History of the World/History of the World (Bureau Development, Inc.)(1992).BIN/dp/0036/00363.txt

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$Title{Autobiography Of Benvenuto Cellini
Part XII}
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$Author{Cellini, Benvenuto}
$Affiliation{}
$Subject{upon
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marble
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$Date{1566}
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Title:       Autobiography Of Benvenuto Cellini
Book:        Book Second
Author:      Cellini, Benvenuto
Date:        1566
Translation: Symonds, John Addington

Part XII

     When the Duke came to Florence, he sought me at my house without giving
me previous notice. I showed him two little models of different design. Though
he praised them both, he said that one of them pleased him better than the
other; I was to finish the one he liked with care; and this would be to my
advantage. Now his Excellency had already seen Bandinello's designs, and those
of other sculptors; but, as I was informed by many of his courtiers who had
heard him, he commended mine far above the rest. Among other matters worthy of
record and of great weight upon this point, I will mention the following. The
Cardinal of Santa Fiore was on a visit to Florence, and the Duke took him to
Poggio a Caiano. Upon the road, noticing the marble as he passed, the Cardinal
praised it highly, inquiring of his Excellency for what sculptor he intended
it. The Duke replied at once: "For my friend Benvenuto, who has made a
splendid model with a view to it." This was reported to me by men whom I could
trust.

     Hearing what the Duke had said, I went to the Duchess, and took her some
small bits of goldsmith's work, which greatly pleased her Excellency. Then she
asked what I was doing, and I replied: "My lady, I have taken in hand for my
pleasure one of the most laborious pieces which have ever been produced. It is
a Christ of the whitest marble set upon a cross of the blackest, exactly of
the same size as a tall man. She immediately inquired what I meant to do with
it. I answered: "You must know my lady, that I would not sell it for two
thousand golden ducats; it is of such difficult execution that I think no man
ever attempted the like before; nor would I have undertaken it at the
commission of any prince whatever, for fear I might prove inadequate to the
task. I bought the marbles with my own money, and have kept a young man some
two years as my assistant in the work. What with the stone, the iron frame to
hold it up, and the wages, it has cost me above three hundred crowns.
Consequently, I would not sell it for two thousand. But if your Excellency
deigns to grant me a favour which is wholly blameless, I shall be delighted to
make you a present of it. All I ask is that your Excellency will not use your
influence either against or for the models which the Duke has ordered to be
made of the Neptune for that great block of marble." She replied with mighty
indignation: "So then you value neither my help nor my opposition?" "On the
contrary, I value them highly, princess; or why am I offering to give you what
I value at two thousand ducats? But I have such confidence in my laborious and
well-trained studies, that I hope to win the palm, even against the great
Michel Agnolo Buonarroti, from whom and from no one else I have learned all
that I know. Indeed, I should be much better pleased to enter into competition
with him who knows so much than with those others who know but little of their
art. Contending with my sublime master, I could gain laurels in plenty,
whereas there are but few to be reaped in a contest with these men." After I
had spoken, she rose in a half-angry mood, and I returned to work with all
the strength I had upon my model.

     When it was finished, the Duke came to see it, bringing with him two
ambassadors, one from the Duke of Ferrara, the other from the Signory of
Lucca. They were delighted, and the Duke said to those two gentlemen: "Upon my
word, Benvenuto deserves to have the marble." Then they both paid me the
highest compliments, especially the envoy from Lucca, who was a person of
accomplishments and learning. ^1 I had retired to some distance in order that
they might exchange opinions freely; but when I heard that I was being
complimented, I came up, turned to the Duke, and said: "My lord, your most
illustrious Excellency ought now to employ another admirable device: decree
that every one who likes shall make a model in clay exactly of the same size
as the marble has to be. In this way you will be able to judge far better who
deserves the commission; and I may observe that if your Excellency does not
give it to the sculptor who deserves it, this will not wrong the man so much,
but will reflect great discredit upon yourself, since the loss and shame will
fall on you. On the other hand, if you award it to the one who has deserved
it, you will acquire great glory in the first place, and will employ your
treasure well, while artists will believe that you appreciate and understand
their business." No sooner had I finished speaking than the Duke shrugged his
shoulders, and began to move away. While they were taking leave the ambassador
of Lucca said to the Duke: "Prince, this Benvenuto of yours is a terrible
man!" The Duke responded: "He is much more terrible than you imagine, and well
were it for him if he were a little less terrible; then he would possess at
the present moment many things which he has not got." These precise words were
reported to me by the envoy, by way of chiding and advising me to change my
conduct. I told him that I had the greatest wish to oblige my lord as his
affectionate and faithful servant, but that I did not understand the arts of
flattery. Several months after this date, Bandinello died; and it was thought
that, in addition to his intemperate habits of life, the mortification of
having probably to lose the marble contributed to his decline.

