Another work belonging to this early period is the portrait of Bartolommeo Bianchini, formerly in the Northwick collection, under the name of Raphael. This personage was a Bolognese senator of considerable culture, whose poetry earned some reputation in his days, and who wrote flattering verses in praise of Francia’s genius. We have a further proof of the friendship that existed between them in the small “Holy Family” at Berlin, inscribed with the words, _Bartholomei sum(ptu) Bianchini maxima matrom hic vivit manibus Francia picta tuis_. “Here—painted by thy hands, O Francia, at the cost of Bartolommeo Bianchini—lives the greatest of mothers.” The Madonna holds the child erect on a parapet, while St. Joseph stands behind, much in the same style of composition as countless Holy Families, by Giovanni Bellini, a painter with whom Francia had more than one feature in common. Here again we notice the same sharpness of outline, high polish, and want of shadow that recall the goldsmith’s art, but the general method of laying on colour and the red glow of the flesh-tints which marks all Ferrarese work, point unmistakably to the influence of Lorenzo Costa’s example. During the next twenty years these two men worked side by side in Bologna, and profited by a mutual exchange of ideas which has few counterparts in art history. While Costa gave Francia the benefit of his wider experience and greater knowledge, he received more than he could impart from the nobler aims and more refined feeling of the Bologna artist. Before long the pupil was to surpass the master, but we never hear of the intimacy between the two being marred by any jealousy or ill-feeling, and the unbroken harmony in which they lived reflects credit on both.