The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini

by Benvenuto Cellini

  I found him studying in his room: he had me called in, welcomed me in his typical Lombard fashion, and asked what good business had brought me there.

  ‘A very good business,’ I said, ‘and a very important one.’

  The man ordered his servants to bring in something to drink, and then he said:

  ‘Before we discuss anything I want us to drink together, because that’s the custom in France.’

  I replied: ‘Messer Francesco, understand that the discussions we must have don’t call for drinking beforehand; perhaps we’ll be able to drink afterwards.’

  Then I began to reason with him.

  ‘All men,’ I said, ‘who have a claim to be regarded with respect make their behaviour prove how upright they are: and if they do otherwise, then they don’t keep their reputation any longer. I know that you knew that the King had commissioned me to make that great Colossus – the thing had been discussed for eighteen months and neither you nor anyone else came forward to add a word to what was said. By my strenuous exertions I made myself known to the great King, and, as my models pleased him, he commissioned me to execute this important work; and during all these months I have heard nothing to the contrary – only this morning did I hear that it was given to you, and that you had stolen it from me. I won the commission by my splendid performance, and you filch it from me merely by using empty words.’

  To this Bologna replied: ‘But Benvenuto, everyone seeks to advance his own interests in every way he can: if this is how the King wants it, what can you say in opposition? You’d be wasting your time, seeing that I’ve had the matter settled and the commission is mine. Now tell me what you want and I’ll listen to you.’

  I replied as follows: ‘Understand, Francesco, that there is a great deal I could say to you, and by perfectly reasonable and cogent arguments I would force you to confess that the methods you’ve used and talked about aren’t practised among rational beings. But I shall come to the point at issue in a few words: open your ears and listen carefully, since it’s important.’

  The fellow made as if to get up from his seat, since he saw that I was flushed and my face had completely changed its expression: I told him that it was not yet time for him to move, and that he was to stay sitting down and listen to me. And then I began as follows:

  ‘Francesco, you know that the work was mine to begin with and that by accepted standards the time had already passed for anyone to raise the matter again. Now, I tell you that I shall be satisfied if you construct a model, and I – in addition to what I’ve already done – will make another. Then, without the slightest fuss, we’ll take our models to the great King, and whoever in this test wins credit for having done the better work will thoroughly deserve the Colossus. If the commission falls to you, I’ll forget the great injury you’ve done me, and I shall bless your hands as being worthier than mine of such a high honour. So let’s agree on this and we’ll be friends; but otherwise we’ll be enemies: and God, who is always on the side of right, and I, who know how to assert it, will show you what a great mistake you’ve made.’

  Francesco replied: ‘The work is mine, and since it has been given me I don’t intend to risk what belongs to me.’

  To this I answered: ‘Francesco, seeing that you won’t take the proper way out – the way which is just and reasonable – I’ll show you the other way, which will be like yours – ugly and unpleasant. I tell you this: that if I ever hear that you’ve spoken in any way about this work of mine I’ll kill you without hesitation as I would a dog. And as we’re not in Rome or Bologna or Florence – they live differently here – if I ever get to hear that you’ve spoken about it to the King or to anyone else, somehow or another I’ll have your life. Make up your mind which way you want to go: the first, good way that I offered, or the other, disagreeable way that I offer now.’

  The fellow was at a loss what to say or do, and I felt like finishing the business there and then, rather than allowing more time to elapse.

  All Bologna said was: ‘If I behave in the way an upright man should then I shan’t have a fear in the world.’

  ‘You’ve spoken the truth,’ I said, ‘but if you do the contrary then you’ll have cause to fear, because this is a serious matter.’

  I left him at once, and went to see the King; and for a long time I discussed with his Majesty the making of his coinage.254 We were not very much in agreement about it, and his Council, which was present, persuaded him that the money should be made in the French style, as it had been up to that time. I retorted that his Majesty had had me come from Italy in order to produce good work for him, and if his Majesty were to order the contrary I would never have the heart to do it. At this the matter was postponed for discussion another time: I at once went back to Paris.

