Both came to him by the help of a Roman gentleman and banker, Messer Jacopo Gallo.

It so happened that an intimate Florentine friend of Buonarroti, the Baldassare Balducci mentioned at the end of his letter to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, was employed in Gallo's house of business.

It is probable, therefore, that this man formed the link of connection between the sculptor and his new patron.

At all events, Messer Gallo purchased a Bacchus, which now adorns the sculpture-gallery of the Bargello, and a Cupid, which may possibly be the statue at South Kensington.
Condivi says that this gentleman, "a man of fine intelligence, employed him to execute in his own house a marble Bacchus, ten palms in height, the form and aspect of which correspond in all parts to the meaning of ancient authors.

The face of the youth is jocund, the eyes wandering and wanton, as is the wont with those who are too much addicted to a taste for wine.