The South of France-East Half Part 43

The Duomo, or Cathedral Church of Santa Maria del Fiore was commenced by Arnolfo di Cambio, and the foundation-stone laid on the 8th of September 1298, under the auspices of the first papal legate ever sent to Florence, Cardinal Pietro Valeriani. Arnolfo died in 1310. In 1330 Giotto was appointed master-builder, who, a.s.sisted by Andrea Pisano, continued the work according to Arnolfo's design. Giotto died in 1337.

To Giotto succeeded Francisco Talenti, Taddeo Gaddi, and Andrea Orcagna.

In 1421 Filippo Brunelleschi commenced the dome, and completed it in all its essential parts before his death, which took place in 1446. In 1469 Andrea Verrochio added to the dome the copper ball and cross. The dome, built without timber centrings, consists of two vast vaults, an interior and an exterior, both supported by strong ribs at the right angles, and surrounded at the base by a strong iron chain. From the floor to the top of the dome the height is 300 feet, the lantern 52 more, and to the top of the cross other 35. The total height therefore is, from the floor to the top of the cross, 387 feet. The circ.u.mference of the dome is 466 feet. Three galleries are carried round the drum. The first is reached by 153 steps; the next by 62 steps more; and the third, which runs round the top of the drum and the base of the dome, by other 65 steps. The appearance of the church from the first and third galleries is most striking. Outside the third gallery commences the cornice gallery of the dome. From this part 180 steps (between the two vaults) lead to the top of the cupola. From the top of the cupola to the ball the ascent is made up through the lantern by 32 vertical bronze steps, and 13 steps in marble, and 23 in wood. The number of steps, therefore, from the floor into the ball is 528; the only difficult part being the vertical bronze bear-like ladder in the lantern, which is not worth ascending, as little can be seen (and that little with difficulty) from an aperture in the ball. But the view from the gallery at the top of the dome is truly magnificent. Florence and neighbourhood lie stretched out below like on a map, and as the clearness of the Italian air admits of the smallest objects being seen distinctly, the traveller should visit this gallery as early as possible, to gain, by the a.s.sistance of the plan (page 234), a practical acquaintance with the topography of the city. To the N.E., by the Piazza Cavour and the stream Mugnone, is Fiesole, 3 miles distant, on an eminence (see page 276). To the west of the town, on the Arno, is the Cascine or Park, and the small hill with the clump of trees, on the other side of the river, is the Monte Oliveto (page 250).

To the S.E., on the other side of the Arno, are the Piazzale Michelangiolo and San Miniato (page 249), while a good piece beyond is the Torre del Gallo (page 248). West from the Piazzale are the Boboli Gardens and the Pitti Palace. Fee to ascend tower, 1 fr. Attendant to be found in south sacristy.

The length of the cathedral is 556 feet, and of the transept 342 feet.

The breadth, including the aisles, is 132 feet, and the superficial area 84,802 feet, or about 6000 feet less than the area occupied by Cologne cathedral. In 1860 Victor Emmanuel laid the foundation-stone of the gorgeous new facade, coated, like the whole exterior of the church, with polished white marble, and dark magnesian serpentine disposed in chastely ornamented panelling, an arrangement often met with in the churches of Italy.

[Headnote: MICHAEL ANGELO'S LAST WORK.]

