304 THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. Chap. XII. was in truth full of energy and swing. But, in expression, he was one of the most vulgar of the realists. As a colourist, he was distanced by almost all his cotemporaries, and never produced anything but hard, raw, and unpleasant work. Yet the strength that was in the man is still im posing; and Castagno deserves the place which he occupies in art history. Two crucifixions which we owe to him are in the monastery of the Angeli at Florence. 1 One in the first cloister represents the Saviour of life size, crucified between the Virgin and S. Benedict, and the Evangelist and S. Romualdo, with the Magdalen at the foot of the cross. It discloses • to the spectator Christ, of good proportions and action, well studied in the nude, not too vulgar in face, and of a type which bears comparison with that of the Redeemer in the Trinity by the Peselli lately purchased for the National Gallery. 2 Not a little striking at the same time is the resemblance of character between this wall painting and an altarpiece gable representing the same subject by Piero della Francesca, now in the Spedale at Arezzo. A common realism and technical method appear to unite the two painters; and this is apparent not only in the principal figure, but in the Virgin, which both artists represented in vulgar lamentation with her cheek resting on her hand. 3 Common grimacing features are excessively striking in the S. Benedict; and the hands are cramped as if by epilepsy. 4 S. Romualdo, in profile, grabbles at his hair. But Castagno obviously knows of the tragic only the outer and visible signs. The inward grieving he is unable to depict. His drapery has the stiffness and consistency of paper, his outlines are hard and angular, his mode of rendering hands or feet coarse ' Not in the places given by Vasari, but, no doubt, they are those to which he alludes. (Vas. Vol. IV. p. 149.) The monastery in deed has undergone many changes since the 16 th century. 8 From the late Bromley col lection. 8 The Evangelistis openmouthed and shows his teeth. The back ground is blue. 4 A fault which may bo found also in Piero della Francesca.