Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/58

44 versed in, all the nobler arts, that he has merited to be elected, as by our lord the Duke Cosmo he judiciously has been, to the office of ducal representative (vice-president) in our Academy of Design. But to return to Cimabue : Giotto certainly did obscure his fame, as a great light diminishes the splendour of a lesser one ; so that, although Cimabue may be considered, perhaps, the first cause of the restoration of the art of painting, yet Giotto, his disciple, impelled by laudable ambition, and well aided by heaven and nature, was the man who, attaining to superior elevation of thought, threw open the gates of the true way to those who afterwards exalted the art to that perfection and greatness which it displays in our age ; when, accustomed as men are, daily, to see the prodigies and miracles, nay, the impossibilities, now performed by artists, they have arrived at such a point that they no longer marvel at anything accomplished by men, even though it be more divine than human. Fortunate, indeed, are they who now labour, however meritoriously, if they do not incur blame instead of praise ; nay, if they can even escape disgrace.

The portrait of Cimabue may be seen in the chapter of Santa Maria Novella. It is by Simon of Siena, and is in his picture of the Church Militant and Triumphant. This portrait is in profile, the face meagre, the beard short, reddish, and pointed ; the head enveloped in a hood, after the manner of that day, which is folded gracefully beneath the chin, and closely wraps the throat. The figure beside Cimabue is Simon of Siena, author of the work, who has painted himself by means of two mirrors, placed opposite each other, and which have enabled him to give his head in profile. The soldier in armour, standing between them, is supposed to be Count Guido Novelli, then Signore of Poppi. Of Cimabue there remains still to say, that, in the commencement of a book wherein I have collected drawings by the hand of every artist who has followed him to these days, there are some