Chap. XIV. MARIOTTO ALBERTINELLI. 489 In the midst of these occupations the friendship of Fra Bartolommeo, whose fame was increasing daily, had not been neglected. We have seen how vainly Mariotto tried to mediate in the summer of 1507 be tween him and Bernardo del Bianco. After the return of the Frate from Venice, the want of a skilled superin tendent in the atelier of S. Marco became evident, and the old partnership which had been broken up in 1500, was renewed in 1510. Very few of the pictures under taken while it lasted enable us to distinguish the hand of either artist. We barely have a trace of Albertinelli in the glory of the Murano altarpiece at S. Romano of Lucca. His presence is more decidedly apparent in the lower part of the Assumption at Berlin, and is slightly betrayed in the round of the Nativity at Saltocchio near Lucca. At the division of profits which took place in January 1513, a panel which fell to Mariotto’s share was one of Adam and Eve, contoured and rubbed in by Fra Bar tolommeo. 1 After Albertinelli had digested the cha grin caused by the separation from his friend, and re pented of having turned publican, we think that he took in hand this little piece, which is now at Castle Howard. On the left sits Adam in profile, obviously bent on dis suading Eve who stands against a tree about to pluck the fruit. She is tempted by the whispering demon whose body is twined about the trunk. In the landscape, the Creation and Expulsion are introduced as subor dinate episodes. This is an exquisite thing, correct in the anatomy, proportions, and action of Adam, astonish ingly appropriate in the hesitating movement of Eve. In spite of minute treatment, the touch is firm, and the tone rich, sweet, and airy. Nor is this a solitary specimen of Mariotto’s power. Its counterpart is a beautiful Sacrifice of Abraham, preserved likewise in the collection of Castle Howard; 2 and a simi- 1 Memorandum of Mariotto (Jan. | 2 Both these little pieces have 5. 1513 n. s.) in Marcliese II. 366. | been successively called by the na-