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diff --git a/31845.txt b/31845.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..544f37e --- /dev/null +++ b/31845.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10008 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of the most Eminent Painters +Sculptors and Architects, by Giorgio Vasari + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects + Vol 07 (of 10) Tribolo to Il Sodoma + +Author: Giorgio Vasari + +Translator: Gaston du C. De Vere + +Release Date: March 31, 2010 [EBook #31845] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAINTERS SCULPTORS ARCHITECTS *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. +Hyphenation and accentuation have been standardised, all other +inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has been +maintained. + +Bold text is marked with =.] + + + + +LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS BY GIORGIO +VASARI: + +VOLUME VII. TRIBOLO TO IL SODOMA 1914 + +NEWLY TRANSLATED BY GASTON Du C. DE VERE. WITH FIVE HUNDRED +ILLUSTRATIONS: IN TEN VOLUMES + +[Illustration: 1511-1574] + +PHILIP LEE WARNER, PUBLISHER TO THE MEDICI SOCIETY, LIMITED 7 GRAFTON +ST. LONDON, W. 1912-14 + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME VII + + PAGE + + NICCOLO, CALLED TRIBOLO 1 + + PIERINO [PIERO] DA VINCI 39 + + BACCIO BANDINELLI 53 + + GIULIANO BUGIARDINI 105 + + CRISTOFANO GHERARDI, CALLED DOCENO 115 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO 145 + + SIMONE MOSCA 183 + + GIROLAMO AND BARTOLOMMEO GENGA, AND GIOVAN BATTISTA SAN + MARINO 197 + + MICHELE SAN MICHELE 215 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI, CALLED IL SODOMA 243 + + INDEX OF NAMES 259 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME VII + +PLATES IN COLOUR + + FACING PAGE + + GIULIANO BUGIARDINI + Portrait of a Lady + Florence: Pitti, 140 106 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO + Portrait of an Engraver + Paris: Louvre, 1241 174 + + PAOLO VERONESE (PAOLINO _or_ CALIARI) + Industry + Venice: Doges' Palace, Sala Anticollegio 216 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI (IL SODOMA) + The Vision of S. Catharine + Siena: S. Domenico 244 + + +PLATES IN MONOCHROME + + NICCOLO (TRIBOLO) + The Hercules Fountain + Florence: Villa Reale di Castello 24 + + NICCOLO (TRIBOLO) + The Assumption of the Virgin + Bologna: S. Petronio [1] + + [Footnote 1: Illustrated with _Two Angels_, by Madonna + Properzia de' Rossi, vol. v., p. 126.] + + PIERINO (PIERO) DA VINCI + Ugolino della Gherardesca and his Sons in the Tower of Famine + Oxford: Ashmolean Museum 48 + + BACCIO BANDINELLI + The Martyrdom of S. Lorenzo + Hereford: W. J. Davies' Collection 64 + + BACCIO BANDINELLI + Statue of Hercules and Cacus + Florence: Piazza della Signoria 72 + + BACCIO BANDINELLI + Statue of Giovanni delle Bande Nere + Florence: Piazza di S. Lorenzo 80 + + BACCIO BANDINELLI + Reliefs from the Choir Screen + Florence: Duomo 88 + + GIULIANO BUGIARDINI + The Martyrdom of S. Catharine + Florence: S. Maria Novella, Rucellai Chapel 110 + + GIORGIO VASARI and CRISTOFANO GHERARDI (DOCENO) + Detail: The Supper of S. Gregory the Great + Bologna: Accademia, 198 122 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO + The Adoration of the Magi + Siena: S. Agostino 146 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO + Duke Cosimo I. de' Medici + Florence: Uffizi, 1270 152 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO + The Visitation + Florence: SS. Annunziata, Cloister 154 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO + Joseph and his Kindred in Egypt + London: N. G., 1131 158 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO + Detail: Vertumnus Fresco + Poggio a Caiano: Villa Reale 160 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO + Detail: Vertumnus Fresco + Poggio a Caiano: Villa Reale 162 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO + The Descent From the Cross + Florence: S. Felicita 168 + + JACOPO DA PONTORMO + The Martyrdom of the Forty Saints + Florence: Pitti, 182 170 + + SIMONE MOSCA and MICHELE SAN MICHELE + The Altar of the Three Kings + Orvieto: Duomo 190 + + SIMONE MOSCA + The Salutation + Orvieto: Duomo 192 + + GIROLAMO GENGA + Madonna and Child with Saints + Milan: Brera, 202 200 + + MICHELE SAN MICHELE + Porta del Palio + Verona 222 + + MICHELE SAN MICHELE + Cappella de' Pellegrini + Verona: S. Bernardino 224 + + MICHELE SAN MICHELE + _See also at p. 190 above_ + Palazzo Grimani + Venice 230 + + PAOLO VERONESE (PAOLINO _or_ CALIARI) + The Feast in the House of Levi + Venice: Accademia, 203 238 + + PAOLO VERONESE (PAOLINO _or_ CALIARI) + Venice Enthroned, with Justice and Peace + Venice: Ducal Palace 240 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI (IL SODOMA) + Scene from the Life of S. Benedict + Monte Oliveto Maggiore 246 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI (IL SODOMA) + Scene from the Life of S. Benedict + Monte Oliveto Maggiore 246 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI (IL SODOMA) + Detail: the Marriage of Alexander and Roxana + Rome: Villa Farnesina 248 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI (IL SODOMA) + S. Sebastian + Florence: Uffizi, 1279 250 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI (IL SODOMA) + S. Ansano + Siena: Palazzo Pubblico 252 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI (IL SODOMA) + S. Francis + Siena: S. Bernardino, Oratory 252 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI (IL SODOMA) + The Adoration of the Magi + Siena: S. Agostino 254 + + GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI (IL SODOMA) + The Sacrifice of Isaac + Pisa: Duomo 256 + + + + +NICCOLO, CALLED TRIBOLO + + + + +LIFE OF NICCOLO, CALLED TRIBOLO + +SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT + + +Raffaello the carpenter, surnamed Il Riccio de' Pericoli, who lived +near the Canto a Monteloro in Florence, had born to him in the year +1500, as he used to tell me himself, a male child, whom he was pleased +to call at baptism, like his own father, Niccolo; and having perceived +that the boy had a quick and ready intelligence and a lofty spirit, he +determined, although he was but a poor artisan, that he should begin +straightway by learning to read and write well and cast accounts. +Sending him to school, therefore, it came about, since the child was +very vivacious and so high-spirited in his every action, that he was +always cramped for room and was a very devil both among the other boys +at school and everywhere else, always teasing and tormenting both +himself and others, that he lost his own name of Niccolo and acquired +that of Tribolo[2] to such purpose, that he was called that ever +afterwards by everyone. + + [Footnote 2: Teasel.] + +Now, Tribolo growing, his father, in order both to make use of him and +to curb the boy's exuberance, took him into his workshop and taught +him his own trade; but having seen in a few months that he was ill +suited for such a calling, being somewhat delicate, thin, and feeble +in health, he came to the conclusion that if he wished to keep him +alive, he must release him from the heavier labours of his craft and +set him to wood-carving. Having heard that without design, the father +of all the arts, the boy could not become an excellent master therein, +Raffaello resolved that he should begin by devoting all his time to +design, and therefore made him draw now cornices, foliage, and +grotesques, and now other things necessary to such a profession. And +having seen that in doing this the boy was well served both by his +head and by his hand, and reflecting, like a man of judgment, that +with him Niccolo could at best learn nothing else but to work by the +square, Raffaello first spoke of this with the carpenter Ciappino, who +was the very familiar friend of Nanni Unghero; and with his advice and +assistance, he placed Niccolo for three years with the said Nanni, in +whose workshop, where both joiner's work and carving were done, there +were constantly to be found the sculptor Jacopo Sansovino, the painter +Andrea del Sarto, and others, who afterwards became such able masters. +Now Nanni, who had in those days a passing good reputation for +excellence, was executing many works both in joinery and in carving +for the villa of Zanobi Bartolini at Rovezzano, without the Porta alla +Croce, for the palace of the Bartolini, which Giovanni, the brother of +that Zanobi, was having built at that time on the Piazza di S. +Trinita, and for the house and garden of the same man in Gualfonda; +and Tribolo, who was made to work by Nanni without discretion, always +having to handle saws, planes, and other common tools, and not being +capable, by reason of the feebleness of his body, of such exertions, +began to feel dissatisfied and to say to Riccio, when he asked for the +cause of his discontent, that he did not think that he could remain +with Nanni in that craft, and that therefore Raffaello should see to +placing him with Andrea del Sarto or Jacopo Sansovino, whom he had +come to know in Unghero's workshop, for the reason that with one or +the other of them he hoped to do better and to be sounder in health. +Moved by these reasons, then, and again with the advice and assistance +of Ciappino, Riccio placed Tribolo with Jacopo Sansovino, who took him +willingly, because he had known him in the workshop of Nanni Unghero, +and had seen that he worked well in design and even better in relief. + +Jacopo Sansovino, when Tribolo, now restored to health, went to work +under him, was executing in the Office of Works of S. Maria del Fiore, +in competition with Benedetto da Rovezzano, Andrea da Fiesole, and +Baccio Bandinelli, the marble statue of S. James the Apostle which is +still to be seen at the present day at that place together with the +others. And thus Tribolo, with these opportunities of learning, by +working in clay and drawing with great diligence, contrived to make +such proficience in that art, for which he felt a natural inclination, +that Jacopo, growing to love him more and more every day, began to +encourage him and to bring him forward by making him execute now one +thing and now another. Whereupon, although Sansovino had in his +workshop at that time Solosmeo da Settignano and Pippo del Fabro, +young men of great promise, seeing that Tribolo, having added skill in +the use of chisels to his good knowledge of working in clay and in +wax, not only equalled them but surpassed them by a great measure, he +began to make much use of him in his works. And after finishing the +Apostle and a Bacchus that he made for the house of Giovanni Bartolini +in Gualfonda, and undertaking to make for M. Giovanni Gaddi, his +intimate friend, a chimney-piece and a water-basin of hard sandstone +for his house on the Piazza di Madonna, he caused some large figures +of boys in clay, which were to go above the great cornice, to be made +by Tribolo, who executed them so extraordinarily well, that M. +Giovanni, having seen the beautiful manner and the genius of the young +man, commissioned him to execute two medallions of marble, which, +finished with great excellence, were afterwards placed over certain +doors in the same house. + +Meanwhile there was a commission to be given for a tomb, a work of great +magnitude, for the King of Portugal; and since Jacopo had been the +disciple of Andrea Contucci of Monte Sansovino, and had the reputation +not only of having equalled his master, a man of great renown, but of +having a manner even more beautiful, that work, through the good offices +of the Bartolini, was allotted to him. Whereupon Jacopo made a most +superb model of wood, all covered with scenes and figures of wax, which +were executed for the most part by Tribolo; and these proving to be very +beautiful, the young man's fame so increased that Matteo di Lorenzo +Strozzi--Tribolo having now left Sansovino, thinking that he was by that +time able to work by himself--commissioned him to make some children of +stone, and shortly afterwards, being much pleased with them, two of +marble that are holding a dolphin which pours water into a fish-pond, a +work that is now to be seen at San Casciano, a place eight miles distant +from Florence, in the villa of that M. Matteo. + +While these works were being executed by Tribolo in Florence, M. +Bartolommeo Barbazzi, a Bolognese gentleman who had gone there on some +business, remembered that a search was being made in Bologna for a +young man who could work well, to the end that he might be set to +making figures and scenes of marble for the facade of S. Petronio, the +principal church of that city. Wherefore he spoke to Tribolo, and +having seen some of his works, which pleased him, as also did the +young man's ways and other qualities, he took him to Bologna, where +Tribolo, with great diligence and with much credit to himself, in a +short time made the two Sibyls of marble that were afterwards placed +in the ornament of that door of S. Petronio which leads to the Della +Morte Hospital. These works finished, arrangements were being made to +give him greater things to do, and he was receiving many proofs of +love and affection from M. Bartolommeo, when the plague of the year +1525 began in Bologna and throughout all Lombardy; whereupon Tribolo, +in order to avoid that plague, made his way to Florence. After living +there during all the time that this contagious and pestilential +sickness lasted, he departed as soon as it had ceased, and returned, +in obedience to a summons, to Bologna, where M. Bartolommeo, not +allowing him to set his hand to any work for the facade, resolved, +seeing that many of his friends and relatives had died, to have a tomb +made for himself and for them. And so Tribolo, after finishing the +model, which M. Bartolommeo insisted on seeing completed before he did +anything else, went in person to Carrara to have the marbles +excavated, intending to rough-hew them on the spot and to lighten them +in such a manner, that they might not only be easier to transport, as +indeed they were, but also that the figures might come out larger. In +that place, in order not to waste his time, he blocked out two large +children of marble, which were taken to Bologna with beasts of burden, +unfinished as they were, together with the rest of the work; and after +the death of M. Bartolommeo, which caused such grief to Tribolo that +he returned to Tuscany, they were placed, with the other marbles, in +a chapel in S. Petronio, where they still are. + +Having thus departed from Carrara, Tribolo, on his way back to +Florence, stayed in Pisa to visit the sculptor Maestro Stagio da +Pietrasanta, his very dear friend, who was executing in the Office of +Works of the Duomo in that city two columns with capitals of marble +all in open work, which were to stand one on either side of the +high-altar and the Tabernacle of the Sacrament; and each of these was +to have upon the capital an Angel of marble one braccio and three +quarters in height, with a candelabrum in the hand. At the invitation +of the said Stagio, having nothing else to do at that time, he +undertook to make one of those Angels: which being finished with all +the perfection that could be given to a delicate work of that size in +marble, proved to be such that nothing more could have been desired, +for the reason that the Angel, with the movement of his person, has +the appearance of having stayed his flight in order to uphold that +light, and the nude form has about it some delicate draperies which +are so graceful in their effect, and look so well on every side and +from every point of view, that words could not express their beauty. +But, having consumed much time in executing this work, since he cared +for nothing but his delight in art, and not having received for it +from the Warden the payment that he expected, he resolved that he +would not make the other Angel, and returned to Florence. There he met +with Giovan Battista della Palla, who at that time was not only +causing all the sculptures and pictures that he could to be executed +for sending to King Francis I in France, but was also buying antiques +of all sorts and pictures of every kind, provided only that they were +by the hands of good masters; and every day he was packing them up and +sending them off. Now, at the very moment when Tribolo returned, +Giovan Battista had an ancient vase of granite, of a very beautiful +shape, which he wished to arrange in such a manner that it might serve +for a fountain for that King. He therefore declared his mind to +Tribolo, and what he proposed to have done; and he, setting to work, +made him a Goddess of Nature, who, raising one arm, holds that vase, +the foot of which she has upon her head, with the hands, the first row +of breasts being adorned with some boys standing out entirely detached +from the marble, who are in various most beautiful attitudes, holding +certain festoons in their hands, while the next range of breasts is +covered with quadrupeds, and at her feet are many different kinds of +fishes. That figure was finished with such diligence and such +perfection, that it well deserved, after being sent to France together +with other works, to be held very dear by the King, and to be placed, +as a rare thing, in Fontainebleau. + +Afterwards, in the year 1529, when preparations were being made for +the war against Florence and the siege, Pope Clement VII, wishing to +study the exact site of the city and to consider in what manner and in +what places his forces could be distributed to the best advantage, +ordained that a plan of the city should be made secretly, with all the +country for a mile around it--the hills, mountains, rivers, rocks, +houses, churches, and other things, and also the squares and streets +within, together with the walls and bastions surrounding it, and the +other defences. The charge of all this was given to Benvenuto di +Lorenzo della Volpaia, an able maker of clocks and quadrants and a +very fine astrologer, but above all a most excellent master in taking +ground-plans. This Benvenuto chose Tribolo as his companion, and that +with great judgment, for the reason that it was Tribolo who suggested +that this plan, for the better consideration of the height of the +mountains, the depth of the low-lying parts, and all other +particulars, should be made in relief; the doing of which was not +without much labour and danger, in that, staying out all night to +measure the roads and to mark the number of braccia between one place +and another, and also to measure the height of the summits of the +belfries and towers, drawing intersecting lines in every direction by +means of the compass, and going beyond the walls to compare the height +of the hills with that of the cupola, which they had marked as their +centre, they did not execute such a work save after many months; but +they used great diligence, for they made it of cork, for the sake of +lightness, and limited the whole plan to the space of four braccia, +and measured everything to scale. Having then been finished in this +manner, and being made in pieces, that plan was packed up secretly and +smuggled out of Florence in some bales of wool that were going to +Perugia, being consigned to one who had orders to send it to the +Pope, who made use of it continually during the siege of Florence, +keeping it in his chamber, and seeing from one day to another, from +letters and despatches, where and how the army was quartered, where +skirmishes took place, and, in short, all the incidents, arguments, +and discussions that occurred during that siege; all greatly to his +satisfaction, for it was in truth a rare and marvellous work. + +The war finished--during the progress of which Tribolo executed some +works in clay for his friends, and for Andrea del Sarto, his dearest +friend, three figures of wax in the round, of which Andrea availed +himself in painting in fresco, on the Piazza, near the Condotta, +portraits from nature of three captains who had fled with the +pay-chests, depicted as hanging by one foot--Benvenuto, summoned by +the Pope, went to Rome to kiss the feet of his Holiness, and was +placed by him in charge of the Belvedere, with an honourable salary. +In that office, having often conversations with the Pope, Benvenuto, +when the occasion arose, did not fail to extol Tribolo as an excellent +sculptor and to recommend him warmly; insomuch that, the siege +finished, Clement made use of him. For, designing to give completion +to the Chapel of Our Lady at Loreto, which had been begun by Leo and +then abandoned on account of the death of Andrea Contucci of Monte +Sansovino, he ordained that Antonio da San Gallo, who had the charge +of executing that fabric, should summon Tribolo and set him to +complete some of those scenes that Maestro Andrea had left unfinished. +Tribolo, then, thus summoned by San Gallo by order of Clement, went +with all his family to Loreto, whither there likewise went Simone, +called Mosca, a very rare carver of marble, Raffaello da Montelupo, +Francesco da San Gallo the younger, Girolamo Ferrarese the sculptor, a +disciple of Maestro Andrea, Simone Cioli, Ranieri da Pietrasanta, and +Francesco del Tadda, all invited in order to finish that work. And to +Tribolo, in the distribution of the labours, there fell, as the work +of the greatest importance, a scene in which Maestro Andrea had +represented the Marriage of Our Lady. + +Thereupon Tribolo made an addition to that scene, and had the notion +of placing among the many figures that are standing watching the +Marriage of the Virgin, one who in great fury is breaking his rod, +because it had not blossomed; and in this he succeeded so well, that +the suitor could not display with greater animation the rage that he +feels at not having had the good fortune that he desired. Which work +finished, and also that of the others, with great perfection, Tribolo +had already made many models of wax with a view to executing some of +those Prophets that were to go in the niches of that chapel, which was +now built and completely finished, when Pope Clement, after seeing +those works and praising them much, and particularly that of Tribolo, +determined that they should all return without loss of time to +Florence, in order to finish under the discipline of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti all those figures that were wanting in the sacristy and +library of S. Lorenzo, and the rest of the work, after the models of +Michelagnolo and with his assistance, with the greatest possible +speed, to the end that, having finished the sacristy, they might all +together be able, thanks to the proficience made under the discipline +of so great a man, also to finish the facade of S. Lorenzo. And in +order that there might be no manner of delay in doing this, the Pope +sent Michelagnolo back to Florence, and with him Fra Giovanni Angelo +de' Servi, who had executed some works in the Belvedere, to the end +that he might assist him in carving the marbles and might make some +statues, according as he should receive orders from Michelagnolo, who +caused him to make a S. Cosimo, which was to stand on one side of the +Madonna, with a S. Damiano, allotted to Montelupo, on the other. + +These commissions given, Michelagnolo desired that Tribolo should make +two nude statues, which were to be one on either side of that of Duke +Giuliano, which he himself had already made; one was to be a figure of +Earth crowned with cypress, weeping with bowed head and with the arms +outstretched, and lamenting the death of Duke Giuliano, and the other +a figure of Heaven with the arms uplifted, all smiling and joyful, and +showing her gladness at the adornment and splendour that the soul and +spirit of that lord conferred upon her. But Tribolo's evil fortune +crossed him at the very moment when he was about to begin to work on +the statue of Earth; for, whether it was the change of air, or his +feeble constitution, or because he had been irregular in his way of +living, he fell ill of a grievous sickness, which, ending in a +quartan fever, hung about him many months, to his infinite vexation, +since he was tormented no less by his grief at having had to abandon +the work, and at seeing that the friar and Raffaello had taken +possession of the field, than by the illness itself. However, wishing +to conquer that illness, in order not to be left behind by his rivals, +whose name he heard celebrated more and more every day, feeble as he +was, he made a large model of clay for the statue of Earth, and, when +he had finished it, began to execute the work in marble, with such +diligence and assiduity, that the statue could be seen already all cut +out in front, when Fortune, who is always ready to oppose herself to +any fair beginning, by the death of Clement at a moment when nothing +seemed less likely, cut short the aspirations of all those excellent +masters who were hoping to acquire under Michelagnolo, besides +boundless profits, immortal renown and everlasting fame. + +Stupefied by this misfortune and robbed of all his spirit, and being +also ill, Tribolo was living in utter despair, seeming not to be able +either in Florence or abroad to hit upon anything that might be to his +advantage; but Giorgio Vasari, who was always his friend and loved him +from his heart, and helped him all that he could, consoled him, saying +that he should not lose heart, because he would so contrive that Duke +Alessandro would give him something to do, by means of the favour of +the Magnificent Ottaviano de' Medici, into whose service Giorgio had +introduced him on terms of no little intimacy. Wherefore Tribolo, +having regained a little courage, occupied himself, while measures +were being taken to assist him, with copying in clay all the figures +of marble in the Sacristy of S. Lorenzo which Michelagnolo had +executed--namely, Dawn, Twilight, Day, and Night. And he succeeded in +doing them so well, that M. Giovan Battista Figiovanni, the Prior of +S. Lorenzo, to whom he presented the Night in return for having the +sacristy opened for him, judging it to be a rare work, presented it to +Duke Alessandro, who afterwards gave it to Giorgio Vasari, who was +living with his Excellency, knowing that Giorgio gave his attention to +such studies; which figure is now in his house at Arezzo, with other +works of art. Having afterwards copied, likewise in clay, the Madonna +made by Michelagnolo for the same sacristy, Tribolo presented it to +the above-named M. Ottaviano de' Medici, who had a most beautiful +ornament in squared work made for it by Battista del Cinque, with +columns, cornices, brackets, and other carvings very well executed. + +Meanwhile, by the favour of him who was Treasurer to his Excellency, +and at the commission of Bertoldo Corsini, the proveditor for the +fortress which was being built at that time, out of three escutcheons +that were to be made by order of the Duke for placing on the bastions, +one on each, one four braccia in height was given to Tribolo to +execute, with two nude figures representing Victories; which +escutcheon, finished by him with great diligence and promptitude, with +the addition of three great masks that support the escutcheon and the +figures, so pleased the Duke, that he conceived a very great love for +Tribolo. Now shortly afterwards the Duke went to Naples to defend +himself before the Emperor Charles V, who had just returned from +Tunis, against many calumnies that had been laid upon him by some of +his citizens; and, having not only defended himself, but also obtained +from his Majesty his daughter Signora Margherita of Austria for wife, +he wrote to Florence that four men should be appointed who might cause +vast and splendid decorations to be prepared throughout the city, in +order to receive the Emperor, who was coming to Florence, with proper +magnificence. And I, having to distribute the various works at the +commission of his Excellency--who ordained that I should act in +company with the said four men, who were Giovanni Corsi, Luigi +Guicciardini, Palla Rucellai, and Alessandro Corsini--gave the +greatest and most difficult labours for that festival to Tribolo to +execute, which were four large statues. The first was a Hercules that +has just killed the Hydra, six braccia in height, in the round and +overlaid with silver, which was placed at that corner of the Piazza di +S. Felice that is at the end of the Via Maggio, with the following +inscription in letters of silver on the base: UT HERCULES LABORE ET +AERUMNIS MONSTRA EDOMUIT, ITA CAESAR VIRTUTE ET CLEMENTIA, HOSTIBUS +VICTIS SEU PLACATIS, PACEM ORBI TERRARUM ET QUIETEM RESTITUIT. Two +others were colossal figures eight braccia high, one representing the +River Bagrada, which was resting upon the skin of the serpent that was +brought to Rome, and the other representing the Ebro, with the horn of +Amaltheia in one hand and in the other the helm of a ship; both +coloured in imitation of bronze, with inscriptions on the bases; below +the Ebro, HIBERUS EX HISPANIA, and below the other, BAGRADAS EX +AFRICA. The fourth was a statue five braccia in height, on the Canto +de' Medici, representing Peace, who had in one hand an olive branch +and in the other a lighted torch, with which she was setting fire to a +pile of arms heaped up on the base on which she was placed; with the +following words: FIAT PAX IN VIRTUTE TUA. He did not finish, as he had +hoped to do, the horse seven braccia in length that was set up on the +Piazza di S. Trinita, upon which was to be placed the statue of the +Emperor in armour, because Tasso the wood-carver, who was much his +friend, did not show any promptitude in executing the base and the +other things in the way of wood-carving that were to be included in +the work, being a man who let time slip through his fingers in arguing +and jesting; and there was only just time to cover the horse alone +with tin-foil laid upon the still fresh clay. On the base were to be +read the following words: + + IMPERATORI CAROLO AUGUSTO VICTORIOSISSIMO, POST DEVICTOS HOSTES, + ITALIAE PACE RESTITUTA ET SALUTATO FERDIN. FRATRE, EXPULSIS ITERUM + TURCIS AFRICAQUE PERDOMITA, ALEXANDER MED. DUX FLORENTIAE, D.D. + +His Majesty having departed from Florence, a beginning was made with +the preparations for the nuptials, in expectation of his daughter, and +to the end that she and the Vice-Queen of Naples, who was in her +company, might be commodiously lodged according to the orders of his +Excellency in the house of M. Ottaviano de' Medici, an addition was +made to his old house in four weeks, to the astonishment of everyone; +and Tribolo, the painter Andrea di Cosimo, and I, in ten days, with +the help of about ninety sculptors and painters of the city, what with +masters and assistants, completed the preparations for the wedding in +so far as appertained to the house and its decorations, painting the +loggie, courtyards, and other spaces in a manner suitable for nuptials +of such importance. Among these decorations, Tribolo made, besides +other things, two Victories in half-relief that were one on either +side of the principal door, supported by two large terminal figures, +which also upheld the escutcheon of the Emperor, pendent from the +neck of a very beautiful eagle in the round. The same master also made +certain boys, likewise in the round, and large in size, which were +placed on either side of some heads over the pediments of various +doors; and these were much extolled. + +Meanwhile, as the nuptials were in progress, Tribolo received letters +from Bologna, in which Messer Pietro del Magno, his devoted friend, +besought him that he should consent to go to Bologna, in order to make +for the Madonna di Galliera, where a most beautiful ornament of marble +was already prepared, a scene likewise of marble three braccia and a +half in extent. Whereupon Tribolo, happening to have nothing else to +do at that time, went thither, and after making a model of a Madonna +ascending into Heaven, with the Apostles below in various attitudes, +which, being very beautiful, gave great satisfaction, he set his hand +to executing it; but with little pleasure for himself, since the +marble that he was carving was that Milanese marble, saline, full of +emery, and bad in quality; and it seemed to him that he was wasting +his time, without feeling a particle of that delight that men find in +working those marbles which are a pleasure to carve, and which in the +end, when brought to completion, show a surface that has the +appearance of the living flesh itself. However, he did so much that it +was already almost finished, when I, having persuaded Duke Alessandro +to recall Michelagnolo from Rome, and also the other masters, in order +to finish the work of the sacristy begun by Clement, was arranging to +give him something to do in Florence; and I would have succeeded, but +in the meantime, by reason of the death of Alessandro, who was +murdered by Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de' Medici, not only was this +design frustrated, but the greatness and prosperity of art were thrown +into utter ruin. + +Having heard of the Duke's death, Tribolo condoled with me in his +letters, beseeching me, after he had exhorted me to bear with +resignation the death of that great Prince, my gracious master, that +if I went to Rome, as he had heard that I, being wholly determined to +abandon Courts and to pursue my studies, was intending to do, I should +obtain some commission for him, for the reason that, if assisted by my +friends, he would do whatever I told him. But it so chanced that it +became in no way necessary for him to seek commissions in Rome. For +Signor Cosimo de' Medici, having been created Duke of Florence, as +soon as he had freed himself from the troubles that he had in the +first year of his rule by routing his enemies at Monte Murlo, began to +take some diversion, and in particular to frequent not a little the +villa of Castello, which is little more than two miles distant from +Florence. There he began to do some building, in order that he might +be able to live there comfortably with his Court, and little by +little--being encouraged in this by Maestro Pietro da San Casciano, +who was held to be a passing good master in those days, and was much +in the service of Signora Maria, the mother of the Duke, and had also +always been the master-builder and the former servant of Signor +Giovanni--he resolved to conduct to that place certain waters that he +had desired long before to bring thither. Whereupon a beginning was +made with building an aqueduct that was to receive all the waters from +the hill of Castellina, which was at a distance of a quarter of a mile +or more from Castello; and the work was pursued vigorously with a good +number of men. But the Duke recognizing that Maestro Pietro had +neither invention nor power of design enough to make in that place a +beginning that might afterwards in time receive that ornamentation +which the site and the waters required, one day that his Excellency +was on the spot, speaking of this with such men as Messer Ottaviano +de' Medici and Cristofano Rinieri, the friend of Tribolo and the old +servant of Signora Maria and of the Duke, they extolled Tribolo in +such a manner, as a man endowed with all those parts that were +requisite in the head of such a fabric, that the Duke gave Cristofano +a commission to make him come from Bologna. Which having been +straightway done by Rinieri, Tribolo, who could not have received any +better news than that he was to serve Duke Cosimo, set out immediately +for Florence, and, arriving there, was taken to Castello, where his +most illustrious Excellency, having heard from him what he thought +should be done in the way of decorative fountains, gave him a +commission to make the models. Whereupon he set his hand to these, and +was engaged upon them, while Maestro Pietro da San Casciano was +executing the aqueduct and bringing the waters to the place, when the +Duke, who meanwhile had begun, for the security of the city, to +surround with a very strong wall the bastions erected on the hill of +San Miniato at the time of the siege after the designs of +Michelagnolo, ordained that Tribolo should make an escutcheon of hard +stone, with two Victories, for an angle of the summit of a bastion +that faces Florence. But Tribolo had scarcely finished the escutcheon, +which was very large, and one of those Victories, a figure four +braccia high, which was held to be a very beautiful thing, when he was +obliged to leave that work incomplete, for the reason that, Maestro +Pietro having carried well on the making of the aqueduct and the +bringing of the waters, to the full satisfaction of the Duke, his +Excellency wished that Tribolo should begin to put into execution, for +the adornment of that place, the designs and models that he had +already shown to him, ordaining him for the time being a salary of +eight crowns a month, the same that was paid to San Casciano. + +Now, in order that I may not become confused in describing the +intricacies of the aqueducts and of the ornaments of the fountains, it +may be well to say briefly some few words about the site and position +of Castello. The villa of Castello stands at the roots of Monte +Morello, below the Villa della Topaia, which is halfway up the slope; +it has before it a plain that descends little by little, for the space +of a mile and a half, down to the River Arno, and exactly where the +ascent of the mountain begins stands the palace, which was built in +past times by Pier Francesco de' Medici, after a very good design. The +principal front faces straight towards the south, overlooking a vast +lawn with two very large fish-ponds full of running water, which comes +from an ancient aqueduct made by the Romans in order to conduct water +from Valdimarina to Florence, and provided with a vaulted cistern +under the ground; and so it has a very beautiful and very pleasing +view. The fish-ponds in front are divided in the middle by a bridge +twelve braccia wide, which leads to an avenue of the same width, +bounded at the sides and covered above by an unbroken vault of +mulberry-trees, ten braccia in height, thus making a covered avenue +three hundred braccia in length, delightful for its shade, which opens +on to the high road to Prato by a gate placed between two fountains +that serve to give water to travellers and animals. On the eastern +side the same palace has a very beautiful pile of stable-buildings, +and on the western side a private garden into which one goes from the +courtyard of the stables, passing straight through the ground-floor of +the palace by way of the loggie, halls, and chambers on the level of +the ground; from which private garden one can enter by a door on the +west side into another garden, very large and all filled with +fruit-trees, and bounded by a forest of fir-trees that conceals the +houses of the labourers and others who live there, engaged in the +service of the palace and of the gardens. Next, that part of the +palace which faces north, towards the mountain, has in front of it a +lawn as long as the palace, the stables, and the private garden +altogether, and from this lawn one climbs by steps to the principal +garden, a place enclosed by ordinary walls, which, rising in a gentle +slope, stretches so well clear of the palace as it rises, that the +mid-day sun searches it out and bathes it all with its rays, as if +there were no palace in front; and at the upper end it stands so high +that it commands a view not only of the whole palace, but also of the +plain that is in front and around it, and likewise about the city. In +the middle of this garden is a forest of very tall and thickly-planted +cypresses, laurels, and myrtles, which, laid out in a circular shape, +have the form of a labyrinth, all surrounded by box-hedges two braccia +and a half in height, so even and grown with such beautiful order that +they have the appearance of a painting done with the brush; in the +centre of which labyrinth, at the desire of the Duke, Tribolo, as will +be described below, made a very beautiful fountain of marble. At the +principal entrance, where there is the first-mentioned lawn with the +two fish-ponds and the avenue covered with mulberry-trees, Tribolo +wished that the avenue should be so extended that it might stretch for +a distance of more than a mile, covered and shaped in like manner, and +might reach as far as the River Arno, and that the waters which ran +away from all the fountains, flowing gently in pleasant channels at +the sides of the avenue, and filled with various kinds of fishes and +crayfish, might accompany it down to that river. + +As for the palace--to describe what has still to be done as well as +that which has been finished--he wished to make a loggia in front of +it, which, passing by an open courtyard, was to have on the side +where the stables are another palace as large as the old one, with the +same proportion of apartments, loggie, private garden, and the rest; +which addition would have made it a vast palace, with a most beautiful +facade. After passing the court from which one enters into the large +garden of the labyrinth, at the main entrance, where there is a vast +lawn, after climbing the steps that lead to that labyrinth, there came +a level space thirty braccia square, on which there was to be--and has +since been made--a very large fountain of white marble, which was to +spout upwards above ornaments fourteen braccia in height, while from +the mouth of a statue at the highest point was to issue a jet of water +rising to the height of six braccia. At either end of the lawn was to +be a loggia, one opposite to the other, each thirty braccia in length +and fifteen in breadth; and in the middle of each loggia was to be +placed a marble table twelve braccia in length, and on the outside a +basin of eight braccia, which was to receive the water from a vase +held by two figures. In the middle of the above-mentioned labyrinth +Tribolo had thought to achieve the most decorative effect with water +by means of jets and a very beautiful seat round the fountain, the +marble basin of which was to be, even as it was afterwards made, much +smaller than that of the large principal fountain; and at the summit +it was to have a figure of bronze spouting water. At the end of this +garden, in the centre, there was to be a gate with some children of +marble on both sides spouting water, with a fountain on either side, +and in the corners double niches in which statues were to be placed, +as in the others that are in the walls at the sides, at the opposite +ends of the avenues that cross the garden, which are all covered with +greenery distributed in various ways. + +Through the above-mentioned gate, which is at the upper end of this +garden, above some steps, one enters into another garden, as wide as +the first, but of no great depth in the direct line, in comparison +with the mountain beyond. In this garden were to be two other loggie, +one on either side, and in the wall opposite to the gate, which +supports the soil of the mountain, there was to be in the centre a +grotto with three basins, with water playing into them in imitation of +rain. The grotto was to be between two fountains placed in the same +wall, and opposite to these, in the lower wall of the garden, were to +be two others, one on either side of the gate; so that the fountains +of this garden would have been equal in number to those of the other, +which is below it, and receives its water from the first, which is +higher. And this garden was to be all full of orange-trees, which +would have had--and will have, whenever that may be--a most favourable +situation, being defended by the walls and by the mountain from the +north wind and other harmful winds. + +From this garden one climbs by two staircases of flint, one on either +side, to a forest of cypresses, fir-trees, holm-oaks, laurels, and +other evergreen trees, distributed with beautiful order, in the middle +of which, according to Tribolo's design, there was to be a most lovely +fish-pond, which has since been made. And because this part, gradually +narrowing, forms an angle, that angle, to the end that it might be +made flat, was to be blunted by the breadth of a loggia, from which, +after climbing some steps, might be seen in front the palace, the +gardens, the fountains, and all the plain below and about them, as far +as the Ducal Villa of Poggio a Caiano, Florence, Prato, Siena, and all +that is around for many miles. + +Now the above-named Maestro Pietro da San Casciano, having carried his +work of the aqueduct as far as Castello, and having turned into it all +the waters of Castellina, was overtaken by a violent fever, and died +in a few days. Whereupon Tribolo, undertaking the charge of directing +all the building by himself, perceived that, although the waters +brought to Castello were in great abundance, nevertheless they were +not sufficient for all that he had made up his mind to do; not to +mention that, coming from Castellina, they did not rise to the height +that he required for his purposes. Having therefore obtained from the +Lord Duke a commission to conduct thither the waters of Petraia, a +place more than one hundred and fifty braccia above Castello, which +are good and very abundant, he caused a conduit to be made, similar to +the other, and so high that one can enter into it, to the end that +thus those waters of Petraia might come to the fish-pond through +another aqueduct with enough fall for the fish-pond and the great +fountain. + +This done, Tribolo began to build the above-mentioned grotto, +proposing to make it with three niches, in a beautiful architectural +design, and likewise the two fountains that were one on either side of +it. In one of these there was to be a large statue of stone, +representing Monte Asinaio, which, pressing its beard, was to pour +water from its mouth into a basin that was to be in front of it; from +which basin the water, issuing by a hidden channel, and passing under +the wall, was to flow to the fountain that there is at the present day +behind the wall, at the end of the slope of the garden of the +labyrinth, pouring into the vase on the shoulder of the figure of the +River Mugnone, which is in a large niche of grey-stone decorated with +most beautiful ornaments, and all covered with sponge-stone. This +work, if it had been finished in all its perfection, even as it is in +part, would have had great similarity to the reality, since the +Mugnone rises from Monte Asinaio. + +For the Mugnone, then, to describe that which has been done, Tribolo +made a figure of grey-stone, four braccia in length, and reclining in +a very beautiful attitude, which has upon one shoulder a vase that +pours water into a basin, and rests the other on the ground, leaning +upon it, with the left leg crossed over the right. And behind this +river is a woman representing Fiesole, wholly naked, issuing from +among the sponge-stones and rocks in the middle of the niche, and +holding in the hand a moon which is the ancient emblem of the people +of Fiesole. Below this niche is a very large basin supported by two +great Capricorns, which are one of the devices of the Duke; from which +Capricorns hang some festoons and masks of great beauty, and from +their lips issues the water from that basin, which is convex in the +middle, and has outlets at the sides; and all the water that overflows +pours away from the sides through the mouths of the Capricorns, and +then, after falling into the hollow base of the vase, flows through +the herb-beds that are round the walls of the garden of the labyrinth, +where there are fountains between the niches, and between the +fountains espaliers of oranges and pomegranates. + +In the second garden described above, where Tribolo had intended that +there should be made the Monte Asinaio that was to supply water to the +Mugnone, there was to be on the other side, beyond the gate, a similar +figure of the Monte della Falterona; and even as this mountain is the +source of the River Arno, so the statue representing that river in the +garden of the labyrinth, opposite to the Mugnone, was to receive the +water from the Falterona. But since neither the figure of that +mountain nor its fountain has ever been finished, let us speak of the +fountain and figure of the River Arno, which were completed by Tribolo +to perfection. This river, then, holds its vase upon one thigh, lying +down and leaning with one arm on a lion, which holds a lily in its +paw, and the vase receives its water through the perforated wall, +behind which there was to be the Falterona, exactly in the manner in +which, as has been described, the statue of the River Mugnone also +receives its water; and since the long basin is in every way similar +to that of the Mugnone, I shall say no more about it, save this, that +it is a pity that the art and excellence of these works, which are +truly most beautiful, are not embodied in marble. + +Then, continuing the work of the conduit, Tribolo caused the water +from the grotto to pass under the orange-garden and then under the +next garden, and thus brought it into the labyrinth, where, forming a +circle round all the middle of the labyrinth, in a good circumference +round the centre, he laid down the central pipe, through which the +fountain was to spout water. After which, taking the waters from the +Arno and the Mugnone, and bringing them together under the level of +the labyrinth by means of certain bronze pipes that were distributed +in beautiful order throughout that space, he filled that whole +pavement with very fine jets, in such a manner that it was possible by +turning a key to drench all those who came near to see the fountain. +Nor is one able to escape either quickly or with ease, because Tribolo +made round the fountain and the pavement, in which are the jets, a +seat of grey-stone supported by lion's paws, between which are sea +monsters in low-relief; which was a difficult thing to do, because he +chose, since the place was sloping and the square lay on the slant, to +make it level, and the same with the seat. + +Having then set his hand to the fountain of the labyrinth, he made on +the shaft, in marble, an interwoven design of sea monsters cut out in +full relief, with tails intertwined so well, that nothing better of +that kind could be done. And this finished, he executed the tazza +with a piece of marble brought long before to Castello, together with +a large table, also of marble, from the Villa dell'Antella, which M. +Ottaviano de' Medici formerly bought from Giuliano Salviati. By reason +of this opportunity, then, Tribolo made that tazza sooner than he +might otherwise have done, fashioning round it a dance of little +children attached to the moulding which is beside the lip of the +tazza; which children are holding festoons of products of the sea, cut +out of the marble with beautiful art. And so also the shaft which he +made over the tazza, he executed with much grace, with some very +beautiful children and masks to spout water. Upon that shaft it was +the intention of Tribolo to place a bronze statue three braccia high, +representing Florence, in order to signify that from the above-named +Mounts Asinaio and Falterona the waters of the Arno and Mugnone come +to Florence; of which figure he had made a most beautiful model which, +pressing the hair with the hands, caused water to pour forth. Then, +having brought the water as far as the space thirty braccia square, +below the labyrinth, he made a beginning with the great fountain, +which, made with eight sides, was to receive all the above-mentioned +waters into its lowest basin--namely, those from the waterworks of the +labyrinth, and likewise those of the great conduit. Each of these +eight sides, then, rises above a step one-fifth of a braccio in +height, and each angle of the eight sides has a projection, as have +also the steps, which, thus projecting, rise at each angle in a great +step of two-fifths of a braccio, in such a way that the central face +of the steps withdraws into the projections, and their straight line +is thus broken, which produces a bizarre effect, and makes the ascent +very easy. The edges of the fountain have the shape of a vase, and the +body of the fountain--that is, the inner part where the water +is--curves in the form of a circle. The shaft begins with eight sides, +and continues with eight seats almost up to the base of the tazza, +upon which are seated eight children of the size of life, all in the +round and in various attitudes, who, linked together with the legs and +arms, make a rich adornment and a most beautiful effect. And since the +tazza, which is round, projects to the extent of six braccia, the +water of the whole fountain, pouring equally over the edge on every +side, sends a very beautiful rain, like the drippings from a roof, +into the octagonal basin mentioned above, and those children that are +on the shaft of the tazza are not wetted, and they appear to be there +in order not to be wetted by the rain, almost like real children, full +of delight and playing as they shelter under the lip of the tazza, +which could not be equalled in its simplicity and beauty. Opposite to +the four paths that intersect the garden are four children of bronze +lying at play in various attitudes, which are after the designs of +Tribolo, although they were executed afterwards by others. Above this +tazza begins another shaft, which has at the foot, on some +projections, four children of marble in the round, who are pressing +the necks of some geese that spout water from their mouths; and this +water is that of the principal conduit coming from the labyrinth, and +rises exactly to this height. Above these children is the rest of the +shaft of this pedestal, which is made with certain cartouches which +spurt forth water in a most bizarre manner; and then, regaining a +quadrangular form, it rises over some masks that are very well made. +Above this, then, is a smaller tazza, on the lip of which, on all four +sides, are fixed by the horns four heads of Capricorns, making a +square, which spout water through their mouths into the large tazza, +together with the children, in order to make the rain which falls, as +has been told, into the first basin, which has eight sides. Still +higher there follows another shaft, adorned with other ornaments and +with some children in half-relief, who, projecting outwards, form at +the top a round space that serves as base to the figure of a Hercules +who is crushing Antaeus, which was designed by Tribolo and executed +afterwards by others, as will be related in the proper place. From the +mouth of this Antaeus he intended that, instead of his spirit, there +should gush out through a pipe water in great abundance, as indeed it +does; which water is that of the great conduit of Petraia, which comes +with much force, and rises sixteen braccia above the level where the +steps are, and makes a marvellous effect in falling back into the +greater tazza. In that same aqueduct, then, come not only those waters +from Petraia, but also those that go to the fish-pond and the grotto, +and these, uniting with those from Castellina, go to the fountains of +the Falterona and Monte Asinaio, and thence to the fountains of the +Arno and Mugnone, as has been related; after which, being reunited at +the fountain of the labyrinth, they go to the centre of the great +fountain, where are the children with the geese. From there, according +to the design of Tribolo, they were to flow through two distinct and +separate conduits into the basins of the loggie, where the tables are, +and then each into a separate private garden. The first of these +gardens--that towards the west--is all filled with rare and medicinal +plants; wherefore at the highest level of that water, in that garden +of simples, in the niche of the fountain, and behind a basin of +marble, there was to be a statue of AEsculapius. + +The principal fountain described above, then, was completely finished +in marble by Tribolo, and carried to the finest and greatest +perfection that could be desired in a work of this kind. Wherefore I +believe that it may be said with truth that it is the most beautiful +fountain, the richest, the best proportioned, and the most pleasing +that has ever been made, for the reason that in the figures, in the +vases, in the tazze, and, in short, throughout the whole work, are +proofs of extraordinary diligence and industry. After this, having +made the model of the above-mentioned statue of AEsculapius, Tribolo +began to execute it in marble, but, being hindered by other things, he +did not finish that figure, which was completed afterwards by the +sculptor Antonio di Gino, his disciple. + +[Illustration: THE HERCULES FOUNTAIN + +(_After =Niccolo [Tribolo]=. Florence: Villa Reale di Castello_)] + +On the side towards the east, in a little lawn without the garden, +Tribolo arranged an oak in a most ingenious manner, for, besides the +circumstance that it is so thickly covered both above and all around +with ivy intertwined among the branches, that it has the appearance of +a very dense grove, one can climb up it by a convenient staircase of +wood similarly covered with ivy, at the top of which, in the middle of +the oak, there is a square chamber surrounded by seats, the backs of +which are all of living verdure, and in the centre is a little table +of marble with a vase of variegated marble in the middle, from which, +through a pipe, there flows and spurts into the air a strong jet of +water, which, after falling, runs away through another pipe. These +pipes mount upwards from the foot of the oak so well hidden by the +ivy, that nothing is seen of them, and the water can be turned on or +off at pleasure by means of certain keys; nor is it possible to +describe in full in how many ways that water of the oak can be turned +on, in order to drench anyone at pleasure with various instruments of +copper, not to mention that with the same instruments one can cause +the water to produce various sounds and whistlings. + +Finally, all these waters, after having served so many different +purposes, and supplied so many fountains, are collected together, and +flow into the two fish-ponds that are without the palace, at the +beginning of the avenue, and thence to other uses of the villa. + +Nor will I omit to tell what was the intention of Tribolo with regard +to the statues that were to be as ornaments in the great garden of the +labyrinth, in the niches that may be seen regularly distributed there +in various spaces. He proposed, then--acting in this on the judicious +advice of M. Benedetto Varchi, who has been in our times most +excellent as poet, orator, and philosopher--that at the upper and +lower ends there should be placed the four Seasons of the +year--Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter--and that each should be set +up in that part where its particular season is most felt. At the +entrance, on the right hand, beside the Winter, and in that part of +the wall which stretches upwards, were to go six figures that were to +demonstrate the greatness and goodness of the house of Medici, and to +denote that all the virtues are to be found in Duke Cosimo; and these +were Justice, Compassion, Valour, Nobility, Wisdom, and Liberality, +which have always dwelt in the house of Medici, and are all united +together at the present day in the most excellent Lord Duke, in that +he is just, compassionate, valorous, noble, wise, and liberal. And +because these qualities have made the city of Florence, as they still +do, strong in laws, peace, arms, science, wisdom, tongues, and arts, +and also because the said Lord Duke is just in the laws, compassionate +in peace, valorous in arms, noble through the sciences, wise in his +encouragement of tongues and other culture, and liberal to the arts, +Tribolo wished that on the other side from the Justice, Compassion, +Valour, Nobility, Wisdom, and Liberality, on the left hand, as will be +seen below, there should be these other figures: Laws, Peace, Arms, +Sciences, Tongues, and Arts. And it was most appropriately arranged +that in this manner these statues and images should be placed, as +they would have been, above the Arno and Mugnone, in order to signify +that they do honour to Florence. It was also proposed that in the +pediments there should be placed portrait-busts of men of the house of +Medici, one in each--over Justice, for example, the portrait of his +Excellency, that being his particular virtue, over Compassion that of +the Magnificent Giuliano, over Valour Signor Giovanni, over Nobility +the elder Lorenzo, over Wisdom the elder Cosimo or Clement VII, and +over Liberality Pope Leo. And in the pediments on the other side it +was suggested that there might be placed other heads from the house of +Medici, or of persons of the city connected with that house. But since +these names make the matter somewhat confused, they have been placed +here in the following order: + + SUMMER. THE MUGNONE. GATE. THE ARNO. SPRING. + + ARTS. L L LIBERALITY. + TONGUES. O O WISDOM. + SCIENCES. G G NOBILITY. + ARMS. G G VALOUR. + PEACE. I I COMPASSION. + LAWS. A A JUSTICE. + + AUTUMN. GATE. LOGGIA. GATE. WINTER. + +All these ornaments would have made this in truth the richest, the +most magnificent, and the most ornate garden in Europe; but these +works were not carried to completion, for the reason that Tribolo was +not able to take measures to have them finished while the Duke was in +the mind to continue them, as he might have done in a short time, +having men in abundance and the Duke ready to spend money, and not +suffering from those hindrances that afterwards stopped him. The Duke, +indeed, not being contented at that time with the great quantity of +water that is to be seen there, was thinking of trying to obtain the +water of Valcenni, which is very abundant, in order to join it with +the rest, and then to conduct it from Castello by an aqueduct similar +to the one which he had made to the Piazza in front of his Palace in +Florence. And of a truth, if this work had been pressed forward by a +man with greater energy and more desire of glory, it would have been +carried at least well on; but since Tribolo, besides that he was much +occupied with various affairs of the Duke's, had not much energy, +nothing more was done. And in all the time that he worked at Castello, +he did not execute with his own hand anything save the two fountains, +with the two rivers, the Arno and the Mugnone, and the statue of +Fiesole; this arising from no other cause, so far as one can see, but +his being too much occupied, as has been related, with the many +affairs of the Duke. + +Among other things, the Duke caused him to make a bridge over the +River Mugnone on the high road that goes to Bologna, without the Porta +a S. Gallo. This bridge, since the river crosses the road obliquely, +Tribolo caused to be built with an arch likewise oblique, in +accordance with its oblique line across the river, which was a new +thing, and much extolled, above all because he had the arch put +together of stones cut on the slant on every side in such a manner +that it proved to be very strong and very graceful; in short, this +bridge was a very beautiful work. + +Not long before, the Duke had been seized with a desire to make a tomb +for Signor Giovanni de' Medici, his father, and Tribolo, being eager +to have the commission, made a very beautiful model for it, in +competition with one that had been executed by Raffaello da Montelupo, +who had the favour of Francesco di Sandro, the master of arms to his +Excellency. And then, the Duke having resolved that the one to be put +into execution should be Tribolo's, he went off to have the marble +quarried at Carrara, where he also caused to be quarried the two +basins for the loggie at Castello, a table, and many other blocks of +marble. Meanwhile, Messer Giovan Battista da Ricasoli, now Bishop of +Pistoia, being in Rome on business of the Lord Duke's, he was sought +out by Baccio Bandinelli, who had just finished the tombs of Pope Leo +X and Clement VII in the Minerva; and he was asked by Baccio to +recommend him to his Excellency. Whereupon Messer Giovan Battista +wrote to the Duke that Bandinelli desired to serve him, and his +Excellency wrote in reply that on his return he should bring him in +his company. And Bandinelli, having therefore arrived in Florence, so +haunted the Duke in his audacity, making promises and showing him +designs and models, that the tomb of the above-named Signor Giovanni, +which was to have been made by Tribolo, was allotted to him; and so, +taking some pieces of marble of Michelagnolo's, which were in the Via +Mozza in Florence, he hacked them about without scruple and began the +work. Wherefore Tribolo, on returning from Carrara, found that in +consequence of his being too leisurely and good-natured, the +commission had been taken away from him. + +In the year when bonds of kinship were formed between the Lord Duke +Cosimo and the Lord Don Pedro di Toledo, Marquis of Villafranca, at +that time Viceroy of Naples, the Lord Duke taking Don Pedro's +daughter, Signora Leonora, to wife, preparations were made in Florence +for the nuptials, and Tribolo was given the charge of constructing a +triumphal arch at the Porta al Prato, through which the bride, coming +from Poggio, was to enter; which arch he made a thing of beauty, very +ornate with columns, pilasters, architraves, great cornices, and +pediments. That arch was to be all covered with figures and scenes, in +addition to the statues by the hand of Tribolo; and all those +paintings were executed by Battista Franco of Venice, Ridolfo +Ghirlandajo, and Michele, his disciple. Now the principal figure that +Tribolo made for this work, which was placed at the highest point in +the centre of the pediment, on a dado wrought in relief, was a woman +five braccia high, representing Fecundity, with five little boys, +three clinging to her legs, one on her lap, and another in her arms; +and beside her, where the pediment sloped away, were two figures of +the same size, one on either side. Of these figures, which were lying +down, one was Security, leaning on a column with a light wand in her +hand, and the other was Eternity, with a globe in her arms, and below +her feet a white-haired old man representing Time, and holding in his +arms the Sun and Moon. I shall say nothing as to the works of painting +that were on that arch, because everyone may read about them for +himself in the description of the festive preparations for those +nuptials. And since Tribolo had particular charge of all decorations +for the Palace of the Medici, he caused many devices to be executed in +the lunettes of the vaulting of the court, with mottoes appropriate to +the nuptials, and all those of the most illustrious members of the +house of Medici. Besides this, he had a most sumptuous decoration made +in the great open court, all full of stories; on one side of the +Greeks and Romans, and on the other sides of deeds done by illustrious +men of that house of Medici, which were all executed under the +direction of Tribolo by the most excellent young painters that there +were in Florence at that time--Bronzino, Pier Francesco di Sandro, +Francesco Il Bacchiacca, Domenico Conti, Antonio di Domenico, and +Battista Franco of Venice. + +On the Piazza di S. Marco, also, upon a vast pedestal ten braccia in +height (in which Bronzino had painted two very beautiful scenes of the +colour of bronze on the socle that was above the cornices), Tribolo +erected a horse of twelve braccia, with the fore-legs in the air, and +upon it an armed figure, large in proportion; and this figure, which +had below it men dead and wounded, represented the most valorous +Signor Giovanni de' Medici, the father of his Excellency. This work +was executed by Tribolo with so much art and judgment, that it was +admired by all who saw it, and what caused even greater marvel was the +speed with which he finished it; among his assistants being the +sculptor Santi Buglioni, who was crippled for ever in one leg by a +fall, and came very near dying. + +Under the direction of Tribolo, likewise, for the comedy that was +performed, Aristotile da San Gallo executed marvellous scenery, being +truly most excellent in such things, as will be told in his Life; and +for the costumes in the interludes, which were the work of Giovan +Battista Strozzi, who had charge of the whole comedy, Tribolo himself +made the most pleasing and beautiful inventions that it is possible to +imagine in the way of vestments, buskins, head-dresses, and other +wearing apparel. These things were the reason that the Duke afterwards +availed himself of Tribolo's ingenuity in many fantastic masquerades, +as in that of the bears, in a race of buffaloes, in the masquerade of +the ravens, and in others. + +In like manner, in the year when there was born to the said Lord Duke +his eldest son, the Lord Don Francesco, there was to be made in the +Temple of S. Giovanni in Florence a very magnificent decoration which +was to be marvellous in its grandeur, and capable of accommodating one +hundred most noble young maidens, who were