lene,
who is holding in her hands a most delicate vase of stone, in an
attitude of marvellous grace; turning her head, she seems full of
joy at her conversion; and indeed, in that kind of painting, I do
not think that anything better could be done. Very beautiful,
likewise, are the heads of S. Augustine and S. John the Evangelist.
Of a truth, other pictures may be said to be pictures, but those of
Raffaello life itself, for in his figures the flesh quivers, the
very breath may be perceived, the pulse beats, and the true
presentment of life is seen in them; on which account this picture
gave him, in addition to the fame that he had already, an even
greater name. Wherefore many verses were written in his honour, both
Latin and in the vulgar tongue, of which, in order not to make my
story longer than I have set out to do, I will cite only the
following:

Pingant sola alii referantque coloribus ora;
Caeciliae os Raphael atque animum explicuit.

After this he also painted a little picture with small figures,
which is likewise at Bologna, in the house of Count Vincenzio
Ercolano, containing a Christ after the manner of Jove in Heaven,
surrounded by the four Evangelists as Ezekiel describes them, one in
the form of a man, another as a lion, the third an eagle, and the
fourth an ox, with a little landscape below to represent the earth:
which work, in its small proportions, is no less rare and beautiful
than his others in their greatness.

[Illustration: POPE LEO X WITH TWO CARDINALS

(_After the panel by =Raffaello da Urbino=. Florence: Pitti, 40_)

_M.S._]

To the Counts of Canossa in Verona he sent a large picture of equal
excellence, in which is a very beautiful Nativity of Our Lord, with
a daybreak that is much extolled, as is also the S. Anne, and,
indeed, the whole work, which cannot be more highly praised than by
saying that it is by the hand of Raffaello da Urbino. Wherefore
those Counts rightly hold it in supreme veneration, nor have they
ever consented, for all the vast prices that have been offered to
them by many Princes, to sell it to anyone.

For Bindo Altoviti, he made a portrait of him when he was a young
man, which is held to be extraordinary; and likewise a picture of
Our Lady, which he sent to Florence, and which is now in the Palace
of Duke Cosimo, in the chapel of the new apartments, which were
built and painted by me, where it serves as altar-piece. In it is
painted a very old S. Anne, seate