spoken of him in another place, it suffices here to say that he also is
an Academician, that under the protection of Duke Cosimo he is
constantly at work in the Duomo of Pisa, and that among the festive
preparations for the nuptials he acquitted himself excellently well in
the decorations of the principal door of the Ducal Palace.
Of Domenico Poggini, likewise, having said above that he is an able
sculptor and that he has executed an infinity of medals very faithful to
the reality, and some works in marble and in casting, I shall say
nothing more of him here, save that he is deservedly one of our
Academicians, that for the above-named nuptials he made some very
beautiful statues, which were placed upon the Arch of Religion at the
Canto della Paglia, and that recently he has executed a new medal of the
Duke, very true to the life and most beautiful; and he is still
continually at work.
Giovanni Fancelli, or rather, as others call him, Giovanni di Stocco, an
Academician, has executed many works in marble and stone, which have
proved good sculptures; among others, much extolled is an escutcheon of
balls with two children and other ornaments, placed on high over the two
knee-shaped windows of the facade of Ser Giovanni Conti in Florence. And
the same I say of Zanobi Lastricati, who, as a good and able sculptor,
has executed and is still executing many works in marble and in casting,
which have made him well worthy to be in the Academy in company with
those named above; and, among his works, much praised is a Mercury of
bronze that is in the court of the Palace of M. Lorenzo Ridolfi, for it
is a figure wrought with all the considerations that are requisite.
Finally, there have been accepted into the Academy some young sculptors
who executed honourable and praiseworthy works in the above-named
preparations for the nuptials of his Highness; and these were Fra
Giovanni Vincenzio of the Servites, a disciple of Fra Giovanni Agnolo;
Ottaviano del Collettaio, a pupil of Zanobi Lastricati, and Pompilio
Lancia, the son of Baldassarre da Urbino, architect and pupil of
Girolamo Genga; which Pompilio, in the masquerade called the Genealogy
of the Gods, arranged for the most part, and particularly the mechanical
contrivances, by the said Baldassarre, his father, acquitted himself in
certain things excellently well.
In these last pages we have shown at some length what kind of men, and
how many and how able, have been gathered together to form so noble an
Academy, and we have touched in part on the many and honourable
occasions obtained by them from their most liberal lords, wherein to
display their capacity and ability. Nevertheless, to the end that this
may be the better understood, although those first learned writers, in
their descriptions of the arches and of the various spectacles
represented in those splendid nuptials, made it very well known, yet,
since there has been given into my hands the following little work,
written by way of exercise by a person of leisure who delights not a
little in our profession, to a dear and close friend who was not able to
see those festivities, forming the most brief account and comprising
everything in one, it has seemed to me my duty, for the satisfaction of
my brother-craftsmen, to insert it in this volume, adding to it a few
words, to the end that it may be more easy, by thus uniting rather than
separating it, to preserve an honourable record of their noble labours.
OF THE ACADEMICIANS
OF THE ACADEMICIANS
DESCRIPTION OF THE FESTIVE PREPARATIONS FOR THE NUPTIALS OF THE PRINCE
DON FRANCESCO OF TUSCANY
DESCRIPTION OF THE PORTA AL PRATO
We will describe, then, with the greatest clearness and brevity that may
be permitted by the abundance of our material, how the intention in all
these decorations was to represent by the vast number of pictures and
sculptures, as if in life, all those ceremonies, effects, and pomps that
appeared to be proper to the reception and the nuptials of so great a
Princess, forming of them poetically and ingeniously a whole so well
proportioned, that with judgment and grace it might achieve the result
designed. First of all, therefore, at the Gate that is called the Porta
al Prato, by which her Highness was to enter the city, there was built
with dimensions truly heroic, which well showed ancient Rome risen again
in her beloved daughter Florence, a vast, most ornate, and very
ingeniously composed ante-port of Ionic architecture, which, surpassing
by a good measure the height of the walls, which are there very lofty,
presented a marvellous and most superb view not only to those entering
the city, but even at a distance of several miles. And this arch was
dedicated to Florence, who--standing between two figures, as it were her
beloved companions, of Fidelity and Affection, virtues which she has
always shown towards her Lords--in the form of a young and most
beautiful woman, smiling and all adorned with flowers, had been set, as
was her due, in the most important and most honourable place, nearest to
the Gate, as if she sought to receive, introduce, and accompany her new
Lady; having brought with her, as it were as her minister and companion,
and as the symbol of those of her sons who in the art of war, among
other arts, have rendered her illustrious, Mars, their leader and
master, and in a certain sense the first father of Florence herself, in
that under his auspices and by martial men, who were descended from
Mars, was made her first foundation. His statue, dread and terrible,
could be seen on the right in the part farthest from her, sword in hand,
as if he sought to use it in the service of his new Lady; he likewise
having as it were brought with him to accompany his Florence, in a very
