Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/52

32 modelling; but the broad masses of light and shade, and the large sweep of the draperies, produce a striking unity of effect, and all serve to heighten the impression of monumental grandeur and repose which these frescoes leave upon us.

Fortunately, the chiaroscuro frieze of Vices and Virtues, beneath the historical subjects, have mostly escaped restoration, and there at least it is still possible to find some remains of Giotto's brushwork. These allegorical figures are of singular charm and interest. Whether the painter adopts the traditional type or invents a new parable, the idea is carefully thought out in every particular, and the details and accessories all help to carry out his intention. Each Virtue is contrasted with its opposite Vice. Charity, wreathed in flowers, and holding a basket of fruit in one hand, offers a burning torch to her Lord, while she tramples money-bags under her feet. Envy, on the opposite wall, grasps a purse in her claws, and is bitten by a serpent issuing out of her own mouth. Faith, a crowned and majestic form, clings to the Cross with one hand, and holds the roll of the Creed in the other, careless of the astrologer's books lying on the floor. Unbelief, turning a deaf ear to heavenly voices, is led by the idol to which she is chained along the broad way of destruction. Temperance is a beautiful figure robed in classic draperies, with a bridle on her lips and her sword bound to the scabbard; while Anger, an ugly old hag, tears open her vest in impotent rage. Justice, another royal form, sits throned under a Gothic canopy, holding a pair of scales which contain, the one a statuette of an angel reaching out a crown of