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VITTORIA COLONNA 
 
 HER LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
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 COLONNA PORTRAIT. Mt/ian. 
 
VITTOEIA COLONNA 
 
 ITER LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 BY MES. HENRY EOSCOE. 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 1868. 
 
 [The Eight of Translation is reserved.] 
 

 LONDON 
 CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS 
 BREAD STREET HTLL. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The life of Vittoria Colonna, the celebrated 
 Marchesa di Pescara, has received but cursory notice 
 from any English writer, though in every history 
 of Italy her name is mentioned with great honour 
 among the poets of the sixteenth century. 
 
 Mrs. Jameson and Mr. Trollope have given bio- 
 graphical sketches of her; and she is noticed in 
 Roscoe's " Life of Leo X." among the many dis- 
 tinguished persons who were her contemporaries. 
 A French author, Le Fevre Deumier, published a 
 memoir of her in 1856, with prose translations of 
 some of her sonnets. 
 
 Gambatista Rota appended a short notice of her 
 life to his edition of her "Rime" in 1760. He 
 stated that he had used the greatest diligence 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to render it singularly correct which it is on 
 almost every point and he gives very valuable 
 references and notes. Deumier expresses great sur- 
 prise that Rota entirely omits any account of the 
 friendship between Vittoria and Michael Angelo, 
 which, however, may be explained by the fact that 
 Rota was a monk, and his work required to be 
 licensed by the Inquisitor-general of the Holy 
 Office at Vicenzia ; and Michael Angelo, perhaps, 
 did not enjoy the good opinion of the Inquisitor. 
 Deumier, with no foundation of truth, and in very 
 bad taste, endeavours to make a French romance 
 out of the friendship that subsisted between the 
 great sculptor and this illustrious Lady. 
 
 In 1840, a memoir of Vittoria was written by 
 the Cavaliere Pietro Visconti, at the desire of the 
 Prince Torlonia, on his marriage with Teresa 
 Colonna in that year. It is appended to a splen- 
 did edition of Vittoria's poems, containing some 
 which had never before been published, and also 
 many complimentary verses addressed to Vittoria 
 by her friends. The book is dedicated to the 
 " Principessa Donna Teresa Torlonia, nata Colonna," 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 with a poem in honour of the occasion, by the 
 editor. This work is to be relied on, as far as it 
 goes, for the author had the privilege of access to 
 the archives of the Colonna family. 
 
 He commences his memoir by stating that 
 Vittoria had raised a name for herself which was 
 unrivalled even in the brilliant sixteenth century; 
 and he adds, " HI not Romani ought particularly 
 to be proud of the glory which she shed on our 
 common country of Italy ; as in three hundred 
 and fifty years there has been no other lady who 
 can be compared to her." He says that he drew 
 many of his facts from an unpublished history in the 
 Colonna House, and he states that there was also 
 a history of the D'Avalos family, written by II 
 Meola, but that he had not been able to obtain 
 it, after the most careful search. "It is the 
 more to be regretted," he adds, "as it pro- 
 bably contained an account of that period of 
 Vittoria s life which was passed in Naples, of 
 which we know nothing." He had made repeated 
 inquiries, hoping it had been preserved by the 
 D'Avalos family, but he was told that no memoir, 
 
 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 public or private, exists relating to Yittoria Co- 
 lonna. 
 
 He says, "Except the fact of her betrothal, we 
 know nothing of the early years of Vittoria, nor 
 who were her instructors, nor how her grand 
 nature, her poetical tastes, and the turn of her 
 genius were formed ; but certainly Molza could not 
 have been her instructor, as he was only one year 
 older than herself. Judging, however, from such 
 honourable results of the care and ability of her 
 instructors, there was no defect in those who em- 
 bellished her with all the gifts suited to a noble 
 and great soul." 
 
 Visconti insists upon the extreme correctness 
 of his edition of the poems, as he had carefully 
 collected and corrected them from every source. 
 He states that many poems, not written by 
 Vittoria, had been included in other editions, and 
 remarks, " Vaglia il vero" (let truth prevail). 
 He especially relies on the correctness of the 
 manuscript in the house collection, " Casanatense" 
 written in Vittoria's own hand, or in that of her 
 beloved pupil, Innocenza Gualteruzzi. 
 
INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 In this collection he found inedited sonnets 
 referring to events in the last years of Vittoria's 
 life, and also the beautiful Latin prayer, which 
 he found there by great good fortune. And he 
 argues that, as she was so anxious to correct 
 and finish her compositions, this latest collection 
 of her sonnets must be the best ; but he states 
 that other manuscripts exist in Florence. 
 
 The title of "Diva" which was awarded to 
 Vittoria Colonna for her great talents as a 
 poetess, was never before bestowed on any woman. 
 " Non prima ad altra Donna consentito giam- 
 mai" It expresses the summit of excellence. 
 In endeavouring to convey some idea of these 
 talents, we are painfully aware that the grace of 
 her language, and the charm of her ideas, cannot 
 be fully rendered ; though her tenderness, pathos, 
 humility, and strength can be estimated in the 
 garb of English prose. In making a selection 
 from her poems, those have chiefly been chosen 
 which illustrate her history and her character. 
 They present a beautiful and living picture of a 
 most charming woman ; and from their perusal we 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 can estimate, in some degree, the unbounded respect 
 and admiration with which she was honoured during 
 her life. One of her biographers says, "He who 
 had once known her, continually regretted not 
 seeing her again ; and bore away a recollection 
 which no length of absence could efface." 
 
LIST OF PORTRAITS. 
 
 J. Frontispiece, a photograph from the engraving of the Colonna 
 Portrait, in the Colonna Gallery at Rome, and painted by 
 Muziauo. 
 
 II. A photograph from the engraving by Raphael Morghen, of the 
 celebrated picture in the Tribune at Florence. Supposed 
 to be a portrait of Vittoria Colonna, and to have been 
 painted by Sebastian del Piombo. Styled a Lady, 1812, by 
 the best judges. Page 41. 
 
 Ill A photograph from the engraving of a medal struck in honour 
 of Vittoria Colonna in 1840, at the marriage of the Princess 
 Teresa Colonna. Page 152. 
 
" The peerless light of her immortal praise, 
 Whose lustre leads us." Milton. 
 
VITTOEIA COLONNA 
 
 HEE LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 10501507. 
 
 The family of the Colonnas is one of the oldest 
 and most illustrious in Italy. As early as the 
 year 1050, they became possessors of the feudal 
 estate and castle of La Colonna, whence their name 
 was derived. The Lord of Colonna is prominently 
 mentioned in the history of the twelfth century, and 
 for several centuries afterwards the Colonnas fill a 
 conspicuous place in the history of their country. 
 They belonged to the Ghibelline party, and were 
 actively engaged in the wars and quarrels with the 
 Guelphs. Divided into many branches, they took 
 various titles ; one branch being named Princes of 
 
2 V1TT0RIA COLONNA: 
 
 Palestrina, another Dukes of Zagorolo, and others 
 Princes of Sonnino and Stigliauo, in the kingdom 
 of Naples. 
 
 At the beginning of the fourteenth century, 
 the Pope, Boniface VIII., waged a war of de- 
 struction against the Colonna family, two of 
 whom were cardinals opposed to the election of 
 Boniface ; and they afterwards refused to admit 
 papal garrisons into their castles. Boniface accused 
 the Colonnas of many crimes, and the two car- 
 dinals complained of the Pope's arrogance, and 
 questioned the validity of his election. On this 
 the Pope excommunicated the whole family of 
 Colonna and their adherents, called them here- 
 tics, and declared they had forfeited their honours 
 and property of every sort. Further, he besieged 
 Preneste, which he razed to the ground ; and de- 
 stroyed likewise Zagorolo and Colonna. On the 
 7th of September, 1303, the Pope and cardinals 
 were startled by the tramp of armed horse, and 
 the terrible cry of " Death to Pope Boniface ! " 
 Sciarra Colonna, at the head of three hundred 
 horsemen, attacked the Pope's palace ; the Pope 
 implored a truce, but the insurgents demanded his 
 abdication. In the hearts of these men all feeling 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 for the Pope was destroyed by his pride and cruelty. 
 In the Colonnas, the wrongs and beggary and exile 
 of their house had extinguished all feelings except 
 revenge. The Pope was taken prisoner, and 
 carried on a vicious horse, with his face to the 
 tail, to the place of imprisonment; his palaces 
 were plundered, and immense wealth carried 
 off. After a few days' suffering he was released, 
 but on refusing to take the Colonna cardinals 
 into favour again he found himself once more a 
 prisoner, and this last mortification hastened his 
 end. 1 It is said that Sciarra even struck the old 
 man with his gauntlet. Boniface had been an 
 inveterate persecutor of the Ghibellines ; Dante 
 refers to this in the " Inferno 2 ;" and, though he 
 brands the pride, avarice, and treachery of Boniface 
 with his most terrible words, and has consigned 
 him to the direst doom, yet he expresses the uni- 
 versal horror of Christendom on beholding such 
 cruel conduct to the Vicar of Christ. 
 
 The Colonnas were constantly at the head of 
 the great Italian factions which filled Italy with 
 their jealous rivalries, and they had interminable 
 
 1 He died in October, 1303. 
 
 2 And also in the Purgatorio xx. 
 
 B2 
 
VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 quarrels, especially with the Orsini. They possessed 
 great influence, and were enormously wealthy. 1 
 They received great additions to their possessions 
 during the papacy of Martin V. who was one of 
 the family of Colonna, and was raised to the papal 
 chair early in the fifteenth century. They were 
 also enriched by a number of fiefs taken from the 
 Orsini family, and at one time they held a great 
 part of the Campagna di Roma, besides large 
 estates in the Abruzzi. Among the many strongly 
 fortified and beautifully situated castles which they 
 possessed may be mentioned especially the famous 
 stronghold of Palliano, and the castle of Marino, 
 on the Lago d'Albano; but they had many other 
 castles, and magnificent palaces in Rome and 
 Naples. By a diploma, still preserved in the 
 Colonna archives, dated Nov. 15, 1504, it appears 
 that eighteen baronies were then conferred on 
 
 1 The respective genealogies of the various branches of the 
 Colonna family may be found vaMorini (art. " Colonna"). 
 
 Some of them are extinct, but the Stigliano of Naples, and the 
 Sciarra Colonna of Home, continue to exist. The Princess Teresa 
 Colonna was married, in the year 1840, to the Prince Torlonia of 
 Rome ; and there is the announcement of the death of another 
 Princess Colonna, by the fatal effects of cholera, in the last few 
 weeks, at the Lago d'Albano. The Colonna Palace and Gardens on 
 the Quirinal at Rome, are well known to every traveller. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 Prospero Colonna by Ferdinand of Spain ; three 
 days afterwards all the fiefs which Fabrizio Colonna 
 had possessed were restored to him ; and by 
 another deed, dated the same day, thirty-three 
 other fiefs in the Abruzzi and Terra di Lavora 
 were bestowed on him. Prospero and Fabrizio 
 Colonna were distinguished generals, and were fre- 
 quently engaged in wars against the popes. Pope 
 Sextus IV. endeavoured to subdue them with the 
 help of the Orsini, but the Colon nas showed 
 themselves " multum feroces seu audaces " very 
 fierce and audacious. Their fortress of Palliano 
 could not be reduced, owing to the strength of its 
 situation and the bravery of its defenders ; and 
 the Pope was so enraged to find himself baulked 
 of his vengeance against the Colonnas, that "he 
 turned his face to the wall, and died/' 
 
 At the end of the fifteenth century a long suc- 
 cession of military contests had thrown the people 
 of Italy into new difficulties and fresh animosities. 
 Emperors, kings, and princes, seemed to make 
 this beautiful country the battle-ground of their 
 jealous rivalries; and the popes gave their weight 
 and support, first to one party, and then to another, 
 as they found their own interests to lie. 
 
VITTORIA COLONNA. 
 
 The Italian princes often held their possessions 
 by most precarious tenure ; and amongst them no 
 family suffered more continual variations of fortune 
 than the noble House of Colonna, as will appear 
 in the course of this narrative. 
 ~ The father of Fabrizio Colonna, and the grand- 
 father of Vittoria, had the title of Duke d'Amalfi. 1 
 This city was formerly the seaport of Naples, and 
 contained in the eleventh century 50,000 inhabi- 
 tants. It was at one time an independent republic, 
 and attained considerable maritime and commer- 
 cial eminence. It stands in a most commanding 
 position ; it is built of terraces of white houses, 
 tier above tier, with their flat roofs ; and the 
 whole is surrounded with magnificent hanging 
 gardens, and groves of orange and palm trees. 
 One solitary pine lifts its green crown into the 
 blue air, where, on the ridge of the mountain, 
 
 1 Amain is encircled and crowned by mountains, and is built at 
 the mouth of a deep gorge, through which a torrent dashes into the 
 sea. There is no place in the world which presents more glorious 
 beauty. It was once a place of great importance, both for strength 
 and commerce ; but a great storm and inundation in the middle of 
 the fourteenth century destroyed its arsenals and quays, and scarcely 
 a fragment of its walls is left. Under the dynasties of Anjou and 
 Aragon the feudal title of Duke d'Amalfi was enjoyed by several 
 of the distinguished families of Eome. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 the old castle, with its encircling wall, serves as 
 a couch for the clouds. 1 Fabrizio's other titles 
 were Duke of Palliano and Tagliocoti. He was 
 a Roman patrician of pure Italian race, and lord 
 of many a powerful barony. He was early devoted 
 to the profession of arms, and became one of the 
 most celebrated generals of the age. He married 
 Agnese di Montifelto, the daughter of the Duke 
 d'Urbino ; who was also of a distinguished and 
 powerful family. Urbino is a duchy in the Papal 
 States. The city is famous for having been the 
 birthplace of Raphael. Agnese was born in the year 
 1472, consequently she was only eighteen years of 
 age when her daughter, the subject of these me- 
 moirs, was born. Vittoria Colonna was the eldest 
 of six children, the five others being sons. Federico 
 (who is styled the eldest-born by some writers) 
 must have been seven or eight years younger 
 than Vittoria, as is proved by the date on his 
 tomb, which is still to be seen in the church of 
 S. Anna di Pallazzola. The names of the other 
 children were Ascanio, Ferdinando, Camillo, and 
 Sciarra. 
 
 Vittoria Colonna was born in the year 1490, at 
 
 1 Hans Andersen. 
 
VITTORIA COLONNA 
 
 the castle of Marino, on the Lago d'Albano. This 
 beautiful residence had been selected by Fabrizio 
 and Agnese, that they might, in its privacy, " enjoy 
 the short period of tranquillity which smiled on 
 their first years of marriage." It is about twelve 
 miles from Rome, and is described as in a most 
 lovely situation 1 . 
 
 " Many a stranger has probably looked down 
 from the beautifully wooded heights of Castel 
 Gandolfo, on the picturesquely gloomy little walled 
 town of Marino, creeping up the steep side of its 
 hill, and crowned by the ancient seignorial residence 
 of the Colonnas." 2 
 
 " The old castle has recently been repaired and 
 modernised into a very handsome nineteenth-century 
 residence, to the no small injury of its outward 
 appearance in a picturesque and historical point 
 of view. The interior still contains several of the 
 nobly proportioned old halls, which were planned 
 
 1 Flaminio, in one of his poems, thus apostrophizes it : 
 "Salve! Magna Domus, mise Columnar Natalis ! Domus 0! 
 
 Beata ! Salve ! " &c. Hail, noble House ! The birthplace of my 
 Colonna ! blessed House, all hail. Did not this noble lady first 
 see the light of heaven here ! She who is worthy to have been born 
 on high, and to live in the temples of the gods, above the stars, 
 herself a bright star ! Oh ! happy House ! " Carm. lib. i. 
 
 2 Trollope's "Decade of Italian Women." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 when mighty revels in the rare times of peace, 
 and defence in the more normal condition of class- 
 warfare, were the objects held in view by the 
 builder. Many memorials of interest, moreover, 
 pictures and other records of the old times, were 
 brought to Marino from Palliano, when the Colonnas 
 were, in the time of Pope Borgia, most unjustly 
 compelled to sell the latter stronghold to the 
 Roman Government to be turned into a prison for 
 political offenders." 1 Marino was enriched by all 
 that was transferable of the ancient memorials that 
 had gathered round the stronger mountain fortress 
 in the course of centuries. The property of the 
 Colonna family' was at this time immense, but 
 the " ever- turbulent Colonna " as frequently lost 
 as he gained his castles by the fortunes of war. 
 
 In the noble Castle of Marino the beautiful 
 child passed her earliest years, surrounded with 
 everything that could give an impression to her 
 young mind of the glory of high chivalry, and 
 the nobility attached to the fair deeds of arms. 
 Her father, Fabrizio, duke of Palliano, was a man 
 who took a first rank in the world's esteem in 
 those days of martial daring. " Like all the 
 
 1 Trollope. 
 
10 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 princes of that age, he was a soldier of fortune, 
 ready, like the best of his fellow nobles, to sell 
 his blood, and great military talents, in the best 
 market. It was his profession to fight, and -mere 
 fighting in whatever cause, if it were bravely and 
 knightly done, was the most honoured and noblest 
 profession of that day." 1 
 
 These ideas the little Yittoria i nbibed from her 
 cradle. No doubt the Princess Agnese early taught 
 her daughter by her words, and her example, to 
 honour the deeds of the brave husband and father 
 whom they loved. But the young mother and 
 young child were soon to be separated, and we 
 lose sight of Agnese, in following the destiny of 
 Vittoria. 
 
 The Colonnas had changed sides suddenly in 
 1494, in the war between the French and Spanish, 
 and, when Fabrizio was called again to arms, from 
 the calm seclusion of the Castle of Marino, he 
 had to join the forces of Ferdinand, king of 
 Naples, as Naples at this time belonged to Spain. 
 The fact of this change of party is mentioned as 
 a perfectly simple matter : but to the little Vittoria 
 the circumstance became the most important event 
 1 Trollope. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 1 
 
 in her future life ; for the King, anxious to have 
 a better hold on his new adherent than was fur- 
 nished by his oath of fealty, insisted on Fabrizio 
 Colonna betrothing his little daughter to the son 
 of his subject, Alphonso, Marchese di Pescara. 
 This boy, Francesco d'Avalos, 1 was a^ child of 
 the same tender age as Vittoria : they were both 
 only four years old. Vittoria refers to this early 
 betrothal in the sonnet which begins 
 
 I " Appena avean gli spirti intera vita, 
 
 Quando il mio cor prescrisse ogn' altro oggetto," 2 &c. 
 
 The King desired that these two great families 
 should add the ties of relationship to those of a 
 friendship by which they were already so strongly 
 bound. The beauty of the child and the promise 
 of her mind, even at the earliest age, attracted 
 general observation, and her parents doubtless 
 were satisfied that, in making this early contract, 
 they secured to their daughter the highest position 
 for the future, owing to the rank of the family of 
 the boy-bridegroom. If worldly and political 
 
 1 F. Francesco d'Avalos was born in the Castle of Iscliia, in 
 1489. 
 
 2 "Hardly had my spirit entered into life, when my heart pro- 
 scribed every other affection." 
 
12 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 reasons had influenced the arrangement, it proved, 
 indeed, a choice which turned out most happily 
 for Vittoria, and led to the formation of one of 
 the most delightful characters with which we have 
 any acquaintance. 
 
 Fabrizio, having deserted the cause of the French 
 monarch, was fully aware of the danger to which 
 his castles would be exposed, and he desired to 
 consign them to the Sacred College as a deposit ; 
 but the Pope, Borgia, insisted that they should be 
 delivered into his own hands. Guicciardini states 
 that the Colonnas, having placed garrisons in Amelici 
 and Rocca di Papa, abandoned all the rest of their 
 possessions in the Roman States. 1 
 
 Fabrizio, being made Grand Constable of Naples, 
 was immediately obliged to devote himself to public 
 affairs ; and not being able, perhaps, to educate his 
 daughter under his own eye, he determined to place 
 her under the care of the sister of the young 
 Pescara. 2 Vittoria was at this time only five years 
 old. It must have been a sacrifice on the part of 
 
 1 The Colonnas were restored to all their Roman possessions in 
 the papacy of Julius II. ; and in 1509, on the occasion of Vittoria's 
 marriage, we find that she ' ' came from the Castle of Marino, 
 escorted by a large company of Roman nobles." 
 
 2 The Duchessa di Francavilla. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 13 
 
 her parents to part with their only daughter at so 
 early an age ; but as there was constant com- 
 munication between Ischia and the city of Naples, 
 the two families probably enjoyed continual inter- 
 course. The Duchessa di Francavilla, nata Cos- 
 tanza d'Avalos, was Governor, or Chatelaine, of 
 the island of Ischia. She had defended the Castle 
 of Ischia during the war, and had the bravery to 
 refuse to capitulate ; as an acknowledgment of her 
 services the government of the island, civil and 
 military, was settled on her and her family, and 
 was retained by them till 1734. 
 
 So highly did the d'Avalos family rank at Naples 
 in the esteem of the King, that on one occasion, 
 when he entered in triumph into the city after a 
 victory over the French, the Marchese di Pescara 
 (Costanza's father), rode at the King's right hand. 
 This king died about a year after Vittoria had been 
 placed in the Castle of Ischia in 1496. 
 
 The Duchessa di Francavilla was one of the most 
 remarkable women of her day ; she was admirably 
 adapted to the task she had undertaken, of edu- 
 cating the two children. She lost her father the 
 7th September, 1495, "per fiero colpo," murdered, 
 it is said, by a slave ; and, in consequence of her 
 
14 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 brothers and nephews having died in the wars, 
 Costanza had the entire government of the affairs of 
 the house of d'Avalos, and managed them so wisely 
 and generously that she made it easy [phile] for those 
 who came after her. 
 
 The office of perpetual Castellana d'Ischia was an 
 important and uncommon one to be held by one of 
 her sex, as it was considered a key of the kingdom of 
 Naples. The princes all emulated one another in 
 honouring her, and the Emperor Charles V. created 
 her a princess. She greatly loved letters, and cul- 
 tivated the society of the learned. She studied 
 Italian, Latin, and poetry, and wrote a work entitled 
 " Degli Infortuni e Travagli del Mondo." l 
 
 The family of d'Avalos were famed for their devo- 
 tion to the Muses, as well as their prowess in war. 
 Alphonso considered the reading of the ancient 
 classics a sweet relaxation from his heavy cares; and 
 his son inherited not only the glory of his father in 
 his talent for government, but also his taste for 
 letters. 
 
 The Duchessa di Francavilla resided constantly in 
 her magnificent castle, on the lovely island of Ischia, 
 
 1 " Of the Misfortunes and the Labours of the World. " A 
 singular subject in those days ! 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 5 
 
 where she had received the two beautiful children, 
 and had undertaken to bring them up as her own. 
 It was the wish of Vittoria's parents that her great 
 promise as a child should be well directed, and 
 that she should be taught everything which was 
 best suited to her age and her talents. And her 
 biographer, Visconti, states that " she made great 
 proficiency, and gained great praise from her 
 instructors, so that her growth in beauty and in 
 learning was greater than could be found scattered 
 among many other children." 
 
 Fabrizio Colonna was constantly occupied with 
 public affairs during all those wars and tumults 
 which ended in the King being deposed. But he 
 paid, no doubt, frequent visits to see his little 
 daughter, and to watch the progress of her edu- 
 cation ; and we hear of one visit which he paid 
 the island, when the dethroned King and his exiled 
 family took shelter there in 1501. Ischia was at 
 this period the refuge of many of the nobles who 
 had fled from the city of Naples during political 
 disorders. 
 
 Those who have visited this island speak of its 
 charms in glowing colours. " Nothing under heaven 
 could be lovelier," writes Mrs. Oliphant, and she 
 
16 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 describes " the gleam of that yiolet sea, the distant 
 mass of Ischia lying against the fading glow of the 
 west, and all that world of exquisite blue air 
 warmed through and through with the departed 
 sunshine and sweet with blossoms. The sound of 
 the Ave Maria dropping suddenly into the glorious 
 blue of sky and sea and air, just at that charmed 
 moment when the light throbs and trembles before 
 it turns into darkness ; and then comes a sound of 
 singing from the violet sea 
 
 1 Mare ! si placido ! 
 
 Yento ! si caro ! 
 
 Scordar fa i triboli 
 
 Al marinaro ! ' " 
 
 Vittoria's French biographer thus describes this 
 delightful retreat : " Ischia 1 est la plus etendue et 
 la plus charmante de ces iles grecques qui semblent 
 mire du golfe de Naples un immense jardin d'eau, 
 dont les massifs sont autant- de miniatures de la 
 
 1 Bishop Berkeley thus describes the island : 
 
 " Ischia is twenty miles from Naples ; it is twenty miles in cir- 
 cumference. In the centre of the island rises the Monte Essomeo, 
 3,574 feet above the sea ; an Etna in miniature. There is a wonderful 
 variety in the island barren mountains, fruitful plains, and rocks 
 thrown together in romantic profusion ; hills covered with groves 
 of chestnut and myrtle, with rivulets and fountains interspersed ; 
 the air constantly refreshed by cool breezes, and with the finest 
 prospect in the world." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 7 
 
 Suisse. Avec ses forets, ses sources, ses rochers, 
 si 4 s volcans, qui ne jetteut plus que des fleurs, 
 elle est sans contredit un des plus magiques sejours 
 que puisse imaginer Tame du poete. C'est, a cote 
 du tumulte effre"ne d'une capitale, la retraite la 
 plus ombreuse et la plus recueillie ; un paradis de 
 verdure et de silence, defendu par les flots trans- 
 parents de la mer de Tyrrhene contre les vagues 
 de bruit et de poussiere de l'enfer napolitain." 
 
 Tasso also celebrates the island, and the far- 
 famed meetings in Costanza's court, in a sonnet 
 beginning 
 
 " Superbo scoglio, altero e bel recetto 
 Di tauti cliiari eroi," &c. 
 
 " Proud rock ! The high and beautiful retreat 
 Of so many noble heroes." . . . . 
 
 " Well be it with thee ! May both winds and seas respect thee ! 
 May thy native air aud wave be tempered ever by a genial sky ! " 
 
 The two lovely children passed the early years 
 of their education in this delightful retreat, pursuing 
 their studies with the greatest pleasure, and growing 
 up together in happy friendship. The varied accom- 
 plishments of Vittoria, and the talents and martial 
 graces of Francesco, proved the care with which 
 their education had been conducted. 
 
 They also enjoyed the advantages of the best 
 c 
 
18 TITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 society, around their admirable sister, the Duchessa 
 di Francavilla. The ladies who formed her society 
 " were the ornament of that age and the envy of 
 after-times." In that assembly the Duchessa held 
 the first place, but in a short time Vittoria was 
 destined to outshine every one else. " There were 
 many gentlewomen both of Sicily and Naples whose 
 talents and beauty proved them worthy of that 
 high company," says Visconti. " The name of 
 Ischia was synonymous with everything glorious 
 and elegant, and its fame has been immortalized 
 by many writers." Vittoria, in her poems, also 
 frequently refers, with the tenderest recollections, 
 to this scene of her youthful happiness. 
 
 " Era in questo mezzo cresciuta Vittoria ; bellis- 
 sima della persona, e ornata delle piil care doti dell' 
 animo." 1 Of Francesco, Visconti also says he was 
 u Garzone avvenente, e il meglio costumato che 
 fosse!" a charming boy, and of the best disposi- 
 tions. He had few equals in manners, in letters, or 
 in arms. He had been exercised in military affairs 
 from childhood, and his noble nature inclined him 
 to all martial exercises. His hair was auburn, his 
 
 1 " Thus surrounded Vittoria grew up, most beautiful in person, 
 and adorned with the most precious gifts of the mind." Visconti, 
 lxiii. 
 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 9 
 
 nose aquiline, his eyes large and fiery, but at times 
 mild and gentle. In every respect he was fitted to 
 fill a distinguished position in the chivalry of that 
 age. Though born in Naples he was of Spanish 
 blood, and spoke Spanish, by preference, even to 
 Vittoria. He considered himself a Spaniard, and 
 affected the manners of that nation in his dress 
 and deportment. 
 
 The beauty and charms of the young Vittoria 
 attracted the notice of all visitors to the island. 
 She was tall, and of a noble carriage, " the perfec- 
 tion of her form, aided by her pure blood, which 
 shone in her so resplendently, caused her hand to 
 be sought by many." She was adorned with a 
 splendid head of hair, of a colour so rarely met 
 with in Italy, "di un biondo dorato," and its 
 beauty was praised in the verses of many of the 
 poets of the day. Ridolfi says, " ne chiome d'ore 
 piu, n ardenti soli temea ;" and he elsewhere asserts 
 " le trecce d'or in gli alte giri, non e ch' unqua pareggi 
 o sole o stella ; " and he remarks that both the sun 
 and his lady are adorned "con chiome d'or lucide 
 e terse." Andrea di Asola, in dedicating his edition 
 of the Divina Commedia to Vittoria, says " le quali 
 cose siccome le care gemme la vostra bionda testa 
 ornano et abbelliscono," &c. (Visconti, p. xlii.) 
 
 C2 
 
20 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1500-15091512. 
 
 The tranquil life of the .young children in their 
 beautiful island home was continually interrupted 
 by the events which were occurring in Naples and 
 in Rome. In Naples, no fewer than five kings had 
 reigned in three years, causing the wildest grief, or 
 the gayest festivities, among those excitable citizens. 
 The first event, which occurred when the children 
 were hardly old enough to comprehend the distress 
 that threw a shadow over the Duchessa di Franca- 
 villa's house, was the untimely death of the young 
 King and Queen of Naples in October, 1496, imme- 
 diately after their marriage. The whole country was 
 in indescribable grief; and "there arose a cry of 
 weeping so great," says Passari, " that I truly think 
 since God made the world a greater weeping was 
 never known." After this event came the grand 
 Jubilee of 1500, in which Naples was most desirous to 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 21 
 
 partake, by sending to Rome its famous Madonna, 
 escorted with much pomp. This great treasure, 
 however, Pope Borgia in no wise would permit to 
 remain there, and immediately ordered the sacred 
 procession to turn home again. It was asserted 
 that the image, not only worked miracles all the 
 way there, but even a more wonderful series on the 
 way back. And the Neapolitan world would of 
 course be full of talk and indignation at the circum- 
 stance, " It was discussed, we may shrewdly con- 
 jecture, in a somewhat different spirit in that Ischia 
 household, which most interests us." l 
 
 The Jubilee fete was first held in 1300 for the 
 express sale of indulgences. Originally it was held 
 every fifty years, and then every thirty years. The 
 Popes drove a sordid traffic in the lesser, as well as 
 in the larger, indulgences. The sale was carried on 
 with the coarsest avarice. They did not refuse the 
 pence of the poorest people, who would compound 
 for their sins by giving what they could. In the 
 cities, castles, and country houses, every woman, or 
 peasant, who had nothing else to give, was asked 
 to bestow linen, or woollen cloth, household utensils, 
 grain, and corn. Nothing was refused. The Com- 
 
 1 Trollope. 
 
22 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 mission in this manner deceived the people with 
 words, and robbed the country houses and castles 
 more than even the cities. 
 
 The mighty temple of St. Peter's was erected by 
 the money thus fraudulently wrung from the igno- 
 rance and crimes of the peasantry of Europe. The 
 Synodal Courts were also a great means by which 
 the prelates enriched themselves. They punished 
 by fines, convicted by perjury, and innocent persons 
 were willing to buy themselves off from false accu- 
 sations at any price. 
 
 In the year of Jubilee, 1300, the roads were 
 crowded by pilgrims of all ages to visit the tombs 
 of the Apostles. Two hundred thousand strangers 
 were in Rome at once ; and during the year, it is 
 said, millions of pilgrims visited the Holy City. 
 Many people were pressed to death, and at one time 
 the crowds were so great that openings in the walls 
 had to be made. The offerings to the Pope poured 
 in so fast that priests stood with rakes in their hands 
 to sweep the gold and silver from the altars. These 
 gifts were entirely at the free irresponsible disposal 
 of the Pope, and the people received in return the 
 promise of pardon and everlasting life. 1 
 1 Milman's " Hist. Latin Christ." vi. 285. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 23 
 
 The next public event occurred in 1501, when 
 Frederick, king of Naples, came to Ischia with his 
 queen and children, accompanied by his sister 
 Beatrice, widow of the great Matthew Corvinus, 
 king of Hungary, and his sister Isabella, widow of 
 Gian Galeazzo. These illustrious exiles were the 
 guests of the castle ; and the young Vittoria was 
 old enough to sympathise fully with such interesting 
 visitors. They remained there till the unhappy king 
 went to France to surrender himself to Louis in 
 person ; so that Ischia saw the last of the Arragonese 
 dynasty. 
 
 In the year 1506, a more brilliant scene presented 
 itself in Naples, on the arrival of the new King 
 and Queen in Italy, on November 1st. The same 
 people who had made such exceeding lamentation 
 for Ferdinand of Arragon, were equally loud in their 
 expressions of welcome towards his usurping kins- 
 man. The King and Queen were to land at the Mole, 
 and a pier had been thrown out a hundred paces 
 into the sea for their accommodation, and a tent of 
 gold was erected upon it, in which the royal party 
 were to rest on arrival. The city wall was thrown 
 down, to allow the cortege to pass, and as the 
 royal pair proceeded, noble ladies were seated on 
 
24 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 richly-tapestried seats, and nothing was to be seen 
 but velvets, silks, and gold, nor heard but the 
 thunder of the guns and the cheers of the populace. 
 Among these gracious dames, Costanza dAvalos shone 
 conspicuous, with the lovely girl of sixteen at her side, 
 and attended by the graceful youth, her brother. 
 
 It is said, that as the King passed along, the ladies 
 rose and kissed his hand, at which he seemed highly 
 gratified. Fetes and entertainments followed, in 
 which, perhaps, the young Vittoria might be per- 
 mitted to take some share, and so delighted would 
 the two young people be with all the gaiety and 
 pageantry, that they would be unwilling to listen to 
 the thoughts that might present themselves to the 
 more matured mind of Costanza, when she compared 
 the tumult of the present rejoicing with the melan- 
 choly fate of the exiled monarch, who had so lately 
 been a guest under her roof. The beauty of Vittoria 
 could not fail to be the subject of general observation. 
 Now, as ever, she was the cynosure of neighbouring 
 eyes, and in a year from this time, we find that many 
 offers for the honour of her hand were made to 
 Fabrizio Colonna ; though it must have been then 
 well known that she had been betrothed in her 
 childhood to Francesco d'Avalos. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 25 
 
 Naples had belonged to Spain since the year 1503, 
 and it gradually settled down under the Spanish 
 rule. Fabrizio Colonna continued to live in much 
 splendour and consideration under the Spanish 
 viceroys. Vittoria had now returned to her father's 
 house. The period was approaching when she would 
 be claimed by her betrothed, and other suitors were 
 to be rejected. 
 
 In Roscoe's " Life of Leo X." it is stated that her 
 hand was sought by several independent sovereigns 
 of Italy ; and, in 1507, " when Francesco di Pescara 
 was about to give her the ring" (as the Italian 
 biographer expresses it), the Duke de Savoja and the 
 Duke de Braganza both aspired to seek her in 
 marriage. Giovio, in speaking of these three lovers, 
 says of them, in a letter to Stefano Colonna, " L'uno 
 e troppo lontano ; l'altro e troppo fuoriscito ; e 
 l'altro e troppo tenerello;" 1 and a doubt seemed 
 to exist as to which suitor was to be preferred. 
 The following sonnet, already referred to, apparently 
 relates to the difficulty : 
 
 1 " One is too far off, another is too old, and the other is too 
 young." 
 
26 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Sonnet XXXVII. 
 
 "Hardly had my spirit entered into life, when my heart pro- 
 scribed every other object ! and nothing found favour in my eyes 
 but the heavenly aspect of him in whose light I was always 
 nourished. 
 
 "O! what hard law has since withdrawn my soul from this grateful 
 shelter, this divine asylum ? 
 
 " My safeguard, my light, my day is gone ! My road is lost in 
 blind darkness. 
 
 "Nature and Heaven join in a similar wish to unite us. Ah ! 
 what inimical force separates us ? 
 
 "If his life nourishes my frail life, for him I was born ; I am 
 his, and if he is taken from me, in his death I also ought to 
 die ! " 
 
 The Pope, Julius II., interfered to settle the ques- 
 tion at once, and in favour of the Marchese di 
 Pescara, either because he preferred that nobleman 
 to any of the other suitors, or because there was no 
 hope that the affections of Vittoria could be turned 
 to any other quarter, as she had been brought up 
 With this charming youth from her childhood 
 " della prima e tenera sua giovinezza." 
 
 Some of Vittoria's biographers have said that she 
 was married in 1507, at seventeen years of age ; but 
 it is proved by Visconti, from the archives of the 
 Colonnas, that the union did not take place till 
 1509, when the youthful bride was brought from 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 27 
 
 Marino, in ISapoli, with great state, and with a 
 grand escort of Roman nobility, to the ducal 
 castle of Ischia, where the marriage ceremony 
 was celebrated with all that pomp and festivity 
 demanded by the wealth and position of both 
 families. 1 
 
 A list of the rich presents 2 that were exchanged 
 
 1 Visconti states that the bride was brought from Marino in 
 Napoli to Ischia, for the wedding festivities. This probably was 
 not Marino on Lago D'Albano, but some other palace belonging to 
 Colouna. 
 
 2 Lists of the presents given on the occasion of the marriage, 
 taken from the original documents in the Colonna Archives, by 
 Signor Visconti. 
 
 The Marchese di Pescara received, says the document, from the 
 Lord Fabrizio Colonna and the Lady Vittoria 
 
 1. A bed, of French fashion, with the curtains and all the 
 hangings of crimson satin, lined with blue taffetas, with large 
 fringes of gold ; with three mattresses, and a counterpane of 
 crimson satin of similar workmanship ; and four pillows of crimson 
 satin, garnished with fringes and tassels of gold. 
 
 2. A cloak of crimson -raised brocade. 
 
 3. A cloak of black-raised brocade and white silk. 
 
 4. A cloak of purple velvet and purple brocade. 
 
 5. A cross of diamonds and, a housing for a mule, of wrought gold. 
 
 The bride received from the Marchese di Pescara 
 
 1. A cross of diamonds, with a chain of gold, value 1000 ducats. 
 
 2. A ruby, a diamond, and an emerald set in gold, of the value 
 of 400 ducats. 
 
 3. A writing-desk of gold, value 100 ducats. 
 
 4. Twelve bracelets of gold, value 40 ducats. 
 
 [Marriage 
 
28 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 between Vittoria and Francesco is still preserved in 
 the Colonna archives, and also the names of all 
 those personages who officially testified to the 
 marriage signatures ; " and no better authority can 
 be had," adds Visconti. "These were happy days 
 for Vittoria," he remarks, "if the separation from 
 her mother's bosom, and from her brothers, did 
 not distress her. Of her brothers, she most espe- 
 
 Marriagc Gifts to Vittoria. 
 
 1. A suit and gown of double-raised brocade. 
 
 2. A briale of brocade, trimmed with, lappets of crimson velvet. 
 
 3. A briale of crimson velvet. 
 
 4. A briale of brocade and silk, of white colour. 
 
 5. A briale of crimson silk, with trimmings of brocade and white 
 silk. 
 
 6. A briale of Lyons velvet and silk, of black colour. 
 
 7. A suit and gown of velvet, dark crimson, with trimmings of 
 brocade. 
 
 8. A " baschiglia " of blue silk, trimmed with lappets of gold 
 silk. 
 
 9. A petticoat of carnation-coloured silk, trimmed with black 
 velvet. 
 
 10. A petticoat of cherry-coloured silk, trimmed with black 
 velvet. 
 
 11. A cloak of double-raised brocade. 
 
 1 2. A mantle of crimson velvet, trimmed with ermine. 
 
 13. A hood of black damask, trimmed with gold fringe. 
 
 14. A mantle of white silk, trimmed with brocade, and a robe of 
 black damask. 
 
 Her marriage portion was 14,000 ducats. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 29 
 
 dally loved Federigo, who was the tirst-born, and 
 the first to die, and who was a youth of a very 
 holy and peaceable nature. Sad, also, to her must 
 have been the departure of her father, who was 
 called to the supreme command of the Arragonese 
 soldiers in September, 1510. But in her Pescara 
 she quickly found everything on which to place her 
 affections : all that was sweetest in daughter, sister, 
 or mother." This passage certainly implies that 
 Vittoria had lived in her father's house previous 
 to her marriage, which indeed was to be expected. 
 
 Every favour of fortune concurred to render this 
 union joyful. "Questa riguardevole coppia," says 
 Rota, " non ebbe forse pari in Italia di que' tempi." 
 This noted pair had not their equals in Italy at that 
 time. Certainly in Vittoria's eyes there was no 
 one to be compared to her young hero. Their life 
 in Naples was all festivities and magnificence, and 
 when they desired to exchange it for the tran- 
 quillity of the country, they left Naples to go to 
 Pietralba, a villa belonging to the d'Avalos family, 
 on the side of Monte Ermo, where frequently 
 pleasant parties of ladies and gentlemen assembled. 
 But still more delightful and cheerful times were 
 spent by them in their beloved Ischia, where the 
 
30 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Marchese di Pescara usually resided. Here neither 
 at first, nor later, could they enjoy much quiet, 
 because the Duchessa, being Castellana, was obliged 
 to receive much company, and exercise a large 
 hospitality. And in this remote corner of Italy 
 often were found the flower of chivalry, and the 
 men most noted in letters. Amidst such society 
 Francesco and Vittoria heard narrations of bold 
 factions, happy counsels, military perils, reverses, 
 and victories, from the lips of a Prospero and a 
 Fabrizio Colonna, and other generals who frequented 
 their society, and were inflamed with the love of 
 war in the first place, and in the second place 
 enamoured of the Muses. Or they listened to the 
 poets Sanazzaro, il Cariteo, il Rota, and Bernardo 
 Tasso, repeating their verses, or they heard the 
 admirable discourses on letters of Musefico, il 
 Filocalo, il Giovio, and il Minturno. It was an 
 agreeable and approved school for the youthful 
 minds of Vittoria and Pescara. Thus passed most 
 happily the first three years of their married life. 
 
 Dear to Vittoria' s heart was every spot in the 
 beautiful island where they had lived together, and 
 those early days are again and again immortalised 
 in her verse. But when the war with France broke 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 31 
 
 out, at the beginning of the year 1512, the Mar- 
 chese di Pescara was called upon to serve for 
 the King of Naples, and to embrace an opportunity 
 of giving proofs of his martial valour. He imme- 
 diately prepared to accompany Vittoria's father, the 
 grand constable, Prospero Colonna, 1 her uncle, and 
 her brothers to the scene of action. 
 
 In that age it was universally considered essen- 
 tial to the character of a gentleman to distinguish 
 himself in feats of arms ; and though it was a 
 great grief to Vittoria to part from her beloved 
 Francesco, yet " far above the generality of women, 
 she did not endeavour to alter her husband's 
 resolves, remembering that those who desire to 
 attain glory and fame must give up their private 
 wishes." 
 
 On Pescara's shield was the motto, " With this 
 or on this ;" and there is no doubt that he was 
 a brave man, a great soldier, and a chivalrous 
 gentleman. He was second only to Prospero 
 Colonna in fame, and was adored by his men. 
 He was elected captain-general of cavalry at the 
 
 1 Prospero Colonna had such a name as a great and successful 
 general that the French are said to have exclaimed when they heard 
 of his death, " Milan is ours, now that Colonna is dead !" 
 
32 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 age of twenty-one, and was afterwards appointed 
 captain-general of infantry in 1513. This is not 
 the place to speak of his military deeds, except 
 in so far as they affected our Colonna ; but his 
 life is written by Giovio in seven volumes, in 
 which may be found the history of his great mili- 
 tary successes, and his name is famous in all 
 the histories of that period. When Vittoria had 
 taken a tender leave of her brave warriors, and 
 seen them depart at the head of their troops 
 after providing Pescara with everything in armour, 
 horses, &c. suited to his high rank and having 
 commended her husband to her father's care, and 
 her father to her husband she returned to the 
 citron groves and laurels of Ischia, in 1512, there 
 to indulge in secret her grief, and to occupy 
 herself in her studies. 
 
 Before many months had passed she had a new 
 cause for grief; for the fatal tidings came that, 
 at the battle of Ravenna, 1 the 11th of April, 
 
 i Ravenna is a city of the highest antiquity, and full of inter- 
 esting relics and histories. This noble imperial city was under 
 Venice in 1441, and afterwards ceded to the Roman See in 1509. 
 It was governed by a Legate, and was next to Rome itself in 
 importance. It is very strongly fortified. This great battle was 
 fought on Easter Sunday, 11th of April, 1512. Italy never had 
 
TIER LIFE AND POEMS. 33 
 
 1512, whilst fighting at the head of his troops, 
 her beloved Pescara had been wounded in many 
 places ; and after lying for dead on the battle-field 
 had been taken prisoner. Her father, the Grand 
 Constable, had also fallen into the enemy's hands. 
 Pescara was carried to Milan, and there placed in 
 " a superior prison" in the fortress of Porta 
 Gobbia. 
 
 Vittoria was at this time in Ischia, and a special 
 messenger was sent over to the island to acquaint 
 her with the evil tidings ; she describes her grief in 
 a letter to Pescara written in terza rime, and con- 
 taining thirty-seven stanzas. This epistle was not 
 published till Visconti, in 1840, added it to the 
 other poems in his revised edition of Vittoria's 
 writings. It is, evidently, a private letter to Pescara, 
 and has been treasured up in the family archives. 
 
 seen so bloody a combat. It is said that 20, 000 men were left dead 
 on the field. 
 
 Its bishopric was one of the most ancient in the world. Dante 
 died there on the 14th September, 1321. Bembo,*the podesta of 
 Kavenna, and the father of Cardinal Bembo, erected a mausoleum 
 at Ravenna, in honour of Dante, in 1483. In 1519, the Florentines 
 petitioned Leo X., but unsuccessfully, to permit the bones of 
 Dante to be restored to his native city. Michael Angelo affixed 
 his great name to the petition. " Io Michael Angelo, scultore, 
 supplico offerendomi al divin poeta, fare la sepultura nuova con 
 deceuza e in loco onerevole in questa citta." 
 
34 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Written only three years after her marriage, it is, 
 in fact, a most beautiful and touching love-letter. 
 It begins 
 
 " Eccelso Mio Signor ! Questa ti scrivo 
 Per te narrar tra quante dubbie voglie, 
 Fra quanti aspri martir, dogliosa io vivo ! " 
 
 and it concludes 
 
 " Tu, vivi lieto, e non hai doglia alcnna :' 
 Che pensando di fama il nuovo acquista, 
 Non curi farmi del tno amor digiuna. 
 Ma, io, eon volto disdegnoso e tristo, 
 Serbo il tuo letto abbandonato e solo, 
 Tenendo con la speme il dolor misto, 
 E col vostro gioir tempro il mio duolo ! " 
 
 The following is a translation of this pathetic 
 letter : 
 
 '* Epistle from Vittoria Colonna to F F. D'Avalos, after the defeat 
 of Ravenna. 1 
 
 " Eccelso mio Signor, I write this to thee to tell thee amidst 
 what dubious wishes and bitter anxieties I live. I little expected 
 such grief and torment from thee, who oughtest to have gained the 
 victory if the favour of Heaven had been propitious. I did not 
 think that the Marchese and the Fabrizio would ever have caused 
 me such great sorrow the one my father, the other my husband ! 
 Piety towards my father, and love towards thee, are for ever 
 gnawing at my heart like two hungry rabid snakes. I believed 
 
 1 "Epistola a Ferrante Francesco D'Avalos suo Oonsorte nella 
 Rotta di Ravenna. Rime ommesse nelle precedenti Edizioni e per 
 nostra cura unitaper la prima volta alia stampa del suo eanzoniere." 
 Visconti. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 35 
 
 that the Fates would have been more benignant. I believed that 
 so many prayers and tears, and love without measure, would not 
 have been displeasing to God ; whilst thy deeds are known in 
 heaven, and the fame and glory of my father also. 
 
 ' ' But now this dangerous assault and this horrid and cruel fight 
 has turned my mind and heart to stone. Your great valour has 
 shone as in a Hector or an Achilles ; but what comfort is that to 
 me, weeping, abandoned ? 
 
 "My mind was always doubtful, which caused me to give a 
 mixed judgment, divided between assent and dissent ; but I, 
 miserable ! always thought that evil fortune could not come nigh 
 thy valour and thy brave soul ! 
 
 " Others may desire war ! I always desire peace ! saying, it is 
 enough for me if my Marchese remains quietly in his place. It 
 does not disturb you to attempt difficult undertakings, but to us, 
 grieving and afflicted, what seeds of fear and doubt it brings ! 
 
 "You, full of ardour, not dreaming of anything but honour, 
 disdainful of danger, rush to battle with furious cries ; whilst we, 
 timid of heart, sad of aspect, desire the sister, the brother ; the 
 wife, the husband ; the mother, the son ; and I, alas, desire both 
 husband, father, brothers, and son ! In this case I am daughter 
 by nature, wife by the legal ties of marriage, and sister and 
 mother by affection ! 
 
 "Never before came messenger from whom I did not seek to 
 know every little particular, to make my mind joyful and at ease ; 
 but on that fatal day I (in the body, my mind is always with thee), 
 was lying at a point of our island, when the whole atmosphere 
 appeared like a thick cloud like a cavern of black fog ; the water 
 boiled up and showed fear ; the verdure seemed stagnant ; the sea 
 looked like ink, and, weeping around, the marine gods seemed to 
 say to Ischia 'To-day, Vittoria, thou shalt hear of disgrace from 
 the confines. Though now in health and honour, thou shalt be 
 turned to grief ; but thy father and husband are saved, though 
 taken prisoners.' 
 
 "Then with a dark and sad countenance I, weeping, narrated 
 the fearful and sad augury to the magnanimous Costanza. She 
 comforted me, as is her wont, saying, 'Do not think of it. It 
 would be a strange thing for such a force to be conquered ! ' 
 
 d2 
 
36 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 " ' He cannot be much removed from such evils,' I replied, ' who, 
 animated to great deeds, does not fear to what his hand leads. 
 Those who go into action must show a prompt and rapid boldness, 
 and can have no breathing time, nor bargain with fortune.' 
 
 "And behold! as I spoke the fatal messenger arrived to tell 
 us the sad tale of thy ill-fortune ; the remembrance of which still 
 seems to me like a trick played upon my feelings. If victory 
 thou desired I was near thee ; but thou, in leaving me, lost her, 
 and in seeking another she has fled from thee ! 
 
 " It distressed Pompey, as thou oughtest to know, to leave Cor- 
 nelia ; and it distressed Cato to leave Marcia in bitter tears. A 
 wife ought to follow her husband at home and abroad ; if he suffers 
 trouble, she suffers ; if he is happy, she is ; if he dies, she dies. 
 What happens to one happens to both ; equals in life, they are 
 equals in death. His fate is her fate. 
 
 " Thou livest cheerful, having no care ; and in thinking of thy 
 newly-acquired fame, thou grievest not to be separated from thy 
 beloved ! whilst I, with angry and sad countenance, rest on thy 
 abandoned and solitary couch, with hope and sorrow filled ; thy 
 joy tempering my grief." 
 
 It does not appear how long the illustrious 
 prisoners remained in this captivity, but as Pescara, 
 owing to the state of his wounds, could not take 
 any exercise, he amused himself with writing a 
 " Dialogue on Love," addressed to his wife in 
 Ischia, in which he expresses very vividly the love 
 he bore her, and how he was grieved to be so 
 far from her. This poem is now lost, having been 
 searched for in vain by Visconti ; but it has been 
 well spoken of by some writers. Vittoria went, at 
 this time, to reside in Naples, to be more within 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 37 
 
 reach of tidings of her husband. Probably many 
 letters passed between them during this separa- 
 tion ; but these may not have been preserved. 
 She sent him a little device she had made for 
 him. A cupid in a circle formed by a serpent ; 
 with the motto, u Quern peperit virtus, prudentia 
 servet amorem," showing that wisdom united with 
 valour should make the beautiful knot indissoluble 
 (we may interpret it, " The wisdom of the 
 serpent and the innocence of the dove.") The 
 condition of the prisoners was mitigated by the 
 efforts of Pescara's maternal uncle, who resided 
 in Milan. He had in 1488 married Beatrice, the 
 daughter of Inico d'Avalos. In a short time their 
 release, also, was obtained (not without the pay- 
 ment of a heavy ransom) by this uncle, and by 
 the Duke de Ferrara, who had a great esteem for 
 Fabrizio, duke de Palliano. He had been so 
 fortunate as to fall into the hands of Alfonzo 
 D'Este, who knew his worth, and treated him with 
 the respect due to his high and unimpeachable 
 character. The King of France requested several 
 times to have the prisoners transferred to France ; 
 but the duke found reasons to excuse his non- 
 compliance, till the total expulsion of the French 
 
38 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 from Italy enabled him to gratify the generosity 
 of his own disposition, by freely restoring his cap- 
 tives to liberty. 
 
 The Duke de Ferrara, in return, requested that 
 Fabrizio Colonna, when he arrived at Rome, would 
 endeavour to obtain the Pope's pardon for him, 
 and effect a reconciliation between them. 
 
 Julius expressed no reluctance in complying, 
 but he suggested that D'Este's presence would be 
 necessary in Rome. A safe conduct was accordingly 
 sent him, and the Spanish ambassador also pledged 
 himself to the Duke, for his safe return. He arrived 
 in Rome in June, 1512, and was admitted into 
 Consistory. Here he humbly begged pardon for 
 having borne arms against the Holy See ; entreated 
 to be restored to favour ; and promised to conduct 
 himself as a faithful son and feudatory of the 
 Church. Julius received him with apparent kind- 
 ness, and deputed six cardinals to treat with him, 
 as to the terms of the proposed reconciliation ; but 
 the surprise of the Duke may well be conceived 
 when the ecclesiastics proposed to him to divest 
 himself of the territory of Ferrara, which he had 
 derived through a long line of ancestors, and to 
 accept as a compensation the remote and unim- 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 39 
 
 portant city of Asti, to which the Pope had lately 
 asserted some pretensions. Of all his family there 
 was no one less likely than Alfonso to have sub- 
 mitted to such a disgrace ; but his astonishment 
 was converted into indignation, on hearing that the 
 Duke d'Urbino at the head of the Papal troops 
 had entered his dominions and occupied the towns, 
 and ventured within the walls of the important 
 City of Reggio. The Pope also refused to allow 
 the Duke to quit Rome. The Spanish ambassador 
 and the nobles of the Colonna family, some of 
 whom were closely connected by affinity with the 
 Pope, interceded with him for the strict and 
 honourable performance of his engagement. Julius 
 answered their remonstrances only by reproaches 
 and threats. Convinced of his perfidious intentions, 
 Fabrizio and Marc Antonio Colonna resolved to 
 rescue the Duke from the danger to which he was 
 exposed. Having, therefore, selected a small band 
 of their confidential adherents, Fabrizio rode at 
 their head towards the gate of St. John Lateran, 
 followed at a short distance by the Duke and Marc 
 Antonio ; but to his surprise, he found the gates 
 more strongly guarded than usual, and his further 
 progress opposed. It was now, however, too late 
 
40 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 to retreat, and directing his followers to effect a 
 passage by force, he conducted the Duke in safety 
 to the Colonna fortress at Marino. 
 
 Here the protection of the Duke was entrusted 
 to Prospero Colonna, who secretly conducted him 
 from place to place, but so diligently were they 
 pursued by the emissaries of the Pope, that the 
 Duke was frequently obliged to change his disguise, 
 and after having for upwards of three months 
 appeared in the successive characters of a soldier, 
 a cook, a hunter, and a monk, he had the good 
 fortune at last to arrive in safety at Ferrara. The 
 vexation and resentment of the Pope were so extreme, 
 that the Duke determined to mitigate his anger by 
 a respectful and submissive embassy ; but such was 
 the well-known character of the pontiif that he 
 found it difficult to prevail on any of his courtiers 
 to undertake the task. At length he fixed on 
 Ariosto, who, preferring the will of his prince to 
 his own safety, hastened to Rome. On his arrival 
 he found that the Pope had retired to a villa in 
 the neighbourhood. To this place Ariosto followed 
 him, but on being admitted to his presence he soon 
 discovered that the only chance which he had for 
 his life, was immediate flight ; the ferocious pontiff 
 
J 1 I > > > 
 
 
 
 > ' ,' 
 I > 
 

 .... 
 
 V1TT0RIA COLONNA. Sebastian del Pre 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 41 
 
 having threatened, if he did not instantly quit the 
 places he would have him thrown into the sea. 
 The poet was happy to avail himself of the safer 
 alternative, and returned to Ferrara with all pos- 
 sible expedition. To this embassy Ariosto himself 
 alludes in one of his satires. 
 
 This adventure of Ferrara occurred on the 17th 
 of July, 1512, and it was very often afterwards 
 related by Fabrizio Colonna as a most excellent 
 joke. 
 
 Pescara returned after his short captivity with 
 great delight to his beloved home; which he may 
 have feared never to behold again. His presence 
 " made the day brilliant " to Vittoria, and filled her 
 heart with joy. His very paleness, caused by the 
 honourable wounds from which he had suffered, 
 endeared him to her the more. Her "noble 
 tvounded" came back to her covered with glory. 
 His invalided looks gave a certain charm to his 
 countenance, so that Isabella D'Aragona, duchessa 
 di Milano, had exclaimed on seeing him, u I should 
 like to be a man, that I too might receive a wound 
 in the face, as you have done, and see how be- 
 coming it would be to mine, as it is to yours ! " 
 Pescara only remained in the quiet of Ischia till 
 
42 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 the following year, 1513, when he was again called 
 to join the allied armies in Lombard y along with 
 his father-in-law and Prospero Colonna. 
 
 Louis XII. had waged an unsuccessful war in Italy 
 for fifteen years, and when Francis L, the gay and 
 gallant young prince, succeeded him on the throne of 
 France, the war was prosecuted with renewed vigour. 
 By an incredible effort an army was marched over 
 the Alps by Chevalier Bayard, in 1515, which took 
 Prospero Colonna by surprise, and made him a 
 prisoner. Francis L, at the great "Battle of the 
 Giants," was at the head of his troops, and gained a 
 victory which gave him, for a short time, possession 
 of Milan ; but eventually the French were worsted in 
 every engagement, owing to the reckless daring of 
 the king and his generals, which finally ended in the 
 capture of Francis at the Battle of Pavia, and in the 
 French being driven entirely out of Italy. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 151515201521. 
 
 ViTTORiA, after she had parted with her beloved 
 heroes, returned to Ischia; to. its perpendicular 
 cliffs, and its orange and olive groves, reflected in 
 the wonderful mirror of its pure waters to its 
 peace and its leisure there to pursue her reading, 
 and to dwell with tenderness on all the recollections 
 of the past. " She remained constantly at home, 
 not wandering from her studies, and considering 
 no time of value, but so spent." * Her dear 
 friend and sister, Costanza, shared her study of 
 the ancient languages ; and, perhaps also, the exer- 
 cises in Italian poetry, from which Vittoria's fame 
 lias chiefly arisen. At the revival of learning, in 
 the fifteenth century, the nobility and higher classes 
 in Italy, stimulated by the example of popes and 
 princes, cultivated the classics, and emulated one 
 1 Rota. 
 
44 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 another in the love of literature. The Italian 
 language was perfected, and became the language 
 of the poet, the historian, and the people. It arose 
 under its new beauty, in the time of Dante ; and 
 Vittoria Colonna, in her graceful poems, displayed 
 its charms and musical rhythm, in the utmost 
 perfection. 
 
