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Perseus with Head of the slain Medusa

By Benvenuto Cellini

From the bronze statue in the Natiotid Muieum, Florence

I

THE HARVARD CLASSICS
EDITED BY CHARLES W. ELIOT, LL.D.

The Autobiography of
Benvenuto Cellini

TRANSLATED BY
JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS

W/VA Introduction and 'Notes
Yolume 31

P. F. Collier & Son Corporation

NEW YORK

Copyright, 1910
By p. F. Collier & Son

manufactured in u. s. a.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
BENVENUTO CELLINI

This tale of my sore-troubled life I write,

To THANK THE GoD OF NATURE, WHO CONVEYED

My SOUL TO ME, AND WITH SUCH CARE HATH STAYED

That divers noble deeds I've brought to light.

'TwAS He subdued my cruel fortune's spite:
Life glory virtue measureless hath made
Such grace worth beauty be through me displayed
That few can rival, none surpass me quite.

Only it grieves me when I understand

What precious time in vanity I've spent —

The wind it beareth man's frail thoughts away.

Yet, since remorse avails not, I'm content.

As ERST I came, welcome to go one day.
Here in the Flower of this fair Tuscan land.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Among the vast number of men who have thought fit to write down
the history of their own lives, three or four have achieved masterpieces
which stand out preeminent: Saint Augustine in his "Confessions,"
Samuel Pepys in his "Diary," Rousseau in his "Confessions." It is
among these extraordinary documents, and unsurpassed by any of them,
that the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini takes its place.

The "Life" of himself which Cellini wrote was due to other motives
than those which produced its chief competitors for first place in its
class. St. Augustine's aim was religious and didactic, Pepys noted down
in his diary the daily events of his life for his sole satisfaction and with
no intention that any one should read the cipher in which they were
recorded. But Cellini wrote that the world might know, after he was
dead, what a fellow he had been; what great things he had attempted,
and against what odds he had carried them through. "All men," he held,
"whatever be their condition, who have done anything of merit, or which
verily has a semblance of merit, if so be they are men of truth and
good repute, should write the tale of their life with their own hand."
That he had done many things of merit, he had no manner of doubt.
His repute was great in his day, and perhaps good in the sense in which
he meant goodness; as to whether he was a man of truth, there is still
dispute among scholars. Of some misrepresentations, some suppressions
of damaging facts, there seems to be evidence only too good — a man
with Cellini's passion for proving himself in the right could hardly have
avoided being guilty of such — ; but of the general trustworthiness of his
record, of the kind of man he was and the kind of life he led, there is no
reasonable doubt.

The period covered by the autobiography is from Cellini's birth in
1500 to 1562; the scene is mainly in Italy and France. Of the great events
of the time, the time of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation,
of the strife of Pope and Emperor and King, we get only glimpses. The
leaders in these events appear in the foreground of the picture only
when they come into personal relations with the hero; and then not
mainly as statesmen or warriors, but as connoisseurs and patrons of art.
Such an event as the Sack of Rome is described because Benvenuto him-
self fought in it.

Much more complete is the view he gives of the artistic life of the time.
It was the age of Michelangelo, and in the throng of great artists which

S

4 INTRODUCTION

then filled the Italian cities, Cellini was no inconsiderable figure. Michel-
angelo himself he knew and adored. Nowhere can we gain a better
idea than in this book of the passionate enthusiasm for the creation of
beauty which has bestowed upon the Italy of the Renaissance its greatest
glory.

Very vivid, too, is the impression we receive of the social life of the
sixteenth century; of its violence and licentiousness, of its zeal for fine
craftsmanship, of its abounding vitality, its versatility and its idealism.
For Cellini himself is an epitome of that century. This man who tells
here the story of his life was a murderer and a braggart, insolent, sensual,
inordinately proud and passionate; but he was also a worker in gold and
silver, rejoicing in delicate chasing and subtle modelling of precious
surfaces; a sculptor and a musician; and, as all who read his book must
testify, a great master of narrative. Keen as was Benvenuto's interest in
himself, and much as he loved to dwell on the splendor of his exploits
and achievements, he had little idea that centuries after his death he
would live again, less by his "Perseus" and his goldsmith's work than
by the book which he dictated casually to a lad of fourteen, while he
went about his work.

The autobiography was composed between 1558 and 1566, but it
brings the record down only to 1562. The remainder of Cellini's life
seems to have been somewhat more peaceful. In 1565 he married Piera
de Salvadore Parigi, a servant who had nursed him when he was sick;
and in the care of his children, as earlier of his sister and nieces, he
showed more tenderness than might have been expected from a man
of his boisterous nature. He died at Florence, May 13, 1571, and was
buried in The Church of the Annunziata in that city.

BOOK FIRST

ALL men of whatsoever quality they be, who have done any-
JL\ thing of excellence, or which may properly resemble excel-
X JL lence, ought, if they are persons of truth and honesty, to
describe their life with their own hand; but they ought not to attempt
so fine an enterprise till they have passed the age of forty. This
duty occurs to my own mind now that I am travelling beyond the
term of fifty-eight years, and am in Florence, the city of my birth.
Many untoward things can I remember, such as happen to all who
live upon our earth; and from those adversities I am now more free
than at any previous period of my career — nay, it seems to me that
I enjoy greater content of soul and health of body than ever I did
in bygone years. I can also bring to mind some pleasant goods and
some inestimable evils, which, when I turn my thoughts backward,
strike terror in me, and astonishment that I should have reached this
age of fifty-eight, wherein, thanks be to God, I am still travelling
prosperously forward.

n

It is true that men who have laboured with some show of excel-
lence, have already given knowledge of themselves to the world;
and this alone ought to suffice them; I mean the fact that they have
proved their manhood and achieved renown. Yet one must needs
live like others; and so in a work like this there will always be
found occasion for natural bragging, which is of divers kinds, and
the first is that a man should let others know he draws his lineage
from persons of worth and most ancient origin.

I am called Benvenuto Cellini, son of Maestro Giovanni, son of
Andrea, son of Cristofano Cellini; my mother was Madonna Elisa-
betta, daughter to Stefano Granacci; both parents citizens of Flor-
ence. It is found written in chronicles made by our ancestors of
Florence, men of old time and of credibility, even as Giovanni Villani

5

O BENVENUTO CELLINI

writes, that the city of Florence was evidently built in imitation of
the fair city of Rome; and certain remnants of the Colosseum and
the Baths can yet be traced. These things are near Santa Croce. The
Capitol was where is now the Old Market. The Rotonda is entire,
which was made for the temple of Mars, and is now dedicated to
our Saint John. That thus it was, can very well be seen, and cannot
be denied, but the said buildings are much smaller than those of
Rome. He who caused them to be built, they say, was Julius Czsar,
in concert with some noble Romans, who, when Fiesole had been
stormed and taken, raised a city in this place, and each of them took
in hand to erect one o£ these notable edifices.

Julius Cjesar had among his captains a man of highest rank and
valour, who was called Fiorino of Cellino, which is a village about
two miles distant from Monte Fiascone. Now this Fiorino took up
his quarters under the hill of Fiesole, on the ground where Florence
now stands, in order to be near the river Arno, and for the con-
venience of the troops. All those soldiers and others who had to do
with the said captain, used then to say: "Let us go to Fiorenze;" as
well because the said captain was called Fiorino, as also because the
place he had chosen for his quarters was by nature very rich in
flowers. Upon the foundation of the city, therefore, since this name
struck Julius Caesar as being fair and apt, and given by circum-
stance, and seeing furthermore that flowers themselves bring good
augury, he appointed the name of Florence for the town. He wished
besides to pay his valiant captain this compliment; and he loved him
all the more for having drawn him from a very humble place, and
for the reason that so excellent a man was a creature of his own.
The name that learned inventors and investigators of such etymolo-
gies adduce, as that Florence is flowing at the Arno, cannot hold;
seeing that Rome is flowing at the Tiber, Ferrara is flowing at the
Po, Lyons is flowing at the Saone, Paris is flowing at the Seine, and
yet the names of all these towns are different, and have come to
them by other ways.'

* He is alluding to the name Fluenzia, which some antiquaries of his day thought to
have been the earliest name of the city, derived from its being near Arno fluente. 1
have translated the word fluente in the text literally, though of course it signifies
"situated on a flowing river." I need not call attention to the apocryphal nature of
Cellini's own derivation from the name of his supposed ancestor.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 7

Thus then we find; and thus we beUeve that we are descended
from a man of worth. Furthermore, we find that there are CeUinis
of our stock in Ravenna, that most ancient town of Italy, where too
are plenty of gentle folk. In Pisa also there are some, and I have
discovered them in many parts of Christendom; and in this state
also the breed exists, men devoted to the profession of arms; for not
many years ago a young man, called Luca Cellini, a beardless youth,
fought with a soldier of experience and a most valorous man, named
Francesco da Vicorati, who had frequently fought before in single
combat. This Luca, by his own valour, with sword in hand, over-
came and slew him, with such bravery and stoutness that he moved
the folk to wonder, who were expecting quite the contrary issue;
so that I glory in tracing my descent from men of valour.

As for the trifling honours which I have gained for my house,
under the well-known conditions of our present ways of living, and
by means of my art, albeit the same are matters of no great moment,
I will relate these in their proper time and place, taking much more
pride in having been born humble and having laid some honourable
foundation for my family, than if I had been born of great lineage
and had stained or overclouded that by my base qualities. So then I
will make a beginning by saying how it pleased God I should be
born.

Ill

My ancestors dwelt in Val d' Ambra, where they owned large
estates, and lived like little lords, in retirement, however, on account
of the then contending factions. They were all men devoted to arms
and of notable bravery. In that time one of their sons, the younger,
who was called Cristofano, roused a great feud with certain of their
friends and neighbours. Now the heads of the families on both sides
took part in it, and the fire kindled seemed to them so threatening
that their houses were like to perish utterly; the elders upon this
consideration, in concert with my own ancestors, removed Cristo-
fano; and the other youth with whom the quarrel began was also
sent away. They sent their young man to Siena. Our folk sent
Cristofano to Florence; and there they bought for him a little house
in Via Chiara, close to the convent of S. Orsola, and they also pur-

8 BENVENUTO CELLINI

chased for him some very good property near the Ponte a Rifredi.
The said Cristofano took wife in Florence, and had sons and
daughters; and when all the daughters had been portioned off, the
sons, after their father's death, divided what remained. The house
in Via Chiara with some other trifles fell to the share of one of the
said sons, who had the name of Andrea. He also took wife, and had
four male children. The first was called Girolamo, the second
Bartolommeo, the third Giovanni, who was afterwards my father,
and the fourth Francesco. This Andrea Cellini was very well versed
in architecture, as it was then practised, and lived by it as his trade.
Giovanni, who was my father, paid more attention to it than any of
the other brothers. And since Vitruvius says, amongst other things,
that one who wishes to practise that art well must have something
of music and good drawing, Giovanni, when he had mastered draw-
ing, began to turn his mind to music, and together with the theory
learned to play most excellently on the viol and the flute; and being
a person of studious habits, he left his home but seldom.

They had for neighbour in the next house a man called Stefano
Granacci, who had several daughters, all of them of remarkable
beauty. As it pleased God, Giovanni noticed one of these girls who
was named Elisabetta; and she found such favour with him that
he asked her in marriage. The fathers of both of them being well
acquainted through their close neighbourhood, it was easy to make
this match up; and each thought that he had very well arranged his
affairs. First of all the two good old men agreed upon the marriage;
then they began to discuss the dowry, which led to a certain amount
of friendly difference; for Andrea said to Stefano: "My son Giovanni
is the stoutest youth of Florence, and of all Italy to boot, and if I
had wanted earlier to have him married, I could have procured one
of the largest dowries which folk of our rank get in Florence:"
whereupon Stefano answered: "You have a thousand reasons on
your side; but here am I with five daughters and as many sons, and
when my reckoning is made, this is as much as I can possibly afford."
Giovanni, who had been listening awhile unseen by them, suddenly
broke in and said: "O my father, I have sought and loved that girl
and not their money. Ill luck to those who seek to fill their pockets
by the dowry of their wife! As you have boasted that I am a fellow

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 9

of such parts, do you not think that I shall be able to provide for my
wife and satisfy her needs, even if I receive something short of the
portion you would like to get? Now I must make you understand
that the woman is mine, and you may take the dowry for yourself."
At this Andrea Cellini, who was a man of rather awkward temper,
grew a trifle angry; but after a few days Giovanni took his wife, and
never asked for other portion with her.

They enjoyed their youth and wedded love through eighteen
years, always greatly desiring to be blessed with children. At the end
of this time Giovanni's wife miscarried of two boys through the
unskilfulness of the doctors. Later on she was again with child, and
gave birth to a girl, whom they called Cosa, after the mother of my
father.' At the end of two years she was once more with child; and
inasmuch as those longings to which pregnant women are subject,
and to which they pay much attention, were now exactly the same as
those of her former pregnancy, they made their minds up that she
would give birth to a female as before, and agreed to call the child
Reparata, after the mother of my mother. It happened that she was
delivered on a night of All Saints, following the feast-day, at half-
past four precisely, in the year 1500.^ The midwife, who knew that
they were expecting a girl, after she had washed the baby and
wrapped it in the fairest white linen, came softly to my father
Giovanni and said: "I am bringing you a fine present, such as you
did not anticipate." My father, who was a true philosopher, was
walking up and down, and answered: "What God gives me is
always dear to me;" and when he opened the swaddling clothes, he
saw with his own eyes the unexpected male child. Joining together
the palms of his old hands, he raised them with his eyes to God, and
said "Lord, I thank Thee with my whole heart; this gift is very
dear to me; let him be Welcome." All the persons who were there
asked him joyfully what name the child should bear. Giovanni
would make no other answer than "Let him be Welcome — Ben-
venuto;" ' and so they resolved, and this narrie was given me at Holy
Baptism, and by it I still am living with the grace of God.

' Cosa is Florentine for Niccolosa.

2 The hour is reckoned, according to the old Italian fashion, from sunset of one day
to sunset of the next — twenty-four hours.
^ Benvenuto means Welcome.

10 BENVENUTO CELLINI

IV

Andrea Cellini was yet alive when I was about three years old,
and he had passed his hundredth. One day they had been altering a
certain conduit pertaining to a cistern, and there issued from it a
great scorpion unperceived by them, which crept down from the
cistern to the ground, and slank away beneath a bench. I saw it,
and ran up to it, and laid my hands upon it. It was so big that when
I had it in my little hands, it put out its tail on one side, and on the
other thrust forth both its mouths.' They relate that I ran in high
joy to my grandfather, crying out: "Look, grandpapa, at my pretty
little crab." When he recognised that the creature was a scorpion,
he was on the point of falling dead for the great fear he had and
anxiety about me. He coaxed and entreated me to give it him; but
the more he begged, the tighter I clasped it, crying and saying I
would not give it to any one. My father, who was also in the house,
ran up when he heard my screams, and in his stupefaction could
not think how to prevent the venomous animal from killing me.
Just then his eyes chanced to fall upon a pair of scissors; and so,
while soothing and caressing me, he cut its tail and mouths off.
Afterwards, when the great peril had been thus averted, he took the
occurrence for a good augury.

When I was about five years old my father happened to be in a
basement-chamber of our house, where they had been washing, and
where a good fire of oak-logs was still burning; he had a viol in his
hand, and was playing and singing alone beside the fire. The
weather was very cold. Happening to look into the fire, he spied
in the middle of those most burning flames a little creature like a
lizard, which was sporting in the core of the intensest coals. Becom-
ing instantly aware of what the thing was, he had my sister and me
called, and pointing it out to us children, gave me a great box on the
ears, which caused me to howl and weep with all my might. Then
he pacified me good-humouredly, and spoke as follows: "My dear
little boy, I am not striking you for any wrong that you have done,
but only to make you remember that that lizard which you see in

' The word is bocche, so I have translated it by mouths. But Cellini clearly meant
the gaping claws of the scorpion.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 1

the fire is a salamander, a creature which has never been seen before
by any one of whom we have credible information." So saying, he
kissed me and gave me some pieces of money.

My father began teaching me to play upon the flute and sing by
note; but notwithstanding I was of that tender age when little
children are wont to take pastime in whistles and such toys, I had an
inexpressible dislike for it, and played and sang only to obey him.
My father in those times fashioned wonderful organs with pipes of
wood, spinets the fairest and most excellent which then could be
seen, viols and lutes and harps of the most beautiful and perfect
construction. He was an engineer, and had marvellous skill in mak-
ing instruments for lowering bridges and for working mills, and
other machines of that sort. In ivory he was the first who wrought
really well. But after he had fallen in love with the woman who was
destined to become my mother — perhaps what brought them together
was that little flute, to which indeed he paid more attention than was
proper — he was entreated by the fifers of the Signory to play in their
company. Accordingly he did so for some time to amuse himself,
until by constant importunity they induced him to become a member
of their band. Lorenzo de' Medici and Piero his son, who had a
great liking for him, perceived later on that he was devoting himself
wholly to the fife, and was neglecting his fine engineering talent and
his beautiful art.' So they had him removed from that post. My
father took this very ill, and it seemed to him that they had done
him a great despite. Yet he immediately resumed his art, and
fashioned a mirror, about a cubit in diameter, out of bone and ivory,
with figures and foliage of great finish and grand design. The
mirror was in the form of a wheel. In the middle was the looking-
glass; around it were seven circular pieces, on which were the Seven
Virtues, carved and joined of ivory and black bone. The whole
mirror, together with the Virtues, was placed in equilibrium, so that
when the wheel turned, all the Virtues moved, and they had weights
at their feet which kept them upright. Possessing some acquaintance

' The Medici here mentioned were Lorenzo the Magnificent, and his son Pietro, who
was expelled from Florence in the year 1494. He never returned, but died in the river
Garigliano in 1504.

12 BENVENUTO CELLINI

with the Latin tongue, he put a legend in Latin round his looking-
glass, to this effect — "Whithersoever the wheel of Fortune turns,
Virtue stands firm upon her feet:"

Rota sum: semper, quoquo me verto, stat Virtus.

A little while after this he obtained his place again among the lifers.
Although some of these things happened before I was born, my
familiarity with them has moved me to set them down here. In those
days the musicians of the Signory were all of them members of the
most honourable trades, and some of them belonged to the greater
guilds of silk and wool;^ and that was the reason why my father did
not disdain to follow this profession, and his chief desire with regard
to me was always that I should become a great performer on the
flute. I for my part felt never more discontented than when he chose
to talk to me about this scheme, and to tell me that, if I liked, he
discerned in me such aptitudes that I might become the best man
in the world.

VI

As I have said, my father was the devoted servant and attached
friend of the house of Medici; and when Piero was banished, he
entrusted him with many affairs of the greatest possible importance.
Afterwards, when the magnificent Piero Soderini was elected, and
my father continued in his office of musician, Soderini, perceiving
his wonderful talent, began to employ him in many matters of
great importance as an engineer.' So long as Soderini remained in
Florence, he showed the utmost good-will to my father; and in those
days, I being still of tender age, my father had me carried, and made
me perform upon the flute; I used to play treble in concert with the
musicians of the palace before the Signory, following my notes: and
a beadle used to carry me upon his shoulders. The Gonfalonier,
that is, Soderini, whom I have already mentioned, took much pleas-

*In the Middle Ages the burghers of Florence were divided into industrial guilds
called the Greater and the Lesser Arts. The former took precedence of the latter, both
in political importance and in social esteem.

' Piero Soderini was elected Gonfalonier of the Florentine Republic for life in the year
1502. After nine years of government, he was banished, and when he died, Machiavelli
wrote the famous sneering epitaph upon him. See J. A. Symonds' Rtnaissance in Italy,
yol. i. p. 297.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 3

ure in making me chatter, and gave me comfits, and was wont to
say to my father: "Maestro Giovanni, besides music, teach the boy
those other arts which do you so much honour." To which my
father answered : "I do not wish him to practise any art but playing
and composing; for in this profession I hope to make him the
greatest man of the world, if God prolongs his life." To these words
one of the old counsellors made answer: "Ah! Maestro Giovanni,
do what the Gonfalonier tells you! for why should he never become
anything more than a good musician?"

Thus some time passed, until the Medici returned.^ When they
arrived, the Cardinal, who afterwards became Pope Leo, received
my father very kindly. During their exile the scutcheons which were
on the palace of the Medici had had their balls erased, and a great
red cross painted over them, which was the bearing of the Com-
mune.' Accordingly, as soon as they returned, the red cross was
scratched out, and on the scutcheon the red balls and the golden field
were painted in again, and finished with great beauty. My father,
who possessed a simple vein of poetry, instilled in him by nature,
together with a certain touch of prophecy, which was doubtless a
divine gift in him, wrote these four verses under the said arms of
the Medici, when they were uncovered to the view: —

These arms, which have so long from sight been laid

Beneath the holy cross, that symbol meek,

Now lift their glorious glad face, and seek
With Peter's sacred cloak to be arrayed.

This epigram was read by all Florence. A few days afterwards Pope
Julius II. died. The Cardinal de' Medici went to Rome, and was
elected Pope against the expectation of everybody. He reigned as
Leo X., that generous and great soul. My father sent him his four
prophetic verses. The Pope sent to tell him to come to Rome; for
this would be to his advantage. But he had no will to go; and so,
in lieu of reward, his place in the palace was taken from him by

^This was in 1512, when Lorenzo's two sons, Giuliano and Giovanni (afterwards
Pope Leo X.), came back through the aid of a Spanish army, after the great battle at
Ravenna.

^ The Medicean arms were "or, six pellets gules, three, two, and one." The Floren-
tine Commune bore, "argent a cross gules."

14 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Jacopo Salviati, upon that man's election as Gonfalonier." This
was the reason why I commenced goldsmith; after which I spent
part of my time in learning that art, and part in playing, much
against my will.

VII

When my father spoke to me in the way I have above described,
I entreated him to let me draw a certain fixed number of hours in
the day; all the rest of my time I would give to music, only with the
view of satisfying his desire. Upon this he said to me: "So then,
you take no pleasure in playing?" To which I answered, "No;" be-
cause that art seemed too base in comparison with what I had in my
own mind. My good father, driven to despair by this fixed idea of
mine, placed me in the workshop of Cavaliere Bandinello's father,
who was called Michel Agnolo, a goldsmith from Pinzi di Monte,
and a master excellent in that craft.' He had no distinction of birth
whatever, but was the son of a charcoal-seller. This is no blame to
Bandinello, who has founded the honour of the family — if only he
had done so honestly! However that may be, I have no cause now
to talk about him. After I had stayed there some days, my father
took me away from Michel Agnolo, finding himself unable to live
without having me always under his eyes. Accordingly, much to my
discontent, I remained at music till I reached the age of fifteen. If I
were to describe all the wonderful things that happened to me up
to that time, and all the great dangers to my own life which I ran,
I should astound my readers; but, in order to avoid prolixity, and
having very much to relate, I will omit these incidents.

When I reached the age of fifteen, I put myself, against my
father's will, to the goldsmith's trade with a man called Antonio,
son of Sandro, known commonly as Marcone the goldsmith. He was
a most excellent craftsman and a very good fellow to boot, high-

* Cellini makes a mistake here. Salviati married a daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici,
and obtained great influence in Florence; but we have no record o£ his appointment
to the office of Gonfalonier.

' Baccio Bandinello, the sculptor, and a great rival of Cellini's, as will appear in the
ensuing pages, was born in 1487, and received the honour of knighthood from Clement
VII. and Charles V. Posterity has confirmed Cellini's opinion of Bandinello as an artist;
for his works are coarse, pretentious, and incapable of giving pleasure to any
person of refined intelligence.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I5

spirited and frank in all his ways. My father would not let him
give me wages like the other apprentices; for having taken up the
study of this art to please myself, he wished me to indulge my whim
for drawing to the full. I did so willingly enough; and that honest
master of mine took marvellous delight in my performances. He
had an only son, a bastard, to whom he often gave his orders, in
order to spare me. My liking for the art was so great, or, I may
truly say, my natural bias, both one and the other, that in a few
months I caught up the good, nay, the best young craftsmen in our
business, and began to reap the fruits of my labours. I did not, how-
ever, neglect to gratify my good father from time to time by playing
on the flute or cornet. Each time he heard me, I used to make his
tears fall accompanied with deep-drawn sighs of satisfaction. My
filial piety often made me give him that contentment, and induce
me to pretend that I enjoyed the music too.

VIII

At that time I had a brother, younger by two years, a youth of
extreme boldness and fierce temper. He afterwards became one of
the great soldiers in the school of that marvellous general Giovannino
de' Medici, father of Duke Cosimo.' The boy was about fourteen,
and I two years older. One Sunday evening, just before nightfall,
he happened to find himself between the gate San Gallo and the
Porta a Pinti; in this quarter he came to duel with a young fellow
of twenty or thereabouts. They both had swords; and my brother
dealt so valiantly that, after having badly wounded him, he was
upon the point of following up his advantage. There was a great
crowd of people present, among whom were many of the adver-
sary's kinsfolk. Seeing that the thing was going ill for their own
man, they put hand to their slings, a stone from one of which hit
my poor brother in the head. He fell to the ground at once in a
dead faint. It so chanced that I had been upon the spot alone, and
without arms; and I had done my best to get my brother out of the
fray by calling to him: "Make off; you have done enough." Mean-

' Cellini refers to the famous Giovanni delle Bande Nere, who was killed in an en-
gagement in Lombardy in November 1526, by the Imperialist troops marching to the
sack of Rome. His son Cosimo, after the murder of Duke Alessandro, established the
second Medicean dynasty in Florence.

l6 BENVENUTO CELLINI

while, as luck would have it, he fell, as I have said, half dead to
earth. I ran up at once, seized his sword, and stood in front of him,
bearing the brunt of several rapiers and a shower of stones. I never
left his side until some brave soldiers came from the gate San Gallo
and rescued me from the raging crowd; they marvelled much, the
while, to find such valour in so young a boy.

Then I carried my brother home for dead, and it was only with
great difficulty that he came to himself again. When he was cured,
the Eight, who had already condemned our adversaries and banished
them for a term of years, sent us also into exile for six months at a
distance of ten miles from Florence.^ I said to my brother: "Come
along with me;" and so we took leave of our poor father; and instead
of giving us money, for he had none, he bestowed on us his blessing.
I went to Siena, wishing to look up a certain worthy man called
Maestro Francesco Castoro. On another occasion, when I had run
away from my father, I went to this good man, and stayed some
time with him, working at the goldsmith's trade until my father
sent for me back. Francesco, when I reached him, recognised me
at once, and gave me work to do. While thus occupied, he placed a
house at my disposal for the whole time of my sojourn in Siena. Into
this I moved, together with my brother, and applied myself to
labour for the space of several months. My brother had acquired the
rudiments of Latin, but was still so young that he could not yet relish
the taste of virtuous employment, but passed his time in dissipation.

IX

The Cardinal de' Medici, who afterwards became Pope Clement
VII., had us recalled to Florence at the entreaty of my father.' A
certain pupil of my father's, moved by his own bad nature, sug-
gested to the Cardinal that he ought to send me to Bologna, in order
to learn to play well from a great master there. The name of this

^ The Eight, or Gli Otto, were a magistracy in Florence with cognizance of matters
affecting the internal peace of the city.

' This Cardinal and Pope was Giulio, a natural son of Giuliano, Lorenzo de' Medici's
brother, who had been killed in the Pazzi conspiracy, year 1478. Giulio lived to be-
come Pope Clement VII., to suffer the sack of Rome in 1527, and to make the con-
cordat with Charles V. at Bologna in 1529-30, which settled for three centuries the
destiny of Italy. We shall hear much more of him from Cellini in the course of this
narrative.

AUTOB lOGRAPH Y 1 7

master was Antonio, and he was in truth a worthy man in the
musician's art. The Cardinal said to my father that, if he sent me
there he would give me letters of recommendation and support. My
father, dying with joy at such an opportunity, sent me off; and I
being eager to see the world, went with good grace.

When I reached Bologna, I put myself under a certain Maestro
Ercole del Piffero, and began to earn something by my trade. In the
meantime I used to go every day to take my music lesson, and in a
few weeks made considerable progress in that accursed art. How-
ever I made still greater in my trade of goldsmith; for the Cardinal
having givea me no assistance, I went to live with a Bolognese
illuminator who was called Scipione Cavalletti (his house was in
the street of our Lady del Baraccan); and while there I devoted
myself to drawing and working for one Graziadio, a Jew, with
whom I earned considerably.

At the end of six months I returned to Florence, where that fellow
Pierino, who had been my father's pupil, was greatly mortified by
my return. To please my father, I went to his house and played the
cornet and the flute with one of his brothers, who was named
Girolamo, several years younger than the said Piero, a very worthy
young man, and quite the contrary of his brother. On one of those
days my father came to Piero's house to hear us play, and in ecstasy
at my performance exclaimed: "I shall yet make you a marvellous
musician against the will of all or any one who may desire to prevent
me." To this Piero answered, and spoke the truth: "Your Benvenuto
will get much more honour and profit if he devotes himself to the
goldsmith's trade than to this piping." These words made my father
angry, seeing that I too had the same opinion as Piero, that he flew
into a rage and cried out at him: "Well did I know that it was you,
you who put obstacles in the way of my cherished wish; you are the
man who had me ousted from my place at the palace, paying me
back with that black ingratitude which is the usual recompense of
great benefits. I got you promoted, and you have got me cashiered;
I taught you to play with all the little art you have, and you are
preventing my son from obeying me; but bear in mind these words
of prophecy: not years or months, I say, but only a few weeks will
pass before this dirty ingratitude of yours shall plunge you into

1 8 BENVENUTO CELLINI

ruin." To these words answered Pierino and said: "Maestro Gio-
vanni, the majority of men, when they grow old, go mad at the
same time; and this has happened to you. I am not astonished at it,
because most liberally have you squandered all your property, with-
out reflecting that your children had need of it. I mind to do just
the opposite, and to leave my children so much that they shall be
able to succour yours." To this my father answered: "No bad tree
ever bore good fruit; quite the contrary; and I tell you further that
you are bad, and that your children will be mad and paupers, and
will cringe for alms to my virtuous and wealthy sons." Thereupon
we left the house, muttering words of anger on both sides. I had
taken my father's part; and when we stepped into the street together,
I told him I was quite ready to take vengeance for the insults heaped
on him by that scoundrel, provided he permit me to give myself
up to the art of design. He answered: "My dear son, I too in my
time was a good draughtsman; but for recreation, after such stupend-
ous labours, and for the love of me who am your father, who begat
you and brought you up and implanted so many honourable talents
in you, for the sake of recreation, I say, will not you promise some-
times to take in hand your flute and that seductive cornet, and to
play upon them to your heart's content, inviting the delight of
music?" I promised I would do so, and very willingly for his love's
sake. Then my good father said that such excellent parts as I
possessed would be the greatest vengeance I could take for the insults
of his enemies.

Not a whole month had been completed after this scene before
the man Pierino happened to be building a vault in a house of his,
which he had in the Via dello Studio; and being one day in a
ground-floor room above the vault which he was making, together
with much company around him, he fell to talking about his old
master, my father. While repeating the words which he had said
to him concerning his ruin, no sooner had they escaped his lips than
the floor where he was standing (either because the vault had been
badly built, or rather through the sheer mightiness of God, who
does not always pay on Saturday) suddenly gave way. Some of the
stones and bricks of the vault, which fell with him, broke both his
legs. The friends who were with him, remaining on the border of
the broken vault, took no harm, but were astounded and full of

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I9

wonder, especially because of the prophecy which he had just con-
temptuously repeated to them. When my father heard of this, he
took his Sword, and went to see the man. There, in the presence of
his father, who was called Niccolaio da Volterra, a trumpeter of the
Signory, he said, "O Piero, my dear pupil, I am sorely grieved at
your mischance; but if you remember it was only a short time ago
that I warned you of it; and as much as I then said will come to
happen between your children and mine." Shortly afterwards, the
ungrateful Piero died of that illness. He left a wife of bad char-
acter and one son, who after the lapse of some years came to me to
beg for alms in Rome. I gave him something, as well because it is
my nature to be charitable, as also because I recalled with tears the
happy state which Pierino held when my father spake those words of
prophecy, namely, that Pierino's children should live to crave succour
from his own virtuous sons. Of this perhaps enough is now said;
but let none ever laugh at the prognostications of any worthy man
whom he has wrongfully insulted; because it is not he who speaks,
nay, but the very voice of God through him.

All this while I worked as a goldsmith, and was able to assist my
good father. His other son, my brother Cecchino, had, as I said
before, been instructed in the rudiments of Latin letters. It was our
father's wish to make me, the elder, a great musician and composer,
and him, the younger, a great and learned jurist. He could not,
however, put force upon the inclinations of our nature, which
directed me to the arts of design, and my brother, who had a fine and
graceful person, to the profession of arms. Cecchino, being still
quite a lad, was returning from his first lesson in the school of the
stupendous Giovannino de' Medici. On the day when he reached
home, I happened to be absent; and he, being in want of proper
clothes, sought out our sisters, who, unknown to my father, gave
him a cloak and doublet of mine, both new and of good quality.
I ought to say that, beside the aid I gave my father and my excellent
and honest sisters, I had bought those handsome clothes out of my
own savings. When I found I had been cheated, and my clothes
taken from me, and my brother from whom I should have recovered
them was gone, I asked my father why he suffered so great a wrong

20 BENVENUTO CELLINI

to be done me, seeing that I was always ready to assist him. He
replied that I was his good son, but that the other, whom he thought
to have lost, had been found again; also that it was a duty, nay, a
precept from God Himself, that he who hath should give to him who
hath not; and that for his sake I ought to bear this injustice, for
God would increase me in all good things. I, like a youth with-
out experience, retorted on my poor afflicted parent; and taking
the miserable remnants of my clothes and money, went toward a
gate of the city. As I did not know which gate would start me
on the road to Rome, I arrived at Lucca, and from Lucca reached
Pisa.

When I came to Pisa (I was about sixteen years of age at the time),
I stopped near the middle bridge, by what is called the Fish-stone,
at the shop of a goldsmith, and began attentively to watch what the
master was about.' He asked me who I was, and what was my
profession. I told him that I worked a little in the same trade as his
own. This worthy man bade me come into his shop, and at once
gave me work to do, and spoke as follows: "Your good appearance
makes me believe you are a decent honest youth." Then he told
me out gold, silver, and gems; and when the first day's work was
finished, he took me in the evening to his house, where he dwelt
respectably with his handsome wife and children. Thinking of the
grief which my good father might be feeling for me, I wrote him
that I was sojourning with a very excellent and honest man, called
Maestro Ulivieri della Chiostra, and was working with him at many
good things of beauty and importance. I bade him be of good cheer,
for that I was bent on learning, and hoped by my acquirements to
bring him back both profit and honour before long. My good father
answered the letter at once in words like these: "My son, the love
I bear you is so great, that if it were not for the honour of our
family, which above all things I regard, I should immediately have
set off for you; for indeed it seems like being without the light of my
eyes, when I do not see you daily, as I used to do. I will make it my
business to complete the training of my household up to virtuous
honesty; do you make it yours to acquire excellence in your art; and

' The Fish-Stone, or Pietra del Pesce, was the market on the quay where the fish
brought from the sea up the Arno to Pisa used to be sold.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 21

I only wish you to remember these four simple words, obey them,
and never let them escape your memory :

In whatever house you be,
Steal not, and live honesdy."

XI

This letter fell into the hands of my master Ulivieri, and he read
it unknown to me. Afterwards he avowed that he had read it, and
added : "So then, my Benvenuto, your good looks did not deceive me,
as a letter from your father which has come into my hands gives
me assurance, which proves him to be a man of notable honesty and
worth. Consider yourself then to be at home here, and as though in
your own father's house."

While I stayed at Pisa, I went to see the Campo Santo, and there
I found many beautiful fragments of antiquity, that is to say, marble
sarcophagi. In other parts of Pisa also I saw many antique objects,
which I diligently studied whenever I had days or hours free from
the labour of the workshop. My master, who took pleasure in com-
ing to visit me in the little room which he had allotted me, observing
that I spent all my time in studious occupations, began to love me
like a father. I made great progress in the one year that I stayed
there, and completed several fine and valuable things in gold and
silver, which inspired me with a resolute ambition to advance in
my art.

My father, in the meanwhile, kept writing piteous entreaties that
I should return to him; and in every letter bade me not to lose the
music he had taught me with such trouble. On this, I suddenly
gave up all wish to go back to him; so much did I hate that accursed
music; and I felt as though of a truth I were in paradise the whole
year I stayed at Pisa, where I never played the flute.

At the end of the year my master Ulivieri had occasion to go to
Florence, in order to sell certain gold and silver sweepings which he
had;' and inasmuch as the bad air of Pisa had given me a touch of
fever, I went with the fever hanging still about me, in my master's

' I have translated spazzature by sweepings. It means all refuse of the precious metals
left in the goldsmith's trays.

22 BENVENUTO CELLINI

company, back to Florence. There my father received him most

affectionately, and lovingly prayed him, unknown by me, not to
insist on taking me again to Pisa. I was ill about two months, during
which time my father had me most kindly treated and cured, always
repeating that it seemed to him a thousand years till I got well again,
in order that he might hear me play a little. But when he talked to
me of music, with his fingers on my pulse, seeing he had some
acquaintance with medicine and Latin learning, he felt it change
so much if he approached that topic, that he was often dismayed and
left my side in tears. When I perceived how greatly he was dis-
appointed, I bade one of my sisters bring me a flute; for though the
fever never left me, that instrument is so easy that it did not hurt
me to play upon it; and I used it with such dexterity of hand and
tongue that my father coming suddenly upon me, blessed me a
thousand times, exclaiming that while I was away from him I had
made great progress, as he thought; and he begged me to go for-
wards, and not to sacrifice so fine an accomplishment.

xn

When I had recovered my health, I returned to my old friend
Marcone, the worthy goldsmith, who put me in the way of earning
money, with which I helped my father and our household. About
that time there came to Florence a sculptor named Piero Torrigiani;'
he arrived from England, where he had resided many years; and
being intimate with my master, he daily visited his house; and when
he saw my drawings and the things which I was making, he said:
"I have come to Florence to enlist as many young men as I can;
for I have undertaken to execute a great work for my king, and
want some of my own Florentines to help me. Now your method
of working and your designs are worthy rather of a sculptor than a
goldsmith; and since I have to turn out a great piece of bronze, I
will at the same time turn you into a rich and able artist." This man

' Torrigiani worked in fact for Henry VIII., and his monument to Henry VII. still
exists in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey. From England he went to Spain,
where he modelled a statue of the Virgin for a great nobleman. Not receiving the pay
he expected, he broke his work to pieces; for which act of sacrilege the Inquisition sent
him to prison, where he starved himself to death in 1522. Such at least is the legend
of his end.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 23

had a splendid person and a most arrogant spirit, with the air of a
great soldier more than a sculptor, especially in regard to his vehe-
ment gestures and his resonant voice, together with a habit he had of
knitting his brows, enough to frighten any man of courage. He kept
talking every day about his gallant feats among those beasts of
Englishmen.

In course of conversation he happened to mention Michel Agnolo
Buonarroti, led thereto by a drawing I had made from a cartoon of
that divinest painter.'' This cartoon was the first masterpiece which
Michel Agnolo exhibited, in proof of his stupendous talents. He
produced it in competition with another painter, Lionardo da Vinci,
who also made a cartoon; and both were intended for the council-
hall in the palace of the Signory. They represented the taking of
Pisa by the Florentines; and our admirable Lionardo had chosen to
depict a battle of horses, with the capture of some standards, in as
divine a style as could possibly be imagined. Michel Agnolo in his
cartoon portrayed a number of foot-soldiers, who, the season being
summer, had gone to bathe in Arno. He drew them at the very
moment the alarm is sounded, and the men all naked run to arms;
so splendid in their action that nothing survives of ancient or of
modern art which touches the same lofty point of excellence; and
as I have already said, the design of the great Lionardo was itself
most admirably beautiful. These two cartoons stood, one in the
palace of the Medici, the other in the hall of the Pope. So long as
they remained intact, they were the school of the world. Though the
divine Michel Agnolo in later life finished that great chapel of Pope
Julius,' he never rose half-way to the same pitch of power; his
genius never afterwards attained to the force of those first studies.

XIII

Now let us return to Piero Torrigiani, who, with my drawing in
his hand, spoke as follows: "This Buonarroti and I used, when we
were boys, to go into the Church of the Carmine, to learn drawing

^ The cartoons to which Cellini here alludes were made by Michel Angelo and Lio-
nardo for the decoration of the Sala del Gran Consiglio in the Palazzo Vecchio at
Florence. Only the shadows of them remain to this day; a part of Michel Angelo's,
engraved by Schiavonetti, and a transcript by Rubens from Lionardo's, called the
Battle of the Standard.

'The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

24 BENVENUTO CELLINI

from the chapel of Masaccio.' It was Buonarroti's habit to banter
all who were drawing there; and one day, among others, when he
was annoying me, I got more angry than usual, and clenching my
fist, gave him such a blow on the nose, that I felt bone and cartilage
go down like biscuit beneath my knuckles; and this mark of mine
he will carry with him to the grave." ^ These words begat in me such
hatred of the man, since I was always gazing at the masterpieces of
the divine Michel Agnolo, that although I felt a wish to go with him
to England, I now could never bear the sight of him.

All the while I was at Florence, I studied the noble manner of
Michel Agnolo, and from this I have never deviated. About that
time I contracted a close and familiar friendship with an amiable
lad of my own age, who was also in the goldsmith's trade. He was
called Francesco, son of Filippo, and grandson of Fra Lippo Lippi,
that most excellent painter.' Through intercourse together, such
love grew up between us that, day or night, we never stayed apart.
The house where he lived was still full of the fine studies which
his father had made, bound up in several books of drawings by his
hand, and taken from the best antiquities of Rome. The sight of
these things filled me with passionate enthusiasm; and for two
years or thereabouts we lived in intimacy. At that time I fashioned
a silver bas-relief of the size of a little child's hand. It was intended
for the clasp to a man's belt; for they were then worn as large as
that. I carved on it a knot of leaves in the antique style, with figures
of children and other masks of great beauty. This piece I made in
the workshop of one Francesco Salimbene; and on its being exhibited
to the trade, the goldsmiths praised me as the best young craftsman
of their art.

There was one Giovan Battista, surnamed II Tasso, a wood-carver,

' The Chapel of the Carmine, painted in fresco by Masaccio and some other artist,
possibly Filippino Lippi, is still the most important monument of Florentine art sur-
viving from the period preceding Raphael.

^ The profile portraits of Michel Angelo Buonarroti confirm this story. They show
the bridge of his nose bent in an angle, as though it had been broken.

' Fra Filippo Lippi was a Carmelite monk, whose frescoes at Prato and Spoleto and
oil-paintings in Florence and elsewhere are among the most genial works of the pre-
Raphaelite Renaissance. Vasari narrates his love-adventures with Lucrezia Buti, and
Robert Browning has drawn a clever portrait of him in his "Men and Women." His
son, Filippo or Filippino, was also an able painter, some of whose best work survives
in the Strozzi Chapel of S. Maria Novella at Florence, and in the Church of S. Maria
Sopra Minerva at Rome.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 25

precisely of my own age, who one day said to me that if I was willing
to go to Rome, he should be glad to join me.* Now we had this
conversation together immediately after dinner; and I being angry
with my father for the same old reason of the music, said to Tasso:
"You are a fellow of words, not deeds." He answered: "I too have
come to anger with my mother ; and if I had cash enough to take me
to Rome, I would not turn back to lock the door of that wretched
little workshop I call mine." To these words I replied that if that
was all that kept him in Florence I had money enough in my pockets
to bring us both to Rome. Talking thus and walking onwards, we
found ourselves at the gate San Piero Gattolini without noticing
that we had got there; whereupon I said: "Friend Tasso, this is
God's doing that we have reached this gate without either you or
me noticing that we were there; and now that I am here, it seems to
me that I have finished half the journey." And so, being of one
accord, we pursued our way together, saying, "Oh, what will our
old folks say this evening?" We then made an agreement not to
think more about them till we reached Rome. So we tied our aprons
behind our backs, and trudged almost in silence to Siena. When
we arrived at Siena, Tasso said (for he had hurt his feet) that he
would not go farther, and asked me to lend him money to get back.
I made answer: "I should not have enough left to go forward; you
ought indeed to have thought of this on leaving Florence; and if it
is because of your feet that you shirk the journey, we will find a
return horse for Rome, which will deprive you of the excuse."
Accordingly I hired a horse; and seeing that he did not answer, I
took my way toward the gate of Rome. When he knew that I was
firmly resolved to go, muttering between his teeth, and limping as
well as he could, he came on behind me very slowly and at a great
distance. On reaching the gate, I felt pity for my comrade, and
waited for him, and took him on the crupper, saying: "What would
our friends speak of us to-morrow, if, having left for Rome, we had
not pluck to get beyond Siena?" Then the good Tasso said I spoke
the truth; and as he was a pleasant fellow, he began to laugh and
sing; and in this way, always singing and laughing, we travelled the

^ Tasso was an able artist, mentioned both by Vasari and Pietro Aretino. He stood
high in the favour of Duke Cosimo de' Medici, who took his opinion on the work of
other craftsmen.

26 BENVENUTO CELLINI

whole way to Rome. I had just nineteen years then, and so had
the century.

When we reached Rome, I put myself under a master who was
known as II Firenzuola. His name was Giovanni, and he came
from Firenzuola in Lombardy, a most able craftsman in large vases
and big plate of that kind. I showed him part of the model for the
clasp which I had made in Florence at Salimbene's. It pleased him
exceedingly; and turning to one of his journeymen, a Florentine
called Giannotto Giannotti, who had been several years with him,
he spoke as follows: "This fellow is one of the Florentines who
know something, and you are one of those who know nothing."
Then I recognised the man, and turned to speak with him; for
before he went to Rome, we often went to draw together, and had
been very intimate comrades. He was so put out by the words his
master flung at him, that he said he did not recognise me or know
who I was; whereupon I got angry, and cried out: "O Giannotto,
you who were once my friend — for have we not been together in
such and such places, and drawn, and ate, and drunk, and slept in
company at your house in the country? I don't want you to bear
witness on my behalf to this worthy man, your master, because I
hope my hands are such that without aid from you they will declare
what sort of a fellow I am."

XIV

When I had thus spoken, Firenzuola, who was a man of hot
spirit and brave, turned to Giannotto, and said to him: "You vile
rascal, aren't you ashamed to treat a man who has been so intimate
a comrade with you in this way?" And with the same movement of
quick feeling, he faced round and said to me: "Welcome to my
workshop; and do as you have promised; let your hands declare
what man you are."

He gave me a very fine piece of silver plate to work on for a
cardinal. It was a little oblong box, copied from the porphyry sar-
cophagus before the door of the Rotonda. Beside what I copied, I
enriched it with so many elegant masks of my invention, that my
master went about showing it through the art, and boasting that so

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1'}

good a piece of work had been turned out from his shop.' It was
about half a cubit in size, and was so constructed as to serve for a
salt-cellar at table. This was the first earning that I touched at
Rome, and part of it I sent to assist my good father; the rest I kept
for my own use, living upon it while I went about studying the
antiquities of Rome, until my money failed, and I had to return to
the shop for work. Battista del Tasso, my comrade, did not stay
long in Rome, but went back to Florence.

After undertaking some new commissions, I took it into my head,
as soon as I had finished them, to change my master; I had indeed
been worried into doing so by a certain Milanese, called Pagolo
Arsago.^ My first master, Firenzuola, had a great quarrel about this
with Arsago, and abused him in my presence; whereupon I took
up speech in defence of my new master. I said that I was born free,
and free I meant to live, and that there was no reason to complain
of him, far less of me, since some few crowns of wages were still due
to me; also that I chose to go, like a free journeyman, where it
pleased me, knowing I did wrong to no man. My new master then
put in with his excuses, saying that he had not asked me to come,
and that I should gratify him by returning with Firenzuola. To this
I replied that I was not aware of wronging the latter in any way,
and as I had completed his commissions, I chose to be my own
master and not the man of others, and that he who wanted me must
beg me of myself. Firenzuola cried: "I don't intend to beg you of
yourself; I have done with you; don't show yourself again upon my
premises." I reminded him of the money he owed me. He laughed
me in the face; on which I said that if I knew how to use my tools
in handicraft as well as he had seen, I could be quite as clever with
my sword in claiming the just payment of my labour. While we
were exchanging these words, an old man happened to come up,
called Maestro Antonio, of San Marino. He was the chief among
the Roman goldsmiths, and had been Firenzuola's master. Hearing

' Cellini's use of the word arte for the art or trade of goldsmiths corresponds to
"the art" as used by English writers early in this century. See Haydon's Autobiography,
passim.

'The Italian is sobbillato, which might be also translated inveigled or instigated.
But Varchi, the contemporary of Cellini, gives this verb the force of using pressure
and boring on until somebody is driven to do something.

28 BENVENUTO CELLINI

what I had to say, which I took good care that he should understand,
he immediately espoused my cause, and bade Firenzuola pay me.
The dispute waxed warm, because Firenzuola was an admirable
swordsman, far better than he was a goldsmith. Yet reason made
itself heard; and I backed my cause with the same spirit, till I got
myself paid. In course of time Firenzuola and I became friends,
and at his request I stood godfather to one of his children.

XV

I went on working with Pagolo Arsago, and earned a good deal
of money, the greater part of which I always sent to my good father.
At the end of two years, upon my father's entreaty, I returned to
Florence, and put myself once more under Francesco Salimbene,
with whom I earned a great deal, and took continual pains to
improve in my art. I renewed my intimacy with Francesco di
Filippo; and though I was too much given to pleasure, owing to that
accursed music, I never neglected to devote some hours of the day
or night to study. At that time I fashioned a silver heart's-key
{chiavaquore), as it was then called. This was a girdle three inches
broad, which used to be made for brides, and was executed in half
relief with some small figures in the round. It was a commission
from a man called Raffaello Lapaccini. I was very badly paid; but
the honour which it brought me was worth far more than the gain
I might have justly made by it. Having at this time worked with
many different persons in Florence, I had come to know some
worthy men among the goldsmiths, as, for instance, Marcone, my
first master; but I also met with others reputed honest, who did all
they could to ruin me, and robbed me grossly. When I perceived
this, I left their company, and held them for thieves and black-
guards. One of the goldsmiths, called Giovanbattista Sogliani, kindly
accommodated me with part of his shop, which stood at the side of
the New Market near the Landi's bank. There I finished several
pretty pieces, and made good gains, and was able to give my family
much help. This roused the jealousy of the bad men among my
former masters, who were called Salvadore and Michele Guasconti.
In the guild of the goldsmiths they had three big shops, and drove
a thriving trade. On becoming aware of their evil will against me,
I complained to certain worthy fellows, and remarked that they

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 29

ought to have been satisfied with the thieveries they practised on me
under the cloak o£ hypocritical kindness. This coming to their ears,
they threatened to make me sorely repent o£ such words; but I,
who knew not what the colour of fear was, paid them little or no
heed.

XVI

It chanced one day that I was leaning against a shop of one of
these men, who called out to me, and began partly reproaching,
partly bullying. I answered that had they done their duty by me,
I should have spoken of them what one speaks of good and worthy
men; but as they had done the contrary, they ought to complain of
themselves and not of me. While I was standing there and talking,
one of them, named Gherardo Guasconti, their cousin, having per-
haps been put up to it by them, lay in wait till a beast of burden
went by.' It was a load of bricks. When the load reached me,
Gherardo pushed it so violently on my body that I was very much
hurt. Turning suddenly round and seeing him laughing, I struck
him such a blow on the temple that he fell down, stunned, like one
dead. Then I faced round to his cousins, and said : "That's the way
to treat cowardly thieves of your sort;" and when they wanted to
make a move upon me, trusting to their numbers, I, whose blood
was now well up, laid hands to a little knife I had, and cried: "If
one of you comes out of the shop, let the other run for the con-
fessor, because the doctor will have nothing to do here." These
words so frightened them that not one stirred to help their cousin.
As soon as I had gone, the fathers and sons ran to the Eight, and
declared that I had assaulted them in their shops with sword in
hand, a thing which had never yet been seen in Florence. The
magistrates had me summoned. I appeared before them; and they
began to upbraid and cry out upon me — partly, I think, because they
saw me in my cloak, while the others were dressed like citizens in
mantle and hood;^ but also because my adversaries had been to the
houses of those magistrates, and had talked with all of them in

' The Italian is appostb che passassi una soma. The verb appostare has the double
meaning of lying in wait and arranging something on purpose. Cellini's words may
mean, caused a beast of burden to pass by.

^ Varchi says that a man who went about with only his cloak or cape by daytime,
if he were not a soldier, was reputed an ill-liver. The Florentine citizens at this time
still wore their ancient civil dress of the long gown and hood called lucco.

30 BENVENUTO CELLINI

private, while I, inexperienced in such matters, had not spoken to
any of them, trusting in the goodness of my cause. I said that,
having received such outrage and insult from Gherardo, and in my
fury having only given him a box on the ear, I did not think I
deserved such a vehement reprimand. I had hardly time to finish the
wford box, before Prinzivalle della Stufa,' who was one of the Eight,
interrupted me by saying: "You gave him a blow, and not a box,
on the ear," The bell was rung and we were all ordered out, when
Prinzivalle spoke thus in my defence to his brother judges: "Mark,
sirs, the simplicity of this poor young man, who has accused him-
self of having given a box on the ear, under the impression that this
is of less importance than a blow; whereas a box on the ear in the
New Market carries a fine of twenty-five crowns, while a blow costs
little or nothing. He is a young man of admirable talents, and sup-
ports his poor family by his labour in great abundance; I would to
God that our city had plenty of this sort, instead of the present
dearth of them."

XVII

Among the magistrates were some Radical fellows with turned-up
hoods, who had been influenced by the entreaties and the calumnies
of my opponents, because they all belonged to the party of Fra Giro-
lamo; and these men would have had me sent to prison and punished
without too close a reckoning.^ But the good Prinzivalle put a stop
to that. So they sentenced me to pay four measures of flour, which
were to be given as alms to the nunnery of the Murate.^ I was called
in again; and he ordered me not to speak a word under pain of their
displeasure, and to perform the sentence they had passed. Then,
after giving me another sharp rebuke, they sent us to the chancellor;
I muttering all the while, "It was a slap and not a blow," with which
we left the Eight bursting with laughter. The chancellor bound us

'This man was an ardent supporter of the Medici, and in 1510 organized a con-
spiracy in their favour against the Gonfalonier Soderini.

' Cellini calls these magistrates arronzinati cappuccetti, a term corresponding to our
Roundheads. The democratic or anti-Medicean party in Florence at that time, who
adhered to the republican principles of Fra Girolamo Savonarola, distinguished them-
selves by wearing the long tails of their hoods twisted up and turned round their
heads. Cellini shows his Medicean sympathies by using this contemptuous term, and
by the honourable mention he makes of Prinzivalle della Stufa.

^ A convent of closely immured nuns.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 3 1

over upon bail on both sides; but only I was punished by having to
pay the four measures of meal. Albeit just then I felt as though I
had been massacred, I sent for one of my cousins, called Maestro
Annibale, the surgeon, father of Messer Librodoro Librodori, de-
siring that he should go bail for me.' He refused to come, which
made me so angry, that, fuming with fury and swelling like an asp,
I took a desperate resolve. At this point one may observe how the
stars do not so much sway as force our conduct. When I reflected
on the great obligations which this Annibale owed my family, my
rage grew to such a pitch that, turning wholly to evil, and being
also by nature somewhat choleric, I waited till the magistrates had
gone to dinner; and when I was alone, and observed that none of
their officers were watching me, in the fire of my anger, I left the
palace, ran to my shop, seized a dagger and rushed to the house of
my enemies, who were at home and shop together. I found them at
table; and Gherardo, who had been the cause of the quarrel, flung
himself upon me. I stabbed him in the breast, piercing doublet and
jerkin through and through to the shirt, without however grazing
his flesh or doing him the least harm in the world. When I felt
my hand go in, and heard the clothes tear, I thought that I had
killed him; and seeing him fall terror-struck to earth, I cried:
"Traitors, this day is the day on which I mean to murder you all."
Father, mother, and sisters, thinking the last day had come, threw
themselves upon their knees, screaming out for mercy with all their
might; but I perceiving that they offered no resistance, and that he
was stretched for dead upon the ground, thought it too base a thing
to touch them. I ran storming down the staircase; and when I
reached the street, I found all the rest of the household, more than
twelve persons; one of them had seized an iron shovel, another a
thick iron pipe, one had an anvil, some of them hammers, and some
cudgels. When I got among them, raging like a mad bull, I flung
four or five to the earth, and fell down with them myself, continually
aiming my dagger now at one and now at another. Those who
remained upright plied both hands with all their force, giving it me
with hammers, cudgels, and anvil; but inasmuch as God does some-

' The word I have translated massacred above is assassinate. It occurs frequently in
Italian of this period, and indicates the extremity of wrong and outrage.

32 BENVENUTO CELLINI

time mercifully intervene, He so ordered that neither they nor I did
any harm to one another. I only lost my cap, on which my adver-
saries seized, though they had run away from it before, and struck
at it with all their weapons. Afterwards, they searched among their
dead and wounded, and saw that not a single man was injured.

XVIII

I went ofl in the direction of Santa Maria Novella, and stumbling
up against Fra Alessio Strozzi, whom by the way I did not know,
I entreated this good friar for the love of God to save my life, since
I had committed a great fault. He told me to have no fear; for had
I done every sin in the world, I was yet in perfect safety in his
litde cell.

After about an hour, the Eight, in an extraordinary meeting,
caused one of the most dreadful bans which ever were heard of to
be published against me, announcing heavy penalties against who
should harbour me or know where I was, without regard to place
or to the quality of my protector. My poor afflicted father went to the
Eight, threw himself upon his knees, and prayed for mercy for his
unfortunate young son. Thereupon one of those Radical fellows,
shaking the crest of his twisted hood, stood up and addressed my
father with these insulting words :' "Get up from there, and begone
at once, for to-morrow we shall send your son into the country with
the lances." ^ My poor father had still the spirit to answer : "What
God shall have ordained, that will you do, and not a jot or tittle
more." Whereto the same man replied that for certain God had
ordained as he had spoken. My father said: "The thought consoles
me that you do not know for certain;" and quitting their presence,
he came to visit me, together with a young man of my own age,
called Pierro di Giovanni Landi — we loved one another as though
we had been brothers.

Under his mantle the lad carried a first-rate sword and a splendid
coat of mail; and when they found me, my brave father told me

' Un di queli arrovellati scotendo la cresto dello arronzinato cappuccio. See above,
p. 31. The democrats in Cellini's days were called at Florence Arrabhiati or Arrovellati.
In the days of Savonarola this nickname had been given to the ultra-Medicean party or
Palleschi.

^ Lanciotti. There is some doubt about this word. But it clearly means men armed
with lances, at the disposal of the Signory.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 33

what had happened, and what the magistrates had said to him. Then
he kissed me on the forehead and both eyes, and gave me his hearty
blessing, saying: "May the power of goodness of God be your pro-
tection;" and reaching me the sword and armour, he helped me with
his own hands to put them on. Afterwards he added : "Oh, my good
son, with these arms in thy hand thou shall either live or die." Pier
Landi, who was present, kept shedding tears; and when he had
given me ten golden crowns, I bade him remove a few hairs from
my chin, which were the first down of my manhood. Frate Alessio
disguised me like a friar and gave me a lay brother to go with me.'
Quitting the convent, and issuing from the city by the gate of Prato,
I went along the walls as far as the Piazza di San Gallo. Then
I ascended the slope of Montui, and in one of the first houses there
I found a man called II Grassuccio, own brother to Messer Bene-
detto da Monte Varchi.* I flung off my monk's clothes, and
became once more a man. Then we mounted two horses, which
were waiting there for us, and went by night to Siena. Grassuccio re-
turned to Florence, sought out my father, and gave him the news
of my safe escape. In the excess of his joy, it seemed a thousand
years to my father till he should meet that member of the Eight
who had insulted him; and when he came across the man, he said:
"See you, Antonio, that it was God who knew what had to happen
to my son, and not yourself?" To which the fellow answered:
"Only let him get another time into our clutches!" And my father:
"I shall spend my time in thanking God that He has rescued him
from that fate."

XIX

At Siena I waited for the mail to Rome, which I afterwards joined;
and when we passed the Paglia, we met a courier carrying news of
the new Pope, Clement VII. Upon my arrival in Rome, I went to
work in the shop of the master-goldsmith Santi. He was dead; but
a son of his carried on the business. He did not work himself, but

' Un convrrso, an attendant on the monks.

* Benedetto da Monte Varchi was the celebrated poet, scholar, and historian of
Florence, better known as Varchi. Another of his brothers was a physician of high
repute at Florence. They continued throughout Cellini's life to live on terms of
intimacy with him.

34 BENVENUTO CELLINI

entrusted all his commissions to a young man named Lucagnolo from
lesi, a country fellow, who while yet a child had come into Santi's
service. This man was short but well proportioned, and was a more
skilful craftsman than any one whom I had met with up to that
time; remarkable for facility and excellent in design. He executed
large plate only: that is to say, vases of the utmost beauty, basons,
and such pieces.' Having put myself to work there, I began to make
some candelabra for the Bishop of Salamanca, a Spaniard.* They
were richly chased, so far as that sort of work admits. A pupil of
Raffaello da Urbino called Gian Francesco, and commonly known
as II Fattore, was a painter of great ability; and being on terms of
friendship with the Bishop, he introduced me to his favour, so that
I obtained many commissions from that prelate, and earned consid-
erable sums of money.'

During that time I went to draw, sometimes in Michel Agnolo's
chapel, and sometimes in the house of Agostino Chigi of Siena,
which contained many incomparable paintings by the hand of that
great master Raffaello.* This I did on feast-days, because the house
was then inhabited by Messer Gismondo, Agostino's brother. They
plumed themselves exceedingly when they saw young men of my
sort coming to study in their palaces. Gismondo's wife, noticing my
frequent presence in that house — she was a lady as courteous as
could be, and of surpassing beauty — came up to me one day, looked
at my drawings, and asked me if I was a sculptor or a painter; to
whom I said I was a goldsmith. She remarked that I drew too well
for a goldsmith; and having made one of her waiting-maids bring
a lily of the finest diamonds set in gold, she showed it to me, and
bade me value it. I valued it at 800 crowns. Then she said that I
had very nearly hit the mark, and asked me whether I felt capable
of setting the stones really well. I said that I should much like to
do so, and began before her eyes to make a little sketch for it,

' Cellini calls this grosseria.

*Don Francesco de Bobadilla. He came to Rome in 1517, was shut up with
Clement in the castle of S. Angelo in 1527, and died in 1529, after his return to Spain.

' This painter, Gio. Francesco Penni, surnamed II Fattore, aided Raphael in his
Roman frescoes and was much beloved by him. Together with Giulio Romano he
completed the imperfect Stanze of the Vatican.

* Cellini here alludes to the Sistine Chapel and to the Villa Farnesina in Trastevere,
built by the Sienese banker, Agostino Chigi. It was here that Raphael painted bis
Galatea and the whole fable of Cupid and Psyche.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 35

working all the better because of the pleasure I took in conversing
with so lovely and agreeable a gentlewoman. When the sketch was
finished, another Roman lady of great beauty joined us; she had been
above, and now descending to the ground-floor, asked Madonna
Porzia what she was doing there. She answered with a smile: "I
am amusing myself by watching this worthy young man at his draw-
ing; he is as good as he is handsome." I had by this time acquired
a trifle of assurance, mixed, however, with some honest bashfulness;
so I blushed and said: "Such as I am, lady, I shall ever be most
ready to serve you." The gentlewoman, also slightly blushing, said:
"You know well that I want you to serve me;" and reaching me the
lily, told me to take it away; and gave me besides twenty golden
crowns which she had in her bag, and added: "Set me the jewel
after the fashion you have sketched, and keep for me the old gold
in which it is now set." On this the Roman lady observed: "If I
were in that young man's body, I should go off without asking
leave." Madonna Porzia replied that virtues rarely are at home with
vices, and that if I did such a thing, I should strongly belie my good
looks of an honest man. Then turning round, she took the Roman
lady's hand, and with a pleasant smile said: "Farewell, Benvenuto."
I stayed on a short while at the drawing I was making, which was
a copy of a Jove by Raflaello. When I had finished it and left the
house, I set myself to making a little model of wax, in order to show
how the jewel would look when it was completed. This I took to
Madonna Porzia, whom I found with the same Roman lady. Both
of them were highly satisfied with my work, and treated me so
kindly that, being somewhat emboldened, I promised the jewel
should be twice as good as the model. Accordingly I set hand to it,
and in twelve days I finished it in the form of a fleur-de-lys, as I have
said above, ornamenting it with little masks, children, and animals,
exquisitely enamelled, whereby the diamonds which formed the lily
were more than doubled in effect.

XX

While I was working at this piece, Lucagnolo, of whose ability I
have before spoken, showed considerable discontent, telling me over
and over again that I might acquire far more profit and honour by

36 BENVENUTO CELLINI

helping him to execute large plate, as I had done at first. I made
him answer that, whenever I chose, I should always be capable of
working at great silver pieces; but that things like that on which
I was now engaged were not commissioned every day; and beside
their bringing no less honour than large silver plate, there was also
more profit to be made by them. He laughed me in the face, and
said: "Wait and see, Benvenuto; for by the time that you have fin-
ished that work of yours, I will make haste to have finished this vase,
which I took in hand when you did the jewel; and then experience
shall teach you what profit I shall get from my vase, and what you
will get from your ornament." I answered that I was very glad
indeed to enter into such a competition with so good a craftsman as
he was, because the end would show which of us was mistaken.
Accordingly both the one and the other of us, with a scornful smile
upon our lips, bent our heads in grim earnest to the work, which
both were now desirous of accomplishing; so that after about ten
days, each had finished his undertaking with great delicacy and
artistic skill.

Lucagnolo's was a huge silver piece, used at the table of Pope
Clement, into which he flung away bits of bone and the rind of
divers fruits, while eating; an object of ostentation rather than neces-
sity. The vase was adorned with two fine handles, together with
many masks, both small and great, and masses of lovely foliage, in
as exquisite a style of elegance as could be imagined; on seeing which
I said it was the most beautiful vase that ever I set eyes on. Thinking
he had convinced me, Lucagnolo replied : "Your work seems to me
no less beautiful, but we shall soon perceive the difference between
the two." So he took his vase and carried it to the Pope, who was
very well pleased with it, and ordered at once that he should be paid
at the ordinary rate of such large plate. Meanwhile I carried mine
to Madonna Porzia, who looked at it with astonishment, and told
me I had far surpassed my promise. Then she bade me ask for my
reward whatever I liked; for it seemed to her my desert was so
great that if I craved a castle she could hardly recompense me; but
since that was not in her hands to bestow, she added laughing that
I must beg what lay within her power. I answered that the greatest
reward I could desire for my labour was to have satisfied her lady-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 37

ship. Then, smiUng in my turn, and bowing to her, I took my leave,
saying I wanted no reward but that. She turned to the Roman lady
and said: "You see that the qualities we discerned in him are com-
panied by virtues, and not vices." They both expressed their admira-
tion, and then Madonna Porzia continued : "Friend Benvenuto, have
you never heard it said that when the poor give to the rich, the devil
laughs?" I replied: "Quite true! and yet, in the midst of all his
troubles, I should like this time to see him laugh;" and as I took my
leave, she said that this time she had no will to bestow on him that
favour.

When I came back to the shop, Lucagnolo had the money for his
vase in a paper packet; and on my arrival he cried out: "Come and
compare the price of your jewel with the price of my plate." I said
that he must leave things as they were till the next day, because I
hoped that even as my work in its kind was not less excellent than
his, so I should be able to show him quite an equal price for it.

XXI

On the day following. Madonna Porzia sent a major-domo of hers
to my shop, who called me out, and putting into my hands a paper
packet full of money from his lady, told me that she did not choose
the devil should have his whole laugh out : by which she hinted that
the money sent me was not the entire payment merited by my indus-
try, and other messages were added worthy of so courteous a lady.
Lucagnolo, who was burning to compare his packet with mine,
burst into the shop; then in the presence of twelve journeymen and
some neighbours, eager to behold the result of this competition, he
seized his packet, scornfully exclaiming "Ou! ou!" three or four
times, while he poured his money on the counter with a great noise.
They were twenty-five crowns in giulios; and he fancied that mine
would be four or five crowns di moneta} I for my part, stunned and
stifled by his cries, and by the looks and smiles of the bystanders,
first peeped into my packet; then, after seeing that it contained
nothing but gold, I retired to one end of the counter, and, keeping

' Scudi di giuli and scudi di moneta. The giulio was a silver coin worth 56 Italian
centimes. The scudi di moneta was worth 10 giulios. Cellini was paid in golden
crowns, which had a much higher value. The scuda and the ducato at this epoch were
reckoned at 7 lire, the lira at 20 soldi.

38 BENVENUTO CELLINI

my eyes lowered and making no noise at all, I lifted it with both
hands suddenly above my head, and emptied it like a mill hopper.^
My coin was twice as much as his; which caused the onlookers, who
had fixed their eyes on me with some derision, to turn round sud-
denly to him and say: "Lucagnolo, Benvenuto's pieces, being all of
gold and twice as many as yours, make a far finer effect." I thought
for certain that, what with jealousy and what with shame, Lucagnolo
would have fallen dead upon the spot; and though he took the third
part of my gain, since I was a journeyman (for such is the custom
of the trade, two-thirds fall to the workman and one-third to the
masters of the shop), yet inconsiderate envy had more power in him
than avarice: it ought indeed to have worked quite the other way,
he being a peasant's son from lesi. He cursed his art and those who
taught it him, vowing that thenceforth he would never work at large
plate, but give his whole attention to those brothel gewgaws, since
they were so well paid. Equally enraged on my side, I answered, that
every bird sang its own note; that he talked after the fashion of the
hovels he came from; but that I dared swear that I should succeed
with ease in making his lubberly lumber, while he would never be
successful in my brothel gewgaws.' Thus I flung off in a passion,
telling him that I would soon show him that I spoke truth. The
bystanders openly declared against him, holding him for a lout, as
indeed he was, and me for a man, as I had proved myself.

XXII

Next day, I went to thank Madonna Porzia, and told her that her
ladyship had done the opposite of what she said she would; for that
while I wanted to make the devil laugh, she had made him once
more deny God. We both laughed pleasantly at this, and she gave
me other commissions for fine and substantial work.

Meanwhile, I contrived, by means of a pupil of Raflaello da Ur-

bino, to get an order from the Bishop of Salamanca for one of those

great water-vessels called acquereccia, which are used for ornaments

to place on sideboards. He wanted a pair made of equal size; and

one of them he entrusted to Lucagnolo, the other to me. Giovan

' The packet was funnel-shaped, and Cellini poured the coins out from the broad
end.

' The two slang phrases translated above are bordellerie and cogUonerie.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 39

Francesco, the painter I have mentioned, gave us the design.'
Accordingly I set hand with marvellous good-will to this piece of
plate, and was accommodated with a part of his workshop by a
Milanese named Maestro Giovan Piero della Tacca. Having made
my preparations, I calculated how much money I should need for cer-
tain affairs of my own, and sent all the rest to assist my poor father.
It so happened that just when this was being paid to him in
Florence, he stumbled upon one of those Radicals who were in the
Eight at the time when I got into that little trouble there. It was
the very man who had abused him so rudely, and who swore that
I should certainly be sent into the country with the lances. Now
this fellow had some sons of very bad morals and repute; wherefore
my father said to him: "Misfortunes can happen to anybody, espe-
cially to men of choleric humour when they are in the right, even
as it happened to my son; but let the rest of his life bear witness
how virtuously I have brought him up. Would God, for your well-
being, that your sons may act neither worse nor better toward you
than mine do to me. God rendered me able to bring them up as I
have done; and where my own power could not reach, 'twas He
who rescued them, against your expectation, out of your violent
hands." On leaving the man, he wrote me all this story, begging
me for God's sake to practise music at times, in order that I might
not lose the fine accomplishment which he had taught me with such
trouble. The letter so overflowed with expressions of the tenderest
fatherly affection, that I was moved to tears of filial piety, resolving,
before he died, to gratify him amply with regard to music. Thus
God grants us those lawful blessings which we ask in prayer, nothing
doubting.

XXIII

While I was pushing forward Salamanca's vase, I had only one
little boy as help, whom I had taken at the entreaty of friends, and
half against my own will, to be my workman. He was about four-
teen years of age, bore the name of Paulino, and was son to a Roman
burgess, who lived upon the income of his property. Paulino was
the best-mannered, the most honest, and the most beautiful boy I
ever saw in my whole life. His modest ways and actions, together

'That is, II Fattore. See above, p. 34.

40 BENVENUTO CELLINI

with his superlative beauty and his devotion to myself, bred in me as
great an affection for him as a man's breast can hold. This pas-
sionate love led me oftentimes to delight the lad with music; for I
observed that his marvellous features, which by complexion wore a
tone of modest melancholy, brightened up, and when I took my
cornet, broke into a smile so lovely and so sweet, that I do not marvel
at the silly stories which the Greeks have written about the deities of
heaven. Indeed, if my boy had lived in those times, he would prob-
ably have turned their heads still more.' He had a sister, named
Faustina, more beautiful, I verily believe, than that Faustina about
whom the old books gossip so. Sometimes he took me to their vine-
yard, and, so far as I could judge, it struck me that PauHno's good
father would have welcomed me as a son-in-law. This affair led me
to play more than I was used to do.

It happened at that time that one Giangiacomo of Cesena, a musi-
cian in the Pope's band, and a very excellent performer, sent word
through Lorenzo, the trumpeter of Lucca, who is now in our Duke's
service, to inquire whether I was inclined to help them at the Pope's
Ferragosto, playing soprano with my cornet in some motets of great
beauty selected by them for that occasion.'' Although I had the
greatest desire to finish the vase I had begun, yet, since music has a
wondrous charm of its own, and also because I wished to please my
old father, I consented to join them. During eight days before the
festival we practised two hours a day together; then on the first of
August we went to the Belvedere, and while Pope Clement was at
table, we played those carefully studied motets so well that his Holi-
ness protested he had never heard music more sweetly executed or
with better harmony of parts. He sent for Giangiacomo, and asked
him where and how he had procured so excellent a cornet for
soprano, and inquired particularly who I was. Giangiacomo told
him my name in full. Whereupon the Pope said: "So, then, he is
the son of Maestro Giovanni?" On being assured I was, the Pope
expressed his wish to have me in his service with the other bands-
men. Giangiacomo replied: "Most blessed Father, I cannot pretend

* GU Arebbe fatti piu uscire de' gangheri; would have taken them still more off the
hinges.

^ The Ferragosto or Feria Atigusti was a festival upon the first of August.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 4 1

for certain that you will get him, for his profession, to which he
devotes himself assiduously, is that of a goldsmith, and he works in
it miraculously well, and earns by it far more than he could do by
playing." To this the Pope added: "I am the better inclined to him
now that I find him possessor of a talent more than I expected. See
that he obtains the same salary as the rest of you; and tell him from
me to join my service, and that I will find work enough by the day
for him to do in his other trade." Then stretching out his hand, he
gave him a hundred golden crowns of the Camera in a handker-
chief, and said:' "Divide these so that he may take his share."

When Giangiacomo left the Pope, he came to us, and related in
detail all that the Pope had said; and after dividing the money be-
tween the eight of us, and giving me my share, he said to me: "Now
I am going to have you inscribed among our company." I replied:
"Let the day pass; to-morrow I will give my answer." When I left
them, I went meditating whether I ought to accept the invitation,
inasmuch as I could not but suffer if I abandoned the noble studies of
my art. The following night my father appeared to me in a dream,
and begged me with tears of tenderest affection, for God's love and
his, to enter upon this engagement. Methought I answered that
nothing would induce me to do so. In an instant he assumed so
horrible an aspect as to frighten me out of my wits, and cried: "If
you do not, you will have a father's curse; but if you do, may you
be ever blessed by me!" When I woke, I ran, for very fright, to have
myself inscribed. Then I wrote to my old father, telling him the
news, which so affected him with extreme joy that a sudden fit of
illness took him, and well-nigh brought him to death's door. In his
answer to my letter, he told me that he too had dreamed nearly the
same as I had.

XXIV

Knowing now that I had gratified my father's honest wish, I began
to think that everything would prosper with me to a glorious and
honourable end. Accordingly, I set myself with indefatigable indus-
try to the completion of the vase I had begun for Salamanca. That
prelate was a very extraordinary man, extremely rich, but difficult
to please. He sent daily to learn what I was doing; and when his

' The Camera Apostolica was the Roman Exchequer.

42 BENVENUTO CELLINI

messenger did not find me at home, he broke into fury, saying that
he would take the work out of my hands and give it to others to
finish. This came of my slavery to that accursed music. Still I la-
boured diligently night and day, until, when I had brought my work
to a point when it could be exhibited, I submitted it to the inspec-
tion of the Bishop. This so increased his desire to see it finished that
I was sorry I had shown it. At the end of three months I had it ready,
with little animals and foliage and masks, as beautiful as one could
hope to see. No sooner was it done than I sent it by the hand of
my workman, Paulino, to show that able artist Lucagnolo, of whom
I have spoken above. Paulino, with the grace and beauty which be-
longed to him, spoke as follows: "Messer Lucagnolo, Benvenuto
bids me say that he has sent to show you his promises and your lum-
ber, expecting in return to see from you his gewgaws." This message
given, Lucagnolo took up the vase, and carefully examined it; then
he said to Paulino: "Fair boy, tell your master that he is a great
and able artist, and that I beg him to be willing to have me for a
friend, and not to engage in aught else." The mission of that vir-
tuous and marvellous lad caused me the greatest joy; and then the
vase was carried to Salamanca, who ordered it to be valued. Lucag-
nolo took part in the valuation, estimating and praising it far above
my own opinion. Salamanca, lifting up the vase, cried like a true
Spaniard: "I swear by God that I will take as long in paying him as
he has lagged in making it." When I heard this, I was exceedingly
put out, and fell to cursing all Spain and every one who wished well
to it.

Amongst other beautiful ornaments, this vase had a handle, made
all of one piece, with most delicate mechanism, which, when a spring
was touched, stood upright above the ijtiouth of it. While the prelate
was one day ostentatiously exhibiting my vase to certain Spanish
gentlemen of his suite, it chanced that one of them, upon Mon-
signor's quitting the room, began roughly to work the handle, and
as the gentle spring which moved it could not bear his loutish
violence, it broke in his hand. Aware what mischief he had done,
he begged the butler who had charge of the Bishop's plate to take
it to the master who had made it, for him to mend, and promised
to pay what price he asked, provided it was set to rights at once. So

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 43

the vase came once more into my hands, and I promised to put it
forthwith in order, which indeed I did. It was brought to me before
dinner; and at twenty-two o'clock the man who brought it returned,
all in a sweat, for he had run the whole way, Monsignor having
again asked for it to show to certain other gentlemen.' The butler,
then, without giving me time to utter a word, cried : "Quick, quick,
bring the vase." I, who wanted to act at leisure and not to give it up to
him, said that I did not mean to be so quick. The serving-man got
into such a rage that he made as though he would put one hand to
his sword, while with the other he threatened to break the shop open.
To this I put a stop at once with my own weapon, using therewith
spirited language, and saying: "I am not going to give it to you! Go
and tell Monsignor, your master, that I want the money for my work
before I let it leave this shop." When the fellow saw he could not
obtain it by swaggering, he fell to praying me, as one prays to the
Cross, declaring that if I would only give it up, he would take
care I should be paid. These words did not make me swerve from
my purpose; but I kept on saying the same thing. At last, despairing
of success, he swore to come with Spaniards enough to cut me in
pieces. Then he took to his heels; while I, who inclined to believe
partly in their murderous attack, resolved that I would defend myself
with courage. So I got an admirable little gun ready, which I used
for shooting game, and muttered to myself : "He who robs me of my
property and labour may take my life too, and welcome." While I
was carrying on this debate in my own mind, a crowd of Spaniards
arrived, led by their major-domo, who, with the headstrong rashness
of his race, bade them go in and take the vase and give me a good
beating. Hearing these words, I showed them the muzzle of my
gun, and prepared to fire, and cried in a loud voice : "Renegade Jews,
traitors, is it thus that one breaks into houses and shops in our city
of Rome? Come as many of you thieves as like, an inch nearer to
this wicket, and I'll blow all their brains out with my gun." Then
I turned the muzzle toward their major-domo, and making as

' The Italians reckoned time from sundown til! sundown, counting twenty-four
hours. Twenty-two o'clock was therefore two hours before nightfall. One hour of
the night was one hour after nightfall, and so forth. By this system of reckoning, it
is clear that the hours varied with the season of the year; and unless we know the
exact month in which an event took place, we cannot translate any hour into terms
of our own system.

44 BENVENUTO CELLINI

though I would discharge it, called out: "And you big thief, who
are egging them on, I mean to kill you first." He clapped spurs to
the jennet he was riding, and took flight headlong. The commotion
we were making stirred up all the neighbours, who came crowding
round, together with some Roman gentlemen who chanced to pass,
and cried: "Do but kill the renegades, and we will stand by you."
These words had the effect of frightening the Spaniards in good
earnest. They withdrew, and were compelled by the circumstances
to relate the whole affair to Monsignor. Being a man of inordinate
haughtiness, he rated the members of his household, both because
they had engaged in such an act of violence, and also because, having
begun, they had not gone through with it. At this juncture the
painter, who had been concerned in the whole matter, came in, and
the Bishop bade him go and tell me that if I did not bring the vase
at once, he would make mincemeat of me;'' but if I brought it, he
would pay its price down. These threats were so far from terrifying
me, that I sent him word I was going immediately to lay my case
before the Pope.

In the meantime, his anger and my fear subsided; whereupon,
being guaranteed by some Roman noblemen of high degree that the
prelate would not harm me, and having assurance that I should be
paid, I armed myself with a large poniard and my good coat of mail,
and betook myself to his palace, where he had drawn up all his
household. I entered, and Paulino followed with the silver vase. It
was just like passing through the Zodiac, neither more nor less; for
one of them had the face of the lion, another of the scorpion, a third
of the crab. However, we passed onward to the presence of the ras-
cally priest, who spouted out a torrent of such language as only
priests and Spaniards have at their command. In return I never
raised my eyes to look at him, nor answered word for word. That
seemed to augment the fury of his anger; and causing paper to be
put before me, he commanded me to write an acknowledgment to
the effect that I had been amply satisfied and p'^id in full. Then I
raised my head, and said I should be very glad to do so when I had
received the money. The Bishop's rage continued to rise; threats and
^ Lit., "the largest piece left of me should be my ears."

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 45

recriminations were flung about; but at last the money was paid, and
I wrote the receipt. Then I departed, glad at heart and in high
spirits.

XXV

When Pope Clement heard the story — he had seen the vase before,
but it was not shown him as my work — he expressed much pleasure
and spoke warmly in my praise, publicly saying that he felt very
favourably toward me. This caused Monsignor Salamanca to repent
that he had hectored over me; and in order to make up our quarrel,
he sent the same painter to inform me that he meant to give me
large commissions. I replied that I was willing to undertake them,
but that I should require to be paid in advance. This speech too came
to Pope Clement's ears, and made him laugh heartily. Cardinal Cibo
was in the presence, and the Pope narrated to him the whole history
of my dispute with the Bishop.' Then he turned to one of his people,
and ordered him to go on supplying me with work for the palace.
Cardinal Cibo sent for me, and after some time spent in agreeable
conversation, gave me the order for a large vase, bigger than Sala-
manca's. I likewise obtained commissions from Cardinal Cornaro,
and many others of the Holy College, especially Ridolfi and Salviati;
they all kept me well employed, so that I earned plenty of money .^

Madonna Porzia now advised me to open a shop of my own. This
I did; and I never stopped working for that excellent and gende lady,
who paid me exceedingly well, and by whose means perhaps it was
that I came to make a figure in the world.

I contracted close friendship with Signor Gabbriello Ceserino, at
that time Gonfalonier of Rome, and executed many pieces for him.
One, among the rest, is worthy of mention. It was a large golden
medal to wear in the hat. I engraved upon it Leda with her swan;
and being very well pleased with the workmanship, he said he
should like to have it valued, in order that I might be properly paid.
Now, since the medal was executed with consummate skill, the

* Innocenzio Cibo Malaspina, Archbishop of Genoa, and nephew of Lorenzo de'
Medici. He was a prelate of vast wealth and a great patron of arts and letters.

^ Marco Cornaro was a brother of Caterina, the Queen of Cyprus. He obtained the
hat in 1492. Niccolo Ridolfi was a nephew of Leo X. Giovanni Salviati, the son of
Jacopo mentioned above, p. 14, was also a nephew of Leo X., who gave him the hat
in 1517.

46 BENVENUTO CELLINI

valuers of the trade set a far higher price on it than he had thought
of. I therefore kept the medal, and got nothing fo"- my pains. The
same sort of adventures happened in this case as in that of Sala-
manca's vase. But I shall pass such matters briefly by, lest they hinder
me from telling things of greater importance.

XXVI

Since I am writing my life, I must from time to time diverge from
my profession in order to describe with brevity, if not in detail, some
incidents which have no bearing on my career as artist. On the
morning of Saint John's Day I happened to be dining with several
men of our nation, painters, sculptors, goldsmiths, amongst the
most notable of whom was Rosso and Gainfrancesco, the pupil
of Raffaello.' I had invited them without restraint or ceremony to
the place of our meeting, and they were all laughing and joking, as
is natural when a crowd of men come together to make merry on
so great a festival. It chanced that a light-brained swaggering young
fellow passed by; he was a soldier of Rienzo da Ceri, who, when
he heard the noise that we were making, gave vent to a string of
opprobrious sarcasms upon the folk of Florence.^ I, who was the
host of those great artists and men of worth, taking the insult to
myself, slipped out quietly without being observed, and went up to
him. I ought to say that he had a punk of his there, and was going
on with his stupid ribaldries to amuse her. When I met him, I asked
if he was the rash fellow who was speaking evil of the Florentines.
He answered at once: "I am that man." On this I raised my
hand, struck him in the face, and said: "And I am this man." Then
we each of us drew our swords with spirit; but the fray had hardly
begun when a crowd of persons intervened, who rather took my
part than not, hearing and seeing that I was in the right.

On the following day a challenge to fight with him was brought

' St. John's Day was the great Florentine Festival, on which all the Guilds went in
procession with pageants through the city. Of the Florentine painter, II Rosso, or
Maitre Roux, this is the first mention by Cellini. He went to France in 1534, and died
an obscure death there in 1541.

^ This Rienzo, Renzo, or Lorenzo da Ceri, was a captain of adventurers or Con-
dottiere, who hired his mercenary forces to paymasters. He defended Crema for the
Venetians in 15 14, and conquered Urbino for the Pope in 151 5. Afterwards he fought
for the French in the Italian wars. We shall hear more of him again during the sack
of Rome.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 47

me, which I accepted very gladly, saying that I expected to com-
plete this job far quicker than those of the other art I practised. So
I went at once to confer with a fine old man called Bevilacqua, who
was reputed to have been the first sword of Italy, because he had
fought more than twenty serious duels and had always come off with
honour. This excellent man was a great friend of mine; he knew me
as an artist and had also been concerned as intermediary in certain
ugly quarrels between me and others. Accordingly, when he had
learned my business, he answered with a smile: "My Benvenuto, if
you had an affair with Mars, I am sure you would come out with
honour, because through all the years that I have known you, I have
never seen you wrongfully take up a quarrel." So he consented to be
my second, and we repaired with sword in hand to the appointed
place; but no blood was shed, for my opponent made the matter up,
and I came with much credit out of the affair.^ I will not add fur-
ther particulars; for though they would be very interesting in their
own way, I wish to keep both space and words for my art, which
has been my chief inducement to write as I am doing, and about
which I shall have only too much to say.

The spirit of honourable rivalry impelled me to attempt some other
masterpiece, which should equal, or even surpass, the productions of
that able craftsman, Lucagnolo, whom I have mentioned. Still I did
not on this account neglect my own fine art of jewellery; and so both
the one and the other wrought me much profit and more credit, and
in both of them I continued to produce things of marked originality.
There was at that time in Rome a very able artist of Perugia named
Lautizio, who worked only in one department, where he was sole
and unrivalled throughout the world.^ You must know that at Rome
every cardinal has a seal, upon which his title is engraved, and these
seals are made just as large as a child's hand of about twelve years
of age; and, as I have already said, the cardinal's title is engraved
upon the seal together with a great many ornamental figures. A
well-made article of the kind fetches a hundred, or more than a
hundred crowns. This excellent workman, like Lucagnolo, roused
in me some honest rivalry, although the art he practised is far remote

'The Italian, restando dal mio avversario, seems to mean that Cellini's opponent
proposed an accommodation, apologized, or stayed the duel at a certain point.
*See Cellini's Treatise Oreficeria, cap. vi., for more particulars about this artist.

48 BENVENUTO CELLINI

from the other branches of gold-smithery, and consequently Lautizio
was not skilled in making anything but seals. I gave my mind to
acquiring his craft also, although I found it very difficult; and, unre-
pelled by the trouble which it gave me, I went on zealously upon the
path of profit and improvement.

There was in Rome another most excellent craftsman of ability,
who was a Milanese named Messer Caradosso.° He dealt in nothing
but little chiselled medals, made of plates of metal, and such-like
things. I have seen of his some paxes in half relief, and some Christs
a palm in length wrought of the thinnest golden plates, so exquisitely
done that I esteemed him the greatest master in that kind I had ever
seen, and envied him more than all the rest together. There were
also other masters who worked at medals carved in steel, which may
be called the models and true guides for those who aim at striking
coins in the most perfect style. All these divers arts I set myself with
unflagging industry to learn.

I must not omit the exquisite art of enamelling, in which I have
never known any one excel save a Florentine, our countryman,
called Amerigo.^ I did not know him, but was well acquainted with
his incomparable masterpieces. Nothing in any part of the world
or by any craftsman that I have seen, approached the divine beauty
of their workmanship. To this branch too I devoted myself with
all my strength, although it is extremely difficult, chiefly because of
the fire, which, after long time and trouble spent in other processes,
has to be applied at last, and not unfrequently brings the whole to
ruin. In spite of its great difficulties, it gave me so much pleasure
that I looked upon them as recreation; and this came from the special
gift which the God of nature bestowed on me, that is to say, a tem-
perament so happy and of such excellent parts that I was freely able
to accomplish whatever it pleased me to take in hand. The various
departments of art which I have described are very different one
from the other, so that a man who excels in one of them, if he
undertakes the others, hardly ever achieves the same success; whereas

^ His real name was Ambrogio Foppa. The nickname Caradosso is said to have
stuck to him in consequence of a Spaniard calling him Bear's-face in his own tongue.
He struck Leo X.'s coins; and we possess some excellent medallion portraits by his
hand.

* For him, consult Cellini's Oreficeria.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 49

I strove with all my power to become equally versed in all o£
them: and in the proper place I shall demonstrate that I attained
my object.

XXVII

At that time, while I was still a young man of about twenty-three,
there raged a plague of such extraordinary violence that many thou-
sands died of it every day in Rome. Somewhat terrified at this
calamity, I began to take certain amusements, as my mind suggested,
and for a reason which I will presently relate. I had formed a habit
of going on feast-days to the ancient buildings, and copying parts
of them in wax or with the pencil; and since these buildings are all
ruins, and the ruins house innumerable pigeons, it came into my
head to use my gun against these birds. So then, avoiding all com-
merce with people, in my terror of the plague, I used to put a
fowling-piece on my boy Pagolino's shoulder, and he and I went
out alone into the ruins; and oftentimes we came home laden with
a cargo of the fattest pigeons. I did not care to charge my gun with
more than a single ball; and thus it was by pure skill in the art that
I filled such heavy bags. I had a fowling-piece which I had made
myself; inside and out it was as bright as any mirror. I also used to
make a very fine sort of powder, in doing which I discovered secret
processes, beyond any which have yet been found; and on this point,
in order to be brief, I will give but one particular, which will astonish
good shots of every degree. This is, that when I charged my gun
with powder weighing one-fifth of the ball, it carried two hundred
paces point-blank. It is true that the great delight I took in this
exercise bid fair to withdraw me from my art and studies; yet in
another way it gave me more than it deprived me of, seeing that
each time I went out shooting I returned with greatly better health,
because the open air was a benefit to my constitution. My natural
temperament was melancholy, and while I was taking these amuse-
ments, my heart leapt up with joy, and I found that I could work
better and with far greater mastery than when I spent my whole
time in study and manual labour. In this way my gun, at the end
of the game, stood me more in profit than in loss.

It was also the cause of my making acquaintance with certain

50 BENVENUTO CELLINI

hunters after curiosities, who followed in the track* of those Lom-
bard peasants who used to come to Rome to till the vineyards at the
proper season. While digging the ground, they frequently turned
up antique medals, agates, chrysoprases, cornelians, and cameos; also
sometimes jewels, as, for instance, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds,
and rubies. The peasants used to sell things of this sort to the traders
for a mere trifle; and I very often, when I met them, paid the latter
several times as many golden crowns as they had given giulios for
some object. Independently of the profit I made by this traffic, which
was at least tenfold, it brought me also into agreeable relations with
nearly all the cardinals of Rome. I will only touch upon a few of
the most notable and rarest of these curiosities. There came into my
hands, among many other fragments, the head of a dolphin about as
big as a good-sized ballot-bean. Not only was the style of this head
extremely beautiful, but nature had here far surpassed art; for the
stone was an emerald of such good colour, that the man who bought
it from me for tens of crowns sold it again for hundreds after setting
it as a finger-ring. I will mention another kind of gem; this was a
magnificent topaz; and here art equalled nature; it was as large as
a big hazel-nut, with the head of Minerva in a style of inconceivable
beauty. I remember yet another precious stone, different from these;
it was a cameo, engraved with Hercules binding Cerberus of the
triple throat; such was its beauty and the skill of its workman-
ship, that our great Michel Agnolo protested he had never seen any-
thing so wonderful. Among many bronze medals, I obtained one
upon which was a head of Jupiter. It was the largest that had ever
been seen; the head of the most perfect execution; and it had on the
reverse side a very fine design of some little figures in the same style.
I might enlarge at great length on this curiosity; but I will refrain
for fear of being prolix.

XXVIII

As I have said above, the plague had broken out in Rome; but
though I must return a little way upon my steps, I shall not therefore
abandon the main path of my history. There arrived in Rome a sur-
geon of the highest renown, who was called Maestro Giacomo da

* Stavano alle velette. Perhaps lay in wait for.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 51

Carpi.' This able man, in the course of his other practice, undertook
the most desperate cases of the so-called French disease. In Rome
this kind of illness is very partial to the priests, and especially to the
richest of them. When, therefore, Maestro Giacomo had made his
talents known, he professed to work miracles in the treatment of
such cases by means of certain fumigations; but he only undertook a
cure after stipulating for his fees, which he reckoned not by tens, but
by hundreds of crowns. He was a great connoisseur in the arts of
design. Chancing to pass one day before my shop, he saw a lot of
drawings which I had laid upon the counter, and among these were
several designs for little vases in a capricious style, which I had
sketched for my amusement. These vases were in quite a different
fashion from any which had been seen up to that date. He was
anxious that I should finish one or two of them for him in silver;
and this I did with the fullest satisfaction, seeing they exactly suited
my own fancy. The clever surgeon paid me very well, and yet the
honour which the vases brought me was worth a hundred times
as much; for the best craftsmen in the goldsmith's trade declared
they had never seen anything more beautiful or better executed.

No sooner had I finished them than he showed them to the Pope;
and the next day following he betook himself away from Rome. He
was a man of much learning, who used to discourse wonderfully
about medicine. The Pope would fain have had him in his service,
but he replied that he would not take service with anybody in the
world, and that whoso had need of him might come to seek him out.
He was a person of great sagacity, and did wisely to get out of Rome;
for not many months afterwards, all the patients he had treated grew
so ill that they were a hundred times worse off than before he came.
He would certainly have been murdered if he had stopped. He
showed my little vases to several persons of quality; amongst others,
to the most excellent Duke of Ferrara, and pretended that he had
got them from a great lord in Rome, by telling this nobleman that
if he wanted to be cured, he must give him those two vases; and
that the lord had answered that they were antique, and besought

^ Giacomo Berengario da Carpi was, in fact, a great physician, surgeon, and student
of anatomy. He is said to have been the first to use mercury in the cure of syphilis, a
disease which was devastating Italy after the year 1495. He amassed a large fortune,
which, when he died at Ferrara about 1530, lie bequeathed to the Duke there.

52 BENVENUTO CELLINI

him to ask for anything else which it might be convenient for him
to give, provided only he would leave him those; but, according to
his own account, Maestro Giacomo made as though he would not
undertake the cure, and so he got them.

I was told this by Messer Alberto Bendedio in Ferrara, who with
great ostentation showed me some earthenware copies he possessed
of them.^ Thereupon I laughed, and as I said nothing, Messer Al-
berto Bendedio, who was a haughty man, flew into a rage and said:
"You are laughing at them, are you? And I tell you that during
the last thousand years there has not been born a man capable of so
much as copying them." I then, not caring to deprive them of so
eminent a reputation, kept silence, and admired them with mute
stupefaction. It was said to me in Rome by many great lords, some
of whom were my friends, that the work of which I have been speak-
ing was, in their opinion of marvellous excellence' and genuine an-
tiquity; whereupon, emboldened by their praises, I revealed that I
had made them. As they would not believe it, and as I wished to
prove that I had spoken truth, I was obliged to bring evidence and
to make new drawings of the vases; for my word alone was not
enough, inasmuch as Maestro Giacomo had cunningly insisted upon
carrying off the old drawings with him. By this little job I earned
a fair amount of money.

XXIX

The plague went dragging on for many months, but I had as yet
managed to keep it at bay; for though several of my comrades were
dead, I survived in health and freedom. Now it chanced one evening
that an intimate comrade of mine brought home to supper a Bo-
lognese prostitute named Faustina. She was a very irne woman, but
about thirty years of age; and she had with her a little serving-girl of
thirteen or fourteen. Faustina belonging to my friend, I would not
have touched her for all the gold in the world; and though she de-
clared she was madly in love with me, I remained steadfast in my
loyalty. But after they had gone to bed, I stole away the little serving-
girl, who was quite a fresh maid, and woe to her if her mistress had
known of it! The result was that I enjoyed a very pleasant night,

^ See below, Book II. Chap, viii., for a full account of this incident at Ferrara.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 53

far more to my satisfaction than if I had passed it with Faustina. I
rose upon the hour of breaking fast, and felt tired, for I had travelled
many miles that night, and was wanting to take food, when a crush-
ing headache seized me; several boils appeared on my left arm,
together with a carbuncle which showed itself just beyond the palm
of the left hand where it joins the wrist. Everybody in the house
was in a panic; my friend, the cow and the calf, all fled. Left alone
there with my poor little prentice, who refused to abandon me, I felt
stifled at the heart, and made up my mind for certain I was a dead
man.

Just then the father of the lad went by, who was physician to the
Cardinal lacoacci,' and lived as member of that prelate's household.'
The boy called out: "Come, father, and see Benvenuto; he is in bed
with some trifling indisposition." Without thinking what my com-
plaint might be, the doctor came up at once, and when he had felt
my pulse, he saw and felt what was very contrary to his own wishes.
Turning round to his son, he said: "O traitor of a child, you've
ruined me; how can I venture now into the Cardinal's presence.''"
His son made answer: "Why, father, this man my master is worth
far more than all the cardinals in Rome." Then the doctor turned
to me and said: "Since I am here, I will consent to treat you. But
of one thing only I warn you, that if you have enjoyed a woman,
you are doomed." To this I replied: "I did so this very night." He
answered: "With whom, and to what extent?"' I said: "Last night,
and with a girl in her earliest maturity." Upon this, perceiving that
he had spoken foolishly, he made haste to add: "Well, considering
the sores are so new, and have not yet begun to stink, and that the
remedies will be taken in time, you need not be too much afraid,
for I have good hopes of curing you." When he had prescribed for
me and gone away, a very dear friend of mine, called Giovanni
Rigogli, came in, who fell to commiserating my great suffering and
also my desertion by my comrade, and said; "Be of good cheer, my
Benvenuto, for I will never leave your side until I see you restored
to health." I told him not to come too close, since it was all over
with me. Only I besought him to be so kind as to take a considerable

'Probably Domenico lacobacci, who obtained the hat in 1517.
' A sua provisione stava, i. e., he was in the Cardinal's regular pay.
' Quanta. Perhaps we ought to read quando — when?

54 BENVENUTO CELLINI

quantity of crowns, which were lying in a little box near my bed,
and when God had thought fit to remove me from this world, to
send them to my poor father, writing pleasantly to him, in the way
I too had done, so far as that appalling season of the plague per-
mitted/ My beloved friend declared that he had no intention what-
soever of leaving me, and that come what might, in life or death, he
knew very well what was his duty toward a friend. And so we went
on by the help of God: and the admirable remedies which I had
used began to work a great improvement, and I soon came well out
of that dreadful sickness.

The sore was still open, with a plug of lint inside it and a plaster
above, when I went out riding on a little wild pony. He was covered
with hair four fingers long, and was exactly as big as a well-grown
bear; indeed he looked just like a bear. I rode out on him to visit the
painter Rosso, who was then living in the country, toward Civita
Vecchia, at a place of Count Anguillara's called Cervetera. I found
my friend, and he was very glad to see me; whereupon I said: "I am
come to do to you that which you did to me so many months ago."
He burst out laughing, embraced and kissed me, and begged me
for the Count's sake to keep quiet. I stayed in that place about a
month, with much content and gladness, enjoying good wines and
excellent food, and treated with the greatest kindness by the Count;
every day I used to ride out alone along the seashore, where I dis-
mounted, and filled my pockets with all sorts of pebbles, snail shells,
and sea shells of great rarity and beauty.