to accompany the Prince +from the Palace as far as the said temple, where he was to receive +baptism. The charge of this was given to Tribolo, who, in company with +Tasso, adapting himself to the place, brought it about that the +temple, which in itself is ancient and very beautiful, had the +appearance of a new temple designed very well in the modern manner, +with seats all round it richly adorned with pictures and gilding. In +the centre, beneath the lantern, he made a great vase of carved +woodwork with eight sides, the base of which rested on four steps, and +at the corners of the eight sides were some large caulicoles, which, +springing from the ground, where there were some lions' paws, had at +the top of them certain children of large size in various attitudes, +who were holding with their hands the lip of the vase, and supporting +with their shoulders some festoons which hung like a garland right +round the space in the middle. Besides this, Tribolo had made in the +middle of the vase a pedestal of wood with beautiful things of fancy +round it, upon which, to crown the work, he placed the S. John the +Baptist of marble, three braccia high, by the hand of Donatello, which +was left by him in the house of Gismondo Martelli, as has been related +in the Life of Donatello himself. In short, this temple was adorned +both within and without as well as could possibly be imagined, and the +only part neglected was the principal chapel, where there is an old +tabernacle with those figures in relief that Andrea Pisano made long +ago; by reason of which it appeared that, every other part being made +new, that old chapel spoilt all the grace that the other things +together displayed. Wherefore the Duke, going one day to see those +decorations, after praising everything like a man of judgment, and +recognizing how well Tribolo had adapted himself to the situation and +to every other feature of the place, censured one thing only, but that +severely--that no thought had been given to the principal chapel. And +then he ordained on the spot, like a person of resolute character and +beautiful judgment, that all that part should be covered with a vast +canvas painted in chiaroscuro, with S. John the Baptist baptizing +Christ, and the people standing all around to see them or to be +baptized, some taking off their clothes, and others putting them on +again, in various attitudes; and above this was to be a God the Father +sending down the Holy Spirit, with two fountains in the guise of +river-gods, representing the Jor and the Dan, which, pouring forth +water, were to form the Jordan. Jacopo da Pontormo was requested to +execute this work by Messer Pier Francesco Riccio, at that time +major-domo to the Duke, and by Tribolo, but he would not do it, on the +ground that he did not think that the time given, which was only six +days, would be enough for him; and the same refusal was made by +Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, Bronzino, and many others. Now at this time +Giorgio Vasari, having returned from Bologna, was executing for Messer +Bindo Altoviti the altar-piece of his chapel in S. Apostolo at +Florence, but he was not held in much consideration, although he had +friendship with Tribolo and Tasso, because certain persons had formed +a faction under the protection of the above-named Messer Pier +Francesco Riccio, and whoever was not of that faction had no share in +the favours of the Court, although he might be able and deserving. +This was the reason that many who, with the aid of so great a Prince, +would have become excellent, found themselves neglected, none being +employed save those chosen by Tasso, who, being a gay person, got +Riccio so well under his thumb with his jokes, that in certain affairs +he neither proposed nor did anything save what was suggested by Tasso, +who was architect to the Palace and did all the work. These men, then, +having a sort of suspicion of Giorgio, who laughed at their vanities +and follies, and sought to make a position for himself rather by means +of the studies of art than by favour, gave no thought to his claims; +but he was commissioned by the Lord Duke to execute that canvas, with +the subject described above. This work he executed in chiaroscuro, in +six days, and delivered it finished in the manner known to those who +saw what grace and adornment it conferred on the whole decoration, and +how much it enlivened that part of the temple that stood most in need +of it, amid the magnificence of that festival. Tribolo, then (to +return to the point whence, I know not how, I digressed), acquitted +himself so well, that he rightly won the highest praise; and the Duke +commanded that a great part of the ornaments that he placed between +the columns should be left there, where they still are, and +deservedly. + +For the Villa of Cristofano Rinieri at Castello, while he was occupied +with the fountains of the Duke, Tribolo made for a niche over a +fish-pond which is at the head of a fowling-place, a river-god of +grey-stone, of the size of life, which pours water into a very large +basin of the same stone; which figure is made of pieces, and put +together with such diligence and art, that it appears to be all of one +block. Tribolo then set his hand, at the command of his Excellency, to +attempting to finish the staircase of the library of S. Lorenzo--that, +namely, which is in the vestibule before the door; but after he had +placed four steps in position, not finding either the plan or the +measurements of Michelagnolo, by order of the Duke he went to Rome, +not only to hear the opinion of Michelagnolo with regard to that +staircase, but also to make an effort to bring him to Florence. But he +did not succeed either in the one object or in the other, for +Michelagnolo, not wishing to leave Rome, excused himself in a handsome +manner, and as for the staircase he declared that he remembered +neither the measurements nor anything else. Tribolo, therefore, having +returned to Florence, and not being able to continue the work of that +staircase, set himself to make the pavement of the said library with +white and red bricks, after the manner of some pavements that he had +seen in Rome; but he added a filling of red clay to the white clay +mixed with bole, in order to produce various effects of carving in +those bricks; and thus he made in that pavement a copy of the ceiling +and coffered work above--a notion that was highly extolled. He then +began, but did not finish, a work that was to be placed on the main +tower of the defences of the Porta a Faenza, for Don Giovanni di Luna, +the castellan at that time--namely, an escutcheon of grey-stone, and a +large eagle in full relief with two heads, which he made in wax to the +end that it might be cast in bronze, but nothing more was done with +it, and of the escutcheon only the shield was finished. + +Now it was the custom in the city of Florence to have almost every +year on the principal piazza, on the evening of the festival of S. +John the Baptist, towards nightfall, a girandola--that is, a +contrivance full of fire-trumpets, rockets, and other fireworks; which +girandola had the form now of a temple, now of a ship, sometimes of +rocks, and at times of a city or of an inferno, according as it +pleased the designer; and one year the charge of making one was given +to Tribolo, who, as will be described below, made it very +beautifully. Of the various manners of these fireworks, and +particularly of set pieces, Vannoccio of Siena and others give an +account, and on this subject I shall enlarge no further; but I must +say something as to the nature of these girandole. The whole +structure, then, is of wood, with broad compartments radiating +outwards from the foot, to the end that the rockets, when they have +been lighted, may not set fire to the other fireworks, but may rise in +due order from their separate places, one after another, filling the +heavens in proper succession with the fire that blazes in the +girandola both above and below. They are distributed, I say, at wide +intervals, to the end that they may not burn all at once, and may +produce a beautiful effect; and the same do the mortars, which are +bound to the firm parts of the girandola, and make the most beautiful +and joyous noises. The fire-trumpets, likewise, are fitted in among +the ornaments, and are generally contrived so as to discharge through +the mouths of masks and other suchlike things. But the most important +point is to arrange the girandola in such a manner that the lights +that burn in certain vases may last the whole night, and illuminate +the piazza; wherefore the whole work is connected together by a simple +match of tow steeped in a mixture of powder full of sulphur and +aquavitae, which creeps little by little with its fire to every part +which it has to set alight, one after another, until it has kindled +the whole. Now, as I have said, the things represented are various, +but all must have something to do with fire, and must be subject to +its action; and long before this there had been counterfeited the city +of Sodom, with Lot and his daughters flying from it, at another time +Geryon, with Virgil and Dante on his back, according as Dante himself +relates in the _Inferno_, and even earlier Orpheus bringing Eurydice +with him from those infernal regions, with many other inventions. And +his Excellency ordained that the work should not be given to any of +the puppet-painters, who for many years past had made a thousand +absurdities in the girandole, but that an excellent master should +produce a work that might have in it something of the good; wherefore +the charge of this was given to Tribolo, who, with the ingenuity and +art wherewith he had executed all his other works, made one in the +form of a very beautiful octagonal temple, rising with its ornaments +to the total height of twenty braccia. This temple he represented as +the Temple of Peace, placing on the summit an image of Peace, who was +setting fire to a great pile of arms which she had at her feet; and +these arms, the statue of Peace, and all the other figures that made +this structure one of great beauty, were made of pasteboard, clay, and +cloth steeped in glue, put together with extraordinary art. They were, +I say, of these materials, to the end that the whole work might be the +lighter, since it was to be suspended at a great height from the +ground by a double rope that crossed the Piazza high in the air. It is +true, indeed, that the fireworks having been placed in it too thickly, +and the fuses of tow being too near one to another, when they were set +alight, such was the fury of the conflagration, and so great and so +violent the blaze, that everything caught fire all at once, and was +burned in a flash, whereas it should have continued to burn for an +hour at least; and what was worse, the fire seizing on the woodwork +and on all that should have been preserved, the ropes and every other +thing were consumed in a moment, which was no small loss, and gave +little pleasure to the people. But with regard to workmanship, it was +more beautiful than any other girandola that had ever been made up to +that time. + +The Duke, then, resolving to erect the Loggia of the Mercato Nuovo for +the convenience of his citizens and merchants, did not wish to lay a +greater burden than he could bear on Tribolo, who, as chief engineer +to the Capitani di Parte and the commissioners of the rivers and the +sewers of the city, was always riding through the Florentine +dominions, engaged in bringing back to their proper beds many rivers +that did damage by breaking away from them, in repairing bridges, and +in other suchlike works; and he gave the charge of this enterprise to +Tasso, at the advice of the above-mentioned Messer Pier Francesco, his +major-domo, in order to change that Tasso from a carpenter into an +architect. This was certainly against the wishes of Tribolo, although +he did not show it, and even acted as the close friend of Tasso; and a +proof that this is true is that Tribolo perceived many errors in +Tasso's model, but, so it is believed, would by no means tell him of +them. Such an error, for example, was that of the capitals of the +columns that are beside the pilasters, whereby, the columns not +leaving enough space, when everything had been drawn up, and the +capitals had to be set into position, the corona above those capitals +would not go in, so that it was found necessary to cut away so much +that the order of the architecture was ruined; besides many other +errors, of which there is no need to speak. For the above-named Messer +Pier Francesco the same Tasso executed the door of the Church of S. +Romolo, and a window with knee-shaped brackets on the Piazza del Duca, +in an order of his own, substituting capitals for bases, and doing so +many other things without measure or order, that it might have been +said that the German Order had begun to return to life in Tuscany by +means of this man; to say nothing of the works that he did in the +Palace in the way of staircases and apartments, which the Duke has +been obliged to have destroyed, because they had no sort of order, +measure, or proportion, and were, on the contrary, all shapeless, out +of square, and without the least convenience or grace. All these +things were not done without some responsibility falling on Tribolo, +who, having considerable knowledge in such matters, should not, so it +seemed, have allowed his Prince to throw away his money and to do him +such an affront to his face; and, what was even more serious, he +should not have permitted such things to Tasso, who was his friend. +Well did men of judgment recognize the presumption and madness of the +one in seeking to exercise an art of which he knew nothing, and the +dissimulation of the other, who declared that he was pleased with that +which he certainly knew to be bad; and of this a proof may be found in +the works that Giorgio Vasari has had to pull down in the Palace, to +the loss of the Duke and the great shame of those men. + +But the same thing happened to Tribolo as to Tasso, in that, even as +Tasso abandoned wood-carving, a craft in which he had no equal, but +never became a good architect, and thus won little honour by deserting +an art in which he was very able, and applying himself to another of +which he knew not one scrap, so Tribolo, abandoning sculpture, in +which it may be said with truth that he was most excellent and caused +everyone to marvel, and setting himself to attempt to straighten out +rivers, ceased to win honour by pursuing the one, while the other +brought him blame and loss rather than honour and profit. For he did +not succeed in his tinkering with rivers, and he made many enemies, +particularly in the district of Prato, on account of the Bisenzio, and +in many places in the Val di Nievole. + +Duke Cosimo having then bought the Palace of the Pitti, of which there +has been an account in another place, and his Excellency desiring to +adorn it with gardens, groves, fountains, fish-ponds, and other +suchlike things, Tribolo executed all the distribution of the hill in +the manner in which it still remains, accommodating everything in its +proper place with beautiful judgment, although various things in many +parts of the garden have since been changed. Of this Pitti Palace, +which is the most beautiful in Europe, mention will be made in another +place with a more suitable occasion. + +After these things, Tribolo was sent by his Excellency to the island +of Elba, not only that he might see the city and port that the Duke +had caused to be built there, but also that he might make arrangements +for the transport of a round piece of granite, twelve braccia in +diameter, from which was to be made a tazza for the great lawn of the +Pitti Palace, which might receive the water of the principal fountain. +Tribolo, therefore, went thither and caused a boat to be made on +purpose for transporting the tazza, and then, after giving the +stone-cutters directions for the transportation, he returned to +Florence; where he had no sooner arrived, than he found the whole +country full of murmurings and maledictions against him, since about +that time floods and inundations had done infinite havoc in the +neighbourhood of those rivers that he had patched up, although it was, +perhaps, not altogether through his fault that this had happened. +However that may have been, whether it was the malignity of some of +his assistants, or perchance envy, or that the accusation was indeed +true, the blame for all that damage was laid on Tribolo, who, being a +man of no great spirit, and rather wanting in resolution than +otherwise, and doubting that the malice of some enemy might make him +lose the favour of the Duke, was in a state of great despondency, +when, being of a feeble habit of body, on the 20th of August in the +year 1550, there came upon him a most violent fever. At that time +Giorgio Vasari was in Florence, for the purpose of having sent to Rome +the marbles for the tombs that Pope Julius III caused to be erected in +S. Pietro a Montorio; and he, as one who sincerely esteemed the +talents of Tribolo, visited and comforted him, beseeching him that he +should think of nothing save his health, and that, when cured, he +should return to finish the work of Castello, letting the rivers go +their own way, for they were more likely to drown his fame than to +bring him any profit or honour. This, which he promised to attempt to +do, he would, I believe, have done at all costs, if he had not been +prevented by death, which closed his eyes on the 7th of September in +the same year. And so the works of Castello, begun and carried well +forward by him, remained unfinished; for although some work has been +done there since his day, now in one part and now in another, +nevertheless they have never been pursued with the diligence and +resolution that were shown when Tribolo was alive and when the Lord +Duke was hot in the undertaking. Of a truth, he who does not press +great works forward while those who are having them done are spending +money willingly and devoting their best attention to them, brings it +about that those works are put on one side and left unfinished, which +zeal and solicitude could have carried to perfection. And thus, by the +negligence of the workers, the world is left without its adornment, +and they without their honour and fame, for the reason that it rarely +happens, as it did to this work of Castello, that on the death of the +first master he who succeeds to his place is willing to finish it +according to his design and model with that modesty with which Giorgio +Vasari, at the commission of the Duke, has caused the great fish-pond +of Castello to be finished after the directions of Tribolo, even as he +will do with the other things according as his Excellency may desire +from time to time to have them done. + +Tribolo lived sixty-five years, and was interred by the Company of the +Scalzo in their place of burial. He left behind him a son called +Raffaello, who has not taken up art, and two daughters, one of whom is +the wife of David, Tribolo's assistant in building all the works at +Castello, who, being a man of judgment and capable in such matters, is +now employed on the aqueducts of Florence, Pisa, and all the other +places in the dominion, according as it may please his Excellency. + + + + +PIERINO (PIERO) DA VINCI + + + + +LIFE OF PIERINO (PIERO) DA VINCI + +SCULPTOR + + +Although those men are generally the most celebrated who have executed +some work excellently well, nevertheless, if the works already +accomplished by any man foreshadow those that he did not achieve as +likely to have been numerous and much more rare, if some accident, +unforeseen and out of the common use, had not happened to interrupt +him, it is certain that such a man, wherever there may be one willing +to be just in his appreciation of the talent of another, will be +rightly extolled and celebrated both on the one count and on the +other, and as much for what he would have done as for what he did. The +sculptor Vinci, therefore, should not suffer on account of the short +duration of his life, or be robbed thereby of the praise due to him +from the judgment of those who shall come after us, considering that +he was only in the first bloom both of his life and of his studies at +the time when he produced and gave to the world that which everyone +admires, and was like to bring forth fruits in greater abundance, if a +hostile tempest had not destroyed both the fruits and the tree. + +I remember having said in another place that in the township of Vinci, +in the lower Valdarno, there lived Ser Piero, the father of Leonardo +da Vinci, most famous of painters. To this Ser Piero, after Leonardo, +there was born, as his youngest son, Bartolommeo, who, living at Vinci +and attaining to manhood, took for his wife one of the first maidens +of that township. Bartolommeo was desirous of having a male child, and +spoke very often to his wife of the greatness of the genius with which +his brother Leonardo had been endowed, praying God that He should make +her worthy that from her there might be born in his house another +Leonardo, the first being now dead. In a short time, therefore, +according to his desire, there was born to him a gracious boy, to whom +he wished to give the name of Leonardo; but, being advised by his +relatives to revive the memory of his father, he gave him the name of +Piero. Having come to the age of three years, the boy had a most +beautiful countenance, with curly locks, and showed great grace in +every movement, with a quickness of intelligence that was marvellous; +insomuch that Maestro Giuliano del Carmine, an excellent astrologer, +and with him a priest devoted to chiromancy, who were both close +friends of Bartolommeo, having arrived in Vinci and lodged in +Bartolommeo's house, looking at the forehead and hand of the boy, +revealed to the father, both the astrologer and the chiromancer +together, the greatness of his genius, and predicted that in a short +time he would make extraordinary proficience in the mercurial arts, +but that his life would also be very short. And only too true was +their prophecy, for both in the one part and in the other (when one +would have sufficed), in his life as well as in his art, it needs must +be fulfilled. + +Then, continuing to grow, Piero had his father as his master in +letters, but of himself, without any master, giving his attention to +drawing and to making various little puppets in clay, he showed that +the divine inclination of his nature recognized by the astrologer and +the chiromancer was already awakening and beginning to work in him. By +reason of which Bartolommeo judged that his prayer had been heard by +God; and, believing that his brother had been restored to him in his +son, he began to think of removing Piero from Vinci and taking him to +Florence. Having then done this without delay, he placed Piero, who +was now twelve years of age, with Bandinelli in Florence, flattering +himself that Baccio, having been once the friend of Leonardo, would +take notice of the boy and teach him with diligence; besides which, it +seemed to him that Piero delighted more in sculpture than in painting. +But afterwards, coming very often to Florence, he recognized that +Bandinelli was not answering with deeds to his expectations, and was +not taking pains with the boy or showing interest in him, although he +saw him to be willing to learn. For which reason Bartolommeo took him +away from Bandinelli, and entrusted him to Tribolo, who appeared to +him to make more effort to help those who were seeking to learn, +besides giving more attention to the studies of art and bearing even +greater affection to the memory of Leonardo. + +Tribolo was executing some fountains at Castello, the villa of his +Excellency; and thereupon Piero, beginning once more his customary +drawing, through having there the competition of the other young men +whom Tribolo kept about him, set himself with great ardour of spirit +to study day and night, being spurred by his nature, which was +desirous of excellence and honour, and being even more kindled by the +example of the others like himself whom he saw constantly around him. +Wherefore in a few months he made such progress, that it was a marvel +to everyone; and, having begun to gain some experience with the +chisels, he sought to see whether his hand and his tools would obey in +practice the thoughts within him and the designs formed in his brain. +Tribolo, perceiving his readiness, and having had a water-basin of +stone made at that very time for Cristofano Rinieri, gave to Piero a +small piece of marble, from which he was to make for that water-basin +a boy that should spurt forth water from the private part. Piero, +taking the marble with great gladness, first made a little model of +clay, and then executed the work with so much grace, that Tribolo and +the others ventured the opinion that he would become one of those who +are counted as rare in that art. Tribolo then gave him a Ducal +Mazzocchio[3] to make in stone, to be placed over an escutcheon with +the Medici balls, for Messer Pier Francesco Riccio, the major-domo of +the Duke; and he made it with two children with their legs intertwined +together, who are holding the Mazzocchio in their hands and placing it +upon the escutcheon, which is fixed over the door of a house that the +major-domo then occupied, opposite to S. Giuliano, near the Priests of +S. Antonio. When this work was seen, all the craftsmen of Florence +formed the same judgment that Tribolo had pronounced before. + + [Footnote 3: See note on p. 132, Vol. II.] + +After this, he carved a boy squeezing a fish that is pouring water +from its mouth, for the fountains of Castello. And then, Tribolo +having given him a larger piece of marble, Piero made from it two +children who are embracing each other and squeezing fishes, causing +water to spout from their mouths. These children were so graceful in +the heads and in their whole persons, and executed with so beautiful a +manner in the legs, arms, and hair, that already it could be seen that +he would have been able to execute the most difficult work to +perfection. Taking heart, therefore, and buying a piece of grey-stone, +two braccia and a half in length, which he took to his house on the +Canto alla Briga, Piero began to work at it in the evenings, after +returning from his labours, at night, and on feast-days, insomuch that +little by little he brought it to completion. This was a figure of +Bacchus, who had a Satyr at his feet, and with one hand was holding a +cup, while in the other he had a bunch of grapes, and his head was +girt with a crown of grapes; all after a model made by himself in +clay. In this and in his other early works Piero showed a marvellous +facility, which never offends the eye, nor is it in any respect +disturbing to him who beholds it. This Bacchus, when finished, was +bought by Bongianni Capponi, and his nephew Lodovico Capponi now has +it in a courtyard in his house. + +The while that Piero was executing these works, few persons as yet +knew that he was the nephew of Leonardo da Vinci; but his labours +making him well known and renowned, by this means his parentage and +his birth were likewise revealed. Wherefore ever afterwards, both from +his connection with his uncle and from his own happy genius, wherein +he resembled that great man, he was called by everyone not Piero, but +Vinci. + +Now Vinci, while occupied in this manner, had often heard various +persons speaking of the things connected with the arts to be seen in +Rome, and extolling them, as is always done by everyone; wherefore a +great desire had been kindled in him to see them, hoping to be able to +derive profit by beholding not only the works of the ancients, but +also those of Michelagnolo, and even the master himself, who was then +alive and residing in Rome. He went thither, therefore, in company +with some friends; but after seeing Rome and all that he wished, he +returned to Florence, having reflected judiciously that the things of +Rome were as yet too profound for him, and should be studied and +imitated not so early in his career, but after a greater acquaintance +with art. + +At that time Tribolo had finished a model for the shaft of the +fountain in the labyrinth, in which are some Satyrs in low-relief, +four masks in half-relief, and four little boys in the round, who are +seated upon certain caulicoles. Vinci having then returned, Tribolo +gave him this shaft to do, and he executed and finished it, making in +it some delicate designs not employed by any other but himself, which +greatly pleased all who saw them. Then, having had the whole marble +tazza of that fountain finished, Tribolo thought of placing on the +edge of it four children in the round, lying down and playing with +their arms and legs in the water, in various attitudes; and these he +intended to cast in bronze. Vinci, at the commission of Tribolo, made +them of clay, and they were afterwards cast in bronze by Zanobi +Lastricati, a sculptor and a man very experienced in matters of +casting; and they were placed not long since around the fountain, +where they make a most beautiful effect. + +There was in daily intercourse with Tribolo one Luca Martini, the +proveditor at that time for the building of the Mercato Nuovo, who, +praising highly the excellence in art and the fine character of Vinci, +and desiring to help him, provided him with a piece of marble +two-thirds of a braccio in height and one and a quarter in length. +Vinci, taking the marble, made with it a Christ being scourged at the +Column, in which the rules of low-relief and of design may be seen to +have been well observed; and in truth it made everyone marvel, +considering that he had not yet reached the age of seventeen, and had +made in five years of study that proficience in art which others do +not achieve save after length of life and great experience of many +things. + +At this time Tribolo, having undertaken the office of superintendent +of the drains in the city of Florence, ordained in that capacity that +the drain in the old Piazza di S. Maria Novella should be raised from +the ground, in such a way that, becoming more capacious, it might be +better able to receive all the waters that ran into it from various +quarters. For this work, then, he commissioned Vinci to make the model +of a great mask of three braccia, which with its open mouth might +swallow all the rain-water. Afterwards, by order of the Ufficiali +della Torre, the work was allotted to Vinci, who, in order to execute +it more quickly, summoned to his aid the sculptor Lorenzo Marignolli. +In company with this master he finished it, making it from a block of +hard-stone; and the work is such that it adorns the whole Piazza, with +no small advantage to the city. + +It now appeared to Vinci that he had made such proficience in art, +that it would be a great benefit to him to see the principal works in +Rome, and to associate with the most excellent craftsmen living there; +wherefore, an occasion to go there presenting itself, he seized it +readily. There had arrived from Rome an intimate friend of +Michelagnolo Buonarroti, Francesco Bandini, who, having come to know +Vinci by means of Luca Martini, and having praised him highly, caused +him to make a model of wax for a tomb of marble that he wished to +erect in his chapel in S. Croce; and shortly afterwards, on returning +to Rome, Vinci having spoken his mind to Luca Martini, Bandini took +him in his company. There Vinci remained a year, studying all the +time, and executed some works worthy of remembrance. The first was a +Christ on the Cross in low-relief, rendering up His spirit to His +Father, which was copied from a design done by Michelagnolo. For +Cardinal Ridolfi he added to an antique head a breast in bronze, and +made a Venus of marble in low-relief, which was much extolled. For +Francesco Bandini he restored an ancient horse, of which many pieces +were wanting, and made it complete. And in order to give some proof of +gratitude, where he could, to Luca Martini, who was writing to him by +every courier, and continually recommending him to Bandini, it seemed +good to Vinci to make a copy in wax, in the round and two-thirds (of a +braccio) in height, of the Moses of Michelagnolo that is on the tomb +of Pope Julius II in S. Pietro in Vincula, than which there is no more +beautiful work to be seen; and so, having made the Moses of wax, he +sent it as a present to Luca Martini. + +At the time when Vinci was living in Rome and executing the works +mentioned above, Luca Martini was made by the Duke of Florence +proveditor of Pisa, and in his office he did not forget his friend, +and therefore wrote to him that he was preparing a room for him and +was providing a block of marble of three braccia, so that he might +return from Rome at his pleasure, seeing that while with him he should +want for nothing. Vinci, attracted by this prospect and by the love +that he bore to Luca, resolved to depart from Rome and to take up his +abode for some time in Pisa, where he looked to find opportunities of +practising his hand and making trial of his ability. Having therefore +gone to Pisa, he found that the marble was already in his room, +prepared according to the orders of Luca; but, on proceeding to begin +to carve from it an upright figure, he perceived that the marble had +in it a crack that diminished it by a braccio. Wherefore, having +resolved to change it into a recumbent figure, he made a young River +God holding a vase that is pouring out water, the vase being upheld by +three children, who are assisting the River God to pour the water +forth; and beneath his feet runs a copious stream of water, in which +may be seen fishes darting about and water-fowl flying in various +parts. This River God finished, Vinci made a present of it to Luca, +who presented it to the Duchess, to whom it was very dear; and then, +her brother Don Garzia di Toledo being at that time in Pisa, whither +he had gone by galley, she gave it to that brother, who accepted it +with much pleasure for the fountains of his garden in the Chiaia at +Naples. + +In those days Luca Martini was writing some observations on the +Commedia of Dante, and he pointed out to Vinci the cruelty described +by Dante, which the Pisans and Archbishop Ruggieri showed towards +Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, causing him to die of hunger with his +four sons in the tower that is therefore called the Tower of Hunger; +whereby he offered to Vinci the occasion for a new work and the idea +of a new design. Wherefore, while he was still working at the River +God described above, he set his hand to making a scene in wax more +than a braccio in height and three-quarters in breadth, to be cast in +bronze, in which he represented two of the Count's sons already dead, +one in the act of expiring, and the fourth overcome by hunger and near +his end, but not yet reduced to the last breath; with the father in a +pitiful and miserable attitude, blind and heavy with grief, and +groping over the wretched bodies of his sons stretched upon the +ground. In this work Vinci displayed the excellence of design no less +than did Dante the perfection of poetry in his verses, for no less +compassion is stirred by the attitudes shaped in wax by the sculptor +in him who beholds them, than is roused in him who listens to the +words and accents imprinted on the living page by the poet. And in +order to mark the place where the event happened, he made at the foot +of the scene the River Arno, which occupies its whole width, for the +above-named tower is not far distant from the river in Pisa; while +upon that tower he placed an old woman, naked, withered, and fearsome, +representing Hunger, much after the manner wherein Ovid describes her. +The wax model finished, he cast the scene in bronze, and it gave +consummate satisfaction, being held by the Court and by everyone to be +no ordinary work. + +Duke Cosimo was then intent on enriching and beautifying the city of +Pisa, and he had already caused the Piazza del Mercato to be built +anew, with a great number of shops around it, and had placed in the +centre a column ten braccia high, upon which, according to the design +of Luca, was to stand a statue representing Abundance. Martini, +therefore, having spoken to the Duke and presented Vinci to his +notice, easily obtained for him from his Excellency the commission for +that statue, the Duke being always eager to assist men of talent and +to bring fine intellects forward. Vinci executed a statue of +travertine, three braccia and a half in height, which was much +extolled by everyone; for at the feet of the figure he placed a little +child, who assists her to support the Cornucopia, carved with much +softness and facility, although the stone is rough and difficult to +work. + +[Illustration: UGOLINO DELLA GHERARDESCA AND HIS SONS IN THE TOWER OF +FAMINE + +(_After the wax relief by =Pierino [Piero] da Vinci=. Oxford: Ashmolean +Museum_) + +_Reproduced by permission of the Visitors of the Ashmolean Museum._] + +Luca afterwards sent to Carrara to have a block of marble quarried +five braccia in height and three in breadth, from which Vinci, who had +once seen some sketches by Michelagnolo of Samson slaying a Philistine +with the jawbone of an ass, proposed to make two figures of five +braccia from his own fancy, after that subject. Whereupon, while the +marble was on its way, he set himself to make several models, all +varying one from another, and then fixed on one of them; and after the +block had arrived he began to carve it, and carried it well on, +imitating Michelagnolo in cutting his conception and design little +by little out of the stone, without spoiling it or making any sort of +error. He executed all the perforation in this work, whether undercut +or at an easy angle, with great facility, laborious as it was, and the +manner of the whole work was very delicate. But since the labour was +very fatiguing, he sought to distract himself with other studies and +works of less importance; and thus he executed during the same time a +little tablet of marble in low-relief, in which he represented Our +Lady with Christ, S. John, and S. Elizabeth, which was held, as it +still is, to be a rare work. This came into the hands of the most +illustrious Duchess, and it is now among the choice things in the +study of the Duke. + +He then set his hand to a scene of marble, one braccio high and one +and a half wide, partly in half-relief and partly in low-relief, in +which he represented the restoration of Pisa by the Duke, who is in +the work present in person at the restoration of that city, which is +being pressed forward by his presence. Round the Duke are figures of +his virtues; in particular a Minerva representing his wisdom and also +the arts revived by him in that city of Pisa, who is surrounded by +many evils and natural defects of the site, which besiege her on every +side, and afflict her in the manner of enemies; but from all these +that city has since been delivered by the above-mentioned virtues of +the Duke. All these virtues round the Duke, with all the evils round +Pisa, were portrayed by Vinci in his scene with most beautiful +gestures and attitudes; but he left it unfinished, to the great regret +of those who saw it, on account of the perfection of the things in it +that were completed. + +The fame of Vinci having grown and spread abroad by reason of these +works, the heirs of Messer Baldassarre Turini da Pescia besought him +that he should make a model of a marble tomb for Messer Baldassarre; +which finished, it pleased them, whereupon they made an agreement that +the tomb should be executed, and Vinci sent Francesco del Tadda, an +able master of marble-carving, to have the marble quarried at Carrara. +And when that master had sent him a block of marble, Vinci began a +statue, and carved out of the stone a figure blocked out in such a +manner that one who knew not the circumstances would have said that +it was certainly blocked out by Michelagnolo. + +The name of Vinci was now very great, and his genius was admired by +all, being much more perfect than could have been expected in one so +young, and it was likely to grow even more and to become greater, and +to equal that of any other man in his art, as his own works bear +witness, without any other testimony; when the term prescribed for him +by Heaven, being now close at hand, interrupted all his plans, and +caused his rapid progress to cease at one blow, not suffering that he +should climb any higher, and depriving the world of many excellent +works of art with which, had Vinci lived, it would have been adorned. +It happened at this time, while Vinci was intent on the tomb of +another, not knowing that his own was preparing, that the Duke had to +send Luca Martini to Genoa on affairs of importance; and Luca, both +because he loved Vinci and wished to have him in his company, and also +in order to give him some diversion and recreation, and to enable him +to see Genoa, took him with him on his journey. There, while Martini +was transacting his business, at his suggestion Messer Adamo +Centurioni commissioned Vinci to execute a figure of S. John the +Baptist, of which he made the model. But soon he was attacked by +fever, and, to increase his distress, at the same time his friend was +also taken away from him; perchance to provide a way in which fate +might be fulfilled in the life of Vinci. For it became necessary that +Luca, in the interests of the business entrusted to him, should go to +Florence to find the Duke; wherefore he parted from his sick friend, +to the great grief of both the one and the other, leaving him in the +house of the Abate Nero, to whom he straitly recommended him, although +Piero was very unwilling to remain in Genoa. But Vinci, feeling +himself growing worse every day, resolved to have himself removed from +Genoa; and, having caused an assistant of his own, called Tiberio +Cavalieri, to come from Pisa, with his help he had himself carried to +Livorno by water, and from Livorno to Pisa in a litter. Arriving in +Pisa at the twenty-second hour in the evening, all exhausted and +broken by the journey, the sea-voyage, and the fever, during the night +he had no repose, and the next morning, at the break of day, he passed +to the other life, not having yet reached the age of twenty-three. + +The death of Vinci was a great grief to all his friends, and to Luca +Martini beyond measure; and it grieved all those who had hoped to see +from his hands such works as are not often seen. And Messer Benedetto +Varchi, who was much the friend of his abilities and of those of every +master, afterwards wrote the following sonnet in memory of his fame: + + Come potro da me, se tu non presti + O forza, o tregua al mio gran duolo interno, + Soffrirlo in pace mai, Signor superno, + Che fin qui nuova ognor pena mi desti? + Dunque de' miei piu cari or quegli, or questi, + Verde sen voli all'alto Asilo eterno, + Ed io canuto in questo basso inferno + A pianger sempre e lamentarmi resti? + Sciolgami almen tua gran bontade quinci, + Or che reo fato nostro, o sua ventura, + Ch' era ben degno d' altra vita, e gente, + Per far piu ricco il cielo, e la scultura + Men bella, e me col buon Martin dolente, + N' ha privi, o pieta, del secondo Vinci. + + + + +BACCIO BANDINELLI + + + + +LIFE OF BACCIO BANDINELLI + +SCULPTOR OF FLORENCE + + +In the days when the arts of design flourished in Florence by the +favour and assistance of the elder Lorenzo de' Medici the Magnificent, +there lived in the city a goldsmith called Michelagnolo di Viviano of +Gaiuole, who worked excellently well at chasing and incavo for enamels +and niello, and was very skilful in every sort of work in gold and +silver plate. This Michelagnolo had a great knowledge of jewels, and +set them very well; and on account of his talents and his versatility +all the foreign masters of his art used to have recourse to him, and +he gave them hospitality, as well as to the young men of the city, +insomuch that his workshop was held to be, as it was, the first in +Florence. Of him the Magnificent Lorenzo and all the house of Medici +availed themselves; and for the tourney that Giuliano, the brother of +that Magnificent Lorenzo, held on the Piazza di S. Croce, he executed +with subtle craftsmanship all the ornaments of helmets, crests, and +devices. Wherefore he acquired a great name and much intimacy with the +sons of the Magnificent Lorenzo, to whom his work was ever afterwards +very dear, and no less useful to him their acquaintance and +friendship, by reason of which, and also by the many works that he +executed throughout the whole city and dominion, he became a man of +substance as well as one of much repute in his art. To this +Michelagnolo the Medici, on their departure from Florence in the year +1494, entrusted much plate in silver and gold, which was all kept in +safe hiding by him and faithfully preserved until their return, when +he was much extolled by them for his fidelity, and afterwards +recompensed with rewards. + +In the year 1487 there was born to Michelagnolo a son, whom he called +Bartolommeo, but afterwards, according to the Florentine custom, he +was called by everyone Baccio. Michelagnolo, desiring to leave his son +heir to his art and connection, took him into his own workshop in +company with other young men who were learning to draw; for that was +the custom in those times, and no one was held to be a good goldsmith +who was not a good draughtsman and able to work well in relief. +Baccio, then, in his first years, gave his attention to design +according to the teaching of his father, being assisted no less to +make proficience by the competition of the other lads, among whom he +chose as his particular companion one called Piloto, who afterwards +became an able goldsmith; and with him he often went about the +churches drawing the works of the good painters, but also mingling +work in relief with his drawing, and counterfeiting in wax certain +sculptures of Donato and Verrocchio, besides executing some works in +clay, in the round. + +While still a boy in age, Baccio frequented at times the workshop of +Girolamo del Buda, a commonplace painter, on the Piazza di S. +Pulinari. There, at one time during the winter, a great quantity of +snow had fallen, which had been thrown afterwards by the people into a +heap in that piazza; and Girolamo, turning to Baccio, said to him +jestingly: "Baccio, if this snow were marble, could we not carve a +fine giant out of it, such as a Marforio lying down?" "We could so," +answered Baccio, "and I suggest that we should act as if it were +marble." And immediately, throwing off his cloak, he set his hands to +the snow, and, assisted by other boys, taking away the snow where +there was too much, and adding some in other places, he made a rough +figure of Marforio lying down, eight braccia in length. Whereupon the +painter and all the others stood marvelling, not so much at what he +had done as at the spirit with which he had set his hand to a work so +vast, and he so young and so small. + +Baccio, indeed, having more love for sculpture than for goldsmith's +work, gave many proofs of this; and when he went to Pinzirimonte, a +villa bought by his father, he would often plant himself before the +naked labourers and draw them with great eagerness, and he did the +same with the cattle on the farm. At this time he continued for many +days to go in the morning to Prato, which was near the villa, where he +stayed the whole day drawing in the Chapel of the Pieve from the work +of Fra Filippo Lippi, and he did not cease until he had drawn it all, +imitating the draperies of that master, who did them very well. And +already he handled with great skill the style and the pen, and also +chalk both red and black, which last is a soft stone that comes from +the mountains of France, and with it, when cut to a point, drawings +can be executed with great delicacy. + +These things making clear to Michelagnolo the mind and inclination of +his son, he also changed his intention, like the boy himself, and, +being likewise advised by his friends, placed him under the care of +Giovan Francesco Rustici, one of the best sculptors in the city, whose +workshop was still constantly frequented by Leonardo da Vinci. +Leonardo, seeing the drawings of Baccio and being pleased with them, +exhorted him to persevere and to take to working in relief; and he +recommended strongly to him the works of Donato, saying also that he +should execute something in marble, such as a head or a low-relief. +Baccio, encouraged by the comforting advice of Leonardo, set himself +to copy in marble an antique head of a woman, of which he had shaped a +model from one that is in the house of the Medici. This, for his first +work, he executed passing well, and it was held very dear by Andrea +Carnesecchi, who received it as a present from Baccio's father and +placed it in his house in the Via Larga, over that door in the centre +of the court which leads into the garden. Now, Baccio continuing to +make other models of figures in clay in the round, his father, wishing +not to fail in his duty towards the praiseworthy zeal of his son, sent +for some blocks of marble from Carrara, and caused to be built for +him, at the end of his house at Pinti, a room with lights arranged for +working, which looked out upon the Via Fiesolana. Whereupon he set +himself to block out various figures in those marbles, and one, among +others, he carried well on from a piece of marble of two braccia and a +half, which was a Hercules that is holding the dead Cacus beneath him, +between his legs. These sketches were left in the same place in memory +of him. + +At this time was thrown open to view the cartoon of Michelagnolo +Buonarroti, full of nude figures, which Michelagnolo had executed at +the commission of Piero Soderini for the Great Council Chamber, and, +as has been related in another place, all the craftsmen flocked +together to draw it on account of its excellence. Among these came +Baccio, and no long time passed before he outstripped them all, for +the reason that he understood nudes, and outlined, shaded, and +finished them, better than any of the other draughtsmen, among whom +were Jacopo Sansovino, Andrea del Sarto, Il Rosso, who was then very +young, and Alfonso Berughetta the Spaniard, together with many other +famous craftsmen. Baccio frequented the place more than any of the +others, and had a counterfeit key; and it happened that, Piero +Soderini having been deposed from the government about this time, in +the year 1512, and the house of Medici having been restored to power, +during the confusion caused in the Palace by the change of government, +Baccio entered in secret, all by himself, and tore the cartoon into +many pieces. Of which not knowing the reason, some said that Baccio +had torn it up in order to have some pieces of the cartoon in his +possession for his own convenience, some declared that he wished to +deprive the other young men of that advantage, so that they might not +be able to profit by it and make themselves a name in art, others said +that he was moved to do this by his affection for Leonardo da Vinci, +from whom Michelagnolo's cartoon had taken much of his reputation, and +others, again, perhaps interpreting his action better, attributed it +to the hatred which he felt against Michelagnolo and afterwards +demonstrated as long as he lived. The loss of the cartoon was no light +one for the city, and very heavy the blame that was rightly laid upon +Baccio by everyone, as an envious and malicious person. + +Baccio then executed some pieces of cartoon with lead-white and +charcoal, among which was a very beautiful one of a nude Cleopatra, +which he presented to the goldsmith Piloto. Having already acquired a +name as a great draughtsman, he was desirous of learning to paint in +colours, having a firm belief that he would not only equal Buonarroti, +but even greatly surpass him in both fields of art. Now he had +executed a cartoon of a Leda, in which Castor and Pollux were issuing +from the egg of the swan embraced by her, and he wished to colour it +in oils, in such a way as to make it appear that the methods of +handling the colours and mixing them together in order to make the +various tints, with the lights and shades, had not been taught to him +by others, but that he had found them by himself, and, after pondering +how he could do this, he thought of the following expedient. He +besought Andrea del Sarto, who was much his friend, that he should +paint a portrait of him in oils, flattering himself that he would +thereby gain two advantages in accordance with his purpose; one was +that he would see the method of mixing the colours, and the other was +that the painted picture would remain in his hands, which, having seen +it executed and understanding it, would assist him and serve him as a +pattern. But Andrea perceived Baccio's intention as he made his +request, and was angry at his want of confidence and astuteness, for +he would have been willing to show him what he desired, if Baccio had +asked him as a friend; wherefore, without making any sign that he had +found him out, and refraining from mixing the colours into tints, he +placed every sort of colour on his palette and mingled them together +with the brush, and, taking some now from one and now from another +with great dexterity of hand, counterfeited in this way the vivid +colouring of Baccio's face. The latter, both through the artfulness of +Andrea and because he had to sit still where he was if he wished to be +painted, was never able to see or learn anything that he wished: and +it was a fine notion of Andrea's, thus at the same time to punish the +deceitfulness of his friend and to display with this method of +painting, like a well-practised master, even greater ability and +experience in art. + +For all this, however, Baccio did not abandon his determination, in +which he was assisted by the painter Rosso, whom he afterwards asked +more openly for the help that he desired. Having thus learned the +methods of colouring, he painted a picture in oils of the Holy Fathers +delivered from the Limbo of Hell by the Saviour, and also a larger +picture of Noah drunk with wine and revealing his nakedness in the +presence of his sons. He tried his hand at painting on the wall, on +fresh plaster, and executed on the walls of his house heads, arms, +legs, and torsi, coloured in various ways; but, perceiving that this +involved him in greater difficulties than he had expected, through +the drying of the plaster, he returned to his former study of working +in relief. He made a figure of marble, three braccia in height, of a +young Mercury with a flute in his hand, with which he took great +pains, and it was extolled and held to be a rare work; and afterwards, +in the year 1530, it was bought by Giovan Battista della Palla and +sent to France to King Francis, who held it in great estimation. + +Baccio devoted himself with great study and solicitude to examining +and reproducing the most minute details of anatomy, persevering in +this for many months and even years. And certainly one can praise +highly in this man his desire for honour and excellence in art, and +for working well therein; spurred by which desire, and by the most +fiery ardour, with which, rather than with aptitude or dexterity in +art, he had been endowed by nature from his earliest years, Baccio +spared himself no fatigue, never relaxed his efforts for a moment, was +always intent either on preparing for work or on working, always +occupied, and never to be found idle, thinking that by continual work +he would surpass all others who had ever practised his art, and +promising this result to himself as the reward of his incessant study +and endless labour. Continuing, therefore, his zealous study, he not +only produced a great number of sheets drawn in various ways with his +own hand, but also contrived to get Agostino Viniziano, the engraver +of prints, to engrave for him a nude Cleopatra and a larger plate +filled with various anatomical studies, in order to see whether this +would be successful; and the latter plate brought him great praise. + +He then set himself to make in wax, in full-relief, a figure one braccio +and a half in height of S. Jerome in Penitence, lean beyond belief, +which showed on the bones the muscles all withered, a great part of the +nerves, and the skin dry and wrinkled; and with such diligence was this +work executed by him, that all the craftsmen, and particularly Leonardo +da Vinci, pronounced the opinion that there had never been seen a better +thing of its kind, nor one wrought with greater art. This figure Baccio +carried to Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici and to his brother the +Magnificent Giuliano, and by its means he made himself known to them as +the son of the goldsmith Michelagnolo; and they, besides praising the +work, showed him many other favours. This was in the year 1512, when +they had returned to their house and their government. At this same time +there were being executed in the Office of Works of S. Maria del Fiore +certain Apostles of marble, which were to be set up within the marble +tabernacles in those very places in that church where there are the +Apostles painted by the painter Lorenzo di Bicci. At the instance of the +Magnificent Giuliano there was allotted to Baccio a S. Peter, four +braccia and a half in height, which after a long time he brought to +completion; and, although it has not the highest perfection of +sculpture, nevertheless good design may be seen in it. This Apostle +remained in the Office of Works from the year 1513 down to 1565, in +which year Duke Cosimo, in honour of the marriage of Queen Joanna of +Austria, his daughter-in-law, was pleased to have the interior of S. +Maria del Fiore whitewashed, which church had never been touched from +the time of its erection down to that day, and to have four Apostles set +up in their places, among which was the S. Peter mentioned above. + +Now in the year 1515, Pope Leo X passing through Florence on his way +to Bologna, the city, in order to do him honour, ordained, among many +other ornaments and festive preparations, that there should be made a +colossal figure of nine braccia and a half, which was to be placed +under an arch of the Loggia in the Piazza near the Palace; and this +was given to Baccio. This colossal figure was a Hercules, and from the +premature words of Baccio men expected that it would surpass the David +of Buonarroti, which stood there near it; but the act did not +correspond to the word, nor the work to the boast, and it robbed +Baccio of much of the estimation in which he had previously been held +by the craftsmen and by the whole city. + +Pope Leo had allotted the work of the ornamentation in marble that +surrounds the Chamber of Our Lady at Loreto, with the statues and +scenes, to Maestro Andrea Contucci of Monte Sansovino, who had already +executed some of these with great credit to himself, and was then +engaged on others. Now at this time Baccio took to Rome, for the Pope, +a very beautiful model of a nude David who was holding Goliath under +him and was cutting off his head; which model he intended to execute +in bronze or in marble for that very spot in the court of the house of +the Medici in Florence where there once stood the David of Donato, +which, at the spoiling of the Medici Palace, was taken to the Palace +that then belonged to the Signori. The Pope, having praised Baccio, +but not thinking that the time had come to execute the David, sent him +to Loreto to Maestro Andrea, to the end that Andrea might give him one +of those scenes to do. Having arrived in Loreto, he was received +lovingly by Maestro Andrea and shown much kindness, both on account of +his fame and because the Pope had recommended him, and a piece of +marble was assigned to him from which he should carve the Nativity of +Our Lady. Baccio, after making the model, began the work; but, being a +person who was not able to endure a colleague or an equal, and had +little praise for the works of others, he also began to speak hardly +before the other sculptors who were there of the works of Maestro +Andrea, saying that he had no design, and he said the same of the +others, insomuch that in a short time he made himself disliked by them +all. Whereupon, all that Baccio had said of Maestro Andrea having come +to his ears, he, like a wise man, answered him lovingly, saying that +works are done with the hands and not with the tongue, that good +design is to be looked for not in drawings but in the perfection of +the work finished in stone, and, finally, that in future Baccio should +speak of him in a different tone. But Baccio answering him arrogantly +with many abusive words, Maestro Andrea could endure no more, and +rushed upon him in order to kill him; but Bandinelli was torn away +from him by some who intervened between them. Being therefore forced +to depart from Loreto, Baccio had his scene carried to Ancona; but he +grew weary of it, although it was near completion, and he went away +leaving it unfinished. This work was finished afterwards by Raffaello +da Montelupo, and placed together with the others of Maestro Andrea; +but it is by no means equal to them in excellence, although even so it +is worthy of praise. + +Baccio, having returned to Rome, obtained a promise from the Pope, +through the favour of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, always ready to +assist the arts and their followers, that he should be commissioned to +execute some statue for the court of the Medici Palace in Florence. +Having therefore come to Florence, he made an Orpheus of marble, who +with his playing and his singing is charming Cerberus, and moving Hell +itself to compassion. He imitated in this work the Apollo of the +Belvedere at Rome, and it was very highly praised, and rightly, +because, although the Orpheus of Baccio is not in the attitude of the +Apollo Belvedere, nevertheless it reproduces very successfully the +manner of the torso and of all the members. The statue, when finished, +was carried by order of Cardinal Giulio, while he was governing +Florence, into the above-mentioned court, and placed on a carved base +executed by the sculptor Benedetto da Rovezzano. But since Baccio +never paid any attention to the art of architecture, he took no heed +of the genius of Donatello, who had made for the David that was there +before a simple column on which rested a cleft base in open-work, to +the end that one entering from without might see from the street-door +the inner door, that of the other court, opposite to him; and, not +having such foresight, he caused his statue to be placed on a broad +and wholly solid base, of such a kind that it blocks the view of him +who enters and covers the opening of the inner door, so that in +passing through the first door one does not see whether the palace +extends farther inwards or finishes in the first court. + +Cardinal Giulio had caused a most beautiful villa to be erected below +Monte Mario at Rome, and wished to set up two giants in this villa; +and he had them executed in stucco by Baccio, who was always delighted +to make giants. These figures, eight braccia in height, stand one on +either side of the gate that leads into the wood, and they were held +to be reasonably beautiful. While Baccio was engaged on these works, +never abandoning his practice of drawing, he caused Marco da Ravenna +and Agostino Viniziano, the engravers of prints, to engrave a scene +drawn by him on a very large sheet, in which was the Slaughter of the +Innocents, so cruelly done to death by Herod. This scene, which was +filled by him with a quantity of nudes, both male and female, children +living and dead, and women and soldiers in various attitudes, made +known the fine draughtsmanship that he showed in figures and his +knowledge of muscles and of all the members, and it won him great +fame over all Europe. He also made a most beautiful model of wood, +with the figures in wax, of a tomb for the King of England, which in +the end was not carried out by Baccio, but was given to the sculptor +Benedetto da Rovezzano, who executed it in metal. + +[Illustration: THE MARTYRDOM OF S. LORENZO + +(_After the painting by =Baccio Bandinelli=. Hereford: W. J. Davies' +Collection_) + +_M.S._] + +There had recently returned from France Cardinal Bernardo Divizio of +Bibbiena, who, perceiving that King Francis possessed not a single +work in marble, whether ancient or modern, although he much delighted +in such things, had promised his Majesty that he would prevail on the +Pope to send him some beautiful work. After this Cardinal there came +to the Pope two Ambassadors from King Francis, and they, having seen +the statues of the Belvedere, lavished all the praise at their command +on the Laocoon. Cardinals de' Medici and Bibbiena, who were with them, +asked them whether the King would be glad to have a work of that kind; +and they answered that it would be too great a gift. Then the Cardinal +said to them: "There shall be sent to his Majesty either this one or +one so like it that there shall be no difference." And, having +resolved to have another made in imitation of it, he remembered +Baccio, whom he sent for and asked whether he had the courage to make +a Laocoon equal to the original. Baccio answered that he was confident +that he could make one not merely equal to it, but even surpassing it +in perfection. The Cardinal then resolved that the work should be +begun, and Baccio, while waiting for the marble to come, made one in +wax, which was much extolled, and also executed a cartoon in +lead-white and charcoal of the same size as the one in marble. After +the marble had come and Baccio had caused an enclosure with a roof for +working in to be erected for himself in the Belvedere, he made a +beginning with one of the boys of the Laocoon, the larger one, and +executed this in such a manner that the Pope and all those who were +good judges were satisfied, because between his work and the ancient +there was scarcely any difference to be seen. But after setting his +hand to the other boy and to the statue of the father, which is in the +middle, he had not gone far when the Pope died. Adrian VI being then +elected, he returned with the Cardinal to Florence, where he occupied +himself with his studies in design. After the death of Adrian and +the election of Clement VII, Baccio went post-haste to Rome in order +to be in time for his coronation, for which he made statues and scenes +in half-relief by order of his Holiness. Then, having been provided by +the Pope with rooms and an allowance, he returned to his Laocoon, a +work which was executed by him in the space of two years with the +greatest excellence that he ever achieved. He also restored the right +arm of the ancient Laocoon, which had been broken off and never found, +and Baccio made one of the full size in wax, which so resembled the +ancient work in the muscles, in force, and in manner, and harmonized +with it so well, that it showed how Baccio understood his art; and +this model served him as a pattern for making the whole arm of his own +Laocoon. This work seemed to his Holiness to be so good, that he +changed his mind and resolved to send other ancient statues to the +King, and this one to Florence; and to Cardinal Silvio Passerino of +Cortona, his Legate in Florence, who was then governing the city, he +sent orders that he should place the Laocoon at the head of the second +court in the Palace of the Medici. This was in the year 1525. + +This work brought great fame to Baccio, who, after finishing the +Laocoon, set himself to draw a scene on a sheet of royal folio laid +open, in order to carry out a design of the Pope, who wished to have +the Martyrdom of S. Cosimo and S. Damiano painted on one wall of the +principal chapel of S. Lorenzo in Florence, and on the other that of +S. Laurence, when he was put to death by Decius on the gridiron. +Baccio then drew with great subtlety the story of S. Laurence, in +which he counterfeited with much judgment and art figures both clothed +and nude, different attitudes and gestures in the bodies and limbs, +and various movements in those who are standing about S. Laurence, +engaged in their dreadful office, and in particular the cruel Decius, +who with threatening brow is urging on the fiery death of the innocent +Martyr, who, raising one arm to Heaven, recommends his spirit to God. +With this scene Baccio so satisfied the Pope, that he took steps to +have it engraved on copper by Marc'Antonio Bolognese, which was done +by Marc'Antonio with great diligence; and his Holiness created Baccio, +in order to do honour to his talents, a Chevalier of S. Pietro. + +After these things Baccio returned to Florence, where he found that +Giovan Francesco Rustici, his first master, was painting a scene of +the Conversion of S. Paul; for which reason he undertook to make in a +cartoon, in competition with his master, a nude figure of a young S. +John in the desert, who is holding a lamb