reason of the number and excellence in them of her sons they are so
peculiar to Florence that she may well consider herself glorious in them
beyond any other city, there was placed on the right hand, next to the
statue of Ceres, that of Apollo, representing that Tuscan Apollo who
infuses Tuscan verse in Tuscan poets. Under his feet, as in the other
canvases, there was painted on the summit of a most lovely mountain,
recognized as that of Helicon by the horse Pegasus, a very spacious and
beautiful meadow, in the centre of which rose the sacred Fount of
Aganippe, likewise recognized by the nine Muses, who stood around it in
pleasant converse, and with them, and in the shade of the verdant
laurels with which the whole mount was covered, were seen various poets
in various guise seated or discoursing as they walked, or singing to the
sound of the lyre, while a multitude of little Loves were playing above
the laurels, some of them shooting arrows, and some appeared to be
throwing down crowns of laurel. Of these poets, in the most honourable
place were seen the profound Dante, the gracious Petrarca, and the
fecund Boccaccio, who with smiling aspect appeared to be promising to
the incoming Lady, since a subject so noble had not fallen to them, to
infuse in the intellects of Florence such virtue that they would be able
to sing worthily of her; to which with the exemplar of their writings,
if only there may be found one able to imitate them, they have opened a
broad and easy way. Near them, as if discoursing with them, and all,
like the rest, portrayed from life, were seen M. Cino da Pistoia,
Montemagno, Guido Cavalcanti, Guittone d'Arezzo, and Dante da Maiano,
who lived in the same age and were poets passing gracious for those
times. In another part were Monsignor Giovanni della Casa, Luigi
Alamanni, and Lodovico Martelli, with Vincenzio at some distance from
him, and with them Messer Giovanni Rucellai, the writer of the
tragedies, and Girolamo Benivieni; among whom, if he had not been living
at that time, a well-merited place would have been given also to the
portrait of M. Benedetto Varchi, who shortly afterwards made his way to
a better life. In another part, again, were seen Franco Sacchetti, who
wrote the three hundred Novelle, and other men, who, although at the
present day they have no great renown, yet, because in their times they
made no small advance in romances, were judged to be not unworthy of
that place--Luigi Pulci, with his brothers Bernardo and Luca, and also
Ceo and Altissimo. Berni, also, the inventor and father (and excellent
father) of Tuscan burlesque poetry, with Burchiello, with Antonio
Alamanni, and with Unico Accolti (who were standing apart), appeared to
be showing no less joy than any of the others; while Arno, leaning in
his usual manner on his Lion, with two children that were crowning him
with laurel, and Mugnone, known by the Nymph that stood over him crowned
with stars, with the moon on her brow, in allusion to the daughters of
Atlas, and representing Fiesole, appeared likewise to be expressing the
same gladness and contentment. All which conception described above was
explained excellently well by the four verses that were placed in the
architrave, as with the others, which ran thus:
Musarum hic regnat chorus, atque Helicone virente
Posthabito, venere tibi Florentia vates
Eximii, quoniam celebrare haec regia digno
Non potuere suo et connubia carmine sacro.
Opposite to this, placed on the left hand, and perhaps not less peculiar
to the Florentine genius than the last-named, was seen the statue of
Design, the father of painting, sculpture, and architecture, who, if not
born in Florence, as may be seen in the past writings, may be said to
have been born again there, and nourished and grown as in his own nest.
He was figured by a statue wholly nude, with three similar heads for the
three arts that he embraces, each holding in the hand some instrument,
but without any distinction; and in the canvas that was beneath him was
seen painted a vast courtyard, for the adornment of which were placed in
various manners a great quantity of statues and of pictures in painting,
both ancient and modern, which could be seen in process of being
designed and copied by divers masters in divers ways. In one part was
being prepared an anatomical study, and many could be seen observing it,
and likewise drawing, very intently. Others, again, considering the
fabric and rules of architecture, appeared to be seeking to measure
certain things with great minuteness, the while that the divine
Michelagnolo Buonarroti, prince and monarch of them all, with the three
circlets in his hand (his ancient device), making signs to Andrea del
Sarto, Leonardo da Vinci, Pontormo, Rosso, Perino del Vaga, Francesco
Salviati, Antonio da San Gallo, and Rustici, who were gathered with
great reverence about him, was pointing out with supreme gladness the
pompous entrance of the noble Lady. The ancient Cimabue, standing in
another part, was doing as it were the same service to certain others,
at whom Giotto appeared to be smiling, having taken from him, as Dante
said so well, the field of painting which he thought to hold; and Giotto
had with him, besides the Gaddi, Buffalmacco and Benozzo, with many
others of that age. In another part, again, placed in another fashion
and all rejoicing as they conversed, were seen those who conferred such
benefits on art, and to whom these new masters owed so much; the great
Donatello, Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Fra Filippo,
the excellent Masaccio, Desiderio, and Verrocchio, with many others,
portrayed from life, whom, since I have spoken of them in the previous
books, I will pass by without saying more about them, thus avoiding the
tedium that might come upon my readers by repetition. Who they were, and
what they were come thither to do, was explained, as with the others, by
four verses written above them:
Non pictura satis, non possunt marmora et aera
Tuscaque non arcus testari ingentia facta,
Atque ea praecipue quae mox ventura trahuntur;
Quis nunc Praxiteles caelet, quis pingat Apelles?
