Читать книгу Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino - Dennistoun James - Страница 17

Table of Contents

Count Federigo’s home administration and court—Description of his palace and library at Urbino—His other palaces—The resources of his state.

The three years and a half which had now passed since the Count's marriage had been spent by him almost entirely in active service. During his long absences, the state was in a great measure administered by Countess Battista, who, notwithstanding her youth, is said to have held the reins of government with admirable firmness and good sense, as well as with a leniency and gentleness which conciliated universal popularity.¹¹⁴ The remainder of his life had a more peaceful destiny, for not only was his almost domestic foe Malatesta now reduced to harmless insignificance, but Italy enjoyed comparative respite from her normal condition of unceasing strife. We are assured that Federigo turned to excellent account the opportunities this afforded for attending to the internal affairs of the duchy, and ameliorating the position of his people. But his biographers, deeming these objects much less momentous than his military exploits, have unfortunately left us almost in the dark regarding occupations and measures so infinitely more important, as distinguishing his views from those of his age and order. Of the laws which he promulgated, the manner of enacting and administering them, the organisation and exercise of justice, the operation and limits of popular rights, the extent and value of municipal suffrages, the system of taxation and finance, the tendency and usage of trade, the statistics of the duchy, the internal condition and well-being of the people, we scarcely obtain a hint from those who prolixly dwell upon battle-fields, detail sieges, and trace countermarches, few of which offer variety of tactics or interesting results. Neither are manuscript authorities in this respect more useful than the published memoirs, for most of those we have seen are adulatory compositions, occupied only with matter calculated to enhance our appreciation of their hero as a successful general or patron of letters, but utterly neglecting the internal policy of his government. The peculiar quality of his mind unquestionably was that strict observance of good faith, a total absence of which is the fatal characteristic, the indelible stain of his age. There is thus every reason to believe that the conditions imposed upon him at his succession in 1443 would be rigidly fulfilled, and we have discovered no complaint ever made against him of their non-observance. They provide, according to the lights then enjoyed, for a popular election and control of magistrates, reduction of burdens, fiscal reforms, public education, and medical aid, restrictions on the prerogative in so far as it sheltered abuses—and it is obvious that, if carried out in their true spirit, they must have offered no mean guarantees against such tyranny as the recent historian of the Ausonian Republics has sweepingly charged upon all mediæval dynasties.

A. Nini, del. A. Marchetti, sculp.

URBINO

From an original drawing by Agostino Nini of Bologna

The few notices of his government wherewith Baldi has favoured us savour of those minute and paternal attentions which ensure to a prince great personal popularity. He tells us that the Count commissioned certain persons called revisors to perambulate the state, and investigate the condition of the people. Among the matters specially committed to them were these: To inquire into the requirements of the religious houses; to ascertain where maidens of good reputation were unable from poverty to obtain husbands; to inform themselves secretly as to modest paupers; to learn what traders or shopkeepers were distressed by large families, debts, or any particular misadventure. In order to secure efficiency to this charitable espionage, these officers were privileged to pass at all times into the sovereign's presence, and it is said that a porter or groom of the chambers, who had rudely denied one of them access, was summarily punished by a public whipping. Following up this system, the Count, in his daily walks or rides, used to call to him the citizens individually, questioning as to their welfare and circumstances, or encouraging them in any enterprise or building they had undertaken. "But," continues the Abbot of Guastalla, "to such details we do not descend, as do some writers, overscrupulous about trifles; nor shall we tell how, on daily recurring occasions, he interfered to maintain the poor, to arrest litigation, to secure a pure administration of justice, to protect the honour of families, and to recompense his diligent servants. Still less do we collect his witty jests and pleasant sayings, as these are things far too petty and unbecoming the gravity of history, besides which, they all or most of them live in the memory and mouths of the people. But since splendour is a virtue peculiar to great princes, we shall touch upon some circumstances regarding the nobleness, the numerical grandeur, and the magnificence of his court."¹¹⁵

This passage fairly represents the pervading spirit of Italian biographies and local histories, though probably containing a latent sneer from Baldi at the earlier work of Muzio, whose "petty details," with those scantily supplied by Vespasiano, will be greedily gathered in a future page of this volume. Little deemed the reverend pedant how independent the historic muse would become of the stilts on which he, and many of his contemporaries, so unfortunately elevated her, or how infinitely posterity would have preferred his despised omissions to his solemn prosings! Nor is this our only complaint. His illustrations of the Urbino court, thus magniloquently ushered, consist of a dull catalogue of twelve or fifteen noble names, ending with an apology for such trespass on his reader's patience, and a reference to some unpublished manuscript for details. This excuse is offered after devoting six pages, out of eight hundred, to the home interests and adminstrations of his hero. In supplement to these unsatisfactory allusions, we have recourse to such MSS. as detail the establishment which gained for Federigo's court the high reputation it enjoyed as a model of princely taste and munificence. Its constitution may be seen at a glance, from this minute return of its members, by one of their number.¹¹⁶

