FRA BARTOLOMMEO (Baccio della Porta) Italian, 1475-1517 Madonna and Child with Saints Black chalk, with some traces of white chalk 37.4 x 28.2 cm (14¾ x 11 in.) Cat. I, no. 5; 85.GB.288 This is a study, with appreciable differences, for the unfinished altarpiece in monochrome in the Museo di San Marco, Florence. Fra Bartolommeo had been commissioned in 1510 to paint the picture for the space in the middle of one of the long walls of the Sala del Gran Consiglio of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, the council chamber of the Florentine republic. It was to have divided the pendant wall decorations of the Battle of Anghiari and the Battle of Cascina, which had earlier been commissioned from Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, respectively, though only Leonardo's painting was ever started. Fra Bartolommeo explored his composition in a number of preparatory studies, of which this is one of the finest and most complete. Fra Bartolommeo briefly gave up painting when, in 1500, he became a monk, but in 1504 he returned to his avocation. ITALIAN SCHOOL 11