Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 2.djvu/290

282 like, and then drawn by numerous assistants. The weight of the cross and of the undraped saint extended upon it, is supported on the other side bj two men, one of whom upholds the end of the cross by means of a ladder which he has placed beneath it; the other supports the part he holds with the help of a stake, while two more, moving the foot of the cross with a lever, are gradually bringing it to the hole wherein it is to be placed upright. Nor would it be possible to execute all this better than it is here done (whether we consider the invention or design), whatever art or industry might be applied to the work. There are, besides, numerous accessories of different kinds painted in chiaro-scuro to resemble marble, all exhibiting the richest variety and the most admirable design.

In San Donato, near Florence, called the Scopeto, Filippo painted an Adoration of the Magi for the Scopetine friars. This picture he executed with great care, and in the figure of an Astrologer, holding a quadrant in his hand, he pourtrayed the likeness of Pier Francesco de’ Medici, the elder, son of Lorenzo di Bicci, with that of Giovanni, father of the Signor Giovanni de’ Medici; that of another Pier Francesco, brother of the above-named Signor Giovanni, and those of many other distinguished personages. In this work there are Moors and Indians, in singularly arranged dresses, and a hut or cabin, of the most fanciful character imaginable. In a Loggia, at Poggio a Caiano, Filippo commenced a Sacrifice, in fresco, for Lorenzo de’ Medici, but this work remained unfinished. For the nuns of San Girolamo, on the acclivity of San Giorgio, in Florence, he also commenced a picture for the high altar; this was successfully continued after his death by the Spanish painter Alonzo Berughetta, but was finished by other artists, the Spaniard having returned to his native land before its completion.