"...On
the wall towards the Belvedere, containing the Mount Parnassus and
Fountain of Helicon, he made a shady laurel grove about the mount...The
poets scattered about the mountain are remarkable in this respect,
some standing and some writing, others talking, and others singing
or conversing in groups of four or six according to the disposition.
Here are portraits of all the most famous poets, both ancient and
modern, taken partly from statues, partly from medals, and many form
old pictures, while others were living. Here we see Ovid, Virgil,
Ennius, Tibullus, Catullus, Propertius and Homer, holding up his blind
head and singing verses, while at his feet is one writing. Here in
a group are the nine Muses, with Apollo, breathing realities of delicate
Petrarca, and amorous Boccacio, all full of life; Tibaldeo is there
also, and numerous other moderns, the whole scene being done with
exquisite grace and finished with care."
Giorgio
Vasari, The Lives of the Most Excellent Architects, Painters, and
Sculptors,2nd edition, Forence, 1568
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