t Ercolano solemnly crowned with fishes. They
immediately informed their magistrates, and horsemen were sent off
in haste to find Buonamico. But all was in vain, since he had
returned with great speed to Florence. They, therefore, agreed to get
one of their own painters to remove the crown of fishes and to
repaint the saint's diadem, saying all the evil things imaginable of
Buonamico and of the other Florentines. Thus Buonamico returned to
Florence, caring little for what the Perugians said, and began to do
many works which I shall not mention for fear of being too tedious. I
will only remark that having painted a Madonna and child at
Calcinaia, the man who had commissioned him to paint it, gave him
promises instead of gold. Buonamico, who had not reckoned upon being
used and cheated in this way, determined to be even with him.
Accordingly he went one morning to Calcinaia and converted the child
which he had painted in the Virgin's arms into a little bear, with
simple tints, without glue or tempera, but made with water only. When
the countryman saw this not long after, he was in despair, and went
to find Buonamico, begging him to be so good as to remove the bear
and repaint a child as at first, because he was ready to satisfy him.
Buonamico did this with pleasure, for a wet sponge sufficed to set
everything right, and he was paid for his first and second labours
without further delay. As I should occupy too much space if I wished
to describe all the jests and paintings of Buonamico Buffalmacco,
especially these perpetrated in the workshop of Maso del Saggio,
which was a resort of citizens and of all the pleasant and
jest-loving men in Florence, I shall conclude this notice of him. He
died at the age of seventy-eight, and he was of the company of the
Misericordia, because he was very poor, and had spent more than he
had earned, that being his temperament, and in his misfortunes he
went to S. Maria Nuova, a hospital of Florence. He was buried in the
year 1340, like the other poor in the Ossa, the name of a cloister or
cemetery of the hospital. His works were valued during his lifetime,
and they have since been considered meritorious for productions of
that age.

Ambruogio Lorenzetti, Painter of Siena.

Great as the debt owed by artists of genius to Nature undoubtedly is,
our debt to them is far greater, seeing that they labour to fill our
cities with noble and useful buildings and with beautiful paintings,
while