THE SIENESE SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT, FRANCESCO DI GIORGIO; AND THE SCULPTOR AND PAINTER, LORENZO VECCHIETTI, ALSO OF SIENA.
[born, 1439—died, 1506.] [born, 1402—died, 1480.]
The Sienese artist, Francesco di Giorgio,[1] who was an excellent sculptor and architect, produced the two angels in bronze which are on the high altar in the cathedral of that city. These figures are in truth very finely cast, and were afterwards finished by himself with all possible care. And this he could do very conveniently, being a man of fair possessions as well as of remarkable ability, wherefore he did not work for the sake of gain, but for his own pleasure, and when he felt inclined, to the end that he might leave honourable memorials of his existence behind him. Francesco di Giorgio also gave his attention to painting, and produced some pictures,[2] but they do not equal his sculptures: in architecture, on the contrary, he possessed great judgment, and proved himself to be well versed in that branch of art. Ample testimony to the truth of this remark is afforded by the palace which he built in Urbino for the duke Federigo Feltro, the apartments of which are arranged with remarkable judgment, and are exceedingly commodious: the staircases are peculiarly constructed, but are more convenient and agreeable than any that had existed previously to his time.[3] The halls are large and magnificent; the arrangement of the rooms is singularly judicious; they are richly decorated, and the whole palace is in short as handsome and well-constructed as any one that has ever been erected
- ↑ The reader who shall desire minute details respecting this artist, will find them in the life prefixed by Signor Carlo Promis, to the Trattato d'architettura civile e militare, written by Francesco Giorgio, during his abode in Urbino, and published by Promis in 1841.
- ↑ Lanzi mentions a Presepio only, as seen by himself. Seevol. i. p. 288 note. But another picture has been discovered in Monte Oliveto Maggiore, at Chinsumi, a Coronation, now in the Academy of Siena, as is that cited by Lanzi.
- ↑ Modern writers bring ample testimony to prove that Francesco di Giorgio did not build this palace, which was commenced by the Sclavonian architect, Lucius Lauranna, and completed by Baccio Pontelli, or Pintelli, See his Life, ante, p. 87.
