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Bequest of
EDWARD BEMENT, '70
1932

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY,

I

it

ft

*'** •*^*^^*

ROME
^*. Peter's
CATHEDRAL CITIES
OF
ITALY

BY

W. W. COLLINS, R. I.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1911

Copyright, igii
By Dodd, Mead and Company
Published October, 191 1

M^^i^HE cathedral cities of Italy, the heir of all the
¦ ^1 ages in art, are as full of enchantment to the
^^^^/ lover of architecture as to the poet, the painter,
and the historian. Side by side with the great
churches that give them their crowning splendour are the
public buildings, universities, palaces, and fountains that
tell the story of the glorious past, and form the best monu
ment of their great creators. These architectural jewels
are often set amidst scenes of great natural beauty, which
relieve and enhance the perfection of their art. Every
traveller in Italy will recall the emotion with which he
first saw Rome rising from the green stretches of the
Campagna, recognised the domes and campaniles of
Florence, or lifted up his eyes to one of those towered
" cities set upon an hill, which cannot be hid " — Siena,
Perugia, or Orvieto. Among the many appeals which
Italy makes to aesthetic appreciation is that of infinite
variety. In no country are the dififerent styles and periods
so wonderfully exemplified. Here we may range from
Rome and Verona, with their relics of the antique world
[v]

PREFACE
— amphitheatres, temples, and thermae — to the Byzantine
glories of Ravenna and Venice, the Romanesque grandeur
that finds typical expression in the cathedral of Pisa,
and thence to the manifestations of that Gothic art which,
though it was alien to the climate and character of Italy
and so struck no deep roots into the soil, intervened be
tween Romanesque architecture and that of the Renais
sance as a brilliant episode, and finds stupendous expres
sion in the thousand pinnacles of Milan.
It is with Christian Italy that we have to deal, the
Italy of cathedrals, and it is at Ravenna and at Venice
that we may trace the decline of Roman architectural
methods and the gradual merging of these into Byzan
tine forms. Though the great Basilica Ursiana of the
fourth century has disappeared, Ravenna has preserved
many famous monuments of the fifth century: the votive
church of Galla Placidia, sister of the Emperor Honorius,
the Baptistery, the aulic church of the Gothic conqueror,
Theodoric, Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, and the churches of
San Vitale and Sant' Apollinare in Classe. Venice, ris
ing to power and splendour when Ravenna fell on evil
days, secured the heritage of her glory, and carried on the
Byzantine tradition in the cathedral of Torcello, the
church of San Zaccaria, and above all in the incompara
ble San Marco. At Pisa the Romanesque evolution cul
minated in a unique group of buildings famous through-
[vi]

PREFACE
out the world, while at Milan and in the surrounding dis
trict the local type of Romanesque became sufficiently
individual to figure as an independent style under the
title of Lombard architecture. Of this subdivision of
Romanesque the prototype seems to have been the great
church of Sant' Ambrogio at Milan, while San Michele
at Pavia is another early and important example. Italy's
essays in Gothic are scattered throughout the length and
breadth of the peninsula, from Como to Naples. The
Broletto at Como and the monastic buildings at Vercelli
are said to have inaugurated them. Good examples
are the cathedral at Como, the church of San Francesco
at Assisi, the cathedral of Orvieto, San Petronio and San
Francesco at Bologna, and San Lorenzo at Genoa.
But it is to the Renaissance architecture of Italy that
many of us will turn as the most intimate expression of
the Italian spirit, to the works of Brunellesco, Michel-
ozzo, and Cronaca at Florence, of Palladio at Venice and
Vicenza, of Bramante, and, above all, of Michelangelo
at Rome, notably in his great life-work, the church of
St. Peter. The exuberant later style that resulted from
a too ardent application of the principles of Michel
angelo and is known as Baroque, though generally repro
bated at present, must not be too sweepingly condemned.
It had an exponent of great talent in Bernini, and it will
hardly be denied that it gave grandiose expression to
[vii]

PREFACE
the tendency of a splendour-loving age, and that Rome
owes to its exponents much of the scenic effectiveness of
her streets and the impressive magnificence of her
interiors.

[ viii ]

Qlottt^tttfii

CHAPTER PAGE
I Como  i
II Milan  8
III Pavia  19
IV Bergamo  27
V Brescl\  34
VI Verona  41
VII Padua  60
VIII Venice  74
IX Rimini  113
X Ferrara  123
XI Ravenna  131
XII Bologna  150
XIII Parma  i68
XIV Genoa  177
XV Pisa  193
XVI Lucca  207
XVII Florence  222
XVIII Perugia  249
XIXAssisi  266
XX Siena  273
XXI Orvieto  293
XXII Rome  307
XXIII Naples  338
XXIV Salerno  356
XXV Palermo  364
Index  391

MnsAxatwm

St. Peter's. Rome  Frontispiece page
The Brotello and Cathedral. Como  5
The Cathedral. Milan  11
The Cathedral. Pavia  21
Bergamo  29
Brescia  37
The Porch of the Cathedral. Verona  48
Interior of S. Zenone. Verona  51
The Market Place. Verona  57
The Cathedral. Padua  63
S. Antonio. Padua  69
St. Mark's. Venice  77
Interior of St. Mark's. Venice  85
The Palazzi Foscari and Giustiniani. Venice .... 97
The Lion of S. Mark's. Venice  105
St. Fosca and Cathedral. Torcello  109
Isotta's Tomb in THE Cathedral. Rimini  119
The Cathedral. Ferrara  127
Ravenna  135
S. Apollinare. Ravenna  143
Interior of S. Petronio. Bologna  157
S. DoMENico. Bologna  165
The Cathedral and Baptistery. Parma  171
An Old Street. Genoa  181
Faqade of the Cathedral. Genoa  187
The Baptistery. Pisa  195
Campanile and Duomo. Pisa  203
From the City Walls. Lucca  209
The Porch of the Cathedral. Lucca  213

ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE
S. Michel. Lucca  219
Or S. Michele and the Palazzo dell' Arte di Lana.
Florence  225
The Campanile. Florence  233
PoNTE Vecchio. Florence  239
The Duomo, from the Boboli Garden. Florence . . 245
The Cathedral and Old Town. Perugia  253
The Porta Susanna. Perugia  257
The Piazza Garibaldi. Perugia  263
The Cathedral. Assisi  269
The Cathedral. Siena  275
Interior of the Cathedral. Siena  279
The Arco di S. Giusseppe. Siena  285
Under the Walls. Siena  . 289
La Porta Maggiore. Orvieto  295
The Fa9ade of the Cathedral. Orvieto  301
On the Palatine. Rome  309
The Arch of Titus. Rome  319
S.S. TrinitA de' Monti. Rome  327
The Isle of S. Bartolommeo. Rome  333
Interior of the Cathedral. Naples  341
S. DoMENico Maggiore. Naples  347
The Bay OF Naples FROM. Posillipo  351
A Pulpit in the Cathedral. Salerno  359
The Cathedral. Palermo  367
Mte. Pelligrino. Palermo  377
The Cloisters of S. Giovanni degli Ermitano. Palermo . 381
The Cloisters. Monreale  385

COMO
ON a flat piece of land at the southern extremity
of Italy's most beautiful lake, the ancient
Lacus Larius, stands a city whose history dates
back to the days when a Grecian colony nes
tled at the foot of the mountains which lie east and west
of the modern Como. Numerous relics of Roman days
found at diflferent times testify to the truth of the younger
Pliny's letters that the Comum Novum of Julius Caesar
was in a flourishing condition during the writer's life,
and enjoyed all the privileges attached to a municipium.
At the present day Como is best known as a starting-
point for tourists who board the steamers at the quay and
leave their decks at one of the many delightful spots
which fringe the shores of a lake whose attractions can
not be overwritten. The sun shines on an endless pano
rama which changes every minute as the steamer pants
over the blue waters, breaking up and dispelling the
reflections of verdure-clad slopes and stern crags which
lie mirrored on the surface. Hamlets like Nesso cling
to the rocks and bridge the orrido or torrent, as it enters
[I]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
the lake in a foaming cascade. Monster hotel settle
ments like Bellagio and Cadenabbia lie further up the
water, opposite to Varenna with its golf course and Eng
lish caravanserai. Little is left to remind one of those
bloody sixteenth-century days when II Medeghino from
his stronghold of Musso ruled the lake, and with his
fleet of seven big ships and countless smaller craft block
aded the City of Como, held for Charles V. by the Mar
quis of Pescara, and compelled the Spaniards to come
to terms. Nothing more warlike nowadays ruffles the
craft which flash their light along the shores, sweeping
every tiny bay in search of contrabbandieri. Though
much could be written about ithe internecine wars the
mountains have seen, it is not with Gian Giacomo de'
Medici this chapter is concerned, but with the city itself,
which lies away out of sight of the great corsair's Castle
of Musso.
The Cathedral of Como, built entirely of marble, was
commenced in 1396 from the plans of Lorenzi de' Spazi.
The west fagade, begun in 1460, was finished by Tomaso
Rodario in the last few years of that century. It is Ital
ian Gothic, with the exception of the three doorways,
which are rich Lombard work; and, like all fagades of
the same style in Italy, has the appearance of simply
facing or being stuck on to the building itself. Despite
the adornment of statues and bas-reliefs, scrolls and ara-
[2]

COMO
besques, it has a very severe and flat look, which is unre
lieved by the recesses containing busts of the two Plinys
on either side of the central doorway, or the deep-set
windows and canopied niches above. A fine wheel win
dow occupies a position above the principal door and
between these is a good Gothic screen with figures in
five niches flanked by a couple of windows on either side.
The north side of the fagade adjoins the Brotello,
through the arches of which one reaches the north door
way. This is decidedly good. The porch is supported
by elegant pillars and adorned by arabesques with birds,
animals, and other figures. It was executed from de
signs by Rodario, and with the south portal possesses all
the merit that good Renaissance work gives to both.
The windows of the aisles are beautifully ornamented
with decoration of the same character, and the slender
pinnacles with their pierced galleries, albeit they remind
one in their whiteness of the superior pieces of an ivory
chess set, break the line of the roof in a most agreeable
manner. The dome lacks proportion and is of the over
done style of French eighteenth-century work.
The interior of the cathedral is Gothic and Renais
sance. The nave and aisles belong to the earlier date.
The groining is good, but spoilt, as is generally found
to be the case throughout Italy, by gilded and coloured
bosses which mar the otherwise simple effect of the
[3]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
vaulting. The transepts and choir are Renaissance,
and though the sympathies of the northman are more
with the sterner style, it must be owned that in Como's
cathedral the scheme of decoration found in these is more
fitting and better of its sort than in the Gothic half of
the building. At the west end of the nave stands the
circular Baptistery attributed to Bramante, close by
which are a lion and lioness, the former grasping a deer
and the latter suckling her young. They support the
two holy water basins. Among the pictures of interest
which the cathedral contains is a good Bernardino Luini
of the Virgin, and two glazed and framed frescoes of
the Nativity and Adoration by the same hand.
The illustration shows the Brotello or old Townhall,
and the pinnacles and north walls of the Cathedral.
The Brotello is faced with banded black and white mar
ble, the common device for exterior walls in most Italian
Gothic churches, and in this case justified by the beau
tiful colour it has taken on with age. The building
stands mellowed by the hand of Time, a memorial of
the days of the old Italian Republics; and its counter
part existed in every Lombard city. Above the arches,
under which the good citizens were wont to discuss the
afifairs of their town while sauntering to and fro in the
cool shade, is the great hall wherein the chief of the
municipality assembled. From the window in the cen-
[4]

COMO
The Brotello and Cathedral

COMO
tre access was obtained to the bar, or ringhiera outside,
from which addresses were delivered to the crowd be
low, who in constitutional language formed the parlia-
mento and from whora the powers of government
emanated. Two of the old city gateways still exist, the latter of
which, the Porta del Torre, leading out on the high road
to Milan, is to-day but an empty five-storied shell. The
old walls may be traced even now on the three sides of
the city away from the water-front. But for these there
is very little left to show the extent of a place which
was once a serious rival to Milan. The staple industry
is stone-working, for which the Comaschi have for cen
turies been widely known. In former times Como was
justly celebrated for the products of its looms, excelling
in number those at Lyons. Nowadays it exports the raw
silk; the looms have sadly fallen off and diminished, and
small industries have taken the place of those that
brought considerable wealth to the pockets of its mer
chants.

[7]

MILAN
^-— .^HEN the great wave of conquest which swept
^ I ^ mid- Europe in the fifth century broke against
\M^f the walls of Chalons-sur-Marne and the west
ward march of Attila and his Huns was
checked, the defeated hordes of the East followed their
chief across the Alps and invaded the plain that stretches
away now, just as it did in those far-ofif days, to the
sunny seas that beat against the southern slopes of the
Apennines. In the centre of this plain stood Medio-
lanum, a city ranking second only to Rome, and her
greatest colony in the Peninsula. So rich and prosper
ous a place became of necessity the object of attack,
and the hosts that looked to " the Scourge of God " as
leader, swept into and through the fair city, sacking it
completely. Rebuilt, but once again undergoing the
same fate at the hands of Frederick I. in 1162, there
remain but a colonnade of sixteen Corinthian columns
near the Porta Ticinese, a few tablets and fragments let
into the walls of other gateways, and some relics in the
museum, to tell of the past glories of Rome's great
colony. [8]

MILAN
Milan, as we know it now, is the centre of commer
cial Italy. Intersected by an excellent system of tram
ways, with beautiful public gardens and magnificent
buildings, it is up to date in every way and stands quite
apart from all the other cities with which this book is
concerned. The one thing that, perhaps, above all
others places it in this position is, however, no product
of this commercial age, but its world-famous work of
art, the great cathedral, through the lofy aisles of which
still reverberates the grand music of the Ambrosian
Ritual. The exterior of this immense church, next in
Italy to St. Peter's in size, is adorned by a forest of
spires, pinnacles, turrets and lace-like tracery. In the
midst of all this rises the central tower with its airy
spire, from the base of which on a clear day the snow-
clad peaks of the Alps may be seen stretching miles on
miles away, and bounding the whole of the northern
horizon by a lovely dreamland of colour.
Very few buildings compel one's admiration as this
does, an admiration wrung in my case from a mind out
of sympathy with everything that lacks the dignity of
repose; but such is the effect obtained by hundreds of
pinnacles and statues, by the turreted flying buttresses,
by the filling of every available foot of space with orna
ment, that one cannot but appreciate the result of the
skill and patience so truly Italian, which has carried
[9J

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
out these infinite details and produced the great work
that stands in the Piazza del Duomo. The present
fabric, dedicated " Mariae Nascenti," is the third cathe
dral built on the site; the first was destroyed by Attila
in 452, and the second by Barbarossa in 1162. The
foundation-stone was laid in 1387 by Gian' Galeazzo
Visconti, who from a northern clime sought his archi
tect, Heinrich Ahrler, of Gmiinden. From that time
down to the present day many have had a hand in its
making, among them Bramante, Leonardo da Vinci, and
Giulio Romano, and the wonder is that the great struc
ture is not far more full of incongruities than it is. The
whole exterior is built of white marble from the quarries
of la Gandoglia on the Simplon Road, given by the
founder for this purpose.
The fagade rises with a course of open Gothic work
to the gable above, and is divided into five sections which
terminate in clusters of Gothic turrets surmounted by
pinnacles and statues. The central doorway is sur
rounded by excellent Renaissance sculpture, the door
itself being a magnificent piece of seventeenth-century
bronze work. On each side are two more portals. The
bases of the intervening buttresses contain splendid
panels, and the Caryatides, which support the slender
Gothic shafts right and left, by Rusca and Carabelli, arc
extremely good in pose and execution. The great fa-
[10]

MILAN
The Cathedral

MILAN
gade designed by Pellegrini for S. Carlo Borromeo in
1560 was never carried out owing to the saint's death
while Pellegrini was away in Spain working on the
Escorial for Philip II. The east end is the oldest part
of the building, and is almost entirely taken up by three
grand Gothic windows. The east window, which is of
most beautiful tracery, was executed from the designs of
a Frenchman, Nicholas Bonaventure. Both the other
windows are fine, but the upper portion or rose pattern,
although in itself very delicate, appears " stuck in," and
not part of the design ; some of the glass in these is very
rich in colour. The archivolts of the arches are filled
with figures which follow the curve in a rather uncom
fortable style, not only here but in every other window
save the fine classical of the f agade.
The interior is grand, and of immense height, albeit
the vaulting with its admirably painted tracery is evi
dence of the great skill of the Italian at " faking." The
mellow light from the amber coloured glass of the octa
gon and the twilight filtering through the gorgeous hues
of the other windows is remarkably and impressively
pleasing. The columns of the nave, in clusters of eight
shafts, are eighty feet high, and carry narrow capitols of
foliage which form the base to eight canopied niches oc
cupied by figures of saints — a fine feature. The aisles
are double, the outside being lower than that next the
[13]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
nave. The four columns at the crossing which support
the octagon are of larger dimensions than those in the
nave. Two semicircular pulpits covered with bas-re
liefs of gilded bronze stand on either side of the steps
leading into the choir, to the solemn darkness of which
the shadows thrown from the sounding-boards above
make pictorially a good foreground introduction.
These pulpits are supported by Caryatides representing
the Evangelists and four doctors of the Church.
The choir was designed by Pellegrini, and contains
a fine sixteenth-century tabernacle of gilded bronze.
Beneath is the subterranean church, through which one
enters the tiny chapel, under the central spire, wherein
is deposited, in a magnificent silver shrine the gift of
Philip IV. of Spain, the body of S. Carlo Borromeo
dressed in full pontificals. Born in 1538 he was created
cardinal by his uncle, Pius IV., in 1561. After the close
of the Council of Trent he assisted other prelates to draw
up the epitome of Catholic doctrine, the " Catechismus
Tridentinus " ; but it is more for his good works and
great charity, especially during the plague of 1576, that
he lives in the hearts of the Milanese.
In the north transept is a very good example of the
metal work of the thirteenth century, in the shape of a
fine bejewelled bronze candelabrum. It forms a tree
and has many quaint figures in its intricate design. In
[14]

MILAN
a chapel in this aisle is the old wooden crucifix which
S. Carlo carried when barefooted he tramped the streets
during the plague, tending the sick. In the south tran
sept close to the corner near the staircase leading on to
the roof is a monument to Giacomo and Gabriele de'
Medici, brothers of Pius IV. and a bronze statue of
S. Bartolommeo which represents him flayed. The
south sacristy door is a fine specimen of a Gothic work.
Unlike the exterior efifect, nothing obtrudes inside this
great cathedral. The eye on entering looks straight up
to the east, conscious as it travels there, of great pillars
rising into the gloom of the vault above, of fine glass
and restful solemnity, in which even the chapels in the
aisles are lost, to be discovered later on only when
searched for.
Next to " Mariae Nascenti," but taking precedence in
archsological interest, is the church of S. Ambrogio, a
basilica dedicated by the Saint when bishop of Milan in
387 to SS. Gervasius and Protasius. It was enlarged
and rebuilt in 881 and restored by Ricchini in 1631, all
the original features being faithfully preserved, A
closed courtyard stands below the level of the piazza
outside and forms the Atrium beyond which no catechu
mens were allowed to pass. The capitals of the columns
here have the tendency of early Christian Art and adap
tations of Runic and Byzantine carving. The church
[15]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
is Lombardo Romanesque. Beneath the gallery over
the peristyle is the celebrated door, well guarded by an
iron grille, some of the cypress-wood panels of which
formed portions of the gate of the Basilica Portiana
closed by S, Ambrose against the Emperor Theodosius
after his cruel slaughter in Thessalonica. The nave is
entered by two side doors and is composed of eight bays,
the columns of which are slender in proportion for the
deep shadows of the dark aisles. Pilasters run up to the
low round vaulting, the large galleries over the aisles be
ing divided by these. Up a few steps which cross the
nave at the last bay, and behind a low marble balustrade,
is the High Altar, enclosed by one of the finest extant
relics of the goldsmith's art. This magnificent casing
bears the name of its German maker, Wolvinius. Some
of the panels, notably that of the Transfiguration, are
very Greek in treatment. The back is almost of better
workmanship than the front and is more interesting, as
Wolvinius has here illustrated the principal events in
the life of the founder. The enamelled borders of these
silver-gilt panels are of exquisite design, one of the saint
as a child asleep in his cradle with a swarm of bees hov
ering around, considered a presage of future eloquence,
is very naive. The baldachino above this altar is borne
by four grand columns of black porphyry.
.Up twelve steps are the choir and tribune, and at the
[i6]

MILAN
end of these is the primitive throne of the Archbishop
of Milan, known as the chair of S. Ambrose. The eigh
teen seats occupied by the suffragans of the province no
longer exist, having been replaced in the sixteenth cen
tury by carved wooden stalls, and thus has perished a
feature identical with the Cathedral at Torcello. The
semi-domed roof of the Tribune is covered with a fine
ninth-century mosaic which represents the seated figure
of the Almighty, beneath whom are SS. Candida, Ger
vasius, Protasius, Marcellina and Satirus, and a repre
sentation of the cities of Milan and Tours — Tours be
cause there, when S. Martin was undergoing martyrdom,
the spirit of S. Ambrose went to give him strength. Be
neath the choir is the crypt, and at its termination, ex
actly under the high altar in the church above, in a
splendid casket of silver and crystal repose the remains
of three Saints, Ambrose, Gervasius and Protasius.
There is a curious pulpit in the church of very early
Lombard work, with an " Agape " or love feast carved
upon its panels. Close by upon a granite pillar rests a
bronze serpent, said to be the brazen serpent of the desert
and presented to Archbishop Arnulphus by the Em
peror of Constantinople. S. Ambrogio was the church
in which the Lombard rulers were crowned with the
Iron Crown that is the chief attraction in the neighbor
ing city of Monza. [17]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
So well known are the art treasures of Milan that it is
hardly necessary to do more than allude to the many
works of great interest in the Brera, formerly a Jesuit
college, and in the celebrated Biblioteca Ambrosiana;
or that greatest wonder of all which has drawn so many
pilgrims to the Cenacolo, the refectory near the church
of Santa Maria della Grazie — the much restored Last
Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. The Castello of Milan
was at one time the residence of the great Visconti fam
ily, and at the death of the last male representative passed
by marriage into the hands of the first duke of the Sforza
line. It was during their reign that Milan took the lead
in the fashion of Europe (whence we have the word
" milliner ") and it was then that Leonardo wrought his
masterpieces, including that great equestrian statue of
Francesco Sforza which was the wonder of Milan, and
of which posterity was so unhappily robbed by the
French invasion.

[18]

fi

PAVIA
'ROM its position close to the confluence of the
rivers Po and Ticino, Pavia, the " City of a
Hundred Towers," was for centuries a point of
strategic importance. It is at present a great
artillery station. Of its hundred towers that stood at in
tervals around the eleventh-century walls, hardly one re
mains, and the old fortifications which had been recon
structed at a later date, are rapidly being converted into a
spacious and shady boulevard. The celebrated bridge is
however still intact, despite many violent floods, a delight
to the eye and a pleasant promenade on a hot day. This
notable structure, which spans the Ticino, was built by
one of the great Visconti family — Gian' Galeozzo — and
is roofed in.
Pavia at one time was rich in noble churches. Many
have been demolished, others have fallen into decay.
The cathedral, dedicated to S. Stefano, stands on the site
of one erected in the seventh century. The present edi
fice was designed by Bramante and constructed under
the direction of one of his pupils, Cristoforo Rocci. In
[19]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
the original plan the nave, transepts, and choir were all
of one size, but the nave is the only part in which the
great architect's measurements were followed. The fa
cade, approached by a good flight of steps, is unfinished.
On the north, and adjoining a fine example of a late
Romanesque gateway, stands the campanile.
The interior of the main building is grey stone which
has not been spoilt by the application of the whitewash
brush, A fine pulpit, somewhat similar to those at
Milan, stands out from one of the massive piers that sup
port the octagon. It is of singularly large dimensions
and is supported by well-carved wooden figures of the
Fathers of the Church. The octagon, which carries a
good dome and tower and is best seen from the market
square, rises well above the roofs of the nave and choir.
A gallery running round the entire cathedral forms a
triforium, broken only by Transparente lights in the apse
and side chapels of the choir. These windows accentu
ate the bad points of the barroque altars beneath. The
clerestory lights are circular. If it were not for the
magnificent tomb in which repose the remains of S. Au
gustine, the greatest of the Fathers of the Latin Church,
the cathedral would be, notwithstanding the fame of its
designer, the least interesting ecclesiastical building in
Pavia. Experts disagree as to who was responsible for the fine
[20]

#

PAVIA
The Cathedral

PAVIA
monument which covers S, Augustine's remains. The
body of the saint had been removed from Hippo, a suf
fragan see of Carthage, to Sardinia during the Arian per
secutions. It rested there until Liutprand, the Lombard
king, having purchased it, placed it in the church of
S. Pietro in Cielo d'Oro; and when this church was
destroyed it was conveyed to the cathedral. On certain
festivals the silver casket, portions of which are the orig
inal, that contains the bones of the saint robed in full
pontificals is removed from its usual position and hoisted
up behind the tomb, so that the devout can mount a tem
porary wooden stair and look on all that is left of the
great father.
A figure of the saint lies stretched on the supulchral
urn that usually holds the silver casket. This rests on
the basement, or lowest, of the four tiers that compose
the monument. Around it are figures of the lesser
saints of his Order. Above are bas-reliefs of the chief
events in his life and the miracles which after his death
were performed in different places through his inter
cessions. The liberal arts, the cardinal virtues, and
many symbols adorn the tomb, which is also decorated
with statues of saints and angels, two hundred and ninety
in all. They are extremely well executed and enhance
the beauty of the design.
The church of S. Michele is a primitive structure and
[23]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
bears traces of being the precursor of all ecclesiastical
edifices of the Lombard style of architecture. It was
originally a basilica, but short transepts have been added
and the roof, which is groined, is vaulted with stone.
The oldest part of the church is the crypt, which is under
the choir. This is probably the building, or part of it,
in which Unulfus sought sanctuary in 66i when fleeing
from King Grimoladus. Four compound piers in the
nave are adorned with an extraordinary series of
sphinxes, symbols, animals and other figures. The fa-
gade is decorated with reliefs in a richly-coloured sand
stone, and has a gabled gallery that is continued round
the exterior as far as the apse.
The portals are covered with a profusion of very
archaic imagery in which Pagan as well as Christian
subjects form most of the decoration. Sculptured bands
of sandstone are placed in courses along the whole front
and medallions let into the walls. These are very mas
sively built of stone, and though restoration is evident
throughout the church it still bears the impress of great
age. Sta, Maria del Carmine is a fourteenth-century build
ing of Gothic design, and is one of the very best exam
ples of brickwork in all Italy, The beautiful rose win
dow of the west front and the three pointed doors with
their well-moulded terra-cotta ornament could hardly
[24]

PAVIA
be finer. Seven elegant pinnacles stand on the rather
heavy cornice, forming a good set ofif to the campanile,
which, surmounted by a brick spire, is a landmark in
the district. The brick piers of the interior are excep
tionally good; four squares constitute the nave, the
arches of each carry simple groining, Tw6 small lan
cet-shaped arches, out of all proportion with the massive
brick piers that support them, open into the aisles.
They have double capitals, the upper being of stone, the
lower of carved brick.
In the ruined church of S, Pietro in Cielo d'Oro stood
the tomb of Boethius, who under Theodoric held high
office in the state, Boethius was executed in Pavia after
a long and rigorous confinement in the Casa Malsapina,
during which he wrote his incomparable " Consolations
of Philosophy." This work was translated into many
languages and was one of the most widely known treat
ises in the Middle Ages. Alfred the Great translated it
into Saxon, Another connection with England exists
through Archbishop Lanfranc who accompanied Wil
liam the Conqueror across the sea and was made prelate
of Canterbury. The district round Pavia is not healthy,
a condition due probably to the intricate system of irri
gation by which the pastures are kept green with a rank-
growing grass. Between Pavia, Piaeenza and Lodi — a
triangle with the last-named at the northern point — lies
[25]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
the country which yields the best Parmesan cheese.
The fields are of three kinds, those nearly always under
water, those irrigated, and those used for rotation crops.
The cattle that are utilised for cheese-making are mostly
Swiss bred, and being valuable are well looked after.
Thev are stalled at sundown in the buildings attached to
the great farms, where farmhouse, cottages, barns and
stables are all enclosed within a high wall. The little
rectangular patches of meadow on which they feed are
enclosed by rows of poplars or willows which make the
landscape very monotonous. In winter a dense fog
often shrouds the countryside and a deadly chill per
vades the atmosphere, while the humidity of summer,
when the sun draws the moisture from the soaking earth,
is very enervating.

[26]

BERGAMO
^"Ip^HEN October comes in its yearly round and
^ I ^ the autumn afternoons close in, it is sometimes
y^M^r good to sit idly outside a caffe with the perni
cious cigarette and ruminate on the glories of
a past summer — better this than to hustle up the street a
sight-seeing, A hot day was ending and the Bergamo
of mediaeval times towered above the haze of a sun
baked land and the smoke that curled upwards in thin
wreaths from the city below. " La Citta Alta " thus
raised its head proudly against the copper-coloured sky,
thrusting its bulwarks to the edge of one of the last spurs
of the Alps that here creep down on to the plain. What
a grand prospect from the shady boulevard on those ram
parts which encircle the old fortress I The sun has not
yet set; beneath lies the Borgo S. Leonardo, the lower
city, a busy place with factory chimneys on its outskirts;
beyond, a sea of verdure cut by lines of tall poplars and
here and there a slender campanile, stretches away over
Lombardy until lost in the haze past the towers and
domes of Monza, Cremona, and distant Milan.
[27]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY]
There is something very fascinating in the quiet and
exclusive old city. Its streets are steep and narrow, its
houses seem to rake the sky, the rattle of wheels does not
often disturb the aristrocratic silence, a silence accentu
ated tenfold when one has left behind its busy plebeian
partner on the plain below, and whisked upwards by the
funicular, found oneself suddenly amidst high walls.
Great spaces of faced stone are these walls, pierced by
tiny windows, almost forbidding in their austerity; and
though glimpses of foliage and flowering creepers break
through, the pervading air is one of mystery and in
trigue. In the wars with Austria, Bergamo was a great rally-
ing-point for patriots and a continual thorn in the side
of that polyglot empire. The names of heroic Berga-
masque who died for their country are inscribed on sun
dry tablets on the walls under the old Brotello. This
interesting building stands at one end of the little Piazza
Garibaldi, and is somewhat similar to the one which
forms the illustration to Como, with the difference that
here a fine open stairway leads up to the first floor. The
great hall is now occupied as a library. In a corner at
the head of the stairs rises a massive quadrangular bel
fry, one of the prominent features in the outline of " La
Citt^ Alta,"
Beyond the Brotella lies the Cathedral, a well-propor-
[28]

<!O

BERGAMO
tioned Renaissance building, which, by its juxtaposition
to the much more ancient church of Sta Maria Mag
giore, looks comparatively of recent date. It is con
structed entirely of white marble and has a good dome.
A Madonna by G. Bellini behind the high altar is its
great treasure, and the only thing in it worthy of notice.
Sta Maria is an early Lombard pile of buildings, with
a very lofty tower and an octagon over the crossing,
which rises in four galleried storeys surmounted by a
low spire. Good galleries extend round the exterior of
the apse, and side chapels are thrust out at odd places
with no particular plan. The east porch is by far the
most interesting feature, and is an elaborate piece of
work in breccia and white marble. The supporting pil
lars rest on the backs of two lions, the old ecclesiastical
symbol of strength, the columns of the portal are beau
tifully sculptured, and one of them, encircled with ad
mirable figures, is very fine. Above is a canopy under
which, on his horse, sits King Lupus with two attendants,
while beneath a second canopy on top are statuettes of
the Virgin and Child, and the two Marys, The west
porch is almost similar to this, but of not so intricate a
design. It has also no canopies, but is surmounted by a
turret niche, let into the wall of the main building, in
which is the figure of the patroness. The doors of these
two portals are of superbly grained rosewood. They
[31]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
open into the transepts, which are the finest portions of
the interior; the carved choir stalls and screen by Stefano
da Bergamo are considered the best in Italy.
Adjoining the east porch is the Capella Colleoni, the
mausoleum of Bartolommeo Colleoni the celebrated
condottiere of the fifteenth century, whose equestrian
statue in front of the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo in
Venice is remarkable, not only as a work of art, but as
exemplifying the power and rugged strength of a great
man. The fagade is terribly ornate, with chequer work in
white and black marble, red and yellow busts and medal
lions, twisted pillars and strange arabesques. The in
terior contains the tomb of Bartolommeo who sits astride
his horse. It is rather too elaborate to be entirely pleas
ing. At the south end is one of the finest examples of
intarsia, or inlaid wood-work, in Italy. The subjects
of the three panels represent the entry into Jerusalem,
and scenes from the stirring times in which the great
condottiere played so prominent a part. The back
grounds are evidently of landscape in the neighbourhood.
Not only is the spirit and execution of this fine work ex
tremely good, but the colour surpasses anything of the
sort I have seen. It is kept under lock and key, enclosed
in three rosewood panels of well-selected grain. Not
far from the chapel is the house in which Donizetti died.
[32]

BERGAMO
The Borgo S. Leonardo is of older date than La Citta
Alta, although it is the more modern of the two. On the
base of a damaged Corinthian column standing in the
small piazza of Sta Maria d'Oleono is an old Latin in
scription which tells that the column was erected where
once stood a heathen temple, and that S, Alessandro,
standard-bearer to the Theban Legion, overthrew the
heathen pillar by a miracle, the column being erected by
members of the municipality with the alms of the faith
ful. It is doubtful whether the Pergamus of ancient
writers is the city on the hill or its sister on the plain;
this relic rather points to the latter as the site. In the
Borgo a fair, held for a month from the middle of Au
gust, and known as the Fiera di Sant' Alessandro, has
taken place without intermission since the tenth cen
tury — surely a record ; and there is no doubt that in the
ancient Italian drama, harlequin, personifying the man
ners and jargon of the neighbouring Val Brembana, was
a Bergamasque, and originated at this ancient festival.

[33]

e

BRESCIA
RESCIA, like Bergamo, is situated on the
fringe of the mountains and the plains, and
like Bergamo played an important part in the
wars against Austria. Its castello stands high
above the rest of the city, but in the face of the power
possessed of modern arms it would not be worth a gar
rison. So its ramparts and entrenchments have been
wisely converted into a pleasant garden from which wide
views of rolling country and level plain extend.
Many traces of the Roman colony of Brescia remain,
but it was due to a small boy of the virile race that pop
ulate the city that the most interesting was unearthed.
When a child, Girolamo loli was much exercised in
mind about a Corinthian column that stuck out of the
ground and around which he was wont to play. In ma-
turer years the curiosity of youth was still the ruling
passion, and he made it his business to agitate. Like
many another agitator his demands were in time grati
fied, and excavations were commenced which resulted
in the unearthing of a building erected by Vespasian it
[34]

BRESCIA
is supposed in the year 72 — the supposition resting on
fragmentary inscriptions. Palace of Justice or temple,
this building is now the museum, and contains one of
the finest bronzes Italy can boast of. Found in 1826,
this beautiful winged figure of Victory, which is six feet
high, still bears a trace of the silver fillet interwoven
with a wreath of laurel-leaves that bound her hair.
The last-century additions of a shield, which she was
thought to have held, and a helmet under one of her
feet, have been removed, and Victory stands in the state
in which she was discovered. The head and limbs are
finely modelled, and the arrangement of the drapery
could not be excelled.
Down the wide street in front of the Museum a Cor
inthian column and heavy frieze, supported by massive
brick pillars, have been excavated. Opposite these rel
ics is the huge Martinengo Palace. In a line due south
is the church of Sta Af ra built on the site of a temple to
Saturn. Most of the houses in the vicinity have Roman
masonry in their basements and Roman inscriptions let
into their walls. From this one gathers that ancient
Brixia occupied this part of the later city. Write it
down to the credit of Brescia that her citizens passed a
law as early as 1480 that all antiquities found should be
preserved and given up to the town.
There are two cathedrals in Brescia, La Rotunda and
[35]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
the Duomo Nuovo. The former is one of the most in
teresting ecclesiastical buildings in Italy. Constructed
of stone, with a red brick dog-tooth cornice and twenty-
four brick arches, supported by white marble pilasters
forming an arcade into which the exterior is divided, a
most pleasing effect is obtained. In the interior a cir
cular colonnade, composed of eight extremely massive
four-sided piers bearing round arches, supports the
stone dome. It is supposed \ to be of seventh-century
construction, and is evidently W the site of an earlier
Homan building, as fragments Oia mosaic floor exist be
neath the present one. This, which is partly tessellated,
is much below the level of the ground outside. Lower
still, beneath the presbytery and choir, down twenty
steps, is a very-ancient crypt, in which forty marble col
umns support the round arches that carry the weight of
the fabric above. None of these columns is more than
five feet high. Half a dozen blocked up lights, with
bases not more than three feet from the floor, are evi
dence that outside, the level of the ground was at one
time far below where it is at present.
The Duomo Nuovo is a finely proportioned edifice
and one of the best seventeenth-century churches in the
country. The fagade is immense and gains by its sim
plicity. The fine dome is said to be the third in size in
Italy; and the lofty interior of white marble, unspoilt
[36]

BRESCIA
by any colour or decoration, gains in space from the fact
that there is but one bay to the nave, producing the efifect
on the senses that one is everywhere standing under the
spacious height of Brescia's greatest landmark. The
houses of the piazza outside are chiefly occupied by
metal-workers, and those who know the incessant din
produced by the tapping of their hammers, will quite
understand that it was impossible to make a sketch of
these two churches as they stand together.
Adjoining the Duomo Nuovo is the Brotello with its
fine Torre del Popolo, an embattled tower. The inner
courtyard is partly of red brick with a good corridor of
the thirteenth century, formed of pointed and round
arches and brick groining. Another fine tower stands in
the Piazza Vecchia, the Torre del' Orologio. Its enor
mous dial marks the hours from I to XXIV, the course
of the sun and moon, and has the signs of the Zodiac dis
played on its face. Two figures that stand on top of the
tower strike the hours in a similar way to those on the
Clock Tower of Venice. At the west end of the piazza
is La Loggia, the town hall, a good example of an early
sixteenth-century building. It was commenced, to be
accurate, by Tomasso Formentone in 1492 and contin
ued from his designs as far as the first floor, Sansovino
was responsible for the second, and Palladio completed
what the other two had begun. The building, however,
[39]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
as a whole, is superb. Magnificent arches support the
first floor, to which a grand open staircase leads. The
medallions and figures which adorn the exteiior are ex
tremely good, and the frieze and cornice are equally so.
The rich colour of the marble employed lends a beauti
ful tone to a beautiful building. Unfortunately the in
terior was burnt out in January, 1575. The fire which
consumed it is supposed to have originated at the insti
gation of those who wished to destroy certain ancient
charters granting liberties to the inhabitants.
The Torre della Pallata is in a corner of the square —
a good specimen of castellated architecture, which rises
from a sloping base of immense stones and terminates
with a projecting turret.
Brescia contains many fine palaces, and from the
streets into which they open one often gets a glimpse,
through the iron grille of their portals, of a charming
arcaded court. The splash of a flower embowered foun
tain is music to ear and the cool shade under the arches
a rest for eye.

