lommeo the first rules of perspective,[1] and was constantly in his company, being desirous of acquiring the monk’s manner of colouring; the harmony perceptible in his works, and his mode of treating them having pleased Katfaello very greatly. Fra Bartolommeo was then painting at San Marco, in Florence, a picture with innumerable figures, which is now in the possession of the King of France;[2] it was presented to that monarch after having been kept to be shown in San Marco for several months. He afterwards painted another in the same convent, to replace that which was sent into France; this last also has an infinite variety of figures, among which are children hovering in the air, and holding an open pavilion or canopy; they are very well drawn, and in such powerful relief, that they appear to stand out from the picture; the colouring of the flesh displays that beauty and excellence which every able artist desires to impart to his works, and the painting, even in the present day, is esteemed to be most excellent.[3] The Virgin in this work is surrounded by numerous figures, all well executed, graceful, full of expression, and highly animated; they are coloured in so bold a manner, that they would rather seem to be in relief than parts of a level surface, the master desiring to show, that he could not only draw, but give force, and add the fitting degree of shadow to his figures, and this he has amply etfected in a canopy or pavilion, upheld by certain children who are hovering in the air, and seem to come forth from the picture.[4] There is also a figure of Christ, as an infant, espousing the Nun, St. Catherine; the treat-
- ↑ Bottari doubts this, but Lanzi justly remarks that Raphael, having studied perspective under Perugino, who was deeply versed in its laws, may well have taught the rules to Fra Bartolommeo, and the rather as he had given proof of his own proficiency at Siena, before visiting Florence.
- ↑ Still in the Louvre: it bears the inscription, F. Barto., 1515. —See Waagen, Künstler and Kunstwerke, in England and Paris, vol. iii. p. 427.; German edition of Vasari.
- ↑ Now in the Pitti Palace.
- ↑ A slight inadvertence on the part of our author or his copyist will here be perceived, in the repetition of a passage to be found immediately above.
in the fine works to be seen at Florence, and we know that the hand of the excellent Giorgio was more familiar with the pencil than the pen; let us, therefore, be at peace with him, even though, as he declares himself, his “fashion of writing” be “uncultivated and simple,” and “not worthy of Tour Excellency’s ear.”
