toluccio roused the spirit of Lorenzo in such a manner, that although the Signor Pandolfo, the other painter, and all the court, were treating him with the most amicable distinction, and entreated him to remain with them, he nevertheless took leave of that noble and of the painter, who were with difficulty persuaded to let him depart, and saw him go with extreme regret; but no promises nor increase of appointments availed to detain him, every minute then seeming to Lorenzo a thousand years, until he found himself on the road to Florence. Departing from Pesaro, therefore, he arrived safely in his native city. A great concourse of foreign artists had by this time assembled at Florence, and had presented themselves to the syndics or consuls of the Guild, who chose seven masters from the whole number: three of these were Florentines, the remaining four were Tuscans. Each of these artists received a sum of money, and it was commanded that within a year each should produce a story in bronze as a specimen of his powers, all to be of the same size, which was that of one of the compartments in the first door. The subject was chosen by the consuls, and was the Sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham, that being selected as presenting sufficient opportunity for the artists to display their mastery over the difficulties of their art: this story comprising landscape, with human figures, nude and clothed, as well as those of animals; the foremost of these figures were to be in full-relief, the second in half-relief, and the third in low-relief. The candidates for this work were Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, Donato and Lorenzo di Bartoluccio, who were Florentines, with Jacopo della Quercia, of Siena; Niccolo d’Arezzo, his disciple; Francesco di Valdambrina, and Simone da Colle, called Simon of the Bronzes. All these masters made a promise before the consuls that they would deliver each his specimen completed at the prescribed time, and all set themselves to the work with the utmost care and study, putting forth all their strength, and calling all their knowledge to aid, in the hope of surpassing one another. They kept their labours meanwhile entirely secret, one from the other, that they might not copy each other’s plans. Lorenzo alone, who had Bartoluccio to guide him, which last suffered him to shrink before no amount of labour, but compelled him to make various models before he resolved on adopting any one.
