Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Baccio Bandinelli

by Giorgio Vasari

 

BACCIO BANDINELLI, SCULPTOR OF FLORENCE.

[born 1487—died 1559.]

At the time when the Arts were enjoying much prosperity in Florence, by virtue of the favour and assistance accorded to them by the Magnificent Lorenzo de’ Medici the Elder,^[1] there lived in the city a goldsmith, named Michelagnolo di Yiviano of Gaiuole.^[2] This man worked admirably well with his chisels, prepared intagli, and executed enamels and nielli; he was, in short, an able master in all the works proper to his vocation. Michelagnolo had also considerable knowledge of, and much judgment in, jewels, which he set extremely well, and for his various advantages and acquirements, was chosen head of their craft by all the foreign masters of that calling, to whom he was ever ready to offer hospitality; as he also was to the young people of the city, and his shop was considered to be, as it truly was, the first in Florence.

To him it was that the Magnificent Lorenzo and all the house of Medici were accustomed to have recourse, for whatever might be demanded in his vocation, and for Giuliano, the brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Michelagnolo prepared all the ornaments of crests, helmets, and devices of various kinds, used for the tournament which Giuliano held on the Piazza di Santa Croce, all of which were finished with the most delicate mastery. This gained him a great reputation, and gave occasion to much intercourse between the goldsmith and the sons of the Magnificent Lorenzo, by whom his productions were ever highly valued, while their favour and friendship brought him great gains, by which, and by the many labours which he executed for all the city and the whole state, Michelagnolo became a rich man, as well as one of high repute among those of his art.

When the Medici left Florence in the year 1494, they committed much plate and goldsmiths’ work to the safe keeping of Michelagnolo, all of which was most secretly kept and carefully guarded by him until their return, Avlien the whole was faithfully restored, which caused him to be afterwards much commended, by them of that house, for his fidelity, which they amply rewarded.

To this Michelagnolo there was born in the year 1487, a son, whom he named Bartolommeo, but who afterwards, according to the custom of Florence, was by every one called Baccio. Desiring that this youth should be the heir of his art, as well as of his possessions, the father took him into his workshop, in company with other young people, who were learning the art of design, as it was then customary to do, seeing that he who was not a good designer and well-acquainted with works in relief, was at that time held to be no finished goldsmith. In his early years, therefore, Baccio gave his attention to design, according to the instructions which he received from his father, nor was he less indebted for his progress to the emulation of the other young persons who studied with him. Among these he formed a particular intimacy with one called Piloto,^[3] who afterwards became a distinguished goldsmith, and with him, Baccio frequently visited the churches, copying from the works of good painters. But with his studies in design, Baccio mingled works in relief, copying in wax certain sculptures which had been executed by Donato and Verrocchio; he also executed some works in clay, which were in full relief.

While still but a boy, Baccio sometimes resorted to the workshop of Girolamo del Buda,^[4] an ordinary painter, who had his dwelling on the Piazza of San Pulinari,^[5] and once, during a certain winter, there chanced to fall in this place a large quantity of snow. This the people had gathered into a heap on the above-named Piazza, when Girolamo, turning to Baccio, said to him by way of jest: “Baccio, if this snow were marble, could not one make a fine statue of a giant, lying down like Marforio, out of it?” “That one could, and right well,” returned Baccio; “and I would have us treat this snow as though it were marble.” Whereupon, quickly laying his cloak aside, he plunged his hands into the snow, and assisted by other boys, taking the snow from places where there was too much, and adding to it where addition was required, he made the outline of a Marforio, eight braccia high, the figure lying down. This work caused infinite astonishment to the painter and all others who saw it, not so much for what Baccio had made of it, as for the spirit with which this little creature, quite a child, had set himself to undertake such a work.

Baccio was indeed already giving many proofs that he had more love for sculpture than for the work of the goldsmith. When he went to Pinzirimonte,^[6] a villa purchased by his father, for example, he would stand long before the labourers who were working without their upper clothing, and would draw the figures of these men with great zeal and delight, proceeding in like manner with respect to the cattle on the farm, which he would copy with equal care.

About the same time, it was his frequent habit to repair in the early morning to Prato, which was at no great distance from this villa, and where he would remain the whole day, drawing in the Chapel of the Deanery,^[7] from a work of Fra Filippo Lippi,^[8] nor did he cease until he had copied the whole, more particularly imitating the draperies of that master, who was most excellent in respect of drapery. Baccio early displayed much dexterity in the use of the pencil and pen, as well as the red and black chalk, which last is a soft stone procured from the mountains of France, and when carefully pointed, enables the artist to execute drawings of great delicacy.

These things making known to Michelagnolo the disposition and wishes of his son, he changed his purpose with respect to him, and being advised by his friends, he placed the boy under the care of Giovan-Francesco Rustici, one of the best sculptors of the city, and to whom Leonardo da Yinci resorted continually. The last named master also, having seen the drawings of Baccio, and being pleased with them, exhorted him to proceed, advising him to continue his studies in relief, and recommending to him above all, the careful consideration of Donato’s works; saying furthermore, that Baccio would do well to commence the execution of some work in marble; heads for example, or a basso-rilievo.

Much influenced by the counsels of Leonardo, and excited by the encouragement thus received, Baccio set himself to copy an antique head of a woman in marble, the model for which he had made from one in the house of Medici. For a first work, this was accomplished in a sufficiently praiseworthy manner, and was held in much esteem by Andrea Carneseschi, to whom the father of Baccio presented it, and who placed it over the door which leads from the court to the garden of his house in the Yia Larga.

Finding that Baccio still continued to make models in clay for various figures in full relief, his father would not suffer him to want any assistance that might promote the due study of his art; he therefore ordered some pieces of marble to be brought from Carrara, and caused a room to be built for his son at the end of his house in Pinti: this apartment looked on the road to Fiesole, and the windows thereof were carefully arranged for the purposes of his labour. Here Baccio set himself to sketch in those marbles, the outlines of different figures, and among others was one of Hercules, with the dead body of Cacus beneath his feet, which he executed in a piece two braccia and a half high, and brought considerably forward. All these sketches remain in that place, as a memorial of the artist.

It was about this time that the cartoon of Michelagnolo Buonarotti, executed, as we have said elsewhere, for Piero Soderini, who destined it for the Hall of the Grand Council, and which presented a vast number of nude figures, was given to public view, when all the artists hastened to copy this work on account of its excellence. Among the rest came Baccio, nor did any long time elapse before he surpassed all his fellow labourers; the outlines of his copies, as well as the shading and finishing, were superior to those of the other students, and he proved himself to be much better acquainted with the nude form than were those who worked there with him, although Jacopo Sansovino, Andrea del Sarto, II Rosso (but he was then very young), with the Spaniard, Alfonso Barughetta,^nota and many other very celebrated artists, were of the number.^nota

Baccio frequented the hall more constantly than any of the other artists, and had even made a counterfeit of the key thereof: it thus happened that in the year 1512, when Piero Soderini was deposed from the government, and the house of Medici restored to its position, Baccio entered the hall secretly and alone, during the tumults consequent on the changes then ensuing, when he cut the cartoon into numerous pieces. The cause of this action not being known, some said that Baccio had torn up the cartoon for the purpose of taking certain portions to himself, and so using them at his convenience; others thought he had done it with a view to deprive other young artists of the advantages to be derived from the study thereof; some declared that he was led thereto by his affection for Leonardo da Vinci, whose reputation had been sensibly diminished by this cartoon of Michelagnolo’s; but others, perhaps interpreting the matter more truly, attributed the deed to Baccio’s hatred of Michelagnolo, a feeling of which he gave full evidence through all his after life. The loss of the cartoon was not a small one to the city, and the blame cast on Baccio was very heavy, since he was justly declared by every one to have proved himself most envious and malignant.

Baccio afterwards prepared certain cartoons with whitelead and charcoal—one in particular—a nude figure of Cleopatra, which was exceedingly beautiful; this he gave to the goldsmith Piloto. He had already obtained the reputation of being a great designer, and now wished to acquire the art of painting with colours also, in the firm belief that he should, not only equal Buonarroti, but even surpass him greatly in both branches of art. Having prepared the cartoon of a Leda, with the Egg, whence proceeded Castor and Pollux, in her ^[9]

^[10] arms, and wishing to paint this in oil, he further desired to make it appear that the handling of the colours, the mingling them together for the production of the various tints, and the management of the lights and shadows, had not been taught to him by others, but that he had discovered them all for himself; he therefore considered for some time how he might effect this, and at length invented the following contrivance.

Repairing to Andrea del Sarto, who was his intimate friend, he begged the latter to take his portrait in oil,^[11] hoping by this means to arrive at his end by two separate ways; the one being that he should acquire the manner in which the colours were mingled, and the other, that having the picture left in his hands, and having watched its progress throughout, he should retain it as an example which he should perfectly understand, and could have always before him.

But Andrea at once perceived the object of Baccio’s request, and, displeased by the want of confidence and the craft which Baccio displayed, seeing that he would have been most willing to have shown him whatever he wished, had Baccio asked him, as a friend, to do so,—Andrea, I say, being thus dissatisfied with Baccio’s trickery, gave no evidence of having discovered his purpose, but ceasing the preparation of mixtures and tints which he had commenced, he placed every kind of colour upon his pallette, and mingling them to a certain extent one with another, he took now from one and now from another with his pencil, which he did with infinite rapidity and dexterity of hand, producing an exact imitation of Baccio’s complexion. Meanwhile, the art used by Andrea, with the necessity of retaining his place and sitting still, which was imposed on Baccio, if he desired to have his picture taken, prevented the latter from seeing anything that was done, nor could he learn any part of all that he desired to know; Andrea therefore succeeded happily in punishing the want of confidence betrayed by his friend, while he at the same time displayed-, by that method of treating his work, the great practice and ability which he, as an able master, possessed.

But this disappointment did not deter Baccio from his undertaking, in which he was assisted by II Rosso, from whom he afterwards more openly requested the aid which he desired to receive. Having learned the methods of using colours, therefore, Baccio painted a picture in oil, representing the Holy Fathers delivered from the Limbo by Our Saviour; and in another picture he painted Noah inebriated in the presence of his sons. He also attempted to execute certain mural paintings in the fresh plaster, and depicted various heads, arms, legs, and torsi, or trunks, coloured in different manners on the walls of his house; but finding more difficulty in that undertaking than he had expected, from the rapidity with which the plaster dried, he returned to his earlier studies, and to works in relief.

He then executed a marble figure of Mercury in the form of a youth, holding the flute in his hand; to this work, which was three braccia and a half high, he gave much study, it was accordingly extolled by all, and considered to be a rare and excellent production. In the year 1530, that figure was purchased by Giovanni Battista della Palla, who sent it to France for the King, Francis I., by whom it was very highly prized.

Baccio devoted himself with earnest and diligent study to the examination and copying of anatomical details, wherein he persevered for months, and even years. And without doubt in this man the desire for honour and excellence in his art, and for the power of working effectually therein, does well merit high commendation; impelled by which desire, and by a firm will, with which it was manifest indeed that he had been endowed by nature from his earliest youth, even more largely than with aptitude or readiness in art,— impelled by this, I say, Baccio spared himself no labour, nor did he permit himself any relaxation: always intent on acquiring, or occupied in manual operations, he was never to be found idle; hoping by incessant practice to surpass all who had previously pursued his vocation, as he firmly believed that he should do: this being the end which he promised himself as the reward of studies so zealously persisted in, and of labours so perpetually endured. Continuing, therefore, this life of studious labour, he not only gave to the world a vast number of plates designed by his own hand in various modes, but, desirous of ascertaining whether the art of engraving also would succeed with him, he agreed with Agostino Yeneziano the engraver, to have a nude figure of Cleopatra executed by that artist, with another and larger plate filled with anatomical studies, from the last-mentioned of which he derived great credit.

He afterwards prepared a figure in wax of St. Jerome doing penance; the form is excessively attenuated, showing the muscles and nerves, and with the skin wrinkled and dry on the bones: this was a work in full relief, one braccio and a half high, and was executed by Baccio with such extraordinary care, that all the artists, and more particularly Leonardo da Vinci, declared they had never seen a work of the kind in higher perfection, or giving proof of more profound art. That figure Baccio took to Giovanni, Cardinal de’ Medici, and to the Magnificent Giuliano his brother, and by means thereof, made himself known to them as the son of the goldsmith Michelagnolo, receiving from them many praises of his work, besides other proofs of favour: this was about the year 1512, and when the Medici had returned to their house and state.

About the same time, certain Apostles in marble were in process of execution at the house belonging to the Wardens of Works, in Santa Maria del Fiore; and these were to be erected in the marble tabernacles, and to occupy the same places wherein were the Apostles painted by Lorenzo di Bicci.*^[12] By the intervention of the Magnificent Giuliano, therefore, the commission for executing the San Piero, a figure of four braccia and a half high, was confided to Baccio Bandinelli, who completed the same after the lapse of a very long time: this work does not exhibit the highest perfection of the sculptor’s art, but there is nevertheless very good design to be seen in it. The figure remained in the house of the Wardens from 1513 to 1565, in which year the Duke Cosimo caused the church of Santa Maria del Fiore, which had received no embellishment since its erection, to be white-washed on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter-in-law, the Queen Joanna of Austria, and at the same time commanded that for the further enrichment of the building, four of the Apostles should be erected in their places, the San Piero of Bandinelli being one of the number.^[13]

In the year 1515 Pope Leo X., repairing to Bologna, passed through Florence on his way thither, when the latter city, desiring to do him honour, caused a colossal figure to be erected, among many other ornaments and preparations, beneath an arch of the Loggie near the Palace, and the execution of this was entrusted to Baccio. The figure in question was a Hercules, and the words of Baccio respecting the work he projected, caused many to believe that it would surpass the David of Buonarroti, which stood near the spot destined to receive the Hercules. But the act did not correspond to the word, nor was the work equal to the vaunting made of it, a circumstance which caused Baccio to lose much of the estimation in which he had previously been held by the artists as well as by all the city.

A great part of the marble ornaments by which the chamber of Our Lady at Loretto is decorated, with numerous statues and stories in relief, had been given by Pope Leo X.

to Maestro Andrea Contucci of the Monte Sansovino, who had completed many of the same to his great credit, and was occupied with others at the time when Baccio carried to the Pope in Pome a very beautiful model of a David; the figure is nude, and, having the giant Goliah beneath his feet, is in the act of striking off the Philistine’s head. Now Baccio had prepared this model with the intention of subsequently executing it in bronze or marble for the court of the Medici Palace in Florence, intending to place it exactly where the David of Donato had originally been, but which had afterwards been carried off, when the palace of the Medici was despoiled, and had been placed in the palace of the Signoria.

