XXIV
MARIOTTO ALBERTINELLI
1474-1515
The great influence exerted by Fra Bartolommeo on his contemporaries is proved by the number of excellent masters who adopted his manner and worked in his style. Chief among these was Mariotto Albertinelli, or, as his family was originally called, Bertinelli. He was born in Florence on the 13th of October, 1474, and, after practising his father's trade of gold-beater for several years, was apprenticed to Cosimo Rosselli, and learnt painting from this master and his more distinguished assistant, Piero di Cosimo. In their workshop Mariotto first met Baccio della Porta, and formed that friendship which lasted to the end of his life. Albertinelli was, writes Vasari, another Fra Bartolommeo. So entirely did he sink his own artistic individuality in that of his friend, that it is often difficult to distinguish between the work of the two artists. But, as we have already seen, Mariotto's character and habits were strangely unlike those of the Dominican friar. Baccio was gentle and serious, fond of study and music, and devoted to Fra Girolamo and his teaching. Mariotto was a gay, reckless
