XII Domus — The New House
Jocundus, Leo, Vitruvius
In this dialogue Vives describes the whole house and its parts, one by one, through the logical form of distribution of the whole into its parts. Concerning the details, see the books of Vitruvius on architecture, and Grapaldus.
The interlocutors were distinguished architects. Vitruvius is an author of antiquity; the other two are more recent. The one, Johannes Jocundus Veronensis, wrote, amongst other monuments of a not inelegant mind, a work on the Commentaries of Julius Caesar. The other, Baptista Albertus Leo, distinguished himself in an equally great degree.
Joc. Have you any knowledge of the occupier of this spacious and elegant house?
Leo. Most certainly; for he is a relation of the man-servant of my father.
Joc. We will ask him to open the whole house to us, for they say that nothing could be more pleasant and delightful.
Leo. Let us go to it, and ring the little bell at the door, so as not to burst in unexpected. (Tat-tat.)
Vitruvius Insularius.52 Who is there?
Leo. It is I.
Vitr. Hail! most welcome, sweetest boy! What brings you here now?
Leo. I come from school.
Vitr. But for what reason are you here?
Leo. My friend here and I would very much like to see over your house.
Vitr. Why, haven’t you seen it before now?
Leo. No, not all of it.
The Vestibulum — The Door — The Threshold
Vitr. Come in. Eh! boy, bring me the key for the doors of the house. First, this is the entrance-hall (vestibulum). It stands open the whole day, without guard, for it is not within the house, yet also it is not outside, though it is closed at night. Observe the magnificent door, the leaves of which are of oak and fitted with brass, and both the foot-piece and head-piece of the doorway are made of alabaster marble. In former times Hercules was set up at the door of the house to ward off mischief (ἀλεξίκακος). But here we place Christ, the true God, for Hercules was but a cruel and evil man. With Christ as guard no evil will enter into the house.
Joc. Οὐδὲ οὖν δεσπότης αὐτός (so not even its master).
Vitr. What is that he said in Greek?
Joc. Why should so many evil persons enter in?
Vitr. Well, if evil persons do get in, they can then bring nothing evil in with them.
Leo. Don’t you have any door-angels?
Vitr. The custom has gone out in some nations.
The Door — The Hall
Next comes the door of the entrance hall, which the hall servant (atriensis servus) answers. He is the chief of the servants, as the house-boy (mediastinus) is the least in position. Then comes the spacious hall for walking in, and in it are numerous and varied pictures.
Joc. Please, what are they all about?
Vitr. That is a representation of the foundations of the heavens (coeli facies ichnographica). That shows the plan of the earth and sea. There you have the world newly discovered by Spanish navigations. In that picture you see Lucretia as she is killing herself.53
Joc. Please, what is she saying, for even as she is dying she seems to say something?
Vitr. “Many are astounded at my deed because it is not every one who has suffered such a grief.”
Joc. I understand what she says.
Leo. What is the meaning of this picture delineated with such varied figures?
Vitr. It is a sketch of this house. Draw back the covering from that picture. There!
Joc. What does it represent? A little old man who is sucking his wife’s breast?
The Staircase
Vitr. Hast thou not read of this subject in the chapter on Piety in Valerius Maximus.54
Joc. What does she say?
Vitr. “I do not yet pay back as much as I have received.”
Joc. What does the old man say?
Winding Stairs — The Floor — The Upper Story
Vitr. “I rejoice that I have been born.” Let us step up these winding-stairs. The steps one by one, as you see, are broad and were made of whole pieces of basalt-marble. This first story is the dwelling of the master, the upper story is for guests; not as if my master had a garret on lease far away, but there it is furnished for his guest friends always in order and free, unless filled already with guests. This is the dining-room.
The Dining-Room — The Window
Joc. Good Christ! what transparent window panes these are and how artistically painted they are in shaded outlines! What colours! How life-like! What pictures, what statues, what wainscoting! What is the story pourtrayed on the panes?
