORGIO VASARI,
PAINTER AND ARCHITECT OF AREZZO.

[born 1512^[1]—died 1574.]

Having hitherto treated of the works of others with as much care, sincerity, and uprightness as I have been able to command, I will now, at the end of these my labours, gather together, and make known to the world, such works as by the Divine Goodness I have myself been permitted to accomplish. For although these have not attained to the perfection that I could desire, yet whosoever shall examine them with unprejudiced eyes, will perceive that they have been executed by me with study, care, and loving labour; wherefore, if they be not worthy of praise, they will at least be allowed to merit excuse. They are laid open, moreover, to the eyes of all, and cannot be concealed. Wherefore, as their defects may perchance be described by some other, it were better that I should myself confess the truth, and accuse them with my own lips of those imperfections, whereof none can be more firmly convinced than myself. But of this I am sure, that if no excellence be discovered in my works, there will at least be found an ardent wish to do well, as I have before said, with great and enduring industry, and a true love for these our Arts.

And now shall it happen, according to the laws usually prevailing, that having thus openly confessed my shortcomings, a great part thereof shall be forgiven to me.

To begin then with my first beginnings, I observe that these have been sufficiently insisted on, in remarks previously made concerning the origin of my family,^[2] my birth, my childhood, and the affection with which I was led into the paths of Art, more especially that of Design, by my father Antonio, who perceived me to be much disposed thereto.

Of all these things I have spoken in the Life of Luca Signorelli of Cortona, my kinsman, in that of Francesco Salviati, and in certain other parts of this work, wherein fair occasions for the same have presented themselves; I will therefore not reiterate the same things. It is, however, well that I should repeat one fact, which is, that having copied whatever good pictures there are in the Churches of Arezzo, the first principles of Art were imparted to me with some order by the Frenchman, Guglielmo da Marsiglia, of whom we have described the Life and works in a previous page. In the year 1524 I was taken to Florence by desire of Silvio Passerini, Cardinal of Cortona, and there studied design for a short time under Michelagnolo, Andrea del Sarto, and others. But in the year 1527, the Medici, more particularly Ippolito and Alessandro, to whose service, thus in my childhood, I had been closely attached by means of the above-named Cardinal, ' being then exiled from Florence, my paternal uncle, Don Antonio, caused me to return to Arezzo, my father having died of the Plague but a short time previously.

Now the said Don Antonio, mine uncle, kept me at a distance from the city, in the hope of saving me from the infection of that pestilence; wherefore, that I might not be idle, I began to paint certain frescoes for the peasantry of the neighbourhood, although I had at that time scarcely ever touched colours: but in doing this I perceived that to exercise one’s powers in that manner, wholly alone and without aid, is of great use, teaching much and imparting considerable facility.^[3]

In the year 1528, the Plague having ceased, I executed my first work in Arezzo, which comprises three half-length figures of SS. Agata, Pocco, and Sebastiano; this was seen by the much-renowned Painter Rosso, who came in those days to Arezzo, and he, perceiving something good in such parts as were taken from Nature, was pleased to say that he would willingly make my acquaintance; when he rendered me effectual aid, both with designs and counsels.

Nor did any long time elapse before I obtained by his means, a commission from Messer Lorenzo Gamurrini to paint a picture for which Rosso made me the design, and which I afterwards executed with all the study, labour, and care that I could possibly command, being anxious to improve, as well as to acquire some little reputation and name. And now, had but my power equalled my desire, I should soon have became a tolerably good painter, so earnestly did I labour, and so anxiously did I study my art; but I found the difficulties of success much greater than I had believed them to be.

Not losing courage, nevertheless, I returned to Florence; but seeing that it must still be long before I could attain to such a position as would enable me to assist the three sisters and two brothers, all younger than myself, vdiom I had left to me by my father, I set myself to practise the art of the goldsmith. This did not last long,^[4] seeing that in the year 1529, the army having encamped before Florence, I went with my good friend, the goldsmith Manno, to Pisa, where, abandoning the practice of goldsmiths’ work, I painted a fresco on the arch over the door of the building wherein the Old Company of the Florentines are wont to assemble, with some pictures in oil, the commissions for which I obtained by means of Don Miniato Pitti, then Abbot of Agnano, outside Pisa, and of Luigi Guicciardini who was at that time in Pisa.

The war meanwhile became daily more violent, and I resolved to return to Arezzo; but not being able to do so by the direct and ordinary route, I crossed by the mountains of Modena to Bologna, where, finding that certain triumphal arches, decorated with paintings, were about to be erected for the Coronation of Charles V., I had an opportunity of employing myself, even though but a youth, to my honour as well as profit. Nay, being tolerably well skilled in design, I might have found the means of establishing myself, and occupying my time in that city; but the wish that I felt to rejoin my family and friends impelled me to seize an opportunity which presented itself for travelling in good company, and I returned to Arezzo. Here I found that my affairs, by the diligent care which my uncle Don Antonio had taken of them, were in a very satisfactory state; and thus tranquillized in mind, I devoted myself to design, and even ventured to execute certain little pictures in oil, but they were not of any importance.

Meanwhile Don Miniato Pitti had been made either Abbot or Prior, I know not which, of Santa Anna, a Monastery of Monte Oliveto in the district of Siena, when he sent for me, and I painted for him as well as for Albenga, the General of his Order, several pictures and paintings of various kinds Subsequently, the same ecclesiastic being appointed to the Abbacy of San Bernardo in Arezzo, commissioned me to paint two pictures in oil, figures of Job and Moses namely, on the balustrade of the organ; and the work having pleased those Monks, they furthermore employed me to paint certain frescoes in the ceiling and on the walls of the Portico before their Church.^[5] These were the four Evangelists, with a figure of the Almighty Father in the ceiling, and some other figures, the size of life, on the walls. And in these, although, as an inexperienced youth, I did not effect what might have been done by a more practised artist, yet I did what I could; and those Monks, having consideration for mine early years and small experience, were not displeased with my labours.

The work was but just completed, when the Cardinal Ippolito de’ Medici, travelling to Pome, passed through Arezzo, and taking me to Rome in his service, I was there enabled, by the courtesy and favour of that Noble, to devote myself for many months to the studies of design, as I have related in the Life of Salviati. And here I may with truth affirm, that this advantage and the studies of that period were indeed my true and principal master in this art, although I had without doubt profited, and not a little, by the instructions received from those whom I have before mentioned, nor had an ardent desire to learn ever departed or been absent from my heart, insomuch that my perpetual care was to draw with unwearying diligence night and day.

A great advantage of that time was the competition with young men, then my equals and companions, who afterwards became for the most part most excellent in our arts; the desire of glory was indeed ever a sufficiently powerful stimulus to mine exertions, as was the sight of the extraordinary success, and the advancement to rank and honour, by which so many artists had been rewarded.

Wherefore I sometimes said to myself, Why should it not be in my power to attain, by assiduous labour and study, to that eminence and greatness which so many others have acquired? They, too, were but of flesh and bones as I am. Impelled by these strong impulses therefore, and by the need which I perceived my family to have of me, I disposed myself to endure every extremity of fatigue, and to shrink from no labour, no hardship, no watchfulness, and no eifort, that might contribute to the desired end. With this aim constantly in view, I set myself to design all the best works that I could find, nor was there anything remarkable at that time, whether in Rome, Florence, or any other place wherein I sojourned, that I did not copy in my youth, works ancient and modern, in sculpture and architecture as well as paintings. To say nothing of the advantages obtained from designing the ceiling and chapel of Michelagnolo, there was no work by Raphael, Polidoro, or Baldassare of Siena, which I did not likewise copy, in company with Francesco Salviati, as has been related in his Life.

And to the end that each of us might have designs of every work, we did not both copy the same thing on the same day, but different ones, and when night came we copied each other’s drawings for the purpose of sparing time, and also to advance our studies; nor did we ever breakfast in the morning, except on what we ate while standing, and that very frugally.

After these excessive labours, the first work that proceeded from my hand, or, as it were, out of my own forge, was a large picture with figures the size of life, representing Venus surrounded by the Graces, who are adoring and doing her homage. The commission for this painting I received from the Cardinal de’ Medici; but I need not say much of its qualities, since it was but the work of a youth. Indeed, I would not mention it here, were it not that I find pleasure in the recollection, even of these first beginnings, and of the aids then afforded to me for the acquirement of my art; let it suffice to say then, that the above-mentioned Prelate and other persons gave me to understand that there was a certain something intimating a good foundation, vivacity, facility, and boldness therein.^[6] Among other particulars I had taken it into my head to add the figure of a Satyr half hidden amidst the foli^ige, while he observes the Goddess and her attendant Graces with manifest enjoyment. This part so greatly pleased the Cardinal, that he caused me to be clothed anew from head to foot, and gave me a commission for painting a larger picture, also in oil, the subject a Battle of Satyrs, with Fawns, Sylvan Deities, and Cupids, which made a kind of Baccanalia. Setting hand to this work, therefore, I made the Cartoon, and then sketched the subject in colours on the canvas, which was ten braccia long.^[7]

But the Cardinal was then obliged to depart for Hungary; wherefore, having made me known to Pope Clement, and left me under the protection of His Holiness, he commended me to the keeping of his first Gentleman of the Bed-chamber, the Signor Jeronimo Montaguto, with letters to the effect that, if I should desire to avoid the air of Pome for that summer, I was to be received at Florence by the Duke Alessandro. And well would it have been for me had I done so; for the heat and fatigue of my prolonged stay in Rome, with the air of that place, caused so serious an illness, that before I could recover it became needful to transport me in a litter to Arezzo. I was however ultimately cured, and about the 10th of December following, I went to Florence, where I was received with a friendly aspect by the above-named Duke, and was shortly afterwards consigned to the care of the Magnificent Ottaviano de’ Medici, who took me into his protection in such sort, that ever after, during his life, I was held by him in the place of a son. Nor have I ever ceased to cherish the beloved memory of that my true friend, but rather have revered, and do revere it, as that of one who was to me a most affectionate father.^[8]

Having returned to my wonted studies, I obtained the advantage, by the intervention of Messer Ottaviano, of a free admission, at whatever *hour I pleased, into the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo, where are the works of Michelagnolo, who had then gone to Rome; these I studied, therefore, for some time, with much diligence, just as they were lying on the ground, that is to say. Then, setting to work, I painted, in a picture of three braccia, the figure of our Saviour Christ when dead, and in the act of being borne by Nicodemus, Joseph, and others, to the Sepulchre. Behind them come the Maries weeping. The Duke Alessandro took this painting,—a good and fortunate commencement for my labours, seeing that the work was not only held in estimation by that Prince while he lived, but was placed after his death in the apartments of Duke Cosimo, whence it has passed into those of the Prince his son, where it still remains. I have often wished to retouch and improve it in certain parts, but have never been permitted to do so?^[9]

After having seen this, my first work, the Duke Alessandro ordered me to finish that apartment on the ground floor of the Palazzo de’ Medici, which had been left incomplete by Griovanni da Udine, as we have related elsewhere. Here then I depicted four Stories from, the Life of Caesar; the first showing him as he swims the river with the Commentaries in his mouth and his sword in his hand; in the second he is causing the writings of Pompey to be^i^burnt, that he may not see the works of his enemies; in the third he is making himself known to the pilot when assailed by a storm at sea; and in the fourth is the Triumph of Caesar, but this last was never entirely finished.^[10]

At this time, although 1 was but little more than eighteen years old, the Duke assigned to me a provi.sion of six crowns per month, with a place at table for myself, board for a servant, rooms for my habitation, and other advantages. I felt persuaded that I was far from deserving so much, but I did all that I knew how to do with love and diligent zeal; nor did I shrink from inquiring of those who knew better than myself concerning such things as I did not know, wherefore I was afterwards assisted, both in works and counsels, by Tribolo, Bandinello, and others.

In a picture some three braccia high then, I portrayed about this time the Duke Alessandro, armed and taken from the life; the arrangement adopted for this work was in some respects peculiar; the Duke’s seat, for example, was formed of captives chained together, and there were other phantasies. I remember also that, to say nothing of the resemblance of the countenance, which is a faithful one, I desired to reproduce the burnished gloss and peculiar gleaming of the clear, bright, shining arms, and was fairly in danger of losing my wits in that matter, so desperate were my struggles to produce the desired effects, and so painfully did I copy every the smallest minutia from the objects themselves. But, despairing of a satisfactory approach to the truth, I took Jacopo da Pontormo, whose abilities I greatly respected, to see the work, when, having examined the same, and perceiving my discouragement as well as the earnest zeal of my labours, he said to me kindly, “My son, so long as these lustrous arms ' shall stand in all their glitter beside this picture, the work will appear to thee a mere thing painted, seeing that although the hiacco is the most potent light and lustre that can be used by Art, yet is the steel itself inevitably more bright and lustrous than the hiacco. Take away these weapons then,4and thou shalt see that thy feigned arms are not so bad a work as thou art supposing them to be.” When the picture was ultimately completed I gave it to the Duke, who presented the same to Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, and in his palace it remains to the present day, in company with the Portrait of Catherine, the sister of Duke Alessandro, then a girl, but afterwards Queen of Prance, and that of the Magnificent Lorenzo de’ Medici the Elder.^[11] In the same Palace are three other pictures, executed in youth by my hand: Abraham about to Sacrifice Isaac, Our Saviour Christ in the Garden,^[12] and the Last Supper of Our Lord with his Apostles.

Meanwhile the Cardinal Ippolito, in whom all my best hopes were placed, being dead, I began to understand that the promises of this world are for the most part but vain phantoms; and that to confide in one’s self, and become something of worth and value, is the best and safest course. After the works above-named, perceiving the Duke to be principally interested in fortifications and buildings of various kinds, 1 set myself to study Architecture, that I might the more effectually render him service, and in this labour I expended much time. The preparations for receiving Charles V. on the visit of that Emperor to Florence in 1536 were then to be made; and in giving orders for the same, Duke Alessandro commanded those deputed to the care thereof to join me with them, as has been related in the Life of Tribolo, for the designing of all the arches and other decorations to be erected in honour of the Monarch’s entry.^[13]

This being done, I also received for my benefit the appointment, not only for preparing the great Banners of the Castello and Fortress, as we have before said, but also the commission for constructing that Fa9ade in the manner of a triumphal arch, which was erected at San Felice in Piazza, with the decorations of the Gate of San Piero Gattolini; the Arch was forty braccia high and twenty wide. These works were indeed too great for my strength; but what was worse, the favour by which I obtained them, attracted a host of envious rivals around me, and at their suggestion, about twenty men who were assisting me in the execution of those banners and the other operations, left me on the spur of the moment, in the midst of my labours, hoping thereby to render my completion of those important undertakings impossible.

But I had in some sort foreseen the malignity of those persons, whom I had nevertheless always endeavoured to assist; wherefore, partly by working day and night with my own hand, partly by the help of painters who came to me from other places, I contrived, in despite of their efforts, to keep the works in progress; and, attending closely to my business, I sought to overcome the difficulties thus presented, while I replied to the malevolence of these enemies by the works themselves. Meanwhile, Bertoldo Corsini, who was then Proveditore-general to the Duke, had reported to his Excellency that I had undertaken an amount of work beyond what it was possible for me to have ready in time, more especially as my want of men had much delayed the preparations, when Alessandro sent for me and repeated what he had heard. To this I replied, that the works were making fair progress, as his Excellency might assure himself by inspection at his pleasure; adding that the result of my labours would be their best encomium.

Having left the Duke thereupon, no long time elapsed before he secretly came to the place where I was working; and when he had seen all, he became to some extent aware of the malignity with which those who had received no cause for doing so were persecuting me. When the time came, moreover, all was found to be completed and in its due place, at the moment required, to the perfect satisfaction of Duke Alessandro, as well as of the whole city; while the works of those who had been more earnestly busied with my affairs than with their own, had in several instances to be put up in an unfinished state.

