Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 3.djvu/304

296 admirable attitudes, who, with axes in their hands, are hewing away the bridge with the most eager haste. The story of Mutius Scasvola is also depicted in the same place, he is exposing his own hand to the flames in the presence of the King Porsenna, thereby punishing the member for the error which it has committed in killing the king’s minister instead of himself; the countenance of Porsenna expresses contempt with a desire for vengeance.. The interior of this house is also decorated with landscapes by Polidoro and Maturino.

On the front of San Pietro-in-Vincola these masters painted stories from the life of San Pietro, with colossal figures of Prophets. The fame of our artists was so widely extended, by the many works thus beautifully executed by them in so large a number of public places, that they not only obtained the highest commendations during their lives, but have likewise secured infinite and perpetual glory after death, by the number of their imitators and copyists. On the Piazza, whereon stands the palace of the Medici, and on the front of a house behind the Naona, Polidoro and Maturino painted the Triumph of Paulus Emilius, with many other representations from the history of Rome.

At San Silvestro, on the Monte Cavallo, they painted some few small pictures for Fra Mariano, in the garden as well as in the monastery; they likewise decorated his chapel in the church of San Silvestro with two coloured pictures from the life of Santa Maria Maddalena. In these works there are certain parts of the landscapes which give proof of extraordinary ability, and exhibit a grace which is most attractive: indeed Polidoro executed landscapes, groups of trees, and rocks, better than any other master, and it is to