Funerary Monument of Gian Giacomo de' Medici

His restless temperament and his harsh, haughty and vindictive character did not prevent Leoni from cultivating friendships with the most prominent figures of his time and from winning the favour of the imperial court, for which he executed many works, assisted by his son Pompeo, who saw to their installation in Madrid. It seems that the commission for the Medici monument came to him on the recommendation of Michelangelo himself, who is said to have provided indications, if not actual drawings, for the architectural layout, which indeed is of great stylistic dignity. In the sculptures, on the other hand, above all in the allegorical figures of Peace and Military Virtue, Leoni's own qualities emerge clearly, those of a goldsmith more than a sculptor, especially in the painstaking finish of the modelling; nonetheless, the more properly sculptural values still find dignified and valid expression.