Arte manus sola quondam natique Nicole There are, besides, thirteen other lines which I do not give here, that the reader may be the less wearied, and likewise because these suffice to show, not only that this pulpit is from the hand of Giovanni, but also that the men of those times were uniform in their shortcomings. A Virgin in marble, placed over the principal door of the Duomo, between the figures of St. John the Baptist and another saint, is also by Giovanni Pisano, and the figure kneeling at the feet of the Virgin is said to represent Pietro Gambacorti, master of the works. However this may be, on the pedestal of the Virgin are engraved the following words : "Sub Petri cura hæc pia fuit sculpta figura Nicoli nato sculptore Johanne vocato." In like manner, over the side door, opposite to the campanile, stands a Virgin in marble, from the hand of Giovanni; on one side of her there is a woman kneeling, with two children. This group represents Pisa. On the other side of the Madonna is the Emperor Henry.* On the pedestal of the Virgin are the words-" Ave gratia plena, Dominus tecum"; and near them the following verses: "Nobilis arte manus sculpsit Johannes Pisanus. Around the pedestal of the group representing Pisa, And on that of the Emperor, "Imperat. Henricus qui Christo fertur amicus." In the old parochial church of Prato, under the altar of the principal chapel, the girdle of the Virgin had been preserved during a long series of years. This relic had been brought to his native place by Michele da Prato, when he returned from the Holy Land in the year 1141, and by him it was consigned to the care of Uberto, dean of the Chapter, who deposited it in the above-named sanctuary, where it has ever been held in high veneration. But in the year 1312, a native of Prato,—a man of very bad * Da Morrona saw the relics of these sculptures lying mingled with earth and stones, but they were afterwards gathered together and placed in the Campo Santo of Pisa.-Ed. Flor. 1846. character, a sort of Ser Ciappelletto,* so to speak,-laid a plan for the abstraction of the holy girdle. This being discovered, the criminal suffered death for his sacrilege, at the hands of justice. But the people of Prato, alarmed for the safety of the girdle, resolved to build a strong and suitable receptacle for its better security. They accordingly summoned Giovanni, who was then getting old, and, by his counsels, they built a chapel in the principal church, wherein they deposited the girdle. They also greatly enlarged the church, from the designs of the same artist, covering the outside with black and white marble, as they did also with the campanile, which may be still seen.† At length, having now become very old, Giovanni Pisano expired in the year 1320, after having produced many works, both in sculpture and architecture, over and above those here enumerated. And, of a truth, we owe much gratitude both to himself and his father Niccola, seeing that, in times wholly destitute of any good ideas in design, and from the midst of profound darkness, they cast no small light on all pertaining to art; for that age, therefore, they were truly excellent. Giovanni was honourably interred in the Campo Santo, and in the same tomb with his father. He left many scholars who gained considerable repute after his death; but Lino, a sculptor and architect of Siena, was more particularly distinguished among them. He built the chapel wherein are deposited the remains of San Ranieri, in the Duomo of Pisa, and which is richly decorated in marble. Lino also erected the baptismal font of the same cathedral, inscribing his name among its ornaments. Nor is it any cause of wonder that Niccola and Giovanni should have executed so large a number of works; ‡ for, beside that both lived to a good old age, they were, at that time, the first masters in Europe, and there were few undertak *For Ser Ciappelletto, of Prato, and his mischievous pranks, see the first story in the Decameron of Boccaccio.-Ed. Bottari. † Giovanni also worked in ivory, as we gather from a document dated June 8, 1299, by which he binds himself to execute certain figures in that material. A very beautiful group of the Virgin and Child, now preserved in the sanctuary of the cathedral of Pisa, is also believed to be by his hand.-Ed. Flor. 1846. The Canon Celano, in his Notizie di Napoli, p. 77, affirms that the cathedral of Naples was built by Charles I, after the designs of Niccola Pisano.--Leclanché. ings of importance in which they did not take part, as may be proved from numerous inscriptions in addition to those above cited. While speaking of these two sculptors and architects, I have alluded, on various occasions, to the works of art preserved in Pisa. I will, therefore, not omit to mention, that on the steps in front of the new hospital there may be seen a vase, placed on a column of porphyry, supported by a lion, and on the pedestal of the whole are engraved the following words : "This is the talent which the Emperor Cæsar gave to the people of Pisa, to the intent that by this they should regulate the tribute which they paid him. The said talent was placed on this column and lion in the time of Giovanni Rosso, master of the works of Santa Maria Maggiore, in Pisa, on the second day of March A.D. MCCCXIII." ANDREA TAFI,* PAINTER, OF FLORENCE. [1213-1294.] As the works of Cimabue awakened no small admiration in the men of his time, who were accustomed to the Greek manner only (he having certainly given better design and form to the art of painting), so the works in Mosaic of Andrea Tafi, who belonged to the same period, were also greatly admired, and himself considered an excellent, nay, a