Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-30

Church's poetic story Of a
BRIDGE" and David Garnett's
author studded FLOWERS
OF THE FOREST"
And by way of q dividend
among these riches Macmillan
has reissued in a handsome
two-volume boxed set the six
panels Of Sean O'Casey's rant
ing, singing memoirs, under
the general title Of MIRROR
IN MY HOUSE."
Two highly divergent SUBJ
jects are treated in today's Of
ferings, one of a Renaissance
prince whose life was a carni-
val Of self-indulgence of his
day, the other of q princely
modern day American, who
helpless himself, spent his days
helping others.
SignOra BellOnci
It would be easy to dismiss
Vincenzo Gonzaga, the subject
Of Maria Bellonci's "A PRINCE
OF MANTUA," as an operate
character rightfully depicted as
the Duke In Verdi's "Rigoletto. -
But he was more than that,
according to this brilliant Ital-
ian chronicler, who manages
to keep o piercing, compass
sionate eye on Vincenzo amid
the distracting trappings of a
Sumptuous and corrupt age.
A libertine, he was yet ca
pable of love; a lover Of power
Che was a Hapsburg on his
mothers side), he ruled Man
tua literally and was enorm-
ously popular among his sub
jects; he worshipped beauty,
but he could assign Rubens to
the demeaning task Of paint
ing the most gorgeous women
Of Europe for his own special
collection.
A LicentiOus Character
The story of Vincenzo, as it
goes on, is clotted with ex-
cesses Of license and ambition
that are ludicrous in their
revelations of decisions of
grandeur. His youthful prom
Use spent itself in ever madden
schemes of empire, construc-
ton, and alchemy. He was,
according to his mastery biog-
rapher, one of those men
whom the immediate business
of life distracts from a knowl-
edge Of themselves to q point
where they can no longer rec
ognize the origin of their own
uneaSe."
The unease, she believes.
sprang from the long, harsh
dominion of his hunch-backed,
penny pinching father, who
was jealous of the blond, be-
loved VincenZo and tried to
keep him to heel by parsimo-
NOUS doling-out of the treas
ure that bulged in the palace
Of Mantua.
Center of Intrigue
Vincenzo from birth was at
the center of the intrigue that
swirled endleSsly among the
bristling princes of the declin-
ing Italian Renaissance. And
his first marriage, to 14-year-
old Margherita Farnese Of
Parma, who was his bride but
never his wife, not only in
volved him in one Of the most
scandalous royal sex-farces Of
his time, but brought on him
the lifelong hatred Of Ranuc-
clio of Parma.
His second marriage, to
Leonora del Medici, brought
him a prudent and discreet
woman who tolerated, after
much heartache, his innumer.
able infldelities and sagacious-
ly ruled the realm while he
chased glory, actresses and on
two mad occasions the military
honors due a successful cru
sader.
Vincenzo attempted much
and accomplished little. He
did not throw off the yoke of
Spain, he did not become King
Of Albania. His failures could,
and do I'LL a book. But he
left behind him the memory of
"a swirling sense Of life," a
generous spirit. and a benign
II untidy government"
Sinu0us and Tough
Signora Bellonci has already
revealed her astonishing pow
er to keep her head among the
quicksands of Renaissance
history in her Life and Times
Of Lucrezia Borgia." Here
again she picks her way
through the schemes and
contemporaries, the stab
bings by night and lies by day
with the sure-footedness Of a
native guide in a jungle. She
likes Viacenzo perhaps better
than he deserves, as did the
ladies Of his time.
It is perhaps her enjoyment
Of these extraordinary people,