discharged it with a deliberate aim at a person who seemed to be lifted
above the rest; but the mist prevented me from distinguishing whether he
were on horseback or on foot. I then cautiously approached the walls,
and perceived that there was an extraordinary confusion among the
assailants, occasioned by our having shot the Duke of Bourbon; he was,
as I understood afterwards, that chief personage whom I saw raised above
the rest."
* * * * *
The Pope was induced by an enemy of Benvenuto, the Cardinal Salviati, to
send for a rival goldsmith, Tobbia, to come to Rome. On his arrival both
were summoned into the Pope's presence.
"He then commanded each of us to draw a design for setting a unicorn's
horn, the most beautiful that ever was seen, which had cost 17,000
ducats. As the Pope proposed making a present of it to King Francis, he
chose to have it first richly adorned with gold; so he employed us to
draw the designs. When we had finished them we carried them to the Pope.
Tobbia's design was in the form of a candlestick; the horn was to enter
it like a candle, and at the bottom of the candlestick he had
represented four little unicorns' heads,--a most simple invention. As
soon as I saw it, I could not contain myself so as to avoid smiling at
the oddity of the conceit. The Pope, perceiving this, said, 'Let me see
that design of yours.' It was the single head of a unicorn, fitted to
receive the horn. I had made the most beautiful sort of head
conceivable, for I drew it partly in the form of a horse's head, and
partly in that of a hart's, adorned with the finest sort of wreaths and
other devices; so that no sooner was my design seen but the whole Court
gave it the preference."
* * * * *
Benvenuto continued to make many beautiful things for Pope Clement VII.
up to the time of his death. That Pope was succeeded in the papal chair
by Cardinal Farnese (Paul III.), on the 13th of October, 1534.
"I had formed a resolution to set out for France, as well because I
perceived that the Pope's favor was withdrawn from me by means of
slanderers who misrepresented my services, as for fear that those of my
enemies who had most influence might still do me some greater injury.
For these reasons I was desirous to remove to some other country, and
see whether fortune would there prove more favorable to me. Leaving
Rome, I bent my course to Florence, whence I travelled on to Bologna,
Venice, and Padua."
He reached Paris, with two workmen whom he took with him from Rome,
"without meeting any ill accident, and travelling on in uninterrupted
mirth." But being dissatisfied with his reception there, he returned
instantly to Rome, where his fears were realized; for he was arrested by
order of the Pope, and made a prisoner in the Castle of St. Angelo.
"This was the first time I ever knew the inside of a prison, and I was
then in my thirty-seventh year. The constable of the Castle of St.
Angelo was a countryman of mine, a Florentine, named Signor Giorgio
Ugolini. This worthy gentleman behaved to me with the greatest
politeness, permitting me to walk freely about the castle on my parole
of honor, and for no other reason but because he saw the severity and
injustice of my treatment.
"Finding I had been treated with so much rigor in the affair, I began to
think seriously about my escape. I got my servants to bring me new thick
sheets, and did not send back the dirty ones. Upon their asking me for
them, I answered that I had given them away to some of the poor
soldiers. I pulled all the straw out of the tick of my bed, and burned
it; for I had a chimney in the room where I lay. I then cut those sheets
into a number of slips each about one third of a cubit in width; and
when I thought I had made a sufficient quantity to reach from the top to
the bottom of the lofty tower of the Castle of St. Angelo, I told my
servants that I had given away as much of my linen as I thought proper,
and desired they would take care to bring me clean sheets, adding that I
would constantly return the dirty ones.
"The constable of the castle had annually a certain disorder which
totally deprived him of his senses; and when the fit came upon him, he
was talkative to excess. Every year he had some different whim: one time
he fancied himself metamorphosed into a pitcher of oil; another time he
thought himself a frog, and began to leap as such; another time he
imagined he was dead, and it was found necessary to humor his conceit by
making a show of burying him; thus he had every year some new frenzy.
