in Cennini's day being perfectly well known to all artists in these our times. But I will not omit to remark, that Cennini makes no mention of certain earths, such as the dark terra rossa, nor of cinnabar and various greens--perhaps because they were not then in use; other colours were in like manner wanting to the painters of that age, as umber for example, yellow-lake (giallo santo), the smalts, both for oil and fresco painting, with certain yellows and greens, all which have been discovered at a later period. Cennini likewise treats of grinding colours in oil, to make red, azure, green, and other grounds of different kinds;* he speaks of the mordants, used in the application of gold also, but not as applied to figures. In addition to the works which Cennini executed in Florence, with his master, there is a Virgin accompanied by certain saints, from his hand, under the loggia of the hospital of Bonifazio Lupi, the colouring of which was managed so carefully, that it remains in good preservation even to this day.t

This

This Cennino, speaking of himself in the first chapter of his book, has the following passage, which I give in his exact words :—“I, Cennino di Drea Cennini, of Colle di Valdelsa, was instructed in the said art during twelve years, by my master Agnolo di Taddeo, of Florence, who learnt the same from Taddeo his father, which last was the godson of Giotto, and his disciple for four-and-twenty years. Giotto transmuted the art of painting from Greek into Latin; he brought it to our modern manner, and certainly did more to perfect it than any other had ever done." These are the precise words of Cennino, to whom it appeared, that as he who translates any work from the Greek into the Latin, confers a great benefit on all who do not understand Greek, so did Giotto, in transmuting the art of painting from a manner not known or understood by any one (unless, indeed, that all might easily perceive it to be senseless)—to a manner at once

*This passage of Vasari is considered to be in contradiction to the remarks he afterwards makes (in his life of Antonello da Messina) on the discovery of oil painting; but Lanzi, availing himself of the observations of Morelli, has reconciled this apparent contradiction, as will be seen in the proper place.—Montani.

† See Gaye, vol. i, 528-9. The paintings of Cennini must have been destroyed in 1787, when the hospital was changed into a lunatic asylum, and its form altered.

beautiful, facile, and most pleasing, that may be comprehended and seen to be good at a glance, by whomsoever possesses the slightest degree of judgment and comprehension.

All these disciples of Agnolo did him great honour. He was entombed by his sons, (to whom it is affirmed that he left 50,000 florins, or more) in the sepulchre which he had himself prepared for his burial and that of his descendants, in Santa Maria Novella, in the year of our salvation 1387.* The portrait of Agnolo, by his own hand, may be seen in the chapel of the Alberti, in Santa Croce, in a painting near the door, wherein the emperor Heraclius is depicted bearing the cross: he is represented in profile, with a short thin beard, and on his head is a cap of a red colour, of the form proper to the period. Agnolo Gaddi was not particularly excellent in design, to judge from the specimen presented in certain drawings by his hand, which are to be found in our book.

THE SIENESE PAINTER BERNA.+

[BORN....-DIED IN 1381?]

Ir those who labour to attain excellence in art or science were not too frequently cut off by death in the best of their days, there is no doubt but that many exalted minds would have gained the summit towards which their aims tended, and whither the world, as well as themselves, would have rejoiced to see them arrive. But the brevity of man's life, and the

*Or, according to the Florentine commentators, not until after 1390, at which period they declare Agnolo Gaddi to have been still in existence. The first edition of Vasari gives the following epitaph on this

master:

66

Angelo Taddei F. Gaddio ingenii et picturæ gloria honoribus probitatisque existimatione vere magno Filii mostiss. posuere."

† Ghiberti calls this artist Barna, an abreviation of Barnabò. Baldinucci and Rumohr agree with him; but the later Florentine editors consider Berna or Barna to be rather an abbreviation of Bernardo or Bernardino. The true name of the painter, they incline to think, was Barna Bertini.

many accidents to which all, from various causes, are liable, often deprive us too early of those who might be most distinguished. Of this we have an instance in the hapless Sienese painter Berna, who, although he died young, yet left so many works, that we might easily believe his life to have been a long one; and these works were of such a character, as to impress on us the conviction that he would have been most eminently distinguished if his death had not been so prematurely hastened. Among the works of this master remaining in Siena are certain historical representations, in fresco,* in two chapels of the church of Sant' Agostino; there was, besides, on one of the walls of the same church, the story of a youth led to execution, than which it is not possible to conceive a more perfect work: the pallor and dread of death were depicted on his face with such truth and reality, that for this only the artist would merit the highest praise; beside the youth was a monk, who was seeking to console the sufferer, and whose attitude was very fine. The whole work, in short, was so admirably executed, and the story so eloquently told, that we clearly perceive the artist to have formed a most vivid conception of the fearful circumstance he describes. He has represented it as it must needs be, full of the bitterest agony, the most cruel terror; reproducing the whole so admirably with his pencil, that the scene itself, taking place before one's eyes, would scarcely awaken more profound emotions. This work has unhappily been destroyed in our own day, the wall having been removed to make way for the chapels, which have been constructed in that part of the church.

