Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Andrea Orgagna

by Giorgio Vasari

 

ANDREA ORGAGNA,^[1] PAINTER, SCULPTOR, AND ARCHITECT, OF FLORENCE.

[born....—had ceased to live in 1376.]

We seldom find a man distinguishing himself in one branch of art, who cannot readily acquire the knowledge of others, more especially of those immediately connected with that to which his attention was first devoted, and which proceed, so to speak, from the same source. We have a case in point exhibited by the Florentine Orgagna, who was at once a painter, sculptor, architect, and poet, as will hereafter appear. Born in Florence, Andrea commenced the study of sculpture while still but a child, under Andrea Pisano,^[2] and to this he devoted himself earnestly for some years. Subsequently, being desirous of enriching his powers of invention and attaining distinction in the composition of historical works, he gave the most diligent attention to the practice of drawing, and herein he was powerfully aided by Nature, which had destined him to universality of attainment. He next, as one effort usually leads to another, made attempts at painting in colours, both in fresco and distemper, wherein he succeeded so well, with the assistance of his brother Bernardo Orgagna, that he was taken by the latter to paint in his company in the church of Santa Maria Novella, where, in the principal chapel, which then belonged to the family of the Ricci, the brothers executed together the life of Our Lady. When this work was finished it was considered very beautiful, but no long time after, by the neglect of those who had charge of the building, the roof was suffered to become unsound, when the painting was injured by the rains, and was then put into the state in which we now see it, as will be described in its proper place; let it suffice for the present to say that Domenico Ghirlandajo, by whom it was repainted, availed himself for the most part of Orgagna’s composition. In the same church, the chapel of the Strozzi, which is near to the fisano door of the sacristy and belfry, was also decorated in fresco by Andrea in company with his brother Bernardo. On one of the walls of this chapel, to which you ascend by a staircase of stone, the glory of Paradise was depicted with all the Saints, who are robed in the various vestments and headdresses of that age; on the opposite wall was a representation of the Inferno, with its abysmal dungeons, circles of fire, and other features, described by Dante, a poet whom Andrea studied most carefully.^[3] In the church of the Servites, in the same city of Florence, this master painted the chapel of the Cresci family in fresco, and also in company with his brother Bernardo.^[4] In San Piero Maggiore he executed a rather large picture, the Coronation of the Virgin, with a second picture in San Romeo,^[5] near the lateral door of the church.^[6]

