e altar-piece of "The Baptism," in the same church of
S. Medardo. The existence of the contract of commission, dated June 5,
1508,[72] shows that Signorelli bound himself to paint the figures of
Christ, of the Baptist, and of God the Father, with his own hand,
leaving the rest of the work to his best pupils. These figures are,
however, so different from any of the master's own work, that it is
difficult to believe that they are entirely by him. The picture had
evidently to be finished in great haste, since the receipt for payment
in Luca's hand is dated the 24th of the same month of June, thus leaving
only nineteen days between commission and completion, a very short time
for so large a work. The Baptist stands in a rich red mantle pouring the
water on the head of the Herculean Christ, who wears the Pollaiuolesque
striped loin-cloth. The coarseness and exaggeration of the muscular
development have not the characteristics of Signorelli's own errors in
over-realism, but bear the same relation to his style that the work of
Bandinelli bears to that of Michelangelo. Above is a feeble figure of
God the Father, and in the middle distance a man pulls off his shirt,
reminding one, both in form and treatment, of the figures in Pier dei
Franceschi's "Baptism," of the National Gallery. Another sits by the
river putting on a sandal, not unlike, although very inferior to, the
athlete of the Munich _Tondo_. The composition is grand, and in the
importance given by it to the two principal figures we certainly see the
work of Signorelli. The picture is an example of one of those mysterious
conflicts of documentary and internal evidence, which the study of Art
occasionally furnishes. It still remains in its beautiful original
frame, in the gables of which is painted an "Annunciation," and below,
on each side, three half figures of Saints by some assistant, who was
not even a pupil of Signorelli, but obviously a follower of Niccolo da
Foligno. The _predella_ contains five scenes. "The Birth of the
Baptist," "The Preaching in the Desert," "The Denouncing of Herod and
Herodias" (a _Tondo_), "The Feast of Herod," and--rather out of its due
course, since the head is offered in the charger in the fourth
scene--"The Decapitation in Prison."

There is a very beautiful fragment of an unknown _predella_ in the
possession of Mr Jarvis of New Haven, U.S.A., which belongs
approximately to this period. It has all the impressive dignity and
breadth of t