Sinibaldo Gaddi was forced by Cosimo I, to contribute large sums “for the needs of the state,” but in 1556 the Duke made him head of the _Monte_ or Government bank as a kind of compensation. He died in 1558 and his son Niccolò inherited Font’ all’ Erta and made it what we now see. Scipione Ammirato mentioning him in a letter says: “he is now at his villa turning it into a palace more suited to the city than to the country.” Ammannati is believed to have designed the magnificent loggia and to have superintended the improvements and alterations of the villa. Niccolò Gaddi must have been a remarkable man. He was sent by the Duke Cosimo I, as ambassador to the Dukes of Ferrara and Mantua to announce his promotion by the Pope to be Grand Duke of Tuscany, and afterwards went to Rome to attend the ceremony of the coronation. In 1578 he was created a Senator and was one of those charged to reform the statutes of the guild of the merchants. A man of great learning and knowledge of art, his library, picture gallery and museum of antiquities were only second to those of the Medici. His garden, stocked with rare trees, shrubs and medicinal herbs, was beautiful and Florence owes the institution of her botanical garden chiefly to him. Niccolò was twice married, but his children died young, and the sons of his sister Maddalena, who had married a Pitti, became his heirs with the obligation of adding his name to their own. In 1755 the remnants of his fine library were bought by the Emperor Francis I, of Austria, Grand Duke of Tuscany, from Gaspero Pitti-Gaddi. 355 manuscripts were given to the Laurentian library, 727 manuscripts and 1451 rare editions of old books to the Magliabecchiana, and 28 manuscripts relating to public affairs to the Archives. [Illustration: (Drawing of Villa.)] That Niccolò Gaddi loved Font’ all’ Erta, generally called the “Paradise of the Gaddi,” and was proud of it, is shown by the following extracts from his will written five days before his death. “In the name of God, on the ninth day of June 1591 Indiction 4. Gregorio XIIII, the Holy Pontiff, and of His Serene Highness Ferdinando Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany, I Niccolò di Sinibaldo Gaddi Cavalier of San Jacopo make my testament as follows:— “Firstly I commend my soul to God and my body to be placed in Sta. Maria Novella, in my place of burial.”