large and very beautiful canvas painted in chiaroscuro that was beneath
his feet (very similar to the whitest marble, as were all the other
works that were in these decorations), some of the men of that
invincible Martian Legion so dear to the first and second Caesar, her
first founders, and some of those born from her, who afterwards followed
her discipline so gloriously. Many of these could be seen issuing full
of gladness from his temple, which is now dedicated to S. John in the
name of the Christian religion; and in the farthest distance were placed
those who were thought to have had a name only for bodily valour, in the
central space those others who had become famous by their counsel and
industry, such as commissaries or proveditors (to call them by their
Venetian name), and in the front part nearest to the eye, in the most
honourable places, as being the most worthy of honour, were painted the
captains of armies and those who had acquired illustrious renown and
immortal fame by valour of the body and mind together. Among these, as
the first and perhaps the most honourable, could be seen on horseback,
like many others, the glorious Signor Giovanni de' Medici portrayed from
life, that rare master of Italian military discipline, and the
illustrious father of the great Cosimo whom we honour as our excellent
and most valorous Duke; and with him Filippo Spano, terror of the
barbarous Turks, and M. Farinata degli Uberti, great-hearted saviour of
his native Florence. There, also, was M. Buonaguisa della Pressa, who,
at the head of the valiant youth of Florence, winning the first and
glorious mural crown at Damiata, acquired so great a name; and the
Admiral Federigo Folchi, Knight of Rhodes, who with his two sons and
eight nephews performed so many deeds of prowess against the Saracens.
There were M. Nanni Strozzi, M. Manno Donati, Meo Altoviti, and
Bernardo Ubaldini, called Della Carda, father of Federigo, Duke of
Urbino, that most excellent captain of our times. There, likewise, was
the Great Constable, M. Niccola Acciaiuoli, he who it may be said
preserved for Queen Joanna and King Louis, his Sovereigns, the troubled
kingdom of Naples, and who always bore himself both there and in Sicily
with such loyalty and valour. There were another Giovanni de' Medici and
Giovanni Bisdomini, most illustrious in the wars with the Visconti, and
the unfortunate but valorous Francesco Ferrucci; and among those more
ancient were M. Forese Adimari, M. Corso Donati, M. Vieri de' Cerchi, M.
Bindaccio da Ricasoli, and M. Luca da Panzano. Among the commissaries,
not less faithfully portrayed from life, could be seen there Gino
Capponi, with Neri his son, and Piero his grand-nephew, he who, tearing
so boldly the insolent proposals of Charles VIII, King of France, to his
immortal honour, caused the voice of a Capon (Cappon), as the witty poet
said so well, to sound so nobly among so many Cocks (Galli). There were
Bernardetto de' Medici, Luca di Maso degli Albizzi, Tommaso di M. Guido,
now called Del Palagio, Piero Vettori, so celebrated in the wars with
the Aragonese, and the so greatly and so rightly renowned Antonio
Giacomini, with M. Antonio Ridolfi and many others of this and other
orders, who would make too long a story. All these appeared to be filled
with joy that they had raised their country to such a height, auguring
for her, in the coming of that new Lady, increase, felicity, and
greatness; which was expressed excellently well in the four verses that
were to be seen written on the architrave above:
Hanc peperere suo patriam qui sanguine nobis
Aspice magnanimos heroas; nunc et ovantes
Et laeti incedant, felicem terque quaterque
Certatimque vocent tali sub Principe Floram.
Not less gladness could be seen in the beautiful statue of one of the
nine Muses, which was placed as a complement opposite to that of Mars,
nor less, again, in the figures of the men of science in the painted
canvas that was to be seen at her feet, of the same size and likewise as
the complement of the men of Mars opposite, by which it was sought to
signify that even as the men of war, so also the men of learning, of
whom Florence had always a great abundance and in no way less renowned
(in that, as all men admit, it was there that learning began to revive),
had likewise been brought by Florence under the guidance of their Muse
to receive and honour the noble bride. Which Muse, clad in a womanly,
graceful, and seemly habit, with a book in the right hand and a flute in
the left, seemed with a certain loving expression to wish to invite all
beholders to apply their minds to true virtue; and on the canvas beneath
her, executed, like all the others, in chiaroscuro, could be seen
painted a great and rich Temple of Minerva, whose statue crowned with
olive, with the shield of the Gorgon (as is customary), was placed
without; and before the temple and at the sides, within an enclosure of
balusters made as it were for a promenade, could be seen a great throng
of grave and solemn men, who, although all rejoicing and making merry,
yet retained in their aspect a certain something of the venerable, and
these, also, were portrayed from life. For Theology and Sanctity there
was the famous Fra Antonino, Archbishop of Florence, for whom a little
Angel was holding the episcopal mitre, and with him was seen Giovanni
Domenici, first Friar and then Cardinal; and with them Don Ambrogio,
General of Camaldoli, and M. Ruberto de' Bardi, Maestro Luigi Marsili,
Maestro Leonardo Dati, and many others. Even so, in another part--and
these were the Philosophers--were seen the Platonist M. Marsilio Ficino,
M. Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, M. Francesco Verini the elder, and M.