On the last day (for after this I went there no more) I was attacked
by a band of men, who had disguised themselves, and disembarked
from a Moorish privateer. When they thought that they had run me
into a certain passage, where it seemed impossible that I should
escape from their hands, I suddenly mounted my pony, resolved to
be roasted or boiled alive at that pass perilous, seeing I had little
hope to evade one or the other of these fates ;^ but, as God willed,

^ Come ancora io avevo fatto secondo I'usanza che promettava quell' arrabbiata
stagione. I am not sure that I have given the right sense in the text above. Leclanch^
interprets the words thus : "that I too had fared according to the wont of that appalling
season," i. e., had died of the plague. But I think tlie version in my sense is more
true both to Italian and to Cellini's special style.

^ 2. e., to escape either being drowned or shot.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 55

my pony, who was the same I have described above, took an incred-
ibly wide jump, and brought me off in safety, for which I heartily
thanked God. I told the story to the Count; he ran to arms; but we
saw the galleys setting out to sea. The next day following I went
back sound and with good cheer to Rome.

XXX

The plague had by this time almost died out, so that the survivors,
when they met together alive, rejoiced with much delight in one
another's company. This led to the formation of a club of painters,
sculptors, and goldsmiths, the best that were in Rome; and the
founder of it was a sculptor with the name of Michel Agnolo.' He
was a Sienese and a man of great ability, who could hold his own
against any other workman in that art; but, above all, he was the
most amusing comrade and the heartiest good fellow in the universe.
Of all the members of the club, he was the eldest, and yet the
youngest from the strength and vigour of his body. We often came
together; at the very least twice a week. I must not omit to mention
that our society counted Giulio Romano, the painter, and Gian Fran-
cesco, both of them celebrated pupils of the mighty Raffaello da
Urbino.

After many and many merry meetings, it seemed good to our
worthy president that for the following Sunday we should repair to
supper in his house, and that each one of us should be obliged to
bring with him his crow (such was the nickname Michel Agnolo
gave to women in the club), and that whoso did not bring one
should be sconced by paying a supper to the whole company. Those
of us who had no familiarity with women of the town, were forced
to purvey themselves at no small trouble and expense, in order to
appear without disgrace at that distinguished feast of artists. I had
reckoned upon being well provided with a young woman of con-
siderable beauty, called Pantasilea, who was very much in love with
me; but I was obliged to give her up to one of my dearest friends,
called II Bachiacca, who on his side had been, and still was, over

' This sculptor came to Rome with his compatriot Baldassare Peruzzi, and was era-
ployed upon the monument of Pope Adrian VI., which he executed with some help
from Tribolo.

56 BENVENUTO CELLINI

head and ears in love with her.^ This exchange excited a certain
amount of lover's anger, because the lady, seeing I had abandoned
her at Bachiacca's first entreaty, imagined that I held in slight esteem
the great affection which she bore me. In course o£ time a very
serious incident grew out of this misunderstanding, through her
desire to take revenge for the affront I had put upon her; whereof
I shall speak hereafter in the proper place.

Well, then, the hour was drawing nigh when we had to present
ourselves before that company of men of genius, each with his own
crow; and I was still unprovided; and yet I thought it would be
stupid to fail of such a madcap bagatelle;' but what particularly
weighed upon my mind was that I did not choose to lend the light
of my countenance in that illustrious sphere to some miserable
plume-plucked scarecrow. All these considerations made me devise
a pleasant trick, for the increase of merriment and the diffusion of
mirth in our society.

Having taken this resolve, I sent for a stripling of sixteen years,
who lived in the next house to mine; he was the son of a Spanish
coppersmith. This young man gave his time to Latin studies, and
was very diligent in their pursuit. He bore the name of Diego, had
a handsome figure, and a complexion of marvellous brilliancy; the
outlines of his head and face were far more beautiful than those of
the antique Antinous: I had often copied them, gaining thereby
much honour from the works in which I used them. The youth had
no acquaintances, and was therefore quite unknown; dressed very
ill and negligently; all his affections being set upon those wonderful
studies of his. After bringing him to my house, I begged him to let
me array him in the woman's clothes which I had caused to be laid
out. He readily complied, and put them on at once, while I added
new beauties to the beauty of his face by the elaborate and studied
way in which I dressed his hair. In his ears I placed two little rings,
set with two large and fair pearls; the rings were broken; they only
clipped his ears, which looked as though they had been pierced.

^ There were two artists at this epoch surnamed Bachiacca, the twin sons of Uber-
tino Verdi, called respectively Francesco and Antonio. Francesco was an excellent
painter of miniature oil-pictures; Antonio the first embroiderer of his age. The one
alluded to here is probably Francesco.

' Mancare di una sipazza com. The pazza cosa may be the supper-party or the
cornacchia.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 57

Afterwards I wreathed his throat with chains of gold and rich jewels,
and ornamented his fair hands with rings. Then I took him in a
pleasant manner by one ear, and drew him before a great looking-
glass. The lad, when he beheld himself, cried out with a burst of
enthusiasm: "Heavens! is that Diego.?" I said: "That is Diego, from
whom until this day I never asked for any kind of favour; but
now I only beseech Diego to do me pleasure in one harmless
thing; and it is this — I want him to come in those very clothes to
supper with the company of artists whereof he has often heard me
speak." The young man, who was honest, virtuous, and wise,
checked his enthusiasm, bent his eyes to the ground, and stood for a
short while in silence. Then with a sudden move he lifted up his
face and said: "With Benvenuto I will go; now let us start."

I wrapped his head in a large kind of napkin, which is called in
Rome a summer-cloth; and when we reached the place of meeting,
the company had already assembled, and everybody came forward
to greet me. Michel Agnolo had placed himself between Giulio and
Giovan Francesco. I lifted the veil from the head of my beauty; and
then Michel Agnolo, who, as I have already said, was the most
humorous and amusing fellow in the world, laid his two hands, the
one on GiuHo's and the other on Gian Francesco's shoulders, and
pulling them with all his force, made them bow down, while he, on
his knees upon the floor, cried out for mercy, and called to all
the folk in words like these: "Behold ye of what sort are the
angels of paradise! for though they are called angels, here shall
ye see that they are not all of the male gender." Then with a
loud voice he added :

"Angel beauteous, angel best,
Save me thou, make thou me blest."

Upon this my charming creature laughed, and lifted the right hand
and gave him a papal benediction, with many pleasant words to
boot. So Michel Agnolo stood up, and said it was the custom to
kiss the feet of the Pope and the cheeks of angels; and having done
the latter to Diego, the boy blushed deeply, which immensely en-
hanced his beauty.
When this reception was over, we found the whole room full of

58 BENVENUTO CELLINI

sonnets, which every man of us had made and sent to Michel Agnolo.
My lad began to read them, and read them all aloud so gracefully,
that his infinite charms were heightened beyond the powers of lan-
guage to describe. Then followed conversation and witty sayings,
on which I will not enlarge, for that is not my business; only one
clever word must be mentioned, for it was spoken by that admirable
painter Giulio, who, looking round with meaning* in his eyes on
the bystanders, and fixing them particularly upon the women, turned
to Michel Agnolo and said: "My dear Michel Agnolo, your nick-
name of crow very well suits those ladies to-day, though I vow they
are somewhat less fair than crows by the side of one of the most
lovely peacocks which fancy could have painted."

When the banquet was served and ready, and we were going to
sit down to table, Giulio asked leave to be allowed to place us. This
being granted, he took the women by the hand, and arranged them
all upon the inner side, with my fair in the centre; then he placed all
the men on the outside and me in the middle, saying there was no
honour too great for my deserts. As a background to the women,
there was spread an espalier of natural jasmines in full beauty,' which
set off their charms, and especially Diego's, to such great advantage,
that words would fail to describe the effect. Then we all of us fell
to enjoying the abundance of our host's well-furnished table. The
supper was followed by a short concert of delightful music, voices
joining in harmony with instruments; and forasmuch as they were
singing and playing from the book, my beauty begged to be allowed
to sing his part. He performed the music better than almost all the
rest, which so astonished the company that Giulio and Michel
Agnolo dropped their earlier tone of banter, exchanging it for well-
weighed terms of sober heartfelt admiration.

After the music was over, a certain Aurelio Ascolano,' remarkable
for his gift as an improvisatory poet, began to extol the women in
choice phrases of exquisite compliment. While he was chanting, the

* Virtuosamente. Cellini uses the word virtuoso in many senses, but always more
with reference to intellectual than moral qualities. It denotes genius, artistic ability,
masculine force, &c.

^ Vn tcssuto di gehumini naturali e belUssimi. Tessuto is properly something woven,
a fabric; and I am not sure whether Cellini docs not mean that the ladies had behind
their backs a tapestry representing jasmines in a natural manner.

^ Probably Eurialo d'Ascoli, a friend of Caro, Molza, Aretino.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 59

two girls who had my beauty between them never left off chattering.
One of them related how she had gone wrong; the other asked mine
how it had happened with her, and who were her friends, and how
long she had been settled in Rome, and many other questions of the
kind. It is true that, if I chose to describe such laughable episodes,
I could relate several odd things which then occurred through Pan-
tasilea's jealousy on my account; but since they form no part of my
design, I pass them briefly over. At last the conversation of those
loose women vexed my beauty, whom we had christened Pomona
for the nonce; and Pomona, wanting to escape from their silly talk,
turned restlessly upon her chair, first to one side and then to the
other. The female brought by Giulio asked whether she felt indis-
posed. Pomona answered, yes, she thought she was a month or so
with a child; this gave them the opportunity of feeling her body and
discovering the real sex of the supposed woman. Thereupon they
quickly withdrew their hands and rose from table, uttering such
gibing words as are commonly addressed to young men of eminent
beauty. The whole room rang with laughter and astonishment, in
the midst of which Michel Agnolo, assuming a fierce aspect, called
out for leave to inflict on me the penance he thought fit. When this
was granted, he lifted me aloft amid the clamour of the company,
crying: "Long live the gentleman! long live the gentleman!" and
added that this was the punishment I deserved for having played so
fine a trick. Thus ended that most agreeable supper-party, and each
of us returned to his own dwelling at the close of day.

XXXI

It would take too long to describe in detail all the many and
divers pieces of work which I executed for a great variety of men.
At present I need only say that I devoted myself with sustained dili-
gence and industry to acquiring mastery in the several branches of
art which I enumerated a short while back. And so I went on
labouring incessantly at all of them; but since no opportunity has
presented itself as yet for describing my most notable performances,
I shall wait to report them in their proper place before very long.
The Sienese sculptor, Michel Agnolo, of whom I have recently been
speaking, was at that time making the monument of the late Pope

60 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Adrian. Giulio Romano went to paint for the Marquis of Mantua.
The other members of the club betook themselves in different direc-
tions, each to his own business; so that our company of artists was
well-nigh altogether broken up.

About this time there fell into my hands some little Turkish
poniards; the handle as well as the blade of these daggers was made
of iron, and so too was the sheath. They were engraved by means
of iron implements with foliage in the most exquisite Turkish style,
very neatly filled in with gold. The sight of them stirred in me a
great desire to try my own skill in that branch, so different from
the others which I practised; and finding that I succeeded to my
satisfaction, I executed several pieces. Mine were far more beautiful
and more durable than the Turkish, and this for divers reasons. One
was that I cut my grooves much deeper and with wider trenches
in the steel; for this is not usual in Turkish work. Another was that
the Turkish arabesques are only composed of arum leaves with a few
small sunflowers;' and though these have a certain grace, they do
not yield so lasting a pleasure as the patterns which we use. It is
true that in Italy we have several different ways of designing foliage;
the Lombards, for example, construct very beautiful patterns by
copying the leaves of briony and ivy in exquisite curves, which are
extremely agreeable to the eye; the Tuscans and the Romans make
a better choice, because they imitate the leaves of the acanthus, com-
monly called bear's-foot, with its stalks and flowers, curling in divers
wavy lines; and into these arabesques one may excellently well insert
the figures of little birds and different animals, by which the good
taste of the artist is displayed. Some hints for creatures of this sort
can be observed in nature among the wild flowers, as, for instance,
in snap-dragons and some few other plants, which must be com-
bined and developed with the help of fanciful imaginings by clever
draughtsmen. Such arabesques are called grotesques by the ignorant.
They have obtained this name of grotesques among the moderns
through being found in certain subterranean caverns in Rome by
students of antiquity; which caverns were formerly chambers, hot-
baths, cabinets for study, halls, and apartments of like nature. The
curious discovering them in such places (since the level of the ground
' Gkhero, arum maculatum, and cUzia, the sunflower.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 6 1

has gradually been raised while they have remained below, and since
in Rome these vaulted rooms are commonly called grottoes), it has
followed that the word grotesque is applied to the patterns I have
mentioned. But this is not the right term for them, inasmuch as the
ancients, who delighted in composing monsters out of goats, cows,
and horses, called these chimerical hybrids by the name of monsters;
and the modern artificers of whom I speak, fashioned from the
foliage which they copied monsters of like nature; for these the
proper name is therefore monsters, and not grotesques. Well, then,
I designed patterns of this kind, and filled them in with gold, as I
have mentioned; and they were far more pleasing to the eye than
the Turkish.

It chanced at that time that I lighted upon some jars or little
antique urns filled with ashes, and among the ashes were some iron
rings inlaid with gold (for the ancients also used that art), and in
each of the rings was set a tiny cameo of shell. On applying to men
of learning, they told me that these rings were worn as amulets by
folk desirous of abiding with mind unshaken in any extraordinary
circumstance, whether of good or evil fortune. Hereupon, at the
request of certain noblemen who were my friends, I undertook to
fabricate some trifling rings of this kind; but I made them of refined
steel; and after they had been well engraved and inlaid with gold,
they produced a very beautiful effect; and sometimes a single ring
brought me more than forty crowns, merely in payment for my
labour.

It was the custom at that epoch to wear little golden medals, upon
which every nobleman or man of quality had some device or fancy
of his own engraved; and these were worn in the cap. Of such pieces
I made very many, and found them extremely difficult to work. I
have already mentioned the admirable craftsman Caradosso, who
used to make such ornaments; and as there were more than one
figure on each piece, he asked at least a hundred gold crowns for
his fee. This being so — not, however, because his prices were so
high, but because he worked so slowly — I began to be employed by
certain noblemen, for whom, among other things, I made a medal in
competition with that great artist, and it had four figures, upon
which I had expended an infinity of labour. These men of quaUty,

62 BENVENUTO CELLINI

when they compared my piece with that of the famous Caradosso,
declared that mine was by far the better executed and more beautiful,
and bade me ask what I liked as the reward of my trouble; for since
I had given them such perfect satisfaction, they wished to do the
like by me. I replied that my greatest reward and what I most de-
sired was to have rivalled the masterpieces of so eminent an artist;
and that if their lordships thought I had, I acknowledged myself
to be most amply rewarded. With this I took my leave, and they
immediately sent me such a very liberal present, that I was well
content; indeed there grew in me so great a spirit to do well, that
to this event I attributed what will afterwards be related of my
progress.

xxxii

I shall be obliged to digress a little from the history of my art,
unless I were to omit some annoying incidents which have happened
in the course of my troubled career. One of these, which I am about
to describe, brought me into the greatest risk of my life. I have
already told the story of the artists' club, and of the farcical adven-
tures which happened owing to the woman whom I mentioned,
Pantasilea, the one who felt for me that false and fulsome love. She
was furiously enraged because of the pleasant trick by which I
brought Diego to our banquet, and she swore to be revenged on me.
How she did so is mixed up with the history of a young man called
Luigi Pulci, who had recently come to Rome. He was the son of one
of the Pulcis, who had been beheaded for incest with his daughter;
and the youth possessed extraordinary gifts for poetry together with
sound Latin scholarship; he wrote well, was graceful in manners,
and of surprising personal beauty; he had just left the service of some
bishop, whose name I do not remember, and was thoroughly tainted
with a very foul disease. While he was yet a lad and living in
Florence, they used in certain places of the city to meet together
during the nights of summer on the public streets; and he, ranking
among the best of the improvisatori, sang there. His recitations were
so admirable, that the divine Michel Agnolo Buonarroti, that prince
of sculptors and of painters, went, wherever he heard that he would
be, with the greatest eagerness and delight to Usten to him. There

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 63

was a man called Piloto, a goldsmith, very able in his art, who,
together with myself, joined Buonarroti upon these occasions.' Thus
acquaintance sprang up between me and Luigi Pulci; and so, after
the lapse of many years, he came, in the miserable plight which I have
mentioned, to make himself known to me again in Rome, beseeching
me for God's sake to help him. Moved to compassion by his great
talents, by the love of my fatherland, and by my own natural tender-
ness of heart, I took him into my house, and had him medically
treated in such wise that, being but a youth, he soon regained his
health. While he was still pursuing his cure, he never omitted his
studies, and I provided him with books according to the means at
my disposal. The result was that Luigi, recognising the great ben-
efits he had received from me, oftentimes with words and tears re-
turned me thanks, protesting that if God should ever put good for-
tune in his way, he would recompense me for my kindness. To
this I replied that I had not done for him as much as I desired, but
only what I could, and that it was the duty of human beings to
be mutually serviceable. Only I suggested that he should repay the
service I had rendered him by doing likewise to some one who might
have the same need of him as he had had of me.

The young man in question began to frequent the Court of Rome,
where he soon found a situation, and enrolled himself in the suite of
a bishop, a man of eighty years, who bore the title of Gurgensis.^
This bishop had a nephew called Messer Giovanni : he was a noble-
man of Venice; and the said Messer Giovanni made show of mar-
vellous attachment to Luigi Pulci's talents; and under the pretence
of these talents, he brought him as familiar to himself as his own
flesh and blood. Luigi having talked of me, and of his great obli-
gations to me, with Messer Giovanni, the latter expressed a wish to
make my acquaintance. Thus then it came to pass, that when I had
upon a certain evening invited that woman Pantasilea to supper, and
had assembled a company of men of parts who were my friends, just
at the moment of our sitting down to table, Messer Giovanni and

' Piloto, of whom we shall hear more hereafter, was a prominent figure in the
Florentine society of artists, and a celebrated practical joker. Vasari says that a young
man of whom he had spoken ill murdered him. Lasca's Novelle, Le Cene, should be
studied by those who seek an insight into this curious Bohemia of the sixteenth century.

2 Gxrolamo Balbo, of the noble Venetian family, Bishop of Gurck, in Carinthia.

64 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Luigi Pulci arrived, and after some complimentary speeches, they
both remained to sup with us. The shameless strumpet, casting her
eyes upon the young man's beauty, began at once to lay her nets for
him; perceiving which, when the supper had come to an agreeable
end, I took Luigi aside, and conjured him, by the benefits he said
he owed me, to have nothing whatever to do with her. To this he
answered: "Good heavens, Benvenuto! do you then take me for a
madman?" I rejoined: "Not for a madman, but for a young fellow;"
and I swore to him by God: "I do not give that woman the least
thought; but for your sake I should be sorry if through her you
came to break your neck." Upon these words he vowed and prayed
to God, that, if ever he but spoke with her, he might upon the mo-
ment break his neck. I think the poor lad swore this oath to God
with all his heart, for he did break his neck, as I shall presently relate.
Messer Giovanni showed signs too evident of loving him in a dis-
honourable way; for we began to notice that Luigi had new suits
of silk and velvet every morning, and it was known that he aban-
doned himself altogether to bad courses. He neglected his fine tal-
ents, and pretended not to see or recognise me, because I had once
rebuked him, and told him he was giving his soul to foul vices,
which would make him break his neck, as he had vowed.

XXXIII

Now Messer Giovanni bought his favourite a very fine black horse,
for which he paid 150 crowns. The beast was admirably trained to
hand, so that Luigi could go daily to caracole around the lodgings
of that prostitute Pantasilea. Though I took notice of this, I paid
it no attention, only remarking that all things acted as their nature
prompted; and meanwhile I gave my whole mind to my studies. It
came to pass one Sunday evening that we were invited to sup to-
gether with the Sienese sculptor, Michel Agnolo, and the time of
the year was summer. Bachiacca, of whom I have already spoken,
was present at the party; and he had brought with him his old
flame, Pantasilea. When we were at table, she sat between me and
Bachiacca; but in the very middle of the banquet she rose, and
excused herself upon the pretext of a natural need, saying she would
speedily return. We, meanwhile, continued talking very agreeably

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 65

and supping; but she remained an unaccountably long time absent.
It chanced that, keeping my ears open, I thought I heard a sort of
subdued tittering in the street below. I had a knife in hand, which
I was using for my service at the table. The window was so close
to where I sat, that, by merely rising, I could see Luigi in the street,
together with Pantasilea; and I heard Luigi saying: "Oh, if that
devil Benvenuto only saw us, shouldn't we just catch it!" She an-
swered: "Have no fear; only listen to the noise they're making; we
are the last thing they're thinking of." At these words, having made
them both well out, I leaped from the window, and took Luigi by
the cape; and certainly I should then have killed him with the knife
I held, but that he was riding a white horse, to which he clapped
spurs, leaving his cape in my grasp, in order to preserve his life.
Pantasilea took to her heels in the direction of a neighbouring
church. The company at supper rose immediately, and came down,
entreating me in a body to refrain from putting myself and them to
inconvenience for a strumpet. I told them that I should not have
let myself be moved on her account, but that I was bent on punishing
the infamous young man, who showed how little he regarded me.
Accordingly I would not yield to the remonstrances of those in-
genious and worthy men, but took my sword, and went alone toward
Prati: — the house where we were supping, I should say, stood close
to the Castello gate, which led to Prati.' Walking thus upon the
road to Prati, I had not gone far before the sun sank, and I re-entered
Rome itself at a slow pace. Night had fallen; darkness had come on;
but the gates of Rome were not yet shut.

Toward two hours after sunset, I walked along Pantasilea's lodg-
ing, with the intention, if Luigi Pulci were there, of doing something
to the discontent of both. When I heard and saw that no one but
a poor servant-girl called Canida was in the house, I went to put
away my cloak and the scabbard of my sword, and then returned
to the house, which stood behind the Banchi on the river Tiber. Just
opposite stretched a garden belonging to an innkeeper called Romolo.

' The Porta Castello was the gate called after the Castle of S. Angelo. Prati, so far
as I can make out, was an open space between the Borgo and the Bridge of S. Angelo.
In order to get inside Rome itself, Cellini had to pass a second gate. His own lodging
and Pantasilea's house were in the quarter of the Bianchi, where are now the Via
Giulia and Via de' Banchi Vecchi.

66 BENVENUTO CELLINI

It was enclosed by a thick hedge of thorns, in which I hid myself,
standing upright, and waiting till the woman came back with Luigi.
After keeping watch awhile there, my friend Bachiacca crept up to
me; whether led by his own suspicions or by the advice of others,
I cannot say. In a low voice he called out to me: "Gossip" (for so we
used to name ourselves for fun) ; and then he prayed me for God's
love, using the words which follow, with tears in the tone of his
voice: "Dear gossip, I entreat you not to injure that poor girl; she
at least has erred in no wise in this matter — no, not at all." When I
heard what he was saying, I replied: "If you don't take yourself off
now, at this first word I utter, I will bring my sword here down upon
your head." Overwhelmed with fright, my poor gossip was sud-
denly taken ill with the colic, and withdrew to ease himself apart;
indeed, he could not but obey the call. There was a glorious heaven
of stars, which shed good light to see by. All of a sudden I was aware
of the noise of many horses; they were coming toward me from the
one side and the other. It turned out to be Luigi and Pantasilea,
attended by a certain Messer Benvegnato of Perugia, who was cham-
berlain to Pope Clement, and followed by four doughty captains of
Perugia, with some other valiant soldiers in the flower of youth;
altogether reckoned, there were more than twelve swords. When
I understood the matter, and saw not how to fly, I did my best to
crouch into the hedge. But the thorns pricked and hurt me, goading
me to madness like a bull; and I had half resolved to take a leap and
hazard my escape. Just then Luigi, with his arm round Pantasilea's
neck, was heard crying: "I must kiss you once again, if only to insult
that traitor Benvenuto." At that moment, annoyed as I was by the
prickles, and irritated by the young man's words, I sprang forth,
lifted my sword on high, and shouted at the top of my voice: "You
are all dead folk!" My blow descended on the shoulder of Luigi;
but the satyrs who doted on him, had steeled his person round with
coats of mail and such-like villainous defences; still the stroke fell
with crushing force. Swerving aside, the sword hit Pantasilea full
in nose and mouth. Both she and Luigi grovelled on the ground,
while Bachiacca, with his breeches down to heels, screamed out and
ran away. Then I turned upon the others boldly with my sword;
and those valiant fellows, hearing a sudden commotion in the tav-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 67

ern, thought there was an army coming of a hundred men; and
though they drew their swords with spirit, yet two horses which
had taken fright in the tumuh cast them into such disorder that a
couple of the best riders were thrown, and the remainder took to
flight. I, seeing that the affair was turning out well for me, ran as
quickly as I could, and came off with honour from the engagement,
not wishing to tempt fortune more than was my duty. During this
hurly-burly, some of the soldiers and captains wounded themselves
with their own arms; and Messer Benvegnato, the Pope's chamber-
lain, was kicked and trampled by his mule. One of the servants also,
who had drawn his sword, fell down together with his master, and
wounded him badly in the hand. Maddened by the pain, he swore
louder than all the rest in his Perugian jargon, crying out: "By the
body of God, I will take care that Benvegnato teaches Benvenuto
how to live." He afterwards commissioned one of the captains who
were with him (braver perhaps than the others, but with less aplomb,
as being but a youth) to seek me out. The fellow came to visit me
in the place of my retirement; that was the palace of a great Nea-
politan nobleman, who had become acquainted with me in my art,
and had besides taken a fancy to me because of my physical and
mental aptitude for fighting, to which my lord himself was per-
sonally well inclined. So, then, finding myself made much of, and
being precisely in my element, I gave such answer to the captain
as I think must have made him earnestly repent of having come to
look me up. After a few days, when the wounds of Luigi, and the
strumpet, and the rest were healing, this great Neapolitan nobleman
received overtures from Messer Benvegnato; for the prelate's anger
had cooled, and he proposed to ratify a peace between me and Luigi
and the soldiers, who had personally no quarrel with me, and only
wished to make my acquaintance. Accordingly my friend the noble-
man replied that he would bring me where they chose to appoint,
and that he was very willing to effect a reconciliation. He stipulated
that no words should be bandied about on either side, seeing that
would be little to their credit; it was enough to go through the form
of drinking together and exchanging kisses; he for his part under-
took to do the talking, and promised to settle the matter to their
honour. This arrangement was carried out. On Thursday evening

68 BENVENUTO CELLINI

my protector took me to the house o£ Messer Benvegnato, where
all the soldiers who had been present at that discomfiture were
assembled, and already seated at table. My nobleman was attended
by thirty brave fellows, all well armed; a circumstance which Messer
Benvegnato had not anticipated. When we came into the hall, he
walking first, I following, he spake to this effect: "God save you,
gentlemen; we have come to see you, I and Benvenuto, whom I love
like my own brother; and we are ready to do whatever you propose."
Messer Benvegnato, seeing the hall filled with such a crowd of men,
called out: "It is only peace, and nothing else, we ask of you." Ac-
cordingly he promised that the governor of Rome and his catchpoles
should give me no trouble. Then we made peace, and I returned to
my shop, where I could not stay an hour without that Neapolitan
nobleman either coming to see me or sending for me.

Meanwhile Luigi Pulci, having recovered from his wound, rode
every day upon the black horse which was so well trained to heel
and bridle. One day, among others, after it had rained a little, and
he was making his horse curvet just before Pantasilea's door, he
slipped and fell, with the horse upon him. His right leg was broken
short off in the thigh; and after a few days he died there in Pan-
tasilea's lodgings, discharging thus the vow he registered so heartily
to Heaven. Even so may it be seen that God keeps account of the
good and the bad, and gives to each one what he merits.

XXXIV

The whole world was now in warfare.' Pope Clement had sent to
get some troops from Giovanni de' Medici, and when they came,
they made such disturbances in Rome, that it was ill living in open
shops." On this account I retired to a good snug house behind the
Banchi, where I worked for all the friends I had acquired. Since I
produced few things of much importance at that period, I need not
waste time in talking about them. I took much pleasure in music
and amusements of the kind. On the death of Giovanni de' Medici

'War had broken out in 152 1 between Charles V. and Francis I., which disturbed
all Europe and involved the States of Italy in serious complications. At the moment
when this chapter opens, the Imperialist army under the Constable of Bourbon was
marching upon Rome in 1527.

^ These troops entered Rome in October 1526. They were disbanded in March, 1527.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 69

in Lombardy, the Pope, at the advice of Messer Jacopo Salviati, dis-
missed the five bands he had engaged; and when the Constable of
Bourbon knew there were no troops in Rome, he pushed his army
with the utmost energy up to the city. The whole of Rome upon
this flew to arms. I happened to be intimate with Alessandro, the
son of Piero del Bene, who, at the time when the Colonnesi entered
Rome, had requested me to guard his palace.^ On this more serious
occasion, therefore, he prayed me to enlist fifty comrades for the
protection of the said house, appointing me their captain, as I had
been when the Colonnesi came. So I collected fifty young men of
the highest courage, and we took up our quarters in his palace, with
good pay and excellent appointments.

Bourbon's army had now arrived before the walls of Rome, and
Alessandro begged me to go with him to reconnoitre. So we went
with one of the stoutest fellows in our Company; and on the way a
youth called Cecchino della Casa joined himself to us. On reaching
the wails by the Campo Santo, we could see that famous army,
which was making every effort to enter the town. Upon the ram-
parts where we took our station several young men were lying killed
by the besiegers; the battle raged there desperately, and there was
the densest fog imaginable. I turned to Alessandro and said : "Let us
go home as soon as we can, for there is nothing to be done here; you
see the enemies are mounting, and our men are in flight." Ales-
sandro, in a panic, cried: "Would God that we had never come
here!" and turned in maddest haste to fly. I took him up somewhat
sharply with these words: "Since you have brought me here, I must
perform some action worthy of a man;" and directing my arquebuse
where I saw the thickest and most serried troop of fighting men, I
aimed exactly at one whom I remarked to be higher than the rest;
the fog prevented me from being certain whether he was on horse-
back or on foot. Then I turned to Alessandro and Cecchino, and
bade them discharge their arquebuses, showing them how to avoid
being hit by the besiegers. When we had fired two rounds apiece, I
crept cautiously up to the wall, and observing among the enemy a

' Cellini here refers to the attack made upon Rome by the great Ghibelline house of
Colonna, led by their chief captain, Pompeo, in September 1526. They took possession
of the city and drove Clement into the Castle of S. Angelo, where they forced him to
agree to terms favouring the Imperial cause. It was customary for Roman gentlemen
to hire bravi for the defence of their palaces when any extraordinary disturbance was
expected, as, for example, upon the vacation of the Papal Chair.

70 BENVENUTO CELLINI

most extraordinary confusion, I discovered afterwards that one of
our shots had killed the Constable of Bourbon; and from what I sub-
sequently learned, he was the man whom I had first noticed above
the heads of the rest.^

Quitting our position on the ramparts, we crossed the Campo
Santo, and entered the city by St. Peter's; then coming out exactly
at the church of Santo Agnolo, we got with the greatest difficulty
to the great gate of the castle; for the generals Renzo di Ceri and
Orazio Baglioni were wounding and slaughtering everybody who
abandoned the defence of the walls.^ By the time we had reached
the great gate, part of the foemen had already entered Rome, and
we had them in our rear. The castellan had ordered the portcullis
to be lowered, in order to do which they cleared a little space, and
this enabled us four to get inside. On the instant that I entered, the
captain Pallone de' Medici claimed me as being of the Papal house-
hold, and forced me to abandon Alessandro, which I had to do, much
against my will. I ascended to the keep, and at the same instant Pope
Clement came in through the corridors into the castle; he had refused
to leave the palace of St. Peter earlier, being unable to believe that
his enemies would effect their entrance into Rome.° Having got
into the castle in this way, I attached myself to certain pieces of artil-
lery, which were under the command of a bombardier called Giu-
liano Fiorentino. Leaning there against the battlements, the un-
happy man could see his poor house being sacked, and his wife
and children outraged; fearing to strike his own folk, he dared not
discharge the cannon, and flinging the burning fuse upon the ground,
he wept as though his heart would break, and tore his cheeks with

*A11 historians of the sack of Rome agree in saying that Bourbon was shot dead
while placing ladders against the outworks near the shop Cellini mentions. But the
honour of firing the arquebuse which brought him down cannot be assigned to any
one in particular. Very different stories were current on the subject. See Gregorovius,
Stadt Rom., vol. viii. p. 522.

* For Renzo di Ceri see above, p. 46. Orazio Baglioni, of the semi-princely Perugian
family, was a distinguished Condottiere. He subsequently obtained the captaincy of
the Bande Nere, and died fighting near Naples in 1528. Orazio murdered several of
his cousins in order to acquire the lordship of Perugia. His brother Malatesta undertook
to defend Florence in the siege of 1530, and sold the city by treason to Clement.

* Giovio, in his Life of the Cardinal Prospero Colonna, relates how he accompanied
Clement in his flight from the Vatican to the castle. While passing some open portions
of the gallery, he threw his violet mantle and cap of a Monsignore over the white stole
of the Pontiff, for fear he might be shot at by the soldiers in the streets below.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 7I

both his hands J Some of the other bombardiers were behaving in Uke
manner; seeing which, I took one o£ the matches, and got the assist-
ance of a few men who were not overcome by their emotions. I
aimed some swivels and falconets at points where I saw it would
be useful, and killed with them a good number of the enemy. Had
it not been for this, the troops who poured into Rome that morning,
and were marching straight upon the castle, might possibly have
entered it with ease, because the artillery was doing them no damage.
I went on firing under the eyes of several cardinals and lords, who
kept blessing me and giving me the heartiest encouragement. In
my enthusiasm I strove to achieve the impossible; let it suffice that it
was I who saved the castle that morning, and brought the other
bombardiers back to their duty.' I worked hard the whole of that
day; and when the evening came, while the army was marching
into Rome through the Trastevere, Pope Clement appointed a great
Roman nobleman named Antonio Santacroce to be captain of all the
gunners. The first thing this man did was to come to me, and having
greeted me with the utmost kindness, he stationed me with five fine
pieces of artillery on the highest point of the castle, to which the
name of the Angel specially belongs. This circular eminence goes
round the castle, and surveys both Prati and the town of Rome. The
captain put under my orders enough men to help in managing my
guns, and having seen me paid in advance, he gave me rations of
bread and a little wine, and begged me to go forward as I had, begun.
I was perhaps more inclined by nature to the profession of arms
than to the one I had adopted, and I took such pleasure in its duties
that I discharged them better than those of my own art. Night
came, the enemy had entered Rome, and we who were in the castle
(especially myself, who have always taken pleasure in extraordinary
sights) stayed gazing on the indescribable scene of tumult and con-
flagration in the streets below. People who were anywhere else but
where we were, could not have formed the least imagination of
what it was. I will not, however, set myself to describe that tragedy,

'The short autobiography of Raffaello da Montelupo, a man in many respects re-
sembling Cellini, confirms this part of our author's narrative. It is one of the most
interesting pieces of evidence regarding what went on inside the castle during the sack
of Rome. Montelupo was also a gunner, and commanded two pieces.

' This is an instance of Cellini's exaggeration. He did more than yeoman's service,
no doubt. But we cannot believe that, without him, the castle would have been taken.

72 BENVENUTO CELLINI

but will content myself with continuing the history of my own life
and the circumstances which properly belong to it.

XXXV

During the course of my artillery practice, which I never inter-
mitted through the whole month passed by us beleaguered in the
castle, I met with a great many very striking accidents, all of them
worthy to be related. But since I do not care to be too prolix, or to
exhibit myself outside the sphere of my profession, I will omit the
larger part of them, only touching upon those I cannot well neglect,
which shall be the fewest in number and the most remarkable. The
first which comes to hand is this: Messer Antonio Santacroce had
made me come down from the Angel, in order to fire on some
houses in the neighbourhood, where certain of our besiegers had
been seen to enter. While I was firing, a cannon shot reached me,
which hit the angle of a battlement, and carried off enough of it to
be the cause why I sustained no injury. The whole mass struck me
in the chest and took my breath away. I lay stretched upon the
ground like a dead man, and could hear what the bystanders were
saying. Among them all, Messer Antonio Santacroce lamented
greatly, exclaiming: "Alas, alas! we have lost the best defender that
we had." Attracted by the uproar, one of my comrades ran up; he
was called Gianfrancesco, and was a bandsman, but was far more
naturally given to medicine than to music. On the spot he flew off,
crying for a stoop of the very best Greek wine. Then he made a
tile red-hot, and cast upon it a good handful of wormwood; after
which he sprinkled the Greek wine; and when the wormwood was
well soaked, he laid it on my breast, just where the bruise was
visible to all. Such was the virtue of the wormwood that I immedi-
ately regained my scattered faculties. I wanted to begin to speak;
but could not; for some stupid soldiers had filled my mouth with
earth, imagining that by so doing they were giving me the sacra-
ment; and indeed they were more like to have excommunicated me,
since I could with difficulty come to myself again, the earth doing
me more mischief than the blow. However, I escaped that danger,
and returned to the rage and fury of the guns, pursuing my work
there with all the ability and eagerness that I could summon.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 73

Pope Clement, by this, had sent to demand assistance from the
Duke o£ Urbino, who was with the troops o£ Venice; he commis-
sioned the envoy to tell his Excellency that the Castle of S. Angelo
would send up every evening three beacons from its summit accom-
panied by three discharges of the cannon thrice repeated, and that so
long as this signal was continued, he might take for granted that the
castle had not yielded. I was charged with lighting the beacons and
firing the guns for this purpose; and all this while I pointed my
artillery by day upon the places where mischief could be done. The
Pope, in consequence, began to regard me with still greater favour,
because he saw that I discharged my functions as intelligently as the
task demanded. Aid from the Duke of Urbino' never came; on
which, as it is not my business, I will make no further comment.

XXXVI

While I was at work upon that diabolical task of mine, there came
from time to time to watch me some of the cardinals who were
invested in the castle; and most frequently the Cardinal of Ravenna
and the Cardinal de' Gaddi.^ I often told them not to show them-
selves, since their nasty red caps gave a fair mark to our enemies.
From neighbouring buildings, such as the Torre de' Bini, we ran
great peril when they were there; and at last I had them locked off,
and gained thereby their deep ill-will. I frequently received visits
also from the general, Orazio Baglioni, who was very well affected
toward me. One day while he was talking with me, he noticed
something going forward in a drinking-place outside the Porta di
Castello, which bore the name of Baccanello. This tavern had for
sign a sun painted between two windows, of a bright red colour.

^ Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, commanded a considerable army as
general of the Church, and was now acting for Venice. Why he effected no diversion
while the Imperial troops were marching upon Rome, and why he delayed to relieve
the city, was never properly explained. Folk attributed his impotent conduct partly to
a natural sluggishness in warfare, and partly to his hatred for the house of Medici. Leo
X. had deprived him of his dukedom, and given it to a Medicean prince. It is to this
that Cellini probably refers in the cautious phrase which ends the chapter.

* Benedetto Accolti of Arezzo, Archbishop of Ravenna in 1524, obtained the hat in
1527, three days before the sack of Rome. He was a distinguished man of letters.
Niccolo Gaddi was created Cardinal on the same day as Accolti. We shall hear more of
him in Cellini's pages.

74 BENVENUTO CELLINI

The windows being closed, Signor Orazio concluded that a band of
soldiers were carousing at table just between them and behind the
sun. So he said to me: "Benvenuto, if you think that you could hit
that wall an ell's breadth from the sun with your demi-cannon here,
I believe you would be doing a good stroke of business, for there is
a great commotion there, and men of much importance must prob-
ably be inside the house." I answered that I felt quite capable of
hitting the sun in its centre, but that a barrel full of stones, which
was standing close to the muzzle of the gun, might be knocked
down by the shock of the discharge and the blast of the artillery.
He rejoined: "Don't waste time, Benvenuto. In the first place, it is
not possible, where it is standing, that the cannon's blast should bring
it down; and even if it were to fall, and the Pope himself was
underneath, the mischief would not be so great as you imagine.
Fire, then, only fire!" Taking no more thought about it, I struck
the sun in the centre, exactly as I said I should. The cask was dis-
lodged, as I predicted, and fell precisely between Cardinal Farnese
and Messer Jacopo Salviati.^ It might very well have dashed out
the brains of both of them, except that just at that very moment
Farnese was reproaching Salviati with having caused the sack of
Rome, and while they stood apart from one another to exchange
opprobrious remarks, my gabion fell without destroying them. When
he heard the uproar in the court below, good Signor Orazio dashed
off in a hurry; and I, thrusting my neck forward where the cask
had fallen, heard some people saying: "It would not be a bad job
to kill that gunner!" Upon this I turned two falconets toward the
staircase, with mind resolved to let blaze on the first man who
attempted to come up. The household of Cardinal Farnese must
have received orders to go and do me some injury; accordingly I
prepared to receive them, with a lighted match in hand. Recog-
nising some who were approaching, I called out : "You lazy lubbers,
if you don't pack off from there, and if but a man's child among
you dares to touch the staircase, I have got two cannon loaded, which
will blow you into powder. Go and tell the Cardinal that I was
acting at the order of superior ofBcers, and that what we have done

' Alessandro Farnese, Dean of the Sacred College, and afterwards Pope Paul III.
Of Giacopo Salviati we have already heard, p. 14.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 75

and are doing is in defence of them priests/ and not to hurt them."
They made away; and then came Signer Orazio BagUoni, running.
I bade him stand back, else I'd murder him; for I knew very well
who he was. He drew back a little, not without a certain show of
fear, and called out: "Benvenuto, I am your friend!" To this I
answered: "Sir, come up, but come alone, and then come as you
like." The general, who was a man of mighty pride, stood still a
moment, and then said angrily: "I have a good mind not to come
up again, and to do quite the opposite of that which I intended
toward you." I replied that just as I was put there to defend my
neighbours, I was equally well able to defend myself too. He said
that he was coming alone; and when he arrived at the top of the
stairs, his features were more discomposed that I thought reasonable.
So I kept my hand upon my sword, and stood eyeing him askance.
Upon this he began to laugh, and the colour coming back into his
face, he said to me with the most pleasant manner: "Friend Ben-
venuto, I bear you as great love as I have it in my heart to give; and
in God's good time I will render you proof of this. Would to God
that you had killed those two rascals; for one of them is the cause
of all this trouble, and the day perchance will come when the other
will be found the cause of something even worse." He then begged
me, if I should be asked, not to say that he was with me when I
fired the gun; and for the rest bade me be of good cheer. The com-
motion which the affair made was enormous, and lasted a long
while. However, I will not enlarge upon it further, only adding
that I was within an inch of revenging my father on Messer Jacopo
Salviati, who had grievously injured him, according to my father's
complaints. As it was, unwittingly I gave the fellow a great fright.
Of Farnese I shall say nothing here, because it will appear in its
proper place how well it would have been if I had killed him.

XXXVII

I pursued my business of artilleryman, and every day performed

some extraordinary feat, whereby the credit and the favour I acquired

with the Pope was something indescribable. There never passed a

day but what I killed one or another of our enemies in the besieging

* Loro preii. Perhaps their priests.

76 BENVENUTO CELLINI

army. On one occasion the Pope was walking round the circular
keep/ when he observed a Spanish Colonel in the Prati; he recog-
nised the man by certain indications, seeing that this officer had
formerly been in his service; and while he fixed his eyes on him, he
kept talking about him. I, above by the Angel, knew nothing of
all this, but spied a fellow down there, busying himself about the
trenches with a javelin in his hand; he was dressed entirely in rose-
colour; and so, studying the worst that I could do against him, I
selected a gerfalcon which I had at hand; it is a piece of ordnance
larger and longer than a swivel, and about the size of a demi-
culverin. This I emptied, and loaded it again with a good charge of
fine powder mixed with the coarser sort; then I aimed it exactly
at the man in red, elevating prodigiously, because a piece of that
calibre could hardly be expected to carry true at such a distance. I
fired, and hit my man exactly in the middle. He had trussed his
sword in front,' for swagger, after a way those Spaniards have; and
my ball, when it struck him, broke upon the blade, and one could
see the fellow cut in two fair halves. The Pope, who was expecting
nothing of this kind, derived great pleasure and amazement from
the sight, both because it seemed to him impossible that one should
aim and hit the mark at such a distance, and also because the man
was cut in two, and he could not comprehend how this should
happen. He sent for me, and asked about it. I explained all the
devices I had used in firing; but told him that why the man was cut
in halves, neither he nor I could know. Upon my bended knees I
then besought him to give me the pardon of his blessing for that
homicide; and for all the others I had committed in the castle in the
service of the Church. Thereat the Pope, raising his hand, and
making a large open sign of the cross upon my face, told me that
he blessed me, and that he gave me pardon for all murders I had ever
perpetrated, or should ever perpetrate, in the service of the Apostolic
Church. When I left him, I went aloft, and never stayed from firing
to the utmost of my power; and few were the shots of mine that
missed their mark. My drawing, and my fine studies in my craft,
and my charming art of music, all were swallowed up in the din of

• The Mastio or main body of Hadrian's Mausoleum, which was converted into a
fortress during the Middle Ages.

^ S'aveva messo la spada dinanzi. Perhaps was bearing his sword in front of him.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 'J'J

that artillery; and if I were to relate in detail all the splendid things
I did in that infernal work of cruelty, I should make the world
stand by and wonder. But, not to be too prolix, I will pass them over.
Only I must tell a few of the most remarkable, which are, as it
were, forced in upon me.

To begin then: pondering day and night what I could render for
my own part in defence of Holy Church, and having noticed that
the enemy changed guard and marched past through the great gate
of Santo Spirito, which was within a reasonable range, I thereupon
directed my attention to that spot; but, having to shoot sideways, I
could not do the damage that I wished, although I killed a fair per-
centage every day. This induced our adversaries, when they saw
their passage covered by my guns, to load the roof of a certain house
one night with thirty gabions, which obstructed the view I formerly
enjoyed. Taking better thought than I had done of the whole
situation, I now turned all my five pieces of artillery directly on the
gabions, and waited till the evening hour, when they changed guard.
Our enemies, thinking they were safe, came on at greater ease and
in a closer body than usual; whereupon I set fire to my blow-pipes.^
Not merely did I dash to pieces the gabions which stood in my
way; but, what was better, by that one blast I slaughtered more
than thirty men. In consequence of this manoeuvre, which I repeated
twice, the soldiers were thrown into such disorder, that being, more-
over, encumbered with the spoils of that great sack, and some of
them desirous of enjoying the fruits of their labour, they oftentimes
showed a mind to mutiny and take themselves away from Rome.
However, after coming to terms with their valiant captain, Gian di
Urbino,* they were ultimately compelled, at their excessive incon-
venience, to take another road when they changed guard. It cost
them three miles of march, whereas before they had but half a mile.
Having achieved this feat, I was entreated with prodigious favours
by all the men of quality who were invested in the castle. This inci-
dent was so important that I thought it well to relate it, before

' Soffioni, the cannon being like tubes to blow a fire up.
*This captain was a Spaniard, who played a very considerable figure in the war,
distinguishing himself at the capture of Genoa and the battle of Lodi in 1522, and
afterwards acting as Lieutenant-General to the Prince of Orange. He held Naples
against Orazio Baglioni in 1528, and died before Spello in 1529.

yS BENVENUTO CELLINI

finishing the history of things outside my art, the which is the real
object of my writing: forsooth, if I wanted to ornament my biog-
raphy with such matters, I should have far too much to tell. There
is only one more circumstance which, now that the occasion offers,
I propose to record.

XXXVIII

I shall skip over some intervening circumstances, and tell how
Pope Clement, wishing to save the tiaras and the whole collection
of the great jewels of the Apostolic Camera, had me called, and shut
himself up together with me and the Cavalierino in a room alone.'
This Cavalierino had been a groom in the stable of Filippo Strozzi;
he was French, and a person of the lowest birth; but being a most
faithful servant, the Pope had made him very rich, and confided in
him like himself. So the Pope, the Cavaliere, and I, being shut up
together, they laid before me the tiaras and jewels of the regalia;
and his Holiness ordered me to take all the gems out of their gold
settings. This I accordingly did; afterwards I wrapt them separately
up in bits of paper and we sewed them into the linings of the Pope's
and the Cavaliere's clothes. Then they gave me all the gold, which
weighed about two hundred pounds, and bade me melt it down as
secretly as I was able. I went up to the Angel, where I had my
lodging, and could lock the door so as to be free from interruption.
There I built a little draught-furnace of bricks, with a largish pot,
shaped like an open dish, at the bottom of it; and throwing the gold
upon the coals, it gradually sank through and dropped into the pan.
While the furnace was working I never left off watching how to
annoy our enemies; and as their trenches were less than a stone's-
throw right below us, I was able to inflict considerable damage on
them with some useless missiles,^ of which there were several piles,
forming the old munition of the castle. I chose a swivel and a
falconet, which were both a little damaged in the muzzle, and filled
them with the projectiles I have mentioned. When I fired my guns,
they hurtled down like mad, occasioning all sorts of unexpected

' This personage cannot be identified. The Filippo Strozzi mentioned as having
been his master was the great opponent of the Medicean despotism, who l<illed himself
in prison after the defeat of Montemurlo in 1539. He married in early life a daughter
of Piero de' Medici. ^ Passatojacci.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 79

mischief in the trenches. Accordingly I kept these pieces always
going at the same time that the gold was being melted down; and a
little before vespers I noticed some one coming along the margin of
the trench on muleback. The mule was trotting very quickly, and
the man was talking to the soldiers in the trenches. I took the pre-
caution of discharging my artillery just before he came immediately
opposite; and so, making a good calculation, I hit my mark. One
of the fragments struck him in the face; the rest were scattered on
the mule, which fell dead. A tremendous uproar rose up from the
trench; I opened fire with my other piece, doing them great hurt.
The man turned out to be the Prince of Orange, who was carried
through the trenches to a certain tavern in the neighbourhood,
whither in a short while all the chief folk of the army came together.

When Pope Clement heard what I had done, he sent at once to
call for me, and inquired into the circumstance. I related the whole,
and added that the man must have been of the greatest consequence,
because the inn to which they carried him had been immediately
filled by all the chiefs of the army, so far at least as I could judge.
The Pope, with a shrewd instinct, sent for Messer Antonio Santa-
croce, the nobleman who, as I have said, was chief and commander
of the gunners. He bade him order all us bombardiers to point our
pieces, which were very numerous, in one mass upon the house, and
to discharge them all together upon the signal of an arquebuse being
fired. He judged that if we killed the generals, the army, which was
already almost on the point of breaking up, would take flight. God
perhaps had heard the prayers they kept continually making, and
meant to rid them in this manner of those impious scoundrels.

We put our cannon in order at the command of Santacroce, and
waited for the signal. But when Cardinal Orsini' became aware of
what was going forward, he began to expostulate with the Pope,
protesting that the thing by no means ought to happen, seeing they
were on the point of concluding an accomrnodation, and that if the
generals were killed, the rabble of the troops without a leader would
storm the castle and complete their utter ruin. Consequently they
could by no means allow the Pope's plan to be carried out. The poor

' Franciotto Orsini was educated in the household of his kinsman Lorenzo de'
Medici. He followed the profession of arms, and married; but after losing his wife
took orders, and received the hat in 15 17.

8o BENVENUTO CELLINI

Pope, in despair, seeing himself assassinated both inside the castle
and without, said that he left them to arrange it. On this, our orders
were countermanded; but I, who chafed against the leash,* when I
knew that they were coming round to bid me stop from firing, let
blaze one of my demi-cannons, and struck a pillar in the courtyard
of the house, around which I saw a crowd of people clustering. This
shot did such damage to the enemy that it was like to have made
them evacuate the house. Cardinal Orsini was absolutely for having
me hanged or put to death; but the Pope took up my cause with
spirit. The high words that passed between them, though I well
know what they were, I will not here relate, because I make no pro-
fession of writing history. It is enough for me to occupy myself with
my own affairs.

XXXIX

After I had melted down the gold, I took it to the Pope, who
thanked me cordially for what I had done, and ordered the Cava-
lierino to give me twenty-five crowns, apologising to me for his
inability to give me more. A few days afterwards the articles of
peace were signed. I went with three hundred comrades in the train
of Signor Orazio Baglioni toward Perugia; and there he wished to
make me captain of the company, but I was unwilling at the
moment, saying that I wanted first to go and see my father, and to
redeem the ban which was still in force against me at Florence.
Signor Orazio told me that he had been appointed general of the
Florentines; and Sir Pier Maria del Lotto, the envoy from Florence,
was with him, to whom he specially recommended me as his man.'

In course of time I came to Florence in the company of several
comrades. The plague was raging with indescribable fury. When I
reached home, I found my good father, who thought either that I
must have been killed in the sack of Rome, or else that I should
come back to him a beggar. However, I entirely defeated both these
expectations; for I was alive, with plenty of money, a fellow to wait
on me, and a good horse. My joy on greeting the old man was so
intense, that, while he embraced and kissed me, I thought that I

^lo che non potevo stare die mosse.

' Pier Maria di Lotto of S. Miniato was notary to the Florentine Signoria. He col-
lected the remnants of the Bande Nere, and gave them over to Orazio Baglioni, who
contrived to escape from S. Angelo in safety to Perugia.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 8 1

must die upon the spot. After I had narrated all the devilries of that
dreadful sack, and had given him a good quantity of crowns which
I had gained by my soldiering, and when we had exchanged our
tokens of affection, he went off to the Eight to redeem my ban. It so
happened that one of those magistrates who sentenced me, was now
again a member of the board. It was the very man who had so incon-
siderately told my father he meant to march me out into the country
with the lances. My father took this opportunity of addressing him
with some meaning words, in order to mark his revenge, relying on
the favour which Orazio Baglioni showed me.

Matters standing thus, I told my father how Signor Orazio had
appointed me captain, and that I ought to begin to think of enlisting
my company. At these words the poor old man was greatly dis-
turbed, and begged me for God's sake not to turn my thoughts to
such an enterprise, although he knew I should be fit for this or yet
a greater business, adding that his other son, my brother, was already
a most valiant soldier, and that I ought to pursue the noble art in
which I had laboured so many years and with such diligence of
study. Although I promised to obey him, he reflected, like a man of
sense, that if Signor Orazio came to Florence, I could not withdraw
myself from military service, partly because I had passed my word,
as well as for other reasons. He therefore thought of a good expedi-
ent for sending me away, and spoke to me as follows : "Oh, my dear
son, the plague in this town is raging with immitigable violence, and
I am always fancying you will come home infected with it. I
remember, when I was a young man, that I went to Mantua, where
I was very kindly received, and stayed there several years. I pray and
command you, for the love of me, to pack off and go thither; and
I would have you do this to-day rather than to-morrow."

XL

I had always taken pleasure in seeing the world; and having
never been in Mantua, I went there very willingly. Of the money
I had brought to Florence, I left the greater part with my good
father, promising to help him wherever I might be, and confiding
him to the care of my elder sister. Her name was Cosa; and since
she never cared to marry, she was admitted as a nun in Santa Orsola;

82 BENVENUTO CELLINI

but she put off taking the veil, in order to keep house for our old
father, and to look after my younger sister, who was married to one
Bartolommeo, a surgeon. So then, leaving home with my father's
blessing, I mounted my good horse, and rode off on it to Mantua.

It would take too long to describe that little journey in detail. The
whole world being darkened over with plague and war, I had the
greatest difficulty in reaching Mantua. However, in the end, I got
there, and looked about for work to do, which I obtained from a
Maestro Niccolo of Milan, goldsmith to the Duke of Mantua. Hav-
ing thus settled down to work, I went after two days to visit Messer
Giulio Romano, that most excellent painter, of whom I have already
spoken, and my very good friend. He received me with the tender-
est caresses, and took it very ill that I had not dismounted at his
house. He was living like a lord, and executing a great work for
the Duke outside the city gates, in a place called Del Te. It was a
vast and prodigious undertaking, as may still, I suppose, be seen by
those who go there.'

Messer Giulio lost no time in speaking of me to the Duke in terms
of the warmest praise.^ That Prince commissioned me to make a
model for a reliquary, to hold the blood of Christ, which they have
there, and say was brought them by Longinus. Then he turned to
Giulio, bidding him supply me with a design for it. To this Giulio
replied: "My lord, Benvenuto is a man who does not need other
people's sketches, as your Excellency will be very well able to judge
when you shall see his model." I set hand to the work, and made
a drawing for the reliquary, well adapted to contain the sacred phial.
Then I made a little waxen model of the cover. This was a seated
Christ, supporting his great cross aloft with the left hand, while he
seemed to lean against it, and with the fingers of his right hand he
appeared to be opening the wound in his side. When it was finished,
it pleased the Duke so much that he heaped favours on me, and
gave me to understand that he would keep me in his service with
such appointments as should enable me to live in affluence.

Meanwhile, I had paid my duty to the Cardinal his brother, who

' This is the famous Palazzo del Te, outside the walls of Mantua. It still remains the
chief monument of Giulio Romano's versatile genius.

^ Federigo Gonzago was at this time Marquis of Mantua. Charles V. erected his
fief into a duchy in 1530.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 83

begged the Duke to allow me to make the pontifical seal of his most
reverend lordship.' This I began; but while I was working at it I
caught a quartan fever. During each access of this fever I was
thrown into delirium, when I cursed Mantua and its master and
whoever stayed there at his own liking. These words were reported
to the Duke by the Milanese goldsmith, who had not omitted to
notice that the Duke wanted to employ me. When the Prince heard
the ravings of my sickness, he flew into a passion against me; and
I being out of temper with Mantua, our bad feeling was reciprocal.
The seal was finished after four months, together with several other
little pieces I made for the Duke under the name of the Cardinal.
His Reverence paid me well, and bade me return to Rome, to that
marvellous city where we had made acquaintance.

I quitted Mantua with a good sum of crowns, and reached Gov-
erno, where the most valiant general Giovanni had been killed.*
Here I had a slight relapse of fever, which did not interrupt my
journey, and coming now to an end, it never returned on me again.
When I arrived at Florence, I hoped to find my dear father, and
knocking at the door, a hump-backed woman in a fury showed her
face at the window; she drove me ofl with a torrent of abuse, scream-
ing that the sight of me was a consumption to her. To this mis-
shapen hag I shouted: "Ho! tell me, cross-grained hunchback, is
there no other face to see here but your ugly visage?" "No, and
bad luck to you." Whereto I answered in a loud voice: "In less than
two hours may it^ never vex us more!" Attracted by this dispute, a
neighbour put her head out, from whom I learned that my father
and all the people in the house had died of the plague. As I had
partly guessed it might be so, my grief was not so great as it would
otherwise have been. The woman afterwards told me that only my
sister Liperata had escaped, and that she had taken refuge with a
pious lady named Mona Andrea de' Bellacci."

'Ercole Gonzaga, created Cardinal in 1527. After the death of his brother, Duke
Federigo, he governed Mantua for sixteen years as regent for his nephews, and became
famous as a patron of arts and letters. He died at Trento in 1563 while presiding over
the Council there, in the pontificate of Pius IV.

* Giovanni de' Medici, surnamed Delle Bande Nere.

' /'. f., your ugly visage.

^ Carpani states that between May and November 1527 about 40,000 persons died of
plague in Florence.

84 BENVENUTO CELLINI

I took my way from thence to the inn, and met by accident a very
dear friend of mine, Giovanni Rigogli. Dismounting at his house,
we proceeded to the piazza, where I received inteUigence that my
brother was alive, and went to find him at the house of a friend of
his called Bertino Aldobrandini. On meeting, we made demonstra-
tions of the most passionate affection; for he had heard that I was
dead, and I had heard that he was dead; and so our joy at embracing
one another was extravagant. Then he broke out into a loud fit of
laughter, and said: "Come, brother, I will take you where I'm sure
you'd never guess! You must know that I have given our sister
Liperata away again in marriage, and she holds it for absolutely
certain that you are dead." On our way we told each other all the
wonderful adventures we had met with; and when we reached the
house where our sister dwelt, the surprise of seeing me alive threw
her into a fainting fit, and she fell senseless in my arms. Had not
my brother been present, her speechlessness and sudden seizure must
have made her husband imagine I was some one different from a
brother — as indeed at first it did. Cecchino, however, explained mat-
ters, and busied himself in helping the swooning woman, who soon
come to. Then, after shedding some tears for father, sister, husband,
and a little son whom she had lost, she began to get the supper
ready; and during our merry meeting all that evening we talked no
more about dead folk, but rather discoursed gaily about weddings.
Thus, then, with gladness and great enjoyment we brought our
supper-party to an end.

XLI

On the entreaty of my brother and sister, I remained at Florence,
though my own inclination led me to return to Rome. The dear
friend, also, who had helped me in some of my earlier troubles, as I
have narrated (I mean Piero, son of Giovanni Landi) — he too
advised me to make some stay in Florence; for the Medici were in
exile, that is to say, Signor Ippolito and Signor Alessandro, who were
afterwards respectively Cardinal and Duke of Florence; and he
judged it would be well for me to wait and see what happened.'

1 1 may remind my readers that the three Medici of the ruling house were now ille-
gitimate. Clement VII. was the bastard son of Giuliano, brother of Lorenzo the Mag-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 85

At that time there arrived in Florence a Sienese, called Girolamo
Marretti, who had lived long in Turkey and was a man of lively intel-
lect. He came to my shop, and commissioned me to make a golden
medal to be worn in the hat. The subject was to be Hercules wrench-
ing the lion's mouth. While I was working at this piece, Michel
Agnolo Buonarroti came oftentimes to see it. I had spent infinite
pains upon the design, so that the attitude of the figure and the fierce
passion of the beast were executed in quite a different style from that
of any craftsman who had hitherto attempted such groups. This,
together with the fact that the special branch of art was totally
unknown to Michel Agnolo, made the divine master give such praises
to my work that I felt incredibly inspired for further effort. However,
I found little else to do but jewel-setting; and though I gained more
thus than in any other way, yet I was dissatisfied, for I would fain
have been employed upon some higher task than that of setting
precious stones.

Just then 1 met with Federigo Ginori, a young man of a very
lofty spirit. He had lived some years in Naples, and being endowed
with great charms of person and presence, had been the lover of a
Neapolitan princess. He wanted to have a medal made, with Atlas
bearing the world upon his shoulders, and applied to Michel Agnolo
for a design. Michel Agnolo made this answer: "Go and find out a
young goldsmith named Benvenuto; he will serve you admirably,
and certainly he does not stand in need of sketches by me. However,
to prevent your thinking that I want to save myself the trouble of
so slight a matter, I will gladly sketch you something; but mean-
while speak to Benvenuto, and let him also make a model; he can
then execute the better of the two designs." Federigo Ginori came
to me, and told me what he wanted, adding thereto how Michel
Agnolo had praised me, and how he had suggested I should make
a waxen model while he undertook to supply a sketch. The words
of that great man so heartened me, that I set myself to work at once
with eagerness upon the model; and when I had finished it, a

nificent. Ippolito, the Cardinal, was the bastard of Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, son
of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Alessandro was the reputed bastard of Lorenzo, Duke of
Urbino, grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Alessandro became Duke of Florence,
and after poisoning his cousin, Cardinal Ippolito, was murdered by a distant cousin,
Lorenzino de' Medici. In this way the male line of Lorenzo the Magnificent was
extinguished.

86 BENVENUTO CELLINI

painter who was intimate with Michel Agnolo, called Giuliano
Bugiardini, brought me the drawing of Atlas.^ On the same occasion
I showed Giuliano my little model in wax, which was very different
from Michel Agnolo's drawing; and Federigo, in concert with
Bugiardini, agreed that I should work upon my model. So I took
it in hand, and when Michel Agnolo saw it, he praised me to the
skies. This was a figure, as I have said, chiselled on a plate of gold;
Atlas had the heaven upon his back, made out of a crystal ball,
engraved with the zodiac upon a field of lapis-lazuli. The whole
composition produced an indescribably fine effect; and under it ran
the legend Sumtna tulisse juvat!^ Federigo was so thoroughly well
pleased that he paid me very liberally. Aluigi Alamanni was at that
time in Florence. Federigo Ginori, who enjoyed his friendship,
brought him often to my workshop, and through this introduction
we became very intimate together.*

XLII

Pope Clement had now declared war upon the city of Florence,
which thereupon was put in a state of defence; and the militia being
organised in each quarter of the town, I too received orders to serve
in my turn. I provided myself with a rich outfit, and went about
with the highest nobility of Florence, who showed a unanimous
desire to fight for the defence of our liberties. Meanwhile the
speeches which are usual upon such occasions were made in every
quarter;^ the young men met together more than was their wont,
and everywhere we had but one topic of conversation.

It happened one day, about noon, that a crowd of tall men and
lusty young fellows, the first in the city, were assembled in my work-
shop, when a letter from Rome was put into my hands. It came
from a man called Maestro Giacopino della Barca. His real name
was Giacopo della Sciorina, but they called him della Barca in Rome,

2 This painter was the pupil of Bertoldo, a man of simple maimers and of some
excellence in his art. The gallery at Bologna has a fine specimen of his painting.
Michel Agnolo delighted in his society.

^ Cellini says Summam.

* This was the agreeable didactic poet Luigi Alamanni, who had to fly from Florence
after a conspiracy against Cardinal Giulio de' Medici in 1522. He could never recon-
cile himself to the Medicean tyranny, and finally took refuge in France, where he was
honoured by Franfois I. He died at Amboise in 1556.

^ Fecesi quelle orazioni. It may mean "the prayers were offered up."

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 87

because he kept a ferry boat upon the Tiber between Ponte Sisto and
Ponte Santo Agnolo. He was a person of considerable talent, dis-
tinguished by his pleasantries and striking conversation, and he had
formerly been a designer of patterns for the cloth-weavers in Flor-
ence. This man was intimate with the Pope, who took great pleas-
ure in hearing him talk. Being one day engaged in conversation,
they touched upon the sack and the defence of the castle. This
brought me to the Pope's mind, and he spoke of me in the very
highest terms, adding that if he knew where I was, he should be
glad to get me back. Maestro Giacopo said I was in Florence;
whereupon the Pope bade the man write and tell me to return to
him. The letter I have mentioned was to the effect that I should
do well if I resumed the service of Clement, and that this was sure
to turn out to my advantage.

The young men who were present were curious to know what the
letter contained; wherefore I concealed it as well as I could. After-
wards I wrote to Maestro Giacopo, begging him by no means,
whether for good or evil, to write to me again. He however grew
more obstinate in his officiousness, and wrote me another letter, so
extravagantly worded, that if it had been seen, I should have got
into serious trouble. The substance of it was that the Pope required
me to come at once, wanting to employ me on work of the greatest
consequence; also that if I wished to act aright, I ought to throw up
everything, and not to stand against a Pope in the party of those
hare-brained Radicals. This letter, when I read it, put me in such
a fright, that I went to seek my dear friend Piero Landi. Directly
he set eyes on me, he asked what accident had happened to upset
me so. I told my friend that it was quitei impossible for me to
explain what lay upon my mind, and what was causing me this
trouble; only I entreated him to take the keys I gave him, and to
return the gems and gold in my drawers to such and such persons,
whose names he would find inscribed upon my memorandum-book;
next, I begged him to pack up the furniture of my house, and keep
account of it with his usual loving-kindness; and in a few days he
should hear where I was. The prudent young man, guessing per-
haps pretty nearly how the matter stood, replied: "My brother, go
your ways quickly; then write to me, and have no further care about

88 BENVENUTO CELLINI

your things." I did as he advised. He was the most loyal friend, the
wisest, the most worthy, the most discreet, the most affectionate that
I have ever known. I left Florence and went to Rome, and from
there I wrote to him.

XLIII

Upon my arrival in Rorhe,' I found several of my former friends,
by whom I was very well received and kindly entertained. No time
was lost before I set myself to work at things which brought me
profit, but were not notable enough to be described. There was a
fine old man, a goldsmith, called Raffaello del Moro, who had con-
siderable reputation in the trade, and was to boot a very worthy
fellow. He begged me to consent to enter his workshop, saying he
had some commissions of importance to execute, on which high
profits might be looked for; so I accepted his proposal with good-
will.

More than ten days had elapsed, and I had not presented myself
to Maestro Giacopino della Barca. Meeting me one day by accident,
he gave me a hearty welcome, and asked me how long I had been
in Rome. When I told him I had been there about a fortnight, he
took it very ill, and said that I showed little esteem for a Pope who
had urgently compelled him to write three times for me. I, who
had taken his persistence in the matter still more ill, made no reply,
but swallowed down my irritation. The man, who suffered from a
flux of words, began one of his long yarns, and went on talking,
till at the last, when I saw him tired out, I merely said that he might
bring me to the Pope when he saw fit. He answered that any time
would do for him; and I, that I was always ready. So we took our
way toward the palace. It was a Maundy Thursday; and when we
reached the apartments of the Pope, he being known there and I
expected, we were at once admitted.

1 Cellini has been severely taxed for leaving Florence at this juncture and taking
service under Pope Clement, the oppressor of her liberties. His own narrative admits
some sense of shame. Yet we should remember that he never took any decided part
in politics, and belonged to a family of Medicean sympathies. His father served Lo-
renzo and Piero; his brother was a soldier of Giovanni delle Bande Nere and Duke
Alessandro. Many most excellent Florentines were convinced that the Medicean gov-
ernment was beneficial; and an artist had certainly more to expect from it than from
the Republic.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 89

The Pope was in bed, suffering from a slight indisposition, and
he had with him Messer Jacopo Salviati and the Archbishop of
Capua.^ When the Pope set eyes on me, he was exceedingly glad.
I kissed his feet, and then, as humbly as I could, drew near to him,
and let him understand that I had things of consequence to utter.
On this he waved his hand, and the two prelates retired to a distance
from us. I began at once to speak: "Most blessed Father, from the
time of the sack up to this hour, I have never been able to confess
or to communicate, because they refuse me absolution. The case is
this. When I melted down the gold and worked at the unsetting of
those jewels, your Holiness ordered the Cavalierino to give me a
modest reward for my labours, of which I received nothing, but on
the contrary he rather paid me with abuse. When then I ascended
to the chamber where I had melted down the gold, and washed the
ashes, I found about a pound and a half of gold in tiny grains like
millet-seeds; and inasmuch as I had not money enough to take me
home respectably, I thought I would avail myself of this, and give it
back again when opportunity should offer. Now I am here at the
feet of your Holiness, who is the only true confessor. I entreat you
to do me the favour of granting me indulgence, so that I may be
able to confess and communicate, and by the grace of your Holiness
regain the grace of my Lord God." Upon this the Pope, with a
scarcely perceptible sigh, remembering perhaps his former trials,
spoke as follows: "Benvenuto, I thoroughly believe what you tell
me; it is in my power to absolve you of any unbecoming deed you
may have done, and, what is more, I have the will. So, then, speak
out with frankness and perfect confidence; for if you had taken the
value of a whole tiara, I am quite ready to pardon you." Thereupon
I answered: "I took nothing, most blessed Father, but what I have
confessed; and this did not amount to the value of 140 ducats, for
that was the sum I received from the Mint in Perugia, and with it
I went home to comfort my poor old father." The Pope said : "Your
father has been as virtuous, good, and worthy a man as was ever
born, and you have not degenerated from him. I am very sorry that
the money was so little; but such as you say it was, I make you a

2 Nicolas Schomberg, a learned Dominican and disciple of Savonarola, made Arch-
bishop of Capua in 1520. He was a faithful and able minister of Clement. Paul III.
gave him the hat in 1535, and he died in 1537.

go BENVENUTO CELLINI

present of it, and give you my full pardon. Assure your confessor
of this, if there is nothing else upon your conscience which concerns
me. Afterwards, when you have confessed and communicated, you
shall present yourself to me again, and it will be to your advantage."

When I parted from the Pope, Messer Giacopo and the Arch-
bishop approached, and the Pope spoke to them in the highest terms
imaginable about me; he said that he had confessed and absolved
me; then he commissioned the Archbishop of Capua to send for me
and ask if I had any other need beyond this matter, giving him full
leave to absolve me amply, and bidding him, moreover, treat me
with the utmost kindness.

While I was walking away with Maestro Giacopino, he asked me
very inquisitively what was the close and lengthy conversation I had
had with his Holiness. After he had repeated the question more
than twice, I said that I did not mean to tell him, because they were
matters with which he had nothing to do, and therefore he need not
go on asking me. Then I went to do what had been agreed on with
the Pope; and after the two festivals were over, I again presented
myself before his Holiness. He received me even better than before,
and said: "If you had come a little earlier to Rome, I should have
commissioned you to restore my two tiaras, which were pulled to
pieces in the castle. These, however, with the exception of the
gems, are objects of little artistic interest; so I will employ you on a
piece of the very greatest consequence, where you will be able to
exhibit all your talents. It is a button for my priest's cope, which
has to be made round like a trencher, and as big as a little trencher,
one-third of a cubit wide. Upon this I want you to represent a God
the Father in half-relief, and in the middle to set that magnificent big
diamond, which you remember, together with several other gems of
the greatest value. Caradosso began to make me one, but did not
finish it; I want yours to be finished quickly, so that I may enjoy
the use of it a little while. Go, then, and make me a fine model."
He had all the jewels shown me, and then I went off like a shot' to
set myself to work.

^ Affusolato. Lit., straight as a spindle.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 9 1

XLIV

During the time when Florence was besieged, Federigo Ginori,
for whom I made that medal of Atlas, died of consumption, and
the medal came into the hands of Messer Luigi Alamanni, who,
after a little while, took it to present in person to Francis, king of
France, accompanied by some of his own finest compositions. The
King was exceedingly delighted with the gift; whereupon Messer
Luigi told his Majesty so much about my personal qualities, as well
as my art, and spoke so favourably, that the King expressed a wish
to know me.

Meanwhile I pushed my model for the button forward with all the
diligence I could, constructing it exactly of the size which the jewel
itself was meant to have. In the trade of the goldsmiths it roused
considerable jealousy among those who thought that they were
capable of matching it. A certain Micheletto had just come to
Rome;' he was very clever at engraving cornelians, and was, more-
over, a most intelligent jeweller, an old man and of great celebrity.
He had been employed upon the Pope's tiaras; and while I was
working at my model, he wondered much that I had not applied to
him, being as he was a man of intelligence and of large credit with
the Pope. At last, when he saw that I was not coming to him, he
came to me, and asked me what I was about. "What the Pope has
ordered me," I answered. Then he said: "The Pope has commis-
sioned me to superintend everything which is being made for his
Holiness." I only replied that I would ask the Pope, and then should
know what answer I ought to give him. He told me that I should
repent, and departing in anger, had an interview with all the masters
of the art; they deliberated on the matter, and charged Michele with
the conduct of the whole affair. As was to be expected from a person
of his talents, he ordered more than thirty drawings to be made,
all differing in their details, for the piece the Pope had commis-
sioned.

Having already access to his Holiness's ear, he took into his
counsel another jeweller, named Pompeo, a Milanese, who was in
favour with the Pope, and related to Messer Traiano, the first
' Vasari calls this eminent engraver of gems Michelino.

92 BENVENUTO CELLINI

chamberlain of the court ;^ these two together, then, began to insinu-
ate that they had seen my model, and did not think me up to a work
of such extraordinary import. The Pope replied that he would also
have to see it, and that if he then found me unfit for the purpose, he
should look around for one who was fit. Both of them put in that
they had several excellent designs ready; to which the Pope made
answer, that he was very pleased to hear it, but that he did not care
to look at them till I had completed my model; afterwards, he would
take them all into consideration at the same time.

After a few days I finished my model, and took it to the Pope
one morning, when Messer Traiano made me wait till he had sent
for Micheletto and Pompeo, bidding them make haste and bring
their drawings. On their arrival we were introduced, and Micheletto
and Pompeo immediately unrolled their papers, which the Pope
inspected. The draughtsmen who had been employed were not in
the jeweller's trade, and therefore, knew nothing about giving their
right place to precious stones; and the jewellers, on their side, had
not shown them how; for I ought to say that a jeweller, when he
has to work with figures, must of necessity understand design, else
he cannot produce anything worth looking at: and so it turned out
that all of them had stuck that famous diamond in the middle of
the breast of God the Father. The Pope, who was an excellent con-
noisseur, observing this mistake, approved of none of them; and
when he had looked at about ten, he flung the rest down, and said
to me, who was standing at a distance : "Now show me your model,
Benvenuto, so that I may see if you have made the same mistake as
those fellows." I came forward, and opened a little round box;
whereupon one would have thought that a light from heaven had
struck the Pope's eyes. He cried aloud : "If you had been in my own
body, you could not have done it better, as this proves. Those men
there have found the right way to bring shame upon themselves!"
A crowd of great lords pressing round, the Pope pointed out the
difference between my model and the drawings. When he had
sufficiently commended it, the others standing terrified and stupid
before him, he turned to me and said: "I am only afraid of one
thing, and that is of the utmost consequence. Friend Benvenuto,
* Messer Traiano Alicorno.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 93

wax is easy to work in; the real difficulty is to execute this in gold."
To those words I answered without a moment's hesitation: "Most
blessed Father, if I do not work it ten times better than the model,
let it be agreed beforehand that you pay me nothing." When they
heard this, the noblemen made a great stir, crying out that I was
promising too much. Among them was an eminent philosopher,
who spoke out in my favour: "From the fine physiognomy and
bodily symmetry which I observed in this young man, I predict that
he will accomplish what he says, and think that he will even go
beyond it." The Pope put in: "And this is my opinion also." Then
he called his chamberlain, Messer Traiano, and bade him bring five
hundred golden ducats of the Camera.

While we were waiting for the money, the Pope turned once more
to gaze at leisure on the dexterous device I had employed for com-
bining the diamond with the figure of God the Father. I had put
the diamond exactly in the center of the piece; and above it God the
Father was shown seated, leaning nobly in a sideways attitude,'
which made a perfect composition, and did not interfere with the
stone's effect. Lifting his right hand, he was in the act of giving
the benediction. Below the diamond I had placed three children,
who, with their arms upraised, were supporting the jewel. One of
them, in the middle, was in full relief, the other two in half-relief.
All around I set a crowd of cherubs, in divers attitudes, adapted to
the other gems. A mantle undulated to the wind around the figure
of the Father, from the folds of which cherubs peeped out; and
there were other ornaments besides which made a very beautiful
effect. The work was executed in white stucco on a black stone.
When the money came, the Pope gave it to me with his own hand,
and begged me in the most winning terms to let him have it finished
in his own days, adding that this should be to my advantage.

XLV

I took the money and the model home, and was in the utmost
impatience to begin my work. After I had laboured diligently for
eight days, the Pope sent word by one of his chamberlains, a very
great gentleman of Bologna, that I was to come to him and bring

'/n un certo bd modo svolio. That means: turned aside, not fronting the spectator.

94 BENVENUTO CELLINI

what I had got in hand. On the way, the chamberlain, who was the
most gende-mannered person in the Roman court, told me that the
Pope not only wanted to see what I was doing, but also intended to
intrust me with another task of the highest consequence, which was,
in fact, to furnish dies for the money of the Mint; and bade me arm
myself beforehand with the answer I should give; in short, he
wished me to be prepared, and therefore he had spoken. When we
came into the presence, I lost no time in exhibiting the golden plate,
upon which I had as yet carved nothing but my figure of God the
Father; but this, though only in the rough, displayed a grander
style than that of the waxen model. The Pope regarded it with stupe-
faction, and exclaimed: "From this moment forward I will believe
everything you say." Then loading me with marks of favour, he
added: "It is my intention to give you another commission, which,
if you feel competent to execute it, I shall have no less at heart than
this, or more." He proceeded to tell me that he wished to make
dies for the coinage of his realm, and asked me if I had ever tried
my hand at such things, and if I had the courage to attempt them.
I answered that of courage for the task I had no lack, and that I had
seen how dies were made, but that I had not ever made any. There
was in the presence a certain Messer Tommaso, of Prato, his HoH-
ness's Datary;' and this man, being a friend of my enemies, put in:
"Most blessed Father, the favours you are showering upon this young
man (and he by nature so extremely overbold) are enough to make
him promise you a new world. You have already given him one
great task, and now, by adding a greater, you are like to make them
clash together." The Pope, in a rage, turned round on him, and
told him to mind his own business. Then he commanded me to
make the model for a broad doubloon of gold, upon which he
wanted a naked Christ with his hands tied, and the inscription
Ecce Homo; the reverse was to have a Pope and Emperor in the
act together of propping up a cross which seemed to fall, and this
legend : Unus spiritus et una fides erat in eis.

' His full name was Tommaso Cortese. The Papal Datario was the chief secretary
of the office for requests, petitions and patents. His title was derived from its being
his duty to affix the Datum Roma to documents. The fees of this office, which was
also called Datario, brought in a large revenue to the Papacy.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 95

After the Pope had ordered this handsome coin, Bandinello the
sculptor came up; he had not yet been made a knight; and, with his
wonted presumption muffled up in ignorance, said: "For these gold-
smiths one must make drawings for such fine things as that." I
turned round upon him in a moment, and cried out that I did not
want his drawings for my art, but that I hoped before very long to
give his art some trouble by my drawings. The Pope expressed high
satisfaction at these words, and turning to me said: "Go then, my
Benvenuto, and devote yourself with spirit to my service, and do not
lend an ear to the chattering of these silly fellows."

So I went off, and very quickly made two dies of steel; then I
stamped a coin in gold, and one Sunday after dinner took the coin
and the dies to the Pope, who, when he saw the piece, was aston-
ished and greatly gratified, not only because my work pleased him
excessively, but also because of the rapidity with which I had per-
formed it. For the further satisfaction and amazement of his holi-
ness, I had brought with me all the old coins which in former times
had been made by those able men who served Popes Giulio and
Leo; and when I noticed that mine pleased him far better, I drew
forth from my bosom a patent,^ in which I prayed for the post of
stamp-master^ in the Mint. This place was worth six golden crowns
a month, in addition to the dies, which were paid at the rate of a
ducat for three by the Master of the Mint. The Pope took my
patent and handed it to the Datary, telling him to lose no time in
dispatching the business. The Datary began to put it in his pocket,
saying: "Most blessed Father, your Holiness ought not to go so fast;
these are matters which deserve some reflection." To this the Pope
replied: "I have heard what you have got to say; give me here that
patent." He took it, and signed it at once with his own hand; then,
giving it back, added: "Now, you have no answer left; see that you
dispatch it at once, for this is my pleasure; and Benvenuto's shoes
are worth more than the eyes of all those other blockheads." So,
having thanked his Holiness, I went back, rejoicing above measure,
to my work.

^Moto propio. Cellini confuses his petition with the instrument, which he had
probably drawn up ready for signature.

' Maestro delle stampe della zecca, i. e., the artist who made the dies.

96 BENVENUTO CELLINI

XLVI

I was still working in the shop of RafJaello del Moro. This worthy
man had a very beautiful young daughter, with regard to whom he
had designs on me; and I, becoming partly aware of his intentions,
was very willing; but, while indulging such desires, I made no show
of them: on the contrary^ I was so discreet in my behaviour that I
made him wonder. It so happened that the poor girl was attacked
by a disorder in her right hand, which ate into the two bones be-
longing to the little finger and the next.' Owing to her father's care-
lessness, she had been treated by an ignorant quack-doctor, who
predicted that the poor child would be crippled in the whole of her
right arm, if even nothing worse should happen. When I noticed
the dismay of her father, I begged him not to believe all that this
ignorant doctor had said. He replied that he had no acquaintance
with physicians or with surgeons, and entreated me, if I knew of one,
to bring him to the house." I sent at once for a certain Maestro Gia-
como of Perugia, a man of great skill in surgery, who examined the
poor girl.' She was dreadfully frightened through having gained
some inkUng of the quack's predictions; whereas, my intelligent doc-
tor declared that she would suffer nothing of consequence, and would
be very well able to use her right hand; also that though the two
last fingers must remain somewhat weaker than the others, this
would be of no inconvenience at all to her. So he began his treat-
ment; and after a few days, when he was going to extract a portion
of the diseased bones, her father called for me, and begged me to
be present at the operation. Maestro Giacomo was using some
coarse steel instruments; and when I observed that he was making
little way and at the same time was inflicting severe pain on the
patient, I begged him to stop and wait half a quarter of an hour
for me. I ran into the shop, and made a little scalping-iron of steel,
extremely thin and curved; it cut like a razor. On my return, the
surgeon used it, and began to work with so gentle a hand that she

* Ossicina che scguitano il dito, &c. Probably metacarpal bones.

^ Che gnenf avviasse.

^ Giacomo Rastelli was a native of Rimini, but was popularly known as of Perugia,
since he had resided long in that city. He was a famous surgeon under several Popes
until the year 1566, when he died at Rome, aged seventy-five.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 97

felt no pain, and in a short while the operation was over. In conse-
quence of this service, and for other reasons, the worthy man con-
ceived for me as much love, or more, as he had for two male chil-
dren; and in the meanwhile he attended to the cure of his beautiful
young daughter.

I was on terms of the closest intimacy with one Messer Giovanni
Gaddi, who was a clerk of the Camera, and a great connoisseur of
the arts, although he had no practical acquaintance with any.* In
his household were a certain Messer Giovanni, a Greek of eminent
learning, Messer Lodovico of Fano, no less distinguished as a man
of letters, Messer Antonio Allegretti, and Messer Annibale Caro," at
that time in his early manhood. Messer Bastiano of Venice, a most
excellent painter, and I were admitted to their society; and almost
every day we met together in Messer Giovanni's company.*

Being aware of this intimacy, the worthy goldsmith Raffaello said
to Messer Giovanni: "Good sir, you know me; now I want to marry
my daughter to Benvenuto, and can think of no better intermediary
than your worship. So I am come to crave your assistance, and to beg
you to name for her such dowry from my estate as you may think
suitable." The light-headed man hardly let my good friend finish
what he had to say, before he put in quite at random: "Talk no more
about it, Raffaello; you are farther from your object than January
from mulberries." The poor man, utterly discouraged, looked about
at once for another husband for his girl; while she and the mother
and all the family lived on in a bad humour with me. Since I did
not know the real cause of this — I imagined they were paying me
with bastard coin for the many kindnesses I had shown them — I
conceived the thought of opening a workshop of my own in their

* Giovanni Gaddi of the Florentine family was passionately attached to men of art
and letters. Yet he seems to have been somewhat disagreeable in personal intercourse;
for even Annibale Caro, who owed much to his patronage, and lived for many years in
his house, never became attached to him. We shall see how he treated Cellini during
a fever.

' Some poems of Allegretti's survive. He was a man of mark in the literary society
of the age. Giovanni Greco may have been a Giovanni Vergezio, who presented Duke
Cosimo with some Greek characters of exquisite finish. Lodovico da Fano is men-
tioned as an excellent Latin scholar. Annibale Caro was one of the most distinguished
writers of Italian prose and verse in the later Renaissance. He spent the latter portion
of his life in the service of the Farnesi.

' Messer Bastiano is the celebrated painter Sebastian del Piombo, born 1485, died
1547-

98 BENVENUTO CELLINI

ndghbourhood. Messer Giovanni told me nothing till the girl was
married, which happened in a few months.

Meanwhile, I laboured assiduously at the work I was doing for
the Pope, and also in the service of the Mint; for his Holiness had
ordered another coin, of the value of two carlins, on which his own
portrait was stamped, while the reverse bore a figure of Christ upon
the waters, holding out his hand to S. Peter, with this inscription
Quare dubitasti? My design won such applause that a certain sec-
retary of the Pope, a man of the greatest talent, called II Sanga,' was
moved to this remark: "Your Holiness can boast of having a cur-
rency superior to any of the ancients in all their glory." The Pope
replied: "Benvenuto, for his part, can boast of serving an emperor
like me, who is able to discern his merit." I went on at my great
piece in gold, showing it frequently to the Pope, who was very eager
to see it, and each time expressed greater admiration.

XLVII

My brother, at this period, was also in Rome, serving Duke Ales-
sandro, on whom the Pope had recently conferred the Duchy of
Penna. This prince kept in his service a multitude of soldiers, worthy
fellows, brought up to valour in the school of that famous general
Giovanni de' Medici; and among these was my brother, whom the
Duke esteemed as highly as the bravest of them. One day my brother
went after dinner to the shop of a man called Baccino della Croce
in the Banchi, which all those men-at-arms frequented. He had
flung himself upon a settee, and was sleeping. Just then the guard
of the Bargello passed by;' they were taking to prison a certain
Captain Cisd, a Lombard, who had also been a member of Gio-

"^ Battista Sanga, a Roman, secretary to Gianmatteo Giberti, the good Archbishop of
Verona, and afterwards to Clement VII. He was a great Latinist, and one of those
ecclesiastics who earnestly desired a reform of the Church. He died, poisoned, at an
early age.

I The Bargello was the chief constable or sheriff in Italian towns. I shall call him
Bargello always in my translation, since any English equivalent would be misleading.
He did the rough work of policing the city, and was consequently a mark for all the
men of spirit who disliked being kept in order. Giovio, in his Life of Cardinal Pompeo
Colonna, quite gravely relates how it was the highest ambition of young Romans of
spirit to murder the Bargello. He mentions, in particular, a certain Pietro Margano,
who had acquired great fame and popularity by killing the Bargello of his day, one
Cencio, in the Campo di Fiore. This man became an outlaw, and was favourably
received by Cardinal Colonna, then at war with Clement VII.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 99

vanni's troop, but was not in the service of the Duke. The captain,
Cattivanza degli Strozzi, chanced to be in the same shop;^ and when
Cisti caught sight of him, he whispered: "I was bringing you those
crowns I owed; if you want them, come for them before they go with
me to prison." Now Cattivanza had a way of putting his neighbours
to the push, not caring to hazard his own person. So, finding there
around him several young fellows of the highest daring, more eager
than apt for so serious an enterprise, he bade them catch up Captain
Cisti and get the money from him, and if the guard resisted, over-
power the men, provided they had pluck enough to do so.

The young men were but four, and all four of them without a
beard. The first was called Bertino Aldobrandi, another Anguillotto
of Lucca; I cannot recall the names of the rest. Bertino had been
trained like a pupil by my brother; and my brother felt the most
unbounded love for him. So then, off dashed the four brave lads,
and came up with the guard of the Bargello — upwards of fifty con-
stables, counting pikes, arquebuses, and two-handed-swords. After a
few words they drew their weapons, and the four boys so harried
the guard, that if Captain Cattivanza had but shown his face, with-
out so much as drawing, they would certainly have put the whole
pack to flight. But delay spoiled all; for Bertino received some ugly
wounds and fell; at the same time, Anguillotto was also hit in the
right arm, and being unable to use his sword, got out of the fray as
well as he was able. The others did the same. Bertino Aldobrandi
was lifted from the ground seriously injured.

XLVIII

While these things were happening, we were all at table; for that
morning we had dined more than an hour later than usual. On hear-
ing the commotion, one of the old man's sons, the elder, rose from
table to go and look at the scuffle. He was called Giovanni; and I
said to him: "For Heaven's sake, don't go! In such matters one is
always certain to lose, while there is nothing to be gained." His
father spoke to like purpose: "Pray, my son, don't go!" But the lad,
without heeding any one, ran down the stairs. Reaching the Banchi,

^His baptismal name was Bernardo. Cattivanza was a nickname. He fought
bravely for Florence in the siege.

100 BENVENUTO CELLINI

where the great scrimmage was, and seeing Bertino lifted from the
ground, he ran towards home, and met my brother Cecchino on the
way, who asked what was the matter. Though some of the by-
standers signed to Giovanni not to tell Cecchino, he cried out like a
madman how it was that Bertino Aldobrandi had been killed by the
guard. My poor brother gave vent to a bellow which might have
been heard ten miles away. Then he turned to Giovanni: "Ah me!
but could you tell me which of those men killed him for me?'"
Giovanni said, yes, that it was a man who had a big two-handed
sword, with a blue feather in his bonnet. My poor brother rushed
ahead, and having recognised the homicide by those signs, he threw
himself with all his dash and spirit into the middle of the band, and
before his man could turn on guard, ran him right through the guts,
and with the sword's hilt thrust him to the ground. Then he turned
upon the rest with such energy and daring, that his one arm was
on the point of putting the whole band to flight, had it not been
that, while wheeling round to strike an arquebusier, this man fired
in self-defence, and hit the brave unfortunate young fellow above
the knee of his right leg. While he lay stretched upon the ground,
the constables scrambled off in disorder as fast as they were able,
lest a pair to my brother should arrive upon the scene.

Noticing that the tumult was not subsiding, I too rose from the
table, and girding on my sword — for everybody wore one then — I
went to the bridge of Sant' Agnolo, where I saw a group of several
men assembled. On my coming up and being recognised by some
of them, they gave way before me, and showed me what I least of
all things wished to see, albeit I made mighty haste to view the sight.
On the instant I did not know Cecchino, since he was wearing a
different suit of clothes from that in which I had lately seen him.
Accordingly, he recognised me first, and said: "Dearest brother, do
not be upset by my grave accident; it is only what might be expected
in my profession : get me removed from here at once, for I have but
few hours to live." They had acquainted me with the whole event
while he was speaking, in brief words befitting such occasion. So
I answered: "Brother, this is the greatest sorrow and the greatest

* Oimi, saprestimi tu dire che di quelli me I'ha morto? The me is so emphatic,
that, though it makes poor English, I have preserved it in my version.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 101

trial that could happen to me in the whole course of my life. But
be of good cheer; for before you lose sight of him who did the mis-
chief, you shall see yourself revenged by my hand." Our words on
both sides were to the purport, but of the shortest.

XLIX

The guard was now about fifty paces from us; for Maffio, their
officer, had made some of them turn back to take up the corporal
my brother killed. Accordingly, I quickly traversed that short space,
wrapped in my cape, which I had tightened round me, and came
up with Maffio, whom I should most certainly have murdered, for
there were plenty of people round, and I had wound my way among
them. With the rapidity of lightning, I had half drawn my sword
from the sheath, when Berlinghier Berlinghieri, a young man of the
greatest daring and my good friend, threw himself from behind upon
my arms; he had four other fellows of like kidney with him, who
cried out to Maffio: "Away with you, for this man here alone was
killing you!" He asked: "Who is he?" and they answered: "Own
brother to the man you see there." Without waiting to hear more,
he made haste for Torre di Nona;* and they said: "Benvenuto, we
prevented you against your will, but did it for your good; now let
us go to succour him who must die shortly." Accordingly, we turned
and went back to my brother, whom I had at once conveyed into a
house. The doctors who were called in consultation, treated him
with medicaments, but could not decide to amputate the leg, which
might perhaps have saved him.

As soon as his wound had been dressed, Duke Alessandro ap-
peared and most affectionately greeted him. My brother had not
as yet lost consciousness; so he said to the Duke: "My lord, this only
grieves me, that your Excellency is losing a servant than whom
you may perchance find men more valiant in the profession of
arms, but none more lovingly and loyally devoted to your service
than I have been." The Duke bade him do all he could to keep
alive; for the rest, he well knew him to be a man of worth and

* The Torre di Nona was one of the principal prisons in Rome, used especially tor
criminals condemned to death.

102 BENVENUTO CELLINI

courage. He then turned to his attendants, ordering them to see that
the brave young fellow wanted for nothing.

When he was gone, my brother lost blood so copiously, for nothing
could be done to stop it, that he went off his head, and kept raving
all the following night, with the exception that once, when they
wanted to give him the communion, he said: "You would have
done well to confess me before; now it is impossible that I should
receive the divine sacrament in this already ruined frame; it will
be enough if I partake of it by the divine virtue of the eyesight,
whereby it shall be transmitted into my immortal soul, which only
prays to Him for mercy and forgiveness." Having spoken thus, the
host was elevated; but he straightway relapsed into the same delirious
ravings as before, pouring forth a torrent of the most terrible frenzies
and horrible imprecations that the mind of man could imagine; nor
did he cease once all that night until the day broke.

When the sun appeared above our horizon, he turned to me and
said: "Brother, I do not wish to stay here longer, for these fellows
will end by making me do something tremendous, which may cause
them to repent of the annoyance they have given me." Then he
kicked out both his legs — the injured limb we had enclosed in a
very heavy box — and made as though he would fling it across a
horse's back. Turning his face round to me, he called out thrice —
"Farewell, farewell!" and with the last word that most valiant spirit
passed away.

At the proper hour, toward nightfall, I had him buried with due
ceremony in the church of the Florentines; and afterwards I erected
to his memory a very handsome monument of marble, upon which I
caused trophies and banners to be carved. I must not omit to men-
tion that one of his friends had asked him who the man was that
had killed him, and if he could recognise him; to which he answered
that he could, and gave his description. My brother, indeed, at-
tempted to prevent this coming to my ears; but I got it very well
impressed upon my mind, as will appear in the sequel.^

^ Varchi, in his Storia Florentina, lib. xi., gives a short account of Cecchino Cellini's
death in Rome, mentioning also Beitino Aldobrandi, in the attempt to revenge whom
he lost his life.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IO3

Returning to the monument, I should relate that certain famous
men of letters, who knew my brother, composed for me an epitaph,
telling me that the noble young man deserved it. The inscription ran
thus: —

"Francisco Cellino Florentino, qui quod in teneris annis ad loannem
Medicem ducem plures victorias retulit et signijer juit, facile docu-
tnentum dedit quantce jortitudinis et consilii vir futurus erat, ni crudelis
fati archibuso transfossus, quinto cetatis lustra jaceret, Benvenutus jrater
posuit. Obiit die xxvii Maii MD.XXIX."

He was twenty-five years of age; and since the soldiers called him
Cecchino del Piflero,' his real name being Giovanfrancesco Cellini,
I wanted to engrave the former, by which he was commonly known,
under the armorial bearings of our family. This name then I had
cut in fine antique characters, all of which were broken save the
first and last. I was asked by the learned men who had composed
that beautiful epitaph, wherefore I used these broken letters; and
my answer was, because the marvellous framework of his body was
spoiled and dead; and the reason why the first and last remained
entire was, that the first should symbolise the great gift God had
given him, namely, of a human soul, inflamed with his divinity,
the which hath never broken, while the second represented the
glorious renown of his brave actions. The thought gave satisfaction,
and several persons have since availed themselves of my device-
Close to the name I had the coat of us Cellini carved upon the
stone, altering it in some particulars. In Ravenna, which is a most
ancient city, there exist Cellini of our name in the quality of very
honourable gentry, who bear a lion rampant or upon a field of azure,
holding a lily gules in his dexter paw, with a label in chief and three
little lilies or.'' These are the true arms of the Cellini. My father
showed me a shield as ours which had the paw only, together with
the other bearings; but I should prefer to follow those of the Cellini
of Ravenna, which I have described above. Now to return to what
I caused to be engraved upon my brother's tomb: it was the lion's

' That is, Frank, the Fifer's son.

2 1 believe Cellini meant here to write "on a chief argent a label of four points, and
three lilies gules." He has tricked the arms thus in a MS. o£ the Palatine Library.
See Leclanch^, p. 103; see also Piatti, vol. i. p. 233, and Plon, p. 2.

104 BENVENUTO CELLINI

paw, but instead of a lily, I made the lion hold an axe, with the field
of the scutcheon quartered; and I put the axe in solely that I might
not be unmindful to revenge him.

LI

I

I went on applying myself with the utmost diligence upon the
gold-work for Pope Clement's button. He was very eager to have it,
and used to send for me two or three times a week, in order to inspect
it; and his delight in the work always increased. Often would he
rebuke and scold me, as it were, for the great grief in which my
brother's loss had plunged me; and one day, observing me more
downcast and out of trim than was proper, he cried aloud: "Ben-
venuto, oh! I did not know that you were mad. Have you only
just learned that there is no remedy against death? One would
think that you were trying to run after him." When I left the pres-
ence, I continued working at the jewel and the dies' for the Mint;
but I also took to watching the arquebusier who shot my brother,
as though he had been a girl I was in love with. The man had
formerly been in the light cavalry, but afterwards had joined the
arquebusiers as one of the Bargello's corporals; and what increased
my rage was that he had used these boastful words: "If it had not
been for me, who killed that brave young man, the least trifle of
delay would have resulted in his putting us all to flight with great
disaster." When I saw that the fever caused by always seeing him
about was depriving me of sleep and appetite, and was bringing me
by degrees to sorry plight, I overcame my repugnance to so low and
not quite praiseworthy an enterprise, and made my mind up one
evening to rid myself of the torment. The fellow lived in a house
near a place called Torre Sanguigua, next door to the lodging of one
of the most fashionable courtesans in Rome, named Signora Antea.
It had just struck twenty-four, and he was standing at the house-
door, with his sword in hand, having risen from supper. With
great address I stole up to him, holding a large Pistojan dagger,^ and
dealt him a back-handed stroke, with which I meant to cut his head

' Ferri. I have translated this word dies: but it seems to mean all the coining
instruments, stampe or conii being the dies proper.
* Pugnal pistolese; it came in time to mean a cutlass.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IO5

clean off; but as he turned round very suddenly, the blow fell upon
the point of his left shoulder and broke the bone. He sprang up,
dropped his sword, half-stunned with the great pain, and took to
flight. I followed after, and in four steps caught him up, when I
lifted my dagger above his head, which he was holding very low,
and hit him in the back exactly at the juncture of the nape-bone
and the neck. The poniard entered this point so deep into the bone,
that, though I used all my strength to pull it out, I was not able.
For just at that moment four soldiers with drawn swords sprang
out from Antea's lodging, and obliged me to set hand to my own
sword to defend my life. Leaving the poniard then, I made off, and
fearing I might be recognised, took refuge in the palace of Duke
Alessandro, which was between Piazza Navona and the Rotunda.'
On my arrival, I asked to see the Duke; who told me that, if I was
alone, I need only keep quiet and have no further anxiety, but to
go on working at the jewel which the Pope had set his heart on, and
stay eight days indoors. He gave this advice the more securely, be-
cause the soldiers had now arrived who interrupted the completion
of my deed; they held the dagger in their hand, and were relating
how the matter happened, and the great trouble they had to pull
the weapon from the neck and head-bone of the man, whose
name they did not know. Just then Giovan Bandini came up, and
said to them.* "That poniard is mine, and I lent it to Benvenuto,
who was bent on revenging his brother." The soldiers were profuse
in their expressions of regret at having interrupted me, although
my vengeance had been amply satisfied.

