LOUIS THE GREAT, 14TH KING OF THE FRENCH

whose emblem is the SUN

after the first was stolen on the journey, he sends a second

precious Image of Himself—a gift for outstanding Virtue—

to Count Carlo Cesare Malvasia,

who received it in the month of May.

Imagine the Sun rising from Gemini The zodiac sign Gemini, "The Twins," which the sun enters in late May. toward the Tropic,

with the Inscription:

That it might shine more brightly.

By Doctor and Abbot Giuseppe Orsoni.

If hostile fate snatches away the first KING’S Gift,
O CARLO, and the great honor won through your toil:

The KING himself becomes a second "first" to you through these setbacks,
And turns into profit what were previously losses;

For he doubles the Gift, while the Sun, acting like a Sun to the Sun,
Marks a twin day within a single Sun. A poetic play on Louis XIV, the "Sun King," whose second gift makes the "Sun" appear twice.

Truly, the Sun never shines more brightly in the high
Heavens, without first passing through the days of the Twins. original: "Geminos... dies." A pun referencing both the zodiac sign Gemini and the "twin" (double) gifts sent to Malvasia.

Thus did the SUN, LOUIS, wish to fulfill this Sign of double
honor for you, THAT IT MIGHT SHINE MORE BRIGHTLY.

By the same author.

The one who snatched the KING’S first Gift from you, CARLO,
Was no thief, but the creator of a charming profit:

He sent that pledge of increasing honor to earn interest,
Which you would seek in vain if it came quickly; it is better to receive it late. The poet wittily suggests that the theft of the first portrait was actually a "loan" that resulted in more honor when the King sent a replacement.