In the interior, four arches of enormous span run down each side of the nave to the choir, which expands with unrivalled majesty under the magnificent dome. Walk in and behold its beautiful proportions. Do not struggle to perceive by means of the dim light the few relatively unimportant statues and pictures, or the intricate designs on the marble pavement by Agnolo, San Gallo, and Michael Angelo, but go at once and stand below the second greatest dome in the world, shaped like the narrow end of an egg, or more correctly, in the form of an elongated octagonal elipsoid, resting on six ma.s.sive piers ornamented with statues of eight of the apostles, by Bandini, Donatello, Bandinelli, and Sansovini. The octagonal bal.u.s.trade is by Baccio d'Agnolo, and the reliefs on the panels by Bandinelli. The fresco on the roof represents the Judgment Day. The upper portion is by G. Vasari, in 1572, and the rest by Federigo Zucchero, known in England by his portraits of Queen Elizabeth. The drum of the dome is lighted by seven circular windows, which, as well as the three over the main entrance, and the twenty-seven long windows in the choir, were the work of Domenico Livi da Gamba.s.si, Bernardo de' Vetri, and others, from 1434 to 1460. Behind the altar is the last work of Michael Angelo (when eighty-one years of age), an _unfinished Pieta_, a heroic group, large but not colossal, composed of four figures, those of our Saviour, the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and an Angel. The interest of the piece lies in the melancholy but placid countenance of the Redeemer, and the inclination of the head lacerated by the crown of thorns. The Mask, Michael Angelo's first work, is in the sixth room of the National Museum, along with some other works of the great sculptor. His greatest productions are in the Sagrestia Nuova, see page 266. The reliefs in terra-cotta, over the elegant bronze gates of the sacristies, are considered amongst the best works of Lucca della Robbia. On the pier at the N.E. end of the nave is the statue of St.

James, by Sansovino; and just behind it, on the wall, is a painting by Domenico di Michelino, in 1465, representing Dante (holding in his hands a copy of his poems), with a view of Florence in the background, the only monument the Republic raised to him they had so unjustly banished.

In the north transept, covered by the wooden floor, just under the iron bar, is the gnomen and meridian line, formed by P. Toscanelli in 1408, and repaired by A. Ximines in 1756. The line drawn on the true pavement, under the present boarded floor, runs in a direction nearly at right angles to the nave (the nave being nearly east and west). It is only about 30 feet long, and receives the image of the sun, at and near the solstice, in June and July; at other seasons the image is lost on the sides of the cupola. The short diameter of the image in July is about 36 inches. The height of the aperture, through which the ray enters by a window of the cupolina, is 277 feet 4 inches, 9.68 lines French measure; so that, as the inscription states, it is the greatest gnomen existing.

[Headnote: CATHEDRAL--MONUMENTS--CAMPANILE.]

Among the most interesting monuments in the church are: at the main entrance, an equestrian portrait, by Uccello, of Sir John Hawkwood, a captain in the army of the Florentine Republic, who died at Florence in 1394. The mosaic, representing the coronation of the Virgin, is by Gaddo Gaddi. At the west end of the south aisle is the marble monument and portrait of Filippo Brunelleschi, by his pupil, And. Cavalcanti. The third monument from the door is to Giotto, by Majano. The beautiful water-stoup in front is by Giotto. Opposite the southern entrance, in front of the Casa dei Canonici, are the statues, in a sitting posture, of Arnolfo di Cambio and Brunelleschi, by Luigi Pampaloni, in 1830. To the right of Arnolfo's statue, at house No. 29, is a stone in the wall, bearing the words "Sa.s.so di Dante," because on it the poet used to sit watching the progress of the cathedral from its commencement till 1301, when he was compelled to leave the city.

At the southern entrance is the +Campanile del Duomo+, designed and commenced by Giotto in 1334, and finished by Taddeo Gaddi. This dove-coloured marble gem of architecture, of admirable proportions and beautiful workmanship, towers 276 feet up into the air, by four storeys of elegant windows, and terminates in a grand square cornice projecting from the summit, from which, according to Giotto's plan, a spire of 94 feet was to have risen. The niches are peopled with statues of apostles, saints, and philosophers, and the panels with Scripture subjects in bold relief, by Donatello, Giovanni Bartolo, Andrea Pisano, Niccolo Aretino, Lucca della Robbia, Giottino and N. di Bartolo. Ascent by 414 steps.

Fee, franc each visitor.

[Headnote: THE BAPTISTERY--GATES--ALTAR.]

Adjoining the cathedral is the church of +San Giovanni+, the baptistery of the city, founded in 6th cent., and repaired and restored in 1293 by Arnolfo di Cambio. It is an octagonal building, 94 ft. in diameter, covered by a cupola and lantern built in 1550. Three celebrated bronze gates, of admirable workmanship, give access to it. The gate on the S.

side (fronting the Via Calzaioli) was modelled by And. Pisano, and, after twenty-two years of incessant labour, cast and gilt in 1330. The architrave, ornamented with foliage, was added by Lor. Ghiberti in 1446, and the group at the top, representing the Beheading of John, by V.