More than eight days elapsed, and the Pope did not send for me
according to his custom. Afterwards he summoned me through his
chamberlain, the Bolognese nobleman I have already mentioned,
who let me, in his own modest manner, understand that his Holi-
ness knew all, but was very well inclined toward me, and that I
had only to mind my work and keep quiet. When we reached the

' That is, the Pantheon.

* Bandini bears a distinguished name in Florentine annals. He served Duke Ales-
sandro in affairs of much importance; but afterwards he betrayed the interests of his
master, Duke Cosimo, in an embassy to Charles V. in 1543. It seems that he had then
been playing into the hands of Filippo Strozzi, for which offence he passed fifteen
years in a dungeon. See Varchi and Segni; also Montazio's Prigionieri del Mastio di
Voiterra, cap. vii.

I06 BENVENUTO CELLINI

presence, the Pope cast so menacing a glance towards me, that the
mere look of his eyes made me tremble. Afterwards, upon examin-
ing my work his countenance cleared, and he began to praise me
beyond measure, saying that I had done a vast amount in a short
time. Then, looking me straight in the face, he added: "Now that
you are cured, Benvenuto, take heed how you live." ' I, who under-
stood his meaning, promised that I would. Immediately upon this,
I opened a very fine shop in the Banchi, opposite Raflaello, and there
I finished the jewel after the lapse of a few months.

LII

The Pope had sent me all those precious stones, except the dia-
mond, which was pawned to certain Genoese bankers for some
pressing need he had of money. The rest were in my custody, to-
gether with a model of the diamond. I had five excellent journey-
men, and in addition to the great piece, I was engaged on several
jobs; so that my shop contained property of much value in jewels,
gems, and gold and silver. I kept a shaggy dog, very big and hand-
some, which Duke Alessandro gave me; the beast was capital as a
retriever, since he brought me every sort of birds and game I shot,
but he also served most admirably for a watchdog. It happened, as
was natural at the age of twenty-nine, that I had taken into my
service a girl of great beauty and grace, whom I used as a model in
my art, and who was also complaisant of her personal favours to me.
Such being the case, I occupied an apartment far away from my
workmen's rooms, as well as from the shop; and this communicated
by a little dark passage with the maid's bedroom. I used frequently
to pass the night with her; and though I sleep as lightly as ever yet
did man upon this earth, yet, after indulgence in sexual pleasure,
my slumber is sometimes very deep and heavy.

So it chanced one night: for I must say that a thief, under the pre-
text of being a goldsmith, had spied on me, and cast his eyes upon
the precious stones, and made a plan to steal them. Well, then, this
fellow broke into the shop, where he found a quantity of little things
in gold and silver. He was engaged in bursting open certain boxes

' This was the Pope's hint to Cellini that he was aware of the murder he had just
committed.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IO7

to get at the jewels he had noticed, when my dog jumped upon him,
and put him to much trouble to defend himself with his sword. The
dog, unable to grapple with an armed man, ran several times through
the house, and rushed into the rooms of the journeymen, which had
been left open because of the great heat. When he found they paid
no heed to his loud barking, he dragged their bed-clothes ofl; and
when they still heard nothing, he pulled first one and then another
by the arm till he roused them, and, barking furiously, ran before
to show them where he wanted them to go. At last it became clear
that they refused to follow; for the traitors, cross at being disturbed,
threw stones and sticks at him; and this they could well do, for I
had ordered them to keep all night a lamp alight there; and in the
end they shut their rooms tight; so the dog, abandoning all hope of
aid from such rascals, set out alone again on his adventure. He ran
down, and not finding the thief in the shop, flew after him. When
he got at him, he tore the cape off his back. It would have gone hard
with the fellow had he not called for help to certain tailors, praying
them for God's sake to save him from a mad dog; and they, believing
what he said, jumped out and drove the dog off with much trouble.
After sunrise my workmen went into the shop, and saw that it
had been broken open and all the boxes smashed. They began to
scream at the top of their voices: "Ah, woe is me! Ah, woe is me!"
The clamour woke me, and I rushed out in a panic. Appearing
thus before them, they cried out: "Alas to us! for we have been
robbed by some one, who has broken and borne everything away!"
These words wrought so forcibly upon my mind that I dared not
go to my big chest and look if it still held the jewels of the Pope.
So intense was the anxiety, that I seemed to lose my eyesight, and
told them they themselves must unlock the chest, and see how many
of the Pope's gems were missing. The fellows were all of them in
their shirts; and when, on opening the chest, they saw the precious
stones and my work with them, they took heart of joy and shouted:
"There is no harm done; your piece and all the stones are here; but
the thief has left us naked to the shirt, because last night, by reason
of the burning heat, we took our clothes off In the shop and left them
here." Recovering my senses, I thanked God, and said: "Go and
get yourselves new suits of clothes; I will pay when I hear at leisure

I08 BENVENUTO CELLINI

how the whole thing happened." What caused me the most pain,
and made me lose my senses, and take fright — so contrary to my
real nature — was the dread lest peradventure folk should fancy I
had trumped a story of the robber up to steal the jewels. It had
already been said to Pope Clement by one of his most trusted serv-
ants, and by others, that is, by Francesco del Nero, Zana de' Biliotti
his accountant, the Bishop of Vasona, and several such men:' "Why,
most blessed Father, do you confide gems of that vast value to a
young fellow, who is all fire, more passionate for arms than for his
art, and not yet thirty years of age?" The Pope asked in answer if
any one of them knew that I had done aught to justify such sus-
picions. Whereto Francesco del Nero, his treasurer, replied:^ "No,
most blessed Father, because he has not as yet had an opportunity."
Whereto the Pope rejoined: "I regard him as a thoroughly honest
man; and if I saw with my own eyes some crime he had committed,
I should not believe it." This was the man who' caused me the
greatest torment, and who suddenly came up before my mind.

After telling the young men to provide themselves with fresh
clothes, I took my piece, together with the gems, setting them as
well as I could in their proper places, and went off at once with
them to the Pope. Francesco del Nero had already told him some-
thing of the trouble in my shop, and had put suspicions in his head.
So then, taking the thing rather ill than otherwise, he shot a furious
glance upon me, and cried haughtily: "What have you come to do
here.? What is up.?" "Here are all your precious stones, and not one
of them is missing." At this the Pope's face cleared, and he said:
"So then, you're welcome." I showed him the piece, and while he
was inspecting it, I related to him the whole story of the thief and
of my agony, and what had been my greatest trouble in the matter.
During this speech, he oftentimes turned round to look me sharply

' of these people, we can trace the Bishop of Vasona. He was Girolamo Schio or
Schedo, a native of Vicenza, the confidential agent and confessor of Clement VII., who
obtained the See of Vaison in the county of Avignon in 1523, and died at Rome
in 1533. His successor in the bishopric was Tomaso Cortesi, the Datary, mentioned
above.

^ Varchi gives a very ugly account of this man, Francesco del Nero, who was nick-
named the Cra del Piccadiglio, in his History of Florence, book iii. "In the whole city
of Florence there never was born, in my belief, a man of such irreligion or of such
sordid avarice." Giovio confirms the statement.

' Questo fu qtiello che. This may be neuter: This was the circumstance which.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IO9

in the eyes; and Francesco del Nero being also in the presence, this
seemed to make him half sorry that he had not guessed the truth.
At last, breaking into laughter at the long tale I was telling, he sent
me off with these words: "Go, and take heed to be an honest man,
as indeed I know that you are."

LIII

I went on working assiduously at the button, and at the same time
laboured for the Mint, when certain pieces of false money got abroad
in Rome, stamped with my own dies. They were brought at once
to the Pope, who, hearing things against me, said to Giacopo Bal-
ducci, the Master of the Mint, "Take every means in your power
to find the criminal; for we are sure that Benvenuto is an honest
fellow." That traitor of a master, being in fact my enemy, replied:
"Would God, most blessed Father, that it may turn out as you say;
for we have some proofs against him." Upon this the Pope turned
to the Governor of Rome, and bade him see he found the malefactor.
During those days the Pope sent for me, and leading cautiously in
conversation to the topic of the coins, asked me at the fitting mo-
ment: "Benvenuto, should you have the heart to coin false money?"
To this I replied that I thought I could do so better than all the
rascals who gave their minds to such vile work; for fellows who
practise lewd trades of that sort are not capable of earning money,
nor are they men of much ability. I, on the contrary, with my poor
wits could gain enough to keep me comfortably; for when I set dies
for the Mint, each morning before dinner I put at least three crowns
into my pocket; this was the customary payment for the dies, and
the Master of the Mint bore me a grudge, because he would have
liked to have them cheaper; so then, what I earned with God's grace
and the world's, sufficed me, and by coining false money I should
not have made so much. The Pope very well perceived my drift;
and whereas he had formerly given orders that they should see I did
not fly from Rome, he now told them to look well about and have
no heed of me, seeing he was ill-disposed to anger me, and in this
way run the risk of losing me. The officials who received these orders
were certain clerks of the Camera, who made the proper search, as
was their duty, and soon found the rogue. He was a stamper in the

no BENVENUTO CELLINI

service of the Mint, named Cesare Macherone, and a Roman citizen.
Together with this man they detected a metal-founder of the Mint.'

LIV

On that very day, as I was passing through the Piazza Navona,
and had my fine retriever with me, j ust when we came opposite the
gate of the Bargello, my dog flew barking loudly inside the door
upon a youth, who had been arrested at the suit of a man called
Donnino (a goldsmith from Parma, and a former pupil of Cara-
dosso), on the charge of having robbed him. The dog strove so
violently to tear the fellow to pieces, that the constables were moved
to pity. It so happened that he was pleading his own cause with
boldness, and Donnino had not evidence enough to support the
accusation; and what was more, one of the corporals of the guard,
a Genoese, was a friend of the young man's father. The upshot was
that, what with the dog and with those other circumstances, they
were on the point of releasing their prisoner. When I came up, the
dog had lost all fear of sword or staves, and was flying once more at
the young man; so they told me if I did not call the brute off they
would kill him. I held him back as well as I was able; but just then
the fellow, in the act of readjusting his cape, let fall some paper
packets from the hood, which Donnino recognised as his property.
I too recognised a little ring; whereupon I called out: "This is the
thief who broke into my shop and robbed it; and therefore my dog
knows him;" then I loosed the dog, who flew again upon the robber.
On this the fellow craved for mercy, promising to give back whatever
he possessed of mine. When I had secured the dog, he proceeded
to restore the gold and silver and the rings which he had stolen from
me, and twenty-five crowns in addition. Then he cried once more
to me for pity. I told him to make his peace with God, for I should
do him neither good nor evil. So I returned to my business; and a
few days afterwards, Cesare Macherone, the false coiner, was hanged
in the Banchi opposite the Mint; his accomplice was sent to the
galleys; the Genoese thief was hanged in the Campo di Fiore, while
I remained in better repute as an honest man than I had enjoyed
before.

' The word in Cellini is ovolatore di zecca.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY III

LV

When I had nearly finished my piece, there happened that terrible
inundation which flooded the whole of Rome.' I waited to see what
would happen; the day was well-nigh spent, for the clocks struck
twenty-two and the water went on rising formidably. Now the front
of my house and shop faced the Banchi, but the back was several
yards higher, because it turned toward Monte Giordano; accord-
ingly, bethinking me first of my own safety and in the next place
of my honour, I filled my pockets with the jewels, and gave the gold-
piece into the custody of my workmen, and then descended barefoot
from the back-windows, and waded as well as I could until I reached
Monte Cavallo. There I sought out Messer Giovanni Gaddi, clerk
of the Camera, and Bastiano Veneziano, the painter. To the former
I confided the precious stones, to keep in safety: he had the same
regard for me as though I had been his brother. A few days later,
when the rage of the river was spent, I returned to my workshop,
and finished the piece with such good fortune, through God's grace
and my own great industry, that it was held to be the finest master-
piece which had been ever seen in Rome.^

When then I took it to the Pope, he was insatiable in praising me,
and said: "Were I but a wealthy emperor, I would give my Ben-
venuto as much land as his eyes could survey; yet being nowadays
but needy bankrupt potentates, we will at any rate give him bread
enough to satisfy his modest wishes." I let the Pope run on to the
end of his rhodomontade,' and then asked him for a mace-bearer's
place which happened to be vacant. He replied that he would grant
me something of far greater consequence. I begged his Holiness to
bestow this little thing on me meanwhile by way of earnest. He
began to laugh, and said he was willing, but that he did not wish
me to serve, and that I must make some arrangement with the other
mace-bearers to be exempted. He would allow them through me a
certain favour, for which they had already petitioned, namely, the

' This took place on the 8th and gth October, 1530.

^This famous naasterpiece was preserved in the Castle of S. Angelo during the
Papal Government of Rome. It was brought out on Christmas, Easter, and S. Peter's
days.

' Quella sua sniania di parole.

112 BENVENUTO CELLINI

right of recovering their fees at law. This was accordingly done;
and that mace-bearer's office brought me in little less than 200 crowns
a year.*

LVI

I continued to work for the Pope, executing now one trifle and
now another, when he commissioned me to design a chalice of
exceeding richness. So I made both drawing and model for the piece.
The latter was constructed of wood and wax. Instead of the usual
top, I fashioned three figures of a fair size in the round; they repre-
sented Faith, Hope, and Charity. Corresponding to these, at the
base of the cup, were three circular histories in bas-relief. One was
the Nativity of Christ, the second the Resurrection, and the third S.
Peter crucified head downwards; for thus I had received commis-
sion. While I had this work in hand, the Pope was often pleased
to look at it; wherefore, observing that his Holiness had never
thought again of giving me anything, and knowing that a post in
the Piombo was vacant, I asked for this one evening. The good
Pope, quite oblivious of his extravagances at the termination of the
last piece, said to me : "That post in the Piombo is worth more than
800 crowns a year, so that if I gave it you, you would spend your
time in scratching your paunch,' and your magnificent handicraft
would be lost, and I should bear the blame." I replied at once as
thus: "Cats of a good breed mouse better when they are fat than
starving; and likewise honest men who possess some talent, exercise
it to far nobler purport when they have the wherewithal to live
abundantly; wherefore princes who provide such folk with com-
petences, let your Holiness take notice, are watering the roots of
genius; for genius and talent, at their birth, come into this world
lean and scabby; and your Holiness should also know that I never
asked for the place with the hope of getting it. Only too happy I
to have that miserable post of mace-bearer. On the other I built but
castles in the air. Your Holiness will do well, since you do not care

■* Cellini received this post among the Mazzieri (who walked like beadles before
the Pope) on April 14, 1531. He resigned it in favour of Pietro Cornaro of Venice
in 1535-

' Grattare il corpo, which I have translated scratch your paunch, is equivalent to
twirl your thumbs.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 1 3

to give it me, to bestow it on a man of talent who deserves it, and
not upon some fat ignoramus who will spend his time scratching
his paunch, if I may quote your Holiness's own words. Follow the
example of Pope Giulio's illustrious memory, who conferred an
office of the same kind upon Bramante, that most admirable archi-
tect."

Immediately on finishing this speech, I made my bow, and went
off in a fury. Then Bastiano Veneziano the painter approached, and
said : "Most blessed Father, may your Holiness be willing to grant it
to one who works assiduously in the exercise of some talent; and as
your Holiness knows that I am diligent in my art, 1 beg that I may
be thought worthy of it." The Pope replied: "That devil Benvenuto
will not brook rebuke. I was inclined to give it him, but it is not
right to be so haughty with a Pope. Therefore I do not well know
what I am to do." The Bishop of Vasona then came up, and put in
a word for Bastiano, saying: "Most blessed Father, Benvenuto is
but young; and a sword becomes him better than a friar's frock.
Let your Holiness give the place to this ingenious person Bastiano.
Some time or other you will be able to bestow on Benvenuto a good
thing, perhaps more suitable to him than this would be." Then the
Pope turning to Messer Bartolommeo Valori, told him: "When next
you meet Benvenuto, let him know from me that it was he who
got that office in the Piombo for Bastiano the painter, and add that
he may reckon on obtaining the next considerable place that falls;
meanwhile let him look to his behaviour, and finish my commis-
sions." ^

The following evening, two hours after sundown, I met Messer
Bartolommeo Valori' at the corner of the Mint; he was preceded
by two torches, and was going in haste to the Pope, who had sent
for him. On my taking off my hat, he stopped and called me, and

^The office of the Piombo in Rome was a bureau in which leaden seals were
appended to Bulls and instruments of state. It remained for a long time in the hands
of the Cistercians; but it used also to be conferred on laymen, among whom were
Bremante and Sebastiano del Piombo. When the latter obtained it, he neglected his
art and gave himself up to "scratching his paunch," as Cellini predicted.

' Bartolommeo or Baccio Valori, a devoted adherent of the Medici, played an
important part in Florentine history. He was Clement's commissary to the Prince
of Orange during the siege. Afterwards, feeling himself ill repaid for his services,
he joined Filippo Strozzi in his opposition to the Medicean rule, and was beheaded in
1537, together with his son and a nephew.

114 BENVENUTO CELLINI

reported in the most friendly manner all the messages the Pope had
sent me. I replied that I should complete my work with greater
diligence and application than any I had yet attempted, but without
the least hope of having any reward whatever from the Pope. Messer
Bartolommeo reproved me, saying that this was not the way in
which one ought to reply to the advances of a Pope. I answered that
I should be mad to reply otherwise — mad if I based my hopes on
such promises, being certain to get nothing. So I departed, and
went off to my business.

Messer Bartolommeo must have reported my audacious speeches
to the Pope, and more perhaps than I had really said; for his Holi-
ness waited above two months before he sent to me, and during that
while nothing would have induced me to go uncalled for to the
palace. Yet he was dying with impatience to see the chalice, and
commissioned Messer Ruberto Pucci to give heed to what I was
about.* That right worthy fellow came daily to visit me, and always
gave me some kindly word, which I returned. The time was draw-
ing nigh now for the Pope to travel toward Bologna f so at last, per-
ceiving that I did not mean to come to him, he made Messer Ruberto
bid me bring my work, that he might see how I was getting on.
Accordingly, I took it; and having shown, as the piece itself proved,
that the most important part was finished, I begged him to advance
me five hundred crowns, partly on account, and partly because I
wanted gold to complete the chalice. The Pope said : "Go on, go on
at work till it is finished." I answered, as I took my leave, that I
would finish it if he paid me the money. And so I went away.

LVII

When the Pope took his journey to Bologna, he left Cardinal
Salviati as Legate of Rome, and gave him commission to push the
work that I was doing forward, adding: "Benvenuto is a fellow who
esteems his own' great talents but slightly, and us less; look to it then

* Roberto Pucci was another of the devoted Medicean partisans who remained true
to His colours. He sat among the forty-eight senators of Alessandro, and was made a
Cardinal by Paul III. in 1534.

^ On November i8, 1532, Clement went to meet Charles V. at Bologna, where, in
1529, he had already given him the Imperial crown.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY II5

that you keep him always going, so that I may find the chalice
finished on my return."

That beast of a Cardinal sent for me after eight days, bidding me
bring the piece up. On this I went to him without the piece. No
sooner had I shown my face, than he called out: "Where is that
onion-stew of yours ? ' Have you got it ready?" I answered : "O most
reverend Monsignor, I have not got my onion-stew ready, nor shall I
make it ready, unless you give me onions to concoct it with." At
these words the Cardinal, who looked more like a donkey than a
man, turned uglier by half than he was naturally; and wanting at
once to cut the matter short, cried out: "I'll send you to a galley, and
then perhaps you'll have the grace^ to go on with your labour." The
bestial manners of the man made me a beast too; and I retorted:
"Monsignor, send me to the galleys when I've done deeds worthy of
them; but for my present laches, I snap my fingers at your galleys:
and what is more, I tell you that, just because of you, I wdll not set
hand further to my piece. Don't send for me again, for I won't
appear, no, not if you summon me by the police."

After this, the good Cardinal tried several times to let me know
that I ought to go on working, and to bring him what I was doing
to look at. I only told his messengers: "Say to Monsignor that he
must send me onions, if he wants me to get my stew ready." Nor
gave I ever any other answer; so that he threw up the commission
in despair.

LVIII

The Pope came back from Bologna, and sent at once for me, be-
cause the Cardinal had written the worst he could of my affairs in
his despatches. He was in the hottest rage imaginable, and bade
me come upon the instant with my piece. I obeyed. Now, while the
Pope was staying at Bologna, I had suffered from an attack of in-
flammation in the eyes, so painful that I scarce could go on living
for the torment; and this was the chief reason why I had not carried
out my work. The trouble was so serious that I expected for certain

' Cipollata. Literally, a show of onions and pumpkins; metaphorically, a mess,
gallimaufry.

^ Arai di grazia di. I am not sure whether I have given the right shade of meaning
in the text above. It may mean: You will be permitted.

Il6 BENVENUTO CELLINI

to be left without my eyesight; and I had reckoned up the sum on
which I could subsist, if I were blind for life. Upon the way to the
Pope, I turned over in my mind what I should put forward to excuse
myself for not having been able to advance his work. I thought
that while he was inspecting the chalice, I might tell him of my
personal embarrassments. However, I was unable to do so; for when
I arrived in the presence, he broke out coarsely at me: "Come here
with your work; is it finished?" I displayed it; and his temper rising,
he exclaimed: "In God's truth I tell thee, thou that makest it thy
business to hold no man in regard, that, were it not for decency and
order, I would have thee chucked together with thy work there out
of windows." Accordingly, when I perceived that the Pope had
become no better than a vicious beast, my chief anxiety was how I
could manage to withdraw from his presence. So, while he went on
bullying, I tucked the piece beneath my cape, and muttered under
my breath: "The whole world could not compel a blind man to
execute such things as these." Raising his voice still higher, the Pope
shouted: "Come here; what say'st thou?" I stayed in two minds,
whether or not to dash at full speed down the staircase; then I took
my decision and threw myself upon my knees, shouting as loudly
as I could, for he too had not ceased from shouting: "If an infirmity
has blinded me, am I bound to go on working?" He retorted: "You
saw well enough to make your way hither, and I don't believe one
word of what you say." I answered, for I noticed he had dropped
his voice a little: "Let your Holiness inquire of your physician, and
you will find the truth out." He said: "So ho! softly; at leisure we
shall hear if what you say is so." Then, perceiving thatj he was
willing to give me hearing, I added: "I am convinced that the only
cause of this great trouble which has happened to me is Cardinal
Salviati; for he sent to me immediately after your Holiness's de-
parture, and when I presented myself, he called my work a stew of
onions, and told me he would send me to complete it in a galley;
and such was the effect upon me of his knavish words, that in my
passion I felt my face in flame, and so intolerable a heat attacked
my eyes that I could not find my own way home. Two days after-
wards, cataracts fell on both my eyes; I quite lost my sight, and after
your Holiness's departure I have been unable to work at all."

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 1 7

Rising from my knees, I left the presence without further Ucense.
It was afterwards reported to me that the Pope had said : "One can
give commissions, but not the prudence to perform them. I did not
tell the Cardinal to go so brutally about this business/ If it is true
that he is suffering from his eyes, of which I shall get information
through my doctor, one ought to make allowance for him." A great
gentleman, intimate with the Pope, and a man of very distinguished
parts, happened to be present. He asked who I was, using terms
like these: "Most blessed Father, pardon if I put a question. I have
seen you yield at one and the same time to the hottest anger I ever
observed, and then to the warmest compassion; so I beg your Holi-
ness to tell me who the man is; for if he is a person worthy to be
helped, I can teach him a secret which may cure him of that infirm-
ity." The Pope replied: "He is the greatest artist who was ever born
in his own craft; one day, when we are together, I will show you
some of his marvellous works, and the man himself to boot; and I
shall be pleased if we can see our way toward doing something to
assist him." Three days after this, the Pope sent for me after dinner-
time, and I found that great noble in the presence. On my arrival,
the Pope had my cope-button brought, and I in the meantime drew
forth my chalice. The nobleman said, on looking at it, that he had
never seen a more stupendous piece of work. When the button came,
he was still more struck with wonder : and looking me straight in the
face, he added: "The man is young, I trow, to be so able in his art,
and still apt enough to learn much." He then asked me what my
name was. I answered : "My name is Benvenuto." He replied : "And
Benvenuto shall I be this day to you. Take flower-de-luces, stalk,
blossom, root, together; then decoct them over a slack fire; and with
the liquid bathe your eyes several times a day; you will most cer-
tainly be cured of that weakness; but see that you purge first, and
then go forward with the lotion." The Pope gave me some kind
words, and so I went away half satisfied.

LIX

It was true indeed that I had got the sickness; but I believe I
caught it from that fine young servant-girl whom I was keeping

' Che mettessi tanta mazza.

Il8 BENVENUTO CELLINI

when my house was robbed. The French disease, for it was that,
remained in me more than four months dormant before it showed
itself, and then it broke out over my whole body at one instant.
It was not like what one commonly observes, but covered my flesh
with certain blisters, of the size of six-pences, and rose-coloured.
The doctors would not call it the French disease, albeit I told them
why I thought it was that. I went on treating myself according to
their methods, but derived no benefit. At last, then, I resolved on
taking the wood, against the advice of the first physicians in Rome;'
and I took it with the most scrupulous discipline and rules of absti-
nence that could be thought of; and after a few days, I perceived in
me a great amendment. The result was that at the end of fifty days
I was cured and as sound as a fish in the water.

Some time afterwards I sought to mend my shattered health, and
with this view I betook myself to shooting when the winter came
in. That amusement, however, led me to expose myself to wind
and water, and to staying out in marsh-lands; so that, after a few
days, I fell a hundred times more ill than I had been before. I put
myself once more under doctors' orders, and attended to their direc-
tions, but grew always worse. When the fever fell upon me, I re-
solved on having recourse again to the wood; but the doctors for-
bade it, saying that if I took it with the fever on me, I should not
have a week to live. However, I made my mind up to disobey their
orders, observed the same diet as I had formerly adopted, and after
drinking the decoction four days, was wholly rid of fever. My
health improved enormously; and while I was following this cure, I
went on always working at the models of the chalice. I may add
that, during the time of that strict abstinence, I produced finer things
and of more exquisite invention than at any other period of my life.
After fifty days my health was re-established, and I continued with
the utmost care to keep it and confirm it. When at last I ventured
to relax my rigid diet, I found myself as wholly free from those in-
firmities as though I had been born again. Although I took pleasure
in fortifying the health I so much longed for, yet I never left off
working; both the chalice and the Mint had certainly as much of my
attention as was due to them and to myself.

' That is, Guiacum, called by the Italians legno santo.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 19

LX

It happened that Cardinal Salviati, who, as I have related, enter-
tained an old hostility against me, had been appointed Legate to
Parma. In that city a certain Milanese goldsmith, named Tobbia,
was taken up for false coining, and condemned to the gallows and
the stake. Representations in his favour, as being a man of great
ability, were made to the Cardinal, who suspended the execution of
the sentence, and wrote to the Pope, saying the best goldsmith in the
world had come into his hands, sentenced to death for coining false
money, but that he was a good simple fellow, who could plead in
his excuse that he had taken counsel with his confessor, and had
received, as he said, from him permission to do this. Thereto he
added: "If you send for this great artist to Rome, your Holiness will
bring down the overweening arrogance of your favourite Benvenuto,
and I am quite certain that Tobbia's work will please you far more
than his." The Pope accordingly sent for him at once; and when the
man arrived, he made us both appear before him, and commissioned
each of us to furnish a design for mounting an unicorn's horn, the
finest which had ever been seen, and which had been sold for 17,000
ducats of the Camera. The Pope meant to give it to King Francis;
but first he wished it richly set in gold, and ordered us to make
sketches for this purpose. When they were finished, we took them
to the Pope. That of Tobbia was in the form of a candlestick, the
horn being stuck in it like a candle, and at the base of the piece he
had introduced four little unicorns' heads of a very poor design.
When I saw the thing, I could not refrain from laughing gently in
my sleeve. The Pope noticed this, and cried : "Here, show me your
sketch I" It was a single unicorn's head, proportioned in size to the
horn. I had designed the finest head imaginable; for I took it pardy
from the horse and partly from the stag, enriching it with fantastic
mane and other ornaments. Accordingly, no sooner was it seen, than
every one decided in my favour. There were, however, present at
the competition certain Milanese gentlemen of the first consequence,
who said: "Most blessed Father, your Holiness is sending this mag-
nificent present into France; please to reflect that the French are
people of no culture, and will not understand the excellence of Ben-

120 BENVENUTO CELLINI

venuto's work; pyxes like this one of Tobbia's will suit their taste
well, and these too can be finished quicker.' Benvenuto will devote
himself to completing your chalice, and you will get two pieces done
in the same time; moreover, this poor man, whom you have brought
to Rome, will have the chance to be employed." The Pope, who
was anxious to obtain his chalice, very willingly adopted the advice
of the Milanese gentlefolk.

Next day, therefore, he commissioned Tobbia to mount the uni-
corn's horn, and sent his Master of the Wardrobe to bid me finish
the chalice.^ I replied that I desired nothing in the world more than
to complete the beautiful work I had begun: and if the material
had been anything but gold, I could very easily have done so myself;
but it being gold, his Holiness must give me some of the metal if he
wanted me to get through with my work. To this the vulgar courtier
answered: "Zounds! don't ask the Pope for gold, unless you mean
to drive him into such a fury as will ruin you." I said: "Oh, my
good lord, will your lordship please to tell me how one can make
bread without flour ? Even so without gold this piece of mine cannot
be finished." The Master of the Wardrobe, having an inkling that I
had made a fool of him, told me he should report all I had spoken
to his Holiness; and this he did. The Pope flew into a bestial pas-
sion, and swore he would wait to see if I was so mad as not to finish
it. More than two months passed thus; and though I had declared I
would not give a stroke to the chalice, I did not do so, but always
went on working with the greatest interest. When he perceived I
was not going to bring it, he began to display real displeasure, and
protested he would punish me in one way or another.

A jeweller from Milan in the Papal service happened to be present
when these words were spoken. He was called Pompeo, and was
closely related to Messer Trajano, the most favoured servant of Pope
Clement. The two men came, upon a common understanding, to
him and said: "If your Holiness were to deprive Benvenuto of the
Mint, perhaps he would take it into his head to complete the chalice."

'The word I have translated pyxes is ciborii, vessels for holding the Eucharist.

2 The Master of the Wardrobe was at that time Giovanni Aleotti. I need hardly
remind my readers that Guardaroba or wardrobe was the apartment in a palace where
arms, plate, furniture, and clothes were stored. We shall find, when we come to
Cellini's service under Duke Cosimo, that princes spent much of their time in this
place.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 121

To this the Pope answered: "No; two evil things would happen:
first, I should be ill served in the Mint, which concerns me greatly;
and secondly, I should certainly not get the chalice." The two
Milanese, observing the Pope indisposed towards me, at last so far
prevailed that he deprived me of the Mint, and gave it to a young
Perugian, commonly known as Fagiuolo.' Pompeo came to inform
me that his Holiness had taken my place in the Mint away, and
that if I did not finish the chalice, he would deprive me of other
things besides. I retorted: "Tell his Holiness that he has deprived
himself and not me of the Mint, and that he will be doing the same
with regard to those other things of which he speaks; and that if
he wants to confer the post on me again, nothing will induce me to
accept it." The graceless and unlucky fellow went off like an arrow
to find the Pope and report this conversation; he added also some-
thing of his own invention. Eight days later, the Pope sent the same
man to tell me that he did not mean me to finish the chalice, and
wanted to have it back precisely at the point to which I had already
brought it. I told Pompeo: "This thing is not like the Mint, which
it was in his power to take away; but five hundred crowns which I
received belong to his Holiness, and I am ready to return them; the
piece itself is mine, and with it I shall do what I think best." Pompeo
ran off to report my speech, together with some biting words which
in my righteous anger I had let fly at himself.

LXI

After the lapse of three days, on a Thursday, there came to me two
favourite Chamberlains of his Holiness; one of them is alive now,
and a bishop; he was called Messer Pier Giovanni, and was an officer
of the wardrobe; the other could claim nobler birth, but his name
has escaped me. On arriving they spoke as follows : The Pope hath
sent us, Benvenuto; and since you have not chosen to comply with
his request on easy terms, his commands now are that either you
should give us up his piece, or that we should take you to prison."
Thereupon I looked them very cheerfully in the face, replying: "My
lords, if I were to give the work to his Holiness, I should be giving

' Vasari mentions a Girolamo Fagiuoli, who flourished at this period but calls him
a Bolognese.

122 BENVENUTO CELLINI

what is mine and not his, and at present I have no intention to make
him this gift. I have brought it far forward with great labour, and
do not want it to go into the hands of some ignorant beast who will
destroy it with no trouble." While I spoke thus, the goldsmith Tob-
bia was standing by, who even presumptuously asked me for the
models also of my work. What I retorted, in words worthy of such
a rascal, need not here be repeated. Then, when those gentlemen, the
Chamberlains, kept urging me to do quickly what I meant to do,
I told them I was ready. So I took my cape up, and before I left the
shop, I turned to an image of Christ, with solemn reverence and cap
in hand, praying as thus: "O gracious and undying, just and holy
our Lord, all the things thou doest are according to thy justice, which
hath no peer on earth. Thou knowest that I have exactly reached
the age of thirty, and that up to this hour I was never threatened
with a prison for any of my actions. Now that it is thy will that I
should go to prison, with all my heart I thank thee for this dispensa-
tion." Thereat I turned round to the two Chamberlains, and ad-
dressed them with a certain lowering look I have: "A man of my
quality deserved no meaner catchpoles than your lordships: place
me between you, and take me as your prisoner where you like."
Those two gentlemen, with the most perfect manners, burst out
laughing, and put me between them; and so we went off, talking
pleasantly, until they brought me to the Governor of Rome, who was
called II Magalotto.' When I reached him (and the Procurator-
Fiscal was with him, both waiting for me), the Pope's Chamber-
lains, still laughing, said to the Governor: "We give up to you this
prisoner; now see you take good care of him. We are very glad to
have acted in the place of your agents; for Benvenuto has told us that
this being his first arrest, he deserved no catchpoles of inferior station
than we are." Immediately on leaving us, they sought the Pope; and
when they had minutely related the whole matter, he made at first
as though he would give way to passion, but afterwards he put
control upon himself and laughed, because there were then in the
presence certain lords and cardinals, my friends, who had warmly
espoused my cause.

' Gregorio Magalotti was a Roman. The Procurator-Fiscal was then Benedetto
Valenti. Magalotti is said to have discharged his office with extreme severity, and to
have run great risks of his life in consequence.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I23

Meanwhile, the Governor and the Fiscal were at me, partly bully-
ing, partly expostulating, partly giving advice, and saying it was
only reason that a man who ordered work from another should be
able to withdraw it at his choice, and in any way which he thought
best. To this I replied that such proceedings were not warranted by
justice, neither could a Pope act thus; for that a Pope is not of the
same kind as certain petty tyrant princes, who treat their folk as
badly as they can, without regard to law or justice; and so a Vicar
of Christ may not commit any of these acts of violence. Thereat the
Governor, assuming his police-court style of threatening and bul-
lying, began to say: "Benvenuto, Benvenuto, you are going about
to make me treat you as you deserve." "You will treat me with
honour and courtesy, if you wish to act as I deserve." Taking me up
again, he cried: "Send for the work at once, and don't wait for a
second order." I responded : "My lords, grant me the favour of being
allowed to say four more words in my defence." The Fiscal, who
was a far more reasonable agent of police than the Governor, turned
to him and said: "Monsignor, suppose we let him say a hundred
words, if he likes : so long as he gives up the work, that is enough for
us." I spoke: "If any man you like to name had ordered a palace or
a house to be built, he could with justice tell the master-mason: 'I
do not want you to go on working at my house or palace;' and after
paying him his labour, he would have the right to dismiss him.
Likewise, if a nobleman gave commission for a jewel of a thousand
crowns' value to be set, when he saw that the jeweller was not serv-
ing him according to his desire, he could say: 'Give me back my
stone, for I do not want your work.' But in a case of this kind none
of those considerations apply; there is neither house nor jewel here;
nobody can command me further than that I should return the five
hundred crowns which I have had. Therefore, monsignori, do
everything you can do; for you will get nothing from me beyond
the five hundred crowns. Go and say this to the Pope. Your threats
do not frighten me at all; for I am an honest man, and stand in no
fear of my sins." The Governor and Fiscal rose, and said they were
going to the Pope, and should return with orders which I should
soon learn to my cost. So I remained there under guard. I walked
up and down a large hall, and they were about three hours away

124 BENVENUTO CELLINI

before they came back from the Pope. In that while the flower of
our nation among the merchants came to visit me, imploring me not
to persist in contending with a Pope, for this might be the ruin of
me. I answered them that I had made my mind up quite well what
I wished to do.

LXII

No sooner had the Governor returned, together with the Procura-
tor, from the palace, than he sent for me, and spoke to this effect:
"Benvenuto, I am certainly sorry to come back from the Pope with
such commands as I have received; you must either produce the
chalice on the instant, or look to your affairs." Then I replied that
"inasmuch as I had never to that hour believed a holy Vicar of Christ
could commit an unjust act, so I should like to see it before I did
believe it; therefore do the utmost that you can." The Governor
rejoined: "I have to report a couple of words more from the Pope
to you, and then I will execute the orders given me. He says that
you must bring your work to me here, and that after I have seen
it put into a box and sealed, I must take it to him. He engages his
word not to break the seal, and to return the piece to you untouched.
But this much he wants to have done, in order to preserve his own
honour in the affair." In return to this speech, I answered, laughing,
that I would very willingly give up my work in the way he men-
tioned, because I should be glad to know for certain what a Pope's
word was really worth.

Accordingly, I sent for my piece, and having had it sealed as de-
scribed, gave it up to him. The Governor repaired again to the
Pope, who took the box, according to what the Governor himself
told me, and turned it several times about. Then he asked the Gov-
ernor if he had seen the work; and he replied that he had, and that it
had been sealed up in his presence, and added that it had struck him
as a very admirable piece. Thereupon the Pope said : "You shall tell
Benvenuto that Popes have authority to bind and loose things of far
greater consequence than this;" and while thus speaking he opened
the box with some show of anger, taking off the string and seals
with which it was done up. Afterwards he paid it prolonged atten-
tion; and, as I subsequently heard, showed it to Tobbia the gold-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 25

smith, who bestowed much praise upon it. Then the Pope asked
him if he felt equal to producing a piece in that style. On his saying
yes, the Pope told him to follow it out exactly; then turned to the
Governor and said: "See whether Benvenuto will give it up; for if
he does, he shall be paid the value fixed on it by men of knowledge
in this art; but if he is really bent on finishing it himself, let him
name a certain time; and if you are convinced that he means to do
it, let him have all the reasonable accommodations he may ask for."
The Governor replied: "Most blessed Father, I know the violent
temper of this young man; so let me have authority to give him a
sound rating after my own fashion." The Pope told him to do what
he liked with words, though he was sure he would make matters
worse; and if at last he could do nothing else, he must order me to
take the five hundred crowns to his jeweller, Pompeo.

The Governor returned, sent for me into his cabinet, and casting
one of his catchpole's glances, began: to speak as follows: "Popes
have authority to loose and bind the whole world, and what they do
is immediately ratified in heaven. Behold your box, then, which has
been opened and inspected by his Holiness." I lifted up my voice
at once, and said: "I thank God that now I have learned and can
report what the faith of Popes is made of." Then the Governor
launched out into brutal bullying words and gestures; but perceiving
that they came to nothing, he gave up his attempt as desperate, and
spoke in somewhat milder tones after this wise: "Benvenuto, I am
very sorry that you are so blind to your own interest; but since it is
so, go and take the five hundred crowns, when you think fit, to
Pompeo." I took my piece up, went away, and carried the crowns
to Pompeo on the instant. It is most likely that the Pope had counted
on some want of money or other opportunity preventing me from
bringing so considerable a sum at once, and was anxious in this way
to repiece the broken thread of my obedience. When then he saw
Pompeo coming to him with a smile upon his lips and the money
in his hand, he soundly rated him, and lamented that the affair had
turned out so. Then he said: "Go find Benvenuto in his shop, and
treat him with all the courtesies of which your ignorant and brutal
nature is capable, and tell him that if he is willing to finish that piece
for a reliquary to hold the Corpus Domini when I walk in pro-

126 BENVENUTO CELLINI

cession, I will allow him the conveniences he wants in order to com-
plete it; provided only that he goes on working." Pompeo came
to me, called me outside the shop, and heaped on me the most
mawkish caresses of a donkey,^ reporting everything the Pope had
ordered. I lost no time in answering that "the greatest treasure I
could wish for in the world was to regain the favour of so great a
Pope, which had been lost to me, not indeed by my fault, but by
the fault of my overwhelming illness and the wickedness of those
envious men who take pleasure in making mischief; and since the
Pope has plenty of servants, do not let him send you round again,
if you value your life . . . nay, look well to your safety. I shall not
fail, by night or day, to think and do everything I can in the Pope's
service; and bear this well in mind, that when you have reported
these words to his Holiness, you never in any way whatever meddle
with the least of my affairs, for I will make you recognise your errors
by the punishment they merit." The fellow related everything to the
Pope, but in far more brutal terms than I had used; and thus the
matter rested for a time while I again attended to my shop and
business.

LXIII

Tobbia the goldsmith meanwhile worked at the setting and the
decoration of the unicorn's horn. The Pope, moreover, commissioned
him to begin the chalice upon the model he had seen in mine. But
when Tobbia came to show him what he had done, he was very
discontented, and greatly regretted that he had broken with me,
blaming all the other man's works and the people who had intro-
duced them to him; and several times Baccino della Croce came
from him to tell me that I must not neglect the reliquary. I answered
that I begged his Holiness to let me breathe a little after the great
illness I had suffered, and from which I was not as yet wholly free,
adding that I would make it clear to him that all the hours in which
I could work should be spent in his service. I had indeed begun to
make his portrait, and was executing a medal in secret. I fashioned
the steel dies for stamping this medal in my own house; while I kept
' Le pitl isvenevole carezze d'asino.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I27

a partner in my workshop, who had been my prentice and was called
Felice.

At that time, as is the wont of young men, I had fallen in love with
a Sicilian girl, who was exceedingly beautiful. On it becoming clear
that she returned my affection, her mother perceived how the matter
stood, and grew suspicious of what might happen. The truth is that
I had arranged to elope with the girl for a year to Florence, un-
known to her mother; but she, getting wind of this, left Rome
secretly one night, and went off in the direction of Naples. She gave
out that she was gone by Civita Vecchia, but she really went by Ostia.
I followed them to Civita Vecchia, and did a multitude of mad
things to discover her. It would be too long to narrate them all in
detail; enough that I was on the point of losing my wits or dying.
After two months she wrote to me that she was in Sicily, extremely
unhappy. I meanwhile was indulging myself in all the pleasures
man can think of, and had engaged in another love affair, merely to
drown the memory of my real passion.

LXIV

It happened through a variety of singular accidents that I became
intimate with a Sicilian priest, who was a man of very elevated
genius and well instructed in both Latin and Greek letters. In the
course of conversation one day we were led to talk about the art of
necromancy; apropos of which I said: "Throughout my whole life
I have had the most intense desire to see or learn something of this
art." Thereto the priest replied : "A stout soul and a steadfast must
the man have who sets himself to such an enterprise." I answered
that of strength and steadfastness of soul I should have enough and
to spare, provided I found the opportunity. Then the priest said:
"If you have the heart to dare it, I will amply satisfy your curiosity."
Accordingly we agreed upon attempting the adventure.

The priest one evening made his preparations, and bade me find
a comrade, or not more than two. I invited Vincenzio Romoli, a
very dear friend of mine, and the priest took with him a native of
Pistoja, who also cultivated the black art. We went together to the
CoUseum; and there the priest, having arrayed himself in necro-
mancer's robes, began to describe circles on the earth with the finest

128 BENVENUTO CELLINI

ceremonies that can be imagined. I must say that he had made us
bring precious perfumes and fire, and also drugs of fetid odour.
When the prehminaries were completed, he made the entrance into
the circle; and taking us by the hand, introduced us one by one inside
it. Then he assigned our several functions; to the necromancer, his
comrade, he gave the pentacle to hold; the other two of us had to
look after the fire and the perfumes; and then he began his incan-
tations. This lasted more than an hour and a half; when several
legions appeared, and the Coliseum was all full of devils. I was
occupied with the precious perfumes, and when the priest perceived
in what numbers they were present, he turned to me and said : "Ben-
venuto, ask them something." I called on them to reunite me with
my Sicilian Angelica. That night we obtained no answer; but I
enjoyed the greatest satisfaction of my curiosity in such matters. The
necromancer said that we should have to go a second time, and that
I should obtain the full accomplishment of my request; but he wished
me to bring with me a little boy of pure virginity.

I chose one of my shop-lads, who was about twelve years old, and
invited Vincenzio Romoli again; and we also took a certain Agno-
lino Gaddi, who was a very intimate friend of both. When we came
once more to the place appointed, the necromancer made just the
same preparations, attended by the same and even more impressive
details. Then he introduced us into the circle, which he had recon-
structed with art more admirable and yet more wondrous cere-
monies. Afterwards he appointed my friend Vincenzio to the order-
ing of the perfumes and the fire, and with him Agnolino Gaddi.
He next placed in my hand the pentacle, which he bid me turn
toward the points he indicated, and under the pentacle I held the
little boy, my workman. Now the necromancer began to utter those
awful invocations, calling by name on multitudes of demons who
are captains of their legions, and these he summoned by the virtue
and potency of God, the Uncreated, Living, and Eternal, in phrases
of the Hebrew, and also of the Greek and Latin tongues; insomuch
that in a short space of time the whole Coliseum was full of a
hundredfold as many as had appeared upon the first occasion. Vin-
cenzio Romoli, together with Agnolino, tended the fire and heaped
on quantities of precious perfumes. At the advice of the necro-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 29

mancer, I again demanded to be reunited with Angelica. The sor-
cerer turned to me and said: "Hear you what they have rephed; that
in the space of one month you will be where she is?" Then once
more he prayed me to stand firm by him, because the legions were
a thousandfold more than he had summoned, and were the most
dangerous of all the denizens of hell; and now that they had settled
what I asked, it behoved us to be civil to them and dismiss them
gently. On the other side, the boy, who was beneath the pentacle,
shrieked out in terror that a million of the fiercest men were swarm-
ing round and threatening us. He said, moreover, that four huge
giants had appeared, who were striving to force their way inside the
circle. Meanwhile the necromancer, trembling with fear, kept doing
his best with mild and soft persuasions to dismiss them. Vincenzio
Romoli, who quaked like an aspen leaf, looked after the perfumes.
Though I was quite as frightened as the rest of them, I tried to show
it less, and inspired them all with marvellous courage; but the truth
is that I had given myself up for dead when I saw the terror of the
necromancer. The boy had stuck his head between his knees, ex-
claiming: "This is how I will meet death, for we are certainly dead
men." Again I said to him: "These creatures are all inferior to us,
and what you see is only smoke and shadow; so then raise your
eyes." When he had raised them he cried out: "The whole Coliseum
is in flames, and the fire is advancing on us;" then covering his face
with his hands, he groaned again that he was dead, and that he
could not endure the sight longer. The necromancer appealed for
my support, entreating me to stand firm by him, and to have assa-
fetida flung upon the coals; so I turned to Vincenzio Romoli, and
told him to make the fumigation at once. While uttering these
words I looked at Agnolino Gaddi, whose eyes were starting from
their sockets in his terror, and who was more than half dead, and
said to him : "Agnolo, in time and place like this we must not yield
to fright, but do the utmost to bestir ourselves; therefore, up at once,
and fling a handful of that assafetida upon the fire." Agnolo, at the
moment when he moved to do this, let fly such a volley from his
breech, that it was far more effectual than the assafetida.' The boy,
roused by that great stench and noise, lifted his face a little, and

* Fece una istrombazzata di coregge con tanta abundanzia di merda.

130 BENVENUTO CELLINI

hearing me laugh, he plucked up courage, and said the devils were
taking to flight tempestuously. So we abode thus until the matin-
bells began to sound. Then the boy told us again that but few
remained, and those were at a distance. When the necromancer
had concluded his ceremonies, he put off his wizard's robe, and
packed up a great bundle of books which he had brought with him;
then, all together, we issued with him from the circle, huddling as
close as we could to one another, especially the boy, who had got
into the middle, and taken the necromancer by his gown and me
by the cloak. All the while that we were going toward our houses
in the Banchi, he kept saying that two of the devils he had seen in
the Coliseum were gamboling in front of us, skipping now along
the roofs and now upon the ground. The necromancer assured me
that, often as he had entered magic circles, he had never met with
such a serious affair as this. He also tried to persuade me to assist
him in consecrating a book, by means of which we should extract
immeasurable wealth, since we could call up fiends to show us where
treasures were, whereof the earth is full; and after this wise we
should become the richest of mankind: love affairs like mine were
nothing but vanities and follies without consequence. I replied that
if I were a Latin scholar I should be very willing to do what he
suggested. He continued to persuade me by arguing that Latin
scholarship was of no importance, and that, if he wanted, he could
have found plenty of good Latinists; but that he had never met with
a man of soul so firm as mine, and that I ought to follow his counsel.
Engaged in this conversation, we reached our homes, and each one
of us dreamed all that night of devils.

LXV

As we were in the habit of meeting daily, the necromancer kept
urging me to join in his adventure. Accordingly, I asked him how
long it would take, and where we should have to go. To this he
answered that we might get through with it in less than a month,
and that the most suitable locality for the purpose was the hill
country of Norcia;' a master of his in the art had indeed conse-

' This district of the Central Apennines was always famous for witches, poisoners,
and so forth. The Farfa mentioned below is a village of the Sabine hills.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I3I

crated such a book quite close to Rome, at a place called the
Badia di Farfa; but he had met with some difficulties there,
which would not occur in the mountains of Norcia; the peasants
also of that district are people to be trusted, and have some prac-
tice in these matters, so that at a pinch they are able to render
valuable assistance.

This priestly sorcerer moved me so by his persuasions that I was
well disposed to comply with his request; but I said I wanted first
to finish the medals I was making for the Pope. I had confided
what I was doing about them to him alone, begging him to keep
my secret. At the same time I never stopped asking him if he be-
lieved that I should be reunited to my Sicilian Angelica at the time
appointed; for the date was drawing near, and I thought it singular
that I heard nothing about her. The necromancer told me that it
was quite certain I should find myself where she was, since the
devils never break their word when they promise, as they did on
that occasion; but he bade me keep my eyes open, and be on the
look out against some accident which might happen to me in that
connection, and put restraint upon myself to endure somewhat
against my inclination, for he could discern a great and imminent
danger in it: well would it be for me if I went with him to conse-
crate the book, since this would avert the peril that menaced me, and
would make us both most fortunate.

I was beginning to hanker after the adventure more than he did;
but I said that a certain Maestro Giovanni of Castel Bolognese had
just come to Rome, vei'y ingenious in the art of making medals of
the sort I made in steel, and that I thirsted for nothing more than
to compete with him and take the world by storm with some great
masterpiece, which I hoped would annihilate all those enemies of
mine by the force of genius and not the sword.^ The sorcerer on his
side went on urging: "Nay, prithee, Benvenuto, come with me and
shun a great disaster which I see impending over you." However, I
had made my mind up, come what would, to finish my medal, and
we were now approaching the end of the month. I was so absorbed

^ Gio. Bernardi had been in the Duke of Ferrara's service. Giovio brought him to
Rome, where he was patronised by the Cardinals Salviati and De' Medici. He made
a famous medal of Clement VII., and was a Pontifical mace-bearer. He died at
Faenza in 1555.

132 BENVENUTO CELLINI

and enamoured by my work that I thought no more about Angelica
or anything of that kind, but gave my whole self up to it.

LXVI

It happened one day, close on the hours of vespers, that I had to
go at an unusual time for me from my house to my workshop; for
I ought to say that the latter was in the Banchi, while I lived behind
the Banchi, and went rarely to the shop; all my business there I left
in the hands of my partner, Felice. Having stayed a short while in
the workshop, I remembered that I had to say something to Ales-
sandro del Bene. So I arose, and when I reached the Banchi, I met
a man called Ser Benedetto, who was a great friend of mine. He
was a notary, born in Florence, son of a blind man who said prayers
about the streets for alms, and a Sienese by race. This Ser Benedetto
had been very many years at Naples; afterwards he had settled in
Rome, where he transacted business for some Sienese merchants
of the Chigi.' My partner had over and over again asked him for
some moneys which were due for certain little rings confided to Ser
Benedetto. That very day, meeting him in the Banchi, he demanded
his money rather roughly, as his wont was. Benedetto was walking
with his masters, and they, annoyed by the interruption, scolded him
sharply, saying they would be served by somebody else, in order not
to have to listen to such barking. Ser Benedetto did the best he could
to excuse himself, swore that he had paid the goldsmith, and said he
had no power to curb the rage of madmen. The Sienese took his
words ill, and dismissed him on the spot. Leaving them, he ran like
an arrow to my shop, probably to take revenge upon Felice. It
chanced that just in the middle of the street we met. I, who had
heard nothing of the matter, greeted him most kindly, according to
my custom, to which courtesy he replied with insults. Then what
the sorcerer had said flashed all at once upon my mind; and bridling
myself as well as I was able, in the way he bade me, I answered:
"Good brother Benedetto, don't fly into a rage with me, for I have
done you no harm, nor do I know anything about these affairs of
yours. Please go and finish what you have to do with Felice. He is
quite capable of giving you a proper answer; but inasmuch as I
* The MS. has Figi; but this is probably a mistake of the amanuensis.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I33

know nothing about it, you are wrong to abuse me in this way,
especially as you are well aware that I am not the man to put up
with insults." He retorted that I knew everything, and that he was
the man to make me bear a heavier load than that, and that Felice
and I were two great rascals. By this time a crowd had gathered
round to hear the quarrel. Provoked by his ugly words, I stooped
and took up a lump of mud — for it had rained — and hurled it with
a quick and unpremeditated movement at his face. He ducked his
head, so that the mud hit him in the middle of the skull. There was
a stone in it with several sharp angles, one of which striking him,
he fell stunned like a dead man: whereupon all the bystanders,
seeing the great quantity of blood, judged that he was really dead.

LXVII

While he was still lying on the ground, and people were pre-
paring to carry him away, Pompeo the jeweller passed by. The
Pope had sent for him to give orders about some jewels. Seeing the
fellow in such a miserable plight, he asked who had struck him; on
which they told him: "Benvenuto did it, but the stupid creature
brought it down upon himself." No sooner had Pompeo reached
the Pope than he began to speak: "Most blessed Father, Benvenuto
has this very moment murdered Tobbia; I saw it with my own
eyes." On this the Pope in a fury ordered the Governor, who was
in the presence, to take and hang me at once in the place where the
homicide had been committed, adding that he must do all he
could to catch me, and not appear again before him until he had
hanged me.

When I saw the unfortunate Benedetto stretched upon the ground,
I thought at once of the peril I was in, considering the power of my
enemies, and what might ensue from this disaster. Making off, I
took refuge in the house of Messer Giovanni Gaddi, clerk of the
Camera, with the intention of preparing as soon as possible to escape
from Rome. He, however, advised me not to be in such a hurry,
for it might turn out perhaps that the evil was not so great as I
imagined; and calling Messer Annibal Caro, who lived with him,
bade him go for information.

While these arrangements were being made, a Roman gentleman

134 BENVENUTO CELLINI

appeared, who belonged to the household of Cardinal de' Medici,
and had been sent by him.' Taking Messer Giovanni and me apart,
he told us that the Cardinal had reported to him what the Pope said,
and that there was no way of helping me out of the scrape; it would
be best for me to shun the first fury of the storm by flight, and not
to risk myself in any house in Rome. Upon this gentleman's depar-
ture, Messer Giovanni looked me in the face as though he were
about to cry, and said: "Ah me! Ah woe is me! There is nothing
I can do to aid you!" I replied: "By God's means, I shall aid myself
alone; only I request you to put one of your horses at my disposition."
They had already saddled a black Turkish horse, the finest and the
best in Rome- I mounted with an arquebuse upon the saddle-bow,
wound up in readiness to fire, if need were.^ When I reached Ponte
Sisto, I found the whole of the Bargello's guard there, both horse
and foot. So, making a virtue of necessity, I put my horse boldly
to a sharp trot, and with God's grace, being somehow unperceived
by them, passed freely through. Then, with all the speed I could,
I took the road to Palombara, a fief of my lord Giovanbatista Savello,
whence I sent the horse back to Messer Giovanni, without, how-
ever, thinking it well to inform him where I was.' Lord Giovan-
batista, after very kindly entertaining me two days, advised me to
remove and go toward Naples till the storm blew over. So, providing
me with company, he set me on the way to Naples.

While travelling, I met a sculptor of my acquaintance, who was
going to San Germano to finish the tomb of Piero de' Medici at
Monte Cassino.* His name was Solosmeo, and he gave me the news
that on the very evening of the fray, Pope Clement sent one of his

' Ippolito de' Medici was a Cardinal, much against his natural inclination. When
he went as Papal Legate to Hungary in 1532, he assumed the airs and style of a
Condottiere. His jealousy of his cousin Alessandro led to his untimely death by
poison in 1535.

^ The gun was an arquebuso a ruola, which had a wheel to cock it.

' A village in the Sabina, north of Tivoli. Giov. Battista Savelli, of a great Roman
house, was a captain of cavalry in the Papal service after 1530. In 1540 he entered
the service of Duke Cosimo, and died in 1553.

*This sculptor was Antonio Solosmeo of Settignano. The monument erected to
Piero de' Medici (drowned in the Garigliano, 1504) at Monte Cassino is by no means
a brilliant piece of Florentine art. Piero was the exiled son of Lorenzo the Magnificent;
and the Medici, when they regained their principality, erected this monument to his
memory, employing Antonio da San Gallo, Francesco da San Gallo and a Neapolitan,
Matteo de' Quaranta. The work was begun in 1532. Solosmeo appears from this
passage in Cellini to have taken the execution of it over.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 135

chamberlains to inquire how Tobbia was getting on. Finding him at
work, unharmed, and without even knowing anything about the
matter, the messenger went back and told the Pope, who turned
round to Pompeo and said: "You are a good-for-nothing rascal; but
I promise you well that you have stirred a snake up which will sting
you, and serve you right!" Then he addressed himself to Cardinal
de' Medici, and commissioned him to look after me, adding that he
should be very sorry to let me slip through his fingers. And so
Solosmeo and I went on our way singing toward Monte Cassino,
intending to pursue our journey thence in company toward Naples.

Lxvni

When Solosmeo had inspected his affairs at Monte Cassino, we
resumed our journey, and having come within a mile of Naples, we
were met by an innkeeper, who invited us to his house, and said he
had been at Florence many years with Carlo Ginori;' adding, that if
we put up at his inn, he would treat us most kindly, for the reason
that we both were Florentines. We told him frequently that we
did not want to go to him. However, he kept passing, sometimes in
front and sometimes behind, perpetually repeating that he would
have us stop at his hostelry. When this began to bore me, I asked
if he could tell me anything about a certain Sicilian woman called
Beatrice, who had a beautiful daughter named Angelica, and both
were courtesans. Taking it into his head that I was jeering him,
he cried out: "God send mischief to all courtesans and such as favour
them!" Then he set spurs to his horse, and made off as though he
was resolved to leave us. I felt some pleasure at having rid myself
in so fair a manner of that ass of an innkeeper; and yet I was rather
the loser than the gainer; for the great love I bore Angelica had
come back to my mind, and while I was conversing, not without
some lover's sighs, upon this subject with Solosmeo, we saw the man
returning to us at a gallop. When he drew up, he said: "Two or
perhaps three days ago a woman and a girl came back to a house in
my neighbourhood; they had the names you mentioned, but whether
they are Sicilians I cannot say." I answered: "Such power over me

' A Gonfalonier of the Republic in 1527.

136 BENVENUTO CELLINI

has that name of AngeUca, that I am now determined to put up at
your inn."

We rode on all together with mine host into the town of Naples,
and descended at his house. Minutes seemed years to me till I had
put my things in order, which I did in the twinkling of an eye;
then I went to the house, which was not far from our inn, and found
there my Angelica, who greeted me with infinite demonstrations
of the most unbounded passion. I stayed with her from evenfall
until the following morning, and enjoyed such pleasure as I never
had before or since; but while drinking deep of this delight, it
occurred to my mind how exactly on that day the month expired,
which had been prophesied within the necromantic circle by the
devils. So then let every man who enters into relation with those
spirits weigh well the inestimable perils I have passed through!

LXIX

I happened to have in my purse a diamond, which I showed about
among the goldsmiths; and though I was but young, my reputation
as an able artist was so well known even at Naples that they wel-
comed me most warmly. Among others, I made acquaintance with a
most excellent companion, a jeweller, Messer Domenico Fontana by
name. This worthy man left his shop for the three days that I spent
in Naples, nor ever quitted my company, but showed me many
admirable monuments of antiquity in the city and its neighbour-
hood. Moreover, he took me to pay my respects to the Viceroy of
Naples, who had let him know that he should like to see me. When
I presented myself to his Excellency, he received me with much
honour;' and while we were exchanging compliments, the diamond
■which I have mentioned caught his eye. He made me show it him,
and prayed me, if I parted with it, to give him the refusal. Having
taken back the stone, I offered it again to his Excellency, adding that
the diamond and I were at his service. Then he said that the
diamond pleased him well, but that he should be much better pleased
if I were to stay with him; he would make such terms with me as

iThe Spanish Viceroy was at this time Pietro Alvarez de Toledo, Marquis o£
Villafranca, and uncle of the famous Duke of Alva. He governed Naples for
twenty years, from 1532 onwards.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I37

would cause me to feel satisfied. We spoke many words of courtesy
on both sides; and then coming to the merits of the diamond, his
Excellency bade me without hesitation name the price at which I
valued it. Accordingly I said that it was worth exactly two hundred
crowns. He rejoined that in his opinion I had not overvalued it;
but that since I had set it, and he knew me for the first artist in the
world, it would not make the same effect when mounted by another
hand. To this I said that I had not set the stone, and that it was
not well set; its brilliancy was due to its own excellence; and that if
I were to mount it afresh, I could make it show far better than it
did. Then I put my thumb-nail to the angles of its facets, took it
from the ring, cleaned it up a little, and handed it to the Viceroy.
Delighted and astonished, he wrote me out a cheque^ for the two
hundred crowns I had demanded.

When I returned to my lodging, I found letters from the Cardinal
de' Medici, in which he told me to come back post-haste to Rome,
and to dismount without delay at the palace of his most reverend
lordship. I read the letter to my Angelica, who begged me with
tears of affection either to remain in Naples or to take her with me.
I replied that if she was disposed to come with me, I would give up
to her keeping the two hundred ducats I had received from the
Viceroy. Her mother perceiving us in this close conversation, drew
nigh and said: "Benvenuto, if you want to take my daughter to
Rome, leave me a sum of fifteen ducats, to pay for my lying-in, and
then I will travel after you." I told the old harridan that I would
very gladly leave her thirty if she would give me my Angelica. We
made the bargain, and Angelica entreated me to buy her a gown of
black velvet, because the stuff was cheap at Naples. I consented to
everything, sent for the velvet, settled its price and paid for it; then
the old woman, who thought me over head and ears in love, begged
for a gown of fine cloth for herself, as well as other outlays for her
sons, and a good bit more money than I had offered. I turned to
her with a pleasant air and said : "My dear Beatrice, are you satisfied
with what I offered?" She answered that she was not; thereupon I
said that what was not enough for her would be quite enough for

' Mi jece una polizza. A polizza was an order for money, practically identical with
our cheque.

138 BENVENUTO CELLINI

me; and having kissed Angelica, we parted, she with tears, and I
with laughter, and off at once I set for Rome.

LXX

1 left Naples by night with my money in my pocket, and this I
did to prevent being set upon or murdered, as is the way there; but
when I came to Selciata,' I had to defend myself with great address
and bodily prowess from several horsemen who came out to assassi-
nate me. During the following days, after leaving Solosmeo at his
work in Monte Cassino, I came one morning to breakfast at the
inn of Adanagni;^ and when I was near the house, I shot some birds
with my arquebuse. An iron spike, which was in the lock of my
musket, tore my right hand. Though the wound was not of any
consequence, it seemed to be so, because it bled abundantly. Going
into the inn, I put my horse up, and ascended to a large gallery,
where I found a party of Neapolitan gentlemen just upon the point
of sitting down to table; they had with them a young woman of
quality, the loveliest I ever saw. At the moment when I entered the
room, I was followed by a very brave young serving-man of mine
holding a big partisan in his hand. The sight of us, our arms, and
the blood, inspired those poor gentlemen with such terror, par-
ticularly as the place was known to be a nest of murderers, that they
rose from table and called on God in a panic to protect them. I began
to laugh, and said that God had protected them already, for that I
was a man to defend them against whoever tried to do them harm.
Then I asked them for something to bind up my wounded hand;
and the charming lady took out a handkerchief richly embroidered
with gold, wishing to make a bandage with it. I refused; but she
tore the piece in half, and in the gentlest manner wrapt my hand up
with her fingers. The company thus having regained confidence,
we dined together very gaily; and when the meal was over, we all
mounted and went off together. The gentlemen, however, were not
as yet quite at their ease; so they left me in their cunning to entertain
the lady, while they kept at a short distance behind. I rode at her

' Ponte a Selice, between Capua and Aversa.

2 Anagni, where Boniface VIII. was outraged to the death by the French partisans
of Philip le Bel.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I39

side upon a pretty little horse of mine, making signs to my servant
that he should keep somewhat apart, which gave us the opportunity
of discussing things that are not sold by the apothecary.^ In this way
I journeyed to Rome with the greatest enjoyment I have ever had.

When I got to Rome, I dismounted at the palace of Cardinal de'
Medici, and having obtained an audience of his most reverend lord-
ship, paid my respects, and thanked him warmly for my recall. I
then entreated him to secure me from imprisonment, and even from
a fine if that were possible. The Cardinal was very glad to see me;
told me to stand in no fear; then turned to one of his gentlemen,
called Messer Pier Antonio Pecci of Siena, ordering him to tell the
Bargello not to touch me.* He then asked him how the man was
going on whose head I had broken with the stone. Messer Pier
Antonio replied that he was very ill, and that he would probably be
even worse; for when he heard that I was coming back to Rome,
he swore he would die to serve me an ill turn. When the Cardinal
heard that, he burst into a fit of laughter, and cried: "The fellow
could not have taken a better way than this to make us know that he
was born a Sienese." After that he turned to me and said: "For our
reputation and your own, refrain these four or five days from going
about in the Banchi; after that go where you like, and let fools die
at their own pleasure."

I went home and set myself to finishing the medal which I had
begun, with the head of Pope Clement and a figure of Peace on the
reverse. The figure was a slender woman, dressed in very thin
drapery, gathered at the waist, with a little torch in her hand, which
was burning a heap of arms bound together like a trophy. In the
background I had shown part of a temple, where was Discord
chained with a load of fetters. Round about it ran a legend in these
words: Clauduntur belli portce^

During the time that I was finishing this medal, the man whom
I had wounded recovered, and the Pope kept incessantly asking for
me. I, however, avoided visiting Cardinal de' Medici; for whenever

'/. e., private and sentimental.

■*This Pecci passed into the service of Caterina de' Medici. In 1551 he schemed
to withdraw Siena from the Spanish to the French cause, and was declared a rebel.

*The medal was struck to celebrate the peace in Christendom between 1530 and
1336.

140 BENVENUTO CELLINI

I showed my face before him, his lordship gave me some commission
of importance, which hindered me from working at my medal to the
end. Consequently Messer Pier Carnesecchi, who was a great fav-
ourite of the Pope's, undertook to keep me in sight, and let me
adroitly understand how much the Pope desired my services.^ I told
him that in a few days I would prove to hisi Holiness that his
service had never been neglected by me.

LXXI

Not many days had passed before, my medal being finished, I
stamped it in gold, silver, and copper. After I had shown it to
Messer Pietro, he immediately introduced me to the Pope. It was
on a day in April after dinner, and the weather very fine; the Pope
was in the Belvedere. After entering the presence, I put my medals
together with the dies of steel into his hand. He took them, and
recognising at once their mastery of art, looked Messer Pietro in the
face and said: "The ancients never had such medals made for them
as these."

While he and the others were inspecting them, taking up now the
dies and now the medals in their hands, I began to speak as sub-
missively as I was able: "If a greater power had not controlled the
working of my inauspicious stars, and hindered that with which they
violently menaced me, your Holiness, without your fault or mine,
would have lost a faithful and loving servant. It must, most blessed
Father, be allowed that in those cases where men are risking all upon
one throw, it is not wrong to do as certain poor and simple men are
wont to say, who tell us we must mark seven times and cut once.'
Your Holiness will remember how the malicious and lying tongue of
my bitter enemy so easily aroused your anger, that you ordered the
Governor to have me taken on the spot and hanged; but I have no
doubt that when you had become aware of the irreparable act by
which you would have wronged yourself, in cutting off from you a
servant such as even now your Holiness hath said he is, I am sure,

' Pietro Carnesecchi was one of the martyrs of free-thought in Italy. He adopted
Protestant opinions, and was beheaded and burned in Rome, August 1567.

^Segnar sette e tagliar una. A proverb derived possibly from felling trees; or, as
some commentators interpret, from the points made by sculptors on their marble
before they block the statue out.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I4I

I repeat, that, before God and the world, you would have felt no
trifling twinges of remorse. Excellent and virtuous fathers, and
masters of like quality, ought not to let their arm in wrath descend
upon their sons and servants with such inconsiderate haste, seeing
that subsequent repentance will avail them nothing. But now that
God has overruled the malign influences of the stars and saved me
for your Holiness, I humbly beg you another time not to let yourself
so easily be stirred to rage against me."

The Pope had stopped from looking at the medals and was now
listening attentively to what I said. There were many noblemen of
the greatest consequence present, which made him blush a little, as
it were for shame; and not knowing how else to extricate himself
from this entanglement, he said that he could not remember having
given such an order. I changed the conversation in order to cover
his embarrassment. His Holiness then began to speak again about
the medals, and asked what method I had used to stamp them so
marvellously, large as they were; for he had never met with ancient
pieces of that size. We talked a little on this subject; but being not
quite easy that I might not begin another lecture sharper than the
last, he praised my medals, and said they gave him the greatest
satisfaction, but that he should like another reverse made according
to a fancy of his own, if it were possible to stamp them with two
different patterns. I said that it was possible to do so. Then his
Holiness commissioned me to design the history of Moses when he
strikes the rock and water issues from it, with this motto: Ut bibat
populus? At last he added: "Go Benvenuto; you will not have
finished it before I have provided for your fortune." After I had
taken leave, the Pope proclaimed before the whole company that
he would give me enough to live on wealthily without the need of
labouring for any one but him. So I devoted myself entirely to
working out this reverse with the Moses on it.

LXXH

In the meantime the Pope was taken ill, and his physicians thought
the case was dangerous. Accordingly my enemy began to be afraid
of me, and engaged some Neapolitan soldiers to do to me what he

^ The medal commemorated a deep well sunk by Clement at Orvieto.

142 BENVENUTO CELLINI

was dreading I might do to him/ I had therefore much trouble to
defend my poor Hfe. In course of time, however, I completed the
reverse; and when I took it to the Pope, I found him in bed in a
most deplorable condition. Nevertheless, he received me with the
greatest kindness, and wished to inspect the medals and the dies. He
sent for spectacles and lights, but was unable to see anything clearly.
Then he began to fumble with his fingers at them, and having felt
them a short while, he fetched a deep sigh, and said to his attendants
that he was much concerned about me, but that if God gave him
back his health he would make it all right.

Three days afterwards the Pope died, and I was left with all my
labour lost; yet I plucked up courage, and told myself that these
medals had won me so much celebrity, that any Pope who was
elected would give me work to do, and peradventure bring me better
fortune. Thus I encouraged and put heart into myself, and buried in
oblivion all the injuries which Pompeo had done me. Then putting
on my arms and girding my sword, I went to San Piero, and kissed
the feet of the dead Pope, not without shedding tears. Afterwards I
returned to the Banchi to look on at the great commotion which
always happens on such occasions.

While I was sitting in the street with several of my friends,
Pompeo went by, attended by ten men very well armed; and when
he came just opposite, he stopped, as though about to pick a quarrel
with myself. My companions, brave and adventurous young men,
made signs to me to draw my sword; but it flashed through my
mind that if I drew, some terrible mischief might result for persons
who were wholly innocent. Therefore I considered that it would
be better if I put my life to risk alone. When Pompeo had stood
there time enough to say two Ave Marias, he laughed derisively in
my direction; and going off, his fellows also laughed and wagged
their heads, with many other insolent gestures. My companions
wanted to begin the fray at once; but I told them hotly that I was
quite able to conduct my quarrels to an end by myself, and that I
had no need of stouter fighters than I was; so that each of them
might mind his business. My friends were angry and went ofl

^The meaning of this is, that if Clement died, Cellini would have had his
opportunity of vengeance during the anarchy which followed a vacancy of the Papal
See.

AUTOBIOGRAPH i 143

muttering. Now there was among them my dearest comrade, named
Albertaccio del Bene, own brother to Alessandro and Albizzo, who
is now a very rich man in Lyons. He was the most redoubtable
young man I ever knew, and the most high-spirited, and loved me
like himself; and insomuch as he was well aware that my forbear-
ance had not been inspired by want of courage, but by the most
daring bravery, for he knew me down to the bottom of my nature,
he took my words up and begged me to favour him so far as to
associate him with myself in all I meant to do. I replied: "Dear
Albertaccio, dearest to me above all men that live, the time will very
likely come when you shall give me aid; but in this case, if you love
me, do not attend to me, but look to your own business, and go at
once like our other friends, for now there is no time to lose." These
words were spoken in one breath.

LXXIII

In the meanwhile my enemies had proceeded slowly toward
Chiavica, as the place was called, and had arrived at the crossing of
several roads, going in different directions; but the street in which
Pompeo's house stood was the one which leads straight to the Campra
di Fiore. Some business or other made him enter the apothecary's
shop which stood at the corner of Chiavica, and there he stayed a
while transacting it. I had just been told that he had boasted of the
insult which he fancied he had put upon me; but be that as it may,
it was to his misfortune; for precisely when I came up to the corner,
he was leaving the shop and his bravi had opened their ranks and
received him in their midst. I drew a little dagger with a sharpened
edge, and breaking the line of his defenders, laid my hands upon
his breast so quickly and coolly, that none of them were able to pre-
vent me. Then I aimed to strike him in the face; but fright made
him turn his head round; and I stabbed him just beneath the ear.
I only gave two blows, for he fell stone dead at the second. I had
not meant to kill him; but as the saying goes, knocks are not dealt
by measure. With my left hand I plucked back the dagger, and with
my right hand drew my sword to defend my life. However, all those
bravi ran up to the corpse and took no action against me; so I went

144 BENVENUTO CELLINI

back alone through Strada Giulia, considering how best to put
myself in safety.

I had walked about three hundred paces, when Piloto the gold-
smith, my very good friend, came up and said: "Brother, now that
the mischief's done, we must see to saving you." I replied: "Let us
go to Albertaccio del Bene's house; it is only a few minutes since I
told him I should soon have need of him." When we arrived there,
Albertaccio and I embraced with measureless affection; and soon the
whole flower of the young men of the Banchi, of all nations except
the Milanese, came crowding in; and each and all made proffer of
their own life to save mine. Messer Luigi Rucellai also sent with
marvellous promptitude and courtesy to put his services at my dis-
posal, as did many other great folk of his station; for they all agreed
in blessing my hands,' judging that Pompeo had done me too great
and unforgivable an injury, and marvelling that I had put up with
him so long.

LXXIV

Cardinal Cornaro, on hearing of the affair, despatched thirty sol-
diers, with as many partisans, pikes, and arquebuses, to bring me
with all due respect to his quarters.'' This he did unasked; where-
upon I accepted the invitation, and went off with them, while more
than as many of the young men bore me company. Meanwhile,
Messer Traiano, Pompeo's relative and first chamberlain to the Pope,
sent a Milanese of high rank to Cardinal de' Medici, giving him
news of the great crime I had committed, and calling on his most
reverend lordship to chastise me. The Cardinal retorted on the spot:
"His crime would indeed have been great if he had not committed
this lesser one; thank Messer Traiano from me for giving me this
information of a fact of which I had not heard before." Then he
turned and in presence of the nobleman said to the Bishop of
FruUi,' his gentleman and intimate acquaintance: "Search diligently
after my friend Benvenuto; I want to help and defend him; and

• Tutti d'accordo mi benedissono le mani. This is tantamount to approving Cellini's
handiwork in murdering Pompeo.

^This was Francesco, brother to Cardinal Marco Cornaro. He received the hat in
1528, while yet a layman, and the Bishopric of Brescia in 1531.

' Forli. The Bishop was Bernardo de' Medici.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 45

whoso acts against him acts against myself." The Milanese noble-
man went back, much disconcerted, while the Bishop of Frulli come
to visit me at Cardinal Cornaro's palace. Presenting himself to the
Cardinal, he related how Cardinal de' Medici had sent for Ben-
venuto, and wanted to be his protector. Now Cardinal Cornaro, who
had the touchy temper of a bear, flew into a rage, and told the Bishop
he was quite as well able to defend me as Cardinal de' Medici. The
Bishop, in reply, entreated to be allowed to speak with me on some
matters of his patron which had nothing to do with the affair. Cor-
naro bade him for that day make as though he had already talked
with me.

Cardinal de' Medici was very angry. However, I went the follow-
ing night, without Cornaro's knowledge, and under good escort, to
pay him my respects. Then I begged him to grant me the favour of
leaving me where I was, and told him of the great courtesy which
Cornaro had shown me; adding that if his most reverend lordship
suffered me to stay, I should gain one friend the more in my hour of
need; otherwise his lordship might dispose of me exactly as he
thought best. He told me to do as I liked; so I returned to Cornaro's
palace, and a few days afterwards the Cardinal Farnese was elected
Pope.'

After he had put affairs of greater consequence in order, the new
Pope sent for me, saying that he did not wish any one else to strike
his coins. To these words of his Holiness a gentleman very privately
acquainted with him, named Messer Latino Juvinale, made answer
that I was in hiding for a murder committed on the person of one
Pompeo of Milan, and set forth what could be argued for my justi-
fication in the most favourable terms.' The Pope replied: "I knew
nothing of Pompeo's death, but plenty of Benvenuto's provocation;
so let a safe-conduct be at once made out for him, in order that he
may be placed in perfect security." A great friend of Pompeo's, who
was also intimate with the Pope, happened to be there; he was a
Milanese, called Messer Ambrogio.' This man said: "In the first

*Paul in., elected October 13, 1534.

'Latino Giovenale de' Manetti was a Latin poet and a man of humane learning,
much esteemed by his contemporaries.

' Ambrogio Recalcati. He was for many years the trusted secretary and diplomatic
agent of Paul III.

146 BENVENUTO CELLINI

days of your papacy it were not well to grant pardons of this kind."
The Pope turned to him and answered: "You know less about such
matters than I do. Know then that men like Benvenuto, unique in
their profession, stand above the law; and how far more he, then,
who received the provocation I have heard of?" When my safe
conduct had been drawn out, I began at once to serve him, and was
treated with the utmost favour.

LXXV

Messer Latino Juvinale came to call on me, and gave me orders to
strike the coins of the Pope. This roused up all my enemies, who
began to look about how they should hinder me; but the Pope, per-
ceiving their drift, scolded them, and insisted that I should go on
working. I took the dies in hand, designing a S. Paul, surrounded
with this inscription: Vas electionis. This piece of money gave far
more satisfaction than the models of my competitors; so that the
Pope forbade any one else to speak to him of coins, since he wished
me only to have to do with them. This encouraged me to apply
myself with untroubled spirit to the task; and Messer Latino Juvi-
nale, who had received such orders from the Pope, used to introduce
me to his Holiness. I had it much at heart to recover the post of
stamper to the Mint; but on this point the Pope took advice, and
then told me I must first obtain pardon for the homicide, and this
I should get at the holy Maries' day in August through the Caporioni
of Rome.' I may say that it is usual every year on this solemn festival
to grant the freedom of twelve outlaws to these officers. Meanwhile
he promised to give me another safe-conduct, which should keep me
in security until that time.

When my enemies perceived that they were quite unable to devise

the means of keeping me out of the Mint, they resorted to another

expedient. The deceased Pompeo had left three thousand ducats as

dowry to an illegitimate daughter of his; and they contrived that a

certain favourite of Signor Pier Luigi, the Pope's son, should ask

' Le sante Marie. So the Feast of the Assumption is called at Florence, because
devotion is paid on that day to the various images of the Virgin scattered through the
town. The Caporioni of Rome were, like aldermen, wardens of the districts into
which the city was divided.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 47

her hand in marriage through the medium of his master.^ Accord-
ingly the match came off; but this fellow was an insignificant coun-
try lad, who had been brought up by his lordship; and, as folk said,
he got but little of the money, since his lordship laid his hands on
it and had the mind to use it. Now the husband of the girl, to please
his wife, begged the prince to have me taken up; and he promised
to do so when the first flush of my favour with the Pope had passed
away. Things stood so about two months, the servant always suing
for his wife's dower, the master putting him off with pretexts, but
assuring the woman that he would certainly revenge her father's
murder. I obtained an inkling of these designs; yet I did not omit
to present myself pretty frequently to his lordship, who made show
of treating me with great distinction. He had, however, decided to
do one or other of two things — either to have me assassinated, or
to have me taken up by the Bargello. Accordingly he commissioned
a certain little devil of a Corsican soldier in his service to do the
trick as cleverly as he could;' and my other enemies, with Messer
Traiano at the head of them, promised the fellow a reward of one
hundred crowns. He assured them that the job would be as easy as
sucking a fresh egg. Seeing into their plot, I went about with my
eyes open and with good attendance, wearing an under-coat and
armlets of mail, for which I had obtained permission.

The Corsican, influenced by avarice, hoped to gain the whole sum
of money without risk, and imagined himself capable of carrying
the matter through alone. Consequently, one day after dinner, he
had me sent for in the name of Signor Pier Luigi. I went off at once,
because his lordship had spoken of wanting to order several big
silver vases. Leaving my home in a hurry, armed, however, as usual,
I walked rapidly through Strada Giulia toward the Palazzo Farnese,
not expecting to meet anybody at that hour of day. I had reached the
end of the street and was making toward the palace, when, my habit
being always to turn the corners wide, I observed the Corsican get
up and take his station in the middle of the road. Being prepared,

*Pier Luigi Farnese, Paul III.'s bastard, was successively created Gonfaloniere of
the Church, Duke of Castro, Marquis of Novara, and finally Duke of Parma and
Piacenza in 1545. He was murdered at Parma by his own courtiers in 1547. He was
a man of infamous habits, quite unfit for the high dignities conferred on him.

* Che la facessi piu netta chc poteva.

148 BENVENUTO CELLINI

I was not in the least disconcerted; but kept upon my guard, and
slackening pace a little, drew nearer toward the wall, in order to ^ive
the fellow a wide berth. He on his side came closer to the wall, and
when we were now within a short distance of each other, I perceived
by his gestures that he had it in his mind to do me mischief, and
seeing me alone thus, thought he should succeed. Accordingly, I
began to speak and said: "Brave soldier, if it had been night, you
might have said you had mistaken me, but since it is full day, you
know well enough who I am. I never had anything to do with you,
and never injured you, but should be well disposed to do you service."
He replied in a high-spirited way, without, however, making room
for me to pass, that he did not know what I was saying. Then I
answered: "I know very well indeed what you want, and what you
are saying; but the job which you have taken in hand is more
dangerous and difficult than you imagine, and may peradventure
turn out the wrong way for you. Remember that you have to do with
a man who would defend himself against a hundred; and the adven-
ture you are on is not esteemed by men of courage like yourself."
Meanwhile I also was looking black as thunder, and each of us
had changed colour. Folk too gathered round us, for it had become
clear that our words meant swords and daggers. He then, not having
the spirit to lay hands on me, cried out: "We shall meet another
time." I answered: "I am always glad to meet honest men and
those who show themselves as such."

When we parted, I went to his lordship's palace, and found he
had not sent for me. When I returned to my shop, the Corsican
informed me, through an intimate friend of his and mine, that I
need not be on my guard against him, since he wished to be my good
brother; but that I ought to be much upon my guard against others,
seeing I was in the greatest peril, for folk of much consequence had
sworn to have my life. I sent to thank him, and kept the best look-
out I could. Not many days after, a friend of mine informed me that
Signer Pier Luigi had given strict orders that I should be taken
that very evening. They told me this at twenty; whereupon I spoke
with some of my friends, who advised me to be off at once. The
order had been given for one hour after sunset; accordingly at twenty-
three I left in the post for Florence. It seems that when the Corsican

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I49

showed that he had not pluck enough to do the business as he prom-
ised, Signer Pier Luigi on his own authority gave orders to have me
taken, merely to stop the mouth of Pompeo's daughter, who was
always clamouring to know where her dower had gone to. When
he was unable to gratify her in this matter of revenge on either of
the two plans he had formed, he bethought him of another, which
shall be related in its proper place.

LXXVI

I reached Florence in due course, and paid my respects to the Duke
Alessandro, who greeted me with extraordinary kindness and pressed
me to remain in his service. There was then at Florence a sculptor
called II Tribolino, and we were gossips, for I had stood godfather to
his son.' In course of conversation he told me that a certain Giacopo
del Sansovino, his first master, had sent for him; and whereas he had
never seen Venice, and because of the gains he expected, he was very
glad to go there.^ On his asking me if I had ever been at Venice, I
said no; this made him invite me to accompany him, and I agreed.
So then I told Duke Alessandro that I wanted first to go to Venice,
and that afterwards I would return to serve him. He exacted a
formal promise to this effect, and bade me present myself before I
left the city. Next day, having made my preparations, I went to take
leave of the Duke, whom I found in the palace of the Pazzi, at that
time inhabited by the wife and daughters of Signor Lorenzo Cibo.'
Having sent word to his Excellency that I wished to set off for
Venice with his good leave, Signor Cosimino de' Medici, now Duke
of Florence, returned with the answer that I must go to Niccolo de

■ Niccolo de' Pericoli, a Florentine, who got the nickname of Tribolo in his boyhood,
was a sculptor of some distinction. He worked on the bas-reliefs of San Petronio at
Bologna, and helped Michel Agnolo da Siena to execute the tomb of Adrian VI. at
Rome. Afterwards he was employed upon the sculpture of the Santa Casa at
Loreto. He also made some excellent bronzework for the Medicean villas at Cestello
and Petraja. All through his life Tribolo served the Medici, and during the siege
of Florence in 1530 he constructed a cork model of the town for Clement VII. Born
1485, died 1550.

^ This is the famous Giacopo Tatti, who took his artist's surname from his master,
Andrea da Monte a Sansovino. His works at Florence, Rome, and Venice are justly
famous. He died in 1570, aged ninety-three.

' A brother of the Cardinal, and himself Marquis of Massa.

150 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Monte Aguto, who would give me fifty golden crowns, which his
Excellency bestowed on me in sign of his good-will, and afterwards
I must return to serve him.

I got the money from Niccolo, and then went to fetch Tribolo,
whom I found ready to start; and he asked me whether I had bound
my sword. I answered that a man on horseback about to take a
journey ought not to bind his sword. He said that the custom was
so in Florence, since a certain Ser Maurizio then held office, who was
capable of putting S. John the Baptist to the rack for any trifling
peccadillo.* Accordingly one had to carry one's sword bound till
the gates were passed. I laughed at this, and so we set off, joining
the courier to Venice, who was nicknamed 11 Lamentone. In his
company we travelled through Bologna, and arrived one evening at
Ferrara. There we halted at the inn of the Piazza, which Lamentone
went in search of some Florentine exiles, to take them letters and
messages from their wives. The Duke had given orders that only
the courier might talk to them, and no one else, under penalty of
incurring the same banishment as they had. Meanwhile, since it was
a little past the hour of twenty-two, Tribolo and I went to see the
Duke of Ferrara come back from Belfiore, where he had been at a
jousting match. There we met a number of exiles, who stared at us
as though they wished to make us speak with them. Tribolo, who
was the most timorous man that I have ever known, kept on saying:
"Do not look at them or talk to them, if you care to go back to
Florence," So we stayed, and saw the Duke return; afterwards,
when we regained our inn, we found Lamentone there. After night-
fall there appeared Niccolo Benintendi, and his brother Piero, and
another old man, whom I believe to have been Jacopo Nardi,''
together with some young fellows, who began immediately to ask
the courier news, each man of his own family in Florence." Tribolo
and I kept at a distance, in order to avoid speaking with them. After

* Ser Maurizio was entitled Chancellor, but really superintended the criminal
magistracy of Florence. Varchi and Segni both speak of him as harsh and cruel in
the discharge of his office.

^Jacopo Nardi was the excellent historian of Florence, a strong anti-Medicean
partisan, who was exiled in 1530.

* I have translated the word brigata by family above, because I find Cellini in one
of his letters alluding to his family as la mia brigatina.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I5I

they had talked a while with Lamentone, Niccolo Benintendi^ said:
"I know those two men there very well; what's the reason they give
themselves such beastly airs, and will not talk to us?" Tribolo kept
begging me to hold my tongue, while Lamentone told them that we
had not the same permission as he had. Benintendi retorted it was
idiotic nonsense, adding "Pox take them," and other pretty flowers
of speech. Then I raised my head as gently as I could, and said:
"Dear gentlemen, you are able to do us serious injury, while we
cannot render you any assistance; and though you have flung words
at us which we are far from deserving, we do not mean on that
account to get into a rage with you." Thereupon old Nardi said
that I had spoken like a worthy young man as I was. But Niccolo
Benintendi shouted : "I snap my fingers at them and the Duke." * I
replied that he was in the wrong toward us, since we had nothing
to do with him or his affairs. Old Nardi took our part, telling
Benintendi plainly that he was in the wrong, which made him go
on muttering insults. On this I bade him know that I could say and
do things to him which he would not like, and therefore he had
better mind his business, and let us alone. Once more he cried out
that he snapped his fingers at the Duke and us, and that we were
all of us a heap of donkeys.* I replied by giving him the lie direct
and drawing my sword. The old man wanting to be first upon the
staircase, tumbled down some steps, and all the rest of them came
huddling after him. I rushed onward, brandishing my sword along
the walls with fury, and shouting: "I will kill you all!" but I took
good care not to do them any harm, as I might too easily have done.
In the midst of this tumult the innkeeper screamed out; Lamentone
cried, "For God's sake, hold!" some of them exclaimed, "Oh me,
my head!" others, "Let me get out from here." In short, it was an
indescribable confusion; they looked like a herd of swine. Then the
host came with a light, while I withdrew upstairs and put my
sword back in its scabbard. Lamentone told Niccolo Benintendi that
he had behaved very ill. The host said to him: "It is as much as
one's life is worth to draw swords here; and if the Duke were to

'Niccolo Benintendi, who had been a member of the Eight in 1529, was exiled by
the Medici in 1530.

* The Florentine slang is Jo ho in culo loro e il duca. ® Vn monte di asini.

152 BENVENUTO CELLINI

know of your brawling, he would have you hanged. I will not do
to you what you deserve; but take care you never show yourself again
in my inn, or it will be the worse for you." Our host then came up
to me, and when I began to make him my excuses, he would not
sufEer me to say a word, but told me that he knew I was entirely in
the right, and bade me be upon my guard against those men upon
my journey.

LXXVII

After we had supped, a barge-man appeared, and offered to take us
to Venice. I asked if he would let us have the boat to ourselves; he
was willing, and so we made our bargain. In the morning we rose
early, and mounted our horses for the port, which is a few miles
distant from Ferrara. On arriving there, we found Niccolo Benin-
tendi's brother, with three comrades, waiting for me. They had
among them two lances, and I had bought a stout pike in Ferrara.
Being very well armed to boot, I was not at all frightened, as Tribolo
was, who cried: "God help us! those fellows are waiting here to
murder us." Lamentone turned to me and said: "The best that you
can do is to go back to Ferrara, for I see that the affair is likely to be
ugly; for Heaven's sake, Benvenuto, do not risk the fury of these
mad beasts." To which I replied : "Let us go forward, for God helps
those who have the right on their side; and you shall see how I will
help myself. Is not this boat engaged for us?" "Yes," said Lamen-
tone. "Then we will stay in it. without them, unless my manhood
has deserted me." I put spurs to my horse, and when I was within
fifty paces, dismounted and marched boldly forward with my pike.
Tribolo stopped behind, all huddled up upon his horse, looking the
very image of frost. Lamentone, the courier, meanwhile, was swell-
ing and snorting like the wind. That was his usual habit; but now
he did so more than he was wont, being in doubt how this devilish
affair would terminate. When I reached the boat, the master pre-
sented himself and said that those Florentine gentlemen wanted to
embark in it with us, if I was willing. I answered: "The boat is
engaged for us and no one else, and it grieves me to the heart that
I am not able to have their company." At these words a brave young
man of the Magalotti family spoke out: "Benvenuto, we will make

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I53

you able to have it." To which I answered: "If God and my good
cause, together with my own strength of body and mind, possess the
will and the power, you shall not make me able to have what you
say." So saying I leapt into the boat, and turning my pike's point
against them, added : "I'll show you with this weapon that I am not
able." Wishing to prove he was in earnest, Magalotti then seized his
own and came toward me. I sprang upon the gunwale and hit him
such a blow, that, if he had not tumbled backward, I must have
pierced his body. His comrades, in lieu of helping him, turned to
fly; and when I saw that I could kill him, instead of striking, I said:
"Get up, brother; take your arms and go away. I have shown you
that I cannot do what I do not want, and what I had the power to
do I have not chosen to do." Then I called for Tribolo, the boatman,
and Lamentone to embark; and so we got under way for Venice.
When we had gone ten miles on the Po, we sighted those young
men, who had got into a skiff and caught us up; and when they were
alongside, that idiot Piero Benintendi sang out to me: "Go thy ways
this time, Benvenuto; we shall meet in Venice." "Set out betimes
then," I shouted, "for I am coming, and any man can meet me where
he lists." In due course we arrived at Venice, when I applied to a
brother of Cardinal Cornaro, begging him to procure for me the
favour of being allowed to carry arms. He advised me to do so
without hesitation, saying that the worst risk I ran was that I might
lose my sword.

LXXVIII

Accordingly I girded on my sword, and went to visit Jacopo del
Sansovino, the sculptor, who had sent for Tribolo. He received me
most kindly, and invited us to dinner, and we stayed with' him.
In course of conversation with Tribolo, he told him that he had no
work to give him at the moment, but that he might call again. Hear-
ing this, I burst out laughing, and said pleasantly to Sansovino:
"Your house is too far off from his, if he must call again." Poor
Tribolo, all in dismay, exclaimed : "I have got your letter here, which
you wrote to bid me come." Sansovino rejoined that men of his
sort, men of worth and genius, were free to do that and greater
things besides. Tribolo shrugged up his shoulders and muttered:

154 BENVENUTO CELLINI

"Patience, patience," several times. Thereupon, without regarding
the copious dinner which Sansovino had given me, I took the part
of my comrade Tribolo, for he was in the right. All the while at
table Sansovino had never stopped chattering about his great achieve-
ments, abusing Michel Agnolo and the rest of his fellow-sculptors,
while he bragged and vaunted himself to the skies. This had so
annoyed me that not a single mouthful which I ate had tasted well;
but I refrained from saying more than these two words: "Messer
Jacopo, men of worth act like men of worth, and men of genius,
who produce things beautiful and excellent, shine forth far better
when other people praise them than when they boast so confidently
of their own achievements." Upon this he and I rose from table
blowing off the steam of our choler. The same day, happening to
pass near the Rialto, I met Piero Benintendi in the company of some
men; and perceiving that they were going to pick a quarrel with
me, I turned into an apothecary's shop till the storm blew over.
Afterwards I learned that the young Magalotti, to whom I showed
that courtesy, had scolded them roundly; and thus the affair ended.

LXXIX

A few days afterwards we set out on our return to Florence. We
lay one night at a place on this side Chioggia, on the left hand as you
go toward Ferrara. Here the host insisted upon being paid before
we went to bed, and in his own way; and when I observed that it
was the custom everywhere else to pay in the morning, he answered :
"I insist on being paid overnight, and in my own way." I retorted
that men who wanted everything their own way ought to make a
world after their own fashion, since things were differently managed
here. Our host told me not to go on bothering his brains, because
he was determined to do as he had said. Tribolo stood trembling
with fear, and nudged me to keep quiet, lest they should do some-
thing worse to us; so we paid them in the way they wanted, and
afterwards we retired to rest. We had, I must admit, the most
capital beds, new in every particular, and as clean as they could be.
Nevertheless I did not get one wink of sleep, because I kept on
thinking how I could revenge myself. At one time it came into my
head to set fire to his house; at another to cut the throats of four

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I55

fine horses which he had in the stable; I saw well enough that it
was easy for me to do all this; but I could not see how it was easy to
secure myself and my companion. At last I resolved to put my things
and my comrade's on board the boat; and so I did. When the to wing-
horses had been harnessed to the cable, I ordered the people not to
stir before I returned, for I had left a pair of slippers in my bed-
room. Accordingly I went back to the inn and called our host, who
told me he had nothing to do with us, and that we might go to
Jericho.' There was a ragged stable-boy about, half asleep, who cried
out to me: "The master would not move to please the Pope, because
he has got a wench in bed with him, whom he has been wanting
this long while." Then he asked me for a tip, and I gave him a few
Venetian coppers, and told him to make the barge-man wait till I
had found my slippers and returned. I went upstairs, took out a
little knife as sharp as a razor, and cut the four beds that I found
there into ribbons. I had the satisfaction of knowing I had done a
damage of more than fifty crowns. Then I ran down to the boat
with some pieces of the bed-covers^ in my pouch, and bade the
bargee start at once without delay. We had not gone far before my
gossip Tribolo said that he had left behind some little straps belong-
ing to his carpet-bag, and that he must be allowed to go back for
them. I answered that he need not take thought for a pair of little
straps, since I could make him as many big ones as he liked.' He
told me I was always joking, but that he must really go back for his
straps. Then he began ordering the bargee to stop, while I kept
ordering him to go on. Meanwhile I informed my friend what kind
of trick I had played our host, and showed him specimens of the
bed-covers and other things, which threw him into such a quaking
fright that he roared out to the bargee : "On with you, on with you,
as quick as you can!" and never thought himself quite safe until we
reached the gates of Florence.

When we arrived there, Tribolo said: "Let us bind our swords up,
for the love of God; and play me no more of your games, I beg;
for all this while I've felt as though my guts were in the saucepan."
I made answer: "Gossip Tribolo, you need not tie your sword up,

' E che not andassimo al bordello.

^ Sarge. Sargia is interpreted sopraccoperta del letto.

'The Italian for straps, coregge, has a double meaning, upon which Cellini plays.

156 BENVENUTO CELLINI

for you have never loosed it;" and this I said at random, because I
never once had seen him act the man upon that journey. When he
heard the remark, he looked at his sword and cried out: "In God's
name, you speak true! Here it is tied, just as I arranged it before I
left my house." My gossip deemed that I had been a bad travelling
companion to him, because I resented affronts and defended myself
against folk who would have done us injury. But I deemed that he
had acted a far worse part with regard to me by never coming to
my assistance at such pinches. Let him judge between us who stands
by and has no personal interest in our adventures.

LXXX

No sooner had I dismounted than I went to visit Duke Alessandro,
and thanked him greatly for his present of the fifty crowns, telling
his Excellency that I was always ready to serve him according to my
abilities. He gave me orders at once to strike dies for his coinage;
and the first I made was a piece of forty soldi, with the Duke's head
on one side and San Cosimo and San Damiano on the other.' This
was in silver, and it gave so much satisfaction that the Duke did not
hesitate to say they were the best pieces of money in Christendom.
The same said all Florence and every one who saw them. Conse-
quently I asked his Excellency to make me appointments,^ and to
grant me the lodgings of the Mint. He bade me remain in his
service, and promised he would give me more than I demanded.
Meanwhile he said he had commissioned the Master of the Mint, a
certain Carlo Acciaiuoli, and that I might go to him for all the
money that I wanted. This I found to be true; but I drew my
monies so discreetly, that I had always something to my credit,
according to my account.

I then made dies for a giulio,' it had San Giovanni in profile,
seated with a book in his hand, finer in my judgment than anything
which I had done; and on the other side were the armorial bearings
of Duke Alessandro. Next I made dies for half-giulios on which I

' These were the special patrons of the Medicean family, being physician-saints.

''■Che mi fermassi una provvisione.

^ The gitilio was a coin of 56 Italian centimes or 8 Tuscan crazie, which in Florence
was also called barile or gabellotto, because the sum had to be paid as duty on a
barrel of wine.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 57

Struck the full face of San Giovanni in small. This was the first
coin with a head in full face on so thin a piece of silver that had yet
been seen. The difficulty of executing it is apparent only to the eyes
of such as are past-masters in these crafts. Afterwards I made dies
for the golden crowns; this crown had a cross upon one side with
some little cherubim, and on the other side his Excellency's arms.

When I had struck these four sorts, I begged the Duke to make
out my appointments and to assign me the lodgings I have men-
tioned, if he was contented with my service. He told me very
graciously that he was quite satisfied, and that he would grant me
my request. While we were thus talking, his Excellency was in his
wardrobe, looking at a remarkable little gun that had been sent him
out of Germany.* When he noticed that I too paid particular atten-
tion to this pretty instrument, he put it in my hands, saying that he
knew how much pleasure I took in such things, and adding that I
might choose for earnest of his promises an arquebuse to my own
liking from the armoury, excepting only this one piece; he was well
aware that I should find things of greater beauty, and not less excel-
lent, there. Upon this invitation, I accepted with thanks; and when
he saw me looking round, he ordered his Master of the Wardrobe,
a certain Pretino of Lucca, to let me take whatever I liked.^ Then
he went away with the most pleasant words at parting, while I
remained, and chose the finest and best arquebuse I ever saw, or
ever had, and took it back with me to home.