Counts of the duchy, and from other states	45
Knights of the Golden Spur	5
Gentlemen	17
Judges and councillors	2
Ambassadors and secretaries [at Naples, Rome, Florence, Milan, and Siena]	7
Secretaries of state	5
Clerks in chancery [or public offices]	14
Teachers of grammar, logic, and philosophy [including Maestro Paolo, astrologer, and Gian Maria Filelfo]	4
Architects and engineers [Luziano, Francesco di Giorgio, Pipo the Florentine, Fra Carnevale, and Sirro of Casteldurante]	5
Readers during meals	5
Transcribers of MSS. for library [besides many abroad]	4
Chaplains	2
Choristers of the chapel	3
Singing boys	5
Organists	2
Workers in tapestry	5
Dancing-masters for the pages	2
Dancing-masters	2
Apothecary	1
Master of the palace keys	1
Chamberlain	1
Master of the household	1
Treasurer	1
Chamber attendants	5
Pages	22
Carvers and sewers	3
Stewards of the buttery	4
Storekeepers	2
Purveyors	3
Grooms of the chamber	19
Table waiters	19
Footmen	31
Cooks	5
Various menial servants	8
Masters of horse and purveyors of the stable	5
Servants under them	50
Keeper of the bloodhounds	1
Keeper of the camel-leopard	1
	`````
Total household of the Duke	317
Captains in constant pay	4
Colonels of infantry	3
Trumpeters	6
Drummers	2
Master-armourers	3

HOUSEHOLD OF COUNTESS BATTISTA AND HER CHILDREN.

Ladies in waiting	7
[After the Duchess's death, Madonna Pantasilea Baglione, sister of Brozo Baglione of Perugia, was made governess to the Princesses.]
A great many female attendants.
Elderly and staid gentlemen	6
Servants of Prince Guidobaldo when a child	7
	`````
Total establishment, so far as enumerated	355

In this list may be detected obvious omissions, such as almoner, librarians, heralds, &c., and it would be much increased by adding servants of the noblemen entertained at his court. Music appears only in the establishments of the chapel and of the guard, but in 1473, the Count was visited by Martino and Giorgio, two German lute-players, to whom he gave letters of recommendation on their departure for Siena.

The contemporary notice by Vespasiano affords us some standard of the qualities of this court, which, not less than the martial prowess and intellectual superiority of its Montefeltrian princes, constituted the glory of Urbino. "His household was regulated much in the manner of a religious establishment, and the five hundred mouths which it contained lived with almost monastic regularity. There were no mess-table manners there, no gambling nor blasphemous language, and all expressed themselves with the utmost moderation. The Prince having been entrusted by several personages of high station with their sons, to be instructed in military service, he, with good regard also for their good breeding, placed them in charge of a gentleman from Lombardy of distinguished manners, long resident at his court [probably Odasio], who exercised over these youths a paternal sway, gaining their respectful deference, and correcting their little errors, until an exemplary carriage became habitual to them." Thus, too, Muzio: "Federigo maintained a suite so numerous and distinguished as to rival any royal household. For not only did the most distinguished chivalry resort to him as the first of Italian soldiers, but thither were sent youths of the highest rank, to be reared under his discipline, as to the most select of schools. And among the many personages who thus frequented his court were Giovanni della Rovere, Giulio and Francesco Orsini, Girolamo and Pier Antonio Colonna, Ranuccio and Angelo Farnese, Andrea Doria, and Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, with others of equal eminence. Attended by these, and by a concourse of gentlemen and servants, as well as by a crowd of citizens, he generally on festivals went to mass in procession, making a round of the great churches in their turn. And, on his return home, he would keep the burghers about him for a little in gracious conversation, or calling for his dispatches, communicated portions before kindly dismissing them."

Alinari

THE FLAGELLATION

After the picture by Piero della Francesco, in the Sacristy of the Duomo, Urbino.

Supposed portraits of Duke Federigo and Caterino Zeno

One of the manuscripts just cited, which is entitled "Regulations and Offices for the Court of the most serene Lord Duke of Urbino," after insisting on a rigid observance of rules to be enforced by the master of the household, imposes upon that functionary an obligation to inform his lord privately of the arrival and quality of all strangers, that he might regulate the degree of hospitality to be extended to them. This was of three grades. Personages of the highest rank were received and lodged in the palace; those of less distinction in a separate building, attended on by the Prince's household; for a third class an inn was provided, where they were lodged at his cost, and at a fixed rate per head.¹¹⁷ The liberal hospitalities of the court are thus mentioned by its chronicler Sanzi:—

"Nor ought we to omit the greetings kind

And gracious, which with princely courtesy

He gave to coming strangers, ne'er before

Welcomed with gentler words, or phrase more cordial,

His aspect cheerful and his carriage plain.

Glorious was he in all things, but unmatched

In hospitality; for never guest

Arrived, such noble treatment hoping for,

Or went his way without a lingering look

Of friendly admiration."

His wide-spreading military renown, and the honourable reception thus accorded them, attracted visitors from all quarters, until Urbino attained that reputation as the resort of numerous celebrities which in the next generation rendered its little court a model to Europe, and which it never entirely lost while its independence lasted. But this concourse of guests, and the additional importance conferred upon the principality by considerable territorial aggrandisements, rendered a new palace necessary. Baldi mentions it as commenced about this time: Sanzi tells us it was undertaken to divert Federigo's grief for the death of his Countess in 1472; whilst Lazzari and the anonymous author of the Memoir regarding the devolution of the duchy to the Church in 1631 note 1454 as the date of its foundation. In truth, it was, like many great edifices in Italy, slowly progressive, spreading over several generations, and finally left unfinished. The same may be said of several other buildings promoted by the Count during his intervals of leisure, such as the palaces of Gubbio and Fossombrone, and the cathedral of Urbino; and it may be convenient in this place to notice those creations which are prominently set forth among the glories of his reign.