Danti, in 1571--a work full of expression. The N. gate is by Lorenzo Ghiberti, commenced by him when twenty-one, and finished (modelled and cast) when forty-one, in the year 1424. It is in twenty compartments, representing scenes from the life of Christ. The three statues above, and the ornaments, are by Rustici, 1511, a fellow-pupil of Michael Angelo, and friend of L. da Vinci. At the eastern end, facing the cathedral, is the bronze gate which Michael Angelo said was worthy to form the entrance into Paradise. This marvel of art was commenced by Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1425, cast in 1439, and finished, with the exception of the lower reliefs, in 1456, when Ghiberti died, and left the remainder to be completed by his pupils, among whom were the brothers Pollaioli. It is in ten compartments, representing as many scenes from the Old Testament. In grouping, drawing, grace, and beauty, the figures are truly admirable. The perspective is well sustained; the distant objects being done in low, the nearer objects in middle, and those close upon the eye in high relief. Over the gate is the Baptism of Christ, by Sansovino, who, when he died, in 1529, had finished only the modelling; but Danti, in 1560, produced it in marble. The Angels, executed nearly a century afterwards, are by Spinazzi, also from Sansovino's model.

The interior of the Baptistery rests on syenite columns and marble pilasters with gilded capitals. Above them is a triforium, with frescoes of saints on a gold ground painted on the panels. The roof and the soffit of the arch over the altar are covered with mosaics representing the Judgment Day, by Tafi, Torrita, and G. Gaddie, 13th cent. To the right of the altar is the monumental tomb of Pope John XXIII. (d. 1419), by Donatello and Michelozzi. To the left is the font, placed here in 1658, and attributed to G. Pisano. The silver altar of the Baptistery is kept in the "Uffizio del Comitate per la facciata del Duomo" (behind the east end of the cathedral), where it can be seen any day from 9 to 12, for 10 sous. It was constructed, during a long series of years from 1316, by the most eminent artists of the time, and represents in bold relief the story of John the Baptist. It weighs 335 lbs., is 12 ft. long by nearly 4 ft. high. The silver statue of St. John, made in 1452, weighs 14 lbs., and cross 140 lbs.

[Headnote: THE BIGALLO.]

Opposite the Baptistery, at the corner of the Via Calzaioli, is the very beautiful little arcade or loggia of the Bigallo, attributed to Orcagna, enclosed with iron gates by F. Petrucci. The oratory contains an image of the Virgin by A. Arnoldo, 1359; and a predella, with paintings, by Ghirlandaio.

OR SAN MICHELE.

Nearly in the centre of the Via Calzaioli, between the Piazzas del Duomo and della Signoria, is the +Or San Michele+, built at first of undressed stone, by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1282, for a granary or horreum. Having been destroyed by fire in 1304, it was rebuilt in 1337 under the direction of Taddeo Gaddi, the chief architect of the commonwealth. To Gaddi succeeded And. Orcagna, who received orders to transform the lower part (the loggia) into a church. In 1569 the upper storey was converted into government offices. Round the building, in deep niches, are statues in simple att.i.tudes and of n.o.ble dignified forms, the result of a decree that each trade should bear the expense of furnishing one statue, which should be the protector and supporter of its own profession. St. Luke, by John of Bologna (good specimen of his style), was executed at the expense of the lawyers. Our Lord and St. Thomas, by Verrochio, for the mercantile tribunal. John the Baptist, by L. Ghiberti, for the guild of foreign wool-merchants. St. Peter, by Donatello, for the butchers. John the Evangelist, by Montelupo, under a graceful canopy of Robbia-ware, for the silk manufacturers. St. George, by Donatello, his n.o.blest work, for the armourers. St. James, by N. Banco, for the tanners and furriers.

St. Mark, by Donatello, for the flax-dealers. West front, St. Eloy, by Banco, for the blacksmiths and farriers. St. Stephen, by L. Ghiberti, for the wool-merchants. St. Matthew, by L. Ghiberti and Michelozzo, for the stockbrokers and money-changers. Statues of four canonised sculptors, by Banco, for the builders and carpenters. St. Philip, by Banco, for the hosiers. And inside the church, to the left of the altar of St. Anne, a Madonna, by Simone da Fiesola, for the physicians and apothecaries. These statues are considered the finest works of the ancient Florentine school. Over the niches are the arms of the respective trades, under graceful canopies.