Two days afterward I brought some drawings which his Excel-
lency had commissioned for gold-work he wanted to give his wife,
who was at that time still in Naples." I again asked him to settle
my affairs. Then his Excellency told me that he should like me first
to execute the die of his portrait in fine style, as I had done for Pope
Clement. I began it in wax; and the Duke gave orders, while I was
at work upon it, that whenever I went to take his portrait, I should
be admitted. Perceiving that I had a lengthy piece of business on
my hands, I sent for a certain Pietro Pagolo from Monte Ritondo, in
the Roman district, who had been with me from his boyhood in

*See above, p. 120, for the right meaning of wardrobe.
'Messer Francesco of Lucca, surnamed II Pretino.

^ Margaret of Austria, natural daughter to Charles V., was eventually married in
1536 to Alessandro de' Medici.

158 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Rome.' I found him with one Bernardonaccio,' a goldsmith, who
did not treat him well; so I brought him away from there, and
taught him minutely how to strike coins from those dies. Mean-
while, I went on making the Duke's portrait; and oftentimes I
found him napping after dinner with that Lorenzino of his, who
afterwards murdered him, and no other company; and much I
marvelled that a Duke of that sort showed such confidence about
his safety.*

LXXXI

It happened at this time Ottaviano de' Medici,' who to all appear-
ances had got the government of everything in his own hands,
favoured the old Master of the Mint against the Duke's will. This
man was called Bastiano Cennini, an artist of the antiquated school,
and of little skill in his craft.^ Ottaviano mixed his stupid dies with
mine in the coinage of crown-pieces. I complained of this to the
Duke, who, when he saw how the matter stood, took it very ill, and
said to me: "Go, tell this to Ottaviano de' Medici, and show him
how it is." ^ I lost no time; and when I had pointed out the injury
that had been done to my fine coins, he answered, like the donkey
that he was: "We choose to have it so." I replied that it ought not
to be so, and that I did not choose to have it so. He said: "And if
the Duke likes to have it so?" I answered: "It would not suit me,
for the thing is neither just nor reasonable." He told me to take
myself off, and that I should have to swallow it in this way, even if
I burst. Then I returned to the Duke, and related the whole unpleas-
ant conversation between Ottaviano de' Medici and me, entreating
his Excellency not to allow the fine coins which I had made for him
to be spoiled, and begging for permission to leave Florence. He

^ Pietro Pagolo Galleotti, much praised by Vasari for his artistic skill.

' Perhaps Bernardo Sabatini.

'This is the famous Tuscan Brutus who murdered Alessandro. He was descended
from Lorenzo de' Medici, the brother of Cosimo, Pater Patriic, and the uncle of
Lorenzo the Magnificent.

'This Ottaviano was not descended from either Cosimo or Lorenzo de' Medici,
but from an elder, though less illustrious, branch of the great family. He married
Francesca Salviati, the aunt of Duke Cosimo. Though a great patron of the arts
and an intimate friend of M. A. Buonarroti, he was not popular, owing to his pride
of place.

^ Cellini praises this man, however, in the preface to the Oreficeria.

' Mostragnene. This is perhaps equivalent to mostraglielo.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 159

replied: "Ottaviano is too presuming: you shall have what you want;
for this is an injury offered to myself."

That very day, which was a Thursday, I received from Rome a full
safe-conduct from the Pope, with advice to go there at once and
get the pardon of Our Lady's feast in mid-August, in order that I
might clear myself from the penalties attaching to my homicide. I
went to the Duke, whom I found in bed, for they told me he was
suffering the consequence of a debauch. In little more than two
hours I finished what was wanted for his waxen medal; and when I
showed it to him, it pleased him extremely. Then I exhibited the
safe-conduct sent me at the order of the Pope, and told him how his
Holiness had recalled me to execute certain pieces of work; on this
account I should like to regain my footing in the fair city of Rome,
which would not prevent my attending to his medal. The Duke
made answer half in anger: "Benvenuto, do as I desire: stay here;
I will provide for your appointments, and will give you the lodgings
in the Mint, with much more than you could ask for, because your
requests are only just and reasonable. And who do you think will
be able to strike the beautiful dies which you have made for me?"
Then I said: "My lord, I have thought of everything, for I have here
a pupil of mine, a young Roman whom I have taught the art; he will
serve your Excellency very well till I return with your medal finished,
to remain for ever in your service. I have in Rome a shop open, with
journeymen and a pretty business; as soon as I have got my pardon,
I will leave all the devotion of Rome^ to a pupil of mine there, and
will come back, with your Excellency's good permission, to you."
During this conversation, the Lorenzino de' Medici whom I have
above mentioned was present, and no one else. The Duke frequently
signed to him that he should join in pressing me to stay; but Loren-
zino never said anything except: "Benvenuto, you would do better to
remain where you are." I answered that I wanted by all means to
regain my hold on Rome. He made no reply, but continued eyeing
the Duke with very evil glances. When I had finished the medal
to my liking, and shut it in its little box, I said to the Duke: "My
lord, pray let me have your good-will, for I will make you a much

* Tutta la divozione di Roma. It is not very clear what this exactly means. Perhaps
"all the affection and reverence I have for the city o£ Rome," or merely "all my ties
in Rome."

l6o BENVENUTO CELLINI

finer medal than the one I made for Pope Clement. It is only
reasonable that I should since that was the first I ever made. Messer
Lorenzo here will give me some exquisite reverse, as he is a person
learned and of the greatest genius." To these words Lorenzo sud-
denly made answer: "I have been thinking of nothing else but how
to give you a reverse worthy of his Excellency." The Duke laughed
a little, and looking at Lorenzo, said: "Lorenzo, you shall give him
the reverse, and he shall do it here and shall not go away." Lorenzo
took him up at once, saying: "I will do it as quickly as I can, and
I hope to do something that shall make the whole world wonder."
The Duke, who held him sometimes for a fool and sometimes for
a coward, turned about in bed, and laughed at his bragging words.
I took my leave without further ceremony, and left them alone
together. The Duke, who did not believe that I was really going,
said nothing further. Afterwards, when he knew that I was gone,
he sent one of his servants, who caught me up at Siena, and gave
me fifty golden ducats with a message from the Duke that I should
take and use them for his sake, and should return as soon as possible;
"and from Messer Lorenzo I have to tell you that he is preparing
an admirable reverse for that medal which you want to make." I
had left full directions to Petro Pagolo, the Roman above mentioned,
how he had to use the dies; but as it was a very delicate affair, he
never quite succeeded in employing them. I remained creditor to
the Mint in a matter of more than seventy crowns on account of
dies supplied by me.

LXXXII

On the journey to Rome I carried with me that handsome arque-
buse which the Duke gave me; and very much to my own pleasure,
I used it several times by the way, performing incredible feats by
means of it. The little house I had in Strada Giulia was not ready;
so I dismounted at the house of Messer Giovanni Gaddi, clerk of
the Camera, to whose keeping I had committed, on leaving Rome,
many of my arms and other things I cared for. So I did not choose to
alight at my shop, but sent for Felice, my partner, and got him to
put my little dwelling forthwith into excellent order. The day
following, I went to sleep there, after well providing myself with

AUTOBIOGRAPHY l6l

clothes and all things requisite, since I intended to go and thank
the Pope next morning.

I had two young serving-lads, and beneath my lodgings lived a
laundress who cooked extremely nicely for me. That evening I
entertained several friends at supper, and having passed the time
with great enjoyment, betook myself to bed. The night had hardly
ended, indeed it was more than an hour before daybreak, when I
heard a furious knocking at the house-door, stroke succeeding stroke
without a moment's pause. Accordingly I called my elder servant,
Cencio' (he was the man I took into the necromantic circle), and
bade him to go and see who the madman was that knocked so
brutally at that hour of the night. While Cencio was on this errand,
I lighted another lamp, for I always keep one by me at night; then
I made haste to pass an excellent coat of mail over my shirt, and
above that some clothes which I caught up at random. Cencio
returned, exclaiming: "Heavens, master! it is the Bargello and all his
guard; and he says that if you do not open at once, he will knock
the door down. They have torches, and a thousand things
besides with them!" I answered: "Tell them that I am huddling
my clothes on, and will come out to them in my shirt." Supposing
it was a trap laid to murder me, as had before been done by Signor
Pier Luigi, I seized an excellent dagger with my right hand, and
with the left I took the safe-conduct; then I ran to the back-window,
which looked out on gardens, and there I saw more than thirty
constables; wherefore I knew that I could not escape upon that side.
I made the two lads go in front, and told them to open the door
exactly when I gave the word to do so. Then taking up an attitude
of defence, with the dagger in my right hand and the safe-conduct
in my left, I cried to the lads: "Have no fear, but open!" The
Bargello, Vittorio, and the officers sprang inside at once, thinking
they could easily lay hands upon me; but when they saw me pre-
pared in that way to receive them, they fell back, exclaiming: "We
have a serious job on hand here!" Then I threw the safe-conduct to
them, and said: "Read that! and since you cannot seize me, I do
not mean that you shall touch me." The Bargello upon this ordered
some of his men to arrest me, saying he would look to the safe-
' »'. e., Vincenzio Romoli.

1 62 BENVENUTO CELLINI

conduct later. Thereat I presented ntiy arms boldly, calling aloud:
"Let God defend the right! Either I shall escape your hands alive, or
be taken a dead corpse!" The room was crammed with men; they
made as though they would resort to violence; I stood upon my
guard against them; so that the Bargello saw he would not be able
to have me except in the way I said. Accordingly he called his clerk,
and while the safe-conduct was being read, he showed by signs two
or three times that he meant to have me secured by his officers; but
this had no effect of shaking my determination. At last they gave
up the attempt, threw my safe-conduct on the ground, and went
away without their prize.

Lxxxm

When I returned to bed, I felt so agitated that I could not get to
sleep again. My mind was made up to let blood as soon as day
broke. However, I asked advice of Messer Gaddi, and he referred
to a wretched doctor-fellow he employed,' who asked me if I had
been frightened. Now, just consider what a judicious doctor this
was, after I had narrated an occurrence of that gravity, to ask me
such a question! He was an empty fribbler, who kept perpetually
laughing about nothing at all. Simpering and sniggering, then, he
bade me drink a good cup of Greek wine, keep my spirits up, and
not be frightened. Messer Giovanni, however, said : "Master, a man
of bronze or marble might be frightened in such circumstances. How
much more one of flesh and blood!" The quack responded: "Mon-
signor, we are not all made after the same pattern; this fellow is no
man of bronze or marble, but of pure iron." Then he gave one of
his meaningless laughs, and putting his lingers on my wrist, said:
"Feel here; this is not a man's pulse, but a lion's or a dragon's." At
this, I, whose blood was thumping in my veins, probably far beyond
anything which that fool of a doctor had learned from his Hip-
pocrates or Galen, knew at once how serious was my situation; yet,
wishing not to add to my uneasiness and to the harm I had already
taken, I made show of being in good spirits. While this was happen-
ing, Messer Giovanni had ordered dinner, and we all of us sat down
to eat in company. I remembered that Messer Lodovico da Fano,

' Possibly Bernardino Lilii of Todi.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 163

Messer Antonio AUegretti, Messer Giovanni Greco, all of them men
of the finest scholarship, and Messer Annibal Caro, who was then
quite young, were present. At table the conversation turned entirely
upon my act of daring. They insisted on hearing the whole story
over and over again from my apprentice Cencio, who was a youth of
superlative talent, bravery, and extreme personal beauty. Each time
that he described my truculent behaviour, throwing himself into the
attitudes I had assumed, and repeating the words which I had used,
he called up some fresh detail to my memory. They kept asking
him if he had been afraid; to which he answered that they ought
to ask me if I had been afraid, because he felt precisely the same as
I had.

All this chattering grew irksome to me; and since I still felt
strongly agitated, I rose at last from table, saying that I wanted to
go and get new clothes of blue silk and stuff for him and me;
adding that I meant to walk in procession after four days at the
feast of Our Lady, and meant Cencio to carry a white lighted torch
on the occasion. Accordingly I took my leave, and had the blue
cloth cut, together with a handsome jacket of blue sarcenet and a
little doublet of the same; and I had a similar jacket and waistcoat
made for Cencio.

When these things had been cut out, I went to see the Pope, who
told me to speak with Messer Ambruogio; for he had given orders
that I should execute a large piece of golden plate. So I went to find
Messer Ambruogio, who had heard the whole of the affair of the
Bargello, and had been in concert with my enemies to bring me
back to Rome, and had scolded the Bargello for not laying hands
on me. The man excused himself by saying that he could not do so
in the face of the safe-conduct which I held. Messer Ambruogio now
began to talk about the Pope's commission, and bade me make
drawings for it, saying that the business should be put at once in
train. Meanwhile the feast of Our Lady came round. Now it is the
custom for those who get a pardon upon this occasion to give them-
selves up to prison; in order to avoid doing which I returned to the
Pope, and told his Holiness that I was very unwilling to go to
prison, and that I begged him to grant me the favour of a dispen-
sation. The Pope answered that such was the custom, and that I

164 BENVENUTO CELLINI

must follow it. Thereupon I fell again upon my knees, and thanked
him for the safe-conduct he had given me, saying at the same time
that I should go back with it to serve my Duke in Florence, who was
waiting for me so impatiently. On hearing this, the Pope turned
to one of his confidential servants and said: "Let Benvenuto get his
grace without the prison, and see that his moto propria is made out
in due form." As soon as the document had been drawn up, his
Holiness signed it; it was then registered at the Capitol; afterwards,
upon the day appointed, I walked in procession very honourably
between two gentlemen, and so got clear at last.

LXXXIV

Four days had passed when I was attacked with violent fever
attended by extreme cold; and taking to my bed, I made my mind
up that I was sure to die. I had the first doctors of Rome called in,
among whom was Francesco da Norcia, a physician of great age, and
of the best repute in Rome.' I told them what I believed to be the
cause of my illness, and said that I had wished to let blood, but that
I had been advised against it; and if it was not too late, I begged
them to bleed me now. Maestro Francesco answered that it would
not be well for me to let blood then, but that if I had done so
before, I should have escaped without mischief; at present they
would have to treat the case with other remedies. So they began to
doctor me as energetically as they were able, while I grew daily
worse and worse so rapidly, that after eight days the physicians
despaired of my life, and said that I might be indulged in any whim
I had to make me comfortable. Maestro Francesco added : "As long
as there is breath in him, call me at all hours; for no one can divine
what Nature is able to work in a young man of this kind; moreover,
if he should lose consciousness, administer these five remedies one
after the other, and send for me, for I will come at any hour of
the night; I would rather save him than any of the cardinals in
Rome."

Every day Messer Giovanni Gaddi came to see me two or three
times, and each time he took up one or other of my handsome
fowling-pieces, coats of mail, or swords, using words like these:

'Francesco Fusconi, physician to Popes Adrian VI., Clement VII., and Paul III.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 165

"That is a handsome thing, that other is still handsomer;" and like-
wise with my models and other trifles, so that at last he drove me
wild with annoyance. In his company came a certain Matio
Franzesi'' and this man also appeared to be waiting impatiently for
my death, not indeed because he would inherit anything from me,
but because he wished for what his master seemed to have so much
at heart.

Felice, my partner, was always at my side, rendering the greatest
services which it is possible for one man to give another. Nature
in me was utterly debilitated and undone; I had not strength enough
to fetch my breath back if it left me; and yet my brain remained as
clear and strong as it had been before my illness. Nevertheless,
although I kept my consciousness, a terrible old man used to come
to my bedside, and make as though he would drag me by force
into a huge boat he had with him. This made me call out to my
Felice to draw near and chase that malignant old man away.
Felice, who loved me most affectionately, ran weeping and crying:
"Away with you, old traitor; you are robbing me of all the good I
have in this world." Messer Giovanni Gaddi, who was present,
then began to say : "The poor fellow is delirious, and has only a few
hours to live." His fellow, Mattio Franzesi, remarked: "He has
read Dante, and in the prostration of his sickness this apparition has
appeared to him"^ then he added laughingly: "Away with you, old
rascal, and don't bother our friend Benvenuto." When I saw that
they were making fun of me, I turned to Messer Gaddi and said:
"My dear master, know that I am not raving, and that it is true that
this old man is really giving me annoyance; but the best that you
can do for me would be to drive that miserable Mattio from my side,
who is laughing at my affliction, afterwards if your lordship deigns
to visit me again, let me beg you to come with Messer Antonio
Allegretti, or with Messer Annibal Caro, or with some other of your
accomplished friends, who are persons of quite different intelligence
and discretion from that beast." Thereupon Messer Giovanni told
Mattio in jest to take himself out of his sight for ever; but because
Mattio went on laughing, the joke turned to earnest, for Messer

' Franzesi was a clever Italian poet. His burlesque Capitoli are printed with those
of Berni and others.

' Inferno, iii., the verses about Charon.

l66 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Giovanni would not look upon him again, but sent for Messer
Antonio Allegretti, Messer Ludovico, and Messer Annibal Caro. On
the arrival of these worthy men, I was greatly comforted, and talked
reasonably with them awhile, not however without frequently urging
Felice to drive the old man away. Messer Ludovico asked me what
it was I seemed to see, and how the man was shaped. While I por-
trayed him accurately in words, the old man took me by the arm and
dragged me violently towards him. This made me cry out for aid,
because he was going to fling me under hatches in his hideous boat.
On saying that last word, I fell into a terrible swoon, and seemed to
be sinking down into the boat. They say that during that fainting-
fit I flung myself about and cast bad words at Messer Giovanni
Gaddi, to wit, that he came to rob me, and not from any motive of
charity, and other insults of the kind, which caused him to be much
ashamed. Later on, they say I lay still like one dead; and after
waiting by me more than an hour, thinking I was growing cold,
they left me for dead. When they returned home, Mattio Franzesi
was informed, who wrote to Florence to Messer Benedetto Varchi,
my very dear friend, that they had seen me die at such and such an
hour of the night. When he heard the news, that most accomplished
man and my dear friend composed an admirable sonnet upon my
supposed but not real death, which shall be reported in its proper
place.

More than three long hours passed, and yet I did not regain con-
sciousness. Felice having used all the remedies prescribed by Maestro
Francesco, and seeing that I did not come to, ran post-haste to the
physician's door, and knocked so loudly that he woke him up, and
made him rise, and begged him with tears to come to the house, for
he thought that I was dead. Whereto Maestro Francesco, who was
a very choleric man, replied: "My son, of what use do you think I
should be if I came? If he is dead, I am more sorry than you are.
Do you imagine that if I were to come with my medicine I could
blow breath up through his guts* and bring him back to life for
you.''" But when he saw that the poor young fellow was going
away weeping, he called him back and gave him an oil with which
to anoint my pulses and my heart, telling him to pinch my little
*Io alt possa soffiare in ctdo.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 67

fingers and toes very tightly, and to send at once to call him if I
should revive. Felice took his way, and did as Maestro Francesco
had ordered. It was almost bright day when, thinking they would
have to abandon hope, they gave orders to have my shroud made
and to wash me. Suddenly I regained consciousness, and called out
to Felice to drive away the old man on the moment, who kept
tormenting me. He wanted to send for Maestro Francesco, but I
told him not to do so, but to come close up to me, because that old
man was afraid of him and went away at once. So Felice drew near
to the bed; I touched him, and it seemed to me that the infuriated old
man withdrew; so I prayed him not to leave me for a second.

When Maestro Francesco appeared, he said it was his dearest wish
to save my life, and that he had never in all his days seen greater
force in a young man than I had. Then he sat down to write, and
prescribed for me perfumes, lotions, unctions, plasters, and a heap
of other precious things. Meanwhile I came to life again by the
means of more than twenty leeches applied to my buttocks, but with
my body bore through, bound, and ground to powder. Many of
my friends crowded in to behold the miracle of the resuscitated dead
man, and among them people of the first importance.

In their presence I declared that the small amount of gold and
money I possessed, perhaps some eight hundred crowns, what with
gold, silver, jewels, and cash, should be given by my will to my poor
sister in Florence, called Mona Liperata; all the remainder of my
property, armour and everything besides, I left to my dearest FeUce,
together with fifty golden ducats, in order that he might buy mourn-
ing. At those words Felice flung his arms around my neck, pro-
testing that he wanted nothing but to have me as he wished alive
with him. Then I said : "If you want me alive, touch me as you did
before, and threaten the old man, for he is afraid of you." At these
words some of the folk were terrified, knowing that I was not
raving, but talking to the purpose and with all my wits. Thus my
wretched malady went dragging on, and I got but little better.
Maestro Francesco, that most excellent man, came four or five times
a day; Messer Giovanni Gaddi, who felt ashamed, did not visit me
again. My brother-in-law, the husband of my sister, arrived; he
came from Florence for the inheritance; but as he was a very

1 68 BENVENUTO CELLINI

worthy man, he rejoiced exceedingly to have found me aUve. The
sight of him did me a world of good, and he began to caress me at
once, saying he had only come to take care of me in person; and
this he did for several days. Afterwards I sent him away, having
almost certain hope of my recovery. On this occasion he left the
sonnet of Messer Benedetto Varchi, which runs as follows:'

"Who shall, Mattio, yield our pain relief?
Who shall forbid the sad expense of tears?
Alas! 'tis true that in his youthful years
Our friend hath flown, and left us here to grief.

"He hath gone up to heaven, who was the chief
Of men renowned in art's immortal spheres;
Among the mighty dead he had no peers,
Nor shall earth see his like, in my belief.

"O gende sprite! if love still sway the blest,

Look down on him thou here didst love, and view
These tears that mourn my loss, not thy great good.

"There dost thou gaze on His beatitude
Who made our universe, and findest true
The form of Him thy skill for men expressed."

LXXXV

My sickness had been of such a very serious nature that it seemed
impossible for me to fling it off. That worthy man Maestro Fran-
cesco da Norcia redoubled his efforts, and brought me every day
fresh remedies, trying to restore strength to my miserable unstrung
frame. Yet all these endeavours were apparently insufficient to over-
come the obstinacy of my malady, so that the physicians were in
despair and at their wits' ends what to do. I was tormented by thirst,
but had abstained from drinking for many days according to the
doctors' orders. Felice, who thought he had done wonders in

' This sonnet is so insipid, so untrue to Cellini's real place in art, so false to the
far from saintly character of the man, that I would rather have declined translating
it, had I not observed it to be a good example of that technical and conventional
insincerity which was invading Italy at this epoch. Varchi was really sorry to hear
the news of Cellini's death; but for his genuine emotion he found spurious vehicles
of utterance. Cellini, meanwhile, had a right to prize it, since it revealed to him
what friendship was prepared to utter after his decease.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 69

restoring me, never left my side. That old man ceased to give so
much annoyance, yet sometimes he appeared to me in dreams.

One day Felice had gone out of doors, leaving me under the care
of a young apprentice and a servant-maid called Beatrice. I asked
the apprentice what had become of my lad Cencio, and what was
the reason why I had never seen him in attendance on me. The boy
replied that Cencio had been far more ill than I was, and that he was
even at death's door. Felice had given them orders not to speak to
me of this. On hearing the news, I was exceedingly distressed; then
I called the maid Beatrice, a Pistojan girl, and asked her to bring
me a great crystal water-cooler which stood near, full of clear and
fresh water. She ran at once, and brought it to me full; I told her to
put it to my lips, adding that if she let me take a draught according
to my heart's content, I would give her a new gown. This maid had
stolen from me certain little things of some importance, and in her
fear of being detected, she would have been very glad if I had died.
Accordingly she allowed me twice to take as much as I could of the
water, so that in good earnest I swallowed more than a flask full.'
I then covered myself, and began to sweat, and fell into a deep sleep.
After I had slept about an hour, Felice came home and asked the
boy how I was getting on. He answered: "I do not know. Beatrice
brought him that cooler full of water, and he has drunk almost the
whole of it. I don't know now whether he is alive or dead." They
say that my poor friend was on the point of falling to the ground, so
grieved was he to hear this. Afterwards he took an ugly stick and
began to beat the serving-girl with all his might, shouting out: "Ah!
traitress, you have killed him for me then?" While Felice was
cudgelling and she screaming, I was in a dream; I thought the old
man held ropes in his hand, and while he was preparing to bind me,
Felice had arrived and struck him with an axe, so that the old man
fled exclaiming: "Let me go, and I promise not to return for a long
while." Beatrice in the meantime had run into my bedroom shriek-
ing loudly. This woke me up, and I called out: "Leave her alone;
perhaps, when she meant to do me harm, she did me more good
than you were able to do with all your efforts. She may indeed have
saved my life; so lend me a helping hand, for I have sweated; and

' Vn fiasco, holding more than a quart.

170 BENVENUTO CELLINI

be quick about it." Felice recovered his spirits, dried and made me
comfortable; and I, being conscious of a great improvement in my
state, began to reckon on recovery.

When Maestro Francesco appeared and saw my great improve-
ment, and the servant-girl in tears, and the prentice running to and
fro, and FeUce laughing, all this disturbance made him think that
something extraordinary must have happened, which had been the
cause of my amendment. Just then the other doctor, Bernardino,
put in his appearance, who at the beginning of my illness had refused
to bleed me. Maestro Francesco, that most able man, exclaimed:
"Oh, power of Nature! She knows what she requires, and the
physicians know nothing." That simpleton. Maestro Bernardino,
made answer, saying: "If he had drunk another bottle he would
have been cured upon the spot." Maestro Francesco da Norcia, a
man of age and great authority, said: "That would have been a
terrible misfortune, and would to God that it may fall on you!"
Afterwards he turned to me and asked if I could have drunk more
water. I answered : "No, because I had entirely quenched my thirst."
Then he turned to Maestro Bernardino, and said: "Look you how
Nature has taken precisely what she wanted, neither more nor less.
In Hke manner she was asking for what she wanted when the poor
young man begged you to bleed him. If you knew that his recovery
depended upon his drinking two flasks of water, why did you not
say so before ? You might then have boasted of his cure." At these
words the wretched quack sulkily departed, and never showed his
face again.

Maestro Francesco then gave orders that I should be removed
from my room and carried to one of the hills there are in Rome.
Cardinal Cornaro, when he heard of my improvement, had me
transported to a place of his on Monte Cavallo. The very evening I
was taken with great precautions in a chair, well wrapped up and
protected from the cold. No sooner had I reached the place than I
began to vomit, during which there came from my stomach a hairy
worm about a quarter of a cubit in length : the hairs were long, and
the worm was very ugly, speckled of divers colours, green, black, and
red. They kept and showed it to the doctor, who said he had never
seen anything of the sort before, and afterwards remarked to Felice:

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I7I

"Now take care of your Benvenuto, for he is cured. Do not permit
him any irregularities; for though he has escaped this time, another
disorder now would be the death of him. You see his malady has
been so grave, that if we had brought him the extreme unction, we
might not have been in time. Now I know that with a little patience
and time he will live to execute more of his fine works." Then he
turned to me and said: "My Benvenuto, be prudent, commit no
excesses, and when you are quite recovered, I beg you to make me a
Madonna with your own hand, and I will always pay my devotions
to it for your sake." This I promised to do, and then asked him
whether it would be safe for me to travel so far as to Florence. He
advised me to wait till I was stronger, and till we could observe
how Nature worked in me.

LXXXVI

When eight days had come and gone, my amendment was so
slight that life itself became almost a burden to me; indeed I had
been more than fifty days in that great suffering. So I made my
mind up, and prepared to travel. My dear Fehce and I went toward
Florence in a pair of baskets;' and as I had not written, when I
reached my sister's house, she wept and laughed over me all in one
breath. That day many friends came to see me; among others Pier
Landi, who was the best and dearest friend I ever had. Next day
there came a certain Niccolo da Monte Aguto, who was also a very
great friend of mine. Now he had heard the Duke say: "Benvenuto
would have done much better to die, because he is come to put his
head into a noose, and I will never pardon him." Accordingly when
Niccolo arrived, he said to me in desperation: "Alas! my dear Ben-
venuto, what have you come to do here? Did you not know what
you have done to displease the Duke ? I have heard him swear that
you were thrusting your head into a halter." Then I replied:
"Niccolo, remind his Excellency that Pope Clement wanted to do
as much to me before, and quite as unjusdy; tell him to keep his
eye on me, and give me time to recover; then I will show his Excel-

* Un paio di ceste, a kind of litter, here described in the plural, because two of
them were perhaps put together. I have thought it best to translate the phrase literally.
From a letter of Varchi to Bembo, we learn that Cellini reached Florence, November
9. 1535-

172 BENVENUTO CELLINI

lency that I have been the most faithful servant he will ever have
in all his life; and forasmuch as some enemy must have served me
this bad turn through envy, let him wait till I get well; for I shall
then be able to give such an account of myself as will make him
marvel."

This bad turn had been done me by Giorgetto Vassellario of
Arezzo/ the painter; perchance in recompense for many benefits
conferred on him. I had harboured him in Rome and provided for
his costs, while he had turned my whole house upside down; for
the man was subject to a species of dry scab, which he was always
in the habit of scratching with his hands. It happened, then, that
sleeping in the same bed as an excellent workman, named Manno,
who was in my service, when he meant to scratch himself, he tore
the skin from one of Manno's legs with his filthy claws, the nails
of which he never used to cut. The said Manno left my service, and
was resolutely bent on killing him. I made the quarrel up, and
afterwards got Giorgio into Cardinal de' Medici's household, and
continually helped him. For these deserts, then, he told Duke Ales-
sandro that I had abused his Excellency, and had bragged I meant
to be the first to leap upon the walls of Florence with his foes the
exiles. These words, as I afterwards learned, had been put into
Vasari's lips by that excellent fellow,' Ottaviano de' Medici, who
wanted to revenge himself for the Duke's irritation against him, on
account of the coinage and my departure from Florence. I, being
innocent of the crime falsely ascribed to me, felt no fear whatever.
Meanwhile that able physician Francesco da Monte Varchi attended
to my cure with great skill. He had been brought by my very
dear friend Luca Martini, who passed the larger portion of the
day with me.*

LXXXVII

During this while I had sent my devoted comrade Felice back to
Rome, to look after our business there. When I could raise my

^This is the famous Giorgio Vasari, a bad painter and worse architect, but dear
to all lovers of the arts for his anecdotic work upon Italian artists.

^ Galantuomo , used ironically.

* Luca Martini was a member of the best literary society in his days, and the author
of some famous burlesque pieces.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 73

head a little from the bolster, which was at the end o£ fifteen days,
although I was unable to walk upon my feet, I had myself carried
to the palace of the Medici, and placed upon the httle upper terrace.
There they seated me to wait until the Duke went by. Many of my
friends at court came up to greet me, and expressed surprise that I
had undergone the inconvenience of being carried in that way, while
so shattered by illness; they said that I ought to have waited till I was
well, and then to have visited the Duke. A crowd of them collected,
all looking at me as a sort of miracle; not merely because they had
heard that I was dead, but far more because I had the look of a
dead man. Then publicly, before them all, I said how some wicked
scoundrel had told my lord the Duke that I had bragged I meant
to be the first to scale his Excellency's walls, and also that I had
abused him personally; wherefore I had not the heart to live or die
till I had purged myself of that infamy, and found out who the
audacious rascal was who had uttered such calumnies against me.
At these words a large number of those gentlemen came round,
expressing great compassion for me; one said one thing, one another,
and I told them I would never go thence before I knew who had
accused me. At these words Maestro Agostino, the Duke's tailor,
made his way through all those gentlemen, and said: "If that is all
you want to know, you shall know it at this very moment."

Giorgio the painter, whom I have mentioned, happened just then
to pass, and Maestro Agostino exclaimed: "There is the man who
accused you; now you know yourself if it be true or not." As
fiercely as I could, not being able to leave my seat, I asked Giorgio if
it was true that he had accused me. He denied that it was so, and
that he had ever said anything of the sort. Maestro Agostino
retorted: "You gallows-bird! don't you know that I know it for most
certain?" Giorgio made off as quickly as he could, repeating that he
had not accused me. Then, after a short while, the Duke came by;
whereupon I had myself raised up before his Excellency, and he
halted. I told him that I had come there in that way solely in order
to clear my character. The Duke gazed at me, and marvelled I was
still alive; afterwards he bade me take heed to be an honest man
and regain my health.

When I reached home, Niccolo da Monte Aguto came to visit

174 BENVENUTO CELLINI

me, and told me that I had escaped one of the most dreadful perils
in the world, quite contrary to all his expectations, for he had seen
my ruin written with indeUble ink; now I must make haste to get
well, and afterwards take French leave, because my jeopardy came
from a quarter and a man who was able to destroy me. He then
said, "Beware," and added: "What displeasure have you given to
that rascal Ottaviano de' Medici?" I answered that I had done noth-
ing to displease him, but that he had injured me; and told him all
the affair about the Mint. He repeated: "Get hence as quickly as
you can, and be of good courage, for you will see your vengeance
executed sooner than you expect." I paid the best attention to my
health, gave Pietro Pagolo advice about stamping the coins, and
then went off upon my way to Rome without saying a word to the
Duke or anybody else.

LXXXVIII

When I reached Rome, and had enjoyed the company of my
friends awhile, I began the Duke's medal. In a few days I finished
the head in steel, and it was the finest work of the kind which I had
ever produced. At least once every day there came to visit me a sort
of blockhead named Messer Francesco Soderini.' When he saw what
I was doing, he used frequently to exclaim: "Barbarous wretch! you
want them to immortalise that ferocious tyrant! You have never
made anything so exquisite, which proves you our inveterate foe and
their devoted friend; and yet the Pope and he have had it twice in
mind to hang you without any fault of yours. That was the Father
and the Son; now beware of the Holy Ghost." It was firmly believed
that Duke Alessandro was the son of Pope Clement. Messer Fran-
cesco used also to say and swear by all his saints that, if he could,
he would have robbed me of the dies for that medal. I responded
that he had done well to tell me so, and that I would take such care
of them that he should never see them more.

I now sent to Florence to request Lorenzino that he would send

me the reverse of the medal. Niccolo da Monte Aguto, to whom I

had written, wrote back, saying that he had spoken to that mad

melancholy philosopher Lorenzino for it; he had replied that he was

' He had been banished in 1530 as a foe to the Medicean house.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 75

thinking night and day of nothing else, and that he would finish it
as soon as he was able. Nevertheless, I was not to set my hopes upon
his reverse, but I had better invent one out of my own head, and
when I had finished it, I might bring it without hesitation to the
Duke, for this would be to my advantage.

I composed the design of a reverse which seemed to me appro-
priate, and pressed the work forward to my best ability. Not being,
however, yet recovered from that terrible illness, I gave myself
frequent relaxation by going out on fowling expeditions with my
friend Felice. This man had no skill in my art; but since we were
perpetually day and night together, everybody thought he was a
first-rate craftsman. This being so, as he was a fellow of much
humour, we used often to laugh together about the great credit he
had gained. His name was Felice Guadagni (Gain), which made
him say in jest: "I should be called Felice Gain-little if you had not
enabled me to acquire such credit that I can call myself Gain-much."
I replied that there are two ways of gaining: the first is that by
which one gains for one's self, the second that by which one gains
for others; so I praised him much more for the second than the first,
since he had gained for me my life.

We often held such conversations; but I remember one in par-
ticular on the day of Epiphany, when we were together near La
Magliana. It was close upon nightfall, and during the day I had
shot a good number of ducks and geese; then, as I had almost made
my mind up to shoot no more that time, we were returning briskly
toward Rome. Calling to my dog by his name, Barucco, and not
seeing him in front of me, I turned round and noticed that the well-
trained animal was pointing at some geese which had settled in a
ditch. I therefore dismounted at once, got my fowling-piece ready,
and at a very long range brought two of them down with a single
ball. I never used to shoot with more than one ball, and was usually
able to hit my mark at two hundred cubits, which cannot be done by
other ways of loading. Of the two geese, one was almost dead, and
the other, though badly wounded, was flying lamely. My dog re-
trieved the one and brought it to me; but noticing that the other
was diving down into the ditch, I sprang forward to catch it. Trust-
ing to my boots, which came high up the leg, I put one foot for-

176 BENVENUTO CELLINI

ward; it sank in the oozy ground; and so, although I got the goose,
the boot o£ my right leg was full of water. I lifted my foot and let
the water run out; then, when I had mounted, we made haste for
Rome. The cold, however, was very great, and I felt my leg freeze,
so that I said to Felice : "We must do something to help this leg, for
I don't know how to bear it longer." The good Felice, without a
word, leapt from his horse, and gathering some thistles and bits of
stick, began to build a fire. I meanwhile was waiting, and put my
hands among the breast-feathers of the geese, and felt them very
warm. So I told him not to make the fire, but filled my boot with
the feathers of the goose, and was immediately so much comforted
that I regained vitality.

LXXXIX

We mounted, and rode rapidly toward Rome; and when we had
reached a certain gently rising ground — night had already fallen —
looking in the direction of Florence, both with one breath exclaimed
in the utmost astonishment: "O God of heaven! what is that great
thing one sees there over Florence?" It resembled a huge beam of
fire, which sparkled and gave out extraordinary lustre.

I said to Felice: "Assuredly we shall hear to-morrow that some-
thing of vast importance has happened in Florence." As we rode
into Rome, the darkness was extreme; and when we came near the
Banchi and our own house, my little horse was going in an amble
at a furious speed. Now that day they had thrown a heap of plaster
and broken tiles in the middle of the road, which neither my horse
nor myself perceived. In his fiery pace the beast ran up it; but on
coming down upon the other side he turned a complete somer-
sault. He had his head between his legs, and it was only through the
power of God himself that I escaped unhurt. The noise we made
brought the neighbours out with lights; but I had already jumped
to my feet; and so, without remounting, I ran home, laughing to
have come unhurt out of an accident enough to break my neck.

On entering the house, I found some friends of mine there, to
whom, while we were supping together, I related the adventures
of the day's chase and the diabolical apparition of the fiery beam
which we had seen. They exclaimed : "What shall we hear to-morrow

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 77

which this portent has announced?" I answered: "Some revolution
must certainly have occurred in Florence." So we supped agree-
ably; and late the next day there came the news to Rome of Duke
Alessandro's death.' Upon this many of my acquaintances came to
me and said: "You were right in conjecturing that something of
great importance had happened at Florence." Just then Francesco
Soderini appeared jogging along upon a wretched mule he had,
and laughing all the way like a madman. He said to me: "This is
the reverse of that vile tyrant's medal which your Lorenzino de'
Medici promised you." Then he added: "You wanted to immortalise
the dukes for us; but we mean to have no more dukes;" and there-
upon he jeered me, as though I had been the captain of the factions
which make dukes. Meanwhile a certain Baccio Bettini,^ who had
an ugly big head like a bushel, came up and began to banter me
in the same way about dukes, calling out : "We have dis-duked them,
and won't have any more of them; and you were for making them
immortal for us!" with many other tiresome quips of the same kind.
I lost my patience at this nonsense, and said to them: "You block-
heads! I am a poor goldsmith, who serve whoever pays me; and
you are jeering me as though I were a party-leader. However, this
shall not make me cast in your teeth the insatiable greediness, idiotcy,
and good-for-nothingness of your predecessors. But this one answer
I will make to all your silly railleries; that before two or three days
at the longest have passed by, you will have another duke, much
worse perhaps than he who now has left you." ^

The following day Bettini came to my shop and said: "There is
no need to spend money in couriers, for you know things before
they happen. What spirit tells them to you?" Then he informed
me that Cosimo de' Medici, the son of Signer Giovanni, was made
Duke; but that certain conditions had been imposed at his election,
which would hold him back from kicking up his heels at his own
pleasure. I now had my opportunity for laughing at them, and
saying: "Those men of Florence have set a young man upon a

' Alessandro was murdered by his cousin Lorenzino at Florence on the 3th of
January 1537.

^ Bettini was an intimate friend of Buonarroti and a considerable patron of the arts.

' This exchange of ironical compliments testifies to Cellini's strong Medicean
leanings, and also to the sagacity with which he judged the political situation.

178 BENVENUTO CELLINI

mettlesome horse; next they have buckled spurs upon his heels, and
put the bridle freely in his hands, and turned him out upon a mag-
nificent field, full o£ flowers and fruits and all delightful things;
next they have bidden him not to cross certain indicated limits: now
tell me, you, who there is that can hold him back, whenever he has
but the mind to cross them ? Laws cannot be imposed on him who
is the master of the law," So they left me alone, and gave me no
further annoyance.*

xc

I now began to attend to my shop, and did some business, not
however of much moment, because I had still to think about my
health, which was not yet established after that grave illness I had
undergone. About this time the Emperor returned victorious from
his expedition against Tunis, and the Pope sent for me to take my
advice concerning the present of honour it was fit to give him.' I
answered that it seemed to me most appropriate to present his Im-
perial Majesty with a golden crucifix, for which I had almost finished
an ornament quite to the purpose, and which would confer the
highest honour upon his Holiness and me. I had already made three
little figures of gold in the round, about a palm high; they were
those which I had begun for the chalice of Pope Clement, repre-
senting Faith, Hope, and Charity. To these I added in wax what
was wanting for the basement of the cross. I carried the whole to the
Pope, with the Christ in wax, and many other exquisite decorations
which gave him complete satisfaction. Before I took leave of his
Holiness, we had agreed on every detail, and calculated the price of
the work.

This was one evening four hours after nightfall, and the Pope
had ordered Messer Latino Juvenale to see that I had money paid
to me next morning. This Messer Latino, who had a pretty big
dash of the fool in his composition, bethought him of furnishing the
Pope with a new idea, which was, however, wholly of his own inven-

* Cellini only spoke the truth on this occasion; for Cosimo soon kicked down the
ladder which had lifted him to sovereignty, and showed himself the absolute master
of Florence. Cosimo was elected Duke upon the 9th of January 1537.

' Cellini returns to the year 1535, when Charles V. arrived in November from
Tunis.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 179

tion. So he altered everything which had been arranged; and next
morning, when I went for the money, he said with his usual brutal
arrogance: "It is our part to invent, and yours to execute; before I
left the Pope last night we thought of something far superior."
To these first words I answered, without allowing him to proceed
farther: "Neither you nor the Pope can think of anything better
than a piece of which Christ plays a part; so you may go on with
your courtier's nonsense till you have no more to say."

Without uttering one word, he left me in a rage, and tried to get
the work given to another goldsmith. The Pope, however, refused,
and sent for me at once, and told me I had spoken well, but that
they wanted to make use of a Book of Hours of Our Lady, which
was marvellously illuminated, and had cost the Cardinal de' Medici
more than two thousand crowns. They thought that this would be
an appropriate present to the Empress, and that for the Emperor
they would afterwards make what I had suggested, which was
indeed a present worthy of him; but now there was no time to lose,
since the Emperor was expected in Rome in about a month and a
half. He wanted the book to be enclosed in a case of massive gold,
richly worked, and adorned with jewels valued at about six thousand
crowns. Accordingly, when the jewels and the gold were given me,
I began the work, and driving it briskly forward, in a few days
brought it to such beauty that the Pope was astonished, and showed
me the most distinguished signs of favour, conceding at the same
time that that beast Juvenale should have nothing more to do
with me.

I had nearly brought my work to its completion when the Em-
peror arrived, and numerous triumphal arches of great magnificence
were erected in his honour. He entered Rome with extraordinary
pomp, the description of which I leave to others, since I mean to
treat of those things only which concern myself.^ Immediately after
his arrival, he gave the Pope a diamond which he had bought for
twelve thousand crowns. This diamond the Pope committed to my
care, ordering me to make a ring to the measure of his Holiness's
finger; but first he wished me to bring the book in the state to which
I had advanced it. I took it accordingly, and he was highly pleased
^The entry into Rome took place April 6, 1536.

l8o BENVENUTO CELLINI

with it; then he asked my advice concerning the apology which could
be reasonably made to the Emperor for the unfinished condition of
my work. I said that my indisposition would furnish a sound excuse,
since his Majesty, seeing how thin and pale I was, would very readily
believe and accept it. To this the Pope replied that he approved of
the suggestion, but that I should add on the part of his Holiness,
when I presented the bobk to the Emperor, that I made him the
present of myself. Then he told me in detail how I had to behave,
and the words I had to say. These words I repeated to the Pope,
asking him if he wished me to deliver them in that way. He replied:
"You would acquit yourself to admiration if you had the courage
to address the Emperor as you are addressing me." Then I said that
I had the courage to speak with far greater ease and freedom to the
Emperor, seeing that the Emperor was clothed as I was, and that
I should seem to be speaking to a man formed like myself; this was
not the case when I addressed his Holiness, in whom I beheld a far
superior deity, both by reason of his ecclesiastical adornments, which
shed a certain aureole about him, and at the same time because of
his Holiness's dignity of venerable age; all these things inspired in
me more awe than the Imperial Majesty. To these words the Pope
responded: "Go, my Benvenuto; you are a man of ability; do us
honour, and it will be well for you."

xci

The Pope ordered out two Turkish horses, which had belonged to
Pope Clement, and were the most beautiful that ever came to
Christendom. Messer Durante,' his chamberlain, was bidden to
bring them through the lower galleries of the palace, and there to
give them to the Emperor, repeating certain words which his Holi-
ness dictated to him. We both went down together, and when we
reached the presence of the Emperor, the horses made their entrance
through those halls with so much spirit and such a noble carriage
that the Emperor and every one were struck with wonder. There-
upon Messer Durante advanced in so graceless a manner, and de-
livered his speech with so much of Brescian lingo, mumbling his

' Messer Durante Duranti, Prefect of the Camera under Paul III., who gave him
the hat in 1544, and the Bishopric of Brescia afterwards.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY l8l

words over in his mouth, that one never saw or heard anything
worse; indeed the Emperor could not refrain from smiling at him.
I meanwhile had already uncovered my piece; and observing that
the Emperor had turned his eyes towards me with a very gracious
look, I advanced at once and said: "Sacred Majesty, our most holy
Father, Pope Paolo, sends this book of the Virgin as a present to
your Majesty, the which is written in a fair clerk's hand, and illu-
minated by the greatest master who ever professed that art; and
this rich cover of gold and jewels is unfinished, as you here behold
it, by reason of my illness: wherefore his Holiness, together with
the book, presents me also, and attaches me to your Majesty in order
that I may complete the work; nor this alone, but everything which
you may have it in your mind to execute so long as life is left me,
will I perform at your service." Thereto the Emperor responded:
"The book is acceptable to me, and so are you; but I desire you to
complete it for me in Rome; when it is finished, and you are restored
to health, bring it me and come to see me." Afterwards, in course
of conversation, he called me by my name, which made me wonder,
because no words had been dropped in which my name occurred;
and he said that he had seen that fastening of Pope Clement's cope,
on which I had wrought so many wonderful figures. We continued
talking in this way a whole half hour, touching on divers topics
artistic and agreeable; then, since it seemed to me that I had acquitted
myself with more honour than I had expected, I took the occasion
of a slight lull in the conversation to make my bow and to retire.
The Emperor was heard to say: "Let five hundred golden crowns
be given at once to Benvenuto." The person who brought them up
asked who the Pope's man was who had spoken to the Emperor.
Messer Durante came forward and robbed me of my five hundred
crowns. I complained to the Pope, who told me not to be uneasy, for
he knew how everything had happened, and how well I had con-
ducted myself in addressing the Emperor, and of the money I should
certainly obtain my share.

XCII

When I returned to my shop, I set my hand with diligence to
finishing the diamond ring, concerning which the four first jewellers

l82 BENVENUTO CELLINI

of Rome were sent to consult with me. This was because the Pope
had been informed that the diamond had been set by the first jeweller
of the world in Venice; he was called Maestro Miliano Targhetta;
and the diamond being somewhat thin, the job of setting it was too
diiScult to be attempted without great deliberation. I was well
pleased to receive these four jewellers, among whom was a man of
Milan called Gaio. He was the most presumptuous donkey in the
world, the one who knew least and who thought he knew most; the
others were very modest and able craftsmen. In the presence of us
all this Gaio began to talk, and said: "Miliano's foil should be pre-
served, and to do that, Benvenuto, you shall doff your cap;' for just
as giving diamonds a tint is the most delicate and difficult thing in
the jeweller's art, so is Miliano the greatest jeweller that ever lived,
and this is the most difficult diamond to tint." I replied that it was
all the greater glory for me to compete with so able a master in such
an excellent profession. Afterwards I turned to the other jewellers
and said: "Look here! I am keeping MiUano's foil, and I will see
whether I can improve on it with some of my own manufacture; if
not, we will tint it with the same you see here." That ass Gaio
exclaimed that if I made a foil like that he would gladly doff his cap
to it. To which I replied: "Supposing then I make it better, it will
deserve two bows." "Certainly so," said he; and I began to compose
my foils.

I took the very greatest pains in mixing the tints, the method of
doing which I will explain in the proper place.^ It is certain that the
diamond in question offered more difficulties than any others which
before or afterwards have come into my hands, and Miliano's foil
was made with true artistic skill. However, that did not dismay me;
but having sharpened my wits up, I succeeded not only in making
something quite as good, but in exceeding it by far. Then, when I
saw that I had surpassed him, I went about to surpass myself, and
produced a foil by new processes which was a long way better than
what I had previously made. Thereupon I sent for the jewellers; and
first I tinted the diamond with Mifiano's foil: then I cleaned it well

^ In the Oreficeria Cellini gives an account of how these foils were made and
applied. They were composed of paste, and coloured so as to enhance the effect of
precious stones, particularly diamonds.

^ Oreficeria, cap. i.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 83

and tinted it afresh with my own. When I showed it to the jewellers,
one of the best among them, who was called Raflael del Moro, took
the diamond in his hand and said to Gaio : "Benvenuto has outdone
the foil of Miliano." Gaio, unwilling to believe it, took the diamond
and said: "Benvenuto, this diamond is worth two thousand ducats
more than with the foil of Miliano." I rejoined: "Now that I have
surpassed Miliano, let us see if I can surpass myself." Then I begged
them to wait for me a while, went up into a little cabinet, and having
tinted the diamond anew unseen by them, returned and showed it to
the jewellers. Gaio broke out at once: "This is the most marvellous
thing that I have ever seen in the course of my whole lifetime. The
stone is worth upwards of eighteen thousand crowns, whereas we
valued it at barely twelve thousand." The others jewellers turned
to him and said: "Benvenuto is the glory of our art, and it is only
due that we should doff our caps to him and to his foils." Then Gaio
said: "I shall go and tell the Pope, and I mean to procure for him
one thousand golden crowns for the setting of this diamond." Ac-
cordingly he hurried to the Pope and told him the whole story;
whereupon his Holiness sent three times on that day to see if the
ring was finished.

At twenty-three o'clock I took the ring to the palace; and since
the doors were always open to me, I lifted the curtain gently, and
saw the Pope in private audience with the Marchese del Guasto.'
The Marquis must have been pressing something on the Pope which
he was unwilling to perform; for I heard him say: "I tell you, no;
it is my business to remain neutral, and nothing else." I was retiring
as quickly as I could, when the Pope himself called me back; so I
entered the room, and presented the diamond ring, upon which he
drew me aside, and the Marquis retired to a distance. While looking
at the diamond, the Pope whispered to me: "Benvenuto, begin some
conversation with me on a subject which shall seem important, and
do not stop talking so long as the Marquis remains in this room."
Then he took to walking up and down, and the occasion making
for my advantage, I was very glad to discourse with him upon the
methods I had used to tint the stone. The Marquis remained stand-

' Alfonson d'Avalos, successor and heir to the famous Ferdinando d'Avalos, Marquis
of Pescara. He acted for many years as Spanish Viceroy of Milan.

184 BENVENUTO CELLINI

ing apart, leaning against a piece of tapestry; and now he balanced
himself about on one foot, now on the other. The subject I had
chosen to discourse upon was of such importance, if fully treated,
that I could have talked about it at least three hours. The Pope was
entertained to such a degree that he forgot the annoyance of the
Marquis standing there. I seasoned what I had to say with that part
of natural philosophy which belongs to our profession; and so having
spoken for near upon an hour, the Marquis grew tired of waiting,
and went off fuming. Then the Pope bestowed on me the most
familiar caresses which can be imagined, and exclaimed: "Have pa-
tience, my dear Benvenuto, for I will give you a better reward for
your virtues than the thousand crowns which Gaio tells me your
work is worth."

On this I took my leave; and the Pope praised me in the presence
of his household, among whom was the fellow Latino Juvenale,
whom I have previously mentioned. This man, having become
my enemy, assiduously strove to do me hurt; and noticing that the
Pope talked of me with so much affection and warmth, he put in his
word: "There is no doubt at all that Benvenuto is a person of very re-
markable genius; but while every one is naturally bound to feel more
goodwill for his own countrymen than for others, still one ought to
consider maturely what language it is right and proper to use when
speaking of a Pope. He has had the audacity to say that Pope
Clement indeed was the handsomest sovereign that ever reigned,
and no less gifted; only that luck was always against him: and he
says that your Holiness is quite the opposite; that the tiara seems to
weep for rage upon your head; that you look like a truss of straw
with clothes on, and that there is nothing in you except good luck."
These words, reported by a man who knew most excellently how to
say them, had such force that they gained credit with the Pope.
Far from having uttered them, such things had never come into my
head. If the Pope could have done so without losing credit, he would
certainly have taken fierce revenge upon me; but being a man of
great tact and talent, he made a show of turning it off with a laugh.
Nevertheless he harboured in his heart a deep vindictive feeling
against me, of which I was not slow to be aware, since I had no
longer the same easy access to his apartments as formerly, but found

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 85

the greatest diiBculty in procuring audience. As I had now for many
years been famiUar with the manners of the Roman court, I con-
ceived that some one had done me a bad turn; and on making dex-
terous inquiries, I was told the whole, but not the name of my
calumniator. I could not imagine who the man was; had I but
found him out, my vengeance would not have been measured by troy
weight.*

XCIII

I went on working at my book, and when I had finished it I took
it to the Pope, who was in good truth unable to refrain from com-
mending it greatly. I begged him to send me with it to the Em-
peror, as he had promised. He replied that he would do what he
thought fit, and that I had performed my part of the business. So
he gave orders that I should be well paid. These two pieces of work,
on which I had spent upwards of two months, brought me in five
hundred crowns: for the diamond I was paid one hundred and fifty
crowns and no more; the rest was given me for the cover of the
book, which, however, was worth more than a thousand, being en-
riched with multitudes of figures, arabesques, enamellings, and jew-
els. I took what I could get and made my mind up to leave Rome
without permission. The Pope meanwhile sent my book to the Em-
peror by the hand of his grandson Signor Sforza.' Upon accepting
it, the Emperor expressed great satisfaction, and immediately asked
for me. Young Signor Sforza, who had received his instructions,
said that I had been prevented by illness from coming. All this was
reported to me.

My preparations for the journey into France were made; and I
wished to go alone, but was unable on account of a lad in my service
called Ascanio. He was of very tender age, and the most admirable
servant in the world. When I took him he had left a former mas-
ter, named Francesco, a Spaniard and a goldsmith. I did not much
like to take him, lest I should get into a quai-rel with the Spaniard,
and said to Ascanio: "I do not want to have you, for fear of offending
your master." He contrived that his master should write me a note

* lo ne arei jatte vendette a misura di carhone.

' Sforza Sforza, son of Bosio, Count of Santa Fiore, and of Costanza Farnese, the
Pope's natural daughter. He was a youth of sixteen at this epoch.

1 86 BENVENUTO CELLINI

informing me that I was free to take him. So he had been with me
some months; and since he came to us both thin and pale of face, we
called him "the little old man;" indeed I almost thought he was one,
partly because he was so good a servant, and partly because he was
so clever that it seemed unlikely he should have such talent at
thirteen years, which he affirmed his age to be. Now to go back to
the point from which I started, he improved in person during those
few months, and gaining in flesh, became the handsomest youth in
Rome. Being the excellent servant which I have described, and show-
ing marvellous aptitude for our art, I felt a warm and fatherly affec-
tion for him, and kept him clothed as if he had been my own son.
When the boy perceived the improvement he had made, he esteemed
it a good piece of luck that he had come into my hands; and he used
frequently to go and thank his former master, who had been the
cause of his prosperity. Now this man had a handsome young
woman to wife, who said to him: "Surgetto" (that was what they
called him when he lived with them), "what have you been doing
to become so handsome?" Ascanio answered: "Madonna Francesca,
it is my master who has made me so handsome, and far more good
to boot." In her petty spiteful way she took it very ill that Ascanio
should speak so; and having no reputation for chastity, she contrived
to caress the lad more perhaps than was quite seemly, which made
me notice that he began to visit her more frequently than his wont
had been.

One day Ascanio took to beating one of our little shopboys, who,
when I came home from out of doors, complained to me with tears
that Ascanio had knocked him about without any cause. Hearing
this, I said to Ascanio: "With cause or without cause, see you never
strike any one of my family, or else I'll make you feel how I can
strike myself." He bandied words with me, which made me jump on
him and give him the severest drubbing with both fists and feet that
he had ever felt. As soon as he escaped my clutches, he ran away
without cape or cap, and for two days I did not know where he was,
and took no care to find him. After that time a Spanish gentleman,
called Don Diego, came to speak to me. He was the most generous
man in the world. I had made, and was making, some things for
him, which had brought us well acquainted. He told me that As-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 87

canio had gone back to his old master, and asked me, if I thought
it proper, to send him the cape and cap which I had given him.
Thereupon I said that Francesco had behaved badly, and like a low-
bred fellow; for if he had told me, when Ascanio first came back
to him, that he was in his house, I should very willingly have given
him leave; but now that he had kept him two days without inform-
ing me, I was resolved he should not have him; and let him take
care that I do not set eyes upon the lad in his house- This message
was reported by Don Diego, but it only made Francesco laugh.
The next morning I saw Ascanio working at some trifles in wire at
his master's side. As I was passing he bowed to me, and his master
almost laughed me in the face. He sent again to ask through Don
Diego whether I would not give Ascanio back the clothes he had
received from me; but if not, he did not mind, and Ascanio should
not want for clothes. When I heard this, I turned to Don Diego and
said: "Don Diego, sir, in all your dealings you are the most liberal
and worthy man I ever knew, but that Francesco is quite the oppo-
site of you; he is nothing better than a worthless and dishonoured
renegade. Tell him from me that if he does not bring Ascanio here
himself to my shop before the bell for vespers, I will assuredly kill
him; and tell Ascanio that if he does not quit that house at the hour
appointed for his master, I will treat him much in the same way."
Don Diego made no answer, but went and inspired such terror in
Francesco that he knew not what to do with himself. Ascanio mean-
while had gone to find his father, who had come to Rome from
Tagliacozzo, his birthplace; and this man also, when he heard about
the row, advised Francesco to bring Ascanio back to me. Fran-
cesco said to Ascanio: "Go on your own account, and your father
shall go with you." Don Diego put in: "Francesco, I foresee that
something very serious will happen; you know better than I do
what a man Benvenuto is; take the lad back courageously, and I
will come with you." I had prepared myself, and was pacing up and
down the shop waiting for the bell to vespers; my mind was made
up to do one of the bloodiest deeds which I had ever attempted in
my life. Just then arrived Don Diego, Francesco, Ascanio, and his
father, whom I did not know. When Ascanio entered, I gazed at the
whole company with eyes of rage, and Francesco, pale as death,

1 88 BENVENUTO CELLINI

began as follows: "See here, I have brought back Ascanio, whom
I kept with me, not thinking that I should offend you." Ascanio
added humbly: "Master, pardon me; I am at your disposal here, to
do whatever you shall order." Then I said: "Have you come to
work out the time you promised me?" He answered yes, and that
he meant never to leave me. Then I turned and told the shopboy
he had beaten to hand him the bundle of clothes, and said to him:
"Here are all the clothes I gave you; take with them your discharge,
and go where you like." Don Diego stood astonished at this, which
was quite the contrary of what he had expected; while Ascanio with
his father besought me to pardon and take him back. On my asking
who it was who spoke for him, he said it was his father; to whom,
after many entreaties, I replied : "Because you are his father, for your
sake I will take him back."

xciv

I had formed the resolution, as I said a short while back, to go
toward France; partly because I saw that the Pope did not hold me
in the same esteem as formerly, my faithful service having been
besmirched by lying tongues; and also because I feared lest those
who had the power might play me some worse trick. So I was deter-
mined to seek better fortune in a foreign land, and wished to leave
Rome without company or license. On the eve of my projected de-
parture, I told my faithful friend Felice to make free use of all my
effects during my absence; and in the case of my not returning, left
him everything I possessed. Now there was a Perugian workman in
my employ, who had helped me on those commissions from the
Pope; and after paying his wages, I told him he must leave my
service. He begged me in reply to let him go with me, and said he
would come at his own charges; if I stopped to work for the King
of France, it would certainly be better for me to have Italians by
me, and in particular such persons as I knew to be capable of giving
me assistance. His entreaties and arguments persuaded me to take
him on the journey in the manner he proposed. Ascanio, who was
present at this debate, said, half in tears: "When you took me back,
I said I wished to remain with you my lifetime, and so I have it in my

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 89

mind to do." I told him that nothing in the world would make me
consent; but when I saw that the poor lad was preparing to follow
on foot, I engaged a horse for him too, put a small valise upon the
crupper, and loaded myself with far more useless baggage than I
should otherwise have taken.'

From home I travelled to Florence, from Florence to Bologna,
from Bologna to Venice, and from Venice to Padua. There my dear
friend Albertaccio del Bene made me leave the inn for his house;
and next day I went to kiss the hand of Messer Pietro Bembo, who
was not yet a Cardinal.^ He received me with marks of the warmest
affection which could be bestowed on any man; then turning to
Albertaccio, he said: "I want Benvenuto to stay here, with all his
followers, even though they be a hundred men; make then your
mind up, if you want Benvenuto also, to stay here with me, for I
do not mean elsewise to let you have him." Accordingly I spent a
very pleasant visit at the house of that most accomplished gentle-
man. He had a room prepared for me which would have been too
grand for a cardinal, and always insisted on my taking my meals
beside him. Later on, he began to hint in very modest terms that
he should greatly like me to take his portrait. I, who desired nothing
in the world more, prepared some snow-white plaster in a little box,
and set to work at once. The first day I spent two hours on end at
my modelling, and blocked out the fine head of that eminent man
with so much grace of manner that his lordship was fairly astounded.
Now, though he was a man of profound erudition and without a
rival in poetry, he understood nothing at all about my art; this made
him think that I had finished when I had hardly begun, so that I
could not make him comprehend what a long time it took to exe-
cute a thing of that sort thoroughly. At last I resolved to do it as
well as I was able, and to spend the requisite time upon it; but since
he wore his beard short after the Venetian fashion, I had great
trouble in modelling a head to my own satisfaction. However, I
finished it, and judged it about the finest specimen I had produced

'He left Rome, April i, 1537.

^ I need hardly say that this is the Bembo who ruled over Italian literature like
a dictator from the reign of Leo X. onwards. He was of a noble Venetian house;
Paul III. made him Cardinal in 1539. He died, aged seventy -seven, in 1547.

190 BENVENUTO CELLINI

in all the points pertaining to my art. Great was the astonishment
of Messer Pietro, who conceived that I should have completed the
waxen model in two hours and the steel in ten, when he found that
I employed two hundred on the wax, and then was begging for
leave to pursue my journey toward France. This threw him into
much concern, and he implored me at least to design the reverse
for his medal, which was to be a Pegasus encircled with a wreath
of myrtle. I performed my task in the space of some three hours,
and gave it a fine air of elegance. He was exceedingly delighted, and
said : "This horse seems to me ten times more difficult to do than the
little portrait on which you have bestowed so much pains. I can-
not understand what made it such a labour." All the same, he kept
entreating me to execute the piece in steel, exclaiming: "For Heav-
en's sake, do it; I know that, if you choose, you will get it quickly
finished." I told him that I was not willing to make it there, but
promised without fail to take it in hand wherever I might stop to
work.

While this debate was being carried on I went to bargain for three
horses which I wanted on my travels; and he took care that a secret
watch should be kept over my proceedings, for he had vast authority
in Padua; wherefore, when I proposed to pay for the horses, which
were to cost five hundred ducats, their owner answered : "Illustrious
artist, I make you a present of the three horses." I replied: "It is
not you who give them me; and from the generous donor I cannot
accept them, seeing I have been unable to present him with any
specimen of my craft." The good fellow said that, if I did not take
them, I should get no other horses in Padua, and should have to
make my journey on foot. Upon that I returned to the magnificent
Messer Pietro, who affected to be ignorant of the affair, and only
begged me with marks of kindness to remain in Padua. This was
contrary to my intention, for I had quite resolved to set out; there-
fore I had to accept the three horses, and with them we began our
journey.

xcv

I chose the route through the Grisons, all other passes being unsafe
on account of war. We crossed the mountains of the Alba and Ber-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I9I

lina; it was the 8th of May, and the snow upon them lay in masses.'
At the utmost hazard of our hves we succeeded in surmounting
those two Alpine ridges; and when they had been traversed, we
stopped at a place which, if I remember rightly, is called Valdista.
There we took up quarters, and at nightfall there arrived a Floren-
tine courier named Busbacca. I had heard him mentioned as a man
of character and able in his profession, but I did not know that he
had forfeited that reputation by his rogueries. When he saw me in
the hostelry, he addressed me by my name, said he was going on
business of importance to Lyons, and entreated me to lend him
money for the journey. I said I had no money to lend, but that if
he liked to join me, I would pay his expenses as far as Lyons. The
rascal wept, and wheedled me with a long story, saying: "If a poor
courier employed on affairs of national consequence has fallen short
of money, it is the duty of a man like you to assist him." Then he
added that he was carrying things of the utmost importance from
Messer Filippo Strozzi;^ and showing me a leather case for a cup
he had with him, whispered in my ear that it held a goblet of silver
which contained jewels to the value of many thousands of ducats,
together with letters of vast consequence, sent by Messer Filippo
Strozzi. I told him that he ought to let me conceal the jewels about
his own person, which would be much less dangerous than carrying
them in the goblet; he might give that up to me, and, its value being
probably about ten crowns, I would supply him with twenty-five on
the security- To these words the courier replied that he would go
with me, since he could not do otherwise, for to give up the goblet
would not be to his honour.

Accordingly we struck the bargain so; and taking horse next morn-
ing, came to a lake between Valdistate and Vessa; it is fifteen miles
long when one reaches Vessa. On beholding the boats upon that
lake I took fright; because they are of pine, of no great size and no
great thickness, loosely put together, and not even pitched. If I had
not seen four German gentlemen, with their four horses, embarking

^I have retained Cellini's spelling of names upon this journey. He passed the
Bernina and Albula mountains, descended the valley of the Rhine to Wallenstadt,
travelled by Weesen and probably Glarus to Lachen and Zurich, thence to Solothurn,
Lausanne, Geneva, Lyons.

^ Filippo Strozzi was leader of the anti-Medicean party, now in exile. He fell into
the hands of Duke Cosimo on the ist of August in this year, 1537.

192 BENVENUTO CELLINI

in one of the same sort as ours, I should never have set my foot in it;
indeed I should far more hkely have turned tail; but when I saw
their hare-brained recklessness, I took it into my head that those
German waters would not drown folk, as ours do in Italy. How-
ever, my two young men kept saying to me: "Benvenuto, it is surely
dangerous to embark in this craft with four horses." I replied : "You
cowards, do you not observe how those four gentlemen have taken
boat before us, and are going on their way with laughter? If this
were wine, as indeed 'tis water, I should say that they were going
gladly to drown themselves in it; but as it is but water, I know
well that they have no more pleasure than we have in drowning
there." The lake was fifteen miles long and about three broad; on
one side rose a mountain very tall and cavernous, on the other some
flat land and grassy. When we had gone about four miles, it began
to storm upon the lake, and our oarsmen asked us to help in row-
ing; this we did awhile. I made gestures and directed them to land
us on the farther shore; they said it was not possible, because there
was not depth of water for the boat, and there were shoals there,
which would make it go to pieces and drown us all; and still they
kept on urging us to help them. The boatmen shouted one to the
other, calling for assistance. When I saw them thus dismayed, my
horse being an inteUigent animal, I arranged the bridle on his neck
and took the end of the halter with my left hand. The horse, like
most of his kind, being not devoid of reason, seemed to have an
instinct of my intention; for having turned his face towards the fresh
grass, I meant that he should swim and draw me after him. Just
at that moment a great wave broke over the boat. Ascanio shrieked
out: "Mercy, my father; save me," and wanted to throw himself upon
my neck. Accordingly, I laid hand to my little dagger, and told
them to do as I had shown them, seeing that the horses would save
their lives as well as I too hoped to escape with mine by the same
means; but that if he tried to jump on me, I should kill him. So we
went forward several miles in this great peril of our lives.

xcvi

When we had reached the middle of the lake, we found a little
bit of level ground where we could land, and I saw that those four
German gentlemen had already come to shore there; but on our

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 93

wishing to disembark, the boatmen would hear nothing of it. Then
I said to my young men: "Now is the time to show what stuff we
are made of; so draw your swords, and force these fellows to put
us on shore." This we did, not however without difficulty, for they
offered a stubborn resistance. When at last we got to land, we had
to climb that mountain for two miles, and it was more troublesome
than getting up a ladder. I was completely clothed in mail, with
big boots, and a gun in my hand; and it was raining as though the
fountains of the heavens were opened. Those devils, the German
gentlemen, leading their little horses by the bridle, accomplished
miracles of agility; but our animals were not up to the business, and
we burst with the fatigue of making them ascend that hill of diffi-
culty. We had climbed a little way, when Ascanio's horse, an excel-
lent beast of Hungarian race, made a false step. He was going a
few paces before the courier Busbacca to whom Ascanio had given
his lance to carry for him. Well, the path was so bad that the horse
stumbled, and went on scrambling backwards, without being able
to regain his footing, till he stuck upon the point of the lance, which
that rogue of a courier had not the wit to keep out of his way. The
weapon passed right through his throat; and when my other work-
man went to help him, his horse also, a black-coloured animal,
slipped towards the lake, and held on by some shrub which offered
but a slight support. This horse was carrying a pair of saddle-bags,
which contained all my money and other valuables. I cried out to
the young man to save his own life, and let the horse go to the devil.
The fall was more than a mile of precipitous descent above the waters
of the lake. Just below the place our boatmen had taken up their
station; so that if the horse fell, he would have come precisely on
them. I was ahead of the whole company, and we waited to see
the horse plunge headlong; it seemed certain that he must go to per-
dition. During this I said to my young men: "Be under no concern;
let us save our lives, and give thanks to God for all that happens. I
am only distressed for that poor fellow Busbacca, who tied his goblet
and his jewels to the value of several thousands of ducats on the
horse's saddle-bow, thinking that the safest place. My things are but
a few hundred crowns, and I am in no fear whatever, if only I get
God's protection." Then Busbacca cried out: "I am not sorry for my
own loss, but for yours." "Why," said I to him, "are you sorry for

194 BENVENUTO CELLINI

my trifles, and not for all that property of yours?" He answered:
"I will tell you in God's name; in these circumstances and at the
point of peril we have reached, truth must be spoken. I know that
yours are crowns, and are so in good sooth; but that case in which
I said I had so many jewels and other lies, is all full of caviare." On
hearing this I could not hold from laughing; my young men laughed
too; and he began to cry. The horse extricated itself by a great effort
when we had given it up for lost. So then, still laughing, we sum-
moned our forces, and bent ourselves to making the ascent. The
four German gentlemen, having gained the top before us, sent down
some folk who gave us aid. Thus at length we reached our lodging
in the wilderness. Here, being wet to the skin, tired out, and fam-
ished, we were most agreeably entertained; we dried ourselves, took
rest, and satisfied our hunger, while certain wild herbs were applied
to the wounded horse. They pointed out to us the plant in question,
of which the hedges were full; and we were told that if the wound
was kept continually plugged with its leaves, the beast would not
only recover, but would serve us just as if it had sustained no injury.
We proceeded to do as they advised. Then having thanked those
gentlemen, and feeling ourselves entirely refreshed, we quitted the
place, and travelled onwards, thanking God for saving us from such
great perils.

xcvii

We reached a town beyond Vessa, where we passed the night, and
heard a watchman through all the hours singing very agreeably; for
all the houses of that city being built of pine wood, it was the watch-
man's only business to warn folk against fire. Busbacca's nerves had
been quite shaken by the day's adventures; accordingly, each hour
when the watchman sang, he called out in his sleep: "Ah God, I am
drowning!" That was because of the fright he had had; and besides,
he had got drunk in the evening, because he would sit boozing with
all the Germans who were there; and sometimes he cried: "I am
burning," and sometimes: "I am drowning;" and at other times he
thought he was in hell, and tortured with that caviare suspended
round his throat.

This night was so amusing that it turned all our troubles into

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 95

laughter. In the morning we rose with very fine weather, and
went to dine in a smiUng Httle place called Lacca. Here we ob-
tained excellent entertainment, and then engaged guides, who were
returning to a town called Surich. The guide who attended us
went along the dyked bank o£ a lake; there was no other road; and
the dyke itself was covered with water, so that the reckless fellow
slipped, and fell together with his horse beneath the water. I, who
was but a few steps behind him, stopped my horse, and waited to
see the donkey get out of the water. Just as if nothing had happened,
he began to sing again, and made signs to me to follow. I broke
away upon the right hand, and got through some hedges, making
my young men and Busbacca take that way. The guide shouted in
German that if the folk of those parts saw me they would put me to
death. However, we passed forward, and escaped that other storm.

So we arrived at Surich, a marvellous city, bright and polished
like a little gem. There we rested a whole day, then left betimes one
morning, and reached another fair city called Solutorno. Thence we
came to Usanna, from Usanna to Ginevra, from Ginevra to Lione,
always singing and laughing. At Lione I rested four days, and had
much pleasant intercourse with some of my friends there; I was
also repaid what I had spent upon Busbacca; afterwards I set out
upon the road to Paris. This was a delightful journey, except that
when we reached Palissa' a band of venturers tried to murder us,*
and it was only by great courage and address that we got free from
them. From that point onward we travelled to Paris without the
least trouble in the world. Always singing and laughing, we arrived
safely at our destination.

XCVIII

After taking some repose in Paris, I went to visit the painter Rosso,
who was in the King's service. I thought to find in him one of the
sincerest friends I had in the world, seeing that in Rome I had done
him the greatest benefits which one man can confer upon another.
As these may be described briefly, I will not here omit their mention,
in order to expose the shamelessness of such ingratitude. While he

1 La Palice.

^ Cellini, in the narrative of his second French journey, explains that these
venturieri were a notable crew of very daring brigands in the Lyonese province.

196 BENVENUTO CELLINI

was in Rome, then, being a man given to back-biting, he spoke so
ill of Raffaello da Urbino's works, that the pupils of the latter were
quite resolved to murder him. From this peril I saved him by keep-
ing a close watch upon him day and night. Again, the evil things
said by Rosso against San Gallo,' that excellent architect, caused the
latter to get work taken from him which he had previously procured
for him from Messer Agnolo da Cesi; and after this San Gallo used
his influence so strenuously against him that he must have been
brought to the verge of starvation, had not I pitied his condition and
lent him some scores of crowns to live upon. So then, not having
been repaid, and knowing that he held employment under the King,
I went, as I have said, to look him up. I did not merely expect him
to discharge his debt, but also to show me favour and assist in placing
me in that great monarch's service.

When Rosso set eyes on me, his countenance changed suddenly,
and he exclaimed: "Benvenuto, you have taken this long journey at
great charges to your loss; especially at this present time, when all
men's thoughts are occupied with war, and not with the bagatelles
of our profession." I replied that I had brought money enough to
take me back to Rome as I had come to Paris, and that this was not
the proper return for the pains I had endured for him, and that now
I began to believe what Maestro Antonio da San Gallo said of him.
When he tried to turn the matter into jest on this exposure of his
baseness, I showed him a letter of exchange for five hundred crowns
upon Ricciardo del Bene. Then the rascal was ashamed, and wanted
to detain me almost by force; but I laughed at him, and took my
leave in the company of a painter whom I found there. This man
was called Sguazzella:^ he too was a Florentine; and I went to lodge
in his house, with three horses and three servants, at so much per
week. He treated me very well, and was even better paid by me in
return.

Afterwards I sought audience of the King, through the introduc-
tion of his treasurer, Messer Giuliano Buonaccorti.^ I met, however,
with considerable delays, owing, as I did not then know, to the stren-

* Antonio da San Gallo, one o£ the best architects of the later Renaissance.
^ A pupil of Andrea del Sarto, who went with him to France and settled there.
' A Florentine exile mentioned by Varchi.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 97

uous exertions Rosso made against my admission to his Majesty.
When Messer Giuliano became aware of this, he took me down at
once to Fontana BiHo/ and brought me into the presence of the King,
who granted me a whole hour of very gracious audience. Since he
was then on the point of setting out for Lyons, he told Messer
Giuliano to take me with him, adding that on the journey we could
discuss some works of art his Majesty had it in his head to execute.
Accordingly, I followed the court; and on the way I entered into
close relations with the Cardinal of Ferrara, who had not at that
period obtained the hat.' Every evening I used to hold long con-
versations with the Cardinal, in the course of which his lordship
advised me to remain at an abbey of his in Lyons, and there to abide
at ease until the King returned from this campaign, adding that he
was going on to Grenoble, and that I should enjoy every convenience
in the abbey.

When we reached Lyons I was already ill, and my lad Ascanio
had taken a quartan fever. The French and their court were
both grown irksome to me, and I counted the hours till I could
find myself again in Rome. On seeing my anxiety to return home,
the Cardinal gave me money sufScient for making him a silver bason
and jug. So we took good horses, and set our faces in the direction
of Rome, passing the Simplon, and travelling for some while in the
company of certain Frenchmen; Ascanio troubled by his quartan,
and I by a slow fever which I found it quite impossible to throw
off. I had, moreover, got my stomach out of order to such an extent,
that for the space of four months, as I verily believe, I hardly ate
one whole loaf of bread in the week; and great was my longing
to reach Italy, being desirous to die there rather than in France.

xcix

When we had crossed the mountains of the Simplon, we came
to a river near a place called Indevedro.' It was broad and very
deep, spanned by a long narrow bridge without ramparts. That

* Fontainebleau. Cellini always writes it as above.

^Ippolito d'Este, son of Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara; Archbishop of Milan at the age
of fifteen; Cardinal in 1539; spent a large part of his life in France.
' Probably the Doveria in the Valdivedro.

198 BENVENUTO CELLINI

morning a thick white frost had fallen; and when I reached the
bridge, riding before the rest, I recognised how dangerous it was,
and bade my servants and young men dismount and lead their
horses. So I got across without accident, and rode on talking with
one of the Frenchmen, whose condition was that of a gentleman.
The other, who was a scrivener, lagged a little way behind, jeering
the French gentleman and me because we had been so frightened
by nothing at all as to give ourselves the trouble of walking. I
turned round, and seeing him upon the middle of the bridge, begged
him to come gently, since the place was very dangerous. The fel-
low, true to his French nature, cried out in French that I was a
man of poor spirit, and that there was no danger whatsoever. While
he spoke these words and urged his horse forward, the animal sud-
denly slipped over the bridge, and fell with legs in air close to a
huge rock there was there. Now God is very often merciful to
madmen; so the two beasts, human and equine, plunged together
into a deep wide pool, where both of them went down below the
water. On seeing what had happened, I set off running at full
speed, scrambled with much difficulty on to the rock, and dangling
over from it, seized the skirt of the scrivener's gown and pulled him
up, for he was still submerged beneath the surface- He had drunk
his bellyful of water, and was within an ace of being drowned. I
then, beholding him out of danger, congratulated the man upon
my having been the means of rescuing his life. The fellow to this
answered me in French, that I had done nothing; the important
things to save were his writings, worth many scores of crowns;
and these words he seemed to say in anger, dripping wet and splut-
tering the while. Thereupon, I turned round to our guides, and
ordered them to help the brute, adding that I would see them paid.
One of them with great address and trouble set himself to the busi-
ness, and picked up all the fellow's writings, so that he lost not
one of them : the other guide refused to trouble himself by rendering
any assistance.

I ought here to say that we had made a purse up, and that I per-
formed the part of paymaster. So, when we reached the place I
mentioned, and had dined, I drew some coins from the common
purse and gave them to the guide who helped to draw him from

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 99

the water. Thereupon the fellow called out that I might pay them
out of my own pocket; he had no intention of giving the man
more than what had been agreed on for his services as guide. Upon
this I retorted with insulting language. Then the other guide, who
had done nothing, came up and demanded to be rewarded also.
I told him that the one who had borne the cross deserved the recom-
pense. He cried out that he would presently show me a cross
which should make me repent. I replied that I would light a candle
at that cross, which should, I hoped, make him to be the first to
weep his folly. The village we were in lay on the frontier between
Venice and the Germans. So the guide ran off to bring the folk
together, and came, followed by a crowd, with a boar-spear in his
hand. Mounted on my good steed, I lowered the barrel of my
arquebuse, and turning to my comrades, cried: "At the first shot I
shall bring that fellow down; do you likewise your duty, for these
are highway robbers, who have used this little incident to contrive
our murder." The innkeeper at whose house we had dined called
one of the leaders, an imposing old man, and begged him to put
a stop to the disorder, saying: "This is a most courageous young
man; you may cut him to pieces, but he will certainly kill a lot of
you, and perhaps will escape your hands after doing all the mischief
he is able." So matters calmed down : and the old man, their leader,
said to me: "Go in peace; you would not have much to boast of
against us, even if you had a hundred men to back you." I recog-
nised the truth of his words, and had indeed made up my mind to
die among them; therefore, when no further insults were cast at me,
I shook my head and exclaimed: "I should certainly have done my
utmost to prove I am no statue, but a man of flesh and spirit."
Then we resumed our journey; and that evening, at the first lodg-
ing we came to, settled our accounts together. There I parted for
ever from that beast of a Frenchman, remaining on very friendly
terms with the other, who was a gentleman. Afterwards I reached
Ferrara, with my three horses and no other company.

Having dismounted, I went to court in order to pay my reverence
to the Duke, and gain permission to depart next morning for Loreto.
When I had waited until two hours after nightfall, his Excellency
appeared. I kissed his hands; he received me with much courtesy.

200 BENVENUTO CELLINI

and ordered that water should be brought for me to wash my hands
before eating. To this comphment I made a pleasant answer : "Most
excellent lord, it is now more than four months that I have eaten
only just enough to keep life together; knowing therefore that I
could not enjoy the delicacies of your royal table, I will stay and
talk with you while your Excellency is supping; in this way we
shall both have more pleasure than if I were to sup with you." Ac-
cordingly, we entered into conversation, and prolonged it for the next
three hours. At that time I took my leave, and when I got back to
the inn, found a most excellent meal ready; for the Duke had sent
me the plates from his own banquet, together with some famous
wine. Having now fasted two full hours beyond my usual hour for
supping, I fell to with hearty appetite; and this was the first time
since four months that I felt the power or will to eat.

Leaving Ferrara in the morning, I went to Santa Maria at Loreto;
and thence, having performed my devotions, pursued the journey to
Rome. There I found my most faithful Felice, to whom I aban-
doned my old shop with all its furniture and appurtenances, and
opened another, much larger and roomier, next to Sugherello, the
perfumer. I thought for certain that the great King Francis would
not have remembered me. Therefore I accepted commissions from
several noblemen; and in the meanwhile began the bason and jug
ordered by the Cardinal Ferrara. I had a crowd of workmen, and
many large affairs on hand in gold and silver.

Now the arrangement I had made with that Ferugian workman'
was that he should write down all the monies which had been dis-
bursed on his account, chiefly for clothes and divers other sundries;
and these, together with the costs of travelling, amounted to about
seventy crowns. We agreed that he should discharge the debt by
monthly payments of three crowns; and this he was well able to do,
since he gained more than eight through me. At the end of two
months the rascal decamped from my shop, leaving me in the lurch
with a mass of business on my hands, and saying that he did not
mean to pay me a farthing more. I was resolved to seek redress,
' In his Ricordi Cellini calls the man Girolamo Pascucci.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 201

but allowed myself to be persuaded to do so by the way of justice.
At first I thought of lopping off an arm of his; and assuredly I should
have done so, if my friends had not told me that it was a mistake,
seeing I should lose my money and perhaps Rome too a second time,
forasmuch as blows cannot be measured, and that with the agree-
ment I held of his I could at any moment have him taken up. I
listened to their advice, though I should have liked to conduct the
affair more freely. As a matter of fact, I sued him before the auditor
of the Camera, and gained my suit; in consequence of that decree,
for which I waited several months, I had him thrown into prison.
At the same time I was overwhelmed with large commissions;
among others, I had to supply all the ornaments of gold and jewels
for the wife of Signor Gierolimo Orsino, father of Signor Paolo, who
is now the son-in-law of our Duke Cosimo.^ These things I had
nearly finished; yet others of the greatest consequence were always
coming in. I employed eight work-people, and worked day and night
together with them, for the sake alike of honour and of gain.

CI

While I was engaged in prosecuting my affairs with so much
vigour, there arrived a letter sent post-haste to me by the Cardinal
of Ferrara, which ran as follows: —

"Benvenuto, our dear friend, — During these last days the most
Christian King here made mention of you, and said that he should
lil{e to have you in his service. Whereto I answered that you had
promised me, whenever I sent for you to serve his Majesty, that you
would come at once. His Majesty then answered: 'It is my will\
that provision for his journey, according to his merits, should
be sent him;' and immediately ordered his Admiral to ma\e me
out an order for one thousand golden crowns upon the treasurer
of the Exchequer. The Cardinal de' Gaddi, who was present at
this conversation, advanced immediately , and told his Majesty that
it was not necessary to make these dispositions, seeing that he had
sent you money enough, and that you were already on the journey.
If then, as I thin\ probable, the facts are quite contrary to those

^ He was Duke of Bracciano, father of Duke Paolo, who married Isabella de' Medici,
and murdered her before his second marriage with Vittoria Accoramboni. See my
Renaissance in Italy, vol. vi.

202 BENVENUTO CELLINI

assertions of Cardinal Gaddi, reply to me without delay upon the
receipt of this letter; for I will undertake to gather up the fallen
thread, and have the promised money given you by this magnani-
mous King."

Now let the world take notice, and all the folk that dwell on it,
what power malignant stars with adverse fortune exercise upon us
human beings! I had not spoken twice in my lifetime to that little
simpleton of a Cardinal de' Gaddi; nor do I think that he meant
by this bumptiousness of his to do me any harm, but only, through
lightheadedness and senseless folly, to make it seem as though he
also held the affairs of artists, whom the King was wanting, under
his own personal supervision, just as the Cardinal of Ferrara did.
But afterwards he was so stupid as not to tell me anything at all
about the matter; elsewise, it is certain that my wish to shield a silly
mannikin from reproach, if only for our country's sake, would have
made me find out some excuse to mend the bungling of his foolish
self-conceit.

Immediately upon the receipt of Cardinal Ferrara's letter, I an-
swered that about Cardinal de' Gaddi I knew absolutely nothing,
and that even if he had made overtures of that kind to me, I should
not have left Italy without informing his most reverend lordship. I
also said that I had more to do in Rome than at any previous time;
but that if his most Christian Majesty made sign of wanting me,
one word of his, communicated by so great a prince as his most rev-
erend lordship, would suffice to make me set off upon the spot, leav-
ing all other concerns to take their chance.

After I had sent my letter, that traitor, the Perugian workman,
devised a piece of malice against me, which succeeded at once, owing
to the avarice of Pope Paolo da Farnese, but also far more to that of
his bastard, who was then called Duke of Castro.' The fellow in
question informed one of Signor Pier Luigi's secretaries that, having
been with me as workman several years, he was acquainted with
all my affairs, on the strength of which he gave his word to Signor
Pier Luigi that I was worth more than eighty thousand ducats, and
that the greater part of this property consisted in jewels, which
jewels belonged to the Church, and that I had stolen them in Castel

' He had been invested with the Duchy of Castro in 1537.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 203

Sant' Angelo during the sack of Rome, and that all they had to do
was to catch me on the spot with secrecy.

It so happened that I had been at work one morning, more than
three hours before daybreak, upon the trousseau of the bride I men-
tioned; then, while my shop was being opened and swept out, I put
my cape on to go abroad and take the air. Directing my steps along
the Strada Giulia, I turned into Chiavica, and at this corner Cres-
pino, the Bargello, with all his constables, made up to me, and said :
"You are the Pope's prisoner." I answered: "Crespino, you have
mistaken your man." "No," said Crespino, "you are the artist Ben-
venuto, and I know you well, and I have to take you to the Castle
of Sant' Angelo, where lords go, and men of accomplishments, your
peers." Upon that four of his under-officers rushed on me, and would
have seized by force a dagger which I wore, and some rings I car-
ried on my linger; but Crespino rebuked them: "Not a man of you
shall touch him: it is quite enough if you perform your duty, and
see that he does not escape me." Then he came up, and begged me
with words of courtesy to surrender my arms. While I was engaged
in doing this, it crossed my mind that exactly on that very spot I had
assassinated Pompeo. They took me straightway to the castle, and
locked me in an upper chamber in the keep. This was the first
time that I ever smelt a prison up to the age I then had of thirty-
seven years.

CII

Signor Pier Luigi, the Pope's son, had well considered the large
sum for which I stood accused; so he begged the reversion of it
from his most holy father, and asked that he might have the money
made out to himself. The Pope granted this willingly, adding that
he would assist in its recovery. Consequendy, after having kept
me eight whole days in prison, they sent me up for examination,
in order to put an end if possible to the affair. I was summoned into
one of the great halls of the papal castle, a place of much dignity.
My examiners were, first, the Governor of Rome, called Messer
Benedetto Conversini of Pistoja,^ who afterwards became Bishop
of Jesi; secondly, the Procurator-Fiscal, whose name I have for-

' Bishop of Forlimpopoli in 1537, and of Jesi in 1540.

204 BENVENUTO CELLINI

gotten;^ and, thirdly, the judge in criminal cases, Messer Benedetto
da Cagli. These three men began at first to question me in gentle
terms, which afterwards they changed to words of considerable harsh-
ness and menace, apparently because I said to them : "My lords, it is
more than half-an-hour now since you have been pestering me with
questions about fables and such things, so that one may truly say you
are chattering or prattling; by chattering I mean talking without
reason, by prattling I mean talking nonsense: therefore I beg you
to tell me what it really is you want of me, and to let me hear from
your lips reasonable speech, and not jabberings or nonsense." In
reply to these words of mine, the Governor, who was a Pistojan,
could no longer disguise his furious temper, and began: "You talk
very confidently, or rather far too arrogantly; but let me tell you
that I will bring your pride down lower than a spaniel by the words
of reason you shall hear from me; these will be neither jabberings
nor nonsense, as you have it, but shall form a chain of arguments
to answer which you will be forced to tax the utmost of your wits."
Then he began to speak as follows : "We know for certain that you
were in Rome at the time when this unhappy city was subject to
the calamity o£ the sack; at that time you were in this Castle of
Sant' Angelo, and were employed as bombardier. Now since you
are a jeweller and goldsmith by trade. Pope Clement, being pre-
viously acquainted with you, and having by him no one else of
your profession, called you into his secret counsels, and made you
unset all the jewels of his tiaras, mitres, and rings; afterwards, hav-
ing confidence in you, he ordered you to sew them into his clothes.
While thus engaged, you sequestered, unknown to his Holiness, a
portion o£ them, to the value of eighty thousand crowns. This has
been told us by one of your workmen, to whom you disclosed the
matter in your braggadocio way. Now, we tell you frankly that you
must find the jewels, or their value in money; after that we will
release you."

cm

When I heard these words, I could not hold from bursting into a
great roar of laughter; then, having laughed a while, I said: "Thanks

^ Benedetto Valenti.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 205;

be to God that on this first occasion, when it has pleased His Divine
Majesty to imprison me, I should not be imprisoned for some folly,
as the wont is usually with young men. If what you say were the
truth, I run no risk of having to submit to corporal punishment,
since the authority of the law was suspended during that season.
Indeed, I could excuse myself by saying that, like a faithful servant,
I had kept back treasure to that amount for the sacred and Holy
Apostolic Church, waiting till I could restore it to a good Pope, or
else to those who might require it of me; as, for instance, you might,,
if this were verily the case." When I had spoken so far, the furious.
Governor would not let me conclude my argument, but exclaimed
in a burst of rage: "Interpret the affair as you like best, Benvenuto;
it is enough for us to have found the property which we had lost;,
be quick about it, if you do not want us to use other measures than
words." Then they began to rise and leave the chamber; but I
stopped them, crying out: "My lords, my examination is not over;
bring that to an end, and go then where you choose." They resumed
their seats in a very angry temper, making as though they did not
mean to listen to a word I said, and at the same time half relieved,'
as though they had discovered all they wanted to know. I then
began my speech, to this effect: "You are to know, my lords, that
it is now some twenty years since I first came to Rome, and I have
never been sent to prison here or elsewhere." On this that catchpole
of a Governor called out: "And yet you have killed men enough
here!" I replied: "It is you that say it, and not I; but if some one
came to kill you, priest as you are, you would defend yourself, and
if you killed him, the sanctity o£ law would hold you justified.
Therefore let me continue my defence, if you wish to report the case
to the Pope, and to judge me fairly. Once more I tell you that I
have been a sojourner in this marvellous city Rome for nigh on
twenty years, and here I have exercised my art in matters of vast
importance. Knowing that this is the seat of Christ, I entertained
the reasonable belief that when some temporal prince sought to
inflict on me a mortal injury, I might have recourse to this holy
chair and to this Vicar of Christ, in confidence that he would surely
uphold my cause. Ah me! whither am I now to go? What prince
1 SolUvati. It may mean half-risen from their seats.

206 BENVENUTO CELLINI

is there who will protect me from this infamous assassination ? Was
it not your business, before you took me up, to find out what I had
done with those eighty thousand ducats? Was it not your duty to
inspect the record of the jewels, which have been carefully inscribed
by this Apostolic Camera through the last five hundred years? If
you had discovered anything missing on that record, then you ought
to have seized all my books together with myself. I tell you for a
certainty that the registers, on which are written all the jewels of
the Pope and the regalia, must be perfectly in order; you will not
find there missing a single article of value which belonged to Pope
Clement that has not been minutely noted. The one thing of the
kind which occurs to me is this : When that poor man Pope Clement
wanted to make terms with those thieves of the Imperial army, who
had robbed Rome and insulted the Church, a certain Cesare Iscati-
naro, if I rightly remember his name, came to negotiate with him;^
and having nearly concluded the agreement, the Pope in his ex-
tremity, to show the man some mark of favour, let fall a diamond
from his finger, which was worth about four thousand crowns, and
when Iscatinaro stooped to pick it up, the Pope told him to keep it
for his sake. I was present at these transactions : and if the diamond
•of which I speak be missing, I have told you where it went; but I
have the firmest conviction that you will find even this noted upon
the register. After this you may blush at your leisure for having
done such cruel injustice to a man like me, who has performed so
many honourable services for the apostolic chair. I would have you
know that, but for me, the morning when the Imperial troops en-
tered the Borgo, they would without let or hindrance have forced
their way into the castle. It was I who, unrewarded for this act,
betook myself with vigour to the guns which had been abandoned
by the cannoneers and soldiers of the ordnance. I put spirit into my
comrade Raffaello da Montelupo, the sculptor, who had also left his
post and hid himself all frightened in a corner, without stirring foot
or finger; I woke his courage up, and he and I alone together slew
so many of the enemies that the soldiers took another road. I it was

' Gio. Bartolommeo di Gattinara. Raffaello da Montelupo, in his Autobiography,
calls him Cattinaro, and relates how "when he came one day into the castle to
negotiate a treaty, he was wounded in the arm by one of our arquebusiers." This
•confirms what follows above.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY '20']

who shot at Iscatinaro when I saw him talking to Pope Clement
without the slightest mark of reverence, nay, with the most revolt-
ing insolence, like the Lutheran and infidel he was> Pope Clement
upon this had the castle searched to find and hang the man who
did it. I it was who wounded the Prince of Orange in the head
down there below the trenches of the castle. Then, too, how many
ornaments of silver, gold, and jewels, how many models and coins,
so beautiful and so esteemed, have I not made for Holy Church!
Is this then the presumptuous priestly recompense you give a man
who has served and loved you with such loyalty, with such mastery
of art? Oh, go and report the whole that I have spoken to the Pope;
go and tell him that his jewels are all in his possession; that I never
received from the Church anything but wounds and stonings at that
epoch of the sack; that I never reckoned upon any gain beyond some
small remuneration from Pope Paolo, which he had promised me.
Now at last I know what to think of his Holiness and you his Min-
isters."

While I was delivering this speech, they sat and listened in aston-
ishment. Then exchanging glances one with the other, and making
signs of much surprise, they left me. All three went together to
report what I had spoken to the Pope. The Pope felt some shame,
and gave orders that all the records of the jewels should be diligently
searched. When they had ascertained that none were missing, they
left me in the castle without saying a word mo'e about it. Signor
Pier Luigi felt also that he had acted ill; and to end the affair, they
set about to contrive my death.

CIV

During the agitations of this time which I have just related, King
Francis received news of how the Pope was keeping me in prison,
and with what injustice. He had sent a certain gentleman of his,
named Monsignor di Morluc, as his ambassador to Rome;' to him
therefore he now wrote, claiming me from the Pope as the man
of his Majesty. The Pope was a person of extraordinary sense and
ability, but in this affair of mine he behaved weakly and unintelli-

' Jean de Montluc, brother of the celebrated Marshal, Bishop of Valence, a friend
of Margaret of Navarre, and, like her, a protector of the Huguenots. He negotiated
the election of the Duke of Anjou to the throne of Poland.

208 BENVENUTO CELLINI

gently; for he made answer to the King's envoy that his Majesty
need pay me no attention, since I was a fellow who gave much
trouble by fighting; therefore he advised his Majesty to leave me
alone, adding that he kept me in prison for homicides and other
deviltries which I had played. To this the King sent answer that
justice in his realm was excellently maintained; for even as his
Majesty was wont to shower rewards and favours upon men of parts
and virtue, so did he ever chastise the troublesome. His Holiness
had let me go, not caring for the service of the said Benvenuto, and
the King, when he saw him in his realm, most willingly adopted
him; therefore he now asked for him in the quality of his own man.
Such a demand was certainly one of the most honourable marks of
favour which a man of my sort could desire; yet it proved the source
of infinite annoyance and hurt to me. The Pope was roused to such
fury by the jealous fear he had lest I should go and tell the whole
world how infamously I had been treated, that he kept revolving
ways in which I might be put to death without injury to his own
credit.

The castellan of Sant' Angelo was one of our Florentines, called
Messer Giorgio, a knight of the Ugolini family.^ This worthy man
showed me the greatest courtesy, and let me go free about the castle
on parole. He was well aware how greatly I had been wronged;
and when I wanted to give security for leave to walk about the castle,
he replied that though he could not take that, seeing the Pope set
too much importance upon my affair, yet he would frankly trust
my word, because he was informed by every one what a worthy man
I was. So I passed my parole, and he granted me conveniences for
working at my trade. I then, reflecting that the Pope's anger against
me must subside, as well because of my innocence as because of the
favour shown me by the King, kept my shop in Rome open, while
Ascanio, my prentice, came to the castle and brought me things to
work at. I could not indeed do much, feeling myself imprisoned
so unjustly; yet I made a virtue of necessity, and bore my adverse
fortune with as light a heart as I was able.

1 had secured the attachment of all the guards and many soldiers

2 It is only known of this man that he was a Knight of Jerusalem, and had been
Commendatore of Prato in 15 ii.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 209

of the castle. Now the Pope used to come at times to sup there, and
on those occasions no watch was kept, but the place stood open like
an ordinary palace. Consequently, while the Pope was there, the
prisoners used to be shut up with great precautions; none such, how-
ever, were taken with me, who had the license to go where I liked,
even at those times, about its precincts. Often then those soldiers
told me that I ought to escape, and that they would aid and abet
me, knowing as they did how greatly I had been wronged. I an-
swered that I had given my parole to the castellan, who was such
a worthy man, and had done me such kind offices. One very brave
and clever soldier used to say to me: "My Benvenuto, you must
know that a prisoner is not obliged, and cannot be obliged, to keep
faith, any more than aught else which befits a free man. Do what I
tell you; escape from that rascal of a Pope and that bastard his son,
for both are bent on having your life by villainy." I had, however,
made my mind up rather to lose my life than to break the promise
I had given that good man the castellan. So I bore the extreme dis-
comforts of my situation, and had for companion of misery a friar
of the Palavisina house, who was a very famous preacher.'

cv

This man had been arrested as a Lutheran. He was an excellent
companion; but, from the point of view of his religion, I found him
the biggest scoundrel in the world, to whom all kinds of vices were
acceptable. His fine intellectual qualities won my admiration; but
I hated his dirty vices, and frankly taxed him with them. This friar
kept perpetually reminding me that I was in no wise bound to ob-
serve faith with the castellan, since I had become a prisoner. I
replied to these arguments that he might be speaking the truth as
a friar, but that as a man he spoke the contrary; for every one who
called himself a man, and not a monk, was bound to keep his word
under all circumstances in which he chanced to be. I therefore,
being a man, and not a monk, was not going to break the simple
and loyal word which I had given. Seeing then that he could not
sap my honour by the subtle and ingenious sophistries he so elo-

• Cellini means Pallavicini. Nothing seems to be known about him, except that
his imprisonment is mentioned in a letter of Caro's under date 1540.