Now in the base of all these six vast and most beautiful canvases was
seen painted a gracious throng of children, each occupying himself in
the profession appropriate to the canvas placed above, who, besides the
adornment, were seen to be demonstrating with great accuracy with what
beginnings one arrived at the perfection of the men painted above; even
as with much judgment and singular art the same canvases were also
divided and adorned by round and very tall columns and by pilasters, and
by various ornaments of trophies all in keeping with the subjects to
which they were near. But, above all, graceful and lovely in appearance
were the ten devices, or, to speak more precisely, the ten reverses (as
it were) of medals, partly long established in the city and partly newly
introduced, which were painted in the compartments over the columns,
serving to divide the statues already described, and accompanying very
appropriately their inventions; the first of which was the Deduction of
a Colony, represented by a bull and a cow together in a yoke, and behind
them the ploughman with the head veiled, as the ancient Augurs are
depicted, with the crooked lituus in the hand, and with a motto, which
said: COL. JUL. FLORENTIA. The second--and this is very ancient in the
city, and the one wherewith public papers are generally sealed--was
Hercules with the Club and with the skin of the Nemaean Lion, but without
any motto. The third was the horse Pegasus, which with the hind feet was
smiting the urn held by Arno, in the manner that is told of the Fount of
Helicon; whence were issuing waters in abundance, which formed a river,
crystal-clear, that was all covered with swans; but this, also, was
without any motto. So, likewise, was the fourth, which was composed of a
Mercury with the Caduceus in the hand, the purse, and the cock, such as
is seen in many ancient cornelians. But the fifth, in accord with that
Affection which, as was said at the beginning, was given to Florence as
a companion, was a young woman receiving a crown of laurel from two
figures, one on either side of her, which, clad in the military
paludament and likewise crowned with laurel, appeared to be Consuls or
Imperatores; with words that ran: GLORIA POP. FLOREN. So also the sixth,
in like manner in accord with Fidelity, likewise the companion of
Florence, was also figured by a woman seated, with an altar near her,
upon which she was seen to be laying one of her hands, and with the
other uplifted, holding the second finger raised in the manner wherein
one generally sees an oath taken, she was seen to declare her intention
with the inscription: FIDES. POP. FLOR. This, also, did the picture of
the seventh, without any inscription; which was the two horns of plenty
filled with ears of corn intertwined together. And the eighth, likewise
without any inscription, did the same with the three Arts of Painting,
Sculpture, and Architecture, which, after the manner of the three
Graces, with hands linked to denote the interdependence of one art with
another, were placed no less gracefully than the others upon a base in
which was seen carved a Capricorn. And so, also, did the ninth (placed
more towards the Arno), which was the usual Florence with her Lion
beside her, to whom various boughs of laurel were offered by certain
persons standing around her, as it were showing themselves grateful for
the benefits received from her, in that there, as has been told, letters
began to revive. And the tenth and last did the same with its
inscription that ran thus, TRIBU SCAPTIA, written upon a shield held by
a Lion; which tribe was that of Augustus, her founder, and the one in
which in ancient times Florence used to be enrolled.