In the interior the most remarkable object is the canopied high altar, by Orcagna, otherwise called Cionis, with Ugolino's sacred picture of the Madonna. Inscribed on the altar is "Andreas Cionis pictor Florentinus hujus oratorii archimagister ext.i.tit, 1359." It is ornamented with Scripture histories in relief on marble, the different pieces being fixed together by pins of bronze run in with lead. The small but beautiful stained gla.s.s windows do not admit sufficient light into the church. Behind San Michele, in the Mercato Nuovo, is an admirable copy, by Pietro Tacca, of the celebrated Boar, adapted no less admirably to a Fountain.

SANTA CROCE.

South-east from the fountain, in the Piazza della Signoria, by the narrow street the Borgo dei Greci, is the Piazza Santa Croce, with, in the centre, the fine marble statue of Dante, 16 feet high, by Enrico Pazzi. It and the new facade of the church were inaugurated in 1865, on the 600th anniversary of the birthday of the poet. The church of Santa Croce was commenced by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1297, to whom succeeded Giotto in 1344. The facade, although only recently finished, is according to the old design of S. Pollaiolo (d. 1509), and owes its erection in a very great measure to the liberality of an English gentleman, the late Francis Sloane, who died at Florence in 1871. The interior is divided into a nave and two aisles by seven acute Gothic arches. The pilasters, supporting columns as well as the roof, are of rude work, while the side chapels are not inclosed, but spread out on the walls of the aisles, an arrangement which greatly favours the display of the magnificent monuments erected in this church. The entire length from west to east is 385 feet, and from north to south at the transepts 128 feet.

[Headnote: MICHAEL ANGELO--DANTE. MACCHIAVELLI--KETTERICK--COUNTESS OF ALBANY.]

Over the princ.i.p.al entrance, in the interior, is the statue of St.

Louis, Bishop of Toulouse (d. 1297), the last work executed by Donatello. In the right or south aisle, commencing from the main entrance, after 1st altar, lies the monument and resting-place of Michael Angelo, who died at Rome in 1563, in his 89th year. The monument was designed by G. Vasari, and executed by three pupils of Michael Angelo. The bust, considered an excellent likeness, is by B. Lorenzione, one of the three. Next follows the great marble monument by S. Ricci, in 1828, to the memory of Dante, who died when in exile at Ravenna in 1321, in the 56th year of his age; and 3d, a monument to the poet Vit. Alfieri (d. 1803), by Canova, in 1809, and one of his best works. Opposite this monument is an elaborately wrought pulpit, by B. da Majano, in 1470.

4th. Monument and resting-place of Macchiavelli (d. 1527), by Spinazzi, in 1778. The originator of this monument was Lord Cowper, who, in 1707, raised a subscription for the medallion. Then follow a fresco of St.

John and St. Francis, by A. Castagno, and an Annunciation in stone by Donatello; and opposite it, on the floor, is the tombstone of John Ketterick, Bishop of Exeter, who died at Florence in 1419, when on a mission from Henry V. of England to the Pope. Then follow the monument to L. Bruni (d. 1444), by B. Rossellini. The Virgin, above, is by A. Verrochio, the master of Leonardo da Vinci. The tomb of P. A.

Micheli, and the mausoleum of Leop. n.o.bili, by Leop. Veneziani. Turning to the right by the monument to Neri Corsini (died in London, 1859), and a slab on the ground, with an inscription by Boccaccio, in honour of the poet Berberino (14th cent.), we enter the Chapel of the Castellani, with frescoes by Starnini (the ablest pupil of Giotto), and reredos by Vasari. Over the altar is a crucifix, by Giotto; at each side sarcophagi of the Castellani; and statues of St. Bernard and St. Francis, by L.

della Robbia. To the left is the monument to the Countess of Albany, widow of the young Pretender, died at Florence January 29, 1824; age, 72 years, 4 months, and 9 days. After the chapel of the Countess of Albany follows the Baroncelli or Guigni chapel, with reredos painting by Giotto, frescoes by T. Gaddi, and a Pieta by Bandinelli.

