Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/84

62 of mediæval education is illustrated does credit to the invention of the Dominican Prior.

It is also within the walls of Santa Maria Novella that we find the only paintings now remaining by the hand of a far better master than any of those who were employed in the Spanish Chapel, Andrea Orcagna. This artist, the best of all the Giotteschi painters, and, next to Giotto himself, the greatest Florentine master of the century, was the son of a goldsmith named Cione. The surname of Orcagna, by which he became generally known, seems to have been an abbreviation of Arcagnolo, which he acquired from his home in the parish of St. Michael the Archangel. Born about the year 1308, Andrea belonged to a family of artists, and was, like Giotto himself, architect, sculptor and painter. Like Giotto, he was a man of genial temper and pleasant manner, who made himself beloved by all. And like Giotto, too, he wrote poetry, and a book of his sonnets is preserved in the Magliabecchian Library, while a later poet, Burchiello, mentions Orcagna among the poets who in past days have written of love. After learning the elements of painting from his elder brother Nardo, Orcagna studied sculpture under Andrea Pisano. But he matriculated in the Painters' Guild in 1343, and was only admitted to the art of wood and stone carvers nine years later. By this time he was already recognised as the best Florentine painter who had arisen since the death of Giotto, and as such was employed on extensive works in Santa Maria Novella. The frescoes of the life of the Virgin, with which he decorated the choir, were, unfortunately, ruined by a violent storm in 1358, and finally painted over by Ghirlandajo, who, according to Vasari,