Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/256

242 the Byzantine manner, but partly also in the manner of the moderns. And as the high altar of this church was entirely isolated, the picture was painted on both sides, the artist having represented all the principal events related in the New Testament on the back part, a work which he executed with infinite care in small figures, which are very beautiful. I have endeavoured to ascertain where this picture now is, but with all the efforts I have made, I have never been able to discover it. Nor can I find any one who knows what Francesco di Giorgio, the sculptor, did with it when he restored the tabernacle in bronze, together with the marble ornaments by which it is decorated.

Duccio painted many pictures on gold grounds for the city of Siena, and one for the church of Santa Trinita in Florence; this last is an Annunciation. He also executed various works for different churches in Pisa, Lucca, and Pistoja, which were all highly praised, and which gained him great renown as well as large profits. When Duccio ultimately died, what relations, disciples, or property he left, are circum-