Part 12 (1/2)
The waiter, with a napkin over his shoulder, was standing before us. I was like a full flask which, being upturned, can with difficulty empty itself. There was such a variety of odours in the room, and such a quant.i.ty of things to eat, that I could not get out a word; and my friend, seeing my embarra.s.sment, hastened to say to me--
[Sidenote: A BREAKFAST.]
”Will you have some soup and a cutlet?”
”Yes; two,” I replied.
”Will you have Orvieto or good Roman wine?”
”Do me the favour to bring anything you please, so long as you bring me something to eat and drink. I can't stop to choose.”
And the good Travalloni, turning to the servant, said--
”Bring at once a flask of Orvieto, such as I drink--you understand?--some bread, some soup, a cutlet, cheese, and fruit.”
That day Travalloni appeared to me to be a man of genius.
CHAPTER VIII.
LITERATI AT MY STUDIO, AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON MY WORK--CALAMATTA'S OPINION OF TENERANI, OF BARTOLINI, AND OF MYSELF--HIS DEFENCE OF MY ABEL IN PARIS--PIUS II.--ACADEMICIANS AND ”NATURALISTI”--LUIGI VENTURI--PRINCE ANATOLIA DEMIDOFF AND THE PRINCESS MATILDE--THE STATUETTE IN CLAY OF THE PRINCESS MATILDE IS DESTROYED--OUR MINISTER NIGRA PRESENTS ME TO THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON III.--BEAUTY DOES NOT EXIST OUTSIDE OF NATURE--PRAISE PUTS ONE TO SLEEP--THE INCOHERENCE OF BARTOLINI.
My studio, as I think I have already said, was the resort of many of the literary men of the time--Giusti, Thouar, Montazio, La Farina, F. S.
Orlandini, Enrico Mayer, Girolamo Gargiolli, Giovanni Chiarini, Filippo Moise, and sometimes, but rarely, G. B. Niccolini, Atto Vannucci, and Giuseppe Arcangeli. These distinguished men, all talking with me, and bringing forward their theories of Art, somewhat confused me in my ideas. I said, at the very beginning of these memoirs--and the reader, I hope, keeps it in mind--that I had received no education, and my judgment was not trained to discern and distinguish the laws of the beautiful, which, the more deeply one studies them, the more they scatter, and seem, as it were, to fly from us. I was attracted to Art by a purely natural sentiment, which I sought to express by a simple imitation of nature; and so far, I think I was right, for whatever other path we may take, supported however it may be by philosophic and aesthetic reasons, it will prove utterly fallacious unless it lead to this end, of imitating the beautiful in nature, and will surely lead astray the young artist, even though he has a good natural talent and a lively fancy.
[Sidenote: A Pa.s.sAGE IN DANTE.]
Yes, sir; my poor head was perplexed, and I began to distrust nature, with its imperfections and its vulgarity. The warm and imaginative utterances of La Farina made all the words of Niccolini seem colourless to me, for though given with antique beauty, they came from him with difficulty. The pure and touching morality of Thouar conflicted with the humoristic and cynical freedom of Montazio. Giusti, who might have set me right in my opinions, kept at a distance without giving a reason why; and in this he was wrong, for I should have given heed to him. But he contented himself with writing to the advocate Galeotti, telling him that I was surrounded by a number of fops who spoiled me, and that if I did not shut myself up in my studio, as I did when I made the Abel, I should not succeed in making anything good. This outburst of Giusti's I only knew many years afterwards, on the publication of his letters.
I remember one day, when Giusti was with me, I recited from memory the canto in the 'Inferno' relating to Francesca, but when I came to this pa.s.sage--
”Quali colombe dal desio chiamate Con l'ali aperte e ferme, al dolce nido Volan per l'aere dal voler portate;”
he interrupted me, saying, ”You recite well and intelligently the verses of the divine poet; but you, too, fall into the error into which so many have fallen--copyists, printers, and commentators--that of placing the semicolon at the end of the line, after the word _portate_, instead of putting it in the middle of the line, after the word _aere_. This punctuation makes Dante guilty of a blunder, he attributing to the doves, besides desire, which is most proper, also will, which belongs properly to man. Try and place the comma and the pause after the word _aere_, and you will see what a stupendous philosophical value it gives to the verses. Listen; I will repeat them to you:--
'Quali colombe dal desio chiamate Con l'ali aperte e ferme, al dolce nido Volan per l'aere; dal voler portate Cotali uscir dalla schiera, ov'e Dido,'” &c.
This correction, so clear, so easy, so just, satisfied me immediately, and from that day I have always recited these lines in this way. The unintelligent did not perceive the change of sense, but those who were more attentive and refined gave me praise for it; but I rejected it at once as belonging to me, saying that the correction was due to Giuseppe Giusti.[6]
[6] The distinguished Signor Carlo Ara of Palermo informs me that this new punctuation did not originate with Giusti, but with Muzzi.
And, in truth, Giusti did not tell me that it was his, but simply recommended me to try to say it and understand it in that sense; and I, supposing the correction to be his, recited and wrote it so. The distinguished Carlo Ara pointed out to me the way in which I could verify his a.s.sertion; and I am glad to be able to correct an error (involuntary on my part), and to take this occasion to thank the distinguished Signor Carlo Ara.
The distinguished Signor Angelo Cavalieri of Trieste writes to me that this new punctuation of this Dantesque simile does not convince him, and he gives his reasons; but upon this I am not competent to enter into a discussion.
[Sidenote: STATUE OF GIOTTO.]
In making my Giotto, I followed my inspiration by drawing upon nature for that type of rude good-nature which const.i.tuted the outward character of my statue; and although some of my literary friends, who were more attached to the antique and the so-called _bello ideale_, blamed me, and some artists of distinction opposed me openly, I firmly adhered to the sound principle of imitating nature. The Giotto was finished without a moment's indecision, although, as I have said, I had been revolving over and over again in my mind the conception of a beauty ideal and beyond nature, but which, without great judgment, becomes conventional.
[Sidenote: CALAMATTA'S VISIT.]