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LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS SCULPTORS & ARCHITECTS BY GIORGIO
VASARI:

VOLUME X. BRONZINO TO VASARI & GENERAL INDEX 1915

NEWLY TRANSLATED BY GASTON Du C. DE VERE. WITH FIVE HUNDRED
ILLUSTRATIONS: IN TEN VOLUMES

[Illustration: 1511-1574]

PHILIP LEE WARNER, PUBLISHER TO THE MEDICI SOCIETY, LIMITED 7 GRAFTON
ST. LONDON, W. 1912-15




CONTENTS OF VOLUME X

                                                                    PAGE

    ACADEMICIANS OF DESIGN, PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND ARCHITECTS        3

    DESCRIPTION OF THE FESTIVE PREPARATIONS FOR THE NUPTIALS
      OF THE PRINCE DON FRANCESCO OF TUSCANY                          37

    GIORGIO VASARI                                                   171

    INDEX OF NAMES                                                   227

    GENERAL INDEX, VOLUMES I TO X                                    233




ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME X

PLATES IN MONOCHROME

                                                             FACING PAGE

    AGNOLO BRONZINO
        Bartolommeo Panciatichi
            Florence: Uffizi, 159                                      4

    AGNOLO BRONZINO
        Eleanora de Toledo and her Son
            Florence: Uffizi, 172                                      6

    AGNOLO BRONZINO
        Christ in Limbo
            Florence: Uffizi, 1271                                     8

    ALESSANDRO ALLORI
        Giuliano de' Medici
            Florence: Uffizi, 193                                     12

    BENVENUTO CELLINI
        Perseus
            Florence: Loggia de' Lanzi                                22

    GIOVANNI BOLOGNA
        Fountain of Neptune
            Bologna                                                   24

    GIOVANNI BOLOGNA
        Mercury
            Florence: Museo Nazionale                                 26

    VINCENZIO DANTI
        The Brazen Serpent
            Florence: Museo Nazionale                                 28

    VINCENZIO DANTI
        Bronze Relief
            Florence: Museo Nazionale                                 30

    GIORGIO VASARI
        Lorenzo the Magnificent and the Ambassadors
            Florence: Palazzo Vecchio                                208

    GIORGIO VASARI
        Fresco in the Hall of Lorenzo the Magnificent
            Florence: Palazzo Vecchio                                214




OF THE ACADEMICIANS OF DESIGN, PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND ARCHITECTS, AND
OF THEIR WORKS, AND FIRST OF BRONZINO


Having written hitherto of the lives and works of the most excellent
painters, sculptors, and architects, from Cimabue down to the present
day, who have passed to a better life, and having spoken with the
opportunities that came to me of many still living, it now remains that
I say something of the craftsmen of our Academy of Florence, of whom up
to this point I have not had occasion to speak at sufficient length. And
beginning with the oldest and most important, I shall speak first of
Agnolo, called Bronzino, a Florentine painter truly most rare and worthy
of all praise.

Agnolo, then, having been many years with Pontormo, as has been told,
caught his manner so well, and so imitated his works, that their
pictures have been taken very often one for the other, so similar they
were for a time. And certainly it is a marvel how Bronzino learned the
manner of Pontormo so well, for the reason that Jacopo was rather
strange and shy than otherwise even with his dearest disciples, being
such that he would never let anyone see his works save when completely
finished. But notwithstanding this, so great were the patience and
lovingness of Agnolo towards Pontormo, that he was forced always to look
kindly upon him, and to love him as a son. The first works of account
that Bronzino executed, while still a young man, were in the Certosa of
Florence, over a door that leads from the great cloister into the
chapter-house, on two arches, one within and the other without. On that
without is a Pietà, with two Angels, in fresco, and on that within is a
nude S. Laurence upon the gridiron, painted in oil-colours on the wall;
which works were a good earnest of the excellence that has been seen
since in the works of this painter in his mature years. In the Chapel of
Lodovico Capponi, in S. Felicita at Florence, Bronzino, as has been said
in another place, painted two Evangelists in two round pictures in oils,
and on the vaulting he executed some figures in colour. In the Abbey of
the Black Friars at Florence, in the upper cloister, he painted in
fresco a story from the life of S. Benedict, when he throws himself
naked on the thorns, which is a very good picture. In the garden of the
Sisters called the Poverine, he painted in fresco a most beautiful
tabernacle, wherein is Christ appearing to the Magdalene in the form of
a gardener. And in S. Trinita, likewise in Florence, may be seen a
picture in oils by the same hand, on the first pilaster at the right
hand, of the Dead Christ, Our Lady, S. John, and S. Mary Magdalene,
executed with much diligence and in a beautiful manner. And during that
time when he executed these works, he also painted many portraits of
various persons, and other pictures, which gave him a great name.

[Illustration: BARTOLOMMEO PANCIATICHI

(_After the painting by =Angelo Bronzino=. Florence: Uffizi, 159_)

_Alinari_]

Then, the siege of Florence being ended and the settlement made, he
went, as has been told elsewhere, to Pesaro, where under the protection
of Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, besides the above-mentioned
harpsichord-case full of figures, which was a rare thing, he executed
the portrait of that lord and one of a daughter of Matteo Sofferoni,
which was a truly beautiful picture and much extolled. He also executed
at the Imperiale, a villa of the said Duke, some figures in oils on the
spandrels of a vault; and more of these he would have done if he had not
been recalled to Florence by his master, Jacopo Pontormo, that he might
assist him to finish the Hall of Poggio a Caiano. And having arrived in
Florence, he painted as it were by way of pastime, for Messer Giovanni
de Statis, Auditor to Duke Alessandro, a little picture of Our Lady
which was a much extolled work, and shortly afterwards, for Monsignor
Giovio, his friend, the portrait of Andrea Doria; and for Bartolommeo
Bettini, to fill certain lunettes in a chamber, the portraits of Dante,
Petrarca, and Boccaccio, half-length figures of great beauty. Which
pictures finished, he made portraits of Bonaccorso Pinadori, Ugolino
Martelli, Messer Lorenzo Lenzi, now Bishop of Fermo, and Pier Antonio
Bandini and his wife, with so many others, that it would be a long work
to seek to make mention of them all; let it suffice that they were all
very natural, executed with incredible diligence, and finished so well,
that nothing more could be desired. For Bartolommeo Panciatichi he
painted two large pictures of Our Lady, with other figures, beautiful to
a marvel and executed with infinite diligence, and, besides these,
portraits of him and his wife, so natural that they seem truly alive,
and nothing is wanting in them save breath. For the same man he has
painted a picture of Christ on the Cross, which is executed with much
study and pains, insomuch that it is clearly evident that he copied it
from a real dead body fixed on a cross, such is the supreme excellence
and perfection of every part. For Matteo Strozzi he painted in fresco,
in a tabernacle at his villa of S. Casciano, a Pietà with some Angels,
which was a very beautiful work. For Filippo d' Averardo Salviati he
executed a Nativity of Christ in a small picture with little figures, of
such beauty that it has no equal, as everyone knows, that work being now
in engraving; and for Maestro Francesco Montevarchi, a most excellent
physicist, he painted a very beautiful picture of Our Lady and some
other little pictures full of grace. And he assisted his master
Pontormo, as was said above, to execute the work of Careggi, whereon the
spandrels of the vaults he painted with his own hand five figures,
Fortune, Fame, Peace, Justice, and Prudence, with some children, all
wrought excellently well.

Duke Alessandro being then dead and Cosimo elected, Bronzino assisted
the same Pontormo in the work of the Loggia of Castello. For the
nuptials of the most illustrious Lady, Leonora di Toledo, the wife of
Duke Cosimo, he painted two scenes in chiaroscuro in the court of the
Medici Palace, and on the base that supported the horse made by Tribolo,
as was related, some stories of the actions of Signor Giovanni de'
Medici, in imitation of bronze; all which were the best pictures that
were executed in those festive preparations. Wherefore the Duke, having
recognized the ability of this man, caused him to set his hand to
adorning a chapel of no great size in the Ducal Palace for the said Lady
Duchess, a woman of true worth, if ever any woman was, and for her
infinite merits worthy of eternal praise. In that chapel Bronzino made
on the vault some compartments with very beautiful children and four
figures, each of which has the feet turned towards the walls--S.
Francis, S. Jerome, S. Michelagnolo, and S. John; all executed with the
greatest diligence and lovingness. And on the three walls, two of which
are broken by the door and the window, he painted three stories of
Moses, one on each wall. Where the door is, he painted the story of the
snakes or serpents raining down upon the people, with many beautiful
considerations in figures bitten by them, some of whom are dying, some
are dead, and others, gazing on the Brazen Serpent, are being healed. On
another wall, that of the window, is the Rain of Manna; and on the
unbroken wall the Passing of the Red Sea, and the Submersion of Pharaoh;
which scene has been printed in engraving at Antwerp. In a word, this
work, executed as it is in fresco, has no equal, and is painted with the
greatest possible diligence and study. In the altar-picture of this
chapel, painted in oils, which was placed over the altar, was Christ
taken down from the Cross, in the lap of His Mother; but it was removed
from there by Duke Cosimo for sending as a present, as a very rare work,
to Granvella, who was once the greatest man about the person of the
Emperor Charles V. In place of that altar-piece the same master has
painted another like it, which was set over the altar between two
pictures not less beautiful than the altar-piece, in which pictures are
the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin receiving from him the Annunciation;
but instead of these, when the first altar-picture was removed, there
were a S. John the Baptist and a S. Cosimo, which were placed in the
guardaroba when the Lady Duchess, having changed her mind, caused the
other two to be painted.

[Illustration: ELEANORA DE TOLEDO AND HER SON

(_After the painting by =Angelo Bronzino=. Florence: Uffizi, 172_)

_Alinari_]

The Lord Duke, having seen from these and other works the excellence of
this painter, and that it was his particular and peculiar field to
portray from life with the greatest diligence that could be imagined,
caused him to paint a portrait of himself, at that time a young man,
fully clad in bright armour, and with one hand upon his helmet; in
another picture the Lady Duchess, his consort, and in yet another
picture the Lord Don Francesco, their son and Prince of Florence. And no
long time passed before he portrayed the same Lady Duchess once again,
to do her pleasure, in a different manner from the first, with the
Lord Don Giovanni, her son, beside her. He also made a portrait of La
Bia, a young girl, the natural daughter of the Duke; and afterwards all
the Duke's children, some for the first time and others for the
second--the Lady Donna Maria, a very tall and truly beautiful girl, the
Prince Don Francesco, the Lord Don Giovanni, Don Garzia, and Don
Ernando, in a number of pictures which are all in the guardaroba of his
Excellency, together with the portraits of Don Francesco di Toledo,
Signora Maria, mother of the Duke, and Ercole II, Duke of Ferrara, with
many others. About the same time, also, he executed in the Palace for
the Carnival, two years in succession, two scenic settings and
prospect-views for comedies, which were held to be very beautiful. And
he painted a picture of singular beauty that was sent to King Francis in
France, wherein was a nude Venus, with a Cupid who was kissing her, and
Pleasure on one side with Play and other Loves, and on the other side
Fraud and Jealousy and other passions of love. The Lord Duke had caused
to be begun by Pontormo the cartoons of the tapestries in silk and gold
for the Sala del Consiglio de' Dugento; and, having had two stories of
the Hebrew Joseph executed by the said Pontormo, and one by Salviati, he
gave orders that Bronzino should do the rest. Whereupon he executed
fourteen pieces with the excellence and perfection which everyone knows
who has seen them; but since this was an excessive labour for Bronzino,
who was losing too much time thereby, he availed himself in the greater
part of these cartoons, himself making the designs, of Raffaello dal
Colle, the painter of Borgo a San Sepolcro, who acquitted himself
excellently well.

Now Giovanni Zanchini had built a chapel very rich in carved stone, with
his family tombs in marble, opposite to the Chapel of the Dini in S.
Croce at Florence, on the front wall, on the left hand as one enters the
church by the central door; and he allotted the altar-piece to Bronzino,
to the end that he might paint in it Christ descended into the Limbo of
Hell in order to deliver the Holy Fathers. Agnolo, then, having set his
hand to it, executed that work with the utmost possible diligence that
one can use who desires to acquire glory by such a labour; wherefore
there are in it most beautiful nudes, men, women, and children, young
and old, with different features and attitudes, and portraits of men
that are very natural, among which are Jacopo da Pontormo, Giovan
Battista Gello, a passing famous Academician of Florence, and the
painter Bacchiacca, of whom we have spoken above. And among the women he
portrayed there two noble and truly most beautiful young women of
Florence, worthy of eternal praise and memory for their incredible
beauty and virtue, Madonna Costanza da Sommaia, wife of Giovan Battista
Doni, who is still living, and Madonna Camilla Tedaldi del Corno, who
has now passed to a better life. Not long afterwards he executed another
large and very beautiful altar-picture of the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ, which was placed in the Chapel of Jacopo and Filippo Guadagni
beside the choir in the Church of the Servites--that is, the Nunziata.
And at this same time he painted the altar-piece that was placed in the
chapel of the Palace, whence there had been removed that which was sent
to Granvella; which altar-piece is certainly a most beautiful picture,
and worthy of that place. Bronzino then painted for Signor Alamanno
Salviati a Venus with a Satyr beside her, so beautiful as to appear in
truth Venus Goddess of Beauty.

[Illustration: CHRIST IN LIMBO

(_After the panel by =Angelo Bronzino=. Florence: Uffizi, 1271_)

_Anderson_]

Having then gone to Pisa, whither he was summoned by the Duke, he
executed some portraits for his Excellency; and for Luca Martini, who
was very much his friend, and not of him only, but also attached with
true affection to all men of talent, he painted a very beautiful picture
of Our Lady, in which he portrayed that Luca with a basket of fruits,
from his having been the minister and proveditor for the said Lord Duke
in the draining of the marshes and other waters that rendered unhealthy
the country round Pisa, and for having made it in consequence fertile
and abundant in fruits. Nor did Bronzino depart from Pisa before there
was allotted to him at the instance of Martini, by Raffaello del
Setaiuolo, the Warden of Works of the Duomo, the altar-picture for one
of the chapels in that Duomo, wherein he painted a nude Christ with the
Cross, and about Him many Saints, among whom is a S. Bartholomew flayed,
which has the appearance of a true anatomical subject and of a man
flayed in reality, so natural it is and imitated with such diligence
from an anatomical subject. That altar-picture, which is beautiful in
every part, was placed, as I have said, in a chapel from which they
removed another by the hand of Benedetto da Pescia, a disciple of
Giulio Romano. Bronzino then made for Duke Cosimo a full-length portrait
of the dwarf Morgante, nude, and in two ways--namely, on one side of the
picture the front, and on the other the back, with the bizarre and
monstrous members which that dwarf has; which picture, of its kind, is
beautiful and marvellous. For Ser Carlo Gherardi of Pistoia, who from
his youth was a friend of Bronzino, he executed at various times,
besides the portrait of Ser Carlo himself, a very beautiful Judith
placing the head of Holofernes in a basket, and on the cover that
protects that picture, in the manner of a mirror, a Prudence looking at
herself; and for the same man a picture of Our Lady, which is one of the
most beautiful things that he has ever done, because it has
extraordinary design and relief. And the same Bronzino executed the
portrait of the Duke when his Excellency was come to the age of forty,
and also that of the Lady Duchess, both of which are as good likenesses
as could be. After Giovan Battista Cavalcanti had caused a chapel to be
built in S. Spirito, at Florence, with most beautiful variegated marbles
conveyed from beyond the sea at very great cost, and had laid there the
remains of his father Tommaso, he had the head and bust of the father
executed by Fra Giovanni Agnolo Montorsoli, and the altar-piece Bronzino
painted, depicting in it Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene in the form
of a gardener, and more distant two other Maries, all figures executed
with incredible diligence.

Jacopo da Pontormo having left unfinished at his death the chapel in S.
Lorenzo, and the Lord Duke having ordained that Bronzino should complete
it, he finished in the part where the Deluge is many nudes that were
wanting at the foot, and gave perfection to that part, and in the other,
where at the foot of the Resurrection of the Dead many figures were
wanting over a space about one braccio in height and as wide as the
whole wall, he painted them all in the manner wherein they are to be
seen, very beautiful; and between the windows, at the foot, in a space
that remained there unpainted, he depicted a nude S. Laurence upon a
gridiron, with some little Angels about him. In that whole work he
demonstrated that he had executed his paintings in that place with much
better judgment than his master Pontormo had shown in his pictures in
the work; the portrait of which Pontormo Bronzino painted with his own
hand in a corner of that chapel, on the right hand of the S. Laurence.
The Duke then gave orders to Bronzino that he should execute two large
altar-pictures, one containing a Deposition of Christ from the Cross
with a good number of figures, for sending to Porto Ferraio in the
Island of Elba, for the Convent of the Frati Zoccolanti, built by his
Excellency in the city of Cosmopolis; and another altar-piece, in which
Bronzino painted the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the new
Church of the Knights of S. Stephen, which has since been built in Pisa,
together with their Palace and Hospital, after the designs and
directions of Giorgio Vasari. Both these pictures have been finished
with such art, diligence, design, invention, and supreme loveliness of
colouring, that it would not be possible to go further; and no less,
indeed, was required in a church erected by so great a Prince, who has
founded and endowed that Order of Knights.

On some little panels made of sheet-tin, and all of one same size, the
same Bronzino has painted all the great men of the House of Medici,
beginning with Giovanni di Bicci and the elder Cosimo down to the Queen
of France, in that line, and in the other from Lorenzo, the brother of
the elder Cosimo, down to Duke Cosimo and his children; all which
portraits are set in order behind the door of a little study that Vasari
has caused to be made in the apartment of new rooms in the Ducal Palace,
wherein is a great number of antique statues of marble and bronzes and
little modern pictures, the rarest miniatures, and an infinity of medals
in gold, silver, and bronze, arranged in very beautiful order. These
portraits of the illustrious men of the House of Medici are all natural
and vivacious, and most faithful likenesses.

It is a notable thing that whereas many are wont in their last years to
do less well than they have done in the past, Bronzino does as well and
even better now than when he was in the flower of his manhood, as the
works demonstrate that he is executing every day. Not long ago he
painted for Don Silvano Razzi, a Camaldolite monk in the Monastery of
the Angeli at Florence, who is much his friend, a picture about one
braccio and a half high of a S. Catharine, so beautiful and well
executed, that it is not inferior to any other picture by the hand of
this noble craftsman; insomuch that nothing seems to be wanting in her
save the spirit and that voice which confounded the tyrant and confessed
Christ her well-beloved spouse even to the last breath; and that father,
like the truly gentle spirit that he is, has nothing that he esteems and
holds in price more than that picture. Agnolo made a portrait of the
Cardinal, Don Giovanni de' Medici, the son of Duke Cosimo, which was
sent to the Court of the Emperor for Queen Joanna; and afterwards that
of the Lord Don Francesco, Prince of Florence, which was a picture very
like the reality, and executed with such diligence that it has the
appearance of a miniature. For the nuptials of Queen Joanna of Austria,
wife of that Prince, he painted in three large canvases which were
placed at the Ponte alla Carraia, as will be described at the end, some
scenes of the Nuptials of Hymen, of such beauty that they appeared not
things for a festival, but worthy to be set in some honourable place for
ever, so finished they were and executed with such diligence. For the
same Lord Prince he painted a few months ago a small picture with little
figures which has no equal, and it may be said that it is truly a
miniature. And since at this his present age of sixty-five he is no less
enamoured of the matters of art than he was as a young man, he has
undertaken recently, according to the wishes of the Duke, to execute two
scenes in fresco on the wall beside the organ in the Church of S.
Lorenzo, in which there is not a doubt that he will prove the excellent
Bronzino that he has always been.

This master has delighted much, and still delights, in poetry; wherefore
he has written many capitoli and sonnets, part of which have been
printed. But above all, with regard to poetry, he is marvellous in the
style of his capitoli after the manner of Berni, insomuch that at the
present day there is no one who writes better in that kind of verse, nor
things more fanciful and bizarre, as will be seen one day if all his
works, as is believed and hoped, come to be printed. Bronzino has been
and still is most gentle and a very courteous friend, agreeable in his
conversation and in all his affairs, and much honoured; and as loving
and liberal with his possessions as a noble craftsman such as he is
could well be. He has been peaceful by nature, and has never done an
injury to any man, and he has always loved all able men in his
profession, as I know, who have maintained a strait friendship with him
for three-and-forty years, that is, from 1524 down to the present year,
ever since I began to know and to love him in that year of 1524, when he
was working at the Certosa with Pontormo, whose works I used as a youth
to go to draw in that place.

[Illustration: GIULIANO DE' MEDICI

(_After the painting by =Alessandro Allori=. Florence: Uffizi, 193_)

_Alinari_]

Many have been the pupils and disciples of Bronzino, but the first (to
speak now of our Academicians) is Alessandro Allori, who has been loved
always by his master, not as a disciple, but as his own son, and they
have lived and still live together with the same love, one for another,
that there is between a good father and his son. Alessandro has shown in
many pictures and portraits that he has executed up to his present age
of thirty, that he is a worthy disciple of so great a master, and that
he is seeking by diligence and continual study to arrive at that rarest
perfection which is desired by beautiful and exalted intellects. He has
painted and executed all with his own hand the Chapel of the Montaguti
in the Church of the Nunziata--namely, the altar-piece in oils, and the
walls and vaulting in fresco. In the altar-piece is Christ on high, and
the Madonna, in the act of judging, with many figures in various
attitudes and executed very well, copied from the Judgment of
Michelagnolo Buonarroti. About that altar-piece, on the same wall, are
four large figures in the forms of Prophets, or rather, Evangelists, two
above and two below; and on the vaulting are some Sibyls and Prophets
executed with great pains, study, and diligence, he having sought in the
nudes to imitate Michelagnolo. On the wall which is at the left hand
looking towards the altar, is Christ as a boy disputing in the midst of
the Doctors in the Temple; which boy is seen in a fine attitude
answering their questions, and the Doctors, and others who are there
listening attentively to him, are all different in features, attitudes,
and vestments, and among them are portraits from life of many of
Alessandro's friends, which are good likenesses. Opposite to that, on
the other wall, is Christ driving from the Temple those who with their
buying and selling were making it a house of traffic and a market-place;
with many things worthy of consideration and praise. Over those two
scenes are some stories of the Madonna, and on the vaulting figures
that are of no great size, but passing graceful; with some buildings and
landscapes, which in their essence show the love that he bears to art,
and how he seeks the perfection of design and invention. And opposite to
the altar-piece, on high, is a story of Ezekiel, when he saw a great
multitude of bones reclothe themselves with flesh and take to themselves
their members; in which this young man has demonstrated how much he
desires to master the anatomy of the human body, and how he has studied
it and given it his attention. And, in truth, in this his first work of
importance, as also in the nuptials of his Highness, with figures in
relief and stories in painting, he has proved himself and given great
signs and promise, as he continues to do, that he is like to become an
excellent painter; and not in this only, but in some other smaller
works, and recently in a small picture full of little figures in the
manner of miniature, which he has executed for Don Francesco, Prince of
Florence, a much-extolled work; and other pictures and portraits he has
painted with great study and diligence, in order to become practised and
to acquire a grand manner.

Another young man, likewise a pupil of Bronzino and one of our
Academicians, called Giovan Maria Butteri, has shown good mastery and
much dexterity in what he did, besides many other smaller pictures and
other works, for the obsequies of Michelagnolo and for the coming of the
above-named most illustrious Queen Joanna to Florence.

And another disciple, first of Pontormo and then of Bronzino, has been
Cristofano dell' Altissimo, a painter, who, after having executed in his
youth many pictures in oils and some portraits, was sent by the Lord
Duke Cosimo to Como, to copy many pictures of illustrious persons in the
Museum of Monsignor Giovio, out of the vast number which that man, so
distinguished in our times, collected in that place. Many others, also,
the Lord Duke has obtained by the labours of Vasari; and of all these
portraits a list[1] will be made in the index of this book, in order not
to occupy too much space in this discourse. In the work of these
portraits Cristofano has exerted himself with such diligence and pains,
that those which he has copied up to the present day, and which are in
three friezes in a guardaroba of the said Lord Duke, as will be
described elsewhere in speaking of the decorations of that place, are
more than two hundred and eighty in number, what with Pontiffs,
Emperors, Kings, Princes, Captains of armies, men of letters, and, in
short, all men for some reason illustrious and renowned. And, to tell
the truth, we owe a great obligation to this zeal and diligence of
Giovio and of the Duke, for the reason that not only the apartments of
Princes, but also those of many private persons, are now being adorned
with portraits of one or other of those illustrious men, according to
the country, family, and particular affection of each person.
Cristofano, then, having established himself in this manner of painting,
which is suited to his genius, or rather, inclination, has done little
else, as one who is certain to derive from it honour and profit in
abundance.

         [Footnote 1: Given in the original Italian edition of 1568.]

Pupils of Bronzino, also, are Stefano Pieri and Lorenzo della Sciorina,
who have so acquitted themselves, both the one and the other, in the
obsequies of Michelagnolo and in the nuptials of his Highness, that they
have been admitted among the number of our Academicians.

From the same school of Pontormo and Bronzino has issued also Battista
Naldini, of whom we have spoken in another place. This Battista, after
the death of Pontormo, having been some time in Rome and having applied
himself with much study to art, has made much proficience and become a
bold and well-practised painter, as many works demonstrate that he has
executed for the very reverend Don Vincenzio Borghini, who has made
great use of him and assisted him, together with Francesco da Poppi, a
young man of great promise and one of our Academicians, who has
acquitted himself well in the nuptials of his Highness, and other young
men, whom Don Vincenzio is continually employing and assisting. Of this
Battista, Vasari has made use for more than two years, as he still does,
in the works of the Ducal Palace of Florence, where, by the emulation of
many others who were working in the same place, he has made much
progress, insomuch that at the present day he is equal to any other
young man of our Academy; and that which much pleases those who are good
judges is that he is expeditious, and does his work without effort.
Battista has painted in an altar-picture in oils that is in a chapel of
the Black Friars' Abbey of Florence, a Christ who is bearing the Cross,
in which work are many good figures; and he has other works constantly
in hand, which will make him known as an able man.

Not inferior to any of these named above in talent, art, and merit, is
Maso Manzuoli, called Maso da San Friano, a young man of about thirty or
thirty-two years, who had his first principles from Pier Francesco di
Jacopo di Sandro, one of our Academicians, of whom we have spoken in
another place. This Maso, I say, besides having shown how much he knows
and how much may be expected of him in many pictures and smaller
paintings, has demonstrated this recently in two altar-pictures with
much honour to himself and full satisfaction to everyone, having
displayed in them invention, design, manner, grace, and unity in the
colouring. In one of these altar-pieces, which is in the Church of S.
Apostolo at Florence, is the Nativity of Jesus Christ, and in the other,
which is placed in the Church of S. Pietro Maggiore, and is as beautiful
as an old and well-practised master could have made it, is the
Visitation of Our Lady to S. Elizabeth, executed with judgment and with
many fine considerations, insomuch that the heads, the draperies, the
attitudes, the buildings, and all the other parts are full of loveliness
and grace. This man acquitted himself with no ordinary excellence in the
obsequies of Buonarroti, as an Academician and very loving, and then in
some scenes for the nuptials of Queen Joanna.

Now, since not only in the Life of Ridolfo Ghirlandajo I have spoken of
his disciple Michele and of Carlo da Loro, but also in other places, I
shall say nothing more of them here, although they are of our Academy,
enough having been said of them. But I will not omit to tell that other
disciples and pupils of Ghirlandajo have been Andrea del Minga, likewise
one of our Academicians, who has executed many works, as he still does;
Girolamo di Francesco Crocifissaio, a young man of twenty-six, and
Mirabello di Salincorno, both painters, who have done and continue to do
such works of painting in oils and in fresco, and also portraits, that a
most honourable result may be expected from them. These two executed
together, now several years ago, some pictures in fresco in the Church
of the Capuchins without Florence, which are passing good; and in the
obsequies of Michelagnolo and the above-mentioned nuptials, also they
did themselves much honour. Mirabello has painted many portraits, and in
particular that of the most illustrious Prince more than once, and many
others that are in the hands of various gentlemen of Florence.

Another, also, who has done much honour to our Academy and to himself,
is Federigo di Lamberto of Amsterdam, a Fleming, the son-in-law of the
Paduan Cartaro, working in the said obsequies and in the festive
preparations for the nuptials of the Prince, and besides this he has
shown in many pictures painted in oils, both large and small, and in
other works that he has executed, a good manner and good design and
judgment. And if he has merited praise up to the present, he will merit
even more in the future, for he is labouring constantly with much
advantage in Florence, which he appears to have chosen as his country,
that city being one where young men derive much benefit from competition
and emulation.

A beautiful genius, also, universal and abundant in fine fantasies, has
been shown by Bernardo Timante Buontalenti, who had his first principles
of painting in his youth from Vasari, and then, continuing, has made so
much proficiency that he has now served for many years, and still serves
with much favour, the most illustrious Lord Don Francesco de' Medici,
Prince of Florence. That lord has kept him continually at work; and he
has executed for his Excellency many works in miniature after the manner
of Don Giulio Clovio, such as many portraits and scenes with little
figures, painted with much diligence. The same Bernardo has made with a
beautiful architectural design, by order of the said Prince, a cabinet
with compartments of ebony and columns of heliotrope, oriental jasper,
and lapis-lazuli, which have bases and capitals of chased silver; and
besides this he has filled the whole surface of the work with jewels and
most lovely ornaments of silver and beautiful little figures, within
which ornaments are to be miniatures, and, between terminals placed in
pairs, figures of silver and gold in the round, separated by other
compartments of agate, jasper, heliotrope, sardonyx, cornelian, and
others of the finest stones, to describe all which here would make a
very long story. It is enough that in this work, which is near
completion, Bernardo has displayed a most beautiful genius, equal to any
work. Thus that lord makes use of him for many ingenious fantasies of
his own of cords for drawing weights, of windlasses, and of lines;
besides that he has discovered a method of fusing rock-crystal with ease
and of purifying it, and has made with it scenes and vases of several
colours; for Bernardo occupies himself with everything. This, also, will
be seen in a short time in the making of vases of porcelain with all the
perfection of the most ancient and most perfect; in which at the present
day a most excellent master is Giulio da Urbino, who is in the service
of the most illustrious Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara, and does stupendous
things in the way of vases with several kinds of clay, and to those in
porcelain he gives the most beautiful shapes, besides fashioning with
the same earth little squares, octagons, and rounds, hard and with an
extraordinary polish, for making pavements counterfeiting the appearance
of variegated marbles; of all which things our Prince has the methods of
making them. His Excellency has also caused a beginning to be made with
the executing of a study-table with precious stones, richly adorned, as
an accompaniment to another belonging to his father, Duke Cosimo. And
not long ago he had one finished after the design of Vasari, which is a
rare work, being of oriental alabaster all inlaid with great pieces of
jasper, heliotrope, cornelian, lapis-lazuli, and agate, with other
stones and jewels of price that are worth twenty thousand crowns. This
study-table has been executed by Bernardino di Porfirio of Leccio in the
neighbourhood of Florence, who is excellent in such work, and who made
for Messer Bindo Altoviti an octagon of ebony and ivory inlaid likewise
with jaspers, after the design of the same Vasari; which Bernardino is
now in the service of their Excellencies. But to return to Bernardo: in
painting, also, beyond the expectation of many, he showed that he is
able to execute large figures no less well than the small, when he
painted for the obsequies of Michelagnolo that great canvas of which we
have spoken. Bernardo was employed, also, with much credit to him, for
the nuptials of his and our Prince, in certain masquerades, in the
Triumph of Dreams, as will be told, and in the interludes of the comedy
that was performed in the Palace, as has been described exhaustively by
others. And if this man, when he was a youth (although even now he is
not past thirty), had given his attention to the studies of art as he
gave it to the methods of fortification, in which he spent no little
time, he would be perchance now at such a height of excellence as would
astonish everyone; none the less, it is believed that he is bound for
all that to achieve the same end, although something later, for the
reason that he is all genius and art, to which is added this also, that
he is continually employed and exercised by his sovereign, and in the
most honourable works.

Of our Academy, also, is Giovanni della Strada, a Fleming, who has good
design, the finest fantasy, much invention, and a good manner of
colouring; and, having made much proficience during the ten years that
he has worked in the Palace in distemper, fresco, and oils, after the
designs and directions of Giorgio Vasari, he can bear comparison with
any of the many painters that the said Lord Duke has in his service. But
at the present day the principal task of this man is to make cartoons
for various arras-tapestries that the Duke and the Prince are having
executed, likewise under the direction of Vasari, of divers kinds in
accordance with the stories in painting that are on high in the rooms
and chambers painted by Vasari in the Palace, for the adornment of which
they are being made, to the end that the embellishment of tapestries
below may correspond to the pictures above. For the chambers of Saturn,
Ops, Ceres, Jove, and Hercules, he has made most lovely cartoons for
about thirty pieces of tapestry; and for the upper chambers where the
Princess has her habitation, which are four, dedicated to the virtues of
woman, with stories of Roman, Hebrew, Greek, and Tuscan women (namely,
the Sabines, Esther, Penelope, and Gualdrada), he has made, likewise,
very beautiful cartoons for tapestries. In like manner, he has done the
same for ten pieces of tapestry in a hall, in which is the Life of Man;
and also for the five lower rooms where the Prince dwells, dedicated to
David, Solomon, Cyrus, and others. And for twenty rooms in the Palace of
Poggio a Caiano, for which the tapestries are even now being woven, he
has made after the inventions of the Duke cartoons of the hunting of
every kind of animal, and the methods of fowling and fishing, with the
strangest and most beautiful inventions in the world; in which variety
of animals, birds, fishes, landscapes, and vestments, with huntsmen on
foot and on horseback, fowlers in various habits, and nude fishermen, he
has shown and still shows that he is a truly able man, and that he has
learned well the Italian manner, being minded to live and die in
Florence in the service of his most illustrious lords, in company with
Vasari and the other Academicians.

Another pupil of Vasari, likewise, and also an Academician, is Jacopo di
Maestro Piero Zucca, a young Florentine of twenty-five or twenty-six
years, who, having assisted Vasari to execute the greater part of the
works in the Palace, and in particular the ceiling of the Great Hall,
has made so much proficience in design and in the handling of colours,
labouring with much industry, study, and assiduity, that he can now be
numbered among the first of the young painters in our Academy. And the
works that he has done by himself alone in the obsequies of
Michelagnolo, in the nuptials of the most illustrious Lord Prince, and
at other times for various friends, in which he has shown intelligence,
boldness, diligence, grace, and good judgment, have made him known as a
gifted youth and an able painter; but even more will those make him
known that may be expected from him in the future, doing as much honour
to his country as has been done to her by any painter at any time.

In like manner, among other young painters of the Academy, Santi Titi
may be called ingenious and able, who, as has been told in other places,
after having practised for many years in Rome, has returned finally to
enjoy Florence, which he regards as his country, although his elders are
of Borgo a San Sepolcro and of a passing good family in that city. This
Santi acquitted himself truly excellently in the works that he executed
for the obsequies of Buonarroti and the above-mentioned nuptials of the
most illustrious Princess, but even more, after great and almost
incredible labours, in the scenes that he painted in the theatre which
he made for the same nuptials on the Piazza di S. Lorenzo, for the most
illustrious Lord Paolo Giordano Orsino, Duke of Bracciano; wherein he
painted in chiaroscuro, on several immense pieces of canvas, stories of
the actions of various illustrious men of the Orsini family. But how
able he is can be perceived best from two altar-pieces by his hand that
are to be seen, one of which is in Ognissanti, or rather, S. Salvadore
di Fiorenza (as it is now called), once the church of the Padri
Umiliati, and now of the Zoccolanti, and contains the Madonna on high
and at the foot S. John, S. Jerome, and other Saints; and in the other,
which is in S. Giuseppe, behind S. Croce, in the Chapel of the Guardi,
is a Nativity of Our Lord executed with much diligence, with many
portraits from life. Not to speak of many pictures of Our Lady and
various portraits that he has painted in Rome and in Florence, and
pictures executed in the Vatican, as has been related above.

There are also certain other young painters of the same Academy who have
been employed in the above-mentioned decorations, some of Florence and
some of the Florentine States. Alessandro del Barbiere, a young
Florentine of twenty-five, besides many other works, painted for the
said nuptials in the Palace, after the designs and directions of Vasari,
the canvases of the walls in the Great Hall, wherein were depicted the
squares of all the cities in the dominion of the Lord Duke; in which he
certainly acquitted himself very well, and proved himself a young man of
judgment and likely to achieve any success. In like manner, Vasari has
been assisted in these and other works by many other disciples and
friends; Domenico Benci, Alessandro Fortori of Arezzo, his cousin
Stefano Veltroni, and Orazio Porta, both of Monte Sansovino, and Tommaso
del Verrocchio.

In the same Academy there are also many excellent craftsmen who are
strangers, of whom we have spoken at length in various places above; and
therefore it shall suffice here to make known their names, to the end
that they may be numbered in this part among the other Academicians.
These, then, are Federigo Zucchero; Prospero Fontana and Lorenzo
Sabatini, of Bologna; Marco da Faenza, Tiziano Vecelli, Paolo Veronese,
Giuseppe Salviati, Tintoretto, Alessandro Vittoria, the sculptor Danese,
the painter Battista Farinato of Verona, and the architect Andrea
Palladio.

Now, to say something also of the sculptors in our Academy and of their
works, although I do not intend to speak of them at any length, because
they are alive and for the most part most illustrious in name and fame,
I say that Benvenuto Cellini, a citizen of Florence, who is now a
sculptor (to begin with the oldest and most honoured), had no peer in
his youth when he was a goldsmith, nor perhaps had he for many years any
equal in that profession and in making most beautiful figures in the
round and in low-relief, and all the other works of that craft. He set
jewels, and adorned them with marvellous collets and with little figures
so well wrought, and at times so bizarre and fantastic that it is not
possible to imagine anything finer or better. And the medals that he
made in his youth, of silver and gold, were executed with incredible
diligence, nor can they ever be praised enough. He made in Rome for Pope
Clement VII a very beautiful morse for a pluvial, setting in it
excellently well a pointed diamond surrounded by some children made of
gold plate, and a God the Father marvellously wrought; wherefore,
besides his payment, he received as a gift from that Pope an office of
mace-bearer. Being then commissioned by the same Pontiff to make a
chalice of gold, the cup of which was to be supported by figures
representing the Theological Virtues, he carried it near completion with
most marvellous artistry. In these same times there was no one who made
the medals of that Pope better than he did, among the many who essayed
it, as those well know who saw his medals and possess them; and since
for these reasons he received the charge of making the dies for the Mint
of Rome, no more beautiful coins have ever been seen than were struck in
Rome at that time. Wherefore Benvenuto, after the death of Clement,
having returned to Florence, likewise made dies with the head of Duke
Alessandro for the coins of the Mint of Florence, so beautiful and
wrought with such diligence, that some of them are now preserved as if
they were most beautiful antique medals, and that rightly, for the
reason that in these he surpassed himself. Having finally given himself
to sculpture and to the work of casting, Benvenuto executed in France
many works in bronze, silver, and gold, while he was in the service of
King Francis in that kingdom. Then, having returned to his own country
and entered the service of Duke Cosimo, he was first employed in some
goldsmiths' work, and in the end was given some works of sculpture;
whereupon he executed in metal the statue of the Perseus that has cut
off the head of Medusa, which is in the Piazza del Duca, near the door
of the Ducal Palace, upon a base of marble with some very beautiful
figures in bronze, each about one braccio and a third in height. This
whole work was carried to perfection with the greatest possible study
and diligence, and set up in the above-named place as a worthy companion
to the Judith by the hand of Donato, that famous and celebrated
sculptor. And certainly it was a marvel that Benvenuto, after being
occupied for so many years in making little figures, executed so great a
statue with such excellence. The same master has made a Crucifix of
marble, in the round and large as life, which of its kind is the rarest
and most beautiful piece of sculpture that there is to be seen.
Wherefore the Lord Duke keeps it, as a thing most dear to him, in the
Pitti Palace, intending to place it in the chapel, or rather, little
church, that he is building in that place; which little church could not
have in these times anything more worthy of itself and of so great a
Prince. In short, it is not possible to praise this work so much as
would be sufficient. Now, although I could enlarge at much greater
length on the works of Benvenuto, who has been in his every action
spirited, proud, vigorous, most resolute, and truly terrible, and a
person who has been only too well able to speak for himself with
Princes, no less than to employ his hand and brain in matters of art, I
shall say nothing more of him here, seeing that he has written of his
own life and works, and a treatise on the goldsmith's arts, and on
founding and casting in metal, with other things pertaining to such
arts, and also of sculpture, with much more eloquence and order than I
perchance would be able to use here; as for him, therefore, I must be
content with this short summary of the rarest of his principal works.

[Illustration: PERSEUS

(_After the bronze by =Benvenuto Cellini=. Florence: Loggia de' Lanzi_)

_Brogi_]

Francesco di Giuliano da San Gallo, sculptor, architect, and
Academician, and now a man seventy years of age, has executed many works
of sculpture, as has been related in the Life of his father and
elsewhere; the three figures of marble, somewhat larger than life, which
are over the altar of the Church of Orsanmichele, S. Anne, the Virgin,
and the Child Christ, figures which are much extolled; certain other
statues, also in marble, for the tomb of Piero de' Medici at Monte
Cassino; the tomb of Bishop de' Marzi, which is in the Nunziata, and
that of Monsignor Giovio, the writer of the history of his own times.
In architecture, likewise, the same Francesco has executed many good and
beautiful works in Florence and elsewhere; and he has well deserved,
both for his own good qualities and for the services of his father
Giuliano, to be always favoured by the house of Medici as their protégé,
on which account Duke Cosimo, after the death of Baccio d'Agnolo, gave
him the place which that master had held as architect to the Duomo of
Florence.

Of Ammanati, who is also among the first of our Academicians, enough
having been said of him in the description of the works of Jacopo
Sansovino, there is no need to speak further here. But I will record
that disciples of his, and also Academicians, are Andrea Calamech of
Carrara, a well-practised sculptor, who executed many figures under
Ammanati, and was invited to Messina after the death of the above-named
Martino to take the position which Fra Giovanni Agnolo had once held, in
which place he died; and Battista di Benedetto, a young man who has
given promise of becoming, as he will, an excellent master, having
demonstrated already by many works that he is not inferior to the
above-named Andrea or to any other of the young sculptors of our
Academy, in beauty of genius and judgment.

Vincenzio de' Rossi of Fiesole, likewise a sculptor, architect, and
Academician of Florence, is worthy to have some record made of him in
this place, in addition to what has been said of him in the Life of
Baccio Bandinelli, whose disciple he was. After he had taken leave of
Baccio, then, he gave a great proof of his powers in Rome, although he
was young enough, in the statue that he made for the Ritonda, of a S.
Joseph with Christ as a boy of ten years, both figures wrought with good
mastery and a beautiful manner. He then executed two tombs in the Church
of S. Maria della Pace, with the effigies of those who are within them
on the sarcophagi, and on the front without some Prophets of marble in
half-relief and large as life, which acquired for him the name of an
excellent sculptor. Whereupon there was allotted to him by the Roman
people the statue of Pope Paul IV, which was placed on the Campidoglio;
and he executed it excellently well. But that work had a short life,
for the reason that after the death of the Pope it was thrown to the
ground and destroyed by the populace, which persecutes fiercely one day
the very men whom it has exalted to the heavens the day before. After
that figure Vincenzio made from one block of marble two statues a little
larger than life, a Theseus, King of Athens, who has carried off Helen
and holds her in his arms in the act of knowing her, with a Troy beneath
his feet; than which figures it is not possible to make any with more
diligence, study, labour, and grace. Wherefore when Duke Cosimo de'
Medici, having journeyed to Rome, and going to see the modern works
worthy to be seen no less than the antiques, saw those statues,
Vincenzio himself showing them to him, he extolled them very highly, as
they deserved; and then Vincenzio, who is a gentle spirit, courteously
presented them to him, and at the same time freely offered him his
services. But his Excellency, having conveyed them not long afterwards
to his Palace of the Pitti in Florence, paid him a good price for them;
and, having taken Vincenzio himself with him, he commissioned him after
no long time to execute the Labours of Hercules in figures of marble
larger than life and in the round. On these Vincenzio is now spending
his time, and already he has carried to completion the Slaying of Cacus
and the Combat with the Centaur; which whole work, even as it is most
exalted in subject and also laborious, so it is hoped that it will prove
excellent in artistry, Vincenzio being a man of very beautiful genius
and much judgment, and prodigal of thought in all his works of
importance.

Nor must I omit to say that under his discipline Ilarione Ruspoli, a
young citizen of Florence, gives his attention with much credit to
sculpture; which Ilarione, no less than his peers in our Academy, showed
that he had knowledge, design, and a good mastery in the making of
statues, when he had occasion together with the others in the obsequies
of Michelagnolo and in the festive preparations for the nuptials named
above.

[Illustration: FOUNTAIN OF NEPTUNE

(_After =Giovanni Bologna=. Bologna_)

_Alinari_]

Francesco Camilliani, a sculptor and Academician of Florence, who was a
disciple of Baccio Bandinelli, after having given in many works proof of
being a good sculptor, has consumed fifteen years in making ornaments
for fountains; and of such there is one most stupendous, which the
Lord Don Luigi di Toledo has caused to be executed for his garden in
Florence. The ornaments about that garden are various statues of men
and animals in divers manners, all rich and truly regal, and wrought
without sparing of expense; and among other statues that Francesco has
made for that place, two larger than life, which represent the Rivers
Arno and Mugnone, are of supreme beauty, and particularly the Mugnone,
which can bear comparison with no matter what statue by an excellent
master. In short, all the architecture and ornamentation of that garden
are the work of Francesco, who by the richness of the various fountains
has made it such, that it has no equal in Florence, and perhaps not in
Italy. And the principal fountain, which is even now being carried to
completion, will be the richest and most sumptuous to be seen in any
place, with its wealth of the richest and finest ornaments that can be
imagined, and the great abundance of waters that will be there, flowing
without fail at every season.

Also an Academician, and much in favour with our Princes for his
talents, is Giovan Bologna of Douai, a Flemish sculptor and a young man
truly of the rarest, who has executed with most beautiful ornaments of
metal the fountain that has been made recently on the Piazza di S.
Petronio in Bologna, opposite to the Palazzo de' Signori, in which there
are, besides other ornaments, four very beautiful Sirens at the corners,
with various children all around, and masks bizarre and extraordinary.
But the most notable thing is a figure that he has made and placed over
the centre of that fountain, a Neptune of six braccia, which is a most
beautiful casting and a statue studied and wrought to perfection. The
same master--not to speak at present of all the works that he has
executed in clay, terracotta, wax, and other mixtures--has made a very
beautiful Venus in marble, and has carried almost to completion for the
Lord Prince a Samson large as life, who is combating on foot with two
Philistines. And in bronze he has made a statue of Bacchus, larger than
life and in the round, and a Mercury in the act of flying, a very
ingenious figure, the whole weight resting on one leg and on the point
of the foot, which has been sent to the Emperor Maximilian, as a thing
that is indeed most rare. But if up to the present he has executed many
works, he will do many more in the future, and most beautiful, for
recently the Lord Prince has had him provided with rooms in the Palace,
and has commissioned him to make a statue of a Victory of five braccia,
with a captive, which is going into the Great Hall, opposite another by
the hand of Michelagnolo; and he will execute for that Prince large and
important works, in which he will have an ample field to show his worth.
Many works by his hand, and very beautiful models of various things, are
in the possession of M. Bernardo Vecchietti, a gentleman of Florence,
and Maestro Bernardo di Mona Mattea, builder to the Duke, who has
constructed with great excellence all the fabrics designed by Vasari.

[Illustration: MERCURY

(_After the bronze by =Giovanni Bologna=. Florence: Museo Nazionale_)

_Anderson_]

Not less than this Giovan Bologna and his friends and other sculptors of
our Academy, Vincenzio Danti of Perugia, who under the protection of
Duke Cosimo has adopted Florence as his country, is a young man truly
rare and of fine genius. Vincenzio, when a youth, worked as a goldsmith,
and executed in that profession things beyond belief; and afterwards,
having applied himself to the work of casting, he had the courage at the
age of twenty to cast in bronze a statue of Pope Julius III, four
braccia high, seated and giving the Benediction; which statue, a very
creditable work, is now in the Piazza of Perugia. Then, having come to
Florence to serve Duke Cosimo, he made a very beautiful model in wax,
larger than life, of a Hercules crushing Antæus, in order to cast from
it a figure in bronze, which was to be placed over the principal
fountain in the garden of Castello, a villa of the said Lord Duke. But,
having made the mould upon that model, in seeking to cast it in bronze
it did not succeed, although he returned twice to the work; either by
bad fortune, or because the metal was burnt, or for some other reason.
Having then turned, in order not to subject his labours to the whim of
chance, to working in marble, he executed in a short time from one
single piece of marble two figures, Honour with Deceit beneath it, and
with such diligence, that it seemed as if he had never done anything but
handle the hammer and chisels; and on the head of Honour, which is
beautiful, he made the hair curling and so well pierced through, that it
seems real and natural, besides displaying a very good knowledge of the
nude. That statue is now in the courtyard of the house of Signor Sforza
Almeni in the Via de' Servi. And at Fiesole, for the same Signor
Sforza, he made many ornaments in his garden and around certain
fountains. Afterwards he executed for the Lord Duke some low-reliefs in
marble and in bronze, which were held to be very beautiful, for in that
manner of sculpture he is perhaps not inferior to any other master. He
then cast, also in bronze, the grating of the chapel built in the new
apartments of the Palace, which were painted by Giorgio Vasari, and with
it a panel with many figures in low-relief, which serves to close a
press wherein the Duke keeps writings of importance; and another panel
one braccio and a half in height and two and a half in breadth,
representing how Moses, in order to heal the Hebrew people from the
bites of the serpents, placed one upon a pole. All these things are in
the possession of that lord, by order of whom he made the door of the
sacristy in the Pieve of Prato, and over it a sarcophagus of marble,
with a Madonna three braccia and a half high, and beside her the Child
nude, and two little children that are one on either side of a head in
low-relief of Messer Carlo de' Medici, the natural son of the elder
Cosimo, and once Provost of Prato, whose bones, after having long been
in a tomb of brick, Duke Cosimo has caused to be laid in the above-named
sarcophagus, thus giving him honourable sepulture; although it is true
that the said Madonna and the head in low-relief (which is very
beautiful), being in a bad light, do not show up by a great measure as
they should. The same Vincenzio has since made, in order to adorn the
residence of the Magistrates of the Mint, on the head-wall over the
loggia that is on the River Arno, an escutcheon of the Duke with two
nude figures, larger than life, on either side of it, one representing
Equity and the other Rigour; and from hour to hour he is expecting the
marble to make the statue of the Lord Duke himself, considerably larger
than life, of which he has made a model; and that statue is to be placed
seated over the escutcheon, as a completion to the work, which is to be
built shortly, together with the rest of the façade, which Vasari, who
is the architect of that fabric, is even now superintending. He has also
in hand, and has carried very near completion, a Madonna of marble
larger than life, standing with Jesus, a Child of three months, in her
arms; which will be a very beautiful work. All these works, together
with others, he is executing in the Monastery of the Angeli in
Florence, where he lives quietly in company with these monks, who are
much his friends, in the rooms that were once occupied there by Messer
Benedetto Varchi, of whom the same Vincenzio is making a portrait in
low-relief, which will be very beautiful.

[Illustration: THE BRAZEN SERPENT

(_After the bronze relief by =Vincenzo Danti=. Florence: Museo
Nazionale_)

_Alinari_]

Vincenzio has a brother in the Order of Preaching Friars, called Fra
Ignazio Danti, who is very excellent in matters of cosmography, and of a
rare genius, insomuch that Duke Cosimo de' Medici is causing him to
execute a work than which none greater or more perfect has ever been
done at any time in that profession; which is as follows. His
Excellency, under the direction of Vasari, has built a new hall of some
size expressly as an addition to the guardaroba, on the second floor of
the apartments in the Ducal Palace; and this he has furnished all around
with presses seven braccia high, with rich carvings of walnut-wood, in
order to deposit in them the most important, precious, and beautiful
things that he possesses. Over the doors of those presses, within their
ornaments, Fra Ignazio has distributed fifty-seven pictures about two
braccia high and wide in proportion, in which are painted in oils on the
wood with the greatest diligence, after the manner of miniatures, the
Tables of Ptolemy, all measured with perfect accuracy and corrected
after the most recent authorities, with exact charts of navigation and
their scales for measuring and degrees, done with supreme diligence; and
with these are all the names, both ancient and modern. His distribution
of these pictures is on this wise. At the principal entrance of the
hall, on the transverse surfaces of the thickness of the presses, in
four pictures, are four half-spheres in perspective; in the two below is
the Universe of the Earth, and in the two above is the Universe of the
Heavens, with its signs and celestial figures. Then as one enters, on
the right hand, there is all Europe in fourteen tables and pictures, one
after another, as far as the centre of the wall that is at the head,
opposite to the principal door; in which centre is placed the clock with
the wheels and with the spheres of the planets that every day go through
their motions, which is that clock, so famous and renowned, made by the
Florentine Lorenzo della Volpaia. Above these tables is Africa in eleven
tables, as far as the said clock; and then, beyond that clock, Asia in
the lower range, which continues likewise in fourteen tables as far as
the principal door. Above these tables of Asia, in fourteen other
tables, there follow the West Indies, beginning like the others from the
clock, and continuing as far as the same principal door; and thus there
are in all fifty-seven tables. In the base at the foot, in an equal
number of pictures running right round, which will be exactly in line
with those tables, are to be all the plants and all the animals copied
from nature, according to the kinds that those countries produce. Over
the cornice of the presses, which is the crown of the whole, there are
to be some projections separating the pictures, and upon these are to be
placed such of the antique heads in marble as are in existence of the
Emperors and Princes who have possessed those lands; and on the plain
walls up to the cornice of the ceiling, which is all of carved wood and
painted in twelve great pictures, each with four celestial signs, making
in all forty-eight, and little less than lifesize, with their
stars--there are beneath, as I have said, on those walls, three hundred
portraits from life of distinguished persons for the last five hundred
years or more, painted in pictures in oils (and a note will be made of
them in the table of portraits, in order not to make too long a story
here with their names), all of one size, and with one and the same
ornament of carved walnut-wood--a very rare effect. In the two
compartments in the centre of the ceiling, each four braccia wide, where
there are the celestial signs, which open with ease without revealing
the secret of the hiding-place, in a part after the manner of a heaven,
will be accommodated two large globes, each three braccia and a half in
height. In one of them will be the whole earth, marked distinctly, and
this will be let down by a windlass that will not be seen, down to the
floor, and will rest on a balanced pedestal, so that, when fixed, there
will be seen reflected all the tables that are right round in the
pictures of the presses, and they will have a countermark in the globe
wherewith to find them with ease. In the other globe will be the
forty-eight celestial signs arranged in such a manner, that it will be
possible with it to perform all the operations of the Astrolabe to
perfection. This fanciful invention came from Duke Cosimo, who wished to
put together once and for all these things both of heaven and of earth,
absolutely exact and without errors, so that it might be possible to
see and measure them separately and all together, according to the
pleasure of those who delight in this most beautiful profession and
study it; of which, as a thing worthy to be recorded, it has seemed to
me my duty to make mention in this place on account of the art of Fra
Ignazio and the greatness of the Prince, who holds us worthy to enjoy
such honourable labours, and also to the end that it may be known
throughout the whole world.

And now to return to the men of our Academy; although I have spoken in
the Life of Tribolo of Antonio di Gino Lorenzi, a sculptor of
Settignano, I must record here with better order, as in the proper
place, that he executed under his master Tribolo the statue of
Æsculapius described above, which is at Castello, and four children that
are in the great fountain of that place; and since then he has made some
heads and ornaments that are about the new fish-pond of Castello, which
is high up there in the midst of various kinds of trees of perpetual
verdure. Recently he has made in the lovely garden of the stables, near
S. Marco, most beautiful ornaments for an isolated fountain, with many
very fine aquatic animals of white and variegated marble; and in Pisa he
once executed under the direction of the above-named Tribolo the tomb of
Corte, a most excellent philosopher and physician, with his statue and
two very beautiful children of marble. In addition to these, he is even
now executing new works for the Duke, of animals and birds in variegated
marble for fountains, works of the greatest difficulty, which make him
well worthy to be in the number of these our Academicians.

[Illustration: BRONZE RELIEF

(_After =Vincenzo Danti=. Florence: Museo Nazionale_)

_Alinari_]

In like manner, a brother of Antonio, called Stoldo di Gino Lorenzi, a
young man thirty years of age, has acquitted himself in such a manner up
to the present in many works of sculpture, that he may now be numbered
with justice among the first of the young men in his profession, and set
in the most honourable place in their midst. At Pisa he has executed in
marble a Madonna receiving the Annunciation from the Angel, which has
made him known as a young man of beautiful judgment and genius; and Luca
Martini caused him to make another very lovely statue in Pisa, which was
presented afterwards by the Lady Duchess Leonora to the Lord Don
Garzia di Toledo, her brother, who has placed it in his garden on the
Chiaia at Naples. The same Stoldo has made, under the direction of
Vasari, in the centre of the façade of the Palace of the Knights of S.
Stephen at Pisa, over the principal door, a very large escutcheon in
marble of the Lord Duke, their Grand Master, between two statues in the
round, Religion and Justice, which are truly most beautiful and highly
extolled by all those who are good judges. The same lord has since
caused him to execute a fountain for his garden of the Pitti, after the
likeness of the beautiful Triumph of Neptune that was seen in the superb
masquerade which his Excellency held for the above-mentioned nuptials of
the most illustrious Lord Prince. And let this suffice for Stoldo
Lorenzi, who is young and is constantly working and acquiring more and
more fame and honour among his companions of the Academy.

Of the same family of the Lorenzi of Settignano is Battista, called
Battista del Cavaliere from his having been a disciple of the Chevalier
Baccio Bandinelli; who has executed in marble three statues of the size
of life, which Bastiano del Pace, a citizen of Florence, has caused him
to make for the Guadagni, who live in France, and who have placed them
in a garden that belongs to them. These are a nude Spring, a Summer, and
a Winter, which are to be accompanied by an Autumn; which statues have
been held by many who have seen them, to be beautiful and executed with
no ordinary excellence. Wherefore Battista has well deserved to be
chosen by the Lord Duke to make the sarcophagus, with the ornaments, and
one of the three statues that are to be on the tomb of Michelagnolo
Buonarroti, which his Excellency and Leonardo Buonarroti are carrying
out after the design of Giorgio Vasari; which work, as may be seen,
Battista is carrying to completion excellently well, with certain little
boys, and the figure of Buonarroti himself from the breast upwards.

The second of these three figures that are to be on that sepulchre,
which are to be Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, has been allotted
to Giovanni di Benedetto of Castello, a disciple of Baccio Bandinelli
and an Academician, who is executing for the Wardens of S. Maria del
Fiore the works in low-relief that are going round the choir, which is
now near completion. In these he is closely imitating his master, and
acquitting himself in such a manner that an excellent result is expected
of him; nor will it fall out otherwise, seeing that he is very assiduous
in his work and in the studies of his profession.

The third figure has been allotted to Valerio Cioli of Settignano, a
sculptor and Academician, for the reason that the other works that he
has executed up to the present have been such, that it is thought that
the said figure must prove to be so good as to be not otherwise than
worthy to be placed on the tomb of so great a man. Valerio, who is a
young man twenty-six years of age, has restored many antique statues of
marble in the garden of the Cardinal of Ferrara at Monte Cavallo in
Rome, making for some of them new arms, for some new feet, and for
others other parts that were wanting; and he has since done the same for
many statues in the Pitti Palace, which the Duke has conveyed there for
the adornment of a great hall. The Duke has also caused the same Valerio
to make a nude statue of the dwarf Morgante in marble, which has proved
so beautiful and so like the reality, that probably there has never been
seen another monster so well wrought, nor one executed with such
diligence, lifelike and faithful to nature. In like manner, he has
caused him to execute the statue of Pietro, called Barbino, a gifted
dwarf, well-lettered and a very gentle spirit, and a favourite of our
Duke. For all these reasons, I say, Valerio has well deserved that there
should be allotted to him by his Excellency the statue that is to adorn
the tomb of Buonarroti, the one master of all these able men of the
Academy.

As for Francesco Moschino, a sculptor of Florence, enough having been
spoken of him in another place, it suffices here to say that he also is
an Academician, that under the protection of Duke Cosimo he is
constantly at work in the Duomo of Pisa, and that among the festive
preparations for the nuptials he acquitted himself excellently well in
the decorations of the principal door of the Ducal Palace.

Of Domenico Poggini, likewise, having said above that he is an able
sculptor and that he has executed an infinity of medals very faithful to
the reality, and some works in marble and in casting, I shall say
nothing more of him here, save that he is deservedly one of our
Academicians, that for the above-named nuptials he made some very
beautiful statues, which were placed upon the Arch of Religion at the
Canto della Paglia, and that recently he has executed a new medal of the
Duke, very true to the life and most beautiful; and he is still
continually at work.

Giovanni Fancelli, or rather, as others call him, Giovanni di Stocco, an
Academician, has executed many works in marble and stone, which have
proved good sculptures; among others, much extolled is an escutcheon of
balls with two children and other ornaments, placed on high over the two
knee-shaped windows of the façade of Ser Giovanni Conti in Florence. And
the same I say of Zanobi Lastricati, who, as a good and able sculptor,
has executed and is still executing many works in marble and in casting,
which have made him well worthy to be in the Academy in company with
those named above; and, among his works, much praised is a Mercury of
bronze that is in the court of the Palace of M. Lorenzo Ridolfi, for it
is a figure wrought with all the considerations that are requisite.

Finally, there have been accepted into the Academy some young sculptors
who executed honourable and praiseworthy works in the above-named
preparations for the nuptials of his Highness; and these were Fra
Giovanni Vincenzio of the Servites, a disciple of Fra Giovanni Agnolo;
Ottaviano del Collettaio, a pupil of Zanobi Lastricati, and Pompilio
Lancia, the son of Baldassarre da Urbino, architect and pupil of
Girolamo Genga; which Pompilio, in the masquerade called the Genealogy
of the Gods, arranged for the most part, and particularly the mechanical
contrivances, by the said Baldassarre, his father, acquitted himself in
certain things excellently well.

In these last pages we have shown at some length what kind of men, and
how many and how able, have been gathered together to form so noble an
Academy, and we have touched in part on the many and honourable
occasions obtained by them from their most liberal lords, wherein to
display their capacity and ability. Nevertheless, to the end that this
may be the better understood, although those first learned writers, in
their descriptions of the arches and of the various spectacles
represented in those splendid nuptials, made it very well known, yet,
since there has been given into my hands the following little work,
written by way of exercise by a person of leisure who delights not a
little in our profession, to a dear and close friend who was not able to
see those festivities, forming the most brief account and comprising
everything in one, it has seemed to me my duty, for the satisfaction of
my brother-craftsmen, to insert it in this volume, adding to it a few
words, to the end that it may be more easy, by thus uniting rather than
separating it, to preserve an honourable record of their noble labours.




OF THE ACADEMICIANS




OF THE ACADEMICIANS

DESCRIPTION OF THE FESTIVE PREPARATIONS FOR THE NUPTIALS OF THE PRINCE
DON FRANCESCO OF TUSCANY


DESCRIPTION OF THE PORTA AL PRATO

We will describe, then, with the greatest clearness and brevity that may
be permitted by the abundance of our material, how the intention in all
these decorations was to represent by the vast number of pictures and
sculptures, as if in life, all those ceremonies, effects, and pomps that
appeared to be proper to the reception and the nuptials of so great a
Princess, forming of them poetically and ingeniously a whole so well
proportioned, that with judgment and grace it might achieve the result
designed. First of all, therefore, at the Gate that is called the Porta
al Prato, by which her Highness was to enter the city, there was built
with dimensions truly heroic, which well showed ancient Rome risen again
in her beloved daughter Florence, a vast, most ornate, and very
ingeniously composed ante-port of Ionic architecture, which, surpassing
by a good measure the height of the walls, which are there very lofty,
presented a marvellous and most superb view not only to those entering
the city, but even at a distance of several miles. And this arch was
dedicated to Florence, who--standing between two figures, as it were her
beloved companions, of Fidelity and Affection, virtues which she has
always shown towards her Lords--in the form of a young and most
beautiful woman, smiling and all adorned with flowers, had been set, as
was her due, in the most important and most honourable place, nearest to
the Gate, as if she sought to receive, introduce, and accompany her new
Lady; having brought with her, as it were as her minister and companion,
and as the symbol of those of her sons who in the art of war, among
other arts, have rendered her illustrious, Mars, their leader and
master, and in a certain sense the first father of Florence herself, in
that under his auspices and by martial men, who were descended from
Mars, was made her first foundation. His statue, dread and terrible,
could be seen on the right in the part farthest from her, sword in hand,
as if he sought to use it in the service of his new Lady; he likewise
having as it were brought with him to accompany his Florence, in a very
large and very beautiful canvas painted in chiaroscuro that was beneath
his feet (very similar to the whitest marble, as were all the other
works that were in these decorations), some of the men of that
invincible Martian Legion so dear to the first and second Cæsar, her
first founders, and some of those born from her, who afterwards followed
her discipline so gloriously. Many of these could be seen issuing full
of gladness from his temple, which is now dedicated to S. John in the
name of the Christian religion; and in the farthest distance were placed
those who were thought to have had a name only for bodily valour, in the
central space those others who had become famous by their counsel and
industry, such as commissaries or proveditors (to call them by their
Venetian name), and in the front part nearest to the eye, in the most
honourable places, as being the most worthy of honour, were painted the
captains of armies and those who had acquired illustrious renown and
immortal fame by valour of the body and mind together. Among these, as
the first and perhaps the most honourable, could be seen on horseback,
like many others, the glorious Signor Giovanni de' Medici portrayed from
life, that rare master of Italian military discipline, and the
illustrious father of the great Cosimo whom we honour as our excellent
and most valorous Duke; and with him Filippo Spano, terror of the
barbarous Turks, and M. Farinata degli Uberti, great-hearted saviour of
his native Florence. There, also, was M. Buonaguisa della Pressa, who,
at the head of the valiant youth of Florence, winning the first and
glorious mural crown at Damiata, acquired so great a name; and the
Admiral Federigo Folchi, Knight of Rhodes, who with his two sons and
eight nephews performed so many deeds of prowess against the Saracens.
There were M. Nanni Strozzi, M. Manno Donati, Meo Altoviti, and
Bernardo Ubaldini, called Della Carda, father of Federigo, Duke of
Urbino, that most excellent captain of our times. There, likewise, was
the Great Constable, M. Niccola Acciaiuoli, he who it may be said
preserved for Queen Joanna and King Louis, his Sovereigns, the troubled
kingdom of Naples, and who always bore himself both there and in Sicily
with such loyalty and valour. There were another Giovanni de' Medici and
Giovanni Bisdomini, most illustrious in the wars with the Visconti, and
the unfortunate but valorous Francesco Ferrucci; and among those more
ancient were M. Forese Adimari, M. Corso Donati, M. Vieri de' Cerchi, M.
Bindaccio da Ricasoli, and M. Luca da Panzano. Among the commissaries,
not less faithfully portrayed from life, could be seen there Gino
Capponi, with Neri his son, and Piero his grand-nephew, he who, tearing
so boldly the insolent proposals of Charles VIII, King of France, to his
immortal honour, caused the voice of a Capon (Cappon), as the witty poet
said so well, to sound so nobly among so many Cocks (Galli). There were
Bernardetto de' Medici, Luca di Maso degli Albizzi, Tommaso di M. Guido,
now called Del Palagio, Piero Vettori, so celebrated in the wars with
the Aragonese, and the so greatly and so rightly renowned Antonio
Giacomini, with M. Antonio Ridolfi and many others of this and other
orders, who would make too long a story. All these appeared to be filled
with joy that they had raised their country to such a height, auguring
for her, in the coming of that new Lady, increase, felicity, and
greatness; which was expressed excellently well in the four verses that
were to be seen written on the architrave above:

  Hanc peperere suo patriam qui sanguine nobis
      Aspice magnanimos heroas; nunc et ovantes
      Et laeti incedant, felicem terque quaterque
      Certatimque vocent tali sub Principe Floram.

Not less gladness could be seen in the beautiful statue of one of the
nine Muses, which was placed as a complement opposite to that of Mars,
nor less, again, in the figures of the men of science in the painted
canvas that was to be seen at her feet, of the same size and likewise as
the complement of the men of Mars opposite, by which it was sought to
signify that even as the men of war, so also the men of learning, of
whom Florence had always a great abundance and in no way less renowned
(in that, as all men admit, it was there that learning began to revive),
had likewise been brought by Florence under the guidance of their Muse
to receive and honour the noble bride. Which Muse, clad in a womanly,
graceful, and seemly habit, with a book in the right hand and a flute in
the left, seemed with a certain loving expression to wish to invite all
beholders to apply their minds to true virtue; and on the canvas beneath
her, executed, like all the others, in chiaroscuro, could be seen
painted a great and rich Temple of Minerva, whose statue crowned with
olive, with the shield of the Gorgon (as is customary), was placed
without; and before the temple and at the sides, within an enclosure of
balusters made as it were for a promenade, could be seen a great throng
of grave and solemn men, who, although all rejoicing and making merry,
yet retained in their aspect a certain something of the venerable, and
these, also, were portrayed from life. For Theology and Sanctity there
was the famous Fra Antonino, Archbishop of Florence, for whom a little
Angel was holding the episcopal mitre, and with him was seen Giovanni
Domenici, first Friar and then Cardinal; and with them Don Ambrogio,
General of Camaldoli, and M. Ruberto de' Bardi, Maestro Luigi Marsili,
Maestro Leonardo Dati, and many others. Even so, in another part--and
these were the Philosophers--were seen the Platonist M. Marsilio Ficino,
M. Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, M. Francesco Verini the elder, and M.
Donato Acciaiuoli; and for Law there were, with the great Accursio,
Francesco his son, M. Lorenzo Ridolfi, M. Dino Rossoni di Mugello, and
M. Forese da Rabatta. The Physicians, also, had their portraits; and
among them Maestro Taddeo Dino and Tommaso del Garbo, with Maestro
Torrigian Valori and Maestro Niccolò Falcucci, had the first places. Nor
did the Mathematicians, likewise, fail to be painted there; and of
these, besides the ancient Guido Bonatto, were seen Maestro Paolo del
Pozzo and the very acute, ingenious, and noble Leon Batista Alberti, and
with them Antonio Manetti and Lorenzo della Volpaia, he by whose hand we
have that first and marvellous clock of the planets, the wonder of our
age, which is now to be seen in the guardaroba of our most excellent
Duke. For Navigation, also, there was Amerigo Vespucci, most experienced
and most fortunate of men, in that so great a part of the world, having
been discovered by him, retains because of him the name of America. For
Learning, various and elegant, there was Messer Agnolo Poliziano, to
whom how much is owed by the Latin and Tuscan tongues, which began to
revive in him, I believe is sufficiently well known to all the world.
With him were Pietro Crinito, Giannozzo Manetti, Francesco Pucci,
Bartolommeo Fonzio, Alessandro de' Pazzi, and Messer Marcello Vergilio
Adriani, father of the most ingenious and most learned M. Giovan
Battista, now called Il Marcellino, who is still living and giving
public lectures with so much honour in our Florentine University, and
who at the commission of their illustrious Excellencies has been writing
anew the History of Florence; and there were also M. Cristofano Landini,
M. Coluccio Salutati, and Ser Brunetto Latini, the master of Dante. Nor
were there wanting certain Poets who had written in Latin, such as
Claudian, and among the more modern Carlo Marsuppini and Zanobi Strada.
Of the Historians, then, were seen M. Francesco Guicciardini, Niccolò
Macchiavelli, M. Leonardo Bruni, M. Poggio, Matteo Palmieri, and, among
the earliest, Giovanni and Matteo Villani and the very ancient Ricordano
Malespini. All these, or the greater part, for the satisfaction of all
beholders, had each his name or that of his most famous works marked on
the scrolls or on the covers of the books that they held, placed there
as if by chance; and with all of them, as with the men of war, to
demonstrate what they were come there to do, the four verses that were
painted on the architrave, as with the others, made it clearly manifest,
saying:

  Artibus egregiis Latiæ Graiæque Minervæ
      Florentes semper quis non miretur Etruscos?
      Sed magis hoc illos ævo florere necesse est
      Et Cosmo genitore et Cosmi prole favente.

