od the
Father in low-relief. Opposite to the church of the said oratory he
wrought the marble shrine for the Mercatanzia, following the ancient
Order known as Corinthian, and departing entirely from the German
manner; this shrine was meant to contain two statues, but he refused to
make them because he could not come to an agreement about the price.
After his death these figures were made in bronze by Andrea del
Verrocchio, as it will be told. For the main front of the Campanile of
S. Maria del Fiore he wrought four figures in marble, five braccia in
height, of which the two in the middle are portrayed from life, one
being Francesco Soderini as a youth, and the other Giovanni di Barduccio
Cherichini, now called Il Zuccone.[21] The latter was held to be a very
rare work and the most beautiful that Donato ever made, and when he
wished to take an oath that would command belief he was wont to say, "By
the faith that I place in my Zuccone"; and the while that he was working
on it, he would keep gazing at it and saying, "Speak, speak, plague
take thee, speak!" Over the door of the campanile, on the side facing
the Canon's house, he made Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, with
another Prophet: and these figures were placed between two other
statues.

[Footnote 21: _I.e._, Bald-head.]

For the Signoria of that city he made a casting in metal which was
placed under an arch of their Loggia in the Piazza, representing Judith
cutting off the head of Holofernes; a work of great excellence and
mastery, which, if one considers the simplicity of the garments and
aspect of Judith on the surface, reveals very clearly below the surface
the great spirit of that woman and the assistance given to her by God,
even as one sees the effect of wine and sleep in the expression of
Holofernes, and death in his limbs, which have lost all life and are
shown cold and limp. This work was so well executed by Donato that the
casting came out delicate and very beautiful, and it was afterwards
finished so excellently that it is a very great marvel to behold. The
base, likewise, which is a baluster of granite, simple in design,
appears full of grace and presents an aspect pleasing to the eye. He was
so well satisfied with this work that he deigned to place his name on
it, which he had not done on the others; and it is seen in these words,
"Donatelli opus." In the courtyard of the Palace of the said Signori
there is a life-size David, nude and in bronze. Havi