of the Madonna looks down upon the busy street
below, and the Holy Child lifts His little hand in
blessing, amid the saints which stand on either
side.

The glass that covers the picture is thick with
dust, and few who pass ever stop to look up. The
world is all too busy nowadays. The hurrying feet
pass by, the unseeing eyes grow more and more
careless. But Filippino's beautiful Madonna looks
on with calm, sad eyes, and the Christ Child,
surrounded by the cloud of little angel faces, still holds
in His uplifted hand a blessing for those who
seek it.

Like all the great Florentine artists, Filippino, as
soon as he grew famous, was invited to Rome, and
he painted many pictures there. On his way he
stopped for a while at Spoleto, and there he
designed a beautiful marble monument for his father's
tomb.

Unlike that father, Filippino was never fond of
travel or adventure, and was always glad to return
to Florence and live his quiet life there. Not even
an invitation from the King of Hungary could tempt
him to leave home.

It was in the great church of Santa Maria Novella
in Florence that Filippino painted his last frescoes.