dinal Don Grarzia, and Don Ernando,[1] Don Pietro, Donna Isabella, and Donna Lticrezia; all taken from the life, and so beautiful that it would not be possible to find a more surprising or a larger work in cameo than is this. But as these portraits surpass all the other and smaller productions of the artist, so I will make no further mention of the latter, and I am the rather silent respecting them as his works maj be seen and are open to the examination of all.[2]
Cosimo[3] da Trezzo has likewise produced many works in this branch of art, all worthy of commendation, and for his remarkable qualities has obtained the distinction of being invited to his dominions by the great King Philip the Catholic of Spain, who retains him near his person, and bestows on him large rewards and high honours for the abilities which he has displayed in this vocation, whether in relief or intaglio di cavo.[4] This master has not an equal for portraits from the life, and is an artist of the highest merit in other respects as well as in this.[5]
Of the Milanese, Filippo Negrolo, whose vocation it is to engrave figures and foliage on arms of iron and steel, I will
d f § I
- ↑ Don Ferdinando.
- ↑ This great cameo is in the Florentine Cabinet of Gems, but the portraits of the Daughters are wanting, the stone having been broken. There is a figure of Fame sounding a Tmmpet in this work, which Vasari has forgotten; and we find by documents of the period, that the Duke Cosimo paid this engraver of gems a yearly stipend of two hundred scudi.
- ↑ Piacenza, in his additions to Baldinucci, informs us that this artist was called Jacopo, and not Cosimo.
- ↑ Philip II. of Spain, desiring to make the Escurial one of the wonders
of the world, caused this artist to make a Tabernacle for the Altar, entirely
composed of gems and precious stones. The master employed seven years
in the work, but so perfectly satisfied the king, that Philip commanded him
to inscribe his own name with that of the sovereign in one line, on the
most conspicuous part of the Tabernacle; no slight honour in that day,
and when the pride of the Spanish monarch is considered. The inscription here alluded to, and which was composed by Arius Montano, is as
follows:—
jesu. christo. sacerdoti. ac. victimae. phillippus. ii. rex.
d. opus. jacobi. trecii. mediolanensis. totum. hispano. e. lapide.And further serves to show that Jacopo, and not Cosimo, was the name of the artist.
- ↑ Baldinucci, in the life of Bernardino Campi, observes that this master was remarkable for his execution of dies, and for his ability in the casting of metals.
