s
tomb of the Cardinal was erected in 1459; and its form, with the
architecture of the chapel, gave so much satisfaction to the Duke of
Malfi, nephew of Pope Pius II, that he had another made in Naples by the
hand of the same master for his wife, similar to the other in every
respect save in the figure of the dead. For this, moreover, Antonio made
a panel containing the Nativity of Christ and the Manger, with a choir
of angels over the hut, dancing and singing with open mouths, in such a
manner, that he truly seems to have given them all possible movement and
expression short of breath itself, and that with so much grace and so
high a finish, that iron tools and man's intelligence could effect
nothing more in marble. Wherefore his works have been much esteemed by
Michelagnolo and by all the rest of the supremely excellent craftsmen.
In the Pieve of Empoli he made a S. Sebastian of marble, which is held
to be a very beautiful work; and of this we have a drawing by his hand
in our book, together with others of all the architecture and the
figures in the said chapel in S. Miniato al Monte, and likewise his own
portrait.

Antonio finally died in Florence at the age of forty-six, leaving a
brother called Bernardo, an architect and sculptor, who made a marble
tomb in S. Croce for Messer Lionardo Bruni of Arezzo, who wrote the
History of Florence and was a very learned man as all the world knows.
This Bernardo was much esteemed for his knowledge of architecture by
Pope Nicholas V, who loved him dearly and made use of him in very many
works that he carried out in his pontificate, of which he would have
executed even more if death had not intervened to hinder the works that
he had in mind. He caused him, therefore, according to the account of
Giannozzo Manetti, to reconstruct the Piazza of Fabriano, in the year
when he spent some months there by reason of the plague; and whereas it
was narrow and badly designed, he enlarged it and brought it to a good
shape, surrounding it with a row of shops, which were useful, very
commodious, and very beautiful. After this he restored and founded anew
the Church of S. Francesco in the same district, which was going to
ruin. At Gualdo he rebuilt the Church of S. Benedetto; almost anew, it
may be said, for he added to it good and beautiful buildings. At Assisi
he made new and stout foundations and a new roof for the Church of S.
Francesco, which was ruined in certain parts and threatened to go