they are a mine of other men's opinions, and of his own numerous original inventions. (100) MUZIO. GIROLAMO MUZIO is better known in Italy as a poet than as a divine, though his writings in defence of the established church are numerous and excellent. They have brought him more reputation than profit, for his condition at Padua, his birth place, is generally very indigent. Nor have the Muses been much more liberal to him. He often declares that he who wishes to obtain any other reward than honor, must be born in a happier age than the present, and he who, in following the Muses, objects to the poverty and nakedness of their appearance, had better quit Parnassus. Muzio is one of the most intolerant and one of the most licentious of men, and while he denies liberty of religion to others, he indulges himself in every variety of love. He is both a Platonist and a sensualist, and sometimes writes like Petrarca and at other times like Aretino. Tullia of Arragon, who always loved to have men of letters in her chains, was one of his mistresses. In complimenting the ladies he did not forget his own literary merits. He modestly tells a woman that she can make him happy, and that it is in his power to immortalize her by his pen : Raro ben, raro onor d'ambidue noi ! Muzio's sonnets appear to proceed from a mind rich in poetical ideas, but the images are often extravagant, and the language is spoiled by conceits. These faults are remarkable, for Muzio is a man of exquisite taste. His treatise on the art of poetry is a very elegant work, full of judicious precepts, and harmonious versification. Much of it is general criticism, but the third part relates entirely to Italian poetry. It is singular that while he praises Ariosto's dramatic genius, he impliedly denies him all epic merit. Nobody, he says, has in these times sounded in a noble strain the trumpet of Mars. Those who have tried it, seem only to have aimed to please women and the people. He likewise takes an opportunity of commending Homer, for having at the commencement of the Iliad, announced only the wrath of Achilles, and at the commencement of the Odyssey, the woes and the return of Ulysses, although he embraces in these two poems an immensity of other objects. But there are some, he adds, who are not satisfied unless they announce one by one, the ladies, the knights, the battles, the loves, and all the other matters of which they intend to speak. Surely this is a sarcasm on the initiatory lines of the Orlando Furioso? (101) THE FINE ARTS. PADUA is not so famous for the fine arts as for the graver sciences. She cannot boast of much native talent in painting or sculpture. The genius of the Venetian masters appears in great splendour on the walls of her palaces and churches. The Paduans point to many an old faded picture as the work of Giotto, the Florentine, particularly in the hall of the public palace. They are extremely proud of an equestrian statue in bronze of Gattamelata, the Venetian general, by Donatello. It stands near the church which is dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua, who is called, per excellentiam, excellentiam, "Il Santo." drew from me the expression of praise, that the sight of the Marcus Aurelius has so often produced; "Charge then, do you not know that you are alive?" Within the church are some beautiful bassi relievi in bronze, by Donatello, (102) It The palace of the Carrara family is remarkable for a clock, that was placed on it about the year 1345, and which was regarded as the wonder of the age. Besides the hours, it marks the annual course of the sun, according to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, the course of the planets, the phases of the moon, the months, and even the annual festivals. The artist was Giacopo Dondi, whose father made a clock more simple in its qualities. The word Horologius has ever since distinguished the maker's family, and sometimes their original appellation has been dropped. Those two clocks, moved by wheels and not by water, preceded all others that have been set up for public use and convenience in Italy. About the eleventh century, the water clocks of the ancients gave place in the monasteries, to more accurate time-keepers, formed of wheels and weights, but the art did not emerge from the cloister till the time I have mentioned. CHAPTER XI. VICENZA.-VERONA.-MANTUA.— CREMONA.-GENOA.-MILAN. Trissino.-Eminent Latin Poets.- Fracastoro. Cotta. Flaminio. Maccaronic Verses.- Lucretia Gonzaga. Italian Novelists. Matteo Bandello. Sacchetti. -Ser Giovanni. Masuccio. Bembo's Azollani. Molza and Cinthio. Erizzo. Parabosco. State of -- Painting at Mantua-and at Cremona. Letters and Art at Genoa. Literary History of Milan. - Account of Lionardo da Vinci. |