rroti,
but even greatly surpass him in both fields of art. Now he had
executed a cartoon of a Leda, in which Castor and Pollux were issuing
from the egg of the swan embraced by her, and he wished to colour it
in oils, in such a way as to make it appear that the methods of
handling the colours and mixing them together in order to make the
various tints, with the lights and shades, had not been taught to him
by others, but that he had found them by himself, and, after pondering
how he could do this, he thought of the following expedient. He
besought Andrea del Sarto, who was much his friend, that he should
paint a portrait of him in oils, flattering himself that he would
thereby gain two advantages in accordance with his purpose; one was
that he would see the method of mixing the colours, and the other was
that the painted picture would remain in his hands, which, having seen
it executed and understanding it, would assist him and serve him as a
pattern. But Andrea perceived Baccio's intention as he made his
request, and was angry at his want of confidence and astuteness, for
he would have been willing to show him what he desired, if Baccio had
asked him as a friend; wherefore, without making any sign that he had
found him out, and refraining from mixing the colours into tints, he
placed every sort of colour on his palette and mingled them together
with the brush, and, taking some now from one and now from another
with great dexterity of hand, counterfeited in this way the vivid
colouring of Baccio's face. The latter, both through the artfulness of
Andrea and because he had to sit still where he was if he wished to be
painted, was never able to see or learn anything that he wished: and
it was a fine notion of Andrea's, thus at the same time to punish the
deceitfulness of his friend and to display with this method of
painting, like a well-practised master, even greater ability and
experience in art.

For all this, however, Baccio did not abandon his determination, in
which he was assisted by the painter Rosso, whom he afterwards asked
more openly for the help that he desired. Having thus learned the
methods of colouring, he painted a picture in oils of the Holy Fathers
delivered from the Limbo of Hell by the Saviour, and also a larger
picture of Noah drunk with wine and revealing his nakedness in the
presence of his sons. He tried his hand at painting on the wall, on
fresh plaster, and executed on the walls of his house he