[A very finely-formed head, from the figure in the Piazza San Lorenzo, Florence.]
191. Francesco Pico della Mirandola.
[Died, 1321.]
A gentleman of Modena, at the head of the Ghibelline faction, in fighting whose battles with the Guelphs he passed his life. In 1312, he filled the office of Podestà of Modena, but was expelled from the city the very same year by the Guelph party. Returning, he sold his authority for 50,000 florins to Bonacossi, Lord of Mantua, and retired to his estates at Mirandola, whither Bonacossi followed him, assassinated him and his two sons, and made off with the purchase money.
[From a terracotta in the Berlin Museum. A youthful portrait.]
192. François Eugène of Savoy, called Prince Eugène. Military Commander.
[Born in Paris, 1663. Died at Vienna, 1736. Aged 73.]
One of the world’s great and successful generals. The great-grandson of Emanuel, Duke of Savoy, his mother being niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Refused a regiment by Louis XIV., he offered his services to the flag of Austria, and fought as a volunteer for the Emperor against the Turks. The deeds of the young soldier caused Louis XIV. to repent of his former refusal, but the most tempting offers came in vain to Eugene. He took part with Marlborough in all his great victories in the Low Countries, expelled the French from Italy, and overthrew the Turks, from whom he took the city of Belgrade. His renown at the peace of 1718, when he retired from active service, stood as high as any soldier’s of the age. In retirement Prince Eugene cultivated literature and the arts. His services had extended through the reigns of three Emperors, and he fought with almost unvarying success. He was ambitious of glory, and of nothing else. He was never married. He invented no system of military tactics, and he followed none. He had the faculty of discerning the right thing to do at the right time, and of arranging his plans quickly and ably in conformity with the circumstances by which he was surrounded. His mind once made up, his intrepidity was boundless. He was rigid in disposition; his figure was well made, though not tall; his eye was black and piercing, and his complexion dark.
[A fine portrait statue by Canigia, a Piedmontese sculptor lately dead.]