Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Niccolo, called Tribolo

by Giorgio Vasari

 

THE FLORENTINE SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT, NICCOLÒ, CALLED TRIBOLO.

[born 1485—died 1550.]

To the carpenter Raffaello, called Il Riccio de' Pericoli, who dwelt hard by the corner of the Monteloro in Florence, there was born in the year 1500,^[1] as he related to me himself, a male child whom he determined to call Niccolò, after the name of his own father. Though nothing more than a poor journeyman, Raffaello, perceiving the boy to have a good understanding and ready genius, resolved that he should be early taught, not only to read well, but to write and cast accounts also. He therefore sent him to school, but it chanced that the child, possessing extraordinary vivacity, and being animated, nay, even violent in all his actions, could never find room enough to satisfy himself, proving indeed a very devil, whether in school or among the children who were his companions, and keeping himself as well as all others in perpetual movement and turmoil, he thus fairly lost his name of Niccolò, and became so exclusively known by that of Tribolo,^[2] as to be ever afterwards called the latter name and no other by every one.^[3]

This Tribolo, then, having grown to a certain age, the father, partl}r by way of turning his services to account, and partly to restrain the vivacity of the boy, took him into his workshop and taught him his own trade; but perceiving in a few months that this was not the vocation of the youth, and that he became thin, pale, and otherwise out of health, he began to think that if he would preserve the life of his son, he must no longer permit him to support the heavier labours of his own occupation, and so set him to wood carving. But Raffaello, having heard that without drawing, which is the foundation of all the arts, the boy could not possibly become a good master in that calling, determined that he should begin by employing his time in drawing, wherefore he set him to copy various things, now cornices for example, now foliage or grottesche, and now other objects, matters all needful to the vocation for which he was destined.

Proceeding thus, Raffaello perceived that the youth was equally well served b}r liis head and hand, but considering, like a person of judgment as he was, that with him Niccolò could learn nothing more than to work by the square, he first talked concerning the matter with the joiner Ciappino, and from him, who was a great friend and companion of Nanni Unghero,^[4] he received advice and assistance which enabled him to place his son for three years with the said Nanni, in whose workshop, where were performed labours both in joining and carving, there were constantly to be found the sculptor Jacopo Sansovino, the painter Andrea del Sarto, and others, who all subsequently became eminent men.

Now in those days Nanni, who was then reputed a tolerably good master, was engaged in numerous works, both of joinery and carving, for the villa of Zanobi Bartolini at Rovezzano, which is outside the gate of the Croce, as well as for the palace of the Bartolini family, which Giovanni, brother of the above-named Zanobi, was at that time causing to be built on the Piazza di Santa Trinità; he was also employed in the Gualfonda, on a house and garden belonging to the same family, all which caused him to lay upon Tribolo heavy labours without reason or measure. The latter therefore, unable, by reason of his bodily weakness, to support these fatigues, and having saws, planes, and other rough tools perpetually in his hands, began to feel dissatisfied with his service in the workshops of Nanni; and when Riccio inquired the cause of his dissatisfaction, the youth declared that he did not think he could remain with Nanni at that calling, begging his father to place him with Andrea del Sarto, or Jacopo Sansovino, wdiose acquaintance he had made in the workshops of Unghero, and with either of whom he hoped to do better, and to enjoy more health.

Moved by these reasons, and still receiving advice and aid from Ciappino, Riccio engaged Tribolo to Jacopo Sansovino, who received him willingly, from having known him in the workshop of Nanni, and having there remarked that the youth acquitted himself very well in design and still better in works of relief.

At the time when Tribolo after having first had his health re-established, went to study with Jacopo Sansovino, the latter was engaged in the execution of that marble statue of Saint James the Apostle, which he produced in the house of the Wardens of works to the cathedral, in competition with Benedetto da Rovezzano, Andrea da Fiesole, and Baccio Bandinelli, a work still to be seen in the house of the Wardens with those of the other masters.

Nor did Tribolo neglect the opportunities for improvement then presented to him; drawing with careful study and working much in clay, he made such manifest progress in that art to which it was obvious he was naturally inclined, that Jacopo Sansovino daily became more and more amicably disposed towards him, encouraging and putting him forward by making him first execute one piece of work and then another; wherefore, although he then had Solosmeo da Settignano^[5] and Pippo del Fabro, young men of great promise, in his workshop, yet Tribolo was found not only to equal but even to surpass them by very far, and Jacopo began to make use of his services in various works; Tribolo adding dexterity in the use of the chisels to much facility in forming models, whether in clay or wax. He consequently became ever more useful to his master, and the latter, having finished the Apostle above-named, with a Bacchus,^[6] which he was engaged with for Giovanni Bartolini, by whom that figure was destined for his house in the Gualfonda, and undertaking furthermore to make a lavatory and chimney piece in macigno stone for his intimate friend Messer Giovanni Gaddi, caused Tribolo to execute in terra certain large figures of children to be placed over the cornice of the last-named work, which was intended for the house possessed bv Messer Giovanni on the Piazza di Madonna. These Tribolo completed to such perfection that Messer Giovanni, perceiving the genius, and charmed with the manner of the youth, gave him two medallions in marble to execute; these lie also finished admirably well, and they were afterwards placed over certain doors of the same house.

Meanwhile there was a sepulchral monument for the King of Portugal, a work of great labour and much importance, to be entrusted to some artist, and Jacopo, having been the disciple of Andrea Contucci of the Monte Sansavino, and having the reputation not only of being equal to his master, who was a man of great renown, but even of possessing a more beautiful manner, received the commission for that monument by the intervention of Bartolini, and made a most superb model in wood for the same. Numerous figures in wax, and historical representations in relief, were also prepared for this model, the greater part of which were by the hand of Tribolo. These being considered exceedingly beautiful, the fame of the young artist increased to such a degree that, having left Sansovino, as considering himself now capable of working for himself, he was at once employed by Matteo the son of Lorenzo Strozzi, who first gave him certain figures of children in stone to execute; and shortly after, finding these done very much to his liking, he further commissioned him to prepare two others in marble, which last now support a Dolphin, pouring water from his mouth into a fish-pond, and are to be seen at the villa which the above-named Messer Matteo has at San Casciano, a place distant about eight miles from Florence.^[7]

While these works of Tribolo were in course of execution in Florence, Messer Bartolommeo Barbazzi, a gentleman of Bologna, chanced to be summoned thither for certain of his affairs. Pie then remembered that search was making in Bologna for a young artist of good ability,, to prepare figures and execute historical representations in marble, on the façade of San Petronio, the principal church of that city: remembering this, I say, and having been greatly pleased with such of Tribolo’s works as he had seen, Messer Bartolommeo spoke with the latter on the subject; wherefore, being equally satisfied with the manners and other qualities of the young man, he finally took him to Bologna. Here Tribolo was immediately commissioned to execute two Sybils in marble, which he completed with infinite care in a very sliort time, and to his great credit; these figures subsequently formed the ornament of that portal of San Petronio, which leads towards the hospital called Della Morte.^[8] Having finished these works, Tribolo was about to receive commissions for others of greater importance, and was highly esteemed by Messer Bartolommeo, who treated him with the most cordial kindness, when the pestilence of 1525 broke out in Bologna, as it did in all Lombardy, and Tribolo, to escape the dangers thereof, returned to Florence. There he remained during all the time that this contagious and pestilential sickness continued in Bologna, but when it had ceased, he once more departed from his native city, and returned to the former place, whither he had again been invited to repair.

He had no sooner arrived there, than Messer Bartolommeo, having lost many of his friends and relations, for whom and for himself he resolved to erect a sepulchral monument, refused to permit Tribolo to employ his time on the works of the façade of San Petronio, and caused him at once to prepare the model for the monument above-mentioned. This model Messer Bartolommeo wished to see complete before permitting the requisite preparations to be made; but when it was finished, Tribolo himself proceeded to Carrara for the purpose of causing the proper marbles to be excavated; and this he did, to the end that he might sketch and carve them out of the block on the place, by which means he not only diminished the weight to be removed, and rendered the carriage by so much the more easy, but was likewise enabled to increase the size of his figures.

While thus remaining at Carrara, Tribolo was anxious to avoid the loss of time, and therefore commenced two large figures of Children in marble; these, unfinished as they were, having been taken to Bologna on beasts of burden, together with the remainder of the work, were placed with the other marbles in one of the chapels of San Petronio, the death of Messer Bartolommeo Barbazzi having taken place in the interval. This circumstance caused so much grief to Tribolo, that he departed forthwith from Carrara, and returned to Tuscany, leaving the figures still in their unfinished state, in one of the chapels of the cathedral; where as before related, they yet remain.^[9]

On his way from Carrara to Florence, Tribolo paused at Pisa, to visit the sculptor, Maestro Stagio of Pietra Santa, who was his very intimate friend.^[10] This artist was at that time employed on two columns, with marble capitals very richly carved, which he was executing in the House of the Wardens of Works, for the Cathedral of that city, and on each of which there was to stand above the capital an angel, in marble, one braccio and three quarters high, holding a chandelier in his hand. Tribolo, therefore, being invited by Stagio to execute one of these angels, and having nothing in hand at the time, consented to do so, and finished it with all the perfection that could be given to a delicate work of those dimensions in marble; he succeeded so admirably well, indeed, that nothing better could possibly be desired: by the movement given to his figure, the angel having the appearance of one who had paused in his course to bear that light, and the nude members of the form are clearly perceived through certain draperies of transparent texture, which are seen to wave around it with so much grace, that in whatever aspect you view the figure, it presents a beauty bevond the power of words to describe.

But in the execution of this figure, Tribolo, who thought only of his delight in art, had expended much time, and not receiving from the superintendent such a sum for his work as he thought himself entitled to, he determined to do no more, and returned to Florence.^[11] Here he met withGiovanBattista della Palla, who at that time was not only causing all the paintings and sculptures which he could procure, to be executed for transmission into France, whither he was sending them to the King Francis L, but was also buying antiquities of all kinds, and pictures on every subject, provided only that they were by the hands of good masters. These Giovan-Battista was daily packing up and sending away; and exactly at the moment of Tribolo’s return it so chanced, that Palla had an antique vase in granite of a most beautiful form, which he desired to have arranged in such sort as to serve for a fountain to be placed in the pleasure-house of the King. Having made known his mind to Tribolo, therefore, and described what he wished to have done, the artist took the matter in hand accordingly, and made him a Goddess of Nature, who, raising one arm, holds that vase, the foot of which is placed on her head, with her hand; hovering around the multiform breast of the Goddess and standing on the upper part thereof, are beautiful boys in marble, holding festoons in their hands, their figures are entirely detached from the marble, and display attitudes of the most exquisite grace: around the second range of the all-sustaining breast, are seen various kinds of quadrupeds, while the feet of the figure are surrounded by fishes of numerous kinds. This work was completed by Tribolo with so much care, and exhibited so high a degree of perfection, that, being sent to France, with other productions, it received, as it well merited, the highest commendations from the King, by whom, as a rare work of art, it was carefully deposited at Fontainebleau.

