Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/228

192 And he designed many cartoons for pictures, and began to paint them, but always left them unfinished." The only picture now in existence that can with any certainty be ascribed to Andrea, is the Baptism, in the Accademia, which he painted for the Vallombrosan friars of S. Salvi, and which is one of the two altar-pieces mentioned by Vasari. Here we find the same vigorous drawing, the same knowledge of anatomy and accuracy of detail, together with the same use of oil glazes on a tempera surface, which are common to all the Florentine goldsmith-painters. Both style and technique are closely akin to those of Baldovinetti and the Pollaiuoli, but there is a higher refinement and grace in the forms, and a truer sense of beauty about the whole. The long-haired Christ standing in the river Jordan with clasped hands and eyes closed in silent devotion, bears a marked likeness to Andrea's noble bronze statue in Or' San Michele, while the foremost angel with the golden locks and fair face, kneeling under the palm-tree on the bank, is said to be by the hand of Leonardo, who was at this time working in Verrocchio's bottega. The youthful charm of the figure and the fine effect of softened light in the rocky landscape, as well as the skilful handling of oils, all point to this conclusion; but it is impossible to speak with certainty on the subject, or to decide the exact share which Leonardo had in his master's works. The beautiful little Annunciation, formerly in the Church of Monte Oliveto, and now in the Uffizi, was formerly given to Leonardo, but is now generally held to be Verrocchio's work. Here we have the same lovely effect of twilight sky behind