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 The Cities of 
 
 Northern Italy 
 
 GRANT ALLEN'S HISTORICAL GUIDE 
 BOOKS TO THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF 
 EUROPE TREATING CONCISELY AND 
 THOROUGHLY OF THE PRINCIPAL 
 HISTORIC AND ARTISTIC POINTS 
 OF INTEREST THEREIN 
 
 George C. Williamson, Litt. D. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 A. WESSELS COMPANY 
 1 90 1
 
 DG- 
 
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 ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 . ■■ I ■'HE object and plan of these Historical Handbooks is 
 ^ I somewhat different from that of any other guides at 
 present before the public. They do not compete or 
 i clash with such existing works ; they are rather intended to 
 ' supplement than to supplant them. My purpose is not to 
 
 - direct the stranger through the streets and squares of an 
 unknown town towards the buildings or sights which he 
 
 h may desire to visit ; still less is it my design to give him 
 J practical information about hotels, cab fares, omnibuses, 
 [T tramways, and other every-day material conveniences. For 
 such details, the traveller must still have recourse to the 
 trusty pages of his Baedeker, his Joanne, or his Murray. 
 I desire rather to supply the tourist who wishes to use his 
 travel as a means of culture with such historical and anti- 
 quarian information as will enable him to understand, and 
 therefore to enjoy, the architecture, sculpture, painting, and 
 minor arts of the towns he visits. In one word, it is my 
 object to give the reader in a very compendious form the 
 result of all those inquiries which have naturally suggested 
 ,^ themselves to my own mind during thirty-five years of 
 i foreign travel, the solution of which has cost myself a good 
 ^ deal of research, thought, and labour, beyond the facts 
 J which I could find in the ordinary handbooks. 
 J For several years past I have devoted myself to collecting 
 : and arranging material for a set of books to embody the 
 idea I had thus entertained. I earnestly h^e they may 
 
 - meet a want on the part of tourists, especially Americans, 
 ' who, so far as my experience goes, usually come to Europe 
 ) with an honest and reverent desire to learn from the Old
 
 6 ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 World whatever of value it has to teach them, and who 
 are prepared to take an amount of pains in turning their 
 trip to good account which is both rare and praiseworthy. 
 For such readers I shall call attention at times to other 
 sources of information. 
 
 These guide-books will deal more particularly with the 
 Great Towns where objects of art and antiquity are numer- 
 ous. In every one of them, the general plan pursued will 
 be somewhat as follows. First will come the inquiry why 
 a town ever gathered together at all at that particular spot 
 — what induced the aggregation of human beings rather 
 there than elsewhere. Next, we shall consider why that 
 town grew to social or political importance and what were 
 the stages by which it assumed its present shape. Thirdly, 
 we shall ask why it gave rise to that higher form of handi- 
 craft which we know as Art, and towards what particular 
 arts it especially gravitated. After that, we shall take in 
 detail the various strata of its growth or development, 
 examining the buildings and works of art which they con- 
 tain in historical order, and, as far as possible, tracing the 
 causes which led to their evolution. In particular, we shall 
 lay stress upon the origin and meaning of each structure as 
 an organic whole, and upon the allusions or symbols which 
 its fabric embodies. 
 
 A single instance will show the method upon which I 
 intend to proceed better than any amount of general de- 
 scription. A church, as a rule, is built over the body or 
 relics of a particular saint, in whose special honour it was 
 originally erected. That saint was usually one of great 
 local importance at the moment of its erection, or was 
 peculiarly implored against plague, foreign enemies, or some 
 other pressing and dreaded misfortune. In dealing with 
 such a church, then, I endeavour to show what were the 
 circumstances which led to its erection, and what memorials 
 of these circumstances it still retains. In other cases it may 
 derive its origin from some special monastic body — Bene-' 
 dictine, Dominican, Franciscan— and may therefore be full 
 of the peculiar symbolism and historical allusion of the
 
 ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 order who founded it. Wherever I have to deal with such 
 a church, I try as far as possible to exhibit the effect which 
 its origin had upon its architecture and decoration ; to trace 
 the image of the patron saint in sculpture or stained glass 
 throughout the fabric ; and to set forth the connection of 
 the whole design with time and place, with order and pur- 
 pose. In short, instead of looking upon monuments of the 
 sort mainly as the product of this or that architect, I look 
 upon them rather as material embodiments of the spirit of 
 the age — crystallisations, as it were, in stone and bronze, 
 in form and colour, of great popular enthusiasms. 
 
 By thus concentrating attention on what is essential and 
 important in a town, I hope to give in a comparatively short 
 space, though with inevitable conciseness, a fuller account 
 than is usually given of the chief architectural and monu- 
 mental works of the principal art-cities. In dealing with 
 Paris, for example, 1 shall have little to say about such 
 modern constructions as the Champs filysees or the Eiffel 
 Tower ; still less, of course, about the Morgue, the Cata- 
 combs, the waxworks of the Musee Grevin, and the cele- 
 brated Excursion in the Paris Sewers. The space thus 
 saved from vulgar wonders I shall hope to devote to fuller 
 explanation of Notre-Dame and the Sainte Chapelle, of the 
 mediaeval carvings or tapestries of Cluny, and of the pic- 
 tures or sculptures in the galleries of the Louvre. Similarly 
 in Florence, whatever I save from description of the Cascine 
 and even of the beautiful Viale dei Colli (where explanation 
 is needless and word-painting superfluous), I shall give up 
 to the Bargello, the Uffizi, and the Pitti Palace. The passing 
 life of the moment does not enter into my plan ; I regard 
 each town I endeavour to illustrate mainly as a museum 
 of its own history. 
 
 For this reason, too, I shall devote most attention in 
 every case to what is locally illustrative, and less to what 
 is merely adventitious and foreign. In Paris, for instance, 
 I shall have more to say about truly Parisian art and history, 
 as embodied in St. Denis, the lie de la Cite, and the shrine 
 of Ste. Genevieve, than about the Egyptian and Assyrian
 
 8 ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 collections of the Louvre. In Florence, again, I shall deal 
 rather with the Etruscan remains, with Giotto and Fra 
 Angelico, with the Duomo and the Campanile, than with 
 the admirable Memlincks and Rubenses of the Uffizi and 
 the Pitti, or with the beautiful Van der Goes of the Hospital 
 of Santa Maria. In Bruges and Brussels, once more, I 
 shall be especially Flemish ; in the Rhine towns, Rhenish ; 
 in Venice, Venetian. I shall assign a due amount of space, 
 indeed, to the foreign collections, but I shall call attention 
 chiefly to those monuments or objects which are of entirely 
 local and typical value. 
 
 As regards the character of the information given, it will 
 be mainly historical, antiquarian, and, above all, explanatory. 
 I am not a connoisseur — an adept in the difficult modern 
 science of distinguishing the handicraft of various masters, 
 in painting or sculpture, by minute signs and delicate in- 
 ferential processes. In such matters, I shall be well con- 
 tent to follow the lead of the most authoritative experts. 
 Nor am I an art-critic — a student versed in the technique 
 of the studios and the dialect of the modelling-room. In 
 such matters, again, I shall attempt little more than to 
 accept the general opinion of the most discriminative judges. 
 What I aim at rather is to expound the history and meaning 
 of each work — to put the intelligent reader in such a posi- 
 tion that he may judge for himself of the aesthetic beauty 
 and success of the object before him. To recognise the 
 fact that this is a Perseus and Andromeda, that a St. 
 Barbara enthroned, the other an obscure episode in the 
 legend of St. Philip, is not art-criticism, but it is often an 
 almost indispensable prelude to the formation of a right 
 and sound judgment. We must know what the artist was 
 trying to represent before we can feel sure what measure 
 of success he has attained in his representation. 
 
 For the general study of Christian art, alike in archi- 
 tecture, sculpture, and painting, no treatises are more useful 
 for the tourist to carry with him for constant reference than 
 Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, and Legends 
 of the Madonna (London, Longmans). For works of Italian
 
 ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 art, both in Italy and elsewhere, Kugler's Italian Schools 
 of Painting is an invaluable vade-mecum. These books 
 should be carried about by everybody everywhere. Other 
 works of special and local importance will occasionally be 
 noticed under each particular city, church, or museum. 
 
 I cannot venture to hope that handbooks containing such 
 a mass of facts as these will be wholly free from errors and 
 misstatements, above all in early editions. I can only beg 
 those who may detect any such to point them out, without 
 unnecessary harshness, to the author, care of the publisher, 
 and if possible to assign reasons for any dissentient opinion. 
 
 Grant Allen. 
 
 PUBLISHER'S NOTE 
 
 After completing the first four volumes of this series, 
 "Paris," "Florence," "The Cities of Belgium," and "Venice," 
 Mr. Grant Allen's labours were cut short by his death. He 
 had, however, sufficiently mapped out the plan of the series 
 for sympathetic hands to carry on his work, and the pub- 
 lisher has attempted in this and the succeeding volumes 
 to enlist the assistance of Mr. Grant Allen's friends, writers 
 whom he himself, it is believed, would have chosen to help 
 him.
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 I HAVE been asked to continue the series of guides which 
 was originally started by my late good friend Grant 
 Allen, and of which he had issued four volumes. I had 
 talked over the series with Mr. Allen many times, and for 
 him I checked over the guide to Florence when I was 
 staying in that city, and his letter as to the suggestions that 
 I made is before me. I know well what were his ideas as to 
 the series, and with very many of his wishes I am in the 
 fullest accord. In preparing this volume I have endeavoured 
 to follow out the method that he adopted as nearly as I could, 
 but it will, I am sure, be understood by my readers that it is 
 not possible for one man to write in the same manner as 
 another man has written, or to lose his own identity in a 
 book of this kind, which derives much of its value from the 
 personal element that enters into it. Grant Allen was a 
 much older man than I am, and a man of much greater 
 experience. He was the possessor of certain theories as 
 to art which he had himself developed, and which were 
 peculiar to him, and not quite easy for any one else to 
 follow without the special bias that he had towards them, 
 and the years of study that he had given to them. His idea, 
 which was that of button-holing the tourist, seemed to me 
 to be an admirable one, and in his books he carried out 
 the art of button-holing until it became a science. There is 
 no doubt that it is well for the attention of a tourist to be 
 directed to what he should certaijily see in a town, to what 
 concerns the history of a town, and to be toli why he should
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE n 
 
 see it, and what he should learn from it ; and this method I 
 have adopted, feeling the more I write how great is the task 
 of helping the tourist to gain an intelligent idea of Italy, 
 and how little ability I possess for so important a work. 
 I launch my little book with a deep sense of inability to 
 adequately follow my friend, for whose learning and skill I 
 had the greatest respect, and I beg that it may be received 
 as leniently as possible, as it is but a trial trip in unknown 
 waters, and succeeding volumes may, I hope, be more worthy 
 of the confidence that has been placed in me. 
 
 May I say a few words as to general conduct in these 
 northern towns, as I give place to no one in my love and 
 admiration for Italy, and my constant visits to its shores 
 have suggested that some hints may not be altogether un- 
 acceptable to my readers. These hints are not so much 
 needed by the visitor to the larger cities, as they have become 
 modern in their customs and habits, but in the smaller and 
 less visited places they will be found to possess special 
 importance. 
 
 May I first say that the tourist in Italy should never 
 
 forget that he can obtain almost any aid he needs by the 
 
 exercise of politeness. Let him never forget that he is in 
 
 a country of gentlemen, and that the Italian peasant is the 
 
 most truly courteous person in Europe. A special attention 
 
 to courteous words, to the constant use of "scusi" and 
 
 " permesso " and frequent removal of the hat, will win for 
 
 him many an act of courtesy that the less careful tourist will 
 
 wish for in vain. It is always surprising to me how very 
 
 much trouble an Italian will take in order to help a foreigner 
 
 to find his way, or to see what he is specially desirous ot 
 
 seeing ; but the Italian expects in return for all this trouble 
 
 the recompense of politeness that we as Englishmen are not 
 
 so ready to give. It is the rarest possible thing to find an 
 
 Italian who will not at once raise his hat in response to the 
 
 similar action of the tourist, and who will not at once take
 
 13 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 infinite pains, not only to understand the inaccurate language 
 in which he is addressed, but to go out of his way to 
 direct the traveller, with e^'ery attention to his desires, and 
 then with a bow and a smiling " niente " pass on his way. 
 I shall be forgiven, I hope, for laying some stress on this 
 feature of Italian life, and for begging my readers to put it 
 to the test, and they will assuredly find that a bow on 
 entering and on leaving a carriage, on passing a person on 
 the path or road, and on entering or leaving a shop will 
 make their sojourn in Italy much the pleasanter and win 
 for them every courtesy that they can desire. 
 
 One other word on a subject of similar importance. 
 
