MARCIN FABIAŃSKI

liberał arts, originated from classical literaturo through the
medium of Petrarch39.
In Filaretę’s opinion, the aim of studies, or the human
pilgrimage, was no longor, as in medieval literaturę, to reach
Divine Wisdom in Dorno Sapientiae, but to acquire the
virtuo and famę, in accordanco with Petrarch’s judgmont
propagated in tho 15th century, bolieved to proyide feli-
cility40.
On tho drawing illustrating the first version of the de-
scription of tho statuo of Virtuo, onecan ovon seo a hovering
gonius and winged organs of the senses such as oyes, mouths
and oars. As it has convincingly beon domonstrated by
Schrbter, it is just a reprosontation of Famo, basod on classical
literaturo and modern descriptions influenced by Antiquity41.
But the main aim of tho human travel according to Filareto
was the statuę of Virtuo gleaming as tho sun. Tho appoarance
of this figurę, as well as its situation on a mountain top,
can be compared to the figurę of Christ describod by Ho-
norius: obviously both belong to tho type of Apollo. It was
already Petrarch who compared Christ as a patron of wisdom
to Apollo42 and in the 15th century the juxtaposition of the
sun, Christ and the prince of tho Muses became popular43.
Therefore Filareto, acting already on the modern tradition,
did not repeat a medieval figurę of Christ-sun receiving the
choson in Dorno Sapientiae, but replaced it with an image
of virtuo as Helios-Apollo, prince of the Muses. The foast
awaiting the victors in Honorius’ Palaco was replaced by
Filarete’s ceremony of crowning the chosen with wroaths
in front of the statuę of Yirtuo, above the shrine of the Mu-
ses — musaeum— between both summits of Parnassus. The
motif of laureating philosophers on Parnassus had been
39 Pricilegii Laureae receptae a Francisco Petrarca Eaemplar [in:]
F. PETRARCA, Opera omnia, Basileae 1554, pp. 1254—1255: tanto enim
honore dignos censuit Respublica ut unum atgue idem laureae decus assignan-
dum censeres Caesaribus et Poetis siguidem et Caesares ducesgue victores,
post labores bellorum, et poetas post taborem studiorum lauro insignabant.
40 PANOFSKY, o.c., p. 164; — MOMMSEN, o.c., p. 190.
41 SCHROTER, o.c., p. 160.
42 PETRARCA, II Carmen Bucolicum e i suoi commenti inediti, ed.
A. AVENA, Padova 1906, p. 170: ... cristus, poetice loguendo, dicitur apollo,
idest deus sapientiae. This ąuotation was hinted by SCHR0TER, o.c.,
p. 85.
43 See for example E. PANOFSKY, Albrecht Dilrer and Classical
Antiguity [in:] E. PANOFSKY, Meaning in the Visual Arts, Garden
City N. Y. 1955, p. 260; — SCHRBTER, o.c., p. 67 ff.
44 See JOHANNES da ALTAYILLA, Architrenus [in:] Latin Satirica
Eppigrammatists ofthe 12th Century, vol. 1, ( = Rerum Britannicarum medii
aevii scriptores, t. 59.1), London 1872 lib. II, p. 85 ff.
45 F. B. TARB, The Palm of Pictory, "Classical Philology” III, 1908,
pp. 264—272; — H. J. MARROU, Palma et laurus „Mćlanges d’archśologie
et d’histoire” LVIII, 1941/6, pp. 109—131: — J. B. TRAPP, The Owl’s
Ivy and the Poefs Bays. An Inguiry Into Poetic Garlands, "Journal of the
Warburg and Courtauld Institutes” XXII, 1958, pp. 227—225, esp. 239—
241; — G. de TERVARENT, Attributs et symboles dans fart profane 1150—
1600. Dictionaire d’un langage perdu ( = Travaux d’humanisme et Renais-
sance, t. XXIX), Genćve 1958, p. 296; — SCHR0TER, o.c., p. 161, notę
23.
46 The source of this conviction has been indicated by L. GYRALDUS,
o. c., col. 560; Eas [the Muses] etiam palma coronari multi prodidere, propter
guandam nominis similitudmem. Phoenicum enim populorum ineentum
esse litere [!] dicuntur, et ab iis apud Graecos delatae idcirco et utrumgue apud

