was so extraordinary a benefit and proof of friendship, that no other could have been equally acceptable to Domenico, and he certainly had reason so to estimate it, since it caused him, as he had foreseen that it would do, to be ever afterwards highly honoured in his native land. Now it is certain that those men are grossly deceived who, even though they are niggardly and avaricious respecting things that cost them nothing, yet believe that every one must be willing to do them service for the sake of their high deserts: the courtesies of Domenico Veneziano enticed from Antonello the secret which he, with so many labours and pains, had procured for himself, and which he would most probably not have made over to any other, even for a large sum of money. Meanwhile, as we shall in due time describe the works performed in Florence by Maestro Domenico,[1] and declare to whom he afterwards proved himself liberal of that which had been so amicably imparted to himself, I now return to Antonello.
After having completed the picture of San Cassiano, this master executed many pictures and portraits for different nobles of Venice. Messer Bernardo Vecchietti, of Florence, has likewise a painting by his hand, San Francesco, namely, with San Domenico,[2] both in one picture, and exceedingly beautiful. Antonello had also received a commission from the Signoria of Venice to paint certain pictures in the palace,[3] a work which they had refused to commit to Francesco di Monsignore, of Verona, although the latter was highly favoured by the Duke of Mantua. But the Sicilian artist fell ill of a pleurisy, and died at the age of forty-nine, without having set hand to the work. He received honourable interment from his brother artists, in consideration of the benefit he had conferred on their art by making known the new method of colouring, as we find set forth in the following epitaph:—
- ↑ The life of this master follows.
- ↑ This picture was not a St. Francis and St. Dominick, but a Franciscan monk in dispute with a regular canon, it was transferred from the Vecchietti family to the possession of the Englishman, Ignatius Hugford; and is now, or was lately, in the hands of the Messrs. Woodburn.
- ↑ The Ducal Palace, burnt in 1483, was not restored until 1493. These dates may assist in deciding the period of Antonello’s death. — Ed. Flor. 1832—38.