A handsome door by the side of the Baroncelli chapel opens into the cloisters. In the cloister, the first door left hand opens into the sacristy, built by the Peruzzi family in the 14th cent. Separated from the sacristy by an iron railing is the Rinuccini chapel, with frescoes and altars by Giovanni da Milano (1379), a favourite pupil of T.

Gaddi. The reredos painting is by T. Gaddi, 1375. At the extremity of the cloister is the Cappella del Noviziato. At the entrance is a shrine by Mino da Fiesole, and opposite it, and also over the altar, admirable specimens of L. Robbia's terra-cotta work. The large relief is considered one of Robbia's masterpieces. The small door to the right of the altar leads to the room where the remains of Galileo were kept many years after his death (in 1642). There are also two mausoleums--one to a young American girl, Fauveau; and another attributed to Donatello, both executed with much expression.

[Headnote: GIOTTO'S FRESCOES.]

Returning to the church, we have, in the first chapel (right) frescoes of the Giotto school, and an a.s.sumption by Allori. Second chapel, frescoes by Gio. da Giovanni. In the third, the Bonaparte chapel, is, to the left, the monument by Pampaloni, 1839, to the memory of the wife of Joseph Bonaparte; and, to the left, another to the memory of their daughter, Julie Clary Bonaparte (d. 1845). The fourth, or the first to the right of the high altar, is the Peruzzi chapel, with reredos by A.

del Sarto. On the walls +Giotto's best frescoes+, representing the stories of St. John the Apostle and of John the Baptist. Fifth, the Bardi chapel. The painting on the altar, representing S. Francesco, is by Cimabue. The frescoes are by Giotto, and represent the life and death of San Francesco.

_Chapels of the Choir._--Over the high altar, painting by Andrea Orcagna. The walls and ceiling are covered with frescoes by Agnolo Gaddi, representing the legend of the finding of the cross, and the life of St. Francis. The five following chapels are not of much importance, excepting the third, in the north transept, painted in fres...o...b.. Luigi Sabatelli. The sixth is the Niccolini chapel, with frescoes on the roof, painted in the 17th cent. by Balda.s.sarre Franceschini, surnamed _il Volterrano_. This chapel contains five mediocre statues by Francavilla, and two large paintings on wood by Alessandro Allori, and is also richly decorated with beautiful marbles. In the adjoining chapel, belonging to the Bardi family, is a crucifix by Donatello, one of his earliest and best works, yet not equal to that of his rival Brunelleschi in S. Maria Novella (page 267). After the Bardi chapel follow the Zamoyska mausoleum, with a painted reredos by Ligozzi, and the monument to the composer Luigi Cherubini (d. 1842), by Fantacchiotti. Having arrived at the fine monument to Luigi, at the east corner of the north aisle, to avoid confusion it is better to return to the main entrance, and walk up the north aisle, commencing with the monument and resting-place of

[Headnote: GALILEO--BARTOLINI'S LAST WORK.]

GALILEO GALILEI,

who died in the village of Arcetri (p. 248), in 1642. Over the cenotaph is his bust, and a representation of his first telescope. Then follows the monument to Pompeio Josephi, a jurist; 3d, to G. Lani (1770), by Spinazzi,--on the column before this monument is a Pieta by A. Bronzino; 4th, to Angelus Tavantus, sarcophagus below flat pyramid; 5th, to Vitt.

Fos...o...b..oni, by L. Bartolini, 1846; 6th, to Karolus Marzupinus, the learned secretary of the Florentine Republic, by D. Settignano, 1450; 7th, to Antoni Cocchio, 1773; and 8th, to _Raffaello Morghen_, the ill.u.s.trious Neapolitan engraver, a beautiful monument, by Fantacchiotti.

Fronting it, on the column, is the monument to L. B. Alberti, the last work of Bartolini.

To the south of the facade a large doorway gives access to the cloisters, around a s.p.a.cious open court. At the far end, within this enclosure, is the chapel of the Pazzi, one of Brunelleschi's best works.

