Although I found myself so extremely ill, I nevertheless determined to work on my great statue in the Loggia, and the result was that in a few days I became so ill that I had to stay in bed. As soon as the Duchess heard of this she had the working of that unlucky marble given as a gift to Bartolomeo Ammannati. He sent to tell me through Messer—, living in the Via del—, that I should do whatever I liked with the model I had begun, since he had won the marble. This Messer—was one of the lovers of Bartolomeo Ammannati’s wife, and since he was gentle and discreet, he was the most favoured and Ammanati gave him all the opportunities he wanted: and I could say a good deal about this. However, I don’t want to follow the example of his master Bandinello, who never stuck to the point. I shall just say that I told… that I had always expected it and that he should tell Bartolomeo to work very hard so that he could show his gratitude to Fortune for the great and undeserved favours she was showing him.
So, very miserably, I stayed in bed; and I had myself attended by that wonderful man, Francesco da Monte Varchi, the physician, and as well as him by the surgeon Raffaello de’ Pilli, as the sublimate had so burned my bowels that I had constant diarrhoea. Francesco knew that the poison had done all the harm it could and had not been sufficient to defeat the sound constitution he found I had, and so one day he said:
‘Benvenuto, thank God, because you’ve pulled through: and don’t doubt for an instant that I mean to cure you, and that way we’ll get our own back on the villains who have tried to harm you.’
Then Raffaello added: ‘This will be one of the finest, most difficult cures ever known. You know, Benvenuto, you swallowed a good mouthful of sublimate.’
At this Francesco checked him and said: ‘Perhaps it was some poisonous maggot.’
I told them that I knew for certain what sort of poison it was and who had given it to me; and then we were all silent. They went on giving me medical treatment for more than six whole months, and it was more than a year before I could carry on with my normal life.
At this time the Duke went off to make his entry into Siena,363 and Ammanati had gone ahead a few months before to make the triumphal arches. A bastard son of his had remained in the Loggia and had removed certain of the hangings that were still on my model of the Neptune.364 I had kept it covered since it was not yet finished. I immediately went to complain to lord Don Francesco, the Duke’s son, who had taken a liking to me; and I told him how they had uncovered my model before it was ready, though I wouldn’t have minded if it had been finished. He made one or two threatening gestures, and then he said:
‘Benvenuto, don’t worry about its being uncovered; they’re only working for their own downfall. But if you want it covered up again I shall have it done at once.’
And then his Most Illustrious Excellency added a great deal in my favour, in the presence of a great many noblemen. Then I said that I begged his Excellency to give me the means to finish it, since I wanted to make his Excellency a present of it, along with the little model. He replied that he gladly accepted them both, and that he would have me given all I asked for. So I took strength from this small favour, which really saved my life, since I was about to fail from having seen so many tremendous ills and misfortunes fall on me at one stroke. This small favour comforted me and gave me the hope of carrying on.
It was now a year since I had bought the Fountain Farm from Sbietta, and not only had he done me all those injuries – both in the matter of the poison and in regard to some other robberies – but I now realized that the farm was not yielding me half of what they had offered. Now I had, besides the contract, a document in Sbietta’s hand in which he bound himself before witnesses to maintain me in the supplies that I mentioned. So I went off to the Lords of the Council. At the time Messer Alfonso Quistello was alive; he was the Chancellor and he sat with the councillors, among whom were Averardo Serristori and Federigo de’ Ricci – I don’t remember all their names. There was also one of the Alessandri family among them. But anyhow they were an assembly of very important men.
Now after I had explained my case to the magistrates they all unanimously agreed that Sbietta should give me back my money, save for Federigo de’ Ricci who at that time was making use of Sbietta. So then they all said they were sorry, but that Federigo de’ Ricci was preventing them from concluding the case. Averardo Serristori said the same as the rest of them, though he made a great fuss about the matter, as did the member of the Alessandri family. Then, after Federigo had delayed things till the magistrates had finished their term of office, Serristori found me one morning, as they were coming out on to the Piazza dell’ Annunziata, and without caring about anyone said in a loud voice:
‘Federigo de’ Ricci could exert so much more influence than the rest of us that you’ve been ruined against our will.’
I shall say no more about this, because it would be too offensive to the supreme power of the Government. I shall only add that I was dealt with treacherously at the wishes of a rich citizen, merely because that shepherd was in his service.
The Duke was at Livorno, and I went to find him merely to ask for my dismissal. With my strength coming back to me, and realizing that I was not being made use of, I was grieved at doing so much harm to the practice of my art. So with my mind made up I went to Livorno and found the Duke, who welcomed me very graciously. I stayed there several days, and every day I went out riding with his Excellency and I had every opportunity to say all I wanted, as the Duke used to ride out of Livorno and four miles along the sea-shore to where he was building a little fort; and unwilling to be troubled by too many people he liked me to talk with him. So one day, when I saw that he was treating me with very unusual favour, I deliberately began to talk about Sbietta, that is about Piermaria d’Anterigoli.
