Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/302

288 defect or negligence in the duties of his vocation, but proceeded from the frequent indispositions brought on by a painful complaint, which afflicted him so grievously, that he could not fully attain to the ends he had proposed to himself. Taddeo died at the age of fifty-nine, after having taught the art to a nephew, called Domenico. His works date about the year of our salvation 1410. This Domenico Bartoli, nephew and disciple, as we have said, of Taddeo, devoted himself earnestly to his art, and painted with more facility than his uncle had done, he also displayed a richer fertility of invention in his stories, which he varied more extensively than had been usual with Taddeo. In the hall of the pilgrims in the great hospital of Siena are two large historical pictures, in fresco, by Domenico Bartoli, who has managed the perspective, and treated all the accessories and ornaments with very great ability. This painter is said to have been singularly modest and amiable; his manners were gentle and his disposition remarkable for the most liberal kindness, all which brought no less honour to his name than did his proficiency in the art of painting. The works of this master were performed about the year of our Lord 1436, and the last which he executed were, a picture in the church of Santa Trinita, in Florence, of which the subject is the Annunciation; and the altar-piece for the high altar of the church of the Carmine.

It was at the same time that Alvaro di Piero of Portugal