s possible to see, and the rather as it is surrounded by a border of
scenes done in miniature by Fra Bartolommeo,[22] which are admirable, as
it will be told in the proper place. The said Lord Duke has a very
beautiful, nay, miraculous Crucifix in bronze, by the hand of Donato, in
his study, wherein there are innumerable rare antiquities and most
beautiful medals. In the same guardaroba there is a bronze panel
containing the Passion of Our Lord in low-relief, with a great number
of figures; and in another panel, also in metal, there is another
Crucifixion. In like manner, in the house of the heirs of Jacopo
Capponi, who was an excellent citizen and a true gentleman, there is a
marble panel with the Madonna in half-relief, which is held to be a very
rare work. Messer Antonio de' Nobili, who was Treasurer to his
Excellency, had in his house a marble panel by the hand of Donato, in
which there is a half-length Madonna in low-relief, so beautiful that
the said Messer Antonio valued it as much as all his possessions; nor is
it less valued by his son Giulio, a youth of singular goodness and
judgment, a friend to lovers of art and to all men of excellence. In the
house of Giovan Battista d'Agnol Doni, a gentleman of Florence, there is
a Mercury of metal in the round by the hand of Donato, one braccio and a
half in height and clothed in a certain bizarre manner; which work is
truly very beautiful, and no less rare than the others that adorn his
most beautiful house. Bartolommeo Gondi, of whom we have spoken in the
Life of Giotto, has a Madonna in half-relief by the hand of Donato,
wrought with so great love and diligence that it is not possible to see
anything better, or to imagine the fancifulness which he gave to her
headdress and the loveliness that he put into the garments which she is
wearing. In like manner, Messer Lelio Torelli, First Auditor and
Secretary to our Lord the Duke, and no less devoted a lover of all the
honourable sciences, arts, and professions, than he is excellent as a
jurist, has a marble panel of Our Lady by the hand of the same
Donatello.

[Footnote 22: Vasari says Fra Ber.... Fra Bernardo has been suggested,
but nothing is known of him. It is more reasonable to read Fra
Bartolommeo (della Porta).]

But if one were to give a complete account of his life and of the works
that he made, it would be a far longer story than it is our intention to
give in writing the Lives of our craftsmen, seeing that he p