During the siege of Florence, Borgherini was absent, and the picture dealer, Giovanni Battista della Palla, who prowled like a harpy to carry off treasures for the King of France, made an effort to obtain these paintings by inducing the government to confiscate them and sell them to him. But Margherita was equal to the occasion, and meeting the despoiler at her door, she poured out such a torrent of indignation, exhortation, and defiance as drove the broker away crestfallen. On the Medici's return della Palla was imprisoned as a traitor, and beheaded at Pisa. The paintings passed into the possession of the Medici, by purchase, during Andrea's life. [Footnote: Biadi, _Notizie_, &c., p. 146, note 2.] CHAPTER VII. THE PLAGUE AND THE SIEGE. A.D. 1525-1531. From 1524 to 1528 the plague desolated Italy, never entirely leaving it. During this time Andrea obtained a commission through Antonio Brancacci, to paint some pictures in the convent of S. Piero at Luco in Mugello, where he retired with his wife and her relations, and his pupil Raffaelo. They spent a very pleasant summer: the nuns made much of his wife and her sisters, and he passed his time in earnest painting. The fruits of his labour are a _Pietà_, a _Visitation_, and a _Head of Christ_--almost a replica of the one in the SS. Annunziata. The _Pietà_ is full of expression and feeling, but more realistic and less dignified than that of Fra Bartolommeo, which now hangs on the same wall of the Hall of Apollo at the Pitti. In colouring also there is a great contrast between the two, that of Fra Bartolommeo being deep, rich, and mellow, while Andrea's is more profuse, diffused, and wanting in depth of shadow. S. John and the Virgin raise the dead Saviour, the Magdalen and S. Catherine weep at his feet; S. Peter and S. Paul at the back express their grief in the manner natural to their characters. S. Peter, in his vehemence, flings up his arms in a madness of sorrow. S. Paul, with more dignity, is half stupefied with the intensity of woe. If those saints had been left in Fra Bartolommeo's _Pietà_, the two pictures would have had the very same figures, in each: but how different the composition, feeling, and expression! The Frate's group is a compact triangle; that of Andrea a scattered arrangement. The Magdalen of the Frate is overwhelmed with the very excess of love and grief, all of which is expressed intensely, yet her face is hidden; that of Andrea is a mere woman dressed in flying scarf and flowing garments, but with very little soul in her face. The characteristics of the two painters can be well studied in these works, so near together, so similar, and yet so different. For the three works painted at Luco Andrea was paid ninety florins in gold. The _Pietà_, was bought in later years by the Grand Duke Leopold, and now adorns the Pitti Palace.