DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36838#0312
LATIN EPISTLE
243
devoted their pens during the next few weeks to
the composition of treatises in honour of the late
Duke. Both of these memorials recount the chief
incidents of Guidobaldo's life, and give full details
of his death and funeral. Both are marked by
the same fine scholarship, while they have all the
charm of spontaneous production. The form they
took, however, was very different. Castiglione
addressed a Latin epistle to King Henry VII. of
England, informing him, as Sovereign of the Knights
of the Garter, of the Duke's death, in courtly language,
with distinct reference to the late Prince's member-
ship of this noble order, and repeated allusions to his
own visit to England. A copy of this letter, bearing
Castiglione's arms, encircled with the golden collar
of SS links which the King had given him, was
sent to Henry VII., and is mentioned by Anstis
in his history of the Order of the Garter. Five years
later it was printed at Fossombrone, in a folio entitled
'De Vita et Gestis Guidobaldi Urbini Ducis,' and
adorned with a miniature of the Duke, which is of
especial interest as being one of the few authentic
portraits of him in existence. He is represented in a
black velvet suit and ermine stole, with Rowing locks of
brown hair, parted in the middle of his forehead, long,
thin features and a gentle, melancholy air that give
an impression of habitual ill-health. This miniature
bears a marked likeness to the Rne portrait of Guido-
baldo by Caroto, now in the Pitti, which was
evidently painted at the same time as the Veronese
master's picture of Elisabetta.
Bembo's ' De Ducibus ' is written in the
and is an admirable example of his mastery
of the Italian language, in which, as his friend
16—2
243
devoted their pens during the next few weeks to
the composition of treatises in honour of the late
Duke. Both of these memorials recount the chief
incidents of Guidobaldo's life, and give full details
of his death and funeral. Both are marked by
the same fine scholarship, while they have all the
charm of spontaneous production. The form they
took, however, was very different. Castiglione
addressed a Latin epistle to King Henry VII. of
England, informing him, as Sovereign of the Knights
of the Garter, of the Duke's death, in courtly language,
with distinct reference to the late Prince's member-
ship of this noble order, and repeated allusions to his
own visit to England. A copy of this letter, bearing
Castiglione's arms, encircled with the golden collar
of SS links which the King had given him, was
sent to Henry VII., and is mentioned by Anstis
in his history of the Order of the Garter. Five years
later it was printed at Fossombrone, in a folio entitled
'De Vita et Gestis Guidobaldi Urbini Ducis,' and
adorned with a miniature of the Duke, which is of
especial interest as being one of the few authentic
portraits of him in existence. He is represented in a
black velvet suit and ermine stole, with Rowing locks of
brown hair, parted in the middle of his forehead, long,
thin features and a gentle, melancholy air that give
an impression of habitual ill-health. This miniature
bears a marked likeness to the Rne portrait of Guido-
baldo by Caroto, now in the Pitti, which was
evidently painted at the same time as the Veronese
master's picture of Elisabetta.
Bembo's ' De Ducibus ' is written in the
and is an admirable example of his mastery
of the Italian language, in which, as his friend
16—2