Note 484 — Chapter II · The Lutheran Hymn-Book—The Book of Arithmetic—The Geometrical Instruments—The Mosaic Pavement—The Lute—The Seven Liberal Arts—The Silver Crucifix—Occult Science—Conclusion

Andrea Alciati was born in the Milanese in 1492. He studied at Pavia and Bologna, and took his degree as Doctor of Laws in the twenty-second year of his age. In 1518 he was appointed to the Chair of Jurisprudence at Avignon. Returning to Italy in 1521, he remained at Milan till 1529, when he returned to France; this time to lecture on law at Bourges, where he stayed till 1534. He now resided at various Italian centres until his death, which took place in 1550. Erasmus and Paul Jovius were among his friends, and his society was sought on all hands. Charles V. and Francis I. alike protected him. The “Emblems,” which he composed as a recreation from his deeper studies, had extraordinary celebrity, and were printed and reprinted in innumerable editions and languages throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One such was given to the world by the printer Gryphius at Lyons in 1548. It is curious that the motto of the Dinteville family, “Virtuti Fortuna Comes,” which, it has been seen, was also that of Gryphius in slightly altered form, was used by Alciati as early as 1522, in conjunction with the spread wings and other symbols of Hermes.