miniature rather than painting. In it may be
seen much charm and vivacity of colouring, and signs of great patience
in its execution, revealing that true love which should be felt for art;
and he painted this whole work with his own hand, although he had a
great part of the stucco-work executed after his designs by Guglielmo
Milanese, whom he had formerly had with him at Genoa, loving him much,
and once even offering to give him his daughter in marriage. This
Guglielmo, in reward for restoring the antiquities of the house of
Farnese, has now been made Friar of the Piombo, in the place of Fra
Sebastiano Viniziano.

I must not omit to tell that against one wall of this chapel was a most
beautiful tomb of marble, with a dead woman of marble, beautifully
carved by the sculptor Bologna, on the sarcophagus, and two little naked
boys at the sides. The countenance of that woman was a lifelike
portrait of a very famous courtezan of Rome, who left that memorial of
herself, which was removed by the friars because they felt scruples that
such a woman should have been laid to rest there with so much honour.

This work, with many designs that he made, was the reason that the very
reverend Cardinal Farnese began to give him an allowance and to make use
of him in many works. By order of Pope Paul, a chimney-piece that was in
the Chamber of the Burning of the Borgo was placed in that of the
Segnatura, where there were the panellings with perspective views in
wood executed by the hand of the carver Fra Giovanni for Pope Julius.
Raffaello had painted both of those chambers; but it became necessary to
repaint all the base to the scenes in the Chamber of the Segnatura,
which is that in which is the picture of Mount Parnassus. On which
account a decorative design in imitation of marble was painted by
Perino, with various terminal figures, festoons, masks, and other
ornaments; and, in certain spaces, scenes painted to look like bronze,
which are very beautiful for works in fresco. In these scenes, even as
above them were Philosophers discoursing on Philosophy, Theologians on
Theology, and Poets on Poetry, were all the actions of those who have
been eminent in those professions. And although he did not execute them
all with his own hand, he retouched them so much "a secco," besides
making perfectly finished cartoons, that they may almost be said to be
entirely by his hand; which method he employed because, being troubled
by a catarrh, he was