Italy, the Magic Land

ied lord I g

el An

l men honor,

follow; one who

ayer, and cons

lime ideal

and lif

m "Michael Ange

alian coast between Naples and G

y sea with tr

ark is flo

hly airs he t

transported into ideal regions of song, before this impression begins to resolve itself into definite remembrance of fact and incident. Surely some exquisite associations in the past had enchanted this island in memory and invested it with the magic light that never was on sea or land. Traditions of beauty; of the lives of scholar and savant and princes of the church; of a court of nobility enriched and adorned by prelate and by poet; traditions, too, of a woman's consecration to an immortal love and th

ude and artles

the file in

are and nice,

olish each un

makes small me

t prais

*

that heaven's o

breath, divine,

ese sparks unbid

, FROM

poetry, new discoveries of science, a nobler progress in criticism, great discoveries, and a lofty and unprecedented freedom of conviction marked the century between 1450 and 1550, stamping it as the marvellous time which we know as the Renaissance, "that solemn fifteenth century which can hardly be studi

occaccio had taught the gospel of gladness. Who shall analyze the secret springs of their inspiration and reveal to what degree Ovid and Horace and Virgil influenced the later literature? A new solar system was establ

Montefeltro, a daughter of the Duke of Urbino, were then domiciled in the castle of Marino, on the Lago d'Albano, a magnificent palace some twelve miles from Rome, in which the Duke d'Amalfi (the father o

he precious w

t

mmortal in the

the worl

lived

the holy office. In retaliation, the Pope excommunicated the entire family, anathematized them as heretics and declared their estates forfeited to the church. The Colonna, far from being intimidated, commanded three hundred armed horsemen, attacked the papal palace, which

Colonna and in which Vittoria passed her early childhood. "Nothing," in his "Roba di Roma," says Story, "can be more rich and varied than this magnificent amphitheatre of the Campagna of Rome, . . . sometimes drear, mysterious, and melancholy in desolate stretches; sometimes rolling like an inland sea

quin's temple to Jupiter stood and on whose ruins now gleam afar in the Italian sunshine the white walls of the Passionist convent of Monte Cavi, built by Cardinal York. From this height Juno gazed upon the great conflict of contending armies, if Virgil's topography be entitled to authority. And here, through a defile in the hills, one may look toward Naples, "and then rising abruptly with sheer limestone cliffs and crevasses, where transparent purple shadows sleep all day long, towers the grand range of the Sabine mountai

pective hills. The castle of the Colonna family is now restored and modernized to a degree that leaves

Ischia. In all this chain of Alban towns, including Marino, Viterbo, Ariccia, and Rocca di Papa, the great family of the Colonna owned extensive estates, each crowning some height, while the defiles betwe

nextricably entwined with that of Italy; and the events which created and determined the conditions of her life and its panoramic series of circumstances were the events of Italy and of Europe

mber of the d'Avalos family, was due to this espousal of a new political faith on the part of Fabrizio Colonna. To the fact that in 1425 the war with France again broke out was due the loss of her husband and the conditions that consecr

itulate to the French troops when, after the death of her father, she was left in sole charge of the d'Avalos estates, and Emperor Charles V elevated her rank to that of Principessa. The Duchessa was one of the most remarkable women of the day. She was a classical scholar, and herself a writer, the author of a book entitled "Degli Infortuni e Travagli del Mondo." To the care of this learned and brilliant woman, a great lady in the social life of the time, the care of the little Vittoria was committed, and she studied and played and grew up with Francesco, her future husband. The d'Avalos family ranked among the highest nobility of the Court of Naples, and the Principessa reigned as a queen of letters and society in her island kingdom. It was under her care that the two children, Francesco and Vittoria, pursued their studies together and acquired every grace of scholarship and accomplishment of society. The circles which the Duchessa d

sland in the violet sea. The perpetual conflicts that were waged in both Rome and Naples awakened no echoes in this romantic and isolated sp

e sunlit Bay of Naples resounded the thunder of the guns in military salute and the cheers of the people. Among the distinguished nobility present, Costanza, Duchessa and Principessa di Francavilla, was a marked figure with her young charge, Vittoria Colonna, at her side. She made a deep reverence and kissed the hand of the king as he passed, as did many of the ladies of highest rank, and at the fête of that evening Vittoria's beauty charmed all eyes. Although it was well understood that she had been betrothed since childhood to Francesco d'Avalos, yet many princes and nobles sued for her hand and were refused by her father, who was at this time established magnificently in Naples. Pope Julius II refused the pleadings of two dukes, both of whom wished to seek Vittoria in marriage, as he considered