 She was now by study, by thought, by retire- 
 ment, and the gradual ripening of her powers, pre- 
 paring to take that place in the world of letters, 
 which after-times have unanimously accorded to 
 her. She only occasionally visited Naples, when 
 she could receive a flying visit from her husband, 
 who came from the camp to join her as often as 
 he could snatch a short period of repose. It had 
 long been a source of grief to Pescara and Vittoria 
 that they had no children to continue their name 
 and family. Vittoria speaks of her sorrow on this 
 subject in the Sonnet, No. 22. She wished to turn 
 her thoughts from her regrets, and her affections 
 into new channels, by adopting a son, and in 1515, 
 when Pescara visited her, in Ischia, she proposed 
 to him to adopt his young cousin, the Marchese 
 del Vasto, to be his heir. She was eminently fitted 
 for the task of education, and she turned all her 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 45 
 
 talents, and her strong and ardent affections, to the 
 task of cherishing and training her adopted child, 
 who is described as having been " beautiful as 
 an angel." She had the entire satisfaction of suc- 
 ceeding in her task, which was by no means 
 an easy one ; and she was rewarded by the 
 delight of seeing Vasto become everything she 
 could desire, and of enjoying his devoted love 
 for the rest of his life. He was a boy of a quick 
 and lively intelligence, who had hitherto been with- 
 out check or rule, and who was so rude and un- 
 manageable, as to have the character of being 
 almost savage and rebellious. " So headstrong and 
 violent was he, that he seemed doomed to a life 
 of crime," but Vittoria gave herself the mission 
 of taming him and turning him to good. Her 
 grace, her beauty, her unchangeable gentleness, her 
 proud and tranquil bearing, and her firmness 
 tempered with kindness, exercised a magical in- 
 fluence over this rude boy. His sole delight was 
 to obey his instructress, and he soon loved the 
 studies for the sake of the teacher. 
 
 The return of Pescara in 1515 was a triumphal 
 one. Fetes and rejoicings followed, and Vittoria 
 celebrated the event in two sonnets, the 75th and 
 
46 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 the 102d. She describes how the summit, heights, 
 and ample sides of the great mountain were aflame 
 with bonfires, and the borders of the beautiful shore 
 bright and warm with lights, and she says 
 
 * Neither the steadfast earth nor the moving waters are behind- 
 hand, so joined is the whole island in these rejoicings. Whichever 
 way I turn I see new triumphs and worthy trophies rising up, and 
 all around are the immortal praises of thy high valour. Nor is this 
 only upon one day, my lord ; but I know that all thy years have 
 been so well spent, that they all equally record thy great merit." 
 
 In Sonnet 75 she says 
 
 " My beloved returns to us, loaded with regal spoils and rich 
 booty, his countenance radiant with piety to God, with deeds born 
 of inward faith, and with words dictated by true wisdom." 
 
 And she relates that, at last, conquered by her prayers, 
 he showed her his beautiful wounds, and described 
 to her the time and mode of his many and great 
 victories : 
 
 ** So much pain and so much joy I have in these things, and in 
 that thought, that, weeping, I enjoy but little pleasure, and mauy 
 bitter tears." 
 
 In February, 1517, a very magnificent fete was given 
 by the D'Avalos family in Naples, on occasion of the 
 marriage of another Costanza d'Avalos, the sister of 
 Vasto, and the young cousin of the Duchessa di 
 Francavilla. She was married to Alfonso Piccolomini, 
 duke d' Amain, of the great Roman family of that 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 4 7 
 
 name, and there had not been so grand a wedding in 
 Naples for a long time. The superb appearance of 
 Vittoria Colonna on this occasion was such as " few 
 could equal, and none surpass." x 
 
 On the 6th December, 1517, there was another 
 high festival held in Naples, on the marriage of the 
 King of Poland with Donna Bona Sforza. Passing 
 over all the changes which Master Passeri rings on 
 velvet, satin, gold, and brocades and costly furs, we 
 come to the account of the illustrious lady, the 
 Signora Vittoria, Marchesa di Pescara, and we are 
 informed she was mounted on a black and white 
 jennet, with crimson velvet housings trimmed with 
 gold, and was accompanied by six ladies in waiting, 
 clad in azure damask, and attended by six grooms 
 on foot, with cloaks and jerkins of yellow satin. 
 
 She herself wore a robe of brocaded crimson 
 velvet, with large branches of beaten gold on it, a 
 crimson satin cap, with a head-dress of wrought gold 
 above it, and around her waist was a girdle of beaten 
 gold. On quitting the church, the noble party sat 
 down to table at six o'clock, to a sumptuous entertain- 
 ment, which lasted till five in the morning. Large 
 interludes were probably allowed for music and reci- 
 
 1 Guiliano Passeri's Diary, printed in Naples, 1785 ; rare. 
 
48 VITTORTA COLONNA: 
 
 tations of poetry. Thus passed the first day " with 
 infinite delight," and the whole party enjoyed a 
 second and a third day in the same manner. The 
 bride's trousseau was displayed, article by article, as 
 the guests still were sitting at table, and Passeri 
 gives a catalogue of the whole exhibition, linens, 
 dresses, and plate, besides 100,000 ducats of gold in 
 caskets and on trays. " It may well be imagined," says 
 Trollope, who gives the whole particulars of this 
 wedding feast, " that Vittoria was not sorry to return 
 to the quiet and intellectual society of Ischia after 
 these tremendous three days at Naples." * 
 
 Pescara was absent on the day of the grand entry 
 into Naples, as well as at the solemnization of the 
 marriage, but by " putting spurs to his haste," he was 
 enabled to reach Naples in the evening ; and coming 
 to the Castle Capuano, he was received with a most 
 gracious welcome from the Duchessa di Milano, the 
 bride's mother, and the next day he rode beside the 
 bride to Manfredonia, where she took ship. II 
 Passeri, who writes a full account of everything in 
 his diary, of the dowry and furniture which the 
 Queen took with her to Poland, as well as of the 
 marriage feast, gives us some idea of the immense 
 
 1 "Decade of Italian Women," p. 319. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 49 
 
 wealth and extravagant habits of the nobility of 
 Naples in that day. 
 
 In this year Pescara received the appointment of 
 Grand Chamberlain to the Royal House in Naples, 
 and in the year 1520 he accepted a new post of 
 honour, being elected ambassador to Charles V. on 
 the occasion of his intended coronation at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle. The Arragonese barons had selected the 
 Marchese di Pescara to represent their body at this 
 splendid ceremony. 
 
 This very honourable and agreeable appointment 
 of her husband could not have been entirely without 
 care to the heart of Vittoria, for so long an absence 
 and so distant a journey was not accomplished with- 
 out sacrifice and anxiety to her. 
 
 Charles V. had inherited the crowns of Arragon 
 and Castile at the age of sixteen, with all the vast 
 possessions in the New World, as well as the king- 
 doms of Naples and Sicily, and the island of Sardinia. 
 And in 1519, at the death of his grandfather Maxi- 
 milian, he had been elected Emperor of Germany, 
 and was now about to repair to the very ancient city 
 of Aix-la-Chapelle, there to receive the crown and 
 sceptre of Charlemagne. 
 
 Charles determined to go by sea, and he arranged 
 
 E 
 
50 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 to visit Henry VIII. of England on his way. 
 Pescara most probably joined the fleet which con- 
 veyed the Emperor and his suite. In this case he 
 would sail from Corunna, and land with the party at 
 Dover. The imperial visit, which occurred on the 
 25th of May, 1520, was entirely unexpected by Henry, 
 but his wily Chancellor already knew the Emperor's 
 intentions, and was prepared for his coming. Car- 
 dinal Wolsey was pensioned, and courted, both by the 
 French King and by the Emperor ; and the latter, 
 on this occasion, presented him with an additional 
 sum of 7,000 ducats, and styled him "most dear 
 friend," whilst Francis strove by presents, and flat- 
 tery, and deference, to preserve him in his own 
 interest, calling him "father, tutor, and governor. ' 
 The Emperor wished to prevent the intended meet- 
 ing of the Cloth of Gold between the two gay young 
 monarchs, but they were too fond of spectacles and 
 display to give up that magnificent fete, and Wolsey 
 himself was no less fond of exhibiting his greatness 
 and wealth. The Emperor was not at the tourna- 
 ment, but Henry visited him afterwards at Grave- 
 lines, and persuaded him to go with him to Calais. 
 During these interviews the Emperor succeeded 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 5 1 
 
 in entirely winning Wolsey's good offices. 1 Charles 
 was received by Henry in great state. He went to 
 meet him at Dover, and brought him to Canterbury, 
 where Queen Catherine, the Emperor's aunt, with 
 all the court, were assembled, at a grand Jubilee 
 in honour of the shrine of Thomas a Becket. 2 
 
 It was the last Jubilee ever held at that place. All 
 the immense wealth of the shrine was soon to be in 
 the king's coffers, and the most splendid jewel that 
 adorned it was soon to hang on Henry's own breast. 
 
 1 Shakespeare has most exactly described the circumstances. 
 He says (Henry VIII. act i. scene 1): 
 
 " Charles the Emperor, 
 Under pretence to see the Queen, his aunt 
 (For 'twas, indeed, his colour ; bur he came 
 To whisper Wolsey), here makes visitation. 
 His fears were that th' interview betwixt 
 England and France might, through their amity, 
 Breed him some prejudice ; for from this league 
 Peep'd harms that menaced him : he privily 
 Deals with our Cardinal ; and as, I trow, 
 Which I do well, for I am sure the Emperor 
 Paid ere he promised ; whereby his suit was granted 
 Ere it was asked ; but when the way was made, 
 And paved with gold, the Emperor thus desired, 
 That he would please to alter the King's course, 
 And break the foresaid peace. Let the King know 
 (As soon he shall by me) that thus the Cardinal 
 Doth buy and sell his honour as he pleases, 
 And for his own advantage." 
 
 2 Dean Stanley's " Canterbury." 
 
 e2 
 
52 VITTORIA COLON N A: 
 
 The two handsome young sovereigns rode into 
 Canterbury under the same canopy, the great Cardinal 
 riding directly in front of them, and on the right and 
 left were the proud nobles of Spain and England, 
 Pescara perhaps among them. The kings alighted 
 from their horses at the west door of the cathedral, 
 and together paid their devotions before that rich 
 shrine blazing with jewels. They humbly knelt on 
 the steps worn by the knees of tens of thousands 
 of pilgrims. Such a magnificent assemblage was 
 never seen there before, nor such an entertainment, 
 as was given afterwards, in the Archiepiscopal 
 Palace, by Warham, to the kings. After three 
 days, the Emperor and his suite repaired to their 
 ships, and set sail for the Low Countries, reaching 
 Aix-la-Chapelle at the appointed time. The cere- 
 monies in the fine old halls of that most ancient 
 city were equally gorgeous. 
 
 Francis I. had also aspired to be elected Em- 
 peror; and that Charles V. should have been pre- 
 ferred before him, was one cause of the lifelong 
 struggle which these ambitious monarchs continually 
 sustained against each other. 
 
 Pescara is said to have shown as much prudence 
 and good sense in the office of ambassador, on this 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS 53 
 
 celebrated occasion, as he had before exhibited mili- 
 tary skill and valour. On his return to Naples he held 
 a parliament of the barons, in the church of S. Maria 
 di Monte Oliveto, to relate the result of his journey, 
 and to lay down his authority; he then hastened 
 to join the Marchesa di Pescara at Rome, whither 
 she had gone in the year 1521 with her father 
 Fabrizio to visit the Colonnas, and pay their re- 
 spects to Leo X. who had lately, out of attach- 
 ment to that family, bestowed a cardinal's hat upon 
 Pompeo Colonna. 
 
 The tranquil state of Italy at that time, enabled 
 Leo to follow his taste for entertainments and 
 luxury ; and he delighted to draw round his court 
 all the most distinguished persons in letters and 
 art. Among these Vittoria shone conspicuous. 
 She was at the height of her beauty, and her 
 charms were sung by the poets of the day. " But the 
 testimony of graver writers, lay and clerical, is not 
 wanting to induce us to believe that Vittoria, in her 
 prime, really might be considered the most beautiful 
 woman of her day." 1 At this time she sat to Gau- 
 denzio Ferrari, a pupil of Raphael, for that portrait 
 which is now in the gallery of the Giustiniani. 2 
 
 1 Trollope. 2 Visconti. 
 
54 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Pope Leo X. died on the 1st of December, 1521, 
 aged forty-six. However much the Colonnas might 
 regret him, the people generally felt nothing but 
 relief at his decease. It is even believed that he 
 owed his death to poison. The people hated him. 
 They said, " Thou hast crept in like a fox ; like 
 a lion (Leo) thou hast ruled us, and like a dog thou 
 hast died." 
 
 His kind and conciliatory temper, and his liberal 
 patronage of art, have not been able to hand his 
 name down honourably to posterity. His extra- 
 vagance, his immoral life, his indifference to all 
 religion, his scandalous sale of indulgences, and 
 his private hours passed among buffoons and jesters, 
 laid the Roman Church open to the contempt and 
 hatred of all the great and good men of that 
 time. Ranke says, " Never died a Pope in worse 
 repute since the Church of God had existence." 
 And the character of the lower clergy was even 
 more scandalous. 
 
 Adrian, who, to his own surprise, and that of 
 every one else, was elected Pope in his stead, 
 had been tutor to Charles V., and, along with 
 Cardinal Ximenes, had been regent during Charles's 
 long minority. It was supposed that he owed 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 55 
 
 his elevation to the chair of St. Peter to the 
 intrigues of the Spanish ambassador, who wished 
 the new Pope to be in his master's interests. 1 
 Wolsey had been promised both by Charles and 
 Francis that he should have all their interest, in 
 case of the decease of Leo ; for Wolsey's insatiable 
 ambition would be satisfied by nothing less than to 
 see himself Pope. Charles amused him with vain 
 hopes, which he never meant to gratify, and though 
 Wolsey spared no bribes or promises, when the elec- 
 tion came on Adrian was elected. 
 
 The very first effort which the new Pope made, 
 was to deter, if possible, the two kingly rivals from 
 amusing themselves any longer with the dread 
 game of War. He issued a bull to restrain the 
 Christian princes from further aggression for three 
 years. But Francis I. almost immediately deter- 
 mined to evade it. And it was this renewal of 
 the war in Italy by the French monarch that caused 
 the life-long grief of Vittoria, as it led to the fatal 
 Battle of Pavia, in which the brave Pescara lost 
 his life. 
 
 i Kobertson's " Charles V." 
 
56 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 152115241525. 
 
 The jealous rivalry between Charles V. and 
 Francis L, which produced no good to themselves, 
 and much evil to the world, was more like a game of 
 chess, or the encounter of knights in a tournament, 
 than the eiforts of great men in a great cause. 
 
 There were four great wars between them. The 
 first from 1521 to 1526 ; the second from 1527 to 
 1529; the third from 1535 to*1538; the fourth 
 from 1542 to 1544, when peace was at last settled 
 between them at Crespy. The intervals were occu- 
 pied in raising the funds to renew the contest. They 
 considered no arts unworthy which might overthrow 
 or circumvent one another, and for this they cared 
 not if Europe were bathed in blood, and widespread 
 ruin overran the garden of Italy. The popes, even 
 more crafty and unprincipled, and less excusable, 
 followed their example for their own private ends. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 57 
 
 And what advantage did either party gain ? Though 
 Charles V. seemed possessed of " the wealth of the 
 Indies," the wars he engaged in so impoverished him 
 that he was in continual want of money even to 
 pay the wages of his troops. This was one of the 
 Marchese di Pescara's great difficulties. Pescara 
 was a man of first-rate abilities, both in a civil 
 and a military capacity, and he was beloved and 
 almost adored by the soldiers. The imperialist 
 troops were not mere mercenaries. Many of them 
 were men of high rank, and they were in a state 
 of perfect discipline under him. Their discontents 
 were largely shared by their generals, and the 
 Emperor's name became very unpopular. 
 
 But when Pescara once more was summoned 
 to take his place at the head of his troops, he 
 was welcomed by them with acclamations. 
 
 The war had commenced again in 1521, and 
 Leo X., withdrawing his support from the French 
 king, made a secret compact with Charles V. 
 Prospero Colonna was called to the supreme 
 command of the imperialist army, Pescara taking 
 the command of the infantry. When he was pre- 
 paring to leave for Lombardy, it became a question 
 whether the youthful Vasto should accompany 
 
58 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 him. But there was so much opposition to it 
 from their friends at Naples, to whom the de- 
 lightful manners and agreeable qualities of the 
 boy had endeared him, that, at first, Pescara 
 refused to take him, more especially as he felt 
 that Vasto was the sole heir to the d'Avalos 
 family, which would become extinct if anything 
 fatal occurred to him. 
 
 The lively boy, however, whose natural dispo- 
 sition was brave and fearless, so much preferred 
 the life of the camp to that of a student, that 
 he used every effort to induce the Marchese to 
 take him in his suite. It is said that he had 
 caused votive offerings to be made in ever^ 
 church, to bring about the wished-for end. At 
 last he succeeded, chiefly by the influence of the 
 Duchessa di Francavilla, and still more that of 
 Vittoria, who said to her husband, " Take him 
 with you ! if he is lost, there is only a man the 
 less ; if he dies, only one family will be extinct. 
 It is not a thing to be dreaded and avoided so 
 much as that a descendant of your noble house 
 should be a mean, dastardly character, unworthy 
 of the name of D'Avalos." 
 
 This brave speech, worthy of a Roman matron, 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 59 
 
 proves with what devoted ardour the daughter 
 and wife of the warriors of that age forgot her 
 selfish fears and wishes, in the glory attached to 
 the profession of arms. When Vittoria was about 
 to part with this beloved youth, she presented 
 him with a superb tent, to serve him in the field, 
 when he wished to retire to rest ; and in order 
 to "keep her in his dear remembrance," she added 
 a little ornamented cabinet, with this motto worked 
 upon it, " Nunquam minus otiosus quam cum 
 otiosus erat ille." (He is never less idle than when 
 idle) an invaluable hint to a young soldier, and 
 by which Vittoria wished to warn him against the 
 idle life of the camp. 
 
 Vittoria' s pride and joy in her young pupil 
 was amply rewarded by seeing him take a high 
 and honourable position in his profession, and by 
 receiving from him the continued affection and 
 devotion of a son. She wrote several sonnets to 
 him, of which we shall give a specimen or two. 
 She had now three heroes belonging to her 
 her Fabrizio, her Pescara, and her young Vasto. 
 To her father she addressed some lines, endea- 
 vouring to induce him to throw all his great in- 
 fluence into the scale of peace, a sentiment which 
 
60 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 was always uppermost in her heart. We subjoin 
 a translation of this sonnet, and add another 
 written after his death : 
 
 Sonnet to her Father, praying for Peace. 
 
 " I pray the Heavenly Father that He may send into thy heart, 
 O my earthly father, so much of His celestial fire that none of the 
 heat of human anger may remain therein ; so that, as the defenceless 
 doe flies from the fierce lion, the base love of weak, worthless, 
 mortal honour may fly from thee, if thy soul be inflamed by divine 
 love. 
 
 " We should then see all the cheerful hosts flocking to the most 
 holy light which the great Sun of Righteousness throweth upon the 
 earth. 
 
 " We should see the glorious sacred nets of St. Peter filled, and 
 the sceptre of peace subduing the world, and not the arms of war." 
 
 To her deceased Father. 
 
 " Poiche tornata sei Anima bella, 
 Alia porta celeste, onde partisti 
 Quanto lasciati hai noi miseri e tristi, 
 Tanto lieta hai nel Ciel fatt' ogni stella. 
 
 " Non piango gia il tuo ben, ma l'empia e fella 
 Sorte del mondo, il qual, mentre vivesti, 
 Col dotto stil cos! onorato festi, 
 Che non fu ugual in questa etade, o in quella. 
 
 " Rimaso e senza te povero, e privo 
 D'ogni sua gloria, e per disdegno e doglia 
 Sommerso ha quasi Roma il Tibro altiero. 
 
 " Sol per te ha fatto quel, che per lo Divo 
 Cesar gia fece, e a par di quella spoglia 
 Pianto ha la tua beato almo sincero. " 
 
 " Since thou art returned to heaven's gate, beautiful soul ! in 
 leaving us, thou hast left us our miseries and our sorrows, but thou 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 61 
 
 hast caused delight to every star in heaven. I do not weep thy 
 present felicity, but the melancholy fate of this world, for, whilst 
 living, thou gavest a splendour to those honoured fete-days which 
 never were equalled either in this age or any other. It remains, 
 without thee, poor and deprived of all its glory, and distress and 
 grief have overflowed the city, as if the Tiber had flooded Kome. 
 
 " Alone for thee has been done that which before was done for 
 the great Caesar, and at the moment of such glory thou hast yielded 
 up thy true and blessed soul." 
 
 The death of Fabrizio occurred in the month of 
 March, 1520. 1 II Passeri gives a long account of the 
 magnificent obsequies, with a list of all the persons 
 who attended on the occasion, Ascanio Colonna being 
 chief-mourner. His wife, Agnese, only survived him 
 two years. She died in consequence of a journey 
 she had made to the shrine of Loretto, in 1522. 
 Thus Vittoria had the great affliction of losing both 
 parents nearly at the same time. We subjoin a 
 sonnet written on her mother's birthday. 
 
 Sonnet to her Mother. 
 
 " Recall, my heart, this sacred day, that beheld the birth of 
 her by whom thou earnest into being ! 
 
 "Her noble soul needed not wings to rise to the true heavenly 
 day ! Her mortal veil was wrought of many rays, and a thousand 
 impulses led her to just and righteous thoughts ! Even behind 
 her severe looks a bright light was hid. I know, Lord, that she 
 prays to Thee for us ! But intercede Thou for her, that she may pray 
 
 1 Visconti says, " he ended a life full of grandeur and glory in 
 March, 1520." 
 
62 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 aright, and that I may feel her vital power within me, and break 
 and disengage myself from the bonds of earth, and that this 
 mortal frame may be servant to the soul, and the soul to God 
 alone." 
 
 Ascanio Colonna was now the head of the 
 family, as Federico Colonna had died prematurely 
 in the year 1516, at the early age of seventeen. 
 His tomb is still to be seen in the church of S. Anna 
 Maria di Pallazzola, with the date of his birth and 
 his death. He seems to have been a youth of the 
 most amiable disposition, and deeply beloved by 
 his sister. Federico was named after his grandfather, 
 the Duke d'Urbino. We find several of Vittoria's 
 sonnets addressed to this dear brother's memory. 
 She calls him " Beato Federico phi che io non 
 posso dire bella e gradita." In the sonnet (189th) 
 she compares his last hours to the sudden brilliancy 
 of an expiring lamp, most beautiful at its going out. 
 " So thou, good, invincible Federico, appearedst most 
 powerful at the last, sustained by Divine strength, 
 and with eye fixed on truth, following the right path 
 joyfully." 
 
 Sonnet to her Brother Federico. 
 
 " Qual lampa, a cui gia manca il caldo umore 
 Che la nudriva, onde ella aneor si sente 
 Mancar si, che virtu vivace ardente 
 
 . Mostra e s'avvampa forte all' ultime ore ; 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 63 
 
 Tal tu, buon Federico invitto, il core 
 
 Sempre mostrasti, ma piu assai possente 
 
 Apparve, e la tua alta lucente 
 
 Nel fin sospinto dal divino onore. 
 
 L'ire, gli sdegui, e nulle insidie intorno 
 
 Correndo sol con l'occhio fisso al vero, 
 
 Per lo destro sentier lieto spregiasti. 
 
 Or godi sotto il giusto, largo Impero 
 
 L'alta giustizia, della qual t'armasti, 
 
 Quando il gran sol t' asperse il suo bel giorno." 
 
 In the 169th sonnet she addresses him as " Anima 
 chiara," and pictures him as flying joyously from 
 the dark valley of earth, and exchanging his miserable 
 mortal garments for the beautiful robes of heaven, 
 having ended his fragile life, to become a prince in 
 that other better life. " And now," she adds, " that 
 the ties of blood are dissolved, how much dearer 
 to me is the new tie between us, in that world, 
 where thy Saviour has changed thy bitter day, into 
 the blissful eternal day!" In the 144th sonnet 
 she compares him to the North Star, that shines 
 above the other stars, high and alone. " Thy high- 
 born and elected soul, immortal Federico, is no 
 longer enveloped in the shadows of earth, but by 
 heaven's grace, has joined the glorious company* and 
 is taken from our sight for ever." 
 
 Of her second brother, Ascanio Colonna, we shall 
 hear more in the following pages. He seems to 
 
64 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 have been a true and faithful friend to her during 
 her troubled years ; and to his wife she was most 
 warmly attached. 
 
 During the campaign in Lombardy, in 1524, a 
 singular incident occurred, which is graphically de- 
 scribed by all historians, showing the knightly con- 
 duct of Pescara to the celebrated chevalier Bayard, 
 who fell wounded in the battle of the Sessia, a 
 small river near Milan. 
 
 The Imperialists had driven Bonnivet, the French 
 general, from the strong camp in which he had 
 entrenched himself, and he was forced to attempt 
 a retreat into France through the valley of Aosta. 
 When he had arrived on the Sessia, and was 
 about to pass that river, Pescara and Bourbon 
 attacked him with great fury. At the beginning 
 of the charge Bonnivet was wounded so dangerously 
 that he was obliged to quit the field, and the 
 conduct of the rear was committed to Bayard, who 
 was always called to the post of the greatest diffi- 
 culty and importance. He put himself at the head 
 of the men-at-arms, and animating them by his 
 example, sustained the shock of the enemy, and 
 gained time for the rest of the French to make 
 good their retreat ; but in this service he received 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 65 
 
 a wound which he immediately found to be mortal, 
 and being unable any longer to continue on horse- 
 back, he ordered one of his attendants to place 
 him under a tree with his face towards the enemy. 
 Then fixing his eyes on the guard of his sword 
 (exclaiming, "Miserere mei, Deus, secundum 
 magnam misericordiam tuam"), and holding it 
 up instead of a crucifix, he addressed his prayers 
 to God, and in this posture he awaited calmly the 
 approach of death. The Marquis di Pescara coming 
 up, manifested his admiration of Bayard's virtues, 
 and his sorrow for his fate ; and with the generosity 
 of a gallant enemy, finding he could not be removed 
 from that spot, he ordered a tent to be pitched 
 there, and appointed proper persons to attend him. 
 Bayard died like his ancestors on the battle-field, 
 and Pescara directed that his body should be em- 
 balmed and sent to his relations. His motto is 
 well known ; it was u Sans peur et sans reprove.'' 
 
 France was the fountain of chivalry. The laws 
 of chivalry requireol loyalty, courtesy, munificence, 
 justice, and courage. There was a strong tincture 
 of religion in it, as well as of respect towards 
 women. Honour to God and to the ladies was the 
 motto of the knight. 
 
66 F1TT0RIA COLONNA: 
 
 The youths were educated to knighthood by being 
 early placed in the castles of the great lords first 
 as pages, and afterwards as apprentices. Thus they 
 imbibed an emulous and enthusiastic spirit, and 
 learned a courteous demeanour to ladies and to 
 strangers. They attended their lords to the tourna- 
 ments, and became themselves desirous of glory. 
 Honour to the sons of the brave, was a passion 
 felt by every one ; and the ladies' smiles and favour 
 were reserved for the highest valour, united with 
 the steadiest fidelity. 
 
 Spain, as well as France, was strongly tinctured 
 with this spirit of chivalry ; which has left behind it, 
 to this day, its beneficial effects on the manners of 
 modern times. The character of the true knight has 
 subsided into that of gentleman. The above scene 
 is worthy of the most brilliant days of chivalry ; 
 the spirit of which had not died out in the sixteenth 
 century. In Spain especially, an almost romantic 
 gallantry taught the warrior to bring into the fight 
 all the civilities of peace. War was carried on with 
 less ferocity ; and humanity was deemed no less 
 an ornament of knighthood than bravery itself. 
 Courtesy was united with valour, and it was the 
 union of these most graceful and manly qualities 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 67 
 
 in Pescara which created in Vittoria such ardent 
 admiration and such devoted attachment. 
 
 Pescara, soon after the battle of Sessia, was 
 desirous to follow up the advantage he had gained 
 over the French by carrying the war into France. 
 
 With great daring and bravery he passed the 
 Alps, and entering Provence, laid siege to Mar- 
 seilles, with only an army of 18,000 men. But 
 after a period of forty days, with every prospect 
 of success, he was forced suddenly to retire from 
 before that city, and bring his army, by forced 
 marches, back into Italy. The French king, who 
 loved everything bold and adventurous, had sud- 
 denly determined to invade Lombardy himself, and, 
 notwithstanding the approach of winter, he was 
 for leading his French troops over Mount Cenis. 
 Pescara, informed of the movements of the enemy, 
 was forced therefore to take the longer route, 
 by Monaco, hoping to reach the battle-ground 
 first. 
 
 The reappearance of the French army so un- 
 expectedly, threw the Italians into dismay. The 
 king's "evil genius" led him to attempt the siege 
 of Pavia, a strongly-fortified place, and well 
 garrisoned, and defended by xVntonia di Leyva, one 
 
 F2 
 
G8 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 of the bravest generals in the Spanish service ; and 
 not all the science and valour of the French could 
 make any impression on the place. The ranks of the 
 soldiers were thinned by the severity of the winter 
 and the fatigues of the siege. Hitherto Pescara and 
 Bourbon had not molested them, but they were not 
 idle. Bourbon had pawned his jewels, and gone into 
 Germany, and levied, at his own expense, a con- 
 siderable body of fresh troops ; and the united 
 army advanced, in the beginning of 1525, to the 
 relief of Pavia, now reduced to extremity by the 
 want of ammunition and food. 
 
 The advice of Francis's most experienced officers 
 failed to induce him to raise the siege. His romantic 
 notions of honour forbade it. He had said that he 
 would take Pavia, or perish in the attempt ; and he 
 anxiously awaited the approach of the enemy. He 
 was strongly entrenched, and the firmest battalions 
 of the Imperialists gave ground on the first assault. 
 But the fortune of the day soon changed. The 
 Swiss troops, in the service of France, shamefully 
 deserted their post. Pescara fell upon the French 
 cavalry with the Imperial horse, and broke that 
 formidable body by a new mode of attack. Whilst 
 the garrison, headed by Leyva, made a furious 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 69 
 
 sally, and threw all into confusion. The rout 
 became general. 
 
 Francis himself, surrounded by gallant nobles, 
 many of whom fell by his side, long sustained the 
 combat. His horse being killed under him, he 
 fought on foot valorously. 1 His life was saved 
 from the fury of the soldiers by a French gentle- 
 man who followed the fortunes of Bourbon, and 
 who recognised the King. He persuaded him to 
 surrender ; but the King refused obstinately, great as 
 was his danger, to deliver up his sword to Bourbon, 
 and the honour fell to Lannoy. 2 This great battle 
 took place on the 24th of February, 1525, and it 
 is said that ten thousand men perished on the 
 field. Pescara is much praised for the strategic 
 skill he showed in the conduct of it. He pos- 
 sessed a great influence over the troops, and 
 though they had been without pay for some time, 
 he exhorted them to fight for honour and not 
 for money. 
 
 After Francis was taken prisoner, he gave a safe- 
 conduct to the messenger of Lannoy, through 
 France, that the Emperor might the sooner hear 
 
 1 "All is lost except honour," he wrote to his mother. 
 
 2 Who received the King's sword on his knee. 
 
70 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 of the result of the battle of Pavia, Lannoy 
 assuring him that after the first conference he 
 would get the royal prisoner his release. 
 
 In the meantime Lannoy proposed to Bourbon 
 and Pescara to remove the King to Naples, and 
 himself furnished six vessels to transport him. 
 They embarked on the 7th of June at Porto Fino. 
 But instead of directing the fleet to Naples, 
 Lannoy made straight for Spain, and in eight days 
 landed his prisoner at Roses, in Catalonia, without 
 the knowledge of his colleagues, who were in 
 despair when they were informed of Lannoy's 
 treachery, as the whole army considered the King 
 the gage of the ransom and recompense they 
 demanded. 
 
 Pope Clement's papers had been found in the 
 French camp, putting it beyond doubt that he had 
 been in league with them, and he was, in conse- 
 quence, in great fear of the imperialist leaders 
 and the u audace Colonnas." From this decisive 
 day Charles V. held all Italy in subjection, from 
 the Alps to the sea ; and from that time until now 
 she has never been free from the rule of the stranger, 
 
 Pescara had been very severely wounded in the 
 action, and was consequently unable to receive 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 71 
 
 the honour of taking the King prisoner. When 
 he heard what a great honour he had missed, 
 he was exceedingly wrath, especially as a heavy 
 ransom might be expected. Bourbon was equally 
 enraged at Lannoy, the grand constable, and gave 
 way to expressions of angry contempt against him. 
 
 Pescara wrote to the Emperor Charles V. accu- 
 sing Lannoy of cowardice in time of danger, and 
 of insolence after victory. He said that Lannoy 
 had contributed nothing to the success of the 
 battle, either by his valour or his conduct ; and 
 Pescara also complained in the letter that the 
 Emperor had not entertained a due sense of his 
 own merits, nor bestowed upon him any adequate 
 reward for his services. 
 
 It was this w r ell-known disgust which Pescara 
 did not hesitate to express, on which Morone 
 relied, when after the battle of Pavia he endea- 
 voured to seduce Pescara from allegiance to the 
 Emperor. Morone well knew the ambition, the 
 intrepidity, and the talents of Pescara, and that 
 he was one of the ablest politicians, as well as 
 one of the greatest generals, of the age. He 
 also knew that Pescara was extremely displeased 
 that he was placed in such straits after the battle, 
 
72 VITTORIA COLON NA: 
 
 to provide supplies for his army. It was believed, 
 therefore, that it would not be a difficult task to 
 win him over to the French cause, and that 
 they might recover their lost ground if they 
 could get the Emperor's best general on their 
 side. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1525. 
 
 A league of princes had been formed to join 
 the Milanese, Venetian, and Papal forces, in order 
 to free Italy from the Emperor's rule, which league 
 Pope Clement had joined for a time, not that he 
 loved the French, but he thought it would be for his 
 own interest. The house of Medici hitherto had 
 leagued with Spain. Girolamo Morone, chancellor 
 of Milan, was appointed to make the offer to 
 Pescara to join this league. 
 
 The throne of Naples was the bait. The Pope 
 himself confirmed this offer by a messenger, whom 
 he sent to Pescara from Rome. Ranke says, " There 
 was no dearth of promises ; even that of a crown was 
 included in them. But how grievously had they 
 miscalculated. This General Pescara, though an 
 Italian born, was of Spanish race. He spoke 
 Spanish, and would be nothing but a Spaniard. 
 
74 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 For the elegant cultivation of the Italians he had 
 neither taste nor aptitude. He owed his education 
 to Spanish romances, which breathe nothing but 
 loyalty and fidelity. Scarcely had the proposal been 
 made to him, when he communicated it to his com- 
 rades and to the Emperor. He used it only as a 
 means of discovering all the views and thwarting the 
 projects of the Italians." x 
 
 The biographers of Vittoria, however, state that 
 Pescara did not immediately reject these offers. 
 Amazed at the extent and boldness of the scheme, 
 he listened attentively, but with the countenance of 
 a man lost in thought. He is said also to have 
 sought the advice of civilians and divines on the 
 subject, some think only to gain time. 
 
 Vittoria, however, heard of the unworthy overtures 
 which had been made to her husband, to endeavour 
 to seduce him from his allegiance to the Emperor, 
 and she immediately despatched a letter, given in 
 Giovio's "Life of Pescara," in which she says she 
 had heard of these unworthy overtures, and that 
 she remembered how he had gained honour by his 
 valour, and had advanced the glory and the for- 
 tunes of many kings. 
 
 1 Kunke's " History of the Popes," Book i. p. 70. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 75 
 
 " But," she added, " titles and kingdoms do not 
 add to true honour, without virtue and without 
 principle, which alone enable a name to descend 
 untarnished to posterity. I do not desire to be the 
 wife of a king, but I glory in being the wife of that 
 great general who shows his bravery in war, and, 
 still more, by magnanimity in peace, surpasses the 
 greatest kings." 
 
 Jerome Morone, chancellor of Milan, was a man 
 whose genius for intrigue distinguished him, in an 
 age when the violence of factions and frequent revo- 
 lutions gave scope for such talents, and called them 
 forth in great abundance. He considered that it 
 would be for his own fame if he could rescue Italy 
 from foreign rule, and he was especially disgusted 
 with the Emperor, and thought if he could seduce 
 his greatest general from his service it would be 
 a feather in his cap. Bourbon had gone to Madrid, 
 in order to guard against Lannoy's treachery. 
 Pescara was therefore left sole commander of 
 the forces, and to everyone he accused Lannoy of 
 baseness. The Spanish troops were quartered on 
 the frontier of the Milanese, and Morone had 
 occasion for many interviews with the general. 
 He took the opportunity, whenever he saw him, to 
 
76 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 turn the conversation to the transactions subsequent 
 to the battle, and Pescara entered into it with pas- 
 sion. This ill-feeling Morone artfully aggravated, 
 and painted in strong colours the want of discern- 
 ment in Charles V. in preferring Lannoy to him. 
 He spoke of the ingratitude which the Emperor had 
 shown to Pescara, to whose skill and valour he owed 
 the having his rival in his power. Having thus 
 paved the way for his proposal, he began to in- 
 sinuate that now was the time to be avenged, and 
 he informed him that the states of Italy were weary 
 of the intolerable dominion of foreigners, and he 
 used every spurious argument to draw him from his 
 allegiance. 
 
 Pescara perhaps listened to him till the time 
 should elapse before his messengers or letters could 
 arrive from the. Emperor. At length he received his 
 commands. 
 
 The Emperor desired Pescara to discover more 
 fully Morone' s intentions, and convict him with 
 certainty. To this end Pescara was forced to the 
 mean and disgraceful part of betraying Morone, and 
 he succeeded in deceiving even that penetrating and 
 artful man. 
 
 He invited him " to visit him at Novara " (where 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 77 
 
 he resided at that time), " in order to complete their 
 arrangements," and he received him in an apartment 
 where Antonio de Leyva was concealed behind the 
 tapestry, in order to overhear their confidential 
 discourse. 
 
 When Morone was about to take his leave, having 
 fully explained himself to Pescara, Leyva suddenly 
 appeared, and, to his astonishment, arrested him in 
 the Emperor's name. He was conducted to the 
 castle of Pavia, and there Pescara " had the assur- 
 ance to sit as his judge and interrogate him." 
 
 The Spanish judges empowered to judge him con- 
 demned him to death, but he was set free soon after, 
 by paying 20,000 ducats to Bourbon, money being 
 more wanted in the Imperial army than revenge. 
 Morone's talents were so useful to Bourbon, that he 
 soon after made him his prime confidant and adviser. 1 
 
 This conduct, however, caused great odium to 
 fall upon Pescara, 2 and Italian writers vilify him in 
 consequence. Vittori called him " proud beyond 
 
 1 Which certainly proves that Morone was not averse from 
 following his own prescription, "to change sides as occasion may 
 present itself." 
 
 2 " Several of those concerned in this intrigue saw reason to suspect 
 that Pescara only listened to the overtures in order to betray them, 
 as is proved by the letters from Gilberto to Gismondo Santo, and 
 to Domenico Sauli." Letterc de Pi'incijri, vol. i. p. 87. 
 
78 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 measure, envious, ungrateful, greedy, cruel, without 
 religion, without humanity, a man born to be the 
 destruction of Italy." Morone says " there was no 
 man more faithless and malicious." 1 " And yet," says 
 Ranke, "this was the very man they desired to 
 attract to their side." He adds, " I do not cite 
 these unfavourable opinions as believing them to be 
 true, but simply to prove that Pescara showed no 
 feelings for Italy but those of enmity." 
 
 Giberto, writing at that time, says : " The way the 
 French have betrayed themselves will not raise them 
 in Csesar's opinion. We have not spoken of Pes- 
 cara, and were silent for a time even on the subject 
 of the promised throne, from fear that, by making 
 known that all that was said against him was false, 
 we might ruin him. Beware of writing anything 
 which, if revealed, may injure him." He also says, 
 that " Pescara only listened to these overtures that 
 he might discover the enemy's intentions." 
 
 Of Pescara's character we have the following 
 brief account in Roscoe's " Leo X. : " " He was 
 a man who, by his great endowments, unshaken 
 fidelity, and heroic valour, merited such an acquisi- 
 tion " (in a wife). " A perfect conformity of temper 
 
 1 Hist, d'ltalia, vol. xvi. p. 476. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 9 
 
 and of excellence was the pledge of their conjugal 
 affection. His dialogue on love is replete with good 
 sense, eloquence, and wit." 
 
 It is impossible to doubt that he was a man 
 worthy to command homage and love. All the 
 world honoured the men who immortalized them- 
 selves in fair deeds of arms, and his domestic graces 
 must have been irresistibly attractive. Vittoria's 
 grief at his death was as lasting as it was strong ; 
 the floods which at first overwhelmed her mind fell 
 into the channels of her poetry, and she is said to 
 have "sung his victories with such noble verses, that 
 she seemed a new Muse, designed to immortalize 
 this great general." 
 
 Vittoria had not seen her husband since October, 
 1522, when, on the death of her mother, he made a 
 flying visit to his wife and home ; but he was with 
 her only three days, and it was the last time she 
 ever saw him. After the Battle of Pavia, where he 
 had received three wounds, he lay for some months 
 suffering from their effects, and from the mortifica- 
 tions of his mind, in consequence of public affairs. 
 He also fell into a weakness, caused, as some say, by 
 the waters he had drank. He shortly found his 
 strength so exhausted that he was too weak to travel 
 
 U 
 
80 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 home, and at length was reduced to so dangerous a 
 state that, despairing of his life, and finding that 
 neither the excellence of medicine nor the advice of 
 his doctors could do anything for him, and that 
 every day he became weaker, he determined on 
 sending a messenger to Ischia, to Vittoria, desiring 
 her without loss of time to repair to Milan, as he 
 wished to see her before he died. He also summoned 
 the young Vasto to his side, and appointed him 
 trustee of the estates and property of his most 
 beloved wife, and declared him heir to his great 
 riches, as, after nineteen years of married life, he 
 had no son to inherit it. 
 
 Vittoria no sooner received the messenger and the 
 afflicting message, than she hastily left Naples for 
 Rome, with her attendants. At Rome, her family 
 received her most affectionately, but she resumed 
 her journey without delay, in great anxiety of mind. 
 
 On reaching Viterbo, however, another messenger 
 met her, with the fatal news of the death of her 
 beloved husband, who had expired on the 25th 
 November, 1525. 
 
 On receiving the account of this most terrible 
 affliction, Vittoria at first entirely lost her senses, 
 so overpowering was the shock. After a while, 
 
HER LIFE AM) POEMS. 81 
 
 however, she was restored to consciousness, and was 
 relieved by tears, which did not cease to flow for 
 many years. 
 
 Her first impulse was to enter into the cloister, 
 and immure herself and her griefs from the world. 
 Her brother and sister had probably fetched her 
 back to their palace in Rome, and we find that she 
 immediately entered into the convent of S. Silvestro, 
 B place particularly venerated and frequented by the 
 Oolonnas, and adjoining the gardens of their palace, 
 on the Monte Cavallo. Here she was in quiet and 
 repose. The funeral took place at Milan, on the 
 80th of November, with great pomp and honour. 
 But the body was afterwards removed to Naples, 
 and buried in the church of S. Dominico, with mag- 
 nificent obsequies. 
 
 Pescara was only thirty-six years of age when he 
 was removed from the sight of his devoted friends 
 for ever. Vittoria also was in the prime of her days. 
 Her friends heard her declare that she could not 
 survive him, and that she envied the fate of 
 Molza's parents, who both died on the same day. 
 It was even feared that, in the prostration of her 
 grief, she might be tempted to end her life. In con- 
 sequence of these fears, her most attached friend 
 
82 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Sadolet, bishop of Carpentras, went to Clement to 
 beg that he would exert his influence to prevent 
 Vittoria from remaining in the convent. He felt cer- 
 tain that it would not be for her happiness to take the 
 veil. He succeeded in influencing the Pope to issue 
 a brief, enjoining the nuns of S. Silvestro, on pain of 
 the greater excommunication, not to advise or permit 
 her to take the vows. 1 This brief is dated the 7th 
 of December, 1525, almost immediately after Vit- 
 toria's loss. She did not remain in this nunnery 
 more than a few weeks. 
 
 Notwithstanding this brief from the Holy Father, 
 the Roman Catholic biographers of Vittoria Colonna 
 continually assert that she retired into a monastery 
 after her great loss, and there ended her days in 
 seclusion and prayer. We thus see how very little 
 truth there is in the chronicles of the monks. 
 
 The Marchese di Pescara in his will honourably 
 provided for his widow, says Visconti, " Lasciatala 
 in condizione onoralissima," and made Vasto heir to 
 his property. He desired in his will that if there 
 were anything in his house which had not been 
 
 1 They were to treat her " omnibus spiritualibus et temporalibus 
 eonsolationibus ; " but it forbade them to allow her to take the 
 veil; "impetu potius sui doloris, quam maturo consilio circa 
 nmiadonem ve^tium vidua! ium in monastica.s." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 83 
 
 acquired legally, that it should be given back ; and 
 he made several pious bequests. 
 
 Vittoria, writing to the Principessa di Francavilla, 
 respecting the restitution of the Hill of St. Manno 
 to the monks of Monte Cassino, says to her, " That 
 blessed soul (felice anima) has ordered that any- 
 thing which belongs to others in his property should 
 be restored ; " and this same thing is repeated in 
 other letters to Francavilla herself and to Vasto. 
 Yisconti says : " These letters are drawn from the 
 originals, which are kept in Monte Cassino, and 
 which I have had in my hands ; and which I can 
 bring to light, with all the prose, both published 
 and unpublished, of Vittoria Colonna, which hitherto 
 no one has cared to collect." He also says "that 
 Pescara desired to erect a church in Naples, in 
 honour of S. Tommaso." 
 
 The monastery on Monte Cassino, which was 
 founded by F. Francesco d'Avalos, Marchese di Pes- 
 cara, is called the Camaldoli, and is still in existence. 1 
 It occupies the eastern crest of the ridge of hills 
 which extends westward from Naples as far as the 
 Lago di Licola. It is built on the highest point 
 of the ridge, and the view from it is most mag- 
 nificent. The church attached to this monasteri- 
 es 
 
84 VITT01UA COLONNA: 
 
 contains some valuable pictures, the best of which 
 is the Santa Candida, by Parco di Siena, the 
 friend of Michael Angelo ; which picture was 
 probably presented to the monastery by Vittoria 
 herself. 
 
 Her brother, Ascanio Colonna, early in 1526. 
 induced her to remove to the Castle of Marino ; a 
 seclusion which he kindly selected for her, as it 
 was associated with her childhood and her beloved 
 parents, and safe from the troubles which at that 
 time were coming upon Rome. One can imagine 
 how she spent her sad days, beside the still waters 
 of that beautiful lake, 1 and in the shade of those 
 loved woods ; and that here, perhaps, she wrote 
 those first bitter words which flowed from her pen, 
 and assuaged her terrible grief. 
 
 The first sonnet we possess, explains her motive 
 for writing at all : 
 
 1 " This lake is about seven miles in circumference, longer than 
 broad, but of an irregular form ; and in every point of view its rocky 
 and wooded sides form the most beautiful subjects for the pencil. 
 It is, doubtless, the crater of an extinct volcano. Its volcanic 
 origin is indisputable. This lake, and the neighbouring mountain, 
 and its surrounding scenery, were the theatre of the action of the 
 iEneid, and here was the city founded by its hero." Mtss Batty' s 
 Italian Scenery. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 85 
 
 Sonnet I. 
 
 " Scrivo sol per sfogar l'interna doglia, 
 Ch' al cor mandar le luci al mondo sole ; 
 E non per granger luce al mio bel sole, 
 Al chiaro spirto, all' onorata spoglia. 
 Giusta cagione a lamentar m'invoglia, 
 Cli'io scemi la sua gloria assai mi dole ; 
 Per altra lingua, e piu saggie parole, 
 Convien ch'a morte il gran nome si toglia. 
 La pura fe, l'ardor, l'intensa pena 
 Mi scusi appo ciascun, che '1 grave pianto 
 E'tal, die tempo, ne' ragion l'affrena. 
 Amaro lagrimar, non dolce canto, 
 Foschi sospiri, e non voce serena, 
 Di stil no ! ma di duol mi danno il vanto." 
 
 " I write solely to assuage my inward grief, which destroys in my 
 heart the light of this world's sun ; and not to add light to mio bel 
 Sole ; to his glorified spirit, and to that honoured corpse. It is fit 
 that other tongues and more practised words should preserve his 
 great name from oblivion. But my pure devotion, my intense 
 love, and my deep grief will be my excuse before every one ; and 
 so bitter is my weeping, that neither time nor reason can check it. 
 
 " Bitter tears, not sweet songs ! Deep sighs, not serene accents ! 
 Style, no ; but grief gives me an advantage." 
 
 Her earlier poems form the history of her heart ; 
 she did not think of the public when she wrote 
 them, and a deep humility pervades them all. Her 
 later ones portray her religious aspirations. She 
 has the great honour of being the first modern poet 
 who devoted her powers to religious subjects. " C'est 
 pour elle un nitrite dont il est juste de lui fcenir 
 
86 VITTORIA COLON N A: 
 
 eompte, que d' avoir ete la premiere a doter la lyre 
 d'une sorte de sacerdoce." 1 
 
 Her sonnets, in their liquid brilliancy and the 
 melodious choice of beautiful words, seem like so 
 many inestimable gems, singly set, and surrounded 
 by a wreath of pearls. In selecting a few of them, 
 we are painfully aware how impossible it is for 
 translations to give any idea of the beauty of the 
 original, but they will serve to show the sentiments 
 which they so elegantly inclose. 
 
 To some highly-gifted inidviduals it is as natural 
 and as easy to pour out their sorrows and feelings 
 in stringed words, as it is to others to relieve their 
 griefs by recording their thoughts in their private 
 journals ; and if these emotional writings, after a 
 time, are made public, there is no deeper interest 
 than such a record of the inner life. Critics may 
 laugh at what they have been pleased to call 
 " the tuneful wailings of a young widow, as lovely 
 as inconsolable ; as irreproachable as noble." 2 But 
 we, who know the true poetical temperament better, 
 cannot for a moment acquiesce in such a satirical 
 judgment of Vittoria Colonna's writings. 
 
 1 Deumier, p. 159. 2 Trollope. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 87 
 
 Her French biographer is much nearer the truth 
 when he says, " La poesie n'etait, pour elle, qu'une 
 autre maniere de prier Dieu." Her poems are 
 the almost involuntary ejaculation of an impressible 
 and imaginative nature. She wrote because she 
 could not help it. From the " sweet singer of 
 Israel," to our own Burns, Hemans, and Brown- 
 ing, we feel that the gift of song is the natural 
 channel of a grief that otherwise might consume 
 the life. And as Beethoven poured forth his deep 
 woes in his wondrous harmony, so the affliction 
 which rent the heart of Vittoria Colonna found 
 relief in verse : 
 
 ' ' Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee. " 
 
 The following canzone, from its passionate devoted- 
 ness, bears evidence of having been written very 
 soon after her first abandonment of grief. It is 
 the natural outburst of love and despair, and every 
 person who has suffered from a similar bereave- 
 ment will feel the truth of it. 
 
 She says in it, that life is insufferable to her 
 without her beloved. She beseeches him to look 
 down with compassion on the grief which over- 
 whelms her. She adjures him to turn his looks 
 
S8 v V1TT0RIA COLONNA: 
 
 towards her, and behold how her eyes are worn 
 with weeping, which to him, only, had before 
 seemed so beautiful : 
 
 " If thou canst, from the proud heights and the ineffable beauty of 
 heaven, look down on one who, here below, has been dear to thee, 
 listen to my prayer ! if not for love, at least for pity. For I am, 
 I am indeed the same, though such frightful fiery grief at thy death 
 has changed me so much ! Alas ! how rapidly has departed from 
 my cheek, my eyes, my hair, all that thou wert pleased to call 
 ^ eauty ; but of which I was never proud. I only thought well of 
 it because it was precious in thy sight ! But it is gone from me 
 now, never, never to return. 
 
 "Since thou, whose sole pleasure it was to contemplate it, art 
 lost to me, it can never return ! No, no ; as I cannot come where 
 thou art, I do not wish that this, or any other thing, should be 
 pleasing to me. How is it possible, when I remember that beauti- 
 ful, kind look, hour by hour, which has had so short a duration ? 
 
 " Where is that sweet, joyful smile gone ? Why does death 
 conceal in the tomb those gems, and the sweet carnation of that 
 angelic face ? How can I survive the thought that the wicked 
 grave and envious dust contaminates and dissolves those delicate 
 alabaster limbs ? Hard condition ! But yet I fear not death ! 
 For in suffering death shall we not live together for evermore ? 
 
 " I will hope that from the dark tomb, which closes on all below, 
 the emancipated soul will rise, to follow the footprints of thy holy 
 feet, and that I shall be clothed in one of the beautiful forms of 
 heaven, and find thee what thou hast been ; and that thou speaking 
 my praises of faith and love to Him who keeps the keys, He will 
 not close His gates against me ! 
 
 " But ah ! how long will the strength of this body last ? The 
 great torments which my heart suffers cannot bring it to the wished- 
 for death, so that I might leave this world, which, without thee, 
 who wert its light, is darkness {hell) itself! every way to thee 
 seem closed ! But oh, my song, go thou up to my beloved Lord 
 and let the winds convey the message which I send : 
 
HER UFB AND POEMS. 89 
 
 " 'Ch'io di lui sempre pensi, o pianga, o parli.' (That I always! 
 think of him, or weep for him, or speak of him.)" 
 
 Mrs. Jameson remarks upon this canzone : " No 
 translation can do justice to the deep pathos, the 
 feminine feeling, and the eloquent simplicity of this 
 beautiful and celebrated poem." It is included in 
 Matthias's collection, " Componimenti Lirici." 
 
 It is extraordinary that neither this Canzone, nor 
 
 Canzone II., nor the Stanze, are to be found in 
 
 Visconti's edition of the " Rime." They are given 
 
 in Rota's edition. 
 
 Sonnet XVII. 
 
 " Quand' io dal caro scoglio miro intorno, 
 La terra e '1 ciel nella vermiglia aurora, 
 Quante nebbie nel cor son nate allora, 
 Scaccia la vaga vista, e 'i chiaro giorno. 
 
 " S'erge il pensier col sole ; ond' io ritorno 
 Al mio, che '1 ciel di maggior luce onora, 
 E da quest' altro par ch' ad ora ad ora 
 Richiami l'alma al suo dolce soggiorno. 
 
 " Per l'esempio d'Elia, non con l'ardente 
 Celeste carro, ma col proprio aurato 
 Venir se '1 finge 1'amorosa mente 
 
 "A cangiarne l'limil doglioso stato 
 Con Talto eterno ; e in quel momento sente 
 Lo spirto un raggio dell' ardor beato." 
 
 " When from this dear rock I see around me earth and heaven in 
 the roseate dawn, all those mists that rise in my heart are scattered 
 
90 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 by that clear sun and extensive view. And with the sun my 
 thoughts are raised, and I return to my Sole, who is made a 
 greater light, by the heavenly Father, than this earthly luminary ; 
 and hour by hour, I recall to my heart his sweet sojourn here. 
 Following the example of Elijah, not in the fiery chariot, but with 
 his own brilliancy, I picture how he exchanged the humble, mise- 
 rable state for the life eternal ; and in that moment my spirit feels 
 a ray of the beatified ardour." 
 
 Sonnet XLI. 
 
 " Parmi, che '1 sol non porga il lume usato 
 In terra a noi, ue in cielo a sua sorella : 
 Ne piu scorgo pianeta o vaga stella 
 
 ' Non veggio cor piu di valore armato : 
 Fuggito e il vero onor, la gloria bella: 
 Nascosta e ogni vertu nobil con ella, 
 Ne vive in arbor fronda, o fiore in prato. 
 
 ; L'acque torbide sono, e 1' aer nero : 
 Non scalda il fuoco, ne rinfresca il vento, 
 Ch' hanno smarrito la lor propria cura. 
 
 ; Di poi che '1 mio bel sol fu in terra spento, 
 e confuso l'ordin di natura, 
 il duolo ai sensi miei nasconde il vero." 
 
 The sun no longer gives its beauteous light 
 To the green earth, nor to the moon by night. 
 No more for me the dazzling planets burn ; 
 Nor the eternal stars on their bright axis turn. 
 
 No more shall I on Valour rest mine eye ! 
 Fled is true honour and high chivalry ! 
 The world no longer manly glory yields ; 
 The woods no verdure, and no flowers the fields ! 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 91 
 
 " The turbid waves are dark, and black the air ! 
 No heat the fire no scent the zephyrs bear ! 
 And everything has lost its proper care ! 
 
 " Since quenched my sun darkly in earth doth lie, 
 Nature t o me hath lost its charm ; or I 
 Have lost all sense of it through my calamity !" 
 
 Sonnet III. 
 To the Marchese di Pescara. 
 
 " That proud banner and that courage which, in thy victorious 
 hand, made every movement and design against thee vain ; that 
 strength which softened all enmity and anger ; that invincible 
 superhuman valour which defeated all foolish schemes, and closed 
 all the passes to cities, mountains and plains, was not the good 
 fortune of others, nor thy lucky star, but thy most fatal and bitter 
 martyrdom. 
 
 "Valour, celerity, strength, and wisdom brought thy under- 
 taking to a felicitous conclusion, and the eternal heaven bestows 
 the glorious reward of thy brilliant fame ; for human treasure 
 cannot repay a divine work." 
 
 Sonnet LXXXV. 
 
 " I thought to sweeten my bitter days by doing worthy honour 
 to that beloved theme now in heaven who was on earth the 
 brightest light that adorned and enriched our age. And I attempted, 
 weeping, to narrate great sufferings, grievous and dear, and to 
 lighten them in rhyme. I took counsel from them, and endea- 
 voured to rise to the summit of such high and rare wisdom. But 
 I watch the inconstant wheel of the fickle goddess, and I see that 
 those whom she most flatters only receive greater evils, by long or 
 by short lives ; and not finding any cause of rejoicing, my soul 
 continues obstinate in its grief, and I pray that death may end my 
 weepiug. " 
 
92 riTTORU COLON N A 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 1526. 
 
 Vittoria's grief at the loss of her husband 
 was as lasting as it was intense. So entirely 
 devoted was she to the deep affeetion of her 
 life, and the memory of his greatness, that her 
 thoughts were filled with nothing but regrets, and 
 the intense desire to rejoin him. Her writings 
 for the first seven years of her widowhood were 
 devoted to this one all-engrossing idea, and the 
 writers of that age declare that she has erected 
 " a monument to Pescaras memory by her poems, 
 so honourable to his name, that whilst the world 
 endures it will always be celebrated and illustrious." 
 
 This instance of conjugal fidelity is the more 
 remarkable in a day when morals were at so low 
 an ebb, and when many of the women most pro- 
 minent before the world were great in everything 
 that could most disgrace their name. Vittoria, 
 
s 
 
 HER LIFE AND POMS. 93 
 
 indeed, among these, shone like a pearl of purity 
 among jewels of a very different colour. 
 
 After residing for some time in the palace of 
 her brother and sister, under their tender care, 
 Vittoria determined to return to Tschia, to the 
 society of her beloved sister the " magnanimous 
 Costanza ;" and to that dear rock in the sea 
 (which she describes in her sonnets under the 
 name of " Scoglio "), there to endeavour to find 
 some solace for her deep affliction, by the calm 
 and peace of a place so endeared to her memory 
 and soothing to her feelings. It is certain that she 
 relinquished any thought she may at first have 
 entertained under her loss, of conventual seclusion; 
 and desired to refresh and compose her mind with 
 the repose and beauty of nature. She had a poet's 
 sensibility to every sight and sound around her; 
 and she has the singular merit of being the first 
 Italian poet who turned to nature for her poetical 
 images. 
 
 Tl^e extreme beauty of the Bay of Naples has 
 been often described, and of the islands of Capri 
 and Ischia, rising out of the blue billows of the 
 Mediterranean like giant towers. The immense 
 blocks of stone are heaped one upon another, in 
 
94 VITTORIA COLONNJ: 
 
 such a supernatural manner, as to give a colouring 
 to the legend, that beneath them, in those vast 
 volcanic caverns, dwells the giant Tifeo. The trans- 
 parency and extraordinary purity of the water, the 
 warm mild air filled with the fragrance of ten 
 thousand flowers, and the wonderful beauty of the 
 trees and shrubs, growing down even to the water's 
 edge, have been eulogized by every writer. 
 
 Hans Christian Andersen, in contemplating this 
 scene, exclaimed, " God has made the world in- 
 finitely beautiful, therefore man ought not to turn 
 himself away from the glory of His works, and 
 immure himself in a dark convent." 
 
 The following lines of Shelley most beautifully 
 apply to this favoured spot : 
 
 "Ina dell 'mid lawny hills 
 Which the wild sea-murmur fills, 
 And soft sunshine, and the sound 
 Of old forests echoing round ; 
 And the light and smell divine 
 Of all flowers that breathe and shine ! 
 
 " By that clime divine and calm, 
 And the winds whose wings rain balm 
 On the uplifted soul ; and leaves 
 Under which the bright sea heaves ! 
 While each breathless interval 
 In their whisperings musical 
 The inspired soul supplies 
 With its own deep melodies." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 95 
 
 Ischia, 1 the ancient JEnaria, is an island situated 
 at the northern entrance of the Bay of Naples. 
 It is separated from the mainland by a channel 
 six miles across. 
 
 The soil of Ischia is very fertile, producing corn, 
 abundance of wines, and all sorts of fruits. The 
 hills are covered with chesnut-trees. The island 
 is twenty miles in circumference ; the chief town, 
 or village, is named Ischia, and is a bishop's see. 
 It was in the castle of Ischia that F. Francesco 
 d'Avalos, Marchese di Pescara, was born, and that 
 the Duchess di Francavilla, who was governor of the 
 island, resided with her two pupils. 
 
 Ischia abounds with mineral springs, which are 
 
 1 The castle of Ischia is built on a very lofty mass of rock, 
 standing out beyond the main island, to which it is joined by a 
 narrow isthmus or causeway, and from it the ascent is made by a 
 series of stone steps. The whole rock bristles with fortifications, 
 and must have been a place of great strength. It was called the 
 Key of Naples. Above the walls, and filling all the space at the 
 summit, rise the church, palace, and other buildings contained 
 within their circuit, sitting like a crown upon the brow of the 
 mighty " rock," which well deserves the name so often given to it 
 by the poetess and her friends, " Suberbo Scoglio ! Altero e bel 
 ricetto di tanti chiari eroi ! " as Bernardo Tasso sings : 
 
 " in te s'asconde 
 Casta belta, valore e cortesia ; 
 Quanta mai vide il tempo, o diede il Cielo." 
 
9G V1TT0R1A COLONNA: 
 
 much frequented by invalids, and it is one of the 
 finest islands on the coast of Italy. It is well 
 described by Luca Contete in his letters published 
 in 1564. 
 
 Vittoria loved Ischia as having been the scene 
 of her early years with Pescara. She speaks of 
 her attachment to it in the 74th sonnet, and that 
 she hoped to end her days there. In the 117th 
 sonnet, beginning, " Donna sicura, accesa, e dall' 
 errante volgo lontana," she describes herself as a 
 " lady resting safely on that rock, far from the 
 wandering crowd, in a solitary home, delighting 
 to turn from everything which was displeasing to 
 the Great God (cd primo etcrno amante)" 
 
 She calls them " these rocks of Pescara, this 
 rugged island, where I follow his footsteps over 
 the high hills, and imitate his beautiful character, 
 his straightforward high thoughts, and his blessed 
 walk!" 
 
 In aiother sonnet she compares herself to a 
 melancholy bird. 
 
 " I live on this horrid and solitary rock, like some melancholy 
 bird, which abhors the green trees and the pure waters. 1 hide 
 myself from those 1 love, and from mine own self also. 
 
 " Because my thoughts fly to that sun whom I revere and adore. 
 
 " And though my thoughts cannot fly as swiftly as I would have 
 
HE Li LIFE AM) POEMS. 
 
 them, still they always turn from everything else to that image ; 
 and when they have arrived at that desired end, I feel a short-lived 
 joy, which surpasses all earthly pleasure. 
 
 " Ah ! if my memory could restore as much as I desire his high 
 and sublime image in a life-like form, I should taste again here 
 below something of perfect bliss ! " 
 
 She speaks of Ischia in the 100th sonnet as 
 more famous as a mausoleum to the memory of 
 her Pescara, than as the dwelling-place of the giant 
 Tefio, which the legends describe as being under 
 the mountains of that island. 
 
 Sonnet C. 
 
 " Se quel superbo dorso il monte sempre 
 Sostien, perch' aspirare al ciel gli piacque, , 
 Da peso e fuoco oppresso, e cinto d'acque 
 Arde, piange e sospira in varie tempre ; 
 
 " E degno, che'l passato duol contempre 
 II preseute gioir ; che Tifeo nacque 
 Per alte imprese, e a forza interra giacque. 
 Non convien bel desir morte distempre. 
 
 11 Or gli da il frutto la smarrita speme, 
 Dal qual puo aver si lunga e chiara istoria, 
 Che compensi il piacer l'avute pene. 
 
 " Non cede il carco, che felice il preme, 
 (Se nei Spirti divini e vera gloria) 
 A quel che '1 vecchio Atlante ancor sostiene." 
 
 " If that proud back which for ever sustains this mountain 
 aspired to heaven, though oppressed with the weight and the heat, 
 and girt round with water which burns, weeps, and sighs at various 
 
 H 
 
98 VITTORTA COLONNA: 
 
 temperatures, it is right that the Tifeo, who was born to heroic 
 deeds and now lies buried in earth, should not have his great deeds 
 concealed by death. Give him the fruit of all his lost hopes, 
 of which I can give so long and brilliant a history, to compen- 
 sate in joy for all he has suffered (if indeed true glory is felt by 
 heavenly souls) ; and so great will be the reward, that the weight 
 will be as heavy as that which Old Atlas for ever upholds ! " 
 
 Sonnet LXXXVI. 
 
 " Quando '1 gran lume appar nell' Oriente 
 Che'l negro manto della notte sgombra, 
 E dalla terra il gelo, e la fredd' ombra 
 Dissolve, e scaccia col suo raggio ardente ; 
 
 " Dell' usate mie pene alquanto lente, 
 Per l'inganno del' sonno, allor m'ingombra, 
 Ond 'ogni mio piacer risolve in ombra, 
 Quando da ciascun lato ha l'altre spente. 
 
 " viver mio nojoso, awersa sorte ! 
 Cerco l'oscurita, fuggo la luce, 
 Odio la vita ognor, bramo la morte. 
 
 u Quel, ch' agli occhi altrui nuoce, a' miei riluce, 
 Perche chiudendo lor, s'apron le porte 
 Alia cagion ch' al mio Sol mi conduce." 
 
 ,; When in the East the grand light appears that removes the 
 dark mantle of night, and melts the frost, and with its ardent rays 
 scatters the cold shadows of earth, then am I restored slowly, to my 
 accustomed sorrow, which had been for a while lost in sleep, and 
 all my pleasant dreams, which had extinguished the other though U 
 that oppressed me, dissolve into shadows. 
 
 " wearisome days ! adverse fate ! I seek obscurity, I shun 
 the light, I hate life, I wish for death. That sleep which to other 
 eyes is an evil, to mine gives new light, because in closing them 
 the doors are opened to those dreams that conduct me to my 
 beloved ! " 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. <>}> 
 
 Sonnet XCVII. 
 
 To her Brother's Wife. 
 
 " S'io potessi sottrar dal giogo alquanto, 
 Madonna, il collo, e volger i pensieri, 
 Dalla mia luce altrove sciolti e intieri, 
 Gli poiTei in voi, volgendo in riso il pianto. 
 
 " Farei dolce lo stil, soave il canto, 
 Per dir de' vostri onori i pregi altieri : 
 Che l'alte sue virtu son regni veri, 
 Non corona, ne scettro, o real manto ! 
 
 " Ma a voi fu'l ciel si largo, e a me la stella 
 Si parca, che s'oppon tosto il mio Sole 
 Tra '1 vostro Paradiso, e gli occhi miei. 
 
 " Ei retien la mia vista, e come suole 
 L'affrena in lui, per non veder men bella 
 La vostra lode, e torme i cari omei ! " 
 
 " If I could take my neck from the yoke, and turn my thoughts 
 freely and entirely from my grief, they would be changed for thee, 
 Madonna, from tears to smiles. My words would be cheerful, and 
 sweet my song, to chant thy honours and thy noble praise. For 
 high virtue is true royalty, more than crown, sceptre, or regal 
 mantle. 
 
 " Whilst to thee heaven has been so bountiful, how cruel has fate 
 been to me, in so soon taking mio Sole from your paradise and from 
 my eyes ! But, while my gaze is ever fixed on him, thy merits are 
 still delightful to me, though my songs are always mournful." 
 
 Sonnet LXXVI. 
 
 " Solco tra duri scogli e fiero vento 
 L'onde di questa vita in fragil ligno ; 
 L'alto favor, e'l mio fido sostegno 
 Tolse l'acerba morte in un momento. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 " Veggio il mal grave, e '1 mio remedio spento, 
 E '1 mar turbato, e l'aere d'ira pregno, 
 D'atra tempesta uno infallibil segno, 
 E '1 valor proprio al mio soccorso lento. 
 
 " Non che sommerga le commosse arene 
 Temo, ne rompa in perigliose sponde ; 
 Ma duolmi il navigar priva di speme. 
 
 " Almen, se morte il vero porto asconde, 
 Mostrimi il falso suo, clie chiare e amene 
 Mi saran le sue irate e torbid' onde." 
 
 " I plough the waves of this life in a frail bark amid cruel rocks 
 and fierce winds, but heavenly aid and my sustaining faith preserve 
 me each moment from a bitter death. I see the terrible dam ci, 
 and my lost help ! The troubled sea, and the angry clouds, the 
 sure sign of a coming storm, and my own courage slow to succour 
 me ! I fear not to be lost in treacherous sands, nor wrecked on 
 dangerous rocks, but I fear to make the voyage bereft of hope. 
 
 " If Death conceals its true portal from me, and shows me its 
 false one, how dear and delightful to me would then become these 
 black and angry waves !" 
 
 Sonnet CXVI. 
 
 " Am I able in the bitter and black tempest of this miserable 
 world to enter into the Ark with Noah, the beloved of God, when 
 no other bark is available in the perilous and troubled waters ? or 
 can I with the Hebrew host thank God ! singing in joy and festivity 
 on the further shore, when they had boldly and quickly passed 
 over the Red Sea? Or with Peter, does my heart feel itself 
 supported by the Divine hand, when my faith fails to support me 
 on the heaving waves ? Ah ! if I am not equal to these things, 
 yet the favcur of heaven is not removed nor lessened ; nor is its 
 succour slow." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 101 
 
 Sonnet CI. 
 
 " Humility, with ploughshare sharp and strong, 
 Its furrows deep within my heart must make ; 
 And all the bitter stagnant waters take, 
 Clearing away the earthly and the wrong, 
 Lest these should drown, and those choke up the seed, 
 Cumbering the ground with rubbish and with weed. 
 Nay ! rather spread a better soil around, 
 And pray that gentle dew from heaven be found, 
 And the heavens' love to fructify the flower, 
 Nor idly wait till the last awful hour, 
 When all is swallowed in eternal night. 
 Humble One ! leave me not in such plight ! 
 But manifest Thyself to this sad heart ! 
 Banish dark thoughts, and bid my pride depart ! " 
 
 Sonnet XLVIII. 
 
 " Tra gelo e nebbia corro a Dio sovente 
 Per foco e lume, onde i ghiacci disciolti 
 Siano, e gli ombrosi veli aperti e tolti 
 Dalla divina luce e fiamma ardente. 
 
 " E se fredda ed oscura e ancor la mente, 
 Pur son tutti i pensieri al ciel revolti ; 
 E par, che dentro in gran silenzio ascolti 
 Un suon, che sol nell' anima si sente ; 
 
 " E dice ; Non temer, che venne al mondo 
 Gesu, d'eterno ben largo ampio mare, 
 Per far leggiero ogni gravoso pondo. 
 
 " Sempre son l'onde sue piu dolci e chiare 
 A chi con umil barca in quel gran fondo 
 Dell' alta sua bonta si lascia andare." 
 
102 VITTORIA C0L0NNA: 
 
 "Often I flee to God through frosts and mists, and pray for His 
 celestial light and fire to melt the icy chains, and remove the daik 
 veils. And if my mind is still cold and dark, my thoughts, at 
 least, ever turn towards heaven, and in a great silence there appears 
 to me a voice that only the soul can hear, crying, Fear not ! for 
 Jesus, that mighty and wide sea, came into the world to make 
 light every heavy burden ; and that gracious sea is ever calm and 
 clear to him who, in humble bark, trusts himself to its heavenly 
 guidance. " 
 
 Sonnet XXX. 
 
 " If I have conquered self, by heaven's strength, 
 
 'Gainst carnal reason, and the senses striven, 
 With mind renewed, and purged, I rise at length 
 
 Above the world, and its false faith to heaven ! 
 My thoughts, no longer now depressed and vain, 
 
 Upon the wings of faith and hope shall rise, 
 Nor sink into this vale of tears again, 
 
 But find true peace and courage in the skies. 
 I fix my eye still on the better way ; 
 
 I see the promise of th' Eternal Day ! 
 
 Yet still my trembling steps fall erringly. 
 To chose the right hand path I must incline, 
 
 That sacred passage towards the life divine ; 
 
 And yet I fear that life may ne'er be mine." 
 
 Rota 1 says that "her brothers," after Pescara's 
 death, sought to induce Vittoria to marry again 
 
 " Era allora Vittoria, giovane d'anni trentacinque, di fresche bel- 
 lezze, ecelebre per la sua litteratura, aspiravano perci5 varj Priricipi 
 alle sue nozze, cui cercavano di disporla ancora i proprj fratelli, 
 quali si aspettavano di far di lei alcun gran parentado ; ma ella, ben 
 lontana dal darci orecchio, a chiunque di ci6 le faceva parole, usava 
 
 1 Bullart, quoted by Rota, xvii. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. L03 
 
 di rispondere, die il suo Sole quantunque dagli altri fosse riputato 
 rnorto, appresso di Lei sempre vivea." 
 
 The 18th Sonnet, written probably about the year 
 1526, refers to this subject. It has been selected by 
 1/ Zilioli as a specimen of Italian poetry. 
 The sonnet is as follows : 
 
 " Di cosi nobil fiamma amor mi cinse, 
 Che poco apprezza il trapassar dell' ore, 
 E col suo dolce, casto, e santo ardore, 
 Ogni altra nel mio petto altera estinse. 
 
 " Ricco legame a bel giogo m'avvinse 
 Tal che disdegna umil catena il core ; 
 !N"e piu speranza vuol, ne piu timore ; 
 L' arse un incendio, un sol nodo lo strinse. 
 
 " Scelto dardo pungente all' arco tese, 
 Che fe la piaga, ch'or serbo immortale, 
 Per schermo contra ogni amoroso impaccio. 
 
 " Amor le faci spense ove l'accese, 
 L'arco spezz6 all' avventar d' un strale 
 E ruppe i nodi all' annodar d' un laccio." 
 
 " By so noble a flame has love enclosed me, that the flight of the 
 hours is little heeded ; and by its sweet, chaste, holy ardour, it has 
 extinguished every other feeling in my faithful soul. So rich a 
 chain binds me to the blessed yoke, that my heart despises every 
 other tie. It neither hopes nor fears more. One flame consumes 
 it, one knot binds it ; one pungent dart from the bended bow has 
 love selected to make the wound now become eternal and I keep 
 it as an impassable shield against every other affection. Love has 
 extinguished the torch where he had illumined it ; he has broken 
 the bow from whence the one arrow sped, and destroyed all the 
 snares which treachery would weave around me." 
 
104 VITTORU COLONNA. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1528. 
 
 VlTTOKJA remained in Ischia during the years 
 1525, 1526, and 1527, in great retirement ; occu- 
 pied in writing and study. 
 
 Many of the beautiM sonnets which Ave possess, 
 were written during this period of seclusion ; and 
 we shall select some of them to show the train 
 of thought, and the state of feeling, which she 
 passed through. One beauty runs through them all, 
 and that is the spirit of unfeigned humility which 
 pervades all she wrote. No praise, no celebrity, no 
 devotedness of friendship, had any power to raise 
 her from her calm humility of spirit. In her isolation 
 of heart she was far removed from self-conceit, or 
 the vain desire of applause. There was no attraction 
 for her in anything which this world could give. 
 
 The 78th sonnet, written on the fourth anniver- 
 sary of her loss, expresses that the world can have 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 105 
 
 no danger for her. The 48th invokes the dear 
 image against the seductions of the world, the 
 troubles of ocean, and the song of syrens. The 
 74th, written in the seventh year of her widow- 
 hood, exhibits her devoted love to his memory, and 
 her faith and hope in his eternal peace. In the 
 47th sonnet she compares herself to an imprisoned 
 bird, which rejoices within the nest when it hears 
 the sound of its mother's wings approaching, from 
 whom it receives its food, and which longs to 
 take wing also, and follow wherever she goes ; 
 and so also, she, receiving into her soul the light 
 of the divine sun which nourishes her, would 
 willingly take flight to follow where he is gone. 
 In another sonnet she says : 
 
 " To me the sun does not give its wonted light, nor the moon in 
 heaven ; nor do I see the clear rays of the planets, nor the lovely 
 stars in their resplendent sphere, because I no longer behold 
 that brave armed heart ! and for me is fled true honour q,nd 
 beautiful glory ! There is no verdure of trees, and no flowers 
 in the meadows ; the waters are turbid, and the air dark ! The 
 sun does not warm, nor the wind refresh ; everything has forgotten 
 its accustomed duty, since my beautiful Sun is quenched on earth. 
 Either the order of nature is confused, or grief has hidden the truth 
 from my senses." 
 
 In the 6th sonnet she compares herself to a boat 
 subjected to variations of the weather ; and it is 
 
106 T'lTTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 easy to imagine that she composed it sitting on 
 the shores of Ischia, watching the waves which 
 lay at her feet. It begins : 
 
 " Oh ! on what a tranquil sea, on what calm waves floats my 
 happy bark, with its rich and noble freight ! Favoured with pure 
 air and prospering breezes, and heaven itself scattering the dark- 
 ness, already gives promise of its serene light ! But, behold, even 
 now impious and capricious Fortune shows her iniquitous face, and 
 raises up an angry storm ! Winds and lightnings together meet 
 ready to overwhelm me, but my soul still sees its Faithful Star! " 
 
 Speaking of this beautiful sonnet, " che tran- 
 quillo mar," Vittoria's French biographer remarks, 
 " These thoughts are not new in our day ; the 
 English poets have adopted them. But the way 
 was led by Vittoria Colonna. It is to her glory 
 to have been the first to be a model for others in 
 these comparisons." "C'est quelque chose pour sa 
 gloire d'avoir ete la premiere, et d'avoir fourni un 
 modele qu'il est toujours plus facile de surpasser 
 que de creer. Surpasser ? pas toujours. Qui no 
 croirait, en effet, si on en taisait la date, lire dans 
 le sonnet suivant une traduction inedite de Cole- 
 ridge?" 1 
 
 "That grand sun, who always makes day in my soul, Irom 
 his high sphere creates in my faithful heart a second spring-time, 
 with its lovely flowers and green foliage adorned. Its light extends 
 
 1 Lefevre Deumier, p. 129. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 107 
 
 to all time ; no night hides it, and no morning renews it ; but 
 whether it be day or night, every day it is here, with its lovely 
 rays and true form. High thoughts are the sweet flowers which 
 give out fragrance to that noble light, under which they expand 
 and are sustained. The green verdure is the sweet hope that he 
 will call me to heaven, and that he desires that I should partake 
 with him there, where he shines, of his beatitude." 
 
 The 66th sonnet has the motto 
 
 " Conantia frangere frangunt." 1 
 
 " When the troubled sea rises and surrounds a firm rock with its 
 impetuous and furious waves, if it stands secure the tempestuous 
 pride is broken, and the wave falls back into itself. So I, if 
 against me the deep waters of an angry world rage, lift to 
 heaven my eyes as from a rock, and the greater their strength, the 
 more does my strength abound ! And if the storm of desire renews 
 the combat, I run to the shore, and, with a cord entwined of love 
 and faith, I fasten my bark to that on which I rely, Jesus the 
 Living Eock ; so that when I will, I can always enter into the 
 harbour." 
 
 Thus did Vittoria, seated beside the rocks and 
 waves of her beloved island, fall naturally into such 
 images and thoughts, marrying them to immortal 
 verse. One of the longer poems consisted of 
 twenty-seven stanzas, and is of a pastoral character. 
 The following is a translation of a part of these 
 stanze : 
 
 " When I see the earth adorned and beautiful with a thousand 
 lovely and sweet flowers, and how in the heavens every star is 
 
 1 They, endeavouring to break, are broken. 
 
108 FITTORIA COLONNA. 
 
 resplendent with varied colours ; when I see that every solitary 
 and lively creature is moved by natural instinct to come out of the 
 forests and ancient caverns to seek its fellow by day and night ; 
 and when I see the plains adorned again with glorious flowers and 
 new leaves, and hear every babbling brook with grateful murmurs 
 bathing its flowery banks, so that Nature, in love with herself, 
 delights to gaze on the beauty of her works, I say to myself, re- 
 flecting, ' How brief is this our miserable mortal life ! ' Yesterday 
 this plain was covered with snow, to-day it is green and flowery. 
 And again in a moment the beauty of the heavens is overclouded 
 by a fierce wind, and the happy, loving creatures remain hidden 
 amidst the mountains and the woods ; nor can the sweet songs of 
 the tender plants and happy birds be heard, for these cruel storms 
 have dried up the flowers on the ground ; the birds are mute, the 
 most rapid streams and the smallest rivulets are checked by frost ; 
 and what was one hour so beautiful and joyous, is, for a season, 
 miserable and dead. 
 
 " So time flies ! and with its flight carries our years, and our life 
 itself ! For us no new day of flowering can be, except hope. Cer- 
 tainly, there is no other except to die, for the highest born and for 
 the lowliest. All that kind fate can do for us is a pious death ! 
 ****** 
 
 " How tranquil life would be if pure and serene, without passion 
 and without sighs ! Cheerfully enjoying as much as heaven has 
 given, we could live in a modest, humble state, as in the golden 
 age, when the well-born lived in peace on white milk and green 
 herbs, content with poor fare : and the grand sound of the trumpet 
 of war among armed bands was never heard, nor the voice of the 
 anvil resounding to the making of arms, nor did men indulge the 
 bold design of acquiring fame and honour, nor give to others 
 terrible sufferings with doubts and fears ; nor, in the desire to 
 overthrow and change kingdoms, did they feel chosen to such evil 
 passions. 
 
 " But they lived contented to turn up the stubborn earth with 
 the plough, watching their dear flocks feeding together and mak- 
 ing peaceful combats, and with jocund pastoral notes scattering 
 grief, if any such befell them ; they sang with the nymphs and 
 shepherds ; or, placed at the foot of an elm, where a pine-tree was 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 109 
 
 at a measured and fit distance, they threw the dart, that whoso- 
 ever could come nearest the mark should be crowned with a garland. 
 How much better it is to sleep on the grass in the shade than to 
 sleep in gilded beds with purple curtains, to feel the heart tranquil, 
 cheerful, and pure, rather than to hear, even with choicest music, 
 the roar of marching armies ! " 
 
 One of her biographers says "Her verses are 
 an inexhaustible mine of gold, the most pure and 
 the most precious." "All her verses," said the 
 Jesuit Possivino, "breathe dignity of soul, the 
 sanctity of religion, and the majesty of intellect." 
 Cardinal Bembo, a man of first-rate reputation 
 in the world of letters, speaks of her as of some 
 great queen. He says, " I never thought to have 
 such an honour as when she wrote of me with so 
 much praise." Agostino says, "Her marvellous 
 rhymes have built up an indestructible mausoleum 
 to her husband. There is no Italian writer of 
 her age, whether in prose or verse, who has not 
 celebrated her, and raised her above her sex." 
 Lodovico Dolce considered it a glory to have edited 
 her works. Fabricio Luna said, "That she held 
 the first rank among women." Cardinal Pompeo 
 Colonna undertook, in her honour, a book entitled 
 "Le Lodi delle Donne." Cardinal Contarini dedi- 
 cated to her his learned work " Libre Arbitrc. '' 
 
110 riTTORIA COLONNA. 
 
 Ludovico Martelli addressed some lines to her on 
 the death of her husband. And Paolo Giovio dedi- 
 cated to her his Life of the Marquis di Pescara, 
 in seven volumes. Ariosto compared her to all 
 the famed heroines of Greece and Rome, but pre- 
 ferred her to any of them. In comparing her to 
 Artemisia, who raised a grand mausoleum to her 
 husband, he says : 
 
 " Tanto niaggior quanto e piu assai bel opera 
 Che por sotterra un nom, trarlo di sopra. " 
 
 "It is a far better deed to raise a name to the heavens than to 
 bury it under the earth." For the whole passage, see Appendix. 
 
 " A volume could not contain all the honourable 
 poems of which she was the object," says her 
 biographer. Tasso's would fill several pages ; and 
 after him, among the Italians, we find : Francesco 
 delle Torre, Allegretti, Giovanni delle Torre, Tibaldeo, 
 Toscani and Gonzaga. Of women : Veronica Gambara, 
 Camilla Guidiboni, Gaspara Stampa, and Laura Ter- 
 raccina. Of critics we have Renaldo Corso, who wrote 
 a volume of enormous glossaries, Crescimbeni, Tira- 
 boschi, Muratori, and many others. Toscano affirms 
 that she was a second Petrarch ; and II Crescimbeni, 
 "that she had raised herself above every other woman, 
 and placed herself gloriously to walk in the foot- 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. Ill 
 
 steps of Petrarch, from whose followers she received 
 the title of < Divina.' " 
 
 In Italian biography she is designated by the 
 epithets: diva, divina, maravigliosa, altissima, 
 illustrissima, vertuosissima, dottissima, castis- 
 sima, gloriosissima, &c. &c. 
 
 In the first edition of her poems, published, 
 without her knowledge, in Parma, 1538, she is 
 styled the "Divina." And in the third edition, 
 published in Venice, 1540, she has the title "Diva" 
 (goddess) given her ; which is the highest term of 
 honour, and never before given to a woman. 1 
 
 So much flattery and adulation might have injured 
 even her noble nature had she not been overwhelmed 
 with so many griefs. 
 
 In the 80th sonnet she excuses herself for making 
 Pescara the continued subject of her verse : 
 
 " Sempre e dubbioso il nostro miser stato ! 
 Ma per cangier di tempo o di fortuna 
 Non fia cangiato in me l'alto pensiero 
 Di lodar la cagione, piangere il danno. 
 Dal antica passion nacque sol' una 
 Fede al mio petto ; che non men sincero 
 Del primo giorno sara l'ultim' anno ! " 
 
 1 " Titoli che di que' tempi, non solevano dispensarsi che a 
 Homini eccollentisisiini. " 
 
112 VITTORIA COLONNA 
 
 " Our miserable state is always uncertain ; but though time ami 
 fortune change, they cannot change in me the high thought to 
 praise the cause and weep the loss. From the old passion is born 
 one only faith in my breast, which will not be less sincere the last 
 year as the first day." 
 
 This rare affection, and this self-sustained strength, 
 were the safe defence of Vittoria against the offers 
 of a new marriage, which would seem like an insult 
 to such a woman ; but which, as we have said, even 
 her brothers understood her so little, as to have 
 pressed upon her. She replied to them in the spirit 
 of the 118th sonnet, in which she compares hersell 
 to "that beautiful juniper- tree, which stands firm, 
 though its leaves are scattered by the angry winds, 
 and its branches tossed in the air. My soul de- 
 spises the anger of fortune, and smiles at the bitter 
 warfare, like that tree, and it teaches me that, by 
 evil, faith is strengthened (' che nel mal cresca la 
 fede ')." She said that her sun still shone for her; 
 and that neither dark days, nor bright ones, could 
 take from her the faith of the heart. 
 
 In reading her poems we pass through the vicis- 
 situdes of that affliction which lasted to the tomb. 
 Their sameness, also, is a proof of their not having 
 been written for fame, nor intended for the eye of 
 the world. She only made use of this talent to 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 1 H 
 
 give relief to her feelings, and an utterance to her 
 thoughts. When at length her poems were collected 
 and published in 1538, it was unauthorized by her. 
 
 Her sonnets are classified under two heads : those 
 which she wrote in her early widowhood, which 
 chiefly relate to Pescara and her own grief; and 
 those which she wrote, after her seven years of 
 mourning, in which she encourages her thoughts to 
 turn to higher consolations ; and which are more 
 highly finished, and more perfect in style, than the 
 earlier ones. 
 
 Even from her youth Vittoria had gained the 
 applause and affection of all who in Italy had made 
 the Belles Lettres their profession. She enjoyed 
 in Ischia the society of some of the most learned 
 of the nobility and other distinguished persons of 
 Naples, corresponding also with many of the first 
 men of the day. There are letters addressed to her 
 at Ferrara, Rome, Naples, and Ischia, in years sub- 
 sequent to the death of the Marquis, in themselves 
 a sufficient proof that she did not immure herself 
 in any convent during these years of mourning, as is 
 stated by her Catholic biographers. 
 
 She exchanged letters and verses with Ludovico 
 Dolce ; she enjoyed the friendship of Marcantorio 
 
 I 
 
114 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Flaminio, who mentions her in his Latin poems, 
 both during her life and after her death. Casti- 
 glione wrote his four books of the Court, as 
 much to show his admiration of her, as to please 
 Louis XII. and his beloved friend Ariosto. Among 
 Vittoria's principal friends and admirers we must 
 not omit to mention G. G. Vescovo di Fossombrone ; 
 and also Cardinal Pietro Bembo, to whom she was 
 accustomed to send her verses, and who appreciated 
 them highly, as is expressed in his letters and poems. 
 She also, at the request of these two friends, pre- 
 sented them with her portrait. Cardinal Bembo had 
 the greatest esteem for her. He was a man of the 
 highest literary attainments, and twenty years her 
 senior. His house was a kind of academy, furnished 
 with an excellent library, rich in manuscripts as well 
 as printed books, and a choice collection of medals 
 and antiquities. He had also a botanical garden and 
 everything that could favour the pursuit of science- 
 He wrote in Latin and Italian ; and his prose and 
 verse in both languages were equally celebrated. He 
 expressed, to his friend Giovio, the gratification he 
 had felt in having had his verses praised by Vittoria. 
 "She has given a more steady and well-founded 
 judgment, and a more minute criticism, than I have 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 1 5 
 
 seen on my poetry by the greatest masters of such 
 things ; and if I were out of the game, so that it 
 might not be said that she did it to please me, I 
 should say more than I do say. She is certainly 
 that great lady you have honourably described to 
 the world, more than once in your prose writings; 
 and to me you have many times described viva 
 voce!' 
 
 Vittoria Colonna had also a famed friend and 
 contemporary in Veronica Gambara, Countess of 
 Correggio. She was five years older than Vittoria, 
 whom she resembled in poetical talents, in her 
 domestic sorrows and her conjugal virtues. She 
 was married in 1509 to Ghiberto, Lord of Correggio. 
 She held her court at Fondi, on the coast, and the 
 Sultan, having heard of her extraordinary beauty, 
 was desirous of obtaining her for himself. And 
 sending with that intent a vessel to the Italian 
 shore, her castle was surprised by Turks in the 
 night-time, and she only escaped from them by 
 throwing herself on a horse, as she was, and taking 
 to flight. 
 
 Her high rank, her extraordinary acquirements, 
 and excellent literary productions, as well as her 
 unsullied purity and all the virtues which added 
 
 12 
 
116 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 lustre to her rank, made her worthy of the devoted 
 friendship of Vittoria Colonna, whom she styled, 
 " II suo Canzoniere." 
 
 In the year 1518 she had the grief to lose her 
 husband after being united to him for nine years ; 
 and she henceforth devoted herself to the educa- 
 tion of her two sons, and the composition of those 
 works that have perpetuated her memory. Her 
 poems and letters were published in Brescia, in 
 1559. They rank among the most polished pro- 
 ductions of the time. 1 
 
 Mrs. Jameson compares these two women. She 
 says : " Vittoria seems to have been as lovely, gentle, 
 and feminine a creature as ever wore the form of 
 woman. Veronica, on the contrary, added to her 
 talents and virtues a masculine spirit, and strong 
 passions, and happily also sufficient energy of mind 
 to govern and direct them. Her verses have not 
 the polished harmony and graceful suavity of Vit- 
 toria's, but more vigour of expression and more 
 vivacity of colouring. The simplicity of Veronica 
 sometimes borders on harshness and carelessness. 
 The uniform sweetness of Vittoria is sometimes too 
 elaborate and artificial. Veronica has written fewer 
 
 1 Biogr. Diet. (Aikin). 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 117 
 
 good poems than Vittoria Colonna, but amongst 
 them two which are considered superior to Vittoria's 
 best." 1 
 
 Veronica Gambara in later years resided at 
 Bologna, where her brother Uberto was governor ; 
 and on the occasion of Charles V.'s visit to that 
 city, in August 1529, to be crowned King of Lom- 
 bardy and Emperor of the Romans, her house was 
 the resort of a number of the most distinguished 
 men in Europe who followed his court. It is possible 
 that Vittoria was visiting her friend at this period, 
 and there saw the Emperor. It is certain that 
 when Charles V was in Rome, six years afterwards, 
 he honoured her with a visit, as well as her 
 accomplished sister-in-law, the beautiful Giovanna 
 Colonna. Charles V. arrived in Italy with a 
 numerous train of Spanish nobility. He landed 
 in Genoa, where he was received with acclamations ; 
 and he subsequently proceeded to Bologna. 2 
 
 1 Mrs. Jameson's "Romance of Biography." 
 
 2 Bologna, 1529. Cardinal Bembo, in a letter to Clement, bear- 
 ing date 7th April, 1530, in speaking of Bologna on this occasion 
 " as the theatre of the whole world," says that " within those walls 
 were assembled a greater number of noble and illustrious men than 
 the world had ever before seen brought together." "They were 
 great days those Bologna coronation-days," says Trollope. "But 
 mankind knows only too well by heart the routine of such great 
 
118 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 In this city, on the 5th of November, lie had an 
 interview with Pope Clement VII., who so lately had 
 been the prisoner of his army. He met him with the 
 majesty of an emperor, and the humility of an obe- 
 dient son of the Church, and kneeled down to kiss 
 his foot. The Italians were astonished to find Charles 
 so affable and so exemplary in his demeanour after 
 having suffered so terribly from the licentiousness 
 and ferocity of his army. 1 
 
 days. The solemn hymns and the silken hangings, the shouting 
 crowds and the shining soldiery ; the old oaths broken and the new 
 oaths sworn ; the bowings and benedictions, the Te Dcums and the 
 dinners ; the bargaining, the over-reaching, the signing and the 
 scaling, the processioning and trumpet -bio wing, and the organ - 
 swelling ; all the greatness and all the glory producible by the 
 united efforts of cooks, tailors, priests, trumpeters, and upholsterers ! 
 We know all about it, and have no difficulty whatever in picturing 
 to ourselves the grave and graceful courtesies that passed between 
 God's vicegerent in cloth of gold and God's anointed in velvet. 
 Nor is it less easy to imagine what must have been the feelings of 
 these two men towards each other when, the day's comedy over, 
 cloth of gold and velvet laid aside, the solitude of night hours 
 compelled them to commune with their own hearts. How heartily 
 must the Pontiff have hated the Emperor, and how entirely must 
 the Emperor have despised the Pontiff !" 
 1 Robertson's "Charles V." vol. iii. p. 38. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 1 9 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1527. 
 
 In the year 1523, Giulio de Medici, the nephew 
 of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was elected to the 
 papal throne. His pontificate was full of vicissitudes 
 and calamities. He began by allying himself to 
 the French king, out of hatred to the Emperor ; 
 and he indulged an extreme ill-will against all the 
 Colonnas, especially against Pompeo Colonna, who 
 had taken a leading part in the intrigues which 
 had kept the see vacant for some months before 
 Clement was finally elected. It was said that he 
 wished for the dignity himself. 
 
 The Medici and the Colonnas were old foes, and 
 the " Audace Colonna" were ever ready for war 
 on the slightest provocation. Whilst the leaders 
 of the Imperialists were actively engaged in Lom- 
 bardy in endeavouring to raise supplies for the 
 army, and authorizing the rifling of the churches, 
 
120 VLTTOUIA COLONNA: 
 
 and the torture of the inhabitants of the eities and 
 villages to obtain money, the Emperor's general at 
 Naples, Don Ugo di Moncada, took it into his 
 head to propose to the Colonnas "a little frolic 
 at Clement's expense, and they jumped at the 
 proposal ; " and determined one morning, on the 
 20th of September, 1526, to invade Rome with only 
 two thousand men. 
 
 They knew that the Pope had just discharged 
 the papal soldiers, and had no troops at his com- 
 mand; so they marched at once to the Vatican, 
 sacked it, and also every house belonging to 
 the Orsini ; and even robbed the sacristy of 
 St. Peter's. If anybody wonders why no one be- 
 stirred themselves to help the Pope in this danger, 
 against such a small force, let him know that Cle- 
 ment was at this time most hateful to men of all 
 classes. Some even maintained that he was no 
 other than Antichrist. On the first alarm he 
 escaped into the Castle of St. Angelo ; but as he 
 found no supply of either food or ammunition there, 
 he was obliged to treat for his deliverance at the end 
 of three days. The Most Reverend Cardinal Pompeo 
 Colonna was urgent with Don Ugo not to release 
 him ; but the general, having no hope of becoming 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 121 
 
 pope himself, thought that Clement had been 
 punished enough, and, moved by the hope of money 
 for his private purse, he agreed to a treaty with 
 Clement, who promised to pardon the Colonnas 
 freely for all they had done, and to take no steps 
 to revenge himself against them. When, by virtue 
 of this treaty, he returned to his desolate palace, 
 a burning desire of vengeance seized him. He 
 immediately collected a thousand horsemen, and 
 bargained with several lawless ruffian barons to 
 begin an attack upon the Colonna family, such as 
 no pope had ever yet made upon non-heretical 
 enemies. His troops were commanded to enter 
 the territories of the Colonnas ; to spare nothing 
 neither property, nor life ; to burn and destroy 
 houses, men, women, and children. Fourteen 
 castles, with the adjoining villages and farms 
 attached to them, which belonged to the proscribed 
 Colonnas, were razed to the ground; and a great 
 number of men and women suffered much wrong 
 and shame, though totally blameless in the matter. 
 
 Vittoria wrote pressing letters to Pompeo and 
 to Vasto, begging them to remember the example 
 of Pescara, who always showed mercy to the van- 
 quished. She offered to ransom the prisoners ; 
 
122 riTTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 and as Ghiberto said, 1 "She shone like the star 
 of peace in a stormy sky." She was in new 
 and indescribable grief at these events. She was 
 angry to see her father's family mixed up in such 
 disgraceful scenes. She wept to see them attack- 
 ing such a city, and applied to her friend Ghi- 
 berto, the Pope's Danario, who was so influential 
 that his advice weighed as much as the Pontiff's, 
 praying him to intercede to make peace. But the 
 Pope was too much enraged to listen to any such 
 overtures ; he deprived Pompeo Colonna of the hat, 
 excommunicated all the Colonna family, and seized 
 their castles and lands. So that Vittoria in all haste 
 had to fly from Marino, by way of Arpino, another 
 of the Colonna fiefs, to Naples ; and she came to 
 Ischia, where she found many other fugitives, driven 
 there by the pestilence in Naples, as well as by 
 the troubles in Rome. 
 
 Here, shortly afterwards, the news reached her 
 of the terrible attack upon Rome by the army of 
 Bourbon, which obscured for ever the glory of 
 Charles V. Bourbon being left in command of the 
 19,000 Germans and of all the Spanish troops of 
 the Emperor ; and being, as we have said, in diffi- 
 
 1 Letter from Ghiberto, dated .Rome, November 1527. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 culties how to pay and support this great army, 
 conceived the daring idea of marching on to 
 Rome. It is an expedition which is considered 
 to have been the boldest recorded in history. The 
 Emperor declared that it was not authorized by 
 him ; but there seems no doubt that he secretly 
 enjoyed the discomfiture of Clement. Clement had 
 only just recovered from his first imprisonment in 
 St. Angelo ; and he had hardly wreaked his ven- 
 geance on the Colonna faction, when he was astounded 
 to hear that a far more formidable foe was coming 
 upon him. Bourbon, in the depth of winter, had 
 to march more than a hundred leagues through 
 an enemy's country, to cross rivers, to pass the 
 Apennines, and to keep in check three opposing 
 armies. He had to allure his men on by promises 
 of immense booty. He marched on foot himself, and 
 partook of the same food and hardships as his 
 men. He allowed them to plunder all the villages 
 as they passed ; and this great and brutalized army, 
 like a swarm of locusts, reached at last the plains of 
 Rome on the 5th of May, 1527. 
 
 When he came within sight of the Eternal City, 
 into which the riches of the Christian world had 
 flowed for centuries, he promised his men a 
 
124 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 grand reward if they succeeded in entering the 
 city. 
 
 On the 6th of May, at daybreak, Bourbon him- 
 self led the assault ; but, to the dismay of the 
 soldiers, he fell at the first attack whilst raising 
 a scaling-ladder against the walls. The Prince of 
 Orange took the command, and led on the troops 
 with the greatest ardour, and so little defence was 
 made that the city was soon entered sword in hand. 
 Clement, who had been praying for aid in St. Peter's, 
 fled to St. Angelo again. He might at the last 
 moment have saved Rome from the horrors which 
 followed, as the besiegers had offered to spare it 
 if he would pay a heavy ransom ; but he looked 
 for safety to the army of D'Urbino, which never 
 came to his rescue. 
 
 The soldiers, left without their old leaders both 
 Pescara and Bourbon being dead wild with hunger 
 and tardy pay, found themselves unrestrained in the 
 most luxurious city in the world ; abounding with 
 riches, and ruled by a pope who was called by the 
 people the devil himself. The German soldiers, 
 before St. Angelo, proclaimed Luther Pope, and 
 vowed vengeance upon Clement's head, and a 
 horrible scene ensued. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 125 
 
 Benvenuto Cellini relates that he was in the 
 Castle of St. Angelo on the fatal night when the 
 troops first entered Rome. He saw the flames 
 bursting forth in the darkness, and heard the 
 sorrowful cry. It was as if suddenly the earth had 
 opened and disgorged a legion of devils, so hor- 
 rible were the scenes which ensued. Never was 
 such cruelty exercised, even in the fifth or sixth 
 century, when the barbarians were masters of 
 Rome ! And these were the soldiers of the most 
 Christian Emperor! 
 
 The mad excesses of the terrible six months which 
 followed are too frightful to relate. The soldiers 
 lighted their fires on the marble floors of the Vatican, 
 and stabled their horses in the Sistine Chapel. 
 Property of every kind was carried away. The 
 possessors of some of the noble palaces had to pur- 
 chase safety by the payment of immense sums. 
 Escape was impossible ! During this frightful period 
 the Colonnas doubtless lost many of their invaluable 
 possessions, or had to pay enormous ransoms to 
 preserve their magnificent palaces from pillage. 
 
 Among the treasures taken from the Vatican, in 
 this year of rapine, 1527, by the Imperialist army, 
 were the tapestries which had just been completed 
 
126 VITTORIA COLONNA. 
 
 from Raphael's immortal cartoons to hang in the 
 Sistine Chapel. Raphael had received 300 ducats 
 for the work. The tapestry was intended to be 
 hung in the presbytery, and the different size of 
 the cartoons is explained by the spaces on the 
 walls being of unequal width. The order was 
 given in the year 1514, and the tapestries had 
 only been hung up once, on St. Stephen's day. 
 They fell a prey to the soldiers of Charles V., but 
 were restored, in 1553, by Anne de Montmorency, 
 who bought them from a soldier. They were after- 
 wards shown only on Corpus Christi day, on the 
 front of St. Peter's. In 1798 the French carried 
 them off again. But Pope Pius VII., in 1808, 
 bought them ; and since then they have hung in 
 the Vatican. 
 
 The original designs, the Raphael Cartoons, are 
 of much greater value : they were purchased for 
 Charles I., and placed in Hampton Court, but very 
 recently have found a better resting-place in a 
 gallery of the South Kensington Museum. 
 
 Whilst Bourbon had been marching to Rome, 
 the people of Florence had taken advantage of 
 the opportunity once more to drive out the Medici 
 from their city. And this circumstance was more 
 
HER LIFE AND PO WMS. 127 
 
 distressing to Clement than all the evils which 
 attended the sacking of Rome. After the ignominy 
 which Clement had personally suffered from the 
 Imperialists, it astonished everyone to see him almost 
 immediately renewing his alliance with the Emperor. 
 This he did, because he saw that it was the only 
 chance of restoring his family to their old power 
 in Florence. 
 
 The Pope and the Emperor met at Bologna, and 
 their united forces marched to the subjection of 
 Florence at the end of 1530. The Marchese del 
 Vasto led the Spanish troops. The siege of Florence 
 lasted till August in the following year, and the 
 history of its brave defence is fully given in Trollope's 
 " Florence," and Grimm's " Life of Michael Angelo." 
 This is the first time that we meet with the great 
 sculptor's name in this memoir. He left his work in 
 Rome unfinished, to take up arms against his patron, 
 in defence of his beloved native city. He showed 
 himself as great on this occasion as on every other. 
 Ferrucci's name stands next, and is to this day 
 known to every child in Florence. Three times did 
 he lead the sortie, and oblige the Imperialist com- 
 mander to raise the siege ; and success might have 
 crowned the patriotic efforts of the Florentines, 
 
128 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 had not Malatesta's 1 treachery hastened the end. 
 Clement, at length, beheld the restoration of his 
 family, at a fearful sacrifice. After the year 1531, 
 they possessed not the old Florence. The rich, 
 proud, luxurious, haughty, free city, with its 
 suburbs, villas, and gardens, had suffered such 
 destruction that it had become a tale of past 
 glory ; and after accomplishing this great ruin, his 
 original temper towards the Emperor returned, and 
 he refused to yield to the wish of Charles to hold a 
 council in Germany. Charles at this time affected, 
 at least, to lean towards the Protestants, but Cle- 
 ment considered it would be an insult to the 
 papal chair to have a council out of Italy. He 
 accordingly turned again to the French king, 
 hoping to gain his assistance. But Ranke is of 
 opinion that no council would ever have been called 
 during Clement's pontificate. His life, however, was 
 not much prolonged. He died in the year 1534, 
 after a lingering illness, aggravated by the vexation 
 and mortification which his own wretched vacillating 
 
 1 Malatesta Baglioni held the supreme command in Florence. 
 He was a traitor to the cause. " The form of Malatesta stands 
 ever like the shadow of a devil in the background, when we speak 
 of the decline of Florentine liberty," says Grimm, vol. ii. p. 91. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 129 
 
 policy had entailed. He died unregretted ; leaving 
 behind him a character stained with harshness, 
 avarice, and deception. He had most of the fail- 
 ings, though none of the splendid and amiable 
 qualities, of his cousin Leo. The Colonnas must 
 have been relieved to hear of his death, for he had 
 been almost constantly their avowed enemy. 
 
130 FITTORIA COLONNA 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 15301536. 
 
 In the year 1530 Vittoria again visited Rome, 
 "nel Palazzo Cesarino detto Argentina, sfidata dei 
 Medici" (in spite of the Medici). The Pope, 
 Clement VII., when he determined, with the Em- 
 peror's aid, to attack his native city of Florence, 
 and reinstate the Medici there, had thought it 
 expedient to pacify the Colonnas by granting 
 them a full pardon, and restoring all their castles 
 and possessions in the Papal States. Three years 
 had elapsed since the frightful ravages that Rome 
 had undergone from Bourbon's soldiers ; the city 
 began to resume its usual life, and the learned and 
 gay were returning to their accustomed haunts. 
 But Rome never recovered from the effects of 
 the horrors of 1527. The population of Rome, 
 in the time of Leo, was 90,000 ; and when Clement 
 returned to the Vatican, the number was reduced 
 to one-third. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 131 
 
 The destruction of temples and of old monu- 
 ments had been frightful; and popes and princes 
 continued the spoliation. In 1531 there was a 
 public sale of the stones of the Coliseum. 1 
 
 The papal government was in the habit of 
 granting permissions to excavate travertine from 
 the walls to any princely family who could afford 
 to pay for them. And Paul III., who was elected 
 Pope in 1534, spared nothing. He stripped the 
 ancient temples of their precious pillars and mar- 
 bles to build his palace, and Gibbon remarks that 
 " every traveller who views the Farnese Palace may 
 curse the luxury of these upstart princes." 
 
 The Coliseum was only saved from entire de- 
 struction by being consecrated to divine worship, 
 to celebrate the deaths of Christian martyrs who 
 had met their fate in its arena. " It is wonderful 
 that anything is left to remind us of the past," says 
 Trollope. " Rome is but the bones of a mighty 
 skeleton." 
 
 But the golden sunshine and blue skies of Italy 
 still threw their beauty over the ruins of the Eternal 
 City ; and in the loved society of her brother, his 
 beautiful wife, the Marchese del Vasto, and a select 
 
 1 See Appendix, " RajDhaol. " 
 
 k2 
 
132 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 party of friends, Vittoria visited everything worthy 
 of note in the ancient city. "We have here a 
 singularly pleasing picture of these sixteenth-century 
 rambles, by as remarkable a company as any of 
 the thousands who have since trodden in their 
 steps." 1 Like a second, and a nobler Corinne, Vit- 
 toria was versed in all the classic associations con- 
 nected with these buildings, and she exclaimed, as 
 she beheld them, " Happy they who lived in times 
 so full of beauty!" The poet Molza, who was of the 
 party, took this exclamation of Vittoria as a sub- 
 ject for one of his sonnets, and assumed that the 
 ancients had heard the remark, and had replied, 
 "That they were less happy than she imagined 
 them, because they had not known her." 
 
 The Coliseum must have particularly attracted 
 their admiration. It is noble and beautiful even in 
 its decay. We are tempted to give a description 
 of it 2 as it is at present seen : " A supreme peace 
 reigns there, and thousands of beautiful flowers 
 adorn its broken arches. The flowers drink in a 
 glory of colour from the setting sun, and show like 
 gems against the rough crust of their setting. 
 
 1 Trollope. 
 
 2 From the pen of the gifted American artist, Mr. Story. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 33 
 
 Slowly the great shadow of the western wall creeps 
 along the arena ; the cross in the centre blazes no 
 longer in the sun ; the shadow climbs rapidly up 
 the eastern benches, and the glory of sunset is 
 gone. The molten clouds grow cool and grey, the 
 orange refines into citron, and pales away to 
 tenderest opaline light ; and stars begin to peer 
 through the dim veil of twilight. Later on the 
 moon shines through the arches, and softens and 
 hallows the ruins." 1 
 
 We also give another beautiful picture from the 
 same author of the scene which must have been 
 presented to our exploring party from the heights of 
 the Capitol. Looking over the waving plains of the 
 Campagna in the clear, lovely Italian atmosphere, 
 they would see towards the south " the varied out- 
 line of Monte Albano culminating in the cone of 
 Monte Cavi. And along its lower slopes the 
 gleaming towns of Albano, Marino, Gandolfo, and 
 Frascati, with villas, gardens, and orchards ; and 
 still higher, resting on its little jutting edge, the 
 little grey town of Rocca di Papa. Green forests 
 and grove3 girdle its waist, and soften the volcanic 
 hollows around the Alban Lake. High up on its 
 
 } Eoba di Roma, p. 178. 
 
134 riTTOUIA COLONNA: 
 
 summit is the Convent of Monte Cavi, built by 
 Cardinal York on the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter 
 Latialis ; and here you may overlook where the 
 Alban Hill again drops into the plain, and see 
 in the distance the faint misty heights of Ischia, 
 just visible on the horizon, and may descry the 
 three little hills on which stand, like advanced posts 
 before the lofty mountains, the villages of Colonna, 
 Zagarola, and Gallicano, which give their names to 
 princely Roman families of to-day. It is a picture 
 wherever you go. The land bursts forth into spon- 
 taneous vegetation, and everywhere laughs flowers. 
 You may gallop for miles through meadows of 
 green smoothness, on fire with scarlet poppies ; 
 over hills crowned with ruins that insist on being 
 painted, gracious with myriads of wild flowers ; and 
 you may gaze through lofty arches into the won- 
 drous deeps of violet-hued distances." 1 
 
 But where are the inhabitants ? Cut off by the 
 sword, cut off by the pestilence, driven before the 
 curse of the tyrant, sacrificed by the cruelties of 
 the Inquisition ! Where are the criminal legis- 
 lators ? where are the patrician fathers ? where are 
 the ambitious and ever-turbulent princes? where 
 
 1 Eoba di Eoma, p. 251. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 135 
 
 are the wicked popes, at whose doors all this most 
 terrible desolation is to be laid? Who is re- 
 sponsible for the frightful change which has taken 
 place in this beautiful wilderness ? In the days 
 of Pliny the neighbourhood of Rome was con- 
 sidered healthy and salubrious ; and even so late 
 as in Petrarch's time the scourge of the malaria 
 was unknown. In a letter from him, written to 
 Giovanna Colonna from Capranica (a town thirty 
 miles from Rome, where he had been staying), he 
 says, " The air here is very salubrious." And now 
 the pestilential miasma from the Campagna, at some 
 seasons, is so fatal, that it is unsafe, even at Rome, 
 to be out after sunset. The Campagna, which 
 extends for a hundred miles along the coast, and 
 is about forty miles in diameter, is now a wild, 
 almost uncultivated waste, and buried palaces and 
 temples are everywhere found under the soil. 
 Twenty-two cities are buried beneath that pall of 
 wild flowers ! 1 
 
 The forests, once sacredly preserved by the 
 
 1 " So melancholy a decline of culture and population, through 
 physical causes, gradually overspread Italy. The vices of society 
 and public misfortunes retarded all agriculture. Regular gardens 
 were not made in France till the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
 turies." Hallam's Middle Ages. 
 
136 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Romans, were cut down and never replaced ; 
 drainage was neglected, the herds and their shep- 
 herds were in continual jeopardy ; wars without 
 end carried off the feudal retainers, and the tillers 
 of the soil, at the bidding of their lords ; the 
 implements of good husbandry and security of 
 the crops, were never given to the peasants ; 
 and the castles were for ever changing masters. 
 So cruel were the wars, and so frequent the con- 
 sequent pestilence, that the peasantry everywhere 
 were decimated and rendered hopeless ; and Vittoria 
 may, indeed, be styled a prophetess, for she saw 
 the evils impending upon her hapless country ; and 
 she used all the influence she possessed to prevent 
 these suicidal wars, and "left nothing untried in 
 order to bring her brother Ascanio back from the 
 raging of war, to rest and repose." 1 
 
 Vittoria's visit to Rome in 1530 was one con- 
 tinued ovation. Amongst her most intimate friends 
 were the saint-like Venetian Contarini, a scholar 
 and statesman ; Pole, one of the English royal 
 family, a man universally beloved for his benignity 
 and modesty ; and Bembo, one of the first literati 
 in Italy. These men, in the midst of a corrupt 
 1 Cardinal Pole's letter to Contarini. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 137 
 
 age, were truly the " salt of the earth." They were 
 no less pious than learned ; and Vittoria was their 
 friend, inspired muse, and disciple. They had the 
 highest respect for her, and their friendship lasted 
 through life. 
 
 Hallam speaks with great praise of Bembo. 1 He 
 says, "Among the polished writers of Italy, we 
 meet on every side with the name of Bembo ; great 
 in Italian as well as Latin literature, in prose as 
 well as verse." Varchi says, " The Italians cannot 
 be sufficiently thankful to Bembo for having not 
 only purified their language from the rust of ages, 
 but given it such regularity and clearness that it 
 has become what we now see." 
 
 After the death of his great patron, Leo X., 
 Bembo lived at Padua in literary elegance, enjoying 
 the society of the learned, who visited him from 
 all parts of Europe. He obtained a cardinal's hat 
 a few years before his death, " on the recommen- 
 dation of Sadolet," says Hallam. He died in 1547 
 at an advanced age. 
 
 Vittoria was also instrumental in Bembo's being 
 raised to the cardinalate. In a letter written to 
 her in 1539, he says that she had used her 
 
 1 Literature of Europe, vol. i. 
 
138 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 influence with the Pope in his favour. 1 She 
 assisted several other literary men, among whom 
 we ma j name Bernardo Tasso, the father of the 
 poet ; and II Molza, who had been her master 
 in poetry. She was ever ready to help all who 
 needed either money or her kind countenance ; 
 and following the munificent old custom of per- 
 sons of rank, she adopted into her household 
 those whom she could thus serve. Among others 
 Giovio, and Giuseppe Jova, whom she took as her 
 secretary. She also placed confidence in Carlo 
 Giulleruzzi da Fano, a man learned in the laws 
 and rules of the Roman court. He had a young 
 daughter of most amiable disposition, and Vittoria 
 adopted her, and received her into her family, super- 
 intending her education for some years, until her 
 pupil took the veil in Vittoria's favourite retreat, 
 the nunnery of St. Silvestro, at Rome. 
 
 When Vittoria left Rome, at the end of the year 
 1530, and returned to Ischia, she found there a 
 number of gentlewomen and men of elegant culture 
 
 1 The letter is dated Venezia, April 1539. The following is the 
 passage : " Vostra Illustris. Sig. ha piti da rallegrarsi della nuova 
 dignita e grado datomi da Nostro Signor, percio che ella ne e stata 
 in buona parte cagione che per alcun raio merito, de che ella per 
 sua molta cortesia ragiona meco nelle sue lettere. " And he stated 
 the same thing to Ascanio Colonna. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 139 
 
 who had taken refuge in the island from Naples, 
 which was in danger of an attack from the French 
 army. Among these refugees was II Mintumo, 
 introduced to Vittoria by Monsignor Giovio, with 
 a recommendation from the Pope, that he, as be- 
 longing to the Papal Court, should read to her his 
 Latin poem on the origin of the Colonna Family. 
 This is mentioned in one of his letters dated from 
 Palermo, the 25th of April, 1531. In another letter 
 he informs her that he has turned a composition 
 of hers, which he had received from the Marchese 
 del Vasto, into two Latin epigrams, which he con- 
 sidered quite unworthy, but sent them to her as 
 the inventress of a new and polite mode of com- 
 plimenting. 
 
 In the ensuing year, 1531, the contagion in Naples 
 having reached Ischia, she had to find a retreat at 
 Arpino, one of the Colonna castles, "after her 
 family had resumed their usual grandeur. Here she 
 executed a deed, appointing Vasquez her vice-mar- 
 chese of Aquino and Palazzuolo, which document is 
 among her inedited papers ;" l and from Arpino she 
 went on to Rome, where she resided for some time. 
 
 Her correspondence and her advice were sought 
 
 1 Visconti, cvii. 
 
140 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 out by many distinguished persons. Bernardo Tasso 
 acknowledges the obligation he was under to her 
 influence, in awakening his mind to a love of reli- 
 gion and virtue. And in a letter addressed to her he 
 entreats that she will continue her good offices towards 
 him. Events seemed to enhance the great influence 
 that her character exerted over her large circle of 
 acquaintance. She stood at the head of the party 
 of which also Renee of Ferrara, and Margaret of 
 Navarre, were the acknowledged leaders. And her 
 mind began to turn from her private griefs to take 
 an interest in the religious controversies and re- 
 forms of which the whole world was at this time 
 speaking and writing. 
 
 From the year 1532 we begin to trace in her 
 poetry this change of thought. Her Muse took a 
 higher flight, as her French biographer expresses 
 it : " Desertant alors les sentiers battus, elle chercha 
 des routes moins frequentees, et d'invoquer une plus 
 haute assistance." She says in one of her sonnets : 
 
 " Me reformo la Man che form6 il Cielo. 
 E si pietosa al mio priego s'offerse 
 Che ancor lieto ne trema ardendo il core ! " 
 
 " The Hand which formed the heavens hath re-formed me ; and 
 so pitifully hath He heard my prayer, that again, joyfully and 
 without fear, glows my heart. " 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 141 
 
 SOx\NET LXXIV. 
 
 " Sperai, che '1 tempo i caldi alti desiri 
 Temprasse alquanto, o da mortal affanno 
 Fosse il cor vinto si, che '1 settimo anno, 
 Non s'udisser si lunge i miei sospiri ! 
 
 M Ma perche '1 mal s'avanzi, o perche giri 
 Senza intervallo il sole, ancor non fanno 
 Piu vile il core, o men gravoso V danno : 
 Che '1 mio duol spregia tempo ed io martiri. 
 
 " D'arder sempre piangendo non mi doglio ; 
 Forse avr6 di fidele il titol vero, 
 Caro a me sopra ogn' altro eterno onore. 
 
 " Non cambierb la fe ne questo scoglio 
 Ch' al mio sol piacque, ove fornire spero, 
 Come le dolci gia, quest' amare ore." 
 
 "Thou hopest that time and high and living thoughts would 
 have tempered the heart from such mortal grief, and that in the 
 seventh year my sighs would not have been heard so far off. But 
 as evil goes on, and the sun without ceasing moves on, so my heart 
 does not become more despicable, nor less heavy my loss. My 
 loss defies time. I am martyrized. To love always weeping is not 
 grief to me. Dear to me above every other honourable title is the 
 title of a true fidelity. I will not change my faith, nor this rock, 
 which my husband loved, and where I hope to end my bitter days 
 as already I have ended my happiest ones." 
 