In like manner, Andrea and his brother Bernardo together adorned the exterior facade of Sant’ Apollinare in fresco, a work which they executed with such extraordinary care that the colours, although in that exposed situation, have remained in wonderful preservation even to this day, when they are still fresh and beautiful.^[7] Moved by the fame of these works, which were highly praised, the men who at that time governed Pisa, caused Andrea to be summoned for the service of their Campo Santo, where he was appointed to paint a part of one of the walls, as had been already done by Giotto and Buffalmacco, wherefore, setting himself earnestly to work, Andrea painted a Last Judgment, with various fantasies of his own invention, on that side of the building nearest to the duomo and beside the Crucifixion of Buffalmacco. In the angle on which he commenced his work, Orgagna represented the temporal nobility of every degree, surrounded by all the pleasures of this world; they are seated in the midst of a meadow, enamelled with flowers and beneath the shade of orange-trees, forming a delicious grove; frolicsome Cupids are sporting among the branches of these trees, and hovering about the company beneath them, they joyously fly around the young girls of the party; all these figures thus seated are manifestly portraits, and were taken from the noble ladies and great personages of that day, but from the length of time that has now elapsed, they can no longer be recognized. The Cupids appear to be shooting their arrows at the young maidens, near whom are knights and nobles occupied in listening to music and songs, or in watching the dances of youths and maidens, who rejoice in the gladness of their youth and love. Among these nobles Orgagna has pourtrayed Castruccio, lord of Lucca; he is represented as a handsome youth, wearing a cap of azure blue, and holding a falcon on his hand, with other nobles of the same period near him, but whose names are not known. In short, he depicted with all possible diligence, in this first part of his work, whatever the world has to offer of most joyous and delightful, so far as the space would permit, and in accordance with the requirements of the art. On the other side of the same picture is a high mountain, on which Andrea has represented the life of those who, moved by repentance of their sins, and by desire for salvation, have retired from the world to that Solitude, which is occupied by holy hermits, whose days are passed in the service of God, and who are pursuing various occupations, with most animated expression and truth of effect; some, reading or praying, seem wholly intent on a life of contemplation; others, labouring to gain their bread, are actively employed in different ways; one hermit is seen milking a goat, nor would it be possible to imagine a more truthful and animated figure than he presents. On the lower part of the hill is St. Macarius, calling the attention of three kings, who are riding forth to the chase, accompanied by their ladies, and followed by their train, to human misery, as exhibited in three monarchs lying dead, but not wholly decayed, within a sepulchre. The living potentates, in varied and beautiful attitudes, regard this spectacle with serious attention, and one might almost say that they are reflecting with regret on their own liability shortly to become such as those they are looking upon. In one of these sovereigns, represented on horseback, Andrea has painted the likeness of Uguccione della Faggiuola of Arezzo; it is the figure who is holding his nose with one hand, to avoid the odour of the dead and putrid bodies. In the centre of the picture is Death, robed in black, and flying through the air; the form is that of a woman, and she clearly intimates that by her scythe, the crowds lying dead on the earth beneath her have been deprived of life. All states and conditions are there: rich and poor, young and old, men and women; the strong and blooming, together with the sick and faded, some of every age in short, and all in large numbers. And as Andrea knew that the Pisans were pleased with the invention of Buffalmacco, who caused the figures of Bruno, in San Paolo a Bipa d'Arno, to speak, by making the words issue from their mouths, so he filled his whole work with such inscriptions, the greater part of which have been destroyed by time, and are no longer intelligible; among some still legible, are the following, uttered by old crippled men, whom he has made to exclaim as below:—

"Dacche prosperitacle ci ha lasciati,
O morte, medicina d'ogni pena,
Deh vieni a darne ormai l'ultima cena"^[8]—

with other words that cannot be deciphered, and verses in the old manner, composed, as I find, by Orgagna himself, who gave his attention to poetry also, and occasionally wrote a sonnet. Around these dead bodies devils are moving; they busily tear the souls of the departed from their mouths, and carry them off to certain fiery gulfs, seen at the summit of a very high mountain: opposite to these devils are angels, who approach others of the dead, which have manifestly belonged to the good, and in like manner, drawing the souls from their mouths, they bear them flying to Paradise. On a scroll, supported by two angels, the following verses are written:

"Ischermo di savere e di ricehezza
Di nobilitate ancora e di prodezza
Vale neente ai colpi di costei"—

with some other words which cannot easily be read.^[9] Beneath this, and in the ornamental border surrounding the