[Footnote 1: Probably Girolamo Lucchesini.]

     Bandinello had received information of the crucifix which, as I have said
above, I was now engaged upon. Accordingly he laid his hands at once upon a
block of marble, and produced the Pieta which may be seen in the church of the
Annunziata. Now I had offered my crucifix to S. Maria Novella, and had already
fixed up the iron clamps whereby I meant to fasten it against the wall. I only
asked for permission to construct a little sarcophagus upon the ground beneath
the feet of Christ, into which I might creep when I was dead. The friars told
me that they could not grant this without the consent of their building
committee. ^1 I replied: "Good brethren, why did not you consult your
committee before you allowed me to place my crucifix? Without their leave you
suffered me to fix my clamps and other necessary fittings."

[Footnote 1: I loro Operai.]

     On this account I refused to give those fruits of my enormous labours to
the church of S. Maria Novella, even though the overseers of the fabric came
and begged me for the crucifix. I turned at once to the church of the
Annunziata, and when I explained the terms on which I had sought to make a
present of it to S. Maria Novella, those virtuous friars of the Nunziata
unanimously told me to place it in their church, and let me make my grave
according to my will and pleasure. When Bandinello became aware of this, he
set to work with great diligence at the completion of his Pieta, and prayed
the Duchess to get for him the chapel of the Pazzi for his monument. This he
obtained with some difficulty; and on receiving the permission, he erected his
Pieta with great haste. It was not altogether completed when he died.

     The Duchess then said that, even as she had protected him in life, so
would she protect him in the grave, and that albeit he was dead, I need never
try to get that block of marble. Apropos of which, the broken Bernardone,
meeting me one day in the country, said that the Duchess had assigned the
marble. I replied: "Unhappy piece of stone! In the hands of Bandinello it
would certainly have come to grief; but in those of Ammanato its fate is a
hundred times worse." Now I had received orders from the Duke to make a clay
model, of the same size as the marble would allow; he also provided me with
wood and clay, set up a sort of screen in the Loggia where my Perseus stands,
and paid me one workman. I went about my business with all diligence, and
constructed the wooden framework according to my excellent system. Then I
brought the model successfully to a conclusion, without caring whether I
should have to execute it in marble, since I knew the Duchess was resolved I
should not get the commission. Consequently I paid no heed to that. Only I
felt very glad to undergo this labour, hoping to make the Duchess, who was
after all a person of intelligence, as indeed I had the means of observing at
a later period, repent of having done so great a wrong both to the marble and
herself. Giovanni the Fleming also made a model in the cloister of S. Croce;
Vinzenzio Danti of Perugia another in the house of Messer Ottaviano de'
Medici; the son of Moschino began a third at Pisa, and Bartolommeo Ammanato a
fourth in the Loggia, which we divided between us. ^2

[Footnote 2: Gian Bologna, or Jean Boullogne, was born at Douai about 1530. He
went, while a very young man, to Rome, and then settled at Florence. There he
first gained reputation by a Venus which the Prince Francesco bought. The
Neptune on the piazza at Bologna, which is his work, may probably have been
executed from the model he made in competition upon this occasion. Vincenzo
Danti was born at Perugia in 1530. He produced the bronze statute of Pope
Julius III., which may still be seen in his native city. Simone Cioli, called
Il Mosca, was a very fair sculptor who died in 1554, leaving a son, Francesco,
called Il Moschino, who was also a sculptor, and had reached the age of thirty
at this epoch. It is therefore to this Moschino probably that Cellini refers
above.]

