Baccio Bandinelli

“ Baccio thereupon commenced a cartoon, as it were in emulation of his master, with the figure of a San Giovanni, whom he represented as a youth, and in the wilderness; he has a lamb in the left arm, and is holding the right extended towards heaven. Bandinelli then caused a panel to be prepared, and executed his picture in colours, placing it in the public view when he had finished it, by suspending the same in the shop of his father Michelagnolo, which was situate on the descent leading from Orsanmichele to the new market. ”

“ All things particular to the individual, all that is small or of little account, that endures but for a moment, have been purged away, so that Life itself may make, as it were, an immortal gesticulation, almost monstrous in its passionate intensity—a mirage seen on the mountains, a shadow on the snow. And after him, and long before his death, there came Baccio Bandinelli and the rest, Cellini the goldsmith, Giovanni da Bologna, and the sculptors of the decadence that has lasted till our own day. With him Italian art seems to have been hurled out of heaven ”

“ He found means in short to defend himself so well, and said so much, that he contrived to escape unhurt from the presence of the Cardinal.
Having returned to Florence, Baccio instantly set hand to the pedestal of the Giant, and working at the figure himself without intermission, he completed it entirely in the year 1534; but the Duke Alessandro, influenced by the unfavourable disposition of the citizens, did not take measures for having it erected on the Piazza. ”

“ Baccio was indeed already giving many proofs that he had more love for sculpture than for the work of the goldsmith. When he went to Pinzirimonte, [6] a villa purchased by his father, for example, he would stand long before the labourers who were working without their upper clothing, and would draw the figures of these men with great zeal and delight, proceeding in like manner with respect to the cattle on the farm, which he would copy with equal care. ”

“ BACCIO BANDINELLI, SCULPTOR OF FLORENCE.
[born 1487—died 1559.]
At the time when the Arts were enjoying much prosperity in Florence, by virtue of the favour and assistance accorded to them by the Magnificent Lorenzo de’ Medici the Elder, [1] there lived in the city a goldsmith, named Michelagnolo di Yiviano of Gaiuole. [2] This man worked admirably well with his chisels, prepared intagli, and executed enamels and nielli; he was, in short, an able master in all the works proper to his vocation. ”

“ Bandinelli had at this time no undertaking in hand, and Domenico suggested to the Pope that, by the emulation of two men so much distinguished, his Holiness would be more diligently, more rapidly, and more effectually served, than by entrusting all to one, since the rivalry and competition between them would stimulate them both to do their utmost for the work. This advice of Domenico pleased the Pontiff, who proceeded to act in accordance therewith, and Baccio obtained the marble. ”

“ Bandinelli had previously executed a bust of the Duke in marble, which is now in one of the upper rooms of the same palace; this was one of the best heads that Baccio overproduced, and stood admirably; wherefore he now excused himself, and sought to shelter the defects of the present work beneath the excellencies of the past. But hearing that every one censured the head of the statue, he one day struck it off in anger, intending to execute another, and fix it on the statue in place of that broken, but this purpose he never accomplished. ”

“ This cartoon has perished, and report accuses Baccio Bandinelli of tearing it in pieces, either that others might not derive advantage from viewing it, or because from partiality to Vinci, and hatred to Bonarruoti, he wished to remove a subject of comparison, that might exalt the reputation of the latter above that of Lionardo. ”

“ Baccio Bandinelli had returned in the meanwhile to Florence from Borne, where he had been finishing the tombs of Popes Leo and Clement, and he persuaded the Duke Cosimo, who was then but a youth, to have one end of the great hall in the ducal palace reconstructed entirely of columns and niches, with a range of marble statues and with windows formed of marble and macigno stone to look on the Piazza. ”

“ Francesco also delighted in the work of sculpture, and cast some little figures in bronze, full of grace, which came into the possession of Duke Alessandro. And the same master polished and carried to great perfection four similar figures, made by Baccio Bandinelli—namely, a Leda, a Venus, a Hercules, and an Apollo—which were given to the same Duke. Being dissatisfied, then, with the goldsmith's craft, and not being able to give his attention to sculpture, which calls for too many resources, Francesco, having a good knowledge of design, devoted himself to painting ”

“ And this has caused some people, while not saying that it is a bad thing for a man to make adroit use of the good work of others, to believe that Andrea had not much invention.
At that time there came to Baccio Bandinelli, then a draughtsman of great repute, a desire to learn to paint in oils. Whereupon, knowing that no man in Florence knew how to do that better than our Andrea, he commissioned him to paint his portrait, which was a good likeness of him at that age, as may be seen even yet ”

“ Baccio instantly obeyed and Solosmeo entered, when, being presented with wine, and beginning to drink, the conversation was immediately turned on the monuments, and on the fact that the execution thereof had been confided to Bandinelli; Solosmeo instantly reproached the Cardinals for the bad choice they had made, following up his remarks with much evil speaking against Baccio whom he accused of ignorance in his art, as well as of arrogance and avarice, entering meanwhile into very minute particulars in support of his assertions. ”

“ Having commenced a second Adam therefore, in a different form and attitude, it became needful that he should change the Eve also; and the first or seated figure he converted into one of Ceres, which he gave to the most illustrious the Duchess Leonora, together with an Apollo; the last being another nude figure, executed by the hand of Baccio Bandinelli. These her Excellency caused to be placed in front of the fish-ponds formed in the Pitti Gardens, and designed by Giorgio Vasari, who likewise directed the construction of the same. ”

“ And since some of these sheets were found in places where they were least expected, not only were they prohibited, but Marc' Antonio was taken and thrown into prison; and he would have fared very badly if Cardinal de' Medici and Baccio Bandinelli, who was then at Rome in the service of the Pope, had not obtained his release. Of a truth, the gifts of God should not be employed, as they very often are, in things wholly abominable, which are an outrage to the world. ”