Donato Acciaiuoli; and for Law there were, with the great Accursio,
Francesco his son, M. Lorenzo Ridolfi, M. Dino Rossoni di Mugello, and
M. Forese da Rabatta. The Physicians, also, had their portraits; and
among them Maestro Taddeo Dino and Tommaso del Garbo, with Maestro
Torrigian Valori and Maestro Niccolo Falcucci, had the first places. Nor
did the Mathematicians, likewise, fail to be painted there; and of
these, besides the ancient Guido Bonatto, were seen Maestro Paolo del
Pozzo and the very acute, ingenious, and noble Leon Batista Alberti, and
with them Antonio Manetti and Lorenzo della Volpaia, he by whose hand we
have that first and marvellous clock of the planets, the wonder of our
age, which is now to be seen in the guardaroba of our most excellent
Duke. For Navigation, also, there was Amerigo Vespucci, most experienced
and most fortunate of men, in that so great a part of the world, having
been discovered by him, retains because of him the name of America. For
Learning, various and elegant, there was Messer Agnolo Poliziano, to
whom how much is owed by the Latin and Tuscan tongues, which began to
revive in him, I believe is sufficiently well known to all the world.
With him were Pietro Crinito, Giannozzo Manetti, Francesco Pucci,
Bartolommeo Fonzio, Alessandro de' Pazzi, and Messer Marcello Vergilio
Adriani, father of the most ingenious and most learned M. Giovan
Battista, now called Il Marcellino, who is still living and giving
public lectures with so much honour in our Florentine University, and
who at the commission of their illustrious Excellencies has been writing
anew the History of Florence; and there were also M. Cristofano Landini,
M. Coluccio Salutati, and Ser Brunetto Latini, the master of Dante. Nor
were there wanting certain Poets who had written in Latin, such as
Claudian, and among the more modern Carlo Marsuppini and Zanobi Strada.
Of the Historians, then, were seen M. Francesco Guicciardini, Niccolo
Macchiavelli, M. Leonardo Bruni, M. Poggio, Matteo Palmieri, and, among
the earliest, Giovanni and Matteo Villani and the very ancient Ricordano
Malespini. All these, or the greater part, for the satisfaction of all
beholders, had each his name or that of his most famous works marked on
the scrolls or on the covers of the books that they held, placed there
as if by chance; and with all of them, as with the men of war, to
demonstrate what they were come there to do, the four verses that were
painted on the architrave, as with the others, made it clearly manifest,
saying:
Artibus egregiis Latiae Graiaeque Minervae
Florentes semper quis non miretur Etruscos?
Sed magis hoc illos aevo florere necesse est
Et Cosmo genitore et Cosmi prole favente.
