His mode of colouring is not the most true; for it was mannered with a reddish hue, which is, however, fascinating and cheerful to the eye; it is neat, clear, and of such a body that it remains on walls at this day, in the highest preservation. A few of his works remain in Genoa, where he painted the palace of Prince Doria; they are not numerous at Pisa; but they abound in his native place, both in public and in private. His merit was greater in distemper than in oil colouring; and his historical frescos do him greater honour than his other paintings. His skill was great in distributing them to suit the place, and in adapting them to the architecture; he ornamented them with grotesque decorations in such a manner that he required not the aid of gilt stucco, or other gaudy trappings. These inventions have such felicity, that a single glance recals the story to the memory of one acquainted with its circumstances. He treats his subject copiously, with dignity, and with perfect nature: he imparts grandeur to it by his architectural views, and elegance by introducing the usages of antiquity. He peculiarly delighted in the more recondite principles of the art, which were then less generally employed; as peculiar reflections of fires and other lights; difficult foreshortenings, especially as applied to ceilings, which were then very rare in lower Italy. Vasari has minutely described his figure of Justice; the feet of which are in dark shadow, gradually diminishing to the shoulders, which are invested with a most brilliant celestial light: "Nor is it possible," says he, "to imagine, much less to find, a more beautiful figure ... amongst all that ever were painted to appear foreshortened when viewed from below." According to this verdict, Mecherino deserves the appellation of the Coreggio of lower Italy, in this very difficult branch of painting; for no modern artist had attempted so much before his time. The above mentioned figure is painted on the vaulted ceiling of the consistory of the government; and the artist has arranged below it various oval and square pictures, each representing some memorable exploit of a republican hero. He pursued the same idea in an apartment in the mansion now in possession of the Bindi family, which P. della Valle reckons his masterpiece. The figures resemble those in the _Logge_ of Raffaello: they are better coloured than those in the consistory, and being smaller are, on that account, better designed: for the style of Mecherino resembles a liquor which retains its qualities when shut up in a phial, but evaporates and is dissipated when poured into a larger vessel. This circumstance, however, was common to many others: his peculiarity consists in what he communicated to Vasari; that, "out of the atmosphere of Siena, he imagined he could not paint successfully;" an effect, according to P. Guglielmo, of the climate; which would be a happy secret for peopling it with painters.