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da Milano, one of those who led up to Masaccio and Angelico, Jacopo di Casentino who headed the decline of a branch respectable under Spinello, but despicable in the Bicci, thus stood at cross ways; and, as the ascent in one path has been described, an attempt shall now be made to sketch the descent in the other. Jacopo di Casentino, related to the family of Messer Cristoforo Landino of Pratovecchio, was introduced to Taddeo Gaddi while the latter was engaged in the decoration of a chapel in the church of Sasso della Yernia in Casentino, and followed him to Florence. 1 Thanks, no doubt, to the recommendation of the Gaddi, he found sufficient employment in the capital, working at first as a subordinate, and at last as an independent artist. Three tabernacles, erected in the Mercato Yecchio, at the angles of the Piazza S. Niccolo and the garden of the Tintori, were entrusted to him to decorate with altarpiece or frescos; and the ornamentation of the pilasters, ceilings, and faces of Orsanmichele was about the most important work which he was commissioned to execute. Here he painted sixteen Patriarchs and prophets in the ceilings, and scenes from the life of the Virgin and saints in the walls and pilasters. 2 But, as in the tabernacles nothing of his manner remains, so in the walls of Orsanmichele the frescos have disappeared. The pilasters and one of the ceilings, however 3 still preserve vestiges of life sized figures, an annunciation and a Trinity in the usual form, the fragments of which disclose, beneath much dust, traces of Jacopo’s weak Giottesque manner. 1 If, however, Jacopo is entitled to little attention, as a painter he deserves credit for an organizing spirit, and for the 1 Vas. Vol. II. p.p. 178—9. Del | Migliore all but proves the truth of Vasari’s statement as to the family of Jacopo. Vide annot. to Vas. p. 178. 2 Vas. Vol. II. p. 179. 3 Where four saints have recent ly been rescued from whitewash. The spectator may still per ceive that the nude in Jacopo di Casentino was of a coarse fiery tone. On comparison of other works, it is obvious that Vasari correctly assigns the figures at Orsanmichele to him. Vas. Vol. II. p. 179.