Aelia Laelia Crispis: Not Born, Rising Again

FOR THE SAID PORTRAIT SENT AS A GIFT TO THE AUTHOR OF THE PAINTERLY FELSINA. original: "Felsina Pittrice," Malvasia's famous biographical work on Bolognese painters.

To those to whom BOLOGNA original: "FELSINA," the ancient Etruscan name for the city. gave immortal life
With the light of brushes and colors,
You describe, O Sir, their lives, and their wings
You gild with a golden pen for their Fame.

Therefore, to the Sacred and Royal Majesty
Of LOUIS King Louis XIV of France. you consecrate your labors,
And from him you have the IMAGE, to which no other equal
Work did Royal Painters ever sweat to produce.

Of the golden LILY The fleur-de-lis, symbol of the French Monarchy. here Nature and Art
Compose the Idea, which has the adornments of Adamant,
And shares a doubled Treasure with you.

Ah, for you are CAESAR A play on Malvasia's middle name, Cesare. in name, and AUGUSTUS in merit,
If, united to crown your papers,
The Flower of Kings The King of France. comes with the King of Gems The diamond..

Your learned Daughter A metaphor for Malvasia's book, Felsina Pittrice. now ignores,
Carlo, your speech, which invites her to modesty;
Since she fled from her father's walls,
She goes boldly to procure new lovers.

She tries every art of pleasing, nor does she care
For that blush which your Virtue points out to her,
And she already obscures the merits of a hundred Beauties
Now that she is welcomed by the FRENCH JOVE. King Louis XIV.

To withdraw her from the applause, from which you shy away,
You tried in vain for a long season the same trials
By which the Argive King King Acrisius, who locked his daughter Danae in a bronze tower to keep her from suitors. enclosed DANAE.

But to what end, if with a new appearance
His Great JOVE would have descended, so as not to be deprived of her,
In a tempest of gems. Referring to the myth where Zeus/Jove reached Danae by turning into a shower of gold; here, the King reaches the author with a gift of jewels.