Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 4.djvu/56

48 which was made in the time of the Countess Matilda, and this picture also is a very beautiful work.

For the Duke Federigo, Giulio painted a picture with his own hand, the subject is Our Lady washing the Infant Christ, who stands upright in a basin, while San Giovanni, also a child, is pouring water from a vase; these two figures, which are of the size of life, are both very beautiful. In the distance are seen small figures representing Women who are approaching to visit the Madonna. This picture was afterwards presented by the Duke to the Signora Isabella Buschetta, whose portrait, which is a very beautiful one, was taken by Giulio in a little picture not more than a braccio high, which is now in the possession of the Signor Vespasiano Gonzaga, with another, presented to him by the Duke Federigo and also by the hand of Giulio, representing a Youth affectionately caressing a maiden, while an old woman is secretly observing them from behind a door; the figures in this work are somewhat less than the size of life, and are very gracefully depicted. Another and most admirable picture by Giulio, in possession of the same person, is a figure of San Jeronimo, and is one of extraordinary beauty and merit. A picture of Alexander the Great, holding the figure of Victory in his hand, and very finely painted by Giulio Romano, is now in the possession of the Count Niccolo Maffei; the figure is of the size of life, it is copied from an ancient medal, and is very beautiful.

After the completion of these works, Giulio painted a fresco over a chimney-piece for his friend Messer Girolamo, the Organist of the cathedral at Mantua. The subject of this work is Vulcan working his bellows with one hand, while with the other he holds between a pair of tongs the iron of an arrow which he is forging; Venus is near him, and is tempering in a vase the arrows already formed, which she then places in the quiver of Cupid. This is one of the