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diff --git a/44235.txt b/44235.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ed9a2df..0000000 --- a/44235.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,18917 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino, Volume II (of -3), by James Dennistoun, Edited by Edward Hutton - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino, Volume II (of 3) - Illustrating the Arms, Arts, and Literature of Italy, from 1440 To 1630. - - -Author: James Dennistoun - -Editor: Edward Hutton - -Release Date: November 21, 2013 [eBook #44235] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO, -VOLUME II (OF 3)*** - - -E-text prepared by Suzanne Lybarger, Linda Cantoni, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries -(https://archive.org/details/toronto) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 44235-h.htm or 44235-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44235/44235-h/44235-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44235/44235-h.zip) - - - Project Gutenberg has the other two volumes of this work. - Volume I: see http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42560 - Volume III (including the index): see http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50577 - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See - https://archive.org/details/memoirsofdukeso02dennuoft - - -Transcriber's note: - - This work was originally published in 1851. As noted below, - footnotes marked by an asterisk were added by the editor - of the 1909 edition, from which this e-book was prepared. - - Obvious printer errors have been corrected without note. - Other errors are indicated by a [Transcriber's Note]. - - Certain spelling inconsistencies have been made consistent; - for example, variants of Michelangelo's last name have been - changed to Buonarroti. Archaic spellings in English and - Italian have been retained as they appear in the original. - - The original contains several letters with non-standard - tildes. These are represented in brackets, e.g., [~v]. - - In the original book the genealogical charts at the end - contained section symbols (double-S characters). They are - represented by {S}. - - Full-page illustrations have been moved so as not to break - up the flow of the text. - - - - - -MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO - -Illustrating the Arms, Arts & Literature of Italy, 1440-1630 - -by - -JAMES DENNISTOUN OF DENNISTOUN - -A New Edition with Notes by Edward Hutton -& Over a Hundred Illustrations - -In Three Volumes. VOLUME TWO - - - - - - - -[Illustration] - -London John Lane The Bodley Head -New York John Lane Company MCMIX - -William Brendon and Son, Ltd., Printers, Plymouth - - - - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -ELISABETTA DI MONTEFELTRO, DUCHESS OF URBINO - -_After the picture by Andrea Mantegna in the Uffizi Gallery, -Florence_] - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS OF VOLUME II. ix - - CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. xi - - -BOOK THIRD - -(_continued_) - -OF GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO, THIRD DUKE OF URBINO - - CHAPTER XIX - - The massacre of Sinigaglia--Death of Alexander VI.--Narrow - escape of Cesare Borgia 3 - - CHAPTER XX - - Duke Guidobaldo restored--The Election of Julius II.--The - fall of Cesare Borgia--The Duke's fortunate position--Is - made Knight of the Garter--The Pope visits Urbino 23 - - CHAPTER XXI - - The Court of Urbino, its manners and its stars 43 - - CHAPTER XXII - - Emilia Pia--The _Cortegiano_--Death of Duke Guidobaldo, - succeeded by Francesco Maria della Rovere 72 - - -BOOK FOURTH - -OF LITERATURE AND ART UNDER THE DUKES DI MONTEFELTRO AT URBINO - - CHAPTER XXIII - - The revival of letters in Italy--Influence of the - princes--Classical tastes tending to pedantry and - paganism--Greek philosophy and its effects--Influence of - the Dukes of Urbino 93 - - CHAPTER XXIV - - Count Guidantonio a patron of learned men--Duke - Federigo--The _Assorditi_ Academy--Dedications to - him--Prose writers of Urbino--Gentile Becci, Bishop of - Arezzo--Francesco Venturini--Berni of Gubbio--Polydoro di - Vergilio--Vespasiano Filippi--Castiglione--Bembo--Learned - ladies 109 - - CHAPTER XXV - - Poetry under the Montefeltri--Sonnets--The Filelfi--Giovanni - Sanzi--Porcellio Pandonio--Angelo Galli--Federigo - Veterani--Urbani Urbinate--Antonio - Rustico--Naldio--Improvisatori--Bernardo Accolti--Serafino - d'Aquila--Agostino Staccoli--Early comedies--_La - Calandra_--Corruption of morals--Social position of women 130 - - CHAPTER XXVI - - Mediaeval art chiefly religious--Innovations of Naturalism, - Classicism, and Paganism--Character and tendencies of - Christian painting ill-understood in England--Influence of - St. Francis 157 - - CHAPTER XXVII - - The Umbrian School of Painting, its scholars and - influence--Fra Angelico da Fiesole--Gentile da - Fabriano--Pietro Perugino--Artists at Urbino--Piero della - Francesca--Fra Carnevale--Francesco di Giorgio 184 - - CHAPTER XXVIII - - Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino--His son, the immortal - Raffaele--Early influences on his mind--Paints at Perugia, - Citta di Castello, Siena, and Florence--His visits to Urbino, - and works there 216 - - CHAPTER XXIX - - Raffaele is called to Rome, and employed upon the - Stanze--His frescoes there--His other works--Change in his - manner--Compared with Michael Angelo--His death, character, - and style 235 - - CHAPTER XXX - - Timoteo Viti--Bramante--Andrea Mantegna--Gian - Bellini--Justus of Ghent--Medals of Urbino 254 - - -BOOK FIFTH - -OF THE DELLA ROVERE FAMILY - - CHAPTER XXXI - - Birth and elevation of Sixtus IV.--Genealogy of the della - Rovere family--Nepotism of that pontiff--His improvements - in Rome--His patronage of letters and arts--His brother - Giovanni becomes Lord of Sinigaglia and Prefect of - Rome--His beneficent sway--He pillages a papal - envoy--Remarkable story of Zizim or Gem--Portrait of - Giovanni--The early character and difficulties of Julius - II.--Estimate of his pontificate 277 - - -BOOK SIXTH - -OF FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE, FOURTH DUKE OF URBINO - - CHAPTER XXXII - - Youth of Duke Francesco Maria I.--The League of - Cambray--His marriage--His first military service--The - Cardinal of Pavia's treachery--Julius II. takes the field 313 - - CHAPTER XXXIII - - The Duke routed at Bologna from the Cardinal of Pavia's - treason, whom he assassinates--He is prosecuted, but - finally absolved and reconciled to the Pope--He reduces - Bologna--Is invested with Pesaro--Death of Julius II. 334 - - CHAPTER XXXIV - - Election of Leo X.--His ambitious projects--Birth of - Prince Guidobaldo of Urbino--The Pontiff's designs upon - that state, which he gives to his nephew--The Duke retires - to Mantua 351 - - CHAPTER XXXV - - The Duke returns to his state--His struggle with the - usurper--His victory at Montebartolo 372 - - CHAPTER XXXVI - - Continuation of the ruinous contest--The Duke finally - abandons it--Death of Lorenzo de' Medici--Charles V. - elected Emperor 391 - - CHAPTER XXXVII - - Death of Leo X.--Restoration of Francesco Maria--He - enters the Venetian service--Louis XII. invades the - Milanese--Death of Bayard--The Duke's honourable reception - at Venice--Battle of Pavia 411 - - CHAPTER XXXVIII - - New league against Charles V.--The Duke's campaign in - Lombardy--His quarrels with Guicciardini--Rome pillaged - by the Colonna--The Constable Bourbon advances into - Central Italy--The Duke quells an insurrection at - Florence 433 - - -APPENDICES - - I. Portraits of Cesare Borgia 459 - - II. Duke Guidobaldo I. of Urbino, a Knight of the Garter 462 - - III. Giovanni Sanzi's MS. Chronicle of Federigo, - Duke of Urbino 471 - - IV. Epitaph of Giovanni della Rovere 480 - - V. Remission and rehabilitation of Duke Francesco Maria I. - in 1512-13 481 - - VI. Letter from Cardinal Wolsey to Lorenzo de' Medici 484 - - GENEALOGICAL TABLES _At end of book_ - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - Elisabetta di Montefeltro, Duchess of Urbino. - After the picture by Andrea Mantegna in the Uffizi - Gallery, Florence. (Photo Alinari) _Frontispiece_ - - FACING PAGE - - Il Castello di Sinigaglia. (Photo Alinari) 10 - - Pope Julius II. From the picture by Raphael in the - Pitti Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson) 40 - - Portrait of a lady, her hair dressed in the manner - of the fifteenth century. From the picture by ? Verrocchio - in Poldo-Pezzoli Collection, Milan. (Photo Alinari) 44 - - A lady of the fifteenth century with jewels of the - period. (Photo Alinari) 48 - - Count Baldassare Castiglione. From a picture in the - Torlonia Gallery, Rome 50 - - Hair dressing in the fifteenth century. Detail from the - fresco by Pisanello in S. Anastasia of Verona. (Photo Alinari) 54 - - Cardinal Bembo. From a drawing once in the possession of - Cavaliere Agricola in Rome 62 - - Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino. From a lead medal - by Adriano Fiorentino in the British Museum. By the - courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq. 72 - - Emilia Pia. From a medal by Adriano Fiorentino in the - Vienna Museum. By the courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq. 72 - - Hair dressing in the sixteenth century. After a picture - by Bissolo. (Photo Alinari) 76 - - Portrait of a lady in mourning. After the picture by - Pordenone in the Dresden Gallery. (Photo R. Tamme) 84 - - S. Martin and S. Thomas with Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, - and Bishop Arrivabeni. After the picture by Timoteo Viti - in the Duomo of Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 88 - - Baldassare Castiglione. After the picture by Raphael in - the Louvre. 120 - - Madonna del Belvedere. After the fresco by Ottaviano - Nelli in S. Maria Nuova, Gubbio 190 - - Madonna del Soccorso. After the gonfalone by a pupil of - Fiorenzo di Lorenzo in S. Francesco, Montone 196 - - Raphael, aged six years. From a picture once in the - possession of James Dennistoun 216 - - Raphael. After the portrait by himself in the Uffizi - Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson) 220 - - Madonna and child. After the picture by Giovanni Santi, - in the Pinacoteca of Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 224 - - Ecce Homo. From the picture by Giovanni Santi in the - Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 226 - - S. Sebastian. After the picture by Timoteo Viti in the - Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 228 - - Margherita "La Fornarina." After the picture by Raphael - called La Donna Velata in the Pitti Gallery, Florence. - (Photo Alinari) 230 - - Margherita "La Fornarina." After the spoiled picture by - Raphael in the Galleria Barberini in Rome. (Photo Anderson) 232 - - The Sposalizio. After the picture by Raphael, once in the - Ducal Collection at Urbino, now in the Brera, Milan. - (Photo Alinari) 240 - - Isabella of Aragon. After the picture by Raphael in the - Louvre 246 - - St. Sebastian. From the picture by Timoteo Viti in the - Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 254 - - Francesco Maria I. della Rovere. After the picture by - Titian in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (From the Ducal - Collection.) (Photo Alinari) 314 - - Venetian wedding-dress in the sixteenth century. After - the picture called "La Flora" by Titian in the Uffizi - Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson) 316 - - Detail of the Urbino Venus. Supposed portrait of - Duchess Leonora, from the picture by Titian in the - Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson) 320 - - The girl in the fur-cloak. Possibly a portrait of Duchess - Leonora of Urbino. After the picture by Titian in the - Imperial Gallery, Vienna. (Photo Franz Hanfstaengl) 324 - - Duchess of Urbino, either Eleonora or Giulia Varana. - After the picture by Titian in the Uffizi Gallery, - Florence. Painted _ca._ 1538. (Photo Brogi) 328 - - Leo X. After the picture by Raphael in the Pitti Gallery, - Florence. (Photo Anderson) 352 - - Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, Duke of Urbino. After the - picture by Bronzino in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. - (Photo Alinari) 366 - - - - -CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE - - -CHAPTER XIX - - A.D. PAGE - - 1502. Dec. Valentino marches against Sinigaglia 3 - - " " 28. Which surrenders 4 - - " " 31. Cesare massacres the confederate chiefs 4 - - 1503. Jan. 2. His letter to the authorities at Perugia 6 - - " Feb. 22. Cardinal Orsini poisoned at Rome 8 - - " Jan. Machiavelli's indifference to the massacre 8 - - " " General extinction of moral feeling 10 - - " " 18. Further murders of the chiefs 11 - - " " Valentino in the Val di Chiana 11 - - " " Jealousy of Louis XII. 11 - - " " State of affairs at Urbino 12 - - " June. Siege of San Leo 13 - - " " Relieved by a dexterous stroke 13 - - " The Pontiff's wholesale poisonings 15 - - " Aug. 18. To which he fell himself a victim 16 - - " " The various accounts of this examined 17 - - " " His character 19 - - " " Valentino's narrow escape from the same fate 19 - - " " His policy 20 - - " " Results of the Pope's death at Rome 21 - - " Sep. 22. Election of Pius III. 22 - - -CHAPTER XX - - 1503. Aug. 22. Urbino resumes its allegiance 23 - - " " Guidobaldo returns from Venice 23 - - " " 28. And is welcomed enthusiastically 24 - - " He joins the other princes in a defensive - confederacy 24 - - " The fortunes of Valentino rally 25 - - " His wavering conduct 25 - - " Election of Julius II. 27 - - " Fatal to Valentino's prospects 27 - - " Nov. Guidobaldo's difficult position 28 - - " " The Pope's negotiation with Borgia 29 - - 1504. April. Who escapes to Naples 30 - - " But is sent prisoner to Spain 30 - - 1507. Mar. 10. His death 31 - - 1503. Guidobaldo's fortunate position 31 - - " Nov. 20. Summoned to Rome 32 - - " " His favour with the Pope 32 - - " " 15. The Duchess returns home from Venice 33 - - " " His interview with Valentino 33 - - " " Represented in a fresco 33 - - 1504. He is named Gonfaloniere of the Church 34 - - " And invested with the Garter of England 34 - - " June 1. Returns home, accompanied by Count - Castiglione 34 - - " Feb. Strange pastimes there 34 - - " His brief campaign 35 - - " And happy residence at Urbino 35 - - " His installation as generalissimo of the - papal forces 36 - - " Sep. His nephew, the young Prefect, invested as - his heir-apparent 37 - - " Claims of Venice upon Romagna 38 - - 1505. Guidobaldo summoned to visit the Pope 38 - - 1506. July. Returns home 39 - - " Aug. 26. Julius sets out for Romagna 39 - - " Sep. 25. His magnificent reception at Urbino 39 - - " " Tariff of provisions there 40 - - " Reaches Bologna 41 - - " His statue there, and its fate 42 - - 1507. Mar. 3. Revisits Urbino on his return to Rome 42 - - -CHAPTER XXI - - 1507. The cultivated tastes of the princes - in Romagna 43 - - " The Court of Urbino described by Count - Castiglione, in his _Cortegiano_ 44 - - " The requisites of a lady of that court 45 - - " State of female refinement and morals 46 - - " Coarseness of language and wit 47 - - " Poetical and social pastimes 49 - - " Sketch of the prominent personages there 50 - - " Count Baldassare Castiglione 51 - - " He goes to England 52 - - " His marriage, and conjugal affection 53 - - " His portraits 53 - - " His death and character 55 - - " Giuliano de' Medici 56 - - " Cesare Gonzaga 58 - - " Ottaviano Fregoso 58 - - " Cardinal Federigo Fregoso 59 - - " Bembo's letter on his death 61 - - " Cardinal Bembo 62 - - " His attachment to Lucrezia Borgia 63 - - " His promotion under Leo X. 64 - - " His lax morals 64 - - " Bernardo Dovizii, Cardinal Bibbiena 65 - - " His ingratitude and ambition 67 - - " His beauty and worldly character 68 - - " Bernardo Accolti, l'Unico Aretino 69 - - " Count Ludovico Canossa 70 - - " Alessandro Trivulzio 71 - - -CHAPTER XXII - - 1507. The Duke's declining health 72 - - " The court enlivened by female society 72 - - " Emilia Pio, surnamed Pia 75 - - " Her decorum and wit 76 - - " Her management of the social resources - of the palace 77 - - " The origin of Castiglione's _Cortegiano_ 78 - - " Guidobaldo a martyr to gout 79 - - 1506-1508. Extraordinary derangement of the seasons 79 - - 1508. April. He is carried to Fossombrone 80 - - " " 11. His great sufferings and resigned end 80 - - " " The paganism of his biographers 81 - - " " Precautions of the Duchess against - a revolution 82 - - " " And of the Pontiff 83 - - " " His body taken to Urbino 84 - - " " 13. The Prefect Francesco Maria proclaimed - Duke of Urbino 85 - - " " His visit to the Duchess 85 - - " " Funeral of Guidobaldo 85 - - " May 2. His obsequies and funeral oration 85 - - " His portraits 86 - - " His accomplishments and excellent character 86 - - " His patronage of Paolo Cortesio 87 - - " Enduring influence of his reign 88 - - " His widow 89 - - -CHAPTER XXIII - - 1443-1508. The golden age of Italian letters and arts 93 - - " " Rich in scholars but poor in genius 94 - - " " Its prosaic tendency 94 - - " " The revival of learning 95 - - " " Promoted by the multiplicity of - independent communities 97 - - " " Especially by the petty sovereigns 98 - - " " Adulatory tendency of such literature 99 - - " " A narrow patriotism generated 100 - - " " Taste for classical erudition, philology - and grammar 101 - - " " The study of Latin induced pedantry and - languid conventionality 102 - - " " The prosaic scholarism of this period 103 - - " " Tending to pagan ideas 103 - - " " The rival philosophies of Aristotle - and Plato 105 - - " " Leading to fierce quarrels 106 - - " " Superseding Christian revelation 106 - - " " And eventually shaking Catholic unity 107 - - " " Influence of the Dukes of Urbino on letters 107 - - " " Mediocrity of many authors of local fame 108 - - -CHAPTER XXIV - - 1412-1441. Letters of Count Guidantonio in favour - of various learned men 109 - - 1444-1482. Duke Federigo's love for literary converse 111 - - " " The academies 112 - - " " Fulsome dedications 112 - - 1473. Gentile de' Becci 113 - - 1480. Ludovico Odasio 114 - - Francesco Venturini 114 - - Guarniero Berni of Gubbio 115 - - 1470-1555. Polydoro di Vergilio 115 - - " " His preferments in England 115 - - " " His English history 117 - - Vespasiano Filippi 118 - - 1478-1529. Count Baldassare Castiglione 119 - - " " His _Cortegiano_ 119 - - " " Compared with Machiavelli's _Principe_ 120 - - " " His letter to Henry VIII. regarding - Duke Guidobaldo 121 - - " " His poetry 121 - - 1528. His letter to his children 122 - - 1470-1547. Cardinal Bembo 123 - - " " His pedantry and affected imitation - of Cicero 123 - - " " His history of Venice 124 - - " " His Essay on Duke Guidobaldo 124 - - " " His other works 125 - - Learned ladies 128 - - -CHAPTER XXV - - 1443-1508. Poetry under the Montefeltrian Dukes 130 - - " " Defects of the sonnet 131 - - Francesco Filelfo 131 - - 1480. Gian Maria Filelfo, his son 132 - - His Martiados in praise of Duke Federigo 132 - - His minor poems 133 - - Specimen of the dedication 134 - - His sonnet to Gentile Bellini the painter 135 - - His life of Duke Federigo 136 - - Pandonio of Naples 136 - - His Feltria on Duke Federigo's campaigns 137 - - Specimen of it 137 - - Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino, father of - Raffaele Sanzio 138 - - His metrical chronicle of Duke Federigo 138 - - Various specimens of it translated 140 - - 1428-1457. Angelo Galli from Urbino 143 - - Specimen of his poetry 143 - - Federigo Veterani, his beautiful - transcripts 144 - - His tribute in verse to Duke Federigo 145 - - Urbani of Urbino 146 - - Antonio Rustico of Florence 146 - - Naldio of Florence 146 - - Bernardo Accolti of Arezzo 146 - - His improvisation 146 - - Serafino di Aquila 147 - - Agostino Staccoli of Urbino 147 - - Early Italian comedies 147 - - La Calandra of Bibbiena 147 - - 1513. Its performance at Urbino 148 - - Description of the scenery and - accompanying interludes 148 - - Origin of the ballet 152 - - Nature of the plot in La Calandra 152 - - Low standard of morals at that time 153 - - Obscene jest books 154 - - -CHAPTER XXVI - - Mediaeval art almost exclusively religious 157 - - The introduction of types and - traditionary forms 157 - - A picture by Botticelli denounced as - heretical (note) 158 - - The choice and treatment of sacred themes 159 - - Modified by the personal character of - artists 160 - - Instances of this 161 - - Devotional feeling of early painters 161 - - Shown in the rules of their guilds at - Siena and Florence 162 - - Case of Giorgio Vasari 163 - - The gloomy character of Spanish art 163 - - The subject to be considered apart from - sectarian views 164 - - Christian art modified in the fifteenth - century 166 - - Gradual innovation of naturalism 167 - - Followed by paganism and classicism 168 - - Rise of the "new manner" 169 - - Religious prudery in Spain fatal to art 170 - - Von Rumohr's definition of Christian art 170 - - Opinions prevailing in England 171 - - Hogarth and Savonarola 172 - - Burnet and Barry 172 - - Reynolds and Raffaele 172 - - Obstacles to a due appreciation of this - subject among us 173 - - Mr. Ruskin and Lord Lindsay 174 - - Sir David Wilkie 175 - - It does not necessarily lead to popery 175 - - Nor is it a desirable "groundwork for a - new style of art" 176 - - St. Francis of Assisi, his legends - and shrine 177 - - Their influence renders Umbria the cradle - of sacred art 178 - - Opinions of Rio, Boni, and Herbert Seymour 179 - - -CHAPTER XXVII - - The Umbrian school hitherto overlooked 184 - - The cathedral of Orvieto and the sanctuary - of Assisi attract many artists 185 - - The dramatic or Dantesque character of - Florentine painting 186 - - Sentimental devotion of the Sienese school 187 - - Influence of these on Umbrian painters 187 - - -1299. Oderigi da Gubbio 188 - - Notice of him by Dante 188 - - Guido Palmerucci of Gubbio 189 - - Angioletto, a glass-painter of Gubbio 190 - - 1375-1444. Ottaviano Nelli of Gubbio and his pupils 190 - - 1434. June 30. His letter to Caterina, Countess of Urbino 192 - - Allegretto Nuzi of Fabriano 193 - - 1370-14. Gentile da Fabriano; he studies under 193 - - 1383-14. Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, the Beato Angelico 194 - - " " A friar of holy life and pencil 194 - - " " Gentile called "master of the masters" 196 - - 1370-14. His works studied by Raffaele 196 - - " " Goes to Venice 197 - - " " His taste for gaudy trappings 197 - - Benedetto Bonfigli of Perugia 199 - - 1446-1524. Pietro Perugino 199 - - Painters in Urbino 200 - - -1478. Piero della Francesca of Borgo - San Sepolcro 201 - - " " His history obscure 201 - - " " His two distinct manners 202 - - " " His knowledge of geometry 203 - - " " His claims to the introduction - of perspective 203 - - " " These examined, and those of Luca Pacioli 203 - - " " His unedited writings (note) 204 - - " " His frescoes at Arezzo and their influence - on Raffaele 206 - - " " His portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo - Malatesta 208 - - " " His portraits of the Montefeltrian princes 209 - - -1484. Bartolomeo Coradino, the Fra Carnevale 210 - - Beautiful altar-picture near Pesaro 211 - - 1423-1502. Francesco di Giorgio of Siena 211 - - His works in painting, architecture, - and engineering 212 - - Letter of Duke Federigo on his behalf 214 - - His writings 215 - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - - -1494. Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino 216 - - Till lately unjustly depreciated 216 - - His own account of himself 217 - - His style and works 218 - - His portrait of his son, the divine - Raffaele 218 - - 1483. Apr. 6. Birth of Raffaele Sanzio of Urbino, - surnamed "the Divine" 220 - - Notice of his biographers 220 - - His appearance happily timed 221 - - First pictorial influences on his mind 222 - - 1495. He goes to the school of Perugino 223 - - 1500-1504. His earliest independent works at Citta - di Castello 225 - - " " Returns to paint at Perugia 226 - - " " Visits Siena and Florence 226 - - " " Returns to paint at Urbino 227 - - " " His second visit to Florence 227 - - " " With a recommendation from Joanna - della Rovere 228 - - 1504-1505. His works, patrons, and associates there 228 - - 1505-1507. Again painting at Perugia 230 - - 1505-1507. His intercourse with Francia 231 - - 1503-1508. And with the polished court of Urbino 231 - - " " Works commissioned of him there 232 - - " " His recently discovered fresco at Florence 234 - - -CHAPTER XXIX - - 1508. He is called to Rome by Julius II. 235 - - " And employed to paint in the Stanze 236 - - 1508-1513. His plan for the frescoes there detailed - and examined 236 - - 1513. Feb. 21. Death of Julius II. 239 - - 1513-1520. Raffaele's powers overtaxed 240 - - " " He gradually falls into "the new manner" 241 - - " " The charge against him of a vicious life - unfounded 241 - - " " Question how far he imitated others 242 - - " " Especially Michael Angelo 243 - - " " No parallel between them 244 - - " " His diminished intercourse with Urbino 246 - - 1520. Apr. 6. His sudden death and funeral 247 - - " His intended marriage and cardinal's hat 249 - - " His varied gifts 250 - - " Testimonies to his merits 250 - - " His sense of beauty 251 - - " Purity of his taste 252 - - -CHAPTER XXX - - 1470-1523. Timoteo Viti 254 - - His picture of questioned orthodoxy 256 - - 1444-1514. Donato Bramante 259 - - Confusion regarding him 259 - - His works at Urbino 261 - - Commences St. Peter's, at Rome 262 - - Builds at the Vatican 263 - - Fra Bernardo Catelani 264 - - Crocchia of Urbino 265 - - 1450-1517. Francesco Francia 265 - - 1430-1506. Andrea Mantegna 265 - - 1424-1514. Giovanni Bellini 266 - - 1446-1523. Pietro Perugino 266 - - 1386-1445. Jean van Eyck 266 - - 1474. Justus of Ghent 267 - - Italian portrait medallions 269 - - 1468. Clemente of Urbino 270 - - Medals of Duke Federigo 270 - - Medal of Duchess Elisabetta 272 - - Medal of Emilia Pia 273 - - -CHAPTER XXXI - - 1414. July 21. Birth of Sixtus IV. 277 - - " Origin of his family 277 - - 1414. Omens attending his birth 278 - - 1471. Aug. 9. His education and elevation to the papacy 278 - - Children of his father, and their - descendants 279 - - His partiality to his nephews 283 - - Extravagance of Cardinal Pietro Riario 284 - - Hospitalities of Sixtus 285 - - His improvements in Rome 286 - - Scandals regarding him 287 - - His patronage of art 287 - - And of the Vatican Library 289 - - Portrait there of himself and nephews 289 - - Painted by Melozzo da Forli 290 - - His brother Giovanni della Rovere 291 - - 1474. Oct. 12. Made vicar of Sinigaglia 291 - - " " 28. His marriage with Princess Giovanna - of Urbino 291 - - 1475. Made Lord Prefect of Rome 291 - - His beneficial reign 292 - - His favour at the papal court 293 - - 1474. The story of Zizim or Gem 293 - - " His ransom is seized by the Prefect 294 - - " Curious correspondence of the Sultan - with Alexander VI. 295 - - " Description of Gem by Mantegna the painter 297 - - 1501. Nov. 6. Death of the Prefect 299 - - His portrait 299 - - His widow 300 - - Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere 301 - - His persecutions by the Borgias 301 - - 1503. Nov. 1. His election to the Tiara 303 - - His character and policy 304 - - His patronage of art 306 - - His improvements in Rome 306 - - Parallel of him with Leo X. 307 - - -CHAPTER XXXII - - 1490. Mar. 25. Birth of Duke Francesco Maria I. 313 - - 1501. Nov. 6. He succeeds to his father's state - of Sinigaglia 313 - - " " He is carried to Urbino 313 - - 1502. Apr. 24. Is made Prefect of Rome 313 - - " His early education and tastes 314 - - " His military propensities 314 - - " June 20. His escape from Cesare Borgia 315 - - 1502. He is received at the court of France 315 - - 1504. March. His return to Italy 315 - - " June 17. Restored at Sinigaglia 316 - - " Sep. 18. Invested as heir-apparent of Urbino 316 - - 1505. Jan. Contracted in marriage to Leonora Gonzaga 316 - - 1506. His first military service 316 - - 1507. Oct. 6. Assassinates the paramour of his sister 317 - - 1508. Apr. 14. He succeeds to the dukedom of Urbino 318 - - " " His constitutional concessions 319 - - " " 25. His summons to his new subjects to - swear allegiance 319 - - " His judicious and conciliatory measures 320 - - " Origin of the League of Cambray 321 - - " Dec. 10. It is signed 322 - - " " The objects of this unnatural combination 322 - - " Oct. 4. Francesco Maria made captain-general of - the ecclesiastical forces 323 - - 1509. May. Elected a Knight of the Garter, but not - confirmed by Henry VIII. 324 - - " Dec. 24. His marriage celebrated 324 - - The Duchess Leonora's psalter 324 - - " April. He takes the field against Venice 325 - - " May 4. Takes Brisghella 325 - - " Remarkable incident in his camp 325 - - " The Pope's partiality for the Cardinal - of Pavia 326 - - " His character and intrigues against - Francesco Maria 327 - - " His treachery 327 - - " May 14. The Venetians beaten at Vaila 328 - - " June 11. Rimini capitulates, and the campaign - closes 329 - - " The Duke carries his bride to Rome 329 - - " He reconciles the Pope to Giuliano - de' Medici 329 - - " The Pope changes sides 330 - - " Further treachery of the Cardinal of Pavia 330 - - 1510. July. The Duke marches against Ferrara 331 - - " Sep. Julius II. takes the field 331 - - " His suspicions of the Cardinal 332 - - " The council of Pisa threatened 332 - - " His indomitable resolution 333 - - -CHAPTER XXXIII - - 1510. Dec. His ill-judged appearance at the siege - of Mirandola 334 - - 1511. May 21. The Duke's miscarriage before Bologna - by the Cardinal's treachery 336 - - " " The Cardinal prepossesses the Pope - against his nephew 338 - - " " 24. And falls by his hand 339 - - " Ill-timed badinage of Cardinal Bembo (note) 339 - - " The Duke retires to Urbino 340 - - " June. And the Pontiff returns to Rome 340 - - " His indignation against the Duke 340 - - " Who is arrested, and subjected to a - complicated prosecution 341 - - " Defended by Beroaldo the younger 341 - - " Dangerous illness of Julius 342 - - " He is reconciled to Francesco Maria 343 - - " Dec. 9. And absolves him 343 - - " " New league against the French 343 - - 1512. Hesitation of Francesco Maria 344 - - " Consequent disgust of Julius 344 - - " Apr. 11. The field of Ravenna 344 - - " Francesco Maria is reconciled to the Pope 345 - - " June 22. He retakes Bologna 345 - - " Aug. And reduces Reggio 345 - - " The French abandoned by their - Italian allies 346 - - " The Duke's fruitless attempt on Ferrara 347 - - " Restoration of the Medici at Florence 347 - - " The Duke's feeling towards them examined 347 - - " New projects of the Pope 348 - - " Lapse of Pesaro to the Holy See 349 - - " Oct. 23. The town reduced by Francesco Maria 349 - - 1513. Feb. 16. He is invested with that state 350 - - " " 21. Death of Julius II. 350 - - " Mar. 16. The Duke's reception at Pesaro 350 - - -CHAPTER XXXIV - - 1513. Influence of Francesco Maria in the - conclave favourable to the Medici 351 - - " Mar. 11. Election of Leo. X. 351 - - " " His singular good fortune 352 - - " " His character contrasted with that of - Julius by Sismondi 352 - - " " 19. Francesco Maria attends his coronation 353 - - " " And is confirmed in all his dignities 354 - - " Sep. His favour for Baldassare Castiglione 355 - - " Notice of the fief of Novilara 357 - - 1514. Ambitious projects and intrigues of - Leo X., involving Urbino 358 - - " Apr. 2. Birth of Prince Guidobaldo of Urbino 359 - - 1515. Jan. 1. Bembo's visit to that court 359 - - " June The Duke superseded by Leo X. in - his command 360 - - " Friendship of Giuliano de' Medici for him 361 - - " Jan. 1. Death of Louis XII., succeeded by - Francis I. 362 - - " The Pontiff's undecided policy 362 - - " Sep. 13. Battle of Marignano 364 - - 1516. Jan. Death of Ferdinand of Spain 364 - - " Mar. 17. And of Giuliano de' Medici 365 - - " " Character of Lorenzo de' Medici 365 - - " " Francesco Maria exposed to the fury of Leo 366 - - " Apr. 27. Sentence of deprivation against him 367 - - " Aug. 18. And his dignities conferred upon Lorenzo 367 - - " April Ingratitude of Bembo 367 - - Lashed by Porrino 368 - - " May. The duchy of Urbino invaded 368 - - " " 31. Francesco Maria withdraws to Lombardy - with his family 369 - - " " The duchy surrenders to Lorenzo 369 - - " Sep. S. Leo surprised 370 - - -CHAPTER XXXV - - 1516. Aug. 13. The peace of Noyon 372 - - " Attempt on his state by the Duke 372 - - 1517. Jan. 17. His manifesto 373 - - " " His address to the soldiery 376 - - " " Alarm of the Pontiff 377 - - " " Gradara is sacked 377 - - " Feb. Partial rising in his favour 377 - - " " 5. Remarkable adventure of Benedetto Giraldi 378 - - " " " Francesco Maria enters Urbino 380 - - " Measures adopted by Leo 380 - - " The Duke challenges Lorenzo to a personal - encounter, which is declined 382 - - " Mar. 25. Sack of Montebaroccio 383 - - " " Siege of Mondolfo, where Lorenzo is wounded 384 - - " Its sack, with many excesses 385 - - " Cardinal Bibbiena appointed to the command - as legate 387 - - " Disorganisation of his army 388 - - " May 6. It is routed on Montebartolo 388 - - " " " The Duke's letter to his consort detailing - the battle 389 - - -CHAPTER XXXVI - - 1517. Conspiracy against Leo 391 - - " Fate of Cardinal Adrian of Corneto 392 - - " June 20. Leo applies to Henry VIII. 392 - - " His unscrupulous measures 392 - - " May. Francesco Maria's expedition against - Perugia 393 - - " " Treason in his camp 393 - - " " His energetic proceedings 394 - - " June. Makes a foray into La Marca 395 - - " " A conversation with the Pope 396 - - " " His apprehensions 397 - - " July. The Duke's advantage over the Swiss at - Rimini, and march upon Tuscany 398 - - " Aug. Progress of negotiations 398 - - " Conditions granted to Francesco Maria 402 - - " Vile conduct of his Spaniards 402 - - " Curious votive inscription 403 - - " The Duke again withdraws from his state 403 - - " Immense cost of the campaign 404 - - " Its remote consequences upon the - Reformation 404 - - " The fortunes of Lorenzo de' Medici 405 - - 1519. Apr. 28. His death 405 - - " Partition of the duchy of Urbino 406 - - 1520. Mar. Fate of Gian Paolo Baglioni 406 - - 1519. The singular good fortune of Charles V. 407 - - " June 28. He is elected Emperor 408 - - 1521. Combinations for new wars in Italy 408 - - " Francesco Maria in the French interest 409 - - " He retires to Lonno 409 - - " Milan restored to the Sforza family 410 - - -CHAPTER XXXVII - - 1521. Dec. 1. Disgust and death of Leo 411 - - " " Opinions as to his being poisoned 411 - - " " Francesco Maria returns to his state 412 - - " " 22. And is readily welcomed 413 - - 1522. Jan. 5. He restores the Varana and Baglioni 413 - - " " And invades Tuscany 414 - - " " 15. His letter to the Priors of Siena 414 - - " Urbino invaded by the Medici 415 - - " Their reconciliation with the Duke 415 - - " His condotta by them 416 - - " Election of Adrian VI 416 - - " May 18. The Duke is reinstated in his dignities 418 - - " Feb. 18. His bond to the Sacred College 418 - - " Pretensions of Ascanio Colonna upon Urbino 418 - - " June 22. Murder of Sigismondo Varana 419 - - " The Duke refuses service with the French 420 - - " Aug. But aids the Pope against Rimini 420 - - 1523. The ladies of his court return home 421 - - " He establishes his residence at Pesaro 421 - - " Hospitality of the Duchesses 421 - - " He goes to Rome, to wait upon Adrian 422 - - " New league for the defence of Sforza 423 - - " Francesco Maria retained by Venice as - general-in-chief 423 - - " French invasion of the Milanese 423 - - " Sep. 24. Death of Adrian succeeded by Clement VII. 423 - - " Death of Prospero Colonna, and his - influence on the tactics of Francesco - Maria 423 - - " Venetian _proveditori_ and their evils 424 - - 1524. Lanoy commander-in-chief of the allies 426 - - " The Duke of Urbino hampered by the - Proveditore 426 - - " His tactics 427 - - 1523. The French admiral, Bonnivet, wounded 427 - - " Is succeeded by the Chevalier Bayard 427 - - 1524. Apr. 30. His heroic death 427 - - " The French driven out of Italy 428 - - " June 25. His honourable reception at Venice 429 - - " " 27. Made captain-general by the Signory 429 - - " July 3. Received into the company della Calza 430 - - " " 5. Returns home 431 - - " Oct. New invasion of Italy by Francis I. 431 - - 1525. Feb. 25. The battle of Pavia 431 - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII - - 1525. Altered policy of Clement 433 - - " Treason and death of the Marquis of Pescara 434 - - 1526. Feb. 14. Letter from the Duke of Urbino to Cardinal - Wolsey 434 - - " May. New League against Charles V. 435 - - " " The Duke marches to relieve Milan 435 - - " June. And obtains Lodi 435 - - " His embarrassment from the number of - leaders in the army 436 - - " Sketch of Francesco Guicciardini 436 - - " His differences with Francesco Maria 436 - - " Opinions divided as to the advance on Milan 437 - - " The Duke's policy explained 438 - - " July 6. Miscarriage and retreat of the army 439 - - " " The prejudices of Guicciardini 439 - - " " 24. Milan is surrendered by Sforza 441 - - " " The Duke's quarrels with Guicciardini 441 - - " Opinions of Sismondi 442 - - " The Duke's illness from vexation 443 - - " Sep. He carries Cremona 443 - - " The Colonna rebel against the Pope 443 - - " Sep. 20. They surprise Rome, and pillage the Borgo 444 - - " " Francesco Maria visits his Duchess 445 - - " Nov. Fruendesberg brings the lansquenets - into Lombardy 445 - - " The Duke's plans of defence considered 446 - - " Nov. 30. Battle of Borgoforte, and death of - Giovanni de' Medici _delle bande nere_ 446 - - 1527. Tortuous policy of Clement 447 - - " Mar. 15. His truce with Lanoy 448 - - " " Inertness of the allies 449 - - " " The Constable Bourbon 449 - - " " His policy in this war 449 - - " " Inactivity of the Duke 451 - - " " Bourbon's advance into Central Italy 452 - - " " He repudiates Lanoy's truce 452 - - " " His progress through Romagna 453 - - " " Vain attempt of Lanoy to interrupt him 453 - - " " Feeble and selfish views of all the allies 454 - - " " Secret motives of the Duke 454 - - " Apr. 22. Bourbon crosses into Tuscany 455 - - " The Duke quells an insurrection at - Florence 456 - - " May 1. His fortresses of S. Leo and Maiuola - restored 456 - - " Apr. 26. Bourbon hurries onward to Rome 456 - - -APPENDICES - - Cesare Borgia's personal appearance - and portraits 459 - - 1504. Feb. 20. Letter of Henry VIII. to Duke Guidobaldo - with the insignia of the Garter 462 - - " Instructions for his investiture 463 - - " Polydoro di Vergilio's account of it 466 - - 1506. July 24. The Duke sends Count Castiglione to - England as his proxy 469 - - " Oct. 20. His reception and installation 469 - - 1507. He is knighted, and returns to Urbino 470 - - Giovanni Sanzi's metrical Chronicle of - Duke Federigo 471 - - Fac-simile of the autograph 472 - - Table of the contents 472 - - Epitaph upon Giovanni della Rovere 480 - - Remission and rehabilitation of Duke - Francesco Maria I. 481 - - Letter from Cardinal Wolsey to Lorenzo - de' Medici 484 - - - - -MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO--II - - -NOTE.--The Editor's notes are marked with an asterisk. - - - - -BOOK THIRD - -(_continued_) - -OF GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO, THIRD DUKE OF URBINO - - - - -MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - - The massacre of Sinigaglia--Death of Alexander VI.--Narrow - escape of Cesare Borgia. - - -The principal object of the new combination having been attained -by the submission of Urbino, followed by that of Camerino, Borgia -hastened to anticipate the suspicions of his allies by sending -the French succours back to Milan. He however retained a body of -troops, and proposed that the chiefs should co-operate with him in -reducing Sinigaglia, which was held by the late Prefect's widow. -Accordingly, Paolo Orsini, his relation the Duke of Gravina, -Vitellozzo, and Liverotto advanced upon that town, the garrison of -which was commanded by the celebrated Andrea Doria. This remarkable -man, finding himself excluded by the state of parties at Genoa -from all prospect of preferment, had in youth adopted the career -of a condottiere. He took service with Giovanni della Rovere, -distinguishing himself greatly in the campaign of Charles VIII. at -Naples; after which he continued attached to the Prefect and his -widow, with a hundred light horse. Seeing the case of Sinigaglia -desperate, and dreading Liverotto's bitter hatred of the Rovere -race, he retired, having first sent off the Prefectess on horseback -to Florence, disguised as a friar. On the 28th of December, the -assailants took undisputed possession of the city, and sacked it. -His prey now in his toils, Valentino, who had lulled their suspicion -by keeping aloof with his troops in Romagna, flew to the spot on the -pretext of reducing the citadel, and on the 31st arrived at the town -with a handful of cavalry. - -He was met three miles outside of the gate by the chiefs, and -immediately requested their attendance in the house of one Bernardino -di Parma, to receive his congratulations and thanks on their success. -At the same time he desired quarters to be provided for their -respective followings outside of the city, in order to admit his own -army, amounting to two thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry. -Startled at the appearance of a force so disproportioned to the -service in hand, they would gladly have demurred to this distribution -of the troops, but Cesare had contrived that there should be no -opportunity for remonstrance, and resistance would have obviously -been too late. Affecting a confidence they were far from feeling, the -leaders accepted the invitation, and were received with cordiality -and distinction. After an interchange of compliments, Borgia withdrew -upon some pretext, when there immediately entered his chosen agent -of iniquity, Don Michelotto, with several armed followers, who, -after some resistance, arrested the Duke of Gravina, Paolo Orsini, -Vitellozzo, and Liverotto, with some ten others. Before morning the -two last were strangled with a Pisan cord, or violin-string, and a -wrench-pin, by the hands of that monster, in his master's presence. -Their death, according to Machiavelli, was cowardly, especially that -of the blood-stained Liverotto; and their bodies, after being dragged -round the piazza, were exposed for three days before burial. - -That night Valentino, at the head of his Gascons, attacked six -thousand of these captains' troops, which had not dispersed on -hearing the capture of their leaders, slaughtering and plundering -them with the same barbarity they had themselves used towards the -citizens. The greater portion were cut to pieces, and those who -escaped reached their homes naked, having only straw tied round their -legs. Fabio Orsini was saved by his accidental absence from Borgia's -levee; Petrucci and Baglioni, suspicious of treachery, had avoided -their fate by previously retiring home. Against the last of these, -Borgia marched in a few days, carrying with him the remaining chiefs, -of whom he reserved the Orsini until he should hear his father's -intentions; but each night after supper he is said to have had one -of the others brought out, and put to a cruel death before him. Thus -did he, by a dexterous stroke of the most refined duplicity, turn the -tools of his ambition into victims of his vengeance, and at the same -time ridded himself of faithless adherents, whom any change in his -fortune would have again converted into overt and implacable foes.[1] - -[Footnote 1: Our chief authorities for this tragic scene are -Machiavelli's despatches and separate narrative, with the Diaries of -Burchard, Buonaccorsi, and Sanuto. Some details are taken from the -Ricordi of Padre Gratio, guardian of the Monastery delle Grazie at -Sinigaglia, a contemporary, and probably an eye-witness to many of -them. Vat. Urb. MSS. 1023, art. 17.[*A]] - -[Footnote *A: Cf. MADIAI, _Diario delle Cose di Urbino_, -in _Arch. St. per le Marche e per l'Umbria_, tom. III., p. 437. -Machiavelli, who was with Cesare at the time, describes the massacre -of Sinigaglia as "il bellissimo inganno di Sinigaglia." Cesare wrote -an account of it to Isabella d'Este. Cf. her letter to her husband -(D'ARCO, _Notizie di Isabella Estense_, in _Arch. St. Ital._, ser. i., -App., vol. I., No. II. (1845), p. 262).] - -Vermiglioli, in his life of Malatesta Baglioni, has printed, from -the archives of Perugia, a letter from Borgia to the magistrates of -that city, which, in consideration of the comparative obscurity of -that interesting volume, we shall here translate. It is, perhaps, the -only known document fully stating the case of the writer, and so may -be regarded as his defence from the charges we have brought against -him: the style and orthography are remarkably rude; and the matter -abounds in that common expedient, whereby bold and bad men seek to -evade merited accusations, by throwing them upon those they have -outraged.[2] - -[Footnote 2: Our version is from the original letter. Nearly similar -in purport, but much shorter, is a despatch written by him to the -Doge of Venice on the very night of the raid, so anxious was he to -conciliate the Signory.] - - "Magnificent and potent Lords, my special Friends and - Brothers; - - "Superfluous were it to narrate from their outset the - perfidious rebellion and atrocious treason, so known to - yourselves and to all the world, and so detestable, which - your [lords, the Baglioni,] and their accomplices have - committed against his Holiness the Pope and ourselves. - And although all were our vassals, and most of them in - our pay, received and caressed by us as sons or brothers, - and favoured with high promotion, they nevertheless, - regardless of the kindness of his Holiness and our own, - as of their individual honour, banded in schemes of - overweening ambition, and blinded by greed of tyranny, - have failed us at the moment of our utmost need, turning - his Holiness' arms and ours against him and ourselves, - for the overthrow of our sovereignty and person. They - commenced their aggressions upon us by raising our - states of Urbino, Camerino, and Montefeltro, throwing - all Romagna into confusion by force and by seditious - plots, and proceeding under the mask of reconciliation to - fresh offences, until our new levies were brought up in - irresistible force. And so atrocious was their baseness, - that neither the beneficent clemency of his [Holiness] - aforesaid, nor our renewed indulgence to them, weaned them - from the slough of their first vile designs, in which - they still persisted. And as soon as they learned the - departure of the French troops on their return towards - Lombardy, whereby they deemed us weakened and left with no - effective force, they, feigning an urgent desire to aid - in our attack upon Sinigaglia, mustered a third only of - their infantry, and concealed the remainder in the houses - about, with instructions to draw together at nightfall, - and unite with the men-at-arms, whom they had posted in - the neighbourhood, meaning, at a given moment, to throw - the infantry, through the garrison (with whom they had an - understanding), upon the new town, in the narrow space - whereof they calculated upon our being lodged with few - attendants, and so to complete their long-nourished plans - by crushing us at unawares. But we, distinctly forewarned - of all, so effectively and quickly anticipated them, that - we at once made prisoners of the Duke of Gravina, Paolo - Orsini, Vitellozzo of Castello, and Liverotto of Fermo, - and discovered, sacked, and overthrew their foot and - horse, whether concealed or not; whereupon the castellan, - seeing the plot defeated, quickly surrendered the fortress - at discretion. And this we have done, under pressure - of necessity imposed by the measures of these persons - aforesaid, and in order to make an end of the unmeasured - perfidy and villanies of them and their coadjutors, - thereby restraining their boundless ambition and insensate - cupidity, which were truly a public nuisance to the nations - of Italy. Thus your highnesses have good cause for great - rejoicing at your deliverance from these dangers. And on - your highnesses' account, I am now, by his Holiness's - commands, to march with my army, for the purpose of - rescuing you from the rapacious and sanguinary oppression - whereby you have been vexed, and to restore you to free - and salutary obedience to his Holiness and the Apostolic - See, with the maintenance of your wonted privileges. For - the which causes, We, as Gonfaloniere and Captain of his - Holiness and the aforesaid See, exhort, recommend, and - command you, on receipt hereof, to free yourselves from - all other yoke, and to send ambassadors to lay before his - Holiness your dutiful and unreserved obedience: which - failing, we are commanded to reduce you by force to that - duty,--an event that would distress us on account of the - serious injuries which must thereby result to your people, - for whom we have, from our boyhood, borne and still bear - singular favour. From Corinaldo, the 2d of January, 1503. - - "CESARE BORGIA OF FRANCE, DUKE OF ROMAGNA AND - VALENTINO, PRINCE OF ADRIA AND VENAFRA, LORD OF - PIOMBINO, Gonfaloniere and Captain-General of the Holy - Roman Church." - -News of the Sinigaglia tragedy reached the Pope late in the evening, -and he instantly communicated to Cardinal Orsini that Cesare had -taken that city, assured that an early visit of congratulation from -his Eminence would follow. The Cardinal was perhaps the richest and -most influential of his house. He chiefly had organised the league -of La Magione, but having always contrived to keep on good terms -with Alexander, he believed in the professions of regard with which -his Holiness subsequently seduced him from that policy, and thence -reposed in him a fatal confidence. Next morning he rode in state to -pay his respects at the Vatican, where his own person and those of -his principal relations were instantly seized, whilst his magnificent -palace at Monte Giordano was pillaged by orders and for the benefit -of the Pontiff. After an imprisonment of some weeks, he was cut off -by slow poison, prescribed from the same quarter, and died on the 22d -of February. Thus did the Pope set his seal of approval on his son's -atrocities, which he justified by a poor and pointless jest, avowing -that as the confederates of La Magione, after stipulating that they -should not be required to re-enter the service of Valentino unless -singly, had thought fit to place themselves within his power _en -masse_, they merited their fate as forsworn. - -[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF SIGNATURES - -[1. 1480] - -[2. 1494] - -[3. 1501] - -[4. 1504] - -[5. 1501] - -[6. 1510] - -[7. 1522] - -[8. 1540] - -[9. 1517]] - -The massacre of Sinigaglia has been condemned by every writer except -Machiavelli, and posterity has in severe retribution suspected him -of abetting it. This charge possesses a twofold interest, as -inculpating the character of the historian, and as affecting the -morality of the age.[*3] In the latter view alone does it fall under -our consideration: yet however horrible these wholesale murders, they -are more remarkable in Italian history as the crowning crime of an -ambitious career, and as widely influencing the political aspect of -Romagna and La Marca, than from their relative enormity. The fates -of the young Astorre Manfredi of Faenza, of Fogliano of Fermo, of -the Lord of Camerino and his three sons, have all been mentioned in -these pages as occurring within a year or two of this event. It would -be easy to swell the catalogue of slaughter; and we find Baglioni -and Vitellozzo both classed with Cesare himself in the category -of murder, by a chronicler of Alexander VI., who also quotes from -the mouth of Giovanni Bentivoglio, at the diet of La Magione, this -bravado, "I shall assassinate Duke Valentino should I be so lucky as -to have opportunity."[4] The spirit of the age is further illustrated -by its unnumbered poisonings: and the fact that Machiavelli should -neither have used his influence with Valentino to avert the massacre -of the confederates, nor his pen to brand the treachery of that foul -deed, is but another link in the evidence from which we may deduce -the total extinction of moral feeling, which, anticipating the worst -doctrines of Loyola, carried them out with a selfishness, falsehood, -and cruelty unparalleled in the annals of human civilisation.[*5] - -[Footnote *3: It is unlikely that Machiavelli abetted the massacre, -though he certainly approved it dispassionately enough. By it the -Papacy was rid at last of the houses of Colonna and Orsini. Cesare -met Machiavelli after the affair "with the best cheer in the world," -reminding him that he had given him a hint of his intentions, but -adding, "I did not tell you all." He urged on Machiavelli his -desire for a firm alliance with Florence. Cf. MACHIAVELLI, -_Legazione al Valentino_, Lett. 86, and the _Modo tenuto dal Duca -Valentino nel ammazzare Vitellozzo_. See also CREIGHTON, -_op. cit._, vol V., p. 40.] - -[Footnote 4: VERMIGLIOLI: _Vita di Malatesta Baglioni_.] - -[Footnote *5: The schemes of Cesare were in his age no more -unscrupulously carried out than Bismarck's in his. "It is well," said -Cesare, "to beguile those who have shown themselves to be masters of -treachery."] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -IL CASTELLO DI SINIGAGLIA] - -Gianpaolo Baglioni having fled to Siena, Valentino followed him in -that direction, after taking possession of Perugia, and learning -that Citta di Castello, abandoned by the adherents of the Vitelli, -had been plundered by his own partizans. On the 18th of January, -hearing at Citta della Pieve of the blow struck by his father against -the Orsini, and that Fabio, who escaped the snare at Sinigaglia, -was ravaging the Campagna, he handed over Paolo and the Duke of -Gravina to the tender mercies of Michelotto, whose noose quickly -encircled their necks. Invading the Sienese, he carried fire and -sword by Chiusi as far as Pienza and San Quirico, massacring even -the aged and infirm with horrible tortures. His real object, besides -revenging himself upon Petrucci and Baglioni, was to add Siena to his -territory, but his position being then a delicate one with France, he -accepted the proposal of that republic to purchase safety, by exiling -Petrucci their seigneur, and dismissing Baglioni their guest.[*6] - -[Footnote *6: Cf. LISINI, _Cesare Borgia e la repubblica di -Siena_, in the _Boll. Senese di Stor. Pat._, ann. VII. (fasc. I.), -pp. 114, 115, and 144 _et seq._ for all the documents. And for a -short but excellent account in English of the whole Sienese affair, -LANGTON DOUGLAS, _A History of Siena_ (Murray, 1902), p. 206 -_et seq._] - -This series of rapid successes is ascribed by Machiavelli to the -policy of Valentino in ridding himself of his French auxiliaries and -his mercenary confederates, and so being enabled, during the brief -remainder of his career, to give his talents and energy full scope in -the conduct of an army entirely devoted to his views. His conquests -had now extended along the eastern fall of the Apennines, from -Imola to Camerino, and included the upper vale of the Tiber and the -principality of Piombino. He had but to add to them Siena, and the -best part of Central Italy from sea to sea would be his own. The eyes -of Louis, at length opened to a danger which he had so long fostered, -were not blinded by Cesare's affected moderation in claiming his -recent acquisitions rather for the Church than for himself, and that -monarch hastened to caution him from further hostilities against -Tuscany. The successes of Fabio Orsini around Rome at the same time -called for his presence, so he changed his route to make a foray -upon the holdings of that family about the Lake of Bracciano, with -whom the Colonna and Savelli had united against their common enemies -the Borgia. This opportunity was greedily seized by the Pontiff to -carry out his long cherished policy of breaking the power of the -great barons, and the castles of the Orsini having one after another -been reduced, their influence ceased for the future to be formidable -either to their sovereign or their neighbours. - - * * * * * - -But it is time we should return to Urbino, where we left the -citizens bewailing the departure of their Duke. As soon as he was -gone, Antonio di S. Savino took possession of the place in name of -Valentino, and issued a proclamation enjoining the townsfolk to -disarm, the peasantry to return home, and all to surrender whatever -they had stolen the day before from the palace. In the afternoon, -after a conciliatory harangue to the people, he took his lodging -in the palace. Next morning, after mass, the Bishop published a -general amnesty, and oaths of allegiance to the new sovereign were -administered. Towards evening the bells were rung, and a bonfire was -lit in the piazza; but these were heartless and forced rejoicings, -and no bribes could induce even the children to raise the cry of -"Valenza." Nor was this sadness without cause, for the soldiery of -Orsini and Vitellozzo, who still quartered in the town, treated all -with such outrage, that many of the inhabitants prayed for death -to close their sufferings, envying those who were summoned from -such scenes of misery. But when the troops were withdrawn, the mild -character and popular manners of Antonio the governor, skilfully -seconding the conciliatory policy which Borgia had resolved upon, -gave matters another aspect, and occasioned surprise to those who -knew the cruel perfidy of their new master. Various notorious abuses -were put down under severe penalties, especially the acceptance -of presents by judges, and the following up of private vengeance. -The deputy governor, Giovanni da Forli, was however a man of quite -opposite temperament, whose harshness soon counteracted these gentler -influences, and occasioned general disgust. But the people heard -with satisfaction the tragedy of Sinigaglia; for to the perfidy -of the chiefs and the brutality of their army, the loss of their -independence and the whole of their late misfortunes were unanimously -ascribed; and a permission to ravage the territory of the Vitelli, -now publicly proclaimed throughout the duchy, was by many greedily -seized. - -Borgia, having secured fourteen distinguished inhabitants of Urbino -as hostages, ordered that the fortresses left by agreement in -the hands of Guidobaldo should be attempted: that of Maiuolo was -accordingly surprised about the beginning of May, and easily reduced. -S. Leo being better provided, as well as considered impregnable, -its siege was more methodically undertaken, and levies were ordered -to reinforce the assailants. The amount of public sympathy with the -cause may be estimated from Baldi's assertion that, in the city of -Urbino, the utmost difficulty was experienced in raising eight foot -soldiers with one month's pay. Eight hundred Gascons in the French -service were obtained from De la Tremouille; but these, having -turned the siege into a sort of blockade, were dispersed among the -neighbouring villages, where, on the 5th of June, their revels -were suddenly interrupted by unknown assailants, who disappeared -as mysteriously as they had issued from the mountain defiles, -leaving many of the besiegers slain or wounded. The surrounding -peasantry, catching the enthusiasm, rushed to arms, and, but for -extraordinary exertions, the whole duchy would have once more -been out for their legitimate lord. News of this movement having -reached the Duke early in July, he obtained from Florence free -passage through her territory, and from the Venetians a promise of -passive support, and thereupon put himself into communication with -his principal adherents, by means of letters carried by persons of -low condition, many of which were unfortunately intercepted by the -lieutenant-governor of Urbino. His people were thus kept in a fever -of expectation; but, finally, this plan of an invasion was abandoned, -whereupon he repaired to Mantua, to his brother-in-law the Marquis, -who had been taken into the French service under De la Tremouille, -and engaged him to represent to Louis the hardships of his case, and -the danger of Borgia's excessive ambition. - -Disgusted with their ignominious overthrow at S. Leo, the Gascons -assumed the habitual licence of such mercenaries, by soon taking -their departure from - - "The tentless rest beneath the humid sky, - The stubborn wall that mocks the leaguer's art, - And palls the patience of his baffled heart." - -The siege was nevertheless maintained by the commandant of Romagna; -but the place was ably and spiritedly defended by Ottaviano Fregoso, -who will soon attract our notice in other scenes. Marini has recorded -another act of romantic daring by the same Brizio who, in the -preceding year, had surprised the place. Fregoso's tiny garrison -being greatly exhausted by the long blockade, he, with one Marzio, -made his way, during a violent storm of rain, over the rocks, and -through the beleaguering force, and reached a castle near Mantua -where Guidobaldo then was. In vain these emissaries besought him for -a reinforcement of two hundred men; for, thinking it would only waste -their gallantry by prolonging a hopeless struggle, he thankfully -declined their proposal. At length their urgency obtained twenty-five -men who happened to be at hand, and with these they returned to -the leaguer. Marzio, boldly presenting himself to the commandant, -volunteered to join the besiegers with his little party, which being -accepted, he advanced them under the walls, whence, having been -recognised by the garrison, they made a rush to the upper gate, -and were received into the fortress ere the trick was discovered. -By this timely succour, S. Leo was enabled to hold out until the -restoration of its rightful sovereign; and its brave defenders did -not even falter at the threat of summary vengeance upon their wives -and families, who had been brought to the palace of Urbino to answer -for their obstinacy. - - * * * * * - -Christendom was now to be appalled by a fearful catastrophe, which -fitly closed the career of the Borgias, diverting their wonted -weapons to their own destruction, for-- - - "'Tis sure a law of retribution just - That turns the plotters' arts against themselves."[7] - -[Footnote 7: - - "Neque enim lex aequior ulla - Quam necis artifices arte perire sua." OVID. _Ar. Amat._ i. 655.] - -Alexander and his son perceiving that they could no longer turn to -good account the co-operation of Louis for their grasping schemes, -began to look round for new combinations: having squeezed the orange -they were ready to throw aside the rind. But to such projects their -exhausted treasury offered serious obstacles. To supply it they -had recourse, on an extended scale, to an expedient which they had -invented, and already occasionally employed,--that of poisoning the -richest cardinals, seizing on their treasures, and selling their -vacant hats to the highest bidders. Among the most recent and wealthy -of the sacred college was Adrian of Corneto, and he was therefore -selected as next victim. On the 12th of August, the Pope and Cesare -invited him to sup in the Belvidere casino of the Vatican, and the -latter sent forward a supply of poisoned wine, in charge of his -butler, with strict injunctions not to serve it until specially -desired by himself. Several other cardinals were to partake of the -banquet, and, probably, were intended to share the drugged potion. -Alexander had been assured by an astrologer that, so long as he had -about him the sacramental wafer, he should not die; and, accordingly, -he constantly carried it in a little golden box; but, having on that -evening forgotten it upon his toilet, he sent Monsignor Caraffa, -afterwards Paul IV., to fetch it. Meanwhile, overcome by the dog-day -heat, he called for wine. The butler was gone to fetch a salver of -peaches, which had been presented to his Holiness, and his deputy, -having received no instructions as to the medicated bottles, offered -a draught from them to the Pope. He greedily swallowed it, and his -example was more moderately followed by Cesare; thus, - - "Even-handed justice - Commends the ingredients of the poisoned chalice - To their own lips." - -Scarcely had they taken their seats at the table, when the two -victims successively fell down insensible, from the virulence of the -poison, and were carried to bed. The Pontiff rallied so far as to -recover consciousness, and to linger for about a week, but at length -sank under the shock and the fever which supervened, his age being -seventy-one, and his constitution enervated by long debauchery. The -last sacraments were duly administered, and it was remarked that, -during his illness, he never alluded to his children Cesare and -Lucrezia, through life the objects of an overweening, if not criminal -fondness, in whose behalf most of his outrages upon the peace and the -rights of mankind had been committed. His death occurred on the 18th -of August.[*8] - -[Footnote *8: There is no authentic basis for this story. Rome was -in a pestilential condition in August, and the Pope, Cesare, and -the Cardinal Hadrian were all stricken with fever, which a supper -in the open air was surely not unlikely to produce. Alexander was -so detested that the strangeness of his death suggested poison at -once to his enemies. Cf. CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. V., p. -49. An excellent essay on _The Poisonings attributed to the Borgia_ -will be found in CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. V., p. 301 _et -seq._] - -Such is the account of this awful retribution given by Tommasi, -from which most other narratives but slightly deviate as to dates -or immaterial details. Another version, however, occurs in Sanuto's -Diaries, which, being contemporary, and probably supplied from the -diplomatic correspondence of the Signory, merits notice, and has -not been hitherto published. The Cardinal of Corneto, who figures -prominently in this narrative, was made collector for Peter's pence -in England, and Bishop of Hereford, from whence he was translated -to Bath and Wells. We shall find him compromised in Petrucci's -conspiracy against Leo X., but the following charge of pope-poisoning -is new. - -"The Lord Adrian Castillense of Corneto, Cardinal Datary, having -been desired by the Pope to receive him and Duke Valentino at supper -in his vineyard, his Holiness supplying the eatables, this Cardinal -presumed the invitation to be planned for his death by poison, so -that the Duke might obtain his money and benefices, which were -considerable. In order to save himself there seemed but one course, -so, watching his opportunity, he summoned the Pontiff's steward, -whom he knew intimately, and on his arrival received him alone in -a private chamber, where 10,000 ducats were laid out: these he -desired him to accept for love of him, offering him also more of his -property, which he declared he could continue to enjoy only through -his assistance, and adding, 'You certainly are aware of the Pope's -disposition, and I know that he and the Duke have designed my death -by poison through you; wherefore I pray you have pity on me and spare -my life.' The steward, moved with compassion on hearing this, at -length avowed the plan concerted for administering the poison; that, -after the supper, he was to serve three boxes of confections, one -for the Pope, another for the Duke, and a third for the Cardinal, -the last being poisoned; so they arranged that the service of the -table should be contrived in such a way that the Pontiff might eat -of the Cardinal's poisoned box, and die. On the appointed day, the -Pope having arrived at the vineyard with the Duke, the Cardinal -threw himself at his Holiness' feet and kissed them, saying he had -a boon to request, and would not rise until it were granted. The -Pope assuring him of his consent, he continued, 'Holy Father! on the -lord's coming to his servant's house, it is not meet that the servant -should sit with his lord; and the just and proper favour I ask is -permission for the servant to wait at the table of your Holiness.' -The supper being thus served, and the moment arrived for giving the -confections, the box having been poisoned by the steward as directed -by the Pope, the Cardinal placed it before his Holiness, who, relying -on his steward, and convinced of the Cardinal's sincerity by his -service, ate joyfully of this box, as did the Cardinal of the other, -which the Pontiff believed the poisoned one. Thereafter, at the hour -when from its nature the poison took effect, his Holiness began to -feel it, and thus he died: the Cardinal being still alarmed, took -medicine and an emetic, and was easily cured." - -The death of Alexander by poison is generally credited, although -Raynaldus and Muratori, willing to mitigate so heinous a scandal, -incline to the few and obscure authorities who attribute it to -tertian fever. It was natural that the truth should be glossed over, -especially in despatches addressed to the court of his daughter -Lucrezia, to which the latter annalist probably had access. But -though the earliest intelligence of the event forwarded by the -Venetian envoy alludes to the Pope's seizure as fever, his subsequent -letters, quoted by Sanuto, thus loathsomely confirm the current -suspicion of poison having been administered. "On this day [19th] I -saw the Pontiff's corpse, whose apparel was not worth two ducats. -He was swollen beyond the size of one of our large wine-skins. Never -since the Christian era was a more horrible and terrible sight -witnessed. The blood flowed from ears, mouth, and nose faster than -it could be wiped away; his lips were larger than a man's fist, and -in his open mouth the blood boiled as in a caldron on the fire, and -kept incessantly flowing as from a spout; all which I report from -observation."[9] - -[Footnote 9: This passage appears conclusive as to the fact of poison -having been taken by the Pontiff; and it will be observed that -Sanuto's story of the confection-boxes in no way accounts for the -illness of Valentino, which is equally passed over in another totally -different statement of this affair, given in the Appendix to Ranke's -_History of the Popes_, section i. No. 4,--omissions to be kept -in view in testing the probability of these conflicting accounts. -Roscoe seems to have subsequently abandoned the doubts thrown upon -the poisoning in his first edition, although ever prone to extenuate -vices of the Borgia: witness his elaborate defence of Lucrezia, or -his views as to the Duke of Gandia's murder and the massacre of -Sinigaglia. Voltaire treats the question like a habitual doubter, -with the ingenuity of a critic rather than the matured judgment of a -historian. He is answered, with perhaps unnecessary detail, by Masse, -to whom Sanuto was unknown.] - -The character of Alexander VI. as a man and as a sovereign admits of -no question, and is thus forcibly summed up by Sismondi. "He was the -most notoriously immoral man in Christendom; one whose debauchery -no shame restrained, whose treaties no good faith sanctioned, whose -policy was never guarded by justice, to whose vengeance pity was -unknown."[*10] As a pontiff he must be tried by a different test, -and those ecclesiastical writers, who attempt not to defend his -morals or example, assert the orthodoxy of his faith and doctrine, -and commend the wisdom of his provisions for maintenance of that -religion which regarded him as its head. He was the first to -establish the censorship of books,[*11] an important bulwark of the -Roman Church; and among the orders which he instituted or protected -was that of S. Francesco di Paolo. Nor can it be doubted that his -ambitious nepotism eventually aggrandised the temporal possessions -of the papacy, by quelling the mutinous barons of the Campagna, and -by so crushing the more distant seigneurs as to render their states -a speedy and easy prey to Julius II. On the other hand, the openly -simoniacal practices which prevailed during his reign, the strong -measures adopted to raise money for his private ends by a lavish -scale of indulgences, and, generally, the unscrupulous employment of -the power of the keys and the treasures of the Church for unworthy -purposes, all tended to alienate men's minds, and to stir those -doubts which the different, but not less injudicious, policy of his -immediate successors ripened into schism. - -[Footnote *10: This is probably an exaggeration. Alexander VI. was -without reticence in his sins, and so has not escaped whipping. I -append a brief list of authorities for the Borgia:-- - - CERRI, _Borgia ossia Alessandro VI._ (1858). - ANTONETTI, _Lucrezia Borgia in Ferrara_ (1867). - SCHUBERT-SOLDERN, _Die Borgias und ihre Zeit_ (Dresden, 1902). - CITADELLA, _Saggio di Albero Genealogico della Famiglia Borgia_ (1872). - GREGOROVIUS, _Lucrezia Borgia_ (1874). - ---- _Geschichte der Stadt Rom._, tom. VII. (1880). - ALVISI, _Cesare Borgia_ (Imola, 1878). - NEMEC, _Papst Alexander VI. eine Rechtfertigung_ (1879). - LEONETTI, _Papa Alessandro VI._ (1880). - D'EPINOIS, in _Revue des Questions Historiques_ (April, 1881). - VEHON, _Les Borgia_ (1882). - MARICOURT, _Le Proces des Borgia_ (1883). - YRIARTE, _Cesar Borgia_ (1887). - ---- _Autour des Borgias_ (1891).] - -[Footnote *11: I am not quite clear what this means. The Inquisition -was introduced into Italy in 1542, and the _Index Librorum -Prohibitorum_ was established. But the congregation of the Index -was not established till the Council of Trent. Magical books were -prohibited as early as the Council of Nice, 325.] - -Favoured by youth, constitution, and energy of mind, Cesare Borgia -wrestled successfully with the deadly ingredients which he had -inadvertently swallowed. He is said to have been saved by being -frequently placed in the carcass of a newly-killed bullock or mule, -and, whether in consequence of this treatment, or of the inflammatory -nature of the potion, to have lost the whole skin of his body. He had -flattered himself that, foreseeing every possible contingency which -his father's death could develop, he had so planned his measures -as to secure, in any event, his own safety, and the maintenance of -his authority. But, never having anticipated being disabled from -action at that very juncture, his well-laid schemes fell to the -ground, a signal illustration of the proverb, "Man proposes, God -disposes." By means of Don Michelotto, he was, however, able to draw -round the Vatican a body of twelve thousand devoted troops, and that -unscrupulous agent executed his instructions by seizing about 500,000 -ducats in money, jewels, and valuables, from the Pope's apartment, -before his death was published. - -The Diaries of Sanuto give a lively description of the immediate -effects of Alexander's death on Lower Italy,--the exultations of the -people, the prompt movements of the Campagna barons, the hesitation -of Valentino, the intrigues of the cardinals. As soon as the good -news transpired, Rome rose in arms against the Spaniards; and the -Colonna and the Orsini, entering at the head of their troops, -willingly aided in spoiling and slaughtering these countrymen of -the Borgia, who "could nowhere find holes to hide in." Even their -cardinals narrowly escaped a general massacre; and on the 8th of -September, a proclamation by the College cleared the city of these -foreigners on pain of the gibbet. Duke Valentino, although prostrated -in strength, and "seeming as if burnt from the middle downwards," -was not without formidable resources. His hope was, that in the -distracted state of Rome, the cardinals would provide for their -personal safety by holding the conclave in St. Angelo, where the -election would be in his own hands. This calculation was, however, -defeated by their assembling at the Minerva convent, guarded by the -barons of Bracciano and Palestrina, with the bravest of the citizens, -and protected by barricades which withstood an assault by the -redoubted Michelotto. Still his troops were staunch, the Vatican and -St. Angelo were his, and he had secured the treasure of the Holy See. -But his nerve gave way, and after turning the castle guns against the -Orsini palace on Monte Giordano, he fled in a litter to the French -camp without the gates, on the 1st of September, and thence made his -way to the stronghold of Nepi. This vacillation brought its fitting -recompense, and lost him the advantages of his position. Hesitating -betwixt the Colonna and Orsini factions, wavering between Spanish and -French interests, his friends dropped off, his forces melted away, -and he lost the favourable moment for swaying the papal election. - -The rival parties in the conclave, having had no time to mature their -plans, in consequence of the late Pontiff's sudden decease, trusted -to strengthen their respective interests by delay, and so were -unanimous in choosing, on the 22nd of September, the most feeble of -their body, the respected Piccolomini, who survived his exaltation -as Pius III. but twenty-six days. The state of matters at Naples -added to the general embarrassment. The ceaseless struggles for that -crown had of late taken a new turn, the contest being now between -Louis of France and Ferdinand of Spain. The Borgia, long adherents -of the former, had recently inclined to the Spanish side; but their -influence was now irretrievably gone. - - *NOTE.--The following is a list of the chief - conquests of Cesare:-- - - City. Family. Date. Campaign. - - Imola Riarii Nov. 27, 1499 First. - Forli Riarii Jan. 12, 1500 First. - Rimini Malatesta Oct. 10, 1500 Second. - Pesaro Sforza Oct. 21, 1500 Second. - Faenza Manfredi April 25, 1501 Second. - Piombino Appiani Sept. 3, 1501 Second. - Urbino Montefeltri June 21, 1502 Third. - Camerino Varani July 29, 1502 Third. - Sinigaglia Roveri Dec. 28, 1502 Third. - Citta di Castello Vitelli Jan. 2, 1503 Third. - Perugia Baglioni Jan. 6, 1503 Third. - Siena Petrucci Jan. (end), 1503 Third. - - Cf. BURD, ed. _Il Principe_ (Oxford, 1891), p. - 218, note 15. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - - Duke Guidobaldo restored--The election of Julius II.--The - fall of Cesare Borgia--The Duke's fortunate position--Is - made Knight of the Garter--The Pope visits Urbino. - - -Whilst Valentino and his partizans thus had their hands full at Rome, -Romagna and his recent conquests threw off his rule. His officers had -concealed the first news of the tragedy at the Vatican, but, on the -22nd of August, authentic intelligence of the death of Alexander and -the illness of his son having reached Urbino, through some emissaries -of Guidobaldo who announced that the moment for action had arrived, -the people ran to arms. The governor fled to Cesena; his lieutenant -was slain in the tumult; the siege of S. Leo was raised; and in one -day the entire duchy, except one unimportant castle, returned to its -lawful sovereign.[*12] - -[Footnote *12: During the Duke's absence an interesting -correspondence passed between Isabella d'Este and Cardinal Ippolito -d'Este in Rome concerning a Venus and a Cupid of the Duke's. The -Venus was a torso and antique, but the Cupid was the work of -Michelangelo. Cf. GAYE, _Carteggio d'Artisti_, vol. II., -p. 53; ALVISI, _Cesare Borgia_, p. 537; LUZIO, in _Arch. St. Lombardo_ -(1886), and JULIA CARTWRIGHT, _Isabella d'Este_ (Murray, 1903), vol. I., -p. 230 _et seq._] - -On hearing that the Pope and Cesare were both ill, the Duke of Urbino -hastily quitted Venice, his honourable and secure retreat, leaving -behind, in the words of Bembo, "a high reputation for superhuman -genius, for admirable acquirements, for singular discretion." As -a parting favour, that republic advanced him 3000 or 4000 ducats, -towards the expenses of his restoration. He wrote desiring his -nephew Fregoso to send over a detachment from S. Leo, to maintain -order in his capital, and himself following upon the steps of his -messenger, reached that fortress on the 27th of August. Next day he -proceeded to Urbino, where, Castiglione tells us, "he was met by -swarms of children bearing olive-boughs, and hailing his auspicious -arrival; by aged sires tottering under their years, and weeping for -joy; by men and women; by mothers with their babes; by crowds of -every age and sex; nay, the very stones seemed to exult and leap." -Women of all ranks flocked in from the adjacent townships, with -tambourines played before them, to see their sovereign, and touch his -hand; whilst popular fury spent itself upon the usurper's armorial -ensigns, which had been painted in fresco over the city gates a few -months before by Timoteo Vite, at the rate of from one to four ducats -each.[*13] - -[Footnote *13: Cf. MADIAI, _Diario delle Cose di Urbino_, in -_Arch. St. per le Marche e per l'Umbria_, vol. III., p. 444.] - -The example of Urbino was quickly followed by Sinigaglia, Pesaro, -and the other principalities; and by October, a confederacy for -their common maintenance and defence, under oaths and a mutual bond -of 10,000 ducats, was organised by these three states, along with -Camerino, Perugia, Piombino, Citta di Castello, and Rimini, in all -which the exiled seigneurs had resumed their ascendancy. - -It was a condition of this league, that no step or engagement should -be taken by any of the parties without the sanction of Guidobaldo, -who a month before had strengthened his position by accepting service -from the Venetians. The Signory engaged to protect him during life in -his state, against all attacks, and to pay him annually 20,000 scudi, -he maintaining for them a hundred men-at-arms, and a hundred and -fifty light cavalry, besides placing at their disposal, for instant -service, two thousand foot. These were forthwith sent to ravage the -neighbourhood of Cesena, which remained faithful to Valentino, and -thereafter, co-operating with other forces of the new league under -Ottaviano Fregoso, they attacked in succession such citadels and -castles as were held for the usurper. - -The star of Borgia seemed once more in the ascendant. Early -in October Cesare, now able to bestride a mule, returned to -Rome, attended by a hundred and fifty men-at-arms and a hundred -halberdiers, where he patched up a reconciliation with the Orsini -faction, then dominant. From motives which it would now be difficult -to trace, the new Pontiff received him with favour, and named -him captain-general of the Church. But in this crisis of his -destiny he displayed no elevation of character. Disconcerted by -the embarrassment of his position, perhaps by the admonitions of -conscience, uncertain where to repose confidence or look for support, -he quickly repented having trusted himself in the city, and longed -to escape from its incensed populace and exasperated factions to -the shelter of his strongholds in Romagna. Humbling himself before -Gian-Giordano Orsini, the enemy of his race, he obtained a promise of -his escort across the Campagna; but perceiving, ere he had cleared -the gate, that he was in the hands of men by whom old grudges were -not forgotten, he fled in panic to the Vatican. There he crouched -beneath the doubtful favour of Pius, and the waning influence of the -Spanish cardinals, who vainly sought to protect his property from -pillage, and to expedite his escape in disguise, until the Holy See -was again vacated by its short-lived occupant.[14] - -[Footnote 14: In the communal archives of Perugia, there is a brief -addressed to the authorities of that town by Pius III., dated 17th of -October, 1503, "before his coronation," but in fact the day preceding -his death, which must have been obtained by the influence of Cesare, -and which speaks a language very different from what his Holiness -would probably have adopted had his life been spared. Its object -was to prohibit certain "conventicles" which Gianpaolo Baglioni -was reported to be holding in Perugia, for the purpose of plotting -against the person of the Duke of Valenza and Romagna, and to desire -that he be charged to avoid all courses tending to the prejudice of -Borgia.] - -Thus was that make-shift policy defeated by which the late conclave -had sought time for strengthening their interests and maturing their -intrigues: a new election was at hand ere its elements had subsided -from their recent turmoil. The Orsini were paramount in the city, -the Spaniards in the Sacred College. A struggle ensued whether the -former should obtain an order for Valentino's departure, or should -themselves withdraw from Rome before the conclave was closed. Victory -declared for the Iberian cardinals, by aid of Ascanio Sforza, who -sought to conciliate their suffrages for himself. Once again the -bantling of fortune had the game in his hand, again to play it -away. Holding, as was supposed, at his absolute disposal the votes -of the Borgian cardinals, he was courted by all who aspired to the -tiara; and in hopes of retrieving his affairs by the election of a -friendly pope, he took measures for throwing his whole influence -into the scale of Amboise, Cardinal of Rouen, as organ of the French -party. But that strong will and indomitable resolution which had -triumphantly carried him through many crimes were now wanting. From -day to day his plans faltered and his policy wavered; finally his -efforts failed. Men were wearied of the feeble counsels, the selfish -epicureanism, the public scandals of recent pontiffs. To rescue -the Church from utter degradation, a very different category of -qualifications was required, and even the electors felt that they -must find a pope in all respects the reverse of Alexander. - -There was no member of the Sacred College whom Valentino had such -reason to fear and hate, none of whose domineering ambition the -Consistory stood in such awe, as Giulio della Rovere. Yet did his -master-spirit overcome all opposition. On the day preceding the -conclave he effected a reconciliation with the Spaniards, and his -ancient rival Ascanio Sforza sought his friendship. As he rode to -enter upon its duties, the cortege of attendant prelates equalled -that which usually swelled the train of an elected pope. Before -the door was closed, bets of eighty-two to a hundred were made on -his success, one hundred to six being offered against any other -candidate. It was, therefore, scarcely matter of surprise that within -an hour or two thereafter Julius II. was chosen by acclamation, -without a scrutiny.[15] - -[Footnote 15: Our information is in many respects deficient regarding -the numerous and complicated events occurring at Rome between the -poisoning of Alexander and the final departure of his son Cesare, -and authorities are frequently irreconcileable. We are indebted to -Sanuto's Diary for many unedited particulars, especially of the papal -elections, but the most distinct account of these transactions, and -on the whole trustworthy, which we have met with, is given by Masse.] - -At the last moment, Borgia's adherents, finding opposition vain, -thought it best to lay the new occupant of St. Peter's chair under -the obligation of their suffrages, a policy which Machiavelli had -justly condemned as the greatest blunder ever committed by their -leader. Some historians allege that their support was gained by an -offer of Julius to maintain him in his dignities and investitures, -betrothing his infant daughter to his own nephew the young Lord -Prefect. Unlikely as this may seem, there is much apparent -inconsistency in the Pontiff's treatment of him, which, if our -authorities are to be trusted, showed nothing of that choleric -temperament and energetic firmness which habitually characterised -him. Within two days of his election, when speaking of Valentino -to the Venetian envoy, he said, "We shall let him get off with all -he has robbed from the Church in his evil hour, but would that -the towns of Romagna were taken from him." Yet a change appears -to have supervened, induced perhaps by Cesare's representations, -which had formerly been successful with Pius III., that, under his -sway, the influence of the Church in that province of her patrimony -would be far better maintained than by handing it again to the old -dynasties, whom he had with difficulty eradicated, and who had ever -been turbulent vassals of the Apostolic Chamber. The now manifest -intention of the Venetians to obtain a footing in that quarter, upon -various pretexts founded on claims of the Manfredi and others of the -dispossessed lords, gave cogency to this reasoning in the eyes of -Julius, whose paramount policy of at all hazards aggrandising the -keys, rendered Valentino's sovereignty preferable to such extension -of their dominion, and may have somewhat extenuated the Borgian -policy in his eyes. He therefore brought the usurper from St. Angelo -to lodge in the Vatican, and entered with seeming cordiality into -his views. But the lapse of a few days found his Holiness in another -mood, declaring that his guest should not hold a single battlement -throughout Italy, but might be thankful if spared his life and the -treasures he had plundered, most of which were however already -dissipated. From that moment the prestige of his position was at an -end, and he remained at the palace "in small repute." - -The crisis soon became urgent, for the Venetian troops were pouring -upon Romagna, whilst the few fortresses that still owned Borgia as -their master were gradually falling to the confederate chiefs, led -by Guidobaldo. On the 9th of November, letters, demanding these -captured castles in the name of the Signory, found the latter ill -of gout; but in reply he expressed surprise at the summons, seeing -that he had wrested them from the usurper, and hoped to hold them -for the pope elect, and in security for the valuables of which he -had been pillaged. In consideration, perhaps, of his being then -actually in pay of the Republic, he agreed to deliver up Verucchio -and Cesenatico, whereupon the messenger reported him to the Doge as -"a good Christian, but in want of some one to counsel him." - -In this exigency, Cesare proposed to surrender to the Pope the -citadels of Cesena, Bertinoro, Forli, and Forlimpopoli, as a means -of immediately arresting the progress of their assailants, and of -cutting short the schemes of Venice, offering to serve the Church -during the rest of his life in any capacity that was thought -expedient. This offer Julius declined, but gave him liberty to -repair to the scene of action, and act for the best with what -troops he could raise. He accordingly went to Ostia on the 19th -of November, meaning to take shipping for Upper Italy; but on the -21st the Pontiff, alarmed at the progress of the Venetians, and -influenced by Guidobaldo, who, arriving on that day, had demanded -justice upon Borgia, thought better of it, and sent to get from -him the countersigns of his citadels. These Valentino refusing, -he was brought back to Rome under arrest on the 29th, and, after -much temporising, ultimately gave the necessary passwords for the -surrender of his last hold upon his recent dominions. - -Such seem the admitted facts of the Pope's treatment of Borgia. -His change of conduct may have been dictated by new circumstances -coming to his knowledge, or it may have been part of a systematic -deception, in order to turn Valentino's influence to his own -purposes. The opinions of Giovio and De Thou show that such treachery -as Guicciardini charges upon Julius, and as Cesare met soon after -from Gonsalvo di Cordova, was regarded by the lax public and private -morality of the age as justified by his own infamous perfidies. On -the other hand, it is admitted that the Cardinal della Rovere's high -reputation for good faith was one of his recommendations to the -conclave. Bossi, in an additional note to vol. IV. of his translation -of _Leo X._, considers this dark passage of history to be cleared up -by the narrative of Baldi, regarding Guidobaldo's generous treatment -of the enemy of his house, to which he attributes the moderation of -his Holiness; but this view does not seem borne out either by dates -or by Baldi's words.[*16] - -[Footnote *16: Cf. the latter, in which an account of the interview -between Cesare and Guidobaldo is given, UGOLINI, _op. cit._, vol. II., -p. 523. It does not bear out Giustiniani's account (q.v. ii., 326) of -what Guidobaldo said to him, and is probably mere rhetoric.] - -Thus terminated Duke Valentino's connection with the immediate -subject of this narrative. A few words will suffice to trace the -remainder of his fluctuating fortunes. Having been again transmitted -to Ostia, he remained there a sort of prisoner at large until -April, 1504, when his escape to Naples was connived at. There he -was received with distinction by Gonsalvo di Cordova, viceroy of -Ferdinand II.; but soon after, an order arrived from that king to -send him prisoner to Spain. With this command, suggested probably by -a brief from Julius, which Raynaldus has printed, the Great Captain -at once complied, although Borgia held his safe-conduct,--a breach of -faith which the Spanish historians justify by the alleged detection -of schemes and intrigues, originated by Cesare and perilous to the -ascendancy of his Catholic Majesty. Yet we learn that the Viceroy's -last hour seemed troubled by repentance for this stain upon his -conscience, which even in his day of pride one chivalrous spirit had -dared thus to question. Baldassare Scipio of Siena, a free captain -long in Cesare's service, publicly placarded a challenge to any -Spaniard who should venture to maintain "that the Duke Valentino had -not been arrested at Naples, in direct violation of a safe-conduct -granted in the names of Ferdinand and Isabella, to the great infamy -and infinite faithlessness of all their crowns." On reaching the land -of his fathers, this incarnate spirit of a blood-stained age was -confined in the castle of Medina del Campo, and the interest used for -his release by the Spanish cardinals, and by his brothers-in-law the -King of Navarre and the Duke of Ferrara, who offered their guarantee -for his good behaviour, was, during three years, unavailing on the -ground of his dangerous character. At length he made his escape by -a rope-ladder or cord, under circumstances so fool-hardy as to be -ascribed by the country people to supernatural aid, and reached the -King of Navarre, who gave him the command of an expedition against -the Count de Lerin. On the 10th of March, 1507, he fell into an -ambuscade near Viane, and was cut to pieces fighting desperately. By -a singular coincidence, his stripped and plundered body, having been -recognised by a servant, was interred in the church of Pampeluna, the -archbishopric of which had been his earliest promotion. Short as was -his life (for he seems to have died under thirty) he had survived all -his dignities and distinctions, realising the distich of Sannazaro, - - "CAESAR, he aimed at all, he vanquished all; - In all he fails, a CYPHER in his fall."[17] - -[Footnote 17: - - "Omnia vincebas, sperabas omnia Caesar; - Omnia deficiunt, incipis esse nihil."] - -Valentino's was a character peculiar to Spain, with which Pizarro -alone seems to have matched. His boundless ambition was profoundly -selfish and utterly unscrupulous; his energy of purpose owned no -impulse but egotism; his capacity was marred by meanness; his -splendid tastes served but as incentives to spoliation. The demands -of honour, the compunctions of conscience, the value of human -life availed nothing in his eyes. In him foresight became fraud, -calculation cunning, prudence perfidy, courage cruelty. His daring, -his constancy, his talent were devoted to murder, rapine, and -treachery. His campaigns were massacres, his justice vengeance, his -diplomacy a trick. Generosity was a stranger to his impulses, remorse -to his crimes. - - * * * * * - -Fortune, so long adverse to Guidobaldo, at length smiled upon him. -The election to the tiara of his relative and confidential friend, -Cardinal della Rovere, freed him from anxiety as to the restoration -of his duchy, and promised him a long career of prosperity and -honour. His policy of supporting the Venetians in their views upon -Romagna thus not only became superfluous as a check upon Borgia, -but seemed not unlikely to place him in a dilemma with the Camera. -The new Pontiff, therefore, lost no time in removing him from a -position of such delicacy, by summoning him to Rome. The invitation -found him encamped before Verucchio, whence he immediately set out; -and, after devoting two days at Urbino to public thanksgivings and -festivities for his own restoration and for the election of Julius, -he performed the journey in a litter, his gout preventing him from -riding. On the eleventh day, being the 20th of November, he was met -at the Ponte Molle by a superbly caparisoned mule, and on it was -painfully but honourably escorted by an imposing cortege to his -apartment in the Vatican, under a salute from the artillery of St. -Angelo. Notwithstanding his fatigue, he was bidden by the impatient -Pontiff to supper that evening, and was received by his Holiness on -the landing-place with equal favour and distinction. - -In the explanations which followed, their mutual views were frankly -stated. The claim which the Venetians had upon Guidobaldo, from -extending to him their hospitality and support in almost desperate -circumstances, was fully allowed by the Pope, and his avowal that, in -co-operating with them in an invasion of Romagna, he conceived they -were thwarting Borgia, not the Church, was accepted as satisfactory. -But his Holiness intimated, with reference to the future, that the -vassal of the Apostolic See had duties paramount to all foreign ties; -and that, since the rights of the Camera over that province admitted -of no compromise, he would do well to resign the service of the -Republic, and recall his consort to administer his affairs at home, -whilst he remained in Rome for the winter. To these suggestions the -Duke agreed, and wrote in most grateful terms to the government of -Venice, explaining the obstacles which had unexpectedly arisen to his -repaying at that moment the obligations he had incurred. We learn -from Sanuto that on the 10th of October the Duchess with her ladies -went into college, and being seated near the Doge, thanked the -Signory in her lord's name for the favour, command, and protection -granted to him, to which the Doge replied blandly, asserting the love -borne him by the Republic. Again, on the 15th of November, there came -into the cabinet of the Signory "the Duchess of Urbino with Madonna -Emilia and her company of damsels to take leave, for she is departing -early to-morrow morning for her duchy; she goes in a barge by the Po -as far as Ravenna, and from thence on horseback: and the Doge spake -her fair, and having taken leave, we sages of the orders accompanied -her as far as the palace-gates, and she proceeded along the Mercery, -reaching home on the 2d of December." - -Borgia took the opportunity of Guidobaldo's visit to make advances -for a reconciliation, having reason to dread his influence with -the Pope. These were received with courtesy; but, in the words of -the Venetian chronicler just quoted, "the Duke was resolved to -have his own again, especially the library, which was promised -him without damage, with the tapestries, although the Cardinal of -Rouen had already got a good share of them." According to Baldi's -elaborate and somewhat too dramatic description of their interview, -he magnanimously forgave the extraordinary injuries he had received -from his now humbled adversary. On the authority of private letters, -an anonymous diary, already noticed, states that the usurper threw -himself, cap-in-hand, at the Duke's feet, beseeching mercy and -pardon, and excusing his conduct on the plea of youth, the brutality -of his father, and the persuasions of others. This incident was -represented in a fresco by Taddeo Zucchero, which I saw at Cagli in -1843, and which had been cut from the villa built at S. Angelo in -Vado, by Duke Guidobaldo II. Cesare is a slight figure handsomely -dressed, with long sharp features, a high nose and reddish hair. He -kneels before the Duke of Urbino, raising his cap, whilst one notary -appears to read aloud an act of surrender, and another makes an -instrument upon the transaction.[18] - -[Footnote 18: Considering that Borgia was probably dead half a -century before this painting was commissioned, little reliance can be -placed upon the likeness. *This is the account alluded to in note *1, -page 29.] - -Even after Valentino had given authority for a surrender of the -citadels in Romagna, they were held by his officers upon the plea -that he was not a free agent, and the bearer of his missive was -hanged by the castellan of Cesena. At length the Pope ordered -Guidobaldo to reduce them by force. For this purpose he named -him gonfaloniere of the Church, retaining him and four hundred -men-at-arms, with a year's pay of 7000 ducats in advance. It was -about this time that he was invested with the insignia of the Garter, -to which illustrious order he had been elected in February. His -acquisition of this dignity, and Count Baldassare Castiglione's -mission to London as proxy at his installation, form an episode of -so much interest to an English reader that we have gleaned every -possible notice of these events, and have arranged them in II. of the -Appendix. - -The Duke left Rome for his command, accompanied by his nephew the -Prefettino, as he was then usually called from his youth, who had -returned from France three months before to wait upon his Holiness. -They were attended by Castiglione, who, after charming Julius by -his polished society, was permitted by him to transfer his services -to the court of Guidobaldo, of which he became the ornament and -commentator. On the 1st of June they reached Urbino, and found the -Duchess re-established among an attached people, who, to drive away -sad recollections of their recent sufferings, had amused her during -the preceding carnival with scenic imitations of the principal events -of the usurpation! One of these was the comedy (so called rather -in a Dantesque than a comic sense) of the Duke Valentino and Pope -Alexander VI. In it were successively represented their plotting the -seizure of the state, their sending the Lady Lucrezia to Ferrara, -their inviting the Duchess to her wedding, the invasion of the duchy, -the duke's first return, and his redeparture, the massacre of the -confederates, the death of the Pope, and the Duke's restoration to -his rights. - -The garrisons of Cesena and Bertinoro had surrendered ere Guidobaldo -took the field, that of Forli came to terms as soon as his troops -appeared. With it passed the last wreck of the Borgian substantial -power and vast ambition, within a year from the death of Alexander, -leaving to future times no memorial but a name doomed to lasting -execration. Guidobaldo had at the same time the satisfaction of -recovering most of the valuables that had been pillaged from his -palace, estimated by him at not less than 100,000 ducats, especially -a large proportion of his father's celebrated library. - -On the 6th of September the Duke retraced his steps to Urbino, and -there at length renewed the long-suspended joys of his secure and -tranquil residence. Few, perhaps, of their rank and age, less needed -such rough discipline to inculcate moderation, than this exemplary -couple. Yet must the lessons of adversity have been ordained for some -purifying purpose, and we may indulge the hope that they were not -sent in vain. The Duke devoted his earliest leisure to signalise his -gratitude for the unflinching loyalty of his subjects by conferring -upon their several municipalities various privileges and immunities, -and remitting their fiscal arrears. The Duchess expressed her -thankfulness by many works of piety, by liberal charities, and by -instituting a three days' fair on the anniversary of her lord's -restoration. Their domestic circle was agreeably enlarged by the -arrival of the Lady Prefectess, as the widow of Giovanni delle Rovere -was entitled, who, on returning from a similar exile, and after -paying her reverence to her brother-in-law the Pope, hastened to join -her son at her brother's court. We have noticed the services which -when assailed by Valentino, she received from Andrea Doria; they -were now acknowledged by Guidobaldo with the castle of Sassocorbaro, -and other holdings. Another guest at Urbino was Sigismondo Varana, -the young heir of Camerino, who arrived with his mother Maria, sister -of the Prefettino, and with his uncle and guardian Giovanni Maria, -who afterwards supplanted him in that state. - -Urbino was now enlivened by an event which proved of paramount -interest to its sovereign, and was destined by providence to carry -forward its independence and glories under a new dynasty. We have -seen how it had been proposed between the Cardinal della Rovere and -Guidobaldo, in 1498, that the latter should adopt the young Prefect -as his heir, and procure from the Pope a renewal of the Dukedom and -investitures to his favour.[19] The simulated sanction of Alexander -to this arrangement led to no result; but, as soon as Julius was -fixed in the seat of St. Peter, he took measures for placing his -nephew's prospects beyond question. In the natural course of events -the state of Urbino would lapse to the Holy See on the Duke's death, -and, as the uniform policy of this Pontiff was to unite to it as many -such fiefs as the failure of their seigneurs or the force of his -arms brought within his grasp, his making an exception of the most -valuable of them all in favour of his own nephew gave rise to not a -few strictures. It is, however, the only instance in which nepotism -can be laid to his charge, and the precedents left him by recent -Popes may be pleaded in justification of a comparatively trifling -abuse. - -[Footnote 19: See vol. I., p. 371.] - -On the 14th of September the Archbishop of Ragusa arrived at -Urbino as papal nuncio, charged with brieves for the completion -of this affair, and also with the ensigns of command for the Duke -as generalissimo of the ecclesiastical troops. The ceremonials -consequent upon the implement of his mission have been detailed by -Baldi, and are characteristic of the times we are endeavouring -to depict. The nuncio and his splendid suite were received with -distinction, and next day, being Sunday, was fixed for Guidobaldo's -installation. The whole court and principal inhabitants being -assembled in the cathedral, high mass was performed by him, after -which, standing in front of the altar, he laid aside his mitre, and -pronounced a solemn benediction on the two standards of the Church, -which were held furled by a canon, whilst he waved incense over them, -and sprinkled them with holy water. This ended, he desired them to -be mounted on their staves, and having sat down and resumed his -mitre, he presented them to the Duke, who received them, devoutly -kneeling on the altar-steps, and handed one to Ottaviano Fregoso, the -other to Morello d'Ortona. He then received the baton, with the like -ceremonies, and rose, after kissing hands; whereupon the audience -dispersed amid strains of martial music and popular acclamations. - -Upon the 18th, there assembled in the Duomo a still more numerous -and distinguished auditory; when, after celebration of mass by the -nuncio, he seated himself before the altar, with the Prefect on his -right, and the Duke on his left, and in an elegant Latin discourse, -set forth the desire of the latter to make sure the succession by -adopting his nephew, and the approval of the Pope and college of -cardinals to that substitution, in evidence of which the brieves and -other formal documents were read. A magnificent missal,--perhaps -that painted for Matthew Corvinus King of Hungary, which adorns the -Vatican Urbino Library,--was then placed in the hands of Francesco -Maria, opened at a miniature of the holy sacrament, and upon it -deputies from the communities of the duchy took the oath of fidelity -and homage to him as their future sovereign; all which having been -regularly attested in notorial instruments, the solemnity ended.[*20] - -[Footnote *20: Cf. MADIAI, _op. cit._, in _Arch. cit._, vol. -_cit._, p. 451-2.] - -These events served to aggravate the jealousy of the Venetians -against the claims of Julius upon their recent acquisitions of -Romagna, which they regarded as fairly conquered from Borgia. They -possessed in this way the states of Ravenna, Faenza, and Rimini, and -had gained footing upon the territories of Imola, Forli, and Cesena, -the inhabitants of which loudly complained of their aggressions. -Of all these places the Church was the acknowledged superior, and -the old investitures held under her by their respective princely -families had been annulled by Alexander, in order to make way for -his son. Some of these dynasties had died out, and Julius showed -no disposition to restore the others, his leading object being the -temporal aggrandisement of the papacy. At this juncture his Holiness -sent for Guidobaldo, to consult with him; and in order to facilitate -his arrival, presented him with a commodious litter swung between -two beautifully dappled horses. The winter journey was, however, -disastrous to his dilapidated frame, and he was laid up for nine -days at Narni with gout, complicated by fever and dysentery, and -consequently did not reach Rome with his nephew and Castiglione -until the 2nd of January, when they slept outside of the gate, and -next morning made a solemn entrance. It was the great object of the -Republic to be received as vicar or vassal of the Holy See in the -three first-mentioned states, and for this end they were willing to -abandon all claims and attempts upon the remaining three. Guidobaldo, -interposing as a mediator to prevent an open breach between parties -so mutually deserving of his friendship, persuaded the Signory to -abandon the latter places, and trust to the justice of Julius for the -fulfilment of their desires. To procure this, they sent, in April, -a splendid embassy to Rome of eight commissioners, with two hundred -attendants, headed by Bembo, who, passing by Urbino, received from -the Duchess a princely welcome. But no benefit accrued from this -measure, for the Pontiff's ultimatum was announced to the senate -through Louis XII., giving them Rimini and Faenza, during his life -only, a result highly unsatisfactory to the Republic. - -The Duke's prolonged residence in Rome, where his company became -greatly prized by the Pope, was little relished by his consort or his -people; so, to maintain them in good humour, his Holiness announced -a plenary indulgence for all their broken vows and deeds of violence -during the late usurpation, to such as should devoutly observe the -Easter ceremonies. The alms collected at this jubilee, amounting to -2265 florins, were expended upon the duomo of Urbino. At length, in -the end of July, 1506, he obtained leave to return home, on the plea -that change of air was advisable for his health.[*21] - -[Footnote *21: Cf. MADIAI, _op. cit._, in _Arch. cit._, vol. -_cit._, p. 455. This Diary says that the Duke returned at the end of -February, 1506.] - -Julius, having announced to the consistory his intention of extending -the temporal sovereignty of the Church over such portions of the -ecclesiastical territory as were possessed by tyrants (for so he -called the vicars and other lords who ruled their petty states as -feudatories of the Holy See), carried his design into effect with -characteristic energy. He set out for Perugia on the 26th of August, -after having directed the Duke of Urbino and his nephew to march -thither, each with two hundred men-at-arms, and expel its seigneur -Gianpaolo Baglioni. Here Guidobaldo again appeared as mediator, and, -persuaded by him to submit with good grace to a fate that he could -not avert, the Lord of Perugia gave up his fortresses, and was taken -into the pay of Julius for his expedition against Bologna. The Pope, -elated by the ease with which so formidable an opponent had been -disposed of, pressed on preparations for attacking the Bentivoglii. -He reached Urbino on the 25th of September, accompanied by twenty-two -cardinals, with a suitable cortege, and a guard of four hundred men. -Beyond the walls he was received by forty-five noble youths, dressed -in doublets and hose of white silk, who, on his alighting, seized as -their perquisite his richly caparisoned mule, which was afterwards -redeemed from them for sixty golden ducats. The gates were thrown -down to receive him, and he was there met by the Duke, disabled from -dismounting; by the magistracy, who presented the keys; and by the -court and clergy. A rich canopy shaded him, as the holy sacrament -was borne before him to the cathedral; and after devotion there, he -entered the palace, which next evening was illuminated, along with -the citadel, fireworks being displayed in the piazza. Some singular -usages of hospitality were adopted on this occasion. The Duke -presented to his Holiness a hundred sacks of flour, as much barley -and corn, with a proportionate quantity of live stock and poultry, -to the value in all of 800 ducats.[*22] This donative was accepted, -and part of it was handed over to the hospital of the Misericordia. -In anticipation of the Pope's advent, the roads were repaired and -smoothed, triumphal arches and statues were erected, flowers and -evergreens were strewn before him, the streets were adorned with gay -hangings and shaded by linen awnings, the palace was arrayed in those -rich tapestries, pictures, and furniture, which the taste of Federigo -and his son had accumulated. Next evening, the palace roofs and the -citadel were illuminated, and over the latter was hung a brilliant -cross of fire. Deputations arrived from Pesaro, and the principal -places in the duchy, with gifts of provisions; but large supplies had -been previously laid in by the Duke for so vast an influx; and in -order to regulate prices, the following tariff, calculated at about -half the current value, was proclaimed. - - Wheat, per staio or bush 45 bolognini. - Barley " " 36 " - Oats " " 24 " - Wine, per somma 54 " - Ditto, new " 27 " - Mutton, per lb. 1 " - Veal, per lb. 10 " - Ox flesh " 8 " - Salt meat " 1 to 7 " - Capons, per pair 9 " - Fowls " 4 to 7 " - Pigeons " 4 to 7 " - Wood pigeons, per pair 1 to 7 " - Eggs, seven for 1 " - Cheese, per lb. 1 to 7 " - Hay, per cwt. 4 to 7 " - Wood, per somma 1/2 carlino.[23] - -[Footnote *22: Cf. MADIAI, _op. cit._, _Arch. cit._, vol. -_cit._, p. 456-7.] - -[Footnote 23: These, and many other particulars interwoven with our -narrative, are taken from the anonymous Diary, Vat. Urb. MSS. No. -904. During the preceding year of scarcity, wheat had varied in -different parts of Italy from four to twelve golden ducats, each -of forty bolognini, a price scarcely credible. Riposati quotes a -document proving that in 1450 a florin contained forty bolognini of -Gubbio, of which twenty-nine and a half were coined from an ounce of -silver, with 9/48 of alloy. Although it seems right to insert the -above tariff, most of the prices appear enormous, beyond all belief. -See the Preface to this work, for the comparative value of money. -*This diary is the one quoted under MADIAI.] - -[Illustration: _Anderson_ - -POPE JULIUS II - -_From the picture by Raphael in the Pitti Gallery, Florence_] - -On the 29th of the month, his Holiness set out for Bologna, and, -avoiding the territory held by the Venetians, reached Cesena on -the 2nd of October by mountain tracks through Macerata and S. Leo. -Thence he summoned the Bentivoglii to surrender their city to him as -its lawful sovereign, and ordered the people on pain of interdict -to abandon their cause, and open the gates. These chiefs had made -great preparations for defence, but subsequently, on finding -themselves deserted by Louis XII., offered terms, to which Julius, -elated at the prospect of French succours, would not listen. The -war, which promised to be obstinate, passed off in a revolution; for -the Bentivoglii, losing heart, made their escape, to the delight -of the citizens, who, thus saved from a siege, threw open their -gates, and hailed the Pope as their liberator. He made his entry -on Martinmas-day, and at once confirmed this favourable impression -by abolishing various grievances, and by scattering in the streets -4000 golden scudi bearing the legend "Bologna freed from its tyrant -by Julius."[24] The mob showed their zeal by demolishing the -palace of their late rulers, one of the most beautiful in Italy, -wherein miserably perished many treasures of art; and its ill-fated -master and mistress soon after died of broken hearts in Lombardy. -But fortune is fickle, and the breath of popular favour still more -changeful. Four years and a half from this date the war-cry of -"Bentivoglio" again rang through these streets; the same mob strained -their brawny sinews to level the citadel which Julius had erected -to curb them, and to shatter the colossal statue of him with which -Michael Angelo had adorned their piazza; the same Pontiff saved -himself from capture, and his legate escaped from the popular fury -to fall by the dagger of a friend. Such are the retributions of -HIM "whose ways are unsearchable, and whose thoughts are -past finding out."[25] - -[Footnote 24: In the same feeling, though of later date, a copy of -Raffaele's speaking portrait of his Holiness, now in the Torlonia -Gallery, and attributed to Giulio Romano, is inscribed, "The author -of freedom, for the citizens he saved." This conquest became a -triumph of art as well as of arms; the colossal statue of Julius, -begun by Michael Angelo in Nov. 1506, was erected in February, 1508. -It weighed 17,500 lb. of bronze, and cost about 12,000 golden ducats, -of which 1000 went to the artist.] - -[Footnote 25: See ch. xxxiii. of this work.] - -The Pope remained until late in February to settle his new conquest, -keeping the Duke near him as a friend and counsellor, and on the -3rd of March, in defiance of the inclement season, repeated his -visit to Urbino for one day, with a smaller company, while on his -return to Rome. His host, after conveying him as far as Cagli on the -5th, pleaded his constitutional malady, and returned home with the -Prefect. As this was the period selected by Count Castiglione for -portraying the ducal court, it will be well to pause for a little, -and consider the representation he has left us of it. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - - The Court of Urbino, its manners and its stars. - - -The taste for philosophy, letters, and arts, and the patronage of -their professors which Cosimo de' Medici and his son Lorenzo the -Magnificent had introduced among the merchant-rulers of Florence, -were, as we have already seen, adopted by several petty sovereigns of -the Peninsula, but chiefly by those in the district of Romagna.[26] -Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta was the first to engraft these fruits -of peace upon a military despotism, which his restless ambition and -fierce temper ever rendered the torment of his neighbours, and the -scourge of his people. The d'Este of Ferrara, the Sforza of Pesaro, -but, above all, Duke Federigo of Urbino, improving upon his example, -had shown how mental cultivation might be brought to modify, or, as -the Latin idiom has it, to humanise, without enervating, a martial -character. The reign of Guidobaldo was peculiarly favourable to -the development of this new and attractive principle; for though -enabled partially to sustain the fame in arms which his father had -bequeathed him, his feeble health gave him greater opportunity for -the cultivation of letters, and for the society of the learned, -to which he was naturally partial. Seconded by the sympathies of -his estimable Duchess, his palace became a resort of the first -literary and political celebrities of the day, who during the few -years that succeeded his restoration, diffused over it a tone of -refinement elsewhere unrivalled. To fix for the contemplation of -posterity those graceful but transient images which flitted across -this gay and brilliant society was the pleasing task undertaken by -Castiglione,[*27] one of its most polished ornaments. - -[Footnote 26: See above, ch. viii., ix., x.] - -[Footnote *27: The following is a short bibliography of _Il -Cortegiano_, and of works relating to it:-- - -SALVADORI, _Il Cortegiano_ (Firenze, 1884). - -CIAN, _Il Cortegiano_ (Firenze, 1894). - -OPDYCKE, _The Book of the Courtier_ (New York, 1901). - -BOTTARI, _Studio su B.C. e il suo Libro_ (Pisa, 1874). - -LUZIO E RENIER, _Mantova e Urbino_ (Torino, 1893). - -CIAN, in _Giornale Stor. d. Lett. It._, vol. XV. fasc. 43 e -44. - -CIAN, _Un Codice ignoto di Rime volgari app. a B.C._ in -_Giornale cit._, vol. XXXIV., p. 297, XXXV., p. 53. - -SERASSI, _Lettere_, 2 vols. (Padova, 1769-71). - -RENIER, _Notizia di Lettere ined. di B.C._ (Torino, 1889). - -MARIELLO, _La Cronologia del Cortegiano_ (Pisa, 1895). - -JOLY, _De B.C. opere cui titulus Il Cortegiano_ (Cadomi, -1856). - -TOBLER, _C. und sein Hofmann_, in Schweizer Museum, 1884. - -VALMAGGI, _Per le fonti del Corteg._, in _Giornale cit._, -XIV., 72. - -GERINI, _Gli scrittori pedagog. ital. d. Sec. XVI._ (Torino, -1897), p. 43.] - -The title _Il Cortegiano_,[*28] literally the Courtier, may be -appropriately translated, "the mirror of a perfect courtier." -The author intended it, to use the words of his preface, "as a -portraiture of the court of Urbino, not by the hand of Raffaele or -Michael Angelo, but by an inferior artist, whose capacity attains no -further than a general outline, without decking truth in attractive -colours, or flattering it by skilful perspective."[*29] But laying -aside metaphor, he thus accounts for the origin of his undertaking. -"After the death of the Lord Guidobaldo of Montefeltro Duke of -Urbino, I, with several other knights who had been in his household, -remained in the service of Duke Francesco Maria della Rovere, his -heir and successor in that state. And as the fragrant influence -continued fresh upon my mind of the deceased Duke's virtues, and of -the pleasure I had for some years enjoyed in the amiable society of -the excellent persons who then frequented his court, I was induced -from these reflections to write a treatise of THE COURTIER. -This I accomplished in a few days, with the intention of subsequently -correcting the errors incidental to so hasty a composition." - -[Footnote *28: In the _Lettera Dedicatoria_. Cf. Ed. Cian, _op. -cit._, p. 4.] - -[Footnote *29: This is the opening of the _Lettera Dedicatoria_ to -Don Michel de Silva, Bishop of Viseo.