' And such a face till now, Messer Girolamo Magagnati--so
beautiful and holy--I have not found. But now it is a vision sent to me
from heaven, quite other than any picture I have ever dreamed, and I
will paint no other for this Madonna of the Servi. I also, like the
Angelo, would give my holiest work for the good of my soul; for the days
of man are numbered, though his blood be warm in his veins like wine! It
would be a pious act for the maiden; and if she will most graciously
consent, the picture shall be an offering for the altar of the chapel of
Consolation in the Servi."
"I will ask her," said the father simply, and felt no surprise at what
he had granted when he was left alone with his thoughts, for Paolo
Cagliari, because of a way he had that men could not resist, already
seemed to him a friend; for the rare mingling of knightly grace and
artistic enthusiasm, overcoming spasmodically the usual assertiveness of
his demeanor, seemed at such moments to mean more than when assumed by
those who were never passionate nor brusque, and his very incongruities
held a fascination for his friends.
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