Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 2.djvu/58

and his son Giorgio, a child, kneeling, in vestments of honourable character, in the fashion of those times; they are recommending themselves to the consideration of the saints, the child having inadvertently wounded himself in the face with a knife^[1]* It is true that there is no inscription to this effect on the work, but the recollection of facts still in the memory of old persons belonging to our family, with the arms of Vasari seen in the picture, leave no doubt on the subject: and there would, doubtless, be some memorial of this matter in the convent, but for the disorders committed by the soldiery at various times, in consequence of which the documents and other property of the house have been dispersed, so that I am not surprised at the absence of such memorial. The manner of Lazzaro Vasari was so exactly similar to that of Piero della Francesca, that only a very slight difference could be perceived between them. It was at that time very much the custom to paint various devices, and more particularly the arms of the owner, on the caparisons of horses, according to the bearings of those who commanded these decorations; in this work Lazzaro Vasari was a most excellent master, more particularly in minute figures, which he executed with much grace, and in a manner peculiar to himself, such things being perpetually in demand for the caparisons just alluded to. Lazzaro worked much for Niccolò Piccinini,^[2] as well as for his soldiers and captains; historical pieces, decorated with the respective arms and devices of those who commanded them, which were held in great esteem, and brought him gains so considerable, that these profits enabled him to establish many of his brothers in Arezzo, they having previously dwelt in Cortona, where they occupied themselves in the manufacture of vessels in terra-cotta. Lazzaro also took into his house his nephew, Luca Signorelli, of Cortona, the son of one of his sisters; and finding good dispositions in this youth, he afterwards placed him with Pietro Borghese (Piero della Francesca), to the end that he might learn the art of painting, wherein Luca succeeded extremely well, as will be related in its proper place. For Lazzaro himself, de-

1. These works are not now to be found in the church of San Domenico. —Masselli.
2. Niccolo Fortehraccio, called Piccinino, a celebrated military leader of the fifteenth century—Ibid.