In the meantime I was busy assembling my beautiful doorway together with all the adornments mentioned. I have no wish to write in my life story about matters that concern those who write chronicles, so I have not mentioned the approach of the Emperor with his great army, or the King’s raising all his forces. But that was the time when he asked my advice on the rapid fortification of Paris: he came purposely to my house to find me, and he led me on a tour of inspection all round the city. On discovering that I was ready to fortify Paris, basing my work on sound principles and doing the job quickly, he gave me express orders to do what I had said without delay; and he ordered his Admiral to command the citizens to obey me under pain of his Majesty’s displeasure.
The Admiral had won his position because of Madame d’Étampes’s favour rather than through any good work of his own, and he was a man of little intelligence. So because of that, and because his name was d’Annebault (which translated into our language is Monsignor d’Aniballe) the people pronounced his name in their own language as if it were Ass-Ox. Anyway, this fool told Madame d’Étampes all that had happened and she ordered him to send at once for Girolimo Bellarmato.266 This man was a Sienese engineer who was then at Dieppe, a little more than a day’s journey from Paris. He came at once, and then set in motion the most tedious method of fortification, and so I retired from the business altogether. And if the Emperor had advanced farther he would have taken Paris with the greatest ease. It is said that in the treaty which was made later, Madame d’Étampes, who was involved in the matter more than anyone else, betrayed the King:267 I shall say nothing more about this as it’s outside my scope.
I applied myself energetically to constructing the bronze doorway, and to putting the finishing touches to the large vase and to two other medium-sized vases which were made from my own silver. After all his trials, the good King came to Paris to rest for a while.
That cursed woman must have been brought into the world merely to bring about its destruction, so seeing that I was her chief enemy I think I must be a man of some consequence. She happened to begin talking with the good King about my affairs, and she said such wicked things about me that to please her the good man swore that he would never again pay the slightest regard to me, and would treat me as if he had never known me. This news was immediately carried to me by a page belonging to the Cardinal of Ferrara, called Villa: he said that he himself had heard those very words from the King’s own mouth. This threw me into such a rage that I hurled my tools and whatever I was working on across the room. I got ready to clear out of Paris, and I set off at once to find the King.
After he had finished supper, I entered the room where his Majesty was, and I found him with only one or two attendants. I made the proper reverence due to a king, and when he saw me he immediately smiled and inclined his head towards me. So I was reassured and I gradually drew near to his Majesty. They were showing him some objects connected with my own profession. After these things had been discussed a little while, the King asked me if I had anything beautiful in my house to show him, and then he asked when I wanted him to come and have a look. At this I said that if he was willing I was prepared to show him something straight away. He at once replied that I should go home and that he would come without a moment’s delay.
I went off to wait for this wonderful King, who had gone to take leave of Madame d’Étampes. She wanted to know where he was going, and she said that she would accompany him: when he told her, she said that she did not want to go with him after all, and she begged him not to go that day himself, for her sake. She had to make several attempts to dissuade the King from his purpose: however, he did not come to my house that day.
The following day, at the same hour, I went back to see him: and as soon as he set eyes on me he protested that he meant to come to my house at once. As usual he went to take his leave of Madame d’Étampes, and when she realized that, for all her influence, she had not been able to change his mind for him, she began using her sharp tongue to slander me as much as if I were a mortal enemy of the throne. In reply to this the good King said that his intention in going to visit me was solely to give me a terrifying dressing-down, and he gave her his word of honour that this was what he would do. Immediately, he came to the house, and I led him into some large rooms on the ground floor where I had assembled the great door in its entirety. When the King saw it he was so stupefied that he could not see his way to giving me the dressing-down he had said he would. All the same he did not want to miss the opportunity of abusing me as he had promised, and so he began saying:
‘There is one very important thing, Benvenuto, that you artists, talented as you are, must understand: you cannot display your talents without help; and your greatness only becomes perceptible because of the opportunities you receive from us. Now you should be a little more obedient and less arrogant and headstrong. I remember giving you express orders to make me twelve silver statues, and that was all I wanted. But you have set your mind on making me a salt-cellar, and vases, and busts, and doors, and so many other things that I’m completely dumbfounded when I consider how you’ve ignored my wishes and set out to satisfy yourself. If you think you can go on like this, I’ll show you the way I behave when I want things done my way. So I warn you, make sure you obey my orders: if you persist in your own ideas you’ll run your head against a wall.’
All the time he was talking, the noblemen with him remained very attentive, watching him as he shook his head, and frowned and gesticulated, now with one hand and now with the other. They were trembling with fear of what was going to happen to me, though for my part I was determined not to let myself panic in the slightest.
