Page:The Book of the Courtier.djvu/588

 NOTES TO THE SECOND BOOK OF THE COURTIER He became the friend and general of Duke Federico of Urbino. His rough wit was highly esteemed. Note 151, page 77. This consciousness of the corruption then prevailing in Italy is even more frankly expressed by Machiavelli: "It is but too true that we Italians are in a special degree irreligious and corrupt." {Discorsi, I, 12.) Note 152, page 78. The reference here is to Plato's Phcedo, c. 3. Socrates is said to have turned ^sop's fables into verse. Note 153, page 83. The Italian noun fteressa (rendered "boldness") and the adjective^ero (more anciently /ero^ the epithet applied by Petrarch to Achilles, see note 120) are derived from the Latin /er«s (wild, untamed, impetuous), the root of which we see in our English word/erocious. "While retaining its ety- mological signification.y^e^o was used to mean also: haughty, intrepid, strong, sturdy. Note 154, page 87. " Brawls " (Italian, brand*; French, branles) were a kind of animated figured dance, said to be of Spanish origin and to have resembled the modern cotillon. A letter by Castiglione mentions this dance as having been performed by figures dressed as birds in one of the interludes when Bibbiena's Calandra was first presented at Urbino. This and other passages suggest that the use of masks was even more common in Italian society of the author's time, than at the present day. Note 155, page 88. Castiglione's letters show that he possessed and played upon a variety of musical instruments, and it is known that in Duke Federico's time, the palace of Urbino was well supplied with instruments and musicians. Note 156, page 88. Viol is the generic name for the family of bowed instru- ments that succeeded the mediaeval fiddle and preceded the violin. Invented in the 15th century, it differed from a violin in having deeper ribs, a flat back, and a broad centre-piece on which the sound post rested. Its neck was broad and thin; it had from five to seven strings, and was made in four sizes, of which the lowest pitched (the molone or double bass) is still in use. The tone of the instrument is said to have been penetrating rather than powerful. Note 157, page 89. Wind instruments, and especially the flute, are here referred to. According to Plutarch, Alcibiades maintained that they were regarded with disfavour by Pallas and Apollo because the face is distorted in playing upon them. Note 158, page 90. The Pythagoreans supposed the intervals between the heavenly bodies to be determined by the laws of musical harmony. Hence arose the celebrated doctrine of " the music of the spheres " (already referred to by Castiglione in the text, page 63); for in their motion the heavenly bodies 356