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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Table of Contents
2. Welcome
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Purpose
Work
Disclaimer
Revisions
Source Code
Location
Example & Exercise Names
Example – ‘gesture_app’
One File
3. The Big Picture
Introduction
Before Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development
Early Cross-Platform Development Tools
Development Tools That Used Native Libraries
Development Tools That Didn’t Use Native Libraries
Modern Cross-Platform Development Tools
React Native
Google Flutter
Conclusion
4. Introduction to Dart
Introduction
Platforms
 1. Within a Web Browser
2. As Interpreted Application
3. As Native Application
Dart SDK
Command-Line Tools
Libraries
5. Basic Dart
Introduction
Example Code
Entry Point
Example Code
Output
Introduction to Typing
Statically-typed languages.
Dynamically-typed languages.
Dart Typing
Static Types
Dynamic Types (aka Untyped)
There is a difference, but it is subtle.
This code wont compile. Dartpad displays the following error:
Type Inference
Example of Inference #1:
Output
Example of Inference #2:
Output
Type Matching
Example Code
Output
Type Information
Example Code
Output
Strings
 Interpolation
Raw Strings
Runes
Object-Orientated Language Features
Modules
Constructors
Instance Variables
Constructor and Method Parameters
Constructor and Method Parameters - Positional Required
Constructor and Method Parameters - Positional Optional
Constructor and Method Parameters - Named
Other
Method Cascades
6. More Advanced Dart
Introduction
Operator Overloading
Example
Warning
Reflection
Mixins
Collections
Introduction
Lists
Maps
More-Specific Collection Classes
Assertions
Example Code
Output
Assertions & Modes (Flutter)
Further Reading
Errors & Exceptions
Why Have Error & Exception Handling?
 Errors
Exceptions
Handling Errors
Handling Exceptions
Finally
Catch Exception
Catch Exception and Stack Trace
Catch Specific Exceptions
Throw Exception
Rethrow Exception
Create Custom Exceptions
Console Output
Example Code
Output
Asynchronicity
Introduction
Future
Invoking and Handling Asynchronous Operations
Future API
Async & Await Keywords
Reactive Programming
Further Reading
7. Introduction to Flutter
Introduction
What is Flutter?
High Productivity
High Quality
High Performance
It is Free and Open.
Fuschsia
Flutter Source Code
Flutter SDK
 Dart Platform
Flutter Engine
Foundation Library
8. Installing Flutter
Introduction
Issues
Developing on a PC for iOS
Install Process
Introduction
Step 1: Software Pre-Requisites
Step 2: Download the Flutter SDK
Step 3: Setup Your Path
Step 4: Run Flutter Doctor
Step 5: Setup Your Editor
Step 6: Setup Your Emulator(s)
9. Your First App
Introduction
Default Flutter App
Generate Your First App
Android Studio
Visual Studio Code
Command-Line
Emulators
Open Android Emulator & Run Your First App
Introduction
Open Android Emulator
Run Your App on the Android Emulator
Open iOS Emulator & Run Your First App
Introduction
XCode
iOS Emulator
Open iOS Simulator/Emulator
 Run Your App on the iOS Simulator
Connect Your Device & Run Your First App
Introduction
Android Device
iOS Device
iOS Device - Open Xcode Project
iOS Device – Create Signing Team
iOS Device – Set Bundle Identifier
Hot Restarting & Reloading
Introduction
Two Options
Hot Restarting & Hot Reloading
10. Dependencies & Packages
Introduction
Website
Core Packages
Non-Core Packages
Most Useful Non-Core Packages
How to Use an External Package
Declare Dependency in Project
Import Packages
Import & Use Package Code
Restart Your App
Package Version Numbers
Project Files
.packages
pubspec.lock
How to Publish Your Own Packages
Introduction
Setting Up a Dart Package
Adding Documentation
Final Review
 Do a Publish Dry-Run
Publish
Further Reading
11. Default Flutter Application Project
Introduction
Folders
Application Code
Location
Introduction to Composition & Widgets
12. Introduction to Widgets
Introduction
What Are Widgets?
User Interface: Material & Cupertino
Material Design, According to Google
Most Flutter Widgets Work with Material Design
User Interface: Cupertino
Flutter Includes iOS-Styled Widgets
Building Widgets
Build Method
Build Context
Widgets Have No Mutable State
Not All Widgets Are Equal
Further Reading
13. Stateless Widgets
Introduction
Not All Widgets Need to be Smart
Minimum Code
Creation
Example
Rendering
The ‘Build’ Method
 When Does The ‘Build’ Method Execute?
Lifecycle
Exercise – ‘first_stateless’
Step 1 – Create Default Flutter App
Step 2 – Replace Application Code
Step 3 – Open Emulator & Run
Summary So Far
Step 4 – Add Some Padding
Step 5 – Add Scrolling
Step 6 – Add Border
Step 7 – Final Touch
Example – ‘stateless_widget_rebuild’
Optional
Purpose
Source Code
14. Stateful Widgets
Introduction
Some Widgets Need to be Smart
Minimum Code
Two Classes
Class #1 – the class that extends StatefulWidget
Class #2 – the class that extends State
Creation
Rendering
The ‘Build’ Method
LifeCycle Methods
Class #1 – the class that extends StatefulWidget
Class #2 – the class that extends State
More Reading
Example – ‘stateful_widget_flowers’
Optional
App Purpose
 App Widgets
Start App
Change the Flower
Add Blur
Source Code
15. Basic Material Widgets
Introduction
Text
Example – ‘text’
Image
Introduction
Exercise – ‘loading_image’
Icon
Introduction
Example - ‘icon’
Further Reading
Buttons
Introduction
Enabling
Example – ‘buttons’
16. Multi-Child Layout Widgets
Introduction
Multi-Child Layout Widgets
Column
Spacing Out Children Using MainAxisAlignment
Expanding Children Using Expanded Widget
Row
Spacing Out Children Using MainAxisAlignment
Expanding Children Using Expanded Widget
Flex
Example – ‘flex’
ListView
 Example - ‘horizontal_list’
ListTile
Stack
Example – ‘stack_please_wait’
17. Single-Child Layout Widgets
Introduction
Padding
Example – ‘padding’
Container
Example – ‘container’
Further Reading
Card
Example – ‘cards’
Expanded
Example – ‘expanded’
Flexible
Example – ‘flexible’
Center
GestureDetector
Example – ‘gesture_app’
Positioned
Example – ‘positioned’
SafeArea
Example: Non-Safe Area
Example: Safe Area
Example: Safe Area with Minimum Padding Set
SingleChildScrollView
Constructor Arguments Include:
Exercise – ‘single_child_scroll_view’
18. App Scaffolding Widgets
Introduction
MaterialApp
 Navigator
Themes
Locales
Debugging Constructor Arguments
Scaffold
AppBar
Body
BottomNavigationBar
Drawer
BottomSheet
PersistentFooterButtons
Exercise – ‘scaffold’
Step 1 – Create Default Flutter App
Step 2 – Replace Application Code
Step 3 – Open Emulator & Run
19. Other Widgets
Introduction
Checkbox
Dialog
AlertDialog
SimpleDialog
Custom Dialog Widget
DropdownButton & DropdownMenuItem
ExpansionPanelList & ExpansionPanel
ExpansionPanelList
ExpansionPanel
Example – ‘expansion_panel’
GridView
Builder
GridTile
GridTileBar
Example – ‘gridview_app’
 Further Reading
PopupMenuButton
Example – ‘popup_menu_button’
Radio
SnackBar
Example – ‘snack_bar’
Spacer
Exercise – ‘spacer’
Switch
TabBar, Tabs and TabBarView Widgets
Instructions:
Exercise – ‘tabs_simple’
Step 1 – Create Default Flutter App
Step 2 – Replace Application Code
Step 3 – Open Emulator & Run
Step 4 – Move Tabs to Bottom
Step 5 – Change Tab Styles
Table
Introduction
Column Width Specifiers
20. Builders
Introduction
What is a Builder?
How Do You Use a Builder?
Nested Builders
Common Builders
AnimatedBuilder
GridView Builder
FutureBuilder
ListView Builder:
OrientationBuilder
PageRoutebuilder
 StreamBuilder
StreamBuilder
Example – ‘nested_builders’
Source Code
21. Routing & Navigation
Introduction
Navigator Class
Stack of Routes
Navigation without Named Routes with Parameters
Navigating Forward
Navigating Backwards
Data
Example – ‘routes_simple’
Navigation with Named Routes - Part One
Define Routes
Navigating Forward
See the problem yet?
Example – ‘routes_named’
Navigation with Named Routes - Part Two
Attach Route Handler to MaterialApp
Define Route Handler
Navigating Forward
Example – ‘routes_named_with_parms’
PageView
Introduction
Child Widgets
Controller
Example – ‘page_view_navigation’
22. Forms
Introduction
Form
Form State
 Form Validation
Form / Field Integration
Form Fields
Checkbox
DropdownButton
Radio
TextFormField, TextField
InputDecorator
Example – ‘form_details’
Dependencies
Source Code
Other Information
Input Decoration Themes
Enabling / Disabling Form Buttons
23. HTTP, APIs, REST & JSON
Introduction
Asynchronous Communication
HTTP
Introduction
Tools
Request
Response
Methods
URI
Status
Header
Body
APIs
REST
REST APIs should be stateless.
How REST Uses URLs
How REST Uses HTTP Method
 Accessing Data with a REST API
Inserting Data with a REST API
Updating Data with a REST API
Deleting Data with a REST API
JSON
JSON For Passing an Object Containing Data.
JSON For Passing an Array
JSON For Passing an Array of Objects
24. Flutter with HTTP, APIs, REST & JSON
Introduction
Flutter & JSON
Introduction
Serializing & Deserializing JSON.
Generating Code for Serializing & Deserializing
Manually Writing Code for Serialization & Deserialization
Flutter & HTTP
Flutter HTTP Package
Dummy API
Error Handling
Example ‘http_employees’
Source Code
Other Information
Alice
HAL / HATEOS
25. State
Introduction
State & Events
Storing State
Kinds of State
How to Determine Where to Store State
Responding to Events
Introduction
 Events Can Affect State
State & Events – Problems
State & Events – Different Approaches
Mixing Approaches
How I Decide Where to Put State
State & Events – Commonly-Used Approaches
Stateful Widget Approach
InheritedWidget Approach
Scoped Model Approach
BLoC w/Streams Approach
26. State & Stateful Widget Approach
Introduction
Approach
Exercise – ‘state_and_stateful_widget’
Introduction
Step 1 – Create Default Flutter App
Step 2 – Replace Application Code
Step 3 – Open Emulator & Run
Summary
Step 4– Add Car Selection
Further Reading
27. State & InheritedWidget Approach
Introduction
Approach
Exercise – ‘state_and_inherited_widget_add’
Step 1 – Create Default Flutter App
Step 2 – Replace Application Code
Step 3 – Open Emulator & Run
Summary
Exercise – ‘state_and_inherited_widget’
Step 1 – Create Default Flutter App
Step 2 – Replace Application Code
 Step 3 – Open Emulator & Run
Summary
Conclusion
Further Reading
28. State & ScopedModel Approach
Introduction
Approach
Package
Package Readme
Multiple Models
Exercise – ‘state_and_scoped_model’
Step 1 – Create Default Flutter App
Step 2 – Replace Application Code
Step 3 – Open Emulator & Run
Summary
Conclusion
29. State & BLoCs w/Streams Approach
Introduction
BLoC Pattern
Reactive Programming
RxDart
StreamBuilder
Exercise – ‘state_and_block_with_streams’
Step 1 – Create Default Flutter App
Step 2 – Add the RxDart Dependency
Step 3 – Replace Application Code
Step 4 – Open Emulator & Run
Summary
Conclusion
Further Reading
30. Local Persistence
 Introduction
Your Options
SQLite Database
Introduction
Step 1 – Add Dependencies to Project
Step 2 – Define the Data Model
Step 3 – Open the Database
Retrieve Rows from Database
Executing SQL
Insert into Database
Update Row in Database
Delete Row in Database
Example – ‘sqlite_vocabulary’
Further Reading
Local Files
Introduction
Platform
Path Provider Package
Application Documents Directory
Directories
Files
Directory & File Methods
Reading & Writing Data to a File
Example ‘persistence_files’
Shared Preferences
Introduction
Methods
Further Reading
Example ‘persistence_shared_preferences’
31. Mixins
Introduction
Mixins & Code Generators
 Example – ‘mixins’
Source Code
32. Debugging & Performance Profiling
Introduction
Debugging
Profiling
Programmatical Options
Add Debugger Statements
Add Print & DebugPrint Statements
Add Assertions
Service Extensions
Introduction
Performance Overlay
Show Paint Baselines (debugPaintSizeEnabled)
Show Material Grid
Turn Service Extensions On/Off from Android Studio
Turn Service Extensions On/Off from Visual Studio Code
Turn Service Extensions On/Off from Command Line
Turn Service Extensions On/Off Programmatically
Dart Observatory
Introduction
Part of the Dart SDK
Starting the Observatory
Timeline
Profile Mode
Further Reading
Android Studio
Visual Studio Code
Command-Line
Further Reading
33. Change Detection, Keys & Rendering
Introduction
 Change Detection
Widgets
Elements
Element Trees
Widgets, Elements, Render Objects
Change Detection & Updates
Detecting Structural Changes
Matching Elements to Widgets
If there is a Match
If there is no Match
Optimizations
Render Tree
Render Objects
Keys
Introduction
Elements May or May Not Store a Reference to State
Elements for Stateless Widgets Have No Reference to any State
Elements for Stateful Widgets Have A Reference to the State
The ‘Losing State’ Problem
Global Keys
Further Reading
34. Other Performance Considerations
Introduction
Http Communication
Single Threaded
Use Constants When Possible
35. Publishing Your App
Introduction
Platform
Example
Release Mode
Further Reading
 Android Studio
Visual Studio Code
Command-Line
Android-Specific Files
Dependency Management
iOS-Specific Files
Dependency Management
Application Package Files
APK Files
Mac IPA Files
How Does Deployment Work?
Further Reading
36. Flutter Resources
Introduction
Official Resources
Other Resources
Welcome
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the purpose of
this book and acknowledge those who have made this
book possible. This chapter also contains a disclaimer.

