if they were lovers of purity, as they
seek by their misguided zeal to prove themselves to be, they would gain
a desire to attain to Heaven and to make themselves acceptable to the
Creator of all things, in whom, as most perfect and most beautiful, all
perfection and beauty have their source. What would such men do if they
found themselves, or rather, what are we to believe that they do when
they actually find themselves, in places containing living beauty,
accompanied by licentious ways, honey-sweet words, movements full of
grace, and eyes that ravish all but the stoutest of hearts, if the very
image of beauty, nay, its mere shadow, moves them so profoundly?
However, I would not have any believe that I approve of those figures
that are painted in churches in a state of almost complete nudity, for
in these cases it is seen that the painter has not shown the
consideration that was due to the place; because, even although a man
has to show how much he knows, he should proceed with due regard for
circumstances and pay respect to persons, times, and places.

Fra Giovanni was a man of great simplicity, and most holy in his ways;
and his goodness may be perceived from this, that, Pope Nicholas V
wishing one morning to entertain him at table, he had scruples of
conscience about eating meat without leave from his Prior, forgetting
about the authority of the Pontiff. He shunned the affairs of the world;
and, living a pure and holy life, he was as much the friend of the poor
as I believe his soul to be now the friend of Heaven. He was continually
labouring at his painting, and he would never paint anything save
Saints. He might have been rich, but to this he gave no thought; nay, he
used to say that true riches consist only in being content with little.
He might have ruled many, but he would not, saying that it was less
fatiguing and less misleading to obey others. He had the option of
obtaining dignities both among the friars and in the world, but he
despised them, declaring that he sought no other dignity save that of
seeking to avoid Hell and draw near to Paradise. And what dignity, in
truth, can be compared to that which all churchmen, nay, all men, should
seek, and which is to be found only in God and in a life of virtue? He
was most kindly and temperate; and he lived chastely and withdrew
himself from the snares of the world, being wont very often to say that
he who pursued such an art had need of quiet and of a life free f