Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/578

Rh 558 RIMINI been charged by Sigismondo to watch over Isotta, and therefore not only acted as her amanuensis, but also wrote privately to explain or confirm that which she had already written to him by Isotta's wish. For the tyrant of Rimini was of a brutally jealous nature. At any rate the second letter solves the doubts suggested by the first. Nor is it at all surprising that Isotta should have her letters written and signed by another hand, when such was by no means an uncommon practice among the princes and nobilities of her day. Lucrezia Borgia, for instance, frequently did the same. It is besides simply incredible that a woman of the Italian Renaissance, of Isotta's birth, standing, and reputation, should have been unable to write. Her marriage with Malatesta did not take place until 1456 ; but of the ardent affection that had long bound them together there are stronger proofs than the lover's juvenile verses, or than even the children Isotta had borne to him. For, more than all else, the temple of St Francis has served to transmit to posterity the history of their loves. Malatesta decided on building this remarkable church as a thankoffering for his safety during a danger- ous campaign undertaken for Pope Eugenius IV. about the year 1445. The first stone was laid in 1446, and the work was carried on with so much alacrity that mass was performed in it by the close of 1450. Sigismondo entrusted the execution of his plans to L. B. Alberti, who had to encase in a shell of classic architecture a 13th-century Franciscan church. The original edifice being left intact, it was a difficult question how to deal with the windows and the Gothic arches of the interior. Alberti solved the problem with marvel- lous skill, blending the old architecture with the new style of the Renaissance, and giving it variety without destroying its unity of effect. Being eager to adorn his temple with the most precious marbles, Sigismondo's veneration for antiquity did not prevent him from pillaging many valuable classical remains in Rimini, Ravenna, and even in Greece. Such was the zeal with which Alberti pursued his task that the exterior of the little Rimini church is one of the finest and purest achievements of the Renaissance, and surpasses in beauty and elegance all the rest of his works. But it is much to be deplored that he should have left the upper part of the facade unfinished. Alberti came to Rimini, made his design, saw the work begun, and then left it to be carried out by very skilful artists, on whom he impressed the necessity of faithfully preserv- ing its general character so as "not to spoil that music." The internal decorations, especially the enormous quantity of wall ornaments, consisting chiefly of scrolls and bas-reliefs, were executed by different sculptors under the personal direction of Malatesta, who, even when engaged in war, sent continual instruc- tions about their work. It is difficult to give an exact idea of this extraordinary church to those who have no personal acquaint- ance with it. The vault was never finished, and still shows its rough beams and rafters. The eight side chapels alone are com- plete, and their pointed arches spring from Renaissance pilasters planted on black marble elephants, the Malatesta emblems, or on baskets of fruit held by children. The surface of the pilasters is divided into compartments encrusted with bas-reliefs of various subjects and styles. Everywhere on the balustrades closing the chapels, Around the base of the pilasters, along the walls, beneath the cornice of both the exterior and the interior of the church there is one ornament that is perpetually repeated, the interwoven initials of Sigismondo and Isotta. This monogram is alternated with the portrait and arms of Malatesta ; and these designs are euwreathed by festoons linked together by the tyrant's second emblem, the rose. The most singular and characteristic feature of this edifice is the almost total absence of every sacred emblem. Rather than to St Francis and the God of the Christians it was dedicated and that while Sigismondo's second wife still lived to the glorification of an unhallowed attachment. Nature, science, and antiquity were summoned to celebrate the tyrant's love for Isotta. The bas-reliefs of one of the chapels represent Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Diana, together with the signs of the zodiac. And these subjects are derived, it appears, from a poem in which Sigismondo had invoked the gods and the signs of the zodiac to soften Isotta's heart and win her to his arms. The pageants of Mars and Diana seem to have been suggested by the Trionfi of Petrarch. Elsewhere we see prophets and sibyls, per- sonifications of the theological virtues and of the sciences. The delicate bas-reliefs of botany and medicine, history and astronomy, have been judged by some writers to be Grecian, on account of the ancient appearance of their marble, their inscriptions in Greek and Latin, and others that have never been deciphered. But a moment's examination of the sculptures is enough to destroy this hypothesis. Besides, some of the inscriptions are very easily read and record "Apollo Ariminaeus" and "Jupiter Ai-iminseus. 