Description of the Festive Preparations for the Nuptials of the Prince Don Francesco of Tuscany
Ninth Car, of the Moon
The ninth car, all silvered, of the Moon, drawn by two horses, one black and the other white, was seen passing in no less lovely fashion after the last; the Moon, draped, as is customary, in a white and delicate veil, guiding the silver reins with grace most gracious; and, like the others, it was seen adorned with no less beauty and pomp by four of her fables. For the first of these that most gentle Goddess, flying from the fury of Typhoeus, was seen constrained to transform herself into a cat; even as in the second she was seen fondly embracing and kissing beautiful Endymion as he lay asleep, and in the third she was seen, won over by a delicate fleece of white wool, making her way into a dark forest, there to lie with the enamoured Pan, the God of Shepherds. In the fourth was seen how the same Endymion named above, for the grace acquired with her, was given pasture for his white flock; and for a better representation of him who was so dear to the Moon, he was then seen walking first before the car, crowned with dittany, and in his company a fair-haired child, with a serpent in the hand, and also crowned with leaves of the plane, representing the Good Genius, and a great black man, awful in aspect, with the beard and hair all dishevelled and with an owl in the hand, representing the Evil Genius. These were followed by the God Vaticanus, who is believed to be able to bring succour to the wailing of little infants, robed in a handsome tawny habit, and with an infant in his arms; and with him was likewise seen coming, in a splendid and well-varied dress, with a key in the hand, the Goddess Egeria, who is also invoked in aid of pregnant women; and with them the other Goddess, Nundina, who likewise protects the names of little babes, in a venerable habit, with a branch of laurel and a sacrificial vase in the hands. Then after these Vitumnus was seen walking, who was reputed to breathe the soul into children at their birth, figured after the Egyptian custom, and with him Sentinus, who likewise was believed by the ancients to give to the newly-born the power of the senses, on which account, he himself being all white, there were seen in his head-dress the heads of those five animals that are believed to have the five senses more acute than any of the others; that of an ape, namely, that of a vulture, that of a wild-boar, that of a lynx, and that--or rather, the whole body--of a little spider.
Then Edusa and Potina, who preside over the nourishment of those same infants, were seen riding in the same fashion as the others, in the habit of nymphs, but with breasts very long and very full, one holding a basin containing white bread, and the other a most beautiful vase that seemed to be full of water; and with them, concluding the last part of the company, was Fabulinus, who presides over the first speech of the same infants, robed in various colours, with the head all crowned with wagtails and singing chaffinches.