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Home , Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi, Giorgio Vasari

1 Excerpts from ’s The Lives of the Artists

Compiled by Jennifer Weiland from the translation by Julia Conaway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella (London and New York: , 1991).

From the chapter on : The endless flood of misfortunes which swept over and drowned the wretched country of had not only destroyed everything that could really be called a building but, even more importantly, had completely wiped out its population of artists, when, in the year 1240, as God willed it, there was born in the city of to the Cimabue, a noble family of those times, a son Giovanni, also named Cimabue, who shed first light upon the of . While he was growing up, he was judged by his father and others to have a fine, sharp mind, and he was sent to to a master, a relative who was teaching grammar there to the novices, so that he could be trained in letters. But instead of paying attention to his literary studies, Cimabue, as if inspired by his nature, spent the whole day drawing men, horses, houses, and various other fantasies in his books and papers. And Fortune was favourable to his natural inclination, because some Greek painters were summoned to Florence by the rulers of the city for no other purpose than to revive in Florence the art of painting which was at that time not so much in disarray as completely lost.

From the chapter on : That very same debt painters owe to Nature, which continuously serves as an example to those who strive always to do their best by selecting her best and most beautiful parts in order to reproduce and imitate them, is also owed, in my opinion, to Giotto, the Florentine painter; for when the methods and outlines of good painting had been buried for so many years by the ruins of war, he alone, although born among inept artists, revived through God's grace what had fallen into an evil state and brought it back to such a form that it could be called good. And it was truly an extraordinary miracle that such an ignorant and incompetent age could have inspired Giotto to work so skillfully that drawing, of which men during those times had little or no knowledge, came fully back to life through his efforts.

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And when he had reached the age of ten, after having shown an extraordinary liveliness and quickness of intellect in all his actions even while still a child---so that he delighted not only his father but everyone there at the farm and beyond it who was acquainted with him--Bondone gave him some sheep to watch over. And while they wandered about the farm, grazing in one place or another, Giotto, led on by his natural inclination towards the art of drawing, would continually sketch something from the world of nature or something that he had imagined upon flat stones or upon the ground or sand. One day Cimabue was going about his business between Florence and Vespignano, and he came upon Giotto who, while his sheep were grazing, was sketching one of them in a lifelike way with a slightly pointed rock upon a smooth and polished stone without having learned how to draw it from anyone other than Nature. This caused Cimabue to stop in amazement, and he asked Giotto if he would like to come to work with him. The young child replied that if his father would allow it, he would willingly do so. Cimabue therefore asked Bondone, and he lovingly gave his consent and allowed Cimabue to take Giotto to Florence, After his arrival there and in a brief time, helped by his natural talent and Cimabue's teaching, not only did the young boy equal the of his master, but he became such an excellent imitator of Nature that he completely banished that crude Greek style and revived the modern and excellent art of painting, introducing good drawing from live natural models, something which had not been done for more than two hundred years.

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It is said that when Giotto was still a young man with Cimabue, he once painted upon the nose of a figure that Cimabue had completed a fly which looked so natural that when his master returned to continue his work, he tried more than once to drive the fly away with his hand, convinced that it was real, before he realized his mistake.

From the chapter on : [Concerning the north doors of the in Florence] And it can truthfully be said that this work is perfect in every detail and is the most beautiful the world had ever seen among the ancients and the moderns. And Lorenzo should quite rightly have received high praise, for one day Buonarroti stopped to look at this work, and when he was asked what he thought of it and if the doors were beautiful, he replied: 'They are so beautiful that they would be do nicely at the entrance to Paradise.' This was a truly appropriate tribute, pronounced by someone capable of judging such a work. Lorenzo certainly deserved to execute these doors, since he had begun them at the age of twenty and had worked on them for forty years with the most painstaking efforts.

