In telling these stories I have been helped by an old book called The Lives of the Painters, by Giorgio Vasari, who was himself a painter. He took great delight in gathering together all the stories about these artists and writing them down with loving care, so that he shows us real living men, and not merely great names by which the famous pictures are known. It did not make much difference to us when we were little children whether our pictures were good or bad, as long as the colours were bright and we knew what they meant. But as we grow older and wiser our eyes grow wiser too, and we learn to know what is good and what is poor. Only, just as our tongues must be trained to speak, our hands to work, and our ears to love good music, so our eyes must be taught to see what is beautiful, or we may perhaps pass it carelessly by, and lose a great joy which might be ours. So now if you learn something about these great artists and their wonderful pictures, it will help your eyes to grow wise. And some day should you visit sunny Italy, where these men lived and worked, you will feel that they are quite old friends. Their pictures will not only be a delight to your eyes, but will teach your heart something deeper and more wonderful than any words can explain. AMY STEEDMAN CONTENTS GIOTTO, . . . BORN 1276, DIED 1337 FRA ANGELICO, . . " 1387, " 1466 MASACCIO, . . . " 1401, " 1428 FRA FILIPPO LIPPI,. . " 1412, " 1469 SANDRO BOTTICELLI,. . " 1446, " 1610 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO, " 1449, " 1494 FILIPPINO LIP . . " 1467, " 1604 PIETRO PERUGINO, . " 1446, " 1624 LEONARDO DA VINCI,. . " 1462, " 1619 RAPHAEL, . . . " 1483, " 1620 MICHELANGELO, . . " 1476, " 1664 ANDREA DEL SARTO, . " 1487, " 1631 GIOVANNI BELLINI, . " 1426, " 1616 VITTORE CARPACCIO,. . " 1470? " 1619 GIORGIONE, . . " 1477? " 1610 TITIAN, . . . " 1477, " 1676 TINTORETTO, . . " 1662, " 1637 PAUL VERONESE, . . " 1628, " 1688 LIST OF PICTURES IN COLOUR THE RELEASE OF ST. PETER. BY FILIPPO LIPPI, 'The tall angel in flowing white robes gently leads St. Peter out of prison,' Church of the Carmine, Florence. THE VISIT OF THE MAGI. BY GIOTTO, 'The little Baby Jesus sitting on His Mother's knee,' Academia, Florence. THE MEETING OF ANNA AND JOACHIM. BY GIOTTO, 'Two homely figures outside the narrow gateway,' Sta. Maria Novella, Florence. THE ANNUNCIATION. BY FRA ANGELICO, 'The gentle Virgin bending before the Angel messenger,' S. Marco, Florence.