, in
1527, the bravery and address of Cellini proved of signal service to
the pontiff; if we may believe his own accounts, his was the very hand
which shot the Bourbon dead, and he afterwards killed Philibert, prince
of Orange. His exploits paved the way for a reconciliation with the
Florentine magistrates, and his return shortly after to his native
place. Here he assiduously devoted himself to the execution of medals,
the most famous of which (executed a short while later) are "Hercules
and the Nemean Lion," in gold repousse work, and "Atlas supporting the
Sphere," in chased gold, the latter eventually falling into the
possession of Francis I. From Florence he went to the court of the duke
of Mantua, and thence again to Florence and to Rome, where he was
employed not only in the working of jewelry, but also in the execution
of dies for private medals and for the papal mint. Here in 1529 he
avenged a brother's death by slaying the slayer; and shortly afterwards
had to flee to Naples to shelter himself from the consequences of an
affray with a notary, Ser Benedetto, whom he wounded. Through the
influence of several of the cardinals he obtained a pardon; and on the
elevation of Paul III. to the pontifical throne he was reinstated in his
former position of favour, notwithstanding a fresh homicide of a
goldsmith which he had committed more by accident than of malice
prepense in the interregnum. Once more the plots of Pierluigi Farnese, a
natural son of Paul III., led to his retreat from Rome to Florence and
Venice, and once more he was restored with greater honour than before.
On returning from a visit to the court of Francis I., being now aged
thirty-seven, he was imprisoned on a charge (apparently false) of having
embezzled during the war the gems of the pontifical tiara; he remained
some while confined in the castle of Sant' Angelo, escaped, was
recaptured, and treated with great severity, and was in daily
expectation of death on the scaffold. At last, however, he was released
at the intercession of Pierluigi's wife, and more especially of the
Cardinal d' Este of Ferrara, to whom he presented a splendid cup. For a
while after this he worked at the court of Francis I. at Fontainebleau
and in Paris; but he considered the duchesse d'Etampes to be set against
him, and the intrigues of the king's favourites, whom he would not stoop
to conciliate and could not venture to silence by the sword, as he had
silenced his enemies in R