FABRIANO  , a

town of the Marches, Italy, in the province of Ancona, from which it is 44 M . S.W. by rail, 1o66 ft. above sea-level . Pop . (1901) town 9586, commune 22,996 . It has been noted since the 13th century for its paper mills, which still produce the best paper in Italy . A school of painting arose here, one of the early masters of which is Allegretto Nuzi (1308–1385) ; and several of the churches contain works by him and other Iocal masters . His pupil, Gentile da Fabriano (1370-1428), was a painter of considerably greater skill and wider knowledge; but there are no important works of his at Fabriano . The sacristy of S . Agostino also contains some good frescoes by Ottaviano Nelli of Gubbio . The municipal picture gallery contains a collection of pictures, and among them are some primitive frescoes, attributable to the 12th century, which still retain traces of Byzantine influence . The Archivio Comunale contains documents on watermarked paper of local manufacture going back to the 13th century . The Ponte dell' Acra, a bridge of the 15th century, is noticeable for the ingenuity and strength of its construction .

The

hospital of S . Maria Buon Gesu is a fine work of 1456, attributed to Rossellino . See A . Zonghi, Antiche Carte Fabrianesi . (T .