" Cavaleaselle, among other authorities, declined to accept these
conclusions. Checcacci, on the contrary, who carefully compared the
Riccardi portrait with a very exact copy of that in the Bargello,
asserted that if the difference of age be taken into consideration, the
two resemble each other 'like two drops of water': 'The Bargello
portrait lacks the wrinkles of the other, while the coloring is more
fresh, and the prominence of the lower lip is less marked, but the
nose, which does not change with advancing years, is identical, as are
the shape and color of the eyes, and the shape of the skull, which
may be distinguished in both portraits.' He added further that the
sculptor Dupré was greatly struck with the Riccardi portrait, which
he considered might be the work of Giotto himself, and that he
availed himself of it for the medallion which he was commissioned
to execute in commemoration of the centenary." ( Toynbee.)

The portrait in the Santa Maria Novella which Prof. Chiappelli
has recently asserted to be of Dante, while interesting, throws no new
light on the appearance of the poet, as it was painted after 1350, much
later than the so-called Giotto portrait. (D)