e son of
Giovanni Antonio, to Messer Girolamo Lioni, a Venetian gentleman of
noble spirit.

But to come at last to Giovan Maria, the brother of Giovanni Antonio. He
learned the rudiments of painting from his father, whose manner he
rendered no little better and grander, although even he was not a
painter of much reputation, as is evident from the Chapels of the Maffei
and of the Emilii in the Duomo of Verona, from the upper part of the
cupola of S. Nazzaro, and from works in other places. This master,
recognizing the little value of his work in painting, and delighting
beyond measure in architecture, set himself with great diligence to
study and draw all the antiquities in his native city of Verona. He then
resolved to visit Rome, and to learn architecture from its marvellous
remains, which are the true masters; and he made his way to that city,
and stayed there twelve whole years. That time he spent, for the most
part, in examining and drawing all those marvellous antiquities,
searching out in every place all the ground-plans that he could see and
all the measurements that he could find. Nor did he leave anything in
Rome, either buildings or their members, such as cornices, capitals, and
columns, of whatsoever Order, that he did not draw with his own hand,
with all the measurements; and he also drew all the sculptures which
were discovered in those times, insomuch that when he returned to his
own country, after those twelve years, he was rich in all the treasures
of his art. And, not content with the things in the city of Rome itself,
he drew all that was good and beautiful in the whole of the Roman
Campagna, going even as far as the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of
Spoleto, and other parts. It is said that Giovan Maria, being poor, and
therefore having little wherewith to live or to maintain himself in
Rome, used to spend two or three days every week in assisting some
painter with his work; and with his earnings, since at that time masters
were well paid and living was cheap, he was able to live the other days
of the week, pursuing the studies of architecture. Thus, then, he drew
all those antiquities as if they were complete, reconstructing them in
his drawings from the parts and members that he saw, from which he
imagined all the other parts of the buildings in all their perfection
and integrity, and all with such true measurements and proportions,
that he could not make an error in a single detail.

Having returne