THE ROSSELLINI. -(1409-1478?)

There were five sculptors of the name of Rossellino, all born, in Florence Bernardo, Domenico, Maso, Giovanni, and Antonio. They were all sons of Domenico del Borro, surnamed Gambarelli, and Bernardo and Antonio were the two most famous. The first-named spent nearly the whole of his life at Rome, where he held the appointment of Director of Public Works under Nicholas V., but he is so far connected with Florence that he erected the splendid tomb of Leonardo Bruni Aretino in Santa Croce, described in a preceding chapter.

Antonio, his brother, was surnamed Del Proconsolo, after the district of Florence in which he was born; and there can be no doubt as to his having been a pupil of Donatello. His greatest work was the tomb of Cardinal da Portogallo for the church of San Miniato. This prelate belonged to the house of Braganza, and had acquired such a reputation for piety while studying at Perugia, that he was raised to the purple at the early age of six-and-twenty. Though a Portuguese by birth, he was in the service of the Florentine Republic, which employed him as ambassador to the most Catholic King. He died when only twenty-nine ; and as he had founded a chapel at San Miniato, he stipulated that his body should be buried there. The tomb which Antonio erected represents the marble figure of the young cardinal, with two children, and two kneeling angels holding in their hands the emblems of victory. The medallion above, upon a blue background, is singularly graceful ; it has a style of its own, distinct from that either of Desiderio or Verrocchio, and is evidently the work of an original artist able to maintain his own characteristics at a time when Donatello was being universally followed.

The church of Monte Oliveto at Naples contains another funeral monument by Antonio Rossellino, erected by the Duke of Amalfi to his wife, Maria of Aragon. It is almost an exact replica of the one at San Miniato, with the addition of a superb bas-relief representing the Nativity of our Lord. For the same church he carved a "Resurrection," which is remarkable for the number of the figures, the simplicity of their features, and the softness of their expression.

If he takes after any one in sculpture, it is Ghiberti, from whom he evidently derived the art of so arranging his distances as to be able to graduate his figures as in a picture, though it is fair to add that he did not carry this process to an exaggerated degree.

Bernardo, born in 14091 died in 1472, and his brother Antonio, born in 1427, died about 1478.

BENEDETTO DA MAIANO. -(1442-1497.)

The Maiani form another dynasty of artists, architects, and sculptors. There were three brothers, sons of Antonio da Maiano, a Florentine stone-cutter. Two of them, Giuliano and Benedetto, became famous, while the third, Giovanni, having less talent than the others, is but little known. Benedetto commenced his career in Hungary, at the Court of Matthias Corvinus, a liberal patron of art and literature, and at first devoted himself to the art of Intarsiatura, or the inlaying of wood of different colors, which was in great vogue during the fifteenth century. But he soon sought a wider scope for his talents, and as sculptor and architect rapidly acquired considerable celebrity at Florence, his greatest work being the Strozzi Palace, commenced in 1489, in the style of architecture introduced by Brunelleschi and Michelozzo Michelozzi. Filippo Strozzi began the building, and his son, also named Filippo, completed it ; but the works were for a long time suspended, and, as I1 Cronaca came back from Rome just as they were about to be resumed, he was asked to take charge, and designed the part facing the interior courtyard, as well as the beautiful cornice crowning the whole, which can only be equalled by that of the Farnese Palace at Rome.

An intimate friendship must have existed between the elder 'Strozzi and Benedetto, for the latter became sculptor for the whole family, and was the author of those beautiful marble and terra-cotta busts of Filippo Strozzi surnamed the Elder to distinguish him from his son, who came to such a tragic end, which were so eagerly bid for by all the musuems of Europe when they were lately put on the market, and were finally purchased by the Louvre.

