Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/241

Rh the dearth of painters then suffered there, he painted the chapels of Sant’ Onofrio and Sant’ Antonio, in the capitular church of Arezzo; but these works are now ruined by the humidity of the place. Giovanni executed some other pictures in the church of Santa Giustina, and in that of San Matteo; but these were destroyed, together with the churches, when duke Cosmo caused the city to be fortified. It was on this occasion that the beautiful head of Appius Cmcus and that of his son, in marble, were discovered; they were found at the foot of an old bridge, where the river enters the city, and near the church of Santa Giustina. An ancient epitaph, also very beautiful, was found with them, and all are now carefully preserved among the valuables of the duke. Giovanni then returned to Florence, arriving at the time when the middle arch of the bridge of Santa Trinita was on the point of being closed; a chapel was built on one of the piles, and dedicated to St. Michael the archangel, when Giovanni was appointed to decorate it, and painted many pictures both within and without, more particularly on the front wall. The chapel was carried away, with the bridge itself, in the flood of 1557. Some affirm that it was from these works, as well as from the place of his birth, that Giovanni received the name of Dal Ponte. This artist likewise executed certain works in Pisa, in the church of San Paolo a Ripa d’Arno; where he painted some frescoes in the year 1355; they were in the principal chapel behind the altar, but are now ruined by damp and time. The chapel of the Scali, in the church of Santa Trinita, in Florence, was also decorated by Giovanni dal Ponte, as was another chapel, situated close beside it. One of the stories from the life of St. Paul, near the principal chapel, where the tomb of Maestro Paolo the astrologer stands, is likewise by him. In San Stefano, at the Ponte Yecchio, he painted a picture; with some others, both in distemper and fresco, for the city as well as neighbourhood of Florence, from which he derived tolerable credit.