distemper in which Jove changes
himself into a shower of gold and rains into the lap of Danae. Piero
Catanei, likewise, has a round picture in oils of a very beautiful
Virgin by the hand of the same master. He also painted a most beautiful
bier for the Confraternity of S. Lucia, and likewise another for that of
S. Antonio; nor should anyone be astonished that I make mention of such
works, for the reason that they are beautiful to a marvel, as all know
who have seen them.

Finally, having come to the age of sixty-five, he hastened the end of
his life by toiling all by himself day and night at his castings in
metal, polishing them himself without calling in any assistance. He
died, then, on the 18th of May, 1549, and was given burial by his
dearest friend, the goldsmith Giuliano, in the Duomo, where he had
executed so many rare works. And he was carried to the tomb by all the
craftsmen of his city, which recognized even then the great loss that
she had suffered in the death of Domenico, and now, as she admires his
works, recognizes it more than ever.

Domenico was an orderly and upright person, fearing God and studious in
his art, although solitary beyond measure; wherefore he well deserved to
be honourably celebrated by his fellow-citizens of Siena, who have
always won great praise by their attention to noble studies and to
poetry, with verses both in Latin and in the vulgar tongue.

FOOTNOTE:

[29] Zaleucus.

[30] Here there is a blank in the text.

GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI

LIFE OF GIOVANNI ANTONIO LAPPOLI

PAINTER OF AREZZO

Rarely does it happen that from an old stock there fails to sprout some
good shoot, which, growing with time, revives and reclothes with its
leaves that desolate stem, and reveals with its fruits to those who
taste them the same savour that was once known in the ancient tree. And
that this is true is proved in this present Life of Giovanni Antonio,
who, at the death of his father Matteo, who was a painter of passing
good repute in his day, was left with a good income under the
guardianship of his mother, and lived thus up to the age of twelve.
Having come to that period of his life, and not caring to choose any
other pursuit than that of painting, to which he was drawn, besides
other reasons, by a wish to follow the footsteps of his father in that
art, Giovanni Antonio began to learn the first rudiments of design under
Domenico Pecori, a painter of Arezzo, who had been,