[40]

VERONA
^^^^^HOSE who enter the Brenner Pass, and with
m (*\ faces set towards Italy, leave Innsbruck be-
^^^^/ hind, may have noticed how, after toilsome
puffing and straining uphill, 'the train sud
denly seems to draw breath and glide smoothly onwards
with increased pace. At the side of the iron road a little
thread of water dances merrily over a pebble bed in its
haste to reach the sunny plains that lie to the south of
the great mountain barrier. Further on the rail and its
sparkling attendant part company to join later, when,
from their slender origin, the waters have become a rush
ing river — the river Adige. The mountains are behind,
to the north ; the character of the landscape has changed,
and within a horseshoe bend of the swift stream, well-
nigh enclosed by it, lies Verona.
Verona " La Degna," Verona the Worthy, a city
crammed with the history of past wars, a city of colour,
in its bricks, in its stones, in its marble walls and fresco
adorned palaces. Wherever one turns, be it the pale
green of the river on which the wheels of those water-
[41]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
mills, so like the Noah's Ark of childhood's days, for
ever turn, or the brilliant and keen blue of the sky, there
is always colour for the eye in Verona. Colour for the
mind too lies concealed in its streets and buildings.
Greek, Roman, Ostrogoth and Frank, Italians and Aus
trians, have all ruled here. Ruled and gone and left
their trace on this beautiful city — the key to Alt' Italia
— ^which Italy once more holds and guards with jealous
eye. Long may she keep it.
Verona is connected with two great names in the his
tory of Italian architecture, Fra Giaconda, the monk
who in the early days of Renaissance was supreme in
the north, and Sanmicheli. Many of the fine palaces
the former designed bear evidence of his talent and jus
tify the summons to Rome, where he went at an ad
vanced age to superintend the building of St. Peter's.
The latter, who evolved the triangular and pentangular
bastion, is more widely known in the science of fortifi
cation than as a builder. Fra Giacondo's finest work
in Verona is undoubtedly the Palazzo del Consiglio, the
old town hall called " La Loggia," which stands on the
north side of the Piazza dei Signori, one of the most
architecturally beautiful squares in Italy. The Palazzo
della Ragione, with a courtyard and grand open stair
way of the fourteenth century, is on the south of the
square next door to the Tribunale, and the Prefettura is
[42]

VERONA
opposite. The fine portal of the latter is one of San-
micheli's works. These magnificent buildings, with the
exception of the first-named, were all at one time or an
other palaces of the great family of Scaligeri or Della
Scala, and in one of them Dante, whose statue is in the
centre of the piazza, found refuge when driven from
Florence. The family of Scaligeri, although settled in Verona as
early as 1085, comes first before the historian at the
death of the bloody tyrant Ezzelino in 1261. Verona,
freed from his terrible rule, became at that date a free
town and Mastino della Scala accepted the office of
Capitano del Popolo. Onwards for over a hundred
years the Scaligeri governed Verona; and during the
reign of the most famous of the race, Francesco, or " Can
Grande," Great Dog, it became the gathering-place for
men of note of all sorts, and his palace the home of the
great poet. The family crest, a ladder, is to be seen all
over the city, while the unique group of the Scala tombs
is without a parallel.
This wonderful group stands outside the little church
of Sta Maria Antica at the end of a passage leading out
of the Piazza dei Signori.
Of these tombs, that of Mastino I, is a simple sarcoph
agus ornamented with nothing but a cross. It was at
one time covered with a canopy, but the stones of this,
[43]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
being handy, were used for the restoration of Sta Maria
Antica close by. The tomb of Can Grande forms the
canopy over the portal of this church. Columns sup
port its three stories. Upon a sarcophagus lies an effigy
of the Great Dog with his good sword at his side ; above
is his equestrian statue in full armour. Mastino IL,
who succeeded his uncle Can Grande, is likewise repre
sented by a recumbent figure on the sarcophagus of his
tomb, which is also crowned by an equestrian statue in
armour. The visor of his helmet is drawn down, and
thereby hangs the tale that Mastino was ashamed to show
his face, even to his wife, after he had treacherously slain
with his own sword his relative. Bishop Bartolommeo
della Scala. Can Signorio's monument, though not the
most elaborate, is decidedly the finest. At the four cor
ners under beautiful pointed canopies, are the figures of
Sigismundo, Alexius, St. George, and Signorio himself,
A great deal of the bronze work and detail about this
tomb is very good, and the equestrian figure on the top
is excellent. There, gathered together, these warrior
princes of the great family repose in their last long sleep.
Those who deem the pen mightier than the sword, may
care to reflect that a fame more universal and lasting
than that of all the Della Scalas has been attained by a
French scholar of the sixteenth century who also bore
the name of Scaliger. Yet even this prince of learning
[44]

VERONA
was prouder of his traditional descent from the noble
Veronese house than of all his achievements in the world
of letters.
And Verona's churches? Tradition says that Charle
magne erected the first building on the site of the Cathe
dral. The present edifice, though almost entirely recon
structed in the fifteenth century, was commenced in the
tenth. The most ancient part that remains, probably a
portion of the first church, is the apse, which on its ex
terior bears traces of Roman influence. It is very sim
ply built of a small cut grey freestone, faced with flat
pilasters terminating in Roman capitals, above which is
a frieze of floral pattern. In the remainder of the build
ing Verona marble and the rich yellow stone of the dis
trict are used.
The double-arched west porch of the twelfth century
is exceptionally good. Two colossal gryphons support
elegant columns, and still command a certain amount of
awe amongst the smaller children who play about the
Piazza del Duomo, Both arches are round; the lower
is supported by four columns, the upper by eight. Rep
resentations on the inner shafts of the lower arch of the
two Paladins, Roland and Oliver, give a semblance to
the tradition that Charlemagne had something to do with
the first church erected here. Oliver holds his cele
brated sword, on which is inscribed Du-rin-dar-da.
[45]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
Roland is cross-legged and bears his shield. They are
both seen in the illustration. The colour of this porch
and fagade is very beautiful. Great blocks of red mar
ble intermingle with yellow stone, white and pink mar
ble courses continue the construction above, and ara
besques of a weathered grey stone complete the harmony.
The fine south portal is an earlier erection. Some an
cient frescoes decorate the lunette, and monsters grin at
one like a nightmare from above.
The interior is lofty and very striking. Tremendous
columns support the low Gothic roof, the vaulting of
which hardly exceeds the height of the arches between
the nave and aisles. Many signs of " giving way " and
cracks in the masonry have necessitated iron girders,
which detract somewhat from a fine effect. The heavy
capitals of the nave columns are rendered rather un
sightly by three courses of floral design. The aisles are
pointed, narrow, and very good. Encircling the high
altar is a colonnade screen, which though beautiful in
itself and designed by Sanmicheli, is sadly out of place.
The fine bronze crucifix which surmounts it is by Gian-
battista da Verona.
The cloisters lie on the north side of the Cathedral.
About half a dozen feet below the level of the pavement,
standing on its base, is a fine Corinthian column, with a
Roman floor around. Between them and the early Lom-
[46]

.I" t^^s^

VERONA
The Porch of the Cathedral

VERONA
bard church of S. Giovanni in Fonte is a tortuous corri
dor lined with sepulchral slabs of many archbishops and
bishops. This little dark church is formed of four
small bays and was formerly the old baptistry. In the
centre of the nave stands a huge octagonal font, with a
smaller one inside, wherein stood the officiating priest.
The figures in bas-relief on these two fonts, which by the
way are cut from one solid block of marble, are well
worth studying.
Another Gothic church is Sant' Anastasia, which was
commenced by the Dominicans in the thirteenth century
and is still incomplete. The nave is very fine and has
the same low vaulting that is a feature in the Cathedral;
its walls, too, are cracked and held together by iron gir
ders. Close to the west door in the interior are two
humpbacked figures which hold the Holy Water basins
and are of some interest. One of them was executed by
the father of Paolo Veronese and the other by Alessandro
Rossi, who took his cripple son " Gobbino " for his
model. The most interesting ecclesiastical fabric in the city
is, however, the church of San Zenone, It is unspoilt
by anything flamboyant or gaudy, and is a fine example
of Romanesque architecture — some consider it the finest
in North Italy, A ninth-century building stood here
before the present structure was begun in 1138. The
[49]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
west fagade is marble, the apse and sides of alternating
brick and marble courses. The great portal is a most
elaborate example of early twelfth-century work, on
which are rudely sculptured knights engaging in deadly
combat, scriptural subjects and imitations of Roman bas-
reliefs with Latin inscriptions. Theodoric on horse
back, with feet in stirrups — a very early representation
of such — and Roman dress, engages in the chase of the
deer with the Devil. The attendant dogs are evil spirits
furnished to the Emperor by the Arch-fiend. The
ninth-century bronze doors are very remarkable and
consist of forty- two square plates fixed on to pine- wood.
The subjects of each panel, which are Biblical, are most
interesting; some of the little figures wear the conical
flat-brimmed hat that may still be seen on the heads of
the shepherds in the more remote districts of Venetia.
These doors boast no handles, but two huge grotesque
heads do duty instead, and are the means of opening and
closing them. Above the portal is a wheel-of-fortune
window executed by Briolotus. At the top is the figure
of a king, and at the bottom lies a prostrate man ; between
these two are many figures climbing up and falling down
in their efiforts to reach the best place. The facade ter
minates in a gable, with a lean-to on either side.
The interior is very striking, not only in its good pro
portions but in its simplicity, which no side-altars mar.
[SO]

VERONA
Interior of S. Zeno

VERONA
As in the cathedral at Chester, one enters from the west
down a flight of steps, held a moment in admiration by
the solemn grandeur of this fine church. The beautiful
larch roof soars away far above the mellowed floor, the
warm colour of the walls and depth of shadow through
the arches of the crypt below the choir, create a harmony
of colour from our point of vantage not often met with
in Italy's churches. The aisles are divided from the
nave by alternate piers and red marble pillars, the for
mer with ascending Doric pilasters, two of which, near
the west end, support a flying arch beneath the roof and
are evident traces of an early vaulting. At the end of
the nave, and occupying its last three bays, is the raised
choir reached by two flights of marble steps on either
side of those leading down into the crypt. On the red
marble balustrade of the choir are figures of Christ and
the twelve apostles. In a niche on the south side is a
forbidding looking figure of S, Zeno, the patron saint of
the city, who, being an African, is represented with a
black face. The apse at the east end was rebuilt in the
fifteenth century and has Gothic windows.
The old Benedictine cloisters of ,the once attached
monastery stand on the north, and contain amongst
other tombs twenty-nine of the Della Scalas, The clois
ters and tombs are admirably preserved. The former
consist of brick arches, pointed on the east and west,
[53]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
and round on the north and south, supported by coupled
columns of red marble. Of Verona's forty churches
these three are the most typical and interesting, and San
Zenone, with its great architectural simplicity and won
derful campanile, holds the palm.
It is a city of shapely bell-towers; every church has
one. Some are high, others low and unpretending;
some are flat topped, others embattled or crowned by the
red brick spire which greets one further west in the lake
country. But the most beautiful of all is that which
stands at a corner of the Piazza dei Signori, adjoining
the Palazzo della Ragione, and rears its head over two
hundred and fifty feet from the pavement below. Like
a queen, this graceful Campanile del Municipio stands,
dominating her subjects the other towers, with all the
tinkling bells they contain. Across the river from the
vantage-ground of the terrace on the hill beneath the
Castello S. Pietro, Verona lies mapped out. Her dull
red and brown roofs remind one of the harmonious col
ours of a Bokharan rug. Immediately below, at the
foot of the hill, are the ruins of the Roman theatre, and
the green waters of the Adige, rushing under the arches
of the old stone bridge close by. Straight as a line ran
the Roman street to the Porta dei Borsari, erected under
the Emperor Gallienus in 265, and out into the country
beyond. Between this old gateway, which stands
[54]

VERONA
athwart the street, almost blocking it, and the river, is
mediaeval Verona, intersected and crossed by hundreds
of vicoli, or lanes, and full of subjects for a painter's
brush in the cortili that fringe them. At the corner of
the Vicola Pigna and the " Alley of the Jutting Stone,"
is a low marble column with a huge fir-cone on the top,
a reminiscence of Roman days. Near at hand is the
fine palace that Sanmicheli erected for the Miniscalchi
family, and in a lane a few steps away a crumbling rem
nant of another fine house with a beautiful portal and
row of windows. These are but a few things in the se
cluded byways of old Verona, where one's feet contin
ually led one on journeys of discovery. Many a silent
and deserted courtyard I found, where the grass shyly
thrust its head between the cobblestones, and where
creepers came wantonly trailing down over old walls
in a sweet endeavour to hide the decay of man's handi
work. From all these it is but a step to the focus of the city's
life, the Piazza delle Erbe, the forum of Roman rule,
and the most picturesque market square in Italy. In the
centre — and seen in the sketch — is the small open tribune
which occupies the place of an old building where the
newly elected Capitano del Popolo was invested with the
insignia of his office. The fountain farther up the
square was erected by Berengarius in 916, and supplied
[55]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
with fresh water by Can Signorio. The figure sur
mounting it gazes stonily every day over a sea of um
brellas which shelter the market folk below. Can
Signorio beautified his native city, and erected the tower
at the end of the piazza — a tower which can boast of the
first public clock. The Lion of St. Mark stands on an
isolated column, surrounded by vegetable and fruit
stalls, in front of the Palazzo Tresa, a highly ornate
specimen of the seventeenth century. Many of the old
houses still bear traces of the frescoes which covered
them, and which at one time must have made Verona's
streets veritable galleries of decorative art. Others re
tain the marble balconies which formed so fascinating a
feature of the city's architecture.
Of earlier days there still remains one of the grandest
ruins in Italy — the celebrated Amphitheatre. It was
the night of a hot day; a blood- red moon, mounting on
her upward path in the copper-coloured sky, left a grim
mass of deep shadow beneath. Bats were hawking in
and out of the black shadows, as yet unrelieved by the
electric lights, and the spacious piazza was nearly empty.
An ominous feeling, intensified by the distant hum of the
busier parts of the city, unsettled one's nerves. My
thoughts travelled back to the time when, there behind
that gloomy mass, slaves would be cleansing the arena
after a scene of cruel sport, and the distant hum was
[56]

VERONA
nothing but the excited throngs discussing the brutal
slaughter. Did the great poet in his twilight wander
ings ever see such a moon and such a sky? It was cer
tainly an evening that would have enticed him to shun
the noisy company of his fellow men and saunter alone
in the shadow of the great Amphitheatre. Perhaps his
spirit was there now. Small wonder that in my dreams
that night the howls of a cruel audience and the gentle
ness of the lonely poet were mixed up in inextricable
confusion.

[59]

(SUfupUt Btmn
PADUA
M^^^^HE quaint old city of Padua lies on the beaten
m ^\ track to Venice. In its great Basilica repose
^^^^^ the remains of St. Anthony. Giotto's frescoes
in the Church of the Madonna are still a
glory to behold, its university is one of the oldest in
Europe, and the modern epicure can drink coffee of the
very best at Pedrocchi's, an establishment as well known
amongst Italians as the celebrated Florian's at Venice.
The origin of Padua goes back to Antenor, whose tomb
occupies a corner near the Ponte de Lorenzo close to the
house at one time inhabited by Dante. A sarcophagus
was discovered in 1274 during excavations for the build
ing of a foundling hospital, and when opened, a skeleton
of immense size, one hand still gripping a sword, was
seen inside. Who could it be but Antenor? There was
Virgil's authority for it that he had founded Padua —
so Antenor it was who lay there in his stone coffin, and
the good folk of Padua carried the sarcophagus and its
contents to the church of S. Lorenzo amidst great excite
ment. The church has been demolished but the tomb
was spared. [60]

PADUA
Padua's tortuous streets are lined with arcades, and
although modern requirements have ordained that some
should be altered and the houses pulled down, it still
preserves an air of mediaeval antiquity. Situated on the
winding little river Bacchiglione and intersected by
other small streams, it forms in the itinerary of the tour
ist a sort of. prelude to Venice. Innumerable bridges
span these waterways. Some of them are of Roman
construction; and wherever one's footsteps lead one, be
it along the riviere — the open streets that run by the
side of the streams — or the narrow ways that may be
likened to a rabbit warren, the great charm of bygone
days lingers in them all, and still clings to its old walls
and bridges.
The Cathedral, with an incomplete fagade, was not
finished till 1754. It is a vast, ugly structure of brick
with a campanile and dome. The whitewashed interior
possesses no redeeming feature; unless it be a rather
pleasing course of grey marble that runs round on a level
with the capitals of the grey columns. A bust of
Petrarch, who was a canon here, and some beautiful
twelfth-century MSS. with exquisite miniatures in the
sacristy, are the most interesting things it contairis. If
there is but little in the Cathedral worthy of notice there
is much in the other churches of Padua.
Sta Giustiana is a very fine building of the sixteenth
[61]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
century, commenced from designs by Padre Girolamo
da Brescia and finished fifty years later by Andrea
Morone. All its altars are decorated with scrolls and
floral patterns, in the inlaid marble work for which Italy
has been famous for many generations.
The church of S, Agostino degli Eremitani is a sol
emn building of a single nave three hundred feet in
length, which was constructed at the latter end of the
thirteenth century. Its sacristy is used by the students
of the university as their chapel, and many memorials
of the most famous among them cover its walls. The
tombs the church contains are very interesting. One
with a magnificent canopy is of the fifth Lord of Padua,
Jacopo di Carrara, a friend of Petrarch's, while other
members of this extinct family lie buried in the church.
The Carraras were Lords of Padua for many gener
ations ; the last of the great race with his two sons held
the city in 1405 against the Venetians, but famine so
reduced the garrison that they surrendered themselves
to the besiegers and were conveyed prisoners to Venice,
The Council of Ten decreed that they should be strangled
in their cells, and a member of the noble Venetian family
of Priuli performed this disgraceful murder in the dun
geons of the Doge's palace.
Sta Maria dell' Arena, or the church of the Madonna
of the Arena, stands practically in what was the Roman
[62]

PADUA
The Cathedral

PADUA
Amphitheatre. About the year 1306, a certain Enrico
Scrovengo, who was owner of the Arena and adjacent
land, built within its precincts a chapel of the Annunci
ation, known as Sta Maria dell' Arena. Giotto was
working in Padua at the time, and Enrico recognising
his talent employed him to build and decorate the little
chapel. It consists of a single nave with a Gothic apse,
and tiny sacristy in which is a monument to the founder,
whose tomb is behind the altar. It is not the province
of this book to deal with the pictorial art of the country,
but Giotto's frescoes which cover the walls of this little
church stand far above all else — not excepting Fra An-
gelico's beautiful decorations in the monastic cells of S.
Marco at Florence — in the deep piety and tender expres
sion of intense religious feeling they portray.
The greatest church that Padua possesses is the huge
building dedicated to S. Antonio — " il Santo," as he is
called by the Padovanese. This enormous fabric of
marble and brick, stands facing a wide open piazza on
two sides of which are low houses — houses of three
storeys are very rare in the older parts of the city. Op
posite the fagade is Donatello's grand equestrian statue
of Erasmo da Narni, or Gattamelata, bearing his name,
" Opus Donatelli Flor." In the piazza is the Scuolo
del Santo and the little church of San Giorgio, the
sepulchral chapel of the Sograna family close by which
[65]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
is the tomb of Rolando Piazzola with a fine Gothic
canopy. The seven domes of S. Antonio cluster round a heavy
central spire, and two beautiful bell-towers rise ele
gantly to a height above; from wherever one sees the
church, these domes and spires compose and " pile "
well. II Santo died in 123 1, and Padua decided to
erect a suitable building to hold his sacred remains.
Niccolo Pisano was requisitioned for the task, but was
not given a free hand. He was informed that he must
follow the fashion of the day and produce a real Gothic
edifice. His failure to carry out these instructions can
be best seen in the fagade, where the three portals are
very poor; nevertheless, and despite his leanings towards
other styles, he was able to introduce something of the
Gothic in his bell-towers, in the open galleries round
the exterior of the apse, and the arcading of the west
front, with a mixed result that has produced a really stu
pendous church. The best decoration of the exterior is
contained in the three west doors of bronze, which are
exceedingly good.
The fine interior is most impressive, but what the
result will be when the present scheme of decoration,
already begun in the choir and apse, is carried out, it is
difficult to say. The chapel of II Santo is half way up
the north aisle. Lights burn day and night before the
altar, beneath which repose the saint's remains. Four
[66]

PADUA
fine columns support the somewhat heavy frieze of the
great Renaissance screen by Sansovino, which separates
it from the aisle. Two of these columns have a charm
ing idea in their capitals, where little sea-horses take the
place of the acanthus leaf. The screen is terminated by
two very beautiful pilasters adorned with exquisite ara
besques. The interior of this interesting chapel is lined
with nine reliefs, one of which, by Sansovino, is rather
curious and certainly very gruesome. The sculptor has
represented a suicide with a gaping crowd of women
surrounding him in his self-inflicted death agonies. Two
enormous silver candlesticks, partly of Gothic and partly
Renaissance design, stand at the foot of the steps of the
altar, and bronze figures and silver angels are placed
upon the balustrade. In the vestibule between this
chapel and the next hang hundreds of votive offerings of
all descriptions, forming a museum of the tangible hom
age paid to the saint by his devotees. The next chapel
is the only part left of an ancient fabric which stood
here long before the good Padovanese raised the present
magnificent church as a memorial of their venerated
saint. In the south aisle, opposite to and corresponding with
II Santo's chapel, is one dedicated to S. Felix, which is
fronted by a good screen decorated with an efifective fish-
scale pattern of Verona marble. It contains a good altar,
placed high above a flight of steps, and some interesting
[67]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
fourteenth-century frescoes, A thick coating of paint
quite spoils the well-carved Gothic stalls, and it is to be
hoped that when the scheme of decoration reaches this
chapel these fine stalls will be scraped and then left in
their pristine state. In another chapel are the tombs
of Gattamelata and his son; these and two monuments
designed by Sanmicheli on two of the piers of the nave
are the best in the church.
The presbytery is cut oflf from the nave by a low
balustrade, in the centre of which, rising in a bold sweep,
is a very fine bronze gate. The High Altar, impressively
placed at the top of some steps, has eight splendid panels
containing bas-reliefs by Donatello. The Master was
also responsible for the fine group of the Madonna and
Saints, as well as the huge crucifix, which are placed
above it. The magnificent bronze candelabrum, which
stands to the left of the altar, is twelve feet high. Its
maker, Andrea Riccio, spent ten years over the work be
fore he considered it fit to leave his studio. The figures
at the base are symbolical of Music, History, Destiny,
and Astrology, forming with those above a paschal can
dlestick that is one of the finest pieces of bronze work in
any church in the country. The sanctuary beyond the
apse was an addition of the year 1693, and occupies the
most eastern dome seen in the illustration. Great gilded
sliding doors hide a wonderful example of fifteenth-cen-
[68]

PADUA
S. Antonio

PADUA
tury goldsmith's work, a casket with II Santo's tongue
inside, and many other sacred relics, as well as Gatta-
melata's marshal's baton. The great doors are sur
rounded by work of the late seventeenth century, an
example of the bad taste and very low ebb ecclesiastical
art had sunk to at that period. Cherubs and nude female
figures playing stringed instruments — angels apparently
— circle round S, Antonio, who is borne aloft by other
nudes. The extravagance of the whole thing is a jarring
note amongst much that is extremely fine.
The monks of the brotherhood of S. Antonio still
inhabit the conventual buildings attached to the church,
and their dark-robed figures pass silently to and fro in
the cloistered courts of the monastery. The walls of
these three courts are lined with fine tombs and memo
rial slabs, and it was from one of these cloisters the illus
tration was taken. A great magnolia tree grows on the
well-kept grass which covers the ground like green vel
vet. No sound from the outside world penetrated this
sequestered nook. The only note to break the silence
was the drowsy hum from a voice at prayer in one of
the little green-shuttered rooms above, and the occa
sional twittering of a canary in its cage. One worked
undisturbed at those domes and towers which compose
so well and seem to reach up to the very heavens,
Padua's university was founded in 1221 by the Empe-
[71]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
ror Frederick II. on the site of the Inn of the Ox, and
is still called il Bo. Its handsome courtyard, attributed
to Palladio, is adorned with armorial bearings of dis
tinguished alumni. At the head of the great staircase is
a statue to Elena Piscopia, a poetess, musician, and flu
ent linguist; she received a doctor's degree and died a
spinster in 1684. The anatomical theatre is the oldest
in Europe. Among other famous men connected with
il Bo the names of Baldus, who taught law, and Galileo,
who expounded mathematics, must be mentioned.
Padua also possesses the oldest Botanical Gardens in
Europe, which were instituted by the Venetian Senate
in 1543. Many of the exotics which grow now all over
Europe were first established here, brought from the East
by Venetian traders, and the botanist can spend many
interesting hours in this well cared for and shady retreat.
A vast building with a remarkable history occupies
one whole side of the market square, A much-travelled
architect and engineer, Fra Giovanni, visited Padua in
the fourteenth century, bringing with him drawings of
an Indian palace; these so pleased the Padovanese that
he was asked to construct a roof to their great hall, the
three divisions of which had been destroyed by fire,
Fra Giovanni set to work, and his vaulted wooden ceil
ing, one of the largest in Europe, stands covering the
principal chamber of the Palazzo della Ragione, though
[72]

PADUA
the roof above was renewed in 1857. The paintings on
the walls of this magnificent room have by degrees re
placed a series of frescoes by Giotto. They are mostly
mystical and symbolical, the best among them being those
representing Justice and Prudence. The wooden horse
which stands in the hall is supposed to have been the
model for Donatello's bronze horse bn which Gatta
melata is seated in the famous equestrian statue outside
S. Antonio. The fine loggia on the ground floor of the
palazzo is of later date than the original parts of the
building, which were designed by Pietro Cozzo and con
structed in the years 1172 to 1219. In a street not far ofif
is another beautiful building, the early-Renaissance Log
gia del Consiglio, with its fine stairway and open arcade.
In front of this is an antique column with the Lion of S.
Mark, the sign that the city at one time belonged to the
Republic of Venice. Many other houses in this quaint
old town are of great interest, and the windings of its
streams as they meander past rose-covered walls and low
roofs, with perhaps a tapering campanile or a dome tow
ering above, afiford a rare field for endeavours with the
pencil and brush.

[73 1

VENICE
VENICE, which has no counterpart in the
world, is a city of all others in which one can
linger on in a dream taking no count of time.
The days run into weeks, these spread them
selves into months, and it becomes more and more diffi
cult to tear oneself away from the entrancing " Mistress
of the Seas," from her Cathedral and all her other mar
vellous buildings ; from her seductive gondolas and silent
canals; from her picture galleries, and alasl from the
fragrant cofifee we sip idling away the time under the
colonnade outside Florian's in the Piazza.
Well, the seductive cup is drained and while our ciga
rette is alight let us look round. Directly opposite to
us, on the north side of this grand square, stretches the
long colonnade of the Procuratie Vecchie, built early in
the sixteenth century as a habitation for the procurators
of S. Mark. It is one of the best examples of early
Renaissance architecture in Italy; nobler, simpler than
the Procuratie Nuove where we sit, which was built in
the last quarter of the same century. An arcaded build-
[74]

VENICE
ing in the classical style erected by Napoleon in 1810 con
nects the western extremities of the two Procuratie. It
is a pity that this great Renaissance Piazza should be
completed by an inferior bit of modern work instead of
such a brilliant gem of the Renaissance style as Sanso-
vino's Libreria Vecchi — at present invisible to us round
the corner. To this building, which faces the Doge's
Palace, no higher tribute could be given than to say that
its perfection fairly distracts the admiration of the on
looker from the wonderful Gothic pile before it.
But all this is Hamlet without the Prince. It is time
to leave the shadow of the arches, to step out into the
open, and to surrender ourselves to the spell of the great
church which draws one with an irresistible fascination
from the first moment we set foot in the Piazza. S.
Mark's rises bounding the vision at the eastern end of
the great square with its gorgeous fagade and cool grey
domes. So rich is the colouring and so strange the out
line that one wonders almost whether architecture has not
passed here into the sister art of painting.
Yes, there stands a building surpassingly fascinating,
unique and outside all comparison with any other church
in the country. Planned as a Greek Cross, like S.
Sophia at Constantinople, it is reminiscent of the East
far more than any building in the peninsula, or even in
Sicily where some with direct Arab influence still exist.
[75]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
The great traders of Venice who lavished their wealth
on its decoration, and whose every homeward bound
ship brought back from the Orient a choice column, a
rare piece of marble, or some such thing as a contribution
towards its making, helped to raise it bit by bit until
the wonderful church grew to be what we find it to-day,
the most seductive ecclesiastical fabric in Italy.
It was not until the year 1807 that S, Mark's became
the Cathedral church of Venice. Before this date the
Patriarchal seat was the church of S. Pietro di Castello,
and S. Mark's simply the chapel attached to the Doge's
Palace. In 828 the body of the Evangelist, stolen from
Alexandria, was brought to Venice and S. Theodore the
tutelary saint deposed to make way for a more impor
tant patron. S. Mark's remains were then placed in a
church which was destroyed by fire in 976. The follow
ing year saw the first stone laid of a building which is
perhaps the most interesting in Christendom ; but it was
not until eighty years had passed that the walls were
finished, and seventy more gone by before it was con
secrated. The interior sustaining walls are brick, and
are lined with marble or covered with mosaics and deco
rated with every sort of inlay. The tout ensemble of
this is an extraordinary harmonious mixture of styles
which compels unceasing admiration.
Standing at the west end of the Piazzo one sees, almost
[76]

VENICE
stretching across the further side, a marvellous fagade of
deep shadowed arches; the tympanums seem to sparkle
with jewels; the arches are supported by what appears
to be a forest of columns, orderly in rank, receding into
the shadow. Above, to give quality to this shade, is a
flat surface that runs from end to end of the fagade,
broken by a central semicircular window, and crowned
with Gothic turrets, crocketed finials and angels with
wings outspread. Then, surmounting all are five won
drous domes. Oriental in themselves, so overpoweringly
Oriental that the eye, unable at this distance to discrim
inate, telegraphs to the brain the magic words — " The
East! " Spoils from the East, from Greece, from Syria,
from Egypt; mosaics of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, bronze horses of Roman origin, Gothic saints
under canopied turrets, flag poles with the crimson ban
ner and golden Lion of S. Mark, all arranged without
disorder, but all succumbing to the majesty of the mar
vellous domes. More Eastern than European is the
Venetian's love of colour, and this is the note most deeply
impressed on the mind with regard to S. Mark's — five
grey domes, a foil to the brilliant mosaics and many-hued
marble columns and walls below, but blending with
them so subtly that the whole is one gorgeous chromatic
scale. The efifect of the blazing sun pouring down on the
[79]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
fagade at midday, casting deep shadows under the arches,
is very fine. Again, in the evening when the domes are
alight with the last rays of the dying orb and the great
Piazza is in cool shade, the glories of the wonderful
fabric assume a dramatic efifect which becomes almost
tragic as the light disappears and everything subsides into
a monotone. Colour begets more subtility in grey
weather; every note that might jar on the eye is then
diffused among the quieter tones around, and for this
reason the pearly sky of a grey day was chosen to depict
S. Mark's. The great campanile which fell to the
ground on July 14, 1902, is now in course of re-erection.
For some years past the necessary but hideous hoarding
at its base has interfered with the beauty of the Piazza.
The illustration does not show this but depicts the length
of the fagade, with the beautiful Porta della Carta and
corner of the Doge's Palace beyond.
The lowest portion of the fagade is formed as a vesti
bule with seven arches, the last one of which at each end
is open through. All the columns and their capitals
(spoils from the East) are of much older date than the
building. Very few of these capitals fit the abacus on
which they rest; most of them are exquisitely carved
with foliage free from all imagery. The central arch
is larger than the others. Under it is a grand door of
forty-eight bronze panels inlaid with silver. The work-
[80]

VENICE
manship of the other doors which flank this is also very
fine. The intricate Byzantine carving above these forms
a scheme of decoration wherein figures, birds, beasts and
arabesques run in a perfect riot of fanciful design. The
vaulting of the vestibule is covered with mosaics of dif
ferent periods. Those of the twelfth century are con
cerned with the Creation of the Firmament and the Cre
ation of Life; the story of Adam and Eve continued on
to the Deluge and Noah ; the tragedy of Cain and Abel ;
Joseph's dream, Pharaoh and the story of Moses, The
general scheme throughout is of white figures, mostly
nude, on a green ground. Although not in any way com
parable to the earlier mosaics at Ravenna, these are far
better in style and true feeling for the enrichment of a
flat surface than those of later date in the lunettes above
the fagade arches. Here the raison d'etre of mosaic
has been made subservient to an attempt to imitate the
shades and gradations of an oil painting. The most
important of these later mosaics is that which was exe
cuted from a design by Titian by the brothers Zuccati
in the sixteenth century, wherein S. Mark appears in
pontifical robes. It is above the centre door. On the
pavement beneath is a red and white lozenge of marble
marking the spot where Pope Alexander III. and Bar
barossa were reconciled in July, 1 177, through the inter
vention of the Venetian Republic. Many inscribed
[81]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
slabs of marble bearing legends in Greek and Syriac,
and Roman bas-reliefs, are let into the walls of the ves
tibule, evidence of ofiferings towards the building of the
fabric. All the archivolts of the five large arches are
decorated with symbolic carvings; the most interesting
being that of the main entrance, where a charmingly
quaint story illustrative of peasant life in the twelve
months of the year tells in a realistic way the labours of
those who till the soil. February with a little figure
sitting at a fire warming his hands is particularly naive.
On the south, S. Mark's joins the Doge's Palace by
means of the Porta della Carta. At the base of a column
which stands in an angle of the wall are four porphyry
figures of knights in chain mail with arms round one an
other's necks. This group is supposed to have come
from Acre. Detached from the main building and not
far from its southwest corner, are two short rectangular
columns with Greek inscriptions. They were brought
from the church of S. Saba at Ptolemais in 1256,
Amongst other interesting spoils there is a slab let into the
north wall on which Ceres, holding a torch in each hand,
appears drawn in a chariot by two dragons. It seems to
be a very early Persian work. But the best known, and
certainly the finest gift the exterior of the building can
boast, is that of the four bronze horses which stand over
the principal entrance. Sent from Constantinople in 1204
[82]

VENICE
by order of the Doge Dandolo as part of the spoils of
victory when that city fell to the arms of the Venetians
in the fourth Crusade, these horses at one time adorned
the triumphal arch of Nero in Rome. Both Domitian
and Trajan transferred them in turn to arches of their
own; and Constantine conveyed them across the seas to
his new capital in the East, where he also put them up
over an arch. In 1797, when the Republic of Venice was
no more, Napoleon took these already much-travelled
horses from S. Mark's fagade to Paris and placed them
on the top of the Arc du Carrousel. After the peace of
1 8 15 the Austrian Emperor, Francis I., caused them to
be returned to their former position, and there they
remain to-day.
.Three doors open into the cathedral from the vesti
bule, and two on the north side. The interior strikes
one at first as being very dark ; but when the eye becomes
accustomed to the half-light and is familiar with every
thing within, this wears ofif, and the senses are rather
soothed than otherwise by the mystic gloom. Indeed,
it is a great relief to find oneself inside out of the glare of
the Piazza, and, seated in a corner perhaps, quietly con
templating the grand mosaics which cover the vaulting
from end to end. It is quite impossible to describe these
adequately in a short chapter which deals with other
things as well, but noting them in guide-book fashion
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
one observes that those in the aisles on either side of the
main entrance depict the Acts and Miracles of the Apos
tles, On the vaulting of the dome which forms, so to
speak, the foot of the Greek cross, is the Descent of the
Holy Ghost, The great central dome is covered by
twelfth-century mosaics of the Ascension, and the vault
between this and the first dome with Christ's Passion and
Resurrection, The vaulting of the two domes which
compose the arms of the cross is decorated by work of
later date ; that on the north with the history of S. John,
and that on the south with the saints. The chapel of S,
John which is in the north transept was converted in the
seventeenth century into one dedicated to the Miraculous
Virgin of Constantinople. In the south transept also a
rededication has taken place; the chapel of S. Leonard
being turned into that of the Holy Sacrament.
Behind the gorgeous marble screen which divides the
presbytery from the body of the church the high altar
rises beneath a canopy of verde antico borne by four
columns. Two of these columns are eleventh century
and are elaborately carved in courses of innumerable
figures. They came from Pola when Venice subdued
Istria, and are much more interesting than the other
two of a later date ; the remains of S, Mark rest within
this magnificent shrine. On the screen itself stand the
Evangelist, the twelve Apostles, and Mary.
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Interior, St. Mark's