* * * * *

Of the three roads by which Urbino is approached, that on the south-west, leading from Tuscany, gives the most favourable view of the city, which is faithfully rendered on our frontispiece. The central mass of building, beautifully relieved by a stately spire-capped tower on either side of the grand entrance, and stretching backwards to the domed cathedral, is the palace which we are now to describe. The numerous accounts of it, repeated from one copyist to another in somewhat over-strained panegyric, have spread its fame throughout Italy, and the folio volume printed in 1724, at the expense of Cardinal Annibale Albani, was got up with an elaboration unusual in that age, but with the tasteless dulness which then pervaded literary and artistic efforts in Italy. The Abbate Pungileone has added little of importance by his tediously told investigations, and other local antiquaries have scarcely been more successful.¹¹⁸

In absence of further evidence, we may accept the doubtful testimony already quoted, that the palace was begun in 1454,^*119 but we must briefly refute the misstatement of Vasari, that its architect was Francesco di Giorgio. In our twenty-seventh chapter, we shall have occasion to notice much new matter regarding that artist, which recent inquiries have detected, and to show the nature and extent of his engineering labours in the service of the Montefeltrian princes. It appears that the palace at Urbino, usually ascribed to his design, was commenced by an architect whose name, almost overlooked by Italian writers, is preserved by Giovanni Sanzi. The motive imputed by the poet to his master in this great work is as follows:—

"Knowing how admirable and how grand

By every people, every age, are deemed

Time-honoured fabrics, and that active life

No higher aim can follow."

And he goes on to inform us that

"The architect, set over all the rest,

Was Lutian Lauranna, whose bright name

Survives in excellence the knell of death.

His apt and lofty genius ruled the work,

With the Count's sanction, for no prince possessed

A sounder judgment or a will more prompt."

The name of this artist was Luziano, son of Martini of Lovranna and Jadia in Dalmatia, and we owe to Pungileone an interesting patent in his favour, granted by Count Federigo at Pavia, on the 10th of June, 1468, in these terms:—

"Whereas, we, deeming those men to be worthy of distinction and preference who are gifted with such genius and talent as have been in all ages esteemed, especially for architecture founded upon arithmetic and geometry, which, as foremost among the seven liberal arts, and as depending upon exact science, require profound knowledge and great ability, and are therefore highly appreciated by us; and whereas, we, having sought everywhere, but particularly in Tuscany, the fountain of architects, without finding any one really versant and skilful in that profession, and having lately heard by report, and since ascertained by full experience, the learning and attainments of the distinguished Messer Lutiano, bearer hereof; and, further, we, having resolved to erect in our city of Urbino a fair residence, in all respects befitting the rank and reputation of our predecessors and ourselves—have, for these causes, selected the said Messer Lutiano as engineer and chief of all those employed upon that fabric, in building, hewing, woodwork," &c. &c. The deed goes on to enjoin upon all the workmen implicit obedience to his orders, and to authorise his entire control over them, and over the funds destined for the palace.¹²⁰

Although the date of this patent may appear inconsistent with that already adopted for the foundation of the Corte, as this residence was usually called, it is clear, from other documents printed along with it, that operations were already considerably advanced under the superintendence of Luziano. In the preceding year we find him designed the Count's engineer, acting as a sort of clerk of the works, and litigating with a builder from Como regarding measurements of masonry; indeed, he seems to have continued these duties until his death at Pesaro, soon after that of his patron, whose liberality enabled him to leave considerable property to his children.

The edifice thus commenced was carried on by Baccio Pontelli, a Florentine artist, who, though designing himself a carpenter, was much employed by Sixtus IV. to erect important fabrics in Rome. It is impossible now to decide whether he was at first assistant to Lauranna, or what portion of the Corte we owe to him, the entire credit of which seems claimed in a presumptuous epitaph, apparently of his own composition, which is given by Gaye.¹²¹ He was employed upon it in 1481, when applied to by Lorenzo de' Medici to furnish a design or plan of the already famous work, a request handsomely responded to by Federigo, in that almost oriental exaggeration of compliment still usual in Lower Italy, with the assurance that such a wish was a command, and that he only regretted being unable to send him the building itself, of which he might fully dispose. Baccio's letter mentions it as then at the fifth story, and that his drawing had been done from actual measurements, thus proving he had no access to the original plan—circumstances strongly presumptive that the design was not his, but that of Luziano, who lived till the following year. The praise bestowed by him on the carved ornaments and decorations render it probable that they had been under his peculiar charge. There is no evidence as to the length of Baccio's stay at Urbino, but he is said to have obtained the privileges of citizenship, and to have built the church of S. Bernardino and the castle of Sinigaglia.

