CHAP. VII. 66 speech, it seems doubtful whether he was more conspicuous for his talents or his virtues. Intimately conversant with every department "of philosophy, improved and invigorated by "the knowledge of various languages, and of every honourable science, it may truly be said, that no commendation is equal to his praise." 66 The instances before given of the critical talents of Pico, whatever may be thought of their accuracy, will at least justify him from the reproof of Voltaire, who is of opinion that the works of Dante and Petrarca would have been a more suitable study for him, than the summary of St. Thomas, or the compilation of Albert the great. But the literary pursuits of Pico were not confined to commentaries upon the works of others. From the specimens which remain of his poetical compositions in his native language, there is reason to form a favourable judgment of those which have perished. Crescimbeni confesses, that by his early death the Tuscan poetry sustained a heavy loss, and that his accomplished pen might have rescued it from its degraded state, without the intervention of so many m Volt. Essai, tom. ii. p. 296. many other eminent men, whose labours had CHA P. been employed to the same purpose". The few VII. pieces which remain of his Latin poetry induce us to regret the severity of their author. These poems he had arranged in five books, which he submitted to the correction of Politiano, who, having performed his task, returned them to their author, with an elegant apology for the freedoms he had taken. Soon afterwards Pico committed his five books to the flames, to the great regret of Politiano, who has perpetuated this incident by a Greek epigram". If the works thus destroyed were equal in merit to his Latin elegy addressed to Girolamo Benivieni, posterity have indeed reason to lament the loss 9. Among n Crescimb. Ist. della volgar poesia. v. ii. p. 336. Neque ego judicis (ita me semper ames) sed Momi personam indui, quem ferunt sandalium Veneris tandem culpasse, cum Venerem non posset. Confodi igitur versiculos aliquos, non quod eos improbarem, sed quod tanquam equestris ordinis, cedere reliquis, veluti senatoribus videbantur atque patriciis. Pol. Ep. lib. i. Ep. 4. P Ibid. lib. i. Ep. 7. Opere di Benivieni, p. 75. Ed. Ven. 1524. VOL. II. S VII. Learned women. CHAP. Among the circumstances favourable to the promotion of letters in the fifteenth century, another yet remains to be noticed, which it would be unpardonable to omit; and which, if it did not greatly contribute towards their progress, certainly tended, not only to render the study of languages more general, but to remove the idea that the acquisition of them was attended with any extraordinary difficulty. This was the partiality shown to these studies, and the proficiency made in them, by women, illustrious by their birth, or eminent for their personal Alessandra accomplishments. Among these, Alessandra, the daughter of Bartolomeo Scala, was peculiarly distinguished. The extraordinary beauty of her person was surpassed by the endowments of her mind. At an early age she was a proficient, not only in the Latin, but the Greek tongue", which she had studied under Joannes Lascar and Demetrius Chalcondyles. Such an union of excellence attracted the attention, and is supposed to have engaged the affections of Politiano; but Alessandra gave her hand to the Greek Marullus, who enjoyed at Florence the favour Scala. Some of the Greek poems of Alessandra appear in the works of Politiano. Ed. Ald. 1498. And Politiano is supposed to have addressed to this lady several of his amorous verses. VII. favour of Lorenzo de' Medici, and in the ele- c H A P. gance of his Latin compositions, emulated the Italians themselves". Hence probably arose those dissensions between Marullus and Politiano, s The works of Marullus were published at Florence, under the title of HYMNI ET EPIGRAMMATA. At the close we read, Impressit Florentia Societas Colubris vi. kal. Decembris, MCCCCLXXXXVII. His epigrams are inscribed to Lorenzo, the son of Pier-Francesco de' Medici. The following lines to the father of his mistress possess no inconsiderable share of elegance: AD BARTHOLOMEUM SCALAM. Cum musæ tibi debeant latinæ Tot prætoria jura, tot curules, Tot fasces proprio labore partos : Plus multo tamen, o beate amice, est Quod Scalam Latio pater dedisti, The three books of Hymns of Marullus are addressed, not to the objects of Christian worship, but to the Pagan deities, or the phenomena of nature, whence, perhaps, the remark of Erasmus: "Marulli pauca legi, tolerabilia, "si minus haberent paganitatis." CHAP. tiano, the monuments of which yet remain in VII. their writings. Cassandra Of yet greater celebrity is the name of Cassandra Fidelis. Descended from ancestors who had changed their residence from Milan to Venice, and had uniformly added to the respectability of their rank by their uncommon learning, she began at an early age to prosecute her studies with great diligence, and acquired such a knowledge of the learned languages, that she may with justice be enumerated among the first scholars of the age". The letters which occasionally passed between Cassandra and Politiano demonstrate their mutual esteem, if indeed such expression be sufficient to characterize the feelings of Politiano, who expresses, in language unusually florid, his high admiration of t Among the epigrams of Politiano are several of the most outrageous kind, against some person whom he attacks under the name of Mabilius; and in the poems of Marullus are some pieces, little inferiour in abuse, of which Ecnomus is the subject. Under these masks it is supposed, and not without reason, that these rival scholars directed their shafts against each other. " The letters and orations of this lady were published at Pavia, in 1636, by Jac. Ph. Tomasini, who has prefixed to them some account of her life. |