VENICE
At the back of the high altar is the Pala d'Oro, the
greatest treasure the cathedral possesses, and the most
celebrated golden altarpiece in existence. The upper
part came from Constantinople in 976, the lower about
the middle of the fourteenth century. It is composed of
eighty-three panels of Greek and Byzantine design filled
with enamelled figures, studded with uncut gems and
precious stones, and covered with Greek and Latin in
scriptions. More gorgeous than that of S, Ambrogio
in Milan, this magnificent piece of goldsmith's art glit
ters and sparkles in a wonderful manner when lit up by
the candles used at high mass, and is without doubt the
most splendid ecclesiastical treasure in Italy.
The fifth or eastern dome which is over the presbytery
is covered with mosaics representing Christ and the
Prophets, and one that is hardly visible of S, Mark is on
the walls of the east end. The great figure of Christ
faces the church and in its simplicity is very impressive.
The gallery, which is where the triforium would be
in a Gothic building, runs round the whole cathedral and
is pierced on its inner side only. The walls at the back
and above are decorated with more mosaic work dealing
with acts of martyrdom, and the Translation and Recov
ery of the Body of the Lord. When stray beams of sun
light find their way through the openings in the domes
and pass along the gold background, lighting up in odd
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
places small portions of these wonderful tesserae pic
tures, the efifect is very beautiful. All the angles of this
mosaic work are rounded ofif and the travelling rays
glinting first on one golden corner, then on another, are
strangely attractive to eyes accustomed to the greater
architectural severity of a northern clime. The well-
chosen slabs that line the lower portions of the cathedral
walls have taken to themselves a sombre, dusky hue, a
pale velvety brown, but there can be no doubt that in their
pristine state they realised in their splendour the Vene
tian's love of colour.
The strange pulpit, which with part of the rood screen
seen in the illustration stands to the north of the steps
leading into the presbytery, is arranged in a double tier,
and is entered by a double winding stair from the vesti
bule of the Capella de S. Pietro. Its curious domed
sounding-board is very reminiscent of the East. Men
tion has already been made of the chapels of the Miracu
lous Virgin and S. Leonard. That dedicated to S. Peter
is behind this pulpit on the north side of the presbytery.
It has a door leading out into the piazza. The corre
sponding chapel to the south is dedicated to S, Clement.
At the end of the north transept is another to S. Isidore — >
a dark, solemn little place. The sacristy is beyond the
chapel of S. Peter at the back of the presbytery. It is
a fine apartment with mosaics from designs by Titian and
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his pupils, which may be studied as a good example of
Renaissance decoration in tesserae. Sansovino, who exe
cuted the beautiful door, is said to have had it in hand
for twenty years.
The baptistery is entered from the south aisle, and with
the adjoining Cappella Zeno is one of the most interest
ing parts of S. Mark's, In the former is the monument
and sarcophagus of Doge Andrea Dandolo, who died in
1354. It is a grand specimen of the sculpture of the age.
The recumbent figure of the Doge, who was the last to
be buried in S. Mark's, is very serene in its realisation
of the Last Sleep. All the mosaics the chamber con
tains were given and paid for by Andrea. Most of them
naturally relate to the Holy Rite. The font is very an
cient, and has a fine bronze cover designed by Sansovino
and surmounted by a statuette of S. John the Baptist. A
very beautiful low relief of four crossed swords which
compose a cross, with birds beneath, is let into one of
the walls. On the vaulted roof of the Cappella Zeno,
the life of the Evangelist, whose body at first rested here,
is well depicted in a series of mosaics. The centre of
the chapel is occupied by the tomb of Cardinal Zeno,
who left the bulk of his immense fortune to S. Mark's.
The altar stands under a bronze canopy covering figures
of Our Eady (who wears a gilded shoe), S. Peter, and
S. John the Baptist. The legend runs that the Virgin
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
gave her bronze shoe once to a poor votary and it was
immediately turned into gold. From this incident the
chapel, which became the Cardinal's Mausoleum, is also
known as that of the Madonna della Scarpa.
Venice possesses nearly seventy churches, but of these
only the two most celebrated can be mentioned in this
chapter. They are SS. Giovanni e Paolo, and the Frari.
The former had its origin in the great preaching Order
of S. Dominic, and the latter in that of S. Francis.
These saints, bound by vows of poverty, went forth
preaching humility, and so great a meed of success did
they attain, that we find throughout the country, as a
result of their crusade, huge churches like these built to
hold large congregations. In Venice both Orders had
their following among dififerent patrician families, who
were mainly responsible for the monetary assistance the
Orders received, and who therefore acquired a sort of
prescriptive right to burial space within the holy walls
they had helped to raise. For this reason the tombs we
find in SS. Giovanni e Paolo and the Frari are not only
an epitome of the rulers of Venice, but in them can be
traced from the earliest Gothic the dififerent styles of
Venetian decorative art as exemplified in her sepulchral
monuments. SS, Giovanni e Paolo is a fine brick building of early
Italian Gothic, which was commenced in 1246 and fin-
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VENICE
ished in 1390. Its length is three hundred and thirty
feet, its width at the transepts one hundred and forty-
three, and in the nave ninety-one feet. From this it will
be seen that the transepts are short. The spacious nave
has five bays, the arches of which are supported by single
columns of grey stone with simple floral capitals. The
vaulting, as is usual in Italian Gothic, is low. The gal
leried triforium has small outlets into the church, and a
clerestory of pointed lights in groups of three has taken
the place of much larger single windows. The aisles
arc narrow. The apsidal choir is architecturally very
striking. From a few feet above the floor rise the long
narrow windows of the apse reaching up beyond the base
of the vaulting and giving an idea of immense height.
The glass they contain is, however, very crude ; and, un
fortunately, a terrible pink wash covers the walls, so pink
that the beauty of the architectural features is consider
ably marred. The choice of material and the selection
of colour has more to do with the success or failure of a
building than is generally realised. The transepts, nave,
and aisles are coloured grey, and harmonise with the
stone columns mentioned above, and with the monuments
of faintly tinted marble which crowd the walls of the
aisles. Among the most notable tombs are those of the Mocen-
igo family, a family which possessed the whole of the
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
west wall of the church, and whose monuments almost
cover it. Of the three equestrian tombs that are in the
church, pride of place must be given to the one put there
to Niccolo Orsini, who commanded the Republic's forces
in the war against the League of Cambray. The gilded
group of the general and his horse above the sarcophagus
is full of life and vigour. The simple but very beautiful
tomb of Paolo Loudan, on which his recumbent figure
in full chain mail lies stretched, is a fine work of the
middle of the fourteenth century.
The grand monument to Andrea Vendramin, who died
in 1478, and who was the first of the new nobility to
be elevated to the position of sovereign, is the most re
fined example of a Renaissance tomb in Venice. The
Doge lies, with face turned towards the spectator, on a
couch supported by eagles. Behind him are pages and
other attendants. The carving and arabesques of the
canopy and its supports, into which notes symbolical of
naval power are crowded, though extremely intricate, are
very pure in style. In the lunette beneath the arch kneels
the Doge, who is being recommended to Our Lady by
S. Mark. Opposite to this beautiful tomb is the Gothic
memorial to Doge Michele Morisini, who died in 1382.
The background of the central portion is a good mosaic
of the Crucifixion, in front of which the aquiline features
of the recumbent Duke are very prominent. The niches
on either side are filled with figures of diflferent saints,
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and the whole is surmounted by S. Michael with the
Dragon. The exterior of the church, especially the apse, which
rises without a single buttress, is very impressive. A
good Gothic portal occupies the centre of the unfinished
west fagade, which is flanked by thirteenth-century sar
cophagi let into niches in the walls. Close by, and occu
pying one side of the Campo in which the church stands,
is the Scuola di S, Marco. This building, now a hospi
tal, was erected in 1485 by Martino Lombardi, and is
noteworthy for the curiously conceived fagade that faces
the square. This is composed of richly coloured marble
divided into panels, on which in low relief dififerent
buildings are seen in acute perspective. They recall the
same sort of decoration which prevails in the frescoes
at Pompeii, but so cleverly did Lombardi arrange his
scheme that their absolute falsity in no way detracts from
the general design of the building.
In front of the fagade stands the magnificent eques
trian statue to that prince of condottieri whose mauso
leum at Bergamo has already been mentioned, Barto
lommeo Colleoni, A man amongst men, stern, defiant
and resourceful, his grand figure embodies all that a
leader in troublous times should be. Firmly gripping
his saddle, he sits his horse with head thrown back and
a face which betokens the masterful haughtiness of the
man. The group was designed by Leonardo da Vinci's
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
master, Andrea Verrochio, and finished by Alessandro
Leopardi. It vies with Donatello's equestrian group of
Gattamelata at Padua in being perhaps the best Italian
Renaissance statue extant.
The Frari is a church which grew out of the accumu
lated funds of the Franciscans, whose enormous monas
tery, now holding the municipal archives, adjoins it.
This great church was commenced in 1250 and finished
in 1338, and contains the monuments and tombs of some
of the city's rulers, as well as many of the Venetian nobil
ity who in bygone days made their names famous in its
annals. The west fagade has a simple Gothic doorway
and four round windows, one of which, larger than the
others, is above the figure of Christ that occupies the
apex of the arch. Like SS, Giovanni e Paolo the east
end is architecturally the most interesting part of the
fabric. Two flights of lofty windows with exceedingly
good tracery admit light into the apse. This has been
continued south by later additions as far as the wall of
the transept. The transept being thus enlarged has four
apsidal chambers that form a pleasing sequence to the
big eastern apse. The exterior of the church, when
viewed from the little Campo S, Rocco outside the east
end, composes extremely well. The four small apses
lead up to the big one, behind which and beyond the roof
line one sees the great Campanile rising over the north
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VENICE
transept. The Frari is built of brick with a simple
decorative feature in the form of a course of Venetian
Gothic at the top.
Owing to the subsidence of the foundations the inte
rior is now undergoing extensive repair. The nave is
very lofty, with single columns of grey stone that have
floral capitals. The groining ribs of the vault are of red
brick and the arches of the bays are grey stone. Two of
the nave columns are massively constructed of brick, and
form with the brick walls of the aisles and the grey col
our of the stone a very charming scheme. The choir oc
cupies the last two bays of the nave, and as is the case in
the cathedrals of Spain, is cut ofif from the body of the
church by a rood screen. The portion of this which is
in the nave is debased Renaissance, but that in the aisles
is earlier and much better. The choir stalls are very
finely carved and decorated with superb intarsia work.
The little door by which the canons enter the choir is
particularly good in this respect, with a beauty much en
hanced by the design on the doorposts. Round these
cling vines and grape clusters. The clerestory consists of
round windows with double lights, but there is no trifo
rium. Among the most interesting monuments are those
erected to Beato Pacifico, the Franciscan architect of the
church, which is in the south transept, and one to Titian
in the south aisle. His masterpiece of the Assumption,
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
now in the Accademia delle Belle Arti, was painted for
the Frari,
The domestic architecture of Venice is far more inter
esting than that with which we have just dealt. Peculiar
to Venetia, it is the outcome of that period when, the
city's trade being well established in northern climes,
new ideas and fashions travelled back from countries
over the great mountain chain and began to commingle
with the older traditions of the East. Not only on the
Grand Canal, but in many of the quiet byways of the Si
lent City, one comes across beautiful examples of that
entrancing style of fagade, the Venetian Gothic.
As the gondola glides swiftly over the waters of the
great highway of Venice there comes into sight a group
of palaces which occupies the only real angle of the
Grand Canal. This group is formed of the celebrated
houses built by the Foscari and Giustiniani families, and
is somewhat in the style of the Doge's Palace, the first-
named being contemporary with it. The flat brick fa-
gades are broken by rows of elegant windows, some with,
some without balconies. The deeply-recessed arcading
of the central lights of the first and second stories gives
just the right amount of shade to an otherwise flat surface,
which the windows above and at either side only slightly
relieve. A course of white marble edging and heavy
foundations of enormous blocks of the same give solidity,
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VENICE
and most beautifully frame the pale-red brick of which
the Venetians were so fond. Rows of pali, or posts,
painted with the colours of the owner, serve as a dock
for waiting gondolas. The water of the canal, never
quiescent, is a puzzle for the painter who would study re
flections. The tide ebbs and flows on the great highway,
the convenient but hideous steamboat rushes by, gon
dolas groan and creak against their moorings, and a ka
leidoscope of ever-changing shapes and colours well-nigh
drives him to despair.
Further up the Grand Canal is a very ornate palace,
the Ca d'Oro, with angles softened by three twisted col
umns instead of the more usual one in this type of build
ing. Its fagade was designed by Giovanni and Barto
lommeo Buon, who built the Piazetta in front of the
Doge's Palace. At one time it was entirely covered with
gilt — hence the name. Down near the Salute, where the
canal opens out to the sea, are the Palazzo da Mula and
the fascinating little Palazzo Contarini-Fasan, with its
lovely traceried balconies. These are all Venetian
Gothic. Of other styles the Byzantine Palazzi, da
Mosto and Loudan, the latter Byron's Venetian home,
and the Renaissance Palazzi, Rezzonico, where Brown
ing lived, Camerlanghi, Manzoni, with a frieze of eagles,
Pesaro, and Dario with plaques of coloured marble on
its fagade, are the most celebrated. Most of them are
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
cracking and bulging, and more than one owes its present
existence to the iron clamps which hold it together. It
is much to be feared that the utilitarian steamboat and
ever increasing motor-boat traffic will sooner or later
be responsible for the destruction of many a beautiful
building, the foundations of which were never in
tended to withstand the strain of the great extra wash it
creates. In a safer position than most is the Doge's Palace, that
magnificent construction which almost distracts attention
from S, Mark's by its side.
The first building to be constructed for the rulers of
Venice stood on the site of the Palace and was erected in
813. Fire subsequently destroyed it and also the edifice
which replaced the smoking ruins. The present build
ing was commenced in 1301 and save for the outer walls
was almost gutted in 1574 and 1577. Palladio, the fore
most architect of the day, contended that it would be dan
gerous to attempt any reconstruction unless these walls
were demolished, and it speaks volumes for the good taste
of the Senate that his scheme for pulling them down and
putting up another palace in his own hard classic style
was not adopted. The exterior as we see it is almost en
tirely due to the talented family of Buon — Giovanni, the
father, and his two sons, Pantaleone and Bartolommeo.
It is, however, much to be regretted that while restoring
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VENICE
the fagades this celebrated family of tajapieri, or stone
cutters, did not adhere to the level and beautiful design
of the two windows which escaped the fire at the east end
of the fagade that looks over the Riva degli Schiavoni
out to sea. The short massive columns of the lower col
onnade give an idea of immense strength to the great flat
space above. The capitals of these stunted columns are
extremely interesting. The Virtues and Vices find
places amidst their foliage, as do the most famous of
Rome's Emperors and Philosophers, the signs of the Zo
diac and many other symbols. Twisted shafts, one of
the types of Venetian Gothic, terminate the three angles
of the upper part of the two fagades. Their bases are
composed of sculptured groups. The angle nearest to
S. Mark's has the Archangel Michael with the Judg
ment of Solomon below him. The next, at the south
west corner, is a group of Adam and Eve with Gabriel
above. In the last, Noah, drunk with wine, is being cov
ered by two of his sons, and above them is S. Raphael
with Tobias, who holds a fish.
A noble window and pierced balcony of early fifteenth-
century work occupies the centre of the upper arcade
which faces the sea. This beautiful window and marble
balcony open out from the great Sala Maggiore Con
siglio. Above the moulding of the window is a figure of
Justice, and below in flanking niches are SS. Peter, Paul
[IOI]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
and Mark; Faith, Hope and Charity; and the four Car
dinal Virtues. A fine loggia, with cusped arches and
quatrefoils above, runs round both the exposed sides of
the Palace. The plan of the building is an irregular
square with a great courtyard inside. The courtyard is
Renaissance, the east side being a particularly good ex
ample of a period when the wealth of Venice was lav
ished on her buildings.
In the northeast corner of this court and opposite to
the Porta della Carta, is the famous Scala dei Giganti,
erected by Rizzio in 1483. At the head of this magnifi
cent Staircase of the Giants, the Doges were crowned
with the Cap of Authority. From it an open corridor
runs right and left. On the right the Scala d'Oro as
cends to the second floor. Only those whose names were
inscribed in the Libro d'Oro were permitted to use this
stairway, which led to that portion of the Palace occu
pied by the Doges and their attendant nobles. The con
tinuous suite of magnificent apartments through which
the visitor wanders seem full of emptiness and sadly
want the stately figures and quaint dress, the sonorous
voices and courtly manners of the bygone age that once
peopled them and made them live. The gorgeously
gilded and coloured ceilings become not only oppressive
from their magnificence, but wearisome by their repeti
tion; and despite the great traditions that cling to the
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Palace and the remembrance of the history made within
these chambers, it is with a sigh of relief that one steps
out on to the balcony where Justice holds the Scales
above our head, and drinks in the balmy air that floats in
over the lagoons keeping Venice pure and sweet.
Outside on the Riva at the end of the Piazetta arc two
columns of granite that were brought to Venice in 1180
by Doge Michiel. One came from Syria, the other from
Constantinople. On the capital of one is the Winged
Eion of St. Mark, the emblem of Venice's patron saint;
an emblem which is to be found in every city in the
country that owned allegiance to the Doge's rule. On
the other is a figure of S. Theodore, who stands over a
crocodile. S. Theodore, it will be remembered, was the
tutelary saint of Venice before his deposition on the ar
rival of S. Mark's body; but this statue was not put up
on the monolith until the year 1329. These two great
columns look across the water to the isle of S. Giorgio
Maggiore, where Palladio's great church stands in its
chilly splendour. Beyond are the lagoons and the open
sea. The marble-paved landing-stage on which they
stand is from one point of view the most interesting part
of Venice. On it her great traders and merchants gath
ered when the long-expected ships from the East came
into sight; and as they swept proudly up the channels
and dropped anchor opposite, one can well imagine the
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CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
excitement of the thankful owners who would in a few
minutes go on board and learn of the success or failure
of the long voyage just ended.
The oldest part of Venice lies across the Rialto bridge,
on the island of Rivo Alto, where the fish and vegetable
markets now are. As this little town grew more prosper
ous a wooden bridge, replaced in 1588 by the present one,
was built to connect Rivo Alto with the island opposite;
and by degrees the seventy-two islands on which the city
is built became absorbed within her borders. It must
never be forgotten that Venice, until connected with the
mainland by a railway bridge, always faced the sea,
which, as Grant Allen writes, was the front door.
Long before the Venice of Rivo Alto came into being,
there was a flourishing little city not many miles away on
the island of Torcello. At the time when Attila and his
Huns descended on the Roman colony of Aquileia and
wrought devastation throughout that flourishing outpost
of the world's greatest city, many of the inhabitants, leav
ing their desolate homes to the mercy of the invader, fled
to the swamps and islands at the estuaries of the rivers
Po, Adige, and Brenta. Amidst these dismal surround
ings the greater number found refuge on the island of
Torcello. From Torcello the refugees in time pushed
out to the surrounding islands, and an important station
was established on Rivo Alto. Thus began Venice ; and
[ 104 ]

•^^fr

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The Lion of St. Mark's

VENICE
from this little island grew that great Republic, the
Mistress of the Seas, which down to the time of the
French Revolution had never seen a conquering host
enter its waterways.
As early as 641 Torcello possessed a cathedral. This
was rebuilt in 874, and parts of the structure were later
on incorporated into the building which stands to-day
just as it did when finished in the early eleventh century
by Bishop Orseolo. Its architectural interest lies in its
being an Italian church on strict Byzantine lines, and ii
is one of the earliest examples of cultivated native art.
Its exterior possesses the simplicity of all early work and
stands up like a great barrack, with its campanile a land
mark for miles over the dreary waste of waters. The in
terior is very austere and cold. The bays on either side
of the nave separate it from the aisles. The columns
that support the round arches are a light grey marble ; the
capitals, Corinthianized Byzantine. The clerestory
lights, which are placed just under the roof, are on the
south side only, those on the north having been blocked
up at some remote period. The south aisle is lit by nar
row round-headed windows, each of which has a great
marble shutter slab on the outside still swinging in its
marble socket — a reminiscence of Ancient Rome, and
one that exists in the Roman butchers' shops of to-day.
A rood-screen shuts ofif the choir, the four panels of it
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
facing the nave are particularly fine examples of the art
of the early eleventh century. The two centre panels
have each a couple of peacocks with necks outstretched
feeding on foliage; and in the two outer two lions are
sculptured in perspective, a rather unusual thing for so
early a work. These panels support six elegant col
umns, which in their turn hold a series of painted panels
of wood of the fourteenth century on which the Madonna
and twelve Apostles are represented. A very fine pul
pit, with reading-desk below, is to the north of the screen.
It has an interesting bas-relief at the base, reconstructed
in the twelfth century.
Behind the high altar, under which rest the remains of
S. Eliodorus, is the tribune. This part of the church is
unique. The apse is arranged in eight semicircular
rows of seats, occupied at one time by the lesser clergy,
in the centre of which, elevated to a position just under
the small eastern light, is the bishop's throne. The
throne is approached by a dozen steps separated from the
rows of seats by a marble wall. The seats in times gone
by were white marble, but have been recently restored
and are now of brick. Despite their present warm col
our, the damp chilliness of this beautiful little church
strikes a mournful note hardly relieved by the flaring
red brick, or the gorgeous tone of the mosaics which
cover the vaulting of the choir and apse.
[io8]

TORCELLO
Sta. Fosca and Cathedral

VENICE
In the semi-dome of the apse a dignified Madonna and
Child gaze serenely below, with white-robed Apostles
ranged round. The mosaics, however, which cover the
west wall are of greater artistic interest, being of the
ninth century. They illustrate the narrative of early
Christian tradition and are divided into five bands car
rying out its ideas. The marvellous tessellated floor of
the cathedral has withstood, in a wonderful manner, the
damp and ravages of time, but, like that of S. Mark's,
is very uneven. There is an air of decay and long obliv
ion about the whole building that nothing can efface.
Outside, and joined to the cathedral by a cloistered
walk, is the church of Sta. Fosca. Originally a basilica
of the ninth century, this much dilapidated little edifice
was rebuilt in 1008 in the shape of a Greek cross, A ro
tunda occupies the centre, inside which runs a grey pil
lared arcade built to support a dome that was never
constructed. There are three apses ; the middle one has
two rows of blind arcading with ornamental brickwork
above. A brick loggia, covered with whitewash, is out
side, and connects with the cloister and the cathedral.
Sta. Fosca suffered martyrdom at Ravenna her native
city, and her remains were brought here, and this now
damp ruinous little church built around them.
On the green grass of the little piazza, which one can
hardly realise was once the focus of a thriving city,
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CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
stands an ancient stone chair called "The Throne of
Atilla." It most probably was used at the inauguration
ceremony of Torcello's chief magistrates. A column of
later date is beside it, and behind them, occupying one
side of this deserted square, is the Palazzo del Commune,
a building of the thirteenth century, now used as the
museum wherein are gathered all the relics of Tor-
cello's ancient glory that time unearths. As the gondola
carries one back to Venice it threads deserted canals, and
passes under many a bridge the voussoirs of which are
the only remaining stones of structures that spanned the
water and connected the islands over which a populous
civilisation spread itself. Save for the " quack " of an
occasional duck hidden in the reeds of the marsh and the
garrulity of the gondolier all is silence and solitude. A
vast sky above but adds to the feeling of desolation, as,
level with the water's edge we skim along. Who can
tell whether Venice herself one day may not become what
fascinating though dreary Torcello now is I

[112]

RIMINI
XT is not every visitor to Rome who, passing un
der the Porta del Popolo and seeing in front a
straight road with a row of squalid dwellings
on one side, knows that that road, the old Via
Flaminia, terminates on the Adriatic coast at far-ofif
Rimini. This, the great highway out of Rome north
wards, enters Rimini under the noble Arch of Augustus,
a very fine gateway built of travertine. Passing through
the market-place named the Piazza Giulio Cesare — for
here stands a pedestal with the legend that from it Julius
CxssLT harangued his troops after the crossing of the Ru
bicon — it runs on and out of the city over the bridge that
crosses the river Marrecchia, This bridge, which was
commenced during the reign of Augustus and finished
by Tiberius, is one of the best preserved in Italy, Of its
five arches, that in the centre has the greatest span, and
the two which flank it are a little larger than those at
either end. Traces of pediments may still be seen on its
massive buttresses. The parapet is capped by a rounded
stone course. From the two central piers inwards and
[113]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
over the arch this course is raised to a higher level than
on the remainder of the bridge. In summer a shallow
little river meanders in silvery threads over the pebbles
which form the almost dry bed of the stream, and finds
its way under the arches into the harbour half a mile be
yond. In winter a rushing torrent has for centuries
beaten against the piers that the workmen of Augustus'
time laid so well. The road above, no longer the Via
Flaminia but now the Via ^Emilia, runs out over the
plain in a northwesterly direction to Rome's ancient
colonies in the province from which it derives its name.
Many fragments and columns, let into the walls and
forming part of the building material of the houses of
Rimini, are evidence of its importance in the days of the
early emperors. Those were days when it formed with
Pesaro, Fano, Sinigallia and Ancona, the group known
as the five " Maritime Cities," and was one of the Capi
tal's great Adriatic ports. The sea is but a mile ofif and
the level sands of Rimini nowadays attract hundreds of
summer visitors who take advantage of their unrivalled
bathing facilities.
The first bishop was appointed to Ariminium as early
as 260, and ninety-nine years later the celebrated council
of the Arians and Athanasians met to deliberate over
their differences in the city. In the sixteenth century,
when it formed part of Otho III.'s empire, a Malatesta
[114]

RIMINI
was appointed viceroy of Ee Marche, and the long con
nection of this family with Rimini then commenced.
The most renowned member of the " Wrong-heads "
was undoubtedly Sigismondo, a man of great ferocity of
disposition and licentious in his habits. Like many an
other bellicose noble, Sigismondo had two sides to his
nature, and whatever his faults, it is to his credit that
many of his leisure hours were spent in the company of
philosophers and men of pacific tastes. It is due to his
patronage of Art that the genius of Leo Battista Alberti,
another curious and complex product of the age, found
scope in the great church of S. Francesco. We owe to
these two men — one the patron, the other the architect —
the best example of transition from Gothic to Renais
sance which Italy possesses.
The cathedral, a Gothic edifice dedicated to S. Fran
cesco, was but one hundred years old when Sigismondo
set Alberti to work on its transformation. Malatesta un
doubtedly intended it to be the mausoleum of his race,
and that is what this most unecclesiastical building,
which is called the Tempio di Malatesta, is. The fa
gade is extremely simple. It is spaced out into three
equal divisions. The centre is occupied by the portal
which has a good pediment and a round arch borne by
highly ornate pilasters. On either side are four Cor
inthian columns supporting the three flat-membered
[II.?]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
arches of the fagade. Over them is a broad frieze. The
bases of these columns stand on a very beautiful course
which is continued round the two sides of the Tempio.
At intervals, amidst finely-chiselled heraldic roses and
little elephants, are alternating shields bearing the I and
S of Isotta and Sigismondo — initials that are found in
every available place throughout the building — and the
coat of arms of the Malatesta.
On the north and south sides of the building a grand
row of seven broad round arches, on massive rectangular
piers, throws a deep shadow on to the sarcophagi of the
men who were Sigismondo's companions in his peaceful
hours. These sarcophagi are placed between the piers,
well above the spectator, on the basement which is built
out from the brick wall of the original Gothic cathedral.
Like the fagade, this grand colonnade and its base are
lined with white marble. Among the sarcophagi is one
which contains a trophy brought by Sigismondo from
the East.
The civilisation of the Middle Ages produced a cu
rious phase of religion that showed itself not only in the
Church, which distributed the bodies of Christian mar
tyrs all over the country and robbed the catacombs of
Rome for sacred relics in order that they might be adored
in other places, but also in the action of the great nobles,
who, to gain a little immortality, brought back from dis-
[ii6]

RIMINI
tant wars all they could lay hands on that might redound
to their heavenly credit. In the case of Sigismondo it
was, let us believe, a love of literature that prompted the
theft of the bones of the great Platonist, Gemisthus
Pletho, and placed them in the stone chest under one of
Alberti's arches. There they rest near those containing
the remains of kindred natures whom the warlike noble
claimed as intimate friends.
The interior of the Tempio consists of a nave with side
chapels and an apsidal choir. The roof is good open
woodwork. There are four chapels on either side with
the original pointed vault and groining. The Gothic
arches which open on to the nave are covered with classic
ornament. The spandrils are coloured green and are
embossed with shields and a splendid floral design. The
wall spaces between each chapel, as well as the west end,
have a wonderful arrangement of very beautiful Cor
inthian pilasters that rest on a sculptured frieze with a
blue ground on which are shields bearing the I and S.
From this frieze depend floral festoons on bands of
green and red, with medallions of coloured marble be
neath. At the bases of the pilasters are figures holding
shields. The whole of this design is executed in a grey
stone of the same colour as that in the illustration. The
piers of the arches of the two first chapels on either side
are enriched by figures of knights and dames ; the third
[117]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
by beautiful panels of nymphs and children carrying gar
lands, &c., on a light blue ground reminiscent of the
Della Robbia. The fourth chapel on the south side has
figures symbolical of the months of the year and the signs
of the Zodiac; while that on the north has figures of
saints on its piers to which, instead of the usual classic
bases, elephants of black marble have been substituted.
The first chapel south is dedicated to S. Sigismondo, who
sits on two of these great beasts. The Malatesta crest is
above the altar. On one wall are delicately carved fig
ures of angels drawing aside curtains from a crucifix;
repeated on another, where the angels in even better atti
tudes part the curtains from a small closed window that
looks into the Sanctuario. So delicately cut are these
beautiful figures that the art which produced them seems
almost plastic. The Sanctuario is closed and contains a
fresco of Sigismondo Malatesta kneeling before his
patron saint. The next chapel appears in the illustra
tion. It is dedicated to S. Michele, whose figure above
the altar is supposed to be a portrait of Isotta. She is
interred in the tomb which the sketch shows. During
the life of Sigismondo's two wives she was his mistress,
but at the death of the second he married her and the
record of their wedded life is a happy one. Her tomb
is borne by elephants on brackets and is surmounted by a
knight's helm with the Malatesta crest above.
[ii8]

RIMINI
Isotta's Tomb in the Cathedral

RIMINI
The first chapel on the north side of the nave has a
tomb placed high up on the wall, which contains the re
mains of as many of Sigismondo's least famous ancestors
as he could lay hands on. The chapel is known as the
Capella dell' Aeque from an ancient statue of the Ma
donna which represents her as sending down rain. On
the base of the pillars of this chapel are portraits in low
relief of Sigismondo, The low brow, hooked nose, and
cruel mouth tell one plainly that the sardonic expression
of the face does not belie the character of this extraor
dinary man. On the wall to the right of the west door
is his tomb, which, considering the part he played in the
history of his day, must be acknowledged as very simple
and plain.
The other chapels are full of the tombs of the illus
trious members, male and female, of the House of Mal
atesta, Along the length of the nave in front of all these chap
els runs a splendid marble screen or balustrade. At
every fourth pillar, on the marble rail, stands a charm
ing little cherub resting on a shield or holding a bunch
of flowers or basket of fruit. The screen of the last
chapel on each side is of red Verona marble and is per
forated by the elephant head of the Malatesta and gor
geously designed arabesques in circles. From one end
to the other the screens stand out from the chapels into
[121]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
the nave, and are raised two steps above the red-tiled
floor. Such are some of the features which go to make
the Tempio di Malatesta one of the most extraordinary-
cathedrals in Italy.
There is little else to attract the visitor to Rimini, un
less it be to undertake a visit to the tiny Republic of S.
Marino. A pleasant day's excursion may be taken to
this quaint little stretch of territory which is so pictur
esquely situated on a spur of the Alban mountains a few
miles from the city.

[ 122 1

(Sll\upUt ^m
FERRARA
'T the foot of the Euganean hills, those hills
which stand like sentinels detached from the
northern ramparts of Venetia, and guarding
the tract of country that stretches eastwards
to the sea between Rovigo and Venice, are the ruins of a
castle — the Castello d'Este — whose lords at one time
played a prominent part in the history of Italy. Of
Lombard origin, these Margraves of Este had ruled the
surrounding country for three centuries prior to 1452, in
which year Pope Paul III. created Borso d'Este Duke
of Ferrara, and the family, as long as it lasted, was
thenceforth inseparably connected with the subject of
this chapter. More honours were bestowed on BorsO'
when the Emperor Frederick III. gave him the titles of
Duke of Modena and Reggio, and he held the domains
of those places as fiefs for his overlord. Borso's grand
son Alphonso married the notorious Lucrezia Borgia;
but to Azzo d'Este, Margrave of Este in the year mo,
belongs a greater claim to fame. Scion of a junior
branch of the Welfs or Guelphs he succeeded to the
Duchy of Bavaria on the death of his grandfather, the
[123]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
last male representative of the elder branch of the family,
and from his offspring grew the Guelph Houses of Han
over and Brunswick, from the former of which is de
scended our own Royal line. In the sixteenth century
the Court of Ferrara was second to none in Europe for
its patronage of the Arts and Literature, and the House
of Este will always be handed down to posterity as one
that did much to raise the culture of Italy to a very high
pitch. In the centre of the city, surrounded by a moat and
entered by two bridges which span it, the great pile that
Ferrara's rulers erected stands haughtily four-square,
with four immense towers at the corners. Here in
safety dwelt those mighty princes who brought renown
to the city that lay around and beyond; and here in a
dungeon below the level of the water, Duke Nicolo III,
caused his wife and her paramour, who was one of his
own natural sons, to be put to death; a tragedy which
gave Byron his subject in the poem " Parisina." This
huge fortress, like most of the other buildings in Ferrara,
is constructed of brick, Ferrara's streets are wide, and
though its palaces and houses do not rise to any great
height, the gardens behind them, enclosed by high walls,
give an air of spaciousness and aristocratic bearing that
attest its former importance. Most of these palaces and
houses are decorated with beautifully moulded brick or
[124]

FERRARA
terra cotta courses; and the well-proportioned windows
on their flat street fronts create the impression of great
space, which is the chief characteristic of Ferrara.
There is one important building, however, which is con
structed of stone, the Palazzo de' Diamanti, so called
from the peculiar facets of the material with which it is
built. Ferrara possessed a school of painting of its own,
and it is in this palace that the best examples have been
placed. The great palace of the Bentivoglio family,
where many celebrities have lodged, has a heavy stone
cornice and baroque decoration on its vast brick sides.
The Casa di Ariosto, built by the poet himself in the
years 1526-28, and in which he died, with an inscription
on its walls he composed, is another fine house. The hos
pital of Sta Anna, a most beautiful red brick and terra
cotta building, has cloistered courts ; and the cellar which
was Tasso's prison for five months until he was removed,
still a prisoner, to a better room, can be seen. In the
castello itself Calvin the reformer found an asylum, be
friended by Renee, the wife of Duke Ercole d'Este, who
paid forfeit for her temerity by being separated from
husband and children by a Papal Bull.
The Cathedral was begun in 1135, and its exterior be
longs almost entirely to that period. The west fagade is
a very good example of Lombardo Gothic. It is di
vided into three equal portions, each of which is sur-
[125]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
mounted by a gable containing what was at one time a
wheel window. The central part has a good porch
somewhat similar in design to the one at Verona. The
semicircular arch is borne by columns supported by two
dwarf figures bent double with the weight of their bur
den ; they squat on the backs of lions, one of which holds
a bull and the other a ram between its forepaws. Above
this is an open gallery with very beautiful twisted pillars
and quatrefoil piercing in the three arches. In the
spandrils of these, and of earlier date, are bas-reliefs of
the dead rising from their tombs, and over them at the
base of the canopy above are reliefs of the Life of Our
Saviour, the Virtues, the Vices and Seven Mortal Sins, as
well as the Day of Judgment. The two flanking parts
of the fagade, one of which appears in the illustration,
have each three tiers of arcading. The lowest is com
posed of nine rounded arches with four-sided columns
grouped in triplets, which are enclosed by three pointed
arches. The next tier is of nine pointed arches : and over
this are four pointed arches deeply recessed. Following
the line of the gable is an extremely efifective gallery of
elegant double columns and pointed arches, one of the
great features of Pisan Gothic so prominent in the
churches of Lucca. Near the base of this wall in a cu
rious pilgrim's dress with a pleated skirt is the figure of
Alberto d'Este. [126]

FERRARA
r^e Cathedral

FERRARA
The whole of the south wall has a double range of
arches which very pleasantly break the monotony of so
vast a space of yellow brick. The grand campanile at
the southeast corner was put up by Ercole II,, and is
composed of four tiers of round arches on columns with
Corinthian capitals. The alternate bands of red and
cream toned marble with which the exterior is faced
give a good decorative efifect to this big tower.
The interior of the Cathedral has been modernised and
painted to represent carved stone. Whitewash, gener
ally the alternative to painted imitation of something sub
stantial in construction, is perhaps preferable to this
form of deception as it does not really interfere with the
proportions of the architect's design. Here, however,
the really fine proportion of the interior is almost de
stroyed by the obtrusive colours of the false marble walls,
and the representation of bosses and capitals. The semi
circular choir by Rossette was built in 1499 and has a
ceiling covered with a fresco of the East Judgment by
Bastianino, who was one of Michael Angelo's favourite
pupils. This fresco contains portraits of many of the
painter's friends who are depicted in Heaven, while
those with whom he was not on good terms are enduring
the tortures of the other place.
In the piazza outside the Cathedral a market goes on
all day long throughout the year. It is diflicult to an-
[129]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
alyse the feelings of folk who in the bitterest of weather
unfold their great umbrellas over the fruit and vege
tables exposed for sale. But so it is in Ferrara during
November when the accompanying sketch was made, and
every morning sees a thick coat of ice on the moat sur
rounding the castle. For although the good people
wrapped themselves in heavy cloaks and thick coats and
shivered over charcoal stoves, they still sat under their
umbrellas. Habit breeds custom and custom lasts for
ages. The old city walls afiford a delightful promenade of
four miles or more in length. On one side, the town
seems to be right in the middle of a huge market garden
above the trees of which long red roofs and towers rise
upwards. On the other, at this time of year, the last
leaves from rows of poplars and plane trees may be seen
gently falling to the ground in the tranquil frosty air,
and when at rest forming a glorious carpet of russet and
orange. Great teams of oxen, six couple to a team, are
straining hard at the plough that cuts deep furrows in the
stifif soil. The trees have long ago been trimmed and
the peasants now turn their hands to the cutting of clay
¦ — that stifif clay through which the oxen toil — for brick-
making. Ice covers the water in the fosse, and although
the sun shines brilliantly and the malarial mosquito is
no more for at least eight months, one soon realises that
Ferrara is better in the spring than in late autumn.
[130]

s

RAVENNA
/AVENNA is one of those ancient cities the
origin of which is lost in the mist of ages. It
is, however, no guess work to say that in the
days before the first unknown settlers found
their way to the spot which became their permanent
home, the fertile land in which it now lies embowered
was a vast waste of waters and salt marshes. The first
inhabitants of this dreary region drove piles into the mud,
and erected their dwellings on such foundations as these
afiforded. Wooden piles will not last for ever, and the
subsequent buildings that were put up, pulled down and
replaced, have accordingly sufifered in stability. When
the march of Rome carried her legions north, Ravenna
was encircled by a seagirt wall, and a Roman colony was
established which became in Pompey's day a first-class
naval station. Alive to the great strategic value of the
city the Emperor Augustus constructed a new and second
harbour capable of holding two hundred and fifty ships,
which he named Portus Classis. This he connected by
a canal with one of the estuaries of the river Po. Portus
[131]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Classis lay three miles south of Ravenna, and between
the two there soon sprang up a connecting link, the town
of Caesarea. The Emperor Honorius made Ravenna the
capital of the West, and both he and his celebrated sister
Placidia resided there.
In 493 Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, who had
extended his conquests southwards over the Alps, cap
tured the city, and Ravenna then became the capital of
the Gothic kingdom. During his reign, a reign marked
by absolute religious toleration, Italy was at peace for
thirty years. Ravenna must have been at that time some
miles from the coast. Jordanes, the historian, has
handed down the fact that its celebrated Pineta, or Pine
Forest, was in existence in Theodoric's day. Justinian,
who drove out the Goths with the help of Belisarius and
Narses, left the administration in the hands of the latter,
who became the first Exarch. The Exarchs of Ravenna
practically governed the entire Italian kingdom; even
the Popes were subject to a rule which lasted one hundred
and eighty-five years. In 15 12 the Italian war that fol
lowed the League of Cambray brought a French army
under Gaston le Foix into Romagna, and the bloodiest
battle ever fought on Italian soil took place not far from
the city; Gaston losing his life towards the close of the
engagement at a spot marked by an obelisk.
It is, however, in early Christian Art, nowhere so well
[132]

RAVENNA
exemplified as in the mosaics of Ravenna, that interest is
chiefly centred. More than fourteen centuries have
come and gone since the first of these wonderful wall
decorations were placed where they remain to-day. And
though Ravenna and its celebrated Pine Forest are in
separably connected with the immoral Dante and the
poet Byron, and though the sarcophagus and tomb of
the former, tucked away in a corner of a little piazza,
draw many a pilgrim to worship at his shrine, Ravenna
lives in its mosaics and will continue thus to live as long
as the walls last on which they are encrusted.
Theodoric's great basilica possesses one that is uni
versally accepted as the finest in the world, but the church
of S. Vitale is enriched with the most splendid of all.
Close to S. Vitale is the mausoleum which Honorius'
sister, Galla Placidia, built in the form of a Latin cross
for herself and her husbands. In its way it is one of the
most perfect gems of good taste in mural decoration ex
tant. The interior walls are lined with rare marbles.
The arch over the entrance has a mosaic of the Good
Shepherd and His Sheep in subdued greens and greys.
The vault of the first arm of the cross is covered with a
most glorious blue ground out of which shines a multi
tude of stars in white and gold; this leads the eye in a
perfect harmony of colour to the blue-green ground of
the dome, whereon the four Evangelists and their sym-
[133]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
hols are portrayed in white and a dull red. The sarcoph
agus of the Empress still remains in the recess beyond,
and in the lateral arms of the cross are those of her
brother Honorius and her second husband Constantius
III. These three stand exactly in the same places as
they did fourteen hundred years ago. The mosaic above
Placidia's tomb represents Our Lord with an open book
in one hand and a cross in the other. In the centre is a
gridiron towards which He proceeds. On the left side
a sort of tomb or cupboard stands open disclosing on its
shelves the bodies of the four Evangelists, their names
being written beneath each body.
In the other recesses stags are seen drinking at foun
tains, and birds and arabesques cover the beautiful
tesserae groundwork. The soffits of all the windows,
which are filled with thin slabs of alabaster, are adorned
by a deep red, and a black and white pattern on a gold
ground. S. Vitale, the building to the right in the sketch, was
erected in the reign of Justinian by Archbishop Ecclesius
on the spot where S. Vitalis sufifered martyrdom. Like
most of the early buildings of Ravenna it has sufifered
from the nature of the ground on which it stands, and is
buttressed up and held together by great iron ties and
clamps. The interior is a vast circle with a domed roof
supported by eight arches and the same number of piers,
[134]

RAVENNA
between which are semicircular two-storied recesses.
These are divided by three arches with plain columns
that have double capitals. A circular aisle extends
round the lower part of the church carrying a gallery
above. The brick walls, against which are placed many
ancient sarcophagi, were originally covered with slabs
of marble, and as S. Vitale and most of Ravenna's other
churches are now monumentali nazionale it is to be hoped
that marble may some day once more line this efifective
interior. The superb mosaics on the vault of the Choir and
Tribune are of the sixth century, and as fresh to-day as
when first put up. The semi-dome of the apse has a fine
gold ground on which the Almighty is enthroned on a
globe with Archangels around. Above them float crim
son and blue clouds. He gives to S, Vitale, who stands
at His right hand, the crown of martyrdom ; on His left
is S. Eutychius offering a model of the church. The
vault of the Tribune itself is decorated with one of the
most gorgeous arrangements of colour in arabesques and
birds that could be imagined. On one wall is a fine mo
saic of Justinian surrounded by courtiers, and S. Maxi-
mianus with two accompanying priests. The Emperor's
robe is deep purple embroidered with gold and mother-
of-pearl, those that the others wear are white and gold
with coloured edging. On the opposite wall is the
[137]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Empress Theodora attended by the ladies of her court.
Here again the costumes give a fine colour note, and the
expressions on the diflferent faces, which are very East
ern in type, are remarkable. A curtain forms part of
the background of this mosaic, and is, curiously enough,
green, white and red, the Italian colours of the present
day. On the arch are half-lengths of our Saviour and
the twelve Apostles, and the two martyred sons of S.
Vitalis, SS. Gervasius and Protasius whose remains rest
in the church of S. Ambrogio in Milan.
All the angles of the mosaics are rounded oflf as in S.
Mark's at Venice and elsewhere. But in S. Vitale they
are patterned with bands of distinct colours, and do not
interfere with the general efifect as they do in S. Mark's,
where the brilliant gold catches the light and accentu
ates the angle. The whole colour scheme of the decora
tion is green and white relieved by a dull purple, black
and deep red set on a rich dull golden ground. However
much one admires the later mosaics of Venice and Tor
cello, Palermo and Monreale, the palm for beautiful
colour must be awarded to the glorious art of Ravenna.
At the base of the columns in the Choir stand the cele
brated pagan bas-reliefs called the " Throne of Nep
tune." In both, a sea-monster lies extended beneath the
throne of the god. That on the right has a winged figure
holding a trident; in the other, two figures bear a huge
[138]

'RAVENNA
conch shell. Sea-horses, dolphins and shells, crowded
in between Corinthian pilasters, form the lower panels
which two nude boys bear on their shoulders staggering
under the heavy weight.
Ravenna's cathedral contains nothing of any architec
tural interest, as it was rebuilt in the bad period of the
eighteenth century. The original edifice, which was
erected by S. Ursus in the fourth century, was known as
the " Basilica Ursiana." The Archbishop's Palace ad
joins the east end, and in it is one of Ravenna's earliest
places of Christian worship. The little chapel to which
we refer was probably built about 430 and was the work
of Peter Chrysologos. With the exception of painted
restorations to some of its frescoes it is to-day just as it
was when the decorators left it more than fourteen hun
dred years ago. In the vestibule leading to the chapel
one may see the ivory throne of S. Maximianus, This
fine specimen of sixth-century art is covered with little
ivory panels on which bas-reliefs tell the history of Jo
seph, In front of the seat are the Saint's monogram, the
panels beneath representing the favourite theme of our
Lord as a shepherd amidst his sheep, with the four Evan
gelists attendant. The four legs of the throne appear to
be solid ivory; those at the back go right up to the top
and must at one time have been splendid tusks.
To the north of the Cathedral is the Baptistery, The
[139]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
mosaics of the fifth century which line the interior are
in a very light key of colour, the scheme employed being
light blue, white and gold. Situated between the eight
arches of the octagon are sixteen bas-reliefs of the proph
ets executed in a cream-coloured marble. The arches
themselves are composed of two members, one within the
other, the outer of which is gold edged with white; and
the inner, a remarkably fine quality of blue tessera. In
the centre of the dome S. John is seen baptizing our
Saviour, who stands in the waters of Jordan surrounded
by the twelve Apostles. The font, which stands on a
fine inverted Corinthian capital, was at one time a vase
in the Temple of Jupiter. This Temple was situated on
the site of the Baptistery, and eight of its columns form
the support of the octagonal arches.
The cathedral, which is the church with a dome in the
illustration, possesses one of the round towers peculiar
to Ravenna. The date of these towers is uncertain, but
is probably the eleventh or twelfth century. Insecure
foundations have caused most of them to tilt to one side
• — note the angle of the Torre del Pubblico in the sketch
1 — and necessitated a great deal of restoration.
Theodoric erected his palace and the basilica which
adjoins, in the wide thoroughfare that runs north and
south from the Porta Serrata to the Porta Nuova. Very
little, if anything, remains of the first-named building.
[140]

RAVENNA
Knd judging from the Romanesque features of a brick
colonnade and the portion of a sometime large dwelling
that stands behind it, it is very doubtful whether any of
the original palace exists. We have it on record, too,
that Charles the Great carried oflf the marble columns
of Theodoric's building to adorn his own palace in
Achen; and, as he did this, there is every probability
that he took other material as well. But, if we have
nothing left of the Gothic king's residence, we have his
grand Arian basilica intact. Theodoric dedicated his
church to S. Martin, but when the body of S. Apollinaris
was deposited in it, a rededication to him took place. S.
Apollinare Nuova, as it has since been called in contra
distinction to the other basilica at Classis, is famous
throughout Christendom ; famous for the finest mosaic in
the world. On the north wall, in the blank space where
the triforium might be, facing the sun, the Virgin is seen
seated on an orange coloured cushion which rests upon
a throne. She holds in her lap the Child. Two angels
stand on either side. Their robes are white, hers is deep
purple fringed with gold and sparkling jewels. Ad
vancing towards her are the Three Kings of the East,
whose names appear above each, Melchior, Gaspar and
Balthassar. In their hands are silver vessels. The first
angel holds his out to receive them. Beyond the kings
in a row, twenty-two virgins come bearing crowns.
[141]

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They are garbed in light purple with white veils ; round
their waists are bejewelled belts. The expression on the
face of each is dififerent, and each is in a slightly dififer
ent attitude; one is accompanied by a little white dog.
They tread lightly on the green sward from which many
little flowers lift their humble heads. Between each a
palm-tree grows with spreading leaves and clustering
dates. It is a wonderful procession. The eagerness and
haste of the Three Kings, the dignified and stately
rhythm of the slowly pacing Virgins are so well realised,
that, although there is no idea of anything but flat deco
ration in the rendering, a feeling of continuous motion
holds one throughout. In the darkened corner at the
west end of the mosaic are the walls of the City of Classis.
The golden tessera of these walls are so dark and frown
ing that they might almost be called brown. Brown
they appear to be, but this is because, through an arched
opening, three ships with white sails come gliding into
port over the cerulean blue of the sea. The eye is thus
carried along the whole length of the mosaic without a
single jarring note. From the white angels at one end
to the white sails at the other, it travels along with a con
sciousness of repose, and one feels instinctively that one
is in the presence of a masterpiece.
On the opposite wall, occupying the same position as
Classis, are the city of Ravenna and the palace of Theo-
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RAVENNA
doric. Corresponding with the two and twenty virgins
are figures of twenty-five saints clad in white — save one —
and all bearing crowns. Our Saviour, seated between
four angels, gives His benediction to the saints, who ad
vance towards Him. The first, in a violet robe, is S.
Martinus, the patron of the Church when the sound of the
Arian creed filled its aisles. Above both these mosaics
are round-headed clerestory windows with saints and
prophets in the panels between. The ancient marble
throne of the Arian bishops still exists in a little chapel
in the north aisle; and here also are some relics of S.
Apollinaris. One of the architectural features of Ravenna's churches
may be seen in the double capitals of the columns which
give them a sort of stilt, a peculiarity which does not pre
vail in churches elsewhere of the same date — the fifth
and sixth centuries. Into these two centuries were
crowded the great architectural works and their interior
decorations that have made Ravenna famous. But it is
sad to think that the names of those whose genius found
scope on their walls, if ever recorded, have been lost.
The other great basilica, dedicated to S. Apollinaris,
S. Apollinare in Classe, stands in solemn loneliness some
three miles south of the city. Of Augustus' great port
this church, emblem of stability, alone remains. Its
round campanile towers up over the swampy meadows
[145]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
and uninhabited district that seem given up entirely to
the sky and winds. An atrium, now reduced to a por
tico, stood at one time in front of the fagade, but there
is nothing to attract one in the barn-like exterior of the
building save the glamour attached to its history, which
is accentuated by the dreary desolation around.
Inside, the nave is divided by twelve round arches on
each side; these are supported by columns of cipollino
marble. The Byzantine capitals, as in S. Apollinare
in Nuovo, are surmounted by an impost with a cross in
relief. A fine flight of steps leads up to the High Altar,
Choir and Tribune. The crypt is beneath. The floor of
the nave, which slopes upwards towards the east, is four
feet above the original, which was partly covered with
mosaic. A temple of Apollo stood on the site before
the church was erected in the year 534, and this older
floor may be part of the pagan building.
The mosaics of the Choir and Tribune were under
going restoration at the time when this was written, but
although partly covered up enough was visible to show
that in the semidome of the apse a large golden cross, with
a representation of the Almighty's Head in the center, oc
cupied the middle of a very brilliant blue circle. The
soffit of the arch of the Choir has a blue ground covered
with multi-coloured birds and arabesques.
Amongst other of Ravenna's churches the modernised
[146]

RAVENNA
basilica of S. Francesco, the church contiguous to Dante's
tomb, contains some ancient sarcophagi and the finest
tomb slab in Italy. This is now out of danger and has
been placed on the west wall of the nave. It originally
covered the remains of Ostasio da Polenta, Lord of
Ravenna. He is represented in the garb of a Franciscan
friar and lies outstretched, with beautifully modelled
hands and face, under a very rich Gothic canopy. The
Polenta family were the first to befriend the great poet
when he sought refuge here from Florence.
Adjoining the back premises of one of the hotels is the
old Arian baptistery, now the oratory of Sta, Maria in
Cosmedin. It was here that the first Christian baptism
in Ravenna took place. The church of S. Spirito built
by Theodoric opens on to the same courtyard; but, next
to the Gothic king's great basilica, the most interesting
building connected with his name is that which is situa-
.ted half a mile outside the Porta Serrata.
A pleasant avenue with well-kept rose beds leads one
on towards a circular building of grey Istrian limestone,
which is covered with a dome of the same material, and
we are in the presence of the tomb which Theodoric
erected as the resting-place for his mortal remains. We
do not see it now as it was when the great king's bones re
posed in a sarcophagus within. To the Church of Rome
Theodoric was a heretic, and when the Goths were driven
[ 147 ]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
out of Ravenna and the Arian ritual was heard no more,
the Church ordered the sarcophagus to be broken up,
and the ashes of him who was tolerant to all creeds to be
scattered to the winds. The tomb was despoiled of its
ornaments, and consecrated and used as a chapel. Even
now it is sublime in its simplicity, and grand in its mas
sive construction. Its plan is a rotunda resting on a
decagonal lower chamber, each side of which is recessed
and arched by great blocks of limestone set as the Etrus
cans set the roofs of their tombs. Rising in two stories
from the ground, which is six feet below the present level
of the surrounding orchards, its dome is barely visible
above the tops of the fruit trees. The lower storey rests
on a platform of stone. Its pavement is always under a
few inches of water. The upper storey is reached by two
flights of steps which, built outside, give entrance to the
sepulchral chamber from a gallery or platform that cir
culates round the exterior. This gallery formed at one
time a portico. The shafts and bases of the colonnades
were found buried in the ground when the last restora
tion took place in 1857. A massive cornice with a circu
lar pattern is on the wall above, and the empty sockets
placed at regular intervals, which one sees below it, pre
sumably held the stone that formed the roof. The dome
is one huge block of stone estimated to weigh two hun
dred tons. On its exterior, close to the edge, are a
[148]

RAVENNA
dozen perforated projections. It is thought that these
were used as handles when the mass was put into position.
The summit is flat, and on it at one time a statue may have
stood. Simplicity is almost always one of the character
istics of the great, and the mausoleum which he erected
was worthy, in its strength and plainness, of Theodoric
the Goth.