The Pope praised Bandinelli, but not finding the time suitable for causing the work to be executed, his Holiness despatched the artist to Loretto, where he desired Maestro Andrea to give him charge of one of the historical representations in basso-rilievo. Having arrived at Loretto accordingly, Baccio was very amicably received by Maestro Andrea, who treated him well for the sake of his reputation, as well as because he had been recommended by the Pope, and he was immediately furnished with a piece of marble, from which he was to make a relief representing the Birth of the Virgin. Baccio prepared the model, and commenced the work, but being a man who could not endure any equal or even comparison, and who was very sparing in praise of the works of others, he began to censure and use disparaging terms concerning the labours of Andrea, when speaking of them to the other sculptors who were then at Loretto, declaring that the master had no power of design, but affirming the same thing of the other artists also, insomuch that after a short time he caused himself to be regarded with ill-will by all of them.

These things coming to the ears of Andrea, he, like the wise man that he was, reproved him, at first with gentle words, remarking that works are executed with the hand and not with the tongue, and that good drawing is not to be inferred from sketches on paper, when the calling of the sculptor is in question, but is to be proved by the success of the whole work when it is seen completed in stone; advising moreover that Baccio should speak of him for the future in different terms.

But Bandinelli replying haughtily and with many abusive words, Maestro Andrea could endure no more, and rushed upon his assailant with intent to kill him; this was prevented by some who stood near and who interposed between them, whereupon, being compelled to leave Loretto, Bandinelli caused his work to be taken to Ancona, but becoming dissatisfied and wearied with it although then very near completion, he left it there unfinished and departed from the place.^[14] This rilievo was subsequently brought to a conclusion by Raffaello da Monte Lupo, and was fixed in its place, together with those by Maestro Andrea, but it is not equal to them in excellence, although, even thus left incomplete by its author, there is yet much in it worthy of praise.

Having returned to Home, Bandinelli made interest with the Pope, by the intervention of the Cardinal Giulio de Medici, who was ever wont to favour men of parts and distinction, to the end that he might receive a commission for the execution of some statue, to be placed in the court of the Medici palace in Florence. Wherefore having reached the last-named city, he produced an Orpheus in marble, who appeases Cerberus by his songs and the sounds of his lyre, and thereby moves Hell itself to compassion. In this work Bandinelli imitated the Apollo Belvedere of Rome, and was deservedly commended for the same; for although the Orpheus has not the attitude of the Apollo, Baccio has nevertheless very nicely copied the manner of the torso, and of all the limbs of the Apollo. The statue being finished, it was placed, by command of the above-named Cardinal Giulio, in the court of the palace, on a carved pedestal executed by the sculptor Benedetto da Rovezzano, and this was done while the Cardinal governed in Florence. But as Baccio had no regard for architecture, so he did not consider his work with the sound judgment of Donatello, who, for his David had caused a simple column to be erected, on which he then placed the pedestal, which he had cleft and opened in the lower part, to the end that he who entered from without could see the opposite door, that conducting to the other court namely, from the portal at which he was standing; whereas Baccio, not exercising so much prudence, had caused his statue to be placed on a broad and massive base which impedes the view of all who enter, and, covering the entrance to the farther court, does not permit the spectator to ascertain whether the palace extends itself beyond the first court, or is restricted thereto.^[15]

Now the cardinal Giulio had caused a most beautiful villa to be erected on the Monte Mario at Rome, and here he desired to have two colossal figures placed; he accordingly commissioned Baccio, who was always eager to execute giants, to prepare the same, they being to be formed in stucco. These figures he completed in due time; they are eight braccia high, and stand on each side of the gate which leads into the grove, nor are they considered to be other than tolerably good productions.^[16]

While Baccio was employed with these works, he occupied himself with drawing, as was his custom, and for Marco da Ravenna and Agostino Veneziano the engravers, he designed a story in a very large plate, which he caused them to engrave. The subject of this work is the Slaughter of the Innocents, cruelly put to death by Herod; and the plate being crowded with nude figures, male and female, with children living and dead, to say nothing of the varied attitudes exhibited by the women and soldiery, gave occasion for the display of Baccio’s power of design, and of his knowledge of anatomy, and the action of the muscles on all the limbs, procuring him very great fame on that account, throughout all Europe.^[17] This artist likewise prepared a very beautiful model in wood, with the figures in wax, for the sepulchral monument of the king of England,^[18] the work was nevertheless not executed by Bandinelli, but was given to Benedetto da Rovezzano, who cast it in metal. Bernardo Dovizio, Cardinal of Bibbiena, had now returned from France, and having there remarked that the king had no works of any kind in marble, whether ancient or modern, although he took much pleasure in each, the Cardinal promised his Majesty so to manage with the Pope that the latter should be induced to send him something very beautiful in that kind. After the Cardinal came also two ambassadors from the King of France to the Pontiff, and they, having seen the statues of the Belvedere, extolled above all things the group of the Laocoon,^[19] praising it as much as words could praise. Then the Cardinal de’ Medici, and Bibbiena who was with them, inquired if such a group as that would be acceptable to their king, to which they replied that it would be too rich a gift; whereupon the Cardinal made answer, “Either this shall be sent to his Majesty, or one so exactly similar that no difference shall be discernible.” And having determined to cause one instantly to be executed in imitation of the antique, he remembered Baccio, and sending for him, he asked if he had courage to attempt the execution of a Laocoon which should equal the first. To this Bandinelli replied that he was bold to declare himself capable not only of making a group similar to that, but one which should surpass it in perfection.^[20]

The Cardinal having resolved therefore that the work should be commenced, Baccio, while the marble was being procured, made a model in wax which was very much commended; he also made a cartoon in white lead and charcoal, this last being the size of that in marble. Bandinelli had caused an enclosed scaffolding with a roof, to be erected in the Vatican for the purposes of this work, and when the marbles arrived he commenced his labours: he began the group with one of the Boys, the elder namely; and this he finished in such a manner that the Pope and all who understood the subject were entirely satisfied, since there was scarcely any difference to be perceived between his figure and the corresponding one in the original group. But having commenced the other Boy, and also the statue of the Father which is between the two, he continued the figures no further at that time, nor had he proceeded far in that part of his work when the Pope died. Adrian YI. being then elected, Baccio returned with the Cardinal to Florence, where he occupied himself with his studies in design.

But Adrian being also dead, and Pope Clement VII. succeeding him, Baccio hurried in all haste to Rome, where he desired to arrive for the coronation of the Pontiff, from whom he received a commission to prepare statues and historical representations in relief, for that occasion. Being subsequently furnished by his Holiness with apartments and paid a stipend, Baccio returned to his Laocoon, a work which he completed in the space of two years, executing the same with a degree of perfection never previously seen in any work from his hand. He also restored the arm of the antique Laocoon; for the right arm of that figure having been broken and not being found, Baccio made one of the proper size in wax, which so closely resembled that of the antique statue in the muscular development, the force, and the manner of the work, uniting with the ancient part moreover to such perfect nicety, that it served to show how well Baccio was acquainted with his art. After this model it was that he executed the arm of his own Laocoon.

When the last-named group was completed, it appeared to the Pontiff to be so excellent a production, that his Holiness changed his previous intention respecting it, and resolved to send a couple of antique statues to the King of France, but to have the Laocoon placed in the Palazzo de’ Medici at Florence, commanding the Cardinal Legate, Silvio Passerino of Cortona, who then governed the city, to see it duly fixed at the upper end of the second court, and this was done in the year 1525.^[21] This work of the Laocoon obtained a great increase of fame for Bandinelli, who, after the completion thereof, set himself to design a story on a sheet of royal folio paper, and in compliance with the wishes of the Pope, who desired to have the Martyrdom of S. S. Cosimo and Damiano, painted in the principal chapel of the church of San Lorenzo at Florence. This picture Pope Clement wished to see executed on one side of the above-named chapel, proposing that the Martyrdom of San Lorenzo, who was condemned by Decius to the death of roasting on a gridiron, should occupy the opposite wall of the same chapel.

The Martyrdom of San Lorenzo was designed by Baccio with extraordinary care and delicacy, the various figures, clothed and nude, being delineated with much judgment, and the various attitudes of the bodies and limbs proving considerable knowledge of art. The different movements and actions also of those who, surrounding San Lorenzo, are engaged in the cruel office wherewith they are occupied, with the dark and angry countenance of the wicked Decius, may be more particularly remarked: with looks of rage he commands that the fire shall be increased, and hastens the death of the innocent martyr, who, raising one arm to heaven, commends his spirit to God. By this work Baccio so greatly pleased Pope Clement, that the latter caused the Bolognese, Marco Antonio, to engrave it in copper, and this was accomplished by Marcantonio accordingly with much care. His Holiness then conferred the dignity of a knight of San Piero on Bandinelli, as an appropriate recompence for the ability thus displayed.^[22]

After these things Bandinelli returned to Florence, where he found Gio-Francesco Rustici, his first master, engaged with a picture of the Conversion of St. Paul. Baccio thereupon commenced a cartoon, as it were in emulation of his master, with the figure of a San Giovanni, whom he represented as a youth, and in the wilderness; he has a lamb in the left arm, and is holding the right extended towards heaven. Bandinelli then caused a panel to be prepared, and executed his picture in colours, placing it in the public view when he had finished it, by suspending the same in the shop of his father Michelagnolo, which was situate on the descent leading from Orsanmichele to the new market.

The design of this work was commended by the artists, but they were not so well satisfied with the colouring, which was somewhat hard, and the painting was not in a good manner. Baccio nevertheless despatched the picture as a present to Pope Clement, and that Pontiff caused it to be placed in his Guardaroba, where it still remains.^[23]

Now in the time of Pope Leo X. there had been a block of marble excavated at Carrara, together with those for the fa£ade of San Lorenzo in Florence, which block was nine braccia and a half high, with a width at the lower end of five braccia. In that piece of marble Michelagnolo Buonarroti had intended to execute a colossal figure of Hercules slaying Cacus, and this he proposed to place on the Piazza beside the colossal figure of David, which had previously been sculptured by his hand, choosing those subjects because both the David and Hercules were devices belonging to the palace.^[24] Buonarroti had prepared several designs and made models of different kinds for this work, and had moreover sought to obtain the favour of Pope Leo X. and of the Cardinal Griulio de’ Medici, declaring that in the David there was much that deserved censure, because the sculptor Maestro Andrea, who had first sketched the statue, had spoiled it in doing so. The death of Pope Leo had nevertheless caused the fa9ade of San Lorenzo to remain unfinished, and the piece of marble in question was also left unclaimed and without use.

At a later period, and when Pope Clement conceived a wish to avail himself of Michelagnolo’s services for the tombs of the great men belonging to the house of Medici, which he desired to have erected in the chapel of San Lorenzo, it became needful that other marbles should be provided, and all the accounts relating to the cost of these excavations were kept by Domenico Boninsegni, who was superintendent of that department. By this Domenico, then, a proposal was made to Michelagnolo, to the end that they, joining company secretly, should make common cause, for their own profit, with respect to the stone-work required for the Sacristy of San Lorenzo. But Michelagnolo excusing himself, and not enduring to have his art degraded by being rendered a means of defrauding the Pontiff, Domenico concieved so bitter a hatred against him, that he ever afterwards did his utmost to humiliate and injure him, opposing himself to all his plans, but always with the utmost secrecy. He contrived among other things that the works of the façade should be laid aside for the time, and those of the Sacristy proceeded with; these two works being, as he said, sufficient to occupy Michelagnolo for many years; and he meanwhile persuaded the Pope to give Baccio the large piece of marble, from which Michelagnolo had intended to make his colossal figure.

Bandinelli had at this time no undertaking in hand, and Domenico suggested to the Pope that, by the emulation of two men so much distinguished, his Holiness would be more diligently, more rapidly, and more effectually served, than by entrusting all to one, since the rivalry and competition between them would stimulate them both to do their utmost for the work. This advice of Domenico pleased the Pontiff, who proceeded to act in accordance therewith, and Baccio obtained the marble. He then prepared a large model in wax, representing Hercules, who, having fixed the head of Cacus between two stones, presses it firmly with one knee, while he keeps him down with the left arm, using immense force, and retaining his antagonist in an attitude of which the pain and suffering are rendered clearly manifest; the legs drawn up in the extremity of the pain inflicted by the violence offered, and by the weight of Hercules, which bears on him with a force that causes every muscle in the frame of Cacus to seem strained to bursting. The figure of Hercules, bent down, is seen with the head brought near his foe; grinding his teeth, which are firmly pressed together, he raises the right arm, and fiercely dealing Cacus a second blow, is about to dash his head to pieces with his club.

When Michelagnolo heard that the marble had been given to Baccio, he felt very much displeased; but whatever were the efforts he made for the purpose, he could not prevail on the Pope to recall his mandate, his Holiness being well satisfied moreover with the model of Bandinelli, and was therefore the less to be moved from his purpose. Baccio added many vauntings and promises likewise, boasting that he would surpass the David of Michelagnolo; and, being assisted in all ways by Boninsegni, who declared that Michelagnolo wished to have everything for himself.

Thus the city was deprived of a fine ornament, which that marble, treated by the hand of Michelagnolo, would indubitably have become. The above-mentioned model of Baccio is now in the Guardaroba of Duke Cosimo, arid is held in very high estimation by his Excellency. The artists also consider it an extraordinary work.^[25] Bandinelli, meanwhile, was despatched to Carrara to examine the marble, and orders were given to the Superintendents of Works at Santa Maria del Fiore, to the intent that they should have it brought by water up to Signa; along the Arno that is to say. The block was thus conveyed accordingly to within eight miles of Florence, when, as they were about to remove it from the river and transport it to the city by land, the water being too low for its conveyance from Signa to Florence, the marble was suffered to fall into the Arno, when the immensity of its weight caused it to sink so deeply in the mud, that the Superintendents,with all the machines which they brought to bear upon it, could find no means for getting it out. But the Pope now commanded that the marble should be recovered by some means; whereupon Pietro Rosselli, an old builder of much ingenuity, received orders from the Superintendents to that effect, when he proceeded in such sort accordingly, that having first turned the course of the stream, and then levelled the bank of the river at that point, he drew the stone from the Arno with levers and windlass, and finally succeeded in placing it on the land, for which he received great commendation. This accident to the marble gave occasion to many wits for the composition of verses, both in Latin and Italian, wherein they very ingeniously turned Baccio to derision, he being detested for his boastful prating, his perpetual evil speaking of others, and his hatred of Michelagnolo. One among the writers, who took this subject for his verse, declared that the stone, having been destined to the art of Michelagnolo, and then finding that it was to be blundered over and botched by the hands of Baccio, had thrown itself into the Arno in despair, and to avoid so disgraceful a fate.^[26]

While the marble was thus being drawn from the water, and the work was delayed by the difficulty of the operation, Bandinelli found, on making his measurements, that neither the height nor the thickness of the block would permit the figures of the model which he had made to be executed. He therefore repaired to Rome, taking with him the measurements, and making it obvious to the Pope, that he was compelled by necessity to abandon his first design and substitute another. Having prepared several designs, therefore, one among them was found to please his Holiness more than all the rest, and that exhibited Hercules, who, having thrown Cacus to the ground, is holding him by the hair, and pressing him to the earth, thus keeping him at his feet in the manner of a captive; this, therefore, it was determined to commence and carry at once into execution.

