judgment and talent in the art of painting. At Orvieto he painted in
fresco the principal chapel of St Mary. After these works he betook
himself to Florence, and in S. Procolo did a picture and the life of
St Nicholas on small figures in a chapel, to please some of his
friends, who were anxious to see a specimen of his work. He completed
this painting in so short a time, and with such skill, that he
greatly increased his name and reputation. This work, in the predella
of which he made his own portrait, procured him an invitation to
Cortona, by command of the Bishop degli Ubertini, then lord of that
city, where he worked in the church of S. Margherita, which had
shortly before been erected on the summit of the mountain for the
friars of St Francis. Some of this, particularly parts of the
vaulting and walls, is so well done, that even now when they are
almost destroyed by time, it is clear that the figures had very good
expressions, and show that he deserved the commendation which he
received. On the completion of this work Ambruogio returned to Siena,
where he passed the remainder of his days, honoured not only because
he was an excellent master in painting, but also because in his youth
he had devoted himself to letters, which were a sweet and useful
companion to painting, and such an ornament to all his life, that
they rendered him no less amiable and pleasing than the profession of
painting had done. Thus he not only conversed with men of letters and
of worth, but was also employed on the affairs of his republic with
much honour and profit. The manners of Ambruogio were in every
respect meritorious, and rather those of a gentleman and a
philosopher than of an artist. Moreover, and this tests the prudence
of men more severely, he was always ready to accept what the world
and time brought him, so that he supported with an equable mind the
good and the evil which Fortune sent him. In truth it is impossible
to overestimate what art gains by good society, gentle manners, and
modesty, joined with other excellent traits, especially when these
emanate from the intellect and from superior minds. Thus everyone
should render himself no less pleasing by his character than by the
excellence of his art. At the end of his life Ambruogio executed a
much admired picture for Monte Oliveto of Chiusuri. Soon after, at
the age of eighty-three, he passed in a happy and Christian manner to
the better life. His works were executed about 1340.