hrough Arezzo by post, took me away to Rome to serve him, as
has been related in the Life of Salviati; and there, by the courtesy of
that lord, I had facilities to attend for many months to the study of
design. And I could say with truth that those facilities and my studies
at that time were my true and principal master in my art, although
before that those named above had assisted me not a little; and there
had not gone from my heart the ardent desire to learn, and the untiring
zeal to be always drawing night and day. There was also of great benefit
to me in those days the competition of my young contemporaries and
companions, who have since become for the most part very excellent in
our art. Nor was it otherwise than a very sharp spur to me to have such
a desire of glory, and to see many who had proved themselves very rare,
and had risen to honour and rank; so that I used to say to myself at
times: "Why should it not be in my power to obtain by assiduous study
and labour some of that grandeur and rank that so many others have
acquired? They, also, were of flesh and bones, as I am."

Urged on, therefore, by so many sharp spurs, and by seeing how much need
my family had of me, I disposed myself never to shrink from any fatigue,
discomfort, vigil, and toil, in order to achieve that end; and, having
thus resolved in my mind, there remained nothing notable at that time in
Rome, or afterwards in Florence, and in other places where I dwelt, that
I did not draw in my youth, and not pictures only, but also sculptures
and architectural works ancient and modern. And besides the proficience
that I made in drawing the vaulting and chapel of Michelagnolo, there
remained nothing of Raffaello, Polidoro, and Baldassarre da Siena, that
I did not likewise draw in company with Francesco Salviati, as has been
told already in his Life. And to the end that each of us might have
drawings of everything, during the day the one would not draw the same
things as the other, but different, and then at night we used to copy
each other's drawings, so as to save time and extend our studies; not to
mention that more often than not we ate our morning meal standing up,
and little at that. After which incredible labour, the first work that
issued from my hands, as from my own forge, was a great picture with
figures large as life, of a Venus with the Graces adorning and
beautifying her, which Cardinal de' Medici caused me to paint; but of
that picture ther