Baccio, having then returned to Florence, found that Pietro Rosselli had brought the block of marble to the court of the works at Santa Maria del Fiore; and this he had done by means of large beams of walnut, which he had placed lengthwise beneath the mass, and changing them as the marble advanced, he brought those which had first been placed behind to the front, the block itself resting on cylindrical rollers adjusted carefully to the beams, and, being moved by three windlasses; by all which Pietro gradually brought the stone in safety to its destination. The marble thus made ready, Baccio prepared a model in clay, of equal size, and exactly according to that last mentioned, the one which he had previously made in Rome namely; he pursued his work with much diligence, and completed the same in a few months; but despite all his efforts, there were few artists to whom this appeared to present the animation and movement which the action required, and which Bandinelli had imparted to his first model. Commencing then to work in the marble, the artist brought forth the rough forms up to the middle of the figure, of which the lower limbs were made apparent, Baccio proposing ultimately to bring the figures to an exact similitude with those of the large clay model.

About the same time Bandinelli undertook to paint a picture of considerable size for the church of Cestello, and for this he prepared a very beautiful cartoon. The subject chosen was the Dead Christ surrounded by the Maries, with Nicodemus and other figures; but this picture was never painted, for certain reasons which shall be enumerated below. He had at the same time prepared a cartoon for a picture representing the Deposition of Christ from the Cross; the Saviour is supported in the arms of Nicodemus, the Virgin Mother stands weeping beside him, and near that group is an Angel, bearing in his hands the crown of thorns with the nails. This Bandinelli at once began to paint; he finished it with great promptitude, and, having done so, instantly placed it to be shown in the shop of the goldsmith Giovanni di Goro, who was a friend of his, desiring to know the opinions of people respecting it, but more particularly that of Michelagnolo. The last-named master was taken to see the work by the goldsmith Piloto accordingly, and when he had minutely examined every part of it, he remarked, that he wondered to see Baccio, who was so good a designer, permit a picture so crude and so destitute of all grace, to proceed from his hands: he added, that he had known no painter, however miserable and ordinary he might be, who did not execute his pictures in a better manner; and declared that painting was not an art for Baccio.

The judgment of Michelagnolo was made known by Piloto to Bandinelli, and the latter, although he detested Michelagnolo, perceived that he did but tell the truth. It is indeed certain that the designs of Baccio Bandinelli were most beautiful, but he managed the colours badly and painted without grace, wherefore he determined to execute his pictures no more with his own hand, but took into his house a young man called Agnolo, who handled the colours very creditably. This Agnolo was a brother of the excellent painter Franciabigio, who had died a few years before, and to him Bandinelli proposed to make over the painting of the picture mentioned above, as intended for the church of Cestello; but the work was not completed nevertheless, and the cause of its remaining unfinished, was that change in the state of Florence which took place in the year 1527, when the Medici left the city after the sack of Rome, and Baccio likewise, not considering himself to be safe, in consequence of a private feud which he had with one of his neighbours at his villa of Pinzerimonte, who belonged to the popular party, left his dwelling and departed to Lucca. But first he buried certain cameos and small antique figures of bronze, which belonged to the Medici family, in the grounds of that villa.

Bandinelli remained at Lucca until the Emperor Charles V. came to Bologna to be crowned, when he caused himself to be admitted to the presence of the Pope, whom he then accompanied to Rome, and there received, as usual, the apartments which he had previously occupied in the Belvedere. While Baccio was thus residing in the palace, his Holiness bethought him of a vow which he had made, while shut up in the castle of Sant’ Angelo, and resolved that it should now be fulfilled. This vow was to place a group of seven large figures in bronze, each six braccia high, on the summit of the round marble tower which is opposite to the bridge of the castle, the whole six represented as cast at the feet of an angel, whom the Pontiff proposed to have erected in the centre of the tower on a column of vari-coloured marble, the figure to be in bronze, with a sword in its hand. By this figure of the angel, Pope Clement proposed to indicate the archangel Michael, the protector and guardian of the castle, by whose favour and assistance it was that he had been liberated and withdrawn from that prison; and by the seven recumbent figures cast down before him, he meant to signify the seven mortal sins, and proposing furthermore to intimate thereby, that with the aid of the conquering Angel, he had overcome and cast to earth the wicked and impious men who were his enemies.

For that work his Holiness now caused a model to be made; and this having pleased him, he commanded that Baccio should begin to execute the figures in terra, and of the colossal size which they were finally to exhibit, intending that they should afterwards be cast in bronze. Bandinelli commenced his labours accordingly, and in one of those rooms at the Belvedere, he completed one of the figures in terra; a work which was very highly applauded. At the same time, partly by way of amusing himself, and partly to try what success he was likely to have in the bronze castings, Baccio executed numerous small figures, two thirds of a braccia high, and in full relief; among these were several statues of Hercules, with many besides of Venus, Apollo, Leda, and others, according to his fancy, all which he caused to be cast in bronze by the Florentine, Maestro Jacopo della Barba, when they were found to succeed to admiration. These works he afterwards presented to his Holiness, and to different nobles; some of them are now in the study of Duke Cosimo, among works from the antique to the number of more than a hundred, and all of great beauty: some others there are besides of modern workmanship.^[27]

About this time Baccio had executed a story in basso and mezzo-rilievo, the subject a Deposition from the Cross, and the figures small; this work was one of extraordinary merit, and having caused it to be cast in bronze with great care, Baccio presented it when finished to the Emperor Charles V., who was then in Genoa. The gift was highly acceptable to his Majesty, who gave proof of his satisfaction by presenting Bandinelli with a Commandery of St. James, and conferred on him the honour of Knighthood. He received many courtesies from Prince Doria also, and the republic of Genoa commissioned him to execute a marble statue six braccia high, representing Neptune, but exhibiting the portrait of Prince Doria himself, and this was to be placed on the piazza as a memorial of the excellencies of that Prince, and in commemoration of the many important benefits which his country had received at his hands. The price to be paid to Baccio for this statue was a thousand florins, of which he at once received five hundred, when he departed instantly to Carrara for the purpose of having the marble hewn from the quarry of Polvaccio, and of roughly sketching his work on the spot.

After the departure of the Medici from Florence, and while the popular government was in power, Michelagnolo was occupied with the fortifications of the city, and he was then shown the piece of marble which Baccio had diminished for his Hercules and Cacus, together with the model made by Bandinelli, and this was done with the intention that, if this block of marble were not found to have been too much lessened, Michelagnolo should take it for the execution of two figures of his own invention. The master therefore examined the stone, and adopting another subject, determined to leave the Hercules and Cacus, choosing instead the figure of Sampson holding two Philistines whom he has vanquished, beneath his feet. One of these is already dead, the other is still living, but Sampson is in the act of dealing him a blow with the jaw-bone of the ass, which cannot fail to cause his death.

But as it frequently happens that the human thought promises itself certain things, whereof the contrary has been determined by the wisdom of G-od, so did it happen now, for the war against Florence breaking out, Michelagnolo had to consider other matters besides polishing marbles, and was ultimately compelled to withdraw himself from the city; but when the war being at an end, peace was concluded, Pope Clement caused Michelagnolo to return to Florence, with orders to complete the Sacristy of San Lorenzo; his Holiness sent Baccio thither also, commanding him to take measures for bringing the colossal figure to conclusion.

Now while Baccio was busied with this work, he took up his abode in the apartments of the Medici palace, and to give himself the appearance of an extraordinary devotion to the Pope, he wrote every week to his Holiness; but not confining himself to details respecting art, he entered into particulars with relation to the citizens and the acts of those who administered the government, officiously supplying intelligence to the injury of many, and thereby awakening a more bitter hatred against himself than had even previously existed; insomuch that when the Duke Alessandro returned to Florence from the court of his Majesty, the treacherous proceedings of Baccio against them were made known by the citizens to the Duke, and the former likewise did all that they could, to retard and throw impediments in his way as regarded his work of the giant.

At this time and after the close of the war in Hungary, Pope Clement and the Emperor Charles V. held a conference in Bologna, when the Cardinal Ippolito de’ Medici and the Duke Alessandro also repaired thither. Then Baccio likewise thought fit to go and kiss the feet of his Holiness: he took with him a work in mezzo-rilievo one braccio high and one and a half wide; the subject, Christ bound to the Column and scourged by two nude figures, and the execution exceedingly fine. This relief he presented to Pope Clement, with a medal whereon was the portrait of his Holiness, which Bandinelli had caused Francesco dal Prato,^[28] who was his very intimate friend, to prepare for him, the reverse of the medal exhibiting the Flagellation of Christ. The gift was accepted by the Pontiff, to whom Baccio described the impediments and vexations which he had suffered in the execution of his Hercules, entreating Pope Clement to prevail on the Duke to afford him opportunity for the completion of the work, and adding that he was hated and envied in the city of Florence. Wherefore being ready of wit, and potent in tongue, Baccio finally induced the Pope to take measures for persuading Duke Alessandro to accept the charge of seeing that the work of Baccio should be finished and fixed in its place on the piazza.

The goldsmith, Michelagnolo, father of Baccio Bandinelli, was now dead, but before the termination of his life, he had undertaken, by command of Pope Clement, to make a large silver cross, with numerous representations of events from the passion of Christ in basso-rilievo, for the superintendents of works to Santa Maria del Fiore; and for this cross Baccio had modelled the figures and stories in wax, to be afterwards executed in silver. When Michelagnolo died this work remained unfinished, and Baccio, who had all the stories, both those finished and those merely sketched, in his hands, together with many pounds of silver, made interest to obtain the Pope’s consent to his transference of that undertaking to Francesco dal Prato, who had accompanied him to Bologna; but his Holiness, perceiving that Baccio was not only desirous of withdrawing himself from the engagements of his father, but also designed to gain something by the labours of Francesco, commanded him to give up the silver and the stories, those finished as well as those only commenced, to the superintendents of works,^[29] whom he ordered to close the accounts connected with the same, and bade them melt all the silver of that cross, which they were then to apply to the wants of the church, the latter having been despoiled of its ornaments during the time of the siege. To Baccio Bandinelli the Pope caused one hundrEd. Flor.ns of gold to be given with a letter of recommendation, to the end that, having returned to Florence, he should complete the work of the colossal statue.

While Baccio was still in Bologna, the Cardinal Doria having heard that he was about to leave the court, came to seek him, and with loud outcries, abusive words, and violent menaces, reproached the sculptor for having broken his promise and failed in his duty, inasmuch as that he had neglected to complete the statue of Prince Doria, and had left it in Carrara merely sketched, although he had received flve hundred scudi of the price thereof; the Cardinal added that if Andrea^[30] could get Baccio into his hands, he would certainly make him pay for his misconduct at the galleys. The artist excused himself humbly and with gentle words, declaring that he had been impeded by a just and sufficient cause, but that he had a block of marble in Florence of the same dimensions with that from which he had designed to form the figure in question, which he would at once proceed to finish, and, that done, would immediately send it to Genoa. He found means in short to defend himself so well, and said so much, that he contrived to escape unhurt from the presence of the Cardinal.

Having returned to Florence, Baccio instantly set hand to the pedestal of the Giant, and working at the figure himself without intermission, he completed it entirely in the year 1534; but the Duke Alessandro, influenced by the unfavourable disposition of the citizens, did not take measures for having it erected on the Piazza.

The Pope had by that time been several months returned to Pome, and desiring to have a sepulchral monument constructed in the church of the Minerva in that city for Pope Leo as well as one for himself, Baccio, seizing the occasion, repaired thither, where Pope Clement determined that he should erect those tombs, after he had completed the placing of the colossal figure on the Piazza. Thereupon his Holiness wrote to Duke Alessandro, whom he urged to give Baccio the desired opportunity for erecting the figure of Hercules in its place; when an enclosure of planks was at length formed and the marble pedestal was constructed, the lower part exhibiting an inscription as a memorial of Pope Clement VII, with numerous medallions and two busts, the head of his Holiness namely and of Duke Alessandro.

The Colossus was then taken from the house of the wardens of works where it had been executed, and, for the better removal of the same and that it might suffer no injury, a sort of covering was formed of wood-work, when ropes were fastened round the legs, beneath the arms, and at all other convenient parts, so that the figure swung free in the air, suspended between beams, and without disturbing the woodwork by which it was defended: by means of rollers and windlasses, with the aid of ten pairs of oxen, it was then gradually drawn to the piazza. On this occasion much assistance was derived from the use of two thick beams in a semicylindrical form, fixed along the length of the wood-work in the manner of a base, and these were placed on two other beams of similar size, but hollowed out or concave, which, being covered with a soapy substance, were successively withdrawn and replaced by the hands of labourers as the progress of the whole mass required. By these arrangements, and with this forethought, the figure was conveyed in safety, and without any great labour, to the piazza.

The care of this work was entrusted to Baccio d’Agnolo, and to the elder Antonio da Sangallo, architects to the cathedral, who then proceeded to raise the statue to its pedestal, and by means of other beams and double windlasses they finally placed it securely on its base.

It would not be easy to describe the concourse and multitude which on this occasion held the whole piazza occupied for the space of two days, all hastening to see the Giant so soon as he was uncovered. Many and various were the discourses and opinions then to be heard respecting the work, from all kinds of men, but all these opinions were more or less in censure thereof. There were besides verses, both in Latin and in the mother tongue, affixed around the pedestal, nor could the reader fail to be amused by the witty conceits, the acute remarks, and the ingenious inventions of these, poets. But as these epigrams and satirical effusions finally overstepped all reasonable limits, Duke Alessandro became displeased by the indignity which, as it appeared to him, was thus offered to a public work, and thought himself compelled to put some of the offenders in prison, such of the evil speakers, that is to say, as, in total disregard of all consideration, proceeded to affix their reproaches publicly to the statue: a proceeding which soon closed the mouths of the scoffers.

When Baccio came to examine this figure in its allotted place, it appeared to him that the open air was not favourable to its appearance, and made the muscles look too soft and feeble; he therefore caused a new scaffolding to be erected around the work, and going over the whole again with his chisels, he gave increased relief to the muscles in certain parts, thereby imparting more force to the forms than they had previously exhibited. The group being finally given to public view, all who were capable of judging, and who took into account all the difficulties of the work, have agreed in considering it to display very careful study and to exhibit exact proportion in the various parts; the figure of Cacus more particularly, has ever been held to be admirable in its attitude.