 Would it not be well for the travelling tourist always to 
 try to remember that certain ceremonies that he may see 
 may have no special importance to him, but are of the 
 deepest importance to the people whose guest he is for the 
 time, and that therefore the opinions of the people should be 
 studied rather than his own. For example, in a church the 
 service may have no meaning to the tourist, but to the people 
 it is their religion, and it is well to move about as quietly as 
 possible, not to go in front of the congregation whilst they 
 are worshipping, even though it may be to see an important 
 picture and the tourist maybe pressed for time, to behave in 
 reverent manner when passing the altar before which the red 
 lamp can be seen burning, and to raise the hat when a funeral 
 is seen coming past the spectator. These are, it will be said, 
 but trivial points to which to direct attention ; but I fear 
 that too many of us consider that our visits to Italy are so 
 much advantage to the Italian people that we are absolved 
 from the ordinary acts of politeness towards the " benighted 
 people," and that to follow their practices is condoning what 
 we are pleased to consider their superstitions. Depend upon 
 it the opinion that the average Italian has of a tourist is 
 very much the result of this snobbish manner on the part of 
 ill-bred travellers, and it is because I want the readers of my
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 13 
 
 book to enjoy thoroughly their visit to Italy, and to leave 
 behind them pleasant memories in the towns that they have 
 visited, that I lay stress on their behaviour, 
 
 A few other practical words may not be out of place. It 
 is always well to get to a station fifteen to twenty minutes 
 ere you have to leave it. Italians cannot be hurried, and 
 the registration of trunks has to be done seriatim, and is 
 slow work. The tickets have also to be " vised " seriatim, 
 and the tourist must take his place at the end of the queue 
 and wait his turn to be attended to. The facchini all 
 expect some small tip. They are very poorly paid and 
 depend mainly upon the public for their means, not being 
 paid wages as in England or America. They should not 
 be paid till their work is done ; that is, the man who takes 
 your hand-baggage should not be paid till he has put it 
 into the carriage for you. If you have to wait a long 
 time and he has to go off duty, ask him to send you 
 another man and he will at once do so, and then you can 
 discharge the first. Do not take up more room in the 
 carriage than you require ; there are other people travelling 
 besides yourself ! Never remove luggage from a seat that 
 has been engaged by some other person, as there is nothing 
 that an Italian considers worse form than such behaviour 
 and he will resent the action strongly. In a picture 
 gallery, if you have time, go round each room with your 
 guide-book closed before you attempt to use it, trying to 
 see what are the fine and important pictures from your own 
 ideas ere you look at what I have to tell you, and so try to 
 educate yourself in discerning a fine work and in deciding 
 to what school or artist it belongs. Remember that a visit 
 to Italy is not a mere pleasure-trip. It should be an educa- 
 tion. Italy is the great schoolroom of the world, and in 
 painting, in architecture, in sculpture, in glass, in design, as 
 well as in language, literature, poetry, music, and costume, 
 she has been teaching the world ever since she had an
 
 14 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 existence. Even in manners we shall remember what we 
 owe to Italy when we realise that when Englishmen still ate 
 with their fingers, Italy had introduced, to the great amaze- 
 ment of those Englishmen who travelled in the fourteenth 
 century, the use of a fork. 
 
 Every one of the cities to which I shall in turn take you 
 has had its own special history, not so much as part of a 
 greater whole, but as a self-contained kingdom. To under- 
 stand Italy you must understand the history of each pro- 
 vincial capital, which had its own court and its own 
 school of painting, and it is to enable you to appreciate 
 these special features that this series of guides has been 
 written. 
 
 Do not rush through the towns as though one resembled 
 the other. Each is quite different from all others. Each 
 merits careful study, and each will be found replete with 
 interest. I have only noted the items of supreme import- 
 ance, but you will find plenty more in each town to see and 
 to study, and if only your time permits, it is far better to 
 spend a week in each town, and only see and thoroughly 
 understand three towns, than to rush through ten and bring 
 away a confused idea of them all, without any distinctive 
 knowledge of their own special features. 
 
 I have been obliged to write this guide with a view of 
 helping those whose time is very limited, but each person 
 can enlarge it for himself, and in the regular guides that I 
 counsel the tourist to carry with him, Baedeker for use 
 and information, and Murray for literary excellence and for 
 real study, he will find plenty of means of filling up as much 
 time as he can spare in each separate town. 
 
 In the galleries I have not put as much detail of explana- 
 tion as Grant Allen put in his books. I find from conversa- 
 tion with those who have used them that he put more than 
 many persons have considered necessary ; but if my readers 
 will criticise this volume I will promise full consideration to
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 15 
 
 their views in the next, and if I have been too bald in my 
 descriptions, will strive to modify such baldness when the 
 next volume is written. 
 
 It will I hope be well borne in mind by the reader of this 
 guide-book that it does not pretend to do more than call 
 attention to what I consider the most important things in 
 each town, and that for the selection I alone must be held 
 responsible. It does not profess to supplant the ordinary 
 guides, but to supplement them, and it only professes to help 
 the intelligent tourist to get an idea as to the towns through 
 which he passes, and to lead him to study them and their 
 history more and more. 
 
 I have been much helped in the various towns which I 
 have visited, and desire to return my very grateful thanks to 
 all those persons who have so obligingly assisted me. I 
 would like specially to thank Signor Ricci of the Brera, 
 Signor Frizzohi of the Poli-Pezzoli Gallery, Professor Bocci 
 and Signor Fabri of Ravenna, and Mr. R. H. Hobart Cust 
 and Mr. Burton of Florence, for kindly aid and information ; 
 also my old friend, Mr. Frank of the Hotel Brun at Bologna, 
 Signor Zoli of Ravenna, Signor Greppi of Verona, and 
 another old friend, Signor Baer at the Hotel-de-la-Ville at 
 Milan. To them and to all others who assisted me, I return 
 my very hearty thanks. G. C. W. 
 
 The Mount, Guildford, 
 January 1901.
 
 THE 
 
 CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY 
 
 THE cities of Italy, considered from a historical point 
 of view, especially those in the north, do not re- 
 present detached portions of a united whole, as do 
 the towns of other countries, or as they are supposed 
 to do at the present time, but they represent, rather, sepa- 
 rate powers, each having its own individual history. 
 
 They were all quite distinct one from the other, separated 
 widely in customs, dialect, art, and government, and they 
 were often at war one with the other, and in turn being 
 held or holding possession of their adversaries. 
 
 These facts must never be lost sight of when considering 
 the history and growth of these cities, as it is to their very 
 independence of each other and to their constant warfare 
 against the great Imperial power that sought to weld them 
 into one whole, that they possess so much interest and so 
 much individuality in their monuments and their art. 
 
 Even from them one city, Ravenna, stands out distinctly, 
 as it can never be grouped with any other city in Europe, 
 and fills a place in history that is unique. 
 
 The other towns, Milan, Verona, Padua, and Bologna, have 
 all of them had their own special rulers, members of 
 certain families who have obtained chief power, and have 
 ruled with a greater or less control for generations. In the 
 case of Ferrara, they were from one family, that of Este, 
 and their rule was for several generations. In the case of
 
 THE CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY 17 
 
 Verona, the power began with a grant of chief magistracy 
 by the people to one man whose son was afterwards elected 
 to a higher seat, and was hailed as the founder of a family 
 who were to reign hereditarily. This power was afterwards 
 held from the Emperor, and the ruler reigned as the 
 Imperial Vicar. 
 
 In the case of Milan, there was a succession of great 
 families, who in turn obtained, by force of arms, wealth, and 
 character, supreme power, and ruled the city at times with 
 the good-will of the people and at times by mere military 
 strength. 
 
 In the case of Padua, we read of one family reigning over 
 the city ; a constant state of warfare against a powerful 
 neighbour, and eventually the death of the last Carrara ruler, 
 and the absorption of Padua into the Republic of Venice, 
 which ruled it with a species of Home-rule for the rest 
 of its corporate existence. 
 
 So the cities differed one from the other. 
 
 With regard to art and monuments the case is the 
 same. 
 
 Certain rulers encouraged art and learning, and beautified 
 the cities which they controlled, employing the chief artists 
 of the place, and their example was followed by the rich 
 nobles, and by the Church, which was always ready to 
 use the talents of artists to beautify buildings, to erect 
 tombs, and to prepare all the wealth of accessories that 
 were needed in the service of the Mass. 
 
 An example of this wise patronage can be seen in 
 Bologna, where the Bentivogli, who ruled as the Vicars of 
 the Holy See, spent great sums and much time in making 
 beautiful the city that they loyed. 
 
 A certain continuity can be traced when these cities are 
 considered in Roman times, and also in Lombard and 
 Gothic times, and the monuments, by which we read the 
 history of the past, bear resemblance to each other, and 
 
 B
 
 i8 THE CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY 
 
 are similar in type ; but when we come to the period which 
 we term that of the Renaissance a new spirit is manifest — 
 that of competition between city and city and the influences 
 of local art, local patronage, and environment. 
 
 It is therefore the more needful that each city should 
 be studied by itself, its own special features discovered, its 
 history understood, and the reasons ascertained for the 
 marks that are left of its life and its art, and then the effect 
 of the cities on each other will be better appreciated and 
 the reasons for the strong individuality of the place will be 
 grasped and its position in history clearly defined. 
 
 When once an intelligible idea has been obtained of the 
 history of an Italian city, its life will be seen reflected in 
 the buildings and paintings that remain within its walls. 
 They will not be found of a regal character as in France, 
 or of a commercial type as in the cities of Flanders, but 
 they will suggest either the free and independent rights of 
 the citizens— which were always in existence although 
 overshadowed at times by the almost monarchical powers 
 of the ruler— or else the wealth, luxury, and splendour of 
 the great and noble families of the city, or the devotion 
 of the Church and her people. 
 
 The Italian cities were not so much great centres of 
 commercial life as were the cities of Flanders, and they did 
 not trade extensively with the world. They were com- 
 paratively self-sustaining, and each of them was noted for 
 the pursuit of some special occupation ; as, for example, 
 Brescia was noted for its armourers and is still for its 
 coppersmiths, Parma dealt in cork and in flax, and Verona 
 was noted for its marble. 
 
 The inhabitants delighted, however, in the erection of fine 
 buildings and in their decoration both outside and in with 
 paintings in fresco. They loved to found chapels in their 
 great cathedrals and to adorn them with the chief works 
 of their greatest artists ; often setting two rivals at work
 
 THE CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY 19 
 
 in one place that they might compete one against the other 
 in the decoration of the chapel. Under the patronage of 
 wise rulers, important Hbraries were founded and enriched ; 
 churches were built ; botanical gardens were laid out and 
 endowed ; and all the craftsmen which that wonderful Re- 
 naissance produced were employed to render the world 
 beautiful and to exhibit the finest productions of their 
 imaginations wrought out in materials the most costly with 
 a lavish expenditure of time. Such will be found to he the 
 main features of these towns, saving, as already stated, the 
 city of Ravenna, and it is the presence of these number- 
 less treasures of art that give to the cities their never-ending 
 attraction. 
 
 Great as their rulers were in life, they were sometimes 
 even greater in their death, and we find, in the very midst 
 of the busy streets, tombs and monuments the grandest 
 that the world has ever seen, or can ever see, forming a 
 further source of adornment and attraction to the cities 
 in which they stand. 
 
 It is the influence of the rulers, of the wealthy, of the 
 artists, and of the craftsmen rather than of the inhabitants 
 as a whole or as the dwellers in one city that we notice in 
 our wanderings, and a little care will enable the visitor to 
 each city to reconstruct for himself its past life by gazing 
 with an intelligent interest on the monuments and works 
 of art of the place. 
 
 With regard to Ravenna it so completely stands alone in 
 its history, it is so completely an isolated oasis left stranded 
 by the flood that has receded from its shores, and it so 
 exclusively records one period only of the history of the 
 world, and that one which has no other record save this 
 city, that it refuses to be grouped with any other places 
 and must be considered quite by itself. Practically Ravenna 
 does not give us any light on the moving period of the Renais- 
 sance. It does not record any long line of rulers, members
 
 20 THE CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY 
 
 of a great family, or persons who have won their way by 
 weaUh or prowess. It has had its life in the times of the 
 Second Empire, it lived its whirl of excitement when Arian 
 controversy filled the air, it welcomed Theodoric, and three 
 Roman emperors laid their bones in its churches. It had 
 a passing glance at the movement that swept over Italy, 
 for it was visited by Giotto, who worked in its churches, 
 and it opened its arms to receive Dante, who slept his last 
 sleep within its shelter ; but then it turned to its old 
 slumber again, and is still slumbering crystallised in the 
 perfection of its old Gothic days, and seeming to have 
 made no change since Justinian and Theodora rode down 
 its streets. The sea, which used to make it an important 
 port, has long since fled away ; where a fleet rode at anchor 
 is now only a great solitary church and an open malarious 
 plain ; its churches are deserted and green with moisture, 
 while their grand mosaics flame overhead as bright as 
 when they were first created ; but the place itself is sleeping, 
 and its people move about as if in slumber fearing to awake, 
 only conscious of the days of glory in the past, and asking 
 nothing more than to be allowed to dream away the days 
 of the present. 
 
