er and gold; not to mention
that he is never afraid of those things that rob us in a moment of those
earthly riches, which are foolishly esteemed by men at more than their
true value. Recognizing this, Alesso Baldovinetti, drawn by a natural
inclination, abandoned commerce--in which his relatives had ever
occupied themselves, insomuch that by practising it honourably they had
acquired riches and lived like noble citizens--and devoted himself to
painting, in which he showed a peculiar ability to counterfeit very well
the objects of nature, as may be seen in the pictures by his hand.

This man, while still very young, and almost against the wish of his
father, who would have liked him to give his attention to commerce,
devoted himself to drawing; and in a short time he made so much progress
therein, that his father was content to allow him to follow the
inclination of his nature. The first work that Alesso executed in fresco
was in S. Maria Nuova, on the front wall of the Chapel of S. Gilio,
which was much extolled at that time, because, among other things, it
contained a S. Egidio that was held to be a very beautiful figure. In
like manner, he painted in S. Trinita the chapel in fresco and the chief
panel in distemper, for Messer Gherardo and Messer Bongianni
Gianfigliazzi, most honourable and wealthy gentlemen of Florence. In
this chapel Alesso painted some scenes from the Old Testament, which he
first sketched in fresco and then finished on the dry, tempering his
colours with yolk of egg mingled with a liquid varnish prepared over a
fire. This vehicle, he thought, would preserve the paintings from damp;
but it was so strong that where it was laid on too thickly the work has
peeled off in many places; and thus, whereas he thought he had found a
rare and very beautiful secret, he was deceived in his hopes.

He drew many portraits from nature, and in the scene of the Queen of
Sheba going to hear the wisdom of Solomon, which he painted in the
aforesaid chapel, he portrayed the Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici,
father of Pope Leo X, and Lorenzo della Volpaia, a most excellent maker
of clocks and a very fine astrologer, who was the man who made for the
said Lorenzo de' Medici the very beautiful clock that the Lord Duke
Cosimo now has in his Palace; in which clock all the wheels of the
planets are perpetually moving, which is a rare thing, and the first
that was ever made in this manner. In the scene opposite to that one
Aless