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -PORTRAIT OF A LADY, HER HAIR DRESSED IN THE MANNER OF THE FIFTEENTH -CENTURY - -_From the picture by ? Verrocchio [Transcriber's Note: now attributed -to Piero del Pollaiolo] in Poldo-Pezzoli Collection, Milan_] - -The point which he undertakes is "to state what I consider the -courtiership most befitting a gentleman in attendance on princes, -whereby he may best be taught and enabled to perform towards them all -seemly service, so as to obtain their favour and general applause; to -explain, in short, what a courtier in all respects perfect ought to -be."[*30] - -[Footnote *30: Opening paragraph of first book. Ed. Cian, p. 11.] - -We cannot here follow the Count into the wide field which he thus -indicates, nor is it necessary, since his own work is accessible in -several languages. But from various passages we may offer a sketch of -the manners approved at the pattern court of Urbino, which will not -be deemed misplaced in these pages. The men who figured there were -chiefly distinguished in arms or letters. Whilst the former spent -their leisure in recollections of war and love, or in the congenial -pastimes of the field and the chase, the conversation of the -latter was often warped towards scholastic disputation, or tainted -by classic pedantry. Such manners have often been described, and -their interest has long passed away; but in a society where female -influence prevailed, and in an age when female intellect was fruitful -in prodigies, it may be well to see what were the graces expected -from a palace-dame.[*31] - -[Footnote *31: Concerning Elisabetta Gonzaga. Cf. LUZIO E -RENIER, _Mantova e Urbino, Isabella d'Este, ed Elisabetta -Gonzaga_ (Torino, 1893).] - -At the head of a string of common-place endowments we find a noble -bearing, an avoidance of affectation, a natural grace in every -action. Beauty is considered as most desirable, not indispensable; -and its improvement by such artificial means as painting and -enamelling the face, extirpating hairs on the eyebrows or forehead, -is derided. White teeth and hands are fully appreciated, but -their frequent display is censured. A neat _chaussure_ is lauded, -especially when veiled by long draperies. In short, natural elegance -and the absence of artifice are primary qualifications. A high-born -lady must be circumspect even beyond suspicion, avoiding ill-timed -familiarity, and all freedom of language verging upon licence; but -when casually exposed to discussions tending to pruriency, a modest -blush would be becoming, whilst shrinking or prudery might expose her -to sneers. Willingly to listen to or repeat slander of her own sex -is a fatal error, which will always be harshly construed by men. Her -accomplishments and amusements should ever be selected with feminine -delicacy, verging upon timidity; her dress chosen in tasteful -reference to what is most becoming, but with apparent absence of -study. In conversing with men she should be frank, affable, and -lively; but modest, staid, and self-possessed, with a nice observance -of tact and decorum. Noisy hilarity, a hoyden address, egotism, -prolixity, and the unseasonable combination of serious with ludicrous -topics are equally objectionable, but most of all affectation. Yet -she ought to be witty, capable of varied conversation in literature, -music, and painting, skilled in dancing and festive games. Nor should -that of a good housewife be wanting to her other qualities. In short, -the theory of a paragon lady of the 1500 might equally suit for one -of the present day. We should come to a very different conclusion -as to her real character, were we to test it by some passages of -the _Cortegiano_, wherein the Duchess Elisabetta, in chastity the -mirror of her age, listens approvingly with her courtly dames to long -passages of prurient twaddle, ever skirting and often overstepping -the limits of decency. Nor were the morals around her conformable to -her own pure example, and that of the immaculate Emilia Pia.[*32] -One sad instance in the ducal family we shall have to note, while -narrating the early life of Duke Francesco Maria I.; another, -remarkable from the subsequent status of the personage to whose birth -the scandal attaches, will immediately be mentioned in connection -with Giuliano de' Medici.[33] - -[Footnote *32: This lady was the inseparable companion of the Duchess -Elisabetta. She was the daughter of Mario Pio, of the Lords of -Carpi. Early the widow of Antonio of Montefeltro, natural brother -of Guidobaldo, she remained at Urbino. She died, as it seems, a -true lady of the Renaissance. "Senza alcun sacramento di la chiesa, -disputando una parte del Cortegiano col Conte Ludovico da Canosso." -Cf. Rossi, _Appunti per la storia della musica alla Corte d'Urbino_, -in Rassegna Emiliana, Ann. I. (fasc. VIII.), p. 456, n. 1.] - -[Footnote 33: See below, p. 57.] - -But it would not be just, after adorning our narrative with -flattering sketches from Castiglione's pencil, to exclude one or -two anecdotes of the manners actually permitted among the polished -society he professes to portray, although their coarseness and -vulgarity, scarcely redeemed by their humour, may be considered as -staining our pages. They occur in some memorials of the conversation -of Francesco Maria, noted by a contemporary from personal -observation.[34] - -[Footnote 34: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 1023, art. 21. There is a copy of -this MS. in the library of Newbattle Abbey, Scotland.] - -The subject of discussion happening to be Mark Antony's weakness -in permitting Cleopatra to accompany him to the fight of Actium, -the Duke said, "My father-in-law, the Marquis of Mantua, being at -Mortara, in the service of France, Ludovico il Moro was in the -camp with his Duchess, and one day, seeing the Marquis suffering -from violent pain in the shoulder, said to him, 'Sir, I have -the Duchess here, what shall I do with her?' The Marquis, being -otherwise occupied, and suffering great pain, replied, 'How can I -tell? send her to a brothel!' an answer quite off-hand, and truly -appropriate"--from the brother of our paragon Duchess Elisabetta. - -Niccolo de' Pii, a condottiere in the service of the Duke's father, -was very fat and overgrown. Dining one day with some Spanish -officers, after finishing a trout, he sent the head and back-bone -to one of them called Pedrada, who thereupon caustically retorted, -"It is yourself that has more want of head than of stomach," a reply -applauded as most cutting, for, "having more size than sense, he -needed the brains rather than the belly." The same Spaniard one day, -at a cardinal's reception, began to eat a candle, which, though -apparently of wax, was in the centre of tallow; finding it greasy -between his teeth, he seized the candlestick, and dashed it on the -floor, muttering, "I swear to God it is not silver:" the candle being -counterfeit, he fancied the candlestick must needs be so too. When -talking of absent men, the Duke told these anecdotes of Ottaviano -Fregoso, a star of the Urbino circle. As he conversed with his aunt -Duchess Elisabetta, holding her hand, his mind wandered to other -matters, and he began to twist about her fingers as he would have -done a switch, finally thrusting one of them into his nose, when a -burst of laughter from the bystanders recalled his thoughts. Dining -one day at the table of Julius II., he sheathed and unsheathed his -poignard, jingling the handle, until the Pope, losing all temper, -exclaimed, "Begone to a brothel, pox take you! Be off, and the -devil go with you!" Whereupon Signor Ottaviano began to make humble -excuses for his natural defect of recollection, to the infinite -glee of many church dignitaries who witnessed the scene. Yet only -two days thereafter, chancing to converse in the papal antechamber -with an ambassador who wore a massive gold chain, he, in a fit of -abstraction, thrust his finger into one of the links. Just then, -his Holiness appearing, the courtiers drew aside to make way, and -Fregoso was dragged along, throwing them all into confusion; nor -could he get free until he had well "salivated" his finger. Yet when -his wits were not a wool-gathering, this was considered the most -finished gentleman in Italy, and the most ready in reply. Thus, his -uncle, Duke Guidobaldo appearing one day in a violet satin jerkin -of unexceptionable fit, Ottaviano exclaimed, "My Lord Duke, -you really are _the_ handsome Signor!" "How disgusting are dull -flatterers who thus openly display their adulation," was the stinging -reply. "My Lord Duke," rejoined the courtier, "I meant not to say -that you are a man of worth, though I pronounced you a fine man and a -handsome nobleman;" an answer which made the Duke wince, and brought -credit to its author. - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -A LADY OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY] - -But enough of this gossip: the reader of the _Cortegiano_, and its -author's charming letters, will find there many more attractive -and not less veracious touches of the Montefeltrian court, where -learning and accomplishment were often called upon to give dignity -and grace to social pastimes. Thus, the Duchess is represented as -singing to her lute those verses from the fourth _Aeneid_, in which, -at the moment of self-immolation, Dido apostrophised the garments -forgotten by her faithless lover when he fled from her charms, until, -Orpheus-like, she had wiled the savage animals from their lairs, and -set the stones in sympathetic movement. At her court there were no -lack of pens to clothe in verse the passing fancies of the hour, and -adapt them to the musical or melodramatic tastes which gave a tone -of refinement to its amusements. Thus, for the carnival of 1506, -Castiglione and his messmate Cesare Gonzaga composed the pastoral -eclogue of _Tirsis_, which was acted by them before the court, with -choruses and a brilliant moresque dance. The personages of the -dialogue are Iola (Castiglione) and Dameta (Gonzaga), who describe -to Tirsi, a stranger shepherd, the ducal circle of Urbino, with the -Duchess at its head as goddess of the river Metauro. The Moresca, so -named from its supposed Moorish origin, was perhaps borrowed from -the ancient Pyrrhic dance, and consisted in a sort of mock fight, -performed to the sound of music with measured tread, and blunted -poignards. Next spring a somewhat similar pastoral, from the pen of -Bembo, was recited by him and Ottaviano Fregoso to the same audience. - -Such and such-like were the favourite court diversions of Urbino. -Their stately conceits and solemn pedantry suited the spirit of that -classic age and the genius of a pomp-loving people; but it would be -scarcely fair to regard them as fully embodying the tone of manners -prevalent in the palace of Guidobaldo. In it were harmoniously -mingled the opposite qualities which then predominated at the various -Italian courts. Scholastic pretensions, still esteemed in many of -them, here thawed before the easier address of the new school. -Those abstruse studies which the Medici had brought into vogue were -eclipsed by a galaxy of brilliant wits. Even the ruthless bearing of -the old condottieri princes mellowed under the charm of female tact, -while the sensual splendour indulged by recent pontiffs was chastened -by the exemplary demeanour of the ducal pair. - -Our appreciation of this picture would, however, scarcely be -correct or complete, did we not bear in mind the inner life of -contemporary sovereigns. We need not dwell on the contrasts afforded -in other Peninsular capitals, for these were rather of degree than -character, and would only show us the prevalence here of a gentler -courtesy and more pervading refinement. But we may fairly compare -the palace-pastimes of Urbino with those held in acceptance by -the princes and peerage of northern states, where deep potations -dulled the senses, or brutalised the temper; where intellect rarely -sought a more refined gratification than the monotonous recital -of legendary adulation; and where wit was monopolised by dwarfs -and professional jesters. In order better to preserve the form and -fashion of this pattern for princes, we shall transfer to our pages, -from Castiglione's groupings, some outlines of its chief ornaments, -beginning with himself.[35] - -[Footnote 35: Castiglione was related through his mother to several -of the Urbino stars,--the Fregosi, Trivulzio, and Emilia Pia.] - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: COUNT BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE. - -_Raffaele pinx._ _L. Ceroni sculp._ - -_From a picture in the Torlonia Gallery, Rome_] - -From CASTIGLIONE, in Lombardy, sprang the ancestry of -COUNT BALDASSARE, and among them were numbered not a few -names of note in church and state. His father was no mean soldier, -in times when the captains of Italy bore a European reputation; -his mother, a Gonzaga of the Mantuan house, was descended from the -haughty Farinato degli Uberti, who, when accosted by Dante in _The -Vision_,-- - - "His heart and forehead there - Erecting, seemed as in high scorn he held - E'en hell." - -The Count was born at Casatico, in the Mantuese, on the 6th of -December, 1478.[*36] His education, besides including the various -studies and accomplishments usual to an Italian gentleman of the -fifteenth century, was specially directed to those classical -attainments which entered into the literary pursuits of the age. The -death of his father left him early master of a handsome patrimony, -and he at once embraced that courtier-life for which he was -peculiarly fitted,--a life, which in a land subdivided into petty -sovereignties, constituted the only profession open to civilians of -noble birth and distinguished endowments, and on which his pen was -destined to confer perpetual illustration. After a brief visit to -Milan,[*37] and a short campaign in Naples with his relative the -Marquis Francesco of Mantua, he repaired to Rome in 1503, where, by -discretion and winning address, he quickly gained the new Pontiff's -favour. In Count Castiglione, the penetration of Julius recognised -a fit instrument for promoting his favourite scheme of securing -Urbino to his nephew Francesco Maria della Rovere; and by attaching -him to Guidobaldo, he fixed at that court a friend whose influence -was certain to extend itself, and whose example would benefit his -youthful relation. - -[Footnote *36: For the biography of Castiglione, see -MARLIANI in the Cominana edition of the _Opere Volgari_ -(Padua, 1733), and SERASSI, in _Poesie volgari e latine del -Castiglione_ (Roma, 1760), as well as the following works:-- - -MAZZUCHELLI, _Baldassare Castiglione_ (Narducci, Roma). - -MARTINATI, _Notizie Stor. bibliogr. intorno al Conte B.C._ -(Firenze, 1890). Cf. on this CIAN, in _Giorn. St. della -Lett. It._, XVII., 113. - -BUFARDECI, _La vita letter. del c. B.C._ (Ragusa, 1900). Cf. -on this _Giorn. St. della Lett. It._, XXXVIII., 203. - -CIAN, _Candidature nuziali di B.C._ (Venezia, 1892, per -nozze Salvioni-Taveggia).] - -[Footnote *37: He was educated at Milan, where he probably learned -Latin from Giorgio Merula, and Greek from Demetrio Calcondila, and -cultivated at the same time the _poesia volgare_ (see CIAN, -_Un Cod. ignoto_, cited on p. 44, note *1). While he was still very -young he was attached to the Court of Il Moro. His father died in -1499 from a wound got at the battle of the Taro. He returned to -Casatico on the fall of Sforza, and then joined Marchese Francesco.] - -The court of Urbino had already been for half a century the brightest -star in the constellation of Italian principalities, and under -its fostering influence were fully developed those fine qualities -which nature and early training had formed in Castiglione. His -first essay was as captain of fifty men-at-arms, with 400 ducats -of nominal pay, besides allowances; and his earliest exploit in -this new service was the reduction of Forli, in 1504. The finances -of Guidobaldo were necessarily at a low ebb, and it is amusing to -find Baldassare's frequent lamentations to his mother, over the -arrears of his pay:--"Our doings are jolly but inconsiderable, that -is, on small means; we have never yet seen a farthing, but daily -and most devoutly look for some cash." It was not, however, till -nearly a year later that he received twenty-five ducats to account, -having often in the interval asked her aid, representing himself as -penniless, and living upon credit. In 1509,[*38] after returning -from his mission to England, which peculiarly required the graces -of a finished cavalier, and of which some account will be found in -II. of the Appendix, he attached himself to the Duke's immediate -person during the brief remainder of his life, and when it closed, -was sent to Gubbio, to maintain the interests of the succession, in -event of any popular outbreak. The favour which he had enjoyed from -Guidobaldo was amply continued under his nephew, whose fortunes he -followed during several years, sharing his successes in the field, -and sustaining him under his disgrace at the pontifical court. These -events must, however, be here touched with a flying pen, that we may -not anticipate details on which we shall afterwards have to dwell. -His reward was a grant of Novillara, near Pesaro; and when Francesco -Maria had exchanged sovereignty for exile, he returned to the service -of his natural lord, the Marquis of Mantua, whom he long represented -at the court of Leo X. To this Pontiff, Baldassare had nearly become -related, by a marriage with his niece Clarice de' Medici, which was -greatly promoted by Giuliano, during their residence at Urbino. -The negotiation was, however, broken off in January, 1509, by the -intrigues of her aunt, Lucrezia Salviati, who persuaded her uncle, -the Cardinal Giovanni, that, by bestowing her hand upon Filippo -Strozzi, he would strengthen the interest of his family at Florence. -The match having been, according to Italian usage, an interested -arrangement, its dissolution was borne with great philosophy by the -intended bridegroom; who some seven years later married Ippolita, -daughter of Count Guido Torelli, a celebrated condottiere, by -Francesca, daughter of Giovanni Bentivoglio, Lord of Bologna.[*39] -The ceremony was performed at Mantua, and was celebrated with -tournaments and pompous shows, in which the court and people took a -lively interest. But their happy union was of brief duration. The -Countess died four years after, in childbed of a daughter. Her name -has been embalmed in a beautiful Latin ode, wherein her husband -embodied those laments for his absence which he doubtless had often -heard from her lips, expressing all the tenderness of nuptial love, -and adorning a woman's pathos with a poet's fire. Nothing can be more -beautiful than the allusion to her husband's portrait:-- - - "Your features portrayed by Raffaele's art - Alone my longings can solace in part: - On them I lavish jests and winning wiles, - As if their words could echo back my smiles; - At times they seem by gestures to respond, - And answer in your wonted accents fond: - Our boy his sire salutes with babbling phrase. - Such are the thoughts deceive my lingering days." - -[Footnote *38: He was in England in 1506. Guidobaldo died in 1508. It -was to Duke Francesco he attached himself on his return.] - -[Footnote *39: On the various designs for Castiglione's marriage, see -CIAN, _op. cit._, p. 46, note 1.] - -In her epitaph, the Count summed up his wife's character and -endowments, with a doubt whether her beauty or her virtue were more -remarkable; to which her eulogist, Steffano Guazzo, has added a third -grace--her learning. During the first anguish of widowhood he was -supposed to have turned his thoughts to ecclesiastical orders; but -whatever views of that nature he may have entertained were speedily -abandoned; and in 1523 we find him again in Lombardy, with his -gallant company, under the banner of the Gonzagas. - -On the accession of Clement VII., the Marquis of Mantua again sent -him to represent his interests at Rome, where he was not long in -obtaining from the new Pope the same favour which he had enjoyed -under his uncle, Leo X. His diplomatic talents were now acknowledged -as of the first order; and Clement, foreseeing, perhaps, the -impending difficulties of his position with the Emperor, prevailed -upon Castiglione to accept the nomination of nuncio to Madrid. His -courtly qualities were not less agreeable to Charles V. and the -grandees of Spain than they had been in Italy; and in the romantic -project by which the Emperor proposed to decide in single combat -his unquenchable rivalry with Francis I., the Count was selected as -his second,--an honour which his diplomatic functions prevented his -accepting. Even while the troops and name of Charles were used by -Bourbon to inflict upon the Apostolic See the greatest blow which -its capital had suffered since the temporal power of the Church -rose on the ruins of the Roman empire, the Nuncio was receiving new -honours at Madrid, and was only prevented by his own scruples -from obtaining the temporalities of the bishopric of Avila, one of -the richest in Spain. In this most delicate position he retained -the confidence of his master, who seems to have been satisfied that -to no remissness on his part were owing the horrors of the sack of -Rome. But these miserable results of jealousies between the Pope -and the Emperor, which all his tact and influence were powerless to -remove, rendered his position anything but enviable, and appear to -have preyed alike upon mind and body. He sank under a short illness -at Toledo, on the 2nd of February, 1529,[*40] and was lamented by -Charles as "one of the best knights in the world." A letter of -condolence, written to his mother by Clement, affords ample evidence -that the fruitless results of his diplomacy in Spain had nowise -diminished the Pope's confidence in his good service and attachment -to his person. - -[Footnote *40: He died on February 7th, not 2nd.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -HAIR DRESSING IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY - -_Detail from the fresco by Pisanello in S. Anastasia of Verona_] - -In the _Cortegiano_ of Castiglione we are furnished with an -elaborate, and in the main faithful, delineation of the men, the -manners, and the accomplishments which rendered the court of Urbino -a model for his age, and also with an interesting picture of the -immediate circle which Guidobaldo and his estimable Duchess formed -around them. We have drawn upon it amply for this portion of our -volumes, but the notices which it affords of the Duke are of the -most vague and disappointing character. This deficiency would be -of little consequence, did the accounts which the same author -has left in a Latin letter to Henry VIII. do full justice to his -early patron. But from one whose opportunities of collecting ample -and authentic particulars were unusual, the passing allusions to -many momentous incidents are truly unsatisfactory. His details of -scholarship and accomplishments would be more valuable, if divested -of an air of exaggeration which even solemn asseverations of veracity -scarcely remove. With all their faults, these are preferable to the -compilation of Bembo, to which we shall in due time more particularly -advert. Those who wade through its laboured and redundant expletives -will probably come to the conclusion that Castiglione has preserved -whatever they contain worthy of notice. - -The Count was a finished gentleman, in an age when that character -included a variety of mental acquirements, as well as many personal -accomplishments. His verses in Latin and Italian breathe a fine -spirit of poetry; his letters merit a distinguished place as models -of correspondence; his diplomatic address was highly approved by -the sovereigns whom he served, as well as by those to whom he -was accredited; he has been complimented as the delight of his -contemporaries, the admiration of posterity. - - * * * * * - -GIULIANO DE' MEDICI was third son of Lorenzo the -Magnificent, and was known in the circle of Urbino by the same -appellation. Born in 1478, he passed at that court several years -of his family's exile from Florence; nor was he ungrateful for the -splendid hospitality he there enjoyed, for, while he lived, his -influence with his brother, Leo X., averted those designs against -the dukedom, which were directed to his own aggrandisement. After -the restoration of the Medici, Leo confided to him the government of -Florence, which he endeavoured to administer in the spirit of his -father, and succeeded in gaining the good will of the people. But -the Pope was not satisfied with the re-establishment of his race as -sovereigns of that republic; and the fine qualities and vast ideas -of Giuliano suggested him as a fit instrument of further grasping -schemes. To realise these, Leo coquetted between France and Spain, -and, like his predecessors, sacrificed the peace of Italy. The prizes -which he successively proposed for Giuliano, who, by resigning -Florence into the hands of his nephew Lorenzo, the heir-male of his -house, was free to accept whatever sovereignty might be had, were -the duchy of Milan, a state in Eastern Lombardy and Ferrara, or the -crown of Naples. In June, 1515, the Pontiff conferred on him the -insignia of gonfaloniere and captain-general of the Church; but he -was prevented from active service by a fever which cut him off in -the following March, when only thirty-eight, not without suspicion -of poison at the hands of his nephew Lorenzo. His name is enshrined -in Bembo's prose and Ariosto's verse, whilst his tomb by Michael -Angelo in the Medicean Chapel, which Rogers, with a quaint but happy -antithesis, calls "the most real and unreal thing which ever came -from the chisel," is one of the glories of art.[*41] Shortly before -his death he had married Filiberta of Savoy, whose nephew, Francis -I., created him Duke of Nemours, and, had his life been prolonged, -would probably have aided him to further aggrandisement. - -[Footnote *41: Giuliano was not so bad a poet himself. Cf. on this -subject SERASSI, in the Annotazioni to the _Tirsi_ of Castiglione at -stanza 43, and the five sonnets contained in _Cod. Palat._, 206 (_I -Cod. Palat. della Nazionale Centrale di Firenze_, vol. I., fasc. 4), -and the six of _Cod. Magliabech._ II., I., 60 (BARTOLI, _I manoscritti -della Bib. Nazionale di Firenze_, tom. I., p. 38).] - -During his residence at Urbino, from an intrigue with Pacifica -Brandani, a person of high rank or base condition, for both extremes -have been conjectured to account for the mystery, there was born to -him a son, who, after being exposed in the streets in 1511, was sent -to the foundling hospital, and baptized Pasqualino. Removed to Rome -and acknowledged in 1513, the child received an excellent education; -and under the munificent patronage of the Medici became Cardinal -Ippolito, whose tastes were more for arms than mass-books, and whose -handsome features and gallant bearing, expressive of his splendid -character, are preserved to us in the Pitti Gallery by the gorgeous -tints of Titian, alone worthy of such a subject. - - * * * * * - -The next personage of this goodly company was CESARE -GONZAGA, descended from a younger branch of the Mantuan -house, and cousin-german of Count Baldassare, whose quarters he -shared in 1504, when they returned together from the reduction of -Valentino's strongholds in Romagna, where he had the command of fifty -men-at-arms. We know little of him beyond his having been a knight of -St. John of Jerusalem, and ambassador from Leo X. to Charles V.[*42] -Baldi describes him as not less distinguished by merit than blood, -and Castiglione assigns him a prominent place in the lively circle -whose amusements he depicts. He was no unsuccessful devotee of the -muses: a graceful canzonet by him is preserved in the Rime Scelte of -Atanagi, and he shares the credit of the eclogue of _Tirsis_ already -alluded to, and printed among the works of Castiglione. Recommended -by military talent, as well as by diplomatic dexterity and business -habits, he remained in the service of Duke Francesco Maria during his -early campaigns; and in September, 1512, after reducing Bologna to -obedience of the Pope, died there of an acute fever in the flower of -his age. - -[Footnote *42: SERASSI, in _Poesie volgari e latine del B.C. -aggiunti alcune Rime e Lettere di Cesare Gonzaga_ (Roma, 1760), gives -a full notice of his life, and CASTIGLIONE, in the Fourth -Book of the _Cortegiano_, speaks affectionately of him.] - - * * * * * - -The brothers OTTAVIANO and FEDERIGO FREGOSO were -of a Genoese family, who for above a century had distinguished -themselves in the military, naval, and civil service of their -country, and had given several doges to that republic. Their father, -Agostino Fregoso, had married Gentile, natural daughter of Duke -Federigo, and the young men were consequently much brought up at -the court of Urbino, where their sisters Margherita and Costanza -were long in attendance on Duchess Elisabetta. In 1502, Ottaviano -accompanied his uncle on his first return from Venice, and we have -seen him then defending S. Leo during a lengthened siege, sustained -with great gallantry and skill. For that good service he had from -the Duke the countship of Sta. Agatha in the Apennines, afterwards -confirmed to him by an honourable brief of Leo X., and continued to -his descendants, with the title of Vicar, until their extinction in -the third generation. - -The latter period of Ottaviano's life was actively passed in his -native city. From 1512 his endeavours were directed to abolish the -French domination maintained at that time by aid of the Adorni, -long hereditary rivals of his family. In this he finally succeeded, -and next year was elected doge, the only one, in Litta's opinion, -"who gloriously manifested a desire for the public weal." He held -that dignity during two years of tranquillity to his country, over -which the benign influence of his mild and impartial sway diffused a -temporary calm, long unknown to its factious inhabitants. So obvious -were these beneficial results, that Francis I., on becoming master -of Genoa in 1515, continued to him a delegated authority as its -governor. But, seven years later, the restless Adorni, having adhered -to the Emperor, aided the Marquis of Pescara to carry the city, -with an army of imperialists, who mercilessly sacked it. Ottaviano -remained a prisoner in the enemy's hands, and died soon after. He is -called in the _Cortegiano_ "a man the most singularly magnanimous -and religious of our day, full of goodness, genius, prudence, and -courtesy; a true friend to honour and virtue, and so worthy of praise -that even his enemies are constrained to extend it to him." The -revolution effected by Andrea Doria, in 1528, forcibly closed the -feuds of these rival families, which, during a century and a half, -had outraged public order, and, both being compelled to change their -name, the Fregosi adopted that of Fornaro. - - * * * * * - -FEDERIGO FREGOSO, the younger brother of Ottaviano, -born in 1480, was educated for holy orders under the eye of his -maternal uncle Guidobaldo. In the lettered society of Urbino he -perfected himself in various accomplishments, as well as in a -thorough knowledge of the world, which enabled him afterwards to -acquit himself usefully and creditably in many diversified spheres -of action. It was to the great satisfaction of that court that in -April, 1507, Julius II. conferred upon him the archbishopric of -Salerno, a benefice which the opposition of Ferdinand II., founded -on his leaning to French interests, apparently prevented him from -enjoying. His life of literary ease remained uninterrupted until -his brother's elevation as doge of Genoa in 1513, when he hastened -to support him by his counsels and influence. During the next nine -years he alternately commanded the army of the republic, led her -fleet against the Barbary pirates, whom he annihilated in their own -harbours, and represented her as ambassador at the papal court. -The revolution of 1522 compelled him to fly from his native city, -and, taking refuge in France, he received protection and preferment -from Francis I. He returned to Italy in 1529, and was appointed to -the see of Gubbio, where his piety, and devotion to the spiritual -and temporal welfare of his flock, were equally commendable, and -gained him the appellation of father of the poor and refuge of the -distressed. A posthumous imputation of heretical error cast upon his -name had no better foundation than the accident of his discourse -upon prayer happening to be reprinted along with a work of Luther, -which occasioned their being both consigned to the Index. In 1539 he -was made cardinal by Paul III., and died at Gubbio two years after. -His attainments in philology were eminent, including a profound -knowledge of Hebrew, with the study of which he is said to have -consoled his exile in France. Equal cultivation might have gained -him much fame as a poet, but the works he has left are chiefly of -a doctrinal character, and his eminence in the literary circle of -his day rests more upon the correspondence of Bembo, Sadoleto, and -Cortesio than upon his own writings.[*43] By the first of these, the -sparkle of his measured wit, the general moderation and suavity of -his manners, his gentle consideration for other men's habits, his -personal accomplishments, and the zeal displayed in his studies, -are all spoken of with warm admiration. The following letter of -sympathy, addressed to the dowager Duchess by that rhetorician is an -interesting though mannered tribute to his long friendship:-- - - "My most illustrious and worshipful Lady, - - "I had somewhat dried the tears elicited by the death - of our very reverend Monseigneur Fregoso, so suddenly - and inopportunely taken from us, when your Excellency's - autograph letters recalled them to my eyes, and still - more abundantly to my heart, on finding that you condoled - with me so sensibly, and with so much unction. Not only, - indeed, has your Ladyship been bereaved of a rare friend - and relative, a most wise and religious gentleman, but, - as you observe, all Christendom has thus sustained a loss - incomparably great in times so evil and convulsed. Of - myself I shall say little, having already written a few - days ago to your Excellency; and, knowing the affection - and respect mutually existing between you, I appreciate - the weight of your grief from my own. Nor can I doubt - that your Ladyship is aware of my emotion consequent upon - his long kindness towards me, and my respectful but warm - affection for him, sentiments never interrupted by a single - word on either side, from his early youth and my manly age - down to this day. I am further pained to observe that your - Ladyship, lamenting for long years your Lord's death of - happy memory, and now that of the Cardinal, entertains an - impression your life will be short. This is no fruit of - that good sense I have ever noticed in you, and which the - Cardinal himself inculcated; for the more your Ladyship - is left alone to promote the welfare and advantage of the - tender plants by your side, you should be more anxious to - live on; for, while life is given you, you may benefit - their souls by prayers and good deeds, as well as promote - the interests of many who look to your pious spirit for the - prosperity of their lot. Let not, therefore, your Ladyship - speak thus, but bless (_si conforti_) the Heavenly King - that he has so willed it, and conform yourself to his - infallible will and judgment. As to your observation that - I am left to you, in place of this good gentleman, as a - protector, father, and brother, be assured that the day - shall never come when it will not be my desire to dispose - of myself in all respects according to your Excellency's - pleasure, yielding therein not even to your [late] most - reverend brother. Your Ladyship will consider me as truly, - really, and justly your own, to use and dispose of me - unreservedly; and for this end I give, grant, and give over - to you full leave and power, not to be reclaimed by any - change of fortune so long as life remains to me. In return - I shall now pray you to attend to your health, and not only - to live on, but live as happily as you can, thus avenging - yourself of fate, which has done so much to vex you.... - From Rome, the 2nd of August, 1541." - -[Footnote *43: Cf. TIRABOSCHI, _Storia della Lett. Ital._ -(ed. Class. It.), vol. VIII., p. 3.] - - * * * * * - -PIETRO BEMBO[*44] was born at Venice in 1470, and had the -first rudiments of education at Florence, whither his father Bernardo -was sent as ambassador from the Signory. Having learned Greek at -Messina under Constantin Lascaris, and studied philosophy at Padua -and Ferrara, he devoted himself to literary pursuits. At the court -of the d'Este princes, where he was introduced by his father then -resident as envoy from Venice, he met with the consideration -due to his acquirements, and found a brilliant society, including -Sadoleto, the Strozzi, and Tibaldeo. There he was residing when the -arrival of Lucrezia Borgia threatened to establish for it a very -different character; but the dissolute beauty seems to have left -in the Vatican her abandoned tastes, and adopting those of her new -sovereignty she became distinguished as a patroness of letters. -The intimacy which sprang up between this princess and Bembo has -given rise to some controversy as to the purity of its platonism, a -discussion into which we need not enter. The life of the lady, the -writings of the Abbe, and the morals of their time combine to justify -suspicion, where proofs can hardly be looked for.[*45] - - "But if their solemn love were crime, - Pity the beauty and the sage,-- - Their crime was in their darkened age!" - -[Footnote *44: For a splendid account of Bembo, cf. GASPARY, -_Storia della Lett. Ital._ (Torino, 1891), vol. II., part II., pp. -60-7, and the _Appendice Bibliographica_ there, pp. 284-5.] - -[Footnote *45: This is altogether unfair, uncalled for, and untrue. -Dennistoun is not to be trusted where a Borgia is concerned; like -Sigismondo Malatesta they hurt the Urbino dukes too much.] - -[Illustration: _Anon. des._ _L. Ceroni sculp._ - -CARDINAL BEMBO - -_From a drawing once in the possession of Cavaliere Agricola in Rome_] - -Their correspondence lasted from 1503 to 1516, and many of his -letters are published.[*46] The prevailing tone of these is -rhetorical rather than passionate, and is quite as complimentary -to her virtues as to her beauty. The Ambrosian Library at Milan -possesses nine autograph epistles in Italian and Latin from Lucrezia, -addressed "to my dearest M. Pietro Bembo," with the dates supplied in -his hand. A tress of fair auburn hair, originally tied up with them, -and doubtless that of the Princess, is now shown in the adjoining -museum. That her tastes and accomplishments were not unworthy of such -a friendship appears from many dedications of works to her while -Duchess of Ferrara, including the Asolani of her admirer. - -[Footnote *46: Cf. MORSOLIN, _P. Bembo e Lucrezia Borgia_, -in the _Nuova Antologia_ (Roma, 1885), and BEMBO, _Opere_ -(Venice, 1729), vol. III., pp. 307-17; also CIAN, in _Giorn. -Stor. della Lett. Ital._, XXIX., 425.] - -In 1505 Bembo repaired to Urbino, and sojourned chiefly at that court -during the next six years, where his varied attainments were highly -prized, and where his philological pedantry was probably regarded -as ornamental. Besides enjoying the converse of many congenial -spirits, he there formed a friendship with Giuliano de' Medici, to -which he owed many subsequent honours. Accompanying him to Rome in -1512, he was recommended by him to his brother, the Cardinal, whose -first act on being chosen Pope in the following year, was to name -Bembo his secretary, jointly with his friend Sadoleto. For this -situation he was in many respects well fitted, by the happy union -of great learning with an extensive knowledge of men and manners, -which his residence at Ferrara and Urbino had not failed to impart. -The laxity of his morals, and the paganism of his ideas, were -unfortunately no disqualifications under Leo X. He continued to earn -his master's confidence in the discharge of his regular duties, as -well as in occasional diplomatic missions, but, as Roscoe truly -observes, his success as a negotiator did not equal his ability in -official correspondence. The pensions and benefices which rewarded -his services enriched him for life, and even before that Pontiff's -death he sought at Padua an elegant literary retirement, refusing -from Clement VII., and from the Signory of Venice, all offers of -public employment. He surrounded himself with a most select library, -including many invaluable manuscripts, and a precious collection -of medals and other antiquities, which, with the society of the -learned whom he attracted to his board, gave to his house a wide -celebrity. It was not regarded as at all degraded by the presence -of an avowed mistress at its head, with whom he openly lived for -many years, and had several children; and neither this scandal, -nor the gross indecency of some of his writings, prevented Paul -III. from conferring upon him a scarlet hat in 1539. He is said to -have accepted this dignity unwillingly, but having done so, he had -the good sense at all events to "cleanse the outside of the cup -and platter." His mistress was now dead; he laid aside poetry, -literature, and pagan idioms, and, devoting himself to theological -studies, at which he had formerly sneered in the habit of an abbe, -he entered holy orders at the mature age of sixty-nine. In 1541 he -succeeded Fregoso, his early companion at Urbino, in the bishopric -of Gubbio, to which was added that of Bergamo. How little these -preferments contributed to his comfort appears from a letter to -Veronica Gambara in December, 1543. "Often," he there says, "do I -desire to be the unfettered Bembo of other days, rather than as -I now am. But what better can one make of it? Man's existence, -abounding more in crosses than in gratifying incidents, will have it -so; and wiser he who least desponds and best puts up to necessity, -than one that less conforms to it. Yet I own myself unable to do -this amid these privations, and exiled in a manner from myself. -For verily I am neither at Venice nor Padua, as your Ladyship -supposes, but at my church of Gubbio, a very wild place to say the -truth, and offering few conveniences." He died at Rome six years -after, in his seventy-seventh year, and was buried in the church of -the Minerva, between his patrons Leo X. and Clement VII., where a -modest flag-stone is all the memorial that his natural son and heir, -Torquato, bestowed on one of the most famous men of his age. - - * * * * * - -At the town of Bibbiena, in the upper Val d'Arno, there were born -about 1470, of humble parentage, two brothers, whose business talents -procured them remarkable advancement. The elder, Pietro Dovizi, -became a secretary of Lorenzo de' Medici, into whose family he -introduced his brother BERNARDO. There this youth gained -for himself so good a reputation, that he was allowed to share the -instructions bestowed upon his patron's younger son Giovanni. A close -intimacy gradually sprang up between these fellow students, which -the similarity of their talents, their tastes, and their pursuits -ripened into lasting friendship. Identifying himself with the -Medici, he followed their fortunes into exile, and attended Giuliano -to Urbino, where he was received with the welcome there extended to -all who, like him, combined the scholar and the gentleman. But this -hospitality met with a very different return from these two guests. -Of Giuliano's generous forbearance to second the evil designs of his -brother, the Pope, against the state which had sheltered him, we have -lately spoken. When we come to narrate the usurpation of the duchy by -the Medici in 1516-17, we shall find in command of their invading army - - "That courteous Sir, who honours and adorns - Bibbiena, spreading far and high its fame," - -and who had adopted that town as a substitute for his own -undistinguished patronymic. This ingratitude was the more odious if, -as it was probable, he owed to Guidobaldo, or his nephew, the favour -of Julius II., who first brought him forward in the public service. - -At that Pontiff's death he was acting as secretary to his early -friend, the Cardinal de' Medici, and in that capacity was admitted -to the conclave. The intrigues which there effected his patron's -election have given rise to various anecdotes and controversies, -which we pass by with the single remark that, by all accounts, the -address of Dovizi was not unimportant to the success of Leo X. In -return, he was included in the first distribution of scarlet hats -as CARDINAL BIBBIENA. In this enlarged sphere his talents -and tastes had full room for exercise. He was selected for various -important diplomatic trusts, besides filling the offices of treasurer -and legate in the war of Urbino. With his now ample means, his -patronage of letters and arts had ample scope, and he was regarded -as the Maecenas of a court rivalling that of Augustus. Raffaele -enjoyed his particular regard, which he would willingly have proved -by bestowing on him the hand of his niece. - -His ambition is alleged to have exceeded even the rise of his -fortunes, and to have prompted him to contemplate, and possibly to -intrigue for, his own elevation to the chair of St. Peter, in the -event of a vacancy. His sudden death in 1520, soon after a residence -of above a year as legate to Francis I. (who had conferred upon him -the see of Constance), when coupled with such reports, was construed -as the effect of poison administered by Leo. Indeed, his friend, -Ludovico Canossa, observed that it was a received dogma among the -French at that very time that every man of station who died in Italy -was poisoned. But such vague conjectures, however specious under -Alexander VI., are less credible in other pontificates; and if the -Cardinal were poisoned, that practice was then by no means limited -to popes. He was an accomplished dilettante when the standards of -beauty were of pagan origin; and his intimacy with Raffaele dated -after the painter's Umbrian inspirations had faded before a gradual -homage to the "new manner." Like his friend Bembo, his morals were -epicurean to the full licence of a dissolute age. His famed comedy -of the _Calandra_,[*47] which was brought out at Urbino in 1508, -and which gave full play to his exquisite sense of the ridiculous, -justifies this charge, and all that we have so often to repeat of the -laxity then prevalent in the most refined Italian circles. A notice -of this, the only important production of his pen, and an account of -its being magnificently performed before Guidobaldo, will be found -in our twenty-fifth chapter. Those who regard the pontificate of Leo -X. as the classic period of Italian letters must feel grateful to -Cardinal Bibbiena for developing a portion of its lustre; the sterner -moralist, who brands its vices, will charge him with pandering -freely to the licence of a court of which he was a notable ornament. -Castiglione tells us that an acute and ready genius rendered him the -delight of all his acquaintance; and Baldi adds, that by practice -in the papal court he so improved that gift, that his tact in -business was unrivalled, to which his mild address, and happy talent -of seasoning the dullest topics with graceful pleasantry, greatly -contributed. - -[Footnote *47: For all concerning this play and its performance at -Urbino in 1513, see VERNARECCI, _Di Alcune Rappresentazioni -Drammatiche alla Corte d'Urbino nel 1513_ in _Archivio Storico per -le Marche e per l'Umbria_, vol. III., p. 181 _et seq._ The original -prologue, by Bibbiena, was only recently made known by DEL -LUNGO, _La Recitazione dei Menaechmi in Firenze e il doppio -prologo della Calandria_, in the _Arch. Stor. Ital._, series III., -vol. XXII., pp. 346-51. Machiavelli's estimate of Bibbiena will be -found in _Lettere Famil. di N. Machiavelli_, Firenze, 1883, p. 304, -"Bibbiena, hora cardinale, in verita ha gentile ingegno, ed e homo -faceto et discreto, et ha durato a' suoi di gran fatica."] - -His personal beauty obtained for him the adjunct of _bel_ Bernardo, -and he is represented in the _Cortegiano_ as saying, in reference to -the amount of good looks desirable for a gentleman, "Such grace and -beauty of feature are, I doubt not, mine, in consequence whereof, -as you know, so many women are in love with me; but I have some -misgivings as to my figure, especially these legs of mine, which, to -say the truth, don't seem to me quite what I should like, though I am -well enough satisfied with my bust, and all the rest." This, however, -having been introduced as a jest, may perhaps be understood rather as -complimentary to his person, than as a sarcasm on his vanity. - -A contemporary and unsparing pen thus sketches his qualities, in a -manuscript printed by Roscoe, from the Vatican archives:--"He was a -facetious character, with no mean powers of ridicule, and much tact -in promoting jocular conversation by his wit and well-timed jests. -He was a great favourite with certain cardinals, whose chief pursuit -was pleasure and the chase, for he thoroughly knew all their habits -and fancies, and was even aware of whatever vicious propensities they -had. He likewise possessed a singular pliancy for flattery, and for -obsequiously accommodating himself to their whims, stooping patiently -to be the butt of insulting and abusive jokes, and shrinking from -nothing which could render him acceptable to them. He also had much -readiness in council, and was perfectly able seasonably to qualify -his wit with wisdom, or to dissemble with singular cunning." Bembo, -with more partial pen, says in a letter to Federigo Fregoso, "The -days seem years until I see him, and enjoy the pleasing society, the -charming conversation, the wit, the jests, the features, and the -affection of that man." - - * * * * * - -Among the distinguished literary names which have issued from Arezzo, -several members of the ACCOLTI family were conspicuous in the fifteenth -and sixteenth centuries. BERNARDO,[*48] of whom we are now to speak, -had a father noted as a historian, a brother and a nephew who reached -the dignity of cardinal, and were remarkable in politics and letters. -He obtained from Leo X. the fief of Nepi, as well as various offices -of trust and emolument; of these, however, his wealth rendered him -independent, enabling him to indulge in a life of literary ease. His -poetical celebrity exceeded that of his contemporaries, and seems -to have been his chief recommendation at the court of Guidobaldo. -There, and at Rome, he was in the habit of reciting his verses in -public to vast audiences, composed of all that was brilliant in -these cultivated capitals. Nor was his popularity limited to a -lettered circle. When an exhibition was announced, the shops were -closed, the streets emptied, and guards restrained the crowds who -rushed to secure places among his audience. This extraordinary -enthusiasm appears the more unaccountable, when we find his printed -poetry characterised by a bald and stilted style, which leaves no -pleasing impression on the reader. The mystery seems explained by a -supposition that his talent lay in extemporary declamation. - -[Footnote *48: On the Unico Aretino Bernardo Accolti, see especially -D'ANCONA, _Studi sulla Lett. Ital. de' primi secoli_ (Ancona, 1884), -in the essay, _Del Seicentismo nella poesia cortigiana del Secolo XV._, -pp. 217-18. He professed an extraordinary devotion for the Duchess of -Urbino.] - -Instances are far from uncommon in Italy, of similar effects produced -by the _improvisatori_, whose torrent of melodious words, directed -to a popular theme, and accompanied by music and impassioned -gesticulation, hurries the feelings of a sympathising auditory to -bursts of tumultuous applause, whilst on cool perusal, the same -compositions fall utterly vapid on the reader. Be this as it may, -the success of Accolti had the common result of superficial powers, -and so egregiously inflated his vanity, that he assumed as his usual -designation "the unique Aretine," by which he is always accosted -in the _Cortegiano_. Nine years later we find him devoting to -Duchess Elisabetta attentions which were attributed to a passion -more powerful than gratitude, but which, knowing as he well did, -her immaculate modesty, could only have been prompted by despicable -vanity, and hence exposed him to keen ridicule. - - * * * * * - -To few of the pedigrees illustrated by Sansovino is there attributed -a more remote origin, or a brighter illustration, than to that of -CANOSSA.[*49] A younger son of the family was COUNT LUDOVICO, who, -being cousin-german of Castiglione's mother, was perhaps by this -means brought to Urbino, and thence recommended to Julius II., under -whose patronage he entered upon an ecclesiastical career. From Leo -X. he obtained the see of Tricarico, and was sent by him as nuncio -to England and France, a service which earned him promotion to the -bishopric of Bajus. Adrian VI. and Clement VII. continued him in this -post; and during a long residence at the French court, he entirely -gained the confidence and favour of Francis I. Many of his diplomatic -letters are printed in various collections; and to him is addressed -Count Baldassare's curious description of the performance of the -_Calandra_, at Urbino. - -[Footnote *49: For Canossa, cf. LUZIO E RENIER, _op. -cit._, p. 87, and especially ORTI-MANARA, _Intorno alla -vita ed alle gesta del Co. Lodovico di Canossa_ (Verona, 1845), and -CAVATTONI, _Lettere scelte di Mons. L. di Canossa_ (Verona, -1862).] - - * * * * * - -ALESSANDRO TRIVULZIO was nephew of Gian Giacomo, the -distinguished Milanese general of that name, and himself a famous -captain in the service of Florence, and of Francis I. Sigismondo -Riccardi, surnamed the Black, Gasparo Pallavicini, Pietro da -Napoli, and Roberto da Bari,--the last of whom died in the camp of -Duke Francesco Maria, in 1510,--are mentioned among the military -notorieties of the Feltrian court. Giovanni Cristoforo, the sculptor, -may be added to the list of its literary dilettanti; and among its -musical ornaments were Pietro Monti and Terpandro, with Niccolo -Frisio, a German, long resident in the land of song, whose exertions -were often in request by Monti and Barletta, both dancers of note. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - - Emilia Pia--The _Cortegiano_--Death of Duke Guidobaldo, - succeeded by Francesco Maria della Rovere. - - -Such were the eminent men, with whom Guidobaldo is described in the -_Cortegiano_ as living in easy but dignified familiarity, joining -their improving and amusing conversation, or admiring their dexterity -in exercises which his broken constitution no longer permitted him -to share. Thus passed the days in the palace; and, when the Duke was -constrained by his infirmities to seek early repose, the evenings -were spent in social amusements, over which the Duchess gracefully -presided, with her ladies Margherita and Costanza Fregoso, the Duke's -nieces, Margherita and Ippolita Gonzaga, the Signor Raffaella, and -Maria Emilia Pia. - -[Illustration: ELISABETTA GONZAGA, DUCHESS OF URBINO - -_From a lead medal by Adriano Fiorentino in the British Museum_] - -[Illustration: EMILIA PIA - -_From a medal by Adriano Fiorentino in the Vienna Museum_] - -Of the social position of Italian women in this century[*50] we -may gather many particulars from Ludovico Dolce's _Instituto delle -Donne_: for although, like most writers on similar themes, he -represents them "not as they are, but as they ought to be," still, -knowing the then received standard of female perfection, we can form -a pretty accurate estimate of their actual qualities. His views -as to education are exceedingly orthodox. The Holy Scriptures, -with the commentaries of the fathers, Ambrose, Augustin, and -Jerome, ought to be day and night before a girl, and suffice for -her religious and moral discipline. She should be familiar with her -own language and with Latin, but Greek is an unnecessary burden. -For mental occupation, Plato, Seneca, and such other philosophers -as supply sound moral training are excellent, as well as Cicero for -bright examples and wholesome counsels. History being the teacher -of life, all classical historians are commended, but the Latin -poets are vetoed as unfit for honest women, except most of Virgil -and a few selections from Horace. Many modern Latin writers are -commended, especially the _Christeida_ of Sannazaro and Vida, but -all such prurient productions in Italian as Boccaccio's novels are -to be shunned like venomous reptiles. On the other hand, the poetry -of Petrarch and Dante is extolled beyond measure, the former as -embodying with singular beauty an instance of the purest and most -honourable love, the latter as an admirable portraiture of all -Christian philosophy. Yet such literary occupations should never -intrude upon more important matters, such as prayer, nor upon the -domestic duties of married women. - -[Footnote *50: The books, pamphlets, poems, and stories, both -contemporary and subsequent, dealing with the position, beauty, -learning, dress, etc., of women would fill a library. I shall content -myself by naming a very few among them under a few headings for -the entertainment of the reader. The list of works I give is, of -course, in no sense a bibliography. The best source is _Castiglione_ -himself--for the sixteenth century and for court life, at any rate. -But the picture he paints, remarkable as it is, was by no means -altogether realistic, as a consultation with the following works will -show. I have included a few dealing with earlier times, and have only -quoted works with which I am familiar. - - -GENERAL LIFE. - -CECCHI, _La Donna e la famiglia Italiana del Secolo XIII. al -sec. XVI._, in _Nuova Antologia_ (new series), vol. XI., fasc. 19-20. - -FRATI, _La Donna Italiana secondo i piu recenti studi_ -(Torino, 1889). - -VARCONI, _La Donna Italiana descritta da Scrittrici Italiane -in una serie di Conferenze_ (Firenze, 1890). - -VELLUTI, _Cronica Domestica_ (Firenze, 1887). - -DAZZI, _Alcune lettere familiari del sec. XIV._ in -_Curiosita Letterarie_, fasc. XC. (Bologna, 1868). - -ANON., _Difesa delle Donne_ (Bologna, 1876). - -BIAGI, _La vita Italiana nel Rinascimento_ (Milano, 1897). - -BIAGI, _La vita privata dei Fiorentini_ (Milan, 1893). - -DEL LUNGO, _La Donna Fiorentina del buon tempo antico_ -(Firenze, 1906). - -GUASTI, _Lettere di una gentildonna Fiorentina del sec. XV._ -(Firenze, 1877). - -LIBORIO AZZOLINI, _La Compiuta Donzella di Firenze_ -(Palermo, 1902). - -ZDEKAUER, _La vita privata dei Senese_ (Conf. d. Com. Sen. -di St. Pat.), (Siena, 1897). - -CASANOVA, _La Donna Senese del Quattrocento nella vita -privata_ (Siena, 1895). - -FRATI, _La vita privata in Bologna_ (Bologna, 1900). - -BELGRANO, _La vita privata Genovese_ (Genoa, 1866). - -BRAGGIO, _La donna Genovese del sec. XV._, in _Giornale -Linguistico_, Ann. XII. (1885). - -MOLMENTI, _St. di Venezia nella Vita Privata_ (Torino, 1885). - -CECCHETTI, _La donna nel Medio Evo a Venezia_ in Arch. Ven. -Ann., XVI. (1886). - - -THEIR BEAUTY AND ADORNMENT. - -In Florence, Siena, and Venice certainly there were regulations of -the fashions; but not in Naples. - -FIRENZUOLA, The two discourses, _Delle bellezze delle donne_ -and _Della perfetta bellezza d'una donna_, in ed. Bianchi, _Le Opere_ -(Firenze, 1848). - -MORPURGO, _El costume de le donne con un capitolo de le -XXXIII. bellezze_ (Firenze, 1889). - -ZANELLI, in _Bolletino di St. Pistoiese_, vol. I., fasc. -II., p. 50 _et seq._ - -ARETINO, _Il Mareschaio_, atto ii., sc. 5, and _I -Ragionamenti_. - -CENNINO CENNINI, _Trattato della Pittura_, cap. clxi. -Warning against the general use of cosmetics. - -L.B. ALBERTI, _Opere Volgari_ (Firenze, 1849) (Del Governo -della Famiglia), vol. V., pp. 52, 75, 77. How a wife ought and ought -not to adorn herself. - -FRANCO SACCHETTI, _Novelle_, 99, 136, 137, 177. "Formerly -the women wore their bodices cut so open that they were uncovered to -beneath their armpits! Then with one jump, they wore their collars -up to their ears! And these are all outrageous fashions. I, the -writer, could recite as many more of the customs and fashions which -have changed in my days as would fill a book as large as this whole -volume," etc. etc., with a long description of the dress of the women -of his time. Consult all the novelists. - -DANTE, in _Il Paradiso_, XV. - -GIO. VILLANI, _Cronaca_, lib. X., caps. x., xi., and cl. - -MATT. VILLANI, _Cronaca_, lib. I., cap. iv. - -BOCCACCIO, _De Casibus virorum illustrium_, lib. I., cap. -xviii. He gives a list of the arts of the toilet of women. - -BIAGI, _Due corredi nuziali fiorentini_ (1320-1493). (Per -nozze Corazzini-Benzini, Firenze, 1899.) - -CARNESECCHI, _Donne e lusso a Firenze nel secolo XVI._ -(Firenze, 1903). - -ALLEGRETTO, in _Muratori R.I.S._, XXIII., col. 823. - -_Diario Ferrarese_, in _Muratori R.I.S._, XXIV., cols. 297, 320, 376 -_et seq._, speaks of the German fashions--"Che pareno buffoni tali -portatori." - -GENTILE SERMINI, _Le Novelle_ (Livorno, 1874), Nov. XXI. - -MARCHESINI, _Quello si convenga a una donna che abbia -marito_ (Firenze, 1890, per nozze). And _Dialogo della bella creanza -delle donne_ (Milano, 1862), pp. 30, 31. - - -ON WATERS FOR THE FACE, AND PERFUMES. - -FALLETTI FOSSATTI, _Costumi Senesi_ (Siena, 1882), p. 133 -_et seq._ - -PELISSIER, _Le Trousseau d'une Siennoise en 1450_, in _Boll. -Senese_, vol. VI., fasc. 1. - -SANSOVINO, _Venetia citta nobilissima e singolare_ (1663), -fol. 150 _et seq._ - -YRIARTE, _La vie d'un Patricien de Venise au 16me siecle_ -(Les femmes a Venise) (Paris, 1874), and see rare authorities there -quoted. In Venice, the prescribed bridal dress seems to have been -that of Titian's Flora--the hair fell free on the shoulders. The -_Proveditori alle Pompe_ were established in Venice in 1514. - -On the whole subject see, for earlier time, HEYWOOD, _The -Ensamples of Fra Filippo_ (Siena, 1901), cap. iii.; and for later -time, BURCKHARDT, _op. cit._, vol. II., part V., caps., ii., -iv., v., vii.] - -It is unnecessary to follow our author into abstract qualities and -common-place graces, but the emphasis with which certain things -are decried affords a fair presumption of their prevalence. Thus, -excessive luxury of dress, and, above all, painting the face and -tinging the hair, are attacked as impious attempts to improve upon -God's own handiwork. In like manner, the assiduity with which modesty -and purity of mind and person are inculcated confirms what we -otherwise know of the unbridled licentiousness then widely diffused -over society. Gaming of every sort is scouted; music and dancing are -set down as matters of indifference. - -In regard to marriage, the selection of a husband is left as matter -of course to the parents, since a girl is necessarily too ignorant -of the world to choose judiciously for herself; a reason resulting -from the education and social circumstances of young women in Italy, -which sufficiently accounts for this apparent solecism continuing in -the present day. A prolix exposition of the principles which ought to -guide fathers in their discharge of this delicate duty may be summed -up in the very pertinent remark, that few prudent damsels would -rather weep in brocaded silks than smile in homely stuffs. - -But it is time to return from this digression to the LADY -EMILIA PIA, who merits more special notice in a sketch of the -Montefeltrian court. She was sister of Giberto Pio, Lord of Carpi in -Lombardy, and wife of Antonio, natural brother of Duke Guidobaldo. -After losing her husband in the flower of youth, she remained at -Urbino, and became one of its prime ornaments, not only by her -personal attractions, but by a variety of more lasting qualities. -The part she sustains in the conversation of the _Cortegiano_ amply -evinces the charm which attached to her winning manners, as well as -the ready tact wherewith she played off an extent of knowledge and -graceful accomplishment rare even in that age of female genius. She -was at all times ready and willing to lead or second the learned -or sportive pastimes by which the gay circle gave zest to their -intercourse and polish to their wit, and thus was of infinite use to -the Duchess, whose acquirements were of a less sparkling quality, and -of whom she was the inseparable companion. Still more singular and -proportionately admired were the decorum that marked her conduct in -circumstances of singular difficulty and the virtue which maintained -a spotless reputation amid temptations and lapses regarded as venial -in the habits of a lax age. Her death occurred about 1530,[*51] -and an appropriate posthumous tribute was paid to such graces and -virtues in this medallion bearing her portrait, with the Latin motto, -"To her chaste ashes," on the reverse. Even the luscious verses in -which Bembo and Castiglione sang the seductions of the Feltrian -court assumed a loftier tone in their tribute to her heart of -adamant, which, "pious by name[52] and cruel by nature," and spurning -the designs of Venus upon its wild freedom, would impart its own -severity generally to the slaves of the goddess. Yet it was under the -guidance of this able mistress of the revels, that joy and merriment -supplanted rigorous etiquette in the palace of Urbino, where -frankness was restrained from excess by the Duchess' example, and -where all were free to promote the common entertainment as their wit -or fancy might suggest. Among the sports of these after-supper hours, -Castiglione enumerates questions and answers, playful arguments -seasoned with smart rejoinders, the invention of allegories and -devices, repartees, mottoes, and puns, varied by music and dancing. - -[Footnote *51: She died in 1528, not as Serassi, whom Dennistoun -follows, says, in 1530.] - -[Footnote 52: Her maiden surname, Pio, was habitually punned into -Pia.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -HAIR DRESSING IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY - -_After a picture by Bissolo_] - -Such was the mode of life described in the _Cortegiano_, with ample -details, which we shall attempt slightly to sketch. The scene is -laid in the evenings immediately succeeding the visit of Julius II. -The usual circle being assembled in her drawing-room, the Duchess -desired Lady Emilia to set some game a-going.[*53] She proposed -that every person in turn should name a new amusement, and that the -one most generally approved should be adopted.[54] This fancy was -sanctioned by her mistress, who delegated to her full authority to -enforce it upon all the gentlemen, but exempted the ladies from -competition. The courtiers so called upon thus acquitted themselves -of their task. Gaspar Pallavicino suggested that each should state -the peculiar excellence and special defect which he would prefer -finding in the lady of his love. Cesare Gonzaga, assuming that all -had some undeveloped tendency to folly, desired that every one should -state on what subject he would rather play the fool. Fra Serafino -sneeringly proposed that they should successively say why most women -hate rats and like snakes. The Unico Aretino, whose turn came next, -thought that the party might try one by one to guess at the occult -meaning of an ornament, in the form of an S, worn by the Duchess -on her forehead. The flattery with which this odd suggestion was -spiced, gave a clue to the Lady Emilia, who exclaimed that, none but -himself being competent, he ought to solve the mystery; on which, -after a pause of apparent abstraction, he recited a sonnet on that -conceit, giving an air of impromptu to what was, in fact, a studied -composition clumsily introduced. Ottaviano Fregoso wished to know on -what point each would be most willing to undergo a lover's quarrel. -Bembo, refining on this idea, was of opinion that the question ought -to be whether the cause of quarrel had best originate with oneself -or with one's sweetheart--whether it was most vexatious to give or -receive the offence. Federigo Fregoso, premising his conviction that -nowhere else in Italy were there found such excellent ingredients of -a court, from the sovereign downwards, proposed that one chosen from -the party should state the qualities and conditions required to form -A PERFECT COURTIER, it being allowed to the others to object -and redargue in the manner of a scholastic disputation. - -[Footnote *53: Cf. _Il Cortegiano_, lib. I., cap. vi.] - -[Footnote 54: DOLCE, in the _Instituto delle Donne_, -mentions a lady who, being asked to name some pastime at a party, -sent for a basin and towel, that all of her sex might wash their -faces, she being the only one present without paint.] - -This idea being approved by the Duchess and her deputy, the latter -called upon Count Ludovico Canossa to begin the theme. Its discussion -(our observations upon which must be reserved for a future portion -of these pages) is represented by Castiglione as having been -prolonged during successive evenings; Federigo Fregoso, Giuliano the -Magnificent, Cesare Gonzaga, Ottaviano Fregoso, and Pietro Bembo, -following the cue with which Canossa had opened. At the close of the -fourth sitting, an argument on love was interrupted by daylight. -"Throwing open the eastern windows of the palace, they saw the summit -of Monte Catri already tipped with rosy tints of the radiant Aurora, -and all the stars vanished except Venus, the mild pilot of the sky, -who steers along the limits of night and day. From these far-off -peaks there seemed to breathe a gentle breeze, that tempered the -air with bracing freshness, and, from the rustling groves of the -adjacent hills, began to awaken sweet notes of wandering birds." The -same golden sun continues to dawn upon Urbino, but, ere many months -had passed, the bright galaxy of satellites that circled round Duke -Guidobaldo was scattered, for their guiding star had gone to another -sphere. - - * * * * * - -During fifteen years his fine form and robust constitution had been -wasted by gout, for such was the name given to a disease hereditary -in his family. Physiologists may decide upon the accuracy of -this term, and say why, in an age of incessant exposure to severe -exercise under all weather, and when luxuries of the table were -little known or appreciated, the ravages of that malady should -have been more virulent than in our days of comparative indulgence -and effeminacy.[55] At first he struggled against the symptoms, -continuing his athletic sports; but in a few years he was reduced to -a gentle pace on horseback, or to a litter. At length, about the time -of which we are now speaking, his intervals of ease rarely extended -to a month, during which he was carried about in a chair; but, when -under a fit, was confined to bed in great agony. Yet, ever tended by -his wife, his fortitude never forsook him, and his mind, gathering -strength in the decay of nature, sought occupation in the converse -of those able men who made his palace their home, or, in the moments -of most acute suffering, fell back for distraction upon the vast -stores of his prodigious memory, whiling away long hours of agony by -repeating passages from his favourite authors. The palliations of -medicine lost their effects; his enfeebled frame became more and more -sensitive to acute pain; in his emaciated figure few could recognise -the manly beauty of his youthful person; life had prematurely become -to him an irksome burden. - -[Footnote 55: Sanuto strangely ascribes his death to _mal Francese_, -an example of the way in which that ill-understood scourge was then -assumed as the origin of many fatal maladies.] - -There occurred in Italy at this period a very unnatural change of -the seasons. On the 7th of April, 1505, snow fell at Urbino to the -depth of a foot, and scarcity prevailed, followed in June by a -murrain among cattle. From September, 1506, until January, 1508, -it is said that no rain or snow fell, except during a few days of -violent torrents in April. The fountains failed, the springs became -exhausted, the rivers dried up, grain was hand-ground for want of -water. The crops were scarcely worth reaping, the pastures were -scorched, and the fruitless vines shrivelled under an ardent sun.[56] - -[Footnote 56: - - "Una stagion fu gia, che si il terreno - Arse, che 'l sol di nuovo a Faetonte - De' suoi corsier parea aver dato il freno: - Secco ogni pozzo, secco era ogni fonte, - Gli stagni, i rivi, e i fiumi piu famosi, - Tutti passar si potean senza ponte." - - ARIOSTO, _Satira_ iii. - -*Cf. MADIAI, _Diario_, in _Arch. cit._, vol. _cit._, p. 455.] - -On the other hand, December was turned into July; the orchards -bore a second crop of apples, pears, plums, and mulberries, from -which were prepared substitutes for wine, then worth a ducat the -_soma_; strawberries and blackberries ripened in the wood-lands, -and luxuriant roses were distilled in vast quantities at Christmas. -With the new year things underwent a sudden revolution, and January -set in with unwonted rigour. The delicacy of the Duke's now reduced -frame rendered him peculiarly sensitive to the atmospheric phenomena. -The long drought had especially affected all gouty patients, and -the severe weather so aggravated his sufferings that, on the 1st -of February, he was, by his own desire, removed in a litter to -Fossombrone. That town is situated on the north side of the Metauro, -lying well to the sun, and little above the sea level, from which -it is distant about fifteen miles, and has thus the most genial -spring climate in the duchy. At first the change was in all respects -beneficial, and revived the hopes of an attached circle who had -accompanied the Duchess. But in April winter returned, and with it a -relapse into the worst symptoms, which soon carried him off. Although -his great sufferings were borne with extraordinary fortitude, he -looked forward to death as an enviable release; and when his last -hour approached, he regarded it with calm resignation. To his -chaplain he confessed, as one whose worldly account was closed; and -he acquitted himself of those testamentary duties to his church and -to the poor, which his creed considers saving works; directing at -the same time the disposal of his body. Then calling to his bedside -(where the Duchess and Amelia were in unwearied attendance) his -nephew the Lord Prefect, Castiglione, Ottaviano Fregoso, and other -dear friends, he addressed to them words of consolation. Their hopes -for his recovery he mildly reproved, adapting to himself the lines of -Virgil:-- - - "Me now Cocytus bounds with squalid reeds, - With muddy ditches, and with deadly weeds, - And baleful Styx encompasses around - With nine slow-circling streams the unhappy ground."[57] - -[Footnote 57: - - "Me circum limus niger et deformis arundo - Cocyti, tardaque palus, inamabilis unda, - Alligat, et novies Styx interfusa coercet." - - VIRG. _Georg._ iv. 478.] - -To the Duchess and to his nephew were chiefly addressed his parting -injunctions, the object of which was to recommend them to each -other's affection and confidence, to comfort them under their -approaching bereavement, and to counsel implicit obedience on the -part of Francesco Maria towards his uncle the Pope. It seems enough -to allude thus generally to his closing scene, for the accounts which -we have from Castiglione and Federigo Fregoso, one a spectator, the -other a dear friend, who quickly reached the spot, are unfortunately -disguised in Ciceronianisms, necessarily inappropriate to a Christian -death-bed, and in which the spirit of his words has probably -evaporated.[58] We may, however, trust that - - "They show - The calm decay of nature, when the mind - Retains its strength, and in the languid eye - Religious holy hope kindles a joy;" - -for we have seen him neither indifferent nor neglectful of the -observances dictated by his Church, and, ere the vital spark fled, he -received its rites and besought the prayers of the bystanders. His -passage from mortality was peaceful, and death, which he considered -desirable, spread like a gentle slumber over his stiffening limbs -and composed features. At midnight of the 11th of April his spirit -was released from its shattered tenement.[*59] Over the agonised -and uncontrolled lamentations of the Duchess we draw a veil; the -description of such scenes must ever degenerate into common-place -generalities. She felt and suffered as was natural to the best wives -prematurely severed from the most attached of husbands. - -[Footnote 58: What are we to make of the words of Fregoso (as -preserved by Bembo)--an archbishop who, in describing to the Pope his -uncle's death, mentions his partaking of the last sacraments from the -Bishop of Fossombrone, in these terms, "Quiquidem Deos illi superos -atque manes placavit"? Such idioms will not bear retranslation. The -expression employed by Castiglione, though tinged with the cold -formality of classicism, is less startling: "Ut ungeretur more sanctae -matris ecclesiae rogavit." But a pagan taint may often be sadly traced -upon the devotion of this age. In the first volume of Vaissieux's -_Archivio Storico d'Italia_, the last hours of a convict, condemned -at Florence in 1500, are thus narrated by an eye-witness:--Pietro -Paolo Boscoli, a political reformer of the school of Savonarola, -thirsted in his dying moments after the living waters of evangelical -truth, and sought some better solace than the cold formalities of -an ordinary _viaticum_. Refusing to be shriven by any but a friar -of St. Mark's, he adjured an attendant friend to aid in getting -Brutus out of his head, in order that he might make a Christian -end. Nor was this heterodoxy exclusively Italian. Cervantes, in a -recently recovered fragment, _El Buscapie_, says, "I dislike to see -the graceful and pious language befitting the Christian muse mingled -with the profane phraseology of heathenism. Who can be otherwise -than displeased to find the name of God, of the Holy Virgin, and -of the Prophets, in conjunction with those of Apollo and Daphne, -Pan and Syrinx, Jupiter and Europa, Vulcan, Cupid, Venus, and -Mars?"--_Bentley's Mag._, XXIV., p. 203.] - -[Footnote *59: He died, says the anonymous author of the _Diario_ -cited above (note *, p. 80), between the fourth and fifth hour of the -night, that is, between 10.30 and 11.30 p.m., and it was Tuesday. The -news came to Urbino on the 10th, so, according to the Anonimo, he -died on the 9th.] - -Since the Duke's departure to Fossombrone, his state had been -administered by the Duchess and Francesco Maria. The former, alive to -the duties committed to her, wrote thus to the priors of Urbino, when -the danger became imminent. - - "Worthy and well-beloved, - - "The illness of the most illustrious Duke our consort - having so increased that the physicians, though not - despairing, doubt of his recovery, we have thought fit, - by these presents, to exhort and charge you that you be - watchful and diligent in regard to whatever may occur, - so as to maintain the tranquillity of your citizens; who - having, in the recent unhappy times, ever maintained their - faith unshaken towards us and our said consort the Duke, we - desire that they shall, at the present juncture, persevere - in the like mind, whereby we may ascertain the worth of - those really deserving. At the same time, if, as we do - not believe, any riotous and ill-conducted persons should - attempt or plot any disorders, we have taken such steps - and means as must put down and chastise their insolence, - and leave them a signal example to others. And, as it is - necessary to provide against such a contingency, we desire - that you forthwith let this be understood in the most - fitting manner, it being our intention to maintain the - peace in this our well-beloved city. - - "From Fossombrone, 1508. - - "ELISABETTA GONZAGA, DUCISSA URBINI." - -Upon hearing from Ludovico Canossa that the Duke's illness approached -a fatal termination, Julius had, on the 13th, instructed Federigo -Fregoso to repair to Fossombrone with his own physician, Archangelo -of Siena, and, after administering such aid and consolation as the -case might require, to take fit measures for insuring the quiet -succession of Francesco Maria della Rovere in the dukedom, and for -the interim administration of affairs by the Duchess. But, ere they -arrived, mourning had succeeded to suspense, and their sympathies -were demanded for the widowed Duchess, who had passed two days -since her bereavement in utter despair, refusing food and sleep. So -entirely, indeed, were the functions of life suspended, that for some -time it was feared the vital spark had followed its better half, and -it was very long ere her ghastly and spectral form gradually resumed -the aspect of an existence in which all interest was for her gone -by, and which, but for the representations of her friends, she would -have wished to quit.[*60] - -[Footnote *60: Capilupi, whom Isabella d'Este had sent to Urbino, -describes in a long letter the mourning and grief he found there. -It is too long to quote. Cf. LUZIO and RENIER, _Mantova e Urbino_ -(Torino, 1893), p. 185.] - -The body was borne on shoulders to Urbino during the following night, -surrounded by multitudes carrying torches, their numbers swollen, as -they advanced, by influx of the country population through which the -funeral cortege passed. Castiglione, who accompanied it, describes -the night as one of mysterious dread, in which the wailing of the -people ever and anon was broken upon by piercing shrieks echoed -from the mountains, and repeated by the distant howling of alarmed -watch-dogs. The inhabitants of the capital issued forth to meet the -melancholy procession, headed by their clergy, the monastic orders, -and the confraternities. In the great hall of the palace the Duke -lay in state, during two days, upon a magnificent catafalque with -its usual but incongruous decorations of sable velvet, gold damask, -and blazing lights. His dress is minutely described by the anonymous -diarist as consisting of a doublet of black damask over crimson hose, -a black velvet hat over a skull-cap of black taffetas fringed with -gold, and black velvet slippers; to which was added the mantle of the -Garter, in dark Alexandrine velvet, with a hood of crimson velvet, -lined with white silk damask. - -[Illustration: _R. Tamme_ - -PORTRAIT OF A LADY IN MOURNING - -_After the picture by Pordenone in the Dresden Gallery_] - -But, with that strange blending of opposite feelings which marks -the visits of death to regal halls, the mourners were soon summoned -from this vision of departed greatness to contribute far other -honours to its living representative. One day having been devoted -to lament the general loss, the Lord Prefect, Francesco Maria, -repaired, with the principal authorities, to the cathedral, and, -after solemn mass, published the will, by which his uncle named him -heir and successor to his states and dignities, nominating his widow -to the regency during the nonage of his heir, and leaving her -Castel Durante, with a provision of 14,000 ducats, besides her own -dowry of 18,000. During the afternoon succeeding the proclamation of -Francesco Maria, he visited the Duchess, who was "transfixed with -grief." He was accompanied by a small deputation of citizens, to -offer their duty and condolence, and receive her tearful thanks for -the happy accomplishment of her husband's testamentary intentions, -with entreaties that they would transfer to his successor the loyal -affection they had borne to their late sovereign. About four o'clock -a funeral service was performed in the great hall, from whence, -at eight, the body was conducted by an again mournful host, to -remain for the night in the church of Sta. Chiara. Next day it was -transported, during continual rain, to the Zoccolantine church, in -the groves around which he had been surprised by the first aggression -of Cesare Borgia. In its small nave his remains were entombed -opposite those of his father; and over both there were subsequently -placed two modest monuments in black and white marble, surmounted by -busts of the Dukes. The inscription to Guidobaldo is to this effect: -"To Guidobaldo, son of Federigo, third Duke of Urbino, who, emulating -even in minority his father's fame, maintained his authority with -manly energy and success. In youth he triumphed over adverse fortune. -Vigorous in mind, although enfeebled by disease, he cultivated -letters instead of arms; he protected men of general eminence instead -of mere military adventurers; and he ameliorated the commonwealth by -the arts of peace, until his court became a model to all others. He -died in the year of God MDVIII., of his age XXXVI." - -The solemn obsequies befitting sovereign personages, including six -hundred masses, were performed on the 2nd of May in the cathedral, -which was hung and carpeted with black, and illuminated with five -hundred wax-lights. In the nave was an immense cenotaph, decorated -with representations of the most important events of the Duke's -life, his standards and insignia, with suitable legends, and on -the bier, in place of the body, lay his robes of the Garter. The -function was attended by the court, five bishops, the clerical -dignitaries, with deputies from all parts of the duchy, and most of -the Italian states, as well as the principal inhabitants. Before the -elevation of the host, a funeral oration was recited by his former -preceptor Odasio, in which the wonted wordiness of such compositions -is redeemed by a certain fire of eloquence, mellowed by occasional -touches of fine sentiment, rendering it the best part of Bembo's -compilation regarding Guidobaldo. Its excellence, and the vast -concourse of spectators, estimated at ten thousand, contributed to -make this the most notable ceremony of the sort then remembered in -Italy. On the following day, the oaths of allegiance to the new Duke -were taken, and his predecessor was consigned over to history. - - * * * * * - -The character of the last Montefeltrian Duke need scarcely be told -to those who have followed this sketch of his life. Gifted by nature -with talents of a very high order, he cultivated them in early youth -with an application rare indeed in his exalted rank, and a success -which his marvellous memory tended alike to facilitate and to render -permanent. In times singularly productive of military heroes and -men of letters, he emulated the celebrity of both, and, had health -permitted him a prolonged and active career, he might, in the -ever-recurring battle-fields of Italy, have equalled the renown left -by his father and earned by his successor. - -When disabled from the profession of arms, he fell back with fresh -zest upon his youthful studies, and drew around him men whose -converse harmonised with these tastes. To say that his learning -was unequalled among the princes of his day is no mean compliment. -His palace became the asylum of letters and arts, over which he -gracefully presided. Aldus Manutius, in dedicating to him editions -of Thucydides and Xenophon, addressed him in Greek, of which he was -so perfect a master as to converse in it with ease. To the latter of -these historians the Duke was very partial, calling him the siren of -Attica. Among his other favourite classics, Castiglione names Lucian, -Demosthenes, and Plutarch; Livy, Tacitus, Quintus Curtius, Pliny, -and the Orations of Cicero. Most of these he knew intimately, and -recited entire passages without reference to the book. But besides -these selected authors, he is said to have made himself acquainted -with almost every branch of human knowledge then explored. Nor were -religious studies omitted. The history, rites, and dogmas of the -Church are mentioned among the topics familiar to his versatile -genius; St. Chrysostom and St. Basil were among his chosen books. To -enumerate all the contemporary authors who shared his patronage might -be irksome, but we shall introduce one letter addressed by him to -Paolo Cortesio. - - "Most reverend and well-beloved Father in Christ: - - "I have received your letter, with your Treatise on - the dignity of Cardinal, which, being full of noble - matter gracefully and eloquently handled, has been most - acceptable, and I have looked over it with much pleasure. I - therefore offer you my best thanks for it, and for having - mentioned me in that work; and if I can do anything for - you, let me know it, that I may have an opportunity of - showing my gratitude for your merits and your services in - my behalf. In October next I mean, God willing, to return - to Rome, and I shall hold myself prompt to forward your - interests there, or wherever else I may chance to be. - Urbino, 18th of June, 1506. - - "GUIDO UBALDO, DUKE OF URBINO, and Captain-General - of the Holy Roman Church."[61] - -[Footnote 61: Bibl. Magliab. Class. viii., No. 68, p. 132.] - -The great endowments he thus admirably developed were united -with a disposition represented as nearly perfect, at all events -as exempted from the failings most perilous to princes. The bad -passions which opportunity and indulgence have, in all ages, -rendered peculiarly fatal to those whose will is law, were almost -strangers to his breast. Prone to no vicious indulgences, he was -ever kind and considerate, as well as just and clement. He may, in -short, be regarded as that rarest of all characters, an unselfish -despot,--despot as regarded the possession of absolute power, but not -so in its use. The nobility had nothing to dread from his jealousy -or his licentiousness; the citizens were spared oppressive imposts; -the poor looked up to him as a sympathising protector. In short, we -may pronounce him a magnanimous, a most accomplished, and, so far as -erring man is permitted to judge, a blameless prince. - -Nor was the impression left upon the public mind by the glories of -Urbino under Guidobaldo of a transient character. Mocenigo, Venetian -envoy at the court of his grand-nephew, thus speaks of him above -sixty years after his death:--"Disabled by broken health from active -pursuits, he fell upon the project of forming a most brilliant court, -filled with eminent men of every profession; and by rendering himself -generally popular, with the co-operation of his Duchess, who emulated -him in welcoming and entertaining persons of talent, he brought -around him a greater number of fine spirits than any sovereign had -hitherto been able to attract, and, indeed, gave to all other princes -in the world the model and example of an admirably regulated court." - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -S. MARTIN AND S. THOMAS WITH GUIDOBALDO, DUKE OF URBINO, AND BISHOP -ARRIVABENI - -_After the picture by Timoteo Viti in the Duomo of Urbino_] - - * * * * * - -The remaining years of the widowed Duchess were in strict -accordance with a picture sketched of her by Bernardo Tasso, in the -_Amadigi_:-- - - "She too, whose pensive aspect speaks a heart - By grievous cares molested and surcharged, - An anxious lot shall live; Elizabeth, - Of maiden worth, in whom no blandishment - Or foolish passion ere with virtue strives; - Spouse of our first Duke's son, whose span cut short - By cruel death, his scornful mate bereft - No after tie shall bind." - -The circumstances of her wedded life had not been such as to render -new ties distasteful to a lady of thirty-seven, described by Bembo as -still elegant in figure and dress, beautifully regular in features, -and with eyes and countenance of singularly winning expression. The -compliment paid to her character, in that author's sketch of the -Urbino sovereigns, bears upon it a stamp of truthful earnestness -rarely found in his rhetorical periods.[62] - -[Footnote 62: "Itaque multas saepe feminas vidi, audivi etiam esse -plures, quae certarum omnino virtutum, optimarum quidem illarum atque -clarissimarum, sed tamen perpaucarum splendore illustrarentur: in -qua vero omnes collectae conjunctaeque virtutes conspicerentur, haec -una extitit, cujus omnino parem atque similem aut etiam inferiorem -paulo, non modo non vidi ullam, sed ea ubi esset etiam ne audivi -quidem."--Bembo de Guidobaldo.] - -An anonymous and now lost complimentary poem, written about 1512, -and formerly in the library of S. Salvadore at Bologna, celebrated -Elisabetta's charitable aid in the establishment of a _monte di -pieta_,[63] at Fabriano, and alluded to her prudent government of -the state in the Duke's absence. The terms of affection with which -she regarded her husband's adopted heir underwent no change after -her bereavement; and his marriage to her niece Leonora Gonzaga -strengthened the tie. We shall find her making great personal -exertions to modify the measures of Leo X. against Francesco Maria; -and she shared his confiscation and exile, which she could not -avert. She lived, however, to return with him to the house she had -twice been compelled to relinquish, and saw his dynasty securely -established in the state which had owned her as its mistress. - -[Footnote 63: The Italian name for those public establishments, -at which small sums are lent on pledges under government -superintendence. The Duchess is said to have introduced them -at Urbino, and to have founded there an academy, which rose to -considerable celebrity among similar weeds of literature that long -flourished and still vegetate in Italy.] - -Her trials were closed on the 28th of January, 1526, by an easy -death. She left the residue of her property to Duchess Leonora, after -payment of numerous pious bequests to various churches, with liberal -legacies to her household; and she was interred by the side of her -beloved husband in the church of S. Bernardino. - - - - -BOOK FOURTH - - OF LITERATURE AND ART UNDER THE - DUKES DI MONTEFELTRO AT URBINO - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - - The revival of letters in Italy--Influence of the - princes--Classical tastes tending to pedantry and - paganism--Greek philosophy and its effects--Influence of - the Dukes of Urbino. - - -When writing upon Italy of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, -a prominent place must be allotted to letters and arts. At Urbino -in particular, their progress was then great, their influence -proverbial; and our next eight chapters will contain notices of them -which would have interrupted the continuity of our previous narrative. - -The reigns of Dukes Federigo and Guidobaldo I. extended over a -period which general consent has regarded as the most brilliant in -Italian history, and which we have repeatedly named its golden age. -High expectations are naturally entertained of literature, arts, -and general refinement in a cycle of such pretension. We look for -a rapid advance of thought in paths of learning and science whence -during long centuries it had been excluded. We anticipate a widely -disseminated zeal for classic writers, an eager rivalry to outstrip -them in branches of speculative knowledge, which they especially -cultivated. We imagine the imitative arts revived under the influence -of new and more exquisite standards. And we reckon upon the diffusion -of a taste and capacity for enjoying those things among classes -hitherto excluded from such intellectual enjoyments. In each of these -expectations the student of literary history will be gratified; yet -there are several sorts of composition which, if separately examined, -offer disappointing results, and scarcely a single work written -during the fifteenth century has maintained universal popularity. The -explanation is easy. This age was one of unprecedented intellectual -activity, when men's minds were devoted to the acquisition of -knowledge which they had laboriously to hunt out, and doubtingly to -decipher. They had to cut for themselves tracks through an unexplored -region, without grammars or commentaries to serve them as guides and -landmarks. The toilsome habits thus formed were forthwith exercised -for the benefit of subsequent investigators, and were applied to -smoothing the path which they had themselves penetrated. Thus -was it that the first successful scholars became grammarians and -commentators. Surrounded by ample stores of intelligence, they had -no occasion to cultivate new germs of thought. Their first object -was to secure and render accessible the treasures which antiquity -had unfolded to them; their next, to elaborate them in varied forms, -to reproduce them in the manner most congenial to their intellectual -wants. Thus they became more industrious than original, laborious -rather than creative. Again, those who, on entering the garden of -knowledge, thought of its fruits rather than of its approaches, -instead of seeking the reward of their toils among the fair mazes of -poetry and belles lettres, aimed at more arduous rewards, and climbed -the loftiest and most slippery branches in search of golden apples. -The harvest of scholastic philosophy which they thus gathered in -may seem scarcely worthy of the fatigues given to its acquisition; -but from the seeds so obtained, cultivated and matured as they have -been by many after labourers, a copious and healthful store of -intellectual food has been secured for subsequent generations. The -work performed by these pioneers of learning and truth was, however, -more calculated to crush than to inspire that more elastic fancy -which preferred the flowery mead to the tree of knowledge. The spirit -of the age was ponderous and prosaic, and the few who attempted to -rise above its denser atmosphere into poetic regions were clogged by -the trammels of a dead language, and by obsolete associations which -they dared not shake off. The fifteenth century was consequently rich -in scholars, copious in pedants, but poor in genius, and barren of -strong thinkers. - -These circumstances necessarily detract from the popular interest of -Italian literary history at this important period, all influential -to its after destinies, and we mention them in the conviction that -general readers must feel disappointed with this portion of our -work. The vast mass of materials then created now reposes in the -principal storehouses of learning, much of it unpublished, and but -a small part rendered accessible in recent editions. As it would -be an unprofitable task to labour upon these materials for merely -critical purposes, we have for the most part satisfied ourselves with -an examination of the authors immediately connected with Urbino; nor -shall we be tempted much beyond that narrow limit, by the facility -of borrowing from those copious and intelligent writers who have -successfully investigated the intellectual progress of Italy. - -The revival of civilisation, and its handmaid arts, is a problem -so inexplicable on the ordinary principles which regulate human -progress,[64]--its causes were so complex, and many of them so -remote, and singly so little striking,--that it were, perhaps, -vain to hope for a satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon. It -may be, that the ever revolving cycle of human affairs had brought -round a period predestined to intellectual development, or that mind, -awakening from the slumber of centuries, possessed the energies of -renewed youth. But in a season of universal and sudden progress it is -difficult to distinguish between cause and effect,--to decide whether -mind aroused liberty, or if freedom was the nurse of intelligence. - -[Footnote *64: The secret is not far to seek, but it was inexplicably -hidden from men in Dennistoun's day. The continuity of life and -of art the most sensitive expression of life, is understood and -acknowledged by too few among us; but that there is an historical -continuity in art as in life would be easy to prove, since no part -can be adequately grasped or explained save in relation to the whole. -Of course, as Renan admitted, history has its sad days, but all -are, as it were, a part of the year which would be incomplete and -inexplicable without them. Thus there is no gulf fixed between the -art of Greece and the art of the Middle Age or the Renaissance; each -is an inevitable part of the whole, and the later was what it was -because of the old. Burckhardt, one of the greatest students of our -time, seems to have understood this also with his usual happiness. -M. Auguste Gerard tells us in his notice of the life of its author, -which serves as a Preface to the French edition of _Le Cicerone_, -that "Burckhardt en vrai disciple de la Renaissance considerait -l'Italie comme un tout continu; et dans l'histoire de l'art de meme -que dans l'enumeration des oeuvres, il ne separait pas l'Italie -antique de l'Italie moderne. La section du _Cicerone_ qui etait -dediee a l'architecture commencait aux temples de Paestum pour -finir aux villas Napolitaines et Genoises des XVIIe et XVIIIe -siecles." In that idea lies the future of all criticism.] - -The feeble hold which the popes retained over their temporal -power during their residence at Avignon, and during the great -schism, promoted the independence of the ecclesiastical cities, -many of which then passed under the dominion of domestic tyrants, -or assumed the privileges of self-government. In either case the -result was favourable to an expansion of the human mind. The sway -of the seigneurs, being based on no such aristocratic machinery -as supported the fabric of feudalism, threw fewer obstructions in -the way of individual merit. The popular communities could only -exist by a diffusion of political and legislative capacity, and -the commercial enterprises to which they in general devoted their -energies increased at once the demand for public spirit and its -production. Even those intestine revolutions to which democracies -were especially subject contributed largely to the same end; for, -although in such convulsions the dregs of the populace often rise to -the surface, talent, when backed by energy and daring, there finds -extraordinary opportunities for display. Indeed, the multiplication -of commonwealths, under whatever form of government, tended, in -a country situated as the Italian Peninsula then was, to the -development of intellect. Defended by the Alps and the sea from -invasion, their physical and intellectual advantages constituted -an influence which supplied the want of union and nationality. They -thus could safely pursue their individual aims, and even indulge -in rivalry and contests which, though perilous to a less favoured -people, were for them incentives to a praiseworthy and patriotic -exertion. Whilst the separate existence of these petty states was -calculated to promote both political science and mental culture, it -rendered the one subservient to the advantage of the other, and, in -the multitude of official and diplomatic employments, literary men -found at once useful occupation and honourable independence. Nor was -this result limited to one form of government. If the tempest-tossed -democracy of Florence shone the brightest star in the Italian galaxy, -the stern oligarchy of Venice shed an almost equal lustre in some -branches of letters and art; and, on the other hand, the not less -popular institutions of Pisa, Siena, and Lucca emitted but feeble -and irregular coruscations. So also in the despotic states, whilst -literature was ever cherished under the ducal dynasty of Urbino, and -whilst it was favoured at intervals by the Sforza and Malatesta, -the d'Este and Gonzaga, and by the Aragonese sovereigns of Naples, -its genial influence was unknown in some other petty courts. Again, -if we turn to the papal throne, we shall find the accomplished -Nicolas, Pius, Sixtus, Julius, and Leo, sitting alternately with the -Boeotian Calixtus, Paul, Innocent, and Alexander. From an impartial -review of Italian mediaeval history it appears that democratic -institutions were by no means indispensable to the expansion of -genius, since the progress of letters and arts was upon the whole -nearly equal in the republics and the seigneuries, under the tyranny -of a condottiere or the domination of a faction.[*65] - -[Footnote *65: Far from being indispensable, the democratic -institutions had very little to do with the progress of the arts -which were fostered by individuals, whether in a tyranny such as -Urbino or in a so-called republic such as Florence.] - -But, before entering upon the proper subject of this chapter, it may -be well briefly to consider the influence which the petty princes -of Italy exercised upon the revival and cultivation of letters and -arts. The dominion of these chiefs, though hereditary in name, was in -general maintained, as it had been gained, by the sword. To them, as -to the savage, arms were an instinctive pursuit, warfare a primary -occupation. For their frequent intervals of truce (and in no other -sense was peace known to them), their circumscribed sovereignty -gave little occupation. Domestic polity was still an undeveloped -science, and their leisure fell to be spent upon intellectual -objects, or in grovelling debaucheries. The number who preferred -the nobler alternative is very remarkable, when compared with the -like class in other parts of Europe. During the fourteenth and -fifteenth centuries literature was cultivated and art was encouraged -by a large proportion of the sovereigns and feudatories of Italy, -when the bravest condottieri were often their most liberal patrons. -Such were the impetuous Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, the gallant -Francesco Sforza, the treacherous Ludovico il Moro; whilst the -Gonzaga of Mantua, and the d'Este of Ferrara, but most especially -the ducal houses of Urbino, extended, during successive generations, -an enlightened and almost regal protection to genius of every -shade. Nothing akin to this is to be found in the republics. Siena, -Pisa, and Lucca produced many great artists, but literature found -in them neither a cradle nor an asylum. The commercial communities -of Venice and Genoa belonged to an entirely different category of -circumstances; and Florence, though an exception to our remark, owed -its pre-eminence not less perhaps to the patronage of the Medici than -to an unparalleled prevalence of talent and public spirit among its -citizens. - -In times when the popular will, if not the source of power, was -its best support, it became the interest of the dominant prince -or party so to use authority as to please and flatter the masses; -to cloak their own usurpations by throwing a lustre around their -administration, and to preserve the confidence of their subjects by -institutions calculated to promote the national glory. In this way -individual talent might be stimulated, and public civilisation might -advance, even whilst freedom was on the decline; and, as the means -commanded by the seigneurs were ample, they could patronise genius, -and surround their courts with literary retainers, who in democratic -communities were left to their own resources. Thus the Sforza and the -d'Este, even the savage Malatesta of Rimini, befriended genius, which -found no haven in the republics of Genoa and Lucca, and, the fashion -having once been established among their princely houses, letters -were cultivated by not a few of these soldiers of fortune, but more -especially by the ladies of their families. - -These unquestionable facts are met by an allegation that the -fountains of princely patronage were so tainted, their streams so -generally corrupt, as to blight the fruits which they seemed to -foster, and that their influence thus from a blessing became a curse. -Let us examine a little the grounds for this assertion, for surely it -is not by such sweeping and prejudiced denunciations that we shall -arrive at truth. As to the ornamental arts, there cannot be a doubt -that these received, throughout Italy, from governments of every -form, as well as from numberless corporations and individuals, a -hearty encouragement which might well shame our degenerate age. Yet -the ducal palace at Urbino, the Palazzo del T at Mantua, the tombs -of the Scaligers, and the medallions of Malatesta, yield the palm to -no republican works of the same class. It was by Cosimo and Lorenzo -de' Medici, and by Duke Federigo di Montefeltro, that the undeveloped -energies of new-born science, and the long neglected classics of -Greece and Rome were nursed and tended through their years of -infancy, which storms of faction, in most of the free states, -condemned to neglect. The enlightened liberality of these princes, -and of Malatesta Novello, founded libraries for the preservation of -works composed under their own beneficent encouragement, as well -as of manuscripts collected by them from all quarters at immense -cost, and this when no republic but Venice aspired to such literary -distinctions. Nor were the troubled waters of democratic strife -safe for the poet's gay bark and light canvas. Even Dante, though -made of sternest stuff, sought shelter in a courtly harbour from -the hurricanes of Florentine faction. It is true that, in many -compositions of minstrels trained in princely halls, the themes -are ephemeral and the epithets overstrained, savouring, to a purer -taste and more severe idiom, of unworthy subserviency; nor is the -other polite literature, emanating from the same atmosphere, exempt -from similar blemishes. But allowance must be made for the seducing -fecundity of the language in superlatives, more redolent of dulcet -sounds than of definite signification, a quality which has ever -tempted Italian mediocrity to assume the borrowed plumes of poesy, -and to conceal its native barrenness under magniloquent but flimsy -common-places. The well earned gratitude of authors is fittingly paid -in compliments, eulogies, or dedications, and as such coin is at the -unlimited command of the debtor, and useful only to the receiver, its -over-issue is fairly excusable. This results from principles inherent -in human nature, and it matters little whether the obligations have -been incurred from sovereigns or from subjects, under an autocrat or -a democracy. Even among ourselves, in times when talent had more to -hope from private patronage than from extended popularity, a similar -currency was scarcely less in vogue, and it was only the poverty of -our idiom that kept its circulation within bounds. Hence, were the -independence of the best English writers of a century or two ago to -be estimated from their dedicatory addresses, or their occasional -odes, a condemnation as unreasonable as sweeping would go forth -against names long inscribed in our temple of fame. This argument -might easily be extended; but enough has been said to show that -more was done for the support of letters under princely than under -popular institutions, and that the adulatory epithets natural to the -language, and inherent in the usages of Italy, are no certain index -of base subserviency. - -But, on the other hand, independent sovereignty, irrespective of -political forms, was of primary importance to the encouragement -of mental cultivation. The separation of Italy into a multitude -of petty states converted almost every town into a capital, which -its rulers and its citizens took equal pride in decorating. The -patriotism thus generated was intense in proportion to the narrow -field on which it was exercised, and an expenditure, restrained by -severe sumptuary restrictions, found scope on monuments honourable -to the public. Thus there ensued, between hostile communities and -emulous factions, a rivalry in arts as in arms, whereby public -institutions prospered, and individual genius was encouraged. Fanes, -whose glories seem to defy the waste of time, were thus raised for -the devotional requirements of the people; palaces grew up the -bulwark of their liberties; citadels were fortified to rivet their -chains; and even when the ultimate results were fatal to freedom, -the talent and activity thus stimulated were sure to eventuate in -industrial progress, as well as in the restoration of letters and the -improvement of art. - - * * * * * - -The human mind, when aroused from its long and leaden slumbers, at -first instinctively leaned for support upon such vestiges of ancient -learning as had survived the wreck of ages. To excavate and examine -these was the laborious task assumed by early students, in which -Petrarch and Boccaccio sedulously joined. But, justly appreciating -them as materials on which to found a new fabric, rather than as -the substitutes for original thought, "the all-Etruscan three" -happily combined enthusiasm for classic models with the power to -rival them in a language simultaneously matured by themselves for -the daring undertaking. The fifteenth century arrived; it was an -epoch of reaction; one of other tendencies and tastes, when genius, -as Ginguene has happily observed, was superseded by erudition. -Entering the path which Petrarch had partially explored, its -pioneers neglected the better portion of his example. They spent -their energies in rummaging obscure recesses of monastic libraries, -and wasted time and learning in transcribing, collating, and -annotating the various manuscripts which thus fell within their -grasp. In exhuming and renovating these monuments of a long-buried -literature, they were forgetful of the fact that their dealings were -with dead corpses; and whilst submitting the recovered fragments to -philological analysis, they perversely sought to embody their own -souls in these decayed members. As such materials were incapable -of being reanimated, or even remodelled into more apt forms, -this unnatural union was seldom effected without violence to the -sentiment. Even the ablest writers devoted themselves to the arid -task of scholia and translations, composing in the dead tongues -such original works as they attempted. The result was a monstrous -metempsychosis, whereby thought, enchained in uncongenial bodies, -lost its due influence, and appeared in, at best, an unseemly -masquerade. Hence the language of the century was Latin, its manner -pedantic, its spirit coldly artificial. - -But whilst the historian of that age laments the shackles thus -imposed upon its literature, it were unjust to withhold from it -the merit of preserving those treasures of ancient history and -philosophy, eloquence and poetry, which, under happier auspices and -more judicious treatment, have elevated thought, enlarged intellect, -and enriched the style of later times. Although unable to refine -the true metal from its dross, the pedants of "fourteen hundred" -were miners who discovered the precious ore, and ascertained its -component ingredients. The fashionable ardour for collecting early -MSS. of ancient authors was very generally accompanied with untiring -perseverance in mastering their intricacies. Philology and grammar -thus grew into sciences, and their professors held the keys of human -erudition. Deep ought to be our gratitude for the contingent of -classical literature rescued from a rapid destruction by such arduous -and self-denying labours; and a history of these discoveries, and -of the zeal and enterprise volunteered by the early commentators -and publishers of the ancient authors, would form an interesting -monument of undaunted and generally successful diligence. Yet, -in a comprehensive view of the results springing from these new -tendencies, it is impossible to blind ourselves to the evils that -emanated from them. From the nerve, grandeur, and elegance of Greek -and Roman writers, there was much to learn with advantage; but their -influence was directly antagonist to the highest sentiments of a -Christian, and, in the main, a devotional people. When tried by such -a test, their philosophy was hollow, their heroism selfish, their -refinement corrupted. Nor was it only by reproducing the themes and -the philosophy of distant ages that classicism clogged the elasticity -of reviving literature. By inculcating extinct languages as the -only means fitted for expressing their ideas, Italian literati -checked the progress of their vernacular tongue,--that best bulwark -of nationality,--and at the same time impeded the free expansion -of thought, which, thus conducted into artificial channels, could -but stagnate or freeze. The mind, habituated to find in literature -a restraint, came to regard natural feeling as a solecism, living -images as incongruous anomalies, warmth of sentiment as a blemish -sedulously to be avoided. Under such false training, knowledge -received the impress of a languid conventionality; and even those who -condescended to write in Italian, chilled their compositions with -the pedantry of antique idioms. The classic style thus introduced -had many inherent defects. Borrowed plumage is seldom becoming, and -servile imitations are always bad. Besides, the ancient type had been -originally modelled by a people, and in an age, little sympathetic -with those for whom it was now reproduced, and whose sentiments were -cramped equally by the conventionalisms of an obsolete manner, or -by the adoption of a dead tongue. Hence is it that the fifteenth -century, so signalised by the diffusion of knowledge, and the advance -of the fine arts, has bequeathed to us fewer eminent writers than -those which immediately preceded and followed it, and that during its -course Italian literature was unquestionably retrograde. - -This is especially true of poetry, in an age of erudition when -learning was essentially prosaic. The collation of manuscripts, -the construction of grammars, the mastering of idioms, the revived -subtleties of Greek dialectics, were ponderous studies with which the -taste for literature of a lighter and more elastic tendency could ill -assimilate. The chords whence Dante had evoked majestic notes, that -seemed to swell from higher spheres, lay silent and unstrung; the -lyre of Petrarch was left in feebler hands. - -Nor was this the only evil resulting from an excess of the classical -mania. Languages in which Christianity had not been naturalised -were ill adapted for the expression of revealed truth; and the new -scholarship, discarding the barbarisms of monastic Latin, imported -into theological as well as profane compositions, the phrases of -a pagan age. To find the personages of the Trinity, or even the -hagiology of Rome, familiarly discussed under mythological names, is -to us merely absurd and revolting;[*66] but when men, already imbued -with classical predilections, were accustomed to mix up in words the -objects of their worship with the demigods of their admiration, the -natural consequence was a confusion of ideas nowise favourable to the -maintenance of their faith or the purity of their morals. - -[Footnote *66: Neither absurd nor revolting, I think, since, a little -fantastically certainly, but very truly none the less, it expresses -that continuity of the religious sense in Europe which is perhaps the -one eternal thing to be found in it. If the saints are not in a very -real sense the gods in exile, they are excellent imitations of them.] - -A not less prejudicial element emanated from the revived philosophies -of Greece, which now arrested attention and divided the speculations -of learned men. That derived from Aristotle, and known to Europe -through the sages of Arabia, had long occupied the cloisters, where -alone mind was then exercised, or its operations studied. The rival -system of Plato came directly from its native soil; and was first -publicly taught in Italy early in the fifteenth century, by Gemistus -Plato,[*67] of Constantinople. It attracted the notice of Cosimo -PATER PATRIAE, who after having Marsilio Ficino, son of his -physician, grounded in its mysteries by Greeks of learning, placed -him at the head of an academy in Florence, instituted by himself -for the dissemination of its doctrines. From thence these radiated, -absorbing the attention of literary men, and enlisting many converts -from the Stagirite faith. Aristotle and Plato became the watchwords -of contending sects,[*68] and the usual jarring results of such -logomachy were not long wanting. The merits of a question, at first -exaggerated by its respective zealots, were lost sight of in the -torrent of abuse which gradually superseded argument, and inflamed -every evil passion. Far overleaping the legitimate limits or literary -warfare, disputant logicians advanced from replies to libels, from -words to blows, and, after exhausting the armoury of invective, -had recourse to the dagger. But on a subject so painful we are not -called to enter. Backed by the authority of Nicholas V., the zeal -of Cardinal Bessarion, and the example of the Medici, the sublime -and imaginative speculations of Platonism for a time prevailed over -the more material system of the Stagirite, and Florence became their -head-quarters. The human mind, unaided by revelation, has never -invented any system so abstractly beautiful, so pure in its morals, -so elevating in its conceptions, so harmonious in its conclusions. -Its lofty ethics rank next to the doctrines of inspiration, for it -taught that happiness is the natural result of virtue, and that -the mischiefs entailed by the passions are ill repaid by their -transient pleasures. Yet, though thus intrinsically calculated to -ennoble and refine the heart of fallen man, the Platonic theories -indirectly led to lamentable results, both to the religion and the -morality of the age. The divine revelation was by them virtually -superseded, and paganism, from an affectation, became a conviction, -or, at the least, a prevailing fashion, warping the manners and -phrases, the faith and spirit of the age. Men lived for the present -world by the light of human reason, until they forgot or denied a -future existence, and a holier wisdom. The first blow struck at this -practical heathenism came from Paul II., a Venetian, who was behind -the age in its knowledge, as well as in its extravagances, and who -relentlessly persecuted what he had not the capacity to redargue. -Mind was, however, no longer to be silenced by papal bulls, or -trammelled by penal fetters: it regarded the use of such weapons as -proof that the spiritual armoury contained none more serviceable, and -learned to demur to an ecclesiastical despotism it already loathed. -Succeeding pontiffs disavowed the policy of Paul: but the old respect -for the papacy was shaken; doubts arrayed themselves against dogmas, -cavilling superseded blind faith, until the dissolute example set -by the courts of Innocent, Alexander, and Leo, converted scepticism -into infidelity, apathy into open aggression. It is impossible to -contemplate the great talents, the unwearied application, absorbed by -these rival systems of philosophy, without a sigh that they should -have been wasted on inquiries so purely speculative; yet, it cannot -be denied that the controversy prepared weapons that have since -done good service in many a better cause; that it developed mental -energies, and matured intellectual discipline, from which the world -continues largely to benefit. - -[Footnote *67: Not Plato, but Plethon. He refused the name of Plato -with which he was hailed by Cosimo de' Medici. Cf. Ficino in preface -to his _Plotini Epitome_ (Firenze, 1492). "Magnus Cosimus, quo -tempore concilium inter Graecos et Latinos, sub Eugenio pontefice -Florentinae tractabatur, philosophum Graecum, nomine Gemistum -cognomine Plethonem, quasi Platonem alterum de mysteriis Platonicis -disputantem frequenter audivit; e cujus ore ferventi sic afflatus -est protinus, sic animatus, ut inde Academiam quandam alta mente -conceperit, hanc opportuno primum tempore pariturus." Marsilio Ficino -had a poor understanding of Plato.] - -[Footnote *68: Cf. GEORGIOS TRAPEZUNTIOS, _Comparatio -Platonis et Aristotelis_.] - - * * * * * - -Although the revival of letters had been advancing during several -generations ere the chiefs of Montefeltro sought other laurels than -those of the battle-field, it was reserved for these princes to -contribute no mean aids towards their full development in that golden -harvest which the fifteenth century saw gathered in. Indeed, the -concurrent testimony of all writers has claimed for the sovereigns of -Urbino a foremost place among the friends of literature. In the words -of the general motto of this work, which well condense the prevailing -opinion, "it is notorious beyond question even of the malignant, that -the house of Montefeltro and della Rovere has for a long time past -been that which [most] shed a lustre upon Italy by letters, arms, and -every sort of rare worth, and that the court of Urbino may be termed -a Pegasean spring, in the language of historic truth rather than of -poetic hyperbole." It was to the successive reigns of Dukes Federigo -and Guidobaldo I. that such expressions were generally applied, and -to them our attention will now be directed; but in a future portion -of this work we shall endeavour to maintain for their della Rovere -successors a similar reputation. - -Were we to estimate the celebrities of Urbino by the encomiums of -their partial countrymen, and measure their claims upon mundane -immortality by the standard set up by Baldi Lazzari, Grossi, -Cimarelli, and Olivieri, it would become our indispensable duty -to add at least a volume to the present work. But these authors -were deeply imbued with that peculiarly Italian patriotism which, -narrowing its sympathies within the limits of a township or a petty -state, enshrined provincial mediocrity in a temple of fame modelled -upon a scale of national splendour. Believing that the dignity of -their little fatherland depended upon the notices of its existence -which they could worm out of antique memorials, however doubtful in -authority, and upon the number of notable names they could connect -with its localities, they tasked themselves to this investigation -with industry worthy of a nobler and more useful object. Many folio -volumes, ponderous in their contents as in their material, were -the result; but they preserve only laborious trifling, a harvest -of wordy conclusions gleaned from a soil barren of tangible facts, -dissertations which may be summed up in the axiom _ex nihilo -nihil fit_, "nothing comes of nought." Like those of the northern -senachies, their themes were often legendary or invented, and it -would have been scarcely a loss to literature had these productions -been equally fugitive. Should the worthies mentioned in the following -chapters seem scarcely to maintain the literary renown of Urbino, our -readers ought in justice to remember that scarcely a tithe has found -place in our pages of those whom zealous eulogists have placed upon -the roll of Italian literati, but - - "Whose obscurer name - No proud historian's page will chronicle." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - - Count Guidantonio a patron of learned men--Duke - Federigo--The _Assorditi_ Academy--Dedications to - him--Prose writers of Urbino--Gentile Becci, Bishop of - Arezzo--Francesco Venturini--Berni of Gubbio--Polydoro di - Vergilio--Vespasiano Filippi--Castiglione--Bembo--Learned - ladies. - - -The reputation long enjoyed by the house of Montefeltro as patrons of -letters and arts can scarcely be traced further back than Federigo, -second Duke of Urbino. Yet the few memorials that remain of his -father, Count Guidantonio, throw some scattered lights upon congenial -tastes, and from these we select three letters to the magistracy of -Siena, which are preserved in the Archivio Diplomatico of that city. -The first of them is written in Latin, the others in Italian. - - "To the mighty and potent Lords the well beloved Fathers, - the Lords Priors, Governors, and Captain of the people of - the city of Siena. - - "Mighty and potent Lords, my especial Fathers, - - "After the expression of my sincere affection: I - understand that your Magnificences are about to agree - upon a commendable work, that of endeavouring to amend - the course of legal and other educational studies in your - city: what is really laudable needs no verbose exposition, - the fact being of itself clear and manifest. I have here - my compeer the excellent Doctor Benedetto di Bresis of - Perugia, a man of great integrity, who, without gainsaying - any one, sets forth the law in that city more amply than - any of the other judges who expound it there, and whom - his sacred Majesty lately invited to undertake the office - of captain of Aquila, on the recommendation of his own - merits, a charge which he has hitherto declined only from - an unwillingness to interrupt those studies to which he - is primarily devoted. I, however, hesitate not to propose - him as well qualified for your Magnificences, induced by a - twofold motive; first, that he may be able to continue his - studies; secondly, that he may escape from the contagion - of a home now struck by the pestilence; thirdly, that - through me you may have the honour of securing for your - course of study so able a doctor. I therefore heartily - entreat your Magnificences, and again pray and beseech - you, to appoint him to your lectureship of civil law with - an adequate salary, as a singular pleasure to myself, and - as a compliment to him, whose ample qualifications must - be satisfactory to the free wishes of your community and - the judges. And should he now or in future fall short of - these recommendations, which I cannot suppose (for I am not - so stupid), I shall consider your Magnificences to have - received at my hands a disgrace and injury, entitling you - in reason and justice to complain of me, after having so - received him into your service; and I shall always continue - beyond measure obnoxious to you and your city. Ever ready - to do you all service; from Urbino, 1st of August, 1412. - - "COUNT GUIDANTONIO OF MONTEFELTRO AND URBINO." - - - "Mighty and potent Lords, dearest Fathers: - - "The worthy and skilful Messer Piero di Pergolotti of - Verona is repairing to your magnificent Lordships, who - for a good while has been at Pesaro, where he practised - surgery, conducting himself with propriety and diligence, - so that the lords of that place and myself feel much - obliged to him, and consider ourselves bound to promote - his knowledge by providing him with the means of study. - He earnestly desires to enter into your establishment - of the Sapienza, where he hopes to do credit to this - recommendation, as well as to advance his own honour and - advantage. And knowing how much I am devoted to your - Magnificences, he has had recourse to me, hoping through - me to effect his wish. I, therefore, in consideration of - his capacity, science, and worth, pray that on my account - you will consider him fully recommended, and will grant him - admission into the Sapienza, whereby your Magnificences - will greatly gratify me, to whom I ever commend myself. - From Durante, the 2nd of May, 1440. - - "GUIDANTONIO, COUNT OF MONTEFELTRO, URBINO, AND - DURANTE." - - - "Mighty and potent Lords, most honoured Fathers, - - "There is in your Sapienza one Messer Zucha da Cagli, my - intimate friend, who, as I am informed, is very able in - civil rights, and who, for his advancement in reputation - and skill, wishes to have a lectureship, either the one - read after the first doctors come forth in the morning, or - that in the afternoon an hour before the ordinary doctors - enter. I hereby pray your magnificent Lordships, that the - said Messer Zucha be at my sight recommended to you, and - whatever honour or benefit your Lordships grant him I shall - consider as bestowed on myself, and shall remain constantly - grateful. From Cagli, the 24th of December, 1441. - - "GUIDANTONIO, COUNT OF MONTEFELTRO, URBINO, AND - DURANTE." - -Among the traits of literary taste displayed by Duke Federigo, we -learn from his biographer Muzio, that it was his custom to repair -weekly to the Franciscan convent, and to encourage among its learned -society debates and discussions on subjects analogous to their -studies. Upon this somewhat loose foundation, he has been claimed -as founder of the _Assorditi_, and it has been ranked among the -earliest academies in Italy. We need not pause to investigate -their respective titles to honours so questionable, now that such -associations are generally recognised as prolific of two enormous -literary nuisances, pedantry and puerility. From their antipathic -contact genius long has fled, leaving the field open to triumphant -mediocrity. Pretending to no original efforts, it was their narrow -aim to imitate standard productions, or to ring the changes upon them -in prosing and pointless commentaries. To indite two tomes of scholia -on a sonnet of Petrarch was the dreary task that qualified for -admission into the Florentine Academy; to string Platonic nothings -into rhyme was the high ambition which numbered votaries by hundreds. -The _Assorditi_ were no exception from the usual category of -mediocrity; and whether they were first associated under Federigo's -protection, or, as Tiraboschi alleges, sprang into existence under -Guidobaldo II., is of little moment to the literary history of Urbino. - -In times when letters flourished chiefly at courts, patronage was -the grand end of authorship, every work being inscribed to at least -one high personage. The character and position of Federigo subjected -him to a large share of such incense; but among the many dedications -laid at his feet none perhaps was more fulsome, and at the same time -more ingenious, than that prefixed by Marsilio Ficino to his Latin -version of Plato's _Essay on Monarchy_. It narrates that Jupiter, -willing to found on earth a model sovereignty, resolved to send down -the beau-ideal of a ruler for its guidance. He, therefore, summoned -the gods in full convocation, and presented to them his new creation, -under the title _Fideregum Orbinatem Ducem_, which may be literally -interpreted "Royal faith, ruler of the world," but which was -corrupted by human idiom into _Federigo Urbinate Duce_. Pallas and -Mercury thereupon, in presence of Truth, endowed the new prince with -crown and sceptre; and the Academy, as a humble handmaid of these -deities, inscribed to him Plato's work upon mundane sovereignty. -Although we have had occasion to notice in our tenth chapter this -Duke's taste for the graver studies of theology, philosophy, history, -and Grecian literature, and to commemorate the fruit it produced in a -variety of other dedications, yet few who distinguished themselves in -these pursuits are sufficiently identified with Urbino to authorise -our dwelling at any length upon their names. Guarino of Verona, -Poggio Bracciolini, Donato Acciaiolo, Poliziano, and others of mark, -may therefore be omitted; and we shall thus have very few prose -authors to bring before our readers. - - * * * * * - -GENTILE DE' BECCI was probably a native of Urbino, but the -interest attaching to his name is owing rather to the distinction -attained by his pupils than to his own. He was selected by Pietro -de' Medici to train up his son Lorenzo the Magnificent; and to have -educated such a mind is an unexceptionable title to fame. Yet the -Christian philanthropist who sighs over the dross which mingled -with its ore, the impure uses to which its bright metal was in some -respects misdirected, by a master who might have moulded it to -holier purposes, and might have enriched by its talents the treasury -of truth and the triumphs of religion, may well hesitate ere he -grants to the preceptor of Lorenzo a reflected share of his glory, -without also holding him responsible for that pagan epicureanism -which spread like a pestilence from the Medicean court throughout -Italy. Nor do the notices remaining of Becci tend to nullify such -an inference. The favour of his patrons naturally obtaining for him -rapid promotion, he was raised to the see of Arezzo in 1473. But -his life was that of a statesman rather than that of a good pastor. -We read of his tact as a diplomatist, his skill in public affairs, -his dexterous civil administration of his diocese, by directing -towards commercial industry energies which had wasted themselves on -faction; we are assured that his popularity was confirmed by his -encouragement of liberal arts, by his mild and courteous character; -we are told that in political science his pen was ably employed. But -regarding his theological attainments, the purity of his morals, the -zeal of his clerical ministrations, his eulogists are silent. We may -add that to him Guicciardini in some degree imputes the miscarriage -of the proposed league of Italy against the French invasion in -1492, in consequence of his personal ambition, when sent to conduct -the negotiations at Rome on the part of the Medici, whilst his -thoughtless extravagance there wasted resources of the Florentines -which might have been better spent on military preparations. - - * * * * * - -Of LUDOVICO ODASIO it is unnecessary to add anything to what -we have already had occasion to say.[69] FRANCESCO VENTURINI -of Urbino is reputed the first after the revival who wrote a complete -Latin grammar. It was dedicated to Count Ottaviano Ubaldini, and -was printed at Florence in 1482, and again in his native town by -Henry of Cologne, in 1493-4.[70] Among his pupils he is said to have -numbered both Raffaele and Michael Angelo.[*71] Besides BERNI -DA GUBBIO, whose Diary has been edited in the Scriptores of -Muratori, there were several annotators of events in their native -duchy, whose prose writings remain in the Vatican Library, and have -supplied us with useful information; but they were not historians, -and it is unnecessary to bring them forth from their obscurity. Of -one name, however, we may make an exception. - -[Footnote 69: See vol. I., p. 297. His oration on the death of -Federigo is No. 1233 of the Vat. Urb. MSS.] - -[Footnote 70: Maestro Arrigo, of Cologne, _alias_ Heinrich v. Coln, -had then a press at Urbino. The typographic art had been introduced -there about 1481, and at Cagli five years earlier by Roberto da Fano -and Bernardino da Bergamo.] - -[Footnote *71: Francesco da Urbino, who was certainly Michelangelo's -schoolmaster, does not seem to be the same as his friend Francesco -Urbino, so touchingly spoken of in the following letter from -Michelangelo to Vasari:-- - - "Messer Giorgio, Dear Friend,--Although I write but badly, - yet will I say a few words in reply to yours. You know that - Urbino is dead, for which I owe the greatest thanks to God; - at the same time my loss is heavy and sorrow infinite. The - grace is this, that while Urbino living kept me alive, in - dying he has taught me to die not unwillingly but rather - with a desire for death. I had him with me twenty-six - years, and always found him faithful and true. Now that I - had made him rich and thought to keep him on the staff and - rest of my old age he has departed, and the only hope left - me is that of seeing him again in Paradise, and of this God - has given a sign in his most happy death. Even more than - dying, it grieved him to leave me alive in this treacherous - world, with so many troubles; the better part of me went - with him, nothing is left to me but endless sorrow. I - commend myself to you.... - - "Your MICHAEL ANGELO BUONARROTI, in Rome. - - "The 23 day of February, 1556." - -See Le Lettere, No. CDLXXV., p. 539, in Brit. Museum, and -HOLROYD, _Michael Angelo_ (Duckworth, 1903), p. 255. - -It was this Urbino's brother who was Raphael's well-known pupil, _Il -Fattore_. Cf. also HOLROYD, _op. cit._, pp. 273 and 314.] - - * * * * * - -POLYDORO DI VERGILIO was born at Urbino about 1470, and -studied at Bologna. His relation, Adrian Castellesi, who, when -Cardinal of Corneto, was well known both in England and at Rome,[72] -had been sent by Innocent VIII. as legate to Scotland, but remained -at London in consequence of the death of James III. at the battle of -Stirling. There he was joined by Polydoro, who, on taking priest's -orders, had, through his influence, obtained from Alexander VI. the -collectorship of an old house-tax in England called _Romescot_, or -Peter's pence, originally imposed in Saxon times for the maintenance -of English pilgrims to Rome. Aliens being there frequently objects -of church preferment, he, in 1503, obtained the rectory of Church -Langton in Leicestershire; and, on his patron's appointment in the -following year to the see of Bath and Wells, the path of further -promotion was opened to him. In 1507 he became prebendary of Lincoln -and of Hereford, and archdeacon of Wells, on which he resigned his -collectorship. In 1515 he shared an imprisonment in the Tower, -brought upon Adrian by the jealousy of Wolsey, whose haughty spirit, -disappointed of the purple, attributed the delayed honours to the -Bishop's influence. Letters were consequently written by Sadoleto -in Leo's name to the English court on behalf of Polydoro, and -Wolsey having received the much coveted scarlet hat, there was no -further pretext for his detention. The date of his return home is -variously stated at 1534 or 1550, and he carried from Henry VIII. a -recommendation which procured him letters of nobility from his own -sovereign. His literary talents being probably somewhat overrated in -Italy, the long residence he made in the hotbed of heresy, without -exercising his pen in defence of his Church, appears to have brought -the purity of his faith under suspicion. That there was no tangible -ground for the imputation may be presumed from his spending the rest -of his life unquestioned at Urbino, where he died in 1555, and was -buried in the Duomo. - -[Footnote 72: Many curious unedited particulars regarding him, with -reference to the conspiracy against Leo X. in 1517, of which he was -suspected, are contained in Sanuto's Diaries, but we have not space -to notice them.] - -The favour which Vergilio obtained in Adrian's eyes was partly -owing to his success in cultivating the niceties of the Latin -tongue, to restore which in its purity was a favourite project of -the Cardinal. Before quitting Italy he had dedicated to Guidobaldo -I. his _Proverbiorum Libellus_, a volume scarcely meriting the -controversy upon which he entered with Erasmus as to the priority -of suggesting such a collection. In 1499 he finished his treatise -_De Inventoribus Rerum_, which was placed in the index of prohibited -works, in consequence of tracing certain liturgical observances back -to pagan superstitions; Grossi, however, vindicates his orthodoxy -by ascribing the obnoxious passages to heretical interpolation. His -essay _De Prodigiis_ is an attempt to explain upon natural principles -all omens, auguries, and other superstitious observances. As it is -inscribed to Duke Francesco Maria I., he probably returned to Italy -before 1538. - -But what chiefly interests us is a Latin _History of England_, -which he is said to have undertaken at the suggestion of Henry -VII., or more probably of Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, who -procured him access to certain archives. This work, from being the -first general compilation of the sort given to the public, obtained -more consideration than its superficial and inaccurate matter -deserved; and Mr. Roscoe well observes that it has not gained the -suffrages of posterity, either by ability or freedom from bias. -Among the impugners of its veracity are Whear, Humphrey Lloyd, -Henry Savile, and Bishop Bale. Some of these excuse his blunders -on the questionable plea of his ignorance of English government, -dialects, and manners, while Leland regrets that a writer so little -trustworthy should have cast over his deceptions the graces of style. -Anticipating perhaps such an aspersion, he, in his dedication of -the work to Henry VIII., dated from London in 1530, compared the -chronicles of Bede and Gildas, crude in form and phraseology, to -meat served without the salt which it was his object to supply. Yet -while the English blame him for misrepresentations,--avenged in the -stinging Latin epigram, - - "Maro and Polydore bore Virgil's name; - One reaps a poet's, one a liar's fame,"-- - -Giovio cites the testimony of French and Scotch authors to his -partiality for the land of his adoption. More serious, but -unestablished, is a charge greatly resented by his countrymen, that, -after garbling records and ancient muniments thrown open to his -examination, he consummated the outrage by destroying the evidence of -his villainy. It may, however, be well to keep in view that, although -Bale claims him as a willing reformer of certain Romish abuses, his -adherence to that Church brought on him distrust of the Protestants, -in an age when theological disputes were matter affecting life and -limb. - -In the Vatican is preserved a MS. of this history in two volumes -folio, of 1210 pages, in twenty-five books, ending with the death -of James IV. of Scotland in 1512. The narrative is preceded by a -dedication in Latin to Francesco Maria II., from Antonio Vergilio -Battiferri, grand-nephew of the author, which is dated in 1613, and -mentions the MS. as autograph. Yet on the last leaf is this colophon, -apparently in the same hand: "Rogo ut bene conserventur, simul cum -aliis in cenobio venerand. monalium Sce. Clare de Urbino, quousque -bella, Deo favente, cessabunt. Ego Federicus Ludovici Veterani -Urbinus scripsi totum opus." But though not the original, that -transcriber's name guarantees the accuracy of this copy. An extract -from it in II. of the Appendix proves that the Leyden edition of 1651 -is in fact a loose paraphrase of the work.[73] - -[Footnote 73: The MS. is No. 497-8 of the Vat. Urb. MSS. An edition -in folio was published at Bale in 1546.] - - * * * * * - -VESPASIANO FILIPPI[*74] was a Florentine bibliopole, in an -age when that commerce was carried on by persons of learning, whose -business it was to transcribe, collate, and critically master the -MSS. which formed its staple. He was thus in familiar intercourse -not only with the literary men of the age, but with such princes -and prelates as turned their attention to the promotion of reviving -letters by multiplication and preservation of books. Of many such -he has left us biographical notices, recently given to the world -by Cardinal Mai from three MSS. in the Vatican library,[75] and in -the Riccardiana of Florence. His collection of lives of illustrious -ladies remains unedited. In the former work no memoir is so fully -extended as that of Duke Federigo of Urbino, upon which we have in -part drawn in our Second Book. It was inscribed to Duke Guidobaldo -I., in a dedication which not only testifies to his father's martial -skill, and a prowess that never knew defeat, but also to the prudence -of his sway, and assures us that the great powers of Italy had -frequent recourse to his judicious counsels. Unlike the pedantic -writers among whom he lived, Vespasiano composed these memoirs in -the language of the people for whose information he intended them; -but the long interval that elapsed before they saw the light has -necessarily prevented them from becoming in any degree popular. -Muratori, though unable to give an account of their author, has -printed his lives of Eugene IV. and Nicholas V., and characterises -his style as possessing a simplicity more precious than eloquence. - -[Footnote *74: For Vespasiano da Bisticci, consult (1) his own -charming and exquisite work, _Vite degli uomini Illustri_ (Firenze, -1859), with an excellent preface by Bartoli; FRATI, _Lettere_ (Bologna, -1892-93). ROSSI writes of these in _Giornale Stor. d. Lett. Ital._ -(1892), vol. XX., p. 258, and vol. XXIV., p. 276. (2) FRIZZI, _Di -Vespasiano da Bisticci e delle sue biografie_ (Pisa, 1887).] - -[Footnote 75: _Spicilegium Romanum_, tom. I. (Romae, 1839). Vat. Urb. -MSS. 941.] - - * * * * * - -Two members only of the brilliant and lettered court of -Guidobaldo have gained enduring celebrity from their -writings--CASTIGLIONE and BEMBO.[*76] The former -may be considered a pattern of gentlemanly writing, the latter of -scholarlike composition. We have already said what is necessary -of both, and have introduced into our narrative an idea of Count -Baldassare's _Cortegiano_, its objects and style. It is said to -have been suggested by Louis XII., and written about 1516, but -the author's preface seems to point at an earlier date. Two of -his published letters to Bembo show how anxiously he awaited the -suffrage of his friends, among whom it was handed about; but it was -sent to press in 1528, only in consequence of the alarm of a pirated -edition being in preparation, from a MS. which had been submitted -to the famed Vittoria Colonna, Marchioness of Pescara. The number -of reprints which issued during the next fifty years was at least -forty-two. A variety of circumstances conduced to this extensive and -continued popularity. Books professing to initiate the many into -habits and mysteries of refined society ever have claims on public -curiosity, but the attraction was here increased by the dazzling -reputation of the palace-circle at Urbino, as well as by the charms -of erudition, wit, elegance, and worldly wisdom which sparkle in -every page. It has, however, been remarked that most translations of -the _Cortegiano_ have failed to obtain the applause bestowed upon the -original. The observation may be taken as a compliment to the polish -of its diction, and to those delicacies of expression that bear no -transplanting into another idiom. It also proves that the celebrity -of this work rests much upon its style. The subject could scarcely -be treated at such length without falling into that diffuseness and -repetition, which, though clothed in beauty by the rich fluency of -the Italian language, must always degenerate into monotony when -rendered by the bold expletives of a less copious tongue. - -[Footnote *76: For Castiglione, see works mentioned in note *2, -p. 51 _supra_. I understand Mrs. Ady has written a biography of -Castiglione, which is shortly to appear. For Bembo, I cite here -a few works more especially relating to Urbino or to his general -life: MORSOLIN, _Pietro Bembo e Lucrezia Borgia_, in _Nuova -Autologia_, August, 1885. Cf. CIAN, in _Giornale Stor. d. Lett. -Ital._, XXIX., p. 425. CIAN, _Un decennio della vita di P. Bembo_ -(1521-31) (Torino, 1885), and LUZIO, in _Giornale St. d. Lett. Ital._, -VI., p. 270, and D'ANCONA, _Studi sulla Letteratura de' primi secoli_ -(Ancona, 1884), p. 151 _et seq._] - -[Illustration: CASTIGLIONE - -_After the picture by Raphael in the Louvre_] - -In a period when princes and courts little resembled what they have -since become, we possess from the pens of Machiavelli and Castiglione -generalised portraits of both; and they may be relied on as genuine, -although the Tuscan, like the _tenebristi_ painters, overloaded his -darker shadows, whilst the Mantuan Count employed the roseate tinting -of licensed flattery. Roscoe considers the _Cortegiano_ an ethical -treatise, yet it belongs as much to belles-lettres as to moral -philosophy. Its author has been called the Chesterfield of Italy, -and the parallel is singularly apt. The Count and the Earl have each -supplied "a glass of fashion and a mould of form" for the guidance of -their courtly contemporaries, and the posthumous reputation of both -with the world at large rests more upon their dicta as arbiters of -politeness, than upon their rare diplomatic address and statesmanlike -attainments. With all its interest as a picture of manners and a test -of civilisation in that proverbially refined age, with every charm -which elegance of style can impart, it is impossible to dwell on the -_Cortegiano_ without feeling that its influence was then fraught with -evil. In the pages of that essay were first systematically embodied -precepts of tact, lessons of adulation, all repugnant to the stern -manners and wholesome independence of antecedent generations. The -homely bearing of honest burghers, the rough and ready speech of men -who lived in harness, were there put out of fashion by studied phrase -and cringing flattery, too easy preparations for the effeminate -euphuism and fulsome servility which Spanish thraldom soon after -imposed upon Italy. - -Another work of Castiglione, to which we have already had occasion to -refer, is his letter, written in Latin, to Henry VIII., containing -an account of Guidobaldo's death, with a somewhat meagre sketch of -his character. But there is in its composition an air of effort, a -straining at rhetorical effect, which leave upon us the inevitable -conclusion that he thought more of his style than his hero. These -faults and deficiencies belong, however, in a still greater degree -to that more ambitious disquisition, wherein Bembo has sought to -honour the memory of the Duke and Duchess, whose favour he had amply -enjoyed. His few fugitive poems well merit the preference accorded to -them by Tiraboschi over most contemporary effusions, from force of -sentiment not less than felicitous expression. It would be difficult -to rival in the literature of any age the pathos of that ode wherein -his beloved wife is supposed to sigh over his prolonged absence, and -send him the sympathetic yearnings of her long-suppressed affection. -Of this, however, and his Tirsis, we have already said enough.[77] - -[Footnote 77: See above, pp. 49-50, 53-4, 58.] - -The courtly qualities of Count Baldassare are acknowledged wherever -his native literature is known; that they were not inconsistent with -his observance of parental feelings is proved by an interesting -Latin letter addressed to his children the year before his death, -which has been preserved by Negrini in his _Elogii Historici_ of the -Castiglione family. - - "To my beloved children, Camillo, Anna, and Ippolita. - - "It is my belief, dearest son Camillo, that you, above - all things, desire my return home, for nature and the - laws equally inculcate veneration for our parents next to - God; and in your case there may be a special duty, since - I, content with but one boy, would not have another to - share with you my property and parental affection. That I - may not have to repent of such a resolution, I shall own - myself free of doubt as to yourself; yet would I have you - aware that I look for such duty at your hands rather as a - debt, than with the indifference of most parents. It will - be easily paid, if you regard in the light of a father - that excellent preceptor obtained by your friends, and - implicitly follow his advice. From my prolonged absence, - I have nothing to inculcate upon you beyond this line of - Virgil, which I may without ostentation quote: - - "From me, my son, learn worth and honest toil; - Fortune from others take."[78] - - "And do you, Anna, who first endeared to me a daughter's - name, so perfect yourself in moral graces, that whatever - beauty your person may develop, shall be the handmaid of - your virtues, and shall figure last in the compliments - paid you. And you, Ippolita, reflect on my love for her - whose name you bear; and how charming it would be for your - merits to surpass your sister's as much as her years do - yours. Go on both, as you are doing, and, having lost the - mother who bore you before you could know her to be so, do - you imitate her qualities, that all may remark how greatly - you resemble her. Adieu. - - "From Monzoni, the 13th July, 1528. - - "Your father, - - "BALTHASSAR CASTILION." - -[Footnote 78: - - "Disce, puer, virtutem ex me, verumque laborem; - Fortunam ex aliis." - - _Aeneid_ XII., 345. - -Dryden has missed the point of this passage.] - - * * * * * - -The position which BEMBO holds in the literature of Italy's -golden age is not less singular than prominent. As an historian and -poet, a philologist and rhetorician, and as a voluminous writer of -official and private letters, he challenges criticism and has gained -applause. It is, however, as a reformer of style that his claims -have been most freely accorded, and his example held up to general -imitation. Following the fashion of his day, he regarded classical, -and especially Latin, attainments, as the attribute most needful for -an accomplished man. But he went further; and, aware of the coarse -and rugged manner into which literature had fallen, sought to correct -Latin composition, and to perfect his own tongue, after the purest -ancient standards. On this object he spared no pains, till by long -and laborious practice he wrote in both with equal precision. He is -said to have subjected each of his works to forty separate critical -revisions, and no one can read a page without feeling that, as with -too many of his countrymen, the manner has occupied quite as much -thought as the matter. This naturally tended to an opposite extreme, -for the studied structure of his sentences, and the fatiguing -recurrence of mythological allusion, are blemishes greatly detracting -from the pleasure afforded by his works.[79] Scaliger, accordingly, -has scourged his pagan misnomers of divine things, while his -"childish heresy" of abject Ciceronian imitation is ridiculed by -Lansius and Lipsius. Yet there is justice in the test applied to -them by Tiraboschi; for great and wide-spread evils require extreme -remedies, and the prevailing laxity of style having been once -brought into discredit by his example, those who followed were able -to avail themselves of his guidance and taste, without falling into -the rigidity and constraint which blemish his compositions. Indeed, -notwithstanding these obvious blots, which hero-worship has mistaken -for beauties, his History of Venice, his Essay on Imitation, his -diplomatic and familiar correspondence, and even his poetry, must, -when tried by then-received standards, be allowed a merit entitling -them to the general suffrage of contemporaries. It is to his Latin -prose that our strictures are most applicable. Forgetting, in his -zealous imitation of Cicero, the allowance due to modern themes, -principles, and feelings, he so slavishly followed that heathen -philosopher's idioms, as to clothe what he meant for Christianity -in the words of paganism. Even his letters, running in name of the -successor of St. Peter, transmuted the Almighty into a pantheistic -generality, our Saviour into a hero, and the Madonna into a goddess -of Loreto. It may be feared that this latitudinarianism was not -limited to manner, for an anecdote alleges him to have seriously -recommended a young divine to avoid reading St. Paul's Epistles, lest -they might mar his style. - -[Footnote 79: "Quid autem ineptius quam, toto seculo renovato, -religione, imperiis, magistratibus, locorum vocabulis, aedificiis, -cultu, moribus, non aliter audire, loqui, quam locutus est -Cicero? Si revivisceret ipse Cicero, rideret hoc Ciceronianorum -genus."--ERASMUS.] - -Compositions conceived and executed in so eclectic a spirit could -scarcely avoid falling into coldness and pedantry; and such are -prominent faults in his Venetian history, and his tribute to Duke -Guidobaldo,--two works especially connected with the subject of -these pages. The former is the most important production of his pen, -and was begun in 1529, by desire of the Signory, in continuation of -Sabellico's narrative, It is comprised in twelve books, extending -from 1487 to 1513, where it remained unfinished at his death, but -was continued by Paruta. From a contemporary possessing talent, -industry, leisure, and high literary reputation, as well as many -opportunities of personal observation, very large expectations might -be legitimately entertained. But as a churchman, he is said to have -been jealously excluded from the Venetian archives, a condition -which, in the judgment of Tiraboschi, ought to have disqualified -him from the task, and which may account for, if it cannot excuse, -the superficial character of the narrative, the poverty of graphic -details, and the teasing absence of dates. On the composition, too, -his classic mania has left its withering traces. It was his ambition -here to rival the Commentaries of Caesar; and, in perfecting the -idiom of a dead language, he has constrained freedom of thought, and -polished away the life and spirit of his theme. We have examined his -pages, as an indispensable authority upon events which occupy several -chapters of our work; but those who read Italian history for pleasure -will generally prefer to do so either in the Italian tongue or their -own. Conscious probably of this, the author himself translated the -work into his vernacular language, and both versions were published -soon after his death. - -His dissertation on the characters of the Duke and Duchess of -Urbino is written in Latin, and exhibits all those blemishes of -style to which we have just referred, and which so strangely jar -upon the fulsome flattery and elaborate verbiage which he labours -to reduce into Ciceronian terseness. Though entitled a "Book," the -whole occupies but a hundred pages in the octavo edition of his -works (1567), whereof scarcely one third is original matter. It is -addressed to Nicolo Tiepolo, a literary gentleman of Venice, and -professes to have been committed to writing for the satisfaction -of some Venetians who, feeling an interest in Guidobaldo as their -former guest, had applied to the father of Bembo for some account of -his death. It is thrown into a dialogue between himself, Sadoleto, -Filippo Beroaldo the younger, and Sigismondo [Conti?] of Foligno. -The last-named personage supplies to their inquiries a narrative -of the Duke's closing hours, addressed to Julius II., by Federigo -Fregoso, along with the funeral oration pronounced at his obsequies -by his preceptor Odasio. The former of these is written in a strain -beseeming a heathen philosopher, rather than a Christian dignitary; -the latter, which Tiraboschi has detected as very different from the -printed oration, is to the full as turgid and tiresome as are most -such efforts of Italian adulation; neither of them tell anything of -importance that Castiglione has not better given us. - -The whole discourse is, as I have had occasion to mention,[80] of -but trifling value to the biographer of these personages. Facts -are generalised until no substance remains; incidents and traits -of character are lost in the multiplicity of epithets; and thus we -have, instead of a speaking likeness, a vague and showy picture, -overladen with ornaments until individuality is gone. The warmer -emotions of the heart could scarcely, perhaps, be happily clothed in -the abstractions of a dead tongue, unadapted to the times, and to -circumstances which required the outpourings of unaffected grief; -at all events, these measured periods and studied phrases give no -real pleasure. Bembo was an elegant Latinist, but in such a work the -language of nature could alone afford satisfaction. When we seek -to know the true characters of his distinguished patrons, we are -dismissed with an inflated rhetorical exercise; we are offered bread, -and find it a stone. These strictures apply to the long funeral -oration, but still more to the dull didactic discourse of the four -friends, which wants the fire and feeling of the eulogy, and is -soiled by gross details gratuitously introduced on a point at which -good taste would have barely glanced. In all respects, the most -interesting portion of the work is Fregoso's letter, upon which we -have drawn in describing the death-bed of Guidobaldo. On the whole, -this production may be dismissed with a doubt whether its prosiness -or its pruriency is most offensive. Nor will the perusal of those -papal brieves, extended by the same writer, which despoiled of his -inheritance the Duke's adopted child, blasphemously ejecting him from -the pale of Christendom, give a higher opinion of the sincerity of -this ungrateful sycophant. - -[Footnote 80: Vol. I., p. 298, 392; II., 114.] - -His other works, having no immediate reference to our subject, -may be dismissed with few words. _The Prose_, a treatise upon -rhetoric, intended to fix the standard of pure Italian composition, -is a dialogue, to which Giuliano de' Medici and Federigo Fregoso -are parties. _Gli Asolani_, a more juvenile production, was named -from the castle of Asolo, at which some youths are represented as -discussing the tender passion in all its moods and modifications. -This theme, notwithstanding the tedious manner in which it is -treated, gave it great popularity over western Europe in the -sixteenth century, but the style and substance alike render it -unpalatable to modern amateurs of light reading. His Latin treatise -_De Imitatione_ is a dull defence of his Ciceronian mannerisms; -his essay in the same language upon Virgil and Terence a laboured -philological critique; his _De Aetna Liber_ a report of physical -observations during an early residence near that volcano. His poetry, -both Latin and Italian, enjoyed high reputation at a period when -imitations of Petrarch had degenerated into common-place; for he -succeeded in brushing away the rust of ages, and restoring much -of the bright polish peculiar to the bard of Arqua. Lastly, his -very numerous private and official letters have preserved to us a -valuable store of facts, and much curious illustration of coeval -manners and individual character. - - * * * * * - -The share of laborious learning voluntarily borne by ladies of -the highest birth in the fifteenth century is a singular problem. -There was scarcely a sovereign family that could not boast among -its daughters some votary of intellectual pursuits, in an age when -mental cultivation was of a sort more calculated to overburden -genius, than to give wings to fancy in her flight after knowledge. -A familiar acquaintance with Latin was then requisite, being the -key to modern as well as classic and biblical literature, and also -the current language of diplomacy or courtly intercourse.[*81] The -abstruse distinctions of ancient philosophy, the complex tenets of -dogmatic theology, the fatiguing jargon of scholastic disputation, -were all included in the circle of female accomplishments. Such were -the graces for which Bianca d'Este, Isotta Nogarolo, and Veronica -Gambara were famed; while another Isotta, paramour of the truculent -Lord of Rimini, divided contemporary adulation between the beauties -of her person and her mind. The vagueness of such eulogies might -well justify scepticism as to the profundity of that lore they -were intended to vaunt; but in the case of Ippolita Maria Sforza, -daughter of Francesco Duke of Milan, and wife of Alfonso King of -Naples, chance has afforded us a standard of the knowledge mastered -by these learned ladies. It was for this princess that Constantine -Lascaris composed the earliest Greek Grammar; and in the convent -library of Sta. Croce at Rome there is a transcript by her of -Cicero De Senectute, followed by a juvenile collection of Latin -apophthegms curiously indicative of her character and studies. The -house of Montefeltro could boast a full share of such distinction, -in Princess Battista, wife of the wretched Galeazzo Lord of Pesaro, -to whose literary celebrity we have elsewhere paid our tribute, -and whose progeny we have seen maintaining the prestige of her -accomplishments to the third generation. Her great-granddaughter -Battista Sforza rivalled her accomplishments, and those of her cousin -Ippolita Maria, and, when placed by her marriage at the head of the -court at Urbino, contributed much to the literary reputation which -it then first obtained. Its two succeeding duchesses of the Gonzaga -race, although women of remarkable talent, did not carry so far the -cultivation of their natural powers; but we have found, in their -relative and associate Emilia Pia, one whose learning was scarcely -less notable than her wit. - -[Footnote *81: On the whole subject of women, see note *1, p. -72. Their education was the same as that of their brothers. Cf. -SYMONDS, _The Renaissance in Italy_ (1904), vol. V., p. -250, note 1, and BURCKHARDT, _The Civilisation of the -Renaissance_ (1878), vol. II., p. 161.] - -Such were the examples of female genius which emanated from the -courts of Italy, and, spreading to her universities, installed -feminine erudition in professorial chairs. Nor was this questionable -practice limited within the Italian peninsula. Many Spanish dames -were conspicuous in scholarship, and, at the close of the century, -Salamanca and Alcala saw their professorships held with applause by -ladies equally distinguished for birth and accomplishments. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - - Poetry under the Montefeltri--Sonnets--The - Filelfi--Giovanni Sanzi--Porcellio Pandonio--Angelo - Galli--Federigo Veterani--Urbani Urbinate--Antonio - Rustico--Naldio--Improvisatori--Bernardo Accolti--Serafino - d'Aquila--Agostino Staccoli--Early comedies--_La - Calandra_--Corruption of morals--Social position of women. - - -Were the lettered court of Duke Federigo to be judged by its -minstrels, a harsh sentence might perhaps be awarded. Nor would this -be quite fair. Their cold and common-place ideas, their rude and -vapid verses, are indeed far beneath the standard of our fastidious -age, and scarcely repay those who decipher them in venerable -parchments. Yet have we ample evidence of their superiority to many -poetasters of Italy, who then emulated Virgil's hexameters, or abused -the facilities of their vernacular versification; and it is just the -fact of these laureates of Urbino so long surviving the countless -rhymers of other principalities, that proves the discriminating -patronage of a sovereign, who attached to his court the best writers -of his time. Nor must we fail to remember that the now prominent -blemishes of their works were then their most admired qualities. The -classical sympathies which we usually leave in schools and colleges, -or which, when carried prominently about us in the busy world are -stigmatised as a pedantic and ungraceful encumbrance, were then in -high fashion. They were indispensable to the man of liberal education -as his sword and buckler to the soldier; they were adopted among -the conventional elements of all literature, poetry, and taste. -A standard being thus set up so antipathic to the ideas of our -practical age, we are called upon, before proceeding to judgment, to -divest ourselves of prejudices which may in their turn become the -marvel and ridicule of our posterity. - -The inherent defects of that minstrelsy, - - "Whose melody gave ease to Petrarch's wounds," - -have been aptly set forth by Roscoe, but he appears to overlook its -special adaptation for the Italian tongue. Limited to one theme, -which it is required to exhaust in a fixed number of lines, and -fettered by the frequent and stated recurrence of a few rhymes, no -language less copious and pliant can be woven into a sonnet, without -occasionally betraying, in bald, formal, or rugged versification, -the torture to which it has been subjected. Again, the constraint -and mannerism which often deform this metrical composition in -other idioms are here its safeguard from a mellifluous but insipid -verbiage, so often fatal to the lyrics of Italy: on a poetry -habitually turgid and redundant, terseness is thus absolutely imposed. - -With these few words of apology for doggerel hexameters and -indifferent sonnets, we shall shortly pass in review some of those -who thus wooed the muses in the Montefeltrian court. - - * * * * * - -Among the most widely known names of this age was FRANCESCO -FILELFO, whose venal pen often wantoned in biting lampoons, -whose sickening vanity was obtruded in the most repulsive egotism, -and whose vagrant habits strangely combined assiduous study with lax -morals. In most respects he anticipated the bad notoriety acquired -a century later by Pietro Aretino, and like him alternately fawned -upon and flagellated princely patrons of literature. Were his life -to be written, it would be difficult to extract truth by balancing -his own self-vaunting letters against the scurrilous philippics of -his untiring enemy Poggio Bracciolini. But we are fortunately spared -this task, and may refer to Tiraboschi, Roscoe, and Shepherd for -illustrations of his restless existence and fractious temper.[82] -In both these respects GIAN MARIA,[*83] the son, seems to -have resembled Francesco the father, whilst he even exceeded him in -the number and variety of his compositions. He sought audiences in -many cities of Italy and Provence for his prelections in grammar and -philosophy, as well as for his improvisations of Latin or Italian -verse; and among the numerous patrons he thus courted was the good -King Rene, who bestowed on him the laurel crown, a guerdon which his -rude numbers ill-deserved at the hands of that graceful troubadour. -Tiraboschi makes no allusion to his intercourse with Duke Federigo, -whereof we know little beyond two works which he inscribed to that -Prince, and which remain unedited in the Vatican Urbino Library. -The former of these, dated at Modena in 1464, was corrected by the -author, "doctor in arts and both faculties of law, knight, and poet -laureat," he being then in his thirty-eighth year. It is numbered -702, and contains about two thousand five hundred Latin hexameters -and pentameters, entitled _Martiados_, an obvious imitation of his -father's _Sfortiados_. The theme is thus set forth in a dedication to -the Duke of Urbino:-- - - "Primus et in Martem quae sint pia fata Tonantis, - Et manibus nati monstra parenta refert; - At liber et bellis laudatque et honore secundus, - Et gestis magnum rebus in orbe Ducem." - -[Footnote 82: TIRABOSCHI, _Storia della Letteratura -Italiana_, VI., ii., p. 317-30; SHEPHERD'S _Life of Poggio -Bracciolini_, _passim_; ROSCOE'S _Lorenzo de' Medici_, ch. -i.] - -[Footnote *83: Cf. FLAMINI, _Versi inediti da G.M. Filelfo_ -(Livorno, 1892, per nozze).] - -The very moderate anticipations raised by this proemium, which we -leave in its rugged original, are not surpassed in the context, dull -and common-place as it is in sentiment, prosaic and unpolished in -style. Losing sight of his avowed object of keeping apart the deeds -of Mars, the ancient divinity, from those of Federigo, his living -type, in order to illustrate the parallel which it is his plan to -draw between them, he strangely jumbles both; and, following the -new-born classicism of the day, he has crammed his rough verses with -nearly every name that heathen mythology, history, or geography can -muster, in senseless and jarring confusion. With a view to exalt -his hero as a second Hercules, he enumerates a series of labours -and achievements from his childhood, when he sprang from bed and -strangled a snake that had frightened all his attendants. This is -followed by a farrago of allegorical struggles, combats, and triumphs -over temptations or evil principles, anticipating somewhat the idea -of the _Pilgrim's Progress_, but with this important difference, that -the motives, arms, and aids are all borrowed from pagan mythology. -So entirely is Federigo lost among the gods and demigods who crowd -the stage, that his character or actions are seldom brought on the -foreground at all, and never with sufficient idiosyncracy to avail -for the development of either. Finally, we find him deified in -Olympus, and the epic closes with an empty bravado that none ever -more worthily emulated Alcides. - -The other MS. of Gian Maria Filelfo which demands a passing note is -No. 804 of the same library, and is dated seven years later than the -_Martiados_. It contains some six thousand Italian verses, consisting -for the most part of minor poems on a variety of subjects; the -volume is dedicated to Federigo, but many of the _Canzoni morali_ -are inscribed to distinguished personages, not omitting the Duke's -rancorous foe Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, to whose vanity such -incense could not have been unpalatable. In treating of religious -topics, the author, for the time, and by an effort, lays aside the -pagan strain which prevails in his other lays, and though generally -selecting the sonnet or _terza rima_, he thus affects to disclaim all -rivalry with their mighty masters:-- - - "To these rude rhymes, alas, nor Petrarch's style - Is given, nor the good Dante's pungent file." - -Yet there is considerable ambition in the rhythm, and although -prolix, like other contemporary compositions, and inflated by -superabundant episodes, it is not devoid of occasional poetic -feeling. In the dedicatory address he thus speaks of his volume:-- - - "De! dunque Signor mio, per tua merciede - Con lieta fronte schorri esto libretto, - Il qual sotto il tuo titolo honor chiede. - Forse leggiendol' ne fia alcun dilecto, - Per esser di molte herbe uno orticciuolo, - Quantunque el vi sia dentro erro e diffecto: - Pur che 'l non sia di tutto il vano orciuolo - Col qual l'aqua si tira, da le donne - Che feciono ai mariti si gran duolo. - Ogni casa non e posta in colonne; - Ognuno esser non puo Dante o Patrarcha; - Ognun non porta pretiose gonne. - Ma spesse volte piccoletta barcha - Arriva in luoco, ove andando s'anniegha - Tal grossa nave che molto e men charcha. - De! s'al huom val quanto il Signor piu priegha, - China la fronte altiera a questa scorza, - Ch'in questo mio arbor del pieta non niegha. - Et come il navichare hor poggia, hor orza, - Hor pope avvien, secondo i venti e l'onde - Cosi convien ch'in vario error mi torza. - Hor la mia voglia la ragion confonde, - Hor l'appetito impera, hor vivo in doglia, - Hor lieto, hor desioso, et non so donde. - Qual l'autunno ogni verde arbor spoglia, - Inverno asciugha, e primavera inverde, - Tal varia e nostra externa et mental voglia. - Ma tristo chiunque indarno il tempo perde, - Ch'e peggio ch'esser rozzo e senza lima, - Pero che chi non e mai non riverde. - De! leggi, Signor mio, la vulghar ryma, - Et sia ti un modo da cacciar la noia, - Quando di gran facciende hai maggior stima." - -As we shall give a place in our Appendix to Giovanni Sanzi's judgment -upon the painters of his day, we may here insert Filelfo's sonnet to -Gentile Bellini. - - "Bellin! s'io t'hebbi mai fitto nel cuore, - Se mai chognobbi it tuo preclaro ingiegno, - Hor confess'io che sei fra gli altri degno, - D'haver qual hebbe Apelle ogni alto honore. - Veduta ho l'opra tua col suo cholore, - La venusta col suo sguardo benegno, - Ogni suo movimento et nobil segno - Che ben demonstri il tuo gientil valore. - Gientile! io t'ero affectionato assai, - Parendomi la tua virtu piu rara - Che soglia esser l'ucciel che e solo al mondo; - Ne pingier sa chi da te non impara, - Che gloria a quegli antiqui hormai tolta hai, - In chi questa arte postha ogni suo pondo. - Forsse che troppo habondo - A te che non ti churi di tue lode, - Ma diciendone assai l'alma mia ghode." - -When compared with contemporary efforts, these specimens, and others -which it would be easy to add, deserve a better fate than the neglect -to which, in common with most of their author's works, they have been -consigned; nor do they bear out the imputation of careless haste, -alleged by Tiraboschi as the prevailing error of his very numerous -and various productions. The paucity of these which have issued from -the press may, however, be taken as confirming that judgment, as -well as the suppression of his narrative of the campaign of Finale -in 1447, after it had been printed by Muratori for his Scriptores. -But poetry may be accounted his forte,--a somewhat remarkable -circumstance, considering the unrivalled reputation he established as -an _improvisatore_ of verses on any number not exceeding one hundred -themes suddenly proposed, as such facility has rarely been conjoined -with true poetic fire. - -It were to be desired that we knew more of his intercourse with -Duke Federigo. In one of his dedicatory epistles, after alluding -to the likelihood of that prince reading the work, he, in a vein of -fulsome compliment and impudent conceit, complains of neglect from -friends, and hints at a visit to Urbino. It is difficult to glean -facts from the vague common-places of such letters; but in 1468 he -thanks his patron for retaining at his court Demetrio Castreno, a -learned Greek fugitive from Constantinople. Equally mannered and -cold are his flattery and his condolence, on the death of Countess -Battista in 1472. Next year he writes that, having begun a commentary -on Federigo's life, and completed two books, he had been induced to -submit them to the Duke of Milan, from whom he never could recover -the manuscript. - - * * * * * - -Another _protege_ of Duke Federigo was PORCELLIO PANDONIO, -of Naples,[*84] whose pen was ever at command of the readiest -patron, as historiographer or laureate. From his partiality to the -designations of bard and secretary to Alfonso of Naples, it would -seem that he chiefly rested his fame on his poetical compositions. -From this judgment Muratori differs, protesting that in historical -narrative none excelled his ease and elegance of diction.[85] Abject -classicism, in thought and style, was then a common weakness of -the learned; and however correctly Porcellio may have caught the -Latin phraseology, it is difficult to get over the jarring effect -of an idiom and nomenclature foreign to the times and incidents -which it is his object vividly to portray. In his printed work, on -the campaigns of 1451-2, between Venice and Milan, he uniformly -disguises Sforza and Piccinino, their respective commanders, as -Scipio and Hannibal, under which _noms de guerre_ it requires a -constant effort to recognise mediaeval warriors, or to recollect -that we are considering events dating some two thousand years after -those who really bore them had been committed to the dust. The same -affectation, common to many authors of his day, mars his unpublished -writings which we have had occasion to examine in the Vatican Urbino -Library, and their authority is greatly impaired by what Muratori -well calls "prodigality of praise" to his heroes, that is, to his -generous patrons. In a beautifully elaborated MS. (No. 373) he has -collected, under the title of Epigrams, nearly fifty effusions in -honour of our Duke and Duchess, and of members of their family -or court, a favourite theme being the love-inspired longings of -Battista for her lord's return from the wars. In the same volume -is his Feltria, an epic composed at Rome about 1472, and narrating -Federigo's campaigns, from that of 1460-1, under the banner of Pius -II., by whose command Porcellio undertook to sing his general's -prowess in three thousand Virgilian verses. Its merits may be fairly -appreciated from extracts already given,[86] and from this allusion -to the state of Italy at the outbreak of the war:-- - - "Jamque erat Ausoniae populos pax alta per omnes, - Et tranquilla quies: jam nulli Martis ad aras - Collucent ignes; jam victima nulla cadebat. - Dantur thura Jovi; fumabat oliva Minervae: - Sus erat in pretio, Cereris aptissima sacris, - Pampineique dei caper, et qui vitibus amens - Officit, atque merum ante aras cum sanguine fundit." - -[Footnote *84: Porcellio Napolitano was the laureate and secretary -of Alphonso I. of Aragon and of Naples, and later the secretary and -familiar of Sigismondo Malatesta. Porcellio seems to have hated -Basinio, another court poet, whose works, with a long commentary, -have been published (BATTAGLINI, _Basinii, Parmensis Poetae -Opera Praestantiora_ (Rimini, 1794)). Basinio seems to have proved -before the Court of Rimini that Porcellio was ignorant of Greek. -"One can be a fine Latin poet without knowing Greek," he answered in -a rage, but truly enough. Basinio, however, asserted that not only -Virgil and all the great poets and prose writers knew Greek, but -showed that while that language was forgotten Italy was plunged in -darkness. But enough of such absurdities, which have besides nothing -to do with Urbino or even Dennistoun's history of it.] - -[Footnote 85: Nearly all we know of him will be found in the -Scriptores, XX., 67, and XXV., 1.] - -[Footnote 86: See vol. I., pp. 209-11. Portions of the same poem -are contained in Nos. 709 and 710 of the Urbino Library, the former -corrected by the author, the latter in his autograph. Some of his -minor lyrics were published at Paris in 1549, along with those of two -other minstrels who sang the praises of the Malatesta.] - -Such were the foreign poets who frequented Duke Federigo's court. -Its native bards left few works meriting particular notice, with one -interesting exception. We have elsewhere to discuss Giovanni Sanzi -or Santi,[*87] of Urbino, his merits as a painter, and the celebrity -reflected on him from the eminence of his son, the unequalled -Raffaele. Here we shall speak of his epic on that Duke's life, of -which we have made frequent use in our first volume, and which -demands attention on account of its excellence, as well as from the -intimate connection with our subject of its author and theme. - -[Footnote *87: On Giovanni Santi, see CAMPORI, _Notizie -e docum. per la vita di Giov. Santi e di Raffaello Santi da -Urbino_ (Modena, 1870); GUERRINI, _Elogio Stor. di Giov. -Santi_ (Urbino, 1822); SCHMARZOW, _Giovanni Santi der Vater Raffaels_, -in _Kunstchronik_ (Leipsig), An. XXIII., No. 27; SCHMARZOW, _Giovanni -Santi_ in _Vierteljahrsschrift fuer Kultur und Lett. der Renaissance_ -(Leipsig), vol. II., Nos. 2-4. Cf. also CROWE & CAVALCASELLE, _History -of Painting in Italy_, vol. III.] - -This poem, having remained unedited in the Vatican arcana, long -escaped the literary historians of the Peninsula, but it has been -recently quoted by two writers, Pungileone and Passavant, the former -of whom had not seen it.[88] Although, in his dedication to Duke -Guidobaldo, composed after 1490, the author accounts for his becoming -a painter, as we shall see in chapter xxviii., he gives no further -explanation of the motives which inspired the labour of a poem, -containing some twenty-four thousand lines, than "that after anxious -thought and consideration of such new ideas as offered themselves, I -wished to sing in this little used style of _terza rima_, the story -of your most excellent and most renowned father's glorious deeds," -whose "brilliant reputation not only was and is well known throughout -Italy, but is, if I may say so, the subject of discourse beyond the -Caucasus," "not without a conscious blush at the idea of dipping so -mean a vessel in the water of this limpid and sparkling spring." -With equal modesty, he deprecates all rivalry with the learned -commentators who had celebrated the same theme in Latin, limiting the -ambition of his "rude and brief compend" to rendering its interest -accessible to more ordinary readers; but, looking back upon his -twenty-three ample cantos, he fervently thanks the Almighty that an -undertaking of so extended time and toil had at length attained its -termination, and concludes by "humbly beseeching that you will regard -the hero's far-famed actions, rather than the baseness of my style, -whose only grace is the sincere devotion of a faithful servant to his -lord." A similar tone marks the outset of his Chronicle:-- - - "If e'er in by-gone times a shallow mind - Shrank from the essay of a grand design, - So quake I in the labour-pangs of fear." - -[Footnote 88: _Elogio Storico di Giovanni Santi_, pp. 14 and 69, -etc.; Rafael von Urbino. The original and only MS. is described in -III. of our Appendix.] - -Compared with contemporary epics, the rhythm is smooth and flowing, -and the style dignified, interspersed with highly poetical episodes -and finely expressed moral reflections as well as apt illustrations -from ancient history and mythology. The epithets, though abundant, -are more than usually appropriate, and many terse maxims are happily -introduced. Yet, in his object of placing his poem and his hero among -the popular literature of the day, Giovanni must have failed, the -Vatican MS. being the only known copy. Readers it, however, doubtless -had, one of whom has curiously commemorated his admiration by jotting -on the margin, "Were you but as good a painter as a poet, who knows!" -Modern critics, contrasting his fresco at Cagli with the rhyming -Chronicle, would probably arrive at an inverse conclusion, especially -were they to pronounce upon the latter from the preamble which called -forth that exclamation--an allegorical vision, told in nine weary -chapters, wherein figure a motley crowd of mythological and heroic -personages belonging to ancient and contemporary times. - -It would occasion much useless repetition to enter here into any -detailed analysis of the work, as we have formerly drawn upon its -most valuable portions for the history of Duke Federigo. When -considering the state of the fine arts, we shall have to notice -a very important part of the poem touching upon that subject--an -aesthetic episode on the art and artists of his day, which is -introduced on occasion of the Duke's visit to Federigo I., Marquis of -Mantua. In regard to the merit of this epic, due allowance must be -made for the taste of the age. Its great length necessarily infers a -tediousness of detail much more adapted to prose than verse, indeed -inherently prosaic. Yet it contains not a few continuous passages -of sustained beauty, and it would not be difficult to cull many a -sparkling thought and bright simile, while from time to time the -dull narrative is enlivened by lyric touches and strokes of poetic -fancy, adorning sentiments creditable to the genius and the heart -of its author, who, with much sweetness of disposition, appears to -have possessed endowments beyond his humble sphere. His patriotic -indignation at the ceaseless broils and strifes which convulsed his -fatherland may supply us with an example or two:-- - - "Ma non potendo Italia in pace stare - Sotto lunga quiete, o mai, parendo - Putrida vile e maricia diventare." - - No long repose Ausonia e'er can brook, - For peace to her brings languor, and she deems - It loathsome to lie fallow. - - "Cum qual costum, che Italia devora, - Del sempre stare in gran confusione, - Disjunta et seperata, e disiare - L'un stato al altro sua destructione." - - Sad is the usage that Italia wastes - In ceaseless struggles, aye for separate ends; - Sever'd her states, and each on others' ills - Intent. - - "O mischinella - Italia! in te, acecata e disunita - Hor per dollor, te batte ogni mascella." - - Ah, poor and wretched Italy! all blind - And disunited, chattering thy jaws - In torments sad. - - "O instabil fortuna! che fai secco - Ogni arbor verde, quando te impiacere, - In un momento." - - Ah fickle fortune! which the greenest tree - Mayst in a moment wither at thy will. - -The following sentiments were likely to find little sympathy among -his contemporaries:-- - - "Il sfrenato desio che nel cor tiene - Di nuova signoria e altrui dominio - L'huom mai si satia; e pur morir conviene." - - Man ne'er his soul's unbridled lust can slake - Of further sovereignty, and wider sway; - Yet 'tis appointed him to die. - - "Che el facto d'arme se devea fare - Sol per due cose, e l'altre lassar gire: - L'uno e per lo avantagio singolare - E grande oltra misura; e in caso extremo - Si deve l'huomo a la fortuna dare." - - Twain are the pleas that justly may be urged - For armed aggression,--aggrandisement great - Beyond all calculation, or extreme - Necessity: nought else can justify - Such hazard of men's fortunes. - -A long and somewhat tedious chapter of moralities on the uncertain -tenure of life among princes, introduced after describing the -assassination of Galeazzo Maria Duke of Milan, in 1476, opens -finely:-- - - "Vedendo il breve e vil peregrinare - Che noi facciam per questo falso mondo, - Anzi un pugno di terra al ver narrare, - Dove, con tanto afanno e tanto pondo, - De di e nocte, e inextimabil cure, - Cerchiam sallire in alto e andamo al fondo. - Qual e quel si potente che asicure - Ogi la vita sua per l'altro giorno, - Tante son spesse et orende le sciagure?" - - Seeing how brief the pilgrimage and vile, - Whereby through this false world we wend our way, - A little earth our only heritage, - Where day and night, with pain and load of care - Incalculable, still we seek to soar, - Yet ever downward sink: where is the man - Potent to day, to-morrow's life to count, - So frequent its mishaps and horrible? - -The bland transition from a rigorous winter to balmy Italian spring -is thus apostrophised:-- - - "Intanto el verno - El mondo gia copria col fredo smalto; - E raro volte fu che el tempo iberno - Tanto terribile fusse, onde asvernarsi - Tucti ne andar, per fin che del inferno - Proserpina torno, per adornarsi - De vaghi fiori e de novelle fronde, - Cum lauree chiome al vento dolce sparsi." - - Winter meanwhile the far-spread world had clad - In cold enamel; rarely was it known - More rigid: gladly all the troops retired - To quarters, waiting Proserpine's return - On earth, with beauteous flowers bedecked, and leaves - Of freshest green, when in the gentle breeze - Should stream her laurel tresses. - -The poet's eloquent tribute to Florentine freedom, and its value to -the cause of liberty, must close our sparing extracts.[89] - - "Perche privato el popul Fiorentino - Della sua libertade, era cavare - Un occhio a Italia, e metterla al declino." - - For to curtail fair Florence of her freedom - Were to pluck forth an eye from Italy, - And cause her orb to wane. - -[Footnote 89: See others in vol. I., and _passim_ in Book II.; also -in IV. of the Appendix below.] - -In Sanzi's Chronicle we seek in vain for the riper beauties of -succeeding epics; but the flashes of poetry which it embodies are -not the less effective from their simple diction, nor from the -comparatively unpolished narrative which they adorn. - - * * * * * - -No. 699 of the Urbino MSS. contains the collected minor poems and -songs of ANGELO GALLI of Urbino, knight, and secretary to -Duke Federigo. They are three hundred and seventy-six in number, -all in Italian, and unedited, but beautifully transcribed on vellum -by Federigo Veterani. Although varied by the introduction of sacred -subjects, most of them are occasional amorous effusions, wherein -names of the Montefeltri, Malatesta, Sforza, and other Umbrian -families frequently occur. The dates affixed to them extend from -1428 to 1457. It appears that the author attended the Council of -Basle in 1442, and he is said by Crescimbeni to have survived until -1496. His mellowed versification is in general superior to that of -the age, while his trite and limited matter is pleasingly relieved -by many happy turns of thought and graces of language. Though unable -to supply any particulars of one who has almost escaped notice, we -give place to two specimens of his muse. His canzonet addressed to -Caterina, "the noble, beautiful, discreet, charming, gentle, and -generous Countess of Urbino," runs thus: - - "El mirabil splendor del tuo bel viso - Pusilanimo famme, a tanta parte - Che l'ingegno in tal carte - Non tangeria, s'il ver ch'io non errasse. - Forsa che la natura in paradiso - Per aiuto sali ad informarte, - E poi per divin arte - A gloria de se eterna giu te trasse. - Qual oro si micante s'aguagliasse - Cum sua chiareza a tui biondi capegli! - E gli occhi, ch'a vede gli - L'invidia affreccia el sol a ricolcarse. - Qual perle, qual coragli, al riso breve! - Le guance han sangue, spirto in bianca neve!" - -The other is upon Costanza Varana, wife of Alessandro Sforza, and -mother of Battista Countess of Urbino. - - "Che la sua faccia bella - Mostro d'inverno sempre primavera, - Real costume, aspetto di signora, - Viso di dea e d'angioli a favella. - - Ma questa donna, ch'a la mente diva, - Depinge di honesta omne suo gesto: - Non pur suo guardo honesto, - Ma li suo panni, gridan' pudicitia. - - Questa madonna e el mar' de tutto el senno - Renchiuso, e posto dentro da bel ciglio, - Chi vuol vecchio consiglio - Recinga ai teneri anni di costei. - - Mille viole e fiore - Sparge sopra la neve el suo bel viso; - E dolce del suo riso - Faria piatoso Silla a la vendetta, - E spontaria de Giove omne saetta." - -FEDERIGO VETERANI has been repeatedly mentioned as a -transcriber of MSS. for Duke Federigo, whom he also served as -librarian and secretary, besides being one of the judges at Urbino. -Those who have had occasion to examine the library formed by that -prince, are well acquainted with his beautiful autograph, and might -imagine his whole life to have been spent upon its fair volumes. One -of them, containing the Triumphs of Petrarch, No. 351, is subscribed -by him, with a memorandum that it was the last of about sixty volumes -he had written out before the death of Federigo, which he thus -deplores:-- - - "Fedrico Veterano fui, che scripse - Questo e molti altri, cum justa mercede, - Usando diligentia, amore et fede - Al Duca Federigo in sin ch'el vixe: - Le cui memorie sempre al mondo fixe - Sonno e seranno; e ben certo si crede, - Mentre sta el mondo e la natura in pede - Ch'ogni virtu dal cielo in lui venisse. - Quello mi piango, e mai ho 'l viso asciutto; - Quel chiamo, quel mi sogno, e quel mi stringo - Ai labri, sculpto in cara tavletta; - La qual, cosi machiata del mio lucto, - Adoro, honoro in verso, e vivo el fingo, - Per lenimento di mia vita abiecta."[90] - -[Footnote 90: See a translation of these lines, vol. I., p. 269.] - -But, in addition to his miscellaneous avocations, Veterani was a -copious versifier. Besides an epic, De Progenie Domus Feretranae, -there are other volumes of poetry, apparently his, remaining unedited -in the library,[91] of which he continued custodian until the reign -of Francesco Maria I. One of those beautiful manuscripts, the fair -vellum and gem-like illuminations of which have been the theme of -many a eulogy, contains the collected verses of Cristoforo Landini -and six other less-known poets of the fifteenth century. On the -concluding page, in a trembling and blotted hand, we read these -touching lines, the tribute of its lettered scribe to the temporary -eclipse of his sovereign's dynasty:[92]-- - - "1517. - - "FEDERICUS VETERANUS, URBINAS BIBLIOTHECARIUS, AD REI - MEMORIAM. - - "Ne careat lacrymis liber hic, post fata Feretri, - Hic me subscripsi, cumque dolore gravi. - Hunc ego jamdudum Federicus, stante Feretro, - Transcripsi, (gratus vel fuit ille mihi - Quem modo vel semper fas est lugere parentem, - Et dominum qui me nutriit,) atque diu - Pagina testis erit, lacrymis interlita multis, - Haec tibi, qui moesta haec carmina pauca legis. - Et si dissimilis conclusit littera librum, - Scriptorem ignarum me dolor ipse facit." - -[Footnote 91: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 1293, 303, 699.] - -[Footnote 92: _Ibid._, No. 368, f. 188.] - -Among the minor fry slumbering unknown in the Vatican Library -is URBANI of Urbino, who left a few rude elegiac and complimentary -ditties in Latin or Italian upon members of the Montefeltrian line, -and compiled a confused account of their pedigree. We may also name -ANTONIO RUSTICO of Florence, whose _Panegiricon Comitis Federici_, -dedicated to him in 1472, contains above seven hundred Italian lines -of _terza rima_, unpolished in style, and in matter a mere tissue of -fatiguing verbiage. Scarcely more valuable is NALDIO'S account of the -Volterran campaign of 1572 in Latin verse, to which we have vainly -had recourse for new information on that obscure passage of our -memoirs.[93] - -[Footnote 93: These three works are Nos. 736, 743, and 373.] - - * * * * * - -While enumerating in our twenty-first chapter the celebrities of Duke -Guidobaldo's court, we mentioned Bernardo Accolti, and endeavoured -to explain the inadequacy of his published works to sustain his -contemporary reputation, by supposing that his strength lay in -extempore recitation. The high place which his vanity claimed, in -assuming "the Unique" as a surname, appears to have been freely -accorded by the most able of his contemporaries. Ariosto says of him, -not perhaps without a sneer at his notorious conceit,-- - - "The cavalier amid that band, whom they - So honour, unless dazzled in mine eye - By those fair faces, is the shining light - Of his Arezzo, and Accolti hight."[94] - -[Footnote 94: STEWART ROSE'S Translation, XLVI., 10.] - -Castiglione assigns him a prominent rank among the Urbino stars, -whilst Bembo and Pietro Aretino testify to his merits. We, however, -would try these by his surviving works, which, as Roscoe observes, -are fatal to his reputation, and which are indeed rather a beacon -than a model to succeeding genius. It is, therefore, unnecessary -to pause upon them, or to add here to our previous notice of their -author and his position at the Montefeltrian court. Nor was Accolti -the only poetaster who attained in that polished circle, or in other -Italian courtlets, a celebrity from which posterity has withheld -its seal. A solution of this success may perhaps be found in the -circumstance that many of these owed it either to personal popularity -or to their musical accomplishments. Thus SERAFINO D'AQUILA, -who either improviseed his verses, or chanted them to his own -accompaniment on the lute, was generally preferred to Petrarch. -He died at thirty-four, in 1500, after being sought by all the -petty sovereigns from Milan to Naples, and ere two generations had -passed away his poetry was utterly forgotten. So, too, AGOSTINO -STACCOLI of Urbino, whose sonnets delighted Duke Federigo, and -obtained for him a diplomatic mission to Rome in 1485, has been long -consigned to oblivion. - - * * * * * - -The older comedies of Italy become a subject of interest to us, for -one of the earliest was written by Bernardo Bibbiena, a friend of -Guidobaldo I.,[95] and was first performed in the palace of Urbino. -The revival of the comic drama may be traced to Ferrara; and, though -the pieces originally represented there before Duke Ercole I. were -translations from Plautus and Terence,[96] Ariosto made several -boyish attempts to vary the entertainment by dramatic compositions -of his own. This was just before 1500, and to about the same time -Tiraboschi ascribes the comedies of Machiavelli. There is thus -much probability that these attempts preceded the _Calandra_ of -Bibbiena, which has, however, been generally considered the oldest -regular comedy in the language. It seems also to have been the first -that attracted the notice of his patron Leo X., whose delight in -comic performances was excessive; and, although now superseded by -pieces more in accordance with the age, it long enjoyed a continued -popularity. Giovo celebrates its easy and acute wit, and the talent -of its mobile and merry author for scenic representation, which must -have greatly tended to ensure its success. It is doubtful in what -year it was played at the Vatican in presence of his Holiness, on -the visit of Isabella, Marchioness of Mantua, when the decorations -painted by Baldassar Peruzzi obtained unbounded applause. But this -probably happened after its performance at Urbino, which collateral -evidence discovered by Pungileone, has fixed as taking place in the -spring of 1513.[*97] This gorgeous entertainment, and the scenery -executed for it by Timoteo della Vite and Girolamo Genga, are -commemorated in a letter of Castiglione, which throws light upon the -manner of such festivities in that mountain metropolis. - -[Footnote 95: See above, pp. 65-69.] - -[Footnote 96: See these described, vol. I., App. xiii.] - -[Footnote *97: Cf. VERNARECCI, _Di Alcune Rappresentazioni -Drammatiche alla Corte d'Urbino nel 1513_ in the _Arch. St. per le -Marche e per l'Umbria_, vol. III., p. 181 _et seq._] - - "The scene was laid in an open space between a city-wall - and its farthest houses. From the stage downwards, there - was most naturally represented the wall, with two great - towers descending from the upper part of the hall, on one - of which were bagpipers, on the other trumpeters, with - another wall of fine proportion flanking them; thus the - hall figured as the town-ditch, and was traversed by two - walls to support the water. The side next the seats was - ornamented with Trojan cloth, over which there projected a - large cornice, with this Latin inscription, in great white - letters upon an azure ground, extending across that part of - the theatre:-- - - "'BOTH WARS ABROAD AND SPORTS AT HOME - GREAT CAESAR PATRONISED; - LIKE DOUBLE CARE BY MIGHTY MINDS - 'MONGST US SHOULD STILL BE PRIZED.' - - "To the roof were attached large bunches of evergreens, - almost hiding the ceiling; and from the centres of the - rosettes there descended wires, in a double row along - the room, each supporting a candelabrum in the form of - a letter, with eight or ten lighted torches, the whole - diffusing a brilliant light, and forming the words - POPULAR SPORTS. Another scene represented a - beautiful city, with streets, palaces, churches, towers, - all in relief, but aided by excellent painting and - scientific perspective. There was, among other things, - an octagon temple in half-relief, so perfectly finished - that the whole workmen of the duchy scarcely seemed equal - to produce it in four months; it was all covered with - compositions in stucco: the windows were of imitation - alabaster, the architraves and cornices of fine gold and - ultramarine, with here and there gems admirably imitated in - glass; besides fluted columns, figures standing out with - the roundness of sculpture, and much more that it would - be long to speak of. This was about in the middle; and at - one end there was a triumphal arch, projecting a couple - of yards from the wall, and as well done as possible, - with a capital representation of the Horatii, between - the architrave and the vault, painted to imitate marble. - In two small niches, above the pilasters that supported - the arch, there were tiny figures of Victory in stucco, - holding trophies, whilst over it an admirable equestrian - statue in full armour was spearing a naked man at his feet. - On either side of this group was a little altar, whereon - there blazed a vase of fire during the comedy. I need not - recapitulate all, as your Lordship will have heard of it; - nor how one of the comedies was composed by a child and - recited by children, shaming mayhap their seniors, for - they really played it astonishingly; and it was quite a - novelty to see tiny odd men a foot high maintaining all the - gravity and solemnity of a Menander. Nor shall I say aught - of the odd music of this piece, all hidden here and there, - but shall come to the _Calandra_ of our friend Bernardo, - which afforded the utmost satisfaction. As its prologue - arrived very late, and the person who should have spoken - failed to learn it, one by me was recited, which pleased - much: but little else was changed, except some scenes of - no consequence, which perhaps they could not repeat. The - interludes were as follows. First, a _moresca_ of Jason, - who came dancing on the stage in fine antique armour, - with a splendid sword and shield, whilst there suddenly - appeared on the other side two bulls vomiting forth fire, - so natural as to deceive some of the spectators. These - the good Jason approached, and yoking them to the plough, - made them draw it. He then sowed the dragon's teeth, and - forthwith there sprang up from the stage antique warriors - inimitably managed, who danced a fierce _moresca_, trying - to slay him; and having again come on, the each killed the - other, but were not seen to die. After them, Jason again - appeared, with the golden fleece on his shoulders, dancing - admirably. And this was the first interlude. In the second - there was a lovely car, wherein sat Venus with a lighted - taper in her hand; it was drawn by two doves, which seemed - absolutely alive, and on which rode a couple of Cupids - with bows and quivers, and holding lighted tapers; and it - was preceded and followed by eight more Cupids, dancing - a _moresca_ and beating about with their blazing lights. - Having reached the extremity of the stage, they set fire - to a door, out of which there suddenly leaped nine gallant - fellows all in flames, and danced another _moresca_ to - perfection. The third interlude showed Neptune on a chariot - drawn by two demi-horses with fish-scales and fins, so - well executed. Neptune sat on the top with his trident, - and eight monsters after him (or rather four of them - before and four behind) performing a sword-dance, the car - all the while full of fire. The whole was capitally done, - and the monsters were the oddest in the world, of which no - description can afford an idea. The fourth showed Juno's - car, also full of fire, and herself upon it, with a crown - on her head and a sceptre in her hand, seated on a cloud, - which spread around the car, full of mouths of the winds. - The chariot was drawn by two peacocks, so beautiful and - well managed that even I, who had seen how they were made, - was puzzled. Two eagles and as many ostriches preceded - it; two sea-birds followed, with a pair of parti-coloured - parrots. All these were so admirably executed that I verily - believe, my dear Monsignore, no imitation was ever so like - the truth; and they, too, went through a sword-dance with - indescribable, nay incredible, grace. The comedy ended, one - of the Cupids, whom we had already seen, suddenly appeared - on the stage, and in a few stanzas explained the meaning - of the interludes, which had a continued plot apart from - the comedy, as follows. There was, in the first place, - the battle of these earth-born brothers, showing, under - the fabulous allegory of Jason, how wars prevail among - neighbours who ought to maintain peace. Then came Love, - successively kindling with a holy flame men and earth, sea - and air, to chase away war and discord, and to unite the - world in harmony: the union is but a hope for the future; - the discord is, to our misfortune, a present fact. I had - not meant to send you the stanzas recited by the little - Love, but I do so; your Lordship will do with them what - you like. They were hastily composed whilst struggling - with painters, carpenters, actors, musicians, and ballet - dancers. When they had been spoken, and the Cupid was - gone, there was heard the invisible music of four viols, - accompanying as many voices, who sang, to a beautiful air, - a stanza of invocation to Love; and so the entertainment - ended, to the immense delight of all present. Had I not - so bepraised it in describing its progress, I might now - tell you the part I had in it, but I should not wish your - Lordship to fancy me an egotist. It were too good fortune - to be able to attend to such matters, to the exclusion of - more annoying ones: may God vouchsafe it me." - -Though much of this detail regards the accompanying entertainment -more than the comedy, it cannot be deemed out of place, as -illustrative of the way in which these were managed in a court where -we have frequent occasion to allude to such pastimes: the preceding -description fully explains the often-mentioned _moresca_, and almost -entitles us to translate that word by the better known French -_ballet_. The _Calandra_ continued to be played on select occasions -in Italy, and we hear of its being produced at Lyons in 1548, before -Catherine de' Medici and her husband, whose largess to the actors -exceeded 2500 crowns. - -This piece, though improved in incidents, is avowedly indebted -for its plot to the _Menecmo_ of Plautus, a comedy already -popular through a translation performed at Ferrara, in 1486-7, by -the children and courtiers of Ercole I., in a theatre built on -purpose within the palace-yard, and costing with its decorations -1000 ducats. In regard to its proper merits, no one can deny the -amusing complexity of the plot, the constant succession of absurd -mistakes among the personages, the ingenious contrivances by which -these are alternately occasioned and extricated, the bustle of the -entertainment, and the racy humour of the dialogue. In order to let -these be appreciated, an analysis larger than our space can permit -would be necessary, and neither the character nor the wit of the -piece could be preserved without introducing intrigues and language -repugnant to modern decency. Ginguene has conveyed a tolerable -idea of the comedy without greatly shocking the reader, but has -consequently suppressed much of its fun, and to his pages we must -refer for detail.[98] The story turns upon the adventures of twins, -a brother and sister, who, perfectly resembling in person, but -unknown to each other, are simultaneously parties to love intrigues, -carried on through the agency of a clever valet, and at the cost of a -drivelling husband (Calandro) in the course of which they frequently -interchange the dress and character of their respective sexes, a -magician being ever at hand to bear the blame of what appear physical -transmutations, and a double marriage of course happily solving all -embarrassments. Although unquestionably rich in the materials of -broad farce, it is evident that such a plot is but indifferently -adapted for embodying manners sketched from life. - -[Footnote 98: See also Panizzi's London edition of the _Orlando -Innamorato_ and the _Furioso_, vol. VI., p. 59.] - - * * * * * - -The corruption of morals in Italy during the golden age of her -literature and civilisation is a painful topic, but one naturally -suggested by these remarks, and which cannot with truth be entirely -thrown into the shade.[*99] It was especially developed in the -free gratification of passions to which an enervating climate -is considered peculiarly incentive, and which induce to amorous -indulgence. The due restraint of these was reckoned neither among -the virtues nor the decencies of life, nor was their licentious -exercise limited to persons of exalted station. The sad example set -in luxurious courts spread to classes whose sacred calling and vows -of continence rendered their lapses doubly disgraceful; and those -whose tastes and cultivated understandings were fitted for purer -and nobler pursuits wallowed without discredit in the slough of -sensuality. With such instances, even among the finest characters, -these pages render us unfortunately too familiar. Instead of -multiplying or repeating them, let us hear the calm admissions of a -late writer, whose evidence cannot be deemed partial on such a topic. -In talking of Bembo, the Italian translator of Roscoe's _Leo X._ thus -touches upon this delicate subject: "It must be observed that most -of the poets and writers of that age, although resident at Rome, -and dignified by prelacies, preferments, and offices of the Church, -were infected with the like vices, or, as some would express it, -tarred with the same pitch. The spirit of that court, the manners of -these times, the licence of ideas among literary men, their constant -reading of ancient poets not always commendable for modesty, the -long established and uniform intercourse of the Muses with Bacchus -and Venus, the fatal example afforded by certain cardinals, and -even by several of the papal predecessors of Leo, whose children -were publicly acknowledged ... all these considerations show how -difficult it was at such an epoch, and especially in the capital of -Christendom, to continue exempt from corruption and licentiousness." - -[Footnote *99: This hardly needs comment: it has become universally -accepted as the truth. The _Prediche Volgari_ of Fra Bernardino -afford ample evidence, as do the _Novelle_ generally. I shall -therefore confine myself to referring to two English writers who have -treated of this subject: WILLIAM HEYWOOD, _The Ensamples of -Fra Filippo_ (Siena, 1902), pp. 118, 122 _et seq._ and 295 _et seq._, -who gives an infinite number of authorities and is exhaustive in his -evidence; VERNON LEE, _Euphorion_ (Fisher Unwin, 1899), pp. -25-109, who treats of it in two essays, _The Sacrifice_ and _The -Italy of the Elizabethan Dramatist_, with exquisite understanding and -the wide tolerance of a poet. Nothing is to be gained by going into -this subject so casually as Dennistoun does. He speaks of the Italian -genius without understanding either its strength or its weakness. He -judges Machiavelli, for instance, or Cesare Borgia, as one might have -judged an Englishman of the depressing age he himself lived in, and -thus his judgment is at fault in regard to nearly every great man of -whom he writes.] - -In no language, perhaps, does there exist a jest-book more -disgustingly prurient or so full of sacrilegious ribaldry as -the _Facetiae_ of Poggio Bracciolini. Were such a work published -now-a-days, the author would be hooted from society, and the printer -laid hold of as a common nuisance. Though the parties to above half -its obscene anecdotes are from the clergy or the monastic orders, -there occurs throughout the foul volume no word of blame nor burst -of indignation. Yet it was compiled for publication by a priest, -the confidential secretary of pontiffs, and one of the stars of a -literary age. If more direct evidence of dissolute habits among the -clergy be required, it will be found in the reports of P. Ambrogio -Traversari on his disciplinarian circuits among the Camaldolese -convents, of which he was general from 1431 to 1434.[100] It would -be loathsome to enter upon the details, but a generally lax morality -among those specially devoted to religious profession must be -considered as at once the occasion and the effect of much social -perversion. The poison disseminated from such a quarter was sure -to pervade all ranks, and the standard of public decency must have -sunk low indeed ere monastic debauchery ceased to create universal -scandal. When churchmen had become very generally latitudinarians in -theology and libertines in morals, the corruption of their flocks -need be no matter of surprise. It was in the beginning of the -sixteenth century that these evils had reached their height, and -the miseries of foreign invasion under the Medicean popes were even -then regarded by many as judicial inflictions from Heaven. Hence was -it, that, although Italy was supereminent among nations, although -illustrated by the triumphs of mind, adorned by the productions of -genius, and enriched by the gains of intelligent enterprise, she was -nevertheless deficient in moral power, and when tried in the furnace -of adversity was found wanting. With institutions whose freedom had -no longer vitality, with rulers intent only on selfish ends, and with -citizens relaxed in principle and knit by no common political ties, -the very advantages lavished upon her by nature and civilisation -proved her bane, attracting spoilers whom she was powerless to -resist. Melancholy is the thought that all her mental superiority -was ineffectual for her defence; but yet more humiliating the fact -that those on whom nature's best gifts were showered, and who were -foremost as protectors of literature and the arts, were often, by -their fatal example, chief promoters of the general demoralisation. -No wonder then that she fell, and in her fall presented a signal -lesson to future times "of the impotence of human genius and of the -instability of human institutions, however excellent in themselves, -when unsustained by public and private virtue."[101] - -[Footnote 100: Hodoeporicon and Epistola, _passim_.] - -[Footnote 101: PRESCOTT'S _Ferdinand and Isabella_.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - - Mediaeval art chiefly religious--Innovations of Naturalism, - Classicism, and Paganism--character and tendencies of - Christian painting ill understood in England--influence of - St. Francis--Mariolatry. - - -In order to comprehend the peculiar tendency which painting assumed -in Umbria, it will be necessary briefly to examine the principles -and history of what is now generally known under the denomination of -CHRISTIAN ART.[*102] Until after the revival of European -civilisation, painting had scarcely any other direction than -religious purposes. For household furniture and decoration, its -luxuries were unheard of; the delineation of nature in portraits -and landscapes was unknown. But pictorial representations had -been employed for embellishment of churches from the recognition -of Christianity by the Emperors of the West, and they had assumed -a conventional character, derived chiefly from rude tracings in -which the uncultivated limners of an outcast sect had long before -depicted Christ, his Mother, and his apostles, for the solace of -those whose proscribed creed drove them to worship in the catacombs. -When these delineations, originally cherished as emblems of faith, -had been employed as the adjuncts, and eventually perverted into -the objects of devotion, they acquired a sacred character which -it was the tendency of ever-spreading superstition continually to -exaggerate. They became, in fact, the originals of those pictures -which in subsequent ages were adopted as part and portion of the -Roman worship; and forms, which they derived perhaps from the -fancy or caprice of their inventors, came to be the received types -to which all orthodox painters were bound to adhere.[*103] The -means adopted for repeating them were enlarged or narrowed by -various circumstances; the success with which they were imitated -fluctuated with the advance or decline of taste. But whether traced -upon the tablets of ivory diptychs, or blazoned in the pages of -illuminated missals; whether depicted on perishable ceilings, -or fixed in unfading mosaics; whether degraded by the unskilful -daubing and spiritless mechanism of Byzantine artists,[*104] or -refined by the holier feeling and improved handling of the Sienese -and Umbrian schools,--the original types might still be traced. -Indeed, those traditionary forms were as little subjected to -modification by painters as the dogmas of faith were open to the -doubts of commentators. Heterodoxy on either point was liable to -severe denunciation, and pictorial novelties were interdicted by -the Church, not as absolutely wrong, but as liable to abuse from -the eccentricities of human fancy.[105] It was in Spain, the -land of suspicion and priestcraft, that such jealousy was chiefly -entertained, and the censorship of the fine arts there became in the -sixteenth century a special duty of the Holy Office. - -[Footnote *102: I have not deleted these pages partly because it has -been thought better to give the whole text as nearly as possible as -Dennistoun wrote it, and partly too because they serve to show that -Dennistoun was in advance of the general taste of his day in England. -But, of course, the whole of our knowledge about Italian art has -been revolutionized since he wrote. It is almost hopeless to try to -annotate these pages. To begin with, the author is dealing with a -subject of which even to-day we know very little. And then Urbino -seems to have had almost nothing to do with the rise of the Umbrian -school of painting. The reader must therefore accept with care every -statement which follows.] - -[Footnote *103: This is true in a sense, but the work in the -catacombs and the mosaics (III. cent.) in S. Maria Maggiore, for -instance, are based on classic models, and are often very excellent -and beautiful.] - -[Footnote *104: The Byzantine work was not always "unskilful," only -its intention seems to have been rather decorative than realistic, -yet in _S. Maria Antigua_, for instance, we can see the models were -classical.] - -[Footnote 105: A large picture of the Glorification of the Madonna, -long placed in the Belle Arti at Florence, was painted by Sandro -Botticelli for Matteo Palmieri, who, in his Dantesque poem entitled -_La Citta della Vita_, has advanced a theory that, in Lucifer's -rebellion, a certain number of angels assumed a neutral attitude, -as a punishment for which they were doomed to a term of trial in -the quality of human souls. Although never printed, this work was -solemnly condemned by the Inquisition after the author's death, -and the picture, which had been composed under his own direction, -fell under similar suspicion of heresy. On a rigid examination, the -censors having discovered a sort of fullness in the draped bosoms -of some angels, pronounced them females, and for this breach of -orthodoxy denounced the painting. It was accordingly covered up, -and the chapel where it hung in S. Pietro Maggiore was for a time -interdicted; but, having escaped destruction, it was offered for -sale a few years ago by the heirs of Palmieri. The opportunity -for procuring for our national collection a most interesting and -characteristic example of early art was as usual lost; but it was -brought to England by Mr. Samuel Woodburn in 1846, and has now found -a resting-place at Hamilton Palace, in one of the few collections of -art which contain nothing common-place or displeasing.[*B]] - -[Footnote *B: This picture, now in the National Gallery [No. 1126] is -by Botticini, not Botticelli.] - -With the aid of authorities thus deduced through an unbroken chain -from primitive times,--to conceive and embody abstractions "which -eye hath not seen nor ear heard," was reckoned no rash meddling -with sacred mysteries. On the contrary, the subjects almost -exclusively selected for the exercise of Christian art, belonged to -the fundamental doctrines of Christian faith, to the traditional -dogmas of the Church, to the legendary lives of the Saviour and of -saints, or to the dramatic sufferings of early martyrs. Such were -the transfiguration, the passion, the ascension of our Lord; the -conception, the coronation, and the _cintola_ of the Madonna[106]; -the birth and marriage of the Blessed Virgin; the miracles performed -by popular saints, the martyrdoms in which they sealed their -testimony. The choice, and occasionally the treatment, of these -topics was modified to meet the spiritual exigences of the period, -or the circumstances of the place, but ever in subservience to -conventional standards derived from remote tradition. Thus we detect, -in works of the Byzantine period, rigid forms, harsh outlines, -soulless faces; in the schools of Siena and Umbria, pure figures lit -up by angelic expressions; in the followers of Giotto, a tendency to -varied movement and dramatic composition. - -[Footnote 106: The Gospel account of St. Thomas's doubtings finds a -counterpart in the Roman legend of the Madonna, after her interment, -being seen by him during her corporeal transit to heaven; whereupon, -his wonted caution having led him to "ask for a sign," she dropped -him her girdle or _cintola_, which he carried to the other apostles -in proof of his marvellous tale; and the fact of her assumption was -verified by their opening her tomb and finding it empty.] - -There is yet another reason for what to the uninitiated may seem -monstrosities. The old masters had not generally to represent men -and women in human form, but either prophets, saints, and martyrs, -whom it was their business to embody, not in their "mortal coil," -but in the purer substance of those who had put on immortality; or -the Mother of Christ, exalted by mariolatry almost to a parity with -her Son; or the "Ancient of Days,"--the personages of the Triune -Divinity with their attendant heavenly host, whom to figure at all -was a questionable licence, and who, if impersonated, ought surely -to seem other than the sons and daughters of men. Of such themes -no conception could be adequate, no approximation otherwise than -disappointing; and those who were called upon to deal with them -usually preferred painting images suggested by their own earnest -devotional thoughts, to the more difficult task of idealising human -models. Addressing themselves to the spirit rather than to the eye, -they sought to delineate features with nought of "the earth, earthy," -expressions purified from grovelling interests and mundane ties. - -How much this religious art depended for its due maintenance upon -the personal character of those whose business it was to embody and -transmit to a new generation its lofty inspirations, can scarcely -require demonstration. That they were men of holy minds is apparent -from their works. Some, by long poring over the mystic incarnations -which they sought to represent; others, by deep study of the pious -narratives selected for their pencils; many, by the abstraction of -monastic seclusion, brought their souls to that pitch of devotional -enthusiasm, which their pictures portray far better than words can -describe. The biographies that remain of the early painters of Italy -fully bear out this fact; and of many instances that might be given -we shall select three from various places and periods. - -Of the early Bolognese school, Vitale and his pupil Lippo di Dalmasio -were each designed _delle Madonne_, from their formally devoting -themselves to the exclusive representation of her - - "Who so above all mothers shone, - The mother of the Blessed One." - -So far indeed did the latter of these carry enthusiastic mysticism, -that he never resumed his labours without purifying his imagination -and sanctifying his thoughts by a vigil of austere fasting, and by -taking the blessed sacrament in the morning. In like manner did one -of his comrades gain the appellation of Simon of the crucifixes. A -century later, Gentile Bellini painted three of his noblest works for -a confraternity in Venice, who possessed a relic of the True Cross, -and chose for his subject various miracles ascribed to its influence. -Refusing all remuneration, he affixed this touching record of his -pious motives: "The work of Gentile Bellini, a knight of Venice, -instigated by affection for the Cross, 1496." Similar anecdotes might -be quoted of Giovanni da Fiesole, better known in Italy as Beato -Angelico, whose life and pencil may well be termed seraphic, and to -whom we shall again have occasion to allude; while parallel cases -of a later date are found in Spain, where religion, and religious -fervour, influenced by the self-mortification of dark fanatics and -dismal ascetics, generally assumed less attractive forms. - -A Christian ideal was thus the aim of the early masters; and -most surviving works of the Umbrian and Sienese schools carry in -themselves ample evidence of intensely serious sentiment animating -their authors. But to those who have not enjoyed opportunities of -observing this peculiar characteristic of a style of art almost -unknown in England, it may be acceptable to trace the same spirit -in a language legible by eyes unaccustomed to the delicacies of -pictorial expression. This confirmation is found in the rules -adopted by guilds of painters, incorporated in different towns of -Italy, which are upon this point more important, as proving how -entirely devotional feeling was systematised, instead of being left -to the accident of individual inspiration. The statutes of the -Sienese fraternity, confirmed in 1357, are thus prefaced: "Let the -beginning, middle, and end of our words and actions be in the name of -God Almighty, and of his Mother, our Lady the Virgin Mary! Whereas -we, by the grace of God, being those who make manifest to rude and -unlettered men the marvellous things effected by, and in virtue of, -our holy faith; and our creed consisting chiefly in the worship and -belief of one God in Trinity, and of God omnipotent, omniscient, and -infinite in love and compassion; and as nothing, however unimportant, -can have beginning or end without these three necessary ingredients, -power, knowledge, and right good-will; and as in God only consists -all high perfection; let us therefore anxiously invoke the aid of -divine grace, in order that we may attain to a good beginning and -ending of all our undertakings, whether of word or work, prefacing -all in the name and to the honour of the MOST HOLY TRINITY. -And since spiritual things are, and should be, far preferable and -more precious than temporal, let us commence by regulating the fete -of our patron, the venerable and glorious St Luke," &c. Several -subsequent rules relate to the observance of other festivals, whereof -fifty-seven are enjoined to be strictly kept without working, a -number which, added to Sundays and Easter holidays, monopolises for -sacred purposes nearly a third of the year.[107] The Florentine -statutes, dated about twenty years earlier, direct that all who come -to enrol themselves in the Company of painters, whether men or -women, shall be penitent and confessed, or at least shall purpose -to confess themselves at the earliest opportunity; that they shall -daily repeat five paternosters, and as many aves, and shall take the -sacrament at least once a year.[108] Nor let these be regarded as -mere unmeaning phrases, or as the vapid lip-service of a formalist -faith. The ceremonial observances of an age in which the Roman -Church was indeed Catholic cannot fairly be judged by a Protestant -standard, yet few, who have seen with intelligence the productions of -those painters, will doubt that they were men of piety and prayer. -A vestige of the same holy feeling hung over artists, even after it -had ceased to animate their efforts; the forms survived, when the -spirit had fled. Thus, "On Tuesday morning, the 11th of June 1573, -at eleven in the forenoon, Giorgio Vasari began to paint the cupola -of the cathedral at Florence; and, before commencing, he had a Mass -of the Holy Spirit celebrated at the altar of the sacrament, after -hearing which he entered upon the work."[109] Vasari was a religious -man; but the favourite painter of a dissolute court could scarcely be -a religious artist, nor could the pupil of Michael Angelo appreciate -the quiet pathos or feel the gentle fervour of earlier and more -spiritualised times. - -[Footnote 107: _Carteggio d'Artisti_, II., p. 1.] - -[Footnote 108: _Carteggio d'Artisti_, II., p. 33.] - -[Footnote 109: _Ibid._, III., p. 352.] - -In Spain, where art was always in the especial service of the -priesthood, and not unfrequently subservient to priestcraft, religion -was a requisite of painters to a much later date. The rules of the -academy established at Seville by Murillo, in 1658, imposed upon each -pupil an ejaculatory testimony of his faith in, and devotion for, -the blessed sacrament and immaculate conception.[110] But whilst the -piety of the Sienese and Florentine guilds was an inherent sentiment -of their age, willingly adopted by professional etiquette, that of -the Iberian artists in the sixteenth century was regulated by the -Inquisition, and savoured of its origin. The former was joyous as the -bright thoughts of youthful enthusiasm springing in a land of beauty; -the latter shadowed the grave and sombre temperament of the nation -by austerities congenial to the Holy Office. Hence the religious -paintings of Spain, appealing to the spectator's terrors rather than -to his sympathies, revelled in the horrible, eschewing as a snare -those lovely forms which in Italy were encouraged as conducive to -devotion. - -[Footnote 110: STIRLING'S _Annals of the Artists of Spain_, -p. 848.] - -Yet, if the genius of early painters was hampered, and the effect -of their creations impaired, by prescribed symbols and conventional -rules, they were not without countervailing advantages. A limited -range of forms did not always imply poverty of ideas, nor was -simplicity inconsistent with sublimity. Those, accordingly, who look -with intelligence upon pictures, which, to the casual glance of an -uninformed spectator, are mere rude and monstrous representations, -will often recognise in them a grandeur of sentiment, and a majesty -of expression, altogether wanting in more matured productions, -wherein truth to nature is manifested through unimportant -accessories, or combined with trivial details. Familiarity is -notoriously conducive to contempt; and to associate the grander -themes and dogmas of holy writ with multiplied adjuncts skilfully -borrowed from ordinary life, is to detract from the awe and mystery -whereof they ought to be especially suggestive. - -But here it may be well to premise that, our observations upon -Christian art being purely aesthetical, it forms no part of our plan -to analyse its influences in a doctrinal view, or to discuss the -Roman system of teaching religion to the laity, by attracting them -to devotional observances through pictures and sculpture, to the -exclusion of the holy scriptures; still less to raise any controversy -regarding the incidents or tenets thus usually inculcated. We, -therefore, pause not to inquire how far the Roman legends--often -beautifully suggestive of truth, but how frequently redolent of fatal -error!--have originated in art, or been corrupted by its creations. -One danger of teaching by pictures is obvious; for where the eye -is offered but a few detached scenes, without full explanation of -their attendant circumstances and connecting links, very imperfect -impressions and false conclusions may result. Under such a system, -figurative representation will often be literally interpreted, -symbols will be mistaken for facts, dreams for realities; and thus -have the fertile imaginations of artists and commentators mutually -reacted upon each other, until historical and spiritual truth is -lost in a maze of allegory and fable, and error has been indelibly -ingrafted upon popular faith. The dim allegories of early art have -accordingly been overlaid by crude inventions, or obscured by gross -ignorance and enthusiastic mysticism. Religious truth being thus -misstated, or its symbols misread, those who thirsted for the waters -of life were repelled by tainted streams, and hungry souls were -mocked by stones for bread. It ought, however, to be constantly borne -in mind that we are dealing with times when the authority of Rome was -absolute throughout Europe; and that, whatever may now be alleged -against the dogmas or legends embodied by early artists, they were -then universally received. For our purpose they ought, therefore, -to be examined by the light then enjoyed, not by that shed upon -them in after times of gospel freedom. Neither ought we to forget -the impressionable qualities of a southern people, when disposed to -question the tendencies of religious instruction through the senses -and the imagination. And, granting that it is well to employ such -means, the mute eloquence of an altar-picture, or a reliquary, though -less startling than impassioned pulpit appeals, less thrilling than -choral voices sustained by the organ's impressive diapason, had the -advantages of being accessible at all hours to devout visitors, and -of demanding from them no sustained attention. - - * * * * * - -Such was Christian art in Italy during the fourteenth century, when -it was destined to undergo very considerable modifications. As yet -it had been exercised almost exclusively for decorating churches -and monastic buildings with extensive works intended to nourish or -revive devotion in the masses who resorted to them. In ages when the -intelligence capable of ordering these works was almost limited to -convents, and when it was only from such representations that the -unlettered eye could convey impressions to the mind of the laity, -Christian paintings were an effective adjunct to Christian preaching -and devotional exercises. But, as the dark cloud began to roll away -before the dawn of modern cultivation, mankind awoke to new wants. No -longer content with the pittance of religious knowledge which their -spiritual guides doled out to them, they sought to secure a store for -their own uncontrolled use. Those who could vanquish the difficulties -of reading, found in their office-books a continuation of the church -services; the less educated placed by their bed, or in their domestic -chapel, a small devotional picture, as a substitute for the larger -representations which invoked them to holy feelings in the house -of God. Thus there arose a general desire for objects of sacred -art. The privilege assumed by all who wished for such, of ordering -them in conformity with their individual feelings or superstitions, -quickly introduced greater latitudinarianism as to the selection -and treatment of the subjects. The demand so created exceeded the -productive powers of such painters as had been regularly initiated -into the language of form, according to the settled conventionalities -of their sanctified profession. The chain of pictorial tradition was -snapped, when a host of new competitors entered the field, free from -its trammels. But the public taste had been too long and thoroughly -imbued with a uniform class of religious compositions to relish any -great innovations; and although historical painting began to find -a place in the palace-halls of the princes and republics of Italy, -works commissioned by private persons continued almost exclusively of -a sacred cast. Thus for a time was the new path little frequented. -Artists felt their way with caution, unaware of the direction -whither it might lead them; timid of their own powers, doubtful of -their influence on the public. They contented themselves at first -with enlarging the range of subjects, or with varying the pose of -the actors. Fearing to abandon traditional types, they ventured not -beyond the addition of accessories, such as architecture, landscape, -animals, fruits, and flowers, or a disposal of the draperies with -greater freedom and attention to truth. But, the further they -departed from received forms, the more willingly did their genius -pluck by the way those graceful aids and appliances which spontaneous -nature offered in a land of beauty; and every new combination which -that awakened genius inspired, induced, and to a certain extent -authorised, fresh novelties. - -The modifications thus introduced have been distinguished in modern -phrase by the term naturalism, in contradistinction to those -traditional forms and spiritualised countenances which constitute -the mysticism of mediaeval art. It would lead us too far from -our subject to trace the progress of naturalism from such early -symptoms as we have indicated, until portraits, at first interponed -as donors of the picture, or as spectators of its incident, were -habitually selected as models for the most sacred personages. That -the adaptation of nature to the highest purposes of art, by skilful -selection and by judicious idealisation, is the noblest object which -pictorial genius can keep in view for its inventions will scarcely -be contested. But another consideration, inherent in the axioms of -the mystic school, was too often lost sight of by the naturalists. -The portraiture of criminal or even vulgar life, in deeply religious -works, is an outrage upon all holy feeling, whether in the example of -Alexander VI., who commanded Pinturicchio to introduce into one of -the Vatican frescoes his own portrait, kneeling before the ascending -Redeemer;[111] or in the case of those painters in Rome whose -favourite model for the Saviour has of late years been a cobbler, -hence known in the streets by the blasphemous name of Jesus Christ. - -[Footnote 111: Roscoe, who wrote without an opportunity of seeing -these paintings, describes this Pope as kneeling in his pontificals -before the Madonna, in whom is portrayed his mistress, Julia Farnese. -In this palpable blunder he has been followed by Rio and others. It -would be curious to discover on what authority Gordon, in his life -of Borgia, states that a likeness of La Vanosia, another of his -mistresses, hung for Madonna-worship in the church of the Popolo at -Rome. The circumstance coming from such a quarter is questionable; at -all events, it is no longer true. Alexander kneels before the Risen, -not the Ascending Christ. *Roscoe followed Vasari.] - -To the naturalism which became gradually prevalent in most Italian -schools after the beginning of the fourteenth century, there was, -in the fifteenth, added another principle of antagonism to mystic -feeling. In purist nomenclature it has been denominated paganism, but -it seems to consist of paganism and classicism. By the former is to -be understood that fashion for the philosophy, morality, literature, -and mythology of ancient Greece and Rome, which, introduced from -the recovered authors of antiquity, was assiduously cultivated by -the Medici in their lettered but sceptical court, until it left a -stamp on the literature and art of Italy not yet effaced. Under its -influence, the vernacular language was neglected, or cramped into -obsolete models; dead tongues monopolised students; the doctrines of -Aristotle and Plato divided men, clouding their faith, and warping -their morals from Christian standards; the beauty of holiness -yielded before an ideal of form; and that unction which had purified -the conceptions and guided the pencils of devotional painters, -evaporated as they strove to master the technical excellences of the -new manner. To the maxims and principles of revived pagan antiquity, -the philosophic Schlegel has traced the selfish policy and morals of -Italian tyrants and communities; but it seems easier to detect their -fatal tendency in painting and sculpture than upon statecraft and -manners. - -Classicism, as here used, means that innovation of antique taste in -art which arose out of renewed interest in the picturesque ruins of -Rome, in her mighty recollections, in the excavation of her precious -sculptures, and which imparted to pictorial representations sometimes -a hard and plastic treatment, sometimes ornamental architecture, -bas-reliefs, or grotesques. By paganism a blighting poison was -infused through the spirit of art, while classicism has often -ennobled the work and enriched its details, without injury to its -sentiment. To schools such as those of Florence and Padua, wherein -nature or classic imitation prevailed, there belonged the materialism -of facts, the severity of definite forms.[*112] These qualities -obtained favour from men of mundane pursuits and literary tastes; -from citizens greedy after gainful commerce and devoted to political -intrigue; or from princes who patronised, and pedants who deciphered, -long forgotten, but at length reviving lore. The "new manner," as -it was called, had, in Michael Angelo, a supporter whose mighty -genius lent to its solecisms an irresistible charm. Yet against such -innovations protests were long occasionally recorded. An anonymous -writer, in 1549, mentions a _Pieta_, said to have been designed -by "Michael Angelo Buonarroti, that inventor of filthy trash, who -adheres to art without devotion. Indeed, all the modern painters and -sculptors, following the like Lutheran [that is, impious] caprices -now-a-days, neither paint nor model for consecrated churches anything -but figures that distract one's faith and devotion; but I hope that -God will one day send his saints to cast down such idolatries."