Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/343

15I7] in the Cathedral of Besançon, and was painted for Ferry Carondelet, Chancellor of Flanders, and envoy of the Emperor Maximilian to the papal court. The donor, who was also Archdeacon of Besançon, appears kneeling in the foreground, and the picture is mentioned in the account-books of San Marco as having been sent to a "M. Ferrino" in Flanders.

In all of these works Fra Bartolommeo shows himself the true child of the Renaissance. His design is symmetrical and imposing, his figures are admirably modelled, while his thorough knowledge of chiaroscuro and anatomy are plainly seen. The Dominican master indeed devoted special attention to the structure of the human frame, and was one of the first Florentine artists who made use of jointed lay-figures. Unfortunately, in his anxiety to obtain strong relief, and to rival the roundness of Leonardo's forms, he made use of bone-black and printer's ink to deepen the shadows, a practice which proved disastrous in many instances, and ruined the lovely colour which is so marked a feature of his earlier works.

In January, 1512, the partnership between Fra Bartolommeo and Albertinelli was dissolved, and the sum of 450 florins, produced by the sale of their joint works during the last three years, was divided between Mariotto and the convent. Fourteen months before, on the 26th of November, 1510, Fra Bartolommeo had received a commission from Pietro Soderini, the Gonfaloniere of the Republic, to paint the altar-piece for the Hall of the Great Council in the Palazzo Pubblico. When the hall had first been erected in Savonarola's days, this order had been