Part 22 (1/2)
”Enough!” the Grand Duke with vexation interrupted me. ”These are considerations which might have been discussed, but now the thing has been decreed.” And rising, he added, ”Good evening,”--which being interpreted into common language, was as much as to say, ”Go away; you bore me.”
[Sidenote: THE GRAND DUKE DISMISSES ME.]
I bowed and went away. On the stairs I said to myself, ”You have done a pretty business. You see how you were dismissed, and with what irritation. You had better have minded your business. What had you to do with this? Did he ask you to give your advice? No; you have your deserts, and will learn better another time.” And slowly, slowly I returned home. But none the less I was not dissatisfied with myself for having spoken frankly to the Grand Duke on this matter. I had expressed my true opinion, and I should have felt more regret if I had been silent, inasmuch as I was thoroughly convinced of the utility and propriety of what I had said. Besides, I knew how good the Grand Duke was, and with what attention he had listened to me on other occasions when he interrogated me on questions relating to art in general, or to my own works in particular. But the phrase ”decreed” still hammered in my head, and I said to myself, ”Very well,--it is decreed; but his decree is not a decree of heaven. We shall see. After all, I have said what it seemed to me just to say, and there is nothing improper in that; and if there was any impropriety, it was on his part in not allowing me to finish. And there is this also,” I said--”that colossus in the middle of the Loggia will dwarf all the other statues, and make them of little consequence; so that by an accursed necessity they will have to remove the group of the Rape of the Sabines, and the Perseus, which stand very well there, as well as the Centaur and the Ajax, and all the others along the wall, which are not placed well, whether the David is there or not.”
[Sidenote: VISIT OF RAUCH.]
But in the meantime, a fortunate incident gave a new direction to the affair of the removal of the David, and a great weight to my words.
One morning a gentleman came to my studio, who said he wished to see me.
I, who then was accustomed to permit no one to pa.s.s into my private studio, went out to see him. He was tall of person, dignified, and benevolent of aspect; his eyes were blue, and over his handsome forehead his white hair was parted and carried behind the ears in two ma.s.ses, which fell over the collar of his coat. He extended his hand to me, and said--
”For some time I have heard you much spoken of; but as Fame is frequently mendacious, in coming to Florence I wished, first of all, to verify by an examination of your works the truth of all I have heard of you; and as I find them not inferior to your high reputation, I wished to have the pleasure of shaking your hand;” and he then took both my hands in his.
”You are an artist?” I asked.
”Yes,” he replied,--”a sculptor.”
I wondered who he could be. He spoke Italian admirably, but with a foreign accent.
”Excuse me,--are you living in Rome?”
”Oh no,” he answered; ”I lived there for thirty years, but now for some time I have been in Berlin. I am Rauch.”
I bowed to him, and he embraced me and kissed me, and accompanying me into my private room, we sat down. I shall never forget his quiet conversation, which was calm and full of benevolence. While he was speaking, I went over in my memory the beautiful works of this great German artist,--his fine monument to Frederick the Great, his remarkable statue of Victory, and many others. I recalled the sharp pa.s.sages between him and Bartolini, and without knowing why, I could not help contrasting his gentleness with the caustic vivacity of our master.
Their disagreements have long been over; the peace of the tomb has united them; and now the busts of both stand opposite to each other in the drawing-room of my villa of Lappeggi.
[Sidenote: RAUCH'S VISIT TO THE GRAND DUKE.]
Among other things, we discussed the question of the removal of the David, and its proposed collocation under the Loggia dell'Orgagna. He strongly disapproved of it, and exhorted me to use all my influence (to use his own words) to induce the Grand Duke to alter this decision. I then narrated to him my conversation with the Grand Duke, and the issue of it. He was surprised, and after thinking awhile, said that perhaps there was no ground to despair, and that I ought to speak of it again and to insist. I answered--
”I really cannot do so. You, however, might. Your name, and the friends.h.i.+p of the Grand Duke for you, might perform miracles; and nothing else is needed, as there is already a decree in the way.”
”Leave it to me. To-morrow I am invited to dine at Court, and I will manage so that they will speak to me of this; and unless they ask me, I will not let it be known that we have met.”
A few days afterwards he returned and told me that he had spoken at length on the subject with the Grand Duke, who did not seem to be annoyed, but on the contrary, listened to him to the end; and then smiling, said that I had advanced the same doubts and objections. He then thought it best to openly confess that we had talked together on the subject. Rauch went away shortly after; but he so well managed the affair, that the Grand Duke thought no more of the removal of the statue to the Loggia, considering the means proper to s.h.i.+eld it from the injuries of the weather. He also sent for me to tell me that Rauch had advised him not to place it under the Loggia, and I remember used these words: ”Rauch is entirely of your opinion in regard to the David, and he is a man who, on such a ground, deserves entire confidence; and I wish to say this to you, because it ought to give you pleasure, and because it proves that you were right.”
[Sidenote: LETTER FROM RAUCH ABOUT THE DAVID.]
I thanked the Grand Duke for the attention and consideration he had paid to the reasoning of Rauch in regard to the David, as well as for his kindness towards me; and this procured me a dismissal more benignant than the previous one. A short time after, I received a letter from Rauch from Berlin, in which he spoke to me of the David. I showed it to the Grand Duke, who ordered me to leave it with him. But he returned it a few days later, and I have transcribed the pa.s.sage relating to the David:--
”I learn with great pleasure that his Highness the Grand Duke has resolved to leave the statue of David in its place in consequence of the trial made with the plaster cast. But I should like to recommend to his Highness to remove the group of Ajax and Patroclus from its present position, and to arrange a proper place of just proportion and with a good light, to receive worthily this work of sculpture divinely composed and executed by Greek hands.
”BERLIN, _17th December 1854_.”
This is the reason why the statue of David was allowed to remain in its place for some twenty years more, and until the fear of the danger which this masterpiece undoubtedly incurred induced the Munic.i.p.ality and the Government to order its removal to the Academy of Fine Arts, where it now stands, but where it is not seen; for if the Government is liberal in spending many millions upon a Palace of Finance in Rome, it feels itself so restricted that it obstinately refuses to spend a few thousands to complete the building which is to harbour the most beautiful sculpture in the world.
[Sidenote: RESTORATION OF THE PORPHYRY TAZZA.]
It was at this time that the Royal Manufactory of Pietre Dure finished the restoration of the famous Tazza of porphyry--a most precious and rare object, which, from the time of Cosimo I., to whom Pope Clement VII. presented it, had remained hidden in the store-rooms, and in great part mutilated. Now, as I have said, owing to the great care and intelligence of the directors, united to the goodwill and money of the Prince, it had been restored to its pristine beauty and perfection. In order that this work, which is also an historical record, should be properly exhibited by itself in the Royal Gallery, the Grand Duke desired that it should be placed on a base with a new and rich design, which should at once be a completion and adornment of the Tazza itself, and also offer an occasion for a work of sculpture. In matters of this kind this excellent Prince was intelligent, earnestly entered into them, and gave full liberty to the artist who wrought for him; and this work he would have carried out had not the revolution interrupted it. But let us not be in a hurry.