helpless Virgins then beware Lest what seems Gold do prove a Snare * St. Sebastian by Guido Rheni EPIG LVI WHO that intrepid Youth is would you know The sev'ral Darts fix'd in his Flesh do show His valiant Breast without is pierced sore Yet is within inflam'd and wounded more And tho his Body 's bound unto a Tree His Mind 's enfranchis'd and his Looks are free Rheni as many Wounds as thou hast given So many Mouths extol thy Praise to Heaven The Rape of Proserpine by the same Guido EPIG LVII OF old when Proserpine the fair Did walk abroad to take the air Pluto spy'd her and made at her Never ask'd the Maid whose Daughter But by a more compendious course Gets her into his Claws by Force And as some antient Stories tell Resolv'd to make her Queen of Hell But such a Beauty could not brook His ugly Diabolick Look She roars and struggles but in vain Nothing can ease her of her pain This Guido you so well declare Spectators much astonish'd are And reckon you the Ravisher * A Celebrated Venus with Cupid by Titian EPIG LVIII OLD Titian what dost thou turn Pimp To Venus and her little Imp Has not their Beauty done great harm Why dost thou add unto the Charm Why mak'st thou both so fair and tender As both were of the female Gender Dost thou think by such little ways To get thee everlasting praise Thy Piece they grace but Manners stain Make a good Venus but bad Titian St. Magdalen or the great Penitent by the same Hand EPIG LIX SAD is her Countenance tho fair Loose and neglected is her Hair Her Hands she wrings and doth lament Her grievous loss her time mispent See in that shower of Tears the force Of a deep Sorrow and Remorse See how her Breast doth beat and swell As if within she felt a Hell This thou dost fully represent Titian thou inward Wounds dost paint St. Austin by Caravagio EPIG LX. HE that was once immers'd in filth and nigh Hell's lowest pit now rears his Head to th' Sky No sinful Lust nothing of former stains About the Holy Father now remains Now a stout Champion of the Church he 's grown And many a Monster with his Pen knocks down He Caravagio in thy very Table To Hereticks looks fierce and formidable Cupid smiling and trampling Crowns and Arms under his foot by the same Caravagio EPIG LXI A Cupid to express most just and fit The Painter trys the force of Art and Wit So fair the little ranging Rogue 's exprest You 'd think he dropt from 's Mother's snowy Breast He 's wing'd and arm'd with Bow and Dart most neat Golden his Locks and his Face wondrous sweet See how the Child insults and brags that He Great Monarchs overrules in 's Infancy Scepters and Crowns bright Helmets Swords and Daggers Truncheons and broken Spears he spurns and swaggers He laughs that he so great a Conquest gains Without the battering Gun or warlike Pains But by soft Words or shedding of a Tear By pretty Smiles or by an anirous Leer Since Caravagio thou dost paint so right Most powerful Love thou shalt be our Delight Thais by the same Caravagio EPIG LXII HERE you behold Immodesty A wandring Foot and rolling Eye Of Wit and Beauty she has store 'T is pity Thais is a Whore Yet seems of artifice so guilty Were she alive the Jade would jilt ye This florid sweetning flattering Pest Did Athens heretofore infest Her rosy Cheeks and sparkling Eyes Smote all th' unwary and unwise Nay many a Man of Sense and Brain By this Enchantress has bin slain But Caravagio here thy Art More than a Thais wounds the Heart * The Adulteress in the Gospel by Giorgion EPIG LXIII LAW Justice Conscience and the Brows of Men Do thee convict O Woman and condemn Paleness and Silence do thy guilt confess And thou expectest punishment no less Than what is due to an Adulteress But be not thou opprest with anxious fear Let this Advice thy drooping Spirits chear Th' offended Deity on whom we trust Writes not our crimes in Marble but in Dust. * Goliah challenges the Camp of the Israelites by Old Palma EPIG LXIV HERE you an armed Giant may behold If you have Courage and dare be so bold A monstrous Helmet on his Head doth stand And a tall Pine supports his Weapon-hand His Eyes and Forehead scowl and threaten hard And the poor Israelites are almost scar'd Thy Giant Palma 's great to do thee right Great things to paint was ever thy delight * Mercury heheads Argus by Nicholas Poussin EPIG LXV ARgus with all his hundred Eyes Was not defended from surprize Mercury caught him at a nap And cut off's Head a sad Mishap Those Eyes which then did Argus fail Now shine like Stars i' th' Peacock's Tail Poussin this Piece I do admire Thy Works a hundred Eyes require The Effigies of a Religious Man by Titian EPIG LXVI WHO Titian is that grave and reverend Sire That hooded is and Men so much admire What are his Talents How does his Tongue hang Can he the People sway by fine Harangue Is he a Master of Philosophy Is he from worldly Cares and Pleasures free Is he of any use to Church or State We need not ask