Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 4.djvu/265

Rh length formed and the marble pedestal was constructed, the lower part exhibiting an inscription as a memorial of Pope Clement VII, with numerous medallions and two busts, the head of his Holiness namely and of Duke Alessandro.

The Colossus was then taken from the house of the wardens of works where it had been executed, and, for the better removal of the same and that it might suffer no injury, a sort of covering was formed of wood-work, when ropes were fastened round the legs, beneath the arms, and at all other convenient parts, so that the figure swung free in the air, suspended between beams, and without disturbing the woodwork by which it was defended: by means of rollers and windlasses, with the aid of ten pairs of oxen, it was then gradually drawn to the piazza. On this occasion much assistance was derived from the use of two thick beams in a semicylindrical form, fixed along the length of the wood-work in the manner of a base, and these were placed on two other beams of similar size, but hollowed out or concave, which, being covered with a soapy substance, were successively withdrawn and replaced by the hands of labourers as the progress of the whole mass required. By these arrangements, and with this forethought, the figure was conveyed in safety, and without any great labour, to the piazza.

The care of this work was entrusted to Baccio d’Agnolo, and to the elder Antonio da Sangallo, architects to the cathedral, who then proceeded to raise the statue to its pedestal, and by means of other beams and double windlasses they finally placed it securely on its base.

It would not be easy to describe the concourse and multitude which on this occasion held the whole piazza occupied for the space of two days, all hastening to see the Giant so soon as he was uncovered. Many and various were the discourses and opinions then to be heard respecting the work, from all kinds of men, but all these opinions were more or less in censure thereof. There were besides verses, both in Latin and in the mother tongue, affixed around the pedestal, nor could the reader fail to be amused by the witty conceits, the acute remarks, and the ingenious inventions of these, poets. But as these epigrams and satirical effusions finally overstepped all reasonable limits, Duke Alessandro became displeased by the indignity which, as it appeared to him, was