Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 5.djvu/229

Rh around her shall be thickly strewn with stars. Her chariot shall be of bronze, with the wheels divided into four spaces, to intimate the four watches of the night. And as, in the wall behind her,’ Aurora has Tiphon and Cephalus, so shall Night have Oceanus and Atlas. The first shall be on the right, and shall be represented by a large and powerful man, with hair and beard dishevelled and streaming; while from both there shall proceed the heads of dolphins, which shall also compose his head-dress, with the addition of sea-weed, shells, corals, and other marine products; he shall repose on a chariot drawn by whales. Tritons shall precede him with their trumpets. Sea-nymphs shall surround his car; and monsters of the deep shall follow him. Or, if not all these things, then as many of them as may be permitted by your space, which appears to me but little for such a purpose.

“The Atlas, which shall be on the left of Night, you shall represent as a Mountain, with the breast, arms, and all the upper part of the body, that of a strong, muscular, bearded man, in the act of supporting the Heavens, which is his usual attitude. Lower down, and opposite to the Vigilance which we have placed beneath Aurora, should be Sleep; but as, for certain reasons, it appears to me that Sleep should be reserved for the bed, we will here place Repose, and the rather as I find that Repose has been adored, and has had a temple dedicated to her, but I do not find the form in which she is presented, unless indeed it be that of Security. Yet I think it is not so, seeing that Security is of the mind, and Repose of the body. Let us then make our Repose in the figure of a maiden, mild of aspect, and not recumbent, but seated, as one weary and dozing, with her head supported by the left arm. Let her have a spear leaning against her shoulder, but with its lower end on the earth, and let her right arm hang freely along the staff; one leg must be crossed over the other, but let her attitude be that of one who is reposing for the restoration of her strength, not from idleness. She shall have a crown of poppies, and a sceptre, which shall be at some distance from her, but yet only so as that she may resume it readily; and as Vigilance bears a crowing Cock on her head, so shall our Repose have a brooding Hen, to show that she is in her duty even while at rest.

“Within the central oval and to the right hand, there shall be a figure of the Moon, represented as a maiden of eighteen,