pleasaunce; and this one would have it that she was of the greatest beauty, and that other that she was not even well favored, when Celso came up the mount with certain other youths of Prato, the kindred of these ladies. And they, being thus taken by surprise, were silent on a sudden. Then Celso making excuse for having done them such discourtesy, the ladies graciously replied that their coming hither was most pleasing to them, and they bid these gentlemen be seated on a bank over against them; yet were they again silent.

Whereupon Celso spoke, saying:-"Fair ladies, either proceed in your discourse, or dismiss us from your company, to the end that we may not disturb your sport, but hit the ball as it bounds."

Then said Madonna Lampiada:-"Messer Celso, our discourse was of women, wherefore it did not appear to us to be seemly to continue it in your presence. This one said that Amelia was not comely; I say that she is: thus we were disputing, after the manner of ladies."

To whom Celso replied:-"Madonna Selvaggia is in error, but indeed she loves her not. In truth, that lady must ever be accounted fair by all, nay, and most beautiful; and if she is not to be deemed beautiful, I cannot see one in Prato who may be called fair."

On this Selvaggia, somewhat wroth rather than pleased, replied: "Small judgment is needed in such a matter, since each is of a different mind, and a brown skin is pleasing to one. and a white skin to another; and it is with us women as in a draper's shop, where cloth from the Romagnuola finds a purchaser no less than satin from Banello."

"Well and good," quoth Celso; "but when we speak of a beautiful woman we mean one whom all alike admire, and not this one or that one only: thus Nora, so ill-favored as she is, appears most pleasing in the sight of her Tomaso, albeit she is as uncomely as she possibly can be; and my gossip, who was passing fair, her husband could not suffer. Peradventure it is that certain complexions suit or suit not: but a lady fair in all points, like yourself, must necessarily be pleasing to all, as you are; albeit few are pleasing to you, as I know full well. It is indeed the truth, that to be of perfect beauty many things are needed, so that one is rarely found who possesseth the half of them."

Selvaggia then said: "There

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are some among you men whom the world itself would not satisfy. And I once heard it said that one Momus, unable to find any fault in the beauty of Venus, blamed some trifle in the fashion of her sandals."

Then said Verdespina: "Thus you see how he beheld her." And Celso, laughing, went on:-"Again, Stesichoros, a most noble poet of Sicily, spoke evil of that Helen who by her exceeding great beauty moved a thousand Greek ships to go forth against the great kingdom of Troy."

Then said Madonna Lampiada in haste:-"Ay, truly; but you know that he thereupon lost his sight, and had it not again till he denied his words."

"And so had his desert," added Celso, "inasmuch as that beauty and fair women, and fair women and beauty, ought to be lauded and held precious by all; seeing that a fair woman is the fairest object that may be seen, and beauty the highest gift bestowed by God on mankind; since its virtue is to invite the soul to contemplation, and through contemplation to the desire of heavenly things. Hence it hath been given us as a foretaste and as an earnest; and it is of such power and worth that it hath been accounted by sages as the first and most excellent of all things to be loved; nay, they have called it the very seat, the nest, the abode of love; of love, I say, which is the source and fount of all human joys. For it we see a man forget himself; and on beholding a face graced with this celestial gift, his limbs. will quake, his hair stand on end, and he will sweat and shiver at the same time; just as one who, seeing on a sudden some heavenly vision, is possessed by the divine frenzy; and when he is come to himself worships it in his heart, and acknowledging it as it were a god, gives himself up as a victim and a sacrifice on the altar of that fair lady's heart."

Whereupon said Madonna Lampiada:-"Ah, Messer Celso, if it will not weary you, do us a pleasure: tell us somewhat of this beauty, and what should be the form of such a fair woman; whereas these damsels have for some time urged me to entreat this of you, and I have delayed to do it. But since you of your own motion have begun to discourse of it, having increased my desire you likewise have raised my courage; all the more since it hath been told me that during the evening assembly held by my sister last Carnival season, you spoke of the matter with those ladies at such length that Madonna Agnoletta could talk of

nothing else for many days. So we pray you do us this favor, for we have naught else to be busy about; and in this light wind the heat of the day will be more delightfully spent by us than by those below who are sporting or walking in the pleasaunce. »

Then answered Celso:-"Ay! To the end that Selvaggia, if she hear aught said which is not to her mind, or if I omit aught, may cry out that I am speaking ill of women; in which I never take so great pleasure as I do in praising them, as she has often known by experience, and yet hath never thanked me for it."

Translation of Clara Bell.

C

ELSO

OF THE FOREHEAD AND TEMPLES

From Of the Beauty of Women'

To return to the person of our image, I say that you, Madonna Amororrisca, have a shape between lean and fat, round and juicy and of the right proportions, wherein we see suppleness and dexterity, with somewhat that is right queenly. Your hue is not of that whiteness which verges on pallor, but tinted with blood, after the fashion which the ancients prized. The person of a lady of high degree should move with gravity and after a certain gentle manner which keeps it upright, yet not stiff, so that we find in it that majesty whereof I lately spoke. And inasmuch as you have most of all these things, we are bound to give you Verdespina's hair; and now will seek a forehead.

