Giottesque masters had represented 140 years before in the Chapter-house of Santa Maria Novella—was the subject of the frescoes which Filippino painted in the great Dominican church in Rome, for his Neapolitan patron, Cardinal Caraffa. A portion of the work, in which the victory of the Theological Virtues was set forth, has been destroyed by the erection of a monument to Pope Paul IV., but a fresco of the Assumption and an Annunciation, with Cardinal Caraffa kneeling at the feet of the Angelic Doctor, are painted above the altar. On the east we have a lunette with Thomas kneeling before the miraculous Crucifix, bearing the words "Bene scripsisti de me, Thoma," and a large representation of the Saint in glory trampling on a heretic who lies prostrate at his feet. Other false teachers are seen below with confusion on their faces and their heretical books lying in a heap on the ground, while a number of spectators contemplate their discomfiture from a balcony behind. There is considerable skill in the grouping and composition, and the rich Renaissance architecture and classical monuments in the background are cleverly introduced; but we miss the simple dignity and repose of the Brancacci frescoes, and the spontaneous charm of the painter's youthful works. Like all his contemporaries, Filippino was deeply impressed by the wonders of ancient Rome, and filled his sketch-books with drawings of arabesques and ornamental details from antique remains, which were carefully preserved by his son, and which afterwards proved of great service to the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini.