As soon as he was finished with the harangue that he had promised his Madame d’Étampes he would make, I knelt down on one knee, and kissing his robe just above his knee I said:
‘Sacred Majesty, I admit that everything you say is true; all I can reply is that continually, day and night, with all my heart and soul I have been intent only on obeying and serving your Majesty; and as for anything that may appear to disprove what I say, your Majesty must blame it not on Benvenuto, but on my evil destiny or my bad fortune, which has tried to make me unworthy of serving the most splendid prince the world ever had. So I beg you to forgive me. I would only add that I was under the impression that your Majesty gave me enough silver for only one statue, and seeing that I myself hadn’t any I could only make that one statue. With the small amount that was left over I made the vase, so that your Majesty could see the beautiful style that was appreciated by the ancients, which perhaps you hadn’t seen before.
‘As for the salt-cellar, if I remember rightly I believe that one day your Majesty asked me for it of your own accord, after you had been discussing another salt-cellar that was shown you. Because of this, I showed you the model that I had already made in Italy, and then of your own free will you immediately had me given a thousand gold ducats so that I could execute the work for you. You said that you were very grateful to me for the idea, and, more than that, I believe that you thanked me very much when I gave you the finished work. As for the door, I was under the impression that once, when we happened to be discussing it, your Majesty gave orders to your chief secretary, Monsignor di Villurois, who commanded Monsignor di Marmagna and Monsignor della Fa to ensure that I continued with the work and was given an allowance for it: and if it hadn’t been for this commission, I would never have been able to carry on with such a great undertaking by myself.
‘As for the bronze busts and the work on the pedestal of the Jupiter and so on, I did in fact make the busts on my own initiative, because being a foreigner I had no acquaintance with these French clays, and I wanted to experiment with them; I wouldn’t have set about casting the large works unless I had done so. The work on the pedestal I did because I thought that it was very suitable for the figures. So everything I’ve done was meant for the best, and never meant in opposition to your Majesty’s wishes. It’s certainly true that up to its present stag
e that great Colossus has been at my own expense, because my only thought was, with your being such a great king, that an insignificant artist like myself should make a statue, for your glory as well as for my own, such as the ancients never had.
‘Now that I see that God is unwilling to make me worthy of the honour of serving you, I beg your Majesty, in place of the honourable reward you intended to give me for my work, just to allow me a little of your good favour and to allow me to take my leave. And now, if you are good enough to allow it, I shall return to Italy, and I shall always give thanks to God and to your Majesty for the happy hours I have spent in your service.’
He took hold of me with his hand, and then, very graciously, raised me from my knees and said that I should be content to serve him, and that everything I had made was good and pleased him very much. Then he turned to the noblemen with him, and used these very words: ‘I firmly believe that if doors had to be made for paradise, nothing finer than this could be achieved.’
I paused a little, after this forceful praise, and then with very great respect I thanked him once again, but because I was still angry I repeated that I would like to be given leave to go. When that great King realized that I had not received his unusually generous acts of kindness the way they deserved, in a loud, terrifying voice he ordered me not to say another word or it would be worse for me. And then he added that he would drown me in gold, and that he was quite content with my working on my own initiative in addition to the works commissioned by him, and that I would never again have any dispute with him, because now he understood me; and he said that for my part I should try to understand him in the way my duty commanded.
I replied that I gave thanks for everything to God and to his Majesty, and then I begged him to come and see the great statue and how far I had advanced it: so he came with me. I had it uncovered, and he was astonished beyond words. Straight away he ordered his secretary to give me without any delay all the money I had spent on it out of my own pocket, no matter what it was so long as I wrote the amount down myself. Then he left saying: ‘Good-bye, mon ami’ – words rarely spoken by a king.
After he had returned to his palace he began turning over in his mind the way I had spoken to him at first with incredible humility and then with tremendous pride. My words had irritated him greatly, and he happened to repeat some particular phrases in the hearing of Madame d’Étampes and Monsignor di San Polo,268 a great baron of France. This same fellow had in the past gone out of his way to profess himself a friend of mine, and on this occasion he certainly showed himself as such very adroitly and in the French fashion. What happened was that after a great deal of discussion the King complained about the Cardinal of Ferrara, saying that he had given me into his care, and that he had never given a thought to my affairs. He added that it was no thanks to the Cardinal that I had not cleared out of the kingdom, and that he would think about putting in charge of me someone who would appreciate me better, since he did not want to give me another opportunity of escaping.
At this, Monsignor di San Polo at once offered his services, asking the King to put me in his charge and saying that he would take great care I never had any further cause to leave his kingdom. In reply the King said that he was perfectly agreeable to this, if San Polo would tell him how he meant to stop me leaving. Madame was there looking very sullen at all this, and San Polo held his hand and would not tell the King how he would do it. His Majesty asked him again, and, to please Madame d’Étampes, he said: ‘I would string him up by the neck – this Benvenuto of yours: and that way you’d never lose him.’
At once Madame d’Étampes shrieked with laughter, saying that I well deserved it. Then to keep them company the King began to laugh as well, and said that he was perfectly willing for San Polo to hang me, provided he first found someone of the same worth: and even though I had never deserved it, he said, he gave him full permission. In that way the day came to an end, and I remained safe and sound: for which I give praise and thanks to God.
