Note 553 — Chapter VII · THE REPRODUCTION OF ANTIQUITY: LATIN CORRESPONDENCE AND ORATIONS.

The fame of Pomponazzo’s delivery is preserved in Paul. Jov. Elogia Vir. Doct. p. 134. In general, it seems that the speeches, the form of which was required to be perfect, were learnt by heart. In the case of Giannozzo Manetti we know positively that it was so on one occasion (Commentario, 39). See, however, the account p. 64, with the concluding statement that Manetti spoke better impromptu than Aretino with preparation. We are told of Codrus Urceus, whose memory was weak, that he read his orations (Vita, at the end of his works. Ven. 1506, fol. lxx.). The following passage will illustrate the exaggerated value set on oratory: ‘Ausim affirmare perfectum oratorem (si quisquam modo sit perfectus orator) ita facile posse nitorem, lætitiam, lumina et umbras rebus dare quas oratione exponendas suscipit, ut pictorem suis coloribus et pigmentis facere videmus.’ (Petr. Alcyonius, De Exilio, ed. Menken, p. 136.)