AT that time I had a brother, younger by two years, a youth of extreme
boldness and fierce temper. He afterwards became one of the great
soldiers in the school of that marvellous general Giovannino de’ Medici,
father of Duke Cosimo. [1] The boy was about fourteen, and I two years
older. One Sunday evening, just before nightfall, he happened to find
himself between the gate San Gallo and the Porta a Pinti; in this
quarter he came to duel with a young fellow of twenty or thereabouts.
They both had swords; and my brother dealt so valiantly that, after
having badly wounded him, he was upon the point of following up his
advantage. There was a great crowd of people present, among whom were
many of the adversary’s kinsfolk. Seeing that the thing was going ill
for their own man, they put hand to their slings, a stone from one of
which hit my poor brother in the head. He fell to the ground at once in
a dead faint. It so chanced that I had been upon the spot alone, and
without arms; and I had done my best to get my brother out of the fray
by calling to him: “Make off; you have done enough.” Meanwhile, as luck
would have it, he fell, as I have said, half dead to earth. I ran up at
once, seized his sword, and stood in front of him, bearing the brunt of
several rapiers and a shower of stones. I never left his side until some
brave soldiers came from the gate San Gallo and rescued me from the
raging crowd; they marvelled much, the while, to find such valour in so
young a boy.
Then I carried my brother home for dead, and it was only with great
difficulty that he came to himself again. When he was cured, the Eight,
who had already condemned out adversaries and banished them for a term
of years, sent us also into exile for six months at a distance of ten
miles from Florence. [2] I said to my brother: “Come along with me;” and
so we took leave of our poor father; and instead of giving us money, for
he had none, he bestowed on us his blessing. I went to Siena, wishing to
look up a certain worthy man called Maestro Francesco Castoro. On
another occasion, when I had run away from my father, I went to this
good man, and stayed some time with him, working at the goldsmith’s
trade until my father sent for me back. Francesco, when I reached him,
recognised me at once, and gave me work to do While thus occupied, he
placed a house at my disposal for the whole time of my sojourn in Siena.
Into this I moved, together with my brother, and applied myself to
labour for the space of several months. My brother had acquired the
rudiments of Latin, but was still so young that he could not yet relish
the taste of virtuous employment, but passed his time in dissipation,
Note 1. Cellini refers to the famous Giovanni delle Bande Nere, who was
killed in an engagement in Lombardy in November 1526, by the Imperialist
troops marching to the sack of Rome. His son Cosimo, after the murder of
Duke Alessandro, established the second Medicean dynasty in Florence.
Note 2. The Eight, or Gli Otto, were a magistracy in Florence with
cognizance of matters affecting the internal peace of the city.