lic had descended from a long line of
ancestry; and this priest, according to the custom of the oriental
church, was married, and had "one fair daughter, and no more, the
which he loved passing well," so well, that he had intrusted to her
care the venerable girdle. Now it chanced that Michael, lodging in
the same house, became enamoured of the maiden, and not being able to
obtain the consent of her father to their marriage, he had recourse
to the mother, who, moved by the tears and entreaties of the daughter,
not only permitted their union, but bestowed on her the girdle as a
dowry, and assisted the young lovers in their flight.

In accordance with this story, we have, in the third compartment, the
Marriage of Michael with the Eastern Maiden, and then the Voyage from
the Holy Land to the Shores of Tuscany. On the deck of the vessel, and
at the foot of the mast, is placed the casket containing the relic, to
which the mariners attribute their prosperous voyage to the shores of
Italy. Then Michael is seen disembarking at Pisa, and, with his casket
reverently carried in his hands, he reenters the paternal mansion in
the city of Prato.

Then we have a scene of wonder. Michael is extended on his bed in
profound sleep. An angel at his head, and another at his feet, are
about to lift him up; for, says the story, Michael was so jealous
of his treasure, that not only he kindled a lamp every night in its
honour, but, fearing he should be robbed of it, he placed it under
his bed, which action, though suggested by his profound sense of its
value, offended his guardian angels, who every night lifted him from
his bed and placed him on the bare earth, which nightly infliction
this pious man endured rather than risk the loss of his invaluable
relic. But after some years Michael fell sick and died.

In the last compartment we have the scene of his death. The bishop
Uberto kneels at his side, and receives from him the sacred girdle,
with a solemn injunction to preserve it in the cathedral church of the
city, and to present it from time to time for the veneration of the
people, which injunction Uberto most piously fulfilled; and we see him
carrying it, attended by priests bearing torches, in solemn procession
to the chapel, in which it has ever since remained.

Agnolo Gaddi was but a second-rate artist, even for his time, yet
these frescoes, in spite of the feebleness and general inaccuracy
of the drawing, are attractive from a certain