insomuch that he would never on any account paint licentious works,
although he was very often entreated to do so by the Marquis; and equal
to him in goodness were his brothers, as will be related in the proper
place. Finally, being old, and suffering in the bladder, Francesco, with
the leave of the Marquis and by the advice of the physicians, went with
his wife and many servants to the Baths of Caldero, in the territory of
Verona, to take the waters. There, one day, after he had drunk the
water, he allowed himself to be overcome by drowsiness, and slept a
little, being indulged in this by his wife out of compassion; whereupon,
a violent fever having come upon him in consequence of his sleeping,
which is a deadly thing for one who has just taken that water, he
finished the course of his life on the second day of July, 1519; which
having been reported to the Marquis, he straightway sent orders by a
courier that the body of Francesco should be brought to Mantua. This was
done, although it gave little pleasure to the people of Verona; and he
was laid to rest with great honour in the burial-place of the Compagnia
Segreta in S. Francesco at Mantua. Francesco lived to the age of
sixty-four, and the portrait of him which belongs to Messer Fermo was
executed when he was fifty. Many compositions were written in his
praise, and he was mourned by all who knew him as a virtuous and saintly
man, which he was. He had for wife Madonna Francesca Gioacchini of
Verona, but he had no children.

The eldest of his three brothers was called Monsignore; and he, being a
person of culture and learning, received offices with good salaries in
Mantua from the Marquis, on account of that nobleman's love of
Francesco. He lived to the age of eighty, and left children, who keep
the family of the Monsignori alive in Mantua. Another brother of
Francesco had the name of Girolamo when in the world, and of Fra
Cherubino among the Frati Zoccolanti di San Francesco; and he was a very
beautiful calligrapher and illuminator. The third, who was a Friar of S.
Dominic and an Observantine, and was called Fra Girolamo, chose out of
humility to become a lay-brother. He was not only a man of good and holy
life, but also a passing good painter, as may be seen in the Convent of
S. Domenico in Mantua, where, besides other works, he executed a most
beautiful Last Supper in the refectory, with a Passion of Christ, which
remained unfinished on account of his death. The sa