.NzUxMA.NTMyNg

between the benefactor, who was only thirty-eight years of age, and the protege, then in his twenty-eighth years, strange up a friendship which endured till Vecchietti's death. With renewed zeal he resumed his studies of antique art and the modern works of Ghiberti, Donatello, and Michael Angelo, while at the same time, in order to contribute to his support he worked on the pubic edifices in course of erection. The progress which he achieved was so rapid that, in 1558, five years after his arrival in Florence, he was acknowledged to rank among the most distinguished artists, and entrusted with works of primary importance. It was in this year that he carved the ducal arms over the entrance of the Council Hall in the Palazzo Vecchio, and the manner in which he acquitted himself of the task brought him the warmest praise from Vasari, who had directed the construction of the Hall. Such success soon aroused the jealousy of rivals, who sought to minimize its importance by declaring that the artist would not be equal to the task of carving a figure in marble, though they had to admit his ability to model it in wax or clay. Jean Bologne, on hearing of this, had recourse to the liberality of Vecchietti, obtained a block of marble from him and transformed it into a "Venus" of surprising beauty, and which was immediately secured by Cosimo's son, Francesco de' Medici, to whom he had been introduced by his protector. Francesco was so enraptured with his acquisition that he would keep the statue in his private apartments, and at once commanded the artist to execute among other works a marble statue of a Bather.