"
"I did not dare to ask you for so much," she said, "but I already knew
that in everything you follow the doctrine of the Lord: _deposuit
potentes, exaltavit humiles_; and in that also you are excellent, for you
acknowledge yourself at last as discreetly generous and not as an ignorant
prodigal. And therefore in Rome those who know you esteem you even more
than your works; and those who do not know you esteem only the least of
you, which are the works of your hands. And certainly I do not give any
less praise to your knowledge of how to retire within yourself and fly
from our useless conversations, and to your wisdom in not painting for all
the princes who ask you to do so, but confining yourself to the painting
of a single work during all your life as you have done,"
"Madam," said Michael, "perchance you attribute to me more than I deserve;
but in doing so you remind me that I wish to make a complaint against many
persons, on my own behalf and on behalf of painters of my temperament, and
also on behalf of M. Francisco here.
"There are many persons who maintain a thousand lies, and one is that
eminent painters are eccentric and that their conversation is intolerable
and harsh, they are only human all the while, and thus fools and
unreasonable persons consider them fantastic and fanciful, allowing them
with much difficulty the conditions necessary to a painter. It is quite
true that such conditions are only necessary where there is a real
painter, which is in very few places, as in Italy, where there is the
perfection of all things; but foolish, idle persons are unreasonable in
expecting so many compliments from a busy man: few mortals fulfil their
duty well, one who does will not accuse another who is fulfilling his;
painters are not in any way unsociable through pride, but either because
they find few pursuits equal to painting, or in order not to corrupt
themselves with the useless conversation of idle people, and debase the
intellect from the lofty imaginations in which they are always absorbed.
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