contemplative, with
scenes and statues, continued down to Death, Hell, and our final
Resurrection.

In brief, Cristofano executed almost all by himself the whole cornice,
the festoons, the little boys, and the seven Signs of the Planets.
Then, beginning on one side, he painted first the Moon, and
represented her by a Diana who has her lap full of flowers, after the
manner of Proserpine, with a moon upon her head and the Sign of Cancer
above her. Below, in the oval wherein is the story of Infancy, there
are present at the Birth of Man some nurses who are suckling infants,
and newly-delivered women in bed, executed by Cristofano with much
grace; and this oval is supported by Will alone, who is a half-nude
young woman, fair and beautiful, and she is sustained by Charity, who
is also suckling infants. And beneath the oval, on the parapet, is
Grammar, who is teaching some little boys to read.

Beginning over again, there follows Mercury with the Caduceus and with
his Sign, who has below him in the oval some little boys, some of whom
are going to school and some playing. This oval is supported by Truth,
who is a nude little girl all pure and simple, who has on one side a
male figure representing Falsehood, with a variety of girt-up garments
and a most beautiful countenance, but with the eyes much sunken.
Beneath the oval of the windows is Faith, who with the right hand is
baptizing a child in a conch full of water, and with the left hand is
holding a cross; and below her, on the parapet, is Logic covered by a
veil, with a serpent.

Next follows the Sun, represented by an Apollo who has the lyre in his
hand, with his Sign in the ornament above. In the oval is Adolescence,
represented by two boys of equal age, one of whom, holding a branch of
olive, is ascending a mountain illumined by the sun, and the other,
halting halfway up to admire the beauties that Fraud displays from the
middle upwards, without perceiving that her hideous countenance is
concealed behind a smooth and beautiful mask, is caused by her and her
wiles to fall over a precipice. This oval is supported by Sloth, a
gross and corpulent man, who stands all sleepy and nude in the guise
of a Silenus; and also by Toil, in the person of a robust and
hard-working peasant, who has around him the implements for tilling
the earth. These are supported by that part of the ornament that is
between the windows, where Hope is, who has the anchors at her feet;
and on the par