Bugiardini died at the age of seventy-five.
Of Francesco Bigi, commonly called Francia Bigio or Franciabigio, so
much is said in the following life of Andrea del Sarto, that a slight
sketch will suffice here. He was the son of Cristofano, and was born in
1482. His early studies were made in the Brancacci Chapel, and the
Papal Hall--where he drew from the cartoons in 1505-6, and the studio
of Mariotto Albertinelli, from which he passed to his partnership with
Andrea del Sarto in 1509. Thus it is that his first style was marked by
the influence of Mariotto and Fra Bartolommeo, while in his later works
he approximated more to Andrea del Sarto.
Two of his early paintings were placed in the church of S. Piero
Maggiore, one a _Virgin and Child_ of great beauty. The infant
clasps its arms round its mother's neck--a charming attitude--which
suggests a playful effort to hide from the young S. John, who is
running towards him, by nestling closer to the dearer resting place.
The picture is now in the Uffizi and has been long known as
_Raphael's Madonna del Pozzo_.
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