factory in a spiritual sense, is of solemn arrangement and great outward beauty of motive. A large Madonna with Saints, in the same gallery, has greatly darkened with age, but is said to have been one of his principal works. A number of charming heads in fresco, formerly in S. Maria Maddalena, near Florence, are now preserved in the Academy. We do not enumerate all the works of this artist in the galleries of Florence, but we must not omit a very interesting but now much injured fresco which adorns the wall of a chapel in a small court of S. Maria Nuova. It represents the Last Judgment; and in the Apostles sitting on each side of Christ we are forcibly reminded of Raphael's "Disputa," as well as of the Last Judgment of Orcagna, in the Campo Santo at Pisa. The draperies of the Apostles are particularly excellent. The works of Fra Bartolommeo are rare out of Tuscany. An Assumption of the Virgin, in the Studj Gallery at Naples, is ascribed to him, and, with the exception of the principal figure, is worthy of the master. Two grand altarpieces of 1505-1507, and 1515, are in the Louvre. A Madonna with Christ and the Baptist, in the collection of Lord Cowper at Panshanger, is distinguished from Fra Bartolommeo's other smaller works not only in composition and colouring, but in the tender melancholy which pervades the whole. Two standing figures of St. Peter and St. Paul, as large as life, were executed during a short residence in Rome. The first was completed by Raphael after Fra Bartolommeo's departure. They are now in the Quirinal. An excellent Madonna with Saints is in the cathedral at Besançon, opposite the south doorway. Finally, his Presentation in the Temple, well known by the engraving, is in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna; a neat sketch of it is in the Uffizj Gallery at Florence.

Mariotto Albertinelli was the friend and fellow scholar of Fra Bartolommeo, and an imitator of his style. A very celebrated picture by him is in the gallery of the Uffizj at Florence; the subject is the Salutation. It contains the two figures of Mary and Elizabeth only, but the arrangement is simple and noble, the drawing excellent, the colouring powerful, and the expression earnest and finely intended, but perhaps in a slight degree constrained. In the Academy at Florence there are also several clever pictures, parts of which are very

graceful, by this master. In the Berlin Museum there is an Assumption of the Virgin, the upper part by Fra Bartolommeo, the lower by Mariotto Albertinelli. An early picture of the year 1506, the Virgin and Child standing upon a pedestal between two kneeling saints, is delicate and graceful, but not comparable with Fra Bartolommeo in energy. It is in the Louvre.

Among the scholars of Fra Bartolommeo may be mentioned Fra Paolo da Pistoja. In the Royal Gallery of Vienna there is a large altar-picture by him, in the style of his master. He inherited Fra Bartolommeo's drawings, and made use of them for his own pictures. After him the drawings fell into the hands of a Dominican nun, Plautilla Nelli, who also formed her style from them; but she appears as a feeble, sentimental imitator.

The general style of Fra Bartolommeo was followed by a later Florentine artist, Andrea Vanucchi, commonly called Andrea del Sarto,' from his father's trade (1488-1530). In the works of this painter there is, however, less of the religious seriousness of the elder master, less of his sincerity in the treatment of holy subjects. The pictures of Andrea, on the contrary, are generally characterized by a mere amiable cheerfulness, a childlike innocent gaiety. The easily-known type of his female heads is in no way derived from the ideal, but is merely, as with many a painter of the fifteenth century, a generalising of one single individual. Neither has this artist a rich fancy, as is proved by his historical pictures; but his numerous Madonnas are always pleasing when in his own peculiar style, and so long as his fine execution does not degenerate to empty mannerism. Originally Andrea was of the school of Pietro di Cosimo, and preserved some of the peculiarities of his master, particularly in his small pictures with landscape backgrounds. He soon, however, became independent; his style, at first youthfully constrained and severe, was at a later period peculiarly soft and delicate in the modelling of the forms.

