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Cipriano de Rore, 1515 or -16-1565.
Il terzo libro de'madrigali, dove si contengono le Vergine, et altri madrigali.
Venice: Apresso di Antonio Gardane, 1548.
Cornell University Library.

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Titlepage.

Detail of Printer's Mark. In the Canzone "Quando il soave mio conforto" (RVF 359, "When my sweetest comfort . . ."), a nocturnal Laura appears at Petrarch's bedside. He asks her "Whence comes thou now, o happy soul?" (verse 6). As she answers him, "From that serene, celestial heaven, from those sacred realms I stirred to bring you consolation." (verses 9-11), she takes from her breast "Un ramoscel di palma | et un di lauro . . .", limbs of palm and laurel. The palm symbolizes devotion to Christ; the laurel, sacred to Apollo, devotion to poetry. This figure of Laura is represented in the printer's mark to this edition.

The text on the scroll reads "Virtus dei donum" ("Virtue is the gift of God"). The text framing the printer's mark reads "Questa in ciel ci conduce, in terra honora" ("She brings us to heaven, and honors us on Earth").

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