Giorgio Vasari

“ Becoming thus fixed with Leonardo, and serving him with the most affectionate submission, Eustici was greatly beloved by that master, who found him to be upright, sincere, and liberal of mind, as well as diligent and patient in the labours of his art, insomuch that Leonardo would eventually do nothing, small or great, but that which seemed good in the eyes of Giovan-Francesco. Descending from a noble family, the youth had sufficient means wherewith he might have lived at his ease ”

“ The condition of him who must be constantly at his labours, to the end that he may live, as is the case of vast numbers who are bowed down by poverty and the cares of a family—who must work, I say, not only when fully disposed to do so, and when the spirits and power are equally ready to serve them, but at all times, for actual need, and that from morning till night; this is a state of things proper, not to men who place honour and glory before them as their end and aim, but to drudges, as the saying is, and mechanics hired by the day. ”

“ Now this work was one entirely after the heart of Giovan-Francesco, first, because it was of so much importance, and was to be erected in a place of such great renown, and next, on account of the competition with Andrea Contucci: he set hand to it therefore immediately, and made a small model, but this he greatly surpassed by the excellence of the work itself, to which he gave all the consideration which so important an undertaking demanded, and at which he laboured steadily with infinite diligence. ”

“ Giovan-Francesco Eustici, as I have before said, was not only without an equal for the casting of works in metal, but he was moreover a man of excellent life: of incomparable goodness to all men, he was more especially a most charitable friend of the poor ”

“ That which ought to have redounded to the honour of Giovan-Francesco was consequently turned to his injury, seeing that, whereas he had merited a double degree of reverence, as a distinguished artist no less than a noble and citizen of eminent station, his having become a sculptor deprived him, with the ignorant and foolish, of that honour and respect which were due to his birth. ”

“ Andrea del Sarto presented on the same occasion a temple of eight sides, resembling the Baptistery of San Giovanni in form, but raised upon columns. The pavement of this temple was an enormous dish of jelly, divided into compartments of various colours to represent mosaic; the columns, which appeared to be of porphyry, were very large and thick sausages, the capitals of the columns were made of Parmesan cheese, the cornices were of sugar-work, while the tribune was formed out of sections of Marchpane. ”

“ At another feast, which was arranged by the above-named Bugiardini and Giovan-Francesco Rustici in concert, the men of the Company appeared, as had been commanded by the lord of the feast, some in the dresses of master masons, and some in the garb of hod-men and other labourers; those who ‘‘went for the Greater,” bearing the trowel by way of a knife for the table, and having a hammer in their girdle; and those who “went for the Lesser,” with a pail or a hod and the windlass or lever in their hands, the trowel being carried in the girdle. ”

“ Il Rustici died at the age of eighty, and his possessions came for the most part into the possession of the abovenamed Signore, Piero Strozzi; but I will not omit to mention, that while Antonio Mini, [23] a disciple of Buonarroti, was living in France, and receiving much aid as well as kindness from Giovan-Francesco, there came into the hands of the latter many designs and models by Michelagnolo, one portion of which was, at a later period, in the possession of the sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini, who was then in France, and who afterwards brought those effects to Florence. ”

“ Nor, to speak the truth of the matter, does it often happen that those artists who have not glory, and honour, but the making of profit, for their ultimate or even principal aim, become truly excellent, even though they may have been endowed with good powers and a fine genius. ”

“ But the fashions of a court were not to his liking; they were indeed entirely distasteful to his calm and upright nature, which had no tinge of ambition or self-seeking; he preferred to live a life apart, and after the manner of a philosopher, enjoying the repose and quiet of solitude: but he did not refuse occasional recreation, and frequented the society of such among liis fellow citizens as were known to him; he often met the friends of his art likewise, nor did he neglect to labour when he felt the disposition to do so and found an opportunity for exertion. ”

“ Works of merit are indeed not to be accomplished but with long and mature consideration, and, taking this view of the matter, Giovan-Francesco, in his more advanced age, was wont to say, that a man should first think, and then make his sketch ”

