Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/417

Rh externals, as one who, having fixed his whole mind and thought on art, cared little for himself or his personal interests, and meddled still less with the affairs of others; he could by no means be induced to bestow his attention on the cares of the world and the general interests of life, insomuch that he would give no thought to his clothing, nor was he ever wont to require payment from his debtors, until he was first reduced to the extremity of want; and for all this, instead of being called Tommaso, which was his name, he received from every one the cognomen of Masaccio, by no means for any vice of disposition, since he was goodness itself, but merely from his excessive negligence and disregard of himself; for he was always so friendly to all, so ready to oblige and do service to others, that a better or kinder man could not possibly be desired. Masaccio’s first labours in art were commenced at the time when Masolino da Panicale was working at the chapel of the Brancacci, in the church of the Carmine, at Florence: and he sought earnestly to follow in the track pursued by Donato and Filippo Brunelleschi (although their branch of art, being sculpture, was different from his own), his efforts being perpetually directed to the giving his figures a life and animation which should render them similar to nature. The outlines and colouring of Masaccio are so different from those of the masters preceding him, that his works may be safely brought in comparison with the drawing and colouring of any produced in later times. Studious and persevering in his labours, this artist successfully coped with the difficulties of perspective, which he overcame most admirably and with true artistic skill, as may be seen in a story representing Christ curing a man possessed by a demon, which comprises a number of small figures and is now in the possession of Ridolfo del Ghirlandajo. In this work are buildings beautifully drawn in perspective, and so treated that the inside is seen at the same time, the artist having taken the view of these buildings