te adapted to Fra Angelico's altar-piece.

Fra Giovanni painted a panel picture of the "Dead Christ" for the
"Compagnia del Tempio" in Florence; this is now in the Ancient and
Modern Gallery, having been placed there in 1786, after the
suppression of that Company.

[Illustration: THE DEAD CHRIST.]

Rio supposes that the enthusiasm aroused by the great Deposition in
Santa Trinita, tempted the Company to covet the possession of a
similar one.[47]

Only two figures, however, are common to the two paintings: one is the
St. Simeon kneeling in the left corner who, in this second picture, is
represented as a younger man than in the first; the other is a figure
a little behind him, which is a reproduction of that one in the large
Deposition with a hood on his head, who is speaking to the disciple
below him, as he entrust to him the body of the Saviour;--a figure
which Milanesi believes to be a portrait of the architect Michelozzo.

If this be indeed Fra Angelico's friend the Florentine architect, we
may admit Cartier's assertion that this panel is a sequel of the
larger Descent from the Cross, and may have been painted at the same
time.[48] But these are things which we dare not affirm with any
certainty, as we entertain doubts regarding the greater or less
authenticity of writers on the subject of Michelozzo's portrait.

Besides many figures of saints, the painter has introduced those of
St. Dominic and the Beata Villana, because the Company of the Temple
had ancient rights over the relics of this good woman which are
preserved in the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella. The other
figures, though expressing divers feelings of sorrow and lively
sympathy, have nothing in common with the famous Deposition either in
character or technique and the picture does not reach the usual
perfection.

Even the type of the Christ differs remarkably in the two paintings,
so much so that no comparison can be instituted, or resemblance found
between them; moreover, the panel of the Temple Company is badly
spoilt by restoration, and the colouring is so altered that it is
almost black in some parts.

"In the Chapel of the SS. Annunziata at Florence which Piero di Cosimo
de' Medici caused to be built, Fra Angelico painted the doors of the
presses where the silver plate is kept, with little figures executed
with great diligence."[49] They represent the life and death of Christ
in 35 small scenes, which are now in the Ancient and Moder