We read of a sham fight of cavalry, and a review of all the citizens in
arms. The greatest freedom existed with regard to the use of masks,
which were sometimes allowed for several months together. Sixtus IV
ventured, in the most populous part of the city--at the Campofiore and
near the Banchi --to make his way through crowds of masks, though he
declined to receive them as visitors in the Vatican. Under Innocent
VIII, a discreditable usage, which had already appeared among the
Cardinals, attained its height. In the Carnival of 1491, they sent one
another chariots full of splendid masks, of singers, and of buffoons,
chanting scandalous verses. They were accompanied by men on horseback.
Apart from the Carnival, the Romans seem to have been the first to
discover the effect of a great procession by torchlight. When Pius II
came back from the Congress of Mantua in 1459, the people waited on him
with a squadron of horsemen bearing torches, who rode in shining
circles before his palace. Sixtus IV, however, thought it better to
decline a nocturnal visit of the people, who proposed to wait on him
with torches and olive-branches.
But the Florentine Carnival surpassed the Roman in a certain class of
processions, which have left their mark even in literature. Among a
crowd of masks on foot and on horseback appeared some huge, fantastic
chariots, and upon each an allegorical figure or group of figures with
the proper accompaniments, such as Jealousy with four spectacled faces
on one head; the four temperaments with the planets belonging to them;
the three Fates; Prudence enthroned above Hope and Fear, which lay
bound before her; the four Elements, Ages, Winds, Seasons, and so on;
as well as the famous chariot of Death with the coffins, which
presently opened.
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