 Ravenna is unique ; it cannot be classed or grouped. Its 
 spirit is Byzantine ; it has had no Renaissance. There is 
 nothing like it in the world, and within its walls only can 
 one special chapter of the world's history be adequately 
 studied. 
 
 G. C. W.
 
 ORDER OF THE TOUR 
 
 I WOULD like to counsel you to begin your tour with 
 Ravenna, but I am perfectly certain that you would not x 
 follow my advice if I did by reason of the geographical 
 arrangement of the various cities in the tour. 
 
 You will no doubt enter Italy by the Mont Cenis route 
 and branch off at Turin to Milan, or else you will go out by 
 the more beautiful St. Gothard route, and go direct to Milan. 
 If you adopt the latter method, let me say that it is worth 
 while, if you travel out second class, as I expect you will, to 
 go straight from Lucerne by the through train to Milan, and 
 pay the difference (about half-a-sovereign) from Lucerne, for 
 first over second class, rather than miss that train, which 
 has only first class, and stop in Lucerne some hours, 
 and go by a slow one, constantly stopping, and arrive in 
 Milan very late, and quite tired out. By the first-class train 
 you will gain comfort and speed, and arrive in Milan at 
 three in the afternoon, and you will save the money you 
 would otherwise spend in Lucerne at an hotel. If you start 
 from Milan your course is easy as to the other towns. You 
 will visit Verona after you leave Milan, then you will go to 
 Padua, seeing Vicenza on the way if you wish, as you can 
 see the chief sights of that small place between two trains. 
 From Padua you will perhaps go to Ferrara, and thence to 
 Bologna. P^rom Bologna, you will journey to Ravenna, the 
 most important place in the whole series from some points
 
 22 ORDER OF THE TOUR 
 
 of view, and you will return to Bologna. You can if you wish 
 go on from Bologna to Rimini, and thence make a most 
 interesting excursion to the little Republic of San Marino, 
 and then journey back to Bologna by another route, stopping 
 at Cesena, between two trains, to see the chained Malatesta 
 library, which is unique in Italy, never having been altered 
 or moved, or in any way changed, since it was founded in 
 1550 and the fine picture by Francia in the gallery ; 
 stopping at Forli, a most interesting town, seeing also 
 Faenza the next day, between two trains, and then getting 
 back into Bologna. Your return route can then be made by 
 way of Parma to Milan, and you can if you desire, see 
 Piacenza, Cremona, or Mantua, and so back to Milan ; or 
 you can go out to Parma from Bologna, and return to 
 Bologna the next day (or even that same day if you are 
 very much pressed for time, as Parma is too important to be 
 missed), and go on to Florence by Bologna, climbing over 
 the mountains by Pracchia and coming down to Pistoja, 
 Prato, and lovely Florence. If you are too much pressed to 
 see these places, which we hope to fully describe in another 
 volume, then you must miss them out, but do not omit to 
 see Ferrara even if it is only between two trains on your 
 way to Bologna, for it is one of the most impressive towns 
 in the entire route and ought to be visited if you are to 
 obtain any adequate idea of the power of a ruling family in 
 a city. Give a week to Ravenna if you can. Do not be there 
 in the great heat, or in the winter, but in the spring and 
 early autumn you will find it quite healthy. Do not, however, 
 be out In Ravenna after sunset if you are at all delicate, 
 and carry with you a coat, even in sunshine, or a cloak or rug 
 to throw around you when you enter the cold, damp, deserted 
 churches of that fascinating city. Its history is at the very 
 beginning of our studies, and if you can spare the time to go
 
 ORDER OF THE TOUR 23 
 
 to it first, either by water from Venice, or by rail from Rome 
 or Florence, you will certainly gain in knowledge, and start 
 your studies in a more interesting and instructive manner. 
 As a rule too much time is given to Milan, and the smaller 
 towns are left out altogether. I do not want to minimise 
 the importance of Milan, but 1 do want more time to be 
 given to such places as Verona, Padua, and Ravenna. The 
 finest brick architecture of Italy is to be seen in Verona ; the 
 work of Giotto can only be understood after a visit to 
 Padua ; Francia can only be studied in Bologna ; the art of 
 mosaic has its finest examples at Ravenna, and so each 
 town has its own supreme attractions. Every town in Italy 
 is worth visiting and study, and if this book enkindles in 
 the reader the love of Italy, and the desire to go constantly 
 to its wonderful towns, all the work given to it by me will 
 have been more than amply repaid. 
 
 G. C. W.
 
 HOW TO USE THESE GUIDE-BOOKS 
 
 rHE portions of this book intended to be read at leisure 
 at home, before proceeding to explore each town or 
 monument^ are enclosed ifi brackets [thus']. The portion 
 relating to each principal object should be quietly read 
 a?id digested before a visit, and rtferrcd to again after- 
 wards. The portion to be read on the spot is made as brief 
 as possible, and is printed in large legible type, so as to 
 be easily read in the dim light of churches, chapels, and 
 galleries. The key-note words are printed in bold type, 
 to catch the eye. Where objects are numbered, the numbers 
 used are always those of the latest official catalogues. 
 
 Baedeker's Guides are so printed that each principal por- 
 tion can be detached entire from the volume. The traveller 
 who uses Baedeker is advised to carry in his pocket ofie 
 such portion, referring to the place he is then visiting, to- 
 gether with the plan of the town, while carrying this book 
 in his hand. These Guides do not profess to supply prac- 
 tical information. 
 
 Individual works of merit are distinguished by an aster- 
 isk (*)y those of very exceptional interest and merit have 
 two asterisks. Nothing is noticed in this book which does 
 not seem to the writer worthy of atte7itio}i. 
 
 See little at a time, and see it thoroughly. Never attempt 
 to '■•do" any place or any momiment. By following strictly 
 the order in which objects are noticed in this book, you will 
 gain a conception of the historical evolution of the town 
 which you cannot obtain if you go about looking at churches 
 and palaces hap-hazard. The order is arranged, not quite 
 chronologically, but on a definite plan, which greatly facili- 
 tates comprehension of the subject. 
 
 24
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Original Introduction (with Publisher's Note) 
 
 Author's Preface 
 
 The Cities of Northern Italy 
 
 Order of the Tour 
 
 How to Use these Guide-Books . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 5 
 
 lO 
 
 i6 
 
 21 
 
 24 
 
 I. Milan — 
 
 A. General Information . 
 
 B. Roman and Early Milan 
 
 C. The Sforza and Visconti Influence 
 
 D. Milanese Art .... 
 £. Excursions from Milan 
 
 27 
 29 
 52 
 
 71 
 118 
 
 II. Verona — 
 
 A. Introductory 
 
 B. Roman Verona . 
 
 C. Verona under the Scaliger 
 
 D. The Churches of Verona 
 I£. The Art of Verona 
 F. Other Churches, the Piazza, and a Garden 
 
 125 
 126 
 130 
 
 134 
 146 
 
 153 
 
 III. Padua— 
 
 A. Introductory l6l 
 
 B. Giotto in Padua 162 
 
 C. After Giotto, and the Work of Donalello . -174 
 
 D. Other Sights and the Picture Gallery . . .185
 
 26 CONTENTS 
 
 IV. Bologna— 
 
 TAGE 
 
 A. General Information as to the City . . . 192 
 
 B. Etruscan and Roman Times . . . .193 
 
 C. Bologna in its Days of Independence . . . 198 
 Z>. Bologna under the Bentivoglio and the Holy See 210 
 
 E. The Art of Bologna 215 
 
 F. Excursions from Bologna ... . 232 
 
 V. Ravenna — 
 
 A. Introductory 234 
 
 B. The Churches and Mosaics of Ravenna . . 238 
 
 C. The Time of Theodoric 249 
 
 D. Justinian and Theodora in Ravenna . 257 
 
 E. Fresco-Work .264 
 
 F. The Museums and Picture Gallery . . . 267 
 
 Index 270
 
 THE CITIES OF 
 NORTHERN ITALY 
 
 MILAN 
 
 A. GENERAL INFORMATION 
 
 MILAN is the most essentially modern of the cities 
 that we shall visit, but it has had a very long 
 and important history. 
 
 It had a very early beginning, has been exposed to much 
 warfare, has been destroyed almost completely, more than 
 once, but has risen up to even greater prosperity. It has 
 been independent, and then has been ruled by successive 
 rulers of one great family. It has later on thrown ofif the 
 yoke of this rule to take upon itself the heavier burden of a 
 yet more powerful family, and it has been ruled and governed 
 for generations by men who were practically monarchs over 
 the city and its province. 
 
 It has had its own important school of art, which has in- 
 fluenced almost every other school. It has produced great 
 architects, whose buildings are still the admiration and 
 envy of the whole world. It possesses at this moment one 
 of the great picture galleries of Europe and what is perhaps 
 one of the very choicest of small galleries ever bequeathed 
 to a town by its possessor. It has a world-famed library 
 that has had an eventful history, a superb Cathedral that is 
 
 one of the marvels of Europe, and a Castello that better than 
 
 27
 
 28 MILAN 
 
 any other spot in Italy teaches what the home life of the 
 Renaissance rulers was like. 
 
 It has preserved remains of its past life in every period, so 
 that the student can trace by its monuments its history 
 from Roman down to modern times, and it contains one 
 treasure in its Palliotto that is absolutely unique in value, 
 and as a dated example of the art of a thousand years ago 
 forms a document of priceless importance. 
 
 Milan is crowded with treasures. To know it you must 
 live in it or return over and over again to its streets. One 
 visit, even if spread over weeks, will not suffice to see all that 
 it has to show to those who love to see its treasures, and 
 although it is so modern in its present surroundings, so 
 thoroughly alive, so prosperous, and so discontented, it vi^ill 
 be found to have as great an historical and antiquarian 
 attraction as any of its smaller neighbours that seem to live 
 only in the past or to slumber in a long sleep. 
 
 It is well to select your hotel in the very centre of the city, 
 especially in the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, so as to be within 
 easy reach of the sights. It is desirable not to attempt to 
 do too much in one day, as Milan is a tiring city and there 
 is so much to do that it is well to husband one's strength. 
 It is not needful to drive to any of the sights, as the trams 
 run in all directions and are convenient and easy. It is 
 desirable to guard against cold, as Milan is at times intensely 
 cold and has a very treacherous wind of its own that is 
 dangerous ; but beyond cold the city is very healthy, and 
 generally in the spring and autumn delightful. 
 
 The word Humilitas, which was the favourite motto of its 
 great saint San Carlo Borromeo, the eagle of the Sforzas, and 
 the serpent of the Visconti can be seen in all directions in 
 the city and recall the influence of their original holders 
 upon Milanese history. Milanese art is so special and so 
 important that it has been given a separate and somewhat 
 long chapter, and the study of the galleries has been placed 
 in that section of the book. 
 
 The work of one of the greatest artists of Milan, Luini, can 
 be best studied in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, and
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 29 
 
 therefore he has been given space when consideration of 
 that church is undertaken, more especially as he particularly 
 represents Milanese art. 
 
 The Palliotto at Sant' Ambrogio is the chief treasure of 
 the city, and yet few persons take the trouble to see it. 
 Whatever else is omitted that must not be left out, and al- 
 together more time is required for the study of the Church of 
 Sant' Ambrogio than for any other building in the place. 
 
 B. ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 
 
 I suppose that when you first enter Milan you will do it 
 by the Central Railway Station, and that when you have 
 secured a facchino to carry your hand luggage and obtain 
 your registered trunks from the officials, you will find your 
 way in one of the hotel omnibuses to the hotel where you 
 intend to stay. Perhaps you will be puzzled by not being 
 able to obtain your registered baggage at once, and at being 
 requested by the hotel porter, who is with the omnibus, to 
 give him your luggage ticket and also your keys. If you are 
 tired from your journey, you had better do so, as the Customs 
 authorities in Milan are very slow in getting the baggage 
 through, and the inner Custom-house of the city, called the 
 octroi, has also a right of search for forbidden things which 
 is, however, hardly ever exercised. Vou need not be afraid 
 to entrust your keys to the porter if he belongs to one of 
 the big hotels, as their possession is practically a formality, 
 and they are never used but to satisfy the octroi ; he produces 
 them and declares that all is well. I take it then that you 
 are safely landed at your hotel, have had a good wash (very 
 needful after a long journey on the dirty Italian lines), and 
 that you are quite ready for dinner. 
 
 Don't go out, let me suggest to you, unless it happens to 
 be a clear moonlight night, but just rest and start your 
 experience in Milan after a good dinner and a comfortable 
 night, so that you may bring an easy mind to bear upon 
 what you have, under my guidance, to see in the city.
 
