Italy, the Magic Land Part 15

"Then the devout and honorable women That grace her court, and make it good to be there; Francesca Bucyronia, the true-hearted, Lavinia della Rovere and the Orsini, The Magdalena and the Cherubina, And Anne de Parthenai, who sings so sweetly; All lovely women, full of n.o.ble thoughts And aspirations after n.o.ble things.

With these ladies Was a young girl, Olympia Morata, Daughter of Fulvio, the learned scholar, Famous in all the universities: A marvellous child, who at the spinning-wheel, And in the daily round of household cares, Hath learned both Greek and Latin; and is now A favorite of the d.u.c.h.ess and companion Of Princess Anne. This beautiful young Sappho Sometimes recited to us Grecian odes That she had written, with a voice whose sadness Thrilled and o'ermastered me, and made me look Into the future time, and ask myself What destiny will be hers."

JULIA.

"And what poets Were there to sing you madrigals, and praise Olympia's eyes?" ...

VITTORIA.

"None; for great Ariosto is no more."

JULIA.

"He spake of you."

VITTORIA.

"And of yourself, no less, And of our master, Michael Angelo."

MICHAEL ANGELO.

"Of me?"

VITTORIA.

"Have you forgotten that he calls you Michael, less man than angel, and divine?

You are ungrateful."

MICHAEL ANGELO.

"A mere play on words."

The Duca and d.u.c.h.essa of Ferrara invited the most distinguished persons in Venice and Bologna and Lombardy to meet their honored guest. Bishop Ghiberto of Verona besought her to visit that city. Vittoria accepted and was 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. It was a strong desire of the Marchesa at this time to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; but the journey was then so perilous and so long--none too easy, indeed, at the present time--that she was dissuaded from the attempt.

Verona, to do her honor, had a medal struck bearing her portrait. The group of great artists--t.i.tian, Tintoretto, and Giorgione in Venice; Fra Angelico, Bartolommeo, 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, Vittoria had, doubtless, known; but whether it was she who was the original of the Muse in his great picture of "Parna.s.sus," as is alleged, is not fully established.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DETAIL FROM "PARNa.s.sUS," RAPHAEL STANZE, PALAZZO VATICANO, ROME Raphael Sanzio _Page 311_]

"Unto my buried lord I give myself,"

wrote Vittoria Colonna in one of the sonnets to her husband's memory, and this line is the keynote to her entire life, both as woman and poet.

It was no translation of her life into another key, no reckoning by stars that flashed from different skies, when there fell upon her the baptism and crown of that immortal friendship with Michael Angelo.

The Marchesa di Pescara returned to Rome, from this notable tour in Northern Italy, in 1538. She was received with the honors that her fame inspired. Michael Angelo was then deeply absorbed in painting his "Last Judgment," in the Capella Sistina.

"Every one in Rome took an interest in the progress of this magnificent fresco, from the Pope (who continually visited the artist) down to the humblest of the people. We may imagine Vittoria standing by the great painter to view his sublime work; but Michael Angelo did not require the patronage, even of a Colonna, and it is possible that Vittoria herself first sought out his friendship."

In the Casa Buonarroti, in Florence, hangs that exquisite picture painted of Italy's greatest woman poet, in her early youth; and in its rare and precious collection of ma.n.u.scripts are the letters of Vittoria to the poet and sculptor. Her influence is said to have produced a great change in his religious views, influencing his mind to a more lofty and more spiritual comprehension of the divine laws that govern the universe.

Condivi, in referring to this chapter in their lives, has said:--

"In particular he was most deeply attached to the Marchesa di Pescara, of whose divine spirit he was enamoured, and he was beloved by her in return with much affection."

It was about 1535 when Michael Angelo left Florence for Rome, appointed by the Pope, Paul III, as the chief architect, sculptor, and painter of the Vatican. He was enrolled in the Pontifical household, and he at once began his work in the Sistine Chapel. Mr. Symonds believes that he must have been 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 rejoiced in Aretino's commendation, he also grieved; "as having finished a large part of the fresco," he said, "I cannot realize your conception which is so complete that if the Day of Judgment had come and you had been present and seen it with your eyes, your words could not have described it better."