 Her religious poems bear the marks of much 
 greater care and finish than her earlier sonnets. 
 She laboured to make them as perfect as possible, 
 from the idea that nothing ought to be so noble 
 as religious expressions. 
 
 She also found, in the year 1538, that her 
 
142 FITTORIA COLONNJ: 
 
 sonnets had been published without her knowledge 
 and permission. " It was daringly done," " Contra 
 al voler suo" (contrary to her wish). Her newest 
 effusions were also handed about, from one friend 
 to another, as the interest in the author induced 
 the circulation, and the fashion of the day autho- 
 rized. No doubt this circumstance added, natu- 
 rally, to the care with which Vittoria is said to 
 have revised and improved her later sonnets. 
 We possess upwards of two hundred of these 
 written after 1532. In the " Invocation," the 
 first of this series of sonnets, she expresses her 
 desire to leave terrestrial objects, and to rise 
 to the love divine. She says, that blind love 
 of this world had, for a time, captivated her 
 soul with its vain fame, and like a serpent had 
 been nourished in her bosom ; but that now she 
 turned weeping, in her affection, to the " Hills 
 whence cometh help." She invokes not Parnassus 
 nor Delos ; she looks up to other mountains which 
 no foot hath trod by its own strength. She be- 
 seeches that light, which illumes the eternal world, 
 to open to her the source of light ; and to give 
 her to drink of those living waters which alone can 
 allay her great thirst. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 143 
 
 Vittoria Colonna, as it has been before re- 
 marked, was the first poet in Italy to tune her 
 lyre to sacred subjects, and it may not be too 
 much to say, perhaps, that, with the exception of 
 Michael Angelo, she is the only one. In making 
 this assertion we almost prove her Protestantism. 
 There was a general outburst of religious song in 
 the first age of the Reformation, headed by the 
 deep impressive hymns of Luther. Germany loved 
 enthusiastically these compositions, and the fervour 
 with which they are sung by the multitudes in 
 the great German churches is like a spontaneous 
 thanksgiving for freedom of thought, and freedom 
 from the priesthood, and is a strong contrast to 
 the mutterings of the abject groups in the Roman 
 churches, eternally repeating their Paters and Ave 
 Marias. Luther said, " Music is God's grandest 
 and sweetest gift to man." There are upwards 
 of 33,000 of these hymns. With some of the 
 most beautiful of them the talented Catherine 
 Winkworth, and other translators, have lately made 
 the world familiar. 
 
144 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 15361538. 
 
 In the year 1536 we find Vittoria again in Rome. 
 Paul III. (a Farnese) had been elected Pope two 
 years before ; and though far from possessing the 
 qualities required for that high office, he was not 
 a man of such evil passions as his predecessor. ( He 
 had not Clement's hatred of the Colonnas ; and he 
 desired, if possible, conciliation and peace. He 
 began his pontificate by raising to the College of 
 Cardinals many excellent and liberal men; and he 
 instructed them to prepare a scheme for the reform 
 of the Church. This document was signed by Con- 
 tarini, Caraffa, Sadolet, Pole, Fregoso, Ghiberto, 
 Cortese, and Uleandeo. Most of these men be- 
 longed to the Oratory of Divine Love, a society 
 founded, in Leo's time, which bound the members 
 (sixty in number) to a strict morality of life, and 
 a better observance of divine worship. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 145 
 
 CarafFa, after a time, had left this society as too 
 liberal for his views, and he founded another which 
 took the title of Theatines, and in 1537 he was 
 joined by Ignatius Loyola. 
 
 Paul III., though he might desire a reform of 
 abuses in the Church, was as averse to a council 
 as his predecessor ; but he yielded to the necessity. 
 He felt that the first thing to be done was to insist 
 upon peace between the Emperor and the King of 
 France ; and, in hopes of establishing it, he pro- 
 posed to meet them at Nice, an offer which they 
 did not dare to refuse, but they altogether declined 
 when there to meet each other ; and the Pope had 
 to visit them alternately. Their jealousy and enmity 
 continued till the year 1544, 1 when, tired of harass- 
 ing one another, the rival monarchs concluded a 
 treaty of peace at Crispy. 
 
 In 1536 the Emperor paid a visit of four days to 
 
 1 Francis died in the year 1547, aged fifty-three ; and Charles 
 abdicated in 1555, and died eighteen months afterwards, aged fifty- 
 nine, his body enfeebled by ill-health, and his mind weakened 
 by self-indulgence and gloomy reveries. It has been said that he 
 died a Protestant. It is certain that his "old confessor, who was 
 afterwards burnt for heresy, visited him a little while before his death . 
 Charles V. visited Germany nine times, Spain six times, Franco 
 four times, Italy seven times, the Low Countries ten times, Eng- 
 land twice, and Africa twice ; and he made eleven voyages by 
 sea. 
 
146 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Rome. He entered the city on the 6th of April 
 with such extraordinary pomp that it was found 
 necessary to remove an ancient Temple of Peace in 
 order to widen the road through which the caval- 
 cade was to pass. Some of the wits observed that 
 it was an omen of the war which soon followed. 
 He was received by the Pope and cardinals in full 
 consistory, and the ambassadors of the French king. 
 He addressed the Pope in Spanish in a violent 
 speech against Francis, and ended by saying, " Let 
 us not continue to shed the blood of our innocent 
 subjects. Let us decide the quarrel man to man 
 with what arms he pleases to choose. In our shirts 
 on an island a bridge aboard a galley moored 
 in a river." He ended by saying, " If my hopes of 
 victory were no better founded than his, and my 
 resources no more certain, I would instantly throw 
 myself at his feet, and with folded hands, and a 
 rope about my neck, implore his mercy." 
 
 The astonished Pope made no reply to this 
 strange speech except a short, pathetic recommen- 
 dation to mercy, and broke up the assembly. 
 
 It was at this very juncture, when all the Roman 
 upper ten thousand were paying their homage to 
 Charles V. and talking of this singular royal speech, 
 
ITER LIFE AND POEMS. 147 
 
 and challenge to the King of France (" the Mirror 
 of Chivalry "), that the Emperor paid a visit of com- 
 pliment to the two illustrious sisters in the Colonna 
 Palace. How interesting it would be if we could 
 state what passed when the most graceful and noble 
 of women received this honour from the first prince 
 of the age. The Emperor was at this time thirty- 
 five years of age, and was not only one of the most 
 powerful, but one of the most remarkable men that 
 ever lived. 
 
 In the following year, 1537, Vittoria made a 
 long visit to several cities in the north of Italy. 
 The first place she sojourned at was Lucca. Vis- 
 conti merely states the fact, and does not explain 
 the reason of her visit. It was a journey of 
 at least three hundred miles, of much fatigue, 
 and some peril. Lucca was celebrated for its 
 antiquities, its cathedral, its palaces, and galleries 
 of paintings. There were famous baths in the 
 neighbourhood, frequented for their healing pro- 
 perties. It might be that she desired to try their 
 efficacy, as her health was already beginning to 
 suffer from the sorrows of her mind. Perhaps her 
 adopted son, the commander of the Imperialist 
 forces, might have been then in the neighbourhood ; 
 
 L 2 
 
148 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 or she might have visited the celebrated Feter 
 Martyr Vermigli, who was prior of a rich abbey in 
 the city, and professor of the University of Lucca. 
 He was an intimate friend of Ochino, and it is 
 not unlikely that Ochino might be preaching there 
 at this time. Lucca was called " a heresy-stricken 
 city." There was a flourishing congregation of Re- 
 formers in this republic, and the new opinions had 
 gained such general acceptance, that Protestantism 
 was nearly being proclaimed the religion of the 
 State. Vittoria, after a sojourn in Lucca, pro- 
 ceeded on to Bologna, perhaps to visit her friend 
 Veronica Gambara, who resided there with her 
 brother the governor. Here she would find also 
 many objects of interest : a cathedral, many splendid 
 buildings, a school of art, and especially the beau- 
 tiful Arcade, three miles in length, which led to 
 the celebrated monastery of the Madonna de S. 
 Lucca. 
 
 Vittoria Colonna had the privilege of beholding 
 all those pictures in the palaces and churches in 
 these cities, which now form one of the chief attrac- 
 tions to travellers. Since the days of Lorenzo the 
 Magnificent, who was the great patron of art as 
 well as of letters, there had been a wonderful 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 149 
 
 revival. With a few exceptions, it was only at the 
 end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth 
 century, that men whose names are so honoured in 
 this day, began to be heard of as sculptors and 
 painters. The old masters, as we call them, were just 
 springing into fame as young artists. Francia of 
 Bologna, Fra Angelico at Siena, Fra Bartolomeo at 
 Lucca, and Titian, Tintoretto, and Giorgione at 
 Venice, were occupied in creating their admirable 
 works ; and at Rome, Raphael and Sebastian del 
 Piumbo were rivalling the great Michael Angelo in 
 the patronage of the high ecclesiastics and noble 
 princes. Most of the other Italian painters whose 
 names are so familiar to us lived at a later period. 
 
 Bologna also was noted for its adhesion to the 
 new opinions, and a few years subsequently the 
 chief heretics who lived there were in great peril, 
 and it is related that Rotto, who enjoyed the inti- 
 mate friendship of powerful persons like Moron e, 
 Pole, and the Marchesa di Pescara, collected money, 
 by every means, to relieve the poor concealed 
 heretics. 
 
 Vittoria, in the summer of 1537, passed on to 
 Ferrara, "that pleasant place of all festivity." She 
 visited her friend Renee, Duchessa de Ferrara, "in 
 
150 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 humble guise, with six waiting- women only." She 
 was received with honour and affection in the Ducal 
 Palace, for her fathers sake, as well as for her 
 own ; and she remained the guest of her friends 
 Renee and Duke Hercules for some months. Her 
 residence in that city is proved by two letters from 
 Yittoria to Aretino, 1 dated from Ferrara, September 
 and November of that year, and by four letters 
 which Molza wrote to his son in Bologna, in which 
 he speaks of his kind patroness being at Ferrara. 
 
 The ancient family of Este had long reigned as 
 Dukes of Ferrara, and being distinguished for talent, 
 they delighted to assemble at their court the poets 
 and literary men of the day ; and Ferrara was cele- 
 brated as much for its classical elegance as for its 
 tone of romance. It was the cradle of modern epic 
 poetry. The first poem in the Italian language was 
 written in 1194, in this city, by the Sicilian Ciullo 
 d'Alcamo. Matteo Maria Boiardo wrote there the 
 " Orlando Innamorata " (of which the " Orlando 
 Furioso " was intended as the sequel), and he was 
 honoured by the friendship of Ercole d'Este. 2 
 
 1 See Appendix. 
 
 2 Tasso also lived at this brilliant court, but at a later period. 
 The melancholy history of his love, madness, and imprisonment, is 
 'veil known. His prison is still shown in the Hospital S. Anna. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 151 
 
 Ariosto's presence also gave a grace to the society 
 of Ferrara. He was allied to the Dukes of Fcrrara, 
 and intimate with Cardinal Bembo. He alludes to 
 Vittoria in the 37th canto of the " Orlando Furioso." 
 The Duke invited all the most celebrated men from 
 Lombardy and Venice to meet Vittoria Colonna, 
 and deemed himself honoured by her presence ; 
 and doubtless she was shown everything worthy of 
 notice in this beautiful city. Ferrara is situated in 
 a fertile but unhealthy plain. It is twenty-six miles 
 north-east of Bologna, on the coast of the Adriatic. 
 It has broad and ample streets, and its walls are 
 seven miles in circumference. It once had a popu- 
 lation of 100,000 persons. The University was 
 renowned throughout Christendom. The fine old 
 cathedral is Gothic. The Church and Monastery of 
 St. Benedetto are fine buildings ; and the Church of 
 St. Francesco, built by Ercole I., contains much to 
 interest. There is an echo in it which replies sixteen 
 times from all parts of the building. The public 
 library is a particularly fine one, and contains 900 
 manuscripts and 80,000 volumes, among which are 
 preserved the original manuscripts of the poems of 
 Ariosto and Tasso. During the sixteenth century 
 upwards of one hundred editions of these poems 
 
152 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 issued from the press of Ferrara. Ariosto's house 
 is in the Via di Miracole. He built it for himself 
 in 1526, and died there in 1533. 
 
 Ferrara, when Vittoria visited it, was almost as 
 much noted for being an heretical city as Lucca 
 itself. The Duchessa di Ferrara was an avowed 
 Protestant. She was the daughter of Louis XII. 
 of France, and her influence consequently was great ; 
 yet we shall find that the shadow of the Inquisition 
 fell upon her also. She was the friend and patroness 
 of Calvin, who often found refuge in Ferrara. He 
 had also a firm friend in the Queen of Navarre, 
 who had a great respect for his learning, and he 
 returned at one time to Paris under her protecting 
 power. He published, at the age of twenty-six, 
 his famous " Institutes," in 1535, and dedicated 
 them to Francis L He immediately afterwards 
 visited Ferrara, and was received by Renee with 
 marked distinction. His book made an immense 
 impression. It is looked upon as one of those works 
 which have changed the face of society. It was 
 the only work which had exhibited the doctrines 
 of the Reformers since the Reformation, or attacked 
 the peculiarities of the Romish Church. Calvin 
 was at Geneva in July 1537 ; and if Vittoria did 
 

 
 ) 
 
 . 
 
 . I ' 
 
 \ i :.!' * 
 
 Ail I'M STRUCK IN HONOUR 01 VJTTORIA COLONNA 
 IN 1840. 
 

 
ITER LIFE ANT) POEMS. \ 53 
 
 not meet him at Ferrara during her visit at the 
 ducal palace, she must there have heard of him, and 
 the fame of his great work. 
 
 Calvin was of middle size, and naturally of 
 delicate health. His habits were frugal and unos- 
 tentatious, and he was so sparing in his food that 
 for many years he had only one meal a day. He 
 had a clear understanding, an incredible memory, 
 and a firmness and inflexibility of purpose that 
 nothing could overcome. He had never taken 
 orders, having early by study of the Scriptures seen 
 the errors of the Romish faith ; but he became a 
 preacher of the Reformed religion in Geneva, where 
 it was established by law in 1536. He was devout 
 and sincere, and the purity of his character in 
 private life was without a stain. " His great talents 
 and strong nature raised him to at least the second 
 place in the Reformation." 1 He enriched his native 
 tongue with modes of expression hitherto unknown 
 to it; and he translated into French, from the 
 Latin, his own " Institutes. " 
 
 The modern tongues may be said to have been 
 created by the Reformation. Latin had been the 
 language of the monks, the Church, and the learned. 
 
 1 Aikiu's Biographical Dictionary. 
 
154 VITTORIA COLONNA. 
 
 Now the exclusive language of priests was at an 
 end, and a more general and popular language was 
 wanted ; and everywhere the ordinary speech of the 
 people had to undergo a mighty transformation. 
 "It must experience a happy deliverance from its 
 shackles ; it must be indebted to a renovated 
 Christianity for its patent of nobility. The popular 
 idiom, hitherto only employed by the chronicler and 
 the minstrel, was summoned to receive a new deve- 
 lopment." And Calvin in French, Luther in German, 
 and Dante in Italian, were the fathers of modern 
 language. Yittoria Colonna was no unworthy dis- 
 ciple of the new school of Italian language, for 
 which art, in her immortal sonnets, she was so 
 justly celebrated. 
 
 Peter Martyr was another of these great authors 
 of modern language ; no one wrote better than he, 
 except Calvin, and he was greater than Calvin as 
 a linguist. He was the friend of Cardinal Pole, 
 and probably of Vittoria also. He wrote several 
 letters to Pole, declaring explicitly his adhesion to 
 the new doctrines ; and he had afterwards to fly 
 from Italy, at the time that Ochino also left, from 
 the terrors of the iDquisition. 1 
 
 1 He afterwards filled the chair of Theology at Strasburg for 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 55 
 
 Whilst Vittoria resided at Ferrara, she suffered 
 in health from the climate of the place ; aud she 
 came to the determination that she must leave 
 her hospitable host and hostess on that account. 
 Ferrara stands very low, being only six and a half 
 feet above the level of the Adriatic, and the inter- 
 vening plain is full of swamps and canals. She 
 had received, on the 11th of September, 1537, a 
 most pressing invitation from her friend Bishop 
 Ghiberto, of Verona, to extend her journey to that 
 city. Apologizing to her for not coming himself to 
 press his request, he sent his friend Torre, a learned 
 doctor, well known and esteemed by many of Vit- 
 toria's friends, with his letter of invitation, begging 
 her earnestly to favour Verona. Torre, after ful- 
 filling his mission, wrote to the Bishop that all his 
 eloquence had failed to persuade the Marchesa 
 to leave Ferrara. He said that " the Duke would 
 not listen to the idea for a moment, and that all 
 the people of Ferrara were ready to stone him for 
 proposing it." He added, "Every one here is so 
 grieved with the idea of losing her that I have not 
 
 some years, and, following Luther's example, he married a nnn. 
 He went to England at the invitation of Edward VI., and was 
 made Professor of Divinity at Oxford, but left at Mary's accession. 
 
156 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 the heart to tear away from this city the greatest 
 treasure that they possess, and so impoverish it." 
 
 "It is impossible to have a more striking testi- 
 mony," says Trollope, " to the fame our poetess had 
 achieved ; and it is a feature of the age and clime 
 well worth noting, that a number of small States, 
 divided by constant hostility, should have, never- 
 theless, possessed among them a republic of letters 
 capable of conferring a celebrity so cordially acknow- 
 ledged throughout Italy." 
 
 Vittoria continued, for some little time, to remain 
 in the Castle d'Este ; but we find that she was 
 reluctantly obliged to leave early in 1538, owing to 
 her continued indisposition. The following letter, 
 dated the 10th of January, was written by her to the 
 celebrated poet and diplomatist, Giovanni Georgio 
 Trissimo, 1 to apologize for her leaving Ferrara at the 
 time when he was expected to visit the Court. It 
 has all the grace and courtesy which is so much to 
 be admired in her manner and language : 
 
 "Magnifico Signore, The Lord Duke shows an excellent 
 judgment in everything, and I am very happy that so admirable 
 a guest is expected here, though I cannot hope to benefit much from 
 
 1 ' ' Trissimo, in his ' Italia Liberata, ' introduces a sharp invective 
 against the Church of Rome. " Hallam. 
 
HER LIFE AND FOEMS. 157 
 
 the visit myself. It is a grief to ine that I cannot enjoy your 
 society, as the climate of Ferrara does not suit my health. Though 
 this destroys my own pleasure, charity constrains me to rejoice in 
 the pleasure of others. Our Lord God be with you. 
 " Serva al comando vostro, 
 
 " La Marchesa di Pescara. 
 "10tf& January." i 
 
 Accordingly Vittoria Colonna determined to bid 
 adieu to the kind hospitalities of the court of 
 Ferrara, and to accept the invitation of the Bishop 
 of Verona. This city stands high, and enjoys a 
 bracing climate from the breezes from the Alps. 
 She was here the honoured guest of her old friend 
 Ghiberto, in the noble palace in which he resided, 
 which was of very ancient date. It is called " // 
 Vescovado" and is remarkable for many antiquities 
 
 1 The original is as follows : 
 
 " Magnifico Signore, II Signor Duca mostra in ogni cosa il 
 suo buon giudizio. Mi e soddisfazione che venga qui tal persona, 
 e non potrei spiegarla. Mi duole che non credo goderla molto per 
 1' aere contrario all' indisposizione mia ; pero e moderato il piacere ; 
 benche la carita mi constringa di averlo caro per gli altri. E nostro 
 Signore Iddio vi guardi. 
 
 " Serva al comando vostro, 
 
 " La Marchesa di Pescara. 
 " Di Ferrara, a di 10 Gennaro." 
 
 Published from Bossi, in the Appendix of Roscoe's ' ' Life of 
 Leo X." 
 
158 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 and paintings. In the principal court stands a 
 colossal statue of a crowned female, with the name 
 of the artist upon it, Alessandro Vittoria; and in 
 the Sala dei Vescovi is a collection of portraits of 
 all the bishops of Verona. 
 
 Verona la Degna, as it is styled, possesses a 
 very valuable Biblioteca, which is still an unex- 
 plored mine of wealth to the student ; and contains 
 a great many manuscripts. Vittoria would delight 
 in visiting all the places of interest in the ancient 
 city, under the escort of Torre and the Bishop. 
 Berni calls it "eccelsa, graziosa, alma Verona." 
 The Duomo is very ancient. It was re-consecrated 
 in 1160 by Pope Urban III., and is now most 
 richly ornamented. There are also many very fine 
 churches. The campanile of St. Jerome is parti- 
 cularly noted by travellers. The city has a most 
 noble effect on approaching it, with its walls and 
 lofty towers, and its river passing through the 
 middle of it. Two very old gateways, the Porta 
 dei Borsari and the Arco dei Leoni, cross the 
 modern streets, and are 1,600 years old. 
 
 The great Roman amphitheatre, which is con- 
 temporary with the Coliseum, is in far more perfect 
 condition. It is built of Verona marble, and is 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 159 
 
 511 feet in diameter, and held 22,000 spectators. 
 It would naturally be an object of great interest 
 to Vittoria. A few years after her visit to it, an 
 officer was appointed for its conservation, and in 
 1548 a voluntary subscription was raised to repair 
 it, which became a regular tax in 1579. It is now 
 in perfect preservation. 
 
160 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 1538. 
 
 How long a time Vittoria remained at Verona 
 is not stated by her biographers, but we learn from 
 them that during her residence there she renewed 
 the strong interest which she had formerly taken in 
 the affairs of the East, and that she conceived an 
 intense wish to visit the Holy Places ; and, in spite of 
 her infirm health, she would certainly have attempted 
 the journey if Vasto had not hastened from Lom- 
 bardy to endeavour to dissuade her from so long 
 and perilous an undertaking. Whilst persuading 
 her to return to Rome, he comforted her by pro- 
 posing to escort her there himself. 
 
 It would greatly add to the pleasure of under- 
 standing Vittoria's different journeys, if we could 
 picture to ourselves the mode in which ladies tra- 
 velled in Italy three hundred years ago. The 
 distance between Verona and Rome was long and 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 161 
 
 fatiguing, across "the olive-sandalled Apennines," 
 and with Vittoria's retinue could not have been 
 easily accomplished. 
 
 Some few years previously, when Pescara was 
 marching with his troops from Peschiera to Verona, 
 the beautiful young Marchesa di Mantua and a 
 great number of ladies and cavaliers came into the 
 vineyards of the Castle of Villafranca to see the 
 Spanish troops march past, with Pescara at the 
 head of the infantry; and we are informed that 
 she and her ladies came " in three carts " to join 
 the procession. These were heavy bullock-carts, 
 with primitive wheels cut out of a solid piece of 
 wood. The officers had provided haudsomely- 
 equipped jennets for the Marchesa and for Donna 
 Laura to mount, but their suite remained in the 
 bullock-carts. They rode through the ranks " Con 
 multafesta e gloria" and then, on a signal being 
 given, three mules loaded with sweetmeats were led 
 forward, and the ladies regaled the captains with 
 good things, to the great content of the company. 
 After which the ladies took leave, and returned 
 home "in their carts" to Mantua. It does not 
 seem likely that such conveyances as these were 
 the mode of travelling which Vittoria wculd adopt 
 
 M 
 
162 VITTORU COLONNA: 
 
 It is probable that she performed the long and 
 fatiguing journey in a litter or on horseback. It 
 was a distance of at least four hundred miles, and 
 without any of those arrangements which now 
 facilitate such a journey. Perhaps she visited 
 Urbino, where her uncle resided, and was re- 
 ceived by friends, or in the monasteries, as she 
 passed on. It was the end of the winter before 
 she left Verona, happy in having the kind escort 
 of her almost life-long friend the Marchese del 
 Vasto. By accident we learn that Yasto was mar- 
 ried, and had a son, "II giovinetto Pescara" 
 which was, no doubt, a source of great gratification 
 to Vittoria. Luca Contile, in a letter written in 
 1541, says : " I have visited the Marchesa di 
 Pescara, and could not get away for four hours. 
 She seemed modestly pleased to show me this 
 indulgence. I might have presumptuously desired 
 never to leave her society. She asked very closely 
 after the Marchese, the Marchesa, and the little 
 Pescara. And I was able to tell her that I had 
 left the Marchese del Vasto well and happy, having 
 t^een him, and called upon him ; and that he talked 
 of going into Piedmont. The Marchesa held her- 
 self in readiness to come to Naples, and bring 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 163 
 
 the little Marquis, whose foot she had little hopes 
 of curing. Vittoria sighed, and asked after Ber- 
 nardino 1 di Siena. I answered he was gone ; and 
 that in Milan he had left a good name, and such 
 universal contrition, that all esteemed him a true 
 Christian." 
 
 Besides the happiness of possessing this "little 
 Pescara," Vittoria had also a young nephew, the 
 son of Ascanio and Giuliana, who was named 
 Fabrizio, after her father. There is a little poem 
 addressed to Ascanio, which speaks tenderly of this 
 young child, and is among the hitherto unpublished 
 sonnets given in the Colonna edition of 1840. 
 
 It may be translated simply as follows : 
 
 "A thousand lovely flowers show where, in the grass, hid in a 
 little veil, thy noble tree lies, whose tender bud excites in every 
 mind the ardent hope and promise of riper years. Heaven, perhaps, 
 may will that I should not behold thy son's perfect growth, but I 
 pray that when his beautiful cheek shall assume the manly beard 
 that he may prove himself a superb Roman'; and not only boast of 
 the name of our great Fabrizio, but that in word and deed he may 
 copy that rare example. 
 
 "Thou must be overjoyed, Signor, that a son of thine should 
 inherit thy high soul ! and may Heaven shed its brightest blessings 
 on him ! " 
 
 Vittoria arrived in Rome, escorted by her beloved 
 
 1 Ochino. 
 M 2 
 
164 riTTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 adopted son, from Verona and Ferrara, early in 
 1538. She was now in the zenith of her fame. 
 The learned Bembo considered her poetical judg- 
 ment to be as excellent as that of the greatest 
 masters of song. Guidiccioni, the poetical Bishop 
 of Fossombrone, and one of the most able diplo- 
 matists of Paul III., declared that the ancient glory 
 of Tuscany had passed into Latium in her person ; 
 and complimented her by sending his own sonnets 
 to her to u point out their faults to him." 
 
 " All looks are turned upon her," said another 
 of her admirers. " She is full of a sweet and 
 amiable expression ; and she leads all men to 
 desire her good opinion by emulating each other 
 in high and elegant works, but above all capti- 
 vating the austere and stoic soul of Michael Angelo 
 in fervent and chaste love, such has never before 
 had power over this most wonderful man, and 
 which caused him to gain a fourth crown by the 
 verses that he wrote to her. Well indeed did he 
 show the power she had over him when he ex- 
 claimed, ' I was born a rough model ; and it was 
 for thee to re-form and re-make me.'" 
 
 It does not appear that Vittoria and Michael 
 Angelo had met prior to the year 1538. She was 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. ] 6 5 
 
 now forty-eight years of age, and the great sculptor 
 was sjxt^four, that is, sixteen years her senior. 
 He was hard at work on the "Last Judgment," 
 the immense fresco in the Sistine Chapel ; on which 
 he laboured incessantly without any assistance. 
 Every one in Rome took an interest in the progress 
 of this magnificent fresco ; from the Pope (who 
 continually visited > Michael Angelo, urging on its 
 completion in a way extremely irritating to the 
 artist) down to the humblest of the people. We 
 may imagine Vittoria herself standing behind the 
 great painter to view his sublime work ; but Michael 
 Angelo did not require the patronage of even a 
 Colonna, and it is possible, with his retiring nature, 
 that Vittoria herself first sought out his friend- 
 ship. He was universally considered to be the first 
 artist, sculptor, and architect of that, or indeed of 
 any, age. He had attained this pre-eminence by 
 unremitting labour, and the steady pursuit of his 
 art. He said his art was his wife, and his works 1 
 were his children. Among Vittoria's intimate friends 
 in Rome was Claudio Tolomei, of the noble house 
 of Siena, a man who founded the Academia delle 
 Vertu at Rome, the principal object of which was 
 architectural. He was a friend of the great sculptor, 
 
166 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 and might have probably been the means of intro- 
 ducing him to Vittoria, 
 
 Michael Angelo had just lost, in the previous 
 year, his dear old father at the age of ninety- 
 two years, and nearly at the same time his brother 
 Buonarotti, who died of the plague in his arms. 
 For his relations, and for his father especially, he 
 had laboured and spent both his strength and his 
 money. The gratitude he received in return had 
 not been great. In the most touching letter ever 
 written, he said to his father, "I have burdened 
 myself with all my labour and work, only for your 
 sake." And in this letter he humbles himself like 
 a little child before his father this man of fifty 
 years and of European fame, before whom popes 
 and princes took off their caps. The sorrow which 
 shook his great heart, at the loss of these beloved 
 relatives, is shown in his poem 1 on their deaths. 
 This grand, humble, self-sustained man was now 
 alone in the world. " I have no friends ; I need 
 none ; I wish for none." There are unpublished 
 papers and poems of his in which he represents 
 himself as "alone before heaven." The things of 
 this w^orld are mentioned with contempt, and 
 
 1 Grimm's "Life of Michael Angelo," p. 243. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 167 
 
 thoughts on God and immortality are acknowledged 
 to be the only things worthy of the soul. 
 
 It was when suffering under such grief as this 
 that he first beheld the gracious and most gentle 
 lady, who came, as it were at the right moment, 
 to fill up the empty place in his holiest affections. 
 She was such a friend as his soul had longed for. 
 "She belonged to that class of women who never 
 seek to extort anything by force, and yet obtain 
 everything. How tenderly she exercised her autho- 
 rity over Michael Angelo, whom she inspired with 
 the happiness of yielding to a woman ! The few 
 years during which their friendship lasted, were 
 the happiest that ever were granted him in his 
 whole life." 1 In many respects their tastes agreed 
 and their sorrows and their principles were the 
 same. She found in him not only those great gifts 
 which have rendered him immortal, but also that 
 he was a poet equal to herself in purity and depth 
 of thought, and a theologian and moralist whose 
 spirit (like the Apostle's) was " stirred within him 
 to behold the city wholly given to idolatry." 
 
 His deepest religious convictions are found in 
 his poems. And his abiding contempt for the 
 
 i Grimm, p. 276. 
 
 :'{ 
 
168 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 sinners in high places was shown not only by his 
 unbending manners, but by the caricatures in which 
 he enshrined them. There is no doubt that his 
 religious faith tended towards "the new opinions." 
 The German writer of his life, who views his character 
 from the artistic side, says, "It was owing to the 
 healthiness of his nature " (why the healthiness ? we 
 may inquire) " that, though his thoughts approached 
 the doctrines, and his whole nature inclined to these 
 speculations, there is no trace of his taking cognizance 
 of Luther and his doings." 
 
 None of the peculiar doctrines of the Romish 
 Church are found in his writings ; and he cared 
 but little for outward ecclesiastical rule. A great 
 many unpublished poems are in the Vatican Library, 
 and are still kept back from the world. There are 
 also papers and essays termed " difficultosi" and 
 eight of his letters, at Florence. May we not be 
 right in thinking that they remain unpublished on 
 account of their liberality of religious sentiment ? 
 
 Michael Angelo had made Rome his home from the 
 year 1533. Popes and princes were vying with each 
 other which of them should gain his services ; and 
 recently the popes had been the most successful 
 bidders. We call him The Sculptor, for that 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 169 
 
 branch of art was his most esteemed and highest 
 occupation ; it was only at the command of the popes 
 that he turned his great powers to architecture and 
 painting. He loved the marble for the mind he carved 
 out of it ; and his noblest fame rests on his statues. 
 " There is a whole symphony of Beethoven in the 
 statue of the Dawn." The figure seems struggling 
 through the stone. Michael Angelo conceived of 
 a statue as something complete from the first, but 
 concealed in the marble, and released from its 
 covering by the chisel. This graceful and poetical 
 idea is expressed in a sonnet which was addressed 
 to Vittoria, in which he compares himself to such 
 an unhewn block : 
 
 " As when, lady mine, 
 With chiselled touch 
 The stone unhewn and cold \ 
 Becomes a living mould, 
 The more the marble wastes 
 The more the statue grows ; 
 So, if the working of my soul be such 
 That good is but evolved 
 By Time's dread blows, 
 The vile shell, day by day, 
 Falls like superfluous flesh away. 
 Oh take whatever bonds my spirit knows, 
 And reason, virtue, power, within me lay. " 
 
 Popes and cardinals threw their shield over the 
 great painter, whatever might be his religious here- 
 
170 VITTOIUA COLON N A: 
 
 l' 
 
 sies, " Let that man alone ! " He was one to whom 
 nothing could be refused. There was nothing he 
 asked that the Pope did not agree to. Clement 
 was afraid to sit down when he spoke to Michael 
 Angelo, for fear the latter, though unasked, would 
 do the same ; and if he asked the sculptor to put 
 on his cap in his presence, it was because he knew 
 he would not wait for an invitation to do so. 
 At one time, when he had been offended by the 
 Pope's behaviour towards him, he said, "If his 
 Holiness wants me, he may seek me elsewhere," and 
 the same night he left Rome. The Pope sent five 
 couriers after him with a letter, " Return imme- 
 diately, on pain of our displeasure." He replied, 
 " I cannot return. If I were undeserving of your 
 esteem yesterday, I shall not be worthy of it 
 to-morrow." 
 
 This anecdote is characteristic. It is easy to 
 conceive what an ameliorating influence the friend- 
 ship with such a woman as Vittoria exerted over 
 him. One writer says, " History affords no instance 
 of a purer and stronger affection. I am inclined 
 to regard her intimacy with Michael Angelo as a 
 circumstance which exerted considerable influence 
 upon his character." " The poetry of Michael Angelo 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 7 1 
 
 is all devoted to the depicting of feeling, and of 
 the passions of the soul." ! 
 
 We can well understand how, in the midst of 
 his daily labour, Michael Angelo rejoiced his heart 
 with dwelling on the gracious words and looks of 
 this noble lady, who had come before him like the 
 vision of an angel. Their minds had both been 
 moulded by the great poet, who had, for a century, 
 been leading men to dare to think for themselves. 
 
 Dante's divine poem had moved all hearts in that 
 age. He has been styled "Apostolic Missionary ; "' 
 " A Paul of Italian Unity; " " A Cavour." " Exclu- 
 sively he was none of these, or he was all. He was 
 the grandest individuality of the heroic times of 
 individualism." In all his writings he waged a 
 ceaseless war against the Papacy ; and when Michael 
 Angelo, with his intense devotion to his art, was left 
 to accomplish his grand work, it was as if Dante 
 stood beside him, and inspired him with his spirit. 
 The great picture seemed like a second revelation 
 from Dante. The "Last Judgment" was painted 
 on an immense space of wall ; and nothing has 
 been executed, before or since, to compare to this 
 astonishing production. He laboured at it from 
 
 i John Edward Taylors "Essay on Michael Angelo." 
 
172 VITTORIA GOLONNA: 
 
 1533 until he had completed it in the summer 
 of 1541, and the Sistine Chapel was re-opened at 
 Christmas. The Inquisition, with all its fearful 
 apparatus, had been just established at Rome 
 against the heretics ; and to the great horror of 
 the Pope's Master of the Ceremonies, Bragio da 
 Ceseria, and the entertainment of the vulgar crowd, 
 it was discovered that the face of the infernal 
 Judge Minos was a portrait of this worthy ; who 
 expressed his furious rage on the occasion ; but 
 the Pope only ventured on the jest that " he could 
 do nothing ; as the popes themselves had no power 
 to release from eternal condemnation." 
 
 Such was the man who was now made happy 
 with the friendship of one of the noblest of women. 
 They seemed to understand at once the beauty and 
 the depth of each other's minds. Before her his 
 unbending nature could bow down, in whose eyes 
 cardinals and prelates were of small account ; and 
 till her death he became her most devoted friend 
 and servant. 
 
 It was natural that a mind so imaginative as 
 Michael Angelo's, should unite his religion and 
 poetry with the art he so ardently pursued. They 
 animated and elevated his work ; and he glorified 
 
llllli LIFE AND POEMS. \ 73 
 
 God who had bestowed upon him such high and 
 noble powers. He honoured and adored his art, 
 and styled it, " Leggiadra, altera, e diva " (beau- 
 tiful, exalted, and divine). His poetry is filled with 
 his deepest thoughts on the highest truths. It 
 opens to us the secrets of a mind singularly noble ; 
 filled with all greatness and all beauty. The 
 exalted tone of his thoughts raised him above all 
 common, selfish, and sinful men. It is this which 
 made him feel " alone " in the world. 
 
 He was, indeed, a man whom such a woman as 
 Vittoria could look up to with the noblest admira- 
 tion, and rely upon with the most entire confidence. 
 Is it not one of her highest claims to our devoted 
 approbation, that she could comprehend his great 
 genius and his isolated nature ; and by paying him 
 a respectful homage, call forth his deepest affection, 
 tempered with the most profound respect? Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds says, that "to kiss the hem of 
 his garment, to catch the slightest of his perfec- 
 tions, would be glory and distinction enough for 
 an ambitious man." Vittoria had more than this j 
 distinction ; for she enjoyed his private friendship, 
 and she was honoured by his entire devotion. His 
 poems to her are extant and well known ; four of 
 
174 VITTORIA COLONNA. 
 
 them are given by Viscontl, among the poems by 
 various authors addressed to Vittoria. 
 
 Sonnet by Michael Angelo. 
 
 " Per esser manco, Alta Signora, indegno 
 Del don di vostra inimensa cortesia 
 Con alcun merto ebbe desire in pria 
 Precorrer lei mio troppo umile ingegno. 
 
 1 ' Ma scorto poi ch' ascender a quel segno. 
 Proprio valor non e ch' apra la via 
 Vien men la temeraria voglia mia, 
 E dal fallir piu saggio al fin divegno. 
 
 ' ' E veggio ben, com erra s' alcun crede 
 La grazia che da voi divina piove 
 Pareggiar l'opra mia, caduca e frale. 
 
 " L'ingeno, e l'arte, e l'ardimento cede ; 
 Che' non pu5 mill' opre, e chiare, e imove, 
 Pager celeste don virtu mortale." 
 
 We borrow the translation in Life of Michael 
 Angelo " (pp. 284, 285) : 
 
 " Not all unworthy of the boundless grace 
 
 Which thou, most noble lady, had bestowed, 
 I fain at first would pay the debt I owed 
 
 And some small gift for thy acceptance place, 
 
 But soon I felt 'tis not alone desire 
 
 That opes the way to reach an aim so high ; 
 My rash pretensions their success deny, 
 
 And I grow wise while failing to aspire. 
 
 And well I see how false it were to think 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 175 
 
 That any effort, poor and frail as mine, 
 Could emulate the perfect grace of thine ! 
 Genius and art and daring backward shrink, 
 A thousand works from mortals like to me 
 Can ne'er repay what Heaven has given to thee ! " 
 
 There is also, translated by the same author, a 
 madrigal addressed to Vittoria by Michael Angelo. 
 
 Madrigal. 
 
 " Ora in sul uno, ora in sul altro piede 
 Variando cerco della mia salute 
 Fra '1 vitio e la virtute ; 
 L'alma confusa mi travaglia e stanca 
 Come, chi '1 ciel non vede 
 Che per ogni sentier si perde e manca. 
 Ond' io la carta bianca 
 Convien ch'a pieta mostri 
 Che, qual di me si voglia tal ne scriva ; 
 Ch'a ogni muover d' anca 
 Infra grandi error nostri 
 Mie picciol resto piu quaggiu non viva, 
 Che '1 vero di se mi priva : 
 Ne' so, se minore grado in ciel si tiene 
 L' umil piccato clie '1 soperchio bene." 1 
 
 Now on the one foot, on the other now, 
 'Twixt vice and virtue balancing below ; 
 
 1 Under this poem, which is appended to a letter to Vittoria in 
 the British Museum, there is the signature of Michael Angelo. It 
 is also among the Vatican manuscripts, and this is undoubtedly 
 in the form that she received it. There are two corrections in his 
 handwriting ; over "uno" is written "destro," and over "altro," 
 " manco." His poems, published first in 1623 by his great-nephew 
 of the same name, have undergone great alterations. 
 
176 VITTORIA COLONNA. 
 
 "Wearied and anxious in my troubled mind, 
 
 Seeking where'er I may salvation find ; 
 
 Like one to whom the stars by clouds are crossed, 
 
 Who, turn which way he will, errs and is lost, 
 
 Therefore take thou my heart's unwritten page, 
 
 And write thou on it what is wanted there ! 
 
 And hold before it in life's daily stage 
 
 The line of action which it craves in prayer ! 
 
 So that amid the errors of my youth 
 
 My own shortcomings may not hide the truth, 
 
 If humble sinners lower in heaven stood 
 
 Than the proud doers of superfluous good." 
 
 Sonnet by Michael Angelo. 
 
 " Da che concetto ha l'arte intera e diva 
 Le membra e gli atti d'alcun, poi di quello 
 D'umil materea un semplice modello 
 E '1 primo parto che da quel deriva. 
 
 ' Poi, nel secondo, in pietra alpestra e viva 
 S'arrogie le promesse del martello 
 E si rinasce tal concetto bello, 
 Ch'il suo eterno non e ch'il prescriva, 
 
 ** Tal di me stesso nacqui e venni prima 
 Umil model, per opra piu perfetta 
 Rinascer poi di voi, donna alta e digua, 
 
 " S'el manco adempie, e '1 mio soperchio lima, 
 Vostra pieta, qual penitenzia aspetta 
 Mie fiero ardor se mi gastiga e insegna." 
 
 ' ' When pure and godlike art has conceived the form and action 
 of a statue, the first thing to be done is to model it in the humble 
 clay ; the second is to carve out the idea in the rough living stone 
 with the chisel ; and thus the beautiful conception is reborn into 
 immortal life. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 177 
 
 "So I myself was born a humble model in order that by thee, 
 high and admirable lady, as a more perfect work of yours, I might 
 be born again; and if your goodness should fill up and file away 
 my deficiencies, what bitter penance will be required before my 
 fiery nature is chastened and subdued ! " 
 
 The following sonnet by Michael Angelo is beauti- 
 fully translated by South ey. 1 It presents us with an 
 accurate transcript of his mind, in which a sense 
 of solitude, and a conscious superiority, strongly 
 tincture his feelings. 
 
 " 111 hath he chosen his part, who seeks to please 
 
 The worthless world : ill hath he chosen his part, 
 For often must he wear the look of ease 
 
 When grief is at his heart ; 
 And often in his hours of happier feeling 
 
 With sorrow must his countenance be hung % , 
 And ever his own better thoughts concealing, 
 Must he in stupid grandeur's praise be loud, 
 And to the errors of the ignorant crowd 
 
 Assent with lying tongue. 
 Thus much would I conceal, that none should know 
 What secret cause I have for silent woe ; 
 
 And taught by many a melancholy proof 
 That those whom fortune favours it pollutes, 
 
 I, from the blind and faithless world aloof, 
 Nor fear its envy,, nor desire its praise, 
 But choose my path through solitary ways." 
 
 In this spirit of proud independence his character 
 resembles Dante's. It was the pride arising from 
 
 1 From Duppn's "Life of Michael Angelo." 
 N 
 
178 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 the dignity of right, when opposed to injustice ; 
 of intellect as opposed to ignorance. His character 
 was no less distinguished for moral virtues than for 
 intellectual greatness. 
 
 Michael Angelo may be classed with the greatest 
 poets and the greatest thinkers of his country ; 
 his love of the beautiful in art, and his aspira- 
 tion after eternal truths, burst forth into poetry; 
 and it is no small glory for Vittoria to have so 
 frequently been the object and inspirer of his 
 Muse. " From one of his poems he seems to have 
 had the idea of perpetuating her memory either in 
 marble or on canvas. This he never accomplished, 
 but has left us a no less imperishable monument of 
 her virtues and his affection in the sonnets which he 
 addressed to her whilst living, and the beautiful 
 epitaphs which he wrote in memory of her after her 
 death." 1 
 
 " Forse ad amendue noi dar lunga vita 
 Posso, o vuoi nei colori, o vuoi nei sassi, 
 Rassembrando di noi l'atf'etto, e '1 volto ; 
 Secche mill' anni dopo la partita, 
 Quanto tu bella fosti, ed io l'amassi, 
 Si veggia, e come a amarti io non fu stolto." 
 
 1 J. Edward Taylor. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 1 79 
 
 " Perchance to both of us I may impart 
 A lasting life, in colours or in stones, 
 By copying the mind and face of each ; 
 So that for ages after my decease 
 The world may see how beautiful thou wert ; 
 How much 1 loved thee, nor in loving erred." 
 
 Ill Grimm's "Life of Michael Angelo," most 
 unexpectedly and fortunately, we have a very 
 faithful picture of Vittoria and her friend the 
 sculptor, drawn by an eye-witness. 
 
 D'Ollanda, a Spanish miniature-painter, in his 
 manuscript journal (found in a library at Lisbon), 
 describes two Sundays which he passed in their 
 society ; and he gives, rather fully, an account of 
 the conversation. The meeting took place in the 
 sacristy of the favourite church of the Colonna 
 family, the San Silvestro. 
 
 Grimm describes the church as he saw it when in 
 Rome. He says : " This little church is on Monte 
 Cavallo, opposite the Quirinal Palace, still standing 
 where it did, but now r full of ornaments of a later date. 
 The small, comfortable sacristy behind the altar 
 is painted with Domenichino's frescoes ; the carved 
 choir stools are no longer the old ones at that time 
 the monastery to which the church belonged was a 
 nunnery ; at the present day it is tenanted by monks 
 
 N 2 
 
180 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 but the small, dim space is as it was then; and 
 the convent-yard, which I found full of flourishing 
 lemon-trees ; and behind it the Colonna Gardens, 
 rising from the palaces standing at the foot of the 
 hill, up the Quirinal, and through the paths of 
 which Vittoria ascended to the convent, which was 
 not situated then, as now, on a square surrounded 
 with palaces, but lay alone on the height, amid 
 gardens and small houses." 
 
 D'Ollanda, 1 in the manuscript from which the 
 account of this meeting is extracted, mentions first of 
 all what men he had sought out in Rome ; such as Don 
 Giulio di Macedonia, a famous miniature-painter; 
 Baceio (or Bandinello), a noble sculptor (at that time 
 executing the monuments of Leo and Clement) ; 
 Melichino (an architect in the employ of the new 
 Pope, Paul III.) ; Tolomei and Michael Angelo, 
 " men," he says, " whose friendship was of higher 
 value to me than the favour of the richest nobles. 
 Michael Angelo," he says, "awakened such a feel- 
 ing of faithful love in me, that if I met him in the 
 Papal Palace, or in the street, the stars would often 
 
 1 A woodcut engraving of a portrait of Michael Angelo, by 
 D' Ollanda, is annexed to the "Arte da Espagna. " And several letters 
 from D'Ollanda to Michael Angelo are among the manuscript remains 
 of Michael Angelo. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 181 
 
 come out in the sky before I let him go again." 
 "Tolomei helped me to become acquainted with 
 Michael Angelo through Blasio, the Pope's secre- 
 tary. He left word that I should find him in the 
 church of San Silvestro on Monte Cavallo; where, 
 with the Marchesa di Pescara, he was hearing 
 the exposition of the Epistles of St. Paul. So I 
 started off for San Silvestro. Vittoria Colonna, the 
 Marchesa di Pescara, and sister of Ascanio Colonna, 
 is one of the noblest and most famous women in 
 Italy, and in the whole world. She is beautiful, 
 pure in conduct, and acquainted with the Latin 
 tongue ; in short, she is adorned with every grace 
 which can redound to a woman's praise. Weary oi 
 the brilliant life which she formerly led, she has 
 quite devoted herself, since the death of her 
 husband, to thoughts on Christ, and to study. She 
 supports the needy of her sex, and stands forth as 
 a model of genuine Christian piety. She was the 
 intimate friend of Tolomei, and I owe her acquaint- 
 ance to him. I entered ; they asked me to take 
 a place, and the reading and exposition of the 
 Epistles was continued. 1 When it was ended, the 
 
 1 D'Aubigny says that Peter Martyr "daily taught the Epistles 
 in Greek, and that he expounded a Psalm, or some portion of 
 
182 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Marchesa spoke; and looking at me and Tolomei, 
 said, ' I am not quite wrong if I imagine that Messer 
 Francesco would rather listen to Michael Angelo on 
 painting than Fra Ambrosio 1 upon the Pauline 
 Epistles/ ' Madam,' I replied, 'your Eccellenza 
 seems to entertain the opinion that everything which 
 is not painting and art, is foreign and unintelligible 
 to me. It will certainly be very agreeable to me 
 to hear Michael Angelo speak, but I prefer Fra 
 Ambrosio' s exposition of the Epistles of St. Paul.' 
 I spoke with some pique. ' You need not take it 
 so seriously,' said Tolomei ; ' the Marchesa cer- 
 tainly did not mean that a man who is a good 
 painter, is not good for anything else. We Italians 
 rank too high for that. Perhaps the words of the 
 Marchesa were intended to intimate, that besides 
 the enjoyment we have had, the other, of hearing 
 Michael Angelo speak to-day, is still in store for 
 us.' 'If it be so/ I replied, 'it would be after 
 all nothing extraordinary, for your Eccellenza would 
 only be following your usual habit of granting a 
 thousand times more than one ventured to desire.' 
 
 Scripture every night ; and that several of the nobility and gentry 
 came to hear him. " 
 
 1 One of the Pope's most famous preachers. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 183 
 
 The Marchess smiled. ' We ought to know how to 
 give,' she said, i when a grateful mind is concerned, 
 and here especially, when giving and receiving afford 
 equal enjoyment.' One of her retinue approached 
 at her call. ' Do you know Michael Angelo's 
 dwelling? Go and tell him that I and Messer 
 Tolomei are here in the chapel, where it is beauti- 
 fully cool, and the church, too, is private and 
 agreeable ; and that I beg to ask him whether he 
 is inclined to lose a few hours here in our society, 
 and to turn them into gain for us, but not a 
 word that the gentleman from Spain is here.' 
 After a few minutes, in which neither of them 
 spoke, we heard knocking at the door: every one 
 feared it could not be Michael Angelo. Fortu- 
 nately the servant had met him close by San 
 Silvestro, as he was just on the point of going to 
 the Thermae (warm baths). He was coming up 
 the Esquiline way, in conversation with his colour- 
 grinder, Urbino ; he fell at once into the snare, and 
 it was he who knocked at the door. The Mar- 
 chesa rose to receive him, and remained standing 
 some time, till she had made him take a place 
 betwixt herself and Tolomei. I now seated myself 
 at a little distance from them. At first they were 
 
184 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 silent ; but the Marchesa, who could never speak 
 without elevating those with whom she conversed, 
 and even the place where she was, began to lead 
 the conversation with the greatest art, upon all 
 possible things, without however touching even 
 remotely on painting. She wished to give Michael 
 Angelo assurance. She proceeded as if approach- 
 ing an unassailable fortress, so long as he was on 
 his guard." And here D'Ollanda describes with 
 what delicate tact she at last drew out from the 
 great artist a discourse on painting, which he gives 
 in full. " 'Your Eccellenza has only to command, 
 and I obey,' said Michael Angelo ; and forthwith 
 he compares the German, Spanish, and Italian 
 Schools. 'Art belongs to no land, it comes from 
 Heaven,' he said ; and Tolomei remarked that the 
 Emperor Maximilian, when he pardoned an artist 
 who had been condemned to death, had said, ; I 
 can make earls and dukes, but God alone can make 
 a great artist.' " * A long dissertation ensues from 
 Michael Angelo, which was the occasion of giving 
 
 i " What Francesco relates is true ; we feel he could not have 
 invented it : he stood in such close intercourse with Vittoria, 
 Tolomei, Ambrosio, and Michael Angelo, and he gave the characters 
 truthfully." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 185 
 
 this remarkable scene ; in which as by happy acci- 
 dent the graceful and honoured character of Vit- 
 toria shines forth in a light so truthful and natural, 
 that we feel obliged to accept it as a bond fide 
 description. Grimm says that he had no doubt of 
 the authenticity of the manuscript. The conversation 
 concluded with a request from D'Ollanda to be per- 
 mitted to join the reunion the next Sunday. He 
 says, " She acceded to my request, and Michael 
 Angelo promised to come. He was the first to 
 rise, and the Marchesa stood up. We accom- 
 panied them to the gates. Tolomei went with 
 Michael Angelo, and I with the Marchesa, from San 
 Silvestro up to the monastery, where the head of 
 John the Baptist is preserved, and where she 
 lived." 
 
 On the next Sunday D'Ollanda again appeared 
 at San Silvestro. He had roamed through the city 
 filled with the festive crowds in honour of the 
 Duchess Margherita, Alessandro de' Medici's widow, 
 whom the Pope (Paul III.) had obtained from the 
 Emperor as the consort of his grandson, the young 
 Ottavio Farnese. In her honour the carnival of 
 
 1 " El Arte en Espagna," Madrid, 1863, has an article about 
 D'Ollanda, and also " Les Artes en Portugal," Paris, 1846. 
 
186 VLTTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 1537 surpassed in splendour any that had before 
 been celebrated in Borne. D'Ollanda describes the 
 magnificently-attired horsemen and the triumphal 
 carriages descending from the Capitol. 
 
 "He admired the standards, the golden equip- 
 ments, the splendidly-accoutred horses ; and then 
 ascending Monte Cavallo, where all was solitary, he 
 found Tolomei, Michael Angelo, and Fra Ambrosio. 1 
 It was afternoon : they went into the garden behind 
 the monastery, where they sat down under the 
 shadow of the laurel- trees, with the distant city at 
 their feet." But Vittoria Colonna was not there. 
 It is probable that her presence was required on so 
 august an occasion as the marriage of Margherita 
 de' Medici with the Pope's grandson. But on the 
 third Sunday D'Ollanda was expressly invited by 
 Vittoria herself. He does not give the substance 
 of the conversation in the passages quoted from the 
 journal by Grimm. It is probable that they might 
 not, on that occasion, have discoursed upon art. 
 D'Ollanda did not think it of sufficient importance 
 to note down what passed. 
 
 1 Grimm imagines, without apparent reason, that D'Ollanda 
 had mistaken the names, and that the reader was Ochino instead of 
 Ambrosio, and Claudio Tolomei instead of Lattantia Tolomei. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 187 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 15381542. 
 
 The Pope had received Vittoria Colonna as 
 became her rank ; and she was surrounded by 
 an admiring circle of the highest Roman society. 
 Those who were not linked with her by an interest 
 in the reform of the Church, were attracted by her 
 beauty, learning, and gracious manners. Men were 
 proud to be her admirers, and to be reckoned as 
 belonging to her society. Her high standing and 
 character enabled her to take many under her pro- 
 tection and patronage. 
 
 She enjoyed the friendship and society of many 
 other celebrated persons in Rome as well as that of 
 the great sculptor. We may particularly mention 
 Contarini, who was resident there at this period. 
 Also Ochino, who had been appointed confessor and 
 private chaplain to the Pope ; and Cardinal Pole, of 
 whose regard for Vittoria we shall more fully speak 
 presently. 
 
188 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Cardinal Contarini, "the learned and saint-like 
 Venetian," as he was called, was a man eminently 
 calculated, by his wisdom and kindness, to call 
 forth the respectful affection of Vittoria Colonna. 
 He was the intimate friend of Pole, who said 
 of him, "Nothing that the human mind can dis- 
 cover, by its own powers of investigation, was 
 unknown to him ; and nothing was wanting in him 
 that the grace of God has imparted to the human 
 soul : and to this eminence of wisdom Contarini 
 added the crown of virtue." He had published 
 a treatise on the doctrine of Justification by Faith, 
 and Pole said of it, " Thou hast brought forth the 
 jewel which the Church was keeping half concealed;*' 
 and he congratulated him on being " the first person 
 in Italy to publish that holy, fruitful, and indis- 
 pensable truth." 
 
 Cardinal Contarini was a citizen of the great 
 republic of Venice ; which had. been at the summit 
 of its power in the fifteenth century, and was only 
 now tending towards its fall. Rome received ideas 
 from Venice, where freedom of thought was per- 
 mitted, and where the closest intercourse with 
 Germany prevailed. Venice was the universal 
 refuge of the dispersed literati of Rome, and of 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 189 
 
 those Florentine patriots against whom their native 
 city was closed for ever; and here Bembo and 
 Contarini exercised the most liberal hospitality. 
 The latter was the eldest son of a noble Venetian 
 house, that traded to the Levant. He had early 
 devoted himself to the study of philosophy, and 
 had entered public life in his native city, and risen 
 to the highest offices. 1 His surprise was great 
 when he found himself unexpectedly raised to the 
 cardinalate ; and he doubted, at first, whether he 
 should leave the republic of his fathers, where the 
 manners were in harmony with his own, to measure 
 himself against others, in the luxury and display 
 of the Roman Court. He accepted the hat prin- 
 cipally lest, in times so difficult, the refusal of this 
 high dignity might exercise an injurious effect, as 
 having the appearance of despising it. 
 
 The zeal which he had previously devoted to his 
 native country was now applied to the affairs of the 
 Church ; and he was often forced to oppose both the 
 Pope and the cardinals. In this new position he 
 maintained his usual gravity, simplicity, and activity of 
 
 1 Two of his ancestors had filled the supreme office of Doge at 
 Venice ; and his father was highly esteemed in different public 
 capacities. 
 
190 V1TTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 life, and all his dignity and gentleness of demeanour. 
 He was distinguished by the inherent truthfulness 
 and pure moral sense of his nature ; but, above all, 
 by those deep religious convictions which rendered 
 him so happy and enlightened. He was known to 
 declare that he did not consider the cardinal's hat 
 constituted his highest honour. 
 
 Contarini was sent as the Pope's ambassador to 
 Spain, in 1528, almost as soon as Clement had 
 recovered his liberty. He arrived there just as the 
 ship Victoria returned from the first voyage that 
 ever was made round the world ; and Contarini 
 was the first person to solve the problem, why she 
 arrived a day later than her journal indicated. 
 He aided in bringing about a reconciliation 
 between Clement and Charles ; and when the Em- 
 peror was crowned at Bologna, Contarini accom- 
 panied the Pope from Viterbo to Bologna ; when 
 he had the opportunity of conversing with his 
 Holiness upon the subject of Church reform. He 
 wrote a report of this embassy, which is now 
 extremely rare. There is a copy of it in the Library 
 at Berlin. In it he gives an account of all he 
 witnessed in Viterbo, Bologna, and Rome. 
 
 At the desire of the Emperor, he was appointed 
 
WSB LIFE AND POEMS. 1 9 1 
 
 the Pope's legate to the Diet at Ratisbon, and 
 he entered upon the duty with the greatest hope 
 of succeeding in advocating conciliatory measures, 
 and in meeting the deputies from Germany in a 
 cordial manner. The Emperor himself was there ; 
 and the Pope, though averse to the conference, 
 was obliged to send ambassadors. They left Rome 
 on the 11th of November, 1538, a fact which 
 we learn from a letter to Cardinal Pole from 
 Contarini. In another letter from Cardinal Pole 
 to Contarini, it appears that Yittoria Colonna 
 had also visited Ratisbon at this time. But the 
 motive which induced her to take this journey of 
 six hundred miles has not been explained. Pole, 
 in this letter of which a translation will be given, says 
 how much relieved his mind had been in hearing that 
 Vittoria had got safely through the difficulties of the 
 journey, and had been received both by the Emperor 
 and the citizens with great honour. It appears that 
 Pole had received a letter from Vittoria, who had 
 returned as far as Orvieto, where she was residing 
 in a sisterhood, having made again the long journey 
 from the Danube to the Tiber, crossing the Alps 
 and Apennines at a time when few ladies would 
 have attempted such an expedition. This letter of 
 
192 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 her friend Pole is dated 2nd of April, 1541 ; it is the 
 only notice we have discovered of this interesting 
 circumstance in Vittoria' s life, and is another proof 
 of the imperfection of lives written by monks. 1 
 
 It would be deeply interesting to know what 
 were her objects, her thoughts, and her experiences, 
 during so memorable a journey ; but none of the 
 letters which she must have written during her 
 absence, seem to have been preserved. Pole does 
 not allude to the motive of her journey, but he 
 states that there was another letter from Vittoria 
 which was ordered, by the Pope, to be read aloud 
 in full consistory ; and " that she gained great 
 praise for her prudence and energy." She is surely 
 the first and only woman who has had the singular 
 honour of having her letter read before the Pope 
 and the cardinals with praise and consideration. 
 
