Gallo. It is possible the tavern came to him by way of _dot_, and
the above reasons making him discontented with art for a time, might
have induced him to carry on the business himself. Sig. Milanesi says a
document exists of a contract in which Mariotto's name is connected
with a tavern, but that he has never been able to retrace it since the
first time he found it. It is his opinion that the whole story arose
from the fact of the wife's family possessing this wine shop, and his
connection with it in that way.
But though Albertinelli passed off his pseudo-hostdom with bravado,
talking very wittily about it, the artistic vein was too strong within
him to be subdued; he soon gave up the flask and returned to the brush,
for in 1509, when his quondam pupil, Francia Bigio, was busy at the
Servi, we again find Mariotto's hand in a painting of the
_Madonna_. The Virgin, holding a pomegranate in her hand, supports
with the other the Child, who stands on a parapet, and clings to the
bosom of his mother's dress for support, in a truly natural way; the
infant Baptist stands by.
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