His large fresco paintings are numerous; the recess in the Ranuzzi palace, the cupola and ceiling in the church of Corpus Domini, the tribune of S. Bartolommeo at Bologna. Among those in other states we shall mention only the corbels of the cupola, with three histories, in the cathedral of Piacenza, and the grand ceiling of the Hall of Public Counsel at Genoa. This painting, of which it is enough to state that Mengs devoted many hours in examining it in detail, the noblest of Franceschini's performances, perished by fire, without a single engraving having been taken to commemorate its grandeur of conception. The same fertility of ideas and attraction of style are conspicuous in his grand histories, dispersed among the first galleries of Europe, and in his no less copious altar-pieces. Such is the S. Tommaso da Villanova, in the act of dispensing alms, placed at the Agostiniani di Rimini; a picture truly imposing by its magnificent workmanship, and which surprises by the beauty of its figures. What is equally surprising, the Cavalier Franceschini, when nearly an octogenarian, displayed pictorial powers equal to his best days; as we gather from his Pietà, at the Agostiniani of Imola, and his BB. Fondatori, at the Serviti in Bologna, which betray no traces of decline. This artist rejected the most advantageous offers from courts, which all vied in soliciting his services. Giordano even was not invited to that of Madrid, until the situation had been refused by Franceschini. He chose to reside in Upper Italy, there assuming the same rank, as head of his school, with almost the same success as Cortona in Lower Italy. Both schools adhered much to the Caracci's style, and in some measure rendered it more popular; and hence, those who at Rome are not familiar with the features and contrasts characteristic of Cortona's sect, would easily confound them with the more modern artists of Bologna.