re
of Astrology.

The last of the seven Planets is Saturn, depicted as an old man heavy
with melancholy, who is devouring his own children, with a great
serpent that is seizing its own tail with its teeth; which Saturn has
above him the Sign of Capricorn. In the oval is Decrepitude, and here
is depicted Jove in Heaven receiving a naked and decrepit old man,
kneeling, who is watched over by Felicity and Immortality, who are
casting his garments into the world. This oval is supported by
Beatitude, who is upheld by a figure of Justice in the ornament below,
who is seated and has in her hand the sceptre and upon her shoulders
the stork, with arms and laws around her; and on the parapet below is
Geometry.

In the lowest part at the foot, which is about the windows with
knee-shaped brackets and the door, is Leah in a niche, representing
the Active Life, and on the other side of the same place is Industry,
who has a Cornucopia and two goads in her hands. Near the door is a
scene in which many masters in wood and stone, architects, and
stone-cutters have before them the gate of Cosmopolis, a city built by
the Lord Duke Cosimo in the island of Elba, with a representation of
Porto-Ferrajo. Between this scene and the frieze in which are the
Liberal Arts, is Lake Trasimene, round which are Nymphs who are
issuing from the water with tench, pike, eels, and roach, and beside
the lake is Perugia, a nude figure holding with her hands a dog, which
she is showing to a figure of Florence corresponding to her, who
stands on the other side, with a figure of Arno beside her who is
embracing and fondling her. And below this is the Contemplative Life
in another scene, in which many philosophers and astrologers are
measuring the heavens, appearing to be casting the horoscope of the
Duke; and beside this, in the niche corresponding to that of Leah, is
her sister Rachel, the daughter of Laban, representing the
Contemplative Life. The last scene, which is likewise between two
niches and forms the conclusion of the whole invention, is Death, who,
mounted on a lean horse and holding the scythe, and accompanied by
War, Pestilence, and Famine, is riding over persons of every kind. In
one niche is the God Pluto, and beneath him Cerberus, the Hound of
Hell; and in the other is a large figure rising again from a sepulchre
on the last day. After all these things Cristofano executed on the
pediments of the windows with knee-shaped brackets some nude figu