PAINTING. 79 
Of the mosaics of that time a specimen is furnished in the Christ’s head 
(pl. 14, fig. 11) from the church of San Miniato in Florence, which was 
executed in 1196, and which Vasari describes as one of the works that 
already exhibit an advance towards perfection in art. 
The miniature paintings or illuminations of the last centuries were 
properly the form in which easel-painting had taken refuge after being 
supplanted by the frescoes and mosaics; and thus ancient manuscripts 
furnish us with an opportunity of observing and studying the gradual decline 
of art. Figs. 5* and5” are specimens of this class of paintings belonging 
to the 8th century. They are taken from a Greek manuscript, formerly 
in the library of the Elector of the Palatinate in Heidelberg, but now 
in the Vatican. The entire painting, of which we present here only 
a fragment, portrays the history of Joshua in a series of representations, 
which, like the reliefs on Trajan’s column, form a continuous band. The 
portion here copied begins with Josh. ix. 22, 27, where Joshua detects the 
artifice of the Gibeonites, but pardons them and condemns them to bondage 
to Israel. Next we have Joshua’s battle with the five kings of the Amorites, 
where, in order to complete his victory, he commands the sun and moon to 
stand still (x. 12, 13). Joshua takes the kings of the Amorites in a cave 
(x. 17, 18); when he has destroyed their army, he causes them to be 
led forth, and orders all the men of Israel to put their feet upon the kings’ 
necks (so far jig. 56), after which he orders them to be hanged (jig. 5°). 
About the year 1200 mention is made of a Greek painter Theophanes, 
who settled in Venice and there established a school of painting; among 
his pupils was one Gelasio of Ferrara. About the year 1219 a painter 
named Tullius of Ferrara executed a picture of St. Hrancis of Assisi; and 
another of the same saint was painted by Bonaventura Berlinghierl. We 
now gradually approach the time when the history of the arts presents us 
with living and breathing monuments. To these belong e. g. the works of 
Guido of Siena, of Andrea Tafi, Buffalmaco di Giunta of Pisa, Margheritone 
of Arezzo, and lastly of Cimabue, the father of modern painting, who first 
discarded those hardnesses which are usually characterized as the Greek 
manner. His paintings manifest independent study and give some indica- 
tions of chiaroscuro. His first great picture, a Madonna on the throne, is 
in the church of Sta. Maria Novella in Rome; and in that of San Francesco 
in Assisi he painted several holy figures and histories. What is shown in 
galleries under his name is certainly not by him. 
B. From Cimabue to the latest Times. 
Although Cimabue is doubtless to be regarded as the father and precursor 
of modern painting, we are not to suppose that immediately before him there 
were no Italian painters; nevertheless at that time there was no acquaint- 
ance with the ancient pictures or the ancient statues, and the only subject 
of study for the artist was nature. In the works of Giotto, a pupil of 
Cimabue, we already observe an admirable use of the study of the productions 
of ancient art; here consequently the hardened and angular taste ends, and 
Italian art begins. The most celebrated painter who appeared immediately 
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