ITALIAN GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE 
of all that made his friendship pleasant, from regret 
for all that has been and can never be again, he passes 
to consider the high teaching of death and the many 
things which he has learnt by the removal of his friend 
to another life. He concludes with a generous assur¬ 
ance to the Florentine Landolfo to whom the letter 
is addressed, and who had been intimate with Zanobi, 
that he will henceforth do his utmost to supply his 
dead friend’s place. “ And now, since the time is 
short, and the space between Zanobi’s departure and 
my own will not be long, I will say no more but this 
only, that another Messer Zanobi remains to you, 
that is I, the great Seneschal.” 
Zanobi’s saying, “ Qui mortem metuit cupit nihil,” 
quoted by Niccolo in this letter, and also rendered, 
“Contemsit omnia ille qui mortem prius,” was adopted 
by him as his motto, and is still to be seen on the 
Grand Seneschal’s tomb at the Certosa. 
It is this gentler side of Niccolo’s nature, this 
strong human tenderness breaking out here and there 
in his letters, wherever we get a glimpse of his inner 
feelings, which renders his character so attractive. 
And as in his friendships so in all his private relations, 
whether as husband, son, or father, we find the same 
marks of deep and lasting affection for those connected 
with him. On the point of embarking for Greece he 
sends back a ring to his wife, Mona Margherita, and 
210 
