ut the Cardinal wishing to have some
painting by the hand of Luca as well, he, old as he was, and
hindered by palsy, painted in fresco, on the altar-wall of the
chapel of that palace, the scene of S. John the Baptist baptizing
the Saviour; but he was not able to finish it completely, for while
still working at it he died, having reached the age of eighty-two.

Luca was a man of most excellent character, true and loving with his
friends, sweet and amiable in his dealings with every man, and,
above all, courteous to all who had need of him, and kindly in
teaching his disciples. He lived splendidly, and he took delight in
clothing himself well. And for these good qualities he was ever held
in the highest veneration both in his own country and abroad.

And so, with the end of this master's life, which was in 1521, we
will bring to an end the Second Part of these Lives; concluding with
Luca, as the man who, with his profound mastery of design,
particularly in nudes, and with his grace in invention and in the
composition of scenes, opened to the majority of craftsmen the way
to the final perfection of art, to which those men who followed were
afterwards enabled to add the crown, of whom we are henceforward to
speak.

FOOTNOTE:

[9] A judicial court, the members of which sat in rotation.

THE THIRD PART OF THE LIVES OF THE SCULPTORS, PAINTERS, AND
ARCHITECTS, WHO HAVE LIVED FROM CIMABUE TO OUR OWN DAY. WRITTEN
BY MESSER GIORGIO VASARI, PAINTER AND ARCHITECT OF AREZZO

PREFACE TO THE THIRD PART

Truly great was the advancement conferred on the arts of
architecture, painting, and sculpture by those excellent masters of
whom we have written hitherto, in the Second Part of these Lives,
for to the achievements of the early masters they added rule, order,
proportion, draughtsmanship, and manner; not, indeed, in complete
perfection, but with so near an approach to the truth that the
masters of the third age, of whom we are henceforward to speak, were
enabled, by means of their light, to aspire still higher and attain
to that supreme perfection which we see in the most highly prized
and most celebrated of our modern works. But to the end that the
nature of the improvement brought about by the aforesaid craftsmen
may be even more clearly understood, it will certainly not be out of
place to explain in a few words the five additions that I have
named, and to give a succinct account of the origin of t