by the skill that painted in so tiny a compass so vast a scene. Above is the sky free from any crowd of spirits, and reaching up to unimagined heights. Here is undoubtedly Perugino's work; but at Rome we see merely a clever overcrowded picture, an illustration simply, and most evidently the work of Pinturicchio. Three other frescoes in this chapel Perugino did undoubtedly paint for Sixtus IV., covering the eastern wall. They depicted the "Assumption," into which he introduced the kneeling figure of the Pope, the "Nativity," and the "Finding of Moses," but all these works were swept away during the Pontificate of Pope Paul III. to make way for the tremendous work of Michel Angelo, "The Last Judgment." It is infinitely to be regretted that no replica of these frescoes was retained, as the "Delivery of the Keys" is so superb a composition, that it but increases the desire of the spectator to know what Perugino's other frescoes were in the same chapel. The payment for the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel was not authorised till August 8th, 1489, as Mariotti[F] records that at that time Perugino was entitled to draw on the Apostolic _camera_ at Perugia for 180 ducats, being the balance of money due for pictures in the Apostolic chapel. On the 5th of March 1490 Perugino gave a receipt in Perugia for that money. [Illustration: _Petiton photo_] [_Rouen_ THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST (_A predella panel from the San Pietro (Perugia) altar-piece_)] FOOTNOTES: [A] Mariotti, "Lettere Pittoriche Perugine," 1788, v. 121. [B] "Storia della Pittura," A. Lupattelli. Foligno, 1895. [C] "Italian Painters," ii. 107. [D] Eastlake, however, refers to a picture painted for Luca degli' Albizzi for which the artist was paid 100 gold crowns. At this time, it was, he says, in the Palazzo Albizzi, and he says it was executed prior to 1478, as in that year Luca, who was in the Pozzi conspiracy, was exiled for twenty-five years. This picture cannot now be traced. [E] "Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance," 96. [F] Mariotti, p. 150. CHAPTER II EARLY DAYS There are three pictures, one of which is especially named by Crowe and Cavalcaselle, which seem to belong to the early days of Perugino. Not that they should be ascribed to the Cerqueto period, or to the Sistine Chapel time, but it is probable that they were painted between 1480, when the master was in Rome, and 1491, when he produced on his second journey to the Eternal City the magnificent altar-piece now in the Villa Albani. Crowe and Cavalcaselle refer to the tondo in the Louvre, and to it we add the somewhat similar work at Verona and the "Baptism" at Vienna.