It must also be remembered that the neighbourhood of Michelagnolo's David, deprives the Hercules of Baccio of much praise which it might otherwise have received, being close beside it, and without doubt the most beautiful colossal statue ever sculptured; for in this all is grace and beauty, while the manner of Baccio is entirely different. But considering the Hercules of Bandinelli entirely apart from other works, and judging it by itself, we cannot do otherwise than commend it very highly, and all the more since it has been seen that many sculptors have subsequently attempted the execution of large statues, but none of them have attained to the point reached by Baccio.^[31] Nay, had that artist received from nature an amount of grace and facility equal to the labour and pains which he was ever ready to impose on himself, he would certainly have been entirely perfect in the art of the sculptor.^[32] Desiring to know what was said, of his labours, Bandinelli sent a pedagogue whom he kept in his family, to the Piazza; begging him to repeat the exact truth of all that he might hear. The tutor, hearing nothing but censure, returned very sorrowfully home, and being questioned by Baccio, replied, “that all were complaining of the Giants with one voice, and that they pleased no one.” “And yourself, what do you say of them?” inquired Baccio. “I speak well of them, and am willing to say that they please me, at your service.” “But I will not have them please you,” retorted Baccio, “and do you speak as ill of them as others do, for, as you know, I never speak well of any one, therefore we are quits.”

Thus Baccio concealed his displeasure, as it was always his custom to do, affecting not to regard the censure of any man whatever; but we may reasonably conclude that he must have been very much dissatisfied nevertheless. All who labour for honour, but obtain censure only, must needs, as we cannot but suppose, be secretly afflicted at heart, however unjust or unworthy may be the blame thus incurred, they cannot but feel aggrieved by the same. One consolation Baccio had in his regret, the possession of a little estate, namely, which the Pope caused to be presented to him over and above the stipulated payment for his work; and this gift was doubly acceptable to the sculptor, first, because the revenue thereof was useful to him; and next, because it was near to his villa of Pinzerimonte, and had previously belonged to his deadly enemy, Rignadori, who was at that time in rebellion, and with whom he had constantly lived in mortal strife on account of the disputed limits of that estate.

At this time Prince Doria wrote to the Duke Alessandro, requesting him to see that Baccio at once bethought himself of completing his Statue, since the colossal figures for the Piazza were now finished, and threatening to avenge himself on Baccio if the latter did not perform his duty. This terrified the artist so much that he dared not trust himself at Carrara, but at length, being assured of his safety by Cardi- nal Cibo and the Duke Alessandro, be repaired thither, and labouring there with certain assistants, he brought the figure to a state of considerable forwardness. The Prince inquired daily as to the progress made in that work, and being informed that it did not seem likely to exhibit the degree of excellence which he had been promised, he gave Baccio to understand that if he did not serve him well, he should know how to find the means of taking vengeance. Hearing this, Bandinelli spoke with much disrespect of Prince Doria, and that circumstance reaching the ears of his Excellency, he resolved to get the sculptor into his hands by one means or another. But Bandinelli, seeing that spies were around him watching his proceedings, became suspicious of their intentions, and being a prompt and prudent person, he left the work as it was and returned to Florence.

About that period there was born a son to our artist, the mother being a woman who dwelt with Baccio in his house.

To this child the father gave the name of Clement, in memory of Pope Clement VII., by whom he had himself been always favoured, and who had just then departed this life.

After the death of that Pontiff, Baccio heard that Ippolito Cardinal de’ Medici, Innocenzio Cardinal Cibo, Giovanni Cardinal Salviati, and Xiccolo Cardinal Ridolfi, with Messer Baldassari Turini of Pescia, were about to give commissions for the sepulchral monuments in marble which were to be erected in the church of the Minerva, for Popes Leo X. and Clement VII.; now for these Bandinelli had himself prepared the models, but they had since promised to the Ferrarese sculptor, Alfonso Lombardi, by the intervention of Cardinal de’ Medici, whose servant Lombardi was. By the advice of Michelagnolo, Alfonso had changed the manner of the tombs, and had already prepared models for them, although he had no written contract for the same, his trust being wholly in certain verbal agreements: he was now making preparation for his departure to Carrara, there to have the necessary marbles excavated. But while Alfonso thus permitted the time to steal on, it chanced that the Cardinal Ippclito died of poison, being then on his way to meet the Emperor Charles V.^[33]

Learning this event, Baccio suffered no time to intervene, but hastened instantly to Rome, where he first repaired to Madonna Lucrezia Salviati de’ Medici, the sister of Pope Leo, whom he made potent efforts to convince that none could do greater honour to the remains of those illustrious Pontiffs than would be rendered by his own ability, declaring at the same time that the sculptor Alfonso was destitute of powers in drawing, had no practice, and possessed no judgment in the qualities of marbles; he added moreover, that Lombardi would never be capable of conducting so important an undertaking to conclusion without the aid of others. Many other engines were also put in motion, and by various methods and proceedings Bandinelli found means to change the purpose of those nobles, who finally gave it in charge to Cardinal Salviati to make an agreement with the artist for the work.

The Emperor Charles Y. had arrived in Naples about this time, and Filippo Strozzi, with Anton Francesco degli Albezzi, and many other exiles, were contriving, with Cardinal Salviati, to find some means for proceeding to set the Emperor against the Duke Alessandro, and to this end they were with the Cardinal at all hours. Now it chanced that Baccio was likewise constantly in attendance about the halls and chambers of the Cardinal’s abode, waiting all day in the expectation of concluding his contract for the sepulchral monuments; and these Signori, finding Baccio morning and evening in the Cardinal’s palace, began to suspect that he was there to watch their movements, of which he might then give intelligence to Duke Alessandro; some of the younger among them therefore determined to follow him secretly some evening and rid themselves of his presence.

But Fortune came to his aid at the critical moment, and caused that the other two Cardinals should undertake with Messer Baldassare da Pescia to conclude the agreement with Baccio.^[34] They knew that he was but slightly acquainted with architecture, and had therefore commanded Antonio da Sangallo to prepare a design, which he did to their satisfaction, when it was further ordered that all the stone-cutters’ work to be executed in marble, should be accomplished by the sculptor Lorenzetto, but that Baccio should undertake the marble statues and stories in relief. Having arranged matters in this manner, therefore, they finally made their contract with Bandinelli, who, thus appeared no more about the Cardinal Salviati, but having withdrawn himself in time, the exiled nobles, no longer reminded of their suspicions in relation to him, concerned themselves about his movements no more.

After these things Baccio proceeded to make two models in wood, with the required statues and stories in wax. The basements of these models were solid and without ressaults, and on each base he raised four fluted columns of the Ionic Order, these columns dividing the space into three compartments, a larger one in the centre namely, with a smaller on each side, in the central compartment of each tomb was then jilaced the seated figure of a Pontiff in papal robes, and in each of the spaces at the sides was a figure four braccia high, standing upright; these figures represent saints, and stood one on each side of the two popes.

The form presented by the whole composition was that of a triumphal arch; and above the columns supporting the cornice was a mezzo-rilievo in marble, four braccia high by four and a half broad, presenting the story of Pope Leo, holding conference with King Francis in Bologna, and this was placed above the statue of Pope Leo, on each side of which stood the figures of San Pietro and San Paolo, placed within the niches or spaces above-mentioned. Together with the conference of Leo and Francis were also two other historical representations, the one above San Pietro, and showing that saint raising the dead to life; the other exhibiting St. Paul preaching to the people, and erected over the statue of that apostle. The central relief placed above the statue of Pope Clement, and which corresponded to that over the figure of Pope Leo, represented the first-mentioned Pontiff crowning the Emperor Charles at Bologna, and in the two smaller rilievi near it, are St. John the Baptist preaching in the Wilderness, and St. John the Evangelist restoring Drusiana from the dead. In the niches beneath are figures of the two saints above named, each four braccia high, standing one on each side of the seated statue of Pope Clement, as do St. Peter and St. Paul on each side of that of Pope Leo.

In this work Baccio displayed either too little religion or too much adulation, or both together, seeing that he has placed men who are deified,^[35] the first founders of our religion—after Christ himself—and most especially beloved by God, beneath our Popes, to whom he makes them yield the first place; giving them positions unworthy of them, as being inferior to those held by Leo and Clement: a mode of proceeding, which as it must be displeasing to God and the saints, so this his design cannot be pleasing to the Popes or other men, since, as it appears to me, religion—I mean our own, which is the true religion—ought to be placed before all other considerations, and held superior to every other respect by all men. I think also that when we propose to do honour to any man, whomsoever it may be, we ought to restrict and moderate our expressions, restraining them within certain limits, to the end that the intended praise and honour may not become degraded to another purpose,—I mean to say, the base one of flattery, which first disgraces the person offering it, and next does wrong to him for whom it is intended; nor, if the latter have right feeling, can he be pleased therewith, but on the contrary feel offended.

Baccio Bandinelli therefore, by doing as I have described above, made known to all perhaps that he had much devotion in his heart towards the Popes, but very little judgment as to the proper means of exalting and doing honour to those Pontiffs in their sepulchres.

The above mentioned models were taken by the sculptor to Monte Cavallo, where is the garden of Cardinal Pidolfi at Sant’ Agata, and where the Prelate was that evening entertaining the Cardinals Cibo, Salviati, and Messer Baldassare da Pescia at supper, they having all assembled there for the purpose of coming to a conclusion, as respected the manner to be observed in the sepulchral monuments. While they were thus at table, there arrived the sculptor Solosmeo, an amusing and free-spoken man, who was much in the habit of declaring his mind of all persons, and was but little disposed to be friendly with Baccio. The message of his arrival being brought, and when Cardinal Ridolfi had given orders for his admission, he turned to Baccio and said, “I wish that we should hear what Solosmeo will say respecting the contract that we have made for these monuments, wherefore do you, Baccio, lift up yon curtain and stand behind it.

Baccio instantly obeyed and Solosmeo entered, when, being presented with wine, and beginning to drink, the conversation was immediately turned on the monuments, and on the fact that the execution thereof had been confided to Bandinelli; Solosmeo instantly reproached the Cardinals for the bad choice they had made, following up his remarks with much evil speaking against Baccio whom he accused of ignorance in his art, as well as of arrogance and avarice, entering meanwhile into very minute particulars in support of his assertions. But Baccio, who stood concealed behind the curtain, could not suffer Solosmeo to finish his speech; rushing forth, therefore, much enraged, and with an enflamed countenance, he exclaimed to Solosmeo, “What have I done to you, that you speak of me with so little respect? ” Astounded at the appearance of Baccio, Solosmeo turned to Ridolfi and said, “What kind of tricks are these, my Lords? I will have nothing more to do with priests,” and turning about he went his way. All this made the Cardinals laugh heartily, and they amused themselves at the expense of both artists, but Solosmeo had remarked to Baccio as he departed, “You know now what is the opinion of your confreres in the art, and you have but to let your work be such as shall show them to be in the wrong.”^[36]

In due time Bandinelli commenced the monuments, but neither in the statues nor the stories did he acquit himself according to the promises which he had given, nor according to the duty which he owed to those Pontiffs; giving very little care to any part of the work, and leaving the whole incomplete and with numerous defects: because he was more solicitous about receiving the money than about the labours that should have been performed on the marble. It came to pass, therefore, that the cardinals, becoming aware of his mode of proceeding, repented them of what they had done, and since the two principal pieces of marble, those for the seated figures of the Popes namely, still remained untouched, they begged Baccio to do somewhat better in those statues, requesting him at the same time to get forward with and complete the work.

But as Baccio had meanwhile received all the money for the whole undertaking, he now entered into negotiations with Messer Giovan Battista da Ricasoli, Bishop of Cortona,^[37] who wras then in Rome on affairs committed to his care by Duke Cosimo, to leave Rome and go to Florence, where he washed to be received into the service of Duke Cosimo, whom he would fain have employ him for the fountains of his villa at Castello, and for the tomb of his father the Signor Giovanni.^[38] To this the Duke replying that Baccio might come, the sculptor set off at once to Florence without saying a word of his intention, leaving the monuments unfinished, and the two statues in the hands of two assistants.^[39] Finding what was done, the Cardinals then gave commissions for those figures to two sculptors then in Rome, confiding that of Leo to Raffaello da Montelupo, and that of Clement to Giovanni di Baccio; they commanded, furthermore, that such hewn stone and other parts of the work as were ready should be put together and the monuments erected; but the statues and stories were in many parts not complete and left unpolished, insomuch that they brought Baccio more censure than fame.^[40]

Arrived in Florence, Baccio found that the sculptor Tribolo had been despatched to Carrara to procure the marbles required for the fountains of Castello, as well as for the sepulchral monument of the Signor Giovanni; but he gave himself no rest until he had prevailed on the Duke to take these works from the hands of Tribolo, declaring to his Excellency that there were marbles enough already in Florence for the greater part of those undertakings; and thus by degrees he contrived to render himself so acceptable to the Duke, and so completely to obtain his confidence, that this circumstance and the haughtiness he displayed, caused every one to be afraid of him. He proposed to Duke Cosimo that the monument of Signor Giovanni should be constructed in the church of San Lorenzo, and in the chapel of the Neroni, a narrow, confined, and mean place; not being capable of conceiving, or not choosing to propose, that a chapel should be constructed expressly for that monument, as would best have befitted so great a prince. Baccio also managed to persuade the Duke that he should demand from Michelagnolo certain pieces of marble which the latter had in Florence, when he in his turn obtained them from the Duke; now among these marbles were some which Michelagnolo had sketched, and a statue which he had brought to a considerable degree of forwardness; but of all these Baccio took possession, portioning out and cutting up all he could find, believing that in this manner he was avenging himself on Michelagnolo, and doing him displeasure.

In the same apartment of San Lorenzo, wherein Michelangelo was accustomed to labour, Bandinelli moreover found a block wherein two statues were partly executed by the sculptor Fra Giovanagnolo,^[41] to whom the Duke had confided that group, the subject whereof was Hercules strangling Antaeus; and Fra Giovan Agnolo had made considerable progress with the same. But Baccio now persuaded Duke Cosimo that the Frate was spoiling the piece of marble, which Baccio therefore broke into several pieces.

But to return to the sepulchral monument. Bandinelli ultimately constructed the basement of the tomb, to which he gave the form of a square, of about four braccia on every side, making it entirely isolated. The lowermost part is a socle, with the mouldings usual to a basement, and with a cornice to the upper part, such as is ordinarily seen on pedestals; above this is an ornament after the manner of an inverted frieze, the height whereof is three quarters of a braccia, and on this are carved the skulls of horses bound one to another by draperies: then follows a smaller dado, whereon there is a seated statue four braccia and a half high, armed in the ancient fashion, and holding the baton of a commander in the hand, which last was to represent the person of the invincible Giovanni de’ Medici. This statue was commenced by Bandinelli in a block of marble, and was brought to some degree of forwardness, but was never completed, nor placed on the basement prepared for its reception.^[42]

It is true that on the front of the pedestal he did finish a story in marble, wherein he represented the said Giovanni in mezzo-rilievo. He is in a seated position, and is surrounded by numerous figures of Captives who are brought before him, soldiers, that is to say, and women with dishevelled hair, as well as many nude figures; but the story is wholly destitute of invention, nor can it be said to produce a good effect in any part.^[43] At the end of this relief is a figure bearing a living pig on his shoulders, which is said to have been made for Messer Baldassare da Pescia, whom Baccio meant thereby to turn into derision, holding Messer Baldassare to be his enemy, because the latter had given the commission for the statues of Leo and Clement to other sculptors, as we have related above; besides that he had so proceeded in Pome as to compel from Bandinelli the restitution of the surplus moneys which he had received beforehand for those statues and figures: which restitution Baccio did not make without great inconvenience to himself.