The forehead must be spacious; that is, wide and high, fair and serene. The height, which is understood to be from where the hair ends down to the confines of the eyebrows and the nose, according to many writers should be the third part of the face; the second part being measured to the upper lip, and the third part all the rest, including the chin; - the height, then, I say, must be equal to half the width, and it will be twice as wide as the height; so that from the width we estimate the height, and the height from the width. And we have said it must be fair, since it must not be of an over-dull whiteness without any lustre, but should shine after the manner of a mirror; not by wetness, or by painting, or by foul washes like that

of Bovinetta, which, an it were fish to fry, might be worth a farthing a pound more as not needing to be floured; howbeit, it is not to be sold nor fried.

The line of the brow should not be all flat, but curved like an arch toward the crown of the head, so gently that it is scarce to be perceived; but from the boss of the temples it should descend more straightly. Our poets speak of it as serene, and with reason; since as the sky is serene when we see on it no cloud nor any manner of spot, so the front, when it is clear and open, without furrows or wrinkles or powders, is calm and tranquil, and may be rightly called serene; and whereas the sky when it is serene engenders a certain contentment in the mind of those who behold it, so the forehead which we call serene, gives, through the eye, peace to the soul of those who gaze upon it. As it is now with me, gazing on that of Madonna Lampiada, which, having all the qualities I have enumerated, will do well to place beneath Verdespina's hair. And that serenity of which I speak is the greater for the lustre of the eyes, they being without the confines of the forehead indeed, and yet appearing as the two chief luminaries in the sky; and we will first speak of the eyebrows.

Now, to speak of these, we will take as an example those of Verdespina, who hath them in color like ebony; fine, and of short, soft hairs, as though they were of the finest silk; and from the middle to the ends they gently diminish, on one side towards the hollow or socket of the eye, by the nose, and on the other toward that part which is near the ear, and where they end.

Next we come to the eye, which in every part of the visible globe, or eyeball, excepting the pupil, must be white, slightly tinged with the hue of flax, but so little as to be scarce perceptible. The pupil, save only the circle which lies in the centre, should not be perfectly black, albeit all the Greek and Latin poets, and our own likewise, praise black eyes as with one voice, and all are agreed that the goddess of beauty had them. Nevertheless, those are not wanting who praise eyes which are of the color of the sky, and that Venus had them so is to be found written in certain trustworthy authors.

Among you there is a lady, reputed exceeding fair by me and by many others, who, having such eyes, gains in grace thereby. Nevertheless, common custom seems to have obtained that dark tan or nut-brown eyes hold the first place among eyes of other colors. Deep black is not much to be commended, since it tends

to a somewhat gloomy and cruel gaze; and nut brown, if dark, gives a soft, bright, clear, and kindly gaze; and it lends to the movement of the eyes I know not what alluring charm,- frank, attractive, and keen, which I cannot better explain than by pointing to those of Madonna Lampiada, to whom none of these qualities are lacking. And besides this that has been said, and again like Madonna Lampiada, the eyes must be large and full, not concave nor hollow, for hollowness makes the gaze overproud, and fullness makes it sweet and modest. So Homer, desiring to praise the eyes of Juno, tells us that they were like those of an ox, meaning thereby that they were round and full and large. Many have said that they should be long, and others that they should be oval, which pleases me very well.

The eyelids, when they are white, with certain delicate rosy veins, hardly to be seen, are a great aid to the general beauty of the eye; and the lashes should be thin and not over-long and not white, since, besides being ill-favored, they impair the sight. Nor would I have them very black, which makes the gaze fierce. The socket which surrounds the eye is not to be very deep, nor too large, nor different in color from the cheek; and let ladies who paint be on their guard,—those, I would say, who are brown,- since this part is very often unapt to take the paint or the plastering by reason of its hollow shape, or to retain it by reason of the motion of the eyelashes, and thus makes a division which looks very ill. Madonna Theofila's neighbor often falls into this error.

The ears, which should be tinted rather of the hue of pale rubies than of red ones, and which we will paint like the balcony rose, and not the damask, I will borrow from you, Selvaggia. For their perfect beauty, as we see in yours, a middle size is to be desired, with the shell finely turned, and of a livelier hue than the flat part; and the roll which borders them all round must be transparent and of a brilliant hue like the seed of a pomegranate. Above all, if they be soft and thin their beauty is spoiled; hence, as they are seen in her, they should be firm and well set on.

Of the temples there is little to be said save that they must be white and flat, not hollow; not over-full and moist, nor so narrow as to seem to press on the brain, which would signify a weakness of the brain. And they are beautiful when they resemble those of Madonna Amororrisca. And the manner of laying the hair over them, higher or lower, curled or drawn smooth. thicker or thinner, enlarges or diminishes the temples and makes