DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7597#0482
CHAP. VI.]
ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO.
439
guerra,* Vasari proceeds to inform us that Antonio-f- did some
stories in competition with that artist; " in which he equalled him
in diligence, and surpassed him in design."
" In consequence of this," continues he, " the ' Consoli dell'
" Arte de' Mercatanti,' seeing the skill of Antonio, deliberated
'** amongst themselves, whether or not, as some stories in silver
" were required to be made for the altar of S. Giovanni, Antonio
" should not be commissioned to execute them; for it had long
" been their custom to allot, at different times, these works to the
" most skilful artists. This question being decided in the affirm-
" ative, Antonio executed two bassi-relievi, in which he represented
" the Supper of Herod, and the Dancing of the Daughter of Hero-
" dias; which were of such excellence as to be considered superior
" to any of the others which had been done. But above all is to
*' be admired his figure of S. John the Baptist, entirely of chiselled
** work, which is in a space in the middle of the altar.;{: Whence
" the said ' Consoli' also commissioned him to make the silver
" candlesticks, each of three cubits in height, together with a cross
* See pp. 265, 290.
•f It is supposed, as has been before ob-
served, that Pollajuolo was first employed in
the works at S. Giovanni (the Baptistry) about
1450. See p. 290.
J Vasari was in error when he ascribed this
figure of John the Baptist to Pollajuolo, as
we learn in Gori's Thesaurus Veterum Dip-
tychorum (torn. iii. p. 312), where that learned
antiquary, upon the authority of the ori-
ginal books of the company above men-
tioned, informs us that it was the work of
Michelozzo, the son of Bartolommeo, in
1452. In the next page, Gori ascribes (no
doubt upon the same authority) the story of
the Nativity of John the Baptist to Antonio
del Pollajuolo. And afterwards, " duae vero
" ex argento composite (sunt) quae ostendunt
" Johannis Baptistae in carcere decollationem,
" et ostensionem ejus capitis in disco tem-
" pore convivii natalitii regis Herodis; opus
" Andres, Michaelis del Ferrocchio." The
latter of these stories is, undoubtedly, the same
out of which Vasari has made two : ascribing
them, at the same time, to Antonio del Pol-
lajuolo, instead of their real author, Andrea
Ferrocchio: so that in this small space, he
has committed as many errors as he well
could. He seems, however, to have been
generally right in the encomiums which he
bestowed upon Pollajuolo, who, from the
before-mentioned Gori's account of the ex-
tensive works of silver made at this time for
the Company di Mercatanti, appears to have
been considered the greatest amongst the
artists employed.
ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO.
439
guerra,* Vasari proceeds to inform us that Antonio-f- did some
stories in competition with that artist; " in which he equalled him
in diligence, and surpassed him in design."
" In consequence of this," continues he, " the ' Consoli dell'
" Arte de' Mercatanti,' seeing the skill of Antonio, deliberated
'** amongst themselves, whether or not, as some stories in silver
" were required to be made for the altar of S. Giovanni, Antonio
" should not be commissioned to execute them; for it had long
" been their custom to allot, at different times, these works to the
" most skilful artists. This question being decided in the affirm-
" ative, Antonio executed two bassi-relievi, in which he represented
" the Supper of Herod, and the Dancing of the Daughter of Hero-
" dias; which were of such excellence as to be considered superior
" to any of the others which had been done. But above all is to
*' be admired his figure of S. John the Baptist, entirely of chiselled
** work, which is in a space in the middle of the altar.;{: Whence
" the said ' Consoli' also commissioned him to make the silver
" candlesticks, each of three cubits in height, together with a cross
* See pp. 265, 290.
•f It is supposed, as has been before ob-
served, that Pollajuolo was first employed in
the works at S. Giovanni (the Baptistry) about
1450. See p. 290.
J Vasari was in error when he ascribed this
figure of John the Baptist to Pollajuolo, as
we learn in Gori's Thesaurus Veterum Dip-
tychorum (torn. iii. p. 312), where that learned
antiquary, upon the authority of the ori-
ginal books of the company above men-
tioned, informs us that it was the work of
Michelozzo, the son of Bartolommeo, in
1452. In the next page, Gori ascribes (no
doubt upon the same authority) the story of
the Nativity of John the Baptist to Antonio
del Pollajuolo. And afterwards, " duae vero
" ex argento composite (sunt) quae ostendunt
" Johannis Baptistae in carcere decollationem,
" et ostensionem ejus capitis in disco tem-
" pore convivii natalitii regis Herodis; opus
" Andres, Michaelis del Ferrocchio." The
latter of these stories is, undoubtedly, the same
out of which Vasari has made two : ascribing
them, at the same time, to Antonio del Pol-
lajuolo, instead of their real author, Andrea
Ferrocchio: so that in this small space, he
has committed as many errors as he well
could. He seems, however, to have been
generally right in the encomiums which he
bestowed upon Pollajuolo, who, from the
before-mentioned Gori's account of the ex-
tensive works of silver made at this time for
the Company di Mercatanti, appears to have
been considered the greatest amongst the
artists employed.