 Contarini was at Ratisbon as the Pope's legate, to- 
 gether with Bishop Morone and Tommaso da Modena, 
 the master of the Sacred Palace. Contarini was older 
 than Pole, and inferior to none in learning and wis- 
 dom, yet he consulted Pole in all the steps which 
 
 1 Vittoria was in Rome in August 1539, and was at Orvieto in 
 March 1541, so that her visit to Ratisbon must have occurred 
 between these two dates. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 193 
 
 he took in these lengthy and difficult negotiations. 
 They were both severely censured for going so far 
 in the direction of reform. Cardinals Farnese and 
 Caraffa had been secretly working at Rome to 
 counteract their proceedings, and Contarini was re- 
 called, and reproached with having exceeded his 
 instructions. Caraffa was triumphant, and the In- 
 quisition was established. 
 
 Contarini's health suffered from the anxieties he 
 had undergone, and the slanders which he had to 
 endure. He died almost immediately afterwards at 
 Bologna, in 1542, of a broken heart, it is said. 
 Vittoria felt that in him she had almost lost a 
 relative. She said, " Contarini ought to have been 
 Pope to have made the age happy." 
 
 She addressed a letter to his sister to condole 
 with her on her great loss. This is too interesting 
 to be omitted, and is as follows : 
 
 "Alla Reverend. Madre Suora, Serafina Contarini, 
 sorella in christo honoranda. 
 
 " Rev. Sister and Most Honoured Mother in Christ, If I had uM 
 known that you are armed with those divine shields which prevent 
 the arrows of grief penetrating too deeply, 1 should not have p re- 
 sumed to write to you on such a sad and bitter occasion. But 
 knowing by your pious and most sweet letters that this much-loved 
 brother hoped to meet you in the heavenly home, and that he 
 
 
 
194 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 always had the death, passion, and resurrection of Christ in his 
 heart, I am so content and happy, though with my senses I mourn, 
 that I beg you to believe, with that inspired light that God has 
 given you, that we have no cause to grieve, nor even to desire that 
 so excellent a Christian life should have been prolonged. 
 
 " And speaking of inferior things, by you justly very little prized, 
 I must say that worldly honours, so valuable in their proper place, 
 were like poison to him. Their fatiguing weight he wdllingly would 
 have laid down at any time ; but he exercised them wisely and 
 righteously, having as a first and last end the Lord, who gave him 
 success both in spiritual and temporal affairs. He had joy in his 
 true friends, and no just cause of offence towards any one. His 
 principles, his wisdom, and his knowledge were the admiration of 
 the good and the envy of the world. His perfect and holy example 
 was of important usefulness to the Church and to our security in 
 peaceable living. 
 
 " "We are taught by this event that the Lord and Head of us all 
 knows w T hat is best, and when it is the right time for Him to take 
 His servants. The loss remains to us of his most delightful conversa- 
 tion and the profit of his most holy writings, so that I should have 
 great pity for V. R. and for myself, if it were not that his many 
 journeys and our cloister had prevented our enjoying his society. 
 I therefore see we have not much reason for grief, and that we 
 ought the rather to rejoice when we behold his peaceful spirit 
 united to the true, eternal peace, and his most humble soul glorified 
 in heaven. Now he can speak to V. Reverendissima without being 
 absent, or the impediment of not being heard. Now you will no 
 more have the sorrow of being far off from your brother ! You can 
 rejoice in each other's happiness, and at the same moment and 
 with one consent, enjoy the same light, as I feel certain that your 
 soul will experience. But with my pen I am seeking to describe 
 him to you, who, by long experience, know all the colours, and 
 shadows, and lights of this holy picture ; but, believe me, I have 
 done it from the heart, as he stands before my mind's eye, and as I 
 certainly hope God views him, and in the hope that you will always 
 command me as the most true and obliged servant of your most 
 perfect brother and my Lord. ( ' Quel perfettissimo fratel suo, e 
 Sign or mio.') Now no other spiritual service remains for me except 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 195 
 
 that of ' The Illustriss. e Reverendiss. Monsignor D'Inghilterra, 
 suo unico, intimo, e verissimo amico, e piu che fratello e figlio,' 
 who feels so deeply the loss of his pious and strong soul, in such 
 various and unexpected oppressions, to whom he was accustomed to 
 run for advice at all times. 
 
 "Da Santa Caterina di Viterbo, sorella di V. Reveren., e in 
 Christo ubidiente figlia, 
 
 "La Marciiesa di Pescara." 
 
 We have also the following sonnet, written to his 
 memory, in which she speaks of his high example, 
 and " the courtesy with which he turned the erring, 
 and took from many the veil of ignorance : " 
 
 Sonnet CXC, 
 
 To Gaspar Contarini. 
 
 " Quando in terra il Gran Sol venne dal cielo 
 Per fame agli altre fede, elesse e volse 
 Quel primo Gaspar 1 saggio, ond' ei disciolse 
 A molti poi dell' ignoranzia il velo. 
 
 " L' alto suo esempio, il vivo ardente zelo 
 Col qual corse a vederlo, erse e rivolse 
 Gli occhi nostri al bel raggio, ch' allor tolse 
 Da' petti umani ogn' indurato gelo. 
 
 " Or che rinasce in noi, di nuovo ha eletto 
 Questo Gaspar secondo a far qui fede, 
 Ch' ei sol pu6 render l'uom giusto e perfetto. 
 
 1 In allusion to the Christian legend of the three kings of the 
 East who came to see Christ at His birth, one of them being named 
 Caspar. 
 
 o2 
 
196 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 " L'uno il vide mortal, ma l'altro il vede 
 Glorioso, e su in ciel col vero affetto 
 Delia mente e del cor l'adora e crede ! " 
 
 " When the Great Sun (of righteousness) appeared in earth from 
 heaven to attest the faith of men, He elected and willed that the 
 first wise Gaspar should remove from many the veil of ignorance. 
 His high example, the lively, ardent zeal with which he hastened 
 to behold Him, teaches us to turn our eyes also to the holy light, 
 which removes from the human heart its hard ice. And now 
 He shines again for us, and has elected this Gaspar the second 
 to attest the truth which alone can render men just and perfect. 
 The one beheld Him mortal, the other sees Him in His glory, 
 and in heaven, with true affection of mind and heart, believes in 
 Him, and adores." 
 
 Contarini never, to the last moment of his life, 
 denied his opinions ; and he was taken away before 
 he knew that the mere discussion of them would be 
 punished by an infamous death. If he or Pole 
 had obtained the highest dignity after Paul's death, 
 an end which both had in prospect, the victory of 
 the Reformers might perhaps have been achieved. 
 It is a question of vital importance, in the present 
 day, whether an established Church can be reformed 
 from within better than from without \ One autho- 
 rity (John Stuart Mill) has given his opinion that 
 it is right to remain in the Church, as long as 
 possible, in order to reform it; and this idea in- 
 fluences a great many very sincere and earnest men. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 197 
 
 Another authority (the Rev. John Hamilton Thorn) 
 urges the fallacy of such a hope. "My sym- 
 pathy," he says, "goes altogether with the advice 
 which Blanco White gave to the Archbishop of 
 Dublin. So long as you remain in the boat of 
 the Church, you will never move it by pushing it. 
 Come out of it, and give it a kick." 
 
 Vittoria Colonna had another friend, of whom 
 but little has yet been said in these memoirs, 
 though his influence had been very great in leading 
 her to take an interest in the momentous questions 
 which were then agitating the world on religious 
 subjects. In the early years of her married life, 
 and afterwards during her widowhood, her palace 
 at Naples, and that of the beautiful Giulia de 
 Gonzaga, had been the resort of the highest per- 
 sonages in that city, where learned discussions arose 
 on all topics of interest, and not least, on the 
 eloquent preaching of the celebrated Monk Ber- 
 nardino Ochino of Siena, who was at that period 
 in Naples, and drawing all people to hear him. 
 He was a man of astonishing powers of eloquence. 
 He equally riveted the young and the old, men 
 and women, the untaught peasant and the pro- 
 found scholar. His sermons are described " as the 
 
198 VITTORTA COLONNA: 
 
 deepfelt utterings of one who spoke at once as a 
 patriot and ecclesiastical reformer, dropping words 
 of fire, which might melt the very stones to tears." 
 Princes, nobles, and prelates esteemed his preaching 
 unrivalled ; and when the Emperor Charles V. was 
 in Naples, in the year 1537, he went to hear him, 
 and acknowledged his eloquence. 
 
 Ochino was born in Siena in 1487, and was the 
 most noted citizen of that powerful republic, which 
 at that period boasted of a population of 100,000. 
 He has been styled the Luther of Italy. His grey 
 hair, his beard which swept his breast, and his pale, 
 emaciated countenance gave him the aspect of 
 a saint. He wore the coarse habit of his order, 
 always travelled on foot, and had no other bed than 
 his cloak. He drank no wine, and strictly enforced 
 on himself and others the vow of poverty ; yet he 
 preached in the pulpit and in the confessional the 
 doctrine of justification by grace alone. This man 
 had a powerful advocate and admirer in Vittoria 
 Colonna. " Next to Ochino, Vittoria was the centre 
 round which the doctrines taught by him centred." 
 
 They were both of them influenced by the cele- 
 brated Spaniard Juan Valdesso, or Valdez, who, 
 though no priest, had made himself a thorough master 
 
// Ell LIFE AND POEMS. 199 
 
 of all religious questions. Valdez originally went 
 to Germany with Charles V., and was knighted by 
 him, and sent to Naples as secretary to the Viceroy. 
 He was a very learned and courteous man ; and 
 he soon became a favourite with the first persons 
 in Naples. He is an example of how much good 
 may be done in a private station. His influence 
 was felt by all who came into his presence. Jle 
 not only impressed the minds of many distinguished 
 laymen, but he stimulated the zeal of those who 
 could teach and preach to the people, especially 
 Peter Martyr and Ochino, both of whom were resi- 
 dent in Naples at that time. The former was 
 elected Abbot of Spoleto in 1530, and soon after 
 Provost of the College of St. Pietro in the city of 
 Naples, a post of dignity and emolument. He was 
 at this time thirty years of age. Ochino preached, 
 and Martyr read lectures ; chiefly on St. Paul's 
 Epistles. They were attended by monks of different 
 convents, and by many of the nobility and bishops. 
 The especial doctrine of Ochino was justification 
 by faith in Christ, which he explained by reference 
 to the Scriptures. 
 
 A Reformed Church was established at Naples, 
 which included persons of the first rank in the 
 
200 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 kingdom, both male and female. Whilst it was 
 daily increasing in numbers, it was deprived of 
 Valdez, to whom it chiefly owed its origin. He 
 died in 1540, deeply lamented by many distin- 
 guished persons. He was one of the rarest men 
 in Europe, as his writings on the Epistles and 
 Psalms abundantly demonstrate. He also wrote 
 " Considerations on the Christian Life." He dedi- 
 cated one of his works to Giulia Gohzaga. He was 
 a most accomplished man in all his words, actions, 
 and counsels, whose noble and pure intellect was 
 wholly occupied with truth and divine things, and 
 whose fervent piety and unspotted purity of life were 
 universally acknowledged. 
 
 Ochino was sent by the Chapter of his order to 
 preach in many other cities. He was a natural 
 orator, and the fervour of his feelings, and the 
 sanctity of his life, gave a power to his discourses 
 which ravished his hearers. He was esteemed incom- 
 parably the best preacher in Italy. 1 In 1538 he was 
 chosen General of the Capuchins ; and three years 
 afterwards, in another Chapter, held at Whitsuntide, 
 in Naples, he was, as an unexampled mark of respect, 
 and in opposition to his own earnest request, uiuuii- 
 1 M'Cree's " Italian Reformation*" 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 201 
 
 mously re-elected to the same honourable office. 1 
 His official designation is given in the title of one 
 of his first works : " Dialogi Sacra del Rev. Padre 
 Frate B. Ochino da Siena, Generale dei Frati 
 Capuzzini. Venezia, 1542." Long before he was 
 advanced to these honours, he had changed his 
 mode of preaching; a change which was rather 
 felt, than understood by his hearers. He appealed 
 directly to the Scriptures, and exhorted the people 
 to rest entirely upon the Word of God, and to 
 build their hopes of salvation on Christ alone. 
 
 His advocacy of these doctrines was understood 
 by Yaldez, who detected the Protestant under the 
 patched rochet and sharp-horned cowl of the Capu- 
 chin. Valdez introduced him to the private meetings 
 held by the converts in the city of Naples ; probably 
 also to Vittoria Colonna herself, to Isabella Manricha 
 of Naples, to Giulia Gonzaga, and other noble ladies. 
 In 1538 the fame of the eloquent Capuchin was 
 so great that the most respectable inhabitants of 
 Venice employed Bembo to endeavour to obtain 
 permission for Ochino to preach in that city. 
 Bembo accordingly wrote to Vittoria Colonna, 
 begging her to intercede with Ochino to visit 
 
 1 Boverio's "Annals of the Capnccini." 
 
202 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Venice, all the inhabitants of which were desirous 
 to hear him. He accordingly obtained permission ; 
 and we hear from a letter written by Bembo to Vit- 
 toria from Venice, dated 23d of February, 1539, how 
 much his preaching was admired. 
 
 " I send your Highness the extracts of our Very Reverend Frate 
 Bernardino, to whom I have listened, during the small part of this 
 Lent which is over, with a pleasure which I cannot sufficiently ex- 
 press. Assuredly, I never have heard a preacher more useful or more 
 holy than he. I do not wonder that you love him so much, when 
 he discourses in a more Christian manner than any I have heard in 
 my day ; with more lively charity and love, and with truths of 
 superior excellence and usefulness. He pleases every one above 
 measure, and will carry all hearts in the city away with him when 
 he leaves. I send your Highness immortal thanks from the whole 
 city for the favour you have done us, and I especially shall feel for 
 ever obliged to you." 
 
 In another letter, dated 15th of March, 1539, 
 Bembo says : 
 
 " I will reason with your Eccellenza as I have just reasoned this 
 morning with the Reverend Father Frate Bernardino, to whom I 
 have laid open my whole heart and soul, as I would have done to 
 Christ himself, to whom I am persuaded he is acceptable and dear. 
 Never have I had the pleasure to speak to a holier man than he. 
 I should have been now at Padua, both on account of a business 
 which has engaged me for a whole year, and also to shun the 
 applications with which I am incessantly assailed in consequence 
 of this blessed cardinalate." (He had lately received a cardinal's 
 hat from Rome.) " But I was unwilling to deprive myself of the 
 opportunity of hearing his most excellent, holy, and edifying of 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 203 
 
 On the 14th of x\pril he writes : 
 
 " Our Fratc, whom I desire henceforth to call mine, as well as 
 yours, is at present adored in this city. There is not a man or 
 woman who does not extol him to the skies. Oh, what delight ! 
 oh, what joy has he given ! But I reserve his praises until I meet 
 your Eccellenza ; and in the meantime supplicate our Lord to order 
 his life so as that it may endure longer to the honour of God, and 
 the profit of man, than it can endure according to the treatment 
 which he now gives it. " 
 
 Bembo had previously written to the minister of 
 tiie Church of the Apostles, on March the 12th : 
 
 " I pray you to entreat and oblige the Reverend Father Frate 
 Bernardino to eat flesh ; not for the gratification and benefit of his 
 body, to which he is indifferent, but for the comfort of our souls ; 
 that he may be able to continue to preach the Gospel to the praise 
 of our blessed Saviour. For he will not be able to continue this 
 work, nor to bear up under it, during this present Lent, unless he 
 leave off the diet of the season, which, as experience proves, always 
 brings on him a catarrh." l 
 
 Nothing can more completely prove the power 
 of Ochino's eloquence than the effect thus pro- 
 duced on one of the first scholars of the age. In 
 1540 we find Ochino at Rome, in the very high 
 office of Chaplain and Father Confessor to the Pope. 
 Vittoria in that year had returned to Rome, accom- 
 
 i Letter in the "Archives of M. U. Barsione," published in 
 Bembo's works. 
 
204 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 panied by her son Vasto, and had once more joyfully 
 found herself in the society of her brother Ascanio 
 and his children. Visconti alludes to Ascanio 
 Colonna having daughters, as well as a son, and 
 says that one of them was named Vittoria, " di 
 rinnovarne il nome." 
 
 In 1541 Ochino was at Milan. It was not till 
 that year that he openly avowed the doctrines of 
 Luther. He then began to turn against the Papacy, 
 and he defended the Reformers by his eloquence. 
 He opposed the doctrine of the Trinity, and the 
 Personality of the Holy Ghost. He published a 
 confession of his change of opinions, which is a 
 very remarkable work. It was not published till 
 after he had escaped from Italy. He acknowledged 
 in it that if he could have continued, without danger 
 to his life, to preach the truth after the manner he 
 had preached it for some years, he would never have 
 laid down the habit of his order. But, as he did 
 not find within himself that courage which is 
 requisite to undergo martyrdom, he took refuge in 
 a Protestant country. 1 
 
 We find from a letter from Luca Contile, the 
 Sienese historian and poet, written in Rome in 
 
 1 Bayle's "Historical Dictionary." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 205 
 
 the month of August 1541, that Vittoria Colonna 
 had returned to Rome, having been persuaded by 
 her many admiring friends to leave Orvieto, where 
 she had rested on her return from Ratisbon. As 
 has been already stated, he visited her at Rome ; 
 and after he had told her the news of her friends 
 the Marchese and Marchesa del Vasto and of young 
 Pescara, she changed the conversation by inquiring 
 as she naturally would from a Siena gentleman 
 what was the latest news of Fra Bernardino of 
 Siena. He said he was informed that Ochino had 
 left behind him at Milan the highest reputation 
 for virtue and holiness. On which Vittoria sighed, 
 and said, " Piaccia a Dio die perseveri ! " (Please 
 God he persevere !) From this, it appears that 
 Vittoria was beginning to apprehend the evil days 
 which were coming upon her friend. She had 
 probably, in Rome, heard that his very life was in 
 danger. He, in fact, received his summons to 
 appear before the Consistory very soon afterwards, 
 in 1542. Vittoria befriended Ochino to the last ; 
 and it was a great grief to her to find that he 
 had not the courage to stand firm : but a fearful 
 state of things was now approaching. Rankc re- 
 marks : u The weaker resigned themselves, and sub- 
 
206 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 mitted; and the stronger withdrew from the dangers 
 which threatened them." 
 
 In 1542 the Court of Eome became seriously alive 
 to the boldness of the Reformers, and the increase 
 of their places of worship. There were large congre- 
 gations in many of the chief cities of Italy. And 
 it was resolved to proceed against the ecclesiastics 
 who were supposed to favour the heresy, especially 
 against Ochino and Martyr; and, as these men 
 were extremely popular, spies were placed over them 
 to procure secret evidence against them. Ochino 
 had been so much admired in Venice that the 
 citizens had sent to the Pope to request that he 
 would grant them an opportunity of hearing him 
 again. The Pope, therefore, directed the Pro- 
 tector of the Order of Capuchins, of which Ochino 
 was the General, to send him to Venice in 1542, to 
 preach during Lent, and ordered, at the same time, 
 that the Apostolical nuncio should watch him, and 
 report of his doctrines. 
 
 The whole city ran in crowds to hear him ; and 
 a formal complaint was soon made that he preached 
 doctrines at variance with the Catholic faith. For a 
 time he defended himself so powerfully against his 
 accusers, that no pretext could be* found for pro- 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 207 
 
 ceeding ' against him ; but when he heard that a 
 friend of his had been thrown into prison, he could 
 not restrain himself, and in the course of a sermon 
 preached before the senators and principal persons 
 in the city, he cried out, " What remains for us to 
 do, my lords, if those who preach to you the 
 truth are to be thrust into prisons, and loaded 
 with chains and fetters ? What place will be left 
 to us ? What field will remain open to the truth ? 
 Oh that we had liberty to preach the truth ! " &c. 
 The Nuncio, hearing this address, immediately re- 
 ported the matter to the Pope, and interdicted 
 Ochino's preaching. But the Venetians were so 
 vehement in his defence, that the interdict was 
 taken off in three days. Lent being ended he 
 went to Verona, where he assembled those of his 
 order who were intended for the function of preach- 
 ing, and began to lecture on St. Paul's Epistles. 
 But whilst thus occupied he received a citation 
 from Rome, on the information of the Nuncio at 
 Venice. Having set out on his journey thither, 
 he had an interview with Cardinal Contarini at 
 Bologna, who was very weak, and then lying on 
 his death-bed, and who desired a share in Ochino's 
 prayers. In the month of August he arrived at 
 
208 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Florence, where he met Peter Martyr Vermigli, and 
 from him received intelligence that his death was 
 resolved on at Rome. Whereupon he returned to 
 Ferrara, and being assisted in his flight by the 
 Duchessa Renee, he escaped from the armed men 
 who were despatched to apprehend him, and reached 
 Geneva in safety. 1 
 
 Ochino gave an account of his departure, and 
 his reasons for it, at the end of a volume of sermons 
 which he published soon afterwards, which being 
 in Italian, and very popular, had a wonderful 
 effect. He wrote to apologize to the magistrates 
 of his native city, and to Vittoria and his other 
 friends. The Pope was so enraged against him 
 that he threatened at first to suppress the whole 
 Order of Capuchins. Martyr was in equal danger 
 at Lucca. The monks of his order had been 
 offended against him for his strict discipline as 
 general visitor ; for a year they had been secret 
 or open enemies, and he could not have remained 
 
 1 The historian of his order describes him as making a melancholy 
 pause when he reached the summit of the Mont St. Bernard ; 
 looking back once more on his beautiful Italy, he recalled all the 
 honour he had received there, and the countless multitudes who 
 had so respectfully listened to his eloquence. Up to this moment 
 he retained the seal of his order, but he now resigned it to his 
 companion, and turned his steps to Geneva. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 209 
 
 so long at Lucca if he had not enjoyed the entire 
 confidence of the citizens. He had caused several 
 of the monks to be deprived of their offices for 
 gross crimes ; and the Rector-general of the Order, 
 with others, had been condemned to perpetual con- 
 finement in the island of Tremiti. A formal accu- 
 sation at last was lodged against him at Rome, 
 and being warned by his friends that his life was 
 in danger, he resolved to withdraw himself from 
 the rage and craft of his enemies. Having put 
 the affairs of his convent in order, he secretly 
 left the city. At Pisa he wrote letters to Cardinal 
 Pole, and to the brethren at the monastery at 
 Lucca, saying that his conscience would not allow 
 him any longer to give any countenance to the 
 evils of the popish religion. He sent back the ring 
 which w 7 as the badge of his office, and after meeting 
 Ochino at Florence, he set out, travelling with 
 expedition and caution by Bologna, Ferrara, and 
 Verona, and reached Zurich in safety. After he 
 left, eighteen of the monks of his convent also re- 
 tired into Switzerland, and a great many more were 
 thrown into prison. 
 
 The Protestant Church which had been formed 
 in the city of Lucca, though discouraged by the loss 
 
210 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 of its founder, and exposed to great danger, was not 
 broken up. It was under the protection of some 
 of the chief inhabitants, and continuing to hold 
 its meetings in private, it enjoyed the regular in- 
 struction of pastors for twelve years afterwards. 
 Ochino, in 1547, at the invitation of Cranmer, 
 visited England, and was made a canon of Canter- 
 bury. The Bishop of Winchester translated Ochino' s 
 work entitled " A Dialogue on the Usurped Supre- 
 macy of the Bishop of Rome," in 1549. In 1548 
 a translation of his sermons was published in 
 London. It is entitled "Sermons by Bernardine 
 Ochino of Siena, godlye, fruteful, and very neces- 
 sary e for all true Christians." On the fly-leaf of 
 the copy in Dr. Williams's Library, London, is 
 written, "Invited to England by Cranmer, 1547, and 
 left in Mary's time, 1553." x 
 
 The flight of Ochino and of Peter Martyr, added 
 to the death of Contarini, completely subdued Vit- 
 toria and her friends. "They were all struck 
 
 i Ochino afterwards settled in Basle, in the year 1555, with a 
 congregation of Italian refugees, and, like Peter Martyr, he married 
 a nun. At a great age he died of the plague in Sclavonia, and is said 
 to have left a considerable estate to his heirs. Caraffa wrote an 
 answer to his apology, which is inserted in the History of the 
 Theatines. Ochino's Anti-Trinitarian Dialogues were publicly 
 burnt. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 211 
 
 with fear." Tolomei wrote most urgently to Ochino, 
 calling upon him by all means to return. Vittoria 
 received a letter from him endeavouring to explain 
 and apologize for his conduct. She grieved extremely 
 over his weakness of spirit. She was living, when 
 she received his farewell letter, at Viterbo, where 
 her own and Ochino's friend, Cardinal Pole, resided ; 
 and it was by his advice 1 that she was induced 
 to send this letter, and the pamphlet which accom- 
 panied it, to the Pope's principal Secretary, Cervino, 
 who afterwards became Pope himself. 
 
 The following is a translation of Vittoria's letter 
 to Cervino. It was a bitter struggle to her, no 
 doubt, to relinquish her correspondence and friend- 
 ship with Ochino, and to behold the downfall of 
 all her hopes for that noble work of Church Reform 
 which seemed to have been put into his hands. 
 But the dark storm was approaching which was 
 to overwhelm them all. 
 
 Letter from Vittoria Colonna to Cervino. 
 
 " Most Illustrious, most reverend Monsignore, The 
 more 1 have observed the actions of the very reverend Mon- 
 signore D'Inghilterra, the more I see that he is true and most siu- 
 
 1 " Diffidando di se medesima, si governava col consiglio de 
 Cardinale Reginaldo Polo." 
 
 P 2 
 
212 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 cere in serving God ; and as he lias through kindness answered 
 my request, it seems to me that 1 cannot err in following his judg- 
 ment ; and because he says that it appears to him if letters and 
 other things from Fra Bernardino come to me I should send 
 them to your Reverendissimo, without answering them if not ordered 
 to do so (se non mi fosse ordinato), I have to-day received the 
 inclosed, with a book, which I send to you ; it was in a cover 
 stamped by post, which came by a courier, from Bologna, without 
 other writing within ; and I have not wished to use other means, 
 so I send it by one of my own servants. I hope that Vostra Signore 
 will pardon this trouble, though, as you see, it is in print ; and 
 may our Lord God keep your reverendissima persona, &c. 
 
 (Signed) "Marchesa di Pescara. 
 
 ** Da Santa Catarina di Viterbo." l 
 
 In the postscript she adds : 
 
 "I grieve exceedingly that whilst he" thinks, to excuse himself 
 he the more accuses himself; and that when he believes to save 
 others from shipwreck the more he exposes himself to the floods, 
 being outside of that ark which saves and secures." 
 
 Vittoria's Catholic biographer, Rota, is extremely 
 anxious to conceal, if possible, or to explain, if 
 impossible, the influence Ochino exercised over 
 her. "There are not wanting wicked persons who 
 have maligned this pietissirna Dama, this rare ex- 
 ample of Christian life, for the esteem which she had 
 for Fra Bernardino, which was not the case, as it 
 related solely to that period when every one admired 
 
 i This letter was first published in the "Letters of Tiraboschi," 
 vol. vii. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 213 
 
 him as a model of the penitential life as one who 
 had wonderful zeal as a preacher, and who was filled 
 with the spirit of God. But we may certainly say 
 that it was quite changed with her when he wickedly 
 abandoned the Order of S. Francisco and the 
 Catholic religion." ' Visconti also remarks on her 
 exclamation, " Piaccia a Dio che perseveri," that 
 " these words of the most pious lady show what fears 
 she had for Ochino, and how much she suspected he 
 was contumacious against the Holy See, and would 
 secede from the Catholic communion, and not, as 
 some would have us believe, that she herself adhered 
 
 1 Rota, p. 32, note. 
 
 We find at the end of Rota's work the " Licenza " of the Inquisi- 
 tion, of which a translation is here given : 
 
 " Our Reformers of Study at Padua. 
 
 " Having been assured by the revision and approbation of the 
 P. F. Geo. Paolo Zapparella, Inquisitor-general of the Holy Office 
 of Venezia, that in the book entitled ' Rime di M. Vittoria 
 Colonna d'Avalos, Marchesana di Pescara,' there is nothing con- 
 trary to the Holy Catholic faith, and likewise by the attestation 
 of our secretary nothing against princes and good government ; we 
 grant a licence to Pietro Lancellotti, printer of Bergamo, that he 
 may print it, observing the orders respecting printing, and sending 
 the usual copies to the public libraries of Vicenzia and Padua. 
 
 " Geo. Emo, Proc. Rif. 
 
 " Alvise Mocenigo, Proc. Rif. 
 
 " Marco Foscarini, Cav. Proc. Rif. 
 
 " GlROLAMO ZUCCATO, SegT. 
 
 " Dated the 13th July, 1759." 
 
214 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 to these, or any other innovations." " It would be 
 difficult to show," says Trollope (page 382), %i that 
 the simple phrase in question had any such 
 meaning." 
 
 Her Catholic biographers say that the esteem 
 Vittoria had for il Vergerio was before he fell 
 from the true religion, and that the affection she 
 had for Flaminio had sufficient foundation without 
 supposing that she adhered to his false opinions. 
 They also remark that what Querini says, in his 
 preface to the "Life of Contarini," is enough to 
 silence those persons who would take away the 
 reputation of Yittoria Colonna, and of a thousand 
 other innocent persons. 
 
 There is, however, from Visconti and other 
 sources, sufficient evidence to prove that these re- 
 marks are unwarranted. Are we to blame Vittoria 
 for not going further? Are we to approve of the 
 advice which Pole gave to that tender heart, which 
 was so distrustful of its own judgment? Perhaps 
 she did not feel, as some braver spirits have done, 
 that she had received " The Grace of Martyrdom." 
 Perhaps she loved the Church in whose bosom she 
 had been nurtured too well to leave it. We judge 
 her not. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 215 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 15391541. 
 
 On her return from the fatiguing journey toRatis- 
 bon, Vittoria rested for a time in the Convent of S 
 Paolo d'Orvieto, whence she wrote to Cardinal Pole, 
 expressing how much delight she found in the ordi- 
 nances and society of the sisters, and saying that she 
 felt she was " in the company of angels." l She 
 subsequently removed to Rome, where she passed 
 much time in her later years. We hear no more 
 of the beloved Ischia and of the " magnanimous 
 Costanza," though it is certain that the custody of 
 Ischia continued in the D'Avalos family for many 
 years afterwards. 
 
 In concluding the brief account of Contarini and 
 Ochino in the previous chapter, the date has been 
 brought down to 1542. We have now to retrace our 
 
 1 She remembered them in her last will, and left a legacy of 
 1,000 scudi to their convent. 
 
216 V1TT0RIA COLONNA: 
 
 steps to the year 1539, when Vittoria's residence in 
 Rome had been cut short, singularly enough, by a tax 
 on salt. The Pope had laid on this very unpopular 
 tax, and Ascanio Colonna asserted that his people 
 were exempt from the payment of it by virtue of 
 some old privilege. Some of his relatives having 
 been imprisoned for refusing to pay this odious tax, 
 Ascanio, ever ready to assert the dignity of his house, 
 and ever ready to give battle to the Pope, made a 
 raid into the Campagna with all his followers, and 
 carried off a great many cattle. This open hostility 
 the Pope could not but resent, and he immediately 
 declared war against the Colonnas. "The Pope lost 
 no time in gathering an army of 10,000 men, and 
 ' war was declared ' between the sovereign and the 
 Colonna. The varying fortunes of this ' war ' have 
 been narrated in detail by more than one historian. 
 Much mischief was done, and a great deal of misery 
 occasioned by both the contending parties. But at 
 length the forces of the sovereign got the better of 
 those of his vassal, and the principal fortresses of the 
 Colonna were taken, and their fortifications ordered 
 to be razed." 1 
 This was a great grief to Vittoria. She was 
 
 1 Trollope, p. 381. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 217 
 
 always on the side of peace, and she wept to 
 think of the miseries which must ensue. At the 
 outset of the quarrel she had used all her influ- 
 ence with the Pope, 1 promising on her part to 
 make the greatest concessions if he would come 
 to terms ; but all to no purpose ; and " when she 
 beheld," as Visconti relates, " ' Batter la sua 
 Colonna entro ed intorno,' dolente e crucciosa se 
 ne usci da Roma" ("sorrowful and heart-broken 
 she departed from Rome"). She took refuge in 
 the Convent of St. Paolo d* Orvieto for a short time, 
 and probably from there she went to Ratisbon, 
 returning fco Orvieto, March 1541. Orvieto is an 
 archbishop's see, and possesses a fine cathedral, and 
 also palaces of the Pope and of the archbishop. 
 
 Whilst Vittoria was among the sisterhood whom 
 she loved, the storm broke over the Colonnas. 
 The Pope attacked them with his army, put their 
 retainers to the sword, destroyed their castles of 
 Rocca di Papa and Pagliano, and took from them 
 all their possessions in the States of the Church, 
 so that they had to take refuge in the estates 
 which they possessed in the kingdom of Naples. 
 
 Vittoria in October 1541 removed from Orvieto 
 
 1 See Sonnet to the Pope, chapter xxi. 
 
218 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 to the monastery of S. Caterina di Viterbo, in which 
 retreat she continued to residd for two or three 
 years, with occasional visits to Rome. She had in 
 the city of Viterbo the society of Pole, Flaminio, 
 and Sorango, and " here the good Michael Angelo 
 visited her with poems and letters to give her con- 
 solation ; grieving himself that they were so divided. 
 But she preserved for him so much affection 
 that whenever she was at Rome per villeggiare, 
 she went into the city to visit and to see him." 1 
 
 The Roman families, during the summer months, 
 were accustomed to adjourn to their villas near 
 Rome, there to enjoy their " villeggiatura," or out- 
 of-door life, meeting together in parties of plea- 
 sure ; receiving the " contadini " (peasantry) in the 
 evenings, and mixing in a friendly manner with 
 them. The noble ladies would then dress them- 
 selves in the beautiful Albanese costume of the 
 peasants ; and, laying aside all state and rank, join 
 in the dance and song. 
 
 The vicissitudes of the Colonnas, the destruction 
 and restoration of their palaces, and the rapidity 
 with which the quarrels they engaged in were healed, 
 is one of the remarkable features of their history. 
 
 1 Condivi's " Life of Michael Angelo." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 219 
 
 It seems that Vittoria was not altogether debarred 
 from the society of her Roman friends, who came 
 to visit her in her retreat, and invited her to their 
 villas, to enjoy the simple pleasures of the summer 
 with them. And though unfortunate circumstances 
 had obliged Vittoria to quit Rome, and the society 
 of Michael Angelo, it appears that they continued 
 their intercourse by letters and by exchanging their 
 poems. She is believed to have written many letters 
 to him; but the only one extant is in the British 
 Museum, of which we give a copy and translation. 
 Others are said to be still at Florence, among the 
 remains of Michael Angelo. His papers and valu- 
 able pictures and drawings are in the custody of 
 the law, pending a trial as to whether the lineal 
 descendant of Michael Angelo (the late Minister 
 of Public Instruction in Tuscany) should possess 
 them. They form an exceedingly valuable and 
 interesting museum. 
 
 Michael Angelo wrote to Vittoria so often that w 
 she begged him "to restrict himself a little," as 
 it hindered her in her duties at the convent, and 
 prevented him from going to his work in proper 
 time. Michael Angelo at that time was painting 
 the S. Peter in the new Pauline Chapel. Of these 
 
220 riTTOBIA COLONNA: 
 
 letters and poems only a few are known to the 
 public. We subjoin those poems which are certainly 
 addressed to her. In writing to her he calls her 
 "Signora Marchesa," and she styles him "Unique 
 Master Michael Angelo, my most especial friend." 
 
 Nothing can be more opposed in style than his 
 poetry and Vittoria's. " He is often severe in lan- 
 guage, with one fixed idea, endeavouring to give it 
 as strongly and simply as possible. She aims at the 
 gentle expression of her feelings ; reflecting them in 
 images which do not penetrate deeply like his ; but 
 the euphony of her verse is so great that even he 
 who is not an Italian feels it ; and there is an 
 enchanting truthfulness in her ideas." 
 
 The poems and letters exchanged between Michael 
 Angelo and Vittoria may chiefly be referred to the 
 years 1541 and 1542. She was accustomed to send 
 him the new things which she wrote ; and he bound 
 up forty of her sonnets, with the first that he ever 
 had received from her, and kept them as a relic. 
 In one of them she speaks of the Divine influence 
 to which she owed consolation. 
 
 " As the light streams gently from above 
 Sin's gloomy mantle hursts its bonds in twain, 
 And, robed in white, I seem to feel again 
 The first sweet sense of innocence and love." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 221 
 
 This humility pervades almost all her poems. It 
 is the outpouring of a sorrowing heart resting upon 
 God, and seeking to be self-reconciled in the spirit 
 of Contarini and of Ochino. The sonnets addressed 
 to her, by Michael Angelo, are full, also, of expres- 
 sions of his own unworthiness ; calling upon her 
 to guide him aright, begging her to teach him to 
 curb his impetuous nature, to lead him into the 
 right path, and to show him how to live. They are 
 the passionate outpourings of a most deeply-attached 
 and intensely fervent nature. 
 
 The following madrigal is from the genuine text 
 of the manuscript copy (Grimm, vol. ii. p. 459) : 
 
 Madrigal addressed to Vittoria by Michael Angelo. 
 
 " Perch' e troppo molesta 
 
 Ancor che dolce sia, 
 Quella merce che 1' alma legar suole 
 
 Mia liberta di queste 
 
 Vostr' alta cortesia 
 Piu che d'un furto si lamenta e duole. 
 
 E com' occhio nel sole 
 Disgrega sua vertu, ch' esser dovrebbe 
 Di maggior ch' a veder ne sprone, 
 
 Cosi '1 desio non vuole 
 Zoppa la grazia in me che da voi si crebbe, 
 Ch' il poco al troppo spesso s'abbaudona ; 
 , Ne questo agnol perdona. 
 
 Ch' amor vuol sol gli amici, onde son rari 
 Di fortuna e vertu simili e pari." 
 
222 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 " The favour which enthrals the soul, although it is sweet, yet it 
 is burdensome, and my liberty laments and grieves at thy high 
 courtesy, more than it would at a robbery. As the eye in the sun 
 loses its power, when it ought to be able to see better with a stronger 
 light, so the grace that is in me, and created so much by thee, is 
 lost in thy greater light. The less is absorbed in the greater, nor 
 can an angel pardon this. 1 Love wills that those only can be friends 
 where fortune and virtue are alike and equals. " 
 
 Grimm says, " He was proud and passionate, 
 sensitive, and suspicious ; and had grown old in 
 his ways." "What a man would Michael Angelo 
 have become had fate led him to know Vittoria 
 in his younger years ! and had she met with him, 
 then, when she was herself less wearied by years 
 and experience ! Such as they now found each 
 other, she could give him nothing but that kindly 
 gentleness with which she softened him, and he 
 ventured to desire nothing but what she could 
 bestow. There is one of his poems, a sonnet, in 
 which he expresses this. ' I believe that nature 
 is asking back thy charms, and commanding them 
 gradually to leave thee, that thy beauty may tarry 
 upon earth, but in possession of a woman more 
 gracious, and less severe, than thou art! With 
 thy divine countenance she is adorning a lovely 
 form in the sky, and the God of Love endeavours 
 
 1 Michael Angelo, a play upon his own name. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 223 
 
 to give her a compassionate heart ; and he receives 
 all my sighs, and gathers up my tears, and gives 
 them to him who will love her, as I love thee! 
 And, happier than I, he will touch her heart 
 perhaps with my sorrows, and she will afford him 
 the favour which is denied me.'" 
 
 '*' I only express a supposition," says Grimm, 
 " that this sonnet was addressed to Vittoria. It 
 seems to have been written by him (after 1542) 
 when Vittoria came again to Rome, leaving Viterbo, 
 perhaps because Cardinal Pole 1 was absent, he 
 having service elsewhere for the Church." 2 
 
 Mrs. Jameson says : " Not the least of Vittoria' s 
 titles to fame was the intense adoration with which 
 she inspired Michael Angelo. The following sonnet, 
 translated by Wordsworth, in a peal of grand har- 
 mony, was addressed to her. 
 
 " 'Yes, hope may with my strong desire keep pace, 
 And I be undeluded, unbetrayed ; 
 For if, of our affections, none find grace 
 In sight of Heaven, then wherefore had God made 
 The world which we inhabit ? Better plea 
 Love cannot have than that in loving thee. 
 Glory to that eternal peace is paid, 
 
 1 Grimm, vol. ii. pp. 285-287. 
 
 2 He did not give up his Governorship of the Patrimony till 
 1548. 
 
224 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Who such, divinity to thee imparts 
 
 As hallows and makes pure all gentle hearts. 
 
 His hope is treacherous only, whose love dies 
 
 With beauty, which is varying every hour. 
 
 But in chaste hearts, uninfluenced by the power 
 
 Of outward change, there blooms a deathless flower 
 
 That breathes on earth the air of paradise.' " 
 
 Condivi, Michael Angelo's friend and biographer, 
 says of Michael Angelo, "Egli amo grandemente 
 la Marchesana di Pescara ; del cui divino spirito 
 era inamorata." 1 There is another sonnet, also 
 translated by Wordsworth, which evidently was 
 inspired by Vittoria Colonna : 
 
 Sonnet. 
 
 " No mortal object did these eyes behold 
 When first they met the placid light of thine, 
 And my soul felt her destiny divine, 
 And hope bf endless peace in me grew bold. 
 Heaven-born the soul a heavenward course must hold. 
 Beyond the visible world she soars to seek 
 (For what delights the sense is false and weak), 
 Ideal form the universal mould. 
 The wise man, I affirm, can find no rest 
 In that which perishes ; nor will he lend 
 His heart to aught which doth on time depend. 
 'Tis sense, unbridled will and not true love, 
 That kills the soul. Love betters what is best 
 Even here below but more in heaven above." 2 
 
 1 " He loved deeply the Marchioness of Pescara, of whose divine 
 mind he was enamoured." 
 
 2 Moxon's "Wordsworth," p. 201. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 225 
 
 In the single letter of Vittoria Colonna to Michael 
 Angelo that we are able to give, she shows the 
 delicate tact which belongs to women of high posi- 
 tion. Michael Angelo had sent her a design for a 
 crucifix. Vittoria was to approve of it, and send 
 it back ; upon which the crucifix was to be begun. 
 
 But the drawing pleased her so well that she 
 would not give it back ; and she wrote : 
 
 " Unico Maestro Michel A^gnolo e mio singularissimc- Amico. 
 
 " I have received your letter, and have looked at the crucifix : a 
 work which truly effaces the remembrance of all the other repre- 
 sentations I know. For nothing more lovely, or more perfect, is 
 possible than this image of Christ ; with such inconceivable tender- 
 ness and wonderful power is it executed. But now whether it be 
 the work of any one but yourself, I will not have any one else 
 execute it. Let me know whether really any one but yourself 
 has designed it ? Forgive me this question ! If it is your work, 
 you must, under any circumstances, give it to me. If, however, it 
 is not your work, and you have wished to have it executed by one 
 of your workmen, we must first talk it over, for I know how 
 difficult it will be to work a second time over such a drawing. I 
 would rather that he who did it should execute for me something 
 else. If, however, the drawing is yours, pardon me if I do not 
 return it. I have examined it narrowly in the light both with lens 
 and mirror, and never saw a more perfect thing. 
 
 " Son al conta da uostro, ! 
 (Signed) " La Marchksa di Pescara." * 
 
 1 This expression is difficult to translate "/ am as ever," "as 
 usual," " according to our custom." 
 
 2 The following is a copy, by Grimm, of the original letter of 
 
 Q 
 
226 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 " With what tact," says Grimm, " she says, c I 
 would rather that he who did the drawing should 
 do something else for me ! ' She does not rely 
 on Michael Angelo himself that even he, if he 
 wished to execute the crucifix after the design, 
 could achieve something equally perfect ; and she 
 found a way of expressing this without offending 
 him." 
 
 Condi vi says of this drawing, that, " contrary to 
 the ordinary idea, Christ is -represented, not with 
 drooping head, but with his countenance joyfully 
 raised heavenward." A wonderfully beautiful design 
 
 Vitt oria Colonna, in the possession of the authorities of the British 
 Museum, giving the peculiar orthography : 
 
 " Unico Maestro Michel Angnolo et mio sinoitlarissimo 
 Amico, Io hanta la uostra et uisto il crucifixo, il qual certamente 
 ha crucifixe nella memoria mia quale altri picture, veddi mai ne se 
 po vider piu hen fatta, pia viva e piu finita imagine, et certo jo non 
 potrei mai explicar quanto sottilmente et mirabilmente e fatta per 
 il che ho risoluta di non volerlo di man daltri et pero chiaritemi se 
 questo e d'altri : patientia, se e uostra join ognimodo, vel torrei : ma 
 in caso che non sia uostro et uogliare fare a queluostro, ci parlaremo 
 prima, perche cognoscendo jo la dificulta che ce a di imitarlo, piu 
 presto mi resolvo che colui faccia, un' altra cosa che questa ; ma se 
 e il uostro questo, habbiate patientia che non son per tornarlo piu. 
 Io l'ho ben visto al lume et col vetro, et col specchio, et non viddi 
 mai la piu fiirita cosa. 
 
 " Son al conta da uostro, 
 
 " La Marchesa di Pescara." 
 
HER LIFE AND J? OEMS. 227 
 
 in the Oxford collection x may, perhaps, from this 
 circumstance, be the drawing sent to Viterbo. 
 
 A letter from Michael Angelo seems to refer to 
 this letter of Vittoria. Perhaps Vittoria, having 
 begged for the drawing, and not being answered, 
 applied to some third person, who was to remind 
 him of his promise ; and he wrote the following 
 touching letter : 
 
 '* Signora Makchesa, As I was myself in Rome you need not 
 have commissioned Messer Tommaso with regard to the crucifix, 
 and have placed him between you and me your servant, to demand 
 my services in this way. I would have done more for your Eccel- 
 lenza than for any one else whom I could name in the world, had 
 not the work which burdens me made it impossible to show this, 
 indeed, to your Eccellenza. I know your Eccellenza is familiar 
 with the saying, ' Amor non vuol maestro ; ' 2 and also, ' Chi amar 
 non dorme.' 3 It was unnecessary to make inquiries through 
 others. For, although it seems as if I had forgotten it, I wished to 
 give no hint about it only because I had a surprise in my mind. 1 
 am now deprived of this pleasure. 
 
 " Mai fa chi tanta fi si tosto obblia, 4 
 
 " Your Eccellenza's Servant. 
 
 1 "There is also at Oxford," says Dr. Waagen, "a female portrait 
 in pronle, by Michael Angelo, drawn in red chalk, very interesting, 
 as showing to what extent even such subjects as these were imbued 
 with the austere and elevated melancholy peculiar to him, and 
 apparent in some of his sonnets. Can this be a portrait of Vittoria 
 Colonna?" (Vol. iii. No. 35). 
 
 5 " Love does not wish a master." 
 
 3 "He who loves does not slumber." 
 
 4 " Evil to him who forgets so much fidelity, so soon." 
 
 Q '2 
 
228 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Among the inedited letters belonging to Michael 
 Angelo, in the custody of the Senator Buonarroti 
 of Florence, is the following note from Vittoria 
 Colonna. "It is written in a firm, strong hand, 
 and must have been sent only a year before her 
 death, as Michael Angelo did not become architect 
 of St. Peter's till the year 1546." l The passage is 
 as follows : 
 
 " Che volendo continuarla cod tanto calore essa manclierebbe di 
 stare la sera con le suore nella capella di Santa Caterina, ed egli di 
 andare di buon ora a lavorare a San Pietro ; e cosi l'una manche- 
 rebbe alle spose di Cristo, e l'altro al vicario." 
 
 " Your wishing to continue the writing of letters with so much 
 zeal will prevent my remaining in the evening with the sisters in 
 the chapel of Saint Catherine, and will prevent your going in good 
 time to your work at St. Peter's ; and so that one would fail in 
 duty to the sisters of Christ, and the other to his Vicar. " 
 
 Mr. Harford was permitted to read the letters of 
 Yittoria, which are preserved in the collection of 
 the great artist in possession of his descendants, 
 and these are five in number. Two of them refer 
 in a very grateful manner to the fine drawings he 
 had been making for her, and to which she alludes 
 with admiration. Another speaks with deep interest 
 
 1 Trollope, p. 380. It may refer to the St. Peter in the Pauline 
 Chapel, as Visconti states that Vittoria left Viterbo in 1543. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 229 
 
 of the devout sentiments of a sonnet which he had 
 sent for her perusal. These letters are written 
 with the most perfect ease, but there is not a 
 word in any of them approaching to tenderness. 1 
 
 1 Harford's " Life of Michael Angelo," vol. ii. p. 153. 
 
230 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 15411543. 
 
 The Marchese del Vasto had always been in 
 command somewhere in Italy ever since the death 
 of Pescara. In the year 1528 both he and Ascanio 
 Colonna were prisoners of war after some of the 
 encounters of the enemy. And it appears that they 
 were both in the custody of F. Dorio. 
 
 Vittoria, on hearing of the event, applied herself 
 to the Pope to use his influence with Dorio in favour 
 of the prisoners. Dorio replied to the Pope that, 
 though they were his prisoners, he did not hold 
 them as such ; but did them all the good offices 
 in his power. Vittoria at length succeeded in nego- 
 tiating their ransom ; paying herself a large sum of 
 money. "Thus the brother and son reaped the 
 kindness and influence of this great lady," says 
 Visconti. 
 
 After Vasto' s release he remained at Rome with 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 231 
 
 Vittoria, hoping to be elected by the Emperor 
 captain of his forces in Florence ; but this appoint- 
 ment did not take place, and he was nominated 
 instead Duke of Mantua in 1530. In the year 1541 
 we find him Governor of the Milanese, and under 
 some obloquy owing to the unhappy fate of two 
 Frenchmen who were attacked and murdered by some 
 of his soldiers as they sailed down the Po. These 
 men were sent, nominally, as ambassadors to Venice 
 by Francis L, to endeavour to seduce Venice to the 
 French cause. This outrage, committed during a 
 truce, Francis considered as an insult to the honour 
 of his crown. And he laid the infamy of the trans- 
 action at Vasto's door ; and appealed to the Em- 
 peror to demand a suitable reparation. 
 
 Vasto confidently asserted his own innocence, 
 but Francis considered that he had legal evidence 
 of his guilt, and that this affront justified him in 
 the immediate resumption of the war. Charles V. 
 meanwhile was so set upon his expedition to Algiers, 
 that he took but little interest in this affair of 
 Vasto's, and probably did not believe in his com- 
 plicity. It is certain that he retained him as general 
 of infantry in that fatal expedition. 
 
 Charles V. was slow, to an uncommon degree, in 
 
232 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 deciding on his measures ; but when once they were 
 settled, no power on earth was strong enough to 
 make him change them. He was aware of this 
 trait in his character, and spoke of it to Contarini ; 
 who observed "it was not obstinacy to adhere to 
 sound opinions." " True," replied Charles, " but I 
 sometimes adhere to those which are unsound." 
 
 In his expedition to Africa, in 1541, he adhered 
 to his first plan with determined obstinacy, in spite 
 of the remonstrances of the Pope, and of Andrew 
 Doria, the admiral of his fleet ; who conjured him 
 not to expose his armament to almost unavoid- 
 able destruction at so late a period of the year. 
 Barbarossa and the Algerine corsairs had long 
 been the dread of the Christians in the Mediter- 
 ranean. Their ships had infested the Spanish waters 
 and preyed on the commerce of the Spanish ports 
 for several years, and in 1535 Charles had de- 
 feated Barbarossa and liberated 20,000 Christian 
 slaves, and had entered Naples in triumph; 1 and 
 now it was the elements that worsted him rather 
 than the enemy. The fleet consisted of two hundred 
 galleys, furnished by the Pope, the Venetians, and 
 the Emperor. The fleet was dispersed by the 
 1 Robertson's "Charles V." book vi. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 233 
 
 most frightful storms, and the expedition entirely 
 failed. 
 
 The troops, 1 after they had contrived to land on 
 the Algerine coast, found themselves without hut 
 or tent to shelter them from the weather ; and were 
 dreadfully harassed by the Algerines. Among these 
 unfortunate sufferers were the Emperor himself and 
 the Marchese del Vasto, who commanded the 
 infantry. The troops passed an awful night; the 
 next day the hurricane had abated nothing of its 
 violence, and the sea appeared agitated with all the 
 rage of which it is capable. The ships on which 
 the army knew that their safety and subsistence 
 depended, were seen driven from their anchors : 
 some dashing against each other, some beaten to 
 pieces on the rocks, many forced ashore, and not 
 a few sinking in the waves. In less than an hour 
 fifteen ships of war, and a hundred and forty trans- 
 ports, with eight thousand men, perished. Doria 
 the next day made shift to send a boat to inform 
 
 1 The force consisted of 20,000 foot and 2,000 horse, mostly 
 veterans, with 3,000 volunteers, the flower of the Spanish and Italian 
 nobility, who were fond of paying court to the Emperor by attending 
 him in his favourite expedition, and eager to share in the glory 
 they expected he was going to reap. To this force were added 
 1,000 soldiers sent from Malta by the Order of St. John, and 
 100 of its most gallant knights, (a.d. 1541.) 
 
234 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 the Emperor that during fifty years he had never 
 seen a storm equal in fierceness and horrors ; and 
 that he was obliged to bear away the shattered 
 remnant of the fleet to Cape Metafus. Charles was 
 consequently obliged to lead the remains of his 
 army to that point, which, with the utmost diffi- 
 culty, he succeeded in doing, after toiling through 
 deep and almost impassable roads, where many 
 perished by famine, were drowned in brooks, or 
 died of exhaustion by the way. Charles himself, 
 after escaping the greatest dangers, was forced to 
 remain some w T eeks in the port of Bugia, owing 
 to the storms, before he could again embark. 
 
 It must have been a terrible anxiety to Vittoria 
 Colonna when she heard of the disasters attending 
 that ill-advised expedition. Whether the Marchese 
 del Vasto was among those thousands of brave 
 men, who fell victims to the African enterprise, 
 or not, it is certain that Vittoria had the great 
 grief of losing him shortly afterwards. 1 Visconti, 
 in speaking of his death, calls Vasto "the son of 
 her heart, cut off in the flower of his age and his 
 
 1 A Marchese del Gwasto, as the name is sometimes spelt, is 
 mentioned in the history of the time as Governor of the Milanese 
 in 1543 ; which was two years subsequent to this expedition. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 235 
 
 hopes ; who had, by high qualities and true nobi- 
 lity, and glory and valour, equalled even Pescara." 
 He adds that Vittoria had hoped to have seen 
 him receive the regal crown of Africa, and unite 
 Europe and Africa together in the bonds of Chris- 
 tianity and civilization. He does not mention 
 either the time or the manner of his death. " With 
 him was extinguished the light of the Italian 
 soldiers. This proved fatal to Vittoria, for all her 
 misfortunes were the misfortunes of Italy." (Vis- 
 conti, p. 138.) 
 
 "The last storm that could befall her," says 
 Rota, " had now broken over her ; and her health 
 gradually gave way under her afflictions." She 
 had fondly hoped that Vasto would have been 
 the stay and comfort of her age ; and she had 
 now seen him, and the flower of European troops, 
 ignominiously sacrificed. 
 
 We subjoin several sonnets addressed by her to 
 the Marchese del Vasto. The first was written soon 
 after the death of Pescara, to encourage her son to 
 follow his example : 
 
 Sonnet CXIII. 
 
 " Follow those beautiful footprints, my Lord, that I may behold 
 again in thee the clear light of my Sole revived, and cruel Fate 
 
236 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 avenged in a magnificent manner, to my desire ! Thy brave soul 
 hath despised the bitter, wicked fate of thy relative, and thy rare, 
 invincible valour (than which nothing ever was so dear to him) hath 
 taken away all want of his greater light. And now Pescara, who 
 shines again in thee, shows no longer here his living, glorious 
 light, but is above in the greater glory ; and I hear that thy heart, 
 putting aside all deceits and contentions, is anxious to prize only 
 the highest minds." 
 
 The second (the 109th Sonnet) speaks of her hopes 
 being realized, by the character which Vasto had 
 acquired. She says : 
 
 " My Lord, thy glory has made our name still more esteemed, and 
 has adorned us with praise, and thou hast encircled thine own noble 
 brow with an eternal wreath by thy courage, ever ready and invin- 
 cible in danger. Thou hast no need of gems and gold ; thou hast 
 found treasures in the fount of Apollo ! Thy valour renders thee 
 secure, and raises thee high above other men, and thy humility 
 exalts thee above envy. Heaven has reserved thee to us for many, 
 many years. May this idea give thee high and happy thoughts." 
 
 The third is written after his death, when these 
 affectionate expectations had come to so grievous an 
 end: 
 
 Sonnet CXCIX. 
 
 " Figlio e signor, se la tua prima e vera 
 Madre vive prigion, non 1' e gia tolto 
 L' anima saggia, o '1 chiaro spirito sciolto, 
 Ne di tante virtu Y invitta schiera. 
 
 " A me, che sembro andar scarca e leggiera, 
 E 'n poca terra ho il cor chiuso e sepolto, 
 Convien ch' abbi talor 1* occhio rivolto, 
 Che la novella tua madre non pera. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 237 
 
 " Tu per gli aperti spaziosi campi 
 Del ciel cammini, e non piu nebbia o pietra 
 Ritarda o ingombra il tuo spedito corso. 
 
 11 Io grave d'anni agghiaccio ! or tu, cb' avvampi 
 D'alma fiamma celeste umil m'impetra 
 Dal commun padre eterno omai soccorso." 
 
 " Son and lord, if tby first and true motber lives still a prisoner, 
 her wise mind is not taken from ber, nor her bright and buoyant 
 spirit, nor the invisible array of so many virtues. 
 
 "To me, who seem to go empty and light, and to have my heart 
 shut up and buried in a little plot of earth, it befits that thou shouldst 
 have thine eyes turned, so that thy new mother should not perish. 
 
 " Thou wanderest through the open spacious plains of heaven ; 
 no more does cloud or rock impede or darken thy way ; whilst I 
 freeze, weighed down with years. 
 
 " Thou, whose soul burns with a celestial flame, intercede for my 
 humble self, and pleading obtain [succour for me now from the 
 Universal Eternal Father." 
 
 After this last most severe affliction, Vittoria's 
 infirm health rapidly grew worse, "Frapoche dolce 
 e assai lagrime amare inferma a morte." She con- 
 tinued to reside for some time in the monastery at 
 Viterbo, where she could enjoy "that religious 
 silence which was more than ever suited to her 
 contemplations of heaven," writes Visconti. " Here 
 she composed her last rime, which breathe an air 
 of heavenly blessedness. And here she wrote the 
 beautiful prayer, in Latin (as the best suited to the 
 august majesty of religion), which invaluable gem I 
 
238 VITTOMA COLONNA: 
 
 found," he says, "by a great chance, in a family 
 manuscript." This prayer and the translation are 
 given in the sequel of this memoir. 
 
 It must have been a melancholy meeting between 
 Vittoria and Michael Angelo when she came again 
 to Rome with shattered health. We know from 
 Tolomei's anxious letters that she had gone through 
 a severe illness. He writes from Rome to Giuseppe 
 Cencio at Viterbo, saying : 
 
 " I am extremely distressed to hear of the indisposition of the 
 Marchesana di Pescara, for she is one of those ladies worthy of the 
 reverence of the whole world, having in herself such virtue, good- 
 ness, and strength ; and, above all, having in these corrupt times 
 done such good work in the service of Christ." 
 
 In a second letter he says : 
 
 " I am extremely happy to hear from your letter that she is 
 already so much better of her illness. Remember, Maestro Giu- 
 seppe, that in her life is' wound up the lives of many others, who 
 receive from her their daily food of the mind or the body. Have a 
 care to let me know daily the accounts of the Marchesa's indisposi- 
 tion, because I continue in great anxiety ; and may it please God 
 that you will be able to send me good news, which the world has 
 need of, and desires every blessing upon her. For Heaven's sake, 
 Maestro Cencio, use every diligence for the health of so noble a 
 ! ladj r , who gives more joy to the world by her advice and example 
 \ 1 than do many others by their preaching and doctrines. Here use 
 \ all your knowledge ; here show all your art. For certainly, if she 
 is lost through our disgrace, well may Italy say, ' Spento il primo 
 valor, qual fia le secondo.'" 
 
