JUSTICE
(After the fresco by Francesco Salviati [Francesco de' Rossi]. Florence: Bargello)
Alinari
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The above-mentioned picture of Our Lady, being, after it was finished, in the shop of the wood-carver Tasso, who was then architect of the Palace, was seen by many persons and vastly extolled; but what caused it even more to be considered a rare picture was that Tasso, who was accustomed to censure almost everything, praised it to the skies. And, what was more, he said to M. Pier Francesco, the majordomo, that it would be an excellent thing for the Duke to give Francesco some work of importance to execute; whereupon M. Pier Francesco and Cristofano Rinieri, who had the ear of the Duke, played their part in such a way, that M. Alamanno spoke to his Excellency, saying to him that Francesco desired to be commissioned to paint the Hall of Audience, which is in front of the Chapel of the Ducal Palace, and that he cared nothing about payment; and the Duke was content that this should be granted to him. Whereupon Francesco, having made small designs of the Triumph of Furius Camillus and of many stories of his life, set himself to contrive the division of that hall according to the spaces left by the windows and doors, some of which are high and some low; and there was no little difficulty in making that division in such a way that it might be well-ordered and might not disturb the sequence of the stories. In the wall where there is the door by which one enters into the hall, there were two large spaces, divided by the door. Opposite to that, where there are the three windows that look out over the Piazza, there were four spaces, but not wider than about three braccia each. In the end-wall that is on the right hand as one enters, wherein are two windows that likewise look out on the Piazza, but in another direction, there were three similar spaces, each about three braccia wide; and in the end-wall that is on the left hand, opposite to the other, what with the marble door that leads into the chapel, and a window with a grating of bronze, there remained only one space large enough to contain a work of importance. On the wall of the chapel, then—within an ornament of Corinthian columns that support an architrave, which has below it a recess, wherein hang two very rich festoons, and two pendants of various fruits, counterfeited very well, while upon it sits a naked little boy who is holding the Ducal arms, namely, those of the Houses of Medici and Toledo—he painted two scenes; on the right hand Camillus, who is commanding that the schoolmaster shall be given up to the vengeance of his young scholars, and on the other the same Camillus, while the army is in combat and fire is burning the stockades and tents of the camp, is routing the Gauls. And beside that, where the same range of pilasters continues, he painted a figure of Opportunity, large as life, who has seized Fortune by the locks, and some devices of his Excellency, with many ornaments executed with marvellous grace. On the main wall, where there are two great spaces divided by the principal door, he painted two large and very beautiful scenes. In the first are the Gauls, who, weighing the gold of the tribute, add to it a sword, to the end that the weight may be the greater, and Camillus, full of rage, delivers himself from the tribute by force of arms; which scene is very beautiful, and crowded with figures, landscapes, antiquities, and vases counterfeited very well and in various manners in imitation of gold and silver. In the other scene, beside the first, is Camillus in the triumphal chariot, drawn by four horses; and on high is Fame, who is crowning him. Before the chariot are priests very richly apparelled, with the statue of the Goddess Juno, and holding vases in their hands, and with some trophies and spoils of great beauty. About the chariot are innumerable prisoners in various attitudes, and behind it the soldiers of the army in their armour, among whom Francesco made a portrait of himself, which is so good that it seems as if alive. In the distance, where the triumphal procession is passing, is a very beautiful picture of Rome, and above the door is a figure of Peace in chiaroscuro, who is burning the arms, with some prisoners; all which was executed by Francesco with such diligence and study, that there is no more beautiful work to be seen.

On the wall towards the west he painted in a niche in one of the larger spaces, in the centre, a Mars in armour, and below that a nude figure representing a Gaul,[20] with a crest on the head similar to that of a cock; and in another niche a Diana with a skin about her waist, who is drawing an arrow from her quiver, with a dog. In the two corners next the other two walls are two figures of Time, one adjusting weights in a balance, and the other tempering the liquid in two vases by pouring one into the other. On the last wall, which is opposite to the chapel and faces towards the north, in a corner on the right hand, is the Sun figured in the manner wherein the Egyptians represent him, and in the other corner the Moon in the same manner. In the middle is Favour, represented as a nude young man on the summit of the wheel, with Envy, Hatred, and Malice on one side, and on the other side Honours, Pleasure, and all the other things described by Lucian. Above the windows is a frieze all full of most beautiful nudes, as large as life, and in various forms and attitudes; with some scenes likewise from the life of Camillus. And opposite to the Peace that is burning the arms is the River Arno, who, holding a most abundant horn of plenty, raises with one hand a curtain and reveals Florence and the greatness of her Pontiffs and the heroes of the House of Medici. He painted there, besides all that, a base that runs round below those scenes, and niches with some terminal figures of women that support festoons; and in the centre are certain ovals with scenes of people adorning a Sphinx and the River Arno.

