the church gradually proceeded; but, as it went on very slowly, the remaining chapels were granted by degrees to various Florentine citizens. The roof of the sacristy was not completed when Giovanni de’ Medici departed to another life, leaving Cosimo his son, who possessing more zeal than his father, and taking pleasure in the memorials of other times, caused the edifice to proceed. This was the first building that he constructed, and he found so much enjoyment in the occupation, that from that time forwrard, he continued constantly building, even to his death.[1] Cosimo pressed forward the work in hand with infinite zeal, and while one part was in progress, he caused others to be carried to completion.[2] So much pleasure did he take in the work, that he was almost always present himself; and his eagerness was such that, while Filippo erected the sacristy, he made Donato prepare the ornaments in stucco, with the stone decorations of the small doors, and the doors of bronze. In the centre of the sacristy, used by the priests for assuming their vestments, Cosimo caused the tomb of his father Giovanni to be constructed, beneath a broad slab of marble, supported by four small columns; and in the same place he made a sepulchre for his family, wherein he separated the tombs of the men from those of the women. In one of the two small rooms which are on each side of the sacristy, having the altar between them, he made a well in one corner, with a place for a lavatory. The whole work, in short, is seen to have been completed with much judgment. Giovanni and the masters first employed, had determined to construct the choir in the centre, and beneath the tribune, but this Cosimo altered at the request of Filippo, who increased the size of the principal
- ↑ The later Florentine editors remark, that in all this narration respecting the church and old sacristy of San Lorenzo, Vasari falls into many errors, which were dissipated, with the aid of documents, by the Canon Moreni. Giovanni d’Averardo, called Bicci de’ Medici, never intended to do more than build the sacristy, with two chapels, one within it, and one close to it; and these buildings were completed when Giovanni died, in 1428. The principal chapel, with the whole body of the church, is due to Cosimo, Pater patriae, who, seeing that the chapter could not be brought to an agreement on the subject, pledged himself to construct the foundations of those two fabrics. See the Descrizione della Cappella delle pietre dure e delle Sagrestia Vecchia di San Lorenzo, etc., p. 48.
- ↑ For this building Cosimo set apart 40,000 florins of gold. See Fabbroni, Vita M. C. Med. p. 194.
