Giorgio Vasari

“ In the midst of the last-mentioned garden there is a wood of high cypresses with laurels and shrubs of various kinds, which form a circle wherein is a labyrinth surrounded by hedges of box two braccia and a half high, the growth being so equal, and the whole arranged in so beautiful a manner. that they might be taken for a work of the pencil. In the centre of this labyrinth, Tribolo, by command of the Duke, erected a marble fountain of great beauty, of which further mention will be made immediately below. ”

“ Very clearly do men of discretion and judgment perceive the presumption and folly of any one who pretends to exercise an art of which he knows nothing, nor do such men fail to remark the dissimulation of those who pretend to like and approve of attempts which they certainly know to be without merit, all which may be exemplified by the works which Giorgio Vasari has had to demolish in the Palace, to the great loss of the Duke, as well as the disgrace of those by whom they were permitted and executed. ”

“ Nay, the Duke, not content with the large stores of water already provided, was then disposed to bring those of Valcenni, where they abound in vast quantities, first to Castello, and thence, by an aqueduct similar to the abovementioned, to conduct them to Florence itself, and so to the Piazza whereon stands his own palace. And, of a truth, if this work had been pressed forward by a man of more energy, and one more desirous of glory than was Tribolo, the whole would at least have been brought into a state of forwardness ”

“ But much the same thing happened to Tribolo as to Tasso, for as the latter deserted his wood-carving, in which vocation he had no equal, yet never became a good architect, because he had left an art of which he knew much, and wherein he was very able, to devote himself to one in which he had no ability whatever, and wherefrom he derived little honour ”

“ The northern front of the fabric, that which looks towards the hill, has a lawn before it, the length of which is equal to that of the palace, the stables, and the private garden united, and from this lawn there is an ascent by steps to the principal garden, which is surrounded by walls of the ordinary kind, and the garden itself rising by a gentle acclivity, extends to such a distance from the palace as to be entirely open to the influence of the southern sun, precisely as if no building stood before it. ”

“ But of a truth, he who does not press forward the works on which he is engaged, while those who cause them to be executed are willing to spend freely, and while they take a great interest therein, is himself the cause of their being neglected, and occasions those works to remain incomplete, which by forethought and zeal he might have brought to their ultimate perfection. Thus by the negligence of the master is the world deprived of an ornament which it might have enjoyed, while he also remains without the honour and memorial which he would have possessed in those productions. ”

“ Now in those days Nanni, who was then reputed a tolerably good master, was engaged in numerous works, both of joinery and carving, for the villa of Zanobi Bartolini at Rovezzano, which is outside the gate of the Croce, as well as for the palace of the Bartolini family, which Giovanni, brother of the above-named Zanobi, was at that time causing to be built on the Piazza di Santa Trinità; he was also employed in the Gualfonda, on a house and garden belonging to the same family, all which caused him to lay upon Tribolo heavy labours without reason or measure. ”

“ During the time that the siege was proceeding, Tribolo executed various works in clay for his friends; and for Andrea del Sarto, who was one of his most intimate associates, he made three figures of wax in full relief, of which Andrea availed himself in the painting in fresco which he executed on the Piazza near the Condotta, and wherein he represented from the life, three captains, who, having fled with the pay of the troops which had been entrusted to them, were there exposed suspended by one foot. ”

“ But the Duke knew that Maestro Piero had neither invention nor knowledge of design, sufficient to enable him to make such a commencement of the undertaking, as should permit of the place receiving, in due time, that character of ornament and those decorations, which the site and the waters deserved and required; one day therefore, that his Excellency was at Castello, and was speaking of this matter with other persons, among whom were Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici, and Cristofano Rinieri a friend of Tribolo, and an old servant of the Signora Maria and of the Duke ”

“ Still continuing the labours of the aqueduct, Tribolo then caused the water of the grotto first to pass beneath the garden, next beneath the lower garden, even into the labyrinth, where he formed a circle around the centre of the latter, enclosing a tolerably large space, and then laid the middlemost tube, through which the fountain was to cast its waters. ”

“ On the eastern side of the palace is a handsome pile of buildings which serve as stables, and towards the west is a private garden, which is gained by crossing the court of the stables and passing directly through the ground floor of the palace by the loggie, halls, and apartments level with the garden, from which, by a door on its western side, a second and very large garden full of fruit-trees is attained. ”

“ In the year when bonds of relationship were formed between the Signor Duke Cosimo and the Signor Don Pietro di Toledo, Marquis of Villa Franca, who was then Viceroy of Naples, the Signor Duke taking the daughter of Don Pietro, the Signora Leonora, to wife,—in that year, I say, and when the preparation for the nuptials was made in Florence, Tribolo received commission to erect a Triumphal Arch at the Gate of Prato, by which the bride was to enter the city as she came from the Poggio. ”

“ The whole construction is of wood, with broad spaces, which last increase from the lower part upwards, widening that is to say as they approach the summit, to the end that the rockets, when set alight, shall not interfere with or set fire to each other, but rising into the air, shall there gradually separate to the extent desired, and each giving aid to the other, shall fill the air with a shower of fire, which shall form arches from heaven to earth. ”

