It seems he brought home _malaria_,
which never entirely left his system, the low fever returning every
year, and being only mitigated by a change to mountain air. He was well
enough at times to resume painting, but never in full health again.
That very summer he was sent to the Hospice of Sta. Maria Maddalena in
Pian di Mugnone, "dove pure non stette in ozio," [Footnote: Rosini,
_Storia della Pittura_, chap, xxvii. p. 245.] where he did not
remain idle. The Hospice stands on a high hill, just the place for
Roman fever to disappear as if by magic for a time, and the patient,
relieved of his lassitude, set to work with energy, aided by Fra
Paolino and Fra Agostino. Many of his frescoes still remain, one of
which is a beautiful _Madonna_, on the wall of the infirmary,
which has since been sawn away from the wall and placed in the
students' chapel in San Marco, Florence. [Footnote: A document of the
Hospice records these paintings, and dates them 10th of July, 1514.
Padre Marchese, _Memorie_, &c., vol. ii. p. 610.]
He returned to Florence for the winter, and with renewed vigour
produced his _San Sebastian_, a splendid study from the nude,
which shows the influence upon him of Michelangelo's paintings in Rome.
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