be a
most beautiful work; and the same friars, therefore, thinking that
they had been well served, induced him to make another for a house
of theirs at Reggio in Lombardy, wherein he painted a Madonna with
many figures. At Cesena, likewise for the church of these friars, he
executed another panel, painting therein the Circumcision of Christ,
with lovely colouring. Nor would the people of Ferrara consent to
be left behind by their neighbours; nay, having determined to adorn
their Duomo with works by Francia, they commissioned him to paint a
panel, on which he made a great number of figures; and they named it
the panel of Ognissanti. He painted one in S. Lorenzo at Bologna,
with a Madonna, a figure on either side, and two children below,
which was much extolled; and scarcely had he finished this when he
had to make another in S. Giobbe, representing a Crucifixion, with
that Saint kneeling at the foot of the Cross, and two figures at the
sides.

So widely had the fame and the works of this craftsman spread
throughout Lombardy, that even from Tuscany men sent for something
by his hand, as they did from Lucca, whither there went a panel
containing a S. Anne and a Madonna, with many other figures, and a
Dead Christ above in the lap of His Mother; which work is set up in
the Church of S. Fridiano, and is held in great price by the people
of Lucca. For the Church of the Nunziata in Bologna he painted two
other panels, which were wrought with much diligence; and in the
Misericordia, likewise, without the Porta a Stra Castione, at the
request of a lady of the Manzuoli family, he painted another,
wherein he depicted the Madonna with the Child in her arms, S.
George, S. John the Baptist, S. Stephen, and S. Augustine, with an
angel below, who has his hands clasped with such grace, that he
appears truly to belong to Paradise. He executed another for the
Company of S. Francesco in the same city, and likewise one for the
Company of S. Gieronimo. He lived in close intimacy with Messer Polo
Zambeccaro, who, being much his friend, and wishing to have some
memorial of him, caused him to paint a rather large picture of the
Nativity of Christ, which is one of the most celebrated works that
he ever made; and for this reason Messer Polo commissioned him to
paint at his villa two figures in fresco, which are very beautiful.
He also executed a most charming scene in fresco in the house of
Messer Gieronimo Bolognino, with many varied and very