Next, beside the statue of Mars, and somewhat nearer to that of
Florence--and here it must be noted with what singular art and judgment
every least thing was distributed, in that, the intention being to
accompany Florence with six Deities, so to speak, for the potency of
whom she could right well vaunt herself, the two hitherto described,
Mars and the Muse, because other cities could perhaps no less than she
lay claim to them, as being the least peculiar to her, were placed less
near to her than the others; and so for the spacious vestibule or
passage, as it were, formed before the gate by the four statues to
follow, the two already described were used as wings or head-pieces,
being placed at the entrance, one turned towards the Castle and the
other towards the Arno, but the next two, which formed the beginning of
the vestibule, for the reason that they are shared by her with few other
cities, came to be placed somewhat nearer to her, even as the last two,
because they are entirely peculiar to her and shared with no other city,
or, to speak more exactly, because no other can compare with her in them
(and may this be said without offence to any other Tuscan people, which,
when it shall have a Dante, a Petrarca, and a Boccaccio to put forward,
may perchance be able to come into dispute with her), were placed in
close proximity to her, and nearer than any of the others--now, to go
back, I say that beside the statue of Mars had been placed a Ceres,
Goddess of Cultivation and of the fields, not less beautiful and good to
look upon than the others; which pursuit, how useful it is and how
worthy of honour for a well-ordered city, was taught in ancient times by
Rome, who had enrolled all her nobility among the rustic tribes, as Cato
testifies, besides many others, calling it the nerve of that most
puissant Republic, and as Pliny affirms no less strongly when he says
that the fields had been tilled by the hands of Imperatores, and that it
may be believed that earth rejoiced to be ploughed by the laureate share
and by the triumphant ploughman. That Ceres was crowned, as is
customary, with ears of various kinds of corn, having in the right hand
a sickle and in the left a bunch of similar ears. Now, how much Florence
can vaunt herself in this respect, whoever may be in any doubt of it may
enlighten himself by regarding her most ornate and highly cultivated
neighbourhood, for, leaving on one side the vast number of most superb
and commodious palaces that may be seen dispersed over its surface, it
is such that Florence, although among the most beautiful cities of which
we have any knowledge she might be said to carry off the palm, yet
remains by a great measure vanquished and surpassed by it, insomuch that
it may rightly claim the title of the garden of Europe; not to speak of
its fertility, as to which, although it is for the most part
mountainous and not very large, nevertheless the diligence that is used
in it is such, that it not only feeds bountifully its own vast
population and the infinite multitude of strangers who flock to it, but
very often gives courteous succour to other lands both near and far. In
the canvas (to return to our subject) which was to be seen in like
fashion beneath her statue, in the same manner and of the same size, the
excellent painter had figured a most beautiful little landscape adorned
with an infinite variety of trees, in the most distant part of which was
seen an ancient and very ornate little temple dedicated to Ceres, in
which, since it was open and raised upon colonnades, could be perceived
many who were offering religious sacrifices. On the other side, in a
part somewhat more solitary, Nymphs of the chase could be seen standing
about a shady and most limpid fount, gazing as it were in marvel and
offering to the new bride of those pleasures and delights that are found
in their pursuits, in which Tuscany is perhaps not inferior to any other
part of Italy. In another part, with many countrymen bringing various
animals both wild and domestic, were seen also many country-girls, young
and beautiful, and adorned in a thousand rustic but graceful manners,
and likewise come--weaving the while garlands of flowers and bearing
various fruits--to see and honour their Lady. And the verses which were
over this scene as with the others, taken from Virgil, to the great
glory of Tuscany, ran thus:

  Hanc olim veteres vitam coluere Sabini,
      Hanc Remus et frater, sic fortis Etruria crevit,
      Scilicet et rerum facta est pulcherrima Flora,
      Urbs antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glebæ.

Next, opposite to the above-described statue of Ceres, was seen that of
Industry; and I do not speak merely of that industry which is seen used
by many in many places in matters of commerce, but of a certain
particular excellence and ingenious virtue which the men of Florence
employ in everything to which they deign to apply themselves, on which
account many, and in particular the Poet of supreme judgment (and
rightly, as is evident), give them the title of Industrious. How great a
benefit this industry has been to Florence, and in what great account it
has always been held by her, is seen from this, that upon it she formed
her body corporate, decreeing that none could become one of her
citizens who was not entered under the name of some Guild, and thus
recognizing that by that industry she had risen to no small power and
greatness. Now Industry was figured as a woman in a light and easy
habit, holding a sceptre, at the head of which was a hand with an eye in
the centre of the palm, and with two little wings, whereby with the
sceptre there was achieved a certain sort of resemblance to the Caduceus
of Mercury; and in the canvas that was beneath her, as with the other
statues, was seen a vast and most ornate portico or forum, very similar
to the place where our merchants resort to transact their business,
called the Mercato Nuovo, which was made even clearer by the boy that
was to be seen striking the hours on one of the walls. And on one side,
their particular Gods having been ingeniously placed there (in one part,
namely, the statue of Fortune seated on a wheel, and in another part
Mercury with the Caduceus and with a purse in the hand), were seen
assembled many of the most noble artificers, those, namely, who exercise
their arts with perhaps greater excellence in Florence than in any other
place; and of such, with their wares in their hands, as if they were
seeking to offer them to the incoming Princess, some were to be seen
with cloth of gold or of silk, some with the finest draperies, and
others with most beautiful and marvellous embroideries, and all with
expressions of joy. Even so, in another part, some were seen in various
costumes trafficking as they walked, and others of lower degree with
various most beautiful wood-carvings and works in tarsia, and some again
with balls, masks, and rattles, and other childish things, all in the
same manner showing the same gladness and contentment. All which, and
the advantage of these things, and the profit and glory that have come
from them to Florence, was made manifest by the four verses that were
placed above them, as with the others, saying:

  Quas artes pariat solertia, nutriat usus,
      Aurea monstravit quondam Florentia cunctis.
      Pandere namque acri ingenio atque enixa labore est
      Præstanti, unde paret vitam sibi quisque beatam.

Of the two last Deities or Virtues, seeing that, as we have said, by
reason of the number and excellence in them of her sons they are so
peculiar to Florence that she may well consider herself glorious in them
beyond any other city, there was placed on the right hand, next to the
statue of Ceres, that of Apollo, representing that Tuscan Apollo who
infuses Tuscan verse in Tuscan poets. Under his feet, as in the other
canvases, there was painted on the summit of a most lovely mountain,
recognized as that of Helicon by the horse Pegasus, a very spacious and
beautiful meadow, in the centre of which rose the sacred Fount of
Aganippe, likewise recognized by the nine Muses, who stood around it in
pleasant converse, and with them, and in the shade of the verdant
laurels with which the whole mount was covered, were seen various poets
in various guise seated or discoursing as they walked, or singing to the
sound of the lyre, while a multitude of little Loves were playing above
the laurels, some of them shooting arrows, and some appeared to be
throwing down crowns of laurel. Of these poets, in the most honourable
place were seen the profound Dante, the gracious Petrarca, and the
fecund Boccaccio, who with smiling aspect appeared to be promising to
the incoming Lady, since a subject so noble had not fallen to them, to
infuse in the intellects of Florence such virtue that they would be able
to sing worthily of her; to which with the exemplar of their writings,
if only there may be found one able to imitate them, they have opened a
broad and easy way. Near them, as if discoursing with them, and all,
like the rest, portrayed from life, were seen M. Cino da Pistoia,
Montemagno, Guido Cavalcanti, Guittone d'Arezzo, and Dante da Maiano,
who lived in the same age and were poets passing gracious for those
times. In another part were Monsignor Giovanni della Casa, Luigi
Alamanni, and Lodovico Martelli, with Vincenzio at some distance from
him, and with them Messer Giovanni Rucellai, the writer of the
tragedies, and Girolamo Benivieni; among whom, if he had not been living
at that time, a well-merited place would have been given also to the
portrait of M. Benedetto Varchi, who shortly afterwards made his way to
a better life. In another part, again, were seen Franco Sacchetti, who
wrote the three hundred Novelle, and other men, who, although at the
present day they have no great renown, yet, because in their times they
made no small advance in romances, were judged to be not unworthy of
that place--Luigi Pulci, with his brothers Bernardo and Luca, and also
Ceo and Altissimo. Berni, also, the inventor and father (and excellent
father) of Tuscan burlesque poetry, with Burchiello, with Antonio
Alamanni, and with Unico Accolti (who were standing apart), appeared to
be showing no less joy than any of the others; while Arno, leaning in
his usual manner on his Lion, with two children that were crowning him
with laurel, and Mugnone, known by the Nymph that stood over him crowned
with stars, with the moon on her brow, in allusion to the daughters of
Atlas, and representing Fiesole, appeared likewise to be expressing the
same gladness and contentment. All which conception described above was
explained excellently well by the four verses that were placed in the
architrave, as with the others, which ran thus:

  Musarum hic regnat chorus, atque Helicone virente
      Posthabito, venere tibi Florentia vates
      Eximii, quoniam celebrare hæc regia digno
      Non potuere suo et connubia carmine sacro.

Opposite to this, placed on the left hand, and perhaps not less peculiar
to the Florentine genius than the last-named, was seen the statue of
Design, the father of painting, sculpture, and architecture, who, if not
born in Florence, as may be seen in the past writings, may be said to
have been born again there, and nourished and grown as in his own nest.
He was figured by a statue wholly nude, with three similar heads for the
three arts that he embraces, each holding in the hand some instrument,
but without any distinction; and in the canvas that was beneath him was
seen painted a vast courtyard, for the adornment of which were placed in
various manners a great quantity of statues and of pictures in painting,
both ancient and modern, which could be seen in process of being
designed and copied by divers masters in divers ways. In one part was
being prepared an anatomical study, and many could be seen observing it,
and likewise drawing, very intently. Others, again, considering the
fabric and rules of architecture, appeared to be seeking to measure
certain things with great minuteness, the while that the divine
Michelagnolo Buonarroti, prince and monarch of them all, with the three
circlets in his hand (his ancient device), making signs to Andrea del
Sarto, Leonardo da Vinci, Pontormo, Rosso, Perino del Vaga, Francesco
Salviati, Antonio da San Gallo, and Rustici, who were gathered with
great reverence about him, was pointing out with supreme gladness the
pompous entrance of the noble Lady. The ancient Cimabue, standing in
another part, was doing as it were the same service to certain others,
at whom Giotto appeared to be smiling, having taken from him, as Dante
said so well, the field of painting which he thought to hold; and Giotto
had with him, besides the Gaddi, Buffalmacco and Benozzo, with many
others of that age. In another part, again, placed in another fashion
and all rejoicing as they conversed, were seen those who conferred such
benefits on art, and to whom these new masters owed so much; the great
Donatello, Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Fra Filippo,
the excellent Masaccio, Desiderio, and Verrocchio, with many others,
portrayed from life, whom, since I have spoken of them in the previous
books, I will pass by without saying more about them, thus avoiding the
tedium that might come upon my readers by repetition. Who they were, and
what they were come thither to do, was explained, as with the others, by
four verses written above them:

  Non pictura satis, non possunt marmora et æra
      Tuscaque non arcus testari ingentia facta,
      Atque ea præcipue quæ mox ventura trahuntur;
      Quis nunc Praxiteles cælet, quis pingat Apelles?

Now in the base of all these six vast and most beautiful canvases was
seen painted a gracious throng of children, each occupying himself in
the profession appropriate to the canvas placed above, who, besides the
adornment, were seen to be demonstrating with great accuracy with what
beginnings one arrived at the perfection of the men painted above; even
as with much judgment and singular art the same canvases were also
divided and adorned by round and very tall columns and by pilasters, and
by various ornaments of trophies all in keeping with the subjects to
which they were near. But, above all, graceful and lovely in appearance
were the ten devices, or, to speak more precisely, the ten reverses (as
it were) of medals, partly long established in the city and partly newly
introduced, which were painted in the compartments over the columns,
serving to divide the statues already described, and accompanying very
appropriately their inventions; the first of which was the Deduction of
a Colony, represented by a bull and a cow together in a yoke, and behind
them the ploughman with the head veiled, as the ancient Augurs are
depicted, with the crooked lituus in the hand, and with a motto, which
said: COL. JUL. FLORENTIA. The second--and this is very ancient in the
city, and the one wherewith public papers are generally sealed--was
Hercules with the Club and with the skin of the Nemæan Lion, but without
any motto. The third was the horse Pegasus, which with the hind feet was
smiting the urn held by Arno, in the manner that is told of the Fount of
Helicon; whence were issuing waters in abundance, which formed a river,
crystal-clear, that was all covered with swans; but this, also, was
without any motto. So, likewise, was the fourth, which was composed of a
Mercury with the Caduceus in the hand, the purse, and the cock, such as
is seen in many ancient cornelians. But the fifth, in accord with that
Affection which, as was said at the beginning, was given to Florence as
a companion, was a young woman receiving a crown of laurel from two
figures, one on either side of her, which, clad in the military
paludament and likewise crowned with laurel, appeared to be Consuls or
Imperatores; with words that ran: GLORIA POP. FLOREN. So also the sixth,
in like manner in accord with Fidelity, likewise the companion of
Florence, was also figured by a woman seated, with an altar near her,
upon which she was seen to be laying one of her hands, and with the
other uplifted, holding the second finger raised in the manner wherein
one generally sees an oath taken, she was seen to declare her intention
with the inscription: FIDES. POP. FLOR. This, also, did the picture of
the seventh, without any inscription; which was the two horns of plenty
filled with ears of corn intertwined together. And the eighth, likewise
without any inscription, did the same with the three Arts of Painting,
Sculpture, and Architecture, which, after the manner of the three
Graces, with hands linked to denote the interdependence of one art with
another, were placed no less gracefully than the others upon a base in
which was seen carved a Capricorn. And so, also, did the ninth (placed
more towards the Arno), which was the usual Florence with her Lion
beside her, to whom various boughs of laurel were offered by certain
persons standing around her, as it were showing themselves grateful for
the benefits received from her, in that there, as has been told, letters
began to revive. And the tenth and last did the same with its
inscription that ran thus, TRIBU SCAPTIA, written upon a shield held by
a Lion; which tribe was that of Augustus, her founder, and the one in
which in ancient times Florence used to be enrolled.

But the finest ornament--besides the beautiful shields on which were the
arms of their Excellencies, both the one and the other, and of the most
illustrious Princess, and the device of the city, and besides the great
Ducal crown of gold, which Florence was in the act of presenting--was
the principal device, set over all the shields, and placed there in
allusion to the city; which was composed of two halcyons making their
nest in the sea at the beginning of winter. This was made clear by the
part of the Zodiac that was painted there, wherein the Sun was seen at
the point of entering into the Sign of Capricorn, with a motto that
said, HOC FIDUNT, signifying that even as the halcyons, by the grace of
Nature, at the time when the Sun is entering into the said Sign of
Capricorn, which renders the sea smooth and tranquil, are able to make
their nests there in security (whence such days are called "halcyon
days"), so also Florence, with Capricorn in the ascendant, which is
therefore the ancient and most honourable device of her excellent Duke,
is able in whatever season the world may bring her to flourish in the
greatest felicity and peace, as she does right well. And all this, with
all the other conceptions given above, was declared in great part by the
inscription which, addressed to the exalted bride, was written
appropriately in a most ornate and beautiful place, saying:

     INGREDERE URBEM FELICISSIMO CONJUGIO FACTAM TUAM, AUGUSTISSIMA
     VIRGO, FIDE, INGENIIS, ET OMNI LAUDE PRÆSTANTEM; OPTATAQUE
     PRÆSENTIA TUA, ET EXIMIA VIRTUTE, SPERATAQUE FECUNDITATE,
     OPTIMORUM PRINCIPUM PATERNAM ET AVITAM CLARITATEM, FIDELISSIMORUM
     CIVIUM LÆTITIAM, FLORENTIS URBIS GLORIAM ET FELICITATEM AUGE.


OF THE ENTRANCE TO BORG' OGNISSANTI.

Proceeding, then, towards Borg' Ognissanti, a street, as everyone knows,
most beautiful, spacious, and straight, there were at the entrance two
very large colossal figures, one representing Austria, as a young woman
in full armour after the antique, with a sceptre in the hand, signifying
her military power as embodied in the Imperial dignity, which now has
its residence in that nation and appears to be entirely concentrated
there; and the other representing Tuscany, apparelled in religious
vestments and with the sacerdotal lituus in the hand, which in like
manner demonstrated the excellence that the Tuscan nation has always
displayed from the most ancient times in the Divine cult, insomuch that
even at the present day it is seen that the Pontiffs and the Holy Roman
Church have chosen to establish their principal seat in Tuscany. Each of
these had at her side a nude and gracious little Angel, one of whom was
seen guarding the Imperial crown, and the other the crown that the
Pontiffs are wont to use; and one figure was shown offering her hand
most lovingly to the other, almost as if Austria, with her most noble
cities (which were depicted under various images in the vast canvas that
was as an ornament and head-piece, at the entrance to that street,
facing towards the Porta al Prato), wished to signify that she was come
parentally to take part in the rejoicings and festivities in honour of
the illustrious bridal pair, and to meet and embrace her beloved
Tuscany, thus in a certain sort uniting together the two most mighty
powers, the spiritual and the temporal. All which was declared
excellently well in the six verses that were written in a suitable
place, saying:

  Augustæ en adsum sponsæ comes Austria; magni
      Cæsaris hæc nata est, Cæsaris atque soror.
  Carolus est patruus, gens et fæcunda triumphis,
      Imperio fulget, regibus et proavis.
  Lætitiam et pacem adferimus dulcesque Hymeneos
      Et placidam requiem, Tuscia clara, tibi.

Even as on the other side Tuscany, having yielded the first place at
the first Gate to Florence, her Lady and her Queen, was seen with an
aspect all full of joy at receiving so great a Princess; having likewise
in company with her, in a similar painted canvas beside her, Fiesole,
Pisa, Siena, and Arezzo, with the most famous of her other cities, and
with the Ombrone, the Arbia, the Serchio, and the Chiana, all depicted
in various forms according to custom; and expressing her contentment in
the six following verses, written in a way similar to the others, and in
a suitable place:

  Ominibus faustis et lætor imagine rerum,
      Virginis aspectu Cæsareæque fruor.
  Hæ nostræ insignes urbes, hæc oppida et agri,
      Hæc tua sunt; illis tu dare jura potes.
  Audis ut resonet lætis clamoribus æther,
      Et plausu et ludis Austria cuncta fremat?


OF THE PONTE ALLA CARRAIA.

And to the end that the splendid nuptials might be celebrated with all
the most favourable auspices, at the Palazzo de' Ricasoli, which, as
everyone knows, is situated at the beginning of the Ponte alla Carraia,
there was erected in the Doric Order of composition the third ornament,
dedicated to Hymen, their God; and this consisted--in addition to a
head-piece of singular beauty, on which the eyes of all who came through
Borg' Ognissanti feasted with marvellous delight--of two very lofty and
most magnificent portals, between which it stood, and over one of these,
which gave access to those passing into the street called La Vigna, was
placed with much judgment the statue of Venus Genetrix, perhaps alluding
to the House of the Cæsars, which had its origin from Venus, or
perchance auguring generation and fecundity for the bridal pair; with a
motto taken from the Epithalamium of Theocritus, saying:

  [Greek: Kypris de, Thea Kypris, ison erasthai allalôn.]

And over the other, giving access along the bank of the Arno, through
which the procession passed, was the statue of the Nurse Latona,
perchance to ward off sterility or the jealous interference of Juno, and
likewise with a motto that ran:

  [Greek: Latô men doiê, Latô kourotrophos ymmin euteknian.]

As a complement to these, executed with singular artistry, upon a great
base attached to one of the portals, there was seen on one side, as it
were newly issued from the water, and in the form of a most beautiful
giant with a garland of lilies, the River Arno, who, as if he wished to
give an example of nuptial bliss, was locked in embrace with his Sieve,
who had likewise a garland of leaves and apples; which apples, alluding
to the balls of the Medici, of which they were the origin, would have
been rosy, if the colour had been in keeping with the white marble. And
Arno, all rejoicing, was shown speaking to his new Lady in the manner
expressed by the following verses:

  In mare nunc auro flaventes Arnus arenas
      Volvam, atque argento purior unda fluet.
  Etruscos nunc invictis comitantibus armis
      Cæsareis, tollam sidera ad alta caput.
  Nunc mihi fama etiam Tibrim fulgoreque rerum
      Tantarum longe vincere fata dabunt.

And on the other side, as a complement to Arno, on a similar base
attached in a similar way to the other portal (the two being turned, as
it were, like wings one towards the other), and almost in the same form,
were seen the Danube and the Drava likewise in a close embrace, and,
even as the others had the Lion, so they had the Eagle as emblem and
support; and these, crowned also with roses and with a thousand
varieties of little flowers, were shown speaking to Florence, even as
the others were speaking to themselves, the following verses:

  Quamvis Flora tuis celeberrima finibus errem,
      Sum septemgeminus Danubiusque ferox;
  Virginis Augustæ comes, et vestigia lustro,
      Ut reor, et si quod flumina numen habent,
  Conjugium faustum et foecundum et Nestoris annos,
      Tuscorum et late nuntio regna tibi.

Then at the summit of the head-piece, in the place of honour, and with a
close resemblance to the whitest marble, was seen the statue of the
young Hymen, with a garland of flowering marjoram and the torch and
veil, and at his feet this inscription: BONI CONJUGATOR AMORIS. On one
side of him was Love, who lay all languid under one of his flanks; and
on the other side was Conjugal Fidelity, who was holding one arm
supported under the other; which was all so pleasing, so full of charm,
so beautiful, and so well distributed before the eyes of all beholders,
that in truth it is not to be expressed in words. As the principal crown
of that ornament--for on them all there was placed a principal crown and
a principal device--there were formed in the hands of the Hymen
described above two garlands of the same marjoram that crowned his head,
which, as he held them, he appeared to be about to present to the happy
pair. But most lovely and beautiful of all, and best executed, were the
three spacious pictures, separated by double columns, into which the
whole of that vast façade was divided, placed with supreme beauty at the
feet of Hymen; for in them were depicted all the advantages, all the
delights, and all the desirable things that are generally found in
nuptials; those displeasing and vexatious being driven away from them
with a certain subtle grace. And thus in one of these, that in the
centre namely, were seen the Three Graces painted in the manner that is
customary, all full of joy and gladness, who appeared to be singing with
a certain soft harmony the verses written over them, saying:

  Quæ tam præclara nascetur stirpe parentum
      Inclita progenies, digna atavisque suis?
  Etrusca attollet se quantis gloria rebus
      Conjugio Austriacæ Mediceæque Domus?
  Vivite felices; non est spes irrita, namque
      Divina Charites talia voce canunt.

These had on one side, forming as it were a choir about them, and
coupled becomingly together, Youth and Delight, and Beauty with
Contentment in her embrace, and on the other side, in like fashion,
Gladness with Play, and Fecundity with Repose, all in attitudes most
graceful and in keeping with their characters, and so well distinguished
by the able painter, that they could be recognized with ease. In the
picture that was on the right of that one, there were seen, besides Love
and Fidelity, the same Gladness, Contentment, Delight, and Repose, with
lighted torches in their hands, who were chasing from the world and
banishing to the nethermost abyss Jealousy, Contention, Affliction,
Sorrow, Lamentation, Deceit, Sterility, and other vexatious and
displeasing things of that kind, which are wont so often to disturb the
minds of human creatures. And in the other, on the left hand, were seen
the same Graces in company with Juno, Venus, Concord, Love, Fecundity,
Sleep, Pasithea, and Thalassius, setting the genial bed in order with
those ancient religious ceremonies of torches, incense, garlands, and
flowers, which were customary; of which last a number of little Loves,
playing in their flight, were scattering no small quantity over the bed.
Above these, then, were two other pictures distributed in very beautiful
compartments, one on either side of the statue of Hymen, and somewhat
smaller than those described; in one of which, in imitation of the
ancient custom so well described by Catullus, was seen the illustrious
Princess portrayed from life in the midst of a gracious little company
of most beautiful maidens in virginal dress, all crowned with flowers,
and with lighted torches in their hands, who were pointing towards the
Evening Star, which was seen appearing, and, as if set in motion by
them, seemed in a certain gracious manner to move and to advance towards
Hymen; with the motto: O DIGNA CONJUNCTA VIRO. Even as in the other
picture, on the other side, was seen the excellent Prince in the midst
of many young men likewise crowned with garlands and burning with love,
not less eager than the maidens in lighting the nuptial torches, and
pointing no less towards the newly-appeared star, and giving signs, in
advancing towards it, of equal or even greater desire; likewise with a
motto that said: O TÆDIS FELICIBUS AUCTE. Above these, arranged in a
very graceful manner, there was seen as the principal device, which, as
has been told, was placed over all the arches, a gilded chain all
composed of marriage-rings with their stones, which, hanging down from
Heaven, appeared to be sustaining this terrestrial World; alluding in a
certain sense to the Homeric Chain of Jove, and signifying that by
virtue of nuptials, the heavenly causes being wedded with terrestrial
matter, Nature and the aforesaid terrestrial World are preserved and
rendered as it were eternal; with a motto that said: NATURA SEQUITUR
CUPIDE. And then a quantity of little Angels and Loves, all gracious and
merry, and all set in fitting places, were seen dispersed among the
bases, the pilasters, the festoons, and the other ornaments, which were
without number; and all, with a certain gladness, appeared to be either
scattering flowers and garlands, or sweetly singing the following ode,
from among the spaces between the double columns that divided, as has
been told, the great pictures and the great façade, which was arranged
in a lovely and gracious manner:

  Augusti soboles regia Cæsaris,
      Summo nupta viro Principi Etruriæ,
      Faustis auspiciis deseruit vagum
      Istrum regnaque patria.

  Cui frater, genitor, patruus, atque avi
      Fulgent innumeri stemmate nobiles
      Præclaro Imperii, prisca ab origine
      Digno nomine Cæsares.

  Ergo magnanimæ virgini et inclytæ
      Jam nunc Arne pater suppliciter manus
      Libes, et violis versicoloribus
      Pulchram Flora premas comam.

  Assurgant proceres, ac velut aureum
      Et cæleste jubar rite colant eam.
      Omnes accumulent templa Deum, et piis
      Aras muneribus sacras.

  Tali conjugio Pax hilaris redit,
      Fruges alma Ceres porrigit uberes,
      Saturni remeant aurea sæcula,
      Orbis lætitia fremit.

  Quin diræ Eumenides monstraque Tartari
      His longe duce te finibus exulant.
      Bellorum rabies hinc abit effera,
      Mavors sanguineus fugit.

  Sed jam nox ruit et sidera concidunt;
      Et nymphæ adveniunt, Junoque pronuba
      Arridet pariter, blandaque Gratia
      Nudis juncta sororibus.

  Hæc cingit niveis tempora liliis,
      Hæc e purpureis serta gerit rosis,
      Huic molles violæ et suavis amaracus
      Nectunt virgineum caput.

  Lusus, læta Quies cernitur et Decor;
      Quos circum volitat turba Cupidinum,
      Et plaudens recinit hæc Hymeneus ad
      Regalis thalami fores.

  Quid statis juvenes tam genialibus
      Indulgere toris immemores? Joci
      Cessent et choreæ; ludere vos simul
      Poscunt tempora mollius.

  Non vincant hederæ bracchia flexiles,
      Conchæ non superent oscula dulcia,
      Emanet pariter sudor et ossibus
      Grato murmure ab intimis.

  Det summum imperium regnaque Juppiter,
      Det Latona parem progeniem patri;
      Ardorem unanimem det Venus, atque Amor
      Aspirans face mutua.


OF THE PALAZZO DEGLI SPINI.

And to the end that no part of either dominion might be left without
being present at those happy nuptials, at the Ponte a S. Trinita and
also at the Palazzo degli Spini, which is to be seen at the beginning of
that bridge, there was the fourth ornament, of an architecture not less
magnificent in composition, and consisting of a head-piece with three
façades, one of which, turning to face towards the Ponte alla Carraia,
became joined to that in the centre, which was somewhat bent and
likewise attached to that which in like manner turned to face towards
the Palazzo degli Spini and S. Trinita; whence it appeared to have been
contrived principally for the point of view both from the one street and
from the other, insomuch that both from the one and from the other it
presented itself complete to the eyes of all beholders--a thing of
singular artifice for him who well considers it, which rendered that
street, which is in itself as imposing and magnificent as any other that
is to be found in Florence, even more imposing and more beautiful than
could be believed. In the façade that came in the centre, there had been
formed upon a great base two Giants, immense and most superb to behold,
supported by two great monsters and by other extravagant fishes that
appeared to be swimming in the sea, and accompanied by two sea-nymphs.
These represented, one the great Ocean and the other the Tyrrhenian Sea,
and, half reclining, they appeared to be seeking to present to the most
illustrious pair, with a certain affectionate liberality, not only many
most beautiful branches of coral and immense shells of mother-of-pearl,
and others of their sea-riches that they held in their hands, but also
new islands, new lands, and new dominions, which were seen led thither
in their train. Behind them, making that whole ornament lovely and
imposing, were seen rising little by little, from their socles that
rested upon the base, two vast half-columns, upon which rested cornice,
frieze, and architrave, leaving behind the Sea-Gods already described,
almost in the form of a triumphal arch, a very spacious square; and over
the two columns and the architrave rose two very well-formed pilasters
covered with creepers, from which sprang two cornices, forming at the
summit a superb and very bold frontispiece, at the top of which, and
above the creepers of the pilasters already described, were seen placed
three very large vases of gold, all filled to overflowing with thousands
and thousands of different riches of the sea; and in the space that
remained between the architrave and the point of the frontispiece, there
was seen lying with rare dignity a masterly figure of a Nymph,
representing Tethys, or Amphitrite, Goddess and Queen of the Sea, who
with a very grave gesture was presenting as the principal crown of that
place a rostral crown, such as was generally given to the victors in
naval battles, with her motto, VINCE MARI, and as it were adding that
which follows: JAM TERRA TUA EST. Even as in the picture and the façade
behind the Giants, in a very large niche that had the appearance of a
real and natural cavern or grotto, there was painted among many other
monsters of the sea the Proteus of Virgil's Georgics, bound by Aristæus,
who, pointing with his finger towards the verses written above him,
appeared to wish to announce in prophecy to the well-united pair good
fortune, victories, and triumphs in maritime affairs, saying:

  Germana adveniet felici cum alite virgo,
      Flora, tibi, adveniet soboles Augusta, Hymenei
      Cui pulcher Juvenis jungatur foedere certo
      Regius Italiæ columen, bona quanta sequentur
      Conjugium? Pater Arne tibi, et tibi Florida Mater,
      Gloria quanta aderit? Protheum nil postera fallunt.

And since, as has been told, this façade of the cavern stood between the
two other façades, one of which was turned towards S. Trinita and the
other towards the Ponte alla Carraia, both these, which were of the same
size and height, were likewise bordered in a similar manner by two
similar half-columns, which in like manner supported their architrave,
frieze, and cornice in a quarter-round, upon which, both on the one side
and on the other, were seen three statues of boys on three pedestals,
who were upholding certain very rich festoons of gold, composed in a
most masterly fashion of conches, shells, coral, sword-grass, and
sea-weed, by which a no less graceful finish was given to the whole
structure.

But to return to the space of the façade which, turning from the
straight, was supported against the Palazzo degli Spini. In it was seen,
painted in chiaroscuro, a Nymph all unadorned and little less than nude,
placed between many new kinds of animals, who stood for the new land of
Peru, with the other new West Indies, discovered and ruled for the most
part under the auspices of the most fortunate House of Austria. She was
turned towards a figure of Jesus Christ Our Lord, who, painted all
luminous in a Cross in the air (alluding to the four exceeding bright
stars which form the semblance of a Cross, newly discovered among those
peoples), appeared in the manner of a Sun piercing some thick clouds
with most resplendent rays, for which she seemed in a certain sense to
be rendering much thanks to that house, in that by their means she was
seen converted to the Divine worship and to the true Christian Religion,
with the verses written below:

  Di tibi pro meritis tantis, Augusta propago,
      Præmia digna ferant, quæ vinctam mille catenis
      Heu duris solvis, quæ clarum cernere solem
      E tenebris tantis et Christum noscere donas.

Even as on the base which supported that whole façade, and which,
although on a level with that of the Giants, yet did not like that one
project outwards, there was seen, painted as it were by way of allegory,
the fable of Andromeda delivered by Perseus from the cruel Monster of
the sea. And in that which, turning, faced towards the Arno and the
Ponte alla Carraia, there was seen in like manner painted the small but
famous Island of Elba, in the form of an armed warrior seated upon a
great rock, with the Trident in her right hand, having on one side of
her a little boy who was seen sporting playfully with a dolphin, and on
the other side another like him, who was upholding an anchor, with many
galleys that were shown circling about her port, which was painted
there. At her feet, on her base, and corresponding in like manner to the
façade painted above, was seen likewise the fable that is given by
Strabo, when he relates that the Argonauts, returning from the
acquisition of the Golden Fleece, and arriving with Medea in Elba,
raised altars there and made sacrifice to Jove upon them; perhaps
foreseeing or auguring that at another time our present glorious Duke,
being as it were of their company by virtue of the Order of the Golden
Fleece, was to fortify that island and to safeguard distressed mariners,
thus reviving their ancient and glorious memory. Which was expressed
excellently well by the four verses written there in a suitable place,
saying:

  Evenere olim Heroes qui littore in isto
      Magnanimi votis petiere. En Ilva potentis
      Auspiciis Cosmi multa munita opera ac vi;
      Pacatum pelagus securi currite nautæ.

But the most beautiful effect, the most bizarre, the most fantastic, and
the most ornate--besides the various devices and trophies, and Arion,
who was riding pleasantly through the sea on the back of the swimming
dolphin--came from an innumerable quantity of extravagant fishes of the
sea, Nereids, and Tritons, which were distributed among the friezes,
pedestals, and bases, and wherever a space or the beauty of the place
required them. Even as at the foot of the great base of the Giants there
was another gracious effect in the form of a most beautiful Siren seated
upon the head of a very large fish, from whose mouth at times, at the
turning of a key, not without laughter among the expectant bystanders, a
rushing jet of water was seen pouring upon such as were too eager to
drink the white and red wine that flowed in abundance from the breasts
of the Siren into a very capacious and most ornate basin. And since the
bend of the façade where Elba was painted was the first thing to strike
the eyes of those who came, as did the procession, from the Ponte alla
Carraia along the Arno towards the Palazzo degli Spini, it seemed good
to the inventor to hide the ugliness of the scaffolding and woodwork
that were necessarily placed behind, by raising to the same height
another new façade similar to the three described, which might, as it
did, render that whole vista most festive and ornate. And in it, within
a large oval, it appeared to him that it was well to place the principal
device, embracing the whole conception of the structure; and to that
end, therefore, there was seen figured a great Neptune on his usual Car,
with the usual Trident, as he is described by Virgil, chasing away the
troublesome winds, and using as a motto the very same words, MATURATE
FUGAM; as if he wished to promise to the fortunate pair happiness,
peace, and tranquillity in his realm.


OF THE COLUMN.

Opposite to the graceful Palace of the Bartolini there had been erected
a short time before, as a more stable and enduring ornament, not without
singular ingenuity, that ancient and immense column of oriental granite
which had been taken from the Baths of Antoninus in Rome, and granted by
Pius IV to our glorious Duke, and by him conveyed, although at no little
expense, to Florence, and magnanimously presented to her as a courteous
gift for her public adornment. Upon that column, over its beautiful
capital, which had, like the base, the appearance of bronze, and which
is now being made of real bronze, there was placed a statue (of clay,
indeed, but in the colour of porphyry, because even so it is to be),
very large and very excellent, of a woman in full armour, with a helmet
on the head, and representing, by the sword in the right hand and by the
scales in the left, an incorruptible and most valorous Justice.


OF THE CANTO DE' TORNAQUINCI.

The sixth ornament was erected at the Canto de' Tornaquinci; and here I
must note a thing which would appear incredible to one who had not seen
it--namely, that this ornament was so magnificent, so rich in pomp, and
fashioned with so much art and grandeur, that, although it was conjoined
with the superb Palace of the Strozzi, which is such as to make the
greatest things appear as nothing, and although on a site altogether
disastrous by reason of the uneven ends of the streets that run together
there, and certain other inconvenient circumstances, nevertheless such
was the excellence of the craftsman, and so well conceived the manner of
the work, that it seemed as if all those difficulties had been brought
together there for the purpose of rendering it the more admirable and
the more beautiful; that most lovely palace being so well accompanied by
the richness of the ornaments, the height of the arches, the grandeur of
the columns, all intertwined with arms and trophies, and the great
statues that towered over the summit of the whole structure, that anyone
would have judged that neither that ornament required any other
accompaniment than that of such a palace, nor such a palace required any
other ornament. And to the end that all may be the better understood,
and in order to show more clearly and distinctly in what manner the work
was constructed, it is necessary that some measure of pardon should be
granted to us by those who are not of our arts, if for the sake of those
who delight in them we proceed, more minutely than might appear proper
to the others, to describe the nature of the sites and the forms of the
arches; and this in order to demonstrate how noble intellects
accommodate ornaments to places and inventions to sites with grace and
beauty. We must relate, then, that since the street which runs from the
Column to the Tornaquinci is, as everyone knows, very wide, and since it
was necessary to pass from there into the street of the Tornabuoni,
which by its narrowness brought it about that the eyes of those thus
passing fell for the most part on the not very ornate Tower of the
Tornaquinci, which occupies more than half the street, it was thought
expedient, in order to obviate that difficulty and to make the effect
more pleasing, to construct in the width of the above-named street, in a
Composite Order, two arches divided by a most ornate column, one of
which gave free passage to the procession, which proceeded through the
said street of the Tornabuoni, and the other, concealing the view of the
tower, appeared, by virtue of an ingenious prospect-scene that was
painted there, to lead into another street similar to the said street of
the Tornabuoni, wherein with most pleasing illusion were seen not only
the houses and windows adorned with tapestries and full of men and women
who were all intent on gazing at the spectacle, but also the gracious
sight of a most lovely maiden on a white palfrey, accompanied by certain
grooms, who appeared to be coming from there towards those approaching,
insomuch that both on the day of the procession and all the time
afterwards that she remained there, she roused in more than one person,
by a gracious deception, a desire either to go to meet her or to wait
until she should have passed. These two arches, besides the
above-mentioned column that divided them, were bordered by other columns
of the same size, which supported architraves, friezes, and cornices;
and over each arch was seen a lovely ornament in the form of a most
beautiful picture, in which were seen painted, likewise in chiaroscuro,
the stories of which we shall speak in a short time. The whole work was
crowned above by an immense cornice with ornaments corresponding to the
loveliness, grandeur, and magnificence of the rest, upon which, then,
stood the statues, which, although they were at a height of a good
twenty-five braccia from the level of the ground, nevertheless were
wrought with such proportion that the height did not take away any of
their grace, nor the distance any of the effect of any detail of their
adornment and beauty. There stood in the same manner, as it were as
wings to those two main arches, on the one side and on the other, two
other arches, one of which, attached to the Palace of the Strozzi, and
leading to the above-mentioned Tower of the Tornaquinci, gave passage to
those who wished to turn towards the Mercato Vecchio, even as the other,
placed on the other side, did the same service to those who might desire
to go towards the street called La Vigna; wherefore the Via di S.
Trinita, which, as has been told, is so broad, terminating thus in the
four arches described, came to present such loveliness and a view so
beautiful and so heroic, that it appeared impossible to afford greater
satisfaction to the eyes of the spectators. And this was the front part,
composed, as has been described, of four arches; of two main arches,
namely, one false, and one real, which led into the Via de' Tornabuoni,
and of two others at the sides, in the manner of wings, which were
turned towards the two cross-streets. Now since, entering into the said
street of the Tornabuoni on the left side, beside the Vigna, there
debouches (as everyone knows) the Strada di S. Sisto, which likewise of
necessity strikes the flank of the same Tower of the Tornaquinci, it was
made to appear, in order to hide the same ugliness in a similar manner
with the same illusion of a similar prospect-scene, that that side also
passed into a similar street of various houses placed in the same way,
with an ingenious view of a very ornate fountain overflowing with
crystal-clear waters, from which a woman with a child was represented as
drawing some, so that one who was at no great distance would certainly
have declared that she was real and by no means simulated. Now these
four arches--to return to those in front--were supported and divided by
five columns adorned in the manner described, forming as it were a
rectangular piazza; and in a line with each of those columns, above the
final cornice and the summit of the edifice, there was a most beautiful
seat, while in the same manner four others were placed over the centre
of each arch, which in all came to the number of nine. In eight of these
was seen seated in each a statue of most imposing appearance, some shown
in armour, some in the garb of peace, and others in the imperator's
paludament, according to the characters of those who were portrayed in
them; and in place of the ninth seat and the ninth statue, above the
column in the centre, was seen placed an immense escutcheon, supported
by two great Victories with the Imperial Crown of the House of Austria,
to which that structure was dedicated; which was made manifest by a very
large epitaph, which was seen placed with much grace and beauty below
the escutcheon, saying:

     VIRTUTI FELICITATIQUE INVICTISSIMÆ DOMUS AUSTRIÆ, MAJESTATIQUE
     TOT ET TANTORUM IMPERATORUM AC REGUM, QUI IN IPSA FLORUERUNT ET
     NUNC MAXIME FLORENT, FLORENTIA AUGUSTO CONJUGIO PARTICEPS ILLIUS
     FELICITATIS, GRATO PIOQUE ANIMO DICAT.

The intention had been, after bringing to those most splendid nuptials
the Province of Austria, with her cities and rivers and with her
ocean-sea, and after having caused her to be received by Tuscany with
her cities, the Arno, and the Tyrrhenian Sea, as has been related, to
bring then her great and glorious Cæsars, all magnificent in adornment
and pomp, as is the general custom in taking part in nuptials; as if
they, having conducted thither with them the illustrious bride, were
come before to have the first meeting of kinsmen with the House of
Medici, and to prove of what stock, and how glorious, was the noble
virgin that they sought to present to them. And so, of the eight
above-mentioned statues placed upon the eight seats, representing eight
Emperors of that august house, there was seen on the right hand of the
above-named escutcheon, over the arch through which the procession
passed, that of Maximilian II, the present magnanimous and excellent
Emperor, and brother of the bride; below whom, in a very spacious
picture, there was seen painted with most beautiful invention his
marvellous assumption to the Empire, himself being seated in the midst
of the Electors, both spiritual and temporal, the first being
recognized--besides their long vestments--by a Faith that was to be seen
at their feet, and the others by a Hope in a like position. In the air,
also, over his head, were seen certain little Angels that seemed to be
chasing many malign spirits out of certain thick and dark clouds; these
being intended either to suggest the hope which is felt that at some
time, in that all-conquering and most constant nation, men will contrive
to dissipate and clear away the clouds of those many disturbances that
have occurred there in matters of religion, and restore her to her
pristine purity and serenity of tranquil concord; or rather, that in
that act all dissensions had flown away, and showing how marvellously,
and with what unanimous consent of all Germany, amid that great variety
of minds and religions, that assumption had taken place, which was
explained by the words that were placed above, saying:

     MAXIMILIANUS II SALUTATUR IMP. MAGNO CONSENSU GERMANORUM, ATQUE
     INGENTI LÆTITIA BONORUM OMNIUM, ET CHRISTIANÆ PIETATIS
     FELICITATE.

Then, next to the statue of the said Maximilian, in a place
corresponding to the column at the corner, was seen that of the truly
invincible Charles V; even as over the arch of that wing, which
commanded the Via della Vigna, there was that of the second Albert, a
man of most resolute valour, although he reigned but a short time. Above
the column at the head was placed that of the great Rudolph, who, the
first of that name, was also the first to introduce into that most noble
house the Imperial dignity, and the first to enrich her with the great
Archduchy of Austria; when, having reverted to the Empire for lack of a
successor, he invested with it the first Albert, his son, whence the
House of Austria has since taken its name. All which, in memory of an
event so important, was seen painted in a most beautiful manner in the
frieze above that arch, with an inscription at the foot that said:

     RODULPHUS PRIMUS EX HAC FAMILIA IMP. ALBERTUM PRIMUM AUSTRIÆ
     PRINCIPATU DONAT.

But to return to the part on the left, beginning with the same place in
the centre; beside the escutcheon, and over the false arch that covered
the Tower of the Tornaquinci, was seen the statue of the most devout
Ferdinand, father of the bride, beneath whose feet was seen painted the
valorous resistance made by his efforts in the year 1529 in the defence
of Vienna against the terrible assault of the Turks; demonstrated by the
inscription written above, which said:

     FERDINANDUS PRIMUS IMP., INGENTIBUS COPIIS TURCORUM CUM REGE
     IPSORUM PULSIS, VIENNAM NOBILEM URBEM FORTISSIME FELICISSIMEQUE
     DEFENDIT.

Even as at the corner there was the statue of the first and most
renowned Maximilian, and over the arch that inclined towards the Palace
of the Strozzi that of the pacific Frederick, father of that same
Maximilian, leaning against an olive-trunk. Above the last column, which
was attached to the above-named Palace of the Strozzi, was seen that of
the first Albert mentioned above, who, as has been told, was first
invested by his father Rudolph with the sovereignty of Austria, and gave
to that most noble house the arms that are still to be seen at the
present day. Those arms used formerly to be five little larks on a gold
ground, whereas the new arms, which, as everyone may see, are all red
with a white band that divides them, are said to have been introduced by
him in that form because, as was seen painted there in a great picture
beneath his feet, he found himself not otherwise in that most bloody
battle fought by him with Adolf, who had been first deposed from the
Imperial throne, when the said Albert was seen to slay Adolf valorously
with his own hand and to win from him the Spolia Opima; and since, save
for the middle of his person, which was white on account of his armour,
over all the rest he found himself on that day all stained and dabbled
with blood, he ordained that in memory of that his arms should be
painted in the same manner both of form and colour, and that they should
be preserved gloriously after him by his successors in that house; and
beneath the picture, as with the others, there was to be read a similar
inscription that said:

     ALBERTUS I IMP. ADOLPHUM, CUI LEGIBUS IMPERIUM ABROGATUM FUERAT,
     MAGNO PROELIO VINCIT ET SPOLIA OPIMA REFERT.

And since each of the eight above-mentioned Emperors, besides the arms
common to their whole house, also used during his lifetime arms private
and peculiar to himself, for that reason, in order to make it more
manifest to the beholders which Emperor each of the statues represented,
there were also placed beneath their feet, on most beautiful shields,
the particular arms that each, as has been told, had borne. All which,
together with some pleasing and well-accommodated little scenes that
were painted on the pedestals, made a magnificent, heroic, and very
ornate effect; even as not less was done, on the columns and in all the
parts where ornaments could be suitably placed, in addition to trophies
and the arms, by the Crosses of S. Andrew, the Fusils, and the Pillars
of Hercules, with the motto, PLUS ULTRA, the principal device of that
arch, and many others like it used by the men of that Imperial family.

Such, then, was the principal view which presented itself to those who
chose to pass by the direct way with the procession; but for those who
came from the opposite direction, from the Via de' Tornabuoni towards
the Tornaquinci, there appeared, with an ornamentation perhaps not less
lovely, in so far as the narrowness of the street permitted, a similar
spectacle arranged in due proportion. For on that side, which we will
call the back, there was formed, as it were, another structure similar
to that already described, save that on account of the narrowness of the
street, whereas the first was seen composed of four arches, the other
was of three only; one of which being joined with friezes and cornices
to that upon which, as has been told, was placed the statue of the
second Maximilian, now Emperor, and thus making it double, and another
likewise attached to the above-described prospect-scene which concealed
the tower, brought it about that the third, leaving also behind it a
little quadrangular piazza, remained as the last for one coming with the
procession, and appeared as the first for one approaching, on the
contrary, from the street of the Tornabuoni; and upon that last, which
was in the same form as those described, even as upon them were the
Emperors, so upon it were seen towering, but standing on their feet, the
two Kings Philip, one the father and the other the son of the great
Charles V, the first Philip, namely, and also the second, so filled with
liberality and justice, whom at the present day we honour as the great
and puissant King of so many most noble realms. Between him and the
statue of his grandfather there was seen painted in the circumambient
frieze that same Philip II seated in majesty, and standing before him a
tall woman in armour, recognized by the white cross that she had on the
breast as being Malta, delivered by him through the valour of the most
illustrious Lord Don Garzia di Toledo, who was portrayed there, from the
siege of the Turks; and she appeared to be seeking, as one grateful for
that great service, to offer to him the obsidional crown of dog's grass,
which was made manifest by the inscription written beneath, which said:

     MELITA, EREPTA E FAUCIBUS IMMANISSIMORUM HOSTIUM STUDIO ET
     AUXILIIS PIISSIMI REGIS PHILIPPI, CONSERVATOREM SUUM CORONA
     GRAMINEA DONAT.

And to the end that the part turned towards the Strada della Vigna might
have likewise some adornment, it was thought a fitting thing to declare
the conception of the whole vast structure by a great inscription
between the final cornice, where the statues stood, and the arch, which
was a large space, saying:

  IMPERIO LATE FULGENTES ASPICE REGES;
      AUSTRIACA HOS OMNES EDIDIT ALTA DOMUS.
  HIS INVICTA FUIT VIRTUS, HIS CUNCTA SUBACTA,
      HIS DOMITA EST TELLUS, SERVIT ET OCEANUS.

Even as was done in the same manner and for the same reason towards the
Mercato Vecchio, in another inscription, saying:

  IMPERIIS GENS NATA BONIS ET NATA TRIUMPHIS,
      QUAM GENUS E COELO DUCERE NEMO NEGET;
  TUQUE NITENS GERMEN DIVINÆ STIRPIS ETRUSCIS
      TRADITUM AGRIS NITIDIS, UT SOLA CULTA BEES;
  SI MIHI CONTINGAT VESTRO DE SEMINE FRUCTUM
      CARPERE ET IN NATIS CERNERE DETUR AVOS,
  O FORTUNATAM! VERO TUNC NOMINE FLORENS
      URBS FERAR, IN QUAM FORS CONGERAT OMNE BONUM.


OF THE CANTO DE' CARNESECCHI.

Now it appeared a fitting thing, having brought the triumphant Cæsars to
the place described above, to bring the magnanimous Medici, also, with
all their pomp, to the corner that is called the Canto de' Carnesecchi,
which is not far distant from it; as if, reverently receiving the
Cæsars, as is the custom, they were come to hold high revel and to do
honour to the new-come bride, so much desired. And here, no less than in
some of the passages to follow, it will be necessary that I should be
pardoned by those who are not of our arts for describing minutely the
nature of the site and the form of the arches and other ornaments, for
the reason that it is my intention to demonstrate not less the
excellence of the hands and brushes of the craftsmen who executed the
works, than the fertility and acuteness of brain of him who was the
author of the stories and of the whole invention; and particularly
because the site in that place was perhaps more disastrous and more
difficult to accommodate than any of the others described or about to be
described. For there the street turns towards S. Maria del Fiore,
inclining to somewhat greater breadth, and comes to form the angle that
by those of our arts is called obtuse; and that was the side on the
right. Opposite, and on the left-hand side, there is a little piazza
into which two streets lead, one that comes from the great Piazza di S.
Maria Novella, and the other likewise from another piazza called the
Piazza Vecchia. In that little piazza, which is in truth very ill
proportioned, there was built over all the lower part a structure in the
form of an octagonal theatre, the doors of which were rectangular and in
the Tuscan Order; and over each of them was seen a niche between two
columns, with cornices, architraves, and other ornaments, rich and
imposing, of Doric architecture, and then, rising higher, there was
formed the third range, wherein was seen above the niches, in each
space, a compartment with most beautiful ornaments in painting. Now it
is but proper to remark that although it has been said that the doors
below were rectangular and Tuscan, nevertheless the two by which the
principal road entered and issued forth, and by which the procession was
to pass, were made in the semblance of arches, and projected for no
small distance in the manner of vestibules, one towards the entrance and
the other towards the exit, both the one and the other having been made
as rich and ornate on the outer façade as was required for the sake of
proportion.

Having thus described the general form of the whole edifice, let us come
down to the details, beginning with the front part, which presented
itself first to the eyes of passers-by and was after the manner of a
triumphal arch, as has been told, in the Corinthian Order. That arch was
seen bordered on one side and on the other by two most warlike statues
in armour, each of which, resting upon a graceful little door, was seen
likewise coming forth from the middle of a niche placed between two
well-proportioned columns. Of these statues, that which was to be seen
on the right hand represented Duke Alessandro, the son-in-law of the
most illustrious Charles V, a Prince spirited and bold, and of most
gracious manners, holding in one hand his sword, and in the other the
Ducal baton, with a motto placed at his feet, which said, on account of
his untimely death: SI FATA ASPERA RUMPAS, ALEXANDER ERIS. On the left
hand was seen, portrayed like all the others from life, the most
valorous Signor Giovanni, with the butt of a broken lance in the hand,
and likewise with his motto at his feet: ITALUM FORTISS. DUCTOR. And
since over the architraves of those four columns already described there
were placed very spacious friezes in due proportion, in the width
covered by the niches there was seen above each of the statues a
compartment between two pilasters; in that above Duke Alessandro was
seen in painting the device of a rhinoceros, used by him, with the
motto: NON BUELVO SIN VENCER; and above the statue of Signor Giovanni,
in the same fashion, his flaming thunderbolt. Above the arch in the
centre, which, being more than seven braccia in width and more than two
squares in height, gave ample room for the procession to pass, and above
the cornice and the frontispieces, there was seen seated in majestic
beauty that of the wise and valorous Duke Cosimo, the excellent father
of the fortunate bridegroom, likewise with his motto at his feet, which
said: PIETATE INSIGNIS ET ARMIS; and with a She-Wolf and a Lion on
either side of him, representing Siena and Florence, which, supported
and regarded lovingly by him, seemed to be reposing affectionately
together. That statue was seen set in the frieze, exactly in a line with
the arch, and between the pictures with the devices described; and in
that same width, above the crowning cornice, there rose on high another
painted compartment, with pilasters in due proportion, cornice, and
other embellishments, wherein with great fitness, alluding to the
election of the above-named Duke Cosimo, was seen represented the story
of the young David when he was anointed King by Samuel, with his motto:
A DOMINO FACTUM EST ISTUD. And then, above that last cornice, which was
raised a very great distance from the ground, was seen the escutcheon of
that most adventuresome family, which, large and magnificent as was
fitting, was likewise supported, with the Ducal Crown, by two Victories
also in imitation of marble; and over the principal entrance of the
arch, in the most becoming place, was the inscription, which said:

     VIRTUTI FELICITATIQUE ILLUSTRISSIMÆ MEDICEÆ FAMILIÆ, QUÆ FLOS
     ITALIÆ, LUMEN ETRURIÆ, DECUS PATRIÆ SEMPER FUIT, NUNC ASCITA SIBI
     CÆSAREA SOBOLE CIVIBUS SECURITATEM ET OMNI SUO IMPERIO DIGNITATEM
     AUXIT, GRATA PATRIA DICAT.

Entering within that arch, one found a kind of loggia, passing spacious
and long, with the vaulting above all painted and embellished with the
most bizarre and beautiful ornaments and with various devices. After
which, in two pilasters over which curved an arch, through which was the
entrance into the above-mentioned theatre, there were seen opposite to
one another two most graceful niches, as it were conjoined with that
second arch; between which niches and the arch first described there
were seen on the counterfeit walls that supported the loggia two
spacious painted compartments, the stories of which accompanied
becomingly each its statue. Of these statues, that on the right hand was
made to represent the great Cosimo, called the Elder, who, although
there had been previously in the family of the Medici many men noble and
distinguished in arms and in civil actions, was nevertheless the first
founder of its extraordinary greatness, and as it were the root of that
plant which has since grown so happily to such magnificence. In his
picture was seen painted the supreme honour conferred upon him by his
native Florence, when he was acclaimed by the public Senate as Pater
Patriæ; which was declared excellently well in the inscription that was
seen below, saying:

     COSMUS MEDICES, VETERE HONESTISSIMO OMNIUM SENATUS CONSULTO
     RENOVATO, PARENS PATRIÆ APPELLATUR.

In the upper part of the same pilaster in which was placed the niche,
there was a little picture in due proportion wherein was portrayed his
son, the magnificent Piero, father of the glorious Lorenzo, likewise
called the Elder, the one and true Mæcenas of his times, and the
magnanimous preserver of the peace of Italy, whose statue was seen in
the other above-mentioned niche, corresponding to that of the Elder
Cosimo. In the little picture, which he in like manner had over his
head, was painted the portrait of his brother, the magnificent Giuliano,
the father of Pope Clement; and in the large picture, corresponding to
that of Cosimo, was the public council held by all the Italian Princes,
wherein was seen formed, by the advice of Lorenzo, that so stable and so
prudent union by which, as long as he was alive and it endured, Italy
was seen brought to the height of felicity, whereas afterwards, Lorenzo
dying and that union perishing, she was seen precipitated into such
conflagrations, calamities, and ruin; which was demonstrated no less
clearly by the inscription that was beneath, saying:

     LAURENTIUS MEDICES, BELLI ET PACIS ARTIBUS EXCELLENS, DIVINO SUO
     CONSILIO CONJUNCTIS ANIMIS ET OPIBUS PRINCIPUM ITALORUM ET
     INGENTI ITALIÆ TRANQUILLITATE PARTA, PARENS OPTIMI SÆCULI
     APPELLATUR.

Now, coming to the little piazza in which, as has been told, was placed
the octagonal theatre, as I shall call it, and beginning from that first
entrance to go round on the right hand, let me say that the first part
was occupied by that arch of the entrance, above which, in a frieze
corresponding in height to the third and last range of the theatre, were
seen in four ovals the portrait of Giovanni di Bicci, father of Cosimo
the Elder, and that of his son Lorenzo, brother of the same Cosimo, from
whom this fortunate branch of the Medici now reigning had its origin;
with that of Pier Francesco, son of the above-named Lorenzo, and
likewise that of another Giovanni, father of the warlike Signor Giovanni
mentioned above. In the second façade of the octagon, which was joined
to the entrance, there was seen between two most ornate columns, seated
in a great niche, with the royal staff in the hand, a figure in marble,
like all the other statues, of Caterina, the valorous Queen of France,
with all the other ornaments that are required in architecture both
lovely and heroic. And in the third range above, where, as has been
said, the painted compartments came, there was figured for her scene the
same Queen seated in majesty, who had before her two most beautiful
women in armour, one of whom, representing France, and kneeling before
her, was shown presenting to her a handsome boy adorned with a royal
crown, even as the other, who was Spain, standing, was shown in like
manner presenting to her a most lovely girl; the boy being intended for
the most Christian Charles IX, who is now revered as King of France, and
the girl the most noble Queen of Spain, wife of the excellent King
Philip. Then, about the same Caterina, were seen standing with much
reverence some other smaller boys, representing her other most gracious
little children, for whom a Fortune appeared to be holding sceptres,
crowns, and realms. And since between that niche and the arch of the
entrance, on account of the disproportion of the site, there was some
space left over, caused by the desire to make the arch not ungracefully
awry, but well-proportioned and straight, for that reason there was
placed there, as it were in a niche, a painted picture wherein by means
of a Prudence and a Liberality, who stood clasped in a close embrace, it
was shown very ingeniously with what guides the House of Medici had come
to such a height; having above them, painted in a little picture equal
in breadth to the others of the third range, a Piety humble and devout,
recognized by the stork that was beside her, round whom were seen many
little Angels that were showing to her various designs and models of the
many churches, monasteries, and convents built by that magnificent and
religious family. Now, proceeding to the third side of the octagon,
where there was the arch by which one issued from the theatre, over the
frontispiece of that arch was placed, as the heart of so many noble
members, the statue of the most excellent and amiable Prince and Spouse,
and at his feet the motto: SPES ALTERA FLORÆ. In the frieze
above--meaning, as before, that this came to the height of the third
range--to correspond to the other arch, where, as has been told, four
portraits had been placed, in that part, also, were four other similar
portraits of his illustrious brothers, accommodated in a similar
manner; those, namely, of the two very reverend Cardinals, Giovanni of
revered memory and the most gracious Ferdinando, and those of the
handsome Signor Don Garzia and the amiable Signor Don Pietro. Then, to
go on to the fourth face, since the corner of the houses that are there,
not giving room for the hollow of any recess, did not permit of the
usual niche being made there, in its stead was seen accommodated with
beautiful artifice, corresponding to the niches, a very large
inscription that said:

  HI, QUOS SACRA VIDES REDIMITOS TEMPORA MITRA
      PONTIFICES TRIPLICI, ROMAM TOTUMQUE PIORUM
      CONCILIUM REXERE PII; SED QUI PROPE FULGENT
      ILLUSTRI E GENTE INSIGNES SAGULISVE TOGISVE
      HEROES, CLARAM PATRIAM POPULUMQUE POTENTEM
      IMPERIIS AUXERE SUIS CERTAQUE SALUTE.
      NAM SEMEL ITALIAM DONARUNT AUREA SÆCLA,
      CONJUGIO AUGUSTO DECORANT NUNC ET MAGE FIRMANT.

Above it, in place of scene and picture, there were painted in two ovals
the two devices, one of the fortunate Duke, the Capricorn with the seven
Stars and with the motto, FIDUCIA FATI; and the other of the excellent
Prince, the Weasel, with the motto, AMAT VICTORIA CURAM. Then in the
three niches that came in the three following façades were the statues
of the three Supreme Pontiffs who have come from that family; all
rejoicing, likewise, to lend their honourable presence to so great a
festival, as if every favour human and divine, every excellence in arms,
letters, wisdom, and religion, and every kind of sovereignty, were
assembled together to vie in rendering those splendid nuptials august
and happy. Of those Pontiffs one was Pius IV, departed a short time
before to a better life, over whose head, in his picture, was seen
painted how, after the intricate disputes were ended at Trent and the
sacrosanct Council was finished, the two Cardinal Legates presented to
him its inviolable decrees; even as in that of Leo X was seen the
conference held by him with Francis I, King of France, whereby with
prudent counsel he bridled the vehemence of that bellicose and
victorious Prince, so that he did not turn all Italy upside down, as he
might perchance have done, and as he was certainly able to do; and in
that of Clement VII was the Coronation, performed by him in Bologna, of
the great Charles V. But in the last façade, which hit against the acute
angle of the houses of the Carnesecchi, by which the straight line of
that façade of the octagon was no little interrupted, nevertheless there
was made with gracious and pleasing artifice another masterly
inscription, after the likeness of the other, but curving somewhat
outwards, which said:

  PONTIFICES SUMMOS MEDICUM DOMUS ALTA LEONEM,
      CLEMENTEM DEINCEPS, EDIDIT INDE PIUM.
  QUID TOT NUNC REFERAM INSIGNES PIETATE VEL ARMIS
      MAGNANIMOSQUE DUCES EGREGIOSQUE VIROS?
  GALLORUM INTER QUOS LATE REGINA REFULGET,
      HÆC REGIS CONJUNX, HÆC EADEM GENITRIX.

Such, as a whole, was the interior of the theatre described above; but
although it may appear to have been described minutely enough, it is
none the less true that an infinity of other ornaments, pictures,
devices, and a thousand most bizarre and most beautiful fantasies which
were placed throughout the Doric cornices and many spaces according to
opportunity, making a very rich and gracious effect, have been omitted
as not being essential, in order not to weary the perhaps already tired
reader; and anyone who delights in such things may imagine that no part
was left without being finished with supreme mastery, consummate
judgment, and infinite loveliness. And a most pleasing and beautiful
finish was given to the highest range by the many arms that were seen
distributed there in due proportion, which were Medici and Austria for
the illustrious Prince, the bridegroom, and her Highness; Medici and
Toledo for the Duke, his father; Medici and Austria again, recognized by
the three feathers as belonging to his predecessor Alessandro; Medici
and Boulogne in Picardy for Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino; Medici and Savoy
for Duke Giuliano; Medici and Orsini for the double kinship of the Elder
Lorenzo and his son Piero; Medici and the Viper for the above-named
Giovanni, husband of Caterina Sforza; Medici and Salviati for the
glorious Signor Giovanni, his son; France and Medici for her most serene
Highness the Queen; Ferrara and Medici for the Duke, with one of the
sisters of the most excellent bridegroom; and Orsini and Medici for the
other most gentle sister, married to the illustrious Signor Paolo
Giordano, Duke of Bracciano.

It now remains for us to describe the last part of the theatre and the
exit, which, corresponding in size, in proportion, and in every other
respect to the entrance already described, there will be little labour,
I believe, in making known to the intelligent reader; save only that the
arch which formed the façade there, facing towards S. Maria del Fiore,
had been constructed, as a part less important, without statues and with
somewhat less magnificence, and in their stead there had been placed
over that arch a very large inscription, which said:

  VIRTUS RARA TIBI, STIRPS ILLUSTRISSIMA, QUONDAM
      CLARUM TUSCORUM DETULIT IMPERIUM;
  QUOD COSMUS FORTI PRÆFUNCTUS MUNERE MARTIS
      PROTULIT ET JUSTA CUM DITIONE REGIT:
  NUNC EADEM MAJOR DIVINA E GENTE JOANNAM
      ALLICIT IN REGNUM CONCILIATQUE TORO.
  QUÆ SI CRESCET ITEM VENTURA IN PROLE NEPOTES,
      AUREA GENS TUSCIS EXORIETUR AGRIS.

In the two pilasters that were at the beginning of the passage, or
vestibule, as we have called it (over which pilasters rose the arch of
the exit, upon which was the statue of the illustrious bridegroom), were
seen two niches, in one of which was placed the statue of the most
gentle Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, the younger brother of Leo and
Gonfalonier of Holy Church, who had likewise in the little picture that
was above him the portrait of the magnanimous Cardinal Ippolito, his
son, and, in the picture that stretched towards the exit, the scene of
the Capitoline Theatre, dedicated to him by the Roman people in the year
1513, with an inscription to make this known, which said:

     JULIANUS MEDICES EXIMIÆ VIRTUTIS ET PROBITATIS ERGO SUMMIS A POP.
     ROM. HONORIBUS DECORATUR, RENOVATA SPECIE ANTIQUÆ DIGNITATIS AC
     LÆTITIÆ.

In the other niche, corresponding to the first statue, and, like it,
standing and in armour, was seen the statue of Lorenzo the Younger,
Duke of Urbino, with a sword in the hand; and in the little picture
above him he had the portrait of his father Piero, and in the other
picture the scene when the general's baton was given to him with such
happy augury by his native Florence, likewise with an inscription to
explain it, which said:

     LAURENTIUS MED. JUNIOR MAXIMA INVICTÆ VIRTUTIS INDOLE, SUMMUM IN
     RE MILITARI IMPERIUM MAXIMO SUORUM CIVIUM AMORE ET SPE
     ADIPISCITUR.


OF THE CANTO ALLA PAGLIA.

At the corner which from the straw that is constantly sold there is
called the Canto alla Paglia, there was made another arch of great
beauty and not less rich and imposing than any of the others. Now it may
perchance appear to some, for the reason that all or the greater part of
those ornaments have been extolled by us as in the highest rank of
beauty and excellence of artistry, pomp, and richness, that this has
been done by reason of a certain manner of writing inclined to overmuch
praise and exaggeration. But everyone may take it as very certain that
those works, besides leaving a long way behind them all things of that
kind as were ever executed in that city, and perhaps in any other place,
were also such, and ordained with such grandeur, magnificence, and
liberality by those magnanimous Lords, and executed in such a manner by
the craftsmen, that they surpassed by a great measure every expectation,
and took away from no matter what writer all force and power to attain
with the pen to the excellence of the reality.

Now, to return, I say that in that place--in that part, namely, where
the street that leads from the Archbishop's Palace into the Borgo S.
Lorenzo, dividing the above-named Strada della Paglia, forms a perfect
crossing of the ways, was made the ornament already mentioned, much
after the likeness of the ancient four-fronted Temple of Janus; and, for
the reason that from there the Cathedral Church could be seen, it was
ordained by those truly religious Princes that it should be dedicated to
sacrosanct Religion, in which how eminent all Tuscany, and Florence in
particular, has been at all times, I do not believe that it is necessary
for me to take much pains to demonstrate. And therein the intention was
that since Florence had brought with her, as was told at the beginning,
as her handmaids and companions, to give the first welcome to the new
bride, some of the virtues or attributes that had raised her to
greatness, and in which she could well vaunt herself, the intention, I
say, was to show that there also, for a no less necessary office, she
had left Religion, that she, awaiting the bride, might in a certain
manner introduce her into the vast and most ornate church so near at
hand. That arch, then, which was in a very broad street, as has been
told, was seen formed of four very ornate façades, the first of which
presented itself to the eyes of one going in the direction of the
Carnesecchi, and another, following the limb of the cross, faced towards
S. Giovanni and the Duomo of S. Maria del Fiore, leaving two other
façades on the cross-limb of the cross, one of which looked towards S.
Lorenzo and the other towards the Archbishop's Palace. And now, to
describe in order and with as much clearness as may be possible the
composition and the beauty of the whole, I say--beginning again with the
front part, to which that at the back was wholly similar in the
composition of the ornaments, without failing in any point--that in the
centre of the wide street was seen the very broad entrance of the arch,
which rose to a beautifully proportioned height, and on either side of
it were seen two immense niches bordered by two similar Corinthian
columns, all painted with sacred books, mitres, thuribles, chalices, and
other sacerdotal instruments, in place of trophies and spoils. Above
these, and above the regular cornices and friezes, which projected
somewhat further outwards than those which came over the arch in the
centre, but were exactly equal to them in height, was seen another
cornice, as of a door or window, curving between the one column and the
other in a quarter-round, which, seeming to form a separate niche, made
an effect as graceful and lovely as could well be imagined. Above that
last cornice, then, rose a frieze of a height and magnificence in accord
with the proportions of so great a beginning, with certain great
consoles, carved and overlaid with gold, which came exactly in
perpendicular lines with the columns already described; and upon them
rested another magnificent and very ornate cornice, with four very
large candelabra likewise overlaid with gold and, like all the columns,
bases, capitals, cornices, architraves, and every other thing, picked
out with various carvings and colours, and also standing in line with
the great consoles and the columns above described. Now in the centre,
springing above the said consoles, two cornices were seen rising, and
little by little forming an angle, and finally uniting as a
frontispiece, over which, upon a very rich and beautiful base, was
seated an immense statue with a Cross in the hand, representing the most
holy Christian Religion, at whose feet, one on either side of her, were
seen two other similar statues which seemed to be lying upon the cornice
of the above-named frontispiece, one of which, that on the right hand,
with three children about her, represented Charity, and the other Hope.
Then in the space, or, to speak more precisely, in the angle of the
frontispiece, there was seen as the principal device of that arch the
ancient Labarum with the Cross, and with the motto, IN HOC VINCES, sent
to Constantine; beneath which was seen set with beautiful grace a very
large escutcheon of the Medici with three Papal crowns, in keeping with
the idea of Religion, for the three Pontiffs whom she has had from that
house. And on the first level cornice, on either side, was seen a statue
corresponding to the niche already described which came between the two
columns; one of which, that on the right hand, was a most beautiful
young woman in full armour, with the spear and shield, such as Minerva
used to be represented in ancient times, save that in place of the head
of Medusa there was seen a great red cross on her breast, which caused
her to be recognized with ease as the new Order of S. Stephen, founded
so devoutly by our glorious and magnanimous Duke. The other on the left
hand was seen all adorned with sacerdotal and civil vestments in place
of arms, and with a great cross in the hand in place of a spear; and
these, towering over the whole structure in most beautiful accord with
the others, made a very imposing and marvellous effect. Next, in the
frieze that came between that last cornice and the architrave that
rested upon the columns, where according to the order of the composition
there came three compartments, were seen painted the three kinds of true
religion that have been from the creation of the world down to the
present day. In the first of these, which came on the right hand
beneath the armed statue, was seen painted that kind of religion which
reigned in the time of natural law, in those few who had it true and
good, although they had not a perfect knowledge of God, wherefore there
was seen figured Melchizedek offering bread and wine and other fruits of
the earth. Even so, in the picture on the left hand, which came in like
manner beneath the statue of peaceful Religion, was seen the other
religion, ordained by God through the hands of Moses, and more perfect
than the first, but all so veiled with images and figures, that these
did not permit the final and perfect clearness of Divine worship to be
fully revealed; to signify which there were seen Moses and Aaron
sacrificing the Paschal Lamb to God. But in the central picture, which
came exactly beneath the large and above-described statues of Religion,
Charity, and Hope, and over the principal arch, and which in proportion
with the greater space was much larger, there was seen figured an altar,
and upon it a Chalice with the Host, which is the true and evangelic
Sacrifice; about which were seen some figures kneeling, and over it a
Holy Spirit in the midst of many little Angels, who were holding in
their hands a scroll in which was written, IN SPIRITU ET VERITATE; so
that it appeared that they were repeating those words in song, Spiritus
meaning all that concerns the sacrifice natural and corporeal, and
Veritas all that appertains to the legal; which was all by way of image
and figure. Beneath the whole scene was a most beautiful inscription,
which, supported by two other Angels, rested on the cornice of the
central arch, saying:

     VERÆ RELIGIONI, QUÆ VIRTUTUM OMNIUM FUNDAMENTUM, PUBLICARUM RERUM
     FIRMAMENTUM, PRIVATARUM ORNAMENTUM, ET HUMANÆ TOTIUS VITÆ LUMEN
     CONTINET, ETRURIA SEMPER DUX ET MAGISTRA ILLIUS HABITA, ET EADEM
     NUNC ANTIQUA ET SUA PROPRIA LAUDE MAXIME FLORENS, LIBENTISSIME
     CONSECRAVIT.

