Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 4.djvu/104

96 inconvenient from its distance, and the price but small, he was yet so much attracted by the opportunity which the work presented for the exercise of inventive power, and by the extent of the fa£ade to be placed at his disposal, that he was nevertheless inclined to undertake it, and the rather as he was much encouraged to do so by all who were really his friends; they being persuaded that this work would secure to his abilities that place which they so well merited in the estimation of his fellow citizens and the artists of Florence, to whom those abilities had as yet been made known by reputation only.

Having accepted the commission therefore, Perino made a small design of the subject, and this drawing was at once declared to be divine; he then prepared to make a cartoon of equal size with the work to be executed, and at this he laboured with his accustomed diligence, never ceasing from his attention thereto until all the principal figures were entirely finished. But this occupation caused the figure of the Apostle Andrew to be left out of view, and with that work Perino proceeded no further.

The cartoon for the Martyrs he executed on white paper, the lights being left in the paper itself, and the whole duly shaded and exhibiting much harmony of colouring; every part was indeed accomplished with admirable care. The two emperors, seated on the judgment-seat, condemn all the prisoners to death, and the figures of the captives are seen all turned towards the tribunal, some kneeling, some bending, others standing upright, but all nude and bound in different ways with fetters. The attitudes also are infinitely varied; some are writhing in the extremity of their anguish, and in these the trembling of the limbs, as the soul is made to depart amidst the agonies of a death so bitter as that of crucifixion, has been rendered fully apparent. The constancy and faith of the older martyrs is likewise seen, with the dread of death endured by those of more tender years: in others, the torture they are suffering, and the pain they endure, from the strain of the cords on their back and limbs, is made as clearly manifest. The swelling of the muscles is also perceived, nay, the cold dews of death are even shown, in that design, to be stealing over the bodies of the martyred victims.