Meanwhile Baccio was thinking of nothing but how to convince Duke Cosimo of the great extent to which the memory of the ancients had been maintained and their glories perpetuated by the statues and buildings which they had caused to be erected, and was constantly saying that his Excellency should seek to found some memorial whereby himself and his actions should in like manner be made known and immortalized to all future times. And this he did because, having brought the monument of the Signor Giovanni near to its conclusion, he was considering how he might best proceed to make Duke Cosimo begin another great and expensive work, which should take a long time to execute. Now the Duke had ceased to inhabit the Palazzo de’ Medici, and had returned with his court to occupy the palace of the Piazza, which had formerly been held by the Signoria. This last he was now therefore daily adorning and re-arranging, and having said to Baccio that he would willingly erect a public audience-chamber, as well for the reception of foreign ambassadors as for the convenience of his own citizens and the subjects of the state, Bandinelli, taking council with Giuliano di Baccio d’Agnolo, began contriving how the Duke might be persuaded' into permitting the formation of an ornamental compartment in the hall itself, to be constructed in hewn stone and marbles, the erection to be thirty braccia wide and eighteen high. This they proposed to make serve for the audience-chamber, and would have it constructed in the great hall, as we have said, at that end namely which looks towards the north.

To the audience-chamber thus erected, they proposed to give a platform fourteen braccia wide, the ascent to which should be by seven broad steps, and the front whereof was to be closed by means of a balustrade, leaving open the centre only, where the entrance was to be. At the end of the hall were then to be made three large arches, two of which were to serve as windows, and were to be divided by four columns, two of cut stone and two of marble for each; over these was to be another arch of a round form, decorated with a frieze and range of corbels; and these were to constitute the ornament of the external façade of the palace, as well as of the interior of the hall. But the middle arch, which was not a window but a niche, was to be accompanied by two similar niches, which were to be formed at the two ends of the audience-chamber, the one to the east, and the other to the west that is to say, and each adorned with four Corinthian columns ten braccia high, and with a projecting cornice.

The middle wall was to be furnished with four pillars, placed between the arches, and forming the support of the architrave, frieze, and cornice, which passed entirely around, above the arches that is to say, as well as above the columns intervening between them. Between these pillars there was to be left a space of three braccia, or thereabout, and in each of these spaces was to be formed a niche four braccia and a half high, within which it was proposed to erect statues; these niches being intended to serve by way of accompaniment to the large one of the centre, and the two on the sides before alluded to: in each niche were to be erected three statues.

Now, it was the purpose of Baccio and Giuliano not only thus to adorn the interior, but also to execute a much more extensive and very costly series of ornaments for the external front. By this the Hall, which is awry and out of square, was to be rendered perfectly true on the outer side; and entirely around the walls of the Palazzo Vecchio there was to be formed a ressault of six braccia, with a range of columns fourteen braccia high, whereon there were to be erected arches with other columns, forming a Loggia in the lower part (where the ringhiera, or platform, and the colossal figures are, that is to say), while in the upper part there was to be another division by pillars, between which were to be formed arches in the same manner, and these were to pass entirely around the windows of the Palazzo Vecchio, constituting a kind of façade, which should encircle the whole of the palace: there was moreover to be constructed another range of arches and pillars above those described, in the manner of a theatre, and finally, came the balustrade of the palace, which was to form a sort of cornice to the entire edifice.

But knowing well that this was a work of vast expense, Baccio and Giuliano consulted together, and agreed that their whole plan should not be made known at once to the Duke; with whom they spoke only of the decorations for the Chamber of Audience, to be made within the Hall, and of the exterior façade, to be constructed of hewn stone on the side towards the Piazza, the length required being twenty-four braccia, seeing that such was the width of the Hall. Designs and plans for thus much of the work proposed, were prepared by Giuliano accordingly; and Baccio, taking these in his hand, then went to speak with the Duke, to whom he showed that it was his purpose to place seated statues in marble four braccia high, on pedestals within the larger niches of the sides: Leo X. namely, represented as restoring peace to Italy; and Clement VII., crowning the Emperor Charles V., with two other statues within smaller niches, to be placed inside the larger ones, these last to stand on either hand of the Popes, and intended to signify the virtues possessed by those Pontiffs and exhibited in their actions. On the central wall, moreover, and in the niches of four braccia high, Baccio next told the Duke that he proposed to place statues of the Signor Giovanni, the Duke Alessandro, and the Duke Cosimo himself, with many other decorations and various fanciful ornaments in carved work, to say nothing of a pavement formed entirely of different and vari-coloured marbles.

The Duke was much pleased with this plan, and saw very clearly that an occasion was hereby presented whereby the whole body of the Hall might in time be brought into order, as in effect was done, by the completion of the ceiling, and by the many other decorations since added, and which have rendered it the most beautiful hall of Italy. The desire of the Duke that this work should be performed was indeed so strong that he assigned such a sum of money as Baccio required and was pleased to name, to be weekly paid for the execution thereof.

A commencement was made accordingly, the stones to be hewn being excavated and carved to make the necessary ornaments for the bases, columns, and cornices, Baccio requiring that all should be done by the stone-cutters belonging to Santa Maria del Piore, and these works were certainly carried forward by those masters with great assiduity. L Baccio and Giuliano, therefore, had been equally diligent, the whole of the stone-work might have been finished and erected with great promptitude; but as Baccio thought only of having statues roughly hewn, of which he brought very few to completion, and of causing himself to be paid the stipend, which the Duke counted to him every month, besides paying him for his assistants, and for every sort of outlay however small, which he made on that account, the business made but slow progress: for one of the marble statues which he did complete, for example, Duke Cosimo paid Baccio five hundred crowns, so that there could he no very fair prospect that a work thus remunerated should be speedily brought to an end.

Now, if with all this, Baccio and Giuliano, employed as they were for a work of so much importance, had at least brought the head of that Hall into the true square, as they very well might have done, there would have been some good effected; but of the eight braccia, to which extent the structure was awry, they did not rectify the half, leaving much of their work thereby out of proportion; as, for example, the niche of the centre, with the two principal ones of the sides, which have a stunted look, while the members of the cornices appear to be too slight for so large a building; if, moreover, they had carried the columns to a greater height, as they very easily could have done, they would have imparted an air of more grandeur, better manner, and richer invention to the whole work: had they done these things indeed, and had they raised the last cornice to the level of the old ceiling, they would have displayed more ability and judgment, nor would so great a labour have been expended in vain, or so large an amount of money squandered inconsiderately, as it was afterwards found to have been by those to whom it appertained to set all in order and to finish the whole undertaking, as will be related hereafter.^[44]

Nor, in despite of all the pains taken and all the labours endured at a later period, does the observer fail to perceive numerous defects and errors in the entrance to this fabric, as wTell as in the disproportions and inequalities of the niches in the side walls: it has, indeed, been necessary to change the form of some parts entirely, but whatever might be done, it has not been found possible, without totally demolishing the whole, to remedy the defect of the walls being out of square, or to prevent this fault from being apparent, both in the floor and ceiling. It is true that much labour and pains must have been given before the work could have been arranged as Baccio and Giuliano have placed it, and as it now stands; nor is it to be denied that they merit commendation for those portions of the masonry which are executed with the Calandrino, and which recede at a sharp angle, on account of the wall being awry, and because of the consequent irregularity in the direction of the Hall. Nothing can be done more perfectly indeed, as regards the masonry, which is admirably put together, and shows great care.

But the whole work would have succeeded much better if Baccio, who never would be persuaded to take the requirements of architecture into account, had called to his aid a more enlightened judgment than that of Giuliano, who, though he was a good master in wood-work, and had some knowledge of architecture, was yet not equal, as the event proved, to the demands of such a work as that in question. Wherefore, in all the many years that this fabric was proceeding by slow degrees, there was but little more than one half of it erected. It is true that in the smaller niches of the front wall, Baccio did place the statue of the Signor Giovanni, with that of Duke Alessandro, both finished;^[45] he also fixed the statue of Pope Clement VII.^[46] on a pedestal in the large niche, and completed the statue of the Duke Cosimo likewise; but with respect to this last statue, it is to be remarked that Baccio gave himself considerable labour and took especial pains with the head; but the Duke and the men of his court declared, nevertheless, that it did not in the least resemble his Excellency.

Bandinelli had previously executed a bust of the Duke in marble, which is now in one of the upper rooms of the same palace; this was one of the best heads that Baccio overproduced, and stood admirably; wherefore he now excused himself, and sought to shelter the defects of the present work beneath the excellencies of the past. But hearing that every one censured the head of the statue, he one day struck it off in anger, intending to execute another, and fix it on the statue in place of that broken, but this purpose he never accomplished.

It was the custom of Baccio Bandinelli to join large and small pieces of marble together in the figures which he executed, not regarding the trouble occasioned by doing so, and making light thereof; he did this with one of the heads of the Cerberus in the group of the Orpheus; and to the San Piero, which is in Santa Maria del Fiore, he joined on a piece of the drapery. In the Griant of the Piazza, Baccio likewise made two of these joinings, as may be seen, putting a shoulder and a foot to the figure of Cacus, to say nothing of many other works, wherein he did the same thing, but these are proceedings which are much condemned by sculptors.

Having finished the statues here named, Baccio set hand to that of Pope Leo X., also for this work, and with that he made considerable progress. But as he now saw that the work was a very long one, and that he should never be able to bring his first design, in respect to the façades to be constructed entirely around the Palace, to bear, seeing too that a great sum of money and much time had been already spent, while the work was nevertheless not half finished, and gave but little satisfaction to the community, he began to project other undertakings, and did his utmost to lead the Duke away from his purpose as regarded the palace, the rather as it appeared to him that his Excellency was become weary of that work and took little pleasure in it.

Having made many enemies therefore in the house of the wardens of works, where he claimed to govern all, and where he had offended the Proveditores as well as the builders, stone-cutters, and every one else, treating all the statues executed there, for the purpose of being placed in the audiencechamber, entirely after his own fashion, those finished and set up as well as those which were but sketched, he began to suggest to the Duke, by way of concealing the many defects committed, and making gradual preparation for the ultimate abandonment of the whole work, that the Administration of Works to Santa Maria del Fiore was but throwing away his money, and no longer did any thing that was of the least value.^[47] He added that, things being thus, he had been considering how much better it would be for his Excellency to spare all the expenses so uselessly caused by the Administration, and employ the whole sum in the construction of the octagonal choir of the church, and in the ornaments required for the altar: or to use those moneys for the embellishment of the stairs, the seats for the Duke, and the magistracy,. and the stalls for the canons, chaplains, and clerks required in the choir, all which he said ought to be executed in a manner worthy of so important a building.

Now in respect to this choir, Filippo di Ser Brunellesco had left the model of that simple frame-work of wood, which first served as the choir of the church, intending that it should be ultimately constructed of marble, in the same form, but with a richer and more elaborate decoration. Baccio therefore perceived clearly that, if he could prevail on the Duke to complete this choir, it would furnish him with occasion for executing many statues and stories in marble and bronze for the high altar as well as around the whole choir, to say nothing of the two pulpits which were to be of marble; he furthermore considered that on the external side of the choir there might likewise be placed various historical representations in bronze, inserted within the ornamental frame-work of marble, forming the basement on all the eight faces of the choir. Above this basement, moreover, Baccio intended to erect a range of columns and pilasters, which were to support the cornices all round, with four arches, one directed towards each aisle and transept, divided according to the cross-aisles of the church, the principal entrance to the choir being one of these arches, and being opposite to that of the high altar, while two others, standing one on the left and one on the right hand, were to receive beneath them the two pulpits. Lastly, Baccio designed to raise a gallery above the cornice and round the eight walls, which gallery was to be surmounted by a range of chandeliers, to the end that the choir might be in a manner crowned with lights at fixed times and on certain occasions, as had ever been the custom while the model in wood erected by Brunellesco was still there.

Placing all these things before the Duke, Baccio assured his Excellency that the revenues of the Administration of Works, that of Santa Maria del Fiore namely, and of the Superintendents of Works to that cathedral, with the sums to be expected from his own liberality, would suffice in a short time to adorn that temple most richly; thus adding infinite grandeur and magnificence to the building, and by consequence to the whole city, of which Santa Maria del Fiore was the principal church: the Duke also, as he furthermore urged, would leave a perpetual and most honourable memorial of himself in such a fabric. Nor did Baccio fail to remark in addition to all this, that his Excellency would thus afford to himself (Bandinelli,) an occasion for the execution of many beautiful and excellent works, giving him thereby the opportunity of labouring in such sort as to prove his abilities, by which means he might acquire name and fame to after ages; a thing which ought to be dear and interesting to his Excellency, seeing that Baccio was his servant and brought up under the house of Medici.

By these discourses and the exhibition of the various designs which he had prepared, Baccio moved the Duke to his wishes, and induced him to give orders that he should make a model for the said choir, his Excellency consenting that such fabric should be constructed. Departing from the Duke therefore, Baccio repaired at once to his architect, Giuliano di Baccio d’ Agnolo, and having conferred with him, they went to the place together, and after examining every part of the edifice carefully, they determined that the form of Filippo’s model should not be departed from, but closely followed at all points; merely adding certain decorations of columns and ressaults, and enriching the whole as much as they could consistently with the maintenance of the original figure and first design.

But it is not by the extent of the additions, nor by the number of the ornaments, that a building is most effectively enriched and embellished; it is by the excellence of these things, even though they be few, provided only that all are arranged in their proper places, and set together with due proportion, and in just measure.

Such as these it is that please and are admired; for having first been executed with the best care and judgment of the artist, they then receive such commendation as they merit from all others.^[48] But this Giuliano and Baccio do not appear to have considered or attended to, seeing that they undertook and set on foot a work of infinite labour and long-enduring pains, but of very little grace, as experience has sufficiently proved. The design of Giuliano, as we perceive, was to erect pilasters at the angles of all the eight sides, and these were to bend around the angles, and the whole work was to be composed in the Ionic Order; but as in the ground plan these pilasters, as well as every other part of the work, required to be diminished towards the centre of the choir, and were not of equal size, they were necessarily made broader on the exterior side of the fabric, while they were narrowed within. This has the effect of distorting the proportions, and as the pilaster is formed in accordance with the angles of the eight sides of the interior wall, it thence becomes so greatly diminished towards the centre that the two columns which stand one on each side of the pilaster cause the latter to appear disproportionately slender, thereby contributing to the ungraceful effect of that portion, as well as every other part of the work, not only as regards the external side of the structure, but as respects the interior also, and this notwithstanding the fact that the measurements are there correct.