But coming to the lower part, and returning to the niche which came on
the right hand, between the two columns and beneath the armed Religion,
and which, although in painting, by reason of the chiaroscuro appeared
as if in relief; there, I say, was seen the statue of our present most
pious Duke in the habit of a Knight of S. Stephen, with the cross in his
hand, and with the following inscription, which had the appearance of
real carving, over his head and above the niche, saying:

     COSMUS MEDIC. FLOREN. ET SENAR. DUX II, SACRAM D. STEPHANI
     MILITIAM CHRISTIANÆ PIETATIS ET BELLICÆ VIRTUTIS DOMICILIUM
     FUNDAVIT, ANNO MDLXI.

Even as on the base of the same niche, between the two pedestals of the
columns, which were fashioned in the Corinthian proportions, there was
seen painted the Taking of Damiata, achieved by the prowess of the
valiant knights of Florence; as it were auguring for those his new
knights similar glory and valour. And in the lunette or semi-circle
which came above the two columns, there was seen his private and
particular escutcheon of balls, which, by the red cross that was added
to it with beautiful grace, made it clearly manifest that it was that of
the Grand Master and Chief of the Order.

Now, for the public and universal satisfaction, and in order to revive
the memory of those who, born in that city or that province, became
illustrious for integrity of character and for sanctity of life, and
founders of some revered Order, and also to kindle the minds of all
beholders to imitation of their goodness and perfection, it was thought
right and proper, since there had been placed on the right hand, as has
been related, the statue of the Duke, founder of the holy military Order
of S. Stephen, to set on the other side that of S. Giovanni Gualberto,
who was likewise a knight of the household, according to the custom of
those times, and the first founder and father of the Order of
Vallombrosa. Most fittingly, even as the Duke was beneath the armed
statue, in like manner he was seen standing beneath the sacerdotal
statue of Religion, in the habit of a knight, pardoning his enemy;
having in the frontispiece over the niche a similar escutcheon of the
Medici, with three Cardinal's hats, and on the base the story of the
miracle that took place at Badia di Settimo, when the friar, by the
command of the above-named S. Giovanni Gualberto, to the confusion of
the heretics and simonists, passed with his benediction and with a
cross in his hand through the midst of a raging fire; with the
inscription likewise in a little tablet above him, which made all that
manifest, saying:

     JOANNES GUALBERTUS, EQUES NOBILISS. FLOREN., VALLIS UMBROSÆ
     FAMILIÆ AUCTOR FUIT, ANNO MLXI.

With which was terminated that most ornate and beautiful principal
façade.

Entering beneath the arch, one saw there a passing spacious loggia, or
passage, or vestibule, whichever we may choose to call it; and in
exactly the same manner were seen formed the three other entrances,
which, being joined together at the intersection of the two streets,
left in the centre a space about eight braccia square. There the four
arches rose to the height of those without, and the pendentives curved
in the manner of a vault as if a little cupola were to spring over them;
but when these had reached the cornice curving right round, at the point
where the vault of the cupola would have had to begin to rise, there
sprang a gallery of gilded balusters, above which was seen a choir of
most beautiful Angels, dancing most gracefully in a ring and singing in
sweetest harmony; while for greater grace, and to the end that there
might be light everywhere beneath the arch, in place of a cupola there
was left the free and open sky. And in the spaces or spandrels,
whichever they may be called, of the four angles, which of necessity,
narrow at their springing, opened out as they rose nearer to the cornice
in accordance with the curve of the arch, were painted with no less
grace in four rounds the four beasts mystically imagined by Ezekiel and
by John the Divine for the four writers of the holy Evangel. But to
return to the first of those four loggie or vestibules, as we have
called them; the vaults there were seen distributed with very graceful
and lovely divisions, and all adorned and painted with various little
scenes and with the arms and devices of those religious Orders which
were above or beside them, and in whose service, principally, they were
there. Thus on the façade of that first one on the right hand, which was
joined to the Duke's niche, there was seen painted in a spacious picture
the same Duke giving the habit to his knights, with those observances
and ceremonies that are customary with them; in the most distant part,
which represented Pisa, could be perceived the noble building of their
palace, church, and hospital, and on the base, in an inscription for the
explanation of the scene, could be read these words:

     COSMUS MED. FLOR. ET SENAR. DUX II, EQUITIBUS SUIS DIVINO
     CONSILIO CREATIS MAGNIFICE PIEQUE INSIGNIA ET SEDEM PRÆBET
     LARGEQUE REBUS OMNIBUS INSTRUIT.

Even as in the other on the opposite side, attached to the niche of S.
Giovanni Gualberto, was seen how that same Saint founded his first and
principal monastery in the midst of the wildest forests; with an
inscription likewise on the base, which said:

     S. JO. GUALBERTUS IN VALLOMBROSIANO MONTE, AB INTERVENTORIBUS ET
     ILLECEBRIS OMNIBUS REMOTO LOCO, DOMICILIUM PONIT SACRIS SUIS
     SODALIBUS.

Now, having despatched the front façade, and passing to that at the
back, and describing it in the same manner, the less to hinder a clear
understanding, we shall say, as has also been said before, that in
height, in size, in the compartments, in the columns, and, finally, in
every other ornament, it corresponded completely to that already
described, save that whereas the first had on the highest summit in the
centre the three great statues described above, Religion, Charity, and
Hope, the other had in place of these only a most beautiful altar all
composed and adorned after the ancient use, upon which, even as one
reads of Vesta, was seen burning a very bright flame. On the right hand,
towards S. Giovanni, there was seen standing a great statue in becoming
vestments and gazing intently on Heaven, representing the Contemplative
Life, which came exactly in a perpendicular line over the great niche
between the two columns, as has been described in the other façade; and
on the other side another great statue like it, but very active, with
the arms bare and with the head crowned with flowers, representing the
Active Life; in which statues were comprised very fittingly all the
qualities that appertain to the Christian Religion. In the frieze
between the one cornice and the other, which corresponded to that of the
other part, and which was likewise divided into three compartments,
there were seen in the largest, which was in the centre, three men in
Roman dress presenting twelve little children to some old and venerable
Tuscans, to the end that these, being instructed by them in their
religion, might demonstrate in what repute the Tuscan religion was held
in ancient times among the Romans and all other nations: with a motto to
explain this, taken from that perfect law of Cicero, which said: ETRURIA
PRINCIPES DISCIPLINAM DOCETO. Beneath which was the inscription, similar
and corresponding to that already given from the other façade, which
said:

  FRUGIBUS INVENTIS DOCTÆ CELEBRANTUR ATHENÆ,
      ROMA FEROX ARMIS IMPERIOQUE POTENS.
  AT NOSTRA HÆC MITIS PROVINCIA ETRURIA RITU
      DIVINO ET CULTU NOBILIORE DEI,
  UNAM QUAM PERHIBENT ARTES TENUISSE PIANDI
      NUMINIS, ET RITUS EDOCUISSE SACROS;
  NUNC EADEM SEDES VERÆ EST PIETATIS, ET ILLI
      HOS NUMQUAM TITULOS AUFERET ULLA DIES.

In one of the two smaller pictures, that which came on the right hand,
since it is thought that the ancient religion of the Gentiles (which not
without reason was placed on the west) is divided into two parts, and
consists, above all, of augury and sacrifice, there was seen painted
according to that use an ancient priest who with marvellous solicitude
was standing all intent on considering the entrails of the animals
sacrificed, which were placed before him in a great basin by the
ministers of the sacrifice; and in the other picture an augur like him
with the crooked lituus in the hand, drawing in the sky the regions
proper for taking auguries from certain birds that were shown flying
above.

Now, descending lower, and coming to the niches; in that, I say, which
was on the right hand, was seen S. Romualdo, who in this our country, a
land set apart, as it were, by Nature for religion and sanctity, founded
on the wild Apennine mountains the holy Hermitage of Camaldoli, whence
that Order had its origin and name; with the inscription over the niche,
which said:

     ROMUALDUS IN HAC NOSTRA PLENA SANCTITATIS TERRA, CAMALDULENSIUM
     ORDINEM COLLOCAVIT ANNO MXII.

And on the base the story of the sleeping hermit who saw in a dream the
staircase similar to that of Jacob, which, passing beyond the clouds,
ascended even to Heaven. On the façade which was joined to the niche,
and which passed, as was said of the other, under the vestibule, was
seen painted the building of the above-named hermitage in that wild
place, carried out with marvellous care and magnificence; with the
inscription, which in explanation said:

     SANCTUS ROMUALDUS IN CAMALDULENSI SYLVESTRI LOCO, DIVINITUS SIBI
     OSTENSO ET DIVINÆ CONTEMPLATIONI APTISSIMO, SUO GRAVISSIMO
     COLLEGIO SEDES QUIETISSIMAS EXTRUIT.

In the niche on the left hand was seen the Blessed Filippo Benizi, one
of our citizens, who was little less than the founder of the Servite
Order, and without a doubt its first ordinator; and he, although he was
accompanied by seven other noble Florentines, the one niche not being
large enough to contain them all, was placed therein alone, as the most
worthy; with the inscription above, which said:

     PHILIPPUS BENITIUS CIVIS NOSTER INSTITUIT ET REBUS OMNIBUS
     ORNAVIT SERVORUM FAMILIAM, ANNO MCCLXXXV.

With the story of the Annunciation, likewise, on the base, wherein was
the Virgin supported by many little Angels, with one among them who was
shown scattering a beautiful vase of flowers over a vast multitude that
stood there in supplication; representing the innumerable graces that
are seen bestowed daily by her intercession on the faithful who with
devout zeal commend themselves to her. In the other scene, in the great
picture that came in the passage below, were the same S. Filippo and the
seven above-mentioned noble citizens throwing off the civil habit of
Florence and assuming that of the Servite Order, and shown all occupied
with directing the building of their beautiful monastery, which is now
to be seen in Florence, but was then without the city, and the venerable
and most ornate Church of the Annunziata, so celebrated throughout the
whole world for innumerable miracles, which has been ever since the head
of that Order; with the inscription, which said:

     SEPTEM NOBILES CIVES NOSTRI IN SACELLO NOSTRÆ URBIS, TOTO NUNC
     ORBE RELIGIONIS ET SANCTITATIS FAMA CLARISSIMO, SE TOTOS
     RELIGIONI DEDUNT ET SEMINA JACIUNT ORDINIS SERVORUM D. MARIÆ
     VIRG.

There remain the two façades which formed as it were arms, as has been
told, to the straight limb of the cross. These were smaller than those
already described, which was caused by the narrowness of the two streets
that begin there; wherefore, since less space came to be left for the
magnificence of the work, in order consequently not to depart from the
due proportion of height in their much smaller size, with much judgment
the arch which gave passage there had on either side not a niche but a
single column; over which rose a frieze in due proportion, in the centre
of which was a painted picture that crowned the ornamentation of that
façade, but not without an infinity of such other embellishments,
devices, and pictures as were thought to be proper in such a place. Now,
that whole structure being dedicated to the glory and power of the true
Religion and to the memory of her glorious victories, they chose the two
most noble and most important victories, won over two most powerful and
particular adversaries, human wisdom namely, under which are comprised
philosophers and heretics, and worldly power: and on the part facing
towards the Archbishop's Palace was seen depicted how S. Peter and S.
Paul and the other Apostles, filled with the divine spirit, disputed
with a great number of philosophers and many others full of human
wisdom, some of whom, those most confused, were seen throwing away or
tearing up the books that they held in their hands, and others, such as
Dionysius the Areopagite, Justinus, Pantænus, and the like, were coming
towards them, all humble and devout, in token of having recognized and
accepted the Evangelic truth; with the motto in explanation of this,
which said: NON EST SAPIENTIA, NON EST PRUDENTIA. In the other scene
towards the Archbishop's Palace, on the other side from the first, were
seen the same S. Peter and S. Paul and the others in the presence of
Nero and many of his armed satellites, boldly and freely preaching the
truth of the Evangel; with the motto--NON EST FORTITUDO, NON EST
POTENTIA, referring to that which follows in Solomon, whence the motto
is taken--CONTRA DOMINUM. Of the façades which came under the two vaults
of those two arches, in one, on the side towards the Archbishop's
Palace, was seen the Blessed Giovanni Colombini, an honoured citizen of
Siena, making a beginning with the Company of the Ingesuati by throwing
off the citizen's habit on the Campo di Siena and assuming that of a
miserable beggar, and giving the same habit to many who with great zeal
were demanding it from him; with the inscription, which said:

     ORIGO COLLEGII PAUPERUM, QUI AB JESU COGNOMEN ACCEPERUNT; CUJUS
     ORDINIS PRINCEPS FUIT JOANNES COLOMBINUS, DOMO SENENSIS, ANNO
     MCCCLI.

And in the other, on the opposite side, were seen other gentlemen,
likewise of Siena, before Guido Pietramalesco, Bishop of Arezzo, to whom
a commission had been given by the Pope that he should inquire into
their lives; and they were all intent on making manifest to him the wish
and desire that they had to create the Order of Monte Oliveto, which was
seen approved by that Bishop, exhorting them to put into execution the
building of that vast and most holy monastery, which they erected
afterwards at Monte Oliveto in the district of Siena, and of which they
were shown to have brought thither a model; with the inscription, which
said:

     INSTITUITUR SACER ORDO MONACORUM QUI AB OLIVETO MONTE NOMINATUR,
     AUCTORIBUS NOBILIBUS CIVIBUS SENENSIBUS, ANNO MCCCXIX.

On the side towards S. Lorenzo was seen the building of the most famous
Oratory of La Vernia, at the expense in great part of the devout Counts
Guidi, at that time lords of that country, and by the agency of the
glorious S. Francis, who, moved by the solitude of the place, made his
way thither, and was visited there by Our Lord the Crucified Jesus
Christ and marked with the Stigmata; with the inscription that explained
all this, saying:

     ASPERRIMUM AGRI NOSTRI MONTEM DIVUS FRANCISCUS ELEGIT, IN QUO
     SUMMO ARDORE DOMINI NOSTRI SALUTAREM NECEM CONTEMPLARETUR, ISQUE
     NOTIS PLAGARUM IN CORPORE IPSIUS EXPRESSIS DIVINITUS CONSERVATUR.

Even as on the opposite side was seen the Celebration held in Florence
of the Council under Eugenius IV, when the Greek Church, so long at
discord with the Latin, was reunited with her, and the true Faith, it
may be said, was restored to her pristine clearness and purity; which
was likewise made manifest by the inscription, saying:

     NUMINE DEI OPTIMI MAX. ET SINGULARI CIVIUM NOSTRORUM RELIGIONIS
     STUDIO, ELIGITUR URBS NOSTRA IN QUA GRÆCIA, AMPLISSIMUM MEMBRUM A
     CHRISTIANA PIETATE DISJUNCTUM, RELIQUO ECCLESIÆ CORPORI
     CONJUNGERETUR.


OF S. MARIA DEL FIORE.

As for the Cathedral Church, the central Duomo of the city, although it
is in itself stupendous and most ornate, nevertheless, since the new
Lady was to halt there, met by all the clergy, as she did, it was
thought well to embellish it with all possible pomp and show of
religion, and with lights, festoons, shields, and a vast and very well
distributed quantity of banners. At the principal door, in particular,
there was made in the Ionic Order of composition a marvellous and most
graceful ornament, in which, in addition to the rest, which was in truth
excellently well conceived, rich and rare beyond all else appeared ten
little stories of the actions of the glorious Mother of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, executed in low-relief, which, since they were judged by all who
saw them to be of admirable artistry, it is hoped that some day they may
be seen in bronze in competition with the marvellous and stupendous
gates of the Temple of S. Giovanni, and even, as in a more favoured age,
more pleasing and more beautiful; but at that time, although of clay,
they were seen all overlaid with gold, and were let in a graceful
pattern of compartments into the wooden door, which likewise had the
appearance of gold. Above which, besides an immense escutcheon of the
Medici with the Papal Keys and Crown, supported by Operation and Grace,
were seen painted in a very beautiful canvas all the tutelary Saints of
the city, who, turned towards a Madonna and the Child that she was
holding in her arms, appeared to be praying to her for the welfare and
felicity of Florence; even as over all, as the principal device, and
with most lovely invention, was seen a little ship which, with the aid
of a favourable wind, appeared to be speeding with full sail towards a
most tranquil port, signifying that Christian actions are in need of
the divine grace, but that it is also necessary on our part to add to
them, as not being passive, good disposition and activity. Which was
likewise made clearly manifest by the motto, which said, [Greek: Syn
Theô]; and even more by the very short inscription that was seen
beneath, saying:

     CONFIRMA HOC DEUS QUOD OPERATUS ES IN NOBIS.


OF THE HORSE.

On the Piazza di S. Pulinari, not in connection with the tribunal that
was near there, but to the end that the great space between the Duomo
and the next arch might not remain empty, although the street is very
beautiful, there was made with marvellous artistry and subtle invention
the figure of an immense, very excellent, very fiery and well-executed
horse, more than nine braccia in height, which was rearing up on the
hind-legs; and upon it was seen a young hero in full armour and in
aspect all filled with valour, who had just wounded to death with his
spear, the butt of which was seen at his feet, a vast monster that was
stretched all limp beneath his horse, and already he had laid his hand
on a glittering sword, as if about to smite him again, and seemed to
marvel to what straits the monster had been reduced by the first blow.
That hero represented the true Herculean Virtue, which, as Dante said so
well, chased through every town and banished to Hell the dissipatrix of
kingdoms and republics, the mother of discord, injury, rapine, and
injustice, that evil power, finally, that is commonly called Vice or
Fraud, hidden under the form of a woman young and fair, but with a great
scorpion's tail; and, slaying her, he seemed to have restored the city
to the tranquillity and peace in which she is seen at the present day,
thanks to her excellent Lords, reposing and flourishing so happily.
Which was demonstrated in a manner no less masterly by the device,
placed fittingly on the great base, in which, in the centre of an open
temple supported by many columns, upon a sacred altar, was seen the
Egyptian Ibis, which was shown tearing with the beak and with the claws
some serpents that were wound round its legs; with a motto that said
aptly: PRÆMIA DIGNA.


OF THE BORGO DE' GRECI.

Even so, also, at the corner of the Borgo de' Greci, to the end that in
the turn that was made in going towards the Dogana, the eyes might have
something on which to feast with delight, it was thought well to form a
little closed arch of Doric architecture, dedicating it to Public
Merriment; which was demonstrated by the statue of a woman crowned with
a garland and all joyous and smiling, which was in the principal place,
with a motto in explanation, saying: HILARITAS P.P. FLORENT. Below her,
in the midst of many grotesques and many graceful little stories of
Bacchus, were seen two most charming little Satyrs, which with two skins
that they held on their shoulders were pouring into a very beautiful
fountain, as was done in the other, white and red wine; and as in the
other the fish, so in this one two swans that were under the boys,
played a trick on him who drank too much by means of jets of water that
at times spurted with force from the vase; with a graceful motto that
said: ABITE LYMPHÆ VINI PERNICIES. Above and around the large statue
were seen many others, both Satyrs and Bacchanals, who, shown in a
thousand pleasing ways drinking, dancing, singing, and playing all those
pranks that the drunken are wont to play, seemed as if chanting the
motto written above them:

     NUNC EST BIBENDUM, NUNC PEDE LIBERO PULSANDA TELLUS.


OF THE ARCH OF THE DOGANA.

It appeared, among the many prerogatives, excellences, and graces with
which fair Florence adorned herself, distributing them over various
places, as has been shown, to receive and accompany her illustrious
Princess, it appeared, I say, that the sole sovereign and head of them
all, Civil Virtue or Prudence, queen and mistress of the art of ruling
and governing well peoples and states, had been passed over up to this
point without receiving any attention; as to which Prudence, although to
the great praise and glory of Florence it could be demonstrated amply in
many of her children in past times, nevertheless, having at the present
time in her most excellent Lords the most recent, the most true, and
without a doubt the most splendid example that has ever been seen in her
up to our own day, it was thought that their magnanimous actions were
best fitted to express and demonstrate that virtue. And with what good
reason, and how clearly without any taint of adulation, but only by the
grateful minds of the best citizens, this honour was paid to them,
anyone who is not possessed by blind envy (by whose venomous bite
whoever has ruled at any time has always been molested), may judge with
ease, looking not only at the pure and upright government of their
happily adventuresome State and at its preservation among difficulties,
but also at its memorable, ample, and glorious increase, brought about
certainly not less by the infinite fortitude, constancy, patience, and
vigilance of its most prudent Duke, than by the benign favour of
prosperous Fortune. All which came to be expressed excellently well in
the inscription set with most beautiful grace in a fitting place,
embracing the whole conception of the whole ornament, and saying:

     REBUS URBANIS CONSTITUTIS, FINIB. IMPERII PROPAGATIS, RE MILITARI
     ORNATA, PACE UBIQUE PARTA, CIVITATIS IMPERIIQUE DIGNITATE AUCTA,
     MEMOR TANTORUM BENEFICIORUM PATRIA PRUDENTIÆ DUCIS OPT.
     DEDICAVIT.

At the entrance of the public and ducal Piazza, then, and attached on
one side to the public and ducal Palace, and on the other to those
buildings in which salt is distributed to the people, there was
dedicated well and fittingly to that same Civil Virtue or Prudence an
arch marvellous and grand beyond all the others, similar and conforming
in every part, although more lofty and more magnificent, to that of
Religion already described, which was placed on the Canto alla Paglia.
In that arch, above four vast Corinthian columns, in the midst of which
space was left for the procession to pass, and above the usual
architrave, cornice, and frieze of projections--as was said of the
other--divided into three compartments, and upon a second great cornice
that crowned the whole work, there was seen in grave and heroic majesty,
seated in the semblance of a Queen with a sceptre in the right hand and
resting the left on a great globe, an immense woman adorned with a
royal crown, who could be recognized with ease as being that Civil
Virtue. There remained below, between one column and another, as much
space as accommodated without difficulty a deep and spacious niche, in
each of which was demonstrated very aptly of what other virtues that
Civil Virtue is composed; and, rightly giving the first place to the
military virtues, there was seen in the niche on the right hand, with
heroic and most beautiful composition, the statue of Fortitude, the
first principle of all magnanimous and generous actions, even as on the
left hand in like manner was seen placed that of Constancy, who best
guides and executes them. And since between the frontispieces of the two
niches and the cornice that went right round there was left some space,
to the end that the whole might be adorned, there were counterfeited
there two rounds in the colour of bronze, in one of which was depicted
with a fine fleet of galleys and other ships the diligence and
solicitude of our most shrewd Duke in maritime affairs, and in the
other, as is often found in ancient medals, was seen the same Duke going
around on horseback to visit his fortunate States and to provide for
their wants. Next, over the crowning cornice, where, as has been told,
the masterly statue of Civil Prudence was seated, continuing to show of
what parts she is composed, and exactly in a line with the Fortitude
already described, and separated from her by some magnificent vases, was
seen Vigilance, so necessary in every human action; even as above
Constancy was seen in like manner Patience, and I do not speak of that
patience to which meek minds, tolerating injuries, have given the name
of virtue, but of that which won so much honour for the ancient Fabius
Maximus, and which, awaiting opportune moments with prudence and mature
reflection, and void of all rash vehemence, executes every action with
reason and advantage. In the three pictures, then, into which, as was
said, the frieze was divided, and which were separated by medallions and
pilasters that sprang in a line with the columns and extended with
supreme beauty as far as the great cornice; in that in the centre, which
came above the portal of the arch and beneath the Sovereign Prudence,
was seen painted the generous Duke with prudent and loving counsel
handing over to the worthy Prince the whole government of his spacious
States, which was expressed by a sceptre upon a stork, which he was
shown offering to his son, and it was being accepted with great
reverence by the obedient Prince; with a motto that said: REGET PATRIIS
VIRTUTIBUS. Even as in that on the right hand was seen the same most
valiant Duke with courageous resolution sending forth his people, and
the first fort of Siena occupied by them--no slight cause, probably, of
their victory in that war. And in that on the left hand, in like manner,
was painted his joyful entry into that most noble city after the winning
of the victory. But behind the great statue of Sovereign Prudence--and
in this alone was that front part dissimilar to the Arch of
Religion--was seen raised on high a base beautifully twined with
cartouches and square, although at the foot, not without infinite grace,
it was something wider than at the top; upon which, reviving the ancient
use, was seen a most beautiful triumphal chariot drawn by four
marvellous coursers, not inferior, perchance, to any of the ancient in
beauty and grandeur. In that chariot was seen held suspended in the air
by two lovely little Angels the principal crown of the arch, composed of
civic oak, and, in the likeness of that of the first Augustus, attached
to two tails of Capricorns; with the same motto that was once used with
it by him, saying: OB CIVES SERVATOS. And in the spaces that remained
between the pictures, statues, columns, and niches, all was filled up
with richness and grace by an infinite wealth of Victories, Anchors,
Tortoises with the Sail, Diamonds, Capricorns, and other suchlike
devices of those magnanimous Lords.

Now, passing to the part at the back, facing towards the Piazza, which
we must describe as being in every way similar to the front, excepting
that in place of the statue of Sovereign Prudence, there was seen in a
large oval corresponding to the great pedestal that supported the great
chariot described above, which, with ingenious artifice, after the
passing of the procession, was turned in a moment towards the Piazza;
there was seen, I say, as the principal device of the arch, a celestial
Capricorn with its stars, which was shown holding with the paws a royal
sceptre with an eye at the top, such as it is said that the ancient and
most just Osiris used once to carry, with the ancient motto about it,
saying: NULLUM NUMEN ABEST; as if adding, as the first author said: SI
SIT PRUDENTIA. In the lower part, we have to relate as a
beginning--because that façade was made to represent the actions of
peace, which are perhaps no less necessary to the human race--that in
the niche on the right hand, as with those of the other façade already
described, there was seen placed a statue of a woman, representing
Reward or Remuneration, and called Grace, such as wise Princes are wont
to confer for meritorious works upon men of excellence and worth, even
as on the left hand, in a threatening aspect, with a sword in the hand,
in the figure of Nemesis, was seen Punishment, for the vicious and
criminal; with which figures were comprised the two principal pillars of
Justice, without both which no State ever had stability or firmness, or
was anything but imperfect and maimed. In the two ovals, then, always
corresponding to those of the other façade, and like them also
counterfeited in bronze, in one were seen the fortifications executed
with much forethought in many places by the prudent Duke, and in the
other his marvellous care and diligence in achieving the common peace of
Italy, as has been seen in many of his actions, but particularly at that
moment when by his agency was extinguished the terrible and so dangerous
conflagration fanned with little prudence by one who should rather have
assured the public welfare of the Christian people; which was
represented by various Fetiales, altars, and other suchlike instruments
of peace, and by the words customary in medals placed over them, saying:
PAX AUGUSTA. Over these, and over the two above-described statues of the
niches, similar to those of the other side, were seen on the right hand
Facility and on the left Temperance or Goodness, as we would rather call
her; signifying by the first an external courtesy and affability in
deigning to listen and hearken and answer graciously to everyone, which
keeps the people marvellously well contented, and by the other that
temperate and benign nature which renders the Prince amiable and loving
with his confidants and intimates, and with his subjects easy and
gracious. In the frieze, corresponding to that of the front part, and
like it divided into three pictures, was likewise seen in that of the
centre, as the thing of most importance, the conclusion of the happy
marriage contracted between the most illustrious Prince and the most
serene Queen Joanna of Austria, with so much satisfaction and benefit to
his fortunate people, and bringing peace and repose to everyone; with a
motto saying: FAUSTO CUM SIDERE. Even as in another, on the right hand,
was seen the loving Duke holding by the hand the excellent Duchess
Leonora, his consort, a woman of virile and admirable worth and wisdom,
with whom while she was alive he was joined by such a love, that they
could well be called the bright mirror of conjugal fidelity. On the left
hand was seen the same gracious Duke listening with marvellous courtesy,
as he has been wont always to do, to many who were shown seeking to
speak with him. And such was all that part which faced towards the
Piazza.

Beneath the spacious arch and within the wide passage through which the
procession passed, on one of the walls that supported the vaulting, was
seen painted the glorious Duke in the midst of many venerable old men,
with whom he was taking counsel, and he appeared to be giving to many
various laws and statutes written on divers sheets, signifying the
innumerable laws so wisely amended or newly decreed by him; with the
motto: LEGIBUS EMENDES. Even as in the other, demonstrating his most
useful resolve to set in order and increase his valorous militia, was
seen the same valiant Duke standing upon a military tribune and engaged
in addressing a great multitude of soldiers who stood around him, as we
see in many ancient medals; with a motto above him that said: ARMIS
TUTERIS. And so on the great vault, which was divided into six
compartments, there was seen in each of these, in place of the rosettes
that are generally put there, a device, or, to speak more correctly, the
reverse of a medal in keeping with the two above-described scenes of the
walls. In one of these were painted various curule chairs with various
consular fasces, and in another a woman with the balance, representing
Equity; these two being intended to signify that just laws must always
unite with the severity of the supreme power the equity of the
discerning judge. The next two were concerned with military life,
demonstrating the virtues of soldiers and the fidelity incumbent on
them; for the first of these things there was seen painted a woman armed
in the ancient fashion, and for the other many soldiers who, laying one
hand upon an altar, were shown presenting the other to their captain.
In the two that remained, representing the just and desired fruits of
all these fatigues, namely, Victory, the whole was seen fully expressed,
as is customary, by the figures of two women, one standing in one of the
pictures upon a great chariot, and the other in the other picture upon a
great ship's beak; and both were seen holding in one of the hands a
branch of glorious palm, and in the other a verdant crown of triumphal
laurel. And in the encircling frieze that ran right round the vaulting,
the front and the back, there followed the third part of the motto
already begun, saying: MORIBUS ORNES.


OF THE PIAZZA, AND OF THE NEPTUNE.

Next, all the most noble magistrates of the city, distributing
themselves one by one over the whole circuit of the great Piazza, each
with his customary devices and with very rich tapestries divided evenly
by most graceful pilasters, had rendered it all magnificently imposing
and ornate; and there in those days great care and diligence were
devoted to hastening the erecting in its place, at the beginning of the
Ringhiera, of that Giant in the finest white marble, so marvellous and
so stupendous in grandeur, in beauty, and in every part, which is still
to be seen there at the present day; although it had been ordained as a
permanent and enduring ornament. That Giant is known by the trident that
he has in the hand, by the crown of pine, and by the Tritons that are at
his feet, sounding their trumpets, to be Neptune, God of the sea; and,
riding in a graceful car adorned with various products of the sea and
two ascendant Signs, Capricorn for the Duke and Aries for the Prince,
and drawn by four Sea-horses, he appears in the guise of a benign
protector to be promising tranquillity, felicity, and victory in the
affairs of the sea. At the foot of this, in order to establish it more
securely and more richly, there was made at that time in a no less
beautiful manner an immense and most lovely octagonal fountain,
gracefully supported by some Satyrs, who, holding in their hands little
baskets of various wild fruits and prickly shells of chestnuts, and
divided by some little scenes in low-relief and by some festoons in
which were interspersed sea-shells, crabs, and other suchlike things,
seemed as they danced to be expressing great joy in their new Lady; even
as with no less joy and no less grace there were seen lying on the sides
of the four principal faces of the fountain, likewise with certain great
shells in their hands and with some children in their arms, two nude
women and two most beautiful youths, who in a certain gracious attitude,
as if they were on the sea-shore, appeared to be playing and sporting
gracefully with some dolphins that were there, likewise in low-relief.


OF THE DOOR OF THE PALACE.

Now, having caused the serene Princess to be received, as has been told
in the beginning of this description, by Florence, accompanied by the
followers of Mars, of the Muses, of Ceres, of Industry, and of Tuscan
Poetry and Design, and then triumphant Austria by Tuscany, and the Drava
by Arno, and Ocean by the Tyrrhenian Sea, with Hymen promising her happy
and prosperous nuptials, and the parental meeting of her august and
glorious Emperors with the illustrious Medici, and then all passing
through the Arch of Sacrosanct Religion and fulfilling and accomplishing
their vows at the Cathedral Church, and having seen Heroic Virtue in
triumph over Vice, and with what public rejoicing her entry was
celebrated by Civil Virtue, and how, finally, she was welcomed by the
magistrates of the city, with Neptune promising her a tranquil sea, it
was determined judiciously to bring her at the last into the port of
peaceful Security, who was seen figured over the door of the Ducal
Palace, in a place marvellously appropriate, in the form of a very tall,
most beautiful, and most joyous woman crowned with laurel and olive, who
was shown seated in an easy attitude upon a stable pedestal and leaning
against a great column; demonstrating by means of her the desired end of
all human affairs, deservedly acquired for Florence, and in consequence
for the happy bride, by the sciences, arts, and virtues of which we have
spoken above, but particularly by her most prudent and most fortunate
Lords, who had prepared to receive and accommodate her there as in a
place secure beyond all others, wherein she might enjoy unceasingly in
glory and splendour the benefits human and divine displayed before her
in the ornaments that she had passed; which was explained very aptly
both by the inscription that came with most beautiful grace over the
door, saying:

     INGREDERE OPTIMIS AUSPICIIS FORTUNATAS ÆDES TUAS AUGUSTA VIRGO,
     ET PRÆSTANTISSIMI SPONSI AMORE, CLARISS. DUCIS SAPIENTIA, CUM
     BONIS OMNIBUS DELICIISQUE SUMMA ANIMI SECURITATE DIU FELIX ET
     LÆTA PERFRUERE, ET DIVINÆ TUÆ VIRTUTIS, SUAVITATIS, FECUNDITATIS
     FRUCTIBUS PUBLICAM HILARITATEM CONFIRMA.

And also by the principal device, which was seen painted in a great oval
in the highest part, over the statue of Security already described; and
this was the military Eagle of the Roman Legions upon a laureate staff,
which was shown to have been planted firmly in the earth by the hand of
the standard-bearer; with the motto of such happy augury from Livy, from
whom the whole device is taken, saying: HIC MANEBIMUS OPTUME. The
ornament of the door, which was attached to the wall, was contrived in
such a manner, and conceived so well, that it would serve excellently
well if at any time, in order to adorn the simple but magnificent
roughness of past ages, it were determined to build it in marble or some
other finer stone as more stable and enduring, and more in keeping with
our more cultured age. Beginning with the lowest part, I say, upon two
great pedestals that rested on the level of the ground and stood one on
either side of the true door of the Palace, were seen two immense
captives, one male, representing Fury, and one female, with vipers and
horned snakes for hair, representing Discord, his companion; which, as
it were vanquished, subjugated, and bound with chains, and held down by
the Ionic capital and by the architrave, frieze, and cornice that
pressed upon them from above, seemed in a certain sort to be unable to
breathe by reason of the great weight, revealing only too well in their
faces, which were most beautiful in their ugliness, Anger, Rage, Venom,
Violence, and Fraud, their peculiar and natural passions. Above that
cornice was seen formed a frontispiece, in which was placed a very rich
and very large escutcheon of the Duke, bordered by the usual Fleece,
with the Ducal Mazzocchio supported by two very beautiful boys. And lest
this single ornament, which exactly covered the jambs of the true door,
might have a poor effect in so great a palace, it was thought right to
place on either side of it four half-columns set two on one side and two
on the other, which, coming to the same height, and furnished with the
same cornice and architrave, should form a quarter-round which the other
frontispiece, pointed but rectilinear, might embrace, with its
projections and with all its appurtenances set in the proper places. And
above this was formed a very beautiful base, where there was seen the
above-described statue of Security, set in position, as has been told,
with most beautiful grace. But to return to the four half-columns below;
for the sake of greater magnificence, beauty, and proportion, I say,
there had been left so much space at either side, between column and
column, that there was ample room for a large and beautiful picture
painted there in place of a niche. In one of these, that which was
placed nearest to the divine statue of the gentle David, were seen in
the forms of three women, who were shown full of joy advancing to meet
their desired Lady, Nature, with her towers on her head, as is
customary, and with her many breasts, signifying the happy multitude of
her inhabitants, and Concord with the Caduceus in her hand, even as in
the third was seen figured Minerva, the inventress and mistress of the
liberal arts and of civil and refined customs. In the other, which faced
towards the proud statue of Hercules, was seen Amaltheia, with the usual
horn of plenty, overflowing with fruits and flowers, in her arms, and at
her feet the corn-measure brimming and adorned with ears of corn,
signifying the abundance and fertility of the earth; there, also, was
Peace crowned with flowered and fruitful olive, with a branch of the
same in the hand, and finally there was seen, with an aspect grave and
venerable, Majesty or Reputation; demonstrating ingeniously with all
these things how in well-ordered cities, abundant in men, copious in
riches, adorned by arts, filled with sciences, and illustrious in
majesty and reputation, one lives happily and in peace, quietness, and
contentment. Then in line with the four half-columns already described,
above the cornice and frieze of each, was seen fixed in a manner no less
beautiful a socle with a pedestal in proportion, upon which rested some
statues; and since the two in the centre embraced also the width of the
two terminals described, upon each of these were placed two statues
embracing one another--Virtue, namely, who was shown holding Fortune in
a strait and loving embrace, with a motto on the base saying, VIRTUTEM
FORTUNA SEQUETUR; as if to demonstrate that, whatever many may say,
where virtue is fortune is never wanting; and upon the other Fatigue or
Diligence, who in like manner was shown in the act of embracing Victory,
with a motto at her feet saying: AMAT VICTORIA CURAM. And above the
half-columns that were at the extremities, and upon which the pedestals
were narrower, adorning each of them with a single statue, on one there
was seen Eternity as she is figured by the ancients, with the heads of
Janus in her hands, and with the motto, NEC FINES NEC TEMPORA; and on
the other Fame figured in the usual manner, likewise with a motto
saying: TERMINAT ASTRIS. Between one and the other of these, there was
placed with ornate and beautiful composition, so as to have the
above-named escutcheon of the Duke exactly in the middle, on the right
hand that of the most excellent Prince and Princess, and on the other
that which the city has been accustomed to use from ancient times.


OF THE COURT OF THE PALACE.

I thought, when I first resolved to write, that it would take much less
work to bring me to the end of the description given above, but the
abundance of the inventions, the magnificence of the things done, and
the desire to satisfy the curiosity of craftsmen, for whose particular
benefit, as has been told, this description is written, have in some
way, I know not how, carried me to a length which might perchance appear
to some to be excessive, but which is nevertheless necessary for one who
proposes to render everything distinct and clear. But now that I find
myself past the first part of my labours, although I hope to treat with
more brevity, and with perhaps no less pleasure for my readers, the
remainder of the description of the spectacles that were held, in which,
no less than the liberality of our magnanimous Lords, and no less than
the lively dexterity of the ingenious inventors, there appeared rare and
excellent the industry and art of the same craftsmen, yet it should not
be thought a thing beside the mark or altogether unworthy of
consideration, if, before going any further, we say something of the
aspect of the city while the festivities for the nuptials were being
prepared and after they were finished, for the reason that in the city,
to the infinite entertainment of all beholders, were seen many streets
redecorated both within and without, the Ducal Palace (as will be
described) embellished with extraordinary rapidity, the fabric of the
long corridor (which leads from that Palace to that of the Pitti)
flying, as it were, with wings, the column, the fountain, and all the
arches described above springing in a certain sense out of the ground,
and all the other festive preparations in progress, but in particular
the comedy, which was to appear first, and the two grand masquerades,
which had need of most labour, and, finally, all the other things being
prepared according to the time at which they were to be represented,
some quickly and others more slowly; the two Lords, Duke and Prince,
after the manner of the ancient Ædiles, having distributed them between
themselves, and having undertaken to execute each his part in generous
emulation. Nor was less solicitude or less rivalry seen among the
gentlemen and ladies of the city, and among the strangers, of whom a
vast number had flocked thither from all Italy, vying one with another
in the pomp of vestments, and not less in their own than in the liveries
of their attendants, male and female, in festivals private and public,
and in the sumptuous banquets that were given in constant succession,
now in one place and now in another; so that there could be seen at one
and the same moment leisure, festivity, delight, spending, and pomp, and
also commerce, industry, patience, labour, and grateful gain, with which
all the craftsmen named above were filled, all working their effect in
liberal measure.

Now, to come to the court of the Ducal Palace, into which one entered by
the door already described; in order not to pass it by without saying
anything about it, we must relate that, although it seemed dark and
inconvenient, and almost incapable of receiving any kind of
ornamentation, nevertheless with marvellous novelty and with incredible
rapidity it was carried to that perfection of beauty and loveliness in
which it may be seen by everyone at the present day. In addition to the
graceful fountain of hardest porphyry that is placed in the centre, and
the lovely boy that pours water into it from the dolphin held in his
arms, in an instant the nine columns were fluted and shaped in a most
beautiful manner in the Corinthian Order, which surround the square
court named above, and which support on one side the encircling loggie
constructed very roughly of hard-stone, according to the custom of those
times; overlaying the ground of those columns almost entirely with gold,
and filling them with most graceful foliage over the flutings, and
shaping their bases and capitals together according to the good ancient
custom. Within the loggie, the vaults of which were all filled and
adorned with most bizarre and extravagant grotesques, there were seen
represented, as in many medallions made for the same purpose, some of
the glorious deeds of the magnanimous Duke, which--if smaller things may
be compared with greater--I have considered often in my own mind to be
so similar to those of the first Octavianus Augustus, that it would be
difficult to find any greater resemblance; for the reason that--not to
mention that both the one and the other were born under one and the same
ascendant of Capricorn, and not to mention that both were raised almost
unexpectedly to the sovereignty at the same immature age, and not to
speak of the most important victories gained both by the one and by the
other in the first days of August, and of their having similar
constitutions and natures in their private and intimate lives, and of
their singular affection for their wives, save that in his children, in
the election to the principality, and perhaps in many other things, I
believe that our fortunate Duke might be esteemed more blessed than
Augustus--is there not seen both in the one and in the other a most
ardent and most extraordinary desire to build and embellish, and to
contrive that others should build and embellish? Insomuch that, if the
first said that he found Rome built of bricks and left her built of
solid stone, the second will be able to say not less truthfully that he
received Florence already of stone, indeed, ornate and beautiful, but
leaves her to his successors by a great measure more ornate and more
beautiful, increased and magnified by every kind of convenient, lovely,
and magnificent adornment.

To represent these matters, in each lunette of the above-named loggie
there was seen an oval accommodated with suitable ornaments, and with
singular grace; in one of which there could be seen the fortification of
Porto Ferrajo in Elba, a work of such importance, with many ships and
galleys that were shown lying there in safety, and the glorious building
of the city in the same place, called after its founder Cosmopolis; with
a motto within the oval, saying: ILVA RENASCENS; and another in the
encircling scroll, which said: TUSCORUM ET LIGURUM SECURITATI. Even as
in the second was seen that most useful and handsome building wherein
the greater part of the most noble magistrates are to be accommodated,
which is being erected by his command opposite to the Mint, and which
may be seen already carried near completion; and over it stretches that
long and convenient corridor of which mention has been made above, built
with extraordinary rapidity in these days by order of the same Duke;
likewise with a motto that said: PUBLICÆ COMMODITATI. And so, also, in
the third was seen Concord, with the usual horn of plenty in the left
hand, and with an ancient military ensign in the right, at whose feet a
Lion and a She-Wolf, the well-known emblems of Florence and Siena, were
shown lying in peaceful tranquillity; with a motto suited to the matter,
and saying: ETRURIA PACATA. In the fourth was seen depicted the
above-described oriental column of granite, with Justice on the summit,
which under his happy sceptre may well be said to be preserved inviolate
and impartial; with a motto saying: JUSTITIA VICTRIX. Even as in the
fifth was seen a ferocious bull with both the horns broken, intended to
signify, as has been told already of the Achelous, the straightening of
the River Arno in many places, carried out with such advantage by the
Duke; with the motto: IMMINUTUS CREVIT. In the sixth, then, was seen
that most superb palace which was begun formerly by M. Luca Pitti with a
magnificence so marvellous in a private citizen, and with truly regal
spirit and grandeur, and which at the present day our most magnanimous
Duke is causing with incomparable artistry and care to be not only
carried to completion, but also to be increased and beautified in a
glorious and marvellous manner, with architecture heroic and stupendous,
and also with very large and very choice gardens full of most abundant
fountains, and with a vast quantity of most noble statues, ancient and
modern, which he has caused to be collected from all over the world;
which was explained by the motto, saying: PULCHRIORA LATENT. In the
seventh, within a great door, were seen many books arranged in various
manners, with a motto in the scroll, saying, PUBLICÆ UTILITATI; intended
to signify the glorious solicitude shown by many of the Medici family,
and particularly by our most liberal Duke, in collecting and preserving
with such diligence a marvellous quantity of the rarest books in every
tongue, recently placed in the beautiful Library of S. Lorenzo, which
was begun by Clement VII and finished by his Excellency. Even as in the
eighth, under the figure of two hands that appeared to become more
firmly bound together the more they strove to undo a certain knot, there
was denoted the abdication lovingly performed by him in favour of the
most amiable Prince, and how difficult, or, we should rather say, how
impossible it is for one who has once set himself to the government of a
State, to disengage himself; which was explained by the motto, saying:
EXPLICANDO IMPLICATUR. In the ninth was seen the above-described
Fountain of the Piazza, with that rare statue of Neptune, and with the
motto, OPTABILIOR QUO MELIOR; signifying not only the adornment of the
immense statue and fountain named above, but also the profit and
advantage that will accrue in a short time to the city from the waters
that the Duke is constantly engaged in bringing to her. In the tenth,
then, was seen the magnanimous creation of the new Order of S. Stephen,
represented by the figure of the same Duke in armour, who was shown
offering a sword with one hand over an altar to an armed knight, and
with the other one of their crosses; with a motto saying: VICTOR
VINCITUR. And in the eleventh, likewise under the figure of the same
Duke, who was addressing many soldiers according to the ancient custom,
there was represented the militia so well ordained and preserved by him
in his valorous companies; with a motto that explained it, saying: RES
MILITARIS CONSTITUTA. In the twelfth, with the sole words, MUNITA
TUSCIA, and without any further representation, were demonstrated the
many fortifications made by our most prudent Duke in the most important
places in the State; adding in the scroll, with fine morality: SINE
JUSTITIA IMMUNITA. Even as in the thirteenth, in like manner without
any other representation, there could be read, SICCATIS MARITIMIS
PALUDIBUS; as may be seen to his infinite glory in many places, but
above all in the fertile country of Pisa. And in order not to pass over
completely in silence the praise due to him for having brought back and
restored so gloriously to his native Florence the artillery and the
ensigns lost at other times, in the fourteenth and last were seen some
soldiers returning to him laden with these, all dancing and joyful; with
a motto in explanation, which said: SIGNIS RECEPTIS. And then, for the
satisfaction of the strangers, and particularly the many German lords
who had come thither in vast numbers in honour of her Highness, with the
most excellent Duke of Bavaria, the younger, her kinsman, there were
seen under the above-described lunettes, beautifully distributed in
compartments and depicted with all the appearance of reality, many of
the principal cities of Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, the Tyrol, and the
other States subject to her august brother.


OF THE HALL, AND OF THE COMEDY.

Now, ascending by the most commodious staircase to the Great Hall, where
the principal and most important festivities and the principal banquet
of the nuptials were celebrated (forbearing to speak of the magnificent
and stupendous ceiling, marvellous in the variety and multitude of the
rare historical paintings, and marvellous also in the ingenuity of the
inventions, in the richness of the partitions, and in the infinite
quantity of gold with which the whole is seen to shine, but most
marvellous in that it has been executed in an incredibly short time by
the industry of a single painter; and treating of the other things
pertaining only to this place), I must say that truly I do not believe
that in these our parts we have any information of any other hall that
is larger or more lofty; but to find one more beautiful, more rich, more
ornate, or arranged with more convenience than that hall as it was seen
on the day when the comedy was performed, that I believe would be
absolutely impossible. For, in addition to the immense walls, on which
with graceful partitions, and not without poetical invention, were seen
portrayed from the reality the principal squares of the most noble
cities of Tuscany, and in addition to the vast and most lovely canvas
painted with various animals hunted and taken in various ways, which,
upheld by a great cornice, and concealing the prospect-scene, served so
well as one of the end-walls, that the Great Hall appeared to have its
due proportions, such, in addition, and so well arranged, were the tiers
of seats that ran right round, and so lovely on that day the sight of
the handsome ladies who had been invited there in great numbers from
among the most beautiful, the most noble, and the richest, and of the
many lords, chevaliers, and other gentlemen who had been accommodated
above them and throughout the rest of the room, that without a doubt,
when the fantastic lights were lit, at the fall of the canvas described
above, the luminous prospect-scene being revealed, it appeared in truth
as if Paradise with all the Choirs of the Angels had been thrown open at
that instant; which illusion was increased marvellously by a very soft,
full, and masterly concert of instruments and voices, which very soon
afterwards was heard to come forth from that direction. In that
prospect-scene the most distant part was made to recede most ingeniously
along the line of the bridge, terminating in the end of the street that
is called the Via Maggio, and in the nearest part was represented the
beautiful street of S. Trinita; and when the eyes of the spectators had
been allowed to sate themselves for some time with that and the many
other marvellous things, the desired and welcome beginning was made with
the first interlude of the comedy, which was taken, like all the others,
from that touching story of Psyche and Cupid so delicately narrated by
Apuleius in his Golden Ass. From it were taken the parts that appeared
the most important, and these were accommodated with the greatest
possible dexterity to the comedy, so that, having made, as it were, an
ingenious composition from the one fable and the other, it might appear
that what the Gods did in the fable of the interludes was done also by
mankind in the fable of the comedy, as if constrained by a superior
power. In the hollow sky of the above-named prospect-scene, which opened
out all of a sudden, there was seen to appear another sky contrived with
great artifice, from which was seen issuing little by little a white and
very naturally counterfeited cloud, upon which, with an effect of
singular beauty, a gilded and jewelled car appeared to be resting,
recognized as that of Venus, because it was drawn by two snow-white
swans, and in it, as its mistress and guide, could be perceived likewise
that most beautiful Goddess, wholly nude and crowned with roses and
myrtle, seated with great majesty and holding the reins. She had in her
company the three Graces, likewise recognized by their being shown
wholly nude, by their blonde tresses, which fell all loose over their
shoulders, and even more by the manner in which they were standing
linked hand to hand; and also the four Hours, who had the wings all
painted after the likeness of butterflies, and, not without reason, were
distinguished in certain particulars according to the four seasons of
the year. Thus one of them, who had the head and the buskins all adorned
with various little flowers, and the dress of changing colours, was
intended to represent the varied and flowering Spring; even as the
second, with the garland and the buskins woven of pale ears of corn, and
the yellow draperies wherewith she was adorned, was intended to signify
the heat of Summer, and the third, representing Autumn, and all clothed
in red draperies, signifying the maturity of fruits, was seen likewise
all covered and adorned with those same fruits, vine-leaves, and grapes;
and the fourth and last, who represented the white and snowy Winter,
besides her dress of turquoise-blue all sprinkled with flakes of snow,
had the hair and the buskins likewise covered with similar snow,
hoar-frost, and ice. And all, as followers and handmaidens of Venus,
being grouped around the car on the same cloud with singular artistry
and most beautiful composition, were seen--leaving behind them Jove,
Juno, Saturn, Mars, Mercury, and the other Gods, from whom appeared to
be issuing the soft harmony described above--to sink gradually with most
beautiful grace towards the earth, and by their coming to fill the scene
and the whole hall with a thousand sweet and precious odours; while from
another part, with an aspect no less gracious, but appearing to walk on
earth, was seen to come the nude and winged Cupid, likewise accompanied
by those four Passions that seem so often to be wont to disturb his
unrestful kingdom; Hope, namely, all clothed in green, with a little
flowering branch on the head; Fear, recognized, in addition to his pale
garment, by the rabbits that he had on his hair and his buskins; Joy,
likewise clothed in white and orange and a thousand glad colours, and
with a plant of flowering borage on the hair, and Sorrow, all in black
and in aspect all weeping and sad; of whom, as his ministers, one
carried the bow, another the quiver and the arrows, another the nets,
and yet another the lighted torch. And while the above-described Hours
and Graces, having descended from the cloud, went slowly towards their
mother's car, now arrived on earth, and, having grouped themselves
reverently in a most graceful choir around the lovely Venus, seemed all
intent on singing in harmony with her, she, turning towards her son with
rare and infinite grace, and making manifest to him the cause of her
displeasure, when those in Heaven were silent, sang the two following
stanzas, the first of the ballad, saying:

  A me, che fatta son negletta e sola,
      Non più gli altar nè i voti,
      Ma di Psiche devoti
      A lei sola si danno, ella gl' invola;

  Dunque, se mai di me ti calse o cale,
      Figlio, l' armi tue prendi,
      E questa folle accendi
      Di vilissimo amor d' uomo mortale.

Which being finished, and each of her handmaidens having returned to her
own place, while they kept continually throwing down various delicate
and lovely garlands of flowers upon the assembled spectators, the cloud
and the car, as if the beautiful guide had satisfied her desire, were
seen to move slowly and to go back towards the heaven; and when they had
arrived there, and the heaven was closed again in an instant, without a
single sign remaining from which one might have guessed by which part
the cloud and so many other things had come forth and returned,
everyone, it appeared, was left all amazed with a sort of novel and
pleasing marvel. But the obedient Cupid, while that was being done,
making a sign, as it were, to his mother that her command would be
fulfilled, and crossing the stage, continued--with his companions, who
were presenting him his arms, and who, likewise singing, kept in harmony
with him--the following stanza, the last, saying:

  Ecco madre, andiam noi; chi l' arco dammi?
      Chi le saette? ond' io
      Con l' alto valor mio
      Tutti i cor vinca, leghi, apra, ed infiammi.

And he, also, as he sang this, kept shooting arrows, many and various,
at those listening to him, whereby he gave reason to believe that the
lovers who were about to perform their parts, stung, as it were, by
them, were giving birth to the comedy about to follow.


SECOND INTERLUDE.

The first act being finished, and Cupid having been taken in his own
snare--at the moment when he thought to take the lovely Psyche--by
reason of her infinite beauty, it became necessary to represent those
mysterious voices which, as may be read in the fable, had been intended
by him to serve her; and so there was seen to issue by one of the four
passages that had been left on the stage for the use of the performers,
first a little Cupid who was carrying in his arms what seemed to be a
graceful swan, with which, since it concealed an excellent bass-viol,
while he appeared to be diverting himself with a wand of marsh-grass
that served him as a bow, he proceeded to play most sweet airs. After
him, four others were seen to come at one and the same moment by the
four passages of the stage already described; by one the amorous Zephyr,
all merry and smiling, who had wings, garments, and buskins woven of
various flowers; by another Music, known by the tuning instrument that
she had on the head, by her rich dress covered with her various
instruments and with various scrolls wherein were marked all her notes
and all her times, and even more because she likewise was seen playing
with most sweet harmony upon a great and beautiful lyra-viol; and by the
other two, also, Play and Laughter were seen to appear in the form of
two little Cupids, playing and laughing. After these, while they were
going on their way to their destined places, four other Cupids were seen
to issue by the same passages, in the same guise, and at the same time,
and to proceed likewise to play most graciously on four most ornate
lutes; and after them four other similar little Cupids, two of whom,
with fruits in their hands, were seen playing together, and two seemed
to be seeking to shoot one another in the breast with their bows and
arrows, in a quaint and playful fashion. All these gathered in a
graceful circle, and, singing in most harmonious concert the following
madrigal, with the lutes and with many other instruments concealed
within the scenery accompanying the voices, they appeared to make this
whole conception manifest enough, saying:

  O altero miracolo novello!
      Visto l' abbiam! ma chi sia che cel creda?
      Ch' amor, d' amor ribello,
      Di se stesso e di Psiche oggi sia preda?
      Dunque a Psiche conceda
      Di beltà pur la palma e di valore
      Ogn' altra bella, ancor che pel timore
      Ch' ha del suo prigionier dogliosa stia;
      Ma seguiam noi l' incominciata via,
      Andiam Gioco, andiam Riso,
      Andiam dolce armonia di Paradiso,
      E facciam che i tormenti
      Suoi dolci sien co' tuoi dolci concenti.


THIRD INTERLUDE.

Not less festive was the third Interlude, because, as is narrated in the
fable, Cupid being occupied with the love of his beautiful Psyche, and
not caring any more to kindle the customary flames in the hearts of
mortals, and using with others, as others with him, fraud and deceit, it
was inevitable that among those same mortals, who were living without
love, there should arise at the same time a thousand frauds and a
thousand deceits. And therefore it was made to appear that the floor of
the stage swelled up, and finally that it was changed into seven little
mounds from which there were seen to issue, as things evil and hurtful,
first seven Deceits, and then seven others, which could be recognized as
such with ease, for the reason that not only the bust of each was all
spotted, after the likeness of a leopard, and the thighs and legs like
serpents, but their locks were seen all composed of malicious foxes in
most fantastic forms and very beautiful attitudes; and in their hands,
not without laughter from the bystanders, some were holding traps, some
hooks, and others guileful crooks and grapnels, under which had been
concealed with singular dexterity some musical serpents, for the sake of
the music that they had to make. These, expressing thus the conception
described above, after they had first most sweetly sung, and then sung
and played, the following madrigal, went with very beautiful order
(providing material for the deceptions of the comedy) their several ways
along the four above-mentioned passages of the stage:

  S' amor vinto e prigion, posto in oblio
      L' arco e l' ardente face,
      Della madre ingannar nuovo desio
      Lo punge, e s' a lui Psiche inganno face,
      E se l' empia e fallace
      Coppia d' invide suore inganno e froda
      Sol pensa, or chi nel mondo oggi più sia
      Che 'l regno a noi non dia?
      D' inganni dunque goda
      Ogni saggio, e se speme altra l' invita
      Ben la strada ha smarrita.


FOURTH INTERLUDE.

Now, deceits giving rise to affronts, and affronts to dissensions and
quarrels and a thousand other suchlike evils, since Cupid, by reason of
the hurt received from the cruel lamp, was not able to attend to his
customary office of inflaming the hearts of living mortals, in the
fourth interlude, in place of the seven mounds that had been shown on
the stage the time before, there were seen to appear in this one (to
give material for the disturbances of the comedy) seven little abysses,
from which there first came a black smoke, and then, little by little,
was seen to appear Discord with an ensign in the hand, recognized,
besides her arms, by the torn and varied dress and by the tresses, and
with her Rage, also recognized, besides the arms, by the buskins in the
form of claws, and by the bear's head in place of a helmet, from which
poured a constant stream of smoke and flame; and Cruelty, with the great
scythe in her hand, known by the helmet in the likeness of a tiger's
head and by the buskins after the manner of the feet of a crocodile; and
Rapine, also, with the pruning-hook in her hand, with the bird of prey
on the helmet, and with the feet in the likeness of an eagle; and
Vengeance, with a bloody scimitar in the hand, and with buskins and
helmet all woven of vipers; and two Anthropophagi, or Lestrigonians, as
we would rather call them, who, sounding two trombones in the form of
ordinary trumpets, appeared to be seeking with a certain bellicose
movement (besides the sound) to excite the audience of bystanders to
combat. Each of these was between two Furies, horrible companions,
furnished with drums, whips of iron, and various arms, beneath which
with the same dexterity had been hidden various musical instruments. The
above-named Furies could be recognized by the wounds wherewith their
whole persons were covered, from which were seen pouring flames of fire,
by the serpents with which they were all encircled and bound, by the
broken chains that hung from their legs and arms, and by the fire and
smoke that issued from their hair. And all these, having sung the
following madrigal all together with a certain fiery and warlike
harmony, performed in the manner of combatants a novel, bold, and most
extravagant Moorish dance; at the end of which, running here and there
in confusion about the stage, they were seen finally to take themselves
in a horrible and fearsome rout out of the sight of the spectators:

  In bando itene, vili
      Inganni; il mondo solo ira e furore
      Sent' oggi; audaci voi, spirti gentili,
      Venite a dimostrar vostro valore;
      Che se per la lucerna or langue amore,
      Nostro convien, non che lor sia l' impero.
      Su dunque ogni più fero
      Cor surga; il nostro bellicoso carme
      Guerra, guerra sol grida, e solo arm', arme.


FIFTH INTERLUDE.

Poor simple Psyche, having (as has been hinted in the last interlude)
injured her beloved spouse with the torch by her rash and eager
curiosity, and being abandoned by him, and having finally fallen into
the hands of angry Venus, provided most convenient material for the
fifth and most sorrowful interlude, accompanying the sadness of the
fourth act of the comedy; for it was feigned that she was sent by that
same Venus to the infernal Proserpine, whence she should never be able
to return among living creatures. And so, wrapped in despair and very
sad, she was seen approaching by one of the passages, accompanied by
hateful Jealousy, who had an aspect all pallid and afflicted, like her
other followers, and was known by the four heads and by the dress of
turquoise-blue all interwoven with eyes and ears; by Envy, known
likewise by the serpents that she was devouring; by Thought, Care, or
Solicitude, whichever we may choose to call her, known by the raven that
she had on the head, and by the vulture that was tearing her entrails;
and by Scorn, or Disdain (to make it a woman's name), who could be
recognized not only by the owl that she had on the head, but also by the
ill-made, ill-fitting and tattered dress. When these four, beating and
goading her, had made their way near the middle of the stage, in an
instant the ground opened in four places with fire and smoke, and they,
as if they sought to defend themselves, seized hold of four most
horrible serpents that were seen without any warning to issue from
below, and struck them a thousand different blows with their thorny
staves, under which were concealed four little bows, until in the end,
after much terror in the bystanders, it appeared that the serpents had
been torn open by them; and then, striking again in the blood-stained
bellies and entrails, all at once there was heard to issue--Psyche
singing the while the madrigal given below--a mournful but most delicate
and sweet harmony; for in the serpents were concealed with singular
artifice four excellent bass-viols, which, accompanying (together with
four trombones that sounded behind the stage) the single plaintive and
gracious voice of Psyche, produced an effect at once so sad and so
sweet, that there were seen drawn from the eyes of more than one person
tears that were not feigned. Which finished, and each figure having
taken her serpent on her shoulders, there was seen, with no less terror
among the spectators, a new and very large opening appearing in the
floor, from which issued a thick and continuous stream of flame and
smoke, and an awful barking was heard, and there was seen to issue from
the hole the infernal Cerberus with his three heads, to whom, in
accordance with the fable, Psyche was seen to throw one of the two flat
cakes that she had in her hand; and shortly afterwards there was seen
likewise to appear, together with various monsters, old Charon with his
customary barque, into which the despairing Psyche having entered, the
four tormentors described above kept her unwelcome and displeasing
company.

  Fuggi, speme mia, fuggi,
      E fuggi per non far più mai ritorno;
      Sola tu, che distruggi
      Ogni mia pace, a far vienne soggiorno,
      Invidia, Gelosia, Pensiero e Scorno
      Meco nel cieco Inferno
      Ove l' aspro martir mio viva eterno.


LAST INTERLUDE.

The sixth and last interlude was all joyous, for the reason that, the
comedy being finished, there was seen to issue in an instant from the
floor of the stage a verdant mound all adorned with laurels and
different flowers, which, having on the summit the winged horse Pegasus,
was soon recognized to be the Mount of Helicon, from which were seen
descending one by one that most pleasing company of little Cupids
already described, and with them Zephyr, Music, and Cupid, all joining
hands, and Psyche also, all joyful and merry now that she was safe
returned from Hell, and that by the prayers of her husband Cupid, at the
intercession of Jove, after such mighty wrath in Venus, there had been
won for her grace and pardon. With these were Pan and nine other Satyrs,
with various pastoral instruments in their hands, under which other
musical instruments were concealed; and all descending from the mound
described above, they were seen bringing with them Hymen, God of
nuptials, in whose praise they sang and played, as in the following
canzonets, and performed in the second a novel, most merry and most
graceful dance, giving a gracious conclusion to the festival:

  Dal bel monte Elicona
      Ecco Imeneo che scende,
      E già la face accende, e s' incorona;
  Di persa s' incorona.
      Odorata e soave,
      Onde il mondo ogni grave cura scaccia.
  Dunque e tu, Psiche, scaccia
      L' aspra tua fera doglia,
      E sol gioia s' accoglia entro al tuo seno.
  Amor dentro al suo seno
      Pur lieto albergo datti,
      E con mille dolci atti ti consola.
  Nè men Giove consola
      Il tuo passato pianto,
      Ma con riso e con canto al Ciel ti chiede.
  Imeneo dunque ognun chiede,
      Imeneo vago ed adorno,
      Deh che lieto e chiaro giorno,
      Imeneo, teco oggi riede!
  Imeneo, per l' alma e diva
      Sua Giovanna ogn' or si sente
      Del gran Ren ciascuna riva
      Risonar soavemente;
      E non men l' Arno lucente
      Pel gratioso, inclito e pio
      Suo Francesco aver desio
      D' Imeneo lodar si vede.
              Imeneo ecc.
  Flora lieta, Arno beato,
      Arno umil, Flora cortese,
      Deh qual più felice stato
      Mai si vide, mai s' intese?
      Fortunato almo paese,
      Terra in Ciel gradita e cara,
      A cui coppia così rara
      Imeneo benigno diede.
              Imeneo ecc.
  Lauri or dunque, olive e palme
      E corone e scettri e regni
      Per le due sì felici alme,
      Flora, in te sol si disegni;
      Tutti i vili atti ed indegni
      Lungi stien; sol pace vera
      E diletto e primavera
      Abbia in te perpetua sede.

And all the rich vestments and all the other things, which one might
think it impossible to make, were executed by the ingenious craftsmen
with such dexterity, loveliness and grace, and made to appear so
natural, real, and true, that it seemed that without a doubt the real
action could surpass the counterfeited spectacle by but a little.


OF THE TRIUMPH OF DREAMS AND OTHER FESTIVITIES.

Now after this, although every square and every street, as has been
told, resounded with music and song, merriment and festivity, our
magnanimous Lords, distributing everything most prudently, to the end
that excessive abundance might not produce excessive satiety, had
ordained that one of the principal festivals should be performed on each
Sunday, and for this reason, and for the greater convenience of the
spectators, they had caused the sides of the most beautiful squares of
S. Croce and S. Maria Novella to be furnished after the likeness of a
theatre, with very strong and very capacious tribunes. And since within
these there were held games, in which the young noblemen played a
greater part by their exercises than did our craftsmen by attiring them,
I shall treat of them briefly, saying that on one occasion there was
presented therein by our most liberal Lords, with six companies of most
elegant cavaliers, eight to a company, the play of the canes and the
carousel, so celebrated among the Spaniards, each of the companies,
which were all resplendent in cloth of gold and silver, being
distinguished from the rest, one in the ancient habit of the Castilians,
another in the Portuguese, another in the Moorish, a fourth in the
Hungarian, a fifth in the Greek, and the last in the Tartar; and
finally, after a perilous combat, partly with assegais and horses
likewise in the Spanish manner, and partly with men on foot and dogs,
some most ferocious bulls were killed. Another time, renewing the
ancient pomp of the Roman chase, there was seen a beautifully ordered
spectacle of certain elegant huntsmen and a good quantity of various
dogs, chasing forth from a little counterfeited wood and slaying an
innumerable multitude of animals, which came out in succession one kind
after another, first rabbits, hares, roebucks, foxes, porcupines, and
badgers, and then stags, boars, and bears, and even some savage horses
all burning with love; and in the end, as the most noble and most superb
chase of all, after they had sought several times by means of an immense
turtle and a vast and most hideous mask of a monster, which were full of
men and were made to move hither and thither with various wheels, to
incite a most fierce lion to do battle with a very valiant bull;
finally, since that could not be achieved, both the animals were seen
struck down and slain, not without a long and bloody struggle, by the
multitude of dogs and huntsmen. Besides this, every evening the noble
youth of the city exercised themselves with most elegant dexterity and
valour, according to their custom, at the game of football, the peculiar
and particular sport of that people, with which finally there was given
on one of those Sundays one of the most agreeable and most graceful
spectacles that anyone could ever behold, in very rich costumes of cloth
of gold in red and green colours, with all the rules, which are many and
beautiful.

But since variety seems generally to enhance the pleasure of most
things, another time the illustrious Prince sought with a different show
to satisfy the expectant people by means of his so much desired Triumph
of Dreams. The invention of this, although, since he went to Germany to
see his exalted bride and to do reverence to the most august Emperor
Maximilian and to his other illustrious kinsmen, it was arranged and
composed by others with great learning and diligence, may yet be said to
have been born in the beginning from his most noble genius, so competent
in no matter how subtle and exacting a task; and with it he who
afterwards executed the work, and was the composer of the song, sought
to demonstrate that moral opinion expressed by Dante when he says that
innumerable errors arise among living mortals because many are set to do
many things for which they do not seem to have been born fitted by
nature, deviating, on the other hand, from those for which, following
their natural inclination, they might be very well adapted. This he also
strove to demonstrate with five companies of masks led by five of those
human desires that were considered by him the greatest; by Love, namely,
behind whom followed the lovers; by Beauty, figured under the form of
Narcissus, and followed by those who strive too much to appear
beautiful; by Fame, who had as followers those too hungry for glory; by
Pluto, signifying Riches, behind whom were seen those eager and greedy
for them, and by Bellona, who was followed by the men enamoured of war;
contriving that the sixth company, which comprised all the five
described above, and to which he wished that they should all be
referred, should be guided by Madness, likewise with a good number of
her followers behind her, signifying that he who sinks himself too deep
and against the inclination of Nature in the above-named desires, which
are in truth dreams and spectres, comes in the end to be seized and
bound by Madness. And then this judgment, turning, as a thing of feast
and carnival, to the amorous, announces to young women that the great
father Sleep is come with all his ministers and companions in order to
show to them with his matutinal dreams, which are reputed as true
(comprised, as has been told, in the first five companies), that all the
above-named things that are done by us against Nature, are to be
considered, as has been said, as dreams and spectres; and therefore,
exhorting them to pursue that to which their nature inclines them, it
appears that in the end he wishes, as it were, to conclude that if they
feel themselves by nature inclined to be loved, they should not seek to
abstain from that natural desire; nay, despising any other counsel as
something vain and mad, they should dispose themselves to follow the
wise, natural, and true. And then, around the Car of Sleep and the masks
that were to express this conception, were accommodated and placed as
ornaments those things that are judged to be in keeping with sleep and
with dreams. There was seen, therefore, after two most beautiful Sirens,
who, blowing two great trumpets in place of two trumpeters, preceded
all the rest, and after two extravagant masks, the guides of all the
others, by which, mingling white, yellow, red, and black over their
cloth of silver, were demonstrated the four humours of which bodies are
composed, and after the bearer of a large red ensign adorned with
various poppies, on which was painted a great gryphon, with three verses
that encircled it, saying:

  Non solo aquila è questo, e non leone,
      Ma l' uno e l' altro; così 'l Sonno ancora
      Ed humana e divina ha condizione.