Such are the architects whom recent investigations enable us to claim as authors of the palace at Urbino, which Vasari and many others have celebrated for the beauty and comfort of its internal arrangements, the magnificence of its saloons, the convenience of its imposing stairs; for its smiling chambers, its vast corridors, its airy porticoes and pleasant baths, its gilded doors and windows, its rich furniture, carpets, and brocades. The assertion of that writer, so often inaccurate as to Umbrian matters, ascribing its merit to Francesco di Giorgio, may now be considered as disposed of, notwithstanding the zeal with which his countrymen of Siena have reasserted his claims; but the lights lately thrown upon his performances by Promis of Turin, enable us to restore to him the credit of certain bellicose decorations, often imputed to Roberto Valturio, and which have attracted attention rather from their adaptation to the genius of Count Federigo than from their artistic value. They consist of a frieze of military machines, which Vasari mentions as painted in fresco, but which were carved in relief along the exterior basement of the palace: designs for most of these remain among the MSS. of Francesco, and they have been engraved and tediously explained in Bianchini's ponderous work. Their original object was no doubt to illustrate the pompous inscription which surrounds the great court in immense capitals.¹²² After being injured and scattered, they were again collected about a century ago, and arranged by Cardinal Stoppani along the corridor of the principal story. They are each about three feet by two, rudely representing seventy-two engines long since disused in war, and interesting only to the antiquary. Among the sculptors employed upon them, and similar architectural ornaments in the Corte, was Ambrogio Baroccio of Milan, great-grandfather of a painter as to whom we shall have much to say in our fifty-third chapter.

We need not weary our readers by minute descriptions of the palace, which, upon near approach, hardly realises the imposing effect of its site. The rugged and broken ground on which it stands has, in a great degree, marred that unity of plan which is essential to architectural grandeur and harmony, augmenting at the same time the difficulties of construction. Notwithstanding this drawback, and the rambling character which a portion of the building has consequently taken, there is much beauty in the façade of the great court, and in the unfinished elevation towards the cathedral, although the brickwork is but partially cased with stone. Barbaro, in his commentary upon Vitruvius, cites the grand stair as a model of beauty and convenience, and the corridors of the principal story (enriched, since 1756, with the museum of antique sculpture and inscriptions collected by Raffaele Fabretti) are truly magnificent. From these open many splendid rooms, among which is the great hall, about one hundred and twenty feet in length, of noble proportions, and severe in a simplicity contrasting with the chromatic decorations usual in Italy. In its elevated niches were formerly placed the insignia of its lords and of their allies, but of these none remain save the winged lion of St. Mark, which still looks proudly down upon the deserted audience-chamber, where its envoys used to be deferentially received by those long-departed dukes who often bore its banner to victory. The next story, which from its ornaments and devices appears to have been finished by Duke Guidobaldo II., is the summer residence of the cardinal-legate of Urbino and Pesaro, and, consequently, is seldom shown.

Each of the towers seen in the engraving, and considered by Passavant as antecedent to Duke Federigo, contains a spiral staircase of curious construction, leading to balconies whence may be enjoyed a most characteristic prospect of the surrounding country, wherein

"Hills are not seen, but for the vales betwixt

The deep indentings."

Fatigued by its uptossed and almost barren undulations, the eye turns for repose to the magnificent sierra, which bounds the horizon. On the extreme left is Monte Catria, crowned by the convent of S. Albertino, 5600 feet above the sea. Then comes Monte del Cavallo, described by Cimarelli as the most beautiful of all the Apennine chain, and named from the horses of famous race bred by the later princes of Urbino, on the luxuriant pastures of its gentle slopes and verdant meadows. Monte Nerone, so called from an

"Unwritten story fondly traced

From sire to son,"

which tells that the blood-stained tyrant of Rome once dwelt there, is supposed to be a slumbering volcano. Its rich iron ore was once highly productive, and the herbs and simples grown on it were esteemed above all others in Italy. Far on the sky-line are discerned the Sassi di Simeone, twin rocks of singularly abrupt form, separated by the Tuscan frontier. Northward from these stands the massive Monte Carpegna, cradle of the Montefeltrian race, domineering over their original fief, and giving its local name to the wind which sweeps from its heights upon the Adriatic. The mountain view terminates with the triple peaks of San Marino, isolated, it would seem, by nature, as well as by the forms of its constitution and the accidents of its history.

The merit specially dwelt upon in the old descriptions of this palace is the carved work in wood and stone, executed by sculptors brought from various places, and facilitated by the excellent quality of a close-grained grey limestone, imported from the Dalmatian coast. The most striking of its decorations are accordingly the elaborate tracery encircling the architraves, doorways, lintels, and chimneys, and running along the cornices. This consists of fine arabesque designs, mingled with dancing loves, and interlaced with military trophies and heraldic fancies, among which frequently occur the Garter of England, the Ermine of Naples, the Eagle of Montefeltro, with several monograms and devices usually worn by Count Federigo, the origin whereof is described in No. V. of the Appendices. A kindred art, here lavishly expended, is that of tarsia, or wood inlaying, which, unlike the more modern marquetrie, was enriched by pure arabesque designs, and even by historical or religious compositions. In this style, though now sadly defaced, were many of the doors, and especially the tiny chapel, with its adjoining sacristy, the latter elaborately panelled in varied scrolls, and bearing the titles of Federigo, with the date 1476. On the stone-work of this chapel occur the devices and initials of Duke Guidobaldo II., marking probably the alterations made by him.¹²³