210 BENVENUTO CELLINI

quently developed, the friar hit upon another way of tempting me.
He allowed some days to pass, during which he read me the sermons
of Fra Jerolimo Savonarola; and these he expounded with such
lucidity and learning that his comment was even finer than the text.
I remained in ecstasies of admiration; and there was nothing in the
world I would not have done for him, except, as I have said, to
break my promised word. When he saw the effect his talents had
produced upon my mind, he thought of yet another method. Cau-
tiously he began to ask what means I should have taken, supposing
my jailers had locked me up, in order to set the dungeon doors open
and effect my flight. I then, who wanted to display the sharpness
of my own wits to so ingenious a man, replied that I was quite sure
of being able to open the most baffling locks and bars, far more
those of our prison, to do which would be the same to me as eating
a bit of new cheese. In order then to gain my secret, the friar now
made light of these assertions, averring that persons who have gained
some credit by their abilities, are wont to talk big of things which,
if they had to put their boasts in action, would speedily discredit
them, and much to their dishonour. Himself had heard me speak
so far from the truth, that he was inclined to think I should, when
pushed to proof, end in a dishonourable failure. Upon this, feeling
myself stung to the quick by that devil of a friar, I responded that I
always made a practice of promising in words less than I could
perform in deeds; what I had said about the keys was the merest
trifle; in a few words I could make him understand that the matter
was as I had told it; then, all too heedlessly, I demonstrated the
facility with which my assertions could be carried into act. He
affected to pay little attention; but all the same he learned my lesson
well by heart with keen intelligence.

As I have said above, the worthy castellan let me roam at pleasure
over the whole fortress. Not even at night did he lock me in, as was
the custom with the other prisoners. Moreover, he allowed me to
employ myself as I liked best, with gold or silver or with wax
according to my whim. So then I laboured several weeks at the
bason ordered by Cardinal Ferrara, but the irksomeness of my im-
prisonment bred in me a disgust for such employment, and I took
to modelling in wax some little figures of my fancy, for mere recre-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 211

ation. 0£ the wax which I used, the friar stole a piece; and with
this he proceeded to get false keys made, upon the method I had
heedlessly revealed to him. He had chosen for his accomplice a
registrar named Luigi, a Paduan, who was in the castellan's service.
When the keys were ordered, the locksmith revealed their plot; and
the castellan who came at times to see me in my chamber, noticing
the wax which I was using, recognised it at once and exclaimed : "It
is true that this poor fellow Benvenuto has suffered a most grievous
wrong; yet he ought not to have dealt thus with me, for I have ever
strained my sense of right to show him kindness. Now I shall keep
him straitly under lock and key, and shall take good care to do him
no more service." Accordingly, he had me shut up with disagreeable
circumstances, among the worst of which were the words flung at
me by some of his devoted servants, who were indeed extremely
fond of me, but now, on this occasion, cast in my teeth all the kind
offices the castellan had done me; they came, in fact, to calling me
ungrateful, light, and disloyal. One of them in particular used those
injurious terms more insolently than was decent; whereupon I, being
convinced of my innocence, retorted hotly that I had never broken
faith, and would maintain these words at the peril of my life, and
that if he or any of his fellows abused me so unjustly, I would fling
the lie back in his throat. The man, intolerant of my rebuke, rushed
to the castellan's room, and brought me the wax with the model
of the keys. No sooner had I seen the wax than I told him that both
he and I were in the right; but I begged him to procure for me an
audience with the castellan, for I meant to explain frankly how
the matter stood, which was of far more consequence than they
imagined. The castellan sent for me at once, and I told him the
whole course of events. This made him arrest the friar, who be-
trayed the registrar, and the latter ran a risk of being hanged. How-
ever, the castellan hushed the affair up, although it had reached
the Pope's ears; he saved his registrar from the gallows, and gave me
the same freedom as I had before.

cvi

When I saw how rigorously this affair was prosecuted, I began to
think of my own concerns, and said: "Supposing another of these

212 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Storms should rise, and the man should lose confidence in me, I
should then be under no obligation to him, and might wish to use
my wits a little, which would certainly work their end better than
those of that rascally friar." So I began to have new sheets of a
coarse fabric brought me, and did not send the dirty ones away.
When my servants asked for them, I bade them hold their tongues,
saying I had given the sheets to some of those poor soldiers; and if
the matter came to knowledge, the wretched fellows ran risk of the
galleys. This made my young men and attendants, especially Felice,
keep the secret of the sheets in all loyalty. I meanwhile set myself
to emptying a straw mattress, the stuffing of which I burned, having
a chimney in my prison. Out of the sheets I cut strips, the third
of a cubit in breadth; and when I had made enough in my opinion
to clear the great height of the central keep of Sant' Angelo, I told
my servants that I had given away what I wanted; they must now
bring me others of a finer fabric, and I would always send back the
dirty ones. This affair was presently forgotten.

Now my workpeople and serving-men were obliged to close my
shop at the order of the Cardinals Santi Quattro' and Cornaro, who
told me openly that the Pope would not hear of setting me at large,
and that the great favours shown me by King Francis had done far
more harm than good. It seems that the last words spoken from the
, King by Monsignor di Morluc had been to this effect, namely, that
the Pope ought to hand me over to the ordinary judges of the court;
if I had done wrong, he could chastise me; but otherwise, it was
but reason that he should set me at liberty. This message so irritated
the Pope that he made his mind up to keep me a prisoner for life.
At the same time, the castellan most certainly did his utmost to
assist me.

When my enemies perceived that my shop was closed, they lost no
opportunity of taunting and reviling those servants and friends of
mine who came to visit me in prison. It happened on one occasion
that Ascanio, who came twice a day to visit me, asked to have a
jacket cut out for him from a blue silk vest of mine I never used.
I had only worn it once, on the occasion when I walked in procession.
I replied that these were not the times nor was I in the place to wear
' Antonio Pucci, a Florentine, Cardinal de' Quattro Santi Coronati.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 213

such clothes. The young man took my refusal of this miserable vest
so ill that he told me he wanted to go home to Tagliacozzo. All
in a rage, I answered that he could not please me better than by
taking himself oil; and he swore with passion that he would never
show his face to me again. When these words passed between us,
we were walking round the keep of the castle. It happened that the
castellan was also taking the air there; so just when we met his lord-
ship Ascanio said: "I am going away; farewell for ever!" I added:
"For ever, is my wish too; and thus in sooth shall it be. I shall tell
the sentinels not to let you pass again!" Then, turning to the castel-
lan, I begged him with all my heart to order the guards to keep
Ascanio out, adding: "This little peasant comes here to add to my
great trouble; I entreat you, therefore, my lord, not to let him enter
any more." The castellan was much grieved, because he knew him
to be a lad of marvellous talents; he was, moreover, so fair a person
that every one who once set eyes on him seemed bound to love him
beyond measure.

The boy went away weeping. That day he had with him a small
scimitar, which it was at times his wont to carry hidden beneath his
clothes. Leaving the castle then, and having his face wet with tears,
he chanced to meet two of my chief enemies, Jeronimo the Perugian,'
and a certain Michele, goldsmiths both of them. Michele, being
Jeronimo's friend and Ascanio's enemy, called out: "What is As-
canio crying for? Perhaps his father is dead; I mean that father in
the castle!" Ascanio answered on the instant: "He is alive, but you
shall die this minute." Then, raising his hand, he struck two blows
with the scimitar, both at the fellow's head; the first felled him to
earth, the second lopped three fingers off his right hand, though it
was aimed at his head. He lay there like a dead man. The matter
was at once reported to the Pope, who cried in a great fury: "Since
the King wants him to be tried, go and give him three days to
prepare his defence!" So they came, and executed the commission
which the Pope had given them.

The excellent castellan went off upon the spot to his Holiness, and
informed him that I was no accomplice in the matter, and that I had
sent Ascanio about his business. So ably did he plead my cause that
^i. e., Girolamo Pascucd.

214 BENVENUTO CELLINI

he saved my life from this impending tempest. Ascanio meanwhile
escaped to Tagliacozzo, to his home there, whence he wrote begging
a thousand times my pardon, and acknowledging his wrong in add-
ing troubles to my grave disaster; but protesting that if through
God's grace I came out from the prison, he meant never to abandon
me. I let him understand that he must mind his art, and that if God
set me at large again I would certainly recall him.

CVII

The castellan was subject to a certain sickness, which came upon
him every year and deprived him of his wits. The sign of its
approach was that he kept continually talking, or rather jabbering,
to no purpose. These humours took a different shape each year; one
time he thought he was an oiljar; another time he thought he was a
frog, and hopped about as frogs do; another time he thought he was
dead, and then they had to bury him; not a year passed but he got
some such hypochondriac notions into his head. At this season he
imagined that he was a bat, and when he went abroad to take the
air, he used to scream like bats in a high thin tone; and then he
would flap his hands and body as though he were about to fly. The
doctors, when they saw the fit coming on him, and his old servants,
gave him all the distractions they could think of; and since they
had noticed that he derived much pleasure from my conversation,
they were always fetching me to keep him company. At times the
poor man detained me for four or five stricken hours without ever
letting me cease talking. He used to keep me at his table, eating
opposite to him, and never stopped chatting and making me chat;
but during those discourses I contrived to make a good meal. He,
poor man, could neither eat nor sleep; so that at last he wore me out.
I was at the end of my strength; and sometimes when I looked at
him, I noticed that his eyeballs were rolling in a frightful manner,
one looking one way and the other in another.

He took it into his head to ask me whether I had ever had a fancy
to fly. I answered that it had always been my ambition to do those
things which offer the greatest difficulties to men, and that I had
done them; as to flying, the God of Nature had gifted me with a
body well suited for running and leaping far beyond the common

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 215

average, and that with the talents I possessed for manual art I felt
sure I had the courage to try flying. He then inquired what methods
I should use; to which I answered that, taking into consideration all
flying creatures, and wishing to imitate by art what they derived
from nature, none was so apt a model as the bat. No sooner had
the poor man heard the name bat, which recalled the humour he was
suffering under, than he cried out at the top of his voice: "He says
true — he says true; the bat's the thing — the bat's the thing!" Then
he turned to me and said: "Benvenuto, if one gave you the oppor-
tunity, should you have the heart to fly?" I said if he would set me
at liberty, I felt quite up to flying down to Prati, after making myself
a pair of wings out of waxed linen. Thereupon he replied: "I too
should be prepared to take flight; but since the Pope has bidden
me guard you as though you were his own eyes, and I know you a
clever devil who would certainly escape, I shall now have you locked
up with a hundred keys in order to prevent you sUpping through
my fingers." I then began to implore him, and remind him that
I might have fled, but that on account of the word which I had
given him I would never have betrayed his trust: therefore I begged
him for the love of God, and by the kindness he had always shown
me, not to add greater evils to the misery of my present situation.
While I was pouring out these entreaties, he gave strict orders to
have me bound and taken and locked up in prison. On seeing that
it could not be helped, I told him before all his servants: "Lock me
well up, and keep good watch on me; for I shall certainly contrive
to escape." So they took and confined me with the utmost care.

CVIII

I then began to deliberate upon the best way of making my
escape. No sooner had I been locked in, than I went about exploring
my prison; and when I thought I had discovered how to get out of
it, I pondered the means of descending from the lofty keep, for so
the great round central tower is called. I took those new sheets of
mine, which, as I have said already, I had cut in strips and sewn
together; then I reckoned up the quantity which would be sufficient
for my purpose. Having made this estimate and put all things in
order, I looked out a pair of pincers which I had abstracted from a

2l6 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Savoyard belonging to the guard of the castle. This man superin-
tended the casks and cisterns; he also amused himself with carpen-
tering. Now he possessed several pairs of pincers, among which was
one both big and heavy. 1 then, thinking it would suit my purpose,
took it and hid it in my straw mattress. The time had now come
for me to use it; so I began to try the nails which kept the hinges
of my door in place.' The door was double, and the clinching of the
nails could not be seen; so that when I attempted to draw one out,
I met with the greatest trouble; in the end, however, I succeeded.
When I had drawn the first nail, I bethought me how to prevent
its being noticed. For this purpose I mixed some rust, which I had
scraped from old iron, with a little wax, obtaining exactly the same
colour as the heads of the long nails which I had extracted. Then
I set myself to counterfeit these heads and place them on the hold-
fasts; for each nail I extracted I made a counterfeit in wax. I left
the hinges attached to their door-posts at top and bottom by means
of some of the same nails that I had drawn; but I took care to cut
these and replace them lightly, so that they only just supported
the irons of the hinges.

All this I performed with the greatest difBcuIty, because the
castellan kept dreaming every night that I had escaped, which made
him send from time to time to inspect my prison. The man who
came had the title and behaviour of a catch-poll. He was called
Bozza, and used always to bring with him another of the same sort,
named Giovanni and nicknamed Pedignone; the latter was a soldier,
and Bozza a serving-man. Giovanni never entered my prison with-
out saying something offensive to me. He came from the district of
Prato, and had been an apothecary in the town there. Every evening
he minutely examined the holdfasts of the hinges and the whole
chamber, and I used to say: "Keep a good watch over me, for I am
resolved by all means to escape." These words bred a great enmity
between him and me, so that I was obliged to use precautions to
conceal my tools, that is to say, my pincers and a great big poniard
and other appurtenances. All these I put away together in my
mattress, where I also kept the strips of linen I had made. When day

* The door seems to have been hung upon hinges with plates nailed into the posts.
Cellini calls these plates bandelle.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 21 7

broke, I used immediately to sweep my room out; and though I am
by nature a lover of cleanliness, at that time I kept myself unusually
spick and span. After sweeping up, I made my bed as daintily as I
could, laying flowers upon it, which a Savoyard used to bring me
nearly every morning. He had the care of the cistern and the casks,
and also amused himself with carpentering; it was from him I
stole the pincers which I used in order to draw out the nails from
the holdfasts of the hinges.

cix

Well, to return to the subject of my bed; when Bozza and Pedi-
gnone came, I always told them to give it a wide berth, so as not to
dirty and spoil it for me. Now and then, just to irritate me, they
would touch it lightly, upon which I cried: "Ah, dirty cowards! I'll
lay my hand on one of your swords there, and will do you a mischief
that will make you wonder. Do you think you are fit to touch the
bed of a man like me ? When I chastise you I shall not heed my own
life, for I am certain to take yours. Let me alone then with my
troubles and my tribulations, and don't give me more annoyance
than I have already; if not, I shall make you see what a desperate
man is able to do." These words they reported to the castellan, who
gave them express orders never to go near my bed, and when they
came to me, to come without swords, but for the rest to keep a
watchful guard upon me.

Having thus secured my bed from meddlers, I felt as though the
main point was gained; for there lay all things needful to my venture.
It happened on the evening of a certain feast-day that the castellan
was seriously indisposed; his humours grew extravagant; he kept
repeating that he was a bat, and if they heard that Benvenuto had
flown away, they must let him go to catch me up, since he could fly
by night most certainly as well or better than myself; for it was
thus he argued: "Benvenuto is a counterfeit bat, but I am a real one;
and since he is committed to my care, leave me to act; I shall be
sure to catch him." He had passed several nights in this frenzy,
and had worn out all his servants, whereof I received full informa-
tion through divers channels, but especially from the Savoyard, who
was my friend at heart.

2l8 BENVENUTO CELLINI

On the evening of that feast-day, then, I made my mind up to
escape, come what might; and first I prayed most devoutly to God,
imploring His Divine Majesty to protect and succour me in that so
perilous a venture. Afterwards I set to work at all the things I
needed, and laboured the whole of the night. It was two hours
before daybreak when at last I removed those hinges with the
greatest toil; but the wooden panel itself and the bolt too offered
such resistance that I could not open the door; so I had to cut into
the wood; yet in the end I got it open, and shouldering the strips of
linen which I had rolled up like bundles of flax upon two sticks, I
went forth and directed my steps towards the latrines of the keep.
Spying from within two tiles upon the roof, I was able at once to
clamber up with ease. I wore a white doublet with a pair of white
hose and a pair of half boots, into which I had stuck the poniard I
have mentioned.

After scaling the roof, I took one end of my linen roll and attached
it to a piece of antique tile which was built into the fortress wall; it
happened to jut out scarcely four fingers. In order to fix the band,
I gave it the form of a stirrup. When I had attached it to that piece
of tile, I turned to God and said: "Lord God, give aid to my good
cause; you know that it is good; you see that I am aiding myself."
Then I let myself go gently by degrees, supporting myself with the
sinews of my arms, until I touched the ground. There was no
moonshine, but the light of a fair open heaven. When I stood upon
my feet on solid earth, I looked up at the vast height which I had
descended with such spirit, and went gladly away, thinking I was
free. But this was not the case; for the castellan on that side of the
fortress had built two lofty walls, the space between which he used
for stable and henyard; the place was barred with thick iron bolts
outside. I was terribly disgusted to find there was no exit from this
trap; but while I paced up and down debating what to do, I
stumbled on a long pole which was covered up with straw. Not
without great trouble I succeeded in placing it against the wall, and
then swarmed up it by the force of my arms until I reached the top.
But since the wall ended in a sharp ridge, I had not strength enough
to drag the pole up after me. Accordingly I made my mind up to

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 21^

use a portion of the second roll of linen which I had there; the other
was left hanging from the keep of the casde. So I cut a piece off,,
tied it to the pole, and clambered down the wall, enduring the
utmost toil and fatigue. I was quite exhausted, and had, moreover,,
flayed the inside of my hands, which bled freely. This compelled me
to rest awhile, and I bathed my hands in my own urine. When I
thought that my strength was recovered, I advanced quickly toward
the last rampart, which faces toward Prati. There I put my bundle
of linen lines down upon the ground, meaning to fasten them
round a battlement, and descend the lesser as I had the greater height.
But no sooner had I placed the linen, than I became aware behind
me of a sentinel, who was going the rounds. Seeing my designs
interrupted and my life in peril, I resolved to face the guard. This
fellow, when he noticed my bold front, and that I was marching
on him with weapon in hand, quickened his pace and gave me a
wide berth. I had left my lines some little way behind; so I turned
with hasty steps to regain them; and though I came within sight of
another sentinel, he seemed as though he did not choose to take
notice of me. Having found my lines and attached them to the
battlement, I let myself go. On the descent, whether it was that I
thought I had really come to earth and relaxed my grasp to jump,
or whether my hands were so tired that they could not keep their
hold, at any rate I fell, struck my head in falling, and lay stunned for
more than an hour and a half, so far as I could judge.

It was just upon daybreak, when the fresh breeze which blows an
hour before the sun revived me; yet I did not immediately recover
my senses, for I thought my head had been cut off and fancied that
I was in purgatory. With time, little by little, my faculties returned,
and I perceived that I was outside the castle, and in a flash remem-
bered all my adventures. I was aware of the wound in my head
before I knew my leg was broken; for I put my hands up, and
withdrew them covered with blood. Then I searched the spot well,
and judged and ascertained that I had sustained no injury of con-
sequence there; but when I wanted to stand up, I discovered that
my right leg was broken three inches above the heel. Not even this
dismayed me: I drew forth my poniard with its scabbard; the latter

220 BENVENUTO CELLINI

had a metal point ending in a large ball, which had caused the
fracture of my leg; for the bone, coming into violent contact with
the ball, and not being able to bend, had snapped at that point.
I threw the sheath away, and with the poniard cut a piece of the
linen which I had left. Then I bound my leg up as well as I could,
and crawled on all fours with the poniard in my hand toward the
city gate. When I reached it, I found it shut; but I noticed a stone
just beneath the door which did not appear to be very firmly fixed.
This I attempted to dislodge; after setting my hands to it, and
feeling it move, it easily gave way, and I drew it out. Through
the gap thus made I crept into the town.

ex

I had crawled more than five hundred paces from the place where
I fell, to the gate by which I entered. No sooner had I got inside
than some mastiff dogs set upon me and bit me badly. When they
returned to the attack and worried me, I drew my poniard and
wounded one of them so sharply that he howled aloud, and all the
dogs, according to their nature, ran after him. I meanwhile made the
best way I could on all fours toward the church of the Trespontina.

On arriving at the opening of the street which leads to Sant'
Agnolo, I turned off in the direction of San Piero; and now the
dawn had risen over me, and I felt myself in danger. When there-
fore I chanced to meet a water-carrier driving his donkey laden with
full buckets, I called the fellow, and begged him to carry me upon
his back to the terrace by the steps of San Piero, adding: "I am an
unfortunate young man, who, while escaping from a window in a
love-adventure, have fallen and broken my leg. The place from
which I made my exit is one of great importance; and if I am dis-
covered, I run risk of being cut to pieces; so for heaven's sake lift me
quickly, and I will give you a crown of gold." Saying this, I clapped
my hand to my purse, where I had a good quantity. He took me
up at once, hitched me on his back, and carried me to the raised
terrace by the steps to San Piero. There I bade him leave me,
saying he must run back to his donkey.

I resumed my march, crawling always on all fours, and making
for the palace of the Duchess, wife of Duke Ottavio and daughter

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 221

of the Emperor.' She was his natural child, and had been married
to Duke Alessandro. I chose her house for refuge, because I was
quite certain that many of my friends, who had come with that
great princess from Florence, were tarrying there; also because she
had taken me into favour through something which the castellan
had said in my behalf. Wishing to be of service to me, he told the
Pope that I had saved the city more than a thousand crowns of
damage, caused by heavy rain on the occasion when the Duchess
made her entrance into Rome. He related how he was in despair,
and how I put heart into him, and went on to describe how I had
pointed several large pieces of artillery in the direction where the
clouds were thickest, and whence a deluge of water was already
pouring; then, when I began to fire, the rain stopped, and at the
fourth discharge the sun shone out; and so I was the sole cause of
the festival succeeding, to the joy of everybody. On hearing this
narration the Duchess said : "That Benvenuto is one of the artists of
merit, who enjoyed the goodwill of my late husband, Duke Ales-
sandro, and I shall always hold them in mind if an opportunity
comes of doing such men service." She also talked of me to Duke
Ottavio. For these reasons I meant to go straight to the house of
her Excellency, which was a very fine palace situated in Borgio
Vecchio.

I should have been quite safe from recapture by the Pope if I
could have stayed there; but my exploits up to this point had been
too marvellous for a human being, and God was unwilling to encour-
age my vainglory; accordingly, for my own good. He chastised me a
second time worse even than the first. The cause of this was that
while I was crawling on all fours up those steps, a servant of Cardinal
Cbrnaro recognised me. His master was then lodging in the palace;
so the servant ran up to his room and woke him, crying: "Most
reverend Monsignor, your friend Benvenuto is down there; he has
escaped from the castle, and is crawling on all fours, streaming with
blood; to all appearances he has broken a leg, and we don't know
whither he is going." The Cardinal exclaimed at once: "Run and
carry him upon your back into my room here." When I arrived,

' Margaret of Austria, who married Ottaviano Farnese in November 1538, after
Alessandro's murder.

222 BENVENUTO CELLINI

he told me to be under no apprehension, and sent for the first
physicians of Rome to take my case in hand. Among them was
Maestro Jacomo of Perugia, a most excellent and able surgeon. He
set the bone with dexterity, then bound the limb up, and bled me
with his own hand. It happened that my veins were swollen far
beyond their usual size, and he too wished to make a pretty wide
incision; accordingly the blood sprang forth so copiously, and spurted
with such force into his face, that he had to abandon the operation.
He regarded this as a very bad omen, and could hardly be prevailed
upon to undertake my cure. Indeed, he often expressed a wish to
leave me, remembering that he ran no little risk of punishment for
having treated my case, or rather for having proceeded to the end
with it. The Cardinal had me placed in a secret chamber, and went
off immediately to beg me from the Pope.

CXI

During this while all Rome was in an uproar; for they had
observed the bands of linen fastened to the great keep of the castle,
and folk were running in crowds to behold so extraordinary a thing.
The castellan had gone off into one of his worst fits of frenzy; in
spite of all his servants, he insisted upon taking his flight also from
the tower, saying that no one could recapture me except himself if he
were to fly after me. Messer Ruberto Pucci, the father of Messer
Pandolfo,' having heard of the great event, went in person to inspect
the place; afterwards he came to the palace, where he met with
Cardinal Cornaro, who told him exactly what had happened, and
how I was lodged in one of his own chambers, and already in the
doctor's hands. These two worthy men went together, and threw
themselves upon their knees before the Pope; but he, before they
could get a word out, cried aloud: "I know all that you want of
me." Messer Ruberto Pucci then began: "Most blessed Father, we
beg you for Heaven's grace to give us up that unfortunate man;
surely his great talents entitle him to exceptional treatment; more-
over, he has displayed such audacity, blent with so much ingenuity,
that his exploit might seem superhuman. We know not for what
crimes your Holiness has kept him so long in prison; however, if

^ See above, p. 114.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 223

those crimes are too exorbitant, your Holiness is wise and holy, and
may your will be done unquestioned; still, i£ they are such as can
be condoned, we entreat you to pardon him for our sake." The
Pope, when he heard this, felt shame, and answered: "I have kept
him in prison at the request of some of my people, since he is a litde
too violent in his behaviour; but recognising his talents, and wishing
to keep him near our person, we had intended to treat him so well
that he should have no reason to return to France. I am very sorry
to hear of his bad accident; tell him to mind his health, and when
he is recovered, we will make it up to him for all his troubles."

Those two excellent men returned and told me the good news
they were bringing from the Pope. Meanwhile the nobility of
Rome, young, old, and all sorts, came to visit me. The castellan, out
of his mind as he was, had himself carried to the Pope; and when
he was in the presence of his Holiness, began to cry out, and to say
that if he did not send me back to prison, he would do him a great
wrong. "He escaped under parole which he gave me; woe is me that
he has flown away when he promised not to fly!" The Pope said,
laughing: "Go, go; for I will give him back to you without fail."
The castellan then added, speaking to the Pope: "Send the Gover-
nor to him to find out who helped him to escape; for if it is one of
my men, I will hang him from the battlement whence Benvenuto
leaped." On his departure the Pope called the Governor, and said,
smiling: "That is a brave fellow, and his exploit is something mar-
vellous; all the same, when I was a young man, I also descended from
the fortress at that very spot." In so saying the Pope spoke the
truth: for he had been imprisoned in the castle for forging a brief
at the time when he was abbreviator di Parco Majoris? Pope
Alexander kept him confined for some length of time; and after-
wards, his offence being of too ugly a nature, had resolved on cutting
off his head. He postponed the execudon, however, till after Corpus
Domini; and Farnese, getting wind of the Pope's will, summoned
Pietro Chiavelluzzi with a lot of horses, and managed to corrupt
some of the castle guards with money. Accordingly, upon the day

^ The Collegium Abbreviatorum di Parco Majori consisted of seventy-two members.
It was established by Pius II. Onofrio Panvinio tells this story of Paul III.'s imprison-
ment and escape, but places it in the Papacy of Innocent VIII. See Vita Fault HI., in
continuation of Platina.

224 BENVENUTO CELLINI

of Corpus Domini, while the Pope was going in procession, Farnese
got into a basket and was let down by a rope to the ground. At
that time the outer walls had not been built around the castle; only
the great central tower existed; so that he had not the same enormous
difficulty that I met with in escaping; moreover, he had been impris-
oned justly, and I against all equity. What he wanted was to brag
before the Governor of having in his youth been spirited and brave;
and it did not occur to him that he was calling attention to his own
huge rogueries. He said then : "Go and tell him to reveal his accom-
plice without apprehension to you, be the man who he may be, since
I have pardoned him; and this you may assure him without reser-
vation."

CXII

So the Governor came to see me. Two days before he had been
made Bishop of Jesi;' and when he entered he said: "Friend Ben-
venuto, although my office is wont to frighten men, I come to set
your mind at rest, and to do this I have full authority from his
Holiness's own lips, who told me how he also escaped from Sant'
Angelo, but had many aids and much company, else he would not
have been able to accomplish it. I swear by the sacraments which I
carry on my person (for I was consecrated Bishop two days since)
that the Pope has set you free and pardoned you, and is very sorry
for your accident. Attend to your health, and take all things for the
best; for your imprisonment, which you certainly underwent without
a shadow of guilt, will have been for your perpetual welfare. Hence-
forward you will tread down poverty, and will have to go back to
France, wearing out your life in this place and in that. Tell me then
frankly how the matter went, and who rendered you assistance;
afterwards take comfort, repose, and recover." I began at the begin-
ning, and related the whole story exactly as it had happened, giving
him the most minute countersigns, down to the water-carrier who
bore me on his back. When the Governor had heard the whole, he
said: "Of a surety these are too great exploits for one man alone;
no one but you could have performed them." So he made me reach
my hand forth, and said: "Be of good courage and comfort your
'Cellini confuses Jesi with Forlimpopoli. See above, p. 203, note.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 225

heart, for by this hand which I am holding you are free, and if you
live, shall live in happiness." While thus conversing with me, he had
kept a whole heap of great lords and noblemen waiting, who were
come to visit me, saying one to the other: "Let us go to see this
man who works miracles." So, when he departed, they stayed by
me, and one made me offers of kindness, and another made me
presents.

While I was being entertained in this way, the Governor returned
to the Pope, and reported all that I had said. As chance would have
it, Signor Pier Luigi, the Pope's son, happened to be present, and all
the company gave signs of great astonishment. His Holiness
remarked: "Of a truth this is a marvellous exploit." Then Pier
Luigi began to speak as follows: "Most blessed Father, if you set
that man free, he will do something still more marvellous, because
he has by far too bold a spirit. I will tell you another story about
him which you do not know. That Benvenuto of yours, before he
was imprisoned, came to words with a gentleman of Cardinal Santa
Fiore,^ about some trifle which the latter had said to him. Now
Benvenuto's retort was so swaggeringly insolent that it amounted
to throwing down a cartel. The gentleman referred the matter to
the Cardinal, who said that if he once laid hands on Benvenuto he
would soon clear his head of such folly. When the fellow heard this,
he got a little fowling-piece of his ready, with which he is accustomed
to hit a penny in the middle; accordingly, one day when the Cardinal
was looking out of a window, Benvenuto's shop being under the
palace of the Cardinal, he took his gun and pointed it upon the
Cardinal. The Cardinal, however, had been warned, and presently
withdrew. Benvenuto, in order that his intention might escape
notice, aimed at a pigeon which was brooding high up in a hole
of the palace, and hit it exactly in the head — a feat one would have
thought incredible. Now let your Holiness do what you think best
about him; I have discharged my duty by saying what I have. It
might even come into his head, imagining that he had been wrongly
imprisoned, to fire upon your Holiness. Indeed he is too truculent,
by far too confident in his own powers. When he killed Pompeo, he

*Ascanio Sforza, son of Bosio, Count of Santa Fiore, and grandson of Paul in.
He got the hat in 1534, at the age of sixteen.

226 BENVENUTO CELLINI

gave him two stabs with a poniard in the throat, in the midst of
ten men who were guarding him; then he escaped, to their great
shame, and yet they were no inconsiderable persons."

CXIII

While these words were being spoken, the gentleman of Santa
Fiore with whom I had that quarrel was present, and confirmed to
the Pope what had been spoken by his son. The Pope swelled with
rage, but said nothing. I shall now proceed to give my own version
of the affair, truly and honestly.

This gentleman came to me one day, and showed me a little gold
ring which had been discoloured by quicksilver, saying at the same
time: "Polish up this ring for me, and be quick about it." I was
engaged at the moment upon jewel-work of gold and gems of great
importance: besides, I did not care to be ordered about so haughtily
by a man I had never seen or spoken to; so I replied that I did not
happen to have by me the proper tool for cleaning up his ring,' and
that he had better go to another goldsmith. Without further provo-
cation he retorted that I was a donkey; whereupon I said that he
was not speaking the truth; that I was a better man than he in every
respect, but that if he kept on irritating me I would give him harder
kicks than any donkey could. He related the matter to the Cardinal,
and painted me as black as the devil in hell. Two days afterwards
I shot a wild pigeon in a cleft high up behind the palace. The bird
was brooding in that cleft, and I had often seen a goldsmith named
Giovan Francesco della Tacca, from Milan, fire at it; but he never
hit it. On the day when I shot it, the pigeon scarcely showed its
head, being suspicious because it had been so often fired at. Now this
Giovan Francesco and I were rivals in shooting wildfowl; and some
gentlemen of my acquaintance, who happened to be at my shop,
called my attention, saying: "Up there is Giovan Francesco della
Tacca's pigeon, at which he has so often fired; look now, the poor
creature is so frightened that it hardly ventures to put its head out."
I raised my eyes, and said: "That morsel of its head is quite enough
for me to shoot it by, if it only stays till I can point my gun." The

' Cellini calls it isvivatoio. It is properly avvivatoio, a sort of brass rod with a
wooden handle.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 227

gentlemen protested that even the man who invented firearms could
not hit it. I replied: "I bet a bottle of that excellent Greek wine
Palombo the host keeps, that if it keeps quiet long enough for me
to point my good Broccardo (so I used to call my gun), I will hit it
in that portion of its head which it is showing." So I aimed my
gun, elevating my arms, and using no other rest, and did what I
had promised, without thinking of the Cardinal or any other person;
on the contrary, I held the Cardinal for my very good patron. Let
the world, then, take notice, when Fortune has the will to ruin a
man, how many divers ways she takes! The Pope, swelling with
rage and grumbling, remained revolving what his son had told him.

ex IV

Two days afterwards the Cardinal Cornaro went to beg a bishopric
from the Pope for a gentleman of his called Messer Andrea Centano.
The Pope, in truth, had promised him a bishopric; and this being
now vacant, the Cardinal reminded him of his word. The Pope
acknowledged his obligation, but said that he too wanted a favour
from his most reverend lordship, which was that he would give up
Benvenuto to him. On this the Cardinal replied: "Oh, if your Holi-
ness has pardoned him and set him free at my disposal, what will the
world say of you and me?" The Pope answered: "I want Benvenuto,
you want the bishopric; let the world say what it chooses." The good
Cardinal entreated his Holiness to give him the bishopric, and for
the rest to think the matter over, and then to act according as his
Holiness decided. The Pope, feeling a certain amount of shame at
so wickedly breaking his word, took what seemed a middle course:
"I will send for Benvenuto, and in order to gratify the whim I have,
will put him in those rooms which open on my private garden;
there he can attend to his recovery, and I will not prevent any of his
friends from coming to visit him. Moreover, I will defray his
expenses until this caprice of mine has left me."

The Cardinal came home, and sent the candidate for this bishopric
on the spot to inform me that the Pope was resolved to have me
back, but that he meant to keep me in a ground-floor room in his
private garden, where I could receive the visits of my friends, as I had
done in his own house. I implored this Messer Andrea to ask the

228 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Cardinal not to give me up to the Pope, but to let me act on my
own account. I would have myself wrapped up in a mattress, and
carried to a safe place outside Rome; for if he gave me up to the
Pope, he would certainly be sending me to death. It is believed that
when the Cardinal heard my petition he was not ill-disposed to grant
it; but Messer Andrea, wanting to secure the bishopric, denounced
me to the Pope, who sent at once and had me lodged in the ground-
floor chamber of his private garden. The Cardinal sent me word
not to eat the food provided for me by the Pope; he would supply
me with provisions; meanwhile I was to keep my spirits up, for he
would work in my cause till I was set free. Matters being thus
arranged, I received daily visits and generous offers from many great
lords and gentlemen. Food came from the Pope, which I refused to
touch, only eating that which came from Cardinal Cornaro; and
thus I remained awhile.

I had among my friends a young Greek of the age of twenty-five
years. He was extremely active in all physical exercises, and the best
swordsman in Rome; rather poor-spirited, however, but loyal to the
backbone; honest, and ready to believe what people told him. He
had heard it said that the Pope made known his intention of com-
pensating me for all I had gone through. It is true that the Pope
began by saying so, but he ended by saying quite the opposite. I
then determined to confide in the young Greek, and said to him:
"Dearest brother, they are plotting my ruin; so now the time has
come to help me. Do they imagine, when they heap those extraor-
dinary favours on me, that I am not aware they are done to
betray me.?" The worthy young man answered: "My Benvenuto,
they say in Rome that the Pope has bestowed on you an office with
an income of five hundred crowns; I beseech you therefore not to let
those suspicions deprive you of so great a windfall." All the same
I begged him with clasped hands to aid me in escaping from that
place, saying I knew well that a Pope of that sort, though he could
do me much good if he chose, was really studying secretly, and to
save appearances, how he might best destroy me; therefore we must
be quick and try to save me from his clutches. If my friend would
get me out of that place by the means I meant to tell him, I should
always regard him as the saviour of my life, and when occasion came

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 229

would lay it down for him with gladness. The poor young man shed
tears, and cried: "Oh, my dear brother, though you are bringing
destruction on your head, I cannot but fulfil your wishes; so explain
your plan, and I will do whatever you may order, albeit much against
my will." Accordingly we came to an agreement, and I disclosed to
him the details of my scheme, which was certain to have succeeded
without difficulty. When I hoped that he was coming to execute it,
he came and told me that for my own good he meant to disobey me,
being convinced of the truth of what he had heard from men close
to the Pope's person, who understood the real state of my affairs.
Having nothing else to rely upon, I remained in despair and misery.
This passed on the day of Corpus Domini 1539.

cxv

After my conversation with the Greek, the whole day wore away,
and at night there came abundant provisions from the kitchen of the
Pope; the Cardinal Cornaro also sent good store of viands from his
kitchen; and some friends of mine being present when they arrived,
I made them stay to supper, and enjoyed their society, keeping my
leg in splints beneath the bed-clothes. An hour after nightfall they
left me; and two of my servants, having made me comfortable for
the night, went to sleep in the antechamber. I had a dog, black as a
mulberry, one of those hairy ones, who followed me admirably when
I went out shooting, and never left my side. During the night he lay
beneath my bed, and I had to call out at least three times to my
servant to turn him out, because he howled so fearfully. When the
servants entered, the dog flew at them and tried to bite them. They
were frightened, and thought he must be mad, because he went on
howling. In this way we passed the first four hours of the night. At
the stroke of four the Bargello came into my room with a band of
constables. Then the dog sprang forth and flew at them with such
fury, tearing their capes and hose, that in their fright they fancied
he was mad. But the Bargello, like an experienced person, told them :
"It is the nature of good dogs to divine and foretell the mischance
coming on their masters. Two of you take sticks and beat the dog
off; while the others strap Benvenuto on this chair; then carry him

230 BENVENUTO CELLINI

to the place you wot o£." It was, as I have said, the night after
Corpus Domini, and about four o'clock.

The officers carried me, well shut up and covered, and four of
them went in front, making the few passengers who were still
abroad get out of the way. So they bore me to Torre di Nona, such
is the name of the place, and put me in the condemned cell. I was
left upon a wretched mattress under the care of a guard, who kept
all night mourning over my bad luck, and saying to me: "Alas!
poor Benvenuto, what have you done to those great folk?" I could
now form a very good opinion of what was going to happen to me,
partly by the place in which I found myself, and also by what the
man had told me.' During a portion of that night I kept racking
my brains what the cause could be why God thought fit to try me
so, and not being able to discover it, I was violently agitated in my
soul. The guard did the best he could to comfort me; but I begged
him for the love of God to stop talking, seeing I should be better
able to compose myself alone in quiet. He promised to do as I asked;
and then I turned my whole heart to God, devoutly entreating Him
to deign to take me into His kingdom. I had, it is true, murmured
against my lot, because it seemed to me that, so far as human laws
go, my departure from the world in this way would be too unjust;
it is true also that I had committed homicides, but His Vicar had
called me from my native city and pardoned me by the authority
he had from Him and from the laws; and what I had done had all
been done in defence of the body which His Majesty had lent me;
so I could not admit that I deserved death according to the dispen-
sation under which man dwells here; but it seemed that what was
happening to me was the same as what happens to unlucky people
in the street, when a stone falls from some great height upon their
head and kills them; this we see clearly to be the influence of the
stars; not indeed that the stars conspire to do us good or evil, but
the effect results from their conjunctions, to which we are subordi-
nated. At the same time I know that I am possessed of free-will, and
if I could exert the faith of a saint, I am sure that the angels of heaven
would bear me from this dungeon and relieve me of all my afflic-

' Cellini thought he was going to have his throat cut. And indeed the Torre di
Nona was a suspicious place, it being one o£ the worst criminal prisons in Ronie.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 23 1

tions; yet inasmuch as God has not deemed me worthy of such
miracles, I conclude that those celestial influences must be wreaking
their malignity upon me. In this long struggle of the soul I spent
some time; then I found comfort, and fell presently asleep.

cxvi

When the day dawned, the guard woke me up and said: "Oh,
unfortunate but worthy man, you have no more time to go on
sleeping, for one is waiting here to give you evil news." I answered:
"The sooner I escape from this earthly prison, the happier shall I be;
especially as I am sure my soul is saved, and that I am going to
an undeserved death. Christ, the glorious and divine, elects me to
the company of His disciples and friends, who, like Himself, were
condemned to die unjustly. I too am sentenced to an unjust death,
and I thank God with humility for this sign of grace. Why does
not the man come forward who has to pronounce my doom.?" The
guard replied : "He is too grieved for you, and sheds tears." Then I
called him by his name of Messer Benedetto da Cagli,^ and cried:
"Come forward, Messer Benedetto, my friend, for now, I am resolved
and in good frame of mind; far greater glory is it for me to die
unjustly than if I had deserved this fate. Come forward, I beg, and
let me have a priest, in order that I may speak a couple of words
with him. I do not indeed stand in need of this, for I have already
made my heart's confession to my Lord God; yet I should like to
observe the ordinances of our Holy Mother Church; for though she
has done me this abominable wrong, I pardon her with all my soul.
So come, friend Messer Benedetto, and despatch my business before
I lose control over my better instincts."

After I had uttered these words, the worthy man told the guard
to lock the door, because nothing could be done without his presence.
He then repaired to the house o£ Signor Pier Luigi's wife, who
happened to be in company with the Duchess of whom I spoke
above.* Presenting himself before them both, he spoke as follows:
"My most illustrious mistress, I entreat you for the love of God to

' It will be remembered that Benedetto da Cagli was one of Cellini's three examiners
during his first imprisonment in S. Angelo.

' The wife of Pier Luigi Farnese was Jeronima, daughter of Luigi Orsini, Count of
Pitigliano.

232 BENVENUTO CELLINI

tell the Pope, that he must send some one else to pronounce sentence
upon Benvenuto and perform my office; I renounce the task, and am
quite decided not to carry it through." Then, sighing, he departed
with the strongest signs of inward sorrow. The Duchess, who was
present, frowned and said: "So this is the fine justice dealt out here
in Rome by God's Vicar! The Duke, my late husband, particularly
esteemed this man for his good qualities and eminent abilities; he
was unwilling to let him return to Rome, and would gladly have
kept him close to his own person." Upon this she retired, muttering
words of indignation and displeasure. Signor Pier Luigi's wife, who
was called Signora Jerolima, betook herself to the Pope, and threw
herself upon her knees before him in the presence of several cardinals.
She pleaded my cause so warmly that she woke the Pope to shame;
whereupon he said: "For your sake we will leave him quiet; yet you
must know that we had no ill-will against him." These words he
spoke because of the cardinals who were around him, and had lis-
tened to the eloquence of that brave-spirited lady.

Meanwhile I abode in extreme discomfort, and my heart kept
thumping against my ribs. Not less was the discomfort of the men
appointed to discharge the evil business of my execution; but when
the hour for dinner was already past, they betook themselves to their
several affairs, and my meal was also served me. This filled me with
a glad astonishment, and I exclaimed: "For once truth has been
stronger than the malice of the stars! I pray God, therefore, that, if it
be His pleasure. He will save me from this fearful peril. Then I
fell to eating with the same stout heart for my salvation as I had
previously prepared for my perdition. I dined well, and afterwards
remained without seeing or hearing any one until an hour after
nightfall. At that time the Bargello arrived with a large part of his
guard, and had me replaced in the chair which brought me on the
previous evening to the prison. He spoke very kindly to me, bidding
me be under no apprehension; and bade his constables take good care
not to strike against my broken leg, but to treat me as though I
were the apple of their eye. The men obeyed, and brought me to the
castle whence I had escaped; then, when we had mounted to the
keep, they left me shut up in a dungeon opening upon a little court
there is there.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 233

CXVII

The castellan, meanwhile, ill and afflicted as he was, had himself
transported to my prison, and exclaimed: "You see that I have
recaptured you!" "Yes," said I, "but you see that I escaped, as I told
you I would. And if I had not been sold by a Venetian Cardinal,
under Papal guarantee, for the price of a bishopric, the Pope a
Roman and a Farnese (and both of them have scratched with
impious hands the face of the most sacred laws), you would not
have recovered me. But now that they have opened this vile way of
dealing, do you the worst you can in your turn; I care for nothing
in the world." The wretched man began shouting at the top of
his voice: "Ah, woe is me! woe is me! It is all the same to this
fellow whether he lives or dies, and behold, he is more fiery than
when he was in health. Put him down there below the garden, and
do not speak to me of him again, for he is the destined cause of
my death."

So I was taken into a gloomy dungeon below the level of a garden,
which swam with water, and was full of big spiders and many
venomous worms. They flung me a wretched mattress of course
hemp, gave me no supper, and locked four doors upon me. In that
condition I abode until the nineteenth hour of the following day.
Then I received food, and I requested my jailers to give me some
of my books to read. None of them spoke a word, but they referred
my prayer to the unfortunate castellan, who had made inquiries con-
cerning what I said. Next morning they brought me an Italian Bible
which belonged to me, and a copy of the Chronicles of Giovanni
Villani.' When I asked for certain other of my books, I was told that
I could have no more, and that I had got too many already.

Thus, then, I continued to exist in misery upon that rotten mat-
tress, which in three days soaked up water like a sponge. I could
hardly stir because of my broken leg; and when I had to get out
of bed to obey a call of nature, I crawled on all fours with extreme
distress, in order not to foul the place I slept in. For one hour and
a half each day I got a little glimmering of light, which penetrated

'This mention of an Italian Bible shows that we are still in the days before the
(Council of Trent.

234 BENVENUTO CELLINI

that unhappy cavern through a very narrows aperture. Only for
so short a space of time could I read; the rest of the day and night
I abode in darkness, enduring my lot, nor ever without meditations
upon God and on our human frailty. I thought it .certain that a few
more days would put an end of my unlucky life in that sad place
and in that miserable manner. Nevertheless, as well as I was able, I
comforted my soul by calling to mind how much more painful it
would have been, on passing from this life, to have suffered that
unimaginable horror of the hangman's knife. Now, being as I was,
I should depart with the anodyne of sleepiness, which robbed death
of half its former terrors. Little by little I felt my vital forces waning,
until at last my vigorous temperament had become adapted to that
purgatory. When I felt it quite acclimatised, I resolved to put up
with all those indescribable discomforts so long as it held out.

CXVIII

I began the Bible from the commencement, reading and reflecting
on it so devoutly, and finding in it such deep treasures of delight,
that, if I had been able, I should have done naught else but study it.
However, light was wanting; and the thought of all my troubles
kept recurring and gnawing at me in the darkness, until I often
made my mind up to put an end somehow to my own life. They did
not allow me a knife, however, and so it was no easy matter to
commit suicide. Once, notwithstanding, I took and propped a
wooden pole I found there, in position like a trap. I meant to make
it topple over on my head, and it would certainly have dashed my
brains out; but when I had arranged the whole machine, and was
approaching to put it in motion, just at the moment of my setting
my hand to it, I was seized by an invisible power and flung four
cubits from the spot, in such a terror that I lay half dead. Like that
I remained from dawn until the nineteenth hour, when they brought
my food. The jailers must have visited my cell several times without
my taking notice of them; for when at last I heard them. Captain
Sandrino Monaldi' had entered, and I heard him saying: "Ah,
unhappy man! behold the end to which so rare a genius has come!"
Roused by these words, I opened my eyes, and caught sight of priests

' A Florentine, banished in 1530 for having been in arms against the Medici.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 235

with long gowns on their backs, who were saying: "Oh, you told
us he was dead!" Bozza replied: "Dead I found him, and therefore
I told you so." Then they lifted me from where I lay, and after shak-
ing up the mattress, which was now as soppy as a dish of maccaroni,
they flung it outside the dungeon. The castellan, when these things
were reported to him, sent me another mattress. Thereafter, when
I searched my memory to find what could have diverted me from
that design of suicide, I came to the conclusion that it must have
been some power divine and my good guardian angel.

ex IX

During the following night there appeared to me in dreams a
marvellous being in the form of a most lovely youth, who cried, as
though he wanted to reprove me: "Knowest thou who lent thee that
body, which thou wouldst have spoiled before its time?" I seemed
to answer that I recognized all things pertaining to me as gifts from
the God of nature. "So, then," he said, "thou hast contempt for His
handiwork, through this thy will to spoil it? Commit thyself unto
His guidance, and lose not hope in His great goodness!" Much more
he added, in words of marvellous efficacy, the thousandth part of
which I cannot now remember.

I began to consider that the angel of my vision spoke the truth.
So I cast my eyes around the prison, and saw some scraps of rotten
brick, with the fragments of which, rubbing one against the other,
1 composed a paste. Then, creeping on all fours, as I was compelled
to go, I crawled up to an angle of my dungeon door, and gnawed a
splinter from it with my teeth. Having achieved this feat, I waited
till the light came on my prison; that was from the hour of twenty
and a half to twenty-one and a half. When it arrived, I began to
write, the best I could, on some blank pages in my Bible, and
rebuked the regents of my intellectual self for being too impatient to
endure this life; they replied to my body with excuses drawn from
all that they had suffered; and the body gave them hope of better
fortune. To this effect, then, by way of dialogue, I wrote as follows: —

Benvenuto in the body.
AfHicted regents of my soul!

Ah, cruel ye! have ye such hate of life?

236 BENVENUTO CELLINI

The Spirits of his soul.

If Heaven against you roll,

Who stands for us? who saves us in the strife?
Let us, O let us go toward better life!

Benvenuto.

Nay, go not yet awhile!

Ye shall be happier and lighter far —

Heaven gives this hope — than ye were ever yet!

The Spirits.

We will remain some little while.

If only by great God you promised are
Such grace that no worse woes on us be set.

After this I recovered strength; and when I had heartened up
myself, I continued reading in the Bible, and my eyes became so
used to that darkness that I could now read for three hours instead
of the bare hour and a half I was able to employ before.

With profound astonishment I dwelt upon the force of God's
Spirit in those men of great simplicity, who believed so fervently
that He would bring all their heart's desire to pass. I then proceeded
to reckon in my own case too on God's assistance, both because of
His divine power and mercy, and also because of my own innocence;
and at all hours, sometimes in prayer and sometimes in communion
with God, I abode in those high thoughts of Him. There flowed
into my soul so powerful a delight from these reflections upon God,
that I took no further thought for all the anguish I had suffered,
but rather spent the day in singing psalms and divers other com-
positions on the theme of His divinity.

I was greatly troubled, however, by one particular annoyance: my
nails had grown so long that I could not touch my body without
wounding it; I could not dress myself but what they turned inside
or out, to my great torment. Moreover, my teeth began to perish in
my mouth. I became aware of this because the dead teeth being
pushed out by the living ones, my gums were gradually perforated,
and the points of the roots pierced through the tops of their cases.
When I was aware of this, I used to pull one out, as though it were

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 237

a weapon from a scabbard, without any pain or loss of blood. Very
many of them did I lose in this way. Nevertheless, I accommodated
myself to these new troubles also; at times I sang, at times I prayed,
arid at times I wrote by means of the paste of brick-dust I have
described above. At this time I began composing a Capitolo in
praise of my prison, relating in it all the accidents which had befallen
me.' This poem I mean to insert in its proper place.

cxx

The good castellan used frequently to send messengers to find out
secretly what I was doing. So it happened on the last day of July
that I was rejoicing greatly by myself alone while I bethought me
of the festival they keep in Rome upon the ist of August; and I was
saying to myself: "In former years I kept the feast among the
pleasures and the frailties of the world; this year I shall keep it in
communion with God. Oh, how far more happy am I thus than I
was then!" The persons who heard me speak these words reported
them to the castellan. He was greatly annoyed, and exclaimed : "Ah,
God! that fellow lives and triumphs in his infinite distress, while I
lack all things in the midst of comfort, and am dying only on
account of him! Go quickly, and fling him into that deepest of the
subterranean dungeons where the preacher Foiano was starved to
death.'' Perhaps when he finds himself in such ill plight he will
begin to droop his crest."

Captain Sandrino Monaldi came at once into my prison with about
twenty of the castellan's servants. They found me on my knees;
and I did not turn at their approach, but went on paying my orisons
before a God the Father, surrounded with angels, and a Christ
arising victorious from the grave, which I had sketched upon the

1 Capitolo is the technical name for a copy of verses in terza rima on a chosen
theme. Poems of this kind, mostly burlesque or satirical, were very popular in Cellini's
age. They used to be written on trifling or obscene subjects in a mock-heroic style.
Berni stamped the character of high art upon the species, which had long been in use
among the unlettered vulgar. See for further particulars Symonds' Renaissance in
Italy, vol. V. chap. xiv.

^ Fra Benedetto da Foiano had incurred the wrath of Pope Clement VII. by preach-
ing against the Medici in Florence. He was sent to Rome and imprisoned in a noisome
dungeon of S. Angelo in the year 1530, where Clement made him perish miserably by
diminishing his food and water daily till he died. See Varchi's Storia Fiorentina, lib.
xii. chap. 4.

238 BENVENUTO CELLINI

wall with a little piece of charcoal I had found covered up with
earth. This was after I had lain four months upon my back in bed
with my leg broken, and had so often dreamed that angels came
and ministered to me, that at the end of those four months the limb
became as sound as though it never had been fractured. So then
these fellows entered, all in armour, as fearful of me as though I
were a poison-breathing dragon. The captain spoke as follows:
"You must be aware that there are many of us here, and our entrance
has made a tumult in this place, yet you do not turn round." When
I heard these words, I was well able to conceive what greater harm
might happen to me, but being used and hardened to misfortune, I
said to them: "Unto this God who supports me, to Him in heaven I
have turned my soul, my contemplation, and all my vital spirits; to
you I have turned precisely what belongs to you. What there is of
good in me, you are not worthy to behold, nor can you touch it.
Do then to that which is under your control all the evil you are
able." The captain, in some alarm, and not knowing what I might
be on the point of doing, said to four of his tallest fellows : "Put all
your arms aside." When they had done so, he added: "Now upon
the instant leap on him, and secure him well. Do you think he is
the devil, that so many of us should be afraid of him? Hold him
tight now, that he may not escape you." Seized by them with force
and roughly handled, and anticipating something far worse than
what afterwards happened, I lifted my eyes to Christ and said:
"Oh, just God, Thou paidest all our debts upon that high-raised
cross of Thine; wherefore then must my innocence be made to pay
the debts of whom I do not even know ? Nevertheless, Thy will be
done." Meanwhile the men were carrying me away with a great
lighted torch; and I thought that they were about to throw me
down the oubliette of Sammabo. This was the name given to a
fearful place which had swallowed many men alive; for when they
are cast into it, they fall to the bottom of a deep pit in the founda-
tions of the castle. This did not, however, happen to me; wherefore
I thought that I had made a very good bargain when they placed
me in that hideous dungeon I have spoken of, where Fra Foiano
died of hunger, and left me there without doing me further injury.
When I was alone, I began to sing a De projundis clamavi, a

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 239

Miserere, and In te Domine speravi. During the whole o£ that first
day of August I kept festival with God, my heart rejoicing ever in
the strength of hope and faith. On the second day they drew me
from that hole, and took me back again to the prison where I had
drawn those representations of God. On arriving there, the sight
of them filled me with such sweetness and such gladness that I wept
abundantly. On every day that followed, the castellan sent to know
what I was doing and saying. The Pope, who had heard the whole
history (and I must add that the doctors had already given the
castellan over), spoke as follows: "Before my castellan dies I will
let him put that Benvenuto to death in any way he likes, for he is
the cause of his death, and so the good man shall not die unre-
venged." On hearing these words from the mouth of Duke Pier
Luigi, the castellan replied: "So, then, the Pope has given me Ben-
venuto, and wishes me to take my vengeance on him ? Dismiss the
matter from your mind, and leave me to act." If the heart of the
Pope was ill-disposed against me, that of the castellan was now at
the commencement savage and cruel in the extreme. At this junc-
ture the invisible being who had diverted me from my intention of
suicide, came to me, being still invisible, but with a clear voice, and
shook me, and made me rise, and said to me: "Ah me! my Ben-
venuto, quick, quick, betake thyself to God with thy accustomed
prayers, and cry out loudly, loudly!" In a sudden consternation I
fell upon my knees, and recited several of my prayers in a loud
voice; after this I said Qui habitat in adjutorio; then I communed
a space with God; and in an instant the same clear and open voice
said to me: "Go to rest, and have no further fear!" The meaning of
this was, that the castellan, after giving the most cruel orders for
my death, suddenly countermanded them, and said: "Is not this
Benvenuto the man whom I have so warmly defended, whom I
know of a surety to be innocent, and who has been so greatly
wronged ? Oh, how will God have mercy on me and my sins if I do
not pardon those who have done me the greatest injuries? Oh, why
should I injure a man both worthy and innocent, who has only done
me services and honour? Go to! instead of killing him, I give him
life and liberty: and in my will I'll have it written that none shall
demand of him the heavy debt for his expenses here which he would

240 BENVENUTO CELLINI

elsewise have to pay." This the Pope heard, and took it very ill
indeed.

CXXI

I meanwhile continued to pray as usual, and to write my Capitolo,
and every night I was visited with the gladdest and most pleasant
dreams that could be possibly imagined. It seemed to me while
dreaming that I was always in the visible company of that being
whose voice and touch, while he was still invisible, I had so often
felt. To him I made but one request, and this I urged most earnestly,
namely, that he would bring me where I could behold the sun. I told
him that this was the sole desire I had, and that if I could but see
the sun once only, I should die contented. All the disagreeable
circumstances of my prison had become, as it were, to me friendly
and companionable; not one of them gave me annoyance. Never-
theless, I ought to say that the castellan's parasites, who were waiting
for him to hang me from the battlement whence I had made my
escape, when they saw that he had changed his mind to the exact
opposite of what he previously threatened, were unable to endure the
disappointment. Accordingly, they kept continually trying to inspire
me with the fear of imminent death by means of various terrifying
hints. But, as I have already said, I had become so well acquainted
with troubles of this sort that I was incapable of fear, and nothing
any longer could disturb me; only I had that one great longing to
behold the sphere of the sun, if only in a dream.

Thus then, while I spent many hours a day in prayer with deep
emotion of the spirit toward Christ, I used always to say : "Ah, very
Son of God! I pray Thee by Thy birth, by Thy death upon the cross,
and by Thy glorious resurrection, that Thou wilt deign to let me
see the sun, if not otherwise, at least in dreams. But if Thou wilt
grant me to behold it with these mortal eyes of mine, I engage myself
to come and visit Thee at Thy holy sepulchre." This vow and these
my greatest prayers to God I made upon the 2nd of October in the
year 1539. Upon the following morning, which was the 3rd of
October, I woke at daybreak, perhaps an hour before the rising of
the sun. Dragging myself from the miserable lair in which I lay,
I put some clothes on, for it had begun to be cold; then I prayed

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 24 1

more devoutly than ever I had done in the past, fervently imploring
Christ that He would at least grant me the favour of knowing by
divine inspiration what sin I was so sorely expiating; and since His
Divine Majesty had not deemed me worthy of beholding the sun
even in a dream I besought Him to let me know the cause of my
punishment.

CXXII

I had barely uttered these words, when that invisible being, like
a whirlwind, caught me up and bore me away into a large room,
where he made himself visible to my eyes in human form, appearing
like a young man whose beard is just growing, with a face of inde-
scribable beauty, but austere, not wanton. He bade me look around
the room, and said : "The crowd of men thou seest in this place are
all those who up to this day have been born and afterwards have
died upon the earth." Thereupon I asked him why he brought me
hither, and he answered: "Come with me and thou shalt soon
behold." In my hand I had a poniard, and upon my back a coat
of mail; and so he led me through that vast hall, pointing out the
people who were walking by innumerable thousands up and down,
this way and that. He led me onward, and went forth in front of
me through a little low door into a place which looked like a
narrow street; and when he drew me after him into the street, at
the moment of leaving the hall, behold I was disarmed and clothed
in a white shirt, with nothing on my head, and I was walking on
the right hand of my companion. Finding myself in this condition,
I was seized with wonder, because I did not recognise the street;
and when I lifted my eyes, I discerned that the splendour of the sun
was striking on a wall, as it were a house-front, just above my head.
Then I said: "Oh, my friend! what must I do in order to be able
to ascend so high that I may gaze upon the sphere of the sun him-
self?" He pointed out some huge stairs which were on my right
hand, and said to me : "Go up thither by thyself." Quitting his side,
I ascended the stairs backwards, and gradually began to come within
the region of the sunlight. Then I hastened my steps, and went on,
always walking backwards as I have described, until I discovered the
whole sphere of the sun. The strength of his rays, as is their wont,

242 BENVENUTO CELLINI

first made me close my eyes; but becoming aware of my misdoing,
I opened them wide, and gazing steadfastly at the sun, exclaimed:
"Oh, my sun, for whom I have so passionately yearned 1 Albeit your
rays may blind me, I do not wish to look on anything again but
this!" So I stayed awhile with my eyes fixed steadily on him; and
after a brief space I beheld in one moment the whole might of those
great burning rays fling themselves upon the left side of the sun; so
that the orb remained quite clear without its rays, and I was able
to contemplate it with vast delight. It seemed to me something
marvellous that the rays should be removed in that manner. Then
I reflected what divine grace it was which God had granted me that
morning, and cried aloud: "Oh, wonderful Thy power! oh, glorious
Thy virtue! How far greater is the grace which Thou art granting
me than that which I expected!" The sun without his rays appeared
to me to be a bath of the purest molten gold, neither more nor less.
While I stood contemplating this wondrous thing, I noticed that
the middle of the sphere began to swell, and the swollen surface
grew, and suddenly a Christ upon the cross formed itself out of the
same substance as the sun. He bore the aspect of divine benignity,
with such fair grace that the mind of man could not conceive the
thousandth part of it; and while I gazed in ecstasy, I shouted: "A
miracle! a miracle! O God! O clemency Divine! O immeasurable
Goodness! what is it Thou hast deigned this day to show me!"
While I was gazing and exclaiming thus, the Christ moved toward
that part where his rays were settled, and the middle of the sun
once more bulged out as it had done before; the boss expanded,
and suddenly transformed itself into the shape of a most beautiful
Madonna, who appeared to be sitting enthroned on high, holding
her child in her arms with an attitude of the greatest charm and a
smile upon her face. On each side of her was an angel, whose beauty
far surpasses man's imagination. I also saw within the rondure of
the sun, upon the right hand, a figure robed like a priest; this turned
its back to me, and kept its face directed to the Madonna and the
Christ. All these things I beheld, actual, clear, and vivid, and kept
returning thanks to the glory of God as loud as I was able. The
marvellous apparition remained before me little more than half a

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 243

quarter of an hour: then it dissolved, and I was carried back to my
dark lair.

I began at once to shout aloud: "The virtue of God hath deigned
to show me all His glory, the which perchance no mortal eye hath
ever seen before. Therefore I know surely that I am free and
fortunate and in the grace of God; but you miscreants shall be mis-
creants still, accursed, and in the wrath of God. Mark this, for I am
certain of it, that on the day of All Saints, the day upon which I
was born in 1500, on the first of November, at four hours after night-
fall, on that day which is coming you will be forced to lead me from
this gloomy dungeon; less than this you will not be able to do, be-
cause I have seen it with these eyes of mine and in that throne of
God. The priest who kept his face turned to God and his back to
me, that priest was S. Peter, pleading my cause, for the shame he
felt that such foul wrongs should be done to Christians in his own
house. You may go and tell it to whom you like; for none on earth
has the power to do me harm henceforward; and tell that lord who
keeps me here, that if he will give me wax or paper and the means
of portraying this glory of God which was revealed to me, most
assuredly shall I convince him of that which now perhaps he holds
in doubt."

CXXIII

The physicians gave the castellan no hope of his recovery, yet he
remained with a clear intellect, and the humours which used to
afflict him every year had passed away. He devoted himself entirely
to the care of his soul, and his conscience seemed to smite him,
because he felt that I had suffered and was suffering a grievous
wrong. The Pope received information from him of the extraor-
dinary things which I related; in answer to which his Holiness
sent word — as one who had no faith either in God or aught beside —
that I was mad, and that he must do his best to mend his health.
When the castellan received this message, he sent to cheer me up,
and furnished me with writing materials and wax, and certain little
wooden instruments employed in working wax, adding many words
of courtesy, which were reported by one of his servants who bore

244 BENVENUTO CELLINI

me good-will. This man was totally the opposite of that rascally
gang who had wished to see me hanged, I took the paper and the
wax, and began to work; and while I was working I wrote the
following sonnet addressed to the castellan: —

"If I, my lord, could show to you the truth,
Of that Eternal Light to me by Heaven
In this low life revealed, you sure had given
More heed to mine than to a monarch's sooth.

Ah! could the Pastor of Christ's flock in ruth

Believe how God this soul with sight hath shriven
Of glory unto which no wight hath striven
Ere he escaped earth's cave of care uncouth;

The gates of Justice, holy and austere.

Would roll asunder, and rude impious Rage

Fall chained with shrieks that should assail the skies.

Had I but light, ah me! my art should rear
A monument of Heaven's high equipage!
Nor should my misery bear so grim a guise."

cxxiv

On the following day, when the servant of the castellan who was
my friend brought me my food, I gave him this sonnet copied out in
writing. Without informing the other ill-disposed servants who
were my enemies, he handed it to the castellan. At that time this
worthy man would gladly have granted me my liberty, because
he fancied that the great wrong done to me was a main cause of
his death. He took the sonnet, and having read it more than once,
exclaimed: "These are neither the words nor the thoughts of a mad-
man, but rather of a sound and worthy fellow." Without delay he
ordered his secretary to take it to the Pope, and place it in his own
hands, adding a request for my deliverance.

While the secretary was on his way with my sonnet to the Pope,
the castellan sent me lights for day and night, together with all the
conveniences one could wish for in that place. The result of this
was that I began to recover from my physical depression, which had
reached a very serious degree.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 245

The Pope read the sonnet several times. Then he sent word to the
castellan that he meant presently to do what would be pleasing to
him. Certainly the Pope had no unwillingness to release me then;
but Signor Pier Luigi, his son, as it were in the Pope's despite, kept
me there by force.

The death of the castellan was drawing near; and while I was
engaged in drawing and modelling that miracle which I had seen,
upon the morning of All Saints' day he sent his nephew, Piero
Ugolini, to show me certain jewels. No sooner had I set eyes on them
than I exclaimed: "This is the countersign of my deliverance!" Then
the young man, who was not a person of much intelligence, began
to say: "Never think of that, Benvenuto!" I replied: "Take your
gems away, for I am so treated here that I have no light to see by
except what this murky cavern gives, and that is not enough to test
the quality of precious stones. But, as regards my deliverance from
this dungeon, the day will not end before you come to fetch me
out. It shall and must be so, and you will not be able to prevent it."
The man departed, and had me locked in; but after he had remained
away two hours by the clock, he returned without armed men, bring-
ing only a couple of lads to assist my movements; so after this fashion
he conducted me to the spacious rooms which I had previously occu-
pied (that is to say, in 1538), where I obtained all the conveniences
I asked for.

cxxv

After the lapse of a few days, the castellan, who now believed that
I was at large and free, succumbed to his disease and departed this
life. In his room remained his brother, Messer Antonio UgoUni,
who had informed the deceased governor that I was duly released.
From what I learned, this Messer Antonio received commission from
the Pope to let me occupy that commodious prison until he had
decided what to do with me.

Messer Durante of Brescia, whom I have previously mentioned,
engaged the soldier (formerly druggist of Prato) to administer some
deadly liquor in my food;' the poison was to work slowly, producing

'For Messer Durante, see above, p. 180. For the druggist of Prato employed as
a warder in S. Angelo, see above, p. 216.

246 BENVENUTO CELLINI

its effect at the end of four or five months. They resolved on mixing
pounded diamond with my victuals. Now the diamond is not a
poison in any true sense of the word, but its incomparable hardness
enables it, unlike ordinary stones, to retain very acute angles. When
every other stone is pounded, that extreme sharpness of edge is lost;
their fragments becoming blunt and rounded. The diamond alone
preserves its trenchant qualities; wherefore, if it chances to enter the
stomach together with food, the peristaltic motion^ needful to diges-
tion brings it into contact with the coats of the stomach and the
bowels, where it sticks, and by the action of fresh food forcing it
farther inwards, after some time perforates the organs. This even-
tually causes death. Any other sort of stone or glass mingled with
the food has not the power to attach itself, but passes onward with
the victuals. Now Messer Durante entrusted a diamond of trifling
value to one of the guards; and it is said that a certain Lione, a
goldsmith of Arezzo, my great enemy, was commissioned to pound
it.' The man happened to be very poor, and the diamond was worth
perhaps some scores of crowns. He told the guard that the dust he
gave him back was the diamond in question properly ground down.
The morning when I took it, they mixed it with all I had to eat; it
was a Friday, and I had it in salad, sauce, and pottage. That morn-
ing I ate heartily, for I had fasted on the previous evening; and this
day was a festival. It is true that I felt the victuals scrunch beneath
my teeth; but I was not thinking about knaveries of this sort. When
I had finished, some scraps of salad remained upon my plate, and
certain very fine and glittering splinters caught my eye among these
remnants. I collected them, and took them to the window, which
let a flood of light into the room; and while I was examining them,
I remembered that the food I ate that morning had scrunched more
than usual. On applying my senses strictly to the matter, the verdict
of my eyesight was that they were certainly fragments of pounded
diamond. Upon this I gave myself up without doubt as dead, and
in my sorrow had recourse with pious heart to holy prayers. I had

^In quel girare che e' fanno e' cibi. I have for the sake of clearness used the
technical phrase above.

^ The name of Leone Leoni is otherwise known as a goldsmith and bronze-caster.
He made the tomb for Giangiacomo de' Medici, II Medighino, in the Cathedral of
Milan.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 247

resolved the question, and thought that I was doomed. For the
space of a whole hour I prayed fervently to God, returning thanks
to Him for so merciful a death. Since my stars had sentenced me
to die, I thought it no bad bargain to escape from life so easily. I
was resigned, and blessed the world and all the years which I had
passed in it. Now I was returning to a better kingdom with the
grace of God, the which I thought I had most certainly acquired.

While I stood revolving these thoughts in my mind, I held in my
hand some flimsy particles of the reputed diamond, which of a
truth I firmly believed to be such. Now hope is immortal in the
human breast; therefore I felt myself, as it were, lured onward by a
gleam of idle expectation. Accordingly, I took up a little knife and
a few of those particles, and placed them on an iron bar of my
prison. Then I brought the knife's point with a slow strong grind-
ing pressure to bear upon the stone, and felt it crumble. Examining
the substance with my eyes, I saw that it was so. In a moment new
hope took possession of my soul, and I exclaimed: "Here I do not
find my true foe, Messer Durante, but a piece of bad soft stone,
which cannot do me any harm whatever!" Previously I had been
resolved to remain quiet and to die in peace; now I revolved other
plans; but first I rendered thanks to God and blessed poverty; for
though poverty is oftentimes the cause of bringing men to death, on
this occasion it had been the very cause of my salvation. I mean
in this way: Messer Durante, my enemy, or whoever it was, gave
a diamond to Lione to pound for me of the worth of more than a
hundred crowns; poverty induced him to keep this for himself, and
to pound for me a greenish beryl of the value of two carlins, think-
ing perhaps, because it also was a stone, that it would work the same
effect as the diamond.

cxxvi

At this time the Bishop of Pavia, brother of the Count of San
Secondo, and commonly called Monsignor de' Rossi of Parma, hap-
pened to be imprisoned in the castle for some troublesome affairs
at Pavia.' Knowing him to be my friend, I thrust my head out of the

* Gio. Girolamo de' Rossi, known in literature as a poet and historian of secondary
importance.

248 BENVENUTO CELLINI

hole in my cell, and called him with a loud voice, crying that those
thieves had given me a pounded diamond with the intention of kill-
ing me. I also sent some of the splinters which I had preserved, by
the hand of one of his servants, for him to see. I did not disclose my
discovery that the stone was not a diamond, but told him that they
had most assuredly poisoned me, after the death of that most worthy
man the castellan. During the short space of time I had to live, I
begged him to allow me one loaf a day from his own stores, seeing
that I had resolved to eat nothing which came from them. To this
request he answered that he would supply me with victuals.

Messer Antonio, who was certainly not cognisant of the plot
against my life, stirred up a great noise, and demanded to see the
pounded stone, being also persuaded that it was a diamond; but
on reflection that the Pope was probably at the bottom of the
affair, he passed it over lightly after giving his attention to the inci-
dent.

Henceforth I ate the victuals sent me by the Bishop, and continued
writing my Capitolo on the prison, into which I inserted daily all the
new events which happened to me, point by point. But Messer An-
tonio also sent me food; and he did this by the hand of that Giovanni
of Prato, the druggist, then soldier in the castle, whom I have pre-
viously mentioned. He was a deadly foe of mine, and was the man
who had administered the powdered diamond. So I told him that
I would partake of nothing he brought me unless he tasted it before
my eyes.^ The man replied that Popes have their meat tasted. I
answered: "Noblemen are bound to taste the meat for Popes; in like
measure, you, soldier, druggist, peasant from Prato, are bound to
taste the meat for a Florentine of my station." He retorted with
coarse words, which I was not slow to pay back in kind.

Now Messer Antonio felt a certain shame for his behaviour; he
had it also in his mind to make me pay the costs which the late cas-
tellan, poor man, remitted in my favour. So he hunted out another
of his servants, who was my friend, and sent me food by this man's
hands. The meat was tasted for me now with good grace, and no
need for altercation. The servant in question told me that the Pope
was being pestered every day by Monsignor di Morluc, who kept

^ Me ne jaceva la credenza.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 249

asking for my extradition on the part of the French King. The
Pope, however, showed Uttle disposition to give me up; and Cardinal
Farnese, formerly my friend and patron, had declared that I ought
not to reckon on issuing from that prison for some length of time.'
I replied that I should get out in spite of them all. The excellent
young fellow besought me to keep quiet, and not to let such words
of mine be heard, for they might do me some grave injury; having
firm confidence in God, it was my duty to await His mercy, remain-
ing in the meanwhile tranquil. I answered that the power and good-
ness of God are not bound to stand in awe before the malign forces
of iniquity.

CXXVII

A few days had passed when the Cardinal of Ferrara arrived in
Rome. He went to pay his respects to the Pope, and the Pope de-
tained him up to supper-time. Now the Pope was a man of great
talent for affairs, and he wanted to talk at his ease with the Cardinal
about French politics. Everybody knows that folk, when they are
feasting together, say things which they would otherwise retain.
This therefore happened. The great King Francis was most frank
and liberal in all his dealings, and the Cardinal was well acquainted
with his temper. Therefore the latter could indulge the Pope beyond
his boldest expectations. This raised his Holiness to a high pitch
of merriment and gladness, all the more because he was accustomed
to drink freely once a week, and went indeed to vomit after his
indulgence. When, therefore, the Cardinal observed that the Pope
was well disposed, and ripe to grant favours, he begged for me at
the King's demand, pressing the matter hotly, and proving that his
Majesty had it much at heart. Upon this the Pope laughed aloud;
he felt the moment for his vomit at hand; the excessive quantity of
wine which he had drunk was also operating; so he said: "On the
spot, this instant, you shall take him to your house." Then, having
given express orders to this purpose, he rose from table. The Car-
dinal immediately sent for me, before Signer Pier Luigi could get
wind of the affair; for it was certain that he would not have allowed
me to be loosed from prison.

' This was the Cardinal Alessandro, son of Pier Luigi Farnese.

250 BENVENUTO CELLINI

The Pope's mandatary came together with two great gentlemen of
the Cardinal's, and when four o'clock of the night was passed, they
removed me from my prison, and brought me into the presence of
the Cardinal, who received me with indescribable kindness. I was
well lodged, and left to enjoy the comforts of my situation.

Messer Antonio, the old castellan's brother, and his successor in
the office, insisted on extracting from me the costs for food and other
fees and perquisites claimed by sheriffs and such fry, paying no
heed to his predecessor's will in my behalf. This affair cost me
several scores of crowns; but I paid them, because the Cardinal told
me to be well upon my guard if I wanted to preserve my life, adding
that had he not extracted me that evening from the prison, I should
never have got out. Indeed, he had already been informed that the
Pope greatly regretted having let me go.

CXXVIII

I am now obliged to take a step backwards, in order to resume the
thread of some events which will be found in my Capitolo. While
I was sojourning those few days in the chamber of the Cardinal,
and afterwards in the Pope's private garden, there came among my
other friends to visit me a cashier of Messer Bindo Altoviti, who
was called Bernardo Galluzzi. I had entrusted to him a sum of
several hundred crowns, and the young man sought me out in the
Pope's garden, expressing his wish to give back this money to the
uttermost farthing. I answered that I did not know where to place
my property, either with a dearer friend or in a place that seemed
to me more safe. He showed the strongest possible repugnance to
keeping it, and I was, as it were, obliged to force him. Now that
I had left the castle for the last time, I discovered that poor Ber-
nardo Galluzzi was ruined, whereby I lost my money. Now while
I was still imprisoned in that dungeon, I had a terrible dream, in
which it seemed to me that words of the greatest consequence were
written with a pen upon my forehead; the being who did this to
me repeated at least three times that I should hold my tongue and
not report the words to any one. When I awoke I felt that my
forehead had been meddled with. In my Capitolo upon the prison

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 25 1

I have related many incidents of this sort. Among others, it was told
me (I not knowing what I then prophesied) how everything which
afterwards happened to Signor Pier Luigi would take place, so
clearly and so circumstantially that I am under the persuasion it was
an angel from heaven who informed me. I will not omit to relate
another circumstance also, which is perhaps the most remarkable
which has ever happened to any one. I do so in order to justify
the divinity of God and of His secrets, who deigned to grant me
that great favour; for ever since the time of my strange vision until
now an aureole of glory (marvellous to relate) has rested on my
head. This is visible to every sort of men to whom I have chosen
to point it out; but those have been very few. This halo can be ob-
served above my shadow in the morning from the rising of the sun
for about two hours, and far better when the grass is drenched with
dew. It is also visible at evening about sunset. I became aware of
it in France at Paris; for the air in those parts is so much freer from
mist, that one can see it there far better manifested than in Italy,
mists being far more frequent among us. However, I am always able
to see it and to show it to others, but not so well as in the country I
have mentioned.

Now I will set forth the Capitolo I wrote in prison, and in praise
of the said prison; after that I will follow the course of the good
and evil things which have happened to me from time to time; and
I mean also to relate what happens in the future.

THIS CAPITOLO I WRITE TO LUCA MARTIN
ADDRESSING HIM IN IT AS WILL APPEAR.'

Whoso would know the power of God's dominion,
And how a man resembles that high good.
Must lie in prison, is my firm opinion:

On grievous thoughts and cares of home must brood.
Oppressed with carking pains in flesh and bone.
Far from his native land full many a rood.

* Cellini's Capitolo in Praise of the Prison is clearly made up o£ pieces written, as
described above, in the dungeon of S. Angelo, and of passages which he afterwards
composed to bring these pieces into a coherent whole. He has not displayed much
literary skill in the redaction, and I have been at pains to preserve the roughness of
the original.

252 BENVENUTO CELLINI

If you would fain by worthy deeds be known.
Seek to be prisoned without cause, lie long,
And find no friend to listen to your moan.

See that men rob you of your all by wrong;

Add perils to your life; be used with force,
Hopeless of help, by brutal foes and strong.

Be driven at length to some mad desperate course;
Burst from your dungeon, leap the castle wall;
Recaptured, find the prison ten times worse.

Now listen, Luca, to the best of all!

Your leg's been broken; you've been bought and sold;
Your dungeon's dripping; you've no cloak or shawl.

Never one friendly word; your victuals cold

Are brought with sorry news by some base groom
Of Prato— soldier now — druggist of old.

Mark well how Glory steeps her sons in gloom!
You have no seat to sit on, save the stool:
Yet were you active from your mother's womb.

The knave who serves hath orders strict and cool
To list no word you utter, give you naught.
Scarcely to ope the door; such is their rule.

These toys hath Glory for her nursling wrought!
No paper, pens, ink, lire, or tools of steel,
To exercise the quick brain's teeming thought.

Alack that I so little can reveal!

Fancy one hundred for each separate ill:
Full space and place I've left for prison weal!

But now my former purpose to fulfil.

And sing the dungeon's praise with honour due —
For this angelic tongues were scant of skill.

Here never languish honest men and true.

Except by placemen's fraud, misgovernment,
Jealousies, anger, or some spiteful crew.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 253

To tell the truth whereon my mind is bent,

Here man knows God, nor ever stints to pray,
Feeling his soul with hell's fierce anguish rent.

Let one be famed as bad as mortal may.

Send him in jail two sorry years to pine.
He'll come forth holy, wise, beloved alway.

Here soul, flesh, clothes their substance gross refine;
Each bulky lout grows light like gossamere;
Celestial thrones before purged eyeballs shine.

I'll tell thee a great marvel! Friend, give ear!
The fancy took me on one day to write:
Learn now what shifts one may be put to here.

My cell I search, prick brows and hair upright.
Then turn me toward a cranny in the door.
And with my teeth a splinter disunite;

Next find a piece of brick upon the floor.
Crumble a part thereof to powder small,
And form a paste by sprinkling water o'er.^

Then, then came Poesy with fiery call

Into my carcass, by the way methought

Whence bread goes forth — there was none else at all.

Now to return unto my primal thought:

Who wills to know what weal awaits him, must
First learn the ill that God for him hath wrought.

The jail contains all arts in act and trust;

Should you but hanker after surgeon's skill,

'Twill draw the spoiled blood from your veins adust.

Next there is something in itself that will

Make you right eloquent, a bold brave spark,
Big with high-soaring thoughts for good and ill.

Blessed is the man who lies in dungeon dark.

Languishing many a month, then takes his flight
Of war, truce, peace he knows, and tells the mark.

'The Italian is acqua morta; probably a slang phrase for urine.

254 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Needs be that all things turn to his dehght;

The jail has crammed his brains so full of wit,
They'll dance no morris to upset the wight.

Perchance thou'lt urge: "Think how thy life did flit;
Nor is it true the jail can teach thee lore,
To fill thy breast and heart with strength of it!"

Nay, for myself I'll ever praise it more:

Yet would I like one law passed — that the man
Whose acts deserve it should not scape this score.

Whoso hath gotten the poor folk in ban,

I'd make him learn those lessons of the jail;
For then he'd know all a good ruler can:

He'd act like men who weigh by reason's scale.
Nor dare to swerve from truth and right aside,
Nor would confusion in the realm prevail.

While I was bound in prison to abide,

Foison of priests, friars, soldiers I could see;
But those who best deserved it least I spied.

Ah! could you know what rage came over me,

When for such rogues the jail relaxed her hold!
This makes one weep that one was born to be I

I'll add no more. Now I'm become fine gold,

Such gold as none flings lightly to the wind,
Fit for the best work eyes shall e'er behold.

Another point hath passed into my mind.

Which I've not told thee, Luca; where I wrote
Was in the book of one our kith and kind.'

There down the margins I was wont to note

Each torment grim that crushed me like a vice:
The paste my hurrying thoughts could hardly float.

To make an O, I dipped the splinter thrice

In that thick mud; worse woe could scarcely grind
Spirits in hell debarred from Paradise.
' Un nostra parente. He says above that he wrote the Capitolo on the leaves of
his Bible.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 255

Seeing I'm not the first by fraud confined,

This I'll omit; and once more seek the cell
Wherein I rack for rage both heart and mind.

I praise it more than other tongues will tell;
And, for advice to such as do not know,
Swear that without it none can labour well.

Yet oh! for one like Him I learned but now.
Who'd cry to me as by Bethesda's shore:
Take thy clothes, Benvenuto, rise and go!

Credo I'd sing, Salve reginas pour

And Paternosters; alms I'd then bestow

Morn after morn on blind folk, lame, and poor.

Ah me! how many a time my cheek must grow
Blanched by those lilies! Shall I then forswear
Florence and France through them for evermore?*

If to the hospital I come, and fair

Find the Annunziata limned, I'll fly:

Else shall I show myself a brute beast there.^

These words flout not Her worshipped sanctity.

Nor those Her lilies, glorious, holy, pure, '^

The which illumine earth and heaven high!

But for I find at every coign obscure

Base lilies which spread hooks where flowers should blow
Needs must I fear lest these to ruin lure.'

To think how many walk like me in woe!

Born what, how slaved to serve that hateful sign!
Souls lively, graceful, like to gods below!

I saw that lethal heraldry decline

From heaven like lightning among people vain;
Then on the stone I saw strange lustre shine.

* Here he begins to play upon the lilies, which were arms of the Farnesi, of
Florence, and of France.

^ Gabriel holds the lily in Italian paintings when he salutes the Virgin Mary with
Afe Virgo!

^ That is, he finds everywhere in Italy the arms of the Farnesi.

256 BENVENUTO CELLINI

The castle's bell must break ere I with strain

Thence issued; and these things Who speaketh true
In heaven on earth, to me made wondrous plain.'

Next I beheld a bier of sombre hue

Adorned with broken lilies; crosses, tears;
And on their beds a lost woe-stricken crew.'

I saw the Death who racks our souls with fears;

This man and that she menaced, while she cried:
"I clip the folk who harm thee with these shears!"

That worthy one then on my brow wrote wide

With Peter's pen words which — for he bade shun
To speak them thrice — within my breast I hide."

Him I beheld who drives and checks the sun,

Clad with its splendour 'mid his court on high,
Seld-seen by mortal eyes, if e'er by one.'"

Then did a solitary sparrow cry

Loud from the keep; hearing which note, I said:
"He tells that I shall live and you must die!"

I sang, and wrote my hard case, head by head.
Asking from God pardon and aid in need.
For now I felt mine eyes outworn and dead.

Ne'er lion, tiger, wolf, or bear knew greed

Hungrier than that man felt for human blood;
Nor viper with more venomous fang did feed."

The cruel chief was he of robbers' brood,

Worst of the worst among a gang of knaves;
Hist! I'll speak soft lest I be understood!

Say, have ye seen catchpolls, the famished slaves,
In act a poor man's homestead to distrain,
Smashing down Christs, Madonnas, with their staves?

' Allusion to his prevision of the castellan's death.

' Allusion to his prevision of Pier Luigi Farnese's murder.

' Allusion to the angel who visited him in prison.

'" Allusion to his vision of the sun in the dungeon.

" An invective against Pier Luigi Farnese.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 257

So on the first of August did that train

Dislodge me to a tomb more foul, more cold: —
"November damns and dooms each rogue to pain!" "

I at mine ears a trumpet had which told

Truth; and each word to them I did repeat,
Reckless, if but grief's load from me were rolled.

They, when they saw their final hope retreat,
Gave me a diamond, pounded, no fair ring,
Deeming that I must die if I should eat.

That villain churl whose office 'twas to bring

My food, I bade taste first; but meanwhile thought:
"Not here I find my foe Durante's sting!"

Yet erst my mind unto high God I brought
Beseeching Him to pardon all my sin.
And spoke a Miserere sorrow-fraught.

Then when I gained some respite from that din
Of troubles, and had given my soul to God,
Contented better realms and state to win,

I saw along the path which saints have trod,

From heaven descending, glad, with glorious palm,
An angel: clear he cried, "Upon earth's sod

Live longer thou! Through Him who heard thy psalm,
Those foes shall perish, each and all, in strife.
While thou remainest happy, free, and calm.

Blessed by our Sire in heaven on earth for life!"

'^ Allusion to the prophetic words he flung at the officers who took him to Foiano's
dungeon.

BOOK SECOND

I REMAINED for some time in the Cardinal of Ferrara's pal-
ace, very well regarded in general by everybody, and much
more visited even than I had previously been. Everybody was
astonished that I should have come out of prison and have been
able to live through such indescribable afflictions;' and while I was
recovering my breath and endeavouring to resume the habit of my
art, I had great pleasure in re-writing the Capitolo. Afterwards, with
a view to re-establishing my strength, I determined to take a journey
of a few days for change of air. My good friend the Cardinal gave
me permission and lent me horses; and I had two young Romans
for my companions, one of them a craftsman in my trade, the other
only a comrade in our journey. We left Rome, and took the road
to Tagliacozzo, intending to visit my pupil Ascanio, who lived there.
On our arrival, I found the lad, together with his father, brothers,
sisters, and stepmother. I was entertained by them two days with
indescribable kindness; then I turned my face towards Rome, taking
Ascanio with me. On the road we fell to conversing about our art,
which made me die of impatience to get back and recommence my
labours.

Having reached Rome, I got myself at once in readiness to work,
and was fortunate enough to find again a silver basin which I had
begun for the Cardinal before I was imprisoned. Together with
this basin I had begun a very beautiful Httle jug; but this had been
stolen, with a great quantity of other valuable articles. I set Pagolo,
whom I have previously mentioned, to work upon the basin. At the
same time I recommenced the jug, which was designed with round
figures and bas-reliefs. The basin was executed in a similar style,
with round figures and fishes in bas-relief. The whole had such rich-

^This assertion is well supported by contemporary letters of Caro and Alamanni.

258

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 259

ness and good keeping, that every one who beheld it expressed
astonishment at the force of the design and beauty of invention, and
also at the delicacy^ with which these young men worked.

The Cardinal came at least twice a day to see me, bringing with
him Messer Luigi Alamanni and Messer Gabriel Cesano;^ and here
we used to pass an hour or two pleasantly together. Notwithstand-
ing I had very much to do, he kept giving me fresh commissions.
Among others, I had to make his pontifical seal of the size of the
hand of a boy of twelve. On it I engraved in intaglio two little his-
tories, the one of San Giovanni preaching in the wilderness, the other
of Sant' Ambrogio expelling the Arians^ on horseback with a lash
in his hand. The fire and correctness of design of this piece, and
its nicety of workmanship, made every one say that I had surpassed
the great Lautizio, who ranked alone in this branch of the profes-
sion. The Cardinal was so proud of it that he used to compare it
complacently with the other seals of the Roman cardinals, which
were nearly all from the hand of Lautizio.

n

In addition to these things the Cardinal ordered me to make the
model for a salt-cellar; but he said he should like me to leave the
beaten track pursued by such as fabricated these things. Messer
Luigi, apropos of this salt-cellar, made an eloquent description of
his own idea; Messer Gabriello Cesano also spoke exceedingly well
to the same purpose. The Cardinal, who was a very kindly listener,
showed extreme satisfaction with the designs which these two able
men of letters had described in words. Then he turned to me and
said: "My Benvenuto, the design of Messer Luigi and that of Messer
Gabriello please me both so well that I know not how to choose
between them; therefore I leave the choice to you, who will have
to execute the work." I replied as follows: "It is apparent, my lords,
of what vast consequence are the sons of kings and emperors, and
what a marvellous brightness of divinity appears in them; neverthe-
less, if you ask some poor humble shepherd which he loves best, those
royal children or his sons, he will certainly tell you that he loves his

^ PuUtezza. This indicates precision, neatness, cleanness of execution.

'The name of Cesano is well known in the literary correspondence of those times.

* It will be remembered that the Cardinal was Archbishop of Milan.

26o BENVENUTO CELLINI

own sons best. Now I too have a great affection for the children
which I bring forth from my art; consequently the first which I will
show you, most reverend monsignor my good master, shall be of
my own making and invention. There are many things beautiful
enough in words which do not match together well when executed
by an artist." Then I turned to the two scholars and said: "You have
spoken, I will do." Upon this Messer Luigi Alamanni smiled, and
added a great many witty things, with the greatest charm of man-
ner, in my praise; they became him well, for he was handsome of
face and figure, and had a gentle voice. Messer Gabriello Cesano
was quite the opposite, as ugly and displeasing as the other was
agreeable; accordingly he spoke as he looked.

Messer Luigi had suggested that I should fashion a Venus with
Cupid, surrounded by a crowd of pretty emblems, all in proper keep-
ing with the subject. Messer Gabriello proposed that I should model
an Amphitrite, the wife of Neptune, together with those Tritons of
the sea, and many such-like fancies, good enough to describe in
words, but not to execute in metal.

I first laid down an oval framework, considerably longer than half
a cubit — almost two-thirds, in fact; and upon this ground, wishing
to suggest the interminglement of land and ocean, I modelled two
figures, considerably taller than a palm in height, which were seated
with their legs interlaced, suggesting those lengthier branches of the
sea which run up into the continents. The sea was a man, and in his
hand I placed a ship, elaborately wrought in all its details, and well
adapted to hold a quantity of salt. Beneath him I grouped the four
sea-horses, and in his right hand he held his trident. The earth I
fashioned like a woman, with all the beauty of form, the grace, and
charm of which my art was capable. She had a richly decorated
temple firmly based upon the ground at one side; and here her hand
rested. This I intended to receive the pepper. In her other hand I
put a cornucopia, overflowing with all the natural treasures I could
think of. Below this goddess, in the part which represented earth,
I collected the fairest animals that haunt our globe. In the quarter
presided over by the deity of ocean, I fashioned such choice kinds
of fishes and shells as could be properly displayed in that small
space. What remained of the oval I filled in with luxuriant orna-
mentation.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 261

Then I waited for the Cardinal; and when he came, attended by
the two accomplished gentlemen, I produced the model I had made
in wax. On beholding it, Messer Gabriel Cesano was the first to lift
his voice up, and to cry : "This is a piece which it will take the lives
of ten men to finish: do not expect, most reverend monsignor, if
you order it, to get it in your lifetime. Benvenuto, it seems, has
chosen to display his children in a vision, but not to give them to the
touch, as we did when we spoke of things that could be carried
out, while he has shown a thing beyond the bounds of possibility."
Messer Alamanni took my side; but the Cardinal said he did not
care to undertake so important an affair. Then I turned to them and
said: "Most reverend monsignor, and you, gentlemen, fulfilled with
learning; I tell you that I hope to complete this piece for whosoever
shall be destined to possess it;' and each one of you shall live to
see it executed a hundred times more richly than the model. Indeed,
I hope that time will be left me to produce far greater things
than this." The Cardinal replied in heat: "Unless you make it for
the King, to whom I mean to take you, I do not think that you will
make it for another man alive." Then he showed me letters in which
the King, under one heading, bade him return as soon as possible,
bringing Benvenuto with him. At this I raised my hands to heaven,
exclaiming: "Oh, when will that moment come, and quickly?"
The Cardinal bade me put myself in readiness, and arrange the
affairs I had in Rome. He gave me ten days for these prepara-
tions.

Ill

When the time came to travel, he gave me a fine and excellent
horse. The animal was called Tornon, because it was a gift from
the Cardinal Tornon.^ My apprentices, Pagolo and Ascanio, were
also furnished with good mounts.

The Cardinal divided his household, which was very numerous,
into two sections. The first, and the more distinguished, he took
with him, following the route of Romagna, with the object of visit-
ing Madonna del Loreto, and then making for Ferrara, his own
home. The other section he sent upon the road to Florence. This was

' A chi I'ard avere. For whomsoever it is going to belong to.

'This was the famous Francois de Tournon, made Cardinal in 1530, and employed
as minister by Francois I.

262 BENVENUTO CELLINI

the larger train; it counted a great multitude, including the flower
of his horse. He told me that if I wished to make the journey with-
out peril, I had better go with him, otherwise I ran some risk of
my life. I expressed my inclination to his most reverend lordship
to travel in his suite. But, having done so, since the will of Heaven
must be accomplished, it pleased God to remind me of my poor
sister, who had suffered greatly from the news of my misfortunes.
I also remembered my cousins, who were nuns in Viterbo, the one
abbess and the other camerlinga,^ and who had therefore that rich
convent under their control. They too had endured sore tribulation
for my sake, and to their fervent prayers I firmly believed that I
owed the grace of my deliverance by God. Accordingly, when these
things came into my mind, I decided for the route to Florence. I
might have travelled free of expense with the Cardinal or with that
other train of his, but I chose to take my own way by myself.
Eventually I joined company with a very famous clockmaker, called
Maestro Cherubino, my esteemed friend. Thrown together by acci-
dent, we performed the journey with much enjoyment on both sides.
I had left Rome on Monday in Passion Week, together with Pagolo
and Ascanio.* At Monte Ruosi we joined the company which I have
mentioned. Since I had expressed my intention of following the
Cardinal, I did not anticipate that any of my enemies would be upon
the watch to harm me. Yet I ran a narrow risk of coming to grief
at Monte Ruosi; for a band of men had been sent forward, well
armed, to do me mischief there. It was so ordained by God that,
while we were at dinner, these fellows, on the news that I was not
travelling in the Cardinal's suite, made preparation to attack me.
Just at that moment the Cardinal's retinue arrived, and I was glad
enough to travel with their escort safely to Viterbo. From that place
onward I had no apprehension of danger, especially as I made a
point of travelling a few miles in front, and the best men of the
retinue kept a good watch over me.^ I arrived by God's grace safe
and sound at Viterbo, where my cousins and all the convent re-
ceived me with the greatest kindness.

^ This official in a convent was the same as cellarer or superintendent of the cellar
and provisions. ^This was March 22, 1540. ^Tenevano molto conto di me.
This is perhaps equivalent to held me in high esteem. But Cellini uses the same
phrase with the meaning I have given above, in Book I, chap, Ixxxvi,

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 263

IV

After leaving Viterbo with the comrades I have mentioned, we
pursued our journey on horseback, sometimes in front and some-
times beliind the Cardinal's household. This brought us upon
Maundy Thursday at twenty-two o'clock within one stage of Siena.
At this place there happened to be some return-horses; and the
people of the post were waiting for an opportunity to hire them at
a small fee to any traveller who would take them back to the post-
station in Siena. When I was aware of this, I dismounted from my
horse Tornon, saddled one of the beasts with my pad and stirrups,
and gave a giulio to the groom in waiting.'

I left my horse under the care of my young men to bring after me,
and rode on in front, wishing to arrive half-an-hour earlier in Siena,
where I had some friends to visit and some business to transact. Al-
though I went at a smart pace, I did not override the post-horse.
When I reached Siena, I engaged good rooms at the inn for five per-
sons, and told the groom of the house to take the horse back to the
post, which was outside the Camollia gate; I forgot, however, to
remove my stirrups and my pad.

That evening of Holy Thursday we passed together with much
gaiety; and next morning, which was Good Friday, I remembered
my stirrups and my pad. On my sending for them, the postmaster
replied that he did not mean to give them up, because I had over-
ridden his horse. We exchanged messages several times, and he kept
saying that he meant to keep them, adding expressions of intolerable
insult. The host where I was lodging told me: "You will get off
well if he does nothing worse than to detain your gear; for you
must know that he is the most brutal fellow that ever disgraced
our city, and has two sons, soldiers of great courage, who are
even more brutal than he is. I advise you then to purchase what
you want, and to pursue your journey without moving farther in
this matter."

I bought a new pair of stirrups, although I still hoped to regain
my good pad by persuasion; and since I was very well mounted,

' The word I have translated by "pad" above is cucino in the original. It seems
to have been a sort of cushion flung upon the saddle, and to which the stirrups were
attached.

264 BENVENUTO CELLINI

and well armed with shirt and sleeves of mail, and carried an ex-
cellent arquebuse upon my saddle-bow, I was not afraid of the
brutality and violence which that mad beast was said to be possessed
of. I had also accustomed my young men to carry shirts of mail,
and had great confidence in the Roman, who, while we were in
Rome together, had never left it off, so far as I could see; Ascanio
too, although he was but a stripling, was in the habit of wearing one.
Besides, as it was Good Friday, I imagined that the madnesses of
madmen might be giving themselves a holiday. When we came to
the Camollfa gate, I at once recognised the postmaster by the indica-
tions given me; for he was blind of the left eye. Riding up to him
then, and leaving my young men and companions at a little distance,
I courteously addressed him: "Master of the post, if I assure you that
I did not override your horse, why are you unwilling to give me
back my pad and stirrups?" The reply he made was precisely as
mad and brutal as had been foretold me. This roused me to ex-
claim: "How then! are you not a Christian? or do you want upon
Good Friday to force us both into a scandal?" He answered that
Good Friday or the Devil's Friday was all the same to him, and that
if I did not take myself away, he would fell me to the ground with
a spontoon which he had taken up — me and the arquebuse I had
my hand on. Upon hearing these truculent words, an old gentleman
of Siena joined us; he was dressed like a citizen, and was returning
from the religious functions proper to that day. It seems that he had
gathered the sense of my arguments before he came up to where
we stood; and this impelled him to rebuke the postmaster with
warmth, taking my side, and reprimanding the man's two sons for
not doing their duty to passing strangers; so that their manners
were an offence to God and a disgrace to the city of Siena. The
two young fellows wagged their heads without saying a word, and
withdrew inside the house. Their father, stung to fury by the
scolding of that respectable gentleman, poured out a volley of abusive
blasphemies, and levelled his spontoon, swearing he would murder
me. When I saw him determined to do some act of bestial violence,
I pointed the muzzle of my arquebuse, with the objea only of keep-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 265

ing him at a distance. Doubly enraged by this, he flung himself upon
me. Though I had prepared the arquebuse for my defence, I had
not yet levelled it exactly at him; indeed it was pointed too high.
It went off of itself; and the ball, striking the arch of the door and
glancing backwards, wounded him in the throat, so that he fell
dead to earth. Upon this the two young men came running out; one
caught up a partisan from the rack which stood there, the other
seized the spontoon of his father. Springing upon my followers,
the one who had the spontoon smote Pagolo the Roman first above
the left nipple. The other attacked a Milanese who was in our com-
pany, and had the ways and manners of a perfect fool. This man
screamed out that he had nothing in the world to do with me, and
parried the point of the partisan with a little stick he held; but this
availed him naught : in spite of his words and fencing, he received a
flesh wound in the mouth. Messer Cherubino wore the habit of a
priest; for though he was a clockmaker by trade, he held benefices
of some value from the Pope. Ascanio, who was well armed, stood
his ground without trying to escape, as the Milanese had done; so
these two came off unhurt. I had set spurs to my horse, and while
he was galloping, had charged and got my arquebuse in readiness
again; but now I turned back, burning with fury, and meaning to
play my part this time in earnest. I thought that my young men had
been killed, and was resolved to die with them. The horse had not
gone many paces when I met them riding toward me, and asked
if they were hurt. Ascanio answered that Pagolo was wounded to
the death. Then I said: "O Pagolo, my son, did the spontoon then
pierce through your armour?" "No," he replied, "for I put my shirt
of mail in the valise this morning." "So then, I suppose, one wears
chain-mail in Rome to swagger before ladies, but where there is
danger, and one wants it, one keeps it locked up in a portmanteau ?
You deserve what you have got, and you are now the cause of send-
ing me back to die here too." While I was uttering these words, I
kept riding briskly onward; but both the young men implored me
for the love of God to save myself and them, and not to rush on
certain death. Just then I met Messer Cherubino and the wounded

266 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Milanese. The former cried out that no one was badly wounded;
the blow given to Pagolo had only grazed the skin;^ but the old
postmaster was stretched out dead; his sons with other folk were
getting ready for attack, and we must almost certainly be cut to
pieces: "Accordingly, Benvenuto, since fortune has saved us from
this first tempest, do not tempt her again, for things may not go
so favourably a second time." To this I replied : "If you are satisfied
to have it thus, so also am I;" and turning to Pagolo and Ascanio,
I said: "Strike spurs to your horses, and let us gallop to Staggia
without stopping;^ there we shall be in safety." The wounded Mi-
lanese groaned out: "A pox upon our peccadilloes! the sole cause
of my misfortune was that I sinned by taking a little broth this
morning, having nothing else to break my fast with." In spite of
the great peril we were in, we could not help laughing a little at
the donkey and his silly speeches. Then we set spurs to our horses,
and left Messer Cherubino and the Milanese to follow at their
leisure.

