venience of the numerous pilgrims who yearly flock to that place, on the 1st of August, for the “Absolution”; he consequently sent Michelozzo thither, when that master conducted a spring which rises mid-way up the hill, to the wells of Santa Maria, which he then adorned with a rich and beautiful colonnade (loggia); the columns whereof, formed of separate pieces, were decorated with the arms of Cosimo. Within the convent also, and in like manner at the command of Cosimo, Michelozzo executed many useful improvements for the monks; these the magnificent Lorenzo afterwards renewed at a greater cost, and with increased beauty of ornament; he likewise caused the wax figure of the Madonna to be made, which is still to be seen there.[1] Cosimo de’ Medici moreover commanded that the road leading from Santa Maria degli Angeli to the city, should be paved with bricks, and before Michelozzo left that neighbourhood, he prepared the design of the old citadel of Perugia. Returning at length to Florence, he built the house of Giovanni Tornabuoni, at the corner of the Tornaquinci,[2] which was in almost all respects similar to the palace constructed by the same master for Cosimo, excepting that the fagade has not the carved stone-work and cornices of the latter, but is entirely plain.
After the death of Cosimo, by whom Michelozzo had been as much beloved as a dear friend could be, Piero, his son, caused the master to build the marble chapel of the Crucifix, in San Miniato sul Monte;[3] and in the semi-circle of the arch Michelozzo sculptured, in mezzo-rilievo, the Falcon, with the diamond, which was the device of Cosimo,[4] the father of Piero, a work that was truly beautiful. Some time after this was completed, the same Piero de’ Medici, proposing to construct the chapel of the Annunciation, in the church of the Servi,
- ↑ At the time of Bottari (who notices the fact in 1759) this figure had already disappeared.
- ↑ This building afterwards belonged to Alessandro de’ Medici, Cardinal of Florence, and is now in the possession of the Corsi family. Bocchi, Bellezze di Firenze, attributes the Iiicasoli palace also, which stands opposite to the Borgo Ognissanti, to Michelozzo.
- ↑ The chapel is in the centre of the church. The crucifix for which it was erected is now in the church of Santa Trinity in Florence, whither it was transported in 1671.
- ↑ The reader who may desire more extended details respecting the arms and devices of the Medici, is referred to Giovio, Dell'Imprese.
