The Cardinal of Ferrara saw that the King was delighted at my arrival, and he realized that, on the strength of the few objects I had shown him, the King had promised himself to have executed some of the very important works he had in mind. But at this time we were following the court, or rather, struggling along behind, because the King’s train always drags along behind it twelve thousand horsemen; in peacetime when the court is complete there are eighteen thousand, and so with twelve thousand the number is at its lowest. So there we were, following the court through places where sometimes there were scarcely two houses to be seen. We pitched canvas tents like the gipsies; and more than once we had to suffer great discomfort.
I kept begging the Cardinal to urge the King to send me away so I could start work, but he told me that the best course was to wait till the King remembered me without being prompted, and that I might sometimes let myself be seen by his Majesty while he was at table. I did this, and then one morning while he was having dinner the King called me over. He began to talk to me in Italian and said that he intended to have some very important works done for him, and that before very long he would give me instructions where I was to operate and provide me with all I needed. He added a variety of other pleasant remarks.
The Cardinal of Ferrara was present, as he almost always used to eat in the morning at the King’s table; he overheard our conversation and when the King rose to his feet he said on my behalf, as I was told later:
‘Sacred Majesty, this Benvenuto is very anxious to start work. It’s almost a sin to waste such an artist’s time.’
The King replied that he was perfectly right and that he should arrange with me the details of all I needed for my upkeep. The evening following this the Cardinal sent for me after supper and told me on behalf of the King how his Majesty had decided that I was to start work, but first he wanted me to know what my allowance was to be.
The Cardinal added: ‘It seems to me that if his Majesty allows you three hundred crowns a year, you’ll be very well off. Anyhow, I want you to leave all the arrangements to me, because every day provides me with an opportunity of achieving something in this great kingdom, and I’ll always help you lavishly.’
I replied: ‘Without any request from me, when your Eminence left me in Ferrara you promised never to take me away from Italy unless I first knew exactly on what footing I would be with the King. And then, instead of sending this information, your reverend lordship sent express orders that I was to travel with the post, as if art like mine could be carried on post-haste. If you had sent to tell me about the three hundred crowns that you mention now I wouldn’t have budged – not even for six. All the same I thank God, and I thank your lordship as well, since God has used you as the instrument for that great favour, my liberation from prison. Let me tell your lordship this: that all the hard blows you’re dealing me now can’t detract a thousandth part from the great benefits you’ve given me. I thank you with all my heart, and I take my leave of you. Wherever I shall be, as long as I live, I shall always pray for you to God.’
The Cardinal, losing his temper, burst out angrily: ‘Go where you like. No one can be helped by force.’
Some of his good-for-nothing courtiers said: ‘He thinks he’s doing something marvellous in refusing an income of three hundred ducats.’
But the more discerning among them commented: ‘The King will never find another man like him, and here’s our Cardinal trying to bargain over him as if he were a bundle of wood.’
I was told later that it was Luigi Alamanni who said this. All this took place in Dauphiné, in a castle whose name I forget, on the last day of October.221
I left the Cardinal and set off for my lodgings, which were three miles distant. I was accompanied by one of the Cardinal’s secretaries, who was making for the same place. All the way he never left off asking me what I intended to do with myself and what sort of reward I had imagined I should receive. I merely said tersely: ‘I knew it all.’
I arrived at my quarters and found Pagolo and Ascanio there. Seeing that I was upset they made me tell them what was wrong. Then, when I realized how dismayed they were, I said:
‘Tomorrow morning I shall give you more than enough money to get you home with ease. I shall go off by myself to see about some very important business that I’ve been meaning to attend to for a long time.’
Only one wall separated our room from the secretary’s, and it is quite likely that he wrote to the Cardinal telling him all I meant to do, though I never found out for certain.
