Chapter 11

Stefano, painter of Florence and pupil of Giotto, was so excellent that not only did he surpass all the artists who had studied the arts before him, but he so far surpassed his master himself that he was deservedly considered the best of the painters up to that time, as his works clearly prove. He painted the Madonna in fresco for the Campo Santo at Pisa, and it is somewhat superior in design and colouring to the work of Giotto. In the cloister of S. Spirito at Florence he painted three arches in fresco, in the first of which, containing the Transfiguration with Moses and Elias, he represented the three disciples in fine and striking attitudes. He has formed a fine conception of the dazzling splendour which astonished them, their clothes being in disorder, and falling in new folds, a thing first seen in this picture, as he tried to base his work upon the nude figures, an idea which had not occurred to anyone before, no not even to Giotto himself. Under that arch, in which he made a Christ releasing a demoniac, he drew an edifice in perspective, perfectly, in a style then little known, displaying improved form and more science. He further executed it in the modern manner with great judgment, and displayed such art and such invention and proportion in the columns, doors, windows and cornices, and such different methods from the other masters that it seemed as if he had begun to see some glimpses of the light of the good and perfect manner of the moderns. Among other ingenious things he contrived a very difficult flight of steps, which are shown both in painting and in relief, and possess such design, variety, and invention, and are so useful and convenient that Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, the elder, made use of the design for the steps outside the palace of Poggio a Caiano, now the principal villa of the Most Illustrious Duke. In the other arch is a representation of Christ saving St Peter from the fury of the waters, so well done that one seems to hear the voice of Peter saying: _Domine, salva nos, perimus_. This work is considered much finer than the other, because, besides the grace of the draperies, there is a sweetness in the bearing of the heads, a fear of the fortunes of the sea, while the terror of the apostles at various motions and appearances of the water, are represented in very suitable attitudes and with great beauty. And although time has partly destroyed the labour expended by Stefano on this work, one may still discern confusedly that the apostles are defending themselves with spirit from the fury of the winds and waves. This work, which has been highly praised by the moderns, must certainly have appeared a miracle in all Tuscany at the time when it was produced, Stefano then painted in the first cloister of S. Maria Novella a St Thomas Aquinas, next a door, where he also made a crucifix which has since been much damaged by other painters in restoring it. He also left unfinished a chapel in the church, which he began, now much damaged by time. In it may be seen the fall of the angels through the pride of Lucifer, in divers forms. Here it is noteworthy that the foreshortening of the arms, busts, and legs of the figures is much better done than ever before, and this shows us that Stefano began to recognise and had partially overcome the difficulties which stand in the way of the highest excellence, the mastery of which by his successors, by means of unremitting study, has rendered their works so remarkable. For this cause artists have well named him the ape of nature.

Some time after Stefano was invited to Milan where he began many things for Matteo Visconti, but was not able to complete them, because having fallen sick owing to the change of air, he was compelled to return to Florence. There he regained his strength and executed in fresco in the chapel of the Asini in S. Croce, the story of the martyrdom of St Mark by being drawn asunder, with many figures which possess merit. As a pupil of Giotto he was then invited to Rome where he did in fresco for the principal chapel of St Peter's, which contains the altar of that saint, some scenes from the life of Christ between the windows of the large apse, with such care that he approaches very closely to the modern style and surpasses his master Giotto in design and other things. After this he executed in fresco, at Araceli, on a pillar beside the principal chapel on the left, a St Louis, which is much admired because it possesses a vivacity which had not been apparent in any works up to that time, not even in those of Giotto. Indeed Stefano had great facility in design, as may be seen in a drawing by his hand in our book, in which the transfiguration is represented which he made for the cloister of S. Spirito, and indeed in my opinion he designed much better than Giotto. He next went to Assisi and in the apse of the principal chapel of the lower church, where the choir is, he began a representation in fresco of the Heavenly Glory; and although he did not finish it, what he did perform shows that he used the utmost diligence. In this work he began a series of saints with such beautiful variety in the faces of the youths, the men of middle age and the old men, that nothing better could be desired, and those blessed spirits exhibit so sweet and so united a style that it appears all but impossible that they could have been done by Stefano at that time. He however did execute them, although no more than the heads of the figures are finished. Above them is a choir of angels rejoicing in various attitudes, appropriately carrying theological symbols in their hands. All are turned towards a crucified Christ who is in the midst of the work immediately above a St Francis, who is surrounded by a multitude of saints. Besides this he made some angels as a border for the work, each of them holding one of those churches of which St John the Evangelist writes in the Apocalypse. These angels are represented with such grace that I am amazed to find a man of that age capable of producing them. Stefano began this work with the intention of thoroughly completing it, and he would have succeeded had he not been forced to leave it imperfect and to return to Florence on some important affairs of his own. During this stay at Florence and in order to lose no time, he painted for the Granfigliazzi lung' Arno, between their houses and the ponte alle Carraia in a small tabernacle on one side, Our Lady seated sewing, to whom a clothed child who is seated, is offering a bird, done with such care that although it is small it merits no less praise than the more ambitious efforts of the master.