From the chapter on : It is Nature's custom, when she creates a person of great excellence in any profession, to create not just one man alone but another as well, at the same time and in the same part of the world as his competitor, so that both of them may profit from each other's talent and from the rivalry. Besides the singular advantage this brings to the two rivals themselves, this phenomenon also kindles beyond all measure the desire of the artisans who follow after them to strive as hard as they can, with continual study and effort, to attain the same honour and glorious reputation for which they hear their predecessors given high praise every day. And how true this is we can observe from the fact that Florence produced in the same period , , Lorenzo Ghiberti, , and Masaccio, all most excellent artisans in their areas, who not only rid themselves of the crude and awkward styles which had prevailed up to their time, but also stimulated and excited with their beautiful works the minds of those who succeeded them to such an extent that the work in these was brought back to the greatness and we witness in our own times. Thus, we are, in truth, greatly indebted to those first artisans who through their labours showed us the true path to follow to reach the highest level of excellence. And as far as good style in painting is concerned, we are primarily indebted to Masaccio, for it was Masaccio who, in desiring to acquire fame, realized that painting is nothing other than the art of imitating all the living things of Nature with their simple colours and design just as Nature produced them, so that anyone who fully follows Nature should be considered a splendid artisan.

From the chapter on Filippo Brunelleschi: [Concerning the commission for the of the cathedral in Florence] As a result, the consuls, trustees, and citizens, encouraged in this fashion, all met together and discussed the project with the architects. But with his strong arguments, they were all beaten and won over by Filippo. It is said that the argument over the egg arose during the meeting in the following way. They wanted Filippo to explain his intentions in detail and to show his model, as they had shown theirs, something he did not want to do, and he in turn proposed to both foreign and Florentine masters that whoever could stand an egg upright upon a marble slab should execute the dome, since in this way their intelligence would be revealed. Therefore, when Filippo produced an egg, all those masters tried to make it stand upright, but none of them found the way to do it. Then they asked Filippo to do it, and he graciously took the egg, cracked its bottom on the marble and made it stand upright. The artisans loudly complained that they could have done the same thing, and, laughing, Filippo answered that they would also have learned how to the dome if they had seen his model and his plans. And so they decided 3 that Filippo should have the responsibility of executing this project, and he was told to give more details to the consuls and trustees.

From the chapter on Donatello: ...Donatello took extraordinary pains in carving a wooden which, upon completing it and believing that he had produced a very rare object, he showed to Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, his very dear friend, in order to have his opinion of it. Filippo, who expected to see something much better from Donatello's description of it, smiled a bit when he saw it. When Donatello saw this, he begged Filippo for the sake of their friendship to give him his honest opinion of it, and so, Filippo, who was very candid, replied that it seemed to him as if Donatello had placed a peasant upon the cross and not a body like that of Jesus Christ, which was most delicate and represented, in all its parts, the most perfect human being born. Hearing himself criticized--and even more sharply than he had imagined--rather than receiving the praise he had hoped for, Donatello answered: 'If it were as simple to create something as to criticize, my Christ would look like Christ to you and not like a peasant; take some wood and try to make one yourself.' Without saying another word, Filippo returned home, and without anyone knowing, he set his hand to making a crucifix, seeking to surpass Donatello in order to vindicate his own judgement, and after many months he brought it to the highest degree of perfection. And once this was finished, he invited Donatello one morning to have lunch with him, and Donatello accepted the invitation. And so, they went together towards Filippo's home, and when they reached the Old Market, Filippo bought a few things and gave them to Donatello, saying: 'Go on home with these things and wait for me there, and I'll be along shortly.' Donatello therefore entered the house and, on the ground-floor, saw Filippo's crucifix in a perfect light, and stopping to examine it, he found it so perfectly finished that, realizing Filippo had outdone him, and completely stupefied, as if he had lost his wits, he relaxed his grip on his apron; whereupon, the eggs, the cheese, and everything else fell out, breaking into pieces and spilling all over, and as he stood there stunned and amazed, Filippo caught up with him, and said with a laugh: 'What's your plan, Donatello? How can we have lunch if you have spilled everything?' Donatello replied: 'Personally, I've had enough for this morning, but if you want your share, take it. But no more, thank you: it's for you to make Christs and for me to make peasants.’

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This figure was worked by Donatello with such good judgement that, while on the ground, its excellence was not recognized by people lacking in understanding, and the consuls of the guild were unwilling to have it erected, but Donatello asked them to put it up, saying he wanted to show them that after he worked on it further, it would turn out differently. Once they agreed, he covered it up for fifteen days and then, without retouching it in any other way, he uncovered it, filling everyone with amazement.