     When I had blocked the whole of mine out well, and wanted to begin upon
the details of the head, which I had already just sketched out in outline, the
Duke came down from the palace, and Giorgetto, the painter, ^3 took him into
Ammanato's workshed. This man had been engaged there with his own hands
several days, in company with Ammanato and all his workpeople. While, then,
the Duke was inspecting Ammanato's model, I received intelligence that he
seemed but little pleased with it. In spite of Giorgetto's trying to dose him
with his fluent nonsense, the Duke shook his head, and turning to Messer
Gianstefano, ^4 exclaimed: "Go and ask Benvenuto if his colossal statue is far
enough forward for him to gratify us with a glance at it." Messer Gianstefano
discharged this embassy with great tact, and in the most courteous terms. He
added that if I did not think my work quite ready to be seen yet, I might say
so frankly, since the Duke knew well that I had enjoyed but little assistance
for so large an undertaking. I replied that I entreated him to do me the
favour of coming; for though my model was not far advanced, yet the
intelligence of his Excellency would enable him to comprehend perfectly how it
was likely to look when finished. This kindly gentleman took back my message
to the Duke, who came with pleasure. No sooner had he entered the enclosure
and cast his eyes upon my work, than he gave signs of being greatly satisfied.
Then he walked all round it, stopping at each of the four points of view,
exactly as the ripest expert would have done. Afterwards he showed by nods and
gestures of approval that it pleased him; but he said no more than this:
"Benvenuto, you have only to give a little surface to your statue." Then he
turned to his attendants, praising my performance, and saying: "The small
model which I saw in his house pleased me greatly, but this has far exceeded
it in merit."

[Footnote 3: Giorgio Vasari.]

[Footnote 4: Probably Gianstefano Lalli.]

     It pleased God, who rules all things for our good - I mean, for those who
acknowledge and believe in Him; such men never fail to gain His protection -
that about this time a certain rascal from Vecchio called Piermaria
d'Anterigoli, and surnamed Lo Sbietta, introduced himself to me. He is a
sheep-grazier; and being closely related to Messer Guido Guidi, the physician,
who is now provost of Pescia, I lent ear to his proposals. The man offered to
sell me a farm of his for the term of my natural life. I did not care to go
and see it, since I wanted to complete the model of my colossal Neptune. There
was also no reason why I should visit the property, because Sbietta only sold
it to me for the income. ^1 This he had noted down at so many bushels of
grain, so much of wine, oil, standing corn, chestnuts, and other produce. I
reckoned that, as the market then ran, these together were worth something
considerably over a hundred golden crowns in gold; and I paid him 650 crowns,
which included duties to the state. Consequently, when he left a memorandum
written in his own hand, to the effect that he would always keep up these
products of the farm in the same values during my lifetime, I did not think it
necessary to inspect it. Only I made inquiries, to the best of my ability, as
to whether Sbietta and his brother Ser Filippo were well off enough to give me
good security. Many persons of divers sorts, who knew them, assured me that my
security was excellent. We agreed to call in Ser Pierfrancesco Bertoldi,
notary at the Mercantanzia; and at the very first I handed him Sbietta's
memorandum, expecting that this would be recited in the deed. But the notary
who drew it up was so occupied with detailing twenty-two boundaries described
by Sbietta, ^2 that, so far as I can judge, he neglected to include in the
contract what the vendor had proposed to furnish. While he was writing, I went
on working; and since it took him several hours, I finished a good piece of my
Neptune's head.

[Footnote 1: What Cellini means is that Sbietta was to work the farm, paying
Cellini its annual value. It appears from some particulars which follow that
the entrate were to be paid in kind.]

[Footnote 2: The word confini, which I have translated boundaries, may mean
limiting conditions.]

