Even this much-spoken-of neglect of his own family seems disproved
by his will, which, after a very little more than her own dot left to
his wife, makes his brother and niece heirs of all his estate.
Except that she cared more for her own pleasure than his true
advancement, she was not any great hindrance to his artistic career; he
painted an incredible number of pictures, and she was willing to sit
for him over and over again. Indeed if she were his model for all the
Madonnas in which her features are recognisable, she must have had
either inexhaustible patience or great love for the artist.
In fact she was thoroughly selfish; as long as she reaped the benefit
of his work she furthered his art; where she was left out of his
consideration he must be brought back to her side at any sacrifice to
him. This is not the stuff of which an artist's wife ought to be made;
the influence of a strong-willed selfish nature on his weak and
material one was not good, and his _morale_ became lowered.
He felt this deterioration less than his friends felt it for him; even
Vasari says that "though he lived in torment, he yet accounted it a
high pleasure.
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