From the chapter on Fra Giovanni of Fiesole [] of the Order of Preaching Friars: And because Fra Angelico seemed to the to be a person who led a most holy life, quiet, and modest (as he actually was), when the archbishopric of Florence fell vacant at that time, he judged him worthy of such a rank. When the friar realized the pope's intentions, he begged His Holiness to find another man, since he did not feel himself capable of governing other people, declaring that there was another friar in his order most skilled in government who loved the poor and was a God-fearing man, and that it would be much more appropriate to confer such a dignified rank upon this man than upon himself. When the pope heard this and realized that what Fra Angelico said was true, he granted the request...The inherent goodness of Fra Angelico was very great, for in truth it was a most unusual thing to concede a dignified rank and an honour along with the great responsibility offered by the supreme pontiff to someone whom Fra Angelico- employing a keen eye and heartfelt sincerity--judged to be much more worthy than himself.

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Fra Angelico was a simple and most holy man in his habits; and it was a sign of his goodness that one morning when Pope Nicholas V wished to dine with him, he excused himself from eating meat because he lacked his prior's permission--without a thought for the pope's authority. He shunned all the things of the world; living a pure and saintly life, he befriended the poor just as his soul is, I believe, now befriended by Heaven. He applied himself continuously to his painting and never wanted to work on anything but holy subjects. He could have been rich but cared little about wealth; on the contrary, he used to say that true wealth was nothing but being content with little. He could have wielded power over many others but did not wish to do so, saying there was less hardship and error in obeying others....Fra Angelico was most humane and temperate; living chastely, he freed himself from earthly ties and was in the habit of repeating that anyone who practised this craft of his needed peace and a life free from care, and that anyone who created works involving Christ ought always to reside with Christ. No one ever saw him lose his temper among the friars-an amazing fact, it seems to me, and almost impossible to believe-and it was his practice to admonish his friends with a simple derisive smile. To those who requested a work from him, he would declare with incredible friendliness that if his prior would consent, he would not fail them. In short, this friar who could never be sufficiently praised....

From the chapter on : Letters bring the greatest benefits to all those artisans who take delight in them, and most especially to sculptors, painters, or architects, by opening the way to in all of their endeavours. Anyone who is deprived of the experience of life's contingencies, that is, of the companionship of good books, cannot possess perfect judgement (even if this judgement is a natural gift). For who does not realize that in choosing a site for buildings, one must use natural philosophy to avoid the severity of pestilential winds, unhealthy air, and the smells or vapours of impure and unhealthy waters? Who does not recognize that one must know what to avoid and what to accept in one's own work after careful consideration, without having to rely upon the theories of others, which, in most cases, are found to be of little value when separated from practice? But when by chance theory and practice meet and join together, there is nothing more useful to our lives, for through the means of science, art is perfected and enriched, and the advice and writings of learned artisans are more useful and trustworthy than the words or works of those artisans who do nothing more than practise their craft, whether they do so well or badly. The truth of these statements is clearly demonstrated by Leon Battista Alberti, who, having studied the Latin language and having practised , , and painting, left behind him books written so well that although countless modern artisans have proved more excellent than him in practice, they have been unable to equal him in writing about their craft. Accordingly, his writings have exercised so much influence upon the works and conversations of learned men that it is commonly believed he far surpassed those artisans who actually surpassed him in practice of their craft. Thus, experience shows us that as far as fame and reputation are concerned, the written word is far more influential and long-lasting than anything else; and provided that books are truthful and do not lie, they easily travel everywhere, and everywhere are trusted. Thus, it is not surprising that the famous Leon Battista Alberti is better known for his writings than for the works he did with his hands.

From the chapter on Antonella da Messina: [Concerning the first oil from Flanders] Thus, travelling for business on one occasion from Sicily to , this man heard that the above- mentioned panel, painted in oil by Giovanni da Bruggia, had reached King Alfonso from Flanders, and that it was done in such a manner that it could be washed, would withstand every kind of abuse, and was completely perfect. And after he made the effort to see the painting, the vitality of its colours as well as its 5 and harmony made such an impression upon him that, setting aside every other business matter and concern, he went off to Flanders. When Antonello reached Bruges, he struck up a close friendship with Giovanni, showing him many drawings done in the Italian style and other things. Because of this friendship, Antonello's observations, and the fact that Giovanni was already very old, he allowed Antonello to see how he made oil paints, and Antonello therefore did not leave Bruges until he had mastered this method of painting he had so intensely desired to learn. Not long afterwards, following Giovanni's death, Antonello returned from Flanders to his native country to acquaint all of Italy with this practical, beautiful, and useful secret. After passing a few months in Messina, he moved to Venice, where, as a man greatly given over to all the carnal pleasures, he resolved to live forever and to end his life in a place where he had found a way of living exactly to his liking. Thus, he set to work, and, following the method he had learned in Flanders, he executed many oil paintings there which are scattered throughout the homes of that city's nobility, who held them in high esteem for their innovations in workmanship.