The following passage, often quoted from the commencement of Castiglione's Cortegiano, has given rise to considerable misapprehension:—"Among other laudable actions, Federigo erected, on the rugged heights of Urbino, a residence, by many regarded as the most beautiful in all Italy, and so amply provided with every convenience, that it appeared rather a palatial city than a palace. He furnished it not only with the usual plenishings of rich brocades in silk and gold, silver plate, and such like, but ornamented it with a vast quantity of ancient marble and bronze sculptures, of rare pictures, and musical instruments in every variety, excluding all but the choicest objects." Now, it so happens that, with every desire to verify what ought to be a valuable authority for a fact in itself most interesting, and especially probable of that prince, we have not been able to trace a single piece of sculpture, and hardly an easel picture, to his possession (a few portraits, of course, excepted), nor does one contemporary distinctly mention anything of the sort at Urbino. But whilst truth compels us to an admission calculated to impair his traditional reputation as an amateur of the fine arts, there was one branch of them which found in him a most zealous patron; and among the adornments of his palace was a treasure rivalling in beauty and excelling in importance all coeval museums of art.

To the right and left of the carriage entrance into the great court-yard are two handsome saloons, each about forty-five feet by twenty-two, and twenty-three in height. That on the left contained the famous library of manuscripts collected by Count Federigo; the corresponding one received the printed books, which, gradually purchased by successive dukes, became, under the last sovereign, a copious collection. Baldi, in his description of the palace, printed in Bianchini's work, dwells on the judicious adaptation of the former, its windows set high against the northern sky, admitting a subdued and steady light which invited to study; its air cool in summer, temperate in winter; its walls conveniently shelved; the character and objects of the place fittingly set forth in a series of rude hexameters inscribed on the cornices.¹²⁴ Adjoining was a closet fitted up with inlaid and gilded panelling, beneath which Timoteo della Vite, a painter whose excellence we shall attest in our thirtieth chapter, depicted Minerva with her ægis, Apollo with his lyre, and the nine muses with their appropriate symbols. A similar small study was fitted up immediately over this one, set round with armchairs encircling a table, all mosaicked with tarsia, and carved by Maestro Giacomo of Florence, while on each compartment of the panelling was the portrait of some famous author, and an appropriate distich. One other article of furniture deserves special notice—a magnificent eagle of gilt bronze, serving as a lectern in the centre of the manuscript room. It was carried to Rome at the devolution of the duchy to the Holy See, but was rescued by Pope Clement XI. from the Vatican library, and restored to his native town, where it has long been used in the choir of the cathedral.

Alinari

FIFTEENTH CENTURY COURT OF THE PALAZZO DUCALE, URBINO

Roscoe has well observed that "by no circumstance in the character of an individual is the love of literature so strongly evinced, as by the propensity for collecting together the writings of illustrious scholars, and compressing 'the soul of ages past' within the narrow limits of a library." But it is not easy now to appreciate the obstacles attending such a pursuit in the age of Federigo. The science of bibliography can scarcely be said to have existed before the invention of printing, in consequence of the extreme difficulty of becoming acquainted with works of which there were but few copies, and these widely scattered, perhaps scarcely known. Great outlay was required, either to search out or transcribe manuscripts, and even the laborious habits which then accompanied learning shrank from a task so beset by obstructions. Yet there was a bright exception in Thomas of Sarzana, whose learning supplied the knowledge, and whose elevation to the triple tiara as Nicholas V. procured him the opportunities, necessary for amassing a library. Not only did he found that of the Vatican, but he prepared for Cosimo Pater patriæ a list of authors for the infant collection of S. Marco, at Florence, which, being recognised as a standard catalogue, was adopted by Count Federigo. The longer life allowed to the latter enabled him to outstrip these bibliomaniacs, and all contemporary accumulators, until the fame of his library stood unrivalled. Accordingly Ruscelli, in his Imprese Illustri, avers it to be "notorious that the earliest and most famous collection formed out of the ruins of antiquity was that of Urbino, from whence many excellent authors were edited, and copies supplied." Marsilio Ficino and Leandro Alberti, with others of equal weight, have borne similar testimony, the former from common report, the latter from ocular demonstration; but we shall content ourselves with quoting from two contemporaries, familiar with what they describe. To begin with old Sanzi:—

"No fitting outlay on the work he spared

The eye to please; but more intent to feed

The mind, he ardently began to build

A library, so vast, and so select,

As to supply each intellect and taste.

With noble aim such books he there amassed,

That every genius might its flight direct

To kindred objects. Foremost in the band

The works of holy churchmen, all adorned

And bound with wond'rous beauty;

Next what survives of ancient wisdom's thoughts

In classic tongue contained; historians all;

The sacred choir of charming poesy;

In law and medicine many famous names,

Symmetrically ranged; there, too, I note

A wealth of books in divers languages—

Arab and Greek, with Hebrew reverend;

And sundry others whose rich ornaments

Deserve detailed description, for I've seen

Men of the finest taste in wonder lost

Before them."

