Filippo, which we have just described, there is that of Girolamo, who was also a son of the sculptor Andrea, and was an intimate friend of the painter. This Girolamo died no long time since in France.
The one side of the cloister was now completed, and as Andrea thought the reward too little, and considered the honour to be rated at too high a price, he determined to abandon the remainder of the undertaking; the monk complained bitterly at this, and would not set the artist free from the agreement he had made but on condition that the latter should paint two other stories, to be executed at his own leisure and convenience, with an increase of price, and so they remained of accord.[1]
The paintings above described had caused Andrea to become better known; he consequently received commissions for numerous pictures and works of importance. Among others he obtained one from the General of the Monks of Vallombrosa, who desired to have a Last Supper painted on an arch of the ceiling and on the wall of the refectory in his convent of San Salvi, which is situate at some little distance from the gate of Santa Croce.[2] In the vaulting of this refectory therefore, Andrea painted four figures, San Benedetto namely, with San Giovanni Gualberto, San Salvi the bishop, and San Bernardo degli Uberti of Florence, who was a brother of their order and a cardinal: in the centre of the same he depicted a circle having three aspects which yet represent one only, to signify the Trinity.[3] All these pictures were executed admirably well for a work in fresco, and Andrea obtained from them the reputation of being, as in truth he was, a most excellent master in painting.
From the sculptor Baccio d’Agnolo, our artist received a commission to paint a small picture of the Annunciation in an angle of the steep descent which leads from Or San Michele to the Mercato Nuovo; this work is still to be seen, it is in
- ↑ From the records of the Convent, we find that Andrea received fortytwo florins in addition to the ninety-eight accorded to him for the earlier works.—Masselli.
- ↑ The paintings in the refectory of San Salvi are still in existence, and are now placed, like those in the Cloister of the Servites, under the care of the President of the Academy.
- ↑ This mode of representing the Trinity was prohibited by Pope Urban VIII.