The festivals being concluded, I received from the Duke, in addition to the four hundred crowns due to me for my works, three hundred more, which were taken from those who had failed to deliver their performances completed at the time agreed for. With the help of my savings and these sums, I then married one of my sisters; and a short time afterwards I was enabled to make another of them a nun in the Convent of the Murate at Arezzo, giving to that convent, in addition to the dowry or alms, a picture of the Annunciation by my hand, with a Tabernacle of the Sacrament therein; this was placed in the Choir where the services are performed.^[14]

The Company of the Corpus Domini having then given me a commission for the picture of the High Altar in San Domenico, I painted a Deposition from the Cross therein; and shortly afterwards I commenced for the Company of San Rocco, the Altar-piece of their Church in Elorence.^[15] And now, while I was seeking to obtain renown, riches, and honour, beneath the protection of Duke Alessandro, the poor Prince was cruelly assassinated, and every hope of fortune which I had promised to myself by means of his favour was thus taken from me. Wherefore, having thus in a few years lost Pope Clement, Ippolito, and Alessandro, I resolved, by the advice of Messer Ottaviano, to follow no longer the fortune of Courts, but to think of Art alone, although it would have been easy for me to have fixed myself with the new Duke, Signor Cosimo de’ Medici. Proceeding, therefore, with the before-mentioned Altar-piece and Facade for San Rocco at Arezzo, with the frame thereof, I began to take order for repairing to Rome, when, by means of Messer Giovanni Pollastra,^[16] I was invited (as it pleased God, to whom I have ever commended myself, and whose goodness I acknowledge, and ever have acknowledged) to Camaldoli, of which Congregation Messer Giovanni was the chief; the fathers of that Hermitage desiring me to examine the works which they were about to have executed in their Church.

Here the Alpine solitude and profound stillness of the place delighted me greatly; and although I perceived that at the first those venerable fathers, seeing me to be so young, began to doubt of the matter; yet, taking courage, I discoursed to them in such a manner that they resolved to accept my services, and permitted me to execute the pictures in oil and fresco, which they had determined to have painted in their Church. Now the fathers desired that the picture of the High Altar should be painted before any other part of the work, but I proved to them by good reasons that it was better first to complete one of those for the minor altars in the middle aisle, when, if this pleased them, I could proceed with the rest. I refused, moreover, to make any fixed agreement as to the price at that time, considering that if my work pleased the monks they might pay me what they found right, but if it did not satisfy their expectations I.was ready to keep the picture for myself; and they, finding these conditions upright and favourable to themselves, were content to have the work commenced at once.

The subject they chose was Our Lady holding the Infant Christ in her arms, with San Giovanni Battista and San Jeronimo, both of whom had been hermits, living in the woods and deserts. I then descended to their Abbey of Camaldoli, where I quickly prepared a design, which being found to please the fathers, I then began the picture. This was completed, and fixed in its place at the end of two months, to the great satisfaction of those hermits (as they gave me to understand) as well as my own: and during those two months I furthermore discovered how much more favourable to study is a calm repose and agreeable solitude, than the tumult of cities and courts; I perceived, likewise, that my error had been great when I had before placed my hopes in men, and made my pleasure of the levities and follies of the world. That picture being finished, as has been said above, I at once received the commission for the remainder of the chapels in the aisle, the Stories and other paintings in fresco that is to say, which were to be executed in the upper and lower parts of the same, all which I was to execute in the succeeding summer, since it would be scarcely possible to work in fresco amidst those mountains during the winter season.^[17]

Having then returned to Arezzo, I finished the picture of San Rocco, depicting Our Lady with six Saints, and a figure of the Almighty Rather therein: the latter having certain arrows in his hand, to signify the pestilence which he is in the act of launching on the city; while San Rocco and other Saints are interceding for the people. On the wall are numerous figures in fresco, and these, as well as the Altarpiece itself, are—as they are.

I was then sent for by Fra Bastiano Graziani, a Monk of St. Agostino, at Monte Sansovino, who invited me into the Val di Caprese, and gave me a large picture in oil to paint for the High Altar of the Church of Sant’ Agostino in the above-named Monte.^[18] Having made our agreement for the same, I then repaired to Florence for the purpose of visiting Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici; and remaining there some few days, I had no small difficulty to avoid the temptation of once more attaching myself to the service of Courts, which I had determined not to do. By many good reasons, however, I did finally come otf conqueror, and resolved that, before doing anything else, I would repair by all means to Rome, yet I did not succeed entirely in my purpose, seeing that my departure was delayed until I had made a copy for Messer Ottaviano, of the picture representing Pope Leo, Giulio Cardinal de’ Medici, and the Cardinal de’ Rossi, which Raffaello da Urbino had formerly painted, the Duke desiring to reclaim the original, which had remained until that time in the possession of Messer Ottaviano: the copy here in question is now in the house of that Noble’s heirs. For himself, when I left him for Rome, he gave me a letter of exchange for five hundred crowns on Giovambattista Puccini (who was to pay me that sum at sight), saying as he gave it me: “Use this for the better promotion of thy studies, and if ever thy leisure shall serve thee, thou shalt return it to me either in works or money, at thy own pleasure.”

Arriving in Rome in the month of February, 1538, I remained there till the end of June, devoting myself > to designing, in company with my young scholar, Giovambattista Cungi of the Borgo,^[19] all such antiquities or other works as I had not secured during the previous visits made to Rome, more particularly such things as were in the grottoes beneath the earth. Nor did I now omit any production of sculpture or architecture, but drew and measured them all; insomuch that I may truly affirm the designs made by me at that time to have been no less than three hundred, all which afforded me both advantage and pleasure, when looking over them in after years, and refreshing my memory as to the works of art in Rome. Nor did the profit which I had obtained from all these labours and studies fail to be perceived on my return to Tuscany, by the picture which I then painted at Monte Sansovino, and in which I delineated an Assumption of Our Lady, with a somewhat better manner: beneath are the Apostles, standing around the tomb, with SS. Agostino and Romualdo.

I subsequently went to the Camaldoli, as I had promised those Eremite Fathers to do; when I painted the Birth of Christ on the vaulting of the middle aisle, representing the splendour of Our Saviour incarnate as supplying the sole light to the picture, of which the time was the night. Around the Divine Child are the Shepherds in adoration. I furthermore endeavoured to imitate the rays of the rising sun, by means of the colours, and portrayed every object in those works from the life, and with the light that made them approach as nearly as possible to the reality. Then, as the light within the cabin could not illumine the roof and exterior, I caused the upper and surrounding portions of the picture to receive light from the splendour of the angels who are hovering in the air, and singing the Gloria in excelsis Deo. The Shepherds also produced light in certain parts by the sheaves of lighted straw which they carried about in their hands; in other parts, the moon, the stars, and the Angels appearing to the Shepherds, supply the light.

As to the building, I formed it of certain antiquities after my own fancy, with broken Statues and other things of similar character. At a word, I conducted the whole to the best of my knowledge and ability, and although I could not by hand and pencil attain to such a performance as I fain would have produced, the picture has nevertheless pleased many; wherefore, Messer Fausto Sabeo, a very learned man, who was then keeper of the Pope’s Library, made several Latin verses in honour of the same, as after him did many others; but moved, perhaps, more by great kindness than by the merit of the work. However this may be, if there be any thing good in the picture, that good was the gift of God. On the completion thereof, the Fathers determined that the paintings which were to be executed on the façade should be entrusted to my care, when I depicted a view of the Hermitage itself over the door, with a figure of San Romualdo and that of a Doge of Venice, who was a holy man, on one side;^[20] and a Vision seen by the above-named Saint in the place where he afterwards made his Hermitage, on the other. There were besides certain phantasies, grottesche, and other things, as may be seen there. This being done, the Fathers commanded me to repair thither in the following summer, with commission to paint the picture for the High Altar.

Meanwhile, the above-mentioned Don Miniato Pitti, who was then visitor to the Congregation of Monte Oliveto, having seen the picture at Monte Sansovino, and the works at Camaldoli, declared to the Florentine Don Filippo Serragli, Abbot of San Michele-in-Bosco, whom he met at Bologna, that as the Refectory of that distinguished Monastery was to be painted, it was his opinion that the work should be given to myself and no other. Wherefore, being summoned to Bologna, I undertook the execution of the same, although it was a matter of no small importance; but first I determined to examine all the most renowned paintings in that city, whether by the Bolognese or other artists.

The pictures at the upper end of this Refectory were divided into three compartments; in the first was to be represented Abraham preparing food for the Angels in the valley of Mamre; in the second, Christ in the house of Mary and Martha, declaring to the latter that Mary hath chosen the better part; and in the third, San Gregory at table with twelve poor men, among whom he perceives the Saviour Christ himself.^[21] Thereupon, setting hand to the work, I represented in the last St. Gregory at table in a Monastery, served by the White Monks of his order, that being the wish of those Fathers. The Holy Pontiff, San Gregorio, presents the portrait of Pope Clement VII.; and among those of many ambassadors, princes, and other high personages who are standing around and beholding him, is the portrait of the Duke Alessandro de’ Medici, which I placed there in memory of the benefits and favours received by me at his hand, and in consideration of the family to which he belonged; there are also the portraits of many others of my friends. Among those who serve the poor at table, moreover, I depicted certain Monks of that Monastery who were mine intimates, with certain foreigners, of whose services I availed myself there. The Almoner and the Cellarer were of the number; and I likewise portrayed the Abbot Serraglio, the General Don Cipriano of Verona, and Bentivoglio. The vestments of the Pontiff were eopied from the real textures, velvets, damasks, and cloths of gold and silver, with silks, and such like; the service of plate for the table, the vases, with the decorations of animals and other object?of similar kind, I caused to be executed by Cristofano dal Borgo, as I have said in his Life. In the second picture I endeavoured to produce variety; whether as regarded the heads, the draperies, the buildings, or other parts; but more especially did I seek to express the affection with which our Saviour Christ instructed Mary, and the prompt devotion of Martha in arranging her feast and attending her guest, while she complains of being left by her sister to all the weight of those ministrations: to say nothing of the feelings evinced by the Apostles, or of many other things, which I laboured to set forth in that picture as was befitting. As to the third Story, I depicted the three Angels (I do not myself know how it occurred to me), in the midst of a celestial light which seems to emanate from themselves, while the rays of the Sun fall brightly on a cloud which surrounds them. The old Abraham is paying his adorations to one, although he sees three; while Sarah stands laughing and marvelling how that which has been promised to her shall come to pass; Hagar, meanwhile, is departing from the house bearing Ishmael in her arms. The light from the Angels illumines the servants who are preparing the meal; and some of these, unable to endure the splendour of the rays, place their hands before their eyes, seeking to cover them from the too great brightness; this variety, seeing that the deep shadow and the strong light give force to a picture, caused the one now in question to show more relief than did the other two; the effect of each was indeed quite unlike that of the other two. But very different would all have been, could I but have found power fully to express my thoughts, seeing that both then and afterwards, I was constantly seeking, with new inventions and phantasies, to accomplish the difficult and laborious in Art.

This work, then, whatever it may be, was completed in the space of eight months, with a Frieze ornamented in fresco,^[22] architectural embellishments, carved seats, tables, and every other ornament or requisite for the whole work and for the use of the Refectory; and for the price of the whole I contented myself with two hundred crowns, as being one who aspired to glory rather than to gain; for which cause my friend, Messer Andrea Alciati, caused the following words to be written beneath the picture:—

Octonis mensibus opus ab Arretino Georgia Pictum, non tam praevio, quam amicorum obseguio, et honoris voto, anno 1539, Philippus Serralius pon. curavit.

At the same time I painted two small pictures, one of a Dead Christ, and the other of the Hesurrection, which were placed by the Abbot, Don Miniato Pitti, in the Church of Santa Maria di Barbiano, which is outside of San Gimignano in the Val d’Elsa. These works completed, I returned instantly to Florence, seeing that the Trevisan, Maestro Biagio,^[23] and other Bolognese masters, believing that I proposed to settle in Bologna, and might, in that case, take their works out of their hands, had begun to disquiet me from the first, and did not cease to do so; but they injured themselves thereby more than they did me, who could not but laugh at certain of their furies, and at the modes of their proceeding in my regard.

Having arrived in Florence, I copied the Portrait of Cardinal Ippolito, a large half-length figure, with some other pictures for Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, and with these I occupied my time during the insupportable heats of that summer; but having finished the same I returned to the quiet and freshness of Camaldoli, there to paint that picture of the High Altar before alluded to. The subject of the work is Christ deposed from the Cross, and all the study and labour at my command did I bestow thereon. But as it appeared to me, that by time and efibrt I was making a certain progress, and the first sketch which I had prepared for it no longer satisfied me, I gave it a new ground and recommenced it, making it as we now see.

Detained in the place by the charms of that solitude, I lingered there for some time after the completion of the above, and then painted for Messer Ottaviano, a youthful San Giovanni, the figure nude, and represented amidst rocks and mountains, which I copied from the district around me. Nor had I well put an end to this picture before Messer Bindo Altoviti, arriving at Camaldoli, and by my good fortune being pleased with the works executed there, resolved that I should paint a picture for his Church in Florence, Sant’ Apostolo namely. Messer Bindo had repaired to Camaldoli for the purpose of procuring a large quantity of fir-trees, required in the fabric of San Pietro, and which were supplied by the Celia di Sant’ Alberigo, a place belonging to those fathers, whence they were conveyed to Rome by the Tiber; but before his departure I received from him the commission for that picture.

Having then completed the façade of the Chapel at Camaldoli, which I painted in fresco, and where I made experiments on the union of oils with that manner—succeeding very nearly to my satisfaction—I departed from the Hermitage and went to Florence, where I executed the picture in question. But I had not before painted a work of the kind in that city, and desired to give a specimen oi what I could do, the rather as I had many rivals, and was infinitely desirous of reputation. I therefore disposed myself to put forward my best efforts; and, to obtain freedom of mind for my work, I first married my third sister; I also bought a house, which was in course of construction at Arezzo, with the site for laying out beautiful gardens in the suburb of San Vito, one of the best positions for purity of the air to be found in that city.

In October of the year 1540, then, I began Messer Bindo’s picture; the subject selected being a Conception of the Virgin, because such was the designation of the Chapel for which it was intended. But the due treatment of that subject appeared to me to present certain difficulties; wherefore Messer Bindo and I, taking counsel of such among our common friends as were men of letters, determined finally to arrange it as follows.

The Tree of the Original Sin was represented in the centre of the painting, and at the roots thereof were placed nude figures of Adam and Eve bound, as being the first transgressors of God’s commands. To the principal branches were then also bound Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David, and the rest of the kings, lawgivers, &c., according to their seniority, all fastened by both arms, excepting only Samuel and San Giovanni Battista, who are bound by one arm only, to intimate that they were sanctified before their birth. At the trunk of the Tree, and with the lower part twining about it, is the Old Serpent, but the upper part of the form has the shape of Man, and the hands are confined behind the back; on his head is one foot of the glorious Virgin, which is trampling down the horns of the demon, while the other foot is fixed on a Moon. Our Lady is clothed with the Sun and crowned with twelve stars, being sustained in the air, within a splendour of numerous angels, nude, and illuminated by the rays which proceed from the Madonna herself. These same rays, moreover, passing amidst the foliage of the Tree, give light to the figures bound to the branches; nay, they seem to be gradually loosening their bonds, by the power and grace which they derive from her out of whom they proceed. In Heaven meanwhile, that is at the highest point of the picture, are two Children bearing a scroll, on which are the following words: —

Quos Evas culpa damnavit, Marice gratia solvit.

To no work, so far as I can remember, had I then given more study, or devoted myself with more love and care thereto, than I had done to this; but nevertheless, if perchance I may have contented others, I did not satisfy myself, although I alone know what time, what consideration, and what labour I spent thereon, the care expended on the nude figures for example, and that given to the heads, or rather, at a word, to every part of the work.^[24] Messer Bindo presented me for the same, with a sum of three hundred crowns; and in the year following he showed me infinite kindness, at his own house at Rome, treating me with so much courtesy, that I shall be ever grateful to his memory. I then also made for Messer Bindo a small picture or copy, almost in the manner of a miniature, from the work here in question.^[25]

Now about the period when, having completed the picture of Sant’ Apostolo, I had seen it put up in the Church, I painted a Venus for Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, with a Leda, which 1 took from the Cartoons of Michelagnolo. In a large picture, moreover, I executed a San Girolamo in penitence, making the figure of the Saint the size of life; he is in contemplation on the death of Christ, whom he has before him on a Cross, and is striking his breast, while he drives far from him those mundane thoughts whi(m did not cease to assail him, even in the most remote deserts, as he most fully tells us in his own writings. To express this condition of things intelligibly, I depicted Venus, with Cupid in her arms, and leading a laughing Love by the hand; she is flying from the place made sacred by that devotion, and has suffered the quiver and arrows of her son to fall to the earth. The arrows which Cupid has shot at the Saint turn broken towards himself, while others, caught as they are falling, are brought back to Venus by her Doves.^[26]

These pictures were, without doubt, accomplished to the best of mine ability, and at the time they may perchance have pleased me, yet I do not know that they would do so at my present age. But as art is difficult in itself, we must be content to accept from each that whereof he is capable. This, however, I may say, and can affirm it with truth, that all my pictures, inventions, and designs, of whatever sort, have always been executed, I do not say with very great promptitude only, but with more than ordinary facility, and without laboured effort.^[27] A proof of this will be found, as I have related elsewhere, in the large picture, painted by me in six days only, at San Giovanni in Florence, in the year 1542, for the baptism of the Signore Don Francesco Medici, now Prince of Florence and Siena.