     After the contract was signed and sealed, Sbietta began to pay me the
most marked attentions, which I returned in like measure. He made me presents
of kids, cheese, capons, fresh curds, and many sorts of fruits, until I began
to be almost ashamed of so much kindness. In exchange for these courtesies I
always took him from the inn to lodge with me when he came into Florence,
often inviting a relative or two who happened to attend him. On one of these
occasions he told me with a touch of pleasantry that it was really shameful
for me to have bought a farm, and, after the lapse of so many weeks, not yet
to have left my business for three days in the hands of my workpeople, so as
to have come to look at it. His wheedling words and ways induced me to set
off, in a bad hour for my welfare, on a visit to him. Sbietta received me in
his own house with such attentions and such honours as a duke might covet. His
wife caressed me even more than he did; and these excellent relations
continued between us until the plans which he and his brother Ser Filippo had
in mind were fully matured.

     Meanwhile I did not suspend my labours on the Neptune, which was now
quite blocked out upon an excellent system, undiscovered and unknown before I
used it. Consequently, although I knew I should not get the marble for the
reasons above narrated, I hoped to have it soon completed, and to display it
on the piazza simply for my satisfaction.

     It was a warm and pleasant season; and this, together with the attentions
of those two rascals, disposed me to set out one Wednesday, which happened to
be a double holiday, for my country-house at Trespiano. ^1 Having spent some
time over an excellent lunch, it was past twenty o'clock when I reached
Vicchio. There, at the towngate, I met Ser Filippo, who appeared to know
already whither I was bound. He loaded me with attentions, and took me to
Sbietta's house, where I found that fellow's strumpet of a wife, who also
overwhelmed me with caresses. I gave the woman a straw hat of the very finest
texture, the like of which she told me she had never seen. Still, up to this
time, Sbietta had not put in his appearance.

[Footnote 1: From Cellini's Ricordi it appears that he bought a farm at this
village, north-east of Florence, on October 26, 1548. In 1556 he also
purchased land there.]

     Toward the end of the afternoon we all sat down to supper in excellent
spirits. Later on, they gave me a well appointed bedroom, where I went to rest
in a bed of the most perfect cleanliness. Both of my servants, according to
their rank, were equally well treated. On the morrow, when I rose, the same
attentions were paid me. I went to see my farm, which pleased me much; and
then I had some quantities of grain and other produce handed over. But when I
returned to Vicchio, the priest Ser Filippo said to me: "Benvenuto do not be
uneasy; although you have not found here quite everything you had the right to
look for, yet put your mind to rest; it will be amply made up in the future,
for you have to deal with honest folk. You ought, by the way, to know that we
have sent that labourer away, because he was a scoundrel." The labourer in
question bore the name of Mariano Rosegli; and this man now kept frequently
repeating in my ear: "Look well after yourself; in the end you will discover
which of us here is the greatest villain." The country-fellow, when he spoke
those words, smiled with an evil kind of sneer, and jerked his head as though
to say: "Only go up there, and you will find out for yourself."

     I was to some extent unfavourably influenced by these hints, yet far from
forming a conception of what actually happened to me. So, when I returned from
the farm, which is two miles distant from Vicchio, toward the Alpi, ^2 I met
the priest, who was waiting for me with his customary politeness. We then sat
down together to breakfast; it was not so much a dinner as an excellent
collation. Afterwards I took a walk through Vicchio - the market had just
opened - and noticed how all the inhabitants fixed their eyes upon me, as on
something strange. This struck me particularly in the case of a worthy old
man, who has been living for many years at Vicchio, and whose wife bakes bread
for sale. He owns some good property at the distance of about a mile; however,
he prefers this mode of life, and occupies a house which belongs to me in the
town of Vicchio. This had been consigned to me together with the farm above
mentioned, which bears the name of Della Fonte. The worthy old man spoke as
follows: "I am living in your house, and when it falls due I shall pay you
your rent; but if you want it earlier, I will act according to your wishes.
You may reckon on never having any disputes with me." While we were thus
talking I noticed that he looked me hard in the face, which compelled me to
address him thus: "Prithee, tell me, friend Giovanni, why you have more than
once stared at me in that way?" He replied: "I am quite willing to tell you,
if, being the man of worth I take you for, you will promise not to say that I
have told you." I gave the promise and he proceeded: "You must know then that
that worthless priest, Ser Filippo, not many days since, went about boasting
of his brother Sbietta's cleverness, and telling how he had sold his farm to
an old man for his lifetime, and that the purchaser could hardly live the year
out. You have got mixed up with a set of rogues; therefore take heed to living
as long as you are able, and keep your eyes open, for you have need of it. I
do not choose to say more."

