Semi-circular space at the top of the formal garden with statue of Giano Bifronte (Janus)

One might imagine that the elderly face of the Janus to be a portrait of Diomede Leoni.

His presence can still be felt centuries later through the simple decorative elements he installed in the garden. He speaks to the garden visitor through this Janus head, the two lion’s (Leoni) heads at the gates [locations 7 and 16], his plaques and, most poignantly, through his personal plaque outside the garden [location 18] on the church of Santa Maria Assunta. 

The scarcity of sculptures in the garden had more to do with Diomede’s economic position than with his knowledge of art. Diomede Leoni was a well-known expert in procuring antiquities for the Medici’s and other wealthy patrons in Florence and Rome. In the 1570’s he procured Michelangelo's Bacchus sculpture for the Medici’s.

Furthermore, he had in his possession for several decades two important sculptures related to Michelangelo. One was Brutus, a monumental bust by Michelangelo (1542) which was never sent to the original patron.

When Michelangelo died in 1564, it disappeared only to reappear as part of Diomede Leoni’s possessions that were sent to the Medici’s when he himself died in 1590. 

The other was the Portrait of Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra. There were originally (3) bronze copies made from Michelangelo’s death mask. Diomede wrote in a letter to Michelangelo’s nephew and heir, Leonardo Buonarroti, that he had acquired the first copy. Later, Diomede wrote again that he had set it up in his garden. It may have been located somewhere in this semi-circular space at the base of the staircase near the present day Janus. Two early 18^th century drawings of the garden show there was a series of pedestals set up there possibly to feature his sculptures. 

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