The said stout bar of iron had eight arms, spreading out in an arc large enough to fill the space within the hollow half-globe, and at the end of each arm there was a stand about the size of a trencher; on each stand was a boy about nine years old, well secured by an iron soldered on to the upper part of the arm, but loosely enough to allow him to turn in every direction.
— from Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects, Vol. 02 (of 10) Berna to Michelozzo Michelozzi by Giorgio Vasari