42Immersed in the cool stillness scented with incense, inside of All Saints’ church, Filippino waited for the Master. They had agreed to meet there the previous evening to visit Simonetta’s grave. He could imagine him leaving the workshop, not far from here, and almost see him walking down the short stretch of street with his long light steps that seemed to lift his elegant figure off the filthy ground.
He studied the pair of frescos on the apse: Saint Girolamo and Saint Agostino in their respective backgrounds. Although he respected Ghirlandaio’s art and admired the technical expertise shown in his Saint Girolamo, he could not stop himself recognizing the superiority of the Saint Agostino as portrayed by Botticelli. He had been able to harmonize the spirituality of the saint’s intellectu
