of Sarteano, Orbetello, Montacuto, and Talamone; 1 and liis employment in this direction only ceased when Fran cesco di Giorgio abandoned all other pursuits for those of engineering and fortification. The life of this ingenious and celebrated man would be out of place here; and it will not be necessary to do more than look back at the fruits of his early industry, and fix the limits of his acquirements as a painter. He was but twenty-four 2 when the superintendence of the conduits of the Fonte Gaia in Sienna was given to him; but he kept a shop with Nerroccio di Bartolommeo de’ Landi, until the partnership was dissolved in 1475. 3 He seems to have combined most of the Siennese charac teristics of his time with a fancy akin to that of Botti celli, and a fashion of drapery like that of the Pollaiuoli. He inherited defects already conspicuous in Vecchietta, such as slender, withered, and angular figures, the action of which is rendered in an awkward and often pompously affected manner. He may, therefore, have learnt the elements from that master. The strange conceits in his composition are surprising and unpleasant. Super abundance of ornament in dresses and buildings is ano ther of his failings. His tone is cold, unrelieved, flat, and grey in shadow; but he exhibits some slight progress in the application of perspective to form. A disagreable colour overspreads an injured Nativity, originally at Monte Oliveto near the Porta Tufi at Sienna; graced with his name, and now in the Academy. 4 The strangeness of his fancy is illustrated by a Coronation of the Virgin in the same Museum, where the higher and lower spheres of a heavenly host are united by two angels resting on a cluster of three cherubs’ heads. 3 1 Hoc. Sen. II. 282. 370. 2 Horn Nov. 14. 1439, his first public appointment dates 1464. Hoc. Sen. II. 337. His death took place in 1502. 3 Ih. II. 465. 4 No.302, inscribed: “Francisc. Giorgii pinsit”, dating from 1475 (Vas. note to p. 205. Vol. IV). 5 No. 301. Here the figures whoso character is that described, have small heads and small eyes, with a mere point for the pupil. Copious hair is curved in successions of spirals. Colours, in distinct and