While we were making our escape, the sons of the dead man ran
to the Duke of Melfi, and begged for some light horsemen to catch
us up and take us prisoners.' The Duke upon being informed that
we were the Cardinal of Ferrara's men, refused to give them troops
or leave to follow. We meanwhile arrived at Staggia, where we
were in safety. There we sent for a doctor, the best who could be had
in such a place; and on his examining Pagolo, we discovered that
the wound was only skin-deep; so I felt sure^ that he would escape
without mischief. Then we ordered dinner; and at this juncture
there arrived Messer Cherubino and that Milanese simpleton, who
kept always muttering: "A plague upon your quarrels," and com-
plaining that he was excommunicated because he had not been able
to say a single Paternoster on that holy morning. He was very ugly,
and his mouth, which nature had made large, had been expanded

^The Italian is peculiar: il colpo di Pagolo era ito tanto ritto che non era isfandato.
^ Staggia is the next post on the way to Florence.

' The Duke of Melfi, or Amalfi, was at this time Alfonso Piccolomini, acting as
captain-general of the Sienese in the interests of Charles V.

^ Cognobbi. The subject to this verb may be either Cellini or the doctor.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 267

at least three inches by his wound; so that what with his ludicrous
Milanese jargon and his silly way of talking, he gave us so much
matter for mirth, that, instead of bemoaning our ill-luck, we could
not hold from laughing at every word he uttered. When the doctor
wanted to sew up his wound, and had already made three stitches
with his needle, the fellow told him to hold hard a while, since he
did not want him out of malice to sew his whole mouth up. Then
he took up a spoon, and said he wished to have his mouth left open
enough to take that spoon in, in order that he might return alive to
his own folk. These things he said with such odd waggings of the
head, that we never stopped from laughing, and so pursued our jour-
ney mirthfully to Florence.

We dismounted at the house of my poor sister, who, together with
her husband, overwhelmed us with kind attentions. Messer Cheru-
bino and the Milanese went about their business. In Florence we
remained four days, during which Pagolo got well. It was lucky
for us that whenever we talked about that Milanese donkey, we
laughed as much as our misfortunes made us weep, so that we kept
laughing and crying both at the same moment.

Pagolo recovered, as I have said, with ease; and then we travelled
toward Ferrara, where we found our lord the Cardinal had not
yet arrived. He had already heard of all our accidents, and said,
when he expressed hi^ concern for them : "I pray to God that I may
be allowed to bring you alive to the King, according to my promise."
In Ferrara he sent me to reside at a palace of his, a very handsome
place called Belfiore, close under the city walls. There he provided
me with all things necessary for my work. A little later, he ar-
ranged to leave for France without me; and observing that I was
very ill pleased with this, he said to me: "Benvenuto, I am acting for
your welfare; before I take you out of Italy, I want you to know
exactly what you will have to do when you come to France. Mean-
while, push on my basin and the jug with all the speed you can. I
shall leave orders with my factor to give you everything that you
may want."

He then departed, and I remained sorely dissatisfied, and more
than once I was upon the point of taking myself off without license.
The only thing which kept me back was that he had procured my

268 BENVENUTO CELLINI

freedom from Pope Paolo; for the rest, I was ill-contented and put
to considerable losses. However, I clothed my mind with the grati-
tude due to that great benefit, and disposed myself to be patient and
to await the termination of the business. So I set myself to work
with my two men, and made great progress with the jug and basin.
The air was unwholesome where we lodged, and toward summer
we all of us suffered somewhat in our health. During our indispo-
sition we went about inspecting the domain; it was very large, and
left in a wild state for about a mile of open ground, haunted too
by multitudes of peacocks, which bred and nested there like wild-
fowl. This put it into my head to charge my gun with a noiseless
kind of powder; then I tracked some of the young birds, and every
other day killed one, which furnished us with abundance of meat,
of such excellent quality that we shook our sickness off. For several
months following we went on working merrily, and got the jug and
basin forward; but it was a task that required much time.

VI

At that period the Duke of Ferrara came to terms with Pope Paul
about some old matters in dispute between them relating to Modena
and certain other cities. The Church having a strong claim to them,
the Duke was forced to purchase peace by paying down an enor-
mous sum of money; I think that it exceeded three hundred thou-
sand ducats of the Camera. There was an old treasurer in the service
of the Duke, who had been brought up by his father, Duke Alfonso,
and was called Messer Girolamo Giliolo. He could not endure to see
so much money going to the Pope, and went about the streets crying:
"Duke Alfonso, his father, would sooner have attacked and taken
Rome with this money than have shown it to the Pope." Nothing
would induce him to disburse it; at last, however, the Duke com-
pelled him to make the payments, which caused the old man such
anguish that he sickened of a dangerous colic and was brought to
death's door. During this man's illness the Duke sent for me, and
bade me take his portrait; this I did upon a circular piece of black
stone about the size of a little trencher. The Duke took so much
pleasure in my work and conversation, that he not unfrequently

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 269

posed through four or five hours at a stretch for his own portrait,
and sometimes invited me to supper. It took me eight days to com-
plete his likeness; then he ordered me to design the reverse. On it
I modelled Peace, giving her the form of a woman with a torch in
her hand, setting fire to a trophy of arms; I portrayed her in an atti-
tude of gladness, with very thin drapery, and below her feet lay
Fury in despair, downcast and sad, and loaded with chains. I de-
voted much study and attention to this work, and it won me the
greatest honour. The Duke was never tired of expressing his satis-
faction, and gave me inscriptions for both sides of the medal. That
on the reverse ran as follows: Pretiosa in conspectu Domini; it meant
that his peace with the Pope had been dearly bought.

VII

While I was still engaged upon the reverse of this medal, the Car-
dinal sent me letters bidding me prepare for my journey, since the
King had asked after me. His next communication would contain
full details respecting all that he had promised. Accordingly, I had
my jug and basin packed up, after showing them to the Duke. Now
a Ferrarese gendeman named Alberto Bendedio was the Cardinal's
agent, and he had been twelve years confined to his house, without
once leaving it, by reason of some physical infirmity. One day he
sent in a vast hurry for me, saying I must take the post at once, in
order to present myself before the King of France, who had eagerly
been asking for me, under the impression that I was in France. By
way of apology, the Cardinal told him that I was staying, slightly
indisposed, in his abbey at Lyons, but that he would have me brought
immediately to his Majesty. Therefore I must lose no time, but
travel with the post.

Now Messer Alberto was a man of sterling worth, but proud, and
illness had made his haughty temper insupportable. As I have just
said, he bade me to get ready on the spot and take the journey by
the common post. I said that it was not the custom to pursue my
profession in the post, and that if I had to go, it was my intention
to make easy stages and to take with me the workmen Ascanio and
Pagolo, whom I had brought from Rome. Moreover, I wanted a

270 BENVENUTO CELLINI

servant on horseback to be at my orders, and money sufficient for my
costs upon the way. The infirm old man repUed, upon a tone of
mighty haughtiness, that the sons of dukes were wont to travel as
I had described, and in no other fashion. I retorted that the sons of
my art travelled in the way I had informed him, and that not being a
duke's son, I knew nothing about the customs of such folk; if he
treated me to language with which my ears were unfamiliar, I would
not go at all; the Cardinal having broken faith with me, and such
scurvy words having been spoken, I should make my mind up once
for all to take no further trouble with the Ferrarese. Then I turned
my back, and, he threatening, I grumbling, took my leave.

I next went to the Duke with my medal, which was finished. He
received me with the highest marks of honour and esteem. It seems
that he had given orders to Messer Girolamo Giliolo to reward me
for my labour with a diamond ring worth two hundred crowns,
which was to be presented by Fiaschino, his chamberlain. Accord-
ingly, this fellow, on the evening after I had brought the medal, at
one hour past nightfall, handed me a ring with a diamond of showy
appearance, and spoke as follows on the part of his master: "Take
this diamond as a remembrance of his Excellency, to adorn the
unique artist's hand which has produced a masterpiece of so singular
merit." When day broke, I examined the ring, and found the stone
to be a miserable thin diamond, worth about ten crowns. I felt
sure that the Duke had not meant to accompany such magnificent
compliments with so trifling a gift, but that he must have intended
to reward me handsomely. Being then convinced that the trick pro-
ceeded from his rogue of a treasurer, I gave the ring to a friend of
mine, begging him to return it to the chamberlain, Fiaschino, as he
best could. The man I chose was Bernardo Saliti, who executed his
commission admirably. Fiaschino came at once to see me, and de-
clared, with vehement expostulations, that the Duke would take it
very ill if I refused a present he had meant so kindly; perhaps I
should have to repent of my waywardness. I answered that the ring
his Excellency had given me was worth about ten crowns, and that
the work I had done for him was worth more than two hundred.
Wishing, however, to show his Excellency how highly I esteemed his
courtesy, I should be happy if he bestowed on me only one of those

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 27I

rings for the cramp, which come from England and are worth ten-
jjence.' I would treasure that so long as I lived in remembrance of
his Excellency, together with the honourable message he had sent
me; for I considered that the splendid favours of his Excellency had
amply recompensed my pains, whereas that paltry stone insulted
them. This speech annoyed the Duke so much that he sent for his
treasurer, and scolded him more sharply than he had ever done be-
fore. At the same time he gave me orders, under pain of his dis-
pleasure, not to leave Ferrara without duly informing him; and com-
manded the treasurer to present me with a diamond up to three
hundred crowns in value. The miserly official found a stone rising
a trifle above sixty crowns, and let it be heard that it was worth
upwards of two hundred.

vin

Meanwhile Messer Alberto returned to reason, and provided me
with all I had demanded. My mind was made up to quit Ferrara
without fail that very day; but the Duke's attentive chamberlain
arranged with Messer Alberto that I should get no horses then. I
had loaded a mule with my baggage, including the case which held
the Cardinal's jug and basin. Just then a Ferrarese nobleman named
Messer Alfonso de' Trotti arrived.'' He was far advanced in years,
and a person of excessive affectation; a great dilettante of the arts,
but one of those men who are very difficult to satisfy, and who, if
they chance to stumble on something which suits their taste, exalt it
so in their own fancy that they never expect to see the like of it again.
Well, this Messer Alfonso arrived, and Messer Alberto said to him:
"I am sorry that you are come so late; the jug and basin we are
sending to the Cardinal in France have been already packed." He
answered that it did not signify to him; and beckoning to his serv-
ant, sent him home to fetch a jug in white Faenzo clay, the work-
manship of which was very exquisite. During the time the servant
took to go and return, Messer Alfonso said to Messer Alberto: "I
will tell you why I do not care any longer to look at vases; it is that

^ Anello del granchio, a metal ring o£ lead and copper, such as are now worn in
Italy under the name of anello di salute.

^ This man was a member of a very noble Ferrarese family, and much esteemed for
his official talents.

272 BENVENUTO CELLINI

I once beheld a piece of silver, antique, of such beauty and such
finish that the human imagination cannot possibly conceive its rarity.
Therefore I would rather not inspect any objects of the kind, for fear
of spoiling the unique impression I retain of that. I must tell you
that a gentleman of great quality and accomplishments, who went
to Rome upon matters of business, had this antique vase shown to
him in secret. By adroitly using a large sum of money, he bribed
the person in whose hands it was, and brought it with him to these
parts; but he keeps it jealously from all eyes, in order that the Duke
may not get wind of it, fearing he should in some way be deprived
of his treasure." While spinning out this lengthy yarn, Messer
Alfonso did not look at me, because we were not previously ac-
quainted. But when that precious clay model appeared, he displayed
it with such airs of ostentation, pomp, and mountebank ceremony,
that, after inspecting it, I turned to Messer Alberto and said: "I am
indeed lucky to have had the privilege to see it!"' Messer Alfonso,
quite affronted, let some contemptuous words escape him, and ex-
claimed : "Who are you, then, you who do not know what you are
saying?" I replied: "Listen for a moment, and afterwards judge
which of us knows best what he is saying." Then turning to Messer
Alberto, who was a man of great gravity and talent, I began : "This
is a copy from a little silver goblet, of such and such a weight, which
I made at such and such a time for that charlatan Maestro Jacopo,
the surgeon from Carpi. He came to Rome and spent six months
there, during which he bedaubed some scores of noblemen and un-
fortunate gentlefolk with his dirty salves, extracting many thousands
of ducats from their pockets. At that time I made for him this vase
and one of a different pattern. He paid me very badly; and at the
present moment in Rome all the miserable people who used his oint-
ment are crippled and in a deplorable state of health.'' It is indeed
great glory for me that my works are held in such repute among you
wealthy lords; but I can assure you that during these many years
past I have been progressing in my art with all my might, and I
think that the vase I am taking with me into France is far more

^ Pur beato che to I' ho vedutol LeclancW translates thus: "Par Dieu! il y a long-
temps que je I' ai vul" I think Cellini probably meant to hint that he had seen it
before.

*See above, book i., p. 51, for this story.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 273

worthy of cardinals and kings than that piece belonging to your little
quack doctor."

After I had made this speech, Messer Alfonso seemed dying with
desire to see the jug and basin, but I refused to open the box. We
remained some while disputing the matter, when he said that he
would go to the Duke and get an order from his Excellency to have
it shown him. Then Messer Alberto Bendedio, in the high and
mighty manner which belonged to him, exclaimed: "Before you
leave this room, Messer Alfonso, you shall see it, without employing
the Duke's influence." On hearing these words I took my leave, and
left Ascanio and Pagolo to show it. They told me afterwards that he
had spoken enthusiastically in my praise. After this he wanted to
become better acquainted with me; but I was wearying to leave
Ferrara and get away from all its folk. The only advantages I had
enjoyed there were the society of Cardinal Salviati and the Cardinal
of Ravenna, and the friendship of some ingenious musicians;* no
one else had been to me of any good; for the Ferrarese are a very
avaricious people, greedy of their neighbours' money, however they
may lay their hands on it; they are all the same in this respect.

At the hour of twenty-two Fiaschino arrived, and gave me the dia-
mond of sixty crowns, of which I spoke above. He told me, with a
hang-dog look and a few brief words, that I might wear it for his
Excellency's sake. I replied: "I will do so." Then putting my foot in
the stirrup in his presence, I set off upon my travels without further
leave-taking. The man noted down my act and words, and reported
them to the Duke, who was highly incensed, and showed a strong
inclination to make me retrace my steps.

IX

That evening I rode more than ten miles, always at a trot; and
when, upon the next day, I found myself outside the Ferrarese do-
main, I felt excessively relieved; indeed I had met with nothing to
my liking there, except those peacocks which restored my health.
We journeyed by the Monsanese, avoiding the city of Milan on ac-

' Cardinal Giovanni Salviati was Archbishop of Ferrara; Cardinal Benedetto Accolti,
Archbishop of Ravenna, was then staying at Ferrara; the court was famous for its
excellent orchestra and theatrical display of all kinds.

274 BENVENUTO CELLINI

count of the apprehension I have spoken of;' so that we arrived safe
and sound at Lyons. Counting Pagolo and Ascanio and a servant,
we were four men, with four very good horses. At Lyons we waited
several days for the muleteer, who carried the silver cup and basin,
as well as our other baggage; our lodging was in an abbey of the
Cardinal's. When the muleteer arrived, we loaded all our goods
upon a little cart, and then set off toward Paris. On the road we met
with some annoyances, but not of any great moment.

We found the Court of the King at Fontana Belio;^ there we pre-
sented ourselves to the Cardinal, who provided us at once with lodg-
ings, and that evening we were comfortable. On the following day
the cart turned up; so we unpacked our things, and when the Car-
dinal heard this he told the King, who expressed a wish to see me
at once. I went to his Majesty with the cup and basin; then, upon
entering his presence, I kissed his knee, and he received me very
graciously. I thanked his Majesty for freeing me from prison, saying
that all princes unique for generosity upon this earth, as was his
Majesty, lay under special obligations to set free men of talent, and
particularly those that were innocent, as I was; such benefits, I added,
were inscribed upon the book of God before any other good actions.
The King, while I was delivering this speech, continued listening
till the end with the utmost courtesy, dropping a few words such as
only he could utter. Then he took the vase and basin, and exclaimed:
"Of a truth I hardly think the ancients can have seen a piece so
beautiful as this. I well remember to have inspected all the best
works, and by the greatest masters of all Italy, but I never set my
eyes on anything which stirred me to such admiration." These
words the King addressed in French to the Cardinal of Ferrara, with
many others of even warmer praise. Then he turned to me and said
in Italian: "Benvenuto, amuse yourself for a few days, make good
cheer, and spend your time in pleasure; in the meanwhile we will
think of giving you the wherewithal to execute some fine works
of art for us."

' The Monsanese is the Mont Cenis. Cellini forgets that he has not mentioned this
apprehension which made him turn aside from Milan. It may have been the fear
of plague, or perhaps of some enemy.

^It is thus that Cellini always writes Fontainebleau.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 275

The Cardinal of Ferrara saw that the King had been vastly pleased
by my arrival; he also judged that the trifles which I showed him of
my handicraft had encouraged him to hope for the execution of some
considerable things he had in mind. At this time, however, we were
following the court with the weariest trouble and fatigue; the reason
of this was that the train of the King drags itself along with never
less than 12,000 horse behind it; this calculation is the very lowest;
for when the court is complete in times of peace, there are some
18,000, which makes 12,000 less than the average. Consequently we
had to journey after it through places where sometimes there were
scarcely two houses to be found; and then we set up canvas tents like
gipsies, and suffered at times very great discomfort. I therefore kept
urging the Cardinal to put the King in mind of employing me in
some locality where I could stop and work. The Cardinal answered
that it was far better to wait until the King should think of it him-
self, and that I ought to show myself at times to his Majesty while
he was at table. This I did then; and one morning, at his dinner,
the King called me. He began to talk to me in Italian, saying he
had it in his mind to execute several great works, and that he would
soon give orders where I was to labour, and provide me with all
necessaries. These communications he mingled with discourse on
divers pleasant matters. The Cardinal of Ferrara was there, because
he almost always ate in the morning at the King's table. He had
heard our conversation, and when the King rose, he spoke in my
favour to this purport, as I afterwards was informed: "Sacred
Majesty, this man Benvenuto is very eager to get to work again; it
seems almost a sin to let an artist of his abilities waste his time." The
King replied that he had spoken well, and told him to arrange with
me all things for my support according to my wishes.

Upon the evening of the day when he received this commission,
the Cardinal sent for me after supper, and told me that his Majesty
was resolved to let me begin working, but that he wanted me first
to come to an understanding about my appointments. To this the
Cardinal added : "It seems to me that if his Majesty allows you three
hundred crowns a year, you will be able to keep yourself very well

276 BENVENUTO CELLINI

indeed; furthermore, I advise you to leave yourself in my hands, for
every day offers the opportunity of doing some service in this great
kingdom, and I shall exert myself with vigour in your interest."
Then I began to speak as follows: "When your most reverend lord-
ship left me in Ferrara, you gave me a promise, which I had never
asked for, not to bring me out of Italy before I clearly understood
the terms on which I should be placed here with his Majesty. Instead
of sending to communicate these details, your most reverend lord-
ship urgently ordered me to come by the post, as if an art like mine
was carried on post-haste. Had you written to tell me of three
hundred crowns, as you have now spoken, I would not have stirred
a foot for twice that sum. Nevertheless, I thank God and your most
reverend lordship for all things, seeing God has employed you £>s
the instrument for my great good in procuring my liberation from
imprisonment. Therefore I assure your lordship that all the troubles
you are now causing me fall a thousand times short of the great
good which you have done me. With all my heart I thank you, and
take good leave of you; wherever I may be, so long as I have life, I
will pray God for you." The Cardinal was greatly irritated, and
cried out in a rage: "Go where you choose; it is impossible to help
people against their will." Some of his good-for-nothing courtiers
who were present said: "That fellow sets great store on himself, for
he is refusing three hundred ducats a year." Another, who was a
man of talent, replied: "The King will never find his equal, and our
Cardinal wants to cheapen him, as though he were a load of wood."
This was Messer Luigi Alamanni who spoke to the above effect, as
I was afterwards informed. All this happened on the last day of
October, in Dauphine, at a castle the name of which I do not
remember.

XI

On leaving the Cardinal I repaired to my lodging, which was
three miles distant, in company with a secretary of the Cardinal
returning to the same quarters. On the road, this man never stopped
asking me what I meant to do with myself, and what my own terms
regarding the appointment would have been. I gave him only one
word back for answer which was that— I knew all. When we came

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 277

to our quarters, I found Pagolo and Ascanio there; and seeing me
much troubled, they implored me to tell them what was the matter.
To the poor young men, who were all dismayed, I said for answer:
"To-morrow I shall give you money amply sufficient for your
journey home. I mean myself to go about a most important business
without you, which for a long time I have had it in my mind to do."
Our room adjoined that of the secretary; and I think it not improb-
able that he wrote to the Cardinal, and informed him of my pur-
pose. However, I never knew anything for certain about this. The
night passed without sleep, and I kept wearying for the day, in
order to carry out my resolution.

No sooner did it dawn than I ordered out the horses, made my
preparations in a moment, and gave the two young men everything
which I had brought with me, and fifty ducats of gold in addition.
I reserved the same sum for myself, together with the diamond the
Duke had given me; I only kept two shirts and some well-worn
riding-clothes which I had upon my back. I found it almost impos-
sible to get free of the two young men, who insisted upon going
with me, whatever happened. At last I was obliged to treat them
with contempt, and use this language: "One of you has his first
beard, and the other is just getting it; and both of you have learned
as much from me as I could teach in my poor art, so that you are
now the first craftsmen among the youths of Italy. Are you not
ashamed to have no courage to quit this go-cart, but must always
creep about in leading-strings? The thing is too disgraceful! Or if
I were to send you away without money, what would you say then ?
Come, take yourselves out of my sight, and may God bless you a
thousand times. Farewell!"

I turned my horse and left them weeping. Then I took my way
along a very fair road through a forest, hoping to make at least
forty miles that day, and reach the most out-of-the-way place I
could. I had already ridden about two miles, and during that short
time had resolved never to revisit any of those parts where I was
known. I also determined to abandon my art so soon as I had made
a Christ three cubits in height, reproducing, so far as I was able, that
infinite beauty which He had Himself revealed to me. So then,
being thoroughly resolved, I turned my face toward the Holy

278 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Sepulchre.' Just when I thought I had got so far that nobody could
find me, I heard horses galloping after. They filled me with some
uneasiness, because that district is infested with a race of brigands,
who bear the name of Venturers, and are apt to murder men upon
the road. Though numbers of them are hanged every day, it seems
as though they did not care. However, when the riders approached,
I found they were a messenger from the King and my lad Ascanio.
The former came up to me and said: "From the King I order you
to come immediately to his presence." I replied : "You have been sent
by the Cardinal, and for this reason I will not come." The man said
that since gentle usage would not bring me, he had authority to
raise the folk, and they would take me bound hand and foot like a
prisoner. Ascanio, for his part, did all he could to persuade me,
reminding me that when the King sent a man to prison, he kept
him there five years at least before he let him out again. This word
about the prison, when I remembered what I had endured in Rome,
struck such terror into me, that I wheeled my horse round briskly
and followed the King's messenger. He kept perpetually chattering
in French through all our journey, up to the very precincts of the
court, at one time bullying, now saying one thing, then another, till
I felt inclined to deny God and the world.

XII

On our way to the lodgings of the King we passed before those of
the Cardinal of Ferrara. Standing at his door, he called to me and
said: "Our most Christian monarch has of his own accord assigned
you the same appointments which his Majesty allowed the painter
Lionardo da Vinci, that is, a salary of seven hundred crowns; in
addition, he will pay you for all the works you do for him; also for
your journey hither he gives you five hundred golden crowns, which
will be paid you before you quit this place." At the end of this
announcement, I replied that those were offers worthy of the great
King he was. The messenger, not knowing anything about me, and
hearing what splendid offers had been made me by the King, begged
my pardon over and over again. Pagolo and Ascanio exclaimed:
"It is God who has helped us to get back into so honoured a go-cart!"
' See above, p, 240, for Cellini's vow in the Castle of S. Angelo.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 279

On the day following I went to thank the King, who ordered me
to make the models of twelve silver statues, which were to stand as
candelabra round his table. He wanted them to represent six gods
and six goddesses, and to have exactly the same height as his Majesty,
which was a trifle under four cubits. Having dictated this commis-
sion, he turned to his treasurer, and asked whether he had paid me
the five hundred crowns. The official said that he had received no
orders to that effect. The King took this very ill, for he had requested
the Cardinal to speak to him about it. Furthermore, he told me to
go to Paris and seek out a place to live in, fitted for the execution of
such work; he would see that I obtained it.

I got the live hundred crowns of gold, and took up my quarters
at Paris in a house of the Cardinal of Ferrara. There I began, in
God's name, to work, and fashioned four little waxen models, about
two-thirds of a cubit each in height. They were Jupiter, Juno, Apollo,
and Vulcan. In this while the King returned to Paris; whereupon
I went to him at once, taking my models with me, and my" two
prentices, Ascanio and Pagolo. On perceiving that the King was
pleased with my work, and being commissioned to execute the
Jupiter in silver of the height above described, I introduced the two
young men, and said that I had brought them with me out of Italy
to serve his Majesty; for inasmuch as they had been brought up by
me, I could at the beginning get more help from them than from
the Paris workmen. To this the King replied that I might name a
salary which I thought sufficient for their maintenance. I said that
a hundred crowns of gold apiece would be quite proper, and that
I would make them earn their wages well. This agreement was
concluded. Then I said that I had found a place which seemed to
me exactly suited to my industry; it was his Majesty's own property,
and called the Little Nello. The Provost of Paris was then in
possession of it from his Majesty; but since the Provost made no
use of the castle, his Majesty perhaps might grant it me to employ
in his service.' He replied upon the instant: "That place is my own
house, and I know well that the man I gave it to does not inhabit or
use it. So you shall have it for the work you have to do." He then

' This was the castle of Le Petit Nesle, on the site of which now stands the Palace
of the Institute. The Provost of Paris was then Jean d'Estouteville, lord of Villebon.

280 BENVENUTO CELLINI

told his lieutenant to install me in the Nello. This officer made some
resistance, pleading that he could not carry out the order. The King
answered in anger that he meant to bestow his property on whom he
pleased, and on a man who would serve him, seeing that he got
nothing from the other; therefore he would hear no more about it.
The lieutenant then submitted that some small force would have
to be employed in order to effect an entrance. To which the King
answered: "Go, then, and if a small force is not enough, use a
great one."

The officer took me immediately to the casde, and there put me
in possession, not, however, without violence; after that he warned
me to take very good care that I was not murdered. I installed
myself, enrolled serving-men, and bought a quantity of pikes and
partisans; but I remained for several days exposed to grievous annoy-
ances, for the Provost was a great nobleman of Paris, and all the
other gentlefolk took part against me; they attacked me with such
insults that I could hardly hold my own against them. I must not
omit to mention that I entered the service of his Majesty in the year
1540, which was exacdy the year in which I reached the age of
forty.

XIII

The affronts and insults I received made me have recourse to the
King, begging his Majesty to establish me in some other place. He
answered: "Who are you, and what is your name?" I remained in
great confusion, and could not comprehend what he meant. Holding
my tongue thus, the King repeated the same words a second time
angrily. Then I said my name was Benvenuto. "If, then, you are
the Benvenuto of whom I have heard," replied the King, "act
according to your wont, for you have my full leave to do so." I told
his Majesty that all I wanted was to keep his favour; for the rest,
I knew of nothing that could harm me. He gave a little laugh, and
said: "Go your ways, then; you shall never want my favour." Upon
this he told his first secretary, Monsignor di Villerois, to see me
provided and accommodated with all I needed.'

This Villerois was an intimate friend of the Provost, to whom the
■ M. Nicholas de Neufville, lord of Villeroy.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 28 1

castle had been given. It was built in a triangle, right up against
the city walls, and was of some antiquity, but had no garrison. The
building was of considerable size. Monsignor di Villerois counselled
me to look about for something else, and by all means to leave this
place alone, seeing that its owner was a man of vast power, who
would most assuredly have me killed. I answered that I had come
from Italy to France only in order to serve that illustrious King;
and as for dying, I knew for certain that die I must; a little earlier
or a httle later was a matter of supreme indifference to me.

Now Villerois was a man of the highest talent, exceptionally
distinguished in all points, and possessed of vast wealth. There was
nothing he would not gladly have done to harm me, but he made
no open demonstration of his mind. He was grave, and of a noble
presence, and spoke slowly, at his ease. To another gentleman,
Monsignor di Marmagna, the treasurer of Languedoc, he left the
duty of molesting me.^ The first thing which this man did was to
look out the best apartments in the castle, and to have them fitted up
for himself. I told him that the King had given me the place to serve
him in, and that I did not choose it should be occupied by any but
myself and my attendants. The fellow, who was haughty, bold, and
spirited, replied that he meant to do just what he liked; that I should
run my head against a wall if I presumed to oppose him, and that
Villerois had given him authority to do what he was doing. I told
him that, by the King's authority given to me, neither he nor
Villerois could do it. When I said that he gave vent to offensive
language in French, whereat I retorted in my own tongue that he
lied. Stung with rage, he clapped his hand upon a little dagger
which he had; then I set my hand also to a large dirk which I always
wore for my defence, and cried out: "If you dare to draw, I'll kill
you on the spot." He had two servants to back him, and I had my
two lads. For a moment or two Marmagna stood in doubt, not
knowing exactly what to do, but rather inclined to mischief, and
muttering: "I will never put up with such insults." Seeing then
that the affair was taking a bad turn, I took a sudden resolution, and
cried to Pagolo and Ascanio: "When you see me draw my dirk,
throw yourselves upon those serving-men, and kill them if you can;
* Francois I'Allemand, Seigneur de Marmagne.

282 BENVENUTO CELLINI

I mean to kill tliis fellow at the first stroke, and then we will decamp
together, with God's grace." Marmagna, when he understood my
purpose, was glad enough to get alive out of the castle.

All these things, toning them down a trifle, I wrote to the Cardinal
of Ferrara, who related them at once to the King. The King, deeply
irritated, committed me to the care of another officer of his body-
guard who was named Monsignor lo Iscontro d'Orbech.' By him I
was accommodated with all that I required in the most gracious
way imaginable.

XIV

After fitting up my own lodgings in the castle and the workshop
with all conveniences for carrying on my business, and putting my
household upon a most respectable footing, I began at once to con-
struct three models exactly of the size which the silver statues were
to be. These were Jupiter, Vulcan and Mars. I moulded them in
clay, and set them well up on irons; then I went to the King, who
disbursed three hundred pounds weight of silver, if I remember
rightly, for the commencement of the undertaking. While I was
getting these things ready, we brought the little vase and oval basin
to completion, which had been several months in hand. Then I had
them richly gilt, and they showed like the finest piece of plate which
had been seen in France.

Afterwards I took them to the Cardinal, who thanked me greatly;
and, without requesting my attendance, carried and presented them
to the King. He was delighted with the gift, and praised me as no
artist was ever praised before. In return, he bestowed upon the
Cardinal an abbey worth seven thousand crowns a year, and
expressed his intention of rewarding me too. The Cardinal, how-
ever, prevented him, telling his Majesty that he was going ahead
too fast, since I had as yet produced nothing for him. The King,
who was exceedingly generous, replied: "For that very reason will
I put heart and hope into him." The Cardinal, ashamed at his own
meanness, said: "Sire, I beg you to leave that to me; I will allow
him a pension of at least three hundred crowns when I have taken
possession of the abbey." He never gave me anything; and it
2 Le Vicomte d'Orbec. It seems that by Iscontro Cellini meant Viscount.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 283

would be tedious to relate all the knavish tricks of this prelate. I
prefer to dwell on matters of greater moment.

XV

When I returned to Paris, the great favour shown me by the King
made me a mark for all men's admiration. I received the silver and
began my statue of Jupiter. Many journeymen were now in my
employ; and the work went onward briskly day and night; so that,
by the time I had finished the clay models of Jupiter, Vulcan, and
Mars, and had begun to get the silver statue forward, my workshop
made already a grand show.

The King now came to Paris, and I went to pay him my respects.
No sooner had his Majesty set eyes upon me than he called me cheer-
fully, and asked if I had something fine to exhibit at my lodging, for
he would come to inspect it. I related all I had been doing; upon
which he was seized with a strong desire to come. Accordingly,
after his dinner, he set off with Madame de Tampes, the Cardinal of
Lorraine, and some other of his greatest nobles, among whom were
the King of Navarre, his cousin, and the Queen, his sister; the
Dauphin and Dauphiness also attended him; so that upon that day
the very flower of the French court came to visit me.' I had been
some time at home, and was hard at work. When the King arrived
at the door of the castle, and heard our hammers going, he bade his
company keep silence. Everybody in my house was busily employed,
so that the unexpected entrance of his Majesty took me by surprise.
The first thing he saw on coming into the great hall was myself
with a huge plate of silver in my hand, which I was beating for the
body of my Jupiter; one of my men was finishing the head, another
the legs; and it is easy to imagine what a din we made between us.
It happened that a little French lad was working at my side, who
had just been guilty of some trifling blunder. I gave the lad a kick,
and, as my good luck would have it, caught him with my foot
exactly in the fork between his legs, and sent him spinning several
yards, so that he came stumbling up against the King precisely at

'These personages were Madame d'Etampes, the King's mistress; John of Lorraine,
son of Duke Reni5e II., who was made Cardinal in 1518; Henri d'Albret II. and
Marguerite de Valois, his wife; the Dauphin, afterwards Henri II., and his wife, the
celebrated Caterina de' Medici, daughter of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino.

284 BENVENUTO CELLINI

the moment when his Majesty arrived. The King was vastly amused,
but I felt covered with confusion. He began to ask me what I was
engaged upon, and told me to go on working; then he said that he
would much rather have me not employ my strength on manual
labour, but take as many men as I wanted, and make them do the
rough work; he should like me to keep myself in health, in order
that he might enjoy my services through many years to come. I
replied to his Majesty that the moment I left off working I should
fall ill; also that my art itself would suffer, and not attain the mark
I aimed at for his Majesty. Thinking that I spoke thus only to brag,
and not because it was the truth, he made the Cardinal of Lorraine
repeat what he had said; but I explained my reasons so fully and
clearly, that the Cardinal perceived my drift; he then advised the
King to let me labour as much or little as I liked.

XVI

Being very well satisfied with what he had seen, the King returned
to his palace, after bestowing on me too many marks of favour to be
here recorded. On the following day he sent for me at his dinner-
hour. The Cardinal of Ferrara was there at meat with him. When
I arrived, the King had reached his second course; he began at once
to speak to me, saying, with a pleasant cheer, that having now so
fine a basin and jug of my workmanship, he wanted an equally
handsome salt-cellar to match them; and begged me to make a
design, and to lose no time about it. I replied: "Your Majesty shall
see a model of the sort even sooner than you have commanded; for
while I was making the basin, I thought there ought to be a salt-
cellar to match it; therefore I have already designed one, and if it is
your pleasure, I will at once exhibit my conception." The King
turned with a lively movement of surprise and pleasure to the lords
in his company — they were the King of Navarre, the Cardinal of
Lorraine, and the Cardinal of Ferrara — exclaiming as he did so:
"Upon my word, this is a man to be loved and cherished by every
one who knows him." Then he told me that he would very gladly
see my model.

I set off, and returned in a few minutes; for I had only to cross
the river, that is, the Seine. I carried with me the wax model which

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 285

I had made in Rome at the Cardinal of Ferrara's request. When I
appeared again before the King and uncovered my piece, he cried
out in astonishment: "This is a hundred times more divine a thing
than I had ever dreamed of. What a miracle of a man! He ought
never to stop working." Then he turned to me with a beaming
countenance, and told me that he greatly liked the piece, and
wished me to execute it in gold. The Cardinal of Ferrara looked
me in the face, and let me understand that he recognised the model
as the same which I had made for him in Rome. I replied that I
had already told him I should carry it out for one who was worthy
of it. The Cardinal, remembering my words, and nettled by the
revenge he thought that I was taking on him, remarked to the King:
"Sire, this is an enormous undertaking; I am only afraid that we
shall never see it finished. These able artists who have great con-
ceptions in their brain are ready enough to put the same in execution
without duly considering when they are to be accomplished. I
therefore, if I gave commission for things of such magnitude, should
like to know when I was likely to get them." The King replied
that if a man was so scrupulous about the termination of a work,
he would never begin anything at all; these words he uttered with
a certain look, which implied that such enterprises were not for
folk of little spirit. I then began to say my say: "Princes who put
heart and courage in their servants, as your Majesty does by deed
and word, render undertakings of the greatest magnitude quite easy.
Now that God has sent ma so magnificent a patron, I hope to
perform for him a multitude of great and splendid master-pieces."
"I believe it," said the King, and rose from table. Then he called me
into his chamber, and asked me how much gold was wanted for
the salt-cellar. "A thousand crowns," I answered. He called his
treasurer at once, who was the Viscount of Orbec, and ordered him
that very day to disburse to me a thousand crowns of good weight
and old gold.

When I left his Majesty, I went for the two notaries who had
helped me in procuring silver for the Jupiter and many other things.
Crossing the Seine, I then took a small hand-basket, which one of my
cousins, a nun, had given me on my journey through Florence. It
made for my good fortune that I took this basket and not a bag.

286 BENVENUTO CELLINI

So then, thinking I could do the business by daylight, for it was still
early, and not caring to interrupt my workmen, and being indisposed
to take a servant with me, I set off alone. When I reached the house
of the treasurer, I found that he had the money laid out before him,
and was selecting the best pieces as the King had ordered. It seemed
to me, however, that that thief of a treasurer was doing all he could
to postpone the payment of the money; nor were the pieces counted
out until three hours after nightfall.

I meanwhile was not wanting in despatch, for I sent word to
several of my journeymen that they should come and attend me,
since the matter was one of serious importance. When I found that
they did not arrive, I asked the messenger if he had done my errand.
The rascal of a groom whom I had sent replied that he had done so,
but that they had answered that they could not come; he, however,
would gladly carry the money for me. I answered that I meant to
carry the money myself. By this time the contract was drawn up
and signed. On the money being counted, I put it all into my little
basket, and then thrust my arm through the two handles. Since I
did this with some difficulty, the gold was well shut in, and I carried
it more conveniently than if the vehicle had been a bag. I was well
armed with shirt and sleeves of mail, and having my sword and
dagger at my side, made off along the street as quick as my two legs
would carry me.

XVII

Just as I left the house, I observed some servants whispering
among themselves, who also went off at a round pace in another
direction from the one I took. Walking with all haste, I passed the
bridge of the Exchange,' and went up along a wall beside the river
which led to my lodging in the castle. I had just come to the
Augustines — now this was a very perilous passage, and though it was
only five hundred paces distant from my dwelling, yet the lodging in
the castle being quite as far removed inside, no one could have
heard my voice if I had shouted — when I saw four men with four
swords in their hands advancing to attack me.^ My resolution was

' The Pont du Change, replaced by the Pont Neuf.

^The excitement of his recollection makes Cellini more than usually incoherent
about this episode. The translator has to collect the whole sense of the passage.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 287

taken in an instant. I covered the basket with my cape, drew my
sword, and seeing that they were pushing hotly forward, cried aloud:
"With soldiers there is only the cape and sword to gain; and these,
before I give them up, I hope you'll get not much to your advantage."
Then crossing my sword boldly with them, I more than once spread
out my arms, in order that, if the ruffians were put on by the servants
who had seen me take my money, they might be led to judge I was
not carrying it. The encounter was soon over; for they retired step
by step, saying among themselves in their own language: "This is a
brave Italian, and certainly not the man we are after; or if he be the
man, he cannot be carrying anything." I spoke Italian, and kept
harrying them with thrust and slash so hotly that I narrowly missed
killing one or the other. My skill in using the sword made them
think I was a soldier rather than a fellow of some other calling. They
drew together and began to fall back, muttering all the while beneath
their breath in their own tongue. I meanwhile continued always
calling out, but not too loudly, that those who wanted my cape and
blade would have to get them with some trouble. Then I quickened
pace, while they still followed slowly at my heels; this augmented
my fear, for I thought I might be falling into an ambuscade, which
would have cut me off in front as well as rear. Accordingly, when
I was at the distance of a hundred paces from my home, I ran with
all my might, and shouted at the top of my voice: "To arms, to arms!
out with you, out with you! I am being murdered." In a moment
four of my young men came running, with four pikes in their hands.
They wanted to pursue the ruffians, who could still be seen; but I
stopped them, calling back so as to let the villains hear: "Those
cowards yonder, four against one man alone, had not pluck enough
to capture a thousand golden crowns in metal, which have almost
broken this arm of mine. Let us haste inside and put the money
away; then I will take my big two-handed sword, and go with you
whithersoever you like." We went inside to secure the gold; and my
lads, while expressing deep concern for the peril I had run, gently
chided me, and said: "You risk yourself too much alone; the time
will come when you will make us all bemoan your loss." A thousand
words and exclamations were exchanged between us; my adversaries
took to flight; and we all sat down and supped together with mirth

288 BENVENUTO CELLINI

and gladness, laughing over those great blows which fortune strikes,
for good as well as evil, and which, what time they do not hit the
mark, are just the same as though they had not happened.' It is very
true that one says to oneself: "You will have had a lesson for next
time." But that is not the case; for fortune always comes upon us in
new ways, quite unforeseen by our imagination,

xvin

On the morning which followed these events, I made the first step
in my work upon the great salt<ellar, pressing this and my other
pieces forward with incessant industry. My workpeople at this time,
who were pretty numerous, included both sculptors and goldsmiths.
They belonged to several nations, Italian, French, and German; for
I took the best I could find, and changed them often, retaining only
those who knew their business well. These select craftsmen I worked
to the bone with perpetual labour. They wanted to rival me; but I
had a better constitution. Consequently, in their inability to bear up
against such a continuous strain, they took to eating and drinking
copiously, some of the Germans in particular, who were more skilled
than their comrades, and wanted to march apace with me, sank
under these excesses, and perished.

While I was at work upon the Jupiter, I noticed that I had plenty
of silver to spare. So I took in hand, without consulting the King, to
make a great two-handled vase, about one cubit and a half in height.
I also conceived the notion of casting the large model of my Jupiter
in bronze. Having up to this date done nothing of the sort, I con-
ferred with certain old men experienced in that art at Paris, and
described to them the methods in use with us in Italy. They told
me they had never gone that way about the business; but that if I
gave them leave to act upon their own principles, they would bring
the bronze out as clean and perfect as the clay. I chose to strike an
agreement, throwing on them the responsibility, and promising
several crowns above the price they bargained for. Thereupon they
put the work in progress; but I soon saw that they were going the
wrong way about it, and began on my own account a head of Julius
Caesar, bust and armour, much larger than the life, which I modelled

'Cellini's philosophy is summed up in the proverb: "A miss is as good as a mile."

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 289

from a reduced copy of a splendid antique portrait I had brought
with me from Rome. I also undertook another head of the same size,
studied from a very handsome girl, whom I kept for my own
pleasures. I called this Fontainebleau, after the place selected by
the King for his particular delight.

We constructed an admirable little furnace for the casting of the
bronze, got all things ready, and baked our moulds; those French
masters undertaking the Jupiter, while I looked after my two heads.
Then I said: "I do not think you will succeed with your Jupiter,
because you have not provided sufficient vents beneath for the air to
circulate; therefore you are but losing your time and trouble." They
replied that, if their work proved a failure, they would pay back the
money I had given on account, and recoup me for current expenses;
but they bade me give good heed to my own proceedings,' for the fine
heads I meant to cast in my Italian fashion would never succeed.

At this dispute between us there were present the treasurers and
other gentlefolk commissioned by the King to superintend my pro-
ceedings. Everything which passed by word or act was duly reported
to his Majesty. The two old men who had undertaken to cast my
Jupiter postponed the experiment, saying they would like to arrange
the moulds of my two heads. They argued that, according to my
method, no success could be expected, and it was a pity to waste
such fine models. When the King was informed of this, he sent
word that they should give their minds to learning, and not try to
teach their master.

So then they put their own piece into the furnace with much
laughter; while I, maintaining a firm carriage, showing neither
mirth nor anger (though I felt it), placed my two heads, one on each
side of the Jupiter. The metal came all right to melting, and we let
it in with joy and gladness; it filled the mould of the Jupiter most
admirably, and at the same time my two heads. This furnished them
with matter for rejoicing and me with satisfaction; for I was not
sorry to have predicted wrongly of their work, and they made as
though they were delighted to have been mistaken about mine.
Then, as the custom in France is, they asked to drink, in high good

'Ma che to guardassi bene, che. Ere. This is perhaps: but they bade me note well
that.

290 BEISrVENUTO CELLINI

spirits. I was very willing, and ordered a handsome collation tor
their entertainment. When this was over, they requested me to pay
the money due to them and the surplus I had promised. I replied:
"You have been laughing over what, I fear, may make you weep. On
reflection, it seems to me that too much metal flowed into your
mould. Therefore I shall wait until to-morrow before I disburse
more money." The poor fellows swallowed my words and chewed
the cud of them; then they went home without further argument.

At daybreak they began, quite quietly, to break into the pit of the
furnace. They could not uncover their large mould until they had
extracted my two heads; these were in excellent condition, and they
placed them where they could be well seen. When they came to
Jupiter, and had dug but scarcely two cubits, they sent up such a
yell, they and their four workmen, that it woke me up. Fancying
it was a shout of triumph, I set off running, for my bedroom was at
the distance of more than five hundred paces. On reaching the spot,
I found them looking like the guardians of Christ's sepulchre in a
picture, downcast and terrified. Casting a hasty glance upon my
two heads, and seeing they were all right, I tempered my annoyance
with the pleasure that sight gave me. Then they began to make
excuses, crying: " Our bad luck!" I retorted: "Your luck has been
most excellent, but what has been indeed bad is your deficiency of
knowledge; had I only seen you put the souP into your mould, I
could have taught you with one word how to cast the figure without
fault. This would have brought me great honour and you much
profit. I shall be able to make good my reputation; but you will now
lose both your honour and your profit. Let then this lesson teach
you another time to work, and not to poke fun at your masters."

They prayed me to have pity on them, confessing I was right, but
pleading that, unless I helped them, the costs they had to bear and
the loss they had sustained would turn them and their families upon
the streets a-begging. I answered that if the King's treasurers obliged
them to pay according to their contract, I would defray the cost out
of my own purse, because I saw that they had honestly and heartily

^I have here translated the Italian anima literally by the English word soul. It is
a technical expression, signifying the block, somewhat smaller than the mould, which
bronze-founders insert in order to obtain a hollow, and not a solid cast from the
mould which gives form to their liquid metal.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 29 1

performed their task according to their knowledge. This way o£
mine in dealing with them raised the good-will of the King's
treasurers and other officers toward me to a pitch which cannot be
described. The whole affair was written to his Majesty, who being
without a paragon for generosity, gave directions that all I ordered
in this matter should be done.

XIX

About this time the illustrious soldier Piero Strozzi arrived in
France, and reminded the King that he had promised him letters of
naturalisation. These were accordingly made out; and at the same
time the King said: "Let them be also given to Benvenuto, mon ami,
and take them immediately to his house, and let him have them
without the payment of any fees." Those of the great Strozzi' cost
him several hundred ducats: mine were brought me by one of the
King's chief secretaries, Messer Antonio Massone.^ This gentleman
presented them with many expressions of kindness from his Majesty,
saying: "The King makes you a gift of these, in order that you may
be encouraged to serve him; they are letters of naturalisation." Then
he told me how they had been given to Piero Strozzi at his particular
request, and only after a long time of waiting, as a special mark of
favour; the King had sent mine of his own accord, and such an act
of grace had never been heard of in that realm before. When I
heard these words, I thanked his Majesty with heartiness; but I
begged the secretary to have the kindness to tell me what letters of
naturalisation meant. He was a man accomplished and polite, who
spoke Italian excellently. At first my question made him laugh; then
he recovered his gravity, and told me in my own language what the
papers signified, adding that they conferred one of the highest dig-
nities a foreigner could obtain: "indeed, it is a far greater honour
than to be made a nobleman of Venice."

When he left me, he returned and told his Majesty, who laughed
awhile, and then said: "Now I wish him to know my object in
sending those letters of naturalisation. Go and install him lord of

' Piero was the son of Filippo Strozzi, and the general who lost the battle of Monte-
murlo, so disastrous to the Florentine exiles, in 1537.

^ Antoine le Mafon, secretary to Margaret of Navarre. He translated the Decameron
at her instance into French.

292 BENVENUTO CELLINI

the castle of the Little Nello, where he lives, and which is a part of
my demesne. He will know what that means better than he under-
stood about the letters of naturalisation." A messenger brought me
the patent, upon which I wanted to give him a gratuity. He refused
to accept it, saying that his Majesty had so ordered. These letters of
naturalisation, together with the patent for the castle, I brought with
me when I returned to Italy; wherever I go and wherever I may end
my days, I shall endeavour to preserve them.'

XX

I shall now proceed with the narration of my life. I had on hand
the following works already mentioned, namely, the silver Jupiter,
the golden salt-cellar, the great silver vase, and the two bronze heads.
I also began to cast the pedestal for Jupiter, which I wrought very
richly in bronze, covered with ornaments, among which was a bas-
relief, representing the rape of Ganymede, and on the other side Leda
and the Swan. On casting this piece it came out admirably. I also
made another pedestal of the same sort for the statue of Juno, intend-
ing to begin that too, if the King gave me silver for the purpose. By
working briskly I had put together the silver Jupiter and the golden
salt-cellar; the vase was far advanced; the two bronze heads were
finished. I had also made several litde things for the Cardinal of
Ferrara, and a small silver vase of rich workmanship, which I meant
to present to Madame d'Etampes. Several Italian noblemen, to wit,
Signor Piero Strozzi, the Count of Anguillara, the Count of
Pitigliano, the Count of Mirandola, and many others, gave me
employment also.'

For my great King, as I have said, I had been working strenu-
ously, and the third day after he returned to Paris, he came to my
house, attended by a crowd of his chief nobles. He marvelled to
find how many pieces I had advanced, and with what excellent
results. His mistress, Madame d'Etampes, being with him, they
began to talk of Fontainebleau. She told his Majesty he ought to

' The letter of naturalisation exists. See Bianchi, p. 583. For the grant of the castle,
see ibid., p. 585.

■ Anguillara and Pitigliano were fiefs of two separate branches of the Orsini family.
The house of Pico lost their lordship of Mirandola in 1536, when Galeotto Pico
took refuge with his sons in France. His descendants renewed their hold upon the
fief, which was erected into a duchy in 161 9.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 293

commission me to execute something beautiful for the decoration of
his favourite residence. He answered on the instant: "You say well,
and here upon the spot I will make up my mind what I mean him
to do." Then he turned to me, and asked me what I thought would
be appropriate for that beautiful fountain.^ I suggested several ideas,
and his Majesty expressed his own opinion. Afterwards he said that
he was going to spend fifteen or twenty days at San Germano del
Aia,' a place twelve leagues distant from Paris; during his absence he
wished me to make a model for that fair fountain of his in the
richest style I could invent, seeing he delighted in that residence
more than in anything else in his whole realm. Accordingly he
commanded and besought me to do my utmost to produce something
really beautiful; and I promised that I would do so.

When the King saw so many finished things before him, he
exclaimed to Madame d'Etampes: "I never had an artist who pleased
me more, nor one who deserved better to be well rewarded; we must
contrive to keep him with us. He spends freely, is a boon com-
panion, and works hard; we must therefore take good thought for
him. Only think, madam, all the times that he has come to me or
that I have come to him, he has never once asked for anything; one
can see that his heart is entirely devoted to his work. We ought to
make a point of doing something for him quickly, else we run a
risk of losing him." Madame d'Etampes answered: "I will be sure
to remind you." Then they departed, and in addition to the things
I had begun, I now took the model of the fountain in hand, at which
I worked assiduously.

XXI

At the end of a month and a half the King returned to Paris;

and I, who had been working day and night, went to present myself

before him, taking my model, so well blocked out that my intention

could be clearly understood. Just about that time, the devilries of

war between the Emperor and King had been stirred up again, so

that I found him much harassed by anxieties.' I spoke, however,

^ Per quella Mia fonte. Here, and below, Cellini mixes up Fontainebleau and the
spring which gave its name to the place.
' S. Germain-en-Laye is not so far from Paris as Cellini thought.
* Cellini refers to the renewal of hostilities in May 1542.

294 BENVENUTO CELLINI

with the Cardinal of Ferrara, saying I had brought some models
which his Majesty had ordered, and begging him, i£ he found an
opportunity, to put in a word whereby I might be able to exhibit
them; the King, I thought, would take much pleasure in their sight.
This the Cardinal did; and no sooner had he spoken of the models,
than the King came to the place where I had set them up. The first
cf these was intended for the door of the palace at Fontainebleau.
I had been obliged to make some alterations in the architecture of
this door, which was wide and low, in their vicious French style.
The opening was very nearly square, and above it was a hemicycle,
flattened like the handle of a basket; here the King wanted a figure
placed to represent the genius of Fontainebleau. I corrected the pro-
portions of the doorway, and placed above it an exact half circle; at
the sides I introduced projections, with socles and cornices properly
corresponding: then, instead of the columns demanded by this dis-
position of parts, I fashioned two satyrs, one upon each side. The
first of these was in somewhat more than half -relief, lifting one hand
to support the cornice, and holding a thick club in the other; his
face was fiery and menacing, instilling fear into the beholders. The
other had the same posture of support; but I varied his features and
some other details; in his hand, for instance, he held a lash with
three balls attached to chains. Though I call them satyrs, they
showed nothing of the satyr except little horns and a goatish head;
all the rest of their form was human. In the lunette above I placed
a female figure lying in an attitude of noble grace; she rested her
left arm on a stag's neck, this animal being one of the King's
emblems. On one side I worked little fawns in half relief, with
some wild boars and other game in lower relief; on the other side
were hounds and divers dogs of the chase of several species, such as
may be seen in that fair forest where the fountain springs. The
whole of this composition was enclosed in an oblong, each angle
of which contained a Victory in bas-relief, holding torches after the
manner of the ancients. Above the oblong was a salamander, the
King's particular device, with many other ornaments appropriate to
the Ionic architecture of the whole design.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 295

xxn

When the King had seen this model, it restored him to cheerful-
ness, and distracted his mind from the fatiguing debates he had
been holding during the past two hours. Seeing him cheerful as I
wished, I uncovered the other model, which he was far from expect-
ing, since he not unreasonably judged that the first had work in it
enough. This one was a little higher than two cubits; it figured a
fountain shaped in a perfect square, with handsome steps all round,
intersecting each other in a way which was unknown in France, and
is indeed very uncommon in Italy. In the middle of the fountain I
set a pedestal, projecting somewhat above the margin of the basin,
and upon this a nude male figure, of the right proportion to the
whole design, and of a very graceful form. In his right hand he
raised a broken lance on high; his left hand rested on a scimitar;
he was poised upon the left foot, the right being supported by a
helmet of the richest imaginable workmanship. At each of the four
angles of the fountain a figure was sitting, raised above the level
of the base, and accompanied by many beautiful and appropriate
emblems.

The King began by asking me what I meant to represent by the
fine fancy I had embodied in this design, saying that he had under-
stood the door without explanation, but that he could not take the
conception of my fountain, although it seemed to him most beauti-
ful; at the same time, he knew well that I was not like those foolish
folk who turn out something with a kind of grace, but put no
intention into their performances. I then addressed myself to the
task of exposition; for having succeeded in pleasing him with my
work, I wanted him to be no less pleased with my discourse. "Let
me inform your sacred Majesty," I thus began, "that the whole of
this model is so exactly made to scale, that if it should come to
being executed in the large, none of its grace and lightness will be
sacrificed. The figure in the middle is meant to stand fifty-four feet
above the level of the ground." At this announcement the King
made a sign of surprise. "It is, moreover, intended to represent the
god Mars. The other figures embody those arts and sciences in which
your Majesty takes pleasure, and which you so generously patronise.

296 BENVENUTO CELLINI

This one, upon the right hand, is designed for Learning; you will
observe that the accompanying emblems indicate Philosophy, and
her attendant branches of knowledge. By the next I wished to
personify the whole Art of Design, including Sculpture, Painting,
and Architecture. The third is Music, which cannot be omitted from
the sphere of intellectual culture. That other, with so gracious and
benign a mien, stands for Generosity, lacking which the mental
gifts bestowed on us by God will not be brought to view. I have
attempted to portray your Majesty, your very self, in the great
central statue; for you are truly a god Mars, the only brave upon this
globe, and all your bravery you use with justice and with piety in
the defence of your own glory." Scarcely had he allowed me to
finish this oration, when he broke forth with a strong voice: "Verily
I have found a man here after my own heart." Then he called the
treasurers who were appointed for my supplies, and told them to
disburse whatever I required, let the cost be what it might. Next,
he laid his hand upon my shoulder, saying: "Mon ami (which is the
same as my friend), I know not whether the pleasure be greater for
the prince who finds a man after his own heart, or for the artist
who finds a prince willing to furnish him with means for carry-
ing out his great ideas." I answered that, if I was really the man
his Majesty described, my good fortune was by far the greater.
He answered laughingly: "Let us agree, then, that our luck is
equal!" Then I departed in the highest spirits, and went back to
my work.

XXIII

My ill-luck willed that I was not wide-awake enough to play the
like comedy with Madame d'Etampes. That evening, when she
heard the whole course of events from the King's own lips, it bred
such poisonous fury in her breast that she exclaimed with anger:
"If Benvenuto had shown me those line things of his, he would have
given me some reason to be mindful of him at the proper moment."
The King sought to excuse me, but he made no impression on her
temper. Being informed of what had passed, I waited fifteen days,
during which they made a tour through Normandy, visiting Rouen
and Dieppe; then, when they returned to S. Germain-en-Laye, I took

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 297

the handsome little vase which I had made at the request of Madame
d'Etampes, hoping, if I gave it her, to recover the favour I had lost.
With this in my hand, then, I announced my presence to her nurse,
and showed the gift which I had brought her mistress; the woman
received me with demonstrations of good-will, and said that she
would speak a word to Madame, who was still engaged upon her
toilette; I should be admitted on the instant, when she had dis-
charged her embassy. The nurse made her report in full to Madame,
who retorted scornfully: "Tell him to wait." On hearing this, I
clothed myself with patience, which of all things I find the most
difficult. Nevertheless, I kept myself under control until the hour
for dinner was past. Then, seeing that time dragged on, and being
maddened by hunger, I could no longer hold out, but flung off,
sending her most devoutly to the devil.

I next betook myself to the Cardinal of Lorraine, and made him
a present of the vase, only petitioning his Eminence to maintain me
in the King's good graces. He said there was no need for this; and
if there were need he would gladly speak for me. Then he called
his treasurer, and whispered a few words in his ear. The treasurer
waited till I took my leave of the Cardinal; after which he said to
me: "Benvenuto, come with me, and I will give you a glass of good
wine to drink." I answered, not understanding what he meant:
"For Heaven's sake, Mr. Treasurer, let me have but one glass of
wine and a mouthful of bread; for I am really fainting for want of
food. I have fasted since early this morning up to the present
moment, at the door of Madame d'Etampes; I went to give her that
fine piece of silver-gilt plate, and took pains that she would be
informed of my intention; but she, with the mere petty will to vex
me, bade me wait; now I am famished, and feel my forces failing;
and, as God willed it, I have bestowed my gift and labour upon one
who is far more worthy of them. I only crave of you something to
drink; for being rather too bilious by nature, fast upsets me so that
I run the risk now of falling from exhaustion to the earth." While
I was pumping out these words with difficulty, they brought some
admirable wine and other delicacies for a hearty meal. I refreshed
myself, and having recovered my vital spirits, found that my exas-
peration had departed from me.

298 BENVENUTO CELLINI

The good treasurer handed me a hundred crowns in gold. I
sturdily refused to accept them. He reported this to the Cardinal,
who swore at him, and told him to make me take the money by
force, and not to show himself again till he had done so. The treas-
urer returned, much irritated, saying he had never been so scolded
before by the Cardinal; but when he pressed the crowns upon me, I
still offered some resistance. Then, quite angry, he said he would
use force to make me take them. So I accepted the money. When
I wanted to thank the Cardinal in person, he sent word by one of
his secretaries that he would gladly do me a service whenever the
occasion offered. I returned the same evening to Paris. The King
heard the whole history, and Madame d'Etampes was well laughed
at in their company. This increased her animosity against me, and
led to an attack upon my life, of which I shall speak in the proper
time and place.

XXIV

Far back in my autobiography I ought to have recorded the friend-
ship which I won with the most cultivated, the most affectionate,
and the most companionable man of worth I ever knew in this
world. He was Messer Guido Guidi, an able physician and doctor
of medicine, and a nobleman of Florence.' The infinite troubles
brought upon me by my evil fortune caused me to omit the mention
of him at an earUer date; and though my remembrance may be but
a trifle, I deemed it sufficient to keep him always in my heart. Yet,
finding that the drama of my life requires his presence, I shall intro-
duce him here at the moment of my greatest trials, in order that,
as he was then my comfort and support, I may now recall to mem-
ory the good he did me.^

Well, then, Messer Guido came to Paris; and not long after mak-
ing his acquaintance, I took him to my castle, and there assigned him
his own suite of apartments. We enjoyed our lives together in that
place for several years. The Bishop of Pavia, that is to say, Mon-

' Son of Giuliano Guidi and Costanza, a daughter of Domenico Ghirlandajo.
Francois I. sent for him some time before 1542, appointed him his own physician,
and professor of medicine in the Royal College. He returned to Florence in 1548.

^ Qui mi faccia memoria di quel bene. This is obscure. Quel bene may mean the
happiness of his friendship.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 299

signore de' Rossi, brother of the Count of San Secondo, also arrived.^
This gentleman I removed from his hotel, and took him to my
castle, assigning him in like manner his own suite of apartments,
where he sojourned many months with serving-men and horses.
On another occasion I lodged Messer Luigi Alamanni and his sons
for some months. It was indeed God's grace to me that I should thus,
in my poor station, be able to render services to men of great position
and acquirements.

But to return to Messer Guido. We enjoyed our mutual friend-
ship during all the years I stayed in Paris, and often did we exult
together on being able to advance in art and knowledge at the cost
of that so great and admirable prince, our patron, each in his own
branch of industry. I can indeed, and with good conscience, affirm
that all I am, whatever of good and beautiful I have produced, all
this must be ascribed to that extraordinary monarch. So, then, I
will resume the thread of my discourse concerning him and the
great things I wrought for him.

XXV

I had a tennis<ourt in my castle, from which I drew considerable
profit. The building also contained some little dwellings inhabited
by different sorts of men, among whom was a printer of books of
much excellence in his own trade. Nearly the whole of his premises
lay inside the castle, and he was the man who printed Messer Guido's
first fine book on medicine.' Wanting to make use of his lodging,
I turned him out, but not without some trouble. There was also a
manufacturer of saltpetre; and when I wished to assign his apart-
ments to some of my German workmen, the fellow refused to leave
the place. I asked him over and over again in gentle terms to give
me up my rooms, because I wanted to employ them for my work-
people in the service of the King. The more moderately I spoke, the
more arrogantly did the brute reply; till at last I gave him three days'
notice to quit. He laughed me in the face, and said that he would

' We have already met with him in the Castle of S. Angelo. His brother, the Count,
was general in the French army. This brought the Bishop to Paris, whence he
returned to Italy in 1545.

' Chirurgia e Graco in Latinum Con versa, Vido Vidio Florentino interprets, &c.
Excudebat Petrus Gallerius Luteciie Parisionim, prid. Cal. Mai. 1544. So this printer
was Pierre Sauthier.

300 BENVENUTO CELLINI

begin to think of it at the end of three years. I had not then learned
that he was under the protection of Madame d'Etampes; but had it
not been that the terms on which I stood toward that lady made me
a little more circumspect than I was wont to be, I should have
ousted him at once; now, however, I thought it best to keep my
temper for three days. When the term was over, I said nothing, but
took Germans, Italians, and Frenchmen, bearing arms, and many
hand-labourers whom I had in my employ, and in a short while
gutted all his house and flung his property outside my castle. I
resorted to these somewhat rigorous measures because he had told
me that no Italian whom he knew of had the power or spirit to
remove one ring of iron from its place in his house. Well, after the
deed was done, he came to find me, and I said to him: "I am the
least of all Italians in Italy, and yet I have done nothing to you in
comparison with what I have the heart to do, and will do if you
utter a single further word," adding other terms of menace and
abuse. The man, dumbfounded and affrighted, got his furniture
together as well as he was able; then he ran off to Madame
d'Etampes, and painted a picture of me like the very fiend. She
being my great enemy, painted my portrait still blacker to the King,
with all her greater eloquence and all her greater weight of influence.
As I was afterwards informed, his Majesty twice showed signs of
irritation and was minded to use me roughly: but Henry the Dau-
phin, his son, now King of France, who had received some affronts
from that imperious woman, together with the Queen of Navarre,
sister to King Francis, espoused my cause so cleverly that he passed
the matter over with a laugh. So with God's assistance I escaped
from a great danger.

XXVI

I had to deal in like manner with another fellow, but I did not
ruin his house; I only threw all his furniture out of doors. This time
Madame d'Etampes had the insolence to tell the King: "I believe
that devil will sack Paris one of these days." The King answered
with some anger that I was only quite right to defend myself from
the low rabble who put obstacles in the way of my serving him.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 3OI

The rage of this vindictive woman kept continually on the
increase. She sent for a painter who was estabUshed at Fontaine-
bleau, where the King resided nearly all his time. The painter was
an Italian and a Bolognese, known then as II Bologna; his right
name, however, was Francesco Primaticcio.' Madame d'Etampes
advised him to beg that commission for the fountain which his
Majesty had given me, adding that she would support him with all
her ability; and upon this they agreed. Bologna was in an ecstasy
of happiness, and thought himself sure of the affair, although such
things were not in his line of art. He was, however, an excellent
master of design, and had collected round him a troop of work-
people formed in the school of Rosso, our Florentine painter, who
was undoubtedly an artist of extraordinary merit; his own best
qualities indeed were derived from the admirable manner of Rosso,
who by this time had died.

These ingenious arguments, and the weighty influence of Madame
d'Etampes, prevailed with the King; for they kept hammering at
him night and day, Madame at one time, and Bologna at another.
What worked most upon his mind was that both of them combined
to speak as follows: "How is it possible, sacred Majesty, that Ben-
venuto should accomplish the twelve silver statues which you want ?
He has not finished one of them yet. If you employ him on so great
an undertaking, you will, of necessity, deprive yourself of those other
things on which your heart is set. A hundred of the ablest crafts-
men could not complete so many great works as this one able man
has taken in hand to do. One can see clearly that he has a passion
for labour; but this ardent temper will be the cause of your Majesty's
losing both him and his masterpieces at the same moment." By
insinuating these and other suggestions of the same sort at a favour-
able opportunity, the King consented to their petition; and yet
Bologna had at this time produced neither designs nor models for
the fountain.

' Primaticcio, together with Rosso, introduced Italian painting into France. Vasari
says he came to Paris in 1541. He died in 1570. He was, like many other o£ the
Lombard artists, an excellent master of stucco.

302 BENVENUTO CELLINI

XXVII

It happened that just at this period an action was brought against
me in Paris by the second lodger I had ousted from my castle, who
pretended that on that occasion I had stolen a large quantity of his
effects. This lawsuit tormented me beyond measure, and took up so
much of my time that I often thought of decamping in despair
from the country. Now the French are in the habit of making much
capital out of any action they commence against a foreigner, or
against such persons as they notice to be indolent in litigation. No
sooner do they observe that they are getting some advantage in the
suit, than they find the means to sell it; some have even been known
to give a lawsuit in dowry with their daughters to men who make
a business out of such transactions. They have another ugly custom,
which is that the Normans, nearly all of them, traffic in false evi-
dence; so that the men who buy up lawsuits, engage at once the
services of four or six of these false witnesses, according to their need;
their adversary, if he neglect to produce as many on the other side,
being perhaps unacquainted with the custom, is certain to have the
verdict given against him.

All this happened in my case, and thinking it a most disgraceful
breach of justice, I made my appearance in the great hall of Paris,
to defend my right. There I saw a judge, lieutenant for the King
in civil causes, enthroned upon a high tribunal. He was tall, stout,
and fat, and of an extremely severe countenance. All round him on
each side stood a crowd of solicitors and advocates, ranged upon the
right hand and the left. Others were coming, one by one, to explain
their several causes to the judge. From time to time, too, I noticed
that the attorneys at the side of the tribunal talked all at once: and
much admiration was roused in me by that extraordinary man, the
very image of Pluto, who listened with marked attention first to
one and then to the other, answering each with learning and sagac-
ity. I have always delighted in watching and experiencing every
kind of skill; so I would not have lost this spectacle for much. It
happened that the hall being very large, and filled with a multitude
of folk, they were strict in excluding every one who had no business
there, and kept the door shut with a guard to hold it. Sometimes

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 3O3

the guardian, in his effort to prevent the entrance of some improper
person, interrupted the judge by the great noise he made, and the
judge in anger turned to chide him. This happened frequently, so
that my attention was directed to the fact. On one occasion, when
two gentlemen were pushing their way in as spectators, and the
porter was opposing them with violence, the judge raised his voice,
and spoke the following words precisely as I heard them: "Keep
peace, Satan, begone, and hold your tongue." These words in the
French tongue sound as follows: Phe pfie, Satan, Phe, Phe, ale, phel^
Now I had learned the French tongue well; and on hearing this
sentence, the meaning of that phrase used by Dante came into my
memory, when he and his master Virgil entered the doors of Hell.
Dante and the painter Giotto were together in France, and par-
ticularly in the city of Paris, where, owing to the circumstances I
have just described, the hall of justice may be truly called a hell.
Dante then, who also understood French well, made use of the
phrase in question, and it has struck me as singular that this inter-
pretation has never yet been put upon the passage; indeed, it con-
firms my opinion that the commentators make him say things
which never came into his head.

XXVIII

Well, then, to return to my affairs. When certain decisions of the

court were sent me by those lawyers, and I perceived that my cause

had been unjustly lost, I had recourse for my defence to a great

dagger which I carried; for I have always taken pleasure in keeping

fine weapons. The first man I attacked was the plaintiff who had

sued me; and one evening I wounded him in the legs and arms so

severely, taking care, however, not to kill him, that I deprived him

of the use of both his legs. Then I sought out the other fellow who

had brought the suit, and used him also in such wise that he

dropped it.

^Paix, paix, Satan, allez, paix. The line in Dante to which Cellini alludes is the
first of the seventh canto of the Inferno. His suggestion is both curious and ingenious;
but we have no reason to think that French judges used the same imprecations, when
interrupted, in the thirteenth as they did in the sixteenth century, or that what Cellini
heard on this occasion was more than an accidental similarity of sounds, striking his
quick ear and awakening his lively memory.

304 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Returning thanks to God for this and every other dispensation,
and hoping to be left awhile without worries, I bade the young men
of my household, especially the Italians, for God's sake to attend each
diligently to the work I set him, and to help me till such time as I
could finish the things I had in hand. I thought they might soon
be completed, and then I meant to return to Italy, being no longer
able to put up with the rogueries of those Frenchmen; the good
King too, if he once grew angry, might bring me into mischief for
many of my acts in self-defence. I will describe who these Italians
were; the first, and the one I liked best, was Ascanio, from Taglia-
cozzo in the kingdom of Naples; the second was Pagolo, a Roman
of such humble origin that he did not know his own father. These
were the two men who had been with me in Rome, and whom I
had taken with me on the journey. Another Roman had also come
on purpose to enter my service; he too bore the name of Pagolo, and
was the son of a poor nobleman of the family of the Macaroni; he
had small acquirements in our art, but was an excellent and cou-
rageous swordsman. I had another from Ferrara called Bartolommeo
Chioccia. There was also another from Florence named Pagolo
Micceri; his brother, nicknamed "II Gatta," was a clever clerk, but
had spent too much money in managing the property of Tommaso
Guadagni, a very wealthy merchant. This Gatta put in order for
me the books in which I wrote the accounts of his most Christian
Majesty and my other employers. Now Pagolo Micceri, having
learned how to keep them from his brother, went on doing this
work for me in return for a liberal salary. He appeared, so far as
I could judge, to be a very honest lad, for I noticed him to be devout,
and when I heard him sometimes muttering psalms, and sometimes
telling his beads, I reckoned much upon his feigned virtue.

Accordingly I called the fellow apart and said to him, "Pagolo,
my dearest brother, you know what a good place you have with me,
and how you had formerly nothing to depend on; besides, you are
a Florentine. I have also the greater confidence in you because I
observe that you are pious and religious, which is a thing that
pleases me. I beg you therefore to assist me, for I cannot put the
same trust in any of your companions: so then I shall ask you to
keep watch over two matters of the highest importance, which might

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 305

prove a source of much annoyance to me. In the first place, I want
you to guard my property from being stolen, and not touch it your-
self. In the next place, you know that poor young girl, Caterina; I
keep her principally for my art's sake, since I cannot do without a
model; but being a man also, I have used her for my pleasures, and
it is possible that she may bear me a child. Now I do not want to
maintain another man's bastards, nor will I sit down under such an
insult. If any one in this house had the audacity to attempt anything
of the sort, and I were to become aware of it, I verily believe that
I should kill both her and him. Accordingly, dear brother, I entreat
you to be my helper; should you notice anything, tell it me at once;
for I am sure to send her and her mother and her fellow to the
gallows. Be you the first upon your watch against falling into this
snare." The rascal made a sign of the cross from his head to his
feet and cried out: "O blessed Jesus! God preserve me from ever
thinking of such a thing I In the first place, I am not given to those
evil ways; in the next place, do you imagine I am ignorant of your
great benefits toward me?" When I heard these words, which he
uttered with all appearance of simplicity and affection for me, I
believed that matters stood precisely as he asserted.

XXIX

Two days after this conversation, M. Mattio del Nazaro took the
occasion of some feast-day to invite me and my workpeople to an
entertainment in a garden.' He was an Italian in the King's
service, and practised the same art as we did with remarkable ability.
I got myself in readiness, and told Pagolo that he might go abroad
too and amuse himself with us; the annoyances arising from that
lawsuit being, as I judged, now settled down. The young man
replied in these words: "Upon my word, it would be a great mistake
to leave the house so unprotected. Only look how much of gold,
silver, and jewels you have here. Living as we do in a city o£
thieves, we ought to be upon our guard by day and night. I will
spend the time in religious exercises, while I keep watch over the

' Matteo del Nassaro, a native o£ Verona, was employed in France as engraver,
die-caster, and musician.

306 BENVENUTO CELLINI

premises. Go then with mind at rest to take your pleasure and
divert your spirits. Some other day another man will take my place
as guardian here."

Thinking that I could go off with a quiet mind, I took Pagolo,
Ascanio, and Chioccia to the garden, where we spent a large portion
of the day agreeably. Toward the middle of the afternoon, how-
ever, when it began to draw toward sundown, a suspicion came into
my head, and I recollected the words which that traitor had spoken
with his feigned simplicity. So I mounted my horse, and with two
servants to attend me, returned to the castle, where I all but caught
Pagolo and that little wretch Caterina in flagrante. No sooner had
I reached the place, than that French bawd, her mother, screamed
out: "Pagolo! Caterina! here is the master!" When I saw the pair
advancing, overcome with fright, their clothes in disorder, not
knowing what they said, nor, like people in a trance, where they
were going, it was only too easy to guess what they had been about.
The sight drowned reason in rage, and I drew my sword, resolved
to kill them both. The man took to his heels; the girl flung herself
upon her knees, and shrieked to Heaven for mercy. In my first fury
I wanted to strike at the male; but before I had the time to catch
him up, second thoughts arose which made me think it would be
best for me to drive them both away together. I had so many acts
of violence upon my hands, that if I killed him I could hardly hope
to save my life. I said then to Pagolo: "Had I seen with my own
eyes, scoundrel, what your behaviour and appearance force me to
believe, I should have run you with this sword here ten times through
the guts. Get out of my sight; and if you say a Paternoster, let it be
San Giuliano's." ^ Then I drove the whole lot forth, mother and
daughter, lamming into them with fist and foot. They made their
minds up to have the law of me, and consulted a Norman advocate,
who advised them to declare that I had used the girl after the Italian
fashion; what this meant I need hardly explain.' The man argued:
"At the very least, when this Italian hears what you are after, he
will pay down several hundred ducats, knowing how great the
danger is, and how heavily that offence is punished in France."

^ See Boccaccio, Decam., Gior. ii. Nov. ii.

' Qual modo s'intendeva contro tiatura, cioi in soidnmia.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 307

Upon this they were agreed. The accusation was brought against
me, and I received a summons from the court.

XXX

The more I sought for rest, the more I was annoyed with all
sorts of embarrassments. Being thus daily exposed to divers perse-
cutions, I pondered which of two courses I ought to take; whether to
decamp and leave France to the devil, or else to fight this battle
through as I had done the rest, and see to what end God had made
me. For a long while I kept anxiously revolving the matter. At
last I resolved to make off, dreading to tempt my evil fortune, lest
this should bring me to the gallows. My dispositions were all fixed;
I had made arrangements for putting away the property I could not
carry, and ior charging the Ughter articles, to the best of my ability,
upon myself and servants; yet it was with great and heavy reluctance
that I looked forward to such a departure.

I had shut myself up alone in a little study. My young men were
advising me to fly; but I told them that it would be well for me to
meditate this step in soUtude, although I very much inclined to their
opinion. Indeed, I reasoned that if I could escape imprisonment and
let the storm pass over, I should be able to explain matters to the
King by letter, setting forth the trap which had been laid to ruin
me by the malice of my enemies. And as I have said above, my mind
was made up to this point; when, just as I rose to act on the decision,
some power took me by the shoulder and turned me round, and I
heard a voice which cried with vehemence: "Benvenuto, do as thou
art wont, and fear not!" Then, on the instant, I changed the whole
course of my plans, and said to my Italians: "Take your good arms
and come with me; obey me to the letter; have no other thought,
for I am now determined to put in my appearance. If I were to
leave Paris, you would vanish the next day in smoke; so do as I
command, and follow me." They all began together with one heart
and voice to say : "Since we are here, and draw our livelihood from
him, it is our duty to go with him and bear him out so long as we
have Hfe to execute what he proposes. He has hit the mark better
than we did in this matter; for on the instant when he leaves the
place, his enemies will send us to the devil. Let us keep well in

308 BENVENUTO CELLINI

mind what great works we have begun here, and what vast impor-
tance they possess; we should not know how to finish them without
him, and his enemies would say that he had taken flight because he
shrank before such undertakings." Many other things bearing
weightily upon the subject were said among them. But it was the
young Roman, Macaroni, who first put heart into the company; and
he also raised recruits from the Germans and the Frenchmen, who
felt well disposed toward me.

We were ten men, all counted. I set out, firmly resolved not to
let myself be taken and imprisoned alive. When we appeared before
the judges for criminal aiiairs, I found Caterina and her mother
waiting; and on the moment of my arrival, the two women were
laughing with their advocate. I pushed my way in, and called boldly
for the judge, who was seated, blown out big and fat, upon a tribunal
high above the rest. On catching sight of me, he threatened with his
head, and spoke in a subdued voice: "Although your name is Ben-
venuto, this time you are an ill-comer." I understood his speech, and
called out the second time: "Despatch my business quickly. Tell me
what I have come to do here." Then the judge turned to Caterina,
and said: "Caterina, relate all that happened between you and Ben-
venuto." She answered that I had used her after the Italian fashion.
The judge turned to me and said: "You hear what Caterina deposes,
Benvenuto." I replied : "If I have consorted with her after the Italian
fashion, I have only done the same as you folk of other nations do."
He demurred: "She means that you improperly abused her." I
retorted that, so far from being the Italian fashion, it must be some
French habit, seeing she knew all about it, while I was ignorant; and
I commanded her to explain precisely how I had consorted with her.
Then the impudent baggage entered into plain and circumstantial
details regarding all the filth she lyingly accused me of. I made her
repeat her deposition three times in succession. When she had
finished, I cried out with a loud voice: "Lord judge, lieutenant of the
Most Christian King, I call on you for justice. Well I know that by
the laws of his Most Christian Majesty both agent and patient in
this kind of crime are punished with the stake. The woman con-
fesses her guilt; I admit nothing whatsoever of the sort with regard

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 309

to her; her go-between of a mother is here, who deserves to be
burned for either one or the other offence. Therefore I appeal to
you for justice." These words I repeated over and over again at the
top of my voice, continually calling out: "To the stake with her
and her mother!" I also threatened the judge that, if he did not send
her to prison there before me, I would go to the King at once, and
tell him how his lieutenant in criminal affairs of justice had wronged
me. When they heard what a tumult I was making, my adversaries
lowered their voices, but I lifted mine the more. The little hussy and
her mother fell to weeping, while I shouted to the judge: "Fire, fire!
to the stake with them!" The coward on the bench, finding that the
matter was not going as he intended, began to use soft words and
excuse the weakness of the female sex. Thereupon I felt that I had
won the victory in a nasty encounter; and, muttering threats between
my teeth, I took myself off, not without great inward satisfaction.
Indeed, I would gladly have paid five hundred crowns down to
have avoided that appearance in court. However, after escaping
from the tempest, I thanked God with all my heart, and returned in
gladness with my young men to the castle.

XXXI

When adverse fortune, or, if we prefer to call it, our malignant
planet, undertakes to persecute a man, it never lacks new ways of
injuring him. So now, when I thought I had emerged from this
tempestuous sea of troubles, and hoped my evil star would leave me
quiet for a moment, it began to set two schemes in motion against
me before I had recovered my breath from that great struggle.
Within three days two things happened, each of which brought my
life into extreme hazard. One of these occurred in this way: I went
to Fontainebleau to consult with the King; for he had written me a
letter saying he wanted me to stamp the coins of his whole realm,
and enclosing some little drawings to explain his wishes in the
matter; at the same time he left me free to execute them as I liked;
upon which I made new designs according to my own conception,
and according to the ideal of art. When I reached Fontainebleau,
one of the treasurers commissioned by the King to defray my

310 BENVENUTO CELLINI

expenses (he was called Monsignor della Fa') addressed me in these
words: "Benvenuto, the painter Bologna has obtained commission
from the King to execute your great Colossus, and all the orders
previously given as on your behalf have been transferred to him.^
We are all indignant; and it seems to us that that countryman of
yours has acted towards you in a most unwarrantable manner. The
work was assigned you bn the strength of your models and studies.
He is robbing you of it, only through the favour of Madame
d'Etampes; and though several months have passed since he received
the order, he has not yet made any sign of commencing it." I
answered in surprise: "How is it possible that I should have heard
nothing at all about this?" He then informed me that the man
had kept it very dark, and had obtained the King's commission with
great difficulty, since his Majesty at first would not concede it; only
the importunity of Madame d'Etampes secured this favour for him.
When I felt how greatly and how wrongfully I had been betrayed,
and saw a work which I had gained with my great toil thus stolen
from me, I made my mind up for a serious stroke of business, and
marched off with my good sword at my side to find Bologna.^ He
was in his room, engaged in studies; after telling the servant to
introduce me, he greeted me with some of his Lombard compli-
ments, and asked what good business had brought me hither. I
replied: "A most excellent business, and one of great importance."
He then sent for wine, and said: "Before we begin to talk, we must
drink together, for such is the French custom." I answered: "Messer
Francesco, you must know that the conversation we have to engage
in does not call for drinking at the commencement; after it is over,
perhaps we shall be glad to take a glass." Then I opened the matter
in this way: "All men who wish to pass for persons of worth allow
it to be seen that they are so by their actions; if they do the con-
trary, they lose the name of honest men. I am aware that you knew
the King had commissioned me with that great Colossus; it had been
talked of these eighteen months past; yet neither you nor anybody else
came forward to speak a word about it. By my great labours I made

' His name in full was Jacques de la Fa. He and his son Pierre after him held the
office of tresorier de I'epargne. See Plon, p. 63.

^ By Colossus, Cellini means the fountain with the great statue of Mars.
' /. e., Primaticcio.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 3II

myself known to his Majesty, who approved of my models and gave
the work into my hands. During many months I have heard nothing
to the contrary; only this morning I was informed that you have
got hold of it, and have filched it from me. I earned it by the talents
I displayed, and you are robbing me of it merely by your idle talking."

XXXII

To this speech Bologna answered: "O Benvenuto! all men try to
push their affairs in every way they can. If this is the King's will,
what have you to say against it ? You would only throw away your
time, because I have it now, and it is mine. Now tell me what you
choose, and I will listen to you." I replied: "I should like you to
know, Messer Francesco, that I could say much which would prove
irrefragably, and make you admit, that such ways of acting as you
have described and used are not in vogue among rational animals.
I will, however, come quickly to the point at issue; give close atten-
tion to my meaning, because the affair is serious." He made as
though he would rise from the chair on which he was sitting, since
he saw my colour heightened and my features greatly discomposed.
I told him that the time had not yet come for moving; he had
better sit and listen to me. Then I recommenced: "Messer Fran-
cesco, you know that I first received the work, and that the time has
long gone by during which my right could be reasonably disputed
by any one. Now I tell you that I shall be satisfied if you will make
a model, while I make another in addition to the one I have already
shown. Then we will take them without any clamour to our great
King; and whosoever in this way shall have gained the credit of the
best design will justly have deserved the commission. If it falls to
you, I will dismiss from my mind the memory of the great injury
you have done me, and will bless your hands, as being worthier
than mine of so glorious a performance. Let us abide by this agree-
ment, and we shall be friends; otherwise we must be enemies; and
God, who always helps the right, and I, who know how to assert it,
will show you to what extent you have done wrong." Messer
Francesco answered: "The work is mine, and since it has been given
me, I do not choose to put what is my own to hazard." To this I
retorted: "Messer Francesco, if you will not take the right course

312 BENVENUTO CELLINI

which is just and reasonable, I will show you another which shall be
like your own, that is to say, ugly and disagreeable. I tell you plainly
that if I ever hear that you have spoken one single word about this
work of mine, I will kill you like a dog. We are neither in Rome, nor
in Bologna, nor in Florence; here one lives in quite a different fash-
ion; if then it comes to my ears that you talk about this to the King
or anybody else, I vow that I will kill you. Reflect upon the way
you mean to take, whether that for good which I formerly described,
or this latter bad one I have just now set before you."

The man did not know what to say or do, and I was inclined to
cut the matter short upon the spot rather than to postpone action.
Bologna found no other words than these to utter: "If I act like a
man of honesty, I shall stand in no fear." I replied: "You have
spoken well, but if you act otherwise, you will have to fear, because
the affair is serious." Upon this I left him, and betook myself to
the King. With his Majesty I disputed some time about the fashion
of his coinage, a point upon which we were not of the same opinion;
his council, who were present, kept persuading him that the monies
ought to be struck in the French style, as they had hitherto always
been done. I urged in reply that his Majesty had sent for me from
Italy in order that I might execute good work; if he now wanted
me to do the contrary, I could not bring myself to submit. So the
matter was postponed till another occasion, and I set off again at
once for Paris.

XXXIII

I had but just dismounted from my horse, when one of those
excellent people who rejoice in mischief-making came to tell me that
Pagolo Micceri had taken a house for the little hussy Caterina and
her mother, and that he was always going there, and whenever he
mentioned me, used words of scorn to this effect: "Benvenuto set the
fox to watch the grapes,' and thought I would not eat them! Now
he is satisfied with going about and talking big, and thinks I am
afraid of him. But I have girt this sword and dagger to my side in
order to show him that my steel can cut as well as his, and that I
too am a Florentine, of the Micceri, a far better family than his
^ Aveva data a guardia la lattuga ai paperi.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 3 1 3

Cellini." The scoundrel who reported this poisonous gossip spoke it
with such good effect that I felt a fever in the instant swoop upon
me; and when I say fever, I mean fever, and no mere metaphor.
The insane passion which took possession of me might have been my
death, had I not resolved to give it vent as the occasion offered. I
ordered the Ferrarese workman, Chioccia, to come with me, and
made a servant follow with my horse. When we reached the house
where that worthless villain was, I found the door ajar, and entered.
I noticed that he carried sword and dagger, and was sitting on a
big chest with his arm round Caterina's neck; at the moment of my
arrival, I could hear that he and her mother were talking about me.
Pushing the door open, I drew my sword, and set the point of it at
his throat, not giving him the time to think whether he too carried
steel. At the same instant I cried out: "Vile coward! recommend
your soul to God, for you are a dead man." Without budging from
his seat, he called three times: "Mother, mother, help me!" Though
I had come there fully determined to take his life, half my fury
ebbed away when I heard this idiotic exclamation. I ought to add
that I had told Chioccia not to let the girl or her mother leave the
house, since I meant to deal with those trollops after I had disposed
of their bully. So I went on holding my sword at his throat, and
now and then just pricked him with the point, pouring out a
torrent of terrific threats at the same time. But when I found he
did not stir a finger in his own defence, I began to wonder what I
should do next; my menacing attitude could not be kept up for ever;
so at last it came into my head to make them marry, and complete
my vengeance at a later period. Accordingly, I formed my resolution,
and began: "Take that ring, coward, from your finger, and marry
her, that I may get satisfaction from you afterwards according to
your deserts." He replied at once : "If only you do not kill me, I will
do whatever you command." "Then," said I, "put that ring upon
her hand." When the sword's point was withdrawn a few inches
from his throat, he wedded her with the ring. But I added: "This is
not enough. I shall send for two notaries, in order that the marriage
may be ratified by contract." Bidding Chioccia go for the lawyers,
I turned to the girl and her mother, and, using the French language,
spoke as follows: "Notaries and witnesses are coming; the first of

314 BENVENUTO CELLINI

you who blabs about this affair will be killed upon the spot; nay, I
will murder you all three. So beware, and keep a quiet tongue in
your heads." To him I said in Italian : "If you offer any resistance to
what I shall propose, upon the slightest word you utter I will stab
you till your guts run out upon this floor." He answered: "Only
promise not to kill me, and I will do whatever you command." The
notaries and witnesses arrived; a contract, valid and in due form,
was drawn up; then my heat and fever left me. I paid the lawyers
and took my departure.

On the following day Bologna came to Paris on purpose, and sent
for me through Mattio del Nasaro. I went to see him; and he met
me with a glad face, entreating me to regard him as a brother, and
saying that he would never speak about that work again, since he
recognised quite well that I was right.

XXXIV

If I did not confess that in some of these episodes I acted wrongly,
the world might think I was not telling the truth about those in
which I say I acted rightly. Therefore 1 admit that it was a mistake
to inflict so singular a vengeance upon Pagolo Micceri. In truth,
had I believed him to be so utterly feeble, I should not have con-
ceived the notion of branding him with such infamy as I am going
to relate.

Not satisfied with having made him take a vicious drab to wife,
I completed my revenge by inviting her to sit to me as a model, and
dealing with her thus. I gave her thirty sous a day, paid in advance,
and a good meal, and obliged her to pose before me naked. Then I
made her serve my pleasure, out of spite against her husband, jeering
at them both the while. Furthermore, I kept her for hours together
in position, greatly to her discomfort. This gave her as much annoy-
ance as it gave me pleasure; for she was beautifully made, and
brought me much credit as a model. At last, noticing that I did not
treat her with the same consideration as before her marriage, she
began to grumble and talk big in her French way about her husband,
who was now serving the Prior of Capua, a brother of Piero Strozzi.'

' Leone, son of Filippo Strozzi, Knight o£ Jerusalem and Prior of Capua, was, like
his brother Piero, a distinguished French general.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 315

On the first occasion when she did this, the mere mention of the
fellow aroused me to intolerable fury; still I bore it, greatly against
the grain, as well as I was able, reflecting that I could hardly find
so suitable a subject for my art as she was. So I reasoned thus in my
own mind: "I am now taking two different kinds of revenge. In
the first place, she is married; and what I am doing to her husband
is something far more serious than what he did to me, when she
was only a girl of loose life. If then I wreak my spite so fully upon
him, while upon her I inflict the discomfort of posing in such strange
attitudes for such a length of time — which, beside the pleasure I
derive, brings me both profit and credit through my art — what more
can I desire?" While I was turning over these calculations, the
wretch redoubled her insulting speeches, always prating big about
her husband, till she goaded me beyond the bounds of reason.
Yielding myself up to blind rage, I seized her by the hair, and
dragged her up and down my room, beating and kicking her till I
was tired. There was no one who could come to her assistance.
When I had well pounded her she swore that she would never
visit me again. Then for the first time I perceived that I had acted
very wrongly; for I was losing a grand model, who brought me
honour through my art. Moreover, when I saw her body all torn
and bruised and swollen, I reflected that, even if I persuaded her to
return, I should have to put her under medical treatment for at
least a fortnight before I could make use of her.

XXXV

Well, to return to Caterina. I sent my old serving-woman, named
Ruberta, who had a most kindly disposition, to help her dress. She
biought food and drink to the miserable baggage; and after rubbing
a little bacon fat into her worst wounds, they ate what was left of
the meat together. When she had finished dressing, she went off
blaspheming and cursing all Italians in the King's service, and so
returned with tears and murmurs to her home.

Assuredly, upon that first occasion, I felt I had done very wrong,
and Ruberta rebuked me after this fashion: "You are a cruel
monster to maltreat such a handsome girl so brutally." When I
excused my conduct by narrating all the tricks which she and her

3l6 BENVENUTO CELLINI

mother had played off upon me under my own roof, Ruberta scold-
ingly rephed that that was nothing — that was only French manners,
and she was sure there was not a husband in France without his
horns. When I heard this argument, I laughed aloud, and then told
Ruberta to go and see how Caterina was, since I should like to
employ her again while finishing the work I had on hand. The old
woman took me sharply up, saying that I had no savoir vivre: "Only
wait till daybreak, and she will come of herself; whereas, if you
send to ask after her or visit her, she will give herself airs and keep
away."

On the following morning Caterina came to our door, and knocked
so violently, that, being below, I ran to see whether it was a madman
or some member of the household. When I opened, the creature
laughed and fell upon my neck, embracing and kissing me, and
asked me if I was still angry with her. I said, "No!" Then she
added: "Let me have something good to break my fast on." So I
supplied her well with food, and partook of it at the same table in
sign of reconciliation. Afterwards I began to model from her, during
which occurred some amorous diversions; and at last, just at the
same hour as on the previous day, she irritated me to such a pitch
that I gave her the same drubbing. So we went on several days,
repeating the old round like clockwork. There was little or no
variation in the incidents.

Meanwhile, I completed my work in a style which did me the
greatest credit. Next I set about to cast it in bronze. This entailed
some difficulties, to relate which would be interesting from the point
of view of art; but since the whole history would occupy too much
space, I must omit it. Suffice it to say, that the figure came out
splendidly, and was as fine a specimen of foundry as had ever been
seen.'

xxxvi

While this work was going forward, I set aside certain hours of the

day for the salt-cellar, and certain others for the Jupiter. There were

more men engaged upon the former than I had at my disposal for

the latter, so the salt-cellar was by this time completely finished. The

'This figure was undoubtedly the Nymph of Fontainebleau.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 3 1 7

King had now returned to Paris; and when I paid him my respects,
I took the piece with me. As I have aheady related, it was oval in
form, standing about two-thirds of a cubit, wrought of solid gold,
and worked entirely with the chisel. While speaking of the model,
I said before how I had represented Sea and Earth, seated, with their
legs interlaced, as we observe in the case of firths and promontories;
this attitude was therefore metaphorically appropriate. The Sea
carried a trident in his right hand, and in his left I put a ship of
delicate workmanship to hold the salt. Below him were his four
sea-horses, fashioned like our horses from the head to the front
hoofs; all the rest of their body, from the middle backwards, resem-
bled a fish, and the tails of these creatures were agreeably inter-
woven. Above this group the Sea sat throned in an attitude of pride
and dignity; around him were many kinds of fishes and other crea-
tures of the ocean. The water was represented with its waves, and .
enamelled in the appropriate colour. I had portrayed Earth under the
form of a very handsome woman, holding her horn of plenty, entirely
nude like the male figure; in her left hand I placed a little temple
of Ionic architecture, most delicately wrought, which was meant to
contain the pepper. Beneath her were the handsomest living crea-
tures which the earth produces; and the rocks were pardy enamelled,
partly left in gold. The whole piece reposed upon a base of ebony,
properly proportioned, but with a projecting cornice, upon which I
introduced four golden figures in rather more than half-relief. They
represented Night, Day, Twilight, and Dawn. I put, moreover, into
the same frieze four other figures, similar in size, and intended for
the four chief winds; these were executed, and in part enamelled,
with the most exquisite refinement.'

When I exhibited this piece to his Majesty, he uttered a loud
outcry of astonishment, and could not satiate his eyes with gazing
at it. Then he bade me take it back to my house, saying he would
tell me at the proper time what I should have to do with it. So I
carried it home, and sent at once to invite several of my best friends;
we dined gaily together, placing the salt-cellar in the middle of the
table, and thus we were the first to use it. After this, I went on

'This salt-cellar is now at Vienna. It is beautifully represented by two photo-
gravures in Plon's great book on Cellini.

3l8 BENVENUTO CELLINI

working at my Jupiter in silver, and also at the great vase I have
already described, which was richly decorated with a variety of
ornaments and figures.

xxxvii

At that time Bologna, the painter, suggested to the King that it
would be well if his Majesty sent him to Rome, with letters of rec-
ommendation, to the end that he might cast the foremost master-
pieces of antiquity, namely, the Laocoon, the Cleopatra, the Venus,
the Commodus, the Zingara, and the Apollo.' These, of a truth, are
by far the finest things in Rome. He told the King that when his
Majesty had once set eyes upon those marvellous works, he would
then, and not till then, be able to criticise the arts of design, since
everything which he had seen by us moderns was far removed from
the perfection of the ancients. The King accepted his proposal, and
gave him the introductions he required. Accordingly that beast
went off, and took his bad luck with him. Not having the force and
courage to contend with his own hands against me, he adopted the
truly Lombard device of depreciating my performances by becoming
a copyist of antiques. In its own proper place I shall relate how,
though he had these statues excellently cast, he obtained a result
quite contrary to his imagination.

I had now done for ever with that disreputable Caterina, and the
vuifortunate young man, her husband, had decamped from Paris.
Wanting then to finish off my Fontainebleau, which was already
cast in bronze, as well as to execute the two Victories which were
going to fill the angles above the lunette of the door, I engaged a
poor girl of the age of about fifteen. She was beautifully made and
of a brunette complexion. Being somewhat savage in her ways and
spare of speech, quick in movement, with a look of sullenness about
her eyes, I nicknamed her Scorzone;^ her real name was Jeanne.

' The Cleopatra is that recumbent statue of a sleeping Ariadne or Bacchante now
in the Vatican. The Venus (neither the Medicean nor the Capitoline) represents the
goddess issuing from the bath; it is now in the Museo Pio Clementino of the
Vatican. The Commodus is a statue of Hercules, with the lion's skin and an infant
in his arms, also in the Vatican. The Zingara may be a statue of Diana forming part
of the Borghese collection. The Apollo is the famous Belvedere Apollo of the Vatican.

^That is, in Italian, "the rough rind," a name given to rustics. Scorzone is also the
name for a little black venomous serpent.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 3I9

With her for model, I gave perfect finish to the bronze Fontaine-
bleau, and also to the two Victories.

Now this girl was a clean maid, and I got her with child. She
gave birth to a daughter on the 7th of June, at thirteen hours of the
day, in 1544, when I had exactly reached the age of forty-four. I
named the infant Costanza; and M. Guido Guidi, the King's phy-
sician, and my most intimate friend, as I have previously related,
held her at the font. He was the only godfather ; for it is customary
in France to have but one godfather and two godmothers. One of
the latter was Madame Maddalena, wife to M. Luigi Alamanni, a
gentleman of Florence and an accomplished poet. The other was
the wife of M. Ricciardo del Bene, our Florentine burgher, and a
great merchant in Paris; she was herself a French lady of distin-
guished family. This was the first child I ever had, so far as I re-
member. I settled money enough upon the girl for dowry to satisfy
an aunt of hers, under whose tutelage I placed her, and from that
time forwards I had nothing more to do with her.