[149]

BOLOGNA
^^^^^HE traveller in Italy must often have noticed
¦ ^j the difference in the shape of the battlements
^^^^^ that nowadays add so much to the picturesque
ness of old towers and half-ruined fortress
walls. No doubt he has heard the term " Guelph " or
" Ghibelline " applied to them. It is supposed that
" Welf " and " Waiblingen " were first used in Germany
as battle-cries at the conflict of Weinsberg in 1140.
When the struggle for the imperial throne between
Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick was hanging in
the balance, the sympathies of Brescia, Milan, and other
Lombard cities were enlisted on the side of Otto the
Welf. In the subsequent feuds between the Pope's party
and the Emperor's it became a necessity for the inhabi
tants of the cities of the northern part of the peninsula, if
they wished to exist at all, to favour either one side or the
other. The Guelph party were for the Pope, and the
Ghibelline were partisans of the Emperor. And thus
we find in the history of most of these towns an espousal,
as policy dictated, of the Pope's cause at one time, and of
the Emperor's some decades later. This apparent incon-
[150]

BOLOGNA
sistency was the outcome of family feuds within the city
walls. For a term of years the Guelphic nobles might
be in the ascendant, until, on the death or murder of a
leading member, they succumbed to the prowess of the
imperial party. The great families that pinned their
faith to the ascendency of the latter adopted the swallow-
tailed battlement on the towers of their castle walls, to
distinguish them from the square-shaped that were al
ready in existence. Italy throughout the middle ages was
torn by internecine strife which was reflected throughout
every class of society, and the subject of this chapter was
no exception. Owning allegiance to the Pope, the Bo-
lognese overran Romagna and forced the towns of that
province to declare for the Church. In 1249 they de
feated the Modenese at Fossalto and took King Enzio
prisoner. For two-and-twenty years — in fact, for the
rest of his life — they kept the unhappy man confined in
the Palace of the Podesta, treated however, as we should
treat a first-class misdemeanant, and according to his
rank. The long-drawn-out feuds of the Lambertazzi
and Gieremei families, and later on those between the
great Visconti and Bentivoglio, kept the Bolognese in a
perpetual state of faction fights, which lasted until the
warlike Pontifif, Julius IL, annexed the city to the States
of the Church.
To go back to its earliest days, we learn that the Etrus-
[151]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
can king, Felsina, founded a city in 984 B. C. where Bo
logna now stands. He gave it his own name, and made
it the chief of his twelve Etruscan cities. Bologna can
thus, with legitimate pride, point to a history approach
ing three thousand years. We find it to-day a typical
modern place, with just enough of the middle ages left
to make it one of the most desirable of all North Italian
cities. It possesses hardly a street which is not arcaded ;
and the thought arises " How admirably adapted for
street fighting were these sheltered walks in the days
when one half of the town was at strife with the other 1 "
In the oldest parts of the city the streets are tortuous and
narrow. Arcades in such streets would be just the very
best cover for raiders to steal along at night; and such
must have been the terror of the inhabitants during cen
turies of discord that there is scarcely a house which has
any windows opening into the arcades, and those that do
are heavily barred. Walking through these streets, si
lent witnesses of bloody feuds and severe fights, one can
not suppress the feeling that the old quarters of Bologna
are full of mystery, and it does not require much imagina
tion to see the Visconti party creeping along in the shad
owed ways for an attack on their hereditary foes, the
Bentivoglio. So much for the thoughts awakened by Bologna's nar
row thoroughfares. Its chief open square is the Piazzi
[152]

BOLOGNA
Maggiore, as fine an old Italian square as can be found
anywhere. The celebrated Fontana de Nettuno is in
the centre. A nude bronze statue of the god by Giovanni
da Bologna stands eight feet high, in a somewhat repel
lent attitude, above the pedestal and basin. It is always
the centre of a lounging crowd which throngs the square
throughout the day. On the west side of the Piazzi is
the Palazzo Pubblico, with a fagade that still retains,
despite restoration, traces of eight elegant pointed win
dows. A figure of the Virgin in terra-cotta, once gilded,
stands under a good canopy high up on the empty space
of the great wall of the fagade. These comparatively
empty wall spaces are a feature of Bolognese architecture
of the thirteenth century. Pierced by a few windows,
they give a great idea of solidity and strength; and
though one finds the same character in the palaces of
Tuscan cities, it is not so prominent there as in the big
buildings of Bologna. An immense entrance gateway
opens into a courtyard, and from this a very fine stair
case by Bramante leads up to the interior. In a smaller
court beyond is a very beautiful cistern by Terribilia.
The Hall of Hercules, so called from the colossal statue
by Alfonso Lombardi, vies with the Sala Farnese in
splendour. Up to the year 1848 the palace was the resi
dence of the Legate and the Senator. The lower portion
is now the chief post office of the city.
[153]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
On the north side of the Piazzi is the Palazzo del
Podesta. It is a building that was begun at the com
mencement of the thirteenth century, but not until the
year 1485 was the fagade erected. Of magnificent pro
portions, it is chiefly famous as the prison of King Enzio.
The great saloon is still called the Sala del Re Enzio, and
among other vicissitudes was at one time a theatre, and at
another the court in which the national game of pallone
was played. A solid-looking and lofty tower, the Tor-
razzo dell' Aringo, rises at one end of the fagade above
the arcades. On the piers which carry the arches of
these may still be seen the huge wrought-iron brackets,
the rings, and the sockets for supporting banner poles
and holding lighted torches.
Along the east side of this part of the Piazza, which is
E-shaped, is the Portico de' Banchi, a continuous arcade,
extending beyond the limits of the square the whole
length of Bologna's great church. This, the church that
the Bolognese in their pride intended should be the
largest in Italy, has not been completed beyond the com
mencement of the transepts. The nave and aisles alone
are finished ; they are three hundred and eighty- four feet
long, and the width, including the chapels, measures one
hundred and fifty. The building is proportionately
high, and, as will be seen in the illustration, is very spa
cious. It was commenced in 1390 and dedicated to S.
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BOLOGNA
Petronio, The architect, Antonio Vincenzi, was one of
the celebrated Riformati, and went as ambassador to the
Venetian Republic in 1396.
The Piazza Maggiore slopes d4Dwnwards from the
south, S. Petronio is situated at its southern end, and
orientates south by west. The fagade therefore faces
northeast, and for the construction of a level floor the
great church is placed at this end some dozen steps above
the sloping Piazza, In the museum attached to S.
Petronio there may be seen the original designs, eleva
tions, and a model of the finished structure. Had funds
permitted, this fagade, placed so well, and with such
magnificent buildings surrounding it, would have been
one of the best Italian attempts to realise a Gothic
church. As it is, it is a grand scheme unfulfilled.
The lower portion of the fagade is extremely good, the
three canopied doorways being pure Italian Gothic.
They are adorned with bas-reliefs which represent dif
ferent scriptural events from the Creation onwards.
Tribolo, an intimate friend of Benvenuto Cellini, was
responsible for the beautiful angels and sibyls round the
arch of that on the left hand. The fine bas-reliefs of the
Resurrection in the lunette, where Christ is seen among
sleeping soldiers, is by Alfonso Lombardi. The central
portal is considered the masterpiece of Jacopo della
Querela, who was not overpaid by the three thousand

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
golden florins he received for the work, considering that
it took him twelve years to complete. His noble figure
of the Almighty, surrounded by thirty-two patriarchs and
prophets, is extremely fine. The right-hand doorway is
another example of Tribolo's purity of style. The brick
work of the exterior is covered, round the whole church
at the base, by a very fine base-table of white marble with
good mouldings. In the model the entire brick surface
is hidden by the same material. The buttresses are good,
and so are the pointed windows of the aisles, some of
which, by the way, contain good glass.
The interior is very lofty and expansive. Twelve im
mense piers carry the arches of the nave, twenty-four
smaller ones those of the aisles. The height of all these
may be judged from the illustration, wherein also the pe
culiar Italian Gothic capital is seen, Milan's great
cathedral and S. Anastasia in Verona are other speci
mens of the same style of capital. They appear to be
stuck on to the columns, of which they seem to form a
part rather than a separate cap for the arches to rest on.
One hardly knows how this particular style grew or
where it emanated, but it is not unlike the palm-leaf capi
tal of an Egyptian column. The aisles are rather shal
low for the width of the nave. The side chapels are shut
ofif from them by good metal grilles or beautiful marble
screens. Four very ancient black pillars with crosses en-
[156]

BOLOGNA
Interior of S. Petronio

BOLOGNA
graved stand against four of the aisle piers. They are
supposed to have been placed at the gates of old Bologna
by S. Petronio himself, and are much venerated by the
Bolognese. On the floor of the church is traced the cele
brated meridian line of Gian Domenico Cassini. Under
the immense canopy which stands over the high altar
Charles V. was crowned in 1530 by Pope Clement VII.
The Emperor had been invited to Italy by the last of the
Ducal House of Sforza, and with his coronation com
menced the foreign occupation of North Italy.
Bologna's cathedral is dedicated to S. Pietro. It is
situated in the Via dell' Indipendenza, but is so wedged
in between the high buildings which adjoin it on both
sides that it is difficult to find. S. Pietro is a huge barn
like edifice commenced in the bad period of 1605. It is
a very ancient foundation with no redeeming architec
tural features. The most interesting thing it contains is
Ludovico Carracci's celebrated " Annunciation." After
the scaffolding had been removed on the completion of
the work which is over the arch above the high altar,
Carracci discovered some bad drawing in one of the fig
ures. He died soon after this — from grief, so the story
goes, as the authorities would not permit him to re-erect
it at his own cost and remedy the defect.
The church of S. Stefano, or rather the seven diflferent
edifices which are thus named, occupies the site of a tem-
[159]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
pie of Isis. It stands below the level of the little Piazza
de S. Stefano, and on its exterior wall is one of the open-
air pulpits not uncommon in Italy. The first church,
called II Crocifisso, is of the sixteenth century and not
interesting. From a door in the north wall one goes
down half a dozen steps into the second church of the
Santo Sepolcro. This is a circular building, supposed to
have been the old baptistery. Twelve columns, brick
and marble alternating, support a good Romanesque gal
lery under the dome. The six marble shafts came from
the pagan temple. In the centre is a grand altar-pulpit,
which has a stairway leading up on either side. Under
the altar is an urn which at one time held the remains of
S. Petronio. On the stone floor a shutter of iron covers
the well that possesses miraculous properties, these hav
ing been imparted to it by the saint. The church dates
from the tenth century. An iron grille in one of the
walls shuts oflf the oldest church of all, a basilica of the
fourth century. It is dedicated to SS. Paolo e Pietro.
Forty-eight columns with Byzantine and Greek capitals
support the brick barrel vault of the nave. This is
dimly lighted by small round clerestory windows. The
altar stands in the tribune at the top of much-worn lime
stone steps. This also has a brick vault. At the end of
the narrow aisles are the sarcophagi of S. Agricola and
S. Vitalis — Bologna's S. Vitalis. The next church, if it
[i6o]

BOLOGNA
may be so called, is formed by the small court known as
the Atrio di Pilato. It has never been touched since the
eleventh century, and contains a very ancient font.
Down more steps is the church of the Confessio. This
old crypt must be a good twenty feet below the level out
side. The quadripartite vaulting is borne by thick
stunted columns, that are barely five feet high, though
one is said to be the exact height of Christ. It is very
dark, and dates from the tenth century. The sixth
church is the passage which leads to the seventh and last,
that of the Trinity. Four rows of columns with Byzan
tine and Romanesque capitals support the roof of this
square building. In one of the chapels, in a galleried
niche, there is an extraordinary life-sized wooden group
of the Adoration of the Magi. Mary wears a crown of
brass studded with uncut stones. On the Child's head is
a mitre of the same. The expressive faces of the Three
Kings, who bring offerings, are extremely naive. The
first wears the conical hat of the ancient shepherds of the
hills of Venetia that one still comes across in out-of-the-
way districts.
The adjoining cloisters of the suppressed Celestine
monastery are remarkable in the solidity of the short pil
lars, not four feet high, which form the lower colonnade.
These are in absolute contradistinction to the elegant
double shafts of the upper gallery. The brickwork
[i6i]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
throughout the whole of S. Stefano is very good. Con
centric patterns, squares, chequer work where small
squares of marble and glazed tiles have been introduced,
diamonds, and oblongs are arranged in a perfect har
mony of design the like of which one cannot find in Italy.
The exterior of S. Sepolcro is, in this respect, unsurpassed.
Bologna's university is one of the oldest in Italy, and
the first in which academical degrees were conferred.
It was founded in 1 119 by Irnerius. Numerous schools
were established in the West after Byzantine authority
had faded away. Among the first was that of Bologna,
where Pepo began to expound the law in 1075. Irnerius
followed him five-and-twenty years later and intro
duced the Justinian, code. His followers became known
as Glossatori, a word derived from the Greek y^foaaay
originally meaning a tongue. The last of these glossa
tors was Accursius, who compiled the glosses known as
the " Glossa ordinaria," a work which soon became the
acknowledged authority. The visitor who wanders
through the city and finds himself in the market-square
will there see outside the church of S. Francesco three
canopied tombs. The sarcophagi which rest on a plat
form borne by pillars are those of three Glossatori, and
one of them contains the remains of Accursius. The
canopies of these tombs are covered with green tiles. S.
Francesco is a fine Gothic church with two elegant cam-
[162]

BOLOGNA
panili. It is undergoing extensive restoration, and,
though of some architectural interest, does not compare
in other ways with that of S. Domenico.
This church, wherein repose the remains of the founder
of the Order of Preaching Friars or Dominicans, was
begun with the intention of following the prevailing
fashion of the day and constructing another Gothic fab
ric. Except for the pointed windows in some of the
chapels, S. Domenico bears no traces of this intention.
The interior of white marble, in a medley of styles in
which poor Renaissance predominates, is very cold.
The exterior has a very heavy frieze of white marble ; the
commencement of its outer covering carried no further
than this. It is seen in the sketch, which also shows the
canopied tomb of the learned jurist, Rolandino Passa-
geri, who was selected by the city to frame the reply to
the letter in which the Emperor Frederick II. demanded
the release of his illegitimate son Enzio. In the church
lie Guido Reni, whose tomb is in the chapel shown with
the heavy frieze, and his talented fellow-artist Elisabetta
Sirani, King Enzio, Taddeo Pepoli, Captain of the Peo
ple in 1334, and the great S, Dominick.
Born in Old Castile in 1 170, S. Dominick was ordained
priest in 1198. His fiery zeal against "heretics" and
his extraordinary preaching powers soon brought him
into great prominence. He was instrumental in estab-
[163]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
lishing courts for trial and punishment of obstinate
" heretics." The commissioners, who were invested with
a jurisdiction that gave them powers of torture, and life
and death, were known as " Inquisitors," and their con
claves paved the way for the dreaded Inquisition. S.
Dominick's tomb is one of the finest in North Italy. It
is one of the earliest works that the genius of Nicolo Pi
sano produced, having been completed thirty years before
his masterpiece at Pisa was begun. A magnificent iron
grille separates the chapel from the nave. On the top
rail are four very charming little figures in bronze of
saints. The tomb is adorned by bas-reliefs illustrating
the chief events in the life of the saint. Below these is a
very delicately carved set of smaller ones by Alfonso
Lombardi, which form a sort of predella, and are nearly
three hundred years later. The urn which contains the
saint's remains is behind the upper set. A small statue
of S, Petronio in front is by Michael Angelo, and the
best of the beautiful little angels at the corners claims the
same hand as its sculptor. Cherubs at the top of the
monument hold two very heavy festoons of flowers, which
somewhat mar the fine composition of the whole. From
this it is evident that the exuberance of Pisano's youth
had yet to learn the reticence which comes with age.
No description of Bologna would be complete without
mention of its wonderful towers. The graceful Torre
[164]

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S. Domenico

BOLOGNA
Asinelli rises to a height of three hundred and twenty-one
feet, and, although nearly four feet out of the perpendicu
lar, tapers upwards so imperceptibly that the inclination
is not noticeable. Close by it stands the Torre Garisenda,
built by the two brothers Garisenda. It leans ten feet
in one direction and three in another, and rises to a height
of one hundred and sixty feet. Although the guide
books tell one it was thus constructed, it has undoubtedly
sunk into its position, as the diflferent stages inside slope
with the inclination of the tower. These two are not the
only towers of Bologna, but, being situated in the centre
of the oldest quarters of the city, are those that are best
knovra.

[167I

PARMA
QARMA is very much like any other of the
smaller cities of Italy, It can, however, boast
of a prehistoric lake-dwelling settlement un
earthed in 1864, and a still later, though very
early origin as an Etruscan colony. To-day it is a bright
little place pleasantly situated on the broad stream that
gave it its name. If it were not, however, for its cathe
dral, its ancient baptistery, and its inseparable connection
with the art of Correggio, there would be but little to in
terest the stranger or even call for a halt at its railway
station. Four bridges span the river Parma, and from
each the blue line of the Apennines may be seen stretch
ing away over the tops of the orchards until lost in the
distant haze. The old Roman road, the Via .Emilia,
which we have already seen started out of Rimini, bi
sects Parma from east to west, and crosses the river by a
fine old bridge, the Ponte de Mezzo, This is the only
structure of the four which can lay claim to any age. It
has a narrow roadway inclining up to the centre with
high parapets on either side, and partakes very much of
[168]

PARMA
the character of a Roman edifice. Except for a few in
scribed slabs there is nothing of any consequence left to
remind one that the pleasant little city of to-day was
once a flourishing colony of Imperial Rome. In the
Guelph and Ghibelline feuds it espoused the Pope's
cause and successfully withstood a siege by Frederick II.
In 1341 it came into the hands of the Visconti, Dukes of
Milan, and was associated with that Duchy for two hun
dred years. Pope Julius II. incorporated it with the
Papal States, and thirty years after this the reigning
Pope, Paul IIL, gave it to his natural son, Pietro Luigi
Farnese. This family supplied seven dukes to Parma
where they reigned until the male line became extinct in
the year 1731. The Bourbons came into possession of
the duchy through Marie Louise, and with the assassina
tion in the public thoroughfare of Duke Charles IIL, its
history may be said to have come to an end.
The cathedral and baptistery, with the ecclesiastical
buildings which form the square in which they stand,
make a group of much interest. The first named is a
very fine example of Romanesque work. It was com
menced in 1058, but not consecrated until fifty years later,
nor really completed till the middle of the thirteenth cen
tury. The fagade is however entirely the original de
sign. Two rows of arcades traverse its length ; the lower
is on a level with and carried through the upper portion
[169]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
of the central porch. A third follows the line of the
gable under a heavy cornice. The porch is similar to
the one illustrated of Verona's cathedral. Two colossal
lions bear the burden of the double canopies and were the
work of Bono da Bisone. The sun is sculptured on the
keystone of the arch, and in the soffits the months are il
lustrated by a series of reliefs of agricultural pursuits,
as in S. Mark's at Venice. A good many Roman tablets
have been used as decoration and for building material
along the whole fagade. Two other doors, as well as the
central portal, give entrance to the church. The only
other feature of the exterior worth mention is the beau
tiful red brick campanile with its green tiled spire.
The first impression one receives of the interior is that
of extreme solemnity and great majesty. It never wears
oflf. The high altar, a blaze of silver and gilt, stands
well placed eighteen steps above the nave. The transepts
also are thus situated, and there is enough length in the
seven bays that separate the aisles from the nave to put
the choir well back from the spectator as he enters at the
west door. From the high altar the eye instinctively
travels upwards to the spandrils in the drum of the dome
where part of Correggio's grand frescoes are seen. The
fourteen fluted columns of the nave are quadrangular.
Seven have Corinthian capitals and seven are Roman
esque with traces of Byzantine origin in the figures,
[170]

PARMA
The Cathedral and Baptistery

PARMA
beasts and birds which form the volutes. Some of these
are peacocks with curling outstretched necks ; others are
the heads and upper limbs of human figures. The trifo
rium gallery has elegant pillars in pairs, that support
round arches. The clerestory is placed very high. The
vaulting of the nave is peculiar, it is elliptical. The
whole of the walls are covered with frescoes by Lattan-
zio Gambara and Girolamo Mazzuola, who was a pupil
of Parmigianino. A frieze is above the capitals of the
fluted pilasters that support the arch of the choir and runs
on into the transepts. It is symbolical of the strength of
the Church. Lions are seen here hunting antelopes,
deer, and other animals; that is, the Church is chasing
away all evil doers.
The crypt under the choir is architecturally interest
ing, as it shows in some of the capitals of its thirty-eight
columns the evolution from pure Byzantine to Lom-
bardo-Romanesque work. But perhaps it will be the
frescoes in the dome that draw visitors to this fine church
rather than its architectural features. In the decoration
of this Correggio surpassed himself in his mastery of
chiaroscuro and the foreshortening of the human figure.
The " Assumption of the Virgin," though very adversely
criticised when finished, and now greatly injured by
damp and neglect, is still one of the grandest paintings
of its sort extant. [173]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Almost adjoining the southwest corner of the cathe
dral, and built on sloping ground, stands Parma's cele
brated baptistery. It was begun in the year 1196, from
designs by Benedetto Antelami. The construction was
for many years very spasmodic, and wholly ceased when
the blood-thirsty Ezzelino da Romana governed North
Italy for Frederick II. in the thirteenth century, and for
bade the inhabitants to quarry any more marble. At his
death it was pushed on, and in the end finished towards
the close of that century, a date which accounts for the
pointed arches at the top of the interior. It is built of
Verona marble, and is an octagon with three arched por
tals, on which are some very interesting sculptures of
Old Testament history. Jacob, out of whom grows a
tree in the branches of which are his brothers with Moses
at the top, is on one side of the north door. Another
tree with David and Solomon and the Prophets is a
pendant on the other. The south doorway is decorated
in a similar style, but the trees are full of all the birds
apparently then known. Barn-door fowls, storks, par
rots, eagles, ducks, and peacocks, etc, etc, find a place in
this extraordinary aviary in stone. Signs of the Zodiac
form a sort of frieze on the lower portions of the eight
sides of the exterior. Four tiers of columns forming
open galleries support a continuous architrave, which,
Vv^hatever the architectural merits, is not artistically a
[174]

PARMA
pleasing arrangement. The interior is sixteen-sided.
Between each division a long marble shaft is carried
from its base on the floor right up to the converging ribs
of the pointed vaulting. The whole of the walls and
vault are covered with frescoes. The upper are early,
and appear to be almost contemporaneous with the fin
ishing of the building. The lower bear the names of
Nicolo da Reggio and Bartolino da Piaeenza, and are
of fourteenth-century date. The Life of John the Bap
tist naturally takes precedence in these interesting ex
amples of mural decoration. The huge font in the cen
tre of the baptistery is cut out of a single block of marble.
It has a centre compartment like that already described
in S. Giovanni in Fonte, in Verona. The registers of
the baptistery go back as far as the year 1459, since when
it is known that all the babies born in Parma have been
received into the Faith within its walls.
The church of S, Lodovico, also called S, Paolo, was
formerly attached to a Benedictine nunnery. Correg
gio's celebrated series of pagan frescoes cover the walls
of the " parlour " of the nunnery. They were executed
to the order of the abbess, Giovanna da Piaeenza, and are
more fitted for a " Trianon " than a convent. Minerva,
Juno, Bacchus, and other heathen gods and goddesses,
with Cupids, and such-like profanities, are most charm
ingly arranged amidst a lattice pattern of flowers and
[175]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
foliage. At the period, the beginning of the sixteenth
century, when this dainty scheme was painted, great li
cense and irregularities prevailed in some of these con
ventual establishments. The abbess and her nuns often
entered into all the gaieties of the outside world and in
dulged in the vices pertaining to it. In this case the
wrath of the austere Adrian VI. was visited on Giovanna
and her flock, and S. Paolo was closed, the abbess dying
within a month after this humiliation.

[176]

GENOA
^^^fc^-'HE poet Tasso in his " Jerusalem Delivered "
M C I sings of the exploits of the great commander
^^^^y of the First Crusade; and although Godfrey
de Bouillon had little to do with Genoa, it was
from its port that his fleet spread sail in 1096 and disap
peared over the southern horizon on its way to the Holy
Land. Nearly three years had passed in hard fighting
before Godfrey and his army found themselves before
the walls of Jerusalem. Meanwhile the Second Crusade
had started from Genoa, under the command of Gug-
lielmo Embrianco. He joined forces with De Bouillon,
and the Holy City fell to their arms on July 15, 1099.
Embrianco covered himself with glory; and on his re
turn, among other treasures, brought home the celebrated
Sacro Catino, which he presented to his native city..
.This dish of green glass is in the Cathedral. For cen
turies it was supposed to have been fashioned from a sin
gle emerald, and tradition has it as the very dish, the
Holy Grail, which held the Paschal Lamb at the Last
Supper. The port of Genoa is very diflferent now to what it
1^771

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
was in those early days. Ships of all nationalities and
every sort of build find refuge behind the enormous
breakwaters which protect them from every gale that
blows. The Molo Vecchio is the oldest of these shel
ters, and built upon half its length is an old quarter that
is one of the fast- vanishing slums of the city. On the
seaward side of this mole the Mura della Malapaga
frowns on incoming craft, just as when in days gone by
it bid defiance to the enemies of Genoa whose temerity
had led them thus far in attacks on the city. It is ter
minated by a grand sea-gateway of very massive construc
tion. At the end of a subsequent extension the old light
house rises, now well within the port. The house still
.stands in the old quarter in which Marco Polo was im
prisoned after the defeat of the Pisans at the battle of
Curzola, when he was taken captive. The Molo Nuovo
stretches from the west side of the port near the tall
Pharo, and, running outwards bends back and covers the
Molo Vecchio from the southerly gales,
Genoa's quays present a busy picture with the endless
traffic that makes her the premier port of Italy. Strings
of heavily laden carts drawn by teams of great mules are
continually passing to and fro. Cabs rattle on the pave
ments, their drivers cracking their whips, the horses'
heads decorated with the long tail feathers of the Am
herst pheasant that dance about to the music of the har-
[178]

GENOA
ness-bells. Groups of boys play pitch and toss with
coins, and still cry " Croce e Griflfo " (" Cross or
Gryphon"), a cry as old as the wars with Pisa. Itin
erant pedlars pester folk to buy what no one seems to
want. Under the arcades that face the sea-front shops
of all sorts exhibit everything the seafarer can possibly
require, and a lively business goes on in restuffing the
emigrants' mattresses with dry seaweed or hay. Up, be
hind all this, narrow streets wind through the old parts
of the city and form an intricate maze wherein it is not
diflicult to miss one's way. Many of the houses here are
seven, eight, or nine stories high. All the day's washing
' — and every day is washing day — hangs out from the
windows on long bamboos, or flutters from a cord
stretched across the confined thoroughfares. Fowls, in
their inquisitive endeavours to find food, try to satiate
an appetite which is never satisfied. They are all
scraggy. Dark courtyards at the bottom of these tall
dwellings teem with screaming children, and scolding
women who are engaged at the fountain troughs with the
washing. The ear-splitting cries of hawkers hasten one's
footsteps down the steep descents, and one dodges out of
their way only to lose oneself in vain attempts to leave
the picturesque but squalid quarters of old Genoa.
However fascinating these slums may be — and they
can hold their own from the painter's point of view with
[179]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
those in any other Mediterranean port — it must be ac
knowledged that the palaces for which Genoa is justly
famous have hardly a rival. Historically the most in
teresting is the Palazzo di S. Giorgio, which stands close
to the quayside at the east end of the Piazza Caricamento.
It was erected in 1261 by Guglielmo Boccanegra, Cap
tain of the People, for his own residence. At his death
it was taken over as the government office for the registra
tion of public loans, or compere, and named the Palazzo
della Compere. 'In 1407 the Banking Company which
practically ruled commercial Genoa acquired it as their
headquarters, and its name was changed to that of the
city's patron saint. This bank was the oldest in the
world. It originated after the Genoese had driven the
Venetians out of Constantinople, and so crippled the
trade of their great Adriatic rival that for a time they
were masters of nearly all the Eastern commerce that
flowed westwards. This increase in prosperity was to a
great extent the cause of the formation of a trading com
pany, which accepted deposits and advanced loans to
others than its own members. Thus was founded a bank
that carried on its business successfully until the last
Doge of Genoa was unseated and the mushroom Repub
lic of Eiguria proclaimed. The bank's property was
then confiscated, and Genoa, governed by time-servers
and place-hunters, fell upon evil days.
[180]

GENOA
An Old Street

GENOA
The Palazzo has been much altered and restored, but
retains some of the original Genoese Gothic of Boc-
canegra's building. The Grand Hall on the first floor
contains many statues of the city's benefactors and promi
nent men, and is an interesting epitome of their chari
ties, which are commemorated on tablets attached to
each. Some of these statues are seated, others are stand
ing. The former are of men who purchased their niche
in this Temple of Fame by payment of one hundred
thousand livres to the state ; while those who wished to be
handed down to posterity at a cheaper rate had to content
themselves with effigies that for ever are on two legs.
The building is now the Customs House, and so once
more money passes through diflferent hands within its
walls. There are no other streets in Italy which can boast
such an array of noble houses as the renamed Strada
Nuova, now the Via Garibaldi, and the Via Balbi. The
Palazzo Rosso has a magnificent sala that has a roof deco
rated with the armorial bearings of the Brignole family
and those they intermarried with. The Municipality is
now lodged in the Palazzo Doria Tursi. It has a grand
fagade flanked by open arcades with gardens on top, and
was built for one of the Grimaldi by Rocco Lurago, a
Como architect. Christopher Columbus was born in
Genoa, and a bust of him stands in the great hall of the
[183]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
palace, the Sala della Giunta. In its pedestal are some
of his autograph letters to the Banco di S. Giorgio.
His family came from Piaeenza, but at the time of his
birth his father was warden of the Porto dell' Olivella,
one of the city gates. The Palazzo Ducale, a huge build
ing of mixed styles, was begun in the thirteenth century
but not finished until the sixteenth. The Palazzo Du-
razzo has a grand vestibule and the finest staircase of all.
The Palazzo Doria, standing alone in a delightful gar
den which extends towards the harbour, is beautified by
a good loggia with arcades. Many are the palaces built
by the great families of Genoa, the Spinola, Pallavicini,
Balbi, Fieschi, Cambiasco, and others, as well as those
already mentioned. They all contain large collections
of pictures and other treasures, and it can certainly be
said that the old nobility have left a hall-mark on their
city. The earlier buildings all possessed towers, and
during the Guelph and Ghibelline feuds, when street
fighting was ever recurrent, these vantage positions were
of immense strategic value — it was so pleasant to put the
opposing faction hors de combat by pouring boiling pitch
and molten lead on to the heads below! Street fighting
became at length such a nuisance to the peaceable inhab
itants that the order went forth that all towers were to
be demolished, with one exception, the tower that Gug
lielmo Embrianco attached to his house. This alone was
[184]

GENOA
spared. And it is due to the veneration in which his
name was held that it stands to-day the solitary defensive
relic of Genoa's family feuds. It will be noticed that
some of these palaces are faced, like the Cathedral, with
bands of black and white marble. This distinction was
granted to the four noble houses of Doria and Spinola,
who were adherents of the Pope, and Fieschi and Gri
maldi, who took the Emperor's side in all wars.
The Cathedral is a good example of what may be
termed Genoese Gothic. It is dedicated to S. Lorenzo,
and was consecrated by Pope Gelasius II. in 1118. The
fagade, separated into three unequal parts, is a good ex
ample of thirteenth-century Gothic. The piazzi on to
which it faces slopes sharply downhill — all Genoa is up
and down hill — and the Cathedral rises well on its tier
of steps. Bands of black and white form the exterior
wall of the whole building, and are effectively carried
through the recesses of the portals. The centre porch
has twisted columns, which are carried round the splay
of the arch. The columns themselves alternate with
others that are circular. The bases and pedestals are
covered with carving or inlaid chequer and lozenge pat
terns. The two flanking porches are similar, and assist
very greatly to increase the pleasing effect of this some
what elaborate treatment, which is heightened by the two
detached spiral columns on either side and those that ter-
[185]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
minate the fagade at each end. In the tympanum over
the central doorway is a figure of St. Lawrence lying
nude on a gridiron. The fire beneath is stoked and kept
alive by bellows handled by those who assisted at his
martyrdom. Above is a figure of the Almighty sur
rounded by an angel, a lion, a peacock, and a deer. The
detached column at the southwest angle of the fagade,
seen in the illustration, carries a figure of the patron saint
under a canopy. It rests on the back of a lion; four
smaller beasts of the same species encircle the base. The
two huge couchant lions at either end of the steps are of
much later date than these. From the southwest angle
a fine turreted tower rises upwards from the square, and
with its copper dome forms a great feature of the Cathe
dral as one walks up the Strada Carlo Felice. This
street is narrow and full of traffic, so much so that it is
with difficulty one makes out the many mutilated tablets
with Roman inscriptions, built haphazard into the south
wall of the Cathedral, and the canopied mediaeval tombs
let in above.
The interior of the building is disappointing. One ex
pects to find more space. A gallery at the west end,
under which you find yourself directly upon entering,
forms a sort of atrium. It is supported by very massive
clustered columns which carry a good groined vault
with heavy ribs. This was originally the cantoria, or
[i86]

GENOA
Fagade of the Cathedral

GENOA
organ-loft. Nine small bays on either side separate the
nave from the aisles. The single columns of the arches
are of red and purple marble from the renowned quar
ries at Tortosa, in Spain. At each corner of the black
marble bases, and touching the torus of the column, the
head of a bird or animal has been carved. The arches
of the bays are pointed. Above them is an open trifo
rium formed by rows of small stunted arches that are
carried by single and clustered columns in banded black
and white. The clerestory is of small narrow single
lights. The transepts are Renaissance, and the choir a
mixture of styles.
The chapel of St. John the Baptist in the north aisle
bears a resemblance to that of "II Santo" at Padua.
Four slender carved pillars support the entablature of
good Renaissance design, on which are exceptionally
well arranged panels illustrating the saint's life. Fil-
ippo Doria erected the canopy borne by porphyry col
umns which stands over the altar. Under this, enclosed
in an iron casket within a marble ark, on which are sculp
tured reliefs, are the remains of St John.
Genoa's fleet was homeward bound after one of the
crusades, when, through stress of weather, it took shelter
in the port of Myrra, in Lycia. Hearing that a monas
tery close by contained the sacred remains of the saint,
some of the bolder spirits of the fleet entered the church
[189]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
attached, and, despite the protests of their co-religionists,
carried oflf in triumph all that remained of St, John.
The relics were presented to their own Cathedral of S.
Lorenzo on arriving home. Here they have rested ever
since. No women are admitted into the chapel — a pro
hibition imposed by Pope Innocent VIII. in remem
brance of the guilt of Herodias, The Treasury holds
many things of value and interest besides the Sacro Ca
tino already described. Among them is a fine piece of
Byzantine much-bejewelled metal work known as the
Cross of Zaccaria. It was carried ofif from Phocea by
Ticino Zaccaria at the capture of that place.
The church of S. Bartolommeo degli Armoni contains
the celebrated picture on a cloth of the head of Christ
It was given to one of the Montaldi, a noble Genoese
family, by John Paleologus, Emperor of Constantinople,
in return for important services rendered. The legend
runs that Agbarus, King of Edessa, sent an artist, Anna
nias by name, to paint our Lord's portrait Annanias
was no portrait painter, and failed in the attempt Our
Lord then took a cloth, pressed it to His face, and sent
the impression back to the King. Leonardo Montaldo
bequeathed it to the church in 1382.
The church of S. Donato, with its Romanesque tower
that was built into the walls of Genoa forming one of its
defences, dates from the eleventh century. There are
[190]

GENOA
many other ecclesiastical fabrics in a place which is fast
losing all traces of old associations. Of the three sets of
walls built at diflferent times as the city slowly enlarged
itself, the outer alone bears any semblance of its pristine
state, and modern Genoa, with up-to-date improvements,
is encroaching on these. But for all this its situation is
superb, and it is in every way a bright and charming
place. To those who enter by rail it is impossible to
grasp the incomparable position the city occupies.
Coming in along the Cornice road from the west, or that
from the east, it can be better realised. But the best ap
proach is by sea. The long line of distant mountains
that first appears on the horizon gradually opens up,
peak rises beyond peak, the nearer hills become detached,
valleys are revealed, and soon white houses may be dis
cerned dotting the dark grey slopes. A long, broken ar
ray of villages fringes the blue waters, gathering closer
together as land is approached. The mass of warm yel
lowish tint scintillating in the brilliancy of a Mediter
ranean sun takes shape, and the eye by degrees separates
long terraced rows of buildings, church towers and domes
from one another. The colour changes, and a hetero
geneous combination of pink, white, yellow, and grey
discloses the far-famed city rising tier above tier from
the busy port that lies at its base. A whistle sounds, the
rattling cable rushes out, the anchor plunges into the wa-
[191]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OE ITALY
ter, and our ship is at rest We are in the historic port
from which the First Crusade started, and from which
not so long ago the patriot Garibaldi, with the friendly
aid of Rubattino, sailed with his devoted thousand for
Sicily.

