then young, but who aiterwards became Arclibishop of Capua, and was finally created a Cardinal.[1] In San Gallo he commenced a picture, which was afterwards finished by Giuliano Bugiardini, and is now at the altar of San Jacopo-fra-Fossi, at the corner of the Alberti.[2] Another work, begun by the same master, representing the Abduction of Dina, was subsequently coloured by the same Giuliano; there are in this picture certain buildings, with many other peculiarities therein, which have been very highly extolled; it is now in the possession of Messer Cristofano Rinieri.[3]
From Piero Soderini, Fra Bartolommeo received a commission to paint a picture for the Hall of Council; and this he commenced so beautifully in chiaro-scuro, that it would without doubt have done him infinite honour had it been completed; unfinished as it is, this work ha[4]§ been placed with great honour in the chapel of the illustrious Ottaviano de’ Medici, in San Lorenzo.[5] In the picture now in question, are the figures of all the Patron Saints of Florence, as well as those of all the other Saints on whose days the city has gained victories in war. The portrait of Fra Bartolommeo himself will also be found in this work, painted by his own hand, with the aid of a mirror.
The master had entirely completed the design of the above described picture, when, in consequence of having laboured perpetually beneath a window, the rays from which poured constantly on his back, one side of his body became paralyzed,
- ↑ This picture is still in the place here mentioned, which is now the refectory.
- ↑ Now in the Pitti Palace; it represents the Dead Christ, supported in the arms of John the Baptist, the Virgin, who is weeping, and Mary Magdalen, who embraces the feet of the Saviour.
- ↑ The Abduction of Dina was not coloured, but merely finished by Bugiardini; the original was sold by Rinieri to a Bishop of Ricasoli, in its unfinished state. It subsequently passed into the possession of our countryman, the painter Ignatius Hugford, on Avhose death it Avas purchased by the English Consul at Venice, Mr. Smith. It is now, most probably, in England.
- ↑ The Grand Hall of the Council was to have been adorned with paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Angelo, and Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco, but unhappily not one of these masters ever completed a work there. —Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
- ↑ This picture is now in the Gallery of the Uffizj, in the great room of the Tuscan School.
