a Florentine; bnt this is of little consequence, seeing that the two places are so near together. Desiderio imitated the manner of Donato,[1] although he was himself endowed by nature with the power of imparting extraordinary grace and loveliness to his heads; and the faces of his women and children exhibit the most charming sweetness and the softest delicacy, qualities which he derived as much from nature, by whom he was disposed to the art, as from the zeal and study wherewith he disciplined and exercised his genius. Desiderio worked in his youth on the pedestal of Donato’s David, which is in the ducal palace of Florence, and on this he executed harpies in marble, of extraordinary merit, as also vine-leaves, with their tendrils, in bronze, which are very graceful and most ably executed.[2] On the fagade of the Grianfigliazzi palace, he sculptured the armorial bearings of the family, of a large size and very finely done, with a lion, which is most beautiful; and other works in stone now dispersed over different parts of the city. For the church of the Carmine, Desiderio carved an Angel[3] in wood, which was placed in the chapel of the Brancacci; and in the church of San Lorenzo he completed the decorations, in marble, for the chapel of the Sacrament, a work which he conducted with great diligence to the utmost perfection. In this chapel there was the figure of a child by our artist, in full relief, which was removed from its place, and is now wont to be set upon the altar on the feast of the Nativity, as an extraordinary thing; and in its stead another was made by Baccio da Montelupo, also in marble, which stands constantly on the tabernacle of the Sacrament.[4] In Santa
- ↑ Vasari, in the Life of Donato, calls Desiderio a disciple of that master, and Baldiniicci supports this opinion.
- ↑ Of this work, the Florentine commentators profess their inability to render any account, but Cicognara believes it to be that beautiful pedestal in bronze, on which the antique Mercury, or Bacchus, found at Pesaro, is placed, and which is now in the Florentine Gallery (Corridor of Ancient Bronzes.) For his remarks on this subject, see Storia della Scultura, tom. ii. p. 73.
- ↑ The Lion is still in existence,but the Angel has disappeared; it was probably destroyed in the conflagration of the church.— Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
- ↑ The decorations of the chapel of the Sacrament were transported to the opposite side of the church in 1677, and are there still. The Child here mentioned was on that occasion restored to its original place.— Thid» See also Cicognara, Storie, &c., pl. lx.
