DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51584#0102
98 EARLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
brain, and it was for his use and that of Brunel-
leschi that Manetti, one of the earliest Greek
scholars and mathematicians in modern Europe,
translated the ‘ Elements of EuclidMaso Fini-
guerra, who invented the art of engraving on copper;
Pollajuolo, the first painter who studied anatomy
by dissection, and who became the instructor of
Michel Angelo ; and Masolino, who had been edu-
cated under Stamina, the best colourist of that time.
There was also a young boy, scarcely in his teens,
who learned to draw and model by studying the
works of Ghiberti, and who, though not considered
as his disciple, after a while left all the regular
pupils far behind him. He had come from a little
village about eighteen miles from Florence, called
San Giovanni-, and of his parentage and early years
little is recorded, and that little doubtful. His
name was properly Tommaso Guido, or, from the
place of his birth, Maso di San Giovanni; but
from his abstracted air, his utter indifference
to the usual sports and pursuits of boyhood, his
negligent dress and manners, his companions
called him Masaccio, which might be translated
ugly or slovenly Tom; and by this reproachful
nickname one of the most illustrious of painters is
now known throughout the world and to all suc-
ceeding generations. Masaccio was one of those
rare and remarkable men whose vocation is deter-
mined beyond recall almost from infancy. He
brain, and it was for his use and that of Brunel-
leschi that Manetti, one of the earliest Greek
scholars and mathematicians in modern Europe,
translated the ‘ Elements of EuclidMaso Fini-
guerra, who invented the art of engraving on copper;
Pollajuolo, the first painter who studied anatomy
by dissection, and who became the instructor of
Michel Angelo ; and Masolino, who had been edu-
cated under Stamina, the best colourist of that time.
There was also a young boy, scarcely in his teens,
who learned to draw and model by studying the
works of Ghiberti, and who, though not considered
as his disciple, after a while left all the regular
pupils far behind him. He had come from a little
village about eighteen miles from Florence, called
San Giovanni-, and of his parentage and early years
little is recorded, and that little doubtful. His
name was properly Tommaso Guido, or, from the
place of his birth, Maso di San Giovanni; but
from his abstracted air, his utter indifference
to the usual sports and pursuits of boyhood, his
negligent dress and manners, his companions
called him Masaccio, which might be translated
ugly or slovenly Tom; and by this reproachful
nickname one of the most illustrious of painters is
now known throughout the world and to all suc-
ceeding generations. Masaccio was one of those
rare and remarkable men whose vocation is deter-
mined beyond recall almost from infancy. He