Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/12

viii of Tuscany. The painters and sculptors of Florence travelled all over Italy and exerted a wide-spread influence on the schools of other cities, from the days of Giotto, the great awakener, to those of Leonardo and Michelangelo. At the same time, Florence became a centre to which the finest intellects and best artists were attracted from Umbria and Lombardy. Here Gentile da Fabriano and Piero dei Franceschi, Luca Signorelli and Perugino came in search of the training which they could not find elsewhere; here young Raphael studied the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel and the cartoons of Leonardo and Michelangelo. And to-day, across the lapse of ages, Florence draws us still. The power of her spell is mighty still, and leads us to linger among the wonders of Renaissance art that adorn the churches and convents, the halls and palaces, upon the banks of Arno. Although the ravages of time and the neglect of man have doomed many precious works to destruction, enough is still left to show us the glory of the art of Florence in her golden days. Enough remains to give us a clear and definite idea of the style of each individual artist in the long roll of illustrious masters who succeeded each other from the days of Giotto to those of Michelangelo, and who were, many of them, not only painters, but architects, sculptors, goldsmiths, men of letters, and even poets. It is a list of famous names and striking personalities such as no other art-history in the world can offer.