devouring some children, had the third car, no less ornate than the
last, and drawn by two great black oxen; and to enhance the beauty of
that car, even as in the last there were seven fables painted, so in
that one it was thought proper that five of his fables should be
painted. For the first, therefore, was seen this God surprised by his
wife Ops as he lay taking his pleasure of the gracious and beautiful
Nymph Philyra, on which account being constrained to transform himself
into a horse in order not to be recognized by her, it was shown how from
that union there was born afterwards the Centaur Cheiron. Even as in the
second was seen his other union with the Latin Entoria, from which
sprang at one and the same birth Janus, Hymnus, Felix, and Faustus, by
whom the same Saturn distributed among the human race that so useful
invention of planting vines and making wine; and there was seen Janus
arriving in Latium and there teaching his father's invention to the
ignorant people, who, drinking intemperately of the new and most
pleasing liquor, and therefore sinking little by little into a most
profound sleep, when finally they awakened, thinking that they had been
poisoned by him, were seen rushing impiously to stone and slay him; on
which account Saturn, moved to anger, chastised them with a most
horrible pestilence; but in the end it was shown how he was pacified and
turned to mercy by the humble prayers of the miserable people and by the
temple built by them upon the Tarpeian rock. In the third, then, was
seen figured how, Saturn seeking cruelly to devour his son Jove, his
shrewd wife and compassionate daughters sent to him in Jove's stead the
stone, which he brought up again before them, being left thereby in
infinite sorrow and bitterness. Even as in the fourth was painted the
same fable of which there has been an account in speaking of the
above-described car of Heaven--namely, how he cut off the genitals of
the above-named Heaven, from which the Giants, the Furies, and Venus had
their origin. And in the last, likewise, was seen how, after he was made
a prisoner by the Titans, he was liberated by his compassionate son
Jove. And then, to demonstrate the belief that is held by some, that
history first began to be written in the time of Saturn, there was seen
figured with the authority of an approved writer a Triton blowing a
sea-conch, with the double tail as it were fixed in the earth, closing
the last part of the car; at the foot of which (as has been told of the
others) was seen a pure maiden, representing Pudicity, adorned with
green draperies and holding a white ermine in her arms, with a gilded
topaz-collar about the neck. She, with the head and face covered with a
yellow veil, had in her company Truth, likewise figured in the form of a
most beautiful, delicate, and pure young woman, clothed only in a few
white and transparent veils; and these, walking in a manner full of
grace, had between them the happy Age of Gold, also figured as a pure
and gracious virgin, wholly nude, and all crowned and adorned with those
first fruits produced by herself from the earth. After them followed
Quiet, robed in black draperies, in the aspect of a young but very grave
and venerable woman, who had as head-dress a nest composed in a most
masterly manner, in which was seen lying an old and featherless stork,
and she walked between two black priests, who, crowned with fig-leaves,
and each with a branch of the same fig in one hand, and in the other a
basin containing a flat cake of flour and honey, seemed to wish to
demonstrate thereby that opinion which is held by some, that Saturn was
the first discoverer of grain-crops; for which reason the Cyrenaeans (and
even such were the two black priests) are said to have been wont to
offer him sacrifices of those things named above. These were followed by
two Roman priests, who appeared likewise to be about to sacrifice to him
some waxen images, as it were after the more modern use, since they
were seen delivered by means of the example of Hercules, who used
similar waxen images, from the impious custom of sacrificing men to
Saturn, introduced into Italy by the Pelasgians. These, like the others
with Quiet, had likewise between them the venerable Vesta, daughter of
Saturn, who, very narrow in the shoulders and very broad and full in the
flanks, after the manner of a round ball, and dressed in white, carried
a lighted lamp in the hand. And after them, as the last, closing the
third company, was seen coming the Centaur Cheiron, the son, as has been
told, of Saturn, armed with sword, bow, and quiver; and with him another
of the sons of the same Saturn, holding the crooked lituus (for the
reason that he was an augur) in the hand, and all robed in green
draperies, with a bird, the woodpecker, on the head, because into such a
bird, according as the fables tell, it is believed that he was
transformed by Cheiron.
