Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 3.djvu/452

444 all of which are exceedingly beautiful. Palladio, who is an excellent architect, affirms that he does not know any one possessed of so fine a power of invention in this matter, or who understands so well how to decorate apartments with admirable divisions of stucco work, as does this Bartolommeo Ridolfi. The latter, not many years since, was taken by Spitech Giordan, a Polish noble of great authority with the king of his country, to Poland, where he entered the service of the monarch with very honourable appointments. Here he has performed, and still continues to execute numerous works in stucco, large figures for example, and medallions; he also prepares designs for palaces and other buildings with the aid of his son, who is in nowise inferior to the father.

It is not known exactly at what time the elder Francesco dai Libri of Verona, of whom we are now to speak, was born, but it was some time previous to the birth of Liberale. He was called Dai Libri (“of the books”), because he exercised the art of illuminating books, having lived before that of printing had been invented, and exactly at the time when the latter was just beginning to be brought into use. Since, therefore, there were brought to him books from all quarters, to the intent that he should adorn them with miniatures, so was he known by no other name than that of Francesco of the Books, in the illumination whereof he was most excellent. And he executed vast numbers of them, seeing that whosoever could endure the cost of having them written, which was very great, desired also to have them adorned, so far as was within their means with miniatures. This artist illuminated many of the choral books which are now in the church of San Giorgio at Verona, as well as those belonging to Santa Maria-inOrgano, and San Nazzaro, both in the same city, all of which books are exceedingly beautiful. But the most beautiful of all is a small book, or rather two small j^ictures which close together in the manner of a book; on one side of which there is a San Girolamo, executed with the most delicate minuteness and finished with extraordinary care, and on the other a San Giovanni in the Isle of Patmos, and exhibited in the act of writing his book of the Apocalypse. This work, which was