of glory. Surely if this be the one described by Vasari [Footnote:
Vasari, vol. iii. p. 336] so minutely, he would not have omitted a part
of the subject so important to the picture.

In 1509 we may presumably date the partnership with Andrea del Sarto,
that being about the time when they began to work together in the
Scalzo. Francia Bigio painted some frescoes in the church of S. Giobbe,
behind the Servite Monastery. A _Visitation_ was in a tabernacle
at the corner of the church, and subjects from Job's life on a pilaster
within it: these have long ago disappeared. The altar-piece of the
_Madonna and Job_, which he painted in oil for the same church,
has been more fortunate, as it still exists in the Tuscan School in the
Uffizi. Though much injured, it shows his earlier style. The _Calumny
of Apelles_ in the same gallery is a curious picture. It is hard and
dull in colouring, the prevailing tone being a heavy drab; there are
several nude figures, of doubtful forms as to beauty of drawing, the
flesh is painted in a smooth glazed style, without relief or
tenderness.

Francia Bigio shines more in fresco than in oil; his hardness is less
apparent, and he gains in freedom and brilliance of colouring in the
more congenial medium. The finest of his frescoes is, unfortunately,
spoiled by his own hand, and remains as a memorial of his genius and
hasty temper. I allude to the _Sposalizio_ (A.D. 1513) in the
courtyard of the Servite church, where Andrea did his series of
frescoes from the life of Filippo Benizzi. The composition is grand and
carefully thought out, the colouring bright and pleasing; perhaps in
emulating Andrea's luxurious style of drapery he has gone a little too
far, and crowded the folds. The bridegroom is a noble figure, and shows
in his face his gladness in the blossoming rod. A man in the foreground