[Footnote 2: The Alpi are high mountain pastures in the Apennines.]

     During my promenade through the market, I met Giovan Battista Santini,
and he and I were taken back to supper by the priest. As I have related above,
we supped at the early hour of twenty, because I made it known that I meant to
return to Trespiano. Accordingly they made all ready; the wife of Sbietta went
bustling about in the company of one Cecchino Buti, their knave of all work.
After the salads had been mixed and we were preparing to sit down to table,
that evil priest, with a certain nasty sort of grin, exclaimed: "I must beg
you to excuse me, for I cannot sup with you; the reason is that some business
of importance has occurred which I must transact for my brother Sbietta. In
his absence I am obliged to act for him." We all begged him to stay, but could
not alter his determination; so he departed and we began our supper. After we
had eaten the salads on some common platters, and they were preparing to serve
the boiled meat, each guest received a porringer for himself. Santini, who was
seated opposite me at table exclaimed: "Do you notice that the crockery they
give you is different from the rest? Did you ever see anything handsomer?" I
answered that I had not noticed it. He also prayed me to invite Sbietta's wife
to sit down with us; for she and that Cecchino Buti kept running hither and
thither in the most extraordinary fuss and hurry. At last I induced the woman
to join us; when she began to remonstrate: "You do not like my victuals, since
you eat so little." I answered by praising the supper over and over again, and
saying that I had never eaten better or with heartier appetite. Finally, I
told her that I had eaten quite enough. I could not imagine why she urged me
so persistently to eat. After supper was over, and it was past the hour of
twenty-one, I became anxious to return to Trespiano, in order that I might
recommence my work next morning in the Loggia. Accordingly I bade farewell to
all the company, and having thanked our hostess, took my leave.

     I had not gone three miles before I felt as though my stomach was on
fire, and suffered such pain that it seemed a thousand years till I arrived at
Trespiano. However, it pleased God that I reached it after nightfall with
great toil, and immediately proceeded to my farm, where I went to bed. During
the night I got no sleep, and was constantly disturbed by motions of my
bowels. When day broke, feeling an intense heat in the rectum, I looked
eagerly to see what this might mean, and found the cloth covered with blood.
Then in a moment I conceived that I had eaten something poisonous, and racked
my brains to think what it could possibly have been. It came back to my memory
how Sbietta's wife had set before me plates, and porringers, and saucers
different from the others, and how that evil priest, Sbietta's brother, after
giving himself such pains to do me honour, had yet refused to sup with us.
Furthermore, I remembered what the priest had said about Sbietta's doing such
a fine stroke of business by the sale of his farm to an old man for life,hwho
could not be expected to survive a year. Giovanni Sardella had reported these
words to me. All things considered, I made my mind up that they must have
administered a dose of sublimate in the sauce, which was very well made and
pleasant to the taste, inasmuch as sublimate produces all the symptoms. I was
suffering from. Now it is my custom to take but little sauce or seasoning with
my meat, excepting salt; and yet I had eaten two moderate mouthfuls of that
sauce because it was so tasteful. On further thinking, I recollected how often
that wife of Sbietta had teased me in a hundred ways to partake more freely of
the sauce. On these accounts I felt absolutely certain that they had given me
sublimate in that very dish.

     Albeit I was suffering so severely, I forced myself to work upon my
Colossus in the Loggia; but after a few days I succumbed to the malady and
took to my bed. No sooner did the Duchess hear that I was ill, than she caused
the execution of that unlucky marble to be assigned to Bartolommeo Ammanato.
^1 He sent word to me through Messer . . . . living . . . . Street, that I
might now do what I liked with my model since he had won the marble. This
Messer . . . . was one of the lovers of Bartolommeo Ammanato's wife; and being
the most favoured on account of his gentle manners and discretion, Ammanato
made things easy for him. There would be much to say upon this topic; however,
I do not care to imitate his master, Bandinello, who always wandered from the
subject in his talk. Suffice it to say that I told Ammanato's messenger I had
always imagined it would turn out thus; let the man strain himself to the
utmost in proof of gratitude to Fortune for so great a favour so undeservedly
conferred on him by her.