CCA,

asant parties of ladies and gentlemen. Much time was passed in their beloved Ischia, where the Duchessa, as Castellana, was obliged to receive much company. And here were found the flower of chivalry and the men most noted in letters. . . . They listened to the poets Sanazz

f her studies, of her first efforts in lyric art, of her stately and resplendent bridal; the home, too, of her early married life,-

rmor, and other details belonging to a gentleman of rank. Her father and her uncle, Prospero Colonna, were also among the military who led Italian troops. In the terrible battle of Ravenna (which was fought on the Easter Sunday, April 11, of 1512), Pescara was wounded, taken prisoner,

Signor! Que

tra quante d

ri martir, dog

epistle, made in prose, give

. . . I believed that so many prayers and tears, and love without measure, would not hav

, and that the whole atmosphere had been to her that day "like a cavern of black fog," and that "the marine gods seemed to say to Ischia, 'To-day, Vittoria, thou sh

ancavilla, the Castellana of Ischia, who begged her not to think of

ssenger arrived. The psychic science of to-day would see in this occurrence a strik

she suffers; if he is happy, she is; if he dies, she dies. What happens to one

y rather than in personal form. Pescara, from his captivity, wrote to her a "Dial

. She gave herself to the study of the ancient classics; she wrote poems, and "considered no time of value but so spent," says Rota. The age was one of a general revival of learning. Royalty, the Pope, the princes and nobility were all giving themselves with ardor to this higher culture. Under Dante the Italian language assumed new perfection. This period was to Vittoria one of intense stimulus, and it must ha

his countenance radiant with piety to

e Marchesa di Pescara "wore a robe of brocaded crimson velvet, with large branches of beaten gol

of Charlemagne. Charles had decided to journey by sea and to visit Henry VIII on the way, an arrangement of which Cardinal Wolsey was aware, although he had kept Henry in ignorance of it, according to those curious mental processes of his mind where hi

left were the proud nobles of Spain and England, among whom was Pescara. The kings alighted from their horses at the west door of the cathedral and toget

f nobles in the Church of Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto, and he then joined the Marchesa in Rome, where she h

th art and literature. In this court the Marchesa di Pescara shone resplendent. "She was at th

For some time he lay between life and death at Milan, and a messenger was sent to beg Vittoria to come to him. She set out on this journey, leaving Naples in great haste; but on reaching Viterbo another messenger met her with the tidings of the death of the Marchese, which had occurred on Nov. 25, 1525. Overcome with grief, Vittoria was carried back to Rome and for the solace of entire seclusion she sought the cloi

messenger to Pescara asking him to unite with the league. The Marchese, Spanish by ancestry and by sympathies, used this knowledge to frustrate the Italian designs and to warn Spain. The

e of a king, but I glory in being the wife of that great general who shows his bra

e di Pescara. He evidently regarded this in the nature of a dishono

un. The Pope himself intervened to dissuade her, and she consented to en

tate unlawfully acquired should be restored to the owner; and under this, Vittoria gave bac

t Marino, where, on the shore of this beautiful lake (which was the scenery of Virgil's ?neid),

of this world's sun; and not to add light to mio bel sole, to his glorified spi

nnet, she beseeches the winds to convey

, o parli,"-That I always think of h

upon another, in such a supernatural manner as to give a coloring to the legend, that beneath them, in those vast volcanic caverns, dwells the giant Tifeo." The castle where the Duchessa Francavilla and th

ten laid but on a tomb, was continually pressed upon her brow. She was the most famous woman of her time. Her beauty, her genius, her noble majesty of character impressed the contemporary world. Her days w

DI ALFONS

ted the life of Vittoria Colonna in many ways. Her biography, if written with fulness and accuracy, would be

enes from Castel San Angelo where he was immured, has described the terrors. The Eternal City, whose population under Leo X had been 90,000, was now-in 1530-reduced to half that number. Palaces and temples had been the scenes of riot and destruction, yet to this very l

made a tour, visiting Bagni di Lucca, Bologna, and Ferrara, where she was the guest of the Duca and Duchessa Ercole in the ducal palace. The Duchessa was the Princesse Renée, the daughter of Louis XII of France, and an ardent friend of Calvin, who visited her in Ferrara. It was to this visit

then, of Duk

ners, and reser

ificent in a

he Duchess

daughter of a

uch a

EL AN

that wo

marry them, w

a mystery t

TOR

chess,-how shall

erits of that

t when least it t

perhaps, in f

ard beauty, tha

attitude and w

ce of manner

n her presenc

r beautiful b

rnal beauty;

d devoted t

mpathy with

he high

LI

raws m

er Duke Erco

TOR

vout and hon

urt, and make it

cyronia, the

a Rovere and

ena and th

rthenai, who s

men, full of

ions after

*

these

girl, Olym

ulvio, the le

all the un

ild, who at the

ly round of ho

th Greek and La

the Duchess

e. This beautif

cited to us

tten, with a voi

ermastered me,

ure time, an

iny will

LI

what

sing you madri

's eyes

TOR

reat Ariosto

*

LI

ake of

TOR

yourself

master, Mic

EL AN

f

TOR

rgotten that

man than ang

e ungr

EL AN

play o

as for some time the Bishop's guest in his palace, and she took great interest in the historic city. With the Bishop she visited the ancient Duomo, which in 1160 had been restored by Pope Urban II, and reconsecrated. I

and others of that day-were creating their wonderful works which Vittoria must have seen and enjoyed during this tour. Raphael, whose death had occurred in 1520, V

