Excerpt from Benozzo Gozzoli: Florentine School Unfortunately the artist too often traded on his reputation, and the numer ous altar-pieces which he painted for neighboring churches and convents dur ing the three years that he spent at San Gimignano are executed with a haste and carelessness that are quite unworthy of him. No doubt he was largely assisted by inferior painters, and the resemblance which many of his. Figures bear, both in type and stature, to those of F ra Filippo Lippi is explained by the fact that one of that artist's former assistants, Giusto di Andrea, worked under him at San Gimignano. It was to intercede for Giusto's brother, who had been caught in the act of stealing the monks' bedclothes at Certaldo, that Benozzo wrote a letter to young Lorenzo de' Medici, whom he addresses as Most dear to me in Christ, lamenting the scandal which his apprentice had caused, and explaining that up till this time he had always borne an ex cellent character. But, perhaps, he adds, God has allowed this to happen for some good end. In the meantime he thanks Lorenzo - who had already, it appears, intervened in the matter - for his good oflices with the vicar of Certaldo, and ends with renewed protestations of devotion to himself and his house, praying that Christ may be with him in eternity. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.