“ In that aristocratic republic politics were the necessary business of the patricians, and an examination of the marvellous portraits of Titian confirms the idea that the men he had to portray possessed genius for diplomacy. Their thoughtful eyes show power of calm, yet indefatigable observation: their curved firm lips show subtlety and fluency. ”

“ Adrian VI. was a solitary ascetic, who kept all rules of the Church, rose to prayers at all hours of the night, and astonished Rome by never eating a dinner that cost a ducat. And this after Leo the Magnificent! Clement VII., in whose time there were many troubles for Rome, succeeded this ascetic hierarch. Although a Medici, he had none of Leo's superb extravagance. He was cold and irresolute, slow and illiberal; he lived economically; it astonished Rome to be ruled by a Medici who never hunted, and who kept neither buffoons nor musicians. Rome loved him not. ”

“ The pope is thus sketched by the ambassador Capelo:—"The pope is seventy, but grows younger every day; his cares and troubles never last more than a night: be is of a nature by no means serious, and thinks only of his own in terests ”