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a Venus of Titian, one of the two which contends 
with that at Florence for originality ; several things 
by Leonardo da Vinci, a charming painter, of 
whose works I have seen but few; many by Ra- 
phael, Julio Romano, Titian, Guido, Paul Vero- 
nese (especially Cupid caressing Adonis), St. Ceci- 
lia by Domenichino, a most divine performance, 
&c., &c. I have learned one thing, which I hope 
will be agreeable intelligence for you, which is, 
that your Virgin with the Infant Jesus and St. John, 
which now hangs disgracefully on the staircase, is 
by no other hand than Raphael, in his second man- 
ner,—you know he had three very different ones. 
The first, in which he imitated his master, was a bad 
and stiff one. In the second, he improved very 
much in drawing and colouring, and finished very 
highly (as yours is), so that some of his pictures 
in this manner are very highly valued, especially 
as they are rare. His third manner is quite origi- 
nal, although various in itself, and of various merit ; 
of this are all his most celebrated pieces, and no 
one has yet equalled him in design and drawing, 
although his. colouring has been excelled. I sus- 
pected your picture to be by his hand when I was 
ta Genoa, from one which I saw there; and since, I 
have made so many observations on the pictures 
painted by him and his scholars as well as others, 
that I am without a doubt on the subject. What 
settled my opinion was a very much admired picture 
at the palace Borghese, which is extremely like 
yours in the thought and execution. 
I have seen some of Andrea del Sarto’s, which in 
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