Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/213

Rh the life of St. John the Evangelist. Works of Taddeo are also to be found in other buildings of Arezzo, and are at once perceived by good judges to be from his hand. In the episcopal church, moreover, behind the high altar, there are stories from the life of St. John the Baptist, so admirably done, whether as regards design or execution, that one cannot but regard them with astonishment. In the church of St. Augustine, in the chapel of St. Sebastian, near the sacristy, Taddeo painted the history of that martyr, as also a Disputation of Christ in the Temple; both so finely treated and so exquisitely finished, that none can behold the grace, beauty, and variety of excellence displayed in these works, without extreme admiration and surprise.

In the church of the Sasso della Yernia, in Casentino, Taddeo Gaddi painted the chapel, in which St. Francis received the stigmata; he was assisted in the minor details of the picture by Jacopo di Casentino, who became the disciple of Taddeo, in consequence of that master’s visit to Casentino, on the occasion here alluded to. Having completed this undertaking, Taddeo, accompanied by Giovanni, the Milanese, returned to Florence, in which city and its neighbourhood he executed many works of importance; and in process of time his gains became so large, that as he constantly accumulated these sums, and was a man of prudent and regular life, he laid the foundation of the wealth and high position afterwards enjoyed by his family.

The chapter-house of Santa Maria Novella was also painted by Taddeo Gaddi, who received the commission for this work from the prior, by whom he is said to have been furnished with the composition of the picture likewise. It is true, that as the work was very large, and as the chapterhouse of Santo Spirito had just been finished and given to public view, by Simon Memmi, who had painted it to his great glory, at the time when the bridges were built; the prior conceived a wish to entrust Simon with one-half of the undertaking, whereupon he consulted Taddeo respecting the