is to say, in the library of the Piecolomini.[1] Liberate also decorated certain choral books in miniature, for the cathedral of Siena,[2] and would have remained there executing many other works, but, being driven thence by envy and persecution, he departed, and returned to Verona. He carried with him eight hundred scudi, which he had gained in Siena, and which he afterwards lent to the monks of Monte Oliveto, at Santa Maria-in-Organo, from whom he received interest, which contributed to his daily necessities. Having thus settled himself again in Verona, Liberale gave his attention for the most part to miniature painting during the remainder of his days. At Bardolino, a place upon the Lago di Grarda, he painted a picture which is in the Chapter House, and another which is in the church of St. Thomas the Apostle. For the church of San Fermo likewise, which is a monastery belonging to the Franciscans, he painted a figure of San Bernardo in the chapel dedicated to that saint, depicting stories from the life of the same in the predella.[3]
In the same place, and in some others, Liberale painted many pictures for espousals, one of which is now in the house of Messer Vincenzio de’ Medici, at Verona. This represents Our Lady with the Divine Child in her arms; the latter is in the act of espousing the Martyr, Santa Caterina. On an angle of the house of the Cartai, as you turn round to go from the Ponte Nuovo, in Verona, to Santa Maria-inOrgano, there is a fresco by Liberale, which has received high commendations;[4] the subject is our Lady with St. Joseph. Liberale had desired to paint the chapel of the Rivi family, in the church of Sant’ Eufemia, which had been constructed in honour of Giovanni Rivo, a leader who had fought at the battle of the Taro; but he did not receive that commission, which was accorded to certain foreigners, and Liberale was told that, having become aged, his sight would no longer serve him sufficiently well. When the chapel was given to view, there were found to be many