To the right of the entrance into the cloisters is a building containing the refectory, with a Last Supper, by Giotto, and above it a Crucifixion and Tree of Jesse. In the smaller refectory, adorned with a fine fresco of Gio. di Giovanni, the Inquisition held its tribunals from 1284-1782.

The doorkeeper at the gates has the keys of the Pazzi chapel and of the refectory. In the centre of the enclosure is a statue by Bandinelli which originally stood on the high altar of the Duomo.

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OR BARGELLO.

At the southern end of the Via del Proconsolo, and between the Piazzas Sta. Croce and Signoria, is the +National Museum+, in the Palazzo del Podesta, built in the 13th cent. by Lapo Tedesco and two Dominican friars, Fra. Sisto and Fra. Ristoro. It bore various names, according to the functions of the different dignities who occupied it. When, in the 17th cent., it was converted into a prison and became the seat of the head of the police, it was called the Bargello. In 1864 it was chosen for the National Museum. Open from 10 till 3.30, 1 fr. Free on feast-days. The walls of the court are ornamented with the escutcheons of 204 Podestas (chief magistrates). The rooms on the ground floor are filled chiefly with armour, among which are a bronze cannon cast in 1636, and Donatello's seated lion, the +Marzocco+, or the +Arms of Florence+, a seated lion supporting a shield with its left paw. Ascend to the first floor by the _outside_ staircase in the court. It was built by Agnolo Gaddi. At the top, in the vestibule, are two bells, one cast in 1228 by Bart. Pisano, and the other by Cenni in 1670.

[Headnote: SCULPTURE--MICHAEL ANGELO--BOLOGNA--CELLINI.]

_First saloon._--All labelled. Princ.i.p.al objects--By _Michael Angelo_, Wounded Apollo, Bacchus and Satyr, Dying Adonis, and an unfinished group of Victory. Donatello, David with the head of Goliath. G. da Bologna, Virtue conquering Vice. A beautiful series of reliefs, ill.u.s.trating Music and its effects, chiefly by L. Robbia and Donatello. _Second room._--Furniture and gla.s.s ware. Wax group by Zumbo. _Third hall_, the audience chamber of the Podesta.--Majolica, porcelain, and enamelled ware. _Fourth hall_, originally a chapel, but afterwards the room in which prisoners under sentence of death were confined. The frescoes are chiefly by Giotto, 1301. Among the portraits on the fresco of the east wall, representing heaven, are those of Dante, and of his master Brunetto Latini. The St. Jerome and the Madonna are thought to be by Ghirlandaio. In the adjoining Sacristy are two frescoes, one of which is thought to be by Cimabue and the other by Gaddi. Those who wish to see them must request the door to be opened. _Fifth saloon._--Two triptychs by Orcagna. Works in ivory and rock crystal by Cellini, Bologna, and N. Pisano. Wood carving by Gibbons. (In this saloon is the stair up to the second floor.) _Saloons 6 and 7._--Sculptures by the best Italian artists of the 15th cent., all labelled. Among them may be noted, in the sixth saloon, Donatello's David, in the centre. In the seventh, in the centre, a Child by Donatello. The famous _Mercury_, by Bologna. David, by Verrochio. On the wall, a bronze table by Pollaiolo, representing the Crucifixion, and two bas-reliefs, the one on the right by Ghiberti, and the other on the left by Brunelleschi, prepared for the compet.i.tion for the doors of the Baptistery of Florence, won by Ghiberti. Next, a fine ornament by Donatello. At the beginning of the third wall is a large bas-relief by V. Dante, representing the Brazen Serpent in the Desert; and below it, another representing a Battle, by Bertoldo. These are followed by a cabinet full of sketches by the best artists of the 15th and 16th cents. After these, the famous bust of Cosmo of Medicis in Armour, by Benvenuto Cellini, and his model in bronze of the Perseus, under the loggia. Ascend now to the second floor by the stair in the fifth room. 1st room.--Portraits in fres...o...b.. A. Castagno (1450), transferred to canvas a few years ago: viz. Uberti, Acciaoli, Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. Stained gla.s.s by Marcilla, 1470-1537. 2d room on the right.--Fine display of glazed terra-cotta work by Luca and Andrea Robbia. Stained gla.s.s window by Giovanni da Udini. 3d room (tower).--Tapestry 17th cent. 4th room (on the left of the entrance).--French tapestry and collection of coins. In the next two rooms, 5 and 6, are the +Masterpieces of Mediaeval Sculpture+, which formerly stood in the galleries of the Uffizi. Room 5, in centre, John the Baptist, by Donatello. On the wall, in relief, by B. da Rovezzano, 1507, the Translation of St. Gualberto, on white marble, mutilated. Room 6, in the centre, St. John by Benedetto da Maiano. Young Bacchus, by Sansovino. Apollo, by Michael Angelo. On end wall, the Death of St.

