Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 5.djvu/503

Rh rest, are two larger than life, which represent the rivers Ai'no and Mugnone; they are exceedingly beautiful, more especially the Mugnone, which may bear comparison with the best statues of the most eminent masters. At a word^ all the architecture and decorations of this garden are by Francesco, who, by the magnificence of the various Fountains, which he has constructed therein, has rendered it such, that it has not its equal in Florence, nor perhaps in Italy; nay, the principal Fountain, which is now on the point of completion, will be the most rich and sumptuous that can be seen in any place, whether for the splendid ornaments, or for the vast abundance of waters, which will never fail at any time.

The Flemish Sculptor, Giovanni Bologna, of Douai, is also of our Academy, and his remarkable ability has caused him to be much in the favour of our Princes. He is indeed a young man of singular talent, and it is by him that the new Fountain on the Piazza of San Petronio, opposite to the Palace of the Signori, at Bologna, has been constructed: among other ornaments, there are four Syrens at the angles, which are exceedingly beautiful, as are also the Children and fanciful Masks by which it is surrounded. But the most remarkable part of this work is a figure of Neptune, six braccia high, placed over the centre of the Fountain, and which is a most beautiful casting, the figure being studied and executed to perfection. And, not to speak now of what this artist has produced in clay, terra-cotta, wax, and other materials, he has executed a beautiful Venus, in marble, and almost completed a Sampson, the size of life, in combat with two Philistines, for the Signor Prince. He has likewise made the figure of Bacchus, in bronze, larger than life and in full relief, with a Mercury in the act of flight, which is very ingenious, the whole figure resting on the point of the foot: this has been sent to the Emperor, Maximilian, as the extraordinary work that it certainly is. But if Giovanni