always kept at his house parrots, apes, dwarf donkeys, little Elba
horses, a talking raven, barbs for running races, and other suchlike
creatures; from which he had won such a name among the vulgar, that they
spoke of nothing but his follies.

Sodoma, then, had painted with colours in fresco the facade of the house
of M. Agostino Bardi, and Domenico at the same time, in competition with
him, painted the facade of a house of the Borghese, close to the
Postierla column, near the Duomo, with which he took very great pains.
Below the roof, in a frieze in chiaroscuro, he executed some little
figures that were much extolled; and in the spaces between the three
ranges of windows of travertine that adorn that palace, he painted many
ancient gods and other figures in imitation of bronze, in chiaroscuro
and in colour, which were more than passing good, although the work of
Sodoma was more extolled. Both these facades were executed in the year
1512.

Domenico afterwards painted for S. Benedetto, a seat of Monks of Monte
Oliveto, without the Porta a Tufi, an altar-piece of S. Catharine of
Siena in a building receiving the Stigmata, with a S. Benedict standing
on her right hand, and on her left a S. Jerome in the habit of a
Cardinal; which altar-piece, being very soft in colouring and strong in
relief, was much praised, as it still is. In the predella of this
picture, likewise, he painted some little scenes in distemper with
incredible boldness and vivacity, and with such facility of design, that
they could not be more graceful, and yet they have the appearance of
having been executed without the slightest effort in the world. In one
of these little scenes is the Angel placing in the mouth of that same S.
Catharine part of the Host consecrated by the priest; in another is
Jesus Christ marrying her, in a third she is receiving the habit from S.
Dominic, and there are other stories.

For the Church of S. Martino the same master painted a large altar-piece
with Christ born and being adored by the Virgin, by Joseph, and by the
Shepherds; and above the hut is a most beautiful choir of Angels
dancing. In this work, which is much extolled by craftsmen, Domenico
began to show to those who had some understanding that his works were
painted with a different foundation from those of Sodoma. He then
painted in fresco, in the Great Hospital, the Madonna visiting S.
Elizabeth, in a manner very pleasing and very natural. And for the
Church of S