Peter, by L. Robbia. By Michael Angelo, the Virgin, Jesus, and St. John (unfinished); the famous Mask of a Satyr (executed in his 15th year); Martyrdom of St. Andrew (unfinished); and Bust of Brutus. Window wall, bust of Battista Sforza, and a Holy Family, by Mino da Fiesole. Entrance wall, Leda, by Michael Angelo. By Mina da Fiesole, a Madonna and a bust of Piero dei Medici. Left wall, by Rossellino, a Madonna and a St. John.

Faith, by Civitale, 1484, one of his best works. Five children supporting festoons, by Quercia, 1150, one of his best; and a Madonna, by Verrochio.

[Headnote: FLORENCE. LA BADIA--HOUSE OF MICHAEL ANGELO.]

At the end of the Via Proconsolo, and opposite the National Museum, is +La Badia+, founded by Willa, in 978, for the Black Benedictines; rebuilt in 1284 by Arnolfo di Lapo; and again, in part, in 1625 by Segaloni. The church, in the form of a Greek cross, has some good monuments and pictures. The Campanile was built about 1330. The handsome door is by Benedetto da Rovezzano, 1495. The second monument to the right of the entrance is to Gianozzo Pandolfini, by Ferrucci in 1457. On the adjoining altar are beautiful reliefs by Maiano, 1442 to 1497. In the north transept is the mausoleum of the Gonfalonier Bernardo Giugni, d. (1466), by Mino da Fiesole. In the south transept is the mausoleum of Count Ugo of Tuscany (d. 1000). Above is an a.s.sumption, by G. Vasari, and in the Cappella de' Bianchi, a Madonna appearing to St. Bernard, by F. Lippi.

A little way east from the National Museum, at No. 64 Via Ghibellina, is the house of Michael Angelo Buonarrotti, a plain building, containing a collection of paintings, sculptures, and sundry objects connected with Michael Angelo, bequeathed to the care of the State by the last member of the family, Cos...o...b..onarrotti, in 1858. The gallery is open to the public on Mondays and Thursdays, from 9 to 3. Catalogue in Italian or French, fr. The collection is contained in seven rooms, some very small. In the centre of the first room is a small bust of Michael Angelo, and Nos. 1, 2, and 3 portraits of him at different ages. No. 14, Battle of Hercules, and No. 17, Madonna, both in relief, by Michael Angelo. Nos. 11, 13, 15, and 16 are glazed terra-cotta figures by the Robbias, displaying admirably the fine delicate surface of the enamel peculiar to their productions. Amongst those who have distinguished themselves in the manufactory of earthenware is Luca della Robbia, a Florentine goldsmith and statuary, born in 1388. He made heads and human figures in relief, and architectural ornaments of glazed earthenware, terra-cotta invetriata. The colours are white, blue, green, brown, and yellow. The art of making these glazed earthen figures invented by Luca was taught by him to his brothers Ottaviano and Agostino, and was afterwards practised by his nephew Andrea. The rooms to the left contain drawings and plans of Michael Angelo, many being the original sketches of his greatest works. First room right, the princ.i.p.al room of all, contains the statue of Michael Angelo in a sitting posture, by Novelli; and around the room sixteen pictures ill.u.s.trating scenes in his life. The lower six are in grisaille. The ceiling is painted in fresco. The next or fourth room contains the family history, ill.u.s.trated by twenty-one fresco paintings. In the small cabinet off this room are, among other things, a two-edged sword with the Buonarrotti arms. In the fifth room, No. 74, Michael Angelo, a Madonna in relief, on marble. 77, a cast in bronze of 74, by Jean Bologna, by whom is also 81, a bust of Michael Angelo. Sixth room (the Library), large frescoes, representing the eminent men of Italy. In the seventh chamber, and in the small room off, are Etruscan antiquities.

