He is such a mixed bag! I keep finding things to like, but then I have to think, "But the--! And the--! Ugh." :P
Geesh. This does have a ring to me of the sort of delight in the unorthodox that grandfather Ferdinando had (and that honestly I really enjoyed about your description of him), except taken way, WAY too far. Ugh.
Indeed. And this reminded me of another set of entertaining Medici anecdotes from Acton, namely a way in which Gian Gastone resembled his uncle Francesco Maria, the hardpartying playboy Cardinal who ate, drank and fucked his way to an early death.
Francesco Maria:
His servants robbed him, and he knew it, but it did not trouble him: he almost encouraged their pilferings. At Easter he would summon them all to assemble, from the major-domo to the stable boys, and beg his pardon on their bended knees. Afterwards, half in fun, half in earnest, he would harangue them thus: ‘Now then, accomplished knaves that you are, run quickly and confess. As for me, I absolve you from all your robberies and present you with what you have taken.'
This ceremony was repeated every year, and there is little doubt that the scoundrels took advantage of it. Once he was seen to deposit two rolls, each containing a thousand gold louis, in a drawer of his writing table. When he looked there again, he found two rolls of silver money in their stead. This amused him vastly. Evidently, he observed, the gold had undergone the transmigration taught by Pythagoras. Hence forth he would believe in that wondrous philosophy. Again, when the villa was closed for the night, the Cardinal consigned two large boxes of his finest chocolate to the porter before retiring to bed. These were to be despatched on the morrow to some of his Roman friends. Next morning the porter discovered the boxes half empty, and raised an outcry that alarmed the entire household. The Cardinal appeared on the scene and asked what the noise was about. 'And is that a reason to despair?' he exclaimed when he was told. 'Take the rest of the chocolate and calm yourself, you booby.'
[Mildred: Well, at least no Jews got beaten!]
Never a day went by but something disappeared, especially when the rooms were full of gamblers, and the dissolute, deft-fingered young men who formed his Court and were allowed the free range of his domain. The Cardinal gave strict orders that he was not to be disturbed by any tales of what was missing.
Now Gian Gastone:
Amongst other family instincts Gian Gastone had inherited that of acquisition. He lacked his brother Ferdinando's connoisseurship, however, and much worthless bric-à-brac was palmed off on him by the antiquaries at exorbitant prices, from which Giuliano pocketed a correspondingly high percentage. The Grand Duke usually consulted his favourite about these purchases, and it sufficed his darling dissembler to praise the stuff and say it was beautiful, making a show of much marvel, for him to be seized with an overweening desire to possess it'.
A propitious moment was chosen to tempt the Grand Duke, generally when he had left 'the dull shore of lazy temperance'. Like his uncle, Cardinal Francesco Maria, he seems to have taken a perverse pleasure in being cheated. He bartered the objects already in his possession: the dealers offered him theirs for fabulous prices, underrating the value of those they took in exchange. Time would elapse, and they would return with the latter, as if the Grand Duke had never set eyes on them before. He bought them just the same. One day he recognized a snuffbox which had been brought back to him in this way. His only remark as, mildly surprised, he purchased it, was: 'Faith, who dies not is often to be met again!'
Re: Harold Acton: Last of the Medici I: How to make really bad marriages
He is such a mixed bag! I keep finding things to like, but then I have to think, "But the--! And the--! Ugh." :P
Geesh. This does have a ring to me of the sort of delight in the unorthodox that grandfather Ferdinando had (and that honestly I really enjoyed about your description of him), except taken way, WAY too far. Ugh.
Indeed. And this reminded me of another set of entertaining Medici anecdotes from Acton, namely a way in which Gian Gastone resembled his uncle Francesco Maria, the hardpartying playboy Cardinal who ate, drank and fucked his way to an early death.
Francesco Maria:
His servants robbed him, and he knew it, but it did not trouble him: he almost encouraged their pilferings. At Easter he would summon them all to assemble, from the major-domo to the stable boys, and beg his pardon on their bended knees. Afterwards, half in fun, half in earnest, he would harangue them thus: ‘Now then, accomplished knaves that you are, run quickly and confess. As for me, I absolve you from all your robberies and present you with what you have taken.'
This ceremony was repeated every year, and there is little doubt that the scoundrels took advantage of it. Once he was seen to deposit two rolls, each containing a thousand gold louis, in a drawer of his writing table. When he looked there again, he found two rolls of silver money
in their stead. This amused him vastly. Evidently, he observed, the gold had undergone the transmigration taught by Pythagoras. Hence forth he would believe in that wondrous philosophy. Again, when the villa was closed for the night, the Cardinal consigned two large boxes of his finest chocolate to the porter before retiring to bed. These were to be despatched on the morrow to some of his Roman friends. Next morning the porter discovered the boxes half empty, and raised an outcry that alarmed the entire household. The Cardinal appeared on the scene and asked what the noise was about. 'And is that a reason to despair?' he exclaimed when he was told. 'Take the rest of the chocolate and calm yourself, you booby.'
[Mildred: Well, at least no Jews got beaten!]
Never a day went by but something disappeared, especially when the rooms were full of gamblers, and the dissolute, deft-fingered young men who formed his Court and were allowed the free range of his domain. The Cardinal gave strict orders that he was not to be disturbed by any tales of what was missing.
Now Gian Gastone:
Amongst other family instincts Gian Gastone had inherited that of acquisition. He lacked his brother Ferdinando's connoisseurship, however, and much worthless bric-à-brac was palmed off on him by the antiquaries at exorbitant prices, from which Giuliano pocketed a correspondingly high percentage. The Grand Duke usually consulted his favourite about these purchases, and it sufficed his darling dissembler to praise the stuff and say it was beautiful, making a show of much marvel, for him to be seized with an overweening desire to possess it'.
A propitious moment was chosen to tempt the Grand Duke, generally when he had left 'the dull shore of lazy temperance'. Like his uncle, Cardinal Francesco Maria, he seems to have taken a perverse pleasure in being cheated. He bartered the objects already in his possession: the dealers offered him theirs for fabulous prices, underrating the value of those they took in exchange. Time would elapse, and they would return with the latter, as if the Grand Duke had never set eyes on them before. He bought them just the same. One day he recognized a snuffbox which had been brought back to him in this way. His only remark as, mildly surprised, he purchased it, was: 'Faith, who dies not is often to be met again!'
GG seems to have had a wry sense of humor.