No poet's licence need be suspected in this description, for it is thus fully borne out by Vespasiano, who was originally an agent in amassing these treasures, and subsequently their custodier.¹²⁵ "We have now to mention the high estimation in which he held all Greek and Latin authors, sacred or profane; and to him alone was given the enterprise to carry out what no one, for above a thousand years past, had done, by establishing a library superior to any formed during all that period. In no respect did he look to expense; and whenever he learned the existence of any desirable book in Italy, or abroad, he sent for it without heeding the cost. It is now above fourteen years since he began to make this collection, and he has ever since maintained at Urbino, Florence, and elsewhere, thirty-four transcribers, and has resorted to every means requisite for amassing a famous and excellent library—which it now is. He has, in the first place, all the Latin poets, with their best commentaries; also the entire works of Cicero, with all the orators and grammarians in that language. In history, he commissioned every known work of that or the Greek tongue, as well as the orators of the latter. In moral and natural philosophy, no author of these languages is wanting. In the faculty of theology he has been most profuse, having, besides the four doctors of the Church, St. Bernard, Tertullian, Hilary, Remigius, Hugh of St. Victor, Isidore, Anselm, Rabanus, Dionysius the Areopagite, St. Basil, Cyril, Gregory Nazarene, John of Damascus, Eusebius, Origen, St. Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, Alexander de Alexandro, Duns Scotus, Bonaventura, Richard Mediavilla, Archbishop Antonio, with all the modern doctors. There are further all the best civilians, with the lectures of Bartolomeo Capretti. He had the Bible, that best of books, written in two volumes, with the richest and most beautiful illustrations, bound in brocade of gold, and lavishly ornamented with silver; and he made it be thus gorgeously adorned as the chief of all literature, and it has no equal in our time.¹²⁶ There are also all the Commentaries on the Bible in Greek and Latin, including Nicolò de Lira. He further has all the treatises on astrology, geometry, arithmetic, architecture, and military tactics, and a very curious volume with every ancient and modern military engine: also all books on painting, sculpture, and music; the standard writers on civil law; the Speculum Innocentiæ; in medicine, the works of Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna; the writings of Averröe on logic, ethics, and physics; a volume of early councils; the writings of Boethius on logic, philosophy, and music; and those of modern authors, with Pius II. at their head. There are all the works of Petrarch, Dante,^*127 Boccaccio, Colluccio, Leonardo d'Arezzo, Fra Ambrogio, Gianozzo Manetti, Guarino, Panhormita, Francesco Filelfo, Perotto, Campano, Mafeo Vegeo, Nicolò Secondino, Pontano, Bartolomeo Fazii, Gasparino, Paolo Vergaio, Giovanni Argiropolo, Francesco Barbaro, Leonardo Giustiniani, Donato Acciaiuolo, Alamanno Remicini, Christofero da Prato the elder, Poggio, Giovanni Tartellio, Francesco d'Arezzo, and Lorenzo Valla. It was his object to obtain every book in all branches of learning, ancient and modern, original or translated. He had also of Greek classics, with their commentaries, Aristotle, Plato, Homer, Sophocles, Pindar, Menander, Plutarch, Ptolemy, Herodotus, Pausanias, Thucydides, Polybius, Demosthenes, Æschines, Plotinus, Theophrastus, Hippocrates, Galen, and Xenophon; the New Testament, St. Basil and other fathers in Greek, with the Book of Paradise, lives of the Egyptian saints, lives of Balaam and Jehosaphat; and all works on geometry, arithmetic, and astrology, as well as every other attainable writer in that language. It was the same as to Hebrew books, beginning with the Bible, and including philosophy, medicine, and other faculties, with every known commentary; and there was a remarkable polyglot Psalter in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

"On all this the Duke spent upwards of 30,000 ducats; and he made a rule that every book should be bound in crimson, ornamented with silver, from the Bible already described down to the modern authors. It is thus a truly rich display to see all these books so adorned, all being manuscripts on vellum, with illuminations, and each a complete copy—perfections not found in any other library. Indeed, shortly before he went to the siege of Ferrara, I compared the catalogue with lists of other libraries which he had procured, such as those of the Vatican, Florence, St. Mark, Pavia, down to that of the University of Oxford in England, and found that all but his own had deficiencies and duplicates."

The book of regulations for the court and household of Guidobaldo I. contains these rules for the administration of the library¹²⁸:—"The librarian should be learned, of good presence, temper, and manners; correct and ready of speech. He must get from the gardrobe an inventory of the books, and keep them arranged and easily accessible, whether Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or others, maintaining also the rooms in good condition. He must preserve the books from damp and vermin, as well as from the hands of trifling, ignorant, dirty, and tasteless persons. To those of authority and learning, he ought himself to exhibit them with all facility, courteously explaining their beauty and remarkable characteristics, the handwriting and miniatures, but observant that such abstract no leaves. When ignorant or merely curious persons wish to see them, a glance is sufficient, if it be not some one of considerable influence. When any lock or other requisite is needed, he must take care that it be promptly provided. He must let no book be taken away but by the Duke's orders, and if lent must get a written receipt, and see to its being returned. When a number of visitors come in, he must be specially watchful that none be stolen. All which is duly seen to by the present courteous and attentive librarian, Messer Agabito."

