this is how he came to accompany him
to Florence. The work on the Baptistery was done actually _in situ_,
every cube being set directly in the plaster. The work is still
extant, and the technical and constructive features are perfect,
since their restoration. It is amusing to read Vasari's patronizing
account of Tafi; from the late Renaissance point of view, the mosaic
worker seemed to be a barbarous Goth at best: "The good fortune
of Andrea was really great," says Vasari, "to be born in an age
which, doing all things in the rudest manner, could value so highly
the works of an artist who really merited so little, not to say
nothing!"

Gaddo Gaddi was a painstaking worker in mosaic, executing some
works on a small scale entirely in eggshells of varying tints. In
the Baroncelli chapel in Florence is a painting by Taddeo Gaddi,
in which occur the portraits of his father, Gaddo Gaddi, and Andrea
Tafi.

About this time the delightful mosaic at St. Clemente, in Rome,
was executed. With its central cross and graceful vine decorations,
it stands out unique among the groups of saints and seraphs, of
angels and hierarchies, of most of the Roman apsidal ornaments. The
mosaic in the basilica of St. John Lateran is by Jacopo Torriti.
In the design there are two inconspicuous figures, intentionally
smaller than the others, of two monks on their knees, working,
with measure and compass. These represent Jacopo Torriti and his
co-worker, Camerino. One of them is inscribed (translated) "Jacopo
Torriti, painter, did this work," and the other, "Brother Jacopo
Camerino, companion of the master worker, commends himself to the
blessed John." The tools and implements used by mosaic artists are
represented in the hands of these two monks. Torriti was apparently
a greater man in some respects than his contemporaries. He based his
art rather on Roman than Greek tradition, and his works exhibit
less Byzantine formality than many mosaics of the period. On
the apse of Sta. Maria Maggiore there appears a signature, "Jacopo
Torriti made this work in mosaic." Gaddo Gaddi also added a composition
below the vault, about 1308.

The well-known mosaic called the Navicella in the atrium of St.
Peter's, Rome, was originally made by Giotto. It has been much
restored and altered, but some of the original design undoubtedly
remains. Giotto went to Rome to undertake this work in 1298; but the
present mosaic is largely the restoration of Bernini, who can hard