ere
able to exercise no little influence upon the men who came within their
power. Never, perhaps, in the history of modern civilization has the
aesthetic instinct of a people been so thoroughly aroused as it was in
Italy at this time, and the almost pagan love of beauty which possessed
them led to many extravagances in their sentimental conceptions. As
Lorenzo de' Medici was the most powerful and distinguished Italian of
his time, so may he be termed its representative lover, for his
excursions into the land of sentiment may be considered as typical of
his day and generation. The first passion of his heart was purely
subjective and artificial, the result of a forcing process which had
been induced by the power of brotherly love. It so happened that
Lorenzo's brother Giuliano, who was assassinated later by the Pazzi,
loved, very tenderly, a lady named Simonetta, reputed to be the most
beautiful woman in all Florence; so great was her fame that she was
quite generally spoken of as _la bella Simonetta_, and the artist
Botticelli, who had an eye for a pretty woman, has left us a portrait
which vouches for her charms in no uncertain way. She was but a fragile
flower, however, and died in the bloom of youth, mourned by her lover
with such genuine grief that, with one impulse, all sought to bring him
consolation. Letters of condolence were written in prose and verse,
sonnets were fairly showered upon him, and Greek and Latin were used as
often as Italian in giving expression to the universal sorrow. But how
all this affected Lorenzo, and what inspiration it gave to his muse, he
had best relate in his own words, for the tale is not devoid of romance,
and he alone can do it justice:

"A young lady of great personal charm happened to die at Florence;
and as she had been very generally admired and beloved, so her
death was as generally lamented. Nor was this to be marvelled at,
for she possessed such beauty and such engaging manners that almost
every person who had any acquaintance with her flattered himself
that he had obtained the chief place in her affections. Her sad
death excited the extreme regret of her admirers; and as she was
carried to the place of burial, with her face uncovered, those who
had known her in life pressed about her for a last look at the
object of their adoration, and then accompanied her funeral with
their tears. On this occasion, all the eloquence a