became Tommaso's principal profession to paint on cloth,
insomuch that he painted church-hangings better than any other man. Now
Stefano, the father of Tommaso, had been an illuminator, and had also
done something in architecture; and Tommaso, after his father's death,
in order to follow in his steps, rebuilt the bridge of Sieve, which had
been destroyed by a flood about that time, at a distance of ten miles
from Florence, and likewise that of S. Piero a Ponte on the River
Bisenzio, which is a beautiful work; and afterwards he erected many
buildings for monasteries and other places. Then, being architect to the
Guild of Wool, he made the model for the new buildings which were
constructed by that Guild behind the Nunziata; and, finally, having
reached the age of seventy or more, he died in the year 1564, and was
buried in S. Marco, to which he was followed by an honourable train of
the Academy of Design.

But returning to Lorenzo: he left many works unfinished at his death,
and, in particular, a very beautiful picture of the Passion of Christ,
which came into the hands of Antonio da Ricasoli, and a panel painted
for M. Francesco da Castiglioni, Canon of S. Maria del Fiore, who sent
it to Castiglioni. Lorenzo had no wish to make many large works, because
he took great pains in executing his pictures, and devoted an incredible
amount of labour to them, for the reason, above all, that the colours
which he used were ground too fine; besides which, he was always
purifying and distilling his nut-oils, and he made mixtures of colours
on his palette in such numbers, that from the first of the light tints
to the last of the darks there was a gradual succession involving an
over-careful and truly excessive elaboration, so that at times he had
twenty-five or thirty of them on his palette. For each tint he kept a
separate brush; and where he was working he would never allow any
movement that might raise dust. Such excessive care is perhaps no more
worthy of praise than the other extreme of negligence, for in all things
one should observe a certain mean and avoid extremes, which are
generally harmful.

[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS

(_After the panel by =Lorenzo di Credi=. Paris: Louvre, 1263_)

_Alinari_]

[Illustration: THE NATIVITY

(_After the panel by =Lorenzo di Credi=. Florence: Accademia, 92_)

_Anderson_]

LORENZETTO AND BOCCACCINO

[Illustration: BERNARDINO DEL LUPINO (LUINI): S. CATHARINE BO