picture, are nine angels, who bear other inscriptions, on scrolls prepared for that purpose, some in Latin, some in Italian; they are placed thus on the border, because they would have spoiled the effect if suffered to stand in the midst of the picture, but their not being admitted to the body of the work seems to have displeased the author, by whom they were considered most beautiful, and so perhaps they were, according to the taste of that age. For our part, we omit the greater part of them, that we may not fatigue our readers with matter so far from amusing and so little to the purpose, and besides, as the larger portion of these inscriptions are cancelled, the remainder are nothing more than fragments.^[10] When that portion of the work was completed, Orgagna commenced the Last Judgment, wherein he represented Jesus Christ, seated on high amidst the clouds, and surrounded by the twelve Apostles, to judge the quick and the dead. The master lias here displayed the different emotions proper to the occasion, with infinite art and most life-like truth. On the one side he has shown the grievous misery of the condemned, who weep bitterly as they are torn away by furious demons, f who lead them to the infernal regions; and, on the other, are seen the joy and gladness of the good, whom a choir of angels, guided by the archangel Michael, are happily conducting towards the right hand, or the abode of the blessed. And now is it truly to be lamented, that for want of writers to record the names of all that crowd of persons represented—knights, nobles, and other men of distinction, all evidently drawn and figured from the life— scarcely any, or at least but very few, are known, or can be identified: it is true that the pope in this picture is said to be Innocent IV, the friend of Manfredi,^[11] but of the other figures very few are authenticated. After completing this work, and also certain sculptures in marble, which he executed greatly to his honour in the church of the Madonna, on the Ponte Yecchio, Orgagna returned to Florence, leaving his brother Bernardo working alone in the Campo Santo, where he painted an Inferno, as it is described by Dante; and this work of Bernardo’s having suffered great injury, was restored in the year 1530 by Sollazzino, a painter of our own day.^[12] In Florence he continued his labours, painting a very large fresco on one of the walls of the church of Santa Croce,^[13] near the centre of the building. The subject of this work is that which he had previously treated in the Campo Santo of Pisa, in three similar divisions, but the story of St. Macarius, exhibiting the dead kings, and that of the hermits on the mountain, is omitted. Repeating all the other parts of the Pisan pictures, he executed the Florentine work with improved design and greater care than he had bestowed on that of Pisa, but pursuing a similar plan as to the composition, as well as in the manner, inscriptions, and other accessories; in this respect the only change was in the portraits from life, those of the Florentine picture pourtraying his friends on one side, whom he placed in Paradise, and his enemies on the other, who were stationed in the Inferno. Among the good may be distinguished the profile of Pope Clement VI, drawn from the life, with the triple-crown on his head: this pontiff was very favourable to the Florentines. and possessed many of Orgagna’s paintings, which he prized greatly. During his pontificate, the jubilee of one hundred years was changed to one of fifty. Also among the blessed is Messer Dino del Garbo,^[14] an eminent physician of that time, attired as was then customary among physicians, and wearing a red cap lined with grey miniver; an angel holds him by the hand. There are, besides, other portraits, of which the originals are not known. Among the condemned, Orgagna has placed Guardi, serjeant of the commune of Florence, whom the devil drags along by a hook; he is distinguished by the three red lilies in his white cap, then the accustomed head-dress of sergeants, beadles, and others of that class. This Andrea did because Guardi had seized his goods for debt. The judge and notary who had acted against him on the same occasion were similarly represented by the painter among the sinners of the Inferno. Near Guardi is Cecco d’Ascoli,^[15] a famous magician of that day; and a little above him, towards the centre of the painting, is a hypocritical friar, who issues from a tomb, and seeks furtively to mingle with the good, but is discovered by an angel, who drives him into the midst of the condemned.^[16]

Andrea Orgagna had another brother, besides Bernardo, who was called Jacopo, and who devoted himself to sculpture, but with no great success; for this brother Andrea sometimes made designs in relief, and while thus working in clay, he conceived an inclination to do something in marble, and to ascertain if he yet remembered the principles of that art, to which he had given his attention, as we have seen, in Pisa. He now, therefore, applied himself earnestly to this study and profited so greatly, that he afterwards availed himself of these labours, very much to his credit, as shall be related in the sequel. Andrea next devoted himself, with the utmost diligence, to the study of architecture, believing that he should find this also useful to him at some future day; nor was he deceived in that expectation—the commune of Florence, having purchased the houses of several citizens, in the year 1355, for the purpose of extending their buildings and enlarging the piazza, caused various designs to be prepared, and Andrea was among the masters who offered their plans to the consideration of the commune. The proposed erections consisted of a building wherein the citizens might assemble during the winter, or in bad weather, for the arrangement of such affairs as they were accustomed to transact in the uncovered arcade, when the weather offered no impediment: and the commune determined to build a magnificent Loggia, near the palace, for that purpose, together with an edifice for the mint. Among the plans then presented by the best masters of the city, the one universally approved was that of Orgagna, and this the commune accepted, as being more extensive, magnificent, and beautiful, than any other. After his design, therefore, according to the determination of the signori and the commune, the grand Loggia of the piazza was commenced, on the foundations laid at the time of the duke of Athens, the building being diligently and carefully constructed of hewn stone. And on this occasion a method, new to those times, was introduced: the arches, namely, of the vault, instead of being pointed, as they had previously been, were turned in half-circles, after a new and muchlauded manner.^[17] The whole fabric was one of infinite grace and beauty; and was completed, under the direction of Orgagna,^[18] in a very short time. And if the builders had had the forethought to construct their work beside San Romolo, and had turned its back to the north, it would have been as useful to the whole city as it is beautiful. This they probably neglected to do, from the wish to have it close to the palace gate; but the consequence is, that during the winter no one can endure to remain in the Loggia, for the sharpness of the wind. Between the arches of the front, and among other ornaments, by his own hand, Orgagna sculptured seven marble figures in mezzo-relievo, representing the seven theological and cardinal Virtues,^[19] which are so admirably done, that, taken in conjunction with the rest of the work, they prove this master to have been no less excellent as a sculptor, than he was as a painter and architect. In addition to his talents, Andrea was, besides, endowed with a most cheerful disposition and kind heart; no man, of his condition, was ever more amiable, or of pleasanter manners. While occupied with any one of his three professions, Andrea never neglected the other two; thus, while the Loggia was in progress of construction, he painted a picture in distemper, comprising many large figures, with smaller ones on the predella. This picture was intended for that chapel of the Strozzi wherein he had previously executed certain works in fresco, with his brother Bernardo; and here, believing that this painting would offer more conclusive testimony to his skill in art, than could be presented by his labours in fresco, he in scribed his name in the following words:—

