ver executed, and that to which he devoted the greatest care
and zeal, in order to surpass himself, was the one that is in a chapel
at Cestello, a panel containing Our Lady, S. Julian, and S. Nicholas;
and whoever wishes to know how necessary it is for a painter to work
with a high finish in oils if he desires that his pictures should remain
fresh, must look at this panel, which is painted with such a finish as
could not be excelled.

While still a young man, Lorenzo painted a S. Bartholomew on a pilaster
in Orsanmichele, and for the Nuns of S. Chiara, in Florence, a
panel-picture of the Nativity of Christ, with some shepherds and angels;
in which picture, besides other things, he took great pains with the
imitation of some herbage, painting it so well that it appears to be
real. For the same place he made a picture of S. Mary Magdalene in
Penitence; and in a round picture that is in the house of Messer
Ottaviano de' Medici he painted a Madonna. For S. Friano he painted a
panel; and he executed some figures in S. Matteo at the Hospital of
Lelmo. For S. Reparata he painted a picture with the Angel Michael, and
for the Company of the Scalzo he made a panel-picture, executed with
much diligence. And, in addition to these works, he made many pictures
of Our Lady and others, which are dispersed among the houses of citizens
in Florence.

Having thus got together a certain sum of money by means of these
labours, and being a man who loved quiet more than riches, Lorenzo
retired to S. Maria Nuova in Florence, where he lived and had a
comfortable lodging until his death. Lorenzo was much inclined to the
sect of Fra Girolamo of Ferrara, and always lived like an upright and
orderly man, showing a friendly courtesy whenever the occasion arose.
Finally, having come to the seventy-eighth year of his life, he died of
old age, and was buried in S. Pietro Maggiore, in the year 1530.

He showed such a perfection of finish in his works, that any other
painting, in comparison with his, must always seem merely sketched and
dirty. He left many disciples, and among them Giovanni Antonio Sogliani
and Tommaso di Stefano. Of Sogliani there will be an account in another
place; and as for Tommaso, he imitated his master closely in his high
finish, and made many works in Florence and abroad, including a
panel-picture for Marco del Nero at his villa of Arcetri, of the
Nativity of Christ, executed with great perfection of finish. But
ultimately it