Vitr. The fall of Griselda, which John Boccaccio wrote so aptly and skilfully; but my master has decided to add a true story to this fiction, which excels the story of Griselda, viz., that of Godelina of Flanders and the English Queen Catharine of Aragon. The first of the statues is the Apostle Paul.
Joc. What is the inscription of the sculpture?
Vitr. “How much we owe thee, O Christ.”
Joc. What does he say himself?
Vitr. “By the grace of God I am what I am and His grace which was bestowed on me, was not in vain.” The other statue is Mutius Scaevola.
Joc. But he is not mute even if he is called Mutius. What is the inscription on his statue?
Vitr. “This fire will not burn me up because another greater one burns in me.” The third statue is Helen; the writing states: “Oh, would that I always had been such a statue, then should I have wrought less harm.”
Joc. What is the meaning of the old blind bald-headed man who points his finger at Helen?
Vitr. That is Homer, who says to Helen: “Thy ill deed has been well sung by me.”
Joc. Look, the wainscoting is gilded, and here and there decked with pearls.
Vitr. There are all kinds of pearls, but of small worth.
Joc. What do we look on from the windows?
The Summer-house — The Sleeping-room
Vitr. These windows look into the gardens, those into the court. This is the summer-house or garden dining-room. Here you see a sleeping-room or chamber. The sleeping-room is furnished with tapestry, with a pavement wainscoted and covered with rush-mats. There are some pictures of the Holy Virgin, of Christ the Saviour, and there are others of Narcissus, Euryalus, Adonis, Polyxena, who are said to have been of the highest beauty.
Joc. What is written on the upper lintel of the door?
Vitr. “Withdraw from your troubles and enter the haven of peace.”
Joc. What is written inside the door-post?
Vitr. “Bring into this haven no tempest.” The most necessary house utensils are kept in that closed chamber. The other is the winter chamber. As you see, everything there is darker and better covered. Then there is a sweating chamber.
The Sweating Chamber
Joc. It is bigger in my opinion than the dining-room would lead one to expect.
Vitr. Don’t you notice that the inner sleeping-room is heated by the same steam-pipe?
Joc. They say that if sleeping-rooms had no chimney flue they would be warmer.
Vitr. It is not usual to have them in the air-holes.
Joc. What is that room, so elegantly vaulted?
The Chapel
Vitr. It is the chapel (lararium) or sanctuary (sacellum) in which divine service (res divina) is held.
Joc. Where is the latrina?
Vitr. We have it up in the granary out of the way. In the sleeping-rooms my master uses basins, pans, and chamber-crockery.
Joc. How beautifully and artistically made are all these little towers and pyramids and columns and weathercocks!
The Kitchen — Eating Chamber — The Cellar
Vitr. We will now go down. This is the kitchen; this the eating-chamber; here is the wine-cellar and the larder, where we are annoyed by the attempts of thieves to get in.
Joc. How can thieves get in here? It is, as it seems to me, so carefully closed in, and the windows have iron gratings?
Vitr. Through chinks and borings.
Leo. There are also mice and weasels who strip you of all kinds of food!
The Back-door
Vitr. This is the back-door of the house, which, when the master is not at home, is always fastened with two bars, both locked and bolted.
Leo. Why have these windows no iron bars?
Vitr. Because they are only rarely open and they abut, as you see, on a narrow and dark by-street. Rarely any one puts his head out of the window. Therefore my master has decided that he will have them latticed.
Leo. With what kind of bars?
Vitr. Perhaps with wooden bars. It is not yet certain. In the meantime this fastening suffices.
The Portico
Joc. What high columns and a portico full of majesty! See how these Atlantides and Caryatides seem to strive to support the building against falling, whilst really they are doing nothing.
Leo. There are many people like them, who appear to accomplish great things when they are in reality leading leisurely and sluggish lives; drones who enjoy the fruits of the labours of others. But what is that house there below, adjoining this, but badly built and full of cracks?
Vitr. It is the old house. Because it had cracks and had great lack of repair, my master decided to have this new one built, from the foundation. That old one is now a resting-place for birds and the habitation of rats, but we shall soon take it down.