‘My lord,’ I said, ‘I want to tell your Excellency about an extraordinary affair which will explain to your Excellency what it was that prevented me from being able to finish my clay model of Neptune that I was working on in the Loggia. I must explain, your Excellency, that I had bought a farm for life from Sbietta…’
Enough that I gave him full details and never mingled any falsehood with the truth. Now when I came to tell of the poison I said that, if his Excellency had ever looked on me as a good servant, instead of punishing Sbietta and those who gave me the poison he ought to reward them; because the poison was not sufficient to kill me, but had been exactly the right amount to cure me of a mortal viscosity that I had in my stomach and intestines. The result, I said, was that whereas in the state I had been in I was good for three or four years, their medicine was so effective that I believed I had won more than twenty years’ life; and I added that I thanked God for this even more fervently than ever before.
‘It’s true enough what I have often heard men say,’ I concluded, ‘that God only sends us evil to do us good.’
The Duke listened to me with great attention for more than two miles of the journey, merely exclaiming: ‘What wicked men!’ I came to an end, saying that I was under an obligation to them, and then began discussing other, pleasant topics.
I waited for the right day, and when I found him in a favourable mood I begged his Excellency to grant my dismissal, so that I need not waste the few years I still had in me to achieve something; and as for what was still owing me for my Perseus, I said that his Excellency should give it to me when it pleased him. While I was addressing him I went out of my way to thank his Most Illustrious Excellency very elaborately; but he did not answer a single word, and in fact he appeared to be very offended. The following day Messer Bartolomeo Concino,365 one of the Duke’s most important secretaries, came up to me and said in a half-threatening manner:
‘The Duke says that if you want your dismissal, he will give it to you; but if you want work he will give you that, and may you be able to accomplish all that his Excellency will give you!’
I replied that my only desire was for work, and especially from his Excellency, more than from any other man on earth: whether they w
ere popes or emperors or kings, I’d be more willing to serve his Excellency for a penny than any of them for a ducat.
‘If that’s how you feel,’ he answered, ‘you’ve agreed without saying anything else: so go back to Florence and there’s no need to worry, since the Duke wishes you well.’
So I returned to Florence.
As soon as I arrived there I was visited by a man called Raffaellone Scheggia, a weaver of cloth of gold, who said to me: ‘My dear Benvenuto, I want to make it up between you and Piermaria Sbietta.’
I replied that no one except the Lords of the Council could reconcile us, and that in the present session Sbietta would not have a Federigo de’ Ricci who in return for a present of two fat kids, without any regard for his own honour or for God, was prepared to support such an infamous cause and deal sacred justice such a brutal wrong. After I had said this, and a great deal else besides, this Raffaellone, still talking in a very ingratiating manner, said that it was much better to eat a thrush in peace than to wage such a war for a very plump capon, even if one was certain of winning it. And he added that the process of litigation sometimes took so long that I would by the end of it have done much better to have spent the time on some fine work, which would win me far more honour and much more profit.
I knew he was telling the truth, and I began to pay attention to what he had to say, with the result that he soon brought about a reconciliation in the following way: Sbietta was to lease the farm from me for seventy gold crowns a year for all the remaining years of my life.
But when we were about to settle the contract, which was arranged by Ser Giovanni, the son of Matteo da Falgano, Sbietta said that the way we had handled things would mean paying the largest tax, but that he would not back out, and so it would be better to arrange the lease for five years at a time, and that he would keep faith with me, without ever resorting to a lawsuit again. And his brother, that roguish priest, promised me the same. So in that way we made a contract to run for five years.
I would like to talk about other matters and leave off discussing this outrageous villainy for a while, but first I am bound to describe what happened when the five-year agreement expired. After the time was up those two rascals were reluctant to keep any of the promises they had made me, and in fact wanted to give me back the farm and discontinue the lease. As a result I began to make complaints, but they waved the contract before me, and so because of their bad faith there was nothing I could do. When I realized this I told them that the Duke and the Prince of Florence would not tolerate such brutal treacherous behaviour in their city.
Now this frightened them so effectively that they sent back that same Raffaellone Scheggia who had brought about the first agreement. They said that they were reluctant to pay me seventy crowns in gold as they had been doing for the past five years. I retorted that I would not take any less. This Raffaellone came to see me, and said: ‘My dear Benvenuto, you know that I’m on your side: and now they’ve placed everything in my hands.’ And then he showed me their written instructions.