 Her friends all felt great anxiety about her, and 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 239 
 
 feared that the loss of her adopted son would also 
 prove fatal to Vittoria. There was, indeed, cause for 
 great uneasiness. In another letter Tolomei says : 
 
 " I will not here enter into her merits, because in another place, 
 perhaps, I shall leave a testimony of her, that every one may see, 
 though her life is such that in every age it will be illumed like a 
 new sun, and renewed like the phoenix." 
 
 This letter was written the 28th of July, 1543 ; 
 and, in August of the same year, he says : 
 
 " I am most happy to find from your letter that she is somewhat 
 better of her sad indisposition." 
 
 II Gualteruzzi, 1 who was a faithful friend and 
 servant of Vittoria Colonna, and the father of 
 her pupil Innocenza, consulted in Verona the cele- 
 
 i A letter to him, from the learned Dottore Torre, of Yerona, 
 speaks of the fame of " the new and high poems " of Vittoria, 
 on the occasion of the loss of the Colonna property in the Papal 
 States, in 1541. These especially were the 139th Sonnet and 
 that to the Pope, both of which are given in Chapter xxi. Torre 
 writes : "I have read many times the sonnets of our most illustrious 
 lady, but I shall not be satisfied unless I read them often again. I 
 beg you please to excuse me if I do not return them now, but I 
 will do so by the first opportunity. I received the original copies 
 with a request that they should not go out of my hands, which 
 promise 1 gave faithfully, and I confess I am jealous of it ; so that 
 I cannot let these rare compositions be in any other hands than 
 mine in this country. This grace and favour is so highly esteemed, 
 that people come to me with joy to see my treasures ; and the more 
 one sees them, the more one discovers their beauties. Kiss the hand 
 of S. Eccellenza for the favour she has granted me, &c. Verona, 
 16th February, 1.'. 11." 
 
240 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 brated Fracastoro, a medical man, who, in pro- 
 posing his remedies, added, 
 
 " I wish that a physician for her mind could be found, otherwise 
 the most beautiful light in this world ('a non so che strano modo '), 
 by I know not how strange a manner, will be extinguished and 
 taken from our sight. " 
 
 Visconti says, " Awenne intanto che in monistero 
 demorando cadesse in grave infermita " (she remained 
 in the cloister seriously ill). " And truly," he adds, 
 "Vittoria lived with excessively little care, almost 
 with scorn, of the body ; and of these thoughts her 
 poems of that time are filled. But her letters to 
 the sister of Contarini, and those she sent to the 
 Duchessa d'Amalfi and the Queen of Navarre, are 
 sufficient proofs that she retained, in her affectionate 
 heart, every remembrance of those persons who were 
 dear to her. ,> A translation of these letters, from the 
 original Italian, is given in Chapter xxi. 
 
 Visconti says he has discovered by inedited docu- 
 ments that Vittoria continued to reside in Viterba 
 to the end of the year 1 1543, and adds: "I can 
 positively affirm that she returned to Rome at the 
 
 1 M. A. Flaminio, writing from Viterbo, February 1543, says : 
 H The Most Reverend Legate, the Cardinal Pole, and the illustrious 
 Marchesa, salute you. " 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 241 
 
 end of the following year ; and what is not gene- 
 rally known, that she placed her poems in the 
 monastery of the Benedettine di S. Anna, which at 
 that time was called de'Funari, and is now, in 1815, 
 an hospital for poor and abandoned orphans." 
 
 R 
 
242 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 15411548. 
 
 ViTTOElA selected Viterbo as a residence in the 
 year 1541, and it mnst have been here that the 
 news of the fatal expedition to Africa reached her. 
 The Pope had, in the same year, appointed Cardinal 
 Pole governor of that fair portion of the Papal 
 States called The Patrimony, of which Viterbo is 
 the capital. And it was probably, in some degree, 
 on account of her frieud Pole being resident there, 
 that she had fixed herself in a convent in that city. 
 After the death of Contarini, which occurred in August 
 1 542, Vittoria exclaimed, " I have no other spiritual 
 service left to me but Pole." Cardinal Pole was of a 
 kind and gentle nature, and one on whose friendship 
 she might rely ; and which continued to the day of 
 her death. He had the highest respect for her, 
 and " honoured her as a mother." Pole was ten 
 years yourger than she was ; and she stood to him, 
 

 HER LIFE AND POEMS. 243 
 
 in the calm dignity of her age, somewhat in the 
 place of the venerable Duchess of Salisbury, who 
 was executed in this same year 1541. 
 
 Pole and Vittoria could console one another 
 and mourn for the dear friends whom, in this 
 fatal year, they had lost. We find that after hear- 
 ing of his bereavement, Pole was living in retire- 
 ment in a convent near the residence of his friend 
 Sadolet, Bishop of Carpentras, and that he then 
 had received a long Latin letter from Vittoria 
 Colonna, full of sympathy for the heavy affliction 
 he was suffering under ; and from this we presume 
 that they were already personally acquainted. We 
 cannot produce her letter, but we give a translation 
 of his in reply. In which he says what " a cordial 
 her letter had been to him ; and that he had pro- 
 fited by the wisdom and tenderness with which she 
 had ministered to his comfort." He says, also, that 
 " he had not only ever reverenced her from the time 
 that he discovered her virtues, but that, when the 
 madness of Henry VIII. (whom he designates by 
 the name of Pharaoh) had snatched away the mother 
 who gave him birth, he had received Vittoria into 
 that mother's place, as he would ever proclaim ; if 
 she would undertake the charge of him. And he 
 
 K 2 
 
244 V1TT0RIA COLONNA: 
 
 compares himself to Moses left exposed to the 
 dangers of the river, ' and not only of the river, 
 but those of land, and sea, but still more of false 
 brethren.' " 
 
 He says, " I am encompassed with such a variety 
 of afflictions that I scarcely know how r to extricate 
 myself." Of his mother he says, "She was sen- 
 tenced to death ; that is, to life eternal. Unless I 
 had so understood it life would be insupportable to 
 me. I am now the son of a martyr." 
 
 It is desirable to give some slight sketch of the 
 
 life of this remarkable man, as he was so intimately 
 
 connected with Vittoria Colonna. She proved her 
 
 high esteem for Pole by appointing him one of the 
 
 executors of her will, and by leaving him a legacy 
 
 of 10,000 scudi, which he refused to accept, and 
 
 ordered that the money should be added to the 
 
 fortune of Vittoria's niece when she married Don 
 
 Garcia di Toledo. 
 
 Letter XLYI. 
 
 [Translation.] 
 
 Reginald Cardinal Pole to the Marchioness of Pescara. 
 
 " As there are but few things, at this time, that I read, or learn 
 from the discourses of others, which can please or cheer me, thy 
 Excellency's letter was the more acceptable, since it not only gave 
 great pleasure, but much comfort also. Nevertheless, it was not 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 245 
 
 the letter itself (for, to tell the truth, I do not attribute so much 
 to it, though gracefully written and well adapted to cheer) which 
 aroused me, destitute of all human consolation, and almost broken 
 in spirit, to a better hope ; but that which did so was that Spirit 
 who spoke through it, who, since He is the Source of all true and 
 lasting consolation, exercising His power most at that time when 
 we seem most forlorn, has the name of Comforter, and is called the 
 Paraclete ; whom I see that thine Excellency holds as the Inspirer 
 of thy writings, as well as the Guide of thine actions. But since 
 He put before me, in that letter, that it is the cause of Christ that 
 I have in hand, in which I am conscious that I have in no respect 
 failed, so far as in me lay, but that I have laboured according to 
 my strength, and the grace given me by Christ, that it may be 
 completed to His honour ; if I find the hindrances more and 
 greater than the helps, or rather that all things are hindrances, 
 that there is no help from man, what remains but that I should 
 console myself in Christ ? Of such a kind, truly, is the consolation 
 that I recognise ; that it is He to whom has been given all power in 
 heaven and in earth, whose goodness, and whose care for His own, 
 who are those for whose welfare we labour to His honour, is greater 
 than we ourselves can exercise towards ourselves. If, therefore, we 
 acknowledge these things, how, henceforth, can we doubt but that 
 when the time is come that seemeth good to God the Father, which 
 He only knows, He will in a moment scatter all hindrances, and 
 will complete the other things for which we long, even more fully 
 than we can hope. "Who in the meantime, according to His grace, 
 does not despise our service ; in which we never labour in vain, 
 even though that which we most eagerly desire may not succeed, 
 inasmuch as we often know not what we should desire, even in 
 good things ; but He knows, and in His own time will correct a 1 1 
 things, who is blessed for evermore. Amen. 
 
 ''These things, in truth, of which thy Excellency's letter 
 admonishes me, not only comfort me, but clearly set forth that 1 
 must bear all things with equanimity, for which thanks be to 
 Christ. But what thy Excellency writes, that thou fearest that 
 they, whose assistance we beg, will be found somewhat slow to 
 take in hand the work of Christ, because perchance they do 
 not plainly perceive any personal advantage therefrom, makes me 
 
246 VITTORIA COLONNA. 
 
 wish that, with the public advantage, there may be some put 
 before them individually. For I am not ignorant of how great 
 importance among men is the consideration of private advantage in 
 public matters, a fact which the experience of human life teaches ; 
 nor have we been so deficient in this as not to put forward many 
 attractions. But this fact the doctrine of Christ formerly taught 
 me, now experience points out, that those who, being ministers of 
 the kingdom of Christ, turn away from His cause, unless they first 
 see some private advantage, cannot perceive this even when placed 
 before their eyes. This, I repeat, experience now teaches me in 
 those matters which I have put forward, as the reasoning of the 
 doctrine of Christ had previously taught, in whom are hidden all 
 the treasures, not only of wisdom and knowledge, but also of all 
 individual advantage and benefit, so that His servant who will not 
 recognise individual gain in Him, cannot ever perceive any other 
 even when placed before his eyes. What, then, must we do here 
 if we seek consolation ? Of a truth we must return to that which I 
 mentioned just now from thy Excellency's letter, namely, the 
 providence of Christ over His kingdom. Put your hope in Him, 
 and He will grant it. But if we seek a manner of handling this 
 work of Christ, assuredly when we have tried everything that can 
 be done by ability and zeal, that resource at length prevails, which, 
 although it is not the only one, is certainly the chief, which thy 
 Excellency touches upon in the last part of thy letter, which con- 
 sists of prayer. For by this the Church and servants of Christ have 
 ever been more powerful than by all the other means which either 
 ability or strength can employ ; through this the Church has 
 always escaped out of all dangers ; through this it stands. 
 
 " Wherefore this, which thy Excellency writes, so far as especially 
 relates to me, that thou with love, and thy sisters with whom thou 
 livest, with all purity, continually commend me to God in your 
 prayers, was so gratifying to me that nothing could delight me 
 more : nothing, in fine, could give me greater confidence for my 
 welfare. Verily, if there be any hope left of escaping at any time 
 from so many pitfalls and dangers as are laid out on all sides against 
 my life by Pharaoh, it certainly rests on those holy cohorts which 
 God, according to His mercy, has granted me in many places for a 
 support, by whose prayers I may be defended against the enemies 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 247 
 
 of God ; of whom, truly, I never think without great peace of 
 mind. And, so often as I hear that they are standing firm in their 
 duty, as indeed I often do learn from the letters of many, I hear 
 nothing more willingly or more pleasantly ; so that, at the present 
 time, I am filled with great joy for this very cause from thy Excel- 
 lency's letter. Wherefore nothing now remains save that I should 
 beseech thy Excellency, and thy sisters, to keep stedfastly this your 
 watch. And it well becomes thine Excellency to do so, whom I 
 have not only ever reverenced from the time that I discovered that 
 thou wast endowed of God with the greatest virtues, but whom, at a 
 later date, when the madness of Pharaoh had snatched away my 
 mother who gave me birth, I received into my mother's place, not 
 such an one as Moses had, whose son he afterwards denied that he 
 was, as she was Pharaoh's daughter, but such as, if thou wilt 
 now undertake the charge of me, I shall ever proclaim. And I am 
 no less destitute than was Moses at that time, when he was a babe, 
 exposed not only to the dangers of the river, as he was, but also to 
 those of land and sea, and, what surpasses all, of false brethren : 
 wherefore I am no less worthy of being adopted by the daughter of 
 a mighty King, yea, of that very King who hurled Pharaoh and his 
 army into the sea ; especially as I myself am labouring in conse- 
 quence of Pharaoh's anger, and in the cause of that same mighty 
 King. And so again and again I commend myself to the protection 
 of thy Excellency and thy sisters, for whom my prayers will ever 
 be laid before that mighty King, that He may always protect and 
 preserve you as become His daughters." 
 
 Pole was related to Henry VIII. both on his 
 father's and his mother's side. Most of his family 
 had died, or were executed, in contentions for the 
 crown of England. He was early selected, by Queen 
 Catherine, as a husband for her daughter Mary ; 
 and Pole's mother, the Duchess of Salisbury, was 
 entrusted with the education of the little princess. 
 
248 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Pole incurred the deep displeasure of the King 
 by his famous treatise, " Pro Unitate Ecclesiastica," 
 in which he opposed the divorce of Queen Cathe- 
 rine. Henry withdrew Pole's pension, deprived him 
 of his preferments, and procured from Parliament 
 his attainder. Pole escaped into Italy in time to 
 save his own life ; but his aged mother and his elder 
 brother were brought to the scaffold, on the merest 
 pretence, to assuage the wrath of the King. 
 
 Pole had already been residing in Italy, having re- 
 received part of his education at the University of 
 Padua ; and it was here that he formed a lasting 
 friendship with Sadolet, Bembo, and other distin- 
 guished Italians, who cordially welcomed him back 
 after his attainder. These cultivated men could fully 
 estimate Pole's great qualities and accomplishments, 
 which had been acquired in Italy, and which were 
 less understood in England, where he did not choose 
 to make them known. 
 
 When he fixed himself in his government at Vi- 
 terbo, he selected none but good men for his imme- 
 diate household. His friend Sadolet speaks of him 
 as "a man of unshaken constancy, and of virtue of the 
 most superior order. Owing to his wisdom, modesty, 
 humanity, and religion, he was looked upon as one 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 249 
 
 come down from heaven. All the world adored him for 
 his learning and virtue. His conversation was above 
 the ordinary sort of men, and it would be a strong 
 heart that he would not soften in half an hour's talk." 
 
 His birth, ancestors, and obligations in England, 
 and the persecutions and afflictions which he was 
 suffering under, naturally added an interest to his 
 character. We are told that "he set a noble 
 example both in his private life and as a prince 
 and governor." Vittoria resided in the Convent of S. 
 Caterina, but this did not prevent her enjoying occa- 
 sionally the privilege of the society which he drew 
 around him. These advantages must have been very 
 agreeable to a woman of such matured intellectual 
 tastes ; and it is desirable for us to gain some insight 
 into the celebrated group of friends who surrounded 
 Cardinal Pole, " amongst whom shone conspicu- 
 ously the Marchesana di Pescara, ' whose price is 
 far above rubies.' " 
 
 Pole had established a society for social and 
 literary meetings among his learned friends, includ- 
 ing persons of both sexes. To this circle belonged 
 Carnesecchi, a man of the highest character, who 
 afterwards suffered martyrdom at Rome. 1 Also 
 1 See Appendix. 
 
250 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Flaminio, who ranked foremost amongst the friends 
 of Pole and Vittoria, and who resided entirely with 
 the former. In some of Pole's letters he speaks of 
 the agreeable society of his court, of which, he says, 
 * Vittoria is the centre." 
 
 " I have too much experienced the almost universal depravity, 
 not to own the happiness I enjoy in the intimacy of a few acquaint- 
 ances, to whose uprightness I can now, more than ever, bear honour- 
 able testimony." 
 
 And he thus describes, in a letter to Contarini, 
 how, after public business had been despatched, the 
 rest of the day was spent in the improving society 
 of Carnesecchi and Flaminio : 
 
 " Improving, I call it ! Because in the evenings Marco Antonio 
 Flaminio feeds me with that food which perish eth not ; so that 
 I scarcely know when I have received greater comfort or edification, 
 and all that I feel to be wanting to make our party complete is your 
 presence amongst us." 
 
 When it had been, in Leo's time, the tone of 
 society to doubt or deny the truths of Christianity, a 
 reaction took place in the minds of men of high cul- 
 ture and refinement. The cause of learning and that 
 of the Reformation were closely connected. In every 
 country of Europe they had the same friends and the 
 same enemies. The Greek and Latin classics had 
 aroused men's minds to inquire for themselves boldly 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 251 
 
 on all subjects ; and, instead of being startled by 
 Luther's attack on established errors, they applauded 
 the attempt. It appears certain that Pole leaned 
 to the new opinions, and Flaminio distinctly pro- 
 fessed them. 
 
 Marco Antonio Flaminio, Pole's faithful friend, 
 was born in 1498. He was one of the most elegant 
 and amiable of the Latin poets of his period ; and 
 had been very carefully educated by his father, who 
 was Professor of Belles-Lettres at Bologna. "His 
 father refused for him, or he himself refused, the 
 office of Pontifical Secretary, offered to him by Leo 
 X. The refusal of so respectable and advantageous 
 an employment for a young man, on his entrance 
 into public life, is remarkable, and might induce a 
 suspicion that they did not approve of the morals and 
 manners of the Roman court, or had not been fully 
 satisfied with the conduct of the Pontiff : a suspicion 
 that may perhaps receive some confirmation from 
 the fact, that Marco Antonio Flaminio has not 
 throughout all his poetical works introduced the 
 praises, or even the name, of Leo X." 1 He resided 
 some time at Verona with Bishop Ghiberto, who 
 gave him a present of a farm deliciously situated 
 
 1 Roscoe's " Leo X." vol. iii. p. 310. 
 
252 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 on the Lago di Garda. His health being delicate 
 he removed to Naples in 1537, where he remained 
 till 1541, when he had entirely recovered. Here 
 he became acquainted with Vittoria Colonna, 
 and with Valdez, who had great influence in con- 
 verting him to the cause of the Reformation. 
 " Perhaps the very piety of Flaminio," says Tira- 
 boschi, "and the austere and innocent life which 
 he led, drew him into those snares ; since the 
 reform of abuses, and the amendment of manners, 
 were the pretexts of which the heretics availed 
 themselves in attacking the Church ; and it is not 
 to be wondered at that some pious persons suffered 
 themselves to be seduced by such arguments." 
 While he was in Naples he was chosen to accom- 
 pany Contarini on his mission to the Conference 
 of Worms. But he got excused from the journey 
 on account of his health. He afterwards resided 
 at Viterbo with Cardinal Pole. From a letter 
 to Contarini which he wrote whilst there, it 
 appears that Pole was rather the disciple of Fla- 
 minio in spiritual matters, than his instructor. 
 He was at Trent with Pole in 1543, at the time 
 when the Council was adjourned, and was offered 
 in the year 1545 the office of Secretary to the 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 253 
 
 Council, which he declined. He, however, again 
 accompanied Pole thither, nor does he seem ever 
 to have left his service. After a long illness he 
 died in Pole's house, in Rome, in the year 1550, 
 tenderly and universally lamented. His contem- 
 poraries are lavish in their praises of his virtues 
 and genius. It was said to be impossible to read 
 his works without loving the author, as "they 
 appear to be dictated by a heart the most sensible 
 and tender that ever existed." 
 
 His works were prohibited by the Index Purga- 
 torio of Paul IV. in 1559. It is even affirmed that 
 Caraffa intended to take up his corpse, and commit 
 it to the flames ; this, however, was never done. 
 
 Among those who were intimate around Pole at 
 this time was Antonio Brucioli. He was a native 
 of Florence. He published the Italian version of 
 the New Testament in 1530, and in the two fol- 
 lowing years translated portions of the rest of the 
 sacred books. This Bible was ranked among the 
 prohibited books of the first class in the Index of 
 the Council of Trent, and all Brucioli' s books, pub- 
 lished, or to be published, were formally interdicted. 
 But his translation had previously been eagerly 
 read, and had greatly contributed to the spread of 
 
254 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 religious knowledge in Italy. In the dedication to 
 his Book of Job, he calls Margaret, Queen of 
 Navarre, the great patroness of the Reformed "the 
 refuge of oppressed Christians." 
 
 Such was the eager desire of the Italians at that 
 time to read the Scriptures, that other versions were 
 brought out, in the years 1538, 1542, 1551, and 1562, 
 by Marmocchini, Zaccario, Teofilo, and Rustici who 
 all wrote like Protestants. 
 
 It is related by the inquisitors themselves that 
 the new opinions had a number of distinguished 
 adherents in Italy, and they mention amongst them 
 Pagliarici of Siena, Carnesecchi of Florence, Rotto 
 of Bologna, who was protected by Morone, Fra 
 Antonio of Volterra, Pole, Vittoria Colonna, and 
 indeed some man of eminence in nearly every town 
 in Italy. 1 
 
 These opinions had made active progress also 
 among the middle classes of Italy. The report of 
 the Inquisition reckons three thousand school- 
 masters as attached to them. 
 
 But in Italy men did not adopt Lutherism, 
 though they approached it. The idea that the 
 Church is one and indivisible, and the habitual 
 
 1 "Compendium of the Inquisitors," folio 9, c. 94. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 255 
 
 reverence for the Supreme Head, were closely woven 
 into the Italian mind. Flaminio, in his Exposition 
 of the Psalms, styles the Pope "The Warder and 
 Prince of all Holiness, the Vicegerent of God upon 
 earth." And Folenzo, though he remonstrated 
 against fasts, masses, and confessions even against 
 the priesthood, the tonsure, and the mitre yet 
 continued in the Benedictine Convent, where he 
 had taken his vows at sixteen, till the day of his 
 death. 
 
 Clario, who corrected the Vulgate, says in his 
 Introduction, "No corruption can be so great as 
 to justify leaving the communion of Rome ; " and 
 Ochino never would have separated from it, except 
 from the fear of martyrdom. " It was not till the 
 torch of persecution blazed that Pole ceased to coun- 
 tenance the reformed opinions. A single step further 
 would have exposed him to an inquisitorial process." l 
 He counselled prudence; he inculcated mental 
 reservation ; he advised his friends to rest satisfied 
 with a secret belief in the truth. But subterfuge 
 did not save him from the charge of heresy to the 
 end of his life. An expression has been attributed 
 to him : " That a man should content himself with 
 1 Harford, vol. ii. p. 292. 
 
256 VITTORIA COLONNA, 
 
 his own inward convictions without encumbering 
 his thoughts as to whether there were errors and 
 abuses in the Church ; " x but it was from his party, 
 in Italy, that these attempts of reform proceeded. 
 
 He is said to have held to the Church, " in oppo- 
 sition to many apprehensions he himself had of some 
 theological points." Hume says that " he was sus- 
 pected at Rome of some tendency towards Lutherism, 
 because his benevolent disposition led him to advise 
 a toleration of the heretical doctrines." His bene- 
 volent disposition failed him when he got to Canter- 
 bury. Nothing is more extraordinary than the change 
 observable in his conduct on his return to England. 
 
 He obtained leave from the Pope to retire from 
 the government of the Patrimony in the year 
 1548 ; the death of so many dear friends, espe- 
 cially of Vittoria Colonna, the failure of the hopes 
 of the liberal party, with Contarini at its head, 
 and a disrelish of the world, caused him to sink 
 into despair. 
 
 It has been said that he retired into a monastery 
 
 1 Pole intreated Contarini to vindicate the honour of so great 
 and good a man as Sadolet from all imputation of having advanced 
 anything foreign to the received tenets of the Church ! Yet Pole 
 calls the great Lutheran tenet " this holy, fruitful, and indispensable 
 truth." Ranke. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 257 
 
 in Verona ; but we find him at Rome, in 1548, 
 living in his own house, and soothing the last hours 
 of his faithful friend Flaminio. 
 
 Letter VIII. 
 
 [Translation.] 
 
 'Reginald Cardinal Pole to Caspar Cardinal Contarini. 
 
 " 1 rejoice greatly that the most reverend Lady Vittoria, with 
 all her companions, having overcome the difficulties and dangers of 
 the journey, arrived at Ratisbon, as at a haven, in safety ; and was 
 there received, both by the Emperor and by the citizens, with that 
 honour with which it was fit, and is customary, for the ambassadors 
 of this Holy Seat to be received by Catholic people and princes. 
 But I am equally glad, too, that the Emperor, in the speech which 
 he made at the first meeting, manifested such a disposition and 
 wish to settle the controversies of the Church, as we all desire, and 
 as becomes such a prince. Not that this was a new idea to me, 
 nor that I doubted what the wish of the Emperor would be in such 
 a matter, but because, from his showing so manifest a desire, this 
 is a great proof to me that he entertains a hope that the affairs, of 
 which some had almost despaired, can be settled. So that, when I 
 hear that the most prudent of princes has not given up this expec- 
 tation, I myself readily become hopeful ; and the more so from the 
 fact that the arms of the Turks, which especially seemed likely to 
 be an hindrance, both to this holy work and to all such of which 
 the State stands very much in need, God in His providence has 
 turned aside against the East, for which we have great cause to be 
 thankful. Thus all the details of the letter of the most reverend 
 Lady Vittoria were most gratifying to me ; yet not to me alone, but 
 also to those most reverend doctors to whom she wished me to 
 communicate them. Yesterday, however, in the Council, we 
 obtained more accurate and more perfect knowledge of these same 
 things, from the letter of the most reverend Lady Vittoria to the 
 most Reverend Farensius, which the Pope ordered to be read out 
 that they might be heard by all ; about which, when our Holy 
 
258 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Master had first made known his own opinion, not only with respect 
 to the whole matter, bat also to the character of the most reverend 
 Lady Vittoria, and with no small praise of her prudence and of 
 her earnest desire, the same was, with great eagerness, confirmed 
 by all. 
 
 " As far as relates to the most illustrious Marchioness of Pescara, 
 whose character the most reverend Lady Vittoria thought suited 
 to overcome the obstinacy of her brother, she indeed, such is her 
 affection for her brother, as well as her love for and obedience to 
 our Holy Master, left nothing untried in order to bring back her 
 brother from the raging of war to rest and repose. But as she 
 effected no good with him, either by advice or by entreaty, and did 
 not see by what means she could -but this, indeed, found out, that 
 her sacred leisure to which she is accustomed was, as long as she 
 was in the city, being continually interrupted, and, in short, 
 destroyed, without any results, by those who kept soliciting her 
 assistance in some such matters this holy plan occurred to her, 
 to leave the city and retire to some place where, with greater peace 
 of mind, she might turn all her prayers to God, whom she rightly 
 judges to be alone able to help affairs that are come to such a pass. 
 Therefore she withdrew to Orvieto, and there hid herself in a convent 
 of nuns, with whose ordinances and conversation, as she wrote to 
 me afterwards, she is so delighted, that she fancies herself living 
 with so many angels. Happy beings, whose care it is to understand 
 these things ! I cease not to commend to God continually, in my 
 unworthy prayers, the most reverend Lady Vittoria, that He may, 
 according to His power, grant unto her ability in this His holy 
 work to bruise the serpent's head ; and, in turn, I desire to be 
 commended in the pious prayers of the most reverend Lady 
 Vittoria. I salute the Abbot of St. Palatius in the bowels of 
 Christ, and the reverend Doctor Scotus, with the rest of his holy 
 family. 
 
 " Given at Rome, 2d April, 1541." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 259 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 15481558. 
 
 When Paul III. died, (1549) it was very gene- 
 rally expected that Cardinal Pole would be elected 
 Pope. He was twice actually nominated, and the 
 second time was waited upon late at night by the 
 cardinals to perform the ceremony of adoration. 
 But, insisting upon a delay till morning, he missed 
 the tiara, 1 which perhaps he had not ambition 
 enough to desire. Caraffa, in conclave, openly 
 stated his belief in Pole's heretical opinions. He 
 feared the rivalry of Pole ; and used all his influ- 
 ence against him. Caraffa, hot-headed and impe- 
 rious as he was, quailed before him as well as before 
 Ignatius Loyala. 
 
 In a letter from Pole, dated 6th of March, 1548, 
 he says : " I was so overwhelmed with grief at the 
 death of the most illustrious Lady Victoria Colonna, 
 
 1 Murcellus II. was elected Pope. 
 S 2 
 
260 VITTOBIA COLONNA: 
 
 whom I honoured as a mother, that I almost sank 
 under it." This was just a year after her death. 
 Five years afterwards, in 1553, Edward VI. of 
 England died, and Queen Mary came to the 
 throne. She immediately commanded Pole's return, 
 and, it is said, offered her hand to him in marriage 
 as had originally been contemplated. This honour, 
 if offered, was respectfully declined. Pole did not 
 take priest's orders till 1556, when, on the death 
 of Cranmer, he was ordained and consecrated 
 Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 Mary had insisted on the Pope nominating Pole 
 Legate to the Court of England. She declared 
 that she knew no one so likely to fill the chair well 
 as her dearest kinsman. The Pope (Caraffa), with the 
 greatest reluctance, at last consented, but he con- 
 tinued to preserve the utmost suspicion and hatred 
 against Pole. Pole, at length, set out to return 
 home ; but the Emperor would not allow him to 
 pass into England, till the negotiations he had in 
 hand, for marrying his son Philip to Mary of 
 England, were fully arranged. The royal marriage 
 took place in July, 1554 ; and the new Legate 
 was, at length, permitted to land in England in 
 November of the same year. His arrival was 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 261 
 
 conducted with magnificent pomp ; and on his 
 reaching London, the Queen received him with 
 the utmost affection. She threw herself upon his 
 breast and kissed him, rising in haste from table 
 to greet him on his arrival. She said his coming 
 gave her as much joy as the possession of her 
 kingdom. He replied, "Ave Maria gratia plena 
 Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus." The 
 Queen answered "in words of sweet humility." 
 
 She sent him word afterwards that at his coming 
 the babe had leaped in her womb ! x 
 
 Pole not only compared the Queen to the Virgin 
 Mary, and Philip to Solomon ; he even went so far 
 as to compare Philip to Christ. He wrote to the 
 Pope that their marriage was formed " after the very 
 pattern of that of our Most High King, who, being 
 Heir of the World, was sent down by His Father 
 from His throne, to be at once the Spouse and the 
 Son of the Virgin Mary, and be made the Com- 
 forter and the Saviour of mankind. In like manner," 
 he says, " the greatest of all princes upon earth, the 
 heir of his father's kingdom, departed from his own 
 broad and happy realms, that he might come hither 
 unto this land of trouble, to be the spouse and son 
 
 1 Though her hopes of an heir were entirely illusory ! 
 
262 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 of this virgin." "This amazing comparison," says 
 Froude, " must be given in the original Latin 
 words ; for one cannot forget what Philip had 
 been, was, and was to be ! " 
 
 Add to this the fact that Mary was ten years older 
 than her Spanish husband, that she was thirty-seven 
 and Philip was twenty-seven ; that she called him 
 " boy ; " and that contemporary writers describe her 
 "as aged, worn" {fort envieillie et dgge) 1 "with 
 growing years, wasted figure, ill-health, and with 
 a voice ' grossa, et quasi di huomo ; ' " 2 . and the 
 language of Pole becomes, indeed, not only blas- 
 phemous, but ludicrous. How often in his secret 
 thoughts must he have compared this coarse and 
 infatuated woman, with the gentle and lovely 
 Vittoria, whose friendship he had prized to the 
 day of her death. 
 
 Burnet, curiously enough, says of Pole's conduct, 
 after he became Legate, " Being a humble, modest, 
 and good-natured man, he gave up the Queen 
 to the bloody counsels of Gardiner and Bonner." 
 He says also of Mary, " It was the only thing in 
 which she was not led by the Cardinal. Great as 
 was his influence with Mary, he suffered the cruel 
 
 1 Noailles. 2 Ellis, vol. ii. 2d Series. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 263 
 
 prosecutions to go on, even in Canterbury, though 
 he was averse to such proceedings, 1 and though he 
 declared that the scandals and ignorance of the 
 clergy had given the entrance to heresy. In three 
 years two hundred and seventy-seven persons were 
 brought to the stake in England. * There is nothing 
 but beheading, hanging, quartering, burning, taxing, 
 and levying now in England," wrote Sir J. Smith. 
 
 Froude considers that the responsibility of the 
 Queen's cruelties rested first, with Gardiner, but 
 secondly, with Reginald Pole, in a higher degree, 
 because he was the one person in whom the Queen 
 absolutely trusted. 
 
 Pole was afraid of being discharged from the 
 Legation, and of being recalled to Rome by CarafFa, 
 who had put Pole's friend Morone into prison on 
 suspicion of heresy. He was also afraid of losing 
 the archbishopric of Canterbury, now about to fall 
 upon him. He was appointed to that see only 
 three days after the burning of Cranmer. In 1557, 
 CarafFa publicly charged Pole with heresy ; and 
 Pole, to escape from the charge, had the weakness 
 to express "a great detestation of heretics." He 
 
 1 " Pole never would allow the Jesuits to come into England. 
 He had the utmost dislike of this body of ecclesiastics." Burnet. 
 
264 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 wrote to the Pope, comparing him to Abraham 
 sacrificing his son. "Your Holiness is taking my 
 life from me, when you take from me the reputation 
 of orthodoxy." But the charge was never with- 
 drawn; and Pole preferred to lay down his office 
 rather than return to Rome as commanded, with 
 the Inquisition staring him in the face. 
 
 Mary wrote privately to the Pope, that "she 
 neither could, nor would, live without Pole beside 
 her ; " and she commanded Pole to retain his office, 
 and continue in England. But short were the 
 days ; the Queen was already dying, and Pole, 
 shattered in health and sick at heart, did not 
 survive her. 1 
 
 He died only a few hours after his royal mistress, 
 in 1558, aged fifty-eight. "He fell into a languish- 
 ing," says Burnet, " that brought after it a decay of 
 his health, of which he died." And thus he was 
 spared another exile, and the grief of seeing the 
 dissolution of that " phantom fabric which he had 
 helped to raise." 
 
 There remain many portraits of this celebrated 
 man, which give a most favourable impression of 
 his person. He was tall and of a most noble 
 
 1 Penny Cyclopaedia : art. " Pole." 
 
HER LIFE AND P0E3IS. 265 
 
 carriage, with thoughtful, gentle eyes. Froude de- 
 scribes him as having "the arched eyebrow, the 
 delicately cut cheek, and prominent eye of the 
 beautiful Plantagenet face ; while a long, brown, 
 curling beard flows down upon his chest, which it 
 almost covers." His portrait by Raffaelle, which 
 is well known by the engravings of it, gives a lively 
 idea of his personal appearance. He is said to 
 have stood for the model of the Christ in Sebastian 
 del Piombo's grand picture of the "Raising of 
 Lazarus," in the National Gallery ; and a careful 
 comparison of the face in that picture with the 
 portrait of Pole by the same artist, fully justifies 
 the assertion. There is a portrait of Pole, taken 
 at a later date, by a foreign artist, WerfF, probably 
 painted in the Low Countries whilst the Legate 
 was under orders from the Emperor. Under the 
 engraving of this picture, by P. a Gunst, are these 
 lines : 
 
 " J'etois du sang royal, mais mauvais politique 
 J'invectivai le Roi qui mit ma tete a prix : 
 Le Pape cependant n'eut pour raoi que niepris ; 
 Et partout ma vertu n'eut qu'une fin tragique." 
 
 We subjoin another letter from Cardinal Pole, 
 translated from the original in the British Museum, 
 
266 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 which is valuable as exhibiting his feelings at the 
 period when he was losing so many of his most 
 valued friends in Italy ; and had just relinquished 
 his government in Viterbo. The letter to Triden- 
 tinus is dated Rome, 6th March, 1548. 
 
 Letter XXXII. 
 
 Reginald Cardinal Pole to the Reverend Tridentinus. 
 
 "When I was so overwhelmed with grief at the death of the 
 most illustrious Lady Vittoria Colonna, whom I honoured as a 
 mother, that I almost sank under it, there came a letter from the 
 Reverend Farensius, which informed me of the death of thy brother 
 Aliprandus, and filled my heart with such sadness that it nearly 
 deprived me of my reason. For I did not only lament that Chris- 
 tendom had lost a noble youth, growing up in the praise of every 
 virtue, and who presented such an example, as well of other virtues 
 as of prudence and bravery in this German war, that he was accounted 
 the equal of veterans and chiefs, by the judgment of the army and 
 of the Emperor himself ; but that, hearing of his death from thee, 
 most illustrious Sir, who lovedst him most dearly, I was forced, not 
 without great anxiety, to doubt whether thy vehement grief at his 
 death, which arose from thy great love, might not, by piercing yet 
 deeper into thy heart, either cut short thy life or render it more 
 bitter than death. For I thought that his death would cause thee 
 at this time the heavier grief, as thou wast promising to thyself now, 
 from his approved valour, greater things than ever before, a fact 
 which thou didst show clearly enough in that letter which thou 
 sentest to me some time since ; in which, as it was your purpose to 
 pour out upon me, like ointments and perfumes, all thy love, and, 
 in accordance with thy extreme kindness, to dedicate and give thy- 
 self up to me entirely, thou didst not yet seem to have sufficiently 
 poured out thy love upon me, without having expressly dedicated 
 and given up to me that of thy dearest brother also. And so with 
 his name thou didst conclude that most agreeable letter, filled 
 with every mark of love : which circumstance caused me, when I 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 267 
 
 heard of his death, to be incredibly struck down ; not only for thy 
 sake, but also for mine own, if anything in so great a union of love 
 can be mine which is not also thine. 
 
 " But not to speak of other misfortunes and losses through his 
 early death, which I confess that thou, most illustrious Sir, hast 
 not suffered in the same degree as myself, there remains this one 
 loss, which is the chief, and embraces all : that he, in dying, seems 
 to have taken away with him the half of thy mind and life, the 
 whole of which to me, after God, thou hadst given up. For thus 
 Bishop Farensius writes to me that, overcome with grief, thou now 
 seekest solitude, dost avoid the meetings of men, dost not willingly 
 hear those who offer consolation. But this what else is it than to 
 follow the footsteps of the dead, and to deprive all thy friends of 
 the fruits of thy life, on account of the death of one ? For although 
 he was worthy, for whom thou wouldst pour out thy life, yet, since 
 thy death can in no way profit him, but can be exceedingly inju- 
 rious to all thy friends, and especially will offend God himself, who 
 has given thee life and spirit that thou mayest serve His honour, 
 see, I pray thee, most illustrious Sir, that thy grief do not carry 
 thee away so far that thou cannot be acceptable to God, nor useful 
 or pleasant to thyself or others ; but, on the contrary, leave the 
 remembrance of his death bitter to all ; whereas thy chief desire 
 should be to have it remain as dear as possible to all, in proportion 
 to his virtue and thy love for him. Wherefore, most illustrious 
 Sir, compose thyself ; or if this be difficult under so severe a cala- 
 mity, when nature is now prostrate from the force and magnitude 
 of thy grief, and thy mind, as it were, torn asunder, in order to calm 
 and console thyself (which, if thou attemptest to do of thyself, I 
 think thou wilt find not only difficult, but even to exceed all human 
 strength as I have always found it in my afflictions, so often as, 
 my soul and being cast down by grief, I have of myself attempted 
 to raise it by human reasoning), turn thy prayers to Him who, of 
 His own free will, invites unto Himself all those that are sad and 
 afflicted, who comforts those that mourn, and ask Him to bring 
 back the scattered powers of thy mind, and to moderate thy grief, 
 lest it extend farther than the law of duty and of love towards God 
 and man requires. But if thou shalt do this for I myself recently 
 tried this remedy, when, being in need of an antidote to my grief, I 
 
268 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 could console myself by no other means not only dare I promise 
 that thou wilt obtain the greatest benefit that belongs to the alle- 
 viation of sickness of the mind, but that in this very loss that thou 
 dost now bewail, thou wilt discover many things for which to be 
 justly grateful, and to give thanks to God, which at the present time 
 thy darkened mind cannot see. Therefore, to this point first I 
 exhort thee to turn all thy thoughts ; on the other hand, I beseech 
 thee by thy kindness towards all, not for the death of one man, 
 although most dear, to continue to keep so many living friends in 
 such sadness, nor to wish to deprive me of the gift that I value 
 above all of thy love which should be united with cheerfulness 
 at the very time that I shall have most need of it, to show mine 
 own consolation and that of many others, and, as I hope, the glory 
 of God. The rest thou wilt learn from the letter of thy, or rather 
 of our, friend Aurelius, whom I saw so dispirited at this intelli- 
 gence, that his conversation caused me much greater anxiety for 
 thee and for thy soul, meditating by what means thou couldst bear 
 this calamity, than what I felt previously from the letter of Bishop 
 Farensius, although that was as intense as it could be. Wherefore 
 it will be thy duty, most beloved Sir, to free me and thy other 
 friends as soon as possible from this sadness, by thy letters, which 
 I pray and beseech thee, by thy reverence to God and thy love 
 towards man, to do. 
 
 " Farewell, most illustrious Sir, and may God be with thee, thou 
 best example of a true friend. 
 
 "Given at Rome, 6th March, 1548." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 15211555. 
 
 During the period of which we have been 
 writing, the Reformed opinions were widely spread 
 in Italy. Sadolet told the Pope that there was 
 an almost universal defection of the minds of men 
 from the Church ; and Caraffa also stated to him 
 that the whole of Italy was infected with the 
 Lutheran heresy, which was embraced not oidy by 
 statesmen, but by many ecclesiastics. Whole libra- 
 ries were carried from Germany into Italy, in spite 
 of the Pope's edicts. This religious movement was 
 hailed with the greatest enthusiasm by many. 
 Celius Curio exclaimed, " Oh, blessed day ! Oh 
 that I might live to see the ravishing prospect 
 realized ! " That it did not succeed in Italy must 
 be entirely explained by the fearful power and im- 
 mediate proximity of the Papal Court. 
 
 Grimm, in comparing the Refonnation of Ger- 
 
270 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 many with the movement in Italy, says the success 
 in Germany was caused by the strong, citizen-like 
 spirit which gave it vigour and continuance ; whilst 
 in Italy the movement appears the result of " some- 
 thing that I will call neither sentimentality, nor over- 
 straining." In this observation he appears not to 
 have sufficiently considered either the magnitude of 
 the Italian Reform, or the fact that in Germany there 
 was no Inquisition. Among the Italians there was 
 indeed no one to be compared to the mighty iron- 
 hearted Luther, except perhaps Michael Angelo, and 
 he moved not from his own calling. 
 
 Luther was a giant battling with giants. He 
 wrote to the Cardinal Elector, "I will fearlessly 
 discharge the duty which Christian charity lays me 
 under, dreading not the gates of hell, much less 
 popes, bishops, or cardinals/' 
 
 "It was an age which required a bitter and 
 pungent salt," said Melancthon. And perhaps such 
 a salt was not found among the great and learned 
 men of Italy. Luther's industry was second only 
 to his bravery. He translated the JSTew Testament 
 in ten months, in his Patmos, as he styled the 
 Castle of Wartburg. Eichhorn says of this transla- 
 tion, "It must astonish any impartial judge who 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 271 
 
 reflects on the lamentable deficiency of subsidiary 
 means in that age ;" and in that prison, he might 
 have added, with its black impenetrable pine forests 
 all around as far as the eye can reach. 
 
 "Even enemies could not withhold their commen- 
 dation of the beauty of this wonderful production." * 
 The rapidity with which it was printed and sold 
 was equally astonishing. Ten thousand sheets were 
 struck off every day, and three thousand copies 
 appeared on the 21st of September, 1522. It bore 
 no name of man, but had this title, "The New 
 Testament in German, at Wittemberg." From that 
 hour every German might obtain the Word of God, 
 at a small cost, in the language of the people. In 
 eleven years, fifty-eight editions were published. 
 Decrees were immediately issued to deliver up all 
 copies, and these often were publicly burnt in the 
 towns ; but the people now possessed their trea- 
 sure, which was soon printed both in French 
 and in Italian. Melancthon, Luther's chief friend, 
 had given his translation of the New Testament 
 a final revision before publication. He had been, 
 even from boyhood, a great linguist, and had espe- 
 cially studied the Scriptures in Greek. He was 
 
 1 D'Aubigne's " Reformation," vol. iii. p. 102. 
 
272 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Professor of the Greek Language at Wittemberg; 
 and having the strongest opinion of the excellence 
 of Luther's cause, he became his most ardent coad- 
 jutor. Melancthon published, in 1521, his system 
 of Theology, derived entirely from Scripture. The 
 learned Erasmus compared this work to a won- 
 drous army ranged in order of battle against false 
 teachers. Calvin remarked of it that it is a beau- 
 tiful illustration that the most perfect simplicity is 
 the noblest method of handling the Christian doc- 
 trine ; and Luther, in speaking of this work to 
 the students of Wittemberg, said, " If you wish to 
 become divines, read Melancthon." 
 
 Erasmus is called the monarch of literature. His 
 supremacy in the world of letters was such as no other 
 writer ever lived to enjoy. He was the restorer, 
 almost the inventor of the popular interpretation of 
 the Scriptures, and was excelled by few, if any, in 
 the science of Biblical criticism. He had published 
 the New Testament in Greek and Latin, with 
 notes, in 1516, dedicating it to Leo X. It was 
 said in Paris Luther wanted to force open the 
 door when Erasmus had already picked the lock. 
 He was a learned, amiable, and timid man. He 
 repeatedly confessed that he had none of the spirit 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 273 
 
 of a martyr. 1 He said, " If I write with mode- 
 ration, it is because it is my natural character." 
 And, again, " I will not be unfaithful to the cause 
 of Christ, at least so far as the times will 
 allow." 
 
 He was always an advocate for a middle course, 
 and he disappointed and provoked Luther, who 
 saw the necessity of war to the knife with the foe. 
 He also differed with Luther on the subject of 
 free-will. They were two mighty combatants, and 
 Luther with grief conceived that if Erasmus had 
 joined him the Reformation would have been 
 entirely triumphant. 
 
 In his three lectures on the subject of these two 
 giants of men, Froude has drawn a very powerful 
 sketch of their characters giving, with truth, the 
 palm to Luther. Erasmus was an older and more 
 cautious man, and he had a horror of an open breacli 
 with the Church. But though in his later years he 
 wrote against the German Reformers, he never sided 
 with the Papists, and was hated by the monks. He 
 died at Basle in 1536, in the arms of his dearest 
 friends, who were Protestants, and without the 
 ceremonies of the Romish Church. He was justly 
 
 1 Sir J. Stephen. 
 T 
 
274 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 regarded as one of the principal glories of his age 
 and country. 
 
 Sadolet wrote a work on the Reformation, which 
 was never printed, owing to the plainness with 
 which it treated of the disorders of the times. It 
 is extant in the Vatican manuscripts. 
 
 The corrupt state of the Church before the 
 Reformation is acknowledged by Bellarmine, who 
 had abundant opportunities of knowing, and who 
 was not over-forward to acknowledge the fact. 
 He says, " Before the Lutheran and Calvinistic 
 heresies were published, there was not any severity 
 in ecclesiastical judicatories with regard to morals; 
 any knowledge of sacred things : there was almost 
 no religion remaining." 
 
 The voluptuous lives of the ecclesiastics occa- 
 sioned great scandal ; which scandal was increased 
 by the facilities with which pardon was obtained. 
 The avarice and extortion of the Court of Rome 
 were excessive, and the selling of benefices was noto- 
 rious. The life at the Vatican was so infamous that 
 all good men desired to see a better example 
 before the people. Some were for remodelling 
 everything ; others considered that it was neces- 
 sary to return to the old strictness, and that men 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 275 
 
 had only to be silent and obey. Even in Leo's 
 time, men in all positions in life took part in the 
 societies which had these ends in view. The Oratory 
 of Divine Love, the Society of the Theatines, and the 
 Society of Jesus, had their origin in these ideas 
 and requirements. The world was to be changed, 
 if not by virtue and good sense, then by fastings 
 and mortifications. The very rapid spread of the 
 Society of Jesus proved how ripe people every- 
 where were for some great revolution, from the 
 disgust so generally felt at the disorderly and 
 ignorant condition of the priesthood, and the state 
 of the Romish Church. 
 
 When Erasmus and Luther attacked the gross 
 vices and ignorance of the times, the priests were 
 forced to amend their conduct, and to apply them- 
 selves to study. And it is certain that the Re- 
 formers had great influence in improving the state 
 of things, even in the bosom of the Romish Church 
 itself. " The Reformers were eminent," says Robert- 
 son, " not only for the purity, but even the austerity 
 of their manners, and had acquired such reputation 
 among the people on that account, that the clergy 
 must needs have lost all credit if they had not 
 endeavoured to conform to their standard. The 
 
 T 2 
 
276 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 influence afterwards was seen to extend to the 
 sovereign pontiffs themselves." 
 
 The popes studied to assume manners more 
 severe, and more suitable to their ecclesiastical 
 character. " The chair of St. Peter hath not been 
 polluted during two centuries by any pontiff that 
 resembled Alexander VI. or several of his prede- 
 cessors, who were a disgrace to religion and to 
 human nature." \ 
 
 These things were known and commented upon 
 by Vittoria Colonna and her friends ; and all 
 that was going on in Germany and England, and 
 in France and Spain, doubtless was brought to 
 their notice. Not, indeed, flashed in an hour, as 
 is the news of to-day, nor laid on their breakfast- 
 table, like the Times of each morning ; but by 
 letter or messenger, by traveller or by mendicant 
 friar, the news of these great events and changes 
 was circulated. There were great souls awake 
 and stirring in the world, when the young Em- 
 peror met Luther in 1521, for the first and last 
 time, at Worms, and the mailed hand of a cavalier 
 was laid on the brave Reformer, saying, "Go on 
 little monk, in God's name ! " These facts were 
 
 1 Robertson's " Charles V." book xii. p. 487. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 277 
 
 not slow to travel even to the Palace of Ferrara, 
 and to the recesses of Ischia. And the books from 
 the new and wonderful printing-presses of Germany 
 and Switzerland quickly found their way into the 
 boudoirs of Margarita, Rende, Giulia, and Vittoria. 
 To these womanly hearts it must have been a joy to 
 know that strong men were up and doing, against 
 the grievous sins and unblushing depravities which 
 they had so long mourned in secret. 1 
 
 i One of the peculiar features of the Reformation was the fashion, 
 almost universal, of making use of caricature to satirize the times. 
 
 In 1475, Murner, of Strasburg, a German popular poet, pub- 
 lished his work with bold woodcuts, which did not spare the eccle- 
 siastics. One of them represents the Pope and the Emperor pressing 
 forward to get the fool's cap. 
 
 Lucas Cranach, Luther's friend, published, in 1521, a small 
 quarto, under the title of " Passional Christi und Antichristi," 
 each page of which is nearly filled up by a woodcut, having a few 
 lines of explanation in German below. The cut on the left gives 
 some incident in the life of Christ, and that facing it gives a con- 
 trasting fact in the history of Papal dominion : Christ crowned with 
 thorns contrasted with the Pope enthroned in his worldly glory ; 
 and Christ washing the disciples' feet, in contrast with the Pope 
 compelling the Emperor to kiss his toe, &c. 
 
 Sebastian Brandt, a native of Germany, born in 1458, published, 
 in 1494, his " Ship of Fools," a most popular book of bold woodcuts, 
 with metrical illustrations, ridiculing all sorts of follies and crimes. 
 It was published on the eve of the Reformation, and passed through 
 numerous editions in a few years. Latin and French translations 
 were equally successful. 
 
 Even the great Erasmus followed the fashion, and published a 
 little jocular book, taking the same view of Folly as Brandt and 
 
278 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 others. His satire is placed in the mouth of Folly herself. In this 
 1 ong discourse the Romish Church, with its monks and its ignorant 
 priesthood, find a place. He intimates that their superstitious 
 follies had become permanent because they were profitable : "There 
 are your pardons, and your measures of purgatory, which may be 
 bought off at so much the hour, or the day, or the month, and a 
 multitude of other absurdities." Ecclesiastics, scholars, mathema- 
 ticians, philosophers, all come in for their share of the refined 
 satire of this book, which has gone through innumerable editions, 
 like the " Ship of Fools," and been translated into many languages. 
 A copy of the book came into the possession of Holbein, who 
 amused himself with drawing illustrative sketches with a pen in 
 the margin. This copy afterwards passed into the library of the 
 University of Basle. 
 
 Luther himself is caricatured by Murner as a fat friar, wearing a 
 fool's cap. Luther was full of comic humour, and scrupled not to 
 use it to the furtherance of his ends, thus reaching the people on the 
 ludicrous side of things, in which he was helped by the mass of both 
 literary and artistic talent ranged on his side. 
 
 It is well known also how Michael Angelo, in his great picture 
 of " The Last Judgment," amused himself or avenged himself with 
 caricaturing upon it many of the great sinners of the Conclave. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 279 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1540-1545. 
 
 A fierce war recommenced between the King of 
 France and Charles V. soon after the visit of the 
 latter to Borne, in 1536, and the consequence was, 
 that all idea of a council was delayed. It was fixed 
 for 1542, and then adjourned till 1545, the Em- 
 peror meanwhile amusing the Protestants with his 
 professions of good-will. When the Council of 
 Trent at last met, Contarini, who had been so 
 conciliatory at Ratisbon, was dead, and his great 
 opponent, Caraffa, was appointed Legate to the 
 Council, where he eagerly contended against liberal 
 opinions. The Jesuits supported him. Cardinal 
 Pole and the Archbishop of Siena were the advo- 
 cates of toleration ; and, having been entirely over- 
 ruled by the violence of Caraffa, they had quitted 
 the place. In the end, the Protestant opinions were 
 excluded, mediation being utterly rejected. The 
 
280 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Pope's Legate proposed that the property of heretics 
 should be confiscated, and their books burnt. The 
 monks who had abandoned their convents were to 
 be sent back. No heretic was to be tolerated at 
 any court. Finally, the right was given of rooting 
 out " these pestilential weeds " by fire and sword. 
 
 " Such a project did they venture to call an 
 Instruction / I found it," says Ranke, " in a 
 Roman library, in the handwriting of the time, and, 
 beyond all doubt, authentic.' ' 
 
 Happily the Emperor did not desire to carry out 
 such a proposal, as Erasmus clearly shows. He 
 was by nature kind and considerate, and averse to 
 precipitation ; and these heretical, opinions, when 
 examined by him, found a certain accordance in his 
 own thoughts. It was not his interest to adopt 
 coercive measures at least at that time. 
 
 But the Society of Jesus, and the institution of 
 what was called the "Holy" Inquisition (Sacrum 
 Officium), had been established, and the days of 
 freedom of thought were numbered. 
 
 Ignatius Loyala had made Rome his head- 
 quarters, since the year 1540, when the Pope gave 
 his sanction to the Society of Jesus, and the Jesuits 
 took the vow of obedience to their General and to 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 281 
 
 the Pope. In 1543 the Society was absolutely and 
 unconditionally established. In person Loyala was of 
 middle stature, of an olive complexion, a bald head, 
 eyes full of fire, a large forehead, and an aquiline 
 nose. He was a little lame, caused by the wound 
 in his leg, that incapacitated him from returning to 
 the profession of arms. In the convent and great 
 college of Loyala, near the town of Azpeilia, in 
 Spain, is shown the room where he was born, and 
 where he lay ill so long, with no book to read 
 but " The Lives of the Saints ; " and where he 
 entered upon his wonderful change of life and soul. 
 Here is the chapel of S. Francis Borgia, where 
 Loyala said his first mass, and in which is his statue 
 in white marble in the attitude in which he lay 
 sick. Here is also a portrait of him in his soldier's 
 dress, said to be taken from life ; and another of 
 him when he became a priest. It is a beautiful 
 face, with strong resolve and high purpose in every 
 line of the features. 1 
 
 " We find in this remarkable man," Sir J. 
 
 Stephen observes, "no doubt many superstitions, 
 
 and an unconscious love of power, and perhaps 
 
 some tinge of insanity. But no dispassionate 
 
 1 Lady Herbert's " Impressions of Spain." 
 
282 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 student of his life can doubt his integrity, or 
 deny him the praise of a sincere a*nd profound 
 devotion. 1 Unaided by military or civil power, and 
 making no appeal to the passions of the multitude, 
 he had the genius to conceive, the courage to 
 attempt, and the success to establish, a policy 
 teeming with results at once so momentous, and so 
 distinctly anticipated. He was a silent, austere, 
 solitary man ; at one time a squalid, careworn, 
 lacerated pauper, at another a monarch reigning in 
 secluded majesty, and a legislator exacting an obedi- 
 ence as submissively and as prompt as is due to the 
 King of kings." 
 
 Sir J. Stephen draws a vivid picture of Loyala 
 and Luther : " Chieftains in the most momentous 
 warfare of which this earth has been the theatre 
 since the subversion of paganism, each a rival 
 worthy of the other, in capacity, in courage, dis- 
 interestedness, and the love of truth. Yet, how 
 marvellous the contrast ! As best became his 
 
 1 This is the verdict of a candid critic ; but we know how soon 
 his followers abused their irresponsible power, and that Pascal's 
 caustic satire on the lax morality of the Jesuits was deservedly 
 hailed by the world, with intense delight, only a century after the 
 founding of the society. His " Provincial Letters " were published 
 in the year 1656. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 283 
 
 Teutonic honesty and singleness of heart, Luther 
 aimed at no perfection which was not consistent 
 with the every-day cares, the common duties, and the 
 innocent delights of our social existence ; at once 
 the foremost of heroes, and a very man ; rejoicing 
 in gladness and thankfulness, for all his abundance 5 
 loving and beloved ; communing with the wife of 
 his bosom, prattling with his children, surrendering 
 his overburdened mind to the charms of music. 
 Loyala, from the depraved life of camps and palaces, 
 falling into an old age of religious abstraction, and 
 bodily mortifications ; apart from mortal men, fami- 
 liar with visions that he may not communicate, and 
 with joys he may not impart." 
 
 When Loyala, in 1540, obtained permission to 
 institute the Society of Jesus, he had only ten 
 disciples. Sixty-eight years afterwards the number 
 was increased to 10,581, and in 1710 the Order 
 possessed 24 professed houses, 59 probationary, 340 
 residences, 612 colleges, 200 missions, 150 schools, 
 and numbered 19,998 members. 1 
 
 The Jesuits were not to be seen in processions, 
 nor required to practise great austerities, nor spend 
 their days in tedousi prayers their Order was 
 
 1 "History of the Jesuits," vol. i. p. 20. 
 
284 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 formed for active service in the world. They were 
 to instruct, to insinuate, to lead, to cultivate men 
 of high rank, to influence their actions, to study 
 their tastes, and by a system of pliant, relaxed 
 morals, to accommodate themselves to the views 
 of men ; and so rule through that influence, even 
 the highest potentates ; and it was often with most 
 pernicious effect. Theirs was a strict military rule of 
 implicit obedience to their head. They were to go 
 wherever they were ordered, in a moment; there was 
 a ramification from the extreme to the centre, and 
 everything was known to the General. The books 
 were kept at Rome, in which all names, all characters, 
 all capacities, were entered. These fearful volumes 
 were for a long time entirely concealed, as well 
 as the laws by which the Jesuits governed their 
 dark mysterious movements. But at length they 
 were produced to the light, in the courts of 
 justice : the appalling nature of the society became 
 known to the world ; and in consequence the Jesuits 
 have been banished from almost every country in 
 Europe. 
 
 The Inquisition was re-established in Rome, ex- 
 actly at the same time that the institution of the 
 Society of Jesus was founded. Side by side grew up 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 285 
 
 these two frightful powers. Caraffa exclaimed, " As 
 St. Peter subdued the first heresiarchs in no other 
 place than Rome, so must the successor of St. Peter 
 destroy all the heresies of the world ;" and he was in 
 such 1 great haste to begin the work, that he hired a 
 house himself for immediate use, and fitted it up 
 with rooms for the officers, and prisons for the 
 accused ; supplying out of his own resources, though 
 by no means rich, the strong bolts, and locks, and 
 chains required, with blocks, and all the other 
 fearful appurtenances of his office. Teofilo de 
 Tropea, his own chaplain, was appointed Commis- 
 sioner-General for Rome ; and of this man's severity 
 many of the cardinals had bitter experience : among 
 others, Cardinal Pole. 
 
 The Inquisition had been established in the thir- 
 teenth century in Spain and at Rome by Gregory IX. 
 and in France had been used against the Albigenses 
 with fatal effect ; but in the fifteenth century it had 
 fallen into desuetude. In 1484 it was reconstructed 
 at Seville, and in 1543 at Rome, under a new and 
 more appalling form. 
 
