I studied classical
literature at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands and
worked as a teacher for 37 years
at a Dutch gymnasium, teaching Latin and Greek. Retired
at the age of 72 years. Today I am working on Neo-Latin
literature
my work...
My favorite author now is
Aeneas
Silvius Piccolomini, also known as Pope
Pius
II.
He lived in the 15th century (1405-1464) and has written many letters and a
biography (Commentarii),
from which I am now translating a selection. Pius called upon
Bernardo Rossellino,
pupil of
Leon Battista Alberti to transform
Pienza,
his birthplace, into a perfect example of architecture and urban design.
Pintoricchio, Enea crowned as pope Pius II
click on the picture to go to the
Piccolomini-Library in the Dome of Siena
Read
here
the Dutch
translation of a passus from the
Turcicae Epistulae
(from Vier brieven over het gezantschap naar Turkije,
Michel Goldsteen-Zweder von Martels; Verloren, Hilversum,1994)
ISTANBUL TULIP
"Busbecq himself is considered to have
been
instrumental for introducing the tulip from Istanbul to Europe
by sending Turkish bulbs to C. Clusius,
renowned scholar and head of the Imperial Gardens in Vienna;
later Clusius was appointed to the University of Leiden in
Holland,
laid out a botanical garden there and it is known
that he cultivated the bulbs he brought with him."