In the year 1529, when the war with Florence and the siege of that city was determined on, Pope Clement VII., desiring to ascertain in what manner and on what points his army could most advantageously be posted, was anxious to see the exact site of the town, and had commanded that a plan of Florence, with its environs of an entire mile around the city, should be secretly made; the hills, mountains, rivers, rocks, houses, churches, and every other particular of the outskirts being carefully included, while the squares and streets of the interior, together with the walls, bastions, and other defences, were also to be represented with the utmost exactitude. The charge of all this was given to Benvenuto di Lorenzo della Volpaia, a good master of horologes and quadrants, as well as an admirable astrologer, but who was most of all excellent in the taking of plans. For this undertaking Benvenuto chose Tribolo as his coadjutor, and therein he showed much judgment, since it was from Tribolo that the first suggestion for the making of such a plan had proceeded,^[12] he perceiving the importance thereof for the more minutely considering the height of the mountains, the depth of the valleys, and all other particulars relating to salient points, with which it is above all things essential that those engaged in military expeditions should be made acquainted. Nor wTas this a work to be performed without vast labour and infinite peril, since they were compelled to remain outside the gates of the city, all through the nights, measuring the roads, and ascertaining the exact number of braccia between one place and another, with the heights and levels of the summits of all the churches and and towers: measuring, in short, on all sides by aid of the compasses. They had chosen the Cupola of Santa Maria as their central point, and had to discover the relation borne thereto by all the surrounding heights; all which they could not effect without the lapse of many months; but, using great diligence, they finally accomplished the whole with great care and exactitude.

For the sake of lightness this model was made of cork, and was restricted within the limit of four braccia, each separate part being measured in exact proportion. And thus was finished this plan of the city and its neighbourhood, which being so made as to admit of its being taken to pieces, was packed up carefully and conveyed secretly out of Florence, in the centre of certain bales of wool which were going to Perugia, where the model was consigned to those who had received orders to transmit the same to the Pope.^[13]

Of this work, therefore, the Pontiff availed himself continually during the siege of Florence, keeping it always in his chamber, and consulting it on all occasions, when he received his letters and despatches, being guided thereby as to where and how he might arrange his camp, on what points attacks might be made, and in short, conducting his operations by the guidance of that plan in all the accidents, events, discussions, and conversations, by which the duration of that siege was accompanied; all to the great satisfaction of his Holiness, the work being in truth a very remarkable and admirable one.^[14]

During the time that the siege was proceeding, Tribolo executed various works in clay for his friends; and for Andrea del Sarto, who was one of his most intimate associates, he made three figures of wax in full relief, of which Andrea availed himself in the painting in fresco which he executed on the Piazza near the Condotta, and wherein he represented from the life, three captains, who, having fled with the pay of the troops which had been entrusted to them, were there exposed suspended by one foot.^[15]

Now at this time Benvenuto di Lorenzo della Volpaia was summoned to Pome by the Pope, whither he repaired accordingly to kiss the feet of his Holiness, by whom he was appointed superintendent of the Belvidere with a very honourable stipend. In this office Benvenuto had frequent conversations with the Pontiff, and did not fail to extol Tribolo as an excellent sculptor whenever he could find an opportunity for doing so, recommending him very warmly and in such sort, that when the siege was concluded, Pope Clement resolved to take him also into his service. His Holiness had at that time formed the determination to complete the chapel of Our Lady at Loretto, which having been commenced by Pope Leo, bad been subsequently neglected, because the death of Andrea Contucci of Monte Sansovino had caused an interruption of the works; Clement now therefore, gave orders to Antonio da Sangallo, who had the charge of conducting the fabric, that he should invite Tribolo to Loretto, and should set him to finish the figures and historical representations left incomplete by Maestro Andrea.

Being thereupon summoned by Sangallo at the command of the Pontiff, Tribolo repaired with all his family to Loretto, to which place had also proceeded Simone, called II Mosca,^[16] an admirable carver of marbles, with Raffaello da Montelupo,^[17] Prancesco da Sangallo the younger,^[18] Girolamo Perrarese the sculptor, a disciple of Maestro Andrea,^[19] Simone Cioli, Banieri da Pietra Santa, and Francesco del Tadda,^[20] to the end that by all these artists the work might at length be brought to conclusion.

In the distribution of the labours, a rilievo, in which Maestro Andrea had commenced the Marriage of Our Lady, was confided to Tribolo, as an undertaking of more importance than any other then remaining to be completed. Here Tribolo made an addition to the original thought, and took it into his head to exhibit among the numerous figures who stand around observing the espousals of the Virgin, an unsuccessful suitor full of rage, and angrily breaking to pieces the rod or staff which has failed to flourish into a Lily. His attempt was entirely successful, seeing that the man himself could not possibly display the displeasure which he felt at not having the good fortune to be the successful suitor, more clearly than is done by the marble figure here executed by Tribolo.

When this work, as well as those of all the other artists, was finished, Tribolo prepared models in wax for the Prophets which were to occupy the niches formed around the chapel, the construction of which was now entirely finished; and to these he had imparted the utmost perfection, when Pope Clement came to see the works. His Holiness commended them all, but more particularly that of Tribolo; he was indeed so well satisfied with this, that he commanded the master to return without loss of time to Florence, there, under the superintendence of Michelagnolo Buonarroti, to execute the figures still wanting to the sacristy and library of San Lorenzo, with all the other portions of the same yet incomplete; the whole to be finished after the models and with the assistance of Michelagnolo as quickly as might be possible: his Holiness furthermore commanding that, having thus laboured and made progress under the discipline of so great a man, Tribolo should then likewise complete the façade of San Lorenzo.

In these labours the Pontiff would have no delay, and therefore despatched Michelagnolo to Florence, sending also with him the Servite Monk, Fra Giovan Agnolo, wrho had executed certain works in the Belvidere, to the end that the latter might assist in the carving of the marbles, and might execute such of the statues as Michelagnolo should appoint him to finish under his guidance. The latter gave Fra Giovan Agnolo a figure of San Cosimo accordingly, and this was to stand on one side of a Madonna, the figure of San Damiano, the commission for which had been accorded to Montelupo, being intended to occupy the place on the other side.^[21]

These being thus disposed of, Michelagnolo intended that Tribolo should execute two nude figures, which were to be placed one on each side of the statue of the Duke Giuliano, which had previously been sculptured by Michelagnolo himself. One of these two statues, crowned with cypress, and bending her head, while the arms are outstretched in the attitude of grief, as bewailing the death of Giuliano, wras to represent the Earth; the other, smiling and triumphant, with arms upraised, was to signify Heaven, and to express rejoicing for the splendour and ornament which she owed to the mind and heart of that prince. But the adverse fortune of Tribolo opposed herself to this arrangement, and exactly at the moment when he would have commenced the statue of the Earth, whether from change of air, from the natural delicacy of his constitution, or from some irregularity in the mode of his life, he fell very seriously ill, and his malady having terminated in quartan fever, hung about him for many months, to his indescribable vexation, seeing that the grief which he felt at finding himself compelled to abandon his work, while the Monk and Raffaello da Montelupo were gaining possession of the field, tormented him no less than the malady itself.

Eagerly desiring to overcome this disease, to the end that he might not remain behind his competitors, whose names he daily heard more and more exalted, he prepared a large model in clay for the statue of the Earth, ill and weak as he was, and having finished it, began to work on the marble with so much care and solicitude, that the foremost part of the figure was already brought out, when Fortune, who is ever ready to impede the progress of a fair commencement, by the death of Pope Clement at a moment when it was least feared, cut short the expectations of many excellent artists, who had hoped, beneath the guidance of Michelagnolo, to obtain for themselves immortal glory and perpetual fame.

Still suffering from illness, Tribolo was utterly confounded by this new misfortune, and lost heart altogether. There seemed to be nothing whereby he might hope to prosper either in his native Florence or elsewhere, and he was ready to resign himself to despair. But Giorgio Vasari, who was ever his friend, and loving him from his heart, assisted him whenever he found it possible to do so, consoled him as he best could, and entreated him not to lose heart, seeing that he, Giorgio, would himself so contrive that the Duke Alessandro should find him something to do; and this Vasari hoped to accomplish by means of his favour with the magnificent Ottaviano de’ Medici, to whose service he was somewhat closely attached. By these means Vasari contrived to make Tribolo acquire a little courage, and the latter busied himself, while endeavours were in course of being made for his advantage, in the preparation of copies in terra from all the figures which Miclielagnolo had executed in marble for the Sacristy of San Lorenzo, the Aurora namely, the Twilight, the Day and the Night.

These works succeeded admirably, and Messer Giovanni Battista Figiovanni, prior of San Lorenzo, to whom Tribolo gave the figure of Night, in requital of his having caused the chapel to be opened to him, thought it so beautiful a thing that he made a present thereof to the Duke Alessandro, by whom it was subsequently given to the above-named Giorgio Vasari, then with his Excellency, to whom his study of such matters was well known. The work is now in the house of Vasari at Arezzo, with other productions of art.^[22] Having then made a copy in like manner from the Madonna which Michelagnolo had executed for the same Sacristy, Tribolo presented this to the above-named Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, who had a very beautiful frame in wood-work, made for the same by Battista del Cinque, who decorated his work with columns, cornices, and other embellishments carved in a very beautiful manner.

Meanwhile, by the favour of this noble, who was the general administrator of his Excellency’s affairs, Tribolo received a commission to execute an Escutcheon of Arms four braccia high, with two nude figures, each to represent the goddess of Victory; this escutcheon, which was one of three that were to be placed, one on each bastion of a Fortress at that time constructing by command of the Duke, was executed by Tribolo (who received his commission for the same from the hands of Bertoldo Corsini the Proveditore for the Fortress which was then in course of erection) with great care and promptitude; he also made an addition thereto of three large masks, which, being placed beneath the arms and the figures, are made to serve as supporters thereof; by this work^[23] Tribolo gave so much satisfaction to the Duke that his Excellency conceived a great liking for that artist.

