de; and in another, likewise, lower
down, is the Car of Venus, and the Graces, with Mercury, drawing
Psyche up to Heaven; with many other scenes from the poets in the
other spandrels. And in the spherical triangles of the vaulting
above the arches, between the spandrels, are many most beautiful
little boys in foreshortening, hovering in the air and carrying all
the instruments of the gods; Jove's lightnings and thunderbolts, the
helmet, sword, and shield of Mars, Vulcan's hammers, the club and
lion-skin of Hercules, the caduceus of Mercury, Pan's pipes, and the
agricultural rakes of Vertumnus. All are accompanied by animals
appropriate to their character; and the whole work, both as picture
and as poem, is truly beautiful. Round these scenes he caused
Giovanni da Udine to make a border of all kinds of flowers, foliage,
and fruits, in festoons, which are as beautiful as they could be.

Raffaello made the designs for the architecture of the stables of
the Chigi, and the design for the chapel of the aforesaid Agostino
in S. Maria del Popolo, wherein, besides painting it, he made
arrangements for the erection of a marvellous tomb, causing
Lorenzetto, a sculptor of Florence, to execute two figures, which
are still in his house in the Macello de' Corbi at Rome; but the
death of Raffaello, followed by that of Agostino, brought it about
that this work was given to Sebastiano Viniziano.

Meanwhile Raffaello had risen to such greatness, that Leo X ordained
that he should set to work on the Great Hall on the upper floor,
wherein are the Victories of Constantine; and with this he made a
beginning. A fancy likewise took the Pope to have some very rich
tapestries made in gold and floss-silk; whereupon Raffaello drew and
coloured with his own hand, of the exact form and size, all the
cartoons, which were sent to Flanders to be woven; and the
tapestries, when finished, were brought to Rome. This work was
executed so marvellously, that it arouses astonishment in whoever
beholds it, wondering how it could have been possible to weave the
hair and beards in such detail, and to give softness to the flesh
with mere threads; and it is truly rather a miracle than the work of
human art, seeing that in these tapestries are animals, water, and
buildings, all made in such a way that they seem to be not woven,
but really wrought with the brush. The work cost 70,000 crowns, and
it is still preserved in the Papal Chapel.

For Cardinal Colonna he