SailingTortoises and wind-filled Veils

'Make Haste Slowly': Detail of the tortoise and the veil
from a fresco in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

The most famous oxymoron in Italy is Festina Lente (tr."Make haste slowly") that Cosimo I de' Medici selected as his personal motto when he became Duke of Florence.  

Detail of the tortoise and the veil in the portrait of Cosimo I
de' Medici in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.

In the Renaissance period, important people used to describe their personality through the so-called 'Impressum' (tr. maxim), a coat of arms that represented their philosophy. 

The classical description of the motto 'Festina Lente' is an invitation to take action without hesitation but with wisdom and care, two opposite directions converging in one state of mind, the perfect solution to manage speed and slowness.  

I have been to Florence many times and noticed marble tortoises everywhere. In Palazzo Vecchio, tortoises are in frescoes, marbles, writings on entrance doors. There are about one hundred of them! 

Tortoises are the symbol of slowness and the sea sail is the symbol of action.

By looking closer at the tortoises, the so-called sea sail, I noticed that I had seen this sail in another town that I love: Fano. The goddess of Fortune carries the same sail, well it is not a sail but rather a VEIL.  

The original statue of the goddess of Fortune in Fano, Italy
by Donnino Ambrosi (1593)

The goddess of fortune carries this veil because her presence in our life is subject to change quickly, this is why it is important to catch opportunities fast, fortune changes like the notion of the wind on her veil, it can be favorable as much as adverse if we do not catch it on time. 

The Goddess of Fortune in Fano, Italy on top
of the fountain in the main Piazza.
The name Fano means 'temple of fortune'

The fact that the symbol of action is not a sea sail but a veil is very clear in the details of the original frescoes in Palazzo Vecchio as shown above. Nevertheless, we may find several paintings of the motto with a tortoise and a sea sail, which is a second step and takes us away from the origins and the source of inspiration to action - therefore Fortune!     

My intention is not to change this famous motto's translation which originally goes back to the classical ages of Emperor Augustus as described by Latin writer Gaius Svetonius Tranquillus (circa 69 - after 122 A.D.) but rather give meaning to act as a consequence of a way of seizing fortune.  I believe that the veil on the tortoise is the symbol of fortune that arrives right before taking the plunge in the open sea.  That's exactly when we need a strong sea sail because we will be in charge of the direction of our life, experience, or endeavor.  

Entrance doors in Palazzo Vecchio with the writing 'FESTINA LENTE'

When catching fortune at the right moment all doors will open up to us and all red lights will turn green.  Much work and discipline are required to meet fortune, easy fortune does not last long. 

Fortune favors the bold and the tortoise looks like a tough cookie. 

(to be continued...) 

proofreading by A.S. 

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- Original Posts by Roberta Niccacci -

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