Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 4.djvu/400

392 decorated with certain sculptures, but had completed only to the first cornice; when, knowing that Simone Mosca was a truly excellent artist, they determined to place that undertaking in his hands. Having made an agreement, therefore, the master, finding the manners and conversation of the Orvietans very agreeable to him, caused his family to join him, to the end that he might remain in that city the more commodiously; there he then set himself to work with a quiet mind and composed spirit, being very greatly honoured by every one.

He had no sooner made a commencement, almost as it were by way of sample, with certain pilasters and ornaments of different kinds, than the men of that city, perceiving the skill and ability of Simone, commanded that he should receive a stipend of two hundred golden crowns yearly; and these being paid him, he was enabled to conduct the work to a satisfactory conclusion. In the centre and between two sculptured ornaments it was resolved to have a representation in mezzo-rilievo, executed in marble, and the subject chosen was the Adoration of the Magi, when Simone Mosca invited his intimate friend the Florentine sculptor, Raffaello da Montelupo, to assist him in that part of the work, and Raffaello finished about half the story in a very beautiful manner, as we have before related.

Among the decorations of this chapel are certain pedestals, each two braccia and a half wide, which stand at either end of the altar, and above which are two pilasters on each side, the height of these last being five braccia: between these is the story of the Magi, and on the pilasters, next to the story, of which two of the surfaces are seen, there are chandeliers decorated with grottesche, masks, small figures, and foliage, which are divinely beautiful. In the predella, which passes from pillar to pillar above the altar, there are the half-length figures of little angels, each holding an inscription in his hands; and over all, between the capitals of the pillars that is to say, and where the architrave, frieze, and cornice project to the depth of the same, are festoons of great beauty. Above the central pier, and in a space equal to its width, is formed an arch which serves as a framework to the story of the Magi, and within this arch are numerous