Without attempting any enumeration of those who filled the office thus regulated, we may refer to Vespasiano, already mentioned in that capacity, and to Lorenzo Abstemio of Macerata, an eminent professor of literature about 1500. But the most useful of them was probably Veterano, who was spared to serve three Dukes of the two Urbino dynasties, and the fruits of whose laborious caligraphy may still be recognised in many a fair MS. at the Vatican. Among these is a Commentary on the Triumphs of Petrarch, a note on the colophon of which informs us that it was one of about sixty volumes copied by him on parchment for this collection. A gluttonous patriotism has led some encomiasts of the duchy into the glaring absurdity of imputing the authorship of these manifold works to their transcriber, whose original compositions, to be noticed in our twenty-fifth chapter, suggest few regrets that his long life should have been chiefly devoted to more mechanical occupations. We are fortunately able to test the reputation enjoyed by Count Federigo's library; for, although some of its treasures were lost in the revolutions of 1503 and 1517, and although the MSS. transported to the Vatican in 1658 included many additions subsequent to his death, still the volumes most important to literature, and most embellished by art, may, with few exceptions, be attributed to his liberality. The estimate of 30,000 ducats, already stated from Vespasiano as the cost of the collection in his time, is carried to 40,000 by Gallo Galli, who lived under Duke Guidobaldo II., thus affording a probable inference as to the augmentation it had received between 1482 and 1566. This increase, which went on until the devolution of the duchy in 1631, was chiefly by a mass of unpublished writings of local interest or authorship, without any pretence to artistic beauty. The numbers now catalogued are thus no evidence of its original extent; but we may mention that an inventory by Stefano Gradio, though by no means complete, includes 1361 entries; that Platner, in the Beschreibung der Stadt Rom, estimates the ducal MSS. at 1711; but that the catalogue compiled by Mauro Costa, in 1797, and now actually in use, exceeds four thousand articles. As some of the illuminated MSS. executed for Count Federigo are of the highest interest, we shall notice a few of them in VI. of the Appendices, and in our forty-eighth chapter shall mention the fate of this library, after the extinction of the ducal line.

"Within this curious palace dwelt a soul

Gave lustre to each part, and to the whole:

This drest his face in courteous smiles, and so

From comely gestures sweeter manners flow.

This courage joyned to strength; so the hand, bent,

Was valour's; opened, bounty's instrument;

Which did the scale and sword of justice hold,

Knew how to brandish steel and scatter gold."

Thomas Carew.

Before concluding our account of the Corte, we may mention some appurtenances intended for the more material requirements of its inmates. Of the garden we can say nothing, horticulture being then a latent science; neither need we linger upon the court-yard provided for tennis or ball. But the stable-range, built by Francesco di Giorgio in 1475, is thus curiously described by himself: "From the stable, constructed by me, for my most illustrious Duke of Urbino, may be seen how much a complete and perfect set ought to include. It is capable of containing three hundred horses, half on either side, being twenty-eight feet wide, thirty-six high, and three hundred and sixty long,¹²⁹ and over it there is a beautiful loft for hay and straw, with square holes for throwing down the forage, and above all a roof. There are several contiguous rooms, the first being a yard or shed, wherein to mount and dismount, or to shoe the horses; in it is a fountain with two troughs, and a pipe passing thence under the mangers, with various stop-cocks for the supply of water, by means whereof the stable can be cleansed, and to facilitate this operation the floor falls towards the centre, enabling such horses as wish it to stand higher before. Next the fountain is a corn-store, with the head-groom's rooms above it, overlooking the stable, and beyond these a servant's room, and one for medicines, saddlery, repairs, &c. Lastly, there is a great tower, with a winding-stair, accessible only to the owner, whence he can see the entire establishment; and this, being known to the overseer and servants, is a check upon their good conduct."

In a letter by Gallo Galli to Duke Guidobaldo II. in 1566, he mentions having seen memoranda stating the cost of the Urbino palace at 200,000 ducats, the silver plate at 40,000, a set of tapestries representing the siege of Troy at 10,000, and the MSS. library at 40,000. Before leaving the subject we shall transcribe from the Cortegiano an anecdote, not on account of its value, but as a specimen of the dull wit which Castiglione thought worth commemorating as the gossip of his model court. "Recollect also the silly trait, just related by our Lord Duke, of an abbé who, standing by while Duke Federigo was discussing what to do with the vast quantity of earth excavated from the foundations of this palace, exclaimed, 'My Lord, I have thought of a capital contrivance. Desire an immense ditch to be made, into which it may be put without more ado.' The Duke answered with a smile, 'And where shall we place the earth of the ditch itself?' To which the abbé replied, 'Make it big enough for both.' And though the Duke repeated that the larger it was the more earth would there be to remove, he never could see it, but went on saying, make it so much the greater!"

Sanzi informs us that Federigo had intended to erect, in connection with this residence, a fane unequalled in regularity, beauty, and ornament, in order at once to manifest his piety and to provide a last home for his remains. The cathedral adjoining it, though founded by his father in 1439, was scarcely well begun until 1471, and when completed, in no way realised his project.¹³⁰ The church of S. Bernardino, also left unfinished at his death, was in some degree a substitute, being not only a special memorial of his piety, but supplying a mausoleum for himself and the few after members of his dynasty.