with the left arm and +raising the right to Heaven. Then, having caused a panel to be +prepared, he set himself to colour it, and when it was finished he +exposed it to view in the workshop of his father Michelagnolo, +opposite to the descent that leads from Orsanmichele to the Mercato +Nuovo. The design was praised by the craftsmen, but not so much the +colouring, because it was somewhat crude and painted in no beautiful +manner. But Baccio sent it as a present to Pope Clement, who had it +placed in his guardaroba, where it may still be found. + +As far back as the time of Leo X there had been quarried at Carrara, +together with the marbles for the facade of S. Lorenzo in Florence, +another block of marble nine braccia and a half high and five braccia +wide at the foot. With this block of marble Michelagnolo Buonarroti +had thought of making a giant in the person of Hercules slaying Cacus, +intending to place it in the Piazza beside the colossal figure of +David formerly made by him, since both the one and the other, David +and Hercules, were emblems of the Palace. He had made several designs +and various models for it, and had sought to gain the favour of Pope +Leo and of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, saying that the David had many +defects caused by the sculptor Maestro Andrea, who had first blocked +it out and spoiled it. But by reason of the death of Leo the facade of +S. Lorenzo was for a time abandoned, and also this block of marble. +Now afterwards, Pope Clement having conceived a desire to avail +himself of Michelagnolo for the tombs of the heroes of the house of +Medici, which he wished to have constructed in the Sacristy of S. +Lorenzo, it became once more necessary to quarry marbles; and the head +of these works, keeping the accounts of the expenses, was Domenico +Buoninsegni. This man tried to tempt Michelagnolo to make a secret +partnership with him in the matter of the stone-work for the facade of +S. Lorenzo; but Michelagnolo refused, not consenting that his genius +should be employed in defrauding the Pope, and Domenico conceived such +hatred against him that he went about ever afterwards opposing his +undertakings, in order to annoy and humiliate him, but this he did +covertly. He thus contrived to have the facade discontinued and the +sacristy pushed forward, which two works, he said, were enough to keep +Michelagnolo occupied for many years. And as for the marble for the +making of the giant, he urged the Pope that it should be given to +Baccio, who at that time had nothing to do; saying that through the +emulation of two men so eminent his Holiness would be served better +and with more diligence and promptitude, rivalry stimulating both the +one and the other in his work. The counsel of Domenico pleased the +Pope, and he acted in accordance with it. Baccio, having obtained the +marble, made a great model in wax, which was a Hercules who, having +fixed the head of Cacus between two stones with one knee, was +constraining him with great force with the left arm, holding him +crouching under his legs in a distorted attitude, wherein Cacus +revealed his suffering and the strain of the weight of Hercules upon +him, which was rending asunder every least muscle in his whole body. +Hercules, likewise, with his head bent down close against his enemy, +grinding and gnashing his teeth, was raising the right arm and with +great vehemence giving him another blow with his club, in order to +dash his head to pieces. + +Michelagnolo, as soon as he had heard that the marble had been given +to Baccio, was very much displeased; but, for all the efforts that he +made in this matter, he was never able to turn the Pope from his +purpose, so completely had he been satisfied by Baccio's model; to +which reason were added his promises and boasts, for he boasted that +he would surpass the David of Michelagnolo, and he was also assisted +by Buoninsegni, who said that Michelagnolo desired everything for +himself. Thus was the city deprived of a rare ornament, such as that +marble would undoubtedly have been when shaped by the hand of +Buonarroti. The above-mentioned model of Baccio is now to be found in +the guardaroba of Duke Cosimo, by whom it is held very dear, and by +the craftsmen as a rare work. + +Baccio was sent to Carrara to see this marble, and the Overseers of +the Works of S. Maria del Fiore were commissioned to transport it by +water, along the River Arno, as far as Signa. The marble having been +conveyed there, within a distance of eight miles from Florence, when +they set about removing it from the river in order to transport it by +land, the river being too low from Signa to Florence, it fell into the +water, and on account of its great size sank so deep into the sand, +that the Overseers, with all the contrivances that they used, were not +able to drag it out. For which reason, the Pope wishing that the +marble should be recovered at all costs, by order of the Wardens of +Works Pietro Rosselli, an old builder of great ingenuity, went to work +in such a manner that, having diverted the course of the water into +another channel and cut away the bank of the river, with levers and +windlasses he moved it, dragged it out of the Arno, and brought it to +solid ground, for which he was greatly extolled. Tempted by this +accident to the marble, certain persons wrote verses, both Tuscan and +Latin, ingeniously ridiculing Baccio, who was detested for his +loquacity and his evil-speaking against Michelagnolo and all the other +craftsmen. One among them took for his verses the following subject, +saying that the marble, after having been approved by the genius of +Michelagnolo, learning that it was to be mangled by the hands of +Baccio, had thrown itself into the river out of despair at such an +evil fate. + +While the marble was being drawn out of the water, a difficult process +which took time, Baccio found, on measuring it, that it was neither +high enough nor wide enough to enable him to carve the figures of his +first model. Whereupon he went to Rome, taking the measurements with +him, and made known to the Pope how he was constrained by necessity to +abandon his first design and make another. He then made several +models, and out of their number the Pope was most pleased with one in +which Hercules had Cacus between his legs, and, grasping his hair, was +holding him down after the manner of a prisoner; and this one they +resolved to adopt and to carry into execution. On returning to +Florence, Baccio found that the marble had been conveyed into the +Office of Works of S. Maria del Fiore by Pietro Rosselli, who had +first placed on the ground some planks of walnut-wood planed square, +and laid lengthways, which he kept changing according as the marble +moved forward, under which and upon those planks he placed some round +rollers well shod with iron, so that by pulling the marble with three +windlasses, to which he had attached it, little by little he brought +it with ease into the Office of Works. The block having been set up +there, Baccio began a model in clay as large as the marble and shaped +according to the last one which he had made previously in Rome; and he +finished it, working with great diligence, in a few months. But with +all this it appeared to many craftsmen that there was not in this +model that spirited vivacity that the action required, nor that which +he had given to his first model. Afterwards, beginning to work at the +marble, Baccio cut it away all round as far as the navel, laying bare +the limbs in front, and taking care all the time to carve the figures +in such a way that they might be exactly like those of the large model +in clay. + +At this same time Baccio had undertaken to execute in painting an +altar-piece of considerable size for the Church of Cestello, and for +this he had made a very beautiful cartoon containing a Dead Christ +surrounded by the Maries, with Nicodemus and other figures; but, for a +reason that we shall give below, he did not paint the altar-piece. He +also made at this time, in order to paint a picture, a cartoon in +which was Christ taken down from the Cross and held in the arms of +Nicodemus, with His Mother, who was standing, weeping for Him, and an +Angel who was holding in his hands the Nails and the Crown of Thorns. +Setting himself straightway to colour it, he finished it quickly and +placed it on exhibition in the workshop of his friend Giovanni di +Goro, the goldsmith, in the Mercato Nuovo, in order to hear the +opinions of men and particularly what Michelagnolo said of it. +Michelagnolo was taken by the goldsmith Piloto to see it, and, after +he had examined every part, he said that he marvelled that so good a +draughtsman as Baccio should allow a picture so crude and wanting in +grace to leave his hands, that he had seen the most feeble painters +executing their works in a better manner, and that this was no art for +Baccio. Piloto reported Michelagnolo's judgment to Baccio, who, for +all the hatred that he felt against him, recognized that he spoke the +truth. Certainly Baccio's drawings were very beautiful, but in colours +he executed them badly and without grace, and he therefore resolved to +paint no more with his own hand; but he took into his service one who +handled colours passing well, a young man called Agnolo, the brother +of the excellent painter Franciabigio, who had died a few years +before. To this Agnolo he desired to entrust the execution of the +altar-piece for Cestello, but it remained unfinished, the reason of +which was the change of government in Florence, which took place in +the year 1527, when the Medici left Florence after the sack of Rome. +For Baccio did not think himself safe, having a private feud with a +neighbour at his villa of Pinzirimonte, who was of the popular party; +and after he had buried at that villa some cameos and little antique +figures of bronze, which belonged to the Medici, he went off to live +in Lucca. There he remained until the time when the Emperor Charles V +came to receive his crown at Bologna; whereupon he presented himself +before the Pope and then went with him to Rome, where he was given +rooms in the Belvedere, as before. + +While Baccio was living there, his Holiness resolved to fulfil a vow +that he had made when he was shut up in the Castello di S. Angelo; +which vow was that he would place on the summit of the great round +tower of marble, which is in front of the Ponte di Castello, seven +large figures of bronze, each six braccia in length, and all lying +down in different attitudes, as it were vanquished by an Angel that he +wished to have set up on the centre of the tower, upon a column of +variegated marble, the Angel being of bronze with a sword in the hand. +By this figure of the Angel he wished to represent the Angel Michael, +the guardian and protector of the Castle, whose favour and assistance +had delivered him and brought him out of that prison; and the seven +recumbent figures were to personify the seven Mortal Sins, +demonstrating that with the help of the victorious Angel he had +conquered and thrown to the ground his enemies, evil and impious men, +who were represented by those seven figures of the seven Mortal Sins. +For this work his Holiness caused a model to be made; which having +pleased him, he ordained that Baccio should begin to make the figures +in clay of the size that they were to be, in order to have them cast +afterwards in bronze. Baccio began the work, and finished in one of +the apartments in the Belvedere one of those figures in clay, which +was much extolled. At the same time, also, in order to divert himself, +and wishing to see how he would succeed in casting, he made many +little figures in the round, two-thirds of a braccio in height, as of +Hercules, Venus, Apollo, Leda, and other fantasies of his own, which +he caused to be cast in bronze by Maestro Jacopo della Barba of +Florence; and they succeeded excellently well. He presented them +afterwards to his Holiness and to many lords; and some of them are now +in the study of Duke Cosimo, among a collection of more than a hundred +antique figures, all very choice, and others that are modern. + +At this same time Baccio had made a scene of the Deposition from the +Cross with little figures in low-relief and half-relief, which was a +rare work; and he had it cast with great diligence in bronze. When +finished, he presented it in Genoa to Charles V, who held it very +dear; and a sign of this was that his Majesty gave Baccio a Commandery +of S. Jago, and made him a Chevalier. From Prince Doria, also, he +received many courtesies; and from the Republic of Genoa he had the +commission for a statue of marble six braccia high, which was to be a +Neptune in the likeness of Prince Doria, to be set up on the Piazza in +memory of the virtues of that Prince and of the extraordinary benefits +that his native country of Genoa had received from him. This statue +was allotted to Baccio at the price of a thousand florins, of which he +received five hundred at that time; and he went straightway to Carrara +to block it out at the quarry of Polvaccio. + +While the popular government was ruling Florence, after the departure +of the Medici, Michelagnolo Buonarroti was employed on the +fortifications of the city; and there was shown to him the marble that +Baccio had blocked out, together with the model of the Hercules and +Cacus, the intention being that if the marble had not been cut away +too much Michelagnolo should take it and carve from it two figures +after his own design. Michelagnolo, having examined the block, thought +of a different subject; and, abandoning the Hercules and Cacus, he +chose the subject of Samson holding beneath him two Philistines whom +he had cast down, one being already dead, and the other still alive, +against whom he was aiming a blow with the jawbone of an ass, seeking +to kill him. But even as it often happens that the minds of men +promise themselves at times certain things the opposite of which is +determined by the wisdom of God, so it came to pass then, for, war +having arisen against the city of Florence, Michelagnolo had other +things to think about than polishing marble, and was obliged from fear +of the citizens to withdraw from the city. Afterwards, the war being +finished and peace made, Pope Clement caused Michelagnolo to return to +Florence in order to finish the Sacristy of S. Lorenzo, and sent +Baccio to see to the completion of the giant. Baccio, while engaged in +this, took up his abode in the Palace of the Medici; and, writing +almost every week to his Holiness in order to make a show of devotion, +he entered, besides dealing with matters of art, into particulars +relating to the citizens and those who were administering the +government, with an odious officiousness likely to bring upon him even +more ill-will than he had awakened before. Whereupon, when Duke +Alessandro returned from the Court of his Majesty to Florence, the +citizens made known to him the sinister policy that Baccio was +pursuing against them; from which it followed that his work of the +giant was hindered and retarded by the citizens by every means in +their power. + +[Illustration: HERCULES AND CACUS + +(_After the marble by =Baccio Bandinelli=. Florence: Piazza della +Signoria_) + +_Alinari_] + +At this time, after the war of Hungary, Pope Clement and the Emperor +Charles held a conference at Bologna, whither there went Cardinal +Ippolito de' Medici and Duke Alessandro; and it occurred to Baccio to +go and kiss the feet of his Holiness. He took with him a panel, one +braccio high and one and a half wide, of Christ being scourged at the +Column by two nude figures, which was in half-relief and very well +executed; and he gave this panel to the Pope, together with a +portrait-medal of his Holiness, which he had caused to be made by +Francesco dal Prato, his familiar friend, the reverse of the medal +being the Flagellation of Christ. This gift was very acceptable to his +Holiness, to whom Baccio described the annoyances and impediments that +he had experienced in the execution of his Hercules, praying him that +he should prevail upon the Duke to give him the means to carry it to +completion. He added that he was envied and hated in that city; and, +being a very devil with his wit and his tongue, he persuaded the Pope +to induce the Duke to see that his work should be brought to +completion and set up in its place in the Piazza. + +Death had now snatched away the goldsmith Michelagnolo, the father of +Baccio, who during his lifetime had undertaken to make for the Wardens +of Works of S. Maria del Fiore, by order of the Pope, a very large +cross of silver, all covered with scenes in low-relief of the Passion +of Christ. This cross, for which Baccio had made the figures and +scenes in wax, to be afterwards cast in silver, Michelagnolo had left +unfinished at his death; and Baccio, having the work in his hands, +together with many libbre of silver, sought to persuade his Holiness +to have it finished by Francesco dal Prato, who had gone with him to +Bologna. But the Pope, perceiving that Baccio wished not only to +withdraw from his father's engagements, but also to make something out +of the labours of Francesco, gave Baccio orders that the silver and +the scenes, those merely begun as well as those finished, should be +given to the Wardens of Works, that the account should be settled, and +that the Wardens should melt all the silver of that cross, in order to +make use of it for the necessities of the church, which had been +stripped of its ornaments at the time of the siege; and to Baccio he +caused one hundred florins of gold and letters of recommendation to be +given, to the end that he might return to Florence and finish the work +of the giant. + +While Baccio was at Bologna, Cardinal Doria, having heard that he was +about to depart, went to the pains of seeking him out, and threatened +him with many reproaches and abusive words, for the reason that he had +broken his pledge and failed in his duty by neglecting to finish the +statue of Prince Doria and leaving it only blocked out at Carrara, +after taking five hundred crowns in payment; on which account, said +the Cardinal, if Andrea could get Baccio into his hands, he would make +him pay for it at the galleys. Baccio defended himself humbly and with +soft words, saying that he had been delayed by a sufficient hindrance, +but that he had in Florence a block of marble of the same height, from +which he had intended to carve that figure, and that when he had +carved and finished it he would send it to Genoa. And so well did he +contrive to speak and to excuse himself that he succeeded in escaping +from the presence of the Cardinal. After this he returned to Florence, +and caused the base for the giant to be taken in hand; and, himself +working continuously at the figure, in the year 1534 he finished it +completely. But Duke Alessandro, on account of the hostile reports of +the citizens, did not take steps to have it set up in the Piazza. + +The Pope had returned to Rome many months before this, and desired to +erect two tombs of marble in the Minerva, one for Pope Leo and one for +himself; and Baccio, seizing this occasion, went to Rome. Thereupon +the Pope resolved that Baccio should make those tombs after he had +succeeded in setting up the giant on the Piazza; and his Holiness +wrote to the Duke that he should give Baccio every convenience for +placing his Hercules in position there. Whereupon, after an enclosure +of planks had been made all round, the base was built of marble, and +at the foot of it they placed a stone with letters in memory of Pope +Clement VII, and a good number of medals with the heads of his +Holiness and of Duke Alessandro. The giant was then taken from the +Office of Works, where it had been executed; and in order to convey it +with greater ease, without damaging it, they made round it a +scaffolding of wood, with ropes passing under the legs and cords +supporting it under the arms and at every other part; and thus, +suspended in the air between the beams in such a way that it did not +touch the wood, little by little, by means of compound pulleys and +windlasses and ten pairs of oxen, it was drawn as far as the Piazza. +Great assistance was rendered by two thick, semi-cylindrical beams, +which were fixed lengthways along the foot of the scaffolding, in the +manner of a base, and rested on other similar beams smeared with soap, +which were withdrawn and replaced by workmen in succession, according +as the structure moved forward; and with these ingenious contrivances +the giant was conveyed safely and without much labour to the Piazza. +The charge of all this was given to Baccio d'Agnolo and the elder +Antonio da San Gallo, the architects to the Office of Works, who +afterwards with other beams and a double system of compound pulleys +set the statue securely on its base. + +It would not be easy to describe the concourse and multitude that for +two days occupied the whole Piazza, flocking to see the giant as soon +as it was uncovered; and various judgments and opinions were heard +from all kinds of men, every one censuring the work and the master. +There were also attached round the base many verses, both Latin and +Tuscan, in which it was pleasing to see the wit, the ingenious +conceits, and the sharp sayings of the writers; but they overstepped +all decent limits with their evil-speaking and their biting and +satirical compositions, and Duke Alessandro, considering that, the +work being a public one, the indignity was his, was forced to put in +prison some who went so far as to attach sonnets openly and without +scruple to the statue; which proceeding soon stopped the mouths of the +critics. + +When Baccio examined his work in position, it seemed to him that the +open air was little favourable to it, making the muscles appear too +delicate. Having therefore caused a new enclosure of planks to be made +around it, he attacked it again with his chisels, and, strengthening +the muscles in many places, gave the figures stronger relief than they +had before. Finally, the work was uncovered for good; and by everyone +able to judge it has always been held to be not only a triumph over +difficulties, but also very well studied, with every part carefully +considered, and the figure of Cacus excellently adapted to its +position. It is true that the David of Michelagnolo, which is beside +Baccio's Hercules, takes away not a little of its glory, being the +most beautiful colossal figure that has ever been made; for in it is +all grace and excellence, whereas the manner of Baccio is entirely +different. But in truth, considering Baccio's Hercules by itself, one +cannot but praise it highly, and all the more because it is known that +many sculptors have since tried to make colossal statues, and not one +has attained to the standard of Baccio, who, if he had received as +much grace and facility from nature as he took pains and trouble by +himself, would have been absolutely perfect in the art of sculpture. + +Desiring to know what was being said of his work, he sent to the +Piazza a pedagogue whom he kept in his house, telling him that he +should not fail to report to him the truth of what he might hear said. +The pedagogue, hearing nothing but censure, returned sadly to the +house, and, when questioned by Baccio, answered that all with one +voice were abusing the giants, and that they pleased no one. "And +you," asked Baccio, "what do you say of them?" "I speak well of them," +he replied, "and say, may it please you, that they please me." "I will +not have them please you," said Baccio, "and you, also, must speak ill +of them, for, as you may remember, I never speak well of anyone; and +so we are quits." Thus Baccio concealed his vexation, and it was +always his custom to act thus, pretending not to care for the censure +that any man laid on his works. Nevertheless, it is likely enough that +his resentment was considerable, because when a man labours for +honour, and then obtains nothing but censure, one cannot but believe, +although that censure may be unjust and undeserved, that it afflicts +him secretly in his heart and torments him continually. He was +consoled in his displeasure by an estate, which was given to him in +addition to his payment, by order of Pope Clement. This gift was +doubly dear to him, first because it was useful for its revenue and +was near his villa of Pinzirimonte, and then because it had previously +belonged to Rignadori, his mortal enemy, who had just been declared an +outlaw, and with whom he had always been at strife on account of the +boundary of this property. + +At this time a letter was written to Duke Alessandro by Prince Doria, +asking that he should prevail upon Baccio to finish his statue, now +that the giant was completely finished, and saying that he was ready +to revenge himself on Baccio if he did not do his duty; at which +Baccio was so frightened that he would not trust himself to go to +Carrara. However, having been reassured by Cardinal Cibo and Duke +Alessandro, he went there, and, working with some assistants, +proceeded to carry the statue forward. The Prince had himself informed +every day as to how much Baccio was doing; wherefore, receiving a +report that the statue was not of that excellence which had been +promised, he gave Baccio to understand that, if he did not serve him +well, he would make him smart for it. Baccio, hearing this, spoke very +ill of the Prince; which having come to the Prince's ears, he +determined to get him into his hands at all costs, and to take +vengeance upon him by putting him in wholesome fear of the galleys. +Whereupon Baccio, seeing certain persons spying and keeping a watch +upon him, became suspicious, and, being a shrewd and resolute man, +left the work as it was and returned to Florence. + +About this time a son was born to Baccio from a woman whom he kept in +his house, and to this son, Pope Clement having died in those days, he +gave the name of Clemente, in memory of that Pontiff, who had always +loved and favoured him. After the death of Pope Clement, he heard that +Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, Cardinal Innocenzio Cibo, Cardinal +Giovanni Salviati, and Cardinal Niccolo Ridolfi, together with Messer +Baldassarre Turini da Pescia, being the executors of the Pope's will, +had commissions to give for the two marble tombs of Leo and Clement, +which were to be placed in the Minerva. For these tombs Baccio in the +past had already made the models; but the work had been promised +recently to the Ferrarese sculptor Alfonso Lombardi through the favour +of Cardinal de' Medici, whose servant he was. This Alfonso, by the +advice of Michelagnolo, had changed the design of the tombs, and he +had already made the models for them, but without any contract for the +commission, relying wholly on promises, and expecting every day to +have to go to Carrara to quarry the marble. While the time was +slipping away in this manner, it happened that Cardinal Ippolito died +of poison on his way to meet Charles V. Baccio, hearing this, went +without wasting any time to Rome, where he was first received by the +sister of Pope Leo, Madonna Lucrezia Salviati de' Medici, to whom he +strove to prove that no one could do greater honour to the remains of +those great Pontiffs than himself, with his ability in art, adding +that Alfonso was a sculptor without power of design and without skill +and judgment in the handling of marble, and that he was not able to +execute so honourable an undertaking save only with the help of +others. He also used many other devices, and so went to work in +various ways and by various means that he succeeded in changing the +purpose of those lords, who finally entrusted to Cardinal Salviati the +charge of making an agreement with Baccio. + +At this time the Emperor Charles V had arrived in Naples, and in Rome +Filippo Strozzi, Anton Francesco degli Albizzi, and the other exiles +were seeking to arrange with Cardinal Salviati to go and set his +Majesty against Duke Alessandro; and they were with the Cardinal at +all hours. Baccio was also all day long in Salviati's halls and +apartments, waiting to have the contract made for the tombs, but not +able to bring matters to a head, because of the Cardinal's +preoccupation with the affairs of the exiles; and they, seeing Baccio +in those rooms morning and evening, grew suspicious of this, and, +fearing lest he might be there to spy upon their movements and give +information to the Duke, some of the young men among them agreed to +follow him secretly one evening and put him out of the way. But +Fortune, coming to his aid in time, brought it about that the two +other Cardinals, with Messer Baldassarre da Pescia, undertook to +finish Baccio's business. Knowing that Baccio was worth little as an +architect, they had caused a design to be made by Antonio da San +Gallo, which pleased them, and had ordained that all the mason's work +to be done in marble should be executed under the direction of the +sculptor Lorenzetto, and that the marble statues and scenes should be +allotted to Baccio. Having arranged the matter in this way, they +finally made the contract with Baccio, who therefore appeared no more +about the house of Cardinal Salviati, withdrawing himself just in +time; and the exiles, the occasion having passed by, thought nothing +more about him. + +After these things Baccio made two models of wood, with the statues +and scenes in wax. These models had the bases solid, without +projections, and on each base were four fluted Ionic columns, which +divided the space into three compartments, a large one in the middle, +where in each there was a Pope in full pontificals seated upon a +pedestal, who was giving the benediction, and smaller spaces, each +with a niche containing a figure in the round and standing upright, +four braccia high; which figures, representing Saints, stood on either +side of those Popes. The order of the composition had the form of a +triumphal arch, and above the columns that supported the cornice was a +marble tablet three braccia in height and four braccia and a half in +width, in which was a scene in half-relief. In the scene above the +statue of Pope Leo, which statue had on either side of it in the +niches S. Peter and S. Paul, was his Conference with King Francis at +Bologna, and this story of Leo in the middle, above the columns, was +accompanied by two smaller scenes, in one of which, that above S. +Peter, was the Saint restoring a dead man to life, and in the other, +that above S. Paul, that Saint preaching to the people. In the scene +above Pope Clement, which corresponded to that mentioned above, was +that Pontiff crowning the Emperor Charles at Bologna, and on either +side of it are two smaller scenes, in one of which is S. John the +Baptist preaching to the people, and in the other S. John the +Evangelist raising Drusiana from the dead; and these have below them +in the niches the same Saints, four braccia high, standing on either +side of the statue of Pope Clement, as with that of Leo. + +In this structure Baccio showed either too little religion or too much +adulation, or both together, in that he thought fit that the first +founders--after Christ--of our religion, men deified and most dear to +God, should give way to our Popes, and placed them in positions +unworthy of them and inferior to those of Leo and Clement. Certain it +is that this design of his, even as it was displeasing to God and to +the Saints, so likewise gave no pleasure to the Popes or to any other +man, for the reason, it appears to me, that religion--and I mean our +own, the true religion--should be placed by mankind before all other +interests and considerations. And, on the other hand, he who wishes to +exalt and honour any other person, should, I think, be temperate and +restrained, and confine himself within certain limits, so that his +praise and honour may not become another thing--I mean senseless +adulation, which first disgraces the praiser, and also gives no +pleasure to the person praised, if he has any proper feeling, but does +quite the contrary. Baccio, in doing what I have described, made known +to everyone that he had much goodwill and affection indeed towards the +Popes, but little judgment in exalting and honouring them in their +sepulchres. + +The models described above were taken by Baccio to the garden of +Cardinal Ridolfi at S. Agata on Monte Cavallo, where his lordship was +entertaining Cibo, Salviati, and Messer Baldassarre da Pescia to +dinner, they having assembled together there in order to settle all +that was necessary in the matter of the tombs. While they were at +table, then, there arrived the sculptor Solosmeo, an amusing and +outspoken person, who was always ready to speak ill of anyone, and +little the friend of Baccio. When the message was brought to those +lords that Solosmeo was seeking admittance, Ridolfi ordered that he +should be ushered in, and then, turning to Baccio, said to him: "I +wish that we should hear what Solosmeo says of our bestowal of these +tombs. Raise that door-curtain, Baccio, and stand behind it." Baccio +immediately obeyed, and, when Solosmeo had entered and had been +invited to drink, they then turned to the subject of the tombs +allotted to Baccio; whereupon Solosmeo reproached the Cardinals for +having made a bad choice, and went on to speak all manner of evil +against Baccio, taxing him with ignorance of art, avarice, and +arrogance, and going into many particulars in his criticisms. Baccio, +who stood hidden behind the door-curtain, was not able to contain +himself until Solosmeo should have finished, and, bursting out +scowling and full of rage, said to Solosmeo: "What have I done to you, +that you should speak of me with such scant respect?" Dumbfounded at +the appearance of Baccio, Solosmeo turned to Ridolfi and said: "What +tricks are these, my lord? I want nothing more to do with priests!" +and took himself off. The Cardinals had a hearty laugh both at the one +and at the other; and Salviati said to Baccio: "You hear the opinion +of your brothers in art. Go and give them the lie with your work." + +[Illustration: STATUE OF GIOVANNI DELLE BANDE NERE + +(_After the marble by =Baccio Bandinelli=. Florence: Piazza di S. +Lorenzo_) + +_Brogi_] + +Baccio then began the work of the statues and scenes, but his +performances by no means corresponded to his promises and his duty +towards those Pontiffs, for he used little diligence in the figures +and scenes, and left them badly finished and full of defects, being +more solicitous about drawing his money than about working at the +marble. Now his patrons became aware of Baccio's procedure, and +repented of what they had done; but the two largest pieces of marble +remained, those for the two statues that were still to be executed, +one of Leo seated and the other of Clement, and these they ordered him +to finish, beseeching him that he should do better in them. But +Baccio, having already drawn all the money, entered into negotiations +with Messer Giovan Battista da Ricasoli, Bishop of Cortona, who was in +Rome on business of Duke Cosimo's, to depart from Rome and go to +Florence in order to serve Cosimo in the matter of the fountains of +his villa of Castello and the tomb of his father, Signor Giovanni. +The Duke having answered that Baccio should come, he set off for +Florence without a word, leaving the work of the tombs unfinished and +the statues in the hands of two assistants. The Cardinals, hearing of +this, allotted those two statues of the Popes, which still remained to +be finished, to two sculptors, one of whom was Raffaello da Montelupo, +who received the statue of Pope Leo, and the other Giovanni di Baccio, +to whom was given the statue of Clement. They then gave orders that +the masonry and all that was prepared should be put together, and the +work was erected; but the statues and scenes were in many parts +neither pumiced nor polished, so that they brought Baccio more +discredit than fame. + +Arriving in Florence, Baccio found that the Duke had sent the sculptor +Tribolo to Carrara to quarry the marble for the fountains of Castello +and the tomb of Signor Giovanni; and he so wrought upon the Duke that +he wrested the tomb of Signor Giovanni from the hands of Tribolo, +demonstrating to his Excellency that the marbles for such a work were +already in great measure in Florence. Thus, little by little, he +penetrated into the confidence of the Duke, insomuch that both for +this reason and for his arrogance everyone was afraid of him. He then +proposed to the Duke that the tomb of Signor Giovanni should be +erected in the Chapel of the Neroni, a narrow, confined, and mean +place, in S. Lorenzo, being too ignorant or not wishing to suggest +that for so great a Prince it was proper that a new chapel should be +built on purpose. He also prevailed on the Duke to demand from +Michelagnolo, on Baccio's behalf, many pieces of marble that he had in +Florence; and when the Duke had obtained them from Michelagnolo, and +Baccio from the Duke, among those marbles being some blocked out +figures and a statue carried well on towards completion by +Michelagnolo, Bandinelli, taking them all over, hacked and broke to +pieces everything that he could find, thinking that by so doing he was +avenging himself on Michelagnolo and causing him displeasure. He +found, moreover, in the same room in S. Lorenzo wherein Michelagnolo +worked, two statues in one block of marble, representing Hercules +crushing Antaeus, which the Duke was having executed by the sculptor +Fra Giovanni Agnolo. These were well advanced; but Baccio, saying to +the Duke that the friar had spoilt that marble, broke it into many +pieces. + +In the end, he constructed all the base of the tomb, which is an +isolated pedestal about four braccia on every side, and has at the +foot a socle with a moulding in the manner of a base, which goes right +round, and with a fillet at the top, such as is generally made for +pedestals; and above this a cyma three-quarters of a braccio in +height, which goes inwards in a concave curve, inverted, after the +manner of a frieze, on which are carved some horse's skulls bound one +to another with draperies; and above the whole was to be a smaller +pedestal, with a seated statue of four braccia and a half, armed in +the ancient fashion, and holding in the hand the baton of a +condottiere captain of armies, which was to represent the person of +the invincible Signor Giovanni de' Medici. This statue was begun by +him from a block of marble, and carried well on, but never finished or +placed on the base built for it. It is true that on the front of that +base he finished entirely a scene of marble in half-relief, with +figures about two braccia high, in which he represented Signor +Giovanni seated, to whom are being brought many prisoners, soldiers, +women with dishevelled hair, and nude figures, but all without +invention and without revealing any feeling. At the end of the scene, +indeed, there is a figure with a pig on the shoulder, which is said to +have been made by Baccio to represent Messer Baldassarre da Pescia, in +derision; for Baccio looked upon him as his enemy, since about this +time Messer Baldassarre, as has been related above, had allotted the +two statues of Leo and Clement to other sculptors, and, moreover, had +so gone to work in Rome that Baccio had perforce to restore at great +inconvenience the money that he had received beyond his due for those +statues and figures. + +During this time Baccio had given his attention to nothing else but +demonstrating to Duke Cosimo how much the glory of the ancients had +lived through their statues and buildings, saying that his Excellency +should seek to obtain in the same way immortality for himself and his +actions in the ages to come. Then, after he had brought the tomb of +Signor Giovanni near completion, he set about planning to make the +Duke begin some great and costly work, which might take a very long +time. Duke Cosimo had ceased to inhabit the Palace of the Medici, and +had returned with his Court to live in the Palace in the Piazza, which +was formerly occupied by the Signoria; and this he was daily +rearranging and adorning. Now he had said to Baccio that he had a +desire to make a public audience-chamber, both for the foreign +Ambassadors and for his citizens and the subjects of the State; and +Baccio, with Giuliano di Baccio d'Agnolo, went about thinking how to +suggest to him that he should erect an ornamental work of Fossato +stone and marble, thirty-eight braccia in width and eighteen in +height. This ornamental work, they proposed, should serve as the +audience-chamber, and should be in the Great Hall of the Palace, at +that end which looks towards the north. The audience-chamber was to +have a space of fourteen braccia in depth, the ascent to which was to +be by seven great steps; and it was to be closed in front by a +balustrade, excepting the entrance in the middle. At the end of the +hall were to be three great arches, two of which were to serve for +windows, being divided up by columns, four to each, two of Fossato +stone and two of marble; and above this was to curve a round arch with +a frieze of brackets, which were to form on the outer side the +ornament of the facade of the Palace, and on the inner side to adorn +in the same manner the facade of the hall. The arch in the middle, +forming not a window, but a niche, was to be accompanied by two other +similar niches, which were to be at the ends of the audience-chamber, +one on the east and the other on the west, and adorned with four round +Corinthian columns, which were to be ten braccia high and to form a +projection at the ends. In the central facade were to be four +pilasters, which were to serve as supports between one arch and +another to the architrave, frieze, and cornice running right round +both above the arches and above the columns. These pilasters were to +have between one and another a space of about three braccia, and in +each of these spaces was to be a niche four braccia and a half in +height, to contain statues, by way of accompaniment to the great niche +in the middle of the facade and the two at the sides; in each of which +niches Baccio wished to place three statues. + +Baccio and Giuliano had in mind, in addition to the ornament of the +inner facade, another larger ornament of extraordinary cost and +grandeur for the outer facade. The hall being awry and out of square, +this ornament was to reduce that outer side to a square form; and +there was to be a projection of six braccia right round the walls of +the Palazzo Vecchio, with a range of columns fourteen braccia high +supporting other columns, between which were to be arches, forming a +loggia below, right round the Palace, where there are the Ringhiera +and the Giants. Above this, again, was to be another range of +pilasters, with arches between them in the same manner, running all +the way round the windows of the Palazzo Vecchio, so as to make a +facade right round the Palace; and above these pilasters was to be yet +another range of arches and pilasters, after the manner of a theatre, +with the battlements of that Palace, finally, forming a cornice to the +whole structure. + +Knowing that this was a work of vast expense, Baccio and Giuliano +consulted together that they should not reveal their conception to the +Duke, save only with regard to the ornament of the audience-chamber +within the hall, and that of the facade of Fossato stone on the side +towards the Piazza, stretching to the length of twenty-four braccia, +which is the breadth of the hall. Designs and plans of this work were +made by Giuliano, and with these in his hand Baccio spoke to the Duke, +to whom he pointed out that in the large niches at the sides he wished +to place statues of marble four braccia high, seated on +pedestals--namely, Leo X in the act of restoring peace to Italy, and +Clement VII crowning Charles V, with two statues in smaller niches +within the large ones, on either side of the Popes, which should +represent the virtues practised and put into action by them. For the +niches four braccia high between the pilasters, in the central facade, +he wished to make upright statues of Signor Giovanni, Duke Alessandro, +and Duke Cosimo, together with many decorations of various fantasies +in carving, and a pavement all of variegated marbles of different +colours. + +This ornament much pleased the Duke, thinking that with this +opportunity it should be possible in time to bring to completion, as +has since been done, the body of that hall, with the rest of the +decorations and the ceiling, in order to make it the most beautiful +hall in Italy. And so great was his Excellency's desire that this work +should be done, that he assigned for its execution such a sum of money +as Baccio wished and demanded every week. A beginning was made with +the quarrying and cutting of the Fossato stone, in order to make the +ornamentation in the form of the base, columns, and cornices; and +Baccio required that all should be done and carried to completion by +the stone-cutters of the Office of Works of S. Maria del Fiore. This +work was certainly executed by those masters with great diligence; and +if Baccio and Giuliano had urged it on, they would have finished and +built in all the ornaments of stone very quickly. But Baccio gave his +attention to nothing save to having the statues blocked out, finishing +few of them entirely, and to drawing his salary, which the Duke gave +him every month, besides paying for his assistants and meeting every +sort of expense that he incurred in the work, and giving him five +hundred crowns for one of the statues finished by him in marble; +wherefore the end of this work was never in sight. + +Even so, if Baccio and Giuliano, being engaged on a work of such +importance, had brought the head of that hall into square, as they +could have done, instead of putting right only half of the eight +braccia by which it was awry, and leaving several parts badly +proportioned, such as the central niche and the two large ones at the +sides, which are squat, and the members of the cornices, which are too +slight for so great a body; if, as they might have done, they had gone +higher with the columns, thus giving greater grandeur, a better +manner, and more invention to that work; and if, also, they had +brought the uppermost cornice into touch with the level of the +original old ceiling above, they would have shown more art and +judgment, nor would all that labour have been spent in vain and wasted +so thoughtlessly, as has since been evident to those to whom, as will +be related, it has fallen to put it right and finish it. For, in spite +of all the pains and thought afterwards devoted to it, there are many +defects and errors in the door of entrance and in the relation of the +niches in the side-walls, in which it has since been seen to be +necessary to change the form of many parts, although it has never yet +been found possible, without demolishing the whole, to correct the +divergence from the square or to prevent this from being revealed in +the pavement and the ceiling. It is true that in the manner in which +they arranged it, even as it now stands, there is proof of great +craftsmanship and pains, and it deserves no little praise for the many +stones worked with the bevel-square, which slant away obliquely by +reason of the hall being awry; and as for diligence and excellence in +the working, laying, and joining together of the stones, nothing +better could be seen or done. But the whole work would have succeeded +much better if Baccio, who never held architecture in any account, had +availed himself of some judgment more able than that of Giuliano, who, +although he was a good master in wood and had some knowledge of +architecture, was yet not the sort of man to be suitable for such a +work as that was, as experience has proved. For this reason the work +was pursued over a period of many years, without much more than half +being built. Baccio finished and placed in the smaller niches the +statue of Signor Giovanni and that of Duke Alessandro, both in the +principal facade, and on a pedestal of bricks in the great niche the +statue of Pope Clement; and he also brought to completion the statue +of Duke Cosimo. In the last he took no little pains with the head, but +for all this the Duke and the gentlemen of the Court said that it did +not resemble him in the least. Wherefore Baccio, having already made +one of marble, which is now in one of the upper apartments in the same +Palace, and which looked very well and was the best head that he ever +made, defended himself and sought to cover up the defects and +worthlessness of the new head with the excellence of the old. However, +hearing that head censured by everyone, one day in a rage he knocked +it off, with the intention of making another and fixing it in its +place; but in the end he never made it at all. It was a custom of +Baccio's to add pieces of marble both small and large to the statues +that he executed, feeling no annoyance in doing this, and making light +of it. He did this with one of the heads of Cerberus in the group of +Orpheus; in the S. Peter that is in S. Maria del Fiore he let in a +piece of drapery; in the case of the Giant of the Piazza, as may be +seen, he joined two pieces--a shoulder and a leg--to the Cacus, and +in many other works he did the same, holding to such ways as generally +damn a sculptor completely. + +Having finished these statues, he set his hand to the statue of Pope +Leo for this work, and carried it well forward. Then, perceiving that +the work was proving very long, that he was now never likely to attain +to the completion of his original design for the facades right round +the Palace, that a great sum of money had been spent and much time +consumed, and that for all this the work was not half finished and +gained little approval from the people, he set about thinking of some +new fantasy, and began to attempt to remove from the Duke's mind the +thought of the Palace, believing that his Excellency also was weary of +that work. Thus, then, having made enemies of the proveditors and of +all the stone-cutters in the Office of Works of S. Maria del Fiore, +which was under his authority, while the statues that were destined +for the audience-chamber were, after his fashion, some only blocked +out and others finished and placed in position, and the ornamentation +in great part built up, wishing to conceal the many defects that were +in the work and little by little to abandon it, he suggested to the +Duke that the Wardens of Works of S. Maria del Fiore were throwing +away his money and no longer doing anything of any importance. He said +that he had therefore thought that his Excellency would do well to +divert all that useless expenditure of the Office of Works into making +the octagonal choir of the church and the ornaments of the altar, the +steps, the daises of the Duke and the magistrates, and the stalls in +the choir for the canons, chaplains, and clerks, according as was +proper for so honourable a church. Of this choir Filippo di Ser +Brunellesco had left the model in that simple framework of wood which +previously served as the choir in the church, intending in time to +have it executed in marble, in the same form, but more ornate. Baccio +reflected, besides the considerations mentioned above, that in this +choir he would have occasion to make many statues and scenes in marble +and in bronze for the high-altar and all around the choir, and also +for two pulpits of marble that were to be in the choir, and that the +base of the outer side of the eight faces might be adorned with many +scenes in bronze let into the marble ornamentation. Above this he +thought to place a range of columns and pilasters to support the +cornice right round, and four arches distributed according to the +cross of the church; of which arches one was to form the principal +entrance, opposite to another rising above the high-altar, and the two +others were to be at the sides, one on the right hand and another on +the left, and below these last two were to be placed the pulpits. Over +the cornice was to be a range of balusters, curving right round above +the eight sides, and over the balusters a garland of candelabra, in +order, as it were, to crown the choir with lights according to the +seasons, as had always been the custom while the wooden model of +Brunelleschi was there. + +[Illustration: RELIEFS FROM THE CHOIR SCREEN + +(_After =Baccio Bandinelli=. Florence: Duomo_) + +_Alinari_] + +Pointing out all this to the Duke, Baccio said that his Excellency, +with the revenues of the Office of Works--namely, of S. Maria del +Fiore and of its Wardens--and with that which his liberality might +add, in a short time could adorn that temple and give great grandeur +and magnificence to the same, and consequently to the whole city, of +which it was the principal temple, and would leave an everlasting and +honourable memorial of himself in such a structure; and besides all +this, he said, his Excellency would be giving him an opportunity of +exerting his powers and of making many good and beautiful works, and +also, by displaying his ability, of acquiring for himself name and +fame with posterity, which should be pleasing to his Excellency, since +he was his servant and had been brought up by the house of the Medici. +With these designs and these words Baccio so moved the Duke, that, +consenting that such a structure should be erected, his Excellency +commissioned him to make a model of the whole choir. Departing from +the Duke, then, Baccio went to his architect, Giuliano di Baccio +d'Agnolo, and discussed the whole matter with him; and, after they had +gone to the place and examined everything with diligence, they +resolved not to depart from the form of Filippo's model, but to follow +it, adding only other ornaments in the shape of columns and +projections, and enriching it as much as they could while preserving +the original design and form. But it is not the number of parts and +ornaments that renders a fabric rich and beautiful, but their +excellence, however few they may be, provided also that they are set +in their proper places and arranged together with due proportion; it +is these that give pleasure and are admired, and, having been executed +with judgment by the craftsman, afterwards receive praise from all +others. This Giuliano and Baccio do not seem to have considered or +observed, for they chose a subject involving much labour and endless +pains, but wanting in grace, as experience has proved. + +The design of Giuliano, as may be seen, was to place at the corners of +all the eight sides pilasters bent round the angles, the whole work +being composed in the Ionic Order; and these pilasters, since in the +ground-plan they were made, with all the rest of the work, to diminish +towards the centre of the choir and were not even, necessarily had to +be broad on the outer side and narrow on the inner, which is a breach +of proportionate measurement. And since each pilaster was bent +according to the inner angles of the eight sides, the extension-lines +towards the centre so diminished it that the two columns that were one +on either side of the pilaster at the corner caused it to appear too +slender, and produced an ungraceful effect both in it and in the whole +work, both on the outer side and likewise on the inner, although the +measurements there are correct. Giuliano also made the model of the +whole altar, which stood at a distance of one braccio and a half from +the ornament of the choir. For the upper part of this Baccio +afterwards made in wax a Christ lying dead, with two Angels, one of +whom was holding His right arm and supporting His head on one knee, +and the other was holding the Mysteries of the Passion; which statue +of Christ occupied almost the whole altar, so that there would +scarcely have been room to celebrate Mass, and Baccio proposed to make +this statue about four braccia and a half in length. He made, also, a +projection in the form of a pedestal behind the altar, attached to it +in the centre, with a seat upon which he afterwards placed a seated +figure of God the Father, six braccia high and giving the benediction, +and accompanied by two other Angels, each four braccia high, kneeling +at the extreme corners of the predella of the altar, on the level on +which rested the feet of God the Father. This predella was more than a +braccio in height, and on it were many stories of the Passion of Jesus +Christ, which were all to be in bronze, and on the corners of the +predella were the Angels mentioned above, both kneeling and each +holding in the hands a candelabrum; which candelabra of the Angels +served to accompany eight large candelabra placed between the Angels, +and three braccia and a half in height, which adorned that altar; and +God the Father was in the midst of them all. Behind God the Father was +left a space of half a braccio, in order that there might be room to +ascend to kindle the lights. + +Under the arch that stood opposite to the principal entrance of the +choir, on the base that ran right round, on the outer side, Baccio had +placed, directly under the centre of that arch, the Tree of the Fall, +round the trunk of which was wound the Ancient Serpent with a human +face, and two nude figures were about the Tree, one being Adam and the +other Eve. On the outer side of the choir, to which those figures had +their faces turned, there ran lengthways along the base a space about +three braccia long, which was to contain the story of their Creation, +either in marble or in bronze; and this was to be pursued along the +faces of the base of the whole work, to the number of twenty-one +stories, all from the Old Testament. And for the further enrichment of +this base he had made for each of the socles upon which stood the +columns and pilasters, a figure of some Prophet, either draped or +nude, to be afterwards executed in marble--a great work, truly, and a +marvellous opportunity, likely to reveal all the art and genius of a +perfect master, whose memory should never be extinguished by any lapse +of time. This model was shown to the Duke, and also a double series of +designs made by Baccio, which, both from their variety and their +number, and likewise from their beauty--for the reason that Baccio +worked boldly in wax and drew very well--pleased his Excellency, and +he ordained that the masonry-work should be straightway taken in hand, +devoting to it all the expenditure administered by the Office of +Works, and giving orders that a great quantity of marble should be +brought from Carrara. + +Baccio, on his part, also set to work to make a beginning with the +statues; and among the first was an Adam who was raising one arm, and +was about four braccia in height. This figure was finished by Baccio, +but, since it proved to be narrow in the flanks and somewhat defective +in other parts, he changed it into a Bacchus, and afterwards gave it +to the Duke, who kept it in his Palace many years, in his chamber; and +not long ago it was placed in a niche in the ground-floor apartments +which his Excellency occupies in summer. He had also made a seated +figure of Eve of the same size, which he had half finished: but it was +abandoned on account of the Adam, which it was to have accompanied. +For, having made a beginning with another Adam, in a different form +and attitude, it became necessary for him to change also the Eve, and +the original seated figure was converted by him into a Ceres, which he +gave to the most illustrious Duchess Leonora, together with an Apollo, +which was another nude that he had executed; and her Excellency had +them placed in the ornament in front of the fish-pond, the design and +architecture of which are by Giorgio Vasari, in the gardens of the +Pitti Palace. Baccio worked at these two figures with very great zeal, +thinking to satisfy the craftsmen and all the world as well as he had +satisfied himself; and he finished and polished them with all the +diligence and lovingness that were in him. He then set up these +figures of Adam and Eve in their place, but, when uncovered, they +experienced the same fate as his other works, and were torn to pieces +with savage bitterness in sonnets and Latin verses, one going to the +length of suggesting that even as Adam and Eve, having defiled +Paradise by their disobedience, deserved to be driven out, so these +figures, defiling the earth, deserved to be expelled from the church. +Nevertheless the statues are well-proportioned, and beautiful in many +parts; and although there is not in them that grace which has been +spoken of in other places, and which he was not able to give to his +works, yet they display so much art and design, that they deserve no +little praise. A lady who had set herself to examine these statues, +being asked by some gentlemen what she thought of these naked bodies, +answered, "About the man I can give no judgment;" and, being pressed +to give her opinion of the woman, she replied that in the Eve there +were two good points, worthy of considerable praise, in that she was +white and firm; whereby she contrived ingeniously, while seeming to +praise, covertly to deal a shrewd blow to the craftsman and his art, +giving to the statue the praise proper to the female body, which it is +also necessary to apply to the marble, the material, and which is +true of it, but not of the work or of the craftsmanship, for by such +praise the craftsmanship is not praised. Thus, then, that shrewd lady +hinted that in her opinion nothing could be praised in that statue +save the marble. + +Baccio afterwards set his hand to the statue of the Dead Christ, which +likewise not succeeding as he had expected, he abandoned it when it +was already well advanced, and, taking another block of marble, began +another Christ in an attitude different from the first, and together +with that the Angel who supports the head of Christ on one leg and +with one hand His arm; and he did not rest until he had finished +entirely both the one figure and the other. When arrangements were +made to set it up on the altar, it proved to be so large that it +occupied too much space, and there was no room left for the +ministrations of the priest; and although this statue was passing +good, and even one of Baccio's best, nevertheless the people--the +ordinary citizens no less than the priests--could never have their +fill of speaking ill of it and picking it to pieces. Recognizing that +to uncover unfinished works injures the reputation of a craftsman in +the eyes of all those who are not of the profession, or have no +knowledge of art, or have not seen the models, Baccio resolved, in +order to accompany the statue of Christ and to complete the altar, to +make the statue of God the Father, for which a very beautiful block of +marble had come from Carrara. And he had already carried it well +forward, making it half nude after the manner of a Jove, when, since +it did not please the Duke and appeared to Baccio himself to have +certain defects, he left it as it was, and even so it is still to be +found in the Office of Works. + +Baccio cared nothing for the words of others, but gave his attention +to making himself rich and buying property. He bought a most beautiful +farm, called Lo Spinello, on the heights of Fiesole, and another with +a very beautiful house called Il Cantone, in the plain above San +Salvi, on the River Affrico, and a great house in the Via de' Ginori, +which he was enabled to acquire by the moneys and favours of the Duke. +Having thus secured his own position, Baccio thenceforward cared +little to work or to exert himself; and although the tomb of Signor +Giovanni was unfinished, the audience-chamber of the Great Hall only +begun, and the choir and altar behindhand, he paid little attention +to the words of others or to the censure that was laid upon him on +that account. However, having erected the altar and set into position +the marble base upon which was to stand the statue of God the Father, +he made a model for this and finally began it, and, employing +stone-cutters, proceeded to carry it slowly forward. + +There came from France in those days Benvenuto Cellini, who had served +King Francis in the matter of goldsmith's work, of which he was the +most famous master of his day; and he had also executed some castings +in bronze for that King. Benvenuto was introduced to Duke Cosimo, who, +desiring to adorn the city, showed also to him much favour and +affection, and commissioned him to make a statue of bronze about five +braccia high, of a nude Perseus standing over a nude woman +representing Medusa, whose head he had cut off; which work was to be +placed under one of the arches of the Loggia in the Piazza. While he +was executing the Perseus, Benvenuto also did other things for the +Duke. Now, even as it happens that the potter is always the jealous +enemy of the potter, and the sculptor of the sculptor, Baccio was not +able to endure the various favours shown to Benvenuto. It appeared to +him a strange thing, also, that Benvenuto should have thus changed in +a moment from a goldsmith into a sculptor, nor was he able to grasp in +his mind how a man who was used to making medals and little things, +could now execute colossal figures and giants. Baccio could not +conceal his thoughts, but expressed them freely, and he found a man +able to answer him; for, Baccio saying many of his biting words to +Benvenuto in the presence of the Duke, Benvenuto, who was no less +proud than himself, took pains to be even with him. And thus, arguing +often on the matters of art and their own works, and pointing out each +other's defects, they would utter the most slanderous words of one +another in the presence of the Duke, who, because he took pleasure in +this and recognized true genius and acuteness in their biting phrases, +had given them full liberty and licence to say whatever they pleased +about one another before him, provided that they did not remember +their quarrel elsewhere. + +This rivalry, or rather, enmity, was the reason that Baccio pressed +forward his statue of God the Father; but he was no longer receiving +from the Duke those favours to which he had been accustomed, and he +consoled himself for this by paying court and doing service to the +Duchess. One day, among others, that they were railing at one another +as usual and laying bare many of each others' actions, Benvenuto, +glaring at Baccio and threatening him, said: "Prepare yourself for +another world, Baccio, for I mean to send you out of this one." And +Baccio answered: "Let me know a day beforehand, so that I may confess +and make my will, and may not die like the sort of beast that you +are." By reason of which the Duke, who for many months had found +amusement in their quarrels, bade them be silent, fearing some evil +ending, and caused them to make a portrait-bust of himself from the +girdle upwards, both to be cast in bronze, to the end that he who +should succeed best should carry off the honours. + +Amid this rivalry and contention Baccio finished his figure of God the +Father, which he arranged to have placed in the church on the base +beside the altar. This figure was clothed and six braccia high, and he +erected and completely finished it. But, in order not to leave it +unaccompanied, he summoned from Rome the sculptor Vincenzio de' Rossi, +his pupil, wishing to execute in clay for the altar all that remained +to be done in marble; and he caused Vincenzio to assist him in +finishing the two Angels who are holding the candelabra at the +corners, and the greater part of the scenes on the predella and the +base. Having then set everything upon the altar, in order to see how +his work, when finished, was to stand, he strove to prevail on the +Duke to come and see it, before he should uncover it. But the Duke +would never go, and, although entreated by the Duchess, who favoured +Baccio in this matter, he would never let himself be shaken, and did +not go to see it, being angered because among so many works Baccio had +never finished one, even after his Excellency had made him rich and +had won odium among the citizens by honouring him highly and doing him +many favours. For all this his Excellency was disposed to assist +Clemente, the natural son of Baccio--a young man of ability, who had +made considerable proficience in design--because it was likely to fall +to him in time to finish his father's works. + +At this same time, which was in the year 1554, there came from Rome, +where he had been working for Pope Julius III, Giorgio Vasari of +Arezzo, in order to serve his Excellency in many works that he was +intending to execute, and in particular to decorate the Palace on the +Piazza, and to renovate it with new constructions, and to finish the +Great Hall, as he was afterwards seen to do. In the following year +Giorgio Vasari summoned from Rome and engaged in the Duke's service +the sculptor Bartolommeo Ammanati, to the end that he might execute +the other facade in the above-named Hall, opposite to the +audience-chamber begun by Baccio, and a fountain in the centre of that +facade; and a beginning was straightway made with executing a part of +the statues that were to go into that work. Baccio, perceiving that +the Duke was employing others, recognized that he did not wish to use +his services any longer; at which, feeling great displeasure and +vexation, he had become so strange and so irritable that no one could +have any dealings with him either in his house or out of it, and to +his son Clemente he behaved very strangely, keeping him in want of +everything. For this reason Clemente, who had made a large head of his +Excellency in clay, in order to execute it in marble for the statue of +the audience-chamber, sought leave of the Duke to depart and go to +Rome, on account of his father's strangeness; and the Duke said that +he would not fail him. Baccio, at the departure of Clemente, who had +asked leave of him, would not give him anything, although the young +man had been a great help to him in Florence, and, indeed, Baccio's +right hand in every matter; nevertheless, he thought nothing of +getting rid of him. The young man, having arrived in Rome at an +unfavourable season, died in the same year both from over-study and +from wild living, leaving in Florence an example of his handiwork in +an almost finished head of Duke Cosimo in marble, which is very +beautiful, and was afterwards placed by Baccio over the principal door +of his house in the Via de' Ginori. Clemente also left well advanced a +Dead Christ who is supported by Nicodemus, which Nicodemus is a +portrait from life of Baccio; and these statues, which are passing +good, Baccio set up in the Church of the Servites, as we shall relate +in the proper place. The death of Clemente was a very great loss to +Baccio and to art, and Bandinelli recognized this after he was dead. + +Baccio uncovered the altar of S. Maria del Fiore, and the statue of +God the Father was criticized. The altar has remained as was described +above, nor has anything more been done to it since; but the work of +the choir has been continued. + +Many years before, there had been quarried at Carrara a great block of +marble ten braccia and a half in height and five braccia in width, of +which having received notice, Baccio rode to Carrara and made a +contract for it with him to whom it belonged, giving him fifty crowns +as earnest-money. He then returned to Florence and so pestered the +Duke, that, by the favour of the Duchess, he obtained the commission +to make from it a giant, which was to be placed in the Piazza, at the +corner where the Lion was; on which spot was to be made a great +fountain to spout water, in the middle of which was to be a Neptune in +his chariot, drawn by sea-horses, and this figure was to be carved out +of the above-mentioned block of marble. For this figure Baccio made +more than one model, and showed them to his Excellency; but the matter +stood thus, without anything more being done, until the year 1559, at +which time the owner of the marble, having come from Carrara, asked to +be paid the rest of the money, saying that otherwise he would give +back the fifty crowns and break it into several pieces, in order to +sell it, since he had received many offers. Orders were given by the +Duke to Giorgio Vasari that he should have the marble paid for; which +having been heard throughout the world of art, and also that the Duke +had not yet made a free gift of the marble to Baccio, Benvenuto, and +likewise Ammanati, bestirring themselves, each besought the Duke that +he should be allowed to make a model in competition with Baccio, and +that his Excellency should deign to give the marble to him who had +shown the greatest ability in his model. The Duke did not deny to +either of them the right to make a model, or deprive them of the hope +that he who should acquit himself the best might be chosen to execute +the statue. His Excellency knew that in ability, judgment, and design +Baccio was still better than any of the sculptors who were in his +service, if only he would consent to take pains, and he welcomed this +competition, in order to incite Baccio to acquit himself better and +to do the most that he could. Bandinelli, having seen this competition +on his shoulders, was greatly troubled by it, fearing the loss of the +Duke's favour more than any other thing, and once more he set himself +to making models. He was most assiduous in waiting on the Duchess, and +so wrought upon her, that he obtained leave to go to Carrara in order +to make arrangements for having the marble brought to Florence. Having +arrived in Carrara, he had the marble so reduced in size--as he had +planned to do--that he made it a sorry thing, and robbed both himself +and the others of a noble opportunity and of the hope of ever making +from it a beautiful and magnificent work. On returning to Florence, +there was a long contention between Benvenuto and him, Benvenuto +saying to the Duke that Baccio had spoilt the marble before it had +been assigned to him. Finally the Duchess so went to work that the +marble became Baccio's; and orders were given that it should be taken +from Carrara to the sea-shore, and a boat was made ready with the +proper appliances, which was to convey it up the Arno as far as Signa. +Baccio also caused a room to be built up in the Loggia of the Piazza, +wherein to work at the marble. + +In the meantime he had set his hand to executing cartoons, in order to +have some pictures painted which were to adorn the apartments of the +Pitti Palace. These pictures were painted by a young man called Andrea +del Minga, who handled colour passing well. The stories painted in the +pictures were the Creation of Adam and Eve, and their Expulsion from +Paradise by the Angel, a Noah, and a Moses with the Tables; which +finished, he then presented them to the Duchess, seeking to obtain her +favour in his difficulties and contentions. And, in truth, if it had +not been for that lady, who loved him for his abilities and held him +on his feet, Baccio would have fallen headlong down and would have +lost completely the favour of the Duke. The Duchess also made much use +of Baccio in the Pitti garden, where she had caused to be constructed +a grotto full of tufa and sponge-stone formed by the action of water, +and containing a fountain; and for this Baccio had caused his pupil, +Giovanni Fancelli, to execute in marble a large basin and some goats +of the size of life, which spout forth water, and likewise, for a +fish-pond, after a model made by himself, a countryman who is +emptying a barrel full of water. For these reasons the Duchess was +constantly helping and favouring Baccio with the Duke, who finally +gave him leave to begin the great model of the Neptune; on which +account he once more sent to Rome for Vincenzio de' Rossi, who had +previously departed from Florence, with the intention of making him +help to execute it. + +While these preparations were in progress, Baccio was seized with a +desire to finish the statue of the Dead Christ supported by Nicodemus, +which his son Clemente had carried well forward; for he had heard that +Buonarroti was finishing one in Rome that he had begun to carve from a +large block of marble, containing five figures, which was to be placed +on his tomb in S. Maria Maggiore. Out of emulation with him Baccio set +to work on his group with the greatest assiduity, with assistants, +until he had finished it. And meanwhile he was going about among the +principal churches of Florence, seeking for a place where he might set +up that work and also make a tomb for himself; but for long he found +no place for the tomb that could content him, until he resolved on a +chapel in the Church of the Servites which belongs to the family of +the Pazzi. The owners of this chapel, at the request of the Duchess, +granted the place to Baccio, without divesting themselves of the +rights of ownership and of the devices of their house that were there; +and they granted him only this, that he should erect an altar of +marble and place upon it the statues mentioned above, and make his +tomb at the foot of it. Afterwards, also, he came to an agreement with +the friars of that convent with regard to the other matters +appertaining to the celebration of Mass. During this time, then, +Baccio was causing the altar and the marble base to be built, in order +to place upon it the above-named statues; and, when he had finished +it, he proposed to lay in that tomb, in which he wished to be laid +himself together with his wife, the bones of his father Michelagnolo, +which, at his death, he had caused to be placed in a vault in the same +church. These bones of his father he chose to lay piously in that tomb +with his own hands; whereupon it happened that either because he felt +sorrow and a shock to his mind in handling his father's bones, or +because he exerted himself too much in transferring those bones with +his own hands and in rearranging the marbles, or from both reasons +together, he was so overcome that he felt ill and had to go home, and, +his malady growing daily worse, in eight days he died, at the age of +seventy-two, having been up to that time robust and vigorous, and +without having ever suffered much illness during the whole of his +life. He was buried with honourable obsequies, and laid beside his +father's bones in the above-mentioned tomb constructed by himself, on +which is this epitaph:-- + + D. O. M. + BACCIUS BANDINELL. DIVI JACOBI EQUES + SUB HAC SERVATORIS IMAGINE, + A SE EXPRESSA, CUM JACOBA DONIA + UXORE QUIESCIT, AN. S. MDLIX. + +He left behind him both sons and daughters, who were the heirs to his +many possessions in lands, houses, and money, which he bequeathed to +them; and to the world he left the works in sculpture described by us, +and designs in great numbers, which are in the possession of his +family, and in our book there are some executed with the pen and with +chalk, than which it is certain that nothing better could be done. + +The marble for the giant was left more in dispute than ever, because +Benvenuto was always about the Duke, and wished, in virtue of a little +model that he had made, that the Duke should give it to him. On the +other hand, Ammanati, being a sculptor of marbles and more experienced +in such works than Benvenuto, considered for many reasons that this +work belonged to him. Now it happened that Giorgio Vasari had to go to +Rome with the Cardinal, the son of the Duke, when he went to receive +his hat, and Ammanati gave to Vasari a little model of wax showing the +shape in which he desired to carve that figure from the marble, and a +piece of wood reproducing the exact proportions--the length, breadth, +thickness, and inclination from the straight--of the marble, to the +end that Giorgio might show them in Rome to Michelagnolo Buonarroti +and persuade him to declare his opinion in the matter, and so move the +Duke to give him the marble. All this Giorgio did most willingly, and +it was the reason that the Duke gave orders that an arch should be +partitioned off in the Loggia of the Piazza, and that Ammanati should +make a great model as large as the giant was to be. Having heard this. +Benvenuto rode in a great fury to Pisa, where the Duke was, and said +to him that he could not suffer that his genius should be trampled +underfoot by one who was inferior to himself, and that he desired to +make a great model in competition with Ammanati, in the same place; +and the Duke, wishing to pacify him, granted him leave to have another +arch of the Loggia partitioned off, and caused to be given to him +materials for making, as he desired, a large model in competition with +Ammanati. + +While these masters were engaged in making their models, after having +made fast their enclosures in such a manner that neither the one nor +the other could see what his rival was doing, although these +enclosures were attached to each other, there rose up the Flemish +sculptor Maestro Giovan Bologna, a young man not inferior in ability +or in spirit to either of the others. This master, being in the +service of the Lord Don Francesco, Prince of Florence, asked his +Excellency to enable him to make a giant which might serve as a model, +of the same size as the marble; and the Prince granted him this +favour. Maestro Giovan Bologna had as yet no thought of having the +giant to execute in marble, but he wished at least to display his +ability and to make himself known for what he was worth; and, having +received permission from the Prince, he, also, began a model in the +Convent of S. Croce. Nor was Vincenzio Danti, the sculptor of Perugia, +a younger man than any of the others, willing to fail to compete with +these three masters, not in the hope of obtaining the marble, but in +order to demonstrate his spirit and genius. And so, having set to work +on his own account in the house of Messer Alessandro, the son of M. +Ottaviano de' Medici, he executed a model good in many parts and as +large as the others. + +The models finished, the Duke went to see those of Ammanati and of +Benvenuto; and, being more pleased with that of Ammanati than with +that of Benvenuto, he resolved that Ammanati should have the marble +and make the giant, because he was younger than Benvenuto and more +practised in marble. The disposition of the Duke was strengthened by +Giorgio Vasari, who did many good offices with his Excellency for +Ammanati, having perceived that, in addition to his knowledge, he was +ready to endure any labour, and hoping that from his hands there would +issue an excellent work finished in a short time. The Duke would not +at that time see the model of Maestro Giovan Bologna, because, not +having seen any work by him in marble, it did not seem to him that he +could entrust to that master, as his first work, so great an +undertaking, although he heard from many craftsmen and other men of +judgment that Giovan Bologna's model was in many parts better than the +others. But if Baccio had been alive, there would not have been all +that contention among those masters, because without a doubt it would +have fallen to him to make the model of clay and the giant of marble. +This work, then, was snatched from Baccio by death, but the same +circumstance brought him no little glory, in that it revealed by means +of those four models--the reason of the making of which was that +Baccio was not alive--how much better were the design, judgment and +ability of him who placed on the Piazza the Hercules and Cacus, as it +were living in the marble; the excellence of which work has been made +evident and brought to light even more by the works that have been +executed since Baccio's death by those others, who, although they have +acquitted themselves in a manner worthy of praise, have yet not been +able to attain to the beauty and excellence that he placed in his +work. + +Afterwards Duke Cosimo, for the marriage of Queen Joanna of Austria, +his daughter-in-law, seven years after the death of Baccio, caused the +audience-chamber in the Great Hall, begun by Baccio, of which we have +spoken above, to be finished; and he chose that the head of this work +of completion should be Giorgio Vasari, who has sought with all +diligence to put right the many defects that would have been in it if +it had been continued and finished after the original design followed +in the beginning by Baccio. Thus that imperfect work has now been +carried with the help of God to completion, and is enriched on its +side faces by the addition of niches and pilasters, and statues set in +their places. Moreover, since it was laid out awry and out of square, +we have taken pains to make it even in so far as has been possible, +and have raised it considerably with a corridor of Tuscan columns at +the top; and as for the statue of Leo begun by Baccio, his pupil +Vincenzio de' Rossi has finished it. Besides this, that work has been +adorned with friezes full of stucco-work, with many figures large and +small, and with devices and other ornaments of various kinds, and +under the niches and in the partitions of the vaulting have been made +many and various designs in stucco and many beautiful inventions in +carving; all which things have enriched the work in such a manner, +that it has changed its form and has gained not a little in beauty and +grace. For whereas, according to the first design, the ceiling of the +Hall being twenty-one braccia above the floor, the audience-chamber +did not rise higher than eighteen braccia, so that between it and the +old ceiling there was a space of only three braccia; now, after our +design, the ceiling of the Hall has been raised so much that it has +risen twelve braccia above the old ceiling and fifteen above the +audience-chamber of Baccio and Giuliano, so that the ceiling is now +thirty-three braccia above the floor of the Hall. And it certainly +showed great spirit in his Excellency, that he should resolve to cause +to be finished in the space of five months for the above-named +nuptials the whole of a work of which more than a third still remained +to do, although it had taken more than fifteen years to arrive at the +condition in which it was at that time; so eager was he to carry it to +completion. But it was not only Baccio's work that his Excellency +caused to be completely finished, but also all the rest of what +Giorgio Vasari had designed; beginning again from the base that runs +over the whole of that work, with a border of balusters in the open +spaces, which forms a corridor that passes above the work in the Hall, +and commands a view on the outer side of the Piazza and on the inner +side of the whole Hall. Thus the Princes and other lords will be able +to see, without being seen, all the festivals that may be held there, +with much pleasure and convenience for themselves, and then to retire +to their apartments, passing by the private and public staircases +through all the rooms in the Palace. Nevertheless, to many it has +caused dissatisfaction that in a work of such beauty and grandeur that +structure was not made square, and many would have liked to have it +pulled down and then rebuilt true to square. But it has been judged to +be better to continue the work in that way, in order not to appear +presumptuous and malign towards Baccio, and also because otherwise we +would have seemed not to have the power to correct the errors and +defects found by us but committed by others. + +But, returning to Baccio, we must say that his abilities were always +recognized during his lifetime, yet will be recognized and regretted +much more now that he is dead. And even more would he have been +acknowledged for what he was, when alive, and beloved, if he had been +so favoured by nature as to be more amiable and more courteous, +because his being the contrary, and very rough with his tongue, robbed +him of the goodwill of other persons, obscured his talents, and +brought it about that his works were regarded with ill will and a +prejudiced eye, and therefore could never please anyone. And although +he served one nobleman after another, and was enabled by his talent to +serve them well, nevertheless he rendered his services with such bad +grace, that there was no one who felt grateful to him for them. +Moreover, his always decrying and maligning the works of others +brought it about that no one could endure him, and, whenever another +was able to pay him back in his own coin, it was returned to him with +interest; and before the magistrates he spoke all manner of evil +without scruple about the other citizens, and received from them as +good as he gave. He brought suits and went to law about everything +with the greatest readiness, living in one long succession of +law-suits, and appearing to triumph in them. But since his drawing, to +which it is evident that he gave his attention more than to any other +thing, was of such a kind and of such excellence that it atones for +his every natural defect and makes him known as a rare master of our +art, we therefore not only count him among the greatest craftsmen, but +also have always paid respect to his works, and have sought not to +destroy but to finish them and do them honour, for the reason that it +appears to us that Baccio was in truth one of those who deserve +honourable praise and everlasting fame. + +We have deferred to the end the mention of his family name, because it +was not always the same, but varied, Baccio having himself called now +De' Brandini, and now De' Bandinelli. In his early prints the name De' +Brandini may be seen engraved after that of Baccio; but afterwards he +preferred the name De' Bandinelli, which he retained to the end and +still retains, and he used to say that his ancestors were of the +Bandinelli of Siena, who once removed to Gaiuole, and from Gaiuole to +Florence. + + + + +GIULIANO BUGIARDINI + + + + +[Illustration: GIULIANO BUGIARDINI: PORTRAIT OF A LADY + +(_Florence: Pitti, 140. Panel_)] + + + + +LIFE OF GIULIANO BUGIARDINI + +PAINTER OF FLORENCE + + +Before the siege of Florence the population had multiplied in such +great numbers that the widespread suburbs which lay without every +gate, together with the churches, monasteries, and hospitals, formed +as it were another city, inhabited by many honourable persons and by +good craftsmen of every kind, although for the most part they were +less wealthy than those of the city, and lived there with less expense +in the way of customs-dues and the like. In one of these suburbs, +then, without the Porta a Faenza, was born Giuliano Bugiardini, who +lived there, even as his ancestors had done, until the year 1529, when +all the suburbs were pulled down. But before that, when still a mere +lad, he began his studies in the garden of the Medici on the Piazza di +S. Marco, in which, attending to the study of art under the sculptor +Bertoldo, he formed such strait friendship and intimacy with +Michelagnolo Buonarroti, that he was much beloved by Buonarroti ever +afterwards; which Michelagnolo did not so much because of any depth +that he saw in Giuliano's manner of drawing, as on account of the +extraordinary diligence and love that he showed towards art. There was +in Giuliano, besides this, a certain natural goodness and a sort of +simplicity in his mode of living, free from all envy and malice, which +vastly pleased Buonarroti; nor was there any notable defect in him +save this, that he loved too well the works of his own hand. For, +although all men are wont to err in this respect, Giuliano in truth +passed all due bounds, whatever may have been the reason--either the +great pains and diligence that he put into executing them, or some +other cause. Wherefore Michelagnolo used to call him blessed, since +he appeared to be content with what he knew, and himself unhappy, in +that no work of his ever fully satisfied him. + +After Giuliano had studied design for some time in the above-named +garden, he worked, together with Buonarroti and Granacci, under +Domenico Ghirlandajo, at the time when he was painting the chapel in +S. Maria Novella. Then, having made his growth and become a passing +good master, he betook himself to work in company with Mariotto +Albertinelli in Gualfonda; in which place he finished a panel-picture +that is now at the door of entrance of S. Maria Maggiore in Florence, +containing S. Alberto, a Carmelite friar, who has under his feet the +Devil in the form of a woman, a work that was much extolled. + +It was the custom in Florence before the siege of 1530, at the burial +of dead persons of good family and noble blood, to carry in front of +the bier a string of pennons fixed round a panel that a porter bore on +his head; which pennons were afterwards left in the church in memory +of the deceased and of his family. Now, when the elder Cosimo Rucellai +died, Bernardo and Palla, his sons, in order to have something new, +thought of having not pennons, but in place of them a quadrangular +banner four braccia wide and five braccia high, with some pennons at +the foot containing the arms of the Rucellai. These men therefore +giving this work to Giuliano to execute, he painted on the body of the +said banner four great figures, executed very well--namely, S. Cosimo, +S. Damiano, S. Peter, and S. Paul, which were truly most beautiful +paintings, and done with more diligence than had ever been shown in +any other work on cloth. + +These and other works of Giuliano's having been seen by Mariotto +Albertinelli, he recognized how careful Giuliano was in following the +designs that were put before him, without departing from them by a +hair's breadth, and, since he was preparing in those days to abandon +art, he gave him to finish a panel-picture that Fra Bartolommeo di San +Marco, his friend and companion, had formerly left only designed and +shaded with water-colours on the gesso of the panel, as was his +custom. Giuliano, then, setting his hand to this work, executed it +with supreme diligence and labour, and it was placed at that time in +the Church of S. Gallo, without the gate of that name. The church and +convent were afterwards pulled down on account of the siege, and the +picture was carried into the city and placed in the Priests' Hospital +in the Via di S. Gallo, and then from there into the Convent of S. +Marco, and finally into S. Jacopo tra Fossi on the Canto degli +Alberti, where it stands at the present day on the high-altar. In this +picture is the Dead Christ, with the Magdalene, who is embracing His +feet, and S. John the Evangelist, who is holding His head and +supporting it on one knee. There, likewise, are S. Peter, who is +weeping, and S. Paul, who, stretching out his arms, is contemplating +his Dead Master; and, to tell the truth, Giuliano executed this +picture with so much lovingness and so much consideration and +judgment, that he will be always very highly extolled for it, even as +he was at that time, and that rightly. And after this he finished for +Cristofano Rinieri a picture with the Rape of Dina that had been +likewise left incomplete by the same Fra Bartolommeo; and he painted +another picture like it, which was sent to France. + +Not long afterwards, having been drawn to Bologna by certain friends, +he executed some portraits from life, and, for a chapel in the new +choir of S. Francesco, an altar-piece in oils containing Our Lady and +two Saints, which was held at that time in Bologna, from there not +being many masters there, to be a good work and worthy of praise. +Then, having returned to Florence, he painted for I know not what +person five pictures of the life of Our Lady, which are now in the +house of Maestro Andrea Pasquali, physician to his Excellency and a +man of great distinction. + +Messer Palla Rucellai having commissioned him to execute an +altar-piece that was to be placed on his altar in S. Maria Novella, +Giuliano began to paint in it the Martyrdom of S. Catharine the +Virgin. Mountains in labour! He had it in hand for twelve years, but +never carried it to completion after all that time, because he had no +invention and knew not how to paint the many various things that had a +part in that martyrdom; and, although he was always racking his brain +as to how those wheels should be made, and how he should paint the +lightning and the fire that consumed them, constantly changing one +day what he had done the day before, in all that time he was never +able to finish it. It is true that in the meantime he executed many +works, and among others, for Messer Francesco Guicciardini--who had +returned from Bologna and was then living in his villa at Montici, +writing his history--a portrait of him, which was a passing good +likeness and pleased him much. He took the portrait, likewise, of +Signora Angela de' Rossi, the sister of the Count of Sansecondo, for +Signor Alessandro Vitelli, her husband, who was then on garrison-duty +in Florence. For Messer Ottaviano de' Medici he painted in a large +picture, copied from one by Fra Sebastiano del Piombo, two full-length +portraits, Pope Clement seated and Fra Niccolo della Magna standing; +and in another picture, likewise, with incredible pains and patience, +he portrayed Pope Clement seated, and before him Bartolommeo Valori, +who is kneeling and speaking to him. + +[Illustration: THE MARTYRDOM OF S. CATHARINE + +(_After the painting by =Giuliano Bugiardini=. Florence: S. Maria +Novella, Rucellai Chapel_) + +_Alinari_] + +Next, the above-named Messer Ottaviano de' Medici having besought +Giuliano privately that he should take for him the portrait of +Michelagnolo Buonarroti, he set his hand to it; and, after he had kept +Michelagnolo, who used to take pleasure in his conversation, sitting +for two hours, Giuliano said to him: "Michelagnolo, if you wish to see +yourself, get up and look, for I have now fixed the expression of the +face." Michelagnolo, having risen and looked at the portrait, said to +Giuliano, laughing: "What the devil have you been doing? You have +painted me with one of my eyes up in the temple. Give a little thought +to what you are doing." Hearing this, Giuliano, after standing pensive +for a while and looking many times from the portrait to the living +model, answered in serious earnest: "To me it does not seem so, but +sit you down again, and I shall see a little better from the life +whether it be true." Buonarroti, who knew whence the defect arose and +how small was the judgment of Bugiardini, straightway resumed his +seat, grinning. And Giuliano looked many times now at Michelagnolo and +now at the picture, and then finally, rising to his feet, declared: +"To me it seems that the thing is just as I have drawn it, and that +the life is in no way different." "Well, then," answered Buonarroti, +"it is a natural deformity. Go on, and spare neither brush nor art." +And so Giuliano finished the picture and gave it to Messer +Ottaviano, together with the portrait of Pope Clement by the hand of +Fra Sebastiano, as Buonarroti desired, who had sent to Rome for it. + +Giuliano afterwards made for Cardinal Innocenzio Cibo a copy of the +picture in which Raffaello da Urbino had formerly painted portraits of +Pope Leo, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, and Cardinal de' Rossi; but in +place of Cardinal de' Rossi he painted the head of Cardinal Cibo, in +which he acquitted himself very well, and he executed the whole +picture with great diligence and labour. At that time, likewise, he +took the portrait of Cencio Guasconi, who was then a very beautiful +youth. And after this he painted at the villa of Baccio Valori, at +Olmo a Castello, a tabernacle in fresco, which, although it had not +much design, was well and very carefully executed. + +Meanwhile Palla Rucellai was pressing him to finish his altar-piece, +of which mention has been made above, and Giuliano resolved to take +Michelagnolo one day to see it. And so, after he had brought him to +the place where he kept it, and had described to him with what pains +he had executed the lightning-flash, which, coming down from Heaven, +shivers the wheels and kills those who are turning them, and also a +sun, which, bursting from a cloud, delivers S. Catharine from death, +he frankly besought Michelagnolo, who could not keep from laughing as +he heard poor Bugiardini's lamentations, that he should tell him how +to make eight or ten principal figures of soldiers in the foreground +of this altar-piece, drawn up in line after the manner of a guard, and +in the act of flight, some being prostrate, some wounded, and others +dead; for, said Giuliano, he did not know for himself how to +foreshorten them in such a manner that there might be room for them +all in so narrow a space, in the fashion that he had imagined, in +line. Buonarroti, then, having compassion on the poor man and wishing +to oblige him, went up to the picture with a piece of charcoal and +outlined with a few strokes, lightly sketched in, a line of marvellous +nude figures, which, foreshortened in different attitudes, were +falling in various ways, some backward and others forward, with some +wounded or dead, and all executed with that judgment and excellence +that were peculiar to Michelagnolo. This done, he went away with the +thanks of Giuliano, who not long afterwards took Tribolo, his dearest +friend, to see what Buonarroti had done, telling him the whole story. +But since, as has been related, Buonarroti had drawn his figures only +in outline, Bugiardini was not able to put them into execution, +because there were neither shadows in them nor any other help; +whereupon Tribolo resolved to assist him, and thus made some +sketch-models in clay, which he executed excellently well, giving them +that boldness of manner that Michelagnolo had put into the drawing, +and working them over with the gradine, which is a toothed instrument +of iron, to the end that they might be somewhat rough and might have +greater force; and, thus finished, he gave them to Giuliano. However, +since that manner did not please the smooth fancy of Bugiardini, no +sooner had Tribolo departed than he took a brush and, dipping it from +time to time in water, so smoothed them that he took away the +gradine-marks and polished them all over, insomuch that, whereas the +lights should have served as contrasts to make the shadows stronger, +he contrived to destroy all the excellence that made the work perfect. +Which having afterwards heard from Giuliano himself, Tribolo laughed +at the foolish simplicity of the man; and Giuliano finally delivered +the work finished in such a manner that there is nothing in it to show +that Michelagnolo ever looked at it. + +In the end, being old and poor, and having very few works to do, +Giuliano applied himself with extraordinary and even incredible pains +to make a Pieta in a tabernacle that was to go to Spain, with figures +of no great size, and executed it with such diligence, that it seems a +strange thing to think of an old man of his age having the patience to +do such a work for the love that he bore to art. On the doors of that +tabernacle, in order to depict the darkness that fell at the death of +the Saviour, he painted a Night on a black ground, copied from the one +by the hand of Michelagnolo which is in the Sacristy of S. Lorenzo. +But since that statue has no other sign than an owl, Giuliano, amusing +himself over his picture of Night by giving rein to his fancy, painted +there a net for catching thrushes by night, with the lantern, and one +of those little vessels holding a candle, or rather, a candle-end, +that are carried about at night, with other suchlike things that have +something to do with darkness and gloom, such as night-caps, coifs, +pillows, and bats; wherefore Buonarroti was like to dislocate his jaw +with laughing when he saw this work and considered with what strange +caprices Bugiardini had enriched his Night. + +Finally, after having always been that kind of man, Giuliano died at +the age of seventy-five, and was buried in the Church of S. Marco at +Florence, in the year 1556. + +Giuliano once relating to Bronzino how he had seen a very beautiful +woman, after he had praised her to the skies, Bronzino said, "Do you +know her?" "No," answered Giuliano, "but she is a miracle of beauty. +Just imagine that she is a picture by my hand, and there you have +her." + + + + +CRISTOFANO GHERARDI, CALLED DOCENO + + + + +LIFE OF CRISTOFANO GHERARDI [CALLED DOCENO] OF BORGO SAN SEPOLCRO + +PAINTER + + +While Raffaello dal Colle of Borgo San Sepolcro, who was a disciple of +Giulio Romano and helped him to paint in fresco the Hall of +Constantine in the Papal Palace at Rome, and the apartments of the Te +in Mantua, was painting, after his return to the Borgo, the +altar-piece of the Chapel of SS. Gilio e Arcanio (in which, imitating +Giulio and Raffaello da Urbino, he depicted the Resurrection of +Christ, a work that was much extolled), with another altar-piece of +the Assumption for the Frati de' Zoccoli without the Borgo, and some +other works for the Servite Friars at Citta di Castello; while, I say, +Raffaello was executing these and other works in the Borgo, his native +place, acquiring riches and fame, a young man sixteen years of age, +called Cristofano, and by way of by-name, Doceno, the son of Guido +Gherardi, a man of honourable family in that city, was attending from +a natural inclination and with much profit to painting, drawing and +colouring so well and with such grace, that it was a marvel. Wherefore +the above-named Raffaello, having seen some animals by the hand of +this Cristofano, such as dogs, wolves, hares, and various kinds of +birds and fishes, executed very well, and perceiving that he was most +agreeable in his conversation and very witty and amusing, although he +lived a life apart, almost like a philosopher, was well pleased to +form a friendship with him and to have him frequent his workshop in +order to learn. + +Now, after Cristofano had spent some time drawing under the discipline +of Raffaello, there arrived in the Borgo the painter Rosso, with whom +he contracted a friendship, and received some of his drawings; and +these Doceno studied with great diligence, considering, as one who had +seen no others but those by the hand of Raffaello, that they were very +beautiful, as indeed they were. But these studies were broken off by +him, for, when Giovanni de' Turrini of the Borgo, at that time Captain +of the Florentines, went with a band of soldiers from the Borgo and +from Citta di Castello to the defence of Florence, which was besieged +by the armies of the Emperor and of Pope Clement, Cristofano went +thither among the other soldiers, having been led away by his many +friends. It is true that he did this no less in the hope of having +some occasion to study the works in Florence than with the intention +of fighting; but in this he failed, for his captain, Giovanni, had to +guard not a place within the city, but the bastions on the hill +without. That war finished, and the guard of Florence being commanded +not long afterwards by Signor Alessandro Vitelli of Citta di Castello, +Cristofano, drawn by his friends and by his desire to see the pictures +and sculptures of the city, enlisted as a soldier in that guard. And +while he was in that service, Signor Alessandro, having heard from +Battista della Bilia, a painter and soldier from Citta di Castello, +that Cristofano gave his attention to painting, and having obtained a +beautiful picture by his hand, determined to send him with that same +Battista della Bilia and with another Battista, likewise of Citta di +Castello, to decorate with sgraffiti and paintings a garden and loggia +that he had begun at Citta di Castello. But the one Battista having +died while that garden was being built up, and the other Battista +having taken his place, for the time being, whatever may have been the +reason, nothing more was done. + +Meanwhile Giorgio Vasari had returned from Rome, and was passing his +time with Duke Alessandro in Florence, until his patron Cardinal +Ippolito should return from Hungary; and he had received rooms in the +Convent of the Servites, that he might make a beginning with the +execution of certain scenes in fresco from the life of Caesar in the +chamber at the corner of the Medici Palace, where Giovanni da Udine +had decorated the ceiling with stucco-work and pictures. Now +Cristofano, having made Giorgio's acquaintance at the Borgo in the +year 1528, when he went to see Rosso in that place, where he had +shown him much kindness, resolved that he would attach himself to +Vasari and thus find much more opportunity for giving attention to art +than he had done in the past. Giorgio, then, after a year's +intercourse with him as his companion, finding that he was likely to +make an able master, and that he was pleasant and gentle in manners +and a man after his own heart, conceived an extraordinary affection +for him. Wherefore, having to go not long afterwards, at the +commission of Duke Alessandro, to Citta di Castello, in company with +Antonio da San Gallo and Pier Francesco da Viterbo (who had been in +Florence to build the castle, or rather, citadel, and on their return +were taking the road by Citta di Castello), in order to repair the +walls of the above-mentioned garden of Vitelli, which were threatening +to fall, he took Cristofano with him, to the end that after Vasari +himself had designed and distributed in their due order the friezes +that were to be executed in certain apartments, and likewise the +scenes and compartments of a bath-room, and other sketches for the +walls of the loggia, Gherardi and the above-named Battista might carry +the whole to completion. All this they did so well and with such +grace, and particularly Cristofano, that a past master in art, well +practised in his work, could not have done so much; and, what is more, +experimenting in that work, he became facile and able to a marvel in +drawing and colouring. + +Then, in the year 1536, the Emperor Charles V coming to Italy and to +Florence, as has been related in other places, the most magnificent +festive preparations were ordained, among which Vasari, by order of +Duke Alessandro, received the charge of the decorations of the Porta a +S. Piero Gattolini, of the facade at S. Felice in Piazza, at the head +of the Via Maggio, and of the pediment that was erected over the door +of S. Maria del Fiore; and, in addition, of a standard of cloth for +the castle, fifteen braccia in depth and forty in length, into the +gilding of which there went fifty thousand leaves of gold. Now the +Florentine painters and others who were employed in these +preparations, thinking that Vasari was too much in favour with Duke +Alessandro, and wishing to leave him disgraced in that part of the +decorations--a part truly great and laborious--which had fallen to +him, so went to work that he was not able to enlist the services of +any master of architectural painting, whether young or old, among all +those that were in the city, to assist him in any single thing. Of +which having become aware, Vasari sent for Cristofano, Raffaello dal +Colle, and Stefano Veltroni of Monte Sansovino, his kinsman; and with +their assistance and that of other painters from Arezzo and other +places, he executed the works mentioned above, in which Cristofano +acquitted himself in such a manner, that he caused everyone to marvel, +doing honour to himself and also to Vasari, who was much extolled for +those works. After they were finished, Cristofano remained many days +in Florence, assisting the same Vasari in the preparations that were +made in the Palace of Messer Ottaviano de' Medici for the nuptials of +Duke Alessandro; wherein, among other things, Cristofano executed the +coat of arms of the Duchess Margherita of Austria, with the balls, +upheld by a most beautiful eagle, with some boys, very well done. + +Not long afterwards, when Duke Alessandro had been assassinated, a +compact was made in the Borgo to hand over one of the gates of the +city to Piero Strozzi, when he came to Sestino, and letters were +therefore written to Cristofano by some soldiers exiled from the +Borgo, entreating him that he should consent to help them in this: +which letters received, although Cristofano did not grant their +request, yet, in order not to do a mischief to the soldiers, he chose +rather to tear them up, as he did, than to lay them, as according to +the laws and edicts he should have done, before Gherardo Gherardi, who +was then Commissioner for the Lord Duke Cosimo in the Borgo. When the +troubles were over and the matter became known, many citizens of the +Borgo were exiled as rebels, and among them Doceno; and Signor +Alessandro Vitelli, who knew the truth of this affair and could have +helped him, did not do so, to the end that Cristofano might be as it +were forced to serve him in the work of his garden at Citta di +Castello, of which we have spoken above. + +After having consumed much time in this service, without any profit or +advantage, Cristofano finally took refuge, almost in despair, with +other exiles, in the village of S. Giustino in the States of the +Church, a mile and a half distant from the Borgo and very near the +Florentine frontier. In that place, although he stayed there at his +peril, he painted for Abbot Bufolini of Citta di Castello, who has +most beautiful and commodious apartments there, a chamber in a tower, +with a pattern of little boys and figures very well foreshortened to +be seen from below, and with grotesques, festoons, and masks, the most +lovely and the most bizarre that could be imagined. This chamber, when +finished, so pleased the Abbot that he caused him to do another, in +which, desiring to make some ornaments of stucco, and not having +marble to grind into powder for mixing it, for this purpose he found a +very good substitute in some stones from a river-bed, veined with +white, the powder from which took a good and very firm hold. And +within these ornaments of stucco Cristofano then painted some scenes +from Roman history, executing them so well in fresco that it was a +marvel. + +At that time Giorgio Vasari was painting in fresco the upper part of +the tramezzo[4] of the Abbey of Camaldoli, and two panel-pictures for +the lower part; and, wishing to make about these last an ornament in +fresco full of scenes, he would have liked to have Cristofano with +him, no less to restore him to the favour of the Duke than to make use +of him. But, although Messer Ottaviano de' Medici pleaded strongly +with the Duke, it proved impossible to bend him, so ugly was the +information that had been given to him about the behaviour of +Cristofano. Not having succeeded in this, therefore, Vasari, as one +who loved Cristofano, set himself to contrive to remove him at least +from S. Giustino, where he, with other exiles, was living in the +greatest peril. In the year 1539, then, having to execute for the +Monks of Monte Oliveto, for the head of a great refectory in the +Monastery of S. Michele in Bosco without Bologna, three panel-pictures +in oils with three scenes each four braccia in length, and a frieze in +fresco three braccia high all round with twenty stories of the +Apocalypse in little figures, and all the monasteries of that Order +copied from the reality, with partitions of grotesques, and round each +window fourteen braccia of festoons with fruits copied from nature, +Giorgio wrote straightway to Cristofano that he should go from S. +Giustino to Bologna, together with Battista Cungi of the Borgo, his +compatriot, who had also served Vasari for seven years. These men, +therefore, having gone to Bologna, where Giorgio had not yet +arrived--for he was still at Camaldoli, where, having finished the +tramezzo, he was drawing the cartoon for a Deposition from the Cross, +which was afterwards executed by him and set up on the high-altar in +that same place--set themselves to prime the said three panels with +gesso and to lay on the ground, until such time as Giorgio should +arrive. + + [Footnote 4: See note on p. 57, Vol. I.] + +Now Vasari had given a commission to Dattero, a Jew, the friend of +Messer Ottaviano de' Medici, who was then a banker in Bologna, that he +should provide Cristofano and Battista with everything that they +required. And since this Dattero was very obliging and most courteous, +he did them a thousand favours and courtesies; wherefore those two at +times went about Bologna in his company in very familiar fashion, and, +Battista having prominent eyes and Cristofano a great speck in one of +his, they were thus taken for Jews, as Dattero was in fact. One +morning, therefore, a shoemaker, who had to bring a pair of new shoes +at the commission of the above-named Jew to Cristofano, arriving at +the monastery, said to Cristofano himself, who was standing at the +gate looking on at the distribution of alms, "Sir, could you show me +the rooms of those two Jew painters who are working in there?" "Jews +or no Jews," said Cristofano, "what have you to do with them?" "I have +to give these shoes," he answered, "to one of them called Cristofano." +"I am he," replied Cristofano, "an honest man and a better Christian +than you are." "You may be what you please," answered the shoemaker. +"I called you Jews, because, besides that you are held and known as +Jews by everyone, that look of yours, which is not of our country, +convinced me of it." "Enough," said Cristofano, "you shall see that we +do the work of Christians." + +[Illustration: THE SUPPER OF S. GREGORY THE GREAT + +(_After the panel by =Giorgio Vasari=, with details by =Cristofano +Gherardi [Doceno]=. Bologna: Accademia, 198_) + +_Poppi_] + +But to return to the work: Vasari having arrived in Bologna, not a +month had passed before, Giorgio designing, and Cristofano and +Battista laying in the panels in colour, all three were completely +laid in, with great credit to Cristofano, who acquitted himself in +this excellently well. The laying in of the panels being finished, +work was begun on the frieze, in which Cristofano had a companion, +although he was to have executed it all by himself; for there came +from Camaldoli to Bologna the cousin of Vasari, Stefano Veltroni of +Monte Sansovino, who had laid in the panel-picture of the Deposition, +and the two executed that work together, and that so well, that it +proved a marvel. Cristofano painted grotesques so well, that there was +nothing better to be seen, but he did not give them that particular +finish that would have made them perfect; and Stefano, on the +contrary, was wanting in resolution and grace, for the reason that his +brush-strokes did not fix his subjects in their places at one sweep, +but, since he was very patient, in the end, although he endured +greater labour, he used to execute his grotesques with more neatness +and delicacy. Labouring in competition, then, at the work of this +frieze, these two took such pains, both the one and the other, that +Cristofano learned to finish from Stefano, and Stefano learned from +Cristofano to be more resolute and to work like a master. + +Work being then begun on the broad festoons that were to run in +clusters round the windows, Vasari made one with his own hand, keeping +real fruits in front of him, that he might copy them from nature. This +done, he ordained that Cristofano and Stefano should go on with the +rest, holding to the same design, one on one side of the window, and +the other on the other side, and should thus, one by one, proceed to +finish them all; promising to him who might prove at the end of the +work to have acquitted himself best a pair of scarlet hose. And so, +competing lovingly for both honour and profit, they set themselves to +copy everything, from the large things down to the most minute, such +as millet-seed, hemp-seed, bunches of fennel, and the like, in such a +manner that those festoons proved to be very beautiful; and both of +them received from Vasari the prize of the scarlet hose. + +Giorgio took great pains to persuade Cristofano to execute by himself +part of the designs for the scenes that were to go into the frieze, +but he would never do it. Wherefore, the while that Giorgio was +drawing them himself, Gherardi executed the buildings in two of the +panel-pictures, with much grace and beauty of manner, and such +perfection, that a master of great judgment, even if he had had the +cartoons before him, could not have done what Cristofano did. And, in +truth, there never was a painter who could do by himself, and without +study, the things that he contrived to do. After having finished the +execution of the buildings in the two panel-pictures, the while that +Vasari was carrying to completion the twenty stories from the +Apocalypse for the above-mentioned frieze, Cristofano, taking in hand +the panel-picture in which S. Gregory (whose head is a portrait of +Pope Clement VII) is eating with his twelve poor men, executed the +whole service of the table, all very lifelike and most natural. Then, +a beginning having been made with the third panel-picture, while +Stefano was occupied with the gilding of the ornamental frames of the +other two, a staging was erected upon two trestles of wood, from +which, while Vasari was painting on one side, in a glory of sunlight, +the three Angels that appeared to Abraham in the Valley of Mamre, +Cristofano painted some buildings on the other side. But he was always +making some contraption with stools and tables, and at times with +basins and pans upside down, on which he would climb, like the casual +creature that he was; and once it happened that, seeking to draw back +in order to look at what he had done, one of his feet gave way under +him, the whole contraption turned topsy-turvy, and he fell from a +height of five braccia, bruising himself so grievously that he had to +be bled and properly nursed, or he would have died. And, what was +worse, being the sort of careless fellow that he was, one night there +slipped off the bandages that were on the arm from which the blood had +been drawn, to the great danger of his life, so that, if Stefano, who +was sleeping with him, had not noticed this, it would have been all up +with him; and even so Stefano had something to do to revive him, for +the bed was a lake of blood, and he himself was reduced almost to his +last gasp. Vasari, therefore, taking him under his own particular +charge, as if he had been his brother, had him tended with the +greatest possible care, than which, indeed, nothing less would have +sufficed; and with all this he was not restored until that work was +completely finished. After that, returning to S. Giustino, Cristofano +completed some of the apartments of the Abbot there, which had been +left unfinished, and then executed at Citta di Castello, all with his +own hand, an altar-piece that had been allotted to Battista, his +dearest friend, and a lunette that is over the side-door of S. +Fiorido, containing three figures in fresco. + +Giorgio being afterwards summoned to Venice at the instance of Messer +Pietro Aretino, in order to arrange and execute for the nobles and +gentlemen of the Company of the Calza the setting for a most sumptuous +and magnificent festival, and the scenery of a comedy written by that +same Messer Pietro Aretino for those gentlemen, Giorgio, I say, +knowing that he was not able to carry out so great a work by himself +alone, sent for Cristofano and the above-mentioned Battista Cungi. And +they, having finally arrived in Venice after being carried by the +chances of the sea to Sclavonia, found that Vasari not only had +arrived there before them, but had already designed everything, so +that there was nothing for them to do but to set hand to painting. Now +the said gentlemen of the Calza had taken at the end of the Canareio a +large house which was not finished--it had nothing, indeed, save the +main walls and the roof--and in a space forming an apartment seventy +braccia long and sixteen braccia wide, Giorgio caused to be made two +ranges of wooden steps, four braccia in height from the floor, on +which the ladies were to be seated. The walls at the sides he divided +each into four square spaces of ten braccia, separated by niches each +four braccia in breadth, within which were figures, and these niches +had each on either side a terminal figure in relief, nine braccia +high; insomuch that the niches on either side were five and the +terminal figures ten, and in the whole apartment there were altogether +ten niches, twenty terminal figures, and eight square pictures with +scenes. In the first of these pictures (which were all in +chiaroscuro), that on the right hand, next the stage, there was, +representing Venice, a most beautiful figure of Adria depicted as +seated upon a rock in the midst of the sea, with a branch of coral in +the hand. Around her stood Neptune, Thetis, Proteus, Nereus, Glaucus, +Palaemon, and other sea gods and nymphs, who were presenting to her +jewels, pearls, gold, and other riches of the sea; and besides this +there were some Loves that were shooting arrows, and others that were +flying through the air and scattering flowers, and the rest of the +field of the picture was all most beautiful palms. In the second +picture were the Rivers Drava and Sava naked, with their vases. In the +third was the Po, conceived as large and corpulent, with seven sons, +representing the seven branches which, issuing from the Po, pour into +the sea as if each of them were a kingly river. In the fourth was the +Brenta, with other rivers of Friuli. On the other wall, opposite to +the Adria, was the Island of Candia, wherein was to be seen Jove being +suckled by the Goat, with many Nymphs around. Beside this, and +opposite to the Drava, were the River Tagliamento and the Mountains of +Cadore. Beyond this, opposite to the Po, were Lake Benacus and the +Mincio, which were pouring their waters into the Po; and beside them, +opposite to the Brenta, were the Adige and the Tesino, falling into +the sea. The pictures on the right-hand side were divided by these +Virtues, placed in the niches--Liberality, Concord, Compassion, Peace, +and Religion; and opposite to these, on the other wall, were +Fortitude, Civic Wisdom, Justice, a Victory with War beneath her, and, +lastly, a Charity. Above all, then, were a large cornice and +architrave, and a frieze full of lights and of glass globes filled +with distilled waters, to the end that these, having lights behind +them, might illuminate the whole apartment. Next, the ceiling was +divided into four quadrangular compartments, each ten braccia wide in +one direction and eight braccia in the other; and, with a width equal +to that of the niches of four braccia, there was a frieze which ran +right round the cornice, while in a line with the niches there came in +the middle of all the spaces a compartment three braccia square. These +compartments were in all twenty-three, without counting one of double +size that was above the stage, which brought the number up to +twenty-four; and in them were the Hours, twelve of the night, namely, +and twelve of the day. In the first of the compartments ten braccia in +length, which was above the stage, was Time, who was arranging the +Hours in their places, accompanied by AEolus, God of the Winds, by +Juno, and by Iris. In another compartment, at the door of entrance, +was the Car of Aurora, who, rising from the arms of Tithonus, was +scattering roses, while the Car itself was being drawn by some Cocks. +In the third was the Chariot of the Sun; and in the fourth was the +Chariot of Night, drawn by Owls, and Night had the Moon upon her head, +some Bats in front of her, and all around her darkness. + +Of these pictures Cristofano executed the greater part, and he +acquitted himself so well, that everyone stood marvelling at them: +particularly in the Chariot of Night, wherein he did in the way of +oil-sketches that which was, in a manner of speaking, not possible. +And in the picture of Adria, likewise, he painted those monsters of +the sea with such beauty and variety, that whoever looked at them was +struck with astonishment that a craftsman of his rank should have +shown such knowledge. In short, in all this work he bore himself +beyond all expectation like an able and well-practised painter, and +particularly in the foliage and grotesques. + +After finishing the preparations for that festival, Vasari and +Cristofano stayed some months in Venice, painting for the Magnificent +Messer Giovanni Cornaro the ceiling, or rather, soffit, of an +apartment, into which there went nine large pictures in oils. Vasari +being then entreated by the Veronese architect, Michele San Michele, +to stay in Venice, he might perhaps have consented to remain there for +a year or two; but Cristofano always dissuaded him from it, saying +that it was not a good thing to stay in Venice, where no account was +taken of design, nor did the painters in that city make any use of it, +not to mention that those painters themselves were the reason that no +attention was paid there to the labours of the arts; and he declared +that it would be better to return to Rome, the true school of noble +arts, where ability was recognized much more than in Venice. The +dissuasions of Cristofano being thus added to the little desire that +Vasari had to stay there, they went off together. But, since +Cristofano, being an exile from the State of Florence, was not able to +follow Giorgio, he returned to S. Giustino, where he did not remain +long, doing some work all the time for the above-mentioned Abbot, +before he went to Perugia on the first occasion when Pope Paul III +went there after the war waged with the people of that city. There, in +the festive preparations that were made to receive his Holiness, he +acquitted himself very well in several works, and particularly in the +portal called after Frate Rinieri, where, at the wish of Monsignore +della Barba, who was then governor there, Cristofano executed a large +Jove in Anger and another Pacified, which are two most beautiful +figures, and on the other side he painted an Atlas with the world on +his back, between two women, one of whom had a sword and the other a +pair of scales. These works, with many others that Cristofano executed +for those festivities, were the reason that afterwards, when the +citadel had been built in Perugia by order of the same Pontiff, Messer +Tiberio Crispo, who was governor and castellan at that time, when +causing many of the rooms to be painted, desired that Cristofano, in +addition to that which Lattanzio, a painter of the March, had executed +in them up to that time, should also work there. Whereupon Cristofano +not only assisted the above-named Lattanzio, but afterwards executed +with his own hand the greater part of the best works that are painted +in the apartments of that fortress, in which there also worked +Raffaello dal Colle and Adone Doni of Assisi, an able and +well-practised painter, who has executed many things in his native +city and in other places. Tommaso Papacello also worked there; but the +best that there was among them, and the one who gained most praise +there, was Cristofano, on which account he was recommended by +Lattanzio to the favour of the said Crispo, and was ever afterwards +much employed by him. + +Meanwhile, that same Crispo having built in Perugia a new little +church known as S. Maria del Popolo, but first called Del Mercato, +Lattanzio had begun for it an altar-piece in oils, and in this +Cristofano painted with his own hand all the upper part, which is +indeed most beautiful and worthy of great praise. Then, Lattanzio +having been changed from a painter into the Constable of Perugia, +Cristofano returned to S. Giustino, where he stayed many months, again +working for the above-named Lord Abbot Bufolini. + +After this, in the year 1543, Giorgio Vasari, having to execute a +panel-picture in oils for the Great Cancelleria by order of the most +illustrious Cardinal Farnese, and another for the Church of S. +Agostino at the commission of Galeotto da Girone, sent for Cristofano, +who went very willingly, as one who had a desire to see Rome. There he +stayed many months, doing little else but go about seeing everything; +but nevertheless he thus gained so much, that, after returning once +more to S. Giustino, he painted in a hall some figures after his own +fancy which were so beautiful, that it appeared that he must have +studied at them twenty years. Then, in the year 1545, Vasari had to go +to Naples to paint for the Monks of Monte Oliveto a refectory +involving much more work than that of S. Michele in Bosco at Bologna, +and he sent for Cristofano, Raffaello dal Colle, and Stefano, already +mentioned as his friends and pupils; and they all came together at the +appointed time in Naples, excepting Cristofano, who remained behind +because he was ill. However, being pressed by Vasari, he made his way +to Rome on his journey to Naples; but he was detained by his brother +Borgognone, who was likewise an exile, and who wished to take him to +France to enter the service of the Colonel Giovanni da Turrino, and so +that occasion was lost. But when Vasari returned from Naples to Rome +in the year 1546, in order to execute twenty-four pictures that were +afterwards sent to Naples and placed in the Sacristy of S. Giovanni +Carbonaro, in which he painted stories from the Old Testament, and +also from the life of S. John the Baptist, with figures of one braccio +or little more, and also in order to paint the doors of the organ of +the Piscopio, which were six braccia in height, he availed himself of +Cristofano, who was of great assistance to him and executed figures +and landscapes in those works excellently well. Giorgio had also +proposed to make use of him in the Hall of the Cancelleria, which was +painted after cartoons by his hand, and entirely finished in a hundred +days, for Cardinal Farnese, but in this he did not succeed, for +Cristofano fell ill and returned to S. Giustino as soon as he had +begun to mend. And Vasari finished the Hall without him, assisted by +Raffaello dal Colle, the Bolognese Giovan Battista Bagnacavallo, the +Spaniards Roviale and Bizzerra, and many others of his friends and +pupils. + +After returning from Rome to Florence and setting out from that city +to go to Rimini, to paint a chapel in fresco and an altar-piece in the +Church of the Monks of Monte Oliveto for Abbot Gian Matteo Faettani, +Giorgio passed through S. Giustino, in order to take Cristofano with +him: but Abbot Bufolini, for whom he was painting a hall, would not +let him go for the time being, although he promised Giorgio that he +should send Cristofano to him soon all the way to Romagna. But, +notwithstanding such a promise, the Abbot delayed so long to send +him, that Cristofano, when he did go, found that Vasari had not only +finished all the work for the other Abbot, but had also executed an +altar-piece for the high-altar of S. Francesco at Rimini, for Messer +Niccolo Marcheselli, and another altar-piece in the Church of Classi, +belonging to the Monks of Camaldoli, at Ravenna, for Don Romualdo da +Verona, the Abbot of that abbey. + +In the year 1550, not long before this, Giorgio had just executed the +story of the Marriage of Esther in the Black Friars' Abbey of S. +Fiore, that is, in the refectory, at Arezzo, and also, at Florence, +for the Chapel of the Martelli in the Church of S. Lorenzo, the +altar-piece of S. Gismondo, when, Julius III having been elected Pope, +he was summoned to Rome to enter the service of his Holiness. +Thereupon he thought for certain that by means of Cardinal Farnese, +who went at that time to stay in Florence, he would be able to +reinstate Cristofano in his country and restore him to the favour of +Duke Cosimo. But this proved to be impossible, so that poor Cristofano +had to stay as he was until 1554, at which time, Vasari having been +invited into the service of Duke Cosimo, there came to him an +opportunity of delivering Cristofano. Bishop da' Ricasoli, who knew +that he would be doing a thing pleasing to his Excellency, had set to +work to have the three facades of his palace, which stands on the +abutment of the Ponte alla Carraja, painted in chiaroscuro, when +Messer Sforza Almeni, Cup-bearer as well as first and favourite +Chamberlain to the Duke, resolved that he also would have his house in +the Via de' Servi painted in chiaroscuro, in emulation of the Bishop. +But, not having found in Florence any painters according to his fancy, +he wrote to Giorgio Vasari, who had not then arrived in Florence, that +he should think out the inventions and send him designs of all that it +might seem to him best to paint on that facade of his. Whereupon +Giorgio, who was much his friend, for they had known each other from +the time when they were both in the service of Duke Alessandro, having +thought out the whole according to the measurements of the facade, +sent him a design of most beautiful invention, which embellished the +windows and joined them together with a well-varied decoration in a +straight line from top to bottom, and filled all the spaces in the +facade with rich scenes. This design, I say, which contained, to put +it briefly, the whole life of man from birth to death, was sent by +Vasari to Messer Sforza; and it so pleased him, and likewise the Duke, +that, in order that it might have all its perfection, they resolved +that they would not have it taken in hand until such time as Vasari +himself should have arrived in Florence. Which Vasari having at last +come and having been received by his most illustrious Excellency and +by the above-named Messer Sforza with great friendliness, they began +to discuss who might be the right man to execute that facade. +Whereupon Giorgio, not allowing the occasion to slip by, said to +Messer Sforza that no one was better able to carry out that work than +Cristofano, and that neither in that nor in the works that were to be +executed in the Palace, could he do without Cristofano's aid. And so, +Messer Sforza having spoken of this to the Duke, after many inquiries +it was found that Cristofano's crime was not so black as it had been +painted, and the poor fellow was at last pardoned by his Excellency. +Which news having been received by Vasari, who was at Arezzo, +revisiting his native place and his friends, he sent a messenger +expressly to Cristofano, who knew nothing of the matter, to give him +that good news; and