I had a sleepless night, and it seemed an eternity before day came and I could carry out what I had resolved. At dawn I had the horses led out, prepared myself quickly, and gave the two young men all I had brought with me, and fifty gold ducats besides. I kept as much for myself, and also the diamond that the Duke had given me. I took only two shirts and the rather worn riding-clothes that I was wearing. But it was impossible to get away from my two young men, who were set on coming along with me no matter what happened. So I had to treat them harshly, saying:
‘One of you has grown his first beard, and the other is just about to do so, and you’ve learnt from me as much of my poor art as I could teach you. As a result you’re the foremost young craftsmen of all Italy. Aren’t you ashamed you haven’t the courage to do without your leading-strings? It’s too pitiful for words. If I let you go without any money what would you say then? Now, be off with you – and God give you a thousand blessings. Good-bye!’
I turned my horse and rode off, leaving them with tears in their eyes. I took a beautiful road leading through a wood, intending to cover at least forty miles that day to a region as much off the map as possible. I had already gone about two miles, and on that short stretch had made up my mind never again to frequent places where I was known. I had no desire to do any more work, except a figure of Christ, that would stand about three cubits high and that would approach as near as possible the infinite beauty He Himself had revealed to me. With my mind completely made up I turned my horse in the direction of the Holy Sepulchre.
I was just reflecting that I had come so far that no one could ever find me, when I heard from behind the sound of horses. This made me rather uneasy, seeing that in the region I was in there lives a certain band of brigands called Adventurers who have the habit of murdering people on the highway: and although a fair number of them are hanged every day this does not seem to worry them. When they came nearer I recognized one of the King’s messengers, along with Ascanio; and when he caught up with me he said:
‘On the King’s orders you are to return to him without delay.’
I replied that he came from the Cardinal, and so for that reason I refused to come back. He answered that since I refused to yield to persuasion he had authority to call on the local people and get them to bind me like a prisoner. Ascanio as well began pleading with me as earnestly as he could, reminding me that once a man had been made a prisoner it was at least five years before the King would release him. The mention of prison – bringing to mind the prison in Rome – struck so much terror into me that I quickly turned my horse in the direction I was told by the King’s messenger. All the way he never left off chattering in French, and he didn’t stop once till he had brought me to the court: he threatened me, then he would say one thing, and then another, till I almost died of vexation.
As we rode towards the King’s quarters we passed in front of the Cardinal of Ferrara’s. The Cardinal, who was standing at his door, called me over and said:
‘Of his own choice our Most Christian King has made you the same allowance that his Majesty gave to the painter Leonardo da Vinci,222 that is, seven hundred crowns a year. Besides this he will pay you for all the work you do; and in addition he is giving you five hundred gold crowns for your journey here, and they’re to be paid you before you leave.’
When he had finished I replied that the sums mentioned were worthy of such a King. The King’s messenger, who had been ignorant as to who I was, when he had he
ard the great offers that were being made to me on behalf of the King kept asking my pardon.
Pagolo and Ascanio said: ‘You see, God has helped us return to such honoured leading-strings.’
The following day I went to give my thanks to the King and he commissioned me to make models for twelve silver statues,223 which he wanted to use as candlesticks round about his table. They were to represent six gods and six goddesses and to be exactly the same height as his Majesty himself, who was a little under four cubits. When he had ordered this he turned to his treasurer and asked if he had paid me the five hundred crowns. The treasurer said that he had been given no instructions. The King was furious at this, seeing that he had ordered the Cardinal to tell him.
He also said that I was to go to Paris and find somewhere suitable for carrying out the work he would commission, and that he would have the room made over to me. So I took the five hundred crowns, went to Paris, to a room belonging to the Cardinal of Ferrara, and there, invoking the name of God, I set to work. I made four small models in wax, each two-thirds of a cubit high: Jupiter, Juno, Apollo, and Vulcan.
