conditions of peace at Siena; which city had been attacked by the Count of Pitigliano and others, at the instigation of Alfonso, King of Naples. The peace thus sought being secured, war against the people of the east is determined on, and Eneas, having returned to Rome, is made cardinal by the Pope above-named. In the seventh picture Eneas is seen exalted, on the death of Calixtus, to be himself Pope, and takes the name of Pius II. In the eighth, the Pope proceeds to Mantua, where the council respecting the expedition against the Turks is held, and where he is received by the Marquis of Mantua with the most splendid festivities, and a magnificence almost inconceivable. In the ninth compartment, the same Pope places in the catalogue of saints, or as they call it, canonizes, Santa Catarina of Siena, a holy woman, and a Nun of the Dominican Order. In the tenth and last. Pope Pius, while preparing an immense armada against the Turks, with the help and concurrence of all Christian princes, is overtaken by death at Ancona; when a hermit of Camaldoli, a holy man, sees the soul of his Holiness borne to heaven by angels at the very moment of his death, as may be found duly recorded. In another part of the same picture, the remains of Pope Pius II. are borne from Ancona to Rome by a most honourable company of prelates and nobles innumerable, who bewail the death of so great a man and so holy a Pontiif. The whole of this work is rich in portraits from the life, of which there are so many, that it would be a long story even to recount the names. The pictures are all painted with the finest and most animated colours, they are besides decorated with ornaments in gold, and the ceiling is divided into very well designed compartments. Beneath each story is a Latin inscription, explaining the contents of the picture above.[1] In the centre of the same library. Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini, nephew to Pope Pius II., caused a beautiful antique group, in marble, to be placed. This represents the three graces, and was one of the
- ↑ These very beautiful pictures have fortunately escaped the hands of restorers, they were engraved in the last century by Faucci, but very imperfectly. The younger Lasinio has executed a much better series of engravings from them. But even these are said to leave something yet to be desired. — Ed. Flor., 1846-9.