On the completion of this work and the settling of his affairs, Stefano was summoned to Pistoia by the lords there, and was set by them to paint the chapel of St James in the year 1346. In the vault he did a God the Father with some apostles, and on the side walls the life of the saint, notably the scene where his mother, the wife of Zebedee, asks Jesus Christ to permit that her two sons shall sit, one on His right hand and the other on His left in the kingdom of His Father. Near this is a fine presentation of the beheading of the saint. It is thought that Maso, called Giottino, of whom I shall speak afterwards, was the son of this Stefano, and although, on account of his name, many believe him to be the son of Giotto, I consider it all but certain that he was rather the son of Stefano, both because of certain documents which I have seen, and also because of some notices written in good faith by Lorenzo Ghiberti and by Domenico del Grillandaio. However, this may be, and to return to Stefano, to him is due the credit of the greatest improvement in painting since the days of Giotto; because, besides being more varied in his inventions, he showed more unity in colouring and more shading than all the others, and above all, in diligence he had no rival. And although the foreshortenings which he made exhibit, as I have said, a bad manner owing to the difficulties of execution, yet as the first investigator of these difficulties he deserves a much higher place than those who follow after the path has been made plain for them. Thus a great debt is due to Stefano, because he who presses on through the darkness and shows the way, heartens the others, enabling them to overcome the difficulties of the way, so that in time they arrive at the desired haven. In Perugia also, in the church of S. Domenico, Stefano began in fresco the chapel of St Catherine which is still unfinished.

At the same time there lived a Sienese painter, called Ugolino, of considerable repute, and a great friend of Stefano. He did many pictures and chapels in all parts of Italy. But he kept in great part to the Byzantine style, to which he had become attached by habit, and always preferred, from a caprice of his own, to follow the manner of Cimabue rather than that of Giotto, which was held in such esteem. His works consist of a picture for the high altar of S. Croce, on a gold ground, and another picture which stood for many years on the high altar of S. Maria Novella, and which is now in the chapter-house, where every year the Spanish nation celebrates with a solemn feast the day of St James and its other offices and burial services. Besides these he did many other things in a good style, but without in the least departing from the manner of his master. It was he who painted on a pillar of bricks in the loggia, which Lapo had built on the piazza of Orsanmichele, that Madonna which, not many years after, worked so many miracles that the loggia was for a great time full of images, and to this day is held in the highest veneration. Finally, in the chapel of M. Ridolfo de' Bardi, in S. Croce, where Giotto painted the life of St Francis, he did a crucifix in tempera with the Magdalene and St John weeping, and two friars on either side. Ugolino died at an advanced age in the year 1349, and was honourably buried at Siena, his native place.

But to return to Stefano, who, they say, was also a good architect, and what has been said above makes this likely; he died, it is said, at the beginning of the Jubilee of 1350, at the age of forty-nine, and was buried at S. Spirito in the tomb of his ancestors with this epitaph:

Stephano Florentino pictori, faciundis imaginibus ac colorandis figuris nulli unquam inferiori; Affines moestiss. pos. vix. an. XXXXIX.

Pietro Laurati, Painter of Siena.