“anno domini mccclvii, andreas cionis de florentia me pinxit.”^[20]

This work being completed, Andrea executed other pictures, also on panel, which were sent to the pope, in Avignon, and are still in the cathedral church of that city. Shortly after, the men of the brotherhood of Orsanmichele, having collected large sums of money by the ordinary alms-giving, and in consequence of the mortality which prevailed in 1348, when large donations of money and lands were offered to their Madonna, determined to construct a chapel, or rather tabernacle, around her, enriched not only with marbles, sculptured in all possible ways, and adorned with other rich stones of price, but decorated moreover with mosaics and ornaments of bronze; embellished, in short, to the utmost extent practicable to the art of the period. They resolved that the building should surpass all that had been previously erected of that size, as well for the workmanship as the material, and therefore confided the charge of the whole to Orgagna, as being the most excellent artist of that age; and he prepared so many designs for the edifice, that one was at length found to please those who ruled in the matter, and they declared it better than all the others. Thereupon, resigning the undertaking to Orgagna’s hands, they referred the whole to his judgment and opinion * wherefore, employing various masters in sculpture, selected from different countries, to execute all other parts of the work, he devoted his own attention, with that of his brother Bernardo, to the figures; and having finished them all, he caused the several parts to be most ingeniously and carefully put together, without cement, but with fastenings of lead and copper, to the end that no spot or blemish should lessen the beauty of the polished and shining marbles. In all this he proceeded with the most perfect success, completing the whole, to his own great honour, as well as to the benefit of the artists who succeeded him; for this work, which, in consequence of the mode of junction discovered by Orgagna, makes the spectator believe the entire chapel to be formed of one block of marble, must have served many succeeding artists as a useful model. And although this chapel is in the Teutonic manner, it has nevertheless so much grace, and is so beautifully proportioned, according to that style, as to hold the first place among the works of the period. The composition consists principally of large and small figures, in mezzo-rilievo, representing angels and prophets surrounding the Madonna, and all most beautifully executed. Wonderful, also, is the casting of the bronze girders and supports, which are all carefully polished: the whole building is clasped around, and upheld, in such sort by these bronze fastenings, that the strength of the work is no less remarkable than its beauty, which last is admirable in all parts of the chapel. But how earnestly Andrea laboured to display the mastery of his genius before the eyes of that rude age, is made more than ever manifest in the large historical piece, executed in mezzorilievo, on the back part of this tabernacle, where he has placed the twelve apostles—figures which are each a braccia and a half high; they look up towards the Madonna, who is ascending to heaven in an oviform Gloria, surrounded by angels. In one of these apostles, Orgagna lias left us his own portrait, taken as an old man, which he then was; the beard is shaven, the large capote wound about the head, the face is round and flat, as seen in the likeness above,^[21] which was taken from the relief in question. In addition to this, the following words are inscribed in the marble beneath:—

“andreas cionis pictor florentinus oratorii archimagister extitit hujus mccclix.”

