three orders of columns, placed one above the other, and varied, not only in the forms of the capitals and bases, but also in the shafts of the columns, some being thick, some being slender; some in couples, others in groups of four; some have the form of vines, while others represent supporting figures, variously sculptured. Animals of many kinds are also made to support the weight of some among these columns, which they bear on their backs, the whole presenting the strangest and most extravagant fantasies that can be imagined, not only widely deviating from the pure taste of the antique, but even offending against all rules of just proportion. Yet, notwithstanding these defects, whoever considers the whole work, will perceive that the artist made strenuous efforts towards the amelioration of his art, and probably thought that he had found the true method in that wondrous variety. Over the door of the church, the same master sculptured a rude figure of God the Father, surrounded by angels, of a rather large size, in mezzo-rilievo; and, together with these, he placed the twelve months of the year, his own name, in round letters, as was then the custom, being sculptured beneath, with the date 1216.* Marchionne is also reported to have built the ancient edifice of the hospital and church of the Santo Spirito, in the Borgo Vecchio at Rome, for the same pontiff, Innocent III; some remains of this hospital may yet be seen, and the ancient church was standing, in its primitive form, even in our own days, but it has been restored, in the modern taste, and with improved designs, by Pope Paul III, of the house of Farnese.

In the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, also in Rome, the same architect built the marble chapel† which encloses the manger of the Nativity, and in which he placed the portrait of Pope Honorius III, taken from life, whose tomb he had also constructed with ornaments in a very good style, and totally unlike the manner then prevalent throughout Italy. About the same time Marchionne completed the lateral door

*This inscription has caused Vasari to conclude the whole façade and campanile to be the work of Marchionne; but these, as well as the greater part of the church, are of a much later period, namely 1300.— See Rondinelli, Descrizione d'Arezzo, and the Annali Aretini.-Ed. Fisr. Afterwards rebuilt by Pope Sixtus V.

For the details of this subject, sec D'Agincourt and Cicognara.

of San Pietro, in Bologna, which was, in truth, a very great work for those times, and for the variety of sculptures which it exhibits; as, for example, its colossal lions supporting columns, with men and other animals also bearing enormous burthens. Above the door he placed the twelve months, each accompanied by its attendant zodiacal sign, with many other fancies, all in high relief, a work which, in those days, must have been considered marvellous.*

It was about this time that the order of Friars Minors of St. Francis was founded, and this order, being confirmed by Pope Innocent III in 1206, extended itself in such a manner, not only in Italy but in all other parts of the world, (devotion to the saint increasing together with the number of the friars,) that there was scarcely any city of importance which did not build churches and convents for them, at a vast amount of cost, and each according to its means. These things being so, the Frate Elia, two years before the death of St. Francis, and while the Saint was preaching abroad, as General of the Order, leaving Frate Elia prior in Assisi,this Elia commenced the building of a church to the honour of the Virgin; but St. Francis dying in the mean time, all Christendom came flocking to visit the body of him who, in life and in death, was known to be so much the friend of God, when every man, making an offering to the holy place according to his ability, large sums were collected, and it was decreed that the church, commenced by the Frate Elia, should be continued on a much more extended and magnificent scale. There was then a great scarcity of good architects, and as the work to be done required an excellent artist, having to be built upon a very high hill, at the foot of which flows a torrent called the Tescio, a certain Maestro Jacopo,† a German, was invited to Arezzo, after much deliberation, as the best who was then to be found. This Jacopo, having received the commands of the fathers, who were then holding

* This door is no longer to be seen. For the lions and columns, see Rumohr, Italienische Forschungen, vol. ii, p. 155, Note.

t What Vasari says of this Jacopo, with the prevalent opinion that he was taken into Italy by Frederick II, would make it probable, says Cicognara, that those are right, who maintain the pointed Gothic man ner to have been immediately derived from Germany, were it not that we have earlier examples in the abbey of Subiaco, for instance.-Ed. Flor.

a general chapter of their order respecting this matter in Assisi, then carefully examined the site, and designed the plan of a very beautiful church and convent. The model presented three ranges of buildings, placed one above the other: the lowermost subterranean; the two others forming two churches, of which the first was to serve as a vestibule, with a spacious portico and colonnade around it; the second was set apart for the sanctuary, the entrance to this last being by a very convenient range of steps, ascending to the principal chapel, and these, being divided into two flights. encircled the chapel, that the upper church might be attained the more commodiously. To this temple Maestro Jacopo gave the form of the letter T, the length being equal to five times the breadth, and the roof being raised on bold groined arches, supported by massive piers; after this model he constructed the whole of this truly grand edifice, observing the same order throughout every part, excepting that, instead of pointed, he raised round arches on the upper supports between the apsis and the principal chapel, as considered of greater strength. Before the principal chapel of the lower church was placed the altar, beneath which, when completed, the body of St. Francis was laid with great solemnity; and, since the actual sepulchre, in which the body of the glorious saint reposes, was never to be approached by the foot of man, the first, that is the subterranean church, had its doors walled up, and around the above-named altar was placed a very large iron grating, richly adorned with marbles and mosaic, which permitted the tomb beneath to be seen.* * Two sacristies were erected beside the building, with a campanile, the height of which was equal to five times its diameter; a very high pyramid of eight sides surmounted the tower, but this, being in danger of falling, was removed. The whole work was, by the genius

