Giorgio Vasari

“ LAZZARO VASARI, PAINTER OF AREZZO.
[born 1380—died 1452.]
Very great, without doubt, is the happiness of those who among their forerunners, the men of their own family, find some that have been distinguished and renowned in a liberal profession, Avhether of arms, of letters, of painting, or any other noble calling. Men who find honourable mention of their ancestors in history have that incitement to virtue, if no other, and may find therein a bridle to restrain them from the commission of any act unworthy of a family which has had honoured and illustrious men among its members. ”

“ An example may be seen in a small chapel painted by his hand in the church of San Gimignano at Arezzo, [3] where there is a Crucifix, with our Lady, St. John, and the Magdalen at the foot of the cross; all of whom, depicted in various attitudes, express the grief they suffer with so much animation, that the work acquired great credit and renown for its author among his fellow citizens. For the Brotherhood of Sant’ Antonio, in the same city, Lazzaro painted a gonfalon, or standard, on cloth, which is carried in the processions ”

“ He lived to the age of seventy-two, and left a son named Giorgio, [12] who occupied himself continually with the old Aretine vases of terra-cotta, and at the time when Messer Gentile of Urbino, bishop of Arezzo, was dwelling in that city, this Giorgio discovered again the lost process of colouring vases in terra-cotta, red and black, which method had been practised by the ancient inhabitants of Arezzo from the time of King Porsenna. ”