when he heard it, he was like to faint with joy. +All rejoicing, therefore, and confessing that no one had ever been a +better friend to him than Vasari, he went off next morning from Citta +di Castello to the Borgo, where, after presenting his letters of +deliverance to the Commissioner, he made his way to his father's +house, where his mother and also his brother, who had been recalled +from exile long before, were struck with astonishment. Then, after +passing two days there, he went off to Arezzo, where he was received +by Giorgio with more rejoicing than if he had been his own brother, +and recognized that he was so beloved by Vasari that he resolved that +he would spend the rest of his life with him. + +They then went from Arezzo to Florence together, and Cristofano went +to kiss the hands of the Duke, who received him readily and was struck +with amazement, for the reason that, whereas he had thought to see +some great bravo, he saw the best little man in the world. Cristofano +was likewise made much of by Messer Sforza, who conceived a very great +affection for him; and he then set his hand to the above-mentioned +facade. In that work, Giorgio, because it was not yet possible to +work in the Palace, assisted him, at his own request, to execute some +designs for the scenes in the facade, also designing at times during +the progress of the work, on the plaster, some of the figures that are +there. But, although there are in it many things retouched by Vasari, +nevertheless the whole facade, with the greater part of the figures +and all the ornaments, festoons, and large ovals, is by the hand of +Cristofano, who in truth, as may be seen, was so able in handling +colours in fresco, that it may be said--and Vasari confesses it--that +he knew more about it than Giorgio himself. And if Cristofano, when he +was a lad, had exercised himself continuously in the studies of +art--for he never did a drawing save when he had afterwards to carry +it into execution--and had pursued the practice of art with spirit, he +would have had no equal, seeing that his facility, judgment and memory +enabled him to execute his works in such a way, without any further +study, that he used to surpass many who in fact knew more than he. Nor +could anyone believe with what facility and resolution he executed his +labours, for, when he set himself to work, no matter how long a time +it might take, he so delighted in it that he would never lift his eyes +off his painting; wherefore his friends might well expect the greatest +things from him. Besides this, he was so gracious in his conversation +and his jesting as he worked, that Vasari would at times stay working +in his company from morning till night, without ever growing weary. + +Cristofano executed this facade in a few months, not to mention that +he sometimes stayed away some weeks without working there, going to +the Borgo to see and enjoy his home. Now I do not wish to grudge the +labour of describing the distribution and the figures of this work, +which, from its being in the open air and much exposed to the vagaries +of the weather, may not have a very long life; scarcely, indeed, was +it finished, when it was much injured by a terrible rain and a very +heavy hail-storm, and in some places the wall was stripped of plaster. +In this facade, then, there are three compartments. The first, to +begin at the foot, is where the principal door and the two windows +are; the second is from the sill of those windows to that of the +second range of windows; and the third is from those last windows to +the cornice of the roof. There are, besides this, six windows in each +range, which give seven spaces; and the whole work was divided +according to this plan in straight lines from the cornice of the roof +down to the ground. Next to the cornice of the roof, then, there is in +perspective a great cornice, with brackets that project over a frieze +of little boys, six of whom stand upright along the breadth of the +facade--namely, one above the centre of the arch of each window; and +these support with their shoulders most beautiful festoons of fruits, +leaves, and flowers, which run from one to another. Those fruits and +flowers are arranged in due succession according to the seasons, +symbolizing the periods of our life, which is there depicted; and on +the middle of the festoons, likewise, where they hang down, are other +little boys in various attitudes. This frieze finished, between the +upper windows, in the spaces that are there, there were painted the +seven Planets, with the seven celestial Signs above them as a crown +and an ornament. Beneath the sill of these windows, on the parapet, is +a frieze of Virtues, who, two by two, are holding seven great ovals; +in which ovals are seven distinct stories representing the Seven Ages +of Man, and each Age is accompanied by two Virtues appropriate to her, +and beneath the ovals in the spaces between the lower windows there +are the three Theological and the four Moral Virtues. Below this, in +the frieze that is above the door and the windows supported by +knee-shaped brackets, are the seven Liberal Arts, each of which is in +a line with the oval in which is the particular story of the Life of +Man appropriate to it; and in the same straight lines, continued +upwards, are the Moral Virtues, Planets, Signs, and other +corresponding symbols. Next, between the windows with knee-shaped +brackets, there is Life, both the active and the contemplative, with +scenes and statues, continued down to Death, Hell, and our final +Resurrection. + +In brief, Cristofano executed almost all by himself the whole cornice, +the festoons, the little boys, and the seven Signs of the Planets. +Then, beginning on one side, he painted first the Moon, and +represented her by a Diana who has her lap full of flowers, after the +manner of Proserpine, with a moon upon her head and the Sign of Cancer +above her. Below, in the oval wherein is the story of Infancy, there +are present at the Birth of Man some nurses who are suckling infants, +and newly-delivered women in bed, executed by Cristofano with much +grace; and this oval is supported by Will alone, who is a half-nude +young woman, fair and beautiful, and she is sustained by Charity, who +is also suckling infants. And beneath the oval, on the parapet, is +Grammar, who is teaching some little boys to read. + +Beginning over again, there follows Mercury with the Caduceus and with +his Sign, who has below him in the oval some little boys, some of whom +are going to school and some playing. This oval is supported by Truth, +who is a nude little girl all pure and simple, who has on one side a +male figure representing Falsehood, with a variety of girt-up garments +and a most beautiful countenance, but with the eyes much sunken. +Beneath the oval of the windows is Faith, who with the right hand is +baptizing a child in a conch full of water, and with the left hand is +holding a cross; and below her, on the parapet, is Logic covered by a +veil, with a serpent. + +Next follows the Sun, represented by an Apollo who has the lyre in his +hand, with his Sign in the ornament above. In the oval is Adolescence, +represented by two boys of equal age, one of whom, holding a branch of +olive, is ascending a mountain illumined by the sun, and the other, +halting halfway up to admire the beauties that Fraud displays from the +middle upwards, without perceiving that her hideous countenance is +concealed behind a smooth and beautiful mask, is caused by her and her +wiles to fall over a precipice. This oval is supported by Sloth, a +gross and corpulent man, who stands all sleepy and nude in the guise +of a Silenus; and also by Toil, in the person of a robust and +hard-working peasant, who has around him the implements for tilling +the earth. These are supported by that part of the ornament that is +between the windows, where Hope is, who has the anchors at her feet; +and on the parapet below is Music, with various musical instruments +about her. + +There follows in due order Venus, who has clasped Love to her bosom, +and is kissing him; and she, also, has her Sign above her. In the oval +that she has beneath her is the story of Youth; that is, in the centre +a young man seated, with books, instruments for measuring, and other +things appertaining to design, and in addition maps of the world and +cosmographical globes and spheres; and behind him is a loggia, in +which are young men who are merrily passing the time away with +singing, dancing, and playing, and also a banquet of young people all +given over to enjoyment. On one side this oval is supported by +Self-knowledge, who has about her compasses, armillary spheres, +quadrants, and books, and is gazing at herself in a mirror; and, on +the other side, by Fraud, a hideous old hag, lean and toothless, who +is mocking at Self-knowledge, and in the act of covering her face with +a smooth and beautiful mask. Below the oval is Temperance, with a +horse's bridle in her hand, and beneath her, on the parapet, is +Rhetoric, who is in a line with the other similar figures. + +Next to these comes Mars in armour, with many trophies about him, and +with the Sign of the Lion above him. In his oval, which is below him, +is Virility, represented by a full-grown man, standing between Memory +and Will, who are holding before him a basin of gold containing a pair +of wings, and are pointing out to him the path of deliverance in the +direction of a mountain; and this oval is supported by Innocence, who +is a maiden with a lamb at her side, and by Hilarity, who, all smiling +and merry, reveals herself as what she really is. Beneath the oval, +between the windows, is Prudence, who is making herself beautiful +before a mirror; and she has below her, on the parapet, a figure of +Philosophy. + +Next there follows Jove, with his thunderbolt and his bird, the Eagle, +and with his Sign above him. In the oval is Old Age, who is +represented by an old man clothed as a priest and kneeling before an +altar, upon which he is placing the basin of gold with the two wings; +and this oval is supported by Compassion, who is covering some naked +little boys, and by Religion, enveloped in sacerdotal vestments. Below +these is a Fortitude in armour, who, planting one of her legs in a +spirited attitude on a fragment of a column, is placing some balls in +the mouth of a lion; and beneath her, on the parapet, she has a figure +of Astrology. + +The last of the seven Planets is Saturn, depicted as an old man heavy +with melancholy, who is devouring his own children, with a great +serpent that is seizing its own tail with its teeth; which Saturn has +above him the Sign of Capricorn. In the oval is Decrepitude, and here +is depicted Jove in Heaven receiving a naked and decrepit old man, +kneeling, who is watched over by Felicity and Immortality, who are +casting his garments into the world. This oval is supported by +Beatitude, who is upheld by a figure of Justice in the ornament below, +who is seated and has in her hand the sceptre and upon her shoulders +the stork, with arms and laws around her; and on the parapet below is +Geometry. + +In the lowest part at the foot, which is about the windows with +knee-shaped brackets and the door, is Leah in a niche, representing +the Active Life, and on the other side of the same place is Industry, +who has a Cornucopia and two goads in her hands. Near the door is a +scene in which many masters in wood and stone, architects, and +stone-cutters have before them the gate of Cosmopolis, a city built by +the Lord Duke Cosimo in the island of Elba, with a representation of +Porto-Ferrajo. Between this scene and the frieze in which are the +Liberal Arts, is Lake Trasimene, round which are Nymphs who are +issuing from the water with tench, pike, eels, and roach, and beside +the lake is Perugia, a nude figure holding with her hands a dog, which +she is showing to a figure of Florence corresponding to her, who +stands on the other side, with a figure of Arno beside her who is +embracing and fondling her. And below this is the Contemplative Life +in another scene, in which many philosophers and astrologers are +measuring the heavens, appearing to be casting the horoscope of the +Duke; and beside this, in the niche corresponding to that of Leah, is +her sister Rachel, the daughter of Laban, representing the +Contemplative Life. The last scene, which is likewise between two +niches and forms the conclusion of the whole invention, is Death, who, +mounted on a lean horse and holding the scythe, and accompanied by +War, Pestilence, and Famine, is riding over persons of every kind. In +one niche is the God Pluto, and beneath him Cerberus, the Hound of +Hell; and in the other is a large figure rising again from a sepulchre +on the last day. After all these things Cristofano executed on the +pediments of the windows with knee-shaped brackets some nude figures +that are holding the devices of his Excellency, and over the door a +Ducal coat of arms, the six balls of which are upheld by some naked +little boys, who twine in and out between each other as they fly +through the air. And last of all, in the bases at the foot, beneath +all the scenes, the same Cristofano painted the device of M. Sforza; +that is, some obelisks, or rather triangular pyramids, which rest upon +three balls, with a motto around that reads--Immobilis. + +This work, when finished, was vastly extolled by his Excellency and by +Messer Sforza himself, who, like the courteous gentleman that he was, +wished to reward with a considerable present the art and industry of +Cristofano; but he would have none of it, being contented and fully +repaid by the goodwill of that lord, who loved him ever afterwards +more than I could say. While the work was being executed, Vasari had +Cristofano with him, as he had always done in the past, in the house +of Signor Bernardetto de' Medici, who much delighted in painting; +which having perceived, Cristofano painted two scenes in chiaroscuro +in a corner of his garden. One was the Rape of Proserpine, and in the +other were Vertumnus and Pomona, the deities of agriculture; and +besides this Cristofano painted in this work some ornaments of +terminal figures and children of such variety and beauty, that there +is nothing better to be seen. + +Meanwhile arrangements had been made for beginning to paint in the +Palace, and the first thing that was taken in hand was a hall in the +new apartments, which, being twenty braccia wide, and having a height, +according as Tasso had constructed it, of not more than nine braccia, +was raised three braccia with beautiful ingenuity by Vasari, that is, +to a total height of twelve braccia, without moving the roof, which +was half a pavilion roof. + +But because in doing this, before it could become possible to paint, +much time had to be devoted to reconstructing the ceilings and to +other works in that apartment and in others, Vasari himself obtained +leave to go to Arezzo to spend two months there together with +Cristofano. However, he did not succeed in being able to rest during +that time, for the reason that he could not refuse to go in those days +to Cortona, where he painted in fresco the vaulting and the walls of +the Company of Jesus with the assistance of Cristofano, who acquitted +himself very well, and particularly in the twelve different sacrifices +from the Old Testament which they executed in the lunettes between the +spandrels of the vaulting. Indeed, to speak more exactly, almost the +whole of this work was by the hand of Cristofano, Vasari having done +nothing therein beyond making certain sketches, designing some parts +on the plaster, and then retouching it at times in various places, +according as it was necessary. + +This work finished, which is not otherwise than grand, worthy of +praise, and very well executed, by reason of the great variety of +things that are in it, they both returned to Florence in the month of +January of the year 1555. There, having taken in hand the Hall of the +Elements, while Vasari was painting the pictures of the ceiling, +Cristofano executed some devices that bind together the friezes of the +beams in perpendicular lines, in which are heads of capricorns and +tortoises with the sail, devices of his Excellency. But the works in +which he showed himself most marvellous were some festoons of fruits +that are in the friezes of the beams on the under side, which are so +beautiful that there is nothing better coloured or more natural to be +seen, particularly because they are separated one from another by +certain masks, that hold in their mouths the ligatures of the +festoons, than which one would not be able to find any more varied or +more bizarre; in which manner of work it may be said that Cristofano +was superior to any other who has ever made it his principal and +particular profession. This done, he painted some large figures on +that part of the walls where there is the Birth of Venus, but after +the cartoons of Vasari, and many little figures in a landscape, which +were executed very well. In like manner, on the wall where there are +the Loves as tiny little children, fashioning the arrows of Cupid, he +painted the three Cyclopes forging thunderbolts for Jove. Over six +doors he executed in fresco six large ovals with ornaments in +chiaroscuro and containing scenes in the colour of bronze, which were +very beautiful; and in the same hall, between the windows, he painted +in colours a Mercury and a Pluto, which are likewise very beautiful. + +Work being then begun in the Chamber of the Goddess Ops, which is +next to that described above, he painted the four Seasons in fresco on +the ceiling, and, in addition to the figures, some festoons that were +marvellous in their variety and beauty, for the reason that, even as +those of Spring were filled with a thousand kinds of flowers, so those +of Summer were painted with an infinite number of fruits and cereals, +those of Autumn were of leaves and bunches of the grape, and those of +Winter were of onions, turnips, radishes, carrots, parsnips, and dried +leaves, not to mention that in the central picture, in which is the +Car of Ops, he coloured so beautifully in oils four lions that are +drawing the Car, that nothing better could be done; and, in truth, in +painting animals he had no equal. + +Then in the Chamber of Ceres, which is beside the last-named, he +executed in certain angles some little boys and festoons that are +beautiful to a marvel. And in the central picture, where Vasari had +painted Ceres seeking for Proserpine with a lighted pine torch, upon a +car drawn by two serpents, Cristofano carried many things to +completion with his own hand, because Vasari was ill at that time and +had left that picture, among other things, unfinished. + +Finally, when it came to decorating a terrace that is beyond the +Chamber of Jove and beside that of Ops, it was decided that all the +history of Juno should be painted there; and so, after all the +ornamentation in stucco had been finished, with very rich carvings and +various compositions of figures, wrought after the cartoons of Vasari, +the same Vasari ordained that Cristofano should execute that work by +himself in fresco, desiring, since it was a work to be seen from near, +and of figures not higher than one braccio, that Gherardi should do +something beautiful in this, which was his peculiar profession. +Cristofano, then, executed in an oval on the vaulting a Marriage with +Juno in the sky, and in a picture on one side Hebe, Goddess of Youth, +and on the other Iris, who is pointing to the rainbow in the heavens. +On the same vaulting he painted three other quadrangular pictures, two +to match the others, and a larger one in a line with the oval in which +is the Marriage, and in the last-named picture is Juno seated in a car +drawn by peacocks. In one of the other two, which are on either side +of that one, is the Goddess of Power, and in the other Abundance with +the Cornucopia at her feet. And in two other pictures on the walls +below, over the openings of two doors, are two other stories of +Juno--the Transformation of Io, the daughter of the River Inachus, +into a Cow, and of Callisto into a Bear. + +During the execution of that work his Excellency conceived a very +great affection for Cristofano, seeing him zealous and diligent in no +ordinary manner at his work; for the morning had scarcely broken into +day when Cristofano would appear at his labour, of which he had such a +love, and it so delighted him, that very often he would not finish +dressing before setting out. And at times, nay, frequently, it +happened that in his haste he put on a pair of shoes--all such things +he kept under his bed--that were not fellows, but of two kinds; and +more often than not he had his cloak wrong side out, with the hood on +the inside. One morning, therefore, appearing at an early hour at his +work, where the Lord Duke and the Lady Duchess were standing looking +at it, while preparations were being made to set out for the chase, +and the ladies and others of the Court were making themselves ready, +they noticed that Cristofano had as usual his cloak wrong side out and +the hood inside. At which both laughing, the Duke said: "What is your +idea in always wearing your cloak inside out?" "I know not, my Lord," +answered Cristofano, "but I mean to find some day a kind of cloak that +shall have neither right side nor wrong side, and shall be the same on +both sides, for I have not the patience to think of wearing it in any +other way, since in the morning I generally dress and go out of the +house in the dark, besides that I have one eye so feeble that I can +see nothing with it. But let your Excellency look at what I paint, and +not at my manner of dressing." The Duke said nothing in answer, but +within a few days he caused to be made for him a cloak of the finest +cloth, with the pieces sewn and drawn together in such a manner that +there was no difference to be seen between outside and inside, and the +collar worked with braid in the same manner both inside and out, and +so also the trimming that it had round the edges. This being finished, +he sent it to Cristofano by a lackey, commanding the man that he +should give it to him on the part of the Duke. Having therefore +received the cloak very early one morning, Cristofano, without making +any further ceremony, tried it on and then said to the lackey: "The +Duke is a man of sense. Tell him that it suits me well." + +Now, since Cristofano was thus careless of his person and hated +nothing more than to have to put on new clothes or to go about too +tightly constrained and confined in them, Vasari, who knew this humour +of his, whenever he observed that he was in need of any new clothes, +used to have them made for him in secret, and then, early one morning, +used to place these in his chamber and take away the old ones; and so +Cristofano was forced to put on those that he found. But it was +marvellous sport to stand and hear him raging with fury as he dressed +himself in the new clothes. "Look here," he would say, "what +devilments are these? Devil take it, can a man not live in his own way +in this world, without the enemies of comfort giving themselves all +this trouble?" One morning among others, Cristofano having put on a +pair of white hose, the painter Domenico Benci, who was also working +in the Palace with Vasari, contrived to persuade him to go with +himself, in company with other young men, to the Madonna +dell'Impruneta. There they walked, danced, and enjoyed themselves all +day, and in the evening, after supper, they returned home. Then +Cristofano, who was tired, went off straightway to his room to sleep; +but, when he set himself to take off his hose, what with their being +new and his having sweated, he was not able to pull off more than one +of them. Now Vasari, having gone in the evening to see how he was, +found that he had fallen asleep with one leg covered and the other +bare; whereupon, one servant holding his leg and the other pulling at +the stocking, they contrived to draw it off, while he lay cursing +clothes, Giorgio, and him who invented such fashions as--so he +said--kept men bound in chains like slaves. Nay, he grumbled that he +would take leave of them all and by hook or by crook return to S. +Giustino, where he was allowed to live in his own way and had not all +these restraints; and it was the devil's own business to pacify him. + +It pleased him to talk seldom, and he loved that others also should +be brief in speaking, insomuch that he would have gone so far as to +have men's proper names very short, like that of a slave belonging to +M. Sforza, who was called "M." "These," said Cristofano, "are fine +names, and not your Giovan Francesco and Giovanni Antonio, which take +an hour's work to pronounce;" and since he was a good fellow at heart, +and said these things in his own jargon of the Borgo, it would have +made the Doleful Knight himself laugh. He delighted to go on +feast-days to the places where legends and printed pictures were sold, +and he would stay there the whole day; and if he bought some, more +often than not, while he went about looking at the others, he would +leave them at some place where he had been leaning. And never, unless +he was forced, would he go on horseback, although he was born from a +noble family in his native place and was rich enough. + +Finally, his brother Borgognone having died, he had to go to the +Borgo; and Vasari, who had drawn much of the money of his salary and +had kept it for him, said to him: "See, I have all this money of +yours, it is right that you should take it with you and make use of it +in your requirements." "I want no money," answered Cristofano, "take +it for yourself. For me it is enough to have the luck to stay with you +and to live and die in your company." "It is not my custom," replied +Vasari, "to profit by the labour of others. If you will not have it, I +shall send it to your father Guido." "That you must not do," said +Cristofano, "for he would only waste it, as he always does." In the +end, he took the money and went off to the Borgo, but in poor health +and with little contentment of mind; and after arriving there, what +with his sorrow at the death of his brother, whom he had loved very +dearly, and a cruel flux of the reins, he died in a few days, after +receiving the full sacraments of the Church and distributing to his +family and to many poor persons the money that he had brought. He +declared a little before his death that it grieved him for no other +reason save that he was leaving Vasari too much embarrassed by the +great labours to which he had set his hand in the Palace of the Duke. +Not long afterwards, his Excellency having heard of the death of +Cristofano, and that with true regret, he caused a head of him to be +made in marble and sent it with the underwritten epitaph from Florence +to the Borgo, where it was placed in S. Francesco: + + D. O. M. + CHRISTOPHORO GHERARDO BURGENSI + PINGENDI ARTE PRAESTANTISS. + QUOD GEORGIUS VASARIUS ARETINUS HUJUS + ARTIS FACILE PRINCEPS + IN EXORNANDO + COSMI FLORENTIN. DUCIS PALATIO + ILLIUS OPERAM QUAM MAXIME + PROBAVERIT, + PICTORES HETRUSCI POSUERE. + OBIIT A.D. MDLVI. + VIXIT AN. LVI, M. III, D. VI. + + + + +JACOPO DA PONTORMO + + + + +[Illustration: THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI + +(_After the painting by =Jacopo da Pontormo=. Siena: S. Agostino_) + +_Anderson_] + + + + +LIFE OF JACOPO DA PONTORMO + +PAINTER OF FLORENCE + + +The ancestors--or rather, the elders of Bartolommeo di Jacopo di +Martino, the father of Jacopo da Pontormo, whose Life we are now about +to write--had their origin, so some declare, in Ancisa, a township in +the Upper Valdarno, famous enough because from it the ancestors of +Messer Francesco Petrarca likewise derived their origin. But, whether +it was from there or from some other place that his elders came, the +above-named Bartolommeo, who was a Florentine, and, so I have been +told, of the family of the Carrucci, is said to have been a disciple +of Domenico Ghirlandajo, and, after executing many works in the +Valdarno, as a painter passing able for those times, to have finally +made his way to Empoli to carry out certain labours, living there and +in the neighbouring places, and taking to wife at Pontormo a most +virtuous girl of good condition, called Alessandra, the daughter of +Pasquale di Zanobi and of his wife Monna Brigida. To this Bartolommeo, +then, there was born in the year 1493 our Jacopo. But the father +having died in the year 1499, the mother in the year 1504, and the +grandfather in the year 1506, Jacopo was left to the care of his +grandmother, Monna Brigida, who kept him for several years at +Pontormo, and had him taught reading, writing, and the first rudiments +of Latin grammar; and finally, at the age of thirteen, he was taken by +the same guardian to Florence, and placed with the Pupilli, to the end +that his small property might be safeguarded and preserved by that +board, as is the custom. And after settling the boy himself in the +house of one Battista, a shoemaker distantly related to him, Monna +Brigida returned to Pontormo, taking with her a sister of Jacopo's. +But not long after that, Monna Brigida herself having died, Jacopo +was forced to bring that sister to Florence, and to place her in the +house of a kinsman called Niccolaio, who lived in the Via de' Servi; +and the girl, also, following the rest of her family, died in the year +1512, before ever she was married. + +But to return to Jacopo; he had not been many months in Florence when +he was placed by Bernardo Vettori with Leonardo da Vinci, and shortly +afterwards with Mariotto Albertinelli, then with Piero di Cosimo, and +finally, in the year 1512, with Andrea del Sarto, with whom, likewise, +he did not stay long, for the reason that, after Jacopo had executed +the cartoons of the little arch for the Servites, of which there will +be an account below, it appears that Andrea never again looked +favourably upon him, whatever may have been the reason. The first +work, then, that Jacopo executed at that time was a little +Annunciation for one his friend, a tailor; but the tailor having died +before the work was finished, it remained in the hands of Jacopo, who +was at that time with Mariotto, and Mariotto took pride in it, and +showed it as a rare work to all who entered his workshop. Now +Raffaello da Urbino, coming in those days to Florence, saw with +infinite marvel the work and the lad who had done it, and prophesied +of Jacopo that which was afterwards seen to come true. Not long +afterwards, Mariotto having departed from Florence and gone to Viterbo +to execute the panel-picture that Fra Bartolommeo had begun there, +Jacopo, who was young, solitary, and melancholy, being thus left +without a master, went by himself to work under Andrea del Sarto, at +the very moment when Andrea had finished the stories of S. Filippo in +the court of the Servites, which pleased Jacopo vastly, as did all his +other works and his whole manner and design. Jacopo having then set +himself to make every effort to imitate him, no long time passed +before it was seen that he had made marvellous progress in drawing and +colouring, insomuch that from his facility it seemed as if he had been +many years in art. + +Now Andrea had finished in those days a panel-picture of the +Annunciation for the Church of the Friars of S. Gallo, which is now +destroyed, as has been related in his Life; and he gave the predella +of that panel-picture to Jacopo to execute in oils. Jacopo painted in +it a Dead Christ, with two little Angels who are weeping over Him and +illuminating Him with two torches, and, in two round pictures at the +sides, two Prophets, which were executed by him so ably, that they +have the appearance of having been painted not by a mere lad but by a +practised master; but it may also be, as Bronzino says, that he +remembers having heard from Jacopo da Pontormo himself that Rosso +likewise worked on this predella. And even as Andrea was assisted by +Jacopo in executing the predella, so also was he aided by him in +finishing the many pictures and works that Andrea continually had in +hand. + +In the meantime, Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici having been elected +Supreme Pontiff under the title of Leo X, there were being made all +over Florence by the friends and adherents of that house many +escutcheons of the Pontiff, in stone, in marble, on canvas, and in +fresco. Wherefore the Servite Friars, wishing to give some sign of +their service and devotion to that house and Pontiff, caused the arms +of Leo to be made in stone, and placed in the centre of the arch in +the first portico of the Nunziata, which is on the piazza; and shortly +afterwards they arranged that it should be overlaid with gold by the +painter Andrea di Cosimo, and adorned with grotesques, of which he was +an excellent master, and with the devices of the house of Medici, and +that, in addition, on either side of it there should be painted a +Faith and a Charity. But Andrea di Cosimo, knowing that he was not +able to execute all these things by himself, thought of giving the two +figures to some other to do; and so, having sent for Jacopo, who was +then not more than nineteen years of age, he gave him those two +figures to execute, although he had no little trouble to persuade him +to undertake to do it, seeing that, being a mere lad, he did not wish +to expose himself at the outset to such a risk, or to work in a place +of so much importance. However, having taken heart, although he was +not as well practised in fresco as in oil-painting, Jacopo undertook +to paint those two figures. And, withdrawing--for he was still working +with Andrea del Sarto--to draw the cartoons at S. Antonio by the Porta +a Faenza, where he lived, in a short time he carried them to +completion; which done, one day he took his master Andrea to see +them. Andrea, after seeing them with infinite marvel and amazement, +praised them vastly; but afterwards, as has been related, whether it +was from envy or from some other reason, he never again looked with a +kindly eye on Jacopo; nay, Jacopo going several times to his workshop, +either the door was not opened to him or he was mocked at by the +assistants, insomuch that he retired altogether by himself, beginning +to live on the least that he could, for he was very poor, and to study +with the greatest assiduity. + +[Illustration: DUKE COSIMO I. DE' MEDICI + +(_After the painting by =Jacopo da Pontormo=. Florence: Uffizi, 1270_) + +_Anderson_] + +When Andrea di Cosimo, then, had finished gilding the escutcheon and +all the eaves, Jacopo set to work all by himself to finish the rest; +and being carried away by the desire to make a name, by his joy in +working, and by nature, which had endowed him with extraordinary grace +and fertility of genius, he executed that work with incredible +rapidity and with such perfection as could not have been surpassed by +an old, well-practised, and excellent master. Wherefore, growing in +courage through this experience, and thinking that he could do a much +better work, he took it into his head that he would throw to the +ground all that he had done, without saying a word to anyone, and +paint it all over again after another design that he had in his brain. +But in the meantime the friars, having seen that the work was finished +and that Jacopo came no more to his labour, sought out Andrea, and so +pestered him that he resolved to uncover it. Having therefore looked +for Jacopo, in order to ask him whether he wished to do any more to +the work, and not finding him, for the reason that he stayed shut up +over his new design and would not answer to anyone, Andrea had the +screen and scaffolding removed and the work uncovered. The same +evening Jacopo, having issued from his house in order to go to the +Servite convent, and, when it should be night, to throw to the ground +the work that he had done, and to put into execution the new design, +found the scaffolding taken away and everything uncovered, and a +multitude of people all around gazing at the work. Whereupon, full of +fury, he sought out Andrea, and complained of his having uncovered it +without his consent, going on to describe what he had in mind to do. +To which Andrea answered, laughing: "You are wrong to complain, +because the work that you have done is so good that, if you had it +to do again, you may take my word for it that you would not be able +to do it better. You will not want for work, so keep these designs for +another occasion." That work, as may be seen, was of such a kind and +so beautiful, what with the novelty of the manner, the sweetness in +the heads of those two women, and the loveliness of the graceful and +lifelike children, that it was the most beautiful work in fresco that +had ever been seen up to that time; and, besides the children with the +Charity, there are two others in the air holding a piece of drapery +over the escutcheon of the Pope, who are so beautiful that nothing +better could be done, not to mention that all the figures have very +strong relief and are so executed in colouring and in every other +respect that one is not able to praise them enough. And Michelagnolo +Buonarroti, seeing the work one day, and reflecting that a youth of +nineteen had done it, said: "This young man, judging from what may be +seen here, will become such that, if he lives and perseveres, he will +exalt this art to the heavens." This renown and fame being heard by +the men of Pontormo, they sent for Jacopo, and commissioned him to +execute in their stronghold, over a gate placed on the main road, an +escutcheon of Pope Leo with two little boys, which was very beautiful; +but already it has been little less than ruined by rain. + +[Illustration: THE VISITATION + +(_After the fresco by =Jacopo da Pontormo=. Florence: SS. Annunziata, +Cloister_) + +_Anderson_] + +At the Carnival in the same year, all Florence being gay and full of +rejoicing at the election of the above-named Leo X, many festive +spectacles were ordained, and among them two of great beauty and +extraordinary cost, which were given by two companies of noblemen and +gentlemen of the city. One of these, which was called the Diamante,[5] +had for its head the brother of the Pope, Signor Giuliano de' Medici, +who had given it that name because the diamond had been a device of +his father, the elder Lorenzo; and the head of the other, which had as +name and device the Broncone,[6] was Signor Lorenzo, the son of Piero +de' Medici, who had for his device a Broncone--that is, a dried trunk +of laurel growing green again with leaves, as it were to signify that +he was reviving and restoring the name of his grandfather. + + [Footnote 5: Diamond.] + + [Footnote 6: Trunk or branch.] + +By the Company of the Diamante, then, a commission was given to M. +Andrea Dazzi, who was then lecturing on Greek and Latin Letters at the +Studio in Florence, to look to the invention of a triumphal +procession; whereupon he arranged one similar to those that the Romans +used to have for their triumphs, with three very beautiful cars +wrought in wood, and painted with rich and beautiful art. In the first +was Boyhood, with a most beautiful array of boys. In the second was +Manhood, with many persons who had done great things in their manly +prime. And in the third was Old Age, with many famous men who had +performed great achievements in their last years. All these persons +were very richly apparelled, insomuch that it was thought that nothing +better could be done. The architects of these cars were Raffaello +delle Vivole, Il Carota the wood-carver, the painter Andrea di Cosimo, +and Andrea del Sarto; those who arranged and prepared the dresses of +the figures were Ser Piero da Vinci, the father of Leonardo, and +Bernardino di Giordano, both men of beautiful ingenuity; and to Jacopo +da Pontormo alone it fell to paint all the three cars, wherein he +executed various scenes in chiaroscuro of the Transformations of the +Gods into different forms, which are now in the possession of Pietro +Paolo Galeotto, an excellent goldsmith. The first car bore, written in +very clear characters, the word "Erimus," the second "Sumus," and the +third "Fuimus"--that is, "We shall be," "We are," and "We have been." +The song began, "The years fly on...." + +Having seen these triumphal cars, Signor Lorenzo, the head of the +Company of the Broncone, desiring that they should be surpassed, gave +the charge of the whole work to Jacopo Nardi, a noble and most learned +gentleman, to whom, for what he afterwards became, his native city of +Florence is much indebted. This Jacopo prepared six triumphal cars, in +order to double the number of those executed by the Diamante. The +first, drawn by a pair of oxen decked with herbage, represented the +Age of Saturn and Janus, called the Age of Gold; and on the summit of +the car were Saturn with the Scythe, and Janus with the two heads and +with the key of the Temple of Peace in the hand, and at his feet a +figure of Fury bound, with a vast number of things around appertaining +to Saturn, all executed most beautifully in different colours by the +genius of Pontormo. Accompanying this car were six couples of +Shepherds, naked but for certain parts covered by skins of marten and +sable, with footwear of various kinds after the ancient manner, and +with their wallets, and on their heads garlands of many kinds of +leaves. The horses on which these Shepherds sat were without saddles, +but covered with skins of lions, tigers, and lynxes, the paws of +which, overlaid with gold, hung at their sides with much grace and +beauty. The ornaments of their croups and of the grooms were of gold +cord, the stirrups were heads of rams, dogs, and other suchlike +animals, and the bridles and reins made with silver cord and various +kinds of verdure. Each Shepherd had four grooms in the garb of +shepherd-boys, dressed more simply in other skins, with torches +fashioned in the form of dry trunks and branches of pine, which made a +most beautiful sight. + +Upon the second car, drawn by two pairs of oxen draped in the richest +cloth, with garlands on their heads and great paternosters hanging +from their gilded horns, was Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, +with the books of religion and all the sacerdotal instruments and the +things appertaining to sacrifices, for the reason that he was the +originator and first founder of religion and sacrifices among the +Romans. This car was accompanied by six priests on most beautiful +she-mules, their heads covered with hoods of linen embroidered with +silver and gold in a masterly pattern of ivy-leaves; and on their +bodies they had sacerdotal vestments in the ancient fashion, with +borders and fringes of gold all round, and in the hands one had a +thurible, another a vase of gold, and the rest other similar things. +At their stirrups they had attendants in the guise of Levites, and the +torches that these had in their hands were after the manner of ancient +candelabra, and wrought with beautiful artistry. + +The third car represented the Consulate of Titus Manlius Torquatus, +who was Consul after the end of the first Carthaginian war, and +governed in such a manner, that in his time there flourished in Rome +every virtue and every blessing. That car, upon which was Titus +himself, with many ornaments executed by Pontormo, was drawn by eight +most beautiful horses, and before it went six couples of Senators clad +in the toga, on horses covered with cloth of gold, accompanied by a +great number of grooms representing Lictors, with the fasces, axes, +and other things appertaining to the administration of justice. + +The fourth car, drawn by four buffaloes disguised as elephants, +represented Julius Caesar in Triumph for the victory gained over +Cleopatra, the car being all painted by Pontormo with his most famous +deeds. That car was accompanied by six couples of men-at-arms clad in +rich and brightly shining armour all bordered with gold, with their +lances on their hips; and the torches that the half-armed grooms +carried had the form of trophies, designed in various ways. + +The fifth car, drawn by winged horses that had the form of gryphons, +bore upon it Caesar Augustus, the Lord of the Universe, accompanied by +six couples of Poets on horseback, all crowned, as was also Caesar, +with laurel, and dressed in costumes varying according to their +provinces; and these were there because poets were always much +favoured by Caesar Augustus, whom they exalted with their works to the +heavens. And to the end that they might be recognized, each of them +had across his forehead a scroll after the manner of a fillet, on +which was his name. + +On the sixth car, drawn by four pairs of heifers richly draped, was +Trajan, that just Emperor, before whom, as he sat on the car, which +was painted very well by Pontormo, there rode upon beautiful and +finely caparisoned horses six couples of Doctors of Law, with togas +reaching to their feet and with capes of miniver, such as it was the +ancient custom for Doctors to wear. The grooms who carried their +torches, a great number, were scriveners, copyists, and notaries, with +books and writings in their hands. + +After these six came the car, or rather, triumphal chariot, of the Age +or Era of Gold, wrought with the richest and most beautiful artistry, +with many figures in relief executed by Baccio Bandinelli, and very +beautiful paintings by the hand of Pontormo; among those in relief the +four Cardinal Virtues being highly extolled. From the centre of the +car rose a great sphere in the form of a globe of the world, upon +which there lay prostrate on his face, as if dead, a man clad in +armour all eaten with rust, who had the back open and cleft, and from +the fissure there issued a child all naked and gilded, who +represented the new birth of the age of gold and the end of the age of +iron, from which he was coming forth into that new birth by reason of +the election of that Pontiff; and this same significance had the dry +trunk putting forth new leaves, although some said that the matter of +that dry trunk was an allusion to the Lorenzo de' Medici who became +Duke of Urbino. I should mention that the gilded boy, who was the son +of a baker, died shortly afterwards through the sufferings that he +endured in order to gain ten crowns. + +The chant that was sung in that masquerade, as is the custom, was +composed by the above-named Jacopo Nardi, and the first stanza ran +thus: + + Colui che da le leggi alla Natura + E i varii stati e secoli dispone, + D'ogni bene e cagione; + E il mal, quanto permette, al Mondo dura; + Onde questa figura + Contemplando si vede, + Come con certo piede + L'un secol dopo l'altro al Mondo viene + E muta il bene in male, e 'l male in bene. + +From the works that he executed for this festival Pontormo gained, +besides the profit, so much praise, that probably few young men of his +age ever gained as much in that city; wherefore, Pope Leo himself +afterwards coming to Florence, he was much employed in the festive +preparations that were made, for he had attached himself to Baccio da +Montelupo, a sculptor advanced in years, who made an arch of wood at +the head of the Via del Palagio, at the steps of the Badia, and +Pontormo painted it all with very beautiful scenes, which afterwards +came to an evil end through the scant diligence of those who had +charge of them. Only one remained, that in which Pallas is tuning an +instrument into accord with the lyre of Apollo, with great grace and +beauty; from which scene one is able to judge what excellence and +perfection were in the other works and figures. For the same +festivities Ridolfo Ghirlandajo had received the task of fitting up +and embellishing the Sala del Papa, which is attached to the Convent +of S. Maria Novella, and was formerly the residence of the Pontiffs in +the city of Florence; but being pressed for time, he was forced to +avail himself in some things of the work of others, and thus, after +having adorned all the other rooms, he laid on Jacopo da Pontormo the +charge of executing some pictures in fresco in the chapel where his +Holiness was to hear Mass every morning. Whereupon, setting his hand +to the work, Jacopo painted there a God the Father with many little +Angels, and a Veronica who had the Sudarium with the image of Jesus +Christ; which work, thus executed by Jacopo in so short a time, was +much extolled. + +He then painted in fresco, in a chapel of the Church of S. Ruffillo, +behind the Archbishop's Palace in Florence, Our Lady with her Son in +her arms between S. Michelagnolo and S. Lucia, and two other Saints +kneeling; and, in the lunette of the chapel, a God the Father with +some Seraphim about Him. Next, having been commissioned by Maestro +Jacopo, a Servite friar, as he had greatly desired, to paint a part of +the court of the Servites, because Andrea del Sarto had gone off to +France and left the work of that court unfinished, he set himself with +much study to make the cartoons. But since he was poorly provided with +the things of this world, and was obliged, while studying in order to +win honour, to have something to live upon, he executed over the door +of the Hospital for Women--behind the Church of the Priest's Hospital, +between the Piazza di S. Marco and the Via di S. Gallo, and exactly +opposite to the wall of the Sisters of S. Catharine of Siena--two most +beautiful figures in chiaroscuro, with Christ in the guise of a +pilgrim awaiting certain women in order to give them hospitality and +lodging; which work was deservedly much extolled in those days, as it +still is, by all good judges. At this same time he painted some +pictures and little scenes in oils for the Masters of the Mint, on the +Carro della Moneta, which goes every year in the procession of S. +John; the workmanship of which car was by the hand of Marco del Tasso. +And over the door of the Company of Cecilia, on the heights of +Fiesole, he painted a S. Cecilia with some roses in her hand, coloured +in fresco, and so beautiful and so well suited to that place, that, +for a work of that kind, it is one of the best paintings in fresco +that there are to be seen. + +These works having been seen by the above-named Servite friar, Maestro +Jacopo, he became even more ardent in his desire, and he determined at +all costs to cause Jacopo to finish the work in that court of the +Servites, thinking that in emulation of the other masters who had +worked there he would execute something of extraordinary beauty in the +part that remained to be painted. Having therefore set his hand to it, +from a desire no less of glory and honour than of gain, Jacopo painted +the scene of the Visitation of the Madonna, in a manner a little freer +and more lively than had been his wont up to that time; which +circumstance gave an infinite excellence to the work, in addition to +its other extraordinary beauties, in that the women, little boys, +youths, and old men are executed in fresco with such softness and such +harmony of colouring, that it is a thing to marvel at, and the +flesh-colours of a little boy who is seated on some steps, and, +indeed, those likewise of all the other figures, are such that they +could not be done better or with more softness in fresco. This work, +then, after the others that Jacopo had executed, gave a sure earnest +of his future perfection to the craftsmen, comparing them with those +of Andrea del Sarto and Franciabigio. Jacopo delivered the work +finished in the year 1516, and received in payment sixteen crowns and +no more. + +Having then been allotted by Francesco Pucci, if I remember rightly, +the altar-piece of a chapel that he had caused to be built in S. +Michele Bisdomini in the Via de' Servi, Jacopo executed the work in so +beautiful a manner, and with a colouring so vivid, that it seems +almost impossible to credit it. In this altar-piece Our Lady, who is +seated, is handing the Infant Jesus to S. Joseph, in whose countenance +there is a smile so animated and so lifelike that it is a marvel; and +very beautiful, likewise, is a little boy painted to represent S. John +the Baptist, and also two other little children, naked, who are +upholding a canopy. There may be seen also a S. John the Evangelist, a +most beautiful old man, and a S. Francis kneeling, who is absolutely +alive, for, with the fingers of one hand interlocked with those of the +other, and wholly intent in contemplating fixedly with his eyes and +his mind the Virgin and her Son, he appears really to be breathing. +And no less beautiful is the S. James who may be seen beside the +others. Wherefore it is no marvel that this is the most beautiful +altar-piece that was ever executed by this truly rare painter. + +I used to believe that it was after this work, and not before, that +the same Jacopo had painted in fresco the two most lovely and graceful +little boys who are supporting a coat of arms over a door within a +passage on the Lungarno, between the Ponte S. Trinita and the Ponte +alla Carraja, for Bartolommeo Lanfredini; but since Bronzino, who may +be supposed to know the truth about these matters, declares that they +were among the first works that Jacopo executed, we must believe that +this is so without a doubt, and praise Pontormo for them all the more, +seeing that they are so beautiful that they cannot be matched, and yet +were among the earliest works that he did. + +But to resume the order of our story: after these works, Jacopo +executed for the men of Pontormo an altar-piece wherein are S. +Michelagnolo and S. John the Evangelist, which was placed in the +Chapel of the Madonna in S. Agnolo, their principal church. At this +time one of two young men who were working under Jacopo--that is, +Giovan Maria Pichi of Borgo a S. Sepolcro, who was acquitting himself +passing well, and who afterwards became a Servite friar, and executed +some works in the Borgo and in the Pieve a S. Stefano--while still +working, I say, under Jacopo, painted in a large picture a nude S. +Quentin in martyrdom, in order to send it to the Borgo. But since +Jacopo, like a loving master to his disciple, desired that Giovan +Maria should win honour and praise, he set himself to retouch it, and +so, not being able to take his hands off it, and retouching one day +the head, the next day the arms, and the day after the body, the +retouching became such that it may almost be said that the work is +entirely by his hand. Wherefore it is no marvel that this picture, +which is now in the Church of the Observantine Friars of S. Francis in +the Borgo, is most beautiful. + +[Illustration: JOSEPH AND HIS KINDRED IN EGYPT + +(_After the painting by =Jacopo da Pontormo=. London: National Gallery, +1131_) + +_Hanfstaengl_] + +The second of the two young men, who was Giovanni Antonio Lappoli of +Arezzo, of whom there has been an account in another place, like a +vain fellow had taken a portrait of himself with a mirror, also while +he was working under Jacopo. But his master, thinking that the +portrait was a poor likeness, took it in hand himself, and executed +a portrait that is so good that it has the appearance of life; which +portrait is now at Arezzo, in the house of the heirs of that Giovanni +Antonio. + +Pontormo also portrayed in one and the same picture two of his dearest +friends--one the son-in-law of Beccuccio Bicchieraio, and another, +whose name likewise I do not know; it is enough that the portraits are +by the hand of Pontormo. He then executed for Bartolommeo Ginori, in +anticipation of his death, a string of pennons, according to the +custom of the Florentines; and in the upper part of all these, on the +white taffeta, he painted a Madonna with the Child, and on the +coloured fringe below he painted the arms of that family, as is the +custom. For the centre of the string, which was of twenty-four +pennons, he made two all of white taffeta without any fringe, on which +he painted two figures of S. Bartholomew, each two braccia high. The +size of all these pennons and their almost novel manner caused all the +others that had been made up to that time to appear poor and mean; and +this was the reason that they began to be made of the size that they +are at the present day, with great grace and much less expense for +gold. + +At the head of the garden and vineyard of the Friars of S. Gallo, +without the gate that is called after that Saint, in a chapel that is +in a line with the central entrance, he painted a Dead Christ, a +Madonna weeping, and two little Angels in the air, one of whom was +holding the Chalice of the Passion in his hands, and the other was +supporting the fallen head of Christ. On one side was S. John the +Evangelist, all tearful, with the arms stretched out, and on the other +S. Augustine in episcopal robes, who, leaning with the left hand on +the pastoral staff, stood in an attitude truly full of sorrow, +contemplating the Dead Saviour. And for Messer Spina, the familiar +friend of Giovanni Salviati, he executed in a courtyard, opposite to +the principal door of his house, the coat of arms of that Giovanni +(who had been made a Cardinal in those days by Pope Leo), with the red +hat above and two little boys standing--works in fresco which are very +beautiful, and much esteemed by Messer Filippo Spina, as being by the +hand of Pontormo. + +Jacopo also worked, in competition with other masters, on the +ornamentation in wood that was formerly executed in a magnificent +manner, as has been related elsewhere, in some apartments of Pier +Francesco Borgherini; and, in particular, he painted there with his +own hand on two coffers some stories from the life of Joseph in little +figures, which were truly most beautiful. And whoever wishes to see +the best work that he ever did in all his life, in order to consider +how able and masterly was Jacopo in giving liveliness to heads, in +grouping figures, in varying attitudes, and in beauty of invention, +let him look at a scene of some size, likewise in little figures, in +the corner on the left hand as one enters through the door, in the +chamber of Borgherini, who was a nobleman of Florence; in which scene +is Joseph in Egypt, as it were a Prince or a King, in the act of +receiving his father Jacob with all his brethren, the sons of that +Jacob, with extraordinary affection. Among these figures he portrayed +at the foot of the scene, seated upon some steps, Il Bronzino, who was +then a boy and his disciple--a figure with a basket, which is lifelike +and beautiful to a marvel. And if this scene were on a greater scale, +on a large panel or a wall, instead of being small, I would venture to +say that it would not be possible to find another picture executed +with the grace, excellence, and even perfection wherewith this one was +painted by Jacopo; wherefore it was rightly regarded by all craftsmen +as the most beautiful picture that Pontormo ever executed. Nor is it +to be wondered at that Borgherini should have prized it as he did, and +should have been besought to sell it by great persons as a present for +mighty lords and princes. + +[Illustration: VERTUMNUS FRESCO (DETAIL) + +(_After =Jacopo da Pontormo=. Poggio a Caiano: Villa Reale_) + +_Alinari_] + +On account of the siege of Florence Pier Francesco retired to Lucca, +and Giovan Battista della Palla, who desired to obtain, together with +other things that he was transporting into France, the decorations of +this chamber, so that they might be presented to King Francis in the +name of the Signoria, received such favours, and went to work so +effectively with both words and deeds, that the Gonfalonier granted a +commission that they should be taken away after payment to the wife of +Pier Francesco. Whereupon some others went with Giovan Battista to +execute the will of the Signori; but, when they arrived at the house +of Pier Francesco, his wife, who was in the house, poured on Giovan +Battista the greatest abuse that was ever spoken to any man. "So you +make bold, Giovan Battista," said she, "you vile slop-dealer, you +little twopenny pedlar, to strip the ornaments from the chambers of +noblemen and despoil our city of her richest and most honoured +treasures, as you have done and are always doing, in order to +embellish with them the countries of foreigners, our enemies! At you I +do not marvel, you, a base plebeian and the enemy of your country, but +at the magistrates of this city, who aid and abet you in these +shameful rascalities. This bed, which you would seize for your own +private interest and for greed of gain, although you keep your evil +purpose cloaked with a veil of righteousness, this is the bed of my +nuptials, in honour of which my husband's father, Salvi, made all +these magnificent and regal decorations, which I revere in memory of +him and from love for my husband, and mean to defend with my very +blood and with life itself. Out of this house with these your +cut-throats, Giovan Battista, and go to those who sent you with orders +that these things should be removed from their places, for I am not +the woman to suffer a single thing to be moved from here. If they who +believe in you, a vile creature of no account, wish to make presents +to King Francis of France, let them go and strip their own houses, and +take the ornaments and beds from their own chambers, and send them to +him. And you, if you are ever again so bold as to come to this house +on such an errand, I will make you smart sorely for it, and teach you +what respect should be paid by such as you to the houses of noblemen." +Thus spoke Madonna Margherita, the wife of Pier Francesco Borgherini, +and the daughter of Ruberto Acciaiuoli, a most noble and wise citizen; +and she, a truly courageous woman and a worthy daughter of such a +father, with her noble ardour and spirit, was the reason that those +gems are still preserved in that house. + +Giovan Maria Benintendi, about this same time, had adorned an +antechamber in his house with many pictures by the hands of various +able men; and after the work executed for Borgherini, incited by +hearing Jacopo da Pontormo very highly praised, he caused a picture to +be painted by him with the Adoration of the Magi, who went to +Bethlehem to see Christ; which work, since Jacopo devoted to it much +study and diligence, proved to be well varied and beautiful in the +heads and in every other part, and to be truly worthy of all praise. +Afterwards he executed for Messer Goro da Pistoia, then Secretary to +the Medici, a picture with the portrait of the Magnificent Cosimo de' +Medici, the elder, from the knees upwards, which is indeed worthy to +be extolled; and this portrait is now in the house of Messer Ottaviano +de' Medici, in the possession of his son, Messer Alessandro, a young +man--besides the distinction and nobility of his blood--of most +upright character, well lettered, and the worthy son of the +Magnificent Ottaviano and of Madonna Francesca, the daughter of Jacopo +Salviati and the maternal aunt of the Lord Duke Cosimo. + +By means of this work, and particularly this head of Cosimo, Pontormo +became the friend of Messer Ottaviano; and the Great Hall at Poggio a +Caiano having then to be painted, there were given to him to paint the +two ends where the round openings are that give light--that is, the +windows--from the vaulting down to the floor. Whereupon, desiring to +do himself honour even beyond his wont, both from regard for the place +and from emulation of the other painters who were working there, he +set himself to study with such diligence, that he overshot the mark, +for the reason that, destroying and doing over again every day what he +had done the day before, he racked his brains in such a manner that it +was a tragedy; but all the time he was always making new discoveries, +which brought credit to himself and beauty to the work. Thus, having +to execute a Vertumnus with his husbandmen, he painted a peasant +seated with a vine-pruner in his hand, which is so beautiful and so +well done that it is a very rare thing, even as certain children that +are there are lifelike and natural beyond all belief. On the other +side he painted Pomona and Diana, with other Goddesses, enveloping +them perhaps too abundantly with draperies. However, the work as a +whole is beautiful and much extolled; but while it was being executed +Leo was overtaken by death, and so it remained unfinished, like many +other similar works at Rome, Florence, Loreto, and other places; nay, +the whole world was left poor, being robbed of the true Maecenas of men +of talent. + +[Illustration: VERTUMNUS FRESCO (DETAIL) + +(_After =Jacopo da Pontormo=. Poggio a Caiano: Villa Reale_) + +_Alinari_] + +Having returned to Florence, Jacopo painted in a picture a seated +figure of S. Augustine as a Bishop, who is giving the benediction, +with two little nude Angels flying through the air, who are very +beautiful; which picture is over an altar in the little Church of the +Sisters of S. Clemente in the Via di S. Gallo. He carried to +completion, likewise, a picture of a Pieta with certain nude Angels, +which was a very beautiful work, and held very dear by certain +merchants of Ragusa, for whom he painted it; but most beautiful of all +in this picture was a landscape taken for the most part from an +engraving by Albrecht Duerer. He also painted a picture of Our Lady +with the Child in her arms, and some little Angels about her, which is +now in the house of Alessandro Neroni; and for certain Spaniards he +executed another like it--that is, of the Madonna--but different from +the one described above and in another manner, which picture, being +for sale in a second-hand dealer's shop many years after, was bought +by Bartolommeo Panciatichi at the suggestion of Bronzino. + +Then, in the year 1522, there being a slight outbreak of plague in +Florence, and many persons therefore departing in order to avoid that +most infectious sickness and to save themselves, an occasion presented +itself to Jacopo of flying the city and removing himself to some +distance, for a certain Prior of the Certosa, a place built by the +Acciaiuoli three miles away from Florence, had to have some pictures +painted in fresco at the corners of a very large and beautiful +cloister that surrounds a lawn, and Jacopo was brought to his notice; +whereupon the Prior had him sought out, and he, having accepted the +work very willingly at such a time, went off to Certosa, taking with +him only Bronzino. There, after a trial of that mode of life, that +quiet, that silence, and that solitude--all things after the taste and +nature of Jacopo--he thought with such an occasion to make a special +effort in the matters of art, and to show to the world that he had +acquired greater perfection and a different manner since those works +that he had executed before. Now not long before there had come from +Germany to Florence many sheets printed from engravings done with +great subtlety with the burin by Albrecht Duerer, a most excellent +German painter and a rare engraver of plates on copper and on wood; +and, among others, many scenes, both large and small, of the Passion +of Jesus Christ, in which was all the perfection and excellence of +engraving with the burin that could ever be achieved, what with the +beauty and variety of the vestments and the invention. Jacopo, having +to paint at the corners of those cloisters scenes from the Passion of +the Saviour, thought to avail himself of the above-named inventions of +Albrecht Duerer, in the firm belief that he would satisfy not only +himself but also the greater part of the craftsmen of Florence, who +were all proclaiming with one voice and with common consent and +agreement the beauty of those engravings and the excellence of +Albrecht. Setting himself therefore to imitate that manner, and +seeking to give to the expressions of the heads of his figures that +liveliness and variety which Albrecht had given to his, he caught it +so thoroughly, that the charm of his own early manner, which had been +given to him by nature, all full of sweetness and grace, suffered a +great change from that new study and labour, and was so impaired +through his stumbling on that German manner, that in all these works, +although they are all beautiful, there is but a sorry remnant to be +seen of that excellence and grace that he had given up to that time to +all his figures. + +At the entrance to the cloister, then, in one corner, he painted +Christ in the Garden, counterfeiting so well the darkness of night +illumined by the light of the moon, that it appears almost like +daylight; and while Christ is praying, not far distant are Peter, +James, and John sleeping, executed in a manner so similar to that of +Duerer, that it is a marvel. Not far away is Judas leading the Jews, +likewise with a countenance so strange, even as the features of all +those soldiers are depicted in the German manner with bizarre +expressions, that it moves him who beholds it to pity for the +simplicity of the man, who sought with such patience to learn that +which others avoid and seek to lose, and all to lose the manner that +surpassed all others in excellence and gave infinite pleasure to +everyone. Did not Pontormo