I think, in context of the theme, Falco is most likely a historical figure, during the period of the Punic wars, Falco is possibly Q. Valerius Falto, "Gaius Lutatius Catulus, the first of his lineage to achieve the consulship (242 bce), concluded the First *Punic War by boldly confronting a Pun...

According to some sources the Pepolini family were strongly anti-papal, ergo the seemingly hyperbolic response of the Papal Legate was more in response to the dedication to a Pepolini family member than the description of Bologna as a 'mixed' government, which even a previous Pope had described it a...

Luigi Montieri had dedicated his deck to Giovanni Paolo Pepoli, whose stemma [checkerboard pattern] appeared on the shield of Europa on the back of the cards, & frontpiece to text next to the Coat of Arms of Bologna: _______________________________________________________________________________...

mikeh wrote: 14 Dec 2024, 15:14
From my limited knowledge of Italian, his examples in French apply also to Italian.

Alessandro Parenti, in "UN PAIO DI NOZZE, 2015" suspects that the common usage in French, Italian & English originated in French usage.

A very special case is that of a paio di scacchi [ scacchi = chess, chess pieces, chess set]. Michael Howard has drawn attention to the expression un paio di scacchi included in dictionaries as an example of cases in which the term paio could also be applied to objects composed of a number of parts...

Also in French, e.g., from Le Tresor des deux Langues espagnolle et françoise, Volume 2, By César Oudin 1645 Paire de cartes, baraja de naypes And from "Les Édicts et ordonnances des rois de France depuis Louis VI,..." Volume 3 By Antoine Fontanon 1611 "Fermiers qui feront tenus leur ...

I had not known a wedding reception could be a "paio", too. Unfortunately, none of the dictionaries I've seen actually give literary examples of these usages, outside of cards. If you know of any, they would be welcome. Treccani says simply wedding, ceremony or wedding party, with an exam...

65 paia di carte da giuchare del dona 17 paia di carte di Meo di Tingho meçane 2 paia di trionfi g° da Giovanni 10 paia di trionfi piccoli g° 11 paia di carte meçane da g° 5 paia di carte piccole d.g° 12 d. di carte picole rimbocchiate da giuchare 3 paia di carte g° doppie del dona 1 cassetta di pi...

From the trilingual Hokham Bible, c 1330 London - with text in Anglo-Norman, Middle English & Latin:

The Devil and Christ:


https://publicdomainreview.org/collecti ... ham-bible/

A Krampus like devil at the Chapel of the White Penitents, La Tour-sur-Tinée, 1492: https://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Europe/France/Chapels-of-Southern-Alps/Chapelle-la-tour-sur-tinee https://forum.tarothistory.com/download/file.php?id=3379 https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelle_des_P%C3%A9niten...