[113] -In a land where mythology had slowly been supplanted by revelation, -especially in a city successively the capital of paganism and -Christianity, these influences were necessarily in frequent -antagonism, or in forced and unseemly juxtaposition. Whilst art -thus lost in sentiment, it gained in vigour; and although classic -taste and the study of antique sculpture unquestionably tarnished -its mystical purity, may they not have preserved it from the fate -of religious painting in Spain, which, debarred by the Inquisition -from access to nude models, and elevated by no refined standard, -oscillated between the extremes of gloomy asceticism and grovelling -vulgarity? The paganism of the Medici and Michael Angelo scared away -the seraphic visions of monastic limners, but it also rescued Italy -from religious prudery, and saved men from addressing their orisons -to squalid beggars.[*114] - -[Footnote *112: For instance, in the work of Botticelli, I suppose, -or Verrocchio, or Mantegna?] - -[Footnote 113: GAYE, _Carteggio_, II., 500.] - -[Footnote *114: Can this be an allusion to S. Francesco of Assisi?] - -The brief sketch which we have thus introduced of the progress -and tendency of Christian art, may be fittingly concluded by the -definition of it supplied by Baron v. Rumohr, one of the laborious, -learned, and felicitous expositors of mediaeval art whom the reviving -taste of later times produced. "It is consecrated to religion alone; -its object is sometimes to induce the mind to the contemplation of -sacred subjects, sometimes to regulate the passions, by awakening -those sentiments of peace and benevolence which are peculiar to -practical Christianity." To narrate its extinction in the sixteenth -century, speedily followed by the decline of all that was noblest in -artistic genius, is a task on which we are not now called to enter. -We approached the subject because, in the mountains of Umbria, that -mystic school long maintained its chief seat; because there its -types sank deepest into the popular mind; and because it reached its -culminating point of perfection and glory in RAFFAELE of -URBINO. - -We are fully and painfully aware how opposed some of these views -are to the received criticism and popular practice of art in -England; but it were beyond our purpose to inquire into the many -causes which combine to render our countrymen averse from the -impartial study, as well as to the even partial adoption of them. -Hogarth, the incarnation of our national taste in painting, saw in -those spiritualised cherubim which usually minister to the holiest -compositions of the Umbrian school, only "an infant's head with a -pair of duck's wings under its chin, supposed always to be flying -about and singing psalms."[115] The form conveyed by the eye, and the -description of it traced by the pen, are here in accurate unison. -Alas! how hopelessly blinded the writer's mental vision. As directly -opposed to such grovelling views, and contrasting spiritual with -material perceptions of art, it may not be out of place here to cite -a passage from Savonarola, whose stern genius gladly invoked the muse -of painting to aid his moral and political reformations. "Creatures -are beautiful in proportion as they participate in and approximate -the beauty of their creator; and perfection of bodily form is -relative to beauty of mind. Bring hither two women equally perfect in -person; let one be a saint, the other a sinner. You shall find that -the saint will be more generally loved than the sinner, and that on -her all eyes will be directed." - -[Footnote 115: Our reference to this quotation (made long ago) has -been mislaid, but it appears perfectly consistent with Hogarth's -habitual train of ideas, and quaint rendering of them. See -IRELAND'S _Hogarth Illustrated_, I., p. lxix.; II., p. 194, -195; III., p. 226-40. NICHOL'S _Anecdotes of Hogarth_, p. -137. In his plate of Enthusiasm Delineated, he has actually appended -a pair of duck's legs to a cherub.] - -These quotations illustrate two extremes,--ribald vulgarity on -the one hand, and transcendental mysticism on the other, between -which the standard of sound criticism may be sought. It would be -as unreasonable to suppose Hogarth capable of comprehending or -appreciating the fervid conceptions of Christian art, as to look -for sympathy from Savonarola, with his pot-house personifications. -Each of those styles has its peculiar merit, which cannot fairly be -considered with reference to the other: they differ in this among -many respects,--that whilst English caricatures and Dutch familiar -scenes are addressed to the most uncultivated minds, Umbrian or -Sienese paintings can be understood only after long examination and -elevated thought. The former, therefore, gratify the unintelligent -many, the latter delight an enlightened few. - -The difficulty of justly appreciating this branch of aesthetics is -greater among ourselves than is generally imagined, as our best -authorities have entirely misled us, from themselves overlooking -its true bent. More alive to the naturalism and technical merits -of painting than to subtleties of feeling and expression, they are -neither conscious of the aims nor aware of the principles of purist -art. They look for perfection where only pathos should be sought. -Burnet, a recent and valuable writer, considers Barry "one of those -noble minds ruined by a close adherence to the dry manner of the -early masters," an analogy which cannot but surprise those who -compare the respective works of those thus brought unconsciously into -contrast. Even Sir Joshua Reynolds was not exempt from prejudice on -this point, for he sneers at the first manner of Raffaele as "dry -and insipid," and avers that until Masaccio, art was so barbarous, -"that every figure appeared to stand upon his toes." There is but one -explanation applicable to assertions thus inconsistent at once with -fact and with sound criticism, in a writer so candid and generally -so careful. Living in an age devoid of Catholic feeling (we employ -the phrase in an aesthetic sense), which classed in the same category -of contempt all painting before Michael Angelo, and speaking of -"an excellence addressed to a faculty which he did not possess," -he assumed, without observation or inquiry, that "the simplicity -of the early masters would be better named penury, as it proceeds -from mere want,--from want of knowledge, want of resources, want -of abilities to be otherwise; that it was the offspring, not of -choice, but of necessity." No argument is required to convince those -who have impartially studied these masters, that a condemnation so -sweeping is erroneous. In our day, the number of such persons is -happily increasing, but there are still many impediments to a candid -appreciation of the subject. So long as art was the handmaid of -religion, its professors were ranked almost with those who ministered -in the temple, and interpreted the records of inspiration. In absence -of priests, their works became guides to popular devotion, and -consequently were addressed to spectators who came to worship, not -to criticise; whose credulous enthusiasm was nourished by yearnings -of the heart, not by the cold judgment of the eye. How different the -test applied by men who look upon such paintings as popish dogmas -which it is a duty to repudiate, it may be to ridicule! How futile -the perhaps more common error of trying them by the matured rules -of pictorial execution, apart from their object and intention! -Connoisseurship in painting, especially in England, has indeed too -long consisted in a mere appreciation of its technical difficulties, -and perception of their successful treatment. For it was not until -Raffaele had attained grace, and Michael Angelo had mastered -design,--until Correggio had blended light and shade into happy -effect, and Titian had taught the gorgeous hues of his palette to -mingle in harmony, that such perfections were looked for, or reduced -to a standard. Why, then, apply such standard to works already old -ere it had been adopted? The very imperfections of general treatment, -the absence of linear perspective and anatomical detail, tended to -develop what should be chiefly sought and most valued in these early -productions; for the artist's time was thus free to elaborate the -heads and extremities, until he gave them that grace and expression -which constitutes their interest and their charm. - -There are, however, no longer wanting writers in England, as well as -in Germany, France, and Italy, to appreciate their lofty motives, -and solemn feelings, and gentle forms. In the words of Ruskin, -whose earnest and true thoughts are often most happily expressed, -"the early efforts of Cimabue and Giotto are the burning messages -of prophecy, delivered by the stammering lips of infants," but they -are unintelligible to "the multitude, always awake to the lowest -pleasures which art can bestow, and dead to the highest," for -their beauties "can only be studied or accepted in the particular -feeling that produced them." Under the modest title of _Sketches_ -Lord Lindsay has enriched our literature with the best history of -Christian art as yet produced. He has brought to his task that -sincerity of purpose, veneration for sacred things, and lively -sense of beauty, which impart a charm to all he puts forth; and he -has peculiarly qualified himself for its successful performance, -by an anxious study of preceding writers, by a faithful, often -toilsome, examination of monuments, even in the more obscure sites -of Italy, and by a candour and accuracy of criticism seldom attained -on topics singularly liable to prejudice. Public intelligence and -taste must improve under such direction, notwithstanding passing -sneers at "his narrow notions of admiring the faded and soulless -attempts at painting of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries," -or sapient conclusions that "the antiquities and curiosities of -the early Italian painters would only infect our school with a -retrograding mania of disfiguring art, and returning to the decrepit -littleness of a period warped and tortured by monkish legends and -prejudices."[116] In order to be comprehended, such "curiosities" -must not only be seen, but studied maturely: both are in this country -alike impracticable. When Wilkie first entered Italy, he found -nothing to rank them above Chinese or Hindoo paintings,[*117] and -could not discern the majestic simplicity ascribed to the primitive -masters. Yet, ere six weeks had passed, he recorded the conviction -"that the only art pure and unsophisticated, and that is worth study -and consideration by an artist, or that has the true object of art in -view, is to be found in the works of those masters who revived and -improved the art, and those who ultimately brought it to perfection. -These alone seem to have addressed themselves to the common sense of -mankind. From Giotto to Michael Angelo, expression and sentiment seem -the first thing thought of, whilst those who followed seem to have -allowed technicalities to get the better of them, until, simplicity -giving way to intricacy, they seem to have painted more for the -artist and the connoisseur than for the untutored apprehensions of -ordinary men." So, too, in writing to Mr. Phillips, R.A., he -says, "respect for primitive simplicity and expression is perhaps the -best advice for any school."[118] - -[Footnote 116: _Art Union_, January and April, 1847. We have read -with regret, in a periodical justly entitled to great weight, -criticisms so at variance with its wonted candour and good sense.] - -[Footnote *117: Evidently Chinese and Japanese art were not -understood in England in 1859.] - -[Footnote 118: CUNNINGHAM'S _Life of Wilkie_, II., pp. 197, -506.] - -Neither are religious innovations a necessary accompaniment of -such tastes among ourselves, as is too generally supposed. The -present reaction in favour of Romanist views, prevalent in England -among a class of persons, many of whom are distinguished by high -and cultivated intellect, as well as by youthful enthusiasm, takes -naturally an aesthetic as well as theological direction. The faith -and discipline, which they labour to revive, having borrowed some -winning illustrations and much imposing pageantry from painting, -sculpture, and architecture, their neophytes gladly avail themselves -of accessories so attractive. Nor can it be doubted that the same -qualities which render such persons impressionable to popish -observances, predispose them to admire or imitate works of devotional -art. Yet there is no compulsory connection between these tendencies. -Conversion to pantheism is not a requisite for appreciating the -Belvidere Apollo or the Medicean Venus; and a serious Christian may -surely appreciate the feeling of the early masters, without bowing -the knee to their Madonnas,--may admire the - - "Prelibations, foretastes high," - -of Fra Angelico's pencil, whilst demurring to the miracles he has so -charmingly portrayed. - -There is another observation of Wilkie's which merits our notice: -"Could their system serve, which I think it may, as the border -minstrelsy did Sir Walter Scott, it would be to any student a most -admirable groundwork for a new style of art." This somewhat hasty -hint must be cautiously received. The very absence of technical -excellence interests us in the formal compositions and flat -surfaces of the early masters. We feel that movement and distance, -foreshortening and relief, symmetry and contrast, tone and effect, -are scarcely wanted, where "a truth of actuality is fearlessly -sacrificed to a truth of feeling." We are forced to admit that men -who regarded form but as the vehicle of expression, attained a severe -grandeur, a noble repose, very different from exaggerated action. -Archaisms of style are, however, ill suited to our times. Originally -significant, they are now an affectation--the offspring of penury or -perverted taste, rather than of spiritual purity. So must they seem -in modern productions, affectedly divested of the artificial means -and improved methods which centuries of progress have developed, by -artists who forget their academic studies and neglect the contour of -the living model, without attaining the old inspiration. The spirit -which animated devotional limners being long dead, any imitation -of their style must be mechanical--a reproduction of its mannerism -after its motives are extinct. Whilst, therefore, I endeavour to -point out the merits of the old religious limners, it is with no -wish to see their manner revived. Among a generation whose faith -has been remodelled, whose social and intellectual habits have been -entirely revolutionised, the restoration of purist painting would be -a mockery. But it should not, therefore, be forbidden us to study -and sympathise with forms which, though rigid and monotonous, were -sufficient to express the simple faith of early times, and in which -earnestness compensates the absence of skill, and fervour the lack of -power. - -During the early years of the thirteenth century, there appeared on -the lofty Apennines of Central Italy, one of those mysterious beings -who, with few gifts of nature, are born to sway mankind; whose brief -and eccentric career has left behind a brilliant halo, that no lapse -of time is likely to dim. Giovanni Bernardoni, better known as St. -Francis of Assisi, by his eloquence, his austerities, and all the -appliances of religious enthusiasm, quickly gathered among the fervid -spirits of his native mountains a numerous following of devoted -disciples. In a less judicious church, he might, as a field-preacher, -have become a most dangerous schismatic; but, with that foresight -and knowledge of human nature which have generally distinguished the -Romish hierarchy, the sectarian leader was welcomed as a missionary, -"seraphic all in fervency," and in due time canonised into a saint, -whilst his poverty-professing sect was recognised as an order, and -became one of the most influential pillars of the Papacy. - -It was - - "On the hard rock - 'Twixt Arno and the Tiber, he from Christ - Took the last signet." - -From the desolate fastnesses of Lavernia, which witnessed his ascetic -life and ecstatic visions, to the fertile slopes of Assisi, where -his bones found repose from self-inflicted hardships, the people -rallied round him while alive, and revered him when dead. Nor did the -religious revival which his preaching and example there effected pass -away. Acknowledged by popes, favoured by princes, his order rapidly -spread. In every considerable town convents of begging friars were -established and endowed. Still, it was in his mountain-land that -his doctrines took deepest root, among a race of simple men, reared -amid the sublime combinations of Alpine and forest scenery, familiar -from their days of dreamy youth with hills and glades, caverns and -precipices, shady grottoes and solitary cells. The visionary tales -of his marvellous life, penetrating the devotional character of the -inhabitants, became favourite themes of popular superstition. - - "A spirit hung, - Beautiful region! o'er thy towns and farms; - And emanations were perceived, and acts - Of immortality, in nature's course - Exemplified by mysteries, that were felt - As bonds on grave philosopher imposed, - And armed warrior; and in every grove - A gay or pensive tenderness prevailed."[119] - -[Footnote 119: WORDSWORTH'S _Excursion_.] - -Assisi in particular was the focus of the new faith. To its shrine -flocked pilgrims laden with riches, which the saint taught them -to despise. This influx of treasure had the usual destination of -monastic wealth, being chiefly dedicated to the decoration of its -sanctuary. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the best -artists in Italy competed for its embellishment, and even now it -is there that the student of mediaeval art ought most to seek for -enlightenment. - -With the legends of St. Francis thus indelibly stamped on the -inhabitants, and with the finest specimens of religious painting -preserved at Assisi, it need scarcely be matter of surprise that -devotional art, which we have endeavoured to describe, should have -found in Umbria a fostering soil, even after it had been elsewhere -supplanted by naturalist and pagan novelties; for the feelings which -it breathed were those of mystery and sentiment--its beauty was -sanctified and impalpable. By a people so trained, its traditional -types were received with the fervour of faith; while to the limited -range of its themes the miraculous adventures of the saint were -a welcome supplement. The romantic character of these incidents -borrowed from the picturesque features of the country a new but -fitting element of pictorial effect, and for the first time nature -was introduced to embellish without demeaning religious painting. But -let us hear Rio, the eloquent elucidator of sacred art, upon this -subject. "To the Umbrian school belongs the glory of having followed -out the leading aim of Christian art without pause, and without -yielding to the seductions of example or the distractions of clamour. -It would seem that a peculiar blessing belongs to the spots rendered -specially holy by the sainted Francis of Assisi, and that the odour -of his sanctity has preserved the fine arts from degradation in that -mountain district, where so many pious painters have successively -contributed to ornament his tomb. From thence rose to heaven, like -a sweet incense, prayers whose fervour and purity ensured their -efficacy: from thence, too, in other times, there descended, like -beneficent dew upon the more corrupt cities of the plain, penitential -inspirations that spread into almost every part of Italy." - -Since these pages were written I have met with a passage in the -introduction of Boni's Italian translation of the work just quoted, -which I subjoin, at the risk of some repetition, as a fair specimen -of the ideas on Christian art now entertained by many on the -Continent, but as yet little known to English literature. - -"On the Umbrian mountains, by Assisi, slept, in the peace of Heaven, -St. Francis, who left such sweet odour of sanctity in the middle -ages. Round his tomb assembled, from every part of Christendom, -pilgrims to pay their vows. With their offertories there was erected -over his grave a magnificent temple, which became the point of -concourse to all painters animated by Christian feeling, who thus -displayed their gratitude to the Almighty for their endowment of -genius, who in that solitude laid in a new store of inspiration, -and who, after leaving on these walls a testimony of their powers, -returned home joyful and enriched. Cimabue, among the first that -raised a holy war against the Byzantine mannerism,[*120] there -painted the most beautiful of his Madonnas; his pupil, the shepherd -of Bondone, there traced those simple histories which established -his superiority; thither sped the artists of Siena, Perugia, Arezzo, -and the best of the Florentines,--the beatified Fiesole, of angelic -life and works, Benozzo Gozzoli, Orcagna, Perugino, and, finally, -Raffaele, the greatest of painters. - -[Footnote *120: Cimabue raising a holy war against Byzantine -mannerism is an amusing spectacle. All we know of him was that his -pupil was a great painter. Whether or no he painted at Assisi it is -impossible to say.] - -"Thus was there formed in the shadow of that sanctuary a truly -Christian school, which sought its types of beauty in the heavens; -or, when it laid the scene of its compositions here below, selected -their subjects from the sainted ones of the earth. Its delight was -to represent, now the Virgin-Mother kneeling before her Son, or -seated caressing or holding him up for the veneration of patriarchs -and saints; now the life of Christ, his preaching, his sufferings, -his triumph; or, again, to embody the touching legends told in these -simple times, or the martyrs crucified by early tyrants, or an -anchorite's devotion in a lonely cave, or some beatified soul borne -away on seraph's wings; or a religious procession, the miracle of a -preacher, the solemnity of a sacrament: but ever, images of solace -and of hope, cherubs singing and making melody, maidens contemplating -with smiles the opening heavens, the scenes begun on earth but -continued far beyond the clouds, where the Madonna and the Saviour -are seen, radiant with serene exultation, beholding the concourse of -suppliant faithful beneath." - -But lest, in quoting from writers zealously devoted to the Roman -Creed, we may seem to admit that such sympathies belong not to -Protestant breasts, it will be well to appeal to one whose pen -has, with no common success, combated the usages wherein popery -most startles those whose faith is based on the Reformation. "I -never looked at the pictures of one of these men that it did not -instantaneously affect me, alluring me into a sort of dream or -reverie, while my imagination was called into very lively activity. -It is not that their drawing is good; for, on the other hand, -it is often stiff, awkward, and unnatural. Nor is it that their -imagination, as exhibited in grouping their figures or embodying -the story to be represented, was correct or natural; for often -it is most absurd and grotesque. But still there is palpably the -embodiment of an idea; an idea pure, holy, exquisite, and too much -so to seem capable of expression by the ordinary powers either of -language or of the pencil. Yet the idea is there. And it must have -had a mysterious and wondrous power on the imagination of these men, -it must have thoroughly mastered and possessed them, or they never -could have developed such an exquisite ideal of calm, peaceful, meek, -heavenly holiness, as stands out so constantly and so pre-eminently -in their paintings." In noticing the cavils of connoisseurs upon -these paintings this author happily observes, that they were "looking -for earthly creatures and found heavenly ones; and, expecting unholy -expressions, were disappointed at finding none but the holy."[121] - -[Footnote 121: REV. M.H. SEYMOUR'S _Pilgrimage to Rome_, a -work remarkable for accurate observation of facts, and the candid -tone of its strictures.] - -We may here remark, in passing, the nearly coeval introduction of a -class of themes which, though innovating upon the purity of Catholic -faith, were admirably adapted to develop the mystic tendencies of -devotional painting. It was about the thirteenth century that the -Madonna acquired the unfortunately paramount place in the Romish -worship she has since been permitted to hold. Her history became a -favourite topic of Franciscan and other popular preachers, at once -facile and fascinating. Not content with describing the scriptural -events of her life, they adopted traditions regarding her birth, -marriage, and death; or the more abstruse and questionable legends -of her miraculous conception, her assumption, exaltation, and her -coronation as queen of heaven, and the _cintola_ or girdle by which -she drew up souls from limbo. It would be quite foreign to the -matter in hand were we to examine the orthodoxy of these devotional -novelties, or their influence upon the social estimate of the -female character. Enough to observe that they speedily enriched -Christian art in all its branches, but chiefly in Umbria, where, in -accordance with the prevailing popular taste, such of them as partook -of dogmatic mystery gained a preference over more real or scenic -incidents. The early Giottists were wont to close their dramatic -delineations of her earthly history with a peaceful death, its only -artistic licence being the transit of her soul in the shape of a -swaddled babe. But the Madonna-worship of this more spiritual school -was satisfied with nothing short of her translation in the body, -direct to realms of bliss from amid a concourse of adoring disciples. -In like manner, the old Byzantine painters inscribed over her image -one uniform epigraph, "the Mother of God"; whilst the devotional -masters delighted to seat her beyond the skies, where her blessed -Son placed a diadem upon her brows as the queen of heaven. It hence -became an established practice of the latter to depict her charms, -not after the mould in which nature cast fair but frail humanity, but -to clothe them in abstract and purer beauty appropriate to one whom, -though incarnate, they were taught to regard as divine. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - - The Umbrian school of painting, its scholars and - influence--Fra Angelico da Fiesole--Gentile da - Fabriano--Pietro Perugino--Artists at Urbino--Piero della - Francesca--Fra Carnevale--Francesco di Giorgio. - - -The Umbrian art, of which we have attempted to trace the origin, -has not hitherto met with the notice which it merits. Lanzi allowed -it no separate place among the fourteen schools under which he has -arranged Italian painting, and, by scattering its most important -names, has lost sight of certain characteristics which, rather -than any common education, link its masters together. Nor was this -omission wonderful, for the Umbrian painters and their works were -dispersed over many towns and villages, none of which could be -considered the head-quarters of a school, and to visit these distant -localities would have been a task of difficulty and disappointment. -The patronage of princes and communities seems to have been sparingly -bestowed in that mountain-land. Assisi, adorned by many Florentine -strangers, was mother rather than nurse of its native art, and -other religious houses wanted the means or the spirit to follow her -brilliant example. Hence the comparatively few opportunities afforded -to the Christian painters of Umbria of executing great works in -fresco, the peculiar vehicle of pictorial grandeur; and alas! of -these few, a considerable proportion has been lost to us under the -barbarism of whitewash.[122] The revival of feeling for religious -art, of late commenced by the Germans, and their persevering zeal in -illustrating its neglected monuments, have established the existence -of an Umbrian school in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; but -its history remains to be written.[*123] The task would carry us too -far from the leading subject of these volumes, yet we shall endeavour -in a few pages to sketch its development, from the dreamy anchorites -whose rude pencils embodied the visions of their favourite St. -Francis, to Raffaele, whose high mission it was to perfect devotional -painting,[*124] apart from the alloy of human passions, and to -withstand for a time that influx of pagan and naturalist corruptions, -which after his premature death overwhelmed it. - -[Footnote 122: In 1843, I saw fragments of fine frescoes in two -churches at Cagli which had just been cleared of this abomination; -and I was assured that the small church of Monte l'Abbate near Pesaro -has but recently been subjected to it, by order of its ignorant -curate. The abbey church of Pietra Pertusa at the Furlo is another of -many similar instances.] - -[Footnote *123: It still remains to be written; but see the Essay of -BERENSON, _Central Italian Painting_ (Putnams, 1904), and -the valuable list of pictures appended to it.] - -[Footnote *124: This is an example of the taste of our fathers, -almost inexplicable to-day. To consider Raffaele as a greater -"devotional" painter than Duccio, Simone Martini, Fra Angelico, -Sassetta, or Perugino might almost seem impossible.] - -Two fanes were commenced in the thirteenth century near the Tiber, -which became conspicuous as shrines equally of Christian devotion -and Christian art. The cathedral of Orvieto for two hundred years -attracted from all parts of Italy many of the best artificers in -sculpture and painting, some of whom, arriving from Umbria, carried -back new inspirations to their homes. The sanctuary of St. Francis, -at Assisi, coeval with the dawn of Italian art, borrowed its earliest -embellishments from Tuscany,[*125] where Giotto and his followers -were ingrafting on design two novel ingredients--dramatic composition -and allegorical allusion. The former of these elements distinguished -the Florentine from contemporary schools, and carried it beyond -them in variety and effect, preparing a way for the pictorial power -which Raffaele and Michael Angelo perfected. To the inspirations of -Dante it owed the latter element, and to the enthusiastic though -tardy admiration which his fellow-citizens indulged for his wildly -poetical mysticism, may be ascribed the abiding impress of a tendency -which not only authorised but encouraged new and varied combinations. -The rigid outlines, monotonous conventional movements, and soulless -countenances of Byzantium gradually were mellowed into life and -beauty; but it is curious to observe how much sooner genius caught -the spirit than the form,--how it succeeded in embodying expression -long before it could master the more technical difficulties of -design, action, and shadow. The credit claimed for Giotto of -introducing physiognomical expression is, however, only partially -true. Compared with the Greek works, or even with those of his -immediate antecedents, Cimabue, Guido, and Margaritone, his heads, -indeed, beam with animated intelligence, and feel the movement which -he first communicated to his groups. Yet not less was the still and -unimpassioned, but deep-seated emotion which the Umbrian painters -embodied in their miniatures and panels, an improvement upon the -lifeless and angular mechanism of the Byzantine artificers, although -these very opposite qualities are generally condemned to the same -category of contemptible feebleness by our pretended connoisseurs, -glibly discussing masters whose real works they never saw, or are -unable from ignorance and prejudice to appreciate. Such a state -of art could not, however, remain wedded to a few fixed types. It -was inherently one of transition, and necessarily led to a gradual -abandonment of the Giottist manner of representation, while it -enlarged the principles of composition introduced by Giotto. Beato -Angelico, the first Florentine who successfully departed from that -style, reawakening the old religious spirit, and embodying in it -forms of purity never before or since attained, forsook not wholly -the Dantesque spirit. His passing influence yielded to a manner more -in unison with the times, which was formed and nearly perfected by -Masaccio; but still Dante was not left behind. Luca Signorelli, -issuing from his Umbrian mountains and his Umbrian master, imbibed at -Florence the lofty images of "the bard of hell," and energetically -reproduced them in the duomo of Orvieto, in startling contrast with -the works of Angelico, and other devoted masters, who had previously -decorated that museum of art. - -[Footnote *125: The Roman school was painting at Assisi in the Upper -Church before Giotto. Cf. CROWE & CAVALCASELLE, _op. cit._, -vol. II., p. 4.] - -There, too, had been wrought some choice productions of the Pisan -sculptors,[*126] but their tendency to clothe nature in the forms -of antique design met with little sympathy, and no imitation, from -students whose minds were preoccupied by tales of St. Francis, and -thus it is unnecessary here to notice them further. The Sienese -school is in an entirely different category. Without encumbering -ourselves at present by the definitions and distinctions of German -aesthetic criticism, we shall merely remark that the painters of -Siena, from Guido until late in the fifteenth century, never lost -sight of that sentimental devotion which we have already described -as the soul of Christian art, and which so curiously pervades the -statutes of their guild formerly quoted. The cathedral of Orvieto was -founded in 1290 by a Sienese architect, who, as we may well suppose, -brought some of his countrymen to assist in its embellishment, and -to infuse these principles among the native students, who, from -assistants, became master-artificers of its decorations. Nor was -this the only link which connected Sienese art with the confines -of Umbria. The scattered townships in the Val di Chiana preserve -in their remaining early altar-panels clear evidence that these -were supplied from Siena; and Taddeo Bartolo, repairing thence in -1403 to Perugia, and perhaps to Assisi, left proofs that the bland -sentimentalism of his native school might be united with a tranquil -majesty, to which the Giottists had scarcely attained.[*127] - -[Footnote *126: The Pisan sculptors were for the most part Maitani, -the Sienese. Cf. L. DOUGLAS, in _Architectural Review_, -June, 1903.] - -[Footnote *127: Dennistoun says nothing of the magnificent work of -Simone Martini, the Sienese, in S. Francesco, at Assisi.] - -Having thus briefly touched upon foreign influences which told on -the pictorial character of Umbria, we are prepared to consider the -most remarkable artificers whom it has produced, especially in the -duchy of Urbino. Of these the first place is due on many accounts -to ODERIGI DA GUBBIO,[*128] for, besides his claim to be -founder of the schools of Gubbio and Bologna, he is celebrated among -the most excellent miniaturists of his time by Dante, who has placed -him in purgatory, a sentence justly deemed by Ticozzi somewhat severe -for "the head and front of his offending," that of over-zeal in his -art. - - "'Art thou not Oderigi? Art not thou - Agobbio's glory, glory of that art - Which they of Paris call the limner's skill?' - 'Brother,' said he, 'with tints that gayer smile, - Bolognian Franco's pencil lines the leaves: - His all the honour now, my light obscured. - In truth I had not been thus courteous to him - The whilst I lived, though eagerness of zeal - For that pre-eminence my heart was bent on. - Here of such pride the forfeiture is paid; - Nor were I even here, if, able still - To sin, I had not turned me unto God. - O powers of man! how vain your glory, nipt - E'en in its height of verdure, if an age - Less bright succeed not. Cimabue thought - To lord it over painting's field, and now - The cry is Giotto's, and his name eclipsed.'"[129] - -[Footnote *128: Cf. VENTURI, _Storia dell'Arte Italiana_ -(Milano, 1907), vol. V., 837, 1003-4, 1014, 1022.] - -[Footnote 129: CAREY'S _Dante_, Purg. XI., 76.] - -Baldinucci has written a life of this master, chiefly in confirmation -of his theory that all modern painting was produced from the -personal influence of Cimabue, a dogma combated by Lanzi. His death -is placed in 1299, which would make him contemporary with that -Florentine artificer, and Vasari calls him the friend of Giotto, who -was much his junior. The preservation of his name is perhaps chiefly -owing to Dante's notice, though the antiquaries of Gubbio now reject -the lapidary inscription which claims for the latter a residence in -their town. There is in truth a sad deficiency of facts regarding -Oderigi, and no work from his hand being now known, speculation as -to his style would be useless.[130] That the painters connected with -Gubbio in the following generation may have been formed under his -instructions, is however a conjecture fairly admissible. - -[Footnote 130: The Ordo Officiorum Senensis Ecclesiae, a MS. of 1215, -in the library of Siena, has been ascribed to him, by confusion -with another Oderico, a canon there; it possesses no artistic merit -whatever.] - -Of these Cecco and Puccio were employed, probably as mosaicists, -in 1321, upon the cathedral of Orvieto, whence they may have -brought back to Umbria enlarged principles of art. But, abandoning -conjectural grounds, let us notice the earliest Eugubinean painter -whose works have survived to our own time. GUIDO PALMERUCCI -is said to have been born about the time of Oderigi's death, while -others consider him as his pupil. Assuredly the observation of Lanzi, -which appears to rank him with the Giottists, is not borne out by the -frescoes in his native town attributed to him, for these have nothing -of the dramatic action which Giotto introduced, and their details, -as well as their general manner, resemble colossal miniatures. -This is especially the case in a figure of S. Antonio, the only -remains of some mural paintings which covered the exterior of a -chapel[*131] belonging to the college of painters, founded at Gubbio -in the thirteenth century. The character of the saint is grand, the -attitude solemn, the expression spiritualised; and an Ecce Homo still -in the Church of S. Maria Nuova there, exhibits a similar style. -Among the few fragments of mouldering frescoes to be seen at Gubbio, -I have found no others ascribed to Palmerucci, but Passavant tells -us he wrought in the town-hall about 1345. At Cagli two interesting -frescoes in the church of S. Francesco have been lately brought to -light from behind a great altar picture, and successfully moved to -the adjoining wall. They represent two miracles of St. Anthony of -Padua, and I am inclined to ascribe them to Palmerucci, or some able -contemporary. The actors and bystanders are equally remarkable for -heads of staid devout composure, which under Giottesque treatment -would have been in a far higher degree animated and dramatic. In the -beautiful art of pictorial glass, Gubbio has also a notable name in -ANGIOLETTO, who embellished the chapel-window of St. Louis -at Assisi, and enriched the cathedrals of Orvieto and Siena with his -gem-like decorations. - -[Footnote *131: He refers to S. Antonio Abate, I suppose. There is -nothing by Palmerucci in S. Maria Nuova, but a Madonna and Saints and -Gonfaloniere kneeling are attributed to him in the Prefettura.] - -To the same city belongs the little we know of the Nelli -family,[*132] yet that little is well calculated to call forth -our regrets for their lost works. MARTINO NELLI was a junior -contemporary of Palmerucci. In his fresco over the gate of -S. Antonio, representing the Madonna enthroned, with elaborate -architectural accessories, there may be traced an approach to the -mild devotional abstraction with which the purist Christian artists -tempered the - - "Maternal lady with the virgin grace." - -But in a smaller work of his son OTTAVIANO, the church -of S. Maria Nuova possesses the very finest existing specimen of -the Umbrian school, exempt from injury or restoration. The lovely -and saint-like Madonna, the seraphic choir that forms a glory -around her, the Almighty crowning the "highly favoured among women," -have perhaps never been equalled among the happiest embodyings of -devotional genius; nor are the rich colouring, the accessory saints, -and the portraits of the Peroli family, who, in 1403, commissioned -this grand work, inferior in merit. He is supposed to have been -born about 1375, and, after executing in Assisi, Urbino, and other -circumjacent towns, works long perished, to have died in 1444. Of the -mural paintings by his brother Tomaso, in S. Domenico and under the -Piazzone of his native town, it is impossible to say more than -that whatever of the family inspiration may have guided his pencil -has been nearly obscured by cruel restorations. - -[Footnote *132: Cf. MAZZATINTI, _Documenti per la storia -delle Arti a Gubbio_, in _Arch. St. per le Marche e per l'Umbria_, -vol. III., p. 1-48. Ottaviano was living certainly after 1444.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -MADONNA DEL BELVEDERE - -_After the fresco by Ottaviano Nelli in S. Maria Nuova, Gubbio_] - -Among the pupils of Ottaviano, - - "Who on high niche or cloister wall, - Inscribed their bright-lined lays," - -about Gubbio, are PITALI, DOMENICO DI CECCHI, and -BERNARDINO DI NANNI: to these may be added GIACOMO -BEDI, a name that has escaped the historians of Italian art, -by whom were painted in the church of S. Agostino four scenes in -the life of the saint, which retain a freshness and force of colour -equal to any productions of the age. With these the influence of -Oderigi seems to have become extinct in his native town, before the -close of the fifteenth century, long ere which it had, however, been -transported elsewhere by Gentile da Fabriano, who, emerging from his -Apennine home, reproduced in Florence and in Rome the characteristics -of that master, amid universal applause, and, carrying them to -Venice, founded there the religious feeling which the Bellini, -Vivarini, and Cima di Conegliano sustained, imparting at the same -time that taste for luxuriant colouring which Titian brought to -perfection. But, ere we turn to the school of Fabriano, we may here -translate from the original quaint Italian a letter from Ottaviano, -illustrative of the early patronage of art by the Montefeltrian -family. No trace of the works there mentioned now remains.[133] - -[Footnote 133: _Carteggio d'Artisti_, I., p. 131. Countess Caterina, -to whom it is addressed, was wife of Count Guidantonio, mentioned -in vol. I., p. 42. For some notices of Ottaviano, I am indebted to -a short account of him by Signor Luigi Bonfatti of Gubbio, whose -zealous researches will, it is to be hoped, soon enable him to -illustrate as it deserves the hitherto neglected art of Umbria. His -theory that Gentile was a pupil of Ottaviano may be redargued by -their ages being nearly equal, but an examination of the surviving -frescoes at Gubbio has inclined me to believe that the former drew -from the same school of Oderigi, as represented by the Nelli, -some of those inspirations of holy pathos, and something of that -playful brilliancy of tints, which he subsequently combined with new -principles.] - - "To the illustrious and lofty Lady, the Lady Caterina, - Countess of Montefeltro, and my special Lady. - - "My special Lady, illustrious and lofty Madam, after due - commendation, &c. I have received your benign letter, - reminding me of the figures which I promised to make for - your Ladyship. When your servant Pietro found me, I was on - horseback, going upon certain business of my own, and so - could not well tell him all my reasons, which I now expose - to your Ladyship. When your Ladyship left Gubbio, I was, as - you know, to furnish the _palliotto_;[134] after I had done - it, I went from Gubbio to execute a small job which I had - promised above a year past; for they would wait no longer, - and I should have lost it had I not forthwith commenced. - But I trusted that your Ladyship's kindness would hold me - excused, for I counted that your commission, and that of my - Lord, your son, would be completed against your Ladyship's - return to Gubbio. In order, however, that your piety may be - satisfied, I shall set myself warmly and fervently to do it - quickly, and thus your intention will take effect. There - is no one at S. Erasimo, so I must cause lime and sand be - carried thither, and get them ground down, and also wood - for the framework. If your Ladyship would but write to the - friars of S. Ambrogio, or indeed to your factor, to prepare - these things for me: but if not, I shall do my best; for - you, my special Lady, never had servant more willing to - do your Ladyship's commands than myself, and so you may - count upon me as a faithful servant to the utmost of my - power. I believe I have instructions for the work you wish - in S. Erasimo [representing] your son, my Lord, kneeling - with his servant and horse before that patron saint. Thus - I recollect everything your Ladyship wishes of me, and God - grant me grace to perform it all. Prepared for whatever - your Ladyship wills; your most faithful, - - "OTAVIANO, painter of Gubbio. - - "From Urbino, the last of June, 1434." - -[Footnote 134: Palliotto was the painting or wood-carving -occasionally placed on the altar-front in early times, for which a -hanging of brocade or muslin was afterwards substituted.] - -In a sketch having no pretensions to a history, we need not pause -upon names now known only from old records, and must keep strictly to -those whose genius has left a decided impress upon the development of -art in Umbria. We therefore pass over artificers belonging to various -communities along the Apennines who appear on the rolls of Orvieto, -including several from Fabriano. About the middle of the fourteenth -century, the latter town boasted an ALLEGRETTO NUZIO, some -of whose altar-panels may still be traced in La Marca, embodying -a sentimentalism of expression, combined with a richness in the -accessories, which remind one strongly of the finest productions of -Memmi, and lead us to suspect an infusion of the Sienese style.[*135] -But the renown of Allegretto rests more on that of his pupil -Gentile, whom we have already named as the first who carried the -characteristics and fame of the Umbrian manner beyond the seclusion -of its highland cradle. - -[Footnote *135: Some magnificent works by Allegretto Nuzi of a most -surprising loveliness may be seen in Fabriano.] - -FRANCESCO DI GENTILE was born at Fabriano about 1370, and, -after maturely studying all that was best there and at Gubbio, -he set forth to enlarge his field of observation. Florence was -perhaps his first point of attraction, for nowhere else could he see -such beautiful art. But resisting those seductions which the vast -compositions of the Gaddi, Orcagna, and other Giottists held out to -an ardent and youthful ambition, he preserved in their purity the -holy inspirations of the fatherland, and meeting little sympathy for -these among the fraternity of St. Luke, he sought for himself a more -suitable companionship in the cloister of S. Domenico. There it was -his good fortune to discover a man whose rare character realised -those transcendental qualities, of which we read in the saintly -legends of pristine times, without regarding them as real ingredients -in human character. - -FRA GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE had spent the years which other -youths wasted on stormy pleasures in acquiring the art of miniature -painting, and its sacred representations took such hold of his -feelings, that, abjuring the world, he assumed the habit of St. -Dominic. But finding that his art, far from interfering with the -holy sentiments which a tender conscience considered as inseparable -from his new profession, tended directly to spiritualise them, -the neophyte continued to exercise it; and upon settling himself -in the convent of S. Marco, he extended his style to fresco, ever -adhering to those pure forms of celestial bliss which no one before -or since has equalled. It is related of him that, regarding his -painting in the light of a God-gift, he never sat down to exercise -it without offering up orisons for divine influence, nor did he -assume his palette until he felt these answered by a glow of holy -inspiration. His pencil thus literally embodied the language of -prayer; his compositions were the result of long contemplation on -mystic revelations; his Madonnas borrowed their sweet and sinless -expression from ecstatic visions; the passion of our Saviour was -conceived by him in tearful penitence, and executed with sobs -and sighs. Deeming the forms he thus predicted to proceed from -supernatural dictation, he never would alter or retouch them; and -though his works are generally brought to the highest attainable -finish, the impress of their first conception remains unchanged. To -the unimaginative materialism of the present day, these sentences -may seem idle absurdities, but they illustrate the character of Fra -Giovanni, and no painter ever so thoroughly instilled his character -into his works. Those who have not had the good fortune to see -any of these cannot form an idea of the infantine simplicity, the -immaculate countenances, the unimpassioned pathos apparent in his -figures, nor of the transparent delicacy of his flesh-tints, and the -gay and cheerful colouring which he introduces into the details, -without injury to the angelic grace of the whole. These qualities -procured for their author the epithet of Angelico; his personal -virtues were acknowledged by an offer of the see of Fiesole, which -his humility declined and by the posthumous honour of beatification; -his paintings, to borrow the words of Vasari, elevated the utmost -perfection to the ideal of art, by improving without abandoning -its original type; and, in the characteristic language of Michael -Angelo, he must have studied in heaven the faces which he depicted on -earth.[136] - -[Footnote 136: Such testimony, from artists so antipathic to his -practice, is a curious tribute at once to his merit and influence.] - -Such was the instructor with whom, although his junior, Gentile -thought it no disparagement to place himself,[*137] and his works -testify to his having caught much of the spirit as well as the -elaborate finish of his master. But whilst Angelico passed his -time in decorating the cells of his convent with frescoes, whose -holy beauties have confirmed the faith and purified the secret -contemplations of many a recluse, his pupil returned to the world, -to follow up a successful career. Called to Orvieto about 1423, -he there painted two altars, which, though not his best works, are -peculiarly interesting in contrast with the grand productions which -at a later period his master executed for that cathedral.[*138] In -the registers of the fabric, he is, in 1425, designated as "master -of the masters"; and the fame which he thus acquired brought him -successive commissions at Florence and Siena, after which he was -extensively employed in enriching the cities of Umbria and La Marca -with works of which no trace now exists.[*139] Among these towns -were Gubbio and Urbino; but still more interesting to our immediate -subject,--the development of art under the Feltrian dukes,--is -the altar-piece executed by him at Romita, near Fabriano, and now -plundered and scattered by the French, part of which adorns the -Brera Gallery at Milan. The Madonna is crowned by her Son, the Dove -fluttering between them, the Father rising pyramidally behind, amid a -choir of cherubim; below, in the empyrean void, is an arch spanning -the sun and moon, on which stand eight angels, making melody of -praise on various instruments. So extended was the reputation of this -work, that Raffaele is believed to have been attracted thither in -his youth, to imbibe that devotional sentiment which he was destined -to advance to its culminating point of excellence. Another fountain -of his early inspiration was the famous, but now defaced, Madonna of -Forano, near Osimo, whose angelic beauty is described as well-fitted -to have left an indelible charm upon minds less pure and enthusiastic -than his. On the mere evidence of its ecstatic loveliness, it was -generally ascribed to Beato Angelico; but as there is no account of -the Frate having visited La Marca, it may probably have been produced -by Gentile, when his return to his native mountains had freed him -for a season from mundane impressions, and had restored him to the -sanctifying influence of its legendary abstractions. - -[Footnote *137: Gentile da Fabriano was the pupil of Allegretto Nuzi, -not of Fra Angelico.] - -[Footnote *138: There is only one fragment of Gentile's work in the -Duomo of Orvieto: a Madonna, painted in 1425.] - -[Footnote *139: A fine work still remains at Perugia, No. 39, in Sala -V., Pinacoteca.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -MADONNA DEL SOCCORSO - -_After the gonfalone by a pupil of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo in S. -Francesco Montone_] - -From thence he proceeded to Venice, where many of his most brilliant -performances were achieved; but these, too, are nearly all lost to -us. There, in contact with the busy world, and sharing its honours, -distracted, it may be, by the bright tints and smiling landscapes -just then imported from northern lands, his devotional inspirations -were gradually tinged by naturalism. His principal commission was -a fresco of the naval victories of the Republic; and I have seen -a small picture by him of the rape of the Sabines, whose feeble -paganism belongs, no doubt, to his later years, and sadly proves how -essential were these inspirations to his success. At Venice he opened -a school, which enjoyed high reputation, and which probably numbered -among its pupils Pisanello, the Vivarini, and Bellini, although -chronology throws a doubt upon some of Vasari's assertions as to this -point. A new field of glory opened before Gentile, when invited by -Eugene IV. to decorate with mural paintings the since rebuilt church -of the Lateran, where he painted four prophets in chiaroscuro, and -placed below them the life of the Baptist,--works unfinished at his -death in 1450, and now destroyed, but which Michael Angelo, little -qualified as he was to appreciate the delicacies of religious art, -characterised as worthy the _gentle_ name of their author. - -On quitting the cloister of S. Marco, Gentile had carried with him -a portion of the devotional feeling which hung around the studio of -Fra Giovanni, and along with it much of the taste for rich ornaments, -for gold and brocades, for fruit and flowers, in which both of his -instructors delighted. But whilst Allegretto and Angelico kept such -foreign aids in subservience to the predominating sentiment of their -works, their pupil caught from the great world, in which he freely -mingled with credit and applause, an admiration of mundane grandeur -which, in his later compositions, is singularly combined with the -spirit of religious art. His immaculate Madonnas are worshipped -less by angelic choirs of cherubim and seraphim, than by the great -ones of the earth in their trappings of dignity; and of all sacred -themes, the Epiphany, or adoration of the Magi kings at the stable -of Bethlehem, was his choice. Such is the magnificent altar-panel -which he wrought in 1423, for the church of the S. Trinita at -Florence, now one of the most precious monuments in the Belle Arti -there. Still more gorgeous is his crowded composition painted for -the Zeni of Venice; but there he has contaminated the purist spirit -of Christian painting, for in the suite of the eastern kings is -portrayed the patron of the picture, with all the gallant company who -attended his embassy from the Republic to Usamkassan, sovereign of -Persia. The unequalled variety of groups, the elaborate splendour of -oriental costumes, the crowd of horsemen in contrasted attitudes, the -lavish adoption of gold, form a dazzling but harmonious whole, which -has scarcely any parallel in painting. It is not improbable that -this and similar works, besides introducing a new element into the -semi-Byzantine practice of the Venetian school, may have spread to -Albert Durer and other Germans, who long after visited that - - "Ruler of the waters and their powers," - -an influence carried by them to Nuremberg and Cologne, to enrich -the already gaudy tendencies of ultramontane taste. But Gentile da -Fabriano possesses another claim upon the student of early painting, -hitherto inadequately noticed. To the lessons of his father, a -learned mathematician, he may have owed the linear perspective which, -in many of his productions, anticipated the improvements of Piero -della Francesca. This is observable in the Zeno picture, and still -more in a small predella in my possession, where his favourite theme, -the Epiphany, is completed by a background accurately laid out in -lines and compartments, such as we see in the Dutch gardens of the -seventeenth century. But to this question we must return. - -Among the artists who maintained in Umbria the influences left -by Ottaviano and Gentile, two were of special merit, NICOLO -ALUNNO, of Foligno, and BENEDETTO BONFIGLI, of Perugia. Their works -have been often confounded, but with the latter only have we to do, -for, besides being nearer to Gentile both in age and in manner, he -is generally considered as the master of PIETRO PERUGINO,[*140] and -thus forms a link in the artistic chain which we are endeavouring to -establish, through the best Umbrian painters, from ODERIGI OF GUBBIO -to RAFFAELE OF URBINO. Of Bonfigli there are several interesting and -well-preserved specimens in his native town, dated about 1466, but -it must be owned that none of the earliest known works of Perugino -exhibit much trace of his style. These, however, are all supposed -posterior to Pietro's first visit to Florence, where his ideas must -have undergone vast development from the examples of Masaccio and -other masters, who there formed a galaxy of talent about the middle -of the fifteenth century.[*141] In that city he formed his early -friendship with Leonardo da Vinci, which Sanzi says was cemented -by parity of age as of affection; and it is singular how little -such sympathy can be traced in their genius or works. When, on the -other hand, we contrast the placid features which Vannucci uniformly -limned, rarely ruffled by sorrow, never clouded by sin, with the -furious mien and restless energy of Michael Angelo's creations, we -may well credit Vasari's story of their quarrel, and can account -for the scrimp justice accorded to the painter of Citta della Pieve -by his Florentine biographer. They pretend not, indeed, to the -bold character of Signorelli, nor even to the severity of Mantegna, -or Piero della Francesca; but those who criticise them as stiff, -timid, and monotonous, in contrast with the performances of the next -generation, would arrive at more just conclusions did they include in -the comparison those painters who had preceded him, and whose example -was his early guide. - -[Footnote *140: We do not know who Perugino's Perugian master was; -but it was more likely to be Fiorenzo di Lorenzo than Bonfigli.] - -[Footnote *141: There is no trace of Masaccio's influence in -Perugino's work. He was influenced by Signorelli, and slightly by -Verrocchio.] - - * * * * * - -Let us turn to Urbino. Lanzi tells us that Giotto, Gentile da -Fabriano, and their respective followers, left works in that little -capital; where Pungileone has shown that Ottaviano Nelli exercised -his profession from 1428 to 1433, and Paolo Uccello of Florence in -1468, with other artists detected by the same zealous antiquary. Of -such works, however, nothing can now be traced. The oldest paintings -I could discover there were those in the oratory of St. John Baptist -by Lorenzo and Giacomo di San Severino, Lanzi's blunders regarding -whom have been corrected by the Marchese Ricci. The principal -composition is the Crucifixion, with a dramatic action influenced by -Giottesque feeling: the three other walls seem to have been occupied -by a history of the titular saint, two passages of which are almost -destroyed. Those remaining, though not exempt from retouching, are -sufficiently preserved to enable us to detect a masterly and novel -arrangement, and a character of devotion more consistent with the -Umbrian manner, though marred by hard colouring. The date 1416 is -added to the painter's epigraph. We learn from an old chronicle that -Antonio da Ferrara painted the Montefeltro chapel in the church of -S. Francesco in 1430, a fact scarcely reconcileable with Vasari's -assertion that he was a pupil of Angelo Gaddi. He is also said to -have executed an _ancona_ for the church of S. Bernardino, portions -of which may probably be recognised in some figures still in the -sacristy. In that of S. Francesco at Mercatello, among several -memorials of a similar period, are {1843} two frescoes characterised -by grand design, ample draperies, and full colouring, but deficient -in delicacy. The _lunette_ of the marriage of St. Catherine outside -the door is somewhat later, and very superior, and may be from the -pencil of Pietro della Francesca. Of none of these works, nor of -two good panel pictures in the same church, have I been able to -find any account. In the hospital of S. Angelo in Vado is a panel -altar picture in utter ruin, which has possessed surpassing beauty. -The martyrdom of St. Sebastian is there powerfully conceived, and -executed with the finest feeling. The inscription seems to have been, -_Hieronymus Nardia Vicentis fecit_; the date probably towards the -close of the fifteenth century. Such is the beggarly account we have -to offer of early art in the country of Raffaele, and thus might we -dismiss the speculations of those who would fondly trace its primary -influences on his dawning genius. - -But though time and whitewash have combined to narrow this branch of -our inquiry, we must not overlook an artist who ranks high among the -reformers of painting, and upon whom the patronage of Duke Federigo -was specially lavished. His family name has not come down to us, but -he is generally known by the matronymic of Piero della Francesca, -from the Christian name of his mother, though sometimes designed -Pietro del Borgo, or Il Borghese, from Borgo S. Sepolcro, his native -town. His life has unfortunately been left in much obscurity by his -only biographer Vasari, who might have well bestowed somewhat more -pains upon the career of one born in a neighbouring town, who left -his finest works at Arezzo, and whose merits he is more inclined to -magnify than to slight. The loose assertions of this author have -been adopted by most succeeding writers, without addition and with -little investigation; but of the school in which Pietro acquired the -rudiments of his art, and of the earlier period of his career, we -remain still uninformed, though his age and Apennine origin favour -the conjecture that he may have imbibed his first lessons from works -of Ottaviano Nelli the contemporary Umbrian master.[*142] Beyond -question two very different manners appear in the productions of his -pencil; the first, crudely composed and laboriously frittered into -detail, with much of the contracted ideas and bright tinting of the -old miniaturists; the second, broad and masterly in conception, and -executed with a flowing pencil, though retaining an elaborate finish. -Both styles are united in a little picture at Urbino, which we shall -presently describe, the Flagellation being in the earlier, the three -portraits in the larger manner. If born, as Vasari incorrectly -states, in the last years of the fourteenth century,[*143] Piero, -instead of being patronised by Guidobaldo I., must have reached at -least eighty-four in that Duke's time; indeed, he would have been -past middle life ere Federigo, whom, as we shall presently see, he -calls his chief patron, succeeded to that state in 1443. "Guidobaldo -Feltro" may, however, probably be a mistake of Vasari for Count -Guidantonio, in which case a solution would be afforded for several -of his manifold contradictions; and at that court, if not in earlier -life, our artist might have been the associate or pupil of Nelli. -Passing over works now lost which del Borgo is stated on the same -authority to have executed at Pesaro, Ferrara, Ancona, and Loreto, -we find him called by Nicholas V. to Rome, where his frescoes appear -to have been destroyed in the many alterations made on the Vatican -Palace before that century closed. - -[Footnote *142: Piero della Francesca was the pupil of Domenico -Veneziano.] - -[Footnote *143: Piero was born in 1416.] - -Piero della Francesca is also asserted by Vasari to have been -one of the most profound mathematicians of his day, and to have -improved perspective and the management of light by an adaptation -of geometrical principles to painting. The latter of these opinions -has been received, and constitutes the highest claim of this -master upon the historians of art. The point has not as yet been -illustrated by any writer competent to pronounce with accuracy -upon such pretensions,[*144] but the merit of having shown how to -ameliorate perspective, especially in architectural design, is -generally granted to Piero. Pascoli and others have regarded him as -its father. Lanzi thinks him the first who revived the ancient Greek -notion of rendering geometry subject to painting in general, although -Brunelleschi, Paolo Uccelli, and others had already applied the same -principles with less science to architectural details; and he combats -the priority in these respects asserted by Lomazzo for Foppa of -Brescia. The claims of Leon Battista Alberti,[*145] the architect, -seem to have been settled by Vasari's opinion that distance was -better described by his pen than delineated by his pencil. The same -author enlists our sympathy in favour of Il Borghese, representing -him as defrauded of his fame by an unscrupulous scholar, Fra Luca -Pacioli, a Franciscan, who, after learning from him mathematics, -availed himself of his instructor's after blindness to plagiarise his -manuscripts, and eventually published them as his own.[*146] Into -this controverted matter we need not enter, further than to pronounce -with Tiraboschi, Rosini, and Gaye a verdict of _not proven_, and to -observe that the celebrity attained by the friar's scientific works -ought to reflect some merit upon his instructor. Yet justice to both -parties requires us to extract the generous testimony volunteered to -the painter by his pupil, in dedicating to Duke Guidobaldo his Summa -de Arithmetica, Geometria, &c.: "Perspective, if closely looked into, -would certainly be nothing without the aid of geometry, as has been -fully demonstrated by Pietro di Franceschi, our contemporary, and -the prince of modern painting. During his assiduous service in your -Excellency's family, he composed his short treatise on the art of -painting and the power of linear perspective, which is now deservedly -placed in your library, rich with books in every branch." These, -surely, are not the words of a literary pirate; indeed, Vasari's -whole account is vague and confused. After telling us that Pacioli -had appropriated the matter of Piero's many MSS., then existing at -Borgo San Sepolcro, he adds that most of his writings were deposited -in the Urbino library, where it is obvious that neither he nor -those who have repeated his assertions ever sought them. After -every possible search, I have reason to believe that that library -now contains but two treatises by Il Borghese, nor have I found any -evidence of others having ever been there. Both are in Latin, and are -fairly transcribed on vellum in contemporary hands, with diagrams -upon the margin.[147] The former is entitled _De Perspectiva_, but -the subject is, in fact, Light,[*148] and its effect upon objects -and colours. In place of a general title, it sets out with a dictum -that "light is to philosophical inquiry what demonstrative certainty -is to mathematics." The volume, bearing the arms and initials of -Duke Federigo, must have been written for his library: though -anonymous, it is clearly the work referred to in a dedication which -we shall presently quote, the only other MS. upon perspective in the -collection being that by Vitellioni (No. 265). - -[Footnote *144: Cf. PICHI, _La Vita e le Opere di Piero -della Francesca_ (Borgo S. Sepolcro, 1893); WITTING, _Piero -dei Franceschi_ (Strassburg, 1898); CROWE & CAVALCASELLE, -_op. cit._, vol. III. BERENSON, _op. cit._, p. 69, says: -"The pupil of Domenico Veneziano in characterisation, of Paolo -Uccello in perspective, himself an eager student of this science, as -an artist he [Piero] was more gifted than either of his teachers." -Fra Luca Pacioli, one of the finest mathematicians of his day, -praises Piero, and speaks of his renowned treatise on perspective, -"now in the library of our illustrious Duke of Urbino."] - -[Footnote *145: Cf. on this point MUNTZ, _Precursori e -propugnatori del Rinascimento_ (Firenze, 1902), p. 59 _et seq._ For -his life _Vita Leonis Baptistae de Albertis_, by an anonymous author, -believed to be Alberti himself, in MURATORI _R.I.S._, vol. -XXV., partly translated in EDWARD HUTTON, _Sigismondo Malatesta_ -(Dent, 1906), pp. 163-9. Cf. also MANCINI, _Vita di L.B.A._ (Firenze, -1882), and _Nuovi documenti e notizie sulla vita e gli scritti di -L.B.A._, in _Arch. St. It._, Series IV., vol. XIX.; also SCIPIONI, in -_Giornale St. d. Lett. Ital._, vol. II., p. 156 _et seq._, and vol. -X., p. 255 _et seq._] - -[Footnote *146: This is a tale like so much in Vasari. Piero -was never blind at all it seems. BOSSI, in his work on Leonardo's -_Cenacolo_ (Milan, 1810), deals minutely with this libel.] - -[Footnote 147: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 1374 and 632. The manuscripts -by him, mentioned in No. 131 of the _Quarterly Review_, as in the -possession of his descendant, Count Marini, of Borgo S. Sepolcro, no -longer exist; and a small portrait there of himself does not appear -to be by his hand. As a further specimen of the Friar's ideas on -this matter, we may offer an extract from his _De Divina Proportione -Epistola_ (Venice, 1509), wherein he compares perspective to music, -ranking both with the geometrical sciences, since just as "the former -refreshes the mind with harmony, the latter delights it greatly by -correct distance and variety of colours." "Who, indeed, is there -that, seeing an elegant figure with its exact outlines well defined, -and seeming to want nothing but breath, would not pronounce it -something rather divine than human? And painting imitates nature as -nearly as can be told, which is proved to our eyes in the exquisite -representation, so worthily composed by the graceful hand of our -Leonardo, of the ardent desire after our salvation; wherein it is -impossible to imagine greater attention than that of the apostles, -aroused on hearing, in the words of infallible truth, 'One of you -shall betray me,'--when, interchanging with each other attitudes and -gestures, they seem to converse in startled and sad astonishment."] - -[Footnote *148: "He was perhaps the first," says Mr. Berenson, "to -use effects of light for their direct tonic or subduing or soothing -qualities." He uses light as the "plein air" school of France uses -it. See a chapter devoted to his work in my _Cities of Umbria_ -(Methuen, 1904).] - -The other volume has for title _Petri Pictoris Burgensis de Quinque -Corporibus Regularibus_. The five bodies discussed in it are, the -triangle of four bases, the cube with six faces, the octagon with -eight faces and as many triangles, the duodecahedron with twelve -faces and as many pentagons, the icosahedron with twenty faces and as -many triangles. We shall extract from the dedication to Guidobaldo I. -a passage relating to the essay and its author: "And as my works owe -whatever illustration they possess solely to the brilliant star of -your excellent father, the most bright and dazzling orb of our age, -it seemed not unbecoming that I should dedicate to your Majesty this -little work, on the five regular bodies in mathematics, which I have -composed, that, in this extreme fraction of my age, my mind might not -become torpidly inactive. Thus may your splendour reflect a light -upon its obscurity: and your Highness will not spurn these feeble and -worthless fruits, gathered from a field now left fallow, and nearly -exhausted by age, from which your distinguished father has drawn -its better produce; but will place this in some corner, as a humble -handmaid to the numberless books of your own and his copious library, -near our other treatise on Perspective, which we wrote in former -years. For it is usual to admit, at the most luxurious and festive -banquets, fruits culled by a rude and unpolished peasant. Indeed, its -novelty may ensure its proving not unpleasing; for though the subject -was known from Euclid and other geometers, it is now [first] applied -by me to arithmetical science. At all events, it will be a token and -memorial of my long-cherished attachment and continual devotion to -yourself and your illustrious house." - -This must have been written after 1482, when, if Vasari's dates be -accurate, Piero was at least eighty-four years old, and had been -blind during five lustres; a circumstance which, though not entirely -inconsistent with his cultivation of the exact sciences, would -occasion an impediment not likely to be passed over by him, when -pleading as an apology the disabilities of age. The researches of -Abbe Pungeleoni have, however, established that no such calamity -had befallen our painter in 1469, when he was the guest of Giovanni -Sanzi, at Urbino; and it is no way referred to in Pacioli's -dedication, written in 1494, while he was still alive. Altogether, -it may be questioned whether that alleged bereavement was not one -of Vasari's many inaccuracies, the most valuable portion of whose -account of this master is a notice of the frescoes executed by -him in the choir of S. Francesco, at Arezzo, wherein are depicted -the Discovery and Exaltation of the true Cross, and the Vision -and Victory of Constantine. These noble works, uniting a happy -application of his favourite studies on perspective and light, with -a grandeur and movement unknown to most of his compositions, are -now mere wrecks,[*149] in which, however, may be traced not a few -ideas subsequently appropriated by more celebrated artists. The -most remarkable of them is the Vision, the original drawing for -which has been published by Mr. Young Ottley. In the play of light -and the management of chiaroscuro, there is far more profound study -than was usual among his contemporaries, and in no other work of so -early a date have these been as successfully treated. By a not very -intelligible juxtaposition, the companion compartment is occupied -by an Annunciation, grave, solemn, almost severe, as are most of -his later paintings. The lowest and largest space on either side -of the choir, is filled by the Battle, whilst Constantine prays in -a corner, surrounded by his courtiers. These may have suggested to -Raffaele the same subject for the Stanze, but they afford no details -calculated to animate his pencil. Soldiers, horses, and banners are, -indeed, mingled together with a bustle and energy of action hitherto -unattempted; but the effect is neutralised by an all-prevailing -confusion, and by a want of groups or episodes to concentrate -the spectator's scattered interest or admiration. The design is -generally good; the modelling and character of the heads are, as -usual, excellent; the costumes are richly varied; and the horses -remind us, by their action, of Pisano's pictures and medals. If it be -true that Raffaele has repeated some of the noble ideas here freely -lavished, it seems more probable that, in his Liberation of St. -Peter, he wished to excel the tent scene, than that he bore in mind -the crowded men-at-arms when composing the Victory of Constantine. -The elements have conspired against this _chef-d'oeuvre_ of Pietro -del Borgo. Its walls were frightfully riven during last century by -an earthquake, and its menacing cracks have since been shaken by -thunderbolts. Although the repairs have been judiciously limited -to securing the plaster, without attempting any restoration of the -frescoes, several compartments are almost wholly defaced. Some female -groups, however, remain, which yield to nothing that Masaccio has -left for the plaudits of posterity. - -[Footnote *149: They are in quite fair preservation as things go.] - -In much better preservation is a hitherto unnoticed painting on -the wall of a chapel in the cathedral of Rimini, dated 1448. It -represents Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, whom we have so often -named in the first volume of this work, kneeling in prayer before -his patron saint, Sigismondo, king of Hungary. The wide and once -beautifully graduated landscape has unfortunately suffered; but the -favourite dog,[*150] crouching behind, is evidently as striking -a likeness as his master, whose dignified character and serious -pose give to what is but a laboriously accurate portrait, the -spiritualised grandeur of a noble devotional composition. It embodies -the verity of nature, exempt from the vulgarity of naturalism. - -[Footnote *150: There are two greyhounds lying side by side facing -opposite ways.] - -We have to lament the disappearance of whatever works in fresco -Pietro del Borgo may have executed for Urbino, unless we attribute -to him, on an already noticed lunette over the outer doorway of S. -Francesco, at Mercatello, a beautiful half-length Marriage of St. -Catherine. Of the small pictures, which he is said by Vasari to have -painted for that court, one only remains; it is in the sacristy -of the Urbino cathedral, and is a monument of great interest as -regards the master and his patrons. On one side is the Flagellation -of Christ before Pilate, in an open court enriched with a beautiful -perspective of colonnades and architectural ornament. On the other -is introduced a detached group of three figures in conversation, -magnificently attired, who are generally called at Urbino the -successive sovereigns Oddantonio, Federigo, and Guidobaldo I.; but -their ages, compared with that of the painter, are irreconcileable -with such a supposition. The Abbe Pungeleoni, in his _Life of -Sanzi_, considers them to represent Count Guidantonio and his -successors, Oddantonio and Federigo; or they may more probably be -portraits of Oddantonio and the two evil counsellors who led him and -themselves to destruction, as narrated in our third chapter.[151] -In the graphic character and fine modelling of their features is -displayed one of those peculiar excellences which Il Borghese was -able, from his knowledge of perspective and light, to introduce into -the practice of pictorial art, and which he is said to have carried -out by making finished figures of clay, and draping them with various -materials. This precious little picture is signed _Opus Petri de -Borgo Sci. Sepulcri_, and we have already quoted it as illustrative -of both his first and second manner. I have been so fortunate as to -trace three more of the Urbino pictures of this master, hitherto -unnoticed. At the devolution of the duchy to the Holy See, they -found their way into the possession of Urban VIII., and now adorn -the private apartment of his successor, Prince Barberini, at Rome, -where they pass under the name of Mantegna. The first, a portrait -of Duke Federigo and his son, has been already described. Having -been executed about 1478, when Guidobaldo was five or six years -old, and when the painter, according to Vasari, was above eighty, -it would afford conclusive evidence against the hitherto received -date of Pietro's birth.[152] The other two are companion pictures, -and though hung too high, appear in excellent preservation. Both -are architectural designs on panel, one representing the court of a -palace, the other a basilicon-like interior, with elaborate plastic -decorations and very clever perspective; a variety of figures are -introduced, but the subjects are not known.[*153] To these, and -still more to some of his earlier productions, may be applied the -observation of Fra Castiglione, that "the works of Pietro, and those -of his contemporary, Melozzo da Forli, with their perspective effects -and intricacies of art, are appreciated by connoisseurs rather than -admired by the uninitiated."[*154] - -[Footnote 151: Passavant conjectures this group to be a satire upon -three neighbouring princes who were Duke Federigo's enemies, and -seems to consider the picture influenced by some Flemish master. If -painted after the visit of Justis of Ghent, it can hardly represent -Oddantonio. See below, ch. xxx.] - -[Footnote 152: It is very unsatisfactorily engraved in -BONNARD'S _Costumes du Treizieme au Quinzieme Siecle_.] - -[Footnote *153: None of these three belongs to Piero.] - -[Footnote *154: It is a curious comment on this that a man like Mr. -E.V. Lucas, certainly not "a connoisseur," tells us in his book, -_A Wanderer in London_ (Methuen, 1906), that he "once startled and -embarrassed a dinner table of artists and art critics by asking -which was the best picture in the National Gallery. On my modifying -this terrible question to the more human form--Which picture would -you choose if you might have one? and limiting the choice to the -Italian masters, the most distinguished mind present named at -once Tintoretto's _Origin of the Milky Way_.... After very long -consideration," he continues, "I have come to the conclusion that -mine would be Francesca's _Nativity_. Take it for all in all, I am -disposed to think that Francesca's _Nativity_ appeals to me as a work -of compassionate beauty and charm before any Italian picture in the -National Collection."] - -The important influence of Pietro del Borgo upon Umbrian art is -confirmed by Vasari, in naming among his scholars Perugino and -Signorelli, the latter of whom worked at Urbino in 1484, and again, -ten years later. But were our information as to his pupils more -ample, we might probably find among them Melozzo da Forli, to whom, -and to other names connected with the duchy we shall return in our -thirty-first chapter. Prominently among its painters, Lanzi has -enumerated Bartolomeo Corradi, who became a predicant friar by the -title of FRA CARNEVALE. Nothing is known of this talented -limner beyond the fact that he combined his art with the duties of -parish priest, at Castel Cavellino, and died soon after 1488. His -best known work was executed for the great altar of S. Bernardino, -near Urbino, as an _ex voto_ commemoration of Federigo's piety on -the birth of his son in 1472. In it the Duke's portrait, and those -of several of his children, are said to be introduced. Indeed, there -are not wanting old authorities who regard the Madonna and Child as -likenesses of Countess Battista and her infant Guidobaldo. I receive -with caution a conjecture which, repugnant to the ideas of Umbrian -art at that period, would fasten a charge of profane naturalism upon -one whom I should gladly consider as a purely Christian painter. -Pungeleoni ascribes to him a small devotional picture preserved in -the church of the Zoccolantines at Sinigaglia, in which two accessory -figures probably represent the Prefect Giovanni della Rovere and his -wife, the sister of Duke Guidobaldo I.; but their marriage only took -place about the supposed time of this painter's death; and, at all -events, had the Abbe ever seen it, he could not have mistaken it for -a sketch of the altar-piece of S. Bernardino. The latter remains in -the Brera, at Milan, among the unrestored French plunder; and I have -sought in vain for other identified works of Carnevale in the duchy, -although inclined to attribute to him more than one fine but nameless -altar-picture which I have found there.[155] - -[Footnote 155: Such is the magnificent Annunciation in a small chapel -three miles west from Pesaro, known as the Madonna del Monte, but -properly the oratory dedicated in 1505 to the Madonna dell'Annunziata -di Calibano, by Ludovico del Molino, _alias_ degli Agostini. Its pure -and beautiful countenances are less beatified in expression than -earlier Umbrian works, but in composition and draperies it yields to -none, and excels all others in gorgeous effect. The gilding is freely -laid on in broad masses, and a scintillation in solid gold streams -from the Almighty upon the Madonna's bosom, while the angels' wings -are starred with peacock's plumage. Yet, as in Gentile da Fabriano's -best works, all this glitter is subdued by an earnest and solemn -feeling becoming the theme. The panel is inscribed "_Ludovicho di -Jachomo Aghostini merchatanti da Pesaro a fato [fare] deta tavola a -di xxiv. di Decienbre, mdx._" How unfortunate that the pious donor -had not recorded the artist's name as well as his own! I was unable -to visit an altar-piece at Montebaroccio ascribed to Fra Carnevale's -pencil.] - -Our description of Duke Federigo's palaces has made us acquainted -with the name of FRANCESCO DI GIORGIO, a painter and sculptor, as well -as an architect and engineer. In the two former of these capacities -he can be appreciated only in his native Siena, where two of his -very rare pictures remain in the Belle Arti.[*156] His tendency -to Umbrian feeling is obvious, and had Padre della Valle been -acquainted with the productions of Fabriano and della Francesca, -he would have detected in him a nearer approach to their manner -than to that of Signorelli. But his fame depends on his numerous -creations in architecture and fortification; whilst his inventions -in military engineering were important additions to the art of war, -as then conducted. Vasari's brief and blundering notice of him was -supplemented by the researches of Padre della Valle, whose greedy -patriotism maintained for him the merit of the Urbino palace, a -claim of which we have formerly disposed.[157] Gaye, and the editor -of the Florentine edition of Vasari {1838}, have added many new and -interesting notices;[*158] but his name has of late received still -more ample illustration at the hands of Carlo Promis, of Turin, by -whom his life and principal writings have been edited, at the expense -of the Chevalier Saluzzi. Francesco, son of Giorgio, son of Martino -of Siena, was born in a humble rank about 1423; and, our earliest -notice of his professional labours is in 1447, when we find he was -one of the architects of the Orvieto cathedral. In 1447, we find him -in Duke Federigo's service, which Promis supposes him to have entered -shortly before; and there he appears to have remained until the death -of that prince in 1482. The palace of Urbino having been already -many years in progress, and not being mentioned by him, there is no -reason to suppose he was much occupied upon it; and we find his own -pen attesting the onerous duty imposed upon him by Federigo, as his -military engineer. In July 1478 he was attached to the allied army, -which the Duke commanded; and, in his autograph MS. speaks of having -a hundred and thirty-six "edifices" on hand at once by his order. -Among these, doubtless, there were many strongholds in the duchy; and -he has left descriptive plans of Cagli, Sasso Feretro, Tavoletta, and -Serra di S. Abondio. From various authorities cited by Promis, we may -add, as probably of his construction, Castel Durante, S. Angelo in -Vado, Orciano, S. Costanzo, S. Agata, Pietragutola, Montecirignone, -S. Ippolito, Montalto, La Pergola, Cantiano, Fossombrone, -Sassocorbaro, Mercatello, Costaccioro, Mondavio, and Mondolfo, -besides numerous churches which he certainly planned for Federigo. -The fortresses of Urbino have been estimated at nearly three hundred, -a number which must seem at once superfluous and incredible, but -for the entire change which the arts of war and defence were then -undergoing, consequent on a general introduction of artillery.[*159] -Federigo, perceiving the importance of strengthening his castles and -citadels against - - "The cannon-ball, opening with murderous crash - The way to blast and ruin," - -not only kept in active employment the most able engineer whom Italy -then possessed, but, according to that artist's testimony, by his own -experience and judicious suggestions, greatly facilitated the tasks -which he imposed upon Francesco di Giorgio. - -[Footnote *156: There is a predella picture by him at S. Domenico, -in Siena, and another in the Uffizi Gallery. He was the pupil of -Vecchietta.] - -[Footnote 157: See vol. I., pp. 147-50, 161-3; _Lettere Sanesi_, -III., p. 79; _Carteggio d'Artisti_, _passim_, I., pp. 255-316.] - -[Footnote *158: Cf. also BORGHESE & BANCHI, _Nuovi Documenti -per la Storia dell'Arte Senese_ (Siena, 1898).] - -[Footnote *159: On the fortresses of the Marche generally, see -GASPARI, _Fortezze Marchigiane e Umbre_, in _Arch. St. per -le Marche e per l'Umbria_, vol. III., p. 80 _et seq._] - -Nor was it his professional services alone which the Sienese artist -placed at his patron's disposal. The documents published by Gaye and -Promis show him accredited on various occasions as the Duke's envoy -to the government of his native city; and his _Liber de Architectura_ -is dedicated to Federigo, at whose request, probably, it was -composed. Vasari adds that he portrayed him both in painting and on -a medal; and, in return perhaps for these diversified labours, that -prince thus interceded for his admission into the magistracy of Siena. - - "Mighty and potent Lords and beloved Brethren; - - "I have here in my service Francesco di Giorgio, your - fellow-citizen and my most favourite architect, who desires - to be placed in your magnificent magistracy, as the - ambition of his genius, excellence, prudence, and worth. I - therefore pray your Highnesses that you will be pleased to - elect him thereto, and to admit him into the number of your - public men, which I shall regard as a special boon, as will - be more fully stated to you on my behalf by your mighty - ambassador. And your Lordships may be assured that were I - not convinced that only good, faithful, and useful service - is to be looked for from him, I should not propose him, nor - intercede in his favour. And nothing more gratifying could - I ever receive from your Lordships, to whom I offer and - commend myself. - - "From Durante, the 26th July, 1480. - - "FEDERICUS DUX URBINI AC DURANTIS COMES, et Regius - Capit. Gener., et S. Ro. Ecclesie Gonfalonierus."[160] - -[Footnote 160: MSS. in Public Library at Siena; printed in Bottari, -Lettere Pittoriche I. App. No. 36, and in Gualandi, Memorie -Artistiche.] - -Although this request was unsuccessful, so well was Francesco -appreciated at home, that on several occasions Duke Guidobaldo vainly -applied to the magistracy for his services. Yet he was frequently -employed in the duchy from 1484 to 1489, the palace at Gubbio -affording him partial employment. His military reputation being now -widely spread, he had commissions from various princes, especially -the sovereigns of Milan and Naples; but through these labours we need -not follow him. The time of his death is not known; he, however, -outlived most of the fortresses he had raised for Federigo, which -were dismantled by order of his son, on abandoning his state in -1502, a policy suggested by confident reliance on his subjects' -attachment, as the best guarantee of his eventual restoration. -Francesco's MSS., dispersed in various libraries, are described in -Promis's first volume. One of them, on architecture, transcribed for -Guidobaldo II., was presented by him to Emanuel Filibert, Duke of -Savoy, in 1568, and now ornaments the Royal Library at Turin. The -invention of that variety of bastion called in Italy _baluardo_, and -in Germany _bollwerk_, has been claimed for several engineers, among -whom are three names belonging to Urbino,--Duke Francesco Maria I., -Centogatti the painter, and Commandino the mathematician. Promis, in -the second volume of his work already quoted, disposes of all these -pretensions in favour of Francesco di Giorgio. His learned discussion -may be allowed to decide this point, to which little interest -now attaches, as well as the question of explosive mines for the -destruction of military defences. Such an application of gunpowder -had already been partially resorted to, but the Sienese engineer -first established its importance and methodised its application. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - - Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino--His son the immortal - Raffaele--Early influences on his mind--Paints at Perugia, - Citta di Castello, Siena, and Florence--His visits to - Urbino, and works there. - - -With GIOVANNI SANZI[*161] we have already made acquaintance -as an epic poet. The patient labour of the Abbe Pungeleoni, and -the critical acumen of Passavant, have amply refuted Malvasia's -spiteful, and Lanzi's careless but often quoted assertions, that -the father of Raffaele was an obscure potter, or, at best, an -indifferent artist, from whom his son could learn little.[162] Those -only who have traced out his pictures in the remote townships and -villages of his native duchy, and who estimate his works by coeval -productions, can appreciate his real merits. Giovanni Sanzi was of -a humble family in the village of Colbordolo, a few miles east of -Urbino, for whose fictitious ancestry of artists there has been -substituted by his painstaking but most puzzle-headed eulogist, a -pedigree of peasantry from the middle of the fourteenth century. The -son of one Sante, he assumed the patronymic Santi or Sanzi, which -was subsequently euphonised by Bembo for his son into Sanzio. His -grandfather Peruzuolo, after his losses by the Malatesta forays -already alluded to,[163] had sold the petty holdings he possessed at -Colbordolo, and removed his family to Urbino, where Sante became a -retail dealer in various wares, and where he seems to have died in -easy circumstances in 1485, nine years before his son. The inquiries -of Pungeleoni have failed to ascertain the time of Giovanni's birth, -but it was probably to these losses that the poet thus touchingly -alludes, in his dedication,[164] as the impulse under which he -became a painter:--"It would be tedious to relate the many straits -and headlong precipices through which I have steered my life since -fate devoured in flames my paternal nest, wherein was consumed all -our substance; but arriving at the age when perhaps inclination -would have led me to some more useful exercise of talent, of the -many lines by which I might have gained a living, I devoted myself -to the marvellous art of painting, which indeed (in addition to the -round of domestic cares, of all human concerns the most ceaseless -torment) imposes a burden heavy even to the shoulders of Atlas, -and in which distinguished profession I blush not to be enrolled." -Neither are we enabled to throw any light upon the lessons to which -Giovanni resorted for instruction in the calling which he thus, at -some sacrifice of material interests, had adopted. The catalogue of -contemporary artificers introduced into his Chronicle, including -all that was eminent from Gentile da Fabriano to Leonardo da Vinci, -shows a most extensive acquaintance with their respective styles, as -well as their names.[165] Mantegna is one of them whom he specially -extols; there is, however, no similarity between their productions. -Yet, though we know nothing of Sanzi's artistic education, the -works which Nelli, Gentile da Fabriano, and Piero della Francesca -left in Urbino must have influenced his early impressions; and it -is singular that nothing is said by them of these, and others who -painted in the duchy, beyond the passing notice bestowed with little -discrimination on all his contemporaries. The marked exclusion -from this list of Justus of Ghent is plausibly conjectured by -Passavant to indicate a professional jealousy of one who treasured -as his secret the so-called oil painting brought by him from -Flanders, and certainly never attained by Giovanni. Sanzi's manner -partakes generally of the Umbrian character,--grave, reflective, -self-possessed, without aiming at dramatic effect or artificial -embellishment, yet not deficient in variety, or graceful expression. -More severe than Perugino, he approaches the serious figures of -Melozzo da Forli, but subdues their naturalism by an infusion of -devotional sincerity and simple feeling. He is partial to slender -forms and delicately drawn feet and hands, but the contours are dark -and hard, the flesh-tints dull and heavy, tending to cold gray in the -shadows, and generally deficient in middle tints and reflections. -His female faces are oval, often of a dusky complexion, and their -foreheads singularly full. In the nude, he was in advance of his -age, and in landscape he attained great proficiency. Pungileone -enumerates about twenty of his pictures, many of them still in their -original sites, and exhibiting considerable inequality of merit. -But his _capo-d'opera_, and one of the most important monuments of -Umbrian art, is the fresco in the Tiranni chapel, at S. Domenico -of Cagli. In the recess over the altar is the Madonna, enthroned -between two angels, in one of whom is understood to be portrayed -the young Raffaele, then a child of eight or nine years old. At the -sides stand Saints Peter, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, and -John Baptist. On the lunette above, Christ has just emerged from his -tomb in the mountain rock: a glorious Deity, the conqueror of death, -he bears in his left hand the banner of salvation, while his right -is raised to bless a redeemed world, and scattered around lie six -guards asleep, foreshortened in various and difficult attitudes. The -vaulted roof displays a choir of angelic children, sounding their -instruments and chanting songs of glory to the Saviour, who occupies -its centre, holding the book of life: and on the external angles -are small medallions of the Annunciation. There is, perhaps, no -contemporary painting superior to this in grandeur of composition and -stately pose of the figures; nor is it less admirable for novelty of -composition and variety and ease of movement. The design is at once -correct and flowing, and the expression, though fervid, oversteps not -truth and nature. Passavant well observes that the breadth, vigour, -and dexterous treatment of this painting proved its author to have -been well practised in fresco, although but one other such work of -his has escaped destruction or whitewash. In his house at Urbino, -there is a small mural painting, removed many years since from the -ground-floor to the first story, which tradition fondly claims as a -boyish production of Raffaele, but which Passavant ascribes to Sanzi, -conjecturing it to represent his wife and child. It is impossible to -pronounce a satisfactory judgment as to the master, from the load of -over-painting in oil. Though called a Madonna and Child, it seems -rather a gentle mother, who, having hushed her babe to sleep upon -her knee, reads from the breviary on a stand by her seat, and the -composition and attitudes present a charming naivete and natural -expression. Connoisseurs agree in rejecting its claims as a work of -Raffaele; nor does it quite resemble his father's usual type, though -it is difficult to substitute any more plausible theory for the -conclusion of Passavant. The reader may form his own judgment from -the accompanying outline, bearing in mind that much of the drapery -belongs to the pencil of a merciless restorer. - -[Footnote *161: See works quoted p. 138, note *1 _supra_.] - -[Footnote 162: _Elogio Storico di Giovanni Santi_; Rafael von Urbino. -The few facts of importance which the Abbe's microscopic researches -have ascertained are scarcely extricable from the confusion that -prevails in his eulogy and its accompanying, or rather darkening, -notes. The catalogue of Sanzi's works is useful to travellers, though -sadly deficient in judicious criticism. The good Padre was more able -to appreciate a mouldering MS. than a fine painting.] - -[Footnote 163: See vol. I., p. 94.] - -[Footnote 164: See it already described at p. 138.] - -[Footnote 165: See Appendix III.] - -[Illustration: Rafaello Sanzi di Anni Sei nato il di 6 apr. 1483 -Sanzi Padre dipinse - -_Gio. Sanzi pinx._ _L. Ceroni sculp._ - -RAPHAEL, AGED SIX YEARS - -_From a picture once in the possession of James Dennistoun_] - - * * * * * - -Such was the father to whom there was born at Urbino, on the 6th of -April, 1483,[*166] a son RAFFAELE[167]; the superiority of -whose qualities to those of preceding artists, and to ordinary men, -has been acknowledged in several languages by the epithet "divine." -Although ever the object of pride and popularity to all Italy, the -incidents of his life have, until of late years, been comparatively -neglected, and more ample justice has been rendered to his fame by -ultramontane than by native biographers. Vasari's narrative, though -compiled with more than his usual pains, and lavish in laudatory -epithets, is far from satisfactory. Its author was the partial -historian of a rival school, the favourite pupil of its jealous head. -As a Florentine, moreover, he was bound by Italian usage to keep in -shadow the merits of all "foreign" competitors and teachers. Raffaele -he never saw, whose best pupils had left Rome ere Vasari visited the -eternal city: with his Apennine home, its records and memorials, the -latter had probably no personal acquaintance. While, therefore, we -own our obligations to the writer of Arezzo for many important facts -and valuable criticisms, we feel surprised that during above two -centuries no attempt was made to supplement his obvious deficiencies. - -[Footnote *166: The works on Raphael would fill a library. In -addition to the usual sources of information, see-- - -BRANCA, _L'ingegno l'arte e l'amore di R. e la nevrosi del -suo genio_ (Firenze, 1895). - -CAMPORI, _Notizie ined. di R. tratte da docum. dell. -archivio palatino di Modena_ (Modena, 1862). - -CAMPORI, _Notizie e docum. per la vita di Giov. Santi e di -R._ (Modena, 1870). - -CROWE & CAVALCASELLE, _Raphael: His Life and Works_ (London, -1882-1885). - -FUA, _Raffaello e la Corte di Urbino_, in _Italia -Artistica_, An. IV., p. 178 _et seq._ - -MUNTZ, _R. sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps_ (Paris, 1881). - -MUNTZ, _Raphael: His Life, Works, and Times_. Edited by Sir -W. Armstrong (London, 1896). - -ALIPPI, _Un nuovo documento int. a R._ (Urbino, 1880). - -ROSSI, _La casa e lo stemma di R._, in _Arch. St. dell'arte_ -(Roma), An. I., fasc. I. - -ANON., _La Casa di R. in Roma_, in _Arte e Storia_ -(Firenze), An. VI., No. 17. - -RICCI, _La Gloria d'Urbino_ (Bologna, 1898). - -ANON., Notice of a portrait of R. in the collection of James -Dennistoun (Edinburgh, 1842).] - -[Footnote 167: We have already accounted for the change of his -surname to Sanzio, at p. 216. His Christian name, in modern Italian -Raffaello, seems to have been spelt by himself Raphaello and Raffaele. -*Raphael was born on Good Friday, 28 March, 1483.] - -[Illustration: _Anderson_ - -RAPHAEL - -_After the portrait by himself in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence_] - -Another meagre life of Raffaele, composed soon after his death, and -upon which Vasari seems to have drawn largely, was published by -Comolli in 1790, from an anonymous MS. - -It may be well to preface these observations by borrowing a passage -of equal aptness and eloquence from an able review of Passavant's -work.[168] - -[Footnote 168: _British and Foreign Review_, vol. XIII., p. 248.] - -"We may doubt whether in the whole range of modern history, or -within the compass of modern Europe, one moment or one spot could -be found more singularly propitious than those which glory in -Raffaele's birth. He was happy in his parentage and in his patrons, -in his master and in his pupils, in his friends and in his rivals: -the first misfortune of his life was its rapid and untimely close. -He was late enough to profit by the example, early enough to feel -the living influence of four of the greatest masters of his art, of -Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Giorgione, and Fra Bartolomeo. The -art of painting in oil had been introduced into Italy barely half a -century before his birth; its technical difficulties were already -mastered, but it still awaited a master's hand to develop its latent -capabilities. His short life included the Augustan age of papal Rome, -the age of its splendour and magnificence, if not of its power, and -he died almost before the far-off sound of the rising storm had -broken the religious calm, or foretold the coming miseries of Italy. -The two pontiffs whom he served out-shone the most illustrious of -their predecessors in their luxurious tastes and lavish patronage -of the fine arts; and these arts still served the Church, not only -with the grateful zeal of favoured children, but with the earnest -devotion of undoubting faith.... In the age of Raffaele, while the -rich and often graceful legends of the Catholic mythology still -retained their ancient hold on the popular belief, the growing taste -among the learned of the day for the literature and philosophy of -ancient Greece had done much, by softening their early rudeness ere -it chilled their early feeling, to mould them to the higher purposes -of art. Christian art too, relinquishing at last her long attachment -to traditional types and conventional treatment, was willing to -exchange a fruitless opposition to the graces and beauties of ancient -art, for a bold attempt to enlist them in her service." - -In truth, when we examine the character and the times of those men -who have left the stamp of their genius most deeply on the mind or -destinies of mankind, we generally find a providential adaptation -of the one to the other. So was it with the greatest masters of -art. Had Michael Angelo appeared a century sooner, he would have -found the public unprepared, by a gradual advance of naturalism, -for the revolution which he was destined to bring about. They would -have seen in him the terrible, without perceiving how much truth -accompanied it. Deprived of the sympathy and encouragement which no -wayward spirit ever more demanded, he would have failed to achieve -the marvellous, and might have perhaps scarcely risen above the -monstrous. Leonardo da Vinci could, in any epoch, have given sweet or -intellectual qualities to beautifully moulded features, but instead -of enlightening the world upon the theory and practice of his art, -and developing the infant powers of mathematical engineering, he -might in an earlier age have been an alchymist, in a later one the -improver of spinning-jennies. Titian, who would have been cramped by -the lessons of a Crivelli, grew to manhood ere the league of Cambray -had curbed the golden coursers of St. Mark's; and thus he formed -his beau-ideal of noble bearing ere the subjects for his pencil had -ceased to be the arbiters of Italy, the merchant-princes of the -world. A mind such as Raffaele's, would in all circumstances have -found or created materials of beauty. He might have been the purest -of devotional painters in the days of Giotto, a reformer of corrupted -taste in those of Bernini; but, placed on the confines of the old -manner and the new, it was his proud distinction to perfect them both. - -Our antecedent remarks on the Umbrian masters have afforded us data -for ascertaining the state of painting in the duchy at the advent -of Raffaele. There were, indeed, few pictures within its bounds -upon which the youthful aspirant might form an exalted style, but -in his father he possessed an instructor competent to point out -all that was worthy of study among contemporary limners, as well -as to initiate him in the mechanism of his profession.[169] Too -early was he deprived of this advantage,[*170] but not before he -had been the companion of his parent's labours. Whilst we refuse to -even his precocious genius the credit of working upon the fresco at -Cagli,[171] the introduction of his portrait into it proves that he -witnessed its progress. It was perhaps on similar opportunities that -he imbibed, before the beautiful Madonnas of Romita and Forano, those -purely devotional inspirations which are believed to have influenced -his earlier and happier creations.[172] - -[Footnote 169: See Appendix IV.] - -[Footnote *170: Giovanni died when Raphael was eleven, in 1494.] - -[Footnote 171: See above, p. 218.] - -[Footnote 172: See above, p. 195-6.] - -With a mind thus prepared, and with the encouraging example of the -Feltrian court, where talent and genius were sure passports to -patronage and distinction, he was sent to study at Perugia soon after -his father's death. This bereavement, which clouded his domestic -peace not less than his artistic prospects, occurred in 1494, and -was immediately followed by the loss of his maternal grandfather -and grandmother, leaving him in the hands of a selfish and litigious -stepmother. At this juncture, his guardian and paternal uncle -Bartolomeo judiciously selected as a master for him Pietro Vannucci, -called Perugino,[*173] the tender melancholy of whose candid and -unimpassioned countenances contradict Vasari's wanton libels on -his fair name, not less than a motto on his self-limned portrait, -first noted by Mr. Ruskin, which indicates his belief that the fear -of God is the foundation of artistic excellence.[*174] Whatever -difference of opinion regarding the merits of that painter may have -originated in the occasional inequality of the works attributed to -him, no contemporary sent forth more scholars of excellence, or so -faithfully maintained the integrity of Christian sentiment against -ever increasing innovations. Unfortunately we are possessed of no -authentic particulars regarding the interval which young Sanzio spent -in a studio so congenial to his nature, or the paintings in which -he had a hand; and thus those years most important to the formation -of his character and style are a blank in his biography.[*175] At -Perugia and elsewhere there are a few devotional pictures ascribed -to him, by tradition or as signed with his initials; but even were -their authenticity less doubtful, their insignificance and entire -conformity to the type of Perugino would almost remove them from -criticism. The admitted fact that Pinturicchio, a man of high genius, -and about thirty years his senior, had recourse to the beardless -Raffaele for designs, when employed to paint the cathedral-library -at Siena, establishes thus early the two leading features of his -after life, supereminent ability and conciliatory manners; and two -of these drawings remain to prove how superior were the conceptions -of the boy, to the execution of his matured comrade, excellent as -that beyond all question is. He probably attended Perugino to Fano -in 1497, when painting those lovely altar-pieces in S. Maria Nuova, -which yield to no other production of his placid and expressive -pencil, although we can scarcely accept a tradition which ascribes -to the pupil some Madonna groups in the predella, upon the ground of -their excelling his master's capacity. - -[Footnote *173: This is not so. The first master of Raphael was -Timoteo Viti, who, having left home in 1490 to enter Francia's -workshop, returned to Urbino in April, 1495. Timoteo was then -twenty-six years old. There is a beautiful portrait of him by himself -in the British Museum. The first undoubted work of Raphael, probably -painted while he was a pupil of Timoteo, is the _Vision of a Knight_, -in the National Gallery. Having served his apprenticeship to Timoteo, -Raphael entered the most famous workshop in Umbria--one of a crowd of -pupils--that of Perugino.] - -[Footnote *174: The suggestion that Perugino was an atheist, and died -without the Sacraments of the Church, rests on no good foundation.] - -[Footnote *175: The first independent picture which he painted after -coming to Perugia was the _Crucifixion_, now in the possession of Mr. -Ludwig Mond. This was painted in 1501 or early in 1502, because the -Vitelli for whom it was painted were driven out of Citta di Castello -in the latter year. I know nothing of any return to Urbino in 1499. -He went back in 1504.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -MADONNA AND CHILD - -_After the picture by Giovanni Santi, in the Pinacoteca of Urbino_] - -Raffaele is supposed to have returned in 1499 to a home where he -found few attractions. The moment was unpropitious for attracting -the ducal patronage. Guidobaldo had retired from the Bibbiena -campaign invalided and dispirited; the descent of French armies upon -Italy banished from his thoughts the congenial pursuits of peace, -and he repaired to Venice to take part in the coming strife. There -was little inducement for the young Sanzio to establish himself -at the board of an ungracious stepmother, so he set forth to try -his fortunes at the neighbouring capital of Vitelli, and Citta di -Castello was enriched by the first works undertaken on his own -account. One of these, S. Nicolo di Tolentino crowned by the Madonna, -has disappeared in the rapine of the French revolutionary invasion; -but another altar-picture of the Crucifixion, lately obtained -from the Fesch Gallery by Lord Ward, enables us to appreciate -this artist's extraordinary promise. But for the name RAPHAEL -URBINAS, this would probably be ranked with the works of -Perugino in which he was assisted by his pupil; and such as best -know the paintings of that master at his happiest moment, can most -appreciate the compliment of classing with them the unaided though -imitative efforts of a lad of seventeen. The Sposalizio of the -Madonna, abstracted from Citta di Castello by the French, and now at -Milan, is of four years later date, being marked 1504; but it was -little more than a repetition of a similar work of his master, which, -during the same havoc, was carried across the Alps, and remains at -Caen in Normandy.[*176] The only specimen of his pencil still in the -city which was the cradle of his fame, is a processional standard of -the _confraternita de' giustiziati_ in Trinity Church, representing -on its two sides the Trinity with Christ on the Cross, and the -Creation of Eve.[*177] Though a mere wreck, it shows a novelty of -composition and a delicacy of execution already distinguishing him -from the manner of Perugino. - -[Footnote *176: This work is a copy of Raphael's picture by Lo -Spagna. Cf. BERENSON, _The Study and Criticism of Italian -Art_, vol. II., p. 1-22.] - -[Footnote *177: The only work of Raphael's left in Perugia is the -fresco of Christ and Saints, in St. Severo, 1505.] - -The fame of these maiden efforts spread along the valley of the -Tiber, and the novice was soon recalled to Perugia, to paint for the -Oddi family an altar-piece of the Coronation of the Madonna, now with -its predella in the Vatican Gallery. In rich and varied composition, -it excels all antecedent representations of this favourite Umbrian -theme, and establishes a decided advance beyond the standard of -beauty adopted by Perugino. Now, too, he began his wonderful series -of small devotional pictures, embodying the Madonna in conceptions of -beauty which none other but the sainted limner of Fiesole has ever -approached. On this his first emancipation from Umbria, he became -acquainted with the classicism and naturalism then revolutionising -art. At Siena, his perception of beauty was gratified by an exquisite -Grecian statuary group of the Graces, which he transferred to his -tablets, and afterwards reproduced in a picture. Tempted by the -proximity of Florence, he seems to have then glanced at, rather -than examined, those new elements which Masaccio and Verocchio had -introduced, and which a host of able masters were enthusiastically -developing.[178] - -[Footnote 178: The frequent contradictions of the many writers upon -Raffaele throw a doubt upon most of his movements. Our rapid sketch -has been compiled after a careful comparison of authorities, which -we cannot stay to criticise or reconcile. *In 1504 Raphael went to -Florence. The assertion that he accompanied Pinturicchio to Siena -seems a mere invention of Sienese municipal vanity.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -ECCE HOMO - -_From the picture by Giovanni Santi in the Palazzo Ducale, Urbino_] - -The miserable state of his native duchy, as well as his many -professional engagements, fully accounts for his prolonged absence -from it; but a better state of things was now restored, of which -he hastened to avail himself. He reached Urbino in 1504, before -midsummer of which year, the Duke had returned to enjoy a tranquil -home, for the first time during above two years. The visit was well -timed, and fraught with important results to the young painter, for, -besides sharing his sovereign's patronage, he became known to his -sister, widow of the Lord Prefect, and to her son, who was about that -time formally adopted as the future Lord of Urbino. The accession of -Julius II., uncle to this youth, and his partiality to art, opened -up a wide field of promise to one thus favourably introduced to the -Pope's nearest relatives. But these dazzling prospects, and the -charms of a cultivated court, were postponed to that professional -improvement for which he thirsted; and, after executing some minor -commissions for Guidobaldo, the young Sanzio hastened back to -the banks of the Arno, where the muse of painting was rewarding -the worship of her ardent and talented votaries with revelations -of high art rarely before or since vouchsafed. The favour he had -already earned from the Prefectress is testified by the following -recommendation, which he received from her on setting out. - - "To the magnificent and lofty Lord, regarded with - filial respect, the Lord Gonfaloniere of Justice of the - distinguished republic of Florence.[179] - - "Magnificent and lofty Lord, respected as a father! The - bearer hereof will be Raffaele, painter of Urbino, who, - having a fine genius for his profession, has resolved to - stay some time at Florence for study. And knowing his - father to be very talented, and to possess my particular - regard, and the son to be a judicious and amiable youth, I - in every way love him greatly, and desire his attainment - in good proficiency. I therefore recommend him to your - Lordship, in the strongest manner possible, praying you, - as you love me, that you will please to afford him every - assistance and favour that he may chance to require; and - whatever such aids and obligations he may receive from - your Lordship, I shall esteem as bestowed on myself, and - as meriting my special gratitude. I commend myself to your - Lordship. - - "From Urbino, 1st October, 1504. - - "JOANNA FELTRIA DE RUVERE, Ducissa Sorae et Urbis - Prefectissa." - -[Footnote 179: Pietro Sodarini, Gonfaloniere for life. The original -in Latin is printed in BOTTARI'S _Lettere sulla Pittura_, -I., 1. A loose expression might lead to the conclusion that Giovanni -Sanzi was still alive, though he died in 1494; and on the strength of -it, Rosini raises doubts as to the authenticity of the letter, or the -identity of the painter, in which we cannot join.] - -This letter probably obtained him more civility than substantial -benefit; as his various Florentine works attributed to this period -were commissioned by private parties. Among these was Taddeo Taddei, -correspondent of Bembo, and a well known friend of letters, for whom -he painted the Madonna del Cardellino and another Holy Family, and of -whose hospitalities and many favours he expresses a deep sense, in -recommending him to his uncle's good offices at Urbino, whither the -Florentine probably repaired to visit its famed court. Other kind -friends and patrons were Lorenzo Nasi and Angelo Doni; but his chief -object seems to have been the society and instructions of the best -painters, which the acquaintance of his early master Perugino with -Florence, as well as his own winning manners, must have facilitated. -Leonardo da Vinci, whom Giovanni Sanzi couples with Perugino, as - - "Two youths of equal years and equal love," - -was then at the height of his fame, and in direct competition with -Michael Angelo, the eventual rival of Raffaele, whose energetic -genius was already striding forward on his ambitious career. -Fra Bartolomeo was adapting their new and advanced style to the -devotional feeling which hung around his cloister in the frescoes -of Beato Angelico. Domenico Ghirlandaio was dead, but his mantle -had fallen on a son Ridolfo, whom the young Sanzio selected as -his favourite associate, to the mutual advantage of both. In such -companionship did Raffaele study the grand creations of preceding -painters; borrowing from them, or from living artists, ideas and -expedients which his fertile genius reproduced with original -embellishments. The influence of Da Vinci may be distinctly detected -on some of his Madonnas and portraits of this period,--that of the -Dominican monk on others, and on his general colouring; but the -fresco of the former at S. Onofrio, and many works of the latter, -prove that they reciprocated the obligation, by freely adopting -his design. Early prepossessions as yet kept him exempt from the -contagion of mythological compositions; but in portraiture he found -a new and interesting field, and several admirable heads, produced -at Florence, attest his great success, as a naturalist of the most -elevated caste. - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -S. SEBASTIAN - -_After the picture by Timoteo Viti in the Palazzo Ducale, Urbino_] - -In an aesthetic view, the paintings and drawings executed by Raffaele -at Florence are of infinite importance, but it would lead us much too -far to examine the progressive development and naturalist tendencies -which they display. We have not attempted to separate his various -residences there from 1504 to 1508; for during these three years and -a half, that city may be regarded as his head-quarters, varied by -visits to Perugia, Bologna, and Urbino, which we shall now notice. -In 1505, he was summoned to the first of these cities to execute -three altar-pictures; one of which, at Blenheim, has been beautifully -engraved by Gruner[*180]; another adorns the Museo Borbonico; the -third, representing the coronation of the Madonna, is in the Vatican. -Of the last commission some curious particulars are preserved. -The nuns of Monte Luce having selected the young Sanzio, on the -report of several citizens and reverend fathers, who had seen his -performances, agreed to give him for the picture 120 golden ducats, -and to another artist, Berto, 80 more for the carved framework and -cornice, including three predella subjects; 30 ducats of the price -being paid in advance. Raffaele's impatience to return to his studies -soon carried him again to Florence, and a new contract for execution -of the work was made in 1516; but death had removed both the abbess -and the artist ere it was fulfilled, and ten years more elapsed -before the picture was terminated by his pupils. The earliest attempt -of Raffaele upon fresco, in the church of S. Severo, at Perugia, -is dated 1505; its chief interest arises from being a first and -incompleted idea of the grand composition which, originating with -Orcagna and Fra Angelico, he developed in the Disputa of the Vatican -Stanze. Two years later he revisited Perugia, to paint for the -Baglioni one of his noblest and most elaborate altar-pictures, which, -indeed, may be regarded as his first important dramatic composition. -Its subject was the Entombment; the many extant sketches for which, -prove the care exercised upon the cartoon, which he prepared at -Florence. It is now the chef-d'oeuvre of the Borghese Gallery, and -its beautifully pure predella is preserved in the Vatican. The -same subject was treated by Perugino, in, perhaps, the finest of his -panel pictures, which now ornaments the Pitti Gallery. - -[Footnote *180: Now in the National Gallery.