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Art as Rebirth 61defend them as much as in me lies from this second death[da questa seconda morte], and to preserve them as long asmay be possible in the memory of the living; and havingspent much time in seeking them out and used the greatestdiligence in discovering the native city, the origin, and theactions of the craftsmen, and having with great labor drawnthem from the tales of old men and from various records andwritings, left by their heirs a prey to dust and food forworms; and finally, having received from this both profit andpleasure [e ricevutone finalmente et utile et piacere]. 19Thus the artists of the past die not once but twice—as if the forgettingof their names consumed their souls after death had first consumedtheir bodies and their works had turned to dust. ‘‘Time ...consumes all things,’’ it pleases Vasari to say, but it consumes evenmore when, the things being dead, there is no longer even a writer torecall the spelling of their titles, of their names ...For it is writingthat remembers: ‘‘Since, for lack of writers at that time, [the works ofpainters, etc.] could not, at least in that way, become known to posterity,their craftsmen as well came to be forgotten.’’ 20 Which is whyit was necessary to take up the pen and write a history of art in thefirst place—a noble reason, in effect. Also why the Middle Ages (mediaetà) had been, according to Vasari, nothing but obscurantism: it hadforgotten the names of the famous artists of classical antiquity, andwith their names it had forgotten their example. When Boccacciocompares Giotto to the painter Apelles, praising his ability to imitatenature, painting itself reclaims its memory, emerges from the shadows,and begins to come back to life. Which, finally, is why Vasari hadto extend his chronicle to encompass the generation of Michelangelo’sstudents and the great Venetians:And I hope, moreover, that if ever (which God forbid) itshould happen at any time, through the negligence of men,or through the malice of time, or, finally, through the decreeof Heaven, which appears to be unwilling that the things ofthis earth should exist for long in one form, that she falls