[73] In the dictionary of Guarienti, in the article, Gio. Abeyk, appears an account of a picture of this artist, existing in the gallery at Dresden, bearing date 1416; a time, says the writer, when he enjoyed his highest reputation, by painting in his second manner, in oil. It represents the Virgin in a majestic seat with the divine infant, who is seen very gracefully receiving an apple from St. Anne, seated on a couch of straw. The young St. John is seen assisting, and also St. Joseph, whose countenance represents the portrait of the painter himself. The introduction of arms shews that the picture must have been executed for some distinguished person. It is in high preservation, and is pronounced by Guarienti the miracle of painting, from its display of extreme diligence, even in the minute furniture, and particularly because the chamber in which the scene is represented, the couch, the window, the pavement, executed a punto alto, together with the whole action, are conducted with the most exact rules of perspective.
[74] In 1454 he was in great credit at Perugia. (See Mariotti, Lett. Perug. p. 133.)
[75] Lib. i. c. 18. Accipe semen lini, et exsicca illud in sartagine super ignem sine aqua, &c. Brustolato says, it should be pounded, and again subjected to the fire in water, then put into a press between cloths, and the oil extracted. He continues: Cum hoc oleo tere minium sive cenobrium super lapidem sine aqua, et cum pincello linies super ostia vel tabulas quas rubricare volueris, et ad solem siccabis, deinde iterum linies et siccabis. And in chap. 22, he says,—Accipe colores quos imponere volueris, terens eos diligenter, oleo lini sine aqua; et fac mixturas vultuum ac vestimentorum sicut superius aqua feceras, et bestias, sive aves, aut folia, variabis suis coloribus prout libuerit.
[76] Gottingen, 1792. See Esprit des Journaux, Ottobre, 1792.
[77] Raspe (Lib. Cit.). Della Valle (Ann. al Vasari, tom. iii. p. 313). Tiraboschi (St. Lett. tom. vi. p. 407). Vernazza (Giorn. Pisano, tom. xciv. p. 220), cited by Morelli (Notizia, p. 114). More recently is added the authority of P. Federici Domenicano. It is absurd to suppose that Tommaso da Modena, or, according to him, da Trevigi, carried the discovery from this city into Germany, from whence it was subsequently communicated to Flanders.
[78] Pisa Illustrata, p. 160, et seq.
[79] See Opuscoli del Calogerà, tom. xlv.
[80] This person invented and fabricated an ornament called ghirlanda or garland, worn on the heads of the Florentine children.
[81] Mengs, tom. ii. p. 109.
[82] Tom. vi. p. 1204.