ll be seen to-day; which method of working
was the cartoon that our old masters used to make for painting in
fresco, for greater rapidity; for having distributed the whole work over
the plaster, they would outline it with the brush, reproducing from a
small design all that which they wished to paint, and enlarging in
proportion all that they thought to put down. Wherefore, even as this
one is seen thus outlined, and many others in other places, so there are
many others that had once been painted, from which the work afterwards
peeled off, leaving them thus outlined in red over the plaster.

But returning to our Lippo, who drew passing well, as it may be seen in
our book in a hermit who is reading with his legs crossed; he lived for
twelve years after Simone, executing many works throughout all Italy,
and in particular two panels in S. Croce in Florence. And seeing that
the manner of these two brothers is very similar, one can distinguish
the one from the other by this, that Simone used to sign his name at the
foot of his works in this way: SIMONIS MEMMI SENENSIS OPUS; and Lippo,
leaving out his baptismal name and caring nothing about a Latinity so
rough, in this other fashion: OPUS MEMMI DE SENIS ME FECIT.

On the wall of the Chapter-house of S. Maria Novella--besides Petrarca
and Madonna Laura, as it has been said above--Simone portrayed Cimabue,
the architect Lapo, his son Arnolfo, and himself, and in the person of
that Pope who is in the scene he painted Benedetto XI of Treviso, one of
the Preaching Friars, the likeness of which Pope had been brought to
Simone long before by Giotto, his master, when he returned from the
Court of the said Pope, who had his seat in Avignon. In the same place,
also, beside the said Pope, he portrayed Cardinal Niccola da Prato, who
had come to Florence at that time as Legate of the said Pontiff, as
Giovanni Villani relates in his History.

Over the tomb of Simone was placed this epitaph:

SIMONI MEMMIO PICTORUM OMNIUM OMNIS AETATIS CELEBERRIMO.
VIXIT ANN. LX, MENS. II, D. III.

As it is seen in our aforesaid book, Simone was not very excellent in
draughtsmanship, but he had invention from nature, and he took much
delight in drawing portraits from the life; and in this he was held so
much the greatest master of his times that Signor Pandolfo Malatesti
sent him as far as Avignon to portray Messer Francesco Petrarca, at the
request of whom he made afterwards the portrait of Ma