ly employed by Franciabigio, Andrea del Sarto,
Pontormo, and Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, and by Granaccio for triumphal
processions and other festivals, since nothing good could be done
without him. He was the best man that ever touched a brush, and, being
timid by nature, he would never undertake any work on his own account,
because he was afraid of exacting the money for his labours. He
delighted to work the whole day long, and disliked annoyances of any
kind; for which reason he associated himself with the gilder Mariotto di
Francesco, one of the most able and skilful men at his work that ever
existed in the world of art, very adroit in obtaining commissions, and
most dexterous in exacting payments and doing business. This Mariotto
also brought the gilder Raffaello di Biagio into the partnership, and
the three worked together, sharing equally all the earnings of the
commissions that they executed; and this association lasted until death
parted them, Mariotto being the last to die.

To return to the works of Andrea; he decorated for Giovanni Maria
Benintendi all the ceilings of his house, and executed the ornamentation
of the ante-chambers, wherein are the scenes painted by Franciabigio and
Jacopo da Pontormo. He went with Franciabigio to Poggio, and executed in
terretta the ornaments for all the scenes there in such a way that there
is nothing better to be seen. For the Chevalier Guidotti he decorated in
sgraffito the facade of his house in the Via Larga, and he also executed
another of great beauty for Bartolommeo Panciatichi, on the house (now
belonging to Ruberto de' Ricci) which he built on the Piazza degli Agli.
Nor am I able to describe all the friezes, coffers, and strong-boxes, or
the vast quantity of ceilings, which Andrea decorated with his own hand,
for the whole city is full of these, and I must refrain from speaking of
them. But I must mention the round escutcheons of various kinds that he
made, for they were such that no wedding could take place without his
having his workshop besieged by one citizen or another; nor could any
kind of brocade, linen, or cloth of gold, with flowered patterns, ever
be woven, without his making the designs for them, and that with so much
variety, grace, and beauty, that he breathed spirit and life into all
such things. If Andrea, indeed, had known his own value, he would have
made a vast fortune; but it sufficed him to live in love with his art.

I must not omit to tell that in my