FOURTH CAR, OF THE SUN.
To the resplendent Sun was dedicated the fourth car, all glittering,
gilded, and jewelled, which, drawn according to custom by four swift and
winged coursers, was seen to have Velocity, with a head-dress of a
dolphin and a sail on the head, as charioteer; and in it were painted
(as has been told of the others), but with a different distribution, and
as pleasing and gracious as could well be imagined, seven of his fables.
For the first of these was seen the fate of the too audacious Phaethon,
who contrived so ill to guide that same car, even as for the second was
seen the death of the serpent Python, and for the third the chastisement
inflicted on the rash Marsyas. In the fourth was seen how the Sun
deigned for a time to lead a humble pastoral life, grazing the flocks of
Admetus; even as in the fifth was seen how, flying from the fury of
Typhoeus, he was constrained to change himself into a raven. In the
sixth were likewise depicted his other transformations, first into a
lion and then into a hawk; and as the last was seen his love received so
ill by the timid Daphne, who finally, as is very well known, was changed
by the compassion of the Gods into laurel. At the foot of the car, then,
were seen riding, all winged and of different ages and colours, the
Hours, the handmaids and ministers of the Sun, each of whom, in
imitation of the Egyptians, carried a hippopotamus in the hand, and was
crowned with flowers of the lupine; and behind them, likewise following
the Egyptian custom, in the form of a young man all dressed in white,
with two little horns on the head that were turned towards the ground,
and with a garland of oriental palm, was seen walking the Month,
carrying in the hand a calf which, not without reason, had only one
horn. And after him was seen likewise walking the Year, with the head
all covered with ice and snow, the arms wreathed in flowers and
garlands, and the breast and stomach all adorned with ears of corn, even
as the thighs and legs, also, were seen to be all wet and stained with
must, while in one hand he carried, as a symbol of his circling course,
a circle formed by a serpent that appeared to be seeking to devour the
tail with the mouth, and in the other hand a nail, such as the ancient
Romans used, so we read, to keep count of the years in their temples.
Then came rosy Aurora, all pleasing, fair, and lissom, with a little
yellow mantle, and with an ancient lamp in the hand, seated with most
beautiful grace upon the horse Pegasus. In her company was seen the
physician AEsculapius, in the habit of a priest, with a knotted stick and
a ruddy serpent in the hands, and a dog at his feet; and with them the
young Phaethon, also (like AEsculapius) the child of the Sun, who, all
burning, to recall the memory of his unhappy fate, appeared to wish to
transform himself into even such a swan as he carried in his hand.
Orpheus, next, their brother, was seen walking behind them, young and
much adorned, but of a presence grave and venerable, with the tiara on
his head, and seeming to play a most ornate lyre; and with him was seen
the enchantress Circe, likewise the daughter of the Sun, with a band
around the head, which was a sign of her sovereignty, and in the habit
of a matron, and she was shown holding in the hand, in place of a
sceptre, a little branch of larch and another of cedar, with the fumes
of which it is said that she used to contrive the greater part of her
enchantments. And the nine Muses, walking in gracious order, formed a
most beautiful finish to the last part of the lovely company just
described; who were seen figured in the forms of most graceful Nymphs,
crowned with feathers of the magpie in remembrance of the Sirens
vanquished by them, and with feathers of other kinds, and holding
various musical instruments in the hands, while among the last of them,
who held the most honourable place, was set Memory, mother of the Muses,
adorned with rich black draperies, and holding in the hand a little
black dog, signifying the marvellous memory which that animal is said to
have, and with the head-dress fantastically composed of the most
different things, denoting the so many and so different things that the
memory is able to retain.
FIFTH CAR, OF JOVE.
