to execute liis draperies, arms, and things of similar kind, he caused a figure, the size of life, to he made in wood, with the limbs moveable at the joints, and on this he then arranged the real draperies,[1] from which he afterwards produced admirable paintings, seeing that he could retain these things in the desired position as long as he pleased. This model, worm-eaten and ruined as it is, we keep in our possession as a memorial of this excellent master.
At the Abbey of the Black Friars in Arezzo, Fra Bartolommeo painted the head of Christ in dark tints, a very beautiful picture. He also painted the picture for the Brotherhood of the Contemplanti, which last was long preserved in the palace of the illustrious Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, and has now been deposited in the chapel of that house by his son Messer Alessandro, who has placed it therein with many decorations, holding it in most precious estimation in memory of Fra Bartolommeo, and also because he takes infinite delight in paintings.[2]
In the chapel of the Novitiate of San Marco there is a picture of the Purification by this master; a very pleasing work, well drawn, and equally well finished;[3] and at the monastery of Santa Maddalena, a house belonging to the Domenican Monks, at some distance from Florence, there is a figure of the Saviour, with one of Mary Magdalene, which Fra Bartolommeo painted while dwelling there for his recreation. He likewise executed certain pictures in fresco for the Cloister of the Convent.[4] In an arch over the Stranger’s apartments in the Monastery of San Marco, Fra Bartolommeo also painted a fresco, the subject is the Meeting of our Saviour with Cleophas and Luke; in this work the master placed the portrait of Fra Niccolo della Magna, who was
- ↑ The well-known lay figure, now so indispensable a piece of furniture in the studio of every painter.
- ↑ The fate of this work is not known.
- ↑ Now in the Imperial and Royal Gallery of Vienna. There is a replica in the Florentine Gallery, but smaller than the original, and somewhat injured by retouching.
- ↑ The Saviour, the Magdalen, and an Annunciation, also by Fra Bartolommeo, are still to be seen in that convent. Some heads which were there have been carried away, and, after having remained for some time in the Florentine Convent of San Marco, are now in the Academy of the Fine Arts.