It appears that the building of the above-mentioned Loggia, and of the tabernacle just described, with all its workmanship, cost 96,000 florins of gold,^[22] which were extremely well spent; for whether, as regards the architecture, sculpture, or other ornaments, it is certainly not surpassed in beauty by any work of that period; but is such, that for the part he has taken in it, the name of Andrea Orgagna has been, and ever will be, great and enduring. It was the custom of this master to sign himself Andrea di Cione, sculptor, on his paintings; and Andrea di Cione,^[23] painter, on his sculptures, desiring that men should be aware of his claims as a sculptor while they were admiring his paintings, and of his talents as a painter while they examined his sculptures. There are numerous pictures in Florence by this artist, some of which are known by the name, as is the painting in San Borneo, before alluded to; others are recognised by the manner, as, for example, a work in the chapter-house of the monastery degli Angioli.^[24] Some pictures, which Andrea left unfinished, were completed by his brother Bernardo, who survived him, but not many years. Andrea amused himself, as we have before said, in making verses; and when he was very old, he wrote certain sonnets, addressed to Burchiello, who was then a youth.^[25] Finally, having attained the age of sixty years, he finished the course of his life, in the year 1389;^[26] || and from his house, which was in the Via Yecchia de’ Corazzai, he was honourably borne to the tomb.^[27]

There lived many excellent masters, both in sculpture and architecture, at the same time with Orgagna; their names are not known, but their works still remain, and are not without merit, nor unworthy of praise. Among these may be noted the monastery of the Certosa, in Florence, built at the cost of the noble family of the Acciaiuoli, and more particularly of Messer Niccola, grand seneschal of the king of Naples; with the tomb of the seneschal (on which may be seen his portrait, taken from nature), and that of his father and one of his sisters, the covering of which is of marble, whereon the portraits of the two personages interred beneath are also very well executed. These works are of the year 1366, or thereabout. By the same masters is likewise the sepulchre of Messer Lorenzo, son of the aforesaid Niccola, who died at Naples, but was brought to Florence and deposited in this tomb, with all the honourable solemnities of funereal pomp. In like manner, and by the same artists, is the sepulchre of Cardinal Santa Croce, a member of the same family; this was placed in the choir, which was then rebuilt, and near the high altar. The cardinal’s portrait, extremely well executed, in the year 1390, is sculptured on the tomb.

The Pisan artist, Bernardo Nello di Giovanni Falconi,^[28] was a pupil of Andrea Orgagna: he painted many pictures in the cathedral of Pisa. The Florentine, Tommaso di Marco, was also Andrea’s disciple: this master, besides many other works, painted a picture in 1392, which is still in the church of Sant’ Antonio di Pisa, appended to the cross aisle.^[29] After the death of Andrea, his brother Jacopo, who had applied himself to sculpture and architecture, as we have before said, was occasionally employed; as, for example, in the year 1328,^[30] when the tower and gate of San Piero Gattolini were founded and built. It is also asserted that the four stone lions, which were placed on the four corners of the ducal palace of Florence, and entirely covered with gold, are from his hand.^[31] This work was severely criticised, a much heavier weight than was advisable having been laid on those points, without any reason for its being there; and many thought, that if those lions had been made hollow within, and constructed of plates of copper, gilded in the fire, they would have been much better suited to that place, as being much lighter and more durable. The horse, in full relief and gilded, which stands over one of the doors in Santa Maria del Fiore (the door leading to the oratory of the confraternity of St. Zenobius), is also said to be by this master. It was erected, as is affirmed, in memory of Piero Farnese, Captain of the Florentines; this I will not avouch, but I know nothing to the contrary.^[32] At the same period, Mariotto, the nephew of Andrea, painted the Paradise in fresco, still to be seen in the church of San Michele Bisdomini, in the Via de’ Servi, in Florence, with the picture of the Annunciation for the altar. He also painted a second picture, which contained many figures, for the lady Cecilia de’ Boscoli, which was likewise placed in the same church, near the door.^[33]