There was seen coming, I say, as has been told above, the joyous Love,
figured as is customary, and accompanied on one side by ever-verdant
Hope, who had a chameleon on the head, and on the other by pallid Fear,
with the head likewise adorned by a timorous deer; and he was seen
followed by the lovers, his captives and slaves, dressed for the most
part with infinite grace and richness in draperies of flaming gold, for
the flames wherewith they are ever burning, and all girt and bound with
most delicate gilded chains. After these (to avoid excessive minuteness)
there was seen coming, to represent Beauty, in a graceful habit of
turquoise-blue all interwoven with his own flowers, the beautiful
Narcissus, likewise accompanied, as was said of Love, on one side by
Youth adorned with flowers and garlands, and dressed all in white, and
on the other by Proportion, adorned with draperies of turquoise-blue,
and recognized by the spectators by an equilateral triangle that was
upon the head. After these were seen those who seek to be esteemed for
the sake of their beauty, and who appeared to be following their guide
Narcissus; and they, also, were of an aspect youthful and gracious, and
had the same narcissus-blooms most beautifully embroidered upon the
cloth of silver wherein they were robed, with their blonde and curly
locks all crowned in lovely fashion with the same flowers. And after
them was seen approaching Fame, who seemed to be sounding a great
trumpet that had three mouths, with a globe on her head that represented
the world, and with immense wings of peacock's feathers; having in her
company Glory, who had a head-dress fashioned likewise of a peacock, and
Reward, who in like manner carried a crowned eagle on the head; and her
followers, who were divided into three companies, Emperors, Kings, and
Dukes, although they were all dressed in gold with the richest
embroideries and pearls, and although they all presented an aspect of
singular grandeur and majesty, nevertheless were distinguished very
clearly one from another by the forms of the different crowns that they
wore on their heads, each in accord with his rank. Then the blind Pluto,
the God (as has been told) of Riches, who followed after these with rods
of gold and silver in the hands, was seen, like the others, accompanied
on either side by Avarice dressed in yellow, with a she-wolf on the
head, and by Rapacity robed in red draperies, who had a falcon on the
head to make her known; but it would be a difficult thing to seek to
describe the quantity of gold, pearls, and other precious gems, and the
various kinds of draperies with which his followers were covered and
adorned. And Bellona, Goddess of War, most richly robed in many parts
with cloth of silver in place of arms, and crowned with a garland of
verdant laurel, with all the rest of her habit composed in a thousand
rich and gracious ways, was seen likewise coming after them with a large
and warlike horn in the hand, and accompanied, like the others, by
Terror, known by the cuckoo in the head-dress, and by Boldness, also
known by the lion's head worn in place of a cap; and with her the
military men in her train were seen following her in like manner with
swords and iron-shod maces in their hands, and draperies of gold and
silver arranged most fancifully in the likeness of armour and helmets.
These and all the others in the other companies had each, to demonstrate
that they represented dreams, a large, winged, and very well fashioned
bat of grey cloth of silver fitted on the shoulders, and forming a sort
of little mantle; which, besides the necessary significance, gave to all
the companies (which, as has been shown, were all different) the
necessary unity, and also grace and beauty beyond measure. And all this
left in the minds of the spectators a firm belief that there had never
been seen in Florence, and perhaps elsewhere, any spectacle so rich, so
gracious, and so beautiful; for, in addition to all the gold, the
pearls, and the other most precious gems wherewith the embroideries,
which were very fine, were made, all the dresses were executed with
such diligence, design, and grace, that they seemed to be costumes
fashioned not for masquerades, but enduring and permanent, and worthy to
be used only by great Princes.

There followed Madness, the men of whose company alone, for the reason
that she had to be shown not as a dream but as real in those who sought
against the inclination of nature to pursue the things described above,
were seen without the bat upon the shoulders; and she was dressed in
various colours, but all put together most inharmoniously and without
any manner of grace, while upon her dishevelled tresses, to demonstrate
her disordered thoughts, were seen a pair of gilded spurs with the
rowels turned upwards, and on either side of her were a Satyr and a
Bacchante. Her followers, then, in the semblance of lunatics and
drunkards, were seen dressed most extravagantly in cloth of gold,
embroidered with varied boughs of ivy and vine-leaves with their little
bunches of ripe grapes. And these and all the others in the companies
already described, besides a good number of grooms, likewise very richly
and ingeniously dressed according to the company wherein they were
serving, had horses of different colours distributed among them, a
particular colour to each company, so that one had dappled horses,
another sorrel, a third black, a fourth peach-coloured, another bay, and
yet another of a varied coat, according as the invention required. And
to the end that the above-described masques, which were composed almost
entirely of the most noble lords, might not be constrained to carry the
customary torches at night, forty-eight different witches--who during
the day preceded in most beautiful order all those six companies, guided
by Mercury and Diana, who had each three heads to signify their three
powers; being themselves also divided into six companies, and each
particular company being ruled by two dishevelled and barefooted
priestesses--when night came, went in due order on either side of the
particular company of dreams to which they were assigned, and, with the
lighted torches which they and the grooms bore, rendered it abundantly
luminous and clear. These witches, besides their different faces, all
old and hideous, and besides the different colours of the rich draperies
wherewith they were clothed, were known in particular, and one company
distinguished from another, by the animals that they had upon their
heads, into the shapes of which, so men say and believe, they transform
themselves often by their incantations; for some had upon the cloth of
silver that served as kerchief for their heads a black bird, with wings
and claws outspread, and with two little phials about the head,
signifying their maleficent distillations; and some had cats, others
black and white dogs, and others, by their false blonde tresses and by
the natural white hair that could be seen, as it were against their
will, beneath them, betrayed their vain desire to appear young and
beautiful to their lovers.

The immense car, drawn by six large and shaggy bears crowned with
poppies, which came at the end after all that lovely train, was without
a doubt the richest, the most imposing, and the most masterly in
execution that has ever been seen for a long time back. That car was
guided by Silence, a figure adorned with grey draperies and with the
customary shoes of felt upon the feet, who, placing a finger on the
mouth, appeared to be making sign to the spectators that they should be
silent; and with him were three women, representing Quiet, plump and
full in countenance, and dressed in rich robes of azure-blue, and each
with a tortoise upon the head, who appeared to be seeking to assist that
same Silence to guide those bears. The car itself, resting upon a
graceful hexagonal platform, was shaped in the form of a vast head of an
elephant, within which, also, there was represented as the house of
Sleep a fantastic cavern, wherein the great father Sleep was likewise
seen lying at his ease, fat and ruddy, and partly nude, with a garland
of poppies, and with his cheek resting upon one of his arms; having
about him Morpheus, Icelus, Phantasus, and his other sons, figured in
various extravagant and bizarre forms. At the summit of the same cavern
was seen the white, luminous, and beautiful Dawn, with her blonde
tresses all soft and moist with dew; and at the foot of the cavern, with
a badger that served her for a pillow, was dark Night, who, being held
to be the mother of true dreams, was thought likely to lend no little
faith to the words of the dreams described above. For the adornment of
the car, then, were seen some most lovely little stories, accommodated
to the invention and distributed with so much diligence, delicacy, and
grace, that it appeared impossible for anything more to be desired. In
the first of these was seen Bacchus, the father of Sleep, upon a car
wreathed in vine-leaves and drawn by two spotted tigers, with a verse to
make him known, which said:

  Bacco, del Sonno sei tu vero padre.

Even as in another was seen Ceres, the mother of the same Sleep, crowned
with the customary ears of corn, and likewise with a verse placed there
for the same reason, which said:

  Cerer del dolce Sonno è dolce madre.

And in a third was seen Pasithea, wife of the same Sleep, who, seeming
to fly over the earth, appeared to have infused most placid sleep in the
animals that were dispersed among the trees and upon the earth; likewise
with her motto which made her known, saying:

  Sposa del Sonno questa è Pasitea.

On the other side was seen Mercury, president of Sleep, infusing slumber
in the many-eyed Argus; also with his motto, saying:

  Creare il sonno può Mercurio ancora.

And there was seen, to express the nobility and divinity of the same
Sleep, an ornate little temple of Æsculapius, in which many men,
emaciated and infirm, sleeping, appeared to be winning back their lost
health; likewise with a verse signifying this, and saying:

  Rende gl' uomini sani il dolce Sonno.

Even as in another place there was seen Mercury pointing towards some
Dreams that were shown flying through the air and speaking in the ears
of King Latinus, who was asleep in a cave; his verse saying:

  Spesso in sogno parlar lece con Dio.

Orestes, then, spurred by the Furies, was seen alone taking some rest
amid such travail by the help of the Dreams, who were shown driving away
those Furies with certain bunches of poppies; with his verse that said:

  Fuggon pel sonno i più crudi pensieri.

And there was the wretched Hecuba likewise dreaming in a vision that a
lovely hind was rapt from her bosom and strangled by a fierce wolf; this
being intended to signify the piteous fate that afterwards befell her
hapless daughter; with a motto saying:

  Quel ch' esser deve, il sogno scuopre e dice.

Even as in another place, with a verse that said:

  Fanno gli Dei saper lor voglie in sogno,

there was seen Nestor appearing to Agamemnon, and revealing to him the
will of almighty Jove. And in the seventh and last was depicted the
ancient usage of making sacrifice, as to a revered deity, to Sleep in
company with the Muses, represented by an animal sacrificed upon an
altar; with a verse saying:

  Fan sacrifizio al Sonno ed alle Muse.

All these little scenes were divided and upheld by various Satyrs,
Bacchants, boys, and witches, and rendered pleasingly joyous and ornate
by divers nocturnal animals and festoons of poppies, not without a
beautiful medallion set in place of a shield in the last part of the
car, wherein was seen painted the story of Endymion and the Moon;
everything, as has been said, being executed with such delicacy and
grace, patience and design, that it would entail too much work to seek
to describe every least part with its due praise. But those of whom it
has been told that they were placed as the children of Sleep in such
extravagant costumes upon the above-described car, singing to the
favourite airs of the city the following canzonet, seemed truly, with
their soft and marvellous harmony, to be seeking to infuse a most
gracious and sweet sleep in their hearers, saying:

  Or che la rugiadosa
      Alba la rondinella a pianger chiama,
      Questi che tanto v' ama,
      Sonno, gran padre nostro e dell' ombrosa
      Notte figlio, pietosa
      E sacra schiera noi
      Di Sogni, o belle donne, mostra a voi;
  Perchè il folle pensiero
      Uman si scorga, che seguendo fiso
      Amor, Fama, Narciso
      E Bellona e Ricchezza il van sentiero
      La notte e il giorno intero
      S' aggira, al fine insieme
      Per frutto ha la Pazzia del suo bel seme.
  Accorte or dunque, il vostro
      Tempo miglior spendete in ciò che chiede
      Natura, e non mai fede
      Aggiate all' arte, che quasi aspro mostro
      Cinto di perle e d' ostro
      Dolce v' invita, e pure
      Son le promesse Sogni e Larve scure.


OF THE CASTLE.

By way of having yet another different spectacle, there was built with
singular mastery on the vast Piazza di S. Maria Novella a most beautiful
castle, with all the proper appurtenances of ramparts, cavaliers,
casemates, curtains, ditches and counterditches, secret and public
gates, and, finally, all those considerations that are required in good
and strong fortifications; and in it was placed a good number of
valorous soldiers, with one of the principal and most noble lords of the
Court as their captain, a man determined on no account ever to be
captured. That magnificent spectacle being divided into two days, on the
first day there was seen appearing in most beautiful order from one side
a fine and most ornate squadron of horsemen all in armour and in
battle-array, as if about to meet real enemies in combat, and from the
other side, with the aspect of a massive and well-ordered army, some
companies of infantry with their baggage, waggons of munitions, and
artillery, and with their pioneers and sutlers, all drawn close
together, as is customary amid the dangers of real wars; these likewise
having a similar lord of great experience and valour as captain, who was
seen urging them on from every side, and fulfilling his office most
nobly. And after the attackers had been reconnoitred several times and
in various ways, with valour and artifice, by those within the castle,
and various skirmishes had been fought, now by the horsemen and now by
the infantry, with a great roar of musketry and artillery, and charges
had been delivered and received, and several ambuscades and other
suchlike stratagems of war had been planned with astuteness and
ingenuity; finally the defenders were seen, as if overcome by the
superior force, to begin little by little to retire, and in the end it
seemed that they were constrained to shut themselves up completely
within the castle. But the second day, after they had, as it were during
the night, constructed their platforms and gabionade and planted their
artillery, there was seen to begin a most terrible bombardment, which
seemed little by little to throw a part of the walls to the ground;
after which, and after the explosion of a mine, which in another part,
in order to keep the attention of the defenders occupied, appeared to
have made a passing wide breach in the wall, the places were
reconnoitred and the cavalry drew up in most beautiful battle-array, and
then was seen now one company moving up, and now another, some with
ladders and some without, and many valorous and terrible assaults
delivered in succession and repeated several times, and ever received by
the others with skill, boldness, and obstinacy, until in the end it was
seen that the defenders, weary, but not vanquished, made an honourable
compact with the attackers to surrender the place to them, issuing from
it, with marvellous satisfaction for the spectators, in military order,
with their banners unfurled, their drums, and all their usual baggage.


THE GENEALOGY OF THE GODS.

We read of Paulus Emilius, that first captain of his illustrious age,
that he caused no less marvel by his wisdom and worth to the people of
Greece and of many other nations who had assembled in Amphipolis to
celebrate various most noble spectacles there after the victory that he
had won, than by the circumstance that first, vanquishing Perseus and
subjugating Macedonia, he had borne himself valiantly in the management
of that war, which was in no small measure laborious and difficult; he
having been wont to say that it is scarcely less the office of a good
captain, requiring no less order and no less wisdom, to know how to
prepare a banquet well in time of peace, than to know how to marshal an
army for a deed of arms in time of war. Wherefore if our glorious Duke,
born to do everything with noble worth and grandeur, displayed the same
wisdom and the same order in those spectacles, and, above all, in that
one which I am about to describe, I believe that he will not take it
amiss that I have been unwilling to refrain from saying that he was in
every part its inventor and ordinator, and in a certain sense its
executor, preparing all the various things, and then representing them,
with so much order, tranquillity, wisdom, and magnificence, that among
his many glorious actions this one also may be numbered to his supreme
glory.

Now, yielding to him who wrote of it in those days with infinite
learning, before me, and referring to that work those who may seek
curiously to see how every least thing in this masquerade, which had as
title the Genealogy of the Gods, was figured with the authority of
excellent writers, and passing over whatever I may judge to be
superfluous in this place, let me say that even as we read that some of
the ancient Gods were invited to the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis in
order to render them auspicious and fortunate, so to the nuptials of
this new and most excellent bridal pair it appeared that there had come
for the same reason not some only of these same Gods, but all, and not
invited, but seeking to introduce themselves and by their own wish, the
good auguring them the same felicity and contentment, and the harmful
assuring them that they would do them no harm. Which conception appeared
gracefully expressed in the following fashion by four madrigals that
were sung at various times in the principal places by four very full
choirs, even as has been told of the Triumph of Dreams; saying:

  L' alta che fino al ciel fama rimbomba
      Della leggiadra Sposa,
      Che in questa riva erbosa
      D' Arno, candida e pura, alma colomba
      Oggi lieta sen vola e dolce posa,
      Dalla celeste sede ha noi qui tratti,
      Perchè più leggiadri atti
      E bellezza più vaga e più felice
      Veder già mai non lice.

  Nè pur la tua festosa
      Vista, o Flora, e le belle alme tue dive
      Traggionne alle tue rive,
      Ma il lume e 'l sol della novella Sposa,
      Che più che mai gioiosa
      Di suo bel seggio e freno
      Al gran Tosco divin corcasi in seno.

  Da' bei lidi, che mai caldo nè gielo
      Discolora, vegnam; nè vi crediate
      Ch' altrettante beate
      Schiere e sante non abbia il Mondo e il Cielo;
      Ma vostro terren velo
      E lor soverchio lume,
      Questo e quel vi contende amico nume.

  Ha quanti il Cielo, ha quanti
      Iddii la Terra e l' Onda al parer vostro;
      Ma Dio solo è quell' un che il sommo chiostro
      Alberga in mezzo a mille Angeli santi,
      A cui sol giunte avanti
      Posan le pellegrine
      E stanche anime al fine, al fin del giorno,
      Tutto allegrando il Ciel del suo ritorno.

I believe I can affirm most surely that this masquerade--a spectacle
only to be arranged by the hand of a wise, well-practised, great, and
valiant Prince, and in which almost all the lords and gentlemen of the
city, and many strangers, took part--was without a doubt the greatest,
the most magnificent, and the most splendid which can be remembered to
have been held in any place for many centuries down to our own times,
for the greater part of the vestments were not only made of cloth of
gold and silver and other very rich draperies, and, when the place
required it, of the finest skins, but, what is more (art surpassing the
materials), composed with rare and marvellous industry, invention, and
loveliness; and to the end that the eyes of the spectators, as they
gazed, might be able with greater satisfaction to recognize one by one
which of the Gods it was intended to represent, it was thought expedient
to proceed to divide them into twenty-one distinct companies, placing at
the head of each company one that should be considered as the chief,
and causing each of these, for greater magnificence and grandeur, and
because they are so figured by the ancient poets, to be drawn upon
appropriate cars by their appropriate and particular animals. Now in
these cars, which were beautiful, fantastic, and bizarre beyond belief,
and most splendid with silver and gold, and in representing as real and
natural the above-named animals that drew them, without a doubt the
dexterity and excellence of the ingenious craftsmen were such, that not
only they surpassed all things done up to that time both within and
without the city, which at all times has had a reputation for rare
mastery in such things, but they also (infinite marvel!) took away from
everyone all hope of ever being able to see another thing so heroic or
so lifelike. Beginning, then, with those Gods who were such that they
were reputed to be the first causes and the first fathers of the others,
we will proceed to describe each of the cars and of the companies that
preceded them. And since the representation was of the Genealogy of the
Gods, making a beginning with Demogorgon, the first father of them all,
and with his car, we have to say that after a graceful, lovely, and
laurel-crowned Shepherd, representing the ancient poet Hesiod, who,
singing of the Gods in his Theogony, first wrote their genealogy, and
who, as guide, carried in his hand a large, square, and ancient ensign,
wherein were depicted in divers colours Heaven and the four Elements,
and in the centre was painted a large Greek O, crossed with a serpent
that had the head of a hawk; and after eight trumpeters who were
gesticulating in a thousand graceful and sportive ways, representing
those tibicines who, having been prevented from eating in the temple,
fled in anger to Tibur, but were made drunk and put to sleep by deceit,
and brought back with many privileges to Rome; beginning, I say, with
Demogorgon, there was seen his car in the form of a dark and double
cavern drawn by two awful dragons, and for Demogorgon was seen a figure
of a pallid old man with the hair ruffled, all wrapped in mist and dark
fog, lying in utter sloth and negligence in the front part of the
cavern, and accompanied on one side by youthful Eternity adorned
(because she never grows old) with verdant draperies, and on the other
side by Chaos, who had the appearance, as it were, of a mass without
any shape. Beyond that cavern, which contained the three figures
described, rose a graceful little mound all covered and adorned with
trees and various plants, representing Mother Earth, at the back of
which was seen another cavern, but darker and deeper than that already
described, wherein Erebus was shown likewise lying in the guise that has
been told of his father Demogorgon, and in like manner accompanied on
one side by Night, the daughter of Earth, with two children in her arms,
one white and the other dark, and on the other side by Æther, the child
of the aforesaid Night and Erebus, who must be figured, so it appeared,
as a resplendent youth with a ball of turquoise-blue in the hand. At the
foot of the car, then, was seen riding Discord, who separates things
confused and is therefore held by philosophers to preserve the world,
and who is regarded as the first daughter of Demogorgon; and with her
the three Fates, who were shown spinning various threads and then
cutting them. And in the form of a youth all robed in draperies of
turquoise-blue was seen Polus, who had a terrestrial globe in the hand,
and over him, alluding to the fable that is related of him, many sparks
appeared to have been scattered from a vase of glowing coals that was
beneath him; and there was seen Python, also the son of Demogorgon, all
yellow and with a mass of fire in the hand, who seemed to have come in
the company of his brother Polus. After them, then, came Envy, the
daughter of Erebus and Night, and with her Timidity, her brother, in the
form of a pallid and trembling old man, who had the head-dress and all
the other vestments made from skins of the timid deer. And after these
was seen Obstinacy, who is born from the same seed, all in black, with
some boughs of ivy that seemed to have taken root upon her; and with the
great cube of lead that she had on the head she gave a sign of that
Ignorance wherewith Obstinacy is said to be joined. She had in her
company Poverty, her sister, who was seen all pale and raging, and
negligently covered rather than clothed in black; and with them was
Hunger, born likewise from the same father, who was seen feeding the
while on roots and wild herbs. Then Complaint or Querulousness, their
sister, covered with tawny draperies, and with the querulous solitary
rock-thrush, which was seen to have made her nest in her head-dress, was
shown walking in profound melancholy after them, having in her company
the sister common to them, called Infirmity, who by her meagreness and
pallor, and by the garland and the little stalk of anemone that she held
in her hand, made herself very well known to the spectators for what she
was. And on her other side was the other sister, Old Age, with white
hair and all draped in simple black vestments, who likewise had, not
without reason, a stalk of cress in the hand. The Hydra and the Sphinx,
daughters of Tartarus, in the guise wherein they are generally figured,
were seen coming behind them in the same beautiful order; and after
these, to return to the other daughters of Erebus and Night, was seen
License, all nude and dishevelled, with a garland of vine-leaves on the
head, and keeping the mouth open without any restraint, and in her
company was Falsehood, her sister, all covered and wrapped in various
draperies of various colours, with a magpie on the head for better
recognition, and with a cuttle-fish in the hand. These had Thought
walking on a level with them, represented as an old man, likewise all
dressed in black, with an extravagant head-dress of peach-stones on the
head, and showing beneath the vestments, which at times fluttered open
with the wind, the breast and the whole person pricked and pierced by a
thousand sharp thorns. Momus, then, the God of censure and of
evil-speaking, was seen coming after them in the form of a bent and very
loquacious old man; and with them, also, the boy Tages, all resplendent,
although he was the son of Earth, figured in such a manner because he
was the first inventor of the soothsayer's art, in token of which there
was hung from his neck a lamb split down the middle, which showed a good
part of the entrails. There was seen, likewise, in the form of an
immense giant, the African Antæus, his brother, who, clothed in barbaric
vestments, with a dart in the right hand, appeared to wish to give on
that day manifest signs of his vaunted prowess. And following after him
was seen Day, also the son of Erebus and Night, represented in like
manner as a resplendent and joyous youth, all adorned with white
draperies and crowned with ornithogal, in whose company was seen
Fatigue, his sister, who, clothed in the skin of an ass, had made
herself a cap from the head of the same animal, with the ears standing
erect, not without laughter among the spectators; to which were added
two wings of the crane, and in her hands were placed also the legs of
the same crane, because of the common opinion that this renders men
indefatigable against all fatigue. And Jurament, born of the same
parents, in the form of an old priest all terrified by an avenging Jove
that he held in the hand, and bringing to conclusion the band attributed
to the great father Demogorgon, was the last in their company.

And here, judging that with these deities the origins of all the other
Gods had been made sufficiently manifest, the followers of the first car
were brought to an end.


SECOND CAR, OF HEAVEN.

In a second car of more pleasing appearance, which was dedicated to the
God Heaven, held by some to be the son of the above-named Æther and Day,
was seen that jocund and youthful God clothed in bright-shining stars,
with a crown of sapphires on the brow, and with a vase in the hand that
contained a burning flame, and seated upon a ball of turquoise-blue all
painted and adorned with the forty-eight celestial signs; and in that
car, which was drawn by the Great and the Little Bear, the one known by
the seven and the other by the twenty-one stars with which they were all
dotted, there were seen painted, in order to render it ornate and rich
in pomp, with a most beautiful manner and a graceful distribution, seven
of the fables of that same Heaven. In the first was figured his
birth--in order to demonstrate, not without reason, the other opinion
that is held of it--which is said to have been from Earth; even as in
the second was seen his union with the same Mother Earth, from which
were born, besides many others, Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges, who, it is
believed, had each a hundred hands and fifty heads; and there were born
also the Cyclopes, so called from the single eye that they had on the
brow. In the third was seen how he imprisoned their common children in
the caverns of that same Earth, that they might never be able to see the
light; even as in the fourth their Mother Earth, seeking to deliver them
from such oppression, was seen exhorting them to take a rightful
vengeance on their cruel father; wherefore in the fifth his genital
members were cut off by Saturn, when from their blood on one side it
appeared that the Furies and the Giants were born, and on the other,
from the foam that was shown fallen into the sea, was seen a different
birth, from which sprang the beautiful Venus. In the sixth was seen
expressed the anger that he showed against the Titans, because, as has
been told, they had allowed his genitals to be cut off; and in the
seventh and last, likewise, was seen the same God adored by the
Atlantides, with temples and altars devoutly raised to him. Now at the
foot of the car (as with the other already described) was seen riding
the black, old, and blindfolded Atlas, who has been reputed to have
supported Heaven with his stout shoulders, on which account there had
been placed in his hands a great globe of turquoise-blue, dotted with
stars. After him was seen walking in the graceful habit of a huntsman
the young and beautiful Hyas, his son, in whose company were his seven
sisters, also called Hyades, five of whom, all resplendent in gold, were
seen to have each on the head a bull's head, for the reason that they
are said to form an ornament to the head of the Heavenly Bull; and the
two others, as being less bright in the heavens, it was thought proper
to clothe in grey cloth of silver. After these followed the seven
Pleiades, daughters of the same Atlas, figured as seven other similar
stars; one of whom, for the reason that she shines with little light in
the heavens, it was thought right and proper to adorn only with the same
grey cloth, whereas the six others, because they are resplendent and
very bright, were seen in front glittering and flashing with an infinite
abundance of gold, but at the back they were clothed only in vestments
of pure white, that being intended to signify that even as at their
first appearance the bright and luminous summer seems to have its
beginning, so at their departure it is seen that they leave us dark and
snowy winter; which was also expressed by the head-dress, which had the
front part woven of various ears of corn, even as the back appeared to
be composed of snow, ice, and hoar-frost. There followed after these the
old and monstrous Titan, who had with him the proud and audacious
Iapetus, his son. And Prometheus, who was born of Iapetus, was seen
coming after them all grave and venerable, with a little statue of clay
in one of his hands, and in the other a burning torch, denoting the fire
that he is said to have stolen from Jove out of Heaven itself. And after
him, as the last, to conclude the company of the second car, there were
seen coming, with a Moorish habit and with a sacred elephant's head as a
cap, likewise two of the Atlantides, who, as has been told, first adored
Heaven; and, in addition, in token of the things that were used by them
in their first sacrifices, there were in the hands of both, in a great
bundle, the ladle, the napkin, the cleaver, and the casket of incense.


THIRD CAR, OF SATURN.

Saturn, the son of Heaven, all white and old, who was shown greedily
devouring some children, had the third car, no less ornate than the
last, and drawn by two great black oxen; and to enhance the beauty of
that car, even as in the last there were seven fables painted, so in
that one it was thought proper that five of his fables should be
painted. For the first, therefore, was seen this God surprised by his
wife Ops as he lay taking his pleasure of the gracious and beautiful
Nymph Philyra, on which account being constrained to transform himself
into a horse in order not to be recognized by her, it was shown how from
that union there was born afterwards the Centaur Cheiron. Even as in the
second was seen his other union with the Latin Entoria, from which
sprang at one and the same birth Janus, Hymnus, Felix, and Faustus, by
whom the same Saturn distributed among the human race that so useful
invention of planting vines and making wine; and there was seen Janus
arriving in Latium and there teaching his father's invention to the
ignorant people, who, drinking intemperately of the new and most
pleasing liquor, and therefore sinking little by little into a most
profound sleep, when finally they awakened, thinking that they had been
poisoned by him, were seen rushing impiously to stone and slay him; on
which account Saturn, moved to anger, chastised them with a most
horrible pestilence; but in the end it was shown how he was pacified and
turned to mercy by the humble prayers of the miserable people and by the
temple built by them upon the Tarpeian rock. In the third, then, was
seen figured how, Saturn seeking cruelly to devour his son Jove, his
shrewd wife and compassionate daughters sent to him in Jove's stead the
stone, which he brought up again before them, being left thereby in
infinite sorrow and bitterness. Even as in the fourth was painted the
same fable of which there has been an account in speaking of the
above-described car of Heaven--namely, how he cut off the genitals of
the above-named Heaven, from which the Giants, the Furies, and Venus had
their origin. And in the last, likewise, was seen how, after he was made
a prisoner by the Titans, he was liberated by his compassionate son
Jove. And then, to demonstrate the belief that is held by some, that
history first began to be written in the time of Saturn, there was seen
figured with the authority of an approved writer a Triton blowing a
sea-conch, with the double tail as it were fixed in the earth, closing
the last part of the car; at the foot of which (as has been told of the
others) was seen a pure maiden, representing Pudicity, adorned with
green draperies and holding a white ermine in her arms, with a gilded
topaz-collar about the neck. She, with the head and face covered with a
yellow veil, had in her company Truth, likewise figured in the form of a
most beautiful, delicate, and pure young woman, clothed only in a few
white and transparent veils; and these, walking in a manner full of
grace, had between them the happy Age of Gold, also figured as a pure
and gracious virgin, wholly nude, and all crowned and adorned with those
first fruits produced by herself from the earth. After them followed
Quiet, robed in black draperies, in the aspect of a young but very grave
and venerable woman, who had as head-dress a nest composed in a most
masterly manner, in which was seen lying an old and featherless stork,
and she walked between two black priests, who, crowned with fig-leaves,
and each with a branch of the same fig in one hand, and in the other a
basin containing a flat cake of flour and honey, seemed to wish to
demonstrate thereby that opinion which is held by some, that Saturn was
the first discoverer of grain-crops; for which reason the Cyrenæans (and
even such were the two black priests) are said to have been wont to
offer him sacrifices of those things named above. These were followed by
two Roman priests, who appeared likewise to be about to sacrifice to him
some waxen images, as it were after the more modern use, since they
were seen delivered by means of the example of Hercules, who used
similar waxen images, from the impious custom of sacrificing men to
Saturn, introduced into Italy by the Pelasgians. These, like the others
with Quiet, had likewise between them the venerable Vesta, daughter of
Saturn, who, very narrow in the shoulders and very broad and full in the
flanks, after the manner of a round ball, and dressed in white, carried
a lighted lamp in the hand. And after them, as the last, closing the
third company, was seen coming the Centaur Cheiron, the son, as has been
told, of Saturn, armed with sword, bow, and quiver; and with him another
of the sons of the same Saturn, holding the crooked lituus (for the
reason that he was an augur) in the hand, and all robed in green
draperies, with a bird, the woodpecker, on the head, because into such a
bird, according as the fables tell, it is believed that he was
transformed by Cheiron.


FOURTH CAR, OF THE SUN.

To the resplendent Sun was dedicated the fourth car, all glittering,
gilded, and jewelled, which, drawn according to custom by four swift and
winged coursers, was seen to have Velocity, with a head-dress of a
dolphin and a sail on the head, as charioteer; and in it were painted
(as has been told of the others), but with a different distribution, and
as pleasing and gracious as could well be imagined, seven of his fables.
For the first of these was seen the fate of the too audacious Phaëthon,
who contrived so ill to guide that same car, even as for the second was
seen the death of the serpent Python, and for the third the chastisement
inflicted on the rash Marsyas. In the fourth was seen how the Sun
deigned for a time to lead a humble pastoral life, grazing the flocks of
Admetus; even as in the fifth was seen how, flying from the fury of
Typhoeus, he was constrained to change himself into a raven. In the
sixth were likewise depicted his other transformations, first into a
lion and then into a hawk; and as the last was seen his love received so
ill by the timid Daphne, who finally, as is very well known, was changed
by the compassion of the Gods into laurel. At the foot of the car, then,
were seen riding, all winged and of different ages and colours, the
Hours, the handmaids and ministers of the Sun, each of whom, in
imitation of the Egyptians, carried a hippopotamus in the hand, and was
crowned with flowers of the lupine; and behind them, likewise following
the Egyptian custom, in the form of a young man all dressed in white,
with two little horns on the head that were turned towards the ground,
and with a garland of oriental palm, was seen walking the Month,
carrying in the hand a calf which, not without reason, had only one
horn. And after him was seen likewise walking the Year, with the head
all covered with ice and snow, the arms wreathed in flowers and
garlands, and the breast and stomach all adorned with ears of corn, even
as the thighs and legs, also, were seen to be all wet and stained with
must, while in one hand he carried, as a symbol of his circling course,
a circle formed by a serpent that appeared to be seeking to devour the
tail with the mouth, and in the other hand a nail, such as the ancient
Romans used, so we read, to keep count of the years in their temples.
Then came rosy Aurora, all pleasing, fair, and lissom, with a little
yellow mantle, and with an ancient lamp in the hand, seated with most
beautiful grace upon the horse Pegasus. In her company was seen the
physician Æsculapius, in the habit of a priest, with a knotted stick and
a ruddy serpent in the hands, and a dog at his feet; and with them the
young Phaëthon, also (like Æsculapius) the child of the Sun, who, all
burning, to recall the memory of his unhappy fate, appeared to wish to
transform himself into even such a swan as he carried in his hand.
Orpheus, next, their brother, was seen walking behind them, young and
much adorned, but of a presence grave and venerable, with the tiara on
his head, and seeming to play a most ornate lyre; and with him was seen
the enchantress Circe, likewise the daughter of the Sun, with a band
around the head, which was a sign of her sovereignty, and in the habit
of a matron, and she was shown holding in the hand, in place of a
sceptre, a little branch of larch and another of cedar, with the fumes
of which it is said that she used to contrive the greater part of her
enchantments. And the nine Muses, walking in gracious order, formed a
most beautiful finish to the last part of the lovely company just
described; who were seen figured in the forms of most graceful Nymphs,
crowned with feathers of the magpie in remembrance of the Sirens
vanquished by them, and with feathers of other kinds, and holding
various musical instruments in the hands, while among the last of them,
who held the most honourable place, was set Memory, mother of the Muses,
adorned with rich black draperies, and holding in the hand a little
black dog, signifying the marvellous memory which that animal is said to
have, and with the head-dress fantastically composed of the most
different things, denoting the so many and so different things that the
memory is able to retain.


FIFTH CAR, OF JOVE.

The great father of mankind and of the Gods, Jove, the son of Saturn,
had the fifth car, ornate and rich in pomp beyond all the others; for,
besides the five fables that were seen painted there, as with the
others, it was rendered rich and marvellous beyond belief by three
statues that served as most imposing partitions to those fables. By one
of these was seen represented the image, such as it is believed to have
been, of the young Epaphus, the son of Io and Jove, and by the second
that of the lovely Helen, who was born from Leda at one birth with
Castor and Pollux; even as by the last was represented that of the
grandfather of the sage Ulysses, called Arcesius. For the first of the
fables already mentioned was seen Jove transformed into a Bull,
conveying the trusting Europa to Crete, even as for the second was seen
his perilous rape as he flew to Heaven in the form of an Eagle with the
Trojan Ganymede, and for the third his other transformation into fire
when he wished to lie with the beautiful Ægina, daughter of Asopus. For
the fourth was seen the same Jove, changed into a rain of gold, falling
into the lap of his beloved Danaë; and in the fifth and last he was seen
delivering his father Saturn, who, as has been told above, was
unworthily held prisoner by the Titans. In such and so adorned a car,
then, and upon a most beautiful throne composed of various animals and
of many gilded Victories, with a little mantle woven of divers animals
and plants, the above-named great father Jove was seen seated in
infinite majesty, with a garland of leaves similar to those of the
common olive, and in the right hand a Victory crowned with a band of
white wool, and in the left hand a royal sceptre, at the head of which
was shown poised the imperial Eagle. At the foot of the throne, to
render it more imposing and pompous, was seen on one side Niobe, with
her children, dying by the shafts of Apollo and Diana, and on the other
side seven men in combat, who were seen to have in their midst a boy
with the head bound with white wool, even as in another place could be
seen Hercules and Theseus, who were shown in combat with the famous
Amazons. And at the foot of the car, which was drawn by two very large
and very naturally figured eagles, there was seen walking (as has been
told of the others) Bellerophon adorned with a royal habit and a royal
diadem, in allusion to whose fable there was seen over that diadem the
Chimera slain by him; having in his company the young Perseus, born from
Jove and Danaë, with the usual head of Medusa in his hand, and the usual
knife at his flank; and with them was the above-named Epaphus, who had
as a cap the head of an African elephant. Hercules, the son of Jove and
Alcmena, with the customary lion's skin and the customary club, was seen
coming after them; and in his company he had Scythes, his brother
(although born from a different mother), the first inventor of bow and
arrows, on which account his hands and his flank were seen furnished
with these. After them were seen the two gracious Twins, Castor and
Pollux, riding with an air of no less beauty upon two milk-white and
spirited coursers, and dressed in military habit; each having upon the
helmet, one of which was dotted with eight stars and the other with ten,
a brilliant little flame as helmet-crest, in allusion to that salutary
light, now called S. Elmo's Fire, which is wont to appear to mariners as
a sign that the tempest has passed; the stars being intended to signify
how they were placed in Heaven by Jove as the sign of the Twins. Then
Justice was seen coming after these, a beautiful maiden, who was beating
with a stick and finally strangling a woman ugly and deformed, and in
her company were four of the Gods Penates, two male and two female,
these demonstrating--although in barbaric and extravagant dress, and
although they had on the head a pediment which, with the base turned
upwards, supported the heads of a young man and an old--by the gilded
chain with a heart attached that they had about the neck, and by their
long, ample, and pompous vestments, that they were persons of great
weight and of great and lofty counsel; which was done with much reason,
seeing that they were reputed by the ancient writers to be the
counsellors of Jove. After them were seen walking the two Palici, born
of Jove and Thaleia, adorned with draperies of tawny hue, and crowned
with various ears of corn, and each with an altar in the hand; and in
their company was Iarbas, King of Gætulia, the son of the same Jove,
crowned with a white band, and with the head of a lion surmounted by a
crocodile as a cap, and his other garments interwoven with leaves of
cane and papyrus and various monsters, and with the sceptre and a
burning flame of fire in the hands. Behind these were seen coming
Xanthus, the Trojan River, likewise the son of Jove, in human form, but
all yellow, all nude, and all shorn, with the overflowing vase in his
hands, and Sarpedon, King of Lycia, his brother, in a most imposing
garb, and in his hand a little mound covered with lions and serpents.
And the last part of that great company, concluding the whole, was
formed of four armed Curetes, who kept clashing their swords one against
another, thus reviving the memory of Mount Ida, where Jove was saved
from the voracious Saturn by their means, drowning by the clash of their
arms the wailing of the tender babe; among whom, with the last couple,
for greater dignity, as Queen of all the others, winged and without
feet, and with much pomp and grandeur, proud Fortune was seen haughtily
approaching.


SIXTH CAR, OF MARS.

Mars, the proud and warlike God, covered with brightly-shining armour,
had the sixth car, adorned with no little richness and pomp, and drawn
by two ferocious wolves very similar to the reality; and therein his
wife Neriene and his daughter Evadne, figured in low-relief, served to
divide three of his fables, which (as has been told of the other cars)
were painted there. For the first of these, he was seen slaying the
hapless son of Neptune, Halirrhotius, in vengeance for the violation of
Alcippe, and for the second he was seen in most amorous guise lying
with Rea Silvia, and begetting by her the two great founders of Rome,
Romulus and Remus; even as for the third and last he was seen miserably
reduced to captivity (as happens often enough to his followers) in the
hands of the impious Otus and Ephialtes. Then before the car, as the
first figures, preceding it on horseback, were seen two of his priests,
the Salii, with their usual shields, the Ancilia, and clad and adorned
with their usual armour and vestments, and wearing on their heads, in
place of helmets, two caps in the likeness of cones; and they were seen
followed by the above-named Romulus and Remus in the guise of shepherds,
covered in rustic fashion with skins of wolves, while, to distinguish
the one from the other, Remus had six vultures placed in his head-dress,
and Romulus twelve, in memory of his more happy augury. After them came
Oenomaus, King of the Greek Pisa, and also the son of Mars, who held in
one hand, as King, a royal sceptre, and in the other a little chariot
all broken, in memory of the treachery shown against him by the
charioteer Myrtilus in his combat for his daughter Hippodameia against
Pelops, her lover. And after him were seen coming Ascalaphus and
Ialmenus, likewise sons of Mars, adorned with a rich military habit;
recalling by the ships that they had in the hand, one for each, the
weighty succour brought by them with fifty ships to the besieged
Trojans. These were followed by the beautiful Nymph Britona, daughter
likewise of Mars, with a net in her arms, in memory of her miserable
fate; and by the not less beautiful Harmonia, who was born of the same
Mars and lovely Venus, and became the wife of Theban Cadmus. To her, it
is said, Vulcan once presented a most beautiful necklace, on which
account she was seen with that necklace about her neck; and in the upper
parts she had the semblance of a woman, but in the lower parts--denoting
that she was transformed, together with her husband, into a serpent--she
was seen all covered with serpent's skin. These had behind them, with a
bloody knife in the hand and across the shoulders a little kid split
open, and very fierce in aspect, Hyperion, born from the same father, by
whom it is said that men were first taught to kill brute-animals, and
with him the no less fierce Ætolus, likewise the offspring of Mars; and
between them was seen walking blind Rage, adorned with a red habit all
picked out with black embroidery, with foaming mouth, and with a
rhinoceros on the head and a cynocephalus upon the back. After these
walked Fraud, with the face of a human creature and with the other parts
as they are described by Dante in the Inferno, and Menace, truly
threatening in aspect with the sword and the staff that she had in the
hands, covered with grey and red draperies, and with the mouth open; and
they were seen to have behind them Fury, the great Minister of Mars, and
Death, pallid and not less in harmony with the same Mars; the first all
draped and tinted in dark red, with the hands bound behind the back, and
seeming to be seated, all threatening, upon a great bundle of various
arms, and the second all pallid, as has been said, and covered with
black draperies, with the eyes closed, and with a presence no less awful
and no less horrible. Spoils, then, in the form of a woman adorned with
a lion's skin, with an ancient trophy in the hand, was seen coming after
these, and she appeared as if desirous to exult over two prisoners,
wounded and bound, who were on either side of her; having behind her, as
the last line of so terrible a company, a woman of a very stalwart
presence, with two bull's horns on the head and with an elephant in the
hand, representing Force, to whom Cruelty, all red and likewise awful,
killing a little child, seemed to make a true and fit companion.


SEVENTH CAR, OF VENUS.

Very different was the aspect of the charming, graceful, elegant, and
gilded car of benign Venus, which was seen coming after the last in the
seventh place, drawn by two most peaceful, snow-white, and amorous
doves; wherein were not wanting four scenes executed with great mastery,
to render it pleasing, gladsome, and rich in pomp. For the first of
these was seen the lovely Goddess transforming herself into a fish, to
escape from the fury of the Giant Typhoeus, and for the second,
likewise, she was seen praying the great father Jove most piteously that
he should deign to make an end at last of the many labours of her
much-enduring son Æneas. In the third was seen the same Venus caught by
her husband Vulcan with the net, while lying with her lover Mars; even
as in the fourth and last she was seen, no less solicitous for her same
son Æneas, coming into accord with the so inexorable Juno to unite him
with the snares of love to the chaste Queen of Carthage. The beautiful
Adonis, as her dearest lover, was seen walking first before the car, in
the gracious habit of a huntsman, and with him appeared as his
companions two charming little Loves, with painted wings and with bows
and arrows. These were followed by the marital Hymeneus, young and
beautiful, with the customary garland of marjoram, and in his hand the
lighted torch; and by Thalassius with the spear and shield, and the
little basket full of wool. And after them was seen coming Peitho, the
Goddess of Persuasion, robed in the habit of a matron, with a great
tongue upon the head (after the Egyptian custom) containing a bloody
eye, and in the hand another similar tongue which was joined to another
counterfeited hand; and with her the Trojan Paris in the habit of a
shepherd, who was seen carrying in memory of his fable that for him so
unlucky apple. Even as Concord, in the form of a grave and beautiful
woman crowned with a garland, with a cup in one hand and in the other a
sceptre wreathed in flowers, could be seen following these; and with
her, likewise, appeared as a companion Priapus, the God of orchards,
with the usual sickle and with the lap all full of fruits; and with
them, with a cube in the hand and another upon the head, Manturna, who
was always invoked most devoutly by brides on the first night that they
were joined with their husbands, believing that firmness and constancy
could be infused by her into inconstant minds. Extravagantly figured,
next, was Friendship, who came after these, for, although in the form of
a young woman, she was seen to have the bare head crowned with leaves of
pomegranate and myrtle, wearing a rough dress, upon which could be read,
MORS ET VITA; with the breast open, so that the heart could be
perceived, and there, likewise, were to be read these words written,
LONGE ET PROPE; and she carried in the hand a withered elm-trunk
entwined with a fresh and fertile vine. In her company was Pleasure,
both the seemly and the unseemly, likewise extravagantly figured in the
form of two young women that were shown attached to one another by the
back; one white, and, as Dante said, cross-eyed and with the feet
distorted, and the other, although black, yet of a seemly and gracious
form, girt with beautiful consideration by the jewelled and gilded
cestus, with a bit and a common braccio for measuring in the hands. And
she was followed by the Goddess Virginensis, who used also to be invoked
in ancient nuptials, that she might aid the husband to loose the virgin
zone; on which account, all robed in draperies of white linen, with a
crown of emeralds and a cock upon the head, she was seen walking with
the above-named zone and with a little branch of agnus-castus in the
hands. In her company was Beauty, desired so much and by so many, in the
form of a gracious virgin wreathed in flowers, and all crowned with
lilies; and with them was Hebe, the Goddess of Youth, likewise a virgin,
and likewise dressed with much richness and infinite grace, and crowned
with the ornament of a lovely gilded garland, and carrying in the hand a
beautiful little branch of flowering almond. Finally, that most lovely
company was concluded by Joy, likewise a virgin, gracious and crowned
with a garland, who in similar guise carried in the hand a thyrsus all
woven of garlands and various leaves and flowers.


EIGHTH CAR, OF MERCURY.

To Mercury, who had the caduceus, the cap, and the winged sandals, was
given the eighth car, drawn by two most natural storks, and likewise
enriched and adorned with five of his fables. For the first of these he
was seen appearing upon the new walls of Carthage, as the Messenger of
Jove, to the enamoured Æneas, and commanding him that he should depart
thence and set out on the way to Italy; even as for the second was seen
the unhappy Agraulos converted by him into stone, and for the third he
was seen likewise at the command of Jove binding the too audacious
Prometheus to the rocks of Mount Caucasus. In the fourth, again, he was
seen converting the ill-advised Battus into that stone that is called
basanite; and in the fifth and last was his slaying, so cunningly
achieved, of the many-eyed Argus. For clearer demonstration, that same
Argus was seen walking first before the car, in a pastoral habit all
covered with eyes; and with him was seen as his companion Maia, the
mother of the above-named Mercury and daughter of Faunus, in the very
rich habit of a young woman, with a vine upon the head and a sceptre in
the hand, having some serpents tame in appearance that were following
her. After these was seen coming Palæstra, daughter of Mercury, in the
semblance of a virgin wholly nude, but stalwart and proud to a marvel,
and adorned with various leaves of olive over the whole person, with the
hair cut short, to the end that when fighting, as it was her custom
always to do, it might not give a grip to the enemy; and with her was
Eloquence, also the daughter of Mercury, robed in the dignified and
decorous habit of a matron, with a parrot upon the head, and with one of
the hands open. Next were seen the three Graces, with the hands linked
in the usual manner, and draped in most delicate veiling; and after them
were seen coming the two Lares, dressed in the skins of dogs, with whom
there appeared as their companion Art, also in the habit of a matron,
with a great lever and a great flame of fire in the hands. These were
followed by Autolycus, that most subtle thief, the son of Mercury and of
the Nymph Chione, with shoes of felt and a closed cap that hid his face,
having both his hands occupied with such a lantern as is called a
thieves' lantern, various picklocks, and a rope-ladder. And finally,
Hermaphroditus, the offspring of the same Mercury and of Venus, figured
in the usual manner, was seen bringing up the rear of that little
company.


NINTH CAR, OF THE MOON.

The ninth car, all silvered, of the Moon, drawn by two horses, one black
and the other white, was seen passing in no less lovely fashion after
the last; the Moon, draped, as is customary, in a white and delicate
veil, guiding the silver reins with grace most gracious; and, like the
others, it was seen adorned with no less beauty and pomp by four of her
fables. For the first of these that most gentle Goddess, flying from the
fury of Typhoeus, was seen constrained to transform herself into a cat;
even as in the second she was seen fondly embracing and kissing
beautiful Endymion as he lay asleep, and in the third she was seen, won
over by a delicate fleece of white wool, making her way into a dark
forest, there to lie with the enamoured Pan, the God of Shepherds. In
the fourth was seen how the same Endymion named above, for the grace
acquired with her, was given pasture for his white flock; and for a
better representation of him who was so dear to the Moon, he was then
seen walking first before the car, crowned with dittany, and in his
company a fair-haired child, with a serpent in the hand, and also
crowned with leaves of the plane, representing the Good Genius, and a
great black man, awful in aspect, with the beard and hair all
dishevelled and with an owl in the hand, representing the Evil Genius.
These were followed by the God Vaticanus, who is believed to be able to
bring succour to the wailing of little infants, robed in a handsome
tawny habit, and with an infant in his arms; and with him was likewise
seen coming, in a splendid and well-varied dress, with a key in the
hand, the Goddess Egeria, who is also invoked in aid of pregnant women;
and with them the other Goddess, Nundina, who likewise protects the
names of little babes, in a venerable habit, with a branch of laurel and
a sacrificial vase in the hands. Then after these Vitumnus was seen
walking, who was reputed to breathe the soul into children at their
birth, figured after the Egyptian custom, and with him Sentinus, who
likewise was believed by the ancients to give to the newly-born the
power of the senses, on which account, he himself being all white, there
were seen in his head-dress the heads of those five animals that are
believed to have the five senses more acute than any of the others; that
of an ape, namely, that of a vulture, that of a wild-boar, that of a
lynx, and that--or rather, the whole body--of a little spider. Then
Edusa and Potina, who preside over the nourishment of those same
infants, were seen riding in the same fashion as the others, in the
habit of nymphs, but with breasts very long and very full, one holding a
basin containing white bread, and the other a most beautiful vase that
seemed to be full of water; and with them, concluding the last part of
the company, was Fabulinus, who presides over the first speech of the
same infants, robed in various colours, with the head all crowned with
wagtails and singing chaffinches.


TENTH CAR, OF MINERVA.

Minerva, clad in armour, with the spear and the shield of the Gorgon, as
she is generally figured, had the tenth car, composed in a triangular
form and in the colour of bronze, and drawn by two very large and most
bizarre owls, of which I cannot forbear to say that although it would be
possible to relate singular and even incredible marvels of all the
animals that drew the cars, yet these, beyond all the others, were
figured so lifelike and so natural, and their feet, wings, and necks
were made to move, and even the eyes to open and shut so well, and with
a resemblance so close to the reality, that I know not how I could ever
be able to convince of it those who never saw them. However, ceasing to
speak of these, I must relate that of the three sides of which the
triangular car was composed, there was seen painted in one the
miraculous birth of the Goddess from the head of Jove, even as in the
second Pandora was seen adorned by her with all those countless
ornaments, and in the third, likewise, she was seen converting the hair
of the wretched Medusa into snakes. Then on one part of the base there
was painted the contest that she had with Neptune over the name that was
to be given to Athenæ (before she had such a name), when, he producing
the fiery horse and she the fruitful olive, she was seen to win thereby
a glorious and memorable victory; and on the other she was seen in the
form of a little old woman, striving to persuade the overbold Arachne,
before she had transformed her into the animal of that name, that she
should consent, without putting the matter to the proof, to yield her
the palm in the art of embroidery; even as in the third and last part,
with a different aspect, she was seen valorously slaying the proud
Typhon. Before the car was seen walking Virtue, in the form of a young
and stalwart woman, with two great wings, and in an easy, chaste, and
becoming habit, having as a worthy companion the venerable Honour,
crowned with palm and resplendent in purple and gold, with the shield
and spear in the hands, who was shown supporting two temples, into one
of which (namely, that dedicated to the same Honour) it appeared
impossible to pass save by way of that dedicated to Virtue; and to the
end that a noble and worthy companion might be given to those masks, it
seemed right that Victory, crowned with laurel and likewise with a
branch of palm in the hand, should be added to the same line. These were
followed by Good Fame, figured in the form of a young woman with two
white wings, sounding a great trumpet, and after her, with a little
white dog in her arms, came Faith, likewise all white, with a luminous
veil that was seen covering her arms, head, and face; and with them
Salvation, holding in the right hand a cup that she seemed to be seeking
to offer to a serpent, and in the other a thin and straight wand. After
these, then, was seen coming Nemesis, the daughter of Night, who rewards
the good and chastises the wicked, virginal in aspect, and crowned with
little stags and little victories, with a spear of ash and a similar cup
in the hands; with whom appeared as her companion Peace, also a virgin,
but of a kindly aspect, with a branch of olive in the hand and a blind
boy, representing the God of riches, in the arms; and with them,
carrying in the hand a drinking-vessel in the form of a lily, and in
similar guise, was seen likewise coming ever-verdant Hope, followed by
Clemency, who was riding upon a great lion, with a spear in one hand and
in the other a thunderbolt, which she was making as if not to hurl
furiously, but to throw away. Then were seen likewise coming
Opportunity, who had a little behind her Penitence, by whom she seemed
to be continually smitten, and Felicity, upon a commodious throne, with
a caduceus in one hand and a horn of plenty in the other. And these were
seen followed by the Goddess Pellonia, whose office it is to keep
enemies at a distance, in full armour, with two great horns upon the
head, and in the hand a vigilant crane, who was seen poised upon one
foot, as is their custom, and holding in the other a stone; and with
her, closing the last part of the glorious company, was Science, figured
in the form of a young man, who was shown carrying in the hand a book
and upon the head a gilded tripod, to denote his constancy and
firmness.


ELEVENTH CAR, OF VULCAN.

Vulcan, the God of fire, old, ugly, and lame, with a cap of
turquoise-blue upon the head, had the eleventh car, drawn by two great
dogs; and in it was figured the Isle of Lemnos, where it is said that
Vulcan, thrown down from Heaven, was nursed by Thetis, and began to
fashion there the first thunderbolts for Jove. Before it were seen
walking, as his ministers and servants, three Cyclopes, Brontes,
Steropes, and Pyracmon, of whose aid he is said to have been wont to
avail himself in making those thunderbolts. After them was seen coming
Polyphemus, the lover of the beautiful Galatea and the first of all the
Cyclopes, in the garb of a shepherd, with a great pipe hanging from his
neck and a staff in the hand; and with him, crowned with seven stars,
the deformed but ingenious Ericthonius, born with serpent's feet from
Vulcan's attempt to violate Minerva, to conceal the ugliness of which it
is believed that he invented the use of chariots, on which account he
walked with one of these in the hand. He was seen followed by the savage
Cacus, also the son of Vulcan, spouting a stream of sparks from the
mouth and nose; and by Cæculus, likewise the son of Vulcan, and likewise
in pastoral garb, but adorned with the royal diadem, and in one of his
hands, in memory of the building of Præneste, was seen a city placed
upon a hill, and in the other a ruddy and burning flame. After these was
seen coming Servius Tullius, King of Rome, who is also believed to have
been born of Vulcan, and upon his head, even as in the hand of Cæculus,
in token of his happy augury, a similar flame was seen to form in
marvellous fashion a splendid and propitious garland. Then was seen the
jealous Procris, daughter of the above-named Ericthonius, and wife of
Cephalus, who, in memory of the ancient fable, seemed to have the breast
transfixed by a javelin; and with her was seen Oreithyia, her sister, in
a virginal and lovely habit, and in the centre between them was Pandion,
King of Athens, born with them of the same father, adorned with the
vestments of a Grecian King. After him came Procne and Philomela, his
daughters, one dressed in the skin of a deer, with a spear in the hand
and upon the head a little chattering swallow, and the other carrying
in the same place a nightingale, and likewise having in the hand a
woman's embroidered mantle, in allusion to her miserable fate; and she
appeared to be following her beloved father all filled with sorrow,
although adorned with a rich vestment. And with them, to conclude the
last part of the company, was Caca, the sister of Cacus, adored by the
ancients as a Goddess for the reason that, laying aside her love for her
brother, she is said to have revealed to Hercules the secret of the
stolen cattle.


TWELFTH CAR, OF JUNO.

When Vulcan had passed, Queen Juno, adorned with a rich, superb, and
royal crown, and with vestments transparent and luminous, was seen
coming in much majesty upon the twelfth car, which was not less pompous
than any of the others, and drawn by two most lovely peacocks; and
between the five little stories of her actions that were seen painted
therein, were Lycorias, Beroë, and Deiopea, her most beautiful and most
favoured Nymphs. For the first of these stories was seen the unhappy
Callisto transformed by her into a bear, who was placed afterwards by
compassionate Jove among the principal stars in the heavens; and in the
second was seen how, having transformed herself into the likeness of
Beroë, she persuaded the unsuspecting Semele to beseech Jove that he
should deign in his grace to lie with her in the guise wherein he was
wont to lie with his wife Juno; on which account the unhappy mortal, not
being able to sustain the force of the celestial splendour, was consumed
by fire, and Jove was seen to take Bacchus from her belly and place him
in his own, preserving him for the full time of birth. In the third,
likewise, she was seen praying Æolus that he should send his furious
winds to scatter the fleet of Trojan Æneas; even as in the fourth she
was seen in like manner, filled with jealousy, demanding from Jove the
miserable Io transformed into a cow, and giving her, to the end that she
might not be stolen from her by Jove, into the custody of the
ever-vigilant Argus, who, as has been told elsewhere, was put to sleep
and slain by Mercury; and in the fifth picture was seen Juno sending
after most unhappy Io the pitiless gad-fly, to the end that he might
keep her continually pricked and stung. At the foot of the car, then,
were seen coming a good number of those phenomena that are formed in the
air, among which could be seen as the first Iris, regarded by the
ancients as the messenger of the Gods, and the daughter of Thaumas and
Electra; all lissom and free, and dressed in vestments of red, yellow,
blue, and green, signifying the rainbow, with two hawks' wings upon the
head that denoted her swiftness. In her company, then, in a red habit,
with the hair ruddy and dishevelled, was the Comet, figured as a young
woman who had a large and shining star upon the brow; and with them came
Clear Sky, in the aspect of a virgin, who was seen with the countenance
of turquoise-blue, and turquoise-blue all the wide and ample dress, not
without a white dove likewise upon the head, to signify the sky. After
these were seen Snow and Mist, coupled together; the first dressed in
tawny-coloured draperies, upon which were shown lying many trunks of
trees all sprinkled with snow, and the other was seen walking, as if she
had no shape, as it were in the semblance of a great white mass; having
with them verdant Dew, figured in that same colour, to denote the green
plants upon which she is generally seen, and having a round moon upon
the head, signifying that in the time of the moon's fulness, above all,
dew is wont to fall from the heavens upon green herbage. Then there
followed Rain, dressed in a white but somewhat soiled habit, upon whose
head seven stars, partly bright and partly dim, formed a garland
representing the seven Pleiades, even as the seventeen that blazed upon
her breast appeared to denote the sign of rainy Orion. There followed,
likewise, three virgins of different ages, attired in white draperies
and also crowned with olive, representing the three classes of virgins
that used to run races in the ancient games of Juno; having with them,
for the last, the Goddess Populonia in the rich habit of a matron, with
a garland of pomegranate and balm-mint upon the head, and with a little
table in the hand, by whom the airy company above described was seen
graciously concluded.


THIRTEENTH CAR, OF NEPTUNE.

Fanciful, bizarre, and beautiful beyond all the others appeared the
thirteenth car, of Neptune, which was composed of an immense crab, such
as the Venetians are wont to call Grancevola, which rested upon four
great dolphins, having about the base, which resembled a real and
natural rock, a vast number of sea-shells, sponges, and corals, which
rendered it most lovely and ornate, and being drawn by two sea-horses;
and upon it was seen standing Neptune, in the customary form and with
the customary trident, having at his feet, as a companion, his spouse
Salacia, in the form of a snow-white nymph all covered with foam. Before
the car, then, was seen walking the old and bearded Glaucus, all
dripping and all covered with sea-weed and moss, whose person from the
waist downwards was seen in the form of a swimming fish. About him
circled many halcyon-birds, and with him was seen the much-changing and
deceitful Proteus, likewise old, all dripping, and covered with
sea-weed; and with them proud Phorcys, with a royal band of
turquoise-blue about the head, and with beard and hair long and flowing
beyond measure, and carrying in the hand the famous Pillars of Hercules,
as a sign of the empire that he once had. Then followed two Tritons with
the customary tails, sounding their trumpets, and in their company
appeared old Æolus, likewise holding in the hands a royal sceptre and a
sail, and having upon the head a burning flame of fire. And he was
followed by four of his principal Winds; by young Zephyrus, with the
locks and the varied wings adorned with various little flowers, by dark
and parching Eurus, who had a radiant sun upon the head; by cold and
snowy Boreas; and, finally, by the soft, cloudy, and proud Auster; all
figured, according as they are generally painted, with swelling cheeks
and with the large and swift wings that are customary. After these, in
due place, were seen coming the two giants, Otus and Ephialtes, all
wounded and transfixed by various arrows, in memory of their having been
slain by Apollo and Diana; and with them, not less appropriately, were
seen coming likewise two Harpies, with the customary maiden's face and
the customary rapacious claws and most hideous belly. There was seen
also the Egyptian God Canopus, in memory of the astuteness formerly used
by the priest against the Chaldæans, figured as very short, round, and
fat; and likewise, young and lovely, winged Zetes and Calais, the sons
of Boreas, by whose valour it is related that once upon a time those
foul and ravenous Harpies were driven from the world. And with them were
seen, at the last, the beautiful Nymph Amymone, beloved by Neptune, with
a gilded vase, and the young Greek Neleus, son of the same Neptune, who,
with royal sceptre and habit, was seen to conclude the last part of the
company described above.


FOURTEENTH CAR, OF OCEANUS AND OF TETHYS.

There followed in the fourteenth company, with Tethys, the great Queen
of the sea, the great father Oceanus, her husband, the son of Heaven,
who was figured in the form of a tall and cerulean old man, with a great
beard and long hair all wet and dishevelled, and covered all over with
sea-weed and various sea-shells, with a horrible seal in the hand, while
she was represented as a tall and masterful matron, resplendent, old,
and white, and holding in the hand a great fish; and they were both seen
upon a most fantastic car in the semblance of a rock, very strange and
bizarre, drawn by two immense whales. At the foot of the car was seen
walking Nereus, their son, old, venerable, and covered with foam, and
with him Thetis, daughter of that Nereus and of Doris, and mother of
great Achilles, who was shown riding upon a dolphin; and she was seen
followed by three most beautiful Sirens figured in the usual manner, who
had behind them two very beautiful, although white-haired, Nymphs of the
sea, called Graeæ, likewise daughters of the Sea-God Phorcys and of the
Nymph Ceto, clothed most pleasingly in various graceful draperies.
Behind these, then, were seen coming the three Gorgons with their snaky
locks, daughters of the same father and mother, who made use of a single
eye, with which alone, lending it to one another, they were all three
able to see; and there was likewise seen coming the cruel Scylla, with
the face and breast of a maiden and with the rest of the person in the
form of a fish, and with her the old, ugly, and voracious Charybdis,
transfixed by an arrow in memory of her well-deserved punishment. And
behind these, in order to leave the last part of the company more
gladsome in aspect, there was seen coming for the last, all nude, the
beautiful and pure-white Galatea, beloved and gracious daughter of
Nereus and Doris.


FIFTEENTH CAR, OF PAN.

In the fifteenth car, which had the natural and true appearance of a
shady forest counterfeited with much artifice, and was drawn by two
great white he-goats, was seen coming the rubicund Pan, the God of
forests and of shepherds, in the form of an old and horned Satyr,
crowned with foliage of the pine, with the spotted skin of a panther
across the body, and in the hands a great pipe with seven reeds and a
pastoral staff. At the foot of the car were seen walking some other
Satyrs and some old Sylvan Gods, crowned with fennel and lilies, and
holding some boughs of cypress in memory of the beloved Cyparissus.
After these, likewise, were seen coming two Fauns crowned with laurel,
and each with a cat upon the right shoulder; and behind them the wild
and beautiful Syrinx, beloved by Pan, who, flying from him, is said to
have been transformed by the Naiad sisters into a tremulous and musical
reed. Syrinx had in her company the other Nymph, Pitys, likewise beloved
by Pan; but since the wind Boreas was also and in like manner enamoured
of her, it is believed that out of jealousy he hurled her over a most
cruel rock, whereupon, being all shattered, it is said that out of pity
she was transformed by Mother Earth into a beautiful pine, from the
foliage of which her lover Pan used, as has been shown above, to make
himself a gracious and well-beloved garland. Then after these was seen
coming Pales, the revered custodian and protectress of flocks, dressed
as a gentle shepherdess, with a great vessel of milk in the hands, and a
garland of medicinal herbs; and with her the protectress of herds, by
name Bubona, in a similar pastoral dress, with an ornate head of an ox
that made a cap for her head; and Myiagrus, the God of flies, dressed in
white, with an infinite multitude of those importunate little creatures
about his head and his person, with a garland of spondyl, and with the
club of Hercules in his hand; and Evander, who first taught men in
Italy to make sacrifices to Pan, adorned with royal purple and the royal
head-band, and with the royal sceptre in his hand, concluded with
gracious pomp the last part of that pastoral, indeed, yet pleasing and
most fair company.


SIXTEENTH CAR, OF PLUTO AND OF PROSERPINE.

Then followed infernal Pluto with Queen Proserpine, all nude, awful, and
dark, and crowned with funeral cypress, holding a little sceptre in one
of his hands as a sign of his royal power, and having at his feet the
great, horrible, and triple-throated Cerberus; but Proserpine, who was
seen with him (accompanied by two Nymphs, one holding in the hand a
round ball, and the other a great and strong key, denoting that one who
has once come into that kingdom must abandon all hope of return), was
shown clothed in a white and rich dress, ornate beyond belief. And both
were in the usual car, drawn by four jet-black horses, whose reins were
seen guided by a most hideous and infernal monster, who had with him, as
worthy companions, the three likewise infernal Furies, bloody, foul, and
awful, with the hair and the whole person entwined with various venomous
serpents. Behind these were seen following the two Centaurs, Nessus and
Astylus, with bows and arrows, and besides these arms Astylus carried in
the hand a great eagle; and with them the proud giant Briareus, who had
a hundred hands armed with sword and buckler, and fifty heads, from
which a stream of fire was seen spouting through the mouth and nostrils.
These were followed by turbid Acheron, pouring water and sand, livid and
stinking, from a great vase that he carried in his hands, and with him
was seen coming the other infernal river, Cocytus, likewise pallid and
dark, and likewise pouring from a similar vase a similar fetid and
turbid stream; having with them the horrible and sluggish Styx, daughter
of Oceanus, so much feared by all the Gods, who was dressed in a nymph's
habit, but dark and foul, and carried a similar vase, and seemed to be
encompassed by the other infernal river, Phlegethon, whose whole person,
with his vase and the boiling waters, was tinted with a dark and fearful
redness. Then followed old Charon, with the oar, and with the eyes (as
Dante said) of glowing coal; accompanied, to the end that not one of the
infernal rivers might be absent, by the pallid, meagre, emaciated, and
oblivious Lethe, in whose hand was seen a similar vase, which likewise
poured from every side turbid and livid water; and following behind them
were the three great judges of Hell, Minos, Æacus, and Rhadamanthus, the
first being figured in royal form and habit, and the second and third
attired in dark, grave, and venerable vestments. After these was seen
coming Phlegyas, the sacrilegious King of the Lapithæ, recalling, by an
arrow that transfixed his breast, the memory of the burned temple of
Phoebus and the chastisement received from him, and, for clearer
demonstration, carrying that temple all burning in one of his hands.
Next was seen the afflicted Sisyphus under the great and ponderous
stone, and with him the famished and miserable Tantalus, who was shown
with the fruits so vainly desired close to his mouth. And then were seen
coming, but in more gracious aspect, as if setting out from the glad
Elysian Fields, with the comet-like star on the brow, and wearing the
imperial habit, the divine Julius and the happy Octavianus Augustus, his
successor; the terrible and dreadful company being finally concluded in
most noble fashion by the Amazon Penthesileia, adorned with the spear,
the half-moon shield, and the royal band upon the head, and by the
widowed Queen Tomyris, who likewise had the hands and side adorned with
the bow and barbaric arrows.


SEVENTEENTH CAR, OF CYBELE.

After these was seen coming Cybele, the great mother of the Gods,
crowned with towers, and, for the reason that she is held to be Goddess
of the Earth, robed in a vestment woven of various plants, with a
sceptre in the hand, and seated upon a quadrangular car, which contained
many other empty seats besides her own, and was drawn by two great
lions; and for the adornment of the car were painted with most beautiful
design four of her stories. For the first of these was seen how, when
she was conveyed from Pessinus to Rome, the ship that was carrying her
being stuck fast in the Tiber, she was drawn miraculously to the bank by
the Vestal Claudia with only her own simple girdle, to the rare marvel
of the bystanders; even as for the second she was seen taken by command
of her priests to the house of Scipio Nasica, who was judged to be the
best and most holy man to be found in Rome at that time. For the third,
likewise, she was seen visited in Phrygia by the Goddess Ceres, after
she thought to have hidden her daughter Proserpine safely in Sicily; and
for the fourth and last she was seen flying from the fury of the Giants
into Egypt, as the poets relate, and constrained to transform herself
into a blackbird. At the foot of the car, then, were seen riding ten
Corybantes, armed after the ancient fashion, who were making various
extravagant gestures of head and person; after whom were seen coming two
Roman matrons in Roman dress, with the head covered by a yellow veil,
and with them the above-named Scipio Nasica and the Vestal Virgin
Claudia, who had over the head a square white kerchief with a border all
around, which was fastened under the throat. And for the last, to give a
gracious conclusion to the little company, there was seen coming with an
aspect of great loveliness the young and beautiful Atys, beloved most
ardently, as we read, by Cybele; who, besides the rich, easy, and
charming costume of a huntsman, was seen most gracefully adorned by a
very beautiful gilded collar.


EIGHTEENTH CAR, OF DIANA.

In the eighteenth and incredibly beautiful car, drawn by two white
stags, there was seen coming, with the gilded bow and gilded quiver, the
huntress Diana, who was shown seated with infinite grace and loveliness
upon two other stags, which with their hindquarters made for her, as it
were, a most fanciful seat; the rest of the car being rendered strangely
gracious, lovely, and ornate by nine of her most pleasing fables. For
the first of these was seen how, moved by pity for the flying Arethusa,
who was seen pursued by the enamoured Alpheus, the Goddess converted her
into a fountain; even as for the second she was seen praying Æsculapius
that he should consent to restore to life for her the dead but innocent
Hippolytus; which being accomplished, she was then seen in the third
ordaining him guardian of her temple and her sacred wood in Aricia. For
the fourth she was seen chasing Cynthia, violated by Jove, from the pure
waters where she used to bathe with her other virgin Nymphs; and for the
fifth was seen the deceit practised by her on the above-named Alpheus,
when, seeking presumptuously to obtain her as his wife, he was taken by
her to see her dance, and there, having smeared her face with mire in
company with the other Nymphs, she constrained him, not being able to
recognize her in that guise, to depart all derided and scorned. For the
sixth, then, she was seen in company with her brother Apollo, chastising
proud Niobe and slaying her with all her children; and for the seventh
she was seen sending the great and savage boar into the Calydonian
forest, which laid all Ætolia waste, having been moved to just and
righteous wrath against that people because they had discontinued her
sacrifices. Even as for the eighth she was seen not less wrathfully
converting the unhappy Actæon into a stag; but in the ninth and last,
moved on the contrary by pity, she was seen transforming Egeria, weeping
for the death of her husband, Numa Pompilius, into a fountain. At the
foot of the car, then, were seen coming eight of her huntress Nymphs,
with their bows and quivers, dressed in graceful, pleasing, loose, and
easy garments, composed of skins of various animals as it were slain by
them; and with them, as the last, concluding the small but gracious
company, was young Virbius, crowned with spotted-leaf myrtle, and
holding in one hand a little broken chariot, and in the other a bunch of
tresses virginal and blonde.


NINETEENTH CAR, OF CERES.

