Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/55

1335] chapels, and which Vasari praises as miracles of art, have been entirely destroyed; but within the last fifty years the whitewash has been successfully removed from the walls of the Bardi and Peruzzi chapels, and the finest of Giotto's works that remain to us have been brought to light. Here, in a series painted when his genius had reached its full development, we are enabled to judge of his progress and realise the great advance which his art had made since the early days at Assisi. In dramatic power, in truth and energy of action, in beauty of form and variety of expression, these frescoes in Santa Croce surpass all Giotto's other works. The figures are larger and better drawn, the draperies are treated with greater breadth and freedom, the architecture is more elaborate and the perspective singularly correct. Where the restorer's hand has not entirely destroyed its surface, the colouring is more varied and harmonious, finer effects of light and shade and deeper gradations of tint are visible. Above all, it is here that Giotto's unrivalled powers as a great epic painter are revealed, and that we realise his intimate knowledge of human nature, and his profound sympathy with every form of life.

The Peruzzi chapel contains three scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist. In the first, the aged Zacharias stands on the temple steps swinging a censer in his hand, and starts back in surprise at the sight of the angel who has suddenly appeared under the arch over the altar. In the background, Elizabeth and a younger companion at her side behold the apparition with wondering eyes, and two lute players and a piper blowing with all his might are also