There is also a link to the source code for the examples.

Acknowledgements
First and foremost, thanks to my wife Jill and her
patience. I hope she is enjoying herself doing her favorite
things like Paddle boarding, Kayaking and being at one
with nature. I hope she never reads this book because it
would bore her.
I would also like to acknowledge the amazing work done
by the Google engineers. When I ran the profiler and saw
just how fast the UI was redrawing, I was blown-away.
Google has some amazing talent, what a team of
engineers.
Purpose
This is not the most advanced book written by the most
advanced Flutter developer. I wrote this book to broaden
my knowledge of this technology and I still have a way to
go. However, I learnt a lot in writing this book and I hope
it helps others.

Work
I have to be honest; I also wrote this book for some self-
promotion. After this book is published, I intend to
continue working on apps for my wife’s business and find
some part-time Flutter work. If you are interested, shoot
me an email at [email protected] or communicate
with me via my LinkedIn page here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-clow-9a61362/.
Disclaimer
Let’s get this over with as quickly as possible. Some of
this information in this book may be incorrect (I am a
human being that makes mistakes) and that this
publication is somewhat opinionated. I am trying my best
to be as technically accurate as possible, but I am still
learning a lot and have much to learn about Flutter and
Dart. I have opinions but please don’t take them too
seriously. I do not intend to harm anything or anyone, I
am not smart enough for that.
Revisions
This book has taken a long time to write and I will
continue to improve it whenever I have time, adding
more content when possible. So, if you get an earlier
version of the book it may be slightly less complete than
later on. If this is the case, email me a proof of purchase
at [email protected] and I will send you a PDF
version, which will be watermarked with your name
(sorry but its prevent copying). I welcome (constructive)
criticism and input so if you have any, please email me at
[email protected].

