me himself as
a miracle, when I went during his lifetime to Mantua on some affairs of
my own.

At the death of Duke Federigo, by whom Giulio had been beloved beyond
belief, he was so overcome with sorrow, that he would have left Mantua,
if the Cardinal, the brother of the Duke, on whom the government of the
State had descended because the sons of Federigo were very young, had
not detained him in that city, where he had a wife and children, houses,
villas, and all the other possessions that are proper to a gentleman of
means. And this the Cardinal did (aided by those reasons) from a wish to
avail himself of the advice and assistance of Giulio in renovating, or
rather building almost entirely anew, the Duomo of that city; to which
work Giulio set his hand, and carried it well on in a very beautiful
form.

At this time Giorgio Vasari, who was much the friend of Giulio, although
they did not know one another save only by reputation and by letters, in
going to Venice, took the road by Mantua, in order to see Giulio and his
works. And so, having arrived in that city, and going to find his
friend, when they met, although they had never seen each other, they
knew one another no less surely than if they had been together in person
a thousand times. At which Giulio was so filled with joy and
contentment, that for four days he never left him, showing him all his
works, and in particular all the ground-plans of the ancient edifices in
Rome, Naples, Pozzuolo, and Campania, and of all the other fine
antiquities of which anything is known, drawn partly by him and partly
by others. Then, opening a very large press, he showed to Giorgio the
ground-plans of all the buildings that had been erected after his
designs and under his direction, not only in Mantua and in Rome, but
throughout all Lombardy, which were so beautiful, that I, for my part,
do not believe that there are to be seen any architectural inventions
more original, more lovely, or better composed. After this, the Cardinal
asking Giorgio what he thought of the works of Giulio, Giorgio answered
in the presence of Giulio that they were such that he deserved to have a
statue of himself placed at every corner of the city, and that, since he
had given that city a new life, the half of the State would not be a
sufficient reward for the labours and abilities of Giulio; to which the
Cardinal answered that Giulio was more the master of that State than he
was himself. And since Giulio