proof of his power over the difficulties of his art, the perfection with which he knew how to manage the gradual diminution of the shadows, and the softening of the darker tints, imparting extraordinary relief to his work, and showing his admirable excellence in colouring, design, and invention; in a word, this is as perfect a picture as ever proceeded from his hands. In the same church he painted another picture also on canvas, the subject our Saviour with St. Catherine the Martyr,[1] and St. Catherine of Siena, the latter in an ecstacy, rapt from earth, a figure than which it is not possible that anything better can be done in that manner,.[2]
Having returned to Florence Fra Bartolommeo occupied himself much with music, and finding great pleasure therein he would sometimes sing for his amusement. In Prato he painted a picture of the Assumption,[3] opposite to the prison of the city; for the House of Medici also this master painted certain pictures of the Madonna, with other works for different persons: among these is a figure of the Virgin, which is now in the possession of Ludovico, son of Ludovico Capponi, with another, also of Our Lady holding the divine Child in her arms, and with the heads of two Saints beside her: this last belongs to the very excellent Signor Lelio Torelli, principal secretary to the most illustrious Duke Cosimo, by whom it is held in the highest estimation,[4] not only for the
- ↑ Of the six saints called Catherine, it is not easy, without a more minute description than is here given, to be quite certain as to the one meant; an examination of the painting itself would assist us to a solution, if the master has given the Saint her proper attributes, as he most probably has done, but this is for the moment not possible to the present writer. The probability, meanwhile, is in favour of St. Catherine of Alexandria, sometimes called by the Italians, St. Catherine of the Wheels (delle ruote), in allusion to her deliverance by the angels from the first attempt made to subject her to martyrdom, her death being ultimately effected by the sword; this Saint may, with great propriety, be designated as in the text.
- ↑ Still in the church of San Romano.
- ↑ The present place of this picture is not known. There is an Assumption painted by Fra Bartolommeo, in company with Mariotto Albertinelli, in the Gallery of Berlin. — Waagen.
- ↑ Of the two pictures painted for Ludovico Capponi and Lelio Torrelli, the Florentine and German commentators alike declare themselves unable to procure authentic information.
Thomas Lawrence, and subsequently passed into that of the King of Holland.
