:
Tu bona tranquillae pacis opima refers.
Moribus illa suis speciem temeravit honestam:
Innumeris speciem dotibus ipsa colis:
Ore deam praestas: virtute venustior alma:
Foeda Helenae facies aequiparata tuae.

[162] Caelii Calcagnini Ferrariensis. In Illustriss. Divi Alphonsi
Primogeniti Herculis Ducis Ferr. ac Divae Lucretiae Borgiae Nuptias
Epithalamium. Laurentius de Valentia Imprimebat Ferrariae Deo Opt. Max.
Favente. Calend. Febr. MDII.

[163]

Est levis haec jactura tamen, ruat hoc quoque quicquid
Est reliquum, juvet et nudis habitare sub antris,
Vivere dura liceat tecum pulcherrima virgo.

Ludovici Areosti Ferrariensis Epithalamion, in vol. i of Carmina
Illustrium Poetarum Italorum, p. 342-346.

[164] Di mediocre statura, gracile in aspetto, di faccia alquanto lunga,
il naso profilato e bello, li capelli aurei, gli occhi bianchi, la bocca
alquanto grande con li denti candidissimi; la gola schietta e bianca
ornata con decente valore, ed in essere continuamente allegra e ridente.
See Lucrezia Borgia in Ferrara. Ferrara, 1867.

[165] Agnolo Firenzuola, vol. i. Della perfetto bellezza di una donna.

[166] Fu essa Lucrezia di venusto e mansueto aspetto, prudente, di
gratissime maniere negli atti, e nel parlare di molta grazia e
allegrezza, says Alfonso's secretary, Bonaventura Pistofilo, in his Vita
di Alfonso I d'Este. The epithets venusta, gentile, graziosa, amabile,
are conferred upon her by all her contemporaries.

CHAPTER III

FETES GIVEN IN LUCRETIA'S HONOR

The wedding festivities in Ferrara continued for six days during the
carnival. At the period of the Renaissance, court functions and
festivities, so far as the intellectual part is concerned, were not
unlike those of the present day; but the magnificent costumes, the
highly developed sense of material beauty, and the more elaborate
etiquette of the age which gave birth to Castiglione's _Cortegiano_ lent
these festivities a higher character.

The sixteenth century was far behind our own in many of its
productions--theatrical performances, displays of fireworks, and concert
music. There were illuminations, and mounted torchlight processions; and
rockets were frequently used; but an illuminated garden fete such as the
Emperor of Austria gave for the Shah of Persia at Schoenbrunn would at
that time have been impossible. The same might be said of certain forms
of musical entertainment; for example, concerts. Society in t