gin and two angels. The effort made by Andrea in this piece to realize despairing lamentation, is accompanied by no refinement. There is nothing ideally select in the shape of the Redeemer or in the face of his mother; but the naturalism of the nude, the correctness of the draw ing and modelling, and the intensity given to the expres sion of grief, are so genuine that whilst we miss the in stinctive dignity of the period of Giotto and Angelico, the nobleness of Masaccio and Ghirlandaio, the elegance of Leonardo and Fra Bartolommeo, and the elevation of Raphael, we still find much to admire and to praise, the more as the colour is still brilliant and powerful. 1 Whilst Del Sarto was thus charming his new patrons with these and other masterpieces, 2 his wife was spending a solitary time at Florence, and wrote letters urging her husband to return. The tenderest fibres of Andrea’s heart were moved by her prayers, and he asked for leave, promising a speedy return. Francis acceded to this ap plication, and even trusted Del Sarto with funds for buying works of art in Italy. But his confidence was betrayed by Andrea in the most unpardonable manner. Having squandered his own and the king’s money at Florence in the building of a house, Andrea found him self unable to make the necessary purchases, and dread ing his patron’s anger, he was forced to remain at home. How he succeeded in escaping punishment for his breach of trust, is a mystery unexplained to the present day; and it is characteristic of the condition of morals in that age, if we admit the truth of Vasari’s history which was never impugned, that Andrea suffered little in position or in purse from an offence that might have been pro ductive to him of the most serious consequences. 1 Belvedere. Flor. School. Room 4. No. 23. Wood, figures under life size, inscribed: “And.Sar.Flo. fac.” a little empty in the shadows and injnre d by o I d cle an in g an d re touch- ing. There are two copies of this Pieti in England. One belongs to Mr. Farrer, the other to Mrs. But ler Johnstone. Sec postea, the re gister at the close. 2 For a list of these see postea.
