Note 42 — CABINET CYCLOPÆDIA. (continued 2)
Reading edition
This was not a painting, but a small marble medallion. It has been, since the fourteenth century, in possession of the Peruzzi family at Florence. Behind the portrait of Laura are four Italian verses, not inserted in any editions of Petrarch:—
"Splendida luce cui chiaro se vede Quel bel che può mostrar nel mondo amore, O vero exemplo del sopran valore E d'ogni meraviglia intiera fede."
There is a medallion also of Petrarch, similar in form to the other, behind which is inscribed—
"Simion de Senis me fecit, Sub Anno Domini MCCCXLIII."
The authenticity of these bas-reliefs is acknowledged in Italy; a pamphlet, giving an account of them, was published in Paris, 1821, written by one of the Peruzzi family.