[192]

(Siinptn 3xttnn
PISA
aou will not find in all Italy anything that is
placed quite so well with an eye to effective
grouping as the Baptistery, Cathedral, and
Campanile of Pisa, Nowhere does anything
approach so near to the ecclesiastical exclusiveness of an
English cathedral close as the great square of level green
sward in which these three remarkable fabrics stand.
From one corner of the Piazza del Duomo part of the
university buildings looks over the turf to the Baptistery.
Hard by the seat of learning is the Porta Nuova, a fine
gateway that pierces the old walls of the city — walls of
an almost unpaintable red. Within the walls, on the
other side of the Cathedral — that is, to the north — the
Campo Santo stands with bare fagade and domed tower.
Adjoining it on the east, conventual buildings and the
Palace of the Archbishop occupy the angle of the Piazza.
They face the Campanile. The one or two establish
ments which come next as we continue our giro are full
of little marble " Leaning Towers " and other souvenirs
which the tourist delights in. Save for the intrusiveness
[193]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
of these shops, there is nothing else in the surroundings
of the vast square that detracts from the fascination of
the wonderful group in the centre.
The Pisa of to-day cannot have changed much from
the Pisa of two hundred years ago. It is true that, out
side the old walls which encircle her, a straggling suburb
is growing up, but within them noble palaces Still front
the River Arno, and others occupy the best positions in
the city. Dwellings of the poorer classes line the nar
row streets that connect the wider and more spacious
thoroughfares ; they crowd thickly together, and the life
of the pavements is the life of Italy as the tourist loves
to find it — the life of days gone by.
It has been said that all roads lead to Rome ; in Pisa
all roads lead to the Piazza del Duomo. In the centre
stands the Cathedral; to the west of it, the Baptistery;
to the east rises the Campanile, or Leaning Tower. Piza
had well-nigh reached the zenith of her power when in
1063 her people resolved to commemorate a great victory
over the Saracens by building a new cathedral. Ninety
years later, having destroyed their Southern rival Amalfi,
the Pisans commenced the Baptistery. The year 1174
saw the first stone of the Campanile laid. Thus in a
little over one hundred years these three buildings, which
mark so important an epoch in Italian ecclesiastical
architecture, were under construction. The advent of
[194]

"(isA

PISA
The Baptistery

PISA
a man of unknown origin, Busketus, who designed the
Cathedral, and whose epitaph is on one of its walls,
heralded a new phase in the art of the country. And
although he adapted something from the Romanesque,
this grand church of his was the precursor of a style that
we find amplified, but not improved upon, in Ferrara,
Pavia, Parma, and, most notably of all, in the neighbour
ing city of Lucca. In the history of Italian ecclesiastical
architecture Pisa stands pre-eminent
The fagade of the Cathedral is very striking. The seven
round arches of the blind arcade that form the lowest tier
or base are continued round the entire fabric. The
pedestals from which the columns of this arcade spring
rest on a bold but simple base-table that also encircles the
building. These columns are round on the fagade, the
eastern apse, and the apse at the end of each transept, but
become pilasters elsewhere. This extremely good ar
rangement does not break up the flat walls by too many
obtrusive perpendicular lines. On the contrary, it en
hances their noble length, and at the same time improves
the semicircle of the apses. Three bronze doors occupy
three arches of the fagade arcade. They are good ex
amples of the seventeenth century. Crude mosaics in
the tympanums above are a jarring colour note which one
would willingly suppress. It is otherwise, however,
with the wonderful patterns of inlaid marble and the rich
[197]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
ornamentation of vine-leaves and floral forms, human
heads and animals, that embellish the whole fagade — a
character of decoration that finds a fitting terminal in
the crockets on the gables and the figures at their ends.
Above the arcade four deeply recessed galleries fill the
whole space of the fagade. The lowest of these is on a
level with the clerestory lights in the aisles. The next is
cut oflf at either end by the angle of the gable ; the columns
diminish in size with the slope of the aisle roof. The
third is in a line with the clerestory of the nave, and the
topmost diminishes with the gable, which is carried be
yond and above the ridge of the roof of the nave. The
slender pillars that support the arches of these galleries
have wonderfully carved capitals, and stand out in the
brilliant afternoon sun from the deep shadow behind
with marvellous effect
One enters the Cathedral by the south and only door
which escaped the great conflagration of 1596. Its
bronze panels are by Bonannus, who has handed down
twenty-four episodes of Gospel history in the very in
genuous style of his time. A lead-covered penthouse
wards off the inclemency of the weather. The fine
cupola which rises above the crossing is rather dwarfed
by the Gothic arcade and finials which surround its base.
The grand effect of the Cathedral is due in a measure to
the mellowing of the white marble, which the sun has
[198]

PISA
seemingly baked to a beautiful warm yellow and light
red. On the north side, which is exposed to the bitter
tramontana wind from the Monti Pisani, the marble is
blistered and scored, and has acquired an ashen white
that in this sunny land is not pleasant
The interior is lofty. The effect obtained by the
bands of black and white marble of which the walls are
composed is not so embarrassing to the eye as in Siena's
holy fane. The nave is divided into ten bays; the
columns that support the round arches are magnificent
monoliths of granite. These bays are carried in a con
tinuous colonnade across the transepts and along their
east and west walls. The aisles are double. As a con
sequence the forest of columns and arches is almost be
wildering ; and if it were not for the fine proportions of
the nave, the eye would have but little rest from a
multiplicity of shadows and disturbing spots of light
The pointed triforium, that is borne by the arches of the
nave, is continued across the transepts into the choir.
The base of the cupola at the crossing is elliptical, the
iength being east and west and the narrow sides north
and south. The interior of the dome is covered with
frescoes. The design of the six altars in each aisle is
attributed to Michael Angelo. The transepts are ter
minated by two apsidal chapels with mosaics in the semi-
domes said to be designed by Cimabue. The same origin
[199]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
can be more justly claimed by that which decorates the
vault of the choir apse, and in which the great artist has
depicted our Lord in Glory, and St John. The pave
ments of the choir and crossing are exceptionally fine
opus Alexandrinum work. The huge bronze lamp that
hangs, swinging slightly, from the coffered and gilded
roof of the nave is supposed to have suggested to Galileo
the idea of the principle of the pendulum.
To the west of the Cathedral is Pisa's beautiful Bap
tistery. This building was commenced by Diotisalvi in
1 153, and continued later on in 1278. The lowest storey
is of the first mentioned date, and, like the Cathedral, is
composed of a blind arcade, pierced in this case with
small round-headed windows. An open gallery cir
culates round the whole edifice above this. Its columns
support round arches that are surmounted in piers by
crocketed gables, pierced and cusped, A figure stands
on the apex of each, while between every pair small open
turrets, thrust their pinnacles upwards. Above this
gallery a series of windows with a similar arrangement
breaks the base-line of the somewhat ugly pear-shaped
dome. As a prevention against the corroding influence
of the salt sea winds, this dome is tiled on its southwest
surface. The other portion is covered with lead.
In the centre of the interior, generally entered by the
door opposite the west fagade of the Cathedral, stands
[ 200]

PISA
the font in which baby Pisans have for many generations
been baptised. Like others, it is made for total immer
sion. The walls which surround the appropriately
"waved" black-and-white pattern of its floor are ex
tremely beautiful. A delicately carved framework of
marble encloses wonderful panels of inlaid mosaic some
what in the style of the pulpit in the illustration to
" Salerno," Six small basins are let into the walls of the
font and are used now for the Holy Rite. Near the altar
stands Niccolo Pisano's masterpiece. This hexagonal
pulpit rests on seven slender columns of marble and
granite. Some of these columns rise from their bases
on the backs of lions, gryphons, and crouching human fig
ures, thus in a way representing the dominion of the
Word of God over creation. The rectangular panels of
the pulpit stage are beautifully carved in high relief.
Niccolo Pisano's art, which bears evident traces of pagan
influence, is seen at its best in these panels of the Nativity,
Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, the
Crucifixion, and Last Judgment On the steps is a red
marble pillar standing on the back of a lion. It sup
ports a small marble book-rest from which the Epistle
was read. The desk on the pulpit itself is placed on an
eagle, and was used for the reading of the Gospel. Eight
marble piers and eight granite columns support the
gallery beneath the dome. The whole of this noble in-
[201]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
terior is very light and airy, and Pisan mothers should
have more cause to hope for a bright future for their
babes than their sisters in Parma, if a comparison is per
missible between the bright cheeriness of the one place
and the mystical gloom of the other.
The Campanile stands to the east of the Cathedral.
Its base is some feet below the restful green of the grass
that covers the whole of the Piazza, Four different
architects carried out its erection during a period that
extended over nearly two hundred years. The base,
another blind arcade, was begun in 1174 by Bonannus;
the fourth gallery was added by Benenato, the next two
by William of Innsbruck, and the topmost by Tommaso.
The foundations were unfortunately laid in sea-sand, and
the tower settled at an angle that causes it to lean towards
the south thirteen feet out of the perpendicular. Galileo
utilised this feature for experiments on the velocity of
falling bodies.
The Campo Santo, the dome of which is seen in the
illustration to the right of the Cathedral, is a quiet
cloistered court on the walls of which are an extraordi
nary series of frescoes. Those on the north wall, by the
Florentine, Benozzo Gozzoli, who was a pupil of Fra
Angelico, are the most interesting. The Gothic arches
and slender columns of the cloister, and the well-kept
garden-plot in the centre, out of which tall cypress-trees
[ 202 ]

PISA
Campanile and Duomo

PISA
rear themselves in ordered array, add much to the dignity
of this quiet spot
The old Dominican basilica of Sta. Caterina stands
in a corner of the piazza of the same name. Great
plane-trees almost hide from view its beautiful fagade,
which, like that of the Cathedral, is gabled and arranged
in galleries. Here, however, these are Gothic, with
trefoil cusped arches, developing in the topmost to
cinquefoil, and giving an air of elegance to the whole
that is lacking in the Cathedral. A comparison of the
two fagades ends with the opinion that while in Sta,
Caterina there is more grace, the Cathedral possesses
more architectural fitness for the design and proportions
of the outline. Diotisalvi built the little octagonal
church of S. Sepolcro for the Knights Templars, and
Niccolo Pisano erected the fine campanile attached to
the church of S. Francesco. This tower is partly sup
ported by consoles, or brackets, within the church. The
staircase runs up both inside and outside its walls.
S. Stefano, which contains a St George by Donatello,
is close to the Carovana in the Piazza dei Cavalieri,
The piazza is thought to be the old Roman forum.
The Carovana was the Palace of the Knights of St
Stephen, and was another of Niccolo Pisano's works, and,
although altered later on by Vasari, is a fine example of
Domestic architecture. A double flight of steps leads
[205]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
up to the entrance-door, on either side of which are tall
windows. The fagade is covered with frescoes and
adorned by six busts in niches of the first half-dozen
Grand Dukes, Masters of the Order. The roof projects
far out, and the eaves, supported by well-carved can
tilevers, throw a deep shadow down the front of the
palace. The Order of S. Stefano was founded in 1561
by Cosimo L, but never distinguished itself amidst the
Orders of Chivalry, and was dissolved in 1869. A
statue of the founder stands over a fountain in front of
the steps.
Among the buildings that face the Arno, the Palazzo
Lanf reducci, with the words " alia Giornata " and a
chain pendant over the doorway, the Palazzo Lanfran-
chi, where Byron lived, and the fine old fortress-tower,
the Torre Guelfa, are the most notable in a city that at
one time disputed with the mighty Genoa the rule of the
Mediterranean. The rivalry between these two mari
time powers ended only when, after the disastrous battle
of Meloria, the Genoese filled up the harbour of Pisa,
and she became no longer of any account as a naval base.

[206]

Olljapt^r BxKtnn
LUCCA
HUCCA is one of the most delightful little cities
in the peninsula, and its seventy-two churches,
taken as a whole, the most interesting in Italy.
In matters ecclesistical it is one of the oldest
foundations in the country, and is reputed to have been
the first place to have embraced Christianity. The first
bishop of Lucca, a disciple of S. Peter, was S. Paulinus,
and the long line of prelates who followed him were ele
vated to the higher dignity of Archbishop in 1726. The
canons of Lucca are mitred, and the prelate has the
privilege of wearing the insignia of a cardinal. It was
always a Ghibelline city; even in the days of the Countess
Matilda its inhabitants sided with the imperial party.
When the attempt of Francesco Burlammachi to con
federate the Tuscan cities failed, the Luchesi formulated
the Martiniana Law, which permitted only a few of the
leading families to participate in the government The
result of this was a peace that prevailed for many years.
But perhaps the most important historical event that:
occurred within its walls took place in far earlier days
[207]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
than the sixteenth century. The first triumvirate was
formed when Julius C^sar, Pompey, and the wealthy
Crassus met and entered into an agreement whereby the
power was divided between the three. More tangible
relics of Roman occupation are to be found where the
amphitheatre once stood. The oval form of this is well
preserved in the extremely picturesque Piazza Mercato
— the Market Place. The wooden stalls of the market
folk are practically little huts with tiled roofs, that fol
low the lines of the amphitheatre seats in gracefully
curved alleys. In the Pinacoteca may be seen a print
dated 1785, in which the space is enclosed by a high wall.
In the centre is a tastefully laid out garden adorned with
statues land rose bushes, around which a horse race is in
progress. Many columns used in the erection of
churches, and fragments of all sorts built into the walls,
are evidences of Lucca's importance among the colonies
of ancient Rome.
The cathedral was founded as early as 573 by S.
Frediano, The first building was close to the present
Duomo, and was erected on the site of the church of S.
Giovanni — a very interesting Lombard edifice. The
square baptistery attached to S. Giovanni, with its orig
inal waved black and white pavement and ancient
square font, is well worthy of study. Pope Alexander
II,, who supplied William of Normandy with a holy
[208]

LUCCA
From the city walls

LUCCA
banner to assist in the invasion of England, consecrated
the cathedral, which, although much altered in the four
teenth century, still bears the impress of the architectural
vogue of the tenth. The fagade was added in 1204 by
Giudetto. A portico of three unequal arches supports
three tiers of small arches. These form galleries dimin
ishing in length as they rise one above the other to the
horizontal cornice at the top. A magnificent square
campanile rises at the south end of the portico. Huge
iron braziers stick out under its battlements at the four
corners. It seems to crush the arch that springs from
one side of its base, out of all proportion with the other
two. This is very apparent from a distance, and pro
duces an uncomfortable feeling. But, when one makes
the intimate acquaintance of the portico and begins to
examine the exquisitely designed arabesques, &c,, that
decorate its arches, there is nothing but admiration for a
mind that could play with stone as Giudetto has done in
this case. The piers which support the three round
arches have each four slender columns. These are beau
tifully carved with all manner of intricate patterns. On
the central pier Eve is seen tempting Adam to eat of the
Forbidden Fruit They are at the base of a tree, which
growing upwards spreads out branches whereon rest the
early Kings of Israel and the Prophets. The exterior
members of the arches are covered with finely cut foliage,
[211]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
The capitals are formed by the semi-Gothic classical
acanthus leaves of the period. Above the abaci of the
capitals three lions, crouching on consoles or brackets,
grip in their thin claws a snake, a dragon, and a demon.
Between two of the arches there is a good stone group
of S, Martin dividing his coat with a beggar by the use
of a bronze sword. The interior wall of the portico has
a flat arcade of red marble columns and arches. Three
doors give entrance into the cathedral. Their tym
panums are decorated by well-executed reliefs. A
double frieze runs along the wall. On the lower por
tion figures, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and the
Signs of the Zodiac are cut; on the upper, the life of
S. Martin depicted in a series of panels. Some excellent
examples of graffiti work decorate part of the wall. The
galleries of the fagade are like those that appear in the
illustration of the church of S. Michele.
The chief feature of the interior of the Duomo is a
fine Gothic triforium. As in Pisa's Cathedral, this goes
round the whole nave, transepts, which it also crosses,
and choir, stopping short only at the apse. It is formed
of double divisions of three pointed and cusped arches,
which on the west wall are increased to groups of four
each. The transepts are double. A massive pier in each
carries the triforium across in a most effective manner.
The nine bays on either side of the nave have round
[212]

LUCCA
The Porch of the Cathedral

LUCCA
arches. The fine roof, which is vaulted and groined, is
unfortunately spoiled by a very bizarre scheme of colour
that is not redeemed by the beautiful glass in the win
dows of the apse. Half up the north aisle is an octagonal
chapel built of marble, but almost entirely covered with
gilt It is known as the Tempieto, and contains the ven
erated relic of the Volto Santo, or Holy Face. It is sup
posed to be an image of Our Lord, executed by
Nicodemus, but is evidently a work of the eleventh cen
tury carved in two different species of wood. A much
finer work of art is the beautiful tomb of Ilaria Caretti
in the north transept With her little dog, emblem of
fidelity, at her feet, the figure of this gracious lady lies
extended on a noble sarcophagus. Little winged putti
surround its base, and it ranks among the best produc
tions of the accomplished Jacopo della Querela.
One of the most perfect Gothic arcades in all Italy
is to be found in the church of Sta. Maria della Rosa,
It is situated close to the Archbishop's palace at the east
end of the cathedral. The spaces between the pointed
arches and the top lights of the church are filled with
exquisitely carved cherubs peeping out from a mass of
foliage. In the Piazza dei Servi stands another small
church, that possesses a carved wooden roof not in any
way inferior to the marvellous one that adorns the Badia
in Florence, It was erected during the days when Lucca
[215]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
was a republic, and one panel has the coat of arms of the
city, with two great leopards as supporters and " Liber-
tas " for a legend.
The church of S. Frediano is close to the city walls.
Its fine tower is seen on the right in the illustration.
Frediano, or " Fair Hair," was a son of a King of Ulster.
Trained in Galloway, he travelled to Rome, where he
was well received by Pelagius I,, and housed in the
Lateran, He became Bishop of Lucca in 565, and after
the destruction of the first cathedral by the Lombards
commenced the erection of the present archiepiscopal
edifice. The church is full of interest, and contains the
huge rectangular block of stone, computed to weigh
three tons, which the saint lifted into a cart drawn by
oxen, and which was to be used in the building of his
cathedral. There is a fine circular font in the church,
with the Passage of the Red Sea carved on its panels by
the unknown Magister Robertus. Close to this, in the
chapel dedicated to the patroness of domestic servants,
Sta. Zita, is a good example of Giovanni Della Robbia's
work. Most of the church is built from the stones of
the Roman Amphitheatre. The altar is placed at the
west end. The fagade is a very dignified composition,
in which an Ionic colonnade and a good mosaic of our
Lord in glory play an important part The grand
campanile, however, is its glory. This rises with tiers
[216]

EUCCA
of open arches; but here they depart from the usual
plan and increase in pairs. One tier of a single pair is
the lowest; above are two of three arches, and the next
two of four arches. Two sides of this splendid tower
are of greater width than the others.
In the sketch a distant tower can be seen on which is
growing a clump of trees. It is attached to the beautiful,
red-brick Palazzo Borghi, one of the two fine palaces in
Lucca built in the Venetian Gothic style. The story goes
that the tower was built by Paolo Guigni, and that on
its top he planted trees, under which he gave a series of
banquets to show his indifference for the enemy who were
then besieging the city. A very pleasant walk leads us
along under the grand limes and elm trees that compose
the shady boulevards on Lucca's old walls. Many a
good study of roofs and distant mountains, in which the
bare crags and rugged peaks of the Carrara range form
a fine background, can be obtained from these walls ; and
many a beautiful peep through the foliage on to gardens
below will reward the painter who strays out of the ac
cepted route and makes a sojourn in the bright little city.
The church of S. Michele has the most striking fagade
of any so-called Pisan-Gothic building. It is another
work of Giudetto's, but is anterior to that which he
added to the cathedral. It is interesting to note how the
fine colonnade at the base of S. Michele's fagade was
[217]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
amplified in the later work of the cathedral by the portico
which takes its place. Between the columns of this
colonnade the closed lozenge-shaped lights, a familiar
feature in the churches of the Pisan style, give a certain
amount of solidity by their deep shadows. Above is an
open gallery, under which is a marvellously intricate
frieze of arabesques. Some of the pillars of this gallery
are covered with inlaid marble, others are twisted or
decorated with chevrons. On two of them repulsive-
looking dragons, snakes, and demons crawl downwards
in high relief. At each end is a cluster of four slender
columns bound by knots. The capitals are boldly cut,
with heavy square abaci, from which bosses and floral
work protrude. The corbels of the round-headed arches
are composed of heads of animals and demons, and the
arches themselves are beautifully inlaid with geometrical
designs. The frieze above is divided into panels of
graffiti, wherein lions, goats and birds, &c., are depicted
in all sorts of attitudes. The gallery above this is very
similar, but with even better pillars supporting its arches.
It slopes upwards from the gable ends. Then comes the
strange and airy feature of this remarkable fagade — a
false gable with two galleries ending in a pointed apex.
Standing on canopied turrets at each end of the gable are
angels blowing bronze horns. Their robes are em
broidered with inlaid marble and their outspread wings
[218]

LUCCA
are of bronze. On the acroteria, or pedestal, at the top,
is a colossal statue of S. Michael with vestments adorned
by a gilded pattern. His wings are formed of separate
bronze plates to diminish wind pressure, and make a
good note of colour against a blue sky. At the back of
this false gable a flight of steps ascends from the roof to
the statue. As will be seen in the illustration, the
colonnade is carried along the other walls of the church
and campanile. This again is a grand tower and like
that of S. Frediano has two sides greater than the others.
The interior of S. Michele is very simple, very beautiful
and dignified, and quite unspoilt by any whitewash or
colour. There are many other churches worthy of description
if space allowed, but passing mention must be made of
the earliest known work of Niccolo Pisano. This is a
relief of the " Deposition from the Cross " in the
tympanum of the arch of a side door at S. Martino.
There is much else to see in the compact and well-or
dered little city that is situated so beautifully in a great
bowl with mountains on every side. Much, too, to won
der at in the legend S. P. Q. E. that the municipio still
writes upon public notices as a reminder of the days
when its inhabitants made the laws that governed the
Republic of Lucca. [221]

FLORENCE
'ETHOUGH Florence has no doubt an
Etruscan origin, her first historical record
dates from the time of Tiberius. During his
reign the inhabitants presented a petition to
the august presence praying him to prevent the diversion
of the River Clanis into the Arno. Through many sub
sequent vicissitudes she rose from an obscure beginning
to be the centre of the Art of the civilised world. This
was accomplished in the days when Florentines were not
ashamed of " soiling the fingers with trade," and was due
to the good taste and patronage of her wealthy merchant
citizens, who took the keenest interest in the development
of their city as the home of all things cultured. The
Florence of to-day is rapidly becoming as cosmopolitan
as London, and as a consequence has a growing trade in
the manufacture of " antiques." But so great is the
charm of this wonderful city that every year sees an addi
tion to the long list of those, who, coming from other
lands, either rent a flat within the walls or occupy a villa
outside. It is a charm that never dies — indeed, becomes
intensified. Bitter winds may whistle through the
[ 222 ]

FLORENCE
draughty streets, and tearing down the Arno from the
mountains howl across its bridges; the end of the
" merrie " month may still see deep snow on the hilltops,
yet no one who has once been in Florence, even under
these undesirable conditions, but wishes to come again.
And this charm — what is it? Is it that the city stands
in the midst of a garden, a veritable bed of roses? Does
it lie in her classic river along the banks of which Dante
oftentimes wandered? Is it because Cimabue, Giotto,
Leonardo, Michael Angelo, Raphael, the della Robbias,
Fra Angelico, and Donatello, all were at their zenith in
Florence? Go to the Pitti and Uffizi and marvel at their
powers. Is it in her glorious buildings, her magni
ficent palaces, and the traditions of her great families the
Medici, Buondelmonti, Uberti? In all of these surely
lies a charm that nothing can dissipate! Yes, in all
these ; but still there is a something beyond them, a subtle,
indefinable spell that enwraps the senses and captures one
body and soul in this Queen of cities.
Of all the great Florentine trade-guilds, the Wool-
weavers were the richest, and the illustration shows a
restored corner of their Hall with the redecorated altar
behind the iron grille. On the opposite side is the
Gothic church of Or S. Michele. Originally the site
was occupied by a corn market, in the loggia of which
stood the figure of a much-worshipped Madonna. Walls
[223]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
were built round the loggia and the market removed to
the storey above. The niches on the exterior of the
church contain statues of the patron saints of the numer
ous trade-guilds. Among them was a fine St George,
the patron saint of the Armourers' Guild, by Donatello.
This is now in the Bargello, having been replaced by a
cast The figures of SS. Mark and Peter were gifts from
the linen merchants and the butchers, and are by the
same master-hand. The best stained glass in Florence
decorates the fine Gothic windows of the church. Their
very elaborate tracery is cleverly designed to get the
greatest effect from the top light — so necessary in the
narrow and dark street The Misericordia Brethren
may be seen in the sketch carrying out one of the self-im
posed tasks for which they receive no payment whatever.
The Compagnia della Misericordia was founded by Pier
di Luca Borsi in the year 1240. Men of all grades of
society belong to the Order, and once a year attend a
service in the cathedral, when they take a pledge to ab
stain from profane language. They nurse the sick, carry
patients to the hospitals, and the dead to their last home.
Every one who knows Florence is familiar with the
hurrying footsteps of the black-robed figures as they pro
ceed on their errands of mercy. The headquarters of
this noble self-sacrificing Order are on the left in the
illustration of the Campanile. [224]

j»i«.%n.M«.'W^HSA«evv 'AS&^i^Si^r ^ j_ ^-i- ^•'v^AesefV'i^^-Ki^i^HHIiiSttlieilMiAaMilt

FLORENCE
Or S. Michele and the Palazzo dell' Arte di Lana

FLORENCE
Those who recollect Florence in the eighties will re
member that the picturesque old quarter, the Mercato
Vecchio, occupied the site of the fine Piazza Vittorio
Emmanuele. This pestilential plague spot, into which
it was hardly safe to venture, was done away with in the
years 1890-95. When the work of demolition was begun
it was found to be so foul and insanitary that no house
breakers were allowed to touch a single stone until three
months of stringent disinfection had elapsed. This is
one of the very few clearances that have taken place in
the heart of the city since the fifteenth century, and the
thought of it carries one back to the days when that great
reformer, Fra Girolamo Savonarola, set Florence on fire
with his fierce disputations. A great bronze disc with a
medallion portrait of the ascetic monk marks the spot
in the Piazza della Signoria where he ended his days at
the stake with two brave companions. In his little cell
in the monastery of S. Marco there are two pictures
which present us with the details of the tragedy. Save
for the flight of steps that has taken the place of the
platform where his judges are seen sitting, the Palazzo
Vecchio, wherein he was condemned, is the same to-day
as it was then. It is the grandest secular building in
Florence, and this is saying a great deal. Built of huge
blocks of rough stone, it was commenced in 1299 by
Arnolfo di Cambio, and is a testimony to the splendid
[227]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
construction of the fourteenth century. The top storey
projects on brackets from the walls, which stand four
square. Under these brackets are the Ghibelline and
Guelph arms ; the former is a white lily on a red ground,
the latter a red lily on a white ground, quartered with the
crescent of Fiesole. The present arms of Florence, so
familiar all over the city, are a red fleur-de-lys with two
sprays on a white ground. The battlements that sur
mount this storey are square-shaped Guelph, while those
of the great tower which dominates this part of the city
are the swallow-tailed Ghibelline. This fine landmark
is three hundred and seven feet high, and has a project
ing gallery underneath the loggia with which it termi
nates. The palace was built to accommodate the eight
Priori, who, under the presidency of the Gonfaloniere,
ruled Florence, It remained the seat of government for
over three hundred years until Cosimo de Medici, hav
ing usurped the power, removed his court to the Pitti
Palace. From Michelozzo's beautiful cortile, which one enters
first, a noble staircase ascends to the Salone dei Cin-
quecento. It was in this magnificent hall, where a statue
of Savonarola is now placed, that he was tried and con
demned. There are other fine rooms in the Palazzo
Vecchio, but nothing approaches the beauty of the little
cortile below. Nine columns of grand proportions bear-
[228]

FLORENCE
ing round arches support the arcade that forms part of
the courtyard. Each column has a different design
above the fluting which runs half-way up them all.
The delicate low relief of these exquisitely modelled
devices, some of which are grape clusters, others children
with garlands, heads, and classic ornamentation, is so
slight, that the effect on every column obtained by the
light which pours down from high above makes each one
seem a simple mass of half-tone thrown strongly out
against the deep shade of the arcade beyond. It is an
architectural masterpiece of what the painter calls
" values," A delightful fountain in the centre of the
cortile by Verrochio adds to the sense of repose that one
experiences when the glare and noise of the piazza are
left behind.
The south side of the Piazza dei Signoria is taken up
by the Loggia dei Lanzi — a good specimen of the domes
tic Gothic style of Italy. Three arches form the base
that supports the lower storey. A rich balustrade and
projecting cornice adorn the top. Benvenuto Cellini's
" Perseus," and " Judith and Holofernes " by Donatello,
are among the statuary placed in the loggia. The build
ing was erected for the use of the Priori, and from it they
witnessed all great spectacles that took place in the
square. It derives its name from the guard of foreign
soldiers that Cosimo I. established in quarters hard by.
[229]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
To the east and running south is the great Ufizzi Palace,
which contains some of the finest art treasures that Flor
ence possesses.
Dante's house stands in the via Dante, to reach which
one leaves the piazza at the northeast corner, passing
the back of the Badia on the way thither. The Badia
was the Church of the Benedictines, and is built in the
shape of a Greek cross. It is notable for the grandest
coffered wooden roof in Italy. Just above the frieze
which runs round the top of the walls, a fine series of
well-carved brackets carries the first portion of the roof
— a flat space beautifully ornate with good arabesques.
Deep-set bosses in recesses circulate round the carving
beyond this, until they centre in a recess so deeply set
that it almost becomes a miniature dome. Heavy
brackets support and carry the outward thrust. The
miniature dome takes the form of a Greek cross, and
from it the whole design springs in a very symmetrical
manner. Such a massive wooden ceiling speaks volumes
for the constructive art of the day.
Opposite the Badia stands the Bargello, or Palazzo
del Podesta, In its courtyard is the well-known out
side staircase that, sketched " to death," is to be seen
represented in almost every shop in Florence. The
palace is the national museum, and among its grand col
lections the work of the della Robbia family can best
be studied. Florence is such a treasure-house in every
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FLORENCE
way that one might wander on from church to palace,
and museum to gallery for a year, and then be barely
acquainted with what lies behind its walls.
Florence, too, was the home of the Renaissance, and
although Giotto preceded the great master of early
Renaissance, Brunelleschi, his famous Campanile is more
classic in style than Gothic. The accompanying sketch
was made towards twilight when a day's heavy rain had
cleared oflf. The general impression one carries away of
the beautiful bell tower is that of a white mass rising
majestically above the congested traffic of the noisy street
below. The year 1334 saw the commencement of
Giotto's design. His death, however, took place when
the work had but reached the first storey of the five,
Taddeo Gaddi and Francesco Talenti carried it on, and
to the latter are due the windows of the upper storeys.
Small lozenges in the lowest depict the Development of
Civilized Man from the Creation, Above these is a
series of sculptures, and in niches yet higher up are the
Prophets, Evangelists, Patriarchs and Sibyls. Giotto
intended to add a spire to the heavy balcony which pro
jects from the top of the last storey. The whole struc
ture is cased in white, pink and green marble, and thus
harmonises with the exterior of the Duomo which it
adjoins. Had the spire been added the campanile
would not have the rather top-heavy appearance it has
when seen from some distance away,
[231]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
The cathedral is a building that stands on the site of
a very early church dedicated to S. Salvadore. Ap
propriately named Sta. Maria del Fiore, the construc
tion was commenced in 1298 from the designs of
Arnolfo di Cambio. Many hands worked for nearly
two centuries at Arnolfo's designs, and continually al
tered them. On the whole, whatever its merits, the
building cannot be said to be an architectural success.
The fagade, completed as recently as 1887 by Emilio di
Fabris, is perhaps the most fortunate feature. The
Gothic windows on the north side are certainly very
beautiful. The mass of the huge dome seen from the
corner of the via del Orviolo piles extremely well above
the domes of the apse and south transept But most of
the good points of the exterior are lost in the " noisy "
pattern of the different coloured marble panels, which,
like those in Giotto's campanile, encase the whole build
ing. The interior is vast and empty, and the dull grey
colour that covers the walls is almost worse than white
wash. Four immense bays constitute either side of the
nave. The heavy piers that support the arches would
be better without the ugly caps above the capitals.
There is a gallery above with pointed arches, and four
circular windows on each side form the clerestory. The
best portions of the interior are the two aisles. The glass
in the windows of these, although almost obscured by
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'^^f^m^-^l^^^^m

FLORENCE
The Campanile

FLORENCE
dust and cobwebs, is very lovely. The interior of the
great dome was painted by Vasari and Zuccaro, but re
veals no beauties of design. The High Altar is situated
beneath this, and the choir stalls which are around are
enclosed by a high marble screen. Under the altar, in
a fine bronze casket, lie the remains of S. Zenobius, who
was bishop of Florence at the end of the fourth century.
The apse of the cathedral consists of five chapels; the
middle one is dedicated to the saint Behind the High
Altar is a fine, though unfinished Pieta, the last work
commenced by Michael Angelo. He intended it for his
own tomb, but died before it was completed. There are
many things of value in both the Sagrestia della Mese,
the beautiful bronze doors of which are by Michelozzo,
and the Sagrestia Vecchia, over the door of which is one
of Lucca della Robbia's very best works. It is true that
with oft-repeated visits the vast building grows on one,
but, however much its size may impress, it cannot be
called a landmark in Italian architecture.
Close by these two structures and due west of the
cathedral fagade, in the middle of the Piazza del Duomo,
stands the Baptistery. Its eight walls were covered with
marble by Arnolfo di Cambio some time after the west
door had been removed and the rectangular space for
the altar constructed inside. The three doors that re
main are, with the lintels, superb examples in bronze of
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
the Renaissance period. The twenty panels which de
pict the life of St John the Baptist on the south door
are the work of Andrea Pisano. At the base of one
lintel two nude male figures carry children at a vintage
festival ; at the base of the other are two female figures,
amidst a cluster of corn stalks. Andrea Pisano has al
most excelled himself in the exquisite foliage which
grows up both posts. Above the door is a bronze group
in which St. John kneels to receive the stroke from the
executioner's sword, while an angel holds up a hand
shielding the sight from her eyes. The East door by
Ghiberti contains prophets and sibyls in niches between
the ten panels that illustrate episodes of the Old Testa
ment The third door is by the same hand. Its twenty
panels of Gospel history are surrounded by exquisite
foliage, amidst which snails and beetles crawl and bees
suck honey, while here and there the fascinating head of
an impudent little frog peeps out
The interior does not compare with Pisa's Baptistery.
Granite columns with gilt Corinthian capitals support
a triforium gallery composed of round arches with Ionic
pillars. The square lights of the clerestory, which al
ternate with mosaic panels, are behind another gallery
that leans inwards. From this springs the mosaic-
covered dome. Up to the year 1571 a large font stood
in the centre, directly under the opening in the middle
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FLORENCE
of the dome, which until then had no cupola. It was
moved in that year by Francesco I. for the baptism of
his son! An act of sacrilege which speaks volumes for
the absolute power of the autocratic grand dukes of those
days. It is very interesting to examine the almost intermin
able series of portraits that hang on the walls of the long
passage connecting the Ufizzi and Pitti Palaces. This
passage crosses the river, and may be seen in the illustra
tion of the Ponte Vecchio, with its square barred windows
looking up the river. It is above the jewellers' shops — >
a favourite haunt of the tourist — that hang so airily like
spiders over the water and crowd the old bridge.
Amongst this extraordinary collection of portraits of the
Medici and their collaterals, may be seen one of our own
Charles II. , Eleanor of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I., and
Catherine de Medici, whose sly eyes, cunning and cruel
mouth in no way belie her character. All the reigning
grand dukes are here, and not one of them can be said,
if these are faithful portraits, to have a really open honest
countenance. To judge by their physiognomies, they
ruled by brute force and craft. However, there are
bronze figures of two of the race who in metal appear
more like noblemen than these travesties in paint. In
deed when one sees the gilded figures of Ferdinand I,
and Cosimo II. standing over their tombs in the Capella
[237]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Medicea, we feel they were men of the great race that
made Florence famous throughout the civilised world.
The Capella Medicea stands at the back of the fine
church of S. Lorenzo. It is a gloomy octagonal build
ing with a dome, and lined throughout in a dull and
heavy scheme, with most costly marble. The interior
of the dome is painted and gilded. Six members of the
great family lie here in their sarcophagi. The remains
of two more rest in the Sacristy. But it is not in con
nection with any reverence for the scions of the Medicean
House that our footsteps are drawn hither. No, the
little sacristy is crowded all day with those who come to
see the work of Michael Angelo. Beneath the statue on
the tomb of Giuliano de Medici are the colossal figures
of Day and Night These two wonderful creations are
surpassed by Dawn and Twilight on the tomb of
Lorenzo, grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and
father of Catherine de Medici. His well-known seated
figure is on the tomb. More simple than these is the
beautiful, but unfinished, group of the Virgin and Child.
The little altar, too, is a masterpiece of simplicity by the
same great hand.
To the church of S. Lorenzo is attached the celebrated
Laurentian Library, which contains the most valuable
collection of MSS. in Italy, the Vatican alone excepted.
Among these is the seventh-century MS. of the Vulgate
[238]

FLORENCE
Ponte Vecchio

FLORENCE
Bible, written by Ceolfrid, Abbot of Jarrow. At the
corner of the Piazza de S. Lorenzo is a fountain sur
mounted by a statue of Giovanni delle Bande Nere,
leader of the " Black Hand," whose son became the
Grand Duke Cosimo I. Opposite this fountain is the
magnificent palace of the Medici, the Palazzo Riccardi.
From its beautiful cortile, with reliefs by Donatello, a
fine staircase leads up to the big hall that has a ceiling
painted by Luca Giordano. The palace was built by
Michelozzo for Cosimo, who lavished his wealth to such
an extent that the title he acquired of Pater Patriae was
perhaps no misnomer. By the same profuse expenditure
his grandson Lorenzo became known as Lorenzo il
Magnifico. The family of Medici appears in the
chronicles of Florence towards the end of the twelfth
century; but the first member to lay claim to any dis
tinction was Salvestro, who took a prominent part in the
revolt of the Giompi in 1378. The leader of this in
surrection was Michele di Landi, a ciompo or wool-
carder. Giovanni, the Banker, amassed the great wealth
which enabled his son Cosimo to carry out his ambitions.
Apart from the Capella Medicea the church of S.
Croce may be looked upon as the Westminster Abbey of
Florence In it is the tomb of the great master who
created "Dawn and Twilight" The monument to
Michael Angelo Buonarotti is the work of Vasari.
[241]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Alas! one cannot but lament that the irony of Fate has
ordained the resting place of genius should stand against
a wall on which are painted red curtains. Not only
red curtains, but a hideous red canopy with gold tassels
drawn aside by vulgar little abominations in the shape
of fat cherubs. For once, one longs for the whitewash
brush. The cenotaph of Dante is placed close to the
beautiful Renaissance tomb of Leonardo Bruni. The
recumbent figure of the diplomatist lies stretched out on
a slab borne by eagles, and represents real repose in a
marvellous manner. The red brick floor of the church
is almost covered with tomb slabs, some still in good re
lief, others worn flat Among them is that of John
Ketterick, Bishop of Exeter, who died in Florence in
:i4i9 when on an embassy for his sovereign.
The airy interior of S, Croce is very fine. Slender
octagonal columns of a russet hue bear pointed arches
with Italian-Gothic capitals. The aisles have wooden
roofs. The glass in the windows is good ; and the chapels
at the east end and in the transepts are covered with most
interesting frescoes by Giotto, Taddeo and Agnolo
Gaddi and others, S. Croce is still served by the Black
Conventuals, a sub-order of S, Francis. The cloisters
attached to the monastery were designed by Arnolfo di
Cambio, and through them one reaches the Capella
Pazzi, one of Brunelleschi's best buildings. The fine
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FLORENCE
portico with its colonnade of Ionic columns has a frieze
of cherubs attributed to Donatello. The entrance to the
cloisters is from the Piazza S. Croce, the buildings on the
south side of which are typical of old Florence. The
upper storeys of these grey-brown walls overhang and
are supported by huge wooden cantilevers. One house,
the Palazzo di Niccolo dell' Antela, is covered with
allegorical paintings by Giovanni da S. Giovanni, and
on it is a white marble disc that marked the goal in the
game of calcio. The Piazza, which is one of the largest
in the city, was in bygone days the public gamesground.
Another fine church of one of the great preaching
Orders is S. Maria Novella, which stands in the piazza
of the same name, not far from the railway station. The
fagade is a very clever adaptation by the genius who
planned the transformation of " II Tempio " in Rimini,
Leo Battista Alberti. In S, Maria Novella he fitted
Renaissance ideas to the earlier Gothic construction of
the arcades and lower portions of the buildings. Like
all Dominican churches the nave is disproportionately
large, built always thus to accommodate the great con
gregations who flocked to hear the sermon; and so that
all could hear, the pulpit was placed nearer the west
than the east end. In the sixteenth century Vasari al
tered the interior and took away the marble screen that
divided the conventual from the public part of the
[243]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
church. It stood where a couple of steps run right
across the church at the fourth bay of the nave. This is
lofty, with a groined vault and pointed arches. The
transepts have lateral chapels and the choir is very shal
low. One of these chapels is that of the Rucellai family,
whose coat of arms with an inflated sail has been used
with as good an effect by Alberti in the decoration of the
fagade as the Malatesta coat at Rimini, where it will be
remembered the little elephants play so important a part
in his scheme. In this chapel is the famous panel, the
so-called Cimabue's " Madonna," which some critics at
tribute to Duccio da Siena. Speaking personally, how
ever, I failed to discover the greenish undertones that are
a feature in Duccio's work. The story tells us that when
the picture left Cimabue's studio it was hailed by the
people in the streets with great admiration and holy fer
vour. Attached to the west wall of the church are the
cloisters. The Chiostro Verde, so called from the
greenish colour of its frescoes, contains the Spanish
chapel. One can here spend a very instructive morn
ing examining the fine mural decorations that cover the
walls. The Chiostro Grande is now a military gym
nasium; but the upper part is devoted to the Institution
for Deaf Mutes and the Society for Repressing Beggars.
Many useful articles can here be purchased that are made
by the very poor. Tourists, make a note!
[244]

