JULIANUS MEDICES EXIMIÆ VIRTUTIS ET PROBITATIS ERGO SUMMIS A POP. ROM. HONORIBUS DECORATUR, RENOVATA SPECIE ANTIQUÆ DIGNITATIS AC LÆTITIÆ.
In the other niche, corresponding to the first statue, and, like it, standing and in armour, was seen the statue of Lorenzo the Younger, Duke of Urbino, with a sword in the hand; and in the little picture above him he had the portrait of his father Piero, and in the other picture the scene when the general's baton was given to him with such happy augury by his native Florence, likewise with an inscription to explain it, which said:
LAURENTIUS MED. JUNIOR MAXIMA INVICTÆ VIRTUTIS INDOLE, SUMMUM IN RE MILITARI IMPERIUM MAXIMO SUORUM CIVIUM AMORE ET SPE ADIPISCITUR.
Of the Canto alla Paglia.
At the corner which from the straw that is constantly sold there is called the Canto alla Paglia, there was made another arch of great beauty and not less rich and imposing than any of the others. Now it may perchance appear to some, for the reason that all or the greater part of those ornaments have been extolled by us as in the highest rank of beauty and excellence of artistry, pomp, and richness, that this has been done by reason of a certain manner of writing inclined to overmuch praise and exaggeration. But everyone may take it as very certain that those works, besides leaving a long way behind them all things of that kind as were ever executed in that city, and perhaps in any other place, were also such, and ordained with such grandeur, magnificence, and liberality by those magnanimous Lords, and executed in such a manner by the craftsmen, that they surpassed by a great measure every expectation, and took away from no matter what writer all force and power to attain with the pen to the excellence of the reality.
Now, to return, I say that in that place—in that part, namely, where the street that leads from the Archbishop's Palace into the Borgo S. Lorenzo, dividing the above-named Strada della Paglia, forms a perfect crossing of the ways, was made the ornament already mentioned, much after the likeness of the ancient four-fronted Temple of Janus; and, for the reason that from there the Cathedral Church could be seen, it was ordained by those truly religious Princes that it should be dedicated to sacrosanct Religion, in which how eminent all Tuscany, and Florence in particular, has been at all times, I do not believe that it is necessary for me to take much pains to demonstrate. And therein the intention was that since Florence had brought with her, as was told at the beginning, as her handmaids and companions, to give the first welcome to the new bride, some of the virtues or attributes that had raised her to greatness, and in which she could well vaunt herself, the intention, I say, was to show that there also, for a no less necessary office, she had left Religion, that she, awaiting the bride, might in a certain manner introduce her into the vast and most ornate church so near at hand. That arch, then, which was in a very broad street, as has been told, was seen formed of four very ornate façades, the first of which presented itself to the eyes of one going in the direction of the Carnesecchi, and another, following the limb of the cross, faced towards S. Giovanni and the Duomo of S. Maria del Fiore, leaving two other façades on the cross-limb of the cross, one of which looked towards S. Lorenzo and the other towards the Archbishop's Palace. And now, to describe in order and with as much clearness as may be possible the composition and the beauty of the whole, I say—beginning again with the front part, to which that at the back was wholly similar in the composition of the ornaments, without failing in any point—that in the centre of the wide street was seen the very broad entrance of the arch, which rose to a beautifully proportioned height, and on either side of it were seen two immense niches bordered by two similar Corinthian columns, all painted with sacred books, mitres, thuribles, chalices, and other sacerdotal instruments, in place of trophies and spoils. Above these, and above the regular cornices and friezes, which projected somewhat further outwards than those which came over the arch in the centre, but were exactly equal to them in height, was seen another cornice, as of a door or window, curving between the one column and the other in a quarter-round, which, seeming to form a separate niche, made an effect as graceful and lovely as could well be imagined. Above that last cornice, then, rose a frieze of a height and magnificence in accord with the proportions of so great a beginning, with certain great consoles, carved and overlaid with gold, which came exactly in perpendicular lines with the columns already described; and upon them rested another magnificent and very ornate cornice, with four very large candelabra likewise overlaid with gold and, like all the columns, bases, capitals, cornices, architraves, and every other thing, picked out with various carvings and colours, and also standing in line with the great consoles and the columns above described. Now in the centre, springing above the said consoles, two cornices were seen rising, and little by little forming an