the rather as it is surrounded by historical representations in miniature by Fra Bartolommeo,[1] which are admirable, as will be further shown in its due place. Our lord the duke has also a most beautiful, or rather wonderful, crucifix in bronze, from the hand of Donato, in his study, where there are innumerable antiquities of rare value, with very fine medals.[2] In the before-mentioned treasury (guardaroba), moreover, there is a basso-rilievo in bronze, representing the Crucifixion of our Lord, which contains a great number of figures, with another crucifixion also in bronze. In the house now belonging to the heirs of Jacopo Capponi, who was an excellent citizen and true gentlemen, is a figure in marble of the Virgin, in half relief, which is esteemed to be a most extraordinary work.[3] Messer Antonio de’ Nobili also, who was administrator of his excellency the duke, had a work in marble by the hand of Donato in his house, and in this is a half-length figure of Our Lady, which is so beautiful, that Messer Antonio prized it as much as all his wealth: nor is it less valued by Giulio his son, a young man of singular excellence and judgment, the friend of artists and of all distinguished men. In the house of Giovan Battista d’Agnol Doni, a Florentine gentleman, there is moreover a Mercury in metal by Donato, the height one braccio and a half; it is in full relief, and is clothed in a somewhat fanciful manner; the execution of this work is truly beautiful, and it is no less remarkable than the other rarities which adorn his most beautiful house.[4] Bar-
- ↑ In the edition of 1568, Vasari has Fra Ber., of which Bottarimade Fra Bernardo, a master who never existed. Later editors followed Bottari, complaining at the same time of Vasari, for not having mentioned the master again, as he had promised to do. But this abbreviation should doubtless be read Fra Bar. for Bartolommeo (della Porta), in whose life Vasari speaks at greater length of these miniatures, which are still in existence.
- ↑ Of the works of art described as to be found in the Guardaroba of Duke Cosmo, some are still preserved, either in that place, in other parts of the palace, in the royal villas, or in the public gallery; but very many are dispersed. —Masselli.
- ↑ Of this work, and that next described, nothing is now known. — Ibid.
- ↑ This small statue represents a child, smiling, and in the act of shooting an arrow. The head is crowned with rushes, with a flower in front; the shoulders and feet are winged, and a short fawn-like tail is on the back; small snakes surround the feet; and the vestments of the figure are bound to the waist by a cincture of poppies. Opinions vary in regard to this statue. Some—as, for example, Cinelli—consider it
