valued, and who
thus from motives of pity showed himself pitiless, as our poet says.
It is certainly a marvel that Giotto should have produced such
beautiful paintings in those times, especially when it is considered
that he may in a certain sense be said to have learned the art
without a master.

After these things, in the year 1334, on the ninth day of July, he
began work on the campanile of S. Maria del Fiore, the foundations of
which were laid on a surface of large stones, after the ground had
been dug out to a depth of 20 braccia, the materials excavated being
water and gravel. On this surface he laid 12 braccia of concrete, the
remaining 8 braccia being filled up with masonry. In the inauguration
of this work the bishop of the city took part, laying the first stone
with great ceremonial in the presence of all the clergy and
magistrates. As the work was proceeding on its original plan, which
was in the German style in use at the time, Giotto designed all the
subjects comprised in the ornamentation, and marked out with great
care the distribution of the black, white, and red colours in the
arrangement of the stones and lines. The circuit of the tower at the
base was 100 braccia, or 25 braccia on each side, and the height 144
braccia. If what Lorenzo di Cione Giberti has written be true, and I
most firmly believe it, Giotto not only made the model of this
campanile, but also executed some of the marble sculptures in
relief, which represent the origin of all the arts. Lorenzo asserts
that he had seen models in relief by the hand of Giotto, and
particularly those of these works, and this may readily be credited,
since design and invention are the father and mother of all the fine
arts, and not of one only. According to Giotto's model, the campanile
should have received a pointed top or quadrangular pyramid over the
existing structure, 50 braccia in height, but because it was a German
thing, and in an old-fashioned style, modern architects have always
discountenanced its construction, considering the building to be
better as it is. For all these things Giotto received the citizenship
of Florence, in addition to a pension of one hundred gold florins
yearly from the Commune of Florence, a great thing in those days. He
was also appointed director of the work which was carried on after
him by Taddeo Gaddi, as he did not live long enough to see its
completion.

While the campanile was in progress, Giotto made a picture f