, an eminent Florentine sculptor, was born about 1472, and was the
, an eminent Florentine sculptor, was born about 1472, and was the contemporary of
Michael Angelo, in competition with whom he executed
some works in the town-hall of Florence. He was an artist
of very superior merit, but a proud, inconsiderate, and ungovernable character. It was in one of his passionate fits
that he struck Michael Angelo with such force as to flatten
his nose. Benvenuto Cellini, in his own life, has recorded
this affair, as related to him by Torrigiano himself: “His
conversation one day happening to turn upon Michael
Angelo Buonarroti, on seeing a drawing of mine made
from the celebrated cartoon of the battle of Pisa: ‘ This
Buonarroti and I (said Torrigiano), when we were young
men, went to study in the church of the Carmelites, in
the chapel of Masaccio; and it was customary with Buonarroti to rally those who were learning to draw there.
One day, amongst others, a sarcasm of his having stung
me to the quick, I was extremely irritated, and, doubling
my fist, gave him such a violent blow upon his nose, that
I felt the bone and cartilage yield as if they had been
made of paste, and the mark I then gave him he will carry
to his grave’.
”