say, that he thanked his fortune for so fair an opportunity, since he had now a house to build, such as he had desired to have for many years; but when he heard the determination of Cosimo not to put his design into execution, he broke the model, in his anger, into a thousand pieces. And deeply did Cosimo repent of not having adopted the plans of Filippo, when at a later period he had built his palace on a different model;[1] and when alluding to Filippo, he would often say, that he had never spoken with a man of higher intelligence or bolder mind, than was possessed by Brunellesco. For the noble family of the Scolari,[2] Filippo made the model of that most fanciful and remarkable church of the Angeli, which remained incomplete and in the state wherein we now see it, because the Florentines spent the money (which was placed in the Monte for the expenses of the building), for certain exigencies of their city, or as some say, in the wars which they then carried on against the Lucchesi,[3] and wherein they also expended the funds which had been left in like manner by Niccolo da Uzzano, to erect the college of the Sapienza, as we have related at length elsewhere.[4] And of a truth, if this church of the Angeli had been completed according to the model of Brunellesco, it would have been one of the most
- ↑ Built after the design and under the care of Michelozzo Michelozzi, as will be seen in the life of that architect, but with less magnificence, and in a manner by no means exempt from fault. —Masselli.
- ↑ Of this church, which, by avow of the celebrated Pippo Spano, who belonged to the Scolari family, was to have been dedicated to the twelve Apostles, and which had been erected almost to the height of the Cornice, there still exist most beautiful remains, to the extent of nine braccia of the height; the external wall of sixteen sides, that is to say, five of which are visible on turning from the Via degli Alfani into the Castellaccio. Other parts also remain; but the roof was never erected, and the pavement has been taken up, to admit of the space being turned into a garden for the use of the monastery. Cosmo I proposed that it should be finished by the Academy of Arts, and used as their place of assemblage, as will be seen in the life of Gio. Angiolo Montorsoli. For drawings of this building, see Boni, Memorie per le belle Arte, Romse, 1786, ii, p. 57; also D’Agincourt, Archit., pl. 50, 16. But they are not entirely accurate; the windows in the Cupola not being in strict accordance with the intentions of Brunellesco. See Descrizione di alcuni disegni Architetionici di Classici Autori, Pisa, 1818.
- ↑ Of this abstraction of funds there is mention in the notes to the Vita di Filippo Scolari, published in the fourth volume of the Archivio Storico Italiano.—Ed. Flor. 1846-9.
- ↑ In the life of Lorenzo di Bicci, ante, p. 294.
