FIVE IS A MAGICAL NUMBER

Festina Lente is my favorite saying. It literally means 'make haste slowly'
which is kind of cryptic if we are not aware of its deeper meaning.
Let's go through this meaning together. Let's dig in. 

My Festina Lente research is getting more and more interesting. 

Not only do I wish to believe that the FIVE putti are the virtues' symbols of Cosimo I de' Medici: carefulness, patience, silence, and wisdom which are the virtues of the soul (slowness) along with strength which is the virtue of action (speed). 

Strength empowers speed while in action. The rest of the virtues provide the slowness that is necessary to take the right steps forward. 

Isn't that an amazing image? 

However, experts say that there is no written literature about this fresco's description the way we see it. Our best endorsement would have been the famous Renaissance scholar Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574). Unfortunately, he doesn't mention any of what I am writing in his 'Ragionamenti' (tr. Insights).  

The tortoise symbol is everywhere in Palazzo Vecchio.
Cosimo I de' Medici's motto was Festina Lente. The
tortoise is his motto's symbol. 

Indeed at that time symbols to public messages through frescoes were accompanied by more pieces of information. That's why they were called didactic paintings. 

Therefore the number of putti could be just a fortuity. Nevertheless, the number five is not a fortuity from what we learn by studying the Medici's coat of arms. In particular Cosimo I de' Medici's family coat of arms. 

The Medici coat of arms was composed of orbs from the beginning of the family's history. In Italian, these orbs ('palle' in popular Italian, balls in English) are technically known as 'Bisanti' (metal uncoined disks whose name derives from the Byzantine coins, known as bezants.)

In the beginning, orbs were 11 red+ 1 blue, then 9 red+1 blue, 7 red+1 blue, and finally 5 red+ 1 blue as we know it nowadays. 

It was Cosimo I de' Medici who narrowed down the original 11 red orbs to 5 orbs as last. What seems to be quite a coincidence with Cosimo I's five virtues that were so dear to him. 

The Medici family coat of arms has five red orbs and one blue
orb. The blue orb equals the blue dot, the world.  What are
the five red orbs standing for? 

Unfortunately in this case as well as above there is no scientific confirmation from art historians that what we are writing is true. It's yet an interesting interpretation. I like this story. What if we were the first ones to come up with this discovery? How can we prove that we like this story so much to think of it as a true story?  

Alternatively, we could think of the orbs as the continents. We could take into consideration that the blue dot is the world and think of the Medici coat of arms as a symbol of power to extend all over the world. However, in the Renaissance period, they only admitted the existence of four continents, known as the four corners of the world. The world at that time was ruled by the number four: four seasons, four virtues, four cardinal directions, four elements. But it's prime numbers that are magical. And five is a magical number in particular because five is the number of the fingers that make one hand! 

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The Power Of Putti's

Festina Lente is Cosimo de' Medici's motto. The tortoise is its symbol.
 A total of FIVE putti are busy around her. What are they doing? What are they standing for? 

It takes a long time to notice something beautiful that we had always had at hand. This is what's happening to me. I can appreciate valuable things around me based on what happens to me in real life. It's an amazing life experience. 

As an example, I have had one of my favorite fresco's detail from Palazzo Vecchio in Florence under my eyes for quite some time now. However, only recently I have noticed something truly interesting that caught my attention. 

The putto holding the inflated veil 

My insight's subject is the tortoise. There are about one hundred tortoises in Palazzo Vecchio. They are scattered everywhere under different materials and shapes. Cosimo I de' Medici loved them. Tortoises represented his motto: FESTINA LENTE. But this tortoise has something special (image above).

                       

Image description:  The scene is on the move. We see a tortoise heading forward to the right. She is keeping her pace. She cannot speed up any faster. Five busy putti around it. They are all doing something. One putto is holding an inflated veil and is transported by the tortoise. The scene is inscribed in a circle. 

The five putti mean something. They are telling us something. Why five putti? I had no doubt when I eventually counted them in the number of FIVE. But I had never thought about counting them before. So I immediately discovered what they were the figures for. They represent Cosimo I' de Medici's virtues! What's most important is that they are necessarily part of the cryptic motto: Festina Lente (make haste slowly). They explain the oxymoron. They help this important oxymoron make perfect sense! I will tell you why they do as my next step. 

But let me go back for a moment to where I first found this source of information. 

Cosimo I de' Medici studying the plans for the conquest
of Siena, Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), Palazzo Vecchio Florence.

This is what I had originally learned about virtues.  It all started with Cosimo I de' Medici's motto: Festina Lente (make haste slowly).  That's where I started. 

Then this painting came to help me make go a step further. Cosimo I de' Medici is surrounded by other people who are not real people though. They are his qualities at work, Cosimo's virtues. Each figure is depicting a virtue for a total of five: 1. CAREFULNESS 2. PATIENCE 3. SILENCE 4. STRENGTH 5. WISDOM.

We may add that the putti above the scene were probably meant to represent guardian angels as it was in use in the Renaissance in Italy, during which the putto was first revitalized. 

Painting's Detail. The putto had classical origins and was revived during the
Renaissance in Italy. They were believed to influence human lives.

Additionally, something important to remember is that in the Renaissance period virtuosity was considered as the quality of doing this well. It didn't depend on the accomplishments' level. It was not a matter of accomplishing impossible endeavors. Anything could be done "ad arte" (artfully). That was one secret to success in one's goals. In detail, such a quality was divided into five speciality virtues. 

This said, let's call the chubby putti over again and translate them into the virtues they are representing. I am listing them alphabetically as above: 

1. CAREFULNESS

2. PATIENCE 

3. SILENCE 

4. STRENGTH 

5. WISDOM  

I have highlighted STRENGTH because the five virtues are divided into two families. Strength is a family by itself. it stands alone. It is the quality of the ACTION. It guarantees SPEED (HASTE). 

The putto carried by the tortoise stands for STRENGTH, the virtue of action.
It generates SPEED (haste). Speed is represented by the inflated veil. 

The rest of the qualities (care, patience, silence, wisdom) are the virtues of the mind and are related to SLOWNESS. 

The balance of HASTE (action) and SLOWNESS (mind) is the secret of success according to Cosimo I de' Medici: Festina Lente, make haste slowly. Isn't it a little better now? Does it make a little more sense to you than it does to me? There would be so much more to write about. I have the material to keep writing forever. But first I wanted to stick to my original wish to write to actual scholars to double-check if they ever noticed this detail in the above fresco. Will they get back to me? Let's give it a try. Let's see what happens. We publish this post in the meantime. Thank you for taking the time to read my post. 

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