Not less gladness could be seen in the beautiful statue of one of the
nine Muses, which was placed as a complement opposite to that of Mars,
nor less, again, in the figures of the men of science in the painted
canvas that was to be seen at her feet, of the same size and likewise as
the complement of the men of Mars opposite, by which it was sought to
signify that even as the men of war, so also the men of learning, of
whom Florence had always a great abundance and in no way less renowned
(in that, as all men admit, it was there that learning began to revive),
had likewise been brought by Florence under the guidance of their Muse
to receive and honour the noble bride. Which Muse, clad in a womanly,
graceful, and seemly habit, with a book in the right hand and a flute in
the left, seemed with a certain loving expression to wish to invite all
beholders to apply their minds to true virtue; and on the canvas beneath
her, executed, like all the others, in chiaroscuro, could be seen
painted a great and rich Temple of Minerva, whose statue crowned with
olive, with the shield of the Gorgon (as is customary), was placed
without; and before the temple and at the sides, within an enclosure of
balusters made as it were for a promenade, could be seen a great throng
of grave and solemn men, who, although all rejoicing and making merry,
yet retained in their aspect a certain something of the venerable, and
these, also, were portrayed from life. For Theology and Sanctity there
was the famous Fra Antonino, Archbishop of Florence, for whom a little
Angel was holding the episcopal mitre, and with him was seen Giovanni
Domenici, first Friar and then Cardinal; and with them Don Ambrogio,
General of Camaldoli, and M. Ruberto de' Bardi, Maestro Luigi Marsili,
Maestro Leonardo Dati, and many others. Even so, in another part--and
these were the Philosophers--were seen the Platonist M. Marsilio Ficino,
M. Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, M. Francesco Verini the elder, and M.
Donato Acciaiuoli; and for Law there were, with the great Accursio,
Francesco his son, M. Lorenzo Ridolfi, M. Dino Rossoni di Mugello, and
M. Forese da Rabatta. The Physicians, also, had their portraits; and
among them Maestro Taddeo Dino and Tommaso del Garbo, with Maestro
Torrigian Valori and Maestro Niccolo Falcucci, had the first places. Nor
did the Mathematicians, likewise, fail to be painted there; and of
these, besides the ancient Guido Bonatto, were seen Maestro Paolo del
Pozzo and the very acute, ingenious, and noble Leon Batista Alberti, and
with them Antonio Manetti and Lorenzo della Volpaia, he by whose hand we
have that first and marvellous clock of the planets, the wonder of our
age, which is now to be seen in the guardaroba of our most excellent
Duke. For Navigation, also, there was Amerigo Vespucci, most experienced
and most fortunate of men, in that so great a part of the world, having
been discovered by him, retains because of him the name of America. For
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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