Pietro Laurati, an excellent painter of Siena, proved by his life how great may be the contentment of men of undoubted talent, who realise that their works are valued, both in their native land and outside it, and who see themselves in request by all men; for in the course of his life he was employed and caressed by all Tuscany. The first works which brought him into notice were the scenes which he painted in fresco in la Scala, a hospital of Siena, in which he imitated the style of Giotto so successfully that these paintings became known throughout Tuscany and gave rise to the well-founded belief that he would become a better master than Cimabue, Giotto, and the others, as he actually did. In these scenes he represented the Virgin mounting the steps of the Temple, accompanied by Joachim and Anna, and received by the priest; then her marriage, both remarkable for good ornamentation, well-draped figures with simple folds of the clothes, and a majesty in the carnage of the heads, while the disposition of the figures is in the finest style. During the progress of this work, which introduced the good style of painting to Siena, being the first gleam of light for the many fine spirits who have flourished in that land in every age, Pietro was summoned to Monte Oliveto di Chiusuri, where he painted a picture in tempera which is now placed in the paradiso under the church. He next painted a tabernacle at Florence, opposite the left door of the church of S. Spirito, on the side where a butcher's shop now stands, which merits the highest praise from every attentive artist, on account of the grace of the heads and the smoothness which it exhibits. Proceeding from Florence to Pisa, he did for the Campo Santo on the wall next the principal door, all the life of the Holy Fathers, with such striking reality and in such fine attitudes, that they rival Giotto. For this work he won the highest praise, having expressed in some heads, in drawing and colour, all the vivacity of which the manner of the time was capable. From Pisa he passed to Pistoia, and in S. Francesco did a picture of Our Lady in tempera, surrounded by some angels, very well arranged, the predella beneath containing some scenes with small figures, presented with a vigour and life remarkable for those times. This work satisfied him as much as it delighted others, and accordingly he put his name to it in these words: _Petrus Laurati de Senis_. Afterwards, in the year 1355, Pietro was summoned to Arezzo by M. Guglielmo, head priest, and by Margarito Boschi and the other wardens of the Pieve of Arezzo. This church had been brought to an advanced stage in a better style and manner than had been practised in Tuscany up to that time, being ornamented with squared stones and carvings by the hand of Margaritone, as has been said. There Pietro painted in fresco the tribune and all the great apse of the chapel of the high altar, representing twelve scenes from the life of Our Lady, with life-size figures, from the chasing of Joachim out of the Temple, to the birth of Jesus Christ. In these works in fresco one meets with the ideas, lineaments, carriage of the heads, and attitudes of the figures characteristic of Giotto, his master. And although the whole of this work is beautiful, yet the paintings in the vault of the apse are certainly much better than the rest, because, in the place where he represented the ascent of Our Lady to heaven, besides making the apostles four braccia high each, in which he showed his greatness of mind, being the first artist who attempted to aggrandise his style, he gave such a beautiful turn to the heads and such grace to the vestments that more could not have been desired in those days. In like manner he painted in the vaulting a choir of angels flying in the air about a Madonna. As they gracefully dance they appear to be singing, with a joy truly angelic and divine; whilst they are playing various instruments their eyes are fixed and intent on another choir of angels, sustained by a cloud of almond shape bearing the Madonna to heaven arranged in beautiful attitudes and surrounded by rainbows. This work, which was deservedly popular, procured him a commission to paint in tempera the picture of the high altar of that Pieve, where in five panels of life-size figures, represented to the knees, he made Our Lady with the Child on her arm, with St John the Baptist and St Matthew on one side of her, and on the other the Evangelist and St Donate. In the predella are many small figures, as well as in the frame of the picture above, all really fine and executed in the best style. I have entirely restored this altar at my own expense and with my own hands, so that this picture has been placed above the altar of St Christopher, at the bottom of the church. I may take this opportunity, without appearing to be impertinent, of saying in this place that I have myself restored this ancient collegiate church, moved by Christian piety and by the affection which I bear to the venerable building, because it was my first instructress in my early childhood. This I did also because it appeared to me to be as it were abandoned, and it may now be said to have been called back to life from the dead. Besides increasing the light, for it was very dark, by enlarging the original windows and making new ones, I also took away the choir, which used to occupy a great part of the church, and put it behind the high altar, to the great satisfaction of the canons there. The new altar stands alone, and has on the table before it a Christ calling Peter and Andrew from their nets, and on the side next the choir is another picture of St George killing the serpent. On the sides are four panels, each of which contains two saints of life-size. Above and below in the predella are numerous other figures, which are omitted for the sake of brevity. The ornamentation of the altar is thirteen braccia high, and the predella two braccia. The interior is hollow and is approached by a staircase through a small iron door, very well arranged. Many valuable relics are preserved there, which may be seen from the outside through two iron gratings in the front. Among others is the head of St Donato, bishop and protector of Arezzo. In a chest of various materials, three braccia high, which I have caused to be newly made, are the bones of four saints. The predella of the altar, which entirely surrounds it, has in front of it the tabernacle or _ciborium_ of the Sacrament, in carved wood, all gilt, about three braccia high, and it may be seen from the choir side as well as from the front. As I have spared neither pains nor expense, since I considered myself bound to do my best to honour God, I may venture to affirm that, so far as my ability would allow, this work lacks nothing in the way of ornament, whether of gold, carving, painting, marble, trevertine, porphyry, or other stones.