From the chapter on Fra : One day when he was in the March of Ancona amusing himself with some of his friends in a small boat on the ocean, they were all captured by the Moorish galleys that prowled in those waters, seized, and carried off to Barbary, where each one was placed in chains and held as a slave and there Fra Filippo remained in great discomfort for eighteen months. But one day Filippo, who was familiar with his owner, decided to take the opportunity to draw his portrait, and so he took a burnt coal from the fire and sketched him full length in his Moorish clothing upon a white wall. The other slaves told their owner about this, for since neither design nor painting was employed in those parts they all thought it was a miracle, and this was the cause of his liberation from the chains which held him captive for so long. Truly, it is a glorious tribute to the great skill of painting that it caused someone with the legal authority to condemn and punish to do exactly the opposite and, instead of torture and death, he was led to bestow compassion and freedom.

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It is said Filippo was so lustful that whenever he saw women who pleased him, he would give them all his possessions just to have them, and if he could not, as a middle course, he cooled the flames of his amorous passion by talking to himself while painting their portraits. He was so obsessed by this appetite that when he was in such a libidinous humour he paid little or no attention to the projects he had undertaken. On one such occasion, Cosimo de' Medici, having commissioned him to do a work in his home, locked him inside so that he would not leave the house and waste time, but one evening after Filippo had remained there for two days, he was driven by his amorous--or rather, his bestial desires--to cut up some sheets from his bed into strips with a pair of scissors, and, once he had lowered himself out of a window, he pursued his pleasures for many days. And when he did not find him, Cosimo conducted a search for him and finally brought him back to work, and from that time on, he gave Filippo the freedom to come and go as he pleased, very much having shut him up inside, considering Filippo's regretting madness and the dangers he might encounter. Thus, in the future Cosimo always tried to restrain Filippo with acts of kindness, and he was accordingly served by Filippo with even greater readiness. And Cosimo always used to declare that rare geniuses are celestial forms and not beasts of burden.

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Then, the nuns of Santa Margherita gave him the project of painting the panel for the main altar, and one day while he was at work on it, he caught sight of the younger daughter of Francesco Buti, a Florentine citizen, who was living there either as a ward or as a nun. Once Fra Filippo cast his eye on Lucrezia (for 6 that was the girl's name), who had the most beautiful grace and bearing, he was so persistent with the nuns that they allowed him to paint her portrait in order to use it in a figure of the Madonna for the work he was completing for them. This opportunity caused him to fall even more deeply in love, and he then made arrangements, using various means, to steal Lucrezia away from the nuns, leading her away from the convent... As a result the nuns fell into disgrace over the affair, and her father Francesco was never happy again and did everything he could to have her back. But either out of fear or some other reason, she never wanted to return, and, instead, she stayed with Filippo, for whom she bore a male child who was also called Filippo and later became, like his father, a most excellent and famous painter.

From the chapter on : As mentioned earlier, Leonardo was placed in this profession by Ser Piero during his youth in the shop of . At the time, Andrea was completing a panel showing Saint John baptizing Christ in which Leonardo worked on an angel holding some garments, and although he was a young boy, he completed the angel in such a way that Leonardo's angel was much better than the figures by Andrea. This was the reason why Andrea would never touch colours again, angered that a young boy understood them better than he did.

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[Concerning the ] It is said that the prior of the church entreated Leonardo with tiresome persistence to complete the work, since it seemed strange to him to see how Leonardo sometimes passed half a day at a time lost in thought, and he would have preferred Leonardo, just like the labourers hoeing in the garden, never to have laid down his brush. And as if this was not enough, he complained to the duke and made such a disturbance that the duke was forced to send for Leonardo and to question him skilfully about his work, showing with great civility that he was doing so because of the prior's insistence. Leonardo, who knew that the prince possessed a sharp and discerning intellect, was willing to discuss his work at length with the duke (something he had never done with the prior); he talked to him extensively about art and persuaded him that the greatest geniuses sometimes accomplish more when they work less, since they are searching for inventions in their minds, and forming those perfect ideas which their hands then express and reproduce from what they previously conceived with their intellect. And he added that he still had two heads to complete: that of Christ, for which he was unwilling to seek a model on earth and unable to presume that his imagination could conceive of the beauty and celestial grace required of divinity incarnate. The head of Judas, which caused him much thought, was also missing, for he did not believe himself capable of imagining a form to depict the face of a man who, after receiving so many favours, could have possessed a mind so wicked that he could have resolved to betray his Lord and the Creator of the World. None the less, he would search for a model for this second face, but if in the end he could not find anything better, there was always the head of the prior, who was so insistent and indiscreet. This moved the duke to laughter, and the duke declared that Leonardo was quite right.