No long time afterwards, Duke Alessandro proceeded to Naples, for the purpose of defending himself before the Emperor Charles V., who was then on his return from Tunis, against the calumnies with which he had been assailed by some of the Florentine citizens;^[24] and having not only done this most successfully, but also obtained from his Majesty the Signora Margherita of Austria, his daughter, to wife,^[25] he wrote to Florence, commanding that four men should be selected from the principal citizens, by whom decorations of the utmost splendour and magnificence should be ordered and arranged for all parts of the city, which his Excellency desired to have adorned in a manner suitable to the due reception of the Emperor, who was then about to visit Florence. On this occasion I had myself, by commission from his Excellency, to distribute the labours, and was instructed to communicate with the four distinguished citizens above-mentioned, who were Giovanni Corsi, Luigi Guicciardini, Palla Rucellai, and Alessandro Corsini; I therefore gave the more important and difficult preparations for that festival to Tribolo: these consisted principally in four large statues, the first representing Hercules in the act of slaying the Hydra, the height was six braccia, the figure standing wholly detached and being silvered over; this was placed in that angle of the Piazza di San Felice which is at the end of the Yia Maggio, and had the following inscription written in silver letters on the pedestal.

Ut Hercules labore et aerumnis monstra edomuit, ita Caesar virtute et dementia, hostibus victis seu placatis, pacem Orbi terrarum et quietem restituit.

The second and third of these statues were colossal figures, each eight braccia high, the one representing the river Bagrada, and reposing on the skin of the monster which was brought to Rome; the other signifying the Ebro, and holding the horn of Amalthea in the one hand with the rudder of a ship in the other; both were coloured to imitate bronze and had inscriptions on their pedestals; that on the basement of the Ebro being Hiberus ex Hispania, and that on the other Bagradas ex Africa. The fourth figure was a statue five braccia high, erected at the corner of the Medici, and representing Peace, having in one hand a branch of olive, and in the other a lighted torch, wherewith she was setting fire to a pile of arms gathered upon the basement whereon she was placed, and which presented the following inscription, Fiat pax in virtute tua.

Tribolo was also to have executed a colossal horse whereon the figure of the Emperor in armour was to have been placed, but this he could not fully complete, because his' intimate friend the wood-carver Tasso,^[26] to whom the decorations in wood work for the pedestal and other parts had been entrusted, did not proceed with the needful expedition; being a man who suffered the moments to slip through his fingers while he was talking and jesting, he was not ready in time, and it was not without great difficulty that the Horse itself was hastily covered with tin, placed over the fresh clay, the pedestal whereon he was placed having the following inscription.

Imperatori Carolo Augusto vicloriosissimo post devictos hostes, Italiae pace restiluta et salutato Ferdin. fratre, expulsis iterum Turcis Africaque perdomita, Alexander Med. Dux Florentiae, d.d.

His Majesty having left Florence,^[27] a commencement was made, his daughter being then expected, towards the preparations required for the nuptials, and to the end that the Signora Margherita, with the Vice-Queen of Naples, who was of her company, should be fittingly and commodiously lodged, according to the orders of his Excellency, in the house of Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, there was made an

• addition to the ancient dwelling, in the space of four weeks,

which caused astonishment in all who beheld it. This was effected by Tribolo, the painter Andrea di Cosimo, and myself, with the aid of some ninety sculptors and painters of the city, masters and disciples included, all of whom, working for ten days, completed the adorning of the house with suitable decorations, as also the painting of the galleries with the courts and other entrances and passages, making all the preparations needful on such an occasion and suitable to those high nuptials.

Among these decorations, Tribolo executed two figures of Victory in mezzo rilievo, which served as the ornament of the principal portal or gate of entrance; these figures were supported by two large termini, which also bore the arms of the Emperor, pendent from the neck of an Eagle, in full relief, and which was very beautiful. The same artist likewise executed figures of boys in full relief, and of large size, which were placed on each side of certain busts, forming the decoration over the doors of the rooms, and these too were very highly extolled.

While the marriage festivities were proceeding, Tribolo received letters from Bologna whereby his great friend Messer Pietro del Magno entreated him to repair to that city, there to execute an historical representation in marble, three braccia and a half high, for the Madonna di Galiera, where an exceedingly beautiful framework, also in marble, had already been prepared. Wherefore Tribolo, not having any thing else to do for the moment, proceeded thither, and having prepared the model for a Modonna ascending into heaven with the twelve Apostles in various attitudes beneath, he set hand to the work; but although the model gave much satisfaction and was indeed exceedingly beautiful, yet the sculptor proceeded with little pleasure to himself, the marble employed being that of Milan, coarse, spotted, and bad, insomuch that the poor Tribolo seemed to be throwing his pains away, and felt no particle of that delight in his task which is enjoyed by those who work in marble when they find a good piece beneath their hands, and see that the finished statue will show a surface precisely similar to that of the living flesh.

Tribolo had nevertheless almost entirely completed the figure,^[28] when I, having induced the Duke Alessandro to recall Michelagnolo and the other masters, to the end that the Sacristy commenced by Pope Clement should be finished, was disposing matters in such sort as to give him occupation in Florence, and without doubt should have succeeded, but just at that time occurred the death of Alessandro, he being killed by Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de Medici;^[29] and by this circumstance, not only was the above-mentioned purpose frustrated, but the prosperity of art was interrupted, and its greatness rendered matter of despair.

Being informed of the Duke’s death,Tribolo bewailed it with me in his letters, entreating me, after he had done his best to console and encourage me, to endure patiently the loss of that great prince and my most gracious master; and furthermore he requested me, if I were going to Rome, as he had been told that it was my purpose to do, being fully resolved to abandon courts and pursue the studies of my art, to seek some kind of occupation for him, since, if I would procure him the aid of my friends, he would on his part undertake whatever works I should propose to him. But it so chanced that Tribolo did not need to seek further for occupation in Rome, and the reason thereof was on this wise. The Signor Cosimo de’ Medici, being created Duke of Florence, had no sooner freed himself from the troubles whereby the first year of his sovereignty was disquieted, by the total rout ot his enemies on Monte Murlo, than he began to provide himself with some little diversion and more particularly to frequent the villa of Castello, ^[30] which is situate at something short of two miles from Florence, and where he passed no small portion of his time. At this place then the Duke began to build a little, one thing after another, to the end that he might reside there more commodiously, himself and his Court; to this Duke Cosimo was encouraged by Maestro Piero da San Casciano, who was considered in those days to he a tolerably good master and had been much in the service of the Signora Maria, mother of the Duke;* Piero had besides been always employed as a builder by the house of Medici, and was an ancient servant of the Signor Giovanni.^[31] The Duke now resolved to bring certain waters which he had long wished to conduct thither, to that place; the acqueduct, which was at once begun, was designed to receive all the waters from the height of the Castellina, a place distant somewhat more than a quarter of a mile from Castello; and the work, at which a good number of men were set to labour, was carried vigorously forward.

But the Duke knew that Maestro Piero had neither invention nor knowledge of design, sufficient to enable him to make such a commencement of the undertaking, as should permit of the place receiving, in due time, that character of ornament and those decorations, which the site and the waters deserved and required; one day therefore, that his Excellency was at Castello, and was speaking of this matter with other persons, among whom were Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, and Cristofano Rinieri a friend of Tribolo, and an old servant of the Signora Maria and of the Duke; these two then so extolled the above-named artist, whom they described as a man endowed with all the qualities that should be assembled in the superintendent of such a fabric, that the Duke immediately gave Cristofano the commission to summon his friend from Bologna. This Rinieri did without loss of time, and Tribolo, who could have received no more agreeable intelligence than that of his appointment to serve the Duke Cosimo, came instantly to Florence, where being arrived, he was conducted to Castello. There his most Illustrious Excellency, having heard from his lips what he thought it would be well to do for the suitable decoration of those fountains, gave him the commission at once to preoare the models.

To these Tribolo immediately set hand, and was proceeding with them, while Maestro Piero da San Casciano was constructing the aqueduct and leading the water to the place, when the Duke, who had commenced a strong wall for the security of the city, proposing to encircle therewith the bastions erected at the time of the siege on the heights of San Miniato by Michelagnolo Buonarroti, commanded that Tribolo should prepare an Escutcheon of Arms, with two figures representing Victory, to be placed at an angle on the highest point of a bastion which looks towards Florence, the whole to be executed in pietra forte. But scarcely had Tribolo completed the Escutcheon, which was very large, with one of the figures of Victory, four braccia high, and esteemed an exceedingly beautiful thing,^[32] than he was compelled to leave that work also unfinished, seeing that Maestro Piero, having made good progress with the aqueduct and brought on the water, greatly to the satisfaction of the Duke, His Excellency then commanded that Tribolo should at once begin to put in. execution, those designs and models for the decoration of the aqueduct, which he had previously laid before that, sovereign; Duke Cosimo according to him eight crowns per month by way of stipend, which was the sum paid to Maestro Piero da San Casciano.

But to the end that I may not become confused in describing the course and intricacies of the aqueducts, with the decorations of the fountains, it may be well to say briefly some few words respecting the site and position of Castello.

The Villa di Castello lies at the roots of the Monte Morello, and beneath the Villa della Topaia, which is situate about half way up the acclivity; it has before it a plain which descends very gradually and within the space of about a mile and a half, to the river Arno. It is exactly at the point where the ascent of the hill commences from this plain that the palace is situate, that edifice having been originally erected, after a very good design, by Pier Francesco de’ Medici. The principal front is turned to the south and looks over extensive lawns or meadows, within which are two large ponds of running water,^[33] the latter coming from an ancient aqueduct made by the Romans for the purpose of bringing water from Yaldimarina to Florence, where the vaulted reservoir of the same is to be found. Thus situate, the palace has an exceedingly agreeable and even beautiful view, the waters before it are divided by a bridge twelve braccia wide, which conducts to an avenue of the same width, formed by mulberry trees, covering it closely on both sides and rising to a height of ten braccia, insomuch that they form a vault over head, beneath which one may walk for three hundred braccia in the most agreeable shade. This avenue of mulberries opens on the high road to Prato, by a gate placed between two fountains, which give water to the travellers who pass that way as well as to their animals and the cattle of the neighbourhood.

On the eastern side of the palace is a handsome pile of buildings which serve as stables, and towards the west is a private garden, which is gained by crossing the court of the stables and passing directly through the ground floor of the palace by the loggie, halls, and apartments level with the garden, from which, by a door on its western side, a second and very large garden full of fruit-trees is attained. At the end of the last-mentioned garden is a wood of pines, which conceals the dwellings of the labourers and others engaged in the service of the palace. The northern front of the fabric, that which looks towards the hill, has a lawn before it, the length of which is equal to that of the palace, the stables, and the private garden united, and from this lawn there is an ascent by steps to the principal garden, which is surrounded by walls of the ordinary kind, and the garden itself rising by a gentle acclivity, extends to such a distance from the palace as to be entirely open to the influence of the southern sun, precisely as if no building stood before it. At its upper end, moreover, the garden attains to such a height that not only is the whole of the palace to be discovered therefrom, but the entire plain extending before and around it, together with the city itself.

