Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 3.djvu/157

Rh Wool-workers, and prepared the model for the new houses erected by that Guild behind the church of the Nunziata. Tommaso di Stefano departed this life at the age of seventy, in the year 1564, and was buried in San Marco, being honourably accompanied to his tomb by the Academy of Design.

We will now return to Lorenzo. This master left many works unfinished at his death, more particularly a picture representing the Passion of Christ, which is very beautiful (this afterwards came into the hands of Antonio daPicasoli): and a picture of Messer Francesco da Castiglioni, Canon of Santa Maria del Fiore, who sent it to Castiglioni; this also is a very fine work. Lorenzo was not anxious to undertake many large works, but took great pains in the execution of all that he did, and subjected himself to almost inconceivable labours for that purpose; he had his colours more particularly ground to excessive fineness, carefully purifying and distilling the nut-oil with which he mixed them; he would place a vast number of colours on his palette, arranging them from the palest of the light tints to the deepest of the dark colours, graduating them with what must needs be called a too minute and superfluous care, until he would sometimes have as much as twenty-five or thirty on Ids palette at one time, and for every tint he had a separate pencil. Wherever Lorenzo was working he would suffer no movement to be made that' would occasion dust to rise; but all this excess of care is perhaps little more worthy of praise than negligence, for there should in all things be observed a certain measure, and it is always good to avoid extremes, which are, for the most part, injurious.

It sometimes happens, that when fortune has for a certain time pressed down the talent' of some fine genius by poverty, she appears suddenly to reconsider the matter; at a moment' when her favours are least expected, conferring benefits of