and which, in the second place, was modelled with sufficient amplitude to permit the entire head to be hammered, and the exquisite details to be added.  Technically this head is almost unequalled among Donatello’s bronze portraits; it is quite superb.  Comparison with the Gattamelata at Padua is fair to neither.  But it can be suitably compared with the bronze portrait in the Bargello generally known as the Young Gattamelata.  The tomb of Giovanni Antonio, son of the famous Condottiere, is in the Santo at Padua.  The effigy resembles this bust.  Giovanni died young in 1456, and on the whole there is sufficient reason for considering it to be his portrait.  On this assumption the bust can be dated about 1455.  It is a happy combination of youth and maturity.  On the one side we have the smooth features, still unmarked by frowns and furrows, the soft youthful texture of the skin, and something young in the thick curly hair.  On the other hand, the character of the face shows perfect self-confidence in its best sense, as well as self-control and determination.  A scrap of drapery covers the outer edge of either shoulder, and round his neck is a riband, at the end of which hangs a large oval gem, Cupid in a chariot making his horses gallop.  Thus the throat and breast are bare, and show exceptionally good rendering of those thin bones and thick tendons which must always be a severe test to the modeller.  As for the bronze itself, the surface is wrought with much care and finish, though the Berlin bust is unapproached in this respect.  A few other portrait-busts remain to be noticed, which at one time or another have been attributed to Donatello.  The Vecchio Barbuto, a thoroughly poor piece of work, and the Imperatore Romano[166] with its sadly disjointed and inconsequential appearance, are works which scarcely recall the touch of Donatello.  The bust of a veiled lady is more interesting.[167] In the old Medici catalogue it used to be called Donna velata incognita, or sacerdotessa velata:  and it was also called Annalena Malatesta:  a suggestion has been recently made that it represents the Contessina de’ Bardi, who married Cosimo de’ Medici.  Vasari certainly mentions a bronze bust of the Contessina by Donatello; but the family records would scarcely have called so important a person a nun or an incognita:  moreover, she did not die till 1473, and as this bust is obviously made from a death-mask, it is clear that Donatello could not be its author.  The custom of making death-masks is described by Polybius:  in Donatello’s time it became very popular, and Verrocchio became one of the foremost men in this branch of trade, which combined expedition and accuracy with cheapness.  The wax models were coloured and used as chimney-piece decorations, in ogni casa di Firenze.  The bronze bust of San Rossore in the Church of Santo Stefano at Pisa has been attributed to Donatello.  From the denunzia of 1427 we know that Donatello