Lorenzo Da Ponte

“ Lorenzo surrenders himself purposely to the realism of simple, rough country life, and yet his work makes upon us the impression of true poetry.
The 'Beca da Dicomano' of Luigi Pulci is an admitted counterpart to the 'Nencia' of Lorenzo. But the deeper purpose is wanting. The 'Beca' is written not so much from the inward need to give a picture of popular life, as from the desire to win the approbation of the educated Florentine world by a successful poem. ”

“ Someone has put your portrait in the privy? The devil! It is a miracle that you have not killed someone. Positively, I am curious to know the results and I hope that you make no mistakes in this affair which appears to me very delicate.”
In August 1792, or thereabouts, Da Ponte on his way to Dresden, visited Casanova at Dux, in the hope of collecting an old debt, but gave up this hope on realizing Casanova’s limited resources. In the winter of 1792-3 Da Ponte found himself in great distress in Holland. “Casanova was the only man to whom I could apply,” he writes in his Memoirs. ”

“ Naturally he thought at once of Da Ponte, and Da Ponte suggested the legend of Don Juan Tenorio y Salazar, Lord of Albarren and Count of Maraña. This story had already attracted the attention of mask-makers and comedy-writers innumerable, among them Molière, Shadwell, Goldoni; and Gluck and Righini, Tritto and Gazzaniga had set it to music, as ballet, dramma tragicomico, or opera buffa. Da Ponte had made his fortune by the text of "Figaro," and when he began the libretto for Mozart he was also at work on texts for Martin and Salieri. ”

“ Born in 1307, and entered early as a disciple of Buffalmacco, the first works of Giovanni were executed in fresco, for the capitular church of Empoli. They were in the chapel of San Lorenzo, where he depicted certain stories from the life of the saint with so much success, that as a more satisfactory progress was anticipated from so creditable a commencement, he was invited to Arezzo in the year 1344, where he painted an assumption of the Virgin in one of the chapels of the church of San Francesco ”

“ From this work Lorenzo took occasion to name our artist Giuliano da San Gallo; wherefore the master, who gradually heard hirnsell called by every one da San Gallo, said one day jestingly to the magnificent Lorenzo, “By this your new way of calling me da San Gallo, you are making me lose the name of mine ancient house, so that instead of going forward, as I thought to do by the antiquity of my race, I am going backwards.” To which Lorenzo replied, that he would rather see him become the founder of a new house by the force of his talents than remain a dependant on any other ”

“ Fanatic puritan as he was, vainer than any Medici, it is difficult to understand how he persuaded the Florentines to listen to his eloquence, spoiled as it must have been for them by the Ferrarese dialect. How could a people who were the founders of the modern world, the creators of modern culture, allow themselves to be baffled by a fanatic friar prophesying judgment? Yet something of a peculiar charm, a force that we miss in the sensual and almost devilish face we see in his portrait, he must have possessed, for it is said that Lorenzo desired his company ”

“ In 1475 everything was peaceful in Italy. Lorenzo was able to give his attention to the reconstruction of the University of Pisa, in which town he spent some months, to devote himself to poetry and philosophy, and often to indulge in his love of outdoor sports. Niccolò Roberti, Duke Borso d’Este’s ambassador to Florence, wrote to his master in January:
Most illustrious Lord,—There is no news to send save that near Pisa, where Lorenzo is enjoying much sport with the King’s [Ferrante of Naples] hawkers, two of the falcons sent to him by H.M. have been lost, and they are the two best. ”

“ Both in his art and in his politics he leant upon the people. The more oppressive his government, the more did he seek in his verses to incite the public to festivities and lull it to slumber by sensual enjoyments. In his Ballate, or songs for dancing, and more especially in his carnival songs, a kind of verse invented by himself, Lorenzo displayed all the best qualities and worst defects of his muse. Marvellously and spontaneously elegant, very truthful and fresh in style, fertile in fancy and rich in colour, they are often of a most revolting indecency. ”

