Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/114

100 over all is the Holy Spirit. In each of these angles are certain Latin words, explanatory of the events depicted. Besides the paintings in these four compartments, those on the walls are extremely fine, and well deserve our admiration, not only for their beauty, but also for the care with which they were executed, which was such that they have retained their freshness even to this day. The portrait of Giotto himself, very well done, may be seen in one of these pictures; and over the door of the sacristy is a fresco, also by him, representing St. Francis at the moment when he receives the stigmata ; the expression of the saint being so full of love and devotion, that to me this seems to be the best picture that Giotto has produced in this work, which is nevertheless all truly beautiful and admirable.

When Giotto had at length completed this St. Francis, he returned to Florence, where, immediately after his arrival, he painted a picture to be sent to Pisa. This is also a St. Francis, standing on the frightful rocks of La Verna; and is finished with extraordinary care: it exhibits a landscape, with many trees and precipices, which was a new thing in those times. In the attitude and expression of St. Francis, who is on his knees receiving the stigmata, the most eager desire to obtain them is clearly manifest, as well as infinite love towards Jesus Christ, who from heaven above, where he is seen surrounded by the seraphim, grants these stigmata to his servant with looks of such lively affection, that it is not possible to conceive any thing more perfect. Beneath this picture are three others, also from the life of St. Francis, and very beautiful. The picture of the Stigmatae, just described, is still in the church of San Francesco in Pisa, close