ON the following day, when the servant of the castellan who was my
friend brought me my food, I gave him this sonnet copied out in writing.
Without informing the other ill-disposed servants who were my enemies,
he handed it to the castellan. At that time this worthy man would gladly
have granted me my liberty, because he fancied that the great wrong done
to me was a main cause of his death. He took the sonnet, and having read
it more than once, exclaimed: “These are neither the words nor the
thoughts of a madman, but rather of a sound and worthy fellow.” Without
delay he ordered his secretary to take it to the Pope, and place it in
his own hands, adding a request for my deliverance.
While the secretary was on his way with my sonnet to the Pope, the
castellan sent me lights for day and night, together with all the
conveniences one could wish for in that place. The result of this was
that I began to recover from my physical depression, which had reached a
very serious degree.
The Pope read the sonnet several times. Then he sent word to the
castellan that he meant presently to do what would be pleasing to him.
Certainly the Pope had no unwillingness to release me then; but Signor
Pier Luigi, his son, as it were in the Pope’s despite, kept me there by
force.
The death of the castellan was drawing near; and while I was engaged in
drawing and modelling that miracle which I had seen, upon the morning of
All Saint’s day he sent his nephew, Piero Ugolini, to show me certain
jewels. No sooner had I set eyes on them than I exclaimed: “This is the
countersign of my deliverance!” Then the young man, who was not a person
of much intelligence, began to say: “Never think of that, Benvenuto!” I
replied: “Take your gems away, for I am so treated here that I have no
light to see by except what this murky cavern gives, and that is not
enough to test the quality of precious stones. But, as regards my
deliverance from this dungeon, the day will not end before you come to
fetch me out. It shall and must be so, and you will not be able to
prevent it.” The man departed, and had me locked in; but after he had
remained away two hours by the clock, he returned without armed men,
bringing only a couple of lads to assist my movements; so after this
fashion he conducted me to the spacious rooms which I had previously
occupied (that is to say, in 1538), where I obtained all the
conveniences I asked for.