XXXVIII

By labouring incessantly I had now got my various works well
forward; the Jupiter was nearly finished, and the vase also; the door
began to reveal its beauties. At that time the King came to Paris;
and though I gave the right date of the year 1544 for my daughter's
birth, we were still in 1543; but an opportunity of mentioning my
daughter having arisen, I availed myself of it, so as not to interrupt
the narrative of more important things. Well, the King, as I have
said, came to Paris, and paid me a visit soon after his arrival. The
magnificent show of works brought well-nigh to completion was
enough to satisfy anybody's eye; and indeed it gave that glorious
monarch no less contentment than the artist who had worked so
hard upon them desired. While inspecting these things, it came
into his head that the Cardinal of Ferrara had fulfilled none of his
promises to me, either as regarded a pension or anything else. Whis-
pering with his Admiral, he said that the Cardinal of Ferrara had
behaved very badly in the matter; and that he intended to make it up
to me himself, because he saw I was a man of few words, who in

320 BENVENUTO CELLINI

the twinkling of an eye might decamp without complaining or ask-
ing leave.

On returning home, his Majesty, after dinner, told the Cardinal to
give orders to his treasurer of the Exchequer that he should pay me
at an early date seven thousand crowns of gold, in three or four
instalments, according to his own convenience, provided only that
he executed the commission faithfully. At the same time he repeated
words to this effect: "I gave Benvenuto into your charge, and you
have forgotten all about him." The Cardinal said that he would
punctually perform his Majesty's commands; but his own bad nature
made him wait till the King's fit of generosity was over. Meanwhile
wars and rumours of wars were on the increase; it was the moment
when the Emperor with a huge army was marching upon Paris.'
Seeing the realm of France to be in great need of money, the Car-
dinal one day began to talk of me, and said: "Sacred Majesty, acting
for the best, I have not had that money given to Benvenuto. First,
it is sorely wanted now for public uses. Secondly, so great a dona-
tion would have exposed you to the risk of losing Benvenuto alto-
gether; for if he found himself a rich man, he might have invested
his money in Italy, and the moment some caprice took hold of him,
he would have decamped without hesitation. I therefore consider
that your Majesty's best course will be to present him with something
in your kingdom, if you want to keep him in your service for any
length of time." The King, being really in want of money, approved
of these arguments; nevertheless, like the noble soul he was, and
truly worthy of his royal station, he judged rightly that the Cardinal
had acted thus in order to curry favour rather than from any clear
prevision of distressed finances in so vast a realm.

XXXIX

As I have just said, his Majesty affected to concur with the Car-
dinal, but his own private mind was otherwise made up. Accord-
ingly, upon the day after his arrival, without solicitation upon my
part, he came of his own accord to my house. I went to meet him,
and conducted him through several rooms where divers works of

'In 1544 Charles V. advanced toward Champagne and threatened Paris, while
the English were besieging Boulogne.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 32 1

art were on view. Beginning with the less important, I pointed out
a quantity of things in bronze; and it was long since he had seen
so many at once. Then I took him to see the Jupiter in silver, now
nearly completed, with all its splendid decorations. It so happened
that a grievous disappointment which he had suffered a few years
earlier, made him think this piece more admirable than it might
perhaps have appeared to any other man. The occasion to which I
refer was this: After the capture of Tunis, the Emperor passed
through Paris with the consent of his brother-in-law. King Francis,*
who wanted to present him with something worthy of so great a
potentate. Having this in view, he ordered a Hercules to be executed
in silver, exactly of the same size as my Jupiter. The King declared
this Hercules to be the ugliest work of art that he had ever seen,
and spoke his opinion plainly to the craftsmen of Paris. They
vaunted themselves to be the ablest craftsmen in the world for works
of this kind, and informed the King that nothing more perfect could
possibly have been produced in silver, insisting at the same time
upon being paid two thousand ducats for their filthy piece of work.
This made the King, when he beheld mine, affirm that the finish of
its workmanship exceeded his highest expectations. Accordingly he
made an equitable judgment, and had my statue valued also at two
thousand ducats, saying: "I gave those other men no salary; Cellini,
who gets about a thousand crowns a year from me, can surely let
me have this masterpiece for two thousand crowns of gold, since
he has his salary into the bargain." Then I exhibited other things in
gold and silver, and a variety of models for new undertakings. At
the last, just when he was taking leave, I pointed out upon the lawn
of the castle that great giant, which roused him to higher astonish-
ment than any of the other things he had inspected. Turning to
his Admiral, who was called Monsignor Aniballe,^ he said: "Since
the Cardinal has made him no provision, we must do so, and all the
more because the man himself is so slow at asking favours — to cut it
short, I mean to have him well provided for; yes, these men who ask
for nothing feel that their masterpieces call aloud for recompense;

'In the year 1539 Charles V. obtained leave to traverse France with his army on
the way to Flanders.

'Claude d'Annebault; captured at Pavia with Francois; Marshal in 1538; Admiral
of France in 1543.

322 BENVENUTO CELLINI

therefore see that he gets the first abbey that falls vacant worth two
thousand crowns a year. If this cannot be had in one benefice, let
him have two or three to that amount, for in his case it will come to
the same thing." As I was standing by, I could hear what the KLing
said, and thanked his Majesty at once for the donation, as though I
were already in possession. I told him that as soon as his orders
were carried into effect, I would work for his Majesty without other
salary or recompense of any kind until old age deprived me of the
power to labour, when I hoped to rest my tired body in peace, main-
taining myself with honour on that income, and always bearing in
mind that I had served so great a monarch as his Majesty. At the
end of this speech the King turned toward me with a lively gesture
and a joyous countenance, saying, "So let it then be done." After
that he departed, highly satisfied with what he had seen there.

XL

Madame d'Etampes, when she heard how well my affairs were go-
ing, redoubled her spite against me, saying in her own heart: "It is I
who rule the world to-day, and a little fellow like that snaps his
fingers at me!" She put every iron into the fire which she could
think of, in order to stir up mischief against me. Now a certain
man fell in her way, who enjoyed great fame as a distiller; he sup-
plied her with perfumed waters, which were excellent for the
complexion, and hitherto unknown in France. This fellow she intro-
duced to the King, who was much delighted by the processes for
distilling which he exhibited. While engaged in these experiments,
the man begged his Majesty to give him a tennis-court I had in my
castle, together with some little apartments which he said I did not
use. The good King, guessing who was at the bottom of the busi-
ness, made no answer; but Madame d'Etampes used those wiles with
which women know so well to work on men, and very easily suc-
ceeded in her enterprise; for having taken the King at a moment of
amorous weakness, to which he was much subject, she wheedled
him into conceding what she wanted.

The distiller came, accompanied by Treasurer Grolier, a very
great nobleman of France, who spoke Italian excellently, and when

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 323

he entered my castle, began to jest with me in that language.'
Watching his opportunity/ he said: "In the King's name I put this
man here into possession of that tennis-court, together with the
lodgings that pertain to it." To this I answered: "The sacred King
is lord of all things here : so then you might have effected an entrance
with more freedom: coming thus with notaries and people of the
court looks more like a fraud than the mandate of a powerful mon-
arch. I assure you that, before I carry my complaints before the
King, I shall defend my right in the way his Majesty gave me orders
two days since to do. I shall fling the man whom you have put upon
me out of windows if I do not see a warrant under the King's own
hand and seal." After this speech the treasurer went off threatening
and grumbling, and I remained doing the same, without, however,
beginning the attack at once. Then I went to the notaries who had
put the fellow in possession. I was well acquainted with them; and
they gave me to understand that this was a formal proceeding, done
indeed at the King's orders, but which had not any great signifi-
cance; if I had offered some trifling opposition the fellow would
not have installed himself as he had done. The formalities were acts
and customs of the court, which did not concern obedience to the
King; consequently, if I succeeded in ousting him, I should have
acted rightly, and should not incur any risk.

This hint was enough for me, and next morning I had recourse to
arms; and though the job cost me some trouble, I enjoyed it. Each
day that followed, I made an attack with stones, pikes and arque-
buses, firing, however, without ball; nevertheless, I inspired such
terror that no one dared to help my antagonist. Accordingly, when
I noticed one day that his defence was feeble, I entered the house by
force, and expelled the fellow, turning all his goods and chattels into
the street. Then I betook me to the King, and told him that I had
done precisely as his Majesty had ordered, by defending myself
against every one who sought to hinder me in his service. The King
laughed at the matter, and made me out new letters-patent to secure
me from further molestation.^

' Jean Grolier, the famous French Maecenas, collector of books, antiquities, &c.

2 Vedendo il hello.

^This document exists, and is dated July 15, 1544. See Bianchi, p. 585.

324 BENVENUTO CELLINI

XLI

In the meantime I brought my silver Jupiter to completion, to-
gether with its gilded pedestal, which I placed upon a wooden
plinth that only showed a very little; upon the plinth I introduced
four little round balls of hard wood, more than half hidden in their
sockets, like the nut of a crossbow. They were so nicely arranged
that a child could push the statue forward and backwards, or turn it
round with ease. Having arranged it thus to my mind, I went with
it to Fontainebleau, where the King was then residing.

At that time, Bologna, of whom I have already said so much, had
brought from Rome his statues, and had cast them very carefully
in bronze. I knew nothing about this, partly because he kept his
doings very dark, and also because Fontainebleau is forty miles dis-
tant from Paris. On asking the King where he wanted me to set
up my Jupiter, Madame d'Etampes, who happened to be present,
told him there was no place more appropriate than his own hand-
some gallery. This was, as we should say in Tuscany, a loggia, or,
more exactly, a large lobby; it ought indeed to be called a lobby,
because what we mean by loggia is open at one side. The hall was
considerably longer than 100 paces, decorated, and very rich with
pictures from the hand of that admirable Rosso, our Florentine
master. Among the pictures were arranged a great variety of sculp-
tured works, partly in the round, and partly in bas-relief. The
breadth was about twelve paces. Now Bologna had brought all his
antiques into this gallery, wrought with great beauty in bronze, and
had placed them in a handsome row upon their pedestals; and they
were, as I have said, the choicest of the Roman antiquities. Into this
same gallery I took my Jupiter; and when I saw that grand parade,
so artfully planned, I said to myself: "This is like running the gaunt-
let;' now may God assist me." I placed the statue, and having ar-
ranged it as well as I was able, waited for the coming of the King.
The Jupiter was raising his thunderbolt with the right hand in the
act to hurl it; his left hand held the globe of the world. Among the
flames of the thunderbolt I had very cleverly introduced a torch of
white wax. Now Madame d'Etampes detained the King till night-
* Questo si i come passare in fra le picche.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 325

fall, wishing to do one o£ two mischiefs, either to prevent his com-
ing, or else to spoil the effect of my work by its being shown off
after dark; but as God has promised to those who trust in Him,
it turned out exactly opposite to her calculations; for when night
came, I set fire to the torch, which standing higher than the head
of Jupiter, shed light from above and showed the statue far better
than by daytime.

At length the King arrived; he was attended by his Madame
d'Etampes, his son the Dauphin and the Dauphiness, together with
the King of Navarre his brother-in-law, Madame Marguerite his
daughter,^ and several other great lords, who had been instructed
by Madame d'Etampes to speak against me. When the King ap-
peared, I made my prentice Ascanio push the Jupiter toward his
Majesty. As it moved smoothly forwards, my cunning in its turn
was amply rewarded, for this gentle motion made the figure seem
alive; the antiques were left in the background, and my work was
the first to take the eye with pleasure. The King exclaimed at once:
"This is by far the finest thing that has ever been seen; and I,
although I am an amateur and judge of art, could never have con-
ceived the hundredth part of its beauty." The lords whose cue it was
to speak against me, now seemed as though they could not praise
my masterpiece enough. Madame d'Etampes said boldly: "One
would think you had no eyes! Don't you see all those fine bronzes
from the antique behind there ? In those consists the real distinction
of this art, and not in that modern trumpery." Then the King ad-
vanced, and the others with him. After casting a glance at the
bronzes, which were not shown to advantage from the light being
below them, he exclaimed: "Whoever wanted to injure this man
has done him a great service; for the comparison of these admirable
statues demonstrates the immeasurable superiority of his work in
beauty and in art. Benvenuto deserves to be made much of, for his
performances do not merely rival, but surpass the antique." In
reply to this, Madame d'Etampes observed that my Jupiter would
not make anything like so fine a show by daylight; besides, one had
to consider that I had put a veil upon my statue to conceal its faults.
I had indeed flung a gauze veil with elegance and delicacy over a

*Born 1523. Married Emmanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy, in 1559. Died 1574.

326 BENVENUTO CELLINI

portion of my statue, with the view of augmenting its majesty. This,
when she had finished speaking, I hfted from beneath, uncovering
the handsome genital members of the god; then tore the veil to pieces
with vexation. She imagined I had disclosed those parts of the statue
to insult her. The King noticed how angry she was, while I was
trying to force some words out in my fury; so he wisely spoke, in
his own language, precisely as follows: "Benvenuto, I forbid you to
speak; hold your tongue, and you shall have a thousand times more
wealth than you desire." Not being allowed to speak, I writhed my
body in a rage; this made her grumble with redoubled spite; and the
King departed sooner than he would otherwise have done, calling
aloud, however, to encourage me: "I have brought from Italy the
greatest man who ever lived, endowed with all the talents."

XLII

I left the Jupiter there, meaning to depart the next morning. Be-
fore I took horse, one thousand crowns were paid me, partly for
my salary, and partly on account of monies 1 had disbursed. Having
received this sum, I returned with a light heart and satisfied to Paris.
No sooner had I reached home and dined with merry cheer, than
I called for all my wardrobe, which included a great many suits
of silk, choice furs, and also very fine cloth stuffs. From these I
selected presents for my workpeople, giving each something accord-
ing to his own desert, down to the servant-girls and stable-boys, in
order to encourage them to aid me heartily.

Being then refreshed in strength and spirits, I attacked the great
statue of Mars, which I had set up solidly upon a frame of well-
connected woodwork.' Over this there lay a crust of plaster, about
the eighth of a cubit in thickness, carefully modelled for the flesh
of the Colossus. Lastly, I prepared a great number of moulds in
separate pieces to compose the figure, intending to dovetail them
together in accordance with the rules of art; and this task involved
no difficulty.

I will not here omit to relate something which may serve to give a
notion of the size of this great work, and is at the same time highly

' This was what he called the Colossus above, p. 310. He meant it for the fountain
of Fontainebleau. See p. 295.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 327

comic. It must first be mentioned that I had forbidden all the men
who lived at my cost to bring light women into my house or any-
where within the castle precincts. Upon this point o£ discipline I
was extremely strict. Now my lad Ascanio loved a very handsome
girl, who returned his passion. One day she gave her mother the slip,
and came to see Ascanio at night. Finding that she would not take
her leave, and being driven to his wits' ends to conceal her, like a
person o£ resources, he hit at last upon the plan of installing her
inside the statue. There, in the head itself, he made her up a place
to sleep in; this lodging she occupied some time, and he used to
bring her forth at whiles with secrecy at night. I meanwhile having
brought this part of the Colossus almost to completion, left it alone,
and indulged my vanity a bit by exposing it to sight; it could, indeed
be seen by more than half Paris, The neighbours, therefore, took
to climbing their house-roofs, and crowds came on purpose to enjoy
the spectacle. Now there was a legend in the city that my castle had
from olden times been haunted by a spirit, though I never noticed
anything to confirm this belief; and folk in Paris called it popularly
by the name of Lemmonio Boreo.^ The girl, while she sojourned in
the statue's head, could not prevent some of her movements to and
fro from being perceptible through its eye-holes; this made stupid
people say that the ghost had got into the body of the figure, and
was setting its eyes in motion, and its mouth, as though it were about
to talk. Many of them went away in terror; others, more incredu-
lous, came to observe the phenomenon, and when they were unable
to deny the flashing of the statue's eyes, they too declared their
credence in a spirit — not guessing that there was a spirit there, and
sound young flesh to boot.

XLIII

All this while I was engaged in putting my door together, with

its several appurtenances. As it is no part of my purpose to include

in this autobiography such things as annalists record, I have omitted

the coming of the Emperor with his great host, and the King's mus-

^ Properly, Le Maine Bourru, the ghost of a monk dressed in drugget (bure).
Le Petit Nesle had a bad reputation on account of the murders said to have been
committed there in the fourteenth century by Queen Jeanne, wife of Philip V.

328 BENVENUTO CELLINI

tering of his whole army.' At the time when these events took place,
his Majesty sought my advice with regard to the instantaneous forti-
fication of Paris. He came on purpose to my house, and took me all
round the city; and when he found that I was prepared to fortify
the town with expedition on a sound plan, he gave express orders
that all my suggestions should be carried out. His Admiral was
directed to command the citizens to obey me under pain of his dis-
pleasure.

Now the Admiral had been appointed through Madame
d'Etampes' influence rather than from any proof of his ability, for he
was a man of little talent. He bore the name of M. d'Annebault,
which in our tongue is Monsignor d'Aniballe; but the French pro-
nounce it so that they usually made it sound like Monsignore Asino
Bue.^ This animal then referred to Madame d'Etampes for advice
upon the matter, and she ordered him to summon Girolamo Bel-
larmato without loss of time.' He was an engineer from Siena, at
that time in Dieppe, which is rather more than a day's journey dis-
tant from the capital. He came at once, and set the work of fortifica-
tion going on a very tedious method, which made me throw the job
up. If the Emperor had pushed forward at this time, he might
easily have taken Paris. People indeed said that, when a treaty of
peace was afterwards concluded, Madame d'Etampes, who took
more part in it than anybody else, betrayed the King.* I shall pass
this matter over without further words, since it has nothing to do
with the plan of my Memoirs. Meanwhile, I worked diligently at
the door, and finished the vase, together with two others of mid-
dling size, which I made of my own silver. At the end of those
great troubles, the King came to take his ease awhile in Paris.

That accursed woman seemed born to be the ruin of the world.
I ought therefore to think myself of some account, seeing she held
me for her mortal enemy. Happening to speak one day with the

'Toward the end of August 1544, the Imperial army advanced as far as Epernay,
within twenty leagues of Paris.

^ i. e., ass-ox, Ane-et-bo.

' Girolamo Bellarmati, a learned mathematician and military architect, banished
from Siena for political reasons. He designed the harbour of Havre.

* There is indeed good reason to believe that the King's mistress, in her jealousy
of the Dauphin and Diane de Poitiers, played false, and enabled the Imperialists to
advance beyond Epernay.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 329

good King about my matters, she abused me to such an extent that
he swore, in order to appease her, he would take no more heed of
me thenceforward than if he had never set eyes upon my face. These
words were immediately brought me by a page of Cardinal Ferrara,
called II Villa, who said he had heard the King utter them. I was
infuriated to such a pitch that I dashed my tools across the room
and all the things I was at work on, made my arrangements to quit
France, and went upon the spot to find the King. When he had
dined, I was shown into a room where I found his Majesty in the
company of a very few persons. After I had paid him the respects
due to kings, he bowed his head with a gracious smile. This revived
hope in me; so I drew nearer to his Majesty, for they were showing
him some things in my own line of art; and after we had talked
awhile about such matters, he asked if I had anything worth seeing
at my house, and next inquired when I should like him to come. I
replied that I had some pieces ready to show his Majesty, if he
pleased, at once. He told me to go home and he would come
immediately.

XLIV

I went accordingly, and waited for the good King's visit, who, it
seems, had gone meanwhile to take leave of Madame d'Etampes.
She asked whither he was bound, adding that she would accompany
him; but when he informed her, she told him that she would not go,
and begged him as a special favour not to go himself that day. She
had to return to the charge more than twice before she shook the
King's determination; however, he did not come to visit me that
day. Next morning I went to his Majesty at the same hour; and no
sooner had he caught sight of me, than he swore it was his intention
to come to me upon the spot. Going then, according to his wont,
to take leave of his dear Madame d'Etampes, this lady saw that all
her influence had not been able to divert him from his purpose; so
she began with that biting tongue of hers to say the worst of me
that could be insinuated against a deadly enemy of this most worthy
crown of France. The good King appeased her by replying that the
sole object of his visit was to administer such a scolding as should
make me tremble in my shoes. This he swore to do upon his honour.

330 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Then he came to my house, and I conducted him through certain
rooms upon the basement, where I had put the whole of my great
door together. Upon beholding it, the King was struck with stupe-
faction, and quite lost his cue for reprimanding me, as he had prom-
ised Madame d'Etampes. Still he did not choose to go away without
finding some opportunity for scolding; so he began in this wise:
"There is one most important matter, Benvenuto, which men of
your sort, though full of talent, ought always to bear in mind; it is
that you cannot bring your great gifts to light by your own strength
alone; you show your greatness only through the opportunities we
give you. Now you ought to be a little more submissive, not so arro-
gant and headstrong. I remember that I gave you express orders to
make me twelve silver statues; and this was all I wanted. You have
chosen to execute a salt-cellar, and vases and busts and doors, and a
heap of other things, which quite confound me, when I consider how
you have neglected my wishes and worked for the fulfilment of your
own. If you mean to go on in this way, I shall presently let you
understand what is my own method of procedure when I choose to
have things done in my own way. I tell you, therefore, plainly: do
your utmost to obey my commands; for if you stick to your own
fancies, you will run your head against a wall." While he was utter-
ing these words, his lords in waiting hung upon the King's lips, see-
ing him shake his head, frown, and gesticulate, now with one hand
and now with the other. The whole company of attendants, there-
fore, quaked with fear for me; but I stood firm, and let no breath of
fear pass over me.

XLV

When he had wound up this sermon, agreed upon beforehand with
his darling Madame d'Etampes, I bent one leg upon the ground, and
kissed his coat above the knee. Then I began my speech as follows :
"Sacred Majesty, I admit that all that you have said is true. Only,
in reply, I protest that my heart has ever been, by day and night,
with all my vital forces, bent on serving you and executing your
commands. If it appears to your Majesty that my actions contradict
these words, let your Majesty be sure that Benvenuto was not at
fault, but rather possibly my evil fate or adverse fortune, which has

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 33 1

made me unworthy to serve the most admirable prince who ever
blessed this earth. Therefore I crave your pardon. I was under the
impression, however, that your Majesty had given me silver for one
statue only; having no more at my disposal, I could not execute
others; so, with the surplus which remained for use, I made this
vase, to show your Majesty the grand style of the ancients. Perhaps
you never had seen anything of the sort before. As for the salt-cellar,
I thought, if my memory does not betray me, that your Majesty on
one occasion ordered me to make it of your own accord. The con-
versation falling upon something of the kind which had been
brought for your inspection, I showed you a model made by me in
Italy; you, following the impulse of your own mind only, had a thou-
sand golden ducats told out for me to execute the piece withal, thank-
ing me in addition for my hint; and what is more, I seem to remem-
ber that you commended me highly when it was completed. As re-
gards the door, it was my impression that, after we had chanced to
speak about it at some time or other, your Majesty gave orders to
your chief secretary, M. Villerois, from whom the order passed to
M. de Marmagne and M. de la Fa, to this effect, that all these gen-
demen should keep me going at the work, and see that I obtained
the necessary funds. Without such commission I should certainly
not have been able to advance so great an undertaking on my own
resources. As for the bronze heads, the pedestal of Jupiter and other
such-like things, I will begin by saying that I cast those heads upon
my own account, in order to become acquainted with French clays,
of which, as a foreigner, I had no previous knowledge whatsoever.
Unless I had made the experiment, I could not have set about casting
those large works. Now, touching the pedestals, I have to say that I
made them because I judged them necessary to the statues. Conse-
quently, in all that I have done, I meant to act for the best, and at
no point to swerve from your Majesty's expressed wishes. It is indeed
true that I set that huge Colossus up to satisfy my own desire, paying
for it from my own purse, even to the point which it has reached,
because I thought that, you being the great King you are, and I the
trifling artist that I am, it was my duty to erect for your glory and
my own a statue, the like of which the ancients never saw. Now,
at the last, having been taught that God is not inclined to make me

332 BENVENUTO CELLINI

worthy of so glorious a service, I beseech your Majesty, instead of the
noble recompense you had in mind to give me for my labours, be-
stow upon me only one small trifle of your favour, and therewith the
leave to quit your kingdom. At this instant, if you condescend to
my request, I shall return to Italy, always thanking God and your
Majesty for the happy hours which I have passed in serving you."

XLVI

The King stretched forth his own hands and raised me very gra-
ciously. Then he told me that I ought to continue in his service, and
that all that I had done was right and pleasing to him. Turning to
the lords in his company, he spoke these words precisely: "I verily
believe that a finer door could not be made for Paradise itself." When
he had ceased speaking, although his speech had been entirely in
my favour, I again thanked him respectfully, repeating, however,
my request for leave to travel; for the heat of my indignation had
not yet cooled down. His Majesty, feeling that I set too little store
upon his unwonted and extraordinary condescension, commanded
me with a great and terrible voice to hold my tongue, unless I wanted
to incur his wrath; afterwards he added that he would drown me in
gold, and that he gave me the leave I asked; and over and above
the works he had commissioned,' he was very well satisfied with
what I had done on my own account in the interval; I should never
henceforth have any quarrels with him, because he knew my char-
acter; and for my part, I too ought to study the temper of his Maj-
esty, as my duty required. I answered that I thanked God and
his Majesty for everything; then I asked him to come and see how
far I had advanced the Great Colossus. So he came to my house,
and I had the statue uncovered; he admired it extremely, and gave
orders to his secretary to pay me all the money I had spent upon it,
be the sum what it might, provided I wrote the bill out in my own
hand. Then he departed, saying: "Adieu, mon ami," which is a
phrase not often used by kings.

' The MSS. in this phrase vary, and the meaning is not quite clear. According
to one reading, the sense would he: "Though the works he had commissioned were
not yet begun." But this involves an awkward use of the word dipoi.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 333

XL VII

After returning to his palace, he called to mind the words I had
spoken in our previous interview, some o£ which were so excessively
humble, and others so proud and haughty, that they caused him no
small irritation. He repeated a few of them in the presence of
Madame d'Etampes and Monsignor di San Polo, a great baron of
France/ This man had always professed much friendship for me
in the past, and certainly, on that occasion, he showed his good-will,
after the French fashion, with great cleverness. It happened thus:
the King in the course of a long conversation complained that the
Cardinal of Ferrara, to whose care he had entrusted me, never gave
a thought to my affairs; so far as he was concerned, I might have
decamped from the realm; therefore he must certainly arrange for
committing me to some one who would appreciate me better, be-
cause he did not want to run a farther risk of losing me. At these
words Monsieur de Saint Paul expressed his willingness to under-
take the charge, saying that if the King appointed him my guardian,
he would act so that I should never have the chance to leave the
kingdom. The King replied that he was very well satisfied, if only
Saint Paul would explain the way in which he meant to manage me.
Madame sat by with an air of sullen irritation and Saint Paul stood
on his dignity, declining to answer the King's question. When the
King repeated it, he said, to curry favour with Madame d'Etampes:
"I would hang that Benvenuto of yours by the neck, and thus you
would keep him for ever in your kingdom." She broke into a fit
of laughter, protesting that I richly deserved it. The King, to keep
them company, began to laugh, and said he had no objection to Saint
Paul hanging me, if he could first produce my equal in the arts; and
although I had not earned such a fate, he gave him full liberty and
license. In this way that day ended, and I came off safe and sound,
for which may God be praised and thanked.

' Francois de Bourbon, Comte de Saint Paul, one of the chief companions in arms
and captains of Francois I.

334 BENVENUTO CELLINI

XLVIII

The King had now made peace with the Emperor, but not with
the EngHsh, and these devils were keeping us in constant agitation,'
His Majesty had therefore other things than pleasure to attend to.
He ordered Piero Strozzi to go with ships of war into the English
waters; but this was a very difficult undertaking, even for that great
commander, without a paragon in his times in the art of war, and
also without a paragon in his misfortunes. Several months passed
without my receiving money or commissions; accordingly, I dis-
missed my workpeople with the exception of the two Italians, whom
I set to making two big vases out of my own silver; for these men
could not work in bronze. After they had finished these, 1 took them
to a city which belonged to the Queen of Navarre; it is called Ar-
gentana, and is distant several days' journey from Paris.^ On arriving
at this place, I found that the King was indisposed; and the Cardinal
of Ferrara told his Majesty that I was come. He made no answer,
which obliged me to stay several days kicking my heels. Of a truth,
I never was more uncomfortable in my life; but at last I presented
myself one evening and offered the two vases for the King's inspec-
tion. He was excessively delighted, and when I saw him in good
humour, I begged his Majesty to grant me the favour of permitting
me to travel into Italy; I would leave the seven months of my salary
which were due, and his Majesty might condescend to pay me when
I required money for my return journey. I entreated him to grant
this petition, seeing that the times were more for fighting than for
making statues; moreover, his Majesty had allowed a similar license
to Bologna the painter, wherefore I humbly begged him to concede
the same to me. While I was uttering these words the King kept
gazing intently on the vases, and from time to time shot a terrible
glance at me; nevertheless, I went on praying to the best of my
ability that he would favour my petition. All of a sudden he rose
angrily from his seat, and said to me in Italian : "Benvenuto, you are

'The peace of Crepy was concluded September i8, 1544. The English had taken
Boulogne four days earlier. Peace between France and England was not concluded
till June 7, 1546.

^ Argentan, the city of the Duchy of Alenfon. Margaret, it will be remembered, had
been first married to the Due d'Alenfon, and after his death retained his fiefs.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 335

a great fool. Take these vases back to Paris, for I want to have them
gih." Without making any other answer he then departed.

I went up to the Cardinal of Ferrara, who was present, and be-
sought him, since he had already conferred upon me the great ben-
efit of freeing me from prison in Rome, with many others besides,
to do me this one favour more of procuring for me leave to travel
into Italy. He answered that he should be very glad to do his best to
gratify me in this matter; I might leave it without farther thought
to him, and even if I chose, might set off at once, because he would
act for the best in my interest with the King. I told the Cardinal that
since I was aware his Majesty had put me under the protection of
his most reverend lordship, if he gave me leave, I felt ready to depart,
and promised to return upon the smallest hint from his reverence.
The Cardinal then bade me go back to Paris and wait there eight
days, during which time he would procure the King's license for
me; if his Majesty refused to let me go, he would without fail inform
me; but if I received no letters, that would be a sign that I might
set off with an easy mind.

XLIX

I obeyed the Cardinal, and returned to Paris, where I made excel-
lent cases for my three silver vases. After the lapse of twenty days,
I began my preparations, and packed the three vases upon a mule.
This animal had been lent me for the journey to Lyons by the
Bishop of Pavia, who was now once more installed in my castle.

Then I departed in my evil hour, together with Signor Ippolito
Gonzaga, at that time in the pay of the King, and also in the service
of Count Galeotto della Mirandola. Some other gentlemen of the
said count went with us, as well as Lionardo Tedaldi, our fellow-
citizen of Florence.

I made Ascanio and Pagolo guardians of my castle and all my
property, including two little vases which were only just begun;
those I left behind in order that the two young men might not be
idle. I had lived very handsomely in Paris, and therefore there was
a large amount of costly household furniture: the whole value of
these effects exceeded 1500 crowns. I bade Ascanio remember what
great benefits I had bestowed upon him, and that up to the present

336 BENVENUTO CELLINI

he had been a mere thoughtless lad; the time was now come for him
to show the prudence of a man; therefore I thought fit to leave him
in the custody of all my goods, as also of my honour. If he had the
least thing to complain of from those brutes of Frenchmen, he was
to let me hear at once, because I would take post and fly from any
place in which I found myself, not only to discharge the great obli-
gations under which I lay to that good King, but also to defend my
honour. Ascanio replied with the tears of a thief and hypocrite: "I
have never known a father better than you are, and all things which
a good son is bound to perform for a good father will I ever do for
you." So then I took my departure, attended by a servant and a Uttle
French lad.

It was just past noon, when some of the King's treasurers, by no
means friends of mine, made a visit to my castle. The rascally fel-
lows began by saying that I had gone off with the King's silver, and
told Messer Guido and the Bishop of Pavia to send at once off after
his Majesty's vases; if not, they would themselves despatch a mes-
senger to get them back, and do me some great mischief. The Bishop
and Messer Guido were much more frightened than was necessary;
so they sent that traitor Ascanio by the post off on the spot. He made
his appearance before me about midnight. I had not been able to
sleep, and kept revolving sad thoughts to the following effect: "In
whose hands have I left my property, my castle ? Oh, what a fate is
this of mine, which forces me to take this journey! May God grant
only that the Cardinal is not of one mind with Madame d'Etampes,
who has nothing else so much at heart as to make me lose the grace
of that good King."

While I was thus dismally debating with myself, I heard Ascanio
calling me. On the instant I jumped out of bed, and asked if he
brought good or evil tidings. The knave answered : "They are good
news I bring; but you must only send back those three vases, for
the rascally treasurers keep shouting, 'Stop, thief!' So the Bishop
and Messer Guido say that you must absolutely send them back. For
the rest you need have no anxiety, but may pursue your journey
with a light heart." I handed over the vases immediately, two of

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 337

them being my own property, together with the silver and much
else besides.' I had meant to take them to the Cardinal of Ferrara's
abbey at Lyons; for though people accused me of wanting to carry
them into Italy, everybody knows quite well that it is impossible to
export money, gold, or silver from France without special hcense.
Consider, therefore, whether I could have crossed the frontier with
those three great vases, which, together with their cases, were a whole
mule's burden! It is certainly true that, since these articles were of
great value and the highest beauty, I felt imeasiness in case the King
should die, and I had lately left him in a very bad state of health;
therefore I said to myself: "If such an accident should happen, hav-
ing these things in the keeping of the Cardinal, I shall not lose them."

Well, to cut the story short, I sent back the mule with the vases,
and other things of importance; then, upon the following morning,
I travelled forward with the company I have already mentioned, nor
could I, through the whole journey, refrain from sighing and weep-
ing. Sometimes, however, I consoled myself with God by saying:
"Lord God, before whose eyes the truth lies open! Thou knowest
that my object in this journey is only to carry alms to six poor
miserable virgins and their mother, my own sister. They have indeed
their father, but he is very old, and gains nothing by his trade; I
fear, therefore, lest they might too easily take to a bad course of life.
Since, then, I am performing a true act of piety, I look to Thy
Majesty for aid and counsel." This was all the recreation I enjoyed
upon my forward journey.

We were one day distant from Lyons, and it was close upon the
hour of twenty-two, when the heavens began to thunder with sharp
rattling claps, although the sky was quite clear at the time.^ I was
riding a cross-bow shot before my comrades. After the thunder the
heavens made a noise so great and horrible that I thought the last
day had come; so I reined in for a moment, while a shower of hail
began to fall without a drop of water. At first the hail was some-
what larger than pellets from a popgun, and when these struck me,
they hurt considerably. Litde by little it increased in size, until the

' Con I'argento e ogni cosa. These words refer perhaps to the vases: the silver and
everything pertaining to them.

^ E I'aria era bianchissima. Perhaps this ought to be: and the air blazed with light-
nings. Goethe takes it as I do above.

338 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Stones might be compared to balls from a crossbow. My horse
became restive with fright; so I wheeled round, and returned at a
gallop to where I found my comrades taking refuge in a fir-wood.
The hail now grew to the size of big lemons. I began to sing a
Miserere; and while I was devoutly uttering this psalm to God, there
fell a stone so huge that it smashed the thick branches of the pine
under which I had retired for safety. Another of the hailstones hit
my horse upon the head, and almost stunned him; one struck me
also, but not directly, else it would have killed me. In like manner,
poor old Lionardo Tedaldi, who like me was kneeling on the ground,
received so shrewd a blow that he fell grovelling upon all fours.
When I saw that the fir bough offered no protection, and that I
ought to act as well as to intone my Misereres, I began at once to
wrap my mantle round my head. At the same time I cried to
Lionardo, who was shrieking for succour, "Jesus! Jesus!" that Jesus
would help him if he helped himself. I had more trouble in looking
after this man's safety than my own. The storm raged for some
while, but at last it stopped; and we, who were pounded black and
blue, scrambled as well as we could upon our horses. Pursuing the
way to our lodging for the night, we showed our scratches and
bruises to each other; but about a mile farther on we came upon a
scene of devastation which surpassed what we had suffered, and
defies description. All the trees were stripped of their leaves and
shattered; the beasts in the field lay dead; many of the herdsmen
had also been killed; we observed large quantities of hailstones
which could not have been grasped with two hands. Feeling then
that we had come well out of a great peril, we acknowledged that
our prayers to God and Misereres had helped us more than we could
have helped ourselves. Returning thanks to God, therefore, we
entered Lyons in the course of the next day, and tarried there eight
days. At the end of this time, being refreshed in strength and spirits,
we resumed our journey, and passed the mountains without mishap.
On the other side I bought a little pony, because the baggage which
I carried had somewhat overtired my horses.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 339

LI

After we had been one day in Italy, the Count Galeotto della
Mirandola joined us. He was travelling by post; and stopping where
we were, he told me that I had done wrong to leave France; I ought
not to journey forwards, for, if I returned at once, my affairs would
be more prosperous than ever. On the other hand, if I persisted in
my course, I was giving the game up to my enemies, and furnishing
them with opportunities to do me mischief. By returning I might
put a stop to their intrigues; and those in whom I placed the most
confidence were just the men who played most traitorously. He
would not say more than that he knew very well all about it; and,
indeed, the Cardinal of Ferrara had now conspired with the two
rogues I left in charge of all my business. Having repeated over and
over again that I ought absolutely to turn back, he went onward
with the post, while I, being influenced by my companions, could
not make my mind up to return. My heart was sorely torn asunder,
at one moment by the desire to reach Florence as quickly as I could,
and at another by the conviction that I ought to regain France. At
last, in order to end the fever of this irresolution, I determined to
take the post for Florence. I could not make arrangements with
the first postmaster, but persisted in my purpose to press forward and
endure an anxious life at Florence.'

I parted company with Signer Ippolito Gonzaga, who took the
route for Mirandola, while I diverged upon the road to Parma and
Piacenza. In the latter city I met Duke Pier Luigi upon the street,
who stared me in the face, and recognised me.^ Since I knew him to
have been the sole cause of my imprisonment in the castle of St.
Angelo, the sight of him made my blood boil. Yet being unable to
escape from the man, I decided to pay him my respects, and arrived

^ The text here is obscure. The words venire a tribulare might mean "to get, by
any means, however inconvenient, to Florence." I have chosen another interpretation
in the text, as more consonant with the Italian idiom. For Cellini's use of tribulare or
iribolare, see lib. i. 112, andando a tribolare la vita tua.

^Pier Luigi Farnese was not formally invested with the Duchy of Parma and
Piacenza until September 1545. Cellini, therefore, gives him this title as Duke of
Castro. He was assassinated on September jo, 1547. The Landi, among other noble-
men of the duchy, took part in a conspiracy which had its ground in Pier Luigi's
political errors no less than in his intolerable misgovernment and infamous private
life.

340 BENVENUTO CELLINI

just after he had risen from table in tKe company of the Landi, who
afterwards murdered him. On my appearance he received me with
unbounded marks of esteem and affection, among which he took
occasion to remark to the gentlemen present that I was the first
artist of the world in my own line, and that I had been for a long
while in prison at Rome. Then he turned to me and said: "My
Benvenuto, I was deeply grieved for your misfortune, and knew well
that you were innocent, but could not do anything to help you. In
short, it was my father, who chose to gratify some enemies of yours,
from whom, moreover, he heard that you had spoken ill of him.
I am convinced this was not true, and indeed I was heartily sorry
for your troubles." These words he kept piling up and repeating
until he seemed to be begging my pardon. Afterwards he inquired
about the work I had been doing for his Most Christian Majesty;
and on my furnishing him with details, he listened as attentively
and graciously as possible. Then he asked if I had a mind to serve
him. To this I replied that my honour would not allow me to do so;
but that if I had completed those extensive works begun for the
King, I should be disposed to quit any great prince merely to enter
his Excellency's service.

Hereby it may be seen how the power and goodness of God never
leave unpunished any sort or quality of men who act unjustly toward
the innocent. This man did what was equivalent to begging my
pardon in the presence of those very persons who subsequently took
revenge on him for me and many others whom he had massacred.
Let then no prince, however great he be, laugh at God's justice, in
the way that many whom I know are doing, and who have cruelly
maltreated me, as I shall relate at the proper time. I do not write
these things in any worldly spirit of boasting, but only to return
thanks to God, my deliverer in so many trials. In those too which
daily assail me, I always carry my complaint to Him, and call on
Him to be my defender. On all occasions, after I have done my
best to aid myself, if I lose courage and my feeble forces fail, then is
the great might of God manifested, which descends unexpectedly
on those who wrongfully injure their neighbours, or neglect the
grave and honourable charge they have received from Him.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 34 1

Lll

When I returned to my inn, I found that the Duke had sent me
abundance to eat and drink of very excellent quality. I made a
hearty meal, then mounted and rode toward Florence. There I
found my sister with six daughters, the eldest of whom was
marriageable and the youngest still at nurse. Her husband, by
reason of divers circumstances in the city, had lost employment from
his trade. I had sent gems and French jewellery, more than a year
earlier, to the amount of about two thousand ducats, and now
brought with me the same wares to the value of about one thousand
crowns. I discovered that, whereas I made them an allowance of
four golden crowns a month, they always drew considerable sums
from the current sale of these articles. My brother-in-law was such
an honest fellow, that, fearing to give me cause for anger, he had
pawned nearly everything he possessed, and was devoured by
interest, in his anxiety to leave my monies untouched. It seems
that my allowance, made by way of charity, did not suffice for the
needs of the family. When then I found him so honest in his
dealings, I felt inclined to raise his pension; and it was my intention,
before leaving Florence, to make some arrangement for all of his
daughters.'

LIII

The Duke of Florence at this time, which was the month of
August 1545, had retired to Poggio a Cajano, ten miles distant from
Florence. Thither then I went to pay him my respects, with the
sole object of acting as duty required, first because I was a Florentine,
and next because my forefathers had always been adherents of the
Medicean party, and I yielded to none of them in affection for this
Duke Cosimo. As I have said, then, I rode to Poggio with the sole
object of paying my respects, and with no intention of accepting
service under him, as God, who does all things well, did then appoint
for me.
When I was introduced, the Duke received me very kindly; then
' Though this paragraph is confused, the meaning seems to be that Cellini's brother-
in-law did not use the money which accrued from the sale of jewellery, and got into
debt, because his allowance was inadequate, and he was out of work.

342 BENVENUTO CELLINI

he and the Duchess put questions concerning the works which I had
executed for the King.' I answered wiUingly and in detail. After
Hstening to my story, he answered that he had heard as much, and
that I spoke the truth. Then he assumed a tone of sympathy, and
added: "How small a recompense for such great and noble master-
pieces! Friend Benvenuto, if you feel inclined to execute something
for me too, I am ready to pay you far better than that King of yours
has done, for whom your excellent nature prompts you to speak so
gratefully." When I understood his drift, I described the deep obli-
gations under which I lay to his Majesty, who first obtained my
liberation from that iniquitous prison, and afterwards supplied me
with the means of carrying out more admirable works than any
artist of my quality had ever had the chance to do. While I was
thus speaking, my lord the Duke writhed on his chair, and seemed
as though he could not bear to hear me to the end. Then, when I
had concluded, he rejoined: "If you are disposed to work for me,
I will treat you in a way that will astonish you, provided the fruits
of your labours give me satisfaction, of which I have no doubt."
I, poor unhappy mortal, burning with desire to show the noble
school^ of Florence that, after leaving her in youth, I had practised
other branches of the art than she imagined, gave answer to the
Duke that I would willingly erect for him in marble or in bronze a
mighty statue on his fine piazza. He replied that, for a first essay,
he should like me to produce a Perseus; he had long set his heart on
having such a monument, and he begged me to begin a model for
the same.' I very gladly set myself to the task, and in a few weeks
I finished my model, which was about a cubit high, in yellow wax
and very delicately finished in all its details. I had made it with the
most thorough study and art.^

' This Duchess was Eleonora di Toledo, well known to us through Bronzino's
portrait.

^ This school was the CoUegio dei Maestri di Belle Arti in Florence, who had
hitherto known of Cellini mainly as a goldsmith.

' Cosimo chose the subject of Perseus because it symbolised his own victory over
the Gorgon of tyrannicide and Republican partisanship. Donatello's Judith, symbol-
ising justifiable regicide, and Michel Angelo's David, symbolising the might of innocent
right against an overbearing usurper, already decorated the Florentine piazza. Until
lately, both of these masterpieces stood together there with the Perseus of Cellini.

*This is probably the precious model now existing in the Bargello Palace at
Florence, in many points more interesting than the completed bronze statue under
the Loggia de' Lanzi.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 343

The Duke returned to Florence, but several days passed before
I had an opportunity of showing my model. It seemed indeed as
though he had never set eyes on me or spoken with me, and this
caused me to augur ill of my future dealings with his Excellency.
Later on, however, one day after dinner, I took it to his wardrobe,
where he came to inspect it with the Duchess and a few gentlemen
of the court. No sooner had he seen it than he expressed much
pleasure, and extolled it to the skies; wherefrom I gathered some
hope that he might really be a connoisseur of art. After having well
considered it for some time, always with greater satisfaction, he
began as follows: "If you could only execute this little model, Ben-
venuto, with the same perfection on a large scale, it would be the
finest piece in the piazza." I replied: "Most excellent my lord, upon
the piazza are now standing works by the great Donatello and the
incomparable Michel Angelo, the two greatest men who have ever
lived since the days of the ancients.'' But since your Excellence
encourages my model with such praise, I feel the heart to execute it
at least thrice as well in bronze." * No slight dispute arose upon this
declaration; the Duke protesting that he understood these matters
perfectly, and was quite aware what could be done. I rejoined that
my achievements would resolve his dubitations and debates; I was
absolutely sure of being able to perform far more than I had prom-
ised for his Excellency, but that he must give me means for carry-
ing my work out, else I could not fulfil my undertaking. In return
for this his Excellency bade me formulate my demands in a peti-
tion, detailing all my requirements; he would see them liberally
attended to.

It is certain that if I had been cunning enough to secure by con-
tract all I wanted for my work, I should not have incurred the great
troubles which came upon me through my own fault. But he showed
the strongest desire to have the work done, and the most perfect
willingness to arrange preliminaries. I therefore, not discerning that
he was more a merchant than a duke, dealt very frankly with his
Excellency, just as if I had to do with a prince, and not with a com-
mercial man. I sent in my petition, to which he replied in large

'Donatello's Judith and Holofernes; Michel Angelo's David.
' It is difficult to give the exact sense of pertanto and perchi in the text, but I
think the drift of the sentence is rendered above.

344 BENVENUTO CELLINI

and ample terms. The memorandum ran as follows: "Most rare
and excellent my patron, petitions of any validity and compacts
between us of any value do not rest upon words or writings; the
whole point is that I should succeed in my work according to my
promise; and if I so succeed, I feel convinced that your most illus-
trious Excellency will very well remember what you have engaged
to do for me." This language so charmed the Duke both with my
ways of acting and of speaking that he and the Duchess began to
treat me with extraordinary marks of favour.

LIV

Being now inflamed with a great desire to begin working, I told
his Excellency that I had need of a house where I could install myself
and erect furnaces, in order to commence operations in clay and
bronze, and also, according to their separate requirements, in gold
and silver. I knew that he was well aware how thoroughly I could
serve him in those several branches, and I required some dwelling
fitted for my business. In order that his Excellency might perceive
how earnestly I wished to work for him, I had already chosen a con-
venient house, in a quarter much to my liking.' As I did not want
to trench upon his Excellency for money or anything of that sort,
I had brought with me from France two jewels, with which I
begged him to purchase me the house, and to keep them until I
earned it with my labour. These jewels were excellendy executed by
my workmen, after my own designs. When he had inspected them
with minute attention, he uttered these spirited words, which clothed
my soul with a false hope: "Take back your jewels, Benvenuto! I
want you, and not them; you shall have your house free of charges."
After this, he signed a rescript underneath the petition I had drawn
up, and which I have always preserved among my papers. The
rescript ran as follows: "Let the house be seen to, and who is the
vendor, and at what price; for we wish to comply with Benvenuto's
request." ^ I naturally thought that this would secure me in posses-
sion of the house; being over and above convinced that my per-
formances must far exceed what I promised.

' This house is in the Via del Rosaio, entered from Via della Pergola, No. 6527.
^The petition and the rescript are in existence, and confirm Cellini's veracity in
this transaction. See Bianchi, p. 587.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 345

His Excellency committed the execution of these orders to his
majordomo, who was named Ser Pier Francesco Riccio.' The man
came from Prato, and had been the Duke's pedagogue. I talked,
then, to this donkey, and described my requirements, for there was
a garden adjoining the house, on which I wanted to erect a work-
shop. He handed the matter over to a paymaster, dry and meagre,
who bore the name of Lattanzio Gorini. This flimsy litde fellow,
with his dny spider's hands and small gnat's voice, moved about the
business at a snail's pace; yet in an evil hour he sent me stones, sand,
and lime enough to build perhaps a pigeon-house with careful
management. When I saw how coldly things were going forward,
I began to feel dismayed; however, I said to myself: "Little begin-
nings sometimes have great endings;" and I fostered hope in my
heart by noticing how many thousand ducats had recendy been
squandered upon ugly pieces of bad sculpture turned out by that
beast of a Buaccio Bandinelli.'' So I rallied my spirits and kept
prodding at Lattanzio Gorini, to make him go a litde faster. It was
like shouting to a pack of lame donkeys with a blind dwarf for
their driver. Under these difficulties, and by the use of my own
money, I had soon marked out the foundations of the workshop and
cleared the ground of trees and vines, labouring on, according to my
wont, with lire, and perhaps a trifle of impatience.

On the other side, I was in the hands of Tasso the carpenter, a great
friend of mine, who had received my instructions for making a
wooden framework to set up the Perseus. This Tasso was a most
excellent craftsman, the best, I believe, who ever lived in his own
branch of art.' Personally, he was gay and merry by temperament;
and whenever I went to see him, he met me laughing, with some
little song in falsetto on his lips. Half in despair as I then was, news
coming that my affairs in France were going wrong, and these in
Florence promising but ill through the luke-warmness of my patron,
I could never stop listening till half the song was finished; and so in
the end I used to cheer up a little with my friend, and drove away,

' Varchi, St. Fior., lib. xv. 44, gives to this man the character of a presumptuous
conceited simpleton.

* Cellini calls this man, his bitter foe and rival, Buaccio or the great ox, block.head,
instead of Baccio, which is shortened for Bartolommeo.

^ See p. 25. Vasari introduced him, together with Cosimo's other favoured artists,
in a fresco of the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence. See Plon, p. 124.

346 BENVENUTO CELLINI

as well as I was able, some few of the gloomy thoughts which
weighed upon me.

LV

I had got all the above-mentioned things in order, and was making
vigorous preparations for my great undertaking — indeed a portion
of the lime had been already used — when I received sudden notice to
appear before the majordomo. I found him, after his Excellency's
dinner, in the hall of the clock.' On entering, I paid him marked
respect, and he received me with the greatest stiffness. Then he
asked who had installed me in the house, and by whose authority
I had begun to build there, saying he marvelled much that I had
been so headstrong and foolhardy. I answered that I had been
installed in the house by his Excellency, and that his lordship him-
self, in the name of his Excellency, had given the orders to Lattanzio
Gorini. "Lattanzio brought stone, sand, and lime, and provided
what I wanted, saying he did so at your lordship's orders." When I
had thus spoken, the brute turned upon me with still greater tart-
ness, vowing that neither I nor any of those whom I had mentioned
spoke the truth. This stung me to the quick, and I exclaimed: "O
majordomo, so long as your lordship^ chooses to use language
befitting the high office which you hold, I shall revere you, and
speak to you as respectfully as I do to the Duke; if you take another
Hne with me, I shall address you as but one Ser Pier Francesco
Riccio." He flew into such a rage that I thought he meant to go
mad upon the spot, anticipating the time ordained by Heaven for
him to do so.' Pouring forth a torrent of abuse, he roared out that
he was surprised at himself for having let me speak at all to a man
of his quality. Thereupon my blood was up, and I cried: "Mark
my words, then, Ser Pier Francesco Riccio! I will tell you what
sort of men are my equals, and who are yours — mere teachers of the

' One of the rooms in the Palazzo Vecchio, so called because the famous cosmo-
graphical timepiece, made about 1484 for Lorenzo de' Medici by Lorenzo della
Volpaia, stood there.

^It was the custom at that epoch to address princes by the title of Signore or
Vostra Signoria; gendemen (armigeri) had the title of Messer; simple Ser was given
to plebeians with some civil or ecclesiastical dignity.

' Vasari, in his Lije of Montorsoli, says in effect that this Riccio died about I559i
after having been insane several years.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 347

alphabet to children!" His face contracted with a spasm, while he
raised his voice and repeated the same words in a still more insulting
tone. I, too, assumed an air of menace, and matching his own
arrogance with something of the same sort, told him plainly that
men of my kind were worthy to converse with popes and emperors,
and great kings, and that perhaps there were not two such men alive
upon this earth, while ten of his sort might be met at every doorway.
On hearing these words he jumped upon a window-seat in the hall
there, and defied me to repeat what I had said. I did so with still
greater heat and spirit, adding I had no farther mind to serve the
Duke, and that I should return to France, where I was always
welcome. The brute remained there stupefied and pale as clay; I
went off furious, resolved on leaving Florence; and would to God
that I had done so!

The Duke cannot, I think, have been informed at once of this
diabolical scene, for I waited several days without hearing from him.
Giving up all thoughts of Florence, except what concerned the
settlement of my sister's and nieces' affairs, I made preparations to
provide for them as well as I could with the small amount of money
I had brought, and then to return to France and never set my foot
in Italy again. This being my firm purpose, I had no intention to
ask leave of the Duke or anybody, but to decamp as quickly as I
could; when one morning the majordomo, of his own accord, sent
very humbly to entreat my presence, and opened a long pedantic
oration, in which I could discover neither method, nor elegance, nor
meaning, nor head, nor tail. I only gathered from it that he pro-
fessed himself a good Christian, wished to bear no man malice, and
asked me in the Duke's name what salary I should be willing to
accept. Hearing this, I stood a while on guard, and made no answer,
being firmly resolved not to engage myself. When he saw that I
refused to reply, he had at least the cleverness to put in: "Benvenuto,
dukes expect to be answered; and what I am saying to you, I am
saying from his Excellency's lips." Then I rejoined that if the
message came from his Excellency, I would gladly reply, and told
him to report to the Duke that I could not accept a position inferior
to that of any one employed by him as artist. The majordomo
answered: "Bandinello receives two hundred crowns a year; if then

348 BENVENUTO CELLINI

you are contented with that, your salary is settled." I agreed upon
these terms, adding that what I might earn in addition by the merit
of my performances, could be given after they were seen; that point
I left entirely to the good judgment of his Excellency. Thus, then,
against my will, I pieced the broken thread again, and set to work;
the Duke continually treating me with the highest imaginable
marks of favour.

LVI

I received frequent letters from France, written by my most faith-
ful friend Messer Guido Guidi. As yet they told nothing but good
news; and Ascanio also bade me enjoy myself without uneasiness,
since, if anything happened, he would let me know at once.

Now the King was informed that I had commenced working for
the Duke of Florence, and being the best man in the world, he
often asked: "Why does not Benvenuto come back to us?" He put
searching questions on the subject to my two workmen, both of
whom replied that I kept writing I was well off where I was, adding
they thought I did not want to re-enter the service of his Majesty.
Incensed by these presumptuous words, which were none of my
saying, the King exclaimed: "Since he left us without any cause, I
shall not recall him; let him e'en stay where he is." Thus the thievish
brigands brought matters exactly to the pass they desired; for if I
had returned to France, they would have become mere workmen
under me once more, whereas, while I remained away, they were
their own masters and in my place; consequently, they did every-
thing in their power to prevent my coming back.

LVII

While the workshop for executing my Perseus was in building, I
used to work in a ground-floor room. Here I modelled the statue in
plaster, giving it the same dimensions as the bronze was meant to
have, and intending to cast it from this mould. But finding that it
would take rather long to carry it out in this way, I resolved upon
another expedient, especially as now a wretched little studio had been
erected, brick on brick, so miserably built that the mere recollection
of it gives me pain. So then I began the figure of Medusa, and con-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 349

structed the skeleton in iron. Afterwards I put on the clay, and
when that was modelled, baked it.

I had no assistants except some little shopboys, among whom was
one of great beauty; he was the son of a prostitute called La Gam-
betta. I made use of the lad as a model, for the only books which
teach this art are the natural human body. Meanwhile, as I could
not do everything alone, I looked about for workmen in order to
put the business quickly through; but I was unable to find any.
There were indeed some in Florence who would willingly have
come, but Bandinello prevented them, and after keeping me in want
of aid awhile, told the Duke that I was trying to entice his work-
people because I was quite incapable of setting up so great a statue
by myself. I complained to the Duke of the annoyance which the
brute gave me, and begged him to allow me some of the labourers
from the Opera.' My request inclined him to lend ear to Bandi-
nello's calumnies; and when I noticed that, I set about to do my
utmost by myself alone. The labour was enormous: I had to strain
every muscle night and day; and just then the husband of my sister
sickened, and died after a few days' illness. He left my sister, still
young, with six girls of all ages, on my hands. This was the first
great trial I endured in Florence, to be made the father and guardian
of such a distressed family.

LVIII

In my anxiety that nothing should go wrong, I sent for two hand-
labourers to clear my garden of rubbish. They came from Ponte
Vecchio, the one an old man of sixty years, the other a young fellow
of eighteen. After employing them about three days, the lad told
me that the old man would not work, and that I had better send
him away, since, beside being idle, he prevented his comrade from
working. The little I had to do there could be done by himself,
without throwing money away on other people. The youth was
called Bernardino Mannellini, of Mugello. When I saw that he was
so inclined to labour, I asked whether he would enter my service,
and we agreed upon the spot. He groomed my horse, gardened, and

' That is, the Opera del Duomo, or permanent establishment for attending to the
fabric of the Florentine Cathedral.

350 BENVENUTO CELLINI

soon essayed to help me in the workshop, with such success that by
degrees he learned the art quite nicely. I never had a better assistant
than he proved. Having made up my mind to accomplish the whole
ajffair with this man's aid, I now let the Duke know that Bandinello
was lying, and that I could get on famously without his workpeople.
Just at this time I suffered slightly in the loins, and being unable
to work hard, I was glad to pass my time in the Duke's wardrobe
with a couple of young goldsmiths called Gianpagolo and Domenico
Poggini,* who made a little golden cup under my direction. It was
chased in bas-relief with figures and other pretty ornaments, and his
Excellency meant it for the Duchess to drink water out of. He
furthermore commissioned me to execute a golden belt, which I
enriched with gems and delicate masks and other fancies. The Duke
came frequently into the wardrobe, and took great pleasure in
watching me at work and talking to me. When my health improved,
I had clay brought, and took a portrait of hij Excellency, considerably
larger than hfe-size, which I modelled while he stayed with me for
pastime. He was highly delighted with this piece, and conceived
such a liking for me that he earnestly begged me to take up my
working quarters in the palace, selecting rooms large enough for
my purpose, and fitting them up with furnaces and all I wanted, for
he greatly enjoyed watching the processes of art. I replied that this
was impossible; I should not have finished my undertakings in a
hundred years.

LIX

The Duchess also treated me with extraordinary graciousness, and
would have been pleased if I had worked for her alone, forgetting
Perseus and everything besides. I for my part, while these vain
favours were being showered upon me knew only too well that my
perverse and biting fortune could not long delay to send me some
fresh calamity, because I kept ever before my eyes the great mistake
I had committed while seeking to do a good action. I refer to my
affairs in France. The King could not swallow the displeasure he
felt at my departure; and yet he wanted me to return, if only this

' These two brothers were specially eminent as die-casters. Gianpagolo went to
Spain, and served Philip II.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 35 1

could be brought about without concessions on his part. I thought
that I was entirely in the right, and would not bend submissively,
because I judged that if I wrote in humble terms, those enemies of
mine would say in their French fashion that I had confessed myself
to blame, and that certain misdoings with which they wrongfully
taxed me were proved true. Therefore I stood upon my honour, and
wrote in terms of haughty coldness, which was precisely what those
two traitors, my apprentices, most heartily desired. In my letters to
them I boasted of the distinguished kindness shown me in my own
birthplace by a prince and princess the absolute masters of Florence,
Whenever they received one of these despatches, they went to the
King, and besieged his Majesty with entreaties for the castle upon
the same terms as he had granted it to me. The King, who was a
man of great goodness and perspicacity, would never consent to the
presumptuous demands of those scoundrels, since he scented the
malignity of their aims. Yet, wishing to keep them in expectation,
and to give me the opportunity of coming back, he caused an angry
letter to be written to me by his treasurer, Messer Giuliano Buonac-
corsi, a burgher of Florence. The substance was as follows: If I
wanted to preserve the reputation for honesty which I had hitherto
enjoyed, it was my plain duty, after leaving France with no cause
whatsoever, to render an account of all that I had done and dealt
with for his Majesty.

The receipt of this letter gave me such pleasure that, if I had con-
sulted my own palate, I could not have wished for either more or
less. I sat down to write an answer, and filled nine pages of ordinary
paper. In this document I described in detail all the works which I
had executed, and all the adventures I had gone through while per-
forming them, and all the sums which had been spent upon them.
The payments had always been made through two notaries and one
of his Majesty's treasurers; and I could show receipts from all the
men into whose hands they passed, whether for goods supplied or
labour rendered. I had not pocketed one penny of the money, nor
had I received any reward for my completed works. I brought back
with me into Italy nothing but some marks of favour and most royal
promises, truly worthy of his Majesty. "Now, though I cannot vaunt
myself of any recompense beyond the salaries appointed for my

352 BENVENUTO CELLINI

maintenance in France, seven hundred golden crowns o£ which are
still due, inasmuch as I abstained from drawing them until I could
employ them on my return-journey; yet knowing that malicious foes
out of their envious hearts have played some knavish trick against
me, I feel confident that truth will prevail. I take pride in his Most
Christian Majesty and am not moved by avarice. I am indeed aware
of having performed for him far more than I undertook; and albeit
the promised reward has not been given me, my one anxiety is to
remain in his Majesty's opinion that man of probity and honour
which I have always been. If your Majesty entertains the least doubt
upon this point, I will fly to render an account of my conduct, at the
risk even of my life. But noticing in what slight esteem I am held
I have had no mind to come back and make an offer of myself,
knowing that I shall never lack for bread whithersoever I may go.
If, however, I am called for, I will always answer." The letter con-
tained many further particulars worthy of the King's attention, and
proper to the preservation of my honour. Before despatching it, I
took it to the Duke, who read it with interest; then I sent it into
France, addressed to the Cardinal of Ferrara.

LX

About this time Bernardone Baldini,' broker in jewels to the Duke,
brought a big diamond from Venice, which weighed more than
thirty-five carats. Antonio, son of Vittorio Landi, was also interested
in getting the Duke to purchase it.^ The stone had been cut with a
point; but since it did not yield the purity of lustre which one expects
in such a diamond, its owners had cropped the point, and, in truth,
it was not exactly fit for either point or table cutting.' Our Duke,
who greatly delighted in gems, though he was not a sound judge of
them, held out good hopes to the rogue Bernardaccio that he would
buy this stone; and the fellow, wanting to secure for himself alone
the honour of palming it off upon the Duke of Florence, abstained
from taking his partner Antonio Landi into the secret. Now Landi

' Varchi and Ammirato both mention him as an excellent jeweller.

^ Antonio Landi was a Florentine gentleman, merchant, and author. A comedy of
his called Commotio is extant.

^Italians distinguished cut diamonds of three sorts: in tavola, a faccctte, and in
punta. The word I have translated cropped is ischericato, which was properly applied
to an unfrocked or degraded ecclesiastic.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 353

had been my intimate friend from childhood, and when he saw that
I enjoyed the Duke's confidence, he called "me aside (it was just
before noon at a corner of the Mercato Nuovo), and spoke as follows:
"Benvenuto, I am convinced that the Duke will show you a diamond,
which he seems disposed to buy; you will find it a big stone. Pray
assist the purchase; I can give it for seventeen thousand crowns, I
feel sure he will ask your advice; and if you see that he has a mind
for it, we will contrive that he secures it." Antonio professed great
confidence in being able to complete the bargain for the jewel at
that price. In reply, I told him that if my advice was taken, I would
speak according to my judgment, without prejudice to the diamond.
As I have above related, the Duke came daily into our goldsmith's
workshop for several hours; and about a week after this conversation
with Antonio Landi he showed me one day after dinner the diamond
in question, which I immediately recognised by its description, both
'as to form and weight. I have already said that its water was not
quite transparent, for which reason it had been cropped; so, when
I found it of that kind and quality, I felt certainly disinclined to
recommend its acquisition. However, I asked his Excellency what
he wanted me to say; because it was one thing for jewellers to value
a stone after a prince had bought it, and another thing to estimate it
with a view to purchase. He replied that he had bought it, and that
he only wanted my opinion. I did not choose to abstain from hinting
what I really thought about the stone. Then he told me to observe
the beauty of its great facets.* I answered that this feature of the
diamond was not so great a beauty as his Excellency supposed, but
came from the point having been cropped. At these words my
prince, who perceived that I was speaking the truth, made a wry
face, and bade me give good heed to valuing the stone, and saying
what I thought it worth. I reckoned that, since Landi had offered
it to me for 17,000 crowns, the Duke might have got it for 15,000
at the highest; so, noticing that he would take it ill if I spoke the
truth, I made my mind up to uphold him in his false opinion, and
handing back the diamond, said: "You will probably have paid
18,000 crowns." On hearing this the Duke uttered a loud "Oh!"
opening his mouth as wide as a well, and cried out : "Now am I con-

* Filetti, the sharp lines which divide one facet from another.

354 BENVENUTO CELLINI

vinced that you understand nothing about the matter." I retorted:
"You are certainly in the wrong there, my lord. Do you attend to
maintaining the credit of your diamond, while I attend to under-
standing my trade. But pray tell me at least how much you paid,
in order that I may learn to understand it according to the way of
your Excellency." The Duke rose, and, with a little sort of angry
grin, replied: "Twenty-five thousand crowns and more, Benvenuto,
did that stone cost me!"

Having thus spoken he departed. Giovanpagolo and Domenico
Poggini, the goldsmiths, were present; and Bachiacca, the embroid-
erer, who was working in an adjacent room, ran up at the noise."
I told them that I should never have advised the Duke to purchase
it; but if his heart was set on having it, Antonio Landi had offered
me the stone eight days ago for 17,000 crowns. I think I could have
got it for 15,000 or less. But the Duke apparently wishes to maintain
his gem in credit; for when Antonio Landi was willing to let it go
at that price, how the devil can Bernardone have played off such a
shameful trick upon his Excellency.'' Never imagining that the
matter stood precisely as the Duke averred, we laughingly made
light of his supposed credulity.

LXI

Meanwhile I was advancing with my great statue of Medusa. I
had covered the iron skeleton with clay, which I modelled like an
anatomical subject, and about half an inch thinner than the bronze
would be. This I baked well, and then began to spread on the wax
surface, in order to complete the figure to my liking.' The Duke,
who often came to inspect it, was so anxious lest I should not succeed
with the bronze, that he wanted me to call in some master to case
it for me.

' Antonio Ubertini, called II Bachiacca, a brother of Cellini's friend in Rome. See
p. 56. He enjoyed a great reputation, and was praised by Varchi in a sonnet for his
mastery of embroidery.

' This is an important passage, which has not, I think, been properly understood
by Cellini's translators. It describes the process he now employed in preparing a mould
for bronze-casting. First, it seems, he made a solid clay model, somewhat smaller than
the bronze was meant to be. This he overlaid with wax, and then took a hollow
mould of the figure thus formed. Farther on we shall see how he withdrew the wax
from the hollow mould, leaving the solid model inside, with space enough between
them for the metal to flow in.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 355

He was continually talking in the highest terms of my acquire-
ments and accomplishments. This made his majordomo no less con-
tinually eager to devise some trap for making me break my neck.
Now his post at court gave him authority with the chief-constables
and all the officers in the poor unhappy town of Florence. Only to
think that a fellow from Prato, our hereditary foeman, the son of a
cooper, and the most ignorant creature in existence, should have
risen to such a station of influence, merely because he had been the
rotten tutor of Cosimo de' Medici before he became Duke! Well, as
I have said, he kept ever on the watch to serve me some ill turn; and
finding that he could not catch me out on any side, he fell at last
upon this plan, which meant mischief. He betook himself to Gam-
betta, the mother of my apprentice Cencio; and this precious pair
together — that knave of a pedant and that rogue of a strumpet — in-
vented a scheme for giving me such a fright as would make me leave
Florence in hot haste. Gambetta, yielding to the instinct of her trade,
went out, acting under the orders of that mad, knavish pedant, the
majordomo — I must add that they had also gained over the Bargello,
a Bolognese, whom the Duke afterwards dismissed for similar con-
spiracies. Well, one Saturday evening, after sunset, Gambetta came
to my house with her son, and told me she had kept him several
days indoors for my welfare. I answered that there was no reason to
keep him shut up on my account; and laughing her whorish arts
to scorn, I turned to the boy in her presence, and said these words:
"You know, Cencio, whether I have sinned with you!" He began to
shed tears, and answered, "No!" Upon this the mother, shaking her
head, cried out at him: "Ah! you little scoundrel! Do you think I
do not know how these things happen?" Then she turned to me,
and begged me to keep the lad hidden in my house, because the
Bargello was after him, and would seize him anywhere outside my
house, but there they would not dare to touch him. I made answer
that in my house lived my widowed sister and six girls of holy life,
and that I wanted nobody else there. Upon that she related that the
majordomo had given orders to the Bargello, and that I should cer-
tainly be taken up: only, if I would not harbour her son, I might
square accounts by paying her a hundred crowns; the majordomo
was her crony, and I might rest assured that she could work him to

356 BENVENUTO CELLINI

her liking, provided I paid down the hundred crowns. This cozen-
age goaded me into such a fury that I cried: "Out with you, shame-
ful strumpet! Were it not for my good reputation, and for the
innocence of this uphappy boy of yours here, I should long ago have
cut your throat with the dagger at my side; and twice or thrice I
have already clasped my fingers on the handle." With words to this
effect, and many ugly blows to boot, I drove the woman and her
son into the street.

Lxn

When I reflected on the roguery and power of that evil-minded
pedant, I judged it best to give a wide berth to his infernal machi-
nations; so early next morning I mounted my horse and took the
road for Venice, leaving in my sister's hands jewels and articles to
the value of nearly two thousand crowns. I took with me my servant
Bernardino of Mugello; and when I reached Ferrara, I wrote word
to his Excellency the Duke, that though I had gone off without
being sent, I should come back again without being called for.

On arriving at Venice, and pondering upon the divers ways my
cruel fortune took to torment me, yet at the same time feeling myself
none the less sound in health and hearty, I made up my mind to
fence with her according to my wont. While thus engrossed in
thoughts about my own affairs, I went abroad for pastime through
that beautiful and sumptuous city, and paid visits to the admirable
painter Titian, and to Jacopo del Sansovino, our able sculptor and
architect from Florence. The latter enjoyed an excellent appoint-
ment under the Signoria of Venice; and we had been acquainted
during our youth in Rome and Florence. These two men of genius
received me with marked kindness. The day afterwards I met
Messer Lorenzo de' Medici,* who took me by the hand at once,
giving me the warmest welcome which could be imagined, because
we had known each other in Florence when I was coining for Duke
Alessandro, and afterwards in Paris while I was in the King's
service. At that time he sojourned in the house of Messer Giuliano
Buonaccorsi, and having nowhere else to go for pastime without the

' This is Lorenzino de' Medici, the murderer of Alessandro, who was himself assas-
sinated by two Tuscan bravi in 1548. See Renaissance in Italy, vol. vi. chap. 6.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 357

greatest peril of his life, he used to spend a large part of the day in
my house, watching me working at the great pieces I produced there.
As I was saying, our former acquaintance led him to take me by the
hand and bring me to his dwelling, where I found the Prior degli
Strozzi, brother of my lord Piero. While making good cheer
together, they asked me how long I intended to remain in Venice,
thinking that I was on my return journey into France. To these
gentlemen I replied that I had left Florence on account of the events
I have described above, and that I meant to go back after two or
three days, in order to resume my service with the Duke. On hear-
ing this, the Prior and Messer Lorenzo turned round on me with
such sternness that I felt extremely uneasy; then they said to me:
"You would do far better to return to France, where you are rich and
well known; for if you go back to Florence, you will lose all that
you have gained in France, and will earn nothing there but annoy-
ances."

I made no answer to these words, and departed the next day as
secretly as I was able, turning my face again towards Florence. In
the meanwhile that infernal plot had come to a head and broken,
for I had written to my great master, the Duke, giving him a full
account of the causes of my escapade to Venice. I went to visit him
without any ceremony, and was received with his usual reserve and
austerity. Having maintained this attitude awhile, he turned toward
me pleasantly, and asked where I had been. I answered that my
heart had never moved one inch from his most illustrious Excellency,
although some weighty reasons had forced me to go a roaming for a
little while. Then softening still more in manner, he began to ques-
tion me concerning Venice, and after this wise we conversed some
space of time. At last he bade me apply myself to business, and
complete his Perseus. So I returned home glad and light-hearted,
and comforted my family, that is to say, my sister and her six
daughters. Then I resumed my work, and pushed it forward as
briskly as I could.

LXIII

The first piece I cast in bronze was that great bust, the portrait of
his Excellency, which I had modelled in the goldsmith's workroom

358 BENVENUTO CELLINI

while suffering from those pains in my back.' It gave much pleasure
when it was completed, though my sole object in making it was to
obtain experience of clays suitable for bronze-casting. I was of
course aware that the admirable sculptor Donatello had cast his
bronzes with the clay of Florence; yet it seemed to me that he had
met with enormous difficulties in their execution. As I thought
that this was due to some fault in the earth, I wanted to make these
first experiments before I undertook my Perseus. From them I
learned that the clay was good enough, but had not been well under-
stood by Donatello, inasmuch as I could see that his pieces had been
cast with the very greatest trouble. Accordingly, as I have described
above, I prepared the earth by artificial methods, and found it serve
me well, and with it I cast the bust; but since I had not yet con-
structed my own furnace, I employed that of Maestro Zanobi di
Pagno, a bell-founder.

When I saw that this bust came out sharp and clean, I set at once
to construct a little furnace in the workshop erected for me by the
Duke, after my own plans and design, in the house which the Duke
had given me. No sooner was the furnace ready than I went to
work with all diligence upon the casting of Medusa, that is, the
woman twisted in a heap beneath the feet of Perseus. It was an
extremely difficult task, and I was anxious to observe all the niceties
of art which I had learned, so as not to lapse into some error. The
first cast I took in my furnace succeeded in the superlative degree,
and was so clean that my friends thought I should not need to
retouch it. It is true that certain Germans and Frenchmen, who
vaunt the possession of marvellous secrets, pretend that they can
cast bronzes without retouching them; but this is really nonsense,
because the bronze, when it has first been cast, ought to be worked
over and beaten in with hammers and chisels, according to the
manner of the ancients and also to that of the moderns — I mean such
moderns as have known how to work in bronze.

The result of this casting greatly pleased his Excellency, who often

came to my house to inspect it, encouraging me by the interest he

showed to do my best. The furious envy of Bandinello, however,

who kept always whispering in the Duke's ears, had such effect that

' Now in the Museum of the Bargello Palace at Florence

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 359

he made him believe my first successes with a single figure or two
proved nothing; I should never be able to put the whole large piece
together, since I was new to the craft, and his Excellency ought to
take good heed he did not throw his money away. These insinua-
tions operated so efficiently upon the Duke's illustrious ears, that
part of my allowance for workpeople was withdrawn. I felt com-
pelled to complain pretty sharply to his Excellency; and having gone
to wait on him one morning in the Via de' Servi, I spoke as follows:
"My lord, I do not now receive the monies necessary for my task,
which makes me fear that your Excellency has lost confidence in me.
Once more then I tell you that I feel quite able to execute this statue
three times better than the model, as I have before engaged my
word."

LXIV

I could see that this speech made no impression on the Duke, for
he kept silence; then, seized with sudden anger and a vehement
emotion, I began again to address him : "My lord, this city of a truth
has ever been the school of the most noble talents. Yet when a man
has come to know what he is worth, after gaining some acquire-
ments, and wishing to augment the glory of his town and of his
glorious prince, it is quite right that he should go and labour else-
where. To prove the truth of these words, I need only remind your
Excellency of Donatello and the great Lionardo da Vinci in the past,
and of our incomparable Michel Angelo Buonarroti in the present;
they augment the glory of your Excellency by their genius. I in my
turn feel the same desire and hope to play my part like them; there-
fore, my lord, give me the leave to go. But beware of letting Bandi-
nello quit you; rather bestow upon him always more than he
demands; for if he goes into foreign parts, his ignorance is so pre-
sumptuous that he is just the man to disgrace our most illustrious
school. Now grant me my permission, prince! I ask no further
reward for my labours up to this time than the gracious favour of
your most illustrious Excellency." When he saw the firmness of my
resolution, he turned with some irritation and exclaimed: "Ben-
venuto, if you want to finish the statue, you shall lack for nothing."
Then I thanked him and said I had no greater desire than to show

360 BENVENUTO CELLINI

those envious folk that I had it in me to execute the promised work.
When I left his Excellency, I received some slight assistance; but this
not being sufficient, I had to put my hand into my own purse, in
order to push the work forward at something better than a snail's
pace.

It was my custom to pass the evening in the Duke's wardrobe,
where Domenico Poggini and his brother Gianpagolo were at work
upon that golden cup for the Duchess and the girdle I have already
described. His Excellency had also commissioned me to make a
little model for a pendent to set the great diamond which Bernardone
and Antonio Landi made him buy. I tried to get out of doing it, but
the Duke compelled me by all sorts of kindly pressure to work until
four hours after nightfall. He kept indeed enticing me to push this
job forward by daytime also; but I would not consent, although I
felt sure I should incur his anger. Now one evening I happened to
arrive rather later than usual, whereupon he said: "III come may
you be!" ^ I answered: "My lord, that is not my name; my name is
Welcome! But, as I suppose your Excellency is joking, I will add no
more." He replied that, far from joking, he meant solemn earnest.
I had better look to my conduct, for it had come to his ears that I
relied upon his favour to take in first one man and then another.
I begged his most illustrious Excellency to name a single person
whom I had ever taken in. At this he flew into a rage, and said:
"Go, and give back to Bernardone what you have of his. There!
I have mentioned one." I said: "My lord, I thank you, and beg you
to condescend so far as to listen to four words. It is true that he lent
me a pair of old scales, two anvils, and three little hammers, which
articles I begged his workman, Giorgio da Cortona, fifteen days ago,
to fetch back. Giorgio came for them himself. If your Excellency
can prove, on referring to those who have spoken these calumnies,
or to others, that I have ever, from the day of my birth till now, got
any single thing by fraud from anybody, be it in Rome or be it in
France, then let your Excellency punish me as immoderately as you
choose." When the Duke saw me in this mighty passion, he assumed
the air of a prudent and benevolent lord, saying: "Those words are
not meant for well-doers; therefore, if it is as you say, I shall always
1 A play on Benvenuto and Malvenuto.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 36 1

receive you with the same kindness as heretofore." To this I
answered : "I should hke your Excellency to know that the rascalities
of Bernardone compel me to ask as a favor how much that big
diamond with the cropped point cost you. I hope to prove on what
account that scoundrel tries to bring me into disgrace." Then his
Excellency replied: "I paid 25,000 ducats for it; why do you ask me?"
"Because, my lord, on such a day, at such an hour, in a corner of
Mercato Nuovo, Antonio Landi, the son of Vittorio, begged me to
induce your Excellency to buy it, and at my first question he asked
16,000 ducats for the diamond;'^ now your Excellency knows what it
has cost you. Domenico Poggini and Gianpagolo his brother, who
are present, will confirm my words; for I spoke to them at once
about it, and since that time have never once alluded to the matter,
because your Excellency told me I did not understand these things,
which made me think you wanted to keep up the credit of your
stone. I should like you to know, my lord, thdt I do understand,
and that, as regards my character, I consider myself no less honest
than any man who ever lived upon this earth. I shall not try to rob
you of eight or ten thousand ducats at one go, but shall rather seek
to earn them by my industry. I entered the service of your Excel-
lency as sculptor, goldsmith, and stamper of coin; but to blab about
my neighbour's private matters, — never! What I am now telUng you
I say in self-defence; I do not want my fee for information.* If I
speak out in the presence of so many worthy fellows as are here, it
is because I do not wish your Excellency to believe what Bernardone
tells you."

When he had heard this speech, the Duke rose up in anger, and
sent for Bernardone, who was forced to take flight as far as Venice,
he and Antonio Landi with him. The latter told me that he had not
meant that diamond, but was talking of another stone. So then they
went and came again from Venice; whereupon I presented myself
to the Duke and spoke as follows : "My lord, what I told you is the
truth; and what Bernardone said about the tools he lent me is a lie.
You had better put this to the proof, and I will go at once to the

2 He forgets that he has said above that it was offered him by Landi for 17,000
ducats.

^ This fee was il quarto, or the fourth part of the criminal's fine, which came to
the delator.

362 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Bargello." The Duke made answer : "Benvenuto, do your best to be
an honest man, as you have done until now; you have no cause for
apprehension." So the whole matter passed off in smoke, and I
heard not one more word about it. I applied myself to finishing his
jewel; and when I took it to the Duchess, her Grace said that she
esteemed my setting quite as highly as the diamond which Bernard-
accio had made them btiy. She then desired me to fasten it upon her
breast, and handed me a large pin, with which I fixed it, and took
my leave in her good favour.* Afterwards I was informed that they
had the stone reset by a German or some other foreigner — whether
truly or not I cannot vouch — upon Bernardone's suggestion that the
diamond would show better in a less elaborate setting.

LXV

I believe I have already narrated how Domenico and Giovan-
pagolo Poggini, goldsmiths and brothers, were at work in the Duke's
wardrobe upon some little golden vases, after my design, chased with
figures in bas-relief, and other ornaments of great distinction. I often-
times kept saying to his Excellency : "My lord, if you will undertake
to pay some workpeople, I am ready to strike coins for your mint and
medals with your portrait. I am willing to enter into competition
with the ancients, and feel able to surpass them; for since those early
days in which I made the medals of Pope Clement, I have learned
so much that I can now produce far better pieces of the kind. I think
I can also outdo the coins I struck for Duke Alessandro, which are
still held in high esteem; in like manner I could make for you large
pieces of gold and silver plate, as I did so often for that noble mon-
arch. King Francis of France, thanks to the great conveniences he
allowed me, without ever losing time for the execution of colossal
statues or other works of the sculptor's craft." To this suggestion the
Duke replied: "Go forward; I will see;" but he never supplied me
with conveniences or aid of any kind.

One day his most illustrious Excellency handed me several pounds
weight of silver, and said: "This is some of the silver from my

* It is worthy o£ notice that from this point onward the MS. is written by CellLni
in his own hand.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 363

mines;' take it, and make a fine vase." Now I did not choose to
neglect my Perseus, and at the same time I wished to serve the Duke,
so I entrusted the metal, together with my designs and models in
wax, to a rascal called Piero di Martino, a goldsmith by trade. He
set the work up badly, and moreover ceased to labour at it, so that I
lost more time than if I had taken it in hand myself. After several
months were wasted, and Piero would neither work nor put men to
work upon the piece, I made him give it back. I moved heaven and
earth to get back the body of the vase, which he had begun badly, as
I have already said, together with the remainder of the silver. The
Duke, hearing something of these disputes, sent for the vase and the
models, and never told me why or wherefore. Suffice it to say, that
he placed some of my designs in the hands of divers persons at
Venice and elsewhere, and was very ill served by them.

The Duchess kept urging me to do goldsmith's work for her. I
frequently replied that everybody, nay, all Italy, knew well I was an
excellent goldsmith; but Italy had not yet seen what I could do in
sculpture. Among artists, certain enraged sculptors laughed at me,
and called me the new sculptor. "Now I hope to show them that I
am an old sculptor, if God shall grant me the boon of finishing my
Perseus for that noble piazza of his most illustrious Excellency."
After this I shut myself up at home, working day and night, not
even showing my face in the palace. I wished, however, to keep
myself in favour with the Duchess; so I got some little cups made
for her in silver, no larger than twopenny milk-pots, chased with
exquisite masks in the rarest antique style. When I took them to her
Excellency, she received me most graciously, and repaid the gold
and silver I had spent upon them. Then I made my suit to her and
prayed her tell the Duke that I was getting small assistance for so
great a work; I begged her also to warn him not to lend so ready
an ear to Bandinello's evil tongue, which hindered me from finishing
my Perseus. In reply to these lamentable complaints the Duchess
shrugged her shoulders and exclaimed: "Of a surety the Duke
ought only too well to know that this Bandinello of his is. worth
nothing."

' Cosimo's silver mines were at Campiglia and Pietrasantra. He worked them,
however, rather at a loss than profit.

364 BENVENUTO CELLINI

LXVI

I now stayed at home, and went rarely to the palace, labouring
with great diligence to complete my statue. I had to pay the work-
men out of my own pocket; for the Duke, after giving Lattanzio
Gorini orders to discharge their wages, at the end of about eighteen
months, grew tired, and withdrew this subsidy. I asked Lattanzio
why he did not pay me as usual. The man replied, gesticulating with
those spidery hands of his, in a shrill gnat's voice : "Why do not you
finish your work.? One thinks that you will never get it done." In a
rage I up and answered: "May the plague catch you and all who dare
to think I shall not finish it!"

So I went home with despair at heart to my unlucky Perseus, not
without weeping, when I remembered the prosperity I had aban-
doned in Paris under the patronage of that marvellous King Francis,
where I had abundance of all kinds, and here had everything to
want for. Many a time I had it in my soul to cast myself away for
lost. One day on one of these occasions, I mounted a nice nag I
had, put a hundred crowns in my purse, and went to Fiesole to
visit a natural son of mine there, who was at nurse with my gossip,
the wife of one of my workpeople. When I reached the house, I
found the boy in good health, and kissed him, very sad at heart.
On taking leave, he would not let me go, but held me with his little
hands and a tempest of cries and tears. Considering that he was only
two years old or thereabouts, the child's grief was something wonder-
ful. Now I had resolved, in the heat of my despair, if I met Bandi-
nello, who went every evening to a farm of his above San Domenico,
that I would hurl him to destruction; so I disengaged myself from
my baby, and left the boy there sobbing his heart out. Taking the
road toward Florence, just when I entered the piazza of San
Domenico, Bandinello was arriving from the other side. On the
instant I decided upon bloodshed; but when I reached the man and
raised my eyes, I saw him unarmed, riding a sorry mule or rather
donkey, and he had with him a boy of ten years old. No sooner did
he catch sight of me than he turned the colour of a corpse, and
trembled from head to foot. Perceiving at once how base the business

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 365

would be, I exclaimed: "Fear not, vile coward! I do not condescend
to smite you." He looked at me submissively and said nothing.
Thereupon I recovered command of my faculties, and thanked God
that His goodness had withheld me from so great an act of violence.
Then, being delivered from that fiendish fury, my spirits rose, and
I said to myself: "If God but grant me to execute my work, I hope
by its means to annihilate all my scoundrelly enemies; and thus I
shall perform far greater and more glorious revenges than if I had
vented my rage upon one single foe." Having this excellent resolve
in heart, I reached my home. At the end of three days news was
brought me that my only son had been smothered by his nurse, my
gossip, which gave me greater grief than I have ever had in my whole
life. However, I knelt upon the ground, and, not without tears,
returned thanks to God, as I was wont, exclaiming, "Lord, Thou
gavest me the child, and Thou hast taken him; for all Thy dealings
I thank Thee with my whole heart." This great sorrow went nigh
to depriving me of reason; yet, according to my habit, I made a
virtue of necessity, and adapted myself to circumstances as well as
I was able.

LXVII

About this time a young fellow called Francesco, the son of a
smith, Matteo, left Bandinello's employment, and inquired whether
I would give him work. I agreed, and sent him to retouch my
Medusa, which had been new cast in bronze. After a fortnight he
mentioned that he had been speaking with his master, that is,
Bandinello, who told him, if I cared to make a marble statue, he
would give me a fine block of stone. I replied at once: "Tell him
I accept his offer; perhaps this marble will prove a stumbling block
to him, for he keeps on provoking me, and does not bear in mind
the great peril he ran upon the piazza of San Domenico. Tell him
I will have the marble by all means. I never speak about him, and
the beast is perpetually causing me annoyance. I verily believe you
came to work here at his orders for the mere purpose of spying upon
me. Go, then, and tell him I insist on having the marble, even
against his will: see that you do not come back without it."

366 BENVENUTO CELLINI

LXVIII

Many days had elapsed during which I had not shown my face in
the palace, when the fancy took me to go there one morning just as
the Duke was finishing his dinner. From what I heard, his Excel-
lency had been talking of me that morning, commending me highly,
and in particular praising my skill in setting jewels. Therefore,
when the Duchess saw me, she called for me by Messer Sforza;' and
on my presenting myself to her most illustrious Excellency, she
asked me to set a little point-diamond in a ring, saying she wished
always to wear it; at the same time she gave me the measure and the
stone, which was worth about a hundred crowns, begging me to be
quick about the work. Upon this the Duke began speaking to the
Duchess, and said : "There is no doubt that Benvenuto was formerly
without his peer in this art; but now that he has abandoned it, I
believe it will be too much trouble for him to make a little ring of
the sort you want. I pray you, therefore, not to importune him
about this trifle, which would be no trifle to him owing to his want
of practice." I thanked the Duke for his kind words, but begged him
to let me render this trifling service to the Duchess. Then I took the
ring in hand, and finished it within a few days. It was meant for
the little finger; accordingly I fashioned four tiny children in the,
round and four masks, which figures composed the hoop. I also
found room for some enamelled fruits and connecting links, so that
the stone and setting went uncommonly well together. Then I took
it to the Duchess, who told me graciously that I had produced a
very fine piece, and that she would remember me. She afterwards
sent the ring as a present to King Philip, and from that time forward
kept charging me with commissions, so kindly, however, that I did
my best to serve her, although I saw but very little of her money.
God knows I had great need of that, for I was eager to finish my
Perseus, and had engaged some journeymen, whom I paid out of my
own purse. I now began to show myself more often than I had
recently been doing.

' sforza Almeni, a Perugian gendeman, the Duke's chamberlain. Cosimo killed this
man with his own hand in the year 1566.

. AUTOBIOGRAPHY 367

LXIX

It happened on one feast-day that I went to the palace after dinner,
and when I reached the clockroom, I saw the door of the wardrobe
standing open. As I drew nigh it, the Duke called me, and after
a friendly greeting said: "You are welcome! Look at that box
which has been sent me by my lord Stefano of Palestrina.' Open it,
and let us see what it contains." When I had opened the box, I
cried to the Duke: "My lord, this is a statue in Greek marble, and it
is a miracle of beauty. I must say that I have never seen a boy's
figure so excellently wrought and in so fine a style among all the
antiques I have inspected. If your Excellency permits, I should like
to restore it — head and arms and feet. I will add an eagle, in order
that we may christen the lad Ganymede. It is certainly not my busi-
ness to patch up statues, that being the trade of botchers, who do it in
all conscience villainously ill; yet the art displayed by this great
master of antiquity cries out to me to help him." The Duke was
highly delighted to find the statue so beautiful, and put me a multi-
tude of questions, saying: "Tell me, Benvenuto, minutely, in what
consists the skill of this old master, which so excites your admira-
tion." I then attempted, as well as I was able, to explain the beauty
of workmanship, the consummate science, and the rare manner dis-
played by the fragment. I spoke long upon these topics, and with
the greater pleasure because I saw that his Excellency was deeply
interested.

LXX

While I was thus pleasantly engaged in entertaining the Duke, a
page happened to leave the wardrobe, and at the same moment
Bandinello entered. When the Duke saw him, his countenance con-
tracted, and he asked him drily: "What are you about here?" Bandi-
nello, without answering, cast a glance upon the box, where the
statue lay uncovered. Then breaking into one of his malignant
laughs and wagging his head, he turned to the Duke and said : "My
lord, this exactly illustrates the truth of what I have so often told

' Stefano Colonna, of the princely house of Palestrina. He was a general of con-
siderable repute in the Spanish, French, and Florentine services successively.

368 BENVENUTO CELLINI

your Excellency. You must know that the ancients were wholly
ignorant of anatomy, and therefore their works abound in mistakes."
I kept silence, and paid no heed to what he was saying; nay, indeed,
I had turned my back on him. But when the brute had brought his
disagreeable babble to an end, the Duke exclaimed: "O Benvenuto,
this is the exact opposite of what you were just now demonstrating
with so many excellent arguments. Come and speak a word in
defence of the statue." In reply to this appeal, so kindly made me by
the Duke, I spoke as follows: "My lord, your most illustrious Excel-
lency must please to know that Baccio Bandinello is made up of
everything bad, and thus has he ever been; therefore, whatever he
looks at, be the thing superlatively excellent, becomes in his ungra-
cious eyes as bad as can be. I, who incline to the good only, discern
the truth with purer senses. Consequently, what I told your Excel-
lency about this lovely statue is mere simple truth; whereas what
Bandinello said is but a portion of the evil out of which he is com-
posed." The Duke listened with much amusement; but Bandinello
writhed and made the most ugly faces — his face itself being by
nature hideous beyond measure — which could be imagined by the
mind of man.

The Duke at this point moved away, and proceeded through some
ground-floor rooms, while Bandinello followed. The chamberlains
twitched me by the mantle, and sent me after ; so we all attended the
Duke until he reached a certain chamber, where he seated himself,
with Bandinello and me standing at his right hand and his left. I
kept silence, and the gentlemen of his Excellency's suite looked hard
at Bandinello, tittering among themselves about the speech I had
made in the room above. So then Bandinello began again to chatter,
and cried out : "Prince, when I uncovered my Hercules and Cacus, I
verily believe a hundred sonnets were written on me, full of the
worst abuse which could be invented by the ignorant rabble." ' I
rejoined: "Prince, when Michel Agnolo Buonarroti displayed his
Sacristy to view, with so many fine statues in it, the men of talent
in our admirable school of Florence, always appreciative of truth

' Vasari confirms this statement. The statue, which may still be seen upon the great
piazza, is, in truth, a very poor performance. The Florentines were angry because
Bandinello had filched the commission away from Michel Angelo. It was uncovered
in 1534, and Duke Alessandro had to imprison its lampooners.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 369

and goodness, published more than a hundred sonnets, each vying
with his neighbour to extol these masterpieces to the skies.'' So then,
just as Bandinello's work deserved all the evil which, he tells us,
was then said about it, Buonarroti's deserved the enthusiastic praise
which was bestowed upon it." These words of mine made Bandi-
nello burst with fury; he turned on me, and cried: "And you, what
have you got to say against my work?" "I will tell you if you have
the patience to hear me out." "Go along then," he replied. The
Duke and his attendants prepared themselves to listen. I began and
opened my oration thus : "You must know that it pains me to point
out the faults of your statue; I shall not, however, utter my own
sentiments, but shall recapitulate what our most virtuous school of
Florence says about it." The brutal fellow kept making disagreeable
remarks and gesticulating with his hands and feet, until he enraged
me so that I began again, and spoke far more rudely than I should
otherwise have done, if he had behaved with decency. "Well, then,
this virtuous school says that if one were to shave the hair of your
Hercules, there would not be skull enough left to hold his brain; it
says that it is impossible to distinguish whether his features are those
of a man or of something between a lion and an ox; the face too is
turned away from the action of the figure, and is so badly set upon
the neck, with such poverty of art and so ill a grace, that nothing
worse was ever seen; his sprawling shoulders are like the two pom-
mels of an ass's pack-saddle; his breasts and all the muscles of the
body are not portrayed from a man, but from a big sack full of
melons set upright against a wall. The loins seem to be modelled
from a bag of lanky pumpkins; nobody can tell how his two legs are
attached to that vile trunk; it is impossible to say on which leg he
stands, or which he uses to exert his strength; nor does he seem to be
resting upon both, as sculptors who know something of their art
have occasionally set the figure. It is obvious that the body is leaning
forward more than one-third of a cubit, which alone is the greatest
and most insupportable fault committed by vulgar commonplace
pretenders. Concerning the arms, they say that these are both
stretched out without one touch of grace or one real spark of artistic

^ Cellini alludes of course to the Sacristy of S. Lorenzo, designed by Michel Angelo,
with the portraits of the Medici and statues of Day, Night, Dawn, and Twilight.

370 BENVENUTO CELLINI

talents, just as if you had never seen a naked model. Again, the
right leg of Hercules and that of Cacus have got one mass of flesh
between them, so that if they were to be separated, not only one of
them, but both together, would be left without a calf at the point
where they are touching. They say, too, that Hercules has one of his
feet underground, while the other seems to be resting on hot coals."

LXXI

The fellow could not stand quiet to hear the damning errors of
his Cacus in their turn enumerated. For one thing, I was telling the
truth; for another, I was unmasking him to the Duke and all the
people present, who showed by face and gesture first their surprise,
and next their conviction that what I said was true. All at once he
burst out: "Ah, you slanderous tongue! why don't you speak about
my design?" I retorted: "A good draughtsman can never produce
bad works; therefore I am inclined to believe that your drawing is
no better than your statues." When he saw the amused expression
on the Duke's face and the cutting gestures of the bystanders, he let
his insolence get the better of him, and turned to me with that most
hideous face of his, screaming aloud: "Oh, hold your tongue, you
ugly . . . " ' At these words the Duke frowned, and the others
pursed their lips up and looked with knitted brows toward him.
The horrible affront half maddened me with fury; but in a moment
I recovered presence of mind enough to turn it off with a jest: "You
madman! you exceed the bounds of decency. Yet would to God that
I understood so noble an art as you allude to; they say that Jove used
it with Ganymede in paradise, and here upon this earth it is practised
by some of the greatest emperors and kings. I, however, am but a
poor humble creature, who neither have the power nor the intelli-
gence to perplex my wits with anything so admirable." When I had
finished this speech, the Duke and his attendants could control them-
selves no longer, but broke into such shouts of laughter that one
never heard the like. You must know, gentle readers, that though I
put on this appearance of pleasantry, my heart was bursting in my
body to think that a fellow, the foulest villain who ever breathed,
should have dared in the presence of so great a prince to cast an

' oh sta cheto, soddomitaccio.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 371

insult of that atrocious nature in my teeth; but you must also know
that he insulted the Duke, and not me; for had I not stood in that
august presence, I should have felled him dead to earth. When the
dirty stupid scoundrel observed that those gentlemen kept on laugh-
ing, he tried to change the subject, and divert them from deriding
him; so he began as follows: "This fellow Benvenuto goes about
boasting that I have promised him a piece of marble." I took him up
at once. "What! did you not send to tell me by your journeyman,
Francesco, that if I wished to work in marble you would give me a
block? I accepted it, and mean to have it." He retorted: "Be very
well assured that you will never get it." Still smarting as I was
under the calumnious insults he had flung at me, I lost my self-
control, forgot I was in the presence of the Duke, and called out in
a storm of fury: "I swear to you that if you do not send the marble
to my house, you had better look out for another world, for if you
stay upon this earth I will most certainly rip the wind out of your
carcass.^ Then suddenly awaking to the fact that I was standing in
the presence of so great a duke, I turned submissively to his Excel-
lency and said: "My lord, one fool makes a hundred; the follies of
this man have blinded me for a moment to the glory of your most
illustrious Excellency and to myself. I humbly crave your pardon."
Then the Duke said to Bandinello : "Is it true that you promised him
the marble.''" He replied that it was true. Upon this the Duke
addressed me: "Go to the Opera, and choose a piece according to
your taste." I demurred that the man had promised to send it home
to me. The words that passed between us were awful, and I refused
to take the stone in any other way. Next morning a piece of marble
was brought to my house. On asking who had sent it, they told me
it was Bandinello, and that this was the very block which he had
promised.'

2 In questo (mondo) ti sgonfiero a ogni modo.

' Vasari, in his Lije oj Bandinello, gives a curious confirmation o£ Cellini's veracity
by reporting this quarrel, with some of the speeches which passed between the two
rival artists. Yet he had not read Cellini's Memoirs, and was far from partial to the
man. Comparing Vasari's with Cellini's account, we only notice that the latter has
made Bandinello play a less witty part in the wordy strife than the former assigned
him.

372 BENVENUTO CELLINI

LXXII

I had it brought at once into my studio, and began to chisel it.
While I was rough-hewing the block, I made a model. But my
eagerness to work in marble was so strong, that I had not patience
to finish the model as correctly as this art demands. I soon noticed
that the stone rang false beneath my strokes, which made me often-
times repent commencing on it. Yet I got what I could out of the
piece — that is, the Apollo and Hyacinth, which may still be seen
unfinished in my workshop. While I was thus engaged, the Duke
came to my house, and often said to me : "Leave your bronze awhile,
and let me watch you working on the marble." Then I took chisel
and mallet, and went at it blithely. He asked about the model I
had made for my statue; to which I answered: "Duke, this marble
is all cracked, but I shall carve something from it in spite of that;
therefore I have not been able to settle the model, but shall go on
doing the best I can."

His Excellency sent to Rome post-haste for a block of Greek
marble, in order that I might restore his antique Ganymede, which
was the cause of that dispute with Bandinello. When it arrived, I
thought it a sin to cut it up for the head and arms and other bits
wanting in the Ganymede; so I provided myself with another piece
of stone, and reserved the Greek marble for a Narcissus which I
modelled on a small scale in wax. I found that the block had two
holes, penetrating to the depth of a quarter of a cubit, and two good
inches wide. This led me to choose the attitude which may be
noticed in my statue, avoiding the holes and keeping my figure free
from them. But rain had fallen scores of years upon the stone,
filtering so deeply from the holes into its substance that the marble
was decayed. Of this I had full proof at the time of a great inunda-
tion of the Arno, when the river rose to the height of more than a
cubit and a half in my workshop.' Now the Narcissus stood upon a
square of wood, and the water overturned it, causing the statue to
break in two above the breasts. I had to join the pieces; and in order
that the line of breakage might not be observed, I wreathed that
garland of flowers round it which may still be seen upon the bosom.
' Cellini alludes to a celebrated inundation of the year 1547.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 373

I went on working at the surface, employing some hours before
sunrise, or now and then on feast-days, so as not to lose the time I
needed for my Perseus.

