done before his day. He had great
facility in handling, and, as it has been said, he is very simple in his
draperies.

There is a panel by his hand, wrought in distemper, wherein is a Madonna
upon the lap of S. Anne, with the Child in her arms. This panel is
to-day in S. Ambrogio in Florence, in the chapel that is beside the door
that leads to the parlour of the nuns. And in the tramezzo[14] of the
Church of S. Niccolo, on the other side of the Arno, there is a panel by
the hand of Masaccio, painted in distemper, wherein, besides the
Madonna, who is receiving the Annunciation from the Angel, there is a
building with many columns, drawn in perspective and very beautiful,
seeing that, besides the drawing of the lines, which is perfect, he made
it recede by means of the colouring, in a manner that little by little,
almost imperceptibly, it is lost to view; thus showing clearly his
knowledge of perspective. In the Badia of Florence, on a pilaster
opposite to one of those that support the arch of the high-altar, he
painted in fresco S. Ivo of Brittany, representing him within a niche,
in order that the feet might appear foreshortened to the eye below;
which device, not having been used so well by others, acquired for him
no small praise. And below the said Saint, over another cornice, he made
a throng of widows, orphans, and beggars, who receive assistance from
that Saint in their needs. In S. Maria Novella, also, below the
tramezzo[15] of the church, he painted a Trinity in fresco, which is
placed over the altar of S. Ignazio, with Our Lady on one side and S.
John the Evangelist on the other contemplating Christ Crucified. On the
sides are two figures on their knees, which, in so far as it can be
determined, are portraits of the men who had the picture painted; but
little is seen of them, for they have been covered with a gilt ornament.
But the most beautiful thing, apart from the figures, is a barrel-shaped
vaulting, drawn in perspective and divided into squares filled with
rosettes, which are foreshortened and made to diminish so well that the
wall appears to be pierced. In S. Maria Maggiore, also, near the
side-door that leads to S. Giovanni, on the panel of a chapel, he
painted a Madonna, with S. Catherine and S. Julian. On the predella he
made some little figures, connected with the life of S. Catherine, with
S. Julian murdering his father and mother; and in the middle he made the
Nativity of Christ, with that simplic