nor needest thou relate For when the Picture we do view and scan We find him soon a choice accomplish'd Man * The Daughters of Lot intoxicate their Father by Bilbert EPIG LXVII BEhold the Sisters have prepared a Bowl To doze and stupify their Father's Soul Th' insuperable Wine assaults his Head And all the upper part of him is dead They with its raging heat in Lust do burn And each enjoys her Father in her turn See see the bitter fruit of Drunkenness And learn t' avoid all manner of excess If rev'ling Bacchus once does pass the Bar You may be sure that Venus is not far * St. Peter with the Maid-servant Door-keeper by Louis Caratts EPIG LXVIII THOU who wert once a mighty Prop and Stay O' th' Church dost thou now sink and fall away What dismal Chance doth make thy Members quake And all thy wonted Courage from thee take No warlike Engin doth against thee roar A Maid's soft Voice doth wound and gall thee sore St. Peter falls Caratts by this doth rise And mounted on Applauses reach the Skies Another on St. Peter EPIG LXIX FRail Flesh and Blood when danger was not nigh Thy Courage Peter then seem'd very high But when 't approach'd thou hadst not heart of Grace To stand thy ground and look grim Death i' th' Face Let all Men learn by thy base Cowardize That he that would be resolute and wise Must this poor transitory Life despise Adam and Eve in Paradise after the Fall by Paul Veronese EPIG LXX HERE the two Parents of Mankind you see The Masterpiece o' th' Holy Trinity Both very stately beautiful and neat Both naked are yet both of them compleat But this is not enough to Man
is given Dominion over all things under Heaven See how the Lion and the Tyger meet And lower their fierceness at their Master's feet Yet th' happy Pair regarding not their Station For a poor Apple barter this Donation In shew the Serpent does present and give But does indeed most treach'rously deprive They fall and are expell'd This doleful sight O Paul thy Pencil turns to our Delight * John Baptist an Infant holds a Cross made of Reed by Sehido of Parma EPIG LXXI THIS well-look'd Child of good Behaviour Is the Forerunner of our Saviour A Cross he bears his business is to teach Mortification and Repentance preach But some unthinking Men are at a loss To know why of a Reed he made the Cross The Reason is if I do take it right To shew us that this Burden is but light A Frier with a Death's Head by Vandyke EPIG LXXII HERE you may see a Man that 's truly wise Sober and grave without the least disguise That doth his time in Contemplation spend Upon his Frailty and his latter End He does not range about the World for Pelf Nor foreign Matters studies but Himself He is no Slave to Passion or Opinion Nor has Example over him dominion Good present he can slight for Joys to come And doth not dread the day of Death or Doom These Precepts these Instructions or the like Are in this Frier shadow'd by Vandyke * Night by Julio Romano EPIG LXXIII MY Face sometimes so dark is that you 'd swear I wore a Mask or I a Negro were Sometimes again the Stars do make me bright Some by a fix'd some by a wandring Light Soft Sleeps about me stand the World doth rest With Morning Pains and Evening Fumes opprest Poppies adorn my Head and close my Eyes And the Moon watches o'er me till I rise Who so well pourtray'd this Reverse of Day Did not in darkness grope to find his way Charles the Fifth on Horse-back by Titian EPIG LXXIV THAT Charles that was so stout and valiant Is lively represented here in Paint Th' undaunted Courage in his noble Breast Is by his gen'rous Countenance exprest In his right Hand he holds a darting Spear And all things round about him seem to fear His metal'd Courser owns him for his Lord And to be ridden yields of 's own accord He snorts and foams and scowls and with fierce Eye To Battel proudly bids his Enemy Titian hath made his Hero e'en to wonder Yet not like Alexander arm'd with Thunder In this great Work he acts a Princely Part Himself a Prince o' th' Apellean Art Charity by Andraea del Sarto EPIG LXXV BEnign and tender Charity am I In my Breast Kindness and Compassion lie This Child with Fruit with Prattle that I please And t' other kiss and dandle on my knees Do they laugh so do I. If they do play I am as sportive and as brisk as they Three Boys the Painter gives me for my charge He errs my Province should have bin more large As Justice should be free and never brib'd So Charity should ne'r be circumscrib'd * Paul and Barnabas taken for Jupiter and Mercury by Elshamer EPIG LXXVI SUCH were their Aspects such their Power had been When by the Lystrians they at first were seen That these poor Souls could hardly stand before 'em For Gods they take 'em and must needs adore ' em We know full well frail Mortals they were then But Elshamer you make them more than Men So full of Spirit so Divine 't is odds But they by others will be counted Gods The Massacre of the Innocents