Date Version Description

Number
3/31/2019 1.0 Initial
version.
Source Code
Location
This book has many examples & exercises, to which the
source code is available here:
https://github.com/markclow/flutter_book_examples

Example & Exercise Names

Each example or exercise should have a name in quotes
(there is an example below of this). The name in quotes is
the directory in which the source code is located.
This is the format:

Example – ‘gesture_app’
The source code for this example is located in
‘gesture_app’.

One File
Another thing to bear in mind is that the exercises have
all been written to use a single file. This was so that there
could be one single continuous listing in the book. In
reality, you would obviously split your project up into
many smaller files.
The Big Picture
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to give the reader a quick
introduction to the world of Mobile Application
development, and to introduce him or her the problem of
cross-platform development, and how it was approached
by different companies.
A mobile app or mobile application is a computer
program or software application designed to run on a
mobile device such as a phone/tablet or watch. Writing
mobile apps sounds easy but is complicated by the
number of platforms that are available. Your app could
run on an iPhone, it could run on an iPad, it could run on
an Android Phone etc. Also remember that these
platforms could change quickly as new devices appear on
the market.

Before Cross-Platform Mobile

Application Development
In the past, in order to produce performant applications,
developers had to write the application code specifically
for each platform. There would often be one codebase
(and developers) for iOS (iPhone) and another codebase
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
watching, ready to pounce upon it. As soon as I had done it they all
three jeered at me for my wisdom and said another time I should
open my eyes better, for it was obvious that this stone was set by a
good man, who wouldn’t do such a thing, and who knew his
business right well enough. At these words of theirs I held out my
hand, and begged them to let me see and have proof of my mistake,
adding that if this time my good eyes had failed me, it might be
because I was less keen-sighted than they, but I promised it
shouldn’t happen again. When I had the ruby in my hand I soon saw
with my sharp eyes what their dullness had missed, and quickly
taking a little steel tool I scraped off the bottom of the stone. Then
might that ruby have been likened to the crow that tricked itself out
in the feathers of the peacock. I returned the stone to the jewellers
and suggested to them that they would do well to provide
themselves with eyes somewhat superior to those they were at
present using. I couldn’t resist saying this because all three of them
wore great big gig-lamps on their noses, whereupon they all three
gaped at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and, with God’s
blessing, made off. You come across similar difficulties and
occurrences with emeralds and sapphires which I will omit, as I have
other things of more importance to tell of.
I mind me also of having seen rubies and emeralds made double,
like red & green crystals, stuck together, the stone being in two
pieces, and their usual name is ‘doppie’ or doublets. These false
stones are made in Milan, set in silver, and are much in vogue
among the peasant folk; the ingenuity of man has devised them to
satisfy the wants of these poor people when they wish to make
presents at weddings, ceremonies, and so forth, to their wives, who
of course don’t know any difference between the real and the sham
stone, & whom the little deceit makes very happy. Certain avaricious
men however, have taken advantage of a form of industry, made
partly for a useful, and partly for a good end, & have very cunningly
turned it to great evil. For instance, they have taken a thin piece of
Indian ruby, and with very cunning setting have twisted and pieced
together beneath it bits of glass which they then fixed in this manner
in an elaborate & beautiful setting for the ring or whatever it was.
And these they have subsequently sold for a good and first-class
stone. And forasmuch as I don’t tell you anything unless I can
illustrate it by some practical example, I’ll just mention that there
was in my time a Milanese jeweller who had so cleverly
counterfeited an emerald in this way that he sold it for a genuine
stone and got 9000 golden scudi for it. And this all happened
because the purchaser—who was no less a person than the King of
England—put rather more faith in the jeweller than he ought to have
done. The fraud was not found out till several years after.
Emeralds and sapphires are also manufactured out of single stones,
and this so cleverly that they are often difficult to tell, but however
wonderfully they are counterfeited in colour they are so soft, that
any good jeweller with the average amount of brains, can easily spot
them. I could tell you ever so much more about all this, but it must
do for the present, because I have to pass on to a lot of other
important and useful things.

FOOTNOTES:

[30] Calcai—possibly: ‘I frayed.’

CHAPTER VII. HOW TO MAKE
FOILS FOR ALL SORTS OF
TRANSPARENT JEWELS.
In order to make good foils for jewels it is essential to have steel
tools, and all of the best and of the most finished description. Then,
as you may suppose, for an undertaking of such importance you
need the greatest possible care and patience, together with the
greatest possible neatness. Long ago, when I was a lad of fifteen
and began to learn goldsmithery, I knew a master in the art whose
name was Salvestro del Lavacchio. This man only did stone-setting,
& specialised on the making of his own foils for all sorts of gems.
Though the foils from France and Venice and other places often
showed up more splendidly, experience proved that they were not as
lasting as Lavacchio’s, which were always thicker. For this reason the
setting of the gems upon them was often more difficult than on the
foreign foils, but so strong were they, and so telling to the gems,
that as soon as they became a bit known, he got orders from all
over the world and soon had no time for anything else but foil-
making. Indeed it requires all a man’s energies to do this, so I
thought I would give a few facts about it for the benefit of anyone
anxious to learn. The first foil is called the common foil, it is of a
yellow colour and is used for many jewels and transparent stones.
But first a word as to the weight of a carat, which is a weight of four
grains. The foils may be stated in weights thus:—
COMMON (YELLOW)
BLUE FOIL.
FOIL.
9 carats of fine gold. 16 carats of fine copper.
18 ” ” silver. 4 ” ” gold.
72 ” ” copper. 2 ” ” silver.
 RED FOIL. GREEN FOIL.
20 carats of fine gold. 10 carats of fine copper.
16 ” ” silver. 6 ” ” silver.
18 ” ” copper. 1 ” ” gold.
Melt the copper well first and then put in the two other metals;
when they are well mixed cast them into a fairly long ingot mould,
and don’t make it too thick.[31] When it is cast let it cool, then file it
well, after which beat it very lightly and with the broad end of a
hammer, often heating it again as you go on, but not putting it in
water, nor cooling it with the bellows. And when you have beaten it
down to about the thickness of two knife backs; flatten it with a
strong rounded scraper, and pare off the edges quite smoothly till no
crack remain. Then, when you are spreading it out, see that both it
and your hammer be even, smooth, and burnished, and with every
possible care make it as thin as you can, as, according to its nature,
the metal will rend; the size of it should be about a couple of
fingers, or a little longer, and the square should be of such
dimensions as your metal will afford. Also mind that the size is such
as you propose to make when your work is completed. But as, in
beating, it will rend and crack, see that you watch this, and cut it
accordingly, and to the utmost thinness possible. And all these
pieces you must blanch, clean, and polish with tartar,[32] salt, and
water, which is the blanching liquor ordinarily used for silver. Then
wash in clear water, rub with a clean rag lightly, and then scrub it on
a big copper tube that must be very clean and shining.
See that you scrape it with the sharpest of all possible goldsmiths’
scrapers, and do this with the greatest care in order that you do not
mark it with notches. Then take it with a very clean and white cloth,
and have by you a graver that shall be well sharpened on an oil
stone, and clean off everything in the nature of grease or dirt. It is
needful, when burnishing it, to be in a room where there is no dirt.
Get a black hæmatite stone[33] such as the sword cutlers use for
burnishing gold. When you have polished it very well give it its
colour. This you do over a moderate and clean fire, keeping your
piece of foil near the said fire, and take care that of the two sides,
the unburnished one turns to the fire. Gradually you will see the
colour come according as it takes the heat. It is necessary to vary
the colour as need requires.
Pope Clement gave me the commission to make the button for his
cope.[34] This morse I made about the size of an ordinary plate; but
because of all its wealth of figure work I had better talk of that later
when I treat of embossing and the many difficulties of that art. For
the present I will consider only the jewels with which it was
enriched. In the middle of the morse I set a diamond the facets of
which were cut starwise to a point, for which Pope Julius II. had
given 36,000 ducats of the Camera. I set the stone quite free (à
jour) between four claws, in this manner did it seem to me to make
better. I had given this setting a good deal of thought, but the stone
was of such exceptional beauty that it caused me much less trouble
than costly stones of similar character are wont to do. True, some
jewellers were of a mind that it would be better to tint the whole
base of the stone and the back facets,[35] but with my good results I
got them to see that it was much better thus. Together with the
diamond, and around it, were two large ballas rubies and two big
sapphires, splendid stones, and four emeralds of a goodly size. To all
these stones did I apply those same careful methods of which I have
spoken above, thereby satisfying not only the Pope, but also the
practising artists. For, previously, at the beginning of the work, and
before I set to at the diamonds and the other stones—for they were
right difficult to handle—certain old fossils in the art had, part in
envy, part speaking true, sought to scare[36] me away from the job.
‘Verily,’ said they, ‘we know you to be sure enough in all that pertains
to design & to the embossing of an excellent piece of work, but
when you set to the tinting and arranging of such costly jewels, why,
’twill make the teeth chatter in your head with fright.’ Now I’m not
the sort of fellow who’s afeard of any mortal thing, but I must say
that this somewhat emphatic way of expressing their astonishment
made me pause a bit. But I minded me of those gifts from God
Himself, & which come to a man without any toil of his own;
comeliness for instance, or strength, or handiness, and to me
methought God had given surety of purpose. So much was this so,
that I could afford to turn laughing away from all their silly prattle.
The tale of Phœbus came to my mind, and how at the outset he had
sought to fright his son Phæton from wishing to guide the chariot of
the sun; but then, you see, when all was done, I was luckier than
Phæton, for I did not break my neck, but came out of it with much
honour and profit to myself.

