ersons; in particular, those of
Virginio Orsino and Ruberto Sanseverino, which he placed in the
aforesaid scenes. Afterwards, also, he made a portrait of Duke
Valentino, the son of Pope Alexander VI; which painting, to my
knowledge, is not now to be found; but the cartoon by his hand still
exists, being in the possession of the reverend and cultured M.
Cosimo Bartoli, Provost of S. Giovanni. In Florence, he painted many
pictures for a number of citizens, which are dispersed among their
various houses, and of such I have seen some that are very good; and
so, also, various things for many other persons. In the Noviciate of
S. Marco is a picture by his hand of Our Lady, standing, with the
Child in her arms, coloured in oils. And for the Chapel of Gino
Capponi, in the Church of S. Spirito at Florence, he painted a panel
wherein is the Visitation of Our Lady, with S. Nicholas, and a S.
Anthony who is reading with a pair of spectacles on his nose, a very
spirited figure. Here he counterfeited a book bound in parchment,
somewhat old, which seems to be real, and also some balls that he
gave to the S. Nicholas, shining and casting gleams of light and
reflections from one to another; from which even by that time men
could perceive the strangeness of his brain, and his constant
seeking after difficulties.

[Illustration: PIERO DI COSIMO: THE DEATH OF PROCRIS

(_London: National Gallery, 698. Panel_)]

Even better did he show this after the death of Cosimo, when he kept
himself constantly shut up, and would not let himself be seen at
work, leading the life of a man who was less man than beast. He
would never have his rooms swept, he would only eat when hunger came
to him, and he would not let his garden be worked or his fruit-trees
pruned; nay, he allowed his vines to grow, and the shoots to trail
over the ground, nor were his fig-trees ever trimmed, or any other
trees, for it pleased him to see everything wild, like his own
nature; and he declared that Nature's own things should be left to
her to look after, without lifting a hand to them. He set himself
often to observe such animals, plants, or other things as Nature at
times creates out of caprice, or by chance; in which he found a
pleasure and satisfaction that drove him quite out of his mind with
delight; and he spoke of them so often in his discourse, that at
times, although he found pleasure in them, it became wearisome to
others. He would sometimes stop to gaze at a wal