Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/419

Rh and divided into square compartments, with a rosette in each compartment; the foreshortening is managed with so much ability, and the whole is so judiciously treated, that the surface has all the appearance of being perforated. In the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, and in a chapel near the side door which leads towards San Giovanni, is a picture painted by Masaccio, and representiug the Madonna,with Santa Caterina, and San Giuliano. On the predella are various stories from the life of Santa Caterina, the figures being very small; with that of San Giuliano killing his father and mother. The Birth of Christ is also depicted here with that simplicity and life-like truth which were peculiar to the manner of this master. In Pisa, moreover, and in one of the chapels in the church of the Carmine, is a picture by this master, representing Our Lady with the Child, and at their feet are angels sounding instruments of music; one of whom is giving the most rapt attention to the harmony he is producing. St. Peter and St. John the Baptist are on one side of the Virgin, with San Giuliano and San Niccolo on the other. These figures are all full of truth and animation. On the predella beneath, are stories from the lives of the abovenamed saints in small figures, and in the centre of these is the Adoration of Christ by the Magi. This part of the work presents horses full of life, and so beautiful that nothing better could be desired. The persons composing the court of the three kings are clothed in different vestments customary at that time; and over all, as a completion to the work, are various saints, in several compartments, placed around a crucifix. It is moreover believed that the figure of a saint, wearing the robes of a bishop, and painted in fresco, in the same church, beside the door which leads into the convent, is also by the hand of Masaccio; but I am fully convinced that this is the work of Masaccio’s disciple, Fra Filippo.

Having returned from Pisa to Florence, Masaccio there painted a picture, which is now in the Palla Rucellai palace: it presents two naked figures, male and female, of the size of