Piero

“ Piero said: “Why ‘the devil’? did you wish him to live more years than a life? He must have been eighty.” [Pg 273] We laughed all the way to Piazza Madonna. I thought he had heard this and only repeated it, but looking at him I saw by his laughing face that he had said it of himself and on purpose.
Lorenzo declares (and it makes me laugh) that he will not have Piero bothered, &c.; the poor lad cannot go outside the door without all Florence running after him; it is the same at home, they all try to make him shine, though with decorum, on which he insists. ”

“ The Grand Duke very unwillingly allowed Piero to settle once more in Florence. His house in the Via Larga—it had been occupied by the scapegrace assassin, Lorenzino—again was a nursery of immorality, as well as the headquarters of the enemies of his brother. Piero became the ally of the scheming Cardinal Ferdinando, but his depraved and evil life was to the end given over to the basest uses of human nature, and he died miserably, as he well deserved, in 1604, having outlived his second wife—Beatrice, daughter of the Spanish Duke of Meneses—two years. ”

“ After the strong personality of Cosimo and his masterful manipulation of commercial and political affairs, perhaps the unambitious rule of his son Piero was a necessary and healthful corollary. Piero de’ Medici maintained the ground his father had made his own, and gave away nothing of the predominance of his family, and he made way, after a brief exercise of authority, for his brilliant son, Lorenzo.
Piero’s character and career again prove the truth of the adage: “Ability rarely runs in two successive generations.” ”

“ In the royal tent Piero fell upon his knees, craved forgiveness for Florence’s opposition, and pleaded for generous terms for himself and his fellow-countrymen. Charles demanded the cession absolutely of the three fortresses, with the cities of Pisa and Livorno, and with them the “loan” of 200,000 gold florins! Piero’s report was listened to in solemn silence by the Signoria, but when its tenor was conveyed to the concourse of citizens, outside the Palazzo Vecchio, cries of “Liberta!” “Liberta!” rent the air. ”

“ She is eating her heart out for this quarrel with Rome—which no man may help, and it is but foolishness for women to meddle with; and she hath ever been too much under priestly sway. Why earnest thou hither this night?"
"For this cause and for no other," said Piero solemnly, "that thou mightest find me, if need should be for any service to her. And to swear to thee, by the Madonna and every saint of Venice, that I would give my life for her!"
But old Girolamo grew the angrier for Piero's professions of loyalty. "Shall her father do less than thou?" ”

“ Piero Antonio, his father, was of a noble Florentine house, of Vinci in the Val d'Arno, and Leonardo, brought up delicately among the true children of that house, was the love-child of his youth, with the keen, puissant nature such children often have. We see him in his youth fascinating all men by his beauty, improvising music and songs, buying the caged birds and setting them free, as he walked the streets of Florence, fond of odd bright dresses and spirited horses. ”

“ Florence has a few thicker skulls that may do to bombard Pisa with; there will still be the finer spirits left at home to do the thinking and the shaving. And, as for our Piero here, if he makes such a point of valour, let him carry his biggest brush for a weapon and his palette for a shield, and challenge the widest-mouthed Swiss he can see in the Prato to a single combat. ”

“ The magistrates are furious and scandalised; and Piero!—Piero has nobody to play billiards with him. When the magistrates interrogated him about Toniello, as, of course, they were obliged to do, he got into a dreadful passion because one of them said that it was just like a cowardly Italian to carry a knife and make use of it. Piero absolutely hissed at the solemn old gentleman who mumbled this. "And your people," he cried, "are they so very courageous? Is it better to beat a man into a jelly, or kick a woman with nailed boots, as your English mob does? Where is there anything cowardly? ”

“ On one of those days my father came to Piero's house to hear us play, and in ecstasy at my performance exclaimed: "I shall yet make you a marvellous musician against the will of all or any one who may desire to prevent me." To this Piero answered, and spoke the truth: "Your Benvenuto will get much more honour and profit if he devotes himself to the goldsmith's trade than to this piping." ”