After the completion of these works, I would fain have gone to Rome, in compliance with the wishes of Messer Bindo Altoviti, but I could not bring my purpose to bear, having been instantly pressed by the Aretine Poet, Messer Pietro, then in much renown and my intimate friend, to visit Venice, where he greatly desired to see me. I was, therefore, compelled to repair thither, but did so all the more willingly, as I wished to see the works of Titian and other masters, which that journey enabled me to do. I also then saw the works of Correggio in Modena and at Parma, with those of Giulio Pomano at Mantua, and the Antiquities of Verona, which I visited on my way to Venice. Finally, having arrived there, I presented two pictures, which I had painted from the Cartoons of Michelagnolo, to Don Diego di Mendoza, who sent me two hundred crowns of gold.

I had not been any long time in Venice before I prepared, at the request of Messer Pietro, the decorations for a festival, which the Signori of the Calza^[28] were then about to give, and for the execution of which I had in my company Battista Cungi and Cristofano Gherardi of Borgo San Sepolcro,^[29] with the Aretine Bastiano Flori; all able and practised artists, of whom I have spoken sufficiently in other places. I also painted nine pictures in the Palace of Messer Giovanni Cornaro, near San Benedetto; those namely which are in the wainscot work of a certain apartment in that building. These and other works of no small importance being completed, I took my leave of Venice on the 16th of August, 1542, although overwhelmed with commissions, which had come unsought to my hands, and returned to Tuscany.

Here the first thing I did was to paint a picture representing all the Arts connected with, or which depend on, that of Design, in the ceiling of a room which had been constructed by my order in the above-named house of mine. In the centre is a figure of Fame; she is seated on the Globe of the world, and is sounding a golden trumpet, while she casts from her one of fire, which signifies Calumny. Around her figure it is that all the Arts, each holding his appropriate instruments in the hand, are arranged; but as I had not time to complete the entire work, I left eight oval compartments vacant, proposing to execute therein the portraits from the life, of men most eminent for distinction in our arts. At the same time I painted a Birth of Christ in fresco, the figures life-size, for the Nuns of Santa Margherita, in a Chapel of their garden situate in Arezzo; and when I had thus expended the remainder of the summer and a part of the autumn in my native place, I departed for Rome. Most kindly received in that city by Messer Bindo Altoviti, and greatly favoured by him, I painted a picture in oil, representing the Deposition from the Cross, in figures the size of life, the Saviour being laid on the ground at the feet of the Virgin mother; while in the air is Phoebus veiling the face of the Sun, and Diana that of the Moon. In the Landscape thus obscured are seen Mountains rent by the earthquake which took place at the Crucifixion of our Lord; the dead bodies of Saints in different attitudes being seen to proceed from their tombs,^[30] some in one manner and some in another.

When this picture was finished, it had the good fortune not to displease the greatest sculptor, painter, and architect that ever lived in our times, or perhaps in those preceding them; and by his intervention, I was made known to the most illustrious Cardinal Farnese, to whom the work was shown by Giovio and Messer Bindo. For that Prelate, then, I was consequently commissioned to execute a picture, eight braccia high and four wide, which represented, according to his own fancy, the figure of Justice with the twelve Tables and a Sceptre, on the point of which is a Stork.^[31] The head of Justice bears a helmet of iron and gold, with three plumes of three different colours, the symbol of upright judgment. The upper part of the figure is undraped; at her waist she has the seven Vices, which are her enemies, bound to her girdle by chains of gold; these are Corruption, Ignorance, Cruelty, Fear, Treachery, Falsehood, and Calumny; on whose shoulders is raised the figure of Truth, wholly nude, and presented to Justice by Time, with a gift of two Doves, as emblematic of Innocence. Justice, meanwhile, is placing a crown of Oak-leaves on the head of Truth, as the symbol of strength of mind. All these things I expressed with the utmost care and to the best of my ability.

At this time I paid much attention to the counsels of Michelagnolo, whose advice I took in respect of all my works, he, in his goodness, giving me numerous proofs of affection; and among other marks of kindness he advised me, after having seen some of my designs, to set myself anew, and with a better manner, to the study of Architecture, which I should very probably never have done, had not that most excellent man said what he did to me, but this modesty commands me to refrain from repeating.

At the Feast of San Piero in that year, the heat at Rome was insupportable; and having spent in the city the whole winter of 1543, I then returned to Florence, where, in the house of Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, which I might even call my own, I painted for his gossip, the Lucchese Messer Biagio Mei, a picture of which the thought was that represented in the one executed for Messer Bindo, and placed in the church of Sant’ Apostolo; but the work, excepting only the composition, was varied in every particular: being finished, it was placed in the chapel of Messer Bigio, which is in the church of San Piero Cigoli in Lucca. In a second picture of similar size, seven braccia high and four wide that is to say, I depicted Our Lady with SS. Jeronimo, Luca, Cecilia, Marta, Agostino, and Gruido the Hermit; this was put up in the Cathedral of Pisa, where there are many others by the hands of eminent artists.

I had no sooner completed the above than the Superintendent of works to that Cathedral commissioned me to paint another, in which, as there was also to be the Madonna, I sought variety by placing the Dead Christ in the lap of the Virgin at the foot of the cross, while the Thieves remain on their crosses above them; the Maries, Nicodemus, and the Saints to whom the chapel for which the picture was destined is dedicated, stand around the group; all which varied the composition and added grace to the story.

Returning to Rome in 1544, I made numerous pictures for different friends, of which it is not needful to make any record; but I may name one which I painted for Messer Bindo Altoviti, who had again received me into his own house; this was a Venus, which I executed from the design of Michelagnolo. For the Florentine merchant, Galeotto da Girone, I painted a Deposition from the Cross in oil, and this was placed in the chapel of Girone, which is in the church of Sant’ Agostino in Rome.^[32] But to the end that I might execute this picture, with others which Tiberius Crispus, the Castellan of Sant’ Angelo, had commissioned me to paint, with the greater convenience, I had gone into the Trastevere, to the Palace beneath Sant’ Onofrio, formerly commenced by the Bishop Adimari, and finished by Salviati the Second,^[33] when, finding myself exhausted, and becoming ill, in consequence of the many fatigues to which I had subjected myself, I was compelled to return to Florence. There I painted some other pictures, and among them one which afterwards became the property of Luca Martini, wherein there were the Portraits of Dante, Petrarch, Guido Cavalcanti, Boccaccio, Cino da Pistoja, and Guittone d’Arezzo; the likenesses being accurately copied from older portraits. There were subsequently many copies of these heads made from this work.

In that same year of 1544, I was invited to Naples by Don Giammatteo of Antwerp, General of the Monks of Monte Oliveto, to the end that I might paint the Refectory of a Monastery of theirs, built by the King Alfonso I.

But when I arrived in Naples and saw the Refectory, I was on the point of declining to undertake the work: the architecture of that Monastery being ancient, and the low ceilings, with their pointed arches, being almost wholly deprived of light, I feared there would be but little honour to be gained thereby. Persuaded, nevertheless, by Don Miniato Pitti and Don Ippolito da Milano, my intimate friends, I did finally agree to accept the commission; but seeing that no good could be effected in that place without a vast amount of ornaments which might dazzle the eyes of those who should examine the work, by the multiplicity and variety of the figures, I resolved to have all the ceiling of the Refectory worked in stucco; thus doing away, by rich compartments in the modern manner, with all that old-fashioned appearance and that heaviness of the arches. And here I was much aided by the tufa with which those walls and that ceiling were constructed, for this can be cut as one would cut wood, or rather bricks not perfectly baked, so that I found it possible to hollow out concavities of various forms at my pleasure, squares, ovals, or octangles; whereunto I could also add such projections as I desired, simply by affixing pieces of the same tufa, attached and well secured with the aid of nails and clamps. I thus brought the ceiling to somewhat fairer proportions by means of those stuccoes, which were the first modern works of the kind executed in Naples.^[34] On the walls and at the ends of the Refectory I painted six pictures in oil, each seven braccia high, three at each end that is to say. In three of these pictures, those over the entrance namely, are Stories representing the Fall of Manna, with Moses and Aaron, who are gathering it up; and here I took much pains to give variety to the attitudes and vestments of men, women, and children, expressing also the feelings with which they collected that manna, and their gratitude to God for the same. At the upper end of the Refectory is Our Saviour Christ at table in the house of Simon, Mary Magdalen is bathing his feet with her tears, and wiping them with her hair; her attitude, and the expression of her countenance, showing her repentance of the sins she has committed.^[35]

This Story is divided into three compartments; in the centre is the supper, and to the right a buttery, with its credenza or beaufet, covered with vases in varied and fanciful forms; to the left is the Seneschal superintending the bringing forward and placing of the dishes. The ceiling was also divided into three parts, in one of which the subject treated of is Faith, in the second it is Religion, and in the third. Eternity: each of these figures, representing those ideas, is in the centre of its compartment; and around them are eight Virtues, intimating to the Monks, who eat in that Refectory, the qualities required for the perfection of their lives. The remaining spaces of the ceiling I enriched with grottesche divided into forty-eight compartments, and serving as a sort of framework or bordering to the fortyeight Celestial Signs. In six divisions, beneath the windows of the place, moreover, which last I enlarged and decorated, I painted six Parables of Christ, the subjects whereof are appropriate to that place. And to all these pictures the richly executed carving of the seats is made to correspond.

This being finished I painted a picture, eight braccia high, for the High Altar of the Church; the subject, Our Ladypresenting the Infant Christ to Simeon in the temple;^[36] a work of which the invention and arrangement were new. And here it may be allowable to remark the somewhat extraordinary fact, that there had been no masters since Giotto, who in that great and noble city had accomplished works in painting of any importance; although it is also true that productions from the hand of Perugino and Paffaello da Urbino had been transported thither. Wherefore I now laboured to the very utmost of my power, in the hope of producing something that might arouse the genius of men in that country, and incite them to attempt works of high and honourable character. Subsequently then, whether from this cause or from others, from that time to this there have been many beautiful productions completed in those lands, whether in stucco-work or painting.

In addition to the pictures above-mentioned, I painted frescoes on the ceiling of the Strangers’ Lodgings in the same Monastery; Christ bearing his Cross namely, with numerous Saints, who, in imitation of their Lord, are also bearing their crosses on their shoulders; the figures are of the size of life: and in this work I desired to intimate that he who would truly follow Christ must learn to bear the adversities of the world, and that with enduring patience. For the General of the Order I painted a large picture of Christ walking on the waves and extending his hand to Peter, who, having gone to meet him, is in fear of drowning; and in another picture, painted for the Abbot Capeccio, I delineated the Resurrection.

These works completed, the Signor Don Pietro di Toledo, Yiceroy of Naples, commissioned me to paint in fresco a Chapel, which he had in his Garden at Pozzuolo, adding other ornaments in very delicate stucco-work. Directions had been given by the same noble for the construction of two great Loggie, but that design did not take effect for the following cause: between the Viceroy and the Monks there had arisen a dispute, and the civil magistrate, with his followers, had come to the Monastery to apprehend the Abbot and some of his Monks, who had quarrelled for precedence with the Black Friars, when the two bodies had met in a procession. But the Monks, aided by some fifteen or sixteen young men, who were helping me in my stucco-works, having made resistance, certain of the Sbirri were wounded, this compelled my assistants to take refuge in the night-time, some here, others there, and I was left almost alone. Thus I was not only prevented from making the Loggie, but was impeded also in the execution of twenty-four stories from the Old Testament, and from the Life of San Giovanni Battista, which, as I did not choose to leave them in Naples, I took with me to finish them in Borne, whence I afterwards sent them to their destined place.

I then spent several months on the stalls and presses of walnut-wood, made after my own designs and architecture, in the Sacristy of San Giovanni Carbonaro,^[37] a monastery of the Eremite Monks, who are Observantines of Saint Augustine, and for whom a short time previously I had painted a picture of Christ crucified, in a chapel outside of their church.^[38] This, to which I had added a rich frame of stucco-work, was executed by me at the desire of Seripando, the General of their Order, who was afterwards made a Cardinal. In the centre of the staircase at the same Monastery, I likewise depicted San Giovanni in fresco; he is looking at Our Lady, who, standing on the Moon, is clothed with the Sun and crowned with twelve stars.

At Naples, I furthermore painted the Hall of a house belonging to the Florentine merchant, Messer Tommaso Cambi, who waCmy friend, adorning the four walls of the same with pictures of the Seasons. On a terrace, moreover, where I constructed a fountain for Messer Tommaso, I likewise executed paintings of Sleep and Dreams. For the Duke of Gravina I painted an Adoration of the Magi, which he took with him into his states; and for Orsanca, the Viceroy’s secretary, I delineated five figures around a crucifix, with many other pictures.

But although well received by the Neapolitan nobles, very liberally remunerated, and finding commissions daily multiplying on my hands, I nevertheless decided that, as my young men had departed, and I had executed a very fair sufiiciency of works, during the year that I had passed in Naples, it would be better for me to return to Rome; and having done so, the first thing I did after my arrival was to paint four immense pictures, in oil and on cloth, for the doors of the Organ of the Epispocal Church in Naples, for the Signor Rannuccio Farnese, who was then Archbishop of that city. On the outer side of these doors were placed five Saints, Patrons of Naples; and on the inside was the Birth of Christ with the Shepherds, and King David singing from his Psalter the words, Dominus diodt ad me. I also finished the above-named twenty-four pictures, with some for Messer Tommaso Cambi, which were all sent to Naples.

These works completed, I painted five pictures for Raffaello Acciaiuoli, by whom they were taken into Spain; these represented the Passion of Christ.^[39] The same year. Cardinal Farnese, desiring to have the Hall of the Chancery, in the Palace of San Giorgio, adorned with Paintings, Monsignore Giovio, anxious to see the work in my hands, advised me to prepare various designs and inventions, which were nevertheless not put into execution. Ultimately, however, the Cardinal determined on having the Hall painted in fresco, and with all the expedition possible, desiring to have it ready for his use at a certain fixed time. The Hall is rather more than a hundred palms long, fifty wide, and about fifty high. At each end it was determined to have one large picture, and on one of the side walls two, but on the other, which was broken by windows, there could not be stories, and there was consequently only a repetition of the ornaments forming the divisions of the opposite side.^[40] And here, to avoid reproducing the basement or socle, which had always been painted beneath pictures of this kind, and with the view to attain variety of effect, I caused a range of steps, rising at least nine palms above the floor, to be constructed in various forms, each picture having its separate flight. On these steps I placed figures in harmony with the subject represented above them, these ascending until they came to the platform or level, whence the pictures commenced.

It would, however, be a long and, perchance, fatiguing story, were I to describe all the particulars of these pictures; I will therefore only touch on the principal features. The whole of the stories are from the Life of Pope Paul IIL; and in each of them is the Portrait of that Pontiff, taken from the life. In the first, wherein are represented the Expeditions, so to speak, of the Roman Court, on the Tiber, are seen Embassies from various nations, some sent to beg favours, others to offer tribute to the Popes; and here there are numerous Portraits from nature. In large niches placed over the doors, which are on each side of the Story, are two figures of great size, the one representing Eloquence, the other Justice; over the first are two figures of Victory, sustaining a bust of Julius Caesar; and over the second, two similar figures bearing that of Alexander the Great. Over all are the Arms of the Pope, the supporters of the Escutcheon being Liberality and open-handed Generosity.