This year he fancied himself a bat, and when he went to take a walk, he
sometimes made just such a noise as bats do; he likewise used gestures
with his hands and body, as if he were going to fly. His physicians and
his old servants, who knew his disorder, procured him all the pleasures
and amusements they could think of, and as they found he delighted
greatly in my conversation, they frequently came to me to conduct me to
his apartment, where the poor man often detained me three or four hours
chatting with him.
"He asked me whether I had ever had a fancy to fly. I answered that I
had always been very ready to attempt such things as men found most
difficult; and that with regard to flying, as God had given me a body
admirably well calculated for running, I had even resolution enough to
attempt to fly. He then proposed to me to explain how I could contrive
it. I replied that when I attentively considered the several creatures
that fly, and thought of effecting by art what they do by the force of
nature, I did not find one so fit to imitate as the bat. As soon as the
poor man heard mention made of a bat, he cried out aloud, 'It is very
true! a bat is the thing.' He then addressed himself to me, and said,
'Benvenuto, if you had the opportunity, would you have the heart to make
an attempt to fly?' I answered that if he would give me leave, I had
courage enough to attempt to fly by means of a pair of wings waxed over.
He said thereupon, 'I should like to see you fly; but as the Pope has
enjoined me to watch over you with the utmost care, I am resolved to
keep you locked up with a hundred keys, that you may not slip out of my
hands.' I said, before all present, 'Confine me as close as you please,
I will contrive to make my escape, notwithstanding.'"
At night, with a pair of pincers which he had secured, he removed the
nails which fastened the plates of iron fixed upon the door, imitating
with wax the heads of the nails he took out, so that their absence need
not be seen.
"One holiday evening, the constable being very much disordered, he
scarce said anything else but that he was become a bat, and desired his
people that if Benvenuto should happen to escape, they should take no
notice of it, for he must soon catch me, as he should doubtless be
better able to fly by night than I; adding, 'Benvenuto is only a
counterfeit bat, but I am a bat in real earnest.'
"As I had formed a resolution to attempt my escape that night, I began
by praying fervently to Almighty God that it would please him to assist
me in the enterprise. Two hours before daybreak, I took the iron plates
from the door with great trouble. I at last forced the door, and having
taken with me my slips of linen, which I had rolled up in bundles with
the utmost care, I went out and got upon the right side of the tower,
and leaped upon two tiles of the roof with the greatest ease. I was in a
white doublet, and had on a pair of white half-hose, over which I wore a
pair of little light boots, that reached half-way up my legs, and in one
of these I put my dagger. I then took the end of one of my bundles of
long slips, which I had made out of the sheets of my bed, and fastened
it to one of the tiles of the roof that happened to jut out. Then
letting myself down gently, the whole weight of my body being sustained
by my arm, I reached the ground. It was not a moonlight night, but the
stars shone with resplendent lustre. When I had touched the ground, I
first contemplated the great height which I had descended with so much
courage, and then walked away in high joy, thinking I had recovered my
liberty. But I soon found myself mistaken, for the constable had caused
two pretty high walls to be erected on that side. I managed to fix a
long pole against the first wall, and by the strength of my arms to
climb to the top of it. I then fastened my other string of slips, and
descended down the steep wall.
"There was still another one; and in letting myself down, being unable
to hold out any longer, I fell, and, striking my head, became quite
insensible. I continued in that state about an hour and a half, as
nearly as I can guess. The day beginning to break, the cool breeze that
precedes the rising of the sun brought me to my senses; but I conceived
a strange notion that I had been beheaded, and was then in purgatory. I
recovered by degrees my strength and powers, and, perceiving that I had
got out of the castle, I soon recollected all that had befallen me. Upon
attempting to rise from the ground, I found that my right leg was
broken, three inches above the heel, which threw me into a terrible
consternation. Cutting with my dagger the part of my string of slips I
had left, I bandaged my leg as well as I could. I then crept on my hands
and knees towards the gate with my dagger in my hand, and effected my
egress. It was about five hundred paces from the place where I had had
my fall to the gate by which I entered the city. It was then broad
daylight. As I happened to meet with a water-carrier, who had loaded his
ass, and filled his vessels with water, I called to him, and begged he
would put me upon the beast's back, and carry me to the landing-place of
the steps of St. Peter's Church. I offered to give him a gold crown,
and, so saying, I clapped my hand upon my purse, which was very well
lined. The honest waterman instantly took me upon his back, and carried
me to the steps before St. Peter's Church, where I desired him to leave
me and run back to his ass.
