Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 2.djvu/243

Rh so great a name in Florence and other places for the master, that Pope Sixtus IV., having erected the chapel built by him in his palace at Rome, and desiring to have it adorned with paintings, commanded that Sandro Botticelli should be appointed Superintendent of the work. He accordingly executed various pictures there: among them the Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness, Moses slaying the Egyptian, Moses receiving drink from the Daughters of Jethro the Midianite, and the Descent of Fire from Heaven when the Sons of Aaron offer Sacrifice; with several figures of holy Popes, in the niches above the paintings. By these works Botticelli obtained great honour and reputation among the many competitors who were labouring with him, whether Florentines or natives of other cities, and received from the Pope a considerable sum of money; but this he consumed and squandered totally, during his residence in Rome, where he lived without due care, as was his habit. Having completed the work assigned to him, he returned at once to Florence, where, being whimsical and eccentric, he occupied himself with commenting on a certain part of Dante, illustrating the Inferno, and executing prints, over which he wasted much time, and, neglecting his proper occupation, he did no work, and thereby caused infinite disorder in his affairs. He likewise engraved many of the designs he had executed, but in a very inferior manner, the work being badly cut. The best attempt of this kind from his hand is the Triumph of Faith, by Fra Girolamo Savonarola, of Ferrara, of whose sect our artist was so zealous a partizan that he totally abandoned painting, and not having any other means of living, he fell into very great difficulties. But his attachment to the party he had adopted increased; he became