LSO
164
LIO
in accord with his position as papal notary, count
palatine, and incumbent of numerous benefices, for he
was worldly and self-indulgent. Sadoleto was quite
another man. He led a pure and spotless life, was a
model priest, united in Imnself the dififerent phases of
ancient and modern culture and was an ardent en-
thusiast for antiquity. In elegance and polish he was
in no way inferior to Bembo. Among the Latin poets
of Medicean Rome we may briefly mention Vida. who
composed a poem of great merit, the " Christiade and
was extoUea by his contemporaries as the Christian
Virgil; Sannazaro, author of an epic poem on the birth
of Christ which is a model of style; the Carmelite Spa-
gnoloMantovano with his" Calendar of Feasts " ;F er-
leri, who in the most naive way recast the h3rmns in
the Breviary with heathen terms, images, and allu-
sions. The total number of these poets exceeds one
hundred; and a lampoon of 1521 says they were more
numerous than the stars in heaven. Most of them
have fallen into well-deserved oblivion.
This is equally true of the contemporary Italian poetry — ^more prolific than notable. Among the Ital- ian poets Trissino wrote a tragedy, "Sophonisba", and an epic ** L'ltalia liberata dai Gothi , out had no real success with either in spite of earnest purpose and beauty of language. Rucellai, a relative of the pope, whose clever and sympathetic didactic poem on bees met with great approval from his contemporaries, owed his reputation chiefly to an inferior work, the tragedy of Rosmonda". The celebrated improvisa- torCj Tebaldeo wrote in both Latin and Italian. To- wanls Ariosto the pope was remarkably harsh. Ar- chaeology received great encouragement. One of its most distinguished representatives was Manctti. In 1521 the firet collection of Roman topographical in- scriptions appeared and introduced a new era. Im- portant progress was due to the works of the learned antiquary, Fulvio. Fulvio, Calvo, Castiglione, and Raphael had planned an archaeological survey of an- cient Rome with accompanying text. Raphael's early death abruptly interrupted the work which was carried on by Fulvio and Calvo. The Greek lan- guage also found favour and encouragement; Aldus Manutius. the Venetian publisher, whose excellent and correct eaitions of Greek classics became so popular, was one of Leo's prot^g6s. Andreas Johannes Las- caris and Musurus were sunmioned from Greece to Rome and foimded a Greek college, the "Medicean Academy". Moreover the pope encouraged the col- lection of manuscripts and books. He recovered his family library which had been sold by the Florentines in 1494 to the monks of San Marco, had it brought to Rome, and enforced the regulations of Sixtus IV for the Vatican Library. The most distinguished of his librarians was Inghirami, less indeed through any learned works than for his gift of eloquence. He was called the Cicero of his age and played an important r61e at court. In 1516 he was succeeded by the Bo- lognese Humanist Beroaldo. Leo tried, as >iicholas V had formerly done, to increase the treasures of the Vatican Library, and with this object sent emissaries in all directions, even to Scandinavia and the Orient, to discover literary treasures and either obtain them, or borrow them for the purpose of making copies. The results, however, were unimportant. The Roman uni- versity, which had entered on decay, was reformed, but did not long flourish. On the whole, Leo, as a literary Maecenas, has been overrated by his biographer Giovio and later panegyrists. Relatively little was accom- plished, partly on account of the constant lack of money and partly because of the thoughtlessness and haste which the pope often showed in distributing his favours. He was in reality only a dilettante. Yet he gave an important stimulus to scientific and literary life, and was a potent factor in the cultural develop- ment of the West.
More important results ensued from his promotion
of art, though he was unquestionably inferior in taste
and judgment to his predecessor Julius II. Leo en*
couraged painting beyond all other branches of art;
pre-eminent in tms class stand the immortal produc-
tions of Haphael. In 1508 he had come to Rome,
summoned by Julius II, and remained there until his
death in 1520. The protection extended to this mas-
ter genius is Leo's most enduring claim on posterity.
Raphael's achievements, already numerous and im-
e)rtant, took on more dignity and grandeur under Leo. e painted, sketched, and engraved from antique works of art, modeled in clay, made designs for palaces, directed the work of others by order of the pope, gave advice and assistance ahke to supervisors and work- men. " Everything pertaining to art the pope turns over to Raphaer', wrote an ambassador m 1518. This is not, of course, the place to treat Raphael's prodigious activity. We hmit ourselves to brief men- tion of a few of his works. He finished the decoration of the Vatican halls or " Stanze " begun imder Jidius II, and in the third hall cleveriy referred to Leo X by introducing scenes from the pontificates of Leo lU and Leo IV. A more important commission was given him to paint the cartoons for the tapestries of the Sis- tine Chapel, the highest of Raphael's achievements, the most magnificent of them b^ing " St. Peter's mir- aculous draught of fishes " and " St. Paul preaching in Athens". A third famous enterprise was the decent tion of the Vatican Loggia done by Raphael's pupils under his direction, and mostly from his designs. The most exquisite of his paintings are the wonderful Sistine Madonna and the "Transfiguration". Sculp- ture showed a marked decline under Leo X. Michel- angelo offered his services and worked from 1516 to 1520 on a marble fa<;ade for the chureh of San Lor- enzo in Florence, but did not finish it. On the. other hand the pope gave especial attention and encourage- ment to the minor arts, e. g. decorative carving, and furthered the industrial arts. The greatest and most difficult task of Leo was in the field of architecture and was inherited from his predecessor, viz., the continua- tion of the new St. Peter's. Bramante remained its chief architect imtil his death in 1514. Raphael suc- ceeded him, but in his six years of office little was done, much to his regret, through lack of means.
We may now turn to the political and religious events of Leo's pontificate. Here the bright splen- dour that diffuses itself over his literary and artistic patronage, is soon changed to deepest gloom. His well-known peaceable inclinations made the poUtical situation a disagreeable heritage, and he tried to main- tain tranquillity by exhortations, to which, however, no one listened, f ranee desired to wreak vengeance for the defeat of 1512 and to reconquer Milan. Venice entered into an alliance with her, whereupon Em- peror Maximilian, Spain, and England in 1513 con- cluded a Holy League against France. The pope wished at first to remain neutral but such a course would have isolated him, so he decided to be faithful to the policy of his predecessors and sought accord- ingly to oppose the designs of France, but in doing so, to avoid severity. In 1513 the Frencn were decisively routed at Novara and were forced to effect a recon- ciliation with Rome. The schismatic cardinals (see Julius II) submitted and were pardoned, and France then took part in the Lateran Council which Ijqo had continued.
But success was soon clouded by uncertainty. Franco endeavoured to form an alliance with Spain and to obtain Milan and Genoa by a matrimonial alliance. Leo feared for the independence of the Papal States and for the so-called freedom of Italy. He negotiated on all sides without committing himself, and in 1514 succeeded in bringing about "an Anglo-French alliance. The fear of Spain now gave wav to the bugbear of French supremacy and the pope began negotiating in a deceitful and disloyal manner with France and ner