Meanwhile the King came to Paris himself and so I at once went to see him, taking with me the models, along with my two young men, Ascanio and Pagolo. The King showed his satisfaction with the models, and after he had ordered me to start work first of all on the Jupiter, which was to be in silver of the height mentioned before, I presented my two young men, telling his Majesty that I had brought them from Italy to serve him. I added that as I had trained them myself to begin with they would be much more of a help to me than anyone I could find in Paris. The King answered that I should have them paid whatever salary seemed sufficient for their maintenance. I replied that a hundred crowns for each of them would do very well and that I would make certain they earned their money. So we reached agreement.
Besides this I told his Majesty that I had found a place I thought ideally suited to the work he had given me to do; it was part of his Majesty’s personal property, called the little Nesle, and it was now, I said, held by the Provost of Paris who had been granted it by his Majesty. But, I went on, seeing that the Provost made no use of it his Majesty could give it to me and I would use it in his service.
The King at once replied: ‘The place belongs to me personally and I know perfectly well that the man I gave it to doesn’t live there and makes no use of it; so you shall take it over for our business.’224
Then straight away he ordered his lieutenant to install me in the Nesle. When this officer started demurring and saying that he could not do it, the King retorted angrily that he meant to give what belonged to him to whomever he liked and to someone who would work to serve him – seeing he got no service from the other man – and there was nothing more to be said about it. The lieutenant went on to say that it would be necessary to use a certain amount of force; and to this the King replied: ‘Go on then, and if a little force isn’t enough use a lot.’
Straight away he took me to the place, and he had to use force to put me in possession. Then he warned me to be on my guard against being murdered. I took possession, hired servants, bought some large pikes, and for some days remained in a very awkward position, since the Provost ranked as a very important nobleman in Paris and all the others were hostile to me. As a result they were so offensive that I was unable to hold out against them. I must not forget to say that when I began serving his Majesty it was during 1540, and I was in my fortieth year.
The bitter attacks that were made drove me back to the King to beg him to accommodate me somewhere else. When I made my request his Majesty remarked: ‘Who are you? What’s your name?’ I was dumbfounded and had no idea what he meant. As I stood there, struck speechless, the King repeated the same words again as if he had lost his temper. So then I replied that my name was Benvenuto.
The King said: ‘Well, if you’re the Benvenuto I’ve heard of, act as you usually do – and I give you full permission.’
I told his Majesty it was good enough for me to remain in his favour, and as for the rest there was nothing that could hurt me. The King smiled slightly and said: ‘Go off then, and you’ll always be able to rely on my favour.’
Then he at once ordered his first secretary, who was called Monsignor di Villurois,225 to see that I was provided for and supplied with all I needed. This Villurois was a very great friend of the nobleman, known as the Provost, who had the Nesle. The place itself was in the form of a triangle, and was up against the walls of the city. It was an ancient castle, but there was no garrison in it. It was a good-sized place.
This Monsignor di Villurois advised me to look for somewhere else and whatever happened to leave where I was, since the man it belonged to was very powerful and would certainly have me killed. I replied that my only reason for leaving Italy and coming to France was to serve that magnificent King: and as for death, I knew I had to die some time so whether it was a little sooner or a little later didn’t bother me at all. This Villurois had a very powerful character, everything about him was splendid, and he was extremely rich: there was nothing he would not have done to annoy me, but he showed no trace of his real feelings. He was a serious man, very handsome to look at, and he spoke slowly and deliberately. He passed the matter on to another nobleman called Monsignor di Marmagna,226 who was treasurer of Languedoc.
The first thing this man did was to choose the best rooms in the castle and have them prepared for himself. I told him that the King had given the place to me to use in his service, and that I did not intend anyone to live there save myself and my servants. He was a proud, forceful, hot-tempered man; and he told me that he would do what he liked and I might as well run my head against a wall as oppose him; everything he did, he said, he had been given authority to do by Villurois.
So then I retorted that I had authority from the King, and that neither he nor Villurois could do such things. When I said that, this haughty man speaking in his own French language started pouring abuse on me; and I told him, in Italian, that he was a liar. Flushed with anger, he made as if to draw his little dagger; so I clapped my hand to the large dagger I always wear for my own defence, and cried: ‘If you dare draw that weapon I’ll kill you on the spot.’
