Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 3.djvu/351

Rh also of distinguished name, so he would never attempt a competition with artists of such excellence and renown. And of a truth, the most perfect wisdom and prudence to which a man can attain is that of knowing himself, and not presuming to think more of himself than his true value permits. Francia Bigio was not endowed by nature with great powers of invention, and the advantages wliich he possessed were acquired by long study and careful practice; yet having laboured much, he also acquired much. This master died in the year 1524, at which time he had attained his fortysecond year.

One of Francia’s disciples was his brother Agnolo, who died early; his v/orks are, therefore, but few. A frieze, which is in the cloister of San Brancazio, was executed by Agnolo, with some few other things. For the perfumer Ciano, who was an eccentric man, but much respected in his way, this Agnolo painted a figure to serve as a sign for his shop; a Gypsy woman namely, who is very gracefully depicted in the act of telling the fortune of a lady: the invention was that of Ciano himself, and was not without significance.

Another master who studied his art with Francia Bigio was Antonio di Donnino Mazzieri; he was exceedingly bold in design, and gave proof of great inventive power, more particularly in landscape; he was, besides, remarkable for the delineation of horses. This master painted the Cloister of Sant’ Agostino, at Monte Sansovino; a work in chiaro-scuro, representing events from the Old Testament: these stories, also, were highly commended. In the episcopal church of Arezzo, Antonio painted the chapel of San Matteo; here among other things he depicted that saint in the act of baptizing a king, and in this picture there is the portrait of a German so admirably done that the figure seems to be alive. For Francesco del Giocondo, Antonio painted stories of the Martyrs, in a chapel which is behind the choir in the church of the Servites in Florence; but he acquitted himself so badly on this occasion that he lost all his credit, and was thence-