ed between his fear and
his faith and confidence in St James, although he sees the
marvellously ugly devil against him, employing all his eloquence to
convince the saint. St James, after he has brought Marino to a
thorough penitence for his sin, promises him immunity, delivers him
and brings him back to God. According to Lorenzo Ghiberti, Berna
reproduced this story in S. Spirito at Florence before it was burned,
in a chapel of the Capponi dedicated to St Nicholas. After these
works Berna painted a large crucifix in a chapel of the Vescovado of
Arezzo for M. Guccio di Vanni Tarlati of Pietramela, with Our Lady at
the foot of the cross, St John the Baptist, St Francis la a very sad
attitude, and St Michael the archangel, with such care that he
deserves no small praise, especially as it is so well preserved that
it might have been made yesterday. At the foot of the cross, lower
down, is the portrait of Guccio himself, in armour and kneeling. In
the Pieve of the same city he did a number of stories of Our Lady for
the chapel of the Paganelli, and there drew from life a portrait of
St Ranieri, a holy man and prophet of that house, who is giving alms
to a crowd of poor people surrounding him. Again in S. Bartolommeo he
painted some scenes from the Old Testament and the story of the Magi,
and in the church of S. Spirito he did some stories of St John the
Evangelist, drawing his own portrait and those of many of his noble
friends of the city in some figures there. When these labours were
completed he returned to his native city and did many pictures on
wood, both small and great. But he did not remain there long, because
he was invited to Florence to decorate the chapel of St Nicholas in
S. Spirito, as mentioned above, and which was greatly admired, as
well as to do some other things which perished in the unfortunate
fire at that church. In the Pieve of S. Gimignano di Valdelsa he did
in fresco some scenes from the New Testament. When he was on the
point of completing these things he fell to the ground from the
scaffolding, suffering such severe injuries that he expired in two
days, by which art suffered a greater loss than he, for he passed to
a better sphere. The people of S. Gimignano gave him honourable
burial in that Pieve, with stately obsequies, having the same regard
for him when dead as they had entertained for him while alive, while
for many months they were constantly affixing to the tomb epitaphs in
the Latin and v