“ Piero de' Medici was so proud and insolent that neither the generosity of his brother, Giovanni the Cardinal, nor the courtesy and kindness of Giuliano, were so powerful to keep him in Florence as those vices were to hunt him out. Michael Angelo exhorted Cardiere to inform Piero of the vision and carry out the will of Lorenzo, but he, fearing Piero's nature, kept all to himself. ”

“ If Piero had not been so solitary, and had taken more care of himself in his way of living than he did, he would have made known the greatness of his intellect in such a way that he would have been revered, whereas, by reason of his uncouth ways, he was rather held to be a madman, although in the end he did no harm save to himself alone, while his works were beneficial and useful to his art. ”

“ A man with a home to keep may not "cast away his chestnuts," and so when Piero, in that masterful way of his, swept everything before him in the traghetto—never asking nor caring who stood for him or against him, but carrying his will whenever he chose to declare it—to set one's self against such a man was truly a useless sort of fret, only a "gnawing of one's chain," in the expressive jargon of the people.
Piero finished his song, and there was a little pause. They were nearing the long, low line of Murano. ”

“ Enter Piero, unbraced, his arms bare, smeared in blood, a poniard in one hand bloody, and a torch in the other; Strotzo following him with a cord.
Pier. Ho, Gasper Strotzo, bind Feliche’s trunk
Unto the panting side of Mellida!
[Exit Strotzo.
’Tis yet dead night, yet all the earth is clutch’d [198]
In the dull leaden hand of snoring sleep;
No breath disturbs the quiet of the air,
No spirit moves upon the breast of earth,
Save howling dogs, night-crows, and screeching owls,
Save meagre ghosts, Piero, and black thoughts. ”

“ And at Santa Sofia the great cross with the beautiful golden lustre is gone, and one says it is the 'tosi.'"
Piero winced, for, to an ancient "toso," or even to a "bancalo" of to-day, such enormities had not the exciting novelty that might have been expected, and Marina had a curious habit of seeming entirely to forget his past when she wished to exact his best of him.
"And Gabriele—"
"Fash not thyself for a man of his measure, that is fitter to 'beat the fishes' like a galley-slave than to serve an honest gondola!" Piero interrupted scornfully. ”

“ He is quite unmoved by any ideas that the spectator may have as to fitness in the picture, and he never reveals his own views as to the scene and its appropriate presentation. Rage, pity, scorn, amazement, jealousy, passion, or even the depth of devotion, are no part of Piero's repertoire, but a quiet self-contained hauteur, a learned solemnity, and a religious calm characterise his figures, both men and women. ”

“ Well for his fame had Piero remained before the mast and upon the quarter-deck.
The lad was practically his own master, and the memories of Florentine gallantries filled his mind with desires for their resumption. Two years of naval-military discipline were quite enough for him, and he returned home again. He found Donna Eleanora de Garzia a grown woman and a woman of the world; an arrant flirt, like her protectress, the Duchess Isabella; dividing her time between the Villa Poggio Baroncelli and his father’s villa at Castello. ”

“ When Piero rode out of the Piazza, accompanied by an armed escort, he was met by an exasperated mob who assailed him with missiles and stones. The big bell, up in the Campanile, began to speak its ominous summons, and, in reply to faint cries of “Palle!” “Palle!” renewed shouts of “Liberta!” “Liberta!” proclaimed the abdication of the Medici.
A Parliament was convened and five ambassadors were appointed to treat with Charles and revoke Piero’s surrender. ”

“ Magnificent Piero, I value the connection much, but they are even more desirous and glad to be related to you. Of a truth their pleasure is not to be described. This must be a satisfaction to you, and every day, if it pleases God, you will be better satisfied, and we also; for truly if I had a hundred tongues I could not tell Your Magnificence how pleased I am. Send the contract soon, for it will be impossible to keep this affair secret, as Pietro d’Arcangelo, chancellor of the Duke of Urbino, has spoken of it, and these Pazzi have begun to spread the news. ”