[Footnote 1: What follows has been so carefully erased, possibly by Cellini's
own hand, in the autograph, that it is illegible. Laura Battiferra, Ammanato's
wife, was a woman of irreproachable character, whom Cellini himself praised in
a sonnet.]

     All this while I stayed with sorry cheer in bed, and was attended by that
most excellent man and physician, Maestro Francesco da Montevarchi. Together
with him Maestro Raffaello de' Pilli undertook the surgical part of my case,
forasmuch as the sublimate had so corroded the intestines that I was unable to
retain my motions. When Maestro Francesco saw that the poison had exerted all
its strength, being indeed insufficient in quantity to overcome my vigorous
constitutions, he said one day: "Benvenuto, return thanks to God, for you have
won the battle. Have no anxiety, since I mean to cure you in spite of the
rogues who sought to work your ruin." Maestro Raffaello then put in: "This
will be one of the finest and most difficult cures which was ever heard of;
for I can tell you, Benvenuto, that you swallowed a good mouthful of
sublimate." Thereupon Maestro Francesco took him up and said: "It may possibly
have been some venomous caterpillar." I replied: "I know for certain what sort
of poison it was, and who gave it to me;" upon which we all were silent. They
attended me more than six full months, and I remained more than a whole year
before I could enjoy my life and vigour.

     At this time ^1 the Duke went to make his triumphal entry into Siena, and
Ammanato had gone there some months earlier to construct the arches. A bastard
of his, who stayed behind in the Loggia, removed the cloths with which I kept
my model of Neptune covered until it should be finished. As soon as I knew
this, I complained to Signor Don Francesco, the Duke's son, who was kindly
disposed toward me, and told him how they had disclosed my still imperfect
statue; had it been finished, I should not have given the fact a thought. The
Prince replied with a threatening toss of his head: "Benvenuto, do not mind
your statue having been uncovered, because these men are only working against
themselves; yet if you want me to have it covered up, I will do so at once."
He added many other words in my honour before a crowd of gentlemen who were
there. I then begged his Excellency to give me the necessary means for
finishing it, saying that I meant to make a present of it together with the
little modul to his Highness. He replied that he gladly accepted both gifts,
and that he would have all the conveniences I asked for put at my disposal.
Thus, then, I fed upon this trifling mark of favour, which, in fact, proved
the salvation of my life; for having been overwhelmed by so many evils and
such great annoyances all at one fell swoop, I felt my forces failing; but
this little gleam of encouragement inspired me with some hope of living.

[Footnote 1: October 28, 1560.]

     A year had now passed since I bought the farm of Della Fonte from
Sbietta. In addition to their attempt upon my life by poisoning and their
numerous robberies, I noticed that the property yielded less than half what
had been promised. Now, in addition to the deeds of contract, I had a
declaration written by Sbietta's own hand, in which he bound himself before
witnesses to pay me over the yearly income I have mentioned. Armed with these
documents, I had recourse to the Lords Counsellors. At that time Messer
Alfonso Quistello was still alive and Chancellor of the Exchequer; he sat upon
the Board, which included Averardo Serristori and Federigo de' Ricci. I cannot
remember the names of all of them, but I know that one of the Alessandri was a
member. Suffice it to say, the counsellors of that session were men of weight
and worth. When I had explained my cause to the magistracy, they all with one
voice ruled that Sbietta should give me back my money, except Federigo de'
Ricci, who was then employing the fellow himself; the others unanimously
expressed sorrow to me that Federigo de' Ricci prevented them from despatching
the affair. Averardo Serristori and Alessandri in particular made a tremendous
stir about it, but Federigo managed to protect matters until the magistracy
went out of office; whereupon Serristori, meeting me one morning after they
had come out upon the Piazza dell' Annunziata, cried aloud, without the least
regard to consequences: "Federigo de' Ricci has been so much stronger than all
of us put together that you have been massacred against our will." I do not
intend to say more upon this topic, since it would be too offensive to the
supreme authorities of state; enough that I was cruelly wronged at the will of
a rich citizen, only because he made use of that shepherd-fellow.