e
in Arezzo, who was excellent in diverse pursuits and most praiseworthy
in all his actions. This man, who was a monk of the Angeli in Florence,
a seat of the Order of Camaldoli, was in his youth--perchance for the
reasons mentioned above in the Life of Don Lorenzo--a very rare
illuminator, and a very able master of design. Of this we have proof in
the books that he illuminated for the Monks of SS. Fiore e Lucilla in
the Abbey of Arezzo, particularly a missal that was presented to Pope
Sixtus, in which, on the first page of the Secret Prayers, there was a
very beautiful Passion of Christ. Those are likewise by his hand which
are in S. Martino, the Duomo of Lucca.

A little while after these works the said Abbey of S. Clemente in Arezzo
was presented to this father by Mariotto Maldoli of Arezzo, General of
the Order of Camaldoli, who belonged to the same family from which
sprang that Maldolo who gave the site and lands of Camaldoli, then
called Campo di Maldolo, to S. Romualdo, the founder of that Order. Don
Bartolommeo, in gratitude for that benefice, afterwards executed many
works for that General and for his Order. After this there came the
plague of 1468, by reason of which the Abbot, like many others, stayed
indoors without going about much, and devoted himself to painting large
figures; and seeing that he was succeeding as well as he could desire,
he began to execute certain works. The first was a S. Rocco that he
painted on a panel for the Rectors of the Confraternity of Arezzo, which
is now in the Audience Chamber where they assemble. This figure is
recommending the people of Arezzo to Our Lady, and in this picture he
portrayed the Piazza of the said city and the holy house of that
Confraternity, with certain grave-diggers who are returning from burying
the dead. He also painted another S. Rocco for the Church of S. Pietro,
likewise on a panel, wherein he portrayed the city of Arezzo exactly as
it stood at that time, when it was very different from what it is
to-day. And he made another, which was much better than the two
mentioned above, on a panel which is in the Chapel of the Lippi in the
Church of the Pieve of Arezzo; and this S. Rocco is a rare and beautiful
figure, almost the best that he ever made, and the head and hands are as
beautiful and natural as they could be. In the same city of Arezzo, in
S. Pietro, a seat of the Servite Friars, he painted an Angel Raphael on
a panel; and in the same place he made