Gentile da, painter of history, was born at Verona in 1332, and became a disciple of Giovanni da Fiesole. In that early age of painting he rendered himself very famous, and was employed to adorn a great number of churches and palaces at Florence, Urbino, Siena, Perusia, and Rome, but particularly in the Vatican; and one picture of his, representing the Virgin and Child, attended by Joseph, which is preserved in the church of S. Maria Maggiore, was highly commended by Michael Angelo. By order of the doge and senate of Venice, he painted a picture in the great council chamber, which was considered as so extraordinary a performance, that his employers granted him a pension for life, and conferred on him the highest honour of their state, which was, the privilege