one, among
others, he carried well on from a piece of marble of two braccia and a
half, which was a Hercules that is holding the dead Cacus beneath him,
between his legs. These sketches were left in the same place in memory
of him.

At this time was thrown open to view the cartoon of Michelagnolo
Buonarroti, full of nude figures, which Michelagnolo had executed at
the commission of Piero Soderini for the Great Council Chamber, and,
as has been related in another place, all the craftsmen flocked
together to draw it on account of its excellence. Among these came
Baccio, and no long time passed before he outstripped them all, for
the reason that he understood nudes, and outlined, shaded, and
finished them, better than any of the other draughtsmen, among whom
were Jacopo Sansovino, Andrea del Sarto, Il Rosso, who was then very
young, and Alfonso Berughetta the Spaniard, together with many other
famous craftsmen. Baccio frequented the place more than any of the
others, and had a counterfeit key; and it happened that, Piero
Soderini having been deposed from the government about this time, in
the year 1512, and the house of Medici having been restored to power,
during the confusion caused in the Palace by the change of government,
Baccio entered in secret, all by himself, and tore the cartoon into
many pieces. Of which not knowing the reason, some said that Baccio
had torn it up in order to have some pieces of the cartoon in his
possession for his own convenience, some declared that he wished to
deprive the other young men of that advantage, so that they might not
be able to profit by it and make themselves a name in art, others said
that he was moved to do this by his affection for Leonardo da Vinci,
from whom Michelagnolo's cartoon had taken much of his reputation, and
others, again, perhaps interpreting his action better, attributed it
to the hatred which he felt against Michelagnolo and afterwards
demonstrated as long as he lived. The loss of the cartoon was no light
one for the city, and very heavy the blame that was rightly laid upon
Baccio by everyone, as an envious and malicious person.

Baccio then executed some pieces of cartoon with lead-white and
charcoal, among which was a very beautiful one of a nude Cleopatra,
which he presented to the goldsmith Piloto. Having already acquired a
name as a great draughtsman, he was desirous of learning to paint in
colours, having a firm belief that he would not only equal Buona