works in the March,[1] more particularly in Agobbio, where some of them are still to be seen. He worked in like manner throughout the whole state of Urbino. In the church of San Giovanni at Siena, this artist also laboured, and in the sacristy of the church of Santa Trinità, in Florence, he painted a picture representing the story of the Magi, in which he placed his own portrait.[2] In the church of San Niccolo, situated at the gate of Miniato, Gentile da Fabriano painted the picture for the high altar, a work which appears to me much superior to any other that I have seen from his hand. For, to say nothing of the Virgin surrounded by numerous Saints, which are all extremely well done, the predella of this picture, covered with stories from the life of San Niccolo, in small figures, could not possibly be more beautiful nor more perfectly executed than it is.[3] In the church of Santa Maria Nuova, in Rome, within a small arch above the tomb of the Florentine Archbishop of Piso, Cardinal Adimari, this master painted Our Lady with the Child in her arms,* she has St. Benedict on one side, and St. Joseph on the other. This tomb is beside that of Pope Gregory IX., and the painting here alluded to was held in high estimation by the divine Michel Angelo, who, speaking of Gentile, was wont to say, that his hand in painting resembled his name.[4] In Perugia, this master painted a picture, which is a very beautiful one, for the church of San Domenico, and a Crucifix, which, after having painted, he cut from the wood, in Sant’ Agostino di Bari; with three very beautiful figures in half-length, which are over the entrance to the choir.[5]
- ↑ The March of Ancona.
- ↑ This precious work, rich in figures small and large, and of admirable execution, is now in the Florentine Gallery of Fine Arts; it is authenticated by the name of the master, written in letters of gold, as follows:— Opus Gentilis De Fabriano. Mccccxxiii. Mensis Mali. — Schorn and Ed. Flor. 1849.
- ↑ The central part of this picture, in which was the Madonna, is lost. The figures of the Saints still remain, and are now in the choir of the church. The predella has disappeared, but a part of it came into the possession of the Cavalier Tommaso Puccini, by whose nephew and heir, the Cavalier Niccolo Puccini, it is now preserved in Pistoja.—Ed. Flor. 1849.
- ↑ This picture has perished.
- ↑ Gentile da Fabriano, in addition to his works in painting, is the author of three treatises relating to his vocation; one, on the Origin and Progress