“ The rise of Da Ponte, who had to some extent taken Metastasio's place in the theatre, would be altogether against his interests; he sought therefore both by praise and blame to bring his rival into discredit, and ridiculed him personally in his operetta, "Prima la Musica" (Vol. III., p. 47) . Casti carried his vanity and self-complacency to such a pitch that Kelly mimicked him on the stage in his own opera ("Demo-gorgone") , to the intense delight of the public. 36 It was plainly Da Ponte's interest to gain the favour of composers who might do credit to his operatic libretti. ”

“ Many writers have accused Lorenzo of cowardice, of pusillanimity, of want of political resolution on account of this very course of action, namely, that he assisted the enemies of Florence to extricate themselves from their dilemmas. Such criticism fails entirely to understand both the aim and the scope of his policy. He desired to keep Italy for the Italians. His clear-sighted sagacity saw nothing but danger in the plans of Ludovico of Milan to invite the French King into Italy, or in those of Venice to encourage the Duke of Lorraine to press his claims upon Milan. ”

“ Lorenzo’s son, Piero de Medici, succeeded his father, but he was too weak and incompetent a man to count, and Savonarola, who continued with increasing vehemence to denounce the guilt and corruption of mankind, strengthened his own influence and control over the people. Piero became alarmed and had him removed from Florence, so that for a time he was obliged to preach outside at Prato and Bologna. But soon he returned, journeying on foot over the Apennines, and he was welcomed back with rapture at San Marco. ”

“ As Taylor was not accustomed to pay his debts, Da Ponte naturally got into great difficulties, and his only resource was to join his wife at New York. So on March 5, 1803, [5] this strange man sailed for America, and after a miserable passage of 86 days arrived at Philadelphia en route to New York. Here he was unsuccessful as a dealer in tea, tobacco, and drugs, but became a great favourite as professor of Italian. In 1811 he went to Sunbury (Pennsylvania) to manufacture liqueurs, but as usual lost his money, and returned to his pupils at New York. ”

“ It has already been told how that Da Ponte was active in the promotion of the first Italian opera enterprise, that he inspired Montressor's experiment at the Richmond Hill Theater and was the moving spirit in the ambitious, beautiful but unhappy Italian Opera House undertaking. To do all these things it was necessary that he should be a man of influence among the cultured and wealthy classes of the community. As a matter of fact he was this, and that in spite of the fact that his career had been checkered in Europe and was not wholly free from financial scandal, at least in New York. ”

“ And into such crowds there penetrated to listen and watch (even as the Magnificent Lorenzo had elbowed among the carnival ragamuffins of Florence, and had slid in among the holiday-making peasants of Poggio a Caiano) a learned man, a poet, an intimate of the Medicis, of Politian, Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola, Messer Luigi Pulci, the same who had written the semi-allegorical, semi-realistic poem about Lorenzo dei Medici's gala tournament. ”

“ Methinks no one, however high his station, will venture to assail you when near our own person. Yet, as it is evident from what has already happened, that some one in this land would fain remove you to a better, you shall have a guard with you, and must not walk the streets of Pavia unattended. Where is De Vitry? We will give orders for a part of your troop in his company to join you here to-night."
"He has gone into the villa for a moment, sire," replied Lorenzo, "for the purpose, I believe, of bidding adieu to the good old count, as I presume your majesty marches on speedily." ”

“ Even the condition of the peasantry was far more prosperous than elsewhere. Lorenzo’s authority was not confined to Tuscany, but was also very great throughout the whole of Italy. He was on the friendliest terms with Pope Innocent VIII., from whom he obtained the exaltation of his son Giovanni to the cardinalate at the age of fourteen. This boy-cardinal was afterwards Pope Leo X. From the moment of the decease of Sixtus IV., the union of Florence and Rome became the basis of Lorenzo’s foreign policy. ”