"Whilst I was crawling along upon all four, one of the servants of
Cardinal Cornaro knew me, and, running immediately to his master's
apartment, awakened him out of his sleep, saying to him, 'My most
reverend Lord, here is your jeweller, Benvenuto, who has made his escape
out of the castle, and is crawling along upon all four, quite besmeared
with blood.' The cardinal, the moment he heard this, said to his
servants, 'Run, and bring him hither to my apartment upon your backs.'
When I came into his presence the good cardinal bade me fear nothing,
and immediately sent for an excellent surgeon, who set the bone,
bandaged my leg, and bled me. The cardinal then caused me to be put into
a private apartment, and went directly to the Vatican, in order to
intercede in my behalf with the Pope.
"Meanwhile the report of my escape made a great noise all over Rome; for
the long string of sheeting fastened to the top of the lofty tower of
the castle had excited attention, and the inhabitants ran in crowds to
behold the sight. By this time the frenzy of the constable had reached
its highest pitch; he wanted, in spite of all his servants, to fly from
the same tower himself, declaring there was but one way to retake me,
and that was to fly after me. He caused himself to be carried into the
presence of his Holiness, and began a terrible outcry, saying that I had
promised him, upon my honor, that I would not fly away, and had flown
away notwithstanding."
The Cardinal Cornaro, however, and others interceded for Benvenuto with
the Pope, on account of his courage, and the extraordinary efforts of
his ingenuity, which seemed to surpass human capacity. The Pope said he
had intended to keep him near his person, and to prevent him from
returning to France, adding, "I am concerned to hear of his sufferings,
however. Bid him take care of his health; and when he is thoroughly
recovered, it shall be my study to make him some amends for his past
troubles." He was visited by young and old, persons of all ranks.
After this, Benvenuto went once more to France, where he was received
with high consideration by Francis I., who gave him, for his home and
workshop in Paris, a large old castle called the Nesle, of a triangular
form, close to the walls of the city. Here, with workmen brought with
him from Italy, he began many great works.
"Being thus become a favorite of the king, I was universally admired. As
soon as I had received silver to make it of, I began to work on the
statue of Jupiter, and took into my service several journeymen. We
worked day and night with the utmost assiduity, insomuch that, having
finished Jupiter, Vulcan, and Mars in earth, and Jupiter being pretty
forward in silver, my shop began to make a grand show. Just about this
time the king made his appearance at Paris, and I went to pay my
respects to him. When his Majesty saw me, he called to me in high
spirits, and asked me whether I had anything curious to show him at my
shop, for he intended to call there. I told him of all I had done, and
he expressed an earnest desire to see my performances; and after dinner
that day, all the nobility belonging to the Court of France repaired to
my shop.
"I had just come home, and was beginning to work, when the king made his
appearance at my castle gate. Upon hearing the sound of so many hammers,
he commanded his retinue to be silent. All my people were at work, so
that the king came upon us quite unexpectedly. As he entered the saloon,
the first object he perceived was myself with a large piece of plate in
my hand, which was to make the body of Jupiter; another was employed on
the head, another again on the legs, so that the shop resounded with the
beating of hammers. His Majesty was highly pleased, and returned to his
palace, after having conferred so many favors on me that it would be
tedious to enumerate them.