5 ' In the first chapel on the left is the family tomb of the Malatesta, with sculptured records of their triumphs and of their alleged descent from Scipio Africanus. Better worthy of notice is the third chapel to the right, known as that of the Angels, on account of the angels and children carved on its pillars. It is nominally dedicated "to the archangel Michael, whose statue is enshrined in it ; but the figure has the face of Isotta, the ruling deity of this portion of the church. For here is the splendid and fantastic tomb erected to this lady, during her life and previous to the death of Sigismondo's 'second wife. No monument, be it remarked, is raised over tin- burial-place of Ginevra and Polissena. The urn of Isotta's sarco- phagus is supported by two elephants, and bears the inscription, "D. Isotfee Ariminensi B. M. Sacrum, MCCCCL." The "D." has been generally interpreted as "Divje" and the "B. M." as " Beatffi Memorial " But some, unwilling to credit such profanity, allege that the letters stand for " Bonse Memorise." Nevertheless all who have seen the church must admit the improbability of simi- lar scruples. The numerous artists employed on the interior of the church were under the direction of the proto-macstro Matteo de Pasti, the celebrated medallist. And indeed the peculiar and fantastic character of the sculptures in this chapel frequently recalls the designs of his famous works. All this decoration is in strange con- trast with the grandly austere simplicity of the facade and outer walls of the church. There no ornament disturbs the harmony of the lines. The frieze beneath the cornice, reproducing the lovers' initials and the Malatestian ensigns, is in such very low relief that it only enhances the perfection of "that music" produced by the marvellous skill of Leo Battista Alberti. Also the colour of the stone, a soft creamy white, adds to the general beauty of effect. And everything both within and without contributes to the profane and pagan character which it was Sigismondo's purpose to impress on the Christian church. On each of its outer walls are seven arched recesses, intended to contain the ashes of the first literati and scientists of his court. In the first, to the right, is the urn of the poet Basinio, one of his pensioners, in the second that of Giusto de' Conti, author of some rhymes on the Bella Mano, while the third bore the more famous name of Gemisthus Pletho. This well- known Byzantine philosopher was the diffuser of Platonism in Florence during the time of Cosimo de' Medici, and had faith in the revival of paganism. Returning to his own people, he had died in the Morea. Sigismondo, having gone tfiere in command of the Venetian expedition against the Turks, exhumed the philo- sopher's bones as holy relics, and brought them to Rimini for worthy sepulture in his Christian pantheon. All this is soleninly recorded in the inscription, which is dated 1465. The fourth sarcophagus was that of Roberto Valturio, the engineer, author of DC Ea Militari, who had been Sigismondo's minister and had aided him in the construction of the castle of Rimini. The other urns on this side were placed by Malatesta's successors, and the arches on the left wall remained untenanted. Sigismondo understood the science of fortification. He was also the first to discard the use of wooden bomb shells, and substitute others cast in bronze. As a soldier his numerous campaigns had shown him to be possessed of all the best qualities and worst defects of the free captains of his time. He began his military career in 1432 in the service of Eugenius IV. ; but, when this pope doubted his good faith and transferred the command to another, he sided with the Venetians against him, though at a later date he again served under him. On the decease of Filippo Maria Visconti in 1447, he joined the Aragonese against Venice and Florence, but, presently changing his flag, fought valiantly against Alphonso of Aragon and forced him to raise the siege of Piombino. In 1454 he accepted a command from the Sienese, but suddenly, after his usual fashion, he made peace with the enemies of the republic, and had to save himself by flight from arrest for his perfidy. It was then that the letters from Isotta were confiscated. After this he began scheming to hasten the coming of the Angevins, and took part in new and more hazardous campaigns against adversaries such as the duke of Urbino, Sforza of Milan, Piccinino, and, worst of all, the Sienese pope, Pius II., his declared and mortal foe. This time Sigismondo had blundered ; for the cause of Anjou was hopelessly ruined in Italy. Ho