y, as
they deserved; and then Vincenzio, who is a gentle spirit, courteously
presented them to him, and at the same time freely offered him his
services. But his Excellency, having conveyed them not long afterwards
to his Palace of the Pitti in Florence, paid him a good price for them;
and, having taken Vincenzio himself with him, he commissioned him after
no long time to execute the Labours of Hercules in figures of marble
larger than life and in the round. On these Vincenzio is now spending
his time, and already he has carried to completion the Slaying of Cacus
and the Combat with the Centaur; which whole work, even as it is most
exalted in subject and also laborious, so it is hoped that it will prove
excellent in artistry, Vincenzio being a man of very beautiful genius
and much judgment, and prodigal of thought in all his works of
importance.

Nor must I omit to say that under his discipline Ilarione Ruspoli, a
young citizen of Florence, gives his attention with much credit to
sculpture; which Ilarione, no less than his peers in our Academy, showed
that he had knowledge, design, and a good mastery in the making of
statues, when he had occasion together with the others in the obsequies
of Michelagnolo and in the festive preparations for the nuptials named
above.

[Illustration: FOUNTAIN OF NEPTUNE

(_After =Giovanni Bologna=. Bologna_)

_Alinari_]

Francesco Camilliani, a sculptor and Academician of Florence, who was a
disciple of Baccio Bandinelli, after having given in many works proof of
being a good sculptor, has consumed fifteen years in making ornaments
for fountains; and of such there is one most stupendous, which the
Lord Don Luigi di Toledo has caused to be executed for his garden in
Florence. The ornaments about that garden are various statues of men
and animals in divers manners, all rich and truly regal, and wrought
without sparing of expense; and among other statues that Francesco has
made for that place, two larger than life, which represent the Rivers
Arno and Mugnone, are of supreme beauty, and particularly the Mugnone,
which can bear comparison with no matter what statue by an excellent
master. In short, all the architecture and ornamentation of that garden
are the work of Francesco, who by the richness of the various fountains
has made it such, that it has no equal in Florence, and perhaps not in
Italy. And the principal fountain, which is even now being carried to
completion, will be the rich