Francesco put into the execution of that work all the diligence and study that are possible; and, although he had many contradictions, he carried it to a happy conclusion, desiring to leave in his native city a work worthy of himself and of so great a Prince. Francesco was by nature melancholy, and for the most part he did not care to have anyone about him when he was at work. But nevertheless, when he first began that undertaking, almost doing violence to his nature and affecting an open heart, with great cordiality he allowed Tasso and others of his friends, who had done him some service, to stand and watch him at work, showing them every courtesy that he was able. But when he had gained a footing at Court, as the saying goes, and it seemed to him that he was in good favour, returning to his choleric and biting nature, he paid them no attention. Nay, what was worse, he used the most bitter words according to his wont (which served as an excuse to his adversaries), censuring and decrying the works of others, and praising himself and his own works to the skies. These methods, which displeased most people and likewise certain craftsmen, brought upon him such odium, that Tasso and many others, who from being his friends had become his enemies, began to give him cause for thought and for action. For, although they praised the excellence of the art that was in him, and the facility and rapidity with which he executed his works so well and with such unity, they were not at a loss, on the other hand, for something to censure. And since, if they had allowed him to gain a firm footing and to settle his affairs, they would not have been able afterwards to hinder or hurt him, they began in good time to give him trouble and to molest him. Whereupon many of the craftsmen and others, banding themselves together and forming a faction, began to disseminate among the people of importance a rumour that Salviati's work was not succeeding, and that he was labouring by mere skill of hand, and devoting no study to anything that he did. In which, in truth, they accused him wrongly, for, although he never toiled over the execution of his works, as they themselves did, yet that did not mean that he did not study them and that his works had not infinite grace and invention, or that they were not carried out excellently well. Not being able to surpass his excellence with their works, those adversaries wished to overwhelm it with such words and reproaches; but in the end truth and excellence have too much force. At first Francesco made light of such rumours, but later, perceiving that they were growing beyond all reason, he complained of it many times to the Duke. But, since it began to be seen that the Duke, to all appearance, was not showing him such favours as he would have liked, and it seemed that his Excellency cared nothing for those complaints, Francesco began to fall from his position in such a manner, that his adversaries, taking courage from that, sent forth a rumour that his scenes in the hall were to be thrown to the ground, because they did not give satisfaction and had in them no particle of excellence. All these calumnies, which were pressed against him with incredible envy and malice by his adversaries, had reduced Francesco to such a state, that, if it had not been for the goodness of Messer Lelio Torelli, Messer Pasquino Bertini, and others of his friends, he would have retreated before them, which was exactly what they desired. But the above-named friends, exhorting him continually to finish the work of the hall and others that he had in hand, restrained him, even as was done by many other friends not in Florence, to whom he wrote of these persecutions. And Giorgio Vasari, among others, answering a letter that Salviati wrote to him on the matter, exhorted him always to have patience, because excellence is refined by persecution as gold by fire; adding that a time was about to come when his art and his genius would be recognized, and that he should complain of no one but himself, in that he did not yet know men's humours, and how the people and the craftsmen of his own country were made. Thus, notwithstanding all these contradictions and persecutions that poor Francesco suffered, he finished that hall—namely, the work that he had undertaken to execute in fresco on the walls, for the reason that on the ceiling, or rather, soffit, there was no need for him to do any painting, since it was so richly carved and all overlaid with gold, that among works of that kind there is none more beautiful to be seen. And as a finish to the whole the Duke caused two new windows of glass to be made, with his devices and arms and those of Charles V; and nothing could be better in that kind of work than the manner in which they were executed by Battista del Borro, an Aretine painter excellent in that field of art.

