Camerino, companion of the master worker, commends himself to the
blessed John." The tools and implements used by mosaic artists are
represented in the hands of these two monks. Torriti was apparently
a greater man in some respects than his contemporaries. He based his
art rather on Roman than Greek tradition, and his works exhibit
less Byzantine formality than many mosaics of the period. On
the apse of Sta. Maria Maggiore there appears a signature, "Jacopo
Torriti made this work in mosaic." Gaddo Gaddi also added a composition
below the vault, about 1308.

The well-known mosaic called the Navicella in the atrium of St.
Peter's, Rome, was originally made by Giotto. It has been much
restored and altered, but some of the original design undoubtedly
remains. Giotto went to Rome to undertake this work in 1298; but the
present mosaic is largely the restoration of Bernini, who can hardly
be considered as a sympathetic interpreter of the early Florentine
style. Vasari speaks of the Navicella as "a truly wonderful work,
and deservedly eulogized by all enlightened judges." He marvels
at the way in which Giotto has produced harmony and interchange of
light and shade so cleverly: "with mere pieces of glass" (Vasari
is so naïvely overwhelmed with ignorance when he comes to deal
with handicraft) especially on the large sail of the boat.

In Venice, the Mascoli chapel was ornamented by scenes from the
life of the Virgin, in 1430. The artist was Michele Zambono, who
designed and superintended the work himself. At Or San Michele in
Florence, the painter Peselli, or Guliano Arrigo, decorated the
tabernacle, in 1416. Among other artists who entered the field of
mosaic, were Baldovinetti and Domenico Ghirlandajo, the painter who
originated the motto: "The only painting for eternity is mosaic."