 The code of the new Spanish Inquisition, as 
 originally promulgated, is the most extraordinary 
 digest ever formed for consolidating a system of 
 
286 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 religious tyranny. It struck terror into all hearts. 
 It is impossible to state the numbers who were 
 victims of the " Holy Office " in Europe. In Spain 
 alone 32,000 were burnt, and 291,000 condemned to 
 other punishments. In Italy no approximative esti- 
 mate can be given. 
 
 The Pope's Bull, which "was to suppress and 
 uproot the errors that had found place in the 
 Christian community, and to leave no vestige of 
 them," was published on the 21st of July, 1542. 
 In the manuscript Life of Caraffa are the following 
 rules drawn up by himself : 
 
 " 1st. When the Faith is in question there must 
 be no delay ; but at the slightest suspicion rigorous 
 measures must be resorted to with all speed. 
 
 " 2nd. No consideration to be shown to any prince 
 or prelate, however high his station. 
 
 " 3rd. Extreme severity is rather to be exercised 
 against those who attempt to shield themselves 
 under the protection of any potentate. Only he 
 who makes plenary confession shall be treated with 
 gentleness, and fatherly compassion. 
 
 " 4th. No man must debase himself by showing 
 toleration towards heretics of any kind, above all 
 towards Calvinists." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 287 
 
 We find that all is severity, inflexible and remorse- 
 less. Caraffa was a man of most austere, stern, and 
 gloomy temper, and was never known to have for- 
 given any one. He is spoken of as one of the most 
 bigoted, fanatical, and cruel princes that ever sat in 
 the chair of St. Peter. He was of noble Neapolitan 
 family, and removed his Society of the Theatines to 
 that city from Venice at the time that Ochino was 
 preaching there. He immediately accused him of 
 heresy, but Ochino knew well how to defend himself. 
 The Pope wished for Caraffa at Rome, and he was 
 summoned to Rome three times before he would 
 obey. He wished to set up the Tribunal of the 
 Inquisition in Naples, but the Neapolitans, who 
 were well acquainted with the horrors of it in Spain, 
 revolted, and Charles V. promised them it should 
 never be introduced there. 
 
 Caraffa was not raised to the Papal chair till 
 1555, several years after Vittoria's death, but he 
 had ruled at the head of the Inquisition for fifteen 
 years previously, filling Italy with fear by the severity 
 with which he exercised his irresponsible power. 
 He may be said to have been the cause of her 
 death, so smitten with grief and dismay was her 
 heart for all her friends, and her health broken 
 
288 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 by anxiety for herself. Caraffa's monk-like figure, 
 tall and emaciated, seemed all sinew, and his deep- 
 set eyes glared with the fire and passion of youth at 
 seventy-nine, when he was elected Pope. Titian's 
 portrait of him could exhibit nothing but his skill, 
 from Farnese's terrible ugliness; his small, aged 
 face, with its old, pinched-up features, looking like 
 an evil spirit. So hateful did he make his name, 
 and that of his two infamous nephews, that when 
 he died, aged eighty-four, the people rose to 
 destroy the prisons of the Inquisition, after libe- 
 rating hundreds of prisoners. The documents 
 were thrown like rubbish about the streets, and 
 the ministers of the " Holy Office " were basti- 
 nadoed and wounded. All the statues of the 
 CarafFa family were thrown down and destroyed, 
 and their name cursed for ever. 1 In this just 
 
 1 The Jews assisted in this raid of bitter revenge. Caraffa had been 
 to them a most cruel tyrant, not only continuing towards them all 
 the ignominious insults that had been heaped upon them by previous 
 popes, but he, for the first time, imprisoned them in the narrow, 
 unhealthy confines of the Ghetto, where to this day they are penned 
 up to the number of at least four thousand, and the gates locked at 
 Ave Maria. It was on the 26th of July, 1556, that this edict was 
 first enacted. Nor was this all. The Inquisition did its "holy" 
 office unto them also, and many of them had been burnt in the 
 Campo dei Fiori and the Piazza di Minerva, and now they had at 
 least the satisfaction of helping to pelt his monument with mud, 
 and to drag down his statue, with the papal crown, in the dirt. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 289 
 
 retribution all classes joined ; even the princely 
 families of Orsini and Colonna. We cannot be sur- 
 prised at the vengeance of the latter princes, as 
 CarafFa, as soon as he was made Pope, had created 
 one of his nephews Duke of Palliano, and bestowed 
 upon him that stronghold of the Colonnas, a cir- 
 cumstance especially galling to this proud Roman 
 family. 
 
 So early as the year 1525 an order had been 
 issued at Lucca, commanding all Lutheran books 
 to be burnt. Disputes on matters of faith were for 
 bidden ; and the historian, Guicciardini, of a noble 
 Florentine family, who was governor of Modena, 
 Bologna, &c, under the Popes, says, in his private 
 records (that have since come to light), " One 
 desire alone lives within me, namely, the ceasing 
 of this cursed priestcraft in Italy. I have ever 
 wished in my innermost soul the destruction of the 
 Ecclesiastical State, but fate has willed it that I 
 should labour under two Popes for the extension 
 of their power. Had not this been, I should have 
 loved Martin Luther as myself, and have hoped 
 that his adherents would have destroyed the ac- 
 cursed despotism of the clergy." His history was 
 not published till many years after his death, and 
 
 U 
 
290 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 passages were then omitted which might offend. 
 The edition of Friburg, 1755, contains all the 
 omissions. He died in 1540, aged fifty-nine. He 
 was an historian of great eminence, and a good 
 man. 
 
 We have already stated that Ochino and Peter 
 Martyr were among the first who had fled. Celio 
 Secundo Curione waited till the sbirri appeared to 
 arrest him, and, being a large and powerful man, 
 he cut his way past them with his knife, threw 
 himself on his horse and escaped, reaching Switzer- 
 land in safety. Valentin withdrew to Trent, and 
 Castelvetri to Germany. Persecution and dismay 
 were now universal. " Scarcely is it possible," said 
 Antonio dei Pagliarici, " to be a, Christian and die 
 quietly in one's bed." The body of literary men 
 were the particular objects of hatred, and were 
 subject to the most rigorous supervision. Book- 
 sellers were obliged to send in a catalogue of their 
 stock, and to sell nothing without the consent of 
 the inquisitors. Even private persons were ordered 
 to destroy all forbidden books: and these injunc- 
 tions were carried out with incredible success ; so 
 that of Contarini's book, " On the Benefits bestowed 
 by Christ," not one copy was left ; whole pile's were 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 291 
 
 burnt at Rome, and the work has entirely disap- 
 peared. 
 
 All differences of opinion were subdued by main 
 force, and annihilated. The Auto da Fe was held 
 at certain times before the church of the Santa 
 Maria alia Minerya at Rome. Many fled from place 
 to place, with their wives and children, only at last 
 to fall into the toils of their merciless hunters ; and 
 when the " Index Expurgatorius " was published, all 
 persons were prohibited from possessing or reading 
 the books mentioned in that catalogue, under pain 
 of excommunication, incapacity of enjoying any 
 offices or benefices, and subject to other arbitrary 
 punishments and perpetual infamy. Everything 
 was liable to be expurgated, and no authors could 
 publish anything without permission. It took the 
 Popes thirty years, by vigilant, unrelenting severity, 
 to crush the Reformation in Italy. Their triumph 
 was not that of truth and reason, but the effect of 
 the implacable cruelties of the Inquisition. 
 
 The admirable Olympia Morata states in one of 
 her letters that a word, a look, or the possession 
 of any book deemed heretical, or of the New 
 Testament in the vulgar tongue, was sufficient to 
 expose persons, without distinction of sex, rank, 
 
 TJ2 
 
292 V1TT0RIA COLON N A: 
 
 age, or office, to be imprisoned and tortured, to 
 make them confess and recant. "Some are ever} 
 day burnt, hanged, or beheaded. Rome has not 
 prisons enough to hold the people who were taken 
 up on suspicion." Any connexion with heretics, 
 even accidental meeting with them, was punished by 
 a fine of five hundred ducats the first time, and by 
 death in case of repetition. A merely lengthened 
 conversation with such as were summoned before the 
 courts for any cause in matters of heresy met with 
 a fine, for a first time, of two hundred and fifty 
 ducats, then exile, and then death. This was in 
 1558. Eight years later, it was enacted that all 
 letters, packets, and luggage should be opened and 
 searched on behalf of the Inquisition. Soon after, 
 the strictest surveillance was exercised over mer- 
 chants travelling abroad ; in 1566, death awaited 
 any in communication with Geneva; in 1568, all 
 foreigners were watched. " Caraffa sat there like a 
 skeleton, filled with fire. He would have liked to 
 have burnt up at one blaze every heretic." 1 
 
 Even Vittoria's dear friend, Renee, Duchessa di 
 Ferrara, who, but for the Salic law of France, 
 might have sat on the throne of France, was not 
 
 1 Grimm, p. 384. 
 
TIER LIFE AND POEMS. 293 
 
 protected from cruel insults by her birth, her high 
 rank, and her noble character; and her husband 
 was her accuser ! " She sees no one," says Marot. 
 " The mountains arise between her and her friends, 
 and she mixes her tears with her wine." 
 
 It would have been happy for Vittoria if she had 
 been spared all knowledge of the persecutions to 
 which her beloved friend was exposed. But so 
 early as 1545 the Pope addressed a brief to the 
 ecclesiastical authorities in Ferrara (which was 
 looked upon as a hotbed of heresy), to " institute 
 a strict inquiry into the conduct of all ranks, and 
 having taken the depositions, applied the torture, and 
 brought the trials to a conclusion, to transmit the 
 process to Rome for judgment." Spies were em- 
 ployed to insinuate themselves into families, and 
 gain secret information for the inquisitors. As- 
 suming various disguises, they were found both in 
 court and cloister : a number of excellent persons 
 in Ferrara were thus caught in the toils. Among 
 the rest, Olympia Morata, who, having left the 
 court of d'Este, after her father's death, to take 
 charge of her mother and the younger children, 
 was treated in a cruel and ungrateful manner by 
 the Duke, and would have suffered worse treatment, 
 
294 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 if a medical student had not married her, and 
 carried her away to Heidelberg, where her monu- 
 ment is shown with great honour. In the year 1560, 
 two or three years after Vittoria Colonna's death, 
 the persecutions at Ferrara became more severe, 
 under the new Pope, Julius III. This voluptuous 
 and indolent pontiff signed without scruple the 
 most cruel orders. By his authority the Reformed 
 Church of Ferrara was dispersed, one of their 
 preachers, a person of great piety, was put to 
 death, and many of the people were thrown into 
 prison. Olympia Morata says, "I hear that the 
 rage against the saints is at present so violent, 
 that former severities were but child's play com- 
 pared to those which are practised by the new 
 Pope. I learn from letters which I have lately 
 received that the Christians are treated with great 
 cruelty at Ferrara : neither high nor low are 
 spared." 
 
 The high rank and distinguished accomplish- 
 ments of the Duchess of Ferrara, instead of ex- 
 tenuating, aggravated her offence, and the clergy 
 were determined to humble her. Strong repre- 
 sentations were made by the Pope to her husband, 
 and Hercules pressed his wife to renounce the 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 295 
 
 new opinions, and conform to the established 
 worship. She refused to sacrifice her convic- 
 tions. Henry II. of France, her nephew, was 
 appealed to ; and he sent Oritz, his inquisitor, to 
 request an interview with the Duchess, and to inform 
 her of the great grief that his Most Christian 
 Majesty had conceived, in hearing that "his only 
 aunt " had involved herself with these detestable 
 and condemned opinions. If Oritz could not bring 
 her to reason, he was, with the concurrence of the 
 Duke, to use severity. He was to preach a course 
 of sermons to turn her from her errors, that she 
 and all her family should be obliged to attend ; and 
 next, if this proved unsuccessful, the Duke, in his 
 Majesty's name, was to "sequester her from all 
 society and conversation," that she might not taint 
 the minds of others. Her children were to be 
 removed from her, and none, of whatever nation 
 they might be, who were suspected of heretical sen- 
 timents, were to come near her'; and, finally, he was 
 to bring them all to trial, and lay the proceedings 
 before the Pope. 
 
 The daughter of Louis XII., whose spirit was 
 equal to her piety, spurned their conditions, and 
 refusing to violate her conscience, her children were 
 
296 VITTOMA COLONNA: 
 
 taken from under her management, her servants 
 proceeded against as heretics, and she herself 
 detained as a prisoner in the palace. Renee 
 bitterly felt her husband's upbraidings. He told 
 her she must conform unconditionally with the 
 commands thus given, an unnatural proceeding 
 on the part of Duke Hercules, which the Court 
 of Rome rewarded afterwards by depriving his 
 grandson of the dukedom of Ferrara, and adding 
 it to the possessions of the Church. After a season 
 her love for her children induced her to yield a 
 little ; but at the death of her husband, in 1559, 
 Renee returned to France, and made open pro- 
 fession of the reformed religion, and extended her 
 protection to the persecuted of that faith. 1 
 
 From the shameful persecution of this noble 
 and most admirable lady, through the medium of 
 her nearest relatives and the tenderest of her affec- 
 tions, we have some clue to the pressure which was 
 used to keep Vittoria Colonna from throwing all 
 the weight of her illustrious example into the 
 reformed scale. Grave fears were entertained that, 
 on Ochino's defection, she also would ostensibly 
 leave the Church of Rome. The gentle and timid 
 
 i M'Cree's " Reformation in Italy." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 297 
 
 Cardinal Pole was made, as it seems, the instru- 
 ment by which she was persuaded not to take this 
 extreme step. But the sorrow, and perhaps self- 
 blame, which she experienced, in hearing of all the 
 sufferings which the Court of Borne and the In- 
 quisition were causing to her most beloved friends, 
 added poignancy to her other griefs, and doubtless 
 hastened the end of her life. 
 
 From that time persecutions have never ceased 
 in Italy ; and at this day, in the Roman States, no 
 book can be published without permission, and the 
 Index Expurgatorius is still in active operation. A 
 short time ago an order was published in The 
 Times by Mr. Odo Russell, English consul at 
 Rome, warning travellers not to take English Bibles 
 into Rome. This order was modified by a second 
 one, " that no person was to bring more than his 
 own Bible, either English or Italian, with his name 
 written large in it." Among the inhibited works at 
 this present time we find the " History of England " 
 by Lord Mahon, and the " History of England" by 
 Lord Macaulay; and in the Sihcle newspaper of 
 1866 we read the following: 
 
 u Strangers being very numerous at Rome on account of the Holy 
 Week, an attempt lias been made to afford theni some amusement. 
 
298 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 On last Sunday week an enormous tripod, surrounded by a large- 
 quantity of fagots, and guarded by eight gendarmes, was erected 
 in the Piazza San Carlo, before the church of the same name, one of 
 the most frequented parts of the Corso. Towards six o'clock one of 
 the missionaries advanced, and from the top of a platform announced 
 to the crowd that his crusade against wicked books had met with 
 unexpected success. Unfortunate persons who had been seduced 
 and deceived by the writings of Kenan, Proudhon, &c. had brought 
 the books to their confessors, and it had been arranged to burn the 
 whole of them publicly. At this moment the doors of the church 
 were opened ; and amid the noise of bells and the chants of the 
 monks and penitents the pile was lighted. Volume after volume 
 was thrown in, and some jets of turpentine were added from time 
 to time to make the flame more brilliant. 
 
 " The Pope has just commanded that the old, very severe laws of 
 Leo XII. should be put in force ; and also, that the clergyman of 
 the Scotch Presbyterian Church in Rome should be warned that his 
 services must be immediately discontinued, or that the Inquisition 
 would certainly claim its victim." 
 
 Thus we see that the principles of the Vatican 
 alter not ; nor the spirit of Jesuitism. The tiger's 
 claw may be stealthy and velvety, but its eye is 
 sharp ; its nature elastic and springy, but it can lie 
 in wait for its prey. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1547. 
 
 In taking, as it were, a bird's-eye view of some 
 of the characters which have claimed notice in these 
 memoirs, we are forcibly impressed with this ob- 
 servation, that the greatest men have all failed 
 in some one respect in the long struggles of life, 
 and have committed serious errors. Charles V., in 
 spite of his energy and his heroism, while yet 
 hardly past his prime, hastened his end by the most 
 weak self-indulgence and his ignorant monkish 
 austerities 1 (if the history of his seclusion at the 
 Convent of S. Yusto is to be believed). 
 
 Pescara and Vasto soiled the purity of their 
 Spanish plumes, at the close of their lives, by deeds 
 inconsistent with the true chivalrous honour they 
 boasted of so much, and which made Vittoria's heart 
 sad and indignant, that her heroes had been so 
 1 Prescott's " Charles V." 
 
300 VITTORTA COLONNA: 
 
 misled. Pole, whom she honoured and trusted, 
 either through weakness or through ambition (how 
 shall we explain it?) sullied his last years by his 
 severities and entire change of principle and temper. 
 And even Ochino lost his name and fame, at the end 
 of a long life, by the advocacy of views which were 
 unworthy of his earlier career. 1 
 
 But Vittoria herself was the same from first to 
 last a simple, high-minded, and devoted woman. 
 There is not any single act or word recorded of her 
 that does not redound to her honour. The equable- 
 ness of her life is truly beautiful. It was meek, 
 affectionate, and feminine from the beginning to the 
 end. Having obeyed and honoured, and lived as a 
 daughter and a wife, she closed her noble career 
 with dutiful obedience to God, loving her friends 
 to the end, and in gentle Christian humility calmly 
 yielding up her soul to her Saviour. 
 
 It is to be remarked that none of her biographers 
 have a word to say about any ecclesiastical forms 
 attending her decease. We hear nothing of sacred 
 oil, auricular confession, or the prayers of cardinals 
 and priests at the bed-side. " Ma Talma, invitta gia 
 secura eletta, stava col suo Jesu d'amore accessa." 
 
 1 He is said to have written in favour of polygamy. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 301 
 
 We have seen her as a child, hand in hand with 
 her Francesco, climbing the hills of their beloved 
 Ischia like their own mountain-goats. We have 
 followed the pair in their happy studies under their 
 accomplished sister. W"e have seen her as the 
 beautiful youthful bride, admired and honoured by 
 all beholders ; and as the prudent and virtuous wife, 
 worthy of the respect of emperors, princes, and 
 popes. We have followed her through great afflic- 
 tion, as the angel of peace in her family, giving up 
 all her own property during the losses of her house ; 
 meekly seeking shelter in those retreats which were 
 always open to the poor and the pious, yet never 
 losing the prestige and influence due to her family 
 and her talents ; and dedicating her muse without 
 affectation or self-conceit, according as her powers 
 could direct, to the glory of God and the love of 
 virtue ; and at length, having passed through mani- 
 fold sorrows, the last picture which she presents to 
 us is that touching scene when her true and faithful 
 friend Michael Angelo found himself beside her bed 
 of death ; and when she looked so meek and saint- 
 like, there was such a nobility upon her head, that 
 though he pressed his lips upon her dying hand, he 
 felt for her such an intensity of respect, that he 
 
302 VITTORIl COLONNA: 
 
 did not dare to kiss that cheek and brow for which 
 he felt such a devoted adoration. 
 
 This is certainly a glorious character ; worthy 
 of being pictured, though after the lapse of three 
 centuries, and of being held up as an example to 
 the end of time. 
 
 It is remarkable that the date of Vittoria's death 
 is so variously given by her biographers, and that 
 the place of her interment is unknown. Crescem- 
 beni says, "that she died in some monastery, and 
 he believes the event to have occurred in 1546." 
 Visconti says, " that she fixed herself in the Convent 
 of S. Anna at Rome, in 1546." Rota says: "It 
 is certain that she returned to Rome at the begin- 
 ning of the year 1547, and she resided in the Palazzo 
 Cesarini detto Argentina, ' inferma gravamente ' (very 
 ill) ; and that, seeing she was near her end, she 
 made her will on the 15th of February, 1547, and 
 that towards the end of that month, ( spargendo 
 di se odore di santita,' she arrived at that end to 
 which all must one day come." 
 
 This will is to be found in the Library Capponi 
 at Rome, and is dated " the 15th of February, 
 1547, Rome, in the Palazzo Cesarini, chiamato 
 Argentina," which was the residence of Giuliano 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 303 
 
 Cesarini, who had married Vittoria's much-loved 
 relative, Giulia Colonna ; and at this time they were 
 the only members of the great Colonna family in 
 Rome. 
 
 The Archbishop of Ragusi, in the "Life of 
 Cardinal Bembo," speaking of Bembo's death in 
 January 1547, says, " This year extinguished two 
 of the brightest poets of Rome. For hardly had 
 a month elapsed after the death of the reverend - 
 issinio Bembo, before the world was deprived of 
 the Signorina Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa di Pes- 
 cara ; who, iu our days, was considered another 
 Saffo, and in works of holiness and charity another 
 S. Elizabetta." And in the letters of Cardinal 
 Pole, dated Marzo 1548, he speaks with grief of 
 Vittoria's death, as a fresh affliction. 
 
 Vittoria's last hours were tenderly watched over 
 by Giulia and other friends, and her faithful and 
 devoted Michael Angelo frequently visited her sick 
 couch. His biographer relates that he was so much 
 affected by her death that he almost lost his senses. 
 And many years afterwards he confessed, that he 
 repented of nothing so much as not having kissed 
 both her forehead and her cheeks, instead of her 
 hands only, when he went to her in her last hour. 
 
< 
 
 304 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 With whom was he now to converse when he had 
 lost Vittoria ? He might, indeed, imagine that his 
 own saddened life was drawing to a close. But 
 he survived her nineteen years. He died on the 
 17th of February, 1563, aged eighty-nine, his mental 
 and physical vigour unimpaired. His last words 
 were, " In your passage through this life remember 
 the sufferings of Jesus Christ." 
 
 The last thing which Michael Angelo had drawn 
 for Vittoria was a Madonna sitting at the feet of 
 the Cross, with the quotation from Dante, engraved 
 with his own hands, "Non vi si pensa quanto sangue 
 costa," which motto was now the watchword of all 
 who saw before them the increasing violence against 
 free opinions in Italy. "This work has frequently 
 been copied in paintings, which are erroneously 
 supposed to be by Michael Angelo, and it has also 
 been engraved." 1 
 
 Vittoria was wont to say of Michael Angelo's 
 works, that they stand all together as if only one, 
 and that his friends ranked him higher than his 
 works. "Those who only know your works, and 
 not yourself, value that in you which can only be 
 called perfect on a lower scale." Could any man 
 
 1 Roscoe's "Leo. X." vol. iii. p. 220. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 305 
 
 desire higher praise 1 But the last and highest 
 characteristic of this great man (" piu che mortal, 
 angiol divin,") was his devotion to God. One of 
 his latest sonnets commences, " Le favole del mondo 
 m'hanno tolto, II tempo dato a contemplar Iddio." It 
 is impossible to render in another language the force 
 of these words. We see in the following sonnet, 
 addressed to Vittoria after her death, how he 
 mourned his great loss. Increasing sadness filled 
 his heart, and her image was ever before him. 
 Grimm relates that it was during the long days, and, 
 soon after, also in the nights, which, as ill health 
 increased, he passed in sleepless solitude, that he- 
 found expression for his grief in those words which 
 he wrote down, with no idea of publicity, and 
 revised again and again, poems which were first 
 found among his papers after his death. 1 
 
 Sonnet on Vittoria's Death, by Michael Angelo (1547). 
 " Quando il principio dei sospir miei tanti 
 Fu per morte dal cielo al mondo tolto, 
 Natura che non fe' mai si bel volto, 
 Resto in vergogna e chi lo vide in pianti. # 
 sorte rea dei miei desiri amanti, 
 O fallaci speranze, o spirto sciolto, 
 Dove se'or ? La terra ha pur raccolto 
 Tue bella membra, e '1 ciel tnoi pensier santi. 
 
 1 Grimm, vol. ii. p. 318. 
 
306 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Mai si credette morte acerba e rea 
 Fermare il suon di tue virtuti sparte, 
 Ch' obblio di Lete estinguer non potea ; 
 Che spogliato da lei ben mille carte 
 Parian di te ; ne per te '1 cielo avea 
 Lassil, se non per morte, albergo e parti." 
 
 " When the cause of so many sighs of mine was by heaven taken 
 from the world, through death, Nature, who never fashioned aught 
 so fair, stood ashamed, and all who witnessed it were in tears. 
 
 " cruelj fate on my loving desires ! vain hopes ! O 
 emancipated spirit, where art thou now ? Earth indeed has taken 
 thy beauteous form, and heaven thy holy thoughts. 
 
 " It is impossible to believe that bitter, cruel death can arrest 
 the fame of thine acknowledged powers ; Lethe cannot extinguish 
 it ! He is robbed of his prey ; for a thousand writings will record 
 thy fame ; and how could heaven give to thee a dwelling and a 
 home, except through the gates of death." 
 
 Visconti, who had the great advantage of being 
 permitted to examine all the papers relating to 
 Vittoria which could be found among the Colonna 
 Archives, in preparing his memoir for the edition 
 of the " RimeV' printed by Torlonia in 1840, does 
 not appear to have found any memorials of her last 
 illness and last words. He does not even give a 
 copy of the will which was executed a few days 
 before her death. All that he says on the subject 
 of her death is that, " touching now at the extreme 
 end of life, which had been passed amid few delights 
 and many bitter tears, weak unto death, she was 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 307 
 
 conducted into the nearest home, that of Giuliano 
 Cesarini, husband of that Giulia Colonna, who, alone 
 of her family, remained in Rome. Here, exempli- 
 fying the height of religion and constancy, she died, 
 at the end of February 1547, in the fifty-seventh 
 year of her age." 
 
 Deumier adds to the account of Vittoria's death, 
 that at the last, in the evening, when Michael 
 Angelo was beside her couch, she said to him, "I 
 die. Help me to repeat my last prayer. I cannot 
 now remember the words." He repeated it to her, 
 holding her cold hand, whilst her lips moved, with- 
 out uttering a sound. All at once she turned her 
 large eyes upon him, a smile trembled on her lips, 
 and she tranquilly expired, murmuring words that 
 he could not distinguish. The following is probably 
 Vittoria's last prayer. It has been much admired 
 for the beauty of the language. We give a trans- 
 lation of it, adhering as closely as possible to the 
 
 original : 
 
 Pkayer. 
 
 " Da, precor, Domine, ut ea, animi depressione, quae humilitati 
 mese convenit, eaque mentis elatione, quam tua postulat celsitudo, 
 te semper adorem ; ac in timore, quem tua incutit justitia, et in 
 spe, quam tua dementia permittit, vivam continue, meque tibi 
 nti potentissimo subjiciam, tanquam sapientissimo disponam, et 
 ad te nt perfectissimum et optimum convertar. Obsecro, Pater 
 
 X 2 
 
308 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Pientissime, ut me ignis tuus vivacissimus depuret, lux tua Claris - 
 sima illustret, et amor tuus ille sincerissimus ita proficiat, ut ad to 
 nullo mortalium rerum obice detenta, felix redeam et secura. " 
 
 Translation,. 
 
 " Grant, I beseech Thee, Lord, that I may ever worship Thee 
 with such humility of mind as becometh my lowliness, and with 
 such elevation of mind as Thy loftiness demandeth; that I may con- 
 tinually dwell in that fear which Thy justice requireth, and in that 
 hope also which Thy mercy affordeth. May I humble myself before 
 Thee as the All Powerful, and yield myself to Thee as the All Wise, 
 and be turned to Thee as the best and All Perfect One. 
 
 " I entreat, most Holy Father, that Thy most living flame may 
 so urge me forward that, not being hindered by any mortal imper- 
 fections, I may happily and safely again return to Thee. " 
 
 Grimm says, "I can nowhere discover the place 
 of her burial." Her French biographer, speaking of 
 the grand pomp with which her bust was crowned 
 on the 12th of May, 1845, remarks: "Ce fut, au 
 reste, la seule pompe qui honora ses funerailles. 
 Elle avait demande dans son testament a 6tre 
 inhumed comme une simple soeur professe ; et 
 Ton ob&t fidelement & l'humilite de ses dernieres 
 prescriptions. Ses restes furent portes au couvent 
 de Sainte-Anne, qu'elle avait habite, et il y a 
 tout lieu de croire qu'ils furent deposes dans le 
 caveau comniun des religieuses de l'ordre." Vis- 
 conti says, " She desired, with Christian humility, 
 to be buried in the manner in which the sisters 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 309 
 
 were buried when they died. And so it was ordered, 
 as I suppose, to take place in the common sepulchre 
 of the nuns of S. Anna." It is much more probable 
 that she was buried in the tomb of her husband, at 
 Naples. Visconti continues, "Cosi Vittoria Colonna, 
 quanto ebbe altera la cuna, tanto ebbe umile 
 la tomba ! " (" Thus Vittoria Colonna, high and 
 noble as was her cradle, had in an equal degree 
 a lowly grave.") " Her tomb remains unknown ; 
 and with shame I add, has been entirely neglected. 
 Neither her glory, nor her virtues, nor the con- 
 sideration of our own honour and her nobility, has 
 moved any one to erect a worthy monument to her 
 memory." 
 
 In the Colonna Archives there is the legal docu- 
 ment by which Ascanio Colonna accepts to be 
 Vittoria' s heir. It is dated Avezzano, 4th of 
 March, 1547. "The will of Vittoria, signed pub- 
 licly by Girolamo Piroti, 15th of February, 1547, 
 in the room next the garden of the Cesarini Palace 
 at Torre Argentina, where she was lying, has been 
 found," says Visconti, " by my care, to-day, in the 
 office Calvaresi." In it she named the four houses 
 in which she had resided S. Paolo d'Orvieto, 
 $. Caterina in Viterbo, S. Silvestro and S. Anna 
 
 -f 
 
310 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 in Rome leaving to each one thousand scudi : she 
 provided for all her servants, and disposed of much 
 money ni charity. 1 
 
 It is perhaps more remarkable that we have so 
 many remains, than that we have some things yet 
 to discover, of the history of one who lived three 
 centuries ago, and whose life was passed amidst the 
 gentle duties of daughter, wife, and friend, in the 
 retirement that she preferred. 
 
 Her character presents a strong contrast to the 
 many famous, or perhaps infamous, Italian women, 
 whose memoirs may seem, alas ! to some, more 
 piquant even by their crimes. 
 
 In the course of the year 1844, at the request of 
 the Prince and Princess di Torlonia, the Academic 
 des Arcades decided, by acclamation, that the bust 
 of Vittoria should be placed in one of the galleries 
 of the Capitol. It was executed by the best artist 
 of the Roman States, and is said to be very remark- 
 able. It was inaugurated with great pomp on the 
 12th of May, 1845, in an Academical Fete. The 
 event was celebrated in thirty-two poems, in Latin 
 and Italian, which were magnificently printed in 
 
 1 Her signature is written in these words " IT A TESTAVI 
 EGO VITOBIA COLVMXA." 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 311 
 
 one splendid volume, by which to record, amidst 
 so many political changes which were then agitating 
 the world, how Vittoria Colonna was crowned, three 
 centuries after her death, in the same place which 
 beheld the triumph of Petrarch. 
 
 We are indebted to Deumier's " Life of Vittoria 
 Colonna " for these particulars, as Visconti's memoir 
 was published in 1840, five years before the celebra- 
 tion above mentioned. 
 
 We can sympathise warmly in the remarks of 
 Vittoria' s French biographer, when he expresses the 
 pleasure he had experienced in translating her 
 sonnets. He says that the sentiments they in- 
 spire give them "un attrait indefinissable. We 
 reverence her for the thoughts which she gives ; 
 we are attached to her as if we had known her ; 
 we regret her as if we had loved her. One of 
 the prerogatives of literature is to meet among the 
 dead those affections that we have failed to find 
 among the living ! One of the privileges of religion 
 is to give us the hope of one day seeing more nearly 
 those whom we have honoured on earth. Quant a 
 moi,je demand e a connaitre Vittoria Colonna'' 
 
 Almost immediately after Vittoria Colonna s death 
 the prosecutions commenced, and they included 
 
312 FITTORTA COLONNA: 
 
 persons of the highest consideration. Paul III. had 
 thrown many Protestant persons into prison, and 
 they were executed by Julius III. Paul IV. fol- 
 lowed in the bloody track. Princes, princesses, friars, 
 bishops, academies, even the Sacred Colleges, and 
 the Holy Office itself, fell under suspicion of heresy. 
 The pontificate of Pius IV. (G. A. Medici) was even 
 more disgraced by cruelty than that of Caraffa him- 
 self. He appropriated a house beyond the Tiber for 
 the Inquisition, in the place of the building which 
 had been demolished. It was commonly called the 
 Lutheran Prison. Here, amongst other victims, was 
 E>e Monti, a Neapolitan nobleman ; having been 
 seized by the familiars on the Bridge of S. Angelo 
 as he was crossing on horseback with Marc Antonio 
 Colonna. He was sentenced to be burnt alive, but 
 on the payment of seven thousand crowns by his 
 friends he was only strangled, and his body com- 
 mitted to the flames. 
 
 Pius V., a Dominican monk named Ghislieri, who 
 had been one of the leaders of the Inquisition, was 
 created Pope in 1566, and he was still more fierce and 
 inexorable than his predecessors. The cruelties com- 
 mitted in the two preceding pontificates are ascribed 
 to his influence as president of the Inquisition. He 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 313 
 
 now enforced its authority over all Italy. A hot 
 persecution followed. It raged with great violence in 
 Bologna, where persons of all ranks were subjected 
 to imprisonment, tortures, and death. In Rome 
 Carnesechi was committed to the flames. Baron 
 Bernardo di Angole and Count Petiliano, a brave 
 Roman, after long resistance promised to recant ; 
 and their sentence then was, to be condemned to 
 pay thirty thousand crowns, and to be imprisoned 
 for life. Numerous informers were kept by the 
 Inquisition in every town ; and such was the terror 
 produced, that at Pisa the University was deserted. 
 Pius V. reproduced the famous Bull, "In ccena 
 Domini," and ordered it to be read in every parish 
 church throughout Christendom ; but it was put 
 down in almost every State in a short time. 
 
 Faveritina Fanio, Casa Bianca, Giovanni Mollio 
 Tesserano, Pomponio Algieri, Ludovico Paschali, and 
 other celebrated men, were beheaded, and their 
 bodies committed to the flames ; among them the 
 excellent Paleario, in the seventieth year of his 
 age. The prisons were filled with victims, including 
 men and women of noble birth and men of letters : 
 amongst them were several Englishmen. 
 
314 FITTORTA COLONNA: 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1547. 
 
 Of the various portraits which were taken of 
 Yittoria Colonna, the one which is authorized by 
 Visconti, and called " the Colonna Portrait," is pre- 
 fixed to the memoir of Vittoria in his edition of 
 her "Rime," in 1840. This portrait was in the Palace 
 Gennazzano for some time, but came afterwards 
 into " the safe custody " of the Colonna family, and 
 is now in the Colonna Gallery at Rome. He adds 
 that "this portrait has the majestic air and the 
 nobility of condition of Vittoria's beauty. The 
 grave Roman character is tempered with a sweet, 
 truthful expression, a gentle smile plays on her lips, 
 and all the face beams with a spiritual goodness." 
 
 Those who have seen this picture describe it 
 as remarkably interesting. The engraving, which 
 is rather coarsely executed, has been photographed 
 for the present work ; but it does not satisfactorily 
 bear photography. 
 
HER LIFE AND FOEMS. 315 
 
 There is also here given a photograph of Vit- 
 toria of a later age, probably about twenty-two. 
 It is taken from a beautiful engraving, by Rapb. 
 Morghen, of the original picture in the Tribune at 
 Florence. This well-known and much-admired pic- 
 ture has been called RafFaelle's Fornarina. But the 
 Fornarina of RafFaelle is in the Barberini Palace 
 at Rome, and bears his name upon the armlet of 
 the figure. The face in this last picture has no 
 resemblance to Vittoria Colonna, and, though beau* 
 tiful, has an expression of coarseness and common 
 life. 
 
 The other portrait has been considered to have 
 been sketched by Michael Angelo, and painted by 
 Sebastian del Piombo. There is much to be said in 
 favour of its being a portrait of Vittoria Colonna ; 
 but the best judges define it as " A Lady. 1512." Sir 
 Charles Eastlake thus describes it : " It is a portrait 
 of a very beautiful woman, holding the fur trimming 
 of her mantle with her right hand. The forms are 
 noble and pure ; the painting extremely fine, resem- 
 bling the Venetian manner ; and the hand and arm 
 beautiful. The ornaments, heightened with gold, 
 and the goldlights in the hair, are peculiar." 1 
 
 1 Sir C. Eastlake, "Handbook of Painters," yol. ii. p. 333. 
 
 V 
 
 HP 
 
316 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Visconti, in his eagerness to assert the superior 
 authenticity of the Colonna Portrait, disputes the 
 idea that the famous picture in the gallery of the 
 Grand Duke is to be considered a portrait of Vic- 
 toria ; but he adds in a note, " The author of the 
 letter to Signor Renato Arrigoni, printed in the 
 ' Life of Raffaelle,' written by Signor Quatremere de 
 Quincy (printed in Milan in 1829), wishes to per- 
 suade us that the celebrated picture in the Tribune 
 at Florence, under the name of Fornarina, is the 
 portrait of Vittoria Colonna, designed by Michael 
 Angelo, and painted by Sebastian del Piombo. 
 But every one knows that the hair in that portrait 
 is painted very dark, 'forte oscuro traente al nere ;' 
 and any one observing that particular must know, 
 without question, that this circumstance sufficiently 
 disproves any resemblance." 
 
 It is a question easily solved whether the hair of 
 this portrait is "traente al nere." Certainly the 
 engraving of Raphael Morghen does not justify 
 that description ; and the strong resemblance in 
 features between this portrait and the medals will 
 strike every attentive observer. 
 
 There is a large oil-painting of Vittoria, which 
 was ascribed to Michael Angelo until the mark of 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 317 
 
 Marcello Venusti was discovered upon it. " We 
 know, however," says Grimm, " that Michael An- 
 gelo sketched her, and nothing prevents our sup- 
 posing that Venusti, as was often the case, only 
 coloured in this instance his master's work. The 
 picture is said to be in England. A lithograph of 
 it is added to Campanari's work ; and even from 
 this we can perceive the mind of him with whom 
 the work originated. I believe none but Michael 
 Angelo could thus have represented Vittoria. There 
 is no longer the fair hair, which once invested her 
 with such a charm ; a white widow's veil, brought 
 low upon her brow, envelops her head, and falls 
 over her bosom and shoulders. It is a tall figure, 
 dressed in black velvet, upright, and sitting on a 
 circular chair, which is grasped by one hand, whilst 
 the other is lying on an open book on her lap. 
 There is a grand repose in her features, and a 
 slightly painful compression about the eyes and 
 mouth. She appears aged, and the deep lines which 
 fate had drawn are noble and energetic." l 
 
 Five engravings from medals are appended 
 to Visconti's work. Two of them show her in 
 youthful beauty, and are supposed to have been 
 
 1 Grimm, vol. ii. p. 288. 
 
318 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 executed in Milan after the battle of Pavia. The 
 originals are in the Imperial Museum of Paris. On 
 the reverse of one of them is the head of Pescara, 
 and of the other a winged figure of Victory pre- 
 senting the Cross to Italy, in allusion to the generous 
 proposal of Vittoria Colonna to her husband, that 
 he should now turn the Christian arms to the Holy 
 War of Palestine, and counselling him to devote 
 his great wealth acquired in the war to this sacred 
 work : " upon which subject Vittoria had written," 
 says Visconti, " many letters to Pescara and to Vasto." 
 These medals give a joyful and delightful ex- 
 pression to the features of the Marchesa ; she 
 seems radiant with happiness and intelligence. The 
 other two represent her at a more advanced age, 
 in the widow's dress. We hear of several other 
 portraits of Vittoria ; one she gave to her friend 
 Cardinal Bembo, and another she presented to 
 Guidiccioni ; " so that," as Visconti remarks, " it was 
 to be hoped that the gracious image of her counte- 
 nance might not be altogether lost. In fact," he 
 adds, " it was not lost ; for here, in Rome, in the 
 Galleria Colonna, is exactly preserved a picture in 
 which all persons may see Ha nobilita e il carettere 
 del lineam^nti delict gran Colonnese.' " 
 
HER LIFE ANT) POEMS. 319 
 
 In concluding this imperfect sketch of Vittoria 
 Golonna, nothing remains for us but the duty of 
 endeavouring to give a short summary of the opin- 
 ions and doctrines held by her, and to elucidate 
 them as far as can be done by her writings. A 
 spirit of such earnest humility and truthful sim- 
 plicity runs through them, that we could not have a 
 better guide than her own words. 
 
 Dante lived a hundred years before Vittoria 
 Colonna, but he exercised undoubtedly a wonderful 
 influence upon that age, and indeed upon every 
 subsequent age. As already remarked, he inspired 
 Michael Angelo ; and in another manner he may 
 be said to have contributed to the formation of 
 Vittoria's mind, and of all the other minds that 
 dared to think for themselves after him. 
 
 In the "Essay on Dante," Cornhill Magazine, 
 1865, Dante's creed is thus given : 
 
 " God is One. The universe is the thought of 
 God. The universe, therefore, is one. All things 
 come from God. They all participate more or less 
 in the divine nature, according to the end for 
 which they are created. Of these, man is the most 
 eminent. Upon him God has bestowed more of His 
 own nature than upon any other creature. His 
 
320 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 perfectability is what Dante calls possible. Man- 
 kind must be one, even as God is One. Unity is 
 taught by the design of God in the external world. 
 There must be some centre to which the general 
 inspiration of mankind ascends, thence to flow 
 down again in the form of law : this is Imperium." 
 " Rome," he says, " is the seat of empire. There 
 never was, never will be, a people endowed with 
 a better capacity for it, than the holy Roman 
 people." 
 
 " It is certain that many of the Italian Reformers 
 held anti- Trinitarian opinions," says Hallam, " and 
 among the rest Ochino and Valdez." Mr. Panizzi 
 discovered a pamphlet of extreme rarity at Lord 
 Granville's, which proves that Berni, the author of 
 " Orlando Innammorato," was a Protestant. Mr. 
 Panizzi in speaking of it says, " The more we 
 reflect on the state of Italy at that time, the more 
 we have reason to believe that the reforming tenets 
 were as popular among the higher classes in Italy 
 in those days as liberal notions in ours." l 
 
 Hallam gives, incidentally, a confirmation of the 
 assertion that the Reformers were men of great 
 purity of life, when he adds, in speaking of the 
 
 1 Quoted by Hallam, vol. i. p. 504. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 321 
 
 unexpected discovery of Berni being an early pros- 
 elyte to the Reformation, "this may account for 
 the freedom from indecency which distinguishes that 
 poem." 
 
 The friends of Vittoria, who all ranged themselves 
 on the side of Church Reform, were unquestionably 
 the best and cleverest men of that generation, and 
 her friendship with them sufficiently proves that 
 her opinions coincided with theirs. But there is 
 much stronger proof of this in her own writings, 
 and from them we can illustrate her religious faith 
 in an unmistakeable manner. 
 
 "Vittoria's name has descended to us through 
 three centuries as a Poetess. But to any one 
 desirous to comprehend the history of the sixteenth 
 century she becomes still more interesting as a 
 Protestant. Her poetry affords evidence so clear," 
 says Mr. Trollope, "that it is wonderful how Tira- 
 boschi and her biographers can deem it possible 
 to maintain her orthodoxy. Her highly-gifted and 
 richly-cultivated intelligence, her great social posi- 
 tion, and, above all, her close intimacy with the 
 eminent men who strove to set on foot an Italian 
 Reformation, make the illustration of her religious 
 opinions a matter of historical interest." 
 
 Y 
 
322 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 There are several of her sonnets which have been 
 particularly selected as showing her religious faith, 
 and which are far removed from the doctrines of 
 the " Infallible Church." Mr. Trollope notices the 
 82nd, where he finds heretical notions respecting 
 the confessional. " A sentiment which would have 
 consigned many a victim to the stake. But the 
 high-born Colonna Lady, the intimate friend of popes 
 and cardinals, might write with impunity that which 
 would have been perilous to less lofty heads." 
 
 This very beautiful sonnet must be given in the 
 
 original. 
 
 Sonnet LXXXII. 
 
 " L'occhio grande e divino, il cui valore 
 Non vede, ne vedra ; ma sempre vede 
 Taglie dal petto ardente (sua mercede) 
 I dubbi del servil freddo timore. 
 
 V Sapendo che i momenti tutte e Tore, 
 Le parole, i pensier, l'opre, e la fede 
 Discerne ; ne velare altrui concede 
 Per inganni, o per forza un puro core. 
 
 " Securi del suo dolce e giusto impero 
 Non come il primo padre e la sua donna 
 Debbriam del nostro error biasmare altrui ; 
 
 11 Ma con la speme accesa e doler vero 
 Aprir dentro, passando oltra la gonna, 
 I falli nostri a solo a sol con Lui." 
 
 " The grand divine eye which never slumbers, but is always open, 
 takes away from the living heart, thank God, the doubts of a mean 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 323 
 
 and cold fear. Knowing all moments and all hours, He discerns 
 the words, the thoughts, the deeds, and the faith of every one, and 
 will not permit that a pure heart should be concealed from Him by 
 the fraud or force of others. Secure under this sweet and just rule, 
 we must not, like our first parents, lay our sins on others, but with 
 kindled hopes and true penitence, passing by priestly robes, open 
 our sins to Him alone. " 
 
 " Passando oltra la gonna" literally means 
 " passing beyond the gown." And " a solo a sol con 
 Lui," strictly interpreted, is " tete-a-tSte with God" 
 
 Sonnet CXCI. 
 
 When I look on the bright, noble ray of Grace Divine, and on 
 the Power which illumes the intellect and inspires the heart with 
 superhuman virtue, my soul gathers up her will, firm and intent to 
 do it honour. But only so far has she power as she is favoured by 
 high election to hear and feel the certain efficacy of the Author 
 of all good. May His mercy be blessed ! It is not by our 
 own industry and talent that our way is assured, but those run 
 most securely and best, who have the great sustaining help of 
 heaven." 
 
 Sonnet VIII. 
 
 " When by the light whose living splendour renders the faithful 
 breast cheerful and secure, and when the hard ice, which often 
 congeals round the heart, is dissolved by grace, I feel that the black 
 pall of my sins falls at those blessed rays, and I clothe myself in 
 that hour, clear and pure, in the first innocence and the <first love. 
 But though I strive with secret and secure key to arrest that ray, it 
 is so coy and subtle that any low thought drives it away angry. It 
 steals off flying, and I remain distressed and sad, and I pray God to 
 take all defilement from me, so that this light may remain with me 
 in future." 
 
 Again, in the 80th sonnet, in speaking of Christ's 
 death, and the benefits thereof, she declares 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 VITTORU COLONNA: 
 
 that " he who hath fixed his eye on Christ not he 
 who has best understood, or most deeply read, the 
 volumes of this world shall be blessed in heaven. 
 His law is not written on paper, but it is stamped 
 upon the purified heart, with the impress of fire, 
 by the love of Jesus ; " thus advocating the suffi- 
 ciency of individual conversion, which was very 
 different from the dogmas of the Roman clergy. 
 
 In another very remarkable sonnet, the 137th, 
 she gives expression to the prevailing idea of Church 
 Reform. She says the net of Peter is so choked 
 with mud and weeds, as to cause a dread that it 
 will be torn in sunder. That the ship is so sur- 
 rounded with dangers, that it is to be feared the 
 good successor of Peter will have difficulty in 
 bringing it to port. 
 
 Sonnet CXIX. 
 
 " Sanctus Spiritus, send Thy clear ray into my mind, from which 
 every shadow flies when Thy ligh,t which can melt the hardest ice, 
 falls on my heart ! 
 
 " The eye is lifted to heaven, but, owing to the imperfection of 
 obscure mortal light, it is often enshadowed. The soul seeks its 
 good, but it is hindered by loving little, and is opposed to the 
 truth ; and my finite, erring virtue cannot bear the rays nor feel 
 the ardour of the infinite sun without Thine aid. 
 
 " give me, I pray Thee, the true salvation, which brings me 
 to the true light and the true gun on celestial wings. " 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 325 
 
 
 
 Sonnet CXCI. 
 
 " I would desire that Jesus, with high and powerful call, should 
 ever resound in my heart, and that my deeds and my words should 
 show, as before, a lively faith and an ardent hope. The elect soul, 
 which feels the seeds of a celestial faith, hears, sees, and compre- 
 hends Christ. His grace illumines, inflames, opens, and purifies 
 the mind ; and often invoking Him, a firm and beautiful habit is 
 acquired, so that it becomes natural always to ask the true food. 
 And even in the last combat with the ancient foe, to us so hard, 
 armed solely with faith, the heart still, from long habit, on Christ 
 shall call." 
 
 Sonnet CXC. 
 
 " "When I shall behold the setting of this light and the dawn of 
 the eternal light, I shall enter that desired haven to which hope 
 already carries me. I shall then behold that ray which comes from 
 heaven to my heart, that consolatory light which I shall see with a 
 clearer eye, and know how it burns, how it is nourished, how it is 
 illumined. So to live will make death itself sweet. It will be 
 sweet to change mortality for immortality. Oh, when will the 
 dawn of this bright and happy day arrive ? " 
 
 Sonnet on the Death of the Redeemer. 
 
 " At that infinite blessing the elect angels desire themselves to 
 die, that in the celestial courts the servants should be as their Lord. 
 Earth weeps, to see how her children have closed the gates of heaven 
 against themselves, and that the two pierced hands are needed to 
 lead them back to the way from which they have wandered. The 
 sun hides his radiant locks, the solid rocks are rent, the hills fall, 
 heaven and earth tremble, the sea is troubled, even in hell the 
 spirits weep and feel their chains more galling ! Man does not 
 weep, and yet he is born weeping ! " 
 
 Sonnet CVIII. 
 
 To Saint Ignatius. 
 
 " Se '1 nome sol di Cristo in cor dipinto 
 Basta a far forte, e pien d'alto valore 
 
326 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Un fedel servo si ch' ogni vigore 
 
 Ha sempre in guerra di vittorie cinto ; 
 
 " Quanto piu. arditamente Ignazio spinto 
 Fu al tormento, alle bestie, ed al dolore, 
 Avendol sculto in lettere d'oro al core 
 Secura allor di piu. non esser vinto ? 
 
 " Che ne foco, ne venti, ne saetta 
 Poteano entrar fra cotal seudo e lui ; 
 Si forte e interna fu la sua difesa. 
 
 il II mortal velo era in potere altrui : 
 Ma Talma invitta gia secura elletta 
 Stava col suo Gesu d' am ore accesda." 
 
 " If the name alone of Christ written on the heart suffices to make 
 so strong and full of high courage a faithful servant, that he ever 
 has strength girded on in a fight of victories, how much more 
 ardently was Ignatius spurred on to brave all torments, wild beasts, 
 and sufferings, having the name of Christ graven in letters of gold 
 upon his heart ; secure then of never more being vanquished ; so 
 that neither fire, nor storm, nor lightning, could penetrate through 
 such a shield and him, so strong and inward was his defence. The 
 mortal frame was in the power of others, but the unconquered soul, 
 already safely elect, abode with his Jesus, kindled with love 
 divine." 1 
 
 Christ in the Garden. 
 
 " Over His heart He felt cold shudders creep 
 "When in the garden. On His Father's name, 
 To spare the anguish of His mortal frame, 
 He called ; then on His followers, lost in sleep, 
 "With looks of love He gazed, and sorrow deep. 
 
 1 St. Ignatius, during the persecution of the Christians in the 
 time of Trajan, was brought to Rome, and suffered death in the 
 Amphitheatre, being torn to pieces by lions, A.D. 107. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 327 
 
 For ardent zeal on earth was now grown tame ; 
 And Heaven alone was heedful of His shame, 
 And the salvation we thereby do reap. 
 Therefore, that slothful earth might now awake, 
 He straight resumed the ardour of His life, 
 And like to one who high resolve would take, 
 Went forth again to mingle in the strife : 
 So from His friends their slumbers might be riven, 
 And holy death appease offended Heaven." 
 
 "W. L." 
 
 Vittoria's longer poem, called the " Triumph of 
 Christ," was written in 1532, seven years after her 
 first grief. It relates, like most of her other writings, 
 to the history of her feelings, and contains similar 
 expressions. It speaks of the sorrows of one who 
 has loved, who had run her boat on such rocks 
 ("ver gli scogli la sua barca volga"). She appeals 
 to the Saviour, whose eye beholds her, and who 
 knows what hopes and what fears overpower and 
 support her ! She expresses the hope that her 
 mind may be drawn from error and doubt ; and 
 she exclaims of Christ, " Sua la vittoria, e nostra e 
 la mercede ! " (His is the victory, and ours the 
 mercy !) 
 
 Sonnet XC. 
 
 " Star of our sea, bright and safe, Thou wast adorned on earth 
 from the sun of paradise with a sacred mantle, and Thy pure light 
 was softened by the veil of virginity. 
 
 " He who regards this great miracle no longer cares for this vain 
 
328 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 world. He disdains the mean and wicked contests of the old times, 
 since Thou hast armed our nature with the invincible, high virtue. 
 " 1 behold the Son of God nourishing Himself at the breast of a 
 virgin mother, and now, together, resplendent in their human 
 vestments in heaven ; where, contemplating them above, in the 
 beautiful serene, a lively faith can ascend to the beatitude, which 
 is the dear hope of every faithful servant. " 
 
 These thoughts, it is easy to imagine, filled 
 Vittoria's mind as she gazed upon those immortal 
 pictures of Raffaelle, which were just then engrossing 
 the admiration of the Roman society in which she 
 moved. 
 
 Sonnet CVI. 
 To the Virgin. 
 
 " Lady, who wast so honoured by Heaven that thy milk nourished 
 the Son of God, how was it that He did not entirely consume thee ? 
 Why did He not open thy heart as well as thy breast with His 
 divine mouth ? Why did He not release thy soul ? Why did not 
 thy virtue and thy sensibility make every part of thee alive with 
 milk, to nourish the High Lord ? 
 
 " But the imperfection of humanity puts a limit to our under- 
 standing of your orders. It does not suit our erring, weak sight, to 
 conceive of God dying upon earth, or of mortal man living in the 
 heavenly mansions. But our thoughts are too ignorant and vain to 
 know the mode of it. " 
 
 There is another sonnet (the 87th), written, per- 
 haps, after seeing Correggio's famous picture of 
 "La Notte," which so wonderfully represents the 
 scene of the Nativity, with all the light proceeding 
 from the Infant. As this painting was originally 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 329 
 
 placed in the church of S. Prosper, in Reggio, a 
 city only a short distance from Ferrara, it is not 
 unlikely that Vittoria had seen it. The thought 
 is best given in the original. The sonnet is 
 addressed to the "Vergina pura," and describes 
 her as gazing with trembling and fear on the 
 wondrous Babe : 
 
 " Uomo il videsti e Dio, quando i lucenti, 
 Spirti facean l'albergo umile, adorno 
 Di chiari luce, e timidi d'intorno 
 Stavan treraando al grande ufficio tutenti. 
 
 u Immortal Dio nascosto }n mortal velo, 
 L'adorasti Signor ; Figlio il nudristi ; 
 L'amasti Sposo ; e l'onorasti Padre ! 
 
 Giving in the fewest words the awful dogmas of 
 the Romish Church, to which she might well have 
 added her own expression, " Ma debili e vani sono 
 a saperne il modo, i pensieri nostri." (But our 
 thoughts are weak, and unable to know the method 
 of it.) 
 
 The sonnet concludes with a prayer to the 
 Virgin to intercede for herself, and be, indeed, the 
 true Mother ! 
 
 The 104th sonnet is very similar in ideas to 
 the 90th. 
 
330 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Sonnet. 
 
 " Ofttimes I flee to God, through ice and mists, for light and heat 
 to melt my frozen nature ; and when my soul continues cold and 
 dark, at least her thoughts are ever turned to heaven, and in great 
 silence she listens for that still, small voice, which only the soul can 
 hear, which says, Fear not : Jesus, that wide and deep sea, is come 
 into this world to give rest to all who are heavy laden. 
 
 " The waves of this eternal sea are ever sweet and bright to all 
 who, in humble trust, embark upon the great deeps of His 
 goodness." 
 
 Sonnet XXX. 
 
 " Father Eternal in the heavens, if through Thy mercy I am a 
 living branch of that tree of life which embraces the world, and 
 which wills that our virtue shall be within ourselves through faith 
 alone ; let not Thy divine eye grieve to behold the shade upon my 
 dead leaves, nor let the soft, eternal spring-time, which ought to 
 give the green juices to it, cease to fill them again. 
 
 " Purge me, so that I may for the future imbibe the dews of 
 heaven. Refresh Thou the root with my tears. Thou art truth ; 
 bid it to abide with me. 
 
 " Come Thou now, so that with happy fruits I may bring forth 
 what is worthy of so precious a tree." 
 
 The first strong impression made on Vittoria's 
 mind respecting the new religious ideas must un- 
 doubtedly be traced to the Spaniard Valdez, who 
 exercised a most extraordinary influence over the 
 nobility and the learned of Naples. He was not a 
 priest. He was occupied in a civil office of importance. 
 He was a man of expansion of mind, and a clear, 
 unclouded intellect, ever uplifted in the contempla- 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 331 
 
 tion of truth. He wrote many books, but they have 
 utterly disappeared, so searching and complete was 
 the censorship of the Inquisition. 
 
 Vespasiano Colonna, Duke di Palliano, and his 
 wife, Giulia Gonzaga, were favourable to the opin- 
 ions which Valdez promulgated. He dedicated to 
 her his " Commentary on the Psalms " and his 
 " Epistle to the Romans." 
 
 She was esteemed the most beautiful woman in 
 Italy, and she held her court at Fondi, on the 
 coast, not far from Gaeta, on the Neapolitan fron- 
 tier, lppolito dei Medici was said to have been 
 in love with her, and he deputed Sebastian del 
 Piombo to take her portrait. It is considered the 
 most marvellous of any portrait he has painted. 
 Her titles were Duchessa di Trajetto and Contessa 
 di Fondi. After her husband's death she remained 
 a widow, and exhibited a pattern of the correctest 
 virtue and piety. 
 
 We cannot tell the history of her persecutions, as 
 we have done that of Rene"e of Ferrara. Even the 
 history of the last four years of Vittoria's life is 
 blotted out. Her Italian biographer only says they 
 were passed in the " odour of sanctity." We may 
 rest assured that she never gave up her opinions, and 
 
332 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 that she never ceased to regard all her old friends with 
 affectionate interest. But she had been, no doubt, 
 watched with suspicion by Caraffa and his spies. 
 How dangerous even her friendship was considered 
 is proved by the fact that, twenty years after her 
 death, a noble Florentine was condemned to be 
 burnt in Rome, one of his principal crimes being 
 that he once belonged to the circle of Vittoria 
 Colonna and of Giulia Gonzaga. 
 
 The remark of her physician, already quoted 
 (p. 240), " Would that a physician of her mind could 
 be found ; otherwise the fairest light in the world, 
 by I know not in how frightful a manner, will be 
 extinguished, and taken from our eyes," certainly 
 alludes to the Inquisition, which was stretching forth 
 its feelers further and further. A slight charge was 
 enough to bring about the destruction of a person ; 
 and the Jesuits were forcing their way into every 
 family. 
 
 It is hardly possible, in this nineteenth century, 
 to conceive of such a state of society. We cannot 
 imagine, in open day, huge fires before St. Paul's 
 or in Trafalgar Square, to burn forbidden books, 
 crowds rushing to fling them into the flames, and 
 the clergy standing by to see it done. We cannot 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 333 
 
 picture to ourselves to-day hundreds of the noblest 
 men and women dragged to torture, merely for their 
 opinions. We cannot believe that our good arch- 
 bishops and our learned clergy could stand in fear 
 of a fiery death ; or that our Maurices, Kingsleys, 
 Stanleys, Coquerels, could ever have the chance to 
 know the " grace of martyrdom." 
 
 But it was such men as these who, in Italy, had 
 the courage to die at the stake, calling out " Vic- 
 toria ! Victoria ! " and many others, who did not die 
 by sharp pangs, were brought early to their death 
 by broken health and broken hearts. Among these 
 last mentioned, we may most assuredly reckon 
 Cardinals Contarini and Pole, and their friend 
 Vittoria Colonna. 
 
334 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 POEMS AND LETTERS. 
 