ROM "PAR

ZE, PALAZZO

ael

ied lord I g

fe, both as woman and poet. It was no translation of her life into another key, no reckoning by stars that flashed

, in 1538. She was received with the honors that her fame inspired. Michael Angelo

down to the humblest of the people. We may imagine Vittoria standing by the great painter to view his sublime work; but Michael A

RIA C

BUONARROT

and precious collection of manuscripts are the letters of Vittoria to the poet and sculptor. Her influence is said to have produced a great ch

to this chapter in t

sa di Pescara, of whose divine spirit he was enamoured,

n engaged upon the "Last Judgment" through 1536, 1537. The great artist was not without a keen wit of his own as well; for on receipt of a letter from Pietro Aretino, from Venice, in September of 1537, with praises of his work that Michael Angelo deemed extravagant, he replied that while he rejoi

aolo d'Orvieto. She varied this residence by remaining at times in the convent of San Caterina di Viterbo, in that city. In Rome she had lived both at the convent of Santa Anna an

tto ha l'arte

atti d'alcun,

ria un semp

arto che da

ndo poi di

e promesse d

e tal conce

chi suo eter

model, nacq

, per cosa

er poi, donna

resce, 'l mio

; qual penit

r, se mi gasti

beautiful translation is ma

rt conceives a

raftsman for h

imple model

rliest birth o

marble in th

ings into the

eautiful tha

l conquer that

model I wa

that nobler

ur pity, lady,

us and each

good. What pen

at, chastened an

and Michael Angelo was undated, and

ing to his nephew, Sio

one hundred and three sonnets, not counting another forty she afterward sent on paper from Viterbo. I had these bound into the same book, and at that time I used to lend them about to many perso

hael Angelo thus w

have now come to recognize that the grace of God is not to be bought, and that to keep it waiting is a grievous sin. Therefore I acknowledge my error and willingly accept your favors. When I possess them-not, indeed, because I

my service. Your ladyship may inform him when you would

toria a sonnet which, in the translation ma

least to be

me and boundl

hts at first w

d yield for gr

know my un

ak to make me

ady, for this

ill I grow r

e what folly '

ped from thee lik

paid by work s

ss my art an

om his mental s

d to match on

s most holy mother if two angels did not support Him in their arms. She sits below the cross with a face full of tears and sorrow, lifting both her widespread arms to heaven while on the stem of the tree above is written this

this cross to

you than for any one I ever knew upon the world. But absorbing occupations, which still engage me, have prevented my informing your ladyship of this. Moreover, knowing that you know love needs no taskmaster, and that he who loves doth not sleep

ttoria Colo

e could one find another figure of our Lord so well executed, so living, and so exquisitely finished. I cannot express in words how subtly and marvellously it is designed. Wherefore I

ad

Christ. When I came to examine it I found it so marvellous that it surpasses all my expectations. Wherefore, emboldened by your miracles I conceived a great desire for that which I now see marvellously accomplished: I mean that the design is in all parts perfect and consummate. I tell you that I am pleased that the angel on the

toria wro

shed. I want to show it to some gentlemen who have come from the most reverend, the Cardinal

a lived was attached to the church of San Silvestre in Capite, now used as the English-speaking Catholic church in the

ent worship was hardly enjoyed by its object, who avoided the Spanish enthusiast. One Sunday, however, d'Ollanda had gone to San Silvestre finding there Tolomei, to whom he was also devoted, and Vittoria Colonna, both of whom had gone to hear the celebrated Fra Ambrosia of Siena expound the Epistles of St. Paul. The Marchesa di Pescara observed that she felt sure their Spanish friend would far rather hear Michael Angelo discuss painting than to hear Fra Ambrosia on the wisdom of St. Paul. Summoning an attendant she directed him to find Michael Angelo and t

nt. For my part, I am bound to confess that even his Holiness wearies and annoys me by begging for too much of my company. I am most anx

beautiful terrace of the Colonna gardens, to which the visitor in Rome to-day always makes his pilgrimage, with the ruined statues and the broken marble flights of steps, is the scene of this meeting of Vittoria Colonna, Michael Angelo, and Francesco d'Ollanda. On this seco

er should be great and able. I maintain that he must also be a man of good conduct and morals, i

e of swiftness in wor

orm in many days of labor. But should this rapidity cause a man to fail in his best realization it would be bett

