Note 90 — SIXTH LECTURE. CHIAROSCURO.

In the following absurd description of the well-known picture in the palace Pitti: ‘It consists of three half-figures, one of which represents Martin Luther in the habit of an Augustin Monk, who plays on a harpsichord; Calvin stands by him in a chorister’s dress, with a violin in his hand: opposite you see a young lively girl in a bonnet with a plume of white feathers; by her Giorgione meant to represent the noted Catharine, Luther’s mistress and wife,’ &c. Fiorillo, vol. ii. p. 63. To expose the ignorant credulity which dictated this passage, it is sufficient to observe, that Giorgione died 1511, and that Calvin was born 1508.