“ And the man who should have laboured with all his powers to secure the fame and increase the glory of Piero, from whom he had acquired all that he knew. Fra Luca del Borgo namely,—he, on the contrary, envious and malignant, did his utmost to annihilate the name of Piero, his instructor, and sought to arrogate to himself that honour which was due to his teacher alone, publishing, under his own name, all the laborious works of that good old man, who, in addition to the acquirements named above, was highly distinguished in painting also. ”

“ He had bought a rough wooden shield which he was very anxious should have a design painted on it in Florence, and he begged Ser Piero to see that it was done. The peasant was a faithful servant, and very useful in supplying the castle with fish and game, so Ser Piero was pleased to grant him his request.
'Leonardo shall try his hand upon it. It is time he became useful to me,' said Ser Piero to himself. So on his return to Florence he took the shield to his son. ”

“ For which reason every good intellect and every excellent craftsman should always be taught, from such an example, to keep his eyes on the end of life.
Nor will I refrain from saying that Piero, in his youth, being fanciful and extravagant in invention, was much employed for the masquerades that are held during the Carnival; and he became very dear to the young noblemen of Florence, having improved their festivals much in invention, adornment, grandeur, and pomp. ”

“ A certain uneasy expectation of a change in public affairs began to manifest itself, a change the more necessary and desirable as Piero, deserted by citizens of repute, was forced to surround himself by men either unknown or incapable.
Meantime the multitude pressed around the pulpit of Savonarola, and looked up to him as the preacher of the anti-Mediceans. The fact that Lorenzo, at the approach of death, had desired him for a confessor, gained him many adherents among the admirers of that prince, who rapidly fell away from Piero on account of his personal faults and defective administration. ”

“ Among these, not the most unimportant was Piero, son of a certain Lorenzo, who was a goldsmith, and godson of Cosimo Rosselli, after whom he was always called Piero di Cosimo, [1] nor was he ever known by any other name. And in truth, he to whom we are indebted for instruction, is no less entitled to our gratitude than he who has given us life, and merits indeed to be considered the true father, for the person to whom we owe the better part of our being is no less to be regarded than he from whom we simply derive existence. ”

“ Piero therefore began once more to draw as he had been wont to do, for having here the competition of the other young people whom Tribolo kept about him, he set himself with much ardour of mind to his studies, devoting himself thereto day and night, being impelled by his nature and an eager desire for knowledge and honour, while he was still further incited by the example of his fellow disciples, whom he constantly saw labouring around him. ”

“ Piero’s great opportunity came about 1465 when he painted in the choir of San Francesco at Arezzo ten stories from the Legend of the Holy Cross. For stark impressiveness it is hard to match them in Italy in this century. Only Masaccio and Leonardo da Vinci will at all bear the comparison. On analysis, the power rests mostly on the seriousness with which Piero takes his technical problem. There is little real grief or pathos in the Last Days of Adam, it is merely impersonally solemn. ”

“ Splendid and full of confidence, they are the work of a man who is a consummate draughtsman, and whose drawing here, at any rate, is a thing of life. On the back of these panels Piero has painted an allegory, or a trionfo, whose meaning no one has yet read. The Uffizi has lately been enriched by a work of his pupil, that rare painter, Melozzo da Forli. Two panels of the Annunciation, very beautiful in Colour and full of something that seems strange, coming from that Umbrian country, so mystical and simple, hang now with the portraits of Piero. ”

“ Ser Piero on his part was four times married, and had by his last two wives nine sons and two daughters; but he had from the first acknowledged the boy Leonardo and brought him up in his own house, principally, no doubt, at Florence. In that city Ser Piero followed his profession with success, as notary to many of the chief families in the city, including the Medici, and afterwards to the signory or governing council of the state. The son born to him before marriage grew up into a youth of shining promise. ”