  No sooner had I dismounted than one of those good people who enjoy finding evil came to tell me that Pagolo Miccieri had taken a house for that little whore Caterina and her mother, that he was always going there, and that when he spoke of me he always said with contempt:

  ‘Benvenuto set the geese to guard the lettuce, and he thought I wouldn’t eat it: now he’s content to go around swaggering, and he thinks I’m afraid of him. But I’ve got this sword and dagger by my side to show him that my weapons too have a sharp edge, and I’m a Florentine as well as him – of the Miccieri family, a much better family than the Cellinis.’

  The rogue who carried this story to me told it with such effect that I suddenly felt an attack of fever (I use the word fever, and not merely as a metaphor). Seeing that such a fierce passion might have been the death of me I followed my inclinations and found a remedy in giving it the outlet that was available. I told my Ferrarese workman, who was called Chioccia, to come with me, and I had a servant follow on behind with my horse. When we arrived at the house where the villain was, finding the door ajar I went inside. I saw that he was wearing a sword and dagger, and he was sitting on a chest with his arms round Caterina’s neck: just as I arrived I heard him and her mother joking about my affairs. I threw open the door and at the same time seized my sword and thrust the point at his throat, without giving him time to remember that he also had a sword. While I was doing this I shouted out:

  ‘You vile coward – say your prayers, for you’re as good as dead.’

  He sat stock still and cried out a few times: ‘Dear mother! Help me!’

  I had meant to kill him whatever happened, but when I heard him use these mawkish words half my anger subsided. Meanwhile I had ordered my workman, Chioccia, to allow neither the girl nor her mother to leave the house, since when I had set about him I meant to do as much harm to those two whores. I kept the point of my sword steady at his throat (now and then giving him a slight prick), and I threatened him continually. Then, with his not making the least effort to defend himself and my not knowing what to do next, it looked as if my threatening would go on for ever: then the idea entered my head of making them get married, as the lesser evil and in order to have my revenge later on.

  So, with my mind made up, I said:

  ‘Take off that ring you have on your finger, you coward, and marry her, so that then I can take my revenge the way you deserve.’

  He said at once: ‘If you don’t kill me I’ll do anything.’

  So then I told him to put the ring on her finger. I withdrew the sword a little from his throat and he put the ring on her.

  And then I said: ‘That’s not enough. I want to have two notaries sent for so that this can be made into a contract.’

  I told Chioccia to go for the notaries, and straight away I turned to her and her mother and speaking in French I said:

  ‘The notaries and other witnesses are coming: the first one of you I hear say a word about what has happened I’ll kill without hesitation – I’ll kill all three of you, so don’t forget it.’

  Then I said to him, in Italian: ‘If you make any objection to what I propose, just one word from you and I’ll stab you so many times that I’ll make you spill out your gut
s.’

  ‘All I ask,’ he said, ‘is that you don’t kill me; and I’ll do what you want.’

  The notaries and witnesses appeared on the scene, and a splendid, valid contract was drawn up; and then my rage and fever left me. I paid the notaries and left the house.

  Next day, Bologna went out of his way to come to Paris and sent Mattio del Nazaro for me. I went along and found the man, who met me with a very cheerful face, and then begged me to look on him as a loving brother of mine and said he would never talk of the work again, as he realized perfectly well that I was in the right.

  If when describing these events I did not admit that I know I was sometimes acting wrongly, it would not ring true when I treat of actions which I know were justified. I know I made a mistake in wanting such an extreme revenge on Pagolo Miccieri. But if I had known he was a man of such weakness I would never have contemplated taking the humiliating revenge that I did. Not satisfied with having made him take such a shameless little whore as his wife, as well as this – to round off my revenge – I used to send for her to make use of her as my model. Every day I gave her thirty soldi; and I made her pose in the nude. First, she wanted to be paid in advance, and then she wanted to make a good meal, and then I had my revenge by having intercourse with her, mocking at her and her husband for the various horns I was giving him. The fourth thing I did was to make her pose in great discomfort for hours at a stretch. And, in her discomfort, she was as much annoyed as I was delighted, since she was very beautifully made and won me great honour.

