The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors & Architects, Volume 1 (of 8)Vasari, Giorgio
History
The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors & Architects, Volume 1 (of 8)
Vasari, Giorgio
Art, Italian; Artists -- Italy -- Biography
he did not live long, but sickened and died through working too much
in fresco. His hand may also be recognised in the chapel of St Martin
in the same church, in the history of the saint, done in fresco for
the Cardinal Gentile. In the middle of a street called Portica may
also be seen a Christ at the Column, and a picture of Our Lady
between St Catherine and St Clare. His works are scattered about in
many other places, such as Bologna, where there is a picture of the
passion of Christ in the transept of the church, and scenes from the
life of St Francis, besides other things which I omit for the sake of
brevity. But at Assisi, where the majority of his works are, and
where I believe he helped Giotto to paint, I found that they consider
him to be a fellow-citizen, and there are some members of the family
of the Capanni in that city to this day. From this we may gather that
he was born in Florence, since he himself wrote that he was a pupil
of Giotto, but that he took his wife from Assisi, and had children
there, whose descendants still inhabit the town. But this matter is
of very slight importance, and it is enough to know that he was a
skilful master. Another pupil of Giotto, and a very skilful painter
was Ottaviano da Faenza, who painted many things in S. Giorgio at
Ferrara, a convent of the monks of Monte Oliveto. In Faenza, where he
lived and died, he painted in the tympanum above the door of S.
Francesco, Our Lady and St Peter and St Paul, and many other things
in his own country and at Bologna.
Another pupil was Pace di Faenza, who was often with his master, and
helped him in many things. At Bologna there are some scenes in fresco
by his hand on the outside front of S. Giovanni Decollato. This Pace
was a clever artist, especially in painting small figures, as may be
seen to-day in the church of S. Francesco at Forli, in a tree of the
cross and in a panel in tempera containing the life of Christ, and
four small subjects from the life of Our Lady, which are all very
well executed. It is said that he executed in fresco for the chapel
of St Anthony at Assisi, some scenes from the life of that saint for
a duke of Spoleto, who is buried there with a son. These two princes
had been killed while fighting in the suburbs of Assisi, as may be
seen by a long inscription on the sarcophagus of their tomb. The old
book of the company of painters records that one Francesco, called
"of Master Giotto," was another pupil of the master, but I know
nothing more about him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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