 Visconti, in speaking of the first of her poems 
 which we possess, the letter to her husband after 
 the defeat of Ravenna, says, " It is a most noble and 
 truly heroic epistle, warm with magnanimous affec- 
 tions, without which how incomplete would be the 
 idea of the grandeur of Vittoria's heart and mind ; 
 and it is the more wonderful that it should have 
 remained so long unknown to every one, as it was 
 the first of her compositions which she saw in print. 
 It was printed in the year 1536, and the first edition 
 of her Sonnets was not published till 1538. There 
 were four editions of her poems published during 
 her life, in 1538, 1539, 1540, and 1544, <non pero 
 di suo volere mai. 5 It is the only poem extant 
 which was certainly written during the life of Pes- 
 cara* We must give the merit of having saved it 
 from the destruction which has swallowed up so 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 335 
 
 many of this illustrious lady's poems to Fabrizio 
 Luna, who printed it at the end of his " Vocabulary 
 of Tuscan Words," to give a truce to the trouble 
 which he had in copying it so often. I send you," 
 he says, in a letter to Pietro di Salviati, Conte 
 di Luna, " the Epistle of the grand Colonnese, and 
 the Ottave of the wise Gambara. For so many 
 persons, both in and out of Naples, are asking for 
 them, that it keeps me continually occupied with 
 them." " Among the poems lost to us," continues 
 Visconti, " are the sonnet beginning, ' Padre del 
 ciel che nostra mente guidi/ and that written on 
 Pescara being appointed ambassador from Naples 
 to Charles V." 
 
 " Yanne lieto mio sol, vanne sicuro, 
 Con lieto augurio, ovunque il ciel ti guidi." 
 
 r "Go happy, my beloved, go securely, with, cheerful augury, where 
 Heaven guides thee." 
 
 The sonnet in which she incited her husband to 
 remain faithful to the Emperor is also lost. Only 
 two lines are extant. 
 
 " La viva selce, che percossa rende 
 Scintellando le fiamme desolate." 
 
 " The live coal, which struck, gives out sparkling the desired 
 flames." 
 
 This argument was likewise used in the sonnet 
 
336 VITTORIA COLON NJ: 
 
 beginning, " Cura e la vita, e dopo lei mi pare," 
 also lost. 
 
 After the battle of Pavia, her husband being 
 wounded, and the Marchese di Civita, so beloved 
 by Pescara, killed by the hand of the French king, 
 Vittoria wrote to her husband a poem, in which she 
 urged the necessity of his selecting a new friend 
 for the sake of Vasto. This poem commences 
 
 " Poiche il Fato, signor, ti discompagna 
 Di nodo cosi caro, del qual privo 
 Senipre l'animo tuo" s'affligge e lagna." 
 
 " Since Fate, my lord, has removed from you so beloved a friend, 
 for which great loss your soul is afflicted and distressed." 
 
 " The rest of this poem is altogether lost ; and it 
 proves to us that what we have collected in this 
 edition was not all that she wrote to her husband, 
 and that they frequently consoled themselves in this 
 way during the long separations which they had to 
 endure/' 1 
 
 There are several poems also missing, written 
 after Pescara' s death, and among others the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 " Se mai Misero visse in doglia e pena 
 Awolto in nero duolo, in nero manto, 
 Quella son' io che vivo sol di pianto. " 
 
 i Visconti, xxxiv. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 337 
 
 " If Misery was ever seen in sorrow and pain, in black grief and 
 black dress, I am that person, living only on tears." 
 
 When Vasto was a prisoner in the hands of the 
 French, not being able to send him succour and 
 gifts, she wrote him a sonnet commencing, " Corra 
 i piu erte e superbi colli." " All these compositions, 
 on the faith of Filocalo, we must deplore as lost," 
 says Visconti ; " and we are told of others which 
 refer to circumstances which we do not find in her 
 other poetry." 
 
 There are twenty-five poems in Visconti' s edition 
 never before published ; of these we have subjoined 
 several; and though the second series of "The 
 Rime " is entitled " Sacre e Morali," a great many 
 are written on subjects of domestic interest. There 
 are three addressed to Charles V., one to Paul III. 
 during the wars against the Colonnesi, and others to 
 Cardinal Bembo. 
 
 There are several sonnets in praise of the Virgin, 
 and two to St. Francis ; but it is not correct to 
 say, as Trollope affirms, that there are "many 
 sonnets to the Roman Catholic saints." The 
 sonnets to the Saviour always address Him as 
 " Signor ; " and in those in which she speaks of 
 the Almighty, she uses either the term "Padre in 
 
 z 
 
338 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 cielo," or " Iddio," which is the highest expression 
 of reverence. 
 
 We give one of the poems which Cardinal Bembo 
 addressed to Vittoria, and her sonnet in reply, of 
 which he says, in a letter to Giovio, that it is " grave, 
 gentile, ingenuoso, eccellentemente e pensato e dis- 
 posto e dettato " (majestic, noble, ingenuous, and 
 admirably imagined, treated, and expressed). 
 
 She afterwards composed for him the sonnet, 
 " Spirto gentil dal cui gran nome," but it is not 
 known whether she sent it to him. Bembo, in a 
 letter written from Padua, January 1534, to his 
 friend Macchiavelli at Vicenza, speaking of the 
 poetry of another lady, says, " If that sonnet is 
 hers, as you affirm, and which in truth is so beau- 
 tiful that it has astonished me, she must be exces- 
 sively brave ; for it appears to me that the Marchesa 
 di Pescara, not only at Naples, but also in your 
 city ; I repeat it the Marchesa di Pescara has now 
 everywhere the first name and position." 
 
 Sonnet by Pietro Bembo, to Vittoria. 
 
 " Alta Colonna, e ferma alle tempeste 
 Del ciel turbato, a cui chiaro onor fanno 
 Leggiadre membra avvolte in nero panno, 
 E pensier santi e ragionar celeste ; 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 339 
 
 u E rime si soavi e si conteste 
 Ch' alia futura eta solinglie andranno, 
 E schermiransi dal millesim' anno ; 
 Gia dolei e liete, ora pietose e meste ! 
 
 " Quanti vi dier le stelli doni a prova, 
 Forse estimar si pu5 ; ma lingua o stile 
 Nel gran pelago lor guado non trova. 
 
 ** Solo a sprezzar la vita, alma gentile, 
 Desio di lui, che sparve non vi mova ; 
 Ne vi sia lo star nosco ingrato e vile." 
 
 ** Noble Colonna! firm against the storms of a troubled sky; 
 whose form is radiant with bright honour, holy thoughts, and 
 heaven-born discourse, though elad in mourning weeds ; and whose 
 verses, so sweet and harmonious sometimes so soft and joyous, 
 sometimes so pitiful and sad will descend alone to distant times, 
 and be preserved for a thousand years. 
 
 " How many gifts the stars have shed upon thee may perhaps be 
 imagined, but language and style find no path in that great ocean. 
 
 " Let not the longing for the departed, most lovely lady, cause 
 thee to disdain life, and let not thy stay among us be unpleasing to 
 thee or despised." 
 
 Sonnet LXXII. 
 
 To Cardinal Bembo. 
 
 " A hi ! quanto fu al mio Sol contrario il fato, 
 Che con l'alta virtu dei raggi suoi, 
 Piu non v'accese che mill' anni e poi 
 Voi sareste piu chiaro, ei piii lodato. 
 
 " II nome suo col vostro stile ornato, 
 Che da scorno agli antichi, invidia a noi, 
 A mal grado del tempo avreste voi 
 Dal secondo morir sempre guardato. 
 
 " Potess' io almen mandar nel vostro petto 
 L'ardor ch' io sento, e voi nel mio l'ingegno 
 Per far la rima a quel gran merto equale. 
 
 z 2 
 
340 FITTORIA COLON NA: 
 
 " Che cosl temo '1 ciel non prenda a sdegno 
 Yoi, perche preso avete altro soggetto ; 
 Me, ch' ardisco parlar d'un lume tale." 
 
 !* Ah ! how much was fate against my Pescara, that you were 
 not at first enlightened with his exalted merit ; you, who would 
 have praised his name, and made it glorious for a thousand years 
 and more ! 
 
 " Your admirable style, which shames the ancients and makes us 
 envious, would have for ever preserved him, in spite of time, from 
 the second death. 
 
 " Could I at least inspire in your breast the admiration that I feel 
 for him, or could you instil your poetical talents into mine, what 
 a grand exchange it would be ! 
 
 " But I fear Heaven would disdain it for you, because you have 
 taken another subject, and I have dared myself to speak of such a 
 star." 
 
 Sonnet XXXI. 
 
 " A che sempre chiamar la sorda morte 
 E far pietoso il ciel col pianger mio, 
 Se troncar l'ali io stessa al gran desio 
 Posso, e sgombrare il duol dal petto forte ? 
 
 " Meglio assai fora che alle chiuse porte 
 Chieder mercede, aprirne una all' oblio, 
 Chiuder l'altra al pensier : cosl poss' io 
 Vincer me insieme e la nimica sorte. 
 
 " Gli schermi tutti, e quante vie discopre 
 L' anima, per uscir dal career cieco 
 Di si grave dolor, tentato ho in vano. 
 
 " Kiman solo a provar, se vive meco 
 Tanta ragion, ch' io volga questo insano 
 Desir fuor di speranza a miglior opre." 
 
 " Why call for ever on unheeding death, and make Heaven pitiful 
 with my weeping, if I can myself cut off the wings of my great 
 longing, and drive out the grief from my strong heart ? 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS, 341 
 
 " Better would it be than begging for mercy at the closed doors 
 (of death), to open one to forgetfulness, and to close the other to 
 thought. I may thus conquer myself and my hostile fate. 
 
 " I have tried in vain all weapons, and every way that the mind 
 can discover, to escape from the dark prison of this great grief. It 
 only remains for me to prove whether there be still within me 
 sufficient power to turn this insane desire, out of all hope, tp 
 worthier deeds." 
 
 The 22nd sonnet speaks of her grief at being 
 childless. 
 
 " When death untied the dear knot which was tied by Heaven, 
 Nature, and Love, it took from me the light of my eyes and the 
 food of my heart, but bound my soul in a closer union. 
 
 "This is the tie which I value and praise, and which draws me 
 from every mundane error, and holds me in the path of honour, to 
 which I rejoice to limit my desires. 
 
 11 If our bodies were sterile, our souls were fruitful, and his name 
 was made brilliant by his valour, which also will be the light 
 around my name. 
 
 " If Heaven has denied other blessings, to me and if my best 
 blessing was taken from me by death, still I live with him ; and 
 that is as much as I desire." 
 
 The 133rd sonnet seems to refer also to children, 
 especially to her brother's family. 
 
 " I see the sky overcast with dark clouds that fill all the air, and 
 that foretell storm, and thunder, and lightning, to warm and soften 
 the hard, frozen earth. The great God perhaps desires to burn up 
 with fire all sterile and imperfect plants, so that the beautiful 
 garden may afterwards be joyous and secure. I pray that all the 
 little swelling buds, from the roots, may come forth green and with 
 perfect leaves, and rich, and with true glory for the poor plants ; and 
 that they may be always happy, watered with holy dew, and for 
 ever renewed with flowers and fruit." 
 
342 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 To her Father. 
 
 I pray the Father Divine, who has poured so much of His 
 flame and fire into thy heart, our earthly father ! that not the 
 least particle may remain of human anger in thee, and that all 
 unworthy lore of poor human glory may flee from thee, as quickly 
 as the poor defenceless deer flees from a fierce lion. 
 
 " And when that day dawns upon thy soul, we shall behold thee 
 coming with the joyful multitude to the holy place, warm with 
 the beams of the grand light which God hath lighted upon earth. 
 
 " Thus will the sacred nets be filled, and with the sceptre of peace 
 the world will be ruled, and not by arms in war." 
 
 This sonnet, though placed by Visconti and Rota 
 in the second series, must have been one of the first 
 Vittoria composed, as it was written before Fabrizio 
 died, in 1520. 
 
 The 41st sonnet, on Music, is music itself. It is 
 difficult to translate the beautifully chosen words, 
 and impossible to convey in English the elegance of 
 the original. 
 
 " Se il breve suon, che sol quest' aer frale 
 Circonda e move, e Y aura che raccoglie 
 Lo spirto dentro, e poi l* apre e discioglie 
 Soavemente in voce egra e mortale ; 
 
 " Con tal dolcezza il cor sovente assale, 
 Che d' ogni cura vil s' erge e ritoglie, 
 Sprona, accende il pensier, drizza le voglie, 
 Per gir volando al ciel con leggiere ale ; 
 
 " Che fia, quand' udira con vivo zelo 
 La celeste armonia 1' anima pura, 
 Sol con 1' orecchia interna intenta al vero, 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 343 
 
 " Dinanzi al suo fattor nel sommo cielo, 
 U' noD si perde raai tuono o misura, 
 Ne si discorda il bel concento altero ? " 
 
 " If the fleeting sounds which only the soft air moves and circu- 
 lates, and the breath which the spirit gathers up within, and which 
 it then pours forth so sweetly by the imperfect human voice, and 
 often with such gentleness assails the heart, that it raises and frees 
 itself from every low care, enkindles the thoughts, and directs the 
 efforts of the will to rise, flying to heaven on light wings how will 
 it be when the purified soul shall hear with vivid delight the 
 celestial choirs, with only the inward ear intent on truth, in the 
 presence of her Maker, in the highest heaven, where the tone and 
 measure can never be lost, and no discord mar the beautiful and 
 sublime harmony ? " 
 
 Sonnet LXIII. 
 To Charles V. 
 " Sento per gran timor con alto grido 
 Al venir d' un' eccelsa aguila altera, 
 Fuggir tutti gli augelli in varia schiera, 
 Ne ben fidarsi ancor nel propria nido. 
 
 " Ella secura, col soccorso fido 
 De' cieli e della sua virtu sincera, 
 Con nuovo onor, con maggior gloria spera, 
 Volar superba in ogni estremo lido. 
 
 " Ma il mio bel Sol, che per aprir il volo 
 Tante nubi scacci6 col suo gran lume, 
 Gode nelF opre delle sue fatiche. 
 
 " E prega il ciel, che stenda in ciascun polo 
 L'ali, e che tanto abbia le stelle amiche, 
 Ch' alzando il vol rinforzi ognor le piume." 
 
 " I hear with what loud cries all the birds take flight in alarmed 
 flocks, through fear at the approach of the noble, magnificent 
 eagle, 1 not even trusting themselves to their own nests. 
 
 1 The imperial eagle of the Holy Germanic empire. 
 
344 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 " Thou, secure in the favour of Heaven and thine own valour, 
 hopest to fly proudly to every remote coast, with new honours and 
 added glory. 
 
 "And my Pescara (mio Sol), who made a way for thy flight, and 
 scattered so many clouds by his powerful light, rejoices in heaven 
 over thy great efforts ; and he prays God that you may spread to 
 each pole your wings, and that your friendly stars may enable you 
 to raise your flight and renew your strength." 
 
 Sonnet 197. "Recorda le vertu del suo fratello 
 Federico Colonna, e quanto aecetto fosse al celebre 
 Reginaldo Polo" (Visconti). 
 
 The Italian writers of this period were fond of 
 introducing a double meaning into their poetry ; and 
 this sonnet refers not only to the Pole Star, but to 
 Cardinal Pole, and seems to be intended as a com- 
 parison highly complimentary to Vittoria's noble 
 
 friend. 
 
 To Federico. 
 
 " No longer is thy high soul wrapped up in the shadows of earth, 
 but, by the mercy of God, is winging its way with the shining 
 hosts, and taken' for ever from our sight. 
 
 " Already unloosed from the knot of life by the celestial Hand, 
 oh, immortal Federico ! the divine Pole Star (Pole), which is high 
 and alone above the stars, has turned his approving looks upon 
 thee among thy beloved stars, whither the example of the Lord 
 hath guided thee ; in whose light ye both shine so resplendently, 
 that it burns and irradiates in your well-born and noble spirits in a 
 manner most uncommon, and perhaps unequalled." 
 
 Sonnet LY. 
 " Torna a sperare il conquisto di Terra Santa." 
 " Now the joyful hope is revivified, which was become in me so 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 345 
 
 dry and abandoned, that I may behold the Holy Land, so wickedly 
 taken from us, which the Sacred Sepulchre adorns and presses. 
 
 " I hear that now the brave warriors fear neither danger nor 
 death ; and also that there are so many, hitherto ashamed, bold for 
 our faith ; and that their blood is the fertile seed which raises up 
 many others to call with loud voices on the true Lord, hitherto 
 unknown ; and who, to our disgrace, will cause the sign of the 
 honoured Cross to be displayed to the world with greater glory." 
 
 Sonnet V. 
 
 On the Death of Contaeini. 
 
 (Inedited till 1840.) 
 
 " The little lovely flower rises with green hope, but in how short 
 a time envious death cuts it off, and causes tears in our eyes and 
 sorrows in our hearts. 
 
 " May the graces and profound virtues of that noble soul, escaping 
 earth-born cares, now take wing to a safer shore, conquering the 
 dark and angry waves (of death), to restore to Tiber all his ancient 
 glory, and to bring about for his great country, adorned with 
 triumphs, that so much sighed for day, when, the reward being 
 made equal to the work, the sacred mantle of St. Peter shall cover 
 all around, and our age be blessed." 
 
 Sonnet VI. 
 
 On the Death of Pompeo Colonna. 
 
 (Inedited till 1840.) 
 
 "How many lights that made this dark world so pure and bril- 
 liant hath greedy, avaricious, wicked death extinguished, so that 
 our most valued treasures are the most quickly taken. 
 
 " And now he hath taken the good Pompeo among those blessed 
 spirits in the high and rare joys of heaven, hitherto hid from sight, 
 for whom is prepared a heart disenthralled from mundane cares. 
 The others who adorn the living Column (Colonna), to show still how 
 much honour can be hoped for in difficult undertakings, these, with 
 the soul always alive to good, conquer the world and themselves : to 
 whom ought to be given the custody of the Holy Keys." 
 
346 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Sonnet CXXXIX. 
 
 "Batte la mia Colouna entro e d'intorno." 
 
 " When the States of the Church with armed hand attack my 
 Colonna (pillar) within and without, I behold with the inward eye, 
 thank God, the pillar of fire by night, and the cloud by day, by 
 which I am led to where I see, in part at least, the glorious and 
 high heaven ; so that I am turned from those natural affections 
 which are in my heart, and am very often called back from the 
 things of this life, to experience for a long, quiet, holy time, how 
 dear is that which I then discern and feel. 
 
 " I know not whether it is my own soul by its beautiful dreams, or 
 perhaps by the gift of my Saviour, but all those things which 
 formerly were cold and dark to me are now warm and light with 
 an unwonted power." 
 
 Sonnet addressed to the Pope, Paul III., whilst 
 he was at war against the Colonnas. 
 
 Sonnet CXL. 
 
 " I behold amongst the armed squadrons only the large camps of 
 my people relighted ; I hear their songs changed to war-cries ; and 
 the sweet smiles with which I was wont to salute the Ancient 
 Mother are turned to tears. 
 
 " Oh, Pastor wise and holy, now prove thy forgiving nature, and 
 show thyself in high and graceful deeds ! 
 
 " These are your sons of old, who by long years of good deeds 
 have made themselves beloved. 
 
 " Our ancestors were born under one sky ; they had one mother ; 
 they were brought up together under the sweet shelter of one only 
 city." 
 
 Sonnet CXCY. 
 
 " Soul, the Lord cometh ! therefore drive away the fogs that are 
 around thy heart, so that the shadow of the terrestrial love may not 
 overcast the glorious light. 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 347 
 
 " And because our human frailty often so dims the sight that we 
 cannot behold the dazzling effulgence, He will remove from thee 
 the imperfection which conceals such blessedness from thine eyes. 
 
 " Come thou willingly, and experience the feast and joy and His 
 true delights, when we are made partakers of His exalted treasures, 
 and when we, putting this dark world behind us, and being born 
 again in God, are honoured and loved by Him." 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 Very few of Vittoria's letters have been access- 
 ible to us, though her correspondence was so large. 
 The few which are here added are interesting 
 chiefly as throwing some additional light on her 
 character. The noble dignity of the Patrician lady 
 is shown, as well as the affection of the woman, and 
 the earnestness of the Christian. When Aretino 
 artfully endeavours to excuse her a small debt which 
 she says was incurred by other people's faults, she 
 declines to be indebted to him, with a cold and 
 stately politeness, and yet without offence. 
 
 The three letters to the Duchessa d'Amalfi are 
 chiefly religious discourses relating to the death of 
 a beloved relation, apparently the daughter of the 
 Duchessa. Costanza d'Avalos was Vasto's sister, and 
 is included among the celebrated "Rimatrici" of the 
 
348 VITTORTA COLONNA: 
 
 sixteenth century by Mr. Roscoe, in his "Life of 
 Leo X." 1 The D'Avalos family were remarkable for 
 their literary tastes. The talents of the Princessa 
 di Francavilla have already been spoken of. Vis- 
 conti says, " Era antica nella famiglia degli Avalos 
 questa bella lodi ch' esso sapessero trattar le muse, 
 anehe in mezzo alle armi." 
 
 The first letter from Vittoria to Costanza was 
 written probably from the Convent of S. Caterina, 
 at Viterbo, but it is not dated. She calls her 
 "Sorella amantissima," and says that she desires 
 to speak to her of those two glorious women, 
 " our most faithfully wise Maddalena, and Caterina, 
 whose death, and now happy life, is celebrated 
 this day." She then quotes the texts, " Qui 
 voluerit inter nos major fieri, sit vester minister; 
 et qui voluerit inter nos primus esse, erit vester 
 servus," and " In domo Patris mei mansiones 
 multse sunt ; " and remarks that, trusting to their 
 humble and loving service, both old and renewed, 
 she is emboldened to consider for a moment the 
 grades and graces that the Saviour hath bestowed 
 
 1 He says of her, " The Duchessa d' Amain wrote with grace, 
 elegance, and purity, and her writings are rich with the profoundest 
 sentiments of Christian piety." Leo X. vol. iv. p. 221 , 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 349 
 
 upon them in heaven. " Let us supplicate Him to 
 judge them truly, and to grant to us the joy of 
 beholding our ferventissima Maddalena at the feet of 
 her Saviour. Dilexit multo.' " 
 
 In the next letter she continues her religious dis^ 
 course, and again refers to "la ferventissima serva, mia 
 Maddalena ; " and she exhorts Costanza to remember 
 how merciful are " nostra Maria Regina, and l'Al- 
 tissimo Verbo," and how blessed it is to be united 
 to the spirits in Paradise, and to be raised into the 
 high eternal light of God, to which, by His good- 
 ness, we are conducted. 
 
 In the third letter she says, " ' Sorella dolcessima,' 
 I hear that my letters, so simply expressed, have not 
 given you sufficient consolation. I did not aim at 
 ornament or elegance of style, not to hinder your 
 taste ; and I felt safe with your prudence from the 
 evil tongues of malignant persons. But I said only 
 what our Church is accustomed sweetly to teach me." 
 (Essendo co voi sicura di calonnia, ed ogni iniquo 
 di maligna intento. Ma dico quel che soavemente 
 ne l'usata nostra chiesa mi rappresenti.) 1 
 
 i The letters to Sister Serafina, those to the Duchessa d'Amalfi, 
 and to the Queen of Navarre, and her reply, are in Pino's Collec- 
 tion, "Racoltedi Lettere." 
 
350 FITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 Margherita di Navara was born in 1492, and was 
 two years younger than Vittoria. She married, at 
 seventeen, the Duke d'Alenc^on, and afterwards, for 
 her second husband, the King of Navarre. She was 
 active in assisting him to amend the condition of his 
 small kingdom. She composed pieces from Scripture 
 history, to be acted by her Court, ffrom a rude 
 French translation of the Bible. When she adopted 
 the Lutheran opinions, she gave protection in her 
 Court to several divines, and published a book, in 
 1533, which was condemned by the Sorbonne, be- 
 cause it contained no mention of the saints or of 
 purgatory. Like Renee, she suffered from her hus- 
 band's severity in consequence of her opinions, 
 and would have suffered still more, if her ^brother, 
 Francis I., had not authoritatively interposed. She 
 had to conceal her opinions with great care. 
 
 Letter to the Queen of Navarre. 
 
 " Serenissima Kegina, The noble and religious expressions in 
 your Majesty's most kind letter ought to have taught me a sacred 
 silence, which, in place of praise, we offer to things divine. But, 
 fearing that my reverence might be esteemed ingratitude, I make 
 bold, not indeed to reply to it, but not to prove myself altogether 
 silent, and only to add weight to your Majesty's prophecy, in 
 which you have been pleased to calculate the future of my troubled 
 life, in such a manner that God might grant me the privilege of 
 conversing with you viva voce, as your Majesty has deigned to give 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 351 
 
 me hope ; and if the infinite mercy will grant it me, it will be in 
 accordance with my intense desire. 
 
 " At this time we especially need, in life's long and difficult way, 
 some guide who will show us the road, with doctrine and with 
 works, so that we should be incited to overcome difficulty ; and it 
 appears to me that examples in our own sex would be to each one 
 the most suitable to follow ; and I have turned to the celebrated 
 women of Italy, to learn of them and to imitate them. But though 
 I do not see many among them virtuous, I do not judge them. 
 They should all be models, if I might have the ordering of things. 
 But there is one out of Italy, in whom is united a perfect will and a 
 perfect intellect ; but she is placed in so high a rank, and is so 
 removed from me, that I am as much filled with distress and fear 
 as were the Hebrews when they saw the fire and the glory of God 
 on the Sacred Mount, and did not dare to place their foot on it, but 
 silently prayed the Lord to deign to draw near to them by human 
 speech. And as in their great need the Lord drew water from the 
 rock, and fed them with heavenly manna, so your Majesty has been 
 pleased to console me with your most delightful letter. 
 
 " If to this favour be added the far-off hope that I may behold 
 your Majesty, I am sure that it only agrees with my desire. 
 
 "Certainly the road would not be difficult to me, in order to 
 enlighten my mind and to pacify my conscience ; and I think it 
 would not be disagreeable to your Majesty to have presented to her 
 a subject on which she could exercise her two most rare virtues 
 that of humility, because she will abase herself to teach me ; and 
 charity, because she will find a resistance in me to know how to 
 accept her kindness. But as it is usual to find that those children 
 who give the most trouble are the most beloved, I hope that your 
 Majesty will have the greatest pleasure in finding me thus difficult 
 in receiving my new birth and my new nature. I should not know 
 how to imagine myself placed before your Majesty in such a capa- 
 city, if it were not that your most noble nature has been pleased to 
 call me to you ; and though at a distance, I may fancy myself in 
 your presence. 
 
 " But at least I may, in the desert of our misery, like John the 
 Baptist, notify your Majesty's coming to all Italy. 
 
 " I will speak of it to Renee di Ferrara, whose good judgment is 
 
352 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 shown in everything, and to the Rev. Polo, whose conversation 
 is always in heaven, and who cares only for earth so far as he 
 can be useful to others ; and I will speak of it to Rev. Bembo, 
 always labouring in the vineyard of the Lord, and also to many 
 others, whom I have not time to enumerate. All my writing begins 
 and ends with my honoured subject, to gain a little of that glory 
 which I behold round your Majesty, and honour so highly, which 
 the noble Margherita worthily displays every day, and knows so 
 well how to impart ; treasures that, whilst she amasses them for 
 herself, make the wealth of all others. ' Bacio la sua real mano e 
 nella sua desideratissima gratia, humilmente mi raccommando.' 
 " Di Y. M. obligatissima Serva, 
 
 "La Marchesa di Pescara." 
 
 From the Queen of Navarre. 
 
 "Alla Illtjstrissima Marchesa di Pescara, Your letter, 
 my cousin, has caused me much pleasure, seeing your so much 
 desired affection expressed in it so vividly, that this pleasure has 
 eaused me to forget the pain which I ought to have felt at receiving 
 the praise which your kind opinion has expressed towards me. But 
 you, who think others are like yourself, and if they are not, that 
 you know men should say pleasant things to princes, and not show 
 to them their own defects, have exercised I cannot tell how much 
 charity towards me ; but this ignorance is changed into the certain 
 assurance of affection which you feel towards me, when you show 
 me the difference that there is between the glory and titles of this 
 world, and all external things, and the adornment within the soul 
 of a daughter and true spouse of the great and only King. 
 
 " It appears to me, my cousin, in order that I may find this rock 
 of humility, which is the only true foundation, you cannot take a 
 better way than to tell me what I am, when from the fashion of 
 this world, which regards the nobility and outward appearance, and 
 which you esteem, you turn to what I am ' within.' And I confess 
 to you that, beyond the externals that God has granted to me He 
 having caused me to be born to this estate my demerits ought to 
 make me marvellously afraid. And in the said 'within' I feel 
 myself so different from your good opinion of me, that I should not 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 353 
 
 wish to have read your letters, if I had not the hope that they will 
 be a help to me to rise from the position I am in, to run as you may 
 teach me. 
 
 " But as you are so much before me in the race, and looking at 
 the distance that there is between you and me, I lose all hope in 
 my work. But I would not lose faith, which hopes even against 
 hope, for victory. For which may God have glory in our prayers, 
 and not ourselves the merit. 
 
 " To this end it is necessary to continue your teachings and your 
 frequent valuable writings, which I pray you not to cease sending. 
 It is a friendship which fame began, and which has much increased 
 by our mutual letters. I more than ever desire to receive them, 
 and am, still more, so venturesome as to hope that in this world 1 
 may hear you converse of another world ; and if I may know that 
 I can do you a service, I beg of you, my cousin, to treat me as a 
 sister, for in good faith it would please me as much in this world, 
 as in the other, to see you eternally. 
 
 " Your good Cousin and true Friend, 
 
 " M. Margherita, Regina di Navara." 
 
 Al Molto Keverendo Signor il Signor Arcenescono 
 
 CORNARO. 
 
 "Very Reverend Sir, It would be unnatural in you not to 
 feel such a loss, and it is right also to thank God, who has willed 
 that S. S. Ileverendissimo, by a holy death, should have given 
 testimony of so good a life, showing clearly that his heart was with 
 Christ, so that in manners and acts there was nothing to the pre- 
 judice of his neighbour. To the last he truly acted in this manner, 
 and he proved that it was not merely his mild and kind nature, but 
 his most constant and pure faith which sustained him in his great 
 need. 
 
 "You need not mourn, for he had the offices of a most loving 
 brother, a faithful servant, and an excellent friend ; and during the 
 few hours he was ever left alone his patience and peace set an 
 example to all the world. 
 
 A A 
 
354 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 u I thank God you did not chance to send back what he needed 
 of my offerings. I felt obliged to send them ; and I beg you to let 
 me serve you also, as a true sister, now and ever. May you be 
 comforted in our common consolation, our true life, in every kind 
 of sorrow or death. 
 
 " Believe me, I should have brought them myself, if I had not 
 feared to be troublesome in the midst of an affliction which I would 
 have mitigated with my heart's blood, if I could. 
 
 " I recommend you to Christ with all my spirit. 
 
 "Al commando di V. S. molto Reverendo, 
 
 " La Matichesa di Pescara." 
 
 ARETINO. 
 
 This name might have been eonsigned to the 
 ignominy it deserves, nor would it have occurred in 
 these pages, if he had not had the audacity to 
 attempt an acquaintance with this illustrious lady 
 by sending her books, and writing several letters to 
 her. It appears also that he was acquainted with 
 her adopted son, the Marchese del Vasto. It is 
 perfectly evident from the style of her replies, which 
 we subjoin, that she politely withdrew from any 
 obligation to him. 
 
 He was of ignoble birth, and lie raised a name 
 far above any claim to genius which he might boast, 
 by means sufficiently scandalous. " His life may be 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. $ 55 
 
 denominated the triumph of effrontery," ! and lie 
 has been eompared to "a poisonous toad in an 
 unapproachable swamp." 
 
 He lived in Yeniee, whence his evil productions 
 were circulated over the world. His daring and 
 virulent satires were feared by every one. Em- 
 perors, princes, and ecclesiastics, purchased exemp- 
 tion from his ridicule and scurrility by bribes and 
 presents. He began with attacking the clergy, and 
 proceeded to sovereigns, princes, artists. No one 
 was safe from his pen. He grew rich with exacting 
 money and gifts by threatening letters ; and whilst 
 he was publishing the coarsest and most licentious 
 poems, he was also writing penitential hymns 
 and the lives of saints. He styled himself "the 
 Scourge of Princes." He published a medal of 
 himself, with the inscription "Divine Aretino ;" and 
 on the reverse he appeared seated on a throne, with 
 kings kneeling before him. For many years he had 
 been annoying Michael Angelo with letters of advice, 
 and with requests for some of his works. He began 
 with flattery. " There are kings enough in the 
 world," he said, "but only one Michael Angelo." 
 
 1 Koscoe's " Life of Leo X." vol. iv. p. 110, where a full account 
 of Aretino may be found.. 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 VITTORIA COLONNA: 
 
 This producing neither reply nor presents, he pro- 
 ceeded to villify him, and avenge himself upon " the 
 solitary old man ; " and great as Michael Angelo 
 was, the venom of Aretino clung to him to the 
 last. 1 
 
 Al Magnifico Messer Pietro Aretino. 
 
 " I thank you for the great courtesy that you have shown me in 
 sending me so beautiful and valuable a work, and also for your 
 liberality in presenting me with the balance of thirty scudi, for 
 which, as well as those paid over, I became a debtor through other 
 people's fault. I do accept them as a gift from you, but I beg you, 
 when I remit them to you, which will be as soon as I have reached 
 Kome, that you will be pleased to give them in my name, but on 
 your account, to some poor person. 
 
 " Thus my word and your offer will both come into effect. And 
 may the infinite riches of God bestow upon you a spirit so poor that 
 it may feel there is no other treasure than to become rich in Him. 
 
 " 1 stayed some time at Lucca, but not at Pisa, as your letter 
 states. I passed from there ; and not being able to go to Jerusalem, 
 I remained here consoled : but I am compelled to return to Rome 
 by his Holiness, instigated thereto by your friend and mine, the 
 Marchese del Vasto, as it seems to him that his Holiness is offended 
 by my Christian humility. 
 
 "Ferrara, Sept. 25, 1537." 
 
 Al Signor Pietro Aretino, 
 
 " MolTo Magnifico Signor, I know not whether I ought to 
 praise or censure you for the book you sent me : to praise you for 
 the style, because you truly deserve it ; or to censure you, because 
 you employ your great talents on Other subjects than those of 
 
 1 Grimm, p. 310, i 
 
HER LIFE AND POEMS. 357 
 
 religion, thus proving yourself less grateful to God and less useful 
 to the world. 
 
 " The messenger by whom you sent the book has never returned ; 
 but as I expected him, I deferred replying to you. 
 
 M I have written urgently to the Marchese del Vasto about your 
 affair ; but since you are content to let me off with thirty scudi for 
 that matter about which I wrote to you, I send you now thirty, 
 which I have, in writing, requested M. S. Bonaventura to hand to 
 you. I have not here, in fact, as much as I require to continue my 
 journey into the neighbourhood of Bologna, where I am going to a 
 certain locality for its air, this place being most injurioiis to me. 
 I will send you the remainder as soon as I am able. 
 
 " May the Lord God inspire you to speak and to think of Him. 
 I have no time to reply to that youth belonging to you who sent 
 me the book. Pray excuse me. 
 
 " La Maechesa m Psscab,*- 
 
 "Ferrara, Nov. 6, 1537." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 LIST OF VARIOUS EDITIONS OF VITTORIA 
 COLONNA'S WORKS. 
 
 1538. Rime della divina Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa di Pescara. 
 
 Parma. 
 
 1539. Rime della divina Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa di Pescara, 
 
 newly printed, added to, and corrected. No date of 
 publication. 
 
 1540. Rime della divina Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa di Pescara. 
 
 In Venezia. 
 1544. Rime della divina Vittoria Colonna, with twenty-four new 
 
 sonnets. In Venezia. 
 1548. Le Rime Spirituali di Vittoria Colonna, not before 
 
 printed. In Venezia. 
 1548. Rime Spirituali di Vittoria Colonna. In Venezia. 
 1552. Rime Spirituali di Vittoria Colonna. In Venezia. 
 
 1558. Tutte le Rime della Illma. ed Eccellma. Vittoria Colonna, 
 
 with the Exposition of Signor Rinaldo Corso. In 
 Venezia. 
 
 1559. Tutte le Rime della Illma. ed Eccellma. Vittoria Colonna, 
 
 with additional Rime Spirituali. In Venezia. 
 1586. Tutte le Rime della Illma. ed Eccellma. Vittoria Colonna, 
 In Verona. 
 
 1692. Tutte le Rime della Illma. ed Eccellma. Vittoria Colonna. 
 
 In Napoli. 
 
 1693. Tutte le Rime della Illma. ed Eccellma. Vittoria Colonna, 
 
 with other Poems, now given to the light. In Napoli. 
 1760. Tutte le Rime della Illma. ed Eccellma. Vittoria Colonna ; 
 with a Life of the same, by G. Rota. In Bergamo. 
 
APPENDIX. 359 
 
 The last and most complete edition of Vittoria Colonna's 
 works is that of Cavaliere Pietro Ercole Visconti, " corrette su 
 i testi a penna, e publicate con la Vita della medesima (corrected 
 from the original manuscripts, and published with the Life of 
 the same). Koma, dalla typografia Salviucci, 1840." 
 
 To which are added the poems omitted in preceding editions, 
 and inedited. There are here given 117 sonnets, in the Parte 
 Prima; 6 canzone, or shorter poems than the sonnets; the 
 Epistola a F. F. d'Avalos, suo consorte nella Rotta di Ravenna ; 
 15 sonnets before unpublished ; and a madrigal. 
 
 Parte Seconda, "Rime Sacre e Morali," contains 208 son- 
 nets ; Capitolo del Trionfo di Cristo, of 48 stanzas (terza rime) ; 
 and 11 sonnets hitherto unpublished. 
 
 The volume also contains complimentary poems, by various 
 authors, addressed to Vittoria Colonna, including Bembo, B. 
 Tasso, Michael Angelo, and Veronica Gambara. 
 
 In the second series of the sonnets, termed Rime Spirituali, 
 there are many written on other subjects. 
 
 The 12th and 62nd are addressed to Charles V. ; 69th and 
 61st, to Pietro Bembo ; 79 th, to Veronica Gambara ; 1st, ditto 
 (unpublished) ; 98th, to Pompeo Colonna ; 13th, to her sister-in- 
 law (unpublished) ; 6th, why she resided in Ischia (unpublished) ; 
 86th, why she does not praise her father ; 92nd, to Giovanna 
 d'Arragona, her sister-in-law; 97th and 100th, to Ischia; 8th, 
 praises Pescara and Vasto ; 75th, on the return of Pescara to 
 Ischia ; 85th, death of Sanazzaro ; 45th, on Pescara's death ; 
 13th, to her sister-in-law ; 37th, to Molza ; 190th, to Gaspar 
 Contarini; 126th and 127th, to St. Francis; 110th, 111th, and 
 103rd, to the Virgin ; 10th, the death of Pescara prevented her 
 having seen her husband attacking the infidels to liberate the 
 Holy Places ; 55th, she turns to hope for the conquest of the 
 Holy Land ; 140th, to Paul III. whilst he was fighting against 
 the Colonnas ; 115th, remembering the birthday of her mother 
 already dead, and hoping to find herself in heaven with her. 
 
 It is said in praise of Vittoria Colonna, that in all her poetry 
 
360 APPENDIX. 
 
 there is not a thought or word which is not " onetessima " (per- 
 fectly correct). Toscano especially takes occasion to praise her 
 for this great merit, and to disprove, in consequence, the evil 
 remarks which her enemies had made against her. In the 
 u Life of Eeginald Pole" (Latin e edita Brixia, in ii. volumina, 
 epistolarum ejusdem Cardinalis, in 4to) we read : " Victoria 
 Columna, Marchionis Piscariae conjux ejus qui ob rerum gestarum 
 magnitudinem bellica gloria maxime floruit, magni ingenii et 
 summae pietatis femina, plurimi eum faciebat.". 
 
 Sadolet, in a letter to Pole, says of her : " Legi sanctissimse 
 et prudentissimae feminae Piscariae dominae ad te litteras, in 
 quibus ilia mei mentionem facit, viderturque nostram hie 
 stationem approbare ; quod ego incredibiliter gaudeo, mea 
 consilia tantae esse et virtuti et sapientiae adprobata." 
 
 Flaminio composed two odes upon her death, in which the 
 following passage occurs : 
 
 " Cui mens Candida, candidique mores, 
 Virtus vivida, comitasque sancta, 
 Celeste ingenium, eruditioque 
 Rara, nectare dulciora verba, 
 Summa nobilitas, decora vultus 
 Majestas, opulenta, sed bonorum 
 Et res et domus usque aperta ad usus. 
 Ilia carminibus suis poetas, 
 Quotquot ssecula multa protulerunt, 
 Longe vicerat." 
 
 Giammatteo Toscano thus praises her, after praising Saffo and 
 Corinna : 
 
 "Huic ego te objiciam faustum Victoria nomen: 
 Quse non prisca tuis lautem nmliebria plectris, 
 Plectra silere jubes, Romanaque Grsecaque Tuscis ; 
 Sed (tua quae virtus propria est) lascivia versus 
 Commaculat dum nulla tuos. . . . 
 Tantum sola decus casto fert carmine, quantum 
 Dedecus obscene Sapphoque Corinnaque versu." 
 
APPENDIX. 361 
 
 Ariosto, in the 37th canto of " Orlando Furioso," thus alludes 
 to her, when speaking of celebrated women : 
 
 Verse XV. 
 
 " Did I wish to describe these ladies, more than one folio would 
 be required, and my song would relate to nothing else. Were I to 
 choose five or six from among them to praise, I might offend all the 
 others. What shall I then do ? Be silent about all, or choose one 
 from among them ? 
 
 XVI. 
 
 " I will choose one who shall so far overcome envy, that no one 
 shall be able to blame me that I am silent about the others and 
 praise her alone. She has not only made herself immortal by her 
 beautiful style, than which I have heard none better, but she can 
 raise from the tomb any one of whom she either speaks or writes, 
 and make them live for ever. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 " As the fair sister of Phcebus induces more to admire her and be 
 adorned by her light than Venus or than Maia, or any other star 
 that revolves with the heavens, or revolves on itself; so she of 
 whom I speak has more eloquence, and breathes more sweetness, 
 than all other women, and gives such force to her lofty words, that 
 she adorns the heavens in our day with another sun. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 " Vittoria is her name : a name well befitting one who was born 
 amidst victories, and who, whether she goes or stays, is ever 
 attended by trophies and triumphs, and has victory before her, 
 behind her, and with her. She is another Artemisia, who was 
 praised for her piety to her Mausolus ; yet greater still, since it is a 
 nobler work to raise a man above the grave than to bury him. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 " If Laodamia, if the wife of Brutus, if Arria, Argia, Evadne, and 
 many others deserved praise for having wished when their husbands 
 died to be buried with them, so much more honour is due to Vittoria, 
 
362 APPENDIX. 
 
 who hath drawn her husband from Lethe, and from that river 
 which nine times encircles the Shades, in spite of the Fates and cf 
 Death. 
 
 XX. 
 
 w If the Macedonian envied the brave Achilles the Mseonian 
 trumpet, how much more would have he envied thee, invincible 
 Francesco di Pescara, that so chaste a wife, and one so dear to thee, 
 should sing the honour which is thy due, and that through her thy 
 name resounds, so that thou needest not to wish for more nobl 
 pasam. " 
 
 RAFFAELLE AND THE COLONNAS. 
 
 "When Vittoria visited Rome with her father, in August 1520, 
 the whole world was mourning the early death of Raffaelle. It 
 is probable that she had known him personally, for, like Leonardo 
 da Yinci, he associated with the first families in Rome. Vasari 
 says that Raffaelle did not live as pittore, but as principe ; and 
 it was his custom, when going to court at the Vatican, to be 
 attended by a numerous retinue of his pupils. Michael Angelo 
 exclaimed, " There you go like a provost ! " and Raffaelle replied, 
 " And you like an executioner ! * 
 
 If Vittoria did not sit to the great painter herself, her sister- 
 in-law, " the famous beauty," certainly did, and the portrait was 
 intended as a present from Bibbiena to Francis I. Raffaelle also 
 painted for Cardinal Colonna his celebrated picture of " St. John 
 the Baptist in the Leopard Skin." 
 
 Vittoria had the privilege of seeing all Raffaelle's frescoes and 
 paintings in their fresh beauty the " S. Cecilia," " Galatea," 
 "Madonna del Sedia," and the frescoes in the Vatican and 
 Borghese Palace, but especially his immortal picture of u The 
 Transfiguration," which was left unfinished. It is said that he 
 never touched his brush again after painting the head of Christ, 
 " in which he has reached the most sublime height of which art 
 is capable." * 
 
 1 Lanzi's "History of Painting." 
 
APPENDIX. 363 
 
 When Raffaelle was engaged as architect of St. Peter's, he had 
 occasion to observe the terrible destruction which was going on 
 among the ancient buildings of Rome, and he entreated the 
 Pope to prevent the havoc. A Papal brief was issued in 1515, 
 forbidding the taking of any stone from the ruins, on pain of 
 heavy fines ; and thus many monuments of ancient art were 
 saved. 
 
 The statues which now form the chief attraction of the Italian 
 galleries were all disinterred about this time. The group of 
 Laocoon was discovered in 1504. These statues and relics were 
 doubtless of great interest to Vittoria and her classical friends, 
 and possibly it was in contemplating them that she made the 
 celebrated remark, " loro beati, che furono a tempi si belli ! " 
 
 THE SACK OF ROME IN 1527. 
 
 A book has just been published at Florence, entitled " II 
 Sacco di Roma del 1527, par Carlo Milanesi. Firenze, 1867." 
 
 It purports to be two original documents, now printed for the 
 first time, giving the history of this terrible outrage by two eye- 
 witnesses. 
 
 One is a letter from Cardinal di Como, dated 24th of May, 
 1527, at Civita Vecchia, where he found an asylum from the 
 plundering soldiers. The other is a detailed report of the events 
 to Charles V. from a Spanish officer named Gattinara, brother 
 of one of the Emperor's ministers. 
 
 They describe the assault as commencing from the heights 
 behind St. Peter's. A dense fog, enveloping everything in an 
 impenetrable veil, favoured Bourbon's designs. Both the Car- 
 dinal and the Spanish officer's statement testify to the vast 
 destruction of property and the wholesale outrages perpetrated. 
 The value of property taken was estimated at eight millions of 
 ducats, says the Cardinal, whose palace was rifled. 
 
 One hundred and fifty thousand ducats were wrung from 
 four prelates who had remained in their palaces. Cardinal 
 
364 APPENDIX. 
 
 Colonna was stripped of everything, so that literally he owned 
 only the shirt on his back, as Gattinara reports to Charles V. ; 
 and he also states that " the Imperialist soldiers had turned the 
 church of St. Peter's and the Pope's palace from bottom to top 
 into stables." It must be borne in mind that in the Vatican, at 
 least to the first floor, an inclined plane exists in the place of a 
 staircase. It is a current tradition that it was the Lutheran Free 
 Lancers, headed by Friindsberg, who were the chief devastators ; 
 but this is denied by Cardinal di Como and the historian 
 Guicciardini, who both distinctly state that the Germans were 
 more kind, less money- thirsty, than the Spaniards, treated their 
 prisoners with less cruelty, and saved the women from the brutal 
 attacks of their Spanish comrades. 1 
 
 PETRARCH AND THE COLONNAS. 
 
 Francesco Petrarcha lived almost two hundred years before 
 Vittoria Colonna ; but as he was intimately connected with the 
 Colonna family, and as she has been called a second Petrarch, 
 his name deserves some notice in these pages. He was born at 
 Arezzo, in Tuscany, in 1304, his parents having been exiled 
 from Florence in 1302, when Dante also was banished from that 
 city. 
 
 Petrarch resided chiefly at Avignon, where he became inti- 
 mate with Jacopo Colonna, son of Stefano, who had retired 
 into France after the famous quarrel, already noticed, with Pope 
 Boniface VIII. This friendship was the foundation of the 
 attachment which Petrarch preserved during his whole life for 
 the house of Colonna. Jacopo, when he was made Bishop of 
 Lombes, took Petrarch to his new diocese, where they passed 
 the summer, returning afterwards to Avignon. Here the prelate 
 introduced Petrarch to Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, who became 
 one of his great patrons, and in his palace he enjoyed the society 
 
 1 Spectator newspaper, Dec. 1867. 
 
APPENDIX. 365 
 
 of most of the learned men of the age. In 1336 he visited Rome, 
 and interested himself especially in the preservation of manu- 
 scripts, which had suffered so much from the negligence and 
 ignorance of the monks. 
 
 In August 1340 he received a letter from the Roman Senate, 
 urging him to come u and take the laurel " in their city. A few 
 hours afterwards he was complimented by a similar invitation 
 from Paris. He wavered for a time which to accept, but the 
 advice of Cardinal Colonna determined him for Rome. He was 
 crowned in the Capitol on Easter Day, 1341, surrounded by 
 a numerous assemblage of rank and distinction, and amid the 
 applause of the whole Roman people. The great pestilence of 
 1348 carried off Petrarch's great patron, Cardinal Colonna, as 
 well as the celebrated Laura, whom Petrarch had so passionately 
 worshipped for twenty-one years. He survived her twenty-six 
 years, and died in 1374, aged seventy. 
 
 " Among Italian writers who have revived in their works the 
 style of Petrarch, Vittoria Colonna is entitled to the first rank ; 
 and her sonnets, many of which relate to the state of her own 
 mind, possess more vigour of thought, vivacity of colouring, and 
 natural pathos, than are generally found among the disciples of 
 that school. Of the poems of Vittoria four editions were 
 printed in her life-time. They were first collected by Filippo 
 Pirogallo, and published, without her knowledge, at Parma in 
 1538 ; reprinted, without note of place or printer, in 1539 ; and 
 again at Florence, in the same year, with the addition of sixteen 
 spiritual sonnets. The fourth edition is that of Venice, 1554, 
 with the addition of twenty-four of her sacred sonnets, and her 
 celebrated stanze, which is perhaps the most favourable speci- 
 men of her talents. It equals the productions of any of her 
 contemporaries for simplicity, harmony, and elegance of style ; 
 and in lively description and genuine poetry excels them all, 
 except the inimitable Ariosto." 1 
 
 1 Roscoe's "Leo X." vol. iii. p. 222. 
 
366 APPENDIX. 
 
 PIETRO GIOVIO. 
 
 Pietro Giovio was originally, as we have stated, in the service 
 of Vittoria. He afterwards was received favourably at Rome 
 by Leo X. and appointed one of his attendant courtiers, and 
 provided with an income and a residence in the Vatican, 
 taking the title of Monsignore. During the sack of Rome, in 
 1527, he secreted his " History," which he had copied on vellum 
 and elegantly bound, in a chest with a quantity of silver, and 
 deposited it in the Church of S. Maria sopra Minerva. Here 
 two Spanish officers discovered it, and one of them seized the 
 silver, and the other took possession of the manuscript. On 
 finding the name of the unfortunate author, he asked Giovio 
 what he would buy it for. Giovio, who had lost all his property, 
 went to the Pope and begged his help. Clement agreed to 
 confer a benefice in Cordova on the Spaniard, if he returned the 
 volumes to Giovio, and he accordingly did. 
 
 His history of his own times is a very voluminous work. He 
 also wrote lives of Alfonso Duke of Ferrara, of Leo X., Adrian 
 VI., Pompeo Colonna, the Marchese di Pescara, and others. 
 Their veracity has been questioned. 
 
 CARNESECHI. 
 
 In the year 1566 Pius V. demanded of the Grand Duke 
 Cosmo I. the person of Pietro Carnesechi, a man of rank and 
 learning, who had adopted some of the tenets of the Protestant 
 Reformers. Cosmo gave him up to the officers of Rome, but at 
 the same time wrote earnestly to the Pope to save him. The 
 Pope was inclined to spare his life, if Carnesechi had shown 
 signs of repentance ; but he persisted in his opinions, and, in 
 August 1567, he was convicted by the Roman Inquisition of 
 thirty-four heretical tenets, and condemned to death. The 
 Grand Duke again wrote in his behalf, and the Pope suspended 
 the execution for ten days, and promised to spare his life, on 
 
APPENDIX. 367 
 
 condition that Carnesechi should abjure his tenets, and sent a 
 friar to exhort him to do so. But he remained firm, arguing 
 with the monk, and desiring to convert him. He was publicly 
 beheaded iu Rome, and the body afterwards burnt. 
 
 CASTIGLIONE. 
 
 Baldassar Castiglione was born at Mantua in 1468, of noble 
 parents. He was early trained to arms and to courts, and 
 served as page and aide-de-camp to Sforza, of Milan. He 
 afterwards passed into the service of the Duke d'Urbino, and 
 was sent by him to the Courts of England and France as Am- 
 bassador in 1506. After the death of the duke, he remained in 
 the service of the new duke, and accompanied him as his 
 lieutenant-general to the wars. In 1516 he married Maria 
 Hippolita, the daughter of Count Torella, and grand-daughter 
 of the Duke of Bologna. She was celebrated for her beauty 
 and accomplishments, and wrote well both in Latin and 
 Italian. 
 
 Castiglione resided for a long time at Rome, and was one of 
 the chief ornaments of the elegant society of that city. He was 
 a great inquirer after antique remains, and an exquisite judge 
 of art. He was continually exhorting Leo to prevent the demo- 
 lition of ancient buildings. He had a fine collection of cameos, 
 3tatues, and other relics of ancient art. He was sent by 
 Clement VII. as nuncio to Charles V., and was very much in 
 the private favour of the Emperor, who was to have taken him 
 as his second, if the challenge he sent to Francis I. had been 
 accepted. 
 
 In endeavouring to bring the Papal and Imperial Courts to 
 an agreement, he could not satisfy the Pope, whose unjust 
 suspicions threw him into an illness, of which he died, aged 
 fifty-one, at Toledo. His life was written by Bernardino Mar- 
 liani. His letters are valuable, as containing much information 
 relative to the affairs of those times. Among them are several 
 
368 APPENDIX. 
 
 letters to Vittoria Colonna, written from Madrid, in the year 
 1526. His great work, "The Courtier," was termed in 
 Italy " The Golden Book," the subject being how to live in 
 Courts, and become useful and agreeable to a prince. It has 
 been translated into most of the modern languages. From 
 some free expressions in it, it was inserted in the " Index 
 Expurgatorio ;" but in 1576 his son obtained its licence, in a 
 corrected form, from the Congregation of the Index. 1 
 
 ANCIENT HOME. 
 
 The late Mr. Roscoe had the good fortune to discover, at the 
 mansion of his friend, Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, a collection of 
 inestimable manuscripts, which had been hid away in an upper 
 chamber at Holkham Hall, and considered as rubbish. Mr. 
 Roscoe said one day to his host, " Do you know what your 
 young sportsmen are doing ? They are cutting up your choicest 
 old manuscripts for their gun-wads." Amongst these manu- 
 scripts were many beautifully illuminated copies of the Latin 
 classics, on vellum ; a very fine old copy of Dante ; a 
 manuscript written on paper by Leonardo da Yinci ; a 
 superb copy of Livy, which had belonged to Alfonso, King 
 of Naples, and had been presented to him by Cosmo de 
 Medici ; many copies of the Sacred Writings, especially the 
 Pentateuch, in Hebrew, on a roll of deer-skins thirty-eight feet 
 long. But the treasure which most delighted Mr. Roscoe was 
 a book of drawings by Raffaelle of the architectural remains of 
 ancient Rome, executed at the desire of Leo X. Mr. Roscoe 
 wrote, " That I should have had the good fortune of seeing and 
 of turning over at my leisure such a book is almost incredible." 
 
 The neglected condition of these invaluable treasures required 
 the most judicious care in the cleaning, pressing, and rebinding. 
 Mr. Roscoe, at the desire of Mr. Coke, entrusted them to the 
 care of Mr. Jones, of Liverpool, who with zeal devoted himself to 
 
 1 Aikin, " Biographical Dictionary." 
 
APPENDIX. 369 
 
 the task ; and they were rebound and returned to the u Manuscript 
 Library " at Holkham in so splendid and perfect a state, as to 
 give unbounded delight to Mr. Coke and his literary friends. 
 Mr. Roscoe, out of his zeal and friendly feeling, also undertook to 
 make a Catalogue raisonni of the whole of them a labour which 
 took him several years to accomplish, at leisure times. 1 
 
 EARLY ITALIAN ART. 
 
 It has of late been much the fashion to admire and imitate 
 what is termed the pre-Raffaellite school of art. Mr. Roscoe, 
 of Allerton Hall, was one of the first collectors of this class of 
 ancient pictures. During his Italian researches he was so for- 
 tunate as to procure from time to time a series of paintings 
 illustrative of the rise and progress of art in Italy, and his 
 gallery at Allerton Hall was much valued by connoisseurs. This 
 collection of early Italian art is now placed in the Royal 
 Institution of Liverpool. 
 
 The use of oil colours was introduced into Italy at the end of 
 the fifteenth century. Previously the colours had been mixed 
 with gum, wax, and the yolk of eggs, to give a lucid hue and 
 polish to them. Mr. Roscoe, in a note appended to Lanzi's 
 " History of Painting," translated by one of his sons, in remark- 
 ing on this method, adds, "It is astonishing how well the early 
 pictures retain their colouring to the present day." 
 
 The most brilliant period of Italian art was undoubtedly the 
 end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century ; 
 but schools of art had long existed in Florence, Venice, Bologna, 
 Ferrara, and other Italian cities. The d'Estes of Ferrara had 
 employed and encouraged artists so early as 1240. Giotto 
 decorated their palaces, and Francia their public buildings ; and 
 when Vittoria visited Ferrara, Titian, Bellini, Filippi, Garafolo, 
 Tisio, and the two Dossis, were executing great works for the 
 Duke. 
 
 1 "Life of Roscoe," by his son, Henry Eoscoe. 
 
370 APPENDIX. 
 
 Titian's famous picture of the " Cristo della Moneta," now at 
 Dresden, was then in Ferrara. He had also painted the portraits 
 of the Duke and Duchess. Filippi's fresco of " The Last Judg- 
 ment " is in the choir of the cathedral, and so nearly approached 
 to that of Michael Angelo, that nothing in the whole Florentine 
 school could compare to it. Some even preferred it to the one 
 in the Sistine Chapel. This great picture, and many others by 
 Filippi, are still at Ferrara, as well as Tisio's paintings, " which 
 are at once so numerous and so beautiful as alone to suffice for 
 the decoration of a city." x 
 
 Tisio's celebrated picture of " St. Peter Martyr " was painted 
 in competition with Titian's famous picture at Venice, "and, 
 in case of its loss, was supposed to be able to supply its 
 place." 2 
 
 Titian, at the age of twenty-three, was one of the best living 
 poets of the day, but he devoted himself afterwards entirely to 
 painting. He was the father of portrait-painting, and his land- 
 scapes are unrivalled. Like Michael Angelo, he lived to an 
 extreme old age, and retained all his vigour to the last, and 
 produced a vast number of works, which enrich all the galleries 
 of Europe. In the great picture at Milan the figure and face of 
 the Saviour is almost superhuman. 
 
 Titian died of the plague, in 1576, aged ninety-nine. Bottari 
 says, "His paintings are prodigies of art. No artist was ever 
 comparable to him in his boys and female forms." Lanzi, in 
 speaking of his " St. Peter Martyr," says, " I know not whether 
 painting can afford anything more terrific in the ferocity of 
 those who strike, or more full of compassion in the whole 
 attitude of the falling saint ;" and he describes " that horrific 
 wood, whose dreary aspect adds so much solemnity to the 
 Martyr's death." 
 
 i Lanzi's " History of Painting. " 
 
 2 This loss has just occurred an irreparable one to the lovers oi 
 the great Venetian artist. 
 
APPENDIX. 371 
 
 THE STATES OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 It becomes, at this time, a subject of some interest how the 
 temporal power of the Pontiffs has been gradually assumed. The 
 " Life of Leo furnishes some clue to it. In the case of the States 
 of Perugia, this Pope exercised treachery, torture, and death, to 
 obtain them. He also made use of every underhand means to 
 endeavour to gain the city and territory of Ferrara, though with- 
 out success. Roscoe remarks, " The conduct of Leo towards the 
 Duke of Ferrara discloses some of the darkest shades of his 
 character ; and in this instance we find those licentious principles 
 which induced him to forfeit his most solemn promises, on pre- 
 tence of the criminality of those to whom they were made, 
 extended to accomplish the ruin of a prince who had not by his 
 conduct furnished any pretext for such an attempt." 
 
 1 Vol. iv. pp. 272-4. 
 
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