In ignorance of the fact that he was a close relation of theirs I thought that this was all very well, and so I put myself utterly in his hands. Then one evening this fine fellow came to see me – it was about half an hour after sunset, in the month of August – and overwhelming me with words forced me to have the contract drawn up, only because he knew that if it were left till morning the fraud he meant to perpetrate would not come off. So the contract was made on the agreement that they were to pay me as rent sixty-five crowns, in two payments a year, for the rest of my life. Although I complained about it hotly and was determined to repudiate it, Raffaellone pointed to my own signature and convinced everyone that I was in the wrong. And he protested that he had done it all for my benefit, and that he was looking after my interests. As neither the notary nor the others knew that he was related to them, they all said I was in the wrong. As a result I very soon gave in to them, but I shall do my best to live for as long as possible.
After this I made another mistake; it was the following year, in the December of 1566. I bought half the farm of Poggio from them, that is from Sbietta, for two hundred crowns in cash. It was adjoining the first one, Fountain Farm, and by the agreement it was to revert at the end of three years, during which time I rented it to them. I did this for the best, but it would mean too long a digression if I were to give in detail the great villainies they practised against me. I mean to leave it utterly in God’s hands: He has always protected me against those who have wanted to do me ill.
I had completely finished my marble Crucifix,366 and I decided that by setting it up and raising it a few feet off the ground it would make a far more impressive show; although it looked very fine on the ground, it looked much better after I had raised it, and I was extremely pleased with it. So I began to show it to whoever wanted to see it. As was God’s will, the Duke and Duchess heard about it, and so, after they had returned from Pisa, one day both of their Excellencies, with all the nobility of their court, arrived unexpectedly at my house just to see the Crucifix. The Duke and Duchess were so delighted with it that they never left off praising me to the skies, and all the lords and gentlemen who were present followed their example.
When I saw how pleased they were I began to thank them very pleasantly for having removed from me the burden of the marble for the Neptune, which was the real cause of my having produced such a work, the like of which had never been done before. Although I had never been so exhausted, I said, I thought that the pains I took had been well worth while, especially as their Excellencies praised it so much; and, I went on, as I didn’t think I could find anyone more worthy of it than their Most Illustrious Excellencies, I willingly made them a present of it, but before they went away I begged them to be kind enough to visit the ground floor of my house.
At this they immediately rose very courteously, left the workshop and went into the house where they saw my little model of the Neptune, and the fountain, which the Duchess had never seen before. The Duchess was so impressed by it that she immediately cried out in great astonishment, and turned to the Duke to say:
‘In all my life, I have never imagined a tenth part of such beauty.’
In reply the Duke kept saying: ‘But didn’t I tell you?’
And then for a good while they talked among themselves, in a way very flattering to me: and then the Duchess called me to her, overwhelmed me with praises by way of excusing herself – she spoke in such a way as if to ask my forgiveness – and afterwards said that she wanted to have a suitable piece of marble quarried for me to carry out the work. In reply to these kind words I said that if their Excellencies gave me the wherewithal I would be only too willing, for love of them, to embark on such an arduous enterprise.
Straight away the Duke replied: ‘Benvenuto, you’ll be given anything you imagine you will want, and in addition there’ll be what I shall give you of my own accord, which will be by far and away more valuable.’
And after those charming words they made off, leaving me feeling very content.
Many weeks went by and nothing more was said about me. So seeing that no one was making a move I was almost in despair. At that time the Queen of France sent Messer Baccio del Bene to our Duke with an urgent request for a loan which, so it was said, the Duke very kindly supplied. As Baccio del Bene and I were very intimate friends, we were both extremely happy when we came across each other in Florence. He described to me all the great favours that his Excellency had done him, and while we were talking he asked me what important work I had in hand.
So I told him, as it had happened, all that business about the great Neptune and the fountain, and the great wrong that the Duchess had done me. Then he said on behalf of the Queen that her Majesty was very anxious to finish the tomb of her husband, King Henry, and that Daniello da Volterra367 had undertaken to make a great horse of bronze, but that the time by which he had promised to do so had passed, and that very important decorations were needed for the tomb. So i
f I wanted to return to my castle in France she would have me given all I could ask for, provided I would serve her. I told Messer Baccio to ask the Duke on my behalf for permission to return to France. Baccio then said cheerfully: ‘We shall return together.’ And he looked on it as already done. So the next day when he was talking to the Duke he began to discuss me and he said to the Duke that if he was willing the Queen would make use of my services.
The Duke immediately replied: ‘Benvenuto is still the able craftsman the world knows about, but nowadays he doesn’t want to work any more.’
And then they moved on to other subjects.
The next day I went to find Messer Baccio and he reported all this to me. When I heard what he said I could no longer restrain myself, and I cried out:
‘If, after his Excellency left me with nothing to do, on my own initiative I have accomplished one of the most difficult pieces of work ever made anywhere, and at a cost of more than two hundred crowns, paid out of my own poor pocket, what would I not have accomplished if only his Excellency had put me to work himself! I tell you honestly that I have been very gravely wronged.’
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini Page 50
