Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 3.djvu/330

322 certain portions by bis own hand are now in our book. These singularly beautiful cartoons were found among his possessions at the time of his death; one of them is a Leda of admirable excellence, the other is the Tibertine Sybil, who is showing the glorious Virgin, with the Divine Child in her arms, to the Emperor Octavian. In this last is the King Francis, with his Queen, their guard, and a concourse of people, presenting a vast number of figures, all so well done that this work may with truth be declared one of the best that Rosso ever produced.

These, and other productions of which nothing is known, rendered Rosso exceedingly agreeable to the king, whose liberality some short time before his death had raised his income to more than a thousand crowns yearly, in addition to all that he received for his separate labours, which must have been very considerable; he therefore no longer lived in the manner of a painter, but rather in that of a prince, having numerous servants, many horses, and a house furnished with tapestries, silver utensils, and other muniments and possessions of great value. But Fortune, which seldom or never permits those who confide too much in her promises to remain long in an exalted condition, brought this artist to destruction in the strangest manner imaginable. And that happened on this wise. While Rosso was in the frequent habit of familiarly receiving the visits of the Florentine Francesco di Pellegrino, who greatly delighted in painting and was very intimate with Rosso, the latter was robbed of some hundreds of ducats, when, believing that no other than Francesco could have done this, he caused him to be apprehended and brought before the courts, where he was subjected to a very rigorous examination and put to the torture. But Francesco, who knew himself to be innocent, confessing nothing, was finally released, and moved by a just anger, felt compelled to resent the injurious charge which Rosso had brought against him. Wherefore, having made his complaint for the wrong committed, Francesco pressed him so closely, that finding no help and having no defence to olfer. Rosso