modern manner, in the
head, in an arm which appears to be living flesh, in the hands, and in
the whole attitude of the figure. He was thus the first who began to
imitate the works of the ancient Romans, whereof he was an ardent
student, as all must be who desire to do good work. And in the frontal
of that shrine he tried his hand at mosaic, making therein a half-length
prophet.

The fame of Lorenzo, by reason of his most profound mastery in casting,
had now spread throughout all Italy and abroad, insomuch that Jacopo
della Fonte, Vecchietto of Siena, and Donato having made for the
Signoria of Siena some scenes and figures in bronze that were to adorn
the baptismal font of their Church of S. Giovanni, the people of Siena,
having seen the works of Lorenzo in Florence, came to an agreement with
him and caused him to make two scenes from the life of S. John the
Baptist. In one he made S. John baptizing Christ, accompanying it with
an abundance of figures, both nude and very richly draped; and in the
other he made S. John being taken and led before Herod. In these scenes
he surpassed and excelled the men who had made the others; wherefore he
was consummately praised by the people of Siena, and by all others who
have seen them.

The Masters of the Mint in Florence had a statue to make for one of
those niches that are round Orsanmichele, opposite to the Guild of Wool,
and it was to be a S. Matthew, of the same height as the aforesaid S.
John. Wherefore they allotted it to Lorenzo, who executed it to
perfection; and it was much more praised than the S. John, for he made
it more in the modern manner. This statue brought it about that the
Consuls of the Guild of Wool determined that he should make in the same
place, for the niche next to that, a statue likewise in bronze, which
should be of the same proportions as the other two, representing S.
Stephen, their Patron Saint. And he brought it to completion, giving a
very beautiful varnish to the bronze; and this statue gave no less
satisfaction than the other works already wrought by him.

The General of the Preaching Friars at that time, Maestro Lionardo Dati,
wishing to leave a memorial of himself to his country in S. Maria
Novella, where he had taken his vows, caused Lorenzo to construct a tomb
of bronze, with himself lying dead thereon, portrayed from nature; and
this tomb, which was admired and extolled, led to another being erected
by Lodovico degli Albizzi and Niccolo Val