this we have evidence in the Sacristy[1] of Michelagnolo Buonarroti, where there are certain marble capitals carved over the pilasters of the tombs, and these exhibit masks so admirably finished that it is not possible to find anything better. In the same place there are beautiful friezes, also by this artist, and which are decorated with masks represented in the act of laughing. The skill and ability of Silvio being remarked by Michelagnolo Buonarroti, that master caused him to begin certain trophies* as a completion to the monuments of the Sacristy, but the siege of Florence prevented these as well as many other works from being finished, as they would otherwise have been.
Silvio Cosini constructed a sepulchral monument for the Minerbetti family, in their chapel, which is in the centre aisle of the church of Santa Maria Novello, and this he completed in a very beautiful manner; for besides that the tomb itself is very fine, there are moreover many shields, helmets, and other fancies all admirably designed and executed in such sort that nothing better could be desired.[2] Being at Pisa, in the year 1528, Silvio Cosini there added the figure of an Angel, which was wanting to one of the columns at the High Altar of the cathedral, as a companion to that executed by Tribolo, and which was so closely similar to the work of the last named artist, that the two could scarcely have been more alike had they been produced by the same hand.[3]
In the Church of Montenero near Leghorn, Cosini executed a small work in marble, with two figures for the Frati Ingesuati; and in Volterra he constructed the tomb of Messer Bafiaello da Volterra,[4] a very learned man, whose portrait taken from the life, he represented on the sarcophagus, together with various decorations and other figures. Now it
- ↑ The Chapel of San Lorenzo that is to say, which is called the Neiv Sacristy, and wherein are the monuments of Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici, Dukes of Urbino and Nemours, both by Michael Angelo.— Ed. Flor. 1832-8.
- ↑ This tomb is now on the right hand of the entrance; it has been built into the wall.—Ibid.
- ↑ There are two Angels of marble in the cathedral of Pisa, both of which bear the name of Silvio Cosini, and Vasari himself affirmed in the first edition that this artist “made two Angels in marble at the high altar of the cathedral of Pisa.”
- ↑ Raffaello Maffei, a man of great piety as well as learning. This tomb is in the church of San Lino.— Bottari.