On the principal façade is the same Pontiff rewarding merit, by the bestowal of marriage portions, knighthoods, bishoprics, and cardinals’ hats. Among those who receive the same are Sadoleto, Polo, Bembo, Contarino, Giovio, Buonarroto, and other men of distinction, all portraits from the life: there is also a figure which represents Sovereign Favour, and is placed within a large niche; she holds a Cornucopia filled with various dignities, all which she pours out upon the earth: the figures of Victory above her head support the bust of the Emperor Trajan. There is also Envy, eating Vipers, and appearing to burst with their venom.

In the other story is Pope Paul, intent on various works of architecture, more especially on that of San Pietro at the Vatican; and therefore we have kneeling before His Holiness the figures of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, who are laying before him the plan of that church, and receiving his commands for the completion of the work. Here there is, moreover, the figure of Resolution, which, opening its breast, displays the heart within. Promptitude is likewise seen, accompanied by Riches; and in the niche is Abundance with Victories, holding a bust of the Emperor Vespasian. In a niche above this, and which divides one story from the other, is a figure representing the Christian Religion, having also two Victories over her head, who bear the bust of Numa Pompilius. The Escutcheon of xirms surmounting this stoly is that of the Cardinal San Giorgio, by whom the Palace was built.

In the Story opposite to that of the Expeditions of the Court, is the Universal Peace made among all Christians by means of the same Pontiff, Paul III., more particularly between the Emperor Charles Y. and Francis King of France, both portraits. Here Peace is seen to burn the Arms of War; the Temple of Janus is in the act of being closed; and Fury is lying in chains. The large niches which stand on each side of the Story are occupied, one by Concord, with Victories supporting the bust of the Emperor Titus; the other by Charity with Children, the Victories over her bearing the head of Augustus: at the summit of all are the Arms of Charles V., the supporters of which are Victory and Joy.

The whole work is enriched with inscriptions and beautiful mottoes by Ciovio, one more particularly, which records the fact of these paintings having been executed in a hundred days, as I, being then young, took pains that they should be, because I thought only of complying with the wishes of the Cardinal who had an especial reason for desiring to have them finished at a certain day. But of a truth, if I laboured hard in making the cartoons and in studying my work, I confess to having committed an error in confiding the execution of the same to my young assistants, for the sake of having them completed the more rapidly and within the time when the Hall was required, since it would have been better that I had toiled a hundred months, so only I had done all with my own hand. For although I might not, even in that case, have accomplished all that I could have desired, for the service of the Cardinal and mine own honour, yet I should, at least, have had the satisfaction of having effected all with my own hand and done my best. But this error caused me to resolve that I would never undertake works again of which I could not paint the whole myself, permitting nothing more than the mere sketch to be effected by others after my own designs.^[41]

The Spaniards, Bizzera and Koviale, who assisted me to a considerable extent in this Hall, attained great practice and facility thereby, as did also the Bolognese Battista Bagnacavallo, the Aretine Bastian Flori, Griovan Paolo of the Borgo, Fra Salvador Foschi of Arezzo, and many other of my disciples.

Now at this time, and when my day’s work was done, I went frequently to see the most illustrious Cardinal Farnese at his supper, where there were always present, entertaining him with admirable and honourable discourses, II Molza, Annibale Caro, Messer Gandolfo, Messer Claudio Tolomei, Messer Romolo Amasei, Monsignore Giovio, aijd many other literati and men of distinction, of whom the Court of that Prelate is ever full.

One evening among others, the conversation fell on the Museum of Giovio, and of the portraits of illustrious men placed there in admirable order and with appropriate inscriptions, when, passing from one thing to another, as is done in conversation. Monsignore Giovio said that he always had felt, and still did feel, a great wish to add to his Museum and to his book of “Eulogies,” a Treatise concerning men who had distinguished themselves in the Arts of Design; from Cimabue down to our own times. He spoke at some length on the subject, giving proof of much knowledge and judgment in matters respecting our arts. It is nevertheless true, that as he was treating only on generals and did not enter into the matter very closely, he often made some confusion among the artists cited, changing their names, families, birth-places, &c., or attributing the works of one to the hand of another, not describing things as they were precisely, but rather treating of them in the mass.

When Giovio had finished his discourse, the Cardinal, turning to me, said, “What think you, Giorgio; would not this be a fine work, a noble labour?” “Admirable, indeed; most illustrious my lord,” replied I, “provided Giovio be assisted by some one belonging to our calling, who can put things into their right places, and relate them as they have really occurred; and this I say because, although the discourse he has just concluded is admirable, yet he has often made assertions that are not correct, and said one thing for another.” “Could not you, then,” replied the Cardinal, being incited thereunto by Giovio, Caro, Tolomei, and the rest,— “could not you supply him with a summary of these matters, and with notices of all these artists; their works being arranged in the order of time, whereby you would confer that benefit also on your arts?” This, although I knew the undertaking to be beyond my strength, I was yet willing to attempt, with such power as I possessed, and promised to do it according to the best of my ability.

Thus having sat down to collect my notes and memoranda, which I had prepared even from my boyhood, for my own recreation, and because of a certain affection which I preserved towards the memory of our artists, every notice respecting whom had always been most interesting to me, I put together all that seemed to be suited for the purpose, and took them to Giovio. Having commended my pains, the latter then said, “My dear Giorgio, I would have you undertake this work yourself, for I see that you know perfectly well how to proceed therein; whereas I have not myself the courage to attempt it, not knowing the various particulars with which you are acquainted, nor possessing that judgment respecting the different manners of the artists which you have attained. Thus, even had I the heart to undertake this labour, the best I should make of it would be a little Treatise after the manner of Pliny. Do you, therefore, what I say, Vasari; for, by the specimen you give me in this narration, I perceive that you will succeed admirably well.”

Finding that I was, nevertheless, but slightly disposed to do as he recommended, Giovio caused Caro, Molza, Tolomei, and others of my intimate friends, to join their persuasions to his own; wherefore, having finally taken my resolution, I set hand to the work, intending to give it to one or other of them, when it was finished, to the end that he might look it over, and having brought the work into good order, might get it published under some other name than mine own.^[42] In October of the year 1546 I left Rome, and repaired to Florence, where I painted a Last Supper, for the Nuns of the renowned Convent of the Murate, and in the Refectory of their house. The commission for this work I received from Pope Paul III., who had a sister-in-law there, she who had been Countess of Pitigliano namely.^[43] I subsequently executed a Marriage of the Virgin Martyr, St. Catherine, who is accompanied by two other Saints, being commissioned to do so by Messer Tommaso Cambi, who designed the picture for a sister of his, then Abbess in the Convent of Bigallo, outside of Florence.^[44] That completed, I painted two large pictures in oil, for Monsignore de’ Rozzi of the family of the Counts of San Secondo and Bishop of Pavia, one a San Jeronimo, the other a Pieta; both of which were sent into France.

In the year 1547, I undertook, at the request of Messer Bastiano della Seta, Superintendent to the Cathedral of Pisa, to finish a picture which had been commenced in that church; and for my friend, Simon Corsi, I executed a Madonna, in oil, of very large size. While occupied with these works, I had also brought almost to its conclusion my book of the Lives of our Artists, nothing more remaining than to have it arranged in a good form j when, just at this time, I made the acquaintance of Don Grian Matteo Faetani of Rimini, a monk of Monte Oliveto, and a very learned as well as intelligent person, who desired that I should execute certain works in the Church and Monastery of Santa Maria di Scolca at Rimini, of which he was Abbot. He then, having promised to get the work transcribed by one of his Monks, who was an excellent penman, and to correct it himself,^[45] I repaired to Rimini, there to execute the picture for the High Altar of the above-named church, which is about three miles from the city.

The subject of this work was an Adoration of the Magi; it comprised a vast number of figures, which in that solitary place I was enabled to execute with great pains and study, imitating, as well as I could, the varieties existing between the followers of each King’s Court, those of all the three being mingled together; but their complexions, vestments, and decorations, render it easy to decide to which King every courtier and follower belongs. The central portion of the picture is accompanined by two others, one on each side; these contain such parts of the Courts as could not find place in the first, with horses, elephants, and giraffes. For the different Chapels also I painted separate figures of Prophets, Sybils, and Evangelists in the act of writing. In the Cupola or Tribune I painted four large figures, all singing the praises of Christ and the Virgin, Orpheus and Homer namely, who have mottoes in Greek; with Virgil, having the motto. Jam redit et virgo, &c.; and Dante, who has the following lines:—

Tu se’ colei, che Vumana natura
 Nobilitasti sì, che il suo fattore
Non si sdegno difarsi tua fattura.^[46]

There are, besides, many other circumstances and accessories which need not be mentioned here.^[47]

Continuing meanwhile to proceed with my book, I painted at this same time a large picture in oil for the Church of San Francesco in Kimini; it was intended for the High Altar, and represents the Saint receiving the Stigmata from Christ at the Mountain of La Vernia, which is given as it is in Nature, but as those rocks are entirely grey and San Francesco with his companion are also clothed in grey vestments, I caused Our Saviour Christ to appear in a splendour of Glory, within which are numerous Seraphim also; the work is thus varied; and the Saint, with other figures, being wholly illumined with the light of that glory, while the landscape, lying in shadow, exhibits a variety of changing colours; many persons declared themselves not displeased with the picture, and it was much praised by the Cardinal Capo di Ferro, then Legate of the Romagna.^[48]

Being then invited from Rimini to Ravenna, as I have said elsewhere, I painted a Deposition from the Cross, in the new Church of the Abbey of Classi, which belongs to the Order of the Camaldolines, and at the same time I executed numerous designs, small pictures, and other works of minor importance for many of my friends. These were indeed so numerous and so varied, that it would be difficult for me to remember even a part of them, while it might perchance be fatiguing to the reader to hear so many minutias.

The building of my house in Arezzo had meanwhile been completed; and, returning to my home, I now made the designs for painting the Hall, three chambers, and the fa9ade, principally by way of amusing myself through that summer In these designs I depicted among other things, all the places wherein I had myself laboured, as if they had in a manner brought tribute (by the gains which I had made through their means) towards the building of my house. But at that time I did not complete • more than the ceiling of the Hall (the wood work whereof is tolerably rich), adorning the same with thirteen large pictures, wherein are represented the Celestial Deities, while the nude forms of the four Seasons of the year are placed in the angles; they appear to be examining a large picture which occupies the centre, and presents a figure of Art trampling Envy beneath her feet, while she takes Fortune captive by the hair of her head, and strikes both with a staff. These figures are all the size of life; and a thing which then pleased many in this work, was the circumstance that. Fortune being in the midst, the spectator, in passing around the Hall, sometimes sees Envy surmounting Fortune and Art at one part, while at another part he sees Art surmounting both Envy and Fortune, as is known frequently to happen in real life.

On the walls around are Abundance, Liberality, Wisdom, Prudence, Labour, Honour, and other figures of similar character; and beneath them are stories of the ancient masters, Apelles, Zeuxis, Parrhasius, Protogenes, and others, with varied compartments and other minutiae, of which, for the sake of brevity, I omit further mention. On the ceiling, in the carved wood-work of one of the chambers, I painted a large circular painting of God blessing the seed of Abraham, and promising the infinite multiplication of the same; on four pictures, moreover, which surround that just mentioned, I painted figures of Peace, Concord, Virtue, and Temperance.

Always delighting in and respecting the memory and works of the ancients, and perceiving that the method of painting in tempera has fallen into neglect, I felt a great desire to resuscitate that mode of delineation, and executed the whole work in tempera accordingly; a manner which certainly does not merit to be either despised or neglected. At the entrance to this chamber, I depicted, almost by way of jest, a Bride, who, with a rake in her hand, appears to have gathered up, and carried with her, whatever she could obtain from the house of her father; while, in the other hand, which is stretched before her, as she is about to enter the habitation of her husband, she has a lighted torch, by way of intimation that she bears with her, wherever she goes, a fire which consumes and destroys all things.

While I was thus passing my time, the year 1548 arrived, when Don Giovan Benedetto of Mantua, Abbot of Santa Fiore e Lucilla, a Monastery of the Black Friars, taking much pleasure in painting, and being a friend of mine, requested me to paint the Last Supper, or some work of similar kind, at the upper end of their Refectory. Desiring to do him pleasure, therefore, I thought over the matter, considering how I might best contrive something out of the common in that place; and taking counsel with the good father, it was determined that I should paint there the Marriage of the Queen Esther with King Ahasuerus: the picture, fifteen braccia long, to be in oil, but first to be fixed in its place, and afterwards executed. And this method (I, who have tried, can safely affirm it) is that which ought always to be adopted, if it be desired that the picture shall have its true and appropriate lights in all parts; seeing that to paint the picture in any other place, whether higher or lower than that where it is to be fixed, is to endanger the effect; since the lights, shadows, and other properties of the work are frequently much affected by the change.

In this picture then, I did my utmost to produce, an aspect of dignity and majesty; but am not myself the competent judge as to whether I have succeeded or not.^[49] Servants of different degrees, pages, esquires, soldiers of the guard, the credenza, the beaufet musicians, a dwarf, and whatever may be supposed requisite to a royal banquet, are all to be clearly distinguished. Among the rest is the Seneschal, superintending the service; he is accompanied by numerous pages, servants in livery, esquires, and other attendants. At the two ends of the table, which is of an oval form, are nobles, and other great personages, standing, as is the custom, to look upon the feast. The King Ahasuerus, haughty of aspect, yet with a truly regal dignity, and face expressing his love for the Queen, presents to her a cup of wine with his right hand, while he supports himself by leaning on the left arm. In fine, if I were to believe what I then heard from the people, and what I still hear from all who see this work, I might be tempted to imagine that I had effected something; but I know too well how the matter stands, and what I would have accomplished had the hand been only capable of performing what the spirit had conceived. This, however, I may freely admit, namely, that I gave my best care and attention to the execution of the picture.^[50] On a corbel of the ceiling, above this painting, is a figure of Our Saviour Christ, presenting to Queen Esther a Crown of flowers. The figure is in fresco, and was placed there to signify the spiritual import of the story, denoting that, repulsed by the old Synagogue, Christ espoused the New Church of his faithful Christians.

About this time, I painted the Portrait of Messer Luigi Guicciardini, brother of Messer Francesco, who wrote the History. Messer Luigi was that year Commissary of Arezzo, and, being my intimate friend, he had made me buy a considerable property in land, called Frassineto, situate in the Valdichiana. This has been the very salvation of my family, and will be the best possession of my successors, if, as I hope, they should know how to prove true to themselves. The portrait, which is now in possession of Messer Luigi’s heirs, is said to be the most faithful in resemblance of all the infinite number that I have taken. But I will make no further mention of the portraits made by my hand, since it would be tedious to enumerate these likenesses; and, to tell the truth, I have avoided painting them whenever I could do so.^[51]

These works completed, I was commissioned by the Aretine, Fra Mariotto da Castiglioni, to paint a picture of Our Lady with SS. Anna, Francesco, and Salvestro, for the Church of San Francesco, in the territory of Arezzo, and at the same time, I undertook to prepare, for the Cardinal di Monte, afterwards Pope Julius III., and my great patron, who was then Legate of Bologna, the design and groundplan of an important edifice, which was afterwards erected at the foot of Monte Sansovino, the native place of the Cardinal, and whither I did myself repair many times by order of that Prelate, who took great pleasure in building.

When I had finished all here in question, I went to Florence; and that summer I painted, on a banner to be borne in procession by the Company or Brotherhood of San Giovanni di Peducci of Arezzo, the figure of that Saint preaching to the people on one side, and the same San Giovanni in the act of baptizing Our Saviour Christ on the other. This picture I sent to my house at Arezzo so soon as it was finished, with directions for its being remitted to the men of the Company. Now it happened that the Frenchman, Monsignore Giorgio, Cardinal d’Armagnac, passing through Arezzo, and going, for other causes, to see my house in Arezzo, did likewise see this banner or standard; wherefore, being pleased with the same he made great efforts to obtain it, and offered a very large sum as the price thereof, proposing to send it to the King of France: but I would not break my promise to those who had commissioned me to paint it; many said I might have made another for the Brotherhood, but I could not be sure of succeeding equally well.

