man be sickly, troubled
in mind, or that cannot sleep for grief, and shall but stand over against
one of Phidias' images, he will forget all care, or whatsoever else may
molest him, in an instant?" There be those as much taken with Michael
Angelo's, Raphael de Urbino's, Francesco Francia's pieces, and many of
those Italian and Dutch painters, which were excellent in their ages; and
esteem of it as a most pleasing sight, to view those neat architectures,
devices, escutcheons, coats of arms, read such books, to peruse old coins
of several sorts in a fair gallery; artificial works, perspective glasses,
old relics, Roman antiquities, variety of colours. A good picture is _falsa
veritas, et muta poesis_: and though (as [3314]Vives saith) _artificialia
delectant, sed mox fastidimus_, artificial toys please but for a time; yet
who is he that will not be moved with them for the present? When Achilles
was tormented and sad for the loss of his dear friend Patroclus, his mother
Thetis brought him a most elaborate and curious buckler made by Vulcan, in
which were engraven sun, moon, stars, planets, sea, land, men fighting,
running, riding, women scolding, hills, dales, towns, castles, brooks,
rivers, trees, &c., with many pretty landscapes, and perspective pieces:
with sight of which he was infinitely delighted, and much eased of his
grief.

[3315] "Continuo eo spectaculo captus delenito maerore
Oblectabatur, in manibus tenens dei splendida dona."

Who will not be affected so in like case, or see those well-furnished
cloisters and galleries of the Roman cardinals, so richly stored with all
modern pictures, old statues and antiquities? _Cum se--spectando recreet
simul et legendo_, to see their pictures alone and read the description, as
[3316]Boisardus well adds, whom will it not affect? which Bozius,
Pomponius, Laetus, Marlianus, Schottus, Cavelerius, Ligorius, &c., and he
himself hath well performed of late. Or in some prince's cabinets, like
that of the great dukes in Florence, of Felix Platerus in Basil, or
noblemen's houses, to see such variety of attires, faces, so many, so rare,
and such exquisite pieces, of men, birds, beasts, &c., to see those
excellent landscapes, Dutch works, and curious cuts of Sadlier of Prague,
Albertus Durer, Goltzius Vrintes, &c., such pleasant pieces of perspective,
Indian pictures made of feathers, China works, frames, thaumaturgical
motions, exotic toys, &c. Who is he that is now wholly o