Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 4.djvu/324

316 her feet, and lastly a figure of Charity. Above all these pictures were a large cornice and architrave with a frieze, along the whole extent of which were ranged lamps in globes of glass filled with distilled spirits, and these lamps, being kindled, illuminated the entire apartment.

The ceiling was divided into four large compartments, filled each with a picture extending ten braccia in one way and eight in the other; the width of all the niches, each of which was four braccia wide, was surmounted by a frieze, which passed around the cornice, and immediately over every niche was a picture three braccia long and of equal breadth, being in the whole twenty-three, while one of double the size, six braccia namely, was placed above the stage and made the entire number twenty-four. In these delineations were represented the Hours, twelve of the night that is to say, and twelve of the day.

In the first of the pictures described as being ten braccia in length, and which was placed over the stage, there was represented Time distributing the Hours to their places; he is accompanied by Eolus the god of the winds, by Juno, and by Iris. In another picture, that immediately before the door of entrance, wras Aurora, rising from the arms of Tithon and scattering roses from her chariot, which is drawm by cocks. The third picture represented the chariot of the Sun, and in the fourth was that of the Night drawn by Owls. The figure of Night bore the Moon on her head, she was preceded by numerous Bats, but all around her reigned darkness.

The greater part of these pictures were executed by Cristofano, and he acquitted himself so admirably well that every one who beheld the work was amazed therewith; more particularly was the chariot of Night admired, the artist having displayed almost incredible ability in his oil sketches for that picture, as well as for that of the Adria, wherein he produced marine animals of so much variety and beauty, that all wdio looked at them stood astonished at such an amount of knowledge displayed by an artist of his rank. In short, Cristofano acquitted himself in every part of this -work like a most able and much experienced painter, but most particularly did he distinguish himself in the foliage and grottesche.

After all the preparations for this festival had been