But the finest ornament--besides the beautiful shields on which were the
arms of their Excellencies, both the one and the other, and of the most
illustrious Princess, and the device of the city, and besides the great
Ducal crown of gold, which Florence was in the act of presenting--was
the principal device, set over all the shields, and placed there in
allusion to the city; which was composed of two halcyons making their
nest in the sea at the beginning of winter. This was made clear by the
part of the Zodiac that was painted there, wherein the Sun was seen at
the point of entering into the Sign of Capricorn, with a motto that
said, HOC FIDUNT, signifying that even as the halcyons, by the grace of
Nature, at the time when the Sun is entering into the said Sign of
Capricorn, which renders the sea smooth and tranquil, are able to make
their nests there in security (whence such days are called "halcyon
days"), so also Florence, with Capricorn in the ascendant, which is
therefore the ancient and most honourable device of her excellent Duke,
is able in whatever season the world may bring her to flourish in the
greatest felicity and peace, as she does right well. And all this, with
all the other conceptions given above, was declared in great part by the
inscription which, addressed to the exalted bride, was written
appropriately in a most ornate and beautiful place, saying:
INGREDERE URBEM FELICISSIMO CONJUGIO FACTAM TUAM, AUGUSTISSIMA
VIRGO, FIDE, INGENIIS, ET OMNI LAUDE PRAESTANTEM; OPTATAQUE
PRAESENTIA TUA, ET EXIMIA VIRTUTE, SPERATAQUE FECUNDITATE,
OPTIMORUM PRINCIPUM PATERNAM ET AVITAM CLARITATEM, FIDELISSIMORUM
CIVIUM LAETITIAM, FLORENTIS URBIS GLORIAM ET FELICITATEM AUGE.
OF THE ENTRANCE TO BORG' OGNISSANTI.
Proceeding, then, towards Borg' Ognissanti, a street, as everyone knows,
most beautiful, spacious, and straight, there were at the entrance two
very large colossal figures, one representing Austria, as a young woman
in full armour after the antique, with a sceptre in the hand, signifying
her military power as embodied in the Imperial dignity, which now has
its residence in that nation and appears to be entirely concentrated
there; and the other representing Tuscany, apparelled in religious
vestments and with the sacerdotal lituus in the hand, which in like
manner demonstrated the excellence that the Tuscan nation has always
displayed from the most ancient times in the Divine cult, insomuch that
even at the present day it is seen that the Pontiffs and the Holy Roman
Church have chosen to establish their principal seat in Tuscany. Each of
these had at her side a nude and gracious little Angel, one of whom was
seen guarding the Imperial crown, and the other the crown that the
Pontiffs are wont to use; and one figure was shown offering her hand
most lovingly to the other, almost as if Austria, with her most noble
cities (which were depicted under various images in the vast canvas that
was as an ornament and head-piece, at the entrance to that street,
facing towards the Porta al Prato), wished to signify that she was come
parentally to take part in the rejoicings and festivities in honour of
the illustrious bridal pair, and to meet and embrace her beloved
Tuscany, thus in a certain sort uniting together the two most mighty
powers, the spiritual and the temporal. All which was declared
excellently well in the six verses that were written in a suitable
place, saying:
Augustae en adsum sponsae comes Austria; magni
Caesaris haec nata est, Caesaris atque soror.
Carolus est patruus, gens et faecunda triumphis,
Imperio fulget, regibus et proavis.
Laetitiam et pacem adferimus dulcesque Hymeneos
Et placidam requiem, Tuscia clara, tibi.
Even as on the other side Tuscany, having yielded the first place at
the first Gate to Florence, her Lady and her Queen, was seen with an
aspect all full of joy at receiving so great a Princess; having likewise
in company with her, in a similar painted canvas beside her, Fiesole,
Pisa, Siena, and Arezzo, with the most famous of her other cities, and
with the Ombrone, the Arbia, the Serchio, and the Chiana, all depicted
in various forms according to custom; and expressing her contentment in
the six following verses, written in a way similar to the others, and in
a suitable place:
Ominibus faustis et laetor imagine rerum,
Virginis aspectu Caesareaeque fruor.
Hae nostrae insignes urbes, haec oppida et agri,
Haec tua sunt; illis tu dare jura potes.
Audis ut resonet laetis clamoribus aether,
Et plausu et ludis Austria cuncta fremat?
OF THE PONTE ALLA CARRAIA.
And to the end that the splendid nuptials might be celebrated with all
the most favourable auspices, at the Palazzo de' Ricasoli, which, as
everyone knows, is situated at the beginning of the Ponte alla Carraia,
there was erected in the Doric Order of composition the third ornament,
dedicated to Hymen, their God; and this consisted--in addition to a
head-piece of singular beauty, on which the eyes of all who came through
Borg' Ognissanti feasted with marvellous delight--of two very lofty and
most magnificent portals, between which it stood, and over one of these,
which gave access to those passing into the street called La Vigna, was
placed with much judgment the statue of Venus Genetrix, perhaps alluding
to the House of the Caesars, which had its origin from Venus, or
perchance auguring generation and fecundity for the bridal pair; with a
motto taken from the Epithalamium of Theocritus, saying:
[Greek: Kypris de, Thea Kypris, ison erasthai allalon.]
