XVII. disfigured by a wound given him in the face, CHAP. by some person who had taken offence at his intemperance and gluttony, that he was deterred from attending the banquets of the pontiff so frequently as he had before been accustomed to do.(a) Several other persons are mentioned by Jovius as having contributed to the hilarity of the pontiff in his festive hours, among whom was Giovan-Francesco, one of the sons of Poggio Bracciolini.(b) They were, however, more distinguished by their devotion to the pleasures of the table, than turum. (a) Of these authors Giraldi thus expresses himself at the close of his dialogue, De Poetis suor. temp. in. op. p. 547: "Si hujusmodi lurcones verius quam poetas vobis af"ferrem, ingratum potius quam gratum arbitrarer me facAn nescitis Gazoldum sæpius, ob ineptos versus "et claudicantes, male mulctatum à LEONE flagris, et fa"bulam omnibus factum? Archipoetam verò immania " ingurgitantem pocula a ganeone Alex. auribus et pæne "naribus deformatum? Unde nunc parcius Pontificis mensam adit. * * Cum quibus et Hieronymus Britonius "posset adscribi, de quo notissimum illud Iambicum Bap"tist. Sangæ extat, et legitur, "Prætor graviscas mittitur Britonius."&c. el v. Mazzuchelli Scrittori d'Ital. vol. vi. p. 2112. A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. A. Pont. VI, (b) v. Shepherd's Life of Poggio Bracciolini, chap. xi. p. 483. XVII. CHAP. than by their intellectual endowments; and the frugal Batavian Adrian VI. who, by an extraordinary combination of circumstances succeeded Leo X. in the pontifical chair, was astonished at the luxury of his predecessor, and particularly at the expenses incurred in peacock sausages, which seem to have been a favourite dish with these voracious frequenters of the pontifical table.(a) A. D. 1518. A. Pont. VI. A. Et. 43. Baraballo di Gaeta. But the most remarkable instance of folly and of absurdity is preserved to us in the account given of Baraballo, abate of Gaeta, one of that unfortunate but numerous class, who without the talent possess the inclination for poetry, and who, like the rest of his brethren, was (a) "Mire quoque favit Pogio seni, Pogii historici filio, "itemque Moro nobili a gulæ intemperantia articularibus "doloribus distorto, et Brandino equiti, Marianoque sannioni "eucullato, facetissimis helluonibus, et in omni genere po"pinalium delitiarum eruditissimis. Nam inter alia por"tenta insanientis eorum gulæ, lucanicas concisis pavonum "pulpis farctas commenti fuerant: quod obsonii genus, ་་ mox successor Hadrianus, vir Batavæ frugalitatis, mira"bundus expavit, quum sumptuarias rationes Leonis inspi"ceret. Verum festivissimis eorum facetiis, et perurbanis scommatibus, magis quam ullis palati lenociniis oblec"tabatur." Jor. in vita Leon. x. lib. iv. p. 85. was perfectly insensible of his own defects. The commendations ironically bestowed on his absurd productions had, however, raised him to such importance in his own opinion, that he thought himself another Petrarca, and like him aspired to the honour of being crowned in the capitol. This afforded too favourable an opportunity for amusement to be neglected by the pontiff and his attendants; and the festival of SS. Cosmo and Damiano was fixed upon as the day for gratifying the wishes of the poet. In order to add to the ridicule, it was resolved that the elephant, which had lately been presented to the pontiff by the king of Portugal, should be brought out and splendidly decorated, and that Baraballo arrayed in the triumphal habit of a Roman conqueror, should mount it and be conveyed in triumph to the capitol. The preparations on this occasion were highly splendid and expensive ;(a) but before they were completed, a deputation arrived from Gaeta, where the relations 66 (a) La incoronazione del nostro Abate di Ghaeta per "le poste vien via; et le veste di velluto verde, di rase "cremisi, ornate di armellini, et altri belli vestimenti per "lui, et per lo Elephante sono già quasi facte; et molte bel"le recitationi da farsi dinanzi al Nro. Signore (Leo X.) "si preparano," &c. ex MSS. inedit. CHAP. XVII. A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. A. Pont. VI. XVII. CHAP. relations of Baraballo held a respectable rank, for the purpose of dissuading him from renA. D. 1518. dering himself an object of laughter to the A. 43. A. Pont. VI. whole city. Baraballo however construed their kindness into an illiberal jealousy of his good fortune, in having obtained the favour of the pontiff, and dismissed them with reproaches and anger. Having then recited several of his poems, replete with the most ridiculous absurdities, until his hearers were no longer able to maintain their gravity, he was brought to the area of the Vatican, where he mounted the elephant and proceeded in great state through the streets, amidst the confused noise of drums and trumpets and the acclamations of the populace. (a) "I should "scarcely (a) To this event Angelo Colocci refers in one of his epigrams, entitled, De Abante Baraballa. 66 "Littore de curvo vicina cadentibus Euris 66 Quantum Roma suæ debet alumna Lupa." XVII. scarcely have believed," says Jovius, (a) CHA P. "unless I had myself been present at the “sight, that a man not less than sixty years "of age, of an honourable family, and ve"nerable by his stature and his grey hairs, "should have suffered himself to be decorated "with the toga palmata and the latum clavum "of the ancient Romans, and bedecked with 66 gold and purple, to be led in a triumphal "procession before the public, with the sound "of trumpets." His triumph was not, however, of long continuance. On arriving at the bridge of S. Angelo, the sagacious quadruped refused to contribute any longer to the ungenerous mirth of the crowd, and the hero of the day was glad to descend in safety from his exalted station.(b) The remembrance of (a) Jov. in vita Leon. x. lib. iv. þ. 85. (b) Several writers have erroneously supposed that Lancelotto, in who makes no A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. A. Pont. Vr. |
