, which ranks with the best things which he ever
did, on account of the many fine things which he took into
consideration in executing it, for, quite apart from the beauty of
the drapery and the grace and vigour of the heads, which are truly
marvellous, there is a young woman of the most exquisite beauty, who
in order to free herself from an accusation of adultery, takes a most
solemn oath upon a book, keeping her eyes fixed on those of her
husband, who has made her swear because his suspicions had been
aroused by her giving birth to a black son, whom he could not be
persuaded to acknowledge as his own. Just as the husband shows his
anger and mistrust in his face, so his wife betrays, to those who
look carefully at her, her innocence and simplicity, by the trouble
in her face and eyes, and the wrong which is done to her in making
her swear and in proclaiming her publicly as an adulteress. Giotto
has also expressed with great realism a man afflicted with sores, as
all the women who are about him, disgusted by the stench, turn away
with various contortions in the most graceful manner imaginable. Then
again the foreshortening in a picture containing a number of lame
beggars is highly praiseworthy, and should be much prized by artists,
since it is from these works that the origin of foreshortening is
derived; and when it is remembered that they are the first, they must
be considered very tolerable achievements. But the most remarkable
thing of all in this series is the action of the saint with regard to
certain usurers who are paying her the money realised by the sale of
her possessions, which she intends to give to the poor. Her face
displays contempt for money and other earthly things, which she seems
to abhor, while the usurers are the very picture of human avarice and
greed. Similarly the face of one who is counting the money, which he
appears to be communicating to the notary who is writing, is very
fine, for although his eyes are turned towards the notary, yet he
keeps his hand over the money, thus betraying his greed, avarice, and
mistrust. Also the three figures in the air representing Obedience,
Patience, and Poverty, who are holding up the habit of St Francis,
are worthy of the highest praise, chiefly on account of the natural
folds of the drapery, showing that Giotto was born to throw light on
the art of painting. Finally he has introduced into this work a
portrait of the Signor Malatesta in a ship, which is most