In the midst of the last-mentioned garden there is a wood of high cypresses with laurels and shrubs of various kinds, which form a circle wherein is a labyrinth surrounded by hedges of box two braccia and a half high, the growth being so equal, and the whole arranged in so beautiful a manner. that they might be taken for a work of the pencil. In the centre of this labyrinth, Tribolo, by command of the Duke, erected a marble fountain of great beauty, of which further mention will be made immediately below. Before the principal entrance, there namely where are the firstmentioned lawns or meadows, with the two pieces of water and the avenue covered with its mulberries, Tribolo would have had the latter extended and covered in like manner for more than the length of a mile, thus affording a shaded walk even down to the shores of the river Arno, and he further desired that the waters which might remain after the fountains had been supplied, should be made to run gently on each side of the avenue, which they should in this manner accompany even to the river, being conducted in small canals, pleasantly enlivened by various kinds of fish.

For the palace itself—that I may thus relate what is intended to be done, as well as that which has been accomplished —Tribolo wished to construct a Loggia with an open court before it, at the extremity of which, and at that part where the stables are placed, he would then have erected a second palace, exactly similar to the earlier building, with the same number and proportion of apartments and Loggie, with a private garden and a garden on the heights, an addition which would have made that fabric a most extensive palace, and caused it to present a singularly beautiful front. Having passed the court from which you enter the large garden wherein is the labyrinth, you find at the entrance of the latter a very extensive lawn, and on ascending the steps which conduct to the labyrinth, a quadrangle of thirty braccia is discovered, on which there was to be, and has since been made, a very large fountain in white marble, the waters from which are to be thrown fourteen braccia above the highest point of the decorations; the summit of the fountain to be occupied by a figure, from whose mouth water is furthermore to arise to the height of six braccia.

At each end of the lawn a Loggia was to be erected, the one opposite to the other, and both having a length of thirty braccia, and a width of fifteen braccia. In the centre of each Loggia was to be placed a marble table twelve braccia long, and on the outer side a basin or reservoir of eight braccia, which was to receive water from a vase borne by two figures. In the midst of the labyrinth so frequently mentioned, it was Tribolo’s intention to display the highest powers of art by means of the various jets and ornamental forms into which the water was to be thrown, and by the numerous decorations to be placed about the fountain, around which there was to be a commodious and beautiful range of seats for repose. The marble basin he proposed to make, as was in effect subsequently done, much less than that of the large and principal fountain, and intended to place therein a figure of bronze, throwing water from its mouth. At the end of this garden there was to be a portal in the centre, with marble figures of boys throwing water; a fountain was to be formed on each side, and in the angles were to be double niches, within which statues were to be placed, similar to those which are in the niches of the side walls, and ranged along the avenues by which the garden is traversed; all to be standing in various compartments and surrounded with verdure.

From the above mentioned door at the end of this garden, a flight of steps conducts to a second garden, of equal width with the first, but, ascending the hill straight upwards, it presented no great depth, being impeded by the acclivity of the mountain. On each side of this upper garden was likewise to be erected a Loggia; and opposite to the door, in the wall erected to support the soil of the hill behind, there was to be a grotto with three distinct elevations, each with its basin, wherein water was to fall in the manner of rain. On each side of the grotto was to be placed a fountain; and opposite to these, near the lower wall of the garden, were to be two more fountains constructed, one on each side of the door. In this manner the fountains of the upper garden would have been equal to those in that beneath it; those of the latter receiving their waters from the fountains of the higher garden, wherein there were besides to be large numbers of orange trees, which would there have had, nay, rather, will have, the most commodious position that can be conceived, because they will be defended by the wall and the heights from the north wind, and all others that might be injurious to them.

From this garden of oranges two flights of stone steps, one on each side, conduct to a wood of cypress, pines, and ilex, mingled with laurels and evergreen shrubs, in great variety, all which are distributed with the most admirable judgment. In the midst of these, according to the design of Tribolo, there was to be formed a very beautiful piece of water, which has in effect been done. The space is here gradually restricted until it forms an angle; this being truncated to the breadth of a Loggia, erected to surround the same; and from this point, after ascending certain flights of steps, the whole view beneath lies discovered, the palace, the gardens, the fountains, and all the plain below and around them that is to say, even to the ducal villa of Poggioa-Cajano and the city of Florence itself; while distant views of Prato, Siena,^[34] and all around, are obtainable to the extent of many miles.

The above-named Maestro Pietro da San Casciano had now completed his work of the aqueduct even to Castello, and had brought all the water of the Castellina^[35] to that place; when it chanced that he was attacked by a most violent fever, whereof he died in a very few days. Thereupon Tribolo, having taken the entire conduct of the building upon himself, perceived that, although the waters had been led to Castello in very great quantities, yet they were not by any means sufficient to effect all that he had it in his thoughts to do. The water from Castellina, moreover, did not proceed from a height equal to that required for his purposes. He therefore received permission from the Duke to conduct the waters of the Petraia,^[36] which is situate more than 150 braccia above Castello, to the latter place; and this permission he obtained the more readily because the waters of Petraia are of great purity and in vast abundance. Tribolo, therefore, caused an aqueduct similar to the former one to be constructed, making it of such height that men could enter within it; by this he brought the waters of Petraia to the great ponds, the waters flowing from the principal fountains, being received by another aqueduct.

Having done this, Tribolo began to build the abovedescribed grotto, which he constructed after an admirable design, adding the three niches, whereof there has before been mention; as also the two fountains, one on each side of the grotto. One of these fountains was to be adorned with a large figure in stone, representing the Mount Asinaio;^[37] the hand pressing down the long flowing beard, and water pouring from the mouth into a basin which was to be placed in front of the figure. From this basin the water was then to escape by a concealed exit, and passing beneath the wall, was to supply the fountain, which is now completed, and stands behind the ascent from the garden of the labyrinth, receiving that water into a vase placed on the shoulders of a statue, which represents the river Mugnone, and stands within a large niche of grey stone, richly decorated with various ornaments, and partially covered with a spongeous stone. This work, had it been wholly completed, as it has been executed in part, would have presented a magnificent explication of the truth, since the river Mugnone does take rise in, or receive its birth from, the Mount Asinaio.

For this figure of the Mugnone then, to speak of that which has been actually accomplished, Tribolo executed a statue in grey stone, four braccia in height, but in a recumbent position, and presenting a most beautiful attitude: on one shoulder this figure bears a vase from which there pours water into a basin, and the other reposes on the earth, the statue leaning thereon, with the right leg beneath the left, which is crossed over it. Behind this figure is that of a Woman, intended to represent the city of Fiesole, wholly undraped; she steps from within the spongeous stones of the niche, holding the Moon, which is the ancient device of the Fiesolans, in her hand. Beneath this recess is a very large basin, supported by two large Capricorns, which are one of the devices of the Duke; around the necks of these animals hang festoons and masks of great beauty, and from their mouths is poured the water of the basin. The latter, being convex in the centre, has certain issues whence the water falls streaming over on all sides; but all which is not poured through these issues, throws itself through the mouths of the Capricorns, into the hollow basement of the reservoir, whence it proceeds into and through the kitchen-gardens, which are close to the walls of the garden of the labyrinth, where there are fountains between all the niches, with espaliers of oranges and pomegranates between the fountains.

In the upper garden, where Tribolo had proposed to place the Mount Asinaio, which was to give water to the Mugnone, as above-described, there was to be a similar figure representing the Mount of the Falterona, which was to be placed on the side of the wall opposite to that occupied by the Mugnone, and immediately after having passed the door; and as the river Arno has its rise in the last-named mountain, so the statue designed to represent that river in the garden of the labyrinth, and opposite to that of the Mugnone, was intended to receive its waters from the before-mentioned Falterona. But as neither the figure of the Mountain nor its fount has ever been brought to completion, we will confine ourselves to speaking of the fountain and river-god of the Arno, which were finished by Tribolo.

This figure, then, supports himself in a half-recumbent position on a Lion, which holds a Lily in its paw, while he bears his vase on one of his sides, the latter receiving its water from the perforated rock, behind which was to be the figure representing the Mount Falterona, exactly in the manner in which, as we have said, the Mugnone received its water: the basin, too, which has an oblong form, is in all respects similar to that of the Mugnone, for which reason I will say nothing more thereof, excepting only this, that it is much to be regretted that the beauty and excellence of these works are not exhibited in marble; seeing that they are indeed most truly admirable.

Still continuing the labours of the aqueduct, Tribolo then caused the water of the grotto first to pass beneath the garden, next beneath the lower garden, even into the labyrinth, where he formed a circle around the centre of the latter, enclosing a tolerably large space, and then laid the middlemost tube, through which the fountain was to cast its waters. This done, the master took the waters of the Arno and the Mugnone, and having brought them together beneath the surface of the labyrinth, by means of bronze tubes j udiciously arranged in very fair order within that space, he perforated the whole of the pavement, filling the apertures with other tubes of extreme minuteness, in such sort that by turning a key, all who approached to examine the fountain could be suddenly involved in a shower and well drenched; nor could those who were thus treated escape either quickly or readily, because entirely around that fountain and the pavement wherein are the concealed tubes, Tribolo had constructed a seat in grey stone, supported by feet in the form of lions’ claws, mingled with marine monsters of various forms in mezzo-rilievo, and this barred escape. The arrangement of all this was no easy matter, seeing that the place was on the declivity of the hill, and it was necessary to obtain a level for the construction of these works, as well as for the seats.

Tribolo next began the fountain of the labyrinth, and the lower part of this he formed of marine monsters in marble, twined together in full relief, and wholly detached from the base, the tails of these animals are intervolved after such sort, that nothing better in that manner could well be effected. Having completed this part he then formed the vase, for which he availed himself of a piece of marble which had been long before brought to Castello from the Villa dell’ Antella, together with a large table, also of marble, purchased by Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici from Giuliano Salviati. The possession of these resources caused Tribolo to prepare the tazza for this fountain, earlier perhaps than he might otherwise have done, for the decoration of the same he designed a dance of children which he arranged around the mouth of the tazza, and close to the edge or lip thereof; the little boys composing this dance hold festoons of marine plants, which are detached from the marble with the most admirable art: the pedestal also, which Tribolo erected within the tazza, is adorned with figures of children and masks throwing water, which are all of extraordinary beauty and excellence. On this pedestal it was the intention of Tribolo to place a bronze statue, three braccia and a half high, representing Florence, and signifying that from the mounts Asinaio and Falterona come the waters of the Arno and the Mugnone to Florence, and for this figure the master had prepared a most exquisite model exhibiting the figure in the act of wringing with her hands the luxuriant tresses of her hair whence the water comes streaming on every side.^[38]

Having brought the collected waters to the first quadrangle of thirty braccia, before described as situate beneath the labyrinth, Tribolo then commenced the great fountain,^[39] which, having eight sides, was destined to receive into its lowermost basin all the above-mentioned waters; those of the labyrinth namely, with those coming from the great aqueduct also. To each of these eight sides there ascends a step one fifth of a braccio in height, and each angle of all the eight sides has a ressault, as have likewise the steps, which, thus projecting, present at each angle a step of two-fifths of a braccio, in such sort that the central front of the steps recedes at the ressaults, the direct line being interrupted, which is a fanciful invention, and has a pleasing effect to the eye,while it is found to be very commodious in the ascent. The edge of the fountain has the form of a vase, and the body, or that part which contains the water, is in the figure of a circle. The foot or pedestal in the centre of the basin has eight sides at the lowest part, and continues in this shape, forming eight stages or seats, even to the foot of the tazza, on each of these stages is the seated figure of a boy in full relief and of the size of life; these children are in various attitudes, their arms and legs entwined together to form a kind of chain, all exceedingly beautiful, and constituting a very rich ornament. And as the edge of the tazza, which is circular, projects to the extent of six braccia, while all the water falls equally over the edges, forming a beautiful rain around it, and falling into the basin of eight sides which is below, the boys thus seated on the foot are not wetted, and even have the appearance of being assembled in sport within and beneath the lip of that tazza, for the purpose of sheltering themselves from the falling waters, exhibiting with supreme grace a sort of childlike delight in the nook within which they have crept, the simplicity and loveliness of which cannot be equalled.

