BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE

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Transcribed version of the text

French

     The entry of Henri II into Lyons became known not only by the royal entry text La magnificence de la superbe et triumphante entrée by Maurice Scève, but also by one written in Italian, La magnifica et triumphale entrata del Christianiss. Re di Francia, which came out at the same time at the shop of Guillaume Roville.  Technically, the Italian version is differentiated by the use of letters in italics and original culs-de-lampe, but the interplay of the initials and the plates are identical.  The anonymous author is known only as F. M. in the signed dedication.  For R. Cooper, "F. M." might stand for Francesco Mazzei, a Florentine merchant who had set up in Lyon.  He took care to make a few corrections or precisions, explaining that "Pierrencise" (Pierre Scize) means "Pietra taglata" because "ja altre volte fu incisa quella montagna, acio chel fium ditto Sona passasi per la Città di Lione" (f. D 3v°), adding details of the dimensions or the colors of the real tennis court at Ainay, or of the appearance of the trees and the dress of the nymphs accompanying Diana.  For the Perspective du change, he replaces the name of Troy by that of Athens, a relevant change, for the anecdote concerning the rivalry between Minerva and Neptune does concern the Athens (f. G4).  He attempted to adapt the account to an Italian public, for example mentioning the Porta Leoni of Verona as a point of comparison with the double arch of the Saint-Paul port when he brings up the hanging garden of the temple of Honor and Virtue and says that it is made "come gl’horti a Napoli sopra le case" (f. G 2), and adds to the description of the port of the archdiocese an explicit reference to the Belvedere which Scève does not mention : "un balcone sopra quello, à l’imitatione di Belvedere del iardino del Papa, fu edificata un altra tonda torre… Questo mezzo circulo era aperto in tre luoghi, & nel chiuso fra le colonne erano quatro nicchi, & in luogho ch’à Belvedere del Papa è il Teverone, Apoline, Laocoonte, Cleopatra & altri ; quivi erano quatro Dii marini cioe Palemone con un Timone in mano, Glauco, & Ino, & Proteo, & cosi anco come à Belvedere à una scala à lumaca nel fondo della quale è una Fontana…".  Perhaps the Italian author saw the antique arch of Verona and the statues at the palace of Julius II ; it is more certain that he read the Terzo libro in which Serlio evokes the gardens of Naples, represents the Porta Leoni and describes the Belvedere : "a i quai luoghi si va per le due porte, che si veggono ne i lati di questo mezo circolo, nel qual luogho vi sono molte belle statue : e fra l’altre il Laocoonte, lo Apoline, il Tevero, la Cleopatra, la Venere, il bellissimo torso di Hercole, e molte altre cose belle" (1540, f. 146).  Lastly, he replaced the brief summary that Scève had given of the comedy staged for the Queen with a complete description of the representation.  The publisher Roville visibly intended that this work reach a large Italian community then residing in Lyons, and probably also a wider public on the other side of the Alps, curious about the splendors.

Yves Pauwels (Centre d’études supérieures de la Renaissance, Tours) – 2010

Critical bibliography

M. Scève, The Entry of Henri II into Lyon, September 1548. A Fac-simile with an Introduction by Richard Cooper, Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 160, Tempe, AZ, Medieval & Renaissance text & Studies, 1997.