, although he was dead, she wished to show by her
tears that she could never forget him, but would love him always.

A similar device was formerly borne by Madame Valentine de Milan,
Duchess d'Orleans, after the death of her husband, who was killed
in Paris, for whom she grieved so much, that as a solace and
comfort in her mourning, she assumed as device a watering pot,
above which was an S, meaning, it is said, _Seule, souvenir,
soucis, soupirer_ (Lonely, remembrance, solicitude, sighing).
And around the watering-pot were inscribed these words, _Rien
ne m'est plus; plus ne m'est rien_ (Nought is more to me; more
is to me nothing). This device is still to be seen in her chapel
in the Church of the Franciscans at Blois.

Good King Rene of Sicily having lost his wife Isabel, Duchess
de Lorraine, suffered such great grief that he never was happy
afterwards; and when his intimate friends and favourites tried
to console him he was wont to lead them to his bedroom and there
show them a picture, painted by himself (for he was an excellent
painter), depicting a Turkish bow unstrung, beneath, which was
written, _Arco per lentare piaga non sana_ (The bow although
unstrung heals not the wounds).

Then King Rene would thus address them: "My friends, with this
picture I answer all your arguments. By unstringing a bow, or
by breaking the string, the harm done by the arrow can quickly
be prevented, but the life of my dear spouse being broken and
extinguished by death, the wound to the loyal love that ever
filled my heart for her while she lived cannot be cured." In
various places in Angers these Turkish bows with broken strings
can be seen, with these words inscribed beneath, _Arco per lentare
piaga non sana_ (The loosened bow does not heal the wound). The same
is seen on the Franciscan church, in the Chapel of Saint-Bernardin,
which he decorated. He assumed this device after the death of
his Queen, although during her lifetime he had used another one.

Our Queen, around her device, which I have described, placed many
trophies, such as cracked mirrors, fans, rumpled plumes, pearls,
broken quivers, precious stones and jewels scattered about, bits
of broken chains, the whole to signify the abandoning of all
worldly pomp, since, now that her husband was dead, her mourning
for him was never to cease, and without the grace of God and the
courage which He had given her, she would have succumbed to her
great grief and distress. But she