Of the other residences that shared the cares of Count Federigo, Gubbio was the most important. Sanzi describes it as facing the south-east, and flanked by mountains on the north, overlooking fertile valleys and smiling champaigns, and excelling the attractions of Urbino in charming prospects and pleasant pathways. Notwithstanding the general truth of this eulogy, nothing could be more consistent with beauty or convenience than its site, planted on a slope, with the cathedral right in front, crowded round with poor buildings, and accessible only by precipitous alleys. Its architecture is disputed between Francesco di Giorgio and Baccio Pontelli,^*131 nor would it add much credit to either, its sole merit being minute decorations in hewn work and inlaid panelling, both after the style we have described at Urbino. Although the initials of the two Montefeltrian dukes appear in these, it is believed to have been chiefly built by Guidobaldo, and the oak-tree cognisance of the Della Rovere indicates in some parts a still later date. The constant recurrence of the Garter among its ornamental devices is gratifying to the very rare English visitors of this Apennine town, but no traveller of taste and intelligence can be otherwise than shocked to find this once chosen sanctuary of Italian refinement and high breeding, the residence in which Castiglione recounted his reception at the Tudor court, and where Fregoso and Bembo were successively bishops, degraded to vile uses and menaced by speedy ruin. It is now in the hands of a person who there manufactures wax candles and silk, but on my second visit in 1843 was closed up entirely and inaccessible. I owe to the obliging attention of Signor Luigi Bonfatti, a local antiquary of taste and intelligence, who is preparing a work on the early painters of Gubbio, this notice of the building and its remaining decorations: "Differing much from the architecture at Urbino, its court-yard is very fine, of the mixed or composite style usual in that age. The windows, doors, and chimneys have stone lintels, exquisitely chiselled in low relief with masterly arabesque designs, those in the interior being touched with gold. The ceilings, now partially decayed, are all of wood, in half-relief compartments, with heavy cornices, and roses coloured and gilded. The palace was completed by Duke Guidobaldo, who commissioned the cabinet or closet of superb intarsia, thirteen by six and a half feet. This tiny room is nineteen feet high, but the inlaid work goes only half-way up. It is of the finest patterns and workmanship, including several emblematic representations of music, literature, physical science, geography, and war. On the cornice is an inscription now in part illegible. … It was, in my opinion, the work of Antonio Mastei of Gubbio, a famous artist in wood, who executed the beautiful choir of S. Fortunato at Todi, and who is known to have been much in favour with Dukes Guidobaldo and Francesco Maria I., the latter of whom gave him an exemption from imposts."¹³²

Muzio and Baldi impute to Federigo's munificence many other palaces in his state, such as Fossombrone, Cagli, Casteldurante, La Carda, Mercatello, &c.; but most of these were probably forts, of which Francesco di Giorgio speaks as having one hundred and thirty-six under his charge at once, for this prince. At the two first-named places, there still remain residences dating from this reign, and the parks or game-preserves which formerly surrounded them, embracing circuits of seven and five miles respectively, were walled in by the Count, and stocked with fallow-deer.¹³³ These have long ago run to waste, and the palaces, with their ample halls,

"Shadowy with remembrances

Of the majestic past,"

are now desolate and rapidly falling to ruin.^*134

* * * * *

It has been aptly observed that "of works which appeal to the eye, any description must be tedious and inconclusive," but less could not have been said of creations which constituted the chief praise of Count Federigo among his contemporaries, and his most enduring glory with posterity. Nor can it but excite our interest to inquire whence means were obtained for so lavish an outlay, and for his munificent patronage of letters and arts. When the eye wanders over the map of Urbino, as possessed by its dukes of the Della Rovere dynasty, it is difficult to restrict our conceptions to its true limits at this date. It would probably now be impossible to define these with perfect accuracy, much of its frontier being then debatable land.¹³⁵ Into this category had fallen part of the original fief of Montefeltro, lying north of the Foglia. The proper territory of Urbino occupied the central portion of the far-receding stripe situated between that river and the Metauro, its upper section being the Brancaleone country, its sea-board divided between Pesaro and Fano. Out-lying were the holdings of Gubbio and Cagli, the latter perhaps reaching to the recently acquired townships of Fossombrone. The state composed of these straggling parts may have included about one-fourth of the subsequent duchy; but cut off from the coast, and from the fertile districts which skirt the Adriatic, its rugged uplands and rude climate derived from nature few elements of wealth. The various wars which had swept it, and especially the forays and reprisals it had long endured from the tyrant of Rimini, might well have exhausted its resources, and utterly impoverished both sovereign and people. The fact was, however, quite otherwise, war being a source of wealth to both. Military service was their only trade, and so well did they ply it, that during thirty-four years, short intervals excepted, the Count drew continuous pay from some foreign power or adventurer. The value of these engagements may be estimated from some examples. In 1453 his war pay from Alfonso of Naples exceeded 8000 ducats a month, and for many years he had from him and his son an annual peace-pension of 6000 in name of past services. At the close of his life, when captain-general of the Italian league, he drew in war 165,000 ducats of annual stipend, 45,000 being his own share; in peace 65,000 in all. Of these vast sums a considerable portion went among his hardy mountaineers, besides their contingent of plunder and perquisites picked up in the field. Thus was war rendered so acceptable to their interests, as well as to their tastes and habits, that Sanzi compares them, when their arms are cast aside, to "unpinioned eagles." Nor did the ravages of invasion prove so destructive as might be supposed. The entire population were located in villages or townlets, each a fastness capable of resistance, which, even when unsuccessful, gave time to conceal their valuables: thus when the sack began, they had only to save their persons, and these generally were allowed to go unharmed.¹³⁶