beautiful, that the Duke of Arcos earnestly desired to possess one of similar beauty. To obtain this from Torrigiano, he consequently made him so many tine promises, that the artist believed himself about to be enriched for ever. When the work was finished, the duke gave him so large a quantity of those coins called “maravedis,” which however are worth little or nothing, that Torrigiano, to whose house there had come two persons loaded with these coins, became more and more persuaded that he should at once become enormously rich. But showing this money to one of his Florentine friends, whom he desired to ascertain its value in Italian coin, he found that the whole of that vast quantity did not amount to thirty ducats; whereupon, considering that he had been jested with, he threw himself into a violent rage, and proceeding to the spot where the figure which he had made for the Duke was placed, he broke it to pieces.[1]
The Spaniard, having received this affront, avenged himself by accusing Torrigiano of heresy, and the latter was thrown into the prisons of the Inquisition: there, after being daily examined for some time, and sent from one inquisitor to another, he was finally adjudged to merit the heaviest punishment of the law. It is true that this was not put into execution, for Torrigiano, sunk into the deepest melancholy, refused all nourishment, and after remaining many days without eating, he became gradually weaker and more weak, until he finally ended his life.[2] Thus, by depriving himself of food, Torrigiano was saved from the shame and disgrace into which he would most probably have fallen, since it is fully believed that he could not have escaped condemnation to death.
The works of this master were executed about the year of our salvation, 1515, and he died in 1522.
- ↑ Piacenza, in his additions to Baldiniicci’s Biography of Torrigiano, informs us that the fragments of this figure are still preserved in Seville with the utmost care. More particularly a hand, which was saved entire from the fury of the sculptor, and is regarded as a most perfect model.
- ↑ In the first edition of our author we find the following epitaph to the
memory of Torrigiano:—
Virginis intactae hic statuam quam fecerat, ira
Quod fregit victus; carcere clausus obit.
