"Piero presents an interesting case study of an artist who was very well-respected in his day, or else he wouldn't have had pupils like
Fra Bartolomeo and Andrea del Sarto," Townsend said.
For all the interest of such lesser-known names as Filippo Tarchiani--with a serene and intimate Pieta with Two Angels from Pistoia Cathedral--and Orazio Mochi --with a richly polychromed set of the Four Evangelists in marble, lapis lazuli, and a variety of coloured hardstones--the absolute highlights of this sequence of rooms had to be two altogether more familiar works: Mariotto Albertinelli's poignant and faultlessly balanced Visitation from the Uffizi itself, and
Fra Bartolomeo's God the Father Blessing with St Mary Magdalen and St Catherine of Siena from Lucca (Fig.
The Adoration of the Christ Child (left) in Rome's Galleria Borghese has for decades been attributed to
Fra Bartolomeo, but scholars have never been confident of authorship.
As the author examines the work of twelve painters, Perugino, Leonardo, Hero di Cosimo, Michelangelo,
Fra Bartolomeo, Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Andrea del Sarto, Franciabigio, Rosso Fiorentino, Pontormo, Salviati, and Vasari, he observes a dichotomy of style between innovative and conservative painters.
The second oration attacks from many angles
Fra Bartolomeo's assertions regarding the divine character of Classical poesy, questioning the appropriateness of the Franciscan's terminology and bringing to bear what Frank terms a "trattazione di `linguistica storica' in opposizione all' argomentazione esclusivamente etimologica del frate" (33).
He did, however, respond creatively to a wide range of other artists, from Boccaccio Boccaccino and Lorenzo Costa in his early career, to
Fra Bartolomeo in the second decade, and to Giulio Romano in the 1530s and 40s--and even to Durer and Rogier van der Weyden.