My Friend!

Concerning the delay of the draft text promised to you on the ability to appreciate beauty in art, I shall explain myself in the words of Pindar. When he had made Agesidamus, a noble youth from Locri, “beautiful of form and permeated with grace,” wait a long time for an ode he had intended for him, he said “A debt paid with interest removes the reproach.” My Kind Lord can relate this to the present treatise, which has turned out to be more elaborate than was intended originally, when that which was promised was to appear together with other so-called Roman Letters.

The content stems from you. Our acquaintanceship was short, and too short for both you and me, but the harmony between our minds was obvious to me when I caught sight of you for the first time. Your physique led me to conclude the existence of that which I desired, and I discovered in a beautiful body a soul made to be virtuous, one that is gifted with the appreciation of beauty. Taking leave of you was therefore one of the most painful such occasions of my life, and our mutual friend is a witness to this, even after your departure, for your being at such a distance under remote skies leaves me no hope of seeing you again.