h for his soul
and for the convent. For S. Martino in Lucca he painted a panel
wherein, at the feet of a Madonna, there is a little angel playing
on a lute, together with S. Stephen and S. John; in which picture,
executed with excellent draughtsmanship and colouring, he proved his
ability. For S. Romano, likewise, he painted a panel on canvas of
the Madonna della Misericordia, who is placed on a pedestal of
stone, with some angels holding her mantle; and together with her
he depicted a throng of people on some steps, some standing, others
seated, and others kneeling, but all gazing at a figure of Christ on
high, who is sending down lightnings and thunderbolts upon the
people. Clearly did Fra Bartolommeo prove in this work how well he
was able to manage the gradation of shadows and darks in painting,
giving extraordinary relief to his figures, and showing a rare and
excellent mastery over the difficulties of his art in colouring,
drawing, and invention; and the work is as perfect as any that he
ever made. For the same church he painted another panel, also on
canvas, containing a Christ and S. Catherine the Martyr, together
with a S. Catherine of Siena, rapt in ecstasy from the earth, a
figure as good as any that could possibly be painted in that manner.

[Illustration: GOD THE FATHER, WITH SS. MARY MAGDALEN AND CATHARINE

(_After the painting by =Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco=. Lucca:
Gallery, 12_)

_Alinari_]

Returning to Florence, he gave some attention to the study of music;
and, delighting much therein, he would sometimes sing to pass the
time. At Prato, opposite to the prison, he painted a panel-picture
of the Assumption. He executed some pictures of Our Lady for the
house of the Medici, and also other paintings for various people,
such as a picture of Our Lady which Lodovico di Lodovico Capponi has
in his apartment, and likewise another of the Virgin holding the
Child in her arms, with two heads of saints, that is in the
possession of the very Excellent Messer Lelio Torelli, Chief
Secretary to the most Illustrious Duke Cosimo, who holds it very
dear both on account of the genius of Fra Bartolommeo, and because
he delights in, loves, and favours not only the men of our art, but
every fine intellect. In the house of Piero del Pugliese, which now
belongs to Matteo Botti, a citizen and merchant of Florence, in an
antechamber at the head of a staircase, he painted a S. George in
armour, on horseback, who is slayin