In the nineteenth car, drawn by two great dragons, coming in no less
pomp than the others, was seen Ceres, the Goddess of grain-crops, in the
habit of a matron, with a garland of ears of corn and with ruddy locks;
and with no less pomp that car was seen adorned by nine of her fables,
which had been painted there. For the first of these was seen figured
the happy birth of Pluto, the God of Riches, born, as we read in certain
poets, from her and from the hero Iasius; even as for the second she was
seen washing with great care and feeding with her own milk the little
Triptolemus, son of Eleusis and Hyona. For the third was seen the same
Triptolemus flying by her advice upon one of the two dragons that had
been presented to him by her, together with the car, to the end that he
might go through the world piously teaching the care and cultivation of
the fields; the other dragon having been killed by the impious King of
the Getæ, who sought with every effort likewise to slay Triptolemus. For
the fourth was seen how she hid her beloved daughter Proserpine in
Sicily, foreseeing in a certain sense that which afterwards befell her;
even as in the fifth, likewise, she was seen after that event, as has
been told elsewhere, going to Phrygia to visit her mother Cybele; and in
the sixth, as she was dwelling in that place, the same Proserpine was
seen appearing to her in a dream, and demonstrating to her in what a
plight she found herself from Pluto's rape of her; on which account,
being all distraught, she was seen in the seventh returning in great
haste to Sicily. For the eighth, likewise, was seen how, not finding her
there, in her deep anguish she kindled two great torches, being moved to
the resolution to seek her throughout the whole world; and in the ninth
and last she was seen arriving at the well of Cyane, and there coming by
chance upon the girdle of her stolen daughter, a sure proof of what had
befallen her; whereupon in her great wrath, not having aught else on
which to vent it, she was seen turning to break to pieces the rakes,
hoes, ploughs, and other rustic implements that chanced to have been
left there in the fields by the peasants. At the foot of the car, then,
were seen walking figures signifying her various sacrifices; first, for
those that are called the Eleusinia, two little virgins attired in white
vestments, each with a gracious little basket in the hands, one of which
was seen to be all filled with various flowers, and the other with
various ears of corn. After which, for those sacrifices that were
offered to Ceres as Goddess of Earth, there were seen coming two boys,
two women, and two men, likewise all dressed in white, and all crowned
with hyacinths, who were leading two great oxen, as it were to sacrifice
them; and then, for those others that were offered to Ceres the
Law-giver, called by the Greeks Thesmophoros, were seen coming two
matrons only, very chaste in aspect, likewise dressed in white, and in
like manner crowned with ears of corn and agnus-castus. And after
these, in order to display in full the whole order of her sacrifices,
there were seen coming three Greek priests, likewise attired in white
draperies, two of whom carried in the hands two lighted torches, and the
other an ancient lamp, likewise lighted. And, finally, the sacred
company was concluded by the two heroes so much beloved by Ceres, of
whom mention has been made above--Triptolemus, namely, who carried a
plough in the hand and was shown riding upon a dragon, and Iasius, whom
it was thought proper to figure in the easy, rich, and gracious habit of
a huntsman.


TWENTIETH CAR, OF BACCHUS.

Then followed the twentieth car, of Bacchus, likewise shaped with
singular artistry and with novel and truly most fanciful and bizarre
invention; and it was seen in the form of a very graceful little ship
all overlaid with silver, which was balanced in such wise upon a great
base that had the true and natural appearance of the cerulean sea, that
at the slightest movement it was seen, with extraordinary pleasure for
the spectators, to roll from side to side in the very manner of a real
ship upon the real sea. In it, besides the merry and laughing Bacchus,
attired in the usual manner and set in the most commanding place, there
were seen in company with Maron, King of Thrace, some Bacchantes and
some Satyrs all merry and joyful, sounding various cymbals and other
suchlike instruments; and since, as it were, from a part of that happy
ship there rose an abundant fount of bright and foaming wine, they were
seen not only drinking the wine very often from various cups, with much
rejoicing, but also with the licence that wine induces inviting the
bystanders to drink and sing in their company. In place of a mast, also,
the little ship had a great thyrsus wreathed in vine-leaves, which
supported a graceful and swelling sail, upon which, to the end that it
might be gladsome and ornate, were seen painted many of those Bacchantes
who, so it is said, are wont to run about, drinking and dancing and
singing with much licence, over Mount Tmolus, father of the choicest
wines. At the foot of the car, then, was seen walking the beautiful
Syce, beloved by Bacchus, who had upon the head a garland, and in the
hand a branch, of fig; and with her, likewise, was the other love of the
same Bacchus, Staphyle by name, who, besides a great vine-branch with
many grapes that she carried in the hand, was also seen to have made in
no less lovely fashion about her head, with vine-leaves and bunches of
similar grapes, a green and graceful garland. After these came the fair
and youthful Cissus, also beloved by Bacchus, who, falling by
misfortune, was transformed by Mother Earth into ivy, on which account
he was seen in a habit all covered with ivy in every part. And behind
him was seen coming old Silenus, all naked and bound upon an ass with
various garlands of ivy, as if by reason of his drunkenness he were
unable to support himself, and carrying attached to his girdle a great
wooden cup all worn away; and with him, likewise, came the God of
Banquets, called by the ancients Comus, represented in the form of a
ruddy, beardless, and most beautiful youth, all crowned with roses, but
in aspect so somnolent and languid, that it appeared almost as if the
huntsman's boar-spear and the lighted torch that he carried in the hands
might fall from them at any moment. There followed with a panther upon
the back the old and likewise ruddy and laughing Drunkenness, attired in
a red habit, with a great foaming vessel of wine in the hands, and with
her the young and merry Laughter; and behind these were seen coming in
the garb of shepherds and nymphs two men and two women, followers of
Bacchus, crowned and adorned in various ways with various leaves of the
vine. And Semele, the mother of Bacchus, all smoky and scorched in
memory of the ancient fable, with Narcæus, the first ordinator of the
sacrifices to Bacchus, who had a great he-goat upon his back, and was
adorned with antique and shining arms, appeared to form a worthy,
appropriate, and gracious end to that glad and festive company.


TWENTY-FIRST AND LAST CAR.

The twenty-first and last car, representing the Roman Mount Janiculum,
and drawn by two great white rams, was given to the venerable Janus,
figured with two heads, one young and the other old, as is the custom,
and holding in the hands a great key and a thin wand, to demonstrate the
power over doors and streets that is attributed to him. At the foot of
the car was seen coming sacred Religion, attired in white linen
vestments, with one of the hands open, and carrying in the other an
ancient altar with a burning flame; and on either side of her were the
Prayers, represented, as they are described by Homer, in the form of two
wrinkled, lame, cross-eyed, and melancholy old women, dressed in
draperies of turquoise-blue. After these were seen coming Antevorta and
Postvorta, the companions of Divinity, of whom it was believed that the
first had power to know whether prayers were or were not to be heard by
the Gods; and the second, who rendered account only of the past, was
able to say whether prayers had or had not been heard; the first being
figured in the comely aspect and habit of a matron, with a lamp and a
corn-sieve in the hands, and a head-dress covered with ants upon the
head; and the second, clothed in front all in white, and figured with
the face of an old woman, was seen to be attired at the back in heavy
black draperies, and to have the hair, on the contrary, blonde, curling,
and beautiful, such as is generally seen in young and love-compelling
women. Then followed that Favour which we seek from the Gods, to the end
that our desires may have a happy and fortunate end; and he, although
shown in the aspect of a youth, blind and with wings, and with a proud
and haughty presence, yet at times appeared timid and trembling because
of the rolling wheel upon which he was seen standing, doubting that, as
is often seen to happen, at every least turn he might come with great
ease to fall from it; and with him was seen Success, or, as we would
rather say, the happy end of our enterprises, figured as a gay and
lovely youth, holding in one of the hands a cup, and in the other an ear
of corn and a poppy. Then there followed, in the form of a virgin
crowned with oriental palm, with a star upon the brow and with a branch
of the same palm in the hand, Anna Perenna, revered by the ancients as a
Goddess, believing that she was able to make the year fortunate, and
with her were seen coming two Fetiales with the Roman toga, adorned with
garlands of verbenæ and with a sow and a stone in the hands, to denote
the kind of oath that they were wont to take when they made any
declaration for the Roman people. Behind these, then, following the
religious ceremonies of war, was seen coming a Roman Consul in the
Gabinian and purple toga, and with a spear in the hand, and with him two
Roman Senators likewise in the toga, and two soldiers in full armour and
with the Roman javelin. And finally, concluding that company and all the
others, there followed Money, attired in draperies of yellow, white, and
tawny colour, and holding in the hands various instruments for striking
coins; the use of which, so it is believed, was first discovered and
introduced, as a thing necessary to the human race, by Janus.

Such were the cars and companies of that marvellous masquerade, the like
of which was never seen before, and, perchance, will never be seen again
in our day. And about it--leaving on one side, as a burden too great for
my shoulders, the vast and incomparable praises that would be due to
it--there had been marshalled with much judgment six very rich masks in
the guise of sergeants, or rather, captains, who, harmonizing very well
with the invention of the whole, were seen, according as necessity
demanded, running hither and thither and keeping all that long line,
which occupied about half a mile of road, advancing in due order with
decorum and grace.

Now, drawing near at length to the end of that splendid and most merry
Carnival, which would have been much more merry and celebrated with much
more splendour, if the inopportune death of Pius IV, which happened a
short time before, had not incommoded a good number of very reverend
Cardinals and other very illustrious lords from all Italy, who, invited
to those most royal nuptials, had made preparations to come; and leaving
on one side the rich and lovely inventions without number seen in the
separate masks, thanks to the amorous young men, not only in the
innumerable banquets and other suchlike entertainments, but wherever
they broke a lance or tilted at the ring, now in one place and now in
another, and wherever they made similar trial of their dexterity and
valour in a thousand other games; and treating only of the last
festival, which was seen on the last day, I shall say that although
there had been seen the innumerable things, so rare, so rich, and so
ingenious, of which mention has been made above, yet this festival,
from the pleasing nature of the play, from the richness, emulation and
competence shown in it by our craftsmen (some of whom, as always
happens, considered themselves surpassed in the things accomplished),
and from a certain extravagance and variety in the inventions, some of
which appeared beautiful and ingenious, and others ridiculous and
clumsy, this one, I say, also displayed an extraordinary and most
charming beauty, and likewise gave to the admiring people, amid all that
satiety, a pleasure and a delight that were marvellous and perhaps
unexpected; and it was a buffalo-race, composed of ten distinct
companies, which were distributed, besides those that the Sovereign
Princes took for themselves, partly among the lords of the Court and the
strangers, and partly among the gentlemen of the city and the two
colonies of merchants, the Spanish and the Genoese. First, then, upon
the first buffalo that appeared in the appointed place, there was seen
coming Wickedness, adorned with great art and judgment, who was shown
being chased, goaded and beaten by six cavaliers likewise figured most
ingeniously as Scourging, or rather, Scourges. After that, upon the
second buffalo, which had the appearance of a lazy ass, was seen coming
the old and drunken Silenus, supported by six Bacchants, who were seen
striving at the same time to goad and spur the ass; even as upon the
third, which had the form of a calf, there was likewise seen coming the
ancient Osiris, accompanied by six of the companions or soldiers with
whom, it is believed, that Deity travelled over many parts of the world
and taught to the still new and barbarous races the cultivation of the
fields. Upon the fourth, without any disguise, was placed as on
horseback Human Life, likewise chased and goaded by six cavaliers who
represented the Years; even as upon the fifth, also without any
disguise, was seen coming Fame with the many mouths and with the great
wings of desire that are customary, also chased by six cavaliers who
resembled Virtue, or the Virtues; which Virtues, so it was said, chasing
her, were aspiring to obtain the due and well-deserved reward of honour.
Upon the sixth, then, was seen coming a very rich Mercury, who was shown
being goaded and urged on no less than the others by six other similar
figures of Mercury; and upon the seventh was seen the nurse of Romulus,
Acca Laurentia, with six of her Fratres Arvales, who were not only
urging her lazy animal to a run with their goads, but seemed almost to
have been introduced to keep her company with much fittingness and pomp.
Upon the eighth, next, was seen coming with much grace and richness a
large and very natural owl, with six cavaliers in the form of bats most
natural and marvellously similar to the reality, who with most dexterous
horses, goading the buffalo now from one side and now from another, were
seen delivering a thousand joyous and most festive assaults. For the
ninth, with singular artifice and ingenious illusion, there was seen
appearing little by little a Cloud, which, after it had held the eyes of
the spectators for some time in suspense, was seen in an instant as it
were to part asunder, and from it issued the seafaring Misenus seated
upon the buffalo, which at once was seen pursued and pricked by six
Tritons adorned in a very rich and most masterly fashion. And for the
tenth and last there was seen coming, almost with the same artifice, but
in a different and much larger form and in a different colour, another
similar Cloud, which, parting asunder in like manner at the appointed
place with smoke and flame and a horrible thunder, was seen to have
within it infernal Pluto, drawn in his usual car, and from it in a most
gracious manner was seen to come forth in place of a buffalo a great and
awful Cerberus, who was chased by six of those glorious ancient heroes
who are supposed to dwell in peace in the Elysian Fields. All those
companies, when they had appeared one by one upon the piazza, and
presented the due and gracious spectacle, and after a long breaking of
lances, a great caracoling of horses, and a thousand other suchlike
games, with which the fair ladies and the multitude of spectators were
entertained for a good time, finally made their way to the place where
the buffaloes were to be set to race. And there, the trumpet having
sounded, and each company striving that its buffalo should arrive at the
appointed goal before the others, and now one prevailing and now
another, all of a sudden, when they were come within a certain distance
of the place, all the air about them was seen filled with terror and
alarm from the great and deafening fires that smote them now on one side
and now on another, in a thousand strange fashions, insomuch that very
often it was seen to happen that one who at the beginning had been
nearest to winning the coveted prize, the timid and not very obedient
animal taking fright at the noise, the smoke, and the fires above
described, which, in proportion as one went ahead, became ever greater
and assailed that one with ever greater vehemence, so that the animals
turned in various directions, and very often took to headlong flight--it
was seen many times, I say, that the first were constrained to return
among the last; while the confusion of men, buffaloes, and horses, and
the lightning-flashes, noises, and thunderings, produced a strange,
novel, and incomparable pleasure and delight. And thus with that
spectacle was finally contrived a splendid, although for many perhaps
disturbing, conclusion of the joyous and most festive Carnival.

In the first and holy days of the following Lent, with the thought of
pleasing the most devout bride, but also with truly extraordinary
pleasure for the whole people, who, having been deprived of such things
for many years, and part of the fragile apparatus having been lost,
feared that they would never be resumed, there was held the festival, so
famous and so celebrated in olden days, of S. Felice, so-called from the
church where it used formerly to be represented. But this time, besides
that which their Excellencies, our Lords, themselves deigned to do, it
was represented at the pains and expense of four of the principal and
most ingenious gentlemen of the city in the Church of S. Spirito, as a
place more capacious and more beautiful, with a vast apparatus of
machinery and all the old instruments and not a few newly added. In it,
besides many Prophets and Sibyls who, singing in the simple ancient
manner, announced the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, very
notable--nay, marvellous, stupendous, and incomparable, from its having
been contrived in those ignorant ages--was the Paradise, which, opening
in an instant, was seen filled with all the hierarchies of the Angels
and of the Saints both male and female, and with various movements
representing its different spheres, and as it were sending down to earth
the Divine Gabriel shining with infinite splendour, in the midst of
eight other little Angels, to bring the Annunciation to the Glorious
Virgin, who was seen waiting in her chamber, all humble and devout; all
being let down (and reascending afterwards), to the rare marvel of
everyone, from the highest part of the cupola of that church, where the
above-described Paradise was figured, down to the floor of the chamber
of the Virgin, which was not raised any great height from the ground,
and all with such security and by methods so beautiful, so facile, and
so ingenious, that it appeared scarcely possible that the human brain
was able to go so far. And with this the festivities all arranged by our
most excellent Lords for those most royal nuptials had a conclusion not
only renowned and splendid, but also, as was right fitting for true
Christian Princes, religious and devout.

Many things, also, could have been told of a very noble spectacle
presented by the most liberal Signor Paolo Giordano Orsino, Duke of
Bracciano, in a great and most heroic theatre, all suspended in the air,
which was constructed by him of woodwork in those days with royal spirit
and incredible expense; and in it, with very rich inventions of the
Knights Challengers, of whom he was one, and of the Knights Adventurers,
there was fought with various arms a combat for a barrier, and there was
performed with beautifully trained horses, to the rare delight of the
spectators, the graceful dance called the Battaglia. But this, being
hindered by inopportune rains, was prolonged over many days; and since,
seeking to treat of it at any length, it would require almost an entire
work, being now weary, I believe that I may be pardoned if without
saying more of it I bring this my long--I know not whether to call it
tedious--labour, at length to an end.




GIORGIO VASARI




DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKS OF GIORGIO VASARI

PAINTER AND ARCHITECT OF AREZZO


Having discoursed hitherto of the works of others, with the greatest
diligence and sincerity that my brain has been able to command, I also
wish at the end of these my labours to assemble together and make known
to the world the works that the Divine Goodness in its grace has enabled
me to execute, for the reason that, if indeed they are not of that
perfection which I might wish, it will yet be seen by him who may
consent to look at them with no jaundiced eye that they have been
wrought by me with study, diligence, and loving labour, and are
therefore worthy, if not of praise, at least of excuse; besides which,
being out in the world and open to view, I cannot hide them. And since
perchance at some time they might be described by some other person, it
is surely better that I should confess the truth, and of myself accuse
my imperfection, which I know only too well, being assured of this, that
if, as I said, there may not be seen in them the perfection of
excellence, there will be perceived at least an ardent desire to work
well, great and indefatigable effort, and the extraordinary love that I
bear to our arts. Wherefore it may come about that, according to the
law, myself confessing openly my own deficiencies, I shall be in great
part pardoned.

To begin, then, with my earliest years, let me say that, having spoken
sufficiently of the origin of my family, of my birth and childhood, and
how I was set by Antonio, my father, with all manner of lovingness on
the path of the arts, and in particular that of design, to which he saw
me much inclined, with good occasions in the Life of Luca Signorelli of
Cortona, my kinsman, in that of Francesco Salviati, and in many other
places in the present work, I shall not proceed to repeat the same
things. But I must relate that after having drawn in my first years all
the good pictures that are about the churches of Arezzo, the first
rudiments were taught to me with some method by the Frenchman Guglielmo
da Marcilla, whose life and works we have described above. Then, having
been taken to Florence in the year 1524 by Silvio Passerini, Cardinal of
Cortona, I gave some little attention to design under Michelagnolo,
Andrea del Sarto, and others. But the Medici having been driven from
Florence in the year 1527, and in particular Alessandro and Ippolito,
with whom, young as I was, I had a strait attachment of service through
the said Cardinal, my paternal uncle Don Antonio made me return to
Arezzo, where a short time before my father had died of plague; which
Don Antonio, keeping me at a distance from the city lest I might be
infected by the plague, was the reason that I, to avoid idleness, went
about exercising my hand throughout the district of Arezzo, near our
parts, painting some things in fresco for the peasants of the
countryside, although as yet I had scarcely ever touched colours; in
doing which I learned that to try your hand and work by yourself is
helpful and instructive, and enables you to gain excellent practice. In
the year afterwards, 1528, the plague being finished, the first work
that I executed was a little altar-picture for the Church of S. Piero,
of the Servite Friars, at Arezzo; and in that picture, which is placed
against a pilaster, are three half-length figures, S. Agatha, S. Rocco,
and S. Sebastian. Being seen by Rosso, a very famous painter, who came
in those days to Arezzo, it came about that he, recognizing in it
something of the good taken from Nature, desired to know me, and
afterwards assisted me with designs and counsel. Nor was it long before
by his means M. Lorenzo Gamurrini gave me an altar-picture to execute,
for which Rosso made me the design; and I then painted it with all the
study, labour, and diligence that were possible to me, in order to learn
and to acquire something of a name. And if my powers had equalled my
good will, I would have soon become a passing good painter, so much I
studied and laboured at the things of art; but I found the difficulties
much greater than I had judged at the beginning.

However, not losing heart, I returned to Florence, where, perceiving
that I could not save only after a long time become such as to be able
to assist the three sisters and two younger brothers left to me by my
father, I placed myself with a goldsmith. But not for long, because in
the year 1529, the enemy having come against Florence, I went off with
the goldsmith Manno, who was very much my friend, to Pisa, where,
setting aside the goldsmith's craft, I painted in fresco the arch that
is over the door of the old Company of the Florentines, and some
pictures in oils, which were given to me to execute by means of Don
Miniato Pitti, at that time Abbot of Agnano without the city of Pisa,
and of Luigi Guicciardini, who was then in that city. Then, the war
growing every day more general, I resolved to return to Arezzo; but, not
being able to go by the direct and ordinary road, I made my way by the
mountains of Modena to Bologna. There, finding that some triumphal
arches were being decorated in painting for the coronation of Charles V,
young as I was I obtained some work, which brought me honour and profit;
and since I drew passing well, I would have found means to live and work
there. But the desire that I had to revisit my family and other
relatives brought it about that, having found good company, I returned
to Arezzo, where, finding my affairs in a good state after the diligent
care taken of them by the above-named Don Antonio, my uncle, I settled
down with a quiet mind and applied myself to design, executing also some
little things in oils of no great importance. Meanwhile the above-named
Don Miniato Pitti was made Abbot or Prior, I know not which, of S. Anna,
a monastery of Monte Oliveto in the territory of Siena, and he sent for
me; and so I made for him and for Albenga, their General, some pictures
and other works in painting. Then, the same man having been made Abbot
of S. Bernardo in Arezzo, I painted for him two pictures in oils of Job
and Moses on the balustrade of the organ. And since the work pleased
those monks, they commissioned me to paint some pictures in
fresco--namely, the four Evangelists--on the vaulting and walls of a
portico before the principal door of the church, with God the Father on
the vaulting, and some other figures large as life; in which, although
as a youth of little experience I did not do all that one more practised
would have done, nevertheless I did all that I could, and work which
pleased those fathers, having regard for my small experience and age.
But scarcely had I finished that work when Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici,
passing through Arezzo by post, took me away to Rome to serve him, as
has been related in the Life of Salviati; and there, by the courtesy of
that lord, I had facilities to attend for many months to the study of
design. And I could say with truth that those facilities and my studies
at that time were my true and principal master in my art, although
before that those named above had assisted me not a little; and there
had not gone from my heart the ardent desire to learn, and the untiring
zeal to be always drawing night and day. There was also of great benefit
to me in those days the competition of my young contemporaries and
companions, who have since become for the most part very excellent in
our art. Nor was it otherwise than a very sharp spur to me to have such
a desire of glory, and to see many who had proved themselves very rare,
and had risen to honour and rank; so that I used to say to myself at
times: "Why should it not be in my power to obtain by assiduous study
and labour some of that grandeur and rank that so many others have
acquired? They, also, were of flesh and bones, as I am."

Urged on, therefore, by so many sharp spurs, and by seeing how much need
my family had of me, I disposed myself never to shrink from any fatigue,
discomfort, vigil, and toil, in order to achieve that end; and, having
thus resolved in my mind, there remained nothing notable at that time in
Rome, or afterwards in Florence, and in other places where I dwelt, that
I did not draw in my youth, and not pictures only, but also sculptures
and architectural works ancient and modern. And besides the proficience
that I made in drawing the vaulting and chapel of Michelagnolo, there
remained nothing of Raffaello, Polidoro, and Baldassarre da Siena, that
I did not likewise draw in company with Francesco Salviati, as has been
told already in his Life. And to the end that each of us might have
drawings of everything, during the day the one would not draw the same
things as the other, but different, and then at night we used to copy
each other's drawings, so as to save time and extend our studies; not to
mention that more often than not we ate our morning meal standing up,
and little at that. After which incredible labour, the first work that
issued from my hands, as from my own forge, was a great picture with
figures large as life, of a Venus with the Graces adorning and
beautifying her, which Cardinal de' Medici caused me to paint; but of
that picture there is no need to speak, because it was the work of a
lad, nor would I touch on it, save that it is dear to me to remember
still these first beginnings and many upward steps of my apprenticeship
in the arts. Enough that that lord and others gave me to believe that
there was in it a certain something of a good beginning and of a lively
and resolute spirit. And since among other things I had made therein to
please my fancy a lustful Satyr who, standing hidden amid some bushes,
was rejoicing and feasting himself on the sight of Venus and the Graces
nude, that so pleased the Cardinal that he had me clothed anew from head
to foot, and then gave orders that I should paint in a larger picture,
likewise in oils, the battle of the Satyrs with the Fauns, Sylvan Gods,
and children, forming a sort of Bacchanal; whereupon, setting to work, I
made the cartoon and then sketched in the canvas in colours, which was
ten braccia long. Having then to depart in the direction of Hungary, the
Cardinal made me known to Pope Clement and left me to the protection of
his Holiness, who gave me into the charge of Signor Jeronimo Montaguto,
his Chamberlain, with letters authorizing that, if I might wish to fly
from the air of Rome that summer, I should be received in Florence by
Duke Alessandro; which it would have been well for me to do, because,
choosing after all to stay in Rome, what with the heat, the air, and my
fatigue, I fell sick in such sort that in order to be restored I was
forced to have myself carried by litter to Arezzo. Finally, however,
being well again, about the 10th of the following December I came to
Florence, where I was received by the above-named Duke with kindly mien,
and shortly afterwards given into the charge of the magnificent M.
Ottaviano de' Medici, who so took me under his protection, that as long
as he lived he treated me always as a son; and his blessed memory I
shall always remember and revere, as of a most affectionate father.
Returning then to my usual studies, I received facilities by means of
that lord to enter at my pleasure into the new sacristy of S. Lorenzo,
where are the works of Michelagnolo, he having gone in those days to
Rome; and so I studied them for some time with much diligence, just as
they were on the ground. Then, setting myself to work, I painted in a
picture of three braccia a Dead Christ carried to the Sepulchre by
Nicodemus, Joseph, and others, and behind them the Maries weeping; which
picture, when it was finished, was taken by Duke Alessandro. And it was
a good and auspicious beginning for my labours, for the reason that not
only did he hold it in account as long as he lived, but it has been ever
since in the chamber of Duke Cosimo, and is now in that of the most
illustrious Prince, his son; and although at times I have desired to set
my hand upon it again, in order to improve it in some parts, I have not
been allowed. Duke Alessandro, then, having seen this my first work,
ordained that I should finish the ground-floor room in the Palace of the
Medici which had been left incomplete, as has been related, by Giovanni
da Udine. Whereupon I painted there four stories of the actions of
Cæsar; his swimming with the Commentaries in one hand and a sword in the
mouth, his causing the writings of Pompeius to be burned in order not to
see the works of his enemies, his revealing himself to a helmsman while
tossed by fortune on the sea, and, finally, his triumph; but this last
was not completely finished. During which time, although I was but
little more than eighteen years of age, the Duke gave me a salary of six
crowns a month, a place at table for myself and a servant, and rooms to
live in, with many other conveniences. And although I knew that I was
very far from deserving so much, yet I did all that I could with
diligence and lovingness, nor did I shrink from asking from my elders
whatever I did not know myself; wherefore on many occasions I was
assisted with counsel and with work by Tribolo, Bandinelli, and others.
I painted, then, in a picture three braccia high, Duke Alessandro
himself in armour, portrayed from life, with a new invention in a seat
formed of captives bound together, and with other fantasies. And I
remember that besides the portrait, which was a good likeness, in
seeking to make the burnished surface of the armour bright, shining, and
natural, I was not very far from losing my wits, so much did I exert
myself in copying every least thing from the reality. However,
despairing to be able to approach to the truth in the work, I took
Jacopo da Pontormo, whom I revered for his great ability, to see it and
to advise me; and he, having seen the picture and perceived my agony,
said to me lovingly: "My son, as long as this real lustrous armour
stands beside the picture, your armour will always appear to you as
painted, for, although lead-white is the most brilliant pigment that art
employs, the iron is yet more brilliant and lustrous. Take away the real
armour, and you will then see that your counterfeit armour is not such
poor stuff as you think it."

That picture, when it was finished, I gave to the Duke, and the Duke
presented it to M. Ottaviano de' Medici, in whose house it has been up
to the present day, in company with the portrait of Caterina, the then
young sister of the Duke, and afterwards Queen of France, and that of
the Magnificent Lorenzo, the Elder. And in the same house are three
pictures also by my hand and executed in my youth; in one is Abraham
sacrificing Isaac, in the second Christ in the Garden, and in the third
His Supper with the Apostles. Meanwhile Cardinal Ippolito died, in whom
was centred the sum of all my hopes, and I began to recognize how vain
generally are the hopes of this world, and that a man must trust mostly
in himself and in being of some account. After these works, perceiving
that the Duke was all given over to fortifications and to building, I
began, the better to be able to serve him, to give attention to matters
of architecture, and spent much time upon them. But meanwhile, festive
preparations having to be made in Florence in the year 1536 for
receiving the Emperor Charles V, the Duke, in giving orders for that,
commanded the deputies charged with the care of those pomps, as has been
related in the Life of Tribolo, that they should have me with them to
design all the arches and other ornaments to be made for that entry.
Which done, there was allotted to me for my benefit, besides the great
banners of the castle and fortress, as has been told, the façade in the
manner of a triumphal arch that was constructed at S. Felice in Piazza,
forty braccia high and twenty wide, and then the ornamentation of the
Porta a S. Piero Gattolini; works all great and beyond my strength. And,
what was worse, those favours having drawn down upon me a thousand
envious thoughts, about twenty men who were helping me to do the banners
and the other labours left me nicely in the lurch, at the persuasion of
one person or another, to the end that I might not be able to execute
works so many and of such importance. But I, who had foreseen the malice
of such creatures (to whom I had always sought to give assistance),
partly labouring with my own hand day and night, and partly aided by
painters brought in from without, who helped me secretly, attended to my
business, and strove to conquer all such difficulties and treacheries by
means of the works themselves. During that time Bertoldo Corsini, who
was then proveditor-general to his Excellency, had reported to the Duke
that I had undertaken to do so many things that it would never be
possible for me to have them finished in time, particularly because I
had no men and the works were much in arrears. Whereupon the Duke sent
for me, and told me what he had heard; and I answered that my works were
well advanced, as his Excellency might see at his pleasure, and that the
end would do credit to the whole. Then I went away, and no long time
passed before he came secretly to where I was working, and, having seen
everything, recognized in part the envy and malice of those who were
pressing upon me without having any cause. The time having come when
everything was to be in order, I had finished my works to the last
detail and set them in their places, to the great satisfaction of the
Duke and of all the city; whereas those of some who had thought more of
my business than of their own, were set in place unfinished. When the
festivities were over, besides four hundred crowns that were paid to me
for my work, the Duke gave me three hundred that were taken away from
those who had not carried their works to completion by the appointed
time, according as had been arranged by agreement. And with those
earnings and donations I married one of my sisters, and shortly
afterwards settled another as a nun in the Murate at Arezzo, giving to
the convent besides the dowry, or rather, alms, an altar-picture of the
Annunciation by my hand, with a Tabernacle of the Sacrament accommodated
in that picture, which was placed within their choir, where they perform
their offices. Having then received from the Company of the Corpus
Domini, at Arezzo, the commission for the altar-piece of the high-altar
of S. Domenico, I painted in it Christ taken down from the Cross; and
shortly afterwards I began for the Company of S. Rocco the
altar-picture of their church, in Florence.

Now, while I was going on winning for myself honour, name, and wealth
under the protection of Duke Alessandro, that poor lord was cruelly
murdered, and there was snatched away from me all hope of that which I
was promising to myself from Fortune by means of his favour; wherefore,
having been robbed within a few years of Clement, Ippolito, and
Alessandro, I resolved at the advice of M. Ottaviano that I would never
again follow the fortune of Courts, but only art, although it would have
been easy to establish myself with Signor Cosimo de' Medici, the new
Duke. And so, while carrying forward in Arezzo the above-named
altar-picture and the façade of S. Rocco, with the ornament, I was
making preparations to go to Rome, when by means of M. Giovanni
Pollastra--and by the will of God, to whom I have always commended
myself, and to whom I attribute and have always attributed my every
blessing--I was invited to Camaldoli, the centre of the Camaldolese
Congregation, by the fathers of that hermitage, to see that which they
were designing to have done in their church. Arriving there, I found
supreme pleasure in the Alpine and eternal solitude and quietness of
that holy place; and although I became aware at the first moment that
those fathers of venerable aspect were beside themselves at seeing me so
young, I took heart and talked to them to such purpose, that they
resolved that they would avail themselves of my hand in the many
pictures in oils and in fresco that were to be painted in their church
of Camaldoli. Now, while they wished that before any other thing I
should execute the picture of the high-altar, I proved to them with good
reasons that it was better to paint first one of the lesser pictures,
which were going in the tramezzo,[2] and that, having finished it, if it
should please them, I would be able to continue. Besides that, I would
not make any fixed agreement with them as to money, but said that if my
work, when finished, were to please them, they might pay me for it as
they chose, and, if it did not please them, they might return it to me,
and I would keep it for myself most willingly; which condition appearing
to them only too honest and loving, they were content that I should set
my hand to the work. They said to me, then, that they wished to have in
it Our Lady with her Son in her arms, and S. John the Baptist and S.
Jerome, who were both hermits and lived in woods and forests; and I
departed from the hermitage and made my way down to their Abbey of
Camaldoli, where, having made a design with great rapidity, which
pleased them, I began the altar-piece, and in two months had it
completely finished and set in place, to the great satisfaction of those
fathers, as they gave me to understand, and of myself. And in that
period of two months I proved how much more one is assisted in studies
by sweet tranquillity and honest solitude than by the noises of public
squares and courts; I recognized, I say, my error in having in the past
placed my hopes in men and in the follies and intrigues of this world.
That altar-picture finished, then, they allotted to me straightway the
rest of the tramezzo[3] of the church--namely, the scenes and other
things in fresco-work to be painted there both high and low, which I was
to execute during the following summer, for the reason that in the
winter it would be scarcely possible to work in fresco at that altitude,
among those mountains.

         [Footnote 2: See note on p. 57, Vol. I.]

         [Footnote 3: See note on p. 57, Vol. I.]

Meanwhile I returned to Arezzo and finished the altar-picture for S.
Rocco, painting in it Our Lady, six Saints, and a God the Father with
some thunderbolts in the hand, representing the pestilence, which He is
in the act of hurling down, but S. Rocco and other Saints make
intercession for the people. And in the façade are many figures in
fresco, which, like the altar-picture, are no better than they should
be. Then Fra Bartolommeo Gratiani, a friar of S. Agostino in Monte
Sansovino, sent to invite me to Val di Caprese, and commissioned me to
execute a great altar-piece in oils for the high-altar of the Church of
S. Agostino in that same Monte Sansovino. And after we had come to an
agreement, I made my way to Florence to see M. Ottaviano, where, staying
several days, I had much ado to prevent myself from re-entering the
service of the Court, as I was minded not to do. However, by advancing
good reasons I won the battle, and I resolved that by hook or by crook,
before doing anything else, I would go to Rome. But in that I did not
succeed until I had made for that same Messer Ottaviano a copy of the
picture in which formerly Raffaello da Urbino had portrayed Pope Leo,
Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, and Cardinal de' Rossi, for the Duke was
claiming the original, which was then in the possession of Messer
Ottaviano; and the copy that I made is now in the house of the heirs of
that lord, who on my departure for Rome wrote me a letter of exchange
for five hundred crowns on Giovan Battista Puccini, which he was to pay
me on demand, and said to me: "Use this money to enable you to attend to
your studies, and afterwards, when you find it convenient, you can
return it to me either in work or in cash, just as you please." Arriving
in Rome, then, in February of the year 1538, I stayed there until the
end of June, giving my attention in company with Giovan Battista Cungi
of the Borgo, my assistant, to drawing all that I had left not drawn the
other times that I had been in Rome, and particularly everything that
was in the underground grottoes. Nor did I leave anything either in
architecture or in sculpture that I did not draw and measure, insomuch
that I can say with truth that the drawings that I made in that space of
time were more than three hundred; and for many years afterwards I found
pleasure and advantage in examining them, refreshing the memory of the
things of Rome. And how much those labours and studies benefited me, was
seen after my return to Tuscany in the altar-picture that I executed at
Monte Sansovino, in which I painted with a somewhat better manner the
Assumption of Our Lady, and at the foot, besides the Apostles who are
about the sepulchre, S. Augustine and S. Romualdo. Having then gone to
Camaldoli, according as I had promised those eremite fathers, I painted
in the other altar-piece of the tramezzo[4] the Nativity of Jesus
Christ, representing a night illumined by the Splendour of the newborn
Christ, who is surrounded by some Shepherds adoring Him; in doing which,
I strove to imitate with colours the rays of the sun, and copied the
figures and all the other things in that work from Nature and in the
proper light, to the end that they might be as similar as possible to
the reality. Then, since that light could not pass above the hut, from
there upwards and all around I availed myself of a light that comes from
the splendour of the Angels that are in the air, singing Gloria in
Excelsis Deo; not to mention that in certain places the Shepherds that
are around make light with burning sheaves of straw, and also the Moon
and the Star, and the Angel that is appearing to certain Shepherds. For
the building, then, I made some antiquities after my own fancy, with
broken statues and other things of that kind. In short, I executed that
work with all my power and knowledge, and although I did not satisfy
with the hand and the brush my great desire and eagerness to work
supremely well, nevertheless the picture has pleased many; wherefore
Messer Fausto Sabeo, a man of great learning who was then custodian of
the Pope's Library, and some others after him, wrote many Latin verses
in praise of that picture, moved perhaps more by affectionate feeling
than by the excellence of the work. Be that as it may, if there be in it
anything of the good, it was the gift of God. That altar-picture
finished, those fathers resolved that I should paint in fresco on the
façade the stories that were to be there, whereupon I painted over the
door a picture of the hermitage, with S. Romualdo and a Doge of Venice
who was a saintly man on one side, and on the other a vision which the
above-named Saint had in that place where he afterwards made his
hermitage; with some fantasies, grotesques, and other things that are to
be seen there. Which done, they ordained that I should return in the
summer of the following year to execute the picture of the high-altar.

         [Footnote 4: See note on p. 57, Vol. I.]

Meanwhile the above-named Don Miniato Pitti, who was then Visitor to the
Congregation of Monte Oliveto, having seen the altar-picture of Monte
Sansovino and the works of Camaldoli, and finding in Bologna the
Florentine Don Filippo Serragli, Abbot of S. Michele in Bosco, said to
him that, since the refectory of that honoured monastery was to be
painted, it appeared to him that the work should be allotted to me and
not to another. Being therefore summoned to go to Bologna, I undertook
to do it, although it was a great and important work; but first I
desired to see all the most famous works in painting that were in that
city, both by Bolognese and by others. The work of the head-wall of that
refectory was divided into three pictures; in one was to be when Abraham
prepared food for the Angels in the Valley of Mamre, in the second
Christ in the house of Mary Magdalene and Martha, speaking with Martha,
and saying to her that Mary had chosen the better part, and in the third
was to be S. Gregory at table with twelve poor men, among whom he
recognized one as Christ. Then, setting my hand to the work, I depicted
in the last S. Gregory at table in a convent, served by White Friars of
that Order, that I might be able to include those fathers therein,
according to their wish. Besides that, I made in the figure of that
saintly Pontiff the likeness of Pope Clement VII, and about him, among
many Lords, Ambassadors, Princes, and other personages who stand there
to see him eat, I portrayed Duke Alessandro de' Medici, in memory of the
benefits and favours that I had received from him, and of his having
been what he was, and with him many of my friends. And among those who
are serving the poor men at table, I portrayed some friars of that
convent with whom I was intimate, such as the strangers' attendants who
waited upon me, the dispenser, the cellarer, and others of the kind; and
so, also, the Abbot Serragli, the General Don Cipriano da Verona, and
Bentivoglio. In like manner, I copied the vestments of that Pontiff from
the reality, counterfeiting velvets, damasks, and other draperies of
silk and gold of every kind; but the service of the table, vases,
animals, and other things, I caused to be executed by Cristofano of the
Borgo, as was told in his Life. In the second scene I sought to make the
heads, draperies, and buildings not only different from the first, but
in such a manner as to make as clearly evident as possible the
lovingness of Christ in instructing the Magdalene, and the affection and
readiness of Martha in arranging the table, and her lamentation at being
left alone by her sister in such labours and service; to say nothing of
the attentiveness of the Apostles, and of many other things worthy of
consideration in that picture. As for the third scene, I painted the
three Angels--coming to do this I know not how--within a celestial light
which seems to radiate from them, while the rays of the sun surround the
cloud in which they are. Of the three Angels the old Abraham is adoring
one, although those that he sees are three; while Sarah stands laughing
and wondering how that can come to pass which has been promised to her,
and Hagar, with Ishmael in her arms, is departing from the hospitable
shelter. The same radiance also gives light to some servants who are
preparing the table, among whom are some who, not being able to endure
that splendour, place their hands over their eyes and seek to shade
themselves. Which variety of things, since strong shadows and brilliant
lights give greater force to pictures, caused this one to have more
relief than the other two, and, the colours being varied, they produced
a very different effect. But would I had been able to carry my
conception into execution, even as both then and afterwards, with new
inventions and fantasies, I was always seeking out the laborious and
difficult in art. This work, then, whatever it may be, was executed by
me in eight months, together with a frieze in fresco, architectural
ornaments, carvings, seat-backs, panels, and other adornments over the
whole work and the whole refectory; and the price of all I was content
to make two hundred crowns, as one who aspired more to glory than to
gain. Wherefore M. Andrea Alciati, my very dear friend, who was then
reading in Bologna, caused these words to be placed at the foot:

  OCTONIS MENSIBUS OPUS AB ARETINO GEORGIO PICTUM, NON TAM PRECIO
  QUAM AMICORUM OBSEQUIS ET HONORIS VOTO, ANNO 1539 PHILIPPUS
  SERRALIUS PON. CURAVIT.

At this same time I executed two little altar-pictures, of the Dead
Christ and of the Resurrection, which were placed by the Abbot Don
Miniato Pitti in the Church of S. Maria di Barbiano, without San
Gimignano in Valdelsa. Which works finished, I returned straightway to
Florence, for the reason that Treviso, Maestro Biagio, and other
Bolognese painters, thinking that I was seeking to establish myself in
Bologna and to take their works and commissions out of their hands, kept
molesting me unceasingly; but they did more harm to themselves than to
me, and their envious ways moved me to laughter. In Florence, then, I
copied for M. Ottaviano a large portrait of Cardinal Ippolito down to
the knees, and other pictures, with which I kept myself occupied until
the insupportable heat of summer. Which having come, I returned to the
quiet and freshness of Camaldoli, in order to execute the
above-mentioned altar-piece of the high-altar. In that work I painted a
Christ taken down from the Cross, with the greatest study and labour
that were within my power; and since, in the course of the work and of
time, it seemed necessary to me to improve certain things, and I was not
satisfied with the first sketch, I gave it another priming and repainted
it all anew, as it is now to be seen, and then, attracted by the
solitude and staying in that same place, I executed there a picture for
the same Messer Ottaviano, in which I painted a young S. John, nude,
among some rocks and crags that I copied from Nature among those
mountains. And I had scarcely finished these works when there arrived in
Camaldoli Messer Bindo Altoviti, who wished to arrange a transportation
of great fir-trees to Rome by way of the Tiber, for the fabric of S.
Pietro, from the Cella di S. Alberigo, a place belonging to those
fathers; and he, seeing all the works executed by me in that place, and
by my good fortune liking them, resolved, before he departed thence,
that I should paint an alter-picture for his Church of S. Apostolo in
Florence. Wherefore, having finished that of Camaldoli, with the façade
of the chapel in fresco (wherein I made the experiment of combining work
in oil-colours with the other, and succeeded passing well), I made my
way to Florence, and there executed that altar-picture. Now, having to
give a proof of my powers in Florence, where I had not yet executed such
a work, and having many rivals, and also a desire to acquire a name, I
resolved that I would do my utmost in that work and put into it all the
diligence that I might find possible. And in order to be able to do that
free from every vexatious thought, I first married my third sister and
bought a house already begun in Arezzo, with a site for making most
beautiful gardens, in the Borgo di S. Vito, in the best air of that
city. In October, then, of the year 1540, I began the altar-picture for
Messer Bindo, proposing to paint in it a scene that should represent the
Conception of Our Lady, according to the title of the chapel; which
subject presenting no little difficulty to me, Messer Bindo and I took
the opinions of many common friends, men of learning, and finally I
executed it in the following manner. Having depicted the Tree of the
Primal Sin in the middle of the picture, I painted at its roots Adam and
Eve naked and bound, as the first transgressors of the commandment of
God, and then one by one, bound to the other branches, Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David, and the other Kings in succession,
according to the order of time; all, I say, bound by both arms,
excepting Samuel and John the Baptist, who are bound by one arm only,
because they were blessed in the womb. I painted there, also, with the
tail wound about the trunk of the Tree, the Ancient Serpent, who, having
a human form from the middle upwards, has the hands bound behind; and
upon his head, treading upon his horns, is one foot of the glorious
Virgin, who has the other on a Moon, being herself all clothed with the
Sun, and crowned with twelve stars. The Virgin, I say, is supported in
the air, within a Splendour, by many nude little Angels, who are
illumined by the rays that come from her; which rays, likewise, passing
through the leaves of the Tree, shed light upon those bound to it, and
appear to be loosing their bonds by means of the virtue and grace that
they bring from her from whom they proceed. And in the heaven, at the
top of the picture, are two children that are holding certain scrolls,
in which are written these words: QUOS EVÆ CULPA DAMNAVIT, MARIÆ GRATIA
SOLVIT. In short, so far as I can remember, I had not executed any work
up to that time with more study or with more lovingness and labour; but
all the same, while I may perhaps have satisfied others, I did not
satisfy myself, although I know the time, study, and labour that I
devoted to it, particularly to the nudes and heads, and, indeed, to
every part.

For the labours of that picture Messer Bindo gave me three hundred
crowns of gold, besides which, in the following year, he showed me so
many courtesies and kindnesses in his house in Rome, where I made him a
copy of the same altar-piece in a little picture, almost in miniature,
that I shall always feel an obligation to his memory. At the same time
that I painted that picture, which was placed, as I have said, in S.
Apostolo, I executed for M. Ottaviano de' Medici a Venus and a Leda from
the cartoons of Michelagnolo, and in a large picture a S. Jerome in
Penitence of the size of life, who, contemplating the death of Christ,
whom he has before him on the Cross, is beating his breast in order to
drive from his mind the thoughts of Venus and the temptations of the
flesh, which at times tormented him, although he lived in woods and
places wild and solitary, as he relates of himself at great length. To
demonstrate which I made a Venus who with Love in her arms is flying
from that contemplation, and holding Play by the hand, while the quiver
and arrows have fallen to the ground; besides which, the shafts shot by
Cupid against that Saint return to him all broken, and some that fall
are brought back to him by the doves of Venus in their beaks. All these
pictures, although perhaps at that time they pleased me, and were made
by me as best I knew, I know not how much they please me at my present
age; but, since art in herself is difficult, it is necessary to take
from him who paints the best that he can do. This, indeed, I will say,
because I can say it with truth, that I have always executed my
pictures, inventions, and designs, whatever may be their value, I do not
say only with the greatest possible rapidity, but also with incredible
facility and without effort; for which let me call to witness, as I have
mentioned in another place, the vast canvas that I painted in six days
only, for S. Giovanni in Florence, in the year 1542, for the baptism of
the Lord Don Francesco de' Medici, now Prince of Florence and Siena.

Now although I wished after these works to go to Rome, in order to
satisfy Messer Bindo Altoviti, I did not succeed in doing it, because,
being summoned to Venice by Messer Pietro Aretino, a poet of illustrious
name at that time, and much my friend, I was forced to go there, since
he much desired to see me. And, moreover, I did it willingly, in order
to see on that journey the works of Tiziano and of other painters; in
which purpose I succeeded, for in a few days I saw the works of
Correggio at Modena and Parma, those of Giulio Romano at Mantua, and the
antiquities of Verona. Having finally arrived in Venice, with two
pictures painted by my hand from cartoons by Michelagnolo, I presented
them to Don Diego di Mendoza, who sent me two hundred crowns of gold.
Nor had I been long in Venice, when at the entreaty of Aretino I
executed for the gentlemen of the Calza the scenic setting for a
festival that they gave, wherein I had as my companions Battista Cungi
and Cristofano Gherardi of Borgo a San Sepolcro and Bastiano Flori of
Arezzo, men very able and well practised, of all which enough has been
said in another place; and also the nine painted compartments in the
Palace of Messer Giovanni Cornaro, which are in the soffit of a chamber
in that Palace, which is by S. Benedetto. After these and other works of
no little importance that I executed in Venice at that time, I departed,
although I was overwhelmed by the commissions that were coming to me, on
the 16th of August in the year 1542, and returned to Tuscany. There,
before consenting to put my hand to any other thing, I painted on the
vaulting of a chamber that had been built by my orders in my house which
I have already mentioned, all the arts that are subordinate to or depend
upon design. In the centre is a Fame who is seated upon the globe of the
world and sounds a golden trumpet, throwing away one of fire that
represents Calumny, and about her, in due order, are all those arts with
their instruments in their hands; and since I had not time to do the
whole, I left eight ovals, in order to paint in them eight portraits
from life of the first men in our arts. In those same days I executed in
fresco for the Nuns of S. Margherita in the same city, in a chapel of
their garden, a Nativity of Christ with figures the size of life. And
having thus passed the rest of that summer in my own country, and part
of the autumn, I went to Rome, where, having been received by the
above-named Messer Bindo with many kindnesses, I painted for him in a
picture in oils a Christ the size of life, taken down from the Cross and
laid on the ground at the feet of His Mother; with Phoebus in the air
obscuring the face of the Sun, and Diana that of the Moon. In the
landscape, all darkened by that gloom, some rocky mountains, shaken by
the earthquake that was caused by the Passion of the Saviour, are seen
shivered into pieces, and certain dead bodies of Saints are seen rising
again and issuing from their sepulchres in various manners; which
picture, when finished, was not displeasing to the gracious judgment of
the greatest painter, sculptor, and architect that there has been in our
times, and perchance in the past. By means of that picture, also, I
became known to the most illustrious Cardinal Farnese, to whom it was
shown by Giovio and Messer Bindo; and at his desire I made for him, in a
picture eight braccia high and four broad, a Justice who is embracing an
ostrich laden with the twelve Tables, and with the sceptre that has the
stork at the point, and the head covered by a helmet of iron and gold,
with three feathers of three different colours, the device of the just
judge. She is wholly nude from the waist upwards, and she has bound to
her girdle with chains of gold, as captives, the seven Vices that are
opposed to her, Corruption, Ignorance, Cruelty, Fear, Treachery,
Falsehood, and Calumny. Above these, upon their shoulders, is placed
Truth wholly nude, offered by Time to Justice, with a present of two
doves representing Innocence. And upon the head of that Truth Justice is
placing a crown of oak, signifying fortitude of mind; which whole work I
executed with all care and diligence, according to the best of my
ability. At this same time I paid constant attention to Michelagnolo
Buonarroti, and took his advice in all my works, and he in his goodness
conceived much more affection for me; and his counsel, after he had seen
some of my designs, was the reason that I gave myself anew and with
better method to the study of the matters of architecture, which
probably I would never have done if that most excellent man had not said
to me what he did say, which out of modesty I forbear to tell.

At the next festival of S. Peter, the heat being very great in Rome,
where I had spent all that winter of 1543, I returned to Florence, where
in the house of Messer Ottaviano de' Medici, which I could call my own,
I executed in an altar-piece for M. Biagio Mei of Lucca, his gossip, the
same conception as in that of Messer Bindo in S. Apostolo, although I
varied everything with the exception of the invention; and that picture,
when finished, was placed in his chapel in S. Piero Cigoli at Lucca. In
another of the same size--namely, seven braccia high and four broad--I
painted Our Lady, S. Jerome, S. Luke, S. Cecilia, S. Martha, S.
Augustine, and S. Guido the Hermit; which altar-picture was placed in
the Duomo of Pisa, where there were many others by the hands of
excellent masters. And I had scarcely carried that one to completion,
when the Warden of Works of that Duomo commissioned me to execute
another, in which, since it was to be likewise of Our Lady, in order to
vary it from the other I painted the Madonna with the Dead Christ at the
foot of the Cross, lying in her lap, the Thieves on high upon their
crosses, and, grouped with the Maries and Nicodemus, who are standing
there, the titular Saints of those chapels, all forming a good
composition and rendering the scene in that picture pleasing. Having
returned again to Rome in the year 1544, besides many pictures that I
executed for various friends, of which there is no need to make mention,
I made a picture of a Venus from a design by Michelagnolo for M. Bindo
Altoviti, who took me once more into his house; and for Galeotto da
Girone, a Florentine merchant, I painted an altar-picture in oils of
Christ taken down from the Cross, which was placed in his chapel in the
Church of S. Agostino at Rome. In order to be able to paint that picture
in comfort, together with some works that had been allotted to me by
Tiberio Crispo, the Castellan of Castel S. Angelo, I had withdrawn by
myself to that palace in the Trastevere which was formerly built by
Bishop Adimari, below S. Onofrio, and which has since been finished by
the second Salviati; but, feeling indisposed and wearied by my infinite
labours, I was forced to return to Florence. There I executed some
pictures, and among others one in which were Dante, Petrarca, Guido
Cavalcanti, Boccaccio, Cino da Pistoia, and Guittone d'Arezzo,
accurately copied from their ancient portraits; and of that picture,
which afterwards belonged to Luca Martini, many copies have since been
made.

In that same year of 1544 I was invited to Naples by Don Giammateo of
Aversa, General of the Monks of Monte Oliveto, to the end that I might
paint the refectory of a monastery built for them by King Alfonso I; but
when I arrived, I was for not accepting the work, seeing that the
refectory and the whole monastery were built in an ancient manner of
architecture, with the vaults in pointed arches, low and poor in lights,
and I doubted that I was like to win little honour thereby. However,
being pressed by Don Miniato Pitti and Don Ippolito da Milano, my very
dear friends, who were then Visitors to that Order, finally I accepted
the undertaking. Whereupon, recognizing that I would not be able to do
anything good save only with a great abundance of ornaments, dazzling
the eyes of all who might see the work with a variety and multitude of
figures, I resolved to have all the vaulting of the refectory wrought in
stucco, in order to remove by means of rich compartments in the modern
manner all the old-fashioned and clumsy appearance of those arches. In
this I was much assisted by the vaults and walls, which are made, as is
usual in that city, of blocks of tufa, which cut like wood, or even
better, like bricks not completely baked; and thus, cutting them, I was
able to sink squares, ovals, and octagons, and also to thicken them with
additions of the same tufa by means of nails. Having then reduced those
vaults to good proportions with that stucco-work, which was the first to
be wrought in Naples in the modern manner, and in particular the façades
and end-walls of that refectory, I painted there six panels in oils,
seven braccia high, three to each end-wall. In three that are over the
entrance of the refectory is the Manna raining down upon the Hebrew
people, in the presence of Moses and Aaron, and the people gathering it
up; wherein I strove to represent a variety of attitudes and vestments
in the men, women, and children, and the emotion wherewith they are
gathering up and storing the Manna, rendering thanks to God. On the
end-wall that is at the head is Christ at table in the house of Simon,
and Mary Magdalene with tears washing His feet and drying them with her
hair, showing herself all penitent for her sins; which story is divided
into three pictures, in the centre the supper, on the right hand a
buttery with a credence full of vases in various fantastic forms, and on
the left hand a steward who is bringing up the viands. The vaulting,
then, was divided into three parts; in one the subject is Faith, in the
second Religion, and in the third Eternity, and each of these forms a
centre with eight Virtues about it, demonstrating to the monks that in
that refectory they eat what is requisite for the perfection of their
lives. To enrich the spaces of the vaulting, I made them full of
grotesques, which serve as ornaments in forty-eight spaces for the
forty-eight celestial signs; and on six walls down the length of that
refectory, under the windows, which were made larger and richly
ornamented, I painted six of the Parables of Jesus Christ which are in
keeping with that place; and to all those pictures and ornaments there
correspond the carvings of the seats, which are wrought very richly. And
then I executed for the high-altar of the church an altar-picture eight
braccia high, containing the Madonna presenting the Infant Jesus Christ
to Simeon in the Temple, with a new invention. It is a notable thing
that since Giotto there had not been up to that time, in a city so great
and noble, any masters who had done anything of importance in painting,
although there had been brought there from without some things by the
hands of Perugino and Raffaello. On which account I exerted myself to
labour in such a manner, in so far as my little knowledge could reach,
that the intellects of that country might be roused to execute great and
honourable works; and, whether that or some other circumstance may have
been the reason, between that time and the present day many very
beautiful works have been done there, both in stucco and in painting.
Besides the pictures described above, I executed in fresco on the
vaulting of the strangers' apartment in the same monastery, with figures
large as life, Jesus Christ with the Cross on His shoulder, and many of
His Saints who have one likewise on their shoulders in imitation of Him,
to demonstrate that for one who wishes truly to follow Him it is
necessary to bear with good patience the adversities that the world
inflicts. For the General of that Order I executed a great picture of
Christ appearing to the Apostles as they struggled with the perils of
the sea, and taking S. Peter by the arm, who, having hastened towards
Him through the water, was fearing to drown; and in another picture, for
Abbot Capeccio, I painted the Resurrection. These works carried to
completion, I painted a chapel in fresco for the Lord Don Pietro di
Toledo, Viceroy of Naples, in his garden at Pozzuolo, besides executing
some very delicate ornaments in stucco; and arrangements had been made
to execute two great loggie for the same lord, but the undertaking was
not carried into effect, for the following reason. There had been some
difference between the Viceroy and the above-named monks, and the
Constable went with his men to the monastery to seize the Abbot and some
monks who had had some words with the Black Friars in a procession, over
a matter of precedence. But the monks made some resistance, assisted by
about fifteen young men who were assisting me in stucco-work and
painting, and wounded some of the bailiffs; on which account it became
necessary to get them out of the way, and they went off in various
directions. And so I, left almost alone, was unable not only to execute
the loggie at Pozzuolo, but also to paint twenty-four pictures of
stories from the Old Testament and from the life of S. John the Baptist,
which, not caring to remain any longer in Naples, I took to Rome to
finish, whence I sent them, and they were placed about the stalls and
over the presses of walnut-wood made from my architectural designs in
the Sacristy of S. Giovanni Carbonaro, a convent of Eremite and
Observantine Friars of S. Augustine, for whom I had painted a short time
before, for a chapel without their church, a panel-picture of Christ
Crucified, with a rich and varied ornament of stucco, at the request of
Seripando, their General, who afterwards became a Cardinal. In like
manner, half-way up the staircase of the same convent, I painted in
fresco a S. John the Evangelist who stands gazing at Our Lady clothed
with the sun and crowned with twelve stars, with her feet upon the moon.
In the same city I painted for Messer Tommaso Cambi, a Florentine
merchant and very much my friend, the times and seasons of the year on
four walls in the hall of his house, with pictures of Sleep and Dreaming
over a terrace where I made a fountain. And for the Duke of Gravina I
painted an altar-picture of the Magi adoring Christ, which he took to
his dominions; and for Orsanca, Secretary to the Viceroy, I executed
another altar-piece with five figures around a Christ Crucified, and
many pictures.

But, although I was regarded with favour by those lords and was earning
much, and my commissions were multiplying every day, I judged, since my
men had departed and I had executed works in abundance in one year in
that city, that it would be well for me to return to Rome. Which having
done, the first work that I executed was for Signor Ranuccio Farnese, at
that time Archbishop of Naples; painting on canvas and in oils four very
large shutters for the organ of the Piscopio in Naples, on the front of
which are five Patron Saints of that city, and on the inner side the
Nativity of Jesus Christ, with the Shepherds, and King David singing to
his psaltery, DOMINUS DIXIT AD ME, etc. And I finished likewise the
twenty-four pictures mentioned above and some for M. Tommaso Cambi,
which were all sent to Naples; which done, I painted five pictures of
the Passion of Christ for Raffaello Acciaiuoli, who took them to Spain.
In the same year, Cardinal Farnese being minded to cause the Hall of the
Cancelleria, in the Palace of S. Giorgio, to be painted, Monsignor
Giovio, desiring that it should be done by my hands, commissioned me to
make many designs with various inventions, which in the end were not
carried into execution. Nevertheless the Cardinal finally resolved that
it should be painted in fresco, and with the greatest rapidity that
might be possible, so that he might be able to use it at a certain time
determined by himself. That hall is a little more than a hundred palms
in length, fifty in breadth, and the same in height. On each end-wall,
fifty palms broad, was painted a great scene, and two on one of the long
walls, but on the other, from its being broken by windows, it was not
possible to paint scenes, and therefore there was made a pendant after
the likeness of the head-wall opposite. And not wishing to make a base,
as had been the custom up to that time with the craftsmen in all their
scenes, in order to introduce variety and do something new I caused
flights of steps to rise from the floor to a height of at least nine
palms, made in various ways, one to each scene; and upon these, then,
there begin to ascend figures that I painted in keeping with the
subject, little by little, until they come to the level where the scene
begins. It would be a long and perhaps tedious task to describe all the
particulars and minute details of those scenes, and therefore I shall
touch only on the principal things, and that briefly. In all of them,
then, are stories of the actions of Pope Paul III, and in each is his
portrait from life. In the first, wherein are the Dispatchings, so to
speak, of the Court of Rome, may be seen upon the Tiber various
embassies of various nations (with many portraits from life) that are
come to seek favours from the Pope and to offer him divers tributes;
and, in addition, two great figures in great niches placed over the
doors, which are on either side of the scene. One of these represents
Eloquence, and has above it two Victories that uphold the head of Julius
Cæsar, and the other represents Justice, with two other Victories that
hold the head of Alexander the Great; and in the centre are the arms of
the above-named Pope, supported by Liberality and Remuneration. On the
main wall is the same Pope remunerating merit, distributing salaries,
knighthoods, benefices, pensions, bishoprics, and Cardinal's hats, and
among those who are receiving them are Sadoleto, Polo, Bembo, Contarini,
Giovio, Buonarroti, and other men of excellence, all portrayed from
life, and on that wall, within a great niche, is Grace with a horn of
plenty full of dignities, which she is pouring out upon the earth, and
the Victories that she has above her, after the likeness of the others,
support the head of the Emperor Trajan. There is also Envy, who is
devouring vipers and appears to be bursting with venom; and above, at
the top of the scene, are the arms of Cardinal Farnese, supported by
Fame and Virtue. In the other scene the same Pope Paul is seen all
intent on his buildings, and in particular on that of S. Pietro upon the
Vatican, and therefore there are kneeling before the Pope Painting,
Sculpture, and Architecture, who, having unfolded a design of the
ground-plan of that S. Pietro, are receiving orders to execute the work
and to carry it to completion. Besides these figures, there is
Resolution, who, opening the breast, lays bare the heart; with
Solicitude and Riches near. In a niche is Abundance, with two Victories
that hold the effigy of Vespasian, and in the centre, in another niche
that divides one scene from the other, is Christian Religion, with two
Victories above her that hold the head of Numa Pompilius; and the arms
that are above the scene are those of Cardinal San Giorgio, who built
that Palace. In the other scene, which is opposite to that of the
Dispatchings of the Court, is the universal peace made among Christians
by the agency of Pope Paul III, and particularly between the Emperor
Charles V and Francis, King of France, who are portrayed there;
wherefore there may be seen Peace burning arms, the Temple of Janus
being closed, and Fury in chains. Of the two great niches that are on
either side of the scene, in one is Concord, with two Victories above
her that are holding the head of the Emperor Titus, and in the other is
Charity with many children, while above the niche are two Victories
holding the head of Augustus; and over all are the arms of Charles V,
supported by Victory and Rejoicing. The whole work is full of the most
beautiful inscriptions and mottoes composed by Giovio, and there is one
in particular which says that those pictures were all executed in a
hundred days; which, indeed, like a young man, I did do, being such that
I gave no thought to anything but satisfying that lord, who, as I have
said, desired to have the work finished in that time for a particular
purpose. But in truth, although I exerted myself greatly in making
cartoons and studying that work, I confess that I did wrong in putting
it afterwards in the hands of assistants, in order to execute it more
quickly, as I was obliged to do; for it would have been better to toil
over it a hundred months and do it with my own hand, whereby, although I
would not have done it in such a way as to satisfy my wish to please the
Cardinal and to maintain my own honour, I would at least have had the
satisfaction of having executed it with my own hand. However, that error
was the reason that I resolved that I would never again do any work
without finishing it entirely by myself over a first sketch done by the
hands of assistants from designs by my hand. In that work the Spaniards,
Bizzerra and Roviale, who laboured much in it in my company, gained no
little practice; and also Battista da Bagnacavallo of Bologna, Bastiano
Flori of Arezzo, Giovan Paolo dal Borgo, Fra Salvadore Foschi of Arezzo,
and many other young men.

At that time I went often in the evening, at the end of the day's work,
to see the above-named most illustrious Cardinal Farnese at supper,
where there were always present, to entertain him with beautiful and
honourable discourse, Molza, Annibale Caro, M. Gandolfo, M. Claudio
Tolomei, M. Romolo Amaseo, Monsignor Giovio, and many other men of
learning and distinction, of whom the Court of that Lord is ever full.
One evening among others the conversation turned to the museum of Giovio
and to the portraits of illustrious men that he had placed therein with
beautiful order and inscriptions; and one thing leading to another, as
happens in conversation, Monsignor Giovio said that he had always had
and still had a great desire to add to his museum and his book of
Eulogies a treatise with an account of the men who had been illustrious
in the art of design from Cimabue down to our own times. Enlarging on
this, he showed that he had certainly great knowledge and judgment in
the matters of our arts; but it is true that, being content to treat the
subject in gross, he did not consider it in detail, and often, in
speaking of those craftsmen, either confused their names, surnames,
birthplaces, and works, or did not relate things exactly as they were,
but rather, as I have said, in gross. When Giovio had finished his
discourse, the Cardinal turned to me and said: "What do you say,
Giorgio? Will not that be a fine work and a noble labour?" "Fine,
indeed, most illustrious Excellency," I answered, "if Giovio be assisted
by someone of our arts to put things in their places and relate them as
they really are. That I say because, although his discourse has been
marvellous, he has confused and mistaken many things one for another."
"Then," replied the Cardinal, being besought by Giovio, Caro, Tolomei,
and the others, "you might give him a summary and an ordered account of
all those craftsmen and their works, according to the order of time; and
so your arts will receive from you this benefit as well." That
undertaking, although I knew it to be beyond my powers, I promised most
willingly to execute to the best of my ability; and so, having set
myself down to search through my records and the notes that I had
written on that subject from my earliest youth, as a sort of pastime and
because of the affection that I bore to the memory of our craftsmen,
every notice of whom was very dear to me, I gathered together everything
that seemed to me to touch on the subject, and took the whole to Giovio.
And he, after he had much praised my labour, said to me: "Giorgio, I
would rather that you should undertake this task of setting everything
down in the manner in which I see that you will be excellently well able
to do it, because I have not the courage, not knowing the various
manners, and being ignorant of many particulars that you are likely to
know; besides which, even if I were to do it, I would make at the most a
little treatise like that of Pliny. Do what I tell you, Vasari, for I
see by the specimen that you have given me in this account that it will
prove something very fine." And then, thinking that I was not very
resolute in the matter, he caused Caro, Molza, Tolomei, and others of my
dearest friends to speak to me. Whereupon, having finally made up my
mind, I set my hand to it, with the intention of giving it, when
finished, to one of them, that he might revise and correct it, and then
publish it under a name other than mine.

Meanwhile I departed from Rome in the month of October of the year 1546,
and came to Florence, and there executed for the Nuns of the famous
Convent of the Murate a picture in oils of a Last Supper for their
refectory; which work was allotted to me and paid for by Pope Paul III,
who had a sister-in-law, once Countess of Pitigliano, a nun in that
convent. And then I painted in another picture Our Lady with the Infant
Christ in her arms, who is espousing the Virgin-Martyr S. Catharine,
with two other Saints; which picture M. Tommaso Cambi caused me to
execute for a sister who was then Abbess of the Convent of the Bigallo,
without Florence. That finished, I painted two large pictures in oils
for Monsignor de' Rossi, Bishop of Pavia, of the family of the Counts of
San Secondo; in one of these is a S. Jerome, and in the other a Pietà,
and they were both sent to France. Then in the year 1547 I carried to
completion for the Duomo of Pisa, at the instance of M. Bastiano della
Seta, the Warden of Works, another altar-picture that I had begun; and
afterwards, for my very dear friend Simon Corsi, a large picture in oils
of Our Lady. Now, while I was executing these works, having carried
nearly to completion the Book of the Lives of the Craftsmen of Design,
there was scarcely anything left for me to do but to have it transcribed
in a good hand, when there presented himself to me most opportunely Don
Gian Matteo Faetani of Rimini, a monk of Monte Oliveto and a person of
intelligence and learning, who desired that I should execute some works
for him in the Church and Monastery of S. Maria di Scolca at Rimini,
where he was Abbot. He, then, having promised to have it transcribed for
me by one of his monks who was an excellent writer, and to correct it
himself, persuaded me to go to Rimini to execute, with this occasion,
the altar-picture and the high-altar of that church, which is about
three miles distant from the city. In that altar-picture I painted the
Magi adoring Christ, with an infinity of figures executed by me with
much study in that solitary place, counterfeiting the men of the Courts
of the three Kings in such a way, as well as I was able, that, although
they are all mingled together, yet one may recognize by the appearance
of the faces to what country each belongs and to which King he is
subject, for some have the flesh-colour white, some grey, and others
dark; besides which, the diversity of their vestments and the
differences in their adornments make a pleasing variety. That
altar-piece has on either side of it two large pictures, in which is the
rest of the Courts, with horses, elephants, and giraffes, and about the
chapel, in various places, are distributed Prophets, Sibyls, and
Evangelists in the act of writing. In the cupola, or rather, tribune, I
painted four great figures that treat of the praises of Christ, of His
Genealogy, and of the Virgin, and these are Orpheus and Homer with some
Greek mottoes, Virgil with the motto, IAM REDIT ET VIRGO, etc., and
Dante with these verses:

  Tu sei colei, che l' umana natura
      Nobilitasti sì, che il suo Fattore
      Non si sdegnò di farsi tua fattura.

With many other figures and inventions, of which there is no need to say
any more. Then, the work of writing the above-mentioned book and
carrying it to completion meanwhile continuing, I painted for the
high-altar of S. Francesco, in Rimini, a large altar-picture in oils of
S. Francis receiving the Stigmata from Christ on the mountain of La
Vernia, copied from nature; and since that mountain is all of grey rocks
and stones, and in like manner S. Francis and his companion are grey, I
counterfeited a Sun within which is Christ, with a good number of
Seraphim, and so the work is varied, and the Saint, with other figures,
all illumined by the splendour of that Sun, and the landscape in shadow
with a great variety of changing colours; all which is not displeasing
to many persons, and was much extolled at that time by Cardinal
Capodiferro, Legate in Romagna.

Being then summoned from Rimini to Ravenna, I executed an altar-picture,
as has been told in another place, for the new church of the Abbey of
Classi, of the Order of Camaldoli, painting therein a Christ taken down
from the Cross and lying in the lap of Our Lady. And at this same time I
executed for divers friends many designs, pictures, and other lesser
works, which are so many and so varied, that it would be difficult for
me to remember even a part of them, and perhaps not pleasing for my
readers to hear so many particulars.

Meanwhile the building of my house at Arezzo had been finished, and I
returned home, where I made designs for painting the hall, three
chambers, and the façade, as it were for my own diversion during that
summer. In those designs I depicted, among other things, all the places
and provinces where I had laboured, as if they were bringing tributes,
to represent the gains that I had made by their means, to that house of
mine. For the time being, however, I did nothing but the ceiling of the
hall, which is passing rich in woodwork, with thirteen large pictures
wherein are the Celestial Gods, and in four angles the four Seasons of
the year nude, who are gazing at a great picture that is in the centre,
in which, with figures the size of life, is Excellence, who has Envy
under her feet and has seized Fortune by the hair, and is beating both
the one and the other; and a thing that was much commended at the time
was that as you go round the hall, Fortune being in the middle, from one
side Envy seems to be over Fortune and Excellence, and from another side
Excellence is over Envy and Fortune, as is seen often to happen in real
life. Around the walls are Abundance, Liberality, Wisdom, Prudence,
Labour, Honour, and other similar things, and below, all around, are
stories of ancient painters, Apelles, Zeuxis, Parrhasius, Protogenes,
and others, with various compartments and details that I omit for the
sake of brevity. In a chamber, also, in a great medallion in the ceiling
of carved woodwork, I painted Abraham, with God blessing his seed and
promising to multiply it infinitely; and in four squares that are around
that medallion, I painted Peace, Concord, Virtue, and Modesty. And since
I always adored the memory and the works of the ancients, and perceived
that the method of painting in distemper-colours was being abandoned,
there came to me a desire to revive that mode of painting, and I
executed the whole work in distemper; which method certainly does not
deserve to be wholly despised or abandoned. At the entrance of the
chamber, as it were in jest, I painted a bride who has in one hand a
rake, with which she seems to have raked up and carried away with her
from her father's house everything that she has been able, and in the
hand that is stretched in front of her, entering into the house of her
husband, she has a lighted torch, signifying that where she goes she
carries a fire that consumes and destroys everything.

