DE IMAGINE LUCRETIE. Quæ Venerem facie, quæ Pallada moribus æquat, AD LUCRETIAM. "Cur ariebatur, qui te non viderit? at si Hercules Strozzi, the son of Titus, inherited the father's predilections for "the perfections of Lucretia," which he celebrated particularly, even in the decline of his life, when her bodily infirmities obliged her to relinquish the cares of public affairs, in one of the most beautiful of his pieces. "Liber Elegiarum, Ad divam Lucretiam Borgiam The following are the concluding lines: 66 Te que meum veneror cælestis Borgia sidus, Regna tibi meliora animique nitentior ardor, Quis neget his cæsum meritis? tua numina quondam Templa tibi statuent, nec votis templa carebunt, The Abbé Rochrbacher, in his "Histoire Universelle de l'Eglise Catholique," observes, that "Lucretia, in the latter * Strozzi Poetæ, 12mo. p. 251, Ed. Par. 1530. VOL. II. + Ibid. P. 54. FF part of her life, gave up all her thoughts to religion, to acts of piety, and works of charity," and refers to letters of Leo the Tenth, wherein he commends the regularity of her conduct. The historians of Ferrara, he remarks, speak of her in the most advantageous terms. "Giralde l'a traitée de femme accompli, selon Sardi c'etait la Princesse la plus aimable et la plus belle et elle etoit arnè e de toutes les vertus. Libonari va plus loin, il accorde a la duchesse de Ferrari la beaute, la vertu, toutes les qualitès de l'esprit et un gout exquis. Elle faisait continue-t-il, les delices de ses contemporaines et c'etait un veritable tresor pour eux. L'Ariosto dans son grande poeme eleve à l'excellence feminine un temple dont les superbes niches sont remplies par les femmes du rang le plus eminent, et du plus grand merite qu'il y eut eu Italie. Lucrece Borgia occupe, la premiere et la plus apparente de ces niches. L'Ariosto dit a cette occasion que Rome doit preferer la moderne Lucrece à l'ancienne, tant sous le rapport de la modestie que sous celui de la beautè comparaison qui, si tous les imputations qu'on avait faites a la fille d'Alexander VI., avaient obtenu qu'elle croyance n'aurait pu etre considerèe que comme, la satyre la plus sanglante."* Mazzuchelli and Quadreo enumerate Lucretia among the writers of Italy, and both refer to some of her poetical compositions, as does likewise Crescimbeni. With her fourth and last husband, Alphonzo D'Este, she appears to have lived happily; and from that period, 1501, to her death in 1522, when she must have been above fifty years of age, her conduct was not only irreproachable, but so exemplary as to have gained her the love of the people over whom her husband reigned. After her death, one of her three sons by this marriage, the Duke Hercule the Second, also reigned, from whom descended the Maria D'Este, consort of our James the Second, in right of one of whose daughters the present sovereign of England is on the throne. Sansovini, in his genealogical work, "Della origene Delle *Hist. Univ. de l'Eglin Cath. par. L'Abbe Rochrbacher, ed. 8vo. tom. xxii. p. 324, Par. 1845. Famiglie Illustri D'Italia," (Vin. 4to. p. 369, 1609), in his account of the "Signori Estensi," records the succession to the principality, in 1505, of Alphonso I., Duca terzo de Ferrara, who married Anne, daughter of Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, and next, Lucretia, daughter of Pope Alexander the Sixth, and lastly, Laura Eustochia, a lady of Ferrara. Thus we find that Alphonzo survived his second wife, Lucretia Borgia, though he seems to have been a cipher in the government of his state for some years in the early part of the career of that princess, No. XXI. CLOISTER OF S. MARCO. THE sketch of the interior of San Marco prefixed to the second volume, includes the outlines of the celebrated fresco of Fra Angelico representing the Annunciation. The holy maiden of Nazareth is seated on a low chair. The colour of her tunic is pale red, her azure mantle in folds over her knees, her arms are crossed over her bosom, and her countenance is resplendent with a calm beauty serene and spiritual. Her hair falls gracefully on her shoulders and so humble and devotional is her whole attitude, says Marchese, we almost feel the angelical salutation, “Hail, Mary, full of grace!" trembling on our lips. Over the door of the two cells of Fra Girolamo, these words were written shortly after his death, Has Cellulas V. P. Hieronymus Savonarola Inhabitavit. His habit was preserved for many years in the family of Mazzinghi, then it passed into the hands of a painter of some celebrity, Vincenzo Dandini, and finally into the possession of the community of San Marco.* * "Vita del Padre Girolamo Savonarola,” (Ord. de Pred.) Ginevra, 8vo, 1781. INDEX. ABELARD, the founder of the Eneas Sylvius, Pope Pius the Magnus, voluminous subsidized by Edward the First, Alexander the Third, pope, flight of miraculous revelations, as- tion of in 1492; predicted of cardinals, and extensive cor- nounced in consistory, good in- Au- His death, ii. 175, 412. As. cribed to poison by Guicciardini, Audin de Rians, editor of poems Annio di Viterbo, his literary ticism and idealism, and that |