rcvivod in modioval toxts as oarly as tho 13th contury and
beoame very popular later44.
In the first version of tho description and in all the dra-
wings a laurol troo and a palm, lator replaced by an olivo
trce, accompany the statuo of Virtuo. Both laurel and palm
stood for yictory, especially military and poetic45 46, thus boing
appropriato as the attributes of knights and roprosentatives
of the arts. Furthermore, a palm was connected with tho
Musos as patronesses of literaturę45. In tho 16th century
a ceremony of laureating tho Muses with palm leaves was
intorpreted as tho prize for those who had ovorcome thoir
own weaknossos with tho help of virtuos and philosophical
studies47. Tho olivo troo that suporseded the palm in tho
second version by Filareto could be rocognizod as a symbol
of wisdom48. Thus all the plants juxtaposod with tho statuo
of virtuo referred first and foromost to wisdom and educa-
tion.
The boes, represontod in one of tho drawings in conjunc-
tion with the description in Book IX, had also symbolic
significanco. Shróter has already domonstrated that the
notion ”molliflous source” adoptod in Book XVIII roforred
to science, wisdom and the oloquence of those who were
prosonted with wreaths49. One can also add that in classical
literaturo, bees were called the Muses’ birds because those
insects wore boliovod to delight in sounds of cymbals; those
croatures were also compared to poets, orators, philosophers
etc.50. It is nothing strange, therefore, that Filareto placod
beos near both troos, symbols of literary and philosophical
studies, as well as wisdom. The choice of a mountain top as
a place for the melliflous source could also result from the
conviction that the Musos likod such elovated spots51.
Graecos phoenia significat... See L. A. CORNUTUS, Be natura deorum, ed.
F. OSANUS, Gottingae 1844, cap. XIV, p. 55:
2ke<pavo0uTai 8e q>otviKi cop pUutwoep votii£oooiv Sia-nw 5pcovco|xtav ano
to0 twv <PoivtK<nv 8oKetv 60pr|Tca ervai ta ypappaTa.
47 B. TAEGIUS, II liceo de’ eirtuosi, in Novara 1554, fol. Mr; — Id e m
II liceo dove si ragiona deWarte difabricare le imprese [...] e si discorre intorno
al poetico figmento delle Muse, Libro secondo, In Melano 1571, fol. 49 v.
48 See VERG„ Georg. I, 18—19; — L. G. GYRALDUS, Historiae
Deorum Gentiluim... [in:] L. G. GYRALDUS, De deis gentium sive syntagma,
Basileae 1548, col. 465 ff; — TERVARENT, o.c., col. 290.
49 SCHROTER, o.c., p. 161.
50 E. g.: M. T. VARR0, Rerum rusticarum libri, Lipsiae 1922, III,
16, 7, p. 145; ideo modo considunt in [apibus] guorum sapor dulcis, minime-
gue malefica, guod nullius opus uelliamus fecit deterius, negue ignaca, ut
non, gui eius conetur disturbare, resistat; neguet amen nescia suae imbecillitatis,
guae cum causa musarum esse dicantur nolucres, guod est, si guando discipli-
catae sunt, cymbalis et plausibus numero redducunt in locum unum; et
[ut] his dis Helicona atgue Olympon adtribuerunt homines, sic his floridos
et incultos natura adtribuit montes; — For other sources seo OLCK, BIENB
[in:] Paulys Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswisscnschaft, Bd. 3,
Stuttgart 1897, col. 447.
51 See PETRARCA, Scritti inediti, ed. A. HORTIS, Trieste 1874,
pp. 315—316; — E. S. PICCOLOMINI, Commentari rerum memorabilium,
Romae 1584, p. 396; — STEPHANUS, o.c., vol. 1, p. 220; — U. ALDRO-
[V]ANDI, Delle statuę antiche che per tutta Roma, in diversi luoghi e case
si cegghono [in:] L. MAURO, Le antichitd delta cittd di Roma, In Venetia
1558, p. 140; — A. R. BRIXIANUS, Commentariorum symbolicorum
tomus secundus, Yenetiis 1591, p. 52, nrs 24 and 30; — TAEGIUS, II liceo
de’..., fol. LVIII r; — Idem, II liceo dove..., fol. 56 r; — Thesauri Linguae
Latinae, t. II, Argentorati 1604, p. 899.

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