OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW Observance I Pietro Aretino, son of a lowly shoemaker, had catapulted hirnself into farne as a writer of biting sat...
OBSERVANCES OF THE LAW Observance I Pietro Aretino, son of a lowly shoemaker, had catapulted hirnself into farne as a writer of biting satires. But like every Renaissance artist, he needed to find a patron who would give hirn a comfortable lifestyle while not inter- fering with his work. In 1528 Aretino decided to attempt a new strategy in the patronage game. Leaving Rome, he established hirnself in Venice, where few had heard of hirn. He had a fair amount of money he had managed to save, but little else. Soon after he moved into his new horne, however, he threw open its doors to rich and poor, regaling them with banquets and amusements. He befriended each and every gondolier, tipping them royally. In the streets, he spread his money liberally, giving it away to beggars, orphans, washerwomen. Among the city's commoners, word quickly spread that Aretino was more than just a great writer, he was a man of power-a kind of lord.
Artists and men of influence so on began to frequent Aretino's house. Within a few years he made hirnself a celebrity; no visiting dignitary would think of leaving Venice without paying hirn a call. His generosity had cost hirn most of his savings, but had bought hirn influence and a good namea cornerstone in the foundation of power. Since in Renaissance Italy as elsewhere the ability to spend freely was the privilege of the rich, the aristocracy thought Aretino had to be a man of influence, since he spent money like one. And since the influence of a man of influence is worth buying, Aretino became the recipient of all sorts of gifts and moneys. Dukes and duchesses, wealthy merchants, and popes and princes competed to gain his favor, and showered hirn with all kinds of presents. Aretino's spending habits, of course, were strategie, and the strategy worked like a charm. But for real money and comfort he needed a great patron's bottomless pockets.
Having surveyed the possibilities, he eventually set his sights on the extremely wealthy Marquis of Mantua, and wrote an epic poem that he dedicated to the marquis. This was a common practice of writers looking for patronage: In exchange for a dedication they would get a small stipend, enough to write yet another poem, so that they spent their lives in a kind of constant servility. Aretino, however, wanted power, not a measly wage. He might dedicate a poem to the marquis, but he would offer it to hirn as a gift, implying by doing so that he was not a hired hack looking for a stipend but that he and the marquis were equals. Aretino's gift-giving did not stop there: As a elose friend of two of Venice's greatest artists, the sculptor Jacopo Sansovino and the painter Titian, he convinced these men to participate in his gift-giving scheme. Aretino had studied the marquis before going to work on hirn, and knew his taste inside and out; he was able to advise Sansovino and Titian what subject matter would please the marquis most. When he then sent a Sansovino sculpture and a Titian painting to the marquis as gifts from all three of them, the man was beside hirnself with joy. Over the next few months, Aretino sent other gifts-swords, saddles, the glass that was a Venetian specialty, things he knew the marquis prized. Soon he, Titian, and Sansovino began to receive gifts from the marquis in return. And the strategy went further: When the son-in-Iaw of a friend of Aretino's found hirnself in jail in Mantua, Aretino was able to get the marquis to arrange his release. Aretino's friend, a wealthy merchant, was a man of great influence in Venice; by turning the goodwill he had built up years passed hy after this promise, and Pharaoh, doomed to ruin, continued to live in all his magnificence. Moses was impatient for God to destroy Pharaoh quickly, and he could not endure to wait any langer. So he fasted for forty days and went to Mount Sinai, and in his communing with god he said, "0 Lord, Thou didst promise that Thou wouldst destroy Pharaoh, and still he has forsaken none of his blasphemies and pretensions. So when wilt Thou destroy hirn?
" A voice came from The Truth saying, "0 Moses, you want Me to destroy Pharaoh as quickly as possihle, but a thousand times a thousand of My servants want Me never to do so, because they partake of his bounty and enjoy tranquillity under his rule. Sy My power I swear that as lang as he provides abundant food and comfort for My ereatu res, I shall not destroy hirn. " Moses said, " Then when will Thy promise be fulfilled?" God said, "My promise will be fulfilled when he withholds his provision from My creatures. If ever he begins to lessen his bounty, know that his hour is drawing near. It chanced that one day Pharaoh said to Haman, "Moses has gathered the Sons of Israel about hirn and is causing us disquiet. We know not what will he LAW 40 339 the issue of his affair with uso We must keep our stores full iest at any time we be without resources. So we must halve our daily rations and keep the saving in reserve. " He deducted 2,000 sheep, 200 co ws, and a 100 camels, and similarly every two or three days reduced the ration.
Moses then knew that the promise ofThe Truth was near to fulfillment, for excessive economy is a sign of decline and a bad omen. The masters of tradition say that on the day when Pharaoh was drowned only two ewes had been killed in his küchen. Nothing is better than generosity .... 1f a man is rich and desires, without a royal charter, to act like a lord; if he wants men to humble themselves before him, to revere him and call him lord and prince, then tell him every day to spread a table with victuals. All those who have acquired renown in the world, have gained it mainly through hospitality, while the miserly and avaricious are despised in both worlds. THE BOOK OF GOVERNMENT OR RULES FOR KINGS, NIZAM AL-MuLK, ELEVENTH CENTURY 340 LAW 40 with the marquis to use, Aretino had now bought this man's indebtedness, too, and he in turn would help Aretino when he could. The circle of influence was growing wider.
Time and again, Aretino was able to cash in on the immense political power of the marquis, who also helped him in his many court romances. Eventually, however, the relationship became strained, as Aretino came to feel that the marquis should have requited his generosity better. But he would not lower hirnself to begging or whining: Since the exchange of gifts between the two men had made them equals, it would not seem right to bring up money. He simply withdrew from the marquis's circle and hunted for other wealthy prey, settling first on the French king Francis, then the Medicis, the Duke of Urbino, Emperor Charles V, and more. In the end, having many patrons meant he did not have to bow to any of them, and his power seemed comparable to that of a great lord. Interpretation Aretino understood two fundamental properties of money: First, that it has to circulate to bring power. What money should buy is not lifeless objects but power over people.
By keeping money in constant circulation, Aretino bought an ever-expanding circle of influence that in the end more than compensated hirn for his expenses. Second, Aretino understood the key property of the gift. To give a gift is to imply that you and the recipient are equals at the very least, or that you are the recipient's superior. A gift also involves an indebtedness or obligation; when friends, for instance, offer you something for free, you can be sure they expect something in return, and that to get it they are making you feel indebted. (The mechanism may or may not be entirely conscious on their part, but this is how it works.) Aretino avoided such encumbrances on his freedom. Instead of acting like a menial who expects the powerful to pay his way in life, he turned the whole dynamic around; instead of being indebted to the powerful, he made the powerful indebted to hirn. This was the point of his gift-giving, a ladder that carried hirn to the highest social levels. By the end of his life he had become the most famous writer in Europe. Understand: Money may determine power relationships, but those relationships need not depend on the amount of money you have; they also depend on the way you use it. Powerful people give freely, buying influence rather than things. If you accept the inferior position because you have no fortune yet, you may find yourself in it forever. Play the trick that Aretino played on Italy's aristocracy: Imagine yourself an equal. Play the lord, give freely, open your doors, circulate your money, and create the facade of power through an alchemy that transforms money into influence.
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