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[Concerning the ] ...it can be said that portrait was painted in a way that would cause every brave artist to tremble and fear, whoever he might be. Since Mona Lisa was very beautiful, Leonardo employed this technique: while he was painting her portrait, he had musicians who played or sang and clowns who would always make her merry in order to drive away her melancholy, which painting often brings to portraits. And in this portrait by Leonardo, there is a smile so pleasing that it seems more divine than human, and it was considered a wondrous thing that it was as lively as the smile of the living original. 7

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[Concerning Leonardo and the King of France] When Leonardo finally became old, he lay ill for many months; and seeing himself near death, he wished to be carefully informed about the Catholic faith and about the path of goodness and the holy Christian religion, and then, with much lamenting, having confessed and repented, he devoutly desired to take the most Holy Sacrament out of bed, even though he could not stand upon his feet and had to be supported by his friends and servants. The king, who was in the habit of paying him frequent and affectionate visits, arrived, and, out of respect, Leonardo sat up in bed to tell him about his illness and its symptoms, declaring, all the same, how much he had offended God and the men of the world by not having worked at his art as he should have. He was then seized by a paroxysm, the harbinger of death. Because of this, the king arose and held his head to help him and to show him favour, so as to ease his pain, and Leonardo's most divine spirit, aware that he could receive no greater honour, expired in the arms of that king at the age of seventy-five.

From the chapter on of : During this period, Raphael gained great fame in , and although his soft and delicate style was considered extremely beautiful by everyone, and he had studied continuously, examining the many antiquities in the city, he still had not endowed his figures with the grandeur and majesty that he gave them from this time on. It was at this same time that Michelangelo terrified the pope with his outburst in the ,..and which forced him to flee to Florence, and, since Bramante held the keys to the chapel, he showed it to his friend Raphael so that he would be able to understand Michelangelo's techniques. And this spectacle was the reason why after he had already finished it, Raphael immediately repainted the figure of the prophet Isaiah in Rome's Sant'Agostino above the Saint Anne by Andrea Sansovino. As a result of having seen the painting by Michelangelo, Raphael greatly improved and magnified his style in this work and gave it more noble proportions. When Michelangelo later saw Raphael's work, he thought (and rightly so) that Bramante had done him this bad turn in order to benefit Raphael and to increase his reputation.

From the chapter on Michelangelo Buonarroti: [Concerning Michelangelo’s heritage] Lodovico’s term as podesta ended, he returned to Florence and to his villa in Settignano, three miles from the city, where he owned a farm inherited from his ancestors (a place abundant in stone and everywhere filled with quarries of blue-grey sandstone continuously mined by stone-cutters and sculptors, most of whom are born in this area), and Michelangelo was given by Lodovico to a wet-nurse in the villa who was the wife of one of the stone-cutters. Thus, conversing with Vasari on one occasion, Michelangelo jokingly declared: ‘Giorgio, if I have any intelligence at all, it has come from being born in the pure air of your native , and also because I took the hammer and chisels with which I carve my figures from my wet-nurse’s milk.’

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No sculptor, not even the most rare artist, could ever reach this level of design and grace, nor could he, even with hard work, ever finish, polish, and cut the marble as skilfully as Michelangelo did here, for in this all the worth and power of is revealed. Michelangelo placed so much love and labour in this work that on it (something he did in no other work) he left his name written across a sash which girds Our Lady's breast. This came about because one day when Michelangelo was entering the church where the statue was placed, he found a large number of foreigners from Lombardy who were 8 praising the statue very highly; one of them asked another who had sculpted it, and he replied: ‘Our Gobbo from Milan.' Michelangelo stood there silently, and it seemed somewhat strange to him that his labours were being attributed to someone else; one he locked himself inside the church with a little light, and, having brought his chisels, he carved his name upon the statue.