FLORENCE
There is another useful institution, and one perhaps
that is much better known. The Spedale degli In-
nocenti, or Foundling Hospital, which admits infants
without any inquiry, and when the children are old
enough boards them out in peasant families, where they
are trained to earn a livelihood. The hospital is the
work of Brunelleschi. In the spandrils of the loggia
are the medallions of infants in blue and white by Andrea
della Robbia, reproductions of which hang on many a
wall throughout the civilised world.
Not far off is the monastery of S. Marco, the cloistered
courts of which once ran red with the blood of the monks.
Fra Angelico's intensely religious frescoes in the monas
tic cells surely helped to inspire the brethren to defend
their home by force of arms against those who were de
termined to eradicate every vestige of their beloved
Savonarola. A few relics of this great democrat are still
to be seen in his cell. The writing-desk he used, a book
of commentaries in his own minute hand, his crucifix
and other personal objects, remain as silent witnesses of
the fierce struggles in a mind brought to the lowest depths
of despair and well-nigh prostrate when the last act was
accomplished in the Piazza della Signoria.
Of the many great Florentine palaces the two that hold
the incomparable collections of pictures are the best
known. The Uffizi stands on one side of the river, the
Pitti on the other. Emulating the lavish expenditure of
[247]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
their rivals, the Medici, the Pitti family employed
Brunelleschi and Fancelli to erect a building which
should outshine all the Medicean palaces in Florence.
So much was spent on it that eventually the family were
ruined, and Fate, that so often plays with the over-ambi
tious, ordained that their rivals should step in and pur
chase the huge building. The Grand-dukes of the
Medici took up their residence in the building, part of
which is now the Royal Palace. From the beautiful
Boboli Gardens at the back, a very good view is obtained
of the cathedral and Giotti's Campanile, with Fiesole
and the mountains in the north rising beyond. But if
we wish for a comprehensive impression of Florence as
she lies in the valley of the Arno, we must ascend the
hill on the top of which the church of S. Miniato al
Monte stands. Beneath the cypress trees at our feet the
classic stream, crossed by its famous bridges, winds away
in the direction of the Monti Pisani, The great dome
of the Cathedral seems almost out of proportion with
the lesser landmarks around it More than ever does one
wish to see the spire that Giotto designed to finish his
grand bell-tower. And as the eye wanders over roofs
and embattled walls, the mind goes back to Medicean
days, ignoring for once the utilitarian vandalism that has
carried the noisy tramcar through the intricacies of the
maze below us in desecration of the memorials of a
great age, [248]

PERUGIA
XN the vicinity of Perugia many remains of
Etruscan civilisation have come to light, and
part of the old Etruscan city walls still stand.
On top of the huge blocks of stone of which
they are composed one may also see the defensive super
structure added by the Romans, and above this the red
brick of a later date. Wandering in the older parts of
the city, where the houses are terraced on the steep hill-
slopes and the narrow streets, often burrowing under
them, wind sinuously in and out, one is carried right
back without an effort into mediaeval times. Neither
does it require any effort to picture the sanguinary fac
tion fights between the great Perugian families, the Oddi
and Baglioni. Niccolo Pisano's last work, the figures
on the fountain by the steps of the Cathedral, and the
unfinished wall of the building itself, are to-day just as
they were in the fifteenth century when these same steps
ran red with blood in the accomplishment of the dia
bolical plot which wiped out a whole family, save one.
So tired of these conflicts were the more law-abiding
[249]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Perugians after this deed, or so surfeited with blood, that
the might of the Church Militant was called in to put an
end to all distracting feuds. The advent of Pope Paul
III, was looked upon at the time as a real deliverance;
but the crafty Pontiff, knowing the hornet's nest he came
into, was sagacious enough to build for himself a fortress-
palace in an impregnable position. This, the Rocca Pao-
lina, stood partly on the ground at the end of the Corso
Vannucci where a big hotel is now, and on the garden
space in front of it The visitor to Perugia can never
forget the incomparable view from the wall of this
garden; nor wonder, when he looks over the veritable
precipice beneath it, that the Baglioni, whose palace was
demolished to make way for Paul's fortress, could hold
in terror the rest of Perugia from the security afforded by
their own walls, Perugia is like an octopus, with a cen
tral hill on which the Cathedral is situated, and from
which long feelers stretch out in all directions, A
statue in a public garden at the end of one of these feelers,
or, more correctly speaking, promontories, commemo
rates the expulsion of the Swiss Papal Guard by General
Fanti in i860. The city then joined the newly- formed
kingdom of Italy and made an end of the Church's
supremacy by demolishing the Rocca Paolina,
It is rather extraordinary that when the strife between
the nobles of Perugia was at its height art was in the most
[250]

PERUGIA
flourishing condition. Fashion, or perhaps the hall-mark
of the " gentleman " of those days, dictated that he should
patronise art We see this in the records of all the great
families of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and
however bloodthirsty and revengeful they were amongst
themselves, they had this one great merit And so we
find that while the Oddi were slaying the Baglioni, Peru-
gino, Pinturicchio, Raphael, and Signorelli were all at
work in Umbria, where one half of the people seem to
have given up their lives to bloodshed and the other half
to the contemplation of sweet-faced Madonnas and paint
ings of religious fervour.
In the middle of this ancient city stands its Cathedral,
but, alas I with no redeeming architectural feature, either
outside or within. The exterior reminds one of the tale
of the man who, having made a little money, built a
house like a cube with windows, telling his friends that
when he could afford it he would have the architecture
put on. All that can be said about its outer walls is
that if the design of pink marble quatrefoil slabs had been
carried out and finished, it would have looked even worse
than it does now.
The bronze statue of Pope Julius IIL on the south
fagade was erected by the subscriptions of the people to
show their appreciation for the restitution of those privi
leges of which they had been deprived by the builder of
[251]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
the Rocca Paolina. It is placed on one side of a door,
and on the other side the pulpit, put up for the use of S.
Bernardino of Siena, who came to Perugia to preach
peace and allay the feuds of the nobles, is a sort of
pendant Ten octagonal columns, painted to represent marble,
stand in the nave and support the Gothic groined vaulting
which springs from gilded Corinthian capitals. The
first bay on the south side is enclosed by a good iron grille.
Within is the Capella del S. Anello, containing Perugia's
most sacred relic, the wedding-ring of the Blessed Virgin.
This was filched one day from Chiusi, the pleasant little
town where one so often changes trains on the way from
Rome. To prevent a repetition of the theft it has, since
its arrival in Perugia, been enclosed in a reliquary that
can be opened only by fifteen different keys kept by fifteen
different citizens. The Capella de S. Bernardino occu
pies the opposite bay of the north aisle. The choir is a
five-sided apse, round which are the canons' stalls of good
intarsia work. The central of the three windows is al
most filled by the organ loft, and the choir gallery is
above the stalls. In the north transept a little door in an
almost hidden angle of the wall opens out into the clois
ters. Of the two courts the inner, with two galleries, is a
very picturesque and quiet spot Creepers come trailing
down the walls, flowers in boxes add a touch of colour,
[252]

PERUGIA
The Cathedral and Old Town

PERUGIA
and the cooing of doves gave one the idea that here at
any rate, in the precincts of a sanctuary, was a haven of
rest from the brawling world outside. The Cathedral
library has a great treasure in the possession of the Codex
of St. Luke of the sixth century. It is bound in silver
and written in letters of gold on purple-coloured vellum
— a splendid combination.
Not many of Perugia's churches can rejoice to-day in
the preservation of their original state. Those attached
to the disendowed monasteries are now mostly barracks,
and others have been restored or propped up as a conse
quence of intermittent earthquakes that developed great
cracks in their walls. Coming through the Porta Su
sanna, the lowest part of which is Etruscan masonry put
together without any cement, one leaves the ancient city
behind, and, turning to the right, sees across the vacant
Piazza de S. Francesco the gem of Perugia's ecclesiastical
architecture. The little oratory of S. Bernardino stands
adjoining the ruined church of St Francis. The lovely
fagade of this tiny building is by Agostino Ducci, who
built it in marble and terra-cotta. Its two doors are en
closed by a rounded archway, in the tympanum of which
is a figure of our Lord in Glory with two archangels.
S. Bernardino is beneath. Around him are many angels
who sing to the accompaniment of the musical instru
ments on which they play. Beyond the angels are two
[255]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
rows of cherubims with heavenly faces. The ground
colour of the tympanum on which all these delicately
modelled bas-reliefs stand was evidently at one time a
gorgeous blue and gold. It has faded to a beautiful
" broken " cerulean. The jambs of the portal are green
serpentine, and contain three figures of angels on each
side. .They carry implements of husbandry and agricul
ture. Six panels on the fagade have more angels with
musical instruments. Arabesques cover the posts of the
portal, and laurel is carved on them as well. Four terra
cotta saints occupy niches; under these are scenes in
higher relief illustrating events in the life of S. Bernar
dino. In one he is depicted saving a boy from a watery
grave. The delicate pink and warm opaque yellow of
the terra-cotta, the white marble and green serpentine,
and the exquisite note of blue, with traces over all of
faded and half-obliterated gilding, make this gem one of
the best pieces of external colouring to be met with in
Italy. One finds a church situated at the extremity of each of
Perugia's promontories. The Romanesque church just
outside the S. Costanza Gate is well worth a visit, if it be
only to look at its eastern portal. Slender, twisted pillars
of marble support the architrave, on which is a central
figure of Christ seated in a circle. On either side are the
saint with a dove, and a lion with a gryphon. Elegant
[256]

^ ^H'-^^

%^

PERUGIA
The Porta Susanna

PERUGIA
pilasters are carried from the steps up above the archi
trave. They are carved with quaint trees growing out of
monsters, and support goats and other animals. Leo
XIIL, when Bishop of Perugia, restored the fagade, but
very judiciously left this portal alone. Crosses and other
Christian symbols in terra-cotta are the fruit of the resto
ration. On to all these — in fact, wherever they could find
a purchase — the mason-bees have settled and built their
nests. The drowsy hum from the busy little colony adds
much to the pleasure of a reverie as one sits on the steps
of the doorway and looks across the vale to Assisi, baking
in the sun, and to the scarred mountains beyond.
The never-completed church of S. Domenico, which
Giovanni Pisano designed as a Gothic building, contains
a grand Gothic monument by that master. The figure
of Pope Benedict XL, who died by eating poisoned figs,
lies on his sarcophagus behind curtains which two charm
ing figures draw aside. The fine Gothic canopy of the
tomb is supported by twisted columns inlaid with tesserce
in the same style as the pillars in the portico of Lucca's
cathedral. The Benedictine church of S, Pietro would have been
a very impressive basilica had not every inch of its walls
been covered by poor frescoes and huge canvases of medi
ocre paintings. The nave is simple, with a good coffered
roof. In one of the aisle chapels there is a very beautiful
I 259 ]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
altar by that delightful artist, Mino da Fiesole ; and the
tabernacle over the high altar is a good example of marble
work. It is surmounted by bronze figures standing at
the angles round the base of its little cupola. The mag
nificent reading-desk is also worthy of note. It rests on
a table with good carved panels illustrating events in St
Peter's life.
One of the finest Domestic Gothic fagades in Italy is
that of the Palazzo Pubblico, A grand doorway of clus
tered and twisted columns ornamented with arabesques
gives on to the Corso Vannucci. Above the portal are
the city's three protectors, SS, Lorenzo, Ercolano, and
Costanza, By their sides and overhanging the pavement,
on brackets, are two huge gryphons holding a sheep and
a calf. Within the building are the Municipal Offices,
and on the third floor the pinacoteca, on the walls of
which hang some of Perugino's best work. The fagade,
which faces the Piazza del Duomo, has a fine flight of
steps leading to an entrance on the first floor. Above this
are two more gryphons in bronze and a lion. Depending
from the gryphons is the great chain and bar which were
captured from the Sienese. Three fine arches support
a loggia, outside which is a pulpit, removed hither from
the demolished church of S. Salvatore. This side of the
Palazzo is the oldest part of the building, preceding in
construction that which is in the Corso Vanucci by fifty
[260]

PERUGIA
years. A third part, that was added in 1429 for the
Bankers' Guild, is known as the Collegio del Cambio.
The great hall inside is decorated with very good exam
ples of Perugino's brush, and has a marvellous ceiling
covered with arabesques and medallions by his pupils.
Carved stalls and benches of walnut wood with intarsia
work, and fine doors, complete an ensemble which is one
of the best examples of an early Renaissance interior.
The old Piazza del Sopra Mura, so called because the
buildings on one side were erected on the Etruscan walls,
has been renamed the Piazza Garibaldi. A statue of the
hero may be seen in the illustration. On the right of the
sketch, built on the walls, is the Palazzo del Capitano del
Popolo, at present the Assize Court Its Gothic fagade
has a good porch and a ringheria, or balcony. The
piazza is one of the best " bits " in this quaint old city, and
when filled with market folk haggling over bargains un
der their umbrellas is a typical Italian scene in a typical
Italian setting.
There are not many places in Italy that boast so
fine a view as Perugia can from the garden where once
stood the Baglioni's palace. In winding lines directly
beneath one a road, buttressed up by great blocks of
masonry, now leads downhill to the station. To our left
is a mat of grey-brown roofs, out of which rise hundreds
of curiously shaped chimneys. Heavy stones keep some
[261]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
of the roof tiles in place. A necessary precaution, for,
although these are laid three deep, a storm of extra vio
lence is apt to whisk them away by scorces. Glimpses
of delicious walled-in gardens and old conventual court
yards nestling behind high walls break the colour of our
brown mat with relieving patches of green. Bell towers
and a spire or two rear themselves out of the harmoni
ously coloured network and catch the early sun like bea
cons. Tortuous alleys appear and disappear amidst this
delightful chaos, and little figures like ants may be seen
labouring up the steep slopes. A sudden jump in colour
from brown to green and the eye has leapt a thousand
feet or more to the vast and fertile plain beyond. Shadows
thrown by fleecy clouds, with which from our height, we
seem to be on a level, chase one another over the emerald
carpet Little hills, covered with trees, appear as flat as
the plain below. Dark cypresses and pines cluster round
the farms and homesteads that punctuate the landscape
with white dots. Long thin ribbons of the same colour
tell where the main roads run to Assisi, to Foligno, to
Rome or Orvieto. As the eye travels on, the emerald
merges imperceptibly into green of a blueish tinge.
Hills twenty miles away rise in a purple mass under the
shadow of the clouds above. But what a perfect canopy
the sky is! The sun pierces the well-ordered battalions
that are moving across it from the west, and with long,
[262]

PERUGIA
The Piazza Garibaldi

PERUGIA
straight rays strikes the windings of the river that runs
on to the Eternal City and flows out to sea. Far away,
through the yellow haze that throws the purple hills into
such bold relief, are shadowed forms rising tier above
tier in the mystery of distant sunlight The snowy crests
of Italy's central chain toss themselves up to heaven,
hardly distinguishable from the farthest mass of the
marching hosts of the sky. Yes, truly an unforgettable
view, and one which the Baglioni of old, from their castle
windows, must have drunk in with pride. Well nigh as
far as their eye reached the country owed them allegiance.

[265]

ASSIST
OF all the wonderful hill towns of Italy, Assisi
can claim a kind of pre-eminence in saintsbip
and monasticism. The delicate finger of time
has touched lightly and lovingly the little
mediaeval fortress which gave to the world S. Francis
and S. Chiara. One might say that every stone in the
place is saturated with the memory of the former and
sweetened by the recollection of the saintly woman who
outlived him many years. The life of S. Francis of Assisi
is one of the most enthralling tales in the history of the
saints. He, who was the son Ox a rich cloth merchant,
and up to the age of twenty-four had led a gay and vicious
life, has left to humanity one of the greatest examples of
charity, humility and chastity that the world has ever
seen. As one approaches the quiet little place, the first thing
to attract is the great church of S, Maria degli Angeli,
built over the Porziuncula, This, a small chapel, was
presented to S, Francis by the Benedictines of Mte. Suba-
cio, and is the scene of the closing years of his life and
his death. A fine altarpiece by Andrea della Robbia in
[266]

ASSISI
the north transept shows the saint receiving the Stigmata,
or wounds of our Lord's Passion. Pope Pius V. raised
the cupola that is directly over the spot where S. Francis
expired. The charming little garden where the saint cul
tivated his plants and medicinal herbs adjoins the sacristy ;
and there still flourish in it the thornless roses of the
legend. Two years after the death of S. Francis, the
immense building that rises on a massive substructure was
commenced by Gregory IX. The great convent and two
churches, one above the other, that seem from below as
solid as the rocks beyond, were erected over the saint's
grave. S. Francis, when dying, expressed a wish to be
interred outside the city walls; but his disciples, so we
are led to believe, carried his body up secretly two years
later, and placed it in a sarcophagus, which was found
imbedded in the rock in the year 1818. It had lain there
inviolate for six hundred years.
The lower church, which one enters by a Gothic porch,
is very dark. This is emphasised if the sun happens to
be very brilliant By degrees, however, the wonderful
ultramarine used in the decoration of the groined roof
asserts itself, and what at first seemed utter blackness un
folds imperceptibly into an extraordinary scheme of
colour. The costly blue was presented by Hecuba,
Queen of Cyprus, whose tomb is in the church. The
great porphyry vase in which it was brought thither is
[267]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
there too. Chapels raised six steps above the floor of the
nave take the place of aisles; and their windows, filled
with stained glass, do not help to mitigate the darkness.
The High Altar stands at the intersection of the nave and
transepts. Immediately beneath is the rock containing
the saint's remains. The altar itself is a hugh slab of
stone brought from Constantinople. It rests on twenty
slender columns that form a sort of arcade with trefoils
and mosaic spandrils. The four compartments of the
vault above are adorned with some of the finest of Giotto's
work. They are known as the Poverty series, and
Chastity, Obedience, and S. Francis in Glory.
A fine vestibule at the west end of the nave fronts the
Piazza Superiore, and carries the fagade of the upper
church. This is smaller than the lower church by the
width of the side chapels, and consists of a nave, short
transepts, and apse. The nave is decorated by a once
noble series of frescoes by Giotto of the life of S. Francis.
They are much damaged by injudicious restoration, and
comparing them with other works by the same master-
hand, it is open to question whether much of the colour
from his brush is now on the walls. Above them is the
almost ruined work of Cimabue. Alas ! that such master
pieces should have been so neglected.
On the way to the upper town one passes through the
old Roman Forum, now the Piazza Grande. In the
[268]

ASSISI
The Cathedral

ASSISI
square stands the Palazzo del Capitano, to which a fine
tower is attached. Further on, as one climbs the ascent,
the street opens out into the Piazzo Rufino, at the end
of which the cathedral is situated. Dedicated to the first
bishop of Assisi, who suffered martyrdom in the year 286,
the building was commenced in 1140. The fine fagade
has three portals, elaborately carved in low relief, and
three very good round windows. Grotesque figures of
birds and beasts are set on brackets near the centre win
dow, and occupy other places on the fagade. The in
terior was restored and altered at the end of the sixteenth
century, and is in no way remarkable. It contains, how
ever, the font in which S. Francis was baptised, and two
good statues of white marble, one of S. Francis, the
other of S, Chiara,
Assisi is distinctly a sun-baked city; and built of local
warm-coloured stone, it looks almost on fire when the
rays of the setting sun light up its walls, its roofs, and its
towers. Thus does the illustration depict the cathedral's
fagade and Romanesque campanile. In the piazza.
stands, on a pedestal, the bronze statue of the saint which
replaced that which is inside the building. The street
under the houses on the left leads to the Roman theatre,
and on the right one proceeds to the church of S. Chiara.
The mummified body of S. Clare still rests in the crypt;
and the Crucifix which spoke to Giovanni Bernardone
[271]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
in the church of S. Damiano is in the north transept. To
this crucifix was due the change which transfigured the
life of the young man, and gave to the world one of its
greatest saints. Giovanni was nicknamed Francesco by
his father, who had an extensive trade connection with
France, and a name given in jest has become one of the
most remarkable in the history of the Church. The
country round Assisi is full of beautiful subjects for pen
and pencil ; and long meditative rambles are within reach
of the poorest pedestrian. The spirit of S. Francis
dominates all. It is not far to the carceri, the little dug
out rock chambers that he at first inhabited with his few
followers; and the gorge through which one climbs to
reach them is that where he was one night attacked by
robbers, who finding their victim clad only in a hair
shirt, beat him and left him for dead in a drift of snow.
The life of S. Francis has ever been an all absorbing one
for the painter's art One of the favourite subjects con
nected with it is his marriage with the Lady Poverty.
The vows he took of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience
were demanded from all his followers. His rule once
established, his disciples were known as the Frati Minori.
When preaching to the poor he often exposed to view a
representation of the birth of Christ which he carried
about, and it was over this presepio, or manger, that the
first Christmas carols were sung.
[272]

SIENA
'lENA, the Ghibelline, at one time always at
war with Florence the Guelph, no longer dis
putes with her ancient rival the glory of being
the foremost of Tuscan cities. But, though
she no longer does this, pride in her Roman origin has
never ceased. She still retains the S. P. Q. S. as the head
line of municipal notices ; and the she-wolf and twins are
to be found sculptured on many a column that adorns
some of her little courtyards as well as on odd corners
about her walls. Nine gates, one of which boasts a bar
bican, admit the stranger to her dark up-and-down-hill
streets. She possesses many fine palaces. She might
have possessed the grandest Gothic cathedral in all Italy
had funds permitted its completion. As it is, it is one of
the most remarkable and is adjoined by one of the most
beautiful campanile in the country. If the visitor braves
the heat of August, she can show him the very best sur
vival of mediaeval times in her celebrated Palio, or
horse-race, that takes place every year in the great piazza.
In her streets you will hear the purest Italian spoken.
Her women, as the month of May comes round, don the
[273]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
most becoming of straw hats, and her people are justly
famed for their courtesy. Fortunately for some of us,
the tourist hurries on to Florence or Rome. But for him
who loves the repose and personal charm of an old-world
city, Siena will always open her arms and gather him in
an embrace that will hold him forever enchanted by the
fascination of a delightful memory.
Almost in the centre of the city and occupying a space
on the top of the highest hill, Siena's cathedral is to-day
a fragment only of what its builders hoped to erect. The
west end of the original nave is away at the end of the
piazza to the south of the present south transept The
present nave was built as one of the transepts, and when
its size is realised the grand scheme that was never com
pleted can be judged. The building was begun in 1229
and the dome over the crossing finished thirty years later.
About sixty years after this the scheme to construct the
huge nave was commenced. It was only owing to a ter
rible plague which carried off, it is said, eighty thousand
people, that this was abandoned. The tracery of a very
beautiful Gothic window remains at the unfinished west
end, to make one marvel at the splendid proportions of
the intended fabric.
The cathedral, of which a fine view is obtained from
the church of S. Domenico on the opposite hill, is ap
proached from the Piazza del Duomo by twelve marble
[274]

'Ife % '

SIENA
The Cathedral

SIENA
steps. The topmost which forms the platform in front
of the fagade is inlaid with graffiti designs in black and
other colours. Three crocketed gables crown Giovanni
Pisano's fagade. Their surface is covered with modern
mosaics. Under the centre gable, surrounded by a square
frame of Gothic niches filled with half-length figures of
saints, is an immense round window devoid of all tracery,
but filled with good glass. A flat black band of marble
frames the niches. Elegant turrets with crocketed pin
nacles surmounted by saints are on either side of this
gable. The two other gables are flanked by towers, each
with a solid turret The purest piece of architecture is
the gallery which is between the centre and the two side
gables. Below runs a classic frieze separating the upper
from the lower part of the fagade. The columns and
pilasters of the three portals are of white and red marble ;
they are so heavily laden with elaborate sculpture of
beasts, birds, and foliage that they seem to lose their
raison d'etre and no longer support anything. The
capitals of all these are formed of elongated acanthus
leaves, and might be likened to a field of waving maize.
It is very interesting to note, by the classic work which
Pisano introduced everywhere on the fagade, how diffi
cult it apparently was for him to get away from the tradi
tion of his country's classic architecture when designing
a Gothic fagade. [277]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
The whole front is covered with white marble statues
perched on every available place. Gargoyles, like a
cheveux de frise, protrude from every angle and corner.
On the brackets over the four main columns of the porches
are two horses, a winged lion, and a lion regardant. The
whole of the front lacks repose, a condition which is in
tensified by the black and white inlay of the flat surfaces.
The centre gable overlaps the portal beneath, and the
apexes of the two side gables are beyond the middle of
the two side portals. This is a good arrangement, and
assists the balance of the composition, which is well re
strained by the deepset gallery and dark shade of the
flanking towers.
The pointed windows of the south aisle and transept
are canopied. On top of each of the buttresses between
them is a white marble figure. The magnificent cam
panile rises above the chapel close to the south door.
Like the rest of the cathedral it is banded in black and
white marble. The lowest of its seven courses is con
structed with a solid exterior, the next is pierced by an
arch, the third by two arches, and so on, increasing until
at the top stage there are six arches. Four turrets with
slender spires finish off the corners at the top, and a good
hexagonal spire rises from the centre. The dome is sup
ported by an open gallery. The idea of a central tower
never seems to have appealed to the Italian in his Gothic
[278]

SIENA
Interior of Cathedral

SIENA
work; even at Milan the spire of the cathedral can hardly
be said to rise from a tower.
The interior of the cathedral, by reason of the very de
cided black and white bands of marble, although mel
lowed with age, is not restful to the eye. The nave con
sists of five bays on each side. The aisles have round
arches. The transepts are double and of unequal length.
All the windows are pointed with the exception of the
two round ones at the east and west ends. The clustered
columns of the nave are of very good proportion; above
them is a heavy frieze. Between the numerous consoles
of this is a series of terra-cotta busts of all the Popes.
Executed at one time, they are, like the medallion por
traits of the Pontiffs in S. Paolo fuori at Rome, not
authentic likenesses. What gilding there is, is away up
in the roof and on the bosses in the soffits of the arches,
but it is old and not really obtrusive. The same may be
said for the star spangled blue vault The illustration
shows the cold light from the north transept window
striking Niccolo Pisano's beautiful pulpit, in contradis
tinction to the warm rays that penetrate this noble fabric
through the clerestory windows of the nave. Arnolfo di
Cambio and Niccolo's son Giovanni had a share in the
execution of this splendid work, which may be ranked
next to the pulpit in the Baptistery at Pisa. The pave
ment of the whole cathedral is composed of graffiti in
[281]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
coloured marble pictures. To preserve this unique pave
ment the authorities have wisely covered the nave and
aisles with a wooden floor ; and except during the month
of August and on great festivals, when this covering is
taken away, the only portion in the lower part of the
church exposed to view is that under the dome. This
is railed oflf.
The six niches at the top of the clustered columns that
support the cupola are filled with colossal metal figures.
On bronze brackets, fixed to each pier of the choir, are
thirteenth-century bronze figures of angels holding lamps.
One admires the good taste that has always left these
bronzes ungilded. The same praise may be accorded in
the case of the grand bronze candlesticks on the high
altar, and the magnificent tabernacle by Lorenzo di
Pietro which rests on it The only note which really jars
is the crescent of hideous gilded cherubims that partially
surround the east window. The choir stalls, which were
exchanged for those in the convent of Mont' Oliveto
Maggiore, nineteen miles out of Siena, have extremely
good intarsia work of architectural and " still-life "
panels. In the north aisle is the Piccolomini chapel, with a very
fine Renaissance wall of carved arabesques. In niches
stand statuettes, in the execution of which Michael
Angelo had a hand. The celebrated Libreria Picco-
[282]

SIENA
lomini adjoins this. Its walls are decorated with the
frescoes of the life of Pius 1 1., a scion of this noble House.
In the centre of the library stands the beautiful group of
the Three Graces, a Grasco-Roman work which Raphael
drew from and studied.
The baptistery, S. Giovanni Battista, is below the east
end of the cathedral on a steep hill-side. Its exception
ally good Gothic front by Giacomo di Mino was never
completed, and for this reason, as will be seen in the
illustration, the roof of the cathedral has a barn-like ter
mination at this end. The interior is a sort of transverse
nave with two piers supporting a groined and vaulted
roof. The frescoes of the apse, though much faded, still
retain some of the rich colouring with which two Brescian
painters decorated them. The font is a very beautiful
example of Giacomo della Quercia's work, and is adorned
with six bronze gilt panels, one of which is by Donatello.
Small figures occupy the corners, and are by the same
master-craftsman. Among the many great names on Siena's roll of fame,
the two saints Catherine and Bernardino are perhaps the
best known. A little way beyond the margin of the first
picture of this chapter, to the left, is the house where the
former first saw light The last of twenty-five children
born to Giacomo Beninsca and his wife, her childhood
was marked by an extraordinary ascetic devotion over-
[283]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
whelming all other feelings, so that at the age of sixteen
she entered the Order of S. Dominic. The series of
chapels which the Casa Beninsca is now turned into will
be for some, from their sacred associations, the most in
teresting spots in all the city. The house has a charming
loggia and cortile, but otherwise no architectural features
worthy of note. On the hill above, and behind the spot
from which the sketch was made, is the church of S.
Domenico, in which S. Catherine worshipped ; it is a huge
building in the style of all Dominican churches, with a
great nave, no aisles, a shallow choir and transepts. Her
life was one replete with visions. In the chapel at the
west end S. Catherine took the veil. Little could she
have known at the time, that she was ordained some future
day to be the prime factor in recalling Pope Gregory
XI. from Avignon to Rome.
S. Bernardino was the son of the Governor of Massa
Maritima, a Sienese town not far from the coast opposite
the Isle of Elba. He joined the preaching Order of S.
Francis at the age of twenty-two, and was one of those
who always drew immense crowds to listen to his eloquent
words. When in Florence he made a bonfire of evil
books and vanities, thus forestalling one of Savonarola's
great revolutionary acts. So great was his influence con
sidered to be that, while in Perugia, the great bell was
always tolled during his occupation of the pulpit Care
[284]

SIENA
The Arco di S. Giuseppe

SIENA
of the poor was one of his chief aims, and he established
the " Monte di Pieta," for lending money on small
pledges, to save those in want from the heavy hand of
the usurer.
Of all the palaces in Siena that which stands on the
south side of the Campo, the Palazzo Pubblico, is the
most famous. Nearly every one who reads these lines
must be familiar, through photographs or otherwise, with
the magnificent campanile " del Mangia " — a title that
originated with a figure, nicknamed the " Glutton," that
at one time struck the hours on its bells. The illustration
gives a view of the tower seen through the Arco di S.
Guiseppe. It is three hundred and thirty-four feet high,
and is built of brick with a machicolated stone cap and
bell-turret above. At its base stands the Capella della
Piazza, a very beautiful open loggia, built to commemo
rate the city's deliverance from the great plague that was
instrumental in causing the proposed enlargement of the
cathedral to be given up. The Palazzo itself consists of
a huge central square block with Sienese battlements —
square with hatched mouldings. A couple of turrets rise
in three storeys above the two side wings of the block.
The lowest storey of the building is of stone, the others
of that delightful red brick which charms the painter's
eye, and is peculiar to Siena. All the windows of the
palace are pointed, with a flat containing member out-
[287]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
side the three lights of each. Two good courtyards give
entrance by stairways to the upper floors of the building,
which is now used for judicial business. Almost op
posite, across the Campo, is the Palazzo del Governo,
formerly the palace of the great Piccolomini family. It
contains the treasures of Siena, the state archives ; and in
front of it stands the Font Gaia.
In the via del Capitano, leading into the Piazza del
Duomo, is the Palazzo Squarcialupi. This thirteenth-
century building was, in the old days, the official resi
dence of the Judges of Appeal and the Captains of War.
The Loggia dei Mercanti was built in the fifteenth cen
tury for the use of the City Fathers who assembled here
in their business capacity of merchants to judge trade
disputes. So widespread was the fame of this impartial
tribunal that foreigners often brought their differences
before it for adjustment The palace is now known as
the Casino dei Nobili. Many fine residences line the
tortuous and shady thoroughfares, and others form parts
of the different squares. Most of them have iron rings
and brackets let into their walls similar to many of the
Florentine palaces and those already mentioned in the
chapter on Bologna.
It is not, however, so much in the individual buildings
that the charm of Siena lies, nor in the long line of
painters whose works are on the walls of the Spedale in
[288]

SIENA
Under the walls

SIENA
the Piazza del Duomo, in the Accademia delle Belle Arti,
and elsewhere. Rather is it in the personal and intimate
note of the beautiful old city taken as a whole. For even
the sojourn of a single week will captivate and make one
feel as if he belonged to Siena, and Siena to him. It may
be that the wheeled traffic, which can follow but two or
three distinct lines through her streets, shuts off in silence
large areas of the city, and that the visitor is left more to
himself and his reveries than is the case in most Italian
towns. Whatever it be, it is difficult to define, but the
more one knows Siena the more whole-heartedly does one
give oneself up to her charm.
Is there anything quite the same, quite so peaceful, and
yet so full of history's wars, as the view from the pleasant
gardens of La Lizza? Pass on to the walls of the
Fortessa at the end of " the Lists," or old tilting-ground,
and what a beautiful landscape unfolds itself! Undulat
ing ground, covered with vines and orchards, carries us
into a middle distance of cypress and pine-clad hills.
These stretch away into an opalescent haze, out of which
to the north and east rise the peaks of far-distant moun
tains. To the west but one great mass soars above the sea
of golden mist — Mte, Amiata, always different yet al
ways the same, A solitary mountain once seen ever re
membered; a mountain one can love. What a land of
sunshine and pastoral beauty it is! Always at its best in
[291]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
springtime before the summer's sun has laid its grip on
the red earth and scorched it sere, and when the showers
of April freshen and draw from the warm soil that scent
of Mother Earth, which nothing man has ever made can
equal and which no money can buy.

I 292]

ORVIETO
ORVIETO, yet another of the wonderful hill
towns of Italy, is quite unlike any of those with
which this book has hitherto dealt It has an
absolutely insular position, due to its situation
on top of an isolated crag of dark volcanic rock which
rises out of the wide valley of the river Paglia. The
rock, which crowns the steep slopes of a hill, goes up
wards a sheer precipice on three sides. On the fourth,
the old road circles and winds in and out of olive groves
and orchards, until, having climbed the ascent, it finally
enters the city in a bold curve close to where the funicular
rail from the station terminates. The principal entrance
is the Porta Maggiore at the other end of the rock. It
is a gateway hewn out of the solid tufa and built across a
very narrow natural gorge. Two other gates pierce the
walls. One, at the east end, is close to the old Fortessa
— now converted into a charming garden. Like an old
eagle that in his declining years cannot trust his wings
for far flight, this grim old city, built of black lava,
broods over the sweep of country below. Very few
places in the country occupied so impregnable a position.
[293]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
On the northern slopes of the hill there has been un
earthed in a peasant's garden one of the most complete
Etruscan necropoli m Italy. One tomb is left exactly
as it was found, with the contents — vases, jars, utensils
of bronze, &c. — in their original position.
In the troublous times that so often overtook Papal
Rome no fewer than thirty-two different Pontiffs found
refuge in Orvieto from incipient revolutions. The im
pregnable situation of the city rendered it safe and im
mune from attack. Pope Clement VIL, who fled here
after the sack of Rome by the Emperor Charles V., caused
the Pozzo di S. Patrizio to be made. This extremely
cleverly constructed well is hewn out of the solid rock
for a depth of one hundred-and-eighty feet, and has a
double spiral staircase outside the water shaft The
Papal Court naturally followed the Pope, and Orvieto
in the days which have gone must have worn a more
human air than it does now. One can understand that
then its dark, solemn streets resounded with a little
gaiety, and its palaces had a greater show of life than
they have at the present time. True, the owners now
spend most of the year in Rome, and reside in their for
tress homes for the summer months only. But even their
advent does not, to the stranger, bring much more life
into this solemn place. No other word describes the
palaces of Orvieto better than the above. Nearly every
[294]

ORVIETO
La Porta Maggiore

ORVIETO
one of these fortress palaces has a tower of defence, the
walls of which are from eight to ten feet thick. Many
of them are connected with one another by underground
passages, and none have any windows at all accessible
from the outside. The lower class of inhabitants are
quiet and sad-looking. They appear even to this day to
live under some heavy mental weight Maybe genera
tions of suppression and the dominance of an intriguing
Court has had an influence that is inbred into the children
born now. Then, too, it was so far down hill and up
across the opposite slopes to the world beyond ! So toil
some a climb to return home! You feel this to-day
when you live in Orvieto — feel that this silent city is an
island. Can you be surprised, when you think of these
adverse influences, that the poorer Orvietans have not
quite the gay and friendly air of the peasantry of the
plains? But whatever the people may be, they live in
a wonderful old city, and they live under the shadow of
a grand Gothic cathedral.
Standing in a fine open piazza with the Palazzo del
Papa on one side, the Hospital on another, and the
Bishop's palace on a third, this fine church occupies the
vantage ground of Orvieto. In the Vatican, one of
Raphael's well-known frescoes illustrates the miracle of
Bolsena. It was to commemorate this that Pope Urban
IV. founded the cathedral. The magnificent fagade has
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
three porches. The centre one has round arches, and
the other two are pointed. Four flat panels are at the
bases of the shafts that divide the fagade. These shafts
end in crocketed pinnacles surrounding the Gothic tur
rets, which soar upwards beyond the three gables at the
top of the fagade. The gables themselves rise above the
roofs of the nave and aisles. The only fault one can
find with this beautiful building, and it is one common
to most Italian Gothic churches, is that the fagade is
" stuck on," and does not really form part of the architec
tural composition of the building. A glance at the illus
tration will explain what is meant
The four panels are justly placed among the master
pieces of Italian sculpture of the thirteenth century,
Vasari attributes the designs to Niccolo Pisano, This
may be, but it is known that Giovanni Pisano and others
were the artists who executed them. The first in order
begins at the lowest left-hand corner of the north panel,
and records the Creation of the World and all beasts and
birds. Then follow the histories of Adam and Eve, Cain
and Abel, Jubal — making bells, and Tubal-Cain measur
ing on a scroll with a compass. This completes the first
and best panel of the four. Each incident is enclosed
by a very beautifully cut and intricate pattern of the vine.
The second panel depicts scenes from the Old Testament;
the third, the Tree of Jesse, the Nativity and Life of
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ORVIETO
Christ, with classic foliage intervening. The fourth is
very good and represents the Resurrection; here figures
of a very Greek type rise from Greek sarcophagi. Saints,
Virgins, and the Saviour in Glory surrounded by Apostles
also find places on this panel. It finishes in the lowest
right-hand corner with a most realistic scene in Hell.
Raphael, it is said, came to Orvieto to study these wonder
ful works.
Immediately above and at the bases of the four shafts
are the huge bronze symbols of the four Evangelists.
They rest on the abaci of the pilasters which form a sort
of drip-course right along the fagade. Over the centre
porch is a bronze tent, the curtains of which Angels draw
aside revealing the Virgin and Child seated. The lights,
forming the tympanums of the porches, are thin sheets of
alabaster. The columns are spiral and twisted, octagonal
and quadrangular. Each is set against a different col
oured background of black lava, red, white, or grey
marble; and each is covered with geometrical mosaic.
The wheel window of the fagade is beautified with ex
ceptionally good tracing. It is framed by quatrefoils
in panels, with the head of a saint in each. On two sides
of these, in recessed rectangular niches, are statues of the
Twelve Apostles.
At the top of the frame are canopied niches with a
row of saints. The whole of this wonderful front is
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
covered by modern mosaics which do not quite fit in with
the severe lines of the architecture. Neither does the
scheme of colour in which they are executed take its
place with the warmth of the marble as well as it might
The whole of the main building is constructed in bands
of black lava and white marble. Semicircular chapels
in the aisles break the monotony of the lower portion of
the exterior; while the upper is rendered less severe by
the pointed clerestory windows, a dripstone and string
course, and a good cornice.
The interior is one of the best in Italy. It was greatly
improved when the colossal statues which stood at the
bases of the piers were removed, and the side chapels
cleared of their altars and rather meretricious adorn
ments. The massive columns of the nave, eight of which
are round, four clustered, and two engaged, have capitals
that partake of a style far more classic than Gothic.
Above the round arches they support runs a triforium
gallery. This is open in the nave, and covered at the west
end, where it follows the slope upwards of the gables of
the aisles. At the east end it is carried over the window,
being also covered in here. The windows of the aisles
are all filled, or partly filled, with thin slabs of alabaster.
The effect of light produced through this thick but com
paratively translucent medium is extremely mellow and
beautiful.
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ORVIETO
The Fagade of the Cathedral

ORVIETO
The short transepts are raised three steps above the
nave, and the choir five. A fine red marble balustrade
separates the latter from the rest of the church. The
open stalls in the choir have some extremely good intarsia
work. The wooden screen that shuts them off from the
nave is a carved mass of most intricate geometrical de
sign. Under the east window is the bishop's throne,
backed and surrounded with more good intarsia, in which
saints and sainted bishops with their symbols most effec
tively figure. The walls above and around are covered
with fourteenth-century frescoes by Pietro di Puccio and
Ugolino, both native artists. In their present faded state
they harmonise beautifully with their surroundings, to
which the colour of the well-worn red marble floor of the
cathedral adds a pleasant note.
The work of Luca Signorelli can be better studied in
the Capella della Madonna di S. Brizio than anywhere
else in Italy. This chapel practically forms the shallow
south transept. In the magnificent frescoes which adorn
its walls one can trace the possible influence of this great
painter on the works of Michael Angelo. Two panels of
the ceiling came from the brush of Fra Angelico. The
north transept is almost entirely occupied by the Capella
del S. S. Corporate. The reliquary containing the
" Corporal," or linen cloth of the Miracle of Bolsena, is
kept over the altar. This reliquary is a fine piece of
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
silver-gilt work, with two dozen beautiful panels of blue
enamel. It was on to this linen cloth that the Blood
dropped from the broken Host, and convinced the officiat
ing priest of the Real Presence. Pope Urban IV. had it
brought from Bolsena, and commenced to build this
magnificent cathedral as a great shrine in which the
sacred relic should rest for ever.
Behind the cathedral, that is to the east, Orvieto, not
many years ago, was a ruined, broken-down mass of in
sanitary buildings. Gardens now take the place of what
was a plague-spot, and the houses of the city as we find
it now occupy barely one-half of the area contained with
in the walls. In this respect modern ideas have de
cidedly improved Orvieto. What is left of the old
streets is well looked after from the sanitary point of
view ; and from the artistic, there are not many places in
Italy where subjects are to be found in such plenty. The
massive Torre del Moro is close to the Piazza del Popolo,
where stands the ruined church of S. Domenico. This
fine Romanesque structure is entered by a flight of steps
at the west end ; it is built over a massively constructed
crypt, now used as a granary. The mighty arches of this
crypt sustain part of the church, but it does not extend
beneath the whole of the fabric. One of the numerous
arched gateways which are to be found throughout the
city intervenes between it and the little buttressed dwell-
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ORVIETO
ing underneath the east end. From this rises the solid
Campanile. An arcade runs round the whole church.
This good feature is composed of round arches, contain
ing small round-headed lights. The outer member of
each arch is adorned by a broad, flat, square billet, the
inner has a cable pattern. Above is a dripstone and
string course.
Saturday sees the piazza crowded with country folk,
and it then presents a busy scene. All the rest of the
week it is silent and deserted. I was there with my
sketch-book one afternoon. A thunderstorm was rolling
about in the hills. The air was charged with disturbing
electricity. Swifts flew screaming round the ruined
church. A kestrel up in the battered old tower cried to
her young. The storm crept nearer. Grand cumuli
clouds piled themselves higher and higher above the
lightning-riven mass of rain-sodden blackness below. A
beautiful swallow-tail butterfly, brilliant against the deep
purple background, came gracefully sailing across the
square into the sunshine. It hovered, now here, now
there, like a spirit from another world seeking rest but
finding none. Little puffs of wind stirred odd bits of
straw and paper about the piazza. Dust began to eddy
round and round, A drop of rain fell on to the open
leaves of my sketch-book. It was the writing on the
wall ; so I closed the book and hurried home. For half
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
an hour the heavens emptied themselves on Orvieto. To
me a stage-play of some scene in her past was re-enacted
in the sky; the passing storm seemed so appropriate to
the rugged old city.

