Both the incident and the verses went the round of the palace, giving
the Duke and Duchess much amusement. But, before the man himself knew
what I had been up to, crowds of people stopped to read the lines and
laughed immoderately at them. Since they were looking towards the mint
and fixing their eyes on Bernardone, his son, Maestro Baccio, taking
notice of their gestures, tore the paper down with fury. The elder bit
his thumb, shrieking threats out with that hideous voice of his, which
comes forth through his nose; indeed he made a brave defiance. 3
Note 1. That is, the Loggia de’ Lanzi, on the great piazza of Florence,
where Cellini’s statue still stands.
Note 2. If I understand the obscure lines of the original, Cellini
wanted to kill two birds with one stone by this epigram--both Bernardone
and his son Baccio. But by Buaccio he generally means Baccio Bandinelli.
Note 3. To bite the thumb at any one was, as students of our old drama
know, a sign of challenge or provocation.