But among all the disciples of Orgagna, none was found superior to Francesco Traini. This master painted a picture on a gold ground, for a nobleman of the house of Cosci-a, who lies entombed in Pisa, in the chapel of San Domenico, in the church of Santa Catarina. The subject of this work is San Domenico himself,^[34] two braccia and a half in height, and is surrounded by six historical scenes, representing so many events of his life; the whole work is full of animation, and the colouring is beautiful. In the same church, and in the chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, Francesco Traini painted a picture in distemper, the fanciful invention and peculiar composition of which has been much admired. St. Thomas is here represented sitting, the portrait being taken from life; I say from the life, because the monks of the convent caused a figure of the saint to be brought from the abbey of Fossanuova, where St. Thomas had died in the year 1323.^[35] The saint, then, is seated among the clouds, with certain books in his hand, from which proceed rays of light, whereby the congregated people of Christ are illuminated. These are represented in the lower part of the picture by kneeling figures of doctors and clergy of all ranks, in vast numbers, bishops, cardinals, and popes. Among the latter is the portrait of pope Urban VI. Under the feet of St. Thomas are Sabellius, Arius, Averroes, and other heretics and philosophers, with their books all torn to pieces. On one side of the Saint stands Plato, pointing to the Timaeus; and on the other is Aristotle, who calls the attention of St. Thomas to his Ethics. Above all is Jesus Christ, also in the air, surrounded by the four Evangelists. The Saviour is in the act of blessing St. Thomas, and appears to be sending down upon him the Holy Spirit, filling him with his grace.^[36] When this work was finished, it obtained high reputation and repeated eulogies for the painter Francesco Traini, he having therein greatly surpassed his master, Andrea, in colouring, harmony, and invention.^[37] The drawings of Andrea Orgagna were executed with infinite care, as may be seen in our book.

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1. For various opinions concerning the true orthography of this name, see the notes to Rio, Della Poesia Cristiana, etc., Italian translation, Venice, 1841; the Antologia di Firenze, vol. iii; and Rumohr, vol. ii.
2. Cione, the father of Andrea di Cione Orgagna (for such is the best authenticated form of his name), was a celebrated goldsmith, and it is probable that Andrea acquired the first rudiments of art under his care.
3. Andrea afterwards painted the altar-piece of this chapel, as will be seen hereafter; and this work, as well as the mural paintings, is still in good preservation.
4. These works have perished.
5. This picture, the fate of which had long remained unknown, has been lately discovered, and purchased, by the Signors Francesco Lombardi and Ugo Baldi, of Florence, to enrich their important collection of ancient masters.— Ed. Flor. 1848.
6. More commonly known as San Remigio. Of this picture (the subject of which Vasari does not tell us, we cannot ascertain the history.
7. They have now, unhappily, perished.
8.    " Since nought of happiness to us remains,
      Come, then, 0 Death!—the cure for every grief—
      Give our last supper, and relief from pain."
   
   
9. “ The words that Vasari did not take the trouble to read,” says the Florentine edition of 1848, “are as follows:—

   “ Ed ancor non si truova contra lei
   O lettore, niuno argomento.
   Eh! non avere lo ’ntelletto spento
   Di stare sempre in apparecchiato
   Che non ti giunga in mortale peccato.”

   The whole may be translated thus:—

   “ Nor wisdom’s aid, nor riches may avail,
   Nor proud nobility, nor valour’s arm,
   To make thee shelter from the stroke of death;
   Nor shall thine arguments, O reader sage,
   Have force to change her purpose: wherefore, turn
   Thy wealth of thought to its best use—be thine
   The watch unsleeping, ever well prepared,
   That so she find thee not in mortal sin.”