It so happened on one of those mornings, while I was getting some
little chisels into trim to work on the Narcissus, that a very fine
splinter of steel flew into my right eye, and embedded itself so
deeply in the pupil that it could not be extracted. I thought for
certain I must lose the sight of that eye. After some days I sent for
Maestro Raflaello de Pilli, the surgeon, who obtained a couple of
live pigeons, and placing me upon my back across a table, took the
birds and opened a large vein they have beneath the wing, so that
the blood gushed out into my eye. I felt immediately relieved, and
in the space of two days the splinter came away, and I remained with
eyesight greatly improved. Against the feast of S. Lucia,^ which
came round in three days, I made a golden eye out of a French
crown, and had it presented at her shrine by one of my six nieces,
daughters of my sister Liperata; the girl was ten years of age, and
in her company I returned thanks to God and S. Lucia. For some
while afterwards I did not work at the Narcissus, but pushed my
Perseus forward under all the difEculties I have described. It was
my purpose to finish it, and then to bid farewell to Florence.

LXXIII

Having succeeded so well with the cast of the Medusa, I had
great hope of bringing my Perseus through; for I had laid the wax
on, and felt confident that it would come out in bronze as perfectly
as the Medusa. The waxen model produced so fine an eflect, that
when the Duke saw it and was struck with its beauty — whether
somebody had persuaded him it could not be carried out with the
same finish in metal, or whether he thought so for himself — he came
to visit me more frequently than usual, and on one occasion said:
"Benvenuto, this figure cannot succeed in bronze; the laws of art do
not admit of it." These words of his Excellency stung me so sharply
that I answered: "My lord, I know how very little confidence you

' S. Lucy, I need hardly remark, is the patroness of the eyes. In Italian art she is
generally represented holding her own eyes upon a plate.

374 BENVENUTO CELLINI

have in me; and I believe the reason of this is that your most
illustrious Excellency lends too ready an ear to my calumniators, or
else indeed that you do not understand my art." He hardly let me
close the sentence when he broke in : "I profess myself a connoisseur,
and understand it very well indeed." I replied: "Yes, like a prince,
not like an artist; for if your Excellency understood my trade as
well as you imagine, you would trust me on the proofs I have already
given. These are, first, the colossal bronze bust of your Excellency,
which is now in Elba;' secondly, the restoration of the Ganymede
in marble, which offered so many difficulties and cost me so much
trouble, that I would rather have made the whole statue new from
the beginning; thirdly, the Medusa, cast by me in bronze, here now
before your Excellency's eyes, the execution of which was a greater
triumph of strength and skill than any of my predecessors in this
fiendish art have yet achieved. Look you, my lord! I constructed
that furnace anew on principles quite different from those of other
founders; in addition to many technical improvements and ingenious
devices, I supplied it with two issues for the metal, because this
difficult and twisted figure could not otherwise have come out
perfect. It is only owing to my intelligent insight into means and
appliances that the statue turned out as it did; a triumph judged
impossible by all the practitioners of this art. I should like you
furthermore to be aware, my lord, for certain, that the sole reason
why I succeeded with all those great arduous works in France under
his most admirable Majesty King Francis, was the high courage
which that good monarch put into my heart by the liberal allow-
ances he made me, and the multitude of workpeople he left at my
disposal. I could have as many as I asked for, and employed at
times above forty, all chosen by myself. These were the causes of
my having there produced so many masterpieces in so short a space
of time. Now then, my lord, put trust in me; supply me with the
aid I need. I am confident of being able to complete a work which
will delight your soul. But if your Excellency goes on disheartening
me, and does not advance me the assistance which is absolutely
required, neither I nor any man alive upon this earth can hope to
achieve the slightest thing of value."

' At Portoferraio. It came afterwards to Florence.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 375

LXXIV

It was as much as the Duke could do to stand by and listen to my
pleadings. He kept turning first this way and then that; while I, in
despair, poor wretched I, was calling up remembrance of the noble
state I held in France, to the great sorrow of my soul. All at once
he cried: "Come, tell me, Benvenuto, how is it possible that yonder
splendid head of Medusa, so high up there in the grasp of Perseus,
should ever come out perfect?" I replied upon the instant: "Look
you now, my lord! If your Excellency possessed that knowledge of
the craft which you affirm you have, you would not fear one moment
for the splendid head you speak of. There is good reason, on the
other hand, to feel uneasy about this right foot, so far below and at
a distance from the rest." When he heard these words, the Duke
turned, half in anger, to some gentlemen in waiting, and exclaimed :
"I verily believe that this Benvenuto prides himself on contradicting
everything one says." Then he faced round to me with a touch of
mockery, upon which his attendants did the like, and began to
speak as follows: "I will listen patiently to any argument you can
possibly produce in explanation of your statement, which may con-
vince me of its probability." I said in answer: "I will adduce so
sound an argument that your Excellency shall perceive the full
force of it." So I began : "You must know, my lord, that the nature
of fire is to ascend, and therefore I promise you that Medusa's head
will come out famously; but since it is not in the nature of fire to
descend, and I must force it downwards six cubits by artificial means,
I assure your Excellency upon this most convincing ground of proof
that the foot cannot possibly come out. It will, however, be quite
easy for me to restore it." "Why, then," said the Duke, "did you not
devise it so that the foot should come out as well as you affirm the
head will?" I answered: "I must have made a much larger furnace,
with a conduit as thick as my leg; and so I might have forced the
molten metal by its own weight to descend so far. Now, my pipe,
which runs six cubits to the statue's foot, as I have said, is not thicker
than two fingers. However, it was not worth the trouble and expense
to make a larger; for I shall easily be able to mend what is lacking.
But when my mould is more than half full, as I expect, from this

376 BENVENUTO CELLINI

middle point upwards, the fire ascending by its natural property,
then the heads of Perseus and Medusa will come out admirably;
you may be quite sure of it." After I had thus expounded these con-
vincing arguments, together with many more of the same kind,
which it would be tedious to set down here, the Duke shook his
head and departed without further ceremony.

LXXV

Abandoned thus to my own resources, I took new courage, and
banished the sad thoughts which kept recurring to my mind, making
me often weep bitter tears of repentance for having left France; for
though I did so only to revisit Florence, my sweet birthplace, in
order that I might charitably succour my six nieces, this good action,
as I well perceived, had been the beginning of my great misfortune.
Nevertheless, I felt convinced that when my Perseus was accom-
plished, all these trials would be turned to high felicity and glorious
well-being.

Accordingly I strengthened my heart, and with all the forces of
my body and my purse, employing what little money still remained
to me, I set to work. First I provided myself with several loads o£
pinewood from the forests of Serristori, in the neighbourhood of
Montelupo. While these were on their way, I clothed my Perseus
with the clay which I had prepared many months beforehand, in
order that it might be duly seasoned. After making its clay tunic
(for that is the term used in this art) and properly arming it and
fencing it with iron girders, I began to draw the wax out by means
of a slow fire. This melted and issued through numerous air-
vents I had made; for the more there are of these, the better will the
mould fill. When I had finished drawing off the wax, I constructed
a funnel-shaped furnace all round the model of my Perseus.' It was
built of bricks, so interlaced, the one above the other, that numerous
apertures were left for the fire to exhale at. Then I began to lay on
wood by degrees, and kept it burning two whole days and nights. At
length, when all the wax was gone, and the mould was well baked,
I set to work at digging the pit in which to sink it. This I per-

' This furnace, called manica, was like a grain-hopper, so that the mould could
stand upright in it as in a cup. The word manica is the same as our manuch, an
antique form of sleeve.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 377

formed with scrupulous regard to all the rules of art. When I had
finished that part of my work, I raised the mould by windlasses and
stout ropes to a perpendicular position, and suspending it with the
greatest care one cubit above the level of the furnace, so that it hung
exactly above the middle of the pit, I next lowered it gently down
into the very bottom of the furnace, and had it firmly placed with
every possible precaution for its safety. When this delicate operation
was accomplished, I began to bank it up with the earth I had
excavated; and, ever as the earth grew higher, I introduced its proper
air-vents, which were little tubes of earthenware, such as folk use
for drains and such-like purposes.^ At length, I felt sure that it was
admirably fixed, and that the fiUing-in of the pit and the placing
of the air-vents had been properly performed. I also could see that
my workpeople understood my method, which differed very con-
siderably from that of all the other masters in the trade. Feeling
confident, then, that I could rely upon them, I next turned to my
furnace, which I had filled with numerous pigs of copper and other
bronze stuff. The pieces were piled according to the laws of art,
that is to say, so resting one upon the other that the flames could
play freely through them, in order that the metal might heat and
liquefy the sooner. At last I called out heartily to set the furnace
going. The logs of pine were heaped in, and, what with the unctuous
resin of the wood and the good draught I had given, my furnace
worked so well that I was obliged to rush from side to side to keep
it going. The labour was more than I could stand; yet I forced
myself to strain every nerve and muscle. To increase my anxieties,
the workshop took fire, and we were afraid lest the roof should fall
upon our heads; while, from the garden, such a storm of wind and
rain kept blowing in, that it perceptibly cooled the furnace.

Battling thus with all these untoward circumstances for several
hours, and exerting myself beyond even the measure of my powerful
constitution, I could at last bear up no longer, and a sudden fever,'
of the utmost possible intensity, attacked me. I felt absolutely obliged

^ These air -vents, or sfialatoi, were introduced into the outer mould, which Cellini
calls the tonaca, or clay tunic laid upon the original model of baked clay and wax.
They served the double purpose of drawing off the wax, whereby a space was left
for the molten bronze to enter, and also of facilitating the penetration of this molten
metal by allowing a free escape of air and gas from the outer mould.

^ Una jebbre efimera. Lit., a fever of one day's duration.

378 BENVENUTO CELLINI

to go and fling myself upon my bed. Sorely against my will having
to drag myself away from the spot, I turned to my assistants, about
ten or more in all, what with master-founders, hand-workers,
country-fellows, and my own special journeymen, among whom was
Bernardino Mannellini of Mugello, my apprentice through several
years. To him in particular I spoke: "Look, my dear Bernardino,
that you observe the rules which I have taught you; do your best
with all despatch, for the metal will soon be fused. You cannot go
wrong; these honest men will get the channels ready; you will easily
be able to drive back the two plugs with this pair of iron crooks;
and I am sure that my mould will fill miraculously. I feel more ill
than I ever did in all my life, and verily believe that it will kill me
before a few hours are over." * Thus, with despair at heart, I left
them, and betook myself to bed.

LXXVI

No sooner had I got to bed, than I ordered my serving-maids to
carry food and wine for all the men into the workshop; at the same
time I cried : "I shall not be alive tomorrow." They tried to encour-
age me, arguing that my illness would pass over, since it came from
excessive fatigue. In this way I spent two hours battling with the
fever, which steadily increased, and calling out continually: "I feel
that I am dying." My housekeeper, who was named Mona Fiore da
Castel del Rio, a very notable manager and no less warm-hearted,
kept chiding me for my discouragement; but, on the other hand, she
paid me every kind attention which was possible. However, the
sight of my physical pain and moral dejection so affected her, that,
in spite of that brave heart of hers, she could not refrain from

* Some technical terms require explanation in this sentence. The canali or channels
were sluices for carrying the molten metal from the furnace into the mould. The
mandriani, which I have translated by iron crook^s, were poles fitted at the end with
curved irons, by which the openings of the furnace, plugs, or in Italian spine, could
be partially or wholly driven back, so as to let the molten metal flow through the
channels into the mould. When the metal reached the mould, it entered in a red-hot
stream between the tonaca, or outside mould, and the anima, or inner block, filling up
exacdy the space which had previously been occupied by the wax extracted by a
method of slow burning alluded to above. I believe that the process is known as
casting a cire perdue. The jorma, or mould, consisted of two pieces; one hollow
(la tonaca), which gave shape to the bronze; one solid and rounded (la anima), which
stood at a short interval within the former, and regulated the influx of the metal.
See above, p. 354, note.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 379

shedding tears; and yet, so far as she was able, she took good care
I should not see them. While I was thus terribly afflicted, I beheld
the figure of a man enter my chamber, twisted in his body into the
form of a capital S. He raised a lamentable, doleful voice, like one
who announces their last hour to men condemned to die upon the
scaffold, and spoke these words: "O Benvenuto! your statue is
spoiled, and there is no hope whatever of saving it." No sooner had
I heard the shriek of that wretch than I gave a howl which might
have been heard from the sphere of flame. Jumping from my bed, I
seized my clothes and began to dress. The maids, and my lads, and
every one who came around to help me, got kicks or blows of the
fist, while I kept crying out in lamentation: "Ah! traitors! enviers!
This is an act of treason, done by mahce prepense! But I swear by
God that I will sift it to the bottom, and before I die will leave such
witness to the world of what I can do as shall make a score of
mortals marvel."

When I had got my clothes on, I strode with soul bent on mischief
toward the workshop; there I beheld the men, whom I had left
erewhile in such high spirits, standing stupefied and downcast. I
began at once and spoke: "Up with you! Attend to me! Since you
have not been able or willing to obey the directions I gave you,
obey me now that I am with you to conduct my work in person.
Let no one contradict me, for in cases like this we need the aid of
hand and hearing, not of advice." When I had uttered these words,
a certain Maestro Alessandro Lastricati broke silence and said : "Look
you, Benvenuto, you are going to attempt an enterprise which the
laws of art do not sanction, and which cannot succeed." I turned
upon him with such fury and so full of mischief, that he and all the
rest of them exclaimed with one voice: "On then! Give orders! We
will obey your least commands, so long as life is left in us." I believe
they spoke thus feelingly because they thought I must fall shortly
dead upon the ground. I went immediately to inspect the furnace,
and found that the metal was all curdled; an accident which we
express by "being caked." ' I told two of the hands to cross the road,
and fetch from the house of the butcher Capretta a load of young
oak-wood, which had lain dry for above a year; this wood had been

' Essersi jatto tin migHaccio.

380 BENVENUTO CELLINI

previously offered me by Madame Ginevra, wife of the said Cap-
retta. So soon as the first armfuls arrived, I began to fill the grate
beneath the furnace.^ Now oak-wood of that kind heats more pow-
erfully than any other sort of tree; and for this reason, where a slow
fire is wanted, as in the case of gun-foundry, alder or pine is pre-
ferred. Accordingly, when the logs took fire, oh! how the cake began
to stir beneath that awful heat, to glow and sparkle in a blaze! At
the same time I kept stirring up the channels, and sent men upon the
roof to stop the conflagration, which had gathered force from the in-
creased combustion in the furnace; also I caused boards, carpets, and
other hangings to be set up against the garden, in order to protect
us from the violence of the rain.

LXXVII

When I had thus provided against these several disasters, I roared
out first to one man and then to another: "Bring this thing here!
Take that thing there!" At this crisis, when the whole gang saw
the cake was on the point of melting, they did my bidding, each
fellow working with the strength of three. I then ordered half a pig
of pewter to be brought, which weighed about sixty pounds, and
flung it into the middle of the cake inside the furnace. By this means,
and by piling on wood and stirring now with pokers and now with
iron rods, the curdled mass rapidly began to liquefy. Then, knowing
I had brought the dead to life again, against the firm opinion of
those ignoramuses, I felt such vigour fill my veins, that all those
pains of fever, all those fears of death, were quite forgotten.

All of a sudden an explosion took place, attended by a tremendous
flash of flame, as though a thunderbolt had formed and been dis-
charged amongst us. Unwonted and appalling terror astonied every
one, and me more even than the rest. When the din was over and
the dazzling light extinguished, we began to look each other in the
face. Then I discovered that the cap of the furnace had blown up,
and the bronze was bubbling over from its source beneath. So I had
the mouths of my mould immediately opened, and at the same time

2 The Italian is bracciaiuola, a pit below the grating, which receives the ashes from
the furnace.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 38 1

drove in the two plugs which kept back the molten metal. But I
noticed that it did not flow as rapidly as usual, the reason being prob-
ably that the fierce heat of the fire we kindled had consumed its
base alloy. Accordingly I sent for all my pewter platters, porringers,
and dishes, to the number of some two hundred pieces, and had a
portion of them cast, one by one, into the channels, the rest into the
furnace. This expedient succeeded, and every one could now per-
ceive that my bronze was in most perfect liquefaction, and my mould
was filling; whereupon they all with heartiness and happy cheer
assisted and obeyed my bidding, while I, now here, now there, gave
orders, helped with my own hands, and cried aloud: "O God! Thou
that by Thy immeasurable power didst rise from the dead, and in
Thy glory didst ascend to heaven!" .... even thus in a moment
my mould was filled; and seeing my work finished, I fell upon my
knees, and with all my heart gave thanks to God.

After all was over, I turned to a plate of salad on a bench there,
and ate with hearty appetite, and drank together with the whole
crew. Afterwards I retired to bed, healthy and happy, for it was now
two hours before morning, and slept as sweetly as though I had
never felt a touch of illness. My good housekeeper, without my
giving any orders, had prepared a fat capon for my repast. So that,
when I rose, about the hour for breaking fast, she presented herself
with a smiling countenance, and said: "Oh! is that the man who
felt that he was dying ? Upon my word, I think the blows and kicks
you dealt us last night, when you were so enraged, and had that
demon in your body as it seemed, must have frightened away your
mortal fever! The fever feared that it might catch it too, as we did!"
All my poor household, relieved in like measure from anxiety and
overwhelming labour, went at once to buy earthen vessels in order
to replace the pewter I had cast away. Then we dined together joy-
fully; nay, I cannot remember a day in my whole life when I dined
with greater gladness or a better appetite.

After our meal I received visits from the several men who had
assisted me. They exchanged congratulations, and thanked God for
our success, saying they had learned and seen things done which
other masters judged impossible. I too grew somewhat glorious; and
deeming I had shown myself a man of talent, indulged a boastful

382 BENVENUTO CELLINI

humour. So I thrust my hand into my purse, and paid them all to
their full satisfaction.

That evil fellow, my mortal foe, Messer Pier Francesco Ricci, ma-
jordomo of the Duke, took great pains to find out how the affair
had gone. In answer to his questions, the two men whom I sus-
pected of having caked my metal for me, said I was no man, but of
a certainty some powerful devil, since I had accompHshed what no
craft of the art could do; indeed they did not believe a mere ordi-
nary fiend could work such miracles as I in other ways had shown.
They exaggerated the whole affair so much, possibly in order to
excuse their own part in it, that the majordomo wrote an account
to the Duke, who was then in Pisa, far more marvellous and full of
thrilling incidents than what they had narrated.

LXXVIU

After I had let my statue cool for two whole days, I began to un-
cover it by slow degrees. The first thing I found was that the head
of Medusa had come out most admirably, thanks to the air- vents; for,
as I had told the Duke, it is the nature of fire to ascend. Upon
advancing farther, I discovered that the other head, that, namely, of
Perseus, had succeeded no less admirably; and this astonished me
far more, because it is at a considerably lower level than that of
the Medusa. Now the mouths of the mould were placed above the
head of Perseus and behind his shoulders; and I found that all the
bronze my furnace contained had been exhausted in the head of
this figure. It was a miracle to observe that not one fragment re-
mained in the orifice of the channel, and that nothing was wanting
to the statue. In my great astonishment I seemed to see in this the
hand of God arranging and controlling all.

I went on uncovering the statue with success, and ascertained that
everything had come out in perfect order, until I reached the foot of
the right leg on which the statue rests. There the heel itself was
formed, and going farther, I found the foot apparently complete.
This gave me great joy on the one side, but was half unwelcome to
me on the other, merely because I had told the Duke that it could
not come out. However, when I reached the end, it appeared that
the toes and a little piece above them were unfinished, so that about

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 383

half the foot was wanting. Although I knew that this would add a
trifle to my labour, I was very well pleased, because I could now
prove to the Duke how well I understood my business. It is true
that far more of the foot than I expected had been perfectly formed;
the reason of this was that, from causes I have recently described, the
bronze was hotter than our rules of art prescribe; also that I had
been obliged to supplement the alloy with my pewter cups and plat-
ters, which no one else, I think, had ever done before.

Having now ascertained how successfully my work had been ac-
complished, I lost no time in hurrying to Pisa, where I found the
Duke. He gave me a most gracious reception, as did also the Duch-
ess; and although the majordomo had informed them of the whole
proceedings, their Excellencies deemed my performance far more
stupendous and astonishing when they heard the tale from my own
mouth. When I arrived at the foot of Perseus, and said it had not
come out perfect, just as I previously warned his Excellency, I
saw an expression of wonder pass over his face, while he related to
the Duchess how I had predicted this beforehand. Observing the
princes to be so well disposed towards me, I begged leave from the
Duke to go to Rome. He granted it in most obliging terms, and bade
me return as soon as possible to complete his Perseus; giving me
letters of recommendation meanwhile to his ambassador, Averardo
Serristori. We were then in the first years of Pope Giulio de Monti.'

LXXIX

Before leaving home, I directed my workpeople to proceed accord-
ing to the method I had taught them. The reason of my journey was
as follows. I had made a life-sized bust in bronze of Bindo Altoviti,^
the son of Antonio, and had sent it to him at Rome. He set it up in
his study, which was very richly adorned with antiquities and other
works of art; but the room was not designed for statues or for paint-
ings, since the windows were too low, so that the light coming from
beneath spoiled the effect they would have produced under more

' Gio Maria del Monte Sansovino was elected Pope, with the title of Julius III., in
February 1550.

^This man was a member of a very noble Florentine family. Born in 1491, he
was at this epoch Tuscan Consul in Rome. Cellini's bust of him still exists in the
Palazzo Altoviti at Rome.

384 BENVENUTO CELLINI

favourable conditions. It happened one day that Bindo was standing
at his door, when Michel Agnolo Buonarroti, the sculptor, passed
by; so he begged him to come in and see his study. Michel Agnolo
followed, and on entering the room and looking round, he ex-
claimed: "Who is the master who made that good portrait of you in
so fine a manner.'' You must know that that bust pleases me as
much, or even more, than those antiques; and yet there are many
fine things to be seen among the latter. If those windows were above
instead of beneath, the whole collection would show to greater ad-
vantage, and your portrait, placed among so many masterpieces,
would hold its own with credit." No sooner had Michel Agnolo left
the house of Bindo than he wrote me a very kind letter, which ran as
follows: "My dear Benvenuto, I have known you for many years as
the greatest goldsmith of whom we have any information; and
henceforward I shall know you for a sculptor of like quality. I must
tell you that Master Bindo Altoviti took me to see his bust in bronze,
and informed me that you had made it. I was greatly pleased with
the work; but it annoyed me to notice that it was placed in a bad
light; for if it were suitably illuminated, it would show itself to be the
fine performance that it is." This letter abounded with the most
affectionate and complimentary expressions towards myself; and
before I left for Rome, I showed it to the Duke, who read it with
much kindly interest, and said to me: "Benvenuto, if you write to
him, and can persuade him to return to Florence, I will make him
a member of the Forty-eight." ^ Accordingly I wrote a letter full of
warmth, and offered in the Duke's name a hundred times more than
my commission carried; but not wanting to make any mistake, I
showed this to the Duke before I sealed it, saying to his most illus-
trious Excellency: "Prince, perhaps I have made him too many prom-
ises." He replied: "Michel Agnolo deserves more than you have
promised, and I will bestow on him still greater favours." To this
letter he sent no answer, and I could see that the Duke was much
offended with him.

'This was one of the three Councils created by Clement VII. in 1532, when he
changed the Florentine constitution. It corresponded to a Senate.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 385

LXXX

When I reached Rome, I went to lodge in Bindo Altoviti's house.
He told me at once how he had shown his bronze bust to Michel
Agnolo, and how the latter had praised it. So we spoke for some
length upon this topic. I ought to narrate the reasons why I had
taken this portrait. Bindo had in his hands 1200 golden crowns of
mine, which formed part of 5000 he had lent the Duke; 4000 were
his own, and mine stood in his name, while I received that portion
of the interest which accrued to me.^ This led to my taking his por-
trait; and when he saw the wax model for the bust, he sent me fifty
golden scudi by a notary in his employ, named Ser Giuliano Pac-
calli. I did not want to take the money, so I sent it back to him by
the same hand, saying at a later time to Bindo: "I shall be satis-
fied if you keep that sum of mine for me at interest, so that I may
gain a little on it." When we came to square accounts on this occa-
sion, I observed that he was ill disposed towards me, since, instead
of treating me affectionately, according to his previous wont, he put
on a stiff air; and although I was staying in his house, he was never
good-humoured, but always surly. However, we settled our business
in a few words. I sacrificed my pay for his portrait, together with
the bronze, and we arranged that he should keep my money at 15
per cent, during my natural life.

LXXXI

One of the first things I did was to go and kiss the Pope's feet; and
while I was speaking with his Holiness, Messer Averardo Serristori,
our Duke's Envoy, arrived.^ I had made some proposals to the Pope,
which I think he would have agreed upon, and I should have been
very glad to return to Rome on account of the great difficulties which
I had at Florence. But I soon perceived that the ambassador had
countermined me.

Then I went to visit Michel Agnolo Buonarroti, and repeated
what I had written from Florence to him in the Duke's name. He
replied that he was engaged upon the fabric of S. Peter's, and that

' To make the sum correct, 5200 ought to have been lent the Duke.
^ His despatches form a valuable series of historical documents. Firenze, Le Monnier.
1853-

386 BENVENUTO CELLINI

this would prevent him from leaving Rome. I rejoined that, as he
had decided on the model of that building, he could leave its exe-
cution to his man Urbino, who would carry out his orders to the
letter. I added much about future favours, in the form of a message
from the Duke. Upon this he looked me hard in the face, and said
with a sarcastic smile: "And you! to what extent are you satis-
fied with him?" Although I replied that I was extremely contented
and was very well treated by his Excellency, he showed that he was
acquainted with the greater part of my annoyances, and gave as his
final answer that it would be difficult for him to leave Rome. To
this I added that he could not do better than to return to his own
land, which was governed by a prince renowned for justice, and the
greatest lover of the arts and sciences who ever saw the light of this
world. As I have remarked above, he had with him a servant of his
who came from Urbino, and had lived many years in his employ-
ment, rather as valet and housekeeper than anything else; this indeed
was obvious, because he had acquired no skill in the arts.' Conse-
quently, while I was pressing Michel Agnolo with arguments he
could not answer, he turned round sharply to Urbino, as though to
ask him his opinion. The fellow began to bawl out in his rustic
way: "I will never leave my master Michel Agnolo's side till I shall
have flayed him or he shall have flayed me." These stupid words
forced me to laugh, and without saying farewell, I lowered my shoul-
ders and retired.

LXXXII

The miserable bargain I had made with Bindo Altoviti, losing my
bust and leaving him my capital for life, taught me what the faith
of merchants is; so I returned in bad spirits to Florence. I went at
once to the palace to pay my respects to the Duke, whom I found
to be at Castello beyond Ponte a Rifredi. In the palace I met Messer
Pier Francesco Ricci, the majordomo, and when I drew nigh to pay
him the usual compliments, he exclaimed with measureless astonish-
ment: "Oh, are you come back?" and with the same air of surprise,
clapping his hands together, he cried: "The Duke is at Castello!"

^Upon the death of this Urbino, Michel Angelo wrote a touching sonnet and a
very feeling letter to Vasari.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 387

then turned his back and left me. I could not form the least idea
why the beast behaved in such an extraordinary manner to me.

Proceeding at once to Castello, and entering the garden where
the Duke was, I caught sight of him at a distance; but no sooner
had he seen me than he showed signs of surprise, and intimated that
I might go about my business. I had been reckoning that his Excel-
lency would treat me with the same kindness, or even greater, as
before I left for Rome; so now, when he received me with such rude-
ness, I went back, much hurt, to Florence. While resuming my
work and pushing my statue forward, I racked my brains to think
what could have brought about this sudden change in the Duke's
manner. The curious way in which Messer Sforza and some other
gentlemen close to his Excellency's person eyed me, prompted me
to ask the former what the matter was. He only replied with a sort
of smile: "Benvenuto, do your best to be an honest man, and have
no concern for anything else." A few days afterwards I obtained
an audience of the Duke, who received me with a kind of grudging
grace, and asked me what I had been doing at Rome. To the best of
my ability I maintained the conversation, and told him the whole
story about Bindo Altoviti's bust. It was evident that he listened
with attention; so I went on talking about Michel Agnolo Buonar-
roti. At this he showed displeasure; but Urbino's stupid speech about
the flaying made him laugh aloud. Then he said: "Well, it is he who
suffers!" and I took my leave.

There can be no doubt that Ser Pier Francesco, the majordomo,
must have served me some ill turn with the Duke, which did not,
however, succeed; for God, who loves the truth, protected me, as He
hath ever saved me, from a sea of dreadful dangers, and I hope will
save me till the end of this my life, however full of trials it may be.
I march forward, therefore, with a good heart, sustained alone by
His divine power; nor let myself be terrified by any furious assault
of fortune or my adverse stars. May only God maintain me in His
grace!

LXXXIII

I must beg your attgntion now, most gracious reader, for a very

terrible event which happened.

388 BENVENUTO CELLINI

I used the utmost diligence and industry to complete my statue,
and went to spend my evenings in the Duke's wardrobe, assisting
there the goldsmiths who were working for his Excellency. Indeed,
they laboured mainly on designs which I had given them. Noticing
that the Duke took pleasure in seeing me at work and talking with
me, I took it into my head to go there sometimes also by day. It
happened upon one of those days that his Excellency came as usual
to the room where I was occupied, and more particularly because he
heard of my arrival. His Excellency entered at once into conversa-
tion, raising several interesting topics, upon which I gave my views
so much to his entertainment that he showed more cheerfulness than
I had ever seen in him before. All of a sudden, one of his secretaries
appeared, and whispered something of importance in his ear; where-
upon the Duke rose, and retired with the official into another cham-
ber. Now the Duchess had sent to see what his Excellency was
doing, and her page brought back this answer : "The Duke is talking
and laughing with Benvenuto, and is in excellent good-humour."
When the Duchess heard this, she came immediately to the ward-
robe, and not finding the Duke there, took a seat beside us. After
watching us at work a while, she turned to me with the utmost gra-
ciousness, and showed me a necklace of large and really very fine
pearls. On being asked by her what I thought of them, I said it was
in truth a very handsome ornament. Then she spoke as follows: "I
should like the Duke to buy them for me; so I beg you, my dear
Benvenuto, to praise them to him as highly as you can." At these
words I disclosed my mind to the Duchess with all the respect I
could, and answered: "My lady, I thought this necklace of pearls
belonged already to your most illustrious Excellency. Now that I
am aware you have not yet acquired them, it is right, nay, more, it
is my duty to utter what I might otherwise have refrained from say-
ing, namely, that my mature professional experience enables me to
detect very grave faults in the pearls, and for this reason I could
never advise your Excellency to purchase them." She replied: "The
merchant offers them for six thousand crowns; and were it not for
some of those trifling defects you speak of, the rope would be worth
over twelve thousand." To this I replied, that "even were the neck-
lace of quite flawless quality, I could not advise any one to bid up to

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 389

five thousand crowns for it; for pearls are not gems; pearls are but
fishes' bones, which in the course of time must lose their freshness.
Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, on the contrary, never
grow old; these four are precious stones, and these it is quite right
to purchase." When I had thus spoken, the Duchess showed some
signs of irritation, and exclaimed: "I have a mind to possess these
pearls; so, prithee, take them to the Duke, and praise them up to the
skies; even if you have to use some words beyond the bounds of
truth, speak them to do me service; it will be well for you!"

I have always been the greatest friend of truth and foe of lies: yet
compelled by necessity, unwilling to lose the favour of so great a
princess, I took those confounded pearls sorely against my inclina-
tion, and went with them over to the other room, whither the Duke
had withdrawn. No sooner did he set eyes upon me than he cried:
"O Benvenuto! what are you about here?" I uncovered the pearls
and said: "My lord, I am come to show you a most splendid neck-
lace of pearls, of the rarest quality, and truly worthy of your Excel-
lency; I do not believe it would be possible to put together eighty
pearls which could show better than these do in a necklace. My
counsel therefore is, that you should buy them, for they are in good
sooth miraculous." He responded on the instant: "I do not choose
to buy them; they are not pearls of the quality and goodness you
affirm; I have seen the necklace, and they do not please me." Then
I added: "Pardon me, prince! These pearls exceed in rarity and
beauty any which were ever brought together for a necklace." The
Duchess had risen, and was standing behind a door listening to all
I said. Well, when I had praised the pearls a thousandfold more
warmly than I have described above, the Duke turned towards me
with a kindly look, and said: "O my dear Benvenuto, I know that
you have an excellent judgment in these matters. If the pearls are
as rare as you certify, I should not hesitate about their purchase,
partly to gratify the Duchess, and partly to possess them, seeing I
have always need of such things, not so much for her Grace, as for
the various uses of my sons and daughters." When I heard him
speak thus, having once begun to tell fibs, I stuck to them with even
greater boldness; I gave all the colour of truth I could to my lies,
confiding in the promise of the Duchess to help me at the time of

390 BENVENUTO CELLINI

need. More than two hundred crowns were to be my commission
on the bargain, and the Duchess had intimated that I should receive
so much; but I was firmly resolved not to touch a farthing, in order
to secure my credit, and convince the Duke I was not prompted by
avarice. Once more his Excellency began to address me with the
greatest courtesy: "I know that you are a consummate judge of these
things; therefore, if you are the honest man I always thought you, tell
me now the truth." Thereat I flushed up to my eyes, which at the
same time filled with tears, and said to him : "My lord, if I tell your
most illustrious Excellency the truth, I shall make a mortal foe of
the Duchess; this will oblige me to depart from Florence, and my
enemies will begin at once to pour contempt upon my Perseus, which
I have announced as a masterpiece to the most noble school of your
illustrious Excellency. Such being the case, I recommend myself to
your most illustrious Excellency."

LXXXIV

The Duke was now aware that all my previous speeches had been,
as it were, forced out of me. So he rejoined: "If you have confidence
in me, you need not stand in fear of anything whatever." I recom-
menced: "Alas! my lord, what can prevent this coming to the ears
of the Duchess?" The Duke lifted his hand in sign of troth-pledge,'
and exclaimed: "Be assured that what you say will be buried in a
diamond casket!" To this engagement upon honour I replied by
telling the truth according to my judgment, namely, that the pearls
were not worth above two thousand crowns. The Duchess, thinking
we had stopped talking, for we now were speaking in as low a voice
as possible, came forward, and began as follows: "My lord, do me
the favour to purchase this necklace, because I have set my heart on
them, and your Benvenuto here has said he never saw a finer row of
pearls." The Duke replied: "I do not choose to buy them." "Why,
my lord, will not your Excellency gratify me by buying them.?"
"Because I do not care to throw my money out of the window." The
Duchess recommenced: "What do you mean by throwing your
money away, when Benvenuto, in whom you place such well-merited
confidence, has told me that they would be cheap at over three thou-

* Alzd la fede.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 39I

sand crowns?" Then the Duke said: "My lady! my Benvenuto here
has told me that, if I purchase this necklace, I shall be throwing my
money away, inasmuch as the pearls are neither round nor well-
matched, and some of them are quite faded. To prove that this is so,
look here! look there! consider this one and then that. The necklace
is not the sort of thing for me." At these words the Duchess cast
a glance of bitter spite at me, and retired with a threatening nod of
her head in my direction. I felt tempted to pack off at once and bid
farewell to Italy. Yet my Perseus being all but finished, I did not
like to leave without exposing it to public view. But I ask every one
to consider in what a grievous plight I found myself!

The Duke had given orders to his porters in my presence, that if
I appeared at the palace, they should always admit me through his
apartments to the place where he might happen to be. The Duchess
commanded the same men, whenever I showed my face at that pal-
ace, to drive me from its gates. Accordingly, no sooner did I present
myself, than these fellows left their doors and bade me begone; at
the same time they took good care lest the Duke should perceive
what they were after; for if he caught sight of me before those
wretches, he either called me, or beckoned to me to advance.

At this juncture the Duchess sent for Bernardone, the broker, of
whom she had so often complained to me, abusing his good-for-
nothingness and utter worthlessness. She now confided in him as
she had previously done in me. He replied : "My princess, leave the
matter in my hands." Then the rascal presented himself before the
Duke with that necklace in his hands. No sooner did the Duke set
eyes on him than he bade him begone. But the rogue lifted his big
ugly voice, which sounded like the braying of an ass through his
huge nose, and spoke to this effect: "Ah! my dear lord, for Heaven's
sake buy this necklace for the poor Duchess, who is dying to have it,
and cannot indeed live without it." The fellow poured forth so much
of this stupid nonsensical stuff that the Duke's patience was ex-
hausted, and he cried: "Oh, get away with you, or blow your chaps
out till I smack them!" The knave knew very well what he was
after; for if by blowing out his cheeks or singing La Bella Frances-
china^ he could bring the Duke to make that purchase, then he

^ A popular ballad of the time.

392 BENVENUTO CELLINI

gained the good grace of the Duchess, and to boot his own commis-
sion, which rose to some hundreds of crowns. Consequently he did
blow out his chaps. The Duke smacked them with several hearty
boxes, and, in order to get rid of him, struck rather harder than his
wont was. The sound blows upon his cheeks not only reddened
them above their natural purple, but also brought tears into his eyes.
All the same, while smarting, he began to cry: "Lol my lord, a faith-
ful servant of his prince, who tries to act rightly, and is willing to
put up with any sort of bad treatment, provided only that poor
lady have her heart's desire!" The Duke tired of the ribald fellow,
either to recompense the cuffs which he had dealt him, or for the
Duchess's sake, whom he was ever most inclined to gratify, cried
out: "Get away with you, with God's curse on you! Go, make the
bargain; I am willing to do what my lady Duchess wishes."

From this incident we may learn to know how evil Fortune exerts
her rage against a poor right-minded man, and how the strumpet
Luck can help a miserable rascal. I lost the good graces of the
Duchess once and for ever, and thereby went close to having the
Duke's protection taken from me. He acquired that thumping fee
for his commission, and to boot their favour. Thus it will not serve
us in this world to be merely men of honesty and talent.

LXXXV

About this time the war of Siena broke out,' and the Duke, wish-
ing to fortify Florence, distributed the gates among his architects
and sculptors. I received the Prato gate and the little one of Arno,
which is on the way to the mills. The Cavaliere Bandinello got the
gate of San Friano; Pasqualino d'Ancona, the gate at San Pier Gat-
tolini; Giulian di Baccio d'Agnolo, the wood-carver, had the gate of
San Giorgio; Particino, the wood-carver, had the gate of Santo Nic-
colo; Francesco da San Gallo, the sculptor, called II MargoUa, got the
gate of Santa Croce; and Giovan Battista, surnamed II Tasso, the
gate Pinti.^ Other bastions and gates were assigned to divers

' In the year 1552, when Piero Strozzi acted as general for the French King, Henri
II., against the Spaniards. The war ended in the capitulation of Siena in 1555. In
1557 it was ceded by Philip II. to Cosimo de' Medici.

^ These artists, with the exception of Pasqualino, are all known to us in the con-
ditions described by Cellini. Francesco da San Gallo was the son of Giuliano, and
nephew of Antonio da San Gallo.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 393

engineers, whose names I do not recollect, nor indeed am I con-
cerned with them. The Duke, who certainly was at all times a man
of great ability, went round the city himself upon a tour of inspec-
tion, and when he had made his mind up, he sent for Lattanzio
Gorini, one of his paymasters. Now this man was to some extent
an amateur of military architecture; so his Excellency commissioned
him to make designs for the fortifications of the gates, and sent each
of us his own gate drawn according to the plan. After examining
the plan for mine, and perceiving that it was very incorrect in many
details, I took it and went immediately to the Duke. When I tried
to point out these defects, the Duke interrupted me and exclaimed
with fury: "Benvenuto, I will give way to you upon the point of
statuary, but in this art of fortification I choose that you should cede
to me. So carry out the design which I have given you." To these
brave words I answered as gently as I could, and said: "My lord,
your most illustrious Excellency has taught me something even in
my own fine art of statuary, inasmuch as we have always exchanged
ideas upon that subject; I beg you then to deign to listen to me upon
this matter of your fortifications, which is far more important than
making statues. If I am permitted to discuss it also with your Excel-
lency, you will be better able to teach me how I have to serve you."
This courteous speech of mine induced him to discuss the plans with
me; and when I had clearly demonstrated that they were not con-
ceived on a right method, he said: "Go, then, and make a design
yourself, and I will see if it satisfies me." Accordingly, I made two
designs according to the right principles for fortifying those two
gates, and took them to him; and when he distinguished the true
from the false system, he exclaimed good humouredly: "Go and do
it in your own way, for I am content to have it so." I set to work
then with the greatest diligence.

LXXXVI

There was on guard at the gate of Prato a certain Lombard cap-
tain; he was a truculent and stalwart fellow, of incredibly coarse
speech, whose presumption matched his utter ignorance. This man
began at once to ask me what I was about there. I politely exhibited
my drawings, and took infinite pains to make him understand my

394 BENVENUTO CELLINI

purpose. The rude brute kept rolling his head, and turning first to
one side and then to the other, shifting himself upon his legs, and
twirling his enormous moustachios; then he drew his cap down
over his eyes and roared out: "Zounds! deuce take it! I can make
nothing of this rigmarole." At last the animal became so tiresome
that I said: "Leave it then to me, who do understand it," and turned
my shoulders to go about my business. At this he began to threaten
me with his head, and, setting his left hand on the pommel of his
sword, tilted the point up, and exclaimed: "Hullo, my master! you
want perhaps to make me cross blades with you?" I faced round in
great fury, for the man had stirred my blood, and cried out: "It
would be less trouble to run you through the body than to build the
bastion of this gate." In an instant we both set hands to our swords,
without quite drawing; for a number of honest folk, citizens of
Florence, and others of them courtiers, came running up. The
greater part of them rated the captain, telling him that he was in
the wrong, that I was a man to give him back as good as I got, and
that if this came to the Duke's ears, it would be the worse for him.
Accordingly he went off on his own business, and I began with my
bastion.

After setting things in order there, I proceeded to the other little
gate of Arno, where I found a captain from Cesena, the most polite,
well-mannered man I ever knew in that profession. He had the air
of a gentle young lady, but at need he could prove himself one of
the boldest and bloodiest fighters in the world. This agreeable
gentleman observed me so attentively that he made me bashful and
self-conscious; and seeing that he wanted to understand what I was
doing, I courteously explained my plans. Suffice it to say, that we
vied with each other in civilities, which made me do far better with
this bastion than with the other.

I had nearly finished the two bastions when an inroad of Piero
Strozzi's people struck such terror into the countryfolk of Prato that
they began to leave it in a body, and all their carts, laden with the
household goods of each family, came crowding into the city. The
number of them was so enormous, cart jostling with cart, and the
confusion was so great, that I told the guards to look out lest the
same misadventure should happen at this gate as had occurred at

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 395

the gates of Turin; for if we had once cause to lower the portcullis,
it would not be able to perform its functions, but must inevitably
stick suspended upon one of the waggons. When that big brute of
a captain heard these words, he rephed with insults, and I retorted in
the same tone. We were on the point of coming to a far worse
quarrel than before. However, the folk kept us asunder; and when
I had finished my bastions, I touched some score of crowns, which
I had not expected, and which were uncommonly welcome. So I
returned with a blithe heart to finish my Perseus.

LXXXVII

During those days some antiquities had been discovered in the
country round Arezzo. Among them was the Chimaera, that bronze
lion which is to be seen in the rooms adjacent to the great hall of the
palace.^ Together with the Chimaera a number of litde statuettes,
likewise in bronze, had been brought to light; they were covered
with earth and rust, and each of them lacked either head or hands
or feet. The Duke amused his leisure hours by cleaning up these
statuettes himself with certain little chisels used by goldsmiths. It
happened on one occasion that I had to speak on business to his
Excellency; and while we were talking, he reached me a little
hammer, with which I struck the chisels the Duke held, and so the
figures were disengaged from their earth and rust. In this way we
passed several evenings, and then the Duke commissioned me to
restore the statuettes. He took so much pleasure in these trifles that
he made me work by day also, and if I delayed coming, he used to
send for me. I very often submitted to his Excellency that if I left
my Perseus in the daytime, several bad consequences would ensue.
The first of these, which caused me the greatest anxiety, was that,
seeing me spend so long a time upon my statue, the Duke himself
might get disgusted; which indeed did afterwards happen. The
other was that I had several journeymen who in my absence were up
to two kinds of mischief; first, they spoilt my piece, and then they
did as little work as possible. These arguments made his Excellency
consent that I should only go to the palace after twenty-four o'clock.
' Now in the UfEzzi.

396 BENVENUTO CELLINI

I had now conciliated the aflection o£ his Excellency to such an
extent, that every evening when I came to him he treated me with
greater kindness. About this time the new apartments were built
toward the lions;' the Duke then wishing to be able to retire into a
less public part of the palace, fitted up for himself a little chamber
in these new lodgings, and ordered me approach to it by a private
passage. I had to pass through his wardrobe, then across the stage
of the great hall, and afterwards through certain litde dark galleries
and cabinets. The Duchess, however, after a few days, deprived me
of this means of access by having all the doors upon the path I had
to traverse locked up. The consequence was that every evening
when I arrived at the palace, I had to wait a long while, because the
Duchess occupied the cabinets for her personal necessities.* Her habit
of body was unhealthy, and so I never came without incommoding
her. This and other causes made her hate the very sight of me.
However, notwithstanding great discomforts and daily annoyances,
I persevered in going. The Duke's orders, meanwhile, were so pre-
cise, that no sooner did I knock at those doors, than they were
immediately opened, and I was allowed to pass freely where I
chose. The consequence was that occasionally, while walking noise-
lessly and imexpectedly through the private rooms, I came upon the
Duchess at a highly inconvenient moment. Bursting then into such
a furious storm of rage that I was frightened, she cried out: "When
will you ever finish mending up those statuettes? Upon my word,
this perpetual going and coming of yours has grown to be too great
a nuisance." I replied as gently as I could : "My lady and sole mistress,
I have no other desire than to serve you loyally and with the strictest
obedience. This work to which the Duke has put me will last several
months; so tell me, most illustrious Excellency, whether you wish me
not to come here any more. In that case I will not come, whoever
calls me; nay, should the Duke himself send for me, I shall reply
that I am ill, and by no means will I intrude again." To this speech
she made answer: "I do not bid you not to come, nor do I bid you to
disobey the Duke; but I repeat that your work seems to me as though
it would never be finished."

Whether the Duke heard something of this encounter, or what-

* Lions from a very early period had always been kept in part of the Palazzo
Vecchio. ^ .AUe sue comoditd.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 397

ever the cause was, he began again as usual. Toward twenty-four
o'clock he sent for me; and his messenger always spoke to this effect:
"Take good care, and do not fail to come, for the Duke is waiting
for you." In this way I continued, always with the same incon-
veniences, to put in an appearance on several successive evenings.
Upon one occasion among others, arriving in my customary way,
the Duke, who had probably been talking with the Duchess about
private matters, turned upon me in a furious anger. I was terrified,
and wanted to retire. But he called out: "Come in, friend Ben-
venuto; go to your affairs; I will rejoin you in a few moments."
While I was passing onward, Don Garzia, then quite a little fellow,
plucked me by the cape, and played with me as prettily as such a
child could do. The Duke looked up delighted, and exclaimed:
"What pleasant and friendly terms my boys are on with you!"

LXXXVIII

While I was working at these bagatelles, the Prince, and Don
Giovanni, and Don Arnando, and Don Garzia kept always hovering
around me, teasing me whenever the Duke's eyes were turned.' I
begged them for mercy's sake to hold their peace. They answered:
"That we cannot do." I told them : "What one cannot is required of
no one! So have your will! Along with you!" At this both Duke
and Duchess burst out laughing.

Another evening, after I had finished the small bronze figures

which are wrought into the pedestal of Perseus, that is to say, the

Jupiter, Mercury, Minerva, and Danx, with the little Perseus seated

at his mother's feet, I had them carried into the room where I was

wont to work, and arranged them in a row, raised somewhat above

the line of vision, so that they produced a magnificent effect. The

Duke heard of this, and made his entrance sooner than usual. It

seems that the person who informed his Excellency praised them

above their merit, using terms like "far superior to the ancients,"

and so forth; wherefore the Duke came talking pleasantly with the

Duchess about my doings. I rose at once and went to meet them.

With his fine and truly princely manner he received me, lifting his

right hand, in which he held as superb a pear-graft as could possibly

^The Prince was Don Francesco, then aged twelve; Don Giovanni was ten, Don
Garzia was six, and Don Ferdinando four.

398 BENVENUTO CELLINI

be seen. "Take it, my Benvenuto!" he exclaimed; "plant this pear
in your garden." To these words I replied with a delighted gesture:
"O my lord, does your most illustrious Excellency really mean that
I should plant it in the garden of my house ? "Yes," he said, "in the
garden of the house which belongs to you. Have you understood
me.?" I thanked his Excellency, and the Duchess in like manner,
with the best politeness I could use.

After this they both took seats in front of the statues, and for more
than two hours went on talking about nothing but the beauties of
the work. The Duchess was wrought up to such an enthusiasm that
she cried out: "I do not like to let those exquisite figures be wasted
on the pedestal down there in the piazza, where they will run the
risk of being injured. I would much rather have you fix them in
one of my apartments, where they will be preserved with the respect
due to their singular artistic qualities." I opposed this plan with
many forcible arguments; but when I saw that she was determined
I should not place them on the pedestal where they now stand, I
waited till next day, and went to the palace about twenty-two
o'clock. Ascertaining that the Duke and Duchess were out riding,
and having already prepared the pedestal, I had the statues carried
down, and soldered them with lead into their proper niches. Oh,
when the Duchess knew of this, how angry she was! Had it not been
for the Duke, who manfully defended me, I should have paid dearly
for my daring. Her indignation about the pearls, and now again
about this matter of the statues, made her so contrive that the Duke
abandoned his amusements in our workshop. Consequently I went
there no more, and was met again with the same obstructions as
formerly whenever I wanted to gain access to the palace.

LXXXIX

I returned to the Loggia,' whither my Perseus had already been
brought, and went on putting the last touches to my work, under the
old difficulties always; that is to say, lack of money, and a hundred
untoward accidents, the half of which would have cowed a man
armed with adamant.

1 That is, the Loggia de' Lanzi, on the great piazza of Florence, where Cellini's
statue still stands.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 399

However, I pursued my course as usual; and one morning, after
I had heard mass at San Piero Scheraggio, that brute Bernardone,
broker, worthless goldsmith, and by the Duke's grace purveyor to the
mint, passed by me. No sooner had he got outside the church than
the dirty pig let fly four cracks which might have been heard from
San Miniato. I cried: "Yah! pig, poltroon, donkey! is that the noise
your filthy talents make?" and ran off for a cudgel. He took refuge
on the instant in the mint; while I stationed myself inside my house-
door, which I left ajar, setting a boy at watch upon the street to
warn me when the pig should leave the mint. After waiting some
time, I grew tired, and my heat cooled. Reflecting, then, that blows
are not dealt by contract, and that some disaster might ensue, I
resolved to wreak my vengeance by another method. The incident
took place about the feast of our San Giovanni, one or two days
before; so I composed four verses, and stuck them up in an angle of
the church where people go to ease themselves. The verses ran as
follows: —

"Here lieth Bernardone, ass and pig.

Spy, broker, thief, in whom Pandora planted
All her worst evils, and from thence transplanted
Into that brute Buaccio's carcass big." ^

Both the incident and the verses went the round of the palace, giving
the Duke and Duchess much amusement. But, before the man him-
self knew what I had been up to, crowds of people stopped to read
the hnes and laughed immoderately at them. Since they were look-
ing towards the mint and fixing their eyes on Bernardone, his son,
Maestro Baccio, taking notice of their gestures, tore the paper down
with fury. The elder bit his thumb, shrieking threats out with that
hideous voice of his, which comes forth through his nose; indeed he
made a brave defiance.'

2 If I understand the obscure lines of the original, Cellini wanted to kill two birds
with one stone by this epigram — both Bernardone and his son Baccio. But by Buaccio
he generally means Baccio Bandinelli.

'To bite the thumb at any one was, as students of our old drama know, a sign
of challenge or provocation.

400 BENVENUTO CELLINI

XC

When the Duke was informed that the whole of my work for the
Perseus could be exhibited as finished, he came one day to look at it.
His manner showed clearly that it gave him great satisfaction; but
afterwards he turned to some gentlemen attending him and said:
"Although this statue seems in our eyes a very fine piece, still it has
yet to win the favour of the people. Therefore, my Benvenuto,
before you put the very last touches on, I should like you, for my
sake, to remove a part of the scaffolding on the side of the piazza,
some day toward noon, in order that we may learn what folk think
of it. There is no doubt that when it is thrown open to space and
light, it will look very differently from what it does in this enclosure."
I replied with all humility to his Excellency: "You must know, my
lord, that it will make more than twice as good a show. Oh, how is
it that your most illustrious Excellency has forgotten seeing it in the
garden of my house ? There, in that large extent of space, it showed
so bravely that Bandinello, coming through the garden of the Inno-
cents to look at it, was compelled, in spite of his evil and malignant
nature, to praise it, he who never praised aught or any one in all
his life! I perceive that your Excellency lends too ready an ear to
that fellow." When I had done speaking, he smiled ironically and a
little angrily; yet he rephed with great kindness: "Do what I ask,
my Benvenuto, just to please me."

When the Duke had left, I gave orders to have the screen removed.
Yet some trifles of gold, varnish, and various other little finishings
were still wanting; wherefore I began to murmur and complain
indignantly, cursing the unhappy day which brought me to Florence.
Too well I knew already the great and irreparable sacrifice I made
when I left France; nor could I discover any reasonable ground for
hope that I might prosper in the future with my prince and patron.
From the commencement to the middle and the ending, everything
that I had done had been performed to my great disadvantage.
Therefore, it was with deep ill-humour that I disclosed my statue on
the following day.

Now it pleased God that, on the instant of its exposure to view,
a shout of boundless enthusiasm went up in commendation of my

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 4OI

work, which consoled me not a little. The folk kept on attaching
sonnets to the posts of the door, which was protected with a curtain
while I gave the last touches to the statue. I believe that on the same
day when I opened it a few hours to the public, more than twenty
were nailed up, all of them overflowing with the highest panegyrics,
Afterwards, when I once more shut it off from view, every day
brought sonnets, with Latin and Greek verses; for the University
of Pisa was then in vacation, and all the doctors and scholars kept
vying with each other who could praise it best. But what gratified
me most, and inspired me with most hope of the Duke's support,
was that the artists, sculptors and painters alike, entered into the
same generous competition. I set the highest value on the eulogies
of that excellent painter Jacopo Pontormo, and still more on those
of his able pupil Bronzino, who was not satisfied with merely pub-
lishing his verses, but sent them by his lad Sandrino's hand to my
own house.' They spoke so generously of my performance, in that
fine style of his which is most exquisite, that this alone repaid me
somewhat for the pain of my long troubles. So then I closed the
screen, and once more set myself to finishing my statue.

xci

The great compliments which this short inspection of my Perseus
had elicited from the noble school of Florence, though they were well
known to the Duke, did not prevent him from saying: "I am
delighted that Benvenuto has had this trifling satisfaction, which
will spur him on to the desired conclusion with more speed and
diligence. Do not, however, let him imagine that, when his Perseus
shall be finally exposed to view from all sides, folk in general will
be so lavish of their praises. On the contrary, I am afraid that all its
defects will then be brought home to him, and more will be detected
than the statue really has. So let him arm himself with patience."
These were precisely the words which Bandinello had whispered in
the Duke's ears, citing the works of Andrea del Verrocchio, who
made that fine bronze of Christ and S. Thomas on the front of

'Jacopo Carrucci da Pontormo was now an old man. He died in 1558, aged
sixty-five years. Angelo Allori, called II Bronzino, one of the last fairly good Florentine
painters, won considerable distinction as a writer of burlesque poems. He died in
1571, aged sixty-nine years. We possess his sonnets of the perseus.

402 BENVENUTO CELLINI

Orsammichele; at the same time he referred to many other statues,
and dared even to attack the marvellous David of divine Michel
Agnolo Buonarroti, accusing it of only looking well if seen in
front; finally, he touched upon the multitude of sarcastic sonnets
which were called forth by his own Hercules and Cacus, and wound
up with abusing the people of Florence. Now the Duke, who was
too much inclined to credit his assertions, encouraged the fellow to
speak thus, and thought in his own heart that things would go as he
had prophesied, because that envious creature Bandinello never
ceased insinuating malice. On one occasion it happened that the
gallows bird Bernardone, the broker, was present at these conversa-
tions, and in support of Bandinello's calumnies, he said to the Duke:
"You must remember, prince, that statues on a large scale are quite
a different dish of soup from little figures. I do not refuse him the
credit of being excellent at statuettes in miniature. But you will
soon see that he cannot succeed in that other sphere of art." To these
vile suggestions he added many others of all sorts, plying his spy's
office, and piling up a mountain of lies to boot.

XCII

Now it pleased my glorious Lord and immortal God that at last
I brought the whole work to completion : and on a certain Thursday
morning I exposed it to the public gaze.' Immediately, before the
sun was fully in the heavens, there assembled such a multitude of
people that no words could describe them. All with one voice con-
tended which should praise it most. The Duke was stationed at a
window low upon the first floor of the palace, just above the entrance;
there, half hidden, he heard everything the folk were saying of my
statue. After listening through several hours, he rose so proud and
happy in his heart that he turned to his attendant, Messer Sforza,
and exclaimed: "Sforza, go and seek out Benvenuto; tell him from
me that he has delighted me far more than I expected : say too that
I shall reward him in a way which will astonish him; so bid him be
of good courage."

In due course, Messer Sforza discharged this glorious embassy,
which consoled me greatly. I passed a happy day, partly because of

'April 27, 1554.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 4O3

the Duke's message, and also because the folk kept pointing me out
as something marvellous and strange. Among the many who did so,
were two gentlemen, deputed by the Viceroy of Sicily^ to our Duke
on public business. Now these two agreeable persons met me upon
the piazza: I had been shown them in passing, and now they made
monstrous haste to catch me up; then, with caps in hand, they uttered
an oration so ceremonious, that it would have been excessive for a
Pope. I bowed, with every protestation of humility. They mean-
while continued loading me with compliments, until at last I prayed
them, for kindness' sake, to leave the piazza in my company, because
the folk were stopping and staring at me more than at my Perseus.
In the midst of all these ceremonies, they went so far as to propose
that I should come to Sicily, and offered to make terms which should
content me. They told me how Fra Giovan Agnolo de' Servi' had
constructed a fountain for them, complete in all parts, and decorated
with a multitude of figures; but it was not in the same good style
they recognised in Perseus, and yet they had heaped riches on the
man. I would not suffer them to finish all their speeches, but
answered: "You give me much cause for wonder, seeking as you do
to make me quit the service of a prince who is the greatest patron of
the arts that ever lived; and I too here in my own birthplace, famous
as the school of every art and science! Oh, if my soul's desire had
been set on lucre, I could have stayed in France, with that great
monarch Francis, who gave me a thousand golden crowns a year
for board, and paid me in addition the price of all my labour. In
his service I gained more than four thousand golden crowns the
year."

With these and such like words I cut their ceremonies short,
thanking them for the high praises they had bestowed upon me,
which were indeed the best reward that artists could receive for their
labours. I told them they had greatly stimulated my zeal, so that I
hoped, after a few years were passed, to exhibit another masterpiece,
which I dared believe would yield far truer satisfaction to our noble
school of Florence. The two gentlemen were eager to resume the

^Don Juan de Vega.

^Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli entered the Order of the Servites in 1530, This did
not prevent him from plying his profession of sculptor. The work above alluded to
is the fountain at Messina.

404 BENVENUTO CELLINI

thread of their compUmentary proposals, whereupon I, lifting my
cap and making a profound bow, bade them a polite farewell.

XCIII

When two more days had passed, and the chorus of praise was
ever on the increase, I resolved to go and present myself to the Duke,
who said with great good-humour: "My Benvenuto, you have satis-
fied and delighted me; but I promise that I will reward you in such
wise as wall make you wonder; and I tell you that I do not mean
to delay beyond to-morrow." On hearing this most welcome assur-
ance, I turned all the forces of my soul and body to God, fervently
offering up thanks to Him. At the same moment I approached the
Duke, and almost weeping for gladness, kissed his robe. Then I
added: "O my glorious prince, true and most generous lover of the
arts, and of those who exercise them! I entreat your most illustrious
Excellency to allow me eight days first to go and return thanks to
God; for I alone know what travail I have endured, and that my
earnest faith has moved Him to assist me. In gratitude for this and
all other marvellous mercies, I should like to travel eight days on
pilgrimage, continually thanking my immortal God, who never fails
to help those who call upon Him with sincerity." The Duke then
asked me where I wished to go. I answered : "To-morrow I shall set
out for Vallombrosa, thence to Camaldoli and the Ermo, afterwards
I shall proceed to the Bagni di Santa Maria, and perhaps so far as
Sestile, because I hear of fine antiquities to be seen there.' Then I
shall retrace my steps by San Francesco della Vernia, and, sdll with
thanks to God, return light-hearted to your service." The Duke
repUed at once with cheerful kindness: "Go and come back again,
for of a truth you please me; but do not forget to send a couple of
lines by way of memorandum, and leave the rest to me."

I wrote four lines that very day, in which I thanked his Excellency
for expected favours, and gave these to Messer Sforza, who placed
them in the Duke's hands. The latter took them, and then handed
them to Messer Sforza, remarking : "See that you put these lines each
day where I can see them; for if Benvenuto comes back and finds I
have not despatched his business, I think that he will murder me."
Thus laughing, his Excellency asked to be reminded. Messer Sforza
* The Ermo is more correctly Eremo, and Vernia is Alvernia.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 405

reported these precise words to me on the same evening, laughing
too and expressing wonder at the great favour shown me by the
Duke. He pleasantly added: "Go, Benvenuto, and come again
quickly, for indeed I am jealous of you."

xciv

In God's name then I left Florence, continually singing psalms
and prayers in His honour upon all that journey. I enjoyed it
extremely; for the season was fine, in early summer, and the country
through which I travelled, and which I had never seen before, struck
me as marvellously beautiful. Now I had taken with me to serve as
guide a young workman in my employ, who came from Bagno, and
was called Cesare. Thanks to him, then, I received the kindest
hospitality from his father and all his family, among whom was an
old man of more than seventy, extremely pleasant in his conversation.
He was Cesare's uncle, a surgeon by profession, and a dabbler in
alchemy. This excellent person made me observe that the Bagni
contained mines of gold and silver, and showed me many interesting
objects in the neighbourhood; so that I enjoyed myself as much as
I have ever done.

One day, when we had become intimate and he could trust me,
he spoke as follows : "I must not omit to tell you a thought of mine,
to which his Excellency might with advantage pay attention. It is,
that not far from Camaldoli there lies a mountain pass so ill
defended, that Piero Strozzi could not only cross it without risk,
but might also seize on Poppi' unmolested." Not satisfied with this
description, he also took a sheet of paper from his pouch, upon which
the good old man had drawn the whole country, so that the serious-
ness of the danger could be manifest upon inspection of the map. I
took the design and left Bagno at once, travelling homeward as fast
as I could by Prato Magno and San Francesco della Vernia. On
reaching Florence, I only stopped to draw off my riding-boots, and
hurried to the palace. Just opposite the Badia I met the Duke, who
was coming by the palace of the Podesta. When he saw me he gave
me a very gracious reception, and showing some surprise, exclaimed:
"Why have you come back so quickly; I did not expect you for eight

' A village in the Castenino. Piero Strozzi was at this time in Valdichiana.

406 BENVENUTO CELLINI

days at least." I answered: "The service of your most illustrious
Excellency brings me back, else I should very willingly have stayed
some few days longer on my journey through that lovely country."
"Well, and what good news have you?" said he. I answered:
"Prince, I must talk to you about things of the greatest importance
which I have to disclose." So I followed him to the palace, and
when we were there, he took me privately into a chamber where we
stayed a while alone together. I then unfolded the whole matter and
showed him the httle map, with which he seemed to be much
gratified. When I told his Excellency that one ought to take meas-
ures at once, he reflected for a little while and then said: "I may
inform you that we have agreed with the Duke of Urbino that he
should guard the pass; but do not speak about it." Then he dis-
missed me with great demonstrations of good-will, and I went home.

xcv

Next day I presented myself, and, after a few words of conversa-
tion, the Duke addressed me cheerfully: "To-morrow, without fail,
I mean to despatch your business; set your mind at rest, then." I,
who felt sure that he meant what he said, waited with great impa-
tience for the morrow. When the longed-for day arrived, I betook
me to the palace; and as it always happens that evil tidings travel
faster than good news, Messer Giacopo Guidi,' secretary to his
Excellency, called me with his wry mouth and haughty voice; draw-
ing himself up as stiff as a poker, he began to speak to this effect:
"The Duke says he wants you to tell him how much you ask for
your Perseus." I remained dumbfounded and astonished; yet I
quickly replied that it was not my custom to put prices on my work,
and that this was not what his Excellency had promised me two
days ago. The man raised his voice, and ordered me expressly in the
Duke's name, under the penalty of his severe displeasure, to say how
much I wanted. Now I had hoped not only to gain some handsome
reward, trusting to the mighty signs of kindness shown me by the
Duke, but I had still more expected to secure the entire good graces
of his Excellency, seeing I never asked for anything, but only for his
favour. Accordingly, this wholly unexpected way of dealing with

' It appears from a letter written by Guidi to Bandinelli that he hated Cellini, whom
he called pessimo mostro di natura. Guidi was made Bishop of Penna in 1561, and
attended the Council of Trent.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 407

me put me in a fury, and I was especially enraged by the manner
which that venomous toad assumed in discharging his commission.
I exclaimed that if the Duke gave me ten thousand crowns I should
not be paid enough, and that if I had ever thought things would
come to this haggling, I should not have settled in his service.
Thereupon the surly fellow began to abuse me, and I gave it him
back again.

Upon the following day, when I paid my respects to the Duke, he
beckoned to me. I approached, and he exclaimed in anger: "Cities
and great palaces are built with ten thousands of ducats." I rejoined :
"Your Excellency can find multitudes of men who are able to build
you cities and palaces, but you will not, perhaps, find one man in the
world who could make a second Perseus." Then I took my leave
without saying or doing anything farther. A few days afterwards the
Duchess sent for me, and advised me to put my difference with the
Duke into her hands, since she thought she could conduct the busi-
ness to my satisfaction. On hearing these kindly words I replied
that I had never asked any other recompense for my labours than the
good graces of the Duke, and that his most illustrious Excellency had
assured me of this; it was not needful that I should place in their
Excellencies' hands what I had always frankly left to them from the
first days when I undertook their service. I farther added that if his
most illustrious Excellency gave me but a craziaf which is worth
five farthings, for my work, I should consider myself contented, pro-
vided only that his Excellency did not deprive me of his favour. At
these words the Duchess smiled a little and said: "Benvenuto, you
would do well to act as I advise you." Then she turned her back and
left me. I thought it was my best policy to speak with the humility
I have above described; yet it turned out that I had done the worst
for myself, because, albeit she had harboured some angry feelings
toward me, she had in her a certain way of dealing which was
generous.

xcvi

About that time I was very intimate with Girolamo degli Albizzi,'
commissary of the Duke's militia. One day this friend said to me:

^ A small Tuscan coin.
* A warm partisan of the Medici. He was a cousin of Maria Salviati, Cosimo's
mother. It was rumoured that he caused the historian Francesco Guicciardini's death
by poison. We find him godfather to one of Cellini's children.

408 BENVENUTO CELLINI

"O Benvenuto, it would not be a bad thing to put your little differ-
ence of opinion with the Duke to rights; and I assure you that if
you repose confidence in me, I feel myself the man to settle matters.
I know what I am saying. The Duke is getting really angry, and you
will come badly out of the affair. Let this suffice; I am not at liberty
to say all I know." Now, subsequently to that conversation with the
Duchess, I had been told by some one, possibly a rogue, that he had
heard how the Duke said upon some occasion which offered itself:
"For less than two farthings I will throw Perseus to the dogs, and
so our differences will be ended." This, then, made me anxious, and
induced me to entrust Girolamo degli Albizzi with the negotiations,
telling him anything would satisfy me provided I retained the good
graces of the Duke. That honest fellow was excellent in all his
dealings with soldiers, especially with the militia, who are for the
most part rustics; but he had no taste for statuary, and therefore
could not understand its conditions. Consequently, when he spoke
to the Duke, he began thus: "Prince, Benvenuto has placed himself
in my hands, and has begged me to recommend him to your Excel-
lency." The Duke replied: "I too am willing to refer myself to you,
and shall be satisfied with your decision." Thereupon Girolamo com-
posed a letter, with much skill and greatly to my honour, fixing the
sum which the Duke would have to pay me at 3500 golden crowns
in gold; and this should not be taken as my proper recompense for
such a masterpiece, but only as a kind of gratuity; enough to say that
I was satisfied; with many other phrases of like tenor, all of which
implied the price which I have mentioned.

The Duke signed this agreement as gladly as I took it sadly. When
the Duchess heard, she said: "It would have been better for that
poor man if he had placed himself in my hands; I could have got
him five thousand crowns in gold." One day, when I went to the
palace, she repeated these same words to me in the presence of
Messer Alamanno Salviati,^ and laughed at me a little, saying that
I deserved my bad luck.

The Duke gave orders that I should be paid a hundred golden
crowns in gold per month, until the sum was discharged; and thus

^This Salviati and the De' Nobili mentioned afterwards occupied a distinguished
place in Florentine annals as partisans of the Medici.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 409

it ran for some months. Afterwards, Messer Antonio de' Nobili,
who had to transact the business, began to give me fifty, and some-
times later on he gave me twenty-five, and sometimes nothing.
Accordingly, when I saw that the settlement was being thus deferred,
I spoke good-humouredly to Messer Antonio, and begged him to
explain why he did not complete my payments. He answered in a
like tone of politeness; yet it struck me that he exposed his own mind
too much. Let the reader judge. He began by saying that the sole
reason why he could not go forward regularly with these payments,
was the scarcity of money at the palace; but he promised, when cash
came in, to discharge arrears. Then he added: "Oh heavens! if I did
not pay you, I should be an utter rogue." I was somewhat surprised
to hear him speak in that way; yet I resolved to hope that he would
pay me when he had the power to do so. But when I observed that
things went quite the contrary way, and saw that I was being pil-
laged, I lost temper with the man, and recalled to his memory hotly
and in anger what he had declared he would be if he did not pay
me. However, he died; and five hundred crowns are still owing to
me at the present date, which is nigh upon the end of 1566.^ There
was also a balance due upon my salary which I thought would be
forgotten, since three years had elapsed without payment. But it so
happened that the Duke fell ill of a serious malady, remaining forty-
eight hours without passing water. Finding that the remedies of his
physicians availed nothing, it is probable that he betook himself to
God, and therefore decreed the discharge of all debts to his servants.
I too was paid on this occasion, yet I never obtained what still stood
out upon my Perseus.

XCVII

I had almost determined to say nothing more about that unlucky
Perseus; but a most remarkable incident, which I do not like to omit,
obliges me to do so; wherefore I must now turn back a bit, to gather
up the thread of my narration. I thought I was acting for the best
when I told the Duchess that I could not compromise affairs which
were no longer in my hands, seeing I had informed the Duke that I

' Cellini began to write his Memoirs in 1558. Eight years had therefore now
elapsed.

410 BENVENUTO CELLINI

should gladly accept whatever he chose to give me. I said this in
the hope of gaining favour; and with this manifestation of sub-
missiveness I employed every hkely means of pacifying his resent-
ment; for I ought to add that a few days before he came to terms
with Albizzi, the Duke had shown he was excessively displeased
with me. The reason was as follows : I complained of some abomin-
able acts of injustice done to me by Messer Alfonso Quistelli, Messer
Jacopo Polverino of the Exchequer, and more than all by Ser Giovan-
battista Brandini of Volterra. When, therefore, I set forth my cause
with some vehemence, the Duke flew into the greatest rage con-
ceivable. Being thus in anger, he exclaimed: "This is just the same
as with your Perseus, when you asked those ten thousand crowns.
You let yourself be blinded by mere cupidity. Therefore I shall
have the statue valued, and shall give you what the experts think it
worth." To these words I replied with too much daring and a touch
of indignation, which is always out of place in dealing with great
princes: "How is it possible that my work should be valued at its
proper worth when there is not a man in Florence capable of per-
forming it?" That increased his irritation; he uttered many furious
phrases, and among them said: "There is in Florence at this day a
man well able to make such a statue, and who is therefore highly
capable of judging it." He meant Bandinello, Cavaliere of S. Jacopo.'
Then I rejoined : "My lord, your most illustrious Excellency gave me
the means of producing an important and very difficult masterpiece
in the midst of this the noblest school of the world; and my work
has been received with warmer praises than any other heretofore
exposed before the gaze of our incomparable masters. My chief pride
is the commendation of those able men who both understand and
practise the arts of design — as in particular Bronzino, the painter;
this man set himself to work, and composed four sonnets couched in
the choicest style, and full of honour to myself. Perhaps it was his
example which moved the whole city to such a tumult of enthusiasm.
I freely admit that if sculpture were his business instead of painting,
then Bronzino might have been equal to a task like mine. Michel
Agnolo Buonarroti, again, whom I am proud to call my master; he,
I admit, could have achieved the same success when he was young,
1 Bandinelli was a Knight of S. James of Compostella.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 4II

but not with less fatigue and trouble than I endured. But now that
he is far advanced in years, he would most certainly be found
unequal to the strain. Therefore I think I am justified in saying that
no man known upon this earth could have produced my Perseus.
For the rest, my work has received the greatest reward I could have
wished for in this world; chiefly and especially because your most
illustrious Excellency not only expressed yourself satisfied, but
praised it far more highly than any one beside. What greater and
more honourable prize could be desired by me? I affirm most
emphatically that your Excellency could not pay me with more
glorious coin, nor add from any treasury a wealth surpassing this.
Therefore I hold myself overpaid already, and return thanks to your
most illustrious Excellency with all my heart." The Duke made
answer: "Probably you think I have not the money to pay you. For
my part, I promise you that I shall pay you more for the statue than
it is worth." Then I retorted: "I did not picture to my fancy any
better recompense from your Excellency; yet I account myself amply
remunerated by that first reward which the school of Florence gave
me. With this to console me, I shall take my departure on the
instant, without returning to the house you gave me, and shall never
seek to set my foot in this town again." We were just at S. Felicita,
and his Excellency was proceeding to the palace. When he heard
these choleric words, he turned upon me in stern anger and
exclaimed: "You shall not go; take heed you do not go!" Half
terrified, I then followed him to the palace.

On arriving there, his Excellency sent for the Archbishop of Pisa,
named De' Bartolini, and Messer Pandolfo della Stufa,^ requesting
them to order Baccio Bandinelli, in his name, to examine well my
Perseus and value it, since he wished to pay its exact price. These
excellent men went forthwith and performed their embassy. In
reply Bandinello said that he had examined the statue minutely, and
knew well enough what it was worth; but having been on bad terms
otherwise with me for some time past, he did not care to be entangled
anyhow in my affairs. Then they began to put a gentle pressure on

^Onofrio de' Bartolini was made Archbishop of Pisa in 1518, at the age of about
seventeen. He was a devoted adherent of the Medici. He was shut up with Clement
in S. Angelo, and sent as hostage to the Imperial army. Pandolfo della Stufa had
been cup-bearer to Caterina de' Medici while Dauphiness.

412 BENVENUTO CELLINI

him, sayiog: "The Duke ordered us to tell you, under pain of his
displeasure, that you are to value the statue, and you may have two
or three days to consider your estimate. When you have done so,
tell us at what price it ought to be paid." He answered that his
judgment was already formed, that he could not disobey the Duke,
and that my work was rich and beautiful and excellent in execution;
therefore he thought sixteen thousand crowns or more would not be
an excessive price for it. Those good and courteous gentlemen
reported this to the Duke, who was mightily enraged; they also told
the same to me. I replied that nothing in the world would induce
me to take praise from Bandinello, "seeing that this bad man speaks
ill of everybody." My words were carried to the Duke; and that was
the reason why the Duchess wanted me to place the matter in her
hands. All that I have written is the pure truth. I will only add that
I ought to have trusted to her intervention, for then I should have
been quickly paid, and should have received so much more into the
bargain.

XCVIII

The Duke sent me word by Messer Lelio Torello,' his Master of
the Rolls,'' that he wanted me to execute some bas-reliefs in bronze
for the choir of S. Maria del Fiore. Now the choir was by Bandi-
nello, and I did not choose to enrich his bad work with my labours.
He had not indeed designed it, for he understood nothing whatever
about architecture; the design was given by Giuliano, the son of that
Baccio d'Agnolo, the wood-carver, who spoiled the cupola.^ Suffice
it to say that it shows no talent. For both reasons I was determined
not to undertake the task, although I told the Duke politely that I
would do whatever his most illustrious Excellency ordered. Accord-
ingly, he put the matter into the hands of the Board of Works for
S. Maria del Fiore," telling them to come to an agreement with me;
he would continue my allowance of two hundred crowns a year,
while they were to supply the rest out of their funds.

'A native of Fano. Cosimo's Auditore, 1539; first Secretary or Grand Chancellor,
1546. He was a great jurist. ^Suo auditore.

. ' It was Baccio d'Agnolo who altered Brunelleschi's plan for the cupola. Buonarroti
used to say that he made it look like a cage for crickets. His work remained un-
finished. * Operai di S. Maria del Fiore.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 4I3

In due course I came before the Board, and they told me what
the Duke had arranged. Feeling that I could explain my views more
frankly to these gentlemen, I began by demonstrating that so many
histories in bronze would cost a vast amount of money, which would
be totally thrown away, giving all my reasons, which they fully
appreciated. In the first place, I said that the construction of the choir
was altogether incorrect, without proportion, art, convenience, grace,
or good design. In the next place, the bas-reliefs would have to
stand too low, beneath the proper line of vision; they would become
a place for dogs to piss at, and be always full of ordure. Consequently,
I declined positively to execute them. However, since I did not wish
to throw away the best years of my life, and was eager to serve his
most illustrious Excellency, whom I had the sincerest desire to
gratify and obey, I made the following proposal. Let the Duke, if
he wants to employ my talents, give me the middle door of the
cathedral to perform in bronze. This would be well seen, and would
confer far more glory on his most illustrious Excellency. I would
bind myself by contract to receive no remuneration unless I pro-
duced something better than the finest of the Baptistery doors.^ But
if I completed it according to my promise, then I was willing to have
it valued, and to be paid one thousand crowns less than the estimate
made by experts.

The members of the Board were well pleased with this suggestion,
and went at once to report the matter to the Duke, among them
being Piero Salviati. They expected him to be extremely gratified
with their communication, but it turned out just the contrary. He
replied that I was always wanting to do the exact opposite of what
he bade me; and so Piero left him without coming to any conclusion.
On hearing this, I went off to the Duke at once, who displayed some
irritation when he saw me. However, I begged him to condescend
to hear me, and he replied that he was willing. I then began from
the beginning, and used such convincing arguments that he saw at
last how the matter really stood, since I made it evident that he
would only be throwing a large sum of money away. Then I soft-
ened his temper by suggesting that if his most illustrious Excellency
did not care to have the door begun, two pulpits had anyhow to be
' He means Ghiberti's second door, in all probability.

414 BENVENUTO CELLINI

made for the choir, and that these would both of them be con-
siderable works, which would confer glory on his reign; for my part,
I was ready to execute a great number of bronze bas-reliefs with
appropriate decorations. In this way I brought him round, and he
gave me orders to construct the models.

Accordingly I set at work on several models, and bestowed
immense pains on them. Among these there was one with eight
panels, carried out with far more science than the rest, and which
seemed to me more fitted for the purpose. Having taken them
several times to the place, his Excellency sent word by Messer
Cesare, the keeper of his wardrobe, that I should leave them there.
After the Duke had inspected them, I perceived that he had selected
the least beautiful. One day he sent for me, and during our con-
versation about the models, I gave many reasons why the octagonal
pulpit would be far more convenient for its destined uses, and would
produce a much finer effect. He answered that he wished me to
make it square, because he liked that form better; and thus he went
on conversing for some time very pleasantly. I meanwhile lost no
opportunity of saying everything I could in the interests of art.
Now whether the Duke knew that I had spoken the truth, or
whether he wanted to have his own way, a long time passed before
I heard anything more about it.

xcix

About this time the great block of marble arrived which was
intended for the Neptune. It had been brought up the Arno, and
then by the Grieve' to the road at Poggio a Caiano, in order to be
carried to Florence by that level way; and there I went to see it.
Now I knew very well that the Duchess by her special influence had
managed to have it given to Bandinello. No envy prompted me to
dispute his claims, but rather pity for that poor unfortunate piece of
marble. Observe, by the way, that everything, whatever it may be,
which is subject to an evil destiny, although one tries to save it from
some manifest evil, falls at once into far worse plight; as happened

* Instead of the Grieve, which is not a navigable stream, it appears that Cellini
ought to have vi'ritten the Ombrone.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 415

to this marble when it came into the hands o£ Bartolommeo Amma-
nato/ of whom I shall speak the truth in its proper place. After
inspecting this most splendid block, I measured it in every direction,
and on returning to Florence, made several little models suited to
its proportions. Then I went to Poggio a Caiano, where the Duke
and Duchess were staying, with their son the Prince. I found them
all at table, the Duke and Duchess dining in a private apartment;
so I entered into conversation with the Prince. We had been speak-
ing for a long while, when the Duke, who was in a room adjacent,
heard my voice, and condescended very graciously to send for me.
When I presented myself before their Excellencies, the Duchess
addressed me in a very pleasant tone; and having thus opened the
conversation, I gradually introduced the subject of that noble block
of marble I had seen. I then proceeded to remark that their
ancestors had brought the magnificent school of Florence to such a
pitch of excellence only by stimulating competition among artists in
their several branches. It was thus that the wonderful cupola and
the lovely doors of San Giovanni had been produced, together with
those multitudes of handsome edifices and statues which made a
crown of artistic glory for their city above anything the world had
seen since the days of the ancients. Upon this the Duchess, with
some anger, observed that she very well knew what I meant, and
bade me never mention that block of marble in her presence, since
she did not like it. I replied : "So, then, you do not like me to act as
the attorney of your Excellencies, and to do my utmost to ensure
your being better served? Reflect upon it, my lady; if your most
illustrious Excellencies think fit to open the model for a Neptune to
competition, although you are resolved to give it to Bandinello, this
will urge Bandinello for his own credit to display greater art and
science than if he knew he had no rivals. In this way, my princes,
you will be far better served, and will not discourage our school of
artists; you will be able to perceive which of us is eager to excel in
the grand style of our noble calling, and will show yourselves princes
who enjoy and understand the fine arts." The Duchess, in a great
rage, told me that I tired her patience out; she wanted the marble

^This sculptor was born in 151 1, and died in 1592. He worked under Bandinelli
and Sansovino.

4l6 BENVENUTO CELLINI

for Bandinello, adding: "Ask the Duke; for his Excellency also
means Bandinello to have it." When the Duchess had spoken, the
Duke, who had kept silence up to this time, said: "Twenty years
ago I had that fine block quarried especially for Bandinello, and so I
mean that Bandinello shall have it to do what he likes with it." I
turned to the Duke and spoke as follows: "My lord, I entreat your
most illustrious Excellency to lend a patient hearing while I speak
four words in your service." He told me to say all I wanted, and
that he would listen. Then I began : "You will remember, my lord,
that the marble which Bandinello used for his Hercules and Cacus
was quarried for our incomparable Michel Agnolo Buonarroti. He
had made the model for a Samson with four figures, which would
have been the finest masterpiece in the whole world; but your Bandi-
nello got out of it only two figures, both ill-executed and bungled in
the worst manner; wherefore our school still exclaims against the
great wrong which was done to that magnificent block. I believe
that more than a thousand sonnets were put up in abuse of that
detestable performance; and I know that your most illustrious
Excellency remembers the fact very well. Therefore, my powerful
prince, seeing how the men to whose care that work was entrusted,
in their want of taste and wisdom, took Michel Agnolo's marble
away from him, and gave it to Bandinello, who spoilt it in the way
the whole world knows, oh! will you suffer this far more splendid
block, although it belongs to Bandinello, to remain in the hands of
that man who cannot help mangling it, instead of giving it to some
artist of talent capable of doing it full justice? Arrange, my lord,
that every one who likes shall make a model; have them all exhibited
to the school; you then will hear what the school thinks; your own
good judgment will enable you to select the best; in this way, finally,
you will not throw away your money, nor discourage a band of
artists the like of whom is not to be found at present in the world,
and who form the glory of your most illustrious Excellency."

The Duke listened with the utmost graciousness; then he rose
from table, and turning to me, said: "Go, my Benvenuto, make a
model, and earn that fine marble for yourself; for what you say is
the truth, and I acknowledge it." The Duchess tossed her head
defiantly, and muttered I know not what angry sentences.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 417

I made them a respectful bow and returned to Florence, burning
with eagerness to set hands upon my model.

When the Duke came to Florence, he sought me at my house
without giving me previous notice. I showed him two little models
o£ 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
Hked 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

41 8 BENVENUTO CELLINI

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, espe-
cially the envoy from Lucca, who was a person of accomplishments
and learning.' I had retired to some distance in order that they might
exchange opinions freely; but when I heard that I was being compli-
mented, 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 appre-
^ Probably Girolamo Lucchesini.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 419

ciate 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 Uttle 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
faidiful servant, but that I did not understand the arts of flattery.
Several months after this date, Bandinello died; and it was thought
\hat, in addition to his intemperate habits of life, the mortification of
having probably to lose the marble contributed to his decline.

CI

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.' 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."

On this account I refused to give those fruits of my enormous
labours to the church of S. Maria Novella, even though the over-
seers 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

' / loro Operai.

420 BENVENUTO CELLINI

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 alto-
gether 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 Per-
seus stands, and paid me one workman. I went about my business
with all diligence, and constructed the wooden framework accord-
ing 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 "i-
other 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.''

^ Gian Bologna, or Jean BouUogne, 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 statue of Pope Julius III., which may
still be seen in his native city. Simone Cioli, called II Mosca, was a very fair sculptor
who died in 1554, leaving a son, Francesco, called II 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.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 421

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,^ 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 Gianstef ano,^ 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 hkely 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. After-
wards 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 attend-
ants, 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."

CII

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,

' Giorgio Vasari. ■• Probably Gianstefano Lalli.

422 BENVENUTO CELLINI

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 Nep-
tune. There was also no reason why I should visit the property,
because Sbietta only sold it to me for the income.' This he had
noted down at so many bushels of grain, so much of wine, oil, stand-
ing 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 Ber-
toldi, 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 de-
tailing twenty-two boundaries described by Sbietta,^ 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.

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 kind-
ness. In exchange for these courtesies I always took him from the
inn to lodge with me when he came into Florence, often inviting a

' 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.

^The word confini, which I have translated boundaries, may mean limiting
conditions.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 423

relative or two who happened to attend him. On one of these occa-
sions he told me with a touch of pleasantry that it was really shame-
ful 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 ca-
ressed 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.

cm

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 Wednes-
day, which happened to be a double holiday, for my country-house
at Trespiano.' Having spent some time over an excellent lunch, it
was past twenty o'clock when I reached Vicchio. There, at the town-
gate, 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 over-
whelmed 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.

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 cJeanJiness. 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

' 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.

424 BENVENUTO CELLINI

went to see my farm, which pleased me much; and then I had
some quantities of grain and other produce handed over. But when
1 returned to Vicchio, the priest Ser FiHppo said to me: "Benvenuto
do not be uneasy; although you have not found here quite every-
thing 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 ques-
tion bore the name of Mariano Rosegli; and this man now kept
frequendy 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,^ 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 Delia 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
' The Alpi are high mountain pastures in the Apennines.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 425

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 pro-
ceeded: "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."

CIV

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 deter-
mination; 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 no-
ticed 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 sup-
per 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

426 BENVENUTO CELLINI

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 re-
commence 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, who 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 symptom. I was suffering from. Now it is my cus-
tom to take but little sauce or seasoning with my meat, excepting
salt; and yet I had eaten two moderate mouthfuls of that sauce be-
cause 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.

cv

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

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 427

I was ill, than she caused the execution of that unlucky marble to
be assigned to Bartolommeo Ammanato/ 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 dis-
cretion, 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 unde-
servedly conferred on him by her.

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 under-
took 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 vig-
orous constitution, 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, Ben-
venuto, that you swallowed a good mouthful of sublimate." There-
upon 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.

' 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.

428 BENVENUTO CELLINI

CVI

At this time' the Duke went to make his triumphal entry into
Siena, and Ammanato had gone there some months earUer to con-
struct 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, be-
cause 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 model to his Highness. He replied that he
gladly accepted both gifts, and that he would have all the con-
veniences 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.

CVII

A year had now passed since I bought the farm of Delia 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

1 October 28, 1560.

AUTOBICXJRAPHY 429

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. SufSce 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, with-
out 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.

cvin

The Duke was staying at Livorno, where I went to visit him in
order merely to obtain release from his service. Now that I felt my
vigour returning, and saw that I was used for nothing, it pained me
to lose time which ought to have been spent upon my art. I made
my mind up, therefore, went to Livorno, and found my prince, who
received me with exceeding graciousness. Now I stayed there sev-
eral days, and went out riding daily with his Excellency. Conse-
quently I had excellent opportunities for saying all I wanted, since
it was the Duke's custom to ride four miles out of Livorno along the
sea-coast to the point where he was erecting a little fort. Not caring
to be troubled with a crowd of people, he liked me to converse with
him. So then, on one of these occasions, having observed him pay
me some remarkable attentions, I entered into the affair of Sbietta
and spoke as follows : "My lord, I should like to narrate to your most
illustrious Excellency a very singular incident, which will explain
why I was prevented from finishing that clay model of Neptune on

430 BENVENUTO CELLINI

which I was working in the Loggia. Your Excellency must know that
I bought a farm for my life from Sbietta — " To cut the matter short,
I related the whole story in detail, without contaminating truth with
falsehood. Now when I came to the poison, I remarked that if I had
ever proved an acceptable servant in the sight of his most illustrious
Excellency, he ought not to punish Sbietta or those who administered
the poison, but rather to confer upon them some great benefit, inas-
much as the poison was not enough to kill me, but had exactly suf-
ficed to cleanse me of a mortal viscosity from which I suffered in
my stomach and intestines. "The poison," quoth I, "worked so well,
that whereas, before I took it, I had perhaps but three or four years
to live, I verily believe now that it has helped me to more than twenty
years by bettering my constitution. For this mercy I return thanks
to God with greater heartiness than ever; and this proves that a
proverb I have sometimes heard spoken is true, which runs as
follows : —

'God send us evil, that may work us good.' "

The Duke listened to my story through more than two miles of
travel, keeping his attention fixed, and only uttering: "Oh, the vil-
lains!" I said, in conclusion, that I felt obliged to them, and opened
other and more cheerful subjects of conversation.

I kept upon the look-out for a convenient day; and when I found
him well disposed for what I wanted, I entreated his most illustrious
Excellency to dismiss me in a friendly spirit, so that I might not
have to waste the few years in which I should be fit to do anything.
As for the balance due upon my Perseus, he might give this to me
when he judged it opportune. Such was the pith of my discourse:
but I expanded it with lengthy compliments, expressing my gratitude
toward his most illustrious Excellency. To all this he made abso-
lutely no answer, but rather seemed to have taken my communica-
tion ill. On the following day Messer Bartolommeo Concino,' one
of the Duke's secretaries, and among the chiefest, came to me, and
said with somewhat of a bullying air: "The Duke bids me tell you
that if you want your dismissal, he will grant it; but if you choose

^ This man was the son of a peasant at Terranuova, in Valdarno. He acquired
great wealth and honour at the court of Duke Cosimo, and was grandfather of the
notorious Marechal d'Ancre.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 43 1

work, he will give you plenty : God grant you may have the power
to execute all he orders." I replied that I desired nothing more than
work to do, and would rather take it from the Duke than from any
man whatever in the world. Whether they were popes, emperors,
or kings, I should prefer to serve his most illustrious Excellency for
a halfpenny than any of the rest of them for a ducat. He then re-
marked: "If that is your mind, you and he have struck a bargain
without the need of further speech. So, then, go back to Florence,
and be unconcerned; rely on the Duke's goodwill towards you."
Accordingly I made my way again to Florence.

cix

Immediately after my arrival, there came to visit me a certain Raf-
faellone Scheggia, whose trade was that of a cloth-of-gold weaver.
He began thus : "My Benvenuto, I should like to reconcile you with
Piermaria Sbietta." I replied that nobody could settle the affairs be-
tween us except the Lords Counsellors; in the present court Sbietta
would not have a Federigo de' Ricci to support him, a man willing,
for the bribe of a couple of fatted kids, without respect of God or
of his honour, to back so infamous a cause and do so vile a wrong
to sacred justice. When I had uttered these words, and many others
to the like effect, Raffaello kept on blandly urging that it was far
better to eat a thrush in peace than to bring a fat capon to one's
table, even though one were quite sure to get it, after a hot fight.
He further reminded me that lawsuits had a certain way of dragging
on, and that I could employ the time far better upon some master-
piece of art, which would bring me not only greater honour, but
greater profit to boot. I knew that he was speaking the mere truth,
and began to lend ear to his arguments. Before long, therefore, we
arranged the matter in this way: Sbietta was to rent the farm from
me at seventy golden crowns in gold the year during the whole term
of my natural life. But when we came to the contract, which was
drawn up by Ser Giovanni, son of Ser Matteo da Falgano, Sbietta
objected that the terms we had agreed on would involve our paying
the largest duties to the revenue. He was not going to break his
word; therefore we had better draw the lease for five years, to be
renewed on the expiry of the term. He undertook to abide by his

432 BENVENUTO CELLINI

promise to renew, without raising further litigation. That rascal, the
priest, his brother, entered into similar engagements; and so the
lease was drawn for five years.

ex

Though I want to enter upon other topics, and to leave all this
rascality alone awhile, I am forced to narrate what happened at the
termination of this five years' contract. Instead of abiding by their
promised word, those two rogues declared they meant to give me up
my farm, and would not keep it any longer upon lease, I not un-
naturally complained, but they retorted by ostentatiously unfolding
the deed; and I found myself without any defence against their
chicanery. When it came to this, I told them that the Duke and
Prince of Florence would not suffer folk to be so infamously mas-
sacred in their cities. That menace worked so forcibly upon their
minds that they once more despatched Raflaello Schegcia, the same
man who negotiated the former arrangement. I must add that they
professed their unwillingness to pay the same rent of seventy crowns
as during the five years past, while I replied that I would not take
a farthing less. So then RafJaello came to look me up, and spoke
to this effect: "My Benvenuto, you know that I am acting in your
interest. Now these men have placed themselves entirely in my
hands;" and he showed me a writing to this effect signed by them.
Not being aware that he was their close relative, I thought he would
be an excellent arbitrator, and therefore placed myself also abso-
lutely in his hands. This man of delicate honour then came one
evening about a half hour after sunset, in the month of August, and
induced me with the strongest pressure to draw up the contract then
and there. He did so because he knew that if he waited till the
morning, the deceit he wished to practise on me must have failed.
Accordingly the deed was executed, to the effect that they were to
pay me a rent of sixty-five crowns, in two half-yearly instalments,
during the term of my natural life. Notwithstanding I rebelled
against it, and refused to sit down quietly under the injustice, all
was to no purpose. Raffaello exhibited my signature, and every
one took part against me. At the same time he went on protesting
that he acted altogether in my interest and as my supporter. Neither

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 433

the notary nor any others who heard of the affair, knew that he was
a relative of those two rogues; so they told me I was in the wrong.
Accordingly, I was forced to yield with the best grace I could; and
what I have now to do is to live as long as I can manage.

Close after these events, that is to say, in the December of 1566
following, I made another blunder. I bought half of the farm Del
Poggio from them, or rather from Sbietta, for two hundred crowns.'
It marches with my property of La Fonte. Our terms were that the
estate should revert at the term of three years,^ and I gave them a
lease of it. I did this for the best; but I should have to dilate too long
upon the topic were I to enter into all the rascalities they practised
on me. Therefore, I refer my cause entirely to God, knowing that
He hath ever defended me from those who sought to do me mis-
chief.

CXI

Having quite completed my crucifix, I thought that if I raised it
some feet above the ground, it would show better than it did upon a
lower level. After I had done so, it produced a far finer effect than
even it had made before, and I was greatly satisfied. So then I began
to exhibit it to every one who had the mind to see it.

As God willed, the Duke and the Duchess heard about it. On
their arrival then from Pisa, both their Excellencies arrived one day
quite unexpectedly, attended by all the nobles of their court, with
the sole purpose of inspecting my crucifix. They were so much de-
lighted, that each of these princes lavished endless praises on it, and
all the lords and gendefolk of their suites joined in chorus. Now,
when I saw how gready they were taken with the piece, I began to
thank them with a touch of humour, saying that, if they had not
refused me the marble for the Neptune, I should never have under-
taken so arduous a task, the like whereof had not been attempted
by any sculptor before me." "It is true," I added, "that this crucifix
has cost me hours of unimaginable labour; yet they have been well
expended, especially now when your most illustrious Excellencies
have bestowed such praises on it. I cannot hope to find possessors of

* Scudi di moneta, not d'oro.

* This seems to be the meaning of comprare con riservo it tre anni. Cellini elsewhere
uses the equivalent term patio resoltuivo. See Tassi, vol. ii. p. 583.

434 BENVENUTO CELLINI

it worthier than you are; therefore I gladly present it to you as a
gift."'

After speaking to this effect, I prayed them, before they took their
leave, to deign to follow me into the ground-floor of my dwelling.
They rose at once with genial assent, left the workshop, and on
entering the house, beheld my little model of the Neptune and the
fountain, which had not yet been seen by the Duchess. This struck
her with such force that she raised a cry of indescribable astonish-
ment, and turning to the Duke, exclaimed: "Upon my life, I never
dreamed it could be one-tenth part so beautiful!" The Duke replied
by repeating more than once: "Did I not tell you so?" Thus they
continued talking together for some while greatly in my honour.
Afterwards the Duchess called me to her side; and when she had
uttered many expressions of praise which sounded like excuses (they
might indeed have been construed into asking for forgiveness), she
told me that she should like me to quarry a block of marble to my
taste, and then to execute the work. In reply to these gracious
speeches I said that, if their most illustrious Excellencies would
provide me with the necessary accommodations, I should gladly for
their sakes put my hand to such an arduous undertaking. The Duke
responded on the moment: "Benvenuto, you shall have all the accom-
modations you can ask for; and I will myself give you more besides,
which shall surpass them far in value." With these agreeable words
they left me, and I remained highly satisfied.

CXII

Many weeks passed, but of me nothing more was spoken. This
neglect drove me half mad with despair. Now about that time the
Queen of France sent Messer Baccio del Bene to our Duke for a loan
of money, which the Duke very graciously supplied, as rumour went.
Messer Baccio del Bene and I had been intimate friends in former
times; so when we renewed our acquaintance in Florence, we came
together with much mutual satisfaction. In course of conversation
he related all the favours shown him by his most illustrious Excel-

1 The Duchess would not take the crucifix as a gift. The Duke bought it for
fifteen hundred golden crowns, and transferred it to the Pitti in 1565. It was given
by the Grand Duke Francesco in 1576 to Philip II., who placed it in the Escorial,
where it now is.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 435

lency, and asked me what great works I had in hand. In reply, I
narrated the whole story of the Neptune and the fountain, and the
great wrong done me by the Duchess. He responded by telling me
how her Majesty of France was most eager to complete the monu-
ment of her husband Henri II., and how Daniello da Volterra' had
undertaken a great equestrian statue in bronze, but the time had
already elapsed in which he promised to perform it, and that a mul-
titude of the richest ornaments were required for the tomb. If, then,
I liked to return to France and occupy my castle, she would supply
me with all the conveniences I could ask for, provided only I cared
to enter her service. These proposals he made on the part of the
Queen. I told Messer Baccio to beg me from the Duke; if his most
illustrious Excellency was satisfied, I should very willingly return to
France. He answered cheerfully: "We will travel back together!"
and considered the affair settled. Accordingly, next day, in course
of conversation with the Duke, he alluded to myself, declaring that
if his Excellency had no objection, the Queen would take me into
her employ. The Duke replied without a moment's hesitation: "Ben-
venuto's ability in his profession is known to the whole world; but
at the present time he does not care to go on working." Then they
touched on other topics; and upon the day following I called on
Messer Baccio, who reported what had passed between them. Then
I lost all patience, and exclaimed: "Oh, me! His most illustrious
Excellency gave me nothing to do, while I was bringing to perfec-
tion one of the most difficult master-pieces ever executed in this
world; and it stands me in more than two hundred crowns, which
I have paid out of my poverty! Oh, what could I not have done if
his Excellency had but set me to work! I tell you in pure truth, that
they have done me a great wrong!" The good-natured gentleman
repeated to the Duke what I had answered. The Duke told him we
were joking, and that he wanted me for his own service. The result
was that in my irritation I more than once made up my mind to
make off without asking leave. However, the Queen preferred to
drop negotiations, in fear of displeasing the Duke; and so I re-
mained here, much to my regret.

' This painter is chiefly famous for his "Descent from the Cross" in the Church of
the Trinita de' Monti at Rome. He died in 1566.

43^ BENVENUTO CELLINI

CXIII

About that time the Duke went on a journey, attended by all his
court and all his sons, except the prince, who was in Spain. They
travelled through the Sienese Maremma, and by this route he reached
Pisa. The poison from the bad air of those marshes first attacked
the Cardinal, who was taken with a pestilential fever after a few
days, and died at the end of a brief illness. He was the Duke's right
eye, handsome and good, and his loss was most severely felt. I
allowed several days to elapse, until I thought their tears were dried,
and then I betook myself to Pisa.