“ And that this occurred to him very many times in the progress of that work of San Lorenzo, just described, may be easily believed, because when he had once determined on what he chose to do, being a most able and skilful painter, he made no loitering, but readily executed what he desired, and could at once accomplish whatever he had determined to perform.
↑ Puntormo, or as it is now called Pontormo, is on the road leading from Pisa to Florence, and is about seventeen miles distant from the lastnamed city. ↑ The family name of Jacopo was Carrucci or Carucci. —Ed. Flor. ”

“ When Lorenzo visited the garden he praised the work, but said, “You have made your faun so old, and yet you have left him all his teeth; you should have known that at such an advanced age there are generally some wanting.” The next time he came there was a gap in the teeth, and so well done that he was delighted. This work is now in the Uffizi Gallery.
Lorenzo now sent for the father of Angelo, and asked that the son might live in the Medici palace under his own care. Somewhat reluctantly the father consented, and the duke gave him an office in the custom-house. ”

“ The disciples of Lorenzo Costa were Ercole da Ferrara his compatriot, whose life I propose to write immediately; and Ludovico Malino, [20] also a Ferrarese, [21] by whom we have many works in other places, as well as in his native city; but the best that he performed was a picture which is now in the church of San Francesco, in Bologna, in a chapel near the principal door. ”

“ The great secret of Lorenzo's preëminence in European and Italian, as well as in Tuscan, politics lies in the fact that he was able to unite the sources of administrative, legislative, and judicial power in himself. All the public offices in Florence were held by his dependents, and so entirely was the state machinery controlled by him that we find such men as Louis XI and the emperor Maximilian, Alfonso of Naples, and Pope Innocent VIII recognizing his authority and appealing to him personally, in place of to the seigniory, to effect the ends they desired. ”

“ From the former especially he learned many important lessons in statecraft. The matter is open to question, however, if any advice had more far-reaching results or was laid more carefully to heart than this which is contained in more than one of Cosmo's letters: "Never stint your favors to the cause of learning, and cultivate sedulously the friendship of scholars and humanists." Toward such a course Lorenzo's inclinations, as well as his interests, pointed, and during his life Florence was the Athens not only of Italy but of Europe as a whole. ”

“ He far exceeds all my expectations,” answered She; “Till this moment I had no idea of the powers of eloquence. But when He spoke, his voice inspired me with such interest, such esteem, I might almost say such affection for him, that I am myself astonished at the acuteness of my feelings.”
Lorenzo smiled at the strength of her expressions.
“You are young and just entering into life,” said He; “Your heart, new to the world and full of warmth and sensibility, receives its first impressions with eagerness. Artless yourself, you suspect not others of deceit ”

“ Hatred to his foes, and love for his native town, were the sentiments that possessed his soul, and which he imparted in their full force to the plastic mind of his son, which received like molten metal the stamp he desired to impress. Lorenzo was scarcely twelve years old at the period of his father’s exile, and he naturally turned with fondness towards the spot where he had enjoyed every happiness, where each hour had been spent in light-hearted hilarity, and the kindness and observance of many attended on his steps. ”

“ There was not a citizen who, armed or unarmed, did not go to the palace of Lorenzo in this time of trouble, to offer to him his person and his goods; such was the position and the affection that the family had acquired by their prudence and their liberality.”
In 1487 Lorenzo’s eldest son Piero de’ Medici married Alfonsina Orsini, a relation of his mother Clarice, and the following year Lorenzo attained a great object of his ambition. ”

“ The first important work De Musset produced after his return from Italy was the drama Lorenzaccio, the idea of which he had conceived in Florence. Lorenzo de Medici is cousin to Alexander de Medici, the bestially cruel and sensual Duke of Florence. By nature Lorenzo is a pure, high-strung, energetic character. He early determines, taking Brutus as his model, to rid the world of a tyrant. To attain his aim he plays the part of a heartless libertine, becomes Alexander's follower, tool, counsellor, and pander. ”