angle, and finally uniting as a frontispiece, over which, upon a very rich and beautiful base, was seated an immense statue with a Cross in the hand, representing the most holy Christian Religion, at whose feet, one on either side of her, were seen two other similar statues which seemed to be lying upon the cornice of the above-named frontispiece, one of which, that on the right hand, with three children about her, represented Charity, and the other Hope. Then in the space, or, to speak more precisely, in the angle of the frontispiece, there was seen as the principal device of that arch the ancient Labarum with the Cross, and with the motto, IN HOC VINCES, sent to Constantine; beneath which was seen set with beautiful grace a very large escutcheon of the Medici with three Papal crowns, in keeping with the idea of Religion, for the three Pontiffs whom she has had from that house. And on the first level cornice, on either side, was seen a statue corresponding to the niche already described which came between the two columns; one of which, that on the right hand, was a most beautiful young woman in full armour, with the spear and shield, such as Minerva used to be represented in ancient times, save that in place of the head of Medusa there was seen a great red cross on her breast, which caused her to be recognized with ease as the new Order of S. Stephen, founded so devoutly by our glorious and magnanimous Duke. The other on the left hand was seen all adorned with sacerdotal and civil vestments in place of arms, and with a great cross in the hand in place of a spear; and these, towering over the whole structure in most beautiful accord with the others, made a very imposing and marvellous effect. Next, in the frieze that came between that last cornice and the architrave that rested upon the columns, where according to the order of the composition there came three compartments, were seen painted the three kinds of true religion that have been from the creation of the world down to the present day. In the first of these, which came on the right hand beneath the armed statue, was seen painted that kind of religion which reigned in the time of natural law, in those few who had it true and good, although they had not a perfect knowledge of God, wherefore there was seen figured Melchizedek offering bread and wine and other fruits of the earth. Even so, in the picture on the left hand, which came in like manner beneath the statue of peaceful Religion, was seen the other religion, ordained by God through the hands of Moses, and more perfect than the first, but all so veiled with images and figures, that these did not permit the final and perfect clearness of Divine worship to be fully revealed; to signify which there were seen Moses and Aaron sacrificing the Paschal Lamb to God. But in the central picture, which came exactly beneath the large and above-described statues of Religion, Charity, and Hope, and over the principal arch, and which in proportion with the greater space was much larger, there was seen figured an altar, and upon it a Chalice with the Host, which is the true and evangelic Sacrifice; about which were seen some figures kneeling, and over it a Holy Spirit in the midst of many little Angels, who were holding in their hands a scroll in which was written, IN SPIRITU ET VERITATE; so that it appeared that they were repeating those words in song, Spiritus meaning all that concerns the sacrifice natural and corporeal, and Veritas all that appertains to the legal; which was all by way of image and figure. Beneath the whole scene was a most beautiful inscription, which, supported by two other Angels, rested on the cornice of the central arch, saying:
VERÆ RELIGIONI, QUÆ VIRTUTUM OMNIUM FUNDAMENTUM, PUBLICARUM RERUM FIRMAMENTUM, PRIVATARUM ORNAMENTUM, ET HUMANÆ TOTIUS VITÆ LUMEN CONTINET, ETRURIA SEMPER DUX ET MAGISTRA ILLIUS HABITA, ET EADEM NUNC ANTIQUA ET SUA PROPRIA LAUDE MAXIME FLORENS, LIBENTISSIME CONSECRAVIT.
But coming to the lower part, and returning to the niche which came on the right hand, between the two columns and beneath the armed Religion, and which, although in painting, by reason of the chiaroscuro appeared as if in relief; there, I say, was seen the statue of our present most pious Duke in the habit of a Knight of S. Stephen, with the cross in his hand, and with the following inscription, which had the appearance of real carving, over his head and above the niche, saying:
COSMUS MEDIC. FLOREN. ET SENAR. DUX II, SACRAM D. STEPHANI MILITIAM CHRISTIANÆ PIETATIS ET BELLICÆ VIRTUTIS DOMICILIUM FUNDAVIT, ANNO MDLXI.
Even as on the base of the same niche, between the two pedestals of the columns, which were fashioned in the Corinthian proportions, there was seen painted the Taking of Damiata, achieved by the prowess of the valiant knights of Florence; as it were auguring for those his new knights similar glory and valour. And in the lunette or semi-circle which came above the two columns, there was seen his private and particular escutcheon of balls, which, by the red cross that was added to it with beautiful grace, made it clearly manifest that it was that of the Grand Master and Chief of the Order.