I ought not to omit telling you that the cardinal’s arms, or whatever they may be, have to be done on the seals; and these are always richly ornamented with figure work, and I often used to have for the handle where-with the seal was attached, some fine beasts, or as often figures, according to the emblem of the gentleman for whom the seal was made. You should be careful not to omit these little complimentary touches because they redound to the honour of the master & please the patron whom he serves. I made, among others, such a handle in gold for the Duke of Mantua after I had made the one for his brother the Cardinal; and in addition to all the care I had put into the seal itself, I added a little Hercules for the handle, & he was sitting on his lion’s skin, and had his club in hand. For this tiny figure I made no end of studies, & it brought me much honour with the sculptors and painters, and among these was Master Giulio Romano; some of them made use of the design, too, for other purposes, and I was well paid for it.
Some artists have gone straight to work at their seals with merely cutting directly into their silver, and without casting at all, but pluckily doing their design straight on in the reverse with genuine knowledge of their art, and using the steel dies of which I told you, and they succeeded in it, too. I also have done this, but I have found the casting method more practicable; though both are good, and can lead to excellent results.
FOOTNOTES:
[66] Gypsum or plaster from Volterra (the 1568 edition has ‘gesso cotto Volterranno.’)
[67] Un penelletto alquanto grandicello di vaio—what I think in the English workshop would be called a ‘rigger.’
[68] Che si chiama terra da formare nelle staffe. It is not a clay, but as he says, a sand tufa (‘areno di tufo’) a volcanic spongey rock like pumice, and they make cement of it.
[69] Pasta di pane crudo.
[70] The 1568 edition gives a clearer version of this process than the original codex, which is confusing. I have translated it as literally as possible, but the following might be read as more descriptive of the process: The gesso matrix has been pressed into the sand of the first box, and has made the mould of the relief work of the seal, the dough is to make the shape of the body. It would be roughly cut away to clear the figures, and carefully placed over the part moulded. Then the second box would be put on, and the moist earth tightly packed in. After this the boxes would be separated and the dough taken out.
[71] Midollo di corna. See Hoepli’s handbook ‘Oreficeria’ for the modern process.
[72] Calcined sulphate of iron.