Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 2.djvu/35

Rh and in the dormitory, beside many other things in the cells and on the walls, he executed a story from the New Testament which is beautiful beyond the power of words to describe.

But exquisite and admirable above all is the picture of the High Altar in that church; for besides that the Madonna in this painting awakens devotional feeling in all who regard her, by the pure simplicity of her expression; and that the saints surrounding her have a similar character; the predella, in which are stories of the martyrdom of San Cosimo, San Damiano, and others, is so perfectly finished, that one cannot imagine it possible for any thing to be executed with greater care, nor can figures more delicate, or more judiciously arranged, be conceived,. At San Domenico di Fiesole Fra Giovanni likewise painted the picture of the High Altar; but this—perhaps because it appeared to have received injury—has been retouched by other masters, and much deteriorated. The Predella and the Ciborium are, fortunately, much better preserved; and the many small figures which are seen there, surrounded by a celestial glory, are so beautiful, that they do truly seem to belong to paradise; nor can he who approaches them be ever weary of regarding their beauty. In a chapel of the same church is a picture from the same hand, representing our Lady receiving the annunciation from the angel Gabriel, with a countenance, which is seen in profile, so devout, so delicate, and so perfectly executed, that the beholder can scarcely believe it to be by the hand of man, but would rather suppose it to have been delineated in Paradise. In the landscape forming the background are seen Adam and Eve, by whom it was made needful that the Virgin should give birth to the Redeemer. In the predella are likewise