eat beauty that had been
executed by Granaccio and Jacopo da Pontormo. Andrea, then, devoting an
extraordinary amount of time and diligence to the work, strove to bring
it about that they should prove to be more perfect than those of the
others mentioned above; in which he succeeded to a marvel, for in the
variety of events happening in the stories he showed how great was his
worth in the art of painting. So excellent were those scenes, that an
attempt was made by Giovan Battista della Palla, on account of the siege
of Florence, to remove them from the places where they were fixed, in
order to send them to the King of France; but, since they were fixed in
such a way that it would have meant spoiling the whole work, they were
left where they were, together with a picture of Our Lady, which is held
to be a very choice work.

[Illustration: CHARITY

(_After the painting by =Andrea del Sarto=. Paris: Louvre, 1514_)

_Neurdein_]

After this Andrea executed a head of Christ, now kept by the Servite
Friars on the altar of the Nunziata, of such beauty, that I for my part
do not know whether any more beautiful image of the head of Christ
could be conceived by the intellect of man. For the chapels in the
Church of S. Gallo, without the Porta S. Gallo, there had been painted,
in addition to the two panel-pictures by Andrea, a number of others,
which were not equal to his; wherefore, since there was a commission to
be given for another, those friars contrived to persuade the owner of
the chapel to give it to Andrea; and he, beginning it immediately, made
therein four figures standing, engaged in a disputation about the
Trinity. One of these is S. Augustine, who, robed as a Bishop and truly
African in aspect, is moving impetuously towards S. Peter Martyr, who is
holding up an open book in a proud and sublime attitude: and the head
and figure of the latter are much extolled. Beside him is a S. Francis
holding a book in one hand and pressing the other against his breast;
and he appears to be expressing with his lips a glowing ardour that
makes him almost melt away in the heat of the discussion. There is also
a S. Laurence, who, being young, is listening, and seems to be yielding
to the authority of the others. Below them are two figures kneeling, one
a Magdalene with most beautiful draperies, whose countenance is a
portrait of Andrea's wife; for in no place did he paint a woman's
features without copying them from her, and if perc