And over the other, giving access along the bank of the Arno, through
which the procession passed, was the statue of the Nurse Latona,
perchance to ward off sterility or the jealous interference of Juno, and
likewise with a motto that ran:
[Greek: Lato men doie, Lato kourotrophos ymmin euteknian.]
As a complement to these, executed with singular artistry, upon a great
base attached to one of the portals, there was seen on one side, as it
were newly issued from the water, and in the form of a most beautiful
giant with a garland of lilies, the River Arno, who, as if he wished to
give an example of nuptial bliss, was locked in embrace with his Sieve,
who had likewise a garland of leaves and apples; which apples, alluding
to the balls of the Medici, of which they were the origin, would have
been rosy, if the colour had been in keeping with the white marble. And
Arno, all rejoicing, was shown speaking to his new Lady in the manner
expressed by the following verses:
In mare nunc auro flaventes Arnus arenas
Volvam, atque argento purior unda fluet.
Etruscos nunc invictis comitantibus armis
Caesareis, tollam sidera ad alta caput.
Nunc mihi fama etiam Tibrim fulgoreque rerum
Tantarum longe vincere fata dabunt.
And on the other side, as a complement to Arno, on a similar base
attached in a similar way to the other portal (the two being turned, as
it were, like wings one towards the other), and almost in the same form,
were seen the Danube and the Drava likewise in a close embrace, and,
even as the others had the Lion, so they had the Eagle as emblem and
support; and these, crowned also with roses and with a thousand
varieties of little flowers, were shown speaking to Florence, even as
the others were speaking to themselves, the following verses:
Quamvis Flora tuis celeberrima finibus errem,
Sum septemgeminus Danubiusque ferox;
Virginis Augustae comes, et vestigia lustro,
Ut reor, et si quod flumina numen habent,
Conjugium faustum et foecundum et Nestoris annos,
Tuscorum et late nuntio regna tibi.
Then at the summit of the head-piece, in the place of honour, and with a
close resemblance to the whitest marble, was seen the statue of the
young Hymen, with a garland of flowering marjoram and the torch and
veil, and at his feet this inscription: BONI CONJUGATOR AMORIS. On one
side of him was Love, who lay all languid under one of his flanks; and
on the other side was Conjugal Fidelity, who was holding one arm
supported under the other; which was all so pleasing, so full of charm,
so beautiful, and so well distributed before the eyes of all beholders,
that in truth it is not to be expressed in words. As the principal crown
of that ornament--for on them all there was placed a principal crown and
a principal device--there were formed in the hands of the Hymen
described above two garlands of the same marjoram that crowned his head,
which, as he held them, he appeared to be about to present to the happy
pair. But most lovely and beautiful of all, and best executed, were the
three spacious pictures, separated by double columns, into which the
whole of that vast facade was divided, placed with supreme beauty at the
feet of Hymen; for in them were depicted all the advantages, all the
delights, and all the desirable things that are generally found in
nuptials; those displeasing and vexatious being driven away from them
with a certain subtle grace. And thus in one of these, that in the
centre namely, were seen the Three Graces painted in the manner that is
customary, all full of joy and gladness, who appeared to be singing with
a certain soft harmony the verses written over them, saying:
Quae tam praeclara nascetur stirpe parentum
Inclita progenies, digna atavisque suis?
Etrusca attollet se quantis gloria rebus
Conjugio Austriacae Mediceaeque Domus?
Vivite felices; non est spes irrita, namque
Divina Charites talia voce canunt.
These had on one side, forming as it were a choir about them, and
coupled becomingly together, Youth and Delight, and Beauty with
Contentment in her embrace, and on the other side, in like fashion,
Gladness with Play, and Fecundity with Repose, all in attitudes most
graceful and in keeping with their characters, and so well distinguished
by the able painter, that they could be recognized with ease. In the
picture that was on the right of that one, there were seen, besides Love
and Fidelity, the same Gladness, Contentment, Delight, and Repose, with
lighted torches in their hands, who were chasing from the world and
banishing to the nethermost abyss Jealousy, Contention, Affliction,
Sorrow, Lamentation, Deceit, Sterility, and other vexatious and
displeasing things of that kind, which are wont so often to disturb the
minds of human creatures. And in the other, on the left hand, were seen
the same Graces in company with Juno, Venus, Concord, Love, Fecundity,
Sleep, Pasithea, and Thalassius, setting the genial bed in order with
those ancient religious ceremonies of torches, incense, garlands, and
flowers, which were customary; of which last a number of little Loves,
playing in their flight, were scattering no small quantity over the bed.
