Zappi, after completing his legal studies at Bologna, came to reside at Rome, where he distinguished himself in his profession, and was one of the founders of the academy of the Arcadii. Faustina Maratti was many years younger than her husband, and extremely beautiful: she was her father's favourite model for his Madonnas, Muses, and Vestal Virgins. From a description of her, in an Epithalamium[60] on her marriage, it appears that her eyes and hair were jet black, her features regular, and her complexion pale and delicate; a style of beauty which, in its perfection, is almost peculiar to Italy. To the mutual tenderness of these married lovers, we owe some of the most elegant among the lighter Italian lyrics. Zappi, in a Sonnet addressed to his wife some time after their union, reminds her, with a tender exultation, of the moment they first met; when she swept by him in all the pride of beauty, careless or unconscious of his admiration,--and he bowed low before her, scarcely daring to lift his eyes on the charms that were destined to bless him; "Who," he says, "would then have whispered me, the day will come when you will smile to remember her disdain, for all this blaze of beauty was created for you alone!" or would have said to her, "Know you who is destined to touch that virgin heart? Even he, whom you now pass by without even a look! Such are the miracles of love!" La prima volta ch'io m'avenni in quella Ninfa, che il cor m'accese, e ancor l'accende, Io dissi, e donna o dea, ninfa si bella? Giunse dal prato, o pur dal ciel discende? La fronte inchino in umil atto, ed ella La merce pur d'un sguardo a me non rende; Qual vagheggiata in cielo, o luna, o stella, Che segue altera il suo viaggio, e splende. Chi detto avesse a me, "costei ti sprezza, Ma un di ti riderai del suo rigore! Che nacque sol per te tanta bellezza." Chi detto avesse ad ella: "Il tuo bel core Sai chi l'avra? Costui ch'or non t'apprezza" Or negate i miracoli d'Amore! The first Sonnet in Faustina's Canzoniere, Dolce sollievo delle umane cure, is an eulogium on her husband, and describes her own confiding tenderness. It is full of grace and sweetness, and feminine feeling: Soave cortesia, vezzosi accenti, Virtu, senno, valor d'alma gentile, Spogliato hanno 'l mio cor d'ogni timore; Or tu gli affetti miei puri innocenti Pasci cortese, e non cangiar tuo stile Dolce sollievo de' miei mali, amore!