Court, is the Universal Peace made among all Christians by means of the same Pontiff, Paul III., more particularly between the Emperor Charles Y. and Francis King of France, both portraits. Here Peace is seen to burn the Arms of War; the Temple of Janus is in the act of being closed; and Fury is lying in chains. The large niches which stand on each side of the Story are occupied, one by Concord, with Victories supporting the bust of the Emperor Titus; the other by Charity with Children, the Victories over her bearing the head of Augustus: at the summit of all are the Arms of Charles V., the supporters of which are Victory and Joy.
The whole work is enriched with inscriptions and beautiful mottoes by Ciovio, one more particularly, which records the fact of these paintings having been executed in a hundred days, as I, being then young, took pains that they should be, because I thought only of complying with the wishes of the Cardinal who had an especial reason for desiring to have them finished at a certain day. But of a truth, if I laboured hard in making the cartoons and in studying my work, I confess to having committed an error in confiding the execution of the same to my young assistants, for the sake of having them completed the more rapidly and within the time when the Hall was required, since it would have been better that I had toiled a hundred months, so only I had done all with my own hand. For although I might not, even in that case, have accomplished all that I could have desired, for the service of the Cardinal and mine own honour, yet I should, at least, have had the satisfaction of having effected all with my own hand and done my best. But this error caused me to resolve that I would never undertake works again of which I could not paint the whole myself, permitting nothing more than the mere sketch to be effected by others after my own designs.[1]
The Spaniards, Bizzera and Koviale, who assisted me to
- ↑ After the candour of this admission there seems little justice, and less generosity, in reproaching our good Giorgio with his too disinterested wish to oblige the Cardinal, as is so frequently done; his own evident sense of the injury sutfered by his reputation was assuredly a sufficient punishment, and his resolve to sin no more should be accepted as an ample amende. It may be true that he did not always maintain this resolve, but let him who has never broken a resolution throw the first stone.