Opposite to the four sides of the cross-ways that lead from the fountain to the garden, are four hoys in bronze, reclined and lying at play in various attitudes; and these, although subsequently executed by others, are likewise from the designs of Tribolo.^[40] Above the tazza just described, he then commenced another pedestal, on the lowermost part of which are four boys of marble in full relief, standing on ressaults, and pressing the necks of geese, from whose bills there pours water, and this water is that of the principal aqueduct, which comes from the labyrinth and rises exactly to the level of this point. Above these Boys rises the remainder of the shaft of this pedestal, which is formed into small tubes, whence the water streams in the most fanciful manner; where the pedestal resumes the quadrangular form, the ornament consists of masks, which are very well executed. On the summit of this pedestal there is then placed a smaller tazza, to the edge of which four heads of Capricorns are suspended by their horns: these throw water from their mouths into the larger tazza, to form the rain which falls, as we have said, into the first basin, or that with the eight sides.

Still higher, and rising over all, is another shaft decorated with various ornaments, among which are boys in mezzorilievo; they bend forwards to such an extent as to present a space sufficient for the base of a group representing Hercules strangling Antseus, and which was executed after the design of Tribolo, but by the hands of others, as I propose to relate hereafter.^[41] From the mouth of Antmus it was the intention of Tribolo that water in a large quantity should proceed, to represent the exhaling spirit; this water is that of the great aqueduct of the Petraia, which comes in great force and rises sixteen braccia above the level of the stages or steps, from which height, as it falls back into the larger tazza, the spectacle presented thereby is most admirable.

Through this aqueduct, moreover, there pass not only the waters of the Petraia, but also those which go to the lake and the grotto, and these, being united to the supplies from the Castellina, then proceed to the fountains of the Falterona and Monte Asinaio, wdience they flow on to those of the Arno and Mugnone, as we have before related, and being again united at the fountain of the labyrinth, they thence continue to the centre of the great fountain, where are the boys with the geese. From this point, according to the plans of Tribolo, the waters were to have been conveyed by two separate conduits, to the basins of the loggie, each stream passing subsequently on to one of the private gardens. Now the first of these gardens, that towards the west namely, is entirely filled with medicinal plants, or with such as are otherwise remarkable, for which reason the statue of Esculapius was selected to occupy the niche of the fountain placed at the summit of this garden of simples; the figure in question standing immediately behind the basin receiving the water.

The principal fountain of Castello, whereof we have spoken above, and which was constructed entirely of marble, was finished at all points by Tribolo himself, and was indeed completed to such perfection, that nothing better could be wished for in a work of that character; insomuch that I believe it may with truth be declared the most admirably proportioned, most pleasing, richest, and most beautiful fountain that has ever been constructed, seeing that throughout the whole work, in the vases, basins, figures, and other decorations, the most extraordinary ability, care, and patience, are everywhere apparent. After having prepared the model for the above-mentioned statue of Esculapius, Tribolo began to work on the marble, but being interrupted by other occupations, he did not complete that figure, which was subsequently finished by his disciple, the sculptor Antonio di Gino.

On a small lawn outside the garden, and to the east thereof, is an oak, which Tribolo found means to use for his purposes in a very ingenious manner. This old tree is covered with ivy climbing to the summit, and which covers every part, being interwoven among the branches in such sort, that it gives the appearance of a very thick grove to this oak, to the top whereof Tribolo made a commodious staircase, similarly concealed and covered with the ivy, not being visible indeed from any point. Arrived at the summit, a square chamber is found furnished with seats, which have the backs and arms of living verdure, and in the centre is a small table of marble, with a vase thereon, also of varicoloured marble, and whence, by means of a tube, a copious jet of water is cast high into the air; the returning water being conveyed away by a second tube, both tubes ascending from the foot of the oak, and being covered in such a manner by the ivy that they cannot be perceived, From this fountain of the oak the water may be taken or restored at pleasure, by the turning of certain keys prepared for that purpose, but it would take us too far to describe the various ways in which this water of the oak may be cast about by means of copper instruments, which allow the streams to be thrown on whomsoever it may be desired to sprinkle therewith, while various sounds as of whistlings, &c. can also be produced with the same. Finally, all these waters, after having supplied so many fountains, and served so many purposes, ebing ultimately brought all together, proceed to the two small lakes before the palace, and at the commencement of the avenue, whence they are distributed to the various uses of the villa.

Nor will I omit to mention what had been the purpose of Tribolo with respect to the ornament of statues which were to be placed in the great garden of the labyrinth, there to occupy the niches which are regularly distributed around the same.

He proposed then, and in doing so had judiciously taken counsel with Messer Benedetto Yarchi, a most excellent poet, orator, and philosopher of our times, that at the upper and lower ends of the garden there should be placed the four Seasons of the year, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter; and that each should occupy that point where the effects of its force are the most felt. At the entrance, and on the right hand, commencing from the statue of Winter, six figures were to be placed along the wall which descends to the lower part of the garden; all to denote and set forth the greatness and excellence of the house of Medici; signifying moreover, that all the virtues are to be found assembled in the person of the Duke Cosimo. These were Justice, Mercy, Yalour, Generosity, Wisdom, and Liberality, which have ever dwelt in the house of Medici, and are now all to be found in the most excellent Signor Duke; seeing that he is of a truth most just and merciful, brave and generous, wise and liberal.

And because these qualities have made and do make Florence to be rich in the possession of laws, peace, arms. science, wisdom, the tongues, and the arts; seeing, too, that the Signor Duke is just as regards the laws, merciful, in harmony with the prevalent peace, valiant in arms, generous in the promotion of science, wise in the furtherance and introduction of the tongues and other knowledge, while he is also liberal to the arts, Tribolo designed that on the left hand of the entrance, and opposite to the statues of Justice, Mercy, Valour, Generosity, Wisdom, and Liberality, there should be placed those of Law, Peace, Arms, Science, Tongues, and Arts, as will be more clearly perceived below; seeing all this, I say, it was most appropriately arranged, that the above-named statues and similitude-s should be placed, as they would have been had all been completed according to the original design, above the rivers Arno and Mugnone, to signify that they also contribute to the honour and advantage of the city of Florence. Tribolo furthermore intended to place a bust, which should be the portrait of one of the house of Medici, on the summit of each of the niches wherein were to be erected the statues as above related: over the statue of Justice, for example, was to be placed the bust of his excellency the Duke Cosimo, justice being his peculiar quality; over Mercy was to stand the portrait of the illustrious Giuliano; over Generosity that of the elder Lorenzo; over Wisdom the likeness of either Cosimo the elder or Pope Clement VII.; and over Liberality the head of the Pontiff Leo X. It was likewise suggested that over the figures on the opposite side, other busts might be placed, representing either men from the house of Medici or other personages of the city connected with the same.

Now all these names may cause the description here given, to become somewhat confused; wherefore they are presented to the reader below, and in the following order, which is that wherein they were to have been placed.

All these decorations would without doubt have rendered this the most beantiful, most magnificent, and most richly adorned garden in Europe, but the works were not brought to completion, because Tribolo did not take such measures as he might have done for pressing the works vigorously forward, while the Signor Duke was in the mind to have them executed, and for conducting the whole to completion, as it is certain that he could have done, seeing that he had abundance of men to assist him, and that the Duke was then quite ready to expend money for the purpose: those impediments which afterwards presented themselves, not having arisen at that time. Nay, the Duke, not content with the large stores of water already provided, was then disposed to bring those of Valcenni, where they abound in vast quantities, first to Castello, and thence, by an aqueduct similar to the abovementioned, to conduct them to Florence itself, and so to the Piazza whereon stands his own palace. And, of a truth, if this work had been pressed forward by a man of more energy, and one more desirous of glory than was Tribolo, the whole would at least have been brought into a state of forwardness; but as Tribolo, besides that he was much engaged by the Duke in various matters of business, was not very prompt in his movements, nothing further was done; and in all the time that he worked at Castello, he completed nothing with his own hand, except the two fountains, with their two rivers, Arno and Mugnone; and the statue of Fiesole; yet this arose from no other cause, so far as I can ascertain, than from the one just given, and from his having besides been too frequently occupied, as before remarked, with the different affairs of the Duke.

Among other, matters for example the Signor Duke caused Tribolo to build a bridge over the Mugnone, at a short distance without the G-ate of San Gallo, where that river crosses the high road which leads to Bologna, and the arch of this bridge, seeing that the river crosses the road in a diagonal line, Tribolo constructed in a similar direction, which was then a new thing, and was much commended; the masonry of the stone arch was more particularly praised, being all worked in pieces, each piece having the proper degree of inclination from the square in every direction, and all were so admirably conjoined that the bridge has proved to be a structure of great force, and has moreover a very graceful aspect; this bridge is, in short, an exceedingly beautiful work.

No long time before this was accomplished, the Duke formed the intention of erecting a sepulchral monument to the Signor Giovanni de’ Medici, his father; and being desirous that Tribolo should construct the same, that artist prepared a very beautiful model accordingly, in competition with Raffaello da Monte Lupo, who was favoured by Francesco di Sandro, Master of Arms to his Excellency, and had also made a model. But it was that of Tribolo which the Duke commanded to be put in execution, and the artist repaired to Carrara, for the purpose of having the marbles excavated; while there he also procured marble for the two basins of the fountains in the Loggie at Castello, with a table and many other pieces of marble.

