Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 4.djvu/340

332

The room called that of the goddess Ops, and which is beside the hall just described, was then begun, and here Cristofano painted the Four Seasons in fresco, with festoons in addition to the figures, which last were justly considered to be miracles of varied beauty, those appertaining to Spring presenting flowers in endless variety, while those of Summer were equally rich in fruits and ears of corn, the garlands of Autumn exhibiting grapes and vine tendrils, and those of Winter, onions, radishes, turnips, carrots, parsnips, and other roots, with dry leaves, &c. The four lions by which the chariot of Ops is drawn were also by his hand, and these are so beautiful that it would not be possible to produce anything better, but it may be truly affirmed that in painting animals Cristofano had no equal.

In the chamber of Ceres, which is near this, Doceno painted children in certain of the angles, with festoons which are indescribably beautiful, and in the central picture, where "Vasari had delineated Ceres borne on a chariot drawn by serpents, and seeking Proserpine with a lighted pine torch, Cristofano likewise executed many parts with his own hand, Vasari being then sick and having left the above-named picture of Ceres unfinished, with other works commenced before his illness.

There was then a question of decorating the terrace, which had been erected behind the Hall of Jupiter, and beside that of Ops, when it was decided that the History of Juno should be there depicted. Rich ornaments in stucco and carved work, with various compositions of figures executed after the Cartoons of Vasari, were completed accordingly, when Giorgio commanded that the works in fresco should be entrusted to Cristofano alone, Vasari desiring that as this was a work which would be liable to be examined closely, the figures not being more than one braccio high, so Cristofano should here have an opportunity for executing something that should be eminently beautiful, in his own peculiar walk of our vocation.

In an oval compartment of the ceiling, therefore, Doceno executed a story of the Espousals of Juno, who is seen in the air, and two other pictures; one with Hebe, the goddess of youth, on one side of that first-mentioned, and the second, exhibiting Iris with her rainbow, on the other. Three pic-