DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57409#0507
DONATO.
491
of Prato to them, and this they begged him very earnestly to
do, although it was small and produced but a very little in-
come. Hearing this, Donato, who showed good sense and
rectitude in all that he did, replied thus, “ I cannot content
you in this matter, kinsmen, because I resolve—and it ap-
pears to me reasonable—to leave the farm to the countryman
who has always tilled it, and who has bestowed great labour
on it ; not to you, who, without ever having done anything
useful for it, or any other thing but thought of obtaining it,
now come, with this visit of yours, desiring that I should
leave it to you : Go ! and the Lord be with you.” And of
a truth such relations, who have no affection but to their own
interests, and no motive of action but the hope of gain, should
always be treated in that manner. Donato, therefore, having
caused a notary to be summoned, left the said farm to the
labourer who had always tilled it, and who had perhaps be-
haved better towards him in his need than those relations had
done. His possessions connected with art were left to his
disciples, who were Bertoldo,* a Florentine sculptor, who
imitated him pretty closely, as may be seen from a battle, in
bronze, between men on horseback ; a very beautiful work,
now in the guardaroba of the signor duke Cosimo ; f Nanni
d’Antonio di Banco, who died before him ; Rossellino, Disi-
derio, and Vellano da Padua but it may indeed be affirmed,
* Cicognara remarks that Bertoldo was an artist whose works are far
from approaching the perfection attained by Donatello, excepting only
in the one instance of a most beautiful medallion, representing Ma-
homet II. On one side is the likeness of Mahomet; and on the reverse
is a chariot drawn by horses, on which is the Genius of Victory, who
drags after him three female figures, naked and chained, to signify three
kingdoms conquered. Cicognara remarks that the beauty and elegance
of these figures, might entitle them to be called the Three Graces, rather
than three subjugated kingdoms. Beneath are the words, “ opus ber-
toldi florentini Sculptoris.” One of the principal merits of Bertoldo
is, that of having been the head of that sort of academy or school of art
which the magnificent Lorenzo assembled in his gardens, and also the
collector of many models, drawings, etc., which had been used by his
masters, but which are now unhappily lost.—MasseUi,
f There is a battle in basso-rilievo, in the hall of the modern bronzes
in the Florentine Gallery, which is certainly very beautiful. Some
think it that here alluded to; others consider it too fine to be a work of
Bertoldo: but the praises given to the medallion of Mahomet, and the
comparison of that work with the one here in question, might serve to
remove these doubts.—Ibid.
J The lives of these artists follow in due course. Among the disciples
491
of Prato to them, and this they begged him very earnestly to
do, although it was small and produced but a very little in-
come. Hearing this, Donato, who showed good sense and
rectitude in all that he did, replied thus, “ I cannot content
you in this matter, kinsmen, because I resolve—and it ap-
pears to me reasonable—to leave the farm to the countryman
who has always tilled it, and who has bestowed great labour
on it ; not to you, who, without ever having done anything
useful for it, or any other thing but thought of obtaining it,
now come, with this visit of yours, desiring that I should
leave it to you : Go ! and the Lord be with you.” And of
a truth such relations, who have no affection but to their own
interests, and no motive of action but the hope of gain, should
always be treated in that manner. Donato, therefore, having
caused a notary to be summoned, left the said farm to the
labourer who had always tilled it, and who had perhaps be-
haved better towards him in his need than those relations had
done. His possessions connected with art were left to his
disciples, who were Bertoldo,* a Florentine sculptor, who
imitated him pretty closely, as may be seen from a battle, in
bronze, between men on horseback ; a very beautiful work,
now in the guardaroba of the signor duke Cosimo ; f Nanni
d’Antonio di Banco, who died before him ; Rossellino, Disi-
derio, and Vellano da Padua but it may indeed be affirmed,
* Cicognara remarks that Bertoldo was an artist whose works are far
from approaching the perfection attained by Donatello, excepting only
in the one instance of a most beautiful medallion, representing Ma-
homet II. On one side is the likeness of Mahomet; and on the reverse
is a chariot drawn by horses, on which is the Genius of Victory, who
drags after him three female figures, naked and chained, to signify three
kingdoms conquered. Cicognara remarks that the beauty and elegance
of these figures, might entitle them to be called the Three Graces, rather
than three subjugated kingdoms. Beneath are the words, “ opus ber-
toldi florentini Sculptoris.” One of the principal merits of Bertoldo
is, that of having been the head of that sort of academy or school of art
which the magnificent Lorenzo assembled in his gardens, and also the
collector of many models, drawings, etc., which had been used by his
masters, but which are now unhappily lost.—MasseUi,
f There is a battle in basso-rilievo, in the hall of the modern bronzes
in the Florentine Gallery, which is certainly very beautiful. Some
think it that here alluded to; others consider it too fine to be a work of
Bertoldo: but the praises given to the medallion of Mahomet, and the
comparison of that work with the one here in question, might serve to
remove these doubts.—Ibid.
J The lives of these artists follow in due course. Among the disciples