Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 2.djvu/399

Rh Messer Gio. Batista Strozzi has spoken to his praise in the following words:— Vince costui pur solo Tutti altri, e vince Fidia, e vince Apelle, E tulto il lor vittorioso stuolo The Milanese artist, Gio. Antonio Boltraffio, was a disciple of Leonardo; he was an intelligent and able master, and, in the year 1500, he painted a picture in oil in the church of the Misericordia, outside the city of Bologna. The subject of this work is Our Lady, with the Child in her arms; there are besides figures of San Giovanni Battista, San Bastiano (Sebastian), a nude figure, and that of the person for whom the work was executed, painted in a kneeling position; a truly admirable picture, on which the artist inscribed his name, with the fact of his being a disciple of Leonardo. The same painter executed many other works