Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects, Vol. 02 (of 10): Berna to Michelozzo MichelozziVasari, Giorgio
History
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects, Vol. 02 (of 10): Berna to Michelozzo Michelozzi
Vasari, Giorgio
Art, Italian; Artists -- Italy -- Biography
(_After the bronze by_ Donatello. _Padua: S. Antonio_)
_Anderson_]
Having returned to Florence, therefore, he wrought the Sacristy of S.
Lorenzo in stucco for Cosimo de' Medici, making four medallions on the
pendentives of the vault containing stories of the Evangelists, with
grounds in perspective, partly painted and partly in low-relief. And in
the said place he made two very beautiful little doors of bronze in
low-relief, with the Apostles, Martyrs, and Confessors; and above these
he made some flat niches, one containing a S. Laurence and a S. Stephen,
and the other S. Cosimo and S. Damiano. In the transept of the church he
executed four saints in stucco, each five braccia high, which are
wrought in a masterly manner. He also designed the bronze pulpits that
contain the Passion of Christ, a work displaying design, force,
invention, and an abundance of figures and buildings; but these his old
age prevented him from executing, and his pupil Bertoldo finished them
and brought them to the utmost perfection. For S. Maria del Fiore he
made two colossal figures of brick and stucco, which are placed by way
of ornament without the church, at the corners of the chapels. Over the
door of S. Croce there is still to be seen a S. Louis wrought by him in
bronze, five braccia high; for this someone criticized him, saying that
it was stupid and perhaps the least excellent work that he had ever
made, and he answered that he had made it so of set purpose, seeing that
the Saint had been stupid to give up his throne and become a monk. The
same man made the head of the wife of the said Cosimo de' Medici in
bronze, and this head is preserved in the guardaroba of the Lord Duke
Cosimo, wherein there are many other works in bronze and marble by the
hand of Donato; among others, a Madonna with the Child in her arms, sunk
in the marble in flat-relief, which is the most beautiful work that it
is possible to see, and the rather as it is surrounded by a border of
scenes done in miniature by Fra Bartolommeo,[22] which are admirable, as
it will be told in the proper place. The said Lord Duke has a very
beautiful, nay, miraculous Crucifix in bronze, by the hand of Donato, in
his study, wherein there are innumerable rare antiquities and most
beautiful medals. In the same guardaroba there is a bronze panel
containing the Passion of Our Lord in low-relief, with a great number
of figures; and in another panel, also in metal, there is another
Crucifixion. In like manner, in the house of the heirs of Jacopo
Capponi, who was an excellent citizen and a true gentleman, there is a
marble panel with the Madonna in half-relief, which is held to be a very
rare work. Messer Antonio de' Nobili, who was Treasurer to his
Excellency, had in his house a marble panel by the hand of Donato, in
which there is a half-length Madonna in low-relief, so beautiful that
the said Messer Antonio valued it as much as all his possessions; nor is
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account