While I was passing my time thus, the year 1548 having come, Don Giovan
Benedetto of Mantua, Abbot of SS. Fiore e Lucilla, a monastery of the
Black Friars of Monte Cassino, who took infinite delight in matters of
painting and was much my friend, prayed me that I should consent to
paint a Last Supper, or some such thing, at the head of their refectory.
Whereupon I resolved to gratify his wish, and began to think of doing
something out of the common use; and so I determined, in agreement with
that good father, to paint for it the Nuptials of Queen Esther and King
Ahasuerus, all in a picture fifteen braccia long, and in oils, but first
to set it in place and then to work at it there. That method--and I can
speak with authority, for I have proved it--is in truth that which
should be followed by one who wishes that his pictures should have their
true and proper lights, for the reason that in fact working at pictures
in a place lower or other than that where they are to stand, causes
changes in their lights, shadows, and many other properties. In that
work, then, I strove to represent majesty and grandeur; and, although I
may not judge whether I succeeded, I know well that I disposed
everything in such a manner, that there may be recognized in passing
good order all the manners of servants, pages, esquires, soldiers of the
guard, the buttery, the credence, the musicians, a dwarf, and every
other thing that is required for a magnificent and royal banquet. There
may be seen, among others, the steward bringing the viands to the table,
accompanied by a good number of pages dressed in livery, besides
esquires and other servants; and at the ends of the table, which is
oval, are lords and other great personages and courtiers, who are
standing on their feet, as is the custom, to see the banquet. King
Ahasuerus is seated at table, a proud and enamoured monarch, leaning
upon the left arm and offering a cup of wine to the Queen, in an
attitude truly dignified and regal. In short, if I were to believe what
I heard said by persons at that time, and what I still hear from anyone
who sees the work, I might consider that I had done something, but I
know better how the matter stands, and what I would have done if my hand
had followed that which I had conceived in idea. Be that as it may, I
applied to it--and this I can declare freely--study and diligence. Above
the work, on a spandrel of the vaulting, comes a Christ who is offering
to the Queen a crown of flowers; and this was done in fresco, and placed
there to denote the spiritual conception of the story, which signified
that, the ancient Synagogue being repudiated, Christ was espousing the
new Church of his faithful Christians.

At this same time I made the portrait of Luigi Guicciardini, brother of
the Messer Francesco who wrote the History, because that Messer Luigi
was very much my friend, and that year, being Commissary of Arezzo, had
caused me out of love for me to buy a very large property in land,
called Frassineto, in Valdichiana, which has been the salvation and the
greatest prop of my house, and will be the same for my successors, if,
as I hope, they prove true to themselves. That portrait, which is in the
possession of the heirs of that Messer Luigi, is said to be the best and
the closest likeness of the infinite number that I have executed. But of
the portraits that I have painted, which are so many, I will make no
mention, because it would be a tedious thing; and, to tell the truth, I
have avoided doing them to the best of my ability. That finished, I
painted at the commission of Fra Mariotto da Castiglioni of Arezzo, for
the Church of S. Francesco in that city, an altar-picture of Our Lady,
S. Anne, S. Francis, and S. Sylvester. And at this same time I drew for
Cardinal di Monte, my very good patron, who was then Legate in Bologna,
and afterwards became Pope Julius III, the design and plan of a great
farm which was afterwards carried into execution at the foot of Monte
Sansovino, his native place, where I was several times at the orders of
that lord, who much delighted in building.

Having gone, after I had finished these works, to Florence, I painted
that summer on a banner for carrying in processions, belonging to the
Company of S. Giovanni de' Peducci of Arezzo, that Saint on one side
preaching to the multitude, and on the other the same Saint baptizing
Christ. Which picture, as soon as it was finished, I sent to my house at
Arezzo, that it might be delivered to the men of the above-named
Company; and it happened that Monsignor Giorgio, Cardinal d'Armagnac, a
Frenchman, passing through Arezzo and going to see my house for some
other purpose, saw that banner, or rather, standard, and, liking it, did
his utmost to obtain it for sending to the King of France, offering a
large price. But I would not break faith with those who had commissioned
me to paint it, for, although many said to me that I could make another,
I know not whether I could have done it as well and with equal
diligence. And not long afterwards I executed for Messer Annibale Caro,
according as he had requested me long before in a letter, which is
printed, a picture of Adonis dying in the lap of Venus, after the
invention of Theocritus; which work was afterwards taken to France,
almost against my will, and given to M. Albizzo del Bene, together with
a Psyche gazing with a lamp at Cupid, who wakens from his sleep, a spark
from the lamp having scorched him. Those figures, all nude and large as
life, were the reason that Alfonso di Tommaso Cambi, who was then a very
beautiful youth, well-lettered, accomplished, and most gentle and
courteous, had himself portrayed nude and at full length in the person
of the huntsman Endymion beloved by the Moon, whose white form, and the
fanciful landscape all around, have their light from the brightness of
the moon, which in the darkness of the night makes an effect passing
natural and true, for the reason that I strove with all diligence to
counterfeit the peculiar colours that the pale yellow light of the moon
is wont to give to the things upon which it strikes. After this, I
painted two pictures for sending to Ragusa, in one Our Lady, and in the
other a Pietà; and then in a great picture for Francesco Botti Our Lady
with her Son in her arms, and Joseph; and that picture, which I
certainly executed with the greatest diligence that I knew, he took with
him to Spain. These works finished, I went in the same year to see
Cardinal di Monte at Bologna, where he was Legate, and, dwelling with
him for some days, besides many other conversations, he contrived to
speak so well and to persuade me with such good reasons, that, being
constrained by him to do a thing which up to that time I had refused to
do, I resolved to take a wife, and so, by his desire, married a daughter
of Francesco Bacci, a noble citizen of Arezzo. Having returned to
Florence, I executed a great picture of Our Lady after a new invention
of my own and with more figures, which was acquired by Messer Bindo
Altoviti, who gave me a hundred crowns of gold for it and took it to
Rome, where it is now in his house. Besides this, I painted many other
pictures at the same time, as for Messer Bernardetto de' Medici, for
Messer Bartolommeo Strada, an eminent physician, and for others of my
friends, of whom there is no need to speak.

In those days, Gismondo Martelli having died in Florence, and having
left instructions in his testament that an altar-picture with Our Lady
and some Saints should be painted for the chapel of that noble family in
S. Lorenzo, Luigi and Pandolfo Martelli, together with M. Cosimo
Bartoli, all very much my friends, besought me that I should execute
that picture. Having obtained leave from the Lord Duke Cosimo, the
Patron and first Warden of Works of that church, I consented to do it,
but on condition that I should be allowed to paint in it something after
my own fancy from the life of S. Gismondo, in allusion to the name of
the testator. Which agreement concluded, I remembered to have heard that
Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, the architect of that church, had given a
particular form to all the chapels to the end that there might be made
for each not some little altar-piece, but some large scene or picture
which might fill the whole space. Wherefore, being disposed to follow in
that respect the wishes and directions of Brunelleschi, and paying
regard rather to honour than to the little profit that I could obtain
from that commission, which contemplated the painting of a small
altar-picture with few figures, I painted in an altar-piece ten braccia
in breadth, and thirteen in height, the story, or rather, martyrdom, of
the King S. Gismondo, when he, his wife, and his two sons were cast into
a well by another King, or rather, Tyrant. I contrived that the
ornamental border of that chapel, which is a semi-circle, should serve
as the opening of the gate of a great palace in the Rustic Order,
through which there should be a view of a square court supported by
pilasters and columns of the Doric Order; and I arranged that through
that opening there should be seen in the centre an octagonal well with
an ascent of steps around it, by which the executioners might ascend,
carrying the two sons nude in order to cast them into the well. In the
loggie around I painted on one side people gazing upon that horrid
spectacle, and on the other side, which is the left, I made some
soldiers who, having seized by force the wife of the King, are carrying
her towards the well in order to put her to death. And at the principal
door I made a group of soldiers that are binding S. Gismondo, who with
his relaxed and patient attitude shows that he is suffering most
willingly that death and martyrdom, and he stands gazing on four Angels
in the air, who are showing to him palms and crowns of martyrdom for
himself, his wife, and his sons, which appears to give him complete
comfort and consolation. I strove, likewise, to demonstrate the cruelty
and fierce anger of the impious Tyrant, who stands on the upper level of
the court to behold his vengeance and the death of S. Gismondo. In
short, so far as in me lay, I made every effort to give to all the
figures, to the best of my ability, the proper expressions and the
appropriate attitudes and spirited movements, and all that was required.
How far I succeeded, that I shall leave to be judged by others; but this
I must say, that I gave to it all the study, labour, and diligence in my
power and knowledge.

Meanwhile, the Lord Duke Cosimo desiring that the Book of the Lives,
already brought almost to completion with the greatest diligence that I
had found possible, and with the assistance of some of my friends,
should be given to the printers, I gave it to Lorenzo Torrentino,
printer to the Duke, and so the printing was begun. But not even the
Theories had been finished, when, Pope Paul III having died, I began to
doubt that I might have to depart from Florence before that book was
finished printing. Going therefore out of Florence to meet Cardinal di
Monte, who was passing on his way to the Conclave, I had no sooner made
obeisance to him and spoken a few words, than he said: "I go to Rome,
and without a doubt I shall be Pope. Make haste, if you have anything to
do, and as soon as you hear the news set out for Rome without awaiting
other advice or any invitation." Nor did that prognostication prove
false, for, being at Arezzo for that Carnival, when certain festivities
and masquerades were being arranged, the news came that the Cardinal had
become Julius III. Whereupon I mounted straightway on horseback and went
to Florence, whence, pressed by the Duke, I went to Rome, in order to be
present at the coronation of the new Pontiff and to take part in the
preparation of the festivities. And so, arriving in Rome and dismounting
at the house of Messer Bindo, I went to do reverence to his Holiness and
to kiss his feet. Which done, the first words that he spoke to me were
to remind me that what he had foretold of himself had not been false.
Then, after he was crowned and settled down a little, the first thing
that he wished to have done was to satisfy an obligation that he had to
the memory of Antonio, the first and elder Cardinal di Monte, by means
of a tomb to be made in S. Pietro a Montorio; of which the designs and
models having been made, it was executed in marble, as has been related
fully in another place. And meanwhile I painted the altar-picture of
that chapel, in which I represented the Conversion of S. Paul, but, to
vary it from that which Buonarroti had executed in the Pauline Chapel, I
made S. Paul young, as he himself writes, and fallen from his horse, and
led blind by the soldiers to Ananias, from whom by the imposition of
hands he receives the lost sight of his eyes, and is baptized; in which
work, either because the space was restricted, or whatever may have been
the reason, I did not satisfy myself completely, although it was perhaps
not displeasing to others, and in particular to Michelagnolo. For that
Pontiff, likewise, I executed another altar-picture for a chapel in the
Palace; but this, for reasons given elsewhere, was afterwards taken by
me to Arezzo and placed at the high-altar of the Pieve. If, however, I
had not fully satisfied either myself or others in the last-named
picture or in that of S. Pietro a Montorio, it would have been no matter
for surprise, because, being obliged to be continually at the beck and
call of that Pontiff, I was kept always moving, or rather, occupied in
making architectural designs, and particularly because I was the first
who designed and prepared all the inventions of the Vigna Julia, which
he caused to be erected at incredible expense. And although it was
executed afterwards by others, yet it was I who always committed to
drawing the caprices of the Pope, which were then given to Michelagnolo
to revise and correct. Jacopo Barozzi of Vignuola finished, after many
designs by his own hand, the rooms, halls, and many other ornaments of
that place; but the lower fountain was made under the direction of
myself and of Ammanati, who afterwards remained there and made the
loggia that is over the fountain. In that work, however, it was not
possible for a man to show his ability or to do anything right, because
from day to day new caprices came into the head of the Pope, which had
to be carried into execution according to the daily instructions given
by Messer Pier Giovanni Aliotti, Bishop of Forlì.

During that time, being obliged in the year 1550 to go twice to
Florence on other affairs, the first time I finished the picture of S.
Gismondo, which the Duke went to see in the house of M. Ottaviano de'
Medici, where I executed it; and he liked it so much, that he said to me
that when I had finished my work in Rome I should come to serve him in
Florence, where I would receive orders as to what was to be done. I then
returned to Rome, where I gave completion to those works that I had
begun, and painted a picture of the Beheading of S. John for the
high-altar of the Company of the Misericordia, different not a little
from those that are generally done, which I set in place in the year
1553; and then I wished to return, but I was forced to execute for
Messer Bindo Altoviti, not being able to refuse him, two very large
loggie in stucco-work and fresco. One of them that I painted was at his
villa, made with a new method of architecture, because, the loggia being
so large that it was not possible to turn the vaulting without danger, I
had it made with armatures of wood, matting, and canes, over which was
done the stucco-work and fresco-painting, as if the vaulting were of
masonry, and even so it appears and is believed to be by all who see it;
and it is supported by many ornamental columns of variegated marble,
antique and rare. The other loggia is on the ground-floor of his house
on the bridge, and is covered with scenes in fresco. And after that I
painted for the ceiling of an antechamber four large pictures in oils of
the four Seasons of the year. These finished, I was forced to make for
Andrea della Fonte, who was much my friend, a portrait from life of his
wife, and with it I gave him a large picture of Christ bearing the
Cross, with figures the size of life, which I had made for a kinsman of
the Pope, but afterwards had not chosen to present to him. For the
Bishop of Vasona I painted a Dead Christ supported by Nicodemus and by
two Angels, and for Pier Antonio Bandini a Nativity of Christ, an effect
of night with variety in the invention.

While I was executing these works, I was also watching to see what the
Pope was intending to do, and finally I saw that there was little to be
expected from him, and that it was useless to labour in his service.
Wherefore, notwithstanding that I had already executed the cartoons for
painting in fresco the loggia that is over the fountain of the
above-named Vigna, I resolved that I would at all costs go to serve the
Duke of Florence, and the rather because I was pressed to do this by M.
Averardo Serristori and Bishop Ricasoli, the Ambassadors of his
Excellency in Rome, and also in letters by M. Sforza Almeni, his
Cupbearer and Chief Chamberlain. I transferred myself, therefore, to
Arezzo, in order to make my way from there to Florence, but first I was
forced to make for Monsignor Minerbetti, Bishop of Arezzo, as for my
lord and most dear friend, a lifesize picture of Patience in the form
that has since been used by Signor Ercole, Duke of Ferrara, as his
device and as the reverse of his medal. Which work finished, I came to
kiss the hand of the Lord Duke Cosimo, by whom in his kindness I was
received very warmly; and while it was being considered what I should
first take in hand, I caused Cristofano Gherardi of the Borgo to paint
in chiaroscuro after my designs the façade of M. Sforza Almeni, in that
manner and with those inventions that have been described at great
length in another place. Now at that time I happened to be one of the
Lords Priors of the city of Arezzo, whose office it is to govern that
city, but I was summoned by letters of the Lord Duke into his service,
and absolved from that duty; and, having come to Florence, I found that
his Excellency had begun that year to build that apartment of his Palace
which is towards the Piazza del Grano, under the direction of the
wood-carver Tasso, who was then architect to the Palace. The roof had
been placed so low that all those rooms had little elevation, and were,
indeed, altogether dwarfed; but, since to raise the crossbeams and the
whole roof would be a long affair, I advised that a series of timbers
should be placed, by way of border, with sunk compartments two braccia
and a half in extent, between the crossbeams of the roof, with a range
of consoles in the perpendicular line, so as to make a frieze of about
two braccia above the timbers. Which plan greatly pleasing his
Excellency, he gave orders straightway that so it should be done, and
that Tasso should execute the woodwork and the compartments, within
which was to be painted the Genealogy of the Gods; and that afterwards
the work should be continued in the other rooms.

[Illustration: LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT AND THE AMBASSADORS

(_After the fresco by =Giorgio Vasari=. Florence: Palazzo Vecchio_)

_Brogi_]

While the work for those ceilings was being prepared, having obtained
leave from the Duke, I went to spend two months between Arezzo and
Cortona, partly to give completion to some affairs of my own, and
partly to finish a work in fresco begun on the walls and vaulting of the
Company of Jesus at Cortona. In that place I painted three stories of
the life of Jesus Christ, and all the sacrifices offered to God in the
Old Testament, from Cain and Abel down to the Prophet Nehemiah; and
there, during that time, I also furnished designs and models for the
fabric of the Madonna Nuova, without the city. The work for the Company
of Jesus being finished, I returned to Florence in the year 1555 with
all my family, to serve Duke Cosimo. And there I began and finished the
compartments, walls, and ceiling of the above-named upper Hall, called
the Sala degli Elementi, painting in the compartments, which are eleven,
the Castration of Heaven in the air. In a terrace beside that Hall I
painted on the ceiling the actions of Saturn and Ops, and then on the
ceiling of another great chamber all the story of Ceres and Proserpine;
and in a still larger chamber, which is beside the last, likewise on the
ceiling, which is very rich, stories of the Goddess Berecynthia and of
Cybele with her Triumph, and the four Seasons, and on the walls all the
twelve Months. On the ceiling of another, not so rich, I painted the
Birth of Jove and the Goat Amaltheia nursing him, with the rest of the
other most notable things related of him; in another terrace beside the
same room, much adorned with stones and stucco-work, other things of
Jove and Juno; and finally, in the next chamber, the Birth of Hercules
and all his Labours. All that could not be included on the ceilings was
placed in the friezes of each room, or has been placed in the
arras-tapestries that the Lord Duke has caused to be woven for each room
from my cartoons, corresponding to the pictures high up on the walls. I
shall not speak of the grotesques, ornaments, and pictures of the
stairs, nor of many other smaller details executed by my hand in that
apartment of rooms, because, besides that I hope that a longer account
may be given of them on another occasion, everyone may see them at his
pleasure and judge of them.

While these upper rooms were being painted, there were built the others
that are on the level of the Great Hall, and are connected in a
perpendicular line with the first-named, with a very convenient system
of staircases public and private that lead from the highest to the
lowest quarters of the Palace. Meanwhile Tasso died, and the Duke, who
had a very great desire that the Palace, which had been built at
haphazard, in various stages and at various times, and more for the
convenience of the officials than with any good order, should be put to
rights, resolved that he would at all costs have it reconstructed in so
far as that was possible, and that in time the Great Hall should be
painted, and that Bandinelli should continue the Audience-chamber
already begun. In order, therefore, to bring the whole Palace into
accord, harmonizing the work already done with that which was to be
done, he ordained that I should make several plans and designs, and
finally a wooden model after some that had pleased him, the better to be
able to proceed to accommodate all the apartments according to his
pleasure, and to change and put straight the old stairs, which appeared
to him too steep, ill-conceived, and badly made. To which work I set my
hand, although it seemed to me a difficult enterprise and beyond my
powers, and I executed as best I could a very large model, which is now
in the possession of his Excellency; more to obey him than with any hope
that I might succeed. That model, when it was finished, pleased him
much, whether by his good fortune or mine, or because of the great
desire that I had to give satisfaction; whereupon I set my hand to
building, and little by little, doing now one thing and now another, the
work has been carried to the condition wherein it may now be seen. And
while the rest was being done, I decorated with very rich stucco-work in
a varied pattern of compartments the first eight of the new rooms that
are on a level with the Great Hall, what with saloons, chambers, and a
chapel, with various pictures and innumerable portraits from life that
come in the scenes, beginning with the elder Cosimo, and calling each
room by the name of some great and famous person descended from him. In
one, then, are the most notable actions of that Cosimo and those virtues
that were most peculiar to him, with his greatest friends and servants
and portraits of his children, all from life; and so, also, that of the
elder Lorenzo, that of his son, Pope Leo, that of Pope Clement, that of
Signor Giovanni, the father of our great Duke, and that of the Lord
Duke Cosimo himself. In the chapel is a large and very beautiful picture
by the hand of Raffaello da Urbino, between a S. Cosimo and a S. Damiano
painted by my hand, to whom that chapel is dedicated. Then in like
manner in the upper rooms painted for the Lady Duchess Leonora, which
are four, are actions of illustrious women, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and
Tuscan, one to each chamber. But of these, besides that I have spoken of
them elsewhere, there will be a full account in the Dialogue which I am
about to give to the world, as I have said; for to describe everything
here would have taken too long.

For all these my labours, continuous, difficult, and great as they were,
I was rewarded largely and richly by the magnanimous liberality of the
great Duke, in addition to my salaries, with donations and with
commodious and honourable houses both in Florence and in the country, to
the end that I might be able the more advantageously to serve him.
Besides which, he has honoured me with the supreme magistracy of
Gonfalonier and other offices in my native city of Arezzo, with the
right to substitute in them one of the citizens of that place, not to
mention that to my brother Ser Piero he has given offices of profit in
Florence, and likewise extraordinary favours to my relatives in Arezzo;
so that I shall never be weary of confessing the obligation that I feel
towards that Lord for so many marks of affection.

Returning to my works, I must go on to say that my most excellent Lord
resolved to carry into execution a project that he had had for a long
time, of painting the Great Hall, a conception worthy of his lofty and
profound spirit; I know not whether, as he said, I believe jesting with
me, because he thought for certain that I would get it off his hands, so
that he would see it finished in his lifetime, or it may have been from
some other private and, as has always been true of him, most prudent
judgment. The result, in short, was that he commissioned me to raise the
crossbeams and the whole roof thirteen braccia above the height at that
time, to make the ceiling of wood, and to overlay it with gold and paint
it full of scenes in oils; a vast and most important undertaking, and,
if not too much for my courage, perhaps too much for my powers.
However, whether it was that the confidence of that great Lord and the
good fortune that he has in his every enterprise raised me beyond what I
am in myself, or that the hopes and opportunities of so fine a subject
furnished me with much greater faculties, or that the grace of God--and
this I was bound to place before any other thing--supplied me with
strength, I undertook it, and, as has been seen, executed it in
contradiction to the opinion of many persons, and not only in much less
time than I had promised and the work might be considered to require,
but in less than even I or his most illustrious Excellency ever thought.
And I can well believe that he was astonished and well satisfied,
because it came to be executed at the greatest emergency and the finest
occasion that could have occurred; and this was (that the cause of so
much haste may be known) that a settlement had been concluded about the
marriage which was being arranged between our most illustrious Prince
and the daughter of the late Emperor and sister of the present one, and
I thought it my duty to make every effort that on the occasion of such
festivities that Hall, which was the principal apartment of the Palace
and the one wherein the most important ceremonies were to be celebrated,
might be available for enjoyment. And here I will leave it to the
judgment of everyone not only in our arts but also outside them, if only
he has seen the greatness and variety of that work, to decide whether
the extraordinary importance of the occasion should not be my excuse if
in such haste I have not given complete satisfaction in so great a
variety of wars on land and sea, stormings of cities, batteries,
assaults, skirmishes, buildings of cities, public councils, ceremonies
ancient and modern, triumphs, and so many other things, for which, not
to mention anything else, the sketches, designs, and cartoons of so
great a work required a very long time. I will not speak of the nude
bodies, in which the perfection of our arts consists, or of the
landscapes wherein all those things were painted, all which I had to
copy from nature on the actual site and spot, even as I did with the
many captains, generals and other chiefs, and soldiers, that were in the
emprises that I painted. In short, I will venture to say that I had
occasion to depict on that ceiling almost everything that human thought
and imagination can conceive; all the varieties of bodies, faces,
vestments, habiliments, casques, helmets, cuirasses, various
head-dresses, horses, harness, caparisons, artillery of every kind,
navigations, tempests, storms of rain and snow, and so many other
things, that I am not able to remember them. But anyone who sees the
work may easily imagine what labours and what vigils I endured in
executing with the greatest study in my power about forty large scenes,
and some of them pictures ten braccia in every direction, with figures
very large and in every manner. And although some of my young disciples
worked with me there, they sometimes gave me assistance and sometimes
not, for the reason that at times I was obliged, as they know, to
repaint everything with my own hand and go over the whole picture again,
to the end that all might be in one and the same manner. These stories,
I say, treat of the history of Florence, from the building of the city
down to the present day; the division into quarters, the cities brought
to submission, the enemies vanquished, the cities subjugated, and,
finally, the beginning and end of the War of Pisa on one side, and on
the other likewise the beginning and end of the War of Siena, one
carried on and concluded by the popular government in a period of
fourteen years, and the other by the Duke in fourteen months, as may be
seen; besides all the rest that is on the ceiling and will be on the
walls, each eighty braccia in length and twenty in height, which I am
even now painting in fresco, and hope likewise to discuss later in the
above-mentioned Dialogue. And all this that I have sought to say
hitherto has been for no other cause but to show with what diligence I
have applied myself and still apply myself to matters of art, and with
what good reasons I could excuse myself if in some cases (which I
believe, indeed, are many) I have failed.

[Illustration: FRESCO IN THE HALL OF LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT

(_After =Giorgio Vasari=. Florence: Palazzo Vecchio_)

_Brogi_]

I will add, also, that about the same time I received orders to design
all the arches to be shown to his Excellency for the purpose of
determining the whole arrangement of the numerous festive preparations
already described, executed in Florence for the nuptials of the most
illustrious Lord Prince, of which I had then to carry into execution and
finish a great part; to cause to be painted after my designs, in ten
pictures each fourteen braccia high and eleven broad, all the squares of
the principal cities of the dominion, drawn in perspective with their
original builders and their devices; also, to have finished the
head-wall of the above-named Hall, begun by Bandinelli, and to have a
scene made for the other, the greatest and richest that was ever made by
anyone; and, finally, to execute the principal stairs of that Palace,
with their vestibules, the court and the columns, in the manner that
everyone knows and that has been described above, with fifteen cities of
the Empire and of the Tyrol depicted from the reality in as many
pictures. Not little, also, has been the time that I have spent in those
same days in pushing forward the construction, from the time when I
first began it, of the loggia and the vast fabric of the Magistrates,
facing towards the River Arno, than which I have never had built
anything more difficult or more dangerous, from its being founded over
the river, and even, one might say, in the air. But it was necessary,
besides other reasons, in order to attach to it, as has been done, the
great corridor which crosses the river and goes from the Ducal Palace to
the Palace and Garden of the Pitti; which corridor was built under my
direction and after my design in five months, although it is a work that
one might think impossible to finish in less than five years. In
addition, it was also my task to cause to be reconstructed and increased
for the same nuptials, in the great tribune of S. Spirito, the new
machinery for the festival that used to be held in S. Felice in Piazza;
which was all reduced to the greatest possible perfection, so that there
are no longer any of those dangers that used to be incurred in that
festival. And under my charge, likewise, have been the works of the
Palace and Church of the Knights of S. Stephen at Pisa, and the tribune,
or rather, cupola, of the Madonna dell' Umiltà in Pistoia, which is a
work of the greatest importance. For all which, without excusing my
imperfection, which I know only too well, if I have achieved anything of
the good, I render infinite thanks to God, from whom I still hope to
have such help that I may see finished, whenever that may be, the
terrible undertaking of the walls in the Hall, to the full satisfaction
of my Lords, who already for a period of thirteen years have given me
opportunities to execute vast works with honour and profit for myself;
after which, weary, aged, and outworn, I may be at rest. And if for
various reasons I have executed the works described for the most part
with something of rapidity and haste, this I hope to do at my leisure,
seeing that the Lord Duke is content that I should not press it, but
should do it at my ease, granting me all the repose and recreation that
I myself could desire. Thus, last year, being tired by the many works
described above, he gave me leave that I might go about for some months
to divert myself, and so, setting out to travel, I passed over little
less than the whole of Italy, seeing again innumerable friends and
patrons and the works of various excellent craftsmen, as I have related
above in another connection. Finally, being in Rome on my way to return
to Florence, I went to kiss the feet of the most holy and most blessed
Pope Pius V, and he commissioned me to execute for him in Florence an
altar-picture for sending to his Convent and Church of Bosco, which he
was then having built in his native place, near Alessandria della
Paglia.

Having then returned to Florence, remembering the command that his
Holiness had laid upon me and the many marks of affection that he had
shown, I painted for him, as he had commissioned me, an altar-picture of
the Adoration of the Magi; and when he heard that it had been carried by
me to completion, he sent me a message that to please him, and that he
might confer with me over some thoughts in his mind, I should go with
that picture to Rome, but particularly for the purpose of discussing the
fabric of S. Pietro, which he showed himself to have very much at heart.
Having therefore made preparations with a hundred crowns that he sent me
for that purpose, and having sent the picture before me, I went to Rome;
and after I had been there a month and had had many conversations with
his Holiness, and had advised him not to permit any alterations to be
made in the arrangements of Buonarroti for the fabric of S. Pietro, and
had executed some designs, he commanded me to make for the high-altar of
that Church of Bosco not an altar-picture such as is customary, but an
immense structure almost in the manner of a triumphal arch, with two
large panels, one in front and the other behind, and in smaller pictures
about thirty scenes filled with many figures; all which have been
carried very near completion.

At that time I obtained the gracious leave of his Holiness, who with
infinite lovingness and condescension sent me the Bulls expedited free
of charge, to erect in the Pieve of Arezzo a chapel and decanate, which
is the principal chapel of that Pieve, under the patronage of myself and
of my house, endowed by me and painted by my hand, and offered to the
Divine Goodness as an acknowledgment (although but a trifle) of the
great obligation that I feel to the Divine Majesty for the innumerable
graces and benefits that He has deigned to bestow upon me. The
altar-picture of that chapel is in form very similar to that described
above, which has been in part the reason that it has been brought back
to my memory, for it is isolated and consists likewise of two pictures,
one in front, already mentioned above, and one at the back with the
story of S. George, with pictures of certain Saints on either side, and
at the foot smaller pictures with their stories; those Saints whose
bodies are in a most beautiful tomb below the altar, with other
principal reliques of the city. In the centre comes a tabernacle passing
well arranged for the Sacrament, because it serves for both the one
altar and the other, and it is embellished with stories of the Old
Testament and the New all in keeping with that Mystery, as has been told
in part elsewhere.

I had forgotten to say, also, that the year before, when I went the
first time to kiss the Pope's feet, I took the road by Perugia in order
to set in place three large altar-pieces executed for a refectory of the
Black Friars of S. Piero in that city. In one, that in the centre, is
the Marriage of Cana in Galilee, at which Christ performed the Miracle
of converting water into wine. In the second, on the right hand, is
Elisha the Prophet sweetening with meal the bitter pot, the food of
which, spoilt by colocynths, his prophets were not able to eat. And in
the third is S. Benedict, to whom a lay-brother announces at a time of
very great dearth, and at the very moment when his monks were lacking
food, that some camels laden with meal have arrived at his door, and he
sees that the Angels of God are miraculously bringing to him a vast
quantity of meal.

For Signora Gentilina, mother of Signor Chiappino and Signor Paolo
Vitelli, I painted in Florence and sent from there to Città di Castello
a great altar-picture in which is the Coronation of Our Lady, on high a
Dance of Angels, and at the foot many figures larger than life; which
picture was placed in S. Francesco in that city. For the Church of
Poggio a Caiano, a villa of the Lord Duke, I painted in an altar-picture
the Dead Christ in the lap of His Mother, S. Cosimo and S. Damiano
contemplating Him, and in the air an Angel who, weeping, displays the
Mysteries of the Passion of Our Saviour; and in the Church of the
Carmine at Florence, in the Chapel of Matteo and Simon Botti, my very
dear friends, there was placed about this same time an altar-picture by
my hand wherein is Christ Crucified, with Our Lady, S. John and the
Magdalene weeping. Then I executed two great pictures for Jacopo
Capponi, for sending to France, in one of which is Spring and in the
other Autumn, with large figures and new inventions; and in another and
even larger picture a Dead Christ supported by two Angels, with God the
Father on high. To the Nuns of S. Maria Novella of Arezzo I sent
likewise in those days, or a little before, an altar-picture in which is
the Virgin receiving the Annunciation from the Angel, and at the sides
two Saints; and for the Nuns of Luco in the Mugello, of the Order of
Camaldoli, another altar-piece that is in the inner choir, containing
Christ Crucified, Our Lady, S. John, and Mary Magdalene. For Luca
Torrigiani, who is very much my intimate and friend, and who desired to
have among the many things that he possesses of our art a picture by my
own hand, in order to keep it near him, I painted in a large picture a
nude Venus with the three Graces about her, one of whom is attiring her
head, another holds her mirror, and the third is pouring water into a
vessel to bathe her; which picture I strove to execute with the greatest
study and diligence that I was able, in order to satisfy my own mind no
less than that of so sweet and dear a friend. I also executed for
Antonio de' Nobili, Treasurer-General to his Excellency and my
affectionate friend, besides his portrait, being forced to do it against
my inclination, a head of Jesus Christ taken from the words in which
Lentulus writes of His effigy, both of which were done with diligence;
and likewise another somewhat larger, but similar to that named above,
for Signor Mandragone, now the first person in the service of Don
Francesco de' Medici, Prince of Florence and Siena, which I presented to
his lordship because he is much affected towards our arts and every
talent, to the end that he might remember from the sight of it that I
love him and am his friend. I have also in hand, and hope to finish
soon, a large picture, a most fanciful work, which is intended for
Signor Antonio Montalvo, Lord of Sassetta, who is deservedly the First
Chamberlain and the most trusted companion of our Duke, and so sweet and
loving an intimate and friend, not to say a superior, to me, that, if my
hand shall accomplish the desire that I have to leave to him a proof by
that hand of the affection that I bear him, it will be recognized how
much I honour him and how dearly I wish that the memory of a lord so
honoured and so loyal, and beloved by me, shall live among posterity,
seeing that he exerts himself willingly in favouring all the beautiful
intellects that labour in our profession or take delight in design.

For the Lord Prince, Don Francesco, I have executed recently two
pictures that he has sent to Toledo in Spain, to a sister of the Lady
Duchess Leonora, his mother; and for himself a little picture in the
manner of a miniature, with forty figures, what with great and small,
according to a very beautiful invention of his own. For Filippo Salviati
I finished not long since an altar-picture that is going to the Sisters
of S. Vincenzio at Prato, wherein on high is Our Lady arrived in Heaven
and crowned, and at the foot the Apostles around the Sepulchre. For the
Black Friars of the Badia of Florence, likewise, I am painting an
altar-piece of the Assumption of Our Lady, which is near completion,
with the Apostles in figures larger than life, and other figures at the
sides, and around it stories and ornaments accommodated in a novel
manner. And since the Lord Duke, so truly excellent in everything, takes
pleasure not only in the building of palaces, cities, fortresses,
harbours, loggie, public squares, gardens, fountains, villas, and other
suchlike things, beautiful, magnificent, and most useful, for the
benefit of his people, but also particularly in building anew and
reducing to better form and greater beauty, as a truly Catholic Prince,
the temples and sacred churches of God, in imitation of the great King
Solomon, recently he has caused me to remove the tramezzo[5] of the
Church of S. Maria Novella, which had robbed it of all its beauty, and
a new and very rich choir was made behind the high-altar, in order to
remove that occupying a great part of the centre of that church; which
makes it appear a new church and most beautiful, as indeed it is. And
because things that have not order and proportion among themselves can
never be entirely beautiful, he has ordained that there shall be made in
the side-aisles, between column and column, in such a manner as to
correspond to the centres of the arches, rich ornaments of stone in a
novel form, which are to serve as chapels with altars in the centre, and
are all to be in one of two manners; and that then in the altar-pictures
that are to go within these ornaments, seven braccia in height and five
in breadth, there shall be executed paintings after the will and
pleasure of the patrons of the chapels. Within one of those ornaments of
stone, made from my design, I have executed for the very reverend
Monsignor Alessandro Strozzi, Bishop of Volterra, my old and most loving
patron, a Christ Crucified according to the Vision of S. Anselm--namely,
with the Seven Virtues, without which we cannot ascend the Seven Steps
to Jesus Christ--and with other considerations by the same Saint. And in
the same church, within another of those ornaments, I have painted for
the excellent Maestro Andrea Pasquali, physician to the Lord Duke, a
Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the manner that God has inspired me, to
please that Maestro Andrea, who is much my friend. And a similar work
our great Duke has desired to have done in the immense Church of S.
Croce in Florence;--namely, that the tramezzo[6] should be removed and
that the choir should be made behind the high-altar, bringing that altar
somewhat forward and placing upon it a new and rich tabernacle for the
most holy Sacrament, all adorned with gold, figures, and scenes; and, in
addition, that in the same manner that has been told of S. Maria Novella
there should be made there fourteen chapels against the walls, with
greater expense and ornamentation than those described above, because
that church is much larger than the other. In the altar-pieces, to
accompany the two by Salviati and Bronzino, are to be all the principal
Mysteries of the Saviour, from the beginning of His Passion to the
Sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles; which picture of the
Sending of the Holy Spirit, having made the design of the chapels and
ornaments of stone, I have in hand for M. Agnolo Biffoli,
Treasurer-General to our Lords, and my particular friend, and I
finished, not long since, two large pictures that are in the Magistracy
of the Nine Conservadori, beside S. Piero Scheraggio; in one is the head
of Christ, and in the other a Madonna.

         [Footnote 5: See p. 57, Vol. I.]

         [Footnote 6: See p. 57, Vol. I.]

But since I should take too long if I sought to recount in detail the
many other pictures, designs without number, models, and masquerades
that I have executed, and because this much is enough and more than
enough, I shall say nothing more of myself, save that however great and
important have been the things that I have continually suggested to Duke
Cosimo, I have never been able to equal, much less to surpass, the
greatness of his mind. And this will be seen clearly in a third sacristy
that he wishes to build beside S. Lorenzo, large and similar to that
which Michelagnolo built in the past, but all of variegated marbles and
mosaics, in order to deposit there, in tombs most honourable and worthy
of his power and grandeur, the remains of his dead children, of his
father and mother, of the magnanimous Duchess Leonora, his consort, and
of himself; for which I have already made a model after his taste and
according to the orders received from him by me, which, when carried
into execution, will cause it to be a novel, most magnificent, and truly
regal Mausoleum.

This much, then, it must suffice to have said of myself, who am now come
after so many labours to the age of fifty-five years, and look to live
so long as it shall please God, honouring Him, ever at the service of my
friends, and working in so far as my strength shall allow for the
benefit and advantage of these most noble arts.




THE AUTHOR TO THE CRAFTSMEN OF DESIGN


Honoured and noble craftsmen, for whose profit and advantage, chiefly, I
set myself a second time to so long a labour, I now find that by the
favour and assistance of the Divine Grace I have accomplished in full
that which at the beginning of this my present task I promised myself to
do. For which result rendering thanks first to God and afterwards to my
lords, who have granted me the facilities whereby I have been able to do
this advantageously, I must then give repose to my weary pen and brain,
which I shall do as soon as I shall have made some brief observations.
If, then, it should appear to anyone that in my writing I have been at
times rather long and even somewhat prolix, let him put it down to this,
that I have sought as much as I have been able to be clear, and before
any other thing to set down my story in such a manner that what has not
been understood the first time, or not expressed satisfactorily by me,
might be made manifest at any cost. And if what has been said once has
been at times repeated in another place, the reasons for this have been
two--first, that the matter that I was treating required it, and then
that during the time when I rewrote and reprinted the work I broke off
my writing more than once for a period not of days merely but of months,
either for journeys or because of a superabundance of labours, works of
painting, designs, and buildings; besides which, for a man like myself
(I confess it freely) it is almost impossible to avoid every error. To
those to whom it might appear that I have overpraised any craftsmen,
whether old or modern, and who, comparing the old with those of the
present age, might laugh at them, I know not what else to answer save
that my intention has always been to praise not absolutely but, as the
saying is, relatively, having regard to place, time, and other similar
circumstances; and in truth, although Giotto, for example, was much
extolled in his day, I know not what would have been said of him, as of
other old masters, if he had lived in the time of Buonarroti, whereas
the men of this age, which is at the topmost height of perfection, would
not be in the position that they are if those others had not first been
such as they were before us. In short, let it be believed that what I
have done in praising or censuring I have done not with any ulterior
object, but only to speak the truth or what I have believed to be the
truth. But one cannot always have the goldsmith's balance in the hand,
and he who has experienced what writing is, and particularly when one
has to make comparisons, which are by their very nature odious, or to
pronounce judgments, will hold me excused; and I know only too well how
great have been the labours, hardships, and moneys that I have devoted
over many years to this work. Such, indeed, and so many, have been the
difficulties that I have experienced therein, that many a time I would
have abandoned it in despair, if the succour of many true and good
friends, to whom I shall always be deeply indebted, had not given me
courage and persuaded me to persevere, they lending me all the loving
aids that have been in their power, of notices, advices, and comparisons
of various things, about which, although I had seen them, I was not a
little perplexed and dubious. Those aids, indeed, have been such, that I
have been able to lay bare the pure truth and bring this work into the
light of day, in order to revive the memory of so many rare and
extraordinary intellects, which was almost entirely buried, for the
benefit of those who shall come after us. In doing which I have found no
little assistance, as has been told elsewhere, in the writings of
Lorenzo Ghiberti, Domenico Ghirlandajo, and Raffaello da Urbino; but
although I have lent them willing faith, nevertheless I have always
sought to verify their statements by a sight of the works, for the
reason that long practice teaches a diligent painter to be able to
recognize the various manners of craftsmen not otherwise than a learned
and well-practised chancellor knows the various and diverse writings of
his equals, or anyone the characters of his nearest and most familiar
friends and relatives.

Now, if I have achieved the end that I have desired, which has been to
benefit and at the same time to delight, that will be a supreme
satisfaction to me, and, even if it be otherwise, it will be a
contentment for me, or at least an alleviation of pain, to have endured
fatigue in an honourable work such as should make me worthy of pity
among all choice spirits, if not of pardon. But to come at last to the
end of this long discourse; I have written as a painter and with the
best order and method that I have been able, and, as for language, in
that which I speak, whether it be Florentine or Tuscan, and in the most
easy and facile manner at my command, leaving the long and ornate
periods, choice words, and other ornaments of learned speech and
writing, to such as have not, as I have, a hand rather for brushes than
for the pen, and a head rather for designs than for writing. And if I
have scattered throughout the work many terms peculiar to our arts, of
which perchance it has not occurred to the brightest and greatest lights
of our language to avail themselves, I have done this because I could do
no less and in order to be understood by you, my craftsmen, for whom,
chiefly, as I have said, I set myself to this labour. For the rest,
then, I having done all that I have been able, accept it willingly, and
expect not from me what I know not and what is not in my power;
satisfying yourselves of my good intention, which is and ever will be to
benefit and please others.

     DIE 25 AUGUSTI, 1567.

     CONCEDIMUS LICENTIAM ET FACULTATEM IMPUNE ET SINE ULLO PRÆJUDICIO
     IMPRIMENDI FLORENTIÆ VITAS PICTORUM, SCULPTORUM, ET
     ARCHITECTORUM, TANQUAM A FIDE ET RELIGIONE NULLO PACTO ALIENAS,
     SED POTIUS VALDE CONSONAS. IN QUORUM FIDEM ETC.

     GUIDO SERVIDIUS, PRÆPOSITUS ET VICARIUS GENERALIS FLORENT.




INDEX OF NAMES

OF THE CRAFTSMEN MENTIONED IN VOLUME X


  Academicians, The, 37-167

  Agnolo, Baccio d', 23

  Agnolo Bronzino, _Life_, 3-12. 3-14, 219

  Alberti, Leon Batista, 40

  Alessandro Allori (Alessandro del Bronzino), 12, 13

  Alessandro del Barbiere (Alessandro di Vincenzio Fei), 20

  Alessandro del Bronzino (Alessandro Allori), 12, 13

  Alessandro di Vincenzio Fei (Alessandro del Barbiere), 20

  Alessandro Fortori, 20

  Alessandro Vittoria, 20

  Allori, Alessandro (Alessandro del Bronzino), 12, 13

  Altissimo, Cristofano dell', 13, 14

  Ammanati, Bartolommeo, 23, 206

  Andrea Calamech, 23

  Andrea del Minga, 15

  Andrea del Sarto, 47, 172

  Andrea Palladio, 20

  Andrea Verrocchio, 47

  Antonio da Correggio, 187

  Antonio da San Gallo (the younger), 47

  Antonio di Gino Lorenzi, 30

  Apelles, 47, 200


  Bacchiacca, Il (Francesco Ubertini), 8

  Baccio Bandinelli, 23, 24, 31, 176, 210, 214

  Baccio d'Agnolo, 23

  Bagnacavallo, Giovan Battista da, 196

  Baldassarre Lancia, 33

  Baldassarre Peruzzi, 174

  Bandinelli, Baccio, 23, 24, 31, 176, 210, 214

  Bandini, Giovanni di Benedetto, 31, 32

  Barbiere, Alessandro del (Alessandro di Vincenzio Fei), 20

  Barozzi, Jacopo (Vignuola), 206

  Bartolommeo Ammanati, 23, 206

  Bastiano Flori, 187, 196

  Battista Cungi, 181, 187

  Battista del Cavaliere (Battista Lorenzi), 31

  Battista del Tasso, 208, 210

  Battista di Benedetto Fiammeri, 23

  Battista Farinato, 20

  Battista Lorenzi (Battista del Cavaliere), 31

  Battista Naldini, 14, 15

  Beceri, Domenico (Domenico Benci), 20

  Benedetto Pagni (Benedetto da Pescia), 9

  Benozzo Gozzoli, 47

  Benvenuto Cellini, 21, 22

  Bernardino di Porfirio, 17

  Bernardo Timante Buontalenti, 16-18

  Biagio Pupini, 184

  Bizzerra, 196

  Bologna, Giovan, 25, 26

  Borgo, Giovan Paolo dal, 196

  Bronzino, Agnolo, _Life_, 3-12. 3-14, 219

  Bronzino, Alessandro del (Alessandro Allori), 12, 13

  Brunellesco, Filippo di Ser, 47, 204

  Buffalmacco, 47

  Buonarroti, Michelagnolo, 12-17, 19, 24, 26, 31, 32, 46, 47, 172,
    174, 175, 186-190, 194, 206, 215, 220, 222

  Buontalenti, Bernardo Timante, 16-18

  Butteri, Giovan Maria, 13


  Cadore, Tiziano da (Tiziano Vecelli), 20, 187

  Calamech, Andrea, 23

  Camilliani, Francesco, 24, 25

  Caravaggio, Polidoro da, 174

  Carlo Portelli (Carlo da Loro), 15

  Cattaneo, Danese, 20

  Cavaliere, Battista del (Battista Lorenzi), 31

  Cellini, Benvenuto, 21, 22

  Cimabue, Giovanni, 3, 47, 196

  Cioli, Valerio, 32

  Clovio, Don Giulio, 16

  Colle, Raffaello dal, 7

  Collettaio, Ottaviano del, 33

  Correggio, Antonio da, 187

  Cristofano dell' Altissimo, 13, 14

  Cristofano Gherardi, 183, 187, 208

  Crocifissaio, Girolamo del, 15, 16

  Cungi, Battista, 181, 187


  Danese Cattaneo, 20

  Danti, Fra Ignazio, 28-30

  Danti, Vincenzio, 26-28

  Desiderio da Settignano, 47

  Domenico Beceri (Domenico Benci), 20

  Domenico Ghirlandajo, 222

  Domenico Poggini, 32, 33

  Don Giulio Clovio, 16

  Donato (Donatello), 22, 47


  Faenza, Marco da (Marco Marchetti), 20

  Fancelli, Giovanni (Giovanni di Stocco), 33

  Farinato, Battista, 20

  Federigo di Lamberto, 16

  Federigo Zucchero, 20

  Fei, Alessandro di Vincenzio (Alessandro del Barbiere), 20

  Fiammeri, Battista di Benedetto, 23

  Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, 47, 204

  Filippo Lippi, Fra, 47

  Flori, Bastiano, 187, 196

  Fontana, Prospero, 20

  Fortori, Alessandro, 20

  Foschi, Fra Salvadore, 196

  Fra Filippo Lippi, 47

  Fra Giovanni Agnolo Montorsoli, 9, 23, 33

  Fra Giovanni Vincenzio, 33

  Fra Ignazio Danti, 28-30

  Fra Salvadore Foschi, 196

  Francesco Camilliani, 24, 25

  Francesco da Poppi (Francesco Morandini), 14

  Francesco da San Gallo, 22, 23

  Francesco Morandini (Francesco da Poppi), 14

  Francesco Moschino, 32

  Francesco Salviati, 7, 47, 171, 174, 219

  Francesco Ubertini (Il Bacchiacca), 8


  Gaddi family, 47

  Genga, Girolamo, 33

  Gherardi, Cristofano, 183, 187, 208

  Ghiberti, Lorenzo, 47, 222

  Ghirlandajo, Domenico, 222

  Ghirlandajo, Michele di Ridolfo, 15

  Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, 15

  Giorgio Vasari. See Vasari, Giorgio

  Giotto, 47, 191, 221, 222

  Giovan Battista da Bagnacavallo, 196

  Giovan Bologna, 25, 26

  Giovan Francesco Rustici, 47

  Giovan Maria Butteri, 13

  Giovan Paolo dal Borgo, 196

  Giovanni Agnolo Montorsoli, Fra, 9, 23, 33

  Giovanni Cimabue, 3, 47, 196

  Giovanni da Udine, 176

  Giovanni della Strada (Jan van der Straet), 18, 19

  Giovanni di Benedetto Bandini, 31, 32

  Giovanni Fancelli (Giovanni di Stocco), 33

  Giovanni Vincenzio, Fra, 33

  Girolamo da Treviso, 184

  Girolamo del Crocifissaio, 15, 16

  Girolamo Genga, 33

  Giuliano da San Gallo, 22, 23

  Giulio Clovio, Don, 16

  Giulio da Urbino, 17

  Giulio Romano, 9, 187

  Giuseppe Porta (Giuseppe Salviati), 20

  Gozzoli, Benozzo, 47

  Guglielmo da Marcilla, 172


  Ignazio Danti, Fra, 28-30

  Il Bacchiacca (Francesco Ubertini), 8

  Il Rosso, 47, 172

  Ilarione Ruspoli, 24


  Jacopo Barozzi (Vignuola), 206

  Jacopo da Pontormo, 3-5, 7-10, 12-14, 47, 176, 177

  Jacopo Sansovino, 23

  Jacopo Tintoretto, 20

  Jacopo Zucchi, 19

  Jan van der Straet (Giovanni della Strada), 18, 19


  Lamberto, Federigo di, 16

  Lancia, Baldassarre, 33

  Lancia, Pompilio, 33

  Lastricati, Zanobi, 33

  Leon Battista Alberti, 40

  Leonardo da Vinci, 47

  Lippi, Fra Filippo, 47

  Lorenzi, Antonio di Gino, 30

  Lorenzi, Battista (Battista del Cavaliere), 31

  Lorenzi, Stoldo di Gino, 30, 31

  Lorenzo della Sciorina, 14

  Lorenzo Ghiberti, 47, 222

  Lorenzo Sabatini, 20

  Loro, Carlo da (Carlo Portelli), 15

  Luca Signorelli, 171


  Manno, 173

  Manzuoli, Maso (Maso da San Friano), 15

  Marchetti, Marco (Marco da Faenza), 20

  Marcilla, Guglielmo da, 172

  Marco Marchetti (Marco da Faenza), 20

  Martino (pupil of Fra Giovanni Agnolo Montorsoli), 23

  Masaccio, 47

  Maso Manzuoli (Maso da San Friano), 15

  Michelagnolo Buonarroti, 12-17, 19, 24, 26, 31, 32, 46, 47, 172, 174,
    175, 186-190, 194, 206, 215, 220, 222

  Michele di Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, 15

  Minga, Andrea del, 15

  Mirabello di Salincorno, 15, 16

  Montorsoli, Fra Giovanni Agnolo, 9, 23, 33

  Morandini, Francesco (Francesco da Poppi), 14

  Moschino, Francesco, 32


  Naldini, Battista, 14, 15

  Niccolò (Tribolo), 5, 30, 176, 177


  Orazio Porta, 20

  Ottaviano del Collettaio, 33


  Pagni, Benedetto (Benedetto da Pescia), 9

  Palladio, Andrea, 20

  Paolo Veronese, 20

  Parrhasius, 200

  Perino del Vaga, 47

  Perugino, Pietro, 192

  Peruzzi, Baldassarre, 174

  Pescia, Benedetto da (Benedetto Pagni), 9

  Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, 15

  Pieri, Stefano, 14

  Pietro Perugino, 192

  Poggini, Domenico, 32, 33

  Polidoro da Caravaggio, 174

  Pompilio Lancia, 33

  Pontormo, Jacopo da, 3-5, 7-10, 12-14, 47, 176, 177

  Poppi, Francesco da (Francesco Morandini), 14

  Porfirio, Bernardino di, 17

  Porta, Giuseppe (Giuseppe Salviati), 20

  Porta, Orazio, 20

  Portelli, Carlo (Carlo da Loro), 15

  Praxiteles, 47

  Prospero Fontana, 20

  Protogenes, 200

  Pupini, Biagio, 184


  Raffaello dal Colle, 7

  Raffaello Sanzio, 174, 180, 181, 192, 211, 222

  Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, 15

  Romano, Giulio, 9, 187

  Rossi, Vincenzio de', 23, 24

  Rosso, Il, 47, 172

  Roviale, 196

  Ruspoli, Ilarione, 24

  Rustici, Giovan Francesco, 47


  Sabatini, Lorenzo, 20

  Salincorno, Mirabello di, 15, 16

  Salvadore Foschi, Fra, 196

  Salviati, Francesco, 7, 47, 171, 174, 219

  Salviati, Giuseppe (Giuseppe Porta), 20

  San Friano, Maso da (Maso Manzuoli), 15

  San Gallo, Antonio da (the younger), 47

  San Gallo, Francesco da, 22, 23

  San Gallo, Giuliano da, 22, 23

  Sandro, Pier Francesco di Jacopo di, 15

  Sansovino, Jacopo, 23

  Santi Titi, 19, 20

  Sanzio, Raffaello, 174, 180, 181, 192, 211, 222

  Sarto, Andrea del, 47, 172

  Sciorina, Lorenzo della, 14

  Settignano, Desiderio da, 47

  Signorelli, Luca, 171

  Stefano Pieri, 14

  Stefano Veltroni, 20

  Stocco, Giovanni di (Giovanni Fancelli), 33

  Stoldo di Gino Lorenzi, 30, 31

  Strada, Giovanni della (Jan van der Straet), 18, 19


  Tasso, Battista del, 208, 210

  The Academicians, 37-167

  Tintoretto, Jacopo, 20

  Titi, Santi, 19, 20

  Tiziano Vecelli (Tiziano da Cadore), 20, 187

  Tommaso del Verrocchio, 20

  Treviso, Girolamo da, 184

  Tribolo (Niccolò), 5, 30, 176, 177


  Ubertini, Francesco (Il Bacchiacca), 8

  Udine, Giovanni da, 176

  Urbino, Giulio da, 17


  Vaga, Perino del, 47

  Valerio Cioli, 32

  Vasari, Giorgio, _Life_, 171-220
    as art-collector, 13
    as author, 3, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19-24, 29, 30, 32-34, 37, 41-44,
      47, 61, 62, 67, 69, 72, 76-78, 80, 82-84, 90, 92-94, 97-102,
      104, 105, 113, 116, 119, 127-129, 147, 162-164, 166, 167,
      171-223
    as painter, 12, 14, 16-20, 27, 105, 171-221, 223
    as architect, 10, 26-28, 31, 171, 174, 177, 178, 181, 184,
      189-193, 202, 206-216, 218-221

  Vecelli, Tiziano (Tiziano da Cadore), 20, 187

  Veltroni, Stefano, 20

  Veronese, Paolo, 20

  Verrocchio, Andrea, 47

  Verrocchio, Tommaso del, 20

  Vignuola (Jacopo Barozzi), 206

  Vincenzio, Fra Giovanni, 33

  Vincenzio Danti, 26-28

  Vincenzio de' Rossi, 23, 24

  Vinci, Leonardo da, 47

  Vittoria, Alessandro, 20


  Zanobi Lastricati, 33

  Zeuxis, 200

  Zucchero, Federigo, 20

  Zucchi, Jacopo, 19


END OF VOL. X.




GENERAL INDEX OF NAMES

OF THE CRAFTSMEN MENTIONED IN VOLUMES I--X

NOTE.--_To bring this Index within as reasonable a compass as possible
cross-references, such as_ Agnolo Bronzino. See Bronzino, Agnolo, _are
printed_ Agnolo _Bronzino_, _the italics indicating the name under
which the page-numbers will be found._


  Abacco, Antonio L', VI, 113, 114, 130, 136, 137; VIII, 167

  Abate, Niccolò dell' (Niccolò da Modena), VIII, 37, 38; IX, 148

  Abbot of S. Clemente (Don Bartolommeo della _Gatta_)

  Academicians, The, X, 37-167

  Adone _Doni_

  Aertsen, Pieter, IX, 268

  Aglaophon, I, xxxix

  Agnolo (nephew of Montorsoli), VIII, 144, 147, 151

  Agnolo (of Siena), _Life_, I, 97-105; I, 39, 97-105; II, 81, 94,
    95; VIII, 53

  Agnolo, Andrea d' (Andrea del _Sarto_)

  Agnolo, Baccio d' (Baccio Baglioni), _Life_, VI, 65-68; III, 12;
    IV, 101, 204, 267, 270; V, 91, 98, 102; VI, 65-69, 72; VII, 74;
    VIII, 116; IX, 40, 41, 194; X, 23

  Agnolo, Battista d' (Battista d'_Angelo_, or del Moro)

  Agnolo, Domenico di Baccio d', VI, 68, 70, 72

  Agnolo, Filippo di Baccio d', VI, 68, 70

  Agnolo, Giuliano di Baccio d', _Life_, VI, 68-72; VII, 83-86, 88, 89, 102

  Agnolo, Marco di Battista d', VI, 27, 28

  Agnolo _Bronzino_

  Agnolo di _Cristofano_

  Agnolo di _Donnino_

  Agnolo di _Lorenzo_ (Angelo di Lorentino)

  Agnolo di _Polo_

  Agnolo _Gaddi_

  Agobbio, Oderigi d', I, 79

  Agostino (of Siena), _Life_, I, 97-105; I, 39, 97-105; II, 81, 94,
    95; VIII, 53

  Agostino _Busto_ (Il Bambaja)

  Agostino della _Robbia_

  Agostino _Viniziano_ (Agostino de' Musi)

  Agresti, Livio (Livio da _Forlì_)

  Aholiab, I, xxxviii

  Aimo, Domenico (Vecchio of Bologna), V, 28; VI, 217; IX, 189

  Alberti, Leon Batista, _Life_, III, 43-48; I, xli, 179; II, 227;
    III, 43-48; VI, 45; IX, 271; X, 40

  Alberti, Michele, VIII, 205, 210, 211

  Albertinelli, Biagio di Bindo, IV, 165

  Albertinelli, Mariotto, _Life_, IV, 165-171; II, 190; IV, 151, 154,
    165-171; V, 86, 212, 217; VII, 108, 148; VIII, 62

  Albertino, Francesco d' (Francesco _Ubertini_, or Il Bacchiacca)

  Alberto, Antonio, V, 13

  Alberto Monsignori (_Bonsignori_)

  Albrecht (Heinrich) _Aldegrever_

  Albrecht _Dürer_

  Aldegrever, Albrecht (Heinrich), VI, 119

  Aldigieri (Altichiero) da _Zevio_

  Alessandro (Scherano da _Settignano_)

  Alessandro _Allori_ (Alessandro del Bronzino)

  Alessandro Bonvicini Alessandro _Moretto_

  Alessandro _Cesati_ (Il Greco)

  Alessandro del Barbiere (Alessandro di Vincenzio _Fei_)

  Alessandro del Bronzino (Alessandro _Allori_)

  Alessandro di Vincenzio _Fei_ (Alessandro del Barbiere)

  Alessandro _Falconetto_

  Alessandro Filipepi (Sandro _Botticelli_, or Sandro di Botticello)

  Alessandro _Fortori_

  Alessandro _Moretto_ (Alessandro Bonvicini)

  Alessandro _Vittoria_

  Alessi, Galeazzo, IX, 239-242

  Alesso _Baldovinetti_

  Alfonso _Lombardi_

  Allori, Alessandro (Alessandro del Bronzino), V, 127; IX, 133, 138;
    X, 12, 13

  Alonzo _Spagnuolo_ (Alonzo Berughetta)

  Altichiero (Aldigieri) da _Zevio_

  Altissimo, Cristofano dell', X, 13, 14

  Altobello da _Melone_

  Alunno, Niccolò, IV, 18, 19

  Alvaro di _Piero_

  Amalteo, Pomponio, V, 154, 155

  Ambrogio _Lorenzetti_

  Amico _Aspertini_

  Ammanati, Bartolommeo, II, 228; IV, 274; VII, 95, 96, 99, 100, 203,
    206; VIII, 91, 92, 99, 153, 220; IX, 69, 70, 73, 118, 125, 126,
    129, 207, 208, 223; X, 23, 206

  Amsterdam, Lambert of (Lambert _Lombard_)

  Andrea, Maestro, VII, 66

  Andrea _Calamech_

  Andrea _Contucci_ (Andrea Sansovino)

  Andrea d' Agnolo (Andrea del _Sarto_)

  Andrea da _Fiesole_ (Andrea Ferrucci)

  Andrea dal _Castagno_ (Andrea degli Impiccati)

  Andrea de' _Ceri_

  Andrea degli Impiccati (Andrea dal _Castagno_)

  Andrea del _Gobbo_

  Andrea del _Minga_

  Andrea del _Sarto_ (Andrea d' Agnolo)

  Andrea della _Robbia_

  Andrea di Cione _Orcagna_

  Andrea di _Cosimo_ (Andrea di Cosimo Feltrini)

  Andrea Ferrucci (Andrea da _Fiesole_)

  Andrea _Luigi_ (L' Ingegno)

  Andrea _Mantegna_

  Andrea _Palladio_

  Andrea _Pisano_

  Andrea _Riccio_

  Andrea Sansovino (Andrea _Contucci_)

  Andrea _Schiavone_

  Andrea _Sguazzella_

  Andrea _Tafi_

  Andrea _Verrocchio_

  Angeli, Don Lorenzo degli (Don Lorenzo _Monaco_)

  Angelico, Fra (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole), _Life_, III, 27-39; I, 162;
    II, 190, 271; III, 27-39, 121; IV, 73, 154, 185; VI, 246

  Angelo, Battista d' (Battista d' Agnolo, or del Moro), _Life_,
    VI, 27-28; IV, 61; VI, 27-28, 108; VII, 236; VIII, 41

  Angelo, Lorentino d', III, 22, 23

  Angelo _Ciciliano_

  Angelo di Lorentino (Agnolo di _Lorenzo_)

  Anguisciuola, Anna, VIII, 48

  Anguisciuola, Europa, VIII, 45, 48

  Anguisciuola, Lucia, VIII, 45, 47, 48

  Anguisciuola, Minerva, VIII, 45, 46

  Anguisciuola, Sofonisba, V, 127, 128; VIII, 45-48, 261

  Anichini, Luigi, VI, 85

  Anna _Anguisciuola_

  Anna _Seghers_

  Annibale da _Carpi_

  Annibale di Nanni di Baccio _Bigio_

  Anselmi, Michelagnolo, VIII, 39, 44

  Anselmo _Canneri_

  Antignano, Segna d', II, 26

  Antoine Lafrery (Antonio _Lanferri_)

  Antonello da _Messina_

  Antonio (Antoniasso), IV, 6, 7

  Antonio, Fra, VIII, 32

  Antonio _Alberto_

  Antonio _Bacchiacca_

  Antonio _Begarelli_ (Il Modena)

  Antonio _Campo_

  Antonio d' Andrea _Tafi_

  Antonio da _Carrara_

  Antonio da _Correggio_

  Antonio da _Ferrara_

  Antonio da _San Gallo_ (the elder)

  Antonio da _San Gallo_ (the younger)

  Antonio da _Trento_ (Antonio Fantuzzi)

  Antonio da _Verzelli_

  Antonio del _Ceraiuolo_

  Antonio del Rozzo (Antonio del _Tozzo_)

  Antonio di Donnino _Mazzieri_ (Antonio di Domenico)

  Antonio di Gino _Lorenzi_

  Antonio di Giorgio _Marchissi_

  Antonio di Giovanni (Solosmeo da _Settignano_)

  Antonio di Marco di Giano (Il _Carota_)

  Antonio di _Salvi_

  Antonio Fantuzzi (Antonio da _Trento_)

  Antonio _Filarete_

  Antonio _Fiorentino_

  Antonio _Floriani_

  Antonio l'_Abacco_

  Antonio _Lanferri_ (Antoine Lafrery)

  Antonio _Mini_

  Antonio _Montecavallo_

  Antonio _Particini_

  Antonio (or Vittore) _Pisanello_

  Antonio _Pollaiuolo_

  Antonio _Rossellino_ (Rossellino dal Proconsolo)

  Antonio _Salamanca_

  Antonio _Scarpagni_ (Scarpagnino or Zanfragnino)

  Antonio _Viniziano_

  Antonio _Vite_

  Antonius _Moor_

  Antwerp, Hugo of, IX, 265

  Antwerp, Willem van, IX, 269

  Apelles, I, xxviii, xxxix; II, 80, 120, 191; III, 36, 254, 286;
    IV, 82, 83, 105; V, 14; VIII, 28; IX, 133, 168; X, 47, 200

  Apollodorus, I, xxxix

  Apollonio, I, 47, 49

  Arca, Niccolò dell' (Niccolò Bolognese), II, 97; IX, 11

  Ardices, I, xxxix

  Aretino, Geri, III, 263, 264

  Aretino, Leone (Leone Lioni), _Life_, IX, 229-232; VI, 87; VIII, 56,
    184; IX, 95, 229-233

  Aretino, Marchionne, I, 17, 18

  Aretino, Niccolò (Niccolò d' Arezzo, or Niccolò di Piero Lamberti),
    _Life_, II, 101-104; I, 130; II, 101-104, 145, 146, 159, 200;
    IV, 55

  Aretino, Spinello, _Life_, II, 29-39; I, 67; II, 25, 26, 29-39, 67,
    83, 179

  Aretusi, Pellegrino degli (Pellegrino da _Modena_, or de' Munari)

  Arezzo, Niccolò d' (Niccolò _Aretino_, Niccolò di Piero Lamberti)

  Aristides, I, xli

  Aristotile (Bastiano) da _San Gallo_

  Arnolfo di _Lapo_ (Arnolfo Lapi)

  Arrigo (Heinrich _Paludanus_)

  Arthus van _Noort_

  Ascanio _Condivi_ (Ascanio dalla Ripa Transone)

  Asciano, Giovanni da, II, 5

  Aspertini, Amico, _Life_, V, 209-211; V, 125, 207-211

  Attavante (or Vante), III, 36-39, 209, 214, 215

  Ausse (Hans _Memling_)

  Avanzi, Jacopo (Jacopo Davanzo), II, 104; IV, 51, 55

  Avanzi, Niccolò, VI, 79, 80


  Bacchiacca, Antonio, VIII, 20

  Bacchiacca, Il (Francesco _Ubertini_, or d' Albertino)

  Baccio, Giovanni di (Nanni di Baccio _Bigio_)

  Baccio Baglioni (Baccio d' _Agnolo_)

  Baccio _Baldini_

  Baccio _Bandinelli_ (Baccio de' Brandini)

  Baccio _Cellini_

  Baccio d' _Agnolo_ (Baccio Baglioni)

  Baccio da _Montelupo_

  Baccio de' Brandini (Baccio _Bandinelli_)

  Baccio della Porta (Fra Bartolommeo di _San Marco_)

  Baccio _Gotti_

  Baccio _Pintelli_

  Baccio _Ubertino_

  Baglioni, Baccio (Baccio d' _Agnolo_)

  Baglioni, Raffaello, VIII, 116

  Bagnacavallo, Bartolommeo da (Bartolommeo Ramenghi), _Life_,
    V, 207-209; IV, 237; V, 207-209; IX, 147

  Bagnacavallo, Giovan Battista da, V, 201; VII, 129; IX, 147, 148;
    X, 196

  Baldassarre da Siena (Baldassarre _Peruzzi_)

  Baldassarre _Lancia_

  Baldassarre _Peruzzi_ (Baldassarre da Siena)

  Baldinelli, Baldino, III, 233

  Baldini, Baccio, VI, 91

  Baldini, Giovanni, VIII, 24, 25

  Baldino _Baldinelli_

  Baldovinetti, Alesso, _Life_, III, 67-70; I, 4, 48; II, 190;
    III, 59, 67-70, 101, 225; IV, 82; V, 88, 92; IX, 182

  Bambaja, Il (Agostino _Busto_)

  Banco, Nanni d' Antonio di, _Life_, II, 113-115; II, 113-115, 253;
    III, 28

  Bandinelli, Baccio (Baccio de' Brandini), _Life_, VII, 55-103;
    II, 127, 190; IV, 204, 274; V, 5, 27, 36, 57, 96-98, 135;
    VI, 69-71, 103, 105, 111; VII, 4, 27, 28, 42, 43, 55-103, 154, 187;
    VIII, 113, 141, 142, 146, 152, 163, 191; IX, 20, 49, 126, 190;
    X, 23, 24, 31, 176, 210, 214

  Bandinelli, Clemente, VII, 77, 94, 95, 98

  Bandini, Giovanni di Benedetto (Giovanni dell' Opera), IX, 126, 130,
    140, 141; X, 31, 32

  Barba, Jacopo della, VII, 71

  Barbara de' _Longhi_

  Barbiere, Alessandro del (Alessandro di Vincenzio _Fei_)

  Barbiere, Domenico del, V, 201; IX, 149

  Barile, Gian (Giovan), IV, 238; VI, 177

  Barile, Gian (of Florence), V, 86

  Barlacchi, Tommaso, VI, 104, 113

  Barocci, Federigo, VIII, 227

  Baronino, Bartolommeo, VIII, 220

  Barozzi, Jacopo (Vignuola), VI, 114; VIII, 220, 230, 237-240, 259;
    IX, 102, 146, 147; X, 206

  Bartoli, Domenico, II, 63, 64

  Bartoli, Taddeo, _Life_, II, 61-64

  Bartolo di Maestro _Fredi_

  Bartolommeo, Fra (Fra Carnovale da Urbino), IV, 138

  Bartolommeo _Ammanati_

  Bartolommeo _Baronino_

  Bartolommeo _Bologhini_

  Bartolommeo Bozzato (Girolamo _Bozza_)

  Bartolommeo _Clemente_

  Bartolommeo _Coda_

  Bartolommeo da _Bagnacavallo_ (Bartolommeo Ramenghi)

  Bartolommeo da _Castiglione_

  Bartolommeo della _Gatta_, Don (Abbot of S. Clemente)

  Bartolommeo di Jacopo di _Martino_

  Bartolommeo di _San Marco_ (Baccio della Porta), Fra

  Bartolommeo _Genga_

  Bartolommeo _Miniati_

  Bartolommeo _Montagna_

  Bartolommeo _Neroni_ (Riccio)

  Bartolommeo _Passerotto_

  Bartolommeo Ramenghi (Bartolommeo da _Bagnacavallo_)

  Bartolommeo _Ridolfi_

  Bartolommeo _San Michele_

  Bartolommeo Suardi (_Bramantino_)

  Bartolommeo _Torri_

  Bartolommeo _Vivarini_

  Bartoluccio _Ghiberti_

  Basaiti, Marco (Il Bassiti, or Marco Basarini), IV, 52, 58

  Bassano, Jacopo da, IX, 175, 176

  Bassiti, Il (Marco _Basaiti_, or Basarini)

  Bastianello _Florigorio_ (Sebastiano Florigerio)

  Bastiani, Lazzaro (Lazzaro Scarpaccia, or Sebastiano Scarpaccia),
    IV, 52, 57, 58

  Bastiano da _Monte Carlo_

  Bastiano (Aristotile) da _San Gallo_

  Bastiano _Flori_

  Bastiano _Mainardi_ (Bastiano da San Gimignano)

  Battista, Martino di (Pellegrino da San Daniele, or Martino da _Udine_)

  Battista _Borro_

  Battista _Botticelli_

  Battista _Cungi_

  Battista d'_Angelo_ (Battista d'Agnolo, or del Moro)

  Battista da _San Gallo_ (Battista Gobbo)

  Battista da Verona (Battista _Farinato_)

  Battista del Cavaliere (Battista _Lorenzi_)

  Battista del _Cervelliera_

  Battista del _Cinque_

  Battista del Moro (Battista d'_Angelo_, or d'Agnolo)