Giuliano likewise prepared the model for every part of the altar, which he erected at the distance of a braccio and a half from the marble incrustation of the choir, and for which Bandinelli afterwards modelled a group in wax, representing the Dead Christ accompanied by two Angels, one of whom holds the right arm of the Saviour, and supports his head on one knee, while the other bears the Mysteries of the Passion.* The figure of Christ occupied almost the whole of the altar; insomuch, that there would scarcely have been left room for the celebration of the mass, Baccio proposing to make the statue of about four braccia and a half in height. Behind the altar, and connected by its centre with the same, Baccio likewise erected a pedestal, with a seat or throne, whereon was placed the figure of the Almighty Father in the act of extending his benediction to the people.

This figure, six braccia high, was accompanied by two Angels, each four braccia high, which were placed in a kneeling position at the ^{nota [49]} corners of the gradino or predella, and on a level with the platform whereon rested the feet of the Almighty Father. This gradino was more than a braccio high, and on it were numerous representations, delineating the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, all of which were to be executed in bronze.

At the angles of the predella, then, were the two Angels, both kneeling, as we have said, and each holding a chandelier in his hand. There were besides eight other great chandeliers, three braccia and a half high, and which were placed between the Angels, for the increased decoration of that altar, the figure of the Almighty Father being in the midst of all; and behind that figure was left a space of about half a braccio, to the end that he whose office it was to kindle the lights might ascend to the altar for that purpose.

Beneath the arch which stood opposite to the principal entrance of the choir, and in the centre of the projecting basement, encircling the exterior walls, Baccio had erected a Tree of the Fall, around the trunk of which was entwined the form of the Old Serpent, bearing a human countenance; while beneath the Tree were two nude figures, the one representing Adam, the other Eve.

On the exterior wall of the choir, towards which those figures turned their faces, was a space in the basement of about three braccia in length, and destined to receive a representation, either in marble or bronze, of the Creation of Man; the same to be followed by other delineations, to the number of twenty-one, occupying the entire surface of the basement, and all to be taken from the Old Testament.^[50] For the further enrichment of this basement, moreover, it was intended to place a statue, either nude or draped, and representing some one of the prophets, on the socles whereon the columns and pilasters reposed; and the figures of these prophets Bandinelli had prepared, jwoposing to execute them afterwards in marble:f^[51] 278 LIVES OF THE ARTISTS. a great work beyond all doubt, and a most important opportunity, presenting an admirable occasion for the display of all the art and genius of a perfect master, and cne of whom the memory should never be extinguished. The model of the whole work, with a double series of drawings, which Baccio had made, were shown to the Duke, and these, as well for their number and variety as for their beauty, for Baccio worked boldly in wax and designed extremely well, pleased his Excellency very greatly. He commanded, therefore, that a commencement should be made forthwith in the hewing and preparation of the stone, employing for that purpose all the funds belonging to the Administration of Works, and ordering, moreover, that large quantities of marble should be brought from Carrara.

On his part also Bandinelli began to make a commencement with the statues, and among the first was one of Adam with an arm outstretched, the size of which was about four braccia. This figure was finished by Baccio, but finding it to prove too narrow in the flanks, and somewhat defective in other parts, he changed it into a Bacchus, which he afterwards presented to the Duke, by whom it was retained many years in an apartment of his palace; subsequently, however, and no long time since, that figure was removed to those lowermost chambers which his Excellency uses in the summer, and where it occupies one of the niches.^[52] Bandinelli had likewise prepared a seated figure of Eve, of similar size with that of the Adam, which he half finished; but this figure remained incomplete, on account of the failure of the Adam which it was to have accompanied. Having commenced a second Adam therefore, in a different form and attitude, it became needful that he should change the Eve also; and the first or seated figure he converted into one of Ceres, which he gave to the most illustrious the Duchess Leonora, together with an Apollo; the last being another nude figure, executed by the hand of Baccio Bandinelli. These her Excellency caused to be placed in front of the fish-ponds formed in the Pitti Gardens, and designed by Giorgio Vasari, who likewise directed the construction of the same.^[53] Baccio worked at these two figures of Adam, and Eve with great zeal, expecting to please the artists as well as the whole world by those works, wherein he had given entire satisfaction to himself; he finished and polished them therefore with the utmost care and affection. Having completed them, he then erected the two statues of Adam and Eve in their place; but when they were given to public view they experienced a fortune similar to that of his previous works; they were indeed assailed too cruelly with sonnets and Latin verses, the purport of one even being to the effect that, as Adam and Eve, having polluted Paradise by their sin, had justly merited to be driven thence, so these statues, having cumbered the earth sufficiently, did justly merit to be expelled the church.^[54] It is nevertheless a truth, that the figures are well proportioned, and in many parts very beautiful; for if there be not that grace in these works which some other masters have given to their performances, but which Baccio was not able to impart to his productions, they yet display so much art and excellence of design, that they merit considerable praise.

A gentlewoman who was examining these statues, being asked by certain nobles of her company, what she thought of the same, replied that she could not judge of the Adam; and, when further pressed to say what she thought of the Eve, ultimately answered, that there seemed to her to be two good things in the statue, and which merited commendation, namely, that it was white and firm; thus ingeniously censuring the artist, while she seemed to be giving him praise; seeing that she commended those qualities which are peculiar to the forms of woman, and which were likewise such as belonged of right and verity to the material, but not to the art and knowledge of the artist; in such sort that this ingenious lady did not really commend the master, but in fact expressed an opinion that there was nothing in the statue to deserve praise, unless it were the marble.

Baccio afterwards commenced the figure of the Dead Christ, but this also, not succeeding as he had expected, he left it unfinished after he had brought the work to a considerable degree of forwardness. He then took another piece of marble and began a second figure in a different attitude, nor did he give himself repose until he had completed the same, with the Angel who sustains the head of Christ with his knee, while he holds the arm of the Saviour in one hand. Arrangements were then made for placing that work on the altar, but the group was found to be so large in proportion to the space reserved for it, that no place remained for the priest to perform his ministrations, and although the statue of Christ was a very good one, nay, one of the best ever executed by Bandinelli, the people, priests as well as others, were never weary of speaking ill of it, and not unfrequently carried off pieces of the work.^[55]

Baccio well knew that the public display of an unfinished performance tends to injure the reputation of the artist in the judgment of all those who do not belong to his vocation or do not understand the subject, and have not seen the models thereof; he proceeded to complete the altar therefore, by the addition of a figure representing the Almighty Father, for which a most beautiful piece of marble had been brought from Carrara. This he had already brought to a forward state of advancement, making it partially nude, after the manner of the statues of Jupiter, when, finding that it did not please the Duke, and perceiving himself that there were certain defects in the work, he left it as it was in the house of the Wardens of works, where it still remains.^[56]

Bandinelli concerned himself but little with the strictures of the people, and was much more occupied with the effort to make himself rich and the increase of his possessions: he bought a beautiful estate called the Spinello, on the heights of Fiesole, and in the plain above San Salvi on the bank of the river Affrico, he purchased another, with a very handsome dwelling called the Cantone. He bought a large house in the Via de’ Ginori likewise, a purchase wherein he was assisted by the moneys and favours of the Duke.

But having thus secured his own affairs, Baccio now cared little for work, and would labour but rarely. Nay, although the tomb of the Signor Giovanni was still unfinished, and the audience-chamber of the hall in its commencement, while the choir and the altar were in a very backward state, he was not to be moved by the remarks made concerning these matters, nor did he regard the censures heaped on him on that account. It is true that he did at length cause the altar to be erected, and the marble base whereon the figure of the Almighty Father was to stand, to be prepared; when, having made the model for the figure, he ultimately set hand to the work and having stone-cutters in abundance, he went at last slowly forward therewith.

In those days there came from France Benvenuto Cellini, who had served King Francis in the matter of goldsmiths’ work, a calling in which he was the most renowned artist of his time: he had also prepared certain castings in bronze for the same monarch. Benvenuto having been presented to Duke Cosimo, his Excellency, desiring to promote the beautifying of the city, gave him a very gracious reception, and accorded him many favours. He was furthermore commissioned by the Duke to execute a nude figure in bronze about five braccia high, representing Perseus standing over the nude form of a female, Medusa namely, whose head he has just taken off: this group was to be placed under one of the arches in the Loggie of the piazza.

While Benvenuto was engaged with the Perseus, he executed other works for the Duke, but as the potter is ever envious of the potter, and the sculptor always ready to do wrong to the sculptor, so was Baccio incapable of enduring the sight of the many favours conferred on Benvenuto; it seemed to him also to be a very strange thing that, from being a goldsmith, Cellini should suddenly have become a sculptor, nor could he rightly comprehend by what means Benvenuto, who had hitherto been occupied with medals and small figures, should now be executing colossal statues and giants. Baccio could not conceal his thoughts on this subject, nay, rather he gave them full expression, nor did he fail to find one capable of replying to him, and when Baccio gave Benvenuto certain of his caustic words in the presence of the Duke, the goldsmith, who was no less haughty than himself, would return him all that he had said in full measure. Thus, while conversing on subjects connected with art, or speaking of their own works, each would point out the defects of the other and would frequently utter very offensive remarks to each other in the presence of the Duke, in all which his Excellency found no little amusement, since there was of a truth much spirit and acuteness in these bitter discourses, insomuch that Duke Cosimo gave them free scope and permission to say whatever they pleased to each other in his presence, but with the understanding that neither was to recur to these quarrels when they had gone forth.

This contention, or rather this enmity, caused Baccio to proceed all the more zealously with his figure of the Almighty Father, but the Duke did not show him so much favour as formerly, a circumstance for which Baccio sought to console himself by paying homage to, and devoting himself to the service of, the Duchess. One day among others that the masters were as usual attacking each other, and mutually accusing each other of the errors that both had committed, Benvenuto looked fixedly at Bandinelli, and with threatening gestures exclaimed to him, “Prepare thyself for another world Baccio, for I mean to be myself the means of sending thee out of this.” “Let me know a day beforehand,” retorted Bandinelli, that I may confess and make my will, so as not to die like a brute beast such as thou art.”^[57] Hearing this, the Duke, although he had for many months found diversion in their strife, now bade them hold their peace, fearing lest some evil should ensue; he commanded moreover that each should prepare a half-length figure of the portrait of himself, to be cast in bronze, saying that he who succeeded best would secure all the honour.

In the midst of these turmoils and contentions, Bandinelli completed his figure of the Almighty Father, which he then made arrangements for placing on the base beside the Altar.f^[58] This statue, which is six braccia high, the master draped, erecting and finishing it entirely himself, he then, and to the end that the figure might not remain without fitting accompaniment, caused the sculptor Yincenzio de’ Rossi, his scholar, to come from Rome, determining that all which was then wanting to the altar, and was not finished in marble, should be executed in terra, and employing Yincenzio to assist him in the completion of the two Angels which bear the chandeliers at the corners, as well as in the execution of the greater part of the stories on the predella and in the basement.^[59]

The decorations were in this manner all arranged in their respective places, to the end that the effect which the whole was to have when finished might be seen, and Bandinelli took much pains to prevail on the Duke to go and look at the work, before it should be given to public view. But his Excellency could never be persuaded to go, nay, even though the Duchess, who desired to favour Baccio in this matter, requested him to do so, he would not comply; nor did he ever go to see the work, being displeased that, of so many labours Baccio had never completed any one, although he, the Duke, had enriched that artist and conferred various honours on him as well as done him many favours, to the infinite displeasure of the Florentine citizens. His Excellency was nevertheless disposed to assist and bring forward Clemente, the natural son of Baccio, a youth of considerable promise, and who had made very commendable acquisitions in drawing, the Duke believing that it would eventually rest with him to complete the undertakings of his father.

About this time, which was in the year 1554, the Aretine Giorgio Vasari arrived from Rome, where he had been in the service of Pope Julius III., and having thus returned to Florence, was employed for many works which his Excellency had a wish to see done, more particularly in the restoration of certain edifices, the decoration of the palace on the Piazza, and the construction of the G-reat Hall, as was seen at a later period. In the following year, moreover, Giorgio Vasari caused the sculptor Bartolommeo to coine from Rome, and engaged him in the service of the Duke, to the end that he might execute the other façade, that opposite to the audience-chamber, commenced by Bandinelli namely, with the fountain which was to be constructed in the centre thereof; when a certain part of the statues which were to be erected there was at once begun.

When Baccio perceived that the Duke would no longer accept his services, but was employing others, he was much displeased and grieved; he had indeed become so fanciful and eccentric, that neither in the house nor out of it could any one venture to speak to him. His conduct to his son Clemente was of the most extraordinary kind, since he permitted him to endure every species of suffering; wherefore, the latter, having made a large bust of the Duke in clay, and proposing to execute the same in marble, requested permission from his Excellency to depart and go to Rome, that he might thereby avoid the unreasonable treatment to which his father subjected him. The Duke replied that his favour should not be wanting to him; but Bandinelli, on the contrary, of whom he also requested leave to depart, would do nothing for him, although Clemente had always been of great use to himself in his works; nay, that youth was the right hand of Baccio in all his affairs in Florence, yet the father did not in the least regret his departure, but saw him leave his sight with indifference.

The young man arrived in Rome at an unfavourable season, and whether from too zealous an attention to his studies, or from some other irregularity of life, he died in the same year. He had left a bust of the Duke Cosimo in Florence, which was almost finished; this Bandinelli afterwards placed over the principal door of his house in the Via de’ Ginori, and a very beautiful work it is.^[60] Clemente also left a group of the Dead Christ, supported by Nicodemus, in an advanced state of execution; Nicodemus being the portrait from the life of Baccio himself; these statues, which were tolerably good ones, Bandinelli subsequently placed in the Church of the Servites, as will be related in the proper place.

The death of Clemente was a great loss to Baccio, as well as to art, and this Bandinelli discovered after the life of the youth had departed.

When Baccio gave the Altar of Santa Maria del Fiore to public view, the figure of God the Father was much censured. The altar itself has remained as we have described it above; nor has anything more ever been done to it,^[61] but the works of the choir were continued.

Many years before these things, there had been excavated in Carrara a block of marble of large size, being ten braccia and a half high, and five braccia in width; of which Bandinelli having received intelligence, he posted off to Carrara, and finding the owner thereof, he gave him fifty crowns as earnest money, and having made his bargain returned to Florence. Here he so besieged the Duke, that at length, and by the intervention of the Duchess, lie obtained permission to execute a colossal statue in that block of marble; this figure was to be placed at the corner of the Piazza, whereon the Lion stood, and where there was to be a large fountain constructed, with a copious jet of water: the figure of Neptune in his chariot, drawn by Sea-horses, was proposed as the central ornament, and this Bandinelli was to make from the block of marble above mentioned.

