in Bologna and took to scholarship, among other tasks translating part of the Aeneid into Italian blank verse; but when Clement died and thus liberated Rome from a vile tyranny, he was with him and protected his corpse from the angry mob.  That was in 1534, when Ippolito was twenty-seven.  In the following year a number of exiles from Florence who could not endure Alessandro’s offensive ways, or had been forced by him to fly, decided to appeal to the Emperor Charles V for assistance against such a contemptible ruler; and Ippolito headed the mission; but before he could reach the Emperor an emissary of Alessandro’s succeeded in poisoning him.  Such was Ippolito de’ Medici, grandson of the great Lorenzo, whom Titian painted, probably when he was in Bologna, in 1533 or 1534.

This room also contains a nice little open decorative scene—­like a sketch for a fresco—­of the Death of Lucrezia, No. 388, attributed to the School of Botticelli, and above it a good Royal Academy Andrea del Sarto.

The next is the best of these small rooms—­the Sala of Prometheus—­where on Sundays most people spend their time in astonishment over the inlaid tables, but where Tuscan art also is very beautiful.  The most famous picture is, I suppose, the circular Filippino Lippi, No. 343, but although the lively background is very entertaining and the Virgin most wonderfully painted, the Child is a serious blemish.  The next favourite, if not the first, is the Perugino on the easel—­No. 219—­one of his loveliest small pictures, with an evening glow among the Apennines such as no other painter could capture.  Other fine works here are the Fra Bartolommeo, No. 256, over the door, a Holy Family, very pretty and characteristic, and his “Ecce Homo,” next it; the adorable circular Botticini (as the catalogue calls it, although the photographers waver between Botticelli and Filippino Lippi), No. 347, with its myriad roses and children with their little folded hands and the Mother and Child diffusing happy sweetness, which, if only it were a little less painty, would be one of the chief magnets of the gallery.

Hereabout are many Botticelli school pictures, chief of these the curious girl, called foolishly “La Bella Simonetta,” which Mr. Berenson attributes to that unknown disciple of Botticelli to whom he has given the charming name of Amico di Sandro.  This study in browns, yellow, and grey always has its public.  Other popular Botticelli derivatives are Nos. 348 and 357.  Look also at the sly and curious woman (No. 102), near the window, by Ubertini, a new artist here; and the pretty Jacopo del Sellaio, No. 364; a finely drawn S. Sebastian by Pollaiuolo; the Holy Family by Jacopo di Boateri, No. 362, with very pleasant colouring; No. 140, the “Incognita,” which people used to think was by Leonardo—­for some reason difficult to understand except on the principle of making the wish father to the thought—­and is now given to Bugiardini; and lastly a rich and comely example of Lombardy art, No. 299.