NEVER DITCH a party without an excuse. On a cold Sunday night in 1409, the great and the good of Renaissance Florence-men of the governing classes, painters, goldsmiths, sculptors-had gathered for dinner. Donatello was there, so was Filippo Brunelle-schi, the engineer behind the great dome of the Duomo. But where was Il Grasso the woodcarver? "The fat one" had not even had the decency to send his regrets. Such a snub deserved a response. Brunelleschi had a plan: take away his identity. "In revenge for his not coming this evening," he said, according to Antonio Ma-netti's 15th-century biography of the architect, "we'll make him believe that he has become someone else."
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