 3° 
 
 MILAN 
 
 If it does happen to be a clear bright night, then take 
 a short stroll to see the Cathedral after dinner, as by moon- 
 light or golden evening sunlight it is more lovely than under 
 any other circumstances, and I would like you to see the 
 building at its most beautiful moment, and to commence 
 well in Milan. 
 
 You are hardly likely to see the Duomo by the clear 
 frosty air when it is lightly flecked with snow. That is 
 its loveliest aspect, but in the golden evening glow of 
 autumn, or under the cold silvery whiteness of the moon, 
 it is wonderfully fine, and if you have the chance to com- 
 mence with this sight, do not miss it. 
 
 The next morning I want you to commence seeing Milan 
 by visiting the Church of San Lorenzo, and to do this you 
 must pass the Cathedral. 
 
 I am not going to be so foolish as to tell you not to look 
 up at it as you pass, but don't waste time now in seeing 
 it, but just go on with me to the church I have named. 
 One thing you will quickly find out in r\Iilan. The Cathedral 
 is the centre of it, and from the Cathedral you can go almost 
 anywhere by electric trams. I do not like them, for they 
 are not lovely things, and by night they remind us of great 
 moving demons merciless to run you down, but they are 
 very convenient and a great help to the tired pedestrian. 
 From the front of the Duomo take a tram marked " Porta 
 Ticino," and stop at the Church of San Lorenzo. 
 
 Here right in the middle of the street stand sixteen great 
 giant * * columns, made of white marble, and going back 
 to perhaps the third century. They form one of the most 
 impressive sights to be seen in iMilan, and I want you 
 to stand still and think for a moment of what they mean. 
 
 Milan, the ancient Mediolanum, was the second city in 
 importance in Roman Italy, second only to Rome and 
 rich in all the dignity and beauty of a great imperial city, 
 It had been founded by the Gauls, but became Roman 
 in 222 B.C., and in the fourth and fifth century had
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 31 
 
 become a vast, populous, and magnificent city. We are 
 going, however, to find very little of this magnificence re- 
 maining, as we wander through the city, and the reason 
 must be told here. 
 
 The city has been besieged over and over again. It is 
 said to have been attacked fifty times ; and attracted by 
 its position, its riches, and its magnificence, its enemies 
 have been numerous and powerful. Attila, king of the 
 Huns, sacked it in 452, and the Goths in 493. It was 
 again conquered by Rome, but again, in 539, retaken by 
 the Goths, and at that time almost entirely burnt and 
 destroyed. Again and again after that it was captured 
 by the Lombards, the Franks, and the Huns, and so injured 
 by warfare until hardly anything remained of the Roman 
 city; and yet it rose again, until, in 1162, it was almost 
 A\'holIy destroyed by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. 
 
 Then for some five years there was once more no Milan, 
 only a few churches and a dismal heap of ruins deserted 
 of all their population, and the power and pride of the 
 great city seemed crushed for ever. 
 
 Five years afterwards, however, Milan suddenly rose once 
 more into existence, commencing its new life on April 27, 
 1 1 67; and at once attacking its old enemy, the Emperor, 
 it demolished his castle of Trezzo, which contained his 
 treasure. 
 
 The recuperative power of the citizens of Milan was amply 
 proved ; once again the city became powerful and practically 
 independent, and from 1237 commenced the rule of certain 
 great Milanese families, who by their own prowess and 
 determination, their wisdom and their wealth, became by 
 the will of the people the rulers over the city. 
 
 To them I will refer later on, but these few lines will 
 suffice to chronicle the troubles of early Milan and its 
 sufferings at the hands of its enemies. 
 
 You will now, I think, realise why it is that of this splendid 
 Roman city so little remains, practically only this portico of 
 columns, and also why it is that in our journey round Milan 
 we have to bear in mind its constant warfare, its continual
 
 32 MILAN 
 
 sieges, and the changes that happened in the city under its 
 different governments. 
 
 We are now concerned with its eariiest stage, its history 
 in Roman times. It is not known for certain to what 
 building these columns were attached. They are said to be 
 part of some magnificent baths, and the church near at 
 hand to have formed an entrance hall to the same ihermce. 
 They are by some antiquaries said to belong to an Imperial 
 Palace, but to what building actually they were attached 
 does not very much matter. There they stand, impressive 
 in their solemn grandeur. The flood of warfare has rolled 
 around them, carnage, the sword, fire, and pestilence have 
 worked their wicked will on all the city, but the gigantic 
 columns, built by that wonderful nation that ruled the world 
 and proudly boasted of its perpetual life, stand as if to en- 
 force the truth of the boast and to bid defiance to all time. 
 Even the brick-work, so cunningly built of fine small red bricks 
 so carefully fitted and laid, has remained, and it crowns these 
 marble columns and forms two delightful archways, one at each 
 end of the colonnade, but the grim old iron-bound columns 
 bravely rear their heads in the midst of all the bustle and 
 life of the street, and speak of the wonders they have seen 
 while generations have passed away. They are a great proof 
 of the genius of Rome. Her work was built to endure. It 
 faced the w-orld proudly and it still faces it, but even in Rome 
 itself you will hardly find a more emphatic contrast between 
 the dignity of the old nation and the trivial passing life of 
 the present century than you will see in these proud old 
 columns in the Corso Ticinese. 
 
 Now enter the church and ask for the Chapel of St. 
 Aquilinus, which for a few pence will be unlocked for you, 
 and there on the right as you enter is a large stone tomb 
 which will at once attract your attention. 
 
 It is the *Tomb of Ataulphus, king of the Goths, 
 brother-in-law and successor to Alaric. 
 
 He married the daughter of Theodosius the Great, in 
 whose face St. Ambrose shut the famous gates, and the tomb
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 33 
 
 of his wife Galla Placidia you will see when you come to 
 Ravenna. This is probably the first of those great Byzantine 
 stone tombs, of which there are so many at Ravenna, that 
 you have come across in your travels : so mark it well. 
 
 It is sufficiently Roman to be huge, important, and 
 massive, but it is Gothic in its great corner cusps, and in 
 its decoration it is Christian. You will note on it the 
 symbol of the Cross, upon which a dove is descending, and 
 two lambs stand below, and then in the centre you will mark 
 the twisted columns and the charming Runic decorations in 
 between. You will see that the shape of the lid of the tomb 
 is that of the cornice decoration over the columns carved 
 upon it, and that although there is no display of decoration 
 on the tomb, yet all the work is well done and the effect is 
 that of greatness and power. 
 
 In St. Ambrose we shall see another tomb resembling this 
 one, and there are many at Ravenna, but here it stands to 
 symbolise the conquest of Paganism by Christianity, and 
 the early days of the Christian faith. 
 
 Now look up and you will see more early Christian work. 
 On the R. of the altar is a * mosaic representing Our Lord 
 and His Apostles, and below His feet is to be seen a river of 
 clear water admirably represented. 
 
 On the L. is a much richer coloured mosaic of the Sacri- 
 fice of Isaac mystically representing the Crucifixion, and the 
 Shepherds and their Flocks mystically representing the 
 Church, and both these mosaics are about fifth or early sixth 
 century work. We are probably standing within one of the 
 inner rooms of the Roman f/iermcs, and we can see that it 
 has been taken hold of and converted into a Christian 
 temple decorated by Christian hands with religious symbols, 
 and so here we see again Paganism giving place to the new 
 faith. 
 
 Return and enter the church, as there is nothing else in 
 this chapel of importance ; and let me here remind you that 
 my purpose in this guide is not to show you everything a 
 building contains, such as you will be told in Murray or 
 
 C
 
 34 MILAN 
 
 Baedeker, but to point out what seem to me to be the 
 important things for you to look at in order that you may 
 understand somewhat of the growth of the city. 
 
 The church will remind you of the Pantheon at Rome, 
 and it will certainly recall the idea of a Roman temple. 
 Probably on this site, and in something this style, there 
 was once a Roman building, and most likely the colon- 
 nade facing you belonged to it ; but the present church 
 was built in the sixteenth century upon the lines of a far 
 older building, and very much like San Vitale at Ravenna, 
 and probably this earlier building \\as a Roman one con- 
 verted to Christian uses, as was the Pantheon. 
 
 Some remains of the Gothic alteration of the church can 
 yet be seen in the Runic stones upon some of the columns 
 near the chapel that contains the tomb. 
 
 Now dismiss the historical evolution for a few moments 
 from your mind, and examine a few treasures in the church, 
 bearing in mind that, although we may gradually work our 
 way through history, by examining building after building, 
 it will not be wise to neglect the treasures each building 
 contains, even though they may not concern our immediate 
 purpose, and it would waste our time to return again to this 
 church after seeing others. 
 
 Close to the door of the St. Aquillinus Chapel is a fine 
 slab from a tomb. It is quite out of place where it is. It 
 ought to be on the floor, only if put there it would soon be 
 injured, but here on this wall it presents an unfortunate 
 appearance. It marks the tomb of Antonio del Conte, and 
 the dear old man should be comfortably lying flat on the 
 ground, his head upon his pillow, instead of being placed 
 upright on a wall. 
 
 The slab is a good one, of 1347, and marks an early low- 
 relief sculpture, in which can be found earnest searchings 
 after truth, and a brave attempt to represent the human 
 figure as it is. Donatello's work is but the development 
 of this. 
 
 You will find a florid and over-rich pietra-dura ptclpit in the 
 church, and behind the high altar you will see a charming
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 35 
 
 monument in a little chapel, which Gaspare Visconti, out of 
 love and affection, erected to the memory of one Giovanni 
 Conti in 1538. 
 
 Here you have an impressive vionunient of a warrior 
 reclining, holding his sword and resting his head upon 
 his hand. It is a beautiful piece of Renaissance work. 
 Another good tomb you will pass as you leave the chapel ; 
 it is a plain one of red and yellow marble, but for whom 
 it was erected is not now known. 
 
 On the wall near the pulpit, stop and look at the fresco, 
 recently uncovered, as it represents the evident attempt of 
 some scholar of Leonardo's to copy his master's famous work, 
 and for that reason is important in the history of art, and 
 shows us what enthusiasm was kindled by that great Cena- 
 colo. There is nothing more for you to look at in San 
 Lorenzo, but, as you leave the church, you will surely gaze 
 yet again at the great stone columns, that so splendidly 
 represent Imperial Rome in her splendour. 
 
 It will be well now to walk on a little farther down the 
 street to the rebuilt Porta Ticinese, because near to it you 
 will see the little canal that runs nearly round the very 
 centre of Milan. It is the mark of the size of Milan in 1 167, 
 when, as I have already told you, it started afresh from the 
 ashes of the burnt city, and on the banks of this canal were 
 the mediaeval fortifications. In the sixteenth century the 
 Visconti rulers built a great deal outside of these fortifications, 
 enlarging their city enormously, and to the district just on 
 the other side of this canal they gave the name of Cittadella, 
 and the district still is called by that designation. The 
 central arch only of the gate under which we stand is old, 
 the rest was rebuilt on the old lines in 1861. Pass through 
 the gate and look up at the other side of the gateway, and 
 you will yet see the mediasval relief of the Madonna and 
 Saints, which was to be the first sight of the traveller 
 entering the city.
 
 36 MILAN 
 
 You are not far off from the Church of San Eustorgio, and 
 perhaps it will be well for you to walk on down the street 
 to visit this church, even though it comes a little out of 
 place in strict chronological order. 
 
 It is on the same side of the street as was San Lorenzo, 
 and you will reach it in a few minutes. 
 
 I have already pointed out to you the canal, and therefore, 
 you will realise what is meant when I say that this church 
 was without the walls of early Milan. 
 
 Its position saved it, as it was one of the very few buildings 
 that escaped Frederick Barbarossa. 
 
 For many hundreds of years it held the chief treasures of 
 Milan, the bones of the Three Kings, which were presented 
 to Archbishop Eustorgius, who lived in A.D. 300, by the 
 Emperor Constantine. 
 
 Eustorgius had made for them a huge * stone sarco- 
 phagus, and this you will see if you walk right up the 
 church on the right to the chapel, parallel with the high 
 altar. 
 
 It is a coffer, like the tomb you have just seen, but far 
 larger, and has upon it, in deeply cut, plain letters, the words 
 ." Sepulcrum Trium Magorum," and is quite plain, and 
 without any decoration whatever. 
 
 When the Emperor came up against Milan, the relics 
 were removed to a place of greater safety within the city, 
 but when Milan fell they were the spoil of the Emperor, and 
 he gave them over to Archbishop Rinaldus of Cologne, who 
 carried them off to his city, where they are at the present 
 time. 
 
 The scene of the Adoration of the Kings has always 
 been a favourite one with Lombard artists, and they have 
 been proud that relics of such importance rested in their 
 city for 800 years. 
 
