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Febo di Poggio

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Febo di Poggio was an Italian model, affiliated with the Renaissance artist Michelangelo.

References in Michelangelo's poetry

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In Michelangelo's poetry G.99, he alludes to Febo as Phoebus and further puns on his surname "del Poggio" which means "of the hill." This is clearly seen in the first stanza:

I truly should, so happy was my lot,
While Phoebus was inflaming all the hill,
Have risen from the earth while I was able,
Using his feathers and thus make my dying sweet.

Furthermore, Michelangelo shows his grief with Febo when he states in the second stanza:

Now he left me. And if he vainly promised
To make me happy days go by less quickly.

The allusion of the bird is further re-iterated in the third stanza or the start of sextet:

His feathers were my wings, his hill my steps,
Phoebus was a lamp for my feet. To die then
Would have been my salvation and pleasure.

Michelangelo was so affected by Febo that he ends the poem with references to classical death:

Now dying without him, my soul won't rise to Heaven.

In the poem G.100, Michelangelo alludes to Poggio as Apollo when he states:

To me Heaven was surely merciless,
Fusing your live beam on two eyes alone,
when, with its rapid and eternal motion,
The journey it gave to you, the light to us[1]

References

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  1. ^ "The Passions of Michelangelo". Rictornorton.co.uk. 2008-06-14. Retrieved 2014-05-14.