arn, and impelled by the
reasons mentioned above, spent many months in making drawings and copies
of the works of Jacopo da Pontormo, which were so well executed, so
good, and so beautiful, that it is certain that if he had persevered,
what with the assistance that he had from Nature, his wish to become
eminent, the force of competition, and the good manner of his master, he
would have become most excellent; and to this some drawings in red chalk
by his hand, which may be seen in our book, can bear witness. But
pleasure, as may often be seen to happen, is in young men generally the
enemy of excellence, and brings it about that their intellects are led
astray; wherefore he who is engaged in the studies of any faculty,
science, or art whatsoever should have no relations save with those who
are of the same profession, and good and orderly besides. Giovanni
Antonio, then, in order that he might be looked after, had gone to live
in the house of one Ser Raffaello di Sandro, a lame chaplain, in S.
Lorenzo, to whom he paid so much a year, and he abandoned in great
measure the study of painting, for the reason that the priest was a man
of the world, delighting in pictures, music, and other diversions, and
many persons of talent frequented the rooms that he had at S. Lorenzo;
among others, M. Antonio da Lucca, a most excellent musician and
performer on the lute, at that time a very young man, from whom Giovanni
learned to play the lute. And although the painter Rosso and some others
of the profession also frequented the same place, Lappoli attached
himself rather to the others than to the men of his art, from whom he
might have learned much, while at the same time amusing himself. Through
these distractions, therefore, the love of painting of which Giovanni
Antonio had given proof cooled off in great measure; but none the less,
being the friend of Pier Francesco di Jacopo di Sandro, who was a
disciple of Andrea del Sarto, he went sometimes with him to the Scalzo
to draw the pictures and nudes from life. And no long time passed before
he applied himself to colouring and executed pictures of Jacopo's, and
then by himself some Madonnas and portraits from life, among which were
that of the above-mentioned M. Antonio da Lucca and that of Ser
Raffaello, which are very good.

In the year 1523, the plague being in Rome, Perino del Vaga came to
Florence, and he also settled down to lodge with Ser Raffaello del
Zoppo; wherefore Giovanni An