In the city of Cortona, besides many works scattered about in different parts of the same, Berna painted the greater part of the walls and ceiling in the church of Santa Margarita,† where is now the convent of the Franciscan monks, called Zoccolanti. From Cortona he went to Arezzo, in the year 1369, and precisely at the moment when the Tarlati, who had formerly been lords of Pietramala, had caused the convent

These paintings have perished, as have those described immediately after them.

These pictures have perished.

So called from Zoccolo, a wooden shoe, which the members of the Franciscan order wear.

and church of Sant' Agostino to be erected by Moccio, a sculptor and architect of Siena. Many of the Aretine citizens had constructed chapels and burial-places for their families in the side aisles of the church; and in one of these chapels― that dedicated to San Jacopo, namely-Berna painted various frescoes from the life of the saint.* Among these was most vividly depicted the story of the smuggler Marino, whom avarice had tempted to give his soul to the devil, with whom he had made a written compact to that effect. He is here seen in the act of supplicating San Jacopo to liberate him from the consequences of his promise, but on the other hand is placed the devil-hideous to a miracle-who is pleading his rights with great animation before the saint, and exhibiting the written agreement, which fills Marino with the most deadly terror. The various emotions of all the figures in this work have been admirably expressed by the artist; the face of Marino, more especially, betrays the fears that devour him, but the faith and trust which give him hope of deliverance from San Jacopo are also visible; and the latter, after having inspired him with a true repentance of his sin, and sorrow for the promise he has made, delivers the culprit and restores him to God. Berna painted this same story, according to Lorenzo Ghiberti, in the church of Santo Spirito, in Florence, before the church was burnt; it was in a chapel of the Capponi, dedicated to St. Nicholas. After this the painter executed a large picture of the Crucifixion, for Messer Guccio di Vanni Tarlati, of Pietramala, in one of the chapels of the episcopal church of Arezzo: he here depicted the Virgin, with St. John the Evangelist and St. Francis, at the foot of the cross, in an attitude of the deepest grief; St. Michael, the archangel, is also present. The whole work merits no slight praise for the care with which it was executed, and more particularly because the colours have maintained themselves so admirably well, that the picture might seem to have been finished yesterday. Lower down is the portrait of the above-named Guccio, armed, and kneeling at the foot of the cross. In the

* These works have also been destroyed in the rebuilding of the church.

This painting is still in good preservation, in the cathedral of Arezzo; it has been retouched of late years. Montani has a remark, to the effect that the portrait of Guccio-whom the commentators command

capitular church of Arezzo, Berna painted numerous stories from the life of Our Lady, in the chapel of the Paganelli; and among the figures is a portrait, taken from the life, of the Beato Rinieri, a holy man and prophet of that family, who bestows alms on the crowd of poor persons by whom he is surrounded.* In the church of San Bartolommeo, also, this master executed various representations from the Old Testament, together with an adoration of the Magi, and in the church of the Spirito Santo he painted stories from the life of St. John the Evangelist. Among the figures of this last work, Berna has left us portraits of himself and of several of his friends, nobles of Arezzo. On the completion of this undertaking, the artist returned to his native city, where he painted numerous pictures on panel, both large and small; but he did not remain long at Siena, being invited to Florence, where he decorated the chapel of San Niccolo, in the church of the Spirito Santo, a work that was highly praised, and which we have already mentioned, with other pictures which were consumed in the lamentable conflagration of that church. At San Gimignano, in the Valdelsa, Berna painted certain frescoes in the capitular church; they represent stories from the New Testament.† These works he had nearly brought to a conclusion, when he unhappily fell from the scaffold to the floor, and was so grievously injured, that he died in two days, more to the loss of art than of himself, for he departed from this life to a better one. His remains were very honourably entombed in the capitular church aforesaid, by the people of San Gimignano, who solemnized his obsequies with much pomp, and who gave proof after his death of the esteem in which they held him while living, not ceasing for many months after his interment to suspend verses to his honour, in Latin and the mother tongue, on the tomb of the lamented artist. The men of that country have indeed been ever devoted to the belles lettres, and they herein rendered the

ap

us to call rather Ciuccio-has been stabbed in various parts, by his enemies and those of his family.

*All these works are lost, as are also those of San Bartolommeo and the Spirito Santo.-Montani.

†These paintings have been retouched, not to say spoiled, in many parts.-Ed. Flor. 1846.

For a description of these paintings, see Della Valle, Lettere Sanesi, vol. ii, p. 117. See also Rumohr, Ital. Forsch. ii, 109.