had to paint, as
being, on the whole, an authority about walls; receiving at the same
time a good deal of daily encouragement and comfort in the simple
admiration of the populace, and in the general sense of having done
good, and painted what no man could look upon without being the better
for it.

Thus he went, a serene labourer, throughout the length and breadth of
Italy. For the first ten years of his life, a shepherd; then a
student, perhaps for five or six; then already in Florence, setting
himself to his life's task; and called as a master to Rome when he was
only twenty. There he painted the principal chapel of St. Peter's, and
worked in mosaic also; no handicrafts, that had colour or form for
their objects, seeming unknown to him. Then returning to Florence, he
painted Dante, about the year 1300,[9] the 35th year of Dante's life,
the 24th of his own; and designed the facade of the Duomo, on the
death of its former architect, Arnolfo. Some six years afterwards he
went to Padua, there painting the chapel which is the subject of our
present study, and many other churches. Thence south again to Assisi,
where he painted half the walls and vaults of the great convent that
stretches itself along the slopes of the Perugian hills, and various
other minor works on his way there and back to Florence. Staying in
his native city but a little while, he engaged himself in other tasks
at Ferrara, Verona, and Ravenna, and at last at Avignon, where he
became acquainted with Petrarch--working there for some three years,
from 1324 to 1327;[10] and then passed rapidly through Florence and
Orvieto on his way to Naples, where "he received the kindest welcome
from the good king Robert. The king, ever partial to men of mind and
genius, took especial delight in Giotto's society, and used frequently
to visit him while working in the Castello dell'Uovo, taking pleasure
in watching his pencil and listening to his discourse; 'and Giotto,'
says Vasari, 'who had ever his repartee and bon-mot ready, held him
there, fascinated at once with the magic of his pencil and pleasantry
of his tongue.' We are not told the length of his sojourn at Naples,
but it must have been for a considerable period, judging from the
quantity of works he executed there. He had certainly returned to
Florence in 1332." There he was immediately appointed "chief master"
of the works of the Duomo, then in progress, "with a yearly salary of
one hundred gold florins, and the