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338 EARLY CHRISTIAN ART. Chap. XI. Scarlatti family. 1 Giotto removed the ornaments of Arnolfo, and with the assistance of Andrea Pisano, substituted for them others more suited to the grandeur and proportions of the edifice. 2 He placed four great statues of prophets in the lateral niches of the portal, — above the latter, a tabernacle, supported on pillars, in which the Virgin and child sat enthroned between S. Zanobi and S. Reparata, the patron Saints of Florence. 3 In similar tabernacles above the lateral portals were, the birth of Christ, and the death of the Virgin. Above and between the portals, the pro phets, apostles, and confessors, stood in niches in courses above each other. Pope Boniface the Eighth, Farinata degli Uberti, and many Florentines of note, found their apotheosis in this noble medley of sculpture and archi tecture. 4 Whilst this grand ‘work was proceeding, Giotto con ceived the plan of the present bell-tower, which met with eager approval as it seemed to satisfy a wish not less ambitious than daring, expressed in the following decree. “The Florentine republic, soaring even above the concep tion of the most competent judges, desires that an edifice shall be constructed so magnificent in its height and qua lity that it shall surpass any thing of the kind produced in the time of their greatest power by the Greeks and Ro mans.” 5 1 It is represented in the great fresco of the Capellone dei Spag- nuoli at S. M. Novella in Florence. A drawing of the front, from Ar nolfo’s design in possession of the Scarlatti, may be seen in Richa, Chiese Yol. VI. p. 51. 2 See Baldinucci. Yol. I. p. 310, and Vas. Vol. H. p. 35. 3 As in a sanctuary whose curtain is held back by two angels. 4 According to Richa, Chiese. Vol. VI. p. 51,- the facade of S. Maria del Fiore, as it was left unfinished by Giotto, was accura tely painted by Bernardo Pocetti in a lunette of the first cloister in the convent of S. Marco at Florence. A full description, taken from Rondinelli’s excerpts from the Scarlatti records, may be also found in Richa, Vol. VI. p.p. 52. 53. Giotto’s facade enriched with sculptures by later artists, was taken down in 1588, as will be seen in the life of Ghirlandaio (post). A view of the facade left by Giotto may be examined in a fresco by this painter in the Sala dell’ Orologio in the Palazzo della Signoria. It does not give details but shows to what point the facade had been brought up. 5 Richa (Chiese Fioren-