"Having with the utmost diligence finished the beautiful statue of
Jupiter, with its gilt pedestal, I placed it upon a wooden socle, which
scarce made any appearance, and within that socle I fixed four little
globes of wood, which were more than half hidden in their sockets, and
so contrived that a little child could with the utmost ease move this
statue of Jupiter backwards and forwards, and turn it about. I took it
with me to Fontainebleau, where the King then resided. I was told to put
it in the gallery,--a place which might be called a corridor, about two
hundred paces long, adorned and enriched with pictures and pieces of
sculpture, amongst them some of the finest imitations of the antique
statues of Rome. Here also I introduced my Jupiter; and when I saw this
great display of the wonders of art, I said to myself, 'This is like
passing between the pikes of the enemy; Heaven protect me from all
danger!'
"This figure of Jupiter had a thunderbolt in his right hand, and by his
attitude seemed to be just going to throw it; in his left I had placed a
globe, and amongst the flames I had with great dexterity put a piece of
white torch. On the approach of night I lighted the torch in the hand of
Jupiter; and as it was raised somewhat above his head, the light fell
upon the statue, and caused it to appear to much greater advantage than
it would otherwise have done. When I saw his Majesty enter with several
great lords and noblemen, I ordered my boy to push the statue before
him, and this motion, being made with admirable contrivance, caused it
to appear alive; thus the other figures in the gallery were left
somewhat behind, and the eyes of all the beholders were first struck
with my performance.
"The king immediately cried out: 'This is one of the finest productions
of art that ever was beheld. I, who take pleasure in such things and
understand them, could never have conceived a piece of work the
hundredth part so beautiful!'"
* * * * *
Cellini, however, who was exacting and sensitive, became dissatisfied
with the treatment of the King of France; and, leaving his workmen at
his tower of the Nesle, he returned to Italy, and engaged in the service
of Cosmo de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who assigned him a house to
work in.
His chief performance here was a bronze statue of Perseus for the fine
square before the Palazzo Vecchio. After many drawbacks, doubts, and
difficulties,--
"I now took courage, resolving to depend on myself, and banished all
those thoughts which from time to time occasioned me great inquietude,
and made me sorely repent my ever having quitted France. I still
flattered myself that if I could but finish my statue of Perseus, all my
labors would be converted to delight, and meet with a glorious and happy
reward.
"This statue was intended to be of bronze, five ells in height, of one
piece, and hollow. I first formed my model of clay, more slender than
the statue was intended to be. I then baked it, and covered it with wax
of the thickness of a finger, which I modelled into the perfect form of
the statue. In order to effect in concave what the wax represented in
convex, I covered the wax with clay, and baked this second covering.
Thus, the wax dissolving, and escaping by fissures left open for the
purpose, I obtained, between the first model and the second covering, a
space for the introduction of the metal. In order to introduce the
bronze without moving the first model, I placed the model in a pit dug
under the furnace, and by means of pipes and apertures in the model
itself, I meant to introduce the liquid metal.
"After I had made its coat of earth, covered it well, and bound it
properly with irons, I began by means of a slow fire to draw off the
wax, which melted away by many vent-holes,--for the more of these are
made, the better the moulds are filled; and when I had entirely stripped
off the wax, I made a sort of fence round my Perseus, that is, round the
mould, of bricks, piling them one upon another, and leaving several
vacuities for the fire to exhale at. I next began gradually to put on
the wood, and kept a constant fire for two days and two nights, till,
the wax being quite off and the mould well baked, I began to dig a hole
to bury my mould in, and observed all those fine methods of proceeding
that are proscribed by our art. When I had completely dug my hole, I
took my mould, and by means of levers and strong cables directed it with
care, and suspended it a cubit above the level of the furnace, so that
it hung exactly in the middle of the hole. I then let it gently down to
the very bottom of the furnace, and placed it with all the care and
exactness I possibly could. After I had finished this part of my task I
began to make a covering of the very earth I had taken off; and in
proportion as I raised the earth, I made vents for it, of a sort of
tubes of baked earth, generally used for conduits, and other things of a
similar nature.
