1970

D'Artagnan moves from house to house and frequently stays at public and religious dormitories. His adored lover Rosy Marg leaves him. There is no work, but in his desperation he finds consolation in his drawing, and he writes: "Strong in my faith in God, I do not despair of being saved from sleeping in the street." After researching the period in which Arturo Toscanini, the famous conductor, worked at La Scala in Milan and comparing it with the same period that his mother the harpist worked there, he becomes convinced that his true father is Toscanini: He shows people photos next to those of Toscanini, and it is extraordinary how similar they are.

1971

His drawings begin to be appreciated in the Roman artistic circles, although ihe does not want to sell them; but finally, persuaded by the painters Claudio Bissattini and Novella Parigini, he agrees to show them at the Exposition of Cento Pittori di Via Margutta. However, his paintings are priced too high for that kind of exposition, and he reports that he sold only two of them. To the lucky buyers, he says, "Woe to you if you copy my art or sell it to my enemies." In this period D’Artagnan also participates in the Grottaferrata Exposition and succeeds in selling 6 drawings to the Bank of Rome for a good price: 130,000 lire (approximately $1,000 in today’s dollars). In the fall, he has enough money to buy some new wood and fix up another shanty in the shantytown in Trastevere. He will live there till 1980. He writes to Paramount Pictures Corporation to ask for work. The envelope from their response exists. This year no film at all.

1972

In the new shanty, despite it all, he feels at home and has again moments of great happiness and joy: he is protected and secure there, but sometimes he is suddenly taken by depression and cries like a child. He is looking for human affection, love, deep and constant friendship... he misses a normal family. His comforts in the shanty are his mementos (photos and letters), the drawings to finish, a tiny transistor radio that is always on, tuned to music or news. When he has no money to buy paint or paper, he works on pieces of paper, cardboard, and wood found in the street. Often he receives colored pencils, watercolors, and oils as gifts from friends or people he has just met. He writes a letter to Salvador Dali, whom he knew years before, to praise his total mastery of art. The famous Palace of Expositions in Rome has a meeting of the fine-art commission to consider a possible exposition of D'Artagnan’s works. But nothing comes of it. He writes to the famous movie director Luchino Visconti to offer himself as an actor in the new film Visconti is planning, and he also offers to sell him his paintings. After having, with extreme difficulty, contacted Fellini, D'Artagnan gets called for a role in the "divine master"’s new film, Amarcord. He is enthusiastic about it, and the prospect of work in the movies gives him new hope. He denounces the Roman City Register of birth and citizenship, because they refuse his request to be registered under the name Lombardi.

1973

While filming Amarcord, Fellini learns of D’Artagnan’s sad financial situation and promises him more work. D'Artagnan meets with Fellini in March and later, on the 7th of April, writes a letter to the "divino maestro" informing him of a negative article about his movies which was published in an American newspaper. For some months he is serene and happy again, so that he can concentrate, and he paints a lot, mainly very colorful drawings on discarded paper. But he does not leave off the battle to discover his family origins; he believes more and more that his father is Toscanini. He starts to sign his name “Michele Lombardi Toscanini, in arte Ele D’Artagnan.”

1974/75

La Trattoria degli Studenti, a cooperative of students serving food in a little restaurant and organizing art events, opens in Testaccio, not far from D’Artagnan’s shanty. Now he can eat with the students at no expense and enjoy a family atmosphere. He accepts food only in exchange for some simple help he can give the students, like setting the tables. It is a place where he can meet some famous and not yet famous people from the literary, music, and movie world in Rome: Dario Bellezza, Moravia, Sinisgalli, Carlo Monni, Roberto Benigni, Simona Marchini, and all the journalists of the newspaper Il Manifesto, many of them also chronically short on cash. Politically during this period D’Artagnan begins to have more sympathy for the left, and seems to forget his Monarchist Party almost completely. Nevertheless, he was one of the first Italians to ask for the reinstatement in Italy of the Royal Savoia family.

1976

D’Artagnan goes to many parties, concerts, and events organized by the Trattoria degli Studenti. In this open art venue he sometimes acts as master of ceremonies or comic. It is a period of great productivity: he paints on everything-wood, paper, placemats, matchbooks, whatever. Fellini keeps his promise and calls D’Artagnan for a role in his film Casanova. D’Artagnan is radiant when his “divine master” gives him work: “Only Federico knows how great an actor I am.” He is also happy because he has sold a good number of paintings.

1977/78

He is a regular at the Trattoria degli Studenti, because he feels at home there and can have free meals, but he doesn’t want to take advantage, so he comes only two or three times a week. D’Artagnan also deals in selling odd antique objects, old coins or medals that belong to people who pay him a commission. He no longer participates in official exhibitions, because of the registration fee; and once again he stops selling paintings, because he is afraid of being copied. With the shanty, albeit humble, as his fixed abode, his student friends, and free meals, along with an occasional small job and the rare sale of one of his works, he enjoys a period of some serenity.

1979

Fellini calls again, giving him work in La città delle donne, so once again the “grande maestro Federico” has not forgotten him. D’Artagnan participates again in the exhibition I Cento pittori di Via Margutta, but he is furious about the price of registration.

Translation from Italian by Kate Dejardins, Mary Norris and Pietro Gallina