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Asolo (Pippa Passes—Sordello—Asolando), the ancient Acelum: a very
picturesque mediæval fortified town, in the province of Treviso, in
Venetia, Italy, 5500 inhabitants, at the foot of a hill surmounted by the
ruins of a castle, from which one of the most extensive panoramas of the
great plain of the Brenta and the Piave, with the encircling Alps, and the
distant insulated group of the Euganean hills, opens before the traveller.
On a fine summer evening the two silver lines of the Piave and the Brenta
may be followed from their Alpine valleys to the sea, in the midst of the
green alluvial plain in which Treviso, Vicenza and Padua are easily
recognised. Venice, with its cupolas and steeples, is seen near the
extreme east horizon, which is terminated by the blue line of the
Adriatic; whilst behind, to the north, the snow-capped peaks of the Alps
rise in majestic grandeur. The village of Asolo is surrounded by a wall
with mediæval turrets, and several of its houses present curiously
sculptured façades.—The castle, a quadrangular building with a high
tower, is an interesting monument of the thirteenth century. It was the
residence of the beautiful Caterina Cornaro, the last queen of Cyprus,
after the forced resignation of her kingdom to the Venetians in 1489. Here
this lady of elegant tastes and refined education closed her days in
comparative obscurity, in the enjoyment of an empty title and a splendid
income, and surrounded by a small court and several literary characters.
Of these, one of the most celebrated was Pietro Bembo, the historian of
Venice, afterwards Cardinal, whose celebrated philosophical dialogues on
the nature of love, the Asolani, have derived their name from this
locality. Mr. Browning visited Asolo first when a young man; it was here
that he gathered ideas for Pippa Passes and Sordello, and in the last
year of his life his loving footsteps found their way to the little
hill-town of that Italy whose name was graven on his heart. Here, as Mr.
Sharp reminds us in his Life of Browning, the poet heard again the echo
of Pippa’s song—
“God’s in His heaven, All’s right with the world!”
He heard it as a young man, he hears it as he nears the dark river, the
conviction had never left his soul for a moment in all the length of
intervening years. Asolo will be a pilgrim spot for Browning lovers. The
Catherine Cornaro referred to was the wife of King James II., of Cyprus;
his marriage with this Venetian lady of rank was designed to secure the
support of the Republic of Venice. After his death, and that of his son
James III., Queen Catherine felt she was unable to withstand the attacks
of the Turks, and was induced to abdicate in favour of the Republic of
Venice, which in 1487 took possession of the island. Catherine was
assigned a palace and court at Asolo, as already mentioned. Her palace was
the resort of the learned and accomplished men and women of Venice, famous
amongst whom was her secretary, Cardinal Pietro Bembo, the celebrated
author of the History of Venice, from 1487 to 1513, and a number of
essays, dialogues, and poems. His dialogue on Platonic love is entitled
Gli Asolani. He died in 1547. When Queen Catherine settled in her
beautiful castle of Asolo, she could have found little cause to regret the
circumstances which led her from her troubled kingdom of Cyprus to the
idyllic sweetness of her later life. Surrounded by her twelve maids of
honour and her eighty serving-men, her favourite negress, her parrots,
apes, peacocks, and hounds, her peaceful life passed in ideal
pleasantness. But the wealth and luxury of her surroundings did not make
her selfish, or unconcerned for the welfare of her little kingdom. In all
that concerned the happiness and well-being of her people she was as
deeply interested as the monarchs of more important states. She opened a
pawnbroking bank for the poor, imported corn from Cyprus and distributed
it, and appointed competent officials to settle the complaints and
difficulties of her subjects. She lived for her people’s welfare, and won
their affections by her goodness and grace. For twenty years she lived at
Asolo, leaving it on only three occasions: to visit her brother in
Brescia; to walk to Venice across the frozen lagoon; and once when troops
occupied her little town. She died then, at Venice, on July 10th, 1510,
and was buried by the republic of the city in the sea, with its utmost
magnificence. The fate could scarcely have been called cruel which gave a
royal residence amid scenery such as Asolo can boast, under such
conditions as blessed the later years of good Queen Catherine.
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