 The extreme antiquity of the church in which we now 
 stand is not only testified by this great stone coffer, 
 which goes back to, say, 315, but also by the big round 
 columns that support the roof, and which have remained 
 although the church was rebuilt in 1227, and restored most
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 37 
 
 grievously in 1865. It is, however, in monuments of the 
 fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that this church is so rich, 
 and I would recommend you to go straight away behind 
 the high altar, underneath the elevated choir, through two 
 pairs of iron gates, which the " custode " will readily unlock, 
 to see the chief treasure of the church. 
 
 Even though our talk has hitherto been on ancient 
 Roman work, I want you to begin to realise the moving 
 spirit of the Renaissance, which had such vast influence in 
 Milan, and which may be summed up in the idea to make 
 everything in life beautiful. You should also understand 
 that, under the rule of the Visconti and of the Sforza, art 
 in Milan was at its highest level. The rulers of each of 
 these great families loved to gather around them the most 
 eminent craftsmen, to set them to work to paint or carve, 
 to build or decorate, and lavished of their finest work 
 upon palace, church, and castle. The example the rulers 
 set was followed by those under them. Every one strove 
 to encourage art, to make life lovely and to urge artists 
 and craftsmen to produce work finer than the world had 
 yet seen. 
 
 Now here in this **Portinari Chapel we have a building, 
 perfect in design and in proportion, erected at almost lavish 
 cost for a noble Florentine, who was treasurer for the ruler 
 Ludovico Moro, and who was a member of that important 
 Portinari family who loved, as we have seen at Florence 
 (see Hospital of St. Maria Nuova, p. 255), to patronise art. 
 
 Michelozzo was the architect, and he has carried out a 
 delightful idea. The chapel is small but exquisite, the 
 proportions of it are true, the carving on the pilasters and 
 columns rich and deep, and above all the frieze of singing 
 angels and the lower border (equally fine) of cherubs' heads, 
 which stand out in low relief high up above your heads 
 and all around the wall, are delightful. 
 
 Finer still, however, is the gem which this casket was built 
 to contain. Pigello dei Portinari, whose portrait hangs on
 
 38 MILAN 
 
 the R. wall of his chapel, desired not only to found a family 
 chapel, where perpetual thought of him might be preserved, 
 not alone to commission Michelozzo to build a perfect 
 building, but also, and perhaps above all, to make a fitting 
 resting-place for the Tomb of St. Peter Martyr, which 
 had been carved by Balduccio of Pisa a hundred and 
 thirty years before, and which originally, it is said, stood 
 in the church. 
 
 Do not hurry over this monument ; walk carefully around 
 it, study its details, and then you will understand how great 
 were the masters of the fourteenth century. 
 
 Balduccio's work is rare, and judging from the merit of 
 this magnificent tomb, he could not have executed many 
 works of like importance. 
 
 Notice particularly the eight female figures, which, ac- 
 cording to quaint Lombard mysticism, portray the four 
 Cardinal and the four Theological virtues. Their names 
 are above their heads on the columns near to which they 
 stand. Look at Charity hugging the two poor children to 
 her breast ; Faith with the Chalice and Cross ; Hope 
 looking upward and holding a cornucopia of fresh young 
 flowers ; and Obedience bearing the yoke and holding the 
 book of the Gospels. 
 
 Come then round to the front and see Justice crowned 
 bearing the balance, part of which, like part of Faith's cross, 
 has been broken away ; then comes Temperance, pouring 
 water from an urn ; Fortitude, bearing what at first you 
 may take to be a basket, but which on closer investigation 
 you will find to be a city built upon a rock in the centre 
 of a rolling sea, and upon which the four winds of heaven 
 are blowing their fiercest ; and finally. Prudence, with a 
 triple face, looking at the present, the past, and the 
 future. 
 
 Then look at all the representations of the miracles of 
 the saint carved around the coffin, and notice the figures 
 of the Doctors of the Church, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. 
 Augustine, and St. Gregory, with St. Thomas and St. 
 Eustorgius who stand by ; and finally look up to the temple
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 39 
 
 on the top where are seated the Madonna and Child between 
 St. Dominic and St. Peter Martyr. 
 
 The church was a Dominican one. It still is served by 
 those friars, and here the tribunal against heresy was first 
 set up. 
 
 It therefore fittingly contains the tomb of the great saint 
 and martyr of the Order, and few tombs could so well re- 
 present the spirit and work of the age. The marble is 
 almost the colour of ivory and closely resembles it, and the 
 carving might almost be in ivory, it is so delicate, so sharp, 
 and so well undercut. Notice how full it is of detail, how 
 carefully each face is wrought, and how fine is the finish given 
 to hands and features. 
 
 Of its kind you will find nothing finer in Italy, nothing 
 more representative of the desire to do all as well as the 
 craftsman could do it, and to work for all time. 
 
 You can look at the pulpit from which the saint preached, 
 you can recall his fulminations against sin, and his strenuous 
 effort to stamp out heresy by the mediaeval plan of persecu- 
 tion, but the monument to his memory is here, and the name 
 of St. Peter Martyr, or the very name of the great Order that 
 he so embellished, should recall to your memory the lovely 
 tomb in the Portinari Chapel. 
 
 Look at the splendid lamps Michelozzo designed for this 
 chapel, and the tall bronze chandeliers that he wrought so 
 well. Examine carefully the inner wrought-iron gate, 
 which is also attributed to him, but do not waste time 
 over the frescoes, which are not by Foppa (whose work 
 is in the entrance chapel close by) and even if they were, 
 you will see better and more characteristic work by Foppa 
 later on. 
 
 This is not, however, the only fine tomb to be seen in 
 this church, although it is by far the finest, but in the smaller 
 chapels on the R. of the entrance you will find others, that 
 are well worth your consideration. In the first chape! is a
 
 40 MILAN 
 
 monument to Stephano Brivio, whose portrait was painted 
 by Ambrogio de' Predis, and the portrait of whose brother 
 by the same artist you will presently find in Poldi-Pezzoli 
 picture gallery. This is a monument of 1485 attributed to 
 Bramante, the celebrated architect, from whom some say 
 Piero della Francesca learned. It is of very pretty dehcate 
 floral work, and quite characteristic of the period which the 
 Italians term cinquecento. A little farther up the church 
 are three Visconti tombs. In the fourth chapel, one to 
 Stefano Visconti, 1327, and in the sixth, tomb to Gasparo 
 Visconti and his wife Agnes. 
 
 This Gasparo was connected with our own history, as he 
 came over to England to the court of Edward III. no less 
 than five times, bent on making matrimonial arrangements 
 between the children of that king and members of the 
 Visconti house. He received two English orders, one of 
 them being that of the Garter, and very faintly you can yet 
 trace the badge of this order encircling his arms, but for 
 the most part the arms have been so injured that they are 
 indecipherable. The reliefs on Gasparo's tomb represent 
 the Adoration of the Magi, a fitting subject for a tomb in 
 this church, and that opposite on his wife's is the Coronation 
 of Mary. These two are fifteenth-century tombs, erected, as 
 you will see, a Httle earlier than the one in the first chapel, 
 and a hundred years later than the one in the Portinari 
 Chapel. The relief work is more minute and searching than 
 in the earlier tombs, and the spiral columns are grander and 
 bolder. The Lions on which the columns rest are very 
 characteristic of the fifteenth century. You will see them 
 in the porches of churches and cathedrals erected at that 
 time. 
 
 Now look round the church generally, and walk up on the 
 raised choir, under which you went to reach the Portinari 
 Chapel, by a door which you will find at the back of the high 
 altar. 
 
 Here you will see the stalls of the friars arranged so that 
 they inay sing the daily offices in community, and here it
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 41 
 
 was that the great tribunal against heresy, called the Holy 
 Inquisition, sat. 
 
 Remember you are in a Dominican church, and that this 
 Order was the philosophic and learned Order. It was the 
 guardian of the doctrines of the Church, preserved their 
 purity, protected the faithful against heresy, and extir- 
 pated heresy ; and you are standing in one of the holiest 
 churches of the Order, that in which St. Peter Martyr 
 preached, and where, in 1253, he was buried. Only 
 thirteen years after his death he was canonised, and 
 you will often see him depicted in pictures intended for 
 Dominican churches. His great tomb was erected about 
 eighty years after his death, but his bones have always lain 
 in this church, and are, we may suppose, here still. 
 
 After seeing San Eustorgio please retrace your steps, not 
 only chronologically, but also actually, and pass to quite 
 another part of Milan to visit San Ambrogio. 
 
 You will go back to the Duomo and take a tram for Porta 
 Magenta, and tell the man to put you down near to San 
 Ambrogio. He will set you down two minutes' walk from 
 the church, down a side street to the right leading off 
 the Corso Magenta. This is not the shortest way to reach 
 the church, but I take it you do not know your way about 
 Milan, and also desire to save time, and you will do so by 
 using these convenient electric trams. 
 
 Now at San Ambrogio there is a great deal to see, and I 
 would prefer that you start fresh in the morning to see it, 
 and give up a considerable time to your task. 
 
 Put some money in your pocket, for I am going to test 
 your attention by asking you to give five lire to see the 
 ** Palliotto, or altar front, and another two or three lire 
 if you can persuade the custode to open the shrine to see 
 the body of St. Ambrose. 
 
 These are extras to our ordinary expenditure, but you must 
 not grudge the first one especially, as the Palliotto is one of 
 the greatest things in Europe, and you must certainly see it.
 
 42 MILAN 
 
 As you near the church, look out under the Hme trees 
 on the right as you enter for a solitary Roman column, 
 the only other important record of Roman Milan that we 
 shall see. No one can say to what building it originally 
 belonged, nor Mhy in early days it was left standing here 
 in solitary dignity, but the Lombard kings recognised its 
 symbolic character, and deeming themselves the successors 
 of ancient Rome, took their coronation oaths under the 
 shadow of this column ere they proceeded into San Am- 
 brogio to be crowned. 
 
 The trust between monarch and people was here for- 
 mulated and sworn to, and then the Church ratified it, and 
 gave full power to the monarch in its coronation service 
 in the adjacent church. 
 
 In San Ambrogio we have a church founded by St. 
 Ambrose himself when Bishop of Milan, dedicated by him 
 (not to himself as you may well believe) but to two saints — 
 St. Gervasius and St. Protasius, who were martyred, in 
 A.D. 67, by order of the Emperor Nero. Of the Church 
 of St. Ambrose nothing remains, but the building we now 
 see goes back to the time of another Bishop of Milan, 
 Aspertus, who lived in about 870, and who built this im- 
 portant church. Of course it has been repaired and 
 restored, but when, in 1631, Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, 
 who was titular Cardinal of this church and Archbishop 
 of Milan, and whose house I want you to see presently, 
 employed Richini, the architect, to repair it, he gave him 
 the most inflexible instructions to do as little as pos- 
 sible, and to alter no feature whatever of the ancient 
 edifice. 
 
 Practically we enter an ancient Christian church of the 
 ninth century, with many of its leading features and much 
 of its beauty intact. First of all notice the courtyard, or 
 atrium, into which we first pass ere we gain the door of the 
 church, and which has an arcade on all sides. This was 
 the entrance beyond which those persons called catechu- 
 mens, who were not yet baptized but still under instruction, 
 were not allowed to pass.
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 43 
 
 Many of the early converts were but Pagans in their ideas 
 and thoughts even when under instruction, and while it was 
 considered fitting that they should see the gorgeous cere- 
 monial of the mysteries of faith and have all its meaning 
 explained to them, yet they were not, until baptized, in 
 a fit state to enter the sacred edifice and be present at 
 the Mass. 
 
 The Catholic Church still retains the same doctrine and 
 practice, as may easily be seen at the baptism of a child, 
 when the first part of the service takes place in the porch, 
 and then the child or its sponsors, holding on to the stole of 
 the priest, are led by him into the church. 
 
 All around this atrium will be seen Christian memorials, 
 altars, sarcophagi, monumental inscriptions, tombs, and 
 broken fragments from the older church, together with 
 one of those fine great stone coffins of the Gothic period. 
 
 There are bits of the original fresco-work to be still seen 
 on the walls, and here, in the early centuries of the history 
 of the Church, were assembled the converts from heathenism, 
 young and old, and the bishops and priests of the Church 
 instructing them in the path of Christianity, and preparing 
 many of them, and themselves at the same time, for the 
 crown of martyrdom. 
 
 You will remark as you stand in this atrium, upon the 
 beauty of the Jive pointed arches which form the west 
 wall of the church, the central lancet being the highest, 
 and the others on either side lower in proportion, and 
 you will see the gallery formed across the porch from 
 which some eminent ecclesiastic could address the crowd 
 below. 
 
 Now, coming nearer, you will notice over the L. doorway 
 a rough relief of about the ninth or early tenth century, 
 representing a martyr between two extraordinary lions, and 
 remember how often the same fate must have overtaken 
 those who listened to the preaching here. 
 
