nd myself with three thousand crowns or more. You thought me
a fool, and the priests and friars think me an able master. I used to be
your servant, and here is a servant of my own, who serves me and looks
after my horse. I used to dress in the clothes that beggarly painters
wear, and here am I dressed in velvet. Once I went on foot, and now I go
on horseback. So you see, my Jacone, it goes exceeding well with me. May
God be with you."

When poor Jacone had heard all this recital in one breath, he lost all
his presence of mind and stood confused, without saying another word, as
if reflecting how miserable he was, and how often the engineer is hoist
with his own petard. Finally, having become much reduced by an
infirmity, and being poor, neglected, and paralysed in the legs, so that
he could do nothing to better himself, Jacone died in misery in a little
hovel that he had on a mean street, or rather, alley, called
Codarimessa, in the year 1553.

Francesco Ubertini, called Il Bacchiacca, was a diligent painter, and,
although he was the friend of Jacone, he always lived decently enough
and like an honest man. He was likewise a friend of Andrea del Sarto,
and much assisted and favoured by him in matters of art. Francesco, I
say, was a diligent painter, and particularly in painting little
figures, which he executed to perfection, with much patience, as may be
seen from a predella with the story of the Martyrs, below the
altar-piece of Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, in S. Lorenzo at Florence, and
from another predella, executed very well, in the Chapel of the
Crocifisso. For the chamber of Pier Francesco Borgherini, of which
mention has already been made so many times, Il Bacchiacca, in company
with the others, executed many little figures on the coffers and the
panelling, which are known by the manner, being different from the
others. For the antechamber of Giovan Maria Benintendi, which likewise
has been already mentioned, he painted two very beautiful pictures with
little figures, in one of which, the most beautiful and the most
abundant in figures, is the Baptist baptizing Jesus Christ in the
Jordan. He also executed many others for various persons, which were
sent to France and England. Finally, having entered the service of Duke
Cosimo, since he was an excellent painter in counterfeiting all the
kinds of animals, Il Bacchiacca painted for his Excellency a cabinet all
full of birds of various kinds, and rare plants, all of w