  Battista del _Tasso_

  Battista della _Bilia_

  Battista di Benedetto _Fiammeri_

  Battista _Dossi_

  Battista _Farinato_ (Battista da Verona)

  Battista _Franco_ (Battista Semolei)

  Battista Gobbo (Battista da _San Gallo_)

  Battista _Lorenzi_ (Battista del Cavaliere)

  Battista _Naldini_

  Battista of Città di Castello, VII, 118, 119

  Battista _Pittoni_ (Battista of Vicenza)

  Battista Semolei (Battista _Franco_)

  Battistino, V, 193, 194

  Baviera, IV, 232, 233; V, 194; VI, 100, 101, 109, 209

  Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio (Il Sodoma), _Life_, VII, 245-257; IV, 72,
    218; V, 73; VI, 236-238, 247, 249; VII, 245-257; VIII, 197

  Beatricio, Niccolò (Nicolas Beautrizet), VI, 114

  Beccafumi, Domenico (Domenico di Pace), _Life_, VI, 235-251;
    II, 96; V, 74, 153, 163; VI, 108, 213, 215, 223, 235-251;
    VII, 252, 255, 256

  Beceri, Domenico (Domenico Benci), IV, 283; VII, 141; X, 20

  Begarelli, Antonio (Il Modena), VIII, 38; IX, 113

  Beham, Hans, VI, 119

  Bellegambe, Jean, IX, 266

  Belli, Valerio de' (Valerio _Vicentino_)

  Bellini family, V, 262

  Bellini, Gentile, _Life_, III, 173-184; III, 173-184, 280; IV, 57,
    59, 109

  Bellini, Giovanni, _Life_, III, 173-184; III, 173-184, 280, 286;
    IV, 57, 58, 82, 109; V, 145, 146, 260, 264; VI, 173; VIII, 33;
    IX, 159, 160, 162, 163

  Bellini, Jacopo, _Life_, III, 173-175; III, 173-175, 280; VI, 11, 35

  Bellini, Vittore (Belliniano), IV, 52, 59, 60

  Bello, Raffaello, VIII, 114

  Bellucci, Giovan Battista (Giovan Battista San Marino), _Life_,
    VII, 210-213; VII, 207, 210-213

  Bembi, Bonifazio, VIII, 42, 43

  Bembo, Giovan Francesco (Giovan Francesco Vetraio), V, 180

  Benci, Domenico (Domenico _Beceri_)

  Benedetto (pupil of Giovanni Antonio Sogliani), V, 165

  Benedetto _Buglioni_

  Benedetto _Buonfiglio_

  Benedetto (Giovan Battista) _Caporali_

  Benedetto _Cianfanini_

  Benedetto _Coda_ (Benedetto da Ferrara)

  Benedetto da _Maiano_

  Benedetto da Pescia (Benedetto _Pagni_)

  Benedetto da _Rovezzano_

  Benedetto _Diana_

  Benedetto _Ghirlandajo_

  Benedetto _Pagni_ (Benedetto da Pescia)

  Benedetto _Spadari_

  Bening, Levina, IX, 269

  Bening, Simon, IX, 268

  Benozzo _Gozzoli_

  Benvenuto _Cellini_

  Benvenuto _Garofalo_ (Benvenuto Tisi)

  Bergamo, Fra Damiano da, VIII, 169, 237

  Berna, _Life_, II, 3-5

  Bernard of Brussels, IX, 266

  Bernardetto di _Mona Papera_

  Bernardi, Giovanni (Giovanni da Castel Bolognese), _Life_,
    VI, 76-79; IV, 111; VI, 76-79, 83, 84; IX, 164

  Bernardino _Brugnuoli_

  Bernardino da _Trevio_ (Bernardino Zenale)

  Bernardino del Lupino (Bernardino _Luini_)

  Bernardino di _Porfirio_

  Bernardino _India_

  Bernardino _Pinturicchio_

  Bernardino Zenale (Bernardino da _Trevio_)

  Bernardo Timante _Buontalenti_

  Bernardo _Ciuffagni_

  Bernardo da _Vercelli_

  Bernardo _Daddi_

  Bernardo de' Gatti (Bernardo _Soiaro_)

  Bernardo del _Buda_ (Bernardo Rosselli)

  Bernardo di Cione _Orcagna_

  Bernardo Nello di Giovanni _Falconi_

  Bernardo Rosselli (Bernardo del _Buda_)

  Bernardo _Rossellino_

  Bernardo _Soiaro_ (Bernardo de' Gatti)

  Bernardo _Vasari_

  Bernazzano, Cesare, V, 141

  Bersuglia, Gian Domenico, VII, 193

  Bertano, Giovan Battista, VIII, 40, 41

  Berto _Linaiuolo_

  Bertoldo, II, 249, 253, 254; IV, 185; VII, 107; IX, 8

  Berughetta, Alonzo (Alonzo _Spagnuolo_)

  Betti, Biagio (Biagio da Carigliano), VIII, 210

  Bezaleel, I, xxxviii

  Biagio, Raffaello di, V, 231, 232

  Biagio (pupil of Botticelli), III, 251, 252

  Biagio _Betti_ (Biagio da Carigliano)

  Biagio _Bolognese_ (Biagio Pupini)

  Biagio da Carigliano (Biagio _Betti_)

  Biagio di Bindo _Albertinelli_

  Biagio Pupini (Biagio _Bolognese_)

  Bianco, Simon, IV, 60

  Bicci, Lorenzo di, _Life_, II, 67-73; III, 20, 213; V, 5; VII, 61

  Bicci di _Lorenzo_

  Bigio, Annibale di Nanni di Baccio, VIII, 188

  Bigio, Nanni di Baccio (Giovanni di Baccio), VII, 81; IX, 69, 76,
    100, 101, 113, 239

  Bilia, Battista della, VII, 118

  Bizzerra, VII, 129; VIII, 204; X, 196

  Blondeel, Lancelot, IX, 267

  Boccaccino, Boccaccio, _Life_, V, 58-60; VIII, 23, 24, 42-44

  Boccaccino, Camillo, V, 59, 60; VIII, 43

  Boccalino, Giovanni (Giovanni Ribaldi), V, 29

  Boccardino (the elder), III, 215

  Bol, Hans, IX, 268

  Bologhini, Bartolommeo, I, 120

  Bologna, Galante da, II, 51

  Bologna, Giovan, VII, 100, 101; IX, 267, 269; X, 25, 26

  Bologna, Orazio da (Orazio _Sammacchini_)

  Bologna, Pellegrino da (Pellegrino _Pellegrini_, or Tibaldi)

  Bologna, Ruggieri da, IX, 147

  Bologna, Vecchio of (Domenico _Aimo_)

  Bolognese, Biagio (Biagio Pupini), V, 208, 211; VIII, 32, 33; X, 184

  Bolognese, Franco, I, 79

  Bolognese, Guido, III, 170

  Bolognese, Marc' Antonio (Marc' Antonio Raimondi, or de' Franci),
    _Life_, VI, 95-96, 99-106; IV, 232, 233; VI, 95-96, 99-106,
    108, 109, 120; VII, 65; VIII, 42

  Bolognese, Niccolò (Niccolò dell' _Arca_)

  Boltraffio, Giovanni Antonio, IV, 105

  Bonaccorso _Ghiberti_

  Bonano, I, 15, 16

  Bonasone, Giulio, VI, 114

  Bonifazio (of Venice), IX, 214

  Bonifazio _Bembi_

  Bonsignori (Monsignori), Alberto, VI, 29

  Bonsignori (Monsignori), Fra Cherubino, VI, 34

  Bonsignori (Monsignori), Fra Girolamo, _Life_, VI, 34-35; VIII, 42

  Bonsignori (Monsignori), Francesco, _Life_, VI, 29-35; III, 63;
    IV, 60; VI, 29-35

  Bonvicini, Alessandro (Alessandro _Moretto_)

  Bordone, Paris, IX, 178-182

  Borghese (of Antwerp), IX, 269

  Borghese, Piero (Piero della _Francesca_, or Piero dal Borgo a San
    Sepolcro)

  Borgo, Giovan Paolo dal, X, 196

  Borgo, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal _Colle_)

  Borgo a San Sepolcro, Giovan Maria dal, VI, 256

  Borgo a San Sepolcro, Piero dal (Piero della _Francesca_, or Borghese)

  Borro, Battista, IV, 262; VIII, 178

  Bosch, Hieronymus, VI, 118; IX, 267

  Bosco, Maso dal (Maso _Boscoli_)

  Boscoli, Giovanni, IX, 156

  Boscoli, Maso (Maso dal Bosco), V, 6; IX, 55

  Botticelli, Battista, VIII, 169

  Botticelli, Sandro (Sandro di Botticello, or Alessandro Filipepi),
    _Life_, III, 247-254; II, 190; III, 86, 87, 188, 222, 247-254;
    IV, 3, 4, 82; VI, 91

  Botticello, III, 247

  Boyvin, René (Renato), VI, 115

  Bozza, Girolamo (Bartolommeo Bozzato), IX, 183

  Bozzacco (Brazzacco), VIII, 107

  Bozzato, Bartolommeo (Girolamo _Bozza_)

  Bramante da _Milano_

  Bramante da _Urbino_

  Bramantino (Bartolommeo Suardi), III, 18, 19; IV, 217; VIII, 52, 53;
    IX, 190

  Brambilari (Brambilla), Francesco, VIII, 55

  Brandini, Baccio de' (Baccio _Bandinelli_)

  Brazzacco (_Bozzacco_)

  Brescia, Raffaello da (Raffaello _Brescianino_, or de' Piccinelli)

  Brescianino, Girolamo (Girolamo Mosciano, or Muziano), VI, 114;
    VIII, 50, 224

  Brescianino, Raffaello (Raffaello da Brescia, or de' Piccinelli),
    VIII, 164

  Bresciano, Gian Girolamo (Gian Girolamo Savoldo), VIII, 50

  Bresciano, Jacopo (Jacopo de' Medici), IX, 206, 207, 223

  Bresciano, Vincenzio (Vincenzio di Zoppa, or Foppa), II, 271;
    III, 5; IV, 51, 52, 56

  Breuck, Jakob, IX, 269

  Brini, Francesco, III, 214

  Bronzi, Simone de' (Simone da _Colle_)

  Bronzino, Agnolo, _Life_, X, 3-12; IV, 179; V, 127, 163; VI, 118,
    256; VII, 29, 31, 113, 149, 158, 160, 163, 167, 168, 171, 172,
    175, 176, 178, 182, 201; VIII, 11, 12, 94, 153, 156, 179;
    IX, 118, 125, 128, 133, 137, 252; X, 3-14, 219

  Bronzino, Alessandro del (Alessandro _Allori_)

  Brueghel, Pieter, IX, 267, 268

  Bruges, Johann of (Jan van _Eyck_)

  Bruges, Roger of (Roger van der _Weyden_)

  Brugnuoli, Bernardino, VII, 226, 227, 233, 234

  Brugnuoli, Luigi, VII, 229, 233

  Brunelleschi, Filippo (Filippo di Ser Brunellesco), _Life_,
    II, 195-236; I, lii, 22, 23, 26, 48, 130; II, 84-86, 93, 95,
    124, 139, 143-147, 150, 159, 161, 183, 185, 188, 190, 195-236,
    240-243, 259, 260; III, 3, 12, 130, 196, 257, 271; IV, 137, 185,
    266; VI, 68, 71; VII, 87, 88, 167, 226; VIII, 48; IX, 43, 44,
    133; X, 47, 204

  Bruno di _Giovanni_

  Brusciasorzi, Domenico (Domenico del Riccio), VI, 82; VII, 236, 237;
    VIII, 40, 41

  Brusciasorzi, Felice (Felice del Riccio), VII, 237

  Brussels, _Bernard_ of

  Buda, Bernardo del (Bernardo Rosselli), V, 116

  Buda, Girolamo del, VII, 56

  Buffalmacco, Buonamico, _Life_, I, 135-151; I, 50, 51, 135-151,
    170, 190, 191, 211; II, 68; X, 47

  Buggiano, Il, II, 235

  Bugiardini, Giuliano, _Life_, VII, 107-113; II, 138; IV, 154,
    161, 170, 186; VI, 183; VII, 107-113; VIII, 121-123, 162;
    IX, 29, 30, 95

  Buglioni, Benedetto, III, 276; IV, 155

  Buglioni, Santi, III, 276; VII, 29; IX, 132

  Buonaccorsi, Perino (Perino del _Vaga_, or de' Ceri)

  Buonaiuti, Corsino, II, 26

  Buonarroti, Michelagnolo, _Life_, IX, 3-141; I, xxvi, xxxiv, 87;
    II, 159, 162, 187, 190, 191, 221, 255, 261; III, 86, 110, 140,
    233; IV, 41, 43, 48, 65, 66, 74, 84, 85, 101, 104, 145, 157,
    186, 187, 199, 201, 204, 209, 212, 215, 223, 224, 242-245, 259,
    270; V, 5, 6, 23, 43-45, 58, 86, 111, 117, 128, 135, 165, 190,
    194, 228, 245, 247, 261; VI, 57, 59, 60, 66, 68, 78, 79, 85, 92,
    107, 111, 113, 114, 129, 135, 136, 139, 140, 167, 174-177, 183,
    185, 191, 193, 195, 205, 218, 219, 222, 225, 236, 263; VII, 10,
    11, 14, 16, 28, 32, 44, 46, 48, 49, 57, 58, 61, 66-68, 71, 72,
    75, 77, 81, 98, 99, 107, 108, 110-113, 151, 172, 173, 179, 194,
    235; VIII, 3-5, 16, 25, 61, 73, 79, 82, 89, 91, 92, 95, 96, 116,
    128, 134, 136-138, 141, 146, 156, 162, 163, 170, 185, 188,
    201-204, 206-209, 235, 259; IX, 3-141, 145, 153, 162, 170, 171,
    187, 193-195, 215, 216, 224, 231, 235, 236, 239, 246, 250, 251,
    259; X, 12-17, 19, 24, 26, 31, 32, 46, 47, 172, 174, 175,
    186-190, 194, 206, 215, 220, 222

  Buonconsigli, Giovanni, IV, 52, 60

  Buonfiglio, Benedetto, IV, 17, 18

  Buono, I, 14, 15

  Buontalenti, Bernardo Timante, IX, 135-137; X, 16-18

  Buschetto, I, liv, lvi; II, 80

  Busto, Agostino (Il Bambaja), IV, 60; V, 42, 43; VIII, 54, 55

  Butteri, Giovan Maria, IX, 131; X, 13


  Caccianimici, Francesco, V, 201

  Caccianimici, Vincenzio, V, 255, 256

  Cadore, Tiziano da (Tiziano _Vecelli_)

  Calamech, Andrea, IX, 129; X, 23

  Calamech, Lazzaro, IX, 129

  Calamis, II, 80

  Calandrino, I, 135

  Calavrese, Giovan Piero, VIII, 216

  Calavrese, Marco (Marco Cardisco), _Life_, V, 237-239; VIII, 91

  Calcagni, Tiberio, VIII, 233; IX, 83, 84, 98-100

  Calcar, Johann of (Jan Stephanus van Calcker, or Giovanni Fiammingo),
    VI, 116; IX, 178, 266

  Caldara, Polidoro (Polidoro da _Caravaggio_)

  Caliari, Paolo (Paolo Veronese), VI, 22, 27; VII, 236-240;
    VIII, 41, 42, 102-104, 106, 107; X, 20

  Callicrates, III, 55

  Calzolaio, Sandrino del, V, 161, 165

  Camicia, Chimenti, _Life_, III, 92-93

  Camilliani, Francesco, X, 24, 25

  Camillo _Boccaccino_

  Camillo _Mantovano_

  Cammei, Domenico de', VI, 76

  Campagnola, Girolamo, II, 138; III, 279; IV, 51, 55, 56

  Campagnola, Giulio, IV, 51, 56, 57

  Campi, Fra Ristoro da, I, 59

  Campo, Antonio, VIII, 44, 45

  Campo, Galeazzo, VIII, 44

  Campo, Giulio, VIII, 41, 44, 45, 48, 49

  Campo, Vincenzio, VIII, 44, 45

  Canachus, II, 80

  Canneri, Anselmo, VI, 22

  Capanna (of Siena), III, 208; V, 74

  Capanna, Puccio, I, 85, 89-91

  Caparra, Il (Niccolò _Grosso_)

  Capocaccia, Mario, IX, 233

  Caporali, Benedetto (Giovan Battista), IV, 48, 75, 76

  Caporali, Giulio, IV, 48

  Caradosso, IV, 23, 144

  Caraglio, Giovanni Jacopo, _Life_, VI, 109, 110; V, 194; VI, 109,
    110, 209

  Caravaggio, Polidoro da (Polidoro Caldara), _Life_, V, 175-185;
    IV, 83, 237; V, 175-185; VI, 177, 196; VIII, 17, 218, 219;
    IX, 170; X, 174

  Cardisco, Marco (Marco _Calavrese_)

  Carigliano, Biagio da (Biagio _Betti_)

  Carlo _Portelli_ (Carlo da Loro)

  Carnovale da Urbino, Fra (Fra _Bartolommeo_)

  Carota, Il (Antonio di Marco di Giano), I, 125; VI, 213; VII, 152; IX, 51

  Caroto, Giovan Francesco, _Life_, VI, 15-21; IV, 60; VI, 15-21, 37

  Caroto, Giovanni, _Life_, VI, 21-22; VI, 15, 21-22; VII, 238

  Carpaccio (Scarpaccia), Vittore, _Life_, IV, 51-61; IX, 210, 211

  Carpi, Annibale da, VIII, 36

  Carpi, Girolamo da (Girolamo da Ferrara), _Life_, VIII, 30-36;
    V, 154; VIII, 28-36

  Carpi, Giulio da, VIII, 36

  Carpi, Ugo da, IV, 233; VI, 106, 107

  Carrara, Antonio da, V, 8

  Carrara, Danese da (Danese _Cattaneo_)

  Carrucci, Jacopo (Jacopo da _Pontormo_)

  Carso, Giovanni dal, VIII, 227

  Cartoni, Niccolò (Niccolò Zoccolo), IV, 9, 10

  Caselli (_Castelli_), Cristofano

  Casentino, Jacopo di, _Life_, II, 23-26; I, 183, 185; II, 23-26,
    29, 33, 83; VIII, 153

  Casignuola, Jacopo, IX, 238

  Casignuola, Tommaso, IX, 238

  Castagno, Andrea dal (Andrea degli Impiccati), _Life_, III, 97-105;
    II, 190; III, 97-105, 109, 117, 173, 237, 239, 283; IV, 82;
    V, 116; VI, 182

  Castel Bolognese, Giovanni da (Giovanni _Bernardi_)

  Castel della Pieve, Pietro da (Pietro _Perugino_, or Vannucci)

  Castelfranco, Giorgione da, _Life_, IV, 109-114; I, xxxii; III, 184;
    IV, 82, 109-114, 125; V, 149, 228, 262; VI, 23, 173, 174;
    VIII, 29, 73, 74; IX, 159-162, 165, 179

  Castellani, Leonardo, V, 238

  Castelli (Caselli), Cristofano, VIII, 39

  Castiglione, Bartolommeo da, VI, 152

  Castrocaro, Gian Jacopo da, V, 50

  Catanei, Piero, VI, 250

  Catena, Vincenzio, IV, 52, 58

  Catharina van _Hemessen_

  Cattaneo, Danese (Danese da Carrara), V, 135; VI, 26-28, 54;
    VII, 228; IX, 176, 204, 208-210, 214, 223; X, 20

  Cavaliere, Battista del (Battista _Lorenzi_)

  Cavalieri, Giovan Battista de', VI, 113

  Cavalieri, Tiberio, VII, 50

  Cavallini, Pietro, _Life_, I, 161-164; I, 92, 161-164

  Cavalori, Mirabello (Mirabello di _Salincorno_)

  Cavazzuola, Paolo (Paolo Morando), _Life_, VI, 39-42; VI, 15, 24,
    25, 29, 39-42, 50

  Cecca, _Life_, III, 193-200; III, 69, 193-200

  Cecca, Girolamo della, III, 263

  Cecchino del _Frate_

  Cellini, Baccio, III, 92, 263

  Cellini, Benvenuto, V, 135; VI, 86, 87; VII, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99,
    100; VIII, 128; IX, 51, 118, 125; X, 21, 22

  Cenni, Pasquino, II, 26

  Cennini, Cennino di Drea, I, 177, 221, 222; II 109

  Ceraiuolo, Antonio del, IV, 280; VIII, 65, 66

  Ceri, Andrea de', VI, 190-192, 201

  Ceri, Perino de' (Perino del _Vaga_, or Buonaccorsi)

  Cervelliera, Battista del, III, 12; VI, 214, 247, 248; VII, 256

  Cesare _Bernazzano_

  Cesare _Cesariano_

  Cesare da _Sesto_ (Cesare da Milano)

  Cesare del _Nebbia_

  Cesariano, Cesare, IV, 138; IX, 190

  Cesati, Alessandro (Il Greco), _Life_, VI, 85

  Cherubino _Bonsignori_ (Monsignori), Fra

  Chimenti _Camicia_

  Christus, Pieter, IX, 265

  Cianfanini, Benedetto, IV, 162

  Ciappino, IX, 51

  Cicilia, Il, V, 8

  Ciciliano, Angelo, VIII, 55

  Ciciliano, Jacopo, IX, 98

  Cicogna, Girolamo, VI, 22

  Cieco, Niccolò, III, 233

  Cimabue, Giovanni, _Life_, I, 3-10; I, xxiv, xxxv, lix, 3-10, 20,
    21, 29, 47, 50, 55, 56, 58, 63, 72, 74, 89, 94, 113, 117, 145,
    174; II, 25, 82, 161, 202; III, 59; IV, 77; V, 177; IX, 133;
    X, 3, 47, 196

  Cini, Simone, II, 36

  Cinque, Battista del, VII, 12; IX, 51

  Cinuzzi, Vanni, II, 26

  Cioli, Simone, V, 30; VI, 133; VII, 9, 10, 189; VIII, 36

  Cioli, Valerio, VIII, 35; IX, 129, 140, 141; X, 32

  Cione, I, 103, 104

  Ciuffagni, Bernardo, III, 7

  Clara _Skeysers_

  Claudio (of Paris), V, 201

  Claudio, Maestro, IV, 254, 255

  Cleanthes, I, xxxix

  Cleef, Joost van, IX, 266

  Clemente, Bartolommeo, IV, 60

  Clemente, Prospero, VIII, 38, 39

  Clemente _Bandinelli_

  Cleophantes, I, xxxix

  Clovio, Don Giulio, _Life_, IX, 245-253; VI, 51, 54, 111, 264;
    IX, 245-253; X, 16

  Cock, Hieronymus, _Life_, VI, 116-120; VI, 108, 116-120; IX, 266

  Cock, Matthys, IX, 266

  Coda, Bartolommeo, III, 184

  Coda, Benedetto (Benedetto da Ferrara), III, 184; V, 211, 212

  Cola dalla _Matrice_ (Niccola Filotesio)

  Colle, Raffaello dal (Raffaello dal Borgo), V, 140, 195, 196;
    VI, 152, 169; VII, 117, 118, 120, 128, 129, 201; X, 7

  Colle, Simone da (Simone de' Bronzi), II, 145, 146, 200

  Collettaio, Ottaviano del, X, 33

  Colonna, Jacopo, IX, 202, 203, 223

  Como, Guido da, I, 48

  Condivi, Ascanio (Ascanio dalla Ripa Transone), IX, 5, 107

  Conigliano, Giovan Battista da, IV, 52, 58

  Consiglio _Gherardi_

  Conte, Jacopo del, V, 119; VIII, 95, 169, 181; IX, 95, 152, 258, 260, 261

  Conti, Domenico, V, 115, 119; VII, 29; VIII, 11

  Contucci, Andrea (Andrea Sansovino), _Life_, V, 21-31; III, 243;
    IV, 5, 144, 186, 223, 270; V, 21-31, 43, 88; VI, 66, 133;
    VII, 5, 9, 61, 62, 187, 189; VIII, 36, 114; IX, 15, 40, 41, 187,
    202, 216

  Cordegliaghi, Giovanetto, IV, 52, 58, 59

  Coriolano, Cristofano, VI, 120

  Cornelis, Jan, IX, 266

  Cornelis _Floris_

  Corniole, Giovanni delle, VI, 76, 84

  Corniole, Nanni di Prospero delle, VIII, 162

  Correggio, Antonio da, _Life_, IV, 117-122; IV, 83, 117-122, 125;
    VIII, 30, 31, 34, 37, 217; X, 187

  Corsino _Buonaiuti_

  Corso, Jacopo del, III, 105

  Cortona, Luca da (Luca _Signorelli_)

  Cosimo, Andrea di (Andrea di Cosimo Feltrini), _Life_, V, 229-233;
    III, 189; IV, 129; V, 221, 228-233; VII, 13, 149-152

  Cosimo, Piero di, _Life_, IV, 125-134; III, 189; IV, 125-134;
    V, 86; VII, 148

  Cosimo (Jacopo) da _Trezzo_

  Cosimo _Rosselli_

  Cosini, Silvio (Silvio da Fiesole), V, 6-8; VI, 210; VIII, 55

  Cosmè, II, 104; III, 136

  Costa, Ippolito, VIII, 41

  Costa, Lorenzo, _Life_, III, 161-164; III, 161-164, 167; VIII, 23, 25

  Costa, Lorenzo (the younger), VIII, 228

  Cotignola, Francesco da (Francesco de' Zaganelli) _Life_, V, 265-266

  Cotignola, Girolamo da (Girolamo Marchesi), _Life_, V, 211-212;
    V, 207, 211-212

  Cousin, Jean (Giovanni _Cugini_)

  Coxie, Michael (Michele), VI, 116, 178; IX, 266-268

  Cozzerello, Jacopo, III, 130

  Crabeth, Wouter, IX, 269

  Credi, Lorenzo di, _Life_, V, 49-52; II, 190; III, 274; IV, 153,
    186, 280; V, 49-52, 159; VIII, 42, 65, 66; IX, 190

  Credi, Maestro, V, 49

  Cremona, Geremia da, II, 236; VIII, 48

  Crescione, Giovan Filippo, V, 238

  Cristofano, II, 104; IV, 55

  Cristofano, Agnolo di, V, 223; VII, 70

  Cristofano _Castelli_ (Caselli)

  Cristofano _Coriolano_

  Cristofano dell' _Altissimo_

  Cristofano _Gherardi_ (Doceno)

  Cristofano Gobbo (Cristofano _Solari_)

  Cristofano Lombardi (Tofano _Lombardino_)

  Cristofano _Rosa_

  Cristofano _Solari_ (Cristofano Gobbo)

  Crocifissaio, Girolamo del (Girolamo _Macchietti_)

  Cronaca, Il (Simone del Pollaiuolo), _Life_, IV, 265-275; III, 260;
    IV, 101, 265-275; V, 22; VI, 66, 70

  Cugini, Giovanni (Jean Cousin), VI, 114

  Cungi, Battista, VII, 121, 122, 124, 125; X, 181, 187

  Cungi, Leonardo, VI, 225; VIII, 227

  Cuticello (Giovanni Antonio _Licinio_, or Pordenone)


  Daddi, Bernardo, II, 25, 26

  Dalen, Jan van, IX, 269

  Dalmasi, Lippo, II, 51

  Danese _Cattaneo_ (Danese da Carrara)

  Daniello da Parma (Daniello _Porri_)

  Daniello da Volterra (Daniello _Ricciarelli_)

  Daniello _Porri_ (Daniello da Parma)

  Daniello _Ricciarelli_ (Daniello da Volterra)

  Dante, Girolamo (Girolamo di Tiziano), IX, 183

  Danti, Fra Ignazio, X, 28-30

  Danti, Vincenzio, I, 36; VII, 100; IX, 128, 139; X, 26-28

  Dario da _Treviso_

  Davanzo, Jacopo (Jacopo _Avanzi_)

  Davanzo, Jacopo (of Milan), IV, 60

  David _Fortini_

  David _Ghirlandajo_

  David _Pistoiese_

  Delft, Simon van, IX, 269

  Della Robbia family, V, 22

  Dello, _Life_, II, 107-110; II, 107-110, 136

  Dente, Marco (Marco da Ravenna), _Life_, VI, 102-103; IV, 233;
    VI, 102-103, 106; VII, 63

  Desiderio da _Settignano_

  Diacceto, VIII, 161

  Diamante, Fra, III, 83, 85-87; IV, 3

  Diana, Benedetto, IV, 52, 60

  Diana _Mantovana_ (Sculptore)

  Dierick Jacobsz _Vellaert_

  Dinant, Hendrik of, IX, 266

  Dirk of _Haarlem_

  Dirk of _Louvain_

  Dirk van _Staren_

  Dirk _Volkaerts_

  Doceno (Cristofano _Gherardi_)

  Domenico, Antonio di (Antonio di Donnino _Mazzieri_)

  Domenico _Aimo_ (Vecchio of Bologna)

  Domenico _Bartoli_

  Domenico _Beccafumi_ (Domenico di Pace)

  Domenico _Beceri_ (Domenico Benci)

  Domenico _Brusciasorzi_ (Domenico del Riccio)

  Domenico _Conti_

  Domenico da Venezia (Domenico _Viniziano_)

  Domenico dal Lago di _Lugano_

  Domenico dal _Monte Sansovino_

  Domenico de' _Cammei_

  Domenico del _Barbiere_

  Domenico del Riccio (Domenico _Brusciasorzi_)

  Domenico del _Tasso_

  Domenico di Baccio d'_Agnolo_

  Domenico di _Mariotto_

  Domenico di _Michelino_

  Domenico di Pace (Domenico _Beccafumi_)

  Domenico di _Paris_

  Domenico di _Polo_

  Domenico _Ghirlandajo_

  Domenico _Giuntalodi_

  Domenico _Morone_

  Domenico _Panetti_

  Domenico _Pecori_

  Domenico _Poggini_

  Domenico _Pucci_

  Domenico _Puligo_

  Domenico _Romano_

  Domenico _Viniziano_ (Domenico da Venezia)

  Domenicus _Lampsonius_

  Don Bartolommeo della _Gatta_ (Abbot of S. Clemente)

  Don Giulio _Clovio_

  Don _Jacopo_

  Don Lorenzo _Monaco_ (Don Lorenzo degli Angeli)

  Don _Silvestro_

  Donato (Donatello), _Life_, II, 239-255; I, 48, 130, 178; II, 72,
    86, 93, 95, 101, 109, 113-115, 120, 121, 123, 126, 132, 133,
    138-140, 143-147, 151, 161, 183, 185, 188, 197, 199-204, 213,
    225, 239-255, 259, 260, 270; III, 3, 6, 73, 74, 117, 131, 144,
    147, 148, 269, 270, 273; IV, 52, 152, 185; V, 23; VI, 220;
    VII, 30, 56, 57, 62; VIII, 113; IX, 8, 10, 111, 133, 138, 169;
    X, 22, 47

  Doni, Adone, VII, 128; IX, 261

  Donnino, Agnolo di, III, 189, 190; V, 38; IX, 29, 30

  Donzello, Piero del, III, 13

  Donzello, Polito del, III, 13, 14

  Dossi, Battista, _Life_, V, 139-141; VII, 201; VIII, 25, 26

  Dossi, Dosso, _Life_, V, 139-141; III, 164; V, 139-141; VII, 201;
    VIII, 25, 26, 33, 56; IX, 163

  Duca Tagliapietra, III, 169

  Duccio, _Life_, II, 9-11; III, 6; VI, 245

  Durante del _Nero_

  Dürer, Albrecht, _Life_, VI, 92-98; III, 214; IV, 232; V, 96;
    VI, 92-99, 102, 119, 165; VII, 163, 164, 166; IX, 163, 246, 265,
    271


  Eliodoro _Forbicini_

  Enea _Vico_

  Ercole _Ferrarese_ (Ercole da Ferrara)

  Erion, II, 80

  Europa _Anguisciuola_

  Eusebio _San Giorgio_

  Eyck, Hubert van, IX, 265

  Eyck, Jan van (Johann of Bruges), III, 60-62, 64; IX, 265, 266


  Fabbro, Pippo del, VII, 5; IX, 192

  Fabiano di Stagio _Sassoli_

  Fabius, I, xl

  Fabriano, Gentile da, _Life_, III, 109-113; II, 187; III, 35,
    109-113, 173

  Fabrizio _Viniziano_

  Facchino, Giuliano del, III, 239

  Faenza, Figurino da, VI, 169

  Faenza, Jacopone da, VIII, 217; IX, 154

  Faenza, Marco da (Marco _Marchetti_)

  Faenza, Ottaviano da, I, 91

  Faenza, Pace da, I, 91

  Fagiuoli, Girolamo, V, 250; VI, 87, 276; VIII, 171

  Falconetto, Alessandro, VI, 47, 48

  Falconetto, Giovan Maria, _Life_, VI, 43-48; VI, 22, 29, 42-48

  Falconetto, Giovanni Antonio (the elder), VI, 42

  Falconetto, Giovanni Antonio (the younger), VI, 42, 43

  Falconetto, Jacopo, VI, 42, 43

  Falconetto, Ottaviano, VI, 47, 48

  Falconetto, Provolo, VI, 47, 48

  Falconi, Bernardo Nello di Giovanni, I, 197

  Fallaro, Jacopo, IX, 214

  Fancelli, Giovanni (Giovanni di Stocco), VII, 97; X, 33

  Fancelli, Luca, II, 227; III, 47

  Fancelli, Salvestro, III, 47

  Fano, Pompeo da, VIII, 215

  Fantuzzi, Antonio (Antonio da _Trento_)

  Farinato, Battista (Battista da Verona), VII, 237, 238; VIII, 107;
    IX, 214; X, 20

  Farinato, Paolo, VII, 236, 240, 241; VIII, 41

  Fattore, Il (Giovan Francesco _Penni_)

  Federigo _Barocci_

  Federigo di _Lamberto_ (Federigo Fiammingo, or Del Padovano)

  Federigo _Zucchero_

  Fei, Alessandro di Vincenzio (Alessandro del Barbiere), X, 20

  Felice _Brusciasorzi_ (Felice del Riccio)

  Feliciano da _San Vito_

  Feltrini, Andrea di Cosimo (Andrea di _Cosimo_)

  Feltro, Morto da, _Life_, V, 227-229; V, 227-230

  Fermo _Ghisoni_

  Ferrara, Antonio da, I, 221

  Ferrara, Benedetto da (Benedetto _Coda_)

  Ferrara, Ercole da (Ercole _Ferrarese_)

  Ferrara, Girolamo da (Girolamo da _Carpi_)

  Ferrara, Stefano da, III, 285, 286; IV, 56

  Ferrarese, Ercole (Ercole da Ferrara), _Life_, III, 167-170;
    III, 164, 167-170; IV, 82

  Ferrarese, Galasso (Galasso _Galassi_)

  Ferrarese, Girolamo (Girolamo _Lombardo_)

  Ferrari, Gaudenzio, V, 81; VIII, 56

  Ferrucci, Andrea (Andrea da _Fiesole_)

  Ferrucci, Francesco (Francesco del _Tadda_)

  Ferrucci, Francesco di Simone, III, 273; V, 3

  Fiacco (or Flacco), Orlando, _Life_, VI, 28

  Fiammeri, Battista di Benedetto, IX, 126; X, 23

  Fiammingo, Federigo (Federigo di _Lamberto_, or Del Padovano)

  Fiammingo, Giorgio, IX, 269

  Fiammingo, Giovanni (Johann of _Calcar_, or Jan Stephanus van Calcker)

  Fiesole, Andrea da (Andrea Ferrucci), _Life_, V, 3-8; V, 3-8, 11;
    VII, 4; VIII, 133

  Fiesole, Fra Giovanni da (Fra _Angelico_)

  Fiesole, Maestro Giovanni da, VI, 210

  Fiesole, Mino da (Mino di Giovanni,) _Life_, III, 153-157

  Fiesole, Silvio da (Silvio _Cosini_)

  Fiesole, Simone da, IX, 15, 16

  Figurino da _Faenza_

  Filarete, Antonio, _Life_, III, 3-7; II, 159, 270; III, 3-7, 47, 92;
    IV, 56; VIII, 48

  Filipepi, Alessandro (Sandro _Botticelli_, or di Botticello)

  Filippino (Filippo _Lippi_)

  Filippo _Brunelleschi_ (Filippo di Ser Brunellesco)

  Filippo di Baccio d'_Agnolo_

  Filippo di Ser Brunellesco (Filippo _Brunelleschi_)

  Filippo _Lippi_ (Filippino)

  Filippo _Lippi_, Fra

  Filippo _Negrolo_

  Filotesio, Niccola (Cola dalla _Matrice_)

  Finiguerra, Maso, III, 238; VI, 91

  Fiorentino, Antonio, II, 236

  Fiorentino, Francesco, II, 58

  Fiorentino, Niccolò, II, 236

  Fiorini, Giovan Battista, VIII, 229

  Fivizzano, IV, 29

  Flacco (or _Fiacco_), Orlando

  Flore, Jacobello de, IV, 51, 55

  Flori, Bastiano, X, 187, 196

  Floriani, Antonio, V, 148, 149

  Floriani, Francesco, V, 148, 149

  Florigorio, Bastianello (Sebastiano Florigerio), V, 148

  Floris, Cornelis, IX, 269

  Floris, Franz (Franz de Vrient), VI, 119, 120; IX, 267-270

  Foccora, Giovanni, III, 7

  Fontana, Prospero, V, 213; VIII, 220; IX, 147, 148, 150-152; X, 20

  Fonte, Jacopo della (Jacopo della _Quercia_)

  Foppa, Vincenzio (Vincenzio di Zoppa, or Vincenzio _Bresciano_)

  Forbicini, Eliodoro, VII, 237

  Forlì, Francesco da (Francesco _Menzochi_)

  Forlì, Guglielmo da, I, 92

  Forlì, Livio da (Livio Agresti), VIII, 188, 229; IX, 155

  Forlì, Melozzo da, III, 124

  Fortini, David, VII, 37

  Fortori, Alessandro, X, 20

  Forzore di _Spinello_

  Foschi, Fra Salvadore, X, 196

  Fra _Angelico_ (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole)

  Fra _Antonio_

  Fra _Bartolommeo_ (Fra Carnovale da Urbino)

  Fra Bartolommeo di _San Marco_ (Baccio della Porta)

  Fra Carnovale da Urbino (Fra _Bartolommeo_)

  Fra Cherubino _Bonsignori_ (Monsignori)

  Fra Damiano da _Bergamo_

  Fra _Diamante_

  Fra Filippo _Lippi_

  Fra _Giocondo_

  Fra _Giovanni_

  Fra Giovanni Agnolo _Montorsoli_

  Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Fra _Angelico_)

  Fra Giovanni da _Verona_

  Fra Giovanni _Vincenzio_

  Fra Girolamo _Bonsignori_ (Monsignori)

  Fra Guglielmo della _Porta_ (Guglielmo Milanese)

  Fra Ignazio _Danti_

  Fra Jacopo da _Turrita_

  Fra Paolo _Pistoiese_

  Fra Ristoro da _Campi_

  Fra Salvadore _Foschi_

  Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del _Piombo_ (Sebastiano Luciani)

  Francesca, Piero della (Piero Borghese, or Piero dal Borgo a San
    Sepolcro), _Life_, III, 17-23; III, 17-23, 51, 52, 101, 135;
    IV, 71, 82, 216; VIII, 52

  Francesco, Maestro, IV, 142

  Francesco, Mariotto di, V, 231-233

  Francesco (called di Maestro Giotto), I, 91

  Francesco _Bonsignori_ (Monsignori)

  Francesco _Brambilari_ (Brambilla)

  Francesco _Brini_

  Francesco _Caccianimici_

  Francesco _Camilliani_

  Francesco da _Cotignola_ (Francesco de' Zaganelli)

  Francesco da Forlì (Francesco _Menzochi_)

  Francesco da _Melzo_

  Francesco da Poppi (Francesco _Morandini_)

  Francesco da _San Gallo_

  Francesco da _Siena_

  Francesco da _Volterra_

  Francesco dai _Libri_ (the elder)

  Francesco dai _Libri_ (the younger)

  Francesco d' Albertino (Francesco _Ubertini_, or Il Bacchiacca)

  Francesco de' Rossi (Francesco _Salviati_)

  Francesco de' Zaganelli (Francesco da _Cotignola_)

  Francesco del _Tadda_ (Francesco Ferrucci)

  Francesco della _Luna_

  Francesco dell' _Indaco_

  Francesco di _Giorgio_

  Francesco di Girolamo dal _Prato_

  Francesco di _Mirozzo_ (Melozzo)

  Francesco di Pesello (Francesco _Peselli_, or Pesellino)

  Francesco di Simone _Ferrucci_

  Francesco di _Valdambrina_

  Francesco Ferrucci (Francesco del _Tadda_)

  Francesco _Fiorentino_

  Francesco _Floriani_

  Francesco _Francia_

  Francesco _Giamberti_

  Francesco _Granacci_ (Il Granaccio)

  Francesco _Marcolini_

  Francesco _Masini_, Messer

  Francesco _Mazzuoli_ (Parmigiano)

  Francesco _Menzochi_ (Francesco da Forlì)

  Francesco Monsignori (_Bonsignori_)

  Francesco _Morandini_ (Francesco da Poppi)

  Francesco _Morone_

  Francesco _Moschino_

  Francesco of Orleans, V, 201

  Francesco _Peselli_ (Francesco di Pesello, or Pesellino)

  Francesco _Primaticcio_

  Francesco _Ricchino_

  Francesco _Salviati_ (Francesco de' Rossi)

  Francesco _Sant' Agnolo_

  Francesco _Traini_

  Francesco _Turbido_ (Il Moro)

  Francesco _Ubertini_ (Francesco d'Albertino, or Il Bacchiacca)

  Francesco _Verbo_ (Verlo)

  Franci, Marc' Antonio de' (Marc' Antonio _Bolognese_, or Raimondi)

  Francia (_Franciabigio_)

  Francia, Francesco, _Life_, IV, 23-29; IV, 23-29, 82; VI, 95;
    VIII, 23; IX, 26, 27

  Francia, Piero, IX, 130

  Franciabigio (Francia), _Life_, V, 217-223; II, 190; IV, 170;
    V, 86-89, 91, 93, 101, 103, 104, 217-223, 231, 232; VII, 70,
    157, 171; VIII, 5; IX, 20

  Francione, IV, 191, 192

  Franco, Battista (Battista Semolei), _Life_, VIII, 89-101; VI, 108,
    114, 156; VII, 28, 29, 203; VIII, 12, 67, 68, 89-101, 181, 219,
    230; IX, 199, 205, 217

  Franco _Bolognese_

  Francucci, Innocenzio (Innocenzio da _Imola_)

  Franz _Floris_ (Franz de Vrient)

  Franz _Mostaert_

  Franzese, Giovanni, IX, 88

  Frate, Cecchino del, IV, 162

  Fredi, Bartolo di Maestro, II, 61

  Fuccio, I, 30, 31


  Gabriele _Giolito_

  Gabriele _Rustici_

  Gabriello _Saracini_

  Gaddi family, X, 47

  Gaddi, Agnolo, _Life_, I, 217-223; I, 185, 186, 217-223; II, 15, 25;
    IV, 52, 54

  Gaddi, Gaddo, _Life_, I, 55-58; I, 50, 55-58, 177, 186, 217, 219,
    221

  Gaddi, Giovanni, I, 185, 186, 217, 221

  Gaddi, Taddeo, _Life_, I, 177-186; I, 57, 58, 81, 88, 89, 129,
    177-186, 217, 218, 221, 222; II, 23, 56, 83, 199, 240; IX, 133

  Gaddo _Gaddi_

  Galante da _Bologna_

  Galassi, Galasso (Galasso Ferrarese), _Life_, III, 135-136; II, 104;
    III, 135-136; IV, 55

  Galasso (of Ferrara), VIII, 36

  Galeazzo _Alessi_

  Galeazzo _Campo_

  Galeazzo _Mondella_

  Galeotto, Pietro Paolo, VI, 87; VII, 152; IX, 233

  Galieno, IV, 179

  Galle, Philip, IX, 270

  Gambara, Lattanzio, VIII, 42, 45, 49, 50

  Garbo, Raffaellino del, _Life_, IV, 175-179; IV, 6, 9, 175-179

  Garofalo, Benvenuto (Benvenuto Tisi), _Life_, VIII, 24-29;
    VIII, 24-30, 33, 34; IX, 202

  Gasparo _Misuroni_ (Misceroni)

  Gatta, Don Bartolommeo della (Abbot of S. Clemente), _Life_,
    III, 203-209; III, 188, 203-209; IV, 41, 82, 216, 217; VI, 255

  Gatti, Bernardo de' (Bernardo _Soiaro_)

  Gaudenzio _Ferrari_

  Genga, Bartolommeo, _Life_, VII, 206-210; VII, 203, 204, 206-210;
    VIII, 92, 96-98

  Genga, Girolamo, _Life_, VII, 199-206; V, 15, 16, 140; VII, 199-208,
    210, 211; VIII, 140, 171; X, 33

  Gensio _Liberale_

  Gentile _Bellini_

  Gentile da _Fabriano_

  Georg _Pencz_

  Gerard, IX, 268

  Geremia da _Cremona_

  Geri _Aretino_

  Gerino _Pistoiese_ (Gerino da Pistoia)

  Ghent, Justus of, IX, 265

  Gherardi, Consiglio, II, 26

  Gherardi, Cristofano (Doceno), _Life_, VII, 117-143; IX, 261;
    X, 183, 187, 208

  Gherardo (of Florence), _Life_, III, 213-215; III, 209, 213-215,
    232; IV, 36; VI, 92; IX, 182

  Gherardo _Starnina_

  Ghiberti, Bartoluccio, II, 144-146, 155, 161, 162; III, 237, 238

  Ghiberti, Bonaccorso, II, 160

  Ghiberti, Lorenzo (Lorenzo di Bartoluccio Ghiberti, or Lorenzo di
    Cione Ghiberti), _Life_, II, 143-162; I, 87, 112, 127, 130;
    II, 4, 9, 86, 95, 143-162, 165, 171, 183, 200, 201, 204, 213-218,
    234; III, 3, 237, 238, 269, 270; IX, 114; X, 47, 222

  Ghiberti, Vittorio, II, 160, 162

  Ghirlandajo, Benedetto, _Life_, VIII, 59-60; III, 222, 229, 233;
    VI, 57; VIII, 59-60

  Ghirlandajo, David, _Life_, VIII, 59-60; III, 222, 225, 229-231,
    233; VI, 57; VIII, 59-60, 63, 64; IX, 5, 6, 182

  Ghirlandajo, Domenico, _Life_, III, 219-233; I, 112, 126, 189;
    II, 190; III, 69, 70, 188, 213, 215, 219-233, 248; IV, 36, 65,
    82, 279; VI, 57, 58, 191; VII, 108, 147; VIII, 59-61, 63, 64, 66;
    IX, 5-9, 182; X, 222

  Ghirlandajo, Michele di Ridolfo, V, 165; VII, 28; VIII, 66-69, 153,
    156; IX, 130; X, 15

  Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, _Life_, VIII, 60-69; I, 125; II, 185, 190;
    III, 233; IV, 169, 212, 216, 279-281; V, 220, 231; VI, 191, 192;
    VII, 28, 31, 155, 156; VIII, 3, 5, 60-69, 93-95; IX, 20; X, 15

  Ghirlandajo, Tommaso, III, 219

  Ghisi (Mantovano), Giorgio, VI, 113, 118

  Ghisoni, Fermo, III, 164; VI, 34, 167, 169; VIII, 40-42

  Giacomo _Marzone_

  Giamberti, Francesco, IV, 134, 191

  Gian (Giovan) _Barile_

  Gian _Barile_ (of Florence)

  Gian Cristoforo, III, 92

  Gian Domenico _Bersuglia_

  Gian Girolamo _Bresciano_ (Gian Girolamo Savoldo)

  Gian Girolamo _San Michele_

  Gian Girolamo Savoldo (Gian Girolamo _Bresciano_)

  Gian Jacopo da _Castrocaro_

  Gian Maria da _Milano_

  Gian Maria _Verdezotti_

  Gian Niccola, IV, 47, 48

  Giannuzzi, Giulio Pippi de' (Giulio _Romano_)

  Giannuzzi, Raffaello Pippi de', VI, 168

  Giano, Antonio di Marco di (Il _Carota_)

  Gilis _Mostaert_

  Giocondo, Fra, _Life_, VI, 3-11; IV, 145; VI, 3-11, 28, 47, 126

  Giolfino, Niccolò (Niccolò Ursino), VII, 240

  Giolito, Gabriele, VI, 115

  Giomo del _Sodoma_

  Giorgio, Francesco di, _Life_, III, 129-131; II, 10, 85; III, 129-131

  Giorgio _Fiammingo_

  Giorgio Mantovano (_Ghisi_)

  Giorgio _Vasari_

  Giorgio _Vasari_ (son of Lazzaro Vasari, the elder)

  Giorgione da _Castelfranco_

  Giottino, Tommaso (or Maso), _Life_, I, 203-208; I, 112, 203-208; II, 83

  Giotto, _Life_, I, 71-94; I, 7-9, 25, 39, 50, 51, 57, 63, 71-94,
    99, 109, 111-113, 117, 118, 123-127, 161, 162, 168, 170, 174,
    177, 178, 180, 182, 184-186, 190, 203-205, 222; II, 23, 30, 35,
    37, 73, 80-83, 86, 120, 131, 139, 147, 150, 161, 162, 166, 171,
    195, 202, 250, 262; III, 59, 259; IV, 80; V, 21; VI, 114, 202,
    219, 220, 235; VIII, 82, 153; IX, 3, 119, 133, 182; X, 47, 191,
    221, 222

  Giovan (Gian) _Barile_

  Giovan Battista _Bellucci_ (Giovan Battista San Marino)

  Giovan Battista _Bertano_

  Giovan Battista (Benedetto) _Caporali_

  Giovan Battista da _Bagnacavallo_

  Giovan Battista da _Conigliano_

  Giovan Battista de' _Cavalieri_

  Giovan Battista de' Rossi (Il _Rosso_)

  Giovan Battista _Fiorini_

  Giovan Battista _Grassi_

  Giovan Battista _Ingoni_

  Giovan Battista _Mantovano_ (Sculptore)

  Giovan Battista _Peloro_

  Giovan Battista _Rosso_ (or Rosto)

  Giovan Battista San Marino (Giovan Battista _Bellucci_)

  Giovan Battista Sculptore (_Mantovano_)

  Giovan Battista _Sozzini_

  Giovan _Bologna_

  Giovan Filippo _Crescione_

  Giovan Francesco _Bembo_ (or Vetraio)

  Giovan Francesco _Caroto_

  Giovan Francesco da _San Gallo_

  Giovan Francesco _Penni_ (Il Fattore)

  Giovan Francesco _Rustici_

  Giovan Francesco Vetraio (or _Bembo_)

  Giovan Jacomo della _Porta_

  Giovan Maria _Butteri_

  Giovan Maria dal _Borgo a San Sepolcro_

  Giovan Maria _Falconetto_

  Giovan Maria _Pichi_

  Giovan Paolo dal _Borgo_

  Giovan Paolo _Poggini_

  Giovan Paolo _Rossetti_

  Giovan Piero _Calavrese_

  Giovanetto _Cordegliaghi_

  Giovanni (Lo Spagna), IV, 46, 47

  Giovanni (of Vicenza), IX, 211

  Giovanni (the Fleming), VIII, 74

  Giovanni, Antonio di (Solosmeo da _Settignano_)

  Giovanni, Bruno di, I, 135, 145, 147, 148, 191

  Giovanni, Fra, I, 59

  Giovanni, Maestro, IV, 260

  Giovanni, Mino di (Mino da _Fiesole_)

  Giovanni Agnolo _Montorsoli_, Fra

  Giovanni Antonio _Bazzi_ (Il Sodoma)

  Giovanni Antonio _Boltraffio_

  Giovanni Antonio de' _Rossi_

  Giovanni Antonio _Falconetto_ (the elder)

  Giovanni Antonio _Falconetto_ (the younger)

  Giovanni Antonio _Lappoli_

  Giovanni Antonio _Licinio_ (Cuticello, or Pordenone)

  Giovanni Antonio _Sogliani_

  Giovanni _Baldini_

  Giovanni Battista _Veronese_

  Giovanni _Bellini_

  Giovanni _Bernardi_ (Giovanni da Castel Bolognese)

  Giovanni _Boccalino_ (Giovanni Ribaldi)

  Giovanni _Boscoli_

  Giovanni _Buonconsigli_

  Giovanni _Caroto_

  Giovanni _Cimabue_

  Giovanni _Cugini_ (Jean Cousin)

  Giovanni da _Asciano_

  Giovanni da Castel Bolognese (Giovanni _Bernardi_)

  Giovanni da Fiesole, Fra (Fra _Angelico_)

  Giovanni da _Fiesole_, Maestro

  Giovanni da _Lione_

  Giovanni da _Milano_

  Giovanni da _Nola_

  Giovanni da _Pistoia_

  Giovanni da _Rovezzano_

  Giovanni da Santo Stefano a Ponte (Giovanni dal _Ponte_)

  Giovanni da _Udine_ (Giovanni Martini)

  Giovanni da _Udine_ (Giovanni Nanni, or de' Ricamatori)

  Giovanni da _Verona_, Fra

  Giovanni dal _Carso_

  Giovanni dal _Ponte_ (Giovanni da Santo Stefano a Ponte)

  Giovanni de' Ricamatori (Giovanni da _Udine_, or Nanni)

  Giovanni de' _Santi_

  Giovanni dell' Opera (Giovanni di Benedetto _Bandini_)

  Giovanni della _Robbia_

  Giovanni delle _Corniole_

  Giovanni di Baccio (Nanni di Baccio _Bigio_)

  Giovanni di Benedetto _Bandini_ (Giovanni dell' Opera)

  Giovanni di _Goro_

  Giovanni _Fancelli_ (Giovanni di Stocco)

  Giovanni Fiammingo (Johann of _Calcar_, or Jan Stephanus van Calcker)

  Giovanni _Foccora_

  Giovanni _Franzese_

  Giovanni _Gaddi_

  Giovanni Jacopo _Caraglio_

  Giovanni _Mangone_

  Giovanni _Mansueti_

  Giovanni Martini (Giovanni da _Udine_)

  Giovanni Nanni (Giovanni da _Udine_, or de' Ricamatori)

  Giovanni _Pedoni_

  Giovanni _Pisano_

  Giovanni Ribaldi (Giovanni _Boccalino_)

  Giovanni _Rosto_ (or Rosso)

  Giovanni _San Michele_

  Giovanni _Speranza_

  Giovanni Strada (Jan van der _Straet_)

  Giovanni _Tossicani_

  Giovanni _Turini_

  Giovanni _Vincenzio_, Fra

  Girolamo, V, 60

  Girolamo _Bonsignori_ (Monsignori), Fra

  Girolamo _Bozza_ (Bartolommeo Bozzato)

  Girolamo _Brescianino_ (Girolamo Mosciano, or Muziano)

  Girolamo _Campagnola_

  Girolamo _Cicogna_

  Girolamo da _Carpi_ (Girolamo da Ferrara)

  Girolamo da _Cotignola_ (Girolamo Marchesi)

  Girolamo da Ferrara (Girolamo da _Carpi_)

  Girolamo da Sermoneta (Girolamo _Siciolante_)

  Girolamo da _Treviso_ (Girolamo Trevigi)

  Girolamo dai _Libri_

  Girolamo dal _Prato_

  Girolamo _Dante_ (Girolamo di Tiziano)

  Girolamo del _Buda_

  Girolamo del Crocifissaio (Girolamo _Macchietti_)

  Girolamo del _Pacchia_

  Girolamo della _Cecca_

  Girolamo della _Robbia_

  Girolamo di Tiziano (Girolamo _Dante_)

  Girolamo _Fagiuoli_

  Girolamo Ferrarese (Girolamo _Lombardo_)

  Girolamo _Genga_

  Girolamo _Lombardo_ (Girolamo Ferrarese)

  Girolamo _Macchietti_ (Girolamo del Crocifissaio)

  Girolamo Marchesi (Girolamo da _Cotignola_)

  Girolamo _Mazzuoli_

  Girolamo _Miruoli_

  Girolamo _Misuroni_ (Misceroni)

  Girolamo Mocetto (or _Moretto_)

  Girolamo Monsignori (_Bonsignori_), Fra

  Girolamo _Moretto_ (or Mocetto)

  Girolamo Mosciano (Girolamo Muziano, or _Brescianino_)

  Girolamo _Padovano_

  Girolamo _Pironi_

  Girolamo _Romanino_

  Girolamo _Santa Croce_

  Girolamo _Siciolante_ (Girolamo da Sermoneta)

  Girolamo Trevigi (Girolamo da _Treviso_)

  Giromin _Morzone_

  Giugni, Rosso de', VI, 87

  Giuliano _Bugiardini_

  Giuliano da _Maiano_

  Giuliano da _San Gallo_

  Giuliano del _Facchino_

  Giuliano del _Tasso_

  Giuliano di Baccio d'_Agnolo_

  Giuliano di Niccolò _Morelli_

  Giuliano _Leno_

  Giulio _Bonasone_

  Giulio _Campagnola_

  Giulio _Campo_

  Giulio _Caporali_

  Giulio _Clovio_, Don

  Giulio da _Carpi_

  Giulio da _Urbino_

  Giulio _Mazzoni_

  Giulio _Romano_ (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi)

  Giuntalodi, Domenico, VI, 273-279

  Giuseppe del Salviati (Giuseppe _Porta_)

  Giuseppe Niccolò (Joannicolo) _Vicentino_

  Giuseppe _Porta_ (Giuseppe del Salviati)

  Giusto, III, 11

  Giusto (of Padua), IV, 51, 56

  Gobbo, Andrea del, IV, 122

  Gobbo, Battista (Battista da _San Gallo_)

  Gobbo, Cristofano (Cristofano _Solari_)

  Goro, Giovanni di, VI, 206; VII, 69

  Gossart, Jean, IX, 267

  Gotti, Baccio, IV, 280

  Gozzoli, Benozzo, _Life_, III, 121-125; III, 35, 121-125, 161;
    VI, 246; X, 47

  Grà, Marco da, VIII, 55

  Graffione, III, 70

  Granacci, Francesco (Il Granaccio), _Life_, VI, 57-61; II, 190;
    III, 233; IV, 4, 169, 186; V, 97, 98, 231; VI, 57-61, 66;
    VII, 108; VIII, 5, 59, 60, 121; IX, 5, 6, 8, 20, 29, 30

  Grassi, Giovan Battista, V, 148

  Greco, Il (Alessandro _Cesati_)

  Grimmer, Jakob, IX, 268

  Grosso, Nanni, III, 273

  Grosso, Niccolò (Il Caparra), IV, 268, 269

  Gualtieri (the Fleming), VIII, 231

  Guardia, Niccolò della, III, 92

  Guazzetto, Il (Lorenzo Naldino), V, 201; VIII, 119, 127-129

  Gucci, Lapo, II, 26

  Guerriero da _Padova_

  Guerrini, Rocco, IX, 242

  Guglielmo, I, 15, 31

  Guglielmo da _Forlì_

  Guglielmo da _Marcilla_ (Guillaume de Marcillac)

  Guglielmo della _Porta_, Fra (Guglielmo Milanese)

  Guglielmo _Tedesco_

  Guido _Bolognese_

  Guido da _Como_

  Guido del _Servellino_

  Guido _Mazzoni_ (Modanino da Modena)

  Guillaume de Marcillac (Guglielmo da _Marcilla_)

  Gyges the Lydian (fable), I, xxxix


  Haarlem, Dirk of, IX, 266

  Haeck, Jan, IX, 269

  Hans _Beham_

  Hans _Bol_

  Hans _Liefrinck_

  Hans _Memling_ (Ausse)

  Heemskerk, Martin, VI, 116; VIII, 90, 91; IX, 266

  Heinrich (Albrecht) _Aldegrever_

  Heinrich _Paludanus_ (Arrigo)

  Hemessen, Catharina van, IX, 269

  Hemessen, Jan van, IX, 266, 269

  Hendrik of _Dinant_

  Hieronymus _Bosch_

  Hieronymus _Cock_

  Holland, Lucas of (Lucas van _Leyden_)

  Horebout, Lucas, IX, 268

  Horebout, Susanna, IX, 268, 269

  Hubert van _Eyck_

  Hugo of _Antwerp_


  Ignazio _Danti_, Fra

  Il Bacchiacca (Francesco _Ubertini_, or d'Albertino)

  Il Bambaja (Agostino _Busto_)

  Il Bassiti (Marco _Basaiti_, or Basarini)

  Il _Buggiano_

  Il Caparra (Niccolò _Grosso_)

  Il _Carota_ (Antonio di Marco di Giano)

  Il _Cicilia_

  Il _Cronaca_ (Simone del Pollaiuolo)

  Il Fattore (Giovan Francesco _Penni_)

  Il Granaccio (Francesco _Granacci_)

  Il Greco (Alessandro _Cesati_)

  Il _Guazzetto_ (Lorenzo Naldino)

  Il Modena (Antonio _Begarelli_)

  Il Moro (Francesco _Turbido_)

  Il _Pistoia_ (Leonardo)

  Il _Rosso_ (Giovan Battista de' Rossi)

  Il Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio _Bazzi_)

  Ilarione _Ruspoli_

  Imola, Innocenzio da (Innocenzio Francucci), _Life_, V, 212-213;
    IV, 170; V, 207, 209, 212-213

  Impiccati, Andrea degli (Andrea dal _Castagno_)

  Indaco, Francesco dell', IV, 66, 67; VI, 126; VIII, 202

  Indaco, Jacopo dell', _Life_, IV, 65-67; III, 233; IV, 65-67; IX, 29, 30

  India, Bernardino, VII, 237

  Ingoni, Giovan Battista, VIII, 37, 38

  Innocenzio da _Imola_ (Innocenzio Francucci)

  Ippolito _Costa_

  Irene di _Spilimbergo_


  Jacobello, I, 105

  Jacobello de _Flore_

  Jacomo _Melighino_ (Jacopo Melighini)

  Jacone (Jacopo), V, 119; VII, 176; VIII, 16-19

  Jacopo (pupil of Sandro Botticelli), III, 251, 252

  Jacopo, Don, II, 57

  Jacopo _Avanzi_ (Jacopo Davanzo)

  Jacopo _Barozzi_ (Vignuola)

  Jacopo _Bellini_

  Jacopo _Bresciano_ (Jacopo de' Medici)

  Jacopo Carrucci (Jacopo da _Pontormo_)

  Jacopo _Casignuola_

  Jacopo _Ciciliano_

  Jacopo _Colonna_

  Jacopo _Cozzerello_

  Jacopo da _Bassano_

  Jacopo da _Montagna_

  Jacopo da _Pontormo_ (Jacopo Carrucci)

  Jacopo da _Trezzo_

  Jacopo (Cosimo) da _Trezzo_

  Jacopo da _Turrita_, Fra

  Jacopo Davanzo (Jacopo _Avanzi_)

  Jacopo _Davanzo_ (of Milan)

  Jacopo de' Medici (Jacopo _Bresciano_)

  Jacopo del _Conte_

  Jacopo del _Corso_

  Jacopo del _Sellaio_

  Jacopo del _Tedesco_

  Jacopo della _Barba_

  Jacopo della _Quercia_ (Jacopo della Fonte)

  Jacopo dell' _Indaco_

  Jacopo di _Casentino_

  Jacopo di Cione _Orcagna_

  Jacopo di _Sandro_

  Jacopo _Falconetto_

  Jacopo _Fallaro_

  Jacopo _Lanfrani_

  Jacopo Melighini (Jacomo _Melighino_)

  Jacopo _Palma_ (Palma Vecchio)

  Jacopo _Pisbolica_

  Jacopo Robusti (Jacopo _Tintoretto_)

  Jacopo _Sansovino_ (Jacopo Tatti)

  Jacopo _Squarcione_

  Jacopo Tatti (Jacopo _Sansovino_)

  Jacopo _Tedesco_ (Lapo)

  Jacopo _Tintoretto_ (Jacopo Robusti)

  Jacopo _Zucchi_

  Jacopone da _Faenza_

  Jakob _Breuck_

  Jakob _Grimmer_

  Jan _Cornelis_

  Jan de _Mynsheere_

  Jan der _Sart_

  Jan _Haeck_

  Jan _Scorel_

  Jan Stephanus van Calcker (Johann of _Calcar_, or Giovanni Fiammingo)

  Jan van _Dalen_

  Jan van der _Straet_ (Giovanni Strada)

  Jan van _Eyck_ (Johann of Bruges)

  Jan van _Hemessen_

  Janszoon, Joost, IX, 269

  Jean _Bellegambe_

  Jean Cousin (Giovanni _Cugini_)

  Jean _Gossart_

  Joachim _Patinier_

  Joannicolo (Giuseppe Niccolò) _Vicentino_

  Johann of Bruges (Jan van _Eyck_)

  Johann of _Calcar_ (Jan Stephanus van Calcker, or Giovanni Fiammingo)

  Johann of _Louvain_

  Joost _Janszoon_

  Joost van _Cleef_

  Joris _Robyn_

  Justus of _Ghent_


  Keur, Willem, IX, 269

  Key, Willem, IX, 267, 268, 270

  Koeck, Pieter, IX, 267


  Lafrery, Antoine (Antonio _Lanferri_)

  Lambert _Lombard_ (Lambert of Amsterdam)

  Lambert _Suavius_ (Lamberto Suave, or Lambert Zutmann)

  Lambert van _Noort_

  Lamberti, Niccolò di Piero (Niccolò d'Arezzo, or _Aretino_)

  Lamberto, Federigo di (Federigo Fiammingo, or Del Padovano), IX, 127,
    268; X, 16

  Lamberto (the Fleming), VIII, 231

  Lamberto Suave (Lambert _Suavius_, or Lambert Zutmann)

  Lampsonius, Domenicus, IX, 268, 270, 271

  Lancelot _Blondeel_

  Lancia, Baldassarre, VII, 206; X, 33

  Lancia, Luca, IX, 223

  Lancia, Pompilio, X, 33

  Lanferri, Antonio (Antoine Lafrery), VI, 113

  Lanfrani, Jacopo, I, 104, 105

  Lanzilago, Maestro, IV, 6, 7

  Lapo, Arnolfo di (Arnolfo Lapi), _Life_, I, 20-26; I, 8, 13, 14,
    20-26, 29, 30, 33, 39, 65, 113, 126, 170, 174, 180; II, 80, 202,
    203, 262, 264, 265; IX, 194

  Lapo (Jacopo _Tedesco_)

  Lapo _Gucci_

  Lappoli, Giovanni Antonio, _Life_, VI, 255-265; V, 196-198;
    VI, 255-265; VII, 158, 159

  Lappoli, Matteo, III, 206, 207; VI, 255

  Lastricati, Zanobi, VII, 45; IX, 125, 132; X, 33

  Lattanzio _Gambara_

  Lattanzio _Pagani_

  Laurati, Pietro (Pietro Lorenzetti), _Life_, I, 117-120; I, 92,
    117-120; II, 18; III, 55

  Laureti, Tommaso (Tommaso Siciliano), VI, 186

  Lazzaro _Calamech_

  Lazzaro Scarpaccia (Sebastiano Scarpaccia, or Lazzaro _Bastiani_)

  Lazzaro _Vasari_ (the elder)

  Lazzaro _Vasari_ (the younger)

  Lendinara, Lorenzo da, III, 285

  Leno, Giuliano, IV, 147; VI, 130, 150; VIII, 4

  Leon Battista _Alberti_

  Leonardo (Il _Pistoia_)

  Leonardo _Castellani_

  Leonardo _Cungi_

  Leonardo da _Vinci_

  Leonardo del _Tasso_

  Leonardo di _Ser Giovanni_

  Leonardo _Milanese_

  Leonardo _Ricciarelli_

  Leonardo (the Fleming), V, 201

  Leone _Aretino_ (Leone Lioni)

  Levina _Bening_

  Leyden, Lucas van (Lucas of Holland), _Life_, VI, 96-99; IX, 265, 270

  Liberale, _Life_, VI, 11-15; IV, 54; VI, 11-15, 23, 24, 35, 36, 49

  Liberale, Gensio, V, 149

  Libri, Francesco dai (the elder), _Life_, VI, 49; VI, 29, 49

  Libri, Francesco dai (the younger), _Life_, VI, 52-54

  Libri, Girolamo dai, _Life_, VI, 49-52; VI, 29, 37, 49-52, 54

  Licinio, Giovanni Antonio (Cuticello, or Pordenone), _Life_,
    V, 145-155; VI, 213, 244, 247; VIII, 43, 44, 103; IX, 160, 167,
    168

  Liefrinck, Hans, VI, 117

  Ligorio, Pirro, VIII, 181, 184, 186, 227; IX, 84, 94, 95, 102

  Linaiuolo, Berto, III, 92

  L'Ingegno (Andrea _Luigi_)

  Lino, I, 43

  Lione, Giovanni da, VI, 152, 169

  Lioni, Leone (Leone _Aretino_)

  Lioni, Pompeo, IX, 232, 233

  Lippi, Filippo (Filippino), _Life_, IV, 3-10; II, 189, 190;
    III, 83, 87, 259; IV, 3-10, 44, 82, 99, 100, 176, 177; V, 87;
    VI, 66

  Lippi, Fra Filippo, _Life_, III, 79-88; II, 187, 190; III, 79-88,
    117, 118, 161, 247; IV, 3, 5, 9, 185; VI, 246; VII, 57; IX, 119,
    133; X, 47

  Lippi, Ruberto di Filippo, VIII, 118, 119

  Lippo, _Life_, II, 49-51; I, 48, 208; II, 49-51, 83

  Lippo _Dalmasi_

  Lippo _Memmi_

  Livio da _Forlì_ (Livio Agresti)

  Lo Spagna (_Giovanni_)

  Lodovico (of Florence), IX, 262

  Lodovico _Malino_ (or Mazzolini)

  Lodovico _Marmita_

  Lodovico Mazzolini (or _Malino_)

  Lodovico _Rosso_

  Lombard, Lambert (Lambert of Amsterdam), IX, 266-268, 270

  Lombardi, Alfonso, _Life_, V, 131-136; V, 131-136, 210; VII, 77; IX, 167

  Lombardino, Tofano (Cristofano Lombardi), VI, 167; VIII, 45, 55

  Lombardo, Girolamo (Girolamo Ferrarese), V, 24, 28-30; VII, 9, 10,
    189; VIII, 36, 37; IX, 202, 223

  Lombardo, Tullio, IV, 60

  Longhi, Barbara de', IX, 155

  Longhi, Luca de', IX, 154, 155

  Lorentino, Angelo di (Agnolo di _Lorenzo_)

  Lorentino d'_Angelo_

  Lorenzetti, Ambrogio, _Life_, I, 155-157

  Lorenzetti, Pietro (Pietro _Laurati_)

  Lorenzetto (Lorenzo) _Lotti_

  Lorenzi, Antonio di Gino, VII, 24; IX, 131; X, 30

  Lorenzi, Battista (Battista del Cavaliere), IX, 131, 140, 141; X, 31

  Lorenzi, Stoldo di Gino, X, 30, 31

  Lorenzo (father of Piero di Cosimo), IV, 125

  Lorenzo, Agnolo di (Angelo di Lorentino), I, 208; III, 209

  Lorenzo, Bicci di, II, 72

  Lorenzo, Neri di, II, 72, 73

  Lorenzo _Costa_

  Lorenzo _Costa_ (the younger)

  Lorenzo da _Lendinara_

  Lorenzo degli Angeli, Don (Don Lorenzo _Monaco_)

  Lorenzo della Sciorina (Lorenzo _Sciorini_)

  Lorenzo di _Bicci_

  Lorenzo di _Credi_

  Lorenzo _Ghiberti_ (Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti, or Lorenzo di
    Bartoluccio Ghiberti)

  Lorenzo (Lorenzetto) _Lotti_

  Lorenzo _Lotto_

  Lorenzo _Marignolli_

  Lorenzo _Monaco_, Don (Don Lorenzo degli Angeli)

  Lorenzo Naldino (Il _Guazzetto_)

  Lorenzo of Picardy, V, 201

  Lorenzo _Sabatini_

  Lorenzo _Sciorini_ (Lorenzo della Sciorina)

  Lorenzo _Vecchietto_

  Loro, Carlo da (Carlo _Portelli_)

  Lotti, Lorenzetto (Lorenzo), _Life_, V, 55-58; III, 273; IV, 240;
    V, 55-58; VII, 78; IX, 20, 239

