Cain and of Abel; which were all highly extolled, but above all
that of Noah, because some of the heads and parts of the figures in it
were very beautiful. The picture of Abel is charming for its landscapes,
which are very well executed, and the head of Abel himself, which is the
very presentment of goodness; but quite the opposite is that of Cain,
which has the mien of a truly sorry villain. And if Sogliani had pursued
the work with energy instead of being dilatory, he would have been
charged by the Warden, who had given him his commission and was much
pleased with his manner and character, to execute all the work in that
Duomo, whereas at that time, in addition to the pictures already
mentioned, he painted no more than one panel, which was destined for the
chapel wherein Perino had begun to work; and this he finished in
Florence, but in such wise that it pleased the Pisans well enough and
was held to be very beautiful. In it are the Madonna, S. John the
Baptist, S. George, S. Mary Magdalene, S. Margaret, and other saints.
His picture, then, having given satisfaction, Sogliani received from the
Warden a commission for three other panels, to which he set his hand,
but did not finish them in the lifetime of that Warden, in whose place
Bastiano della Seta was elected; and he, perceiving that the business
was moving but slowly, allotted four pictures for the aforesaid sacristy
behind the high-altar to Domenico Beccafumi of Siena, an excellent
painter, who dispatched them very quickly, as will be told in the proper
place, and also painted a panel there, and other painters executed the
rest. Giovanni Antonio, then, working at his leisure, finished two other
panels with much diligence, painting in each a Madonna surrounded by
many saints. And finally, having made his way to Pisa, he there painted
the fourth and last, in which he acquitted himself worse than in any
other, either through old age, or because he was competing with
Beccafumi, or for some other reason.

But the Warden Bastiano, perceiving the slowness of the man, and wishing
to bring the work to an end, allotted the three other panels to Giorgio
Vasari of Arezzo, who finished two of them, those that are beside the
door of the facade. In the one nearer the Campo Santo is Our Lady with
the Child in her arms, with S. Martha caressing Him. There, also, on
their knees, are S. Cecilia, S. Augustine, S. Joseph, and S. Guido the
Hermit, and in the foreground a nude S. Jerom