nude form, as may be seen from certain drawings of his, in ehiaro-scuro, preserved in my book. His portrait, in chiaroscuro, by the hand of Paolo Uccello, may be seen in the church of Santa Maria Novella: it is in the story of Noah, inebriated by his son Ham.[1]
NANNI D’ANTONIO DI BANCO, SCULPTOR, OF FLORENCE.
[born 13..—died 1321?]
Nanni d’Antonio di Banco was a man who inherited a competent patrimony, and was by no means of inferior condition; yet, delighting in sculpture, he not only thought no shame of acquiring and exercising that art, but even considered himself to gain no small increase of honour thereby; and made such progress in his vocation that his name will never be forgotten, but celebrated all the more, in proportion as it shall be known that he devoted himself to this noble art, not from necessity, but from a true love to the calling. Nanni was a disciple of Donato,[2] but I have placed him before that master, because he died many years previous to the period of Donato’s death. He was a man of a somewhat dull and sluggish nature, but modest withal, mild of disposition, and gentle of manner. The marble statue of St. Philip, which stands on the outside of the oratory of Or San Michele, is a work of this sculptor’s, and was first offered, by the guild of shoemakers, to Donato. But, as the men of the said guild could not agree with Donato, in regard to the price, they gave the work, in a kind of despite against Donato, to Nanni, who promised to demand no other remuneration than that which they themselves might be pleased to accord. But the matter went differently: for, when the statue was completed, and fixed in its place, Nanni demanded a much higher price than
- ↑ The portrait of Dello is in the figure of Ham.
- ↑ Rumohr is of opinion that Nanni acquired his art, not from Donato, but from his own father Antonio di Banco, who was one of the masters of the works in the Florentine Duomo,in the year 1406. Rumohr grounds his opinion on the fact, that Nanni’s works shew no trace of Donato’s manner. See ltal. Forsch. vol. ii, p. 240.