[306]

ROME
"^ M ^ITH pen in hand one approaches the subject
^ ¦ ^ of the Eternal City with great diffidence. The
\^m ^ more one's acquaintance with her has ripened,
the more does the attempt to write a chapter
seem a hopeless task. There are so many Romes — Re
publican Rome, Imperial Rome, Rome of the Papal
supremacy. Christian Rome, Pagan Rome; and then
Modern Rome, with a municipality that is fast chang
ing the face of everything. Catering for the tourist in
these days of cheap transit, does much to alter things.
In the end it will defeat its own object, and history will
be contained in libraries and museums only, Rome, like
London, is fast becoming cosmopolitan. The pericolo
giallo, or " yellow peril," as the motor post 'bus is
facetiously called, rushes through streets where not so
long ago solemn processions of the Mother Church
wended their way. Building is going on at present with
feverish haste. The "boom" of 1880, which ruined
many of the wealthy families who speculated in it, does
not seem to have acted as a deterrent to others. The
great boulevard projected by the powers that be, slowly
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
grows in length. Despite the outcry against such van
dalism, an area that might disclose and yield up unknown
archsological treasures if properly excavated is being
levelled in the sacred names of sanitation and opportun
ism! The picturesque dwellings that lined the banks of
Rome's famous river have disappeared, and the yellow
waters of the historic Tiber rush along between massive
walls of stone.
Is it possible amid all these rapid changes to realise
what Rome has been and is still? No, not on any of her
seven hills, not in her streets, nor on her river embank
ments, not even in her churches, can this now be done.
No; to realise the power and majesty of Ancient Rome
one must go out into the Campagna, that desolate plain
in which she lies. There, where the stupendous ruins of
her great aqueducts stretch away in utter loneliness to the
distant hills; there, where once a prosperous people
dwelt in plenty, and where the only living things likely
to be seen now are a statuesque goatherd and his nibbling
flock — there, one may gather an idea of the might of
ancient Rome. By Hadrian's Wall, which cuts the
Borderland of England, one may do the same; and there
are none of her ruined outposts, east or west, where her
majesty is not more apparent than in the Eternal City
herself. Up on the Palatine, close to the trees that are seen in
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ROME
On the Palatine

ROME
the sketch of the Clovis Victoriae, the Etruscan wall of
the first Rome is now in course of excavation. Up there,
too, are the remains of the first wall of the Roman city
built by Servius Tullius. In the Via Merulana part of
a great earthwork with a moat outside can still be seen.
Long after Carthage had been practically obliterated by
her rival, Rome had extended so far, and attacks from
outside became of so great a danger to the inhabitants,
that Aurelian found it necessary to build a line of de
fence which the present walls might be said to occupy.
From that time onwards the city grew steadily to a
magnificence and power which has never been equalled.
She ruled the known world. But it was not until Con
stantine the Great transferred himself and the seat of em
pire to Byzantium that the turning-point in her fortunes
was reached. Well has the great emperor earned that
proud title! From Milan he issued the decree which
gave to the much persecuted Christians equal rights with
other religions; and even went further, embracing the
faith he had befriended.
Many churches lay claim to be the oldest foundation
in Rome. S. Pudenziana is said to be the church S. Paul
founded in the house of his Senator friend Pudens. Re
cent excavations under S. Clemente have brought to light
early-Christian masonry beneath the Republican and
Imperial remains, over which the present edifice stands.
[311]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
S. Prisca is another ancient church, and tradition attri
butes S. Giovanni in Laterano, S. Pietro, S. Paolo, S.
Lorenzo, S. Croce in Gerusalemene, S. Agnese, and SS.
Pietro e Marcellino to Constantine's era. The first four
of these, with S, Maria Maggiore, were afterwards
known as the Patriarchal Churches over which the Pope
presided. With S, Croce and S. Sebastiano, they be
came the seven churches of Rome. In them the Pontiff
celebrated High Mass; and they were the principal
churches which drew pilgrims from throughout Christen
dom. In these seven the high altar presents its back to
the congregation, for His Holiness celebrates Mass with
his face to the worshippers. The Papal supremacy really
owed its foundation to Gregory the Great But it was
not until two hundred years after his decease, when on
Christmas Day of the year 800, Charlemagne was
crowned by Leo IIL, that the " Holy Roman Empire "
became an accomplished fact Unfortunately for An
cient Rome the Carlovingian period was one of demoli
tion and plunder. Christian zeal cared naught for the
beauty of pagan buildings, and many an one was pulled
down and a church erected with the material. It was
later on, however, in the time of the Renaissance, that
columns and marble of every sort were used for the adorn
ment of the numerous sacred edifices which sprang up.
What was not wanted in construction was ground down
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ROME
to make lime. Banding iron, clamps, bronzes, and every
description of metal that was found were thrown into
furnaces and melted down. Nothing that could be made
use of for building material was spared. The Church
could never forget the persecution she had undergone,
nor the thousands of martyrs who had died for the Faith.
Is it a matter for surprise then — a surprise one must add
mingled with great regret — that the glorious buildings
of ancient Rome have almost disappeared?
Whichever of all Rome's churches was founded first,
there is no disputing the fact that the huge fabric which
occupies one side of the Piazza di S. Pietro is the most
famous Christian edifice in the world. Bernini's best
work, the grand colonnades on two sides of the square,
lead up in splendid curves to the great fagade of S.
Peter's. But, so great is the size of the building, so far
set back the dome, that it is impossible to realise the im
mensity of either from any point of view in the piazza.
The first church was founded in the year 90 at the place
where so many martyrs had suffered death during the
time of the tyrant Nero. The Emperor Constantine
commenced afterwards the erection of a basilica on this
spot, the fagade of which Raphael has handed down in
his fresco of the Incendio del Borgo. When Julian della
Rovere became Pope Julius IL, he wantonly ordered the
destruction of the church as it then stood. This was done
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
to make way for a greater with which his own name
would be for ever connected; and he employed Bramante
to design the new cathedral. Hands once more were laid
on the buildings of ancient Rome and the construction was
begun from its ruins. Except for some of the columns,
the whole of the marble work of S. Peter's was, up to
the commencement of last century, abstracted from the
same source. Bramante's designs were never carried out
The many alterations to which they were subjected after
his death led to great dissatisfaction, and in the end
Michael Angelo was consulted. All he could do was to
reserve as much as possible of the great architect's ground
plan, and this is, except for the lengthening of the nave
and the addition of the fagade, as the great cathedral
stands to-day.
The immense travertine columns of the fagade form
part of a portico which is over two hundred feet in length.
Above the columns runs an inscription recording that it
was put up by the Borghese Pontiff, Paul V. A. balus
trade, broken by pedestals, surmounts the cymatium; on
the pedestals are extra-colossal figures of the Saviour (in
the centre) and the Twelve Apostles. At either end are
groups of barroque angels surrounding a circle over
which is the Papal Mitre. In one of these circles there
is a timepiece. The ceiling of the portico is a fine ex
ample of stucco work. [314]

ROME
There are five doors which open into the building.
The central is of bronze and one of the few things spared
by the destroyer Julius when he demolished the old
basilica. The doors next to this are those by which one
enters the church. In March 1910 the old and very
unhygienic leather flaps were removed, and glazed swing-
doors have taken their place. The Porta Santa, or door
at the north end of the portico, is walled up. It was only
opened for the purpose of celebrating a Jubilee, and has
been closed since 1825.
Many and repeated visits are necessary to S. Peter's
before the size of the vast interior can be in any way
grasped. It is only when one is accustomed to the scale
of the little human figures walking about and their in
significance in proportion to the whole, that the immense
height of even the Corinthian pilasters of the piers be
comes apparent The roof is vaulted, coffered and
gilded. It is supported by four piers on each side of
the nave. The floor is of coloured marble, and has the
measurements of the great churches of Christendom let
in with brass at the spot where each would end if meas
ured from the east Just inside the central bronze door
is a slab of porphyry upon which the emperors were
crowned. At the base of each pier, as well as in other
parts of the church, the colossal statues of the founders
of different religious Orders find a place. The last pier
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CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
on the right has a bronze figure of S. Peter seated, one
foot of which is partially worn away by the lips of de
votees. The dome grows upwards from four massive but
tresses. Niches above their bases contain figures of SS.
Longinus, Andrew, Helena, and Veronica who holds the
napkin with the impress of the Saviour's Face. Under
the dome is the Confessio of S. Peter, to reach which a
double flight of steps leads down. Eighty-nine lamps
for ever burn on the balustrade which encloses the well
of the entrance; and doors of gilded bronze shut off the
niche in which the sarcophagus of the Apostle rests.
Soaring high up on four bronze columns ninety-four feet
from the floor, the great baldacchino rises above all.
But so immense is the space under the dome that one has
no idea of the height it attains. It was designed by
Bernini, and is made partly of the bronze which covered
the roof of the Pantheon. Nothing at all can be said in
praise of Bernini's design. The high altar, at which only
the Pope celebrates mass, is above the Confessio and
directly under the cross which forms the apex of this
somewhat unsightly mass of metal. The interior decora
tion of the dome is not in any way striking. Above the
four statues of the already enumerated saints are the
loggie, containing the sacred relics of the lance which
pierced the crucified Saviour's side, the head of S. An-
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ROME
drew, a portion of the Cross, and the " Volto-Santo " —
the napkin or handkerchief of S. Veronica, which wiped
the Lord's brow on the way to Calvary, Four mosaics
of the Evangelists are beneath the frieze which carries
the drum of the dome; and a series of four each are
between the sixteen gilded ribs of the vaulting. In the
tribune at the east end of the cathedral is the ancient
wooden episcopal chair of S, Peter.
Amongst other celebrated things which S. Peter's con
tains is the Pieta of Michael Angelo in the Capella
della Pieta. The great sculptor has inscribed his
name on the girdle of the Virgin — the only occa
sion on which he has done so. Opening out from
this chapel is another, in which is a column, said to be
that against which Christ leaned when preaching in the
Temple at Jerusalem. Adjacent to this is the tomb of
the great Countess Matilda by Bernini. The tombs and
monuments of many Popes are to be found in other
chapels, but none of them possess any real artistic merit
The best is that of Alessandro Farnese, Pope Paul III.
It is by Guglielmo della Porta, and was one of the most
expensive to erect In the crypt, which is divided into
two parts, the Grotte Vecchie, and the Grotto Nuovo, are
the sarcophagi and fragments of sarcophagi of many other
Popes, among them being that of Nicholas Breakspeare,
the only Englishman who ever attained the dignity. The
[317]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
sarcophagus of S. Peter, already mentioned, is in the Con
fessio, or shrine of SS. Peter and Paul, which is richly
ornamented with gold and studded with jewels.
In the Stanza Capitolare, which is part of the sacristy,
are some remnants from the brush of Giotto that at one
time adorned the walls of the old Confessio. The treas
ury contains a wonderful collection of jewelled crucifixes
and candelabra. Among the latter is to be found the
work of Cellini and Michael Angelo. The famous sacer
dotal robe known as the Dalmatica di Papa San Leone,
and said to be that used at the coronation of Charlemagne,
is also kept here. Apart from its sacred interest, the
great cathedral of S, Peter's cannot be said to raise any
feelings other than wonderment at its size and admiration
for its grand proportions. The exterior is disappointing,
and many and many a visit must be paid to the interior
before wonderment reaches admiration. Just as it is pos
sible to gain the best impression of the power of ancient
Rome outside Rome itself, so does one grasp the size of
the mighty fabric only when some miles away in the
country beyond the walls. Climb the lower slopes of
the hills near Tivoli or Frascati, and what does one see?
Apparently a level plain, out of which rises far away a
marvellous dome. From Tivoli, especially, one sees
nothing of the city on the Seven Hills. The line of fir-
trees beyond Monte Mario is visible, and maybe, the after
noon sun shining on the distant Mediterranean. But save
[318]

ROME
The Arch of Titus

ROME
for the great dome there is nothing to indicate to the eye
that the Eternal City lies well within the range of vision.
Yet in Rome itself, though it is paradoxical to say so, the
dome of S. Peter's in no way dominates anything, albeit
that it rises above everything else. The enormous monu
ment in course of erection on the Capitoline appears big
ger. Each of the seven hills seems to be of greater alti
tude. But the former is not so large, and the latter do
not reach the same height Thus, the great church holds
her own — but, physically as well as spiritually, one must
go outside Rome to realise this.
To retum to ancient times, we find an absorbingly in
teresting link with pre-Christian days sculptured on one
of the panels which decorate the interior of the Arch of
Titus. The Via Sacra passed under this arch, which was
erected to commemorate the taking of Jerusalem. The
panel in question has figured on it in bas-relief a proces
sion bearing the seven-branched candlestick and taber
nacle which were spoils from the Jewish Temple. This
is the only known material proof existing of the former
object, and may therefore be justly said to be of surpassing
ecclesiastical interest Through the archway one sees the
half-ruined walls of the Coloseum, the greatest amphi
theatre in the world. This, too, is of intense religious
interest In the arena hundreds of Christian martyrs
were torn to pieces by wild beasts, or butchered to fill the
passing hours with amusement for the Roman populace.
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Pope Benedict XIV. consecrated the interior after erect
ing gates outside to preserve it from the demolition which
up to his day had been going on for centuries. Small
chapels were also formed amongst the lower structural
arches, and services held where once the walls resounded
to the shouts of bloodthirsty spectators. Close by the
Coloseum is another fine archway, the Arch of Constan
tine. This, likewise, has an interest apart from its design.
It was put up when the great emperor declared him
self in favour of the Christian faith. The devout may
ponder over the fact that these two arches, so closely
connected with Christianity, are still standing, while
nearly every other has long since been razed to the
ground. Away to the southeast of these three buildings the
Mother Church of Rome is situated close to the city walls.
Here, on rising ground, overlooking the vast Campagna,
stands S, Giovanni in Laterano, " omnium urbis et or
bis ecclesiarum mater et caput" Dedicated originally
to Christ the Saviour, and afterwards in the sixth century
to S. John, this fine basilica is of much greater archsolog-
ical interest than S, Peter's, The present building dates
from the seventeenth century. All that remains of the
once attached Benedictine monastery is to be found in the
very beautiful cloisters, which are a transition between
Romanesque and Gothic The church itself has a fine
eastern fagade— it orientates to the west — of five arches
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ROME
with an intervening gallery. In the atrium is a statue
of Constantine found in his Thermce. The interior of
the basilica is simple with a very good opus Alexandrinum
floor. The aisles are double, and are separated from the
nave by eleven bays on each side. Colossal statues of
Apostles and Prophets find places at the bases of the pil
lars. The transepts and tribune are raised above the
body of the church. In the centre, the high altar is situ
ated under an ornate Gothic canopy. This contains a
tabernacle, erected partly at the expense of Charles V. of
France, to receive the busts of SS, Peter and Paul which
were found amidst the ruins of the older church, A few
years ago the tribune was extended and beautifully inlaid
with mosaic carrying out a design of the thirteenth cen
tury, Michael Angelo is said to have designed the flat
ceiling of the nave, and there is a wooden figure of S.
John by Donatello in the sacristy.
In the Piazza di S. Giovanni in Laterano stands a
building that contains the Scala Santa, a flight of steps
from Pilate's palace in Jerusalem, which Christ is said
to have ascended. They are covered with wood, and
may only be ascended on the knees. Light enters through
barred windows, and partly illumines the solemn gloom
of this deeply interesting place. At the top of the stairs
is the Sancta Sanctorum, on the architrave above which
is engraved in Latin : " There is not a place in the whole
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CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
world more holy." This was the old chapel of the Popes
and the only part of the Pontifical palace that the fire of
1308 did not consume. The present Palazzo del Later
ano was built on part of the site of that which this fire
destroyed. The old palace was the residence of the Popes
from the time of Constantine until their migration to
Avignon. The building that now enjoys the above title
is a museum, wherein are many fine pieces of pagan
sculpture as well as other interesting antiquities. The
baptistery of the Lateran stands to the west of the basilica.
The interior of this octagonal building is simple but not
well lighted. Eight porphyry columns support an an
tique architrave; and eight smaller columns of marble
rise from this and support the dome. The font is in the
centre of the floor, which is lower than the pavement
near the walls. It is of green basalt, and is supposed to
be that in which the Anglo-Saxon king Caedwalla was
baptised in the year 689. Rienzi bathed in it the night
before he summoned the Pope and the Electors of Ger
many to appear before him for judgment
Another and more magnificent basilica is that of S.
Paolo fuori, which is situated two miles out of Rome on
the Via Ostia. It is the grandest of the many basilicas
Rome possesses. Constantine erected a tropceum, or
sepulchral monument over the spot where Lucina buried
the apostle's body; and in 386 the Consul Sallustrius by
[324]

ROME
the Emperor's order began to build the church, which
was known as the Basilica Ostiensis. The little town that
arose around this sacred spot was on the banks of the
Tiber, and from its position was subject to raids from
the Saracens and other marauders who sailed up the
stream. John VIII. in the ninth century enclosed the
basilica and most of the surrounding buildings within a
fortified wall. For fifteen hundred years this grand
church has had as venerated a shrine as S. Peter's. The
kings of England were its protectors until the Reforma
tion severed their connection with the Roman creed, and
sovereigns from all parts of Christendom came here to
worship. On July 17, 1823, the pine roof caught fire
and fell into the nave. The heat from the smouldering
mass was so great that some of the columns split and
the whole fabric was almost entirely destroyed. Pius
IX, presided at a great function in 1854, when prelates
from all over the world assisted at the consecration of
the restored building. Eighty monoliths of Simplon
granite, brought down Lake Maggiore to the river Po
and then by sea up the Tiber, sustain the roof of the
nave and aisles. A series of Papal portraits form a frieze
above them. Magnificent columns of Egyptian alabaster
presented by Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, support
the baldacchino over the high altar. The bases of these
columns are malachite, and were given by the Czar
[325]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Nicholas of Russia. Many other portions of this noble
church were given by other princes. The dismay and
regret at its destruction were universal. The body of
S. Paul rests in the Confessio beneath the altar. The
very beautiful cloisters of the old Benedictine monas
tery, now a barrack, vie with those at Monreale in Sicily,
which are illustrated in another chapter. The noble
atrium at the west end of the basilica is almost complete,
and when it is finished and opened out to the river, S.
Paoli fuori will once more take rank as one of the grand
est ecclesiastical edifices in Italy. Among the other
basilicas of Rome, S. Maria Maggiore, or the Basilica
Liberiana is the largest, and commands a fine position on
the Esquiline. S. Sabina on the Aventine, that hill
which is still almost entirely covered by gardens, is con
nected with the Dominican monastery that adjoins it
The church possesses a wonderfully carved wooden door
and an orange tree in its court which grew from an
orange pip that S. Dominic planted. S. Agnese fuori
is close to one of the entrances to the numerous cata
combs. Into this church every twenty-first day of Janu
ary two lambs are brought to be blessed. After the cere
mony is over they are presented to his holiness at the
Vatican, and then sent to the convent of S. Cecilia-Tras-
tevere. Here the good nuns weave their wool into pal-
liums, which are subsequently worn by different metro
politans of the church. [326]

gyjrtmtw^oWWw***"^

ROME
S. S. Trinita de' Monti

ROME
The only Gothic church in Rome is that of S. Maria
sopra Minerva. It contains the tomb-slab of Fra An
gelico, whose face, rendered in marble, has a very sad
and rather austere look. The interior of the church is
marble, and it cannot be said that this polished shining
surface is desirable for the lines of a Gothic building.
Not far from S. Maria is the most perfect pagan edifice
in all Rome — the Pantheon. Here again we have a
heathen fabric that afterwards became a Christian church.
Boniface IV. consecrated the temple, that Marcus
Agrippa had built more than six hundred years previ
ously, to S. Maria ad Martyres. Sixteen huge columns
of oriental granite form the portico, and the ancient
bronze doors still remain. The interior is a magnificent
rotunda lighted by a circular aperture in the centre of
the coffered dome. Against the walls, in recesses, rest
the sarcophagi of Raphael and other painters. Here,
too, sleeping his last long sleep, lies King Victor Em
manuel II. , to whom all Italians owe so much.
The church best known to foreigners is undoubtedly
that which figures in the illustration, S. Trinita de'
Monti. There is nothing about the church itself to call
for comment; but its fine position, above the beautifully-
arranged steps, in the middle of what may be called the
" foreign quarter," makes it worthy of note. Close by is
the Villa Medici, the French Academy of Rome. At the
base of the steps is the flower market Until recently
[329]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Italians had a great objection to cut flowers in their rooms
— they were supposed to be unhealthy. Through foreign
influence this is slowly giving way, and the market is as
much patronised by the Romans as by the residents of
other nationalities. Not many years ago the foot of these
steps used to be thronged every morning by artists' models,
who, in the picturesque garb of their native districts, sat
here waiting for a day's hire. The few who still do this
have moved off to the steps of the Greek church in the
Via del Babuino, and the flavour of the Campagna and
the mountains they gave to the Piazza di Spagna is now a
thing of the past Everything changes, everything passes
away. The gaily coloured costumes of the ciociare, the
peasants from the districts between Rome and Naples —
so-called from the cioce or sandal they wear — is now
never seen. The exaggerated dress of the flower sellers,
who pester the foreigner to buy little faded nosegays, is
simply worn for the purpose of extracting soldi and as a
subterfuge for begging. Away up in the mountains be
yond Tivoli are two villages, Saracenesco and Articoli.
Though they are adjacent the dialect of the inhabitants is
different. There is a deadly feud between them. They
both provide the artist in Rome with models. Those
who come from the last named pose for the figure, but
those from Saracenesco will only sit draped. They still
provide the wet-nurses for Roman babies; for the phy-
[330]

ROME
sique of these Sabine villagers is very fine, as fine perhaps
as in the days when the Sabine women were carried oflf
by Roman youths.
Beyond the Villa Medici lie the beautiful gardens of
the Pincio. From the terrace at the end, on the brow of
the hill, one gets the famous view of Rome. The shady
walks and well-kept drives of these noted gardens, and
those of the adjoining Villa Borghese, are the favourite
rendezvous in the evening for Roman society. We must
leave this beautiful pleasaunce and dive down into the
labyrinth of streets below. Nothing probably strikes one
so much on a first visit to the Eternal City as the number
of fountains and obelisks that are to be found in which
ever direction a morning's walk takes one. Rome is the
best supplied of any capital in the world with water, and
though she has not the thirteen thousand odd fountains
recorded by Cardinal Mai in the year 1540, those that
remain still flow unceasingly. The Aqua Virgo brought
into Rome by Agrippa to supply his thermce at the back
of the Pantheon rushes a never-failing supply into the
huge Fontana di Trevi, One may sometimes see a
Roman of the poorer class drinking furtively from the
basin into which the water runs, drinking because he is
leaving his native city and wishes to assure a safe return.
The Fontana del Tritone is formed by dolphins, whose
tails meet to support the coat-of-arms of the Barberini —
[331]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
the fine Palazzo Barberini is close by— and is surmounted
by a Triton holding a conch shell to his mouth. In quite
another district, down by the river, hidden away amidst
the narrow streets of the Ghetto, is the little Piazza
Tartaruga. In the middle of this charming little square
stands the Fontana delle Tartaruga. The design of this
beautiful " Fountain of the Tortoises " has been attrib
uted to Raphael. It is certainly worthy of his great
name. The bronze figures of the four youths support
ing the basin of the fountain are exceptionally good.
With one hand each grasps the tail of a dolphin, the
other is raised above their heads to assist the struggles of
the little bronze tortoises that are endeavouring to crawl
over the slippery wet lip of the bowl. The Fontana La
Barcassia, in the Piazza di Spagna, a corner of which is
seen in the sketch of S. Trinita de' Monti, is no doubt
better known than the last named, but there is no public
fountain in Rome that approaches in any way the artistic
merit of " The Tortoises."
It is but a step from this to the gloomy looking Palazzo
Cenci, which recalls the tragedy of Beatrice of that name.
Another pace further on and we find ourselves in a re
cently cleared space with the new Jewish Synagogue
standing close to the river Embankment Here was situ
ated the old Ghetto of Rome, a quarter which is being
fast demolished. One certainly cannot regret the dis-
[332]

ROME
appearance of some of the abominable slums that not so
long ago stood where the housebreaker's pick and shovel
have been at work. It was but a few yards from the syna
gogue that the sketch of the Isle of S. Bartholomew and
the old Roman Pons Fabricius was made. S. Bartolom
meo is the only island on the Tiber in its course through
Rome; and the picturesque buildings of the old monas
tery are the only buildings left, which the yellow river
washes, of all those that less than thirty years ago lined
its banks. There is a different air about the Trastevere
district across the water. It is another city altogether
than the one left behind on the other bank. The for
eigner is not so much in evidence, we are once again in
Italy. Mount the steep ascent of the Janiculum, and
from the wide space in front of the colossal equestrian
statue of Garibaldi you will get a grand view of Rome,
with the Campagna and Alban mountains beyond. From
the top of the hill, as one turns northwards, we seem on
a level with S. Peter's great dome. One is puzzled once
again, when remembering how it really towers above all,
to find that it is not of much significance in the view.
Nothing of course is seen of the Vatican, which is situ
ated on the other side of S, Peter's, In the illustration
of the Cathedral, however, there is just visible the corner
which adjoins it
The Vatican is the largest palace in the world and
[335]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
contains the vastest and most heterogeneous collection
of all. It is quite impossible to enumerate a tenth of the
treasures hidden behind its ochre-coloured walls.
Neither can one enter here into any description of the Sis-
tine chapel with Michael Angelo's masterpiece, or Ra
phael's magnificent frescoes in the Stanze and Loggie.
We must pass over the famous picture gallery and the
antiquities in the Museo Pio-Clementino and the Museo
Chiaramonti, simply remarking that the Vatican Mu
seums hold the finest collections in the world. There is
one antique in the square outside which deserves a passing
notice, and that is the great monolith of granite standing
in the centre of the Piazza di S. Pietro. If Rome is a
city of fountains, it is also a city of obelisks. This enor
mous block of stone was brought by Caligula from Heli-
opolis and placed in the circus of Nero, which occupied
so much of the ground on which the great basilica was
afterwards erected. Eight hundred men, besides many
horses and over forty cranes, were requisitioned to ele
vate it in its present position. Turning away from the
Vatican and diving into the squalid quarters of the Borgo,
one comes on to the covered passage which John XXIII.
commenced to build in order to afford a safe mode of
retreat from the palace to the Castle of S, Angelo. The
fortress of S. Angelo was erected by the Emperor Had
rian as his family tomb; and, as such, its exterior was
perhaps decorated with statues. The Emperor died in
[336 J

ROME
his villa at Baiae on the Bay of Naples, but his body was
brought here, to be joined, as time went on, by the mortal
remains of Marcus Aurelius, Caracalla, and others.
The history of the castle is the history of Rome in the
Middle Ages. It has many times withstood a siege, and
among other vicissitudes fell before the prowess of Totila
and his Goths. The sarcophagus of its founder was used
as the tomb for Innocent II. , and its inverted lid now
forms the font in the baptistery of S. Peter's, The
streets in the neighbourhood of the castle have undergone
an absolute change. Wide thoroughfares and huge
blocks of flats cover the ground that a few years ago was
a huge slum. The new Courts of Justice face the river,
and the embankment in front is now a fine boulevard.
We cross the water once more, by the Ponte Margherita,
the bridge which is highest up the Tiber, and find our
selves in that fine square the Piazza del Popolo. Above
the beautiful terraces that form the precipitous slope
of the Pincio, the trees that adorn the gardens stand out
against the blue of the sky. At the foot of the terraces is
the church of S, Maria del Popolo, erected on the site of
the Domitii tombs, the ghost-haunted burial place of the
cruel Nero, Adjoining the church is a grand gateway,
the Porta del Popolo, Under its arches on the straight
road that runs north, the Via Flaminia, marched out of
Rome all those legions that went forth to conquer and to
extend the bounds of an Empire that has seen no rival.
[337]

NAPLES
^^^^^HE old Greek colony of Parthenope was
m C^ founded by settlers from Cumae, and when the
^^^^ islanders of Pithecusae (Ischia) built their
adjoining town of Neapolis, it became known
as Palaeopolis. Its port was where the harbour of S.
Lucia existed up to twenty years ago. Neapolis occu
pied that part of the present Naples which lies to the
east of this. About 400 B.C. the Republic, formed by
these two then united towns, allied itself with Rome;
and during the height of the Empire's power, her rulers,
statesmen, and poets built themselves residences on the
shores of the beautiful bay. Augustus did much for
Neapolis, and Tiberius sought refuge in that entrancing
island, Capri, where to this day his infamies are a by
word. Claudius, Nero, Titus, and Hadrian, whose pal
ace can be seen under the waters of the blue Mediter
ranean near Pozzuoli, have all left traces of some sort or
other in and about Naples, Lombards and Normans,
Swabians and Spaniards were each in turn drawn hither,
allured by the beauty of the situation. Colossal figures
[338]

NAPLES
in marble of the most famous rulers of Naples occupy
niches on the fagade of the Royal Palace, and here Roger
the Norman, Frederick II,, the Swabian, who founded
the university, Charles of Anjou, Alfonso of Arragon,
Charles III,, Joachim Murat, and Victor Emmanuel IL
gaze stonily from their retreats at the noisy tram and
rushing motor-car.
The Spanish Bourbons were the last to rule in Naples
before Italy was united towards the close of the last cen
tury. They did much to improve the city but nothing to
help its people. Twenty years ago there were still left
members of the aristocracy who every year journeyed to
Paris to pay their court to Francis II. , the last of that race
of kings whose reigns had ended at the disastrous battle
of Gaeta.
Naples, like Rome, changes every year. Modern im
provements bring sanitation, but do away with all that
is picturesque. All over the world hotels are becoming
a great factor in the life of the folk who have spare cash,
and Naples, with her splendid water supply and unriv
alled position, is not behind in her eagerness to catch the
foreigner's gold. Tourists by the thousand reach her
by sea, and the enterprising agents who arrange the itin
erary pop them into cabs, drive them through the streets,
and deposit them at the far-famed Museum, where they
are hustled from one gallery to another by the anything
[339]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
but intelligent guide. However, the Museum alone is
worth a visit to Naples. The ashes from Mte, Somma
which smothered Pompeii, preserved for subsequent ages
objects in bronze, in earthenware, and in glass, which lie
in their cases — an open book of the domestic life of the
Roman for every one to read. The great Farnese Her
cules, brought by Caracalla from Athens to adorn his
baths in Rome, is in one of the lower galleries. It is
without exception the finest illustration of mighty
strength in repose that exists. In the days when Glycon
the Athenian evolved and produced this masterpiece, art
was of more account in the lives of the people than it is
now, and so much was his Hercules appreciated and ad
mired that it was impressed on the money of Athens and
the coins of Caracalla. Among the many small statuettes
that the excavator's shovel has been the means of bring
ing to light is a very beautiful little winged figure of
Victory. Nothing can exceed the grace of the composi
tion and the floating-in-air quality this small treasure
possesses. One of the best specimens of Greek bronze
work is the so-called Narcissus. A row of bronze statues
from the theatre at Pompeii place vividly before one the
actors of the Greek stage, just as the armour and magnifi
cent helmets of the gladiators bring the arena and its
gory triumphs in front of one's eyes.
But, like the tourist, we must hurry on to the cathedral.
[340]

NAPLES
Interior of the Cathedral

NAPLES
The fagade, approached by steps from the narrow street,
is not in any way noticeable. The interior retains some
of the original Gothic, but, owing to earthquakes, has
been altered and restored, and now presents itself as a
great incongruity to the eye. The illustration will make
this apparent Gothic arches form the bays of the nave.
The aisles are also Gothic, and so is the arch over the
tribune at the east end. Corinthian shafts and dark mar
ble pilasters run up the square piers of the nave. At the
base of the shafts, under classic canopies, are the busts of
numerous archbishops, and between the piers are the con
fessionals. These latter give a rich note of brown, which,
with the gilded candelabra on either side of the busts,
finds an echo in the heavy and richly coloured ceiling.
The vista of the north aisle is the best architectural feature
in the building. The south aisle is marred by the obtrud
ing classic columns of its side chapels. At the high altar,
which the illustration shows, the blood of S. Januarius
liquefies every year on the anniversary of the saint's mar
tyrdom in September, The whole cathedral is then
crowded, and the intense fervour and excitement of the
immense congregation when the blood, in a phial held
aloft by the officiating priest, begins to liquefy, is a sight
that once seen can never be forgotten.
Immediately under the high altar in the crypt is the
Confessio of S, Gennario. Its marble roof is supported
[343]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
by ten Ionic columns. The richly sculptured decoration
of the chapel is very fine. The figure of Cardinal
Caraffa, who built it, kneels beside the altar under which
repose the saint's remains. One other thing of architec
tural note is the Archbishop's throne in the nave. This
good specimen of Gothic work is upheld by most elab
orately sculptured pillars, and arches with extremely
beautiful tracery.
The most interesting part of Naples lies round the
cathedral. Narrow streets, darkened by the clothes that
hang from balcony and pole, form a maze which it is easy
to wander into, but very difficult to escape from. Some
of the finest of the old palaces stand in these dirty thor
oughfares. One may pass them a dozen times and still be
quite unaware of their existence. The moving crowd
that throngs these narrow streets does not show any par
ticular regard for the sightseer, and the careless Jehu
who drives whither he will is absolutely unmindful of
the pedestrian. So if you would explore old Naples you
must look after yourself, and — as a caution too — look
after your pockets. It is unwise to display a watch chain,
and to carry anything that may be easily snatched from
the hand. Remember you are in the midst of expert
thieves and among the most heterogeneous race on the
face of the globe, a race without the slightest idea of
morals of any sort whatever. In the tortuous Via S.
[344]

NAPLES
Biagio stands a thirteenth-century palace built by one of
the Caraffa family, and since known as the Palazzo San-
tangelo. Some of the best objects in the Museum first
found a home in this fine old house. Pope, Paul IV. and
the great Neapolitan cardinal, Caraffa, were born in the
Palazzo Caraffa in the same street The central post-
oflice is now housed in the Palazzo Gravina, built in the
fifteenth century by one of the Orsini, and the great
dwelling of the Monticelli is one of the best specimens of
the domestic architecture of the same century.
Not far from the post-office is the church of S. Chiara.
Despite the hideous scheme of decoration which has
transformed an otherwise fine concert hall — for S. Chiara
is more like one than a church — into a curiosity of bad
taste, there is a great deal of interest within the fabric.
Founded at the commencement of the fourteenth century
by Robert the Wise, the church contains his monument
and also others of the royal house of Anjou. The frescoes
with which Giotto adorned the walls have long ago dis
appeared, and if it were not for the royal tombs S. Chiara
would not be worth a visit Behind the high altar, at
the back of which stairs lead up to a platform enabling
one to examine it, is the magnificent tomb of King Rob
ert The royal sarcophagus rests on Gothic pillars and
is adorned by sculptures of the king and his children.
His recumbent figure lies extended in the garb of a Fran-
[345]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
ciscan, which Order he entered a few days before his
death. Above this, under a canopy, is his figure seated
on a throne and clad in royal robes. The beautiful
Gothic canopy is supported by slender clustered columns,
with five rows of saints in niches carried up to the base
of the crocketed pinnacles that surround the canopy,
Robert's son Charles, Duke of Calabria, and Mary of
Valois, his second wife, lie in sarcophagi that are upheld
by figures of angels. These two splendid tombs are to
the south of the great king's. To the north are those of
Mary, Empress of Constantinople, and of her third hus
band, Philip of Taranto, Two of her children, Agnese
and Clementia, lie also near by; the former, who was
married twice, espoused firstly one of the Scaligeri, or
della Scala, of Verona, To the right of the high altar
is a chapel adorned with fleur-de-lys, the burial place of
the royal house of Bourbon, This little chapel and the
tombs in it lose greatly in historical sentiment by their
hideous and garish surroundings,
S. Domenico Maggiore, the curious exterior of which
is illustrated, was originally a noble Gothic edifice. The
restorer, unfortunately, has altered and added to this, and
although the interior plan is much the same as when first
erected, the terrible colours with which it is covered de
tract in no small measure from its very fine proportions.
The sketch shows the exterior of the five-sided apse. The
[346]

NAPLES
S. Domenico Maggiore

NAPLES
dull yellow tufa with which it is faced and the embattled
cornice and buttresses give it a decidedly eastern appear
ance, S, Domenico may be entered by the door just visi
ble on the left, to reach which one toils up a long flight of
moss-grown steps. Push aside the heavy leather flap,
and the noisy little piazza, with all Naples beyond, are
immediately things of the remote past You are in a
beautiful little twelfth-century chapel. Its walls are
lined with most interesting tomb slabs. Note the short
figures on each. The Neapolitan is very low of stature,
and these short figures, although the tombs are of the
twelfth and two succeeding centuries, point to the surmise
that the men of the south were never tall. From this
chapel one enters the great church at the south transept
Immediately on our left is the sacristy. Here in the
gallery which occupies one wall are forty-five burial
chests, among which ten hold the remains of ten princes
and princesses of the royal line of Aragon. Those which
have been identified are Ferdinand I, and II,, one of
the Dukes of Montalto and his Duchess, and Cardinal
Louis d'Aragona, Another contains the husband of the
celebrated Vittoria Colonna, the Marquis of Pescara, who
defeated Francis I. at Pavia. There is something of in
terest to be found in every chapel in the church. In one
of them is the crucifix which conversed with S. Thomas
Aquinas while he was composing his Summa Theologies.
[349]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
The saint's cell may still be seen, and also the room in
which he gave his addresses when lecturer in the univer
sity that was within the walls of the adjoining monastery.
The high altar, raised well above the steps of the choir,
is one of the most remarkable specimens of Florentine
inlay in the country. It has the curious adjuncts of a
recessed seat on either side, and two very fine marble
candelabra. These are but three of the three hundred churches
Naples possesses. Climb the hill of the Mte. Calvari
crowned by the Castel Sant' Elmo and look out from the
Belvedere in the suppressed Carthusian monastery of
S. Martino. Try to count the towers, domes, and spires
¦standing out from the carpet of roofs below. You will
be fatigued before you have reached the second hundred.
Perhaps the magnificent prospect over the blue bay, with
Isola da Capri and the Punta Campanella in the dis
tance, the Sorrentine peninsula and the wonderful shape
of Vesuvius on the left, will distract your arithmetic. At
any rate the counting of the churches is not worth the
trouble when such a glorious view lies before one. Be
yond the garden — the old monastic garden, how the
monks must have revelled in it! — and beyond the roofs
below, the Castel dell' Ovo juts out into the bay. To
the left of it, shipping of all nationalities rides the water
along the quays near the Arsenal and royal palace. The
[350]

k' '•1 *./ ' 'Jk.'