*The history of this invisible church-blindly believed by all, and transmitted from age to age, down to our own days-was ultimately disproved, when, diligent search being made for the remains of St. Francis, in the year 1818, it was found that this said church had never existed, and that the body of the holy patriarch had been buried in a tomb partly hewn from the rock, but afterwards closed in with very thick walls, under the high altar of the lower church. See Memorie storiche del ritrovamento delle sacre spoglie di San Francesco D'Assisi. Assisi, 1824.-Ed. Flor. 1846.

of Maestro Jacopo, the German, and the attentive care of Frate Elia, completed within the space of four years only. After the death of Elia, and to the end that this vast building might never be destroyed by time, twelve enormous towers were erected around the lower church, in each of which a spiral staircase was constructed, ascending from the ground to the summit of the edifice. In the course of time, also, many chapels, and other rich embellishments of various kinds, have been added; but of these I need say no more, having sufficiently dwelt on this building, and also because all may visit and admire the splendour and beauty which have been added to this commencement of Maestro Jacopo by many high pontiffs, cardinals, princes, and other great personages of Europe.

And now, to return to Maestro Jacopo; he acquired so much renown, by this construction, throughout all Italy, that he was invited to Florence by the governors of that city, where he was received with great joy. But the Florentines, according to a custom prevalent in that day, and still practised, of abbreviating names, did not call him Jacopo,* but Lapo, a name by which he was known for the remainder of his life, which he passed with all his family in Florence. It is true that he proceeded, at different times, to various parts of Tuscany, for the erection of numerous edifices, such as the Palazzo di Poppi in Casentino, (which he built for that Count, who had had the beautiful Gualdrada for his wife, with Casentino for her dowry,) the cathedral of Arezzo,† and the Palazzo Vecchio of the Signori of Pietramala. His abode was, nevertheless, always in Florence, where, in the year 1218, he laid the foundations of the Ponte Carraja, then called the New Bridge; these he completed in two years, and

* Della Valle considers this assertion sufficient to throw doubt on the whole story. He affirms that Lapo was born in Florence, and had studied his art, from youth up, under Niccola Pisano.-Schorn. See also Lanzi, History of Painting, vol. i, p. 49.

† Schorn, quoting the Leghorn edition, remarks, that if Jacopo was the architect of the cathedral of Arezzo, he must have designed it very shortly before his death. But the Florentine edition of Vasari (1846), following Maselli, informs us that the building in question was partly restored from its foundation by "this Jacopo or Lapo" in 1218; continued by the Aretine architect Margaritone in 1275; and completed under the celebrated Bishop Guglielmino degli Ubertini, but by what architect is not known. See also Brizi, Guida d'Arezzo, and Rondinelli, Descrizione d' Arezzo.

the bridge was shortly afterwards finished in wood, as was then the custom. In 1221, he gave plans for the church of San Salvadore del Vescovado, which was commenced under his superintendence, as also those for San Michele in the Piazza Padella,* where many fragments of sculpture, after the manner of those days, may still be seen. He next gave

plans for the drainage of the city, raised the Piazza of San Giovanni, and erected the bridge which bears the name of the Milanese, Messer Rubaconte da Mandella, from having been finished in his time. Finally, he invented that most useful method of paving the streets with stone, they having previously been covered with bricks only; he prepared the model for the palace, now of the Podesta,† but then of the Anziani (Elders), and sent to the abbey of Monreale, in Sicily, the designs for a sepulchral monument to the Emperor Frederick, for which he had received the commands of Manfred. These works completed, Maestro Jacopo died, leaving Arnolfo, his son, heir to his talents, no less than to his fortune.+

Arnolfo, by whose labours architecture made equal progress with that of painting under the influence of Cimabue, was born in the year 1232, and was thirty years old when his father died. He had already attained high repute, having not only acquired from his father whatever the latter could teach, but also studied the art of design under Cimabue, for the purpose of employing it in sculpture. He was now considered the best architect in Tuscany, and the Florentines confided to him the construction of the outer circle of their city walls, which were founded in 1284; they also erected the Loggia of Or San Michele, their corn market, after his plans, covering it with a simple roof, and building

* Of the first of these churches, there remains only a part of the façade belonging to the ancient building. The second, now St. Michael of the Antinori, was rebuilt, after the design of Nigetti, in the seventeenth century.-Schorn.

Now the palace of the Bargello.

That Arnolfo was neither a son of Lapo, who was but his fellowdisciple, nor yet of the German architect Jacopo (who appears to have been a different person from Lapo the sculptor), has long been known, from various authorities. The father of Arnolfo was called Cambio, and was of Colle, in the Val d'Elsa. See Baldinucci; Del Migliore, Firenze Illustrata; Cicognara, Storia della Scultura; Rumohr, Italienische Forschungen; and Gaye, Carteggio Inedito d'Artisti.