f the vase being adorned with palm leaves; but by this I believe
that he means to indicate Isis, and I have therefore resolved that you
shall represent her with the bow, as described above. She shall ride
on a car drawn by horses, one black and the other white, or, if you
desire variety, by a mule, after Festus Pompeius, or by bullocks,
after Claudian and Ausonius; and if you choose bullocks, they must
have the horns very small and a white patch on the right flank. The
attitude of the Moon must be that of looking down from the heaven in
the oval towards the horn of the facade that looks out over the
garden, where you must place her lover Endymion, and she shall lean
down from the car to kiss him, and, not being able by reason of the
interposition of the border, she shall gaze lovingly upon him and
illumine him with her radiance. For Endymion you must make a beautiful
young shepherd, asleep at the foot of Mount Latmus. In the horn on the
other side there shall be Pan, the God of Shepherds, who was enamoured
of the Moon; his figure is very well known. Round his neck place his
pipes, and with both hands he shall hold out towards the Moon a skein
of white wool, with which he is fabled to have won her love; and with
that present he must appear to be persuading her to come down to live
with him. In the rest of the space of the same great window you must
paint a scene, and that shall be the scene of the sacrifices to the
Lemures, which men used to hold at night in order to drive evil
spirits from their houses. The ritual of these sacrifices was to go
about, with the hands washed and the feet bare, scattering black
beans; first rolling them about in the mouth, and then throwing them
over the shoulder; and among the company were some who made a noise by
sounding basins and suchlike instruments of copper.

"On the left side of the oval you must paint Mercury in the ordinary
manner, with the little winged cap, with the winged sandals on the
feet, with the Caduceus in the left hand, and with the purse in the
right; altogether nude, save for his little mantle on the shoulder; a
most beautiful youth, but with a natural beauty, without any artifice;
of a cheerful countenance, spirited eyes, beardless, or with the first
down, with reddish hair, and narrow in the shoulders. Some place wings
over his ears, and make certain golden feathers coming out of his
hair. The attitude you may make as you please, provided only that it
shows him gli