Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/100

86 choir of the, as is shown by the following words, still to be seen there :— “Tempore Domini Joannis Rossi operarii istius ecclesiae, Vicinus pictor incepit et perfecit hanc imaginem B. Mariae, sed Magistatis et Evangelistae, per alios inceptae, ipse complevit et perfecit A.D. 1321, de mense Septembris. Benedictum sit nomen Domini Dei nostri Jesu Cristi. Amen.” The portrait of Gaddo, from the hand of Taddeo, his son, will be found in the same church of Santa Croce ; it is in the, and makes part of a painting which represents the ; beside him stands Andrea Tafi. In our book, of which I have previously spoken, is a drawing, by Gaddo, in miniature, and after the manner of Cimabue ; from this we may see the extent of his merit in design.

And now, as I find, in an old book from which I have taken these few particulars ; of Gaddo Gaddi, that there is also mention of the erection of Santa Maria Novella, the church of the Preaching Friars in Florence, I will not omit to relate by whom, and when, this truly magnificent and highly venerated edifice was erected. It is said, then, that the Beato Domenico, being in Bologna, received a grant of the estate of Ripoli, without the city of Florence, and sent twelve monks to take possession, under the guidance of the Beato Giovanni da Salerno ; these brothers afterwards fixed themselves in Florence, in the convent and ; but when Domenico himself returned to Florence, they departed thence at his desire, and repaired to the church of San Paolo, where they next took up their abode. Ultimately, however, the district of Santa Maria Novella was made over to the aforesaid Beato Giovanni, with all its appurtenances, the monks being put in possession by the papal legate, and by the bishop of the city, on the last day of October, in the year 1221. Then, the church being small, and