'M^i '

THE BAY OF NAPLES FROM POSILLIPO

NAPLES
funnels of huge liners stand up amidst a forest of masts
beyond the Immacolatella in a fine sweep to the Rione
Margherita di Savoia. Coasting boats with sails like
butterflies skim the water. Down in the harbour all is
animation; but so far are we above it that not a sound
breaks through the distant hum to enable us to distinguish
any one particular note.
The cloisters of S. Martino are very beautiful. Six
teen white marble Doric columns form the arcade on
each of the four sides. The cells of the departed monks
are shut now and the holes through which their food was
passed, bricked up. The walls are white; the classic
well-head in the centre of the garden is white and so are
its steps. The little burial ground in one corner of the
court has a white marble balustrade on which are very
realistic white marble skulls. Everything gleams white
in this quiet court, and the deep blue of the southern
sky intensifies it all. For a painter it is a rare study, but
perhaps not so fine an one as I once saw years ago. It
was in January, snow had fallen for two or three days —
even Capri was covered — when with a friend I walked
up to the Carthusian monastery of Camaldoli. We
reached it just as the fall which had been going on all
day ceased, A thick white carpet of fresh untrodden
snow lay round us. The white monastery walls looked
dull. We rang at the gate, a white garbed monk opened
[353]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
it We were in a white courtyard surrounded by white
walls, and a line of white monks moved slowly towards
the chapel. Everything was white. But what a subtlety
in the distinction of the colour! Only the sky was grey,
and that such a beautiful pearly tone. I question if
pigment even in a master's hand could have faithfully
reproduced the scene,
Naples was very different in those days, S, Lucia
existed then. Now the old harbour is filled up and mod
ern hotels stand where frail wooden piers ran out into
the water. From these spider-like structures oysters
hung down in baskets fructifying in the outlet of the
main sewer! S. Lucia was surpassingly picturesque and
gay with the life of the lowest class, but — surpassingly
odoriferous. Stalls lined the pavements. Fish of all
sorts, cooling drinks, lemons, oranges, every description
of fruit, were displayed in the shade of multi-coloured
awnings, Lazzaroni lay stretched all day long on the
sea wall, or slept on the footways propped against the
houses. Domestic toilettes performed out of doors in
the street never excited remark. And the houses them
selves, what a blaze of shifting colour when the wind
stirred the sheets and clothing hung out to dry from a
hundred balconies! All is changed. The sewage is car
ried out to sea right away at Cumae. There are no more
oysters at S. Lucia; there is no longer a S. Lucia, but
[354]

NAPLES
with its disappearance Naples has lost its most unique
attraction. Away at the end of the Chiaia, past the celebrated
Marine Aquarium, the hill of Posillipo rises above the
little fishing harbour of Mergellina, A tram will carry
you swiftly round the corner and along an uphill road
from which you will obtain many delightful views.
There is nothing on the Riviera to equal the position of
some of the fine villas which line this road. Beautiful
grounds run down to the sea. Exotic plants grow and
flourish, sheltered from the bitter tramontana wind.
Great pine trees rise solemnly above the tops of their
fellows. Many a winding path, with peeps of the Bay,
such as is illustrated, lead one up the steep slopes.
Wherever one wanders, it is always the blue sea that is
below, and always the wonderful outline of the peninsula
across the Bay in the distance or the graceful curves on
the flanks of Mount Vesuvius, or, most beautiful of all,
the lovely outline of the enchanting Isola da Capri.

[355]

(£^^nptn Emmt^-tmt
SALERNO
XN the Middle Ages the subject of this chapter
was famous throughout Christendom for its
school of medicine. S. Thomas Aquinas tells
us that in the medical world Salerno ranked
where Bologna did in law and Paris in science. Had
its fame on this account not been so great, Robert, the son
of William the Conqueror, would not have delayed his
homeward journey, and stopped there to consult its medi
cal men for a wound he had received in the Holy Land.
In consequence of his absence from England, Henry
stepped on to the throne which had meanwhile become
vacant by the death of Rufus, and the rightful heir never
reigned. Salerno was in many other ways connected with
the powerful race of Northmen. Robert Guiscard re
ceived his mortal wound before the walls of the city as
his troops swept over the ramparts at the first assault after
an eight months' siege. Roger the Norman was here
declared king of Naples and Sicily at a meeting of the
barons in 1130, and for many years Salerno was the seat
of the Norman government in South Italy, Like many
[356]

SALERNO
another city which has in the past enjoyed a famous repu
tation and been of great importance, there is now prac
tically nothing left to tell of its great days. On a crag
at the end of the old city walls, some nine hundred feet
above the sea, the ruins of the Northmen's stronghold, in
the attack on which Robert Guiscard was wounded, still
remain, buffeted by the storms that rush up the mountain
slopes. The harbour which Manfred commenced to
build, and which in old days held the Norman fleet, lies
below the Marina, but it silted up many years ago, and
is now almost useless for trade. The great days of
Salerno have gone, just as the great days of her famous
neighbour, Amalfi. The exigencies of modern trade
routes and the facilities of the railway have robbed her of
all the power and glory she once possessed.
There is, however, something left to remind one of
her past wealth and power. Closely hemmed in by its
surroundings, the cathedral is not by any means easy to
find. Tortuous uphill streets lead to the piazza, where, on
a steep incline, a fine double flight of steps with a marble
balustrade give on to the spacious cloistered court or
atrium beyond which it stands. Robert Guiscard dedi
cated his cathedral to S. Matteo, and, so that it should be
worthy of the great race of de Hauteville, plundered the
old Greek city of Paestum for the building of it Nearly
every one of the pillars of these cloisters came from there.
[357]

CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ITALY
Most of them are so massive that the capitals of native
workmanship, probably hewn while the plundering was
going on, are too small. The arches above are stilted;
they support a gallery whereon a row of statues of dif
ferent archbishops appear in a now much dilapida.ted
condition. The same state of partial ruin greets the eye
as one looks around. Fourteen ancient sarcophagi,
nearly all of them Greek, stand in the cloisters of the
court They were used by the Normans for Christian
burial, but, alas! are mutilated and chipped at the cor
ners, and their fine bas-reliefs, one of a hunting scene,
another with centaurs and nymphs on the panels
are almost completely ruined by the ill-treatment they
have received. In the centre of the court is a fountain.
Water still splashes in its Greek basin, but decay and
neglect have robbed this otherwise beautiful atrium of
most of its charm.
The cathedral adjoins the courtyard. The bronze
doors of the central porch were at one time inlaid with
silver. The precious metal has disappeared, but small
figures of the Apostles and Christian symbols bear evi
dence that when these doors came fresh from Constan
tinople in the eleventh century they were of very fine
craftsmanship. The interior of the great church is
whitewashed. The floor slopes up towards the east end,
and is a good example of a well arranged marble pat-
[358]

SALERMO
A Pulpit in the Cathedral

SALERNO
tern. The most interesting things, if we except the tombs
that are in the building, are the two ambones, or pulpits.
That which appears in the illustration is a wonderful
example of the work of John of Procida, The other, as
well as the archbishop's throne, is by the same great
designer. All three are masterpieces of the Graeco-
Byzantine style of inlaid tesserae. In the illustration
will be seen a fine Paschal candelabrum, with most intri
cate inlay, as fine in its way as that described in the next
chapter. These pulpits are approached by steps from
inside the choir. One is supported by four columns of
rare porphyry and the other by twelve of granite from
Paestum. Age has toned the white marble panels to a
light grey, which gives a wonderfully fine note to the
white of the cathedral walls as one looks up the nave
from the west end. The choir is encircled with a most
beautiful inlaid marble screen, in decoration similar to
the two pulpits. The floor is a grand example of Opus
Alexandrinum inlay, and is as good in this respect as the
best in Italy.
Under the high altar, in the crypt, is a monument to
S. Matthew, with a seated bronze figure of the saint
Below this, in a casket, repose the remains of the Evan
gelist, which were bro.ught here in the year 930. The
crypt itself is not interesting. To find what is, we must
return to the church above, where some of the tombs are
[361]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
well worthy of study. Pope Gregory VIL, Hildebrand,
who died in Salerno, lies in a sarcophagus in one of the
side chapels. The remains of Margaret of Anjou,
mother of King Ladislaus, rest under the canopy of a
fine tomb, on which in relief the queen is depicted sur
rounded by her children and her maids of honour. An
gels form the support to the canopy, which is decorated
with gold fleur-de-lys on a blue ground. Archbishop
Caraffa's remains are in a fine Greek sarcophagus with
Medusa heads at its corners. On another is a fine bas-
relief of the Triumph of Bacchus, and many more, like
those in the cloisters, have been transferred from Pagan
use to Christian. The chapel in which is Hildebrand's
tomb belongs to the family of John of Procida, who
decorated it himself.
In the sacristy is a very interesting Palla of ivory, the
thirty panels of which represent scenes in the Old and
New Testaments. This eleventh-century work is one of
the few things which can with truth be said to be in
excellent preservation. The cathedral, like its surround
ings, is sadly in need of repair. Its fine campanile is
buttressed up, or would long ago have toppled into the
street below. The two lowest storeys of this grand tower
are the original Norman work of Roger's day. At their
angles are marble and granite columns, no doubt from
Paestum. The two upper storeys are not like the lower
[362]

SALERNO
built of stone, but have been constructed in a very beauti
fully coloured brick. They are pierced by Norman
arches, above which is the belfry surmounted by a dome.
Were it not for the few things we have noted, Salerno
would not be worth a visit But if only to see the mag
nificent pulpits and stand silently in the crypt by the
remains of the Evangelist, the tourist in his hurry should
never omit to spend at least a few hours in this once
famous city.

[363]

PALERMO
QHCENICIANS, Carthaginians, Greeks and
Romans, Goths, Byzantines, Normans and
Spaniards, have all ruled in Sicily; and those
whose curiosity takes them to the museum of
Palermo may there see many antiquities of great interest
in the history of each period. The man who observes
may also see much in her streets. There are distinct
quarters in Palermo where the different races and their
descendants have kept themselves to themselves from time
immemorial. It takes no special knowledge of racial
physiognomy to single out among other types the Ber
ber or the Greek, as one saunters along watching the ever-
changing crowd in the lively thoroughfares. The Nor
man occupation is recalled in the vivid decoration of the
panels of the peasants' carts. On them one sees the gal
lant Norman slaying the truculent Infidel — slaying them
by dozens ! Quite archaic is the execution of these panels
— the handiwork of a long line of painters, whose pro
genitors hundreds of years ago were painting the same
scenes on the vehicles of their day. The colours are
[364]

PAEMERO
crude. Every inch of the car is painted. The spokes of
the wheels are notched and carved. The body of the
cart is firmly fixed, high above the axle bar, by well-
arranged ironwork of floral design. There are no other
carts in existence like them; and when the feathered
plume of ultramarine and red which always adorns the
donkey's headgear, and the tinselled harness worked with
gold and silver thread, are new, not many chariots or
state coaches make a braver show.
Palermo is divided into four quarters by the two streets
that, running east and west, north and south, bisect one
another at the circular space in the centre of the city
called the Quattro Canti — the Four Corners. Standing
in this busy spot and looking downhill northwards, the
deep blue of the Mediterranean bounds the horizon.
South the view is partially stopped by the great city
gateway, the arch of the Porta Nuova which crosses the
street by the Royal Palace nearly a mile away. East and
west, high over the heads of the crowd and the congested
traffic, grand mountains rise up with a puff of white
cloud above their summits. In whichever direction one
gazes the vista ends, far beyond the lines of tall houses,
with the blue sea or the blue sky.
If one walks towards the Royal Palace up the hill,
one passes through the fine Piazza del Duomo, It is
a large square enclosed on three sides by a marble balus-
[365]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
trade, on which stands, at intervals, colossal statues of
bishops and saints. On the fourth side is the great cathe
dral. This fine specimen of pointed Sicilian work is
dedicated to S. Maria Assunta, and was commenced in
the twelfth century when Gualterio Offamilio, Walter of
the Mill, was the English archbishop of Palermo. The
curious architectural style of the building is due to the
fact that it was designed by a Norman and carried out
by Moorish workmen. The Moor found it impossible
to leave out his native arcades and his battlements ; and
the diaper pattern on the west fagade recalls in design
the decoration of the east The Saracenic capitals of the
beautifully carved pillars of the three doors of this fagade
are exceptionally good. Norman zig-zag moulding
embellishes the arches above. Niches filled with saints
add to the harmonious incongruity so subtly arranged
by infidel workmen. A noble tower at each corner rises
in eight tiers, the three topmost being open. Through
out these towers small arches are supported by little mar
ble columns with their corners rounded off in a bold way
by ringed pillars. They terminate in little turrets and
pinnacles, which have flames at their bases. To break
all the flat surfaces of these, the Eastern mind was con
strained to put some sort of decoration, thus carrying
off the appearance of great weightiness; and so, square,
billet, lozenge, and nail-head patterns have been most
[366]

f

oL^HlffqS *

JSL

fVf ^/fjf
¦"X'
a4
¦"&..,.
PALERMO
The Cathedral
PAEMERO
admirably introduced. The lower portion of the great
tower across the street and opposite the fagade, and which
forms part of the archbishop's palace, is Saracenic, and
was erected before the Northman's advent in Sicily.
The upper stages are the belfry. Despite the spires
which all these towers possess, there is something decid
edly more Eastern than Northern in their appearance.
The arches that crossed the street — so bold a feature in
the sketch — were put up in the twelfth century to sustain
the palace and cathedral whenever earthquake shocks
occurred. The cathedral is entered by the south porch. This
is flanked by twelfth-century towers, on the top of which
are ugly white marble figures, executed at a bad period.
Three stilted arches of Moorish design with cable mould
ings, the central arch larger than the other two, support a
rather low gable. The face of this gable is covered with
a good scheme of decoration. The cornice is deeply cut
with animals and foliage, a porcupine and a hare being
among the former. Four grotesque Norman water
spouts break the string course between the cornice and a
beautiful flat arcade under the arches, on which are half-
length figures of saints and bishops. The wall beneath
this and above the three arches of the porch was evidently
at one time covered with Arab designs in black and red.
Four grey marble pillars with their eastern capitals sup-
[369 J

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
port the arches ; they came from the mosque which stood
on the spot where the cathedral was erected. The por
tal of the door itself is a real masterpiece of intricate
Moorish carving. Here pomegranates and palm leaves
occupy a prominent place. In the eighteenth century
many alterations occurred, and this grand and, from an
architectural point of view, deeply interesting church,
was disfigured to a large extent The porch has suf
fered almost as much as the interior of the building.
But one tablet worth recording still exists in the former :
PRIM . SEDES . CORONA . REGIS . ET . REGNI . CAPUT
Thus runs the proud title of the city in the days when the
kings of Sicily were crowned in Palermo's cathedral. A
row of white marble figures stands on the exterior of
the side chapels of the aisles. They are bad. Little
domes with glazed tiles also remind one of a later period.
These with the big central dome over the crossing were
the work of Fuga, a Neapolitan architect In the alter
ations he carried out the battlements and the corbel tables
under them were spared. The latter are a very curious
study in the physiognomy of the different races known to
the Normans when the cathedral was built. Executed
by Arab workmen, whose faith forbade them to portray
the handiwork of Allah, their accuracy is not unim
peachable. The east end is partly covered with flat
[370]

PAEMERO
arcading, most elaborately carved with Arabic design,
and partly with a black and red pattern of the same
character. The apse is not pierced by any lights.
The whitewashed classic interior is a great disap
pointment after the rich brown and yellow stone of the
exterior. But if, architecturally, it fails to interest, his
torically it is concerned with the most brilliant and pros
perous period the city enjoyed. Turning to the left on
entering the cathedral by the south porch are the two
chapels wherein stand in solemn grandeur the mighty
sarcophagi of the Norman and Swabian kings. The re
mains of Roger, the first Norman ruler of Sicily, rest in a
porphyry sarcophagus supported by marble feet com
posed of four crouching Saracens. The fine canopy
above is incrusted with mosaic. Its pillars are gilded
and inlaid. The next tomb is that of Constantia, who
was the last of the royal line of Normans. She was
the wife of the Emperor Henry VL, and mother of
Frederick II. By the side of this is the sarcophagus of
Henry VI. Very elaborately adorned is that which con
tains the remains of Frederick IL, and the body of Peter
II. of Aragon. The lid of this is carved with medallions
of Christ, and the Virgin and child. All that is left of
Constance, wife of Frederick IL, is in a Roman sarcopha
gus which is recessed in a wall of the chapel. It is beau
tifully decorated with a hunting scene in bas-relief.
[37^1

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
Standing against another wall is a mediaeval tomb, with
a cowled figure between two shields, on which are dis
played the eagles of Aragon. It holds the ashes of Wil
liam, Duke of Athens, who was a son of Frederick of
Aragon. All these tombs are not only full of archaeo
logical interest in themselves, but when one reviews the
origin and history of the Norman occupation of the
island, the chapels in which they rest becomes one of
the most historically absorbing spots in the world.
The Saracens were in possession of Sicily when Roger,
the youngest of the twelve sons of Tancred de Hauteville,
came over from Apulia, where his brothers, by force of
arms, had established themselves as reigning Counts.
Roger found all the civilisation, culture, and well-ordered
bureaucracy of the Moor firmly established. And with
this he was too wise to interfere. Changing nothing of
the mode of life of those he conquered, but simply adding
to it the strength of arm and vitality of a northern race,
he became — and those who followed him were — by far
the richest and most magnificent sovereigns of their time
in all Europe.
The crypt is architecturally the most interesting part
of the interior of the cathedral. It contains the tombs of
twenty-four of Palermo's archbishops, including that of
Walter of the Mill. Among the treasures in the sacristy
is the cap of Constance of Aragon, which was found in
[372]

PAEMERO
her tomb, when, by order of Ferdinand I., the royal
sarcophagi were opened. On one of the rough gems
with which the cap is studded, is written in Arabic, " In
Christ, God, I put my hope." Here, again, is evidence
that the Moor and Christian lived amicably side by side.
Theodoric in Ravenna, and the Norman in Palermo,
brought peace to the land they conquered ; and the great
est prosperity that both cities enjoyed was a consequence
of their wisdom, and of their religious tolerance.
In the fine open square which one reaches at the end
of the seemingly interminable Corso, a Roman house and
other very interesting remains are now being unearthed.
The Royal Palace occupies one side of the piazza, and,
being the highest part of the city, is on the site of the old
Roman palace. There is a magnificent view from the
observatory situated on the roof of the building. It is,
however, with the beautiful chapel built by Roger II. in
the early part of the twelfth century that we are con
cerned. The Cappella Palatina is a perfect gem, and
no one who has once visited it in the morning can ever
forget the marvellous effect of dim light passing through
its narrow windows, and illuminating its wonderful mar
ble and mosaic walls. Three of the bays of the nave are
formed by columns of Egyptian granite which alternate
with three of fluted Greek marble. The composite cap
itals of the arches are Byzantine and Corinthian. These
[ 373 ]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
arches are stilted and covered in an extremely rich man
ner with gorgeous mosaic, and their soffits inlaid with
tesserce arranged in Moorish designs. The walls of the
aisles are lined with the richest marble slabs, beneath
which a beautiful dado of inlaid Eastern pattern runs
round the chapel. The wooden roof of the nave is honey
combed, and like that of the Alhambra at Granada is
arranged with splendidly coloured and gilded pendent-
ives. Cufic inscriptions find a place amongst these hang
ing clusters. The ceilings of the aisles are coffered and
sustain heavy gold bosses, which enrich the gorgeous
effect of their strong colour.
The choir is raised five steps above the nave, from
which it is shut off by a very beautiful marble screen.
The stalls are carved perpendicular work. The fine
wooden lectern of very late Gothic design has well-carved
angels kneeling on the four supporting legs. Above
these angels four kings stand around the centre column.
On the book-rest repose the old black-letter parchment
psalters. At the top of all, the Virgin and Child finish
off this exceedingly well-designed and executed reading
desk. Beyond the choir the apse rises four steps. The
risers of these steps and those of the choir are most beau
tifully inlaid. The colossal mosaic figure in the semi-
dome of the apse is the only mosaic of a late date ; and,
aiming at the qualities of a painting, like those on the
[374]

PAEMERO
exterior of S. Mark's and the cathedral at Orvieto, some
what mars the uniformity and simplicity of the tesserce
decoration of the chapel. The floor of the building is
entirely opus Alexandrinum work. At the west end, a
raised dais for the exclusive use of royalty is railed off,
and a portrait of the reigning sovereign let into the
marble panels of the wall. By the pulpit stands a Byzan
tine candelabrum. Four lions rending their prey are at
its base. Other animals and birds and figures of men, all
fighting one another, encircle, in orderly confusion, the
beautiful inlaid central column. Above them is a figure
of the Almighty, serenely quiescent Children, symboli
cal of innocence and freedom from sin, are carved round
the bowl into which is stuck the huge Easter candle.
It is very diflficult to describe the effect of sudden calm
that steals over one when, entering this dark church, with
the glare of the sun and the noise of the streets outside,
one is conscious of a very restful gloom, full of the richest
colour, and a silence soothing to the senses. One some
how feels the gorgeousness of the east combined with the
solemnity of a well-planned sacred interior, and this
despite the sudden transition from light to darkness.
There is no other building of like dimensions which grips
one as does the wonderful Cappella Palatina of Palermo,
La Martorana, away down in the city, may have been
as beautiful, but unfortunately in the year 1590 the nuns
[375]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
of the attached convent ordered most of the precious
mosaics to be stripped from the walls, and a hideous choir
added when these were demolished. Some few are left
on the roof to tell us what a glorious thing this finely
proportioned chapel must have been before religious zeal
got the better of artistic taste. The central apse was like
wise taken down a hundred years later, and with it more
priceless mosaic destroyed. The inlaid marble on the
walls was done away with in the eighteenth century. If
anything better could have been found to take the place
of the grand mosaics that covered the interior there might
have been an excuse for these acts of vandalism; but
when one sees the hideous stucco and wretched mural
paintings of bad design and colour, that have no religious
fervour or tendency and nothing whatever to recommend
them in any way, one stands aghast at the ignorance and
stupidity which in the name of religious expediency de
stroyed such priceless treasures. Among the little that
remains are two curious mosaics wherein King Roger
is crowned by Christ, and the High Admiral, who
founded the church, is dedicating it to the Virgin. The
king is wearing the dalmatic. This he received, together
with the mitre, from the Pope, who found it more diplo
matic to confer ecclesiastical oflSce upon the Norman king
than to oppose him in useless wars.
A little to the south of the Royal Palace, and almost
[376]

PAEMERO
abutting on the old walls of the city, is S. Giovanni degli
Fremiti. The beautiful cloistered garden, which is adja
cent, forms an illustration to this chapter. The little
church is a very early specimen of Norman work on the
plan of the letter T with three apses. On its south side
is a tiny mosque, incorporated with the building and
utilised in the old days as a chapel. The monastery,
which existed here in the time of Gregory the Great, had
fallen into disuse when the Normans came to Sicily, and
King Roger restored the old buildings. The interior now
is absolutely bare and the windows unglazed. The
Moorish domes give the little church a very eastern ap
pearance, to which the flat members of the rustic stones
of the cloister arches in no small measure add. It is a
peaceful spot where exotic plants flourish luxuriantly, and
vie with all sorts of flowers in wanton growth.
The traveller who has been in Spain will find in the
old quarter of Palermo many palaces that will remind
him of Seville, Salamanca, and other places in the Iberian
peninsula. The tawny colour of the South predominates
here, and the two or three courtyards possessed by many
of these palaces will add to his reminiscences. This is
not so strange as it may seem when one considers that from
the year 1 282, when Pedro of Aragon was crowned king,
to 1713, when Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, ascended
the throne, Sicily was under the rule of the Spaniard.
[379]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
The great square block of yellow stone in the Piazza
Marina, the Palazzo Chiaramonte, served as the palace
of the Spanish Viceroys and headquarters of the Inquisi
tion. Now known as the Palazzo de' Tribunali, it is used
as the law courts. The ante-chamber of the courtroom
has a magnificent wooden ceiling. Hunting about in the
narrow streets in this quarter one chances on many a piece
of architecture and decorative sculpture in the grandiose
style of the great days of Spain. One or two good foun
tains and fine portals add much to the historical charm
of a part of the city which is now occupied by humble
folk. The church of S. Agostino, difficult to find in the
slums, has a remarkable fagade with a beautiful wheel
window. Delicate white marble pillars radiate from the
Paschal Lamb, which is the hub of the wheel, and three
rows of tiny but beautifully carved arches interlace and
form the tracery of the window. The chevroned arches
of the portal are decorated with acanthus leaves and ara
besques. The capitals of the supporting columns are
pomegranates, and a flat canopy with dripstone of acan
thus leaves, beneath which are almost obliterated frescoes,
completes one of the most fascinating relics of bygone
days to be found anywhere in Palermo. It is in the old
quarters, too, that the life of the cittadini is seen in its
most picturesque garb. Fruit shops, full of golden
oranges and pale lemons, prickly pears and great citrons,
[380]

PALERMO
The Cloisters of S. Giovanni degli Ermitano

PAEMERO
make gay patches of colour in the street vista. Glazed
tiles, earthenware, and vividly coloured cotton goods dis
played outside the shop fronts or hanging from the walls
add to the variety of the scene, Cookshops, with pizzi
and scaglozzi, and olive oil in the frying pan, excite the
olfactory nerves in a pleasanter degree than those in which
a particularly strong-flavoured cheese finds ready pur
chasers. Excellent wine may be drunk at a very small
cost at the drinking bars, where a jet of clear water is for
ever playing over the marble slabs of the cistern-like coun
ter. Fowls scurry about in the midst of the throng, and
hungry dogs scent a meal in the refuse heaps of the gut
ters. All is animation, and all has a touch of the South
that is something more than Italian. It is almost worth
while going to Palermo in order to perambulate her fas
cinating streets and observe the everchanging crowd that
peoples them.
It is certainly worth the voyage to enter the harbour
when the sun is well up and from the ship's deck watch
the splendid panorama unfold itself as the vessel glides
into port. At the foot of Mte. Pelligrino, and where the
famous valley of the Conca d'Oro, or Golden Shell,
touches the blue waters of the Mediterranean, lies Pal
ermo. Beyond, with an inclination upwards to the lower
slopes of Mte. Cuccio in the distance, stretches the trian
gular shaped valley, Mte. Cuccio forming the apex of the
[383]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
triangle. Mountains hem the landscape in on two sides.
The whole of the country between them and the sea is one
vast grove of orange and lemon trees. On the edge of
the receding wall of mountains to the right of the valley
in the middle distance, a stately building stands above the
brow of a step hill. Round it cluster roofs and walls in
irregular lines. This is Monreale. To Monreale we go
to study the mosaics. For though its cathedral boasts of
grand twelfth-century bronze doors, and a very fine por
tico, the magnificent mosaics that cover the walls of
the interior are its pride and glory.
The decoration of this fine basilica may be described
as a coherent mass of superb mosaics and well selected
slabs of grey and white marble inlaid with panels of
Moorish design. Here more than in any other church
in the world has architecture been subordinated to a
scheme of gorgeously coloured decoration. Its mosaics
are Greek in style, with Greek inscriptions. Moorish
designs and arabesques also rival in colour the extraor
dinarily intricate gold pattern which sets oflf the beauty
of the marble walls. On the semidome of the central
apse is a very impressive colossal half-length mosaic of
the Saviour holding an open book. Below, are figures
of the archangels, Gabriel and Michael and the twelve
apostles. The vault of the south apse contains a gigantic
figure of S. Peter, and in the corresponding one in the
[384]

MONREALE
The Cloisters

PALMERO
north apse, one of S. Paul. These two figures are robed
in white, and light up the dark recesses of the deep-
toned gold background of the apses in a remarkable man
ner. In the choir there is a mosaic over the royal throne
very similar to that in Ea Martorana, wherein King
Roger is being crowned. In this case Christ places the
crown on the head of William the Good. Over the Arch
bishop's throne William is represented offering the
church to the Virgin. Sicily was never a fief of the
Popes, and these two mosaics no doubt express the idea
that the sovereigns derived their authority from God
alone. Round the whole of the nave two sets or series of
mosaics are arranged which, beginning at the Flood, illus
trate different episodes in biblical history. Forty-two
scenes are depicted in the nave and ten in each aisle which
deal with our Lord's life as well as themes from the Old
¦Testament At the west end is a mosaic of S. Castrense,
Monreale's tutelar saint, casting out a devil, and also
walking on the sea.
Comparing these wonderful decorations with those at
Ravena and in S. Mark's, one may at first be more im
pressed with the apparent magnificence of the scheme
which we find here. The cathedral is larger than any
of Ravenna's churches, and has this advantage over S.
Mark's, that one is better able here to grasp at once the
[387]

CATHEDRAE CITIES OF ITALY
whole idea of the colour scheme. In S. Mark's one sits
and quietly discovers things at leisure. At Monreale
one enters and is immediately overpowered by the mag
nificence of the dull gold tessera and the gorgeous ar
rangement of the sequence of figures which, like a flash,
strike one at first sight. Ravenna can show us better
schemes of colour, subtler and more refined. Ravenna
gives us earlier work, and work more naive, and is for
this reason more attractive and interesting. But it must
be admitted that in no other building of the kind is one
impelled to stop suddenly and catch one's breath, as when
first entering Monreale's great basilica.
Eight bays divide the nave from the aisles. Their
stilted arches are supported by granite monoliths. The
capitals of these are pure Corinthian, and Corinthian
with cornucopiae volutes and medallion heads. Above
the abacus of each capital is the simple Norman bowl
capital inlaid with rich mosaic. It is from these that the
glorious colour-scheme springs — above and around, the
eye finds nothing but mosaic. The lower portion of the
walls of the aisles is composed of marble slabs separated
from one another by inlay of Moorish design. In the
north chancel aisle are the tombs of Roger, Duke of
Apulia, and Henry, Prince of Capua, two sons of Wil
liam the Bad. In the south chancel aisle are the tombs
of William the Good and William II. Just as Palermo's
[388]

PAEMERO
cathedral is a fit resting-place for the remains of some
of the Norman kings, so is this grand fabric for the bodies
of those of the same royal line who here repose in peace.
Adjoining the cathedral, on the south side, is all that
is left of the original Benedictine monastery. The cele
brated cloisters, of which we speak, are more Arab than
Norman, and more infidel than Christian in their archi
tecture. The two flat members of the Moorish arches
are decorated with black tufa lozenges and spearheads.
The coupled columns are nowhere approached in beauty
and delicacy, save in S. Paolo fuori at Rome. Ara
besques cover some of them ; all were at one time richly
inlaid with mosaic. Some are chevroned, others of loz
enge pattern, or billeted, or twisted and spiral. Their
capitals are one and all of extreme interest One shows
on its carved surface Norman knights in chain mail en
gaged in combat with Saracens ; another, Roman gladi
ators slaying Christian victims. Birds, beasts, and sub
jects from the Old Testament, intricate foliage and vines
add to a variety which is not to be found anywhere else
in the cloistered courts of Italy. The illustration gives
a corner of this beautiful spot where a fountain splashes
and plays, adding to the delights of a well-kept garden
and the sweet scent of flowers. THE END.
[389]

3xxhtK

Ahrler, Heinrich, lo
Alberti, Leo Battista, 115, 243
Alexander 1 1., 208
Alexander IIL, 81
Alfred the Great, 25
Amalfi, 357
Ajjnbrose, S., 16
Angelico, Fra, 247, 303, 329
Angelo, Michael, 165, 199, 235,
282, 303, 314, 317. 318, 323
Antelami, Benedetto, 174
Antenor, 60
Anthony, S., 60
Ariosto, 125
Arnulphus, 17
Assisi, Church of S. Maria, 266-7 J
cathedral, 271; general descrip
tion, 271-2
Attila, 8
Augustine, S., 23
Augustus, 131
Baldus, 72
Bank of Genoa, 180
Barbarossa, Frederick, 81
Bastianino, 129
Bellagio, 2
Bellini, 31
Benedict XL, 259
Benedict XIV., 321
Benenato, 202
Bergamo, cathedral, 28-32; other
buildings, 32-33

Bernardino, S., 255, 256, 284
Bernardone, Giovanni, 271
Bernini, 313, 316-17
Bisone, Bono da, 170
Boethius, 25
Bologna, Giovanni da, 153
Bologna, history, 150-3; cathe
dral, 159-60; other buildings,
153-8, 161-2; university, 162-3
Bonannus, 198, 202
Bonaventure, Nicholas, 13
Borromeo, S. Charles, 13-15
Borsi, Pier, 224
Bouillon, Godfrey de, 177
Bramante, 4, 10, 19, 153, 314
Breakspeare, Nicholas, 317
Brescia, Roman remains, 34-35;
la Rotunda, 35-36; Duomo
Nuovo, 36-39; other buildings,
39-40
Browrning, Robert, 99
Brunelleschi, 231, 242, 247
Bruni, Leonardo, 242
Burlammachi, Francesco, 207
Busketus, 197
Byron, 124, 206
Cadanabbia, 2
Caedwalla, 324
Cassar, Julius, 113, 208
Caligula, 336
Calvin, 125
Camaldoli, 353

[391]

INDEX

Cambio, Arnolfo di, 227, 232,
235, 242, 281
Capri, 338, 353
Carabelli, 10
Caretti, Ilaria, 215
Carracci, 159
Carrara family, 62
Catherine, S., 284
Cellini, Benvenuto, 229, 318
Ceolfrid, 241
Charlemagne, 45, 312
Charles V., 159, 294
Chiusi, 252
Cimabue, 223, 268
Clement VIL, 294
Colleoni, 32, 93
Columbus, 183
Como, history, 1-2 ; cathedral, 2-4 ;
town hall, 4-5; industries, 7
Constantine the Great, 311, 313,
322, 324
Correggio, 168, 170, 173, 175
Dante, 43, 60, 133, 223, 242
Diotisalvi, 200, 205
Dominic, S., 163-4
Donatello, 65, 68, 73, 94, 205,
223, 224, 229, 241, 243, 283
Donizetti, 32
Doria, Filippo, 189
Ducci, Agostino, 255
Duccio da Siena, 244
Embrlanco, Guglielmo, 177, 184
Enzio, 151, 154, 163
Este family, 123-4

Fabris, Emilio di, 232

Fanti, General, 250
Farnese family, 169
Felsina, 152
Ferrara, history, 123-4; cathe
dral, 125-130
Florence, general description, 222-
227; Palazzo Vecchio, 228-29;
Campanile, 231; cathedral,
232-5; Baptistery, 235-237;
other buildings, 230-X, 238-48
Fiesole, Mino da, 260
Foix, Gaston de, 132
Formentone, Tomasso, 39
Francis of Assisa, S., 266-7, 272
Francis IL, King of Naples, 339
Frederick IL, Emperor, 72
Frediano, S., 208, 216
Fuga, 370
Gaddi, Agnolo, 242
Gaddi, Taddeo, 231
Galileo, 72, 200
Gambara, 173
Garibaldi, 192, 261
Genoa, history, 177-8; general
description, 1 78-84 ; cathedral,
185-90; churches, 190-1 ;
palaces, 183-4; rivalry with
Pisa, 206
Ghiberti, 236
Giaconda, Fra, 42
Giotto, 60, 65, 73, 223, 231, 242,
248, 268, 318
Giovanni, Fra, 72
Giudetto, 211, 217
Giugni, 217
Glycon, 340
Gozzoli, 202

[392]

INDEX

Grail, Holy, 177
Gregory the Great, 379
Guiscard, Robert, 356-357
Hadrian, 336
Hauteville, Roger de, 372
Hecuba, Queen of Cyprus, 267
Januarius, S., 343
Julius IL, 313
Julius IIL, 251
Ketterick, John, 242
Lanfranc, 25
Leo XIIL, 259
Leopardi, Alessandro, 94
Lombardi, Martino, 93
Lombards, 153, 155, 164
Lucca, history, 207-8; cathedral,
208-10; other buildings, 215-21
Luini, Bernardino, 4
Lurago, Rocco, 183
Malatesta family, 1 14-16
Matthew, S., 361
Mazzuola, 173
Medici family, 15, 223, 237-41.
Mehemet Ali, 325
Michelozzo, 228
Milan, history, 8-9; cathedral, 9-
14; Church of S. Ambrose, 15-
17
Mino, Giacomo di, 283
Misericordia, Compagnia della,
224
Monreale, 384-89
Montaldo, Leonardo, 190

Morone, Andrea, 62
Myrra, 189
Naples, history, 338-9; museum,
339; cathedral, 343-4; other
buildings, 345-53; general de
scription, 354-5
Nero, 336
Nesso, I
Nicodemus, 215
Offamilio, Gualterio, 366
Orsini, Nicolo, 92
Orvieto, general description, 293-
7, 304-6; cathedral, 297-303
Pacifico, Beato, 95
Padua, history, 60-1 ; cathedral,
61; university, 71-2; other
buildings, 62-71
Palermo, general description, 364-
69; cathedral, 369-372; Cap
pella Palatina, 373-376; other
buildings, 379-89
Palladio, 40, 72, lOO
Parma, history, 168-9; cathedral,
169-73; Baptistery, 174-5
Parmesan cheese, 26
Paul IIL, 250
Pavia, history, 19; cathedral, 19-
23; other buildings, 24-25
Pellegrini, 13, 14
Pepo, 162
Perugia, general description, 249,
261-5; cathedral, 251-5;
churches, 255-9 5 other buildings,
260-1
Perugino, 260-1

[393]

INDEX

Petrarch, 62
Piaeenza, Bartolino da, 175
Pietro, Giovanni da, 175
Pietro, Lorenzo di, 282
Pisa, general description, 193;
cathedral, 194-200; Baptistery,
200-202; other buildings, 202-
206
Pisano, Andrea, 236
Pisano, Giovanni, 259, 277, 281,
298
Pisano, Nicolo, 66, 164, 201, 205,
221, 249, 281, 298
Piscopia, Elena, 72
Pius IV., 14
Polo, Marco, 178
Porta, Guglielmo della, 317
Procida, John of, 361
Puccio, Pietro di, 303
QuERCiA, Jacopo della, 155
Quercia, Giacomo della, 283
Raphael, 297, 313
Ravenna, history, 13 1-2; mosaics,
133-8, 141-6; cathedral, 139-
45; other buildings, 145-9
Reggio, Nicolo da, 175
Reni, Guido, 163
Ricchini, 15
Riccio, Andrea, 68
Rienzi, 324
Rimini, history, 113-15; cathedral,
1 15-122
Robbia, Della, 216, 223, 230,
247
Rocci Cristoforo, 19
Rodario, 2-3

Romana, Ezzelino da, 1 74
Romano, Giulio, 10
Rome, general description, 307-
11; S. Peter's, 313-17; Colos
seum, 321; S. John Lateran,
322-3; other buildings, 311-13,
323-337
Rossi, Alessandro, 49
Rusca, 10
Salerno, history, 356-7; cathe
dral, 358-363
San Marino, 122
Sanmicheli, 42, 46, 55, 68
Sansovino, 40, 67, 75, 89
Savonarola, 227, 228
Scaligeri, 43-4
Siena, general description, 273,
291-2; cathedral, 274-82; other
buildings, 287-8
Signorelli, Luca, 303
Spazi, 2
Talenti, Francesco, 231
Tasso, 125, 177
Terribilia, 153
Theodoric, 132, 140-1
Thomas Aquinas, S., 349, 356
Tiberius, 222, 338
Titian, 81, 95
Tivoli, 318
Torcello, 104-I12
Tours, 17
Trent, Council of, 14
Tribolo, 155-6

Ugolino, 303

[394]

INDEX
Varenna, 2 Verrochio, Andrea, 94, 229
Vasari, 205, 235-241 Vinci, L. da, 10, 18, 94
Venice, S. Mark's, 75-89; Church Visconti, Gian Galeazzo, 10, 19
of SS. Giovanni and Paolo, 90-
5; of the Frari, 90-3; Doge's |WoLVlNius, 16
palace, 100-103; other build
ings, 90-1, 96-99, 107-11 Zeno, S., 53
Verona, history, 41-3; cathedral, Zenobius, St., 235
45-53 ; other buildings, 54-6 Zuccaro, 235

[395 I

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