. Arriving in
Pisa at the twenty-second hour in the evening, all exhausted and
broken by the journey, the sea-voyage, and the fever, during the night
he had no repose, and the next morning, at the break of day, he passed
to the other life, not having yet reached the age of twenty-three.

The death of Vinci was a great grief to all his friends, and to Luca
Martini beyond measure; and it grieved all those who had hoped to see
from his hands such works as are not often seen. And Messer Benedetto
Varchi, who was much the friend of his abilities and of those of every
master, afterwards wrote the following sonnet in memory of his fame:

Come potro da me, se tu non presti
O forza, o tregua al mio gran duolo interno,
Soffrirlo in pace mai, Signor superno,
Che fin qui nuova ognor pena mi desti?
Dunque de' miei piu cari or quegli, or questi,
Verde sen voli all'alto Asilo eterno,
Ed io canuto in questo basso inferno
A pianger sempre e lamentarmi resti?
Sciolgami almen tua gran bontade quinci,
Or che reo fato nostro, o sua ventura,
Ch' era ben degno d' altra vita, e gente,
Per far piu ricco il cielo, e la scultura
Men bella, e me col buon Martin dolente,
N' ha privi, o pieta, del secondo Vinci.

BACCIO BANDINELLI

LIFE OF BACCIO BANDINELLI

SCULPTOR OF FLORENCE

In the days when the arts of design flourished in Florence by the
favour and assistance of the elder Lorenzo de' Medici the Magnificent,
there lived in the city a goldsmith called Michelagnolo di Viviano of
Gaiuole, who worked excellently well at chasing and incavo for enamels
and niello, and was very skilful in every sort of work in gold and
silver plate. This Michelagnolo had a great knowledge of jewels, and
set them very well; and on account of his talents and his versatility
all the foreign masters of his art used to have recourse to him, and
he gave them hospitality, as well as to the young men of the city,
insomuch that his workshop was held to be, as it was, the first in
Florence. Of him the Magnificent Lorenzo and all the house of Medici
availed themselves; and for the tourney that Giuliano, the brother of
that Magnificent Lorenzo, held on the Piazza di S. Croce, he executed
with subtle craftsmanship all the ornaments of helmets, crests, and
devices. Wherefore he acquired a great name and much intimacy with the
sons of the Magnificent Lorenzo, to whom his work was ever afterwards
very dear, an