Vittoria Colonna now pa.s.sed some years between Rome and Orvieto, that picturesque town with its magnificent cathedral rich in mediaeval art, where she lived in the convent of St. Paolo 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 and also at the Palazzo Cesarini, which was the home of members of the Colonna family. A sonnet of Michael Angelo's written to Vittoria reflects the feeling that she inspired in him:--

"Da che concetto ha l'arte intera e diva La forma e gli atti d'alcun, poi di quello D'umil materia un semplice modello e 'l primo parto che da quel deriva.

Ma nel secondo poi di pietra viva S'adempion le promesse del martello; E s rinasce tal concetto e bello, Che ma' non e chi suo eterno prescriva.

Simil, di me model, nacqu'io da prima; Di me model, per cosa piu perfetta Da voi rinascer poi, donna alta e degna.

Se 'l poco accresce, 'l mio superchio lima Vostra pieta; qual penitenzia aspetta Mio fiero ardor, se mi gastiga e insegna?"

Of this sonnet the following beautiful translation is made by John Addington Symonds:--

"When divine Art conceives a form and face, She bids the craftsman for his first essay To shape a simple model in mere clay: This is the earliest birth of Art's embrace.

From the live marble in the second place His mallet brings into the light of day A thing so beautiful that who can say When time shall conquer that immortal grace?

Thus my own model I was born to be-- The model of that n.o.bler self, whereto Schooled by your pity, lady, I shall grow.

Each overplus and each deficiency You will make good. What penance then is due For my fierce heat, chastened and taught by you?"

The correspondence between Vittoria and Michael Angelo was undated, and all that now remains is fragmentary.

The great artist, writing to his nephew, Sionardo, in 1554, says:--

"Messer Giovan Francisco Fattucci asked me about a month ago if I possessed any writings of the marchioness. I have a little book bound in parchment which she gave me some ten years ago. It has 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 persons so that they are all of them now in print. In addition to these poems I have many letters which she wrote from Orvieto and Viterbo. These, then, are the writings I possess of the marchioness."

In Rome, 1545, Michael Angelo thus writes to Vittoria:--

"I desired, lady, before I accepted the things which your ladyship has often expressed the will to give me--I desired to produce something for you with my own hand in order to be as little as possible unworthy of this kindness. I have now come to recognize that the grace of G.o.d 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 shall have them in my house, but for that I myself shall dwell in them--the place will seem to encircle me with paradise.

For which felicity I shall remain ever more obliged to your ladyship than I am already, if that is possible.

"The bearer of this letter will be Urbino, who lives in my service.

Your ladyship may inform him when you would like me to come and see the head you promised to show me."

With this letter Michael Angelo sent to Vittoria a sonnet which, in the translation made by John Addington Symonds, is as follows:--

"Seeking at least to be not all unfit For thy sublime and boundless courtesy, My lowly thoughts at first were fain to try What they could yield for grace so infinite.

But now I know my una.s.sisted wit Is all too weak to make me soar so high, For pardon, lady, for this fault I cry, And wiser still I grow remembering it.

Yea, will I see what folly 't were to think That largess dropped from thee like dews from heaven, Could e'er be paid by work so frail as mine!

To nothingness my art and talent sink; He fails who from his mental stores hath given A thousandfold to match one gift divine."

As a gift to Vittoria Colonna, Michael Angelo designed an episode from the Pa.s.sion of our Lord, which Condivi describes as "a naked Christ at the moment when, taken from the cross, our Lord would have fallen at the feet of His 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 legend: '_Non vi si pensa quanto sangue costa._'

The cross is of the same kind as that which was carried by the White Friars at the time of the plague of 1348, and afterward deposited in the Church of Santa Croce at Florence."

In presenting this cross to her he wrote:--