Now to return to Pietro Laurati. When he had completed the picture mentioned above, he did many things for St Peter's at Rome, which were afterwards destroyed in building the new church. He also executed some works at Cortona and at Arezzo, besides those already mentioned, and some others in the church of S. Fiore e Lucilla, a monastery of black monks, notably a representation in a chapel of St Thomas putting his hand into the wound in Christ's side.

A pupil of Pietro was Bartolommeo Bologhini of Siena, who executed many pictures at Siena and other places in Italy. There is one by his hand at Florence, on the altar of the chapel of St Silvester in S. Croce. The paintings of this man were executed about the year 1350. In my book, which I have so often referred to, may be seen a drawing by Pietro, representing a shoemaker sewing in a simple but most natural manner with an admirable expression. It affords a good example of Pietro's peculiar style. His portrait by the hand of Bartolommeo Bologhini was in a picture at Siena, where not many years ago I copied it, in the manner seen above.

Andrea Pisano, Sculptor and Architect.

While the art of painting has flourished, sculptors have never been lacking who could produce excellent work. To the attentive mind, the works of every age bear testimony to this fact, for the two arts are really sisters, born at the same time and nourished and animated by the same spirit. This is seen in Andrea Pisano, who practised sculpture in the time of Giotto, and made so much improvement in that art, both by practice and study, that he was considered the best exponent of the profession who had until then appeared in Tuscany, especially in casting bronze. For this reason his works were so honoured and prized by those who knew him, and especially by the Florentines, that he was able without a pang to change his country, relations, property, and friends. It was a great advantage to him that the masters who had preceded him in sculpture had experienced so much difficulty in the art that their works were rough and common, so that those who saw his productions, judged him a miracle by comparison. That these first works were rude may be credited, as has been said elsewhere, upon an examination of some which are over the principal door of S. Paolo at Florence, and some stone ones in the church of Ognissanti, which are so executed as to move to laughter those who regard them, rather than to excite in them any admiration or pleasure. It is certain that it was much more easy to recover the art of sculpture when the statues had been lost, as a man is a round figure by nature, and is so represented by that art, whereas in painting, on the other hand, it is not so easy to find the right shapes and the best manner of portraying them, which are essential to the majesty, beauty, grace, and ornament of a picture. In one circumstance fortune was favourable to Andrea, because, as has been said elsewhere, by means of the numerous victories won by the Pisans at sea, many antiquities and sarcophagi were brought to Pisa, which are still about the Duomo and Campo Santo. These gave him great assistance and much light, advantages which could not be enjoyed by Giotto, because the ancient paintings which have been preserved are not so numerous as the sculptures. And although statues have frequently been destroyed by fire, devastation, and the fury of war, or buried or transported to various places, yet it is easy for a connoisseur to recognise the productions of all the different countries by their various styles. For example, the Egyptian is slender, with long figures; the Greek is artificial, and much care is displayed on the nude, while the heads nearly always have the same turn; and the ancient Tuscan is careful in the treatment of hair and somewhat rude. As regards the Romans, and I call Roman for the most part those things which were brought to Rome after Greece was subjugated, as all that was good and beautiful in the world was carried thither; this Roman work, I say, is so beautiful in expression, attitudes, movements both in nude figures and in draperies, that the Romans may be said to have extracted the beautiful from all the other provinces and gathered it into a single style, making it the best and the most divine of all the arts.