, there is a hexagonal
compartment, which is divided into seven hexagons and six rhombs, of
which hexagons Domenico finished four before he died, representing in
them the stories and sacrifices of Elijah, and doing all this much at
his leisure, because this work was as a school and a pastime to
Domenico, nor did he ever abandon it altogether for his other works.

While he was thus labouring now at this work and now elsewhere, he
painted a large altar-piece in oils which is in S. Francesco on the
right hand as one enters into the church, containing Christ descending
in Glory to the Limbo of Hell in order to deliver the Holy Fathers;
wherein, among many nudes, is a very beautiful Eve, and a Thief who is
behind Christ with the cross is a very well-executed figure, while the
cavern of Limbo and the demons and fires of that place are fantastic to
a marvel. And since Domenico was of the opinion that pictures painted in
distemper preserved their freshness better than those painted in oils,
saying that it seemed to him that the works of Luca da Cortona, of the
Pollaiuoli, and of the other masters who painted in oils in those days,
had suffered from age more than those of Fra Giovanni, Fra Filippo,
Benozzo, and the others before their time who painted in distemper--for
this reason, I say, having to paint an altar-piece for the Company of S.
Bernardino on the Piazza di S. Francesco, he resolved to do it in
distemper; and in this way he executed it excellently well, painting in
it Our Lady with many Saints. In the predella, which is very beautiful,
and painted by him likewise in distemper, he depicted S. Francis
receiving the Stigmata; S. Anthony of Padua, who, in order to convert
some heretics, performs the miracle of the Ass, which makes obeisance
before the sacred Host; and S. Bernardino of Siena, who is preaching to
the people of his city on the Piazza de' Signori. And on the walls of
this Company, also, he painted two stories of Our Lady in fresco, in
competition with some others that Sodoma had executed in the same place.
In one he represented the Visitation of S. Elizabeth, and in the other
the Passing of Our Lady, with the Apostles all around; and both of these
are much extolled.

Finally, after having been long expected in Genoa by Prince Doria,
Domenico made his way there, but with great reluctance, being a man who
was accustomed to a life of peace and contented with that which his
wants required, and nothing more; besi