TO THE PAINTER IN THE ACT OF MAKING THE SAID PORTRAIT.

Painter, you who have already painted so many Heroes,
Yet despair of portraying the great LOUIS, King Louis XIV of France (reigned 1643–1715).
Because you do not possess colors so vivid and true
To show all his distinct merits:

Let your brushes be dipped in the blood
That his Warriors shed for the Faith; A reference to Louis XIV’s military campaigns and his role as "Most Christian King," particularly his suppression of Protestantism.
Then take from Glory its fierce lights,
And the shadows from the shadows of his extinguished enemies.

Take gray and green colors from the Sorrow
Of the Heresy that moved strife against him: original: "Eresia." Likely refers to the Huguenots; green was sometimes associated with the "bitterness" of heresy in Catholic iconography.
Let his own strength give strength to the work, I desire.

Form the Background so that it bears the vestiges of Honor;
Paint Love and Majesty together on a single Throne;
Paint Valor, and you will have painted LOUIS.

TO THE AUTHOR OF THE EXPLANATION OF THE PRESENT ENIGMA.

Let the scholarly stones of Memphis cease Referring to Egyptian hieroglyphs in Memphis, Egypt, once considered the ultimate "unknown" or "encoded" language.
To boast of their high study of unknown Ciphers,
Since now to new and more remote figures
A desperate understanding is given.

Let the sharp style no longer go beyond the Theban monster
That strikes the passers-by, An allusion to the Sphinx of Thebes and her riddle, which killed those who could not solve it.
For you, like a wise Oedipus, by interpreting,
Bring down the pride of these profound notes. Oedipus was the Greek hero who famously solved the Sphinx's riddle. Here, Count Malvasia is compared to him for "solving" the complex symbolism of the King's gift.

From this your worthy praises advance,
Which the Seine heard in PAINTERLY FELSINA, original: "FELSINA PITTRICE." Felsina is the ancient name for Bologna. This refers to Malvasia's most famous book, Felsina pittrice (1678), an essential history of Bolognese painters. The Seine refers to Paris/the French Court.
Now that you give light to these ingenious deceptions.

Everyone points to you as equal to the Great Pellaean, original: "Magno Pelleo." Referring to Alexander the Great, who was born in Pella, Macedonia.
If not greater; for while to untie the knots
He used the Sword, You used the Pen. Refers to the legend of the Gordian Knot. Alexander the Great cut the impossibly tangled knot with his sword; the poet argues Malvasia solved a similarly complex intellectual "knot" with his writing.