DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7186#0063
34-
The Castle of Pavia.
[Plates 13 ro 15.
window, 20 feet wide by 24 high, with a balcony which jutted out a distance
of 12 feet over the moat, where, on summer evenings, the tables were con-
veniently laid, and enjoying the fresh breeze, the inmates took their repast to
the sound of gay instruments. Beneath this fine edifice all the way round are
double cellars : one part receiving light through windows overlooking the moat
which is very wide and full of water, and the other part receiving it through
windows facing towards the inner court. In these cellars were also the stables
and many handmills.
' This palace had four great towers, but now there remain only two
towards the city; the other two were broken down by the artillery of Gascon
Lautrec . . . .'
Breventano, after speaking of a wonderful clock placed to the right hand of
the castle, and of the famous library containing the precious collection of MSS.
formed by Petrarch, the catalogue of which is found in the Milanese Library of
the Brera, goes on to mention the pavements, ' lozenged in divers colours as if
they were glazed.' He specifies one room, which ' was in the third tower, and
was called the apartment of the mirrors, because the whole of its vaulted ceiling
was covered with glass squares as large as the palm of a hand, all of varied
colours, like those which are seen in churches, figured after the similitude of
men, beasts, plants, and flowers, wrought of gold ; and which, when smitten
by the sun's rays, gave back such clearness and splendour as dazzled the sight.
The floor of this beautiful room was all of Mosaic, and around it were great
stalls for sitting, all inlaid at the back as high as a man's hand would reach.' . . .
Of this magnificent dwelling, now degraded to a barrack, there remain no
more than two great towers and some fragments of the arcades. It would seem
that this castle was from time to time enlarged and embellished. The above-
quoted Breventano speaks in fact of one large saloon erected by a duke of
Milan; a saloon, 120 feet long by 24 wide, constructed 'for matches at pal-
lone (ball) and other games in the rainy season.' . . . Amongst the artists
summoned to adorn this castle, Calvi1 names the sculptor and architect,
Bernardino of Venice.
1 Calvi, op. cit.
The Castle of Pavia.
[Plates 13 ro 15.
window, 20 feet wide by 24 high, with a balcony which jutted out a distance
of 12 feet over the moat, where, on summer evenings, the tables were con-
veniently laid, and enjoying the fresh breeze, the inmates took their repast to
the sound of gay instruments. Beneath this fine edifice all the way round are
double cellars : one part receiving light through windows overlooking the moat
which is very wide and full of water, and the other part receiving it through
windows facing towards the inner court. In these cellars were also the stables
and many handmills.
' This palace had four great towers, but now there remain only two
towards the city; the other two were broken down by the artillery of Gascon
Lautrec . . . .'
Breventano, after speaking of a wonderful clock placed to the right hand of
the castle, and of the famous library containing the precious collection of MSS.
formed by Petrarch, the catalogue of which is found in the Milanese Library of
the Brera, goes on to mention the pavements, ' lozenged in divers colours as if
they were glazed.' He specifies one room, which ' was in the third tower, and
was called the apartment of the mirrors, because the whole of its vaulted ceiling
was covered with glass squares as large as the palm of a hand, all of varied
colours, like those which are seen in churches, figured after the similitude of
men, beasts, plants, and flowers, wrought of gold ; and which, when smitten
by the sun's rays, gave back such clearness and splendour as dazzled the sight.
The floor of this beautiful room was all of Mosaic, and around it were great
stalls for sitting, all inlaid at the back as high as a man's hand would reach.' . . .
Of this magnificent dwelling, now degraded to a barrack, there remain no
more than two great towers and some fragments of the arcades. It would seem
that this castle was from time to time enlarged and embellished. The above-
quoted Breventano speaks in fact of one large saloon erected by a duke of
Milan; a saloon, 120 feet long by 24 wide, constructed 'for matches at pal-
lone (ball) and other games in the rainy season.' . . . Amongst the artists
summoned to adorn this castle, Calvi1 names the sculptor and architect,
Bernardino of Venice.
1 Calvi, op. cit.