All day long my mouth was parched and dry, with a feeling not of thirst but of internal heat, such as I have felt before during our hot seasons. I ate nothing but fruit, and some salad and sugar. I was indeed far from well.
The outdoor diversions, which we in France take after supper, these people take before that meal, which in the longest days is not eaten till night, and in the morning they begin the day between seven and eight o’clock.
After dinner the race of the Barbary horses took place, the prize being carried off by the horse belonging to the Cardinal de’ Medicis.[65] Its value was two hundred crowns. The spectacle is not one to give pleasure, as those on the road could see nothing but the rush of the horses.
On Sunday I saw the Pitti Palace, where, amongst other things, I remarked the marble statue of a mule, modelled from one still alive, which was executed on account of the long service done by this beast in carrying material for the building of this palace. At least that is what the Latin verses say.[66] In the palace I saw the image of the Chimera, the head of which, with horns and ears; springs from between the shoulders, while the body is like that of a small lion.[67] On the Saturday the Grand Duke’s palace was open in every part to the country-folk, the great hall being filled with parties of dancers, some here and some there. I have a notion that this licence, which they enjoyed on the great feast day of the city, seemed to them a sort of shadow of their lost liberty.
On Monday I dined with Signor Silvio Piccolomini, a man of well-known worth and especially skilled in the art of fence. Many subjects came up for discussion, as there was a large gathering of other gentlemen. He has a poor opinion of the art of fencing as practised by the Italian masters, such as Veniziana di Bologna, Patinostraro, and others. Indeed, the only one he favoured was a certain pupil of his own, who now lives at Brescia, where he teaches the art to the gentle-folk of the city. He declared that the ordinary teachers of fencing follow neither art nor rule, and he condemned especially the far-reaching lunge which leaves your sword at the mercy of your adversary, and the practice of making one assault after another and then coming to a pause. This, he declared, was entirely against all experience of sword-play. He was on the eve of printing a treatise on this subject. In speaking of warfare he made light of artillery, greatly to my satisfaction, and he praised Machiavelli’s work, Della Guerra, and was quite in agreement with the writer’s opinions. He declared that the most skilful military engineer living was one in the service of the Grand Duke in Florence.
They have a fashion here of putting ice in the wine-cups, but of this I took very little, being uneasy in my body and troubled with pain in the side, besides passing an incredible quantity of gravel. My head still troubled me, and I could not get rid of the sensation of dulness and a certain indefinable heaviness over the brow, the cheeks, the teeth, the nose, and all parts. I imagined this discomfort arose from drinking the sweet, heady wines of the country, because my headache returned after I had drunk heartily of the Trebisiano. I must have been inflamed through travelling in the summer heat, and it needed a great quantity of the wine to quench my thirst on account of its sweetness.
I have come to the conclusion that Florence has a good right to the title “La bella.”[68] I went out to-day alone to amuse myself by inspecting those ladies who may be seen by any one who may be so inclined. I saw those of the greatest note, but they were not of much account. Their lodgings are all in one part of the city, and are wretched even for what they are, being in no way equal to those of the Roman or Venetian courtesans, any more than their occupants can compare with the aforesaid ladies in beauty, or grace, or carriage. If any one of them is minded to dwell outside these bounds she must not make herself conspicuous, and must hide her real calling under some fictitious one.
I went to see the workshops of the silk-spinners, where a woman by one turn of a wheel can set to work five hundred threads. On the Tuesday morning I passed a small red stone.
On Thursday I went to visit the Casino[69] of the Grand Duke. What struck me most there was a rock of pyramidal shape made of all sorts of mineral stones, the mass being composed of one fragment of each. From this rock a spring of water gushed forth and set in motion a great number of devices, water-mills, windmills, bells, soldiers, animals, hunting scenes, and many others of the same sort, all placed in a chamber inside. On Thursday I did not care to stay in the city to witness another horse race, so I went after dinner to Pratolino, which I inspected minutely for the second time, and, being requested by the steward of the palace to give my opinion as to the relative beauties of this place and of Tivoli, I said what I had to say without making any general comparison, but setting detail against detail, with the different things to be considered in each case, and letting now this place and now Tivoli have the advantage.
On Friday to the shop of the Giunti, where I bought a collection of Comedies, eleven in number, and certain other books. I saw there Boccaccio’s will,[70] printed together with some lectures on the Decameron, which displays the amazing poverty into which this illustrious man must have fallen. He left some of his linen and bedding to his sisters and his other relatives, his books to a certain friar with the instructions that the legatee is to allow the use of them to any one who may demand the same. He made mention of everything down to earthenware and the meanest utensils, and arranged for his burial and masses. This is printed exactly from the original, which was written on parchment greatly injured and decayed.