my, and
out of the square. Nevertheless Cronaca and the others deserve to be
excused, both on account of the haste with which it was executed at
the desire of the citizens, who intended in time to have it adorned
with pictures and the ceiling overlaid with gold, and because up to
that day there had been no greater hall built in Italy; although
there are others very large, such as that of the Palace of S. Marco
in Rome, that of the Vatican, erected by Pius II and Innocent VIII,
that of the Castle of Naples, that of the Palace of Milan, and those
of Urbino, Venice, and Padua.

After this, to provide an ascent to this Hall, Cronaca, with the
advice of the same masters, made a great staircase six braccia wide
and curving in two flights, richly adorned with grey-stone, and with
Corinthian pilasters and capitals, double cornices, and arches, of
the same stone; and with barrel-shaped vaulting, and windows with
columns of variegated marble and carved marble capitals. But
although this work was much extolled, it would have won even greater
praise if the staircase had not turned out inconvenient and too
steep; for it is a sure fact that it could have been made more
gentle, as has been done in the time of Duke Cosimo, within the same
amount of space and no more, in the new staircase made, opposite to
that of Cronaca, by Giorgio Vasari, which is so gentle in ascent and
so convenient, that going up it is almost like walking on the level.
This has been the work of the aforesaid Lord Duke Cosimo, who, being
a man of most happy genius and most profound judgment both in the
government of his people and in all other things, grudges neither
expense nor anything else in his desire to make all the
fortifications and other buildings, both public and private,
correspond to the greatness of his own mind, and not less beautiful
than useful or less useful than beautiful.

His Excellency, then, reflecting that the body of this Hall is the
largest, the most magnificent, and the most beautiful in all Europe,
has resolved to have it improved in such parts as are defective, and
to have it made in every other part more ornate than any other
structure in Italy, by the design and hand of Giorgio Vasari of
Arezzo. And thus, the walls having been raised twelve braccia above
their former height, in such a manner that the height from the
pavement to the ceiling is thirty-two braccia, the roof-truss made
by Cronaca to support the roof has been restored an