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -MARGHERITA "LA FORNARINA" - -_After the picture by Raphael called La Donna Velata in the Pitti -Gallery, Florence_] - -We shall not discuss whether Raffaele's acquaintance with Francia -was formed by correspondence, or during a visit to Bologna, but -one letter addressed by him to that charming artist is preserved, -referring to much previous intercourse, and to a friendly interchange -of drawings, and of their respective portraits. Their works, at all -events, were mutually well known to each other, partly no doubt -through Timoteo Viti, the pupil of both. It is worthy of note that -Sanzio, writing to this friend after quitting Florence, the hotbed of -classicism and naturalism, commends his Madonnas as "unsurpassed in -beauty, in devotion, or in execution," thus showing the comparative -value he attached to these respective excellences, among which -"truth to nature," the favourite test of Vasari and later critics, -has no place; and it is only when he comes to speak of the artist's -own portrait, that he lauds it as "most beautiful, and life-like -even to deception." It was this common sentiment that linked these -master-minds: Raffaele was in the main a devotional painter, Francia -was almost exclusively so. - -The year 1506 was momentous to Urbino. In the spring Guidobaldo -returned, after a long absence from his capital, occasioned by -pressing solicitations of his brother-in-law the Pope, that he would -remain near him. The following autumn brought the Pontiff in person -to visit his relation, at whose court his Holiness spent four days. -During part of this year, Raffaele is supposed by Passavant to have -resided in his native city, and possibly he may there have been -presented to Julius; at all events he must have become known to -several members of the polished circle at Urbino, whose acquaintance -ere long proved useful and honourable to him at Rome, and who -were able to forward his interests, both with that Pope and his -successor. Such were Giuliano de' Medici, Castiglione, Bembo, and the -Cardinal Bibbiena, while the high tone of intellect and taste, which -prevailed in that select society, was calculated to improve as well -as gratify his noble nature. Nor was his pencil idle in the Duke's -service. Our information does not enable us absolutely to decide what -of his Urbino works were produced on this occasion, and which of them -are referable to his former visit, but we willingly adopt Passavant's -classification of the pictures he is supposed to have painted for -Guidobaldo, the first three being ascribed by that author to the year -1504. - -1. Christ in the Garden, with three disciples sleeping in the -distance, No. VIII. of Passavant's Engravings, a Peruginesque -picture, "of miniature finish" as described by Vasari, before whose -time it had passed to the Camaldolese Convent at Urbino, having been -gifted by Duchess Leonora to two members of that fraternity at her -son's baptism. Long subsequently, a prior of the Gabrielli is said -to have alienated it to his own family; and in 1844 it was purchased -from the Roman prince of that name by Mr. William Coninghame, at the -sale of whose interesting collection in 1849, it was acquired by Mr. -Fuller Maitland of Stansted in Essex. - -2. and 3. Two small pictures which, unless commissioned as _ex voto_ -offerings, belong rather to the class of romantic than devotional -compositions. They represent St. George and St. Michael subduing -their respective monsters, allegories of their triumphs over sin. The -former of these is supposed to have been executed for Guidobaldo, and -presented by him to the French King, by whom the latter was ordered -as its companion. Both remain in the Louvre. - -4. Another St. George slaying the Dragon with a lance, while the -former one uses a sword. This picture, signed on the horse trappings -RAPHELLO V., is of especial interest to our countrymen, -the Knight's knee being encircled by the Garter of England, as patron -of that order: it was painted by the Duke's command in commemoration -of his receiving this distinction; and in all probability was -carried as a present to Henry VII. by Castiglione, in 1506, when -he went to London as proxy at his master's installation. There it -graced the palace of the Tudors and Stuarts until sold for L150 by -the Commonwealth to Lord Pembroke. It was subsequently purchased -by Catherine of Russia from the Crozat Collection, in which it is -engraved. - -[Illustration: _Anderson_ - -MARGHERITA LA FORNARINA - -_After the spoiled picture by Raphael in the Galleria Barberini in -Rome_] - -5. and 6. Two easel pictures of the Madonna, stated by Vasari to have -been commissioned for the Duke of Urbino, are traced by Passavant -to the Imperial Gallery at St. Petersburg, and to M. Nieuwenhuys of -Brussels. - -7. The portrait of Raffaele by himself, now in the Florence Gallery, -is understood to have been executed at Urbino in 1506, whence it was -carried to Rome by Federigo Zucchero, and placed in the academy of -St. Luke, until obtained thence by the influence and gold of Cardinal -Lorenzo de' Medici. Passavant considers that the hair and eyes have -been darkened by restorations, and corrects a mistake of the Canonico -Crespi, who has occasioned some confusion by mistaking an old copy of -it still in the Albani Palace at Urbino for a fresco, and by writing -to Bottari in 1760 as if he had there discovered an original likeness -of Sanzio.[*181] - -[Footnote *181: None of these pictures save the last seems to be from -Raphael's hand.] - -The Holy Family and St. John in the Ellesmere Collection, called the -Madonna del Passeggio, is alleged to have been presented by a duke of -Urbino to Philip II., and by him to the Emperor. Thence it is traced -through Queen Christina to the Odescalchi and Orleans Galleries. -Passavant appears to consider the Penshanger Madonna to have also -been painted in the duchy. To the same period are ascribed missing -portraits by Sanzio of Duke Guidobaldo I. and his Duchess, as well -as of Bembo, Giuliano de' Medici, and others of their court. - -Though somewhat out of chronological order, we may here mention -the portrait of a duke of Urbino, with those of Julius II., and a -Magdalene, all said to have been from his easel, and to have belonged -to the ducal family, particulars of which will be found in the list -of Urbino pictures in the Appendix to our third volume. It, however, -seems doubtful if he ever did portray either of his successive -legitimate sovereigns; but a half-length of Lorenzo de' Medici, the -usurping Duke, was purchased in Florence by the late M. Fabre about -twenty-five years ago, and is now in the museum bequeathed by him to -Montpellier. It is ascribed to Raffaele, and there is a good copy of -it in the hall of Baroccio at the Uffizi of Florence. We have not -connected any other works of his with Urbino, which, after the visit -of 1506, he was not destined again to see. - -Writing from Florence to his maternal uncle, on the 21st of April, -1508, he expresses his regrets for the recent death of Guidobaldo, in -brief and somewhat common-place terms; and, passing to other matters, -begs that the Duke's nephew and heir may be requested to recommend -by letter his services to the Gonfaloniere, for employment on some -frescoes then in contemplation at Florence. He desires that the -favour may be asked in his own name, as essentially advantageous to -his views, specially commending himself to the young Prefect as an -old servant and follower. Yet it would seem that he had already made -for himself a better title to such patronage, in a mural painting of -the Last Supper in the refectory of S. Onofrio. The recent discovery -of this precious work, after centuries of oblivion, restores to him -the credit of his most important Tuscan production, and adds another -to the many attractions of Florence.[*182] - -[Footnote *182: This is not by Raphael.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - - Raffaele is called to Rome, and employed upon the - Stanze--His frescoes there--His other works--Change in his - manner--Compared with Michael Angelo--His death, character, - and style. - - -The letter alluded to at the close of our preceding chapter may be -regarded as the matured result of Raffaele's careful study of the -Tuscan masters, and an index of his resolution to rival the admired -cartoons which had recently placed Da Vinci and Buonarroti at the -head of living artists. Another scene was, however, reserved for his -triumphs. Julius II. had begun to construct the metropolitan church -and palace of Christendom with an energy befitting his character and -the undertaking. Michael Angelo and Bramante were already in his -service, and he sought to enlist talent and genius from all quarters -for this object. The friendly influence of the ducal family, the -recommendations of Bramante, or his own extending fame, possibly an -acquaintance formed with him at Urbino in 1506, may have suggested -Raffaele as a worthy associate in the work. On the Pope's summons -he abandoned his projects at Florence early in the autumn of 1508, -and, leaving several pictures to be finished by his worthy follower -Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, - - "Repaired - To the great city, an emporium then - Of golden expectations, and receiving - Freights every day from a new world of hope." - -The tower of Borgia, named from Alexander VI., was at that period -the pontifical residence, and on its decoration the best artists -had been successfully employed. The lower story was terminated under -Alexander by Pinturicchio and his pupils; the upper had already -engaged the hands of Piero della Francesca, Signorelli, and Perugino, -but several of its compartments remained unpainted. One of these -was assigned to Raffaele, and so gratifying was his success that -the Pope, with headlong and unhappy haste, ordered all the finished -frescoes of the upper suite to be demolished, and the four rooms of -which it consisted to be delivered over to his unfettered discretion. -This lamentable precipitancy effaced many works of inestimable -importance to art, and condemned the noblest productions of pictorial -genius to walls in every respect ill-adapted for their reception. -The frescoes now occupying these _stanze_ are to Italian painting -what the Divina Commedia of Dante is to Italian poetry: the lovers -of both, in despair of imitating their excellences, have expended -their enthusiastic admiration in volumes of illustrative criticism. -These compositions of Raffaele form a magnificent epic in which -are strikingly interwoven the endowments of human intellect, the -doctrines of Catholic faith, and the incidents of ecclesiastical -history, all as conducing to the triumphs of the Christian church. - -The four rooms may be regarded as four books, each subdivided -into as many themes or cantos. In the Camera della Segnatura, the -ceiling presents allegorical figures of Poetry, Jurisprudence, -Philosophy, and Theology, with a large composition on the side walls -corresponding to each. For Poetry we have Mount Parnassus, with -Apollo and the Muses on its laurel-clustered summit, surrounded by -the most famous bards and minstrels. Jurisprudence is a severely -simple group, consisting of Prudence, Temperance, and Fortitude, -the virtues by which justice is promoted on earth; while the -text-books of Roman and Canon law are issued by Justinian and -Gregory IX., in subsidiary panels. Philosophy is embodied in the -famous School of Athens, as it has been incorrectly named, where -fifty figures, attending a scholastic disputation between Plato -and Aristotle, include the noblest names of ancient science, the -selection of whom displays extraordinary knowledge of the history -of mind. Theology, generally called the Disputa del Sacramento, -is divided into two scenes. Seated in the heavens amid an angelic -choir, the Holy Trinity is surrounded by the Madonna, the Precursor, -and a glorified assemblage of patriarchs, prophets, and warriors of -the Old Testament; apostles, evangelists, and martyrs of the New -Dispensation. Below, the fathers of the Church and its most eminent -divines expound to an audience of distinguished personages the -mysteries of faith, which are symbolised by the Eucharist exposed -upon an elevated altar in token of man's redemption. - -The stanza called that of Heliodorus has on the roof four signal -manifestations of himself by the Almighty to the patriarchs. The -first mural compartment represents the holiest mystery of the Romish -faith established in the Miracle of Bolsena, whereby a doubting -priest was supernaturally convinced of the divine presence in -transubstantiation. Opposite is the miraculous deliverance from -prison of St. Peter, the founder of the Romish Church; and the -two corresponding subjects illustrate the power committed to his -successors for arresting the invasion of pagan force personified in -Attila, and for cleansing from the temple of Christ its sacrilegious -plunderers, with Heliodorus at their head. - -Having thus illustrated the divine origin of man's chief faculties, -and of ecclesiastical authority, Raffaele in the two remaining rooms -exchanged allegory for historical delineation. That called the Stanza -del Incendio shows us the Coronation of Charlemagne by Leo III., and -the justification of that Pontiff on oath in presence of the same -Emperor; the Victory of Leo IV. over the Saracens at Ostia, and his -supernaturally staying a conflagration which threatened the basilicon -of St. Peter,--a theme belonging rather to the category of the -second room. The ceiling here, having been executed by Perugino, and -reverently spared by Raffaele from the sweeping sentence of Julius, -has no immediate bearing upon these subjects, though full of fervid -feeling. - -The last and largest of the suite is called the Hall of Constantine, -whose religious history is there delineated in four leading scenes: -his Baptism, by St. Silvester; his Vision of the Cross before Battle; -his Victory over Maxentius at the Ponte Milvio; and his Donation of -Rome and its temporalities to the successors of St. Peter. The roof, -of posterior date and far inferior merit, has nothing to do with -Raffaele's creations. - -This meagre outline may indicate the leading theme of these the -grandest compositions of modern art; but to form an idea of their -difficulties, of the varied and profound knowledge they display, of -the many noble episodes they embrace, and of all the interesting -portraits they embody, demands no brief or light study, no ordinary -learning or accomplishment. Nor is it easy to appreciate their -technical merits or artistic beauties, vast as is their extent, with -baffling and insufficient cross-lights, and a surface considerably -impaired. Hence the general disappointment felt by casual and -superficial visitors, and the superior gratification afforded -by good engravings of the series. In these, and in the not less -perfect tapestry-cartoons which it is the privilege of our country -to possess, may be appreciated Raffaele's unity of composition, his -symmetrical and unostentatious design, his full contours and flowing -lines, and the earnest but unaffected sensibility which distinguishes -his transcendent works. - -That the whole sixteen mural paintings and two of the ceilings were -designed by Raffaele is beyond question; the portions executed by -himself, and those assigned to his pupils, are matter of keen -controversy, upon which we need not enter. It is, however, agreed -that the Camera della Segnatura, and half that of Heliodorus, belong -to the reign of Julius, whilst the Stanza del Incendio was painted -under Leo X., when Sanzio's manifold employments and commissions -obliged him to entrust too much to his scholars. Of the Sala di -Costantino only two figures, painted in oil as an experiment, had -been finished when premature death closed his career of glory. The -price allowed for each fresco seems to have been about 1200 ducats of -gold.[183] Theology, the earliest of the series, painted immediately -on his arrival at Rome, has most of the freshness and devotional -sentiment of his early genius and Umbrian education. It and the -Philosophy are most pregnant with abstruse scholarship, drawn in -part from the learned companionship of Duke Guidobaldo's court. The -glowing and harmonious colouring of the Heliodorus, and Miracle of -Bolsena fully equals any known production of Venetian art; and in the -Incendio, the Heliodorus, and the Battle of Maxentius, we have the -energy and vigour of Michael Angelo, without his exaggerations. In -all may be seen the vast stride he had made from the timid Cenacolo -at Florence, while his transition from Peruginesque hatching to a -full and free streak, and a bold handling, is particularly traceable -in the Disputa, which Passavant justly characterises as surpassing -every antecedent effort of pictorial art. - -[Footnote 183: FEA, _Notizie_, p. 9. Raffaele's own letter -of 1514 mentions that sum for each Stanza.] - -The death of Julius II. in 1513, eventually proved nowise detrimental -to Raffaele's advancement; for the new Pope not only followed out -those decorations which he found in progress at the Vatican, but soon -made new calls upon their artist, whose labours during the remaining -seven years of his short span appear almost beyond belief. Of the -Stanze, ten new subjects were composed, and several of them in part -executed by him in that time, besides the architecture and all the -elaborate decoration of the Loggie, the finished cartoons for twelve -or thirteen large tapestries, the decorations of the Farnesina, -Bibbiena, Lante, Madama, and Magliana villas, the frescoes of Sta. -Maria della Pace, the Chigi Chapel in Sta. Maria del Popolo, a -variety of altar and cabinet pictures, including his Madonnas of San -Sisto and del Pesce, the Sta. Cecilia, and, last but most glorious -of all, the Transfiguration; besides numerous portraits, and many -drawings for the burin of Marcantonio. Add to this a journey to -Florence in 1514, his architectural designs for several palaces there -and at Rome, a general superintendence of the antiquities in and -around the Eternal City, and the principal charge of the building of -St. Peter's, at a yearly salary of 300 scudi. - -The necessary results of thus over-taxing mind and body was -prejudicial to the quality of the works, and to the constitution -of their author. His paintings, left in a great measure to pupils, -often showed a hurried and inferior execution, ill compensated -by the broader treatment which he was forced to adopt. The -metropolitan fabric, itself an ample occupation for the highest -genius and constant industry of one man, languished under inadequate -superintendence. The delicate frame of Raffaele, exhausted by mental -fatigue, was incapable of resisting the first attack of disease. - -But brief and utterly imperfect as this sketch has hitherto been, we -must now greatly curtail it, and pass by many of his most glorious -undertakings, to touch upon one or two general views. - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -THE SPOSALIZIO - -_After the picture by Raphael, once in the Ducal Collection at -Urbino, now in the Brera, Milan_] - -The devotional influences of the Umbrian school, from which Raffaele -must have imbibed his youthful impressions, were reproduced in his -juvenile works under forms of loveliness new to that mountain land. -His visits to Florence offered fresh inspirations, and taught him -to ingraft upon the conventionalities of Christian art, whatever -his keen sense of beauty could cull from the creations of beneficent -Nature. But he painted her and all her works, - - "Not as they are, but as they ought to be;" - -nothing mean or debasing found a place in his inventions, and homely -accessories were either refined or thrown into shade. On the banks of -the Arno he became acquainted with another class of elegant forms, -wherein the ancients had developed a beau-ideal, faultless in its -external qualities, but alien to religious sentiment. The reaction -against paganism, which Savonarola's eloquence had effected in the -Tuscan capital, contributed perhaps to save Raffaele from this snare; -but at the court of Rome, and more especially under the Medicean -Leo, the temptation became too strong. Before the twofold seduction -of incarnate beauty and classic forms, the types of his pristine -admiration were gradually effaced, and his fidelity to them waxed -faint. After elevating Christian painting to its culminating point, -he lent himself unwittingly to its degradation, by selecting depraved -loveliness equally for a Madonna or a Venus, by designing from it -indiscriminately a Galatea or a saint. True, that what he lost in -purity is, in the opinion of many, more than counterbalanced by his -progress towards breadth and vigour; but without entering upon so -wide an element of controversy, we may note the fact that, though -all his pupils boldly followed that "new manner," their career was -one of rapid descent, and that those who departed most widely from -their master's purest conceptions have obtained least admiration from -posterity. - -Yet we must in a great measure acquit Raffaele of participating in -the corruption which he shrank from combating. No work of depraved -taste or immoral tendency has been brought home to his pencil, -though the dissolute habits of his age readily applauded such -libertinism in Giulio Romano, Titian, and Correggio. As to the -long current statement, that his premature death was a well-earned -result of vicious indulgences, the evidence, when sifted by -recent research, entitles him to at least a negative verdict. No -contemporary testimony gives the slightest countenance to the charge. -It originated in a vague and random sentence of a commentator upon -Ariosto, wherein four assertions out of six are palpably unfounded, -and its gossiping character procured it a too ready admission from -Vasari. The pure character of his works meets it with an effectual -contradiction, on which those who best understand physiological -conformation will most implicitly rely:-- - - "Love is too earthly, sensual for his dream; - He looks beyond it with his spirit eyes." - -Another allegation remains to be examined, more detrimental to the -artist, though less so to the man. During his progress through -various styles, and in the composition of many works, Raffaele is -said to have freely appropriated the ideas of others. There can -scarcely be a doubt that his Graces were suggested by the antique -marble at Siena; that several noble conceptions were transferred by -him from the Carmine to the Vatican; that a group in the Incendio del -Borgo was borrowed from Virgil's Trojan epic; that the arabesques of -the Loggie were partly taken from the thermal corridors of Titus; -and that other still more curious resemblances have been detected -by an acute writer to whom we have already referred.[184] But such -appropriations were established by authoritative precedents, from -the conventionalities of Christian painting to the plagiarisms -of Michael Angelo. The right to repeat themselves or others was -recognised, though men of high genius rarely stooped to its absolute -exercise. Raffaele,--"always imitating, always original," if we -follow Sir Joshua's not unbiased strictures,--will accordingly be -found, on closer examination, to have adapted rather than adopted -the thoughts of others. Like the busy bee, culling sweets from every -flower, he separated the honey from the wax, and reproduced, in new -shapes and varied combinations, whatever of beauty he met with in -nature or art. We may add another dictum of Sir Joshua,--"his known -wealth was so great, that he might borrow where he pleased without -loss of credit." These considerations seem fairly applicable to the -influence exercised by Michael Angelo upon a few works of Sanzio. -But if not the canon of criticism must be impartially administered. -When the vigour of Buonarroti is adjudged to have been filched from -Signorelli, his stalwart anatomy acknowledged as the legacy of -Pollaiuolo; when Domenichino stands arraigned for transferring to -his chef-d'oeuvre, the communion of St. Jerome, the exact motive -and theme of his master, Ludovico Caracci's canvas in the Pinacoteca -at Bologna, it will be time to admit Reynolds's proposition, that -"it is to Michael Angelo we owe even the existence of Raffaele, -and that to him Raffaele owes the grandeur of his style." Sanzio, -in truth, shrank not from competing with whatever he deemed worthy -of emulation. But his was a fair and friendly rivalry, however -little its spirit was understood or reciprocated by the wayward and -overbearing Florentine, whose charge against Raffaele and Bramante -of undermining him with Julius II., adduced in an idle letter, is -not only contradicted by the character of these great men, but it -is palpably improbable. To their influence, Buonarroti ascribes the -suspension of that Pontiff's tomb, regarding which we shall have -much to say in our fifty-third chapter. But as neither of them were -sculptors, and as the Florentine was not yet known to the Pope, -either as an architect or a painter, such jealousy would have been -absurd; whilst the taunt of Sanzio's owing all he knew of art to -Michael Angelo can only be regarded as the petty ebullition of a -notoriously wayward temper. The employment of the latter upon the -huge bronze statue of his Holiness at Bologna, was the real reason -for the interruption of the monument, which it was reserved for Duke -Francesco Maria I. to have completed. - -[Footnote 184: _Quarterly Review_, No. cxxxi. pp. 20, 25, 32, 42.] - -Between these great masters no parallel can be fairly drawn, and -had they wrought in the same town they would seldom have been -placed in rivalry. But belonging to different states, and heading -the antagonist schools of Rome and Florence, the sectional spirit -of Italy has placed them in contrast, and has adopted their names -as watchwords of local jealousy. In truth, Raffaele's advancement -in anatomical accuracy was a necessary consequence of the growing -naturalism of his time; and the improvement could not fail to -develop the breadth of his pencil, as well as to enlarge the sphere -of his compositions. The absolute amelioration of his works, after -he settled at Rome, was therefore inevitable from the spirit of -the age acting upon a genius not yet matured. That spirit Michael -Angelo exaggerated rather than embodied; and to the purer taste of -his rival many of his productions must have been beacons rather -than models. There is, indeed, some truth, with much malice, in the -sarcasm of Pietro Aretino, that the former painted porters, the -latter gentlemen. Induced, perhaps, by some such idle sneer, Raffaele -executed his Isaiah, to prove that the new manner was not beyond -his grasp; but this, his first, and fortunately his last work, in -which a direct imitation of the terrible Florentine is discernible, -is now the least admired of his mural paintings; and some portion -of its Michael Angelesque character has even been attributed to the -after-restorations of Daniele di Volterra. The Poetry in the Stanze -and the frescoes in the church of La Pace, which he has been supposed -to have borrowed from the same source, are traced by more recent -critics to works of Andrea l'Ingegno at Perugia and Assisi. After -these observations, it is scarcely requisite to notice the remark -of Vasari regarding the opportunity stealthily afforded to Raffaele -by Bramante for plagiarising from his rival's gigantic creations on -the roof of the Cappella Sistina. The casual manner in which the -allusion is made does not warrant its being taken up, as it has been, -in the light of a charge against the honour both of Sanzio and his -friend; and even had it been so intended by the Florentine, various -circumstances, besides the high character of those inculpated, are -sufficient to negative the charge. If Raffaele followed Buonarroti's -manner, it must be admitted that he alone did so without thereby -deteriorating his own. Nor ought we to forget that most critics by -whom this question is handled have merely repeated the loose views -of the biographer of Arezzo, whose great aim it was to prove that -the excellences of Sanzio were all borrowed from his Florentine -contemporaries. - -The parallel which suggests itself between these gifted -competitors[*185] has been thus stated with equal eloquence and -truth: "The genius of Michael Angelo differed from that of Raffaele -even more in kind than in degree; limited in its object, but intense -in its energy, it gloried in the exhibition of its own colossal -strength, and looked with contempt on those gentler graces that -waited unbidden on the pencil of their favourite worshipper. When the -rivals approached, it was by no common movement; Michael Angelo stood -aloof on the lofty eminence he had chosen; it was Raffaele alone who -dared at times to traverse the wide space that divided them. So great -were the difficulties, so bold the attempt, that all his success, -rapid and wonderful as it was, would have seemed almost necessary -to rescue a character less modest and unassuming than his, from the -charge of hardihood and presumption. With a noble candour he could -scarcely have learned from his haughty antagonist, Raffaele was among -the first to see, the most prompt to acknowledge, the new grandeur -he had given to art.... Even when he rises to the very confines of -sublimity, it is still the sublimity of the beautiful; and when -Michael Angelo stoops for a brief space to court the aid of beauty, -it serves like a transparent veil to soften rather than conceal the -native sublimity of his genius.... Michael Angelo, the painter of -the old covenant, has embodied his genius in the stern and gigantic -forms of Moses and the Prophets; but he failed where Raffaele has -shown as signally his skill, in the gentle dignity of the Saviour -and the heavenly purity of a mother's love.... In his paintings, as -in his character, there appears an unconsciousness of excellence, -a consummation of art carried up to the simplicity of nature, that -anticipates criticism, and allows us to indulge undisturbed in a -fulness of admiration, which grows on the reason long after it has -satisfied the heart. In Michael Angelo's best works there is often, -on the contrary, somewhat so strange and so studied in gesture -and attitude, so evident a design upon our wonder, as almost to -provoke us to resistance, and impair the pure magic of the effect by -attracting our attention to the cause."[186] - -[Footnote *185: Far from the parallel "suggesting itself," only a -disorderly mind would make it. No comparison is thinkable between -work that is absolutely different. One might as well compare a valley -with the sea.] - -[Footnote 186: _British and Foreign Quarterly_, vol. XIII.] - -Honoured by the Pontiff and his brilliant court, idolised by a band -of enthusiastic pupils, engrossed by distinguished commissions, -Raffaele had few thoughts to bestow on his early home. His ties -there had become few and feeble. His father's house had entirely -failed; his only near relation was a maternal uncle, who retained -his warm affection, and scarcely survived him. In writing to that -uncle in 1514, to acquaint him with his signal success and augmenting -wealth, he desires special commendations to the Duke and Duchess, -modestly suggesting that they might be pleased to hear how one -of their servants was doing himself honour. Gratifying as his -extending reputation must have been to them, we find no trace of -special exertions on their part to promote it. Indeed, they had ample -occupation on their own concerns, in the revolution which soon after -exiled them during the rest of Leo's pontificate. - -[Illustration: ISABELLA OF ARAGON - -_After the picture by Raphael in the Louvre_] - -One of Raffaele's best patrons was Agostino Chigi, a Sienese banker, -who, after a most successful career at Rome, became in the prime -of life the millionaire of his day, and who employed his great -wealth, and the preponderating influence it gave him with the papal -government, in a judicious promotion of art. His commissions to -Raffaele include the mural paintings of his chapel in the Madonna -della Pace, the architecture, sculpture, and mosaics of his other -chapel in the Madonna del Popolo, and the architecture and internal -decorations of his urban villa, now the Farnesina. The last has a -melancholy interest, from being the latest work which exercised the -cares of the illustrious artist. Whilst superintending its frescoes -in March, 1520,[187] a summons from the Pope brought him with hurried -steps to the Vatican, where, arriving overheated, he was detained in -a large and chilly saloon until perspiration was checked. An attack -of fever naturally followed, which, advancing to the stage called -pernicious, proved too much for his delicate and over-excited frame, -especially when still further exhausted by injudicious bleeding, in a -belief that the attack was pleurisy. Aware of his danger, he sought -support in his hour of need from the ministrations of religion and -the rites of his Church. Such is the now received account. The most -authentic particulars are contained in a letter, dated from Rome five -days after his death. - -[Footnote 187: Yet this casino, begun in 1511, is by some said to -have been completed several years before.] - -"About ten o'clock on Good Friday night [April 6th] died Raffaele of -Urbino, the most gentle and most eminent painter, to the universal -regret of all, but especially of the learned.... Envious death, -cutting short his beautiful and laudable undertakings, has torn -from us this master, still young, upon his very natal day. The Pope -himself indulges in uncontrolled grief, and, during the fifteen -days of his illness, sent at least six times to visit and console -him.... We have, indeed, been bereaved of one of rare excellence, -whose loss every noble spirit ought to bewail and lament, not simply -with passing words, but in studied and lasting elegies. He is said -to have left 16,000 ducats, including 5000 in cash, to be divided -for the most part among his friends and household; the house of -Bramante,[188] which he purchased for 3000 ducats, he has given to -the Cardinal [Bibbiena] of S. Maria in Portico. He was buried at the -Rotonda, whither he was borne by a distinguished cortege. His soul -is beyond a doubt gone to contemplate those heavenly mansions where -no trouble enters, but his memory and his name will linger long on -earth, in his works and in the minds of virtuous men.--Much less -loss, in my opinion, though the populace may think otherwise, has -the world sustained in the death of Agostino Chigi last night, as -to which I say little, not yet having heard of his affairs. I have -only learned that, between cash, debts owing to him, securities, -alum-mines, real estate, bank capital, appointments, bullion, and -jewels, he has left eight millions of golden ducats." - -[Footnote 188: It stood in front of St. Peter's, and was removed when -the piazza was extended.] - -It may be that Raffaele was timeously taken from the evil to come; -since death exempted him from witnessing like Michael Angelo, a -deluge of mediocrity he would have been powerless to withstand. -But the blow was deadened by no such calculation, and seldom have -obsequies so pompous been accompanied by grief as universal. By the -bier, around which his funeral rites were celebrated, there was -hung his great picture of the Transfiguration: the inspired beauty -of its upper portion, and the unfinished state of the remainder, -most touchingly testified his almost superhuman powers, and their -untimely extinction. The place of his sepulture was behind an altar -in the Pantheon Church, for the erection and endowment of which he -provided by testamentary bequest, and where his bones have of late -been reverently but unwarrantably disturbed. This selection appears -to have been dictated by the recent interment near the spot of Maria -Bibbiena, the grand-niece of his friend the Cardinal, to whom he had -been betrothed, and who had lately predeceased him. The little that -we know of this engagement is from the painter's own letter to his -uncle in 1514; and it would seem to have been sought by the Cardinal -rather than by the bridegroom, who appears to have abandoned his -matrimonial arrangements to friendly match-makers with more than -Italian indifference. The idle tale of his looking to a Cardinal's -hat is now set at rest, as well as nearly all the gossip that had -long circulated as to his supposed dissolute habits, and his liason -with that Roman matron whose ample contours and rich flesh-tints have -come down to us on his canvasses, and who, whether his mistress or -not (examples of such licence being then almost universal), seems to -have been a favourite model in his school.[189] - -[Footnote 189: Passavant treats the usual legends regarding the -Fornarina as after inventions, and ascribes the earliest notice of -her to PUCCINI'S _Real Galleria di Firenze_, I., p. 6.] - -The same pure taste and feeling for beauty, which characterise -the frescoes and pictures of Sanzio, would have raised him to -equal excellence in other branches of art. They are visible in -his architectural compositions, and in his numerous drawings. The -statue of Jonah in the Sta. Maria del Popolo, supposed to have been -modelled, if not wrought, by his hand, proves what he might have -attained in sculpture. He had no time for literary undertakings, but -some sonnets, casually preserved on the back of his sketches, exhibit -him as a cultivator of letters. An interesting result of his official -charge of the antique monuments remains in an eloquent report to the -Pope, in which, - - "Rome's ancient genius, o'er its ruins spread, - Shakes off the dust, and rears its reverend head." - -Its authorship has given rise to some controversy, and it seems not -unlikely that the materials supplied by Raffaele were thrown into -shape by his friend Castiglione. - -It would be interesting as well as easy to adduce from contemporary -pens proofs of the general admiration for his talents, and popularity -of his manners. But we close this notice, too brief for the subject, -though already exceeding our due limits, with the testimony of his -earliest biographer, and of one of his most recent critics. Vasari -thus commences his life of Sanzio: "The great bounty which Providence -occasionally displays, in heaping upon a single individual an -unlimited measure of favours, and all the rare gifts and graces which -generally are distributed over a long interval and many characters, -may well be seen in Raffaele Sanzio of Urbino. Equally worthy and -engaging, he was endowed with a modesty and goodness sometimes united -in those who, adding to a certain noble refinement of disposition -the attraction of amiable manners, are gracious and pleasing at all -times and with all persons. Nature presented him to the world when, -already vanquished in art by the hand of Michael Angelo, she wished -to be outdone by Raffaele, alike in art and in courtesy. In him she -luminously displayed the most singular excellences, conjoined with -such diligence, discretion, grace, comeliness, and good breeding, as -might have concealed even the greatest blemish, or the most hideous -vice. Hence it may safely be asserted, that those who possess such -rare qualities as were united in Raffaele of Urbino are not mere -human creatures, but rather, if such language be allowable, mortal -divinities." Still more eloquent is the passage lamenting his -untimely death: "Oh, happy and blessed spirit, every one delights to -talk of you, to dwell upon your actions, and to admire every design -which you have left. Well might the art of painting die when this her -noble child was called away; for when his eyes were closed she was -left all but blind. To us, his survivors, it now remains to follow -the example of his excellent manner, cherishing in our memory, and -testifying by our words, the remembrance due to his worth and our -own gratitude. For in truth we have colouring, invention, indeed the -whole art brought by him to a perfection hardly to have been looked -for; nor need any genius ever think to surpass him." In the words of -a writer upon whom we have already drawn:--"Cut down in the flower of -his age, and,--like a favoured tree of his own most favoured land, -while laden with golden fruit, bearing in still unopened blossoms -the promise of a yet brighter future,--he was mourned widely as he -was admired, deeply and truly as he had been loved. Young as he was -in years, and modest in his bearing, there is a feeling of reverence -blended in the fond regret with which even strangers dwell upon his -memory, recount his virtues, and seek to read their impress and -reflection in his works."[190] - -[Footnote 190: _British and Foreign Review_, vol. XIII., p. 274.] - -A critical examination of the peculiar merits of Raffaele's pencil, -and of the benefits which he brought to art, would lead us further -than this sketch will permit: yet there are certain points so -apparent even to superficial observers, some qualities so unanimously -dwelt upon by his eulogists, that it would be incomplete without -a passing notice of them. To him the perception of beauty was a -sixth sense, ever in exercise, and applied to the creations of his -genius, as well as to his studies from nature. To its test were -submitted those traditional forms of devotional art which influenced -his early training; it imparted life and movement to Perugino's -so-called monotonous poverty; it modified the dramatic action of the -Florentine manner; it caught the full tones of Fra Bartolomeo, and -gave dignity to the simper of Leonardo; it showed that anatomical -accuracy required no muscular contortions; it realised the grand -without verging upon the monstrous; it separated grace from grimace. -This was an innate and personal gift, that could neither be taught -nor imitated. The elevated character, harmonious composition, correct -design, and just colouring which Raffaele stamped upon his school, -were manifested in various degrees by his pupils, but the spirit of -their master was a boon from nature, which none of them could seize -or inherit. There are impetuous and daring minds who delight more -in the energy of Michael Angelo's terrible forms; others luxuriate -with greater fondness on the mellowed depth of Titian's magic tints; -whilst to some the artificial contrasts of Correggio's brilliant -lights, and Leonardo's unfathomable _chiaroscuri_ have irresistible -charm. These eminent qualities are, however, the separate endowments -of four individual minds; but Raffaele, deficient in none of them, -possessed, in no less perfection, other more important requisites -which we have noticed. It was this happy union that rendered him the -unquestioned prince of painters, while the ready obedience of his -unerring hand enabled him to realise the pure conceptions of his -refined mind with a delicacy and truth which seem to defy imitation. - -Yet his sterling merit was undeviating propriety in the conception -and execution of his works. Nothing ever emanated from his pencil -offensive to religion, morals, or refinement; all that bears his -name would honour the most fastidious reputation. To him accordingly -there was granted a purity of taste, in none other united to equal -genius. It was this that maintained the elevation of his style amid -the conflicting difficulties and temptations of that "new manner" -which it was his mission to perfect. Thus, although it is in the -productions of his second period that we find the beau-ideal most -perfectly realised, yet, even his later works, which descend to -a closer imitation of nature, seldom fail to invest her with a -dignity rare in the external world. In proportion, therefore, as he -discovered or adopted the more elaborate resources and processes of -his art, his ripening mind supplied him with themes and conceptions -worthy of them, and of immortality. The various series of subjects -which he invented for the Stanze, the Tapestries, and the Loggie, -indicate a grasp of intelligence, a variety of acquirement, never -before or since brought into the service of art, and establish -beyond question that the intellect of Raffaele fully equalled his -taste.[*191] - -[Footnote *191: Raphael seems to us to-day to have been a supreme -portrait painter. His other easel pictures, splendid as they often -are in "space composition," seem to lack sincerity. His frescoes have -a perfect decorative value, but little force or real contact with -life. If they sum up the Renaissance, they do so only in part, with -much sacrifice of truth and of that virility and assured contact of -life which were its most precious possessions.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - - Timoteo Viti--Bramante--Andrea Mantegna--Gian - Bellini--Justus of Ghent--Medals of Urbino. - - -Having thus traced the advance of painting in the duchy of Urbino, -from Oderigi da Gubbio, the friend of Dante, to Raffaele Sanzio, -its _facile princeps_, it might be well to pause, and leave its -rapid descent under a new dynasty of dukes to be followed in a -future portion of our work. Yet there are still some native names, -belonging to the better period both by date and by merit. Of these -the principal was TIMOTEO VITI, who was born of reputable -parentage in Urbino about 1470, and whose mother Calliope was -daughter of Antonio Alberti of Ferrara, by whom the Giottesque -manner had been brought to that city. Timoteo was sent to Bologna to -profit by the instructions of Francesco Francia, and remained there -from 1490 to 1495. The Christian painters of that city had chosen -for their Madonnas a peculiar type, which, after being transmitted -through several artists, attained its perfection from Francia's -pencil. It may be distinctly traced in the best remaining specimen -of Lippo Dalmasio, of whom we have already spoken,[192] a lunette in -fresco, representing the Madonna and Child between two saints, which -is over the door of S. Procul at Bologna. There we find a pensive -cast of head gently bent on one side in dreamy contemplation,--the -sweetly naive features, with less indeed of a divine or seraphic -expression than we see in those imagined by the Florentine and -Sienese masters, but whose look seems to indicate that, though -of earth, their owner was not earthy,--though a child of fallen -humanity, she had not tasted of actual guilt. Those who know the -Madonnas of Francia need not be told that they resemble sinless -women more than beautiful beings. Somewhat of the same sentiment -may be traced in the earlier productions of Timoteo Viti. Thus his -Magdalen, which, though now in the Pinacoteca of Bologna, was painted -for Urbino, is a grand figure in red drapery largely cast, standing -in front of a wide cavern. Her girlish countenance appears too pure -and gentle to have felt carnal passion, too placid to have wept over -human sin; her reverential attitude aspires heavenward, without, like -most of her class, appearing to loathe the earth. The mild character -of Timoteo, as well as his promising talents, established him in -the friendship of his master, whose diary touchingly records the -affection with which he bade god-speed to his pupil, on quitting his -studio.[193] - -[Footnote 192: See above, p. 161.] - -[Footnote 193: "On the 4th April, 1495, my dear Timoteo went away, -to whom may God grant all good and success." He seems to have been -received at first into Francia's "workshop" as a goldsmith, to work -for the first year without pay, the second at sixteen florins a -quarter, the last to be free, working by the piece. This indenture -was, however, broken by mutual consent after fourteen months, on his -wish to pass into the painters' studio.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -ST. SEBASTIAN - -_From the picture by Timoteo Viti in the Palazzo Ducale, Urbino_] - -Few of this painter's early works are identified, and no frescoes -from his designs appear to survive; but his altar-picture painted -for the Bonaventura chapel in the church of S. Bernardino at Urbino, -and now by the hazards of war in the Brera at Milan, offers one of -the most remarkable compositions of the age. The Annunciation, that -graceful theme of Christian art, had hitherto been treated upon one -uniform type, and though ever attractive was generally trite. The -Virgin surprised by her heavenly visitor was a subject requiring, in -contrast, the purest earthly and celestial beauty which the painter -could invent. The early masters sought not to introduce any other -character than that of hallowed loveliness, refined from worldly -sentiment; their successors added what was meant for grace of manner, -which in their hands generally fell into affected mannerism. Timoteo -held a middle course, giving play to his fancy, but restraining its -flight by the spell of holy reverence. Amid a fine and far-stretching -landscape stands the Virgin, nobly beautiful, gazing with prayerful -aspect upon an angel, whose demi-figure issues from a cloud. -Far above her head the infant Saviour, supported by a dove in a -triangular halo of dazzling splendour, descends from the skies to -become incarnate in the womb of Mary; his foot poised upon a globe, -and the cross resting in his left hand, whilst his right is raised -in benediction. The archangel with out-stretched arms indicates the -mother to the child, and the child to the mother, thus beautifully -executing his mission by an expressive sign. In front of her, but -on a lower level, so as to appear of less majestic presence, stand -the Precursor and St. Sebastian; the former points to the principal -group as the fulfilment of a cycle of prophecy which in his person -was complete; the latter is a graceful prototype of that long series -of martyrs who were destined to seal with blood their testimony to -the atonement thus initiated. One portion of this novel theme had -been anticipated by Giovanni Sanzi, in whose representation of the -same subject at the Brera, though composed after old conventional -ideas, the divine Infant is seen descending from the Almighty upon -the Virgin, instead of the dove, which usually figures as the Holy -Spirit. But such innovations were looked upon with watchful jealousy -by a Church wedded to traditional conventionalities. Doubts were -raised as to the orthodoxy of this representation of the Trinity, -and an unfortunate ruddy tint suffused over the plumage of the snowy -dove was construed into a stain on the immaculate character of the -conception, which is usually represented as coincident with the -Annunciation. The altar-piece was removed to undergo along with its -author a searching examination, which resulted in its restoration as -an object of devotion, and in his escape from the rigours of the Holy -Office. - -Two altar-pictures by Timoteo remain in the cathedral-sacristy of -his native city,[*194] besides a St. Apollonia in the church of -the Trinita. These exhibit much soft expression and devotional -feeling, combined with considerable breadth of execution; yet -they scarcely possess the simple sentiment of the earlier Umbrian -artificers, the noble character of Sanzi, or the fervour and finish -of Francia. During his residence at Urbino, he may not improbably -have influenced the young Raffaele's opening genius; but, ere long, -fame's many-tongued trumpet told him how much he had to learn of his -countryman, from whom he soon received an invitation to assist in -executing the commissions which were crowding upon him at Rome; and, -like many other gifted artists, Timoteo deemed it no degradation to -work under his younger but more matured genius. Although one of the -latest painters who retained that devotional spirit which we have -endeavoured to trace from the Umbrian sanctuaries, his manner, at an -after period of his life, changed with the influences to which he was -exposed in the atmosphere of the Vatican; and some of those works -produced under the superintendence of Raffaele which are generally -ascribed to his hand, such as the Sybils in the S. Maria della -Pace,[*195] display a very decided tendency to "the new manner." -Few paintings have given occasion to greater variety of opinion -and conjecture than this fresco, both as to the share in it which -belongs to Timoteo, and as to the source from which the conception -was derived. The theme is unquestionably referable to an authority -older than that of Michael Angelo; and it is remarkable that, instead -of the charge of plagiarism from his great rival being brought home -to Raffaele, as has been frequently asserted, the former must have -owed to Perugino, Pinturicchio, and Andrea d'Assisi the idea of -rendering the sybils of mythological fable subservient to religious -representation.[*196] By all these artists, pagan pythonesses -had been grouped with scriptural prophets, as foreshadowing the -mysterious plan of human salvation, and the fresco of the Pace must -be regarded as a felicitous adaptation of Umbrian feeling to the -tastes of such a patron as Agostino Chigi, deeply imbued with the -classic tendencies of the Roman court.[197] The repeated restorations -to which this fine work has been subjected render criticism of its -merits in a degree nugatory, but the inferiority of the Prophets to -the Sibyls is generally admitted. - -[Footnote *194: In the Cathedral sacristy is the St. Martin and St. -Thomas of 1504, with the founders beside them. In the Pinacoteca -there is a half figure of S. Sebastian, the figures of S. Roch and of -Tobias with the Angel. The S. Apollonia, once in S. Trinita is now in -the Gallery. Of these, the S. Sebastian, S. Roch, and Tobias show the -influence of Giovanni Santi, the other two the influence of Raphael.] - -[Footnote *195: Timoteo painted the Prophets above the Sibyls in S. -Maria della Pace, in Rome.] - -[Footnote *196: The Sibyl was not exclusively Pagan. Consider the -first verse of the _Dies Irae_, which ends-- - - "Teste David cum Sibylla."] - -[Footnote 197: See the learned observations of PUNGILEONE, -in the _Elogio Storico di Timoteo Vite_, pp. 23-38.] - -Vasari, after communication with our painter's family, represents -him as pining for his native air in the capital of Christendom, -where his stay cannot have been of very long duration, as we find -him in 1513 one of the magistracy of Urbino. Here he shared his time -between the sister arts of poetry, music, and painting, "delighting -to play upon various instruments, but especially the lyre, to which -he sang improviso with uncommon success." On Vasari's authority, -we are also told that he "was a cheerful person, naturally gay and -jovial, handsome, facetious in conversation, and happy in his jokes." -One of the most remarkable productions of his Raffaelesque period -is a _Noli me tangere_ (the appearance of Christ to the Magdalen -after his resurrection), in the chapel of the Artieri, at Cagli, -executed about 1518, which has been, perhaps, over-praised by Lanzi -and others: the difficulty of the subject may in some degree disarm -our criticism of its rather crowded and ungainly composition. On -the whole, the merit and beauty of the few known productions of -his pencil may well make us regret those which have disappeared, -or which pass under other names; and, although Passavant accuses -him of affectation and mannerism, the constraint apparent in some -of his earlier productions may possibly be more justly ascribed to -awkwardness. Pungileone supposes him to have returned to Rome in -1521, two years before his death, and there to have acquired a number -of the cartoons and drawings of his friend Raffaele. Of these, and -his own designs, a considerable portion passed a few years ago into -the Lawrence collection, which the vacillation and ill-timed economy -of our rulers allowed to be in a great measure dispersed. - - * * * * * - -Few artists have been the subject of more controversy than -BRAMANTE. His architectural works procured him high reputation, for he -is associated with the genius of Julius II., and the vast piles of -the Vatican: but his name and family have been disputed, as well as -the place and province which gave him birth; while his biographers, -besides confounding him with an entirely different person, Bramantino -of Milan, have aggravated the confusion by conjuring out of these -two a third artist, who exists only by their blundering. Bartolomeo -Suardi, instead of being master of Bramante, as Orlandi and others -have supposed, was a pupil who, from attachment to his instructor, -added to his own name the diminutive Bramantino. He chanced, however, -to have a scholar, Agostino, who, by also adopting that designation, -has further perplexed matters; three persons being thus almost -inextricably mixed up. For our purpose it is enough thus to supply -a key to these masters, and to observe that their relative merits -coincide with their chronology; the first being a bright light of -the golden age, the last an obscure painter of the _decadence_, who -has left us little beyond the reflected lustre of a borrowed surname. -But although the minute diligence of Lazzari and Pungileone seems to -have set this matter at rest, their tedious disquisitions supply few -important facts or useful criticisms, and a brief notice will suffice -for our present purpose. - -Donato Bramante appears to have been born at Monte Asdrualdo, near -Fermignano, in 1444, of parents in comfortable circumstances. As -his first efforts were devoted to painting, he would naturally find -instructors among the Umbrian artists already noticed; but for -his education we have no particulars, beyond a conjecture that he -studied under Fra Carnevale.[*198] At his father's death, in 1484, -he was already abroad, probably in Lombardy, where most of his -pictorial works were produced, and where some frescoes may still be -seen, meriting no ordinary meed of approbation, and particularly -distinguished by fidelity in portraits and accuracy of architectural -perspective; qualities learned, doubtless, from the productions of -Melozzo da Forli and Piero della Francesca. Of these mural paintings, -the most interesting remains in the church of the Canepa, at Pavia, -and exhibits the artist presenting a model for that building to its -founder, Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza, his Duchess, and his mother. -Rosini ascribes to him freedom of design, ease in movement and -draperies, grand conceptions, and much ability in perspective. -Indeed, whilst the colder genius of ultramontane nations has seldom -occupied itself with more than one branch of art, many Italian -masters attained to excellence in several; and Bramante's reputation -as an architect being established, his engineering talents were -called into exercise by Ludovico il Moro, upon the fortifications -of Milan. There too he built several churches, and constructed as -a sacristy for S. Satiro, one of those small round Grecian fanes -which have been considered so peculiarly his own, that various -churches of that type are ascribed to him on no better grounds than -their form. The conception is, however, of earlier origin, for it -appears in not a few miniatures and small devotional panels of the -preceding century. He had adopted it in a little chapel of the -Madonna di Riscatto, on the banks of the Metauro, opposite Castel -Durante, said to have been his earliest work, and the idea was freely -used by Perugino and his pupils, Raffaele included. It takes the -form of a round building cased by Corinthian pilasters, in an easel -picture preserved at Urbino, in the sacristy of Sta. Chiara, which -is interesting as an architectural study, and has been attributed to -Bramante, or to Giorgio Andreoli, the porcelain enameller of Gubbio. -A symmetrically elegant Doric chapel, at S. Pietro in Montorio -at Rome, is the chef-d'oeuvre of this classic style, and it was -reproduced by della Genga in scenic decorations prepared at Urbino -for the representation of Bibbiena's _Calandra_. - -[Footnote *198: He was probably the pupil of Luciano da Laurana and -Piero della Francesca.] - -As the flower of Bramante's life went by during his long stay -in Upper Italy, it is there that his pictorial talents must be -appreciated, and that his most numerous, if not his most famous -fabrics, may be found. But when Lombardy became the battle-field -of Italian independence, when art was there neglected and personal -safety compromised, he bethought him of the monuments of antique -genius still scattered over the capital of her classic times, and -came to Rome in quest of improvement as well as employment. The -moment was not propitious, for Alexander VI. was no Maecenas. Yet in -the public works, both of fresco-painting and architecture, Donato -had a share; and he supplied designs for several private churches -and palaces, varying the scene of his labours by prolonged visits to -Naples and Tivoli. - -On the accession of Julius II. his star rapidly rose to the zenith -of his reputation. His Urbino extraction was a recommendation to -the new Pontiff, which his talents fully justified, while the vast -conceptions and daring energy of his Holiness found in Bramante a -willing and apt minister. To raise a temple wherein the Christian -world might worship the living God, was a project worthy of their -united genius, and it was entertained in a manner befitting the -enterprise. There, grandeur of design was seconded by resolute -purpose; nor were means and will deficient for levying from the piety -or fears of mankind contributions apparently inexhaustible. But in -a struggle with time, man is seldom victorious. The shadows of age, -falling upon the Pontiff and his architect, warned them that their -day was far spent. Anticipating the night that approached to arrest -their labours, they worked with a zeal which knew no repose, but -which proved fatal to the stability of their fabric. Death overtook -them both ere any part of St. Peter's approached to completion, yet -not before the too hurried masonry had begun to yield under its own -weight. The inadequate foundations occasioned much supplementary -trouble and outlay to those who conducted the edifice towards a -conclusion, which it did not reach until 1626, a hundred and twenty -years after it had been begun by Bramante. - -By some who witnessed the rapid and indiscriminate destruction -of old St. Peter's,--that ancient basilicon, which early art had -done its best to decorate, which Christian devotion had sanctified -by cherished traditions, and over which time had cast a solemn -halo,--Bramante has been blamed as a reckless innovator; and the -charge meets a ready response from those who, in their search for -primeval monuments of Catholic faith, pass from the glare and -magnificence of the modern fane to mourn over broken sculptures and -shattered mosaics buried in its rayless crypt. It would be easy to -defend the architect at the expense of his master; but upon looking -more closely into the charge, we shall find that the original fabric -having become ruinous, its reconstruction was begun half a century -before the accession of Julius, and that its last remains were -not removed until a hundred years later. Thus it would seem that -the demolition of so much that is ill replaced to the churchman -and scholar of art, even by the gorgeous temple which commands -our wondering admiration, must have proceeded from other reasons -than haste. The slippery foundations that from time to time have -occasioned infinite anxiety and expense, both for the church and -adjoining buildings, were doubtless the original cause which lost us -the basilicon of Constantine. - -But Julius was not the man to devote himself exclusively to one idea, -even though a favourite one. Wishing to provide a palace for his -successors worthy of the neighbouring fane which he had founded, he -put the Vatican into Donato's hands. That pontifical residence, after -being enlarged by Nicolas V. and Sixtus IV. was in a great measure -reconstructed by Alexander VI., whose predecessor, Innocent VIII., -had erected a casino in the adjoining gardens of the Belvidere. -In order to unite this casino to the palace, Bramante contrived a -double corridor, the vast intervening area of which he designed for -festive spectacles. This fine idea, left by him unfinished, was -marred by succeeding architects, who broke up the extensive court by -cross galleries and unseemly appendages. We may, however, pardon the -transmutation, as it has afforded admirable accommodation for the -treasures of art, ever since accumulating in these almost boundless -museums. In that handsome street to which Julius bequeathed his name, -there may be seen near the church of S. Biagio, straggling vestiges -of vast substructions, with rustic basements resembling the gigantic -masses of fabulous ages, on which have been reared some mean and -modern dwellings. These are the sole remains of a vast undertaking, -nobly conceived by the Pontiff, and ably commenced by his architect, -in order to unite under one palace the scattered law-courts and -public offices of Rome. But it was Bramante's misfortune to serve a -restless spirit, which attempting more than the span of human life -could overtake, left its finest conceptions abortive. - -The merits of Bramante were appreciated by his contemporaries as well -as by posterity, and gained him a substantial meed of honour and -wealth. At the pontifical court he moved in a circle where refinement -perfected the emanations of genius, and which included the choicest -spirits of a brilliant age. Enriched by papal favour, magnificent in -his expenditure, frank and joyous in his nature, he lived up to the -advantages of his position, and made his palace the resort of many -celebrities: there his Umbrian countrymen, Perugino, Pinturicchio, -and Luca Signorelli, frequented his board; and after his death the -house was bought by his friend Raffaele. He was a poet, for in Italy -all sentiment readily falls into rhyme; but he was likewise a man -of the world, whose natural tact and ready fluency compensated for -a defective education. Dying in March, 1514, he was buried beneath -that splendid fane which he had founded, but which many successive -architects failed to raise. No monument testifies the gratitude of -his countrymen, yet his name is entwined with garlands of undying -verdure, and some of the noblest Italian piles bear the impress of -his solid and enduring style. - - * * * * * - -FRA BERNARDO CATELANI was a Capuchin monk of Urbino, whose -devotion sought scope in the exercise of Christian art, and who is -generally considered a follower of Raffaele, although this is doubted -by Grossi. Nor does it much matter, for the only work now identified -with his name is an altar-piece of the Pieta with two attendant -saints, in the church of his order at Cagli. Still less is known -of one CROCCHIA of Urbino, named by Baldinucci as a pupil -of Raffaele. His countryman, Centogatti, is said to have exercised -the arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting, and to have -instructed Duke Francesco Maria I., and also Gian Battista Comandino, -in engineering. To him Lomazzo ascribes the invention of _baluardi_, -and the erection of walls round his native town; but in both respects -he appears mistaken, as we have had occasion to show in speaking of -Francesco di Giorgio.[199] - -[Footnote 199: See p. 214 above. In an old MS. chronicle I -find, besides most of the names here enumerated, the following -now-forgotten painters of Urbino, at the close of the fifteenth -century:--Bartolomeo di Maestro Gentile, Bernardino di Pierantonio, -Ricci Manara, Francesco di Mercatello, and in 1528 Ottaviano della -Prassede.] - - * * * * * - -The patronage extended to Francia by Duke Guidobaldo seems, from -Vasari's authority, to have been of a very undiscriminating -character, for his commissions to that painter of sweet Madonnas -consisted of a Lucrezia, and a set of horse-trappings, whereon was -depicted a blazing forest, with various animals escaping from it. -Gaye has recovered some facts as to the favour bestowed by this -dynasty upon Andrea Mantegna. In 1511, Duchess Elisabetta wrote -to interest her brother, the Marquis of Mantua, in favour of his -son Francesco, expressing herself as mindful of the regard she had -borne his father, on account both of his own merits and his devotion -to her family. Andrea's acquaintance with Giovanni Sanzi, already -referred to, may have been formed on his journey to Rome in 1488, -or on his return thence in 1490; but his fame had ere then reached -Umbria, for in 1484 Ludovico Gonzaga, bishop of Mantua, wrote to the -Prefect della Rovere, pleading his excuse for declining an order for -a Madonna, his time being engrossed in the palace of Mantua. Vasari -further tells us that Marco Zoppo, another Lombard painter, took a -portrait of Guidobaldo when in the Florentine service. To his reign -probably belongs a very grand specimen of Giovanni Bellini in the -church of S. Francesco at Pesaro. We have already noticed him as a -pupil of Gentile di Fabriano; and his visit to the duchy may have -enabled him to confirm his early devotional impressions, by there -depicting that favourite theme of the mystic school, the Coronation -of the Madonna, surrounded by witnessing saints. The countenances, -though without the unearthly inspiration belonging to the Umbrian -art, have great beauty softened by reverential sentiment, and a -colour which glows even through the dirt of centuries. In the Sta. -Maria Nuova of Fano are preserved two of Perugino's finest works, -the Annunciation, and the Madonna enthroned between six saints, -exhibiting all the qualities of his best time, with less timidity -than belongs to his manner. The latter was executed in 1490, and -the predella had been considered equal to Raffaele, who of course -was then too young for such an undertaking. Such are some of the -remaining pictures which must have influenced taste and art in -the duchy. The catalogue is far from complete, for in the obscure -villages may still be discovered altar-panels of scarcely inferior -importance, besides not a few transported thence to Milan, Berlin, -and other galleries. - -We owe to Lord Lindsay some very interesting views on the influence -of early Teutonic art beyond the Alps, a subject long overlooked -and still far from exhausted.[200] Among its masters no celebrity -equals that of Jean Van Eyck. He was not only _capo-scuola_ in the -Low Countries and inventor of a new method and vehicle of painting, -but was the first to introduce that "feeling for nature and domestic -sentiment" which, subordinate at the outset to religious delineation, -has continued, through many phases, and for the most part with -strictly naturalist aims, to characterise the Flemish pencil. The -fame of his mechanism spread into Italy, and Vasari speaks of a -bath scene being sent by him to Duke Federigo of Urbino. This was, -however, probably the same work described as belonging to Cardinal -Ottaviani by Facio, who wrote about 1456. In a room lighted by a -single lamp, a group of nude females issued from the bath, an aged -beldame, their attendant, bathed in perspiration, their thirsty dog -lapping water. A mirror accurately gave back the scene, reflecting -the profile of the one whose figure was turned from the spectator. -Without, was elaborate and far-spreading scenery, with men, horses, -castles, hamlets, groves, plains, and mountains, dexterously -graduating away as the evening shadows fell. Keeping in view the -state of art at that time, this painting, of which all further trace -mysteriously vanishes, must have exercised an important influence. -The borrowed illumination, the mirror reflections, the nude forms, -the heated atmosphere detected by its physical effects on animal -life, the minutely pencilled landscape, the delicately receding -perspective, were all more or less innovations in Italy, apart from -the colour and surface produced by the new process. - -[Footnote 200: _Sketches of the History of Christian Art_, Letter -VIII., especially part II., Secs. 1, 2, 4, and part III., Sec. 6.] - -Among the followers of Van Eyck who first made their way to the -Mediterranean shores was JOSSE or JUSTUS OF GHENT, who, under the -signature of Justus de Alemania, appears to have executed an -Annunciation in fresco, at the convent of Sta. Maria di Castello -at Genoa in 1451.[*201] Admiration for Van Eyck's bath scene may -probably have obtained for him an invitation to Urbino, where, -however, he does not seem to have shared the ducal patronage, but -was employed by the fraternity of Corpus Christi to paint for them -an altar-piece, which, after nine years of labour, was completed in -1474, and is still preserved in the church of Sta. Agata.[*202] It -was executed in oil, about ten feet square without the now missing -predella, and seems to have cost 500 florins, besides materials. -Its subject was appropriately the Institution of the Eucharist, in -contradistinction from the Last Supper, and it is treated after -the manner of the Romish mass,--Christ distributes the sacramental -wafer to his Apostles kneeling round a table, over whom hover two -white-draped angels of the Van Eyck type. Four personages stand -apart, spectators of the sacred mystery, and these, by the legitimate -rules of sacred art, might be portraits. Among them may be easily -recognised the Duke; and a turbaned figure is said by Baldi to be the -ambassador from Usum-cassan, King of Persia, while visiting the court -in 1470-1, on a mission to unite the Italian princes in a league -against the Turk,--a fact garbled by Michiels, whose commendations -of the picture are greater than its distance above the eye allows me -to confirm or challenge, as, without scaffolding or a very strong -glass, all detailed criticism must be in a great measure conjectural. -Neither have I discovered that influence upon art at Urbino which he -and Passavant impute to this Fleming, whose only other known work in -Umbria was a now lost church standard. - -[Footnote *201: But Justus de Alemania, who painted at Genoa, and -Justus of Ghent, are different persons.] - -[Footnote *202: Now in the Pinacoteca.] - - * * * * * - -Art has in many instances been able largely to compensate the -liberality of its early patrons. Besides preserving to after times -the person of those - - "Whose barks have left no traces on the tide," - -it has frequently transmitted to us the form and comeliness of -men whose characters, actions, or talents have left an impress -on their age. Although the pencil and the chisel were at first -rarely dedicated to portraiture, a mode of representation arose in -Italy during the fifteenth century which supplied this want with -singular success. Reviving classical taste found few more attractive -relics than the coins and medals of Greece and her colonies; but -their imitators, struck with the inferiority of those under the -Roman empire, adopted, and even surpassed, the bold style and -high relief of the former. When almost every principality in the -Peninsula possessed a mint, and die-cutting was a usual branch of -the goldsmith's craft, there were great facilities for the new -art. The circulation of precious metals being very limited, trade -was then conducted chiefly by barter, or by the transmission of -coin in sealed bags, stamped with the value they contained, whilst -small transactions were made almost solely in copper money.[203] -Heroic medals, which soon became the established meed of egotism -and incense of flattery, were at first cast,--and, when machinery -became more perfect, were struck,--in an alloy of copper, under the -name of bronze. Those of the fifteenth century were of great size, -varying from one to four and a half inches in diameter; many bear -the names of well-known sculptors and painters as their artists, -and exhibit a grandeur of conception unequalled in other numismatic -productions.[*204] About three hundred and seventy-five such medals -have been published in the Tresor de Numismatique et de Glyptique, -and although the _procede Collas_ there adopted in general fails -to preserve the sharpness and finish given to the originals by -careful retouching, no work of art is so delightful a companion -to Italian mediaeval history. Zannetti's elaborate collections on -Italian coinages, and the fifth volume of Cicognara's great work upon -sculpture, may also be consulted with pleasure and advantage. - -[Footnote 203: The coinage of Duke Federigo consisted of Bolognini -and Piccioli. The former were small thin silver pieces, weighing -19-1/2 grains, of which 3-1/2 were copper alloy, and forty of them -made a florin. The florin, a nominal coin, thus contained 634-34/59 -grains of pure silver, and 146-1/2 grains of copper; and supposing -pure silver worth, as now, 5s. 6d. an ounce, it would be worth 7s. -3-1/4d. sterling, making a bolognini 7-1/3 farthings. The piccioli -(3-3/5 to a farthing) were about the size of bolognini (52 or 56 to -the ounce); but were of copper alloyed with about three per cent. of -silver. All this Duke's coinage seems to have been minted at Gubbio, -and it is described at great length by Reposati, in his _Zecca di -Gubbio_. See p. 41 above, and Author's Preface.] - -[Footnote *204: See on this subject the most excellent book by -G.F. HILL, _Pisanello_ (London, 1905); a good bibliography -is there given.] - -The only medallist of Urbino now known was called Clemente, and, -besides the portrait by him to be immediately noticed (No. I.), he is -said to have ornamented the great hall of the palace with six round -bas-reliefs of Duke Federigo's exploits. Seven medals of that prince -have come to my knowledge, all of extreme rarity: the first five are -described and engraved in the _Zecca di Gubbio_; the first, second, -and fourth in the Tresor de Numismatique; the sixth is probably -unnoticed elsewhere. The heads of all are in profile. - -No. I. A medallion of 3-5/8 inches diameter. The Duke's bust is in -armour, on which are chased a Lapitha reducing a Centaur, and other -emblematic devices; his cap, called by the French a _mortier_, is -of the usual cinque-cento form, exactly resembling a round Highland -bonnet. The legend is a Latin couplet, signifying, - - "HE COMES, ANOTHER CAESAR AND ANOTHER ROMAN SCIPIO, - WHETHER HE GIVES TO THE NATIONS PEACE OR FIERCE WARS." - -The reverse is redundant in allegory. In base, the eagle of Jove -supports with extended wings a stage whereon are three devices,--the -globe of command, with on one side a cuirass, buckler, and sword, -and on the other a clothes-brush[205] and olive-branch; overhead are -the planetary signs of Jupiter between Mars and Venus. On the vacant -spaces are the names of the hero, "FEDERIGO THE INVINCIBLE, COUNT -OF URBINO, A.D. MCCCCLXVIII.," and of the artist, "THE WORK -OF CLEMENTE OF URBINO." The surrounding astrological legend runs -thus:-- - - "THE FIERCE MARS AND VENUS, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MIGHTY THUNDERER, - UNITE TO GIVE YOU KINGDOMS, AND INFLUENCE YOUR DESTINY." - -[Footnote 205: Riposati mistakes this for a metal weight. The French -work does not venture on any conjecture as to the object represented.] - -The date indicates this medal to have commemorated his campaign -in Romagna against Colleone, in 1467, and notwithstanding the -questionable taste of crowding in so many symbolical appendages, its -merit is ranked high by Cicognara (see his eighty-sixth plate). - -No. II. A medal 1-6/8 inches across, which was probably cast at -Naples in 1474, by order of Ferdinand, in honour of Federigo's visit -and installation as a knight of the Ermine. Being no doubt prepared -before his arrival, the likeness is not striking. Round the bust is -"FEDERICO COUNT OF MONTEFELTRO, URBINO, AND DURANTE"; on the -reverse, over a collared ermine, "ROYAL CAPTAIN-GENERAL. THE WORK -OF PAULO DI RAGUSA." - -No. III. A similar but smaller medal, executed after he had been -elevated to the dukedom. His head is bald, and the legend is -"FEDERIGO THE MONTEFELTRIAN, URBINO'S DUKE;" over the ermine, "NEVER," -the motto of the Order. - -No. IV. A medal 3-3/8 inches across, commemorating his dignities -of Duke and Gonfaloniere of the Church. Round his bust in armour, -with the mortier cap, we read, "OF THE DIVINE FEDERIGO DUKE OF -URBINO, COUNT OF MONTEFELTRO AND DURANTE, ROYAL CAPTAIN-GENERAL, -AND UNCONQUERED GONFALONIERE OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH." On the -reverse he is represented in a cuirass, mail-coat, jack-boots, and -the mortier cap, mounted on a heavy war-horse in housings of mail. -He moves forward, stretching forth his truncheon in the attitude of -anxious command, a two-handed sword on his side. Legend, "THE -WORK OF SPERANDEI," who was a native of Mantua, greatly -patronised by the sovereigns of Ferrara. - -No. V. is a magnificent production, and of peculiarly English -interest. On a medal 4-3/4 inches across, clasped round by the badge -and gothic motto of the Garter, is a noble bust of Federigo in -armour, his massive bald head uncovered. The reverse has five winged -loves supporting an ample basin, from whence issue two grape-laden -cornucopiae; between them the crowned eagle of Montefeltro sits on -a globe of command, gazing sunward, and supporting the armorial -shield of that house, with the papal arms in pale as borne by the -Gonfaloniere: the contracted inscription "DUKE FE." appears -on the ground. Riposati conjectures that in this device may be -preserved the design of a fountain for serving wine to the populace -during the festivities on his investiture with the English order; -at all events, this piece, in size and style, perhaps the grandest -medallion of the age, bears interesting testimony to the honour in -which that decoration was held. - -No. VI. Among the Vatican Urbino MSS. (No. 1418) is a case containing -two impressions, stamped on leather, of another medallion, which we -have nowhere else met with. It is 3-1/2 inches in diameter, and round -the head is "FEDERIGO DUKE OF URBINO, COUNT OF MONTEFELTRO, ROYAL -CAPTAIN-GENERAL AND GONFALONIERE OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH." -The reverse gives us a mounted knight cap-a-pie, who tramples down -an armed soldier, while charging others who fly; in the distance -are seen cities, and a martial host. Legend, "MARS GIVES HIM A -WORSTED FOE, VICTORY SECURES HIM FAME. MCCCCLXXVIII. THE WORK OF GIAN -FRANCESCO, OF PARMA." This alludes to his successes against the -Florentines when general of Sixtus IV. - -No. VII. A medal of Federigo by Francesco di Giorgio, has neither -been described nor preserved, unless it may have been No. V. above. - -We have no medal of Duke Guidobaldo I.; but two have come down to us, -representing his consort and her favourite Emilia Pia, so similar in -character as to indicate probably the same artist and period, which -Riposati presumes to have been in the Duchess's widowhood. - -I. Elisabetta's bust on a medallion 3-1/2 inches in diameter; her -hair braided under her cap, and gathered behind into a long pendant -tail or fillet plaited with ribbon; her forehead, neck, and -shoulders ornamented with chains; legend, "ELISABET GONZAGA, THE -FELTRIAN, DUCHESS OF URBINO": which we give. The mystic science -of emblematic devices was often used by medallists without proper -discrimination; and Riposati avows himself unable to interpret its -allegorical reverse: the French editor describes it as a nearly nude -female reclining on the ground, her head supported against a wicket, -grasping in both hands a fillet from which a wig flies away, with the -motto, "THIS TELL TO FUGITIVE FORTUNE"; he interprets her -attitude as contemptuous towards a passing opportunity, in allusion -to her recent widowhood spurning fresh ties. - -II. The medal of Emilia was evidently a posthumous memorial; we -reproduce it also. It is 3-1/4 inches broad, the bust in the costume -of the Duchess, and is inscribed "EMILIA PIA THE FELTRIAN": -on the reverse, a tapered pyramid crowned by a cinerary urn, with -"TO HER CHASTE ASHES." The whole is studiously classical, -and pagan in feeling. Her name Pio, turned into the adjective _pia_, -becomes a complimentary epithet. - -In order to dismiss this branch of our subject, we may here mention, -that, although a few smaller medals were struck for the second -dynasty of Urbino, none of them are worthy of special notice; indeed, -this art was entirely degenerate after 1500. - - - - -BOOK FIFTH - -OF THE DELLA ROVERE FAMILY - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI - - Birth and elevation of Sixtus IV.--Genealogy of the - Della Rovere family--Nepotism of that pontiff--His - improvements in Rome--His patronage of letters and - arts--His brother Giovanni becomes Lord of Sinigaglia - and Prefect of Rome--His beneficent sway--He pillages a - papal envoy--Remarkable story of Zizim or Gem--Portrait of - Giovanni--The early character and difficulties of Julius - II.--Estimate of his pontificate. - - -On the 21st of July, 1414, in the village of Celle, upon the Ligurian -coast, near Savona, there was born to Leonardo della Rovere and -Luchina Muglione, a male child, who, fifty-seven years thereafter, -was called to fill the chair of St. Peter, from whence he showered -upon his numerous relations temporal and ecclesiastical dignities. -That Pontiff was Sixtus IV.; of these relatives many have already -found a place in our pages; and from their stock sprang the second -ducal dynasty of Urbino. - -Upon the origin of this family a mystery has been thrown, by writers -devoted to adulation rather than to truth. There was established -near Turin a race of della Rovere, lords of Vinovo, whose nobility -is traced from the eighth century, and from whom it was the pride of -Sixtus to claim a descent, which his flatterers readily humoured, -and which the annalists of Urbino adopted as an article of their -political creed. Posterity has repudiated the allegation, for "in -Italy, at least, it is vain for heraldry to tell a tale that history -will not substantiate."[206] The seigneurs of Vinovo were not, -however, loath to admit a blood connection with two Popes, who, in -return for such aggregation to the old stock, conferred cardinals' -hats upon their cousins of Piedmont. Although the tombstone of -Leonardo was said to exhibit the Vinovo bearings, with a suitable -difference, his humble birth is universally admitted. The burgess -of Savona plied a fisher's trade, and even his son is supposed to -have followed in boyhood the same apostolical calling; an occupation -singular rather than inappropriate, for one destined to wear "the -fisher's ring," and to wield the authority of him who was divinely -called to be a netter of men. The superstition or policy of Sixtus -stamped with unmerited importance certain quasi-supernatural -incidents attending his birth. Whilst pregnant, his mother dreamt -that a boy was born to her, whom two Franciscan friars forthwith clad -in the tunic, cowl, and cord of their order. The name Francesco was -accordingly bestowed on the child, whose gestures seemed to confirm -its sacred vocation, the first motions of its little hands being -those of benediction. Whilst undergoing the usual ablutions, the -infant appeared faint and dying, whereupon its mother vowed that, if -preserved to her, it should wear the Franciscan dress for the next -six months. The removal of this habit having on two occasions been -followed by dangerous illness, the boy's destination to a monastic -life was confirmed, and his training conducted accordingly.[*207] - -[Footnote 206: MARIOTTI'S _Italy_.] - -[Footnote *207: For birth of Sixtus IV., cf. CREIGHTON, _op. -cit._, vol. IV., p. 65, and authorities there quoted. "His father was -a poor peasant in a little village near Savona, and at the age of -nine Francesco was handed over to the Franciscans to be educated. He -acted for a time as tutor with the family of Rovere, in Piedmont, and -from them he took the name by which he was afterwards known."] - -After rapid progress in classical and dialectic studies, he went -to the university of Bologna, and in his twentieth year maintained -various public disputations before a general chapter of his order -at Genoa, with erudition and success which astonished his audience, -and gained him the marked commendation of his superiors. He then -graduated in philosophy and theology at Pavia, and in his public -displays distinguished himself by a simple and perspicuous style -of argument comparatively exempt from the jingle of words that -usually characterised these exercises. His celebrity extending in -all directions, he was engaged by the authorities of many large -towns to deliver lectures, which were attended by the most learned -ecclesiastics, his preaching being not less acceptable to the -people of all ranks. His friendship and counsel were sought by the -distinguished men of his time, including Cardinal Bessarion; and -he employed his pen in various religious controversies, especially -in one, carried by other disputants to blows, between two branches -of Franciscans, the Minims and Predicant Friars, as to "whether -the blood of Christ shed in his passion partook of his divinity." -Having attained the rank of General, he proved most zealous in -the inspection and reform of the convents under his jurisdiction, -personally visiting them in all quarters. At length, in 1467, he was -made Cardinal by Paul II., whom he was chosen to succeed on the 9th -of August, 1471. - -We have had occasion, in a previous portion of this work, to notice -the policy of Sixtus as it affected the duchy of Urbino, and it -forms no part of our plan to enter further into the events of his -pontificate. Neither need we detail those in that of his nephew -Julius II., except in so far as they fall to be narrated in our -Third and Sixth Books. Our present purpose is to offer a condensed -view of the della Rovere family, preceding its establishment in the -sovereignty of Urbino, and to enliven what would otherwise be a dry -genealogical sketch, by a few passing observations on the character -of its two Pontiffs, and on the influence of their reigns. - -The children of Ludovico Leonardo della Rovere by Luchina Stella -Muglione were these:-- - -1. FRANCESCO, afterwards Sixtus IV. - -2. RAFFAELE, whose line will presently occupy our attention. - -3. A sister, whose husband Giovanni Basso and children were adopted -into the family of della Rovere and bore that name. They were:-- - - 1. GIROLAMO of Recanate, made Cardinal of S. - Chrisogono in 1477, and died in 1507. - - 2. ANTONIO, who married in 1479 Caterina Marciana, - niece of Ferdinand of Naples, and died soon after. - - 3. GUGLIELMO, who died in 1482. - - 4. FRANCESCO, Prior of Pisa. - - 5. BARTOLOMEO.[208] - -4. IOLANDA, who married Girolamo Riario, and, dying in 1471, -left:-- - - 1. CARDINAL PIETRO RIARIO, the favourite of his - Uncle Sixtus IV., who died in 1474. - - 2. GIROLAMO, Lord of Forli, and, in right of his - wife, Caterina Sforza, sovereign of Imola, whose name is - familiar to those who have followed our narrative, and - who was assassinated in 1488. Among their children were - Ottaviano, dispossessed of his states by Cesare Borgia - in 1500; Orazio, Bishop of Lucca; Galeazzo; and Cesare, - Patriarch of Constantinople. Their line still subsists - in the Riario Sforza of Naples, one of whom was in 1846 - Cardinal Camerlingo at Rome. - - 3. OTTAVIANO, Bishop of Viterbo. - - 4. A daughter, married to one Sansonio, whose son Raffaele, - made Cardinal of S. Giorgio in 1477, has been mentioned as - an accomplice in the Pazzi conspiracy. - -[Footnote 208: Most of these were buried in the church of Sta. Maria -del Popolo, at Rome, where their funeral inscriptions may be found.] - -RAFFAELE DELLA ROVERE, younger brother of Sixtus, had, by -Teodora Manerola-- - -1. BARTOLOMEO, Bishop of Ferrara and Patriarch of Antioch. - -2. GIULIANO, who became Pope Julius II., and whose natural children -were-- - - 1. RAFFAELE, who married Niccolosa Fogliano of - Fermo, and was murdered in 1502. - - 2. FELICE, famed for her beauty and talents, who - married Gian-Giordano Orsini, not Marc Antonio Colonna, as - stated by Roscoe. - -3. LEONARDO, created Prefect of Rome in 1472. He died 1475, -leaving no issue by Giovanna, natural daughter of Ferdinand King of -Naples. According to Giannone, she was Catarina, daughter of the -Prince of Rossano, by Dionora, sister of Ferdinand, and she brought -him the duchy of Sora, which descended to his heirs. - -4. GIOVANNI, Duke of Sora, Prefect of Rome, and Seigneur of -Sinigaglia, to whom we shall return. - -5. LUCHINA, whose children were adopted as of the della -Rovere name. By her first husband Gabriele Gara, a gentleman of -Savona, she had-- - - 1. RAFFAELE. - - 2. SISTO, Cardinal of S. Pietro in Vinculis, who - died in 1517, aged forty-four. His death is said to have - been occasioned by terror for the menaces of Leo X., who - suspected him of aiding his cousin the Duke of Urbino - in recovering his state, by advancing money out of vast - benefices, estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 ducats a year. - De Grasses describes his frame as exhausted by shameless - debaucheries, and adds, that he could neither read nor - write. The latter assertion is so incredible as to throw - doubt upon the former; yet such an accusation in the diary - of a papal master of ceremonies seems to infer that similar - immoralities were then scarcely regarded as scandalous in - the sacred college. The taint left by Alexander VI. had not - yet been effaced by blood and tears in the sack of Rome. - - 3. SISTA, whose first husband, Geraud d'Ancezun, - died in 1503, after which she married Galeazzo, son of - Count Girolamo Riario. - - By her second husband, Gian-Francesco Franciotti Lucca, - a merchant in Rome, who was her junior by eleven years, - Luchina had-- - - 4. GALEOTTO, Cardinal of S. Pietro in Vinculis, - and Archbishop of Benevento, who died in 1508, aged - twenty-eight. In 1505 he was appointed to the Cancelleria, - and his public revenues, amounting to 40,000 ducats a year, - were liberally administered in the patronage of letters. - - 5. NICOLO, who left a son Giulio. - - 6. LUCREZIA, wife of Marc Antonio Colonna, who - fell at the siege of Milan, in 1522.[209] - -[Footnote 209: Cristoforo and Domenico della Rovere, brothers, and -successively cardinals of San Vitale, were of the Vinovo family. -The former has a tomb in the Church del Popolo, the latter was -distinguished for his intelligent patronage of art. I have failed -to affiliate Clemente, Bishop of Mende, surnamed _il Grasso_, made -cardinal 1503, and died next year; and Stefano, who was nephew of -Julius II., and had a son, Gian Francesco, Archbishop of Turin, who -died in 1517.] - -GIOVANNI DELLA ROVERE, Prefect of Rome and Seigneur of -Sinigaglia, died in 1501, having married in 1474 Giovanna di -Montefeltro, who, dying in 1514, had issue-- - -1. FEDERIGO, who died young. - -2. FRANCESCO MARIA, who, as Duke of Urbino, will occupy attention in -our next Book. - -3. MARIA, married in 1497 to Venanzio Varana, Lord of Camerino, who -was slain in 1503, with three of his sons, by order of Cesare Borgia. -Another son, Sigismondo, shared the campaigns of his maternal uncle -the Duke of Urbino, and failing to recover his patrimonial state from -the usurpation of his uncle Giulio Cesare Varana, was assassinated -at his instigation in 1522: his wife was Ottavia, daughter of Giulio -Colonna. A scandalous intrigue of Maria in her widowhood will be -mentioned in the life of her brother,[210] but it did not prevent her -finding a second husband in Galeazzo, son of Girolamo Riario, Lord of -Forli. - -4. COSTANZA, who died unmarried at Rome in November, 1507. - -5. DEODATA, a nun of Sta. Chiara at Urbino. - -[Footnote 210: See below, ch. xxxii.] - -On the accession of Sixtus, the papal treasury was supposed to be -full of money and jewels, which it had been the passion of Paul -II. to accumulate. Yet he declared that but 5000 crowns were found -in bullion, and the few precious stones that were forthcoming -appeared not to have been paid for. Notwithstanding this seeming -disappointment, which was very generally discredited, and the outlay -of 20,000 crowns for the funeral of Paul, and for his own coronation, -he discharged the debts of several antecedent pontiffs, and -particularly those due by Paul for St. Mark's palace. But these heavy -expenses, with the alleged simony attending his election, and the -enormous sums lavished by his nephews, gave colour to an allegation -that he had seized and misapplied large hoardings of his predecessor. -The favour bestowed by him upon his nephews was excessive, even in -days when nepotism was at its height, and his fondness for the two -Riarii originated suspicions casting a dark shadow upon his moral -character; while gossip, with its usual inconsistency, lent currency -to the surmise that they owed to him their paternity as well as -the advancement of their fortunes.[211] One of his early acts was -to confer upon Pietro, the elder of them, and upon Giuliano della -Rovere, cardinal's hats on the same day. These cousins were, however, -of very opposite habits, and so long as Pietro lived, Giuliano's -influence with his uncle was small. The former, known as Cardinal of -S. Sisto, - - "Whom the wild wave of pleasure ever drove - Before the sprightly tempest, tossing light," - -was magnificent beyond example, lavish in his tastes for silver and -gold stuffs, splendid dresses, spirited horses. He was surrounded -by troops of retainers, and filled his house with rising poets and -celebrated painters. He was munificent to the learned, generous to -the poor, and frequently celebrated public banquets and games at -prodigious expense. Though he lived but two years and a half after -his elevation to the purple, he had in that brief space completed a -rarely equalled career of civil and ecclesiastical preferment, of -public extravagance, and personal debauchery. Taddeo Manfredi, Lord -of Imola, having been expelled by domestic intrigues, was bribed by -the Cardinal with 40,000 crowns to assign that fief to his brother -Girolamo Riario, an arrangement sanctioned willingly by Sixtus, -reluctantly by the consistory. After making a progress to Lombardy -and Venice as papal legate, with a pomp unequalled even in an age -of splendour, Pietro returned to Rome, and died in January 1474, of -fever aggravated by previous excesses. Panvinio says he seemed born -to waste money, and estimates his expenditure whilst cardinal at the -enormous sum of 270,000 golden scudi.[212] - -[Footnote 211: Muratori has not scrupled to adopt this opinion, for -which I can discover no adequate ground, and which is inconsistent -with the accepted genealogy of the Riarii.] - -[Footnote 212: The sumptuous and lavish festivities of the age, and -the extent to which art was combined with classical associations in -public displays, may be estimated from Corio's elaborate description -of the reception at Rome, in 1473, of Duchess Leonora of Ferrara, -with her suite, including 60,000 horses. *Cf. _Annalisti di Tisi_, -quoted by CORVISIERI, q.v. in _Archivio Romano_, vol. I.; -_Il Trionfo Romano di Eleanora d'Aragona_. CREIGHTON, _op. -cit._, vol. IV., pp. 75-77, gives a splendid sketch of his life.] - -The wars into which the Pontiff recklessly plunged, from rage -against the Medici and anxiety to consolidate a sovereignty for -Count Girolamo, occasioned vast expense, and the deficiency of his -exchequer led him to adopt expedients of an eventually dangerous -tendency. Panvinio asserts for him a disreputable priority in the -creation of places and offices, in order to raise a revenue by their -sale. The simony thus systematised tended at once to taint the -morals and degrade the reputation of the Roman court. Under Borgia's -pontificate we have seen it carried to a frightful height, and -attended by scandals the most heinous; in that of Leo X. it became a -mainspring of the Reformation. - -Yet it was not by wars alone that the papal treasury was embarrassed, -nor were the bounties of Sixtus limited to claims of nepotism, for -he reaped from many the praises due to a liberality large rather -than discriminating. The whirlwind of Turkish invasion had lately -swept over the ruins of the Eastern Empire, and for the Christian -princes who fled before it, abandoning their states to seek a -precarious hospitality, Rome formed the natural refuge. Thither -came the expelled despots of Albania and the Morea, the crownless -queens of Cyprus and Bosnia, all of whom received from the Pontiff -a welcome and honourable entertainment due to their misfortunes and -to their virtual martyrdom. To such European princes as visited -the Eternal City, in performance of their religious duties, he -accorded a splendid reception. But there were other outlays still -more creditable to him, as adorning the city and ameliorating the -condition of its inhabitants. He was the first pope who earnestly -set about rescuing from degradation the monuments of ancient Rome, -and improving the modern city. Among numerous public buildings -erected, restored, or decorated by him were the Ponte Sisto, the -great hospital of Santo Spirito, the old Vatican Library, the -aqueduct of Trevi, the churches of La Pace, il Popolo, S. Vitale, S. -Sisto, S. Pietro in Vinculis, and many others. To the Riarii, by his -encouragement, we owe the Cancelleria Palace and the adjoining church -of S. Lorenzo in Damaso. The restoration of that of the SS. Apostoli, -begun on a grand scale by his nephew Pietro, was interrupted by the -early death of that dissolute minion, whose tomb remains in the -choir, finely conceived and beautifully executed. Nor was public -convenience overlooked amid such magnificent creations. As Augustus -was said to have replaced his capital of brick with one of marble, -it became proverbial that Sixtus rebuilt in brick what he found of -mud. He paved the streets, re-opened the sewers, conveyed the _aqua -vergine_ to the heart of the city. By proclaiming the jubilee at the -end of twenty-five years, instead of each half-century, he doubled -the influx of pilgrim revenues; and, warned by the catastrophe of -its preceding celebration, when crowds had been trodden down on the -Ponte S. Angelo, he provided for the devout multitude a new access -to S. Peter's by the bridge which bears his name. His beneficial -undertakings, however, extended far beyond the Eternal City: he -cleared out the choked harbour of Ostia, thoroughly repaired the -crumbling church of St. Francis at Assisi,[*213] and began, in -honour of the Santa Casa at Loreto, that gorgeous fane which was -unworthily finished by the next Pontiff of his name. Neither was -he indifferent to the social disorganisation of his metropolis. He -curbed its lawless state by a rigorous police. Public begging was -strictly suppressed; and all who could not prove some legitimate -means of livelihood were banished. Malefactors of every sort, after -summary conviction, were whipped through the streets, and consigned -to the galleys or the gallows. Daily executions took place for a -time, and though the measures adopted were both sanguinary and -oppressive, order and security were in a great degree restored to the -thoroughfares. - -[Footnote *213: Cf. FRATINI, _St. della Basilica e del -Convento di S. Francesco in Assisi_ (Prato, 1882), p. 260 _et seq._] - -There is reason to fear that the stern discipline, whereby he -vindicated public manners, was not applied to his personal habits. -Yet the character given of him by Infessura, whereon depends most -of the scandal by which his memory has been blackened, appears so -grossly exaggerated as to defeat its own end, and to establish a -charge of prejudice, if not of malevolence, against its author. To -transcribe it would be to stain our pages; but its purport is summed -up in some ribald Latin verses, borrowed, probably, from Pasquin, -which impute to the Pope every imaginable iniquity and disgraceful -indulgence, and congratulate Nero in being at length exceeded in -crime.[*214] - -[Footnote *214: "Sixtus," says CREIGHTON, "changed the -course of life in Rome because his own recklessness was heedless -of decorum. Hitherto the Roman court had worn a semblance of -ecclesiastical gravity.... Rome became more famous for pleasure than -for piety.... The Rovere stock was hard to civilise.... Hitherto the -Papacy had on the whole maintained a moral standard; for some time to -come it tended to sink even below the ordinary level. The loss that -was thus inflicted upon Europe was incalculable" (_op. cit._, vol. -IV., p. 132-3).] - -Although the name of Sixtus, as a friend of letters and arts, -has been dimmed by the more glorious ones of Nicolas V. and Leo -X., which at no long intervals preceded and followed him, the -memorials remaining of his judicious patronage are interesting and -important. Innocent III., in building the Hospital of S. Spirito, had -embellished it with six frescoes illustrative of its destination. -To these Sixtus added twenty-seven others, forming a cycle of -the personal and public incidents of his life, from his mother's -miraculous vision, to his anticipated introduction into Paradise by -St. Paul, in recompense of his piety. These paintings are no longer -visible; nor do we know from whose pencils the vast series emanated, -but in the Sistine Chapel, which perpetuates his name, and was his -most important artistic undertaking, his choice was unexceptionable. -Apart from the celebrity conferred upon it by the subsequent impress -of Buonarroti's stupendous inventions, the series wherein the lives -of our Saviour and of Moses are contrasted constitutes a chapter of -scarcely equalled importance in the progress of Christian painting. -Who can view the mighty themes of that oratory,--the types and -antitypes of scriptural history on its walls, the creations of -Omnipotence on its roof, the final Judgment over its altar,--without -gratitude to the della Rovere pontiffs, by whom these triumphs were -commissioned, and for the most part carried out? This may, indeed, -be called the foundation of the Roman pictorial school. Giotto, Fra -Angelico, Gentile da Fabriano, and Masaccio had, indeed, visited -the metropolis of Christendom, but no pontiff before Sixtus had -summoned hither, and at once employed, all the most distinguished -artists of Central Italy. The glorious band, though headed by -Perugino,[*215] consisted of Florentines,--Signorelli, Botticelli, -Rosselli, della Gatta, and Ghirlandaio; but these soon returned to -the art-loving and art-inspiring Arno, leaving on the plain of the -Tiber few other works, and a most transient influence, in exchange -for the classical ideas which they had imbibed in "august, imperial -Rome," and which quickly supplanted the sacred traditions of their -native school. Although Pinturicchio was not associated in their -labours upon the Sistine, he was busy upon other not less important -mural decorations, which still adorn the churches of Aracoeli, Sta. -Croce in Gerusalemme, and S. Onofrio. But Sta. Maria del Popolo was -especially the scene of his triumphs, under the auspices of various -Cardinals della Rovere, and other members of the consistory, who were -instigated by example of his Holiness to such laudable employment of -their exorbitant incomes. - -[Footnote *215: Pinturicchio was also among them; neither can -Signorelli be called a Florentine. Dennistoun is (_infra_) mistaken -in thinking that Pinturicchio did not work in the Sixtine Chapel. The -Baptism of Christ and the Journey of Moses are both from his hand.] - -Panvinio speaks of this Pope's solicitude to gather from all Europe -additions to the library founded by Nicolas V., and attest his having -first put it upon a satisfactory footing, by appointing qualified -persons to superintend it, and by assigning it an adequate endowment. -Though the rooms in which he placed books have been devoted to other -purposes, ever since Sixtus V. removed the augmented collection to -its present site, a most interesting memorial of the Pontiff's family -and court remains, and has till lately adorned its original locality. -It is a fresco, now transported to the Vatican Picture-gallery, -wherein Sixtus sits in a noble hall of imposing architecture, with -his librarian Bartolomeo Sacchi, surnamed Platina, kneeling at his -feet, and pointing to an inscription, which enumerates in rough -Latin verses, those ameliorations for which Rome was indebted to his -Holiness. In attendance stand his two favourite cardinal nephews; -Pietro, with features expressive of unrefined sensualism, wearing the -russet habit of the mendicant fraternity, from whose discipline he -emerged to lavish ill-gotten gold with rarely equalled prodigality; -whilst in the cold and unimpassioned countenance of Giuliano, we -vainly seek for those massive features, and that angry scowl, which -the pencil of Raffaele subsequently immortalised. The group is -completed by the two younger nephews, Girolamo, Lord of Forli, gawky -and common-place in figure, with the Prefect Giovanni, of blunt and -burly aspect. It would be difficult satisfactorily to render so large -a group in these pages, but we give an unedited and speaking likeness -of the Pontiff from a miniature of the same size prefixed to the MS. -of Platina's _Lives of the Popes_, dedicated to him and now in the -Vatican Library. - -Besides the claims of this fresco upon our notice, from representing -the important members of the della Rovere family, it would be still -more interesting to us, were it, as formerly supposed, from the -pencil of Pietro della Francesca, court-painter of Urbino. It is now, -however, ascribed, almost beyond question, to a pupil of his, sung by -Giovanni Sanzi, as - - "Melozzo, dear to me, - Who to perspective farther limits gave." - -His accurate study of geometrical principles taught him the most -difficult art of foreshortening, which he particularly adapted -to ceilings and vaulted roofs with a magical effect heretofore -unattempted. Applying a like treatment to the human form, he -succeeded in giving to the features a relief not inferior to that -attained by the plastic manner of Squarcione and his followers, -but infinitely excelling them in natural and noble character; and -thus, for the first time since the revival, as in the picture just -described, he gave to simple portraiture the stamp of historical -delineation. Melozzo, by birth a Forlian, had probably attracted the -notice of Girolamo Riario, on taking possession of his new state, -and the patronage bestowed upon him by the Count and his brother the -Cardinal, reflects credit upon their discrimination. In 1473, he was -employed by the latter to paint, in the apsis of SS. Apostoli at -Rome, our Lord's Ascension in presence of the apostles, one of the -grandest works of the time, miserably sacrificed by the destructive -alterations of last century. Some much over-daubed fragments of this -wonderful composition are built into the great stair at the Quirinal -Palace, and single heads are preserved in the sacristy of St. Peter's. - -The favour of this Pontiff, whom the prejudiced Infessura has -libelled as "the enemy of literary and reputable men," included -merit from every quarter. Baccio Pintelli, of Florence, was his chief -architect; Antonio Venezianello was conjoined by him with the Umbrian -della Francesca and Signorelli to decorate the sacristy at Loreto; -he pensioned Andrea d'Assisi, when early blindness had clouded those -great gifts ascribed to him by Vasari; the Tuscan Verrocchio, who had -come to Rome as a goldsmith, became, by his encouragement, a sculptor -of eminence, and the inventor of that charming style which da Vinci -brought to perfection in Lombard painting. - - * * * * * - -Deferring our notice of Giuliano, the favourite nephew of Sixtus -IV., we shall now mention his younger brother GIOVANNI, -immediate ancestor of the della Rovere Dukes of Urbino. He was born -in 1458, but we have no information as to his life before his uncle's -elevation. The ancient and honourable dignity of Prefect of the -favoured [_alma_] city of Rome was held by the Colonna, from the time -of Martin V., until the death of Antonio, Prince of Salerno, in 1472. -His son, Pier-Antonio, had been named to that office in reversion by -Pius II., but, upon the ground of nonage, Sixtus set aside his claim -and appointed his own nephew Leonardo della Rovere. He, too, having -died in 1475, the Pontiff conferred the prefecture, (with remainder -to his eldest son), on his next brother, Giovanni, to whom, on the -12th of the preceding October, he had given an investiture, in full -consistory, of Sinigaglia, Mondavio, Mondolfo, and Sta. Costanza. -At the same time, his marriage with Giovanna, second daughter of -Federigo, the newly-created Duke of Urbino, was celebrated with -becoming pomp, her dowry being 12,000 ducats; and on the 28th the -almost childish couple made a festive entry into their tiny state. -The Duke's presence and influence, though gladly given, were probably -not required to secure them a rapturous welcome, for elevation from -obscure provincialism to petty independence was ever a welcome boon -to an Italian community. To signalise and commemorate the auspicious -event, a young oak tree was planted in the piazza, with the motto in -Latin, "Long may it last," and was inaugurated amid boundless and -universal joy. A tournament was next day celebrated, succeeded by a -ball, in which the sovereigns and their new subjects freely mingled. - -From the narrative of Fra Graziano[216] we learn the immense benefit -which the new order of things brought to that hitherto obscure town. -Though boasting a certain importance under imperial Rome, it had -become so decayed as hardly to afford stabling for twenty horses. -The Prefect lost not a moment in meeting the exigencies of his -position; and though but a boy in years, proved himself possessed -of matured wisdom. Summoning from all quarters the best architects -and engineers, he opened new streets, and paved them; built palaces, -churches, convents, and a large hospital; constructed a harbour, -erected a citadel, and fortified his capital. But his most happy -expedient was the encouragement of an annual fair, which, gradually -extending in importance, rendered Sinigaglia a mart of commerce, and -continues to this day the most important in Italy.[*217] Nor were -his exertions confined within the city. Mondaino and other places of -minor note shared these improvements; and he brought from Lombardy -and Romagna a population of skilful agriculturists, to clear and -cultivate the forest lands which spread far around, until his state -became a fertile and corn-exporting district. - -[Footnote 216: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 1023.] - -[Footnote *217: Cf. L. SIENA, _Storia di Sinigaglia_ -(Sinigaglia, 1764), p. 277 _et seq._; ANSELMI e -MANCINI, _Bibliografia Sinigagliese_ (Sinigaglia, 1905); -and MARCUCCI, _Francesco Maria I. della Rovere_, Parte I. -(1490-1527) (Sinigaglia, 1903).] - -The moral welfare of his people was meanwhile not overlooked; and -the strict propriety which he exerted himself to maintain, was -enforced by example as well as by precept. In his own practice, -and in the circle of his sanctimonious court, the decencies of -life were enforced with an almost monastic discipline, strangely -at variance with the usages of his age, and the temperament of his -near relations. Fra Graziano sums up his character as moderate in -his tastes, prudent in his counsels, mild, liberal, and just in -his administration, devoutly religious in his observances. His -consort possessed virtues, graces, and accomplishments worthy of her -husband's merits and her own beauty. - -The Prefect does not, however, seem to have been able in person to -superintend the beneficent administration which he had the good sense -to institute, for the Pontiff's doating nepotism required much of -his presence after the loss of Pietro Riario. The youthful couple -accordingly spent several years at the Vatican; and on their return -home, in 1479, Giovanni was presented by the city of Sinigaglia with -twelve silver cups weighing eighteen pounds. In 1482, they were -again sent for by Sixtus, who gave his nephew a palace on the Lago -di Vico. Even after his uncle's death, the Prefect enjoyed a large -share of papal favour, having from Innocent VIII., the baton as -captain-general of the Church. But, on the accession of Alexander -VI., the star of the della Rovere waned. In Cardinal Giuliano his -Holiness saw a powerful and talented rival; in the Prefect an -obstacle to his ambitious views for his bastard progeny. The former -prudently retired to France; the latter lived quietly in his vicariat. - - * * * * * - -In 1494, the Lord of Sinigaglia signalised himself by a feat worthy -the freebooting practice of his times. Zizim, or Gem, son of Mahomet -II., had right by his father's will to half the Turkish empire, but -was expelled by his brother Bajazet, in 1482.[*218] Having fled -to Rhodes, and placed himself under the protection of the Grand -Master, Bajazet offered the latter a pension of 40,000 (or as some -say 450,000) golden ducats, on condition of his being retained in -safe custody. From Rhodes he was removed to France, and, in 1489, -was brought to Rome, where, though received with much distinction by -Innocent VIII., he found himself virtually a prisoner, or hostage. -Bajazet, after failure of an attempt to have him assassinated, agreed -to pay that Pontiff and his successor, the same yearly subsidy of -40,000 ducats for his custody and entertainment, besides supplying -the Holy See with various important Christian relics from Palestine. -In 1494, the Sultan's usual annual pension having been remitted to -Rome through one Giorgio Bucciardo, accompanied by costly presents -for Alexander VI., the envoy, on leaving Ancona, where he had -disembarked, was set upon and plundered by Giovanni della Rovere. -After appropriating most of the treasure, to extinguish alleged -arrears of pay from the Holy See to himself and his troops, the -Prefect sanctified the deed by dedicating the residue to pious works, -employing the rich oriental stuffs for church ornaments. Soon after, -there were circulated in Rome, certified copies of a correspondence -between Alexander and the Sultan, with the oral instructions of his -Holiness, which Bucciardo had been induced to divulge, and which -throws a curious colour on this chapter of diplomacy.[219] - -[Footnote *218: The best contemporary account of Djem is that of -GUGLIELMO CAOURSIN, _Obsidimis Rhodii Urbis Descriptio_ -(Ulm, 1496). Cf. BURCHARD (ed. Thuasne), I., p. 528. -The amount seems to have been 45,000 ducats. See especially -HEIDENHEIMER, _Korrespondenz Bajazet II.'s mit Alexander -VI._, in _Zeitschrift fuer Kirchengeschichte_, vol. V., p. 511 _et -seq._ As usual, Creighton's account, _op. cit._, vol. IV., is -most excellent, written with the pen of a statesman. Heidenheimer -maintains the authenticity of the letters, and Creighton agrees -with him. "If the letters were forged, the forgery was the work of -Giovanni della Rovere," but there is no good ground for questioning -their genuineness.] - -[Footnote 219: These papers have been printed in Bossi's Italian -translation of ROSCOE'S _Leo X._, vol. IV., p. 220; but our -extracts were made from a MS. in Vat. Ottobon, Lib. No. 2206, f. 17.] - -The envoy, on being accredited to the Sultan, had to state to his -Highness, that the King of France was advancing upon Rome and -Naples, in order to dispossess Alfonso, the Pope's vassal and ally, -and to carry off Gem, with the project of providing him with a fleet, -and supporting him in an invasion of Turkey. That as his Holiness had -incurred great expenses in military preparations against a danger -thus affecting the Sultan as well as himself, he prayed from him an -advance of the 40,000 ducats due in November, to be remitted by the -bearer. And he was further to induce his Highness to adopt every -means likely to alienate his Venetian allies from French interests in -the approaching struggle, and to attach them to the party of Naples. - -The Sultan's answer is contained in a letter addressed to the -Pontiff, wherein this passage occurs:--"For these reasons, we began, -with Giorgio Bucciardo, to consider that for your Potency's peace, -convenience, and honour, and for my satisfaction, it would be well -you should make the said Gem, my brother, die, who is deserving -of death, and detained in your hands; which would be most useful -to himself and your Potency, most conducive to tranquillity, and -further, very agreeable to myself! And if your Mightiness is content -to oblige me in this matter, as in your discretion we trust you will -do, it is desirable, for maintenance of your own authority, and for -our full satisfaction, that your Mightiness will, in the manner -that seems best to you, have the said Gem removed from the straits -of this world, transferring his soul to another life, where it will -enjoy more quiet. And if your Potency will do this, and will send us -his body to any place on this side of our channel, we, the foresaid -Sultan Bajazet Chan, promise to pay 300,000 ducats at any place your -Mightiness may stipulate, that your Potency may therewith buy some -sovereignties for your sons." To this cold-blooded offer are added -many general professions of eternal amity towards his Holiness, and -promises that his subjects will everywhere forbear from aggression -upon Christians; and after stating that he had in the envoy's -presence taken his oath for the performance of all these obligations, -he concludes thus:--"And further I, the aforesaid Sultan Bajazet -Chan, swear by the true God, who created the heaven, the earth, and -all things therein, in whom we believe, and whom we adore, that I -shall make performance of every thing contained above, and shall -never in any respect countermine or oppose your Mightiness. From -our palace at Constantinople, the 15th of September, in the year of -Christ's advent, 1494." - -Although discredit was thrown upon these documents by the Roman -court, and the whole affair was alleged to be a device of Cardinals -della Rovere and Gurk, to screen the Prefect at the Pontiff's -expense,[220] it appears clear that a bribe was offered by Bajazet -for the destruction of his brother, who did not long survive this -incident. Alexander accepted 20,000 ducats from Charles VIII. to put -Gem into his hands during six months, as a tool for his ambitious -design upon the East; and in the treaty between his Holiness and -the French monarch, dated 15th January, 1495, there is a special -article that the former should consign "the Turk" to his Majesty -as a hostage, to be kept in the castle of Terracina, or elsewhere, -in the ecclesiastical territories, from whence Charles came under -a promise not to remove him "unless in case of need, in order to -prevent an invasion of the other Turks, or to make war upon them." -He also bound himself to defend the Pope from any descent of the -Infidel upon the Adriatic coast, and, on quitting Italy, to restore -Gem to his custody, his Holiness meanwhile continuing to draw the -Sultan's pension, and for due observance of these conditions, Charles -bound himself in a penalty of 800,000 ducats. By another article he -undertook to arbitrate in the complaint brought against the Prefect, -in the affair of Bucciardo and the captured subsidy. It is further -stipulated that the Cardinal della Rovere should be restored to -favour, and replaced as legate at Avignon; and that, on termination -of the Neapolitan enterprise, Ostia should be again surrendered into -his hands.