“ But considering the Hercules of Bandinelli entirely apart from other works, and judging it by itself, we cannot do otherwise than commend it very highly, and all the more since it has been seen that many sculptors have subsequently attempted the execution of large statues, but none of them have attained to the point reached by Baccio. [31] Nay, had that artist received from nature an amount of grace and facility equal to the labour and pains which he was ever ready to impose on himself, he would certainly have been entirely perfect in the art of the sculptor. ”

“ And without doubt in this man the desire for honour and excellence in his art, and for the power of working effectually therein, does well merit high commendation; impelled by which desire, and by a firm will, with which it was manifest indeed that he had been endowed by nature from his earliest youth, even more largely than with aptitude or readiness in art,— impelled by this, I say, Baccio spared himself no labour, nor did he permit himself any relaxation: always intent on acquiring, or occupied in manual operations, he was never to be found idle ”

“ Baccio prepared the model, and commenced the work, but being a man who could not endure any equal or even comparison, and who was very sparing in praise of the works of others, he began to censure and use disparaging terms concerning the labours of Andrea, when speaking of them to the other sculptors who were then at Loretto, declaring that the master had no power of design, but affirming the same thing of the other artists also, insomuch that after a short time he caused himself to be regarded with ill-will by all of them. ”

“ Francesco Camilliani, a Florentine Sculptor and Academician, who was the disciple of Baccio Bandinelli, after having proved himself an excellent Sculptor, by many good works, has consumed fifteen years in executing ornaments for Fountains. One of these, which he has made for Don Luigi di Toledo, at his Garden in Florence, is certainly most surprising; the decorations which surround it, are various figures of men and animals, represented in divers attitudes, but all graceful and effective ”

“ Baccio well knew that the public display of an unfinished performance tends to injure the reputation of the artist in the judgment of all those who do not belong to his vocation or do not understand the subject, and have not seen the models thereof; he proceeded to complete the altar therefore, by the addition of a figure representing the Almighty Father, for which a most beautiful piece of marble had been brought from Carrara. ”

“ But having thus secured his own affairs, Baccio now cared little for work, and would labour but rarely. Nay, although the tomb of the Signor Giovanni was still unfinished, and the audience-chamber of the hall in its commencement, while the choir and the altar were in a very backward state, he was not to be moved by the remarks made concerning these matters, nor did he regard the censures heaped on him on that account. It is true that he did at length cause the altar to be erected, and the marble base whereon the figure of the Almighty Father was to stand, to be prepared ”

“ Now while Baccio was busied with this work, he took up his abode in the apartments of the Medici palace, and to give himself the appearance of an extraordinary devotion to the Pope, he wrote every week to his Holiness; but not confining himself to details respecting art, he entered into particulars with relation to the citizens and the acts of those who administered the government, officiously supplying intelligence to the injury of many, and thereby awakening a more bitter hatred against himself than had even previously existed ”

“ And then, the Duke having resolved that the one to be put into execution should be Tribolo's, he went off to have the marble quarried at Carrara, where he also caused to be quarried the two basins for the loggie at Castello, a table, and many other blocks of marble. Meanwhile, Messer Giovan Battista da Ricasoli, now Bishop of Pistoia, being in Rome on business of the Lord Duke's, he was sought out by Baccio Bandinelli, who had just finished the tombs of Pope Leo X and Clement VII in the Minerva ”

“ These works he afterwards presented to his Holiness, and to different nobles; some of them are now in the study of Duke Cosimo, among works from the antique to the number of more than a hundred, and all of great beauty: some others there are besides of modern workmanship. [27]
About this time Baccio had executed a story in basso and mezzo-rilievo, the subject a Deposition from the Cross, and the figures small; this work was one of extraordinary merit, and having caused it to be cast in bronze with great care, Baccio presented it when finished to the Emperor Charles V., who was then in Genoa. ”

“ All who labour for honour, but obtain censure only, must needs, as we cannot but suppose, be secretly afflicted at heart, however unjust or unworthy may be the blame thus incurred, they cannot but feel aggrieved by the same. One consolation Baccio had in his regret, the possession of a little estate, namely, which the Pope caused to be presented to him over and above the stipulated payment for his work; and this gift was doubly acceptable to the sculptor, first, because the revenue thereof was useful to him ”

“ The contemporaries of Vasari were Salviati and Jacopo del Conte, both of whom lived also with Andrea del Sarto, and Bronzino, the scholar of Pontormo. Like Giorgio, their genius led them to an imitation of Michelangiolo. Francesco de' Rossi, called Salviati, from the surname of his patron, was the fellow student of Vasari, under Andrea del Sarto and Baccio Bandinelli. The last mentioned artist was an excellent sculptor, who usually taught design to students in painting, an art which, like Verrocchio, he sometimes practised for amusement. ”

“ In due time Bandinelli commenced the monuments, but neither in the statues nor the stories did he acquit himself according to the promises which he had given, nor according to the duty which he owed to those Pontiffs; giving very little care to any part of the work, and leaving the whole incomplete and with numerous defects: because he was more solicitous about receiving the money than about the labours that should have been performed on the marble. ”

“ While Baccio was thus residing in the palace, his Holiness bethought him of a vow which he had made, while shut up in the castle of Sant’ Angelo, and resolved that it should now be fulfilled. This vow was to place a group of seven large figures in bronze, each six braccia high, on the summit of the round marble tower which is opposite to the bridge of the castle, the whole six represented as cast at the feet of an angel, whom the Pontiff proposed to have erected in the centre of the tower on a column of vari-coloured marble, the figure to be in bronze, with a sword in its hand. ”