Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini Vol 1 — Chapters 42-25

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; [1] 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 workshop, 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, because he kept a ferry boat upon the Tiber between Ponte Sisto and Ponte Santo Agnolo.

He was a person of considerable talent, distinguished by his pleasantries and striking conversation, and he had formerly been a designer of patterns for the cloth-weavers in Florence.

This man was intimate with the Pope, who took great pleasure 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.

Afterwards 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 quite 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 perhaps pretty nearly how the matter stood, replied: “My brother, go your was quickly; then write to me, and have no further care about 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.

Note 1. 'Fecesi quelle orazioni.'

It may mean “the prayers were offered up.

” XLIII

UPON my arrival in Rome, [1] 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 considerable 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 goodwill.

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.

The Pope was in bed, suffering from a slight indisposition, and he had with him Messer Jacopo Salviati and the Archbishop of Capua.

[2] 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 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 Archbishop 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 [3] to set myself to work.

Note 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 Lorenzo and Piero;

his brother was a soldier of Giovanni delle Bande Nere and Duke Alessandro.

Many most excellent Florentines were convinced that the Medicean government was beneficial; and an artist had certainly more to expect from it than from the Republic.

Note 2. Nicolas Schomberg, a learned Dominican and disciple of Savonarola, made Archbishop 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. Note 3. 'Affusolato.'

Lit.

, straight as a spindle.

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; [1] he was very clever at engraving cornelians, and was, moreover, 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 commissioned 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 commissioned.

Having already access to his Holiness’ 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 chamberlain of the court;

[2] these two together, then, began to insinuate 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 connoisseur, 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, wax is easy to work in; the real difficulty is to execute this in gold.

” To those words I answered without 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 combining 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, [3] 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 place 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.

Note 1. Vasari calls this eminent engraver of gems Michelino.

Note 2. Messer Traiano Alicorno.

Note 3. 'In un certo bel modo svolto.'

That means: turned aside, not fronting the spectator.

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 what I had got in hand.

On the way, the chamberlain, who was the most gentle-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 stupefaction, 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 Holiness’ Datary; [1] 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.'

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 goldsmiths 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 astonished and greatly gratified, not only because my work pleased him excessively, but also because of the rapidity with which I had performed it.

For the further satisfaction and amazement of his holiness, 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 patient, [2] in which I prayed for the post of stamp-master [3] 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.

Note 1. 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 Romæ' to documents.

The fees of this office, which was also called Datario, brought in a large revenue to the Papacy.

Note 2. 'Moto propio.'

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

Note 3. 'Maestro delle stampe della zecca, i. e. ,' the artist who made the dies.