nable thickness; wherefore, for the execution of such a
work, there was need of intelligence and judgment no less than those
possessed by Benedetto.

Benedetto, then, in order not to diminish the said hall and yet divide
the space above into two, went to work in the following manner. On a
beam one braccio in thickness, and as long as the whole breadth of the
hall, he laid another consisting of two pieces, in such a manner that it
projected with its thickness to the height of two-thirds of a braccio.
At the ends, these two beams, bound and secured together very firmly,
gave a height of two braccia at the edge of the wall on each side; and
the said two ends were grooved with a claw-shaped cut, in such a way
that there could be laid upon them an arch of half a braccio in
thickness, made of two layers of bricks, with its flanks resting on the
principal walls. These two beams, then, were dove-tailed together with
tenon and mortise, and so firmly bound and united with good bands of
iron, that out of two there was made one single beam. Besides this,
having made the said arch, and wishing that these timbers of the ceiling
should have nothing more to sustain than the wall under the arch, and
that the arch itself should sustain the rest, he also attached to this
arch two great supports of iron, which, being firmly bolted to the said
beams below, upheld and still uphold them; while, even if they were not
to suffice by themselves, the arch would be able--by means of the said
supports which encircle the beams, one on one side of the marble door
and one on the other--to support a weight much greater than that of the
partition wall, which is made of bricks and half a braccio in thickness.
What is more, he had the bricks in the said wall laid on edge and in the
manner of an arch, so that the pressure came against the solid part, at
the corners, and the whole was thus more stable. In this manner, by
means of the good judgment of Benedetto, the said Sala de' Dugento
remained as large as before, and over the same space, with a partition
wall between, were made the hall that is called the Sala dell'
Orivolo[28] and the Audience Chamber wherein is the Triumph of Camillus,
painted by the hand of Salviati. The soffit of this ceiling was richly
wrought and carved by Marco del Tasso and his brothers, Domenico and
Giuliano, who likewise executed that of the Sala dell' Orivolo and that
of the Audience Chamber. And since the said marble door had be