8o Petrarch at the Banquet 



very day'* of Lionel's wedding, Petrarch's little grandson^^ died 



ated. . . . Commandingly situated on a slight elevation, and on 

 the margin of gently sloping banks, it raises its crown of towers 

 into the clouds, and enjoys a wide and free prospect on all sides, one 

 which, so far as I know, is not exceeded in extent or beauty by that 

 of any town which lies thus in a plain. By turning one's head ever 

 so little, one can see in one direction the snowy crest of the Alps, 

 and in the other the wooded Apennines. . . . Lastly, in order of 

 time, though not of importance, you would see the huge palace, 

 situated on the highest point of the city ; an admirable building, which 

 cost a vast amount. It was built by the princely Galeazzo, the 

 younger of the Visconti, the rulers of Milan, Pavia, and many neigh- 

 boring towns, a man who surpasses others in many ways, and in the 

 magnificence of his buildings fairly excels himself. I am convinced, 

 unless I be misled by my partiality for the founder, that, with your 

 good taste in such matters, you would declare this to be the most 

 noble production of modern art. ... I leave here shortly, but 

 very gladly return to pass the summer months — if fate grant me more 

 summer months.' 

 " So Corio, p. 471 : 'In questo di medesimo, in Pavia mori,' etc. ; cf. 

 Giulini 5. 516; Fracassetti 2. 262; Mezieres, p. 164. The date of May 19 

 (XIV Kal. Jun. ; others read XIII) is rejected by Korting (p. 365, 

 note 3), though, following Corio, he assigns June 15, instead of June 5 

 (the nones of June), as the date of the wedding. 



"Corio says son (fanciullo), though the Francesca whom he names 

 as the mother was certainly Petrarch's natural daughter, probably born 

 in 1343 (Encyc. Brit., nth ed., 21. 311; Korting, p. 143) and married in 

 Milan to Franceschino d'Amicolo da Brossano (called Borsano by Corio, 

 and see below ; Hutton, p. 213 : 'Franceschino da Brossano di Amicolo' ; 

 Rossetti, p. 66 : 'Franceschino Amicolo da Brossano' ; Fracassetti 2. 260 : 

 'Franceschino d'Amicolo di Brossano della Porta Vercellina' ; Petrarch's 

 will : 'Franciscolum de Borsano, filium quondam domini Amicoli de 

 Borsano, civem Mediolani Portee Verzelinse') in 1361 (Korting, p. 365; 

 Rossetti, App. 3, p. 66). A daughter, Eletta, must have been born to them 

 in 1362 or 1363, since Boccaccio, writing to Petrarch on June 30, 1367, of 

 his visit to the little family in Venice, after he had praised the charm 

 of the father and mother, goes on (Hutton, pp. 213-4; cf. Corazzini, 

 p. 124) : 



'Presently we were talking in your pleasant little garden with some 

 friends, and she ofifered me with matronly serenity your house, your 

 books, and all your things there. Suddenly little footsteps — and there 

 came towards us thy Eletta, my delight, who, without knowing who 

 I was, looked at me smiling. I was not only delighted, I greedily 

 took her in my arms, imagining that I held my little one (virgunculam 

 olim meam) that is lost to me. What shall I say? If you do not 

 believe me, you will believe Guglielmo da Ravenna, the physician, and 



