lists in some medallions, in an original style, for above the
bust and human limbs he gave St John the head of an eagle, St Mark
the head of a lion, St Luke that of an ox, while only St Matthew has
a human face, that is to say an angel's. Outside Arezzo, he decorated
the church of S. Stefano, built by the Aretines upon many columns of
granite and marble, to honour and preserve the names of several
martyrs who were put to death by Julian the Apostate. Here he did a
number of figures and scenes with great diligence and such a style of
colouring that they were in a wonderfully fresh state of preservation
when they were destroyed not many years ago. But the really
remarkable piece of work in that place, besides the stories of St
Stephen, in figures larger than life size, is the sight of Joseph, in
the story of the Magi, beside himself with joy at the coming of those
kings, and keenly watching the kings as they are opening the vessels
of their treasures and are offering them to him. In the same church
is a Madonna offering a rose to the Christ child, which was and is
considered a most beautiful figure, and so highly reverenced by the
Aretines that when the church of S. Stefano was pulled down, without
sparing either pains or expense, they cut it out of the wall,
ingeniously removed it and carried it into the city, depositing it in
a small church in order to honour it, as they do, with the same
devotion which they bestowed upon it at first. There is no wonder
that the work inspired such reverence, for it is a natural
characteristic of Spinello to endow his figures with a certain simple
grace, partaking of modesty and holiness, so that his saints and
particularly his Virgins breathe an indefinable sanctity and divinity
which inspire men with devotion. This may be seen also in a Madonna
which is on the side of the Albergetti, in one on an outside wall of
the Pieve in Seteria, and in another of the same kind on the side of
the canal. By Spinello's hand also is the descent of the Holy Spirit
on the Apostles, on the wall of the hospital of S. Spirito, which is
very fine, as are the two scenes below representing St Cosmo and St
Damian cutting a healthy leg off a dead Moor to attach it to a man
whose broken limb they have removed. In like manner the _Noli me
tangere_ between these two works is very beautiful. In a chapel of
the company of the Puracciuoli on the piazza of St Agostino he did a
very finely coloured Annunciation, and in