  When she realized that I did not treat her as considerately as I used to before her marriage, she grew tremendously angry and began to show off, bragging in her French way about her husband who had gone to serve the Prior of Capua, Piero Strozzi’s brother.255 As I said she began talking about her husband, and as soon as I heard her mention him I was overwhelmed with a choking fury. But I put up with it grudgingly, as best I could, reflecting that I could not find a more suitable model for my work than she was.

  I said to myself: ‘I get two kinds of revenge out of this. First, she’s married, and so these horns are the real thing, unlike hers when she was playing the whore with me. So I’m taking an excellent revenge against him, and an extravagant one against her, by making her pose in such discomfort and so winning credit and profit for myself. What more can I want?’

  While I was weighing matters up in this way, the slut redoubled her insults, besides talking about her husband. What she said and did nearly drove me out of my mind, and giving in to my rage I seized her by the hair and dragged her up and down the room, beating and kicking her till I was exhausted. There was no one there who could come to her help. When I had given her a good pummelling, she swore that she would never come to me again; so for the first time I realized what a mistake I had made, since I was losing a splendid opportunity of winning honour. Besides this, with her all torn and bruised and swollen, I realized that even if she did come back it would be necessary to have her treated for a fortnight before I could make use of her.

  To return to the girl: I sent one of my servants to help her dress. She was a very kindly old woman, called Ruberta, and when she went in to the little hussy she gave her something to eat and drink again; then she rubbed some bacon fat into the worst bruises I had given her, and what was left over they ate together. Having dressed, she went off abusing and cursing all Italians and the King who sheltered them. So, crying and muttering all the way, she walked home.

  In fact this first time it seemed to me that I had done wrongly; and my Ruberta scolded me as well, saying:

  ‘You’re very cruel to treat such a beautiful young girl so roughly.’

  I tried to make excuses to Ruberta, telling her how wickedly Caterina and her mother had treated me when they stayed with me; but she still told me off, insisting that this was nothing to complain of since it was the French custom, and that she knew for certain that there was no French husband who hadn’t got his pair of horns. At this I burst out laughing, and then I told Ruberta to go and see how Caterina was, since I would like to be able to use her in finishing my work.

  My Ruberta scolded me, saying that I didn’t understand how to live, since as soon as day came Caterina would come of her own accord; ‘while if you send to ask how she is, or go to visit her, she’ll grow haughty and won’t come at all’.

  The following day Caterina came to my door and started knocking on it furiously. I was downstairs, and I ran to see if this was a madman or someone living in the house. When I opened it the creature laughed, threw herself round my neck, hugging and kissing me, and asked if I was still furious with her. I said, no. She answered: ‘Give me a good breakfast then.’

  I did so, and I ate with her as a sign of peace. Then I began to model from her; and in between times we made love together, and then, at the same hour as the day before, she provoked me so much that I had to give her the same beating: and this went on for several days, everything after the same pattern each time, with little variation.

  Meanwhile I had finished my figure in a very creditable style and I prepared to cast it in bronze. I encountered some difficulties in this matter and to describe them would be very profitable as far as art is concerned, but it would take me far too long and so I shall pass them over. Enough to say that it came out beautifully, and was as finely cast as anything ever has been.

