Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 4.djvu/21

Rh attained completion before the death of Clement, and as the only part remaining to be executed was the mouth of the well, Pope Paul III. commanded that it should be finished, but not after the manner in which Pope Clement, following the counsels of Antonio, had intended to have it completed. The master was greatly extolled for this beautiful work, and it is certain that the ancients never produced anything of the kind which could be considered equal to it, whether as regards the art or laborious industry manifested in its construction; the circular space of the centre is contrived in such a manner that it gives light to the two staircases we have mentioned, even down to the bottom, by means of windows inserted at given distances.

While this work was m progress, the same architect was also directing those of the fortress of Ancona, which was completed at a later period. Pope Clement at the same time resolved to construct an impregnable fortress in Plorence, of which city his nephew Alessandro de’ Medici was then Duke. Alessandro Vitelli, Pier-Francesco of Viterbo, and Antonio Sangallo took orders for this enterprize accordingly, and by them the Castel or Fort, which stands between the gate of Prato and that of San Gallo, was erected and completed with such expedition that no edifice of the kind, either in ancient or modern times, was ever brought to conclusion in so short a period. Beneath one of the towers, that namely which was the first founded, and which was called the Tower of Toso, various inscriptions and medals were deposited with great solemnity and splendour. This work is now famous throughout the world, and is considered to be entirely impregnable.

By the direction of Antonio da San Gallo it was that the