Bartolomme'o, FRA

Bartolomme'o, FRA (properly Baccio della Porta), one of the most distinguished masters of the Florentine school of painting, was born at Florence, in Tuscany, in 1469. His first teacher was Cosimo Roselli; but he owed his higher cultivation to the study of the works of Leonardo da Vinci. His subjects are mostly religious, and by far the greater part of his pieces belong to the later years of his life. He was a warm adherent of Savonarola, after whose tragical end he in 1500 assumed the monkish habit. The visit of the young Raphael to Florence in 1504 seems to have been instrumental in stimulating him to resume his art. He imparted to Raphael his knowledge of colouring, and acquired from him a more perfect knowledge of perspective. The two remained constant friends—Bartolommeo on one occasion finishing certain of Raphael's unfinished works, Raphael performing a like kindness for him at another time. Bartolommeo died at Florence, 1517. The greater number of his works are to be seen at Florence, in the gallery of the Pitti Palace, but the Louvre possesses a fine 'Annunciation' by him. See Frantz, Fra Bartolommeo della Porta (Ratisbon, 1879); and Leader Scott, Fra Bartolommeo (Lond. 1880).