[221] - -[Footnote 220: _Lettere de' Principi_, II., 4.] - -[Footnote 221: _Molini Documenti di Storia Italiana_, I., 23.] - -This oriental Prince's sudden demise, which soon followed, was -attributed to various causes, but a general belief imputed it to -poison, in implement of the Pope's engagement to Bajazet. Zizim -is represented as far superior to his countrymen in mind and -attainments; and we shall by and by find him honoured as a Maecenas -of literature. A very different impression is, however, left by the -amusing, but obviously caricatured, description of him transmitted -from Rome in 1489, by Andrea Mantegna, the painter, to his patron -the Marquis of Mantua:[222]--"The Turk's brother is here, strictly -guarded in the palace of his Holiness, who allows him all sorts of -diversion, such as hunting, music, and the like. He often comes to -eat in this new palace where I am painting,[223] and for a barbarian, -his manners are not amiss. There is a sort of majestic bearing about -him, and he never doffs his cap to the Pope, having in fact none; for -which reason they don't raise the cowl to him either.[224] He eats -five times a-day, and sleeps as often; before meals he drinks sugared -water like a monkey. He has the gait of an elephant, but his people -praise him much, especially for his horsemanship; it may be so, but -I have never seen him take his feet out of the stirrups, or give any -other proof of skill. He is a most savage man, and has stabbed, at -least, four persons, who are said not to have survived four hours. -A few days ago, he gave such a cuffing to one of his interpreters -that they had to carry him to the river, in order to bring him round. -It is believed that Bacchus pays him many a visit. On the whole he -is dreaded by those about him. He takes little heed of any thing, -like one who does not understand, or has no reason. His way of life -is quite peculiar; he sleeps without undressing, and gives audience -sitting cross-legged, in the Parthian fashion. He carries on his head -sixty thousand yards of linen, and wears so long a pair of trowsers -that he is lost in them, and astonishes all beholders. Once I have -well seen him, I shall forward your Excellency a sketch of him, which -I should send you with this, but that I have not yet fairly got near -him; for when he gives now one sort of look and then another, in the -true inamorato style, I cannot impress his features on my memory. -Altogether he has a fearful face, especially when Bacchus has been -with him. I shall no longer tire your Excellency with this familiar -joking style; to whom I again and again commend myself, and pray your -pardon if too much at home." Homely it is in good earnest, being -written in the Lombardo-Venetian dialect, some passages of which -baffle translation.[225] - -[Footnote 222: _Lettere Pittoriche_, VIII., p. 23.] - -[Footnote 223: In the Belvidere, where his frescoes have -unfortunately perished.] - -[Footnote 224: Panvinio tells us that, being received in full -consistory on his arrival in Rome, he refused to kiss the Pope's toe, -but only his knee.] - -[Footnote 225: The reverse of this caricatured portrait may be -found in a curious account of this unfortunate prince's romantic -adventures, given by the Turkish historian, Saadeddin-effendi, -and printed by Masse in his _Histoire du Pape Alexander VI._, pp. -382-408.] - - * * * * * - -It is, however, time to return from the digression into which this -singular and romantic history of the Turkish Prince has tempted us. -Alexander, greatly exasperated by the insults put upon his envoy, -and by the loss of a most opportune remittance, threatened the -Prefect with deprivation of his state; but finding his people, and -the neighbouring communities prepared to stand by him, deferred his -vengeance. Notwithstanding a reference of the whole affair to the -French monarch, by the treaty of 1495, nearly six years elapsed ere -Giovanni della Rovere was formally absolved from the daring exploit. -He was not spared to witness the revival and aggrandisement of -his family's fortunes by his elder brother's election to the papal -throne. On the 6th of November, 1501, death found him already attired -in a winding-sheet appropriate to the devotional habits of the age, -the cowl formerly worn by the beatified Fra Giacomo della Marca. - -Two miles west from Sinigaglia, on a rising ground which overlooks -the city, commanding the fertile vale of the Misa, from its Apennine -rampart to the bright waves of the blue Adriatic, there stands a -convent of Zoccolantine Franciscans. It was founded by the piety -of the Prefect and his consort; it was the chosen retreat of their -devotional hours, and was selected by them as the spot for their -last repose. There he was laid, agreeably to his dying wish, in -the Franciscan habit; and a plain marble slab in the pavement -commemorates his titles, and her worth, "in prosperity and adversity -comparable, nay preferable, to the best and noblest of her sex." -There, too, was composed by Father di Francia, guardian of the -convent, that brief record of the merits of his sovereign and patron -from which the preceding sketch has in part been compiled. The -original MS. has disappeared in the general havoc of ecclesiastical -treasures; but in the adjoining church there has been marvellously -preserved from the sacrilegious rapine of French invaders, from the -selfish gripe of unscrupulous collectors, and from the merciless -ignorance of modern restorers, an interesting memorial of the -persons, piety, and artistic tastes of this princely pair. Into a -small picture of the Madonna and Child are introduced, on either -side, portraits of Giovanni della Rovere and his wife, their arms -devoutly crossed, their dress displaying no royal gauds except her -simple string of pearls, and a large crystal bead suspended from his -neck by a double gold chain. Their regular and unimpassioned features -are, probably, somewhat idealised by the pencil of one more happy, -as well as more habituated, to embody inspirations of religious -mysticism, than to portray the indexes of human passion. Nothing is -known of the artist, but he must have been among the foremost in the -Umbrian school. - -By his will, the Prefect left his only son under the joint -guardianship of the Venetian senate, his widow, his brother the -Cardinal, and the gallant Andrea Doria, whose faithful services -we have formerly mentioned. To his consort he bequeathed 20,000 -ducats, and 7000 to each of his daughters. On the 18th of November, -Francesco Maria rode through Sinigaglia, to receive the allegiance -of his subjects; but being only eleven years of age, his mother -continued to govern for his behoof, whilst his education was chiefly -conducted at the court of her brother, the Duke of Urbino. For a -time she was spared the fate of the Romagnese princes; and it was -not until Guidobaldo's second flight that the arms of Borgia reached -her frontier. Aware how deeply her personal safety was perilled by -the approach of so sanguinary a foe, her friend Doria, who commanded -the garrison, sent her off disguised in male apparel; and, after -a fatiguing flight through mountain-paths, she reached Florence, -accompanied only by one confidential servant and a female attendant. -The defence of her citadel against an overwhelming force being -utterly vain, Doria retired just before the massacre of his allies by -Cesare Borgia, which we have recounted in our nineteenth chapter of -this work. There, too, we have narrated the young Prefect's escape -to France, where he remained under his uncle's auspices, until the -latter was called to assume the triple tiara. Giovanna lived until -1514, and passed from worldly trials just before adverse fortune had -again exiled her son from his rightful states. Ere we proceed to -consider his eventful life, we shall close this chapter with a few -brief notices of his uncle Giuliano, the greatest of the della Rovere -race. - - * * * * * - -An account of JULIUS II. should be, in a great degree, a -history of Italy during the crisis of its fate; but as we have in -other portions of this work to glance at those events of his life -and pontificate most connected with the politics of Urbino, and with -the succession of his nephew to that duchy, we shall here, as in the -case of his uncle Sixtus, limit ourselves to a few notices of his -character and personal history, including his exertions in behalf of -art. - -Giuliano della Rovere[*226] was in most respects the reverse of -Pietro Riario, his cousin and rival in the affections of Sixtus IV. -Moderate in his tastes and habits, his attendants were chosen for -their orderly lives; his equipages were as scanty as the exigencies -of rank would permit; his table was economical as his apparel, -unless when called upon to show fitting hospitality to persons of -distinction. Among the virtues with which he adorned the dignity -of cardinal, Panvinio enumerates the modesty of his demeanour, the -gravity of his address, the elegance of his winning manners. The -less partial Volterrano characterises him as somewhat severe in -disposition, and of a genius ordinary as his learning. Dignities were -conferred upon him in rapid succession by his uncle, including the -sees of Albano, Sabina, Ostia, Velletri, and Avignon, with the more -important offices of Grand Penitentiary and Legate of Picene and -Avignon. The latter appointment occasioned his prolonged residence -out of Italy during the reign of Innocent VIII., and afforded him a -convenient escape from the snares of his inveterate enemy Alexander -VI. Their mutual disgusts, arising from opposite characters and rival -interests, were, according to Infessura, brought to a climax by the -Cardinal's adherence to Neapolitan interests, in December, 1492, on -the question of Leonora Queen of Hungary's divorce. He then retired -to his citadel-see at Ostia, where, at the abbey of Grotta Ferrata, -his moats and battlements remain, witnesses to his warlike spirit, -as well as to the perils of those troubled times. But, considering -himself even there insecure, he ere long withdrew to Naples, whence, -after narrowly escaping seizure by the Pope's emissaries, he again -reached Ostia in an open boat. On the approach of an army under -Nicolo Count of Pittigliano, he fled thence to France, leaving the -garrison in charge of the Prefect, who soon capitulated, on condition -that neither he nor his brother should incur ecclesiastical censures. -Grotto Ferrata was about the same time seized and delivered over to -Fabrizio Colonna, on payment of 10,000 ducats. - -[Footnote *226: For authorities for Pope Julius II., cf. -CREIGHTON, vol. V., pp. 305-6, where an excellent _resume_ -is given.] - -The outrages which the Cardinal had thus received at the hands of -the Borgian Pontiff, in unworthy vengeance for his honest opposition -to the nepotism and other scandals which then disgraced the Vatican, -galled his pride, tending to rouse that fierce spirit which, although -alien to the character ascribed to his earlier years, became the -bane of his pontificate. This was, indeed, the turning point of -his life, and it developed a policy utterly at variance with his -ultimate views. Having attended Charles in his march across the Alps, -his ardent temperament often aided to sustain that weak monarch's -wavering resolutions. Had he then considered more his country's -interests, and less his private wrongs, the storm might yet have been -averted, and Italy might have been spared, for a time, from those -ultramontane armaments which he now conducted into her bosom, but -which it was the aim of his after-life to eject. The French King, -having achieved his rapid acquisition of Naples, instigated the -Colonna to seize upon Ostia, and, as he passed northward, restored -it to its cardinal-bishop, who there once more sought security -from the Pope. But Giuliano found in his stronghold no adequate -protection against so bitter and unscrupulous a foe. Alexander, on -the retirement of the French army, entered into an alliance with the -reinstated King of Naples, and in 1497 employed Gonsalvo di Cordova -to reduce Ostia, whose garrison had embarrassed the navigation of the -Tiber, and intercepted supplies from his capital. Eschewing the risks -of an unavailing resistance, the Cardinal once more escaped by sea, -and rejoined Charles at Lyons, whilst the Great Captain was rewarded -for his easy conquest with the Golden Rose. - -Cardinal della Rovere, having in 1597 been declared enemy of the Holy -See, and deprived of his benefices by the Pontiff, against the will -of the consistory, withdrew for security to his native shores, and -awaited at Savona the conclusion of what was to many of his order -a reign of terror. At the moment of Cesare Borgia's invasion of -Urbino, he narrowly escaped the fate destined for his brother-in-law -Guidobaldo, and his nephew, the young Prefect. On pretence of a -complimentary mission to Louis XII., the papal fleet had sailed -towards Provence, with orders to visit Savona, where, if the Cardinal -did not voluntarily pay his respects to the envoys, he was to be -inveigled on board, and carried off. But warned by past experience -against civilities emanating from such a quarter, he escaped the -danger by cautiously evading the perilous invitation. - -The sudden and unanimous election of Giuliano to succeed Pius -III.--which we have elsewhere narrated--may well be deemed -marvellous, considering the various interests that distracted the -conclave, and the influence still ostensibly possessed in it by -Valentino, the arch-foe of the Rovere race. There could be no more -convincing proof that all parties were tired of the recent system, -nor of their resolution to put an end to similar enormities. His -morals, though hitherto far from immaculate, were pure in comparison -with those which prevailed around him; above all, his lapses were -neither matter of bravado, nor of open scandal.[227] His errors were -of a loftier range, and if more directly perilous to the public, -they belonged to a nobler category, and sprang from generous and -praiseworthy impulses, and tended to public objects and the elevation -of the papacy. Ascending a throne shaken by complicated convulsions, -succeeding to a treasury drained for selfish ends, and to an -authority waning under long-established abuses, it was his bounden -duty to beware _ne aliquid detrimenti respublica capiat_. But, not -content with resisting such further "detriment to the commonwealth," -and with recovering the ground recently lost, his conscience, more -perhaps than his ambition, urged him to new triumphs. He was a great -pontiff after the mediaeval estimate of the papacy. Little occupying -himself with the bulwarks of a faith which he presumed impregnable, -or the dogmas of a church still paramount over Christendom, he -considered the temporal sovereignty and aggrandisement of the Keys to -be his special vocation. Like the early Guelphs, he regarded Italy -as St. Peter's patrimony, to be vindicated from all intruders: to -establish her nationality, and extirpate the barbarian invaders, -were merely steps to that end. Italian unity, though not as yet -proposed for political aspirations or utopian dreams, was the result -towards which this policy would probably have led both Julius and -his successor, had the former been longer spared, and had the narrow -views with which the latter pursued it not involved him in continual -difficulties, and accelerated the decline of papal ascendancy. - -[Footnote 227: He had certainly two natural children, and Bernardo -Capello alludes to the inroads upon his constitution, occasioned -by gout and _morbus Gallicus_ (Ranke, App., sect. i., No. 6); the -latter term seems, however, to have been often in that age completely -misapplied.] - -But no personal ambition ever dictated the schemes of Julius, nor -did a thought for the nations whose destinies he hazarded ever cross -his mind. In the spirit of a crusader he marched against Perugia and -Bologna; he personally superintended the siege of Mirandula; and -when he donned the casque and cuirass, it was because they were to -him more familiar than the wiles of diplomacy. A stranger to those -dilatory tactics which we shall find marring the reputation of his -nephew, the Duke of Urbino, success crowned his aggressive measures -and impetuous movements, when greater circumspection might have -been attended with less advantageous results; and it was his good -fortune not to outlive those reverses which his precipitation almost -necessarily incurred. He was, in truth, gifted with qualities and -talents befitting the camp rather than the consistory, and Francis I. -pronounced him a better general of division than a pope. Had he been -bred a condottiere, the political aspect of Italy might have been -convulsed by him, and the papacy might have suffered still more from -his sword than it did from his policy. Yet if his militant tastes -occasioned greater scandal than the less blustering turbulence of -Alexander and Leo, and have proved equally detrimental to popery, -they are hallowed in the eyes of its champions in consideration -of his purer motives. By them accordingly he is upheld as one of -its pillars, while by most historians he has been mentioned as a -favourable exception to the prevailing bad faith of his times. Yet, -though greedy of conquest, he was far from indifferent to those -internal reforms requisite for the stability of his government. -According to Capello, the Venetian envoy, he possessed great -practical sagacity, and was led by no one, though willing to hear -all opinions. His judicious measures added two-thirds to the revenue -of the Holy See, chiefly by correcting the depreciated currency in -which it was paid. In personal expenses he was penuriously sparing, -contracting with his house-steward, to whom he allowed but 1500 -ducats for the monthly bills of the palace.[228] - -[Footnote 228: Ranke, Appendix, sect. i. No. 6.] - -But this picture has its reverse. In the two following chapters -of these memoirs we shall find the head of the universal Church -harassing his flock by perpetual warfare--the high-priest of the -Christian hierarchy seemingly indifferent to the purity of Catholic -rites, and utterly oblivious of peace and charity. - -By lovers of art the memory of Julius II. will ever be embalmed -among the foremost of its princely patrons, and his appreciation -of literature may be learned from his remark, that letters are -silver to the people, gold to the nobles, diamonds to princes. We -have elsewhere to speak of his vast undertakings in architecture, -sculpture, and painting, which earned from Vasari the reputation -of a spirited pontiff, bent upon leaving memorials of a zealous -and liberal encouragement of art. His lavish outlay on St. Peter's -strikingly contrasts with his habitual economy. To meet it he -authorised a general collection, towards which the Franciscans -gathered 27,000 ducats, and in 1507 he proclaimed a sale of jubilee -indulgences. This device laid all Christendom under contribution, and -proved so productive that he and Leo were tempted almost annually -to repeat it, little aware what weapons they were thus forging for -future schismatics. The example of his uncle Sixtus, in summoning for -the decoration of his capital whatever talent merited such patronage, -was followed up by him with the energy belonging to his nature. -Besides commencing the metropolitan fane, the immense _cortile_, -corridors, and _loggie_ of the Vatican, and the unequalled frescoes -of the _stanze_, he was truly the founder of a museum of ancient art. -He rescued the Laocoon and rewarded its discoverer; the Apollo and -the Torso took their epithet of Belvidere from the pavilion in which -he placed them. - -Rome owes to him, among other improvements, one of its longest and -finest streets, bearing his name, where he began a series of palaces -for public offices and the courts of justice, unfortunately never -completed. The churches which he re-founded or decorated include -S. Pietro in Montorio, Sta. Agnese, SS. Apostoli, and the Madonna -del Popolo. In the last of these are the beautiful windows which -he brought two famous glass-painters from Marseilles to execute; -and beneath them those purest specimens of the revival, in which he -invited Sansovino's exquisite chisel to commemorate his talented -rival Ascanio Sforza, and his cousin the Cardinal of Recanati. For -objects so laudable the moment was propitious, and fortune seconded -his efforts; but it was more than chance which enabled him to select -at once the greatest painter, the most gifted sculptor, and the first -architect whom the modern world has seen,--to give simultaneous -employment worthy of their genius to Raffaele, Michael Angelo, and -Bramante. - -His successor has found among ourselves a biographer[*229] who -brought the enthusiasm of a eulogist to grace the more solid -qualifications of a historian, whose eloquence has thrown around -the era of Leo a brilliancy leaving in comparative obscurity the -pontificate of Julius, whence many of its rays were virtually -borrowed. But the progress of our narrative will lead us to introduce -some less flattered sketches of the Medicean pontiff. In stimulating -the search for choice fragments of antique sculpture, the son of -Lorenzo de' Medici but followed the course which his father had -indicated, and which Julius had zealously pursued. St. Peter's, -perverted under him into a crowning abuse destined to wean men from -their old faith, had been founded by his predecessor as the mighty -temple of a church, Catholic in fact as well as in name. Michael -Angelo, summoned by Julius to decorate his capital with the grandest -of his efforts in architecture, sculpture, and painting, was banished -by his successor to waste his energies in engineering the marble -quarries of Pietra Santa. Raphael was diverted by Leo from that cycle -of religious frescoes which the genius of Julius had commissioned, -in order to distract his powers upon multifarious, less important, -and less congenial occupations. - -[Footnote *229: WILLIAM ROSCOE, _Life of Leo X._, 4 vols. -(3rd ed.), 1847.] - -Nor need we fear a comparison between these pontiffs on more -important points of their respective policy. The wars of Julius were -undertaken for the aggrandisement of the papacy, and his nephew was -used as an instrument to that end. Those of Leo were waged for the -interests of his family at the expense of the Holy See. The former is -reported to have left five millions of golden ducats in the treasury; -the latter unquestionably burdened it with heavy debts. The measures -of Julius may have encouraged divisive courses and a schismatic -council; but those of Leo matured the Reformation, and permitted a -small cloud, which he might have dispersed while forming upon the -horizon, to spread unheeded over the heavens, until Central Europe -was withdrawn from the light and influence of the Roman church. - -In fine, during the pontificates of Sixtus and of Julius more was -done for the encouragement of literature and arts, for the temporal -extension of the papacy, and for the embellishment of its metropolis, -than has ever been effected in any similar period. The combined -reigns of the two Medicean popes have left no equal memorials. It -cannot be doubted that the patronage bestowed by his ancestors on -men of science and letters was liberally continued by Leo; yet it is -as much to the zeal of partial historians, as to his own policy of -success, that he stands indebted for the halo of glory which marks -his as a golden age. In many instances he but followed out the aims -of Julius, reaping their undivided glory; in others he fell sadly -short of his predecessor in energy and comprehensive views. The bad -seed which he freely scattered ripened into irreparable mischiefs -under his vacillating nephew, and the sack of Rome, which we shall by -and by describe, was their crowning calamity. After that event the -proud city was once again left desolate and impoverished, the prey -of barbarian spoilers; its population thinned, its court outraged, -its glories gone. When the judgment of posterity has passed into a -proverb it is too late to question its equity, or to appeal from its -fiat, and the name of Leo the Tenth will thus remain identified with -his age as the star whence its lustre was derived, although Italy was -then brightened by not a few orbs of scarcely inferior brilliancy or -less genial influence. - - - - -BOOK SIXTH - - OF FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE - FOURTH DUKE OF URBINO - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII - - Youth of Duke Francesco Maria I.--The League of - Cambray--His marriage--His first military service--The - Cardinal of Pavia's treachery--Julius II. takes the field. - - -To the family della Rovere, whom we have traced in the preceding -chapter, an heir was born on the 25th of March, 1490. His father, -the Lord Prefect, acknowledged his arrival to be a divine blessing, -and, as then usual, testified gratitude by the selection of his -baptismal names. St. Francis was the established tutelary saint of -the family, under whose guidance Sixtus IV. believed himself to have -obtained the tiara, and to whom his brother the Prefect addressed his -orisons for a male child. It came into the world on the fete of the -Annunciation, and was immediately christened Francesco Maria,[*230] -in honour of the saint and of the Madonna. In this, his only male -offspring, centred the hopes and interests of the Lord of Sinigaglia; -and after his death, in 1501, the boy was carried to the court of -Urbino, where his progress was watched with almost paternal anxiety -by Duke Guidobaldo. His mother occasionally visited there after her -widowhood, although from motives of perhaps misplaced delicacy, -she resided chiefly on her husband's fiefs of Sora and Arci in the -Neapolitan territory. - -[Footnote *230: See MARCUCCI: _Francesco Maria I. della -Rovere_ (Sinigaglia, 1903).] - -The first care of his uncle Guidobaldo was to obtain for him a -renewal of the prefecture of Rome, which his father had held; and as -that appointment was in the hands of Alexander VI., an enemy of the -della Rovere, the Duke of Urbino had recourse to the influence of -Louis XII. with the Pontiff. This application was warmly seconded in -the same quarter by the Cardinal of S. Pietro in Vinculis, paternal -uncle of Francesco Maria, and an adherent of the French interests. -The readiness wherewith his Holiness accorded this dignity, and even -held out hopes of marrying his niece, Angela Borgia, to the young -Prefect, induced his uncles to hint at their project of adopting him -as heir to the dukedom, a step which required the papal sanction. But -they were met by temporising answers, and found, ere long, that the -apparent frankness of Alexander was but a cover to that deep-laid -plot of destruction, involving both Guidobaldo and his nephew, which -we have already developed. - -Meanwhile, Francesco Maria's education advanced in letters and arms, -with every aid which books, talented preceptors, and distinguished -society could afford. His earliest instructor had been Antonio -Crastini of Sassoferrato, a man of excellent judgment, and well -skilled in theology and philosophy, to whom his father had entrusted -the command of Sinigaglia, and whose services were eventually -rewarded by Julius II. with the sees of Cagli and Montefeltro. -Ludovico Odasio still resided at the court of his former pupil -Duke Guidobaldo, who placed under his superintendence his youthful -relation. The lad, though small in stature for his years, was -remarkable for strength and activity, as well as for an active -temperament and lively talents. He was liberal, and even careless, -of money; but all his pleasure was in the military art, all his -ambition centred in martial glory, for Nicolo of Fossombrone, -and another famous astrologer, had predicted from his horoscope -high deeds of arms. After passing hours in the study of history -and classical literature, and of those sciences wherein princes -then sought pre-eminence, he found relaxation in horsemanship and -martial exercises, under the eye of such honoured veterans of Duke -Federigo as still wore their well-won laurels in the palace of -his son. Thus was his youthful mind moulded to the noblest forms of -chivalry, without those idle appendages which the affectation of -other times has exaggerated into caricature. - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -FRANCESCO MARIA I DELLA ROVERE - -_After the picture by Titian in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence_ - -_(From the Ducal Collection)_] - -The whirlwind that broke in upon this calm, and sent the Lords of -Urbino and Sinigaglia into houseless exile, has been described in -the eighteenth chapter of these memoirs. Francesco Maria, after -accompanying his uncle's midnight flight as far as Sta. Agata, -reached Bologna through mountain paths; and, having by great prudence -escaped the attempts of Giovanni Bentivoglio to apprehend him, in -compliance with Valentino's orders, he made his way by Genoa to -Savona, where his uncle, the Cardinal della Rovere, resided. But -the latter, not satisfied of his security, and anxious to place him -where he would have better means of improvement, sent him to his see -of Avignon, and thence recommended him to Louis XII., who received -him with high favour. In the court then established at Lyons he -resumed his education, especially in those military and personal -accomplishments for which it was distinguished, and quickly acquired -great proficiency in the French language. There he attached himself -much to the youthful Gaston de Foix, acting as his page of honour, -and gained some notice from the King, who bore testimony to his -precocious attainments in chivalry, by bestowing upon him the order -of St. Michael ere he had completed his thirteenth year. - -The events already recorded in connection with the death of Alexander -VI., restored Francesco Maria to his rights unquestioned; but his -first care was to obey a summons of his cardinal uncle, who had been -elected to the tiara. Travelling from France with his cousin-german -Galeotto Franciotti, whom Julius had named to the hat just vacated by -himself, he reached Rome amid public rejoicings on the 2nd of March, -1504. He immediately received the command of a hundred men-at-arms, -and steps were promptly taken for his public recognition as -heir-apparent of Urbino. Accompanying Guidobaldo into the Marca, he -was welcomed at Sinigaglia, on the 17th of June, by the unanimous -voice of his people. On the 18th of September he was invested with -the dukedom of Urbino in reversion, when he received the homage of -his future subjects with a ceremonial which we have described at p. -37, and which was attended by delegates from all parts of the state, -to adhibit the consent of their constituents. As a finishing stroke -to these measures for consolidating the della Rovere sovereignty, a -marriage was about the same time contracted between the Prefect and -Leonora Gonzaga, daughter of Francesco Marquis of Mantua. To this -arrangement, which turned out in all respects fortunate, the wishes -of her aunt, the Duchess Elisabetta of Urbino,[*231] were mainly -conducive; and preliminaries were negotiated by Count Castiglione, -whose high favour with both contracting parties, as well as his -diplomatic address, well qualified him for the mission. It was -announced in January, 1505, but the ceremony was postponed for -four years, on account of their youth. To the charms of the bride, -Castiglione bears this tribute: "If ever there were united wisdom, -grace, beauty, genius, courtesy, gentleness, and refined manners, -it was in her person, where these combined qualities form a chain -adorning her every movement." - -[Footnote *231: She was betrothed in the same month in which her -father died. The marriage had long been desired by Elisabetta. -Giustiniani mentions a report of it in his Despatches (_Dispacci_, -vol. II., p. 359) even in 1503. Mrs. ADY (_Isabella d'Este_, -vol. I., p. 267) says the Marquis of Mantua desired it "as a means of -obtaining the Cardinalate which he had been striving to obtain for -his brother during the last fifteen years."] - -[Illustration: _Anderson_ - -VENETIAN WEDDING-DRESS IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY - -_After the picture called "La Flora" by Titian in the Uffizi Gallery, -Florence_] - -But although too young for matrimony, the Prefettino was allowed to -flesh his maiden sword under his future father-in-law's command, in -the expedition undertaken by Julius against the lords of Perugia and -Bologna. In a military view the campaign was totally uninteresting; -but in some skirmishes before Castel S. Pietro, Francesco Maria -gained his general's approbation, and thus favourably entered upon -the career wherein he was destined to high distinction. The greater -part of his time was spent at Urbino, acquainting himself with the -people over whom he was to reign, and with the duties that awaited -him. Its limited court was rich in merit, and beneath an exterior -of elegance and high polish, learning and accomplishments of every -sort were cultivated and honoured to a degree elsewhere unknown. -The laxity of morals which, notwithstanding the example of both -sovereigns, accompanied that refinement, may be estimated from an -anecdote sadly instancing the failing in Francesco Maria's character, -which proved the bane of his whole life. We shall narrate it in the -words of an anonymous diary, already largely drawn upon for the reign -of Guidobaldo I.[232] "The Duke, [Guidobaldo] having brought up about -his person one Giovanni Andrea, a bravo of Verona, he made him his -favourite, and conferred upon him the order of the Golden Spur, as -well as the fief of Sasso-Corbaro, and some mills on the Foglia. He -was extremely handsome and generally liked; and it happened that -Madama Maria, daughter of the late Prefect Giovanna of Sinigaglia, -and widow of Venanzio of Camerino, who had been slain by Cesare -Borgia, was residing in Urbino with her son. Being still young, she -fell in love with this Giovanni Andrea, and was reported to have -borne him a son. Whereupon her brother, the Prefect, sent for him one -Saturday evening, and in the ducal chamber beset him with his people, -and assassinated him with twenty-four blows. At the same moment, -one of his attendants went out and slew a servant of Madama Maria, -who was said to have delivered their messages. On the following -evening, being Sunday, the body was carried to the cathedral with -distinguished honours, accompanied by all the gentlemen of the ducal -household, and by a concourse of the citizens, for he was generally -lamented by persons of every rank, and no one had died for a length -of time more regretted. And this occurred on the 6th of October, -1507." - -[Footnote 232: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 904, f. 89.] - - * * * * * - -We have elsewhere endeavoured to sketch the brilliant society in -which the Prefect's youthful mind was developed; in due time we shall -find several of its prominent members crossing him in the tangled -weft of human destiny, as friends or foes, according to their several -interests. We have also noticed the affectionate duty he continued to -interchange with the Duke and Duchess, and the circumstances in which -he succeeded to their state. Guidobaldo closed his life of suffering -on the 11th of April, 1508, and on the 14th Francesco Maria, after -high mass in the cathedral, produced the will naming him heir of the -duchy and dignities.[*233] The gonfaloniere of Urbino then presented -to him the city keys in a great silver basin, and also its standard, -accompanied with a complimentary address. He next was arrayed in the -ducal mantle of white satin doubled with gold brocade, and a cap -faced with ermine, over which was placed the coronet; then mounting a -superb charger richly housed, he was escorted through the principal -streets by an enthusiastic multitude shouting "ROVERE and -FELTRO, DUKE and PREFECT!" in whose joyous hurrahs it would have been -difficult to identify the disconsolate populace who not many hours -before had raised their coronach over Guidobaldo's mortal remains. On -returning, his horse was seized as their perquisite, and his mantle -torn into shreds, which were scrambled for as relics to be treasured -in memory of the day. - -[Footnote *233: Cf. LUZIO E RENIER, _Mantova ed Urbino_ -(Torino, 1893), p. 182.] - -This spontaneous loyalty, and their satisfaction at the maintenance -of their national independence, did not, however, prevent the -citizens from recollecting their interests. On the new Duke's first -appearance at Urbino the authorities had gathered round his horse to -kiss his hands and knees, and to beseech attention to their wishes. -Pleading recent fatigues, he declined entering then upon business, -and the gonfaloniere, readily accepting the excuse, summoned a sort -of parliament of the principal inhabitants to decide what favours -and privileges should be asked as a preliminary to their homage. -Estimating this movement at its actual value, rather than by its -bearing upon any theories of self-government, Baldi has entered into -no details of these demands: their object may, however, be guessed -at from the municipal concessions made by Francesco Maria on the -31st of May, whereby precedence was granted to the gonfaloniere over -the podesta; and the salaries of the city physician, lawyer, and -schoolmaster were undertaken by the sovereign, who also consented to -a modification of the imposts on agricultural produce.[*234] - -[Footnote *234: The document is printed by LUZZATTO, _Comune -e principato in Urbino nei secc. xv. e xvi._, in _Le Marche_ (1905), -An. v., p. 196 _et seq._] - -Although the popularity both of the extinguished dynasty and of the -youth who was destined to replace it, together with an absence of -all conflicting claims, rendered the succession safe and certain, -every measure which prudence could suggest had been taken by the -Pope to secure its being peacefully effected. A few excitable -spirits having assumed arms, in apprehension of some revolutionary -movement, a proclamation was issued on the morning subsequent to -the Duke's decease, commanding all to lay them down. On the 17th a -papal brief was addressed to the people, condoling with them on their -bereavement, and applauding their dutiful and orderly reception of -Francesco Maria. An envoy, deputed by the community to present their -answer, returned on the 30th, delighted with the gracious reception -he had met with, and with the Pontiff's flattering assurances. The -ceremony of swearing allegiance was out of delicacy postponed until -the 3rd of May, the day subsequent to his respected predecessor's -funeral. Summonses for both solemnities were issued to the various -communities in the following terms:-- - - "Right well-beloved, - - "On the second of the ensuing month will be celebrated the - obsequies of the illustrious Lord Duke, our father of happy - memory, for which it behoves you to send here in good time - as many as possible of your well-qualified fellow-citizens, - suitably dressed for the occasion. And to such of them - as you shall please to choose, you shall give a special - mandate for adhibiting the oath of fidelity to us in name - of your community, taking care that it be in regular form - as a public instrument. From Urbino, this 25th of April, - 1508. - - "FRANCISCUS MARIA DUX URBINI, ALMAE URBIS - PRAEFECTUS." - -The deputations willingly rendered the required homage, for they -considered this perpetuation of their independence as a boon doubly -grateful in the person of a sovereign representing their old and -loved dynasty, whose opening character promised no unworthy successor -to his esteemed uncle and father. During some days the Duke attended -to various demands and representations of the commissioners, and, by -well-timed favours to their different cities, quickly established -himself in the good graces of his new subjects. The Duchess Regent -proved a kind and prudent counsellor until he came of age, and long -continued her assistance in his affairs of state, residing at his -court while he had a home to share with her. The great discretion -and good feeling he now manifested towards her, and the scrupulous -anxiety he testified to retain around him all Guidobaldo's tried -friends and servants, quickly ripened the popularity which his -fortunate position had sown, and which eventually enabled him -to recover and maintain his sovereignty in circumstances nearly -desperate. - -[Illustration: _Anderson_ - -DETAIL OF THE URBINO VENUS - -_Supposed portrait of Duchess Leonora, from the picture by Titian in -the Uffizi Gallery, Florence_] - -The restless spirit of Julius fretted against the resistance still -offered by the Venetians to his incorporating with the papal states -those places in Romagna which they had seized, upon the fall of -Valentino, nor would he accept the compromise which they proposed, -of surrendering Rimini, on receiving from him a formal investiture -of Faenza. They were also suspected of irritating by their intrigues -the feverish state of that district, and of undermining the -preponderating influence which it was his policy there to establish. -On pretext of crowning Maximilian, whose title to the imperial -dignity had not been completed by that formality, the Pontiff invited -him to march into Italy, and support his views. The Emperor, in -accepting the proposal, demanded free passage through the Venetian -territories, with a threat of forcing his way, if obstructed. -Assured of support from their ally of France, the Signory offered -compliance, on condition of his going unarmed: but, spurning such -terms, he, in February, moved with an army upon the valley of Trent. -He was, however, effectually held in check by the Venetian generals, -Nicolo da Petigliano and Bartolomeo d'Alviano; whilst Louis, besides -sending Gian Giacomo Trivulzio to their support, instigated the Duke -of Gueldres to carry fire and sword into Lower Germany. Maximilian, -finding his hands full, made a hasty truce with the Venetians in -May, and turned to punish Gueldres. The Venetian and French armies -being thereupon disbanded, the moment seemed to Julius favourable -for renewing his designs upon Romagna, and in the following November -he sent the Cardinal of Sta. Croce to take part in negotiations, -which had been opened at Cambray, for reconciliation of the Emperor -and the French monarch. Maximilian readily lent himself to any -measures calculated to efface his recent disgrace in the Alpine -valleys, and to recover some places in Friuli which had remained -in the enemy's hands; Louis was induced to accede, in order to -wrest from Venice such portions of the old Visconti duchy as owned -her sway; and Ferdinand joined the coalition in hopes of regaining -several Neapolitan sea-ports, over which the Lion of St. Mark still -waved in security of certain advances by the Republic for the wars -of Lower Italy. Out of these elements there was concluded, on the -10th of December, a famous treaty, which denounced the Venetians as -ambitious perturbators of Italy and all Christian lands, and declared -war against them as the common enemies of the allies, who pledged -themselves to take the field before April, for recovery of Ravenna, -Cervia, Rimini, and Faenza to the Holy See, and of the territories -respectively claimed by the other contracting powers in Austria, -Lombardy, and Calabria. A subsidiary article took Francesco Maria -under their special protection, and guaranteed his states; whilst -by another the Duke of Ferrara was left free to become a party, on -payment to the Emperor of a sum of money in dispute between them. -Such was the notable League of Cambray, misnamed holy, on the vague -pretext that the maritime Republic, by retaining Ravenna and Cervia, -impeded the pacification of Christendom, and a general armament -against the Turks. Not only was it an innovation upon the established -custom of pitting the German and French interests against each -other, and settling their differences on the blood-stained plains -of Lombardy, but, as the first great coalition of European powers -for one common political object, it may be regarded as founding the -modern system of diplomacy. - -Yet, though this formidable confederation was the child of his -own brain, matured by the address of his legate, Julius shrank -before the Promethean monster, and paused ere he animated it by his -ratification. Well might it startle him to find that his labours -for the ulterior emancipation of Italy from foreign yoke were -about to divide one of her finest states among her most formidable -ultramontane foes. Had Duke Guidobaldo been spared a little longer, -his cool head and pacific disposition, as well as his friendship for -the Signory and his influence with the Pope, might have counteracted -the unnatural combination; but the die was cast, and the Pontiff had -only to await the course of events for an opportunity of undoing his -present work.[*235] - -[Footnote *235: The league of Cambrai is one of the great crimes of -history. The man who devised it and urged it upon Europe was the -head of European Christianity, Pope Julius II. Beside this, the -sensualities and murders of the Borgia go for nothing. His policy, -created by hate, succeeded in so far as it established the States of -the Church and murdered Italy. Yet looking back now, we may judge -of the price that has been required of the Church for that treason. -Beggared of her possessions, at the mercy of the new Italian kingdom, -he who sits in the seat of Julius is a prisoner in the Vatican--the -prisoner of history.] - -Unable to hold a military command, which would have better suited -his talents and tastes than the duties of Christ's vicegerent upon -earth, Julius gratified his family predilections by appointing his -nephew Francesco Maria to be captain-general of the ecclesiastical -troops. His investiture took place in the church of S. Petronio, at -Bologna, on the 4th of October, 1508, when he received the pontifical -baton from the Cardinal of Pavia, a prelate whose destiny we shall -find, ere long, fatally bound up in his own. But the time for active -service not being yet arrived, he contented himself with a review -of the forces thus placed under his charge. Being considered equal -to such a command, it is not surprising he should think it time to -celebrate his long-projected nuptials.[*236] On the 5th of November, -Julius wrote to the Duchess Elisabetta, to send a _lettiga_ or -litter, with three horses, in order to bring his bride on a visit to -Urbino, where the ceremony took place on Christmas Eve, 1508.[*237] -The letters, addressed to Federigo Fregoso by Bembo, who arrived on -the 19th, unveil some proofs of the bridegroom's felicity which it -were more decorous to pass over; but its revelations throw light -upon the contrasted feelings of the still mourning court. "Our -reception was truly chilling: no joy or hilarity in the palace; even -in the city its wonted aspect; our happy youth himself quite frigid; -but there is hope that he will become more ardent...." Writing a -week after the marriage, he says that as soon as it was over, the -Duke manifested the most unbounded affection, which became daily -more passionate; and declares that he had never met with a more -comely, merry, or sweet girl, who, to a most amiable disposition, -added a surprisingly precocious judgment, which gained for her -general admiration.[238] This event was hailed at Urbino with great -public rejoicings and sumptuous fetes, and the triumphal arches, -theatres, and other architectural and pictorial works required for -the occasion, were executed under the direction of Timoteo Vite and -Girolamo Genga. In 1843 I saw, in the hands of Padre Cellani, at -the Augustine convent in Pesaro, an interesting memorial of this -marriage. It is a small MS. psalter, with a frontispiece illuminated -in the manner of the Veronese limners, representing Nathan rebuking -David, whose crown and sceptre are fallen to the ground--a singular -theme for a bridal present, which, from the legend "LIONOR GOZAGA -URBINI DUCISSA," with the impaled arms of the two families, -it may have been. The Lady Leonora was about his own age, and, -although neither her beauty nor accomplishments have met with the -same celebration as those of her aunt the Duchess Elisabetta, we -shall have ample opportunity of observing in her character much -energy and good sense, with undeviating affection to her husband; -whilst the pencil of Titian has preserved to us a person which in a -sovereign must have been lauded as handsome. - -[Footnote *236: On the 25th of August, Francesco Maria had paid a -visit to Mantua to see his betrothed. "Come," said Leonora's uncle -to him, "and when you have seen Madonna Leonora and the Marchese's -horses you will have seen the two finest things in the world." -Francesco Maria spent two days there travelling incognito with but -four persons. Cf. JULIA CARTWRIGHT, _op. cit._, vol. I., p. -310. An amusing letter from Federico Cattaneo to Isabella d'Este, who -was absent, describes the meeting of Francesco Maria and his future -bride. Leonora was fourteen, and they were married at Christmas.] - -[Footnote *237: Cf. LUZIO E RENIER, _op. cit._; p. 195, for -the entry of the Duchess into Urbino.] - -[Footnote 238: It is difficult to reconcile with these details of an -eye-witness the statement of Leoni, followed by Riposati and others, -that the marriage was privately performed at Mantua in February, -1509. In May of that year the Duke was unanimously chosen a Knight -of the Garter at a chapter of that order, but for reasons which it -is now too late to investigate, the nomination was not confirmed by -Henry VIII. At next election he had but one vote out of ten, and his -name does not again occur in the record preserved by Anstis.] - -[Illustration: _Franz Hanfstaengl_ - -THE GIRL IN THE FUR-CLOAK - -_Possibly a portrait of Duchess Leonora of Urbino. After the picture -by Titian in the Imperial Gallery, Vienna_] - -From his honeymoon happiness the boy-bridegroom was speedily summoned -to the field. After issuing a preparatory apostolic admonition to -the Signory, on the 27th of April, 1509, Julius ordered his nephew -to assume offensive operations against Romagna, supported by the -Baglioni, Vitelli, and other vassals of the Church. The Duke was -already on foot, and after some skirmishes before Rimini, he attacked -Brisghella on the 4th of May; the place speedily surrendering, he -occupied himself in saving its inhabitants, so far as possible, -from the miseries of a sack, which Muratori denounces as worthy of -the Turks, and which Roscoe unwarrantably imputes to him as an act -of wanton cruelty. Following up this success, he, with youthful -enthusiasm, adopted various expedients for harassing the enemy, but -obtained still more credit for the judgment displayed in a singular -dilemma, which might have disconcerted a more experienced commander. - -There existed between some bands of Spanish and Italian soldiery -in his camp, various heart-burnings ready to kindle at a spark. -Ramocciotto, an Italian captain, having been sent upon secret duty, -as evening approached his men were seized with a vague impression -that he had met with foul play from the Spaniards. Just then, during -a wrangle among some camp-followers about a baggage-mule, one of them -called out in stentorian voice, "_Taglia! taglia!_" meaning that -the packing-cords should be cut. These words, which rang through -the stilly air, were mistaken for "_Italia! Italia!_" and were -caught up by the feverish followers of Ramocciotto as a watchword, -which they loudly echoed, and rushed to arms. Their cry and action -were repeated by most of the troops, who had just finished their -evening meal, and in a moment the camp was a scene of inexplicable -confusion, the fury of some and the consternation of others combining -to produce a general panic. Francesco Maria and his officers were -taken by surprise, but with great presence of mind he ordered an -advance upon Faenza as the readiest means of restoring order. The -gloom of twilight now settled down upon the camp, augmenting the -embarrassment, and ere the troops evacuated it, a good many Spaniards -had been cut down in the _melee_. Military discipline at length -prevailed, and the Duke, finding the town on its guard, returned to -quarters. Ramocciotto's reappearance appeased the originators of the -tumult, but it was not till next day that a stern inquiry detected -its casual origin. Thus did the promptitude and prudence of the -juvenile general save his character from compromise, and his little -army from disaster.[239] - -[Footnote 239: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 489. This is but a fragment of the -life of Francesco Maria by Urbano Urbani, who was his secretary at -this time. Our account of the League of Cambray has been taken from -it, collated with many published authorities. Urbani's full work, -which I have not discovered, has been largely drawn upon by Leoni, -Baldi, and other biographers.] - -The ecclesiastical army consisted of eight thousand infantry and -one thousand six hundred horse, a force by no means adequate for -the service it was called upon to perform. The Pontiff, with fatal -partiality, had entrusted the entire control of the commissariat and -stores for the campaign to the Cardinal of Pavia, of whom the remark -passed into a proverb, that whoever would make up a jerkin of every -colour should employ the words and actions of the Legate of Bologna. -Francesco Alidosio was second son of the Lord of Castel del Rio, an -inconsiderable mountain fief adjoining the state of Imola, which -latter, after being long held in sovereignty by his family, had been -bought or wrested from his grandfather by Sixtus IV. and the Sforza. -Having been educated for the Church, he attached himself on the death -of that Pontiff to Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, whose entire -favour and confidence he won, not only by long personal service, -but by firmly withstanding various offers made him by the Borgia to -dispose of his master by poison. As soon as his patron was placed -in the chair of St. Peter, his services were rewarded by a scarlet -hat, followed by the see of Pavia, the rich office of Datario, and -other valuable preferments. But his character had been regarded as so -questionable, in the scandalous pontificate of Alexander, that many -objections were raised in the consistory to his promotion, and even -the silver-tongued Jovius attributes his rapid advancement to the -advantages of a fine person and an unscrupulous pliancy of principle. -The influence he had obtained over the open-hearted Julius was -maintained by his facility in accommodating himself to the outbreaks -of his patron's impetuous temper; and it entirely blinded the Pope to -the danger of reposing implicit confidence in such a counsellor. But -the Cardinal, not satisfied to share these favours with another, did -all in his power to obtain an undivided mastery over his affections, -and especially to supplant his nephew in his regards. The means which -he adopted to effect this were, as we shall soon see, to thwart all -the Duke's plans, and throw upon him the blame of their failure. But -the mainspring of his hopes and intrigues was the restoration of -Imola to himself or his brother; and as the policy of Julius rendered -him deaf to such a request, even from a favourite, the latter -scrupled not to purchase his object from the French, by betraying to -them those interests with which as legate of Bologna he was entrusted. - -Francesco Maria accordingly found his movements hampered at every -turn by the scarcity of supplies, and, in answer to unceasing -remonstrances, had from the Legate abundance of fair words and -sounding promises leading to no result whatever. This was the more -provoking, as sound policy required a speedy conclusion to operations -carried on in a province that, though in hostile hands for the time, -was eventually destined to remain under the papal sway, towards which -it was therefore of importance to conciliate the population, rather -than to oppress them by military exactions. Notwithstanding these -difficulties, the Duke reduced the castles of Granaruolo and Roscio, -Faenza surrendered, and the siege of Ravenna seemed approaching a -favourable conclusion, when the Venetians, panic-stricken by the -French successes in Lombardy, and especially by the rout they had -sustained on the 14th of May, at Vaila in the Ghiaradadda, sued for -peace. They hoped, by offering to the Pope, the Emperor, and the -Spaniard, all the places occupied on their respective territories, -to conciliate these powers, and so be enabled to maintain themselves -against French aggression. Their envoy addressed himself to arrange -with the Legate a suspension of arms, whilst he should forward to the -Pope a formal renunciation of the disputed towns in Romagna; but the -wily Cardinal, who, whether from inherent dishonesty, or with some -selfish end in view, seems to have acted with invariable bad faith, -urged him to resign these places directly into his own hands, and, -when the agent persisted in adhering to his instructions, he was -thrown into irons and threatened with a halter. Nor was this the only -manifest instance of the Legate's treachery; for besides thwarting -the Duke on every occasion, and keeping him in the dark as to most -important arrangements, he sent some of his own adherents to attack -and pillage the garrison of Faenza, as it quitted the city upon a -capitulation accorded by himself. Francesco Maria, disgusted with -his duplicity, of his own authority liberated the envoy, and so was -brought into angry collision with the Cardinal, thus aggravating a -quarrel ere long to end in blood. - -[Illustration: _Brogi_ - -DUCHESS OF URBINO, EITHER ELEONORA OR GIULIA VARANA - -_After the picture by Titian in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence_] - -The difficulties of the youthful commander were increased by the -inopportune arrival of four thousand Swiss mercenaries, who, finding -matters in train for a pacification which would dash their hopes of -booty, could scarcely be restrained from an immediate assault upon -Ravenna. Their ruffianly intentions being insidiously encouraged by -the Legate, it was only by great prudence and decision that the Duke -prevented them from sacking that city, when evacuated on honourable -terms by the Venetian authorities. This conciliatory policy was -rewarded by a speedy surrender of Cervia, followed on the 11th of -June by that of Rimini, the last of the towns claimed by Julius, -upon which Francesco Maria lost no time in disbanding his army and -returning home. As soon as he was gone, the Cardinal, steady only to -his duplicity, imprisoned the Venetian officers who had imprudently -lingered within his reach. Although this campaign lasted but six -weeks, and produced no considerable engagement, it afforded to the -young Duke an insight into mankind, as well as a lesson in military -affairs, which enabled him to pass at once from boyhood to the -experience, as well as the reputation, of an able commander. - -As soon as Francesco Maria was liberated from camp duties, he sent -to Mantua for his bride, and at his uncle's desire carried her to -visit Rome. The Roman citizens, ever devoted to festivity, received -him with distinction, due not less to his personal merit than to -his high rank and near relationship to the Pope. Among the pageants -exhibited in honour of his marriage were tilting in the Piazza -Navona, and a masque celebrating his successes in Romagna, after the -manner of those triumphs which that capital used to witness some -fifteen centuries before. He carried Giuliano de' Medici with him to -the papal court, and effected his reconciliation with Julius, who, -suspecting him of some intrigues at Bologna, had given orders for his -imprisonment; thus swelling that debt of the Medici to his family, -which Leo X. subsequently and most ungratefully expunged. - -The Duke also used his influence for removal of the interdict from -Venice, the tried ally of his house; and this the Pontiff more -readily granted, having now gained all he hoped from the compact of -Cambray, and being ready for any new coalition that might tend either -to aggrandise the Holy See or to liberate Italy from foreign yoke. -He therefore cared not for the remonstrances of his late coadjutors -against his abrupt secession from their common policy; and, aware -how little signified Maximilian's languid operations, he only sought -an apology for putting himself in direct opposition to the French, -whose successes in Lombardy were assuming a serious aspect. This was -soon afforded by the hollow counsels of the Cardinal of Pavia, whom -he had despatched to the camp of Louis on pretence of congratulating -him upon his victory at Vaila, but in fact to watch his intentions. -In this monarch the Legate found one as ambitious as his master, and -not more scrupulous than himself; he therefore with characteristic -treason encouraged the projects he had shrewdly penetrated, -stipulating in return for the sovereignty of Imola, as soon as -Louis should, by his secret aid, add Bologna and Romagna to his -Milanese possessions. As an underplot in this drama of ingratitude -and treachery, the Cardinal of Rouen proposed that Julius should be -deposed by a general council, with a view to securing for himself the -tiara. Such at least were the ends which the French King soon after -openly pursued; and those historians who seek to establish a case -against the Cardinal of Pavia, explanatory of his subsequent conduct, -charge him with thus early selling himself to Louis, and betraying -his partial and confiding patron the Pope. - -The Legate, therefore, on his return to Rome, warmly seconded the -Pontiff's views. A rupture with France was the preliminary move in -the game he had arranged with Louis, and his zeal in promoting it -seemed the surest disguise of his ulterior designs. Florence and -Ferrara were bound to the French interests, while Venice was their -determined foe; so it only remained for the Pope to join stakes with -the Signory, and the party was made up. His intrigues to secure the -support of Spain, Austria, and England, and to retain the Swiss in -his service, do not require our particular notice. - -Unwarned by recent events in Romagna, and blinded by affection for -his nephew, and for the Cardinal of Pavia, to the character of the -latter, and to the insuperable antipathy which had grown up between -them, the Pope, unfortunately, again delegated to them the joint -conduct of the war. The first advance was made against Ferrara, -with the view, doubtless, of restoring the Polesine to Venice, and -extending the temporal sway of the Keys to the banks of the Po. -Francesco Maria, who, after wintering in Rome, had returned home -with his Duchess in May, entered the Ferrarese ere July was over, -at the head of six thousand infantry, and one thousand five hundred -horse, and quickly became master of a great part of that duchy. But -this army was unequal to operations against the city of Ferrara, -strong in its surrounding marshes; and an expected contingent of -ten thousand Swiss were intercepted by Chaumont, the French general -(called Ciamonte by Guicciardini,) and sent back to their mountains -by the combined means of force and gold. The naval armament against -Genoa, then in the hands of Louis, proving also a failure, and the -Cardinal Legate conducting his department as unsatisfactorily as -before, the Duke of Urbino heard with joy that the Pontiff was on -his way to the scene of operations. On the 15th of September he -passed through Pesaro, leaving the Apostolic benediction, and various -indulgences, in acknowledgment of his enthusiastic reception. When -he reached Bologna, he found Modena, which had lately surrendered to -his army, threatened by Chaumont in person, and a strong feeling -abroad among the ecclesiastical officers, that they had been deluded -by the Legate, who prevented them from clenching their success by the -capture of Reggio, and had wiled them to a fruitless demonstration -before Ferrara, thereby not only wasting precious time, but exposing -the army to great hazard, and leaving Modena and Bologna uncovered. -The Pope immediately directed his nephew to send the Cardinal, under -arrest, to Bologna, which he did, with every mark of consideration; -but the extraordinary influence which that sneaking spirit exercised -over the frank and open-hearted Julius, diverted his suspicions, and -was rewarded with new favours. - -The unpromising aspect of his affairs, which brought the Pontiff in -person to Bologna, did not improve. Disappointed of the assistance -he looked for from Switzerland and Naples, feebly supported by his -allies of Venice and Mantua, his troops were reduced to a defensive -position, fatal to the prestige which had attended their first -successes. Encouraged by this state of matters, and by the approach -of Chaumont's powerful army, the friends of the exiled Bentivoglii -began to agitate for their restoration to the sovereignty of Bologna. -Nor were these the worst mortifications awaiting the proud spirit -of Julius. The clergy of France had met at Lyons, and decided upon -convoking a general council at Pisa, to sit in judgment upon his -conduct, a movement already openly supported by Louis, the Emperor, -and Florence, and by five members of the Sacred College. These -anxieties fretted his fractious temperament into an illness, so -serious at his advanced age, as to threaten a fatal termination; -and in the prospect of thus losing the mainspring of the war, his -confederates were little inclined to compromise themselves by fresh -exertions. His courtiers, too, alarmed at the prospect of clinging to -a falling cause, beset him with persuasions to obtain a truce on any -terms. But they mistook the character with whom they had to deal. -In deference to their representations, he opened a negotiation with -the French general, wherein, far from assuming a suppliant air, he -prescribed as a preliminary stipulation, the sacrifice of the Duke of -Ferrara to his vengeance, as a rebellious vassal. Thus passing - - "Out of the speech of peace that bears such grace - Into the harsh and boisterous tongue of war," - -he sent a summary threat to his Venetian allies, and to the Marquis -of Mantua, that unless their promised contingents instantly marched -to his support, he would arrange matters with the French King for -their extermination. - -The moral influence of this indomitable courage retrieved his -affairs. The Venetian, Mantuan, and Neapolitan succours successfully -and quickly arrived; many small free companies flocked to his -standard; and the Bolognese factions postponed their movement till a -fitter moment. Breaking off all negotiations, he thundered censures -against Chaumont and the Duke of Ferrara, and ordered his now ample -army to assume offensive operations. His physical energy was at the -same time restored, and the threatened eclipse proved but a passing -cloud, from which his indomitable genius burst forth with renewed -brilliancy. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII - - The Duke routed at Bologna from the Cardinal of Pavia's - treason, whom he assassinates--He is prosecuted, but - finally absolved and reconciled to the Pope--He reduces - Bologna--Is invested with Pesaro--Death of Julius II. - - -In December the Duke of Urbino returned the challenge to a general -engagement, which Chaumont had boastfully given him a few months -before, and, after carrying some places of minor importance, encamped -before Mirandola. To the surprise and no small scandal of all, the -Pontiff, scarcely recovered from a dangerous malady, and braving -the unusual rigours of the season, repaired to head-quarters. In -reply to representations of his advisers against a step hazardous -to his health, and unusual, if not unbecoming, in the head of the -Christian Church, he urged the necessity of vigorously, and at any -personal risks, meeting the disgraceful and schismatic proposal for -a council at Pisa,[*240] by proving himself both able and willing to -perform the duties of his high office, in wielding its temporal and -spiritual arms against all enemies and perturbators of the Church, -as well as in maintaining its doctrines, and supporting its friends. -This ill-judged decision is said to have been strongly prompted by -his evil genius the Cardinal of Pavia, who, speculating upon the -chance of its cutting short his master's life, made sure of, at all -events, turning to the advantage of his French friends the command -at Bologna, which upon the Pope's departure would once more devolve -upon him as legate. Guicciardini further charges him with promoting -the bootless demonstration against Mirandola, in order to divert the -army from Ferrara, whose inadequate defences might have rendered it -an easy as well as important conquest. In the first days of the year, -Julius reached the camp, attended by three cardinals, and took up -his quarters in a cottage exposed to the fire of the walls. It is -stated in an old chronicle, that a cannon ball having fallen close -to his pavilion, the enraged Pontiff ordered it to be sent to Loreto -as an _ex voto_ offering, and threatened to deliver over the place -to a sack. Severe cold and deep snow in nowise daunted him, and his -presence alarming the garrison, whilst the besiegers were stimulated -to exertion by his persuasions, the town was soon reduced, but, by -extraordinary exertions on the part of Francesco Maria, was saved -from pillage.[*241] Its garrison had been commanded by a natural -daughter of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio,[*242] who, on being rudely asked -by the Legate, in presence of Julius, if she were the woman who would -hold the place against the Pontiff, replied, "Against you I could -easily have defended it, but not against him." - -[Footnote *240: Little is known of the steps which led to the Council -of Pisa. See some interesting letters printed in CREIGHTON, -_op. cit._, vol. V., p. 329 _et seq._] - -[Footnote *241: Cf. SANUTO, _Diario_, vol. XI., p. 721 _et -seq._ It was the Pope who threatened pillage. CREIGHTON, -_op. cit._, vol. V., p. 143.] - -[Footnote *242: She was the widow of the Count Ludovico of Mirandola.] - -Julius, satisfied with this success, retired to Ravenna: whilst his -nephew, who about this time was warned by the Doge of Venice of a -plan concerted by the Cardinal of Rouen for poisoning him, led the -army towards Ferrara. As the best means of relieving that town, -and perhaps in concert with the treacherous Legate, Trivulzio, who -since Chaumont's death, commanded the French troops, amounting to -fifteen thousand lances, and seven thousand infantry, now marched -upon Bologna, avoiding a battle, which the Duke of Urbino would -gladly have hazarded. The latter, however, by forced marches arrived -there before him, and encamped at Casalecchio, three miles south -of the city. The French army was by this time at Ponte Laino, about -five miles north-west from the gate; and the Duke lost no time in -advising the Legate of the position of affairs, offering to throw two -or three thousand men and some artillery into Bologna. After losing -much valuable time in consultation with some of the citizens, the -Cardinal declined these as unnecessary. This answer appears to have -converted into certainty the suspicions which Francesco Maria had -long entertained of his coadjutor's good faith. He knew the garrison, -consisting of about twelve hundred troops, to be utterly inadequate -to resist the French; he was also aware that the exiled Bentivoglii, -then hovering about at the head of a strong band of adherents, were -eagerly looked for by their numerous partisans within the walls, to -whom the Cardinal had rendered his ecclesiastical authority doubly -odious, by a series of oppressive measures totally inconsistent with -its usual mild sway, and intended, no doubt, to promote his own -treasonable ends, by alienating the inhabitants from the established -order of things. Strongly impressed with the urgency of the crisis, -the young Duke persisted in his intention of reinforcing the -garrison, but some older officers, persuaded by renewed assurances -from the Cardinal, overruled him in council, and their march was -postponed until morning,--a delay fatal to the cause, and pregnant -with complicated evils. - -So little was the Duke of Urbino satisfied with this resolution, -that he posted videttes under the walls, and spent the night in -reconnoitring with his staff. Midnight had just passed when a -confused murmur from the city attracted his attention. The word -_Chiesa!_ or church, seeming to prevail amid the din, he had hope -that the Legate's authority was maintained; but presently the -watchword being heard more distinctly, it proved to be _Sega! -Sega!_ signifying "The saw! the saw!" a badge and war-cry of the -Bentivoglii. After some time lost in painful suspense, it was -ascertained from the sentinels that the French and the Bentivoglii -were masters of the place. Aware of his critical situation, but -retaining his presence of mind, Francesco Maria gave instant orders -for a retreat, fixing a point of rendezvous five miles on the road -towards Romagna. Thither he marched his cavalry in perfect order, -by the level country, and was followed by the Venetian and other -infantry along the high ground. The latter, being set upon at once -by the enemy and the country people, fell into confusion, and, but -for the Duke's strenuous persuasions, and a successful charge which -he made with his cavalry upon their assailants, their officers -would have given way to a general panic, and the army must have -been annihilated. The coolness of their juvenile commander so far -reassured them that the retiring army encamped on the morrow between -Forli and Cesena, without much further loss than their artillery -and baggage.[243] The vast quantity of booty obtained for this -misconducted affair the nick-name of "donkey-day." - -[Footnote 243: So say the Urbino writers. Guicciardini characterises -the escape of the army as a panic-rout, in which the whole -camp-equipage and colours, including the ducal standard, fell into -the enemy's hands. Sanuto says that 200 men-at-arms were slain.] - -Bologna was lost on the night of the 21st of May, and, beyond all -question, it fell from the Legate's fool-hardiness or treason. The -catastrophe which followed it called forth a bitterness of feeling -fatal to impartial judgment, and the historians whom we have chiefly -followed were friendly to the Duke of Urbino, and consequently -prejudiced against the Cardinal.[244] Yet, after full allowance -for this circumstance, there seems no reasonable doubt that the -latter secretly favoured the French interests, and neutralised those -measures by which Francesco Maria would have saved the city. He -placed the gates in charge of noted partisans of the exiled family, -by whom they were opened after nightfall to receive the Bentivoglii, -followed by the main body of the French army. It was even alleged -that he had previously sent away his most valuable effects; at all -events, he wanted courage to share the success which had crowned -his treason, and, in real or pretended panic, escaped upon a mule, -disguised in a lay habit, and attended by only two followers. Nothing -could palliate his flight without an attempt to warn the Duke of his -danger, or to concert measures for the preservation of his army; and -his whole behaviour lays him open to the suspicion of an intention -to sacrifice both. Against such a combination of untoward events -the friends of the Church could not struggle, and the mass of the -Bolognese, smarting under recent oppression, welcomed their former -rulers with joy, and vented their insensate fury in smashing the -bronze statue of the Pope, which Michael Angelo had executed in the -short period of fifteen months, and which was afterwards cast into a -cannon bearing the Pontiff's name. - -[Footnote 244: Not only Leoni and Reposati, but the MSS. in the -Urbino library, which refer to these transactions, must be so -regarded. We have compared all of these, especially Baldi's life of -this Duke, and the defence of him against Guicciardini, which he -left prepared for the press in No. 906 of the Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 924 -contains the pleading of the younger Beroaldo in favour of the Duke, -when charged with the Cardinal of Pavia's murder. No. 1023, art. v., -and No. 819, fol. 335, the former by Monsignor Paolo Maria Bishop of -Cagli, the latter anonymous, have supplied us with some new facts. -Guicciardini, admitting in other passages the Legate's bad faith and -his antipathy to Francesco Maria, blames his deficiency of courage or -judgment in the Bologna affair, and lashes the aggravated vices of -his character. Roscoe has not here exercised his usual acumen.] - -From Castel del Rio, a petty fief which his family had retained -after losing the seigneury of Imola, the Cardinal on the 22nd sent -courier after courier to Julius at Ravenna, preoccupying his ears -with representations against his nephew, upon whose cowardice he cast -the whole blame of the recent disaster. The latter, having sought -an audience of the Pope, found him alike prepossessed against him, -and deaf to his self-justifications; indeed, his attempts to unmask -the traitor were denounced as suggestions of envy and malice, and -he was superseded in his command. A temper less forbearing might -well be incensed by this climax of injury, at the hands of one whose -bad faith and malignity had long rankled in his fiery bosom. To -see his uncle at once sacrificed and cajoled, to be himself made -the scapegoat, while the true criminal was trusted and honoured, -were trials beyond endurance, even apart from the taunt by which -they were aggravated. As he quitted the presence-chamber, towering -with just indignation, and accompanied by two officers and as many -orderlies, he unluckily met the Legate on his mule, attended by a -hundred light-horse. Regardless of his escort, the Duke rushed upon -him and plunged a poignard into his entrails, which passed through to -his saddle.[*245] The blow was repeated by the officers, his guard -attempting neither redress nor vengeance, and in a few minutes the -Cardinal had gone to his dread account, exclaiming repeatedly in -Latin, "From crime comes mischief." This deplorable event happened -on the 24th of May.[246] Its details are variously stated, and one -account says that the rencontre occurred ere the Duke had seen -his Holiness, while the Legate was returning from an audience; on -the whole, we have preferred that of Giraldi, whose uncle was an -eye-witness. - -[Footnote *245: The account of Paris de Granis (given by -CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. V., pp. 305-19) somewhat differs -from that given here.] - -[Footnote 246: Several letters, quoted by Sanuto, MS. Diary, XII., -158-161, say the 23rd, being Saturday; but Saturday fell on the 24th. -See Filippo Giraldi, Vat. Ottob. MSS. No. 3153, f. 90.] - -Francesco Maria was quickly aware of the horror of this outrage, -and immediately after arranging matters in the camp, retired to his -state, to repent, it is hoped, as well as to abide its results.[247] -The sacrilegious nature of the offence might indeed be palliated -in the letter, by the lay dress which the Cardinal chanced to wear, -but his episcopal dignity and holy character as vicegerent of the -papal authority were notorious, and the blind partiality of Julius -seemed to have increased as his misconduct became more palpable. The -situation of that old man was indeed calculated to bend even his -stern nature. He had committed an enterprise of doubtful policy, and -against which a large portion of the Church was openly declared, -to his most trusted friend and to his favourite nephew. The design -had utterly miscarried; Bologna, acquired by him so happily, was -lost; a victorious enemy was within a few leagues of him; and his -friend had been murdered by his nephew, after mutual recriminations -of treachery. The attendant cardinals and prelates, jealous of a -more favoured brother, exulted in the deed while condemning its -manner; but their master is described by Paris de Grassis as giving -way to the most exaggerated demonstrations of excessive grief, -renouncing food and shutting himself out from converse. After hastily -authorising negotiations with Trivulzio, he set out for his capital -in a litter. At Rimini he was startled by a formal citation to appear -before the Council of Pisa, and passed through Pesaro on the 11th of -June. But on reaching Rome his spirit had rallied. On the 18th of -July he summoned a general council at the Lateran, and declared that -of Pisa schismatic and null; he thundered excommunications against -Louis, the Florentines, and all its adherents; he deprived the -cardinals who attended it; and declared war anew against France, as -an enemy of the Church and of Italy. About the same time he suspended -his nephew from all his dignities, and summoned him to answer at -Rome for the assassination of the Cardinal of Pavia. - -[Footnote 247: We obtain a curious glimpse of his home-circle at -this critical moment from the correspondence of Bembo, who, having -just quitted Urbino on his way to Venice, wrote thus to Fregoso from -Cesena, where he was waiting a passage by sea. "But what, I say, -are you and your ladies, and the Duke, and the rest of you grandees -about? What is my Ippolita doing? Is she entangled in the toils of -Secundio or Trivulzio? Oh dull and drivelling me, who, abandoning -my loves to the rapine and plunder of men of war, am here sitting -on a sandy shore more pluckless and besotted than the very shells! -Many salutations in my name to both their Highnesses, and to Emilia, -and the lively Margherita, and to Ippolita of many admirers, and to -my rival Alessandro Trivulzio." This badinage was surely ill-timed, -within a month of the defeat of Francesco Maria and the Cardinal's -assassination.] - -The accounts we have of the proceedings against the Duke of Urbino -upon this charge are somewhat contradictory. Baldi says that his -impetuous temper, ill-brooking the severity of one whom he was -conscious of having honestly served, tempted him to throw off his -uncle and seek an engagement under Louis; and the monitory issued -against him by Leo X. in 1516 charges him with employing Count -Castiglione on such a mission: but this foolish idea quickly passing, -he obeyed the citation. On his arrival, attended by Castiglione, he -was put under arrest, and obliged to give bail in 100,000 scudi to -await the sentence of a commission of enquiry, consisting of six -cardinals, one of whom was Giovanni de' Medici, afterwards Leo X. -The process was long and complicated, for the Duke had many proofs, -oral and documentary, to adduce of the Legate's secret intelligence -with the French and the Bentivoglii. The pleading in his defence, -by Filippo Beroaldo the younger, has already been referred to as in -the Vatican library, and is a very remarkable declamation. Instead -of urging the hot blood of one-and-twenty in extenuation of a -sudden outbreak of fury under strong provocation, it justifies the -assassination as merited by the Cardinal's notorious and nefarious -treasons. Representing his life and morals in the darkest colours, -it brands his boyhood as base; his puberty as passed in flagitious -intercourse with bawds and gamblers; his youth as debauched by -bribery, peculation and sacrilege; his mature age as degraded by -the sacrifice of friends, the plunder of provinces, the open sale -of sacred offices. It charges him with having had the throats cut -of four eminent citizens of Bologna, against whom no accusation was -brought, and leaving their bodies in the piazza; and further alleges -that, having heard of the beautiful daughter-in-law of one of these -victims, he sent for her to his presence, when his attendants, -alarmed by fearful cries, broke open the doors and discovered him -in the act of violating her person. After narrating his manifold -treacheries towards the Pontiff and the Duke, the advocate, far from -palliating the homicide, boasts of it as a public service, and, -declaring that Francesco Maria was an instrument in the Almighty's -hand for the great and benevolent purpose of ridding mankind of -such a monster, only laments, for the public weal, that the holy -inspiration which dictated it had not been sooner vouchsafed to this -"liberator of the commonwealth." Lowering his tone, however, towards -the close of this inflated oration, he appeals to the judges to spare -a hero whose promise of future usefulness was precious to Italy, -and in whose acquittal many princely personages were interested. -The fierce philippic of Beroaldo was reproduced under a poetic garb -in the satirical ode of Giovio, which Roscoe has printed. Neither -authority can be deemed unprejudiced, but public feeling seems to -have confirmed these invectives, and even Guicciardini attempts not -to answer for the Cardinal's good faith. - -Whilst this investigation was experiencing the law's delay, Julius -was attacked by a quartan ague of a dangerous character. With wonted -wilfulness, he refused all proper nourishment, eating only fruit, -until his constitution was nearly exhausted. A fainting fit having -occasioned rumours of his death, tumults arose, but were vigorously -suppressed by the Duke of Urbino, who by a happy device got the -Cardinal of S. Giorgio to carry him the viaticum. The apparition by -his bedside of the person supposed likely to succeed him at once -recalled his energies, and induced him to adopt the most likely means -of disappointing such expectations. He therefore no longer hesitated -to eat an egg, into which two yolks had been introduced by the Duke's -order, that he might take twice as much sustenance as he was aware -of; and from that hour his strength rallied. A deep-rooted affection -for his nephew, rekindled by this double service, prompted him to a -reconciliation, and in his first burst of gratitude he granted him -absolution for his crime, and sent him home with a donative of 12,000 -scudi. But as his Holiness had been induced to this reconciliation -by personal favour, and perhaps by at length perceiving the Legate's -faithlessness, Francesco Maria declined availing himself of such an -acquittal; and the process for murder, resumed at its own instance, -hung over him until, on the 9th of December, a consistorial bull -issued, fully absolving him of the charge. - - * * * * * - -But to return to the seat of war, whence this untoward incident -had removed the Duke of Urbino at a moment of peculiar interest. -The King of Spain having contributed a powerful contingent, the -new armament against Louis was placed under command of Raimondo -di Cardona, viceroy of Naples, with the Cardinal de' Medici as -legate. The Venetians, as before, were parties to this league, as -well as Henry VIII.; Florence, still in the hands of its republican -faction, and the now restored Bentivoglii, supported the French; -whilst Maximilian, though its nominal adherent, was as usual equally -inefficient in war or peace. Romagna again became the destined scene -of the new struggle, and there, as in Lombardy, its chances proved -adverse to Louis. The Duke of Urbino, apparently from an unworthy -jealousy, refused to act under the Viceroy's command, but he gave -free passage to the army on its route through his state, supplying it -with provisions, and permitting his troops to march under its banner. -He even repaired to Fossombrone, to testify respect and hospitality -to the general, but, suddenly taking alarm, and suspecting sinister -intentions, he withdrew to Urbino in a somewhat ungracious manner. -Light may be thrown upon these eccentric movements from the -correspondence of Castiglione, by which it would seem that Julius, -relapsing into suspicion, had about this time spoken of his nephew -as a traitor, who deserved to be quartered for maintaining, through -Count Baldassare, a secret understanding with France and Ferrara; -indeed, that he even diminished his company by sixty men-at-arms, -and threatened to place the Duc de Termes over his head. It is not -unlikely that, disgusted by this new insult, he may have intrigued -with the French party in a moment of weakness. At all events, -so deeply was the Pope mortified, that, in an access of renewed -irritation, he declared him rebel, and absolved his subjects from -their allegiance. Francesco Maria was consequently absent from the -bloody field of Ravenna, where his early friend the chivalrous Gaston -de Foix met a heroic but premature death. The French army which he -commanded paid dearly, by his loss and that of their best troops, -for a nominal victory which eventually proved a ruinous reverse. It -was gained by the Duke of Ferrara's well-timed charge, and of forty -thousand left dead in the field, above half had fought under the -lilies of France. Indeed, but for the Viceroy's disgraceful flight, -in a panic by some attributed to his suspicion of the Duke of Urbino, -it might have been considered a drawn battle. So great was his terror -that he passed through Pesaro with but two attendants, leaving his -Spaniards to regain the Neapolitan frontier as they might. - -This remarkable engagement took place on Easter Day, the 11th of -April, but four days after the Pontiff had issued the bull against -his nephew.[*248] Notwithstanding this fresh provocation, the latter -afforded every support to Cardona's troops, who, - - "Masterless, without a banner fled"; - -and, after placing his family out of harm's way, in S. Leo, hastened -to Rome to console the Pope. But his Holiness was in no melting or -wavering mood. With the brief remark, "At all events, I have united -our enemies," he quickly repaired the recent breach by recalling -the bull against Francesco Maria, and presented him with the baton -of command. The Duke, remedying past misunderstandings by new -exertions, hurried to Romagna to rally the broken battalions of the -league, and to raise fresh levies. Ere the French could recover -from the paralysing effects of their dearly bought success, he had -regained that country, and, on the 21st of June, took possession -of Bologna without a blow. Following up his advantage, he mastered -with equal ease Modena, Parma, and Piacenza; but Reggio offered a -resistance worthy of the heroic ages. It was held for the Duke of -Ferrara by Count Alessandro Ferrofino, who, having detected some of -his soldiers attempting to spike the guns, set them astride upon a -mortar, and blew them into the air, assuring the bystanders that -he most willingly would serve his Holiness in the same way. When -ecclesiastical censures were thundered against the garrison, he -made its chaplain return a pop-gun excommunication of the Pontiff. -After two months had passed in this bootless struggle, Alfonso sent -his countersign to the commandant as an authority to surrender; -but, aware that his master was then at Rome, in the Pope's power, -the Count returned it, vowing that he would not yield till hunger -had driven him to eat off his right hand; adding, however, that, if -his Highness had a fancy to give away the fortress, he was ready to -consign it, with all its contents, by inventory, to whoever might -be commissioned to relieve him of the command. This proposal was -complied with, and the indomitable captain marched out his little -garrison, with a safe conduct from the Pope whom he had defied.[249] - -[Footnote *248: The battle of Ravenna is fully described by -GUICCIARDINI, _Opere Inedite_ (Firenze, 1857), vol. VI., p. -36 _et seq._, in letters from his father and brother. The French had -everything in their hands, the route was complete. They should have -pressed on to Rome and Naples, and have reduced the Pope to terms and -annihilated the Spanish power in Italy. But Gaston was in his grave. -Cf. CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. V., p. 168.] - -[Footnote 249: Giraldi Dialogo, Vat. Ottob. MSS. No. 3153.] - -The Emperor, ever ready to abandon a falling cause, withdrew his -contingent from the French service, and acknowledged the authority -of the Lateran council, which had been opened on the 3rd of May. The -Duke of Ferrara, too, thought it full time to make his peace with the -Pope; while Louis, thus abandoned, could no longer maintain a footing -in Italy, where but a few strongholds remained in his possession; and -Milan was restored to Maximiliano Sforza, son of Ludovico il Moro. -The overtures of Alfonso were, however, unavailing, being met in no -generous spirit by his ecclesiastical overlord. On proceeding to Rome -to plead his own cause, he was called upon to surrender his fief to -the Holy See, and was treated as a prisoner. By the energetic aid -of the Colonna chiefs, he escaped to his impenetrable swamps, and -hastened to accredit Ariosto as his minister to appease the Pontiff, -a mission which totally failed, the poet's silver tongue having -barely obtained grace for himself as envoy of a rebel. Francesco -Maria marched, by order of Julius, towards the Polesine, but malaria -prevailing there after recent inundations, fever ravaged his army, -and their leader averted the fate of his grandfather in these fens, -by a timely retreat to his mountain air. We are gravely told by -Giraldi that "the house of Ferrara mysteriously bears the name of -the Deity" [_Est_], an idea which their repeated escapes by similar -apparently special interpositions of Providence may have suggested. - -It was during the Ferrarese expedition, and avowedly at the Pope's -urgent desire, that the Medici were re-established at Florence by -the league. The Duke of Urbino's absence from that enterprise has -been accounted for by Guicciardini and Giovio, as the result of -personal feeling against the Cardinal Giovanni, and as contrary -to his uncle's instructions. This innuendo becomes important from -being the first symptom of misunderstanding between the dynasties of -Urbino and Florence, and as apparently the origin of Guicciardini's -prepossessions against Francesco Maria, which, adopted by subsequent -writers, especially by Roscoe and Sismondi, have led to very general -misrepresentations of his after policy and motives. The whole -intercourse of that Duke with the Medici, down to 1515, affords a -virtual contradiction of latent enmity at this juncture, and the -special charge in question is inconsistent with the facts stated by -Leoni, who avers that, had Francesco Maria not been then engaged in -operations against Ferrara, he would gladly have accompanied the -combined forces to Florence, and that he actually connived at their -carrying with them a portion of his artillery, contrary to private -instructions from his Holiness, who, when the moment for action -arrived, is alleged to have favoured the independence of Florence, -perhaps under some vague apprehension of eventual dangers from -Medicean ambition. - -Italy, now freed from ultramontane oppressors, saw Milan restored -to its native princes, and Florence again in the hands of her most -influential family. Thus far had the favourite aims of Julius been -attained; but, instead of hailing these events as the basis of a -general pacification befitting his advanced years, he fretted in the -recollection that Naples yet owned a foreign yoke, and that Louis was -still intent upon vindicating his title to a Cisalpine dominion. The -convulsive throes of a stranded leviathan were no unfit parallel to -the versatile efforts wherein the old man consumed his waning powers. -But, in the multifarious projects which agitated his yet elastic -mind, the interests of his again favourite nephew were not forgotten. -A brief of the 10th of January, 1513, granted to the latter plenary -remission for all his undutiful errors against the Church, as a -prelude to new favours, which must now be detailed.[250] - -[Footnote 250: The preceding account of the judicial process, and of -the Duke's conduct in regard to the campaign of Ravenna, has been -chiefly taken from Baldi, as his narrative is more intelligible -and consistent with the best historical authorities, than the -indistinct and garbled statements of Leoni and Riposati, who gloss -over such facts as they cannot satisfactorily clear up. Guicciardini -asserts that Francesco Maria set his peasantry upon the troops of -Cardona as they fled through the duchy from the rout of Ravenna, a -statement more reconcileable with that author's prejudice than with -probability. The legal evidence of both the Duke's absolutions will -be found in No. V. of the Appendix, and Giraldi is our authority for -some minor details. We have purposely avoided mixing up with this -personal narrative the more general events of the French war. They -are succinctly given by Roscoe, _Leo X._, ch. viii. and ix.] - -His uncle had entertained a scheme of purchasing for him the vague -rights over Siena which the Emperors had long, though ineffectually, -asserted; but a more hopeful expedient for his aggrandisement -opportunely presented itself. We have, in a former chapter, narrated -the circumstances under which Alessandro Sforza became invested -with Pesaro in 1445. His grandson Giovanni, the outraged husband -of Lucrezia Borgia, died in 1510, leaving, by his second marriage, -an only son Costanzo, about a year old. Galeazzo, natural brother -of Giovanni, who was himself of illegitimate birth, governed the -state, as tutor of this nephew, until the child's death, in August, -1512, and so entirely acquired the good will of the people, that -they proclaimed him their seigneur. The odious tyranny exercised by -all petty princes of Italy is a fertile theme for dreamy poets and -philosophising liberals; but, whilst the relative oppression was much -the same under all forms of government in the Peninsula, personal -safety was perhaps best maintained in those least exposed to internal -convulsion. From such shocks the minor sovereignties were more exempt -than the republics, and the residence of a court was beneficial as -well as flattering to the community; hence the fall of an hereditary -dynasty was, in almost every instance, lamented by its subjects. -These are not, indeed, necessarily the best judges of their own -welfare; yet their deliberate and repeated convictions, when free -from the influence of demagogues, and tested by impartial history, -can hardly be remote from truth. - -The investiture of Pesaro had legally lapsed by the young Costanzo's -death, and although, in many instances, the assumption of similar -rights by illegitimate claimants had been passively permitted by the -Church, Galeazzo would have gladly shrunk from a contest which the -avowed policy of the reigning Pope rendered inevitable and hopeless. -Tempted, however, by the unanimous support of the people, he assumed -on his own account the authority he till now had held in behalf of -his nephew. Julius instantly recalled the Duke of Urbino from Lugo, -to commence operations for the reduction of Pesaro, with Cardinal -Sigismondo Gonzaga as legate. After a brief resistance, Galeazzo -surrendered the citadel, on the 30th of October, by a capitulation -which insured him an annuity of 1000 scudi of gold, and the allodial -holdings of his family. These he conveyed to the Duke for 20,000 -ducats, including the Villa Imperiale, and on the 9th of November he -quitted Pesaro, attended by nearly the whole population, who bewailed -with bitter tears the extinction of a dynasty to whom they were -fondly attached. The melancholy procession accompanied their lord as -far as La Cattolica, from whence he retired to Milan, and there met a -violent death in the following year. - -The Cardinal Legate remained at Pesaro to administer the government -in behalf of the Holy See, and the Duke returned home. Julius had -already made one exception to his policy of bringing the minor fiefs -under direct sway of the Church, by renewing the investiture of -Urbino in favour of his nephew, and the opportunity was too tempting -for repeating a measure recommended by the ties of natural affection. -The unmerited suspicions and hasty severity which he had manifested -towards Francesco Maria seemed to warrant some consideration; there -was also an arrear of about 10,000 scudi of pay and advances, by -the late and present Dukes, in the wars of the Church, which her -exhausted treasury was unable to discharge, but for which it was -desirable to secure compensation ere the tiara should encircle a less -friendly brow.[251] Accordingly, one of the Pontiff's latest acts was -to gain the consent of the consistory of his nephew's investiture in -Pesaro, to be held in vicariat for the annual payment of a silver -vase, a pound in weight. The bull to this effect is dated the 16th -of February, 1513, and on the 21st his busy spirit was at rest. -Three weeks later, the Duke and Duchess of Urbino took possession of -Pesaro, and were flatteringly welcomed. Indeed, the people, finding -the fate of the Sforza sealed, appeared to have looked about for any -means of emancipation from ecclesiastical rule; and, ere Galeazzo had -quitted the capital, the council entertained a proposal to petition -the Sacred College in favour of Francesco Maria as his successor. -This step, whether suggested by Julius or not, greatly strengthened -his hands in carrying through the arrangement which he had at heart, -and it enabled the citizens to receive their new lord with peculiarly -good grace. - -[Footnote 251: Yet Julius was reported to have left in St. Angelo, -400,000 ducats of gold, besides jewels, and no state debts. Vat. Urb. -MSS., No. 1023, f. 297.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV - - Election of Leo X.--His ambitious projects--Birth of Prince - Guidobaldo of Urbino--The Pontiff's designs upon that - state, which he gives to his nephew--The Duke retires to - Mantua. - - -The Duke's influence, as head of the della Rovere family, was -paramount in the conclave, composed as it was of relations, friends, -and creatures of the late Pope in overwhelming majority. The election -was therefore to a great degree in his hands, and when it fell -upon the Cardinal de' Medici, he rejoiced in the elevation of a -personal friend. He and his brother Giuliano, their nephew Lorenzo, -and their cousin Giulio, afterwards Clement VII., had been welcome -guests at Urbino, during their family's long exile from Florence. -Indeed, we have noticed Giuliano as one of the most brilliant -ornaments of Guidobaldo's court, where he resided so long that the -apartment devoted to his use still bears his name in the palace. The -restoration of the Medici to supremacy in their native city had been -the doing of Julius; the choice of their cardinal as his successor -was the act of his nephew.[*252] Thus was the bond of friendship -confirmed by ties of gratitude. But from such fetters princes are -often prone to assume an exemption, and Francesco Maria was destined -to experience that they are not more binding upon pontiffs.[253] - -[Footnote *252: This is rather vague. We are not told what Francesco -Maria did that justifies Dennistoun in saying that the election of -Leo X. was his act. I can find no evidence of Francesco Maria's -personal influence in the conclave. If the election of Leo was an -arrangement, it was Cardinal Riario to whom it was due. The charge of -ingratitude therefore falls to the ground.] - -[Footnote 253: To inaugurate the new pontificate, and mark the -contrast of Alexander and Julius with their successor,--its Maecenas, -Agostino Chigi, erected a triumphal arch, inscribed,-- - - "Olim habuit Cypris sua tempora; tempora Mavors - Olim habuit; sua nunc tempora Pallas habet." - - Venus here reigned supreme, by Mars displaced; - Our happier age by Pallas' sway is graced. - -To this doggerel there quickly appeared the rejoinder,-- - - "Mars fuit, est Pallas, Cypria semper ero." - - Once Mars, Minerva now, but Venus still.] - -Leo X. has been one of the most fortunate of men. His all but -sovereign birth was still more distinguished by the merit of his -family, to which history has done the amplest justice. His natural -talents and tastes were not only of a high order, but were perfectly -adapted to the golden age in which he lived, and to the high career -for which he was destined. His rapid and premature advancement to -the first dignities of the Church stimulated instead of relaxing his -mental discipline. He obtained the triple tiara at the unprecedented -age of thirty-seven, and wore it during the brightest period of the -papacy. Though cut short in the flower of manhood, he lived long -enough to link his name with the most splendid era of modern history, -and although his measures accelerated the crisis of the Reformation, -he died ere their seed had borne that dreaded fruit. In fine, his -eventful life has been celebrated by at least one biographer worthy -of the theme. On the wide field which such a character opens we shall -have little opportunity to expatiate. Our narrative has to do with -its darker shadows, and to hold up this Pontiff as the implacable -foe of a dynasty which had singular claims upon his favour and -consideration. - -[Illustration: _Anderson_ - -LEO X - -_After the picture by Raphael in the Pitti Gallery, Florence_] - -The general estimate of Julius and of his successor has been shrewdly -conceived and tersely expressed by Sismondi. "The projects of the -former had prospered beyond the ordinary calculations of policy; -his impetuosity, by surprising his enemies and throwing all their -plans into confusion, had often availed him more than prudence -could have done; he had also extended the temporal possessions of -the Church beyond what any of his predecessors had effected. Yet he -had caused so many mischiefs, he had occasioned such vast bloodshed, -he had so swamped Italy with foreign armies, even while he pretended -to rid her of the barbarians, that his death was hailed as a public -blessing, and the cardinals responded to the feeling of Rome, Italy, -and all Christendom in desiring that his successor should in no -respect resemble him. As he had been old, restless, impatient, and -passionate, they sought to replace him with one less aged, and whose -tastes were for literature, pleasure, and epicurean indulgences.... -Leo was quite the opposite of his predecessor; his temperament -was far less stern, irascible, or unforgiving. Towards intimate -associates his manners were singularly cheerful and gracious. The -protection he extended to letters and arts, the favours which he -lavished upon savants, poets, and artists, drew from all Europe a -chorus of commendation. But, on the other hand, his character fell -very short of that of Julius in frankness and elevation; all his -negotiations were stained by deceit and perfidy. Whilst he talked -of peace he fanned the flame of war; no pity for the inhabitants of -Italy, crushed by barbarian hosts, ever influenced his conduct. His -ambition, nowise inferior to that of his predecessor, was not veiled, -even to himself, by motives equally respectable. His object was not -the independence of Italy, nor the aggrandisement of the Church, but -the advancement of his own family." - -The Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, second son of Lorenzo the -Magnificent, was elected Pope on the 11th of March, 1513, and -was crowned on the 19th. The Duke of Urbino had repaired to Rome -to offer his congratulations in person, and attended the solemn -installation at the Lateran, with twenty-four mounted gentlemen -and as many footmen; but mingling regard for the dead with respect -for the living, he and all his suite appeared in black velvet and -satin, as mourning for his uncle. The device worn on the Pontiff's -liveries at this pageant, was in harmony with his previous character -and present professions: under a golden "yoke" was inscribed the -word _suave_, meaning something more winning than the scriptural -phrase "easy," from which it was borrowed. When two more years had -gone by, Francesco Maria was an outlaw, crushed under that gentle -yoke, and stripped of his all; whilst the Duke of Ferrara, the next -great feudatory of the Church who followed in the procession, could -scarcely maintain himself by French aid, until the death of his -pontifical oppressor enabled him to parody on his medals another -and more appropriate text, in memory of his escape, "Out of the -LION'S mouth." At this coronation there was witnessed an -unwonted spectacle, the fruit of Alexander's aggressions on the -Campagna barons. The humbled chiefs of Colonna and Orsini walked side -by side, and their reconciliation was commemorated by a rare medal, -on which the crowned column of Colonna is fondly hugged by the Orsini -bear, with the motto, "For their country's safety." Francesco Maria's -reception was as cordial as distinguished, for the promptings of -ambition had not yet transformed Leo's naturally bland and gracious -nature into unrelenting and bitter hate. He was accordingly confirmed -in his dignities, and retained for a year as Captain-General of the -Church, with 13,844 ducats of pay, besides 30,000 of allowances for -his company of two hundred men-at-arms, and a hundred light cavalry; -nor could words exceed the kindness of the letter in which Bembo -intimated this to him on behalf of the Pope.[254] - -[Footnote 254: Papal brieves of Aug. 4 and April 17, 1513, in -Archivio Diplomatico at Florence, and Bembo's public despatches, ii. -No. 8. Roscoe has no authority whatever for representing the Duke as -at this period the Pope's "formidable rival."] - -When the coronation fetes were over, he returned home to enjoy one of -those brief intervals of repose which rarely fell to his lot. His -almost continual absence on military service had indeed been greatly -felt in his capital, and most of the distinguished men who frequented -it under Duke Guidobaldo were now dispersed. Some of them, however, -had continued towards his nephew their friendship and services, -either under his own banner or in diplomacy. Among these was -Baldassare Castiglione, to whose good offices the reconciliation of -Francesco Maria with Julius has been partly attributed. In the affair -of the Cardinal of Pavia, the Count warmly espoused his part, and -invented for him, as a deprecatory device, a lion rampant proper on -a field gules, holding a rapier, and a scroll inscribed, _Non deest -generoso in pectore virtus_, "Worth is never wanting in a generous -breast"; but this emblem was seldom used, being odious to the college -of cardinals, as approving a sacrilegious precedent. Castiglione's -elegant endowments were especially qualified to gain him the ear of -a prince whose pride it was to emulate his predecessors, as much -in the grace of their court as in the fame of their arms; and the -preference for so small a state shown by him whom monarchs would -have delighted to honour, was fit subject for gratitude, independent -of the real services which the Duke derived from the friendship of -one so well versed in business. It is stated, although on doubtful -authority, that he went upon a mission from Urbino, to urge on Henry -VIII. a descent upon Calais,[*255] in the hope of such a diversion -recalling Louis from Italy. If so, it was probably in arranging the -treaty of Malines on the 5th of April of this year. In the prospect -of adding Pesaro to his dominions, Francesco Maria had promised to -Castiglione a fief in his dependencies, and in September, 1513, a -charter was granted to him of Novillara, erected into a countship. -The letter of donation specially mentions the faithful, sincere, -and acceptable services of Baldassare; his elegance in the Latin -and Italian languages; his skill in military and civil affairs; -and confers upon him this favour rather in earnest of future and -more ample benefits, than as a reward of the fatigues, perils, and -anxieties which he had already undergone for the Duke.[*256] Of this -grant he received a willing confirmation from Leo X., to whom, on his -elevation, he had borne Francesco Maria's first congratulations. The -brief to this effect dwells on the peculiar satisfaction with which -the Pope thus testified, from long acquaintance, his high merits, his -distinguished birth, his literary acquirements, his military fame, -and his exemplary devotion to the Holy See. - -[Footnote *255: Henry landed at Calais August 1st, 1513; it was -then in English hands, as it remained till Mary Tudor lost it -in 1558. From Calais Henry advanced to the siege of Terouenne. -Castiglione was, of course, in London in 1506 to receive the Garter -for Guidobaldo from Henry VII.; a second journey seems apocryphal. -On Castiglione at Urbino and elsewhere, cf. LUZIO e RENIER, _Mantova e -Urbino_ (Torino, 1893), pp. 174, 234, 242 _et seq._] - -[Footnote *256: Yet he seems to have suffered in the war. His long -residence at Urbino may well have been due to the Duchess, who loved -him sincerely.] - -The estate thus associated with Castiglione is generally said to owe -its name to its "noble air"; and certainly upon the Italian principle -that a healthful atmosphere must be sought in high places, that of -Novillara ought to possess unusual virtues. But the learned Olivieri -has corrected this vulgar error, and has derived its denomination -from the Latin _nubilare_, which he renders as an open shed for the -housing of grain,--a grange, as it might be called. He has traced -it back to the twelfth century, and to the fourteenth ascribes -an imposing tower of three commodious stories built here by the -Malatesta. Hither was conducted, on her first arrival, Camilla of -Aragon, bride of Costanzo Sforza Lord of Pesaro; and its inaccessible -situation did not prevent a splendid manifestation of the general -joy, in fetes and pageants, commemorated in a volume of excessive -rarity, which seem more proportioned to the affectionate gallantry of -her husband and subjects, than to the resources of their state, or to -the conveniences of this palace. Representations of the community -of Pesaro induced Francesco Maria to obtain from Castiglione a -restitution to them of this Castle, in 1522, under promise of -replacing it by an equivalent, which was never redeemed. Years passed -away, notwithstanding repeated remonstrances on the part of Camillo, -son of the Count, in which he even induced the Emperor to join. At -length, in 1573, Guidobaldo II. conferred a tardy compensation, by -granting to Count Camillo the Castel del Isola del Piano. This Duke -had previously built an addition to the palace of Novillara, with -elaborate decorations never completed. At his son's marriage with -Lucretia d'Este, this fief, then worth 500 scudi a year, was settled -upon her, but rarely occupied. It subsequently caught the young -prince Federigo's fancy, who had planned for its beautiful gardens -and frescoes, when untimely death cut short his schemes, and brought -the nationality of Urbino and Pesaro to a close. - -In the present day Novillara consists of about a hundred houses, -huddled together, threaded by narrow alleys, and walled in by -terraces. It overlooks Pesaro and Fano, the valleys of the Isauro -and Metauro, with the hilly land which separates them. Northward the -eye rests on Monte Bartolo, but southward it roams as far as Loreto, -and in clear weather the Dalmatian coast may be discerned. The tower -of the Malatesta, which formed a landmark to the whole surrounding -country, fell in 1723, and the dilapidated fabric of the della Rovere -now harbours a few squalid families, adding another to the melancholy -wrecks of departed grandeur too frequent in this fair land. Yet -Novillara will pass down the stream of Italian literary history as -the title of its courtly lord, and its magnificent panorama may well -repay the traveller who has leisure and strength to scramble to its -summit. - -The early policy of Leo was entirely pacific. The leading aim of his -diplomacy was to soothe those irritations which his predecessors had -fomented throughout Europe, and to heal the wounds thence resulting -to Italy. His only aggressive measures during 1513 had been directed -against the French, with the patriotic view of thwarting renewed -attempts upon the Peninsula, in which they were seconded by Spain -and Venice. In this object he was successful, but as the various -and complicated transactions by which it was effected are foreign -to our immediate purpose, we refer the reader for details to the -tenth, twelfth, and thirteenth chapters of Roscoe's delightful work, -although naturally representing them in the lights more favourable to -the Pontiff's motives than we are prepared fully to approve. Power -is, however, a dangerous draught, often exciting the thirst it seeks -to slake. Before the Keys had been many months in Leo's possession, -the establishment of his own family in the two fairest sovereignties -of Italy became the object for which he was to - - "Cry havock, and let slip the dogs of war." - -Anticipating changes which might occur upon the death of Ferdinand -II. of Spain, he conceived hopes of throwing off foreign domination -in Naples, and providing for it a king of Italian birth, in his own -brother Giuliano the Magnificent. With this ulterior advancement -in fancied perspective, he removed him from the management of -affairs at Florence, and substituted his nephew Lorenzo, intending -ere long to assert for the latter a titular as well as a virtual -sovereignty, and to extend his sway over all Tuscany, Urbino, and -Ferrara. These ambitious and revolutionary projects required powerful -aid, which could be most readily secured by finding a sharer in the -adventure. Such a one readily occurred in Louis XII., whose consent -to copartnery could scarcely be doubted, when his long-cherished -acquisition of the Milanese was offered as his share of its gains. -It was no serious objection to this scheme that it inferred a total -subversion of Leo's anti-gallican policy; and, intent only upon his -new views, he secretly negotiated with the French King to bring once -more into Lombardy those troops which, but the year before, he had -been the chief means of ignominiously chasing beyond the Alps. Should -this move place the great powers in general collision, there was all -the fairer chance for papal ambition in the scramble; and it mattered -little that Italy should again be laid in ashes, and saturated with -blood, so that the Medici became arbiters of her destiny. - -With a view to these arrangements, Giuliano was betrothed in the -following year to Filiberta of Savoy, maternal aunt of Francis, heir -to the French crown. But a fatality seems to have attended most -papal diplomacy: based upon nepotism or personal ambition, it was -generally thwarted by its own fickleness or imbecility. Doubtful of -the success of his scheme upon the crown of Naples (which Louis was -little disposed to gratify, although prepared to concede to Giuliano -the principality of Tarento), or impatient perhaps of waiting for -its becoming vacant, the Pontiff turned his views upon Parma and -Piacenza, as a convenient interim state for his brother, to be -aggrandised by the purchase of Modena from the Emperor for 40,000 -golden ducats. But here he was met by a difficulty of his own recent -creation, for the establishment of Louis at Milan must have proved -dangerous to the proposed principality of Giuliano; so, once more -shuffling the cards, he prepared some new combinations for preventing -the French expedition into Italy. One of these was an intrigue to -detach the Venetian republic from the party of Louis, for which -purpose he sent thither his adroit secretary Bembo, whose memorial -to the senate has been printed by Roscoe. This attempt, however, -entirely failed, and the King's death, on the 1st of January, alone -prevented the detection of his faithless ally.[257] - -[Footnote 257: One of the shrewd agents of the maritime republic -supplied a key to the policy of Leo, by observing that it consisted -in immediately opening a secret understanding with the avowed enemy -of whatever prince he leagued with. His intrigues in behalf of his -brother and nephew are illustrated by some documents in the _Archivio -Storico Italiano_, Appendix I., 306.] - -In returning from Venice, Bembo paid one more visit to the Feltrian -court, now at Pesaro, rejoicing in the recent birth of an heir to -the Dukedom. There he found many changes. The gay and accomplished -circle, in whose lighter or more pedantic pastimes he had borne a -willing part, was scattered, many of its members like himself to hold -appointments of trust and dignity. But it was a sincere satisfaction -to him again to meet the Duchess Elisabetta, now recovered from the -deep despondency he has so touchingly described, and enjoying the -society of her accomplished niece and successor, as well as of her -former mistress of the revels, the merry Emilia Pia. In company -of these ladies, the diplomatist forgot during a brief interval -the cares of state, and lingered for two days on the excuse of -indisposition, until he thought it necessary to explain his delay -in a letter to Cardinal Bibbiena of the 1st of January, 1515.