Albertinelli, Mariotto, 1474-1515; Bartolomeo, fra, 1472-1517; Sarto, Andrea del, 1486-1530
Mariotto returned disheartened to paint in his solitary studio. A
specimen of this period is the _Adam and Eve_, now at Castle Howard,
which is said to have been sketched in by Fra Bartolommeo. Eve stands
beneath the serpent-entwined tree, hesitating between the demon's
temptations and Adam's persuasions; the feeling and action are perfectly
expressed, the landscape is minute, but has plenty of atmosphere and
good colouring. In the same collection is a _Sacrifice of Abraham_, in
his best style. The drawing of the father, reluctantly holding his knife
to the throat of the boy, is extremely true. Munich possesses a fine
_Annunciation_. Characteristic saints support the composition on each
side, the nude S. Sebastian being a markworthy study; an angel at his
side presents the palm of martyrdom. The picture has suffered much from
bad cleaning.
In March, 1513, Albertinelli was commissioned by the Medici to paint
their arms, in honour of Leo X.'s elevation to the papacy. He made a
fine allegorical circular picture, in which the arms were supported by
the figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity.
CHAPTER VIII.
CLOSE OF LIFE. A.D. 1514--1517.
It is probable that the dissolution of partnership marked the time of
Fra Bartolommeo's visit to Rome. Fra Mariano Fetti, once a lay brother
of S. Marco, who had gone over to the Medici after Savonarola's death,
and had kept so much in favour with Pope Leo X. as to obtain the office
of the Seals (del Piombo), [Footnote: An office for appending seals
to papal documents. Fra Mariano Fetti was elected to it in 1514, after
Bramante, the architect; Sebastiano del Piombo succeeded him.] was
pleased to be considered a patron of art; and welcoming Fra Bartolommeo
to Rome, he gave him a commission for two large figures of S. Peter and
S. Paul for his church of S. Silvestro. The cartoons of these pictures
are now in the Belle Arti of Florence; they are grand and majestic
figures, admirably draped. S. Peter holds his keys and a book; S.
Paul rests on his sword. In executing them in colour, he made some
improvements, especially in the head and hand of S. Peter, but he did
not remain long enough in Rome to finish them. "The colour of the first
(S. Peter) is reddish and rather opaque, the shadows of the head being
taken up afresh, and the extremities being by another painter. The head
of the second (S. Paul) is corrected ... but the tone is transparent,
and the execution exclusively that of Fra Bartolommeo. Whoever may have
been employed on the S. Peter, we do not fancy Raphael to have been
that person." This is the opinion of Crowe and Cavalcaselle, [Footnote:
_History of Painting_, vol. iii. chap. xiii. p. 460.] who, however, seem
to have little faith in any works of the Frate at Rome. Against this we
have the chronicles of quaint old Vasari and Rosini; besides Baldinucci
(ch. iv. p. 83), who says, "Raphael gave great testimony of his esteem
when, in after years, he employed his own brush in Rome to finish a work
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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