ter he
had gone in, he would draw up with a pulley, to the end that no one
might go up to him without his wish or knowledge. But that which most
displeased other men in him was that he would not work save when and
for whom he pleased, and after his own fancy; wherefore on many
occasions, being sought out by noblemen who desired to have some of
his work, and once in particular by the Magnificent Ottaviano de'
Medici, he would not serve them; and then he would set himself to do
anything in the world for some low and common fellow, at a miserable
price. Thus the mason Rossino, a person of no small ingenuity
considering his calling, by playing the simpleton, received from him
in payment for having paved certain rooms with bricks, and for having
done other mason's work, a most beautiful picture of Our Lady, in
executing which Jacopo toiled and laboured as much as the mason did in
his building. And so well did the good Rossino contrive to manage his
business, that, in addition to the above-named picture, he got from
the hands of Jacopo a most beautiful portrait of Cardinal Giulio de'
Medici, copied from one by the hand of Raffaello, and, into the
bargain, a very beautiful little picture of a Christ Crucified, which,
although the above-mentioned Magnificent Ottaviano bought it from
the mason Rossino as a work by the hand of Jacopo, nevertheless is
known for certain to be by the hand of Bronzino, who executed it all
by himself while he was working with Jacopo at the Certosa, although
it afterwards remained, I know not why, in the possession of Pontormo.
All these three pictures, won by the industry of the mason from the
hands of Jacopo, are now in the house of M. Alessandro de' Medici, the
son of the above-named Ottaviano.

Now, although this procedure of Jacopo's and his living solitary and
after his own fashion were not much commended, that does not mean that
if anyone wished to excuse him he would not be able, for the reason
that for those works that he did we should acknowledge our obligation
to him, and for those that he did not choose to do we should not blame
or censure him. No craftsman is obliged to work save when and for whom
he pleases; and, if he suffered thereby, the loss was his. As for
solitude, I have always heard say that it is the greatest friend of
study; and, even if it were not so, I do not believe that much blame
is due to him who lives in his own fashion without offence to God or
to his neighbour, dwelli