By then the King had brought to a peaceful end the war with the Emperor, but not with the English: so those devils269 continued to cause us great anxiety. His Majesty had to think about other matters than pleasure and he had commissioned Piero Strozzi to lead some galleys into English waters.270 This was a difficult and formidable undertaking even for that splendid soldier, who was at the time unique as far as his profession was concerned, and unique in his misfortunes.
Meanwhile a few months had passed by without my receiving any money or any commissions. So I had dismissed all my workmen, apart from the two Italians whom I set to work on two great vases to be made from my own silver, since they did not know how to handle bronze. After the two vases were finished I went off with them to a city belonging to the Queen of Navarre, called Argentan, which is a good few days distant from Paris. When I arrived there I found that the King was indisposed. The Cardinal of Ferrara told his Majesty of my arrival but the King made no comment, and as a result I had to spend several days very disagreeably. In fact, it was all tremendously annoying. But, when a few days had gone by, I presented myself to the King, and held out before his eyes those two fine vases, which pleased him beyond measure.
When I saw that the King was in a very good mood, I begged his Majesty to be kind enough to allow me to make a trip to Italy, and I said that I would ignore the seven months’ salary that was owing to me, though perhaps his Majesty would be good enough to have it paid to me later, if I needed it for my return. I begged him to do me this favour, seeing that it was a time for making war and not for making statues; I added that he had done as much for his painter, Bologna, and so I earnestly begged him to grant me the same favour. While I was saying this the King studied the two vases very closely, now and then staring at me with that terrible look in his eyes; all the same, with as much insistence as I was capable of, I begged him to grant me the favour I asked. All at once I saw him grow angry; he rose from his seat and said to me:
‘Benvenuto, you’re a great fool: take those two vases to Paris – I want them gilded.’
And without another word he went out.
I approached the Cardinal of Ferrara, who was present there, and begged him, seeing he had done so much for me in securing my release from imprisonment in Rome and in so many other ways, to try and obtain this favour for me as well, so that I could return to Italy. He said that he would be only too pleased to do all he could for me in the matter, that I could leave it completely in his hands, and that also, if I wished, I could go off without worrying, since he himself would keep me in the King’s good books. I told him that I knew the King had put me under his reverend lordship’s charge, and that if he gave me permission I would go with a light heart, ready to return if he made the least sign of wanting me to do so. Then the Cardinal told me that I should go to Paris, wait there a week, and meanwhile he would obtain the King’s consent to my leaving: in the event of the King’s being unwilling for me to depart he would inform me without fail, otherwise if he did not write to the contrary I was to take it that I could go without worry.
I went to Paris, following the Cardinal’s instructions, and I made three splendid cases for those three silver vases. When twenty days had gone by, I began to make my preparations and packed the three vases on to a mule which had been lent me as far as Lyons by the Bishop of Pavia, whom I was again lodging in my castle. So, as my bad luck had it, I left Paris. I went with Signor Ippolito Gonzaga, who was in the King’s pay and in service with Count Galeotto della Mirandola, and with some other noblemen of the count’s household. Lionardo Tedaldi, our fellow Florentine, also came along with us.271
I left Ascanio and Pagolo in charge of the castle and of all my belongings, including some little vases I had begun. These I left so that the two young men would have something to keep them busy. There was also a great deal of valuable domestic furniture, since I lived in style. The value of my belongings amounted to more than fifteen hundred crowns. I told Ascanio not to forget the great benefits he had rec
eived from me, adding that up to then he had been a thoughtless child but that it was now time for him to have the mind of a man. I said that I meant to leave all my belongings, and my honour as well, in his care, and that if he had any trouble at all from those beasts of Frenchmen he was to let me know at once, so that I could ride back post-haste from wherever I was in view of the strong obligation I was under to the great King, and for the sake of my own honour.
With false, treacherous tears this Ascanio said to me: ‘I have never known a better father than you; and I shall always act towards you exactly as a good son should towards a good father.’
So having settled matters I went my way, together with a servant and a little French lad.
After midday some of the royal treasurers who were far from friendly towards me arrived at my castle. This villainous riff-raff immediately accused me of having decamped with the King’s silver, and they urged Messer Guido and the Bishop of Pavia to send after me for the King’s vases: if not, they said, they would send after me themselves in a way that I wouldn’t like. The Bishop and Messer Guido showed much more fear than there was cause for, and without delay sent that traitor Ascanio post-haste after me: he caught me up about midnight. I had been lying awake, worried, and I was saying to myself:
‘Look whom I’ve left my belongings and my castle to… Oh, how I’m dogged by misfortune in being forced to make this journey! I hope to God the Cardinal isn’t an ally of Madame d’Étampes: all she wants is for me to lose that good King’s favour.’
While I was fretting in this way I heard Ascanio calling me: straight away I jumped out of bed and asked him if his news was good or bad.
The thief said: ‘It’s good news: all you have to do is to send back those vases, because those rogues of treasurers have raised the alarm and as a result the Bishop and Messer Guido say that you must send them back at all costs. Otherwise there’s nothing to worry about, and you can carry on enjoying your journey with a light heart.’
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini Page 39
