Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/262

248 rian. In like manner, the miracles performed by Ranieri, as he was borne to his tomb in the cathedral, and those which he worked after having been laid within the sepulchre, have been delineated by Antonio with infinite care and devotion. The painter has here represented men receiving their sight, the lame restored to the use of their limbs, and those possessed by demons set free, with many other miracles, all expressed with extraordinary animation. But, among all these figures, none surprises more, or merits more attention, than that of one suffering from hydropsia; the haggard visage, the shrivelled lips, the swollen body, all are so lifelike, that the devouring thirst caused by dropsy, and the other characteristics of that malady, could scarcely be more vividly displayed in the living body itself. A ship, which Antonio painted in this picture, was also the cause of great marvel in those times: this vessel, being assailed by a storm, is saved from shipwreck by the saint; the movements of the mariners, with all the proceedings customary on the occurrence of such accidents, being represented with much spirit. Some cast the precious merchandise, which they have procured by so many fatigues, without one thought of its value, to the insatiable deep; others hurry to the different cares required by their bark, which is in danger of being dashed to pieces; all are employed, in short, in various nautical offices, which it would occupy too much time to describe. Let it suffice to say, that the whole is so fine, and all these different actions are performed with so much vivacity, as to render the work a marvel. In the same place, and beneath the Lives of the Holy Fathers, painted by Pietro Laurati of Siena, Antonio depicted the body of the Beato Oliverio, and that of the Abate Panunzio, with various events from their lives, on a sarcophagus which is intended to represent marble. This painting is also extremely well done; indeed, all the works executed by Antonio in the Campo Santo are such, that they have been universally, and with great justice, acknowledged