Madonna, which was cut out of the wall that it might not be totally destroyed, and, being supported by beams and bars of iron, was thus carried away and secured, for its beauty, in the place wherein the pious love which the Florentine doctor, Messer Nicolo Acciainoli, has ever borne to the excellent in art, desired to see it enshrined, and where he has richly adorned this work of Giotto with a framework composed of modern pictures and of ornaments in stucco.[1] The picture in mosaic, known as the Navicella, and which stands above the three doors of the portico in the vestibule of St. Peter’s, is also from the hand of Giotto,—a truly wonderful work, and deservedly eulogized by all enlightened judges ; and this not only for the merit of the design, but also for that of the grouping of the apostles, who labour in various attitudes to guide their boat through the tempestuous sea, while the winds blow in a sail, which is swelling with so vivid a reality, that the spectator could almost believe himself to be looking at a real sail. Yet it must have been excessively difficult to produce the harmony and interchange of light and shadows which we admire in this work, with mere pieces of glass, and that in a sail of such magnitude,—a thing which, even with the pencil, could only be equalled by great effort. There is a fisherman, also, standing on a rock and fishing with a line, in whose attitude the extraordinary patience proper to that occupation is most obvious, while the hope of prey and his desire for it, are equally manifest in his countenance.[2] Beneath this work are three small arches, painted in fresco ; but as they are almost entirely destroyed, I will say no more of them ; but the praises universally bestowed by artists on the mosaic above described, were, without doubt, fully merited.
Giotto afterwards painted a large picture of the Crucifixion, in distemper, for the church of Minerva, belonging to
- ↑ This picture, as well as those preceding it, have all perished—as have those of St. John of the Lateran, excepting only the portrait of Pope Boniface VIII, which is preserved under glass in the church, with an inscription placed beneath it, in 1776, by the Gaetani family.—Ed. Flor.
- ↑ For the many dissertations on this mosaic—its restorations, changes of locality, etc., see Lanzi and other writers. It is at present placed within the portico of St. Peter s, over the centre arch and opposite the principal door, where, unless sought for, it must escape attention.