The great father of mankind and of the Gods, Jove, the son of Saturn,
had the fifth car, ornate and rich in pomp beyond all the others; for,
besides the five fables that were seen painted there, as with the
others, it was rendered rich and marvellous beyond belief by three
statues that served as most imposing partitions to those fables. By one
of these was seen represented the image, such as it is believed to have
been, of the young Epaphus, the son of Io and Jove, and by the second
that of the lovely Helen, who was born from Leda at one birth with
Castor and Pollux; even as by the last was represented that of the
grandfather of the sage Ulysses, called Arcesius. For the first of the
fables already mentioned was seen Jove transformed into a Bull,
conveying the trusting Europa to Crete, even as for the second was seen
his perilous rape as he flew to Heaven in the form of an Eagle with the
Trojan Ganymede, and for the third his other transformation into fire
when he wished to lie with the beautiful AEgina, daughter of Asopus. For
the fourth was seen the same Jove, changed into a rain of gold, falling
into the lap of his beloved Danae; and in the fifth and last he was seen
delivering his father Saturn, who, as has been told above, was
unworthily held prisoner by the Titans. In such and so adorned a car,
then, and upon a most beautiful throne composed of various animals and
of many gilded Victories, with a little mantle woven of divers animals
and plants, the above-named great father Jove was seen seated in
infinite majesty, with a garland of leaves similar to those of the
common olive, and in the right hand a Victory crowned with a band of
white wool, and in the left hand a royal sceptre, at the head of which
was shown poised the imperial Eagle. At the foot of the throne, to
render it more imposing and pompous, was seen on one side Niobe, with
her children, dying by the shafts of Apollo and Diana, and on the other
side seven men in combat, who were seen to have in their midst a boy
with the head bound with white wool, even as in another place could be
seen Hercules and Theseus, who were shown in combat with the famous
Amazons. And at the foot of the car, which was drawn by two very large
and very naturally figured eagles, there was seen walking (as has been
told of the others) Bellerophon adorned with a royal habit and a royal
diadem, in allusion to whose fable there was seen over that diadem the
Chimera slain by him; having in his company the young Perseus, born from
Jove and Danae, with the usual head of Medusa in his hand, and the usual
knife at his flank; and with them was the above-named Epaphus, who had
as a cap the head of an African elephant. Hercules, the son of Jove and
Alcmena, with the customary lion's skin and the customary club, was seen
coming after them; and in his company he had Scythes, his brother
(although born from a different mother), the first inventor of bow and
arrows, on which account his hands and his flank were seen furnished
with these. After them were seen the two gracious Twins, Castor and
Pollux, riding with an air of no less beauty upon two milk-white and
spirited coursers, and dressed in military habit; each having upon the
helmet, one of which was dotted with eight stars and the other with ten,
a brilliant little flame as helmet-crest, in allusion to that salutary
light, now called S. Elmo's Fire, which is wont to appear to mariners as
a sign that the tempest has passed; the stars being intended to signify
how they were placed in Heaven by Jove as the sign of the Twins. Then
Justice was seen coming after these, a beautiful maiden, who was beating
with a stick and finally strangling a woman ugly and deformed, and in
her company were four of the Gods Penates, two male and two female,
these demonstrating--although in barbaric and extravagant dress, and
although they had on the head a pediment which, with the base turned
upwards, supported the heads of a young man and an old--by the gilded
chain with a heart attached that they had about the neck, and by their
long, ample, and pompous vestments, that they were persons of great
weight and of great and lofty counsel; which was done with much reason,
seeing that they were reputed by the ancient writers to be the
counsellors of Jove. After them were seen walking the two Palici, born
of Jove and Thaleia, adorned with draperies of tawny hue, and crowned
with various ears of corn, and each with an altar in the hand; and in
their company was Iarbas, King of Gaetulia, the son of the same Jove,
crowned with a white band, and with the head of a lion surmounted by a
crocodile as a cap, and his other garments interwoven with leaves of
cane and papyrus and various monsters, and with the sceptre and a
burning flame of fire in the hands. Behind these were seen coming
Xanthus, the Trojan River, likewise the son of Jove, in human form, but
all yellow, all nude, and all shorn, with the overflowing vase in his
hands, and Sarpedon, King of Lycia, his brother, in a most imposing
garb, and in his hand a little mound covered with lions and serpents.
