Antonio. After this, the men of Montepulciano
determining, by reason of the miracles wrought by an image of Our
Lady, to build a temple for it at very great cost, Antonio made the
model for this, and became head of the undertaking; on which account
he visited that building twice a year. At the present day it is to
be seen carried to perfect completion, having been executed with
supreme grace, and with truly marvellous beauty and variety of
composition, by the genius of Antonio, and all the masonry is of a
certain stone that has a tinge of white, after the manner of
travertine. It stands without the Porta di S. Biagio, on the right
hand, half-way up the slope of the hill. At this time, he made a
beginning with a palace in the township of Monte San Sovino, for
Antonio di Monte, Cardinal of Santa Prassedia; and he built another
for the same man at Montepulciano, both being executed and finished
with extraordinary grace.

He made the design for the side of the buildings of the Servite
Friars (in Florence), on their Piazza, following the order of the
Loggia of the Innocenti; and at Arezzo he made models for the aisles
of the Madonna delle Lacrime, although that work was very badly
conceived, because it is out of harmony with the original part of
the building, and the arches at the ends are not in true line with
the centre. He also made a model for the Madonna of Cortona; but I
do not think that this was put into execution. He was employed in
the siege on the bastions and fortifications within the city, and in
this undertaking he had as a companion his nephew Francesco. After
this, the Giant of the Piazza, executed by the hand of Michelagnolo,
having been set into place in the time of Giuliano, the brother of
our Antonio, it was proposed to set up the other, which had been
made by Baccio Bandinelli; and the task of bringing it safely into
position was given to Antonio, who, taking Baccio d' Agnolo as his
companion, carried this out by means of very powerful machines, and
placed it in safety on the base that had been prepared for that
purpose.

In the end, having become old, he took no pleasure in anything save
agriculture, of which he had an excellent knowledge. And then, when
on account of old age he was no longer able to bear the discomforts
of this world, he rendered up his soul to God, in the year 1534, and
was laid to rest by the side of his brother Giuliano in the tomb of
the Giamberti, in the Church of S. Maria Nove