FOOTNOTES:

[31] Lo gitta in uno canale un poco largo, e non fare la verga

molto grosso.
[32] Gomma.
[33] Amatita nera.
[34] This great piece, perhaps Cellini’s masterpiece, was melted
down in the present century.
[35] Pàdiglione: or in English, pavilions.
[36] Spaventavano.
CHAPTER VIII. ON THE CUTTING
OF THE DIAMOND.
As we have now said enough of the three gems, ruby, emerald, and
sapphire, we must perforce consider at greater length the diamond.
Now, though the diamond is said to be kin to water, let no man
suppose that this need imply an absence of colour, perfume, and
taste such as would be the case in good water. Just as water may
have both colour, perfume, and taste, even so the diamond; not that
the diamond actually has perfume or taste, but it has colours as
many as nature herself. I propose here only to mention two, and
these diamonds about as splendid as it is possible to imagine. The
first was a stone I came across in the reign of Pope Clement, a
diamond literally flesh-coloured, most tender, most limpid, it
scintillated like a star, and so delightful was it to behold that all other
diamonds beside it, however pure & colourless, seemed no longer to
give any pleasure and to lose their gratefulness. The second was a
stone I saw in Mantua, it was green, & green such as you might see
in a very pale emerald, but it shone just like any diamond, and as no
emerald ever shone; indeed it seemed the most glorious of all
emeralds. Though I have seen all imaginable colours in diamonds,
the mention of these two may suffice.
Now for just a word about the cutting of the diamond, that is to say
on the changing of the stone from its roughness into those lovely
shapes so familiar to us, the Table, the Facetted, & the Point.[37]
Diamonds you can never cut alone, you must always do two at a
time on account of their exceeding hardness, no other stone can cut
them; it is a case of diamond cut diamond. This you do by means of
rubbing one against the other until a form is obtained such as your
skilful cutter may wish to produce, and with the diamond powder
that falls from them in the process, the final polish is subsequently
given. For this purpose the stones are set in little cups of pewter[38]
and held against a wheel by means of certain little pinchers prepared
on purpose, and they are thus held with their dust mixed with oil.
The steel wheel upon which the diamonds are cut and finished
should be about the thickness of a finger, & the size of an open hand
and of the finest steel excellently tempered. This wheel is fastened
to a hand mill and turned round as fast as it is possible to turn it.
Four to five diamonds, or even six, can be applied to the wheel at
the same time, and by bringing to bear a sufficiently heavy weight
you can increase the pressure of the diamonds upon the wheel and
give greater grip to the dust which wears them away, and so they
are finished. I could tell you a deal more, and all about the ways of
cutting, but because it is not in my own craft, I will not bore you
with it; ’tis sufficient for me to have given a general sketch of the
method in question.
To return however to the subject we have in hand, I will say
something of the tinting of the diamond, of its setting in gold, and of
the variation between one stone & another on account of the above-
mentioned colours. However great the variety of these colours is,
the wondrous hardness of the stone is similar in all cases, or at least
the variation is so slight that the process of cutting is the same. With
the greatest possible care will I show how I set about making tints
for diamonds, and give likewise a number of instances, on various
exceptional occasions, that I have come across in diamonds of great
importance: it is only owing to experiences such as I have passed
through that one is able satisfactorily to show the great difficulties
that stand in the way of those who wish to make them fine settings.
I will begin with one occasion when Pope Paul III. of the house of
Farnese was given a diamond by the Emperor Charles V.,—’twas
when he returned from the capture of Tunis & paid a visit to the
Pope in Rome. The diamond in question was purchased in Venice by
certain servants of the Emperor’s for 12,000 scudi, and it was set
merely in a plain and simple bezel with a little claw.[39] In this fashion
it was given by the Emperor to the Pope, as soon as he visited him,
& I heard tell that he gave it as a sign of his goodwill and
friendliness, the latter receiving it courteously with the same spirit.
Now forasmuch as the Pope, for a month previously, had ordered a
present to be prepared for the Emperor, worthy to pass between
them, he had held much counsel on the matter with many, and so
called for me, and asked me in the presence of his Council, but quite
privately, to give him my opinion on the matter. I straightway said
that, inasmuch as the Pope was the veritable head of the Christian
religion, and the veritable vicar of Christ, the most fitting gift from
the Pope to the Emperor seemed to me to be a fine Christ of gold
set upon a ground of lapis lazuli, an azure stone from which they
make ultramarine; the foot of this crucifix I said should be of gold &
set with jewels, and of such value as should please his Holiness. And
because I had, with great care, already executed three gold figures
that might serve for the base of this cross, & because they
symbolised Faith, Hope, and Charity, and were already completed,
the suggestion pleased the Pope mightily, and he bade me set to &
make a model of what I proposed, for him to see.