And the last part of that great company, concluding the whole, was
formed of four armed Curetes, who kept clashing their swords one against
another, thus reviving the memory of Mount Ida, where Jove was saved
from the voracious Saturn by their means, drowning by the clash of their
arms the wailing of the tender babe; among whom, with the last couple,
for greater dignity, as Queen of all the others, winged and without
feet, and with much pomp and grandeur, proud Fortune was seen haughtily
approaching.
SIXTH CAR, OF MARS.
Mars, the proud and warlike God, covered with brightly-shining armour,
had the sixth car, adorned with no little richness and pomp, and drawn
by two ferocious wolves very similar to the reality; and therein his
wife Neriene and his daughter Evadne, figured in low-relief, served to
divide three of his fables, which (as has been told of the other cars)
were painted there. For the first of these, he was seen slaying the
hapless son of Neptune, Halirrhotius, in vengeance for the violation of
Alcippe, and for the second he was seen in most amorous guise lying
with Rea Silvia, and begetting by her the two great founders of Rome,
Romulus and Remus; even as for the third and last he was seen miserably
reduced to captivity (as happens often enough to his followers) in the
hands of the impious Otus and Ephialtes. Then before the car, as the
first figures, preceding it on horseback, were seen two of his priests,
the Salii, with their usual shields, the Ancilia, and clad and adorned
with their usual armour and vestments, and wearing on their heads, in
place of helmets, two caps in the likeness of cones; and they were seen
followed by the above-named Romulus and Remus in the guise of shepherds,
covered in rustic fashion with skins of wolves, while, to distinguish
the one from the other, Remus had six vultures placed in his head-dress,
and Romulus twelve, in memory of his more happy augury. After them came
Oenomaus, King of the Greek Pisa, and also the son of Mars, who held in
one hand, as King, a royal sceptre, and in the other a little chariot
all broken, in memory of the treachery shown against him by the
charioteer Myrtilus in his combat for his daughter Hippodameia against
Pelops, her lover. And after him were seen coming Ascalaphus and
Ialmenus, likewise sons of Mars, adorned with a rich military habit;
recalling by the ships that they had in the hand, one for each, the
weighty succour brought by them with fifty ships to the besieged
Trojans. These were followed by the beautiful Nymph Britona, daughter
likewise of Mars, with a net in her arms, in memory of her miserable
fate; and by the not less beautiful Harmonia, who was born of the same
Mars and lovely Venus, and became the wife of Theban Cadmus. To her, it
is said, Vulcan once presented a most beautiful necklace, on which
account she was seen with that necklace about her neck; and in the upper
parts she had the semblance of a woman, but in the lower parts--denoting
that she was transformed, together with her husband, into a serpent--she
was seen all covered with serpent's skin. These had behind them, with a
bloody knife in the hand and across the shoulders a little kid split
open, and very fierce in aspect, Hyperion, born from the same father, by
whom it is said that men were first taught to kill brute-animals, and
with him the no less fierce AEtolus, likewise the offspring of Mars; and
between them was seen walking blind Rage, adorned with a red habit all
picked out with black embroidery, with foaming mouth, and with a
rhinoceros on the head and a cynocephalus upon the back. After these
walked Fraud, with the face of a human creature and with the other parts
as they are described by Dante in the Inferno, and Menace, truly
threatening in aspect with the sword and the staff that she had in the
hands, covered with grey and red draperies, and with the mouth open; and
they were seen to have behind them Fury, the great Minister of Mars, and
Death, pallid and not less in harmony with the same Mars; the first all
draped and tinted in dark red, with the hands bound behind the back, and
seeming to be seated, all threatening, upon a great bundle of various
arms, and the second all pallid, as has been said, and covered with
black draperies, with the eyes closed, and with a presence no less awful
and no less horrible. Spoils, then, in the form of a woman adorned with
a lion's skin, with an ancient trophy in the hand, was seen coming after
these, and she appeared as if desirous to exult over two prisoners,
wounded and bound, who were on either side of her; having behind her, as
the last line of so terrible a company, a woman of a very stalwart
presence, with two bull's horns on the head and with an elephant in the
hand, representing Force, to whom Cruelty, all red and likewise awful,
killing a little child, seemed to make a true and fit companion.