San Giovannino, 264. San Lorenzo, 264. The Mortuary Chapel. The Sagrestia Nuova, 265. Biblioteca Laurentiana. Etruscan and Egyptian Museum, 267. Santa Maria Novella, 267. Spezeria, 268. See Plan, near station.

[Headnote: SAN LORENZO. ROAD TO THE SAGRESTIA NUOVA. UNDERGROUND CHAPEL.]

North from the baptistery, at the end of the Via de Martelli, and next the Palazzo Riccardi (see page 275), is the Church of San Giovannino, rebuilt in the 16th cent., with frescoes representing scenes in the life of Christ, by Pa.s.signano, Barbieri, Bronzino, t.i.to, Corradi, and Ligozzi. A few yards west from San Giovannino is SAN LORENZO, considered in the earlier periods of the Republic the metropolitan church of Florence. Its existence is traced as far back as the year 393, when it was consecrated by St. Ambrose. In 1059 it was rebuilt and consecrated by Pope Nicholas II. Having been destroyed by fire in 1417, during a festival given by the Guelphs of Arezzo and the Guelphs of Florence, it was again rebuilt by Brunelleschi and Michael Angelo, and finished by Antonio Manetti in 1461. It is constructed in the form of a T, 400 feet long from east to west, and 170 from north to south. The aisles are lofty, and separated from the nave by 14 Corinthian columns. The two pulpits are adorned with subjects from Scripture, in relief, by Donatello and his pupil Bertoldo. The cupola is painted by Meucci. At the north transept is a monument in white marble by Thorwaldsen to Pietro Benvenuto, the painter of the cupola of the mortuary chapel. In the south transept is a monument to the memory of a daughter of General Moltke. A slab at the foot of the high altar bears the t.i.tle and age of Cosmo I., but his remains repose in a black and white marble tomb in the subterranean church. [Headnote: MORTUARY CHAPEL.] Those pressed for time should, on arriving at the main or eastern entrance of St. Lorenzo, turn down to the left by that narrow busy street the Via del Canto de' Nelli, to the large folding-doors under the west end or apse of San Lorenzo, which gives access to the burial chapel, "Dei Principi," of the Medici family, and to the still more famous chapel called the _Sagrestia Nuova_. Both open on Sundays from 10, on Mondays from 12, and every other day from 9 to 3. Having entered the crypt, ascend the stair to the left, which leads into the mortuary chapel. Guides offer their a.s.sistance, but they are of no use, as the sacristan alone can unlock the doors. The Mortuary Chapel is octagonal, and covered with polished marbles and other shining stones, glowing with brilliant harmony of colour, yet chaste and simple. The splendid hues are continued on the ceiling under the dome by the masterly frescoes of P. Benvenuti, painted in 1835. In each of six of the sides is a monument to a member of the Medicean family, from Cosmo I. to Cosmo III. (d. 1723), whose son, G. Gastone (d. 1736), has his memorial slab behind the altar in the crypt or lower church downstairs, where repose the remains of Donatello near those of his patron Cosmo I., as well as those of 35 other members of this once powerful family, which gave three popes to the Church of Rome, two queens to France, and reigned 250 years over the sixteen cities of Tuscany, whose escutcheons in beautiful mosaic are set in panels round the mortuary chapel, below the granite mausoleums of these princes. The Cappella dei Principi was designed by G. de Medici, and built by M. Nigetti in 1604, for Ferdinand I., Duke of Tuscany, to receive the "great stone" which Joseph of Arimathea rolled "to the door of the sepulchre" of our Lord; and which had been promised him by the Emir Focardino, governor of Jerusalem. The Emir not having fulfilled his promise, Ferdinand adopted the intention of his predecessor, Cosmo I., and had it converted into the burial chapel of the Medicean family.