Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/298

254 drawing a face so absolutely free from all suspicion of earthly guile, so pure and tender in its perfect loveliness. For once even the master himself must have been satisfied.

The history of this famous cartoon still remains doubtful. But we know that it was reproduced by Luini in an oil-painting, now in the Ambrosiana, and that, in 1585, it was still the property of his son Aurelio. In 1720, it was sold by the Arconati family and removed to Venice, where it was bought by the English Consul, John Udny, and taken to England about 1760. On the 22nd March, 1791, the following minute appears on the roll of the Council of the Royal Academy signed by the President, Sir Joshua Reynolds:—

The head of the Virgin from this cartoon which now hangs in the Diploma Gallery at Burlington House forms our frontispiece, and is here reproduced by the special permission of the President and Council of the Royal Academy.

But the most famous work which Leonardo executed for Lodovico Sforza was the Last Supper, in the refectory of the Dominican friars of S. Maria delle Grazia a convent which the Duke had taken under his especial protection. When the painter received the order, he felt that the opportunity of his life had come, and threw himself with passionate ardour into this work