Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 2.djvu/72

64

So powerful is the attraction exercised by the noble art of painting, that many distinguished men have abandoned callings in which they might have become most wealthy, and, impelled by the inclination felt for this one, have pursued the desire by which they were animated, and, contrary to the wish of their elders, have devoted themselves to painting, to sculpture, or to other arts, as the case might be. And, of a truth, he who, esteeming riches at their true value and not more, shall propose excellence to himself as the aim of his life, will find treasures very different to those formed of gold and silver, nor need he ever fear the accidents which not unfrequently despoil us in a moment of those earthly riches, which are unwisely esteemed by men much beyond their true worth. Well persuaded of this, Alesso Baldovinetti, attracted by his own inclination towards art, abandoned commerce, to which all his predecessors had given their attention, (and in the honourable pursuit of which they had acquired riches, living in the manner of the most noble citizens), and devoted himself to painting, wherein he distinguished himself by his peculiar talent for imitating natural objects, as may be seen in the pictures executed by his hand.

This artist, while yet but a boy, and almost against the will of his father, who would have had him occupy himself with commerce, devoted his attention to drav/ing; and, in a short time, made so much progress therein, that his father consented to permit him to follow the bent of his inclinations. The first work in fresco of Alesso Baldovinetti was