PITTI GALLERY.
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countenances of Doni and his wife are serious ; Maddalena’s
is expressive of goodness, whilst there is more force and talent
in the face of Angelo. In both there is a defect in the perspec-
tive, the farther eye being placed too high. They were painted
during Raffaelle’s second visit to Florence, when he was still
very young, and had not yet attempted portraits.
Between these pictures is a splendid portrait of a young
man in armour, by Rembrandt, said to be of himself.
High on the wall to the left is a Holy Family, painted by
Andrea, in 1521, for Zanobi Bracci, at the time when the artist
was employed by Ottaviano de’ Medici in the decorations of the
Palace of Poggio a Caiano for Leo X. The children, especially
St. John, are easy and graceful. The Virgin gazes at her Son
with a sweet and happy countenance ; the colour is rich and
warm, and the group natural, without any attempt at scientific
display.
Beneath this is a Madonna and Child, by Murillo. The
Child stands on His Mother’s knee and rests His right arm on
her bosom. She has the refinement and modest girl-like sim-
plicity, with which this Spanish artist usually represents her.
A Pietà over the door, is by Fra Bartolommeo (1475-1517).
The expression of the dead Christ is touchingly beautiful, mild,
dignified, and sad. The gentle resignation of the sorrowing
Virgin, and the passionate grief of the Magdalene, who clasps
His feet, are given with the simple truth of nature. The colour
is pure and correct.
Near the window is a portrait of Andrea del Sarto, by him¬
self, and beneath it, a Magdalene, by Titian. This picture has
obtained a great reputation, though it has suffered severely from
the hand of the cleaner. A still more beautiful representation
of the same subject by this great artist, is in the Durazzo
Gallery at Genoa, and there was a third in Venice which has
been sold into Prussia. In both these last pictures the Magda-
jene has less regularity of features, but greater nature and
beauty of expression than the Magdalene of the Pitti. A large