Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 2.djvu/316

308 content themselves with mediocrity in the works presented to them, which they always judge with reference to the honour of the good and beautiful in art, rather than with respect to, or consideration for, the man who has produced them: next, that, to obtain the means of life in Florence, a man must be industrious, which is as much as to say that he must keep his skill and judgment in perpetual activity, must be ever ready and rapid in his proceedings; must know, in short, how to gain money, seeing that Florence, not having a rich and abundant domain around her, cannot supply the means of life to those who abide within her walls, at light cost, as can be done in countries where produce abounds largely. The third cause, which is, perhaps, not less effectual than the other two, is the desire for glory and honour, which is powerfully generated by the air of that place, in the men of every profession, and whereby all who possess talent are impelled to struggle, that they may not remain in the same grade with those whom they perceive to be only men like themselves (much less will any consent to remain behind another), even though they may acknowledge such to be indeed Masters; but all labour by every means to be foremost, insomuch that some desire their own exaltation so eagerly as to become thankless for benefits, censorious of their competitors, and, in many ways, evil-minded, unless that effect be prevented by natural excellence and sense of justice. It is, however, true that when a man has acquired sufficient for his purposes in Florence, if he wish to effect more than merely to live from day to day, as do the beasts that perish, and desire to become rich, he must depart from her boundaries and seek another market for the excellence of his works and for the reputation conferred by that city; as the learned derive profit from the renown obtained by their studies. For the city of Florence treats her artists as Time treats his works, which, having perfected, he destroys, and, by little and little, gradually consumes. Influenced by these counsels, therefore, and moved by the persuasions of various persons, Pietro repaired to Florence with the determination to attain excellence, and in this lie succeeded well, for, at that time, works in his manner were