After that, Francesco painted for his Excellency the ceiling of the hall where he dines in winter, with many devices and little figures in distemper; and a most beautiful study which opens out over the Green Chamber. He made portraits, likewise, of some of the Duke's children; and one year, for the Carnival, he executed in the Great Hall the scenery and prospect-view for a comedy that was performed, and that with such beauty and in a manner so different from those that had been done in Florence up to that time, that they were judged to be superior to them all. Nor is this to be marvelled at, since it is very certain that Francesco was always in all his works full of judgment, and well-varied and fertile in invention, and, what is more, he had a perfect knowledge of design, and had a more beautiful manner than any other painter in Florence at that time, and handled colours with great skill and delicacy. He also made a head, or rather, a portrait, of Signor Giovanni de' Medici, the father of Duke Cosimo, which was very beautiful; and it is now in the guardaroba of the same Lord Duke. For Cristofano Rinieri, who was much his friend, he painted a most beautiful picture of Our Lady, which is now in the Udienza della Decima. For Ridolfo Landi he executed a picture of Charity, which could not be more lovely than it is; and for Simone Corsi, likewise, he painted a picture of Our Lady, which was much extolled. For M. Donato Acciaiuoli, a knight of Rhodes, with whom he always maintained a particular intimacy, he executed certain little pictures that are very beautiful. And he also painted in an altar-piece Christ showing to S. Thomas, who would not believe that He had newly risen from the dead, the marks of the blows and wounds that He had received from the Jews; which altar-piece was taken by Tommaso Guadagni into France, and placed in the Chapel of the Florentines in a church at Lyons.

Francesco also depicted at the request of the above-named Cristofano Rinieri and of Maestro Giovanni Rosto, the Flemish master of tapestry, the whole story of Tarquinius and the Roman Lucretia in many cartoons, which, being afterwards put into execution in tapestries woven in silk, floss-silk, and gold, proved to be a marvellous work. Which hearing, the Duke, who was at that time having similar tapestries, all in silk and gold, made in Florence by the same Maestro Giovanni for the Sala de' Dugento, and had caused cartoons with the stories of the Hebrew Joseph to be executed by Bronzino and Pontormo, as has been related, commanded that Francesco also should make a cartoon, which was that with the interpretation of the dream of the seven fat and seven lean kine. Into that cartoon Francesco put all the diligence that could possibly be devoted to such a work, and that is required for pictures that are to be woven; for there must be fantastic inventions and variety of composition in the figures, and these must stand out one from another, so that they may have strong relief, and they must come out bright in colouring and rich in the costumes and vestments. That piece of tapestry and the others having turned out well, his Excellency resolved to establish the art in Florence, and caused it to be taught to some boys, who, having grown to be men, are now executing most excellent works for the Duke.

Francesco also executed a most beautiful picture of Our Lady, likewise in oils, which is now in the chamber of Messer Alessandro, the son of M. Ottaviano de' Medici. For the above-named M. Pasquino Bertini he painted on canvas yet another picture of Our Lady, with Christ and S. John as little children, who are smiling over a parrot that they have in their hands; which was a very pleasing and fanciful work. And for the same man he made a most beautiful design of a Crucifix, about one braccio high, with a Magdalene at the foot, in a manner so new and so pleasing that it is a marvel; which design M. Salvestro Bertini lent to Girolamo Razzi, his very dear friend, who is now Don Silvano, and two pictures were painted from it by Carlo of Loro, who has since executed many others, which are dispersed about Florence.

Giovanni and Piero d'Agostino Dini had erected in S. Croce, on the right hand as one enters by the central door, a very rich chapel of grey sandstone and a tomb for Agostino and others of their family; and they gave the commission for the altar-piece of that chapel to Francesco, who painted in it Christ taken down from the Cross by Joseph of Arimathæa and Nicodemus, and at the foot the Madonna in a swoon, with Mary Magdalene, S. John, and the other Maries. That altar-piece was executed by Francesco with so much art and study, that not only the nude Christ is very beautiful, but all the other figures likewise are well disposed and coloured with relief and force; and although at first the picture was censured by Francesco's adversaries, nevertheless it won him a great name with men in general, and those who have painted others after him out of emulation have not surpassed him. The same Francesco, before he departed from Florence, painted the portrait of the above-mentioned M. Lelio Torelli, and some other works of no great importance, of which I know not the particulars. But, among other things, he brought to completion a design of the Conversion of S. Paul that he had drawn long before in Rome, which is very beautiful; and he had it engraved on copper in Florence by Enea Vico of Parma, and the Duke was content to retain him in Florence until that should be done, with his usual salary and allowances. During that time, which was in the year 1548, Giorgio Vasari being at Rimini in order to execute in fresco and in oils the works of which we have spoken in another place, Francesco wrote him a long letter, informing him in exact detail how his affairs were passing in Florence, and, in particular, that he had made a design for the principal chapel of S. Lorenzo, which was to be painted by order of the Lord Duke, but that with regard to that work infinite mischief had been done against him with his Excellency, and, among other things, that he held it almost as certain that M. Pier Francesco, the majordomo, had not presented his design, so that the work had been allotted to Pontormo. And finally he said that for these reasons he was returning to Rome, much dissatisfied with the men and the craftsmen of his native country.