486 THE FIFTEENTH CENTUKY. Chap. XIV. Both have the mien and bearing becoming their station. Admirable chastity and composure in the one; a winning honesty in the other. The action and the drapery are equally felicitous. In this application of the Leonar- desque rules Mariotto was for this once almost perfect, and but for a little stiffness would be equal to Fra Bar tolommeo. Technically he had not allowed any of the advantages of the age to escape him. All the acquire ments known to da Vinci after his departure from Milan he turned to use for the attainment of full har mony and rich vapour, producing enamel transparence in a low key of tone with consummate skill by glazes. 1 To this grand specimen of a picture of style succeeded a round of the Nativity now at the tPitti; — a brilliant easel-piece charming for its combination of the qualities of Leonardo and Credi; for noble seriousness in the face ofi the Virgin and the pleasing plumpness in the shape of the infant Christ; the landscape, of Ferrarese minuteness in detail like that of Fra Bartolommeo’s Vision of S. Bernard. 2 Shortly after this, Fra Bartolommeo appointed Mariotto guardian of his brother Piero, and resumed his artistic occupations. Whilst he was occupied with the Nativity and Circumcision of the Uffizi, Albertinelli was busy on a Crucifixion at the Certosa and a Madonna with saints, in S. Trinita of Florence. The fresco, a simple form of an old theme, with the Magdalen at foot, the Virgin and Evangelist at the sides, and angels gathering the blood from the hands, is very much in Fra Bartolommeo’s manner and tells by com parison what the lower parts of the Last Judgment at 8. Maria Nuova must have been. 3 The Madonna, now 1 On the pilasters, one reads: “Anno MDIII.” The predella, — An nunciation, Nativity, and Circum cision, is not less able than the principal incident, thoughraw from the abrasion of glazes. 2 Pitti. No. 365. Wood, oil, figures half the life size. Three angels in the sky sing from a scroll. To the right behind the Virgin, S. Joseph. The shape of the Madonna is a little less noble and more square than in the Salutation. 3 Inscribed: “MariottiFlorentini