Excellent architects were Meo Del Caprina and his brother Luca; the former worked at Ferrara and Rome, and designed the cathedral of Turin; the latter fortified Librafratta and other Pisan towns. Simone Mosca da Settignano was said to have been equal to Greek and Roman sculptors, he worked with Antonio da San Gallo in Sta. Maria della Pace at Rome and in the Farnese palace; also at Arezzo, Loreto, and at Orvieto, where he was induced to settle with his family and devote himself to the service of the cathedral. His son Francesco, called Moschino, “being born almost with the mallet in his hand,” sculptured some figures in the dome of Orvieto “to the wonder and astonishment of all beholders.” Simone Gioli, pupil of Andrea Sansovino, was another admirable sculptor, and his son Valerio carried on the family tradition. Antonio di Gino Lorenzi was also from Settignano, he helped his master Triboli to make the famous fountain at Castello and executed the monument of Matteo Corte in the Campo Santo of Pisa. Moreni, in his _Dintorni di Firenze_, gives a list of architects, sculptors and painters, too long to insert here, who were born in the little hill village. But all pale before the tremendous personality of Michelangelo Buonarroti, “the deathless artist,” as John Addington Symonds calls him. Brought to Settignano when but a few weeks old, his foster-mother was the wife as well as the daughter of a stone-cutter. “I drew the chisel and the mallet with which I carve statues in together with my nurse’s milk,” he told Vasari. His father’s small grey house with a loggia and a tower[68] lies below the terrace of Gamberaia, and forms a fitting foreground to the view of Florence backed by the chain of the Apennines. [Illustration: (Drawing of orchard tress, with Villa in background.)] After various vicissitudes Gamberaia was bought a few years ago by Princess Ghyka, who is restoring the beautiful old-fashioned garden to its pristine splendour with infinite patience and taste. FOOTNOTES: [68] It now belongs to Signor Chiesa. [Illustration: (Drawing of road leading to building with tower. Statue of lion next to roadway.)] VILLA DI MONTE GUFFONE