ilosopher
of the pontifical court and the friend of Leo X, thus describes
this princess, whom, as a physician, he had opportunities of
observing accurately: "She is of medium stature, straight, and
elegant, and possesses the grace which can only be imparted by an
assemblage of characteristics which are individually faultless.
She is neither fat nor bony, but succulent; her complexion is not
pale, but white tinged with rose; her long hair is golden; her
ears are small and in proportion with the size of her mouth. Her
brown eyebrows are semicircular, not too bushy, and the
individual hairs short. Her eyes are blue (_oaesius_), brighter
than stars, radiant with grace and gaiety beneath the dark-brown
eyelashes, which are well spaced and not too long. The nose,
symmetrical and of medium size, descends perpendicularly from
between the eyebrows. The little valley separating the nose from
the upper lip is divinely proportioned. The mouth, inclined to be
rather small, is always stirred by a sweet smile; the rather
thick lips are made of honey and coral. The teeth are small,
polished as ivory, and symmetrically ranged, and the breath has
the odor of the sweetest perfumes. Her voice is that of a
goddess. The chin is divided by a dimple; the whole face
approximates to a virile rotundity. The straight long neck, white
and full, rises gracefully from the shoulders. On the ample
bosom, revealing no indication of the bones, arise the rounded
breasts, of equal and fitting size, and exhaling the perfume of
the peaches they resemble. The rather plump hands, on the back
like snow, on the palm like ivory, are exactly the length of the
face; the full and rounded fingers are long and terminating in
round, curved nails of soft color. The chest as a whole has the
form of a pear, reversed, but a little compressed, and the base
attached to the neck in a delightfully well-proportioned manner.
The belly, the flanks, and the secret parts are worthy of the
chest; the hips are large and rounded; the thighs, the legs, and
the arms are in just proportion. The breadth of the shoulders is
also in the most perfect relation to the dimensions of the other
parts of the body; the feet, of medium length, terminate in
beautifully arranged toes." (Houdoy reproduces this passage in
_La Beaute des Femmes_; cf. also Str