SEVENTH CAR, OF VENUS.
Very different was the aspect of the charming, graceful, elegant, and
gilded car of benign Venus, which was seen coming after the last in the
seventh place, drawn by two most peaceful, snow-white, and amorous
doves; wherein were not wanting four scenes executed with great mastery,
to render it pleasing, gladsome, and rich in pomp. For the first of
these was seen the lovely Goddess transforming herself into a fish, to
escape from the fury of the Giant Typhoeus, and for the second,
likewise, she was seen praying the great father Jove most piteously that
he should deign to make an end at last of the many labours of her
much-enduring son AEneas. In the third was seen the same Venus caught by
her husband Vulcan with the net, while lying with her lover Mars; even
as in the fourth and last she was seen, no less solicitous for her same
son AEneas, coming into accord with the so inexorable Juno to unite him
with the snares of love to the chaste Queen of Carthage. The beautiful
Adonis, as her dearest lover, was seen walking first before the car, in
the gracious habit of a huntsman, and with him appeared as his
companions two charming little Loves, with painted wings and with bows
and arrows. These were followed by the marital Hymeneus, young and
beautiful, with the customary garland of marjoram, and in his hand the
lighted torch; and by Thalassius with the spear and shield, and the
little basket full of wool. And after them was seen coming Peitho, the
Goddess of Persuasion, robed in the habit of a matron, with a great
tongue upon the head (after the Egyptian custom) containing a bloody
eye, and in the hand another similar tongue which was joined to another
counterfeited hand; and with her the Trojan Paris in the habit of a
shepherd, who was seen carrying in memory of his fable that for him so
unlucky apple. Even as Concord, in the form of a grave and beautiful
woman crowned with a garland, with a cup in one hand and in the other a
sceptre wreathed in flowers, could be seen following these; and with
her, likewise, appeared as a companion Priapus, the God of orchards,
with the usual sickle and with the lap all full of fruits; and with
them, with a cube in the hand and another upon the head, Manturna, who
was always invoked most devoutly by brides on the first night that they
were joined with their husbands, believing that firmness and constancy
could be infused by her into inconstant minds. Extravagantly figured,
next, was Friendship, who came after these, for, although in the form of
a young woman, she was seen to have the bare head crowned with leaves of
pomegranate and myrtle, wearing a rough dress, upon which could be read,
MORS ET VITA; with the breast open, so that the heart could be
perceived, and there, likewise, were to be read these words written,
LONGE ET PROPE; and she carried in the hand a withered elm-trunk
entwined with a fresh and fertile vine. In her company was Pleasure,
both the seemly and the unseemly, likewise extravagantly figured in the
form of two young women that were shown attached to one another by the
back; one white, and, as Dante said, cross-eyed and with the feet
distorted, and the other, although black, yet of a seemly and gracious
form, girt with beautiful consideration by the jewelled and gilded
cestus, with a bit and a common braccio for measuring in the hands. And
she was followed by the Goddess Virginensis, who used also to be invoked
in ancient nuptials, that she might aid the husband to loose the virgin
zone; on which account, all robed in draperies of white linen, with a
crown of emeralds and a cock upon the head, she was seen walking with
the above-named zone and with a little branch of agnus-castus in the
hands. In her company was Beauty, desired so much and by so many, in the
form of a gracious virgin wreathed in flowers, and all crowned with
lilies; and with them was Hebe, the Goddess of Youth, likewise a virgin,
and likewise dressed with much richness and infinite grace, and crowned
with the ornament of a lovely gilded garland, and carrying in the hand a
beautiful little branch of flowering almond. Finally, that most lovely
company was concluded by Joy, likewise a virgin, gracious and crowned
with a garland, who in similar guise carried in the hand a thyrsus all
woven of garlands and various leaves and flowers.
EIGHTH CAR, OF MERCURY.