Meanwhile Messer Giovan-Battista da Ricasoli, who is now Bishop of Pistoja, having gone to Borne for certain of the Duke’s affairs, was there sought out by Baccio Bandinelli, who, having just then completed the sepulchral monuments of Pope Leo X. and Pope Clement VII., which were erected in the church of the Minerva, requested Messer GiovanBattista to procure for him the favour of his Excellency the Duke; Messer Giovanni, therefore, wrote to the latter, informing him that Baccio Bandinelli desired to have an opportunity for entering his service; to which his Excellency wrote in reply that Messer Giovanni should bring Baccio with him: when, having arrived in Florence, Bandinelli was so importunate in his audacity with the Duke, and made so much display with his models and so many promises, that the tomb of the Signor Giovanni, which was to have been executed by Tribolo, was given to him instead. Baccio then took certain blocks of marble of Michelagnolo’s, which were in the Yia Mozza, broke them to pieces without any consideration, and forthwith commenced the work. On Tribolo’s return from Carrara he thus found that the monument had been taken from him because he was too yielding and too dilatory.

In the year when bonds of relationship were formed between the Signor Duke Cosimo and the Signor Don Pietro di Toledo, Marquis of Villa Franca, who was then Viceroy of Naples, the Signor Duke taking the daughter of Don Pietro, the Signora Leonora, to wife,—in that year, I say, and when the preparation for the nuptials was made in Florence, Tribolo received commission to erect a Triumphal Arch at the Gate of Prato, by which the bride was to enter the city as she came from the Poggio. This he constructed in a very beautiful manner, adorning it richly with columns, pilasters, architraves, cornices, and pediments; but as the arch was to be decorated with other pictures and historical representations, in addition to the statues by Tribolo, paintings were executed for the same by the Venetian Battista Franco, as well as by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, and Michele his disciple.

The principal figure executed by Tribolo for this work was a female form, five braccia high, surrounded by five children, three of whom were about her knees, one on her lap, and the fifth in her arms; this figure represented Fertility, and was placed on the highest summit of the pediment, on the centre that is to say, and raised on a pedestal covered with rilie vi; beside this statue, but on the sides of the pediment, were two recumbent figures of the same size, one on either hand, that on the one side representing Security, and leaning on a column with a slight rod in her hand; the other signifying Eternity, and having a globe in her arms, while beneath her feet lay an old bald man representing Time, and holding in his arms the Sun and Moon. Of the works in painting whereby this arch was adorned, I say no more, because all may see the description of them in the account of the preparations for these nuptials.

It was one of the duties of Tribolo to take charge of such decorations as were required for the palace of the Medici; he, therefore, caused various devices, with mottoes appropriate to the festival of this wedding, or alluding to the various members of the Medici family, to be executed in the lunettes around the vaulting of the court. The large open court also was adorned by his direction with a most sumptuous array of historical representations; the acts and deeds of the Greeks and Romans on one side namely, with numerous pictures on the others, whereon were delineated events from the lives of the illustrious men of the said house of Medici; all executed after the designs of Tribolo by the most distinguislied among the young painters who were then in Florence, Bronzino, Pier Francesco di Sandro,^[42] Francesco Bachiacca,^[43] Domenico Conti,^[44] Antonio di Domenico, and Battista Franco of Venice.

On the Piazza of San Marco likewise, a horse of twelve braccia, with the fore feet raised in the air, was erected by Tribolo on a pedestal ten braccia high, on which last Broznino had depicted two very beautiful historical representations in the socle above the cornices. A figure of due proportions and fully armed was seated on the horse, having men dead and wounded lying beneath the animal; and that figure represented the valiant Signor Giovonni de’ Medici, father of his Excellency. This wmrk was conducted by Tribolo with so much art and judgment that it was admired by all wTho beheld it, and a circumstance which caused much astonishment w^as the celerity with which he accomplished his task. Tribolo was on this occasion assisted, among other artists, by the sculptor Santi Buglione,^[45] who had a very serious fall at that time, by which one of his legs was lamed, and he had very nearly died.

It was also under the direction of Tribolo that the very beautiful scene for the drama which wras performed on the same occasion, was executed by Aristotile da Sangallo, who was of a verity most truly excellent in these things, as will be related in his life. For the dresses used in the interludes also, which w^ere written by Giovan-Battista Strozzi,^[46] who had charge of the whole comedy, Tribolo displayed the most extraordinary powers of invention; designing head-dresses, buskins of various kinds, and every sort of vestment, in the most graceful and pleasing forms that can possibly be imagined, and with the richest variety; all which caused the Duke afterwards to avail himself of Tribolo’s ingenuity for many a masking, that of the bears for example, that of the race of buffaloes, that of the crows, and many others.

In like manner, at the time when his eldest son, the Signor Don Prancesco, was born to the Duke, there were sumptuous preparations to be made in the Church of San Giovanni, the whole charge of which was given to Tribolo. An extremely magnificent enclosure, capable of containing a hundred young persons, who had accompanied the Prince from the palace to that temple, wherein he was to receive his baptism, made part of these decorations, which were arranged by Tribolo, in company with the wood-carver Tasso,^[47] with so much ability, and were so judiciously adapted to the place, that this church, which is indeed an old and very fine one, was made to appear like a new building in the modern manner and of the utmost beauty, the seats around it being richly adorned with pictures and gilding.

In the centre of the building, and immediately beneath the lantern, a large vase of wood, richly carved and formed with eight sides, was erected; the foot of this vase rested on four steps, at each angle of all the eight sides were lions’ claws, and from the earth there rose up enormous vine tendrils, on which were children, also of large size and in various attitudes. They supported the edge of the vase with their hands, and on their shoulders they bore festoons, which hung down to the hollow space in the centre of the vase, passing entirely around the same. In the vase itself Tribolo caused to be erected a pedestal, likewise in wood, and carved with beautiful and fanciful ornaments; on this, as the completion of the whole, he placed a figure of San Giovanni Battista three braccia high, by the hand of Donatello, and which was left by him to the house of Gismondo Martelli, as we have said in the Life of Donatello himself,^[48] At a word, this church was adorned both within and without in the richest manner that could be devised, the principal chapel alone being omitted, where there is an old Tabernacle, with those figures in relief which were formerly executed by Andrea Pisano.

But it now seemed that as all else was renewed, so this old chapel, thus neglected, deprived everything that had been done elsewhere of all its beauty. Wherefore, it chanced that one day when the Duke had gone to see the preparations, he commended what had been done, like the judicious person that he was, and acknowledged that Tribolo had most admirably found means to accommodate his arrangements to the site and condition of the church, and had made the most of everything. But one thing he censured, and with some severity, that nothing had been done with respect to the principal chapel namely, and he at once commanded, with prompt and ready determination, as well as infinite judgment, that the entire chapel should be instantly covered with an immense canvas, whereon the Baptism of Christ should be depicted in chiaro-scuro. Vast crowds of people were also to be delineated as standing around and beholding that baptism, or preparing themselves to be baptized in their turn; some divesting themselves of their clothing, and others resuming the vestments that had been laid aside; the whole to exhibit a great variety of attitudes. Above, and at the summit of all, was to be placed a figure of the Almighty Father sending down the Holy Spirit; two river-gods were to be added to the lower part, and were to represent the lor and the Dan, which, by the mingling of their waters, form the river Jordan.

For the execution of this work application was then made to Jacopo Pontormo by Messer Pier-Francesco Riccio,^[49] who was then Steward of the household to the Duke, as well as by Tribolo himself, to the intent that he should undertake that painting; but Jacopo would not attempt the task, since the time given for its execution was but six days, and he did not think it possible to complete the work within that time; Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, Bronzino, and many other artists also declining the work for the same reason. At that time Giorgio Vasari, having returned from Bologna, was engaged in the execution of a picture for the Chapel belonging to Messer Bindo Altoviti, in the Church of Sant’ Apostolo in Florence, but he was not held in much consideration, although living on terms of intimacy with Tribolo and Tasso, because a sort of faction had been formed under the favour of the above-named Messer Pier Francesco Riccio, insomuch that whoever was not of that party obtained no share in the favours of the court, even though an able and upright artist, and this state of things caused many who might have become excellent masters with the aid of so great a prince, to find themselves neglected and abandoned, seeing that none were employed unless with the good pleasure of II Tasso, who, being a joyous companion, did so wind round Messer Pier Francesco with his pranks and jests, that in certain affairs the latter would neither command nor execute anything but what Tasso, who was the architect of the palace, and had all things in his hands, advised and wished for.

This faction, therefore, having a sort of suspicion of Giorgio, partly because he did but laugh at their follies and pretensions, but partly also because he strove to advance himself rather by the careful study of his art than by favour; they had consequently no thought of applying to him, but the Duke himself entrusted him with the commission for the work, and he was commanded to paint the before-mentioned composition on the canvas accordingly. This work Giorgio executed in chiaro-scuro, within the six days, completing it in such sort as is known to all who have seen the important addition made thereby to the grace and decoration of the whole spectacle, and how greatly that part of the church, which was most of all in need of such renovation for the magnificence of the occasion, was lighted up and improved by the same.

But to return to Tribolo, from whom I have departed, I scarcely know how. This artist acquitted himself so well on the occasion now in question, that he obtained the highest encomiums, and a great part of the decorations erected by his care between the columns were suffered, by command of the Duke, to retain their places, a distinction which they well deserved; they remain accordingly in the church.

For the Villa of Cristofano Rinieri at Castello, Tribolo executed the statue of a River God, the size of life, in grey stone; this he did while occupied with the Fountains of the Duke, and placed it in a niche at the head of the fish-pond, which extends beyond the aviary of the villa. The statue pours water into a very large basin of the same stone, and that figure, though made of several pieces, has every part conjoined with so much care, that it appears to he formed entirely of one piece. Tribolo next received the commands of his Excellency to finish the flight of steps which ascend to the Library of San Lorenzo, those of the vestibule before the door namely, and he set hand to the work accordingly; but when he had erected four of those great steps, he could not find either the designs or the measurements of Michelagnolo, and by the orders of the Duke he repaired to Rome, not only to obtain the opinion of Michelagnolo in relation to those steps, but also in the hope of inducing the latter to return with him to Florence.

But he did not succeed in either of his errands. Michelagnolo would not leave Rome, but excused himself in the most courteous manner; as to the steps, he appeared to remember neither the measurements nor any other matter concerning them. Tribolo therefore, having returned to Florence, and not being able to continue the work of the above-named steps,^[50] then set himself to execute the pavement of the Library, which was of white and red bricks, after the manner of certain pavements which he had seen in Rome, with this difference, that Tribolo introduced compartments in red clay among others of white mingled with bole, thereby producing the effect of carvings, and so making a kind of copy of the ceiling, with its decorations, upon the floor; a fancy which was then very much extolled.

