Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/37

1335] needed some courage to introduce on church walls such incidents as the children throwing stones at the rejected Saint, or the friar climbing into a tree to enjoy a better view of the procession. Very interesting are the details and accessories of the separate subjects, irreparably ruined and re-painted as they are. The figures stand out in solid relief against the background, the gestures of the different actors are natural and animated, and the draperies fall in single, easy folds. Ignorant as Giotto was alike of the laws of anatomy and perspective, his instinctive feeling for form and accurate observation enabled him to give an appearance of reality both to his figures and buildings; while his genius for architecture is seen in the noble Gothic façades and towers which he introduces in several pictures. The classical forms which he combines with these Gothic motives and the inlaid marble decorations and mosaics which adorn porticoes and loggias are evidently borrowed from the artists of the Cosmati school, and prove how much he had learnt from the Roman painters whom he met at Assisi. The general conception and design of these frescoes is probably wholly owing to Giotto, but it is plain that several hands were employed upon the work, and the last three subjects, representing the miracles wrought by St. Francis after death, were evidently the work of some clever assistant, who was employed by the Friars to complete the series after the Florentine master had been called away.

In 1298, Giotto was invited to Rome by Cardinal Stefaneschi, the Pope's nephew, who had, no doubt, heard of Cimabue's able scholar from Rusutti, or some