lp he wrote to the Grand Duke saying that
Donatello always had eighteen or twenty assistants, without whose aid
it would have been impossible for him to have made the Paduan
altar.[203] But we also possess bills, contracts, and schedules, in
which we can find the names of Donatello's _garzoni_. The work, it
must be remembered, was not wholly confined to sculpture: among the
earliest recorded payment to Donatello is that for structural work on
the Loggia (30, iii. 1444). Giovanni Nani of Florence was already
engaged there (3, iii. 43) as a sort of master mason on Donatello's
arrival: he made the marble pedestal for the crucifix (19, vi. 47),
and several others are mentioned in a subordinate capacity, such as
Niccolo Cocaro (23, iv. 49), Meo and Pipo of Florence (30, iv. 49),
Antonio of Lugano, _taia pria_ (12, v. 49); Bartolomeo of Ferrara went
to Valstagna to open up the quarry--_una montagna de lo alabastro_
(13, viii. 46). Employment was also given to Jacomo, a goldsmith (9,
v. 48), to Squarcione the painter (21, xi. 47), to Moscatelo, the
maker of majolica (v. 49), and to Giovanni da Becato, who made a metal
grille behind the altar. Francesco del Mayo and Andrea delle Caldiere
were the chief bronze casters; a dozen or fifteen other names are
recorded. None of these can have had much influence on the sculpture
itself; but there were men of greater calibre, Giovanni da Pisa,
Urbano da Cortona, Antonio Celino of Pisa, and Francesco Valente of
Florence. Though called _garzoni_ and _disipoli_ of Donatello (June
and Sept. 47), they soon became men of trained capacity, and were
specifically mentioned in some of the contracts. Thus it appears that
each was entrusted with one of the evangelist's symbols; they were
also largely responsible for the bronze choristers (27, iv. 46). Their
whims and idiosyncrasies are visible in many particulars: in the halos
for instance. The gospel emblems all have halos, likewise most of the
singing children, whereas there are none on the Madonna and the great
statues of canonised saints on the altar. But it is impossible here to
enter upon the most interesting problem of their respective shares on
the altar sculpture, and how far they were independent of Donatello
beyond the chiselling and polishing of the bronze; the subject would
need discussion at too great length. It is, however, worth while to
refer to some of their work, for which they were exclusively
responsible. Thus the Fulgosio tomb i