Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent (vol. 2 of 2)Reumont, Alfred von
History
Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent (vol. 2 of 2)
Reumont, Alfred von
Medici, Lorenzo de', 1449-1492
About the same time, Michelozzo executed for Piero the marble
tabernacle destined to contain a figure of Christ in the nave of the
basilica of San Miniato. It consists of a canopy supported on composite
marble columns and pilasters, the interior richly decorated with
rose-coloured ornaments of glazed earth in square panels. On the frieze
is the Medicean device, the three feathers with the diamond ring and
the motto _Semper_, on the arch the escutcheon of the Calimala guild,
in relief. Inside the tabernacle stands the altar with painting and
_predella_.[127] For Giovanni, Cosimo’s younger son, Michelozzo built
on the heights of Fiesole a villa, visible from a great distance,
which afterwards passed to the Mozzi family. The architect was also
employed by connections of the Medici. For Giovanni Tornabuoni he
built the great palace near Sta. Trinità, which still gives its name
to the street. To gain more space, it afterwards became necessary to
demolish the front part of this palace, which, with its ground floor of
rustic-work and its plain arched windows, had a somewhat sombre effect.
While Michelozzo’s time was chiefly taken up by the Medici,
Brunelleschi was active in other quarters. The progress and final
completion of his great work, the dome of the cathedral, has already
been mentioned. On August 30, 1436, the roofing-in was celebrated by
the pealing of all the bells in the city and the chanting of a _Te
Deum_. Eight years later the scaffolding was raised for building the
lantern, which was begun in 1446, shortly before the death of the great
master, who was succeeded by Michelozzo.[128] His beautiful arcade at
the Foundling Hospital has been mentioned. The similar loggia of San
Paolo was placed opposite Sta. Maria Novella, at the southern end of
the piazza. He built a chapel for the Pazzi family in the front court
of the convent of Sta. Croce. Its walls are covered with Corinthian
pilasters, high niches, and terra-cotta alto-rilievos; the cupola rests
on two side-arches richly panelled and decorated with designs in glazed
earth; the pendants being ornamented with terra-cotta rilievos of the
Evangelists. Decoration and colour are here kept just within the limits
of good taste. Andrea de’ Pazzi began the building, which was finished
by his son Jacopo, so that Brunelleschi can hardly have lived to see
its completion.[129] The official residence of the Capitani di parte
Guelfa in the Via delle Terme, rebuilt by Brunelleschi, still exists,
though with many alterations. The architect saw only the beginnings
of his second greatest work, the palace of Luca Pitti. In Vasari’s
time, when Eleonora di Toledo, Duchess of Florence, purchased the
unfinished building—appropriately called, by an art-writer of those
days, _muraglia_—the original plan was no longer to be found. Many
alterations were made in succeeding centuries down to the present, when
the extensive wings, intended as halls, were built. But the façade has
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