For that figure Baccio made more than one model, which he showed to his Excellency; but the matter went no further, until the year 1559, when the proprietor of the marble, having come from Carrara, required payment of the sum due to him, or in default of that payment, he proposed to break the block into various pieces, and sell it thus; seeing that he had numerous demands for such pieces. The Duke thereupon commanded Giorgio Vasari to see that the marble was paid for; but when, this being heard among those of the Art, it was perceived that Baccio had not obtained absolute possession of the block, Benvenuto, and with him Ammanato, quickly bestirred themselves in the matter, each of them entreating the Duke to permit him to prepare a model in competition with Baccio, and requesting that his Excellency would then be pleased to give the marble to him who should display the highest art in the model.

The Duke did not forbid either of those artists to prepare a model, nor did he deprive them of the hope that he who should acquit himself the best should be the one chosen to execute the work. He knew that Baccio was superior as regarded ability, knowledge, judgment, and the power of design, to any sculptor in his service, provided only that he would labour industriously, and was not displeased with this competition, which he hoped might incite Bandinelli to acquit himself better than he had done, and to produce such a work as he was well able to perform, if he did his best. Baccio therefore, perceiving himself to be beset by this competition, was greatly troubled, and fearing the displeasure of the Duke more than anything besides, he set himself anew to the making of models.

Meanwhile, he was very assiduous in waiting on the Duchess, and so wrought with her, that through her means he obtained permission to proceed to Carrara, for the purpose of having the marble brought to Florence. Arrived there accordingly, he caused the block to be diminished in such sort (as he had previously determined to do), that he reduced it to very mean proportions; thus depriving both himself and others of all opportunity for the production of a truly great and magnificent work of art therefrom, the accomplishment of anything really fine from that block being rendered thenceforth impossible.

Having returned to Florence, there was a long contention between Benvenuto and himself, the former having declared to the Duke that Baccio had spoiled the marble even before he had laid hands on it. But the Duchess nevertheless contrived at length that the block should be given to Bandinelli, and commands were accordingly issued for its transportation from Carrara to the sea shore, the barque which was to bring it up the Arno so far as Signa being also prepared. Baccio likewise caused an enclosed space to be walled about in the Loggia of the piazza, and within this it was his intention to execute his statue.

Meanwhile he had employed himself in the preparation of cartoons from which certain pictures for the decoration of the Pitti Palace were to be painted; and these pictures were to be executed by a youth called Andrea del Minga, who handled the colours with tolerable ability. The subjects of these delineations were the Creation of Adam and Eve, with their Expulsion from Paradise by the Angel; a figure of Noah, and one of Moses with the Tables of the Law.^[62] These works being finished, Bandinelli gave them to the Duchess, whose favour he was anxious to secure, for the sake of the assistance which he obtained therefrom in his various troubles and difficulties. It is indeed true, that if it had not been for that lady, who valued him for his abilities and upheld him accordingly, Baccio would have been totally ruined with the Duke, and must have lost his favour entirely. The Duchess availed herself of his assistance, moreover, in the Bitti garden, where she had caused a grotto to be constructed of tufa and various petrified substances, with a fountain in the midst of it; for this Baccio had commissioned Giovanni Fancelli, his disciple, to execute a large Yase in marble, adorned with Goats the size of life, throwing forth water. He furthermore caused Fancelli to complete a figure for the decoration of a fish-pond, after a model prepared by himself, this last representing a Peasant, employed in pouring water from a large vessel in the form of a cask or barrel.

For all these things the Duchess constantly promoted the interests of Baccio with the Duke, who "was ultimately induced to give that sculptor permission to commence the great model for the Neptune; for which reason Bandinelli once more sent to Rome for Vincenzio de’ Rossi, who had already left Florence, intending that the latter should assist him in that work.

While these matters were in preparation, Baccio took it into his head to complete the statue of Our Saviour, represented as already dead and supported by Nicodemus, which had previously been commenced and brought to an advanced state of forwardness by Clemente his son. And this he did because he had heard that Michelagnolo was finishing a work of somewhat similar kind in Rome. The group of Buonarroto was one of five figures executed in a single block of marble, and had been commenced by the master with the intention of placing it on his own tomb, in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore.^[63] Incited by this spirit of rivalry, Baccio set himself to work at his group with the most earnest care, and so laboured, with the aid of assistants, that he finished this work entirely, and then went about among the principal churches of Florence, seeking for a place whereon lie might erect the same, and there construct himself a sepulchre.

In this search he was long unsuccessful, and could not content himself with any site; but at length resolved on choosing a chapel in the church of the Servites, that belonging to the Pazzi family namely;^[64] when at the request of the Duchess, the proprietors consented to accord Bandinelli a place, but without divesting themselves of their right to the property, or permitting the arms and devices, which were those of their own house, to be disturbed. They did but allow the sculptor to erect a marble altar in the chapel, that is to say, and thereon to place the above-mentioned statues, constructing his own tomb at the foot of that altar. He had furthermore to make an agreement with the monks of the convent, in respect to all other matters connected with the installation of the same.^[65]

Baccio then caused the altar to be erected accordingly, and had the marble pedestal for the reception of the statues duly placed thereon. Now it was his wish to have the bones of his father Michelagnolo, whose remains he had caused to be deposited in that church at his death,—it was his wish, I say, to cause these relics to be placed in that tomb, together with his own mortal spoils, when he should himself depart, and those of his wife. The bones of his father he determined piously to place with his own hands in that final restingplace; but it then happened, that Baccio, either from the sorrow and emotion that he felt in removing those remains of his progenitor, or that he exerted himself too much and endured too heavy a labour in replacing them with his own hands, and in the arrangement of the marbles, or from both these causes acting together, disturbed himself to such a degree that he was taken ill and compelled to retire to his house. Here his malady became daily more serious, and at the end of eight days he died, being then in his seventysecond year, and having up to that time been robust and healthy, without having ever suffered many bodily ailments. He was buried with honourable obsequies, and his remains were placed beside those of his father in the above-named sepulchre, executed, as we have said, by himself, and whereon was inscribed the following epitaph:—

d.o.m.
bacciits bandinell. d1vi jacobi eques
sub hac servatoris imagine
a se expressa cum jacoba donia
uxore quiescit an. s. mdlix.

Bandinelli left sons and daughters, who were the heirs of his large possessions in houses and land, in gold and silver; and to the world he left the works in sculpture by us described, with designs in great numbers, most of which are in the possession of his children, but some of them we have in our book of drawings, and these are so good that better could scarcely be.

After Baccio’s death the contest respecting the block of marble became more eager than ever. Benvenuto being constantly about the Duke respecting it, and considering himself to have the best right to the same, in virtue of a small wax model which he had prepared, and for which he desired that the Duke would give him the block; while Ammannato, as being a sculptor of marbles, and more extensively experienced in such works than Benvenuto, thought that for many reasons the work did more justly appertain to himself.

Now at that time it happened that Giorgio Vasari had to go to Home with the Cardinal, the son of the Duke, at the period of his receiving the Hat namely, when Ammannato gave to the former a small model in wax, according to the fmure which he desired to extract from that marble, with a piece of wood of the exact size in length and width of the marble in question, and of similar shape and inclination to that presented by the block, to the end that Giorgio might take them to Rome, and there show them to Michelagnolo Buonarroti, requesting the latter to give his opinion of the matter, and afterwards to move the Duke to let Ammannato have the marble. All this Giorgio did very willingly, and the Duke was thereby induced to command that an arch of the Loggia in the Piazza should be enclosed, and that Ammannato should there prepare a model as large as the colossal statue was required to be.

Having heard this, Benvenuto rode off in a great fury to Pisa, where the Duke then was, and told his Excellency that he could not endure to behold his own talents trampled under foot by one whom he knew to be inferior to himself; he therefore begged permission to prepare a large model in competition with Ammannato, and in the same place. The Duke who desired to content him, thereupon gave Benvenuto leave to enclose another arch of the Loggia for himself, causing materials at the same time to be given to him, to the end that he might make the large model in emulation of Ammannato, as he desired.^[66]

While these masters were both thus occupied in preparing these models, and that both were keeping their rooms carefully closed, to the end that neither might see what the other was doing, although the enclosures were placed back to back, there rose up the Flemish sculptor Giovan Bologna, a youth of great talent and of spirit, equal to that of either of the others. This last-mentioned artist being attached to the service of the Signor Don Francesco, Prince of Florence, requested permission from his Excellency to make the model of a colossal figure, of size equal to the dimensions of the marble in question. Not that Maestro Giovan Bologna had any expectation of being permitted to execute the statue in marble, but he hoped at least to have an opportunity for the display of his skill, and for showing what he could do; having received the permission of the prince, therefore, he also then commenced his model, which he prepared in the convent of Santa Croce.

Nor would the Perugian sculptor, Yincenzio Danti, remain idle in this competition of masters; younger than any one of the others, he did not concur with them in the hope of obtaining the marble, but merely with the intention of making known his determination and the amount of his ability; he therefore set himself to prepare his model, which he made in the house of Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, and wherein there were many parts of great merit; the size of this work was equal to that of those exhibited by the other artists.

The models being completed, his Excellency the Duke then went to see those of Ammannato and Benvenuto; and preferring the work of the former to that of the latter,^[67] he resolved that Ammannato should have the marble and execute the statue, partly because he was younger than Benvenuto, and had besides more experience in marble-work than had the goldsmith Cellini. The purpose of the Duke was strengthened by Giorgio Vasari, who performed many good offices with his Excellency for Ammannato, because he perceived that the latter, to say nothing of his knowledge, was prompt and patient of labour, for which reason Giorgio hoped that from his hands a good work would be seen to proceed without any long delay.^[68]

The Duke would not at that time examine the model of Maestro Giovan Bologna, for not having yet seen any work in marble from his hand, he did not feel disposed to confide so great an undertaking to one who was to make it his first performance, although he was assured by many artists and others conversant with the subject, that the model of Giovan Bologna was in many respects superior to any of the others. Had Baccio been alive, there would indeed not have been all these contentions among the artists, since it would undoubtedly have appertained to him to have prepared the model of clay, and executed the statue in marble.

But of this work Bandinelii was deprived by death, yet he did not fail to derive much glory from the same, seeing that the preparation of those four models which his own departure had caused to be made, presented clear evidence of his superiority, and showed how much greater had been the knowledge, judgment, and power of design, of him who had placed the Hercules and Cacus almost alive in marble, on the Piazza; for the beauty and excellence of that work were rendered much more fully obvious by the productions which those other masters have executed since Baccio’s death, seeing that these artists, although they have acquitted themselves creditably, have yet not been able to attain to the beauty and excellence which he displayed in his work.^[69]

Seven years after the death of Bandinelii, and on the occasion of the nuptials of the Queen Joanna of Austria, his daughter-in-law, Duke Cosimo caused the audience chamber in the great hall, which had been commenced by the sculptor Baccio, as we have before related, to be finished by Giorgio Vasari; to whom he committed the chief direction and care of that completion, and who has endeavoured with all diligence to correct the many errors and defects, that must have appeared in that structure, if it had been continued and completed in accordance with the first arrangements, those namely which had been made by Baccio Bandinelii: but by the help of God this imperfect work is now brought to conclusion, and is enriched by the addition of niches and statues now duly placed in their respective sites. Where the fabric was awry and out of square, moreover, we have done all that could be effected to bring it into order, and have besides considerably raised the same by means of a corridor of Tuscan columns, which we have erected over it; the statue of Leo X., likewise commenced by Baccio, has been also finished; this last being effected by Vincenzio de’ Bossi, the disciple of Baccio Bandinelii.^[70] The building has likewise been adorned with friezes in stucco, amply decorated with figures both large and small, as also with devices and other ornaments of various kinds: while beneath the niches, and in the compartments of the ceilings, are numerous and beautiful inventions of carved work and stuccoes: all which has enriched the whole work in such a manner that its appearance is entirely changed, and it has gained considerably, both in grace and beauty. And whereas, according to the first design, the audience chamber did not rise beyond the height of eighteen braccia, the roof of the hall being twenty-one, and a space of three braccia being left between them, the roof of the latter has now been raised to such an extent that it stands twelve braccia above its previous height, and fifteen above the audience chamber of Baccio and Giuliano, insomuch that the roof of the hall is now thirty-three braccia high.

Duke Cosimo certainly gave proof of much promptitude of determination, when he formed the resolution to complete this entire work, of which more than one third was still wanting, for the occasion of the above-mentioned wedding, and in the space of five months; although it had taken more than fifteen years to bring it to the condition in which it was then found. His Excellency nevertheless would have it brought to perfection, and did so within the time specified: nay, not only did he cause all that Baccio had commenced to be completed, but he also furthermore commanded Giorgio Vasari to execute a work designed by the latter; whereupon, recommencing from the basement which encircles nearly the whole of the building, Vasari formed a passage or corridor bordered with a balustrade, and from which, in walking around the edifice, you discover the interior of the hall on one side, while you obtain a view of the entire piazza from the other.

By favour of this corridor therefore, the princes and nobles can now commodiously behold whatever spectacles and festivities there may be proceeding in the piazza or the hall, without being seen themselves, to their great enjoyment; and may afterwards withdraw to the apartments, passing at their pleasure by the private or public staircases through all the chambers of the palace.

There are nevertheless many who are dissatisfied, that in a work so great and so beautiful, the building was not rendered true to the square and not a few would have had the whole taken down and rebuilt for that purpose, and to the end that it might be exactly in the square. But it was ultimately decided that it would be most advisable to continue the work as it had been commenced; this determination beingarrived at, partly to avoid appearing presumptuous or malevolent towards Baccio, and partly that we might not seem incapable of discovering and correcting the errors and defects committed by others.

But let us now return to Baccio, and not omit to remark that although his advantages were always perceived and acknowledged even during his life, yet he will be much better known and more earnestly desired, now that he is dead. Nay, much more effectually would all that he was capable of effecting have been acknowledged and appreciated even during his life, if he had received from nature the favour of a more amiable and obliging disposition, but the fact that this was not so, but that he was on the contrary discourteous in action and most rude of speech, deprived him of the good wdll of his contemporaries, and obscured his reputation, causing his talents to be less clearly perceived, and himself to be regarded with prejudiced eyes by the whole people, insomuch that he could never please or satisfy any one. Nay, although attached to the service now of this noble and now of that, and very capable by his knowledge of art, of performing such service effectually, he nevertheless did everything with so bad a grace that there were none who gave him any great thanks for his pains. His constant habit of evil speaking moreover, and of censuring all the works of others, was a cause for which no one could ever endure him; nay, whenever it was in the power of those whom he thus offended to repay him in the like coin, they took care to give him back his own both principal and interest.^[71] Baccio was also much addicted to litigation, and would go to law for all kinds of matters; he lived in a perpetual succession of law-suits in short, and seemed to delight and triumph therein: even before the magistrates he would assail his fellow citizens with the most opprobrious words and without the least respect, for which reason he was compelled to hear the like from them, insomuch that his life was a never-ceasing contention. But since his attainments in the art of design, to which he principally devoted his attention, were so distinguished, and he was in that respect of so much excellence as to counterbalance all his defects of nature, and to prove himself a most extraordinary master in that art, so have we not only enumerated Baccio Bandinelli among the greatest of the artists, but have ever paid the utmost respect to his works, and have laboured, not to destroy but to preserve, to complete, and to do them honour; because it does of a truth appear to us that Baccio was indeed one of those who have merited honourable commendations and ever-during fame.

