Notes and Queries, Number 74, March 29, 1851 | Page 4

hem two, When they be mette, there

may no long tell. There is no more--but into bed they go."
4th. The entrance of the Sun into Taurus, as indicated in the
unceremonious intrusion of Phebus into Venus' chamber; which, as
though to confirm its identity with Taurus,
"Depainted was with white boles grete;"
whereupon Mars complains:
"This twelve dayes of April I endure Through jelous Phebus this
misaventure."
(It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader of Chaucer, that in the
poet's time the Sun would enter Taurus on the 12th of April.)
"Now flieth Venus in to Ciclinius tour, With void corse, for fear of
Phebus light."
These two lines, so obscure at first sight, afford, when properly
understood, the strongest confirmation of the astronomical meaning of
the whole; while, by indicating the conjunction on the last degree of
Taurus, they furnish a most essential element for its identification.
I confess that this "CICLINIUS" gave me a good deal of trouble; but,
taking as a guide the astronomical myth so evident throughout, I came
to the conviction that "Ciclinius" is a corruption, and that Chaucer
wrote, or intended to write, CYLLENIUS--a well-known epithet of
Mercury, and used too in an astronomical sense by Virgil, "ignis coeli
Cyllenius."
Now the sign Gemini is also "domus Mercurii;" so that when Venus
fled into the tour of Cyllenius, she simply slipped into the next door to
her own house of Taurus--leaving poor Mars behind to halt after her as
he best might.
6th. Mars is almost stationary:
"He passeth but a sterre in daies two."

There still remain one or two baffling points in the description, one of
which is the line--
"Fro Venus Valanus might this palais see,"
which I am convinced is corrupt: I have formed a guess as to its true
meaning, but it is not as yet fully confirmed.
The other doubtful points are comprised in the following lines, which
have every appearance of significance; and which, I have not the least
doubt, bear as close application as those already explained: but, as yet, I
must acknowledge an inability to understand the allusions. After Venus
has entered Gemini--
"Within the gate she fled into a cave: Dark was this cave and smoking
as the hell; Nat but two paas within the gate it stood, A natural day in
darke I let her dwell."
A. E. B.
Leeds, March 17.
{236}
* * * * *
CHARLES THE FIRST AND BARTOLOMEO DELLA NAVE'S
COLLECTION OF PICTURES.
Among some miscellaneous papers in a volume of the Birch MSS. in
the British Museum (Add. 4293. fol. 5.) is preserved a curious
document illustrative of the love of Charles I. for the fine arts, and his
anxiety to increase his collection of paintings, which, as it has escaped
the notice of Walpole and his annotators, I transcribe below.
"CHARLES R.
"Whereas wee vnderstand that an excellent Collection of paintings are
to be solde in Venice, whiche are knowen by the name of Bartolomeo

della Nave his Collection, Wee are desirous that our beloved servant
Mr. William Pettye, should goe thither to make the bargayne for them,
Wee our selues beinge resolved to goe a fourthe share in the buyinge of
them (soe it exceed not the s[=o]me of Eight hundred powndes
sterlinge), but that our Name be concealed in it. And if it shall please
God that the same Collection be bought and come safelye hither, Then
wee doe promise in the word of a Kinge, that they shall be divyded
with all equallitye in this maner, vid^t. That, they shall be equallie
divyded into fower partes by some men skillfull in paintinge, and then
everie one interested in the shares, or some for them, shall throwe the
Dice severallye, and whoesoever throwes moste, shall chose his share
first, and soe in order everye one shall choose after first, as he castes
most, and shal take their shares freelye to their owne vses, as they shall
fall vnto them. In wittnes whereof wee haue sett our hande, this Eight
daye of July, in the Tenth year of our Reigne, 1634."
The individual employed by Charles in this negotiation is the same who
collected antiquities in Greece for the Earl of Arundel. He was Vicar of
Thorley, in the Isle of Wight, and is believed to have been the uncle of
the celebrated Sir William Petty, ancestor of the Marquis of Lansdowne.
It would be curious to learn the particulars of the "bargayne" made by
him, and how the pictures were disposed of after their arrival in
England. Were the Warrant and Privy Seal books of the period (still
remaining among the Exchequer records) easily accessible, no doubt
some information on these points might be gained. That this collection
of Bartolomeo della Nave was a celebrated