Giorgio Vasari

“ They kneel together at the same altar, while around them stand numerous figures and behind all are magnificent temples and other buildings, of which we have perspective views of such extraordinary excellence, and which are managed with so much ability that they amply suffice to show the extensive and exact acquaintance which Domenico possessed with the laws of perspective. ”

“ Thereupon Sebastiano della Seta, who perceived that he was served expeditiously and well by Domenico, caused that artist to paint a picture for one of the chapels of the cathedral, Sogliani having previously painted four for the same chapel. Domenico, therefore, remained for a time at Pisa, and in that picture he painted Our Lady seen in the air with the Divine Child in her arms; she is reposing on clouds which are supported by angels: beneath are several Saints, male and female, tolerably well executed, but still not displaying the excellence manifest in the pictures above-mentioned. ”

“ Domenico Beccafumi hearing this, and having an earnest wish to revisit his native city, soon returned thither accordingly, and perceiving that Giovan Antonio possessed great powers of design, in which he well knew the excellence of an artist to consist, he did not content himself with what he had acquired in Rome, but set himself studiously to follow in the footsteps of Giovan Antonio, devoting his time more especially to the study of anatomy, and to drawing the nude figure. ”

“ In the church of San Martino, Domenico Beccafumi painted a large picture, the subject of which is the Birth of Christ, with the Virgin Mother, St. Joseph, and the Shepherds, who are all in the act of adoring the Divine Child. Over the cabin or hut, wherein is the manger, there hovers a choir of Angels, which are most beautiful. [6] In this work, which is much commended by artists, Domenico began to make it obvious to all who understood the subject, that his works were executed on much more solid principles than could be found in those of Giovan-Antonio. ”

“ In the centre Domenico then painted the ascension of Our Lord in fresco, and from the cornice to the floor he occupied the space with three pictures divided by columns in relief and presenting views in perspective. The middlemost painting exhibits Our Lady, San Piero, and San Giovanni, they are seen beneath an arch which is depicted in perspective, and in the pictures at the sides are ten apostles, five on each side namely, standing in various attitudes; they are earnestly regarding the ascension of their Lord. ”

“ The same quality that we have already described as the pure gift of nature in Giotto and some others among the painters of whom we have been hitherto discoursing, was again perceived to manifest itself in the case of the Sienese painter, Domenico Beccafumi, seeing that while engaged in keeping a few sheep for Pacio his father [1] who was a labourer of the Sienese citizen Lorenzo Beccafumi, he was frequently observed to employ himself, child as he was, in drawing sometimes on the stones, sometimes on other substances. ”

“ Domenico on the contrary, was most orderly and well conducted, lived as it beseemed a Christian man to do, and passed the greater part of his time alone. It will nevertheless sometimes happen that such as are called good fellows and merry companions, are more sought after than are the virtuous and upright, and so it happened in this case, as regarded the youth of Siena, who were for the most part great admirers of Giovan Antonio, extolling him as a very original person. ”

“ To this intent they lay the god Mercury himself fast-bound within a crucible, while Vulcan and Pluto heap fire around him; but when they imagine that he is about to become a solid body, behold he flies off and is dissipated in smoke. ”

“ In this work Domenico proved himself to be no less able in. sculpture than in painting; he had fixed the group above described on a platform of wood-work four braccia high, and within this had arranged a series of wheels, which, being worked by men concealed among them, caused the whole to move forward, the design of Domenico being that this horse, having been made to move as we have said, should accompany his Majesty on his entrance into the city, and having attended him even to the portal of the palace of the Signoria, should then halt and remain fixed in the centre of the Piazza. ”

“ The Predella also is in tempera, and is very beautiful: the subjects depicted thereon are San Francesco receiving the Stigmata; Sant’Antonio of Padua, who, for the purpose of converting certain heretics, performs the miracle of the Ass, which makes its obeisance to the sacred Host; and San Bernardino of Siena, who is preaching to the people of his native city, on the Piazza of Siena. Domenico painted two stories in fresco on the walls of the same chapel: the subjects chosen being from the life of Our Lady ”

“ Beneath this story and opposite to the pulpit, there is a frieze with a vast number of figures, and this passes entirely across the church; the work is composed with so much grace and exhibits such beauty of design, that words could not do justice to its excellence. The subject of the picture is Moses in the Wilderness, who, striking the rock with his rod, and causing the water to gush forth, gives drink to his thirsty people. ”

“ In this work Domenico has shown us Posthumius, an old man with shaven beard, who stands with the right hand laid upon an axe, while he points with the left towards the body of his son, whom he displays to the army lying dead on the earth, the figure of the dead being foreshortened with admirable ability. Beneath this picture, which is a very beautiful one, is a highly appropriate inscription. ”

“ Gaining courage from success, our artist then commenced figures oi the twelve Apostles, which were to be placed on the succeeding columns, those below the above-described that is to say, whereon they were to replace certain old figures in marble in a very bad manner, which now occupy the columns; but this work Domenico did not continue, since he ceased to live no very long time after having commenced it. Being a man of much ingenuity, this master succeeded in almost all that he undertook, and engraved wood-cuts from which to take impressions in chiaro-scuro ”

“ Around the high altar in the same cathedral, Domenico also executed a decoration in the manner of a frieze; and to follow the order already commenced by Duccio, he delineated stories from Genesis; Adam and Eve that is to say, who, being driven from Paradise, are tilling the earth for their bread ”

“ One has cast himself prone to the earth and drinks in that position, another kneels before the rock whence the water flows and drinks from the source, many are drawing the water in vases and vessels of various kinds, and some drink with the hand, while many others are leading their cattle to drink, to the great joy of the assembled people. ”

“ The centre, or highest part of the ceiling, is divided into three compartments, so that in the middle and immediately over the octangles there is a circle formed, while there are squares over each of those on the walls beneath.
In one of the octangles is the figure of a Woman surrounded by Children; she holds a heart in her hand, and represents Patriotism, or the Love of Country. The second octangle has also the figure of a Woman, with an equal number of Children, and this represents Civic Union ”

“ At the edge of the ceiling and in the angles are circular compartments, which, being drawn half on the one side and half on the other, and being thus divided by the angles, present eight compartments, within which are seated colossal figures, one in each of the eight divisions, and all representing men who have been remarkable for their services in the defence of the republic, or for their obedience to her laws. ”

“ The renown of this artist being thus bruited abroad, Prince Doria, who accompanied the Imperial Court, when he had seen all the works by his hand which were then in the city of Siena, proposed to Domenico that he should repair to the Doria Palace in Genoa, there to labour where Perino del Vaga, Giovan-Antonio da Pordenone, and Girolamo da Trevisi had previously executed numerous works. ”

“ On the predella of this picture, the artist painted small historical representations in tempera, and these have indescribable animation and boldness; they are, moreover, executed with so much facility of design, that they could not possibly have more grace than we find displayed in them, and they yet appear to have been produced without the slightest effort in the world. In one of these stories is seen the Angel placing a part of the Host, consecrated by the priest, in the month of the above-named St. ”