No long time afterwards I painted a picture for Messer Annibale Caro, and which he had long before requested me to execute, in one of those letters of his which are now printed;^[52] the subject, taken from Theocritus, is Adonis dying in the arms of Venus; this work, at a later period and almost against my will, was taken into France and given to Messer Albizzo del Bene, together with a Psyche, looking with a lamp at Love, who was sleeping, but, being touched by a spark from the lamp, is awakening. These figures, which were of life-size and entirely nude, caused Alfonso di Tommaso Cambi, then a most beautiful youth, and very learned and accomplished, as well as good, kindly, and courteous, to desire that I would make a Portrait of himself, also nude and of life-size, in the character of Endymion, that hunter beloved of the Moon; the fair form of the youth and a landscape, of fanciful composition, amidst which it is seen, receive their light from the splendour of the moon; which, penetrating or rather dissipating the darkness of the night, gives the view a tolerably natural and pleasing appearance, for I laboured with all diligence to imitate the peculiar tints communicated by the pale yellow light of the moon to such objects as are struck by the same.

At a later period I painted two pictures to send to Paugia, in one of these is a Madonna, in the other a Pieta; and shortly afterwards I painted Our Lady with the Divine Child in her arms, and Joseph beside her, in a large picture for Francesco Botti. This work, which I certainly executed with all the care of which I was capable, Francesco took with him into Spain. Having finished these labours, I went that same year to see the Cardinal Monti at Bologna, where he was Legate, and remained with him some days. There was one subject of conversation, among many others, on which he said so much, and sought to persuade me with so many good reasons, that, thus pressed by him, I resolved at length to do what I had never before chosen to do, that is to take a wife; and I married accordingly, as was his desire, a daughter of the noble Are tine citizen, Francesco Sacci.

Having returned to Florence, I painted a large picture of Our Lady, with numerous figures, according to a new in* vention. This was taken by Messer Bindo Altoviti, who gave me a hundred crowns of gold for the same; and it is now in his house at Rome, to which city Messer Bindo took it.^[53] I painted many other pictures at the same time, as for example, for Messer Bernardetto de’ Medici, for the eminent physician, Messer Bartolommeo Strada, who was my friend, with other things for many others, also my friends; but of these works I need make no further mention.

Now in those days, Gismondo Martelli nad died in Florence, and having left orders in his will that a picture, with Our Lady, and certain Saints, should be painted for the Chapel of that noble family, which is in the Church of San Lorenzo, I was applied to, for the execution of the same, by Luigi and Pandolfo Martelli, with Messer Cosimo Bartoli, all my friends. Wherefore, having received permission from Luke Cosimo, patron, and chief superintendent of that Church, I accepted the work, but on condition that, in allusion to the name of the Testator, I should be permitted to execute a Story from the Life of San Sigismondo, choosing the subject thereof at my pleasure. This agreement concluded, I remembered having heard that Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, the architect of the Church, had erected all the Chapels, with a view to the execution therein, not of small paintings, but of one large picture, occupying the whole space in each one; for which cause, regarding the honour to be derived from the work, rather than the moderate sum which I was to obtain from the owners of the chapel, who intended to have a small picture, of few figures only, I depicted the death, or more properly the martyrdom, of the King, San Sigismondo, in a great picture, ten braccia wide and thirteen high, showing himself, his Queen, and their two sons, on the point of being thrown into a well by another King, or rather tyrant.

The Story was arranged in such sort that the frame-work of the Chapel, which is a half circle, was made to represent the Gate of a large Palace of rustic architecture, and through this gate a view was obtained into a square court surrounded by columns and pilasters of the Doric order, between which was seen a wall of eight sides; the ascent to the same being by a flight of steps: up these steps the myrmidons of the tyrant were bearing the two sons of San Sigismondo, whom they were about to cast naked into the well. Within the Loggia on one side, I depicted the people regarding that frightful spectacle; and, on the other, the left namely, are executioners, who, having seized the wife of King Sigismond, are dragging her towards her death: near the principal door is a group of soldiers binding San Sigismondo, whose resigned and patient attitude proves him to suffer that martyrdom willingly; he is looking upwards at angels who are hovering in the air, and showing him the palms and crowns of martyrdom prepared for his queen and children as well as for himself, a sight which appears to be mightily sustaining and consoling to him.

I also took great pains to express the cruelty and fierceness of the wicked tyrant who stands at the upper end of the Court, observing the progress of his vengeance and the death of San Sigismondo. At a word, so far as in me lay, I strove to give every figure its appropriate expression and proper attitude, with promptitude of action and whatever else was required: the degree of my success I leave others to decide, but I may say that I gave all the labour, care, and study to the work that my utmost efforts could command.^[54]

Meanwhile Duke Cosimo desired that the Book of the Lives, already brought to conclusion by the aid of my friends, and with all the diligence that I could use—the Duke desired, I say, that this book should now be printed, whereupon I gave it to the ducal printer Lorenzo Torrentino, and the work was commenced. But the “Theories”^[55] had not yet been completed when the death of Pope Paul III. took place, and I thought 1 should be compelled to leave Florence before the printing could be finished. For it had chanced that going out of the city gate to meet Cardinal Monte, who was passing through on his way to the Conclave, I had no sooner made my bow to that prelate and spoken a few words with him, than he said to me, “I am going to Rome, and shall infallibly be elected Pope; wherefore, if thou hast anything to desire, hasten to follow me, so soon as the news shall arrive, without waiting any other invitation than that I now give thee, or seeking any further intelligence.”

Nor was this prognostic a vain word; being at Arezzo during the Carnival of that year, I was making arrangements for certain festivals and inaskings, when there came a messenger with the news that the aforesaid Cardinal had become Pope Julius III. Mounting my horse, therefore, without delay, I proceeded to Florence, whence, hastened by the Duke, I departed at once for Rome, to be present at the Coronation of the new Pontiff, and to make arrangements for the festivities consequent thereon.

Arrived at Rome, and dismounting at the house of Messer Bindo, I went immediately afterwards to kiss the feet of His Holiness, which, when I had done, his first words were to remind me that the prediction he had uttered had not proved to be untrue.

Having been crowned, and the confusion which always accompanies a change having passed. Pope Julius was anxious, first of all, to acquit himself of a duty to the elder and first Cardinal di Monte, by erecting a Tomb for that prelate at San Piero in Montorio. The designs and models were made accordingly; and it was constructed in marble, as I have related at length in another place.^[56] The Altar-piece for the Chapel was meanwhile painted by myself, and I depicted thereon the Conversion of St. Paul; but to vary it somewhat from that of Michelagnolo, in the Paolina, I represented the saint still young, according to his own relation, and at the moment when, having fallen from his horse, he is conducted by the Soldiers to Ananias, from whom, by the imposition of hands, he receives his lost sight, and is baptized.^[57]

But in this work, either on account of the restricted space, or from some other cause, I did not entirely satisfy myself, although others did not appear to be displeased; Michelagnolo more particularly, was not dissatisfied. I also painted another picture for the same Pontitf, in a Chapel of the Palace namely; but'this, for the causes before related,^[58] I afterwards took to Arezzo, and placed at the High Altar of the Decanal Church.^[59]

If, however, I had satisfied neither myself nor others in this picture any more than in that of San Piero a Montorio, there would have been no cause for surprise, seeing that I was in perpetual attendance on the Pontiff, who kept me constantly in action, either for architectural designs or other works. It was myself, for example, with whom originated the first arrangement and plans of the Yigna Julia, which the Pope then caused to be constructed at an incredible cost; and although the works were executed by others, it was I who made drawings of all the fancies which Pope Julius invented for that place, and which were afterwards examined and corrected by Michelagnolo; when Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola completed various apartments, halls, and chambers of the Vigna, with their appropriate ornaments from his designs.

The lower Fountain, however, is after my own design, and was executed by Amraannato, who subsequently remained to construct the Loggia, which is above the Fountain. That artist could, nevertheless, not show what he was capable of, nor do anything in its due order in that place, because the Pope was daily taking into his head some new fancy, which had then to be instantly put into execution,^[60] under the orders, given daily, of Messer Pier Giovanni Aliotti, Bishop of Forlì.^[61]

In the year 1550, I had to go twice to Florence for certain affairs, and on the first of these occasions I completed the picture of San Sigismondo. The Duke, who came to see it in the house of Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, where it was that I executed the same, was so much pleased therewith, that he said to me, “When your engagements in Rome are completed, return to Florence, and enter my service, when I will show you what I desire that you should do.”

Having returned to Rome, I took measures for the completion of all my works commenced there, and among other things I painted a picture for the Company or Brotherhood of the Misericordia; this, which was destined for the High Altar of that Brotherhood, was the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, and having fixed it in its place in the year 1553, I desired to return to Florence. But I was compelled to remain, for the purpose of constructing two very extensive Loggie for Messer Bindo Altoviti, in whose service I could not fail to be ever ready. These Loggie I decorated with stucco work and fresco paintings. One of them was erected at his Vigna, and that with a new species of architecture, for the arches being of so great a width, it was difficult to turn them without danger; I had them formed, therefore, of wood-work, canes, and matting, on which I caused stucco and fresco to be executed, as if the niches had been of masonry, as indeed they appear, and are supposed to be, by all who see them, supported as they are by very fine antique columns of vari-coloured marble, and enriched with various ornaments of similar kind.^[62]

The second of the two Loggie mentioned above was erected on the ground-floor of Messer Bindo’s house at Ponte, and is covered with Stories in fresco. I subsequently painted four large pictures in oil, representing the Four Seasons of the year, for the ceiling of an ante-chamber; and these finished, I was compelled to further delay by the request of my intimate friend, Andrea del Fonte, that I would paint the Portrait of his wife; this I did, giving him at the same time a large picture of Christ bearing his Cross, with figures copied from nature, which I had executed for a kinsman of the Pope, to whom I did not ultimately think proper to give it. For the Bishop of Yasona I painted a Dead Christ, supported by Nicodemus and two Angels; with a picture, representing theBirth of Our Lord, for Pier Antonio Bandini; the latter a Night-piece, with certain varieties in the composition thereof. Now while I was occupied with these works, I took care to observe what the Pope was from time to time proposing to accomplish, and finally I became convinced that but little was to be expected from that Pontitf, for whose service one did but labour in vain; wherefore, although I had already prepared the Cartoons for painting in fresco the Loggia which is above the Fountain of the beforementioned Vigna, I resolved that nothing should thenceforth prevent me from entering the service of Duke Cosimo; more particularly as I was much pressed to do so by Messer Averardo Serrestori and the Bishop of Ricasoli, his Excellency’s Ambassadors in Rome, as well as by the letters of Messer Sforza Almeni, cupbearer and first chamberlain of the Duke.

Having therefore repaired to Arezzo, intending thence to pass on to Florence, I was compelled to paint a figure of Patience, the size of life, in a large picture for Monsignore Minerbetti, the Bishop of that city, who was my friend and very good lord. This figure was in the same manner with that afterwards used as the impress for the reverse of his medals by the Signor Ercole, Duke of Ferrara.^[63] These things being completed, I hastened to kiss the hand of Duke Cosimo; by whom, in his kindness, I was received with much favour; and while the subject of what I was first to undertake was in consideration, I caused the Facade of Messer Sforza Almeni’s house to be painted in chiaroscuro by Cristofano Gherardi dal Borgo, after my designs and with the compositions described at length in another place.^[64]

Now at that time I was one of the Signori Priors of Arezzo, whose office it is to govern the city, but being called to his service by the letters of the Signor Duke, I was released from the duties of that office; and on my arrival in Florence I found that his Excellency had commenced the construction of those apartments in his Palace which look towards the Piazza del Grano, and which were then in progress under the direction of the wood-carver Tasso, then architect to the Palace: but the roof was so low that all the rooms wanted elevation, and had altogether a poor and stunted appearance. To raise the rafters would, nevertheless, have been a long operation; and I therefore advised the Duke to introduce a decoration formed in wood-work above the cross beams of the ceilings, with compartments two braccia and a half in extent, supported on corbels, which gave an elevation in the whole of nearly two braccia above the beams, as these last were first laid: that proposal pleased the Duke much, and he gave orders for its being instantly put into execution, commanding Tasso to prepare the wood carvings and frame-work, within which, in the square compartments that is to say, there was to be painted the Genealogy of the Gods, a subject afterwards to be continued in the succeeding apartments.

While these things were thus in preparation, I therefore, having had permission from the Duke, went to pass two months between Cortona and Arezzo, partly to complete the arrangement of certain of my affairs, and partly to finish a work in fresco commenced at Cortona on the Parade and ceiling of the house belonging to the Company of Jesus; where I painted stories from the Life of Christ, with others representing the Sacrifices described in the Old Testament, as offered to God from Cain and Abel, down to the time of the Prophet Nehemiah. At the same time I also arranged the designs and models for the edifice of the Madonna Nuova, constructed outside of that city. The works for the Brotherhood being completed, I then repaired to Florence with all my family; and in the year 1555, commenced my labours in the service of Duke Cosimo.

I then began and finished the paintings on the walls and ceiling of the before-mentioned Hall, called the Hall of the Elements, depicting therein eleven pictures, which represent the wrongs done to Uranus by the Titans. And in the ceiling of a room adjacent, I painted the Histories of Saturn and Ops, with that of Ceres and Proserpine on the ceiling of a large chamber. In a still more extensive apartment near this, I then painted Stories of the Goddess Berecenthia, and of Cibele, in triumph, with the four Seasons, on a ceiling, which is exceedingly rich. On the walls beneath, I furthermore delineated the twelve Months. In the ceiling of a room, which is not so richly decorated, I then painted the Birth of Jupiter, with his nourishment by the Goat Amalthea, and the other more important circumstances related concerning him. In another room on the ground-floor, and beside that just mentioned, but richly adorned with marbles and stuccowork, are Stories of Jupiter and Juno; and finally, in the room succeeding the above, is the Birth of Hercules and all his Labours; those which could not be contained in the ceiling having been added to the frieze of each room, or executed in cloth of arras, corresponding to the various stories which the Signor Duke has caused to be woven after Cartoons prepared by myself.

Of the grottesche, ornaments, and pictures of the staircases, with other minute details prepared by my hand for those apartments, I will say nothing, not only because I propose to speak of them at greater length in another place,^[65] but also because every one can see and judge of them for himself.

While these rooms were receiving their paintings, others, which are on a level with the Great Hall, and in a direct line with the same, were in process of construction; they are furnished with exceedingly convenient staircases, public and private, and by these access may be gained most commodiously from the lowest even to the highest chambers of the Palace.

Tasso, meanwhile, had died; and the Duke, who had a great wish to have this palace (which had been constructed at various times almost as it were by chance, and more for the convenience of the officials than with a view to good effect) brought into something like good order, determined to improve the same so far as should be found possible, resolving that in course of time the Great Hall should be painted, and that the Audience-chamber, commenced by Bandinello, should be completed. To bring the building into harmony therefore, making that which was to be done in accordance with the part already finished, he commanded me to prepare various plans and designs, deciding at length, that a model in wood should be made, after that one of these plans which had best pleased him, to the end that he might the better arrange all the apartments according to his mind, as also that he might then direct the changes required in the old staircases, which appeared to him inconveniently steep, illcontrived, and very defective, as in truth they were.

To this work, although a difficult undertaking and beyond my powers, I set hand, and to the best of my ability prepared the large model required, which is now in his Excellency’s possession, but rather in obedience to his commands than as having any great hope that I should succeed. Yet, when this model was finished, whether it were his good fortune or mine, or the result of the great desire which I felt to satisfy him, it pleased his Excellency greatly; wherefore, commencing the work accordingly, that fabric has, by little and little, been brought, now doing one thing and now another, to the state in which we at present see it.^[66]

While the remainder of the apartments were in course of construction, the first eight rooms completed in the new buildings were decorated with very rich works in stucco of varied compartments; these, comprising saloons, chambers, and a small chapel, all on the level of the Great Hall, were adorned with various pictures, and a large number of portraits, all belonging to history, and commencing with that of Cosimo the Elder; each room, moreover, received its name from some great and renowned person descended from that Signore. In one of these chambers are depicted the principal actions of the above-named Cosimo himself, with the virtues, which were more peculiarly his own; the Portraits of his children, taken from the life, are also there; and he is accompanied by his most distinguished friends and principal servants. In other rooms are the stories of Lorenzo the i Elder, Leo X., Pope Clement, the Signor Don Giovanni, father of our Illustrious Duke, and that of Duke Cosimo himself.^[67] In the chapel is a large and very beautiful picture by the hand of Raffaello da Urbino,^[68] placed between two others painted by myself, and representing SS. Cosimo and Damiano, to whom that chapel is dedicated.