“ But the most important consideration in respect to this Girandola is, that the lights which are fixed thereon, in vases of whatever kind, shall be so calculated as to burn throughout the night, thus constantly maintaining the Piazza in a state of illumination. The whole movement of the work is in fact effected by a simple match of tow, which being saturated with a preparation of powder, sulphur, and brandy, gradually makes its way from one point to another, kindling fires at every place where such are demanded, until the whole is accomplished. ”

“ Nor did Tribolo neglect the opportunities for improvement then presented to him; drawing with careful study and working much in clay, he made such manifest progress in that art to which it was obvious he was naturally inclined, that Jacopo Sansovino daily became more and more amicably disposed towards him, encouraging and putting him forward by making him first execute one piece of work and then another ”

“ This Tribolo, then, having grown to a certain age, the father, partl}r by way of turning his services to account, and partly to restrain the vivacity of the boy, took him into his workshop and taught him his own trade; but perceiving in a few months that this was not the vocation of the youth, and that he became thin, pale, and otherwise out of health, he began to think that if he would preserve the life of his son, he must no longer permit him to support the heavier labours of his own occupation, and so set him to wood carving. ”

“ But Raffaello, having heard that without drawing, which is the foundation of all the arts, the boy could not possibly become a good master in that calling, determined that he should begin by employing his time in drawing, wherefore he set him to copy various things, now cornices for example, now foliage or grottesche, and now other objects, matters all needful to the vocation for which he was destined. ”

“ On the Piazza of San Marco likewise, a horse of twelve braccia, with the fore feet raised in the air, was erected by Tribolo on a pedestal ten braccia high, on which last Broznino had depicted two very beautiful historical representations in the socle above the cornices. A figure of due proportions and fully armed was seated on the horse, having men dead and wounded lying beneath the animal ”

“ For this figure of the Mugnone then, to speak of that which has been actually accomplished, Tribolo executed a statue in grey stone, four braccia in height, but in a recumbent position, and presenting a most beautiful attitude: on one shoulder this figure bears a vase from which there pours water into a basin, and the other reposes on the earth, the statue leaning thereon, with the right leg beneath the left, which is crossed over it. Behind this figure is that of a Woman, intended to represent the city of Fiesole, wholly undraped ”

“ No long time before this was accomplished, the Duke formed the intention of erecting a sepulchral monument to the Signor Giovanni de’ Medici, his father; and being desirous that Tribolo should construct the same, that artist prepared a very beautiful model accordingly, in competition with Raffaello da Monte Lupo, who was favoured by Francesco di Sandro, Master of Arms to his Excellency, and had also made a model. But it was that of Tribolo which the Duke commanded to be put in execution, and the artist repaired to Carrara, for the purpose of having the marbles excavated ”

“ Moved by these reasons, and still receiving advice and aid from Ciappino, Riccio engaged Tribolo to Jacopo Sansovino, who received him willingly, from having known him in the workshop of Nanni, and having there remarked that the youth acquitted himself very well in design and still better in works of relief. ”

“ For it rarely happens as it did to this villa of Castello, that on the death of the first master a second is found willing to carry forward the work, in strict accordance with the designs and model of the original author, with that modesty which was shown by Giorgio Vasari, who, by commission from the Duke, has caused the great fishpond of Castello and other parts of the work to be completed entirely after the designs of Tribolo, and accordingly as his Excellency has been disposed to have them gradually put out of hand. ”

“ He therefore received permission from the Duke to conduct the waters of the Petraia, [36] which is situate more than 150 braccia above Castello, to the latter place; and this permission he obtained the more readily because the waters of Petraia are of great purity and in vast abundance. Tribolo, therefore, caused an aqueduct similar to the former one to be constructed, making it of such height that men could enter within it; by this he brought the waters of Petraia to the great ponds, the waters flowing from the principal fountains, being received by another aqueduct. ”

“ While these works of Tribolo were in course of execution in Florence, Messer Bartolommeo Barbazzi, a gentleman of Bologna, chanced to be summoned thither for certain of his affairs. Pie then remembered that search was making in Bologna for a young artist of good ability,, to prepare figures and execute historical representations in marble, on the façade of San Petronio, the principal church of that city: remembering this, I say, and having been greatly pleased with such of Tribolo’s works as he had seen, Messer Bartolommeo spoke with the latter on the subject ”

“ Arrived at the summit, a square chamber is found furnished with seats, which have the backs and arms of living verdure, and in the centre is a small table of marble, with a vase thereon, also of varicoloured marble, and whence, by means of a tube, a copious jet of water is cast high into the air ”

“ Tribolo had nevertheless almost entirely completed the figure, [28] when I, having induced the Duke Alessandro to recall Michelagnolo and the other masters, to the end that the Sacristy commenced by Pope Clement should be finished, was disposing matters in such sort as to give him occupation in Florence, and without doubt should have succeeded, but just at that time occurred the death of Alessandro, he being killed by Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de Medici ”

“ But scarcely had Tribolo completed the Escutcheon, which was very large, with one of the figures of Victory, four braccia high, and esteemed an exceedingly beautiful thing, [32] than he was compelled to leave that work also unfinished, seeing that Maestro Piero, having made good progress with the aqueduct and brought on the water, greatly to the satisfaction of the Duke, His Excellency then commanded that Tribolo should at once begin to put in. execution, those designs and models for the decoration of the aqueduct, which he had previously laid before that, sovereign ”