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Around this time it happened that Piero Soderini saw the statue, and it pleased him greatly, but while Michelangelo was giving it the finishing touches, he told Michelangelo that he thought the nose of the figure was too large. Michelangelo, realizing that the Gonfaloniere was standing under the giant and that his viewpoint did not allow him to see it properly, climbed up the scaffolding to satisfy Soderini (who was behind him nearby), and having quickly grabbed his chisel in his left hand along with a little marble dust that he found on the planks in the scaffolding, Michelangelo began to tap lightly with the chisel, allowing the dust to fall little by little without retouching the nose from the way it was. Then, looking down at the Gonfaloniere who stood there watching, he ordered: 'Look at it now.' 'I like it better,' replied the Gonfaloniere: 'you've made it come alive.' Thus Michelangelo climbed down, and, having contented this lord, he laughed to himself, feeling compassion for those who, in order to make it appear that they understand, do not realize what they are saying; and when the statue was finished and set in its foundation, he uncovered it, and to tell the truth, this work eclipsed all other , both modern and ancient, whether Greek or Roman; and it can be said that neither the Marforio in Rome, nor the Tiber and the Nile of the Belvedere, nor the colossal statues of Monte Cavalto can be compared to this , which Michelangelo completed with so much measure and beauty, and so much skill.

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[Concerning working on the Sistine Chapel] Michelangelo wanted to retouch some details a secco, as those older masters had done on the scenes below, painting certain fields, draperies, and skies in ultramarine blue and golden decorations in some places to give the painting greater richness of detail and a finer appearance; when the pope understood that this decoration was still missing, having heard the work so highly praised by everyone who had seen it, he wanted this to be provided, but because it would have taken too long for Michelangelo to rebuild the scaffolding, the painting remained as it was. Since the pope saw Michelangelo often, he used to say to him: ‘Let the chapel be embellished with colours and gold, for it looks too plain.’ And Michelangelo replied in a familiar tone: ‘Holy Father, in those days men did not wear gold, and those who are painted there never were rich, for they were holy men who despised wealth.’

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A priest, a friend of his, said: 'It's a pity you haven't taken a wife, for you would have had many children and bequeathed to them many honourable works.' Michelangelo answered: 'I have too much of a wife in this art that has always afflicted me, and the works I shall leave behind will be my children, and even if they are nothing, they will live for a long while. And woe to Lorenzo di Bartoluccio Ghiberti if he had not created the doors of San Giovanni, for his sons and nephews sold and spoiled everything he left them, while the doors are still standing.'

From the chapter on : 9 One day as Michelangelo and Vasari were going to see Titian in the Belvedere, they saw in a painting he had just completed a naked woman representing Danae with Jupiter transformed into a golden shower on her lap, and, as is done in the artisan's presence, they gave it high praise. After leaving Titian, and discussing his method, Buonarroti strongly commended him, declaring that he liked his colouring and style very much but that it was a pity artisans in Venice did not learn to draw well from the beginning and that Venetian painters did not have a better method of study. 'If Titian', he said, 'had been assisted by art and design as greatly as he had been by Nature, especially in imitating live subjects, no artist could achieve more or paint better, for he possesses a splendid spirit and a most charming and lively style.'

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...his home in Venice has been visited by a great many princes, men of letters, and noblemen who, in his time, have gone to pass some time in Venice, because, besides being an excellent artisan, Titian was very kind and well-bred, being possessed of the gentlest habits and manners. He had many rivals in Venice, but none of great worth, and he easily surpassed them through die excellence of his art and his ability to deal with and to make himself pleasing to the nobility; he earned a great deal, because his works were always well paid for, but he would have done well in his last years not to have worked except as a pastime to avoid damaging with less skilful works the reputation he earned in his best years before his natural gifts had begun to decline. When Vasari, the author of the present history, was in Venice in the year 1566, he went to visit Titian, as a close friend, and he found him, although extremely advanced in years, with his brushes in his hand painting, and he took great pleasure in seeing Titian's works and in discussing them with him....Thus Titian, who has decorated Venice, or rather all of Italy and other parts of the world, with superb paintings, deserves to be loved and respected by all artisans and in many ways to be, admired and imitated, like those other artisans who have produced and still are producing works worthy of boundless praise, which will endure as long as the memory of illustrious men.