Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/160

 IX

DOMENICO VENEZIANO

1400-1461

the two first Naturalist masters of the fifteenth century, Paolo Uccello and Andrea del Castagno, have left few works behind them, we have still less opportunity of studying the paintings of their contemporary, Domenico Veneziano, who belonged to the same group, and whose style was formed on the pattern of Donatello and Masaccio's art. Domenico was born in Venice about 1400, and probably became acquainted with Cosimo de' Medici during his exile from Florence in 1434, since four years later the Venetian artist addressed a letter to Cosimo's son Piero, which shows that he was on friendly terms with the family. Those were golden days for art, and Giovanni Rucellai expressed the feelings of many of his fellow-citizens when he thanked God that he was a native of Florence, the greatest city in the world, and lived in the age of the magnificent Medici. Never was there a time when so many churches and palaces were built and adorned, never were scholars and artists so generously patronised and so highly honoured as in those days. The members of this illustrious house not only lavished their wealth on works of art, but took a personal interest in the artists they employed. 130