In like manner the four upper rooms, appropriated to the Signora Duchess Leonora, are adorned with the actions of illustrious women, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Tuscan, each chamber exhibiting the life of a personage belonging to one of those nations; but I have spoken of these elsewhere, and shall mention them further in the Dialogue, which, as before said, will be soon published to the world, and to speak of all here would make the relation too long.

For these my labours, persistent, severe, and difficult as they were, I was richly rewarded by the liberality of the Duke, from whom I received handsome gifts in addition to my allotted stipend, seeing that he presented me with an excellent and commodious house in Florence as well as one in the country, to the end that I might devote myself the more easily to his service. In my native city of Arezzo, moreover, his Excellency has honoured me with the supreme magistracy of the Gonfaloniere and other offices, adding the privilege of permission to substitute a citizen to perform the active duties thereof in my place. To my brother Ser Pietro, also, the Duke has given profitable employments in Florence, and has bestowed important favours on my kinsmen in Arezzo, for which cause I shall never be satisfied with declaring the obligations I owe to that Signore for his many favours conferred on me.

Returning to my works, I proceed to say, that the illustrious Duke had resolved to put in execution a thought which he had long conceived, that namely of having the Great Hall adorned with paintings, an idea entirely worthy of his greatness and the extent of his genius.^[69] Of this work he spoke to me in a light and jesting manner. I know not whether because he thought that I should certainly make good despatch therewith, and that he would thus see it finished in his own days, or whether for some concealed and, as all his reasons ever were, prudent cause; but the end of the matter was, that I received a commission to raise the roof thirteen braccia above its then height, being commanded to make the ceiling in wood-work with rich gilding, and to paint stories in oil on each compartment of the same.

This great and important undertaking, if not above my courage, might yet, perhaps, have proved above my strength; but whether it were that the confidence reposed in me increased my ability, or that the good fortune which the Duke has in all things prevailed here also, or that the hope of distinction, with the occasion offered me by so fine a subject, added to my powers, or that (and this I ought to place before all besides) the grace of God supplied me with force, certain it is that I took it upon me to begin the work, and, as is seen, have brought it to conclusion, in contradiction to the opinions expressed by many, not only in less time than I had promised or than the work merited, but also in less than I had expected, or than his illustrious Excellency had ever hoped to see it completed in; and, as it chanced, he had good reason to be pleased as well as surprised, since the completion could not have taken place at a moment of greater need or on a more fortunate occasion.

This (that the cause of so much haste and solicitude may be understood) was no less than the Marriage of our illustrious Prince with the daughter of the late Emperor and sister of the present, which, having been in treaty for some time, was then concluded on; and it seemed to me to be my duty to make all possible effort, that this Hall, one of the principal apartments of the Palace, and that wherein the most important acts were to be solemnized, should be in such a condition as to permit of the owners availing themselves thereof. And here I submit to the consideration, not only of those connected with our arts, but of all other persons who may have seen these works, whether, the extent and variety of the same being taken into the account, this important and pressing occasion should not be accepted as my excuse, even though I may not, in that eager haste, have fully satisfied all the just demands of those numerous subjects presented there: subjects taken both from earth and sea;—storming of cities in one place for example, and building of the same in another; batteries, assaults, and skirmishes, intermingled with other subjects, such as councils, ceremonies, ancient and modern, triumphal processions, and many more, the mere sketches, designs, and cartoons for which, to say nothing of all else, is a matter demanding a very long time.

The nude figures, moreover, in the perfection whereof consists the beauty and excellence of our arts, with the landscapes, wherein those figures are exhibited, all of which I had to depict from Nature herself in the place to be displayed, were of themselves a laborious work; as were the many portraits, which I also took from the life, of generals, captains, and other military chiefs, whose figures, with those of their soldiers, appeared in the stories to be described. At a word, I may with truth affirm, that in this work I was called on to depict almost every thing that could present itself to the mind and thought of man, an almost infinite variety of persons, faces, vestments, and ornaments, with arms of all kinds, morions, helmets, and cuirasses, horses with their caparisons and defences, artillery of all sorts, and every other implement demanded for battles on land; to which must be added ships, and whatever belongs to those on the sea, or to the navigation of the ocean, with tempests and storms, rains, snows, and other matters, of which I cannot record even the names.

But whoever examines the work will easily comprehend the vast amount of labour, and the many weary vigils and nights of wakefulness that I have supported in the execution thereof, and in combining, with all the knowledge I could command, some forty large stories, each ten braccia square, and comprising very large figures of every kind. And if some of my disciples and dependants were there assisting me, it is also true that they sometimes gave me effectual aid, and sometimes the contrary, seeing that, as they well know, I have not unfrequently had to repaint all they had done with my own hand, and to go over the whole picture, that every part of it might be in the same manner.

These stories treat of the History of Florence, from its first foundation to the present day; dividing the town into its Quarters; they also describe the cities which have submitted to, or been subjugated by, Florence and the enemies she has overcome, with the war of Pisa (to speak more particularly) on one side, and that with Siena on the other. There is also a war carried on by the popular government, for the period of fourteen years; with another, which was brought to an end by the Duke in fourteen months. These events collectively will be found partly on the ceiling and partly on the walls, which are eighty braccia long and twenty high; the frescoes I am still proceeding with, and of these I shall speak in the Dialogue before-mentioned. All this I say, for no other cause than the wish I have to show the earnest persistence with which I have laboured and do labour in these our arts; and with what just reasons I may excuse myself when I have in some places (and I am conscious these are many) fallen short in my works of what might and ought to have been effected.^[70]

I may here add that, about this time I was charged with the care of designing and laying before his Excellency the various Arches of Triumph to be erected for the Nuptials, a great part of which I had likewise to construct. I was also commissioned to complete the remainder of the preparations so largely made in Florence for the Marriage of the illustrious Signor Prince; and had, moreover, to delineate in ten pictures, each fourteen braccia high and eleven wide, all the Piazzas of the principal cities in the Florentine dominions, with the most important edifices and distinctive characteristics of the same. Furthermore, I had to see that part of the Hall which had been commenced by Bandinelli brought to completion, and to make a scene for the opposite end of the same, larger and richer than any that had ever been made before: finally, I had to construct the principal staircases of the Palace, with their vestibules, the court, and the columns, in that manner which every one may see, and which has been described above. To all which must be added fifteen pictures, representing that number of cities belonging to the Empire and the Tyrol;^[71] all being copies from the places described.

Nor has the time that I have given to the putting forward of the Loggia, and to the great Fabric for the magistrates, been of unimportant duration, since I commenced the same j for this building, which looks on the Arno, is one of the most difficult and dangerous that I have ever erected, seeing that its foundations have had to be laid in the river; and it may be almost called an edifice constructed in the air.^[72] But it was not possible to avoid doing as we have done, since, to say nothing of other causes, the great corridor, which, crossing the Arno, proceeds from the ducal Palace to the Palace and Gardens of the Pitti, had to be appended to the fabric above-named. That corridor, too, was completed under my directions, and with my designs, within the space of five months, although it is a work which one might imagine unlikely to be finished in less than five years.

There was, besides, committed to my care the charge of causing to be reconstructed and enlarged, for those nuptials, that machinery which had been used for the festivities solemnized in the great Tribune of the church of Santo.

Spirito, and which had formerly been held at San Felice in Piazza; all which was brought to such perfection as could be attained, insomuch that the dangers formerly incurred at those festivals are no longer to be feared. The Palace and Church erected for the Knights of San Stefano in Pisa,^[73] is also a work of mine; as is likewise the completion of the Tribune, or rather Cupola of the Madonna delF Umilta in Pisa, which is one of great importance.^[74] In all which, if I have produced anything that can be called good, I render thanks to God, without seeking to excuse my imperfections, which I know better than any one can tell them to me,—I give thanks to God, I say, from whom I hope to have furthermore so much assistance as shall enable me to complete that great undertaking of the walls of the great Hall, to the satisfaction of my Signor and Prince, who for thirteen years has afforded me so many good opportunities for the performance of honourable works to my credit as well as profit. If I can accomplish this, I shall then consider myself old, weary, and worn enough to retire to my repose.

And if from various causes my previous works have been executed with somewhat too much of haste, I hope to accomplish this one at my leisure, since the illustrious Duke does not wish me to proceed rapidly, but would have me do it at my ease, affording me all that rest and those recreations which I could myself desire to have. Last year, for example, being weary and exhausted with all the undertakings mentioned above, his Excellency gave me permission to amuse myself for some months; wherefore, I set off on my travels, and passed through little less than all Italy, revisiting a vast number of my old friends and signori, with the works of numerous masters, as I have related in another place. Lastly, I finished my visits with Rome, and being about to return to Florence, I went to kiss the feet of the most holy and blessed Pope Pius V., when His Holiness commanded me to paint him a picture so soon as I should have returned to Florence, and send it to his Convent and Church of the Bosco, which he was having built in his native place, near Alessandria della Paglia.

Having returned to Florence accordingly, and having received this command from His Holiness, whose many acts of favour I could not forget, I painted an Adoration of the Magi; and when he knew that it was finished, the Pontiff gave me to understand, that for his satisfaction, and because he desired to confer with me respecting certain of his plans, he would have me proceed myself to Rome with that picture, desiring most particularly to speak to me concerning the Fabric of San Pietro, which His Holiness proved himself to have much at heart. Having made my arrangements, with a hundred crowns which Pope Pius sent me for that purpose, and sending the picture before me, I repaired to Rome accordingly,^[75]where, after I had remained a month, and had held much discourse with His Holiness, advising him not to permit that any changes should be made in the plans of Michelagnolo for the construction of San Pietro, and preparing certain designs which he required, I received his commands to paint, for the High Altar of the above-named Church at the Bosco, not a picture such as is usual, but an immense construction, in the manner of a Triumphal Arch,^[76] with two large paintings, one before, the other behind, and about thirty stories in smaller pictures,^[77] all of which were brought to completion with tolerable success.

At this time I obtained from His Holiness the gracious favour of his permission to erect a chapel and decan ate in the Deanery of Arezzo, and he sent m.e the Bull free of cost in the kindest manner. It is the principal chapel of that Church, and is placed under the invocation of my patron Saint, and that of my house: it was endowed by myself, and painted with my own hand, being offered as an acknowledgment (although it be but a small one) of the Divine Goodness, and an evidence of my thankfulness for the infinite favours and benefits which the Supreme Ruler of all things^[78] hath vouchsafed to confer upon me.

The picture of this my Chapel is very similar in its form to that of the Bosco mentioned above, which has partly caused me now to recollect it, for this also is isolated, and has in like manner two pictures, one of which, already alluded to elsewhere,^[79] is in the front;, and the other, representing San Giorgio, is behind. On each side of them are, furthermore, figures of certain saints, and beneath are the lives of the same, depicted in small compartments: while in a rich tomb, under the altar, are their remains, with some of the principal relics belonging to the city of Arezzo. In the centre, moreover, there is a Tabernacle for the Sacrament, which is well and handsomely arranged, seeing that it corresponds with both the Altars, but is adorned wuth such stories from the Old Testament as have relation to that Mystery,^[80] and of which we have made some mention elsewhere.^[81]

Now I had forgotten to say that in the year preceding, when I had first gone to Rome to kiss the feet of the Pontiff, I had taken my way by Perugia, for the purpose of fixing in their appointed places three large pictures, which I had painted for the Black Friars of San Piero in that city, and which were then appended in their Refectory. The central picture of these three represents the Marriage of Cana in Galilee, when Christ performed the miracle of changing, water into wine: in that on the right hand is the prophet Elisha, who, throwing meal into the bitter compound which his disciples could not eat, caused every hurtful quality of that which had been spoiled by the coloquinth to disappear.^[82] The third picture exhibits San Benedetto, who, in a time of grievous famine, and when all means of nourishment for his monks had failed him, receives from a laybrother the announcement that camels loaded with corn are at the door, and who sees that the Angels of God are miraculously bringing a large quantity of flour to his relief.

For the Signora Gentilina, mother of the Signor Chiappono and of the Signor Paolo Yitelli, I painted a large picture in Florence, which I afterwards sent to her at Citta di Castello; the subject is the Coronation of Our Lady: in the upper part is a choir of Angels, and beneath are numerous figures larger than life. This picture was placed in the Church of San Francesco in that city.^[83] For the Church of Poggio a Cajano, a villa belonging to the Signor Duke, I painted Our Saviour Christ lying dead in the lap of his Mother; San Cosimo and San Damiano are in contemplation of the Virgin, and a weeping Angel, seen in the air above, is bearing the Mysteries^[84] of our Saviour’s Passion. In the Church of the Carmine at Florence there was placed, about the same time, a picture also by my hand, which I had painted for the Chapel of Matteo and Simon Botti, my intimate friends; in this there is Christ Crucified, with Our Lady, San Giovanni, and the Magdalene weeping.^[85] I afterwards painted two large pictures, for Jacopo Capponi; the subjects of these, which were to be sent into France, are, of the one. Spring; of the other. Autumn; the figures in both are large, and each exhibits a certain novelty in the composition. In another and still larger picture, I delineated a Dead Christ sustained by two Angels, above whom is seen the figure of the Almighty Father. For the Nuns of Santa Maria Novella in Arezzo, I painted an Annunciation of the Virgin, with two Saints beside her, which I sent to their convent about this time or shortly before;^[86] and for the Nuns of Luco di Mugello, who are of the Order of Camaldoli, I painted a picture which is now in their inner Choir; it represents Christ Crucified, with Our Lady, St. John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalen.

For Luca Torrigiani, who is my intimate and very good friend, I painted a large picture, which he, desiring to have a work from my hand among the many productions of our arts in his possession, now keeps in his house; the subject is Venus, a nude figure surrounded by the Graces, of whom one adorns her head, while the second holds a mirror, and the third pours water into a vase. This picture I laboured to execute to the very best of my ability, as well to content my own mind as to satisfy the expectation of so dear and kind a friend. I also (compelled against my will to do so) took the Portrait of Antonio de’ Nobili, Commissioner-general of his Excellency, and well inclined to myself. For the same person I depicted the Head of Our Saviour Christ, painting it after the words in which Lentulus writes of the Redeemer’s countenance; both these pictures were executed with great care, as was also another, similar to that just mentioned, but somewhat larger, which I first intended for the Signor Mondragone, but which is now in the possession of Don Francesco de’ Medici, Prince of Florence and Siena; I having presented it to his Highness on account of his love to our arts, and also that, when looking thereon, he may remember that I love him and am his friend.

I have now in hand, and hope soon to finish, a large and very fanciful picture which I intend for the Signor Antonio Montalvo, lord of the Sassetta, first gentleman of the bedchamber to the Duke, and much valued by his Excellency. This Signor Antonio is likewise so dear and intimate a friend of my own (not to say a superior), that I am anxious to produce a something which shall serve as a pledge of the aflPection I bear him; and if my hand do but correspond to my desires, the result shall be such as to prove how much I honour him, and how dear to me is the remembrance of one so worthy to be respected and so well beloved; while I would fain contribute to make his memory descend to a future time, seeing that his labours are ever willingly given to promote the interests and the progress of all who belong to our vocation, or take pleasure in the arts of design.^[87]

For the Prince, Don Francesco, I have lately painted two Pictures, which he has sent to Toledo, in Spain, for a sister of the Signora Duchess Leonora, his mother, with a small one, in the manner of a miniature, which he keeps for himself, and wherein there are forty figures, great and small; the composition, which is a very beautiful one, being his own. For Filippo Salviati I completed a picture, no long time since, which is to be sent to Prato, for the Nuns of San Vincenzio; in the upper part of this work is a Coronation of the Virgin, as having just then arrived in Heaven, and beneath are the Apostles, all of whom are larger than life:^[88] there are, besides, other figures and stories, the whole being surrounded by ornaments which are in a manner that is quite new.

The Signor Duke, who is of a truth most excellent in all things, takes much pleasure, not only in the building of palaces, cities, fortresses, gates, loggie, and piazzas, with the laying out of gardens, construction of fountains, and works of similar kind, all beautiful, magnificent, and most useful to his people, but he has also infinite delight, as a Catholic prince, in the restoration and improvement of the holy churches of God, therein imitating the great King Solomon. Wherefore he has lately caused me to remove the screen and rood-loft of Santa Maria Novella, which had long deprived that Church of its beauty,^[89] when I made a new and rich Choir behind the High Altar; this has given the Church quite a new aspect; and as nothing can be entirely beautiful which has not harmony and correctness of proportion, the Duke has ordered that rich ornaments in stone, of a new kind, shall be constructed between the columns in the sideaisles; they are placed immediately beneath the arches, and with their altars in the centre; they serve as Chapels, and are all in one out of two manners. The pictures, which are to be seven braccia high and five wide, are to be placed within the ornaments, and will be painted at the pleasure of those who may own these Chapels.

