VII. Verini, "De illustratione Urbis Florentiæ," is CHA P. perhaps more valuable for the authenticity of the information it communicates, than for its poetical excellence, yet Verini has left other testimonies that entitle him to rank with the first Latin poets of his age". These pieces are principally devoted to the praises of the Medici, and son John, should be the author of the pieces in this collec- Dum celebrat Medicem Naldus, dum laudat amicam, Tam lepidum unanimes illi ornavere libellum, m The example of Landino in affixing to his poetical labours the name of his mistress (v. ante, vol. I. p. 123.). was followed by Verini, who gave the title of Flametta to his two books of Latin elegies, which he inscribed to Lorenzo de' Medici, and which yet remain in the Lau rentian Library. Plut. xxxix. cod. 42. Bandini supposes that Landino, as well as many other learned men of those times, had a real object of his passion, for which he gives a very satisfactory reason. "Neque hoc nomen "fictum esse crediderim, quum revera mihi compertum "sit, illius ævi litteratos viros, ut nunc quoque accidit, "puellas in deliciis habuisse plurimum, in earumque "laudem carmina, ad instar illa Ovidii, quæ amatoria nuncupantur, exarasse.” 66 Band. Spec. Lit. Flor. v. i. p. 120. VII. CHAP. and frequently advert to the characters of Lo renzo and Giuliano, and to the circumstances of the times". Michael In Michael Verini, the son of Ugolino, we have a surprising instance of early attainments in learning. He was born in 1465; and although he died at the age of seventeen years, yet in that short space of time he had obtained the admiration, and conciliated the esteem of his learned contemporaries. His principal work is a collection of Latin disticha, which exhibit great facility both of invention and expression, and an acquaintance with human life and manners far beyond his years. His Latin letters, of which a large collection is preserved in the Laurentian Library°, and which are chiefly addressed to his father, are as honourable to the paternal kindness of the one, as to the n In the Laurentian Library (Plut. xxvi. cod. 21.) is preserved a poem by Ugolino, to which he has given the name of Paradisus. On his imaginary excursion to the celestial regions, the poet meets with Cosmo de' Medici, who converses with him at great length on the affairs of Florence, and particularly on the situation of his own family. • Plut. lxxxx. cod. 28. From these letters Bandini has in his valuable catalogue given copious extracts. v. iii. f. 462, et seq. VII. the filial affection of the other. His death is CHAP. said to have been occasioned by his repugnance to obey the prescription of his physicians, who recommended an experiment which it seems his modesty did not approve, and he fell a sacrifice to his pertinacious chastity P. From his letters it appears that both he and his father lived on terms of intimacy and friendship with Landino, Bartolomeo Fontio, and Politiano, and that Lorenzo P This event has been commemorated both in verse and prose, in Latin and Italian, by many contemporary authors. (v. App. No. LVII.) Verini is not the only instance of the kind on record. If we may believe Ammirato, the death of the cardinal of Lisbon in 1459, was occasioned by a similar circumstance. Amm. Ist. Flor. v. iii. p. 89. That such a remedy had been prescribed to Verini is apparent from the following affecting passage in one of his letters: "Insuperabilis me vali"tudo confecit, membra ut sint pallore macieque de"formia; nocte crucior, die non quiesco, et quod me "acrius torquet, in tanto dolore spes nulla salutis. "Quamquam medici, et tota domus, et amici, nihil "pericli asserant, deprehendo tamen tacitos in vultu ❝timores, suspiria, murmur, taciturnitatem, mæroris "cuncta signa prospicio; sed cui notior morbus quam "mihi? Quidquid acciderit, utinam forti animo fera"mus; scio mihi nullum de vita factum restare pæni"tendum, nisi quod potueram valitudini consulere "sapientius; verum mihi pudor, vel potius rusticitas "obfuit-vale." CHAP. Lorenzo de' Medici occasionally passed a leisure VII. hour in convivial intercourse with this learned family. Other Latin poets of the century. The reputation acquired by the Flofifteenth rentines in the cultivation of Latin poetry stimulated the exertions of other Italian scho lars. On the memorable occasion of the conspiracy of the Pazzi, Platinus Platus, a Milanese, addressed to Lorenzo de' Medici a copy of verses, which obtained his warm approbation". The exertions of Lorenzo in establishing q Fingit Homerus Jovem ipsum, aliosque Deos, "Olympo relicto, apud Ethiopas divertisse, cœnasse, "lusisse: Augustum etiam orbis terrarum principem, "apud privatos sine ullo apparatu cœnitasse : sed cur ❝ vetera ? Laurentius Medices urbis nostræ facile "primus, apud patrem meum pransus est nonnunquam," &c. Mic. Ver. Ep. 15. ad Sim. Canisianum ap. Band, r Laurentius Medices, quanta voluptate adficeretur in perlegendis poeticis ejusdem (Plati) lucubrationibus, quantoque illum in pretio haberet, testatus est in epistola ad ipsum scripta, ob acceptum ex ejus carminibus non mediocre doloris levamen in nefarie patrata fratris sui cæde: ait enim, " vetus est verbum, mi Platine, insuavem "esse in luctu musicam: ego vero tuis perlectis versiculis, "re blishing the academy at Pisa gave rise to a poem CHAP. of greater merit and importance, by Carolus de VII. Maximis. To the authors before mentioned we may add the names of Cantalicio, Nicodemo Folengi, Alessandro Braccio, and Aurelio Augurelli, all of whom have cultivated Latin poetry with different degrees of success, and have addressed some portion of their works to Lorenzo de' Medici, to which the reader may not be displeased to refer1. Of "re ipsa reperi nihil tam maxime ad solatium facere S DE STUDIO PISANAE URBIS ET EJUS SITUS MAXIMA FELICITATE AD LAURENTIUM MEDICEM. This piece is preserved in the Laurentian Library (Plut. lxxxxi. cod. 46. v. Band. Cat. v. iii. p. 850.), and contains so full, and at the same time so elegant an eulogy on the character of Lorenzo, and particularly on his attention to the promotion of letters, that I have given it a place in the Appendix, No. LVIII. The poems of Cantalicio are published in the Carmina Illust. Poet. Ital. v. iii. p. 123, and are inscribed to Lorenzo de' Medici. Those of Folengi are inserted in the same work, vol. iv. p. 419. Alessandro Braccio was equally eminent in politicks and letters. He was for some time secretary of the Florentine republick, and died on an embassy |