[258] -The fatigues of riding post a hundred and forty miles from Chioggia -in two days and a half required this repose, and induced him to -continue his journey in less hot haste. Yet Bembo, with all his -accomplishments, was but a sunshine courtier, as we shall see some -fifteen months later. - -[Footnote 258: See below, p. 368.] - -It would seem that, at the time of Giuliano's marriage, the idea -of providing for him large additions in Romagna to his Lombard -principality was the leading motive of his brother's policy, -and that the Dukes of Urbino and Ferrara were already viewed as -stepping-stones to his exaltation. The command of the pontifical -troops was accordingly bestowed upon him as Gonfaloniere, on the -24th of June, 1515, at once an injustice and an insult to Francesco -Maria, in whose hands its baton remained unsullied.[*259] The fair -professions with which the Duke was superseded were vague and -unsatisfactory, and he received warning from various quarters of -the sinister designs whereof he was the destined victim. These, -however, being as yet immature, the Pontiff maintained professions -of unwavering favour, and, in a brief dated on the 16th of August, -he assures the Duke that he will readily regard certain services as -entitled to the largest and most liberal remuneration in his power. - -[Footnote *259: However, Francesco's record was not a very brilliant -one. He failed to take Mirandola without Julius II., and the affair -of Ravenna would, one might think, have ruined any soldier.] - -Yet Giuliano must be acquitted of the ingratitude and perfidy -shown to his former friend by the Pope and his nephew Lorenzo. The -hospitalities of Duke Guidobaldo had in his case fallen upon no -arid soil. His fondest recollections of lettered intercourse and -of youthful love were centred in Urbino. He remembered that it was -Francesco Maria who, six years before, had interposed to screen him -from the jealousies of the late Pontiff, and who had warmly urged the -restoration of his family in Florence. He therefore firmly refused -to acquiesce in any projects which would aggrandise himself at the -Duke's cost; and, in token of good will, while on his way to France, -made a detour to visit him at Gubbio, where he thus addressed him: -"I have heard, my Lord, that it has been represented to you how the -Pope has a mind to take your state from you, in order to give it me; -but this is not true, for, on account of the kindness, favour, and -benefits I ever have received from your Excellency and your house, -I should never consent to it, however much desired by his Holiness, -lest other princes of your rank should resolve, in consequence, never -again to give such refuge at their courts as was granted to me and -mine. Be assured, therefore, that, whilst I live, you not only will -receive no molestation on my account, but will be ever regarded by -me as an elder brother."[260] Upon these assurances, Francesco Maria -not only suspended the defences of his duchy, which he had begun -to put in order, but accepted an engagement for himself, with two -hundred men-at-arms and a hundred light horse, under Giuliano, the -pontifical captain-general. To secure himself, however, against all -contingencies, he applied to the Pontiff for leave to bring into the -field a thousand infantry, in addition to his usual following. The -scruples of Giuliano did not in any way soften his brother, whose -intrigues against Urbino are prominent in the curious despatch of his -secretary Bibbiena, which Roscoe has printed under date the 16th of -February. - -[Footnote 260: Dialogo Giraldi, Vat. Ottob. MSS. No. 3153.] - -Louis XII. died on the 1st of January, 1515, and was succeeded by -his second and third cousin, Francis I. This event changed not the -projects of Leo in behalf of his brother, whose marriage to the -Princess of Savoy was solemnised in February, and who was received -by the French monarch with kindness and distinction. To render his -position fully worthy of the match, the Pope invested him with Parma, -Piacenza, and Modena, yielding a revenue approaching to 48,000 -ducats. He likewise settled a large pension upon the princess, and -provided for the pair a magnificent palace in Rome, to which they -were welcomed with a pomp unusual even in these days of pageantry. - -Leo's position with reference to Francis I. was in many respects -embarrassing, and the defence of his policy, elaborately undertaken -by Roscoe, has established the writer's bias rather than the -Pontiff's rectitude. That monarch was steadily pursuing those -schemes upon the Milanese which Leo had the year before suggested -to his predecessor; and the amicable relations established with -the Medici by Giuliano's marriage gave him additional reason to -rely upon the Pontiff's support in the struggle which must follow -his descent upon Italy. But to restrain the French beyond their -Alpine barrier was the favourite, as well as the natural policy of -his Holiness, and it was that which tended most to the security of -his brother's newly-acquired Lombard sovereignty. He therefore, -in July, after some months of anxious vacillation, avowed his -adherence to the league of the Emperor with the Kings of England -and of Spain, to which Florence, Milan, and the Swiss were parties. -Yet he was far from hearty in the cause, and, during the brief -campaign which succeeded the arrival of a French army in Lombardy, -the ecclesiastical contingent limited their efforts to watching the -safety of Parma and Piacenza. Nor did the other allies show much -more zeal, excepting the Swiss, whose impetuous valour brought on -the pitched battle of Marignano on the 13th of September, and lost -them the prestige which had stamped their infantry as invincible. The -costly victory there gained by the French was speedily followed by a -surrender of his claims upon Milan by Duke Maximiliano Sforza, who -was content to enjoy for the remainder of his life a home and pension -provided by his conqueror.[*261] - -[Footnote *261: The defeat of the Swiss at Marignano opened the way -for the long fight between Francis I. and Charles V. It decided many -things--the future of monarchy in Europe, for instance, as well as -the fate of the republican army "so long invincible in Italy." Cf. -CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. V., p. 243. "What will become -of us," said Leo to Giorgi, the Venetian Ambassador, who brought him -the news of the defeat--"and of you?" "We will put ourselves in the -hands of the Most Christian King," he added, "and will implore his -mercy." Cf. the _Relazioni Venete_, 2nd series, vol. III., p. 44, -quoted by Creighton, who, as always, takes the view of a statesman, -and not merely that of a scholar. Sforza surrendered Milan on October -4th. The Pope signed terms with Francis October 13th, 1515. The Pope -was then in Viterbo, which he left for Bologna in November, coming to -Florence on the last day of that month. In December he was back in -Bologna to meet Francis. He returned to Florence and left for Rome on -February 19th, 1516.] - -The principal object of Francis being thus effected, he was not -indisposed to reconciliation with the Holy See, for which Leo had -sedulously retained an opening by keeping Ludovico Canossa throughout -the contest as an accredited agent at the French head-quarters. But -the Pontiff met the usual reward of trimmers. The tardy accommodation -offered by his envoy came too late to save Parma and Piacenza, for -which alone he had become a party to the war. The French monarch -would not hear of renouncing what he insisted were intrinsic -portions of the Milanese, but offered to meet with the Pontiff and -arrange in person a lasting amity, Bologna being named for the -interview. Upon the diplomatic arrangements which there occupied -these potentates in the end of the year we need not touch, further -than to notice that the intercession of Francis in favour of the -Duke of Urbino, which the latter had hastened, after the battle of -Marignano, to bespeak by means of a special envoy, proved quite -ineffectual. It obviously was dictated less by any interest in the -Duke's welfare than by the wish to thwart a favourite project of his -fickle ally, and it at once was met by reference to an article which -the Pope had adroitly inserted in the treaty, that Francis should in -no way interfere for the protection of any undutiful vassal of the -Holy See. From Bologna Leo proceeded to Florence, where he remained -most of the winter, maturing his schemes for the ruin of Francesco -Maria. - -The death of Ferdinand of Spain in January, 1516, soon reawoke the -ambitious hopes of Francis, by reminding him of his predecessor's -dormant claims upon the Neapolitan crown. But a new combination of -circumstances gave another turn to his thoughts. The efforts of the -Venetians to recover Verona and Brescia from Maximilian brought the -latter into Lombardy at the head of fifteen thousand Swiss troops, -by whom Lautrec, the French general, was for a time hard pressed, -and Leo, ever anxious to conciliate a conqueror, hastily sent -Cardinal Bibbiena with reinforcements to the Emperor's camp. Yet the -storm, passing off suddenly and harmlessly, left few traces besides -jealousy, which the prudence of that wily legate scarcely prevented -from arising in the mind of Francis towards his slippery ally. - -These vacillations on the part of Leo have been slightly touched -upon, in order to clear the ground for displaying his ambitious -nepotism in its proper field,--the duchy of Urbino. This, his -prevailing weakness, had met with many disappointments. No opening -occurred for its exercise in the direction of Naples. Parma and -Piacenza had passed from his grasp, by reluctant surrender to a -professing ally. But, worst of all, his favourite brother Giuliano, -the object in whom centred most of his schemes, had been removed -by death on the 17th of March, not without surmise of poison from -the jealousy of his nephew Lorenzo.[*262] Although his great -popularity favoured the ambitious views which were thrust upon him -by the Pontiff, his mind lay rather towards elegant pursuits and -splendid tastes, than to such high aspirations. Indeed, the Venetian -ambassador, Capello, represents his dying request to Leo as in favour -of Urbino[*263]; but the Pope waived the discussion of a point upon -which his resolution was taken. Lorenzo, his successor in the papal -favour, was a much more willing, though less conciliatory, instrument -of his Holiness's designs. - -[Footnote *262: Giuliano had certainly been ailing for months. His -death did not seem to have been unexpected.] - -[Footnote *263: So does Giorgi. Cf. _Relazioni Venete_, 2nd series, -vol. II., p. 51.] - -Lorenzo de' Medici was eldest son of Pietro, the first-born of -Lorenzo the Magnificent.[*264] He was born on the 13th of September, -1492, and his youth was passed amid many trials. His father, after -ten years of exile from Florence, had been drowned in the Garigliano, -in 1504, and, four years thereafter, his sister Clarissa's marriage -with Filippo Strozzi involved him in a second banishment. He was of -good person and gallant presence, endowed with a stirring spirit, -but destitute of generous or heroic qualities. Giorgi, another -Venetian envoy, even considered him scarcely inferior in cunning and -capacity to the redoubted Valentino. The government of Florence was -committed to him by Leo, on his uncle Giuliano being called to a -higher destiny, and feeling his advancement restrained by the prior -claims, as well as by the moderation of the latter, he is believed to -have removed him by poison; at all events he was immediately named to -succeed him as gonfaloniere of the Church. - -[Footnote *264: Cf. VERDI: _Gli ultimi anni di Lorenzo de' -Medici duca d'Urbino, 1515-1519_ (Pietrogrande, 1905).] - -This renewed outrage upon Francesco Maria's military rank,[*265] -and the death of the only individual of the Medici upon whom he had -any reliance, warned him of the approaching crisis in his fate. The -influence of Alfonsina degli Orsini in favour of her son Lorenzo -stimulated the Pontiff's projects, unwarned by a prediction of -Giuliano that, by following the courses of the Borgia, he would -probably suffer their fate. The immediate pretext, adopted for -outpouring the accumulated vials of papal wrath, was the Duke's -declining to march his troops into Lombardy under Lorenzo as -gonfaloniere, in consequence, as Giraldi informs us, of information -that his death was resolved upon should he trust his person within -his rival's power. Accordingly, Leo was no sooner returned to Rome, -than, affecting to consider this refusal, as the act of overt -rebellion by a subject against his sovereign, he issued a severe -monitory against his feudatory, summoning him thither to answer -various vague or irrelevant charges, one of these being the Cardinal -of Pavia's slaughter, of which he had already received no - - "Ragged and forestalled remission," - -on a report subscribed by Leo himself. Various diplomatic -functionaries at the papal court vainly interceded that he should -appear by attorney, instead of surrendering in person; and he -meanwhile garrisoned Urbino, Pesaro, and S. Leo. The Duchess Dowager, -whose arms had frequently received and fondled the infant Lorenzo, -while her husband's court sheltered the elder members of his house, -hastened to Rome as a mediatrix; but it was with difficulty she -made her way to the Pope's presence, and she obtained no mercy for -her nephew, nor protection for her own alimentary provisions out -of the duchy, his Holiness refusing to listen to any propositions -until the Duke had obeyed the monitory by appearing at Rome before -the 2nd of April. In consequence of his failure to do so, a bull of -excommunication went forth on the 27th, depriving him of his state, -and all dignities held of the Holy See, and absolving his subjects -from allegiance, on pain of ecclesiastical censures. By a gratuitous -exercise of malevolence, the papal influence was employed with the -King of Spain for confiscation of Sora, and his other patrimonial -holdings in Naples, thus visiting him with instant beggary. On the -18th of August, his dukedom and ecclesiastical baton were conferred -upon the unworthy Lorenzo, who, in the following month, was also -invested with the prefecture of Rome. - -[Footnote *265: I do not see how this was an outrage. Francesco had -been already dismissed: see _supra_ 360. Besides, he had certainly -made overtures to the French. Cf. GUICCIARDINI, _Storia -d'Italia_, vol. XII.] - -[Illustration: _Alinari_ - -LORENZO DI PIERO DE' MEDICI, DUKE OF URBINO - -_After the picture by Bronzino in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence_] - -The value of political gratitude is strikingly illustrated in the -fact, that these outrageous measures were adopted, in a consistory -composed for the most part of creatures of the della Rovere family, -with the single dissentient voice of Cardinal Grimani, of Venice, -Bishop of Urbino, whose independence earned him an exile from Rome. -Nor was this the only painful lesson of the worth of courtier -fidelity now taught to that illustrious house. Even the civilities -of Bembo to the Duchess Dowager sank to a low grade, as he thus -acknowledges in a letter to Bibbiena of the 19th of April:--"The Lady -Duchess of Urbino, whom I visited yesterday (a duty which I, however, -very rarely perform), commends herself to you, as does also the Lady -Emilia. On these dames the Signor Unico [Accolti] dances attendance. -He is more than ever in the heat of his old passion, which he -declares now numbers five lustres and a half; and he has better -hopes than heretofore of at length obtaining the consummation of his -desires, having been asked by the Lady Duchess to _improvisare_, by -which means he trusts to move that stony heart to tears--at the -least. He is to rehearse in two or three days, and as soon as he -does so, I shall report to you: would that you could be here, as he -is sure to do it right well." It can scarcely be doubted that this -innuendo was meant to apply to the more exalted of these ladies. -Whether as a caustic sneer, or a current scandal, it comes ill from -such a quarter, and only adds a new proof of the poet's inordinate -conceit. Nor did it go unpunished, for we find such vain effrontery -thus lashed by Gandolfo Porrino, a contemporary satirist:-- - - "In such affairs the palm he gives to one beyond all gold, - Urbino's Duchess dowager, your cousin scarce yet old. - Long at that court Lord Unico had paragoned her face, - With words and pen, in wondrous phrase, to angels' matchless grace. - Till, gazing on those saint-like eyes, while tears bedimmed his own, - The secret of his passion thus he breathed to her alone: - 'All goddess fair! my love for thee all other loves exceeds, - No Launcelot, no errant knight, its lightning course outspeeds! - Prithee with me participate the boon that cannot cloy, - And share in mutual confidence a bliss without alloy.' - Unlike those artful hypocrites who evil speeches spurn, - But wink at acts, the prudent dame thus answer did return: - 'Remember that we hapless wives must each their lord obey, - Tyrant or kind, his dread behests we never may gainsay; - Mine is the Duke, to whom your wish propose, should he assent, - As well I wot, right readily your whim shall I content.' - Confounded by her sarcasm the carpet-knight was left - Poor victim of his vanity, of self-respect bereft." - -The now inevitable war was opened by a simultaneous movement upon the -duchy from three several quarters. Renzo, that is, Lorenzo da Ceri, -accompanied by Lorenzo de' Medici and a powerful army, advanced from -Romagna; Vitello Vitelli marched upon Massa Trabaria; and, on the -12th of May, Gianpaolo Baglioni seized on Gubbio.[*266] The force -thus poured upon the state amounted to seventeen thousand foot, -above a thousand men-at-arms, and near two thousand light horse. -That which Francesco Maria could bring into the field numbered about -nine thousand men, and being averse to entail upon his subjects the -miseries of an unavailing struggle, he authorised their surrender, -excepting the citadels of Pesaro, Urbino, S. Leo, and Maiuolo, which -he garrisoned for resistance. His attempts to obtain the mediation -or support of foreign powers entirely failed. Their sympathy and -condolence were freely doled out to him, but none gave hope of -efficient aid, except Maximilian, whose promises, on this as on all -other occasions, proved quite worthless. It only remained to bow, as -his uncle Guidobaldo had done, before the storm, and await happier -times. On the 31st he sent off from Pesaro his consort, in an ailing -state, his infant son, and the dowager Duchess to their relations at -Mantua, with such valuables as they could transport in six or eight -vessels, and, speedily following them, he embarked at midnight and -reached that city in disguise. - -[Footnote *266: Cf. PELLEGRINI, _Gubbio sotto i conti e -Duchi d'Urbino_, in _Boll. per l'Umbria_, vol. XI., p. 221. Gianpaolo -Baglioni da Perugia entered the Eugubine territory with 100 knights, -500 horse, and 3000 foot. The Duke wrote that he could not defend -Gubbio. On the 31st May the Consiglio was called together, and it -decided: "redire ad Romanam ecclesiam et sub regimine s. D.N."] - -Pesaro, after an eight days' siege, capitulated on honourable terms, -in breach of which Tranquillo Giraldi, the commandant, was hanged -upon a vague accusation of bad faith. Urbino having, by order of its -sovereign, been surrendered without a blow on the 30th of May,[*267] -the community, on the 16th of June, sent deputies to kiss the Pope's -feet on taking possession of the state, in hopes of obtaining -relaxation of the interdict; but his Holiness raised it only for -such as adhered to the existing order of things. He committed the -government of the town to its new bishop, Giulio Vitelli, who -intrigued at all hands to induce the magistracy to follow the example -set them in other places, of petitioning his Holiness to give them -an independent sovereign, in order that the exaltation of his nephew -to the dukedom might seem a popular measure. On the 16th of June -the interdict was removed from all the duchy except S. Leo, which -alone held out; but, faithful to the proverb of hating him whom he -had injured, the Pontiff was deaf to all entreaties for restoration -to church privileges of his victim, who consequently remained in -hiding at Goito near Mantua, apart from his family, that he might -not involve them in excommunication, and giving out that he had fled -across the Alps, in order to baffle those who sought his life. - -[Footnote *267: ZACCAGNINI has published an unknown poem -on this taking of Urbino. See _Un poemetto sconosciuto sulla presa -d'Urbino del 1516_, in _Le Marche_ (1906), An. VI., p. 145.] - -The example of Guidobaldo kept alive his hopes of regaining his -sovereignty, as that Duke had done, by means of S. Leo. But ere he -could organise measures for a descent, he had the grief of learning -its fall. As there is always something of romantic adventure in -the surprise of a place impregnable by ordinary expedients, we may -dwell for a moment on the third and last successful leaguer of this -fortress. The garrison consisted of a hundred and twenty men, one -tenth of whom had fallen in its defence. After three months spent in -hopeless assaults, a Florentine carpenter, named Antonio, observing -from the opposite heights the absence of sentinels over one of the -most precipitous parts of the rock, attempted to make his way up the -face of it, sometimes aided by plants and bushes in the clefts, but -generally driving iron spikes into their crevices, and fastening -ropes, ladders, or beams, as he advanced. After four nights of this -perilous toil he reached the wall, which he found, as expected, -without defenders. Having reported the way accessible, a number of -light infantry were entrusted to his guidance, whom he ordered to -strip their headgear and shoes, and to strap upon their backs their -shields, swords, and hatchets. On the 30th of September, under cover -of a wet and foggy night, he conducted these safely to the summit, -accompanied by a drummer and four pair of colours. At daybreak, -an alarm was given from the watch-tower of an assault upon the -gate, towards which the besiegers had sent a party; and, whilst the -defenders hurried in that direction, Antonio, with some fifty men, -cleared the walls, displayed their colours, and beat to arms. Ere the -garrison had recovered their presence of mind, the gate was opened by -the escalading party to their comrades, and the place was carried. -The citadel was held for twenty-five days longer by a handful -of desperate men, but they at length surrendered to one Antonio -Riccasoli of Florence, who placed upon the castle a vainglorious -inscription, claiming for himself the genius of another Dedalus. The -fortress had been commanded by Sigismondo Varana, Count of Camerino, -the Duke's young nephew, assisted by an experienced captain of the -Ubaldini; and the good treatment experienced by the garrison gave -rise to a suspicion of treachery on their part, Sigismondo alone -being sent to Volterra as prisoner of war. Much of the Duke's -treasure was taken, and the loss of S. Leo proved a serious blow to -his interests.[268] - -[Footnote 268: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 906, 907, 928; Vat. Ottob. MSS. No. -3153.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV - - The Duke returns to his state--His struggle with the - usurper--His victory at Montebartolo. - - -Meanwhile the fatal wars originating in the League of Cambray were -finally concluded, by a treaty offensive and defensive, between the -young monarchs of France and Spain, guaranteeing their respective -Italian possessions, which was signed at Nogon on the 13th of August, -and was followed by that of London on the 29th of October, to which -the Pope, the Emperor, Charles V., and Henry VIII., were parties. -A general pacification having been thus obtained, Francesco Maria -was further than ever from assistance in recovering his rights, -yet the moment seemed not unfavourable for a single-handed attempt -at asserting them. The numerous condottieri of all nations, thus -thrown loose without prospect of new occupation, offered him their -services on very easy terms, preferring employment on the credit -of eventual pay, with the chance of interim pillage, to a life of -listless beggary. The French and Venetians secretly favoured any -adventure which should rid their territories of such odious inmates, -and the Duke found no great difficulty in mustering, by the beginning -of the year, three thousand eight hundred infantry and six hundred -light horse. He placed the latter under his wife's cousin, Federigo -Gonzaga, Marquis of Bozzolo, a young man who singularly mingled -the staid wisdom of a veteran commander with the jovial manners of -a free companion, and was thus equally the confidential adviser -of his general, and the idol of his men. He had also become a -personal enemy of Lorenzo, from having been deprived by him of the -command committed to him by Giuliano de' Medici. This motley army -was composed of tried soldiers, but was deficient in the material -for a sustained campaign, notwithstanding the Duke's great exertions -and sacrifices, by borrowing money at all hands, and by selling his -wife's valuables, to provide for it the most necessary munitions. -Before taking the field, he, on the 17th of January, addressed to -the Sacred College, and publicly placarded, this earnest protest and -vindication of his measures, which, although prolix, is an important -manifesto. - - "Most reverend and respected Lords: I have ever flattered - myself that the long persecutions, which exposed me to so - many perils, have not lost me your Reverences' favour, - nor rendered you personally hostile to me; indeed, I - feel assured that you have always looked upon me with - compassion, and pitied my misfortunes. Nor did I enjoy, - amid such adversities, any consolation more efficacious - than my conviction that your Sacred College considers me in - nowise worthy of such persecutions. But, as I always have - been, am, and shall through life continue, your most humble - and obedient servant, I hold myself bound to account to - you for every action, and to defend myself from whatever - imputations my enemies may have made to your very reverend - Lordships, in whom repose all my hopes of protection. - - "I presume that you have heard of my new enterprise against - my own state, dictated, not by any desire to disturb, - embarrass, or molest the interests of the Church, but - rather by a wish to commit my life upon the hazard of the - war, trusting that God will so direct its issue as that - my innocence, so known to his divine providence, may be - equally manifested to all the world. And in this assurance - I proceed, not rashly or presumptuously, but aware that - neither my resources, which are at present next to nothing, - nor those of the most potent monarch, would suffice to - resist the might of his Holiness, supported as he is by - all the sovereigns and powers of Christendom; relying, - moreover, on Almighty God, the King of kings, who can, and, - as I hope, will, aid and defend me in this calamity, since - He, to whom the hearts of men are open, knows that I have - no other expedient left for my peace or life itself. After - having betaken myself to the illustrious Lord Marquis, my - father-in-law, at Mantua, and placed myself in a sort of - voluntary imprisonment; after having lost my fortresses, - and nearly all my worldly possessions; and having even - made up my mind to promise his Holiness not to make any - attempt upon my state, or disturb his nephew, to whom he - had given it,--my sole wish being to live; still, so far - from obtaining a relaxation of the censures, other and - harsher interdicts were constantly issued against me, with - positive injunctions to my distinguished father-in-law not - to harbour me in his territory. Nay, I daily discover plots - against my life by poison or the dagger; which, however, I - attribute not to my Lord his Holiness, convinced that his - clemency and goodness are irreconcilable with so ardent a - thirst for my blood, and such perfidious ingratitude for - the numberless benefits which, setting aside more remote - recollections, he and all his house received from myself, - when in straits similar to what I now endure, but rather to - my enemies, who, in effecting my ruin, bring infamy upon - his Holiness, and think thus to force me to flee for my - life into Turkey. - - "Compelled, then, by these considerations, I have set - forward towards my own home, in the belief that, even - should my death ensue, infamy never can; and in the - conviction that, if it was right for his Holiness, whilst - living as a cardinal in honour and dignity, to occasion - the cruel sack of Prato, in order to regain those rights - of citizenship from which he had been outlawed, it will be - far more justifiable in me, an outlaw, not from one city, - but from all Christendom, and deprived, not merely of my - temporal dignities, but almost of the means of subsistence, - the sacraments of the Church, and the intercourse of - mankind, by a persecution which directs at once temporal - and spiritual weapons against my station, life, and - soul;--it will, I say, be justifiable for me to attempt - my restoration to the state, of which, in the opinion of - my own people, and of all men except his Holiness, I am - the legitimate sovereign. I therefore supplicate your - most reverend Lordships, by the pity due to such as have - blamelessly fallen into misfortune, that you will deign to - afford me protection, falling upon some means or expedient - for mitigating the Pontiff's feelings; seeing I cannot but - think that your influence, his own natural goodness, and my - innocence must break down that obduracy which the unjust - lips and guileful tongues of my adversaries have raised - towards me in the mind of his Holiness; for, to regain - his favour, there is no submission or endurable penance - that I would refuse. And, should I not be deemed worthy of - such compassion, you, my very reverend Lords, may at least - condescend in silence to favour my cause with your best - wishes and thoughts, and efficiently to recommend me to - the unfailing bounty and justice of God. If my success be - as signal as I hope, I shall stand indebted to your most - reverend Lordships, believing that the Almighty has heard - your reasonable desires, and extended his protection to me - through your merits. Or, on the other hand, should my puny - force not be overborne by the weight of the papal power, - backed by spiritual weapons, it will be a palpable miracle, - and proof sufficient that my innocence, though on earth - condemned by men, will be cleared in Heaven by a higher - and more equitable Judge. And so, ever kissing humbly your - Reverences' hands, I commend myself to your favour. From - Sermene, the 17th of January, 1517." - -The narrative of Giraldi[269] is a safe authority as to many details -of this enterprise, his uncle Benedetto having been an officer much -in the Duke's confidence. We, therefore, venture to extract the -harangue which he puts into the mouth of Francesco Maria, before -marching from Sermene, not, of course, as his verbatim address to his -followers, but as containing the understanding on both sides of their -respective obligations. - -[Footnote 269: Vat. Ottob. MSS. No. 3153, f. 115.] - - "'Soldiers and Comrades, I have assembled you here, in - order that you may fully learn my mind and intentions, and - that I may know yours. I therefore acquaint you that I have - arranged with your leaders, who have promised, and bound - themselves by articles, to accompany me into my state of - Urbino, and to re-establish me in my home, and to maintain - me there during life, indifferent to pay or remuneration - beyond such as I may be able to give,--I confiding to them - my state and person, in reliance upon your good faith. I - now wish to know if you are all agreed to follow me in this - enterprise; and, should this be your pleasure, I desire - from you an oath never to abandon me on any contingency - that may occur, and that, in case of being forced to - quit me by the pressure of events without completing our - undertaking, you will oblige yourselves to return to this - place as a rendezvous, and, further, that you shall not - desert me for any offers or bribes of the enemy. Avowing to - you at the same time that, at this moment, I have not above - a ducat a-piece to give you, I nevertheless feel confident - our gains will be great, unless fortune be more than - adverse; and I promise that all the booty will be yours, - and that I shall be your comrade, never sparing my life - while it lasts. If you accept these my terms, you must all - swear to observe them; otherwise I shall not move from this - territory of my brother-in-law.' Whereupon they all, with - extended hands, took an oath never to abandon him during - life; and so they set forth in the name of God, on the 17th - of January, led by Federigo di Bozzolo." - -The Pontiff was taken at unawares, for, believing his enemy utterly -crushed, he made light of such warnings as had reached him of a -contemplated movement against the duchy; but now that the expedition -was matured, he knew well the slight hold which the usurper had upon -the affections of his nominal subjects. Nor was he more at ease as to -the inclinations of his new allies in Lombardy, whose stipendiaries -had thus suddenly turned their arms against him. His anxiety was in -no way diminished by the representations of his confidential friend -Bibbiena, who, actuated perhaps by some lurking kindness for the -house of Urbino, urged him to abandon the Borgian policy he had in -hand, until such persuasions were silenced by the threatened poignard -of Lorenzo. Ere effectual precautions could be adopted in Romagna, -Francesco Maria had rallied round him eight thousand infantry and -fifteen hundred horse, most of them veterans, and with these he -marched about the middle of January. Passing Rimini, where his -rival lay "sorely perplexed and bewildered" (to use the phrase of -Minio, the Venetian envoy), he advanced under every discouragement -of an inclement season, his men wading through snow to the middle, -and swimming frequent-swollen torrents. From the secrecy of his -preparations and the poverty of his resources, his commissariat was -altogether inadequate; but, on reaching his frontier, the refusal of -Gradara to submit afforded his men an excuse for compensating their -privations by its sack. - -His subjects had been prepared by emissaries for a general revolt. -On the 1st of February, Count Carlo Gabrielli raised the cry of -"Feltro! Feltro!" at Gubbio, and it was enthusiastically responded -to through the smaller towns. On the 5th, the Duke was within a few -miles of Urbino, then held by Bishop Vitelli, with a garrison of -two thousand men, who, distrusting the inhabitants, summoned their -militia to muster at S. Bernardino, and closed the gates as soon as -the city had thus been cleared of its able-bodied men, refusing to -readmit them on pain of instant death. The excluded citizens vented -their indignation at this trick, in threats and abuse of the garrison -from under the very walls, which at length provoked a sortie of -four hundred infantry in order to disperse them. At this juncture, -a squadron of one hundred cavalry, sent on by Francesco Maria under -Benedetto Giraldi of Mondolfo, for the purpose of supporting the -expected rising in his favour, arrived three miles below Urbino, and, -whilst breathing their horses, heard that the enemy were abroad. -Benedetto immediately left his little force in charge of his brother -Annibale, and rode on with but five officers to reconnoitre. The -adventure which followed, equally worthy of a bold knight-errant and -a Christian soldier, must be told as in the Dialogue of his nephew -Tranquillo. "Coming suddenly upon the detachment, about half a mile -from the town, Benedetto exclaimed, 'Look there! as these are the -first of our master's foes we have fallen in with, it would surely be -a shame to let them get back to the city without a taste of us: I am -therefore resolved to make a dash at them, and if you will follow me, -by God's grace we shall have the first victory.' This said, he rushed -into the midst of them, with vizor up and lance in rest, overthrowing -many by the shock. His weapon having broken, he performed prodigies -with his sword, and, aided by his followers, who had not shrunk -from his summons, the enemy's leaders were slain, and their whole -battalion dispersed in panic through the fields, where most of them -were put to death by the excluded townsfolk, who had mustered at -the first alarm. I, too, came up with our squadron, in time to cut -off a good many of them; but I had little cause to congratulate -myself upon that success, for, passing near my brother [Benedetto], -he said to me, 'Annibale, I am killed.' Whereupon, looking towards -him, I observed a cut in his face, and told him to fear nothing, as -face wounds were not mortal; but he replied, 'It's worse than that, -for I am run through the body by a pike.' At these words my heart -seemed riven asunder; yet, in order not to alarm him, I desired him -to cheer up, and commend himself to God Almighty, and to the most -glorious Mother of the Saviour, and to vow his armour and horse to -Loreto, adding that I too would offer a housing worth twenty-five -ducats. 'I am content,' answered he, 'to give this horse, a gallant -Turkish charger bestowed upon me by the Marquis of Mantua, along -with these arms; but I have only one favour to ask of the Saviour -of mankind, which is, that he will permit me to live long enough to -confess myself.' As he said this an Observantine friar, who had on -former occasions confessed him, came up, and, after thanking God -for having heard his prayer, he summoned the monk, and returning -to Cavallino confessed himself. There being no surgeon at hand, a -gentleman of Mantua named Stigino cleansed the wound by suction, and -ascertained that the bowels were not pierced, which afforded me much -hope. I sent for many surgeons. The first that arrived was Maccione -of Fossombrone, who dressed the wound with charmed bandages, a thing -that much displeased my brother; and for conscience-sake he refused -to be doctored in that way, until persuaded by a friar, who assured -him there was no sin, seeing that there had been no diabolical -incantation used; and, being told of numerous miracles effected by -these cloths, he submitted to them, and ere long was restored to -health." - -The sally-party from the garrison having been repulsed by Giraldi's -squadron, aided by a considerable force from Gubbio, Fossombrone, -and Sinigaglia, which just then most opportunely appeared, they -found little safety by returning to quarters. The citizens still -within the walls rushed to arms, even the women and children showered -missiles on the retreating soldiery, and the Bishop, dispirited by -the disaster, capitulated next day. But being seized with a panic, -his garrison withdrew ere their safe-conduct was signed, and were -beset by the infuriated troops and inhabitants, who attacked them on -every side with arms, bludgeons, and stones, slaying or capturing -them to a man. The Duke thus entered his capital, and was welcomed -with demonstrations of joy, only equalled by those which, fourteen -years before, had hailed his uncle's return in similar circumstances. - -As it was no easy task to restrain an army so composed from reaping -the spoils of victory in a way opposite to wishes and the interests -of Francesco Maria, he lost no time in employing them against Fano, -a town which, not belonging to his state, might with less scruple -be abandoned to plunder. The assault, however, miscarried through -Maldonato, a Spanish captain, whose treasonable correspondence with -Rome began already to be intercepted, and was ere long exposed. -After this check, the troops were dispersed among the villages, -until the inclement weather should pass; their head-quarters were at -Montebaroccio, a very strong position midway between the upper part -of the duchy, which acknowledged its legitimate sovereign, and the -cities of Pesaro, Fano, and Sinigaglia, which were garrisoned by the -ecclesiastical troops. - -Meanwhile the Pope, trusting to time more than the sword for ridding -him of an enemy destitute of all resources, had directed his nephew -to leave them an open field, until his preparations for their -destruction should be complete. He hastily called upon the Emperor -and the Kings of France and Spain for assistance, whilst Lorenzo was -mustering the ecclesiastical and Florentine militia, under Guido -Rangone of Modena, Renzo da Ceri, and Vitello Vitelli. No expense -was spared from the papal treasury to raise an overwhelming force, -and Lorenzo borrowed 50,000 golden florins from his fellow-citizens. -Charles contributed four hundred Neapolitan lances, and Francis -promised three hundred more, on condition of the surrender by Leo -of Modena to his ally the Duke of Ferrara. By these means was -levied an army of fifteen to eighteen thousand infantry, a thousand -men-at-arms, and at least as many light cavalry, with fourteen pieces -of artillery. - -The Lord of Urbino appears to have looked without reason for -reinforcements from Venice,[*270] but Minio mentions that his army -now consisted of twelve thousand foot, and that he had received a -money subsidy from an unknown quarter, probably his father-in-law, -the Marquis of Mantua. Yet his position was in all respects critical. -In an enterprise depending on prompt success, each hour lost was the -enemy's gain. His present life of bootless and bootyless inaction -disgusted his Spaniards, who not only murmured, but, unmindful of -their vow of service, began to desert to the ecclesiastical camp, -attracted by superior pay. Worst of all, the enthusiasm that had -enabled Guidobaldo to win back his state for a brief interval, -now languished in the cause of his nephew, whose coup-de-main -had failed, and whose resources were inadequate to a prolonged -struggle, the burden whereof must fall upon his loyal subjects. In -these circumstances, he resorted to an expedient which relieved the -dull incidents of a petty campaign by one of a novel and romantic -character. Hoping to bring the war to a speedy issue, he sent Suares -de Lione, a Spanish officer, and his own Secretary, Orazio Florido, -with the following instructions, and message to his adversary:-- - - "As it is creditable to a prince warring for any cause, - to endeavour that his object should be effected with the - least bloodshed and injury to the country, especially - if it be his intention to become its sovereign, and as - I conceive that the Lord Lorenzo must share in this - sentiment, I have devised an expedient most convenient - to both of us. For if he desire the acquisition of this - state as ardently as appears from the late and present - campaign, he will be delighted to satisfy that longing - promptly, and without further burden to its inhabitants, by - putting to the test his own bravery and that of his troops. - I therefore empower you, Captain Suares and Orazio, to - challenge him forthwith to combat in any place he likes; - four thousand men against four thousand, or three, two, or - one thousand, or five hundred, or one hundred, or twenty, - or four, or any smaller number he may choose, provided he - and I are included,--all to be on foot, with the usual arms - of infantry; or lastly, if he will fight me alone with the - readiest arms, so much the better, that thus, by the death - or imprisonment of one of us, the victor may obtain the - most satisfactory solution of his wishes, and relieve the - lingering suspense of not a few. - - "Relying on the courage of his Lordship, and many about - him of not less honourable pretensions, that these so - reasonable proposals will be received with pleasure, I - shall await your return, promptly to prepare for whatever - alternative he may accede to. I limit the answer to three - days; adding that, if he prefer fighting in considerable - numbers, he may do so with three hundred picked men of the - light cavalry, armed with lance, sword poignard, and mace. - Or, if none of the aforesaid conditions please him, which - I cannot believe possible, remember to offer that, if he - will engage with these three hundred light horse, and all - my infantry, he may have the advantage of five hundred or - a thousand foot beyond what I can bring into the field, - equally armed. And the present memorandum you will deliver - into his Lordship's hands."[271] - -[Footnote *270: It was against Venice that Leo had first, in March, -1517, tried to get help.] - -[Footnote 271: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 1023, f. 141. It has been printed -by Leone, p. 222.] - -This step, natural to a gallant soldier of almost desperate fortunes, -with neither means nor inducement for a prolonged struggle, could -have no recommendation for his opponent, now at the head of an -overwhelming force, backed by the papal treasury and the united -arms of most European powers. Lorenzo felt nettled at a proposal -which it would have been folly to accept, but which could scarcely -be declined without incurring a slur; and, after answering that he -could entertain no such cartel until his challenger had evacuated -those places which he had forcibly seized, his temper showed itself -by arresting its bearers, notwithstanding their safe-conduct. -The Spaniard was speedily released; but the secretary was sent -to Volterra or Rome, to be disposed of by the Pope, where, with -revolting treachery and meanness, he was subjected to imprisonment -and torture, in the hope of drawing from him the secrets of his -master, whose vigorous resistance Leo strongly suspected to be backed -by the French monarch. - -The war was now carried on by manoeuvres and skirmishes, which have -no interest beyond the light they throw on the spirit of this unequal -contest. Among the reinforcements that flocked to the papal standard -was an undisciplined band which crossed the Apennines from Tuscany, -carrying fire and sword through the highlands of Montefeltro. The -Duke was unable to leave the low country exposed by marching in -person to the relief of his faithful mountaineers, but sent into -these defiles a squadron of light horse, who, falling upon the rabble -at unawares, amply avenged their excesses. On the 25th of March, the -inhabitants of Montebaroccio, having voluntarily admitted a body -of papal troops, were visited by severe retribution as a warning -to others; the place was sacked and burned by the Spaniards, seven -hundred men and fifty old women being put to the sword,--a repulsive -comment upon the Duke's boast, that though the walls of his towns -were held for others, the hearts they contained were all his own. -These partial successes turned the tide of feeling somewhat more -favourably for the della Rovere cause, and we learn from the Minio -despatches, that the war, unpopular at Rome from the first, now -occasioned great anxiety to the government, from the difficulty in -raising funds to continue it. The Pope retired frequently to his -villa at La Magliana, less from the love of field sports, than to -indulge his chagrin.[*272] Such were his straits for money, that he -deposited jewels in pawn with the Cardinal Riario, for a loan of 7000 -ducats. This sum, with 5000 more, having been despatched to Pesaro -in a convoy of waggons, was captured by the Duke, and along with it -were found certain letters, written in name of his Holiness, advising -Lorenzo, in the event of any suspicion attaching to the Gascons in -his service, either to ship them at once for Lombardy, or to have -them summarily massacred. These missives, having been circulated -in the ecclesiastical camp, occasioned a prodigious ferment, and -it was with the utmost difficulty that Lorenzo, by denying their -authenticity, induced the French troops to remain under his command, -until an opportunity offered of conciliating them by the plunder of -Sta. Costanza. - -[Footnote *272: "Gli pareva gran vergogna della Chiesa che ad un -duchetto basti l'animo di fare questa novita; e il papa tremeva, ed -era quasi fuor di se." Cf. GIORGI, _Relazioni Venete_, 2nd -series, vol. III., p. 47.] - -After many complicated movements in the lower valley of the Metauro, -attended with no decided advantage, and important only as having -enabled the youthful Giovanni de' Medici to flesh that sword which -soon after won him the laurels of a bright but brief career, the -papal army sat down before Mondolfo. The resistance of that small -town was encouraged by the state of the besiegers, and embittered by -their savage reputation. The Minio despatches of this date represent -them as suffering from a scarcity of provisions and a dearth of bread -and wine, adding that "the captured castles envy the dead, by reason -of the cruelties practised on the survivors." Its garrison consisted -of two hundred Spaniards and three hundred militia, so determinedly -supported by the inhabitants, that breaches opened during the day -were made up before morning, mines were met by counter-excavations, -and subterranean galleries were often scenes of death-struggles. -Provoked by this obstinacy, Lorenzo swore never to raise the siege -until he had razed the place to its foundations, put the males to the -sword, and handed over the women to the Devil's service. But in the -end of March, a few days after he had uttered this savage bravado, -his own career was arrested. Whilst, with more bravery than prudence, -he served a battery in the dress of a common soldier, a Spaniard, to -whom his person was known, marked him from the walls, and shot him as -he leaned upon a cannon to take aim. The ball took effect above the -left ear; and the wound extended down his neck to the shoulder.[273] -He was removed to Ancona, and for above a week continued in extreme -danger, refusing to be trepanned; but by the end of the month his -convalescence was complete. - -[Footnote 273: This account is adopted by Leone, p. 230, by Sismondi, -and by Centenelle, Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 907. Baldi (Vat. Urb. MSS. -No. 906) and Guicciardini say that Lorenzo, having undergone much -personal fatigue at the battery, was walking away to repose himself -in a sheltered spot, when a bullet from the walls hit him on the -head, grazing his skull to the nape of the neck.] - -The Pontiff "evinced extreme grief" at so untoward an accession to -the mishaps of this ill-advised and unlucky campaign. It had hitherto -been conducted by Renzo da Ceri and Vitellozzo Vitelli, who were -supposed to thwart the usurper from an apprehension that he might -become another Cesare Borgia. The Cardinal de' Medici, however, -attributed these successive miscarriages to the incapacity of Renzi, -and seriously complained to the Venetian envoy that, in consequence -of his reputation in the Signory's service, "we engaged him for this -undertaking, and don't perceive that he has effected anything. While -he commanded a small infantry force, he appeared never to be idle for -a day, yet, since he has been at the head of an entire army, he has -contrived to demean himself very ill, and to show that he is not a -man of great exploits." It will be curious to find this very officer -afterwards employed by the Cardinal when Pope, and fully bearing out -the mean opinion here expressed of him, when his present impugner had -the folly to instruct him with the defence of Rome itself. - -Neither the dissatisfaction of his subjects nor the coldness of his -allies inclined Leo to abandon an enterprise which exhausted his -resources and bathed Italy in civil blood. Thundering forth a new -and more severe excommunication against Francesco Maria and his -abettors, he, on the 30th of March, despatched a cardinal legate to -the camp, under whose command things went from bad to worse. The -defence of Mondolfo was protracted with extraordinary resolution. -Even after a large space of wall had been thrown down by two mines, -the besiegers were kept at bay during ten hours of hard fighting, -whilst the women supplied missiles and coppers of boiling water, and -the priests, waving aloft their crucifixes, mingled absolution of -the dying with prayers for the survivors. This vain struggle against -fearful odds ended in an ill-observed capitulation, in defiance -of which the town was sacked and set on fire. Two incidents may -illustrate the undisciplined state of the troops. Before entering -the place, two Spanish and a Ferrarese soldier agreed to share -equally their respective booty. Whilst the Italian fought, his -comrades were plundering, and eventually refused to divide the spoil -according to stipulation, an evasion in which they were backed by -their countrymen. The Ferrarese, with permission of his officers, -challenged his faithless partners, and a ring, or rather square, -having been cleared, by tying together eight pikes, he sprang into -it, armed but with sword and half-shield, offering to fight them -both at once, a proposal which they prudently evaded by surrendering -a just portion of their plunder. After the town had capitulated, "a -wrangle arose between an Italian and a German about a flagon of wine, -the former raising the shout of 'Italy! Italy!' the latter responding -'Germany! Germany!' Whereupon the infantry came to blows, and many -were killed on either side; and when, at the peril of his life, the -right reverend Cardinal had well nigh quelled the fray, an Italian -struck a German captain on the head with his musket and killed -him. This made the fight rage fiercer than ever, and the Spaniards -having sided with the Germans, the Italians were routed, and all -their quarters pillaged, including those of Signor Troilo Savello. -The army remains divided and dispersed; most of the Italians are -departed, whilst the infantry have betaken themselves towards Fano, -and continue thus separated." It is curious to detect in these and -similar incidents[274] an undercurrent of national feeling, during -that dreary age when the Peninsula was torn into sections by communal -policy and dynastic ambition. Had that cry of _Italia! Italia!_ been -then raised by her leading spirits, with earnest good faith, apart -from individual ends, how different had been her after fate and -present attitude! - -[Footnote 274: See above, p. 325.] - -The legate, who thus, with difficulty and personal danger, averted -a general massacre, was the Cardinal Bibbiena, not de' Medici, as -accidentally misstated by Roscoe. After long employing his diplomatic -talents against his former friend, the Lord of Urbino, he now -compassed his final ruin by exertions of the camp, for which he was -less qualified. The mutinous _melee_ which he had witnessed prepared -him for the discovery, that moneys raised by extraordinary exertions -were ill-spent upon an army "thrice as numerous on pay-day as in -action." It was, therefore, to the commissariat and finance that -his chief attention was given; but, warned by the recent explosion -of national antipathies, he separated the quarrelsome soldiery in -various cantonments around Pesaro. The Italians garrisoned the -city and Rimini, the Spaniards were encamped on the adjoining -Monte Bartolo, the Germans lay on the middle of that hill around -the Imperiale palace, the Corsi (Dalmatians) occupied the foot of -it, and the Gascons bivouacked on the adjacent plain. The last of -these were in very bad repute at Rome; and finding themselves kept -for several weeks in that exposed situation, many deserted to the -della Rovere camp at Ginestreto, near Montebaroccio. After letting -slip an apparently favourable opportunity for striking a blow at -these disorganised troops, Francesco Maria subsequently did so by a -surprise, which we shall narrate in his own words, addressed next -morning to the Duchess. - - "To the most illustrious Lady, my Consort, my lady Eleonora - di Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino, &c. - - "Most illustrious Lady, my Consort, - - "Since the enemy took the field I have often wished to come - to action, and have used my ingenuity for this object, - little heeding their superiority to my brave band, both - in men-at-arms and in infantry, but all to no purpose. - At length, finding that his Reverence the Legate, Renzo - di Ceri, Vitelli, and their other principal leaders had - retired into Pesaro, with a host of men-at-arms, whilst - about three thousand foot, with the light horse and - the Gascon wings, lay on the road to Fano, the Spanish - lansquenets and the Corsi, to the number of at least six - thousand, being quartered in the Imperiale, there seemed a - chance of having at them. Accordingly, at half-past eleven - o'clock last night, on ascertaining their position, and the - most effective mode of attacking it, I advanced at the head - of my infantry and a detachment of cavalry. After passing - the Foglia, I sent the latter to a certain spot in the - plain, and, leading the rest by the hill-side to the summit - of the Imperiale, I charged the enemy about two hours after - daybreak, and, by God's grace and the gallantry of my men, - routed them ere they could form, killing, and taking many. - So sudden and vigorous was our onset over the rocks on the - seashore, that they were unable to gain their houses; and, - as we drove them with great loss over the hill, they were - intercepted below by my cavalry, so that between the two - few escaped. Some of the officers made their way into the - church of S. Bartolo, and into the palace of the Imperiale, - where they attempted to fortify themselves, but with a few - of my people I soon captured them all. We followed the - fugitives with great slaughter to the very gates of Pesaro, - the garrison of which, at least five thousand strong, would - neither support nor admit them, whilst the Gascons, though - witnessing the rout and drawn up in battle array, equally - withheld succour. Thus, without loss, we remained masters - of their camp, their colours, many prisoners, and all their - officers but two who were killed; and I, having taken up my - quarters here, hasten to inform your Excellency of these - particulars. - - "But I must not omit to tell your Ladyship how, three days - since, as Signor Troilo Savello, on his march from Rome - with fifteen hundred foot and some horse, was avoiding the - outpost at Sassoferrato, and attacking my castle of Sta. - Abonda, he was routed and rifled by a couple of hundred - infantry and a few cavalry from my garrison at Pergola, and - scarcely escaped being himself taken. In Montefeltro, too, - several incursions of the Florentines have been repulsed; - and between Massa and Lamole seven hundred of them, who had - taken post on a hill and in a very strong pass, were well - beaten and driven out of it by a hundred of my people. - - "I wished to give your Ladyship all these particulars, - that you may share with me the encouragement they afford - us. The favour which God has this morning vouchsafed us, - and for which our gratitude is due, gives me hope that - the justice of my cause will be daily advanced by new - successes; and so to your Ladyship do I commend myself: - from my joyous camp near Genestreto, 6 May, 1517. - - "_Consors_, FRANCISCUS MARIA DUX URBINI, &c. _ac - Alme Urbis Prefectus._"[275] - -[Footnote 275: Vat. Urb. MSS., No. 1023, art. vi.] - -To this spirited despatch little remains to be added. The assailants -ascended from the Rimini side, leaving below a strong body of horse -to cut off the fugitives. The troops being discouraged by the absence -of Maldonato's Spaniards, who had straggled behind, and by the late -hour at which, owing to blunders of their guides, they reached the -mountain, the Duke encouraged them with assurances that the chances -of success were greatest after daybreak, as the sentinels would -be less on the alert; and for an omen of victory, and a badge to -distinguish them from the enemy, he desired them to twine oak twigs, -emblematic of his name, round their headgear. He led their file in -person; and after a complete victory was left with eight hundred -prisoners on his hands, besides the entire camp equipage and much -booty. Next day the Gascons, who had not shared in the rout, came -over in a body to Francesco Maria, headed by Monsieur d'Ambras, who -returned to the court of Francis I., after publicly declaring that -he would no longer permit his men to be sacrificed by officers that -could neither protect them nor annoy their enemy, but would leave -them under a prince whose tactics and discipline were a pattern even -to his foes. This secession did not, however, prevent his master -bolstering up the papal policy by loans of 100,000 livres Tournois -to Lorenzo, and half that sum to the Pontiff, a course condemned by -Sismondi in his French history. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI - - Continuation of the ruinous contest--The Duke finally - abandons it--Death of Lorenzo de' Medici--Charles V. - elected Emperor. - - -About this time a serious conspiracy against Leo was discovered. The -prime mover in it was Alfonso Petrucci, Cardinal of Siena, whose -property having been confiscated, and his family ruined by the -Pontiff, he burned for revenge, and induced one Battista, a famous -surgeon of Vercelli, along with the Pope's valet, to enter into his -views. Leo being ill of fistula, it was arranged that Battista, -who had procured recommendations as a skilful operator, should -introduce poison into the dressings. The plot was revealed in time, -and the Pontiff used every art, with promises of reconciliation and -renewed favour, to entice the principal culprit to Rome. Having -with difficulty effected this, he imprisoned him, along with his -brother-cardinals Raffaello Riario and Bandinello Bishop of Sauli, -along with the captain of the Sienese troops. Cardinal Alfonso was -secretly put to death; the surgeon and the valet were publicly hanged -and quartered; Sauli, condemned to perpetual imprisonment, was -liberated but to die; while Riario, after purchasing at a high rate -restoration to his escheated dignities, spent the brief remainder -of his life in voluntary exile. Cardinals Soderini and Adriano of -Corneto (the latter of whom held the sees of Hereford and Bath, and -was papal collector in England), having confessed in open consistory -their privacy to the plot, escaped from Rome. The former was saved -by chancing to ride out to the chase on a mule, instead of going as -usual in his litter, which followed at some distance, and was seized -by the guard in consequence of his scarlet robe being left in it, -whilst the culprit, in a simple chaplain's dress, fled to the Colonna -strongholds. A mystery which hung over the fate of Adriano has been -partially cleared up by my friend Mr. Rawdon Brown from the Sanuto -Diaries, wherein it appears that he safely reached Venice through -Calabria, and that the occasion of his unaccountable disappearance -was a journey to the conclave on Leo's death, not his flight from -Rome in the present year, as stated by Guicciardini, Valeriano, and -Roscoe.[276] - -[Footnote 276: Vat. Urb. MSS., No. 907, f. 28, 30. The Minio -despatches are full of details of this conspiracy unknown to Roscoe.] - -Thus baffled in the field, and betrayed in the consistory, Leo found -a great effort necessary. On the 20th of June he wrote a letter to -Henry VIII., which has been published by Rymer, representing, in -vague generalities, and abusive terms, the outrages committed against -the dignity and temporal dominion of the Church by relentless robbers -and adversaries, and enjoining him to contribute assistance, in the -way to be orally explained by the bearer, a predicant friar named -Nicholas.[277] He also made renewed instances with his other allies -for more efficient aid against his contumacious vassal in Umbria, and -sent to levy six thousand Swiss. In order to raise money for these -new expenses, he, on the 26th of June, created thirty-one cardinals, -thus at once filling his treasury with the price of their hats, and -surrounding himself by chosen adherents. Nor did he omit still more -profligate expedients. He had repeatedly profited by Maldonato's -perfidy in the Urbino war, and now offered him 10,000 ducats, with -the dignity of cardinal to his son, if he would deliver up Francesco -Maria alive or dead.[278] - -[Footnote 277: Rymer, vol. IV., p. 135. On the 21st of December -Lorenzo de' Medici had written to thank the King of England for his -good wishes conveyed through the Bishop of Worcester, then resident -at Rome. See a curious letter of the following June, from Wolsey to -the usurping Duke, Appendix VI.] - -[Footnote 278: Centenelle, Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 907.] - -After the affair at Imperiale, the Papal troops keeping close in -their garrisons, Francesco Maria had recourse to a partisan warfare -of sallies and surprises, which greatly harassed them, but did -not give sufficient employment to his own somewhat unmanageable -levies. He had now ascertained from intercepted letters the full -extent of Maldonato's treason; but, ere he ventured upon making an -example, he thought it well to put his troops into good humour by -a foraging expedition, which should also free his own state from -their burdensome presence. Gian Paolo Baglioni, Lord of Perugia, -had, during the whole campaign, been in the field against the Duke -with three thousand men, and his relation and rival Carlo, exiled by -his intrigues from that city, besought Francesco Maria's aid for his -re-establishment. No proposal could have been more opportune, and the -Duke drew all his forces towards the vale of Tiber. - -But his army, disorganised by the intrigues of Maldonato and one -Suares (not the bearer of his cartel), broke out into tumult at -Cantiano, clamouring for pay or pillage, and both of these officers, -heading the mutiny, insulted and threatened their general. In this -predicament, his adherents quickly collected from the neighbouring -villages some money, church plate, and other valuables, which brought -the refractory troops into better humour; and the opportune news of -considerable booty having been obtained beyond the frontier, by the -advanced guard of Gascons, induced them to move upon the Pianello di -Perugia. The Spanish troops whom the Duke had brought from Lombardy -consisted of two battalions, that of San Marco under Maldonato, and -that of Verona under Alverado. The disaffection was confined to a -portion of the former, and had for some time been detected through -intercepted correspondence of their officers. On the march through -the Apennines, Francesco Maria gradually prepared their comrades of -Verona for the vengeance he had in store for the traitors. When all -was ready, he halted on a small plain, and, whilst the surrounding -defiles were being occupied by his staunchest adherents, he formed -the Spaniards into a square, with their officers in the middle, whom -he thus addressed: "Gentlemen and Captains! You are aware how I -entered this country under your protection, and how, in committing -myself into your hands, on your promise never in life or in death to -abandon me, I relied upon your long-established reputation that you -never had betrayed any of your leaders. I now, however, find that -some among you seek miserably to sell me, and so for ever stain your -honourable name; and this I presently shall prove, if you think fit, -with the double object of saving myself from assassination and you -from disgrace, but on condition that you shall at once take such -steps as you deem best adapted to rescue me from pressing peril, -and yourselves from lasting contumely." This harangue, falling upon -well tutored ears, was answered by shouts of "Death to the traitors! -reveal them at once!" Proofs were then read that Maldonato had -engaged to slaughter the Duke and Federigo del Bozzolo, for the -bribe of a life-pension to himself of 600 ducats, an episcopal see -to his son, and double pay during the whole campaign to his troops. -There is said to be a standard of honour among thieves; that of the -Spaniards was piqued by this melodramatic impeachment of their truth, -and the opportune discovery of further treasonable documents in the -baggage of Maldonato's mistress exasperated them to fury. That craven -captain threw himself at the feet of Francesco Maria, whom he had -recently insulted, and prayed for mercy; but the latter withdrew -from the square, saying that he left the affair to the soldiery. A -cry then arose, "Let the faithful officers come out!" They did so, -leaving eight whose names had been denounced, and who were instantly -massacred by the troops. Thus was the army saved from destruction by -the coolness and decision of its leader, and the companies of San -Marco and Verona, purged from the imputation of perfidy, were from -that day embodied in a single battalion. - -Having so happily scotched the vipers that endangered his safety, the -Duke of Urbino made his descent upon Perugia. After a short siege, -during which he extended his forays as far as Spoleto and Orvieto, -spreading alarm to the gates of Rome, that city capitulated on the -26th of May, receiving Carlo Baglioni as its master, and paying a -ransom of 10,000 scudi, which Vermiglioli, the biographer of Gian -Paolo, alleges the latter, with the bad faith usual in that age, -to have shared, although the money had been raised from his own -adherents. The same authority now estimates the Duke's army at twelve -thousand men, with which it was his intention to make a diversion -into the Florentine territory. But hearing that the Legate had taken -the field, he hurried back across the Apennines, though too late -to save Fossombrone and La Pergola. His wish of engaging the enemy -having been foiled by their retreat into Pesaro, he had recourse to -his former tactics of removing the seat of war from his own state, -and turned his arms against the more wealthy towns of the Marca. Many -of these, including Fabriano, Ancona, and Recanati, compounded for -exemption from military violence, by paying seven or eight thousand -ducats each. Corinaldo was saved by a well-timed sally, but Jesi, -contrary to the wish of Francesco Maria, was sacked by his Spaniards, -to whom his orderly and methodical way of laying the country under -contributions, and pillaging only the refractory, was far from -acceptable. - -The lesson he had given to these free lances appears for a time -to have borne fruit, and the following report by Minio, of a -conversation with the Pontiff, affords honourable testimony to their -steadiness, whilst it exhibits very graphically the character of the -contest at this juncture. "I afterwards inquired of his Holiness if -he had any news? He told me Francesco Maria was encamped under a -castle named Corinaldo, situated in the Marca, and that infantry had -been detached from his Holiness's army for its defence, so he hoped -not to be disappointed; a trust wherein I think the Pontiff will -be deceived, as he was regarding the other places. I said to him, -'It is a good sign, his inability to make any further progress, and -merely laying siege to a few inconsiderable castles;' and to this -his Holiness rejoined, 'He does it to raise money, as he did by the -other places.' He then told me that Don Ugo de Moncada had been with -the Spaniards, but was unable to make any settlement; adding, with an -air of surprise, 'I was willing to give them three arrears of pay, -yet they did not choose to come away, but despatched a friar to say -that should I undertake an expedition against the infidels, they are -willing to accept this offer, and serve.' I answered, that if so, -they were willing to fight against the infidels on the same terms -for which they now served Francesco Maria against the Holy See! The -Pope evinced little hope of an agreement with these Spaniards. On my -observing, 'The Viceroy [Don Ugo] has quitted Naples, we know not -wherefore, unless it be to come to your Holiness's assistance,' he -replied, 'They do say they are coming to aid me;' and then continued, -with a smile on his lips, 'See what a mess this is! The French -suspect these Spaniards of playing them some trick, and the Spaniards -fear lest the French, through Francesco Maria, should attack them in -the kingdom of Naples.' In order to elicit something more, I said -that I deemed it mere suspicion on either side; and he replied, 'It -is so.' I next asked how his Holiness stood with the Swiss? and he -answered, 'We shall have the Grisons, but the Cantons have not yet -decided, though they were to do so in a diet; at all events, I shall -have some, and I have sent them the pensions they required of me.'" -On the 14th of July, two days after this despatch, Minio reports that -Don Ugo had been dismissed by the Spanish troops, drawn up in three -fine battalions, with the following reply: "That they did not intend -to desert Francesco Maria, unless war were waged [by him] against -their most Catholic King, or some attempt made to occupy the kingdom -of Naples, or unless his Holiness shall commence hostilities against -his most Christian Majesty; in any other event they meant to keep -their faith to Francesco Maria, and would in no respect fail him." - -From various passages in the same envoy's despatches, it is clear -that these jealousies, though here ridiculed by Leo, were shared by -himself in a high degree: his own policy being generally hollow and -Machiavellian, he looked for no longer measure of good faith from -his allies. Ever since interest had been made at Bologna by Francis -I. in behalf of the Duke of Urbino, the Pontiff regarded him as at -heart adverse to all nepotic schemes upon that principality; and, at -this particular juncture, suspicion was strengthened by a variety -of circumstances, singly of little moment. Among these, were the -retention by his Holiness of Modena and Reggio; the apparent slight -of passing, in the late wholesale distribution of cardinal's hats, -over Ludovico Canossa, who, while legate in France, had gained the -King's affections, more perhaps than was approved at the Vatican; -the dilatory advance of those French lances long since promised -to Lorenzo de' Medici; but most of all the adherence to the della -Rovere banner of the Gascons, who owed at least a nominal allegiance -to the French crown. Influenced by these doubts, and the apparently -interminable expenses of this miserable and mismanaged contest, the -Pope so far lost heart, about the end of July, as to hint at an -accommodation. - -The Duke of Urbino's next move was to repeat at Fermo his Perugian -policy of restoring an exiled faction, by expelling Ludovico -Freducci, then head of the government, who after a gallant struggle -suffered a complete rout, with the loss of six hundred slain. The -Duke then directed his march upon Ascoli, but was recalled by -learning the approach of two thousand Swiss to reinforce the papal -troops. Hurrying to intercept them, he by forced marches suddenly -appeared near Rimini, where he found that, simultaneously with their -arrival, M. de l'Escu had at length brought up his three hundred -French gens-d'-arms, with instructions from Francis to arrange, -if possible, some issue to this unhappy war. Nor was the Legate -disinclined to the proposal, for the Pontiff had been playing a -ruinous game, which disgusted his allies, alienated his subjects, and -drained his treasury. - -An interview was, therefore, held at the monastery of La Colonella, -between the Duke, Cardinal Bibbiena, and the French captain. A -guarantee of 10,000 ducats of income in any residence he should -select was offered to Francesco Maria, if he would resign his state. -But he declared himself ready to die rather than so to sell it -and his honour, avowing, however, that if the Pope were resolved -to deprive him of his sovereignty on account of the Cardinal's -slaughter, he would abdicate in favour of his infant son, and carry -his army to Greece, to fight for the recovery of Constantinople. When -negotiations had been thus broken off, as described by Giraldi, the -smooth-tongued churchman, nothing abashed by the contrast of their -early familiarity with their present circumstances, invited him -to partake of a splendid collation. This he courteously declined, -and retired to breakfast with l'Escu, answering the Cardinal's -remonstrances by a jesting but pungent remark, that "priests kill -with wine-cups, soldiers with the sword." The Duke making somewhat -minute inquiries as to the Swiss reinforcements, the Legate -laughingly asked, "if he destined for them such a supper as he -provided for the Germans and Spaniards at the Imperiale"; to which -he rejoined, "And why not, if they are my foes?"[279] Nor was the -taunt lost upon him. Next night he led his men through the Marecchia, -and surprised the Swiss levies who were quartered in S. Giuliano, -a suburb of Rimini beyond that river. Notwithstanding a gallant -resistance, they were driven into the stream, with severe loss on -both sides, whilst Francesco Maria, after receiving a ball in his -cuirass, dexterously withdrew from his perilous position, under cover -of the smoke raised by a vast funeral pile, on which he left the -bodies of four hundred slain, amid a mass of combustibles. He now -resumed his projects of carrying fire and sword into Tuscany, and -reached the Upper Vale of the Tiber at Borgo S. Sepolcro, but, for -want of artillery, was unable to do anything against the fortified -places. The Duke's whole policy in this protracted and inconclusive -warfare has been severely blamed by Roscoe, and there can be no doubt -that, in his circumstances, rapid and aggressive tactics were most -likely to succeed. Had he, by a series of uninterrupted advantages, -maintained the impression made at his first onset, or had he risked -all in one engagement when his enemies had been daunted by Lorenzo's -severe wound, it is clear, from the Minio despatches, that Leo might -have been frightened into fair terms, at a moment when treason -was rife even within the Sacred College. The like result would, -perhaps, have been attained with greater certainty, had he, instead -of harassing his own territory and La Marca with an exhausting -civil war, carried his arms at once across the Apennines, and, by -threatening Siena or Florence, made it a question whether the Medici -were to lose Tuscany or gain Urbino. But we shall have ample reason, -in other instances, to perceive that procrastination was more -natural to him than energy, and, in the present case, delays for a -time appeared injurious to his enemies rather than to himself. It is, -however, fair to admit that, whilst his biographers continually claim -for him anxiety to bring on a decisive action, even the prejudiced -Guicciardini never accuses him of having evaded one. - -[Footnote 279: These anecdotes are preserved by Baldi, to whom, and -to Minio Centenelle and Giraldi, we owe many new details of this -campaign. Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 906, 907; Ottob. 3153.] - -A general feeling gained ground that this weary and wasteful strife -was approaching its close. The Duke's mercenaries, seeing no -prospect of their pay, which was contingent on complete success, and -dissatisfied with their limited opportunities for pillage, began to -look out for some more profitable engagement. Their most Christian -and most Catholic majesties had also combined to bring the struggle -to a conclusion, by recalling their respective subjects from the -army of Francesco Maria; nor did the Spaniards think it a disgrace -to entertain tempting offers for their secession from a cheerless -enterprise. Three of their captains accordingly went to Rome, on the -6th of August, apparently with his sanction, and offered for 60,000 -ducats to place the whole state of Urbino in the hands of these two -monarchs, for their award as to which competitor should be preferred. -The Pontiff at first made a show of entertaining this proposition, in -so far at least as regarded the duchy proper; but this was probably -a pretext for gaining time until the arrival of four thousand -lansquenets, whom he expected from the Emperor. Accordingly, on the -14th, in an audience with Minio, he denounced these terms as "the -most brutal possible, nor could Francesco Maria send to demand of -me what he does, were he the Grand Turk, and encamped at Tivoli! -He wants us to give him up the places we hold, namely, Pesaro and -Sinigaglia: see, by your faith, what notions he has! We really -desired this agreement, that we might attend to the Turkish affairs, -but these people are indeed elated and brutal." The like opinion -prevailed at Rome, and the imperial ambassador deprecated the -arrangement to his Holiness as disgraceful. It was therefore rejected -after some delay; nor was it until the papal court had taken new -alarm, on the Duke's movement into Tuscany, that the Spaniards were -bought off by the auditor of the treasury, who had been sent for the -purpose to their camp near Anghiari. He was met by the Duke, with -his faithful partisan di Bozzolo, and the Spanish captains. After a -protracted discussion, the former went forth, moved almost to tears, -exclaiming, "It is impossible for me to accept these terms." In his -absence it was agreed that the duchy should be given up to Lorenzo, -and that the Spaniards should accompany Don Ugo de Moncada towards -Naples, after receiving 50,000 ducats, under an obligation to serve -in reinstating Lorenzo in Urbino, if called upon to do so. - -On hearing these stipulations, Francesco Maria had an altercation -with the Spanish captains, which ended in his riding over to the -quarters of his other adherents, who yet remained faithful, and who -were with difficulty dissuaded from falling upon the renegades. An -idea now entertained, of making a last stand in the highlands with -that residue, was soon abandoned, for similar influences were at work -on them. But, mindful of their solemn obligation not to quit the -field until victory had crowned their enterprise, they resolved to -retire with honour intact. The Gascons, accordingly, by the mediation -of l'Escu and Guise, obtained from the Pontiff not only an exemption -from their engagement, but such a capitulation for the Duke of -Urbino as he might, with due regard to his dignity, accept. In order -to persuade the latter to such a course as circumstances rendered -necessary, the entreaties of his friends were added to the pressing -instances of Don Ugo and the French generals. The French and German -troops, after receiving 25,000 ducats, were to fall back upon Milan, -leaving him safely at Mantua; but the Italian soldiery appear to -have shared no part of this golden harvest. - -The conditions obtained for Francesco Maria were as follows: -Plenary absolution for himself, his family, and adherents, from -ecclesiastical censures; permission to him and them to retire where -they pleased, and to take any service except against his Holiness; -leave to remove all his private property in arms, artillery, and -furniture, especially his MS. library; the enjoyment of their -usufructuary rights to the dowager and reigning Duchesses; a general -amnesty and exchange of prisoners, including Sigismondo Varana. This -convention was accepted by his Holiness on the 16th of September, and -it fell to Bembo's lot, as papal secretary, to affix his signature -to what he, perhaps, persuaded himself were favourable terms for his -former friend and benefactor. - -The conduct of the Spaniards was regarded with universal contempt -and disgust. As they withdrew towards the Neapolitan territory, a -formidable band four or five thousand strong, the men of Gubbio stood -on their defence, but those of Fabriano, less alert, were surprised -and pillaged to the value of 2000 scudi. "But if the wretches sinned -at Fabriano, they did penance at Ripatrasone; for, in trying to sack -it also, many of them were slain, and the survivors were taken to -Gerbe, in Africa, where they nearly all died,--some from drinking too -much, some from drinking too little. The former by great good luck -were drowned, and the latter, marching through that country in the -parching summer heats, with water scarce, and no wine, perished of -thirst; so that they had better have followed the Duke to marvellous -enterprises and mighty gains, rather than have left to the world a -degraded name." There is something quaint in the concentrated rancour -wherewith Giraldi thus dismisses these selfish adventurers; and not -less so in the following rustic memorial. Grateful for their escape, -comparatively scathless, from perils which nearly menaced them, the -people of Maciola, a village two miles from Urbino, placed in their -church a votive picture to the Madonna, which is still inscribed with -these simple verses:-- - - "A horrible war [raged] in the state of Urbino, - In fifteen hundred and seventeen, - [With] many troops brave and chosen - Led by the Duke Lorenzino, - When Francesco Maria into his duchy - Was returned, with capital troops, - Spaniards, Mantuans, and other clans, - Each one a paladin in arms; - Urbino then, and all the district, - Being in great peril and dread. - Oh, Virgin Mother! ever kind to us, - Often did the host approach our walls, - And God alone it was who defended them: - Therefore has been dedicated to thee this image by thy worshippers - Of Maciola, with their grateful vows." - -In the war thus concluded, Francesco Maria struggled for eight -months, single-handed and penniless, against the temporal and -spiritual influence of the Holy See, backed by all the continental -powers. Unable to carry his object by a coup-de-main, he was in -the end vanquished by the superior resources of his oppressor. -In a parting address to his subjects, he assumed the tone of -victory, asserting that he withdrew, not under compulsion, but from -consideration of their interests, which a prolonged struggle must -have deeply compromised. Thus retiring with honour, he promised to -return to them with glory, when he could do so without detriment to -their welfare. He was escorted by l'Escu as far as Cento, whence he -rejoined his family at Mantua, presenting his consort with sixty-four -standards, taken during this brief and unequal campaign, wherein his -talents had been developed, his character strengthened, his fame -extended. - -We have dwelt somewhat minutely--it may be tediously--upon these -events, for the contest was one of vital moment to Francesco Maria, -his duchy being at once the theatre of operations and the guerdon -of victory. Yet this petty war was pregnant with results of wider -interest; for the enormous drain of money it occasioned so aggravated -the financial difficulties of the papacy, as to bring to a crisis -those abuses which finally matured the Reformation. The Minio -despatches abound in proofs of the desperate state to which the -treasury was reduced, and of the simoniacal expedients resorted to -for ready money. One of these may be noted as compromising Bembo, -who so often re-appears in these pages. He and Sadoleto had, since -Leo's accession, monopolised his private brieves, which afforded -them a handsome return, from gratuities and bribes, to the exclusion -of the other papal secretaries. Now, however, the latter offered to -their needy master a purse of 25,000 ducats, if admitted to share -the spoils, which was greedily accepted, without regard to vested -interests; and his Holiness was delighted to find the purchase-money -of his ordinary secretaryships thereby raised at once from 6000 to -7000 ducats each. The imposition of one tenth laid on the clergy, -avowedly for the proposed Turkish crusade, was absorbed by this -Urbino campaign, which was thought to have cost the Holy See thirty -thousand men, and a million of scudi. Even Henry VIII. was applied -to for a loan of 200,000 ducats, which he characteristically evaded -by offering 100,000, on condition of levying for himself the clergy -tenths. But let us take the Pontiff's own statement, volunteered -to Minio:--"See, by your troth, what a business this is! The war -costs us 700,000 ducats; and we have been so ill served by these -ministers, that worse cannot be imagined: this very month we had to -disburse 120,000. When we commenced the war we had some few funds, -which we had not chosen to touch, but the Lord God has aided us. We -should never have thought it possible to raise 100,000 ducats, and -we have obtained 700,000; see how astonishing this is! Had we deemed -it possible to obtain 700,000 ducats, we would have undertaken the -expedition against the Turks single-handed." - - * * * * * - -But where was the minion for whom all this crime and misery had -been perpetrated? From Ancona he paid a brief visit to the Vatican, -on his way to Florence, where he slowly recovered from his severe -wound, only to plunge deeper in debaucheries more congenial to his -degraded character than the privations of military life. He was -never named during the rest of the contest, but as soon as it was -over he met his uncle at Viterbo, where, and in the neighbouring -country, the papal court passed most of October in field sports. His -hard-won sovereignty seems to have afforded him little satisfaction -or interest; but in the following year he became an instrument -for the further promotion of his uncle's ambition. His marriage -having been negotiated through Cardinal Bibbiena to Madelaine de la -Tour, daughter of Jean Count of Boulogne and Auvergne, a relation -of the French monarch, the titular Duke of Urbino proceeded to -Paris in the spring of 1518, for the double ceremonial of his own -nuptials, and the Dauphin's baptism, at which he stood sponsor on -the 25th of April, as proxy for the Pontiff. Both these events -were celebrated with much festive merriment in the gay capital of -France, and the young couple were overwhelmed by splendid dowries -and wedding-gifts by the Pope and the Monarch. But their bridal joy -was of brief duration. The Duchess died in childbed on the 23rd of -April following, and was followed to the grave five days after by -her husband, who expiated with his life the dissolute vices in which -he had continuously indulged. Their child survived to be a scourge -of the Huguenots, in the person of Catherine de' Medici, wife of -Henry II. of France, mother of Francis II., Charles IX., and Henry -III.,--in the last of whom the line of Valois and the descendants of -Duke Lorenzo became extinct. - -Hearing of Lorenzo's desperate state, the Pope despatched Cardinal -Giulio de' Medici to maintain at Florence the supremacy of his -house. The titular dukedom of Urbino passed, in terms of the -new investiture, to the infant Catherine; but the territory was -unceremoniously seized by his Holiness, notwithstanding the wish -of its inhabitants for restoration of their legitimate sovereign. -Montefeltro, with S. Leo and Maiuolo, was assigned to Florence, in -security or compensation for 150,000 scudi said to have been advanced -in the late war, and the remainder of the duchy was annexed to -the Church. The walls of its capital, whose loyalty to its native -princes amid all their reverses is finely commemorated in the current -appellation of _Urbino fidelissimo_, were thrown down, and its -metropolitan privileges transferred to Gubbio, which had shown itself -less devoted to the della Rovere interests. - - * * * * * - -We may here mention the fate of Gian Paolo Baglioni, known to us, -in 1502, as one of the confederates of La Magione, who, in the -quaint words of an unpublished chronicle, escaped the violin-string -of Michelotto at Sinigaglia "to fall into the pit which he had -digged." We have more lately seen him, in 1517, buying off Francesco -Maria from the city of Perugia, with a bribe shared by himself, and -have at the same time alluded to the broils there raging between -various members of his family. These it would be beyond our purpose -to follow; but they were attended by a series of bad faith on his -part, and of suffering on that of the people, which gained for him -the merited title of tyrant of Perugia. Less, perhaps, with the -intention of vindicating the latter, than of liberating himself from -a talented and unscrupulous vassal, who, long accustomed to rule -supreme in that city, ill brooked and scarcely yielded that obedience -to the Holy See which Julius II. had imposed on him in 1506, Leo -summoned Gian Paolo to Rome in 1520, with amicable professions. There -he arrived on the 16th of March, and next day sought an audience of -the Pontiff in S. Angelo, the gates of which were immediately closed -upon him as a state prisoner. After he had lingered for some months -in mysterious durance, unconscious of the charge brought against him, -a plan was formed to liberate him, disguised as a woman who visited -the castellan; but at that juncture the Pope, who, according to the -gossip of a contemporary diarist, had dreamt at La Magliana of a -mouse escaping from a trap, sent a summary order for his execution, -which took place secretly on the 11th of June. - -The singular good fortune which accumulated coronets and crowns -on the brows of Charles V., until he found himself sovereign by -inheritance of a large portion of Europe, here demands our notice. -The Emperor Maximilian had, by Mary, daughter and heiress of Charles -the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a son Philip, who predeceased him in -1506, after marrying Joanna, daughter and heiress of Ferdinand -and Isabella of Aragon and Castile. Joanna being disqualified -by mental imbecility, the united crowns of Spain devolved, on -the death of Ferdinand in 1516, to her son Charles, who already -held the Netherlands through his grandmother, Mary of Burgundy. -As representative of the house of Aragon, he was also sovereign -of Naples and Sicily; but the former crown required the papal -investiture, which Leo was loath to bestow, partly with a vague -hope of reserving it for one of his own race, partly from aversion -to the establishment of a new line of foreign rulers in the Italian -peninsula. On the death of Maximilian in January 1519, without -having formerly received the imperial crown, his grandson, Charles, -stepped into Austria, as his natural heritage, and sought still -further aggrandisement by offering himself candidate for the throne -of Germany. Little as the balance of power was then comprehended in -European policy, this young monarch's rapid acquisitions called forth -many jealousies. Francis had a double motive for standing forward -as a competitor for the empire;--the dignity was flattering to his -gallant character and ambitious views, and he grudged it to a younger -rival, whose overgrown territory already hemmed him in on every side. -Leo, at heart disliking them equally, as ultramontane sovereigns -formidable to Italy, on the ruins of whose freedom were based the -successes of either, sought to play them off against each other, so -as to weaken and embarrass both. But in spite of these intrigues, -Charles was elected emperor on the 28th of June, 1519, when but -nineteen years of age. - -The Pope had covertly supported the claims of Francis, with whom he -intended some ulterior combination for expelling the Spaniards from -Lower Italy. But the accession of strength which their sovereign thus -acquired gave Leo an excuse for changing sides, an evolution grateful -to his faithless nature. The struggle was once more to be made in -Lombardy, and, as Charles was bent upon wresting the Milanese from -his rival, the opportunity seemed tempting of recovering Parma and -Piacenza for the Church by his means. To men in the Duke of Urbino's -desperate position, any convulsion would be welcome, as offering the -chance of better things. The impression left by his biographers, that -he maintained a cautious neutrality in the contest thus opening, -is disproved by some documents in the Bibliotheque du Roi, which -establish him as a retained adherent of the French monarch.[280] -One of them is an undated draft of articles proposed by him, his -nephew Sigismondo Varana, Camillo Orsini, the Baglioni, and the -Petrucci, as conditions of their entering the service of Francis, -with the usual pay and allowances. They stipulated for his constant -protection and support in the recovery of their respective states, -and for the restoration of various allodial fiefs claimed by them -in Naples, as soon as Francis should, with their aid, regain that -kingdom. Francesco Maria, finding it necessary to quit the territory -of his brother-in-law Federigo, now Duke of Mantua, who had been -named captain-general of the ecclesiastical forces, and to surrender -the allowance of 3000 scudi, hitherto made by him for the Duchess's -maintenance, asked a pension of equal amount from his new ally, -together with 1500 scudi in hand, to meet the expense of removing -his family to a place of security, probably Goito. He accompanied -these overtures with a plan for very extended operations upon Central -Italy, whereby, with the assistance of Venice and Genoa, armaments -by sea and land were to be directed in overwhelming force, at once -against Tuscany and the Papal States. The result of this negotiation -does not appear, but the only one of its provisions which seems to -have taken effect was the Duke's pension, for which he writes thanks -to the French Monarch from the camp of Lautrec on the Taro, the 27th -of September, 1521. Giraldi mentions that he suddenly quitted the -French service in consequence of a slight from Lautrec at a council -of war, and he appears then to have retired to Lonno on the Lago -di Guarda. From that lovely spot he watched the course of events, -until the wheel of fortune should bring round his turn. The ladies -of his family meanwhile lived in great seclusion at Mantua, and on -the 19th of July, 1521, the dowager Duchess writes him, that she -and his consort frequented the convents, soliciting from the nuns -their prayers that God would direct his counsels, and vouchsafe -the fulfilment of his wishes.[281] As the strife approached, these -distinguished ladies withdrew to Verona. Upon its progress we need -not dwell. By his oppressive sway Lautrec had rendered the French -name odious at Milan, and when the confederate army approached its -walls, bringing with them Francesco Sforza, second son of Ludovico -il Moro, and brother of Maximiliano their last native sovereign, the -people hailed them as liberators, and expelled their foreign masters. - -[Footnote 280: MOLINI, _Documenti di Storia Italiana_, I., -pp. 122, 135.] - -[Footnote 281: Oliveriana MSS. No. 375; I., pp. 51, 75.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII - - Death of Leo X.--Restoration of Francesco Maria--He - enters the Venetian service--Louis XII. invades the - Milanese--Death of Bayard--The Duke's honourable reception - at Venice--Battle of Pavia. - - -News of the evacuation of Milan by the French reached Leo X. at -his hunting-seat of La Magliana, five miles down the Tiber from -Rome. Though not quite well, he hurried to his capital on the -24th of November, to witness the bonfires and rejoicings at their -discomfiture, and on the morning of the 1st of December was found -dead in bed.[*282] The mystery attending this sudden death of one in -the prime of life has never been cleared up. Suspicions of poison -were rife at the time, and have not been removed; they point at -the Duke of Urbino or of Ferrara, whom he had grievously outraged, -or at Francis I., whom he recently disgusted, as its probable but -undetected author. In absence of tangible accusation or tittle of -evidence, it seems needless to repel such a charge from Francesco -Maria, especially as other accounts impute the Pontiff's dissolution -to malaria fever, to a severe catarrh,[283] to debauchery, or even -to excessive exultation at the joyful news. So unexpected was the -event that there was not time to administer the last sacrament, a -circumstance which gave occasion to this bitter epigram, in allusion -to the notorious venality of church privileges during his reign:-- - - "Why were not Leo's latest hours consoled - By holy rites? such rites he long had sold."[284] - -[Footnote *282: He seems to have received the news at La Magliana -on November 25th. He returned to Rome at once. The illness was not -considered serious till November 30th. He died on the evening of -December 1st. Cf. PARIS DE GRASSIS, in ROSCOE, _Leo X._, App. -CCXII.-IV., and clerk's letters of December 1st and 2nd, in BREWER, -_Calendar_ (1824-5).] - -[Footnote 283: Such is the opinion of a monkish chronicler who wrote -in 1522. Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 1023, f. 297. Even in 1517 the Venetian -envoy Giorgi reported him as afflicted by an internal plethoric -disease, a catarrh, and fistula. Vettori discredits the rumours of -poison, and Guicciardini says they were hushed up by his cousin the -Cardinal, lest they should give umbrage to the French monarch, with -whom it was his interest to stand well at the approaching conclave. -On the whole, the opinion of most weight is that of the Master of -ceremonies, who distinctly asserts that poison was detected on a -_post-mortem_ examination. Roscoe's innuendo inculpating Francesco -Maria is a glaring proof of his aptitude to do scanty justice to that -Duke, whose admitted hastiness of temper cannot, in absence of one -contemporary or serious imputation, be considered any relevant ground -for suspecting him of slow and stealthy vengeance. Another Venetian -ambassador mentions, in proof of the utter exhaustion of the papal -treasury, from the profusion of Leo and the greed of his Florentine -retainers, that the wax lights used at his funeral had previously -served for the obsequies of a cardinal.] - -[Footnote 284: - - "Sacra sub extrema si forte requiritis hora - Cur Leo non potuit sumere? vendiderat." - - _Bibl. Magliabech. MSS._, cl. vii., No. 345.] - -Tidings so momentous to Francesco Maria reached him when on a visit -to the Benedictine monastery at Magusano, on the Lago di Garda. He -had audience on the same day with Lautrec and Gritti, the French and -Venetian commanders, who bade him God-speed. Hurrying to his consort -at Verona, he there spent two days in consulting with such friends -as were at hand, and despatching courtiers to others, his resolution -being taken to strike a speedy blow for recovery of his state. The -impoverished finances of the papacy encouraged the attempt, and he -was quickly in communication with Malatesta and Orazio Baglioni, who -had been in like manner despoiled of Perugia. But before assuming -offensive operations, he commissioned a special envoy to lay before -the conclave a statement of his grievances, and a justification of -the measures he was about to pursue.[285] In two days more he reached -Ferrara, with the Baglioni, at the head of three thousand foot and -above five hundred horse. On the 16th he was at Lugo, where, and all -along his route by Cesena, numerous reinforcements poured in. "His -subjects," to borrow the words of Muratori, "desired and expected -him with clasped hands, because they loved him beyond measure for -his gracious government." Anticipating a renewal of his "Saturnian -reign," they, on his approach, flew to arms, threw the lieutenant of -Urbino out of the palace window, and welcomed him with the well-known -cry of "Feltro! Feltro! the Duke! the Duke!" - -[Footnote 285: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 921.] - -Pesaro received him on the 22nd, after a slight hesitation as to -their relations with the Church; but the citadel was held by eighty -men, there being no artillery at hand to bring against it. In -absence of cannon-balls, it was carried by paper pellets thrown in -from cross-bows, on which were written offers of a thousand scudi -to the castellan, and twenty-five to each soldier. The terms were -accepted, and the money advanced by Alfonso of Ferrara. On the day of -the Duke's arrival there, a deputation from Urbino laid its homage -at his feet, and, being thus secure of his own subjects, he turned -to succour his friends. Taught by the lesson of three successive -pontificates, whose policy it had been to crush the feudatories of -Umbria, he saw the necessity of making common cause with such of -these as still maintained a precarious independence. He therefore -undertook the re-establishment of his nephew, Sigismondo Varana, -and of the Baglioni, ere he devoted himself to the consolidation -of his own authority. After two days' repose in Pesaro, he marched -by La Pergola to Fabriano, where, hearing that Sigismondo had been -cordially received at Camerino, he, on the 28th, turned towards -Perugia, and, by the 5th of January, had reinstated the Baglioni, -notwithstanding a spiritless resistance by their uncle Gentile, and -by the vacillating Vitelli. Contrary to his own judgment,--but, as we -shall presently see, by a happy chance,--he was induced to accompany -his Perugian allies with seven thousand men in a foray upon Tuscany, -for the double purpose of annoying the Medici, by whom Gentile was -supported, and of re-establishing Pandolfo Petrucci as tyrant of -Siena.[*286] When, however, he found no responding movement from -within, and that the army of Giovanni delle Bande Nere was hovering -in the neighbourhood, he withdrew to Bonconvento, and endeavoured to -gain credit for his forbearance by despatching to the magistracy of -that city the following oily missive:-- - - "Most illustrious and most excellent Lords, much honoured - Fathers: - - "The true, ancient, and cordial friendship which has ever - existed between your lofty republic and my most illustrious - house, and the recollection I retain how invariably my - distinguished predecessors have been united in special - good-will with your city of Siena, induce me, being of the - same sentiments, to follow in the steps of my said most - eminent ancestors, resolving that there shall never be - any failure on my part towards your noble commonwealth. - And in order that your Excellencies may at present have - some proof of this, I have, for the peace and order of - your town, adopted the resolution which your envoys will - comprehend from the tenor hereof, and which I feel assured - cannot be otherwise than welcome and acceptable to you. - I therefore pray you not only readily to give the like - credence to what these envoys will tell you on my part, as - you would to myself, but also to bear in mind the close and - affectionate amity wherein I am most ready to persevere, - nor on your side restrain or fall short of our wonted and - long-established kindliness, increasing, and, if possible, - extending it by an ampler interchange of charity; for you - will assuredly ever find me prepared and ready to benefit - and uphold your republic as much as your Excellencies could - ever desire, to whom I offer and commend myself. From - Bonconvento, the 15th of January, 1522. - - "FRANCISCUS MARIA DUX URBINI."[287] - -[Footnote *286: Fabio, not Pandolfo Petrucci. The latter died at S. -Quirico, in Osenna, in May, 1512. Borghese Petrucci, his son, soon -became the "best hated man in Siena." Four years after his father's -death both he and Fabio were declared rebels. Leo X. put Raffaello -Petrucci in Borghese's place. Raffaello died in 1522, and then some -of the _Nove_ brought back Fabio, who had married Caterina de' -Medici, niece of the Pope. But after a rule of less than two years he -was again an exile. "Thus," says Ferrari, "the Petrucci returned to -their primitive obscurity." Cf. LANGTON DOUGLAS, _A History -of Siena_ (Murray, 1902), p. 212.] - -[Footnote 287: From the Italian original in the Archivio Diplomatico -at Siena.] - -In truth, the Duke's own affairs required his full attention, for the -power of the Medici, though shaken, was still formidable, and its -natural representative, the Cardinal Giulio, was influential in the -Sacred College, and almost sovereign at Florence. Francesco Maria -therefore observed a prudent neutrality, when the Bande Nere advanced -to support the claims of Gentile Baglioni upon Perugia. These, being -warned off the ecclesiastical territory by the consistory, turned up -the valley of the Tiber, and, passing the Apennines, made a descent -upon Montefeltro, where they plundered until the end of February,--an -outrage for which the Cardinal was greatly blamed, as a convention -had already been signed between him and the Duke for their respective -states of Florence and Urbino. Much light is thrown upon these very -complicated transactions by a careful examination of Castiglione's -letters. To his dexterous diplomacy that convention seems to have -been chiefly owing. He endeavoured to clench the reconciliation by -an engagement for Francesco Maria in the Florentine service, and a -marriage between Prince Guidobaldo of Urbino and Caterina de' Medici, -daughter of Lorenzo, and heiress of his pretensions. The failure of -this plan, from backwardness on the part of the Cardinal rather than -of the Duke, was, perhaps, fortunate for the intended bridegroom's -domestic peace; and the contending claims which it was meant to -solve never ripened into importance. The condotta had a better issue: -avowedly for but one year, it seems to have been intended rather to -neutralise a troublesome foe than with the idea of calling the Duke's -service into actual requisition. Indeed, although he was nominally -captain-general, with 9000 ducats of pay, besides 100 broad scudi for -each of his two hundred men-at-arms in white uniform (three mounted -soldiers counting as one man-at-arms), this was expressly their -peace establishment and pay, to be increased in case of war.[288] -Castiglione's success in these arrangements was facilitated by -his having confided to Cardinal Giulio a refusal at this time, by -Francesco Maria, of very flattering proposals from the French court, -and the same good offices extended to disabusing the Duke in the eyes -of Emanuel, the imperial ambassador, who, believing him committed to -Francis, was countermining his interests in the consistory, and with -the Cardinal. - -[Footnote 288: Archivio Diplomatico of Florence, May 25, 1522.] - -Whilst immersed in these transactions, the election in which he was -so deeply interested came suddenly to a conclusion, brought about -indirectly by his means. The choice of the conclave astonished -Italy, for it fell upon an ultramontane cardinal, unknowing and -unknown in Rome. Adrian Florent,[*289] a Fleming of humble birth, -was a man of mild temper, peaceful habits, and literary tastes. He -had been preceptor of Charles V., and held the see of Tortosa. This -selection so curiously illustrates the haphazard results, which -have not unfrequently baffled both policy and intrigue in papal -elections, that we may pause for a moment on the circumstances -alleged by Guicciardini to have brought it about. The Medicean party -had not strength, at once, to carry their Cardinal, in the face of -the old members of the College, who were adverse from introducing -the hereditary principle into their selection, yet hoped in time to -exhaust the patience or the strength of their seniors. But whilst -Medici and Petrucci were thus ingeniously devising delays, news -reached them of the Duke of Urbino's descent upon Tuscany, causing -them respectively to tremble for their supremacy in Florence and -Siena, and to question the policy of procrastinating at the Quirinal, -whilst interests so momentous were elsewhere in peril. In this -state of matters the Cardinal of Tortosa "was proposed, without any -intention of choosing him, but that the morning might be wasted; -whereupon his eminence of San Sisto, in an endless oration, enlarged -upon his virtues and learning, until some of the members beginning to -accede, the others successively followed with more impetuosity than -deliberation, whereby he was unanimously then chosen Pope. The very -electors could allege no reason why, at a crisis of such convulsions -and perils for the papacy, they had selected a barbarian pontiff, -so long absent, and recommended neither by previous deserts, nor by -intimacy with any of the conclave, to whom he was scarcely known by -name, having never visited Italy, nor had he any wish or hope to do -so."[290] The Roman populace resented a choice which they felt as an -insult, and as the cardinals emerged from durance, they were assailed -by execrations of the mob.[*291] - -[Footnote *289: Adrian Floriszoon, the son of a ship's carpenter -named Floris. His education was chiefly theological; humanism had not -penetrated Louvain.] - -[Footnote 290: Guicciardini, lib. xiv.] - -[Footnote *291: This account of Adrian VI.'s conclave is inaccurate -and confused. Cf. CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. VI., pp. 216-222. The -Duke of Urbino seems to have had no influence in the conclave.] - -Francesco Maria had every reason to be gratified by an election -he had most unwittingly influenced, for the exclusion of Cardinal -Giulio was of vast importance to his interests, which must have -been seriously compromised by the nomination of a hostile pontiff, -at a moment when his affairs were in so precarious a juncture. He -accordingly lost no time in accrediting to Adrian VI. in Spain, -an envoy who pleaded his cause to such good purpose, that a bull -was issued on the 18th of May, reinstating him in all his honours, -including the prefecture of Rome, which, on the death of Lorenzo, -had been conferred upon Giovanni Maria Varana, uncle of Sigismondo, -whose state he had usurped under the sanction of Leo. Meanwhile his -respectful and judicious demeanour had obtained from the Sacred -College, before the Pope's arrival, an acknowledgment of his rights, -upon the following conditions, dated at Rome, the 18th of February. -"The Lord Duke of Urbino promises to accept neither pay, engagement, -nor rank from any prince or power, and to take service only with the -Apostolic See, should he be required; but if not called upon by it, -to attach himself to no party without leave and sanction from the -Pope, and the Holy See, as represented _ad interim_ by the Sacred -College. Also, he renews his obligation in future never to oppose -the papal state; and further, for due observance of these terms, and -more ample assurance of his Holiness and the Apostolic See, he binds -himself within one month to deposit his only son as a hostage, in the -hands of the Marquis of Mantua, captain-general of the ecclesiastical -troops. On the other hand, the Sacred College undertakes to defend -and protect the Lord Duke's person, as well as to maintain him in -peaceful possession of the castles, fortresses, cities, and towns, -held by him now or before his deprivation; and further, to use -influence with our Lord the Pope for his reinvestment in the same, on -the terms of his former tenure."[292] - -[Footnote 292: These articles are to be found in the Archivio -Diplomatico at Florence.] - -Nor was it only from the Medicean faction that the Duke's -tranquillity was threatened. Whilst his fortunes were yet in -suspense, he was warned by Castiglione, then diplomatic resident -at Rome for his brother-in-law the Duke of Mantua, that Ascanio -Colonna was agitating certain vague pretensions on the duchy of -Urbino, through his mother Agnesina di Montefeltro. The nature of -these claims, which were from time to time revived, is not very -intelligible. All authorities make Giovanna, wife of the Prefect, -older than Agnesina, wife of Fabrizio Colonna, both being daughters -of Duke Federigo. Thus, even supposing Francesco Maria's title -irretrievably annulled, by the deprivations he had successively -sustained from Julius II. and Leo X., if the old investitures did -confer any rights upon females, his nephew Sigismondo Varana, -grandson of Giovanna, would have excluded the Colonna. Ascanio's -intrigues were, however, neutralised by the dexterity of Castiglione, -and the influence of the Duke of Mantua, until Francesco Maria's -cordial reconciliation with the Church and the Emperor had rendered -his position secure.[293] Even the Medici thereupon refused to -promote the pretender's views, and his only adherent was Gian Maria -Varana, who, having within a few weeks succeeded in recovering -possession of Camerino, sought so to occupy the Duke of Urbino as to -prevent his espousing the cause of Sigismondo, its rightful lord. -The latter also looked for support to his wife's uncle, Cardinal -Prospero Colonna, whilst the interests of his competitor were backed -by Cardinal Innocenzo Cibo, his brother-in-law. But ere these -respective claims could be tested, they were sadly set at rest by -the death of "poor dear but ill-starred Sigismondo," as he is called -by Castiglione, who was set upon and slain on the 24th of June by -a band of assassins, whilst riding with five attendants near La -Storta. This foul deed, in accordance with the wild habits of that -age, and the fratricidal tendencies of the Varana family, was imputed -to Ascanio Colonna at the instigation of Giovanni Maria, uncle of the -victim. - -[Footnote 293: However these pretensions may have originated, they -derived a _quasi_ warrant in 1525, from a conditional investiture of -the duchy for three generations, granted by Clement VII. to Ascanio -"in case it should happen to lapse to the Holy See," Agnesina being -there mentioned as eldest sister. Charles V. was vainly solicited by -Ascanio to render this condition eventual, or by some other means -to make good his possession, and the claim did not drop until 1530. -Nor was it the only one vamped up on account of Duke Guidobaldo's -unfruitful marriage. In 1505 the Prince of Salerno seems to have made -similar pretensions through his mother, a sister still younger than -Agnesina; and in order to dispose of these, Julius II. is said to -have offered him his own daughter Felice, a union which however did -not take place.] - -When reassured of pacific and equitable measures, Francesco Maria -dissolved a defensive league for mutual maintenance, which he had -formed on the 4th of March with the Baglioni, Sigismondo, and the -Orsini, to which the Cardinal de' Medici was a party. The strongholds -of S. Leo and Maiuolo, however, remained till 1527 in the hands of -the Florentines, mortgaged for their advances to Leo in the late -war. During these complex negotiations, an offer from Lautrec of -service under the lilies of France was declined by the Duke, on a -plea of reserving himself for the disposal of his ecclesiastical -overlord. Nor was the opportunity he looked for long delayed. -Pandolfo Malatesta, on ceding to Venice his pretensions upon Rimini, -after being expelled therefrom by Duke Valentino, had accepted from -that republic the castle of Cittadella near Padua, with large pay -in their service. His son Sigismondo availed himself of the Pope's -absence, and the unsettled ecclesiastical policy, to surprise Rimini -and its fortress towards the end of May. The consistory hastily -mustered all their means to meet the emergency, and called upon the -Duke of Urbino as their vassal to take the field. His answer was that -without money he could do nothing. About the beginning of August -the _rocca_ was retaken by Giovanni Gonzaga for the Church; but the -place was not finally recovered till Adrian sent thither some Spanish -troops, when the people at length rose, and drove out the interloper, -whose cruelties had alienated all his supporters. In this paltry -fray the Duke appears to have lent some trifling aid, which the -Pontiff gratefully acknowledged in writing to Leonora on the 24th of -December. When it was over, he turned to the internal affairs of his -duchy, disorganised by the long and severe struggle of which it had -been the scene. In the spring of 1523 he brought home the ladies of -his family - - "Into their wished haven"; - -but of their once lively court we have little to record. Much had -occurred to chasten the naturally staid temperament of Duchess -Leonora. Retrenchment was imperatively imposed by accumulated -debts and dilapidated finances: the brilliant assemblage which had -frequented the saloons of Urbino seventeen years before was thinned -by death, scattered by dire events, alienated by ingratitude, or -seduced by newer attractions. - -It was at this time that Pesaro seems to have become the permanent -residence of the ducal establishment, although the original capital -was frequently visited by its successive princes. Sanuto's Diaries -afford us glimpses of life at that court, in detailing the journey -to Rome of four Venetian envoys in March of this year. They arrived -on Good Friday, half dead of fatigue, fear, and hunger, having -ridden one hundred and twelve miles in two days, through wretched -weather and a plague-stricken country. The two Duchesses of Urbino -immediately sent them a pressing invitation to transfer their -quarters from the inn to better lodgings. This was about sunset, and -twilight had scarcely set in when both these ladies arrived in a fine -gilt coach, lined with white cloth and trimmings of black velvet, -drawn by four beautiful black and grey horses. They were suffering -from fever, the younger Duchess having risen from bed expressly to -visit the envoys, and apologise for a reception which, but for so -unlooked-for an arrival, would have been more conformable to their -wishes. Yet the apartment was tapestried from roof to floor, the beds -with gold brocade coverlets, and the curtains very handsome. Next -morning, after breakfast, the guests went to the palace to wait upon -the Duchesses, who met them in the fourth ante-room, whence, after -sundry ceremonies, they handed the ladies and their attendants into -the presence-chamber, newly done up with arrases, gilding, and a dais -of silk. After conversing in an under-tone for three-quarters of -an hour, they retired with the like formalities. On Easter Sunday, -after vespers, they had an audience of leave, when the younger -Duchess, being very seriously indisposed, received them familiarly -in a bed-chamber so small that they could not all enter it, renewing -many excuses for their indifferent entertainment, in consequence of -the religious observances, and the recent arrival of the household -at Pesaro. On their return from congratulating the new Pontiff, the -envoys passed by Gubbio, where the Duchesses again surprised them by -a visit ere breakfast was over, attended by several lovely maidens. - -The engagement which Francesco Maria had accepted, to command the -Florentine armies for a year, did not call him from this retirement; -it was important only as indicating an apparent reconciliation -with the Cardinal de' Medici, to which the latter was induced by -apprehension that he might have otherwise proved a formidable -opponent to his interest in a future conclave. After a somewhat -serious illness, the Duke repaired to Rome, to offer his homage on -the arrival of Adrian in Italy, and was honourably received and -formally invested with his restored dignities. He rode there escorted -by two hundred lances, and was lodged by the Venetian ambassador in -the palace of S. Marco. His late eventful history rendered him an -object of general interest, and he was universally admitted to have -borne his reverses with firmness, his successes with moderation. -To commemorate these, he adopted this device, invented for him by -Giovio,--a palm-tree, whose crest was weighed downwards by a block -of marble, with the motto, "Though depressed, it recoils." This -emblem of valour and constancy, which adversity could bend but could -not break, he bore upon his banner and trumpets, and frequently -introduced it in his coinage. - -The repose of Italy was, as usual, of brief duration. Wearied of -those contests in which the ambition of France had for thirty years -involved the Peninsula, the leading powers began to regard Francesco -Sforza's maintenance in the duchy of Milan as their best guarantee -of peace. This policy was warmly adopted by the Emperor, interested -alike in the welfare of the Neapolitan territory, and in humbling -his rival Francis I. The result was a new confederation, to which -the Pope, the Emperor, Henry VIII., Venice, Milan, and Florence were -parties, but which brought on a general war, the very evil it was -intended to avert. Francesco Maria's condotta with the Florentines -being expired, he was named to succeed Teodoro Trivulzio, whose -supposed French tendencies occasioned his removal from command of -the Venetian troops. Those of the Church were committed to the -Marquis of Mantua, and Prospero Colonna was general-in-chief of the -League Lautrec and l'Escu[294] having been recalled, the Admiral -Gouffier de Bonnivet was sent into Lombardy to make good the title -of his master to the Milanese, whose daring spirit looked not beyond -the glory of encountering single-handed the armies of Europe. This -struggle, eventually so ruinous to Italy, so fatal to Rome, had -scarcely commenced ere Adrian was called from events which he was -in no respect fitted to direct. He died on the 24th of September, -1523,[*295] and was succeeded on the 19th of November by the Cardinal -de' Medici, as Clement VII., whose first act was an adherence to the -League. - -[Footnote 294: Odet de Foix, Seigneur de Lautrec, and the Seigneur de -l'Escu were both brothers of the chivalrous Gaston de Foix.] - -[Footnote *295: He died on the 14th September. For details, cf. Duke -of Sessa's letters in _Bergenroth_, pp. 597, 599.] - -Prospero Colonna did not long survive the Pontiff. From him, perhaps, -Francesco Maria adopted the over-cautious policy which marked his -military manoeuvres during the remainder of his life, and which -contrasts strongly with the dashing valour of his early career. For -this he has been severely blamed by Sismondi, and we shall see it -attended with very miserable results. Fortunately for the Duke's -fame, his reputation in arms had been firmly established before the -later and more important years of his military prowess arrived. Ere -the allies had completed their preparations, the French poured into -Lombardy, carried Lodi, and laid siege to Cremona. The Venetian -troops occupied the banks of the Oglio, where they were joined by -the Duke of Urbino, as soon as he had received credentials and -instructions from the senate; his own stipulated contingent, under -his lieutenant-general Landriano, having already effected a junction. - -Machiavelli, ever prone to cast reflections on mercenary troops, has -remarked that the Republic lost her superiority from the time that -she extensively employed them. This, however, is but a partial view -of the case. By their means, backed by their maritime supremacy, -and by her matchless diplomatic system, she gradually extended -her mainland territory, in spite of the unmilitary genius of her -people, until jealousy combined nearly all Europe against her in -the League of Cambray. But there was another fault inherent in -the organisation of her armies. Dark suspicion was the permeating -principle of her policy. Each branch of the executive jealously -watched the others. Magistrates distrusted their colleagues; fathers -set spies upon their sons, husbands upon their wives; governors and -governed doubted their paid troops, or countermined their selected -generals. The senate accordingly sent with their stipendiary forces -commissioners instructed to watch, and empowered to control, the -leaders--a check necessarily inducing dissension, for, as Macaulay -has happily remarked, what army commanded by a debating club ever -escaped discomfiture and disgrace? Under the title of _proveditori_, -these official spies performed some of the duties belonging to -commissaries-general; and although this plan for controlling soldiers -of fortune, who owed little fidelity to the cause, and whose ruling -principle was usually self-interest, might seem the result of wise -precaution, it practically occasioned perpetual embarrassments, and -fomented personal quarrels, paralysing operations in the field. Such -an _imperium in imperio_ had in this instance its usual results. -Distracted councils and divided responsibility hampered free action, -and rendered abortive the best-laid plans.