DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57409#0122
106
LIVES OF THE ARTISTS.
the Preaching Friars, which was very highly praised at the
time : he then returned to his native Florence, whence he
had been absent six years. No long time after this, Bene-
dict IX (XI) being dead, Clement V was elected pope at Pe-
rugia, when Giotto was obliged to depart again with that
pontiff, who removed his court to Avignon, where our artist
produced many admirable works; and not there only, but in
many other parts of France, he painted many beautiful pic-
tures and frescoes which infinitely delighted the pontiff and
his whole court, insomuch that, when all were finished, Giotto
was graciously dismissed with many presents, so that he re-
turned home no less rich than honoured and renowned.
Among other things, he brought back with him the portrait
of the pontiff, which he afterwards presented to his disciple
Taddeo Gaddi. The return of Giotto to Florence took place
in the year 1316; but he was not long permitted to remain
in that city, being invited to Padua by the Signori della
Scala, for whom he painted a most magnificent chapel in the
Santo,* a church just then erected.f From Padua he pro-
ceeded to Verona, where he painted certain pictures for
Messer Cane, J the father of Francesca di Rimini, in the
palace of that noble, more particularly the portrait of
Cane himself: he also executed a picture for the Fra-
ternity of St. Francis. Having completed these works,
Giotto departed for Tuscany, but was compelled to halt at
Ferrara, where he painted certain works for the Signori
d’Este, as well in their palace as in the church of Sant’ Agos-
tino, where they are still to be seen. Meanwhile, as it had
come to the ears of Dante that Giotto was in Ferrara, he so
contrived that the latter was induced to visit Ravenna, where
the poet was then in exile, and where Giotto painted some
frescoes, which are moderately good, in the church of San
Francesco, for the Signori da Polenta. § He then proceeded
from Ravenna to Urbino, where he also painted some pic-
tures. After this, as he was passing through Arezzo, he could
* The church of St. Anthony, of Padua, is so called par eminence —
St. Anthony being the patron saint of that city.
f Of these paintings there remains only a miserable relic, which
scarcely suffices to give an idea of its composition.—Ed. Flor. 1846.
J The Can grande della Scala, famous in Dante.—Par. c. xvii.
§ These pictures, as well as those painted in Verona, have all perished.
—Ibid.
LIVES OF THE ARTISTS.
the Preaching Friars, which was very highly praised at the
time : he then returned to his native Florence, whence he
had been absent six years. No long time after this, Bene-
dict IX (XI) being dead, Clement V was elected pope at Pe-
rugia, when Giotto was obliged to depart again with that
pontiff, who removed his court to Avignon, where our artist
produced many admirable works; and not there only, but in
many other parts of France, he painted many beautiful pic-
tures and frescoes which infinitely delighted the pontiff and
his whole court, insomuch that, when all were finished, Giotto
was graciously dismissed with many presents, so that he re-
turned home no less rich than honoured and renowned.
Among other things, he brought back with him the portrait
of the pontiff, which he afterwards presented to his disciple
Taddeo Gaddi. The return of Giotto to Florence took place
in the year 1316; but he was not long permitted to remain
in that city, being invited to Padua by the Signori della
Scala, for whom he painted a most magnificent chapel in the
Santo,* a church just then erected.f From Padua he pro-
ceeded to Verona, where he painted certain pictures for
Messer Cane, J the father of Francesca di Rimini, in the
palace of that noble, more particularly the portrait of
Cane himself: he also executed a picture for the Fra-
ternity of St. Francis. Having completed these works,
Giotto departed for Tuscany, but was compelled to halt at
Ferrara, where he painted certain works for the Signori
d’Este, as well in their palace as in the church of Sant’ Agos-
tino, where they are still to be seen. Meanwhile, as it had
come to the ears of Dante that Giotto was in Ferrara, he so
contrived that the latter was induced to visit Ravenna, where
the poet was then in exile, and where Giotto painted some
frescoes, which are moderately good, in the church of San
Francesco, for the Signori da Polenta. § He then proceeded
from Ravenna to Urbino, where he also painted some pic-
tures. After this, as he was passing through Arezzo, he could
* The church of St. Anthony, of Padua, is so called par eminence —
St. Anthony being the patron saint of that city.
f Of these paintings there remains only a miserable relic, which
scarcely suffices to give an idea of its composition.—Ed. Flor. 1846.
J The Can grande della Scala, famous in Dante.—Par. c. xvii.
§ These pictures, as well as those painted in Verona, have all perished.
—Ibid.