Marmagna had two servants with him and I had my two young men; he hesitated for a while, not certain what to do, but more inclined to make mischief than otherwise, and muttering to himself: ‘I’ll never put up with this.’
I saw that things were taking a turn for the worse and making a sudden resolution I turned to Pagolo and Ascanio and said:
‘As soon as you see me draw my dagger, throw yourselves at those two servants and, if you can, kill them. I’ll kill this fellow at a blow, and then we’ll get out of here together.’
After hearing what I proposed Marmagna thought himself lucky to escape from the place alive. I wrote and told the Cardinal of Ferrara all that had happened, though I modified it a little. He at once reported it to the King; and his Majesty in exasperation put in charge of me another member of his bodyguard, called the Viscount of Orbec. This man in the pleasantest way imaginable provided me with all I needed.
After I had prepared my living quarters and workshop, arranging the whole household as usefully and fittingly as I could, without any delay I set to work on three models, making them exactly the same size as they were to be in silver: these were the Jupiter, Vulcan, and Mars. I made them in clay, well strengthened with iron, and then I went to see the King who had me given, if I remember rightly, three hundred pounds of silver so that I should begin work. While I was making a start on these I finished the little vase and the oval bowl, after several months’ work.
As a finishing touch I had them beautifully gilded: and they stood out as the most beautiful work that had ever been seen in France. I at once carried them to the Cardinal of Ferrara who thanked me warmly and then himself took them along to the King and made him a present of them. The King was delighted227 and he praised me more lavishly than any man like me had ever been praised
before. In return he gave the Cardinal of Ferrara an abbey worth seven thousand crowns in revenue, and he wanted to make me a present as well. But the Cardinal stopped him, telling his Majesty that it would be too precipitate seeing that I had not yet done any work for him. The King, who was an extremely generous man, said:
‘Then I mean to encourage him to do so.’
The Cardinal, somewhat ashamed of himself, replied:
‘Sire, I beg you to leave it all in my hands, and I shall give him an allowance of at least three hundred crowns, as soon as I have taken possession of the abbey.’
In fact I never had a thing from him, and it would take too long to tell about all his devilish tricks; I want to restrict myself to things of greater importance.
I went to Paris, and there, with so much favour shown me by the King, I was the wonder of everyone. I had the silver, and I began work on the statue of Jupiter. After hiring a great many workmen I started work very diligently and never stopped, day or night, and so before long, when I had finished the clay models of Jupiter, Vulcan, and Mars and done a fair amount of work on the silver statue of Jupiter, my workshop looked very impressive. In the meantime the King arrived in Paris and I went to visit him. As soon as his Majesty caught sight of me he called me over cheerfully and asked if there was anything beautiful in my work-place that he could have a look at, since if there was he would call on me. I told him all I had been doing, and he was at once seized by a strong desire to have a look at the work. So after dinner he set out with Madame d’Étampes,228 the Cardinal of Lorraine,229 and several other lords including the King of Navarre230 (the King’s brother-in-law), and the Queen, Francis’s sister,231 as well as the Dauphin232 and the Dauphiness. So that day all the flower of the court came to visit me.
Meanwhile I had returned home and began working. When the King appeared at the door of my castle he heard the hammers going, and ordered everyone to keep quiet. Everyone in the shop was hard at it and as a result, not expecting the King, I was taken by surprise. He entered my hall, and the first thing he saw was me myself, standing there working on a great piece of silver, which I was using for the body of the Jupiter. One man was beating out the head and another the legs, and the noise was deafening. While I was working I had a little French lad of mine helping me: he had annoyed me in some way or another and so I had given him a kick, and, as luck had it, catching him in the crutch I had sent him hurtling forward a good few yards. So as the King came in the little lad clung to him to keep his balance.
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini Page 33