“ Near the figure of San Giovanni, which is one of singular power and animation, is that of a bald and somewhat corpulent man, also very finely done; the right hand of this figure is placed on his side, one of the shoulders is partially nude, with the left hand he holds a scroll before his eyes, and standing with the left leg crossed over the right, he is waiting in a most thoughtful attitude for the moment when he may utter the reply which he has manifestly prepared for the Baptist. ”

“ While Rustici was occupied with this work, he became weary of having to make daily application for money to the Syndics of the Guild above-named, or to their deputies, and the rather as the same persons were not always in attendance, and are besides, for the most part, men who have but little regard for distinguished ability, and do not care greatly for the merits of the work before them. ”

“ The invention exhibited by Luigi Martelli also, when he, being Signore, gave his supper to the Company in the house of Giuliano Scali, [21] at the Porta a Pinti, was also a very fine one, seeing that he there represented Mars, who, to denote his cruelty, was shown entirely covered with gore, in a room filled with the bleeding members of the human form; while in another chamber were seen Mars and Venus, whom Vulcan has covered with a net, and having done so, assembled all the Gods to make them witnesses of the affront offered to him by Mars and his wicked wife. ”

“ The hour of supper having arrived, the guests were placed at table in order according to the character of their clothing; those who wore the dress of princes were placed first, the rich and noble followed, and those who had attired themselves as poor men were sent to the lower end; but with regard to the jests and sports that were enacted after the supper, let every one picture to himself what these were, for they may be more easily imagined than described. ”

“ The work being finished, was considered to be in all its parts the most perfectly composed and best arranged performance of the kind that had ever then been seen, the figures exhibiting an absolute perfection of form, and the aspect of the faces having singular grace as well as infinite majesty and force: the nude arms and lower limbs are likewise most admirably executed, and are conjoined to the trunks in a manner so entirely irreproachable, that better could not be ”

“ This invention of the Cauldron, which was admirably managed, and decorated with pictures and paintings on canvas, was much commended by the members of the society: the particular contribution of Rustici on that occasion was a boiler or stew-pan formed of pastry, and wherein Ulysses was seen to be plunging his father, for the purpose of making him young again ”

“ This work, which is in oil, exhibits a large number of horses ridden by soldiers who accompany the Saint; and among them are seen varied and beautiful attitudes with many fine foreshortenings: it is now, with other productions of Giovan-Francesco, in the possession of the heirs of the above-named Pietro Martelli, to whom it was presented by the artist. There is a small picture by the same hand, and representing a Hunt, which is the property of Lorenzo Borghini, by whom it is held in the utmost estimation, as a most fanciful and beautiful performance, which it certainly is ”

“ They found favour more particularly in the eyes of the Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici, [3] and caused that Prelate to give Giovan-Francesco a commission for a statue of Mercury in bronze, about one braccio high: this figure, which was entirely nude, was intended to be placed on the summit of the Fountain in the principal court of the Medici Palace; it stands on a ball, and is in the act of taking flight. ”

“ Two years had elapsed from the time of the feast above described, when, after many festivals and dramatic performances, it again came to the turn of the same person to be ‘‘ Signore,” when, by way of reproving some of the members who had gone to unreasonable expenses for those suppers, and, as the phrase goes, had “eaten themselves up alive ” in the same; he caused his feast to be arranged as follows:—At the Aia, or threshing floor of Santa Maria, where the Company was accustomed to hold its. ”

“ Strozzi installing him in an abbey, or some place of that kind, which belonged to his brother. [22] There the needy old age of Giovan-Francesco was not only guarded from want, but he was very comfortably served and cared for, as befitted his condition and merits, even to the end of his life. ”

“ He also received commission to cast a Horse in bronze, to be double the size of life, and on which the statue of King Francis was to be seated; to this work he set hand accordingly, producing various models which pleased tne monarch greatly: nay, continuing his labours, Giovan-Francesco > then prepared the great model for the figure, of* which he had made the mould, and was even ready for casting, the preparations for which had been made in a large palace, given to Giovan-Francesco for his accommodation by King Francis. ”

“ Flor., 1832-8. ↑ This disciple of Michael Angelo received from his master the famous Cartoon of the Leda, which he sold to the King of France, as we have said before.- Ed. Flor., 1832-8. ↑ Where he formed a particular intimacy with Rosso, as has been related in the Life of that painter. See vol. iii. p. ”