ladyAlinariA LADY OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
lady
Alinari
A LADY OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
But enough of this gossip: the reader of theCortegiano, 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 fourthÆneid, 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 ofTirsis, 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]
CastiglioneRaffaele pinx.L. Ceroni sculp.COUNT BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE.From a picture in the Torlonia Gallery, Rome
Castiglione
Raffaele pinx.L. Ceroni sculp.
COUNT BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE.
From a picture in the Torlonia Gallery, Rome
FromCastiglione, in Lombardy, sprang the ancestryofCount 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 inThe Vision,—
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.
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 Forlì, 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 inII. 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, andsustaining 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:—
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.
hairAlinariHAIR DRESSING IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURYDetail from the fresco by Pisanello in S. Anastasia of Verona
hair
Alinari
HAIR DRESSING IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
Detail from the fresco by Pisanello in S. Anastasia of Verona
In theCortegianoof 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. Withall 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' Mediciwas 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 toaccept 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.
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 wasCesare 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 ofTirsisalready 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.
The brothersOttavianoandFederigo Fregosowere 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 defendingS. 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 theCortegiano"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 eyeof 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 dayrests 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 inyou, 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."
"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 inyou, 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."
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 Abbé, and the morals of their time combine to justify suspicion, where proofs can hardly be looked for.[*45]
BemboAnon. des.L. Ceroni sculp.CARDINAL BEMBOFrom a drawing once in the possession of Cavaliere Agricola in Rome
Bembo
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.
In 1505 Bembo repaired to Urbino, and sojourned chiefly at that court during the next six years, where hisvaried 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 asidepoetry, literature, and pagan idioms, and, devoting himself to theological studies, at which he had formerly sneered in the habit of an abbé, 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 brotherBernardo. 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
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 asCardinal 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 theCalandra,[*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 ourtwenty-fifth chapter. Those who regard the pontificate of Leo X. as the classicperiod 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.
His personal beauty obtained for him the adjunct ofbelBernardo, and he is represented in theCortegianoas 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 theAccoltifamily 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 pleasingimpression on the reader. The mystery seems explained by a supposition that his talent lay in extemporary declamation.
Instances are far from uncommon in Italy, of similar effects produced by theimprovisatori, 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 theCortegiano. 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 ofCanossa.[*49]A younger son of the family wasCount 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 residenceat 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 theCalandra, at Urbino.
Alessandro Trivulziowas 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.
Emilia Pia—TheCortegiano—Death of Duke Guidobaldo, succeeded by Francesco Maria della Rovere.
Emilia Pia—TheCortegiano—Death of Duke Guidobaldo, succeeded by Francesco Maria della Rovere.
SUCH were the eminent men, with whom Guidobaldo is described in theCortegianoas 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.