Within one of them, for example, I have already executed a picture, after my own design, for the most reverend Monsignore Alessandro Strozzi, Bishop of Yolterra, my old and most beloved patron, depicting therein a figure of Christ Crucified, according to the Vision of Sant’ Anselmo that is to say; with the Seven Virtues, without which we cannot ascend the seven degrees to Jesus Christ: there are also other allusions to the Life of Sant’ Anselmo in that picture.^[90] In the same Church, nay, within another of the above-mentioned ornaments, I also painted, by commission from the excellent Maestro Andrea Pasquali, physician to the Signor Duke, a Resurrection of our Lord Christ, which I have brought to completion in such sort as it has pleased God to inspire me with the ability to effect, for the satisfaction of the same Maestro Andrea, who is my very good friend.

The same great Duke has commanded that similar changes shall be made in the vast Church of Santa Croce, in Florence; that the screen shall be removed namely; the Choir placed behind the High Altar, bringing the latter somewhat forward, and placing upon it a rich Tabernacle for the holy Sacrament, to be newly constructed in carved stone-work, richly adorned with gilding, stories, and figures.^[91] There are, furthermore, to be fourteen Chapels made beside the walls, as in Santa Maria Novella, but at greater cost and with richer ornaments than those, because Santa Croce is much larger than Santa Maria Novella. In the pictures which are to be in these Chapels, and which are to correspond with the two by Salviati and Bronzino,^[92]all the principal events in the Passion of Our Lord are to be depicted, down to the moment when he sends his Holy Spirit on the Apostles. With this last named picture, the Descent of the Holy Spirit namely, I am even now employed, painting it for Messer Agnolo Biffoli, Treasurer-general of the Princes, and my singular good friend;^[93] the design for the Chapels, and the ornaments in stone, I have already made. No long time since I finished two large pictures which are in those buildings, beside San Pietro Scheraggio, that belonging to the Court of Conservators; in one of these is the Head of Christ, and in the other a Madonna.

But since it would take me too far were I to describe minutely the many other Pictures, or to enumerate the designs and models that I have made, I omit all mention thereof, as well as of the maskings which I have prepared; wherefore, having said enough and more than enough of myself, I will add nothing further, unless it be the remark that, however great and important have been the works which I have executed for Duke Cosimo, I have never been able to attain, much less surpass, the greatness and boldness of his genius: of this there is proof in the purpose he has conceived of erecting a third Sacristy beside San Lorenzo, very large, and similar in manner to that formerly constructed there by Michelagnolo,^[94] but all of different marbles, and mosaic. Here he proposes to have deposited the remains of his departed children, of his father and mother, of the illustrious Duchess Leonora his consort, and of himself; all in tombs worthy of his power and greatness. Of this I have already prepared him a model after his own taste, and as he has himself ordered me to make it; when completed, then, this will be a new Mausoleum of truly regal magnificence.^[95]

And now it shall suffice me to have spoken thus much of myself, who have thus arrived, amidst many labours, to the age of fifty-five; but I am prepared to live so long as it shall please God, to his honour and for the service of my friends; and, so far as in me lies, will be ever ready to promote and work for the progress of these most noble arts.^[96]

[End of the Eife of Vasari, as written hy himself.]

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ADDENDA.

Piacenza, in tho Turinese edition of the Decennali of Baldinucci, has made various additions to the notices previously given of our Author by the accomplished churchman, Bottari; and of these we here reproduce such portions as seem best calculated to complete the biography left unfinished by the subject of it, supplying what was still wanting by reference to other authorities. From Bottari we find that in 1570 Vasari was once more in Rome, invited thither by Pope Pius V., who had requested the permission of Duke Cosimo to that effect, where he painted three Lunettes in the ascent, called the Cordonate, which connects the Court of San Damaso with the Loggia, &c., painted by Raphael. In the Sala Regia, also, there are numerous pictures by his hand; that over the entrance from the Scala Regia, for example, and which represents the Excommunication of the Emperor Frederick by Pope Gregory IX. The large picture, between the door of the Sistine Chapel and that of the Scala Regia, the Victory of Lepanto namely, is also by Vasari. “All these,” says Bottari, “are the work of Giorgio; but certain large figures, representing the Holy Church, Spain, and the Republic of Venice, are by Lorenzino, of Bologna.”

The picture next to this, a very beautiful one, is also by Giorgio, although it has been attributed to Taddeo Zucchero, but that painter died five years before the naval combat represented therein had taken place. It is true that the large figures are by Lorenzetto. The picture of Gregory IX., conducted by Santa Caterina, of Siena, and removing the Apostolic Seat into France, is another of Vasari’s works; the name and native place of the artist are written in the Greek character thereon, and this painting has more of Vasari’s usual manner than has that mentioned immediately before it. The Death of Coligny is in like manner by his hand, as were the Cartoons for other pictures here painted, but which were coloured by his disciples.

The Altar-piece in the private Chapel of San Pio, which represents the Death of St. Peter Martyr, is likewise by our artist; and the Cartoons for other pictures in the same Chapel are by his hand, but were executed by his disciples. The Vaulting of the first Chapel, belonging to the private apartments of His Holiness, and wherein.is the Descent of the Eallen Angels, was commenced in December, 1570; and in January, 1571, Vasari had already completed the designs for all the three Chapels, as well as nearly painted three pictures. On the 10th of February he wrote to the Prince, Francesco de’ Medici, informing him that he had brought to conclusion fifty-six pieces of the Cartoons for the three Chapels, and had sketched twelve large Cartoons for that of San Michele, with no other assistance than that of Sandro di Baldassare;^[97] having been impelled to this excess of haste by his wish to return to the Hall of the Palace in Florence, where he hoped to recommence his labours in the month of July then following.

One of the three Chapels above-named, that dedicated to San Pietro Martire namely, was thrown open to public view on the 30th of April in that year (1571); and with all these works on his hands, the Pope was still daily committing some new one to the care of the master; now it was to superintend the buildings in San Pietro; now to conduct the waters of the Acqua Vergine, from Salona to Rome; anon, to repair the Church of San Giovanni Laterano, or to execute other undertakings of similar character.

From May to December of 1571, we have no records, but Vasari may be presumed to have returned to Florence before the month of July, as his letters prove that he much wished to do; since we find that the paintings of the Great Hall, so frequently alluded to, were given to public view on the 5th of January, ]572.^[98]

But the master did not long remain in Florence, Pope Pius V. having again requested Duke Cosimo to permit him to return to Rome; and among other works he then executed a picture of San Girolamo in the Desert. But not all the labours here pressed on his attention by the Pope could divert his thoughts from a great undertaking, entrusted to his care by Duke.Cosimo, the painting of the Cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore, in Florence, namely, for the continuance of which Rome was at that moment a most commodious residence, since Vasari had there the Ceiling and other works of Michelagnolo, and in effect his letters soon began to make mention of a commencement of the Cartoons for the Cupola. His Holiness, meanwhile, resolved to have three Pictures painted in the Sala Regia, which should immortalize the memory of an event in which he had taken an essential part, the Battle of Lepanto namely; but the Cartoon for the third of these was not more than half completed* when Vasari was called on to begin the sketches of two other pictures for the same Pontiff; one of these represents the Magdalen borne to Heaven by Angels; the other, St. Jerome extracting the Thorn from the Foot of the Lion. The death of Pope Pius interrupted these labours, and Vasari returned to Florence, reposing for some days at Arezzo on his way, and writing thence to the Prince Francesco, to the effect that he was returning to his service in the expectation that he (the Prince) would close his eyes; the master sent at the same time the Cartoons which he had prepared for the Cupola.

In October of the same year, 1572, we find Vasari occupied in various labours for the Duke. He designed a Palace for him at the Capraia, in the Pisan territory, a small Church at Colle Mingoli, and some Fountains at the Castello. His preparations for painting the Cupola still continued, but he was at this time much disquieted by the fear of a summons to Rome; and in effect a letter from the Cardinal Buoncompagno soon announced to him that the new Pontiff, Gregory XIII., required his assistance for continuing those works of the Sala Regia, which he had already commenced; wherefore he was enjoined* to transport himself to Rome with liis best speed. Always anxious to gratify the Pontiff, the Duke opposed no resistance, but despatched his Giorgio to Rome with orders to obey Pope Gregory in all things, and expressing his satisfaction that the Holy Father “should have service from his men”—the phrase invariably used by Duke Cosimo on similar occasions.

Vasari deferred his departure nevertheless, being very ^{nota [99]} unwilling to leave Florence, but the Duke, conversing with him one day, suddenly said: “Giorgio, I do not see how we are to escape from this going to Rome of thine; for as that is the first thing His Holiness has requested from me, I do not think I can refuse it; there are, besides, none of our people at the Papal Court, and the intercourse that thou wilt assuredly have with His Holiness cannot but be useful to us; wherefore, get thyself ready, and before the weather breaks up 1 will despatch thee to the Pope, writing to him that I think his using what belongs to me a great kindness, but that he must speedily send thee back, because we want to finish our Cupola. This winter, meanwhile, thou canst be preparing thy Cartoons for the same, and as to that Sala (Regia), since thy designs and cartoons are so far advanced, I cannot but think that it will soon be finished. Take a good number of assistants with thee, and get on rapidly, for the Pope is old, and interruptions may again ensue.”

Having arranged his domestic affairs, and finished a picture of Humanity and Divinity, the appropriate symbols for which were suggested to him by his friend and counsellor, Don Vincenzio Borghini, Giorgio departed for Rome, where he arrived on the 11th of November, and there found that Pope Gregory desired him to paint the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, which had taken place that same year, and under his own Pontificate. Vasari had but little inclination to recommence his labours, and would fain have given place to the other painters then in Rome; but, unable to refuse, he commenced this work also, which he divided into three Stories.^[100] Duke Cosimo, meanwhile, was constantly urging the master to hasten his movements and return to him; when Giorgio, but too well accustomed to profit by his facility of hand, hurried through with all speed, and on the Corpus Domini of 1573, the Sala Regia was thrown open to public view. This work, which had been commenced by Paul HI., had successively occupied twelve painters,^[101] who had employed twenty-eight years in its completion, which was ultimately effected by Vasari (the thirteenth master engaged therein), under the Pontificate of Gregory XIII.^[102]

This brought infinite credit to Vasari, insomuch that, an inscription being demanded for the Hall from Yincenzio Borghini, the latter composed the following, of which the conceit was suggested to him, it is said, by our Giorgio himself:

“In thirty-nine years, which is three times thirteen, under six popes and by twelve excellent painters, this work had been continued, but not completed; wherefore Gregory XIII., Pontifex Maximus, commencing in the first year of his Pontificate, has brought it to conclusion in thirteen months, by the hand of Giorgio Vasari, the thirteenth painter.”

Very greatly did Vasari rejoice in the completion of this work, and the rather as his friends and benefactors, the principal personages of the papal Court, were never weary of congratulating themselves on the results obtained by his means; and had he possessed his earlier vigour and powers of labour, these nobles would have been only too glad to supply him with opportunities for the exercise of the same.

In the midst of all this triumph our beloved Giorgio was furthermore to be gratified by an invitation from Philip of Spain, who, by the mouth of Marcantonio Colonna, had despatched his request that Vasari would repair to the Spanish Court; but the latter refused, “desiring no higher glory than that already obtained; seeking no increase of riches, and resolving to attempt no new toils: being desirous, in short, of nothing more than the opportunity of reposing himself beneath the shadow of his own magnificent Sovereign.” He returned to Florence accordingly, and resumed his labours at the Cupola, the Pontiff expressing infinite grief at his departure, and consoling himself principally with the hope that Duke Cosirao would send the artist to him once more in the winter of 1574. But in the month of June of that year,^[103] worn out by the pains and fatigues of a life unusually active and laborious, the excellent master closed his mortal career, crowned with fame and honours, and very sincerely lamented.

Such was the life, and such the works, of Giorgio Vasari. Richly endowed by nature, he was furthermore aided by earnest zeal for the study of his art, and a persistent industry; but there were defects in his artistic education which neutralized these advantages to a certain extent; of those defects it is, however, not here our purpose to speak further. As an Architect, Vasari stands deservedly higher than as a Painter; as the Historian of the Arts, he occupies a position, the eminence of which has never been approached; he is the source from which all other writers draw their best and most important materials, and no work on the subject he treated can be opened, but his name shall be found, and that to useful purpose, on every page. We conclude with a few words from Bottari, to whose magnificent edition of our author’s works, published at Rome in 1759, we are indebted for many of the most valuable among the notes given in the present volumes.

“Having returned to Florence, the master betook himself to the painting of the great Cupola of the Duorao, but did not finish more than the Prophets which are around the Lantern, because he was interrupted by death; wherefore the completion of the same was confided to Federigo Zucchero.^[104]

“Vasari was in the sixty-third year of his age when he died; his remains were conveyed to his native city of Arezzo, where they were laid in the tomb of his family within the principal Chapel of the Decanal Church, which Chapel belongs to his house, and where very honourable obsequies were solemnized to his memory. His friends were almost all the learned men, and every distinguished artist of his time; while of the less distinguished he was himself the friend and protector.

Our Giorgio left behind him a very great reputation; more perhaps for the vast number than for the excellence of his pictures,^[105] but the beauty and perfection of his architectural works are not to be denied, seeing that

