he went on living at Dame Caterina's, beside his green figtree.
And in this very restrictedness he, doubtless, soon found comfort and
ease of heart.

But he laid the malignant conduct of his enemies more to heart than
there was any occasion for; nay, he felt as though some creeping
malady, engendered by annoyance and vexation, was gnawing at his inmost
marrow. In this evil mood, he conceived and executed the great pictures
which set all Rome in uproar. One of them represented the
transitoriness of all earthly things; and in the principal female
figure (which bore all the marks of a disreputable calling) it was easy
to recognize the lady-love of one of the Cardinals. In the other was
shown the Goddess of Fortune distributing her precious gifts. But
Cardinal's hats, Bishop's mitres, and decorations were falling down
upon bleating sheep, braying asses, and other despised creatures;
whilst well-favoured men, in tattered garments, looked up in vain
for the slightest favour. Salvator had given the rein to his bitter
mood, and those beasts' heads had very striking resemblances to sundry
well-known characters. It may be imagined how the hatred of him
increased, and how much more bitterly he was persecuted than before.

Dame Caterina cautioned him with tears in her eyes. She had noticed
that as soon as it was dark, birds of evil omen--suspicious-looking
characters--came slinking about the house, watching Salvator's every
step. He saw that it was time to be gone; and Dame Caterina and her
dear daughters were the only people he felt any pain in parting from.
Remembering the Duke of Tuscany's repeated invitations, he went to
Florence; and there his mortification was richly compensated for, and
the annoyances of tome lost sight of in the honour and fame--so richly
merited--which were bestowed upon him in fullest measure. The Duke's
presents, and the large prices which he got for his pictures, soon
enabled him to occupy a large mansion, and furnish it in the most
magnificent style. There he collected round him all the most famous
poets and literati of the day; it is sufficient to mention amongst them
Evangelista Torricelli, Valerio Chimentelli, Battista Ricciardi, Andrea
Cavalcanti, Pietro Salviati, Filippo Apolloni, Volumnio Bandelli,
Francesco Rovai. Art and science were joined together in a charming
fusion, and Salvator Rosa had a manner of endowing the meetings with an
element of the fanciful, which in a peculiar manner gave a s