[27] These thrones, each with a single figure, resemble the ones in the series of Virtues painted by Pollaiuolo and Botticelli for Lorenzo dei Medici. Pintoricchio may have had a description of these.
"Rhetoric" holds a sword to show the power with which she is able to pierce hearts, and a globe, perhaps to suggest the far-reaching extent of that power. These emblems are repeated in the hands of the _putti_ on either side of the steps. On the right of the throne a priest, perhaps a portrait, though not a highly individual one, holds a purse; an old philosopher reading on the left may be meant for Cicero, who would not be left out of such a composition, while grey-bearded teachers argue with richly-dressed young disciples. On the steps is the name "PENTORICCHIO," but except the principal figure, the work was probably divided among scholars. In Rhetoric herself, and in the old man on the left, in the folds of the mantles, and in the attendant _putti_ there is some likeness to Perugino, but this master was fully employed at the end of 1492 by Giuliano della Rovere, and would have been most unlikely to take service with Giuliano's hated rival, even if he would have consented to work in a subordinate character. Pintoricchio's sketch-books must have been full of studies from him, and in beginning a new essay he would probably have had recourse to these, trusting more as he went on to his own initiative.
[Illustration: _Anderson photo_] [_Borgia Apartments, Vatican, Rome_
"Geometry" holds her square and compasses, and the inventor, the bald-headed Euclid, sits at her feet, engaged in drawing a diagram. On the left, in the corner, is a youth who has evidently painted his own portrait in a looking-glass. The cloak of "Geometry" and the red dress of Euclid show the hand of a pupil of Fiorenzo, but none of the attendant figures nor the landscape have much trace of Pintoricchio's own work, though Schmarsow allots to him besides the figure of "Geometry," the turbaned man on her right, the youth standing by him, and the one at the edge of the group. None of the seven sisters is so beautiful as "Arithmetic." Here Pintoricchio trusts in his own inspiration, and we have a finely-drawn head with all his freshness of pose and expression. This dreamy face, with its transparent veil half covering the flowing hair, the gold embossed robe, over-sleeves, mantle hanging in very softly accentuated folds, and the beautifully proportioned figures standing by, have a larger share than almost any other of the lunettes of the master's hand, and here, more than in any, we have the many coloured garments, rich pinks, harmonious greens, that Pintoricchio loved. The light and shade in this and the preceding group is massed with an eye to effect which is quite absent from the rest.