Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 4.djvu/58

50 constructed and arranged by his hand, and so much pleasure did he find in adorning and embellishing that city, that whereas he had first found it buried in mud, with the streets full of foetid water, and even the houses sometimes scarcely habitable from the same cause, he brought the whole to such a condition that it is now dry, healthy, and agreeable; all which is attributable to the labours of Giulio Romano.

While our artist was thus in the service of the Duke of Mantua, it happened in a certain year, that the river Po burst its bounds and inunda-ted the city to such a degree that in the lower parts of the town the waters attained the height of nearly four braccia, so that, in those places frogs were found almost all the year round for a very long time. Giulio thereupon set himself to consider how this evil was to be remedied; and first of all he took measures whereby the river was forced back within its original bounds; next, and to the end that no such event should occur again, he caused the streets at that quarter of the town to be raised, by command of the Duke, until their height surpassed that of the river, and the houses then erected in that district were thus elevated above the reach of the waters. There had previously been nothing more than small, slightly built, and unimportant dwellings in those parts, but the Duke now commanded that the whole should be brought into better order; and demolishing these houses to raise the level of the streets, he caused much larger and more commodious buildings to be erected on the site, thereby increasing the beauty and contributing to the convenience of the city. It is true that many opposed themselves to this measure, complaining to the Duke that Giulio was making too much destruction, but Federigo would not hear any of these men; on the contrary, he appointed Giulio inspector of roads, and gave orders that no building should be erected in the city without his consent and advice.

Enraged at this, many repeated their complaints, while some threatened the master with violence; but this coming to the ears of the Duke, he used such words in speaking of Giulio that all perceived his favour to be very great, and became aware of the fact that whatever might be done to his injury or displeasure would be reputed as done to Federigo himself, and recompensed accordingly. The Duke was indeed