[*296] Throughout the long -war now opening, the system was pregnant with peculiar mischief, and -it ought to bear much of the blame of that dilatory inefficiency -which is charged against Francesco Maria. Thus the Proveditore Emo, -at the very outset of this campaign, prevented him from crossing the -Oglio to harass the retreat of Renzo da Ceri, who, after loitering -away two months before Cremona, was recalled to the siege of Milan. -The Duke, however, soon after advanced to the Adda, and during the -rigour of winter occupied his troops in fortifying themselves at -Martinengo, from whence they were enabled to annoy the enemy by -continual forays towards Lodi.[297] - -[Footnote *296: As usual, Machiavelli is right. If the _proveditori_ -had so bad an influence (and it was doubtless bad) the results should -have been earlier seen, for it was an old custom with that Republic. -Francesco Maria, whom Dennistoun rates so highly as a soldier, as we -have seen, was not more harassed by these spies than his forerunners, -Carmagnuola Colleoni and Sigismondo Malatesta. The custom rose out -of the decision to employ no citizen as a captain-general. Nor was -Venice alone in this practice; Siena and Florence followed it too on -occasions.] - -[Footnote 297: Sismondi's strictures curtly express the judgment -pronounced upon Francesco Maria by those who follow, without -examination, the prejudiced narrative of Guicciardini. Yet, as -they are founded upon admitted defects in his generalship, it may -be well to lay them before the reader. "He was not deficient in -military talent, nor probably in personal courage, but, taking -Prospero Colonna as his prototype, he exaggerated his method. His -only tactics consisted in the selection and occupation of impregnable -positions; whatever his numerical superiority, he evaded fighting; no -circumstance, however urgent, could bring him to a general action; -and by his obstinacy in refusing to risk anything, he made certain -of losing all." But in estimating the commander we should not put -out of view the discouraging nature of the cause, which this author -elsewhere happily describes as a war without an object. *This applies -better to the petty wars of Central Italy at this time and in the -fifteenth century. Waged by paid captains, they may be said to have -been without an object, or rather with but one object--war itself. -One and all they ended in nothing, though here and there, as with the -Sforza, the condottiere managed to establish himself. There was not, -save in Florence, Milan, and Venice, a sufficiently strong economic -reason to cause a real war. Such as they were, these wars were due to -the greed of petty princes, in which the professional armies enjoyed -themselves (few being killed) in sacking towns and cities whose -inhabitants, altogether at their mercy, were the only victims. To -drag out the war and to avoid serious fighting as much as possible -were naturally the first objects of the average condottiere.] - -The command vacated by the death of Prospero Colonna was conferred -upon Don Carlos de Lanoy, Viceroy of Naples, who arrived at -head-quarters in the spring, and, upon drawing together the -confederates from their winter quarters, found himself at the head -of about twenty thousand foot, and four thousand lances and light -cavalry. Among their leaders were the Constable de Bourbon, the -Prince of Orange, and Don Ugo de Moncada, with all of whom we shall -often meet during the next few years. - -In the confederate army there were too many conflicting interests, -too many rival leaders; but it was the peculiar misfortune of the -Duke of Urbino to serve a power whose jealousy exceeded all rational -bounds. It was not without considerable persuasion that he obtained -of the Signory sanction to cross the Adda, and unite their troops, -amounting to twelve hundred horse and six thousand foot, with the -forces of the League. The first combined operation was directed -against Gherlasco, which Francesco Maria, though in command of the -rear-guard, was permitted to carry by assault with his own division, -being greatly aided by using explosive shells. From thence they -advanced to Vercelli, taking Trumello, Sartirana, and other places -by the way. This movement was intended at once to cut off supplies -from the French army posted at Novara, and to intercept a strong -body of Swiss, for whom they were anxiously waiting. The allies -having reached Vercelli, it became a race which army should first -gain the bridge of Romagnano, to the west whereof lay the Swiss -subsidy. The French had almost passed, when Lanoy fell upon their -rear, which suffered immensely in men, baggage, and artillery; and -their commander, Bonnivet, was wounded. The credit of all these -arrangements is claimed by Leone for the Duke of Urbino, whose -annoyance may be imagined when he found himself arrested from reaping -the full benefit of their success, by interference of Pietro da -Pesaro, the Proveditore. That officer, standing upon the engagement -of the Venetian contingent to serve only within the confines of the -Milanese, objected to their passing the Sesia, which here formed -its limit, and thus nullified the resolution of the confederates -to follow up their partial victory by such a well-timed attack as -might drive the enemy across the Alps. The indignant army appealed -to Francesco Maria to break through this official obstruction, but -the commissioner was right to the letter, and the stern Signory -sanctioned no latitude of construction on the part of its servants. -The Duke, however, gained his consent by private remonstrances, at -once temperate and energetic, but especially by threatening to throw -up his commission from the senate, and as a free captain to pass with -his own company into the allies' service, leaving the Proveditore, -with a disorganised contingent, to bear the whole responsibility of -losing so admirable an opportunity of cutting short a struggle, which -it was in every view the interest of his republic to close.[298] - -[Footnote 298: The details given by Paruta appear to bear out -this statement of the Duke's policy, but establish that, in the -eyes of his employers, his prudence and caution availed more than -dashing gallantry, an admission important in estimating his conduct -throughout the campaign of Lombardy, and throwing light upon the -hesitation which marked his subsequent career. Indeed, according to -this author, the orders of the Signory were to avoid fighting as much -as possible.] - -The conduct of the French troops devolved, in consequence of the -Admiral's wound, upon Piere de Terrail, Chevalier de Bayard, who was -not long spared in a command which the blunders of his predecessor -had rendered hopeless. On the 30th of April, whilst drawing off -the rear-guard under the enemy's fire, a shot fractured his spine. -Refusing to be carried from the spot, he had himself supported -against a tree, with his face to the foe, and continued to give his -orders with composure: at length, feeling the hand of death upon him, -he confessed himself to his faithful squire, kissing the hand-guard -of his sword as a substitute for the cross. The imperialists -remaining masters of the field, he was approached by the Constable -Bourbon, to whose words of sympathy and regret he sternly replied, -"Grieve not for me, but for yourself, fighting against your king and -country." His fall was reported to Charles V. by the imperial envoy, -Adrian de Croy, in these touching terms:--"Sire, although the said -M. Bayard was in the service of your enemy, his death is certainly a -pity; for he was a gentle knight beloved of all, whose life had been -as well spent as ever was that of any of his condition, as, indeed, -he fully testified at its close, which was the most beautiful I -ever heard tell of." Thus fell, in his forty-ninth year, the flower -of French chivalry, "the fearless and irreproachable knight." His -army evacuated Italy before the end of May, and the Duke of Urbino -being entrusted with the recovery of Lodi, found it defended by -his relation and attached comrade-in-arms, Count Francesco del -Bozzolo, who, perceiving his position hopeless, soon capitulated upon -honourable terms. - -After the ample details we had given of the comparatively unimportant -Urbino war, our rapid glance at the events in Upper Italy, from -1521 to 1526, may seem superficial. But as these Lombard campaigns, -although momentous to Europe, told very slightly upon the general -policy of the Peninsula, and as Francesco Maria bore no prominent -part in their varying results, we must be content to pass over them -thus cursorily, rather than to carry the reader too far from the more -especial object of these volumes. We may, however, pause for a moment -upon the reception accorded to the Duke at Venice, when summoned -thither to receive public thanks for his services, graphic details of -which are supplied by the unedited Diaries of Sanuto. - -After he had, in compliance with orders from the Signory, disbanded -their infantry, and disposed of their cavalry in the mainland -garrisons, he proceeded to the maritime capital. At Padua, the -rectors had been premonished to pay him every attention; at the mouth -of the Brenta, and on the outskirts of the city, he was met by two -deputations, each consisting of thirty young men of distinction, and -was addressed in a Latin oration, "which he did not understand." He -was then escorted to the Rialto; and, after being welcomed by the -Doge, and all the foreign ambassadors, except the French, he was led -on board the Bucentaur, an honour paid only to highest rank or rarest -merit; and thus, amid a flotilla of state galleys and gondolas, -crowded with a lively population in gala attire, their princely guest -was conducted along the grand canal, its palaces glittering with -brocades and arrases, its windows radiant with sparkling eyes and -rich carnations, such as Titian and Pordenone loved to commemorate in -glowing tints. The Duke wore a suit of black velvet, with frock and -cap of scarlet, and was housed in an apartment prepared at the Casa -di San Marco, near San Giorgio Maggiore, with fifty ducats a day for -his expenses. - -This festive welcome took place on the 25th of June. Next day -being Sunday, the Duke presented himself at the Collegio, dressed -in black damask over a white doublet, with a rose-coloured cap; a -small person, of indifferent presence [_poca presentia_]. He was -received outside of the audience-hall by the Doge and Signory; -when admitted, he spoke in a few words, and with low voice, of his -constant readiness to serve their state with life and limb. To -which the Doge replied, that he had acquitted himself well, but it -was their trust that he would do still better in future, and that, -being fully assured of his fidelity, they had selected him for -captain-general. The privileges of citizenship had been given him -many years before, in compliment to his uncle Guidobaldo, but the -general's baton was to be conferred upon him on the 2nd of July. In -deference, however, to the predictions of an astrologer, he requested -that his investiture might take place on the 29th of June, being St. -Peter's day. Accordingly, the magnates and diplomatic functionaries -of the most luxurious city in Christendom being assembled within -its picturesque and time-honoured cathedral, Francesco Maria, was -led in, magnificently arrayed in gold lama and damask, amid the din -of trumpets and bagpipes. After celebration of high mass, during -which he was seated on the Doge's left, the insignia, consisting of -a silver baton, and crimson standard with the lion in gold, were -blessed at the high altar, and consigned to his hands by the Doge, as -badges of authority, which he then swore to employ for the glory of -God, and for maintenance and defence of the Republic. This solemnity -was hailed by the spectators' shouts, the clang of bells, the crash -of martial music, the roar of artillery, and, as the Duke was -conducted to his gondola by a long procession of military and civil -dignitaries, the gorgeous piazza and gay canals displayed a splendour -unwonted even in Venice. - -Unfavourable rumours of the Duchess's health rendered him impatient -to be done with these honours, and were probably the true reason -for his desiring that the installation might be accelerated. But -the fashionable club or company della Calza so urged his remaining -for their festival, which had been fixed for the 3rd in compliment -to him, that he could not well refuse a short delay in order to be -present.[299] The sports were enacted on that usual scene of Venetian -magnificence, the grand canal, decked out in many-tinted draperies, -and thronged by gay parties. The club, with the Duke of Urbino and -other honoured guests, were conveyed in two large flat barges, -lashed together and beautifully curtained, wherein assembled the most -distinguished youths of both sexes, who revelled in music and dancing -as they glided along the glassy surface. At length they stopped at -the massive, but now crumbling, Foscari palace, to witness a race of -four-oared gondolas, and concluded the entertainment with a supper -on the Rialto. Next day their sports were renewed, with addition of -a dejeuner, where fancy confections were presented to the principal -guests--a triumphal chariot to Francesco Maria, an eagle to the -imperial ambassador, and so forth. - -[Footnote 299: See vol. I., p. 68, for a notice of this association, -so often mentioned in Venetian history.] - -On the 5th of July, after ten days spent in these monotonous -gaieties, the Duke returned to Pesaro in his twelve-oared barge; but -his repose there was brief, for the second act soon opened of that -bloody drama wherein the ambition of Charles and Francis involved -Italy. An incursion of imperialists into Provence under the renegade -Bourbon had shifted the scene to France; but the French monarch, -by a sudden movement across the Alps, transferred it once more -into Lombardy, and took possession of Milan. The Signory hastily -summoned their general from his duchy, to guard their frontier. The -established order of Italian policy, however, rendering it probable -that new and contradictory combinations would speedily arise, his -instructions were to act upon the defensive; and a like temporising -spirit prevailed in the councils of his Holiness, who secretly lent -an ear to proposals of Francis for a combined effort to shake off -the Spanish domination in Naples. The Duke's undecided tactics, so -condemned by Sismondi, were therefore in accordance with orders, -which the ever-present Proveditore took care were complied with. He -thus had no share in the great battle of Pavia, which crushed the -chivalry of France, accelerated the climax of Italian subjugation, -and rendered Spanish influence fatally paramount in Southern Europe. -It was fought on the 25th of February, 1525, and left Francis -prisoner in his rival's hands. Francesco Maria thereafter retired to -Casali, suffering from a combined attack of gout and tertian fever, -in which he was attended by his Duchess, who had hastened to see -him.[*300] - -[Footnote *300: The battle was fought on the 24th February.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII - - New league against Charles V.--The Duke's campaign in - Lombardy--His quarrels with Guicciardini--Rome pillaged by - the Colonna--The Constable Bourbon advances into Central - Italy--The Duke quells an insurrection at Florence. - - -The papal policy since the accession of Julius had been directed -to two leading objects. The first was to prevent any ultramontane -power from attaining a decided preponderance in Europe; the second, -to recover Italy from the barbarians, and restore its Neapolitan -and Milanese states to native dynasties.[*301] The only effective -check upon the unprecedented dominion of the Emperor having been -annihilated by the overthrow and imprisonment of his sole rival, it -became necessary for the Pontiff, in conformity with the former of -these purposes, to support the cause of France. The other object -was more than ever important, now that Milan was virtually at the -conqueror's mercy; and a proposition for confirming the sovereignty -of Sforza in that duchy, and placing the Marquis of Pescara on the -throne of Naples, appeared to His Holiness happily to meet the -exigencies of the case. Clement, possessing neither the discernment -of Julius nor the finesse of Leo, saw no difficulty in effecting this -convenient scheme, by simply uniting the independent states in a -conspiracy to expel Charles beyond the Alps. But he reckoned without -his host. The Marquis of Pescara, who was high in the imperial -service, betrayed the plot in time to frustrate its execution. His -death occurred soon after, from wounds received at Pavia, or possibly -from poison, and the year was spent in intrigues and counterplots, -which concern our present subject only as giving occasion to this -letter, addressed by Francesco Maria to Cardinal Wolsey:-- - - "Most illustrious and most worshipful Lord, - - "Having learned that his serene Majesty [Henry VIII.] has - named me his adherent in the league lately made with his - most Christian Majesty, it becomes a duty, which I by these - letters discharge, to tender my respects, and humbly to - kiss his hand, having no other proof at present to offer - of the extreme obligation which, in addition to numberless - others, I owe to his Majesty, for this affectionate and - honourable recollection of me. And knowing the love which - your most illustrious and reverend Lordship has ever - exhibited towards my house, and especially for myself, I am - satisfied (as, indeed, I have heard from the reverend Lord - Protonotary Casale) that you have always borne in mind the - services towards that crown of my most famous progenitors - and myself. Whence, in addition to the boundless obligation - I lie under to his most serene Majesty for naming me his - adherent, I hold myself therein indebted to your most - reverend and illustrious Lordship, considering it in a - great measure owing to you. I have therefore written these - presents, not as mere thanks, for I would not so commence - what I cannot complete by words alone, but that you may - know the great obligation I feel and have expressed, and - how intensely I desire an opportunity of effectively - demonstrating my natural and deserved anxiety to do you - service; the which will be clearly made patent to your most - reverend and illustrious Lordship, so often as I have it - in my power to act upon my intentions. And, recommending - myself to your good favour, I pray that you still keep - in mind my services to his majesty. From Verona the 14th - February, 1526. - - "_Servitor_, - - "EL DUCA D'URBINO."[302] - -[Footnote *301: So far as Julius is concerned, his one object was the -absolute temporal dominion of the Church in Italy. He made the coming -of an ultramontane power into Italy a certainty. His successors -struggled in vain to save themselves and incidentally Italy from the -consequence of his crime. But the policy of the Papacy was wise, if -selfish. The only road to Italian unity lay through predominance of -one power--Venice or Milan, for instance, or the Church herself. The -popes successfully prevented this unity for more than a thousand -years, really in self-defence--the defence of their temporal power -at any rate; their international claims were destroyed by an eager -and passionate nationalism. We have seen in our day how Piedmont -united Italy, first destroying the Papacy, which remains merely as a -spiritual power that seems in Italy to be slowly passing away.] - -[Footnote 302: Brit. Mus. Cotton. MSS. Vit. B. VIII., f. 16, b. In f. -49, of B.V. there is a mutilated letter of compliment from the Duke -to Henry VIII., in Latin, dated at Urbino 19 March, 1522.] - -At length, in May 1526, a new confederacy was announced, in which -the Pope, Francis I. (who had regained his liberty in March), Henry -VIII., Venice, and Florence, were marshalled against Charles V., -nominally to wrest from him the Milanese, which remained in his hands -after the battle of Pavia. The citadel of Milan, however, was still -held by Francesco Sforza; and the Duke of Urbino, by the senate's -orders, led the Venetian troops from Verona to his relief, but under -protest that he considered them unequal to the service. On his march, -he received offers from an adherent of the Sforza to admit him into -Lodi, and immediately detaching Malatesta Baglione to avail himself -of the proposal, hastened onwards with the army to his support. The -attempt was completely successful, and after a gallant resistance -the imperialists evacuated the place on the 24th of June. This -acquisition was of the utmost importance to the allies. It secured -them command of the Adda, and gave them a strong position in the -enemy's country, from whence they could operate with equal facility -against Milan, Cremona, or Pavia. - -The army of the League which now mustered at Lodi is estimated by -Guicciardini and Muratori at sixteen thousand foot and four thousand -horse. The Duke of Urbino was commander-in-chief of the Venetians; -Count Guido Rangone held the same rank in the ecclesiastical forces, -which included, however, the papal and Florentine contingents, led by -their respective captains-general, Giovanni de' Medici and Vitello -Vitelli. The embarrassment occasioned by so many commanders, under no -common head, was especially felt by Francesco Maria, who, although -admitted by Guicciardini to have been pre-eminent in rank, authority, -and reputation, as well as actually leader of the combined army, -was controlled by Pesaro, the Venetian Proveditore, and thwarted -by the Pope's anomalous appointment of that historian himself as -lieutenant-general, with ample indeed almost absolute powers in the -army and throughout the states of the Church. - -Francesco Guicciardini was a Florentine gentleman, born in 1482, and -educated for the law, who, profiting by the partiality of Leo X. for -his fellow-citizens, had held several important civil appointments, -and had been successively named governor of Modena, Reggio, and -Parma, to which Clement added, in 1523, a jurisdiction over all -pontifical Romagna. He was gifted with considerable talents and -great command of language, but these promotions had rendered him -vain and overbearing. The accounts given us by the Urbino writers, -of one whom they had good reason to regard with prejudice, should -be received with caution; yet some anecdotes have come down which -confirm the allegation of Leoni, that his dogmatical pretensions -were neither authorised by etiquette, nor supported by his judgment -or military experience.[303] No defect of character was less likely -to meet with toleration from the blunt and hasty Francesco Maria, -and in consequence of their being opposed to each other at the -council-board, alike in momentous and trifling matters, scenes of -insult and violence ripened aversion into rancour. In this contest -the Florentine had the worst, but he amply availed himself of his -pen as a means of vengeance; and in his History, which has become -a standard authority, he studiously and throughout misrepresented -the Duke of Urbino. Lipsius, while bearing strong testimony to -his general truth and impartiality, admits that he on no occasion -concealed his detestation of that prince. Later writers, especially -Sismondi, have adopted his strictures with little modification, -and an ingenious defence of the Duke, prepared by Baldi after his -death, having never seen the light, the portraits of him hitherto -passing current in history are exaggerations of a malevolent pencil. -Yet it appears beyond question that an over-dilatory and cautious -system increased upon Francesco Maria, and, in conjunction with -other circumstances, greatly hampered his tactics and impaired their -success, during his service under the lion of St. Mark. - -[Footnote 303: Leonardi's recollections of Francesco Maria, Vat. Urb. -MSS., No. 1023, f. 85, and Baldi's defence of him from Guicciardini's -charges, _Ibid._, No. 906, f. 214.] - -The allied forces very considerably outnumbered those of Charles, -who were scattered among several garrisons and detached positions. -The moment, therefore, seemed propitious for following up their -recent success, and effecting the main object of the campaign by a -decided blow against Milan. That capital was occupied by about nine -thousand imperialist troops, who blockaded Sforza in the citadel, -and who, in letters casually intercepted, represented the citizens, -though disarmed by their conquerors, as mature for a rising. A prompt -movement for the relief of the hard-pressed fortress was therefore -urged by Guicciardini, and seconded by the Proveditore, whose ear -he had gained. The reasons by which Francesco Maria combated this -proposal savoured unquestionably, even by Leoni's admission, rather -of hollow excuses than of sound judgment, for whilst he awaited the -Swiss auxiliaries, he allowed reinforcements to reach the imperial -garrison. - -Some light is, however, thrown upon this seeming inconsistency by an -argument in his Discorsi Militari, wherein the Duke illustrates, from -this very passage in his life, two axioms he broadly lays down,--that -to rely mainly for the success of a war upon the support of a people, -however gallant, is a great risk, if not inevitable ruin; and that no -popular rising ever succeeded of itself, or without an overpowering -force to second it. Considering that his uncle and himself had -thrice regained their state by a popular emeute, this doctrine may -seem ungracious from his mouth. Without, however, entering upon a -question which the recent experience of Europe has greatly affected, -or examining instances adduced by the Duke in support of his views, -it seems likely that his reasoning was adopted to cloak some unavowed -motive. Perhaps the alternative suggestion which he offered may -afford some clue to the truth, keeping in view the relationship and -confidential intercourse which had ever been maintained between the -princes of Urbino and Ottaviano Fregoso. His proposition was that, -instead of opposing their new and ill-disciplined levies to the -veteran and lately victorious occupants of Milan, the allies should -draw off towards Genoa, and there restore the supremacy of the -Fregosi, thus giving time for the arrival of Swiss subsidies, and -enabling them perhaps to intercept the reinforcements which Bourbon -was bringing by sea from Spain. The motive alleged by Sismondi for -this policy rests upon the broader ground of the Duke's desire to -humble Clement, in revenge for all he had suffered, rather from the -Pontiff's family than from himself; and it must be admitted that -much of his conduct during this lamentable and inglorious war, until -it ended in the sack of Rome, could scarcely have been different if -actuated by that ungenerous calculation. Yet in the instance now -under our consideration, it is but fair to notice Leoni's assertion, -that his opinions were supported by Giovanni de' Medici _delle Bande -Nere_, whilst those of Guicciardini, obtaining the suffrages of the -other leaders, carried the day. - -With such diversity of opinion prevailing among commanders of -nearly equal authority, it is not surprising that the advance upon -Milan should have been most sluggish. After spending nine days in -marching about twenty miles, the army, on the 6th of July, drew -round that city, which the enemy, notwithstanding Bourbon's arrival -the preceding night with the Spanish succours, are supposed by -Sismondi to have been on the point of evacuating. The artillery -having next morning begun to play upon the walls, a sally was made, -and the allied troops, finding themselves under fire, behaved most -scandalously, so that, had not Francesco Maria with the cavalry -promptly supported the panic-stricken infantry of his own and the -papal brigades, they must have suffered a total rout. Alarmed at -these symptoms of unsteadiness, and unseconded by the expected -insurrection within, the Venetian Proveditore and Guicciardini -insisted upon a general retreat, as the only means by which their -forces could escape destruction. In despair, they besought the Duke -to take the retiring army under his command, a charge which he did -not accept without taunting them on a result that so fully bore out -his predictions, and proved their rashness in exposing an unorganised -host of raw Italians to fight the veterans of Germany and Spain. -But the moment was too critical for recrimination. Two hours before -dawn the camp was silently raised, and the army withdrew in good -order about twelve miles to Marignano. Their rear was effectually -guarded by Giovanni de' Medici against any sally of the imperialists, -but no less than four thousand of the foot were missing, having -ignominiously deserted their colours. - -Such is the account of Leoni and Baldi. Guicciardini, on the other -hand, takes to himself credit for using every argument with the Duke -against a retreat, which he designates as uncalled for and infamous. -Upon his despatches were, no doubt, formed the opinions expressed in -the following letter of the Bishop of Worcester to Cardinal Wolsey:-- - - "Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord," &c. - - "I have hitherto daily informed you of what was going - on, by longer or shorter letters, as time permitted. At - present nothing new has transpired, except that, on the - night of the 7th inst., the Duke of Urbino, captain-general - of the ecclesiastical and Venetian forces, after most - strenuous and gallant operations against the enemy, from - which a successful issue was expected, suddenly changing - his intention, notwithstanding numerous protests, drew off - his army to Marignano, a town ten miles from Milan. Which, - though the Duke, as usual, entangles it with numerous - reasons, has exposed him to no slight disparagement from - the public. I have only further humbly to commend myself to - your most illustrious Lordship. From Rome, 11th July, 1526. - - "Your most illustrious and reverend Lordship's - _Humillimum manicipium_, - - "HI[~C]. EP[~S]. WIGORNIEN."[304] - -[Footnote 304: Brit. Mus. Cotton. MSS., Vit. B. VIII., f. 93 b. In -this volume are many despatches regarding the Lombard campaign, and -the assault on Rome in 1526.] - -The prejudices of Guicciardini are admitted by the Venetian Paruta, -who tells us that the Signory were satisfied with their general's -explanations, but cautioned him for the future, to communicate his -views more frankly to the papal commissioner. It is a passage of -history hard to clear up, and in every view redounding little to the -credit of its actors, whether we most blame the Duke's policy or the -unsteadiness of his troops. Exposures so disgraceful well merited -the sneer, that the swords in that army had no edge; and Sismondi -admits that its spiritless conduct goes far to justify its leader's -dispiriting tactics.[*305] - -[Footnote *305: See Guicciardini's despairing letters to Giberti, -_Opere Inedite_ (1857-67, Firenze), vol. IV., pp. 73-146. Francesco -Maria was to blame; he lost time in crossing the Adda, from -whatever cause; he delayed again while the generals of the Emperor -strengthened their lines round Milan--even when the allies arrived -and their army numbered 20,000 against the 11,000 of the besiegers. -He waited the arrival of the Swiss, he said, and went off meanwhile -at the heels of the Venetian Proveditore to besiege Cremona. The -Rocca of Milan fell on July 24th.] - -On the 22nd of July, the confederates, having been joined by five -thousand Swiss levies, again approached the city, and were met by -about three hundred women and children, whom Sforza had dismissed -as embarrassing his defence. Shamed by their representations, the -leaders, in a council of war, decided upon a new attempt to relieve -the citadel, which, however, Giovanni de' Medici, after inspecting -the works of the besiegers, opposed as too perilous. Whilst they -lost time in these discussions, Sforza was fairly starved out, and -surrendered the fortress on the 24th. Leoni and Baldi agree in -charging these dilatory and unsatisfactory proceedings upon the other -generals, and the total inefficiency of the army, rather than upon -Francesco Maria's tactics. They may be considered as biased, but the -following anecdotes will show how far the Florentine historian had -reason to be impartial. - -At one of the war councils held in the Certosa of Pavia, Guicciardini -having cast some doubt upon an opinion expressed by the Duke, was -thus answered: "Your business is to confer with pedants." These -rude words were accompanied by a knock-down blow on the face, -followed by an order to get up and begone! Leonardi, who preserves -this incident, adds, "Such pugilistic sport was habitual to my Lord -Duke; and it was well for those who could command their temper in -reasoning with him, as he was ever ready to strike any one who -argued against his views with disrespect." The historian's original -prepossession against Francesco Maria, is ascribed by Baldi to a -vain ambition of precedence. While lieutenant-general of the papal -forces he displayed it towards Guido Rangone, his superior officer, -and insisted on taking rank at the council-board of the Marquis of -Saluzzo, when he arrived in command of the French contingents. These -absurd pretensions were at first treated with indifference, but -finally brought him into a wrangle with the Duke, over whom he also -claimed a similar right, from the fact of being in the papal service, -waiving it only out of consideration for his sovereign rank. In -that instance, also, he is said to have been struck by the choleric -prince; at all events he was expelled from the council-chamber, and -a strong representation of his misconduct was made to the Pope, who -consequently cancelled his anomalous commission, and appointed him -governor of Modena. - -Sismondi, embodying Guicciardini's one-sided narrative,[*306] has -thrown upon Francesco Maria the entire odium of the ludicrously slow -movements of the army, averaging about four miles on each alternate -day, and of their double miscarriage before Milan. The fatal tendency -of such measures, however they might have originated, admits of no -question, and the responsibility of their failure must fall upon the -most influential leader. It is always difficult in a heterogeneous -confederacy to maintain that unity of purpose which may compensate -for diversity of interests, and which can only be insured by prompt -action and brilliant success. But the sentiment "that reputation was -neither to be gained by risks nor lost by delays," which Bernardo -Tasso puts into the Duke's mouth, in describing a council of war -whereat he assisted,[307] not only advocates quite a different -policy, but too well confirms the charge brought against him as one -of those - - "Generals who will not conquer when they may." - -[Footnote *306: See his despairing letters cited above, p. 441, note -*1. He was a true patriot and thought for Italy. The Duke's dilatory -and inconclusive actions while Italy was slowly dying, and might have -been saved, as he thought, disgusted and enraged him.] - -[Footnote 307: _Lettere_, I., p. 28, edit. 1733.] - -When, however, he perceived victory to be hopeless, in an army -distracted by the jealousies of rival leaders, he had proposed -the nomination of a commander-in-chief, avowing himself ready to -accord him implicit obedience. In this he was again thwarted by -Guicciardini, who represented his suggestion to the allied powers -as dictated by personal ambition of the post. The plan fell to the -ground, and its author, fretted by the difficulties of his position, -was attacked by severe illness. Of this the Proveditore availed -himself to lead Malatesta Baglione, with three thousand troops, to -Cremona. Like Milan, it was occupied by an imperialist brigade, who -besieged in the citadel a handful of Sforza's adherents. The Duke's -warnings as to its military difficulties having been received with -indifference, this enterprise was on the point of miscarriage, on -learning which he rose from a sick bed, and hurried with fresh forces -to the scene of action. His presence infused new energy into the -operations, and on the 23rd of September the town was evacuated by -the imperialists upon capitulation. - -This success was scarcely within his grasp when a courier arrived -from Rome, with tidings which gave a new aspect to affairs. Clement, -who had succeeded to the turbulence of his predecessors, without the -energy of Julius, or the address of Leo, made himself a dangerous -domestic foe in the Colonna,--broken, but not crushed by the rancour -of Alexander VI. Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, a man indifferent to -religion, whose unbounded ambition aimed directly at the tiara, -and whose brows better became a condottiere's casque than a mitre, -forgetting his duty as one of the Sacred College, entered into -treasonable correspondence with the imperialist leaders; and his -brother Marcello, having been driven from his fiefs by the Pope, -threw himself at the feet of Charles V., offering to support his -views upon Italy if reponed by his assistance. They also used their -influence at Venice in preventing his Holiness from raising a loan -to recruit his crippled resources, and, in concert with Don Ugo -Moncada, commander of the Neapolitan army, strove to alienate him -from the League. Don Ugo, a Spaniard by birth, was the worthy pupil -of Cesare Borgia, without his reputation for success. In every -important engagement his sword had been tarnished by defeat; his -character and personal adventures combined each brutal attribute -of a condottiere, with scarcely a redeeming trait of honour. The -plan of these confederates was by a coup-de-main to dictate terms -to the Pontiff; or, failing success in this, to give occupation at -home for the contingent he then maintained with the allied army -of Lombardy. Accordingly, the Colonna troops, who had assumed a -threatening attitude in the Campagna, were suddenly withdrawn beyond -the frontier; and a son of Prospero Colonna hastened to the capital -to throw himself at Clement's feet, assuring him of the pacific -disposition of his house, and that their levies were destined for -the imperial service at Naples. The Pope, being deceived into a -belief so conformable to his wishes, turned a deaf ear to the warning -of more clear-sighted men, and, disappointed of his loan, thought -only of reducing a war establishment he could no longer pay. But -so soon as his soldiery were dismissed, the Colonna recalled their -army of two thousand men, which, led by Pompeo with equal celerity -and success, reached the Lateran gate ere treachery was suspected. -Resistance being hopeless, they, on the 20th of September, marched -through the city into the Trastevere, where they were welcomed to -refreshments provided by the Cardinal's order. Thence they passed -into the Borgo S. Spirito, where are situated the Vatican, St. -Peter's, and the castle of St. Angelo, and within three hours had -pillaged that rich quarter, sparing neither the palace nor the -metropolitan church. The Pope, who had at first resolved to await -death in his pontifical chair, scarcely escaped with a few valuables -into the fortress, which, from unpardonable negligence, was entirely -unprovisioned. To arrest these horrors, the Pontiff next day made a -hasty four-months' truce, stipulating for the immediate evacuation of -Rome, as the condition on which he should recall Guicciardini with -the ecclesiastical troops from Upper Italy; three days, however, -elapsed ere the troops withdrew, laden with a booty estimated at -300,000 ducats.[308] - -[Footnote 308: This treaty is printed by Molini, in the _Documenti di -Storia Italiana_, I., 229. At p. 204 of the same volume is a despatch -throwing valuable light on the tangled diplomacy of these times. The -details of this event are often mixed up with those of the far more -atrocious sack of Rome perpetrated by Bourbon a few months later; the -best account of it is by Negri, an eye-witness, in the _Lettere de' -Principi_.] - -Upon the capitulation of Cremona, Francesco Maria stole a few days -for the society of his Duchess, and the affairs of his state, but was -speedily recalled to his post by the unsatisfactory aspect of matters -in Lombardy. The papal troops had been withdrawn; the garrison -of Cremona, whose services the Venetians would not retain at his -suggestion, had entered into new engagements with the enemy; fourteen -thousand _lanznechts_, alias _lansquenet_ infantry, under Georg v. -Fruendesberg, were marching from Germany by the Val di Sabbia to -support the imperial cause. His first care was to check the pillage -of Cremona, a service which the citizens acknowledged by presenting -to him a golden vase weighing twenty pounds, and beautifully chased -with appropriate devices. He found the Marquis of Saluzzo arrived -with about five thousand levies from France, and that the _bande -nere_, amounting to almost as many, had been engaged by that power, -on Guicciardini's departure, whose absence proved a vast relief -to him. The army is now estimated at twenty-five thousand men by -Sismondi, who, echoing the charges of that writer, severely blames -the Duke for not supporting the naval attack made by the French upon -Genoa, a scheme for which we have seen him contending at an earlier -period. But a passage in his own _Discorsi Militari_ expressly states -the Venetian force at four thousand infantry and five thousand -cavalry, to keep in check both Fruendesberg's lansquenets and ten -thousand men at Milan; and it explains his tactics to consist in -making Cremona the centre of a line of defence, embracing Bergamo on -the right, and Genoa on the left, which, being vastly too extended -for his force, necessitated his keeping his men together, in order -to move upon any exposed point. Accordingly, considering it most -incumbent to intercept the battalions of Fruendesberg, he, after -throwing garrisons into some important places on his right flank, -pushed towards Mantua with about ten thousand men. Although sadly -impeded by dreadful weather, and by difficulties of transport, the -Proveditore having secured all the cattle to carry his own baggage -to Venice, he came up with the enemy at Borgoforte, on the Po, and, -interrupting their passage, drove their main body down the course of -that river. Deep snow and mud embarrassing his evolutions, he could -only hang upon their rear as far as the Mincio, where they were -met by a reinforcement with artillery from Ferrara. Thereupon the -Duke recalled his skirmishers, and left the Germans to pass the Po -unobstructed, on the 30th of November. - -In this affair fell Giovanni de' Medici, whose birth we have formerly -noticed.[309] His name is consecrated to military renown by a halo -which his lion-heart well merited, and which has gained no additional -brilliancy from the attempts of some writers to elevate his fame at -Francesco Maria's expense. In this unworthy effort--as on too many -like occasions--Guicciardini has been followed by the historian of -the Italian republics. The charges of misconduct adduced against -the Duke of Urbino, in his movement against Fruendesberg, are by no -means borne out by the more detailed accounts supplied by Leoni -and Baldi. He seems to have done everything that the state of the -elements would allow; and even accused himself of occasioning the -death of his faithful captain Benedetto Giraldi of Mondolfo, by -answering his plea, that his charger was completely knocked up, with -the sarcasm,--"What! you to whom I give a hundred scudi of yearly -pay, have not a fresh pair of horses at such a moment!" Stung by this -reproach, the gallant officer urged his steed to new efforts, and -shared the fate of Giovanni de' Medici. The brigade of the latter, -out of respect for their leader, assumed those mourning scarfs which -procured them the name _delle bande nere_; and most of them soon -after passed to Rome in the papal service. - -[Footnote 309: See above, p. 385.] - -The German lansquenets, whom Fruendesberg had brought into Italy, -were in fact a free company, levied by himself on a mere plundering -adventure, without the pretext of pay. Alarmed at a reinforcement -of so obnoxious a character, the confederates bethought themselves -of renewed efforts. But disgusted with a drawling campaign, wherein -no party had exhibited either good heart or doughty deeds, they had -recourse to diplomacy, which, ever fluctuating between an inactive -war and a solid peace, failed to create any general interest. -The truce with Moncada being expired they had no difficulty in -enrolling the unstable Pontiff once more on their side; but intent -on his private quarrel with the Colonna, and burning to avenge the -outrage lately received at their hands, he gave no co-operation -to the League. His tortuous and feeble policy preferred rousing, -by small intrigues, the old Angevine party at Naples against the -imperial government, and sought the more sympathetic attractions -of a petty strife with his refractory vassals. Having engaged the -_bande nere_, he let them loose to carry fire and sword into the -Colonna holdings, depriving, at the same time, Cardinal Pompeo of -his hat, and thundering excommunication against his whole race. -As the spring advanced, he extended this inglorious warfare, with -"a worse than Turkish" virulence, into the Neapolitan territory. -Meanwhile, the Viceroy Lanoy, after narrowly escaping the fleet of -Andrea Doria, landed ten thousand fresh troops at Gaeta, and advanced -upon Rome, supported by Moncada and the Colonna. But the vengeance -of God against the Holy City was reserved for other hands. After a -slight check from the _bande nere_, at Frosinone, the Viceroy most -opportunely received letters from his master, disavowing the Colonna, -and breathing affectionate duty to the Pontiff. He thereupon made -overtures of reconciliation, and after various demurs, prompted -by the Pontiff's vacillating hopes and fears, but which, in the -exhausted state of his treasury, appear the dictates of insanity, -an eight months' truce was signed on the 15th of March, between the -Pope and the Emperor. It provided for a mutual restitution of all -conquests in Lower Italy, a restoration of the Colonna to their -estates and honours, and a payment by his Holiness of 60,000 ducats -towards the costs of the war. Should the French and Venetians accept -of this truce, the lansquenets were to be withdrawn from Italy; at -all events they and the Constable Bourbon's army were forthwith to -quit the ecclesiastical and Florentine territories. Whilst intimating -this arrangement to the Duke of Urbino, by a brief of the 16th of -March, Clement represents it as dictated by stern necessity, the -whole weight of the war having fallen upon himself, and as the sole -means of saving his own existence, and preserving "all Italy from -destruction." - -Whilst these events were in progress in Lower Italy, the negotiations -for a general peace had produced no fruits, conducted, as they were, -with little good faith or honesty of purpose. The only one really -interested in prolonging the struggle was Francis I., whose children -were still in his rival's hands. The Italian states, weary of a -bootless contest, and disgusted by the feeble egotism of Clement, -fell into inertness akin, perhaps, to the fascination under which the -feathered tribes are said to become victims of their reptile-foe. - -That foe was Charles Duke of Bourbon, son of Gilbert Count de -Montpensier, who died at Pozzuoli, in 1495, by Chiara Gonzaga, -sister of Elisabetta Duchess of Urbino. He was next heir to the -crown of France, after Francis Duke of Angouleme, who succeeded to -it as Francis I., and Charles Duke d'Alencon, whose blood had been -attainted for treason. Louis XII., having removed this attainder, -and restored the d'Alencon branch to their rights, incurred the deep -displeasure of Bourbon, who was, however, pacified by receiving, at -the age of twenty-six, the office of grand constable,--the highest -dignity of the realm. He greatly distinguished himself in Francis's -early Italian campaigns, but was recalled from the command at Milan -in 1516, in consequence of his overbearing conduct and ambitious -views. By Anna, sister of Charles VIII., whom he married in spite -of a hideously deformed person, he had the dukedom of Bourbon, -with an immense fortune; but his extravagant prodigality plunged -him into great embarrassments, and a suit brought after his wife's -death by the mother of Francis I.--whose love he was alleged to -have slighted--threatened him with utter ruin, by evicting him -from his wife's estates. In these circumstances, his jealous and -fiery temper was ready to seize upon any pretext for entering into -treasonable correspondence with the Emperor and King of England; -and, on a promise of the crown of Provence, he undertook to head an -insurrection in France as soon as Francis should cross the Alps. That -monarch having discovered the plot, at once sought the Constable in -one of his own castles, and frankly told him what he had learned. -The hypocrite had recourse to abject asseverations of innocence and -fidelity, and was ordered to attend his sovereign into Italy; but, -perceiving that his protestations had not removed suspicion, he fled -in disguise to the territory of Charles, and was declared rebel. His -perfidy and rancour now knew no bounds; he was ever after prominent -and indefatigable in the wars against his country, and mainly -instigated the descent upon Provence in 1524. He next entertained -a hope of the dukedom of Milan, by Clement's sanction; but he had -played away his honour in a losing game: despised by himself and -his employers, the prestige of success passed from his arms. Yet -his peculiar talent for courting popularity ensured him the zealous -support of his troops, who knew also that a bankrupt in character -and purse was the best leader for men intent upon pillage. To the -single merit of a winning manner, he united many odious qualities. -His unmeasured ambition was restrained by no principle, either -as to its objects, or the means of attaining them. His pride was -vain-glory, venting itself in capricious and ill-directed schemes, -and stimulating into fury a wayward and sanguinary temper, which, -when exasperated by exile and outlawry, became ungovernable. - -During the war of Lombardy, the imperial generals were in a great -measure left to their own resources, both as to its conduct and its -supplies. Bourbon had for about a year maintained his army in Milan -without pay, by merciless plunder of the townspeople, upon whom -insult and outrage were unsparingly heaped. But their patience and -their means were nearly exhausted, and the difficulty of recruiting -his commissariat was greatly aggravated by judicious dispositions of -the allied army, directed by the Duke of Urbino. A forward movement -was therefore resolved upon, and as occupation and pillage were the -only chances of keeping together such disorganised troops, he led -them in search of both. Indifferent whether the spoils of Florence or -Romagna should prove the more convenient prey, he effected a junction -with Fruendesberg's new levies, whose circumstances and objects -exactly corresponded with those of his own forces, and on the 30th of -January their united divisions passed the Po. - -Our authorities are in many respects contradictory regarding these -operations, and especially as to the part which Francesco Maria took -in them. He seems to have been laid up at Parma, with an attack of -gout and fever, from the 3rd to the 14th of January, and to have -spent most of the next two months with his Duchess at Gazzuolo in the -Mantuese, for recovery of his health. It is insinuated by Sismondi -that this was but an excuse for abandoning the field, at a moment -when it would have been scarcely possible to pursue the policy, which -that author ascribes to him, of never risking in a general action the -prestige of invincibility. On the other hand, Leoni asserts that, at -a council of war held in Parma on the 11th of February, plans for -the campaign were proposed in writing by the different confederate -leaders, when that sent by the Duke was treacherously suppressed -by Guicciardini. Judging from the results of the campaign, there -can be no doubt that the imperialists ought to have been attacked -at this juncture; and if a general onset had been ordered on the -13th of March, when they broke out into open mutiny, Bourbon being -obliged to fly for his life, or, a few days after, when Fruendesberg, -a monster of sacrilege and blasphemy, according to the Italian -historians, died of apoplexy, they would in all probability have -been totally exterminated. But they were the reserved instrument of -divine judgments; and it signifies little now to speculate whether -the immediate motives which paralysed the League were the Duke's -ill-timed caution, his anticipation that the starving band would ere -long of itself dissolve, or his personal enmity to the Pope. It is, -however, important to keep in view the cold and selfish character of -Venetian policy, and the hampering influence which their system of -_proveditori_ necessarily had upon the measures of their generals. - -When Francesco Maria returned to the camp, the imperialists, who had -passed the Trebbia on the 20th of February, were slowly advancing -through the ecclesiastical state of Modena upon Bologna. His tactic -was to place them between two hostile armies; so the Marquis of -Saluzzo, with the French, ecclesiastical, and Swiss troops, preceded -them, leaving garrisons in the principal places, the Duke following -with the Venetians, some thirty miles in their rear. Against this -plan, which Guicciardini designates a strange proceeding, and -which even Baldi most justly criticises, the other leaders vainly -protested, alleging, among other reasons, that whilst the army -in advance must be speedily weakened by detaching garrisons, the -Venetians would probably hang back when their own frontier was freed -from danger. News of the truce between the Pope and the Viceroy now -arrived, and the Duke, disgusted at this new proof of Clement's -fickleness, and indifference to his allies' interests, withdrew -his army across the Po. But the courier who brought the treaty to -Bourbon at Ponte-Reno, with an order to obey its provisions, was -nearly cut to pieces by his troops, infuriated at this interference -with their hopes of booty, and the Constable refused to abide by -it. The fresh jealousy of their unstable ally, thus suggested to -the Venetians, afforded their leader a new apology for not exposing -their troops in a general action for the preservation of Bologna. -But when Bourbon had passed by that city towards Romagna and Urbino, -somewhat more spirit was infused into his movements, as the danger -seemed to approach his own frontier. He immediately sent forward -two thousand men to protect the duchy, and desired his family to -be removed for safety to Venice. On the 5th of March he had struck -his camp at Casal-Maggiore, and proceeded in pursuit of the enemy. -On that day they passed under Imola, which, with the other cities, -was garrisoned by detachments of Saluzzo, in accordance with tactics -already explained. Bourbon now scoured the plains of Romagna in -search of plunder, skirmishing occasionally with the French division. -When at Meldola on the 14th he bethought him of a descent upon Siena, -whose old Ghibelline and anti-Florentine preferences promised him a -welcome. He, therefore, penetrated the Apennines by forced marches -up the passes of the Bidente, and on the 18th reached S. Pietro in -Bagno, burning and pillaging as he went. - -When the Constable's refusal to accept the treaty was known at Rome, -Clement, more perplexed than ever, besought Lanoy to hurry on and -induce him to a halt, or at all events to withdraw the Spaniards and -men-at-arms from his command. To this the Viceroy with much apparent -zeal consented; but doubts have been thrown on his sincerity, for -both he and Moncada, whilst professing cordial co-operation with the -Pope, are suspected of having secretly stimulated Bourbon's advance -upon Rome, as the only means of appeasing the troops, trusting that -the grandeur of the enterprise would, in their master's eyes, readily -excuse its criminality. It seems doubtful whether Lanoy actually met -the Constable; and his mission was understood to have exposed him -to great personal risk from the lawless and ungovernable troops. He -at all events conveyed to Bourbon a proposition for the immediate -payment to his army of 80,000 ducats, with 60,000 more during May, -on condition of their retreat within five days; these sums to be -advanced by Florence, on the Viceroy's guarantee for repayment of -one-half by the Emperor. The direct object of this proposal was to -divert the impending storm from Tuscany; and it was fully sanctioned -by Clement, true to the policy of Medicean pontiffs, who ever -regarded Florence as their patrimony, Rome as their life-interest. In -the negotiations to which it gave rise there was a double difficulty. -Whilst the demands of a mutinous and starving army were paramount to -all other considerations, each party of the confederates struggled to -throw upon another the burden of meeting them. The same selfishness -sought individual security against the future movements of the -general foe, by turning him upon some friendly frontier. The wealthy -Florentines lavished their gold to send him back upon Upper Italy, -which the timely distribution of a few thousand men in the Apennine -gorges might have prevented him from ever quitting. The game of the -Proveditore Pisani was to leave no obstacle in the way of his advance -in any direction save that of the Venetian terra-firma domain, and -to detain the Duke of Urbino with his army of observation as long as -possible near that frontier. The French strove at all hazards to keep -him clear of their Lombard conquests. The Pontiff, little dreaming -of an attack upon his capital, was distracted between the care of -Romagna and Tuscany, whilst his fickle imbecility deprived him of all -sympathy at his allies' hands; indeed, in this conflict of interests, -his pusillanimous tergiversations rendered him the weaker vessel, -and he consequently became the chief sufferer. Nor did the Duke of -Urbino escape suspicions of bad faith, for he is accused of a secret -understanding not to impede Bourbon's descent upon Tuscany, which -would naturally liberate his own duchy from danger. Guicciardini, -indeed, not only considers revenge for former injuries of the Medici -as the key to Francesco Maria's dilatory and inefficient proceedings -against the imperialists, but regards his conduct as justified by the -provocations received. These sentiments were at all events cherished -by the soldiery of Urbino, who wrote "FOR VENGEANCE" upon -the houses which they fired on their march through the Florentine -territory. Nor were these provocations light, for the grudge which -Leo had bequeathed was aggravated by a continued retention of the -fortresses in Montefeltro, and still more by an investiture of the -entire duchy, granted in 1525 by Clement, in total defiance of -the della Rovere rights, to Ascanio Colonna, whose claims we have -already considered.[310] This grant, though virtually annulled by the -same Pope's subsequent confirmation of the reinvestiture given to -Francesco Maria by Adrian VI., gave rise to renewed anxieties on his -part about two years later, and it was not until 1530 that we shall -see them finally extinguished by the Duke's generous hospitality to -his rival. - -[Footnote 310: Above, p. 420.] - -On the 22nd of April the Constable, finding the mountain peasantry -exasperated to a dangerous pitch by the merciless rigours of his -lawless soldiery, and his own sanguinary nature being goaded by their -ribald taunts, cut short these miserable intrigues by advancing into -Tuscany.[*311] The confederate leaders, having at length decided -on saving Florence, united their divisions, and on the 25th passed -the Apennines near the present Bologna road. The Duke now received -an offer of his fortresses of S. Leo and Maiuolo, which still -remained pledged to that commonwealth. This he answered by general -professions, and next day, sending on the army to Incisa to intercept -the approach of Bourbon, he proceeded with a band of faithful -followers to the Tuscan capital. The republican faction, calculating -upon his support, flew to arms and seized the Palazzo Vecchio, while -once more the unpopular sway of the Medici trembled in the balance. -But the Duke, with a nobility of purpose that goes far to absolve -him from suspicion as to his good faith with the Pope throughout -this campaign, rejected the temptation of avenging his many wrongs, -and, by extraordinary personal exertions, succeeded in quelling the -insurrection, and maintaining the established government. Thus, for -the first time, the city saw its Palazzo taken without a revolution -following. In gratitude for this service his fortresses were -immediately given up to Francesco Maria, who in due time received -also the thanks of his Holiness. The act for their restitution was -signed on the 1st of May, and on the 14th S. Leo was surrendered to -his lieutenant Orazio Florido. - -[Footnote *311: He halted at S. Giovanni in Val d'Arno, where, though -he ought never to have been allowed to come so far, he might have -been easily crushed in that narrow pass. But if the Duke of Urbino -showed now a certain activity, it was not of the sort to crush this -adventure. Bourbon wheeled into the Via Francigena and marched down -to Rome and death. "To Rome! to Rome!" were his dying words.] - -Bourbon's head-quarters were meanwhile at Montevarchi, near -Arezzo, where, seeing his approach to Florence foiled, and the -dissatisfaction of his followers on the increase, he decided upon -making a dash at Rome; his only alternative being to lead them to -pillage, or perish at their hands. As a blind to the Pope, he sent -forward a courier to demand free passage to Naples; and, after -receiving some supplies from Siena, he abandoned his artillery and -heavy baggage in order to lighten his march. He began it on the 26th, -and, notwithstanding incessant rains and an entirely disorganised -commissariat, he passed without halt or question by Acquapendente and -Viterbo to Rome.[312] - -[Footnote 312: Many facts regarding the war in Lombardy and the march -to Rome are given by Baldi (Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 906) with a minuteness -and impartiality not found in other writers. The feeble views of -Clement are illustrated by his brieves to the Duke of Urbino, noticed -in I. of the Appendix to our next volume.] - - - - -APPENDICES - - - - -APPENDIX I - -(Pages 33, 34) - -PORTRAITS OF CESARE BORGIA - - -The same extremes of reprobation and flattery which alternate -in notices of the Duke Valentino puzzle us as to his personal -appearance. Giovio, the ardent collector of historical portraits, -while describing those which he had brought together, thus comments -upon that of Borgia:--"He is said to come of a plague-stricken stock -and of corrupted blood; for a livid rush overspread his face, which -was full of pimples shedding matter. His eyes, too, were deeply -sunk, and their fierce snake-like glance seemed to flash fire, so -that even his friends and comrades could not bear to look upon them; -yet, while flirting with the ladies, he had a wonderful knack of -playing the agreeable." The pen which inscribed these sentences was -evidently charged with even more than its wonted gall; but, after -every allowance, they cannot well be reconciled with a report of the -Venetian envoy Capello, dated in 1500, and bearing that "the Pope -loves and greatly fears his son the Duke, who is aged twenty-seven -years; his head is most beautiful; he is tall and well made, and -handsomer than King Ferdinand." - -Nor can we attain to any more satisfactory conclusion from such -pictures as are alleged to transmit his features. We have no key to -identify as his any of the heads introduced by Pinturicchio into -those fine but little noticed frescoes commissioned by Alexander -VI. for the Torre di Borgia, now a wing of the Vatican Library. The -exquisite medallists of Romagna do not appear to have exercised their -skill upon his bust. Of easel portraits I am aware of six, which I -mention for the curious in such matters, although not prepared to -consider any of them genuine. - -1. The elegant effeminate-looking Spaniard in the Borghese Gallery, -attributed to Raffaele, is now admitted to be a misnomer both of -subject and artist. - -2. A mean head, in the manner of Federigo Zuccaro, was purchased -a few years ago at Rome by my late friend Monsignor Laureani, -librarian of the Vatican, as that of Valentino, and passed from -him, in 1844, to my friend the Cavaliere Campana. Its sinister and -spiteful expression is not unworthy of such a monster; and allowing -an artist's licence in disguising a complexion which no one would -willingly represent, it might tally with Giovio's too graphic -details. The figure is, however, short, while Capello describes -Cesare as tall. - -3. A letter from Giuseppe Vallardi to Count Cesare di Castelbarco -Visconti was privately printed at Milan in 1843, in which he claims -to have discovered in the Count's palace a portrait of Borgia by -Raffaele, the original chalk study of which belonged to himself. From -the mass of verbiage usual in similar Italian effusions of "municipal -fanaticism," there may be extracted an allegation that the picture -had been painted from that earlier drawing about 1508, and a bold -inference is hazarded from their style that both were the handiwork -of Sanzio. The lithograph, however, would entitle us to ascribe them -rather to the Milanese school, and such is admitted to be the opinion -of various connoisseurs. No fact is adduced to authenticate the head, -or to show that Raffaele ever saw Valentino; indeed, the name seems -to libel a countenance so gentle, refined, and unimpassioned. - -4. Vallardi mentions in the same letter another Borgian head, by -Giorgione, as in the Lochis Gallery at Bergamo, of which I cannot -speak, not having seen it. - -5. A handsome over-dressed youth was engraved for Gordon's _Life of -Alexander VI._, in 1729, from a picture said to belong to D. Giuseppe -Valetta of Naples, which I entirely failed in tracing while in Italy. -Neither have I discovered any authority for supposing that soulless -epicurean to be Cesare Borgia. - -Finally, we may include Fuseli's notice of a picture by Titian, -no longer, however, in the Borghese collection, representing a -conference between the Usurper of Romagna and Machiavelli. A finer -subject for the pencil of that intellectual limner could hardly be -found, but Valentino's prodigality was apparently never lavished on -art.[313] In his eleventh lecture, Fuseli also mentions a portrait of -Cesare by Giorgione, as hanging for study in the Royal Academy. - -[Footnote 313: In Leonardo da Vinci he saw only a military engineer. -His commission, desiring that great genius to survey and report -upon all his fortresses, in the summer of 1502, is quoted in -BROWN'S _Life of Leonardo_, p. 118, and accordingly Urbino -was visited by him on the 30th of July.] - - - - -APPENDIX II - -(Page 34) - -DUKE GUIDOBALDO I. OF URBINO A KNIGHT OF THE GARTER - - -The loss of all early records of the Order, in consequence of their -having long been entrusted to the private and insecure custody of -its successive officers, has already placed us at disadvantage in -noticing the admission of Duke Federigo, but from various sources -we are enabled to glean much more satisfactory notices as to the -election and installation of his son to this honourable knighthood. -The chapter at which he was chosen is not preserved by Anstis, but -its date is known from the following letter, the original of which, -in Latin, I had the good fortune to discover in the Oliveriana -Library at Pesaro.[314] - -[Footnote 314: MSS. No. 374, vol. I., p. 55.] - - "Henry, by the grace of God, King of England and France, - Lord of Ireland, to the most illustrious and potent - Prince the Lord Guido Ubaldo, Duke of Urbino, our most - dear friend, health and augmented prosperity. We wrote - lately to inform your Highness that we had resolved upon - forthwith summoning a chapter of our military Order of the - Garter, for the purpose of creating your Sublimity a knight - thereof, and by the same letters gave you tidings of such - creation. We have now to signify how, in fulfilment of that - our promise, we have made your Highness a Knight of that - Order; and this we have done most cordially, not only on - account of our old necessity, which formerly occurred to - us with your father the illustrious Duke of happy memory, - but also in consideration of your singular merit and - virtues. Indeed we are assured that henceforward your - Highness will ever be regarded as our most attached cousin - and intimate friend, which you will more fully learn from - our distinguished cousin the Lord Talbot, a knight of that - Order, as also from the Reverend [Richard Bere] Lord Abbot - of Glastonbury, and the Venerable Sir Robert Shirbourn, - Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, our counsellors and - ambassadors, whom we have sent to offer our catholic and - filial obedience to our supreme Lord [Julius II.]. To these - our envoys we have committed all the knightly insignia - of the Garter, to be made over to your Highness, and our - anxious desire is that you will accept them in the same - spirit of cordial affection in which they are sent. We pray - you further to receive these our ambassadors as accredited - in our behalf, and that you will please to aid them with - your favour and counsels, which will be to us peculiarly - agreeable. Finally, as the Venerable Mr. Robert Shirbourn, - one of these our envoys, is by our command to remain for - some time as our minister at the Roman Court to transact - certain affairs of ours with our Lord his Holiness, we - therefore beseech your Sublimity that you will vouchsafe - to assist him, as our agent, with your gracious influence, - which has great and just weight with our Holy Father, and - that you will extend to him such favours as he may request; - by all which you will do us a singular pleasure. Further, - if it be in our power any way to oblige you, freely make - use of us and ours. From our palace near Westminster, the - 20th of February, 1503-4.[315] - - "HENRICUS REX." - -[Footnote 315: It is pleasant to find the arts from time to time -becoming handmaids of history as well as of religion; and the -friendly feeling for England then cherished at Urbino is curiously -illustrated by a bequest of Bishop Arrivabene, who, in 1504, left 400 -golden scudi to be expended in decorating a chapel, dedicated to St. -Martin and St. Thomas of Canterbury: the Duchess Elisabetta was one -of the trustees, and the fresco ordered by them from Girolamo Genga -included a representation of the English saint, and a portrait of -Duke Guidobaldo.] - -The instructions to these ambassadors, dated the 20th of February, -and printed by Anstis, run thus:-- - -"And after due recommendacions, and presentaciones of the Kinge's -lettres [to Duke Guidobaldo], firste the saide Abbot of Glastonburye -shall make a brefe oracion, wherein he shall not onlye touche the -laudes of the noble Order of the Garter, and of the Kinges Highnes -as sovereigne of the same, but also declare the great vertues and -notable deades of the saide Duke, and how his progenitors and -auncestors have been accepted thereunto, and to theyr greate honor -have used the same, with the desyrous mynde that the sayde Duke is to -be honored therwithal; for the which consideracions and causes the -Kinge's Highness, by the assent of the Companions of that Order, have -been the rather moved and induced to name and elect him thereunto, -trustinge verelie that, his greate noblenesse with other of his -valiant actes and singuler vertues consydered, he shall not onlye -greatlye honor the saide Order, but also take greate honor by the -same. Shewinge fynallye that the Kinge's Highnes, for the singular -zeale, love, and affection which his Grace beareth unto hym, hath -sent hym them ornaments belonginge to the sayd Order, and with as -good and hartye mynde wylleth hyme to be honored therewith as anye -other prince lyvinge, desyring him therefore thankfullye to accept -the same, and to use and weare it in a memoriall of his Grace, and of -the saide notable and auncyant Order. - -"And, after the proposition so sayde, they shall present theyr -commyssyon unto the sayde Duke, and cause the same openlye to be -read, and so followinge, the Abbot of Glastonburye shall in good -and reverent manner requyre him to make his corporall othe for the -inviolable observaunce of the same, lyke as, bye the tenure of the -saide estatuts, every Knight of that Order is bownde to do, in form -followinge:-- - -"Ego Guido Ubaldus, Dei Gratia Dux Urbinatis, honorificentissimi -atque approbatissimi Ordinis Garterii Miles et Confrater electus, -juro ad haec sancta Dei evangelia per me corporaliter tacta, quod -omnia et singula statuta leges et ordinationes ipsius dignissimi -Ordinis bene sincere et inviolabiliter observabo. Ita me Deus -adjuvet, et haec sancta Dei evangelia! - -"Which othe geven, Sir Gybert Talbot shall deliver the Garter to hym, -and cause the same in good and honorable manner to be put about his -legge, the saide Abbott of Glastonburye sayinge audablye thes wordes -followinge:-- - -"Ad laudem et honorem summi atque omnipotentis Dei, intemeratae -Virginis et Matris suae Mariae, ac gloriosissimi martiris Georgii, -hujus Ordinis Patroni, circumcingo tibiam tuam hoc Garterio, ut -possis in isto bello firmiter stare et fortiter vincere, in signum -Ordinis et augmentum tui honoris. - -"Which thinge so don, the saide Sir Gylbert shall deliver unto the -saide Duke the gowne of purple couler, and cause hym to apparrell -hymself with the same, the saide Abbot of Glastonburye sayinge thes -wordes followinge, at the doinge on of the same:-- - -"Accipe vestem hanc purpuream, qua semper munitus non verearis pro -fide Christi, libertate ecclesiae et oppressorum tuitione fortiter -dimicare, et sanguinem effundere, in signum Ordinis et augmentum tui -honoris. - -"And then followinge, the sayd Sir Gilbert shall cause the sayde -Duke to do upon hym the mantle of blew velvett, garnyshed with the -scute and crosse of Saint George, and the said Abbot of Glastonburye -sayinge thes wordes:-- - -"Accipe clamidem coelestis coloris clypeo crucis Christi -insignitam, cujus virtute atque vigore semper protectus, hostes -superare, et pro clarissimis tuis meritis gaudia tandem coelestia -promereri valeas, in signum Ordinis et augmentum tui honoris. - -"And when the saide Duke shall be so apperrylled with the ornaments -aforesaide, the saide Sir Gylbert shall put the image of Seinte -George abowt his necke, the saide Abbott saying thes wordes:-- - -"Imaginem gloriosissimi martiris Georgii, hujus Ordinis patroni, in -collo tuo deferes, cujus fultus presidio hujus mundi prospera et -adversa sic pertranseas, ut hostibus corporis et animi devictis, -non modo temporalis militiae gloriam, sed perennis victoriae palmam -accipere valeas, in signum Ordinis et augmentum tui honoris." - -Hollinshed, following Hall, informs us that "Sir Gilbert Talbot, -Knight, Richard Bere, Abbot of Glastonburie, and Doctor Robert -Sherborne, Deane of St. Paules, were sent as ambassadors from the -King to Rome, to declare to Pius the third of that name, newlie -elected pope in place of Alexander the Sixt, deceased, what joy and -gladnesse had entered the King's heart for his preferment. But he -taried not the comming of those ambassadors, for within a moneth -after that he was installed, he rendered his debt to nature, and so -had short pleasure of his promotion.... The King caused Guidebald, -Duke of Urbine, to be elected Knight of the Order of the Garter, in -like manner as his father Duke Frederike had been before him, which -was chosen and admitted into the Order by King Edward the Fourth. Sir -Gilbert Talbot, and the other two ambassadors, being appointed to -keepe on their journey unto Pope Julius the Second, elected after the -death of the said Pius the Third, bare the habit, and collar also, -unto the said Duke Guidebald."[316] It must, however, be observed -that letters of safe conduct for these ambassadors are stated to have -been issued under the Privy Seal on the 22nd of February, 1504, as if -but then beginning their journey. This mission was in accordance with -the statutes of the Order, which provided that, within four months -of the election, special messengers should be despatched to invest -each foreign knight with the insignia, and that, within eight months -after the investiture, he should send a proctor to England to receive -installation in his name. - -[Footnote 316: Hall quaintly says that the King intended "to stop two -gappes with one bushe."] - -We learn from Burchard that the three envoys reached Rome the 12th -of May, 1504. They were met by Sylvester Gigli, Bishop of Worcester, -Anglican resident at the papal court, and had a splendid reception. -On the 20th they had an audience, when, the minister of Louis XII. -having protested against Henry taking the style of France, they -were admitted as the ambassadors of England only. No details have -reached us of the investiture. The authority to which we naturally -turn for the circumstances attending this interesting episode of our -narrative is Polydoro di Vergilio, a native of Urbino, and historian -of England; but a fact, which to the writer ought to have been of -peculiar importance, is passed over without details. As, however, -the supposed autograph copy of his History varies considerably from -printed editions, we shall here quote from it the entire passage, -proving the incorrect manner in which this work is given to the -public. - -"Alexandro Sexto mortuo, creatus est Pontifex Franciscus, Senensis -antistes, qui Pii fuit Secundi ex sorore nepos, voluitque et ipse -Pius Tertius in memoria avunculi vocari. Hic amicissimus erat regis -Henrici [VII.], qui, ut primus omnium Christianorum principum bono -patri de adepto pontificatu congratularetur, confestim Gilbertum -Talbott equitem, Ricardum Beer Abbatem Glasconiensem, et Robertum -Scherburn decanum divi Pauli Londinensis oratores designavit ad ipsum -pontificatum. Sed Pius non expectavit gratulationem, qui obiit sexto -et vigesimo die quam sedere coeperat. Creatur in ejus locum Julianus, -Cardinalis Sti. Petri ad Vincula, patria Ligur, dictusque est Julius -Secundus. Huic postea illi tres regis oratores congratulatum inerunt, -quos Hadrianus Castellensis episcopus Herefordensis, quem paulo -ante Alexander Cardinalem fecerat, Romae hospitio excepit. Hunc rex -Henricus sub idem tempus ab Herefordensi sede ad Bathoniensem ac -Wellensem transferri curavit. At Hadrianus, ut praeter sua quotidiana -obsequia, quae tam regi quam Anglis omnibus libens praestabat, aliquo -diuturniori memoriae monumento relinqueret, apud omnes testatum se -memorem fuisse acceptorum beneficiorum ab Henrico, atque nomen -Anglicum amasse, donavit regi palatium magnificum quod ipse Romae -in Vaticano aedificaverat, ornavitque regis insignibus, ut in -ea luce hominum aliquod egregium opus nomini Anglico dedicatum -conspiceretur.[317] Item, iidem oratores detulerunt habitum Garterii -ordinis Guidoni Duci Urbini, principi seculo nostro Latinae Linguae -simul ac Graecae ac militaris disciplinae peritissimo, quem Rex paulo -ante in Collegium ipsius Ordinis asciverat. Dux postea destinavit -in Angliam Baldasarem Castilliorum, natione Mantuanum, equitem tam -doctrina quam bellica virtute praestantem, ut suo nomine ejus Ordinis -cerimonias exequeret. Fuit Baldaser ab Henrico perbenigne exceptus, -atque comiter habitus; qui, finitis ceremoniis, non indonatus, -postmodum ad suum Decem redivit."[318] - -[Footnote 317: The palace thus gifted to Henry is believed to have -been that in Borgo, called Palazzo Giraud, in which many of our -countrymen have of late received the splendid hospitalities of Prince -Torlonia.] - -[Footnote 318: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 498, f. 273. For Polydoro di -Vergilio, see above, pp. 115-18.] - -There is thus no authority for a statement in the printed version of -this History, adopted by Hall, Baldi, and others, that the decoration -was conferred in consequence of Guidobaldo's own wish to belong to -an Order, of whose illustration he had become cognisant from its -having been borne by his father. Perhaps the requests which conclude -the letter of Henry VII. may give the most satisfactory key to the -royal policy. Informed, as he no doubt was, of the state of affairs -at the Papal court, he must have been aware that to conciliate the -Duke was the wisest course for those who had favours to gain from the -Pontiff. Be this as it may, the Garter was received by Guidobaldo at -Rome in June, as became so singular an honour, and was proudly worn -next St. George's day in compliance with the rules of the Order. -Having resolved suitably so to acknowledge the dignity by a special -envoy to London, he selected as his proctor Castiglione, the choicest -spirit of his elegant court. The first we hear of this intention is -from the Count's letter of 2nd March, 1505, confidently informing -his mother that he would probably be sent to represent his master -at his installation in England. The plan, however, remained long in -abeyance. Castiglione spent the autumn at the baths of S. Casciano in -Tuscany, for an old injury or wound in his foot, and, in the end of -the year, went on a mission to Ferrara.[319] At length he set out, -on the 24th of July, 1506, accompanied by Francesco di Battista di -Ricece, and Giulio da Cagli, with their respective suites. Among the -presents he was charged to deliver to the King were some falcons, -three of the finest racers of the Urbino breed, and a precious -little picture, by Raffaele, of St. George as patron of the English -Order, which we have already mentioned at p. 233. He was at Lyons in -September, and this notice of his arrival at Dover is preserved by -Anstis:-- - -"The 20th of Octobre, the twenty-second year of our soverain lord, -King Henry VII., there landed at Dover a noble ambassadeur, sent -from the Duc of Urbin, called Sir Balthasar de Castilione, whiche -came to be installed in his lorde's name; whiche Duc had receyved -before by the Abbot of Glastonbury and Sir Gilbert Talbott, being the -King's commissionaris, the Garetier, &c., to the Ordre apperteyning. -And, to mete with the said ambassadeur, was sent Sir Thomas Brandon, -havyng a goodly companye with hym of his owne servants, all verely -well horsed, unto the see-seyde; whiche, after they met togedre, -kept contynnually compagnie with hym, and, when they approched nere -to Deptford, ther met with the forsaid ambassadeur by the King's -commandement, the Lord Thomas Dokara, lord of St. John's, and Thomas -Writhesley, alias Gartier princypall king of Armes. Whiche lord of -St. John's had in his compaignie thirty of his servaunts, all in -a lyvery new, well horsed, every [one] of his gentlemen beryng a -javelayn in his hand, and every yeman havying his bowe and a sheffe -of arrowes, and soe convoyed hym to his lodging, and on the morrow -unto London. And by the waye ther met with the said ambassadeur -dyvers Italyens, as the Pope's Vicecollector, Paulus de Gygeles -[Giliis], with dyvers [others]; and soe convoyed hym to the Pope's -Vicecollector's hows, wher he was lodged." - -[Footnote 319: I can find nothing in support of Roscoe's assertion -that he was wounded while aiding Guidobaldo to recover his duchy, and -the whole facts seem to contradict it. _Leo X._, ch. vii., Sec. 7, note. -That usually accurate writer has fallen into the mistake of ascribing -to the Count's _sister_ his interment and monumental inscription in -the church of the Minims, near Mantua, while the epitaph which he has -printed, bears that Aloysia Gonzaga placed it over a worthy _son_, -whom she unwillingly survived. Several dates in our text are supplied -from Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 904, p. 43.] - -Two days after Castiglione reached London he was sent for by the -King, whose marked favour, whilst he stated the objects of his -mission in an eloquent Latin address, is recorded in his own letters. -The installation took place on the 10th of November, upon the -following commission, printed by Ashmole:-- - -"Henry, by the grace of God, &c. Forasmuch as we understand that -the right noble prince Gwe de Ubaldis, Duke of Urbin, who was -heretofore elected to be one of the companions of the said noble -Order, cannot conveniently repair into this our realm, personally to -be installed in the collegiate church of that Order, and to perform -other ceremonies whereunto by the statutes of the said Order he is -bound, but for that intent and purpose hath sent a right honourable -personage, Balthasar de Castilione, Knight, sufficiently authorised -as his proctor, to be installed in his name, and to perform all other -things for him, to the statutes and ordinances of the said Order -requisite and appertaining. We, therefore, in consideration of the -premises, will, and by these presents, give unto you licence, full -power, and authority, not only to accept and admit the said Balthasar -as proctor for the same Duke, and to receive his oath and instal him -in the lieu and place and for the said Duke, but also farther, to do -therein as to the statutes and laudable usages of the said Order it -appertaineth; and this our writing shall be to you and every of you -sufficient discharge in that behalf. Given under the seale of our -said noble Order of the Garter, at our mannor of Grenewiche, the 7th -day of November, the twenty-second year of our reign." - -After the ceremonial was concluded, the Count visited the other -knights in the name of his master. This installation by proxy has -given rise to a confusion that he was himself honoured with the -Garter, which Roscoe first exposed. It is probable, however, that -he was knighted by Henry, a dignity he had vainly looked for at the -hand of Julius II. before his departure; at all events he received -from him, besides gifts of horses and dogs, a gold chain or collar -of SS links, from which depended two portcullises and a golden rose -with its centre of silver. This chain, long peculiar to English chief -justices, is traced by Dugdale from the initials of Saint Simplicius, -a primitive Christian judge and martyr; and the badge was adopted -by that monarch as heir of the Plantagenets through both rival -roses. The decoration, mistaken by Marliani for the collar of the -Garter, was destined by the Count as an heirloom, and it accordingly -surrounded his armorial coat in that dedication copy of his letter -to Henry, narrating the life of Guidobaldo, which he described by -Anstis. On the 9th of February, 1507, he was at Milan on his return -to Urbino, where he arrived about the end of the month, charged with -affectionate letters and messages from Henry, and with rich presents. -His conversation, of all that he had seen in a country so imperfectly -known, was greatly relished by the Duke, and his anecdotes of its -court, its wealth, and its wonders long continued to enliven the -palace-circle of Montefeltro. - - - - -APPENDIX III - -(Page 138) - -GIOVANNI SANZI'S MS. CHRONICLE OF FEDERIGO DUKE OF URBINO - - -Considering the importance of Sanzi's Rhyming Chronicle of Duke -Federigo to the literary history of Urbino, and the almost total -neglect in which it has hitherto lain, we shall here describe with -some minuteness the only copy of it known to exist. It is a large -and thick folio volume, No. 1305 of the Ottoboniana MSS. in the -Vatican Library, written on paper in a firm Italian hand of the -fifteenth century, expressly for the Duke Guidobaldo I., to whom it -is dedicated. Some passages have been interpolated on the margin, and -others are altered by pasting a new version over the cancelled lines, -in a character slightly different from that of the text, of which, -being probably autograph, a fac-simile is given on the following -page.[320] - -[Footnote 320: This marginal interpolation, occurring in the -dedication, runs thus:--"Pregandoti humilmente ryguardi ly gloriosi -fatti del tuo famoso padre, e non la basseza del myo style [not -"srypt," as Passavant reads it], ornato solo da me dy quella sincer -fede che deue vn fydeli servo al suo signore."] - -The general title, supplied in a much later hand, runs -thus:--"Historia della Guerra d'Italia nel tempo de' PP. Pio e Paolo -II., del 1478, in versi di Gio[~v]. Sati al Duca di Urbino"; but the -Chronicle itself is thus headed, "Principio del opera composta da -Giohanni Santi, pictore, nelaquale se contiene la vita e gesti de lo -illustrissimo et invictissimo Principe Federico Feretrano, Duca di -Urbino." A prose dedication occupies four pages, and is followed by a -prologue of nine chapters in verse; the poem itself is divided into a -hundred and four chapters, arranged in twenty-three books, the whole -work consisting of about twenty-four thousand lines.[321] It may be -not uninteresting to print the contents of these chapters, supplying -the omitted titles of the two first. - -[Footnote 321: Several errors in the numeration, both of the folios -and chapters, might readily deceive a superficial observer, and have -misled even Passavant.] - -[Illustration: [Transcriber's Note: handwritten text; see footnote -320 above]] - - LIBRO PRIMO. - - CAP. I. [Of the race of Montefeltro preceding Duke - Federico, and of his birth and betrothal.] - - CAP. II. [Of the boyish embassies of Count - Federico; of his education and marriage.] - - CAP. III. Nel quale se tracta de la prima militia - sua cum Nicolo Picinino. - - CAP. IV. Nel quale si tratta la rocta di Monte - Locho. - - CAP. V. De la predicta rocta di Monte Locho. - - - LIBRO SECONDO. - - CAP. VI. Nel quale se tratta el rincondurse del C. - Federico cum Nicolo Piccino e el guerre de la Marca. - - CAP. VII. Nel quale se tratta la morte del Duca - Oddantonio el diventare el Conte Signore de Urbino. - - CAP. VIII. Nel quale poi uarie cose, se tratta le - rebillione de la Marca contra el Conte Francesco Sforza. - - CAP. IX. Nel quale se tratta l'aspera guerra per - Papa Eugenio al Conte Federico. - - CAP. X. De varie cose e del tradimento de - Fossambrone contra del Conte Federico. - - CAP. XI. De la rotta del Signore Sigismondo ha - Fossambrone. - - - LIBRO TERZO. - - CAP. XII. Nel quale se contiene la guerra de - Toscana per il Re Alfonso contra Fiorentini, et la condutta - del Conte Federico cum loro. - - CAP. XIII. Nel quale se tratta de lo assedio di - Pionbino per el Re Alfonso. - - CAP. XIV. De la morte del Duca Phillippo, et - diverse guerre de Lombardia. - - - LIBRO QUARTO. - - CAP. XV. Nel quale se contiene la condutta del - Conte cum el Re Alfonso, et la guerra di Toscana al tempo - di Ferrante Duca de Calabria. - - CAP. XVI. De uarie cose de Lombardia, et la lega - quasi de tutta Italia, e l'andata del Conte a Napoli. - - CAP. XVII. Parlamento insieme del S. Sigismondo et - de Conte a Ferrara, per el mezo del Duca Borso. - - CAP. XVIII. Resposta del Conte al S. Sigismondo - nel predicto parlamento. - - - LIBRO QUINTO. - - CAP. XIX. Nel quale se contiene la guerra fra el - S. Sigismondo el Conte de Urbino, et la uenuta del Conte - Jacomo Piccinino contra del S. Sigismondo. - - CAP. XX. De la preditta guerra. - - - LIBRO SESTO. - - CAP. XXI. Nel quale se contiene el principio et - uarie guerre del Reame di Napoli al tempo del Duca Giohanni - contra de el Re Ferrante. - - CAP. XXII. Del andata del Conte Jacomo nel Reame - contra de el Re Ferrante. - - CAP. XXIII. De la rotta del Re a Sarno, et el - correre scontro de dui Braceschi cum dui Feltreschi. - - CAP. XXIV. Del fatto e l'arme de Santo Fabiano. - - CAP. XXV. Del preditto fatto d'arme de Santo - Fabiano. - - CAP. XXVI. Del predicto fatto d'arme. - - - LIBRO SETTIMO. - - CAP. XXVII. Nel quale se contiene uarie e diuerse - ribellione de cipta e castelli de la predicta guerra del - Reame. - - CAP. XXVIII. De la correria del Aquila a la citta, - et la expugnatione de Albi. - - - LIBRO OTTAVO. - - CAP. XXIX. Nel quale se contiene le predicte - guerre del Reame, et molti expugnatione de castelli, et - lo assedio famossissimo de Casteluccio, et la uenuta del - Signori chi erano in Abruzo per la sua liberatione. - - CAP. XXX. De la oratione fatta a li militi del - Conte, et la expugnatione di Castellucio. - - CAP. XXXI. Dele preditte guerre del Reame e dela - rotta del S. Napolione inela la Marca. - - - LIBRO NONO. - - CAP. XXXII. Nel quale se contiene la rotta che - dette el Conte al S. Sigismondo ha Senegaglia. - - CAP. XXXIII. Del preditto fatto d'arme. - - CAP. XXXIV. De la preditta guerra contra el S. - Sigismondo, et lo aquisto de diverse sue terre. - - CAP. XXXV. De la preditta guerra contra el S. - Sigismondo, et la industriosa expugnatione de la Rocha de - Veruchio, et la assedio di Fano. - - CAP. XXXVI. Del medesimo assedio di Fano, et la - uictoria di quello. - - - LIBRO DECIMO. - - CAP. XXXVII. Nel quale se contiene l'ultima ruina - del S. Sigismondo, landata del Papa Pio in Ancona et la sua - morte, la creatione de Paulo II., la ruina del stato de - Deifobo da l'Auguilara, et la guerra de Cesena, da poi la - morte del S Malatesta. - - CAP. XXXVIII. De la uictoria de Cesena la morte - del Duca Francesco [Sforza] et l'andata del Conte ha Milano. - - - LIBRO UNDECIMO. - - CAP. XXXIX. Nel quale se contiene la nouita de - Fiorenza nel sesanta sei, et la guerra de Romagna per - Bartholomeo da Bergamo. - - CAP. XL. De la preditta guerra de Romagna. - - CAP. XLI. Oratione del Conte a li suoi militi - nante el fatto d'arme de la Mulinella. - - CAP. XLII. Del bellissimo fatto d'arme fra - Bartholomeo, el Conte a la Mulinella. - - CAP. XLIII. Del preditto fatto d'arme de la - Mulinella. - - CAP. XLIV. De la preditta guerra, e 'l sachegiare - el Conte alle del Amone. - - - LIBRO DUODECIMO. - - CAP. XLV. Nel quale se contiene la guerra et lo - assedio de Arimino per Papa Paulo. - - CAP. XLVI. Del preditto assedio de Arimino, et una - proua mirabile del S. Roberto. - - CAP. XLVII. De la preditta guerra, e una alto - pensiero del Conte per la liberatione de Arimino.[322] - - [Footnote 322: This chapter being numbered XLVI. by mistake - in the original, the subsequent numbers here given are - always in advance by _one_ until Cap. LXXIII.] - - CAP. XLVIII. De la preditta guerra, e locutione - del Conte ali militi nante el fatto, d'arme da Ceresuolo. - - CAP. XLIX. De la uenuta de le gente de la Chiesa a - trouare el Conte. - - CAP. L. Del bellissimo fatto d'arme da Cerisuolo. - - CAP. LI. Del preditto fatto d'arme de Cerisuolo. - - CAP. LII. Dela rotta dele gente de la Chiesa a - Cerisuolo. - - CAP. LIII. Del fine de la guerra di Arimino. - - - LIBRO DECIMO TERZO. - - CAP. LIV. Nel quale se tratta la rebellione de - Volterra contra Fiorentini, et l'andata del Conte per - campegiarla. - - CAP. LV. Del campegiare de Volterra. - - CAP. LVI. Del sacho de Volterra. - - CAP. LVII. Dela tornata del Conte a casa, et dela - morte dela excellentissima donna sua, Madonna Baptista - Sforza. - - - LIBRO DECIMO QUARTO. - - CAP. LVIII. Nel quale se contiene le fabriche et - magni hedificii che fea murare el Conte, et inparte la sua - uita altempo di pace. - - CAP. LIX. Delo istudio del Conte, et dela venuta - del Cardinale de Samsixto ad Ogobio. - - - LIBRO DECIMO QUINTO. - - CAP. LX. In questo se contiene l'andata del Conte - ha Napoli, et molti honori et dignita quale habbe in quella - andata. - - CAP. LXI. Et quale tratta como el Conte fu fatto - Duca de Urbino, et delo assedio dela cipta de Castello. - - CAP. LXII. De varie turbulentie, et precipue de - Romagna. - - - LIBRO DECIMO SESTO. - - CAP. XLIII. Nel quale se contiene la venuta delo - Re Ferrante a Roma, l'andata del Duca, et la dignita de la - Galatera. - - CAP. LXIV. Como el Duca receue la Galatea, et de - la morte del Duca Galeazo Duca de Milano. - - CAP. LXV. Del luoco, et como, el di che fu morto - el preditto Duca Galeazo Maria. - - CAP. LXVI. Discurso de la dubia uita de Signori et - de grani ciptadini. - - - LIBRO DECIMO SETTIMO. - - CAP. LXVII. Nel quale se contiene la tornata del - Conte Carlo [Braccio] a Montone, le nouita de Penisia per - la sua uenuta, et landata che lui fea contra Senesi. - - CAP. LXVIII. Del andare el Conte a campo a - Montone, et la expugnatione de esso Montone. - - - LIBRO DECIMO OCTAVO. - - CAP. LXIX. Nel qual se contiene como el Signor - Carlo Manfredi fu chaciato de Faenza da el fratello - chiamato el Signor Galeotto; la mossa che fece el Conte in - suo favore, et como nel tornare adrieto essendo a Sanmarino - se ruppe uno piede. - - CAP. LXX. Del modo et conmo el Duca se ruppe - el piede, et de la grauissima sua egritudine et de la - conjuratione contra li Medici in Fiorenza. - - CAP. LXXI. De lo insulto contra de Laurentio de - Medici, et de la morte del suo fratello Giuliano. - - CAP. LXXII. De la destrutione de la casa de - Pazzi, et del principio de la guerra de Toscano nel - MCCCLXXVIII. - - - LIBRO DECIMO NONO. - - CAP. LXXIII.[323] Nel quale se tratta el primo - anno dela guerra di Toscana. - - [Footnote 323: This chapter, being omitted in the original - numeration, the subsequent five numbers are in advance by - _two_.] - - CAP. LXXIV. Dela unione che fece insieme el Duca - Alfonso Duca di Calabria, el Duca de Urbino. - - CAP. LXXV. Delo assedio del Monte Samsavino, et - dele dificulta che il Duca ui sostinne. - - CAP. LXXVI. Oratione lunga del Duca ali militi al - Monte Samsavino. - - CAP. LXXVII. Dela preditta oratione. - - CAP. LXXVIII. Del astutia che uso el Duca per - hauere la triegua al Monte Samsavino. - - CAP. LXXIX. Dela proposta del Duca dela triegua - ali Signori del Campo, et dela expugnatione del Monte.[324] - - [Footnote 324: This chapter being omitted in the original - numeration, the subsequent numbers are in advance by - _three_ until No. XCVII.] - - - LIBRO VIGESIMO. - - CAP. LXXX. Nel quale se contiene el secondo anno - dela guerra de Toscana. - - CAP. LXXXI. De diuersi danni de Perusini, et dela - morte del Conte Carlo, e altre cose. - - CAP. LXXXII. Dela ruina de Casole, luoco de - Senesi, et dela uitoria del Signor Roberto ala Magione. - - CAP. LXXXIII. De molti danni de Perusini per - el Signor Roberto, et l'aquisto per el Duca del Monte - Inperiale. - - CAP. LXXXIV. De liberarse li Perusini dali danni - de Signor Roberto et delo assedio di Colle. - - CAP. LXXXV. Del predicto assedio di Colle. - - CAP. LXXXVI. Dela battaglia prima data ha Colle. - - CAP. LXXXVII. De poi piu baptaglie data ha Colle, - et la uictoria hauta di lui. - - CAP. LXXXVIII. De l'andata di Lorenzo di Medici a - Napoli, et la pace cum Fiorentini del Papa et del Re. - - - LIBRO VIGESIMO PRIMO. - - CAP. LXXXIX. Dela stantia del Duca a Viterbo, et - dela dignita del Capello et dela Spada. - - CAP. XC. Delo aquisto de Furli per et Conte - Geronimo Riario, et prima del andata del Duca. - - CAP. XCI. Dela uictoria di Furli, et la - possessione de esso per el preditto Conte, et la uenuta de - Turchi a Otranto. - - CAP. XCII. De la guerra de Turchi in Puglia. - - - LIBRO VIGESIMO SECONDO. - - CAP. XCIII. Nel quale se contiene la guerra de - Ferrara per li Venetiani contra del Duca Ercule di Este, - et prima dela practica de essa guerra, l'andata del Conte - Geronimo a Vinesa. - - CAP. XCIV. Dela preditta guerra de Ferara, et - landata del Signor Roberto da Santo Seuerino a Vinesa. - - CAP. XCV. Dela partita del Duca da Urbino per - andare a Milano, e una disputa dela pictura. - - CAP. XCVI. Dela ditta guerra de Ferrara, et dello - assedio de Figaruolo. - - CAP. XCVII.[325] Del preditto assedio de - Figaruolo, le turbulentie de Roma, l'andata del Signor - Roberto Malatesta. - - [Footnote 325: This number being repeated by mistake in the - original, the subsequent numbers are in advance by _two_.] - - CAP. XCVIII. Del ditto assedio de Figaruolo, e - de la morte de Messer Pier deli Ubaldini al bastione dala - Punta. - - CAP. XCIX. Dela aspre battaglie quale deva el - Signor Roberto da Santo Seuerino a Figaruolo. - - CAP. C. Como el Signor Roberto da poi molte - baptaglie vinse Figaruolo. - - - LIBRO VIGESIMO TERZO. - - CAP. CI. Nel quale se contiene el ponte che fece - el Signore Roberto per passare el Po, la rotta del Duca di - Callabria a Campomorto. - - CAP. CII. Como se parti da Castello le gente - Feltresche, et andaro a Furli. - - CAP. CIII. Dela egritudine del Duca, et la uenuta - sua in Ferrara. - - CAP. CIV. Dela morte del Duca, et del Signore - Roberto Malatesta. - - - - -APPENDIX IV - -(Page 138) - -EPITAPH OF GIOVANNI DELLA ROVERE - - -The inscription upon the humble headstone of the sovereigns of -Sinigaglia in the nave of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, runs thus:-- - - D.O.M. - - JOHANNES DE RUVERE, - - Senogalliae vetustissimae civitatis - Dominus, Almae urbis Prefectus, - Sori Arcanaeque Dux, exercituum Sixti - Quarti, Innocentii Octavi, summus Imperator, - Maximorum Pontificium Sixti nepos, - Julii Secundi frater, cum uxore sua - Joanna Monfeltria, Federici Urbini - Ducis filia, praestantioribus - Et nobilioribus feminis, adversis - Secundisque rebus, conferenda et - Preferenda, magnum hoc templum - Affundamentis erexit; et multis - Egregiis tam bello quam pace actis, - Procaci abreptus morte, - Anno Domini MDI., - Aetatisque suae quadragesimo quarto, - Hic tumulatur. - - - - -APPENDIX V - -(Page 348) - -REMISSION AND REHABILITATION OF DUKE FRANCESCO MARIA I. IN 1511-13. - - -Having no wish to overload these pages with a papal bull, either in -its barbarous Latinity or in a crabbed translation, we shall content -ourselves with abbreviating the formal record of the investigation -and sentence of absolution, dated the 9th of December, 1511, by -which the Duke of Urbino was acquitted of the slaughter of the -Cardinal of Pavia. Julius, in that document, sets forth that, after -reducing Bologna to obedience of the Church, he placed over it -the Cardinal as legate, who ungratefully betrayed his duty to the -Pope and the Church by secretly plotting for restoration of the -Bentivoglii, and for defeat of the army under command of the Duke, -as well as by withdrawing to Ravenna on pretext of terror, but in -fact to conceal his treason. That having, by these and many other -enormities, incurred the guilt of treason and lese-majesty, he was -slain by Francesco Maria; and that, on a complaint of this outrage -being preferred, his Holiness, judging from the first aspect of the -affair that this crime against the dignity of the purple afforded so -pernicious an example, and such general horror and scandal abroad, as -to require an impartial inquiry, had remitted it to six cardinals, -in order to make sifting inquest into the matter, receiving secret -oral testimony, without reference to the ties of blood, but with -ample powers, judicial and extra-judicial, to carry out the process -to its conclusion, and to pronounce sentence therein. And the -apostolic procurator-fiscal having appeared to support the charges, -required the Duke's committal to prison ere he should be allowed -to plead, in order to secure the due course of justice against any -elusory proceedings; whereupon he was put under arrest in his own -house, and bound over to appear in the sum of 100,000 golden ducats. -Thereafter, the judges having taken evidence and published it, the -Pope advocated the cause and pronounced an acquittal, which the -Duke refused to accept, insisting that the prosecution should take -its course, and returning under arrest until it should do so. This -having been proceeded with, the cardinals gave sentence, acquitting -him "of the said charge of homicide, and the punishment it legally -inferred," and debarring all future action thereanent at the public -prosecutor's instance. Whereupon Julius embodied this narrative in -a bull subscribed by eighteen cardinals, and formally guaranteed by -the amplest authority, as a protection to Francesco Maria against any -future question affecting his tranquillity and status.[326] - -[Footnote 326: The notorial transumpt of this bull, verified in 1516 -by three notaries in presence of the municipality of Urbino, is -preserved in the Archivio Diplomatico at Florence, and the preceding -abridgment was made from an authenticated extract obtained by me -there in 1845. In the same archives there is another formal acquittal -to the like purpose, which it is needless to quote.] - -The remission of the Duke's subsequent misconduct was contained in -a papal brief of the 10th of January, 1513, addressed to himself, -wherein it was stated that he had been accused by many of maintaining -intelligence with the King of France before the battle of Ravenna, -and of other intrigues against the Roman Government, as well as of -various crimes, including slaughter of cardinals and lese-majesty, -and that he had in consequence been deprived of his dukedom and -dignities; but that having experienced his zeal and good faith in -the like matters, the Pontiff could not persuade himself of his -guilt, for which reason he, _ex motu proprio_, granted to him and his -adherents plenary remission from all spiritual and temporal censures -and sentences incurred therein, and restored him to all his honours -and dignities. The entire wording of this document, the original of -which is preserved along with the bull just quoted, shows a studious -exactitude and elaboration of terms, so as to guard it against -future question; but, considering its importance with reference to -the prosecution subsequently mooted against the Duke by Leo X., it -may be well here to give the _ipsissima verba_ of the remission -clauses. The brief is addressed, but has no counter-signature; a -transumpt of it in the same archive has the name "Baldassar Tuerdus" -as a counter-signature. - -"Motu proprio, et ex certa nostra scientia ac matura deliberatione, -et apostolice potestatis plenitudine, apostolica auctoritate, tenore -presentium, tibi et illis plenarie remittimus pariter et indulgemus, -teque ac illos, et illorum singulos, ab omnibus sententiis censuris -et penis quibuslibet, spiritualibus et temporalibus, a jure vel ab -homine quomodolibet promulgatis, auctoritate scientia et potestate -predictis, absolvimus et liberamus, ac te tuosque filios, natos et -nascituros ac heredes quoscunque, ad Vicariatum, Ducatum, Comitatus, -teque ac subditos, adherentes, complices ac sequaces, ac singulorum -eorundem heredes, ad feuda, dominia, honores et dignitates, offitia, -privelegia, bona ac jura, ac ad actus legitimos, quibus forsan -premissorum, et alia quacunque occasione, etiam de necessitate -experimenda privati, censeri possetis, auctoritate scientia et -potestate premissis restituimus, et etiam reintegramus, et ad eundem -statum reducimus et reponimus, in quo tu et illi eratis ante tempus -quo premissa commisissetis; districtius inhibentes quibuscunque -officialibus nostris, et dicte Ecclesie, qui sunt et pro tempore -erunt, ne contra te et subditos, adherentes, complices et sequaces, -aut aliquem vestrum, occasione hujusmodi criminum possint procedere, -aut occasione premissorum te vel illos, aut aliquem eorum, molestare -quoquo modo presumant; ac decernentes ex nunc irritum et inane -quicquid ac quoscunque processus et sententias, quos seu quas -contra inhibitionem nostram hujusmodi haberi contigerit, seu etiam -promulgari." - - - - -APPENDIX VI - -(Page 392) - -LETTER FROM CARDINAL WOLSEY TO LORENZO DE' MEDICI - - -The following letter has been lately printed by the Marchese Caponi, -in the _Archivio Storico Italiano_, vol. I., p. 472, from the -original in his possession:-- - - To the most illustrious and most excellent Prince our Lord - Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, dear to us as a brother. - - Most illustrious and most excellent Lord Duke, dear to us - as a brother, - - The Signor Adriano, your Excellency's servant, has - delivered your most courteous and kind letters addressed - to us, on eagerly perusing which we recognised with great - satisfaction your Excellency's friendly dispositions in - our behalf. We have in consequence received the said - Signor Adriano with the greatest possible civility, and - have freely offered and promised him our every favour and - support in all places and circumstances. Having learned - that your Excellency takes no small pleasure in dogs, - we now send you by your said servant some blood-hounds - [_odorissequos_], and also several stag-hounds of uncommon - fleetness, and of singular strength in pulling down their - game. And we farther specially beg of you to let us know if - there be anything else in this famed kingdom that you would - wish; and should you in future boldly make use in your - affairs of my assistance, good-will, and influence, such as - it is, whether with his Majesty my sovereign, who is most - favourably disposed towards you, or with any other person - whatsoever, you will find me willing and ready to oblige - you. May you be preserved in happiness. From our palace in - London, the 28th of June, 1518. - - As your Excellency's brother, - - T. CARDINAL OF YORK. - - -END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. - - - - -GENEALOGICAL TABLES - -[Transcriber's Note: In the original genealogical tables, natural -children are denoted by a wavy line, here represented by the ! -symbol.] - - - - -DESCENT OF THE DELLA ROVERE DUKES OF URBINO. - - - LUDOVICO LEONARDO = LUCHINA STELLA MUGLIONE. - DELLA ROVERE. | - | - _____________|________________________________________________ - | | | | - FRANCESCO DELLA ROVERE, RAFFAELE = TEODORA ---- = GIOVANNI JOLANDA | GIROLAMO - POPE SIXTUS IV., | MENEROLA. | BASSO, RIARIO. - b. 1414, d. 1484. | | d. 1483. - | | - _______________________________| | - | | - | __________________________________________|________ - | | | | | | 1476. - | GIROLAMO, FRANCESCO, BARTOLOMEO. GUGLIELMO, ANTONIO = CATERINA - | Cardinal, of Prior of d. 1482. MARCIANA, - | S. Chrisogono, Pisa. niece of - | d. 1507. Ferdinand - | of Naples. - |_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - | | | | 1474. | - BARTOLOMEO, GIULIANO DELLA ROVERE, LEONARDO, Duke = GIOVANNA, GIOVANNI, Prefect = GIOVANNA DI GABRIELE GARA = LUCHINA = G. FRANCESCO - Patriarch POPE JULIUS II., of Sora, | nat. daughter of Rome, Lord of | MONTEFELTRO, DELLA ROVERE. | | FRANCIOTTI, - of Antioch. b. 1453, d. 1513. Prefect of | of Ferdinand Sinigaglia, | of Urbino, | | DELLA ROVERE, - ! Rome, d. 1475. | of Naples, b. 1458, d. 1501. | d. 1514. | | of Lucca. - ! | Duchess of | | | - ! | Sora. | | | - ! | | | | - ! S.P. | | | - __________________! _____________________________________________________________| | | - ! | | | - ! | _____________________________________________________________________________________| | - ! | | | | | - ! | RAFFAELE. SISTO, Cardinal GERAUD | SISTA = GALEAZZO _______________________________________| - ! | of S. Pietro D'ANCEZUN, RIARIO. | | | - ! | in Vincula, d. 1503. | | | - ! | d. 1577. GALEOTTO, Cardinal NICOLO = ---- LUCREZIA = MARCANTONIO - ! |______________________________________________________ of S. Pietro in | COLONNA. - ! | Vincula. | - !_______________________________________________________________________ | | - | 1 2 | | | | ___________________| - RAFFAELE, = NICOLOSA = ANTONIO FELICE = GIAN-GIORDANO GIULIA. CLARICE. | | | 1541. - d. 1502. FOGLIANO, DELLA ROVERE. ORSINI, of | GUIDO. LAVINIA = PAOLO ORSINI. - of Fermo. Bracciano. | - _____________________________________________________________________________|__________________ - | | 1509. 1497. | 2 | | - FEDERIGO, FRANCESCO MARIA I., = LEONORA IPPOLITA, VENANZIO = MARIA = GALEAZZO COSTANZA, DEODATA. - died young. DUKE OF URBINO, | d. of Francesco VARANA, R. SFORZA. d. 1507. - b. 1490, d. 1538. | Marquis of Mantua, d. 1503. - | d. 1543. - | - _____________________________|_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - | 1534. | 1548. | 1547. | 1548. | 1552. | - FEDERIGO, GIULIA VARANA, = GUIDOBALDO II. = VITTORIA FARNESE, IPPOLITA = DON ANTONIO GIULIA = ALFONSO D'ESTE, ELISABETTA, = ALBERICO CIBO, GIULIO, Cardinal - died young. d. of Giovanni | DUKE OF URBINO, | d. of Pier-Luigi, D'ARAGONA {S} Marq. of d. 1561. {S} Marquis of Archbishop of - Maria, Duke of | b. 1514, | Duke of Parma, DI MONTALTO. Montecchio, of Massa. Urbino, 1533, - Camerino, | d. 1574. | d. 1602. whom the Dukes d. 1578. - b. 1523, | ! | of Modena. ! - d. 1547. | ! |_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ! - | !____________________ | | | !______________ - _________________________| ! | | | ! - | 1560. | ! 1570. | 1599. | 1565. | 1583. ! - A son. COUNT FEDERIGO = VIRGINIA = FERDINANDO ORSINI, ! LUCREZIA D'ESTE, = FRANCESCO MARIA II., = LIVIA DELLA ROVERE, ISABELLA = BERN. DI S. LAVINIA = ALFONSO ! - BORROMEO, S.P. Duke of Gravina. ! d. of Ercole II., | DUKE OF URBINO, | d. of Marquis of S. SEVERINO, d. 1632. D'AVALOS, ! - brother of ! Duke of Ferrara, | b. 1549 + 1631. | Lorenzo, b. 1585. Prince of Marq. of ! - S. Carlo. ! b. 1536, | | Basignano. Pescara. ! - ! d. 1598. S.P. | ! - _________________________________________________! | _________________________________________! - | | | | | - | { 1. COUNT ANTONIO A daughter = SIGNOR GUIDOBALDO | IPPOLITO, Marq. = ISABELLA VITELLI GIULIANO, - A daughter = { LANDRIANO. RENIER. | of S. Lorenzo. | DELL'AMATRICE. Abbot of - { 2. SIGNOR P. ANTONIO | | S. Lorenzo. - { DA LUNA. | ______________________________|__________ - | | | 1599. | - _______________________________________________| GIULIO. LIVIA, = FRANCESCO MARIA II., LUCREZIA = MARCANTONIO, - | 1621. b. 1585. DUKE OF URBINO. Marq. Lante. - FEDERIGO-UBALDO, = CLAUDIA DE' MEDICI, = ARCHDUKE LEOPOLD - b. 1605, d. 1623. | b. 1606, d. of of Austria. - | Ferdinand I., - | Grand Duke of - | of Florence. - | - | 1637. - VITTORIA, = FERDINAND II., Grand - b. 1622, {S} Duke of Florence, - d. 1694. b. 1630, d. 1670. - - - - -DESCENT OF THE MEDICI, as connected with URBINO. - -_From Les Geneaologies Souveraines._ - - - GIOVANNI DE' MEDICI - 5th from Lippo de' M. of - Florence who d. 1258, - d. 1428. - | - _____|_____________________ - | | - COSIMO DE' M., = CONTESINA LORENZO DE' M., = GINEVRA - _Pater Patriae_, | DE' BARDI. d. 1440. | CAVALCANTI. - d. 1464. | | - | | - PIETRO DE' M., = LUCREZIA PIER-FRANCESCO = LAUDAMIA - d. 1472. | TORNABONI. DE' M., | ACCIAJOLI. - | d. 1477. |__________________________________________________ - ______________________|__________________________ | - | | | | - LORENZO DE' M., = CLARICE BIANCA = GUGLIELMO GIULIANO | - _the Magnificent_, | ORSINI. DE' PAZZI. DE' M., | - d. 1492. | d. 1478. | - | ! | - | GIULIO DE' M., | - | CLEMENT VII., | - | d. 1535. | - _______________|_____________________________________________________________ | - | | | | | - PIETRO DE' M., = ALFONSINA GIOVANNI DE' M., GIULIANO DE' M., = FILIBERTA, MADDALENA = FRANCESCO CIBO, | - d. 1504. | ORSINI. LEO X., d. 1521. _the Magnificent_, of Savoy. Count of | - | Duke de Nemours, Anguillara. | - | d. 1516. | - LORENZO DE' M., = MADELEINE ! _________________________________________| - Duke of Urbino, | DE LA TOUR. ! | - d. 1519. | IPPOLITO DE' M., | - ! | Cardinal, | - ! | d. 1535. | - ! | | - ! CATERINA DE' M., = HENRY II. | - ! d. 1589. of France. | - ! | - ALESSANDRO DE' M., = MARGARETTA OF AUSTRIA, | - Duke of Florence, bastard of Charles V. | - d. 1537. | - ____________________________________________________________| - | - GIOVANNI GIORDANO = CATERINA RIARIO SFORZA, - DE' M. | of Imola. - | - GIOVANNI DE' M., = MARIA SALVIATI. - _delle bande nere_, | - d. 1526. | - | - COSIMO I. DE' M., = ELEONORA DI TOLEDO. - GRAND DUKE | - OF FLORENCE, | - d. 1574. | - | - _____________________|_____________ - | | - JOANNA, of = FRANCESCO MARIA DE' M., = BIANCA FERDINAND II. DE' M., = CHRISTINE - Austria. GRAND DUKE OF FLORENCE, CAPELLO. GRAND DUKE OF FLORENCE, | DE LORAINE. - d. 1587. d. 1608. | - _______________________________________________________________| - | 1 | 2 - COSIMO II. DE' M., = MARIA MADDALENA, FEDERIGO, Prince = CLAUDIA = ARCHDUKE LEOPOLD, - GRAND DUKE OF of Austria. of Urbino, | of Austria. - FLORENCE, d. 1621. d. 1623. | - | - FERDINAND II. DE' MEDICI, = VITTORIA DELLA ROVERE, - GRAND DUKE OF FLORENCE, {S} Princess of Urbino. - d. 1670. - - - - -DESCENT OF THE COLONNA, as connected with URBINO. - - - AGAPITO, eleventh in descent = CATERINA CONTI. - from Pietro Colonna, | - who lived in 1100. | - ____________________|_________ - | | - ODDO, elected MARTIN V. LORENZO ONOFRIO = SUEVA GAETANI - in 1407, d. 1431. | DA FONDI. - ____________________________________________|_________________ - | | | - ODOARDO, Duke = FILIPPA CONTI. ANTONIO, Duke of = IMPERIALE CATERINA = GUIDANTONIO, - of Marsi. | Paliano, d. 1471. | COLONNA. d. 1438. {S} Count of - | | Urbino. - __________|______ | - | | | - LORENZO ODDONE, FABRIZIO, Grand = AGNESE DI | - d. 1484. Constable of | MONTEFELTRO, | - | Naples, d. 1520. | d. 1522. | - | ! | | - MUZIO, ! | | - d. 1516. SCIARRA. | | - | | - ______________________________| |_______ - | | | - ASCANIO, Grand = GIOVANNA VITTORIA, = FERDINANDO, | - Constable of {S} D'ARAGONA, b. 1490, Fr. Marquis | - Naples, claimant natural d. 1548. of Pescara, | - of Urbino, branch of d. 1525. | - d. 1557. the Crown | - of Naples. | - ______________________________________________________| - | | | | - GIROLAMO = VITTORIA CARDINAL PIER = BERNARDINA PROSPERO, - | CONTI. GIOVANNI, ANTONIO. | CONTI. d. 1523. - | d. 1508. |____ - _____|_________________________ | - | | | | | - CARDINAL OTTAVIANO. MARCELLO. GIULIO. MARC ANTONIO = LUCREZIA - POMPEO, | | GARA DELLA - d. 1532. | | ROVERE. - | | - MARZIO, OTTAVIA = SIGISMONDO - d. 1546. 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