divine* artist, on their account; people not supposing that better could be produced in that art, because nothing better had come under their notice. But Andrea, certainly not considering himself to be the most excellent artist in the world, and reflecting on the durability of works in Mosaic, left Florence and betook himself to Venice, where certain Greek painters were then working in Mosaic in the church of St. Mark. Forming a close intimacy with these. artists, Andrea Tafi so contrived, that by promises, money, For some valuable details respecting Andrea Tafi, see Lanzi. History of Painting, vol. i, p. 49, et seq. All the commentators on Vasari, widely as they differ on other points, agree in the expression of their astonishment, that he should permit himself these remarks; but although the Byzantine glass mosaics were familiar in Sicily and the South, and at Venice, it does not follow that the art was much known, or practised, at Florence. and entreaties, he at length prevailed on one of them, Maestro Apollonius, a Greek painter, to accompany him to Florence. where Andrea learned from him to fuse the glass, and prepare the cement used in mosaic. And with Apollonius, Andrea Tafi now undertook the decoration of the tribune of San Giovanni,—the upper part, namely, whereon are depicted the Powers, Thrones, and Dominions. In the same place, when he had become more expert, as will be shown hereafter, Andrea executed the figure of Christ, which stands above the principal chapel. But having mentioned San Giovanni, I will not omit to add that this ancient sanctuary is encrusted, both within and without, with marbles of the Corinthian order; and not only are all its parts exactly proportioned and finely executed, but the doors and windows, also, are admirably distributed and arranged. Each façade is embellished by two columns of granite eleven braccia high, forming three compartments, over which are the architraves, supported by those columns, whereon the whole weight of the double-vaulted roof is thrown. This roof has been much praised, by modern architects, as a very extraordinary work; and with justice; for from this, Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, Donatello, and other artists of their times, perceived how much might be done in this art, and all derived great benefit from that work, and from the church of Sant' Apostolo, in Florence, a building erected in so good a manner that it makes a near approach to the true beauty of the antique, having all its columns, as I have said above, formed of pieces proportioned and fixed with such care, that much may be learnt by studying this edifice in all its parts. I could say much more concerning the excellent architecture of this church, but will add only that the architects deviated widely from the true path when they reconstructed the marble façade of the church of San Miniato sul Monte, without the city of Florence. This was done on the investiture of the beatified San Giovanni Gualberto, a citizen of Florence, and founder of the order of the Monks of Vallombrosa; but neither that nor many other works, afterwards executed, were by any means equal to those above named.* And the same may be * Vasari here seems to contradict the praises which he has justly given to the architecture of this church in the "Introduction to the Lives," p. 27-Ed. Flor. 1846. said of sculpture, since all that was done in Italy, by the masters of that time, betrays extreme rudeness, as we have already observed in the introduction to these lives. The truth of this remark may be proved in many places, and particularly in Pistoja, in the church of San Bartolommeo, belonging to the Canons Regular, where may be seen a pulpit most rudely sculptured, by Guido of Como; the subjects represented are early scenes from the life of Christ, with the following words, engraved by the artist himself, in the year 1199: "Sculptor laudatur quod doctus in arte probatur But to return to the baptistery of San Giovanni. I say nothing of its origin, because Giovanni Villani, and others, have written respecting it; and having before observed that the improved architecture of our own times is due to that building, I will only add that, so far as we can now judge, the tribune was constructed at a later period; and that, at the time when Alexis Baldovinetti, succeeding the Florentine painter Lippo, restored the Mosaic, it was perceived that the surface had formerly been coloured in red, the designs being executed immediately on the stucco. Andrea Tafi, then, and the Greek Apollonius, when they decorated this tribune in Mosaic, divided it into compartments, which, contracted at their commencement, under the lantern, became gradually more extended as they approached their termination at the cornice, the upper part being divided into circles, each representing historical scenes. In the first are all the servants and ministers of the Divine will, namely, the Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Powers, Thrones, and Dominions. In the second, also in Mosaic, after the Greek manner, are depicted the principal works of God, from the creation of light to the deluge. In the circle beneath this, which descends with increased space to the eight sides of the tribune, the history of Joseph and his twelve brothers is represented. Beneath the circles are other compartments, all of equal size, and representing the life of Christ, in Mosaic, from the Annunciation to the moment of his Ascension into Heaven. Under the three friezes is the life of St. John the Baptist, commencing with the angel appearing to Zacharias, and proceeding to the decapitation of the saint, and his burial |