  Lotto, Lorenzo, _Life_, V, 261-264

  Louis of _Louvain_

  Louvain, Dirk of, IX, 266

  Louvain, Johann of, IX, 266

  Louvain, Louis of, IX, 265

  Louvain, Quentin of, IX, 266

  Luca da Cortona (Luca _Signorelli_)

  Luca de' _Longhi_

  Luca della _Robbia_

  Luca della _Robbia_ (the younger)

  Luca di _Tomè_

  Luca _Fancelli_

  Luca _Lancia_

  Luca _Monverde_

  Luca _Penni_

  Luca _Signorelli_ (Luca da Cortona)

  Lucas _Horebout_

  Lucas van _Leyden_ (Lucas of Holland)

  Lucia _Anguisciuola_

  Luciani, Sebastiano (Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del _Piombo_)

  Lucrezia, Madonna, V, 127

  Lugano, Domenico dal Lago di, II, 236

  Lugano, Tommaso da, IX, 206

  Luigi, Andrea (L' Ingegno), IV, 47

  Luigi _Anichini_

  Luigi _Brugnuoli_

  Luigi _Vivarino_

  Luini, Bernardino (Bernardino del Lupino), V, 60; VIII, 56

  Luna, Francesco della, II, 223, 232

  Lunetti, Stefano (_Stefano_ of Florence)

  Lunetti, Tommaso di Stefano, V, 51, 52, 164, 231

  Lupino, Bernardino del (Bernardino _Luini_)

  Luzio _Romano_

  Lysippus, I, xl


  Macchiavelli, Zanobi, III, 125

  Macchietti, Girolamo (Girolamo del Crocifissaio), IX, 126; X, 15, 16

  Madonna _Lucrezia_

  Madonna Properzia de' _Rossi_

  Maestro _Andrea_

  Maestro _Claudio_

  Maestro _Credi_

  Maestro _Francesco_

  Maestro _Giovanni_

  Maestro Giovanni da _Fiesole_

  Maestro _Lanzilago_

  Maestro _Mino_ (Mino del Regno, or del Reame)

  Maestro _Niccolò_

  Maestro _Salvestro_

  Maestro _Zeno_

  Maglione, I, 34

  Maiano, Benedetto da, _Life_, III, 257-264; I, 94; III, 13, 14,
    149, 257-264; IV, 36, 151, 266, 267; V, 5; VI, 66

  Maiano, Giuliano da, _Life_, III, 11-14; III, 11-14, 74, 257-259;
    IV, 197; VI, 131

  Mainardi, Bastiano (Bastiano da San Gimignano), III, 225, 230-233

  Maini (Marini), Michele, V, 3, 4

  Malino, Lodovico (or Mazzolini), III, 164

  Manemaker, Matthaeus, IX, 269

  Mangone, Giovanni, V, 5

  Manno, VI, 78; VIII, 164, 190; X, 173

  Mansueti, Giovanni, IV, 52, 59; V, 260

  Mantegna, Andrea, _Life_, III, 279-286; II, 138; III, 162,
    279-286; IV, 24, 55, 82; VI, 15, 29, 30, 91; VIII, 23; IX, 211

  Mantovana (Sculptore), Diana, VIII, 42

  Mantovano, Camillo, VII, 201; VIII, 171

  Mantovano (_Ghisi_), Giorgio

  Mantovano (Sculptore), Giovan Battista, VI, 110, 111, 157, 164,
    165, 169; VIII, 42

  Mantovano, Marcello (Marcello _Venusti_)

  Mantovano, Rinaldo, VI, 155, 156, 160, 161, 169; VIII, 41

  Manzuoli, Maso (Tommaso da San Friano), IX, 137; X, 15

  Marc' Antonio _Bolognese_ (Marc' Antonio Raimondi, or de' Franci)

  Marcello Mantovano (Marcello _Venusti_)

  Marchesi, Girolamo (Girolamo da _Cotignola_)

  Marchetti, Marco (Marco da Faenza), IX, 155, 156; X, 20

  Marchino, III, 105

  Marchionne _Aretino_

  Marchissi, Antonio di Giorgio, IV, 36; V, 4; VI, 126

  Marcilla, Guglielmo da (Guillaume de Marcillac), _Life_, IV, 253-262;
    III, 53; IV, 253-262; VIII, 162; X, 172

  Marco, Tommaso di, I, 197

  Marco _Basaiti_ (Il Bassiti, or Marco Basarini)

  Marco _Calavrese_ (Marco Cardisco)

  Marco da Faenza (Marco _Marchetti_)

  Marco da _Grà_

  Marco da _Montepulciano_

  Marco da Ravenna (Marco _Dente_)

  Marco da _Siena_ (Marco del Pino)

  Marco del _Tasso_

  Marco _Dente_ (Marco da Ravenna)

  Marco di Battista d'_Agnolo_

  Marco _Marchetti_ (Marco da Faenza)

  Marco _Oggioni_

  Marco _Palmezzani_ (Marco Parmigiano)

  Marco (son of Giovanni Rosto), VIII, 20

  Marco _Zoppo_

  Marcolini, Francesco, VI, 115

  Marcone, Piero di, VIII, 172, 173

  Margaritone, _Life_, I, 63-67; I, 38, 63-67, 118

  Mariano da _Perugia_

  Mariano da _Pescia_

  Marignolli, Lorenzo, VII, 46

  Marini (_Maini_), Michele

  Marinus (of Zierickzee), IX, 268

  Mario _Capocaccia_

  Mariotto, I, 198

  Mariotto, Domenico di, III, 12

  Mariotto _Albertinelli_

  Mariotto di _Francesco_

  Marmita, VI, 84

  Marmita, Lodovico, VI, 84

  Marten de _Vos_

  Martin _Heemskerk_

  Martin _Schongauer_ (Martino)

  Martini, Giovanni (Giovanni da _Udine_)

  Martini, Simone (Simone _Memmi_, or Sanese)

  Martino (Martin _Schongauer_)

  Martino (pupil of Montorsoli), VIII, 144, 147, 151, 156; X, 23

  Martino, Bartolommeo di Jacopo di, VII, 147

  Martino da _Udine_ (Pellegrino da San Daniele, or Martino di Battista)

  Marzone, Giacomo, III, 184

  Masaccio, _Life_, II, 183-191; II, 86, 87, 133, 183-191, 198;
    III, 79, 80; IV, 3, 185, 215; VI, 202, 203; IX, 10, 133; X, 47

  Masini, Messer Francesco, IV, 227

  Maso _Boscoli_ (Maso dal Bosco)

  Maso _Finiguerra_

  Maso (or Tommaso) _Giottino_

  Maso _Manzuoli_ (Tommaso da San Friano)

  Maso (Tommaso) _Papacello_

  Maso _Porro_

  Masolino da _Panicale_

  Matrice, Cola dalla (Niccola Filotesio), V, 238, 239

  Matteo (brother of Cronaca), IV, 275

  Matteo (of Lucca), II, 96, 97

  Matteo dal _Nassaro_

  Matteo _Lappoli_

  Matteo _San Michele_

  Matthaeus _Manemaker_

  Matthys _Cock_

  Maturino, _Life_, V, 175-185; IV, 83; V, 175-185; VI, 177, 196;
    VIII, 17, 218; IX, 20

  Mazzieri, Antonio di Donnino (Antonio di Domenico), V, 223; VII, 29;
    VIII, 12

  Mazzingo, III, 239

  Mazzolini, Lodovico (or _Malino_)

  Mazzoni, Giulio, VIII, 210, 211

  Mazzoni, Guido (Modanino da Modena), III, 14; VIII, 38

  Mazzuoli, Francesco (Parmigiano), _Life_, V, 243-256; IV, 83;
    V, 243-256; VI, 107-109, 114, 259; VIII, 34, 39, 40, 217

  Mazzuoli, Girolamo, V, 244, 245, 254, 255; VIII, 39, 41, 42

  Medici, Jacopo de' (Jacopo _Bresciano_)

  Melighino, Jacomo (Jacopo Melighini), V, 72, 73; VI, 139, 140; VIII, 237

  Melone, Altobello da, VIII, 24, 43

  Melozzo (_Mirozzo_), Francesco di

  Melozzo da _Forlì_

  Melzo, Francesco da, IV, 99

  Memling, Hans (Ausse), III, 61; IX, 265

  Memmi, Lippo, I, 172-174

  Memmi, Simone (Simone Martini, or Sanese), _Life_, I, 167-174; I, 10,
    25, 89, 92, 167-174, 183; II, 16, 37, 83; III, 183

  Menighella, IX, 114

  Menzochi, Francesco (Francesco da Forlì), VII, 201, 204-206;
    VIII, 171

  Menzochi, Pietro Paolo, VII, 205, 206

  Messina, Antonello da, _Life_, III, 59-64

  Metrodorus, I, xxxix, xl

  Michael (Michele) _Coxie_

  Michelagnolo _Anselmi_

  Michelagnolo _Buonarroti_

  Michelagnolo da _Siena_

  Michelagnolo di _Viviano_

  Michele (Michael _Coxie_)

  Michele _Alberti_

  Michele da _Milano_

  Michele di Ridolfo _Ghirlandajo_

  Michele _Maini_ (Marini)

  Michele _San Michele_

  Michelino, I, 208

  Michelino, VI, 76

  Michelino, Domenico di, III, 35

  Michelozzo Michelozzi, _Life_, II, 259-271; II, 241, 259-271

  Milanese, Guglielmo (Fra Guglielmo della _Porta_)

  Milanese, Leonardo, IX, 238

  Milano, Bramante da, III, 18

  Milano, Cesare da (Cesare da _Sesto_)

  Milano, Gian Maria da, VIII, 198

  Milano, Giovanni da, I, 182, 183, 185; II, 23

  Milano, Michele da, I, 221

  Minerva _Anguisciuola_

  Minga, Andrea del, VII, 97; IX, 131; X, 15

  Mini, Antonio, V, 165; VIII, 128; IX, 47-51, 69, 81, 107, 109

  Miniati, Bartolommeo, V, 201

  Minio, Tiziano (Tiziano da Padova), VI, 47; IX, 203, 223

  Mino, Maestro (Mino del Regno, or del Reame), _Life_, III, 91-92;
    III, 91-92, 155

  Mino da _Fiesole_ (Mino di Giovanni)

  Mino del Regno (Maestro _Mino_, or Mino del Reame)

  Mino di Giovanni (Mino da _Fiesole_)

  Minore, III, 11

  Mirabello di _Salincorno_ (Mirabello Cavalori)

  Mirozzo (Melozzo), Francesco di, V, 140

  Miruoli, Girolamo, IX, 156

  Misuroni (Misceroni), Gasparo, IV, 60; VI, 86

  Misuroni (Misceroni), Girolamo, IV, 60; VI, 86

  Moccio, II, 4, 10, 11, 101

  Mocetto (or _Moretto_), Girolamo

  Modanino da Modena (Guido _Mazzoni_)

  Modena, Il (Antonio _Begarelli_)

  Modena, Modanino da (Guido _Mazzoni_)

  Modena, Niccolò da (Niccolò dell' _Abate_)

  Modena, Pellegrino da (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or de' Munari),
    _Life_, V, 80-81; IV, 237; V, 80-81, 176; VI, 125

  Mona Papera, Bernardetto di, II, 248

  Monaco, Don Lorenzo (Don Lorenzo degli Angeli), _Life_, II, 55-58;
    II, 55-58, 171; III, 203

  Mondella, Galeazzo, VI, 42, 80

  Monsignori (_Bonsignori_), Alberto

  Monsignori (_Bonsignori_), Fra Cherubino

  Monsignori (_Bonsignori_), Fra Girolamo

  Monsignori (_Bonsignori_), Francesco

  Montagna, Bartolommeo, IV, 52, 60; IX, 211

  Montagna, Jacopo da, III, 183

  Monte Carlo, Bastiano da, IV, 179

  Monte Sansovino, Domenico dal, V, 30

  Montecavallo, Antonio, IV, 140

  Montelupo, Baccio da, _Life_, V, 41-45; III, 148; IV, 186;
    V, 41-45, 97; VII, 155; VIII, 54; IX, 55, 188, 190, 239

  Montelupo, Raffaello da, _Life_, V, 41-45; V, 27, 41-45, 119;
    VI, 133, 222; VII, 9-11, 27, 62, 81, 189, 191, 192, 194, 195;
    VIII, 89, 91, 137, 147; IX, 51, 55, 69, 239

  Montepulciano, Marco da, II, 72, 179

  Montepulciano, Pasquino da, III, 7

  Montevarchi, IV, 46

  Montorsoli, Fra Giovanni Agnolo, _Life_, VIII, 133-157; VII, 10, 11,
    81, 82; VIII, 91, 133-157; IX, 51, 117, 133; X, 9, 23, 33

  Monverde, Luca, V, 147

  Moor, Antonius, IX, 268

  Morandini, Francesco (Francesco da Poppi), X, 14

  Morando, Paolo (Paolo _Cavazzuola_)

  Morelli, Giuliano di Niccolò, I, 221; V, 73; VI, 251

  Moreto, Niccolò, IV, 57

  Moretto, Alessandro (Alessandro Bonvicini), IV, 60; VIII, 49, 50

  Moretto (or Mocetto), Girolamo, III, 180

  Moro, Battista del (Battista d'_Angelo_, or d'Agnolo)

  Moro, Il (Francesco _Turbido_)

  Morone, Domenico, _Life_, VI, 35-36; VI, 29, 35, 36, 38

  Morone, Francesco, _Life_, VI, 36-39; VI, 29, 36-39, 40, 41, 50

  Morto da _Feltro_

  Morzone, Giromin, IV, 55, 56

  Mosca, Simone, _Life_, VII, 185-195; V, 44; VI, 133; VII, 9, 10,
    185-195; VIII, 224; IX, 69

  Moschino, Francesco, VII, 192, 194, 195; X, 32

  Mosciano, Girolamo (Girolamo Muziano, or _Brescianino_)

  Mostaert, Franz, IX, 266-268

  Mostaert, Gilis, IX, 268

  Munari, Pellegrino de' (Pellegrino da _Modena_, or degli Aretusi)

  Murano, Natalino da, VIII, 104

  Musi, Agostino de' (Agostino _Viniziano_)

  Muziano, Girolamo (Girolamo Mosciano, or _Brescianino_)

  Mynsheere, Jan de, IX, 269

  Myrmecides, III, 55

  Myron, II, 80


  Naldini, Battista, VII, 181, 182; VIII, 233; IX, 134; X, 14, 15

  Naldino, Lorenzo (Il _Guazzetto_)

  Nanni, Giovanni (Giovanni da _Udine_, or de' Ricamatori)

  Nanni d' Antonio di _Banco_

  Nanni di Baccio _Bigio_ (Giovanni di Baccio)

  Nanni di Prospero delle _Corniole_

  Nanni _Grosso_

  Nanni _Unghero_

  Nannoccio da _San Giorgio_

  Nassaro, Matteo dal, _Life_, VI, 79-82; VI, 76, 79-82

  Natalino da _Murano_

  Navarra, Pietro, VI, 126

  Nebbia, Cesare del, IX, 261

  Negrolo, Filippo, VI, 86

  Neri di _Lorenzo_

  Nero, Durante del, VIII, 227

  Neroccio, I, 172

  Neroni, Bartolommeo (Riccio), V, 73; VII, 257

  Niccola Filotesio (Cola dalla _Matrice_)

  Niccola _Pisano_

  Niccola _Viniziano_

  Niccolaio, VIII, 59

  Niccolò (goldsmith to Pope Innocent VIII), III, 281

  Niccolò (of Florence), III, 7

  Niccolò (_Tribolo_)

  Niccolò, Maestro, VI, 164; VII, 177

  Niccolò _Alunno_

  Niccolò _Aretino_ (Niccolò d'Arezzo, or Niccolò di Piero Lamberti)

  Niccolò _Avanzi_

  Niccolò _Beatricio_ (Nicolas Beautrizet)

  Niccolò Bolognese (Niccolò dell' _Arca_)

  Niccolò _Cartoni_ (Niccolò Zoccolo)

  Niccolò _Cieco_

  Niccolò d'Arezzo (Niccolò _Aretino_, or Niccolò di Piero Lamberti)

  Niccolò da Modena (Niccolò dell' _Abate_)

  Niccolò dalle _Pomarancie_

  Niccolò dell' _Abate_ (Niccolò da Modena)

  Niccolò dell' _Arca_ (Niccolò Bolognese)

  Niccolò della _Guardia_

  Niccolò di Piero Lamberti (Niccolò d'Arezzo, or _Aretino_)

  Niccolò _Fiorentino_

  Niccolò _Giolfino_ (Niccolò Ursino)

  Niccolò _Grosso_ (Il Caparra)

  Niccolò _Moreto_

  Niccolò _Pizzolo_

  Niccolò Rondinello (Rondinello da _Ravenna_)

  Niccolò _Soggi_

  Niccolò Ursino (Niccolò _Giolfino_)

  Niccolò Zoccolo (Niccolò _Cartoni_)

  Nicolas Beautrizet (Niccolò _Beatricio_)

  Nicomachus, II, 80

  Nicon, III, 209

  Nino _Pisano_

  Nola, Giovanni da, V, 137-139

  Noort, Arthus van, IX, 269

  Noort, Lambert van, IX, 268

  Nunziata, VIII, 61, 62

  Nunziata, Toto del, II, 190; IV, 280; VI, 191, 196; VIII, 66


  Oderigi d' _Agobbio_

  Oggioni, Marco, IV, 105; VIII, 56

  Oja, Sebastian van, IX, 269

  Opera, Giovanni dell' (Giovanni di Benedetto _Bandini_)

  Orazio da Bologna (Orazio _Sammacchini_)

  Orazio di _Paris_

  Orazio _Pianetti_

  Orazio _Porta_

  Orazio _Sammacchini_ (Orazio da Bologna)

  Orazio _Vecelli_

  Orcagna, Andrea di Cione, _Life_, I, 189-199; II, 91; III, 223

  Orcagna, Bernardo di Cione, I, 189, 190, 193-195, 197

  Orcagna, Jacopo di Cione, I, 194, 197, 198

  Orlando _Fiacco_ (or Flacco)

  Orsino, III, 275, 276

  Ottaviano da _Faenza_

  Ottaviano del _Collettaio_

  Ottaviano della _Robbia_

  Ottaviano _Falconetto_

  Ottaviano _Zucchero_


  Pacchia, Girolamo del, VII, 252

  Pace, Domenico di (Domenico _Beccafumi_)

  Pace da _Faenza_

  Pacuvius, I, xxxix

  Padova, Guerriero da, IV, 51, 56

  Padova, Tiziano da (Tiziano _Minio_)

  Padova, Vellano da, _Life_, III, 73-75; II, 253; III, 73-75, 272

  Padovano, Federigo del (Federigo di _Lamberto_, or Fiammingo)

  Padovano, Girolamo, III, 209

  Pagani, Lattanzio, V, 212; VII, 128

  Pagni, Benedetto (Benedetto da Pescia), VI, 152, 154-156, 169; X, 9

  Pagno di Lapo _Partigiani_

  Palladio, Andrea, VI, 28, 48; VIII, 233, 234; IX, 211-214; X, 20

  Palma, Jacopo (Palma Vecchio), _Life_, V, 259-261; IX, 160

  Palmezzani, Marco (Marco Parmigiano), VII, 204, 205

  Paludanus, Heinrich (Arrigo), VIII, 38; IX, 269

  Paludanus, Willem, IX, 269

  Panetti, Domenico, VIII, 24

  Panicale, Masolino da, _Life_, II, 165-167; II, 46, 159, 165-167,
    171, 185, 187-189; IV, 3; VI, 203

  Paolo, I, 103

  Paolo _Caliari_ (Paolo Veronese)

  Paolo _Cavazzuola_ (Paolo Morando)

  Paolo da _Verona_

  Paolo _Farinato_

  Paolo _Pistoiese_, Fra

  Paolo _Ponzio_

  Paolo _Romano_

  Paolo _San Michele_

  Paolo _Schiavo_

  Paolo _Uccello_

  Paolo Veronese (Paolo _Caliari_)

  Papacello, Tommaso (or Maso), IV, 76; VI, 152; VII, 128

  Papino della _Pieve_

  Paris, Domenico di, IV, 47; V, 195

  Paris, Orazio di, IV, 47

  Paris _Bordone_

  Parma, Daniello da (Daniello _Porri_)

  Parmigiano (Francesco _Mazzuoli_)

  Parmigiano, Marco (Marco _Palmezzani_)

  Parrhasius, IX, 133; X, 200

  Parri _Spinelli_

  Particini, Antonio, VIII, 16

  Partigiani, Pagno di Lapo, II, 269, 270

  Pasquino _Cenni_

  Pasquino da _Montepulciano_

  Passerotto, Bartolommeo, IX, 156

  Pastorino da _Siena_

  Patinier, Joachim, 266

  Pecori, Domenico, III, 207-209; IV, 257; VI, 255, 258, 271

  Pedoni, Giovanni, VIII, 48

  Pellegrini, Pellegrino (Pellegrino da Bologna, or Tibaldi),
    VIII, 34, 204; IX, 151-154, 258

  Pellegrino da _Modena_ (Pellegrino degli Aretusi, or de' Munari)

  Pellegrino da San Daniele (Martino da _Udine_, or di Battista)

  Pellegrino _Pellegrini_ (Pellegrino da Bologna, or Tibaldi)

  Peloro, Giovan Battista, V, 73

  Pencz, Georg, VI, 119

  Penni, Giovan Francesco (Il Fattore), _Life_, V, 77-80; IV, 237,
    247; V, 77-80, 201; VI, 146-148, 150, 151, 153, 177, 193, 194,
    207, 216

  Penni, Luca, V, 79, 201; VI, 115

  Perino del _Vaga_ (Perino Buonaccorsi, or de' Ceri)

  Perugia, Mariano da, V, 263

  Perugia, Piero da, I, 221

  Perugino, Pietro (Pietro Vannucci, or Pietro da Castel della Pieve),
    _Life_, IV, 33-48; II, 190; III, 23, 188, 204, 273; IV, 13, 15,
    18, 33-48, 82, 159, 169, 210-212, 236, 242, 243; V, 49, 50, 87,
    230; VI, 235, 269; VII, 199, 248, 249; VIII, 3; IX, 189; X, 192

  Peruzzi, Baldassarre (Baldassarre da Siena), _Life_, V, 63-74;
    IV, 145, 146, 200; V, 57, 63-74, 136, 170, 176, 208; VI, 107,
    167, 174, 177, 239; VII, 253; VIII, 167, 168, 197, 205, 218;
    IX, 65, 196; X, 174

  Peruzzi, Salustio, VIII, 205; IX, 82

  Pesarese, I, 105

  Pescia, Benedetto da (Benedetto _Pagni_)

  Pescia, Mariano da, VIII, 66

  Pescia, Pier Maria da, VI, 76

  Peselli, Francesco (Francesco di Pesello, or Pesellino), _Life_,
    III, 117-118; III, 86, 117-118

  Pesello, _Life_, III, 117-118; III, 59, 117-118; IV, 82

  Pesello, Francesco di (Francesco _Peselli_, or Pesellino)

  Pheidias, I, xl; II, 120; IV, 105

  Philip _Galle_

  Philocles, I, xxxix

  Pianetti, Orazio, VIII, 206, 207

  Piccinelli, Raffaello de' (Raffaello da Brescia, or _Brescianino_)

  Pichi, Giovan Maria, VII, 158

  Pier Francesco da _Viterbo_

  Pier Francesco di Jacopo di _Sandro_

  Pier Maria da _Pescia_

  Pieri, Stefano, IX, 137; X, 14

  Pierino (Piero) da _Vinci_

  Piero, Alvaro di, II, 64

  Piero _Catanei_

  Piero da _Perugia_

  Piero da _Sesto_

  Piero (Pierino) da _Vinci_

  Piero da _Volterra_

  Piero del _Donzello_

  Piero della _Francesca_ (Piero dal Borgo a San Sepolcro, or Borghese)

  Piero di _Cosimo_

  Piero di _Marcone_

  Piero _Francia_

  Piero _Pollaiuolo_

  Pieter _Aertsen_

  Pieter _Brueghel_

  Pieter _Christus_

  Pieter _Koeck_

  Pieter _Pourbus_

  Pietrasanta, Ranieri da, VII, 9, 10

  Pietrasanta, Stagio da, V, 162; VI, 214; VII, 7, 195

  Pietro, I, 103

  Pietro _Cavallini_

  Pietro da Castel della Pieve (Pietro _Perugino_, or Vannucci)

  Pietro da _Salò_

  Pietro da _San Casciano_

  Pietro di _Subisso_

  Pietro _Laurati_ (Pietro Lorenzetti)

  Pietro _Navarra_

  Pietro Paolo, I, 105

  Pietro Paolo da _Todi_

  Pietro Paolo _Galeotto_

  Pietro Paolo _Menzochi_

  Pietro _Perugino_ (Pietro da Castel della Pieve, or Vannucci)

  Pietro _Rosselli_

  Pietro _Urbano_

  Pietro Vannucci (Pietro _Perugino_, or Pietro da Castel della Pieve)

  Pieve, Papino della, VI, 272

  Piloto, VI, 201, 205, 207; VII, 56, 58, 69; VIII, 18; IX, 42, 43, 47, 48

  Pino, Marco del (Marco da _Siena_)

  Pintelli, Baccio, III, 93-94

  Pinturicchio, Bernardino, _Life_, IV, 13-19; IV, 13-19, 46, 65,
    211, 212; V, 227; VI, 195; IX, 190

  Piombo, Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del (Sebastiano Luciani), _Life_,
    VI, 173-186; IV, 84, 114, 240; V, 66; VI, 108, 139, 148, 173-186,
    217, 259; VII, 110, 111; VIII, 82, 84, 92, 182, 201; IX, 68, 106,
    109, 111, 162, 235

  Pippo del _Fabbro_

  Pironi, Girolamo, IX, 211

  Pirro _Ligorio_

  Pisanello, Vittore or Antonio, _Life_, III, 109-113; II, 187;
    III, 105, 109-113; VI, 35

  Pisano, Andrea, _Life_, I, 123-131; I, 123-131, 189; II, 50, 81, 83,
    91, 93, 120, 145, 147, 154, 160, 200; VII, 30

  Pisano, Giovanni, _Life_, I, 35-44; I, 29, 35-44, 76, 97, 98, 220;
    IV, 142; IX, 11

  Pisano, Niccola, _Life_, I, 29-37; I, lvi, 29-37, 40, 41, 43, 44,
    76, 97; II, 97; IV, 142

  Pisano, Nino, I, 127, 130, 131; II, 81, 83

  Pisano, Tommaso, I, 130

  Pisbolica, Jacopo, IX, 214, 215

  Pistoia, Gerino da (Gerino _Pistoiese_)

  Pistoia, Giovanni da, I, 164

  Pistoia, Il (Leonardo), V, 79, 80

  Pistoiese, David, III, 263

  Pistoiese, Fra Paolo, IV, 162

  Pistoiese, Gerino (Gerino da Pistoia), IV, 18, 46

  Pittoni, Battista (Battista of Vicenza), VI, 108

  Pizzolo, Niccolò, III, 280

  Plautilla, V, 126

  Poggini, Domenico, VI, 87; IX, 131; X, 32, 33

  Poggini, Giovan Paolo, IX, 232, 233

  Poggini, Zanobi, V, 106; VIII, 61

  Poggino, Zanobi di, V, 165

  Polidoro (of Perugia), IX, 234

  Polidoro da _Caravaggio_ (Polidoro Caldara)

  Polito del _Donzello_

  Pollaiuolo, Antonio, _Life_, III, 237-243; I, xxxiv; II, 159;
    III, 237-243, 248, 285; IV, 4, 81, 265; V, 21; VI, 182, 246;
    VIII, 64

  Pollaiuolo, Piero, _Life_, III, 237-243; III, 105, 237-243, 248;
    VI, 182, 246

  Pollaiuolo, Simone del (Il _Cronaca_)

  Polo, Agnolo di, III, 273, 274

  Polo, Domenico di, V, 135; VI, 84

  Polycletus, I, xl, 167; II, 80, 160

  Polygnotus, I, xxxix; II, 80

  Pomarancie, Niccolò dalle, IX, 261

  Pompeo da _Fano_

  Pompeo _Lioni_

  Pompilio _Lancia_

  Pomponio _Amalteo_

  Ponte, Giovanni dal (Giovanni da Santo Stefano a Ponte), _Life_,
    I, 211-213; I, 208, 211-213

  Pontormo, Jacopo da (Jacopo Carrucci), _Life_, VII, 147-182;
    II, 190; IV, 179, 246, 260; V, 93, 98, 104, 118, 135, 190, 221,
    222, 231, 232; VI, 60, 255-257, 273; VII, 31, 147-182, 201;
    VIII, 18, 65, 92, 154, 179, 180; IX, 20, 107, 110, 133, 134;
    X, 3-5, 7-10, 12-14, 47, 176, 177

  Ponzio, Paolo, IX, 149

  Poppi, Francesco da (Francesco _Morandini_)

  Pordenone (Giovanni Antonio _Licinio_, or Cuticello)

  Porfirio, Bernardino di, X, 17

  Porri, Daniello (Daniello da Parma), VIII, 217

  Porro, Maso, IV, 262

  Porta, Baccio della (Fra Bartolommeo di _San Marco_)

  Porta, Fra Guglielmo della (Guglielmo Milanese), VI, 217;
    VIII, 84; IX, 68, 69, 234-238

  Porta, Giovan Jacomo della, IX, 234, 235

  Porta, Giuseppe (Giuseppe del Salviati), VI, 115; VIII, 106, 192,
    193, 229, 230; IX, 214; X, 20

  Porta, Orazio, X, 20

  Porta, Tommaso, IX, 238

  Portelli, Carlo (Carlo da Loro), VIII, 11, 69, 170, 179; X, 15

  Pourbus, Pieter, IX, 268

  Prato, Francesco di Girolamo dal, V, 135; VII, 72, 73; VIII, 162,
    173, 190-192

  Prato, Girolamo dal, VIII, 190, 191

  Praxiteles, I, xxvi, xl, xli; IX, 133; X, 47

  Primaticcio, Francesco, _Description of Works_, IX, 145-150; V, 200,
    201, 203; VI, 115, 157; VIII, 37, 183, 237, 238; IX, 145-151, 156

  Proconsolo, Rossellino dal (Antonio _Rossellino_)

  Prometheus (fable), I, xxxix

  Properzia de' _Rossi_, Madonna

  Prospero _Clemente_

  Prospero _Fontana_

  Protogenes, II, 80; X, 200

  Provolo _Falconetto_

  Pucci, Domenico, II, 26

  Puccio _Capanna_

  Puligo, Domenico, _Life_, IV, 279-283; V, 109; VIII, 119, 120

  Pupini, Biagio (Biagio _Bolognese_)

  Pygmalion, I, xxviii, xl

  Pyrgoteles, I, xl

  Pythias, I, xxxix


  Quentin of _Louvain_

  Quercia, Jacopo della (Jacopo della Fonte), _Life_, II, 91-97;
    I, 130; II, 86, 87, 91-97, 145, 146, 151, 200; III, 131, 188;
    VII, 245


  Raffaellino del _Garbo_

  Raffaello _Baglioni_

  Raffaello _Bello_

  Raffaello _Brescianino_ (Raffaello da Brescia, or de' Piccinelli)

  Raffaello da _Montelupo_

  Raffaello da Urbino (Raffaello _Sanzio_)

  Raffaello dal _Colle_ (Raffaello dal Borgo)

  Raffaello de' Piccinelli (Raffaello da Brescia, or _Brescianino_)

  Raffaello delle _Vivole_

  Raffaello di _Biagio_

  Raffaello Pippi de' _Giannuzzi_

  Raffaello _Sanzio_ (Raffaello da Urbino)

  Raggio, IV, 4

  Raimondi, Marc' Antonio (Marc' Antonio _Bolognese_, or de' Franci)

  Ramenghi, Bartolommeo (Bartolommeo da _Bagnacavallo_)

  Ranieri da _Pietrasanta_

  Ravenna, Marco da (Marco _Dente_)

  Ravenna, Rondinello da (Niccolò Rondinello), _Life_, V, 264-265;
    III, 183, 184; V, 264-266; VII, 204, 205

  Reggio, Sebastiano da, VI, 165

  Regno, Mino del (Maestro _Mino_, or Mino del Reame)

  René _Boyvin_ (Renato)

  Ribaldi, Giovanni (Giovanni _Boccalino_)

  Ricamatori, Giovanni de' (Giovanni da _Udine_, or Nanni)

  Ricchino, Francesco, VIII, 50

  Ricciarelli, Daniello (Daniello da Volterra), _Life_, VIII, 197-211;
    VI, 113, 219, 224; VIII, 184-186, 197-211, 228, 235; IX, 95, 100,
    101, 103, 107, 121, 122

  Ricciarelli, Leonardo, VIII, 207

  Riccio, Andrea, III, 64

  Riccio (Bartolommeo _Neroni_)

  Riccio, Domenico del (Domenico _Brusciasorzi_)

  Riccio, Felice del (Felice _Brusciasorzi_)

  Ridolfi, Bartolommeo, VI, 48

  Ridolfo _Ghirlandajo_

  Rinaldo _Mantovano_

  Ripa Transone, Ascanio dalla (Ascanio _Condivi_)

  Ristoro da _Campi_, Fra

  Robbia, Agostino della, II, 123-125

  Robbia, Andrea della, II, 125-127, 175; III, 276; V, 90

  Robbia, Giovanni della, II, 126; VIII, 116

  Robbia, Girolamo della, II, 126, 127; V, 90

  Robbia, Luca della, _Life_, II, 119-128; II, 119-128, 175, 213

  Robbia, Luca della (the younger), II, 126, 127; IV, 237; V, 90

  Robbia, Ottaviano della, II, 123-125

  Robetta, VIII, 119, 120

  Robusti, Jacopo (Jacopo _Tintoretto_)

  Robyn, Joris, IX, 270

  Rocco _Guerrini_

  Rocco _Zoppo_

  Roger van der _Weyden_ (Roger of Bruges)

  Romanino, Girolamo, IV, 60; VIII, 49

  Romano, Domenico, VIII, 193

  Romano, Giulio (Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi), _Life_, VI, 145-169;
    III, 19; IV, 76, 84, 119, 232, 237, 247; V, 55, 77-79, 108, 109,
    195; VI, 20, 24, 103-105, 110, 114, 145-169, 177, 193, 194, 207,
    216, 221, 259; VII, 117, 236; VIII, 29, 39-42, 55, 138, 172;
    IX, 146, 168, 245, 257, 258; X, 9, 187

  Romano, Luzio, VI, 212, 222

  Romano, Paolo, _Life_, III, 91-92; V, 57

  Romano, Virgilio, V, 73

  Rondinello da _Ravenna_ (Niccolò Rondinello)

  Rosa, Cristofano, VIII, 50, 51, 104; IX, 177

  Rosa, Stefano, VIII, 50, 51, 104; IX, 177

  Rosselli, Bernardo (Bernardo del _Buda_)

  Rosselli, Cosimo, _Life_, III, 187-190; IV, 82, 125, 126, 151, 165;
    V, 88, 229

  Rosselli, Pietro, IV, 159; VII, 68, 69

  Rossellino, Antonio (Rossellino dal Proconsolo), _Life_,
    III, 139-144; II, 253; III, 44, 139-144, 253; IV, 275

  Rossellino, Bernardo, _Life_, III, 139-144; III, 44, 139-144, 268

  Rossellino dal Proconsolo (Antonio _Rossellino_)

  Rossetti, Giovan Paolo, VIII, 204, 210

  Rossi, Francesco de' (Francesco _Salviati_)

  Rossi, Giovan Battista de' (Il _Rosso_)

  Rossi, Giovanni Antonio de', VI, 86

  Rossi, Madonna Properzia de', _Life_, V, 123-128; VIII, 45

  Rossi, Vincenzio de', VII, 94, 98, 101; VIII, 153; X, 23, 24

  Rosso (or Rosto), Giovan Battista, VI, 164

  Rosso (or _Rosto_), Giovanni

  Rosso, Il (Giovan Battista de' Rossi), _Life_, V, 189-203; II, 190;
    IV, 84; V, 97, 189-203; VI, 109, 111, 115, 257-261, 273, 274;
    VII, 58, 59, 117, 118, 149, 188; VIII, 167, 183; IX, 20, 107,
    146, 147; X, 47, 172

  Rosso, Lodovico, IX, 182

  Rosso de' _Giugni_

  Rosto (or _Rosso_), Giovan Battista

  Rosto (or Rosso), Giovanni, IV, 46; VII, 177; VIII, 20, 179

  Rovezzano, Benedetto da, _Life_, V, 35-38; IV, 155; V, 35-38;
    VII, 4, 63, 64, 187; IX, 191

  Rovezzano, Giovanni da, III, 105

  Roviale, VII, 129; VIII, 190; X, 196

  Rozzo, Antonio del (Antonio del _Tozzo_)

  Ruberto di Filippo _Lippi_

  Ruggieri da _Bologna_

  Ruspoli, Ilarione, X, 24

  Rustici, Gabriele, IV, 162

  Rustici, Giovan Francesco, _Life_, VIII, 111-129; IV, 105, 186;
    VII, 57, 66; VIII, 111-129; X, 47


  Sabatini, Lorenzo, IX, 151; X, 20

  Salai, IV, 99

  Salamanca, Antonio, VI, 276

  Salincorno, Mirabello di (Mirabello Cavalori), IX, 126; X, 15, 16

  Salò, Pietro da, IX, 204, 223

  Salustio _Peruzzi_

  Salvadore _Foschi_, Fra

  Salvestro, Maestro, VI, 87

  Salvestro _Fancelli_

  Salvi, Antonio di, III, 239

  Salviati, Francesco (Francesco de' Rossi), _Life_, VIII, 161-193;
    III, 258, 262; V, 119; VI, 108, 111, 177; VII, 178, 205;
    VIII, 11, 12, 44, 84, 90, 91, 95, 161-193, 208, 209, 228, 229,
    231, 232, 235; IX, 133; X, 7, 47, 171, 174, 219

  Salviati, Giuseppe del (Giuseppe _Porta_)

  Sammacchini, Orazio (Orazio da Bologna), VIII, 188, 228, 229;
    IX, 154

  San Casciano, Pietro da, VII, 15, 16, 19

  S. Clemente, Abbot of (Don Bartolommeo della _Gatta_)

  San Daniele, Pellegrino da (Martino da _Udine_ or di Battista)

  San Friano, Tommaso da (Maso _Manzuoli_)

  San Gallo, Antonio da (the elder), _Life_, IV, 191-205; IV, 145,
    191-205, 254; V, 97; VI, 66, 123, 272; VII, 74; VIII, 3; IX, 16,
    40, 41

  San Gallo, Antonio da (the younger), _Life_, VI, 123-141; I, 32;
    V, 29, 43, 58, 72; VI, 123-141, 167, 197, 198, 219, 220, 222;
    VII, 9, 78, 119, 186, 189, 190, 193, 217, 218; VIII, 13, 89,
    136, 168, 202; IX, 61-67, 196, 197, 224, 239; X, 47

  San Gallo, Aristotile (Bastiano) da, _Life_, VIII, 3-20; IV, 212;
    V, 97; VII, 29; VIII, 3-20, 119, 126; IX, 20, 29, 30

  San Gallo, Battista da (Battista Gobbo), VI, 133, 140; VIII, 169

  San Gallo, Francesco da, IV, 134, 203, 204; V, 27; VI, 133, 173;
    VII, 9, 10, 189; VIII, 153, 155, 156; X, 22, 23

  San Gallo, Giovan Francesco da, VIII, 4

  San Gallo, Giuliano da, _Life_, IV, 191-205; IV, 101, 134, 145,
    191-205, 270; V, 97; VI, 6, 66, 123, 124, 126; VIII, 3; IX, 16,
    29, 30, 188, 189; X, 22, 23

  San Gimignano, Bastiano da (Bastiano _Mainardi_)

  San Gimignano, Vincenzio da (Vincenzio Tamagni), _Life_, V, 11-17;
    IV, 237; V, 11-17; VIII, 218

  San Giorgio, Eusebio, IV, 47

  San Giorgio, Nannoccio da, V, 119; VIII, 162-164

  San Marco, Fra Bartolommeo di (Baccio della Porta), _Life_,
    IV, 151-162; II, 190, 249; IV, 82, 151-162, 165-167, 215, 244,
    272; V, 159, 160, 194; VI, 66; VII, 108, 109, 148; VIII, 61

  San Marino, Giovan Battista (Giovan Battista _Bellucci_)

  San Michele, Bartolommeo, VII, 217

  San Michele, Gian Girolamo, VII, 219, 220, 222, 230-234

  San Michele, Giovanni, VII, 217

  San Michele, Matteo, VII, 219

  San Michele, Michele, _Life_, VII, 217-235; III, 111; VI, 25, 26,
    47, 130; VII, 127, 191, 217-235, 237, 241; VIII, 102

  San Michele, Paolo, VII, 227, 230, 232

  San Vito, Feliciano da, VIII, 210, 211

  Sandrino del _Calzolaio_

  Sandro, Jacopo di, V, 97; IX, 29, 30

  Sandro, Pier Francesco di Jacopo di, V, 118, 119; VI, 257; VII, 29,
    176; VIII, 11, 156; X, 15

  Sandro _Botticelli_ (Sandro di Botticello, or Alessandro Filipepi)

  Sanese, Simone (Simone _Memmi_, or Martini)

  Sanese, Ugolino (Ugolino da Siena), _Life_, I, 113; II, 62

  Sansovino, Andrea (Andrea _Contucci_)

  Sansovino, Jacopo (Jacopo Tatti), _Life_, IX, 187-202, 215-225;
    II, 127; V, 5, 31, 35, 36, 80, 88, 92, 93, 97, 98, 180, 218, 231,
    247; VI, 47, 125, 127, 199; VII, 4, 5, 58; VIII, 100, 126, 192;
    IX, 20, 40, 41, 107, 145, 166, 170, 187-204, 206-208, 210,
    215-225; X, 23

  Sant' Agnolo, Francesco, VIII, 215-217

  Santa Croce, Girolamo, _Life_, V, 137-138

  Santi, IV, 261

  Santi, Giovanni de', IV, 46, 210, 213, 249

  Santi _Buglioni_

  Santi _Titi_

  Sanzio, Raffaello (Raffaello da Urbino), _Life_, IV, 209-250;
    I, 86; II, 126, 190; III, 18, 19; IV, 13, 28, 29, 44-47, 82, 83,
    143, 145, 146, 155-158, 200, 201, 203, 209-250, 255; V, 11-15,
    55, 56, 66, 72, 77-81, 107-109, 117, 126, 169, 175, 191, 194,
    201, 207, 208, 213, 222, 245, 247; VI, 6, 38, 66, 69, 99-104,
    106-108, 114, 120, 126, 127, 130, 145-148, 153, 156, 165, 174-178,
    181, 183, 193-195, 207, 209, 218, 221, 236, 269; VII, 111, 117,
    148, 174, 199, 249; VIII, 4, 5, 25, 26, 28, 31, 32, 41, 49, 61,
    73-76, 78, 80, 81, 85, 97, 167, 216, 219, 226, 236; IX, 20, 27,
    28, 30, 31, 40, 41, 65, 162, 165, 170, 189, 194, 196, 267;
    X, 174, 180, 181, 192, 211, 222

  Saracini, Gabriello, II, 36

  Sart, Jan der, IX, 269

  Sarto, Andrea del (Andrea d' Agnolo), _Life_, V, 85-120; II, 190;
    IV, 83, 129, 134, 281, 283; V, 85-120, 164, 194, 217-221, 231;
    VI, 60, 106, 255-257, 272, 273; VII, 4, 58, 59, 148-150, 152,
    156, 157, 171, 188; VIII, 5, 6, 11, 16, 17, 19, 113, 119, 120,
    122, 126, 135, 163, 164; IX, 20, 43, 188, 193, 194; X, 47, 172

  Sassoli, Fabiano di Stagio, III, 54; IV, 256, 257

  Sassoli, Stagio, IV, 73, 257; VI, 272

  Savoldo, Gian Girolamo (Gian Girolamo _Bresciano_)

  Scarpaccia, Lazzaro (Lazzaro _Bastiani_, or Sebastiano Scarpaccia)

  Scarpaccia (_Carpaccio_), Vittore

  Scarpagni, Antonio (Scarpagnino, or Zanfragnino), VI, 10

  Scheggia, VIII, 61

  Scherano da _Settignano_ (Alessandro)

  Schiavo, Paolo, II, 166

  Schiavone, Andrea, VIII, 107, 108, 231

  Schizzone, V, 12

  Schongauer, Martin (Martino), _Life_, VI, 91-92; III, 214; VI, 91-92;
    IX, 7, 265

  Sciorini, Lorenzo (Lorenzo della Sciorina), IX, 128; X, 14

  Scorel, Jan, IX, 266

  Sculptore (_Mantovana_), Diana

  Sculptore (_Mantovano_), Giovan Battista

  Sebastian van _Oja_

  Sebastiano da _Reggio_

  Sebastiano Florigerio (Bastianello _Florigorio_)

  Sebastiano Luciani (Fra Sebastiano Viniziano del _Piombo_)

  Sebastiano Scarpaccia (Lazzaro _Bastiani_, or Scarpaccia)

  Sebastiano _Serlio_

  Sebastiano Viniziano del _Piombo_, Fra (Sebastiano Luciani)

  Sebeto da _Verona_

  Seghers, Anna, IX, 269

  Segna d' _Antignano_

  Sellaio, Jacopo del, III, 86

  Semolei, Battista (Battista _Franco_)

  Ser Giovanni, Leonardo di, I, 104; II, 119

  Serlio, Sebastiano, V, 72; VI, 113; IX, 196, 267, 271

  Sermoneta, Girolamo da (Girolamo _Siciolante_)

  Servellino, Guido del, III, 12

  Sesto, Cesare da (Cesare da Milano), V, 65, 141; VIII, 56

  Sesto, Piero da, VIII, 18

  Settignano, Desiderio da, _Life_, III, 147-149; II, 253; III, 147-149,
    154, 156, 260; X, 47

  Settignano, Scherano da (Alessandro), VIII, 168; IX, 55

  Settignano, Solosmeo da (Antonio di Giovanni), V, 118; VII, 5, 79,
    80; VIII, 119; IX, 202, 223

  Sguazzella, Andrea, V, 100, 118

  Siciliano, Tommaso (Tommaso _Laureti_)

  Siciolante, Girolamo (Girolamo da Sermoneta), VI, 221, 222, 225;
    VIII, 99, 188, 229; IX, 152, 257-259

  Siena, Baldassarre da (Baldassarre _Peruzzi_)

  Siena, Francesco da, V, 71, 73

  Siena, Marco da (Marco del Pino), VI, 223; VIII, 204, 210

  Siena, Michelagnolo da, _Life_, V, 136-137; V, 69, 136-137

  Siena, Pastorino da, IV, 262; VI, 87, 219

  Siena, Ugolino da (Ugolino _Sanese_)

  Signorelli, Luca (Luca da Cortona), _Life_, IV, 71-76; III, 20, 23,
    31, 52, 188, 204; IV, 71-76, 82, 216, 261; VI, 246; VII, 199, 246;
    IX, 190; X, 171

  Silvestro, Don, II, 57

  Silvio _Cosini_ (Silvio da Fiesole)

  Simon _Bening_

  Simon _Bianco_

  Simon van _Delft_

  Simone, II, 104; IV, 55

  Simone (brother of Donatello), _Life_, III, 3-7; II, 251; III, 3-7

  Simone (pupil of Filippo Brunelleschi), II, 236

  Simone _Cini_

  Simone _Cioli_

  Simone da _Colle_ (Simone de' Bronzi)

  Simone da _Fiesole_

  Simone del Pollaiuolo (Il _Cronaca_)

  Simone _Memmi_ (Simone Martini, or Sanese)

  Simone _Mosca_

  Simone of Paris, V, 201

  Simone Sanese (Simone _Memmi_, or Martini)

  Skeysers, Clara, IX, 269

  Sodoma, Giomo del, VII, 257

  Sodoma, Il (Giovanni Antonio _Bazzi_)

  Sofonisba _Anguisciuola_

  Soggi, Niccolò, _Life_, VI, 269-279; IV, 186; V, 109, 110, 196;
    VI, 261, 269-279; VIII, 114

  Sogliani, Giovanni Antonio, _Life_, V, 159-166; V, 51, 159-166;
    VI, 214, 215, 247, 248; VII, 256; VIII, 20

  Soiaro, Bernardo (Bernardo de' Gatti), VIII, 39, 40, 43, 44

  Solari, Cristofano (Cristofano Gobbo), VIII, 55; IX, 14, 234

  Sollazzino, I, 193

  Solosmeo da _Settignano_ (Antonio di Giovanni)

  Sozzini, Giovan Battista, VI, 87

  Spadari, Benedetto, IV, 262; V, 195, 196

  Spagna, Lo (_Giovanni_)

  Spagnuolo, Alonzo (Alonzo Berughetta), II, 190; IV, 8; VII, 58;
    IX, 20, 189

  Speranza, Giovanni, IX, 211

  Spilimbergo, Irene di, IX, 175

  Spillo, VIII, 119, 120

  Spinelli, Parri, _Life_, II, 171-179; II, 36, 39, 83, 125, 159,
    171-179; III, 54

  Spinello, Forzore di, I, 104; II, 39, 177

  Spinello _Aretino_

  Squarcione, Jacopo, III, 279-281, 285; IV, 56

  Stagio da _Pietrasanta_

  Stagio _Sassoli_

  Staren, Dirk van, IX, 269

  Starnina, Gherardo, _Life_, II, 43-46; II, 20, 43-46, 58, 83, 165

  Stefano, _Life_, I, 109-114; I, 92, 109-114, 203, 204; II, 83

  Stefano, Vincenzio di, VI, 11

  Stefano da _Ferrara_

  Stefano da Zevio (Stefano _Veronese_)

  Stefano of Florence (Stefano Lunetti), III, 215; V, 51

  Stefano _Pieri_

  Stefano _Rosa_

  Stefano _Veltroni_

  Stefano _Veronese_ (Stefano da Zevio)

  Stocco, Giovanni di (Giovanni _Fancelli_)

  Stoldo di Gino _Lorenzi_

  Straet, Jan van der (Giovanni Strada), VIII, 233; IX, 134, 135, 267;
    X, 18, 19

  Strozzi, Zanobi, III, 35

  Suardi, Bartolommeo (_Bramantino_)

  Suavius, Lambert (Lamberto Suave, or Lambert Zutmann), VI, 110;
    IX, 269, 270

  Subisso, Pietro di, VII, 187, 188

  Susanna _Horebout_


  Tadda, Francesco del (Francesco Ferrucci), VII, 9, 10, 49;
    VIII, 133, 140, 142; IX, 97

  Taddeo _Bartoli_

  Taddeo _Gaddi_

  Taddeo _Zucchero_

  Tafi, Andrea, _Life_, I, 47-51; I, 47-51, 55, 56, 58, 135, 136, 145,
    219; III, 69

  Tafi, Antonio d' Andrea, I, 51

  Tagliapietra, Duca, III, 169

  Tamagni, Vincenzio (Vincenzio da _San Gimignano_)

  Tasso, Battista del, VI, 213; VII, 13, 30, 31, 34, 35, 137;
    VIII, 18, 164, 173, 176; IX, 51; X, 208, 210

  Tasso, Domenico del, III, 200, 262

  Tasso, Giuliano del, III, 200, 262; V, 97

  Tasso, Leonardo del, V, 31

  Tasso, Marco del, III, 200, 262; VII, 156

  Tatti, Jacopo (Jacopo _Sansovino_)

  Tedesco, Guglielmo, IX, 237

  Tedesco, Jacopo (Lapo), I, 14, 18-20, 23, 24, 65, 174

  Tedesco, Jacopo del, III, 233; VIII, 59, 60

  Telephanes, I, xxxix

  The _Academicians_

  Tibaldi, Pellegrino (Pellegrino da Bologna, or _Pellegrini_)

  Tiberio _Calcagni_

  Tiberio _Cavalieri_

  Timagoras, I, xxxix

  Timanthes, II, 80

  Timoteo da _Urbino_ (Timoteo della Vite)

  Tintoretto, Jacopo (Jacopo Robusti), VIII, 101-106; IX, 214; X, 20

  Tisi, Benvenuto (Benvenuto _Garofalo_)

  Titi, Santi, V, 160; VIII, 227; IX, 135; X, 19, 20

  Tiziano, Girolamo di (Girolamo _Dante_)

  Tiziano da Cadore (Tiziano _Vecelli_)

  Tiziano _Minio_ (Tiziano da Padova)

  Tiziano _Vecelli_ (Tiziano da Cadore)

  Todi, Pietro Paolo da, III, 92

  Tofano _Lombardino_ (Cristofano Lombardi)

  Tomè, Luca di, II, 5

  Tommaso, IV, 76

  Tommaso _Barlacchi_

  Tommaso _Casignuola_

  Tommaso da _Lugano_

  Tommaso da San Friano (Maso _Manzuoli_)

  Tommaso del _Verrocchio_

  Tommaso di _Marco_

  Tommaso di Stefano _Lunetti_

  Tommaso _Ghirlandajo_

  Tommaso (or Maso) _Giottino_

  Tommaso _Laureti_ (Tommaso Siciliano)

  Tommaso _Papacello_

  Tommaso _Pisano_

  Tommaso _Porta_

  Tommaso Siciliano (Tommaso _Laureti_)

  Topolino, IX, 114, 115

  Torri, Bartolommeo, VI, 264, 265

  Torrigiano, _Life_, IV, 183-188; IX, 8, 10, 116

  Tossicani, Giovanni, I, 208

  Toto del _Nunziata_

  Tozzo, Antonio del (Antonio del Rozzo), V, 73

  Traini, Francesco, I, 198, 199

  Trento, Antonio da (Antonio Fantuzzi), V, 249, 250; VI, 108

  Trevigi, Girolamo (Girolamo da _Treviso_)

  Trevio, Bernardino da (Bernardino Zenale), IV, 138; VIII, 54

  Treviso, Dario da, III, 280, 285

  Treviso, Girolamo da (Girolamo Trevigi), _Life_, V, 169-171;
    V, 68, 169-171; VI, 211, 212, 244; X, 184

  Trezzo, Jacopo da, VI, 86

  Trezzo, Jacopo (Cosimo) da, VI, 86

  Tribolo (Niccolò), _Life_, VII, 3-37; V, 6, 28, 136, 233; VI, 133;
    VII, 3-37, 43-45, 81, 112, 176, 189; VIII, 10, 36, 142; IX, 20,
    51, 77, 78, 202, 223; X, 5, 30, 176, 177

  Tullio _Lombardo_

  Turbido, Francesco (Il Moro), _Life_, VI, 22-28; IV, 61; VI, 14,
    15, 21, 22-28, 40, 50, 164

  Turini, Giovanni, III, 239

  Turrita, Fra Jacopo da, I, 49, 50, 56


  Ubertini, Francesco (Francesco d' Albertino, or Il Bacchiacca),
    IV, 46; V, 222; VI, 60; VII, 29; VIII, 10, 11, 16, 18-20; X, 8

  Ubertino, Baccio, IV, 46

  Uccello, Paolo, _Life_, II, 131-140; II, 20, 110, 131-140, 159, 183,
    184, 253; III, 257; IV, 185, 246; VIII, 63; IX, 133

  Udine, Giovanni da (Giovanni Martini), V, 145-147

  Udine, Giovanni da (Giovanni Nanni, or de' Ricamatori), _Life_,
    VIII, 73-85; IV, 237, 239; V, 77, 155, 175, 229, 238, 246;
    VI, 147, 148, 180, 194-196; VII, 118; VIII, 73-85, 171; IX, 42,
    51; X, 176

  Udine, Martino da (Pellegrino da San Daniele, or Martino di
    Battista), V, 145-150

  Ugo da _Carpi_

  Ugolino _Sanese_ (Ugolino da Siena)

  Unghero, Nanni, VII, 4; IX, 188

  Urbano, Pietro, IX, 44, 107

  Urbino, Bramante da, _Life_, IV, 137-148; I, 32; III, 155;
    IV, 137-148, 199-202, 216, 217, 223, 232, 237, 254; V, 26, 28,
    29, 65, 68, 69; VI, 6, 124, 126, 136, 138; VII, 249; VIII, 5, 40,
    53, 54, 75; IX, 27-29, 31, 65, 71, 188-190

  Urbino, Fra Carnovale da (Fra _Bartolommeo_)

  Urbino, Giulio da, X, 17

  Urbino, Raffaello da (Raffaello _Sanzio_)

  Urbino, Timoteo da (Timoteo della Vite), _Life_, V, 11-17; VII, 200

  Ursino, Niccolò (Niccolò _Giolfino_)


  Vaga, VI, 191, 192

  Vaga, Perino del (Perino Buonaccorsi, or de' Ceri), _Life_,
    VI, 189-225; II, 190; IV, 84, 237, 254; V, 7, 77-79, 153, 162;
    VI, 78, 109, 125, 129, 139, 148, 177, 189-225, 244, 257-259;
    VIII, 14, 15, 82, 197-199, 202, 215, 232; IX, 20, 61, 151, 234,
    257, 259; X, 47

  Valdambrina, Francesco di, II, 145, 146, 200

  Valerio _Cioli_

  Valerio _Vicentino_ (Valerio de' Belli)

  Valerio _Zuccati_

  Valverde, VI, 116

  Vanni _Cinuzzi_

  Vannucci, Pietro (Pietro _Perugino_, or Pietro da Castel della Pieve)

  Vante (or _Attavante_)

  Varrone (of Florence), III, 7

  Vasari, Bernardo, III, 55

  Vasari, Giorgio, _Life_, X, 171-220
    I, as art-collector, xvii, xviii, lix, 10, 58, 79, 92, 94, 111,
        120, 126, 138, 157, 173, 174, 199, 208, 213, 223
      as author, xiii-xix, xxi, xxiii, xxiv, xxxi, xxxiii-xxxvii,
        xlii, xliii, xlvii, xlix, l, lv-lix, 7, 9, 10, 13-16, 23-25,
        29, 44, 47-49, 51, 57-59, 66, 75, 79, 80, 86, 87, 89, 91, 92,
        94, 97, 99, 103, 105, 109, 112, 113, 124, 126, 127, 140, 141,
        146, 150, 163, 164, 170, 181, 183, 191, 192, 198, 217, 222
      as painter, xlii, 67, 86, 119, 120, 147, 208
      as architect, 25, 31, 38, 39, 119, 120
    II, as art-collector, 5, 20, 26, 39, 46, 51, 58, 64, 96, 104, 109,
        110, 128, 135, 139, 162, 178, 179, 227, 253
      as author, 3, 5, 10, 31, 55, 57, 71-73, 77-87, 94-96, 104, 113,
        119, 125-127, 136, 138, 139, 147, 160-162, 165, 166, 172, 178,
        184, 187, 188, 190, 202, 208, 228, 229, 234, 250, 252-254,
        263, 264
      as painter, 32, 39
      as architect, 173, 233, 264, 265
    III, as art-collector, 12, 48, 52, 54, 68, 88, 113, 124, 140, 149,
        157, 164, 170, 189, 198, 209, 214, 221, 238, 242, 254, 263,
        270, 284
      as author, 5, 6, 14, 18, 19, 30, 33, 34, 36, 39, 48, 51-56, 59,
        64, 74, 75, 91-93, 97, 110, 112, 113, 123, 136, 142-144, 149,
        157, 163, 164, 174, 175, 178-180, 198, 199, 209, 215, 221, 225,
        242, 249, 259, 262, 273, 280, 283
      as painter, 56, 209
      as architect, 55
    IV, as art-collector, 6, 13, 46, 58, 67, 90, 91, 95, 113, 118, 132,
        138, 143, 161, 170, 175, 187, 262
      as author, 7, 9, 17, 19, 26, 28, 33, 36, 38, 39, 46, 48, 51, 52,
        54-56, 61, 66, 67, 71, 74-77, 79, 82-85, 91, 98, 99, 111-114,
        117, 118, 121, 126-132, 134, 137, 145, 151, 154, 155, 159,
        162, 170, 176, 177, 185, 186, 204, 214, 219, 222, 223, 227,
        229-231, 233, 236, 242, 244-248, 257, 260, 262, 269, 271, 274,
        280, 281
      as painter, 231, 262, 273, 274
      as architect, 148, 231, 273, 274
    V, as art-collector, 17, 22, 24, 38, 45, 49, 74, 77, 79, 104, 118,
        126, 128, 165, 196, 197, 201, 209, 213, 219, 250-252, 256
      as author, 3-5, 7, 11, 12, 17, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 35, 45, 63,
        66, 69, 73, 91, 96, 98, 108, 112, 114, 120, 126, 128, 132, 134,
        135, 139, 145, 146, 148, 155, 177, 182, 185, 192, 194, 199,
        201, 210-213, 223, 230, 232, 238, 247, 250, 251, 253-255, 259,
        260, 264
      as painter, 36, 80, 119, 135, 163, 232, 233, 265
      as architect, 233, 250, 251
    VI, as art-collector, 3, 22, 54, 60, 120, 157, 175, 225, 230, 250,
        256, 260, 263
      as author, 3, 6, 10, 11, 13, 15, 22, 23, 27, 28, 32, 35, 39, 42,
        46, 48, 53, 54, 57-59, 65, 75, 76, 79, 82, 84-87, 91, 93-95,
        105-107, 112, 113, 120, 123, 133, 152, 153, 159, 161, 165-167,
        175, 176, 178, 190, 194, 196, 202, 204, 207, 210-213, 215, 217,
        221, 223, 229-231, 235, 239, 246, 248-250, 258, 261, 264, 269,
        273
      as painter, 22, 72, 120, 215, 221, 263, 264, 276
      as architect, 70, 139, 278
    VII, as art-collector, 11, 99, 253
      as author, 3, 11, 12, 14, 16, 21, 24, 25, 28, 31, 33, 34, 36, 37,
        41, 79, 95, 96, 99-101, 103, 109, 117-125, 127-132, 137-139,
        141, 142, 147, 155, 157-160, 167, 168, 172, 173, 175, 178-180,
        186, 190, 202, 209, 210, 217, 225, 226, 230, 231, 234-236, 239,
        240, 253, 254, 257
      as painter, 13, 31, 95, 118-132, 137-139, 141-143, 188, 189, 206,
        229, 230, 235
      as architect, 35, 37, 85, 91, 95, 101, 102, 119, 137, 193, 194,
        206
    VIII, as art-collector, 16, 29, 112, 128, 164, 165, 170, 181, 192,
        211, 230, 231
      as author, 3, 4, 8-10, 14-17, 19, 23, 24, 26, 29, 31, 34-37,
        39-42, 45, 48-54, 59, 65-68, 77, 80, 81, 84, 90, 92, 94, 98,
        101, 103, 105, 107, 108, 113, 119, 122-124, 127, 128, 133,
        144, 145, 147, 150, 153-157, 161-167, 170, 171, 177, 180,
        183-189, 193, 203, 206, 211, 216, 220, 226, 228-230, 233,
        237, 238, 240, 245, 259, 260
      as painter, 8, 14, 20, 23, 52, 68, 80, 91, 98, 162-164, 166,
        167, 170, 180, 183, 185, 186, 189, 203, 206, 207, 210, 229,
        233
      as architect, 206, 207, 220
    IX, as art-collector, 6, 16, 104, 149, 152, 156, 238, 251, 258, 259
      as author, 4-8, 22, 27, 30, 32, 35, 46, 47, 55, 56, 60, 61, 63,
        65, 68-88, 91, 93-97, 102-104, 107, 109-112, 114-118, 122-125,
        128, 130, 134, 135, 137-140, 145, 147-151, 154-156, 160, 162,
        169-172, 177, 178, 182, 183, 187, 192, 193, 199, 202, 206-208,
        210, 212, 214, 215, 218, 221, 230, 232-234, 238, 239, 241, 242,
        245, 247, 248, 250-253, 259-262, 265-272
      as painter, 23, 32, 43, 95, 96, 107, 117, 118, 134, 138, 148,
        151, 155, 156, 170, 203, 269-271
      as architect, 68-73, 77-79, 95, 96, 107, 117, 140, 207
     X, as art-collector, 13
      as author, 3, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19-24, 29, 30, 32-34, 37,
        41-44, 47, 61, 62, 67, 69, 72, 76-78, 80, 82-84, 90, 92-94,
        97-102, 104, 105, 113, 116, 119, 127-129, 147, 162-164, 166,
        167, 171-223
      as painter, 12, 14, 16-20, 27, 105, 171-221, 223
      as architect, 10, 26-28, 31, 171, 174, 177, 178, 181, 184,
        189-193, 202, 206-216, 218-221

  Vasari, Giorgio (son of Lazzaro Vasari, the elder), III, 52, 54-56

  Vasari, Lazzaro (the elder), _Life_, III, 51-56; IV, 71, 82

  Vasari, Lazzaro (the younger), III, 55

  Vecchietto, Lorenzo, _Life_, III, 129-131; II, 151; III, 129-131

  Vecchio, Palma (Jacopo _Palma_)

  Vecchio of Bologna (Domenico _Aimo_)

  Vecelli, Orazio, VIII, 102; IX, 171

  Vecelli, Tiziano (Tiziano da Cadore), _Life_, IX, 159-178;
    III, 179, 183; IV, 114; V, 66, 133, 134, 152, 153; VI, 109,
    111, 114, 161, 183, 222; VII, 237; VIII, 29, 33, 51, 56, 92,
    102; IX, 48, 145, 153, 159-179, 182, 183, 201, 202, 247, 252;
    X, 20, 187

  Vellaert, Dierick Jacobsz, IX, 269

  Vellano da _Padova_

  Veltroni, Stefano, VII, 120, 123, 124, 129; VIII, 220; X, 20

  Venezia, Domenico da (Domenico _Viniziano_)

  Ventura, IV, 147, 148

  Venusti, Marcello (Marcello Mantovano), VI, 220, 225; IX, 106, 259, 260

  Verbo (Verlo), Francesco, IX, 211

  Vercelli, Bernardo da, V, 151

  Verchio, Vincenzio, IV, 60

  Verdezotti, Gian Maria, IX, 178

  Verese, VI, 118

  Verlo (_Verbo_), Francesco

  Verona, Battista da (Battista _Farinato_)

  Verona, Fra Giovanni da, IV, 222; VI, 38, 39, 51, 218

  Verona, Paolo da, III, 243; IV, 179

  Verona, Sebeto da, IV, 51, 55

  Veronese, Giovanni Battista, VI, 13

  Veronese, Paolo (Paolo _Caliari_)

  Veronese, Stefano (Stefano da Zevio), I, 221; IV, 51-54; VI, 35, 42

  Verrocchio, Andrea, _Life_, III, 267-276; II, 190, 243, 248;
    III, 75, 223, 267-276; IV, 35, 39, 81, 90, 92, 112; V, 49, 50,
    55; VII, 56; VIII, 111; X, 47

  Verrocchio, Tommaso del, X, 20

  Verzelli, Antonio da, II, 218

  Vetraio, Giovan Francesco (Giovan Francesco _Bembo_)

  Vicentino, Joannicolo (Giuseppe Niccolò), VI, 108

  Vicentino, Valerio (Valerio de' Belli), _Life_, VI, 82-84; V, 247;
    VI, 76, 79, 82-84; VIII, 52

  Vicenza, Battista of (Battista _Pittoni_)

  Vicino, I, 50, 57, 58

  Vico, Enea, _Life_, VI, 111-112; VIII, 180

  Vignuola (Jacopo _Barozzi_)

  Vincenzio, Fra Giovanni, X, 33

  Vincenzio _Bresciano_ (Vincenzio di Zoppa, or Foppa)

  Vincenzio _Caccianimici_

  Vincenzio _Campo_

  Vincenzio _Catena_

  Vincenzio da _San Gimignano_ (Vincenzio Tamagni)

  Vincenzio _Danti_

  Vincenzio de' _Rossi_

  Vincenzio di _Stefano_

  Vincenzio di Zoppa (Vincenzio Foppa, or _Bresciano_)

  Vincenzio Tamagni (Vincenzio da _San Gimignano_)

  Vincenzio _Verchio_

  Vincenzio _Zuccati_

  Vinci, Leonardo da, _Life_, IV, 89-105; I, xxxiv; II, 190;
    III, 270, 271, 273, 286; IV, 44, 82, 85, 89-105, 109, 127, 138,
    151, 156, 196, 212, 215, 242, 270; V, 49, 50, 86, 228, 261;
    VII, 41-44, 57, 58, 60, 148, 152; VIII, 42, 56, 111, 112, 114,
    115; IX, 15, 19, 234; X, 47

  Vinci, Pierino (Piero) da, _Life_, VII, 41-51

  Viniziano, Agostino (Agostino de' Musi), _Life_, VI, 102-103;
    V, 97; VI, 102-103, 106; VII, 60, 63

  Viniziano, Antonio, _Life_, II, 15-20; II, 15-20, 37, 43, 83;
    III, 176; VIII, 233

  Viniziano, Domenico (Domenico da Venezia), _Life_, III, 97-105;
    III, 19, 63, 97-105, 173; VI, 182

  Viniziano, Fabrizio, IX, 215

  Viniziano, Niccola, VI, 209

  Virgilio _Romano_

  Visino, IV, 170, 171; V, 223

  Vite, Antonio, II, 45, 58

  Vite, Timoteo della (Timoteo da _Urbino_)

  Viterbo, Pier Francesco da, VI, 130, 132; VII, 119, 202

  Vitruvius, IV, 48, 75, 138, 205, 266; V, 68, 71; VI, 5, 45, 140;
    VII, 211; VIII, 40, 237; IX, 44, 113, 190, 213, 218

  Vittore _Bellini_ (Belliniano)

  Vittore _Carpaccio_ (Scarpaccia)

  Vittore (or Antonio) _Pisanello_

  Vittore Scarpaccia (_Carpaccio_)

  Vittoria, Alessandro, V, 247; VII, 228; VIII, 100; IX, 204-206, 223;
    X, 20

  Vittorio _Ghiberti_

  Vivarini, Bartolommeo, IV, 52, 59

  Vivarino, Luigi, III, 178, 179; IV, 52

  Viviano, Michelagnolo di, VII, 55-57, 60, 66, 73, 98, 99

  Vivole, Raffaello delle, VII, 152

  Volkaerts, Dirk, IX, 270

  Volterra, Daniello da (Daniello _Ricciarelli_)

  Volterra, Francesco da, VIII, 41

  Volterra, Piero da, V, 64

  Volterra, Zaccaria da (Zaccaria Zacchi), V, 45, 132; IX, 189, 190

  Vos, Marten de, IX, 268

  Vrient, Franz de (Franz _Floris_)


  Weyden, Roger van der (Roger of Bruges), III, 61; IX, 265

  Willem _Keur_

  Willem _Key_

  Willem _Paludanus_

  Willem van _Antwerp_

  Wouter _Crabeth_


  Zaccaria da _Volterra_ (Zaccaria Zacchi)

  Zaganelli, Francesco de' (Francesco da _Cotignola_)

  Zanfragnino (Antonio _Scarpagni_, or Scarpagnino)

  Zanobi di _Poggino_

  Zanobi _Lastricati_

  Zanobi _Macchiavelli_

  Zanobi _Poggini_

  Zanobi _Strozzi_

  Zenale, Bernardino (Bernardino da _Trevio_)

  Zeno, Maestro, IV, 60

  Zeuxis, I, xxxix; II, 80; III, 209; IV, 82, 83; VI, 239; IX, 133; X, 200

  Zevio, Aldigieri (Altichiero) da, IV, 51, 54, 55

  Zevio, Stefano da (Stefano _Veronese_)

  Zoccolo, Niccolò (Niccolò _Cartoni_)

  Zoppa, Vincenzio di (Vincenzio Foppa, or _Bresciano_)

  Zoppo, VI, 81

  Zoppo, Marco, III, 279, 280, 285

  Zoppo, Rocco, IV, 46

  Zuccati, Valerio, IX, 182, 183

  Zuccati, Vincenzio, IX, 182, 183

  Zucchero, Federigo, VIII, 101, 106, 218-221, 223-228, 230, 231,
    233-236, 259; X, 20

  Zucchero, Ottaviano, VIII, 215, 218, 219

  Zucchero, Taddeo, _Life_, VIII, 215-236, 240-261; VIII, 182, 188,
    215-236, 240-261

  Zucchi, Jacopo, VIII, 233; IX, 134; X, 19

  Zutmann, Lambert (Lambert _Suavius_, or Lamberto Suave)


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