Background
Bartolommeo Bandinelli was born on October 17, 1493; the son of an eminent goldsmith.
Bartolommeo Bandinelli was born on October 17, 1493; the son of an eminent goldsmith.
From his father Bandinelli obtained the first elements of drawing. Showing a strong inclination for the fine arts, he was early placed under Rustici, a sculptor, and a friend of Leonardo da Vinci, with whom he made rapid progress.
The ruling motive in Bandinelli's life seems to have been jealousy both of Benvenuto Cellini and of Michelangelo, one of whose cartoons he is said to have torn up and destroyed. He is regarded by some as inferior in sculpture only to Michelangelo, with whom a comparison unfavourable to Bandinelli is tempted in such works as the marble colossal group of Hercules and Cacus in the Piazza del Gran Duco, and the group of Adam and Eve in the Bargello. Among his best works must be reckoned the bassi-rilievi in the choir of the cathedral of Florence; his copy of the Laocoon; and the figures of Christ and Nicodemus on his own tomb.