1. That our author was born in 1512 is ascertained from a letter written by him to Francesco de’ Medici, on the 10th April, 1573, where he says, “This time I feel weary, nay, exhausted; I am now sixty years old, and the fatigues to be endured in these works are such that my life can support them no longer. See Gaye, Carteggio inedilo dc Ariisii, vol. iii. p. 371.
2. In the Life of Lazzaro Vasari. See vol. ii. of the present work, p. 49, et seq.
3. At the end of the Life of Tomraaso di Stefano, called Giottino, Vasari declares himself to have profited greatly in his first youth by the repainting of certain figures; those of San Jacopo and San Filippo more particularly, which Giovanni Tossicani, a disciple of Giottino, had depicted in a Chapel of the Episcopal Church of Arezzo.
4. Bottari says not more than four months.
5. These frescoes, which were executed by our author at the age of eighteen, are still in the Fortico of the church.
6. A more extended description of this painting will be found in a letter written by Vasari to Niccolò Vespucci, and dated Rome, Feb. 8th, 1540. See the Passigli edition of our author’s work, Florence, 1838.
7. Of this picture, Giorgio sent the description to Ottaviano de' Medici. See Lettera ii., in the Edition of Vasari above named.
8. “Who would not become the friend of Vasari,” exclaims the Padre Della Valle, “if it were only for the sentiments of gratitude which he so manifestly entertained for all who had offered him kindness? How candidly does he relate whatever passes, how freely confess every obligation Oi whatsoever kind.” Very right you are, Della Valle, and truly may we affirm that those who have ventured to accuse our admirable Giorgio of ingratitude, injustice, presumption, or prejudice, have either never read more than garbled extracts of his works, or are themselves most justly chargeable with the defects they attribute to the kindly, upright, and most impartial Biographer.
9. For details respecting this picture, see the letter of Vasari to the Cardinal Ippolito de’ Medici, Lettera iv. of the Edition ut supra.
10. These paintings are believed to have perished when the palace was altered and enlarged on its acquisition by the Riccardi family, to whom it still belongs.
11. See Letters v. and vii. of the Passigli Edition. The portrait of Alexander, of which there is an outline in the Firenze Illustrata, will be found in the Uffizj.
12. For the picture of Abraham, see Lettera vi., and for that of Christ in the Garden, Lettera ix., loc. cit.
13. For details concerning these preparations, see letters xi. and xii., as above cited.
14. The Monastery of Santa Chiara, called delle Murate, has long been suppressed, and the fate of this work is not known.
15. Vasari does not mean that the Church of the Company was in Florence; it was at Arezzo, but that he executed the Altar-piece in the first-mentioned city. For details relating to the works here in question, see the admirable letter of our Giorgio to Baccio Rontini {Lettera xvi., loc. cit.) See also Lettere xiii. and xv. The first addressed to Francesco Rucellai, the second to Niccolb Serguidi.
16. To whom our author addressed a most pleasing letter on the subject of his abode at the Camaldoli. See Lettera xvii., loc. cit.
17. Many of our author's works still remain there; one at tho High Altar namely, two beside the same, one in the Infirmary, three in the Chapter House, and two in the choir above the church.
18. One of the best of Vasari’s works; it is an Assumption, and was painted after the many months of study in Rome to which he alludes imme* diately below.
19. Mentioned in the Life of Cristofano Gherardi. See vol. iv.
20. “Perhaps,’’ remarks Bottari, “our author here alludes to San Pietro Orseolo.”
21. The first of these pictures is in Milan, the other two are in Bologna; they are accounted among Vasari’s best works. — Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
22. The Frieze is still in the Refectory; the two pictures of Christ in the house of Mary and Martha, and St. Gregory at Table, are in the Gallery of Bologna; the latter bears the following inscription:—Giorgio Aretino faceva. cdxl.
23. Biagio Pupini, called also Maestro Biagio della Lame. He is mentioned in the Lives of Bartolomeo Bagnacavallo and of Benvenuto Garofolo.
24. Still in the church, and tolerably well preserved, but the picture has been somewhat injured by a common-place painter, who has added drapery to the figure of Adam.
25. This copy is now in the smaller room of the Tuscan School, in the Gallery of the Uffizj.
26. Now in the Royal Gallery of the Pitti.
27. For this rapidity of execution, which doubtless did wrong to his talents, Vasari has been reproached rather than extolled by later times, and with justice, up to a certain point, since it is certain that we do not now ask how long a time the master gave to his work, but how that work was accomplished. We are nevertheless to remember that if our admirable author prided himself in the promptitude of his execution, that came from the uprightness of character, which, causing him most justly to revolt from the unprincipled conduct of certain among his contemporaries w'ho unreasonably deferred, or, on too many occasions, even neglected altogether, to fulfil engagements for which they had received payment, may have caused him, in the pride of rectitude, and the recollection of his own fidelity to his engagements, somewhat to over-estimate the quality on question.
28. A Society instituted at Venice, in the commencement of the fifteenth century, by men of rank, who kept the people in good humour by their various festivals, while they also assisted and encouraged many young and able artists. For their ensign, the Calza, whence they took their name, see Martinelli, Del Costume Veneziana, p. 127.
29. In whose Life, which may be considered as the complement to that of Vasari, other works of our author are enumerated. See vol. iv. of the present work.
30. Now in the Pamphili Gallery.—Ed. Flor., 1846-51.
31. This work remained in the Farnese Palace until the year 1760, when it was taken to Naples.
32. The picture is no longer in the church.
33. Cardinal Salviati the younger.
34. Della Valle tells us that this passage is said to have greatly displeased the Neapolitans, who, as the Padre affirms, have taken considerable pains to prove the assertion inaccurate.
35. These pictures are now at Naples (in the Museo Borbonico).
36. The Presentation is also in the Borbonico.
37. There are still fifteen small pictures by Vasari in the Sacristy of San Giovanni a Carbonari, at Naples.
38. This also retains its place.
39. Of these works the present writer can find no trace.
40. The pictures, which have been mentioned in the Life of Cristofano Gherardi, are still in existence.
41. After the candour of this admission there seems little justice, and less generosity, in reproaching our good Giorgio with his too disinterested wish to oblige the Cardinal, as is so frequently done; his own evident sense of the injury sutfered by his reputation was assuredly a sufficient punishment, and his resolve to sin no more should be accepted as an ample amende. It may be true that he did not always maintain this resolve, but let him who has never broken a resolution throw the first stone.
42. In the following year our author sent a portion of the Lives to Caro accordingly, when the latter replying, in a letter which the reader will find in vol. i. of his Lettere Famigliari, encourages him to continue, exhorts him not to depart in any instance (as he had sometimes done) from the general simplicity of his own natural style, and ends by assuring him that he was performing “a beautiful and usehil work.” From this letter, as well as from internal evidence, to which we cannot here refer more minutely, it is manifest that the Lives of Vasari were written by himself, and not by Ton Silvano Hazzi or others, as some have affirmed.
43. On the suppression of the Convent, this picture was removed to the Altar of the Most Holy Sacrament, in the Church of Santa Croce.
44. ‘‘After various changes, this picture was sold in the year 1757 to the painter, Ignatius Hugford,” observes an Italian commentator; but the present writer has not been able to ascertain its subsequent destiny,
45. “Let the proof here given of Vasari’s freedom from presumption not fail to be remarked,” exclaims a compatriot of our author. Observe, too, the candour of his confession, that these writings were subjected to the correction of others; but this confession itself is a clear proof that the work was his own, and not that of another, with which it is obvious that he would not have taken any such liberty.

46. Thou, thou art she who hast ennobled high

    The human nature, so that He who formed

    Hath not disdained through Thee to live as man.

47. One of the finest of our author's paintings, and still (1846) in good preservation; but the pictures of the Cupola have disappeared; the intonaco had peeled off, according to Piacenza, and the walls were therefore whitewashed.
48. This work also is well preserved, and bears the master’s name, inscribed with his own hand.—Piacenza.
49. Whoever shall compare the unrestrained liberality with which our beloved Giorgio bestows his praise on the works of others, will be certain that this is true and not feigned modesty. He will remember how remarkable is the contrast which those warm eulogies present to the reserved and really diffident manner in which, not here only, but always, the admirable Vasari speaks of his own performances.
50. This great work still exists; the Refectory now serves as the Hall of Assembly for the Academicians. See Gaye, Carteggio inedito, vol. ii. p. 378. See also Gualandi, Memorie originali Italiane di Belle Arti, serie i. p. 85.
51. “It is true that Vasari painted many portraits,” remarks Masselli, “and it is also true that in these he appears greater than himself. This difference proceeds, as I believe,” he further adds, “from the fact that while taking a portrait he was compelled to keep the reality before him, and could not avail himself of that facility of hand which he turned to account in his larger compositions. See the Passigli Edition of our Authory Florence, 1832-8.
52. This letter is the second in the second volume of the Lettere Pittoriche, and is in the first volume of those of Annibale Caro. At the end of it are a few words relating to the Lives of the Artists, and these afford a further proof that the work was wholly by Vasari, and by no other hand; they are as follows:—“Of your other work” (the Lives namely), “there needs not that I speak here, since you are determined that we shall read them over together; but meanwhile, do you finish them entirely, for I am convinced that I shall have little to do unless it be to praise them.”
53. Bottari tells us that in his time there were no longer any of the pictures which Vasjiri speaks of himself as having painted for Bindo Altoviti, to be found in the possession of that family.
54. The colours of this picture scaled off, until the canvas remained bare, when it was removed, and an altar being erected in the place, a picture of the Annunciation was fixed over it. This happened in the year 1711.
55. The Treatise on the Practice of Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting, that is to say.
56. In the Lives of Simone Mosca, Michelagnolo, and Jacopo Sansovino.
57. This picture is still in the Chapel. —Ed. Flor., 1846-51.
58. In the Life of Francesco Salviati.
59. This picture forms the front of the Altar in the above-mentioned church.— Ed. Flor., 1846-51.
60. The exterior of this edifice is not wanting in a certain inelegance of proportion, but the deformities of the interior amply justify the remark of Vasari.—Masselli.
61. This is the prelate whom Michael Angelo called Tantecose, or Busy-body.
62. Bottari observes that Baglioni has mistaken the sense of this passage, making Vasari describe a range of painted columns, whereas the painting-s are stories, and the columns are really marble.
63. This figure, which Vasari designed with the advice of Michael Angelo and Annibale Caro, is described by the biographer in Lettera xix. of his Epistles, as given in the Passigli edition. See vol. ii. p. 1439.
64. In the Life of Gherardi, vol. iv. of the present work. Four letters respecting these frescoes, and addressed by Vasari to Sforza Almeni, will be found as above-cited; they are those numbered from 27 to 30.
65. In the “Ragionamento” namely, first published after the death of our author, by his nephew Giorgio Vasari, in the year 1588. They have since gone through many editions, and will be found in that fine one of our author’s collected works, first edited by Montani, then continued by Masselli, and published by Passigli in Florence, to which we have so frequently referred in the course of this Life.
66. Piacenza, speaking of Vasari’s architectural works, extols more particularly the staircases of this palace, remarking that they are exceedingly commodious, “insomuch, that he who ascends them, attains the highest floor of the building almost without perceiving that he has ascended.”
67. The paintings in question still exist.
68. This is the Holy Family, called the Madonna dell'Impannata. Now in the Royal Palace of the Pitti.
69. This is the Hall which was to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo, and wherein there was also to be a fine picture by Fra Bartolommeo. The paintings of Vasari are in good preservation, those in oil on the ceiling, meanwhile, are more esteemed than are the frescoes on the walls.
70. What can be more candid, upright, and creditable to the writer, whether as an artist or a man, than this dignified and most satisfactory exposition of his motives and proceedings? Consider also the character of the man, grateful and affectionate; his first impulse on receiving kindness was to do kindness, bat in double measure, in return. Highly favoured and liberally treated by the Duke, the first wish of our admirable master’s heart was to gratify Cosimo in his turn; to this wish he sacrificed his reputation, as well as his repose, consciously sacrificed it, dear as fame was to him, as is fully manifest. Compare this mode of proceeding with that of other artists of the period; paid for works "which no entreaty could prevail on them to complete; no sense of shame or higher motive could force them to fulfil their engagements: take the unprincipled and selfish Bandinelli, for example. Had Vasari been equally devoted to the interest, or supposed interest—for whose true interest can really consist in wrong doing?—of his own sole self, many proofs concur to convince us that his powers would have been proved equal on all points, as they are acknowledged to have been in many, to those of the greatest masters, Raphael and Michael Angelo alone perhaps excepted. All honour to the dear and upright Giorgio, therefore; and let us hope that his life of affectionate devotion had its rewards in a better kind of satisfaction than could have been derived by those more careful of their own interests and reputation, from the questionable proceedings whereby they but too frequently permitted themselves to seek their object.
71. These are Hertzig, Hall, Neustadt, Constance, Ebersdorf, Inspruck, Vienna, Presburg, Lintz, Fribourg (in Breisgau), Grätz, Kloster-Neubourg, Stein, Passau, and Prague.
72. Considered one of the finest of our author’s architectural works.' Many important letters respecting it, written partly by Vasari himself, partly by others, will be found in the work of Gaye so frequently cited, the Carteggio inedito di Artisti namely. See vol. iii. p. 55, et seq.
73. On this edifice the Duke is said to have proposed expending 15,000' crowns, but Vfisari found means to erect a building suflficient to the purpose., for a sum of 3,000. See Gaye, loc. cit.
74. Alluded to at the end of Bramante’s Life, when speaking of the Pistojese, Ventura Vitoni. See vol. ii. of the present work.
75. Where he arrived in February, 1567; Vasari found the Pope much pleased with the picture, and was commanded to examine, not only the works of San Pietro, but the Sistine Bridge, which was showing symptoms of weakness and decay. See Carteggio inedito, vol. iii. p. 233.
76. Which no longer exists.
77. In one of these pictures is a Last Judgment; this may still be seen in the Choir of Santa Croce del Bosco, the church in question. Vasari makes mention of the same in a letter to the Prince Francesco, as also in two others, one to Concino, the second likewise to Don Francesco. See Carteggio, &c., vol. hi. pp. 237, 239, 241.
78. The expression here used by Vasari is, “His Majesty,” a phrase which, like that of Messer Domeniddio (see ante^ p. 133), I should have been unwilling to disturb in its simplicity, had it not been for the fact that this phrase, then of such high and solemn import,has now become a comparatively common-place one, a mere title. Its use, as synonymous with “The Host,” will be fnmihar to such of our readers as are acquainted with Spain and the Spaniards, “Su Majestad” being the words by which they intimate that portion of the Sacrament permitted to the use of the laity. Vasari was a true “Conservative” of his day, a profound lover of order, and he could find no term more vividly expressive of his deep adoration than that wliich he here adopted.
79. This is the picture restored to Vasari by Pope Pius IV., as mentioned in the Life of Salviati.
80. Of the Host namely,
81. In the Life of Lazzaro Vasari. See vol. ii. of the present work, p. 55
82. In this picture is the portrait of Vasari himself. It is now in the Church, and has been placed in the Chapel of the Sacrament.
83. Where it still remains.
84. Our readers will not require to be reminded that the material emblems are here alluded to.
85. Bocchi, Bellezze di Firenza, has described and greatly eulogizes this picture, which is still in the church.
86. This is now in the Louvre, having been taken to Paris in 1813.
87. This picture is still in the Palace of the Marquis Ramirez di Montalvo, descendant of Vasari’s friend and protector, Antonio.
88. The work here in question serves as a kind of Canopy to the imitation of an organ.— Masselli.
89. This removal caused great regret to many, and not without reason, since it involved the destruction of numerous frescoes, among which were some by Mataccio, but unhappily not even these were spared.— Ed. Flor., 1846-51. See also Gaye, Carteggio, &c., vol. ii. Appendix, p. 480.
90. This picture is no longer in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, nor can its present place be ascertained.
91. Moisè, in his Illustrazione Storico-artistica di Santa Croce, has published a letter, wherein Vasari describes to Duke Cosinio with his own hand the mode in which he proceeded with this work. The Altar and Tabernacle are in wood, and were carved by Dionisio Nigetti.
92. The picture of Bronzino is in the Uffizj; that of Salviati retains its place in the church.
93. The pictures painted by Vasari for Santa Croce were three; they all remain in the church, and represent Christ bearing his Cross, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, and St. Thomas touching the wounded side of Our Lord. There is besides a fourth, the Last Supper namely, as mentioned in a previous note.
94. That subsequently erected is larger than the one by Michael Angelo. It was built after a design by the Prince Don Giovanni, brother of the Grand Duke Ferdinand I. The first stone was laid in 1604.— Masselli.
95. In the year 1836, the Commendator Pietro Benvenuti, of Arezzo, completed the painting of the Cupola, on which he had spent thirty years. —Masselli.
96. Vasari finished the printing of his Lives in 1568, in which year he also made his will, writing it with his own hand. This document, which will be found in the second volume of the Carteggio, pp. 502—518, affords further proof of our author’s admirable uprightness of mind and kindliness of heart. It bears date, the 25th of May, 1568.
97. Among the Cartoons made for the Pope were twelve large Stories, four from the History of Tobit, four from the Life of St. Stephen, and four from that of St. Peter Martyr. I'he remainder of the Cartoons are for the ceilings, among these the Fall of the Angels and the stories of Tobit still exist. These pictures have been usually attributed to Federigo Zucchero, but Gaye (see the Carteggio, vol. iii. p. 292) has proved them to be the works of Vasari.
98. For numerous details of much interest relating to this period, see Gaye, Carteggio inedito, vol. iii. p. 293. See also p. 305, note.
99. A minute description of these paintings, written by Vasari himself, in a letter to the Prince Francesco, and dated February 2nd, 1572, will be found in Gaye, ut supra, see vol. iii. p. 307—309.
100. For a minute description of these paintings, see Gave, as before cited vol. iii. p. 350.
101. Their names will be found in the Carteggio, vol. iii. p. 361.
102. Very curious and interesting details respecting these works will be found in Gaye, ut supra, vol. iii. p. 343.
103. The death of Giorgio was announced to Prince Francesco on the 27th of June, the day on which it happened, in a letter written by Pietro Vasari, brother of the master. See Carteggio, vol. iii. p. 389.
104. By whom, with the assistance of Passignano and others, it was finished after continual labour, in the year 1577* The compositions, wholly due to Vasari, will be found described by himself in the Ragionamento del Signor Cavaliere Giorgio Vasari, pittore ed architetto Aretino sopra le invenzioni da lui depinte in Firenza, nel Palazzo di Loro Altezze Serenissime, &c. It was published in Florence by the nephew of the master, also a “Giorgio Vasari,” in 1588, and was afterwards re-published under the title of Trattato della Pittura, &c.
105. Had Vasari thought less of obliging those to whom he believed himself indebted for kindness, or felt bound by his duties, and more of his own reputation, the result might, or rather would, have been different.