The South Kensington Breviary and

another Cellini attribution
At this model I wrought for a day and a half, and then brought it to
him completed. Pleased as he had been at my suggestion, he was
simply delighted when he saw the model, and determined to give
me the job; we clinched the bargain in no time, I was paid the
earnest money and bidden to bestir myself. I strained every nerve to
bring this beautiful work to being, but so it was, I was hindered from
finishing by certain beasts who had the vantage of the Pope’s ear.
’Tis a thing that often happens, this, with all princes; the worst men
in the whole court are often the best listened to, and these fellows
believe for them what they don’t even believe themselves. One of
these men whispered such evil things into the Pope’s ear, that he got
him to believe that it would be better to make a present to the
Emperor of a breviary of the Virgin in miniature that had been made
for the Cardinal Hippolitus de Medici as a gift to the Lady Julia
Gonzaga, that this little book should be bound in a cover of fine gold
set with what variety of stones might please his Holiness, and that
the Emperor would like this much better, because he could make a
present of it to his wife the Empress. And so it came that the Pope
got so gammoned, that he was dissuaded from the crucifix, and
bade me make the little book, which I accordingly did.[40] When the
Emperor arrived in Rome, I had not yet put the finishing touches on
the book because it took some time before they made up their
minds about it; none the less the cover was visible, as it had all been
put together, and it looked splendid with all its gorgeous jewels set
upon it. Then the Pope sent to let me know that I must have it in
order as well as I possibly could within three or four days, as he
wanted to show it, incomplete as it was, to the Emperor, and that he
would excuse me to the latter for not having completed it, on the
plea of illness. As for that I will speak of it in its place.
After this the Pope with his own hands gave me the diamond he had
received from the Emperor, told me to take the measure of his
forefinger and make him a ring as richly wrought as possible and as
quickly as ever I could. Off I hurried to my workshop, and with the
greatest dispatch and in the space of two days produced as rich a
ring as was ever made. Now Pope Paul had waiting in attendance on
him a number of Milanese who patronised a certain Milanese
jeweller, Gaio by name. This Gaio came before the Pope, and all off
his own bat, without ever having been as much as asked, ‘Holy
Father,’ quoth he, ‘your Holiness knows that by profession I am a
jeweller, & that I am better skilled at my craft than any man ever
born. Now your Holiness has given Benvenuto a diamond to set, and
the diamond is one of the most difficult stones in the whole world to
set, and this particular diamond is more difficult than any other
diamond, and it is a very beautiful stone, and a very costly stone &
withal a very delicate stone, & Benvenuto is a very young man, and
though he is enthusiastic enough about his art, & apt enough at his
work, the tinting of so precious a stone is rather too tough a bone
for tender gums like his. In my opinion your Holiness would do well
to commission two or three old and tried jewellers to go and look
Benvenuto up & not let him tint the diamond without their advice. It
was a jeweller called Miliano Targhetta of Venice, your Holiness, who
tinted and set the stone as your Holiness has it at present. This was
an old man, and never did any one better know how to fix foils and
tint stones.’
Weary of this plaguey babbler, the Pope told him he might go and do
what he liked & thought best. So off the fellow went to look for
Raphaello del Moro the Florentine, and Guasparri Romanesco, both
of them men of great cunning in the matter of jewels; with these
two he came to my shop on behalf of the Pope. Then did he begin to
babble so tiresomely that I could scarce contain myself. The other
two talked sense & were decently civil, so I turned to them in my
politest manner, explained to them my views and begged them to let
me have a couple of days to prepare a few tints to try this lovely
stone, for this could only do good. In the first place by trying a few
rare tints for the diamond, I might be able not only to teach myself,
but lure on others who were following the art, & in the next place
the stone might so gain at my cost, that it might delight them, do
the Pope a service, and bring much credit to me. All the time I was
giving them my reasons, that insolent beast of a Gaio kept fidgeting
about with his feet and his head and his hands, ever and anon
interjecting the most irritating words, so that I very nearly lost my
temper altogether. But the others, men of sense they, managed it so
that I got the time I asked for. As soon as they were gone, I set to
like anything to make my tints, and this is how I did it.

FOOTNOTES:

[37] In tavola, a facette, e in punta.