by Rubens EPIG LXXVII SOldiers in Armour clad without remorse These Infants from their mournful Mothers force Were not their Hearts as hardned as their Steel They would relent and some compassion feel This Boy the Villain 's Sword grasps without fear And sweetly smiles upon his Murderer One's stabb'd another's Throat 's cut a third's thrown And his brains quite dash'd out against a Stone This Soldier 's sorely pincht that pluckt by th' Hair And like a pictur'd Saracen does stare But where the Guard of Innocence does fail No other Methods of defence avail They slay apace and many a tender Limb Does in its Mother's Tears and own Blood swim Such a sad sight who can endure to see Yet this doth please us in effigie We over-look the Soldiers barb'rous part And only mind the Painter's curious Art For Rubens thou this Scene dost so enliven The Babes again are to their Mothers given * Effigies of Erasmus by Hans Holben EPIG LXXVIII THE famous Swiss no little skill hath shown In painting of his Generous Patron This Work in England th' Artist much commends By which he was prefer'd and gain'd his ends Thou mad'st Erasmus Holben as 't is said But I say that Erasmus Holben made A Portrait of K. Charles I. by Dobson EPIG LXXIX TELL me what modern Picture can compare With this for Sweetness and majestick Air. What lively tints and touches strike the Eye And a Vandykish Manner do descry Nothing 's more nicely follow'd or more like In ev'ry stroke you see the great Vandyke A Piece of Grotesca by Perin de Vaga EPIG LXXX THIS Florentine was never us'd to paint Things common but most fanciful and quaint Some God transform'd or Michael and the Dragon And stroll about till he had scarce a rag on All Men allow Perin in 's Art most able But yet was too mercurial and unstable 'T is not his Plastick Painting or his Carving Can keep an idle Wanderer from starving Poor Perin an old Proverb doth thee cross The Rolling Stone doth never gather Moss * Harpocrates the God of Silence EPIG LXXXI HIS Mouth in a close posture does abide For which great Faculty he 's Deify'd He with his Finger doth his Lips compress Admonishing great Talkers to say less The very Picture this doth plainly tell And pleases the Spectator wondrous well But with Harpocrates it does not sute 'T would more delight the silent God if mute Pallas by Annibal Caratts EPIG LXXXII FEAR not her Arms but mind her pleasant Face She smiles and shews great gentleness and grace Peace she promotes and lib'ral Arts refines Sweetens the Poet's Verse and Painter's Lines This thy Draught Caratts we plainly see Pallas did guide thy hand and made it free A Head by Albert Durer EPIG LXXXIII GOOD Col'ring here and not a little Life But yet methinks there 's something hard and stiff All German Artists th' Author does excel Had his Fate bin in Italy to dwell Albert had prov'd another Raphael * Neptune by Rubens EPIG LXXXIV THE shaggy Monarch of the Sea doth stand With naked Breast and Trident in his Hand When he this Scepter doth in anger shake His Tritons roar and the poor Isles do quake His Palace does with liquid Crystal shine He feeds on Fish and all his drink is brine In Water he and all his Subjects lie If once upon the Land they come they die But
HERE you behold a spatious sandy Plain That will two hundred thousand Men contain Horses and Coaches with such fleetness run That scarcely are they by the Winds out-done The People's great Applauses give them Wings And Heaven's high Arch with Acclamation sings But mind not thou the speed of Coach or Horse Think how thy Life runs with as swift a Course A Deformed Head EPIG XCVIII WHAT awkard ill-look'd Fellow 's this He has an ugly frightful Phys Cadaverous black blew and green Not fit in publick to be seen Dirty hirsute and goggle-ey'd With a long Nose and Mouth as wide With blobber Lips and lockram Jaws Warts Wrinkles Wens and other Flaws With nitty beard and Neck that 's scabby And in a dress that 's very shabby Who this should be I do know But all Men see he 's not a Beau. A Piece of Bores by Brauwer EPIG XCIX BRauwer 't is true thou lov'dst the Pot Yet never was an arrant Sot Seldom or never was good Fellow More pleasant than thy self when mellow Sometimes you 'd drink till you were drunk And sport a little with a Punk Sometimes agen you 'd dance and sing And make the House with Revels ring Sometimes you 'd smoak upon a Barrel You 'd sometimes play and sometimes quarrel Thou wert a frolick merry Droll And paintedst Motion Life and Soul In all thy Pieces in each Clown A Brauwer's seen to thy Renown St. Ignatius casting out a Devil by Rubens EPIG C. SEE how the Daemoniack raves and rends See how like Foes he treats the best of Friends His Rage is great great as the Painter's Merit In every Limb you may discern a Spirit In ev'ry Tint there is a kind of Tone The sharp Lights shriek the heavy Shadows groan The Friend 's adjur'd and the great Work is done