mention a projection on the ground below the said pulpit, which serves
as a tombstone, wrought with so much design that it is not possible to
praise it enough. It is said that in making this work he had some
difficulty with the Wardens of Works of S. Croce, because, while he
wished to erect the said pulpit against a column that sustains some of
the arches which support the roof, and to perforate that column in order
to accommodate the steps and the entrance to the pulpit, they would not
consent, fearing lest it might be so weakened by the hollow required for
the steps as to collapse under the weight above, with great damage to a
part of that church. But Mellini having guaranteed that the work would
be finished without any injury to the church, they finally consented.
Having, therefore, bound the outer side of the column with bands of
bronze (the part, namely, from the pulpit downwards, which is covered
with hard stone), Benedetto made within it the steps for ascending to
the pulpit, and in proportion as he hollowed it out within, so did he
strengthen the outer side with the said hard stone, in the manner that
is still to be seen. And he brought this work to perfection to the
amazement of all who see it, showing in each part and in the whole
together the utmost excellence that could be desired in such a work.

Many declare that the elder Filippo Strozzi, when intending to build his
palace, sought the advice of Benedetto, who made him a model, according
to which it was begun, although it was afterwards carried on and
finished by Cronaca on the death of Benedetto. The latter, having
acquired enough to live upon, would do no more works in marble after
those described above, save that he finished in S. Trinita the S. Mary
Magdalene begun by Desiderio da Settignano, and made the Crucifix that
is over the altar of S. Maria del Fiore, with certain others like it.

As for architecture, although he put his hand to but few works, yet in
these he showed no less judgment than in sculpture; particularly in
three ceilings which were made at very great expense, under his guidance
and direction, in the Palace of the Signoria at Florence. The first of
these was the ceiling of the hall that is now called the Sala de'
Dugento, over which it was proposed to make, not a similar hall, but two
apartments, that is, a hall and an audience chamber, so that it was
necessary to make a wall, and no light one either, containing a marble
door of reaso