 Inside the church the effect is still early, plain, severe 
 Lombard style, although the round arches of brickwork are 
 not fifty years old, but have been built in facsimile of those
 
 44 MILAN 
 
 in the original edifice wliich in the thirteenth century were 
 spoiled by alteration. To realise completely the character of 
 the ancient church walk right up, enter the choir, which is 
 surrounded by an original marble screen, pass round and 
 behind the high altar (which you will see stands right away 
 from any wall, clear of all adjacent stone-work, as it should 
 in a basilica), and ascending the steps to the upper choir, go 
 right away to its extreme end, and there you will find the 
 marble * chair of St. Ambrose. 
 
 Here sat the great Archbishop, in this very chair, in 
 synod surrounded by the bishops of the other northern sees 
 who were his suffragans in his great archdiocese, which 
 stretched from the Engadine to the Gulf of Genoa. Eighteen 
 bishops held the various sees, and paid fealty to the Arch- 
 bishop, but their seats are not here, as when in 1580 the 
 new arrangement of the diocese came into force, the church 
 ceased to be used for synods, and became a capitular one, 
 and the present stalls of Flanders-work were put for the 
 chapter. 
 
 The Archbishop's chair, however, still remained, and 
 I have seen the present occupant of the see of Milan seated 
 in the midst of his clergy in the very chair occupied a 
 thousand years ago by his saintly predecessor. 
 
 Now look up at the roof of this choir and you will see a 
 magnificent * Mosaic upon a gold ground glowing in 
 gorgeous splendour, and which is on a sunny day like a 
 sheet of molten metal-work with jewels. 
 
 Our Lord is in the centre and around Him are five saints 
 — Saints Protasius, Gervasius, Satirus, Marcellina, and 
 Candida, all martyrs ; together with symbolic figures of two 
 cities — Milan, the see of St. Ambrose, and Tours, because 
 St. Ambrose was said to have been present in a vision ere 
 he died at the death and funeral of St. Martin, the generous 
 bishop of that city. Notice the fact that the inscription 
 on this mosaic is partly in Greek and partly in Latin, as 
 the amalgamation of the empires and their power was at 
 that period taking place, and the rule was passing to 
 Byzantium from Rome.
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 45 
 
 We shall then turn down the steps again to the high 
 altar, and here it is well to realise how important is the spot 
 on which this altar stands. 
 
 Here St. Ambrose baptized St. Augustine, here the 
 Lombard kings were crowned, from 888 down to nearly 
 1500, and under our feet is the body of the saint himself. 
 
 Even yet there is an older civilisation marked here, for 
 the ^four columns of red porphyry that surround the 
 canopy over the altar and the two lovely pink ones right up 
 in the corner of the choir are of greater antiquity, and are 
 said to have come from a temple of Jupiter that stood in 
 the Corso Magenta, and to have been presented by the 
 Emperor to St. Ambrose as trophies with which to build 
 the altar in his church. 
 
 Up above the altar is an archaic gilt relief of Christ 
 between St. Ambrose and St. Peter, which must be dated 
 soon after the death of the Archbishop, but the greatest 
 sight in St. Ambrose is the altar itself. 
 
 It will be well for you, so soon as you enter the church, 
 to seek out the custode, or one of the priests, and tell him 
 that you wish to see the * * Palliotto, and are prepared to 
 pay the fee of five lire. 
 
 You must not go on a Sunday, or the altar will be in use 
 all the morning, and it is possible that even on an ordinary 
 day you may find the high altar needed for Mass, but this 
 is not very likely to be the case, unless you have hit upon 
 one of the great festivals, and probably very soon your 
 wishes will be gratified. 
 
 If, however, it is a festival, you will be sure to be able to 
 see the Palliotto after midday, and you may quietly walk 
 round the church, or leave it for a while, and go up to see 
 the Cenacolo, and then return a little later on.' 
 
 The whole of the high altar is encased in hard steel, 
 forming one huge safe, and this is unlocked by twelve keys, 
 opening six massive doors, and revealing one of the grandest 
 pieces of mediaeval work in Europe. The Palliotto was 
 made a thousand years ago, actually about 835, to the
 
 46 MILAN 
 
 order of Archbishop Angilbertus II. by a craftsman named 
 " Wolvinus," who signed his work and called himself 
 " Magister Phaber" or Master Smith. 
 
 A great master indeed he was, and a glorious piece of 
 workmanship is before us. 
 
 The front is entirely of plates of g'o/d, save the top and 
 bottom mouldings, which are silver^ and it is divided off into 
 three great sections, and these again into smaller ones. Each 
 division is bordered with an exquisite flat border, into which 
 are set splendid uncut precious jeivels separated one from 
 the other by even more precious pieces of ena/jwl-work of 
 pure and lovely colour. 
 
 Mark in the border of the great sections the green ground, 
 with pure blue and white oval ornaments, and notice how 
 translucent and how even is the enamel, and how perfectly 
 it is preserved. 
 
 Notice how in the side borders violet takes the place of 
 green, and mark the green and gold enamel of the central 
 panel. Look at the setting of each stone, and all the chain- 
 work wrought around them, dividing panel from panel, and 
 then commence to go carefully over the panels of the front 
 one by one. 
 
 In the very middle is our Lord, and around Him the 
 twelve Apostles in groups of three each, and the four mystical 
 figures which are used to symbolise the Evangelists. 
 
 Then in the side panels of the front are twelve scenes 
 from the life of our Lord, of which the most marked are 
 the Annunciation, the Presentation, the Crucifixion, and 
 the Resurrection. 
 
 All are, of course, treated in a very simple and somewhat 
 grotesque manner, but the work is throughout marked by 
 great reverence and by the most scrupulous adherence in 
 all its details to the Bible story. Every panel is beaten 
 out in gold, set into its place, and decorated with the 
 gorgeous enamels and jewels. 
 
 Go round now to the back, and here you will find silver 
 plates instead of gold, but just the same beauty of workman- 
 ship, and certain special features different from the front.
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 47 
 
 You will notice the name of the goldsmith who did the 
 work proudly recorded as it deserved to be — 
 
 WOLVINV Magist Phaber 
 
 and also the facts duly engraved into the plate of silver 
 that it was made for Archbishop Angilbertus and in honour 
 of St. Ambrose. 
 
 It is also interesting to remark that there are upon this 
 back *eight little circles of enamel, representing heads of 
 female saints, each a little different one from the other, and 
 surrounded by circles of white dots, and that these little 
 medallions, each about the size of a penny, are attached to 
 the Palliotto by gold settings and are surrounded each by a 
 twisted gold chain. 
 
 My own impression is that these are more ancient than 
 any other part of the Palliotto, and were done before the 
 time of Wolvinus and used by him to attach ©n to his 
 work. The drawing of the faces is more archaic than the 
 rest of the work, the enamelling rather coarser, and in 
 these eight medallions, I believe, we have some of the 
 earliest enamel-work now existing. Probably they are 
 Celtic and possibly even Irish. The Archbishop came 
 from the north of Gaul, and he may have possessed these 
 eight enamel plaques, presented to him perhaps by some 
 Celtic ruler as very precious things, and from them he 
 may have suggested the entire work to the clever craftsman 
 who carried it out. 
 
 The scenes on this back mostly relate to St. Ambrose. 
 In the very centre are the two archangels, St. Michael and 
 St. Gabriel. Another pair of panels represent St. Ambrose 
 blessing the Archbishop, who is termed DOMINVS in the 
 inscription, and the master smith Wolvinus, and then we 
 commence the scenes from the life of St. Ambrose. 
 
 There is the story of the bees swarming around him 
 when he was asleep at Aries ; there is his military position 
 commanding certain provinces in Italy ; there is his 
 selection as Archbishop by the popular cry, and his flight
 
 48 MILAN 
 
 to escape the responsible position. Then follows his 
 baptism, which in his case followed his election to the 
 see, and then his consecration. 
 
 Two scenes depict his miraculous presence as in a vision 
 at the death and funeral of St. Martin of Tours ; one depicts 
 his preaching when the angels aid his eloquence and supply 
 words for him to use. In another he is healing the lame ; 
 then comes the scene where he has a personal vision of 
 Christ ; and then follows his reception of the last Sacrament 
 and his death. 
 
 The two ends of the Palliotto are worked in the same 
 way, and represent angels, apostles, and martyrs, and 
 everywhere is this wonderful, brilliant, imperishable enamel, 
 and the lavish use of pearls, precious stones, and coral. 
 
 So carefully is the work done that we can quite realise 
 the cercnw7iinl dress of the period, the use of the pallium. 
 and crozier^ and the very ceremonials of the Mass and of 
 anointiftg and of consecration ; and therefore this Palliotto 
 is not only a gorgeous piece of craftsmanship, as I am 
 sure you will acknowledge, and one carried out with infinite 
 skill and an exquisite sense of colour, but also a document 
 as to the ninth century that cannot deceive, and which it 
 is impossible to misread. 
 
 Now underneath this altar, in a crypt, is preserved the 
 *body of tlie saint, and if you can persuade the custode 
 to unlock the shrine, you will see a rich piece of ornamental 
 silver-work in which rest the bones of the two saints to 
 whom the Church is dedicated, and St. Ambrose between 
 them. 
 
 There is splendid mediteval needlework to be seen in 
 some of the vestments which help to clothe the dry bones, 
 and part of the ornaments that are upon the vestment of 
 St. Ambrose are as early as his time, and probably therefore 
 were actually worn by him. 
 
 Having looked at this shrine, and perhaps also examined 
 a fine silver Pax in the Sacristy given by one of the 
 Visconti to the church, and representing the head of
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 49 
 
 Christ with two angels, and adorned with the Visconti 
 arms, you will be ready to go round the church with me. 
 
 First to the right aisle, noticing as we proceed up it 
 the following items : — 
 
 An ancient reh'e/ of an archbishop (called St. Ambrose, 
 but probably not representing him at all) in a circle, wearing 
 the pallium and pontifical vestments, and giving the bene- 
 diction ; the early sarcophagus of Bishop Aspertus ; the 
 frescoes of Gaudenzio Ferrari in the side entrance (or first 
 recess), in which the artist's strenuous work in the drawing 
 of the limbs can be appreciated, and the sad sweetness of 
 his Pieta noticed. (The frescoes attributed to Luini in this 
 recess must not be accepted as the master's own work.) 
 
 Continuing you may just glance at some effective deco- 
 ration by Lanini in the sixth chapel — two scenes from the 
 life of St. George, and some surrounding representations 
 of children and flowers ; and then you will pass into the 
 chapel of San Satiro, which opens out of this aisle. 
 
 Pass right through the outer chapel, turn to the left, 
 and you will enter a very curious *ancient little chapel, 
 and see on the walls of it some mosaics of the saints, 
 who were commemorated in this church specially, and 
 who are there depicted as martyrs only, not designated as 
 saints nor crowned with the halo of distinction. The 
 altar of this chapel is ornamented with a very early piece 
 of relief work in marble, but on the left of it, is a curious 
 piece of mosaic, representing a white animal, that came 
 from the original Christian Church here, and is one of 
 the oldest things in San Ambrogio, perhaps going back to 
 the fourth century. It is rough and bold, but very effective, 
 and is an interesting example of how these earliest Christian 
 churches were decorated. The screen of this little chapel 
 also belongs to the period of St. Ambrose, or about that 
 lime, and beneath the altar is a plain vaulted contemporary 
 crypt. 
 
 Now go under the raised choir, and near to the Sacristy 
 door you will find two pictures, one by an old Lombard 
 artist, very possibly Foppa, representing the Madonna and 
 
 D
 
 50 MILAN 
 
 Child with St. Ambrose and St. Jerome, and one also of a 
 Madonna and Child (opposite to it) with St. Joachim and 
 St. John Baptist, which is very likely the work of Luini. 
 
 Pass down that side to the pulpit, which is of very early 
 Lombard work, and encloses beneath it a Christian tomb, 
 with Christian emblems carved upon it ; and at the back of 
 the pulpit is a very curious representation of an Agape, or 
 Love Feast. 
 
 In the pulpit is a curious Byzantine bronze eagle, with a 
 figure of Our Lord, for holding the book of the Gospels. 
 
 The two objects which you will see in the nave surmount- 
 ing granite columns are curious but not beautiful. 
 
 One is said to be a copy of the Serpent made by Moses, 
 but is considered by authorities to be an emblem or talisman 
 of the fourth century, which, in 1005, was presented to this 
 church as a religious symbol by the Byzantine Emperor, 
 and has been here ever since. 
 
 The bronze cross opposite to it is said to have been given 
 at the same time, but is 600 years later in date than the 
 talisman. 
 
 The Baptistery, which you will pass last, has a fresco in 
 it attributed to Luini, which, however, only belongs to his 
 school. 
 
 As you leave this interesting church look up at the folding 
 doors, and at the top of each of them, enclosed behind iron- 
 work, you will see two small panels. These panels are said 
 to be of cypress wood, and to be a part of the famous doors 
 that St. Ambrose closed in the face of the great Emperor 
 Theodosius, after he had allowed his Gothic mercenaries to 
 massacre the helpless inhabitants of Thessalonica in 390. 
 