  While I was forging ahead with this work I set aside certain hours of the day to work on the salt-cellar, and others to work on the Jupiter. As there were more men working on the salt-cellar than I could manage to employ on the Jupiter, by this time I had already finished it down to the last detail. The King had returned to Paris, and I went to find him, bringing the salt-cellar with me. As I have said before, it was oval in shape, about two-thirds of a cubit high, entirely in gold, and chased by means of a chisel. And, as I said when describing the model, I represented the Sea and the Land, both seated, with their legs intertwined just as some branches of the sea run into the land and the land juts into the sea: so, very fittingly, that was the attitude I gave them. I had placed a trident in the right hand of the Sea, and in his left hand, to hold the salt, I had put a delicately worked ship. Below the figure were his four sea-horses: the breast and front hoofs were like a horse, all the rest, from the middle back, was like a fish; the fishes’ tails were interlaced together in a charming way. Dominating the group was the Sea, in an attitude of pride and surrounded by a great variety of fish and other marine creatures. The water was represented with its waves, and then it was beautifully enamelled in its own colour.

  The Land I had represented by a very handsome woman, holding her horn of plenty in her hand, and entirely naked like her male partner. In her other hand, the left, I had made a little, very delicately worked, Ionic temple that I intended for the pepper. Beneath this figure I had arranged the most beautiful animals that the earth produces; the rocks of the earth I had partly enamelled and partly left in gold. I had then given the work a foundation, setting it on a black ebony base. It was of the right depth and width and had a small bevel on which I had set four gold figures, executed in more than half relief, and representing Night, Day, Twilight, and Dawn. Besides these there were four other figures of the same size, representing the four chief winds, partly enamelled and finished off as exquisitely as can be imagined.

  When I set this work before the King he gasped in amazement and could not take his eyes off it. Then he instructed me to take it back to my house, and said that in due course he would let me know what I was to do with it. I took it home, and at once invited in some of my close friends; and with them I dined very cheerfully, placing the salt-cellar in the middle of the table. We were the first to make use of it. Then I set out to finish the silver Jupiter and the large vase I have mentioned before that was charmingly ornamented with a host of figures.

  About that time the painter Bologna, whom I’ve referred to above, gave the King to understand that it would be well worth his Majesty’s while to let him go to Rom
e, recommending him with letters of introduction, so that he could take casts of the foremost antiques, that is, the Laocoön, the Cleopatra, the Venus, the Commodus, the Zingara, and the Apollo. These certainly are the most beautiful works in all Rome.

  He told the King that after his Majesty had set eyes on those marvellous objects, then he would really understand the art of design, since all the work he had seen come from the hands of us moderns was far removed from the craftsmanship of the ancients. The King was agreeable, and granted all his requests. So the beast shambled off on his own unlucky path. It was not in him to rival me with the work of his own hands, so he played the typical Lombard trick of seeking to discredit my work by making himself a copyist of antiques. And though he had his casts very well made, he ended up by producing quite the opposite result to what he had expected, as I shall describe later when the time comes.

  I had chased that wretched girl Caterina right away, and that poor unfortunate husband of hers had cleared out of Paris. Then, as I wanted to put the finishing touches to my Fontainebleau which was already cast in bronze, and also to make a good job of the two Victories which were meant for the side angles in the half-circle of the door, I found myself a poor young girl, about fifteen years old. She was very beautifully formed, and rather swarthy. Since she was inclined to be wild, spoke very little, was swift in her movements, and had brooding eyes, all this led me to give her the name Scorzone;256 her real name was Gianna. With the help of this delightful girl I finished the Fontainebleau to my satisfaction in bronze, as well as the two Victories for the door.

  This young girl was untouched, and a virgin, and I got her pregnant. She bore me a daughter on the seventh of June, at the thirteenth hour of the day, 1544; and that was just the forty-fourth year of my own life. I gave her the name Costanza:257 she was held at her baptism by Guido Guidi, the King’s physician and, as I have written before, a very good friend of mine. He was the only godfather, since that is the custom in France, to have one godfather and two godmothers. One of these latter was Signora Maddalena, the wife of Luigi Alamanni, a Florentine gentleman and a marvellous poet. The other godmother was the wife of Ricciardo del Bene, one of our Florentine citizens and a substantial merchant in Paris. She was a high-ranking French lady. This, as far as I remember, was the first child I ever had. For her endowment I assigned the girl as much money as an aunt of hers – into whose care I gave her – would agree to: and that was the last I had to do with her.