character which would endear him to all.  He would not inspire awe like the St. John or indifference like St. Peter.  He is a very simple, lovable person whose rebuke would be gentle and whose counsel would be wise.  In 1408 the Linaiuoli, the guild of linen-weavers, gave their order to select the marble, and in 1411 the commission was given to Donatello, having been previously given to Niccolo d’Arezzo, who himself became one of Donatello’s guarantors.  The work had to be finished within eighteen months, and the heavy statue was to be placed in the niche at the sculptor’s own risk.  The statement made by Vasari that Brunellesco co-operated on the St. Mark is not borne out by the official documents.  It is interesting to note that the guild gave Donatello the height of the figure, leaving him to select the corresponding proportions.  The statue was to be gilded and decorated.[33] A further commission was given to two stone-masons for the niche, which was to be copied from that of Ghiberti’s St. Stephen.  These niches have been a good deal altered in recent times, and the statues are in consequence less suited to their environment than was formerly the case.  Judging from the plates in Lasinio’s book, the accuracy of which has not been contested, it appears that the niches of St. Eligius and St. Mark have been made more shallow, while the crozier of the former and the key in St. Peter’s hand are not shown at all, and must be modern restorations.

[Footnote 30:  Cinelli ed., p. 66.]

[Footnote 31:  Bocchi, 1765 ed., p. 128.]

[Footnote 32:  Spira il volto divozione e Santita, Cinelli, p. 66.]

[Footnote 33:  Gualandi, “Memorie,” Series 4, p. 106.]

* * * * *

[Sidenote:  St. Louis.]

The St. Louis is made of bronze.  The reputation of this admirable figure has been prejudiced by a ridiculous bit of gossip seriously recorded by Vasari, to the effect that, having been reproached for making a clumsy figure, Donatello replied that he had done so with set purpose to mark the folly of the man who exchanged the crown for a friar’s habit.  Vasari had to enliven his biographies by anecdotes, and their authenticity was not always without reproach.  In view of his immense services to the history of art one will gladly forgive these pleasantries; but it is deplorable when they are solemnly quoted as infallible.  One author says:  “... impossibile a guardare quel goffo e disgraziato San Lodovico senza sentire una stretta al cuore.”  This is preposterous.  The statue has faults, but they do not spring from organic error.  The Bishop is overweighted with his thick vestments, and his mitre is rather too broad for the head; the left hand, moreover, is big and Donatellesque.  But the statue, now placed high above the great door of Santa Croce, is seen under most unfavourable conditions, and would look infinitely better in the low niche of Or San Michele.  Its proportions would then appear less