[38] Piombo e stagno.
[39] Gambo.
[40] The illustration given is probably not of the breviary in
question, but it is a reasonable Cellini attribution.
CHAPTER IX. HOW YOU TINT A
DIAMOND.
Take a very clean lamp with its cotton wick as white as possible, its
oil, too, should be old, sweet and clear, then stand it on the ground,
or, if you like, between two bricks. On the top of the two bricks put a
concave copper disc, its upper surface cleanly polished, and its
under surface acted upon by the flame to a third part of it, but not
more. Be careful that only a very little soot collects on the disc at a
time, because if too much soot comes, it may catch fire and be no
use to you. Then, from time to time, while the flame smokes, take a
little smooth paper and brush the smoke soot off the disc into a
clean vessel. You may know that the soot doesn’t catch fire till it
grows to a coat the thickness of two big knife backs, so you needn’t
fear to let it smoke itself to a thickness of one knife back at a time.
Then you take mastic,[41] a sort of gum that every apothecary sells,
not, however, too fresh; you may know the fresh gum by its being
bright and pale; on the other hand it mustn’t be too old, and the old
gum you will know by its being yellow and dry, and of little
substance. When you have chosen the right sort of mastic, neither
too fresh nor too dry, you proceed to select from it the roundest and
cleanest grains, because, you know, when they fall from the tree
they are apt to absorb earth and other impurities. All this done, as I
have told, you put a little pan of live charcoal on the bench, and
heat at it some small pointed steel instrument, with which you
proceed to spike one of the mastic grains, not, however, spiking it
right through the middle. This you then hold nearer and nearer to
the fire till it begins to get hot, when you quickly, with a little spittle
on your fingers, squeeze the hot mastic grain; the result of this
squeezing will be a tear-drop, as limpid and pure as you can possibly
imagine. Then quickly cut it off with a pair of scissors from the dirty
part of the grain, and save it in a clean place. This process you
repeat till you have as many mastic tears as you need.
Then you set to and make your linseed oil, & this is how you do it.
You pick out the cleanest and best grains, grains without insect holes
and perfect, and place a handful at a time on a porphyry stone, or a
very clean copper or iron plate. On this you spread the grains, and
place over them an iron plate about one finger thick and five fingers
square, this plate having been previously heated so that it would
singe paper, but no hotter. To the weight of it you add the pressure
of some great hammer, and then you will soon begin to see the oil
oozing out of the grains, but you must mind that your iron is neither
too hot nor too cold, for if it be too cold the oil won’t ooze out, and
if too hot it will be scorched up and bad, but if well-tempered the oil
will be admirable. Then ever so carefully you lift up the plate and the
grains, and with a clean knife scrape off the oil. You have also to
note that what is first pressed from the grain is a little water, this
you will tell by its running to the edges of the stone, while the
genuine oil remains in the middle. Then you take the oil and put it
into a clean glass vase. Next you have also to provide a little sweet
almond oil; and some folk use olive oil two years old, not more, and
very sweet and clean. Then you want a spoon about four times the
size of an ordinary spoon, and have in readiness your pan of live
charcoal. You put your tear drops of mastic into the spoon, and, with
a very clean silver or copper spoon, you begin to melt them over the
fire. When your mastic is melting you add a little of the grain oil to
it, in proportion about one part of linseed to six of mastic, and so
mix the two liquids together, then apply the third, be it oil of olive or
almond. After they are fused you add a little purified turpentine, and
finally the lampblack you prepared to begin with, putting just so
much & no more, as you need for your tint.
Divers sorts of diamonds require some a darker, some a lighter tint;
some again need a softer, some a harder tint, and so it is necessary,
whenever you are setting a diamond of great importance, to try it
with the hard and the soft, or with the dark and the light in
accordance with the quality of the stone and the judgment of the
good jeweller. Some have put as little lampblack as possible when
tinting a diamond that seemed too yellow, and have instead mixed
with their tint indigo, a blue colour known to every painter. They
have even let indigo entirely take the place of lampblack, & this did
they do when they tinted a diamond that looked like clear topaz. In
these cases was a dark tint applied with admirable effect, and for
this reason, by mixing the two colours, blue and yellow, they make
green, hence the yellow diamond with the blue tint made an
admirable water; and, if it be well applied, it becomes one colour,
neither yellow as heretofore nor blue owing to the virtue of the tint,
but a variation, in truth, most gracious to the eye. Inasmuch as all
stones have, then, to be treated in accordance with the ability of the
master and the quality of the stone, the cunning with which you
treat them will depend on the amount of your experience in the art
applied to each particular stone, and each several occasion.
Now to return to that big diamond, a notable example of its kind,
that I set for Pope Paul, and which I had only to tint, because the
setting was already made. As I told you, I had asked Rafaello,
Guasparri and Gaio to allow me some two days’ space; during this
time I made a set of experiments in tints, and by great labour
produced a composition which made a much finer effect beneath the
diamond than had been made by the master, Miliano Targhetta. And
when I had made sure that I had beaten so admirable a man, what
did I do but set to work anew with still greater energy to see if I
could not beat even myself. As I told you above, this particular
diamond was a most peculiarly difficult one to manage because of its
subtlety,[42] and the good jeweller is he who produces his effect with
the tint alone without having recourse to the reflector,[43] about
which I shall have occasion to speak in its place.
When I had quite satisfied myself I sent to fetch the three old
jewellers, and when they arrived I had arranged all my tints in order
for them. When the three appeared that presumptuous Gaio
marched into the shop first, and seeing all my apparatus neatly
ranged about for the purpose of tinting the stone in their presence,
he straightaway began wagging his head, pumping about with his
hands, and chattering. ‘Benvenuto,’ said he, ‘all this is mere sillyness,
mere bagatelle, you just turn up again that tint of Master Miliano’s,
and apply it, and don’t lose any time about it, because we haven’t
any to waste, owing to all the important commissions we have to
execute for the Pope.’ At this Raphaello seeing that I was just about
to fly into a most terrible passion, interposed; he was a good fellow
was Raphaello, and also the oldest of them, and he began to say
soothing words to me, encouraging things, and such-like, and so just
calmed me in time. The other man also, Master Guasparri
Romanesco, in order to put a damper on that beast of a Gaio, he too
began saying things, funny things which didn’t come off, because I
wasn’t in a mood for funny things. After a bit, perceiving that I was
getting to be a source of quarrel between the three men, I turned to
them and spake thus: ‘God Almighty,’ said I, ‘has, with the gift of
speech, granted to mortals four different ways of expressing
themselves, and these are they: the first is called to reason, which
means to explain the reason of things in a sensible way; the second
is called to talk, which means to make words, words of good import
that is, and which, if they don’t explain the reason of things, may yet
be in the way of doing so; the third is called to chatter, and that
means to say things of little value, funny things that sometimes
please, and that don’t hurt you; the fourth is just to grasshopper
gabble,[44] and nothing more, and that’s what people do who hav’n’t
got any sense in their heads at all, and want to show it off as much
as they can. So, my good friends, I will just reason with you, and
expound to you my reasons. Master Raphaello, of a sooth, has
talked elegant words, sound words; Master Guasparri, to cheer us
up, has chattered a few amiable and funny things, none of which
have got anything to do with what we have in hand; Gaio, what has
he done? why just drivelled in the most sickening way, but since his
grasshopper gabble hasn’t done me any special injury I’m not going
to lose my temper over him, and shall just take no notice of him at
all. So now I pray you, gentlemen, just to let me tint the diamond in
your presence, & if my tint does not turn out better than Master
Miliano’s, I can still use his, and I shall have shown you how at least
I have tried my best to improve it.’
Scarce had I finished these words of mine when that beast of a Gaio
called out, ‘So according to this I’m a driveller, am I?’ Whereupon
the good Raphaello began soothing him down with amiable words till
the beast got a bit pacified; I meantime set to work with my tints
upon the diamond. Raphaello and Guasparri were all agog to see me
tint the diamond, and first I tinted it with my own tint, the first one,
and this showed up so well that they were in doubt as to whether or
not I had not surpassed that of Miliano; and they praised me
abundantly. Then Raphaello turned to Gaio and said: ‘You see, Gaio,
that Benvenuto’s tint, even if it has not surpassed Miliano’s, makes a
close second; and so ’tis always right to give encouragement to a
young man like Benvenuto who tries to do well.’ I turned to him,
thanked Raphaello for his pleasant words, and said, ‘Now, my good
friends, we’ll take out my tint, & in your presence put in Master
Miliano’s, and then shall we be better able to judge on which the
diamond makes best.’ I quickly took out mine & put in Miliano’s.
Raphaello and Guasparri said that the stone showed better with
mine, and all three said that I should re-apply my tint as rapidly as I
could before the impression was lost to their eyes. Whereupon I
replaced mine quickly and handed it them. All three were agreed,
and Gaio before all—his ass’s face quite beaming up—and they
declared most amiably that I was a clever fellow, that I had good
reasons for my action, & that I had beaten Master Miliano’s tint by a
long way, a thing they never imagined possible. At this I made a
bow, not without a little pride,[45] but so as not to be noticed, and
said to them: ‘Dear masters, since you have vouchsafed me such
kind encouragement to so good an end, I am only too ready on my
part to be judged by you, and since you admit that I have beaten
Miliano, will you now decide whether or not I have beaten myself,
only just give me a quarter of an hour’s grace?’
Therewith I left them and went up to the attic of my house, where I
had all in order that I wanted to do. What I did there I’ll tell you
now, I’ve not told it anyone yet, and it brought me much honour in
this diamond, but it does not necessarily succeed in others, and
cannot be done without much labour and experience. I took a fair
sized grain of mastic, cleared it well of its skin as I told above, so
that it was as pure and bright as possible, & with all imaginable
delicacy, having well cleaned the diamond, spread it over the stone
with the aid of a moderate fire. Then I let it cool, holding it tight
with the tongs used for tinting. When dry and cool I had my black
tint ready, spread the same carefully and before a gentle heat on the
top of the clear coat of mastic. This method suited so well to the
tenderness and peculiar water of the diamond in question, that it
seemed to remove from it any internal imperfections & make of it a
stone of perfect quality. Then down I ran and put it into Master
Raphaello’s hand. He uttered an expression of astonishment like you
do when you see a miracle. The two others, Guasparri and Gaio,
likewise expressed amazement, only more so, and praised me up to
the skies, Gaio even so far let himself down as to begging my
pardon. Then they said to me, all three of them together: ‘12,000
scudi was the worth of this diamond before, but, of a truth, it is
worth 20,000 now.’ We shook hands amicably and parted the best of
friends.

FOOTNOTES:

[41] The varnish resin, commonly called gum mastic.

[42] Sottile; i.e., the refinement of the water.
[43] Specchietto.
[44] Elsewhere, in one of his minor treatises on the arts, Cellini
defines this word ‘Cicalare’ as the chatter of birds, a murmur of
neither concord nor discord.
[45] Baldanza: swelling, brag.
CHAPTER X. HOW TO GIVE A
DIAMOND ITS REFLECTOR.
In order not to leave out any of the few things that I have mastered,
we will now discuss what is termed the reflector[46] of the diamond.
This reflector is put beneath such diamonds as are so delicate as not
to be able to stand a dark tint, such as would turn them black. If it
happen that their delicacy is not great, and their water is good, it is
customary to give them the tint under the step facets alone, and to
combine the reflector with this, and the result is admirable.
The reflector is made in this wise. You take a small piece of crystal
glass, quite clean, and free from cracks or flaws. You cut it into a
square of a size that shall fit into the bezel in which you propose to
set your diamond; and you tint your bezel with the black tint of
which we spoke above. Be careful to put the said reflector, the glass
of which is tinted on the lower side only, in the bottom of the bezel,
low enough to admit of the diamond standing over but not touching
it, because if it does it will not reflect well.[47] This is how all the
tenderest diamonds should be set, and beautiful they look, too.
Beryls and white topazes and white sapphires, white amethysts, and
citrine quartz,[48] are all set in the bezel with a reflector of this kind,
if they are of a sufficiently important size. It must be borne in mind
that no stones but diamonds will stand a tint at the back, because
they turn black, and lose their splendour. So much for the reflector.
It is an extraordinary thing that the diamond, which is the most
limpid and brilliant of all earthly stones, gains a thousand-fold in
beauty when you, as it were, soil it with a black tint, while all other
light stones, as soon as you touch them with a tint, lose their
splendour, and turn black; forsooth this is owing to some occult
power, some secret of nature in the diamond, which human
imagination cannot penetrate. There are certain sapphires, which
the ingenuity of man can turn white, by putting them in a crucible in
which gold is to be melted,[49] and if not at the first heating, then at
the second or third. Indeed your cunning gem-setter will always pick
the palest sapphires, because, though they have the least colour,
they are the hardest in substance. The same holds good of topazes,
which are of similar hardness to sapphires, & so may be classified
with them. I propose here only to touch on these two stones in so
far as they have kindred qualities to the diamond. There are few,
then, however great their experience, when having before them the
two stones could tell which of the two was the diamond, often being
unable to distinguish them at first sight. The peculiar virtue of the
diamond, however, admits of the trying of a simple experiment, by
which you can at once distinguish one stone from another, and it is
this. You take your tint & rub both stones with it; your true diamond
grows in brilliance & beauty, the other becomes deadened and
splendourless. And this test suffices without trying the test of
hardness too, but if you rubbed the two stones together you would
soon find out the diamond. Though the sapphire is so much harder
than the ruby & the emerald, it is a thousand times less so than the
diamond. By the way, I need hardly mention that it would be absurd
to test a polished gem by the above method. That’s as much as I
want to say about the diamond.