Above these, then, were two other pictures distributed in very beautiful
compartments, one on either side of the statue of Hymen, and somewhat
smaller than those described; in one of which, in imitation of the
ancient custom so well described by Catullus, was seen the illustrious
Princess portrayed from life in the midst of a gracious little company
of most beautiful maidens in virginal dress, all crowned with flowers,
and with lighted torches in their hands, who were pointing towards the
Evening Star, which was seen appearing, and, as if set in motion by
them, seemed in a certain gracious manner to move and to advance towards
Hymen; with the motto: O DIGNA CONJUNCTA VIRO. Even as in the other
picture, on the other side, was seen the excellent Prince in the midst
of many young men likewise crowned with garlands and burning with love,
not less eager than the maidens in lighting the nuptial torches, and
pointing no less towards the newly-appeared star, and giving signs, in
advancing towards it, of equal or even greater desire; likewise with a
motto that said: O TAEDIS FELICIBUS AUCTE. Above these, arranged in a
very graceful manner, there was seen as the principal device, which, as
has been told, was placed over all the arches, a gilded chain all
composed of marriage-rings with their stones, which, hanging down from
Heaven, appeared to be sustaining this terrestrial World; alluding in a
certain sense to the Homeric Chain of Jove, and signifying that by
virtue of nuptials, the heavenly causes being wedded with terrestrial
matter, Nature and the aforesaid terrestrial World are preserved and
rendered as it were eternal; with a motto that said: NATURA SEQUITUR
CUPIDE. And then a quantity of little Angels and Loves, all gracious and
merry, and all set in fitting places, were seen dispersed among the
bases, the pilasters, the festoons, and the other ornaments, which were
without number; and all, with a certain gladness, appeared to be either
scattering flowers and garlands, or sweetly singing the following ode,
from among the spaces between the double columns that divided, as has
been told, the great pictures and the great facade, which was arranged
in a lovely and gracious manner:
Augusti soboles regia Caesaris,
Summo nupta viro Principi Etruriae,
Faustis auspiciis deseruit vagum
Istrum regnaque patria.
Cui frater, genitor, patruus, atque avi
Fulgent innumeri stemmate nobiles
Praeclaro Imperii, prisca ab origine
Digno nomine Caesares.
Ergo magnanimae virgini et inclytae
Jam nunc Arne pater suppliciter manus
Libes, et violis versicoloribus
Pulchram Flora premas comam.
Assurgant proceres, ac velut aureum
Et caeleste jubar rite colant eam.
Omnes accumulent templa Deum, et piis
Aras muneribus sacras.
Tali conjugio Pax hilaris redit,
Fruges alma Ceres porrigit uberes,
Saturni remeant aurea saecula,
Orbis laetitia fremit.
Quin dirae Eumenides monstraque Tartari
His longe duce te finibus exulant.
Bellorum rabies hinc abit effera,
Mavors sanguineus fugit.
Sed jam nox ruit et sidera concidunt;
Et nymphae adveniunt, Junoque pronuba
Arridet pariter, blandaque Gratia
Nudis juncta sororibus.
Haec cingit niveis tempora liliis,
Haec e purpureis serta gerit rosis,
Huic molles violae et suavis amaracus
Nectunt virgineum caput.
Lusus, laeta Quies cernitur et Decor;
Quos circum volitat turba Cupidinum,
Et plaudens recinit haec Hymeneus ad
Regalis thalami fores.
Quid statis juvenes tam genialibus
Indulgere toris immemores? Joci
Cessent et choreae; ludere vos simul
Poscunt tempora mollius.
Non vincant hederae bracchia flexiles,
Conchae non superent oscula dulcia,
Emanet pariter sudor et ossibus
Grato murmure ab intimis.
Det summum imperium regnaque Juppiter,
Det Latona parem progeniem patri;
Ardorem unanimem det Venus, atque Amor
Aspirans face mutua.
OF THE PALAZZO DEGLI SPINI.