know, then, that the Germans and Flemings +came to these parts to learn the Italian manner, which he with such +effort sought to abandon as if it were bad? + +Beside this scene is one in which is Christ led by the Jews before +Pilate, and in the Saviour he painted all the humility that could +possibly be imagined in the Person of Innocence betrayed by the sins +of men, and in the wife of Pilate that pity and dread for themselves +which those have who fear the divine judgment; which woman, while she +pleads the cause of Christ before her husband, gazes into His +countenance with pitying wonder. Round Pilate are some soldiers so +characteristic in the expressions of the faces and in the German +garments, that one who knew not by whose hand was that work would +believe it to have been executed in reality by ultramontanes. It is +true, indeed, that in the distance in this scene there is a cup-bearer +of Pilate's that is descending some steps with a basin and a ewer in +his hands, carrying to his master the means to wash the hands, who is +lifelike and very beautiful, having in him something of the old manner +of Jacopo. + +Having next to paint the Resurrection of Christ in one of the other +corners, the fancy came to Jacopo, as to one who had no steadfastness +in his brain and was always cogitating new things, to change his +colouring; and so he executed that work with a colouring in fresco so +soft and so good, that, if he had done the work in another manner than +that same German, it would certainly have been very beautiful, for in +the heads of those soldiers, who are in various attitudes, heavy with +sleep, and as it were dead, there may be seen such excellence, that +one cannot believe that it is possible to do better. + +Then, continuing the stories of the Passion in another of the corners, +he painted Christ going with the Cross upon His shoulder to Mount +Calvary, and behind Him the people of Jerusalem, accompanying Him; and +in front are the two Thieves, naked, between the ministers of justice, +who are partly on foot and partly on horseback, with the ladders, the +inscription for the Cross, hammers, nails, cords, and other suchlike +instruments. And in the highest part, behind a little hill, is the +Madonna with the Maries, who, weeping, are awaiting Christ, who has +fallen to the ground in the middle of the scene, and has about Him +many Jews that are smiting Him, while Veronica is offering to Him the +Sudarium, accompanied by some women both young and old, all weeping at +the outrage that they see being done to the Saviour. This scene, +either because he was warned by his friends, or perhaps because Jacopo +himself at last became aware, although tardily, of the harm that had +been done to his own sweet manner by the study of the German, proved +to be much better than the others executed in the same place, for the +reason that certain naked Jews and some heads of old men are so well +painted in fresco, that it would not be possible to do more, although +the same German manner may be seen constantly maintained in the work +as a whole. + +After these he was to have gone on with the Crucifixion and the +Deposition from the Cross in the other corners; but, putting them +aside for a time, with the intention of executing them last, he +painted in their stead Christ taken down from the Cross, keeping to +the same manner, but with great harmony of colouring. In this scene, +besides that the Magdalene, who is kissing the feet of Christ, is most +beautiful, there are two old men, representing Joseph of Arimathaea and +Nicodemus, who, although they are in the German manner, have the most +beautiful expressions and heads of old men, with beards feathery and +coloured with marvellous softness, that there are to be seen. + +Now Jacopo, besides being generally slow over his works, was pleased +with the solitude of the Certosa, and he therefore spent several years +on these labours; and, after the plague had finished and he had +returned to Florence, he did not for that reason cease to frequent +that place constantly, and was always going and coming between the +Certosa and the city. Proceeding thus, he satisfied those fathers in +many things, and, among others, he painted in their church, over one +of the doors that lead into the chapels, in a figure from the waist +upwards, the portrait of a lay-brother of that monastery, who was +alive at that time and one hundred and twenty years old, executing it +so well and with such finish, such vivacity, and such animation, that +through it alone Pontormo deserves to be excused for the strange and +fantastic new manner with which he was saddled by that solitude and by +living far from the commerce of men. + +Besides this, he painted for the Prior of that place a picture of the +Nativity of Christ, representing Joseph as giving light to Jesus +Christ in the darkness of the night with a lantern, and this in +pursuit of the same notions and caprices which the German engravings +put into his head. Now let no one believe that Jacopo is to blame +because he imitated Albrecht Duerer in his inventions, for the reason +that this is no error, and many painters have done it and are +continually doing it; but only because he adopted the unmixed German +manner in everything, in the draperies, in the expressions of the +heads, and in the attitudes, which he should have avoided, availing +himself only of the inventions, since he had the modern manner in all +the fullness of its beauty and grace. For the Stranger's Apartment of +the same monks he painted a large picture on canvas and in +oil-colours, without straining himself at all or forcing his natural +powers, of Christ at table with Cleophas and Luke, figures of the size +of life; and since in this work he followed the bent of his own +genius, it proved to be truly marvellous, particularly because he +portrayed among those who are serving at that table some lay-brothers +of the convent, whom I myself have known, in such a manner that they +could not be either more lifelike or more animated than they are. + +Bronzino, meanwhile (that is, while his master was executing the works +described above in the Certosa), pursuing with great spirit the +studies of painting, and encouraged all the time by Pontormo, who was +very loving with his disciples, executed on the inner side over an +arch above the door of the cloister that leads into the church, +without having ever seen the process of painting in oil-colours on the +wall, a nude S. Laurence on the gridiron, which was so beautiful that +there began to be seen some indication of that excellence to which he +has since attained, as will be related in the proper place; which +circumstance gave infinite satisfaction to Jacopo, who already saw +whither that genius would arrive. + +Not long afterwards there returned from Rome Lodovico di Gino Capponi, +who had bought that chapel in S. Felicita, on the right hand of the +entrance into the church, which the Barbadori had formerly caused to +be built by Filippo di Ser Brunellesco; and he resolved to have all +the vaulting painted, and then to have an altar-piece executed for it, +with a rich ornament. Having therefore consulted in the matter with M. +Niccolo Vespucci, knight of Rhodes, who was much his friend, the +knight, who was also much the friend of Jacopo, and knew, into the +bargain, the talent and worth of that able man, did and said so much +that Lodovico allotted that work to Pontormo. And so, having erected +an enclosure, which kept that chapel closed for three years, he set +his hand to the work. On the vaulted ceiling he painted a God the +Father, who has about Him four very beautiful Patriarchs; and in the +four medallions at the angles he depicted the four Evangelists, or +rather, he executed three of them with his own hand, and Bronzino one +all by himself. And with this occasion I must mention that Pontormo +used scarcely ever to allow himself to be helped by his assistants, or +to suffer them to lay a hand on that which he intended to execute with +his own hand; and when he did wish to avail himself of one of them, +chiefly in order that they might learn, he allowed them to do the +whole work by themselves, as he allowed Bronzino to do here. + +In the works that Jacopo executed in the said chapel up to this point, +it seemed almost as if he had returned to his first manner; but he did +not follow the same method in painting the altar-piece, for, thinking +always of new things, he executed it without shadows, and with a +colouring so bright and so uniform, that one can scarcely distinguish +the lights from the middle tints, and the middle tints from the darks. +In this altar-piece is a Dead Christ taken down from the Cross and +being carried to the Sepulchre. There is the Madonna who is swooning, +and the Maries, all executed in a fashion so different from his first +work, that it is clearly evident that his brain was always busy +investigating new conceptions and fantastic methods of painting, not +being content with, and not fixing on, any single method. In a word, +the composition of this altar-piece is altogether different from the +figures on the vaulting, and likewise the colouring; and the four +Evangelists, which are in the medallions on the spandrels of the +vaulting, are much better and in a different manner. + +[Illustration: THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS + +(_After the painting by =Jacopo da Pontormo=. Florence: S. Felicita_) + +_Alinari_] + +On the wall where the window is are two figures in fresco, on one side +the Virgin, and on the other the Angel, who is bringing her the +Annunciation, but so distorted, both the one and the other, that it is +evident that, as I have said, that bizarre and fantastic brain was +never content with anything. And in order to be able to do as he +pleased in this, and to avoid having his attention distracted by +anyone, all the time that he was executing this work he would never +allow even the owner of the chapel himself to see it, insomuch that, +having painted it after his own fancy, without any of his friends +having been able to give him a single hint, when it was finally +uncovered and seen, it amazed all Florence. For the same Lodovico he +executed a picture of Our Lady in that same manner for his chamber, +and in the head of a S. Mary Magdalene he made the portrait of a +daughter of Lodovico, who was a very beautiful young woman. + +Near the Monastery of Boldrone, on the road that goes from there to +Castello, and at the corner of another that climbs the hill and goes +to Cercina (that is, at a distance of two miles from Florence), he +painted in fresco in a shrine Christ Crucified, Our Lady weeping, S. +John the Evangelist, S. Augustine, and S. Giuliano; all which figures, +his caprice not being yet satisfied, and the German manner still +pleasing him, are not very different from those that he executed at +the Certosa. He did the same, also, in an altar-piece that he painted +for the Nuns of S. Anna, at the Porta a S. Friano, in which +altar-piece is Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and S. Anne behind +her, with S. Peter, S. Benedict, and other Saints, and in the predella +is a small scene with little figures, which represent the Signoria of +Florence as it used to go in procession with trumpeters, pipers, +mace-bearers, messengers, and ushers, with the rest of the household; +and this he did because the commission for that altar-piece was given +to him by the Captain and the household of the Palace. + +The while that Jacopo was executing this work, Alessandro and Ippolito +de' Medici, who were both very young, having been sent to Florence by +Pope Clement VII under the care of the Legate, Silvio Passerini, +Bishop of Cortona, the Magnificent Ottaviano, to whom the Pope had +straitly recommended them, had the portraits of both of them taken by +Pontormo, who served him very well, and made them very good +likenesses, although he did not much depart from the manner that he +had learned from the Germans. In the portrait of Ippolito he also +painted a favourite dog of that lord, called Rodon, and made it so +characteristic and so natural, that it might be alive. He took the +portrait, likewise, of Bishop Ardinghelli, who afterwards became a +Cardinal; and for Filippo del Migliore, who was much his friend, he +painted in fresco in his house on the Via Larga, in a niche opposite +to the principal door, a woman representing Pomona, from which it +appeared that he was beginning to seek to abandon in part his German +manner. + +Now Giovan Battista della Palla perceived that by reason of many works +the name of Jacopo was becoming every day more celebrated; and, since +he had not succeeded in sending to King Francis the pictures executed +by that same master and by others for Borgherini, he resolved, knowing +that the King had a desire for them, at all costs to send him +something by the hand of Pontormo. Whereupon he so went to work that +he persuaded Jacopo to execute a most beautiful picture of the Raising +of Lazarus, which proved to be one of the best works that he ever +painted and that was ever sent by Giovan Battista, among the vast +number that he sent, to King Francis of France. For, besides that the +heads were most beautiful, the figure of Lazarus, whose spirit as he +returned to life was re-entering his dead flesh, could not have been +more marvellous, for about the eyes he still had the hue of +corruption, and the flesh cold and dead at the extremities of the +hands and feet, where the spirit had not yet come. + +[Illustration: THE MARTYRDOM OF THE FORTY SAINTS + +(_After the panel by =Jacopo da Pontormo=. Florence: Pitti, 182_) + +_Alinari_] + +In a picture of one braccio and a half he painted for the Sisters of +the Hospital of the Innocenti, with an infinite number of little +figures, the story of the eleven thousand Martyrs who were condemned +to death by Diocletian and all crucified in a wood. In this Jacopo +represented a battle of horsemen and nude figures, very beautiful, and +some most lovely little Angels flying through the air, who are +shooting arrows at the ministers of the crucifixion; and in like +manner, about the Emperor, who is pronouncing the condemnation, are +some most beautiful nude figures who are going to their death. This +picture, which in every part is worthy to be praised, is now held in +great price by Don Vincenzio Borghini, the Director of that Hospital, +who once was much the friend of Jacopo. Another picture similar to +that described above he painted for Carlo Neroni, but only with the +Battle of the Martyrs and the Angel baptizing them; and then the +portrait of Carlo himself. He also executed a portrait, at the time +of the siege of Florence, of Francesco Guardi in the habit of a +soldier, which was a very beautiful work; and on the cover of this +picture Bronzino afterwards painted Pygmalion praying to Venus that +his statue, receiving breath, might spring to life and become--as, +according to the fables of the poets, it did--flesh and blood. At this +time, after much labour, there came to Jacopo the fulfilment of a +desire that he had long had, in that, having always felt a wish to +have a house that might be his own, so that he should no longer live +in the house of another, but might occupy his own and live as pleased +himself, finally he bought one in the Via della Colonna, opposite to +the Nuns of S. Maria degli Angeli. + +The siege finished, Pope Clement commanded Messer Ottaviano de' Medici +that he should cause the hall of Poggio a Caiano to be finished. +Whereupon, Franciabigio and Andrea del Sarto being dead, the whole +charge of this was given to Pontormo, who, after having the staging +and the screens made, began to execute the cartoons; but, for the +reason that he went off into fantasies and cogitations, beyond that he +never set a hand to the work. This, perchance, would not have happened +if Bronzino had been in those parts, who was then working at the +Imperiale, a place belonging to the Duke of Urbino, near Pesaro; which +Bronzino, although he was sent for every day by Jacopo, nevertheless +was not able to depart at his own pleasure, for the reason that, after +he had executed a very beautiful naked Cupid on the spandrel of a +vault in the Imperiale, and the cartoons for the others, Prince +Guidobaldo, having recognized the young man's genius, ordained that +his own portrait should be taken by him, and, seeing that he wished to +be portrayed in some armour that he was expecting from Lombardy, +Bronzino was forced to stay with that Prince longer than he could have +wished. During that time he painted the case of a harpsichord, which +much pleased the Prince, and finally Bronzino executed his portrait, +which was very beautiful, and the Prince was well satisfied with it. + +Jacopo, then, wrote so many times, and employed so many means, that in +the end he brought Bronzino back; but for all that the man could never +be induced to do any other part of this work than the cartoons, +although he was urged to it by the Magnificent Ottaviano and by Duke +Alessandro. In one of these cartoons, which are now for the most part +in the house of Lodovico Capponi, is a Hercules who is crushing +Antaeus, in another a Venus and Adonis, and in yet another drawing a +scene of nude figures playing football. + +In the meantime Signor Alfonso Davalos, Marchese del Vasto, having +obtained from Michelagnolo Buonarroti by means of Fra Niccolo della +Magna a cartoon of Christ appearing to the Magdalene in the garden, +moved heaven and earth to have it executed for him in painting by +Pontormo, Buonarroti having told him that no one could serve him +better than that master. Jacopo then executed that work to perfection, +and it was accounted a rare painting by reason both of the grandeur of +Michelagnolo's design and of Jacopo's colouring. Wherefore Signor +Alessandro Vitelli, who was at that time Captain of the garrison of +soldiers in Florence, having seen it, had a picture painted for +himself from the same cartoon by Jacopo, which he sent to Citta di +Castello and caused to be placed in his house. It thus became evident +in what estimation Michelagnolo held Pontormo, and with what diligence +Pontormo carried to completion and executed excellently well the +designs and cartoons of Michelagnolo, and Bartolommeo Bettini so went +to work that Buonarroti, who was much his friend, made for him a +cartoon of a nude Venus with a Cupid who is kissing her, in order that +he might have it executed in painting by Pontormo and place it in the +centre of a chamber of his own, in the lunettes of which he had begun +to have painted by Bronzino figures of Dante, Petrarca, and Boccaccio, +with the intention of having there all the other poets who have sung +of love in Tuscan prose and verse. Jacopo, then, having received this +cartoon, executed it to perfection at his leisure, as will be related, +in the manner that all the world knows without my saying another word +in praise of it. These designs of Michelagnolo's were the reason that +Pontormo, considering the manner of that most noble craftsman, took +heart of grace, and resolved that by hook or by crook he would imitate +and follow it to the best of his ability. And then it was that Jacopo +recognized how ill he had done to allow the work of Poggio a Caiano to +slip through his hands, although he put the blame in great measure on +a long and very troublesome illness that he had suffered, and finally +on the death of Pope Clement, which brought that undertaking +completely to an end. + +Jacopo having executed after the works described above a picture with +the portrait from life of Amerigo Antinori, a young man much beloved +in Florence at that time, and that portrait being much extolled by +everyone, Duke Alessandro had him informed that he wished to have his +portrait taken by him in a large picture. And Jacopo, for the sake of +convenience, executed his portrait for the time being in a little +picture of the size of a sheet of half-folio, and with such diligence +and care, that the works of the miniaturists do not in any way come up +to it; for the reason that, besides its being a very good likeness, +there is in that head all that could be desired in the rarest of +paintings. From that little picture, which is now in the guardaroba of +Duke Cosimo, Jacopo afterwards made a portrait of the same Duke in a +large picture, with a style in the hand, drawing the head of a woman; +which larger portrait Duke Alessandro afterwards presented to Signora +Taddea Malespina, the sister of the Marchesa di Massa. Desiring at all +costs to reward liberally the genius of Jacopo for these works, the +Duke sent him a message by Niccolo da Montaguto, his servant, that he +should ask whatever he wished, and it would be granted to him. But +such was the poor spirit or the excessive respect and modesty of the +man, I know not which to call it, that he asked for nothing save as +much money as would suffice him to redeem a cloak that he had pledged; +which having heard, the Duke, not without laughing at the character of +the man, commanded that fifty gold crowns should be given and a salary +offered to him; and even then Niccolo had much ado to make him accept +it. + +Meanwhile Jacopo had finished painting the Venus from the cartoon +belonging to Bettini, which proved to be a marvellous thing, but it +was not given to Bettini at the price for which Jacopo had promised it +to him, for certain tuft-hunters, in order to do Bettini an injury, +took it almost by force from the hands of Jacopo and gave it to Duke +Alessandro, restoring the cartoon to Bettini. Which having heard, +Michelagnolo felt much displeasure for love of the friend for whom he +had drawn the cartoon, and he bore a grudge against Jacopo, who, +although he received fifty crowns for it from the Duke, nevertheless +cannot be said to have defrauded Bettini, seeing that he gave up the +Venus at the command of him who was his lord. But of all this some say +that Bettini himself was in great measure the cause, from his asking +too much. + +[Illustration: JACOPO DA PONTORMO: PORTRAIT OF AN ENGRAVER + +(_Paris: Louvre, 1241. Panel_)] + +The occasion having thus presented itself to Pontormo, by means of +these moneys, to set his hand to the fitting up of his house, he made +a beginning with his building, but did nothing of much importance. +Indeed, although some persons declare that he had it in mind to spend +largely, according to his position, and to make a commodious dwelling +and one that might have some design, it is nevertheless evident that +what he did, whether this came from his not having the means to spend +or from some other reason, has rather the appearance of a building +erected by an eccentric and solitary creature than of a well-ordered +habitation, for the reason that to the room where he used to sleep and +at times to work, he had to climb by a wooden ladder, which, after he +had gone in, he would draw up with a pulley, to the end that no one +might go up to him without his wish or knowledge. But that which most +displeased other men in him was that he would not work save when and +for whom he pleased, and after his own fancy; wherefore on many +occasions, being sought out by noblemen who desired to have some of +his work, and once in particular by the Magnificent Ottaviano de' +Medici, he would not serve them; and then he would set himself to do +anything in the world for some low and common fellow, at a miserable +price. Thus the mason Rossino, a person of no small ingenuity +considering his calling, by playing the simpleton, received from him +in payment for having paved certain rooms with bricks, and for having +done other mason's work, a most beautiful picture of Our Lady, in +executing which Jacopo toiled and laboured as much as the mason did in +his building. And so well did the good Rossino contrive to manage his +business, that, in addition to the above-named picture, he got from +the hands of Jacopo a most beautiful portrait of Cardinal Giulio de' +Medici, copied from one by the hand of Raffaello, and, into the +bargain, a very beautiful little picture of a Christ Crucified, which, +although the above-mentioned Magnificent Ottaviano bought it from +the mason Rossino as a work by the hand of Jacopo, nevertheless is +known for certain to be by the hand of Bronzino, who executed it all +by himself while he was working with Jacopo at the Certosa, although +it afterwards remained, I know not why, in the possession of Pontormo. +All these three pictures, won by the industry of the mason from the +hands of Jacopo, are now in the house of M. Alessandro de' Medici, the +son of the above-named Ottaviano. + +Now, although this procedure of Jacopo's and his living solitary and +after his own fashion were not much commended, that does not mean that +if anyone wished to excuse him he would not be able, for the reason +that for those works that he did we should acknowledge our obligation +to him, and for those that he did not choose to do we should not blame +or censure him. No craftsman is obliged to work save when and for whom +he pleases; and, if he suffered thereby, the loss was his. As for +solitude, I have always heard say that it is the greatest friend of +study; and, even if it were not so, I do not believe that much blame +is due to him who lives in his own fashion without offence to God or +to his neighbour, dwelling and employing his time as best suits his +nature. + +But to return, leaving these matters on one side, to the works of +Jacopo: Duke Alessandro had caused to be restored in some parts the +Villa of Careggi, formerly built by the elder Cosimo de' Medici, at a +distance of two miles from Florence, and had carried out the +ornamentation of the fountain and the labyrinth, which wound through +the centre of an open court, into which there opened two loggie, and +his Excellency ordained that those loggie should be painted by Jacopo, +but that company should be given him, to the end that he might finish +them the quicker, and that conversation with others, keeping him +cheerful, might be a means of making him work without straying so much +into vagaries and distilling away his brains. Nay, the Duke himself +sent for Jacopo and besought him that he should strive to deliver that +work completely finished as soon as possible. Jacopo, therefore, +having summoned Bronzino, caused him to paint a figure on each of five +spandrels of the vaulting, these being Fortune, Justice, Victory, +Peace, and Fame; and on the other spandrel, for they are in all six, +Jacopo with his own hand painted a Love. Then, having made the design +for some little boys that were going in the oval space of the +vaulting, with various animals in their hands, and all foreshortened +to be seen from below, he caused them all, with the exception of one, +to be executed in colour by Bronzino, who acquitted himself very well. +And since, while Jacopo and Bronzino were painting these figures, the +ornaments all around were executed by Jacone, Pier Francesco di +Jacopo, and others, the whole of that work was finished in a short +time, to the great satisfaction of the Lord Duke. His Excellency +wished to have the other loggia painted, but he was not in time, for +the reason that the above-named work having been finished on the 13th +of December in the year 1536, on the 6th of the January following that +most illustrious lord was assassinated by his kinsman Lorenzino; and +so this work and others remained without their completion. + +The Lord Duke Cosimo having then been elected, and the affair of +Montemurlo having passed off happily, a beginning was made with the +works of Castello, according as has been related in the Life of +Tribolo, and his most illustrious Excellency, in order to gratify +Signora Donna Maria, his mother, ordained that Jacopo should paint the +first loggia, which one finds on the left hand in entering the Palace +of Castello. Whereupon, setting to work, Jacopo first designed all the +ornaments that were to be painted there, and had them executed for the +most part by Bronzino and the masters who had executed those of +Careggi. Then, shutting himself up alone, he proceeded with that work +after his own fancy and wholly at his leisure, studying with all +diligence, to the end that it might be much better than that of +Careggi, which he had not executed entirely with his own hand. This he +was able to do very conveniently, having eight crowns a month for it +from his Excellency, whom he portrayed, young as he was, in the +beginning of that work, and likewise Signora Donna Maria, his mother. +Finally, after that loggia had been closed for five years, no one +being able to have even a glance at what Jacopo had done, one day the +above-named lady became enraged against him, and commanded that the +staging and the screen should be thrown to the ground. But Jacopo, +having begged for grace and having obtained leave to keep it covered +for a few days more, first retouched it where it seemed to him to be +necessary, and then caused a cloth of his own contriving to be made, +which should keep that loggia covered when those lords were not there, +to the end that the weather might not, as it had done at Careggi, eat +away those pictures, which were executed in oils on the dry plaster; +and at last he uncovered it, amid the lively expectation of everyone, +all thinking that in that work Jacopo must have surpassed himself and +done something altogether stupendous. But the effect did not +correspond completely to the expectations, for the reason that, +although many parts of the work are good, the general proportion of +the figures appears very poor in form, and certain distorted attitudes +that are there seem to be wanting in measure and very strange. But +Jacopo excused himself by saying that he had never worked very +willingly in that place, for the reason that, being without the city, +it seemed much exposed to the fury of the soldiery and to other +suchlike dangers; but there was no need for him to be afraid of that, +seeing that time and the weather, from the work having been executed +in the manner already described, are eating it away little by little. + +In the centre of the vaulting, then, he painted a Saturn with the Sign +of Capricorn, and a Hermaphrodite Mars in the Sign of the Lion and of +the Virgin, and some little Angels who are flying through the air, +like those of Careggi. He then painted in certain gigantic women, +almost entirely nude, Philosophy, Astrology, Geometry, Music, +Arithmetic, and a Ceres; with some little scenes in medallions, +executed with various tints of colour and appropriate to the figures. +Although this work, so fatiguing and so laboured, did not give much +satisfaction, or, if a certain measure of satisfaction, much less than +was expected, yet his Excellency declared that it pleased him, and +availed himself of Jacopo on every occasion, chiefly because that +painter was held in great veneration by the people on account of the +very good and beautiful works that he had executed in the past. + +The Lord Duke then brought to Florence the Flemings, Maestro Giovanni +Rosso and Maestro Niccolo, excellent masters in arras-tapestries, to +the end that the art might be learned and practised by the +Florentines, and he ordained that tapestries in silk and gold should +be executed for the Council Hall of the Two Hundred at a cost of +60,000 crowns, and that Jacopo and Bronzino should make the cartoons +with the stories of Joseph. But, when Jacopo had made two of them, in +one of which is the scene when the death of Joseph is announced to +Jacob and the bloody garments are shown to him, and in the other the +Flight of Joseph from the wife of Potiphar, leaving his garment +behind, they did not please either the Duke or those masters who had +to put them into execution, for they appeared to them to be strange +things and not likely to be successful when executed in woven +tapestries. And so Jacopo did not go on to make any more cartoons, but +returned to his usual labours and painted a picture of Our Lady, which +was presented by the Duke to Signor Don ..., who took it to Spain. + +Now his Excellency, following in the footsteps of his ancestors, has +always sought to embellish and adorn his city; and he resolved, the +necessity having come to his notice, to cause to be painted all the +principal chapel of the magnificent Temple of S. Lorenzo, formerly +built by the great Cosimo de' Medici, the elder. Whereupon he gave the +charge of this to Jacopo da Pontormo, either of his own accord, or, as +was said, at the instance of Messer Pier Francesco Ricci, his +major-domo; and Jacopo was very glad of that favour, for the reason +that, although the greatness of the work, he being well advanced in +years, gave him food for thought and perhaps dismayed him, on the +other hand he reflected how, in a work of such magnitude, he had a +fair field to show his ability and worth. Some say that Jacopo, +finding that the work had been allotted to him notwithstanding that +Francesco Salviati, a painter of great fame, was in Florence and had +brought to a happy conclusion the painting of that hall in the Palace +which was once the audience-chamber of the Signoria, must needs +declare that he would show the world how to draw and paint, and how to +work in fresco, and, besides this, that the other painters were but +ordinary hacks, with other words equally insolent and overbearing. But +I myself always knew Jacopo as a modest person, who spoke of everyone +honourably and in a manner proper to an orderly and virtuous +craftsman, such as he was, and I believe that these words were +imputed to him falsely, and that he never let slip from his mouth any +such boastings, which are for the most part the marks of vain men who +presume too much upon their merits, in which manner of men there is no +place for virtue or good breeding. And, although I might have kept +silent about these matters, I have not chosen to do so, because to +proceed as I have done appears to me the office of a faithful and +veracious historian; it is enough that, although these rumours went +around, and particularly among our craftsmen, nevertheless I have a +firm belief that they were the words of malicious persons, Jacopo +having always been in the experience of everyone modest and +well-behaved in his every action. + +Having then closed up that chapel with walls, screens of planks, and +curtains, and having given himself over to complete solitude, he kept +it for a period of eleven years so well sealed up, that excepting +himself not a living soul entered it, neither friend nor any other. It +is true, indeed, that certain lads who were drawing in the sacristy of +Michelagnolo, as young men will do, climbed by its spiral staircase on +to the roof of the church, and, removing some tiles and the plank of +one of the gilded rosettes that are there, saw everything. Of which +having heard, Jacopo took it very ill, but took no further notice +beyond closing up everything with greater care; although some say that +he persecuted those young men sorely, and sought to make them regret +it. + +Imagining, then, that in this work he would surpass all other +painters, and perchance, so it was said, even Michelagnolo, he painted +in the upper part, in a number of scenes, the Creation of Adam and +Eve, the Eating of the Forbidden Fruit, their Expulsion from Paradise, +the Tilling of the Earth, the Sacrifice of Abel, the Death of Cain, +the Blessing of the Seed of Noah, and the same Noah designing the plan +and the measurements of the Ark. Next, on one of the lower walls, each +of which is fifteen braccia in each direction, he painted the +inundation of the Deluge, in which is a mass of dead and drowned +bodies, and Noah speaking with God. On the other wall is painted the +Universal Resurrection of the Dead, which has to take place on the +last and final day; with such variety and confusion, that the real +resurrection will perhaps not be more confused, or more full of +movement, in a manner of speaking, than Pontormo painted it. Opposite +to the altar and between the windows--that is, on the central +wall--there is on either side a row of nude figures, who, clinging to +each other's bodies with hands and legs, form a ladder wherewith to +ascend to Paradise, rising from the earth, where there are many dead +in company with them, and at the end, on either side, are two dead +bodies clothed with the exception of the legs and also the arms, with +which they are holding two lighted torches. At the top, in the centre +of the wall, above the windows, he painted in the middle Christ on +high in His Majesty, who, surrounded by many Angels all nude, is +raising those dead in order to judge them. + +But I have never been able to understand the significance of this +scene, although I know that Jacopo had wit enough for himself, and +also associated with learned and lettered persons; I mean, what he +could have intended to signify in that part where there is Christ on +high, raising the dead, and below His feet is God the Father, who is +creating Adam and Eve. Besides this, in one of the corners, where are +the four Evangelists, nude, with books in their hands, it does not +seem to me that in a single place did he give a thought to any order +of composition, or measurement, or time, or variety in the heads, or +diversity in the flesh-colours, or, in a word, to any rule, +proportion, or law of perspective; for the whole work is full of nude +figures with an order, design, invention, composition, colouring, and +painting contrived after his own fashion, and with such melancholy and +so little satisfaction for him who beholds the work, that I am +determined, since I myself do not understand it, although I am a +painter, to leave all who may see it to form their own judgment, for +the reason that I believe that I would drive myself mad with it and +would bury myself alive, even as it appears to me that Jacopo in the +period of eleven years that he spent upon it sought to bury himself +and all who might see the painting, among all those extraordinary +figures. And although there may be seen in this work some bit of a +torso with the back turned or facing to the front and some attachments +of flanks, executed with marvellous care and great labour by Jacopo, +who made finished models of clay in the round for almost all the +figures, nevertheless the work as a whole is foreign to his manner, +and, as it appears to almost every man, without proportion, the torsi +for the most part being large and the legs and arms small, to say +nothing of the heads, in which there is not a trace to be seen of that +singular excellence and grace that he used to give to them, so greatly +to the satisfaction of those who examine his other pictures. Wherefore +it appears that in this work he paid no attention to anything save +certain parts, and of the other more important parts he took no +account whatever. In a word, whereas he had thought in this work to +surpass all the paintings in the world of art, he failed by a great +measure to equal his own works that he had executed in the past; +whence it is evident that he who seeks to strive beyond his strength +and, as it were, to force nature, ruins the good qualities with which +he may have been liberally endowed by her. But what can we or ought we +to do save have compassion upon him, seeing that the men of our arts +are as much liable to error as others? And the good Homer, so it is +said, even he sometimes nods; nor shall it ever be said that there is +a single work of Jacopo's, however he may have striven to force his +nature, in which there is not something good and worthy of praise. + +He died shortly before finishing the work, and some therefore declare +that he died of grief, ending his life very much dissatisfied with +himself; but the truth is that, being old and much exhausted by making +portraits and models in clay and labouring so much in fresco, he sank +into a dropsy, which finally killed him at the age of sixty-five. +After his death there were found in his house many designs, cartoons, +and models in clay, all very beautiful, and a picture of Our Lady +executed by him excellently well and in a lovely manner, to all +appearance many years before, which was sold by his heirs to Piero +Salviati. Jacopo was buried in the first cloister of the Church of the +Servite Friars, beneath the scene of the Visitation that he had +formerly painted there; and he was followed to the grave by an +honourable company of the painters, sculptors, and architects. + +Jacopo was a frugal and sober man, and in his dress and manner of life +he was rather miserly than moderate; and he lived almost always by +himself, without desiring that anyone should serve him or cook for +him. In his last years, indeed, he kept in his house, as it were to +bring him up, Battista Naldini, a young man of fine spirit, who took +such care of Jacopo's life as Jacopo would allow him to take; and +under his master's discipline he made no little proficiency in design, +and became such, indeed, that a very happy result is looked for from +him. Among Pontormo's friends, particularly in this last period of his +life, were Pier Francesco Vernacci and Don Vincenzio Borghini, with +whom he took his recreation, sometimes eating with them, but rarely. +But above all others, and always supremely beloved by him, was +Bronzino, who loved him as dearly, being grateful and thankful for the +benefits that he had received from him. + +Pontormo had very beautiful manners, and he was so afraid of death, +that he would not even hear it spoken of, and avoided having to meet +dead bodies. He never went to festivals or to any other places where +people gathered together, so as not to be caught in the press; and he +was solitary beyond all belief. At times, going out to work, he set +himself to think so profoundly on what he was to do, that he went away +without having done any other thing all day but stand thinking. And +that this happened to him times without number in the work of S. +Lorenzo may readily be believed, for the reason that when he was +determined, like an able and well-practised craftsman, he had no +difficulty in doing what he desired and had resolved to put into +execution. + + + + +SIMONE MOSCA + + + + +LIFE OF SIMONE MOSCA + +SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT + + +From the times of the ancient Greek and Roman sculptors to our own, no +modern carver has equalled the beautiful and difficult works that they +executed in their bases, capitals, friezes, cornices, festoons, +trophies, masks, candelabra, birds, grotesques, or other carved +cornice-work, save only Simone Mosca of Settignano, who in our own +days has worked in such a manner in those kinds of labour, that he has +made it evident by his genius and art that all the diligence and study +of the modern carvers who had come before him had not enabled them up +to that time to imitate the best work of those ancients or to adopt +the good method in their carvings, for the reason that their works +incline to dryness, and the turn of their foliage to spikiness and +crudeness. He, on the other hand, has executed foliage with great +boldness, rich and abundant in new curves, the leaves being carved in +various manners with beautiful indentations and with the most lovely +flowers, seeds and creepers that there are to be seen, not to speak of +the birds that he has contrived to carve so gracefully in various +forms among his foliage and festoons, insomuch that it may be affirmed +that Simone alone--be it said without offence to the others--has been +able to remove from the marble that hardness which craftsmen are wont +very often to leave in their sculptures, and has brought his works by +his handling of the chisel to such a point that they have the +appearance of things real to the touch, and the same may be said of +the cornices and other suchlike labours, executed by him with most +beautiful grace and judgment. + +This Simone, having given his attention to design in his childhood +with much profit, and having then become well-practised in carving, +was taken by Maestro Antonio da San Gallo, who recognized his genius +and noble spirit, to Rome, where he caused him to execute, as his +first works, some capitals and bases and several friezes of foliage +for the Church of S. Giovanni de' Fiorentini, and some works for the +Palace of Alessandro, the first Cardinal Farnese. Simone meanwhile +devoting himself, particularly on feast-days, and whenever he could +snatch the time, to drawing the antiquities of that city, no long time +passed before he was drawing and tracing ground-plans with more grace +and neatness than did Antonio himself, insomuch that, having applied +himself heart and soul to the study of designing foliage in the +ancient manner, of giving a bold turn to the leaves, and of +perforating his works in such a way as to make them perfect, taking +the best from the best examples, one thing from one and one from +another, in a few years he formed a manner of composition so beautiful +and so catholic, that afterwards he did everything well, whether in +company or by himself. This may be seen in some coats of arms that +were to be placed in the above-named Church of S. Giovanni in the +Strada Giulia; in one of which coats of arms, making a great lily, the +ancient emblem of the Commune of Florence, he carved upon it some +curves of foliage with creepers and seeds executed so well that they +made everyone gasp with wonder. Nor had any long time passed when +Antonio da San Gallo--who was directing for Messer Agnolo Cesis the +execution of the marble ornaments of a chapel and tomb for himself and +his family, which were afterwards erected in the year 1550 in the +Church of S. Maria della Pace--caused part of certain pilasters and +socles covered with friezes, which were going into that work, to be +wrought by Simone, who executed them so well and with such beauty, +that they make themselves known among the others, without my saying +which they are, by their grace and perfection; nor is it possible to +see any altars for the offering of sacrifices after the ancient use +more beautiful and fanciful than those that he made on the base of +that work. Afterwards the same San Gallo, who was superintending the +execution of the mouth of the well in the cloister of S. Pietro in +Vincula, caused Mosca to make the borders with some large masks of +great beauty. + +Not long afterwards he returned one summer to Florence, having a good +name among craftsmen, and Baccio Bandinelli, who was making the +Orpheus of marble that was placed in the court of the Medici Palace, +after having the base for that work carried out by Benedetto da +Rovezzano, caused Simone to execute the festoons and other carvings +therein, which are very beautiful, although one festoon is unfinished +and only worked over with the gradine. Having then done many works in +grey sandstone, of which there is no need to make record, he was +planning to return to Rome, when in the meantime the sack took place, +and he did not go after all. But, having taken a wife, he was living +in Florence with little to do: wherefore, being obliged to support his +family, and having no income, he was occupying himself with any work +that he could obtain. Now in those days there arrived in Florence one +Pietro di Subisso, a master-mason of Arezzo, who always had under him +a good number of workmen, for the reason that all the building in +Arezzo passed through his hands; and he took Simone, with many others, +to Arezzo. There he set Simone to making a chimney-piece of grey +sandstone and a water-basin of no great cost, for a hall in the house +of the heirs of Pellegrino da Fossombrone, a citizen of Arezzo; which +house had been formerly erected by M. Piero Geri, an excellent +astrologer, after the design of Andrea Sansovino, and had been sold by +his nephews. Setting to work, therefore, and beginning with the +chimney-piece, Simone placed it upon two pilasters, making two niches +in the thickness of the wall, in the direction of the fire, and laying +upon those pilasters architrave, frieze, and great cornice, and over +all a pediment with festoons and with the arms of that family. And +thus, proceeding with it, he executed it with carvings of such a kind +and so well varied, and with such subtle craftsmanship, that, although +that work was of grey sandstone, under his hands it became more +beautiful than if it had been of marble, and more astounding; which, +indeed, came to pass the more readily because that stone is not as +hard as marble and, if anything, rather sandy. Putting extraordinary +diligence, therefore, into the work, he executed on the pilasters +trophies in half-relief and low-relief, than which nothing more +bizarre or more beautiful could be done, with helmets, buskins, +shields, quivers, and various other arms; and he likewise made there +masks, sea monsters, and other graceful fantasies, all so well figured +and cut out that they have the appearance of silver. The frieze that +is between the architrave and the great cornice, he made with a most +beautiful turn of foliage, all pierced through and full of birds that +are executed so well, that they seem to be flying through the air; and +it is a marvellous thing to see their little legs, no larger than +life, and yet completely in the round and detached from the stone in +such a way as one cannot believe to be possible; and, in truth, the +work seems rather a miracle than a product of human art. Besides all +this, he made there in a festoon some leaves and fruits so well cut +out, and wrought with such delicacy and care, that in a certain sense +they surpass the reality. Lastly, the work is finished off by some +great masks and candelabra, which are truly most beautiful. Although +Simone need not have given such care to a work of that kind, for which +he was to be but poorly paid by those patrons, who could not afford +much, yet, drawn by the love that he bore to art and by the pleasure +that a man feels in working well, he chose to do so; but he did not do +the same with the water-basin for the same patrons, for he made it +beautiful enough, but simple. + +At the same time he assisted Pietro di Subisso, who did not know much, +to make many designs of buildings and plans of houses, doors, windows, +and other things appertaining to that profession. On the Canto degli +Albergotti, below the school and university of the Commune, there is a +window of considerable beauty constructed after his design; and there +are two of them in the house of Ser Bernardino Serragli in the +Pelliceria. On the corner of the Palazzo de' Priori there is a large +escutcheon of Pope Clement VII in grey sandstone, by the hand of the +same master; and under his direction, and partly by his hand, was +executed for Bernardino di Cristofano da Giuovi a chapel of grey +sandstone in the Corinthian Order, which was erected in the Abbey of +S. Fiore, a passing handsome monastery of Black Friars in Arezzo. For +this chapel the patron wished to have the altar-piece painted by +Andrea del Sarto, and then by Rosso, but in this he never succeeded, +seeing that, being hindered now by one thing and now by another, they +were not able to serve him. Finally Bernardino turned to Giorgio +Vasari, but with him also he had difficulties, and there was much +trouble in finding a way of arranging the matter, for the reason that, +the chapel being dedicated to S. James and S. Christopher, he wished +to have in the picture Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and also +the giant S. Christopher with another little Christ on his shoulder; +which composition, besides that it appeared monstrous, could not be +accommodated, nor was it possible to paint a giant of six braccia in +an altar-piece of four braccia. Giorgio, then, being desirous to serve +Bernardino, made him a design in this manner: he placed Our Lady upon +some clouds, with a sun behind her back, and on the ground he painted +S. Christopher kneeling on one side of the picture, with one leg in +the water, and with the other in the act of moving in order to rise, +while Our Lady is placing upon his shoulders the Infant Christ with +the globe of the world in His hands. In the rest of the altar-piece, +also, were to be S. James and the other Saints, accommodated in such a +manner that they would not have been in the way; and this design, +pleasing Bernardino, would have been put into execution, but +Bernardino in the meantime died, and the chapel was left in that +condition to his heirs, who have not done anything more. + +Now, while Simone was labouring at that chapel, there passed through +Arezzo Antonio da San Gallo, who was returning from the work of +fortifying Parma and was going to Loreto to finish the work of the +Chapel of the Madonna, to which he had sent Tribolo, Raffaello da +Montelupo, the young Francesco da San Gallo, Girolamo da Ferrara, +Simone Cioli, and other carvers, masons, and stone-cutters, in order +to finish that which Andrea Sansovino at his death had left +incomplete; and he contrived to take Simone to work there. He ordained +that Simone should have charge not only of the carvings, but also of +the architecture and of the other ornaments of that work; in which +commissions Mosca acquitted himself very well, and, what is more, +executed many things perfectly with his own hands, particularly some +little boys of marble in the round, which are on the pediments of the +doors; and although there are also some by the hand of Simone Cioli, +the best--and rare indeed they are--are all by Mosca. He made, +likewise, all the festoons of marble that are around all that work, +with most beautiful artistry and carvings full of grace and worthy of +all praise; wherefore it is no marvel that these works are so esteemed +and admired, that many craftsmen from distant parts have set off in +order to go to see them. + +Antonio da San Gallo, then, recognizing how much Mosca was worth, made +use of him in any undertaking of importance, with the intention of +remunerating him some day when the occasion might present itself, and +of giving him to know how much he loved him for his abilities. When, +therefore, after the death of Pope Clement, a new Supreme Pontiff had +been elected in Paul III of the Farnese family, who ordained that, the +mouth of the well at Orvieto having remained unfinished, Antonio +should have charge of it, Antonio took Mosca thither, to the end that +he might carry that work to completion, which presented some +difficulties, and particularly in the ornamentation of the doors, for +the reason that, the curve of the mouth being round, convex without +and concave within, those two circles conflicted with each other and +caused a difficulty in accommodating the squared doors with the +ornaments of stone. But the virtue of that singular genius of Simone's +solved every difficulty, and executed the whole work with such grace +and perfection, that no one could see that there had ever been any +difficulty. He finished off the mouth and border of the well in grey +sandstone, filled in with bricks, together with some very beautiful +inscriptions on white stone and other ornaments, making the doors +correspond with one another. He also made there in marble the arms of +the above-named Pope Paul Farnese, or rather, where they had +previously been made of balls for Pope Clement, who had carried out +that work, Mosca was forced--and he succeeded excellently well--to +make lilies out of the balls in relief, and thus to change the arms of +the Medici into those of the house of Farnese; notwithstanding, as I +have said (for so do things go in this world), that the author of that +vast, regal, and magnificent work was Pope Clement VII, of whom in +this last and most imposing part no mention whatever was made. + +[Illustration: THE ALTAR OF THE THREE KINGS + +(_After =Simone Mosca= and =Michele San Michele=. Orvieto: Duomo_) + +_Alinari_] + +While Simone was engaged in finishing this well, the Wardens of Works +of S. Maria, the Duomo of Orvieto, desiring to give completion to +the chapel of marble that had been carried as far as the socle under +the direction of Michele San Michele of Verona, with some carvings, +besought Simone, whom they had come to know as a master of true +excellence, that he should attend to it. Whereupon they came to terms, +and Simone, liking the society of the people of Orvieto, brought his +family thither, in order to live in greater comfort; and then he set +himself to work with a quiet and composed mind, being greatly honoured +by everyone in that place. When, therefore, as it were by way of +sample, he had made a beginning with some pilasters and friezes, the +excellence and ability of Simone were recognized by those men, and +there was assigned to him a salary of two hundred crowns of gold a +year, and with this, continuing to labour, he carried that work well +forward. Now in the centre, to fill up the ornaments, there was to go +a scene of marble in half-relief, representing the Adoration of the +Magi; and there was summoned at the suggestion of Simone his very dear +friend Raffaello da Montelupo, the Florentine sculptor, who, as has +been related, executed half of that scene in a very beautiful manner. +In the ornamentation of this chapel, then, are certain socles, each +two and a half braccia in breadth, which are on either side of the +altar, and upon these are pilasters five braccia high, two on either +side, between which is the story of the Magi; and on the pilasters +next to the story, of which two of the faces are seen, are carved some +candelabra, with friezes of grotesques, masks, little figures, and +foliage, which are things divine. In the predella at the foot, which +runs right over the altar from pilaster to pilaster, is a little +half-length Angel who is holding an inscription with his hands, with +festoons over all, between the capitals of the pilasters, where the +architrave, frieze and great cornice project to the extent of the +depth of the pilasters. Above those in the centre, in a space equal to +their breadth, curves an arch that serves as an ornament to the +above-named story of the Magi, and in this, namely, in the lunette, +are many Angels; and above the arch is a cornice, which runs from one +pilaster to another, that is, from those on the outside, which form a +frontispiece to the whole work. In this part is a God the Father in +half-relief; and at the sides, where the arch rises over the +pilasters, are two Victories in half-relief. All this work, then, is +so well composed, and executed with such a wealth of carvings, that +one cannot have enough of examining the minute details of the +perforations and the excellence of all the things that are in the +capitals, cornices, masks, festoons, and candelabra in the round, +which form the completion of a work truly worthy to be admired as +something rare. + +Simone Mosca thus dwelling in Orvieto, a son of his called Francesco, +and as a bye-name Il Moschino, a boy fifteen years of age, who had +been produced by nature with chisels in his hand, as it were, and with +so beautiful a genius, that he did with supreme grace whatsoever thing +he desired to do, executed in this work under the discipline of his +father, miraculously, so to speak, the Angels that are holding the +inscriptions between the pilasters, then the God the Father in the +pediment, as well as the Angels that are in the lunette of that work, +above the Adoration of the Magi executed by Raffaello da Montelupo, +and finally the Victories at the sides of the lunette; by which works +he caused everyone to wonder and marvel. All this was the reason that, +when the chapel was finished, Simone was commissioned by the Wardens +of Works of the Duomo to make another similar to it, on the other +side, to the end that the space of the Chapel of the High-Altar might +be suitably set off, on the understanding that the figures should be +varied without varying the architecture, and that in the centre there +should be the Visitation of Our Lady, which was allotted to the +above-named Moschino. Then, having made an agreement about every +matter, the father and son set their hands to the work; and, while +they were engaged upon it, Mosca was very helpful and useful to that +city, making for many citizens architectural designs of houses and +many other edifices. Among other things, he executed in that city the +ground-plan and facade of the house of Messer Raffaello Gualtieri, +father of the Bishop of Viterbo, and of Messer Felice, both noblemen +and lords of great excellence and reputation; and likewise the +ground-plans of some houses for the honourable Counts della Cervara. +He did the same in many places near Orvieto, and made, in particular, +the models of many structures and buildings for Signor Pirro Colonna +da Stripicciano. + +[Illustration: THE SALUTATION + +(_After =Simone Mosca=. Orvieto: Duomo_) + +_Alinari_] + +The Pope then causing the fortress to be built in Perugia where +there had stood the houses of the Baglioni, Antonio da San Gallo, +having sent for Mosca, gave him the charge of making the ornaments; +where there were executed after his designs all the doors, windows, +chimney-pieces, and other suchlike things, and in particular two large +and very beautiful escutcheons of his Holiness. In that work Simone +formed a connection with M. Tiberio Crispo, who was Castellan there; +and he was sent by M. Tiberio to Bolsena, where, on the highest point +of that stronghold, overlooking the lake, he arranged a large and +beautiful habitation, partly on the old structure and partly founding +anew, with a very handsome flight of steps and many ornaments of +stone. Nor did any long time pass before Messer Tiberio, having been +made Castellan of the Castello di S. Angelo, caused Mosca to go to +Rome, where he made use of him in many matters in renovating the +apartments of that castle; and, among other things, he caused him to +make over the arches that rise over the new loggia, which faces +towards the meadows, two escutcheons of the above-named Pope in +marble, which are so well wrought and perforated in the mitre, or +rather, triple crown, in the keys, and in certain festoons and little +masks, that they are marvellous. + +Having then returned to Orvieto in order to finish the work of the +chapel, he laboured there continuously all the time that Pope Paul was +alive, executing it in such a manner that it proved to be, as may be +seen, no less excellent than the first, and perhaps even better. For +Mosca, as has been said, bore such love to art, and took such pleasure +in working, that he could never have enough of it, almost striving +after the impossible, and that rather from a desire for glory than +from any wish to accumulate gold, for he was more pleased to work well +at his profession than to acquire property. + +Finally, Julius III having been elected Pope in the year 1550, and all +men thinking that work would be begun in earnest on the building of S. +Pietro, Mosca went off to Rome and sought to obtain at a fixed price +from the superintendents of that building the commission for some +capitals of marble, but more to accommodate Gian Domenico, his +son-in-law, than for any other reason. Now Giorgio Vasari, who always +bore love to Mosca, found him in Rome, whither he also had been +summoned to the service of the Pope, and he thought that without fail +he would have some work to offer him, for the reason that the old +Cardinal dal Monte, when he died, had left directions with his heirs +that a tomb of marble should be built for him in S. Pietro a Montorio, +and the above-named Pope Julius, his nephew and heir, had ordained +that this should be done, and had given the charge of the matter to +Vasari; and Giorgio wished that in that tomb Mosca should execute some +extraordinary work in carving. But, after Giorgio had made some models +for that tomb, the Pope discussed the whole matter with Michelagnolo +Buonarroti before he would make up his mind; whereupon Michelagnolo +told his Holiness that he should not involve himself with carvings, +saying that, although they enrich a work, they confuse the figures, +whereas squared work, when it is well done, is much more beautiful +than carving and is a better accompaniment for the figures, for the +reason that figures do not brook other carvings about them: and even +so did his Holiness order the work to be done. Wherefore Vasari was +not able to give Mosca anything to do in that work, and he was +dismissed; and the tomb was finished without any carvings, which made +it much better than it would have been with them. + +Simone having then returned to Orvieto, arrangements were made to +erect after his designs, in the cross at the head of the church, two +great tabernacles of marble, works truly graceful, beautiful, and +well-proportioned, for one of which Raffaello da Montelupo made in +marble a nude Christ with the Cross on His shoulder in a niche, and +for the other Moschino made a S. Sebastian, likewise nude. Work being +then continued on the execution of the Apostles for the church, +Moschino made a S. Peter and a S. Paul of the same size, which were +held to be creditable statues. Meanwhile the work of the +above-mentioned Chapel of the Visitation was not abandoned, and it was +carried so far forward during the lifetime of Mosca, that there was +nothing left to do save two birds, and even these would not have been +wanting, had not M. Bastiano Gualtieri, Bishop of Viterbo, as has been +related, kept Simone occupied with an ornament of marble in four +pieces, which, when finished, he sent to France to the Cardinal of +Lorraine, who held it very dear, for it was beautiful to a marvel, all +full of foliage and wrought with such diligence, that it is believed +to have been one of the best that Simone ever executed. + +Not long after he had finished that work, in the year 1554, Simone +died, at the age of fifty-eight, to the no small loss of that church +of Orvieto, in which he was buried with honour. + +Francesco Moschino was then elected to his father's place by the +Wardens of Works of that same Duomo, but, thinking nothing of it, he +left it to Raffaello da Montelupo, and went to Rome, where he finished +for M. Ruberto Strozzi two very graceful figures in marble, the Mars +and Venus, namely, which are in the court of his house in the Banchi. +Afterwards he executed a scene with little figures, almost in +full-relief, in which is Diana bathing with her Nymphs, who changes +Actaeon into a stag, and he is devoured by his own hounds; and then +Francesco came to Florence, and gave the work to the Lord Duke Cosimo, +whom he much desired to serve. Whereupon his Excellency, having +accepted and much commended it, did not disappoint the desire of +Moschino, even as he has never disappointed anyone who has sought to +work valiantly in any calling. For he was attached to the Works of the +Duomo at Pisa, and has laboured up to the present day with great +credit to himself in the Chapel of the Nunziata, formerly built by +Stagio da Pietrasanta, executing the Angel and the Madonna in figures +of four braccia, together with the carvings and every other thing; in +the centre, Adam and Eve, who have the apple-tree between them; and a +large God the Father with certain little boys on the vaulting of that +chapel, which is all of marble, as are also the two statues, which +have gained for Moschino no little fame and honour. And since that +chapel is little less than finished, his Excellency has given orders +that the chapel opposite to it should be taken in hand, which is +called the Chapel of the Incoronata and stands immediately at the +entrance of the church, on the left hand. The same Moschino, in +connection with the nuptial festivities of her most serene Majesty +Queen Joanna and the most illustrious Prince of Florence, has +acquitted himself very well in those works that were given him to do. + + + + +GIROLAMO AND BARTOLOMMEO GENGA, AND GIOVAN BATTISTA SAN MARINO, +SON-IN-LAW OF GIROLAMO + + + + +LIVES OF GIROLAMO AND BARTOLOMMEO GENGA, AND OF GIOVAN BATTISTA SAN +MARINO, SON-IN-LAW OF GIROLAMO + + +Girolamo Genga, who was of Urbino, was apprenticed by his father at +the age of ten to the wool trade, but he followed it with the greatest +ill-will, and, according as he could find time and place, he was for +ever drawing in secret with charcoal or an ordinary pen. Which +circumstance being observed by some friends of his father, they +exhorted him to remove the boy from that trade and to set him to +painting; wherefore he placed Girolamo with certain masters of little +reputation in Urbino. But, having seen his beautiful manner, and that +he was like to make proficience, when the boy was fifteen years of age +the father apprenticed him to Maestro Luca Signorelli of Cortona, an +excellent master in painting of that time; with whom he stayed many +years, following him to the March of Ancona, to Cortona, and to many +other places where he executed works, and in particular to Orvieto, in +the Duomo of which city, as has been related, Luca painted a chapel of +Our Lady with an infinite number of figures. At this our Girolamo +worked continually, and he was always one of the best disciples that +Luca had. + +Then, having parted from Signorelli, he