Giovio represented this tragic vengeance by an elephant attacked by a dragon. The latter attempts to wind himself about the legs of his antagonist, so as to pierce his bowels and insert his deadly poison. But the elephant, knowing by instinct the danger to which he is exposed, turns himself round and round until he places a rock or a tree between himself and his enemy. Then he beats the dragon to death. This allegory was interesting, from the fine contrast of the two animals, and the Spanish motto, _No vos allabareis_--by which Fieschi would say to the Fregosi, “You cannot boast of your crime against our blood.” Sinibaldo had another allegory executed in the palace of Vialata. He and Ottobuono were forming an alliance with the Adorni and many of their partisans urged them to protract the negotiations, since the army of the king of France was near at hand and Ottaviano Fregoso, supported by his party, had a very firm hold on the government and would be able to make a spirited defence if assailed at that moment. To this the Fieschi replied that they well knew the time for action, and on this incident they asked Giovio to execute an allegory. The artist remembering what Pliny says of the halcyons who await the spring solstice to make their nests and lay their eggs when the waves are tranquil, painted a calm sea and a serene sky with a nest extending from the prow to the poop of a vessel with the heads of the halcyons raised over the prow and a motto in French--_nous savons bien le temps_--meaning to say we well know when to make war on our adversaries; and the chronicler adds, they thus foreshadowed their triumph over their rivals.