FOOTNOTES:

[46] Specchietto.
[47] This diagram may be taken to illustrate Cellini’s description:
 Diagram illustrating
the specchietto for
the diamond
D. Diamond.
A. Reflector.
B. Bezel tinted
inside.
[48] Citrini.
[49] Nel quale sia dell’oro che s’abbia a struggere.
CHAPTER XI. ABOUT WHITE
RUBIES AND CARBUNCLES.
I promised to tell you something about the finest sort of rubies, but
before doing this, I want you to know something about another sort
of ruby, called the white ruby. This stone is white by nature, not by
any heating process like the other stones mentioned above, & its
whiteness may be likened to the chalcedony, the twin sister of the
cornelian. The latter has a sort of unpleasing livid pallor, & for this
reason is not used much.
I have oft found many such in the bellies of wild fowl, so also the
loveliest turquoises. I used to be very fond of going out shooting. I
made my own powder, and became such a rare fine shot, that I
should be ready to stand any test you like. I always shot with the
simple ball, & as for the powder, well, I’ll talk of that in its right
place, but it was quite different from the powder commonly used. In
this wise did I use to march over the Roman Campagna, at the time
when the birds of passage return, and in their bellies I found stones
of all sorts, turquoises, white & coloured rubies, also emeralds, &
every now and again a pearl. But, as I said, these white rubies are
of very little use; only you know them for rubies because of their
great hardness.
Of carbuncles: according to promise I’ll tell you of these, & first of
what I have seen with my own eyes. In the time of Pope Clement
VII. there turned up a certain Raugeo, who was called Biagio di
Bono. This man had a white carbuncle, similar to the white ruby
mentioned above, but possessing so delightful a brilliance, that it
shone in the dark, not so splendidly perhaps as the coloured
carbuncles, but still so that when you put it into a very dark place it
seemed as a glowing ember, and this did I see with my own eyes—
but I must tell you in this connection an anecdote of a little old
Roman gentleman—old, did I say?—nay, very old, for his grandson
was one of my shop assistants. This man came often to my place, &
always had lots of pretty things to chat about. One fine day we fell
a-talking about gems, and the old gentleman spake thus: ‘Once
when I was a young man, I happed to be in the Piazza Colonna, and
I saw one Jacopo Cola, a distant kinsman of mine, coming along; he
was beaming all over, and he held out his closed fist to some friends
who had been sitting on a bench hard by, and were just getting up.
He spake thus to them: “What d’ye think, my friends? I’ve made a
good day to-day, for I’ve found a little stone so beautiful that it is
worth many scudi, and I found it in my vineyard, and I suppose it
must have belonged to our ancestors, because as you know this
vineyard lies beneath the great ruins familiar to all of you. Well,
when I was coming home from work, & had gone about 200 yards, I
was prompted to make water. As I was doing this and looking
towards the vineyard, I fancied I saw a spark glowing at the foot of
one of my vines; it seemed to me a perfect age before I could finish
what I was about. When I did, I’m blessed if I could find anything,
however hard I tried; so I thought I’d go back again & have another
look, and keep my eyes fixed upon it, so back I went the same way,
and then all of a sudden out burst the spark again. Well, I kept
looking & looking at it, till, see here! I found this,”—so saying he
opened his fist and showed his treasure. While he had been talking,
a Venetian ambassador, who was coming along on his mule with a
few servants, had stopped to listen. After a bit this gentleman came
up close, as if he wanted to hear all about this wonder of a fire
being transformed into a stone; then, very politely accosting my
poor kinsman, “Gentlemen,” said he, “If I am not presuming upon
you, or appear to be taking too great a liberty, might I beg of this
gentleman to allow me to look at the beautiful stone that he says he
found in his vineyard.” At these words Cola opened his fist, which he
had kept locked up tight, & said to the ambassador: “There he is,
look at him as much as you like!” The Venetian gentleman, who was
a man of perfect manners, continued with the politest language: “If
I am not appearing too presumptuous,” he said, “I would make so
bold as to ask if you, sir, are disposed to part with the stone, & if so,
at what you esteem its value?” The poor Roman, whose coat was
somewhat frayed & out at elbows—a fact which had given the
Venetian pluck to drive his bargain—said: “Well, it isn’t exactly that
I’ve got to sweat for my daily bread, but if you’re ready to pay the
stone’s value, I don’t mind obliging you. Look at him well now, and
see if you like him. I shall require ten ducats of the Camera for him.”
The Venetian simpered satisfaction for a bit, & then spake in the
fashion of those polished gentlemen, much more polished than your
Roman, who, though they are examples to the world in glory, are
not up to your consummate Venetian in speech—they can’t out with
it fast enough: “One favour only I beg of you; I never carry much
money in my purse, may I entreat you to send the jewel to me by
some trusty servant of yours, & I will give him what you have
asked.” The poor Roman, who knew no trustier friend than himself,
said he would go along with him personally, and winking to one of
his mates, to whom he had told all his adversity, he strode off with
the ambassador, who dismounted & walked beside him. Then the
Venetian, in order to prevent the latter from repenting of his
bargain, began chatting in the most delicious manner, in a manner
such as only your Venetian can, & enough to take any Roman’s
breath away. The one listened, enjoying these exquisite nothings,
the other prattled along as hard as he could, the journey really
seeming an eternity to him. At length he reached his house, and
putting his hand into a purse in which he had a great pile of ducats
of the Camera, he spread them out with open hand before the
astonished gaze of the poor Roman; the latter, who had gone many
a long year without seeing the like of such, feasted his eyes on this
delicious looking gold, & then put the jewel in the ambassador’s
hand. One, two, three, the latter counted out the ten ducats,
shouted in haste to his servants that they should saddle his good
horse, & taking out two more ducats, called out to the Roman, who
was just going off: “Here, I say, these two gold ducats I give you
over & above our bargain, to buy a rope to hang yourself with!” The
proud Roman couldn’t make out why he was thus spoken to; he
fired up, & wanted to make for the ambassador, but our fine
gentleman quickly mounted his horse, and sped away from Rome.
Later on it transpired that he had had the jewel beautifully set, and
gone off with it to Constantinople, where a new prince had ascended
the throne. Owing to the rarity of the stone, he asked and received
for it a fabulous sum, with which he afterwards betook himself again
to Venice.’ That is all I ever heard of this kind of carbuncle.
CHAPTER XII. MINUTERIE
WORK.
Minuterie work is all that class of work done with the punch, such as
rings and pendents and bracelets. In my time, too, it was the
custom, among other charming things, to make little medals of gold
which were worn in the hat or the cap; and on these medals
portraits were engraved in low or half relief, and in the round, and
they looked just lovely. The greatest master in this art that I ever
knew, lived in the times of the Popes Leo, Adrian, and Clement, and
he was Caradosso of whom I told you above. Now will I tell you not
only of the method which he adopted in his craft, but that which was
employed by other masters. It was Caradosso’s custom to make a
little model in wax of the form he wished his work to be. When he
had carefully finished the modelling of this and filled in all the
undercutting, he made a cast of it in bronze of the proper thickness;
then he beat out a gold leaf rather thicker, if anything, in the middle,
and so as to admit of its being easily bent, and in surface some two
knife backs bigger than the surface of the model. This he proceeded
to beat out into a slightly curved form, and to soften with heat, and
then laid on to the bronze model, and with punches of the right sort,
—wooden ones to begin with of birch or cornel,[50] the latter by
preference—he very, very carefully followed the shape of his figure
or whatever it was he was working on. Ever so much care is
necessary while doing this to prevent the gold from splitting. And on
you work, now with your wooden, now with your steel punches,
sometimes from the back, sometimes from the front, ever most
mindful to keep an equal thickness throughout, for if it become
thicker in one place than in another, the work would not attain so
fine a finish. It was just in this very getting of the gold so equal all
over that I never knew a man to beat Caradosso. Well, then, when
you’ve got your model worked up to the point of relief at which you
