nt in no
ordinary manner at his work; for the morning had scarcely broken into
day when Cristofano would appear at his labour, of which he had such a
love, and it so delighted him, that very often he would not finish
dressing before setting out. And at times, nay, frequently, it
happened that in his haste he put on a pair of shoes--all such things
he kept under his bed--that were not fellows, but of two kinds; and
more often than not he had his cloak wrong side out, with the hood on
the inside. One morning, therefore, appearing at an early hour at his
work, where the Lord Duke and the Lady Duchess were standing looking
at it, while preparations were being made to set out for the chase,
and the ladies and others of the Court were making themselves ready,
they noticed that Cristofano had as usual his cloak wrong side out and
the hood inside. At which both laughing, the Duke said: "What is your
idea in always wearing your cloak inside out?" "I know not, my Lord,"
answered Cristofano, "but I mean to find some day a kind of cloak that
shall have neither right side nor wrong side, and shall be the same on
both sides, for I have not the patience to think of wearing it in any
other way, since in the morning I generally dress and go out of the
house in the dark, besides that I have one eye so feeble that I can
see nothing with it. But let your Excellency look at what I paint, and
not at my manner of dressing." The Duke said nothing in answer, but
within a few days he caused to be made for him a cloak of the finest
cloth, with the pieces sewn and drawn together in such a manner that
there was no difference to be seen between outside and inside, and the
collar worked with braid in the same manner both inside and out, and
so also the trimming that it had round the edges. This being finished,
he sent it to Cristofano by a lackey, commanding the man that he
should give it to him on the part of the Duke. Having therefore
received the cloak very early one morning, Cristofano, without making
any further ceremony, tried it on and then said to the lackey: "The
Duke is a man of sense. Tell him that it suits me well."

Now, since Cristofano was thus careless of his person and hated
nothing more than to have to put on new clothes or to go about too
tightly constrained and confined in them, Vasari, who knew this humour
of his, whenever he observed that he was in need of any new clothes,
used to have them made for him in secret, and then, earl