HKB
placed at each angle of the eight sides, and it was the presence of these which encouraged Brunellesco to impose a much greater weight there than Arnolfo had originally contemplated.
It is said that when Arnolfo began the two first lateral doors of S. Maria del Fiore, he caused some fig leaves to be carved in a frieze, which were the armorial bearings of his father Lapo, from which it may be inferred that the family of the Lapi, now among the nobility of Florence, derives its origin from him. Others say that Filippo di Ser Brunellesco was also among the descendants of Arnolfo. But I let this pass for what it is worth, and return to Arnolfo, for there are some who say that the Lapi originally came from Figaruolo, a castle situated at the mouth of the Po. I say that for this magnificent achievement he deserved unstinted praise and an immortal renown, since he caused the exterior of the building to be incrusted with marble of various colours, and the interior with hard stone, making even the most insignificant corners of the building of the same stone. But, in order that every one may know the proportions of this marvellous edifice, I will add that from the doorway to the far end of the chapel of St Zanobi the length is 260 braccia, the breadth at the transepts is 166 braccia, that of nave and aisles 66. The nave is 72 braccia high, and the aisles 48. The external circumference of the entire church is 1280 braccia; the cupola, from the ground to the base of the lantern, is 154 braccia; the lantern, without the ball, is 36 braccia high, the ball 4 braccia high, and the cross 8 braccia; the entire cupola, from the ground to the top of the cross, is 202 braccia. But to return to Arnolfo, I say that he was considered so excellent, and so much confidence was felt in him, that nothing of importance was discussed without his advice being first asked. Thus the foundation of the final circuit of the city walls having been finished that same year by the community of Florence, the commencement of which was referred to above, and also the gate towers, and the work being well forward, he began the palace of the Signori, making it similar in design to that which his father Lapo had erected for the counts of Poppi. But he was unable to realise the grand and magnificent conception which he had formed in that perfection which his art and judgment required, because a piazza had been made by the dismantling and throwing down of the houses of the Uberti, rebels against the Florentine people and Ghibellines, and the blind prejudice of certain persons prevailed against all the arguments brought forward by Arnolfo to such an extent that he could not even obtain permission to make the palace square, because the rulers of the city were most unwilling to allow the building to have its foundations in the land of the Uberti, and they would rather suffer the destruction of the south nave of S. Piero Scheraggio than give him free scope in the space designated. They were also desirous that he should include and adapt to the palace the tower of the Fieraboschi, called the Torre della Vacca (Cow Tower), 50 braccia in height, in which the great bell was hung, together with some houses bought by the commune for such a building. For these reasons it is no marvel if the foundations of the palace are awry and out of the square, as, in order to get the tower in the middle and to make it stronger, he was obliged to surround it with the walls of the palace. These were found to be in excellent condition in the year 1561 by Giorgio Vasari, painter and architect, when he restored the palace in the time of Duke Cosimo, Thus, as Arnolfo filled the tower with good materials, it was easy for other masters to erect upon it the lofty campanile which we see to-day, since he himself finished no more than the palace in the space of two years. It was in later years that the building received those improvements to which it owes its present grandeur and majesty.