want to bring it, you begin with the greatest cunning to bring the
gold together over the legs and over the arms and round behind the
heads of the figures & the animals, then, if, when all has been well
worked together, there is still a little bit of gold loose at the edges,
you carefully cut it off with a pair of scissors. And the little bits that
stick out at the back of the legs and arms and heads, that is to say
those in high relief, are likewise ever so carefully beaten down. By
the way, I ought to have told you that your gold must be good, gold
of at least twenty-two-and-a-half carats, but not quite twenty-three
carat gold, for you’d find that a bit too soft to work in; and if it were
less than twenty-two-and-a-half it would be too hard, and rather
dangerous to solder.
And now for the soldering, if you’ve brought your work on so far. For
this same hot soldering you take a little verdigris, the best you can
get, from its original cake, nor must it ever have been used before,
& it should be about the size of a young hazel nut without its rind,
with it you put the sixth part of salts of ammonia and as much
borax; when these three substances are well-pounded together you
dissolve them in a glass of clear water. Then with a soft wood
shaving you take the mixture, which will now have the substance of
a paint, and spread wherever there are joint lines on arms, legs,
heads, or on the ground of your work. After this you pepper a little
more well-pounded borax upon them out of your borax castor, and
then light a fresh fire of partly consumed-wood coal and put your
work in the fire. See that your coals are set with their unconsumed
sides away from it as they are apt to smoke. This done, erect a little
grating of coal on top of your work, minding, however, that the
charcoal does not touch the work itself. Be ready at hand when the
charcoal is beginning to glow and your work is growing fire-coloured,
to blow wind over it with your bellows very skillfully and very evenly,
so that the flames may play all round it alike. If you blow too hard
the fire will spring up and burst into flame, and you run the risk of
melting and spoiling your work. Watching with care you will see the
outer skin of gold begin to glow and then to move; as soon as you
note this, quickly take a brush and sprinkle a little water on your
work, which will there and then be beautifully soldered without any
need of special solder being applied to it. And this one might call the
first firing.
Indeed, the first soldering ought not to be called soldering at all, but
rather firing in one piece, because there is so much virtue in the
verdigris when combined with the salts of ammonia and the borax,
that it only moves the outer skin of gold, and so fuses[51] it together
that it all grows to one even strength. After this you put your work
into vinegar very strong and clean and mixed with a little salt, and in
this you let it bide overnight. Next morning you find it bright and
free of all borax.
After this you put a little stucco at the back of it so that you can
work on it with your punches; and this stucco you make of Greek
pitch resin with a little yellow beeswax, together with a little brick
dust or well-ground terra cotta; and this is the real right sort of
stucco on which you may lay your medals, or any other similar work
you may have to chase. Then, as to your punches, you must have
no end of these, from the broadest, getting smaller and smaller
down to the very tiniest; and every one of these must have no sort
or kind of cutting edge, because, you see, they are only to be used
for the purpose of beating in and not of taking away; and this
beating in you have to do ever so delicately.
Now of a sooth shall you find that in the doing of this you will have
made lots of little holes and rents, and these same have got to be
soldered up. Not, mark you, in the way you did it before, but by the
making of a special solder, and in this wise: You take six carats of
pure and fine gold & put with it one-and-a-half carats of fine silver
and of fine copper, melting the gold first, and then putting the others
to it, and so you have your solder, and with it you may make good
all your holes and rents. Note further, that at every fresh soldering
you must introduce a fresh alloy of silver and copper[52] so as to
prevent the solder of the time before from running together; and so
on, too, in between each turn, out you take your work, press it on
the stucco, & chase over it with your punches until you have
wrought it to such finish as you may desire. And then you have the
whole fair method of the Master Caradosso of whom I told you
before.
Now I’ll tell you of another fine way of working employed by other
able men who ran him pretty close. After the model in wax has been
made and you have decided what it is you want to create, you take
a sheet of gold, as I explained above, thin at the sides and thick in
the centre, and you little by little beat it from the back with your
larger punches until it is bossed up much like your model; by this
means you don’t need to use your bronze,[53] and you bring your
work considerably forward before even in the other method the
casting is done. In the former method, too, you will have had, before
each re-joining, to rub your medal down with glass paper (such stuff
as the glass makers sell) in order to clean from it most carefully
whatever matters the fumes from the bronze may have sullied the
gold withal. But if you follow my second method you won’t need to
do this glass papering, because you won’t be bothered by the nasty
stains the bronze makes on the gold.
Whenever I can, while thus telling of my craft, I purpose giving you
a practical example, which you know is always a much better way of
explaining what a man means, & which will make those of my
readers who are eager to learn and to practise and delight
themselves in these divers methods, much more likely to believe
what they read. In the manner above described I once fashioned a
medal for a certain Girolano Maretta, a Sienese; and on this medal
was a Hercules rending the jaws of the lion. Both Hercules and lion
had I wrought in such high relief that they only just touched the
background by means of the tiniest attachments. The whole work
had been done in the second of the above methods, that is to say
without the bronze models; now working from in front, now from the
reverse, and brought to such a height of delicacy and finish of
design that our mighty Michael Angelo himself came to my very
workshop to see it, & when he had looked at it a minute or so, he, in
order to encourage me, said: ‘If this work were made in great,
whether of marble or of bronze, and fashioned with as exquisite
design as this, it would astonish the world; and even in its present
size it seems to me so beautiful that I do not think ever a goldsmith
of the ancient world fashioned aught to come up to it!’ These words
stiffened me up[54] just, and gave me the greatest longing to work,
not only in the smaller things, but to try larger things also. For,
thought I, words such as these, coming from so great a man, can
but have the following meaning: Had the figures been tried on a
large scale I should not have produced them with near such beauty
as on a small; and while, on the one hand, the great man gave me
so much praise, he, on the other, intimated that one who could do
things in little of such merit might yet not be able to do them in
great. But still, not so much because I imagined this to have been
Michael Angelo’s meaning, as that I had heard that he had
expressed it in words to others, these words of his inspired me with
longing to learn yet a thousand times more than I knew already.
This happened about a year after the sack of Rome; I was in
Florence at the time. When I had made the medal, one of our
Florentine gentlemen, by name Federigo Ginori, came & looked me
up. He was a great lover of beautiful things, and especially fond of
men of talent, to whom he was a great patron. In former days he
had been many years in Naples on business, & there he had fallen in
love with a great princess. On his return to Florence he bethought
him of having a medal made, whereon to record this somewhat
formidable attachment of his. So he came and found me out, and
spake: ‘Benvenuto, my well-beloved, I have seen a little medal by
your hand made for Girolano Maretta, and albeit I long to tell you
that it is impossible for any medal to cap that one, yet for the love
you bear me, make another for me, will you, if not more then at
least as beautiful as that one; and in this medal I should like to see
an Atlas with the heavens on his back; & I should like it all so
exquisitely done that it shall be recognised at once; & pray don’t
bother about any considerations of cost whatever.’ I set to work and
made a little model with all the diligence I could, fashioning the Atlas
in question out of white wax. Then, having said to the gentleman
that he might leave the working out to me, I determined to make a
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