other portal (the two being turned, as
it were, like wings one towards the other), and almost in the same form,
were seen the Danube and the Drava likewise in a close embrace, and,
even as the others had the Lion, so they had the Eagle as emblem and
support; and these, crowned also with roses and with a thousand
varieties of little flowers, were shown speaking to Florence, even as
the others were speaking to themselves, the following verses:

Quamvis Flora tuis celeberrima finibus errem,
Sum septemgeminus Danubiusque ferox;
Virginis Augustae comes, et vestigia lustro,
Ut reor, et si quod flumina numen habent,
Conjugium faustum et foecundum et Nestoris annos,
Tuscorum et late nuntio regna tibi.

Then at the summit of the head-piece, in the place of honour, and with a
close resemblance to the whitest marble, was seen the statue of the
young Hymen, with a garland of flowering marjoram and the torch and
veil, and at his feet this inscription: BONI CONJUGATOR AMORIS. On one
side of him was Love, who lay all languid under one of his flanks; and
on the other side was Conjugal Fidelity, who was holding one arm
supported under the other; which was all so pleasing, so full of charm,
so beautiful, and so well distributed before the eyes of all beholders,
that in truth it is not to be expressed in words. As the principal crown
of that ornament--for on them all there was placed a principal crown and
a principal device--there were formed in the hands of the Hymen
described above two garlands of the same marjoram that crowned his head,
which, as he held them, he appeared to be about to present to the happy
pair. But most lovely and beautiful of all, and best executed, were the
three spacious pictures, separated by double columns, into which the
whole of that vast facade was divided, placed with supreme beauty at the
feet of Hymen; for in them were depicted all the advantages, all the
delights, and all the desirable things that are generally found in
nuptials; those displeasing and vexatious being driven away from them
with a certain subtle grace. And thus in one of these, that in the
centre namely, were seen the Three Graces painted in the manner that is
customary, all full of joy and gladness, who appeared to be singing with
a certain soft harmony the verses written over them, saying:

Quae tam praeclara nascetur stirpe parentum
Inclita progenies, digna atavisque suis?
Etrusca attollet se quanti