 There had been an insurrection in the place, and, in the 
 tumult, one of the imperial officers, Botheric, had been killed, 
 and this so enraged the Emperor that he ordered a massacre 
 of all the inhabitants at once, and the Gothic soldiers killed 
 some seven thousand of the people in a few hours. St. 
 Ambrose, full of indignation, rebuked the Emperor, and on 
 his approaching the church to attend the Mass, closed the 
 doors in his face, and refused to allow him to enter the church
 
 ROMAN AND EARLY MILAN 51 
 
 whilst his hands were stained with innocent blood. It was 
 not the doors of this church in which we stand that 
 were closed by the bishop, but the doors of the Church of 
 San Vittore in Corpo, at that time called the Basilica Por- 
 tiana, and standing outside the walls ; but when that church 
 was rebuilt, the portions of the doors that we now see were 
 brought away from it and were let into the doors of the 
 church in which we now stand as the most fitting place 
 in which they could be preserved. 
 
 You can walk round presently, if you like, and see the site 
 upon which the celebrated rebuff took place, but you will 
 not find anything to remind you of the scene, as the present 
 Church of San Vittore was built in 1560, and, although very 
 gorgeous and splendid in its interior, it has retained no- 
 thing of the ancient edifice that once stood upon the 
 site. There is a beautiful chapel on the right (the sixth), 
 with fine black marble columns and tombs of the Arese 
 family, and there is a good screen of iron and bronze work ; 
 but that is all, and we have nothing left that will help us 
 to conjure up in our memory the scene that took place at 
 the doors. We can, however, picture the great bishop, 
 clad in his episcopal robes, wearing a rich cope and mitre, 
 standing before the church, and at the risk of his life re- 
 buking the Emperor, who, at the head of his stately retinue 
 and in all the pomp of his Imperial splendour, sought to 
 enter into the church. We can also picture the completing 
 scene of the drama, eight months afterwards, when the 
 Emperor, having done penance, was absolved at the same 
 doors, and in the garb of a penitent entered the church, 
 followed by his wondering court and people ; and can so 
 appreciate the power that was exercised by the courageous 
 bishop, M'ho dared rebuke the then ruler of the world, and 
 was respected by him for so unflinchingly doing his duty. 
 We have now, I think, given enough attention to that aspect 
 of Milanese history, and we must move on in our survey of 
 the life of the city.
 
 52 MILAN 
 
 C. THE SFORZA AND VISCONTI 
 
 INFLUENCE 
 
 The next place to which I am going to direct your atten- 
 tion has to do with the period to which I have already 
 referred, that of the independent rulers of the city in 
 Renaissance times. 
 
 The succession of these rulers we must make quite clear 
 in our minds, ere we start looking at any of the buildings 
 which Milan owes to their genius or encouragement, and 
 ere we consider the period of the greatest splendour of the 
 city. 
 
 First of all we have a great General, Pagano della Torre, 
 who in 1237 saved the inhabitants from extinction at the 
 hands of Frederick II., by rallying the army and defeating 
 a wing of the army of the Emperor, He was hailed as the 
 saviour of the city, and called by the citizens to the office 
 of "podesta," which he occupied until 1241. 
 
 In his hands the city first took the democratic line that 
 has from time to time distinguished it, by establishing a 
 property tax for its sustenance that should fall with equal 
 incidence upon all citizens, rich or poor ; and this very tax 
 was the ultimate cause of the downfall of the Torriani family, 
 as it brought about the enmity of the noble families, who 
 resented it as an attack upon their privileges. However, 
 from 1 24 1 till 1277, the Torriani provided the rulers of 
 Milan, first as " podestas" and then as " signori," and, besides 
 Pagano, three other members of the family held the supreme 
 power. Then came the turn of the Viscontis, as Otho 
 Visconti, Archbishop of Milan, the head of the family and 
 the bitter opponent of the Torriani, a very warlike prelate, 
 defeated the last Torriani ruler at the battle of Desio, became 
 lord of the city, and founded the great house that for several 
 generations ruled over the fortunes of Milan. From 1262 
 to 1447, with a very short interregnum of eight years, the 
 Visconti ruled, giving twelve lords to Milan. Then there was
 
 THE SFORZA AND VISCONTI INFLUENCE 53 
 
 the reaction and a republic was proclaimed, which only 
 lasted for three years ; and in 1450 we find another 
 family coming to the fore. Filippo Maria Visconti, who 
 reigned from 1412 to 1447 as sole Duke of Milan, was the 
 last male of the family, but his only child, Bianca, had 
 married Francesca Sforza, and he by right of conquest, 
 although claiming the throne also by right of heirship to 
 Filippo, became Duke of Milan in 1450. 
 
 From that time down to 1535 the Sforza family ruled 
 over Milan, but during that time, there were certain intervals 
 in which their power was from time to time interrupted. 
 From 1500 till 15 12, for example, the King of France was 
 supreme in the city, and again, after 151 5 up to 1522 ; but 
 excluding these intervals, the throne of the dukedom was 
 held by the Sforzas. The house ended with the death of 
 Francesco in 1535, and from that time down to 17 14 Milan 
 was a dependence of the Spanish crown. Into its later 
 history we have no cause to inquire. It will be seen, there- 
 fore, that between the year 1237 and the year 1535, we 
 have to do with a government that was in the hands of 
 three great Milanese families ; and the question now arises, 
 what have we to look at in Milan that concerns these three 
 families. 
 
 Of the Torriani, practically nothing, as the rulers of this 
 family were warriors rather than scholars, and the time had 
 not yet come when each succeeding ruler tried to exceed his 
 predecessor in building some great edifice or starting some 
 charitable or religious foundation. 
 
 Of the Visconti, there is very much, and notably the 
 **Duomo, to which we will now bend our steps. 
 
 Gian Galeazzo Visconti laid the foundation-stone of this 
 great edifice. In 1349, Giovanni had been the reigning 
 duke, and in that year he died, leaving the sovereignty to 
 his three nephews, Matteo, Galeazzo, and Barnabo. Matteo 
 was killed in 1355 by his brothers, who then divided the 
 Milanese territory between them, Barnabo reigning in 
 Milan and Galeazzo in Pavia. Galeazzo died in 1378,
 
 54 MILAN 
 
 leaving a son, Gian Galeazzo, who seized the person of his 
 uncle Barnabo, imprisoned him, and made himself the sole 
 lord of Milan, and obtained from the Emperor the title of 
 duke, which he was the first person in the history of the 
 city to assume. 
 
 This was the ruler who erected the present Duomo. 
 His father had been the wealthiest and most powerful 
 potentate within the boundaries of what we now term 
 Italy. He had been a great and far-seeing politician, and 
 had aimed at supreme authority. His daughter, Violante, 
 had been married to our own Duke of Clarence, and his 
 son, Gian, had married a daughter of the King of France. 
 Now, this son was upon the throne, and by the imprisonment 
 of his uncle and his subsequent death was master of the 
 entire district of Milan and in command of extensive means. 
 He resided at Pavia, which then boasted of a strongly 
 fortified castle having within it a commodious palace, and 
 from there he formulated his plans, which aimed at the 
 supreme power in Italy. His wealth enabled him to obtain 
 the aid of foreign mercenary troops, whom he paid well for 
 their services, and soon after he had succeeded to the throne 
 he set out to conquer the neighbouring states. Gradually, 
 the cities around fell into his grasp. He conquered Verona, 
 Ferrara, Mantua, and the country up to the very boundaries 
 of the great Republic of Venice, and he proposed to attack 
 Pisa, Perugia, and Florence, and would no doubt have 
 captured all of these had not his career been suddenly cut 
 short by death. 
 
 It is not so much, however, by his power in arms that 
 he will be remembered, as by his desire to beautify his 
 city and to found the grandest religious house that the 
 world had yet seen ; and when we enter the Duomo and 
 visit the Certosa of Pavia, which both owe their existence 
 to him, we shall understand how grand were his ideas, 
 and what a fine sense he had of dignity and beauty. 
 
 Very little of the Cathedral could its founder have seen, 
 as he only lived for fifteen years after he had started the 
 work ; but he endowed the building with the famous marble
 
 THE SFORZA AND VISCONTI INFLUENCE 55 
 
 quarries of La Gandoglia, and consequently there was no 
 reason for any delay in the progress of the work. Sufficient 
 of the building- was in existence in 1402 for his funeral 
 to take place within its walls, and there the body of 
 the founder lay for some forty years until it was trans- 
 ported to the more wonderful Certosa, which also owed 
 its existence to the same ruler. Succeeding Dukes of Milan 
 continued to labour in the Duomo, and enriched it with 
 many gifts, employing upon it the finest craftsmen that 
 could be obtained, and sparing no means to render it 
 beautiful. 
 
 Having now made this long digression, which was I 
 think needful, in order that you should fully understand 
 the position of these rulers of the city, let us take a look 
 at their creation — the Duomo. 
 
 I advise you to enter the church ere you give much 
 attention to the outside, and believe that you will be 
 at once struck by its great dignity. Personally I am of 
 opinion that it is the most impressive interior in Europe, 
 and probably Street does not overstate the case when he 
 calls it "the grandest interior in the whole world." The 
 enormous height of the roof accounts partly for the effect, 
 but the fact that the giant pillars rise right up to the 
 vaulting of the roof without any clerestory or triforium, 
 has more to do with the impression of grandeur that it 
 produces than the actual height of the building. All about 
 its size you can read in the other guide-books, but it is not 
 my place to give you such figures ; and in one other respect 
 you will find my pages deficient, as I cannot tell you what 
 is to be seen on the roof of the Cathedral, as I have never 
 been on to it ! Every other guide-book tells you that 
 you 7nus^ go on to the roof, and that there only you will 
 gain an idea as to the beauty of the building. I do not. 
 I believe that the view on a fine day from the roof is very 
 fine, but if you want views do not use my guide, and stay 
 in Switzerland, where you can see plenty. An extensive 
 view is, no doubt, a fine thing, but it is not educational,
 
 56 MILAN 
 
 nor has it to do with the history that 1 have to try to 
 tell to you. If you go to the top, you will see a forest 
 of statues carved in white marble, and affixed to every 
 possible position upon which they can stand, every statue 
 finished with a wonderful accuracy and detail, quite out 
 of place in a figure that is to be seen from a great dis- 
 tance, and yet interesting as it reveals to the spectator the 
 desire on the part of the craftsman to do his very best 
 in his work, and not to scamp any portion of it even 
 although the statues were to be placed at such a height. 
 You will also see some wonderful tracery in marble, the 
 work of Amici of Cremona, which is of the utmost fineness 
 and perfection, and as I have just said you will see the 
 view if you are able to stand upright, after your long climb, 
 and at that dizzy height, and (f the day happens to be a 
 fine and clear one. I am not going, however, to recom- 
 mend you to make the ascent, but I tell you what you 
 will see from the summit, if you feel disposed to take the 
 trouble to climb up the long winding stairs. For my part, 
 reasons of health forbid my going with you, and even 
 if they did not, I do not consider the result at all com- 
 mensurate with the exertion required to climb the steep 
 and winding dark stairs. 
 
 We will therefore come back again into the interior of 
 the church, and walk right round it. 
 
 Start from the W. end on the R., and after passing the 
 granite sarcophagus of Archbishop Aribert, who died in 
 1045, notice the fine tomb in red Verona marble of Otho 
 Visconti, whom I have just mentioned as defeating the 
 Torriani at Desio, and starting the rule of his family which 
 was to last for so long a period. 
 
 This tomb was, of course, erected long before the present 
 Cathedral, and stood in the earlier building that occupied 
 the same site ; but a curious fact about it is, that within it 
 is buried another member of the same family, Archbishop 
 Giovanni Visconti, who died fifty-nine years afterwards, 
 and who also was not only the spiritual but also the tem- 
 poral sovereign of the city, Archbishop Otho left all his
 
 THE SFORZA AND VISCONTI INFLUENCE $7 
 
 possessions to the Knights of St. John, and they employed 
 a sculptor, Ricci, to erect this monument ; but why the same 
 tomb served for the other Archbishop I cannot tell you, 
 only that as the tomb was not completed till a long time 
 after the death of Otho, it may have only just been ready 
 when Giovanni died, and so have been convenient for his 
 burial also. A little farther on, the tomb erected by Pope 
 Paul IV. to his two brothers is worth attention, as it is a 
 fine piece of bronze work by Leone Leoni, a noted worker 
 in metal ; and then at the entrance to the choir aisle or 
 ambulatory you will see the grand tomb erected in 1538 
 to the memory of Carricciolo, a Governor of the city during 
 the time of the Spanish rule. It is of late work and 
 consequently grandiose in style, but being made of black 
 marble it is singularly impressive in effect, and deserves 
 attention as a fine example in which the sculptor has used 
 his material well, and produced a really great monument 
 by the skilful use of his marble, rather than by any ex- 
 cellence of workmanship or design. You will find that 
 the aisle continues all around the choir of the church, 
 forming an ambulatory, and giving greater dignity to the 
 altar, which stands out clear of the rest of the build- 
 ing ; and a little beyond the black marble tomb you 
 will perceive, let into the wall, a very early monument, 
 bearing the sacred monogram and the A and i2 of the 
 Greek alphabet, which is said to have an antiquity that 
 takes it back into the ninth century, and which was evi- 
 dently considered of sufficient sanctity to be mentioned 
 in the papers as to the building of this Cathedral, and 
 to have so important a position given to it as it now 
 occupies. 
 