Filippo the Elder married Clarissa, daughter of Pietro de' Medici, and falling under suspicion when his father-in-law was exiled, he, devoted friend of freedom as he was, would not take part with either side, and died at Florence in complete retirement, having directed Benedetto to erect him a tomb in Santa Maria Novella. The sarcophagus, very simple in design, stands under a recess, with two angels' figures holding up a tablet. Benedetto had not much scope for his fancy here, but in the space above the recess he carved what is generally considered as his greatest work a Madonna and Child, very similar in outline to the medallions upon the tombs of Rossellino, Desiderio, and Verrocchio, and superior to them in the studied refinement of the modelling. Benedetto also left a medallion of Filippo Strozzi, a replica of the bust which formerly stood here.

His son, Filippo the Younger, who had emigrated during the reign of Alessandro de' Medici, came to a tragic end. When Lorenzino had murdered Duke Alessandro, he repaired to Venice and induced Filippo to join the Fuorusciti. But Cosimo, son of Giovanni, who had been chosen as Alessandro's successor, sent Vitelli against the rebels, who were defeated by him at the battle of Montemurlo. Filippo and Piero Strozzi fought desperately, but the former was taken prisoner and immured in the " Fortezza da Basso." This, curiously enough, was the fortress which Pope Clement VII hesitated about building, but which he at last agreed to do at the earnest request of Filippo Strozzi, and against the advice of Salviati, who remarked that he might perhaps "be digging his own grave."

The sinister prediction was verified to the letter. It is said that the examining magistrate endeavored to extract from him a confession that he had been implicated in the murder of Alessandro, and that, though innocent of that crime, he was so fearful of the consequences that he committed suicide. It has been questioned more than once whether he had enough energy to destroy himself, and the Marquis del Vasto, governor of the fortress, has been mentioned as his murderer. There is a letter, however, extant which Luciano Scarabelli has published, and which is said to have been found by his side in the prison.

To God the Deliverer.

"In order that I may not remain in the hands of my enemies, who have unjustly tortured me, and in order that I may not be constrained by the violence of fresh tortures to say anything which can affect the honor of myself, my relatives and friends, as happened the other day to the hapless Giuliano Gondi, I, Filippo Strozzi, have resolved, at whatever cost, to end my days. I humbly commend my soul to the infinite mercy of God, and I implore Him to receive me in the place allotted to Cato and other virtuous men who have taken their own lives. I beg the governor of the Castle, Don Giovanni di Luna, to take a little of my blood after death, and send it to His Eminence Cardinal Cibo, in order that this latter may feast his eyes on it. He has now no obstacle to prevent his reaching the Papal chair, to which he has so shamelessly aspired. I beg him to have me buried at Santa Maria Novella, by the side of my wife if Cibo deems me worthy to be buried in consecrated ground. I beg my relatives to respect the will which I have made in prison, and which is in the hands of Benvenuto Olivieri, excepting these. . . . Don Giovanni is to be repaid all the expenses he has incurred for me, as I have never reimbursed him for anything.

"And you, Caesar, let me beg of you to keep better watch over the interests of unhappy Florence, and to have more care for them, unless you have resolved to bring her altogether to ruin.

Philippus Strozza Jam Jam Moriturus."

Exoriare Aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor."

Returning to the Maiani, it may be added of Benedetto that he also did a good deal of work at Naples, where his brother Giuliano had been employed by the Duke of Calabria upon the church of Monte Oliveto, in which Antonio Rossellino erected the funeral monument to the Duchess of Amalfi. He also carved the altar of San Savino at Faenza, his greatest work, so far as regards the number of figures and bas-reliefs. From Faenza he returned to Florence, where he was employed by Pietro Mellini to erect a marble pulpit in Santa Croce, the celebrated Pulpito in the nave, with a staircase cut into one of the pillars. Added to this is the tomb of San Bartolo in the Church of St. Augustine at San Gemignano, and a retablo for the Santa Fena Chapel in the cathedral at the same place ; while among the many busts by him is one of Giotto in Santa Maria del Fiore, and another of Squarcialupo upon the tomb which Lorenzo de' Medici raised in the same church to the memory of that great musician.