Next, beside the statue of Mars, and somewhat nearer to that of
Florence--and here it must be noted with what singular art and judgment
every least thing was distributed, in that, the intention being to
accompany Florence with six Deities, so to speak, for the potency of
whom she could right well vaunt herself, the two hitherto described,
Mars and the Muse, because other cities could perhaps no less than she
lay claim to them, as being the least peculiar to her, were placed less
near to her than the others; and so for the spacious vestibule or
passage, as it were, formed before the gate by the four statues to
follow, the two already described were used as wings or head-pieces,
being placed at the entrance, one turned towards the Castle and the
other towards the Arno, but the next two, which formed the beginning of
the vestibule, for the reason that they are shared by her with few other
cities, came to be placed somewhat nearer to her, even as the last two,
because they are entirely peculiar to her and shared with no other city,
or, to speak more exactly, because no other can compare with her in them
(and may this be said without offence to any other Tuscan people, which,
when it shall have a Dante, a Petrarca, and a Boccaccio to put forward,
may perchance be able to come into dispute with her), were placed in
close proximity to her, and nearer than any of the others--now, to go
back, I say that beside the statue of Mars had been placed a Ceres,
Goddess of Cultivation and of the fields, not less beautiful and good to
look upon than the others; which pursuit, how useful it is and how
worthy of honour for a well-ordered city, was taught in ancient times by
Rome, who had enrolled all her nobility among the rustic tribes, as Cato
testifies, besides many others, calling it the nerve of that most
puissant Republic, and as Pliny affirms no less strongly when he says
that the fields had been tilled by the hands of Imperatores, and that it
may be believed that earth rejoiced to be ploughed by the laureate share
and by the triumphant ploughman. That Ceres was crowned, as is
customary, with ears of various kinds of corn, having in the right hand
a sickle and in the left a bunch of similar ears. Now, how much Florence
can vaunt herself in this respect, whoever may be in any doubt of it may
enlighten himself by regarding her most ornate and highly cultivated
neighbourhood, for, leaving on one side the vast number of most superb
and commodious palaces that may be seen dispersed over its surface, it
is such that Florence, although among the most beautiful cities of which
we have any knowledge she might be said to carry off the palm, yet
remains by a great measure vanquished and surpassed by it, insomuch that
it may rightly claim the title of the garden of Europe; not to speak of
its fertility, as to which, although it is for the most part
mountainous and not very large, nevertheless the diligence that is used
in it is such, that it not only feeds bountifully its own vast
population and the infinite multitude of strangers who flock to it, but
very often gives courteous succour to other lands both near and far. In
the canvas (to return to our subject) which was to be seen in like
fashion beneath her statue, in the same manner and of the same size, the
excellent painter had figured a most beautiful little landscape adorned
with an infinite variety of trees, in the most distant part of which was
seen an ancient and very ornate little temple dedicated to Ceres, in
which, since it was open and raised upon colonnades, could be perceived
many who were offering religious sacrifices. On the other side, in a
part somewhat more solitary, Nymphs of the chase could be seen standing
about a shady and most limpid fount, gazing as it were in marvel and
offering to the new bride of those pleasures and delights that are found
in their pursuits, in which Tuscany is perhaps not inferior to any other
part of Italy. In another part, with many countrymen bringing various
animals both wild and domestic, were seen also many country-girls, young
and beautiful, and adorned in a thousand rustic but graceful manners,
and likewise come--weaving the while garlands of flowers and bearing
various fruits--to see and honour their Lady. And the verses which were
over this scene as with the others, taken from Virgil, to the great
glory of Tuscany, ran thus:
Hanc olim veteres vitam coluere Sabini,
Hanc Remus et frater, sic fortis Etruria crevit,
Scilicet et rerum facta est pulcherrima Flora,
Urbs antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glebae.
Next, opposite to the above-described statue of Ceres, was seen that of
Industry; and I do not speak merely of that industry which is seen used
by many in many places in matters of commerce, but of a certain
particular excellence and ingenious virtue which the men of Florence
employ in everything to which they deign to apply themselves, on which
account many, and in particular the Poet of supreme judgment (and
rightly, as is evident), give them the title of Industrious. How great a
benefit this industry has been to Florence, and in what great account it
has always been held by her, is seen from this, that upon it she formed
her body corporate, decreeing that none could become one of her
citizens who was not entered under the name of some Guild, and thus
recognizing that by that industry she had risen to no small power and
greatness. Now Industry was figured as a woman in a light and easy
habit, holding a sceptre, at the head of which was a hand with an eye in
the centre of the palm, and with two little wings, whereby with the
sceptre there was achieved a certain sort of resemblance to the Caduceus
of Mercury; and in the canvas that was beneath her, as with the other
statues, was seen a vast and most ornate portico or forum, very similar
to the place where our merchants resort to transact their business,
called the Mercato Nuovo, which was made even clearer by the boy that
was to be seen striking the hours on one of the walls. And on one side,
their particular Gods having been ingeniously placed there (in one part,
namely, the statue of Fortune seated on a wheel, and in another part
Mercury with the Caduceus and with a purse in the hand), were seen
assembled many of the most noble artificers, those, namely, who exercise
their arts with perhaps greater excellence in Florence than in any other
place; and of such, with their wares in their hands, as if they were
seeking to offer them to the incoming Princess, some were to be seen
with cloth of gold or of silk, some with the finest draperies, and
others with most beautiful and marvellous embroideries, and all with
expressions of joy. Even so, in another part, some were seen in various
costumes trafficking as they walked, and others of lower degree with
various most beautiful wood-carvings and works in tarsia, and some again
with balls, masks, and rattles, and other childish things, all in the
same manner showing the same gladness and contentment. All which, and
the advantage of these things, and the profit and glory that have come
from them to Florence, was made manifest by the four verses that were
placed above them, as with the others, saying:
Quas artes pariat solertia, nutriat usus,
Aurea monstravit quondam Florentia cunctis.
Pandere namque acri ingenio atque enixa labore est
Praestanti, unde paret vitam sibi quisque beatam.