A Battel supposed by Le Brun. EPIG CI. GReat Clouds of Smoke and Dust obscure the Sky And in the Air torn Plumes of Feathers fly How hard those Troops do press upon their Foes How hot their Fury and how thick their blows Many you see besmear'd with Blood and Dust Fall to the Ground by fatal Cut or Thrust There one with lift-up Arm and high-rais'd Crest Doth signalize himself above the rest That Gallant Chief with Truncheon in his hand Like Lightning flies about to give Command But yonder Slave with one Hand 'fore his Eyes Turning the inside tow'rds his Enemies And t'other backward drawn a chilness feels And does declare his Heart is in his heels There you see wand'ring Rivulets of Blood The Vanquish'd dying in a sullen mood Men Horses Arms confounded and in heaps Death no Decorum in a Battel keeps And at a distance almost out of sight You see the horror of a Rout and Flight Whether Le Brun the Battel were well fought I know not but I see it here well wrought The Effigies of Sebastian Serle a famous Architect by Titian EPIG CII THE Chizzel to the Pencil did submit And a great Builder for his Picture sit Wise Titian to express this Master's Face Takes Strength from Angelo from Raphael Grace A Justness in his Draught you plainly see And that accompani'd with Majesty Great is his management of Light and Shade His Colours charming bright and never fade None equals Titian Titian I tell ye Thou wert a Painter in thy Mother's Belly The three Graces by Tintoret EPIG CIII EACH of these Virgins as appears Is in the Flower of her years Each naked chearful fair and kind And hand in hand t' each other join'd Whom Nature makes such pretty Lasses Thou Tint'ret turnest into Graces The Resurrection by Lucas Van Leyd EPIG CIV O Matchless Lucas great was thy intention To chuse a Subject of so large dimension Invention Drawing Colouring every Part Of Painting shews thee here a Man of Art On this side Bliss and Glory strike the Eye On that Confusion Wo and Misery Gruppas of blessed Saints and Angels here Knots of curs'd Devils and damn'd Sinners there Seldom or never did the Curious see Of Shape and Posture such variety Thy Daemons are not heavy Flesh and Blood No they are sprightly better understood But vainly their Activity is given ' Less by thy Hell to Heaven thou art driven Prometheus by Titian EPIG CV SEE here Prometheus once a Man of Art Daring in 's way for which he now doth smart A Vulture preys upon the Artist's Liver A Spectacle that makes the Heart to quiver So painted that it 's plain Celestial Fire With vital Heat the Portrait doth inspire The Painter follows bold Prametheus near Yet is secure has no just cause to fear The Vulture preys on him alone of late Whose Figures are dull and inanimate Coronation of Roxana by Raphael EPIG CVI. THIS Beauty naked sits upon a Bed Cupids her Sandals tie and dress her Head The gallant Son of Philip doth present A Royal Crown with hon'rable intent The Youth at distance very bright and blooming Is Hymen God of Marriage hither coming He eyes the King and pointing with his Finger To fair Roxana bids him not to linger Remoter Distance doth a Prospect yield Of Boys in Troops some carrying his Shield Others in pretty Postures do advance Bearing his Breast-plate Helmet or his Lance. One looks upon the shining Arms and simpers Another sinks under his Load and whimpers Here all the Charms of naked Limbs you see But no Vncleanness no Obscenity The Pen here to the Pencil yields the Glory Raphael surpasses Lucian in this Story * St. Paul baptized by Peter of Cortona EPIG CVII SAVL to Damascus riding with intent To vex and persecute the Innocent Hears a strange Voice that doth him much appal And from his Horse he suddenly doth fall Afterwards Baptization him doth purge Is dipt a Saul but doth a Paul emerge The Saint is rebaptiz'd and doth revive For in thy Table Peter he doth live The Judgment of Paris by Rubens EPIG CVIII THREE Goddesses for Beauty here contend And Paris to the Strife must put an end He stares like one that never saw before Such Nudities and Graces in such store Having survey'd and try'd them by due light Finds Juno stately Pallas streight and tight But Venus fair sweet delicate and bright To Venus therefore do et adjudg the Ball And by this Judgment he will stand and fall Let Envy Fury Malice do their worst Rubens confirms it ne'r to be reverst The Fortune of the Court by Pelegrin the Bononian EPIG CIX IN this large Table you behold the sport Of the revolving and inconstant Court See there a Man whom People now berogue The same was t'other day the most in vogue There one in Pomp and State aloft doth sit And he that rais'd him 's fall'n into a Pit Another as at Bowls in little space Strikes out the best at Mark and lies in 's place That Beautefeu to raise Rebellion strains And hazards his hot Head for want of Brains Blind Fortune here doth Parasites advance And Worth is crush'd on purpose