"I had caused my furnace to be filled with several pieces of brass and
bronze, and heaped them upon one another in the manner taught us by our
art, taking particular care to leave a passage for the flames, that the
metal might the sooner assume its color, and dissolve into a fluid.
Thus, with great alacrity, I excited my men to lay on the pine-wood,
which, because of the oiliness of the resinous matter that oozes from
the pine-tree and that my furnace was admirably well made, burned at
such a rate that I was continually obliged to run to and fro, which
greatly fatigued me. I, however, bore the hardship; but, to add to my
misfortune, the shop took fire, and we were all very much afraid that
the roof would fall in and crush us. From another quarter, that is, from
the garden, the sky poured in so much rain and wind that it cooled my
furnace.
"Thus did I continue to struggle with these cross accidents for several
hours, and exerted myself to such a degree that my constitution, though
robust, could no longer bear such severe hardship, and I was suddenly
attacked by a most violent intermitting fever; in short, I was so ill
that I found myself under a necessity of lying down upon my bed. This
gave me great concern, but it was unavoidable. I thereupon addressed
myself to my assistants, who were about ten in number, saying to them:
'Be careful to observe the method which I have shown you, and use all
possible expedition; for the metal will soon be ready. You cannot
mistake; these two worthy men here will quickly make the orifices. With
two such directors you can certainly contrive to pour out the hot metal,
and I have no doubt but my mould will be filled completely. I find
myself extremely ill, and really believe that in a few hours this severe
disorder will put an end to my life.' Thus I left them in great sorrow,
and went to bed. I then ordered the maids to carry victuals and drink
into the shop for all the men, and told them I did not expect to live
till the next morning. In this manner did I continue for two hours in a
violent fever, which I every moment perceived to increase, and I was
incessantly crying out, 'I am dying, I am dying.'
"My housekeeper was one of the most sensible and affectionate women in
the world. She rebuked me for giving way to vain fears, and at the same
time attended me with the greatest kindness and care imaginable;
however, seeing me so very ill, and terrified to such a degree, she
could not contain herself, but shed a flood of tears, which she
endeavored to conceal from me. Whilst we were both in this deep
affliction, I perceived a man enter the room, who in his person appeared
to be as crooked and distorted as a great S, and began to express
himself in these terms, in a dismal and melancholy voice: 'Alas, poor
Benvenuto, your work is spoiled, and the misfortune admits of no
remedy.'
"No sooner had I heard the words uttered by this messenger of evil, but
I cried out so loud that my voice might be heard to the skies, and got
out of bed. I began immediately to dress, and, giving plenty of kicks
and cuffs to the maidservants and the boy as they offered to help me on
with my clothes, I complained bitterly in these terms: 'Oh, you envious
and treacherous wretches, this is a piece of villany contrived on
purpose; but I will sift it to the bottom, and before I die give such
proofs who I am as shall not fail to astonish the whole world.' Having
huddled on my clothes, I went, with a mind boding evil, to the shop,
where I found all those whom I had left so alert and in such high
spirits, standing in the utmost confusion and astonishment. I thereupon
addressed them thus: 'Listen, all of you, to what I am going to say; and
since you either would not or could not follow the method I pointed out,
obey me now that I am present. My work is before us; and let none of
you offer to oppose or contradict me, for such cases as this require
activity and not counsel.' Hereupon one of them had the assurance to say
to me, 'Look you, Benvenuto, you have undertaken a work which our art
cannot compass, and which is not to be effected by human power.'
"Hearing these words, I turned round in such a passion, and seemed so
bent upon mischief, that both he and all the rest unanimously cried out
to me, 'Give your orders, and we will all second you in whatever you
command; we will assist you as long as we have breath in our bodies.'
These kind and affectionate words they uttered, as I firmly believe, in
a persuasion that I was upon the point of expiring. I went directly to
examine the furnace, and saw all the metal in it concreted. I thereupon
ordered two of the helpers to step over the way to a butcher for a load
of young oak which had been above a year drying, which had been already
offered to me.