with flying scaffoldings, a
method that we have since seen followed by Antonio da San Gallo. In
the part that was finished by him, the cornice that runs right round
the interior is seen to be so graceful, that no other man's hand
could take away or alter anything from its design without spoiling
it. It is evident from his capitals, which are of olive leaves
within, and from all the Doric work on the outer side, which is
extraordinarily beautiful, how sublime was the courage of Bramante,
whereby, in truth, if he had possessed physical powers equal to the
intellect that adorned his spirit, he would most certainly have
achieved even more unexampled things than he did. This work, as will
be related in the proper places, since his death and down to the
present day, has been much mutilated by other architects, insomuch
that it may be said that with the exception of four arches which
support the tribune, nothing of his has remained there. For
Raffaello da Urbino and Giuliano da San Gallo, who carried on the
work after the death of Julius II, together with Fra Giocondo of
Verona, thought fit to begin to alter it; and after the death of
those masters, Baldassarre Peruzzi, in building the Chapel of the
King of France, in the transept on the side towards the Campo Santo,
changed Bramante's design; and under Paul III Antonio da San Gallo
changed it again entirely. Finally, Michelagnolo Buonarroti,
sweeping away the countless opinions and superfluous expenses, has
brought it to such beauty and perfection as not one of those others
ever thought of, which all comes from his judgment and power of
design; although he said to me several times that he was only the
executor of the design and arrangements of Bramante, seeing that he
who originally lays the foundations of a great edifice is its true
creator. Vast, indeed, seemed the conception of Bramante in this
work, and he gave it a very great beginning, which, even if he had
begun on a smaller scale, neither San Gallo nor the others, nor even
Buonarroti, would have had enough power of design to increase,
although they were able to diminish it; so immense, stupendous, and
magnificent was this edifice, and yet Bramante had conceived
something even greater.

It is said that he was so eager to see this structure making
progress, that he pulled down many beautiful things in S. Pietro,
such as tombs of Popes, paintings, and mosaics, and that for this
reason we have lost all trace of many po