g shown by the
angel who hovers above and places a hand upon each head.

It was not only in Florence that Giotto did his work. His fame spread
far and wide, and he went from town to town eagerly welcomed by all. We
can trace his footsteps as he went, by those wonderful old pictures
which he spread with loving care over the bare walls of the churches,
lifting, as it were, the curtain that hides Heaven from our view and
bringing some of its joys to earth.

Then, at Assisi, he covered the walls and ceiling of the church with
the wonderful frescoes of the life of St. Francis; and the little round
commonplace Arena Chapel of Padua is made exquisite inside by his
pictures of the life of our Lord.

In the days when Giotto lived the towns of Italy were continually
quarrelling with one another, and there was always fighting going on
somewhere. The cities were built with a wall all round them, and the
gates were shut each night to keep out their enemies. But often the
fighting was between different families inside the city, and the grim
old palaces in the narrow streets were built tall and strong that they
might be the more easily defended.

In the midst of all this war and quarrelling Giotto lived his quiet,
peaceful life, the friend of every one and the enemy of none. Rival
towns sent for him to paint their churches with his heavenly pictures,
and the people who hated Florence forgot that he was a Florentine. He
was just Giotto, and he belonged to them all. His brush was the white
flag of truce which made men forget their strife and angry passions,
and turned their thoughts to holier things.

Even the great poet Dante did not scorn to be a friend of the peasant
painter, and we still have the portrait which Giotto painted of him in
an old fresco at Florence. Later on, when the great poet was a poor
unhappy exile, Giotto met him again at Padua and helped to cheer some
of those sad grey days, made so bitter by strife and injustice.

Now when Giotto was beginning to grow famous, it happened that the Pope
was anxious to have the walls of the great Cathedral of St. Peter at
Rome decorated. So he sent messengers all over Italy to find out who
were the best painters, that he might invite them to come and do the
work.

The messengers went from town to town and asked every artist for a
specimen of his painting. This was gladly given, for it was counted a
great honour to help to make St. Peter's beautiful.

By and by the messeng