placed himself with Pietro +Perugino, a much esteemed painter, with whom he stayed about three +years, giving considerable attention to perspective, which was so well +grasped and understood by him, that it may be said that he became very +excellent therein, even as is evident from his works in painting and +architecture. This was at the same time that there was with Pietro the +divine Raffaello da Urbino, who was much the friend of Girolamo. + +After leaving Pietro, he went off to live in Florence, where he +studied for some considerable time. Then, having gone to Siena, he +stayed there for months and even years with Pandolfo Petrucci, in +whose house he painted many rooms, which, from their being very well +designed and coloured in a pleasing manner, were rightly admired and +praised by all the people of Siena, and particularly by the +above-named Pandolfo, by whom he was always looked upon with great +favour and cherished most dearly. Pandolfo having died, he then +returned to Urbino, where Guidobaldo, the second Duke, retained him +for a considerable time, causing him to paint horse's caparisons, such +as were used in those times, in company with Timoteo da Urbino, a +painter of passing good name and much experience, together with whom +he painted a chapel of S. Martino in the Vescovado for Messer Giovan +Piero Arrivabene of Mantua, then Bishop of Urbino. In this, both the +one and the other of them gave proof of very beautiful genius, as the +work itself demonstrates, in which is a portrait of the above-named +Bishop, which has all the appearance of life. Genga was also +particularly employed by the same Duke to execute scenery and settings +for comedies, which, since he had a very good understanding of +perspective and was well-grounded in architecture, he made +marvellously beautiful. + +He then departed from Urbino and went to Rome, where he executed in +painting, in S. Caterina da Siena on the Strada Giulia, a Resurrection +of Christ, wherein he made himself known as a rare and excellent +master, having done it with good design and with figures foreshortened +in beautiful attitudes and well coloured, to which those who are of +the profession and have seen it are able to bear ample testimony. +While living in Rome, he gave much attention to measuring the +antiquities there, as is proved by writings in the possession of his +heirs. + +[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS + +(_After the painting by =Girolamo Genga=. Milan: Brera, 202_) + +_Alinari_] + +At this time, Duke Guido having died, and having been succeeded by +Francesco Maria, third Duke of Urbino, Girolamo was recalled from Rome +by Francesco Maria, and constrained to return to Urbino at the time when +the above-named Duke took to wife and brought into his dominions Leonora +Gonzaga, the daughter of the Marquis of Mantua; and he was employed by +his Excellency in making triumphal arches, festive preparations, and +scenery for comedies, which were all so well arranged and carried into +execution by him, that Urbino could be likened to a Rome in triumph; +from which he gained very great fame and honour. Afterwards, in due +course, the Duke was expelled from his state for the last time, when he +went to Mantua, and Girolamo followed him, even as he had already done +in his other periods of exile, always sharing one and the same fortune +with him; and he retired with his family to Cesena. There he painted for +the high-altar of S. Agostino an altar-piece in oils, at the top of +which is an Annunciation, and below that a God the Father, and still +lower down a Madonna with the Child in her arms, between the four +Doctors of the Church--a work truly beautiful and worthy to be esteemed. +He then painted in fresco a chapel on the right hand in S. Francesco at +Forli, containing the Assumption of the Madonna, with many Angels and +other figures--Prophets, namely, and Apostles--around; in this, also, it +is evident how admirable was his genius, and the work was judged to be +very beautiful. He also painted there the story of the Holy Spirit, +which he finished in the year 1512, for Messer Francesco Lombardi, a +physician; and other works throughout Romagna, for all which he gained +honour and rewards. + +The Duke having then returned to his state, Girolamo also returned, +and was retained by him and employed as architect in restoring an old +palace on the Monte dell'Imperiale, above Pesaro, and adding to it +another tower. That palace was adorned with scenes in painting from +the actions of the Duke, after the directions and designs of Girolamo, +by Francesco da Forli and Raffaello dal Borgo, painters of good +repute, and by Camillo Mantovano, a very rare master in painting +landscapes and verdure; and the young Florentine Bronzino also worked +there, among others, as has been related in the Life of Pontormo. +Thither, likewise, were summoned the Dossi of Ferrara, and a room was +assigned to them to paint; but since, when they had finished that +room, it did not please the Duke, he had it thrown down and repainted +by the masters mentioned above. Girolamo then erected the tower there, +one hundred and twenty feet in height, with thirteen flights of wooden +steps whereby to ascend to the top, so well fitted and concealed in +the walls, that they can be withdrawn with ease from story to story, +which renders that tower very strong and marvellous. A desire +afterwards came to the Duke to fortify Pesaro, and he caused Pier +Francesco da Viterbo, a most excellent architect, to be sent for; and +Girolamo always taking part in the discussions that arose about the +fortifications, his discourse and his opinions were held to be good +and full of judgment. Wherefore, if I may be allowed to say it, the +design of that fortress came rather from Girolamo than from any other, +although that sort of architecture was always little esteemed by him, +appearing to him to be of small value and dignity. + +The Duke, then, perceiving how rare a genius he had at his command, +determined to build on the above-named Monte dell'Imperiale, near the +old palace, a new palace; and so he built that to be seen there at the +present day, which being a very beautiful and well-planned fabric, and +full of apartments, colonnades, courts, loggie, fountains, and most +delightful gardens, there is no Prince passes that way that does not +go to see it. Wherefore it was right fitting that Pope Paul III, on +his way to Bologna with all his Court, should go to see it and find it +entirely to his satisfaction. From the design of this same master, the +Duke caused the Palace at Pesaro to be restored, and also the little +park, making within it a house representing a ruin, which is a very +beautiful thing to see. Among other things, there is a staircase +similar to that of the Belvedere in Rome, which is very handsome. By +means of him the Duke had the fortress of Gradara restored, and +likewise the Palace at Castel Durante, insomuch that all that is good +in those works came from that admirable genius. Girolamo also built +the corridor of the Palace at Urbino, above the garden, and he +enclosed a courtyard on one side with perforated stone-work executed +with great diligence. + +From the design of the same master, likewise, were begun the Convent +of the Frati Zoccolanti at Monte Baroccio and S. Maria delle Grazie at +Sinigaglia, which in the end remained unfinished by reason of the +death of the Duke. And about the same time was begun after his +directions and design the Vescovado of Sinigaglia, of which the model, +made by him, is still to be seen. He also executed some works in +sculpture and figures of clay and wax in the round, beautiful enough, +which are in the house of his family at Urbino. For the Imperiale he +made some Angels in clay, which he afterwards caused to be cast in +bronze and placed over the doors of the rooms decorated with +stucco-work in the new palace; and these are very beautiful. For the +Bishop of Sinigaglia he executed some fantasies in wax in the form of +drinking-cups, which were afterwards to be made in silver; and with +greater diligence he made some others, most beautiful, for the Duke's +credence. He showed fine invention in masquerades and costumes, as was +seen in the time of the above-named Duke, by whom he was passing well +rewarded, as he deserved, for his rare parts and good qualities. + +His son, Guidobaldo, who reigns at the present day, having then +succeeded him as Duke, caused a beginning to be made by the +above-named Genga with the Church of S. Giovan Battista at Pesaro, +which, having been carried out according to the model of Girolamo by +his son Bartolommeo, is of very beautiful architecture in every part, +for he imitated the antique considerably, and made it in such a manner +that it is the most beautiful temple that there is in those parts, as +the work itself clearly demonstrates, being able to challenge +comparison with the most famous buildings in Rome. After his designs +and directions, likewise, there was executed in S. Chiara at Urbino by +the Florentine sculptor Bartolommeo Ammanati, who was then very young, +the tomb of Duke Francesco Maria, which, for a simple work of little +cost, proved to be very beautiful. In like manner, the Venetian +painter Battista Franco was summoned by him to paint the great chapel +of the Duomo at Urbino, at the time when there was being made after +his design the ornament of the organ of that Duomo, which is not yet +finished. + +Shortly afterwards, the Cardinal of Mantua having written to the Duke +that he should send him Girolamo, because he wished to restore the +Vescovado of that city, Girolamo went thither and fitted it up very +well with lights and with all that the above-named lord desired. +Besides this, the Cardinal, wishing to make a beautiful facade for the +Duomo, caused him to prepare a model for it, which was executed by him +in such a manner, that it may be said that it surpassed all the +architectural works of his time, for the reason that in it may be seen +grandeur, proportion, grace, and great beauty of composition. + +Having then returned from Mantua, now an old man, he went to live at a +villa of his own, called Le Valle, in the territory of Urbino, in +order to rest and enjoy the fruits of his labours; in which place, not +wishing to remain idle, he executed in chalk a Conversion of S. Paul +with figures and horses of considerable size and in very beautiful +attitudes, which was finished by him with such patience and diligence, +that no greater could be either described or seen, as is evident from +the work itself, now in the possession of his heirs, by whom it is +treasured as a very dear and precious thing. There, while living with +a tranquil mind, he was attacked by a terrible fever, and, after he +had received all the Sacraments of the Church, finished the course of +his life, to the infinite grief of his wife and children, on the 11th +of July in the year 1551, at the age of about seventy-five. Having +been carried from that place to Urbino, he was buried with honour in +the Vescovado, in front of the Chapel of S. Martino formerly painted +by him; and his death caused extraordinary sorrow to his relatives and +to all the citizens. + +Girolamo was always an excellent man, insomuch that nothing was ever +heard of any bad action committed by him. He was not only a painter, +sculptor, and architect, but also a good musician and a fine talker, +and his society was very agreeable. He was full of courtesy and +lovingness towards his relatives and friends; and, what entitles him +to no little praise, he laid the foundation of the house of Genga at +Urbino with his good name and property. He left two sons, one of whom +followed in his footsteps and gave his attention to architecture, in +which, if he had not been hindered by death, he was like to become +most excellent, as his beginnings demonstrate; and the other, who +devoted himself to the cares of the family, is still alive at the +present day. + +A disciple of Girolamo, as has been related, was Francesco Menzochi of +Forli, who first began to draw by himself when still a child, +imitating and copying an altar-piece in the Duomo of Forli, by the +hand of Marco Parmigiano[7] of Forli, containing a Madonna, S. Jerome, +and other Saints, and held at that time to be the best of the modern +pictures; and he occupied himself likewise with imitating the works +of Rondinino[8] da Ravenna, a painter more excellent than Marco, who a +little time before had placed on the high-altar of the above-named +Duomo a most beautiful altar-piece, in which was painted Christ giving +the Communion to the Apostles, and in a lunette above it a Dead +Christ, and in the predella of that altar-piece very graceful scenes +with little figures from the life of S. Helen. These works brought him +forward in such a manner, that, when Girolamo Genga went, as we have +said, to paint the chapel in S. Francesco at Forli for M. Bartolommeo +Lombardino, Francesco at that time went to live with Genga, seizing +that opportunity of learning, and did not cease to serve him as long +as he lived. There, and also at Urbino and in the work of the +Imperiale at Pesaro, he laboured continually, as has been related, +esteemed and beloved by Genga, because he acquitted himself very well, +as many altar-pieces by his hand bear witness that are dispersed +throughout the city of Forli, and particularly three of them which are +in S. Francesco, besides that there are some scenes of his in fresco +in the hall of the Palace. + + [Footnote 7: Palmezzani.] + + [Footnote 8: Rondinello.] + +He painted many works throughout Romagna; and at Venice, also, for the +very reverend Patriarch Grimani, he executed four large pictures in +oils that were placed in the ceiling of a little hall in his house, +round an octagon that Francesco Salviati painted; in which pictures +are the stories of Psyche, held to be very beautiful. But the place +where he strove to do his utmost and to put forth all his powers, was +the Chapel of the most holy Sacrament in the Church of Loreto, in +which he painted some Angels round a tabernacle of marble wherein +rests the Body of Christ, and two scenes on the walls of that chapel, +one of Melchizedek and the other of the Manna raining down, both +executed in fresco; and over the vaulting he distributed fifteen +little scenes of the Passion of Jesus Christ, nine of which he +executed in painting, and six in half-relief. This was a rich work and +well conceived, and he won for it such honour, that he was not +suffered to depart until he had decorated another chapel of equal size +in the same place, opposite to the first, and called the Chapel of the +Conception, with the vaulting all wrought with rich and very beautiful +stucco-work; in which he taught the art of stucco-work to his son +Pietro Paolo, who has since done him honour and has become a +well-practised master in that field. Francesco, then, painted in +fresco on the walls the Nativity and the Presentation of Our Lady, and +over the altar he painted S. Anne and the Virgin with the Child in her +arms, and two Angels that are crowning her. And, in truth, his works +are much extolled by the craftsmen, and likewise his ways and his +life, which was that of a true Christian; and he lived in peace, +enjoying that which he had gained with his labours. + +A pupil of Genga, also, was Baldassarre Lancia of Urbino, who, having +given his attention to many ingenious matters, has since practised his +hand in fortifications, at which he worked on a salary for the +Signoria of Lucca, in which place he stayed for some time. He then +attached himself to the most illustrious Duke Cosimo de' Medici, whom +he came to serve in the fortifications of the states of Florence and +Siena; and the Duke has employed and still employs him in many +ingenious works, in which Baldassarre has laboured valiantly and with +honour, winning remunerations from that grateful lord. + +Many others also served Girolamo Genga, of whom, from their not having +attained to any great excellence, there is no need to speak. + +To the above-named Girolamo, at Cesena, in the year 1518, the while +that he was accompanying the Duke his master in exile, there was born +a son called Bartolommeo, who was brought up by him very decently, and +then, when he was well grown, placed to learn grammar, in which he +made more than ordinary proficience. Afterwards, when he was eighteen +years of age, the father, perceiving that he was inclined more to +design than to letters, caused him to study design under his own +discipline for about two years: which finished, he sent him to study +design and painting in Florence, where he knew that the true study of +that art was to be found, on account of the innumerable works by +excellent masters that are there, both ancient and modern. Living in +that place, and attending to design and to architecture, Bartolommeo +formed a friendship with Giorgio Vasari, the painter and architect of +Arezzo, and with the sculptor Bartolommeo Ammanati, from whom he +learned many things appertaining to art. Finally, after having been +three years in Florence, he returned to his father, who was then +attending to the building of S. Giovanni Battista at Pesaro. +Whereupon, the father having seen the designs of Bartolommeo, it +appeared to him that he acquitted himself much better in architecture, +for which he had a very good inclination, than in painting; wherefore, +keeping him under his own care some months, he taught him the methods +of perspective. And afterwards he sent him to Rome, to the end that he +might see the marvellous buildings, both ancient and modern, that are +there, of which, in the four years that he stayed there, he took the +measurements, and made therein very great proficience. Then, on his +way back to Urbino, passing through Florence in order to see +Francesco[9] San Marino, his brother-in-law, who was living there as +engineer to the Lord Duke Cosimo, Signor Stefano Colonna da +Palestrina, at that time general to that lord, having heard of his +ability, sought to engage him with himself, with a good salary. But +he, being much indebted to the Duke of Urbino, would not attach +himself to others, and returned to Urbino, where he was received by +that Duke into his service, and ever afterwards held very dear. + + [Footnote 9: Giovan Battista.] + +Not long afterwards, the Duke taking to wife Signora Vittoria Farnese, +Bartolommeo received from the Duke the charge of executing the festive +preparations for those nuptials, which he did in a truly honourable +and magnificent manner. Among other things, he made a triumphal arch +in the Borgo di Valbuona, so beautiful and so well wrought, that there +is none larger or more beautiful to be seen; whence it became evident +how much knowledge of architecture he had acquired at Rome. Then the +Duke, having to go into Lombardy, as General to the Signoria of +Venice, to inspect the fortresses of that dominion, took with him +Bartolommeo, of whom he availed himself much in preparing designs and +sites of fortresses, and in particular at the Porta S. Felice in +Verona. Now, while Bartolommeo was in Lombardy, the King of Bohemia, +who was returning from Spain to his kingdom, passed through that +province and was received with honour by the Duke at Verona; and he +saw those fortresses. And, since they pleased him, after he had become +acquainted with Bartolommeo, he wished to take him to his kingdom, in +order to make use of him in fortifying his territories, with a good +salary; but the Duke would not give him leave, and the matter went no +further. + +When they had returned to Urbino, no long time passed before Girolamo, +the father, came to his death; whereupon Bartolommeo was set by the +Duke in the place of his father over all the buildings of the state, +and sent to Pesaro, where he continued the building of S. Giovanni +Battista, after the model of Girolamo. During that time he built in +the Palace of Pesaro, over the Strada de' Mercanti, a suite of rooms +which the Duke now occupies; a fine work, with most beautiful +ornaments in the form of doors, staircases, and chimney-pieces, of +which things he was an excellent architect. Which having seen, the +Duke desired that in the Palace of Urbino as well he should make +another suite of apartments, almost entirely on the facade that faces +towards S. Domenico; and this, when finished, proved to be the most +beautiful suite in that court, or rather, palace, and the most ornate +that is there. Not long afterwards, the Signori of Bologna having +asked for him for some days from the Duke, his Excellency granted him +to them very readily; and he, having gone, served them in what they +desired in such a manner, that they remained very well satisfied and +showed him innumerable courtesies. + +He then made for the Duke, who desired to construct a sea-port at +Pesaro, a very beautiful model; and this was taken to Venice, to the +house of Count Giovan Giacomo Leonardi, at that time the Duke's +Ambassador in that place, to the end that it might be seen by many of +the profession who often assembled, with other choice spirits, to hold +discussions and disputations on various matters in the house of the +above-named Count, who was a truly remarkable man. There, then, after +that model had been seen and the fine discourse of Genga had been +heard, the model was held by all without exception to be masterly and +beautiful, and the master who had made it a man of the rarest genius. +But, when he had returned to Pesaro, the model after all was not +carried into execution, because new circumstances of great importance +drove that project out of the Duke's mind. + +About that time Genga made the design of the Church of Monte +L'Abbate, and also that of the Church of S. Piero in Mondavio, which +was carried into execution by Don Pier Antonio Genga in such a manner, +that, for a small work, I do not believe that there is anything better +to be seen. + +These works finished, no long time passed before, Pope Julius III +having been elected, and the Duke of Urbino having been created by him +Captain General of Holy Church, his Excellency went to Rome, and Genga +with him. There, his Holiness wishing to fortify the Borgo, at the +request of the Duke Genga made some very beautiful designs, which, +with a number of others, are in the collection of his Excellency at +Urbino. For these reasons the fame of Bartolommeo spread abroad, and +the Genoese, while he was living with the Duke in Rome, asked for him +from his Excellency, in order to make use of him in some +fortifications of their own; but the Duke would not grant him to them, +either at that time or on another occasion when they again asked for +him, after his return to Urbino. + +In the end, when he was near the close of his life, there were sent to +Pesaro by the Grand Master of Rhodes two knights of that Order of +Jerusalem, to beseech his Excellency that he should deign to lend them +Bartolommeo, to the end that they might take him to the Island of +Malta, in which they wished to construct not only very large +fortifications wherewith to defend themselves against the Turks, but +also two cities, so as to unite many villages that were there into one +or two places. Whereupon the Duke, whom the above-named knights in two +months had not been able to induce to grant them Bartolommeo, although +they had availed themselves of the good services of the Duchess and +others, finally complied with their request for a fixed period, at the +entreaty of a good Capuchin father, to whom his Excellency bore a very +great affection, and refused nothing that he asked; and the artifice +that was used by that holy man, who made it a matter of conscience +with the Duke, saying that it was in the interest of the Christian +Republic, was not otherwise than highly commendable and worthy of +praise. And thus Bartolommeo, who had never received any favour +greater than this, departed with the above-named knights from Pesaro +on the 20th of January, 1558; but they lingered in Sicily, being +delayed by the fortune of the sea, and they did not reach Malta, where +they were received with rejoicing by the Grand Master, until the 11th +of March. Having then been shown what he was to do, he acquitted +himself so well in those fortifications, that it could not be +expressed in words; insomuch that to the Grand Master and all those +noble knights it appeared that they had found another Archimedes, and +this they proved by making him most honourable presents and holding +him, as a rare master, in supreme veneration. Then, after having made +the models of a city, of some churches, and of the palace and +residence of the same Grand Master, with most beautiful invention and +design, he fell sick of his last illness, for, having set himself one +day in the month of July, the heat in that island being very great, +between two doors to refresh himself, he had not been there long when +he was assailed by insufferable pains of the body and by a cruel flux, +which killed him in seventeen days, to the infinite sorrow of the +Grand Master and all those most honourable and valiant knights, to +whom it appeared that they had found a man after their own hearts, +when he was snatched from them by death. The Lord Duke of Urbino, +having been advised of this sad news, felt indescribable sorrow, and +bewailed the death of poor Genga; and then, having resolved to +demonstrate to the five children whom he had left behind him the love +that he bore to him, he took them under his particular and loving +protection. + +Bartolommeo showed beautiful invention in masquerades, and was a rare +master in making scenic settings for comedies. He delighted to write +sonnets and other compositions in verse and prose, and in none was he +better than in the ottava rima, in which manner of writing he was an +author of passing good renown. He died at the age of forty, in the +year 1558. + +Giovan Battista Bellucci of San Marino having been the son-in-law of +Girolamo Genga, I have judged that it would not be well to withhold +what I have to say of him, after the Lives of Girolamo and Bartolommeo +Genga, and particularly in order to show that men of fine intellect, +if only they be willing, succeed in everything, even if they set +themselves late in life to difficult and honourable enterprises; for +study, when added to natural inclination, has often been seen to +accomplish marvellous things. Giovan Battista, then, was born in San +Marino on the 27th of September, 1506, to Bartolommeo Bellucci, a +person of passing good family in that place; and after he had learned +the first rudiments of the humanities, when eighteen years of age, he +was sent by that same Bartolommeo, his father, to Bologna, to attend +to the pursuit of commerce under Bastiano di Ronco, a merchant of the +Guild of Wool. Having been there about two years, he returned to San +Marino sick of a quartan fever, which hung upon him two years; of +which being finally cured, he set up a wool business of his own, with +which he continued up to the year 1535, at which time his father, +perceiving that Giovan Battista was in good circumstances, gave him +for a wife in Cagli a daughter of Guido Peruzzi, a person of +considerable standing in that city. But she died not long afterwards, +and Giovan Battista went to Rome to seek out Domenico Peruzzi, his +brother-in-law, who was equerry to Signor Ascanio Colonna; and by +means of him Giovan Battista lived for two years with that lord as a +gentleman. He then returned home; and it came about that, as he +frequented Pesaro, Girolamo Genga, having come to know him as an +excellent and well-behaved young man, gave him a daughter of his own +for wife and took him into his house. Whereupon Giovan Battista, being +much inclined to architecture, and giving his attention with much +diligence to the architectural works that his wife's father was +executing, began to gain a very good grasp of the various manners of +building, and to study Vitruvius; and thus, what with that which he +acquired by himself and that which Genga taught him, he became a good +architect, and particularly in the matter of fortifications and other +things relating to war. + +Then, in the year 1541, his wife died, leaving him two boys; and he +remained until 1543 without coming to any further resolution about his +life. At that time, in the month of September, there appeared in San +Marino one Signor Gustamante, a Spaniard, sent by his Imperial Majesty +to that Republic on some affairs. Giovan Battista was recognized by +him as an excellent architect, and at his instance he entered not +long afterwards into the service of the most illustrious Lord Duke +Cosimo, as engineer. And thus, having arrived in Florence, his +Excellency made use of him for all the fortifications of his dominion, +according to the necessities that arose every day; and, among other +things, the fortress of the city of Pistoia having been begun many +years before, San Marino, by the desire of the Duke, completely +finished it, with great credit to himself, although it is no great +work. Then, under the direction of the same architect, a very strong +bastion was built at Pisa. Wherefore, his method of work pleasing the +Duke, his Excellency caused him to construct--where, as has been +related, there had been built on the hill of S. Miniato, without +Florence, the wall that curves from the Porta S. Niccolo to the Porta +S. Miniato--the fortification that encloses a gate by means of two +bastions, and guards the Church and Monastery of S. Miniato; making on +the summit of that hill a fortress that dominates the whole city and +looks on the outer side towards the east and the south, a work that +was vastly extolled. The same Giovan Battista made many designs and +ground-plans of various fortifications for places in the states of his +Excellency, and also various rough models in clay, which are in the +possession of the Lord Duke. And since San Marino was a man of fine +genius and very studious, he wrote a little book on the methods of +fortifications; which work, a beautiful and useful one, is now in the +possession of Messer Bernardo Puccini, a gentleman of Florence, who +learned many things with regard to the matters of architecture and +fortification from San Marino, who was much his friend. + +Giovan Battista, after having designed in the year 1554 many bastions +that were to be built round the walls of the city of Florence, some of +which were begun in earth, went with the most illustrious lord, Don +Garzia di Toledo, to Monte Alcino, where, having made some trenches, +he mined under a bastion and so shattered it, that he threw down the +breastwork; but as it was falling to the ground a harquebus-ball +struck San Marino in the thigh. Not long afterwards, his wound being +healed, he went secretly to Siena and took the ground-plan of that +city, and of the earthworks that the people of Siena had made at the +Porta Camollia; which plan of fortifications he then showed to the +Lord Duke and to the Marchese di Marignano, making it clear to them +that the work was not difficult to capture or to secure afterwards on +the side towards Siena. That this was true was proved by the fact, the +night that it was taken by the above-named Marquis, with whom Giovan +Battista had gone by order and commission of the Duke. On that +account, then, the Marquis, having conceived an affection for him and +knowing that he had need of his judgment and ability in the field +(that is, in the war against Siena), so went to work with the Duke, +that his Excellency sent Giovan Battista off as captain of a strong +company of foot-soldiers; whereupon he served from that day onward in +the field, as a valiant soldier and an ingenious architect. Finally, +having been sent by the Marquis to Aiuola, a fortress in the Chianti, +while disposing the artillery he was wounded in the head by a +harquebus-ball; wherefore he was taken by his soldiers to the Pieve di +S. Paolo, which belongs to Bishop da Ricasoli, and died in a few days, +and was carried to San Marino, where he received honourable burial +from his children. + +Giovan Battista deserves to be highly extolled, for the reason that, +besides having been excellent in his profession, it is a marvellous +thing that, having set himself to give attention to it late in life, +at the age of thirty-five, he should have made in it the proficience +that he did make; and it may be believed that if he had begun younger, +he would have become a very rare master. Giovan Battista was something +obstinate, so that it was a serious undertaking to move him from any +opinion. He took extraordinary pleasure in reading stories, and turned +them to very great advantage, writing down with great pains the most +notable things in them. His death much grieved the Duke and his +innumerable friends; wherefore his son Gian Andrea, coming to kiss his +Excellency's hands, was received kindly by him and welcomed most +warmly with very generous offers, on account of the ability and +fidelity of the father, who died at the age of forty-eight. + + + + +MICHELE SAN MICHELE + + + + +[Illustration: PAOLO VERONESE: INDUSTRY + +(_Venice: Doges' Palace, Sala Anticollegio. Ceiling Painting_)] + + + + +LIFE OF MICHELE SAN MICHELE + +ARCHITECT OF VERONA + + +Michele San Michele, who was born at Verona in the year 1484, and +learned the first principles of architecture from his father Giovanni +and his uncle Bartolommeo, both excellent architects, went off at +sixteen years of age to Rome, leaving his father and two brothers of +fine parts, one of whom, called Jacopo, devoted himself to letters, +and the other, named Don Camillo, was a Canon Regular and General of +that Order. Having arrived there, he studied the ancient remains of +architecture in such a manner, and with such diligence, observing and +measuring everything minutely, that in a short time he became renowned +and famous not only in Rome, but throughout all the places that are +around that city. Moved by his fame, the people of Orvieto summoned +him as architect to their celebrated temple, with an honourable +salary; and while he was employed in their service, he was summoned +for the same reason to Monte Fiascone, as architect for the building +of their principal temple; and thus, serving both the one and the +other of these places, he executed all that there is to be seen in +these two cities in the way of good architecture. Among other works, a +most beautiful tomb was built after his design in S. Domenico at Monte +Fiascone--I believe, for one of the Petrucci, a nobleman of +Siena--which cost a great sum of money, and proved to be marvellous. +Besides all this, he made an infinite number of designs for private +houses in those places, and made himself known as a man of great +judgment and excellence. + +Thereupon Pope Clement VII, proposing to make use of him in the most +important operations of the wars that were stirring at that time +throughout all Italy, gave him as a companion to Antonio da San +Gallo, with a very good salary, to the end that they might go together +to inspect all the places of greatest importance in the States of the +Church, and, wherever necessary, might see to the construction of +fortifications; above all, at Parma and Piacenza, because those two +cities were most distant from Rome, and nearest and most exposed to +the perils of war. Which duty having been executed by Michele and +Antonio to the full satisfaction of the Pontiff, there came to Michele +a desire, after all those years, to revisit his native city and his +relatives and friends, and even more to see the fortresses of the +Venetians. Wherefore, after he had been a few days in Verona, he went +to Treviso to see the fortress there, and then to Padua for the same +purpose; but the Signori of Venice, having been warned of this, became +suspicious that San Michele might be going about inspecting those +fortresses with a hostile intent. Having therefore been arrested at +Padua at their command and thrown into prison, he was examined at +great length; but, when it was found that he was an honest man, he was +not only liberated by them, but also entreated that he should consent +to enter the service of those same Signori of Venice, with honourable +rank and salary. He excused himself by saying that he was not able to +do that for the present, being engaged to his Holiness; but he gave +them fair promises, and then took his leave of them. Now he had not +been away long, when he was forced to depart from Rome--to such +purpose did those Signori go to work in order to secure him--and to +go, with the gracious leave of the Pope, whom he first satisfied in +full, to serve those most illustrious noblemen, his natural lords. +Abiding with them, he gave soon enough a proof of his judgment and +knowledge by making at Verona (after many difficulties which the work +appeared to present) a very strong and beautiful bastion, which gave +infinite satisfaction to those Signori and to the Lord Duke of Urbino, +their Captain General. After these things, the same Signori, having +determined to fortify Legnago and Porto, places most important to +their dominion, and situated upon the River Adige, one on one side and +the other on the opposite side, but joined by a bridge, commissioned +San Michele to show them by means of a model how it appeared to him +that those places could and should be fortified. Which having been +done by him, his design gave infinite satisfaction to the Signori and +to the Duke of Urbino. Whereupon, arrangements having been made for +all that had to be done, San Michele executed the fortifications of +those two places in such a manner, that among works of that kind there +is nothing better to be seen, or more beautiful, or more carefully +considered, or stronger, as whoever has seen them well knows. + +This done, he fortified in the Bresciano, almost from the foundations, +Orzinuovo, a fortress and port similar to Legnago. San Michele being +then sought for with great insistence by Signor Francesco Sforza, last +Duke of Milan, the Signori consented to grant him leave, but for three +months only. Having therefore gone to Milan, he inspected all the +fortresses of that State, and gave directions in every place for all +that it seemed to him necessary to do, and that with such credit and +so much to the satisfaction of the Duke, that his Excellency, besides +thanking the Signori of Venice, presented five hundred crowns to San +Michele. And with this occasion, before returning to Venice, Michele +went to Casale di Monferrato, in order to see that very strong and +beautiful fortress and city, the architecture of which was the work of +Matteo San Michele, an excellent architect, his cousin; and also an +honoured and very beautiful tomb of marble erected in S. Francesco in +the same city, likewise under the direction of Matteo. + +Having then returned home, he had no sooner arrived than he was sent +with the above-named Duke of Urbino to inspect La Chiusa, a fortress +and pass of much importance, above Verona, and then all the places in +Friuli, Bergamo, Vicenza, Peschiera, and others, of all which, and of +what seemed to him to be required, he gave minute information in +writing to the Signori. Having next been sent by the same Signori to +Dalmatia, to fortify the cities and other places of that province, he +inspected everything, and carried out restorations with great +diligence wherever he saw the necessity to be greatest; and, since he +could not himself despatch all the work, he left there Gian Girolamo, +his kinsman, who, after fortifying Zara excellently well, erected from +the foundations the marvellous fortress of S. Niccolo, over the mouth +of the harbour of Sebenico. + +Meanwhile Michele was sent in great haste to Corfu, and restored the +fortress there in many parts; and he did the same in all the places in +Cyprus and Candia. Even so, not long afterwards--on account of a fear +that the island might be lost, by reason of the war with the Turks, +which was imminent--he was forced to return there, after having +inspected the fortresses of the Venetian dominion in Italy, to +fortify, with incredible rapidity, Canea, Candia, Retimo, and Settia, +but particularly Canea and Candia, which he rebuilt from the +foundations and made impregnable. Napoli di Romania being then +besieged by the Turks, what with the diligence of S. Michele in +fortifying it and furnishing it with bastions, and the valour of +Agostino Chisoni of Verona, a very valiant captain, in defending it +with arms, it was not after all taken by the enemy or forced to +surrender. + +These wars finished, San Michele went with the Magnificent M. Tommaso +Mozzenigo, Captain General of the Fleet, to fortify Corfu once again; +and they then returned to Sebenico, where the diligence of Gian +Girolamo, shown by him in constructing the above-mentioned fortress of +S. Niccolo, was much commended. San Michele having then returned to +Venice, where he was much extolled for the works executed in the +Levant in the service of that Republic, the Signori resolved to build +a fortress on the Lido, at the mouth of the port of Venice. Wherefore, +giving the charge of this to San Michele, they said to him that, if he +had done such great things far away from Venice, he should think how +much it was his duty to do in a work of such importance, which was to +lie for ever under the eyes of the Senate and of so many great lords; +and that in addition, besides beauty and strength in the work, there +was expected of him particular industry in founding truly and well in +a marshy spot, which was surrounded on all sides by the sea and +exposed to the ebb and flow of the tide, a pile of such importance. +San Michele having therefore not only made a very beautiful and solid +model, but also considered the method of laying the foundations and +carrying it into effect, orders were given to him that he should set +his hand to the work without delay. Whereupon, after receiving from +those Signori all that was required, he prepared the materials for +filling in the foundations, and, besides this, caused great numbers of +piles to be sunk in double rows, and then, with a vast number of +persons well acquainted with those waters, he set himself to make the +excavations, and to contrive by means of pumps and other instruments +to keep the water pumped out, which was seen continually rising from +below, because the site was in the sea. One morning, finally, +resolving to make a supreme effort to begin the foundations, and +assembling as many men fit for the purpose as could be obtained, with +all the porters of Venice, and many of the Signori being present, in a +moment, with incredible assiduity and promptitude, the waters were +mastered for a little to such purpose, that the first stones of the +foundations were thrown instantly upon the piles already driven in; +which stones, being very large, took up much space and made an +excellent foundation. And so, continuing to keep the water pumped out +without losing any time, almost in a flash those foundations were +laid, contrary to the expectation of many who had looked upon that +work as absolutely impossible. The foundations, when finished, were +allowed sufficient time to settle, and then Michele erected upon them +a mighty and marvellous fortress, building it on the outer side all in +rustic work, with very large stones from Istria, which are of an +extreme hardness and able to withstand wind, frost, and the worst of +weather. Wherefore that fortress, besides being marvellous with regard +to the site on which it is built, is also, from the beauty of the +masonry and from its incredible cost, one of the most stupendous that +there are in Europe at the present day, rivalling the grandeur and +majesty of the most famous edifices erected by the greatness of the +Romans; for, besides other things, it appears as if made all from one +block, and as though a mountain of living rock had been carved and +given that form, so large are the blocks of which it is built, and so +well joined and united together, not to speak of the ornaments and +other things that are there, seeing that one would never be able to +say enough to do them justice. Within it Michele afterwards made a +piazza, divided by pilasters and arches of the Rustic Order, which +would have proved to be a very rare work, if it had not been left +unfinished. + +This vast pile having been carried to the condition that has been +described, some malign and envious persons said to the Signoria that, +although it was very beautiful and built with every possible +consideration, nevertheless it would be useless for any purpose, and +perhaps even dangerous, for the reason that on discharging the +artillery--on account of the great quantity and weight of artillery +that the place required--it was almost inevitable that the edifice +should split open and fall to the ground. It therefore appeared to +those prudent Signori that it would be well to make certain of this, +the matter being one of great importance; and they caused to be taken +there a vast quantity of artillery, the heaviest that could be found +in the Arsenal. Then, all the embrasures both above and below having +been filled with cannon, and the cannon charged more heavily than was +usual, they were all fired off together; whereupon such were the +noise, the thunder, and the earthquake that resulted, that it seemed +as if the world had burst to pieces, and the fortress, with all those +flaming cannon, had the appearance of a volcano and of Hell itself. +But for all that the building stood firm in its former strength and +solidity, whereby the Senate was convinced of the great worth of San +Michele, and the evil-speakers were put to scorn as men of little +judgment, although they had put such terror into everyone, that the +ladies then pregnant, fearing some great disaster, had withdrawn from +Venice. + +Not long afterwards a place of no little importance on the coast near +Venice, called Marano, having returned under the dominion of the +Venetians, was restored and fortified with promptitude and diligence +under the direction of San Michele. And about the same time, the fame +of Michele and of his kinsman, Gian Girolamo, spreading ever more +widely, they were requested many times, both the one and the other, to +go to live with the Emperor Charles V and with King Francis of France; +but, although they were invited under most honourable conditions, they +would not leave their own masters to enter into the service of +foreigners. Indeed, continuing in their offices, they went about +inspecting and restoring every year, wherever it was necessary, all +the cities and fortresses of the State of Venice. + +[Illustration: PORTA DEL PALIO + +(_After =Michele San Michele=. Verona_) + +_Alinari_] + +But more than all the rest did Michele fortify and adorn his native +city of Verona, making there, besides other things, those most +beautiful gates of the city, which have no equal in any other place. +One was the Porta Nuova, all in the Dorico-rustic Order, which in +its solidity and massive firmness corresponds to the strength of the +site, being all built of tufa and pietra viva,[10] and having within +it rooms for the soldiers who mount guard there, and many other +conveniences, never before added to that kind of building. That +edifice, which is quadrangular and open above, serving with its +embrasures as a cavalier, defends two great bastions, or rather, +towers, which stand one on either side of the gate at proper +distances; and all is done with so much judgment, cost, and +magnificence, that no one thought that for the future there could be +executed any work of greater grandeur or better design, even as none +such had been seen in the past. But a few years afterwards the same +San Michele founded and carried upwards the gate commonly called the +Porta dal Palio, which is in no way inferior to that described above, +but equally beautiful, grand, and magnificent, or even more so, and +designed excellently well. And, in truth, in these two gates the +Signori of Venice may be seen to have equalled, by means of the genius +of this architect, the edifices and fabrics of the ancient Romans. + + [Footnote 10: Any kind of stone that is easily split.] + +This last gate, then, is on the outer side of the Doric Order, with +immense projecting columns, all fluted according to the manner of that +Order; and these columns, which are eight in all, are placed in pairs. +Four serve to enclose the gate, with the arms of the Rectors of the +city, between one and another, on either side, and the other four, +likewise in pairs, make a finish to the angles of the gate, the facade +of which is very wide and all of bosses, or rather, blocks, not rough, +but made smooth, with very beautiful ornamentation; and the opening, +or rather passage, through the gate, is left quadrangular, but of an +architecture that is new, bizarre, and most beautiful. Above it is a +great and very rich Doric cornice, with all its appurtenances, over +which, as may be seen from the model, was to go a fronton with all its +ornaments, forming a parapet for the artillery, since this gate, like +the other, was to serve as a cavalier. Within the gate are very large +rooms for the soldiers, with other apartments and conveniences. On the +front that faces towards the city, San Michele made a most beautiful +loggia, all of the Dorico-rustic Order on the outer side, and on the +inner all in rustic work, with very large piers. that have as +ornaments columns round on the outside and on the inside square and +projecting to the half of their thickness, and all made of pieces in +rustic masonry, with Doric capitals without bases; and at the top is a +great cornice, likewise Doric, and carved, passing along the whole +loggia, which is of great length, both within and without. In a word, +this work is marvellous; wherefore it was well and truly spoken by the +most illustrious Signor Sforza Pallavicino, Captain General of the +Venetian forces, when he said that there was not to be found in all +Europe any structure that could in any way compare with it. This was +the last of Michele's marvels, for the reason that he had scarcely +erected the whole of the first range described above, when he finished +the course of his life. Wherefore the work remained unfinished, nor +will it ever be finished at all, for there are not wanting certain +malignant persons--as always happens with great works--who censure it, +striving to diminish the glory of others by their malignity and +evil-speaking, since they fail by a great measure to achieve similar +things with their own powers. + +The same master built another gate at Verona, called the Porta di S. +Zeno, which is very beautiful; in any other place, indeed, it would be +marvellous, but in Verona its beauty and artistry are obscured by the +two others described above. A work of Michele's, likewise, is the +bastion, or rather rampart, that is near this gate, and also another +that is lower down, opposite to S. Bernardino, and another between +them, called Dell'Acquaio, which is opposite to the Campo Marzio; and +also that surpassing all the others in size, which is placed by the +Chain, where the Adige enters the city. + +[Illustration: CAPPELLA DE' PELLEGRINI + +(_After =Michele San Michele=. Verona: S. Bernardino_) + +_Alinari_] + +At Padua he built the bastion called the Cornaro, and likewise that of +S. Croce, which are both of marvellous size, and constructed in the +modern manner, according to the order invented by Michele himself. For +the method of making bastions with angles was the invention of +Michele, and before his day they were made round; and whereas that +kind of bastion was very difficult to defend, at the present day, +having an obtuse angle on the outer side, they can be defended with +ease, either from the cavalier erected between the two bastions and +near to them, or, indeed, from the other bastion, provided that it +be near the one attacked and the ditch wide. His invention, also, was +the method of making bastions with three platforms, whereby the two at +the sides guard and defend the ditch and the curtains, with their open +embrasures, and the merlon in the centre defends itself and attacks +the enemy in front. This method of fortification has since been +imitated by everyone, causing the abandonment of the ancient fashion +of subterranean embrasures, called casemates, in which, on account of +the smoke and other impediments, the artillery could not be well +handled; not to mention that they often weakened the foundations of +the towers and walls. + +The same Michele built two very beautiful gates at Legnago. He +directed at Peschiera the work of the first foundation of that +fortress, and likewise many works at Brescia; and he always did +everything with such diligence and such good foundations, that not one +of his buildings ever showed a crack. Finally, he restored the +fortress of La Chiusa above Verona, making it possible for persons to +pass by without entering the fortress, but yet in such a manner that, +on the raising of a bridge by those who are within, no one can pass by +against their will, or even show himself on the road, which is very +narrow and cut out of the rock. He also built at Verona, just after he +had returned from Rome, the very beautiful bridge over the Adige, +called the Ponte Nuovo, doing this at the commission of Messer +Giovanni Emo, at that time Podesta of that city; which bridge was on +account of its strength, as it still is, a marvellous thing. + +Michele was excellent not only in fortifications, but also in private +buildings and in temples, churches, and monasteries, as may be seen +from many buildings at Verona and other places, and particularly from +the most ornate and beautiful Chapel of the Guareschi in S. +Bernardino, which is round after the manner of a temple, and in the +Corinthian Order, with all the ornaments which that manner admits. +That chapel, I say, he built all of that white pietra viva, which, +from the sound that it makes when it is being worked, is called in +that city "Bronzo"; and, in truth, that kind of stone, after fine +marble, is the most beautiful that has been found down to our own +times, being absolutely solid and without holes or spots that might +spoil it. Since that chapel, then, is built on the inside all of that +most beautiful stone, and wrought by excellent masters of carving, and +put together very well, it is considered that among works of that kind +there is at the present day no other more beautiful in all Italy. For +Michele made the whole work curve in a circle in such a manner, that +three altars which are in it, with their pediments and cornices, and +likewise the space of the door, all turn in a perfect round, almost +after the likeness of the entrances that Filippo Brunelleschi made in +the Chapels of the Temple of the Angeli in Florence; which is a very +difficult thing to do. Michele then made therein a gallery over the +first range of columns, which circles right round the chapel, and +there are to be seen most beautiful carvings in the form of columns, +capitals, foliage, grotesques, little pilasters, and other things, +carved with incredible diligence. The door of that chapel he made +quadrangular on the outer side, of the Corinthian Order and very +beautiful, and similar to an ancient door that he saw, so he used to +say, in some place at Rome. It is true, indeed, that this work, after +having been left unfinished by Michele, I know not for what reason, +was given, either from avarice or from lack of judgment, to certain +others to be finished, who spoiled it, to the infinite vexation of +Michele, who in his lifetime saw it ruined before his very eyes, +without being able to prevent it; wherefore he used to complain at +times to his friends, but only on this account, that he had not +thousands of ducats wherewith to buy it from the avaricious hands of a +woman who, by spending less than she was able, was shamefully spoiling +it. + +A work of Michele's was the design of the round Temple of the Madonna +di Campagna, near Verona, which was very beautiful, although the +parsimony, weakness, and little judgment of the Wardens of that +building have since disfigured it in many parts; and even worse would +they have done, if Bernardino Brugnuoli, a kinsman of Michele, had not +had charge of it and made a complete model, after which the building +of that temple, as well as of many others, is now being carried +forward. For the Friars of S. Maria in Organo, or rather, the Monks of +Monte Oliveto in Verona, he made a design of the Corinthian Order, +which was most beautiful, for the facade of their church. This +facade, after being carried to a certain height by Paolo San Michele, +was left not long since in that condition, on account of many expenses +that were incurred by those monks in other matters, but even more by +reason of the death of him who had begun it, Don Cipriano of Verona, a +man of saintly life and of much authority in that Order, of which he +was twice General. At S. Giorgio in Verona, a convent of the Regular +Priests of S. Giorgio in Alega, the same Michele directed the building +of the cupola of that church, which was a very beautiful work, and +succeeded against the expectations of many who did not think that the +structure would ever remain standing, on account of the weakness of +its supports; but these were then so strengthened by Michele, that +there is no longer anything to fear. In the same convent he made the +design and laid the foundations of a very beautiful campanile of hewn +stone, partly tufa and partly pietra viva, which was carried well +forward by him, and is now being continued by the above-mentioned +Bernardino, his nephew, who is employed in carrying it to completion. + +Monsignor Luigi Lippomani, Bishop of Verona, having resolved to carry +to completion the campanile of his church, which had been begun a +hundred years before, caused a design for this to be made by Michele, +who did it very beautifully, taking into consideration the preserving +of the old part and the expense that the Bishop was able to incur. But +a certain Messer Domenico Porzio, a Roman, and his vicar, a person +with little knowledge of building, although otherwise a worthy man, +allowed himself to be imposed upon by one who also knew little about +it, and gave him the charge of carrying on that fabric. Whereupon that +person built it of unprepared stone from the mountains, and made the +stairs in the thickness of the walls, doing all this in such a manner, +that everyone who was even slightly conversant with architecture +foretold that which afterwards happened--namely, that the structure +would not remain standing. And, among others, the very reverend Fra +Marco de' Medici of Verona, who, in addition to his other more serious +studies, has always delighted in architecture, as he still does, +predicted what would happen to such a building; but he was answered +thus: "Fra Marco counts for much in his own profession of letters, +philosophy, and theology, wherein he is public lecturer, but in +architecture he does not fish so deeply as to command belief." +Finally, that campanile, having risen to the level where the bells +were to be, opened out in four parts in such a manner, that, after +having spent many thousands of crowns in building it, they had to give +three hundred crowns to the builders to throw it to the ground, lest +it should fall by itself, as it would have done in a few days, and +destroy everything all around. And it is only right that this should +happen to those who desert good and eminent masters, and mix +themselves up with bunglers. The above-named Monsignor Luigi having +afterwards been chosen Bishop of Bergamo, Monsignor Agostino Lippomani +was made Bishop of Verona in his place, and he commissioned Michele to +reconstruct almost anew the model of that campanile, and to set to +work. And after him, according to the same model, Monsignor Girolamo +Trivisani, a friar of S. Dominic, who succeeded the last-named +Lippomani in the bishopric, has caused that work to be continued, +which is now progressing passing slowly. The model is very beautiful, +and the stairs are being accommodated within the tower in such a +manner, that the fabric remains stable and very strong. + +For the noble Counts della Torre of Verona, Michele built a very +beautiful chapel in the manner of a round temple, with the altar in +the centre, at their villa of Fumane. And in the Church of the Santo, +at Padua, a very handsome tomb was built under his direction for +Messer Alessandro Contarini, Procurator of S. Mark, who had been +Proveditor to the Venetian forces; in which tomb it would seem that +Michele sought to show in what manner such works should be done, +departing from a kind of commonplace method which, in his opinion, had +in it more of the altar or chapel than of the tomb. This work, which +is very rich in ornamentation, solid in composition, and warlike in +character, has as ornaments a Thetis and two prisoners by the hand of +Alessandro Vittoria, which are held to be good figures, and a head, or +rather, effigy from life of the above-named lord, with armour on the +breast, executed in marble by Danese da Carrara. There are, in +addition, other ornaments in abundance; prisoners, trophies, spoils of +war, and others, of which there is no need to make mention. + +In Venice he made the model of the Convent of the Nuns of S. Biagio +Catoldo, which was much extolled. It was then resolved at Verona to +rebuild the Lazzaretto, a dwelling, or rather, hospital, which serves +for the sick in times of plague, the old one having been destroyed +together with other edifices that had been in the suburbs; and Michele +was commissioned to make a design for this (which proved to be +beautiful beyond all expectations), to the end that it might be put +into execution on a spot near the river, at some distance from the +city and beyond the esplanade. But this design, truly most beautiful +and excellently well considered in every part, which is now in the +possession of the heirs of Luigi Brugnuoli, Michele's nephew, was not +carried completely into execution by certain persons, by reason of +their little judgment and poverty of spirit, but much restricted, +curtailed, and reduced to mean proportions by those persons, who used +the authority that they had received in the matter from the public in +disfiguring the work, in consequence of the untimely death of some +gentlemen who were in charge of it at the beginning, and who had a +greatness of spirit equal to their nobility of blood. + +A work of Michele's, likewise, was the very beautiful palace that the +noble Counts of Canossa have at Verona, which was built at the +commission of the very reverend Monsignor di Bajus, who once was Count +Lodovico Canossa, a man so much celebrated by all the writers of his +time. For the same Monsignor Michele built another magnificent palace +in the Villa of Grezzano, in the Veronese territory. Under the +direction of the same architect the facade of the Counts Bevilacqua +was reconstructed, and all the apartments were restored in the castle +of those lords, called La Bevilacqua. And at Verona, likewise, he +built the house and facade of the Lavezzoli, which were much extolled. + +In Venice he built from the foundations the very rich and magnificent +palace of the Cornaro family, near S. Polo, and restored another +palace, also of the Cornaro family, which is by S. Benedetto +all'Albore, for M. Giovanni Cornaro, of whom Michele was much the +friend; and this led to Giorgio Vasari painting nine pictures in oils +for the ceiling of a magnificent apartment, all adorned with woodwork +carved and richly overlaid with gold, in that palace. In like manner, +he restored the house of the Bragadini, opposite to S. Marina, and +made it very commodious and ornate. And in the same city he founded +and raised above the ground after a model of his own, at incredible +cost, the marvellous palace of the most noble M. Girolamo Grimani, +near S. Luca, on the Grand Canal; but Michele, being overtaken by +death, was not able to carry it to completion himself, and the other +architects chosen in his stead by that nobleman altered his design and +model in many parts. + +Near Castelfranco, on the borders of the territories of Padua and +Treviso, there was built under the direction of the same Michele the +most famous Palace of the Soranzi, called by that family La Soranza; +which palace is held to be, for a country residence, the most +beautiful and the most commodious that had been built in those parts +up to that time. He also built the Casa Cornara at Piombino, in that +territory, and so many other private houses, that it would make too +long a story to attempt to speak of them all; let it be enough to have +made mention of the most important. I will not, indeed, refrain from +recording that he made most beautiful gates for two palaces, one of +which was that of the Rectors and of the Captain, and the other that +of the Palazzo del Podesta, both in Verona and worthy of the highest +praise, although the latter, which is in the Ionic Order, with double +columns and very ornate intercolumniations, and some Victories at the +angles, has a somewhat dwarfed appearance by reason of the lowness of +the site where it stands, particularly because it is without pedestals +and very wide on account of the double columns; but such was the wish +of Messer Giovanni Delfini, who had it made. + +While Michele was enjoying a tranquil ease in his native place, and +the reputation and renown that his honourable labours had brought him, +there came to him a piece of news that so afflicted him, that it +finished the course of his life. But to the end that the whole may be +better understood, and that all the beautiful works of the San Michele +family may be made known in this Life, I shall say something of Gian +Girolamo, the kinsman of Michele. + +[Illustration: PALAZZO GRIMANI + +(_After =Michele San Michele=. Venice_) + +_Anderson_] + +This Gian Girolamo, then, was the son of Paolo, the cousin of +Michele, and, being a young man of very beautiful genius, was +instructed with such diligence by Michele in the matters of +architecture, and so beloved by him, that he would always have the +young man with him in all undertakings of importance, and particularly +in fortifications. Having therefore become in a short time so +excellent, with the help of such a master, that the most difficult +work of fortification could be entrusted to him, in which manner of +architecture he took particular delight, his ability was recognized by +the Signori of Venice, and he was placed with a good salary among the +number of their architects, although he was very young, and then sent +now to one place and now to another, to inspect and restore the +fortresses of their dominion, and at times to carry into execution the +designs of his kinsman Michele. And, among other places, he took part +with much judgment and labour in the fortification of Zara, and in the +marvellous fortress of S. Niccolo at Sebenico, placed, as has been +mentioned, at the mouth of the port; which fortress, erected by him +from the very foundations, is held to be, for a private fortress, one +of the strongest and best designed that there are to be seen. He also +reconstructed after his own designs, with the advice of his kinsman, +the great fortress of Corfu, which is considered the key of Italy on +that side. In this fortress, I say, Gian Girolamo rebuilt the two +great towers that face towards the land, making them much larger and +stronger than they were before, with open embrasures and platforms +that flank the ditch in the modern manner, after the invention of his +kinsman. He then caused the ditches to be made much wider than they +were before, and had a hill levelled, which, being near the fortress, +appeared to command it. But, besides the many other works that he did +there with great consideration, what gave most satisfaction was that +in one corner of the fortress he made a place of great size and +strength, in which in time of siege the people of that island can stay +in safety without any danger of being captured by the enemy. + +On account of these works Gian Girolamo came into such credit with the +above-named Signori, that they ordained him a salary equal to that of +his kinsman, judging him to be not inferior to Michele, and even +superior in that work of fortification: which gave the greatest +contentment to San Michele, who saw his own art advancing in the +person of his relative in proportion as old age was taking away from +himself the power to go further. Gian Girolamo, besides his great +judgment in recognizing the nature of different sites, showed much +industry in having them represented by designs and models in relief, +insomuch that he enabled his patrons to see even the most minute +details of his fortifications in very beautiful models of wood that he +would cause to be made; which diligence pleased them vastly, for +without leaving Venice they saw every day how matters were proceeding +in the most distant parts of their State. In order that they might be +the more readily seen by everyone, these models were kept in the +Palazzo del Principe, in a place