Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/260

246 figures, was again exhibited by Antonio on the fagade of the church, in a small picture representing the Fall of Manna, and which he painted with so much care, and finished so admirably, that it may be truly called most excellent. He likewise painted stories from the life of San Stefano, on the predella of the high altar, in the church of San Stefano at Ponte Vecchio; and these, too, he completed with so much care and love, that figures more graceful or more beautiful could not possibly be seen, even though they were painted in miniature. At Sant’ Antonio, moreover, near the bridge of the Carraja, this master painted the arch over the door, which has been destroyed in our own days, by Monsignor Picasoli, Bishop of Pistoja, who caused the whole church to be totally demolished, because it interrupted the view from his palace. But, indeed, if the bishop had not done this, we should still be now deprived of the work, the late flood of 1557 having carried away two arches on that side, as we have before related, together with the end of the bridge whereon the above-named church of Sant’ Antonio was erected.

Being invited to Pisa by the intendant of the Campo Santo, on the completion of this work, Antonio there continued the history of the Beato Ranieri, a holy man of that city, which had been commenced by Simon of Siena, and in the completion of which Antonio adhered closely to the designs of that master. In the first part of the work executed by Antonio, is the saint embarking on shipboard to return to Pisa, and accompanied by a large number of persons, all admirably painted. Among these figures is the portrait of Count Gaddo, who had died ten years previously, and that of Neri his uncle, who had been Lord of Pisa. But perhaps the most remarkable of these figures is that of a demoniac: every feature betrays madness; the movements of the body, the glaring eyes, the distorted mouth, displaying its hard-set teeth; all are so truly those of one possessed, that it is not possible to imagine a more animated painting, or one more true to the life. In another part of the work, and beside that just de-