ABOUT this time a young fellow called Francesco, the son of a smith,
Matteo, left Bandinello’s employment, and inquired whether I would give
him work. I agreed, and sent him to retouch my Medusa, which had been
new cast in bronze. After a fortnight he mentioned that he had been
speaking with his master, that is, Bandinello, who told him, if I cared
to make a marble statue, he would give me a fine block of stone. I
replied at once: “Tell him I accept his offer; perhaps this marble will
prove a stumbling block to him, for he keeps on provoking me, and does
not bear in mind the great peril he ran upon the piazza of San Domenico.
Tell him I will have the marble by all means. I never speak about him,
and the beast is perpetually causing me annoyance. I verily believe you
came to work here at his orders for the mere purpose of spying upon me.
Go, then, and tell him I insist on having the marble, even against his
will: see that you do not come back without it.”