Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects, Vol. 07 (of 10): Tribolo to Il SodomaVasari, Giorgio
History
Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects, Vol. 07 (of 10): Tribolo to Il Sodoma
Vasari, Giorgio
Art, Italian; Artists -- Italy -- Biography
About this time a son was born to Baccio from a woman whom he kept in
his house, and to this son, Pope Clement having died in those days, he
gave the name of Clemente, in memory of that Pontiff, who had always
loved and favoured him. After the death of Pope Clement, he heard that
Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, Cardinal Innocenzio Cibo, Cardinal
Giovanni Salviati, and Cardinal Niccolo Ridolfi, together with Messer
Baldassarre Turini da Pescia, being the executors of the Pope's will,
had commissions to give for the two marble tombs of Leo and Clement,
which were to be placed in the Minerva. For these tombs Baccio in the
past had already made the models; but the work had been promised
recently to the Ferrarese sculptor Alfonso Lombardi through the favour
of Cardinal de' Medici, whose servant he was. This Alfonso, by the
advice of Michelagnolo, had changed the design of the tombs, and he
had already made the models for them, but without any contract for the
commission, relying wholly on promises, and expecting every day to
have to go to Carrara to quarry the marble. While the time was
slipping away in this manner, it happened that Cardinal Ippolito died
of poison on his way to meet Charles V. Baccio, hearing this, went
without wasting any time to Rome, where he was first received by the
sister of Pope Leo, Madonna Lucrezia Salviati de' Medici, to whom he
strove to prove that no one could do greater honour to the remains of
those great Pontiffs than himself, with his ability in art, adding
that Alfonso was a sculptor without power of design and without skill
and judgment in the handling of marble, and that he was not able to
execute so honourable an undertaking save only with the help of
others. He also used many other devices, and so went to work in
various ways and by various means that he succeeded in changing the
purpose of those lords, who finally entrusted to Cardinal Salviati the
charge of making an agreement with Baccio.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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