Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/207

Rh The subjects represented in the chapel of St. Andrew were, Christ calling Peter and Andrew from their Nets, with the Crucifixion of the latter Apostle: a work highly praised at the time, and which has been equally commended in our own days. Over the side door, and near the burial-place of Carlo Marsupini of Arezzo, Taddeo executed another fresco, representing a dead Christ, with the Maries; this was also greatly admired, as was a painting of St. Francis, likewise in fresco, placed above the crucifixion of Donato, and representing the saint at the moment when, appearing in the air, he is performing the miracle of restoring to life a boy, who has been killed by falling from a high terrace. In this painting the artist has introduced the portraits of his master, Giotto, of the poet Dante, of Guido Cavalcanti, and, as some say, of himself. He executed many other figures, for different parts of the same church, all which are known to painters by their manner. For the confraternity of the church, Taddeo painted a most admirable Deposition from the Cross, in the oratory which stands at the corner of the Via del Crucifisso; and in the cloister of Santo Spirito he executed two stories in the arches, near the chapter-house. One of. these represents Judas betraying Christ, the other is a Last Supper. Over the door of the refectory, in the same convent, this master painted a Crucifixion, with several Saints; and these figures, compared with those of others who laboured in the same place, make it obvious that Taddeo was a faithful imitator of the manner of Giotto, which he always held in the highest estimation. In the church of San Stefano del Ponte Vecchio, Taddeo painted the high altar and predella, with infinite care. He also executed a very good work in the oratory of San Michele in Orto, the subject a Dead Christ, mourned over by the Maries, and devoutly placed in the sepulchre by Nicodemus. In the church of the Ser-