mastery of his art; among other things he has painted an Ass, foreshortened, and placed in such a manner that it seems to turn on every side; this animal is considered very fine. The Birth of Moses follows, together with all the signs and prodigies that ensued, until the time when he led the people forth from Egypt, and fed them during so many years in the wilderness. Finally, Benozzo added to these certain other stories of the Hebrew people; as, for example, those of David and Solomon his son; and it may be truly afiirmed that, in this work, he displayed infinite persistence, and a spirit more than bold; for whereas so vast an undertaking might very well have appalled a whole legion of painters, he alone encountered the whole, and completed it with his own hand.[1] He accordingly acquired a very great reputation by this work, and well merited the following lines which were appended to it in his honour:—[2]
Quid spectas volucres, pisees, et monstra ferarum,
Et virides silvas aethereasque domos?
Et pueros, juvenes, matres, canosque parentes,
Queis semper virum spirat in ore decus?
Non haec tam variis, finxit simulacra figuris
Natura ingenio foetibus apta suo:
Est opus artificis: pinxit viva ora Benoxus:
O superi vivos fundite in ora sonos”
Innumerable portraits, taken from the life, are scattered throughout this work, but as the subjects of all are not known, I shall speak of those pnly which are understood to be of important personages, or of those respecting which I have found authentic notices recorded. In the story of the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon there is the portrait of Marcilius Ficinus among various prelates, with those of Argiropolo, a learned Greek, and of Batista[3] Platina, whose
- ↑ Vasari does no injustice when he declines to place Benozzo among the best masters in design, since the distinction attained by Masaccio and others in that particular, is far from having been reached by him; he has, nevertheless, exhibited exceeding grace of movement, as well as beauty of expression in some of his works, the often-cited dancing group in the marriage of Jacob, which is one of the pictures of the Campo Santo, may serve as an example.
- ↑ The number of the stories here depicted is twenty-four. See Rosini, Descrizione delle pitture del Campo Santo di Pisa, Pisa, 1816.
- ↑ The baptismal name of Platina, was not Batista, but Bartolommeo, as we (Italian editors, 1849) have remarked on another occasion.