For the. highest tower of the defences at the Gate of Faenza, Tribolo commenced an Escutcheon of Arms at the command of Don Giovanni di Luna, who was then Castellan of that fortress: he also began a very large figure of an Eagle with two heads, in full relief; this he modelled in wax, preparatory to its being cast in bronze; but nothing further was done in the matter, and the only part of the Arms completed was the shield.

Now it was the custom at Florence that almost every year, on the Festival of San Giovanni Battista, a Girandola should be constructed, to be exhibited at night on the principal Piazza; this Girandola being a great frame-work, covered with jets of flame, and filled with rockets and artificial fireworks of every description, sometimes presenting the form of a temple, sometimes of a ship, sometimes of rocks, or occasionally of a city, or the infernal regions, as might best suit the taste of the inventor. The charge of this work was one year given to Tribolo, who performed his part to admiration, as shall be related below. But as in relation to the various modes of these artificial fires, more especially of those intended to be set off as spectacles on festive occasion, there is a Treatise by the Sienese Vannoccio,^[51] and also works by other writers, I will say no more respecting them, but confine myself to a few remarks on these Girandolas.

The whole construction is of wood, with broad spaces, which last increase from the lower part upwards, widening that is to say as they approach the summit, to the end that the rockets, when set alight, shall not interfere with or set fire to each other, but rising into the air, shall there gradually separate to the extent desired, and each giving aid to the other, shall fill the air with a shower of fire, which shall form arches from heaven to earth. The spaces of the machine, I say, are thus contrived to enlarge, that so the fires may not burn all at once, but may form a continuous and beautiful object. The same arrangement is made with regard to other kinds of fireworks, such, for example, as being fast bound to the firm poles of the Girandola, are so contrived as to maintain a continued succession of joyous sounds. Those which are intended to send forth these festive clamours are indeed for the most part distributed among the ornaments of the structure, being not unfrequently made to proceed from the mouths of masks, or things of similar kind.

But the most important consideration in respect to this Girandola is, that the lights which are fixed thereon, in vases of whatever kind, shall be so calculated as to burn throughout the night, thus constantly maintaining the Piazza in a state of illumination. The whole movement of the work is in fact effected by a simple match of tow, which being saturated with a preparation of powder, sulphur, and brandy, gradually makes its way from one point to another, kindling fires at every place where such are demanded, until the whole is accomplished. And hereby may various circumstances be exhibited, but those selected are for the most part in relation to things prepared by fire, or to persons punished by that element. Thus there had long before been represented the Flight of Lot and his Daughters from the condemned City, and the Story of Gerion with Yirgil and Dante in the lower regions, as we find it related by Dante himself in his Inferno; nay, even previously to these there had been the representation of Orpheus bringing back Eurydice with him from those infernal abodes, with many other subjects of similar kind.

His Excellency therefore commanded that the preparation of the Girandola should not on that occasion be left to such simpletons as more than once before had exhibited a thousand absurdities in these works, but should be placed in charge of an eminent master, who might produce something really good. He thus commissioned Tribolo to take the direction of the matter; and that artist, with the ability and judgment always displayed in his undertakings, constructed a framework in the form of a beautiful Temple, having eight sides, and rising with its decorations to a height of twenty braccia. This temple was intended to exhibit that of Peace, and on the summit was a statue of the goddess, setting fire to a great heap of Arms, which she had at her feet. These arms, the statue of Peace, and all the other figures, which gave a most beautiful aspect to that structure, were all formed with pasteboard, clay, and waxed cloth, but in the most artistic manner; these materials being used to the end that the whole work should be as light as possible, seeing that it had to be suspended by a double rope, which, crossing the Piazza at a great height, upheld the same above the earth.

It is true that the inflammable materials had been laid too thickly within the building, and the matches also were placed too close together, insomuch that when they were once kindled, the fury of the fire was such that the fabric burst into flame at all points, and was consumed as by lightning, whereas it ought to have continued burning at least for an hour. But what was worse, the fire seized on the wood-work and all that should have been preserved, consuming the ropes and everything besides in an instant, to the great destruction of materials, and with very little pleasure to the spectators. Still, as regards the work itself, it was more beautiful than any other Grirandola that had ever been made up to that time.

The Duke then proposing to construct the Loggia of the new Market, for the greater convenience of the traders and for the advantage of his people at large, was not willing to lay the burden of that work also upon Tribolo, who, as Superintendent of the Capitani di Parte, and Commissioner of Roads and Rivers, had to travel up and down through all the State, as well as to look after the fosses of the city; there were, moreover, certain rivers, which he with great labour had to find means for confining within their boundaries, they not unfrequently overpassing the same, to the great injury of the neighbourhood. The repair of bridges and other works of similar character were in like manner under his care, and all these things considered, the Duke gave the works of the new Market in charge to II Tasso, which he did by the advice of Messer Pier Francesco, his Major-domo, thereby turning the said Tasso from a carpenter into an architect, which was indeed much against the wish of Tribolo, who would nevertheless not express the dissatisfaction which he felt, and appeared to be very much the friend of Tasso.

As a proof of this it may be remarked, that although Tribolo perceived many errors in the model prepared by Tasso, he did not choose, as is believed, to make any observation respecting them. Among other faults namely was this, that the capitals of the columns, which are before the pilasters, had not sufficient space left for them, insomuch that when all was prepared, and each part had to be put into its place, the corona at the summit of those capitals would not go in, and so much of it had to be cut away, that the whole range was spoiled; there were besides many other mistakes and oversights, of wdiich we need not speak further.^[52]

For the above-named Messer Pier Francesco, this Tasso executed the portal of the Church of San Romolo, with a window supplied with a curved grating, and looking on the Piazza del Duca. This he did in a manner entirely his own, placing capitals to serve as bases, and doing many other things so completely without measure or order, that we may safely affirm the Teutonic manner to have received new life in Tuscany by means of this man;^[53] to say nothing of all the work that he made in the Palace, where he constructed staircases and rooms, which the Duke has been compelled to have demolished, since they had neither order nor measure, nor proportion of any kind; nay, rather, they were ill-contrived, out of square, destitute of all grace, and exceedingly incommodious.

But all these things were not done without blame to Tribolo, since he, having judgment enough, ought not, as it seemed, to have suffered that his Prince should throw away his money, and at the same time have a disgrace and shame erected before his eyes; nay, it was even still worse that he should permit Tasso, who was his friend, to do such things. Very clearly do men of discretion and judgment perceive the presumption and folly of any one who pretends to exercise an art of which he knows nothing, nor do such men fail to remark the dissimulation of those who pretend to like and approve of attempts which they certainly know to be without merit, all which may be exemplified by the works which Giorgio Vasari has had to demolish in the Palace, to the great loss of the Duke, as well as the disgrace of those by whom they were permitted and executed.

But much the same thing happened to Tribolo as to Tasso, for as the latter deserted his wood-carving, in which vocation he had no equal, yet never became a good architect, because he had left an art of which he knew much, and wherein he was very able, to devote himself to one in which he had no ability whatever, and wherefrom he derived little honour; so Tribolo, abandoning sculpture, in which it may be truly said that he was an artist of high excellence, and surprised all who beheld his works, for the vain attempt to restrain the course of rivers, in which he met with no success, did not continue to pursue the one vocation, so as to secure his fame, and derived censure and injury instead of honour and profit from the other. For it is certain that he did not succeed in his efforts to bring the rivers within bounds, while he made himself numerous enemies, more particularly in the district of Prato, on account of the ravages committed by the Bisenzio, and in the Yal di Nievole, for similar causes, to say nothing of other places.^[54]

The Duke Cosimo having then bought the Palazzo de’ Pifti, of which we have made mention in another place, and desiring to adorn the building more richly with gardens, groves, fish-ponds, fountains, and other decorations of similar kind, caused Tribolo to undertake this work; when he made that distribution of the ground, which is the declivity of a hill, which we now see, arranging all, and putting everything into its due place with great judgment: but many things were subsequently much altered in various parts of the garden. Respecting this Palace of the Pitti, which is the most beautiful edifice in Europe, I propose to speak at greater length on another occasion.

After all these things, Tribolo was sent by the Duke to the Island of Elba, not only that he might see the city and examine the new port which had been constructed there, but also that he might take order-for the transport of a piece of granite, twelve braccia in diameter, of which it was proposed to make a Tazza for the great lawn of the Pitti palace, and which was intended to serve as the basin for receiving the waters of the principal fountain. To that Island Tribolo therefore repaired accordingly, and caused a skiff to be built purposely for the transport of the piece of granite, he likewise made all other arrangements required to that end, and having given the stone-cutters directions as to the manner in which the Tazza was to be shipped, he returned to Florence.

But no sooner had he reached that city than he found all in uproar, and maledictions innumerable sounding against himself; great floods and inundations having in those days caused infinite mischief in the very districts where Tribolo had worked at the embankments of the rivers, although it was very possibly not altogether by his fault that these misfortunes had happened.^[55] Be this as it may, and whether it were by the malignity of some of those employed, or the envy of others, or that he is indeed to blame as was affirmed; certain it is that the weight of all this evil was laid on the shoulder of Tribolo. Now that master was not a man of any great courage; on the contrary, his disposition was rather an anxious one than the reverse; fearing therefore that the malice of some enemy might cause him to lose the favour of the Duke, he was in a state of great depression, when he was seized with an exceedingly violent fever. By this malady, Tribolo, 'who was always of very delicate constitution, was attacked on the 20th day of August in the year 1550, at which time Giorgio Vasari was in Florence, for the purpose of seeing the marbles required for the sepulchral monuments, which Pope Julius III. was having erected at San Pietro in Montorio, transmitted to Rome. He therefore, as one who truly valued and admired the abilities of Tribolo, went to visit and comfort him, entreating that he would think of nothing at that moment but the recovery of his health, and advising that when he was cured he would return to the works at Castello and complete them, leaving the rivers to run their own course, seeing that they were far more likely to drown his fame than bring him either honour or profit. This he promised to do; and I believe that he would have kept his word to the fullest extent, if he had not been prevented by death, which closed his eyes on the 7th day of September in the same year.^[56]

Thus the works of Castello, commenced by this master and brought by him to a state of considerable forwardness, were left unfinished and have so remained; for although since his death there has some work been done, first in one part and then in another, yet they have never been attended to with that diligence and earnestness which they did at one time receive, when Tribolo was living that is to say, and at the time when the Duke was very anxious for the progress of the undertaking. But of a truth, he who does not press forward the works on which he is engaged, while those who cause them to be executed are willing to spend freely, and while they take a great interest therein, is himself the cause of their being neglected, and occasions those works to remain incomplete, which by forethought and zeal he might have brought to their ultimate perfection. Thus by the negligence of the master is the world deprived of an ornament which it might have enjoyed, while he also remains without the honour and memorial which he would have possessed in those productions. For it rarely happens as it did to this villa of Castello, that on the death of the first master a second is found willing to carry forward the work, in strict accordance with the designs and model of the original author, with that modesty which was shown by Giorgio Vasari, who, by commission from the Duke, has caused the great fishpond of Castello and other parts of the work to be completed entirely after the designs of Tribolo, and accordingly as his Excellency has been disposed to have them gradually put out of hand.

