CHAPTER VIII.

_Literati_ at my studio, and their influence on my work--Calamatta's opinion of Tenerani, of Bartolini, and of myself--His defence of my Abel in Paris--Pius II.--Academicians and "Naturalisti"--Luigi Venturi--Prince Anatolia Demidoff and the Princess Matilde--The statuette in clay of the Princess Matilde is destroyed--Our minister Nigra presents me to the Emperor Napoleon III.--Beauty does not exist outside of nature--Praise puts one to sleep--The incoherence of Bartolini, 139