Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu/492

of the palace. There is another beautiful David, in marble, also by Donatello, to the left of the hall where the clock of Lorenzo della Volpaia is placed: the head of the dead Goliah lies beneath his feet, and he holds the sling wherewith he has slain the Philistine, in his hand.^[1] In the first court of the Palazzo de’ Medici are eight medallions of marble, whereon are copies from antique cameos, and casts from the reverses of medals, by Donatello, with some, also, of his own invention, which are very beautiful. They are fixed in the frieze, between the windows and the architrave, above the arch of the loggia.^[2] There is here, moreover, the antique white marble figure of Marsyas, restored by Donatello, and placed at the entrance to the garden,^[3] as also a large number of antique heads, restored and enriched by this master, with an ornament composed of wings and diamonds (the emblem of Cosimo), extremely well executed in stucco. ^[4] A very fine granite vase, whence issued a jet of water, with one of a similar kind in the garden of the Pazzi, in Florence, and which also has a jet of water, are among the works of Donatello.^[5] In the same palace of the Medici are likewise figures of the Madonna in basso-rilievo, of marble and bronze, with other most beautiful works in marble, executed by Donatello, in low relief, of extraordinary merit.^[6] Such was indeed the estimation in which the talents of Donatello were held by Cosimo, that he kept him continually at work; and so great was the affection which Donatello, on his part, bore to Cosimo, that, at the slightest intimation, he comprehended all that was desired, and obediently fulfilled every wish. It is said that a Genoese merchant had caused Donato to make a bronze bust, of the size of life: it was a very beautiful

1. This figure is also in the Uffizj, in the western corridor, and on the left hand.—Masselli.
2. These medallions are still in their original position, and are in good preservation.
3. A Marsyas of white marble is now in the Gallery of the Uffizj, and is supposed to be that here mentioned; but the mediocrity of the workmanship renders us doubtful of the truth of this opinion. —Ed. Flor. 1846-9.
4. We are not prepared to say to what extent these works have been preserved.— Masselli.
5. The fate of the first-named fountain is unknown; the second is still in the place here mentioned. —Ibid.
6. If these works are still in existence, they have been distributed into various places, now unknown.—Ibid.