PREFA C E. my THE following work owes its origin to the circumstance of having, many years ago, when in Italy, chanced to meet with a small print; which, as well from its style of design and delicate finishing, as from the imperfect method in which the impression appeared to have been taken off, I was led to conjecture might be a genuine specimen of the abilities of Maso Finiguerra, the Inventor of Chalcography. It happened that the painting and sculpture of the early Italian schools, and especially the school of Florence, had occupied much of my previous attention; and that I had already, more than once, visited Florence, Pisa, Orvieto, Assisi, and Siena, for the express purpose of collecting drawings, faithfully copied from the original frescoes and bassi-relievi of the early artists, with a view to illustrate the history and progress of the Arts of Design, from the dawn of their improvement in Italy, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, to the æra of their meridian splendour, under Julius the Second and Leo the Tenth. In the course of this pursuit, continued for several years with great eagerness, I naturally became somewhat conversant with the various changes of style which |