Vasari tells of the very close connection and almost constant intercourse that existed between the goldsmiths and the painters. Indeed, nearly every artist, before applying himself to painting, architecture, or sculpture, began with the study of the goldsmith's craft, and "passed the years of his apprenticeship in the technical details of an industry that then supplied the strictest method of design."[117] [117] Symonds (J. A.), _Renaissance in Italy--The Fine Arts_, p. 91. The names of several artists of the Renaissance have been handed down who are specially recorded as having worked at jewellery. One of the earliest of those who began their career in the goldsmith's workshops is Ghiberti (b. 1378), who throughout life remained faithful to that species of work. His jewellery is specially extolled by Vasari. Following upon Ghiberti were two great jewellers, Tommaso (commonly called Maso) di Finiguerra and Antonio Pollaiuolo; the former famous for his nielli, the latter for his enamel-work upon relief. Pollaiuolo's love for jewel-forms in his paintings (executed together with his brother Piero) is seen not only in the Annunciation at Berlin, but in the group of SS. Eustace, James, and Vincent in the Uffizi, and the portrait of Simonetta Vespucci at Chantilly. Born in 1435, a few years after Pollaiuolo, Andrea del Verrocchio resembled in the peculiar versatility of his genius, others of these typical artists of the Middle or High Renaissance--the Epoch of the Goldsmith it has been termed. A jeweller whose influence in his own day was greater, and whose fame almost equalled that of Cellini, was Ambrogio Foppa, called Caradosso, who was born about 1446 at Milan. He worked first in the service of Ludovico Sforza, and afterwards at Rome, where he died as late as the year 1530. He seems to have been skilled in every branch of the goldsmith's art, and especially excelled in making little medallions of gold, enriched with figures in high relief and covered with enamels, which were worn as enseignes in the hat or hair. His work in this direction is highly extolled by Cellini, and his skill in enamelling specially mentioned by Vasari. Among the artists of the end of the fifteenth century who, after being goldsmiths and jewellers, became celebrated as painters must be mentioned Botticelli (1444-1510), Domenico del Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), and Francia (1450-1517). Ghirlandaio is commonly referred to as a maker of the jewelled coronals (_ghirlande_), popular with the unmarried and newly wedded ladies of Florence. It is probable that he did produce this class of work in early life; but his name seems to have been borne by several members of his family, for in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries a goldsmith was often familiarly termed "Ghirlandaio," as one of his chief occupations was the manufacture of the rich head-ornaments then so much in vogue. [Illustration: Pendant worn by one of The Three Graces in Botticelli's "Primavera."]