DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42861#0215
ADVICE OF PONTANUS
175
perience and learning, outraged the poet’s memory
and the fame of that noble city. Here, indeed, is a
royal lady, worthy of all praise and commendation,
and had I heard of this before, I would certainly have
given her a place in my book De Magnanimitate.’’
We then proceeded to discuss the question whether
the poet’s statue should be made of bronze or marble,
and agreed that although bronze is certainly the
nobler material, yet, since there is always a risk that
it may be melted down to make guns or bells, we
should prefer a fine marble statue, placed on a noble
pedestal in some honourable place. The work should
be given to some good sculptor, who would take the
poet’s portrait from nature, for I had just told Pon-
tanus of the effigy lately discovered by Messer
Battista della Fiera. And in order not to depart
from the antique style, the statue should stand by
itself, with a laurel crown on the head, and the
drapery, either an antique toga caught upon the
shoulder or a senator’s robe, such as Messer Andrea
Mantegna may think best. The hands should hold
nothing, and the statue should be perfectly plain, with-
out a book or anything else, but with antique sandals
on the feet, and the attitude would be such as Messer
Andrea shall decide. At the base there should only
be a few words, such as—Publius Pirgilius Mantuanus,
and also—Isabella Marchionissa Mantuce restituit—as
may please Your Excellency. These gentlemen
agreed that Pontanus must consider what would be
the best words to be engraved on the base, and he
agreed to do this willingly. What I did will, I
hope, be agreeable to Your Excellency, since it was
prompted by true affection, and by one who desires
your glory and feels that this will bring you immortal
175
perience and learning, outraged the poet’s memory
and the fame of that noble city. Here, indeed, is a
royal lady, worthy of all praise and commendation,
and had I heard of this before, I would certainly have
given her a place in my book De Magnanimitate.’’
We then proceeded to discuss the question whether
the poet’s statue should be made of bronze or marble,
and agreed that although bronze is certainly the
nobler material, yet, since there is always a risk that
it may be melted down to make guns or bells, we
should prefer a fine marble statue, placed on a noble
pedestal in some honourable place. The work should
be given to some good sculptor, who would take the
poet’s portrait from nature, for I had just told Pon-
tanus of the effigy lately discovered by Messer
Battista della Fiera. And in order not to depart
from the antique style, the statue should stand by
itself, with a laurel crown on the head, and the
drapery, either an antique toga caught upon the
shoulder or a senator’s robe, such as Messer Andrea
Mantegna may think best. The hands should hold
nothing, and the statue should be perfectly plain, with-
out a book or anything else, but with antique sandals
on the feet, and the attitude would be such as Messer
Andrea shall decide. At the base there should only
be a few words, such as—Publius Pirgilius Mantuanus,
and also—Isabella Marchionissa Mantuce restituit—as
may please Your Excellency. These gentlemen
agreed that Pontanus must consider what would be
the best words to be engraved on the base, and he
agreed to do this willingly. What I did will, I
hope, be agreeable to Your Excellency, since it was
prompted by true affection, and by one who desires
your glory and feels that this will bring you immortal