CHAPTER III 



FLORENCE— FILIPPO LIPPI TO BRONZING 



Fiiippo The Nativity of the Louvre, officially attributed to 



i4o6(?)-i469 Fra Fiiippo, and once thought by Milanesi to be the 

 picture ordered by the Convent at Prato, for which 

 Lucrezia Buti acted as model, is not now considered 

 to be from his hand. It is evidently the work of a 

 sound naturalist. 



Besides the interested ox and ass, and the sheep and 

 dogs, there may be seen the common gecko of Southern 

 Europe. This is an incident probably due to Physio- 

 logus. **The lizard when it gets blind in its old age 

 creeps into the crevice of a wall looking towards the 

 east, and stretches out its head to the rising sun, 

 whose rays restore its sight. In like manner, O man, 

 thou who hast on the old garment, and the eyes of 

 whose heart are obscured, seek the wall of help, and 

 watch there until the sun of righteousness, which 

 the prophet calls the dayspring, rises with healing 

 power, and removes thy spiritual blindness."^ 



The fact is that the lizard is a light hibernator, 

 and will be brought out by strong sunshine even in 



^ E. P. Evans, Ariiinal Symbolism in Ecclesiastical Architecture, 1896, 

 p. 94. 



30 



