he agony and
torment of crucifixion; besides which, there were depicted in those
heads the constancy of faith in the old, the fear of death in the young,
and in others the torture that they suffer from the strain of the cords
on their bodies and arms. And there could also be seen the swelling of
the muscles and even the cold sweat of death, all depicted in that
design. Then in the soldiers who were leading them there was revealed a
terrible fury, most impious and cruel, as they presented them at the
tribunal for condemnation and led them to the cross. The Emperors and
the soldiers were wearing cuirasses after the ancient manner and
garments very ornate and bizarre, with buskins, shoes, helmets, shields,
and other pieces of armour wrought with all that wealth of the most
beautiful ornamentation to which a craftsman can attain in imitating and
reproducing the antique, and drawn with the greatest lovingness,
subtlety, and delicacy that the perfection of art can display. When this
cartoon was seen by the craftsmen and by other judges of discernment,
they declared that they had never seen such beauty and excellence in
design since the cartoon drawn by Michelagnolo Buonarroti in Florence
for the Council Chamber; wherefore Perino acquired the greatest fame
that he could have gained in art. And while he was engaged in finishing
that cartoon, he amused himself by causing oil-colours to be prepared
and ground in order to paint for his dearest friend, the goldsmith
Piloto, a little picture of no great size, containing a Madonna, which
he carried something more than half-way towards completion.

For many years past Perino had been intimately acquainted with a certain
lame priest, Ser Raffaello di Sandro, a chaplain of S. Lorenzo, who
always bore love to the craftsmen of design. This priest, then,
persuaded Perino to take up his quarters with him, seeing that he had no
one to cook for him or to keep house for him, and that during the time
that he had been in Florence he had stayed now with one friend and now
with another; wherefore Perino went to lodge with him, and stayed there
many weeks. Meanwhile the plague began to appear in certain parts of
Florence, and filled Perino with fear lest he should catch the
infection; on which account he determined to go away, but wished first
to recompense Ser Raffaello for all the days that he had eaten at his
table. But Ser Raffaello would never consent to take anything, only
saying: "I would be