Our appreciation of this picture would, however, scarcely be correct or complete, did we not bear in mind the inner life of contemporary sovereigns. We need not dwell on the contrasts afforded in other Peninsular capitals, for these were rather of degree than character, and would only show us the prevalence here of a gentler courtesy and more pervading refinement. But we may fairly compare the palace-pastimes of Urbino with those held in acceptance by the princes and peerage of northern states, where deep potations dulled the senses, or brutalised the temper; where intellect rarely sought a more refined gratification than the monotonous recital of legendary adulation; and where wit was monopolised by dwarfs and professional jesters. In order better to preserve the form and fashion of this pattern for princes, we shall transfer to our pages, from Castiglione's groupings, some outlines of its chief ornaments, beginning with himself.[35] [Footnote 35: Castiglione was related through his mother to several of the Urbino stars,--the Fregosi, Trivulzio, and Emilia Pia.] * * * * * [Illustration: COUNT BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE. _Raffaele pinx._ _L. Ceroni sculp._ _From a picture in the Torlonia Gallery, Rome_] From CASTIGLIONE, in Lombardy, sprang the ancestry of COUNT BALDASSARE, and among them were numbered not a few names of note in church and state. His father was no mean soldier, in times when the captains of Italy bore a European reputation; his mother, a Gonzaga of the Mantuan house, was descended from the haughty Farinato degli Uberti, who, when accosted by Dante in _The Vision_,-- "His heart and forehead there Erecting, seemed as in high scorn he held E'en hell."