DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61542#0069
GIOTTO AT NAPLES
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13351
pencil and genius.” But all these works have been
destroyed, and another series of frescoes on the
Revelation of St. John, painted, Vasari tells us, col
pensiero di Dante, which he executed in the newly-
built Franciscan church of Santa Chiara, were white-
washed in the last century, by order of a Spanish
governor, who complained that they made the church
too dark! King Robert appreciated the painter’s
company as much as his talent, and enjoyed the
frankness of his speech and his ready jest. “ Well,
Giotto,” he said, as he watched the artist at work
one summer day, “ if I were you, I would leave off
painting while the weather is so hot.” “ So would I,
were I King Robert,” was Giotto’s prompt reply.
Another time the King asked him to introduce a
symbol of his kingdom in a hall containing portraits
of illustrious men, upon which Giotto without a word,
painted a donkey wearing a saddle, embroidered with
the royal crown and sceptre, pawing and sniffing at
another saddle lying on the ground, bearing the same
device. “Such are your subjects,” explained the
artist, with a sly allusion to the fickle temper of the
Neapolitans. “ Every day they seek a new master.”
In 1333, Giotto was still in Naples, and King Robert,
it is said, promised to make him the first man in the
realm, if he would remain at his court; but early in
the following year he was summoned back to
Florence by the Signory, and, on the 12th of April
1334, was appointed Chief Architect of the State
and Master of the Cathedral Works. Since the death
of Arnolfo, in 1310, the progress of the Duomo had
languished, but now the Magistrates declared their
intention of erecting a bell-tower which, in height
43
13351
pencil and genius.” But all these works have been
destroyed, and another series of frescoes on the
Revelation of St. John, painted, Vasari tells us, col
pensiero di Dante, which he executed in the newly-
built Franciscan church of Santa Chiara, were white-
washed in the last century, by order of a Spanish
governor, who complained that they made the church
too dark! King Robert appreciated the painter’s
company as much as his talent, and enjoyed the
frankness of his speech and his ready jest. “ Well,
Giotto,” he said, as he watched the artist at work
one summer day, “ if I were you, I would leave off
painting while the weather is so hot.” “ So would I,
were I King Robert,” was Giotto’s prompt reply.
Another time the King asked him to introduce a
symbol of his kingdom in a hall containing portraits
of illustrious men, upon which Giotto without a word,
painted a donkey wearing a saddle, embroidered with
the royal crown and sceptre, pawing and sniffing at
another saddle lying on the ground, bearing the same
device. “Such are your subjects,” explained the
artist, with a sly allusion to the fickle temper of the
Neapolitans. “ Every day they seek a new master.”
In 1333, Giotto was still in Naples, and King Robert,
it is said, promised to make him the first man in the
realm, if he would remain at his court; but early in
the following year he was summoned back to
Florence by the Signory, and, on the 12th of April
1334, was appointed Chief Architect of the State
and Master of the Cathedral Works. Since the death
of Arnolfo, in 1310, the progress of the Duomo had
languished, but now the Magistrates declared their
intention of erecting a bell-tower which, in height