in his work. The counsel of Domenico pleased the
Pope, and he acted in accordance with it. Baccio, having obtained the
marble, made a great model in wax, which was a Hercules who, having
fixed the head of Cacus between two stones with one knee, was
constraining him with great force with the left arm, holding him
crouching under his legs in a distorted attitude, wherein Cacus
revealed his suffering and the strain of the weight of Hercules upon
him, which was rending asunder every least muscle in his whole body.
Hercules, likewise, with his head bent down close against his enemy,
grinding and gnashing his teeth, was raising the right arm and with
great vehemence giving him another blow with his club, in order to
dash his head to pieces.

Michelagnolo, as soon as he had heard that the marble had been given
to Baccio, was very much displeased; but, for all the efforts that he
made in this matter, he was never able to turn the Pope from his
purpose, so completely had he been satisfied by Baccio's model; to
which reason were added his promises and boasts, for he boasted that
he would surpass the David of Michelagnolo, and he was also assisted
by Buoninsegni, who said that Michelagnolo desired everything for
himself. Thus was the city deprived of a rare ornament, such as that
marble would undoubtedly have been when shaped by the hand of
Buonarroti. The above-mentioned model of Baccio is now to be found in
the guardaroba of Duke Cosimo, by whom it is held very dear, and by
the craftsmen as a rare work.

Baccio was sent to Carrara to see this marble, and the Overseers of
the Works of S. Maria del Fiore were commissioned to transport it by
water, along the River Arno, as far as Signa. The marble having been
conveyed there, within a distance of eight miles from Florence, when
they set about removing it from the river in order to transport it by
land, the river being too low from Signa to Florence, it fell into the
water, and on account of its great size sank so deep into the sand,
that the Overseers, with all the contrivances that they used, were not
able to drag it out. For which reason, the Pope wishing that the
marble should be recovered at all costs, by order of the Wardens of
Works Pietro Rosselli, an old builder of great ingenuity, went to work
in such a manner that, having diverted the course of the water into
another channel and cut away the bank of the river, with levers and
windlasses he moved it, dragged it out of th