Martino,
and now the gem of the hall of the Old Masters in the Uffizi Gallery--a
work which alone has been able to mark him for all time as a great
master.
So simple is the subject, and yet so grand the proportions, and in the
figures there is such majesty of maternity and dignity of womanhood! A
decorated portico, with the heavens behind it, forms the background to
the two noble women, in one of whom is expressed the gracious sympathy
of an elder matron with the awful, mysterious joy of the younger.
The colouring, perfectly harmonised, is the most masterly blending of a
subdued tone with soft yet brilliant and shows a deep study of the
method of Leonardo.
The predella has an _Annunciation_, _Nativity_, and
_Circumcision_; all showing the same able style, but more injured
by time than the picture.
Another charming painting of this period is the _Nativity_ at the
Pitti, a round, on panel. The _Madonna_ is not quite so noble as
that of the _Salutation_, but the limbs of the child are beautifully
rounded. There is a pretty group of three angels singing in the sky; the
landscape is as minute in detail as those his old fellow-pupil Piero used
to paint in Cosimo's studio.
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