(to which reference has already been made), has one scene laid in

TOR

rest awhile,

church. I hav

Angelo to jo

R CLA

ernardino's

ine Epistle

of Michael

, to bring us

*

NGELO, at

aint or Godde

donna, whic

and aspect

tist's worship

TOR

tro. We were w

EL AN

messenger

tened h

TOR

kind

who linger he

afternoon

ends of mine and

EL AN

urs, then are the

ntlemen. But

t the Ma

e has granted her permission to build

build, t

oblest art of

sculpture a

adows cast by

anvas, having

existence. A

itself, and

it is not, s

ance sha

Yet he

rks who looks

n the Forum

give me powe

Him a temple

in their glory

xcellent than

I have hither

ly va

Vittoria

erstan

ft of God, an

ry. That in

aims a

icate divination, has entered into the in

ting of Michael A

; trascenda nella forma universale-that abstract form of beauty about which the Platonists reason. And this gives the impression in hi

find Pate

e of them together in an empty church at Rome, one Sunday afternoon, discussing indeed the characteristics of various schools of art, but still more the writings of St. Paul, already following the ways and tasting the sunless pleasures of weary people, whose hold on outward things is slackening. In a letter still extant he regrets that when he visited her after death he had kissed her hands only. He made, or set to work to make, a crucifix for her use, and two drawings, perhaps in preparation for it, are now in Oxford. . . . In many ways no sentiment could have been less like Dante's love for Beatrice t

one of the Colonna estates; but from Visconti and other authorities it is evident that she died in Rome, either in the convent of Santa Anna or in the palace of Cesarini, the husband of her kinswoman, Giulio Colonna, which must have been near the convent in Trastevere, the old portion of Rome across the Tiber. Visconti records that on

uch elevation of mind as Thy loftiness demandeth. . . . I entreat, O Most Holy Father, that Thy most living flame may

n destroyed. Visconti says: "She desired, with Christian humility, to be buried in the manner in which the sisters were buried when they died. And, as I suppose, her body was

f her husband, Francesco d'Avalos, Marchese of Pescara. This church is one of the finest in Naples, with twenty-seven chapels and twelve altars, and it is here that nearly all the great nobles of the kingdom of

me, Thoma; quam ergo

eplied: "Non

containing the body of Fernando Francesco d'Avalos, Marchese of Pescara (the husband of Vittoria Colonna), has on it an inscription by Ariosto; and his portrait (showing in profile a young face with blonde hair and a full reddish brown beard) and a banner, also, is suspended above the casket. That containing the body of the Marchesa, his wife (Vittoria Colonna), has an aperture at the top where the wood is worn away and the embalmed form, partly crumbled, may be seen. This seems strange to the verge of fantasy, but it is, apparently, true. The writer of this volume visited the Church of Santa Dom

ectures called together men of the highest rank and learning and were attended by the king and the members of the royal family. The entire locality of this church is replete with histo

oms of the land, where it is always afternoon and time has no value, thirty-two poets read their songs, written in Latin or in Italian, for this occasion, which were published in a sumptuous volume to be preserved in the archives of the Arcadians, who take themselves

ch was a century old at the time of his visit to Italy. "No stranger of any consequence was readily permitted to leave Rome wi

her grave in the Protestant cemetery in Rome. Every year, on Tasso's birthday (April 25), the Accadémia holds a festa in a little amphitheatre near "Tasso's oak," on the Janiculum, a

linked her always to the larger activities, and her gifts and rank invested her with certain demands and responsibilities that she could not evade. She was one of the messengers of life, and her place as a brilliant and distinguished figure in the contemporary world was one that the line of destiny, which pervades all circumstances and which, in her case, was so marked, absolutely constraine

onna and Michael Angelo than has Margaret J. Preston, in a poem supposed

lingering on t

es raised to th

t in the

*

remest tr

nsion of thine

crystal sheen w

ilm of over-b

help

dst not known o

s so urgent,

r way where n

gained,-even

ils past Ischia on the violet sea; and the chant d'amour of

not, when the

ve on! for yet

faith in hu

on by thee, f

lear. For thy

that some fa

on her, since s

hael A

comes to so

ng which

near abo

f spiritual

of the supe

n this wor

d dark hor

e scenic te

h of a di

the answer

sorrow, pai

mpassion c

goodness, lo

fast beyo

eaves to lo

Self forg

f trust and

soul in wa

flowers the

ue Life it

tti

rd. Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost,

eaven-sent dre

its turrets

leam with jewels

t glow with bur

through blessed

ir praises all

f is light, an

ngue of man h

ms I thither m

s voices, hows

the joys of t

oon the sunse

ng Gates, and to

ath lead through

handler