A case in point
is that of the tryptic and two cruciform pictures at Dresden, by
Chiaro di Messer Bello dell' Erma, to which the eloquent pamphlet of
Dr. Aemmster has at length succeeded in attracting the students.
There is another, still more solemn and beautiful work, now proved to
be by the same hand, in the gallery at Florence. It is the one to
which my narrative will relate.
* * * * * * *
This Chiaro dell' Erma was a young man of very honorable family in
Arezzo; where, conceiving art almost, as it were, for himself, and
loving it deeply, he endeavored from early boyhood towards the
imitation of any objects offered in nature. The extreme longing after
a visible embodiment of his thoughts strengthened as his years
increased, more even than his sinews or the blood of his life; until
he would feel faint in sunsets and at the sight of stately persons.
When he had lived nineteen years, he heard of the famous Giunta
Pisano; and, feeling much of admiration, with, perhaps, a little of
that envy which youth always feels until it has learned to measure
success by time and opportunity, he determined that he would seek out
Giunta, and, if possible, become his pupil.
Having arrived in Pisa, he clothed himself in humble apparel, being
unwilling that any other thing than the desire he had for knowledge
should be his plea with the great painter; and then, leaving his
baggage at a house of entertainment, he took his way along the
street, asking whom he met for the lodging of Giunta.
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