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Gentleman's Magazine 1806 p.401
An Account of the WINDOW presented by the EARL
OF CARLISLE, to the DEAN and CHAPTER of
the CATHEDRAL at YORK. (See Plate I.)
THIS fine Picture (for so it may be called) of the
Visitation, was bought at Rouen in Normandy, and originally
adorned the East window of the Church of St. Nicholas in
that place. It is now placed in the East window of the South
aile in York Cathedral, opposite Archbishop Bowet's
monument, through the opening of which, when it is seen,
confined as it were within a magnificent Gothic frame, the
effect is enchanting; nor are its beauties in the least
eclipsed by the other brilliant windows with which the
matchless pile abounds.
From the roundness and bold relief of the figures, which are
as large as life, and the richness of the colouring, it is
esteemed by those who are conversant with the works of that
master, to be the design of Sebastian del Piombo, the
inventor of painting upon walls in oil, who lived in the
utmost esteem with Pope Clement VIII. was the great
favourite of Michael Angelo Buonaroti, and whose martyrdom
of St. Agatha is pronounced equal to the best works of
Raphael, Titian, or any of the great masters.
S.
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