In 1321 occurred the death of Giotto's dearest friend Dante, to his great grief; and in the following year he went to Lucca, where, at the request of Castruccio, then lord of that city, his birthplace, he made a picture of St Martin, with Christ above in the air, and the four patron saints of the city--St Peter, St Regulus, St Martin, and St Paulinus--who seem to be presenting a pope and an emperor, believed by many to be Frederick of Bavaria and the anti-Pope Nicholas V. There are also some who believe that Giotto designed the impregnable fortress of the Giusta at S. Fridiano at Lucca. When Giotto had returned to Florence, King Robert of Naples wrote to his eldest son Charles, King of Calabria, who was then in that city, to use every means to induce the painter to go to Naples, where the king had just completed the building of the Nunnery of S. Chiara and the royal church, which he wished to have decorated with noble paintings. When Giotto learned that he was wanted by so popular and famous a king, he departed to serve him with the greatest alacrity, and on his arrival he painted many scenes from the Old and New Testaments in some chapels of the monastery. It is said that the scenes from the Apocalypse which he made in one of those chapels were suggested by Dante, as also perchance were some of the much-admired works at Assisi, of which I have already spoken at length; and although Dante was dead at this time, it is possible that they had talked over these things, as friends frequently do. To return to Naples, Giotto did many works in the Castel dell' Uovo, especially in the chapel, which greatly delighted the king, who became so fond of him that he often came to talk with the artist while he was at work, and took delight in seeing him at work and in listening to his conversation. Giotto, who always had a jest ready or some sharp retort, entertained the king with his hand in painting and with his tongue by his pleasant discourse. Thus it once happened that the king told him it was his intention to make him the first man in Naples, to which Giotto replied: "No doubt that is why I am lodged at the Porta Reale to be the first man in Naples." Another day the king said to him: "Giotto, if I were you, this hot day, I would leave off painting for a while." He answered: "So I should, certainly, if I were you." Being thus on very friendly terms with the king, he painted a good number of pictures for him in the chamber which King Alfonso I. pulled down to make the castle, and also in the Incoronata, and among those in the chamber were the portraits of many famous men, Giotto among the number. One day, by some caprice, the king asked Giotto to paint his kingdom. It is said that Giotto painted for him a saddled ass, with another new saddle at its feet at which it was sniffing, as if he wished for it in place of the one he had on. On each saddle were the royal crown and the sceptre of power. When the king asked Giotto for