Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 4.djvu/338

330 of the Duke, and the good will of Messer Sforza, who was indeed ever afterwards more kindly disposed towards him than words could express.

While this undertaking was in progress, Vasari had Cristofano to dwell with himself, as he had ever been wont to do: they abode in the house of the Signor Bernardetto de’ Medici, and perceiving how greatly that noble delighted in painting, Cristofano depicted two stories in chiaro-scuro on an angle of his garden: one of these was the Rape of Proserpine, the other exhibited Yertumnus and Pomona, the tutelary deities of Agriculture. In this work moreover, Cristofano executed figures of children and termini, by way of ornament, all which are so beautiful and richly varied, that better could not be seen.

Orders were meanwhile issued for commencing the paintings in the palace, when the first thing commenced was a certain hall belonging to the apartments newly erected. This room, though twenty braccia wide, had a height, according to the arrangements of Tasso, of nine braccia only, wherefore it was raised three braccia, being then twelve braccia high that is to say, and this was done, according to a very beautiful invention by Vasari, without altering the roof, one half of which was in the form of a tent. But since it was needful to do all these things, there was so much time required in reconstructing the wood-work and other parts, that no painting could be at that time commenced, wherefore Giorgio requested permission to pass two months in Arezzo, taking Cristofano with him.

But he was not able to give himself much repose during that period, seeing that he could not refuse to repair to Cortona, there to paint the ceiling and walls of a chapel for the Company of Jesus; this work he executed in fresco, assisted by Cristofano, who acquitted himself admirably well, more particularly in the twelve sacrifices, much varied in circumstance, which he painted in the lunettes and between the corbels of the vaulting, the subjects being taken from the Old Testament. Nay, to describe the matter exactly, almost the whole of that work may be said to be by the hand of Cristofano, Vasari not having done more than make certain sketches, design some other portions on the intonaco, and