Bandinelli, BACCIO

Bandinelli, BACCIO, the son of a famous goldsmith of Florence, and one of the best sculptors of his time, was born at Florence in 1493. He was an angry and jealous rival of Michael Angelo, whose grandeur of conception he strove to equal, and who is said to have retaliated his enmity by contempt. His genius, however, secured him many admirers and patrons among persons of distinction, and Pope Clement VII. even bestowed on him an estate. Among his best works, which all exhibit power, vigour, and skilful drawing, are his colossal group of Hercules with Cacus at his feet, his Adam and Eve, his copy of the Laocoön, and the exquisite bassi-rilievi which adorn the choir of the Duomo in Florence, where he died in 1560.