Tribolo lived to the age of sixty-five, and was interred by the Barefooted Brotherhood in their place of burial. He left a son called Raffaello, who, has not attached himself to the pursuits of art; and two daughters, one of whom is the wife of Davidde,^[57] who was the assistant of Tribolo in all the buildings erected at Castello, and who, being a person of much judgment, is now employed on the aqueducts of Florence and Pisa (he possessing considerable knowledge of such matters), as well as for those in any other part of the Duke’s dominions for which it may please his Excellency to require his services.

1. This is without doubt an error of the copyist or the press, since Vasari subsequently describes Tribolo as dying in the year 1550, at the age of sixty-five.
2. Tribolo, a thistle, also a tormentor, a scapegrace.
3. Bottari observes that the custom of calling men by some bye-name prevailed to such an extent in Florence, as not unfrequently to cause the loss of the family name. According to Baldinucci, Niccolò retained his father’s byename also, and was sometimes called Niccolò de1 Pericoli. Anguillesi, in his Notizie Storiche de’ R. R. Palazzi e Ville, a work compiled for the most part from unedited documents, calls this artist Niccolò Braccini, but without informing us where he found this family name.
4. This artist is called Nanni Vachero, in the Giunti Edition of our author, and the error is repeated in the Bolognese reprint of Manolessi; but in the Life of Sansovino, where Nanni is again mentioned, he is called Unghero, in the Giunti Edition as well as in the Bolognese work. Letters of Nanni will be found in the Lettere Pittoriche, tomo 3.
5. Mentioned in the Life of Andrea del Sarto as among the disciples of that master, see vol. iii. p. 234.
6. Subsequently presented by Bartolini to Cosmo I., and now in the Public Gallery. The work was broken to pieces by the fire which consumed a portion of that fabric in the year 1762, but the fragments ivere re-united with so much care and ability, by the aid of casts taken when the statue was entire, that but little injury is now perceived from the accident. —Masselli.
7. The Villa Caserotta, now, or lately, the property of the Ganucci family.
8. Cicognara, Storia della Scultura Moderna, tomo ii., bestows high praise on these figures, and in Plates ii. and lxvi. he gives engravings of them and of two rilievi executed by Tribolo for the same place. See also Le Sculture delle porte di San Petronio, by Guizzardi, published in Bologna, with illustrative remarks by the Marchese Virgilio Davia.
9. In the Zambeccari Chapel in San Petronio, called also the Chapel of the Relics, there are two statues by Tribolo, with a large work in bassorilievo, the subject of which is the Assumption of Our Lady.
10. In the Cathedral of Pisa are various works by this excellent sculptor, Stagio, or Anastasio Sassoli, of Pietra Santa, who was particularly admired for the grace of his smaller figures, the beauty of his foliage, and the fancy displayed in his grottesche.
11. On the altar of San Biagio, in the Cathedral of Pisa, there is a small figure of the titular saint, which is considered to be a work of Tribolo.
12. Bottari remarks that Tribolo proved himself a good master and most able architect in this work, but the Churchman questions, as he well may, whether he proved himself an equally good citizen: nor will our readers be at any loss for a reply. Another Italian commentator remarks that Michael Angelo would certainly not have offered such a suggestion, or undertaken the commission consequent on its acceptance.
13. Have we not here an instance of the effects not unfrequently resulting from a divided allegiance? for is it to be supposed that Florentines would so readily have betrayed their country for any but the head of their religion, their spiritual chief, to whom it may be fairly supposed that they considered themselves more sacredly bound than to their temporal ruler? Let us hope that they would not have done this for any lighter motive, but is the existence of that division of duty, which gives its power to such a motive, no evil?
14. The reader connot have failed to remark the rectitude of our author’s judgment, the sympathy which he has ever ready for the good, and his abhorrence of all things base and wicked. Yet he passes over this action of Tribolo without a comment. Is not this another instance of the effect that may be produced by a divided allegiance? Would Vasari have remained thus passive and silent in the presence of an act of treachery, had the treason been committed for a mere temporal ruler?
15. These paintings have long since perished.
16. Whose life follows.
17. See his life, with that of Baccio his brother, vol. iii. p. 136, et seq.
18. Mentioned at more length in a subsequent page.
19. Of this master Vasari makes further mention in the life of Girolamo da Carpi, which follows.
20. Francesco Ferrucci of Fiesole. This artist, remark the annotators of the Passigli Edition, is not to be confounded with one of the same name and family, who was the first, according to the “Introduction,” among the moderns, by whom statues were sculptured in porphyry.
21. Both of these figures are still to be seen in San Lorenzo, in that Chapel called the New Sacristy namely, the architecture of which is by Michael Angelo.
22. Three of the above mentioned figures are now in the Florentine Academy of the Fine Arts; of the fourth, that of Night namely, subsequently possessed by Vasari, the fate is unknown.—Masselli.
23. For this work, now much injured by time, Tribolo received the sum of 180 crowns, as we learn from a letter written by Nanni Unghero to Sangallo. See Lettere Pittoriche, tomo iii.
24. Muratori, Annali d’ Italia, anno 1535, makes it obvious that Alessandro was not “calumniated,’5 although the Florentines did complain to the Emperor of his unbridled licentiousness and invasion of their privileges.
25. “The Duke,” observes Muratori, ut supra, “the Duke replied to the accusations of the Florentines as he best could, and whether it were that the gold which he expended among the imperial ministers produced- its accustomed effect, or that the Emperor, having the prospect of a new war in Italy before him, thought it best to have in Florence one sole ruler obedient to his will, than the union of many heads ever at variance one with another, but more avowedly disposed towards the French than towards himself, as the Florentines notoriously were; certain it is, that the Emperor decided in favour of the Duke, whom he acknowledged as Signor of Florence. He also gave him his illegitimate daughter—the so often betrothed Margherita—for his wife, but with certain conditions, whereby the Emperor obtained a large sum of money from the Duke.”
26. Of whom there is some further mention hereafter.
27. Which he did on the 4th of May, 1536, having arrived in Florence on the 29th of the preceding month.— Ed. Flor. 1832 -8.
28. Now in the Chapel of the Relics in San Petronio, as has been remarked in a preceding note, see ante, p. 178.
29. This happened on the Feast of the Epiphany, in the year 1537.— Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
30. Moreni, Notizie Storiche dei Contorni di Firenze, informs us that the name of Castello does not in this case imply the presence of a previous fortress, but rather that of a point in the main course of an ancient aqueduct, at which a distribution of the waters to the city by means of minor branches, was effected, and which was called in the Latin, Castella; see tomo i. p. 101.
31. Maria, daughter of Jacopo Salviati, wife to Giovanni, called delle Bandenere, and mother of Cosimo I.
32. This figure has for many years been retained in one of the inner courts of the Alessandri Palace, in the Borgo degli Albizzi, in Florence; there is an engraving of the statue in Zuccherelli, by whom it is erroneously attributed to Michael Angelo.
33. The two ponds on the lawns before the palace were drained by command of the Grand Duke Leopoldo I.
34. Bottari observes with justice that it is not possible to discover Siena from any height near Florence.
35. A place near Castello belonging to the Carmelite Monks.
36. La Petraia is another delightful villa belonging to the Grand Duke, and also near Castello.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
37. Now called Monte Senario. It was here that the Order of Monks calling themselves the “Servants of Mary,” took their rise, and they have still a Monastery at this place. —Ed. Flor. 1832-8.
38. This most beautiful Tazza, with the bronze statue here described, is now admired at the before-mentioned Villa of Petraia, to which place it was removed by order of the Grand Duke, Pietro Leoooldo.— Masselli.
39. This fountain retains its original position. —Ibid.
40. They were modelled by Pierino da Vinci, as will be related in the following life.—Ed. Flor., 1882-8.
41. By Bartolommeo Ammannati.—Ibid.
42. A disciple of Andrea del Sarto.
43. Francesco Ubertini, called II Bachiacca, mentioned more than once by Vasari, but more especially in the Life of Bastiano, called Aristotele, which follows.
44. Also a disciple of Andrea del Sarto.
45. Mentioned in the Life of Michael Angelo, as having executed the Bust which was placed on the bier of that master.
46. An elegant poet, as his printed works sufficiently prove.— Bottari.
47. Bernardo Tasso, a most able carver in wood, and extolled as such by Cellini; he subsequently became the court architect, as we read below.— Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
48. For which, see vol. i.
49. Benvenuto Cellini makes mention of this personage, but in terms of much disparagement, calling him “bestia,” and other hard names. See the well-known Autobiography of Cellini.
50. They were in fact erected by Vasari himself, and although he does not here mention that fact, where it might seem to reflect on the ability of Tribolo, he speaks of this work in the Life of Michael Angelo, as among those executed by himself.
51. Bottari tells us that the work here alluded to is the Pirotechnia of vannoccio Biringucci.
52. An Italian commentator remarks that the Loggia thus censured by Vasari is not without merit of various kinds, nor wanting in magnificence.
53. The Church of San Romolo, with the door by Tasso, has ceased to exist, as has the window which Avas near. See Ruggieri, Corso d’Architetlura, in the first volume of whose work is a plate of the Church of San Romolo.
54. Gave, Carteggio inedito, gives a letter from Tribolo to the Duke, dated from Pescia, on the 27th Oct., 1547, wherein he transmits intelligence concerning certain water-works with which he was then occupied, and describes the embarrassments which they caused him.
55. Bottari has remarked, and with justice, that the fault of Tribolo was in his believing himself to be acquainted with a science of which he did not even know the first principles, which were indeed wholly unknown until Castelli laid them down a hundred years afterwards, in his Treatise concerning the Acque Correnti.
56. Gaye, Carteggio inedito d’Artisti, vol. ii. p. 380, gives the following notice, from the Memorie fiorentine inedite, in a note to a letter from Duke Cosimo to the Proveditore of Fortresses, Ser Jacopo, in which letter the Duke mentions the death of Tribolo:—“26th August, 1550, died II Tribolo, who, about the year 1529, made measurements by night of the whole city of Florence, and executed a model in wood thereof, which was kept by Pope Clement VII. in his possession to the end of his days. Tribolo was occupied, when he died, with the arrangement of the garden and heights of Boboli.”
57. David Fortini, whose descendants settled in Florence, and obtained the rights of citizenship therein. —Ed. Flor., 1832-8.