Benedetto da, an eminent sculptor and architect, was born at Florence in 1424. He first became known as an inlayer of wood, and in this capacity he was employed at Naples by King Alphonso, and afterwards in Hungary by King Matthias Corvinus. Ambitious, however, to excel in a nobler art, he turned his attention to sculpture, and returning shortly after to Florence, he was employed by the magistrates of that city in the construction of their audience chamber. While sojourning for a short time in Naples, he executed a bas-relief in marble of the Annunciation. On his return to Florence, Maiano commenced one of his masterpieces, the marble pulpit of Santa Croce, ornamented with sculptured representations of the history of San Francesco. He was next employed in constructing the plan of the Palazzo Strozzi. Turning his attention about this time to architecture, he built, in addition to other structures, the portico of Madonna della Grazie, near Arezzo. After amassing a considerable fortune, Maiano died in 1498, and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence.