|
Book FirstPart XLI
Part 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
[See Ippolito De` Medici: Ippolito De` Medici, Pontormo.]
[Footnote 1: I may remind my readers that the three Medici of the ruling house
were now illegitimate. Clement VII was the bastard son of Giuliano, brother
of Lorenzo the Magnificent. 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.]
At that time there arrived in Florence a Sienese, called Girolamo
Marretti, who had lived long in Turkey and was a man of lively intellect. 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 wrenching 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 executid 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 I 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 meanwhile 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 painter who was intimate with Michel Agnolo,
called Giuliano Bugiardini, brought me the drawing of Atlas. ^2 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 Summa tulisse juvat! ^3 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. ^4
[Footnote 2: This painter was the pupil of Bertoldo, a man of simple manners
and of some excellence in his art. The gallery at Bologna has a fine specimen
of his painting. Michel Agnolo delighted in his society.]
[Footnote 3: Cellini says Summam.]
[Footnote 4: 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 reconcile himself to the Medicean tyranny, and finally
took refuge in France, where he was honoured by Francois I. He died at Amboise
in 1556.]
|