10. Of this picture, which is known under the name of the Triumph of Death, there is a plate in Lasinio, Pitture del Campo Santo di Pisa. See also Rosini, Descrizione delle Pitture del Campo Santo di Pisa, Pisa, 1816.
11. This must be considered an error of the press, and should be read “enemy”, and not “ friend” (“nemico”, and not “amico”), as our readers will readily perceive.
12. See Morrona, Pisa Illustrata, for a copper-plate, which proves that Sollazzino departed widely from the original work in this restoration. See also Lasinio, Pitture del Campo Santo di Pisa.
13. This work is lost.
14. For an account of this physician and medical writer, see Tiraboschi, Storia Litteraria.
15. Cecco d’Ascoli, a distinguished mathematician, poet, and physician, was publicly burnt in Florence, for heresy, on the 16th September 1327. The physician Dino del Garbo is accused of having caused, or at least contributed to, this fearful catastrophe. For further details respecting these Florentines, see Villani, Storie, lib. x, cap. xxxix. See also Mazzuchelli, Scrittori Italiani, where a much more circumstantial account of this tragedy will be found.
16. These pictures no longer exist.
17. Many examples prove the rounded arch to have been used long i before the time of Orgagna. See the learned dissertation of Niccolini, [i pp. 57 -62. See also Lasinio; and Misserini, Piazza del Granduca, etc.
18. Niccolini denies that Andrea completed the Loggia, but supposes it to have been finished entirely after his design, from reverence to his memory, probably by his brother Bernardo.
19. These Virtues are six, the seventh is the figure of the Virgin. They are declared by Baldinucci to have been designed by Agnolo Gaddi, in 1367, and sculptured bv a certain Jacopo di Pisa, about 1368.
20. This picture, which still retains its place, and is in good preservation, deserves to be considered one of the best works of the master.— Montani.
21. In the second edition of Vasari, that is, published during the life of the author, in 1568.
22. In the first edition of Vasari, we read 86,000; and this, according to Bottari, is most probably the right reading.
23. As Francia placed aurifex on his pictures, and pictor on his works in gold.
24. The fate of this picture is unknown.
25. Burchiello also wrote sonnets to Orgagna, which the reader may see in Burchiello’s works, printed in London, 1757.
26. If this date were correct, the birth of Andrea must be placed in 1329; from a document published by Professor Bonaini, in his Memorie Inedite, pp. 105-6, we find that Orgagna was dead in 1376, not 1375, as Manni has it in his note to Baldinucci.
27. In the first edition of Vasari, the following epitaph is quoted, as having been written on Orgagna.

    “ hic jacet andreas quo non priestantior alter
    aere fvit; patriae maxima fama suae. ”

28. The only authenticated relic of this master, is a portion of one of the historical scenes in the Campo Santo of Pisa, an engraving from which may be seen in Lasinio. See Rosini, Storia della Scultura, vol. ii, p. 7.
29. This painting is no longer in existence. It was destroyed when that part of the church wherein it hung was altered.
30. Here there is a manifest confusion of dates. Viliam says 1327; but then Andrea Orgagna was not dead;—he was not born, indeed, according to Vasari, who makes him die in 1389, at the age of sixty.
31. The Roman edition of Vasari, published in 1759, has a note to the effect that one of these lions, greatly dilapidated, was then still remaining “ on the corner next the great fountain.” The Florentine edition of 1846, has the following query: “ On a pedestal, at one corner of the piazza of the Palazzo Vecchio (that opposite to the great fountain), is a lion, half-consumed by time. Can this possibly be one of those sculptured by Jacopo Orgagna?”
32. This horse, made of wood, covered with canvas, was removed in the year 1842, when the cathedral was restored.
33. The pictures of Mariotto, in San Michele Bisdomini (now San Michelino), were destroyed in the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the church was rebuilt.
34. Respecting this picture, all writers have hitherto maintained silence, its fate being unknown; but it has been discovered within the last few years, by Professor Francesco Bonaini. See Memorie Inedite, etc., p. 5, et seq.
35. “ St. Thomas Aquinas,” says the Roman edition, “died, not in 1323, but in 1274, being then in his forty-eighth year.”
36. This most beautiful picture, although changed from its Gothic form to that of a rectangle, and in some parts restored, is still tolerably well preserved, in the church of Santa Catarina at Pisa.—Ed. Flor. 1846.
37. Leclanche tells us that there is a Nativity of the Virgin, by Andrea Orgagna, in the Louvre; but Schorn expresses doubt of its authenticity, and does not consider it to be by Orgagna. The latter commentator mentions a picture of the Annunciation, in the Florentine Academy, and intimates an opinion that this may be the lost painting from St. Romeo. See ante page 214.