ll those who work at these honourable professions
always seek after a laudable diversity, and possess the power of
delicate flattery and of tactful criticism. Lippo, then, painter of
Florence, who was as varied and choice in his inventions as his works
were really unfortunate and his life short, was born at Florence
about the year of grace 1354; and although he took up the art of
painting somewhat late, when he was already a man, yet he was so far
assisted by natural inclination and by his fine talents that he soon
distinguished himself brilliantly. He first painted in Florence and
in S. Benedetto, a large and fine monastery outside the gate of the
Pinti belonging to the Camaldoline order, now destroyed; he did a
number a figures which were considered very beautiful, particularly
the whole of a chapel, which affords an example of how close study
quickly leads to great performances in anyone who honestly takes
pains with the desire for fame. Being invited to Arezzo from
Florence, he did for the chapel of the Magi in the church of S.
Antonio a large scene in fresco in which they are adoring Christ;
and in the Vescovado he did the chapel of St James and St Christopher
for the family of the Ubertini. All these things were very fine, for
the invention displayed in the composition of scenes and in the
colouring. He was the first who began, as it were, to play with his
figures, and to awaken the minds of those who came after him, a thing
which had never been done before, only attempted. After he had done
many things in Bologna and a meritorious picture at Pistoia, he
returned to Florence, where he painted the chapel of the Beccuti in
S. Maria Maggiore in the year 1383 with scenes from the life of St
John the evangelist. Following on from this chapel, which is beside
the principal one, on the left hand, six scenes from the life of
this saint are represented along the wall, by the same hand. Their
composition is excellent and they are well arranged, one scene in
particular being very vivid, namely, that in which St John causes St
Dionisius the Areopagite to put his vest on some dead men, who come
to life again in the name of Jesus Christ, to the great wonderment of
some who are present who can hardly believe their own eyes. The
foreshortening of some of the dead figures shows great art and proves
that Lippo was conscious of some of the difficulties of his
profession and endeavoured to some extent to overcome them. It was
Lippo a