where the Signori could examine them +at their convenience; and to the end that Gian Girolamo might continue +to pursue that course, they not only reimbursed him the expenses that +he incurred in making the above-mentioned models, but also showed him +many other courtesies. + +Gian Girolamo could have gone to serve many lords, with large +salaries, but he would never leave his Venetian Signori; nay, at the +advice of his father and his kinsman Michele, he took a wife in +Verona, a noble young woman of the Fracastoro family, with the +intention of always living in those parts. But he had been not more +than a few days with his beloved bride, who was called Madonna +Ortensia, when he was summoned by his patrons to Venice, and thence +sent in great haste to Cyprus to inspect every place in that island, +orders having been given to all the officials that they should provide +him with all that he might require for any purpose. Having then +arrived in that island, in three months Gian Girolamo went all round +it and diligently inspected everything, putting every detail into +writing and drawing, in order to be able to give an account of the +whole to his masters. But, while he was attending with too much care +and solicitude to his office, paying little regard to his own life, in +the burning heat which prevailed at that time in the island he fell +sick of a pestilential fever, which robbed him of life in six days; +although some said that he had been poisoned. However that may have +been, he died content in being in the service of his masters and +employed by them in works of importance, knowing that they had trusted +more in his fidelity and his skill in fortification than in those of +any other man. The moment that he fell sick, knowing that he was +dying, he gave all the drawings and writings that he had prepared on +the works in that island into the hands of the architect Luigi +Brugnuoli, his kinsman by marriage (who was then engaged in the +fortification of Famagosta, which is the key of that kingdom), to the +end that he might carry them to his masters. + +When the news of Gian Girolamo's death arrived in Venice, there was +not one of the Senate who did not feel indescribable sorrow at the +loss of such a man, who had been so devoted to that Republic. Gian +Girolamo died at the age of forty-five, and received honourable burial +from his above-named kinsman in S. Niccolo at Famagosta. Then, having +returned to Venice, Brugnuoli presented Gian Girolamo's drawings and +writings; which done, he was sent to give completion to the +fortifications of Legnago, where he had spent many years in executing +the designs and models of his uncle. But he had not been long in that +place when he died, leaving two sons, who are men of passing good +ability in design and in the practice of architecture. Bernardino, the +elder, has now many undertakings on his hands, such as the building of +the campanile of the Duomo, that of S. Giorgio, and that of the church +called the Madonna di Campagna, in which and other works that he is +directing at Verona and other places, he is succeeding excellently +well; and particularly in the ornamental work of the principal chapel +of S. Giorgio at Verona, which is of the composite order, and such +that in size, design, and workmanship, the people of Verona declare +that they do not believe that there is one equal to it to be found in +Italy. This work, which follows the curve of the recess, is of the +Corinthian Order, with composite capitals and double columns in full +relief, and pilasters behind. In like manner, the frontispiece which +surmounts the whole also curves in very masterly fashion according to +the shape of the recess, and has all the ornaments which that Order +embraces. Wherefore Monsignor Barbaro, Patriarch-elect of Aquileia, a +man with a great knowledge of the profession, who has written of it, +on his return from the Council of Trent saw not without marvel all +that had been done in that work, and that which was being done every +day; and, after considering it several times, he had to say that he +had never seen the like, and that nothing better could be done. And +let this suffice as a proof of what may be expected from the genius of +Bernardino, who was born on the mother's side from the San Michele +family. + +But let us return to Michele, from whom we digressed, not without +reason, some little time back. He was struck by such grief at the +death of Gian Girolamo, in whom he saw the house of San Michele become +extinct, since his kinsman left no children, that, although he strove +to conquer or conceal it, in a few days he was overcome by a malignant +fever, to the inconsolable sorrow of his country and of his most +illustrious patrons. Michele died in the year 1559, and was buried in +S. Tommaso, a church of Carmelite Friars, where there is the ancient +burial-place of his forefathers; and at the present day Messer Niccolo +San Michele, a physician, has set his hand to erecting him an +honourable tomb, which is even now being carried into execution. + +Michele was a man of most upright life, and most honourable in his +every action. He was a cheerful person, yet with an admixture of +seriousness. He feared God, and was very religious, insomuch that he +would never set himself to do anything in the morning without having +first heard Mass devoutly and said his prayers; and at the beginning +of any undertaking of importance, in the morning, before doing any +other thing, he would always have the Mass of the Holy Spirit or of +the Madonna solemnly chanted. He was very liberal, and so courteous +with his friends, that they were as much masters of his possessions as +he was himself. And I will not withhold a proof of his great loyalty +and goodness, which I believe few others know besides myself. When +Giorgio Vasari, of whom, as has been told, he was much the friend, +parted from him for the last time in Venice, Michele said to him: "I +would have you know, Messer Giorgio, that, when I was in my youth at +Monte Fiascone, I became enamoured, as fortune would have it, of the +wife of a stone-cutter, and received from her complaisance all that I +desired; but no one ever heard of it from me. Now, having heard that +the poor woman has been left a widow, with a daughter ready for a +husband, whom she says she conceived by me, I wish--although it may +well be that this is not true, and such is my belief--that you should +take to her these fifty crowns of gold and give them to her on my +part, for the love of God, to the end that she may use them for her +advantage and settle her daughter according to her station." Giorgio, +therefore, going to Rome, and arriving at Monte Fiascone, although the +good woman freely confessed to him that the girl was not the daughter +of Michele, insisted, in obedience to Michele's command, on paying her +the fifty crowns, which were as welcome to that poor woman as five +hundred would have been to another. + +Michele, then, was courteous beyond the courtesy of any other man, +insomuch that he no sooner heard of the needs and desires of his +friends, than he sought to gratify them, even to the spending of his +life; nor did any person ever do him a service that was not repaid +many times over. Giorgio Vasari once made for him in Venice, with the +greatest diligence at his command, a large drawing in which the proud +Lucifer and his followers, vanquished by the Angel Michael, could be +seen raining headlong down from Heaven into the horrible depths of +Hell; and at that time Michele did not do anything but thank Giorgio +for it when he took leave of him. But not many days after, returning +to Arezzo, Giorgio found that San Michele had sent long before to his +mother, who lived at Arezzo, a quantity of presents beautiful and +honourable enough to be the gifts of a very rich nobleman, with a +letter in which he did her great honour for love of her son. + +Many times the Signori of Venice offered to increase his salary, but +he refused, always praying that they should increase his kinsmen's +salaries instead of his own. In short, Michele was in his every action +so gentle, courteous, and loving, that he made himself rightly beloved +by innumerable lords; by Cardinal de' Medici, who became Pope Clement +VII, while he was in Rome; by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who became +Paul III; by the divine Michelagnolo Buonarroti; by Signor Francesco +Maria, Duke of Urbino; and by a vast number of noblemen and senators +of Venice. At Verona he was much the friend of Fra Marco de' Medici, a +man of great learning and infinite goodness, and of many others of +whom there is no need at present to make mention. + +Now, in order not to have to turn back in a short time to speak of the +Veronese, taking the opportunity presented by the masters mentioned +above, I shall make mention in this place of some painters from that +country, who are still alive and worthy to be named, and by no means +to be passed over in silence. The first of these is Domenico del +Riccio, who has painted in fresco, mostly in chiaroscuro and partly in +colour, three facades of the house of Fiorio della Seta at Verona, on +the Ponte Nuovo--that is, the three that do not look out upon the +bridge, the house standing by itself. In one, over the river, are +battles of sea-monsters, in another the battles of the Centaurs and +many rivers, and in the third two pictures in colour. In the first of +these, which is over the door, is the Table of the Gods, and in the +other, over the river, is the fable of the nuptials between the +Benacus, called the Lake of Garda, and the Nymph Caris, in the person +of Garda, from whom is born the River Mincio, which in fact issues +from that lake. In the same house is a large frieze wherein are some +Triumphs in colour, executed in a beautiful and masterly manner. In +the house of Messer Pellegrino Ridolfi, also at Verona, the same +master painted the Coronation of the Emperor Charles V, and the scene +when, after being crowned in Bologna, he rides with the Pope through +the city in great pomp. In oils he has painted the principal +altar-piece of the church that the Duke of Mantua has built recently +near the Castello, in which is the Beheading and Martyrdom of S. +Barbara, painted with much diligence and judgment. And what moved the +Duke to have that altar-piece executed by Domenico was his having seen +and much liked his manner in an altar-piece that Domenico had painted +long before for the Chapel of S. Margherita in the Duomo of Mantua, in +competition with Paolino,[11] who painted that of S. Antonio, with +Paolo Farinato, who executed that of S. Martino, and with Battista del +Moro, who painted that of the Magdalene; all which four Veronese had +been summoned thither by Cardinal Ercole of Mantua, in order to adorn +that church, which had been reconstructed by him after the design of +Giulio Romano. Other works has Domenico executed in Verona, Vicenza, +and Venice, but it must suffice to have spoken of those named. He is +an honest and excellent craftsman, and, in addition to his painting, +he is a very fine musician, and one of the first in the most noble +Philharmonic Academy of Verona. + + [Footnote 11: Paolo Caliari or Veronese.] + +Not inferior to him will be his son Felice, who, although still young, +has proved himself a painter out of the ordinary in an altar-piece +that he has executed for the Church of the Trinita, in which are the +Madonna and six other Saints, all of the size of life. Nor is this any +marvel, for the young man learned his art in Florence, living in the +house of Bernardo Canigiani, a Florentine gentleman and a crony of his +father Domenico. + +In the same Verona, also, lives Bernardino, called L'India, who, +besides many other works, has painted the Fable of Psyche in most +beautiful figures on the ceiling of a chamber in the house of Count +Marc'Antonio del Tiene. And he has painted another chamber, with +beautiful inventions and a lovely manner of painting, for Count +Girolamo of Canossa. + +A much extolled painter, also, is Eliodoro Forbicini, a young man of +most beautiful genius and of considerable skill in every manner of +painting, but particularly in making grotesques, as may be seen in the +two chambers mentioned above and in other places where he has worked. + +In like manner Battista da Verona, who is called thus, and not +otherwise, out of his own country, after having learned the first +rudiments of painting from an uncle at Verona, placed himself with the +excellent Tiziano in Venice, under whom he has become a very good +painter. When a young man, this Battista painted in company with +Paolino a hall in the Palace of the Paymaster and Assessor Portesco at +Tiene in the territory of Vicenza; where they executed a vast number +of figures, which acquired credit and repute for both the one and the +other. With the same Paolino he executed many works in fresco in the +Palace of the Soranza at Castelfranco, both having been sent to work +there by Michele San Michele, who loved them as his sons. And with +him, also, he painted the facade of the house of M. Antonio Cappello, +which is on the Grand Canal in Venice; and then, still together, they +painted the ceiling, or rather, soffit in the Hall of the Council of +Ten, dividing the pictures between them. Not long afterwards, having +been summoned to Vicenza, Battista executed many works there, both +within and around the city; and recently he has painted the facade of +the Monte della Pieta, wherein he has executed an infinite number of +nude figures in various attitudes, larger than life, with very good +design, and all in so few months, that it has been a marvel. And if he +has done so much at so early an age (for he is not yet past thirty), +everyone may imagine what may be expected of him in the course of his +life. + +A Veronese, likewise, is one Paolino, a painter who is in very good +repute in Venice at the present day, in that, although he is not yet +more than thirty years of age, he has executed many works worthy of +praise. This master, who was born at Verona to a stone-cutter, or, as +they say in those parts, a stone-hewer, after having learned the +rudiments of painting from Giovanni Caroto of Verona, painted in +fresco, in company with the above-named Battista, the hall of the +Paymaster and Assessor Portesco at Tiene, in the Vicentino; and +afterwards at the Soranza, with the same companion, many works +executed with good design and judgment and a beautiful manner. At +Masiera, near Asolo in the Trevisano, he has painted the very +beautiful house of Signor Daniello Barbaro, Patriarch-elect of +Aquileia. At Verona, for the Refectory of S. Nazzaro, a monastery of +Black Friars, he has painted in a large picture on canvas the supper +that Simon the Leper gave to Our Lord, when the woman of sin threw +herself at His feet, with many figures, portraits from life, and very +rare perspective-views; and under the table are two dogs so beautiful +that they appear real and alive, and further away certain cripples +executed excellently well. + +[Illustration: THE FEAST IN THE HOUSE OF LEVI + +(_After the painting by =Paolo Veronese [Paolino _or_ Caliari]=. Venice: +Accademia, 203_) + +_Anderson_] + +By the hand of Paolino, in the Hall of the Council of Ten at Venice, +in an oval that is larger than certain others that are there, placed, +as the principal one, in the centre of the ceiling, is a Jove who is +driving away the Vices, in order to signify that that supreme and +absolute tribunal drives away vice and chastises wicked and vicious +men. The same master painted the soffit, or rather, ceiling of the +Church of S. Sebastiano, which is a very rare work, and the +altar-piece of the principal chapel, together with some pictures that +serve to adorn it, and likewise the doors of the organ; which are all +pictures truly worthy of the highest praise. In the Hall of the Grand +Council he painted a large picture of Frederick Barbarossa presenting +himself to the Pope, with a good number of figures varied in their +costumes and vestments, all most beautiful and representing worthily +the Court of a Pope and an Emperor, and also a Venetian Senate, with +many noblemen and Senators of that Republic, portrayed from life. In +short, this work is such in its grandeur and design, and in the beauty +and variety of the attitudes, that it is rightly extolled by everyone. +After this scene, Paolino painted the ceilings of certain chambers, +which are used by that Council of Ten, with figures in oils, which are +much foreshortened and very rare. + +In like manner, he painted in fresco the facade of the house of a +merchant, which was a very beautiful work, on the road from S. +Maurizio to S. Moise; but the wind from the sea is little by little +destroying it. For Camillo Trevisani, at Murano, he painted a loggia +and an apartment in fresco, which were much extolled. And in S. +Giorgio Maggiore at Venice, at the head of a large apartment, he +painted in oils the Marriage of Cana in Galilee, which was a +marvellous work for its grandeur, the number of figures, the variety +of costumes, and the invention; and, if I remember right, there are to +be seen in it more than one hundred and fifty heads, all varied and +executed with great diligence. + +The same Paolino was commissioned by the Procurators of S. Mark to +paint certain angular medallions that are in the ceiling of the Nicene +Library, which was left to the Signoria by Cardinal Bessarion, with a +vast treasure of Greek books. Now the above-named lords, when they had +the painting of that library begun, promised a prize of honour, in +addition to the ordinary payment, to him who should acquit himself +best in painting it; and the pictures were divided among the best +painters that there were at that time in Venice. When the work was +finished and the pictures painted had been very well considered, a +chain of gold was placed round the neck of Paolino, he being the man +who was judged to have done better than all the others. The picture +that gave him the victory and the prize of honour was that wherein he +painted Music, in which are depicted three very beautiful young women, +one of whom, the most beautiful, is playing a great bass-viol, looking +down at the fingerboard of the instrument, the attitude of her person +showing that her ear and her voice are fixed intently on the sound; +and of the other two, one is playing a lute, and the other singing +from a book. Near these women is a Cupid without wings, who is playing +a harpsichord, signifying that Love is born from Music, or rather, +that Love is always in company with Music; and, because he never parts +from her, Paolino made him without wings. In the same picture he +painted Pan, the God, according to the poets, of shepherds, with +certain pipes made of the bark of trees, as it were consecrated to him +as votive offerings by shepherds who have been victorious in playing +them. Two other pictures Paolino painted in the same place; in one is +Arithmetic, with certain Philosophers dressed in the ancient manner, +and in the other is Honour, seated on a throne, to whom sacrifices are +being offered and royal crowns presented. But, seeing that this young +man is at this very moment at the height of his activity and not yet +in his thirty-second year, I shall say nothing more of him for the +present. + +[Illustration: VENICE ENTHRONED, WITH JUSTICE AND PEACE + +(_After the painting by =Paolo Veronese [Paolino _or_ Caliari]=. Venice: +Ducal Palace_) + +_Anderson_] + +Likewise a Veronese is Paolo Farinato, an able painter, who, after +having been a disciple of Niccolo Ursino,[12] has executed many works +at Verona. The most important are a hall in the house of the +Fumanelli, which he filled with various scenes in fresco-colours at +the desire of Messer Antonio, a gentleman of that family, most famous +as physician over all Europe, and two very large pictures in the +principal chapel of S. Maria in Organo. In one of these is the story +of the Innocents, and in the other is the scene when the Emperor +Constantine causes a number of children to be brought before him, +intending to kill them and to bathe in their blood, in order to cure +himself of his leprosy. Then in the recess of that chapel are two +pictures, large, but smaller than the others, in one of which is +Christ receiving S. Peter, who is walking towards Him on the water, +and in the other the dinner that S. Gregory gives to certain poor men. +In all these works, which are much to be extolled, is a vast number +of figures, executed with good design, study, and diligence. By the +hand of the same master is an altar-picture of S. Martino that was +placed in the Duomo of Mantua, which he executed in competition with +others his compatriots, as has just been related. + + [Footnote 12: Giolfino.] + +And let this be the end of the Lives of the excellent Michele San +Michele and of those other able men of Verona, so truly worthy of all +praise on account of their excellence in the arts and their great +talents. + + + + +GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI, CALLED IL SODOMA + + + +[Illustration: GIOVANNI ANTONIO (IL SODOMA): THE VISION OF S. +CATHARINE + +(_Siena: S. Domenico. Fresco_)] + + + + +LIFE OF GIOVANNI ANTONIO BAZZI, CALLED IL SODOMA + +PAINTER OF VERCELLI + + +If men were to recognize their position when Fortune presents to them +the opportunity to become rich, obtaining for them the favour of great +persons, and were to exert themselves in their youth to make their +merit equal to their good fortune, marvellous results would be seen to +issue from their actions; whereas very often the contrary is seen to +happen, for the reason that, even as it is true that he who trusts +only in Fortune generally finds himself deceived, so it is very clear, +as experience teaches us every day, that merit alone, likewise, if not +accompanied by Fortune, does not do great things. If Giovanni Antonio +of Vercelli, even as he had good fortune, had possessed an equal dower +of merit, as he could have done if he had studied, he would not have +been reduced to madness and miserable want in old age at the end of +his life, which was always eccentric and beastly. + +Now Giovanni Antonio was taken to Siena by some merchants, agents of +the Spannocchi family, and his good fortune, or perhaps his bad +fortune, would have it that, not finding any competition for a time in +that city, he should work there alone; which, although it was some +advantage to him, was in the end injurious, for the reason that he +went to sleep, as it were, and never studied, but did most of his work +by rule of thumb. And, if he did study a little, it was only in +drawing the works of Jacopo della Fonte, which were much esteemed, and +in little else. In the beginning he executed many portraits from life +with that glowing manner of colouring which he had brought from +Lombardy, and he thus made many friendships in Siena, more because +that people is very kindly disposed towards strangers than because he +was a good painter; and, besides this, he was a gay and licentious +man, keeping others entertained and amused with his manner of living, +which was far from creditable. In which life, since he always had +about him boys and beardless youths, whom he loved more than was +decent, he acquired the by-name of Sodoma; and in this name, far from +taking umbrage or offence, he used to glory, writing about it songs +and verses in terza rima, and singing them to the lute with no little +facility. He delighted, in addition, to have about the house many +kinds of extraordinary animals; badgers, squirrels, apes, marmosets, +dwarf asses, horses, barbs for running races, little horses from Elba, +jays, dwarf fowls, Indian turtle-doves, and other suchlike animals, as +many as he could lay his hands on. But, besides all these beasts, he +had a raven, which had learned from him to speak so well, that in some +things it imitated exactly the voice of Giovanni Antonio, and +particularly in answering to anyone who knocked at the door, doing +this so excellently that it seemed like Giovanni Antonio himself, as +all the people of Siena know very well. In like manner, the other +animals were so tame that they always flocked round anybody in the +house, playing the strangest pranks and the maddest tricks in the +world, insomuch that the man's house looked like a real Noah's Ark. + +[Illustration: SCENE FROM THE LIFE OF S. BENEDICT + +(_After the fresco by =Giovanni Antonio Bazzi [Il Sodoma]=. Monte +Oliveto Maggiore_) + +_Alinari_] + +Now this manner of living and his eccentric ways, with his works and +pictures, wherein he did indeed achieve something of the good, caused +him to have such a name among the people of Siena--that is, among the +populace and the common herd, for the people of quality knew him +better--that he was held by many to be a great man. Whereupon, Fra +Domenico da Lecco, a Lombard, having been made General of the Monks of +Monte Oliveto, Sodoma went to visit him at Monte Oliveto di Chiusuri, +the principal seat of that Order, distant fifteen miles from Siena; +and he so contrived with his persuasive words, that he was +commissioned to finish the stories of the life of S. Benedict, part of +which had been executed on a wall by Luca Signorelli of Cortona. This +work he finished for a small enough price, besides the expenses that +he incurred, and those of certain lads and colour-grinders who +assisted him; nor would it be possible to describe the amusement +that he gave while he was labouring at that place to those fathers, +who called him Il Mattaccio,[13] in the mad pranks that he played. + + [Footnote 13: Madcap or buffoon.] + +[Illustration: SCENE FROM THE LIFE OF S. BENEDICT + +(_After the fresco by =Giovanni Antonio Bazzi [Il Sodoma]=. Monte +Oliveto Maggiore_) + +_Alinari_] + +But to return to the work. Having executed there certain scenes, which +he hurried over mechanically and without diligence, and the General +complaining of this, Mattaccio said that he worked as he felt +inclined, and that his brush danced to the tune of money, so that, if +the General consented to spend more, he was confident that he could do +much better. The General having therefore promised that he would pay +him better for the future, Giovanni Antonio painted three scenes, +which still remained to be executed in the corners, with so much more +study and diligence than he had shown in the others, that they proved +to be much finer. In one of these is S. Benedict departing from Norcia +and from his father and mother, in order to go to study in Rome; in +the second, S. Mauro and S. Placido as children, presented to him and +offered to God by their fathers; and in the third, the Goths burning +Monte Cassino. For the last, in order to do despite to the General and +the Monks, he painted the story of the priest Fiorenzo, the enemy of +S. Benedict, bringing many loose women to dance and sing around the +monastery of that holy man, in order to tempt the purity of those +fathers. In this scene Sodoma, who was as shameless in his painting as +in his other actions, painted a dance of nude women, altogether lewd +and shameful; and, since he would not have been allowed to do it, as +long as he was at work he would never let any of the monks see it. +Wherefore, when the scene was uncovered, the General wished by hook or +by crook to throw it to the ground and utterly destroy it; but +Mattaccio, after much foolish talk, seeing that father in anger, +clothed all the naked women in that work, which is one of the best +that are there. Under each of these scenes he painted two medallions, +and in each medallion a friar, to represent all the Generals who had +ruled that congregation. And, since he had not their portraits from +life, Mattaccio did most of the heads from fancy, and in some he +portrayed old friars who were in the monastery at that time, and in +the end he came to paint the head of the above-named Fra Domenico da +Lecco, who was their General in those days, as has been related, and +was causing him to execute that work. But, after some of those heads +had lost the eyes, and others had been damaged, Fra Antonio +Bentivogli, the Bolognese, caused them all to be removed, for good +reasons. + +Now, while Mattaccio was executing these scenes, there had gone +thither, to assume the habit of a monk, a Milanese nobleman, who had a +yellow cloak trimmed with black cords, such as was worn at that time; +and, after he had put on the monk's habit, the General gave that cloak +to Mattaccio, who, by means of a mirror, painted a portrait of himself +with it on his back in one of the scenes, wherein S. Benedict, still +almost a child, miraculously puts together and mends the corn-measure, +or rather, tub, of his nurse, which she had broken. At the feet of the +portrait he painted a raven, an ape, and others of his animals. This +work finished, he painted the story of the five loaves and two fishes, +with other figures, in the Refectory of the Monastery of S. Anna, a +seat of the same Order, distant five miles from Monte Oliveto; which +work completed, he returned to Siena. There, at the Postierla, he +painted in fresco the facade of the house of M. Agostino de' Bardi of +Siena, in which were some things worthy of praise, but for the most +part they have been consumed by time and the weather. + +[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF ALEXANDER AND ROXANA + +(_Detail, after the fresco by =Giovanni Antonio Bazzi [Il Sodoma]=. +Rome: Villa Farnesina_) + +_Braun_] + +During this time there arrived in Siena Agostino Chigi, a very rich +and famous merchant of that city, and he became acquainted with +Giovanni Antonio, both on account of his follies and because he had +the name of a good painter. Wherefore he took him in his company to +Rome, where Pope Julius II was then causing the Papal apartments in +the Palace of the Vatican, which Pope Nicholas V had formerly erected, +to be painted; and Chigi so went to work with the Pope, that some +painting was given also to Sodoma. Now Pietro Perugino, who was +painting the ceiling of an apartment that is beside the Borgia Tower, +was working at his ease, like the old man that he was, and was not +able to set his hand to anything else, as he had been at first +commanded to do: and there was given to Giovanni Antonio to paint +another apartment, which is beside the one that Perugino was painting. +Having therefore set his hand to it, he made the ornamentation of that +ceiling with cornices, foliage, and friezes; and then, in some large +medallions, he executed certain passing good scenes in fresco. But +this animal, devoting his attention to his beasts and his follies, +would not press the work forward; and therefore, after Raffaello da +Urbino had been brought to Rome by the architect Bramante, and it had +become known to the Pope how much he surpassed the others, his +Holiness ordained that neither Perugino nor Giovanni Antonio should +work any more in the above-named apartments; indeed, that everything +should be thrown to the ground. But Raffaello, who was goodness and +modesty in person, left standing all that had been done by Perugino, +who had once been his master; and of Mattaccio's he destroyed nothing +save the inner work and the figures of the medallions and scenes, +leaving the friezes and the other ornaments, which are still round the +figures that Raffaello painted there, which were Justice, Universal +Knowledge, Poetry, and Theology. + +But Agostino, who was a gentleman, without paying any attention to the +affront that Giovanni Antonio had received, commissioned him to paint +in one of his principal apartments, which opens into the great hall in +his Palace in the Trastevere, the story of Alexander going to sleep +with Roxana. In that work, besides other figures, he painted a good +number of Loves, some of whom are unfastening Alexander's cuirass, +some are drawing off his boots, or rather, buskins, some are removing +his helmet and dress, and putting them away; others scattering flowers +over the bed, and others, again, doing other suchlike offices. Near +the chimney-piece he painted a Vulcan forging arrows, which was held +at that time to be a passing good and praiseworthy work; and if +Mattaccio, who had beautiful gifts and was much assisted by Nature, +had given his attention, after that reversal of fortune, to his +studies, as any other man would have done, he would have made very +great proficience. But he had his mind always set on his amusements, +and he worked by caprice, caring for nothing so earnestly as for +dressing in pompous fashion, wearing doublets of brocade, cloaks all +adorned with cloth of gold, the richest caps, necklaces, and other +suchlike fripperies only fit for clowns and charlatans; in which +things Agostino, who liked the man's humour, found the greatest +amusement in the world. + +Julius II having then come to his death, and Leo X having been +elected, who took pleasure in eccentric and light-headed figures of +fun such as our painter was, Mattaccio felt the greatest possible joy, +particularly because he had an ill-will against Julius, who had done +him that affront, wherefore, having set to work in order to make +himself known to the new Pontiff, he painted in a picture the Roman +Lucrece, nude, who was stabbing herself with a dagger; and, since +Fortune takes care of madmen and sometimes aids the thoughtless, he +succeeded in executing a most beautiful female body, and a head that +was breathing. Which work finished, at the instance of Agostino Chigi, +who was on terms of strait service with the Pope, he presented it to +his Holiness, by whom he was made a Chevalier and rewarded for so +beautiful a picture. Whereupon Giovanni Antonio, believing that he had +become a great man, began to be disinclined to work any more, save +when he was driven by necessity. But, after Agostino had gone on some +business to Siena, taking Giovanni Antonio with him, while staying +there he was forced, being a Chevalier without an income, to set +himself to painting; and so he painted an altar-piece containing a +Christ taken down from the Cross, on the ground Our Lady in a swoon, +and a man in armour who, having his back turned, shows his front +reflected in a helmet that is on the ground, bright as a mirror. This +work, which was held to be, as it is, one of the best that he ever +executed, was placed in S. Francesco, on the right hand as one enters +the church. Then in the cloister that is beside the above-named +church, he painted in fresco Christ scourged at the Column, with many +Jews around Pilate, and with a range of columns drawn in perspective +after the manner of wing-walls; in which work Giovanni Antonio made a +portrait of himself without any beard--that is, shaven--and with the +hair long, as it was worn at that time. + +Not long afterwards he executed some pictures for Signor Jacopo VI of +Piombino, and, while living with him at that place, some other works +on canvas. Wherefore by his means, besides many courtesies and +presents that he received from him, Giovanni Antonio obtained from his +island of Elba many little animals such as that island produces, all +of which he took to Siena. + +[Illustration: S. SEBASTIAN + +(_After the painting by =Giovanni Antonio [Il Sodoma]=. Florence: +Uffizi, 1279_) + +_Anderson_] + +Arriving next in Florence, a monk of the Brandolini family, Abbot of +the Monastery of Monte Oliveto, which is without the Porta a S. +Friano, caused him to paint some pictures in fresco on the wall of the +refectory; but since, like a careless fellow, he did them without +study, they proved to be such that he was derided and mocked at for +his follies by those who were expecting that he would do some +extraordinary work. Now, while he was engaged on that work, having +taken a Barbary horse with him to Florence, he set it to run in the +race of S. Barnaba; and, as fortune would have it, the horse ran so +much better than the others, that it won. Whereupon, the boys having, +as is the custom, to call out the name or by-name of the owner of the +horse that had won, after the running of the race and the fanfare of +trumpets, Giovanni Antonio was asked what name they were to call out; +and, after he had replied, "Sodoma, Sodoma," the boys called out that +name. But some honest old men, having heard that filthy name, began to +protest against it and to say, "What filthy thing is this, and what +ribaldry, that so vile a name should be cried through our city?" +Insomuch that, a clamour arising, poor Sodoma came within an ace of +being stoned by the boys and the populace, with his horse and the ape +that he had with him on the crupper. Having in the space of many years +got together many prizes, won in the same way by his horses, he took +the greatest pride in the world in them, and showed them to all who +came into his house; and very often he made a show of them at his +windows. + +But to return to his works: he painted for the Company of S. Bastiano +in Camollia, beyond the Church of the Umiliati, on a banner of cloth +which is carried in processions, in oils, a nude S. Sebastian, bound +to a tree, who is standing on the right leg, with the left in +foreshortening, and raises the head towards an Angel who is placing a +crown upon it. This work is truly beautiful, and much to be praised. +On the reverse side is Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and below +her are S. Gismondo, S. Rocco, and some Flagellants kneeling on the +ground. It is said that some merchants of Lucca offered to give three +hundred crowns of gold to the men of that Company for that picture, +but did not obtain it, because the others did not wish to deprive +their Company and the city of so rare a painting. And, in truth, in +certain works--whether it was study, or good fortune, or +chance--Sodoma acquitted himself very well; but of such he did very +few. In the Sacristy of the Friars of the Carmine is a picture by the +hand of the same master, wherein is a very beautiful Nativity of Our +Lady, with some nurses; and on the corner near the Piazza de' Tolomei +he painted in fresco, for the Guild of Shoemakers, a Madonna with the +Child in her arms, S. John, S. Francis, S. Rocco, and S. Crispino, the +Patron Saint of the men of that Guild, who has a shoe in his hand. In +the heads of these figures, and in all the rest, Giovanni Antonio +acquitted himself very well. + +In the Company of S. Bernardino of Siena, beside the Church of S. +Francesco, he executed some scenes in fresco in competition with +Girolamo del Pacchia, a Sienese painter, and Domenico Beccafumi--namely, +the Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple, when she goes to visit S. +Elizabeth, her Assumption, and when she is crowned in Heaven. In the +angles of the same Company he painted a Saint in episcopal robes, S. +Louis, and S. Anthony of Padua; but the best figure of all is a S. +Francis, who, standing on his feet and raising his head, is gazing at a +little Angel, who appears to be in the act of speaking to him; the head +of which S. Francis is truly marvellous. In the Palazzo de' Signori at +Siena, likewise, in a hall, he painted some little tabernacles full of +columns and little children, with other ornaments; and within these +tabernacles are various figures. In one is S. Vittorio armed in the +ancient fashion, with the sword in his hand; near him, in the same +manner, is S. Ansano, who is baptizing certain persons; in another is S. +Benedict; and all are very beautiful. In the lower part of that Palace, +where salt is sold, he painted a Christ who is returning to life, with +some soldiers about the Sepulchre, and two little Angels, held to be +passing beautiful in the heads. Farther on, over a door, is a Madonna +with the Child in her arms, painted by him in fresco, and two Saints. + +[Illustration: S. ANSANO + +(_After the fresco by =Giovanni Antonio Bazzi [Il Sodoma]=. Siena: +Palazzo Pubblico_) + +_Alinari_] + +In S. Spirito he painted the Chapel of S. Jacopo, which he did at the +commission of the men of the Spanish colony, who have their place of +burial there; depicting there an image of the Madonna after the +ancient manner, with S. Nicholas of Tolentino on the right hand, and, +on the left, the Archangel S. Michael, who is slaying Lucifer. Above +these, in a lunette, he painted Our Lady placing the sacerdotal +habit upon a Saint, with some Angels around. Over all these figures, +which are in oils on panel, there is painted in fresco, in the +semicircle of the vaulting, a S. James in armour on a galloping horse, +who has grasped his sword with a fiery gesture, and below him are many +Turks, dead and wounded. Below all this, on the sides of the altar, +are painted in fresco S. Anthony the Abbot and a nude S. Sebastian at +the Column, which are held to be passing good works. + +[Illustration: S. FRANCIS + +(_After the fresco by =Giovanni Antonio Bazzi [Il Sodoma]=. Siena: S. +Bernardino, Oratory_) + +_Alinari_] + +In the Duomo of the same city, on the right hand as one enters the +church, there is upon an altar a picture in oils by his hand, in which +there are Our Lady with the Child on her knee, S. Joseph on one side, +and S. Calixtus on the other; which work is likewise held to be very +beautiful, because it is evident that in colouring it Sodoma showed +much more diligence than he used to devote to his works. He also +painted for the Company of the Trinity a bier for carrying the dead to +burial, which was very beautiful; and he executed another for the +Company of Death, which is held to be the most beautiful in Siena; and +I believe that the latter is the finest that there is to be seen, for, +besides that it is indeed much to be extolled, it is very seldom that +such works are executed at much cost or with much diligence. In the +Church of S. Domenico, in the Chapel of S. Caterina da Siena, where +there is in a tabernacle the head of that Saint, enclosed in one of +silver, Giovanni Antonio painted two scenes, which are one on either +side of that tabernacle. In one, on the right hand, is that Saint +when, having received the Stigmata from Jesus Christ, who is in the +air, she lies half-dead in the arms of two of her sisters, who are +supporting her; of which work Baldassarre Peruzzi, the painter of +Siena, after considering it, said that he had never seen anyone +represent better the expression of persons fainting and half-dead, or +with more similitude to the reality, than Giovanni Antonio had +contrived to do. And in truth it is so, as may be seen, apart from the +work itself, from the design by Sodoma's own hand which I have in my +book of drawings. On the left hand, in the other picture, is the scene +when the Angel of God carries to the same Saint the Host of the most +Holy Communion, and she, raising her head to Heaven, sees Jesus +Christ and Mary the Virgin, while two of her sisters, her companions, +stand behind her. In another scene, which is on the wall on the right +hand, is painted the story of a criminal, who, going to be beheaded, +would not be converted or commend himself to God, despairing of His +mercy; when, the above-named Saint praying for him on her knees, her +prayers were so acceptable to the goodness of God, that, when the +felon's head was cut off, his soul was seen ascending to Heaven; such +power with the mercy of God have the prayers of those saintly persons +who are in His grace. In this scene is a very great number of figures, +as to which no one should marvel if they are not of the highest +perfection, for the reason that I have heard as a fact that Giovanni +Antonio had sunk to such a pitch in his negligence and slothfulness, +that he would make neither designs nor cartoons when he had any work +of that kind to execute, but would attack the work by designing it +with the brush directly on the plaster, which was a strange thing; in +which method it is evident that this scene was executed by him. The +same master also painted the arch in front of that chapel, making +therein a God the Father. The other scenes in that chapel were not +finished by him, partly from his own fault, he not choosing to work +save by caprice, and partly because he had not been paid by him who +was having the chapel painted. Below this is a God the Father, who has +beneath Him a Virgin in the ancient manner, on panel, with S. Dominic, +S. Gismondo, S. Sebastian, and S. Catharine. + +[Illustration: THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI + +(_After the painting by =Giovanni Antonio Bazzi [Il Sodoma]=. Siena: S. +Agostino_) + +_Alinari_] + +For S. Agostino, in an altar-piece that is on the right hand at the +entrance into the church, he painted the Adoration of the Magi, which +was held to be, and is, a good work, for the reason that, besides the +Madonna, which is much extolled, the first of the three Magi, and +certain horses, there is a head of a shepherd between two trees which +has all the appearance of life. Over a gate of the city, called the +Porta di S. Viene, he painted in fresco, in a large tabernacle, the +Nativity of Jesus Christ, with some Angels in the air; and on the arch +of that gate a child in foreshortening, very beautiful and in strong +relief, which is intended to signify that the Word has been made +Flesh. In this work Sodoma made a portrait of himself, with a beard, +being now old, and with a brush in his hand, which is pointing to a +scroll that says "Feci." + +He painted likewise in fresco the Chapel of the Commune at the foot of +the Palace, in the Piazza, representing there Our Lady with the Child +in her arms, upheld by some little Angels, S. Ansano, S. Vittorio, S. +Augustine, and S. James; and above this, in a triangular lunette, he +painted a God the Father with some Angels about Him. From this work it +is evident that when he executed it he was beginning, as it were, to +have no more love for art, having lost that certain quality of +excellence that he used to have in his better days, by means of which +he gave a certain air of beauty to his heads, which made them graceful +and lovely. And this is manifestly true, for some works that he +executed long before this one have quite another grace and another +manner, as may be seen above the Postierla, from a wall in fresco over +the door of the Captain Lorenzo Mariscotti, where there is a Dead +Christ in the lap of His Mother, who has a marvellous divinity and +grace. In like manner, a picture in oils of Our Lady, which he painted +for Messer Enea Savini della Costerella, is much extolled, and also a +canvas that he executed for Assuero Rettori of S. Martino, in which is +the Roman Lucrece stabbing herself, while she is held by her father +and her husband, all painted with much beauty of attitude and +marvellous grace in the heads. + +Finally, perceiving that the devotion of the people of Siena was all +turned to the talents and excellent works of Domenico Beccafumi, and +possessing neither house nor revenues in Siena, and having by that +time consumed almost all his property and become old and poor, +Giovanni Antonio departed from Siena almost in despair and went off to +Volterra. And there, as his good fortune would have it, chancing upon +Messer Lorenzo di Galeotto de' Medici, a rich and honoured nobleman, +he proceeded to live under his protection, with the intention of +staying there a long time. And so, dwelling in the house of that +nobleman, he painted for him on a canvas the Chariot of the Sun, +which, having been badly guided by Phaethon, is falling into the Po; +but it is easy to see that he did that work to pass the time, and +hurried through it by rule of thumb, without giving any thought to it, +so entirely commonplace is it and so ill-considered. Then, having +grown weary of living at Volterra and in the house of that nobleman, +as one who was accustomed to being free, he departed and went off to +Pisa, where, at the instance of Battista del Cervelliera, he executed +two pictures for Messer Bastiano della Seta, the Warden of Works of +the Duomo, which were placed in the recess behind the high-altar of +that Duomo, beside those of Sogliani and Beccafumi. In one is the Dead +Christ with Our Lady and the other Maries, and in the other Abraham +sacrificing his son Isaac; but since these pictures did not succeed +very well, the Warden, who had intended to make him paint some +altar-pieces for the church, dismissed him, knowing that men who do +not study, once they have lost in old age the quality of excellence +that they had in their youth from nature, are left with a kind of +facility of manner that is generally little to be praised. At that +same time Giovanni Antonio finished an altar-piece that he had +previously begun in oils for S. Maria della Spina, painting in it Our +Lady with the Child in her arms, with S. Mary Magdalene and S. +Catharine kneeling before her, and S. John, S. Sebastian, and S. +Joseph standing at the sides; in all which figures he acquitted +himself much better than in the two pictures for the Duomo. + +Then, having nothing more to do at Pisa, he made his way to Lucca, +where, at S. Ponziano, a seat of the Monks of Monte Oliveto, an Abbot +of his acquaintance caused him to paint a Madonna on the ascent of a +staircase that leads to the dormitory. That work finished, he returned +weary, old, and poor to Siena, where he did not live much longer; for +he fell ill, through not having anyone to look after him or any means +of sustenance, and went off to the Great Hospital, and there in a few +weeks he finished the course of his life. + +[Illustration: THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC + +(_After the painting by =Giovanni Antonio Bazzi [Il Sodoma]=. Pisa: +Duomo_) + +_Alinari_] + +Giovanni Antonio, when young and in good repute, took for his wife in +Siena a girl born of a very good family, and had by her in the first +year a daughter. But after that, having grown weary of her, because he +was a beast, he would never see her more; and she, therefore, +withdrawing by herself, lived always on her own earnings and on the +interest of her dowry, bearing with great and endless patience the +beastliness and the follies of that husband of hers, who was truly +worthy of the name of Mattaccio which, as has been related, the Monks +of Monte Oliveto gave him. + +Riccio of Siena, the disciple of Giovanni Antonio, a passing able and +well-practised painter, having taken as his wife his master's +daughter, who had been very well and decently brought up by her +mother, became the heir to all the possessions connected with art of +his wife's father. This Riccio, I say, has executed many beautiful and +praiseworthy works at Siena and elsewhere, and has decorated with +stucco and pictures in fresco a chapel in the Duomo of the above-named +city, on the left hand as one enters the church; and he now lives at +Lucca, where he has done, as he still continues to do, many beautiful +works worthy to be extolled. + +A pupil of Giovanni Antonio, likewise, was a young man who was called +Giomo del Sodoma; but, since he died young, and was not able to give +more than a small proof of his genius and knowledge, there is no need +to say more about him. + +Sodoma lived seventy-five years, and died in the year 1554. + + + + +INDEX OF NAMES + +OF THE CRAFTSMEN MENTIONED IN VOLUME VII + + + Adone Doni, 128 + + Agnolo, Baccio d', 74 + + Agnolo, Battista d' (Battista del Moro), 236 + + Agnolo Bronzino, 29, 31, 113, 149, 158, 160, 163, 167, 168, 171, 172, + 175, 176, 178, 182, 201 + + Agnolo di Cristofano, 70 + + Agnolo, Giuliano di Baccio d', 83-86, 88, 89, 102 + + Agostino Viniziano, 60, 63 + + Albertinelli, Mariotto, 108, 148 + + Albrecht Duerer, 163, 164, 166 + + Alessandro Vittoria, 228 + + Alfonso Berughetta (Alonzo Spagnuolo), 58 + + Alfonso Lombardi, 77 + + Alonzo Spagnuolo (Alfonso Berughetta), 58 + + Ammanati, Bartolommeo, 95, 96, 99, 100, 203, 206 + + Andrea, Maestro, 66 + + Andrea Contucci (Andrea Sansovino), 5, 9, 61, 62, 187, 189 + + Andrea da Fiesole (Andrea Ferrucci), 4 + + Andrea del Minga, 97 + + Andrea del Sarto, 4, 58, 59, 148-150, 152, 156, 157, 171, 188 + + Andrea di Cosimo Feltrini, 13, 149-152 + + Andrea Ferrucci (Andrea da Fiesole), 4 + + Andrea Pisano, 30 + + Andrea Sansovino (Andrea Contucci), 5, 9, 61, 62, 187, 189 + + Andrea Verrocchio, 56 + + Antonio da San Gallo (the elder), 74 + + Antonio da San Gallo (the younger), 9, 78, 119, 186, 189, 190, 193, + 217, 218 + + Antonio di Domenico (Antonio di Donnino Mazzieri), 29 + + Antonio di Gino Lorenzi, 24 + + Antonio di Giovanni (Solosmeo da Settignano), 5, 79, 80 + + Antonio di Marco di Giano (Il Carota), 152 + + Aristotile (Bastiano) da San Gallo, 29 + + + Bacchiacca, Il (Francesco Ubertini), 29 + + Baccio, Giovanni di (Nanni di Baccio Bigio), 81 + + Baccio Bandinelli (Baccio de' Brandini), _Life_, 55-103. 4, 27, 28, + 42, 43, 55-103, 154, 187 + + Baccio d'Agnolo, 74 + + Baccio da Montelupo, 155 + + Baccio de' Brandini (Baccio Bandinelli), _Life_, 55-103. 4, 27, 28, + 42, 43, 55-103, 154, 187 + + Bagnacavallo, Giovan Battista, 129 + + Baldassarre Lancia, 206 + + Baldassarre Peruzzi, 253 + + Bandinelli, Baccio (Baccio de' Brandini), _Life_, 55-103. 4, 27, 28, + 42, 43, 55-103, 154, 187 + + Bandinelli, Clemente, 77, 94, 95, 98 + + Barba, Jacopo della, 71 + + Bartolommeo Ammanati, 95, 96, 99, 100, 203, 206 + + Bartolommeo di Jacopo di Martino, 147 + + Bartolommeo di San Marco, Fra, 108, 109, 148 + + Bartolommeo Genga, _Life_, 206-210. 203, 204 + + Bartolommeo Neroni (Riccio), 257 + + Bartolommeo San Michele, 217 + + Bastiano (Aristotile) da San Gallo, 29 + + Battista Cungi, 121, 122, 124, 125 + + Battista d'Agnolo (Battista del Moro), 236 + + Battista da Verona (Battista Farinati), 237, 238 + + Battista del Cervelliera, 256 + + Battista del Cinque, 12 + + Battista del Moro (Battista d'Agnolo), 236 + + Battista del Tasso, 13, 30, 31, 34, 35, 137 + + Battista della Bilia, 118 + + Battista Dossi, 201 + + Battista Farinati (Battista da Verona), 237, 238 + + Battista Franco, 28, 29, 203 + + Battista Naldini, 181, 182 + + Battista of Citta di Castello, 118, 119 + + Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio (Il Sodoma), _Life_, 245-257 + + Beccafumi, Domenico, 252, 255, 256 + + Beceri, Domenico (Domenico Benci), 141 + + Bellucci, Giovan Battista (Giovan Battista San Marino), + _Life_, 210-213. 207 + + Benci, Domenico (Domenico Beceri), 141 + + Benedetto da Rovezzano, 4, 63, 64, 187 + + Benvenuto Cellini, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99, 100 + + Bernardino Brugnuoli, 226, 227, 233, 234 + + Bernardino India, 237 + + Bersuglia, Gian Domenico, 193 + + Bertoldo, 107 + + Berughetta, Alfonso (Alonzo Spagnuolo), 58 + + Bicci, Lorenzo di, 61 + + Bigio, Nanni di Baccio (Giovanni di Baccio), 81 + + Bilia, Battista della, 118 + + Bizzerra, 129 + + Bologna, Giovan, 100, 101 + + Bolognese, Marc'Antonio, 65 + + Borgo, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Colle), 117, 118, 120, 128, 129, + 201 + + Bramante da Urbino, 249 + + Brandini, Baccio de' (Baccio Bandinelli), _Life_, 55-103. 4, 27, 28, + 42, 43, 55-103, 154, 187 + + Bronzino, Agnolo, 29, 31, 113, 149, 158, 160, 163, 167, 168, 171, + 172, 175, 176, 178, 182, 201 + + Brugnuoli, Bernardino, 226, 227, 233, 234 + + Brugnuoli, Luigi, 229, 233 + + Brunelleschi, Filippo, 87, 88, 167, 226 + + Brusciasorzi, Domenico (Domenico del Riccio), 236, 237 + + Brusciasorzi, Felice (Felice del Riccio), 237 + + Buda, Girolamo del, 56 + + Bugiardini, Giuliano, _Life_, 107-113 + + Buglioni, Santi, 29 + + Buonarroti, Michelagnolo, 10, 11, 14, 16, 28, 32, 44, 46, 48, 49, 57, + 58, 61, 66-68, 71, 72, 75, 77, 81, 98, 99, 107, 108, 110-113, 151, + 172, 173, 179, 194, 235 + + + Cadore, Tiziano da (Tiziano Vecelli), 237 + + Caliari, Paolino or Paolo (Paolo Veronese), 236-240 + + Camillo Mantovano, 201 + + Carota, Il (Antonio di Marco di Giano), 152 + + Caroto, Giovanni, 238 + + Carrara, Danese da (Danese Cattaneo), 228 + + Carrucci, Jacopo (Jacopo da Pontormo), _Life_, 147-182. 31, 201 + + Cattaneo, Danese (Danese da Carrara), 228 + + Cavalieri, Tiberio, 50 + + Cellini, Benvenuto, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99, 100 + + Cervelliera, Battista del, 256 + + Cinque, Battista del, 12 + + Cioli, Simone, 9, 10, 189 + + Clemente Bandinelli, 77, 94, 95, 98 + + Colle, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Borgo), 117, 118, 120, 128, 129, + 201 + + Conti, Domenico, 29 + + Contucci, Andrea (Andrea Sansovino), 5, 9, 61, 62, 187, 189 + + Cosimo, Piero di, 148 + + Cristofano, Agnolo di, 70 + + Cristofano Gherardi (Doceno), _Life_, 117-143 + + Cungi, Battista, 121, 122, 124, 125 + + + Danese da Carrara (Danese Cattaneo), 228 + + Danti, Vincenzio, 100 + + David Fortini, 37 + + Doceno (Cristofano Gherardi), _Life_, 117-143 + + Domenico, Antonio di (Antonio di Donnino Mazzieri), 29 + + Domenico Beccafumi, 252, 255, 256 + + Domenico Beceri (Domenico Benci), 141 + + Domenico Brusciasorzi (Domenico del Riccio), 236, 237 + + Domenico Conti, 29 + + Domenico del Riccio (Domenico Brusciasorzi), 236, 237 + + Domenico Ghirlandajo, 108, 147 + + Donato (Donatello), 30, 56, 57, 62 + + Doni, Adone, 128 + + Dossi, Battista, 201 + + Dossi, Dosso, 201 + + Duerer, Albrecht, 163, 164, 166 + + + Eliodoro Forbicini, 237 + + + Fabro, Pippo del, 5 + + Fancelli, Giovanni, 97 + + Farinati, Battista (Battista da Verona), 237, 238 + + Farinato, Paolo, 236, 240, 241 + + Felice del Riccio (Felice Brusciasorzi), 237 + + Feltrini, Andrea di Cosimo, 13, 149-152 + + Ferrarese, Girolamo (Girolamo da Ferrara), 9, 10, 189 + + Fiesole, Andrea da (Andrea Ferrucci), 4 + + Filippo Brunelleschi, 87, 88, 167, 226 + + Filippo Lippi, Fra, 57 + + Fonte, Jacopo della (Jacopo della Quercia), 245 + + Forbicini, Eliodoro, 237 + + Forli, Francesco da (Francesco Menzochi), 201, 204-206 + + Fortini, David, 37 + + Fra Bartolommeo di San Marco, 108, 109, 148 + + Fra Filippo Lippi, 57 + + Fra Giovanni Agnolo Montorsoli, 10, 11, 81, 82 + + Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo, 110, 111 + + Francesco da Forli (Francesco Menzochi), 201, 204-206 + + Francesco da San Gallo (the younger), 9, 10, 189 + + Francesco de' Rossi (Francesco Salviati), 178, 205 + + Francesco del Tadda, 9, 10, 49 + + Francesco di Girolamo dal Prato, 72, 73 + + Francesco Granacci, 108 + + Francesco Menzochi (Francesco da Forli), 201, 204-206 + + Francesco Moschino, 192, 194, 195 + + Francesco Salviati (Francesco de' Rossi), 178, 205 + + Francesco Ubertini (Il Bacchiacca), 29 + + Franciabigio, 70, 157, 171 + + Franco, Battista, 28, 29, 203 + + + Galeotto, Pietro Paolo, 152 + + Genga, Bartolommeo, _Life_, 206-210. 203, 204 + + Genga, Girolamo, _Life_, 199-206. 207, 208, 210, 211 + + Gherardi, Cristofano (Doceno), _Life_, 117-143 + + Ghirlandajo, Domenico, 108, 147 + + Ghirlandajo, Michele di Ridolfo, 28 + + Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, 28, 31, 155, 156 + + Gian Domenico Bersuglia, 193 + + Gian Girolamo San Michele, 219, 220, 222, 230-234 + + Giano, Antonio di Marco di (Il Carota), 152 + + Giolfino, Niccolo (Niccolo Ursino), 240 + + Giomo del Sodoma, 257 + + Giorgio Vasari. See Vasari (Giorgio) + + Giovan Battista Bagnacavallo, 129 + + Giovan Battista Bellucci (Giovan Battista San Marino), + _Life_, 210-213. 207 + + Giovan Battista de' Rossi (Il Rosso), 58, 59, 117, 118, 149, 188 + + Giovan Battista San Marino (Giovan Battista Bellucci), + _Life_, 210-213. 207 + + Giovan Bologna, 100, 101 + + Giovan Francesco Rustici, 57, 66 + + Giovan Maria Pichi, 158 + + Giovanni, Antonio di (Solosmeo da Settignano), 5, 79, 80 + + Giovanni Agnolo Montorsoli, Fra, 10, 11, 81, 82 + + Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (Il Sodoma), _Life_, 245-257 + + Giovanni Antonio Lappoli, 158, 159 + + Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, 256 + + Giovanni Caroto, 238 + + Giovanni da Udine, 118 + + Giovanni di Baccio (Nanni di Baccio Bigio), 81 + + Giovanni di Goro, 69 + + Giovanni Fancelli, 97 + + Giovanni Rosso (or Rosto), Maestro, 177 + + Giovanni San Michele, 217 + + Girolamo da Ferrara (Girolamo Ferrarese), 9, 10, 189 + + Girolamo del Buda, 56 + + Girolamo del Pacchia, 252 + + Girolamo Ferrarese (Girolamo da Ferrara), 9, 10, 189 + + Girolamo Genga, _Life_, 199-206. 207, 208, 210, 211 + + Giuliano Bugiardini, _Life_, 107-113 + + Giuliano di Baccio d'Agnolo, 83-86, 88, 89, 102 + + Giulio Romano, 117, 236 + + Goro, Giovanni di, 69 + + Granacci, Francesco, 108 + + + Il Bacchiacca (Francesco Ubertini), 29 + + Il Carota (Antonio di Marco di Giano), 152 + + Il Rosso (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), 58, 59, 117, 118, 149, 188 + + Il Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), _Life_, 245-257 + + India, Bernardino, 237 + + + Jacone (Jacopo), 176 + + Jacopo da Pontormo (Jacopo Carrucci), _Life_, 147-182. 31, 201 + + Jacopo della Barba, 71 + + Jacopo della Fonte (Jacopo della Quercia), 245 + + Jacopo Sansovino, 4, 5, 58 + + + Lancia, Baldassarre, 206 + + Lappoli, Giovanni Antonio, 158, 159 + + Lastricati, Zanobi, 45 + + Lattanzio di Vincenzio Pagani, 128 + + Leonardo da Vinci, 41-44, 57, 58, 60, 148, 152 + + Lippi, Fra Filippo, 57 + + Lombardi, Alfonso, 77 + + Lorenzetto, 78 + + Lorenzi, Antonio di Gino, 24 + + Lorenzo di Bicci, 61 + + Lorenzo Marignolli, 46 + + Luca Signorelli, 199, 246 + + Luigi Brugnuoli, 229, 233 + + + Maestro Andrea, 66 + + Maestro Giovanni Rosso (or Rosto), 177 + + Maestro Niccolo, 177 + + Mantovano, Camillo, 201 + + Marc'Antonio Bolognese, 65 + + Marco da Ravenna, 63 + + Marco del Tasso, 156 + + Marco Palmezzani (Marco Parmigiano), 204, 205 + + Marignolli, Lorenzo, 46 + + Mariotto Albertinelli, 108, 148 + + Martino, Bartolommeo di Jacopo di, 147 + + Matteo San Michele, 219 + + Mazzieri, Antonio di Donnino (Antonio di Domenico), 29 + + Menzochi, Francesco (Francesco da Forli), 201, 204-206 + + Menzochi, Pietro Paolo, 205, 206 + + Michelagnolo Buonarroti, 10, 11, 14, 16, 28, 32, 44, 46, 48, 49, 57, + 58, 61, 66-68, 71, 72, 75, 77, 81, 98, 99, 107, 108, 110-113, 151, + 172, 173, 179, 194, 235 + + Michelagnolo di Viviano, 55-57, 60, 66, 73, 98, 99 + + Michele di Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, 28 + + Michele San Michele, _Life_, 217-235. 127, 191, 217-235, 237, 241 + + Minga, Andrea del, 97 + + Montelupo, Baccio da, 155 + + Montelupo, Raffaello da, 9-11, 27, 62, 81, 189, 191, 192, 194, 195 + + Montorsoli, Fra Giovanni Agnolo, 10, 11, 81, 82 + + Moro, Battista del (Battista d'Agnolo), 236 + + Mosca, Simone, _Life_, 185-195. 9, 10 + + Moschino, Francesco, 192, 194, 195 + + + Naldini, Battista, 181, 182 + + Nanni di Baccio Bigio (Giovanni di Baccio), 81 + + Nanni Unghero, 4 + + Neroni, Bartolommeo (Riccio), 257 + + Niccolo, Maestro, 177 + + Niccolo (called Tribolo), _Life_, 3-37. 43-45, 81, 112, 176, 189 + + Niccolo Giolfino (Niccolo Ursino), 240 + + Niccolo Rondinello (Rondinino da Ravenna), 204, 205 + + Niccolo Ursino (Niccolo Giolfino), 240 + + + Pacchia, Girolamo del, 252 + + Pagani, Lattanzio di Vincenzio, 128 + + Palmezzani, Marco (Marco Parmigiano), 204, 205 + + Paolino or Paolo Caliari (Paolo Veronese), 236-240 + + Paolo Farinato, 236, 240, 241 + + Paolo San Michele, 227, 230, 232 + + Paolo Veronese (Paolino or Paolo Caliari), 236-240 + + Papacello, Tommaso, 128 + + Parmigiano, Marco (Marco Palmezzani), 204, 205 + + Perugino, Pietro, 199, 248, 249 + + Peruzzi, Baldassarre, 253 + + Pichi, Giovan Maria, 158 + + Pier Francesco da Viterbo, 119, 202 + + Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, 29, 176 + + Pierino (Piero) da Vinci, _Life_, 41-51 + + Piero di Cosimo, 148 + + Pietrasanta, Ranieri da, 9, 10 + + Pietrasanta, Stagio da, 7, 195 + + Pietro da San Casciano, 15, 16, 19 + + Pietro di Subisso, 187, 188 + + Pietro Paolo Galeotto, 152 + + Pietro Paolo Menzochi, 205, 206 + + Pietro Perugino, 199, 248, 249 + + Pietro Rosselli, 68, 69 + + Piloto, 56, 58, 69 + + Piombo, Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del, 110, 111 + + Pippo del Fabro, 5 + + Pisano, Andrea, 30 + + Pontormo, Jacopo da (Jacopo Carrucci), _Life_, 147-182. 31, 201 + + Prato, Francesco di Girolamo dal, 72, 73 + + + Quercia, Jacopo della (Jacopo della Fonte), 245 + + + Raffaello da Montelupo, 9-11, 27, 62, 81, 189, 191, 192, 194, 195 + + Raffaello da Urbino (Raffaello Sanzio), 111, 117, 148, 174, 199, 249 + + Raffaello dal Colle (Raffaello dal Borgo), 117, 118, 120, 128, 129, + 201 + + Raffaello delle Vivole, 152 + + Raffaello Sanzio (Raffaello da Urbino), 111, 117, 148, 174, 199, 249 + + Ranieri da Pietrasanta, 9, 10 + + Ravenna, Marco da, 63 + + Ravenna, Rondinino da (Niccolo Rondinello), 204, 205 + + Riccio (Bartolommeo Neroni), 257 + + Riccio, Domenico del (Domenico Brusciasorzi), 236, 237 + + Riccio, Felice del (Felice Brusciasorzi), 237 + + Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, 28, 31, 155, 156 + + Romano, Giulio, 117, 236 + + Rondinino da Ravenna (Niccolo Rondinello), 204, 205 + + Rosselli, Pietro, 68, 69 + + Rossi, Francesco de' (Francesco Salviati), 178, 205 + + Rossi, Giovan Battista de' (Il Rosso), 58, 59, 117, 118, 149, 188 + + Rossi, Vincenzio de', 94, 98, 101 + + Rosso, Il (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), 58, 59, 117, 118, 149, 188 + + Rosto (or Rosso), Maestro Giovanni, 177 + + Rovezzano, Benedetto da, 4, 63, 64, 187 + + Roviale, 129 + + Rustici, Giovan Francesco, 57, 66 + + + Salviati, Francesco (Francesco de' Rossi), 178, 205 + + San Casciano, Pietro da, 15, 16, 19 + + San Gallo, Antonio da (the elder), 74 + + San Gallo, Antonio da (the younger), 9, 78, 119, 186, 189, 190, 193, + 217, 218 + + San Gallo, Bastiano (Aristotile) da, 29 + + San Gallo, Francesco da (the younger), 9, 10, 189 + + San Marco, Fra Bartolommeo di, 108, 109, 148 + + San Marino, Giovan Battista (Giovan Battista Bellucci), + _Life_, 210-213. 207 + + San Michele, Bartolommeo, 217 + + San Michele, Gian Girolamo, 219, 220, 222, 230-234 + + San Michele, Giovanni, 217 + + San Michele, Matteo, 219 + + San Michele, Michele, _Life_, 217-235. 127, 191, 217-235, 237, 241 + + San Michele, Paolo, 227, 230, 232 + + Sandro, Pier Francesco di Jacopo di, 29, 176 + + Sansovino, Andrea (Andrea Contucci), 5, 9, 61, 62, 187, 189 + + Sansovino, Jacopo, 4, 5, 58 + + Santi Buglioni, 29 + + Sanzio, Raffaello (Raffaello da Urbino), 111, 117, 148, 174, 199, 249 + + Sarto, Andrea del, 4, 58, 59, 148-150, 152, 156, 157, 171, 188 + + Sebastiano Viniziano del Piombo, Fra, 110, 111 + + Settignano, Solosmeo da (Antonio di Giovanni), 5, 79, 80 + + Signorelli, Luca, 199, 246 + + Simone Cioli, 9, 10, 189 + + Simone Mosca, _Life_, 185-195. 9, 10 + + Sodoma, Giomo del, 257 + + Sodoma, Il (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), _Life_, 245-257 + + Sogliani, Giovanni Antonio, 256 + + Solosmeo da Settignano (Antonio di Giovanni), 5, 79, 80 + + Spagnuolo, Alonzo (Alfonso Berughetta), 58 + + Stagio da Pietrasanta, 7, 195 + + Stefano Veltroni, 120, 123, 124, 129 + + Subisso, Pietro di, 187, 188 + + + Tadda, Francesco del, 9, 10, 49 + + Tasso, Battista del, 13, 30, 31, 34, 35, 137 + + Tasso, Marco del, 156 + + Tiberio Cavalieri, 50 + + Timoteo da Urbino (Timoteo della Vite), 200 + + Tiziano Vecelli (Tiziano da Cadore), 237 + + Tommaso Papacello, 128 + + Tribolo (Niccolo), _Life_, 3-37. 43-45, 81, 112, 176, 189 + + + Ubertini, Francesco (Il Bacchiacca), 29 + + Udine, Giovanni da, 118 + + Unghero, Nanni, 4 + + Urbino, Bramante da, 249 + + Urbino, Raffaello da (Raffaello Sanzio), 111, 117, 148, 174, 199, 249 + + Urbino, Timoteo da (Timoteo della Vite), 200 + + Ursino, Niccolo (Niccolo Giolfino), 240 + + + Vasari, Giorgio-- + as art-collector, 11, 99, 253 + as author, 3, 11, 12, 14, 16, 21, 24, 25, 28, 31, 33, 34, 36, 37, + 41, 79, 95, 96, 99-101, 103, 109, 117-125, 127-132, 137-139, 141, + 142, 147, 155, 157-160, 167, 168, 172, 173, 175, 178-180, 186, + 190, 202, 209, 210, 217, 225, 226, 230, 231, 234-236, 239, 240, + 253, 254, 257 + as painter, 13, 31, 95, 118-132, 137-139, 141-143, 188, 189, 206, + 229, 230, 235 + as architect, 35, 37, 85, 91, 95, 101, 102, 119, 137, 193, 194, + 206 + + Vecelli, Tiziano (Tiziano da Cadore), 237 + + Veltroni, Stefano, 120, 123, 124, 129 + + Verona, Battista da (Battista Farinati), 237, 238 + + Veronese, Paolo (Paolino or Paolo Caliari), 236-240 + + Verrocchio, Andrea, 56 + + Vincenzio Danti, 100 + + Vincenzio de' Rossi, 94, 98, 101 + + Vinci, Leonardo da, 41-44, 57, 58, 60, 148, 152 + + Vinci, Pierino (Piero) da, _Life_, 41-51 + + Viniziano, Agostino, 60, 63 + + Vite, Timoteo della (Timoteo da Urbino), 200 + + Viterbo, Pier Francesco da, 119, 202 + + Vitruvius, 211 + + Vittoria, Alessandro, 228 + + Viviano, Michelagnolo di, 55-57, 60, 66, 73, 98, 99 + + Vivole, Raffaello delle, 152 + + + Zanobi Lastricati, 45 + + +END OF VOL. VII. + + + PRINTED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF CHAS. T. JACOBI + OF THE CHISWICK PRESS, LONDON. THE COLOURED + REPRODUCTIONS ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY + HENRY STONE AND SON, LTD., BANBURY + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of the most Eminent Painters +Sculptors and Architects, by Giorgio Vasari + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAINTERS SCULPTORS ARCHITECTS *** + +***** This file should be named 31845.txt or 31845.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/4/31845/ + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Christine P. 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