three
quarters in height, with a candelabrum in the hand. At the invitation
of the said Stagio, having nothing else to do at that time, he
undertook to make one of those Angels: which being finished with all
the perfection that could be given to a delicate work of that size in
marble, proved to be such that nothing more could have been desired,
for the reason that the Angel, with the movement of his person, has
the appearance of having stayed his flight in order to uphold that
light, and the nude form has about it some delicate draperies which
are so graceful in their effect, and look so well on every side and
from every point of view, that words could not express their beauty.
But, having consumed much time in executing this work, since he cared
for nothing but his delight in art, and not having received for it
from the Warden the payment that he expected, he resolved that he
would not make the other Angel, and returned to Florence. There he met
with Giovan Battista della Palla, who at that time was not only
causing all the sculptures and pictures that he could to be executed
for sending to King Francis I in France, but was also buying antiques
of all sorts and pictures of every kind, provided only that they were
by the hands of good masters; and every day he was packing them up and
sending them off. Now, at the very moment when Tribolo returned,
Giovan Battista had an ancient vase of granite, of a very beautiful
shape, which he wished to arrange in such a manner that it might serve
for a fountain for that King. He therefore declared his mind to
Tribolo, and what he proposed to have done; and he, setting to work,
made him a Goddess of Nature, who, raising one arm, holds that vase,
the foot of which she has upon her head, with the hands, the first row
of breasts being adorned with some boys standing out entirely detached
from the marble, who are in various most beautiful attitudes, holding
certain festoons in their hands, while the next range of breasts is
covered with quadrupeds, and at her feet are many different kinds of
fishes. That figure was finished with such diligence and such
perfection, that it well deserved, after being sent to France together
with other works, to be held very dear by the King, and to be placed,
as a rare thing, in Fontainebleau.

Afterwards, in the year 1529, when preparations were being made for
the war against Florence and the siege, Pope Clement VII, wishing to
study the exact site of th