Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/293

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appears to me that permission to pursue some honourable occupation must needs prove a great solace to a good and upright man who has taken monastic vows. Music, letters, painting, or any other liberal, or even mechanical art, involving nothing blameable, but rather, useful to others, as well as satisfactory to himself; any of these must, in my opinion, be a valuable resource to him; for, after having performed all his religious duties, the monk so gifted passes his time creditably, as well as happily, in the pleasant labours of his favourite occupation. And to this may be added, that not only is such an one esteemed and valued while he lives by every man who is not envious or malignant, but is honoured by all men after his death for his works, and for the good name which he leaves to the remembrance of those who survive him. It is, moreover, to be observed, that he who spends his time in this manner, passes the hours in quiet contemplation, secure from the molestation of those ambitious desires by which the idle and unoccupied, who are for the most part very ignorant, are constantly beset, to their frequent shame and sorrow. And if it should happen that a virtuous man should sometimes be persecuted by the envious and wicked, yet such is the force of goodness, that while time destroys and renders nugatory the malice of the evil-doer, the name of the upright man remains clear and bright throughout all ages,. The Florentine painter Lorenzo was a monk of the order of Camaldoli, and belonged to the monastery of the Angeli,