of
S. Francis, and here again Ruskin is essential. It was a task which,
since this church was the great effort of the Florentine Franciscans,
would put an artist upon his mettle, and Giotto set the chosen
incidents before the observers with the discretion and skill of the
great biographer that he was, and not only that, but the great Assisi
decorator that he was. No choice could have been better at any time
in the history of art. Giotto chose the following scenes, one or two
of which coincide with those on Benedetto da Maiano's pulpit, which
came of course many years later: the "Confirmation of the Rules of the
Franciscans," "S. Francis before the Sultan and the Magi," "S. Francis
Sick and Appearing to the Bishop of Assisi," "S. Francis Fleeing from
His Father's House and His Reception by the Bishop of Assisi," and the
"Death of S. Francis". Giotto's Assisi frescoes, which preceded these,
anticipate them; but in some cases these are considered to be better,
although in others not so good. It is generally agreed that the death
scene is the best. Note the characteristic touch by which Giotto makes
one of the monks at the head of the bed look up at the precise moment
when the saint dies, seeing him being received into heaven. According
to Vasari, one of the two monks (on the extreme left, as I suppose)
is Giotto's portrait of the architect of the church, Amolfo. The altar
picture, consisting of many more scenes in the life of S. Francis,
is often attributed to Cimabue, Giotto's master, but probably is by
another hand. In one of these scenes the saint is found preaching
to what must be the most attentive birds on record. The figures on
the ceiling represent Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience, which all
Franciscans are pledged to observe. The glass is coeval with the
building, which has been described as the most perfect Gothic chapel
in existence.

The founder of this chapel was Ridolfo de' Bardi, whose family early
in the fourteenth century bade fair to become as powerful as the
Medici, and by the same means, their business being banking and
money-lending, in association with the founders of the adjoining
chapel, the Peruzzi. Ridolfo's father died in 1310, and his son,
who had become a Franciscan, in 1327; and the chapel was built,
and Giotto probably painted the frescoes, soon after the father's
death. Both the Bardi and Peruzzi were brought low by our King Edward
III, who borrowed from them money with which to fight the F