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Chap. XVII. GIOVANNI DA MILANO. 403 He strove earnestly to introduce a faithful imitation of the reality, where Taddeo had been most inclined to con ventionalism and neglect. To the facility of the latter, he opposed careful minuteness of drawing and research of form; thus aiding the development of that grand line of progress which was likewise followed up by Giot- tino and Orcagna. But though skilled, he had not sim plicity. Not content with Florentine, he studied Siennese examples. Whilst in types he affected the tenderness and formal grace of the latter, in colour, he com bined Florentine lightness with Siennese warmth. Were the joint works of Taddeo and Giovanni, in the Company of the Spirito Santo at Arezzo, preserved, a more com plete idea might be formed of the development of his manner than that which results from contemplating his pictures on panel. These, however, are of great interest, because they supply by their undoubted genuineness the place of records. The earliest of them is that of the Florence Academy of Arts, 1 an altarpiece removed from the convent of S. Girolamo sulla Costa and inscribed: “Io govani da melano depinsi questa tavola f M.CCCLXV.” 2 It represents the dead Saviour supported erect, but vi sible only to the knees, by the Virgin, the Magdalen, and S. John Evangelist. A long rigid form, regular in its anatomy, with a face and hands contracted by suffering, a head with well proportioned features, betray the real istic tendencies of the artist. In the aged features of the grieving Virgin a sort of Mantegnesque naturalism is apparent. The Magdalen, wailing as she holds the Redeemer’s left arm, is youthful but vulgar in expres sion. The careful drawing defines every form with ac curacy, and reveals a habit of excessive conscientious ness. There is a tendency to define the substance of various stuffs in drapery and embroidery, and a prying 1 No. 16 Gal. des gr. tableaux. 2 See the engraving in Rosini. Vol. II. p. 112. 26*