The mention of his family name we have deferred to the last, but now remark that he was not constantly called by one name; he bore various designations on the contrary, now causing himself to be called De’ Branding now De’ Bandinelli. In his earlier day the name De’ Brandini is seen to follow that of Baccio in the inscriptions on his works engraved in copper-plate; but at a later period it pleased him better to use that of De’ Bandinelli, which last he retained to the last, (and still retains) affirming that his ancestors belonged to the Bandinelli of Siena, who removed long ago from Siena to Gaiuole and from Gaiuole to Florence.

---

1. The father of Leo X., whom Vasari calls the Elder, to distinguish him from Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino.
2. A place in the Val Chianti.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
3. Of whom there has already been mention in the Life of Perino del Vaga.
4. Believed to be the person called Bernardo del Buda, in the Life of Andrea del Sarto, the change of name being considered a mere oversight of the author’s.
5. Sant’ Apoilinare that is to say. The church whence the Piazza took its name is now used for secular purposes.
6. A place near Prato.
7. Now the Cathedral.
8. See the life of that master, vol. ii. p. 73, et seq.
9. Palomino Velasco has written the life of this his compatriot, in his native Spanish, among those of other painters of that nation. Barughetta was a sculptor and architect, as well as painter, he was born near Valladolid, where some of his architectural works are still to be seen, and was much favoured by the Emperor Charles V. See Vidas de los Pintores Espanoles.
10. Vasari has been charged with injustice to Baccio Bandinelli, but the manner in which he here speaks of him sufficiently refutes the charge; and when Vasari elsewhere describes Bandinelli as an envious and malicious person, that is simply because the truth required him to do so.
11. See vol. iii., Life of Andrea del Sarto, p. 198.
12. The figures painted by Lorenzo di Bicci have perished, with one sole exception.
13. Still in the Cathedral, and to the right of the Tribune, called that of San Zanobi.
14. “It would seem,” remarks an Italian commentator, “that Vasari was not acquainted with the whole of these circumstances when he wrote the life of Andrea da Monte Sansovino,” in which there is but slight allusion to Baccio Bandinelli.
15. It was afterwards removed and transported by order of Carlo de* Medici to the Casino di San Marco.
16. The remark of the learned churchman Bottari on the fate of these figures must be given to the reader in his own words, et pour cause, “These two Giants have gone to perdition.”
17. This work bears the following inscription, Baccius invenit. Florentiae, with the cypher, formed of the letters S. R. intertwined.
18. Temp. Hen. VIII., who, as our readers will remember, was a very zealous patron of painting and the arts, as then known, more particularly in the earlier part of his reign. The terms used to describe the works found so acceptable by the monarch do nevertheless not give evidence of any great familiarity with the subject, on the part of his immediate attendants, or indeed of the sovereign himself, since we find pictures on panel designated in this reign, “tables with pictures,” while those on canvas were called, “cloths stained with a picture.” In the Inventory of the Augmentation Office we have certain entries of:—
    “Item. One table with the History of Filius Prodigus.
    “Item. One table with the Picture of the Duchess of Milan, being her whole stature.
    “Item. One table, like a book, with the pictures of the King’s Majesty and Queen Jane.
    “Item. One other table, with the whole stature of my Lord Prince, his Grace, stained upon cloth, with a curtain.
    “Item. One stained cloth, with Phoebus riding in his Cart, in the air, with the history of him respecting this last, an accomplished contemporary very confidently predicts evil consequences to the artist of the present day “who should venture to exalt his godship into such a vehicle.”
    Models in clay were at- this same period called “pictures made of earth,” the Inventory above cited furnishing us with the following instance among others:—“Item. One picture of Moses, made of earth, and set in a box of wood.” See Taylor, Origin and Progress of the Fine Arts, &c.
19. Our readers will remember that this precious work had not then been known to the world of art for more than a few years, having been discovered in the Baths of Titus, in the year 1506.
20. A print in wood engraving, attributed, but with slight ground only, to Titian, appeared at the time in ridicule of this vaunt, and represented a group of Apes in the attitude of that of the Laocoon.
21. This group also was subsequently transported to the Casino of San Marco, whence it was transferred to the Public Gallery of the Uffizj, where it still remains; in the western corridor namely.
22. See the Life of Marcantonio, vol. iii. p. 504, et seq.
23. The fate of this work is not known.— Bottari.
24. Manni, Sui sigilli antichi, tom. i. p. 38, informs us that the figure of Hercules was engraved on the seal of the Florentine Republic.
25. The ultimate fate of this model is not known.
26. The author of these lines, which are in Latin, was Giovanni Negretti; they will be found in the Viaggi per la Toscana of Giovanni Targioni, tom. ii. p. 42, Florence, 1768. See also Piacenza’s additions to Baldinucci.
27. The greater part of the bronzes described as belonging to the Study of Duke Cosimo are now in the Public Gallery, where both the ancient and modem specimens have been separately deposited.
28. Of this artist some mention has been made in the Life of Alfonso Lombardi, and he is further named in that of Francesco Salviati.
29. Gaye, Carteggio inedito, quotes a letter from Bandinelli to Niccolò Capponi, wherein the former gives evidence of the vexation caused to him by this command.
30. Andrea Doria, the renowned admiral of Charles V.
31. It is impossible to refuse the praise of impartiality to Vasari, whose disapprobation of Bandinelli as a man is never concealed, but who constantly does justice to the artist, even when inflicting due censure.
32. Bottari remarks that a cast of the head and neck of Cacus, which all authorities consider admirably well set together, having been sent to Michael Angelo, that master admitted the beauty of that part, but remarked that he would like to see the remainder, in a manner which made it obvious that he meant to imply his doubt of the other parts corresponding in beauty with that before him.
33. See the Life of Alfonso Lombardi, vol. iii.
34. Gaye, Carteggio inedito d’ Artisti, informs us, from a letter written by Baldassare da Pescia to Cosimo I., that Bandinelli received a sum of 1800 crowns for this work, which he never completed.
35. Canonized, that is to say.— Bottari.
36. Solosmeo has been enumerated among the disciples of Andrea del Sarto. He was a friend of Benvenuto Cellini, whom he accompanied in his flight to Naples.
37. Ricasoli, called here the Bishop of Cortona, is, in the Life of Tribolo, called Bishop of Pistoja, as he was, until translated to the first-named see in the year 1560.
38. Giovanni d'invitto, Commander of the Bande Nere.
39. For various details respecting the execution of these monuments, see Gaye, Carteggio inedito.
40. The monuments are still to be seen in the choir of the Church of the Minerva in Rome.
41. Fra Giovan Angelo Montorsoli, whose life follows.
42. It was erected in the Great Hall of the Palazzo Vecchio, where it still remains, and where there is another statue of the same Commander, also by Bandinelli, of which we have mention a little below.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
43. Cicognara, Storia della Scultura Moderna, gives a plate of this relief, which he considers Vasari to have underrated, his censures being properly applicable to certain parts of the work only. Cicognara instances the figure of the woman dragged forcibly along by a soldier, and which, as he justly remarks, is most admirable for the force and truth of its expression. He concludes by declaring, that <e although the work as a whole is not without defects, it must nevertheless be enumerated among the good productions of that age, and if it were equal in all its parts, might even be considered perfect.” Another commentator of as much impartiality as Cicognara, if not of equal judgment, declares that the latter has formed a more correct estimate of Bandinelli’s work than either Vasari or Bottari; the first having said too little, and the last, who declares the work to approach the antique, too much.” The tomb in question was never erected in San Lorenzo, but the pedestal may be seen at the angle of the Piazza on which that church stands.
44. “It devolved on Vasari himself,” remarks Bottari, “to complete the architectural embellishments, as well as to add the paintings of the whole of this Hall.”
45. They are still in the niches beside the large recess, wherein is the statue of Leo X., commenced by Bandinelli, but completed after his death by Vincenzio Rossi. —Masselli.
46. The figure of Clement in the act of crowning Charles V. is not in the principal recess, but in one of the lateral niches. —Ibid.
47. The extent of the confidence placed at this time in Bandinelli by the Duke may be gathered from Gaye, Carteggio inedito, tom. ii. p. 498, where he cites the Deliberazioni dell'Opera, 1529—1542, and quotes a decree addressed to the Administration, dated 24th November, 1540.
48. “An admirable remark,” observes one of the compatriots of our author, “and well worthy of the excellent architect which the works of cur Vasari have amply proved him to have been.”
49. Few of our readers will need to be reminded that the objects thus designated by the Catholic Church, consist of the implements used in the Crucifixion, the spear, nails, sponge, &c., &c.
50. These works were never executed, and the spaces were afterwards covered with plain marble.— Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
51. Cicognara speaks very highly of these figures, which were executed in low relief, and of which two plates will be found in the Storia della Scultura Moderna. They are also engraved in outline by Lasinio in La Metropolitana Fiorentina illustrata. They were engraved at Naples likewise in the last century by Filippo Morghen and his scholars, six of them being executed by the celebrated son of Filippo, Raphael Morghen, then a child of eleven years old. See Niccolò Palmerini, Catalogo delle Opere d'Intaglio di Raffaello Morghen. The Roman sculptor, Cavaceppi,and the painter, Raphael Mengs, caused these reliefs to be cast in plaster.
52. The present locality of this work is not known.
53. These figures are now in the Boboli Gardens.
54. They were removed in 1722, but not on account of their demerits, the cause being simply that undraped statues were then considered inappropriate to the place; but Bottari remarks that by their removal the harmony of Bandinelli’s work was entirely destroyed, his intention having been to represent the Fall of Adam, with its remedy in the Death of Christ, which followed; but by the abstraction of the two first-named works the last mentioned was deprived of a portion of its significance.
55. These figures still remain on the above-mentioned altar.—Masselli.
56. It is no longer in the place indicated by the text, nor do we know what has become of it. —Ibid.
57. Benvenuto Cellini has described this conversation in his well-known Autobiography.
58. It is not now beside, but in the centre of the altar.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8
59. The Angels and other works in terra no longer remain. — Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
60. The bust here alluded to is not now to be seen in the Via de’ Ginori. —Ed. Flor., 1838.
61. The Angels and rilievi in terra were not executed in marble that is to say. — Ed. Flor. 1832-8.
62. Still in the Pitti Palace, in the room called the Hall of Prometheus.
63. This group, which is of four and not five figures, was left unfinished by Michael Angelo, but was subsequently placed by command of Cosimo III., behind the High Altar of the Cathedral, where it now remains.
64. Gaye, Carteggio inedito, vol. iii. p. 17, ha3 given a letter from Lelio Torelli to Cosmo I., in which he remarks that Baccio wishes to remove the tomb of a soldier who had been killed in a duel, and place his Pietà on the site; Torellia dding, that he does not think the place belongs to any man of condition, nor does he know that any such is concerned to prevent the arrangement contemplated by the sculptor.
65. The tomb of Bandinelli, with his owm portrait, and that of his wife, in basso-rilievo, are still to be seen in the above-named chapel.— Ed. Flor. 1832-8.
66. The reader will not fail to perceive that Benvenuto Cellini, in his Autobiography, very frequently permits a feeling of rancour against Vasari to appear in his remarks; whereas Vasari, in speaking of Benvenuto, invariably maintains his impartiality of judgment, and certainly does not make the sculptor appear nearly so extravagant and eccentric a person as his own writings prove him to have been.
67. It is to be supposed that Benvenuto Cellini must have acquitted himself unusually ill on this occasion, or that the judgment of the Duke must have been already warped to some extent in favour of Ammannato, since the statue of the latter is of so little merit as to render it highly improbable that the work of Benvenuto could have failed to be a better one.
68. In this expectation Vasari was manifestly disappointed, the statue by Ammannato, commonly called the Biancone, being far from a work of excellence. —Ed. Flor.} 1838.
69. This remark is correct as regards the Biancone, but not as respects the works of Cellini and Gio Bologna, which still adorn the Piazza; it is to be remarked however, that when Vasari wrote, these figures had not been fixed in their places. —Ed. Flor., 1838.
70. Now in the principal niche which adorns the front of the Audience Chamber, occupying the centre of the same.—Ibid.
71. We have an amusing illustration of the truth of this remark in the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, who was precisely the person to give back any man a his own both principal and interest/’ if that “own” consisted in abusive words. Let us hear what he relates of himself in this particular.
    “I resolved to kill the scoundrel whenever I could catch him, and set off for the purpose of seeking him; then it chanced that as I entered the Piazza di San Domenico, Bandinelli came into it from the opposite angle, and I hurried directly towards him with intent to accomplish that sanguinary purpose, but seeing that he was unarmed, and on a wretched mule but little bigger than a mouse, pale as death too, and trembling from head to foot, I felt that I was about to commit an act of frightful baseness, and contented myself with saying to him, e You need not shake so violently, pitiful coward; you are not worthy of the blows I had intended for you:* at this he looked somewhat re-assured, but said never a word.” And again, “One festival day I went to the palace after dinner, when the Duke called me to him, and in the most gracious manner said, c You are welcome, Benvenuto, let us examine the contents of this case which Stefano da Palestrina has just sent me.’ When the case was opened, I perceived a beautiful statue, and said, (This is a Greek production of admirable workmanship; among all the antiquities possessed by your Excellency, there is no figure of a child more beautiful, or in a purer style than this is.’ The Duke was delighted, and answered in these words, c Explain to me wherein the great merit of the artist who executed this work consists, my dear Benvenuto.” I spoke therefore at considerable length on that subject, and perceived that the Duke heard me with pleasure. In the midst of this agreeable conversation, Baccio entered, and the Duke, seeming almost angry, asked him in a severe tone what he came to do. To this Bandinelli did not reply, but looking at the statue and smiling maliciously, he said, (My Lord, here is one of the things of which I have often spoken to you. You may easily see that the ancients knew nothing of anatomy, for which cause their works are full of errors.’ When this blunder-head had finished his prate, the Duke said, 'You hear that, Benvenuto; it is exactly the contrary of what you were affirming but now, wherefore defend your opinion as you may.’ To this I replied in these words, ( Your Excellency does not need to be told that Baccio Bandinelli is himself a very compound of all evil, insomuch that whatever he looks on with his viperous eyes, that thing becomes instantly bad: but I, who see the good as it is, can assure your Excellency that this beautiful work is a figure of the highest perfection.’ While I spoke, Bandinelli was making the most hideous contortions, and exhibited the most detestable visage in the world, for he was indeed uglv to such a degree that nothing human could well be more so.”
    Instances of the kind are not rare in the Autobiography of Cellini, but this specimen shall suffice..The passage is taken from a French copy of the work, which is not for the moment accessible to the present writer in the original, but it is without doubt sufficiently faithful for our purpose, although the French are not to be depended on, as the Germans so safely may be, for their fidelity as translators.