Ominibus faustis et lætor imagine rerum,
Virginis aspectu Cæsareæque fruor.
Hæ nostræ insignes urbes, hæc oppida et agri,
Hæc tua sunt; illis tu dare jura potes.
Audis ut resonet lætis clamoribus æther,
Et plausu et ludis Austria cuncta fremat?
Of the Ponte alla Carraia.
And to the end that the splendid nuptials might be celebrated with all the most favourable auspices, at the Palazzo de' Ricasoli, which, as everyone knows, is situated at the beginning of the Ponte alla Carraia, there was erected in the Doric Order of composition the third ornament, dedicated to Hymen, their God; and this consisted—in addition to a head-piece of singular beauty, on which the eyes of all who came through Borg' Ognissanti feasted with marvellous delight—of two very lofty and most magnificent portals, between which it stood, and over one of these, which gave access to those passing into the street called La Vigna, was placed with much judgment the statue of Venus Genetrix, perhaps alluding to the House of the Cæsars, which had its origin from Venus, or perchance auguring generation and fecundity for the bridal pair; with a motto taken from the Epithalamium of Theocritus, saying:
Κύπρις δὲ, Θεὰ Κύπρις, ἶσον ἔρασθαι ἀλλάλων.
And over the other, giving access along the bank of the Arno, through which the procession passed, was the statue of the Nurse Latona, perchance to ward off sterility or the jealous interference of Juno, and likewise with a motto that ran:
Δατὼ μὲν δοίη, Δατὼ κουροτρόφος ὔμμιν εὐτεκνίαν.
As a complement to these, executed with singular artistry, upon a great base attached to one of the portals, there was seen on one side, as it were newly issued from the water, and in the form of a most beautiful giant with a garland of lilies, the River Arno, who, as if he wished to give an example of nuptial bliss, was locked in embrace with his Sieve, who had likewise a garland of leaves and apples; which apples, alluding to the balls of the Medici, of which they were the origin, would have been rosy, if the colour had been in keeping with the white marble. And Arno, all rejoicing, was shown speaking to his new Lady in the manner expressed by the following verses:
In mare nunc auro flaventes Arnus arenas
Volvam, atque argento purior unda fluet.
Etruscos nunc invictis comitantibus armis
Cæsareis, tollam sidera ad alta caput.
Nunc mihi fama etiam Tibrim fulgoreque rerum
Tantarum longe vincere fata dabunt.
And on the other side, as a complement to Arno, on a similar base attached in a similar way to the other portal (the two being turned, as it were, like wings one towards the other), and almost in the same form, were seen the Danube and the Drava likewise in a close embrace, and, even as the others had the Lion, so they had the Eagle as emblem and support; and these, crowned also with roses and with a thousand varieties of little flowers, were shown speaking to Florence, even as the others were speaking to themselves, the following verses:
Quamvis Flora tuis celeberrima finibus errem,
Sum septemgeminus Danubiusque ferox;
Virginis Augustæ comes, et vestigia lustro,
Ut reor, et si quod flumina numen habent,
Conjugium faustum et fœcundum et Nestoris annos,
Tuscorum et late nuntio regna tibi.