Among the earliest of Andrea's works are the frescoes which he executed in the court of the Compagnia dello Scalzo at

1 Biadi, Notizie inedite della Vita d'Andrea del Sarto, raccolte da manoscritti e documenti autentici; Firenze, 1830.-Andrea del Sarto, von Alfred Reumont; Leipzig, 1835.

Florence. All the paintings now remaining are in chiaroscuro, and, with the exception of some allegorical figures, represent the history of St. John the Baptist. Those first painted were the Baptism of Christ, the Preaching of John, and the Baptism of the People. With the dry angular manner of the old school these already unite pleasing, correct drawing and dignity of character. The rest of these pictures belong to a later period of the artist's practice, and are of unequal merit; the last executed the Birth of John-is, however, very excellent: it is a simple, effective composition, with very beautiful figures. Although these paintings have suffered, they can yet be tolerably well made out. In consequence of the celebrity of these first-mentioned frescoes a similar work was intrusted to Andrea in the court of the SS. Annunziata at Florence. Alessio Baldovinetti had already begun the subject of the Nativity, and Cosimo Rosselli had also painted a compartment. Andrea commenced with the history of S. Filippo Benizzi, which he completed in five large pictures. These are among the most beautiful of his productions; they are in some parts very simple and severe in execution, but have an expression of sterling dignity which is rarely found in his other works. One of their peculiar features is the beautiful landscape backgrounds. The fourth picture is particularly remarkable, both as regards its composition and the lively interest with which the story is told; it represents the Death of the Saint, and a Boy Restored to Life. The fifth excels in the harmony of its light and shade and colouring; the subject is Children Healed by touching the garment of the Saint. Some time after Andrea painted in the same court the Birth of the Virgin, also an excellent work, and an Adoration of the Kings, with numerous figures. Another painting by him, in the great court of the same convent (in the lunette over the entrance), is of a considerably later period (1525); it is known by the name of the Madonna del Sacco a simple Holy Family, in which Joseph is represented leaning on a sack. This is one of the artist's most celebrated works: the forms are grand, the composition has an agrecable repose, and the drapery is masterly.

1 Pitture a Fresco di Andrea del Sarto; Firenze, 1823.

Before we pass to Andrea's easel-pictures another important fresco must be mentioned, in the refectory of the convent of S. Salvi, near Florence, of the year 1526-7. It represents the Last Supper, with the usual arrangement of the figures; it resembles, for instance, Leonardo da Vinci's composition, but is not to be compared with that work in the profound conception of the subject. The division of the groups is peculiar; the single figures are finely characterized.

The easel-pictures of Andrea are very numerous: their subjects are principally confined to the simple circle of Madonnas, Holy Families, and similar altar-pieces; in these his peculiar qualities are most freely developed. Pictures of this kind, belonging to his early time, are very rare. One, which he painted for the convent of S. Gallo, and which is now in the Pitti Palace, shows a finer and deeper earnestness than is usual in his works: it is an Annunciation, and reminds us in some respects of Francia. In other pictures—in one, for example, of the same subject, in the same place (No. 27), the influence of Michael Angelo is visible-an influence which can hardly be said to have operated favourably on the style of Andrea. The most beautiful example of this artist's own manner is the Madonna di S. Francesco, in the tribune of the Uffizj at Florence. The Madonna with the Child stands on a low altar, supported by two boy-angels; St. Francis and St. John the Evangelist stand beside her: the expression of both the saints is bland and dignified. Among the altar-pieces which are now in the Pitti Palace, the so-called Disputa della SS. Trinità is peculiarly fitted to exhibit Andrea's affinity with the Venetian school. This is a "Santa Conversazione of six Saints. St. Augustin is speaking with the highest inspiration of manner; St. Dominic is being convinced with his reason, St. Francis with his heart; St. Lawrence is looking earnestly out of the picture; while St. Sebastian and the Magdalen are kneeling in front, listening devoutly. We here find the most admirable contrast of action and expression, combined with the highest beauty of execution, especially of colouring. A Dead Christ, with the mourners around him, symmetrically composed, which Andrea preferred, is rich in fine details. Besides these, there is a considerable number of