or the
reason that it is better to go on making progress little by little,
advancing with a firm and steady foot through the difficulties of art,
than to seek to force one's intellect and nature in a single effort. Nor
is there any doubt that if Andrea had stayed in Rome when he went there
to see the works of Raffaello and Michelagnolo, and also the statues and
ruins of that city, he would have enriched his manner greatly in the
composition of scenes, and would one day have given more delicacy and
greater force to his figures; which has never been thoroughly achieved
save by one who has been some time in Rome, to study those works in
detail and grow familiar with them. Having then from nature a sweet and
gracious manner of drawing and great facility and vivacity of colouring,
both in fresco-work and in oils, it is believed without a doubt that if
he had stayed in Rome, he would have surpassed all the craftsmen of his
time. But some believe that he was deterred from this by the abundance
of works of sculpture and painting, both ancient and modern, that he saw
in that city, and by observing the many young men, disciples of
Raffaello and of others, resolute in draughtsmanship and working
confidently and without effort, whom, like the timid fellow that he was,
he did not feel it in him to excel. And so, not trusting himself, he
resolved, as the best course for him, to return to Florence; where,
reflecting little by little on what he had seen, he made such
proficience that his works have been admired and held in price, and,
what is more, imitated more often after his death than during his
lifetime. Whoever has some holds them dear, and whoever has consented to
sell them has received three times as much as was paid to him, for the
reason that he never received anything but small prices for his works,
both because he was timid by nature, as has been related, and also
because certain master-joiners, who were executing the best works at
that time in the houses of citizens, would never allow any commission to
be given to Andrea (so as to oblige their friends), save when they knew
that he was in great straits, for at such times he would accept any
price. But this does not prevent his works from being most rare, or from
being held in very great account, and that rightly, since he was one of
the best and greatest masters who have lived even to our own day. In our
book are many drawings by his hand, all good; but in particular there is