 You need not study the reliefs of the history of the 
 Virgin which adorn the walls of this ambulatory, as they 
 are not of striking importance, but continue your walk 
 until you come to the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, and 
 then give some attention to the great bronze ^Candelabrum 
 which stands in front of the altar upon the floor of the 
 church, and which cannot fail to attract your notice. It
 
 58 MILAN 
 
 was presented to the Cathedral in 1562 by a member of 
 the Trivulzi family, about whom I shall have something 
 to say in the next church that we visit ; but, in my 
 opinion, it was made some fifty years before that date. 
 It is of great height, and remarkably suitable for the 
 position that it has occupied for three hundred and fifty 
 years, and as all the detail is cleverly worked out and 
 admirably wrought, it is worth your attention. Notice the 
 four dragons at the feet with their tails turned over upon 
 themselves, and then look into the representation of hell 
 and purgatory which are above them, and which are full 
 of quaint humour and curious design. Higher up above 
 your head are yet grander representations of the Adoration 
 of the Magi, but in all of it, although the detail is so 
 elaborate, the idea of decoration is never overlooked, and 
 the whole huge stand is a complete piece of thoughtful 
 design, in which the less important details are never 
 allowed to intrude. 
 
 Close by this bronze candelabrum are two lovely * windows 
 which for colour are unequalled in the building, and are in 
 fact almost the only ones which I can recommend you to 
 look at or to admire. 
 
 Right down at the bottom of the aisle you will see eight 
 curious figures of saints, and a relief of the Virgin and 
 Child which were originally in the old Cathedral, and which 
 go back nearly as far as the time of St. Ambrose. They 
 also are mentioned as amongst the sacred things that were 
 to be carefully guarded during the erection of this Cathedral, 
 and to be replaced in important positions in the new building, 
 as they were originally in what is termed in contemporary 
 documents as the "Great new Basilica of Blessed Ambrose." 
 One trace of Roman domination we shall find ere we finish 
 our perambulation of the aisle, as the font which stands 
 under a temple by Pellegrini is a porphyry bath of the 
 period of Theodoric the Goth, and is said to have been 
 brought from Rome to Ravenna, and then, when the Duomo 
 was opened, given by the ruler of that far-distant city as a 
 gift to the new Cathedral.
 
 THE SFORZA AND VISCONTI INFLUENCE 59 
 
 That * porphyry hath is probably the oldest thing in this 
 Cathedral, and is perhaps even earlier than the fourth century. 
 
 Having now completed the round of the church, walk up 
 the centre to the choir, trying to realise as you go the vast 
 height of the building and the ingenious way in which, as I 
 have before stated, that height is apparently increased by 
 carrying the pillars right up to the vaulted roof Notice the 
 enormous girth of the columns, especially that of the four 
 that support the cupola, and then notice that upon two of 
 these largest pillars are grand bronze pulpits resting upon 
 huge figures of the Evangelists (represented by their 
 symbols) and the Doctors of the Church, who bend forward 
 in order to adequately support the structure upon them. 
 The idea of great weight is admirably conveyed in these 
 figures. You can almost feel the strain upon the shoulders, 
 as St. Gregory, for example, bends under the burden of the 
 pulpit, and the artists who designed these two pulpits, 
 knowing how heavy they would be, have with great 
 wisdom conveyed the fact to you, in the very pose of the 
 supporting figures, instead of ignoring it, and setting the 
 figures upright, as men of lesser knowledge would have 
 done. 
 
 The pulpits were suggested by the saint, San Carlo 
 Borromeo, who ruled over the diocese in the sixteenth 
 century, and were commenced in his time but were finished 
 by his nephew. Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, who desired to 
 complete them as a memorial to his saintly relative. They 
 are the work of Andrea Pellizone, and are covered with 
 reliefs, which are, however, almost out of sight owing to 
 the darkness of the building and the great height that is 
 above the spectator. If you go down into the crypt under 
 the high altar you will find the shrine of the saint to 
 whom I have just referred, and within it is his body dressed 
 in his pontifical robes, which are of great magnificence. 
 The shrine was the gift of Philip IV. of Spain during the 
 time when the Spaniards held dominion over Milan, and is 
 ■ a very rich piece of silver-work. All around the chapel are 
 tablets of silver representing scenes from the life of the
 
 6o MILAN 
 
 saint, and the value of the vestments with their jewels and 
 of all the profusion of silver and gold in the shrine is 
 enormous, but the light is so poor that very little can be 
 seen, and unless you happen to be in Milan in Novem- 
 ber during the octave of the commemoration of the saint 
 when the entire chapel is lit up, I can hardly recommend 
 you to pay the extra fee of five lire that is demanded in 
 order to see the contents of this very gorgeous little 
 shrine. 
 
 You must, however, ere you leave go into the Sacristy, 
 as there are some fine things preserved in it that you 
 should see. 
 
 There is a quite lovely ivory cup which was used at the 
 coronation of the Emperor Otho II. in 978 ; there are two 
 interesting ivory panels carved with scenes from the history 
 of Our Lord, which belong to the Byzantine period of 
 Roman art, and have curious Greek inscriptions upon them ; 
 there is a very lovely * Pax with exquisite figures upon it, 
 worked by the celebrated Milanese artist, Caradosso ; and. 
 there is an eighth-century enamelled cover for the book of 
 the Gospels which came to the Cathedral in 1018, and which 
 to students of such work is of the greatest importance. 
 There are many other silver and gold objects, notably some 
 huge statues in silver belonging to the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, to which, on account of their size and value, the 
 sacristan attaches immense importance ; but I have named 
 the very important things and the others you can look at if 
 you like. 
 
 I do not expect that, unless you are a student of litur- 
 giology or a member of the Catholic Church, jou will be 
 greatly interested in noticing the divergences that exist 
 between the services in this Cathedral and those in other 
 churches in Italy, but it is well for me to mention that in 
 Milan there are certain important differences in the ritual of 
 the Mass that do not exist elsewhere, and that what is 
 termed the Ambrosian rite is used in this city and practi- 
 cally is found in use nowhere else in the world. It is an
 
 THE SFORZA AND VISCONTI INFLUENCE 6i 
 
 earlier, simpler, sterner rite that is in use in other places, 
 and its use is specially permitted on account of the attach- 
 ment of the Milanese people to what is to them a national 
 Liturgy. In doctrine or in dogma there is not the slightest 
 divergence between the Milanese and any other Catholic 
 all the world over, but in ritual there are differences. 
 The Ambrosian Liturgy is said to have been compiled by 
 St. Barnabas, who, according to tradition, preached in Milan, 
 and very special importance is given in it to the feast of 
 that apostle. It has several Eastern attributes, and belongs 
 to what ecclesiologists call the liturgical school of Ephesus. 
 One of its chief characteristics is the insertion of an extra 
 reading of Scripture in addition to the Gospel and Epistle, 
 which is called the Prophetia, and is taken from the Old 
 Testament. There is also a curious proclamation of silence 
 made by the deacon before the Epistle, a lay offering of the 
 oblations, some unusual Litanies, an addition to the prayer 
 of Consecration, which closely resembles one in the Greek 
 rite, many extra ceremonies on Palm Sunday and at Easter, 
 which also are to be found in the Greek Liturgy, and an 
 entire change in the names and numbering of the Sundays 
 after Pentecost in the Kalendar. The music is sterner and 
 more monotonous than is usual in Catholic churches, and no 
 instrument is ev^er permitted save the organ, while there 
 are little divergences in the way in which the book of 
 the Gospels is held, and in the shape and use of the cen- 
 sers, and in the manner in which the altar and clergy are 
 censed. 
 
 All these points do not concern the faith of the people, 
 which is exactly the same as in all other Catholic countries, 
 but they are of interest in being survivals of a very early 
 Christianity, which have been allowed to remain in deference 
 to the desire of the people, and because they do not affect 
 any doctrine, but only practice, which is always allowed 
 in the Church to have its own national characteristic if 
 the people so desire. 
 
 We have now finished our examination of the Duomo
 
 62 MILAN 
 
 inside, and it will be well if we regard the building from 
 its exterior. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that in this building we have 
 not the result of one uniform style, but the conjunction of 
 several, and the work of many generations. All the great 
 Lombards had their work in connection with it, giving help 
 in the way of design or suggestion, and the work, which 
 was often stopped and interrupted, was continued on from 
 1387 even down to 1890. 
 
 Pellegrini was to have built the west front in 1560, but 
 instead he went to Spain to work at the Escurial, and his 
 design was very much altered by those who followed him. 
 Napoleon is responsible for the completion of the present 
 front, as he pressed on the work and ordered the sale of 
 some extensive property that had belonged to the Duomo in 
 order to defray part of the cost. Suppressed monastic 
 institutions provided a further considerable sum, and the 
 balance was found by the French Government of the time. ■ 
 The Romanesque windows and portals destroy the purity 
 of the Gothic style of the church and spoil the front, but 
 still it is a very beautiful building, and an example of 
 the richest possible and most florid style of Gothic archi- 
 tecture that can be imagined — a very garden of pinnacles, 
 turrets, and statues. 
 
 We shall have more to say as to the family of its founder 
 when we go to the Certosa of Pavia ; but I want now, 
 ere we visit the Castello, and consider the work of the 
 Sforza family, to take you to another church and show you 
 the tombs of a great family who occupy an intermediate 
 position in the history of Milan between the Viscontis and 
 the Sforzas. 
 
 We will take a Porta Romana tram and ask the conductor 
 to set us down at the Church of San Nazaro, which stands 
 close to the street, and we enter at once the vestibule of 
 the church, and rest for a while, finding more to see there 
 than in the church itself. 
 
 We have in this plain simple building the **burial-place
 
 THE SPORZA AND VISCONTI INFLUENCE 63 
 
 of the Trivulzi family, and I want you to appreciate the 
 solemn and impressive dignity of the place. High up on 
 the walls, right away out of reach of danger or of injury, 
 and well removed from the people who enter the church, 
 each in its own niche, are the great plain tombs of this 
 family, who in the fifteenth century took so important a 
 part in the warfare of the city. The founder of the chapel 
 was Gian ,Giacomo, Marquis of Vigevano, who was con- 
 cerned in the change of dynasty after the death of Sforza 
 when for a time France had the supreme command in 
 Milan, ruling from 15 15 to 1522, as I have already said. 
 For a time it seemed as though by his help the Viscontis 
 were coming in again, but the struggle ended in France 
 gaining the upper hand for a time ; and then later on 
 the Sforza family again gained the throne. This great 
 warrior built this chapel and placed in it the tomb of 
 his father, Antonio, who died in 1453, was buried in it 
 himself, also his two wives, his son Niccolo, with his wife 
 and his three children, and his other son Francesco — 
 eight great tombs in all, as the three children occupy 
 one tomb together. You will gain a good idea of the 
 pride of these great families, as well as of their splendid 
 ideas of what was sumptuous and stately, by looking at 
 this chapel with its array of sarcophagi, each with its 
 life-sized figure clad in the costume or armour of the 
 period, solemnly resting high up above your heads, and 
 I know of no assemblage of tombs in Italy, save that 
 at Verona of the Scaligeri, that produces so fine an effect 
 of solemn grandeur as does this assemblage of Trivulzi 
 tombs. 
 
 The church itself, which as you are at its doors you may 
 as well enter, does not possess any very special attractions, 
 save that it has two quite fine Flemish windows, which 
 were probably a gift to the church from some pious bene- 
 factor from that country, and seem curiously out of place 
 in an Italian church ; a very large dull-coloured powerful 
 fresco by Lanini, executed in 1546, and representing the life 
 of St. Catherine, which covers nearly the whole of a wall
 
 64 MILAN 
 
 in a chapel ; and a curious carved reredos in wood, which 
 is gilt, and which represents the Adoration of the Magi. 
 
 Now we come to the work of the Sforza family, and 
 must make our way to their home and fortress, the 
 Castello. 
 
 Back we go to the Duomo and take a Sempione tram, 
 and get out at the newly restored Castello. We shall walk 
 across the open ground in front of it, enter the fortress 
 gate, pass by the porter without entering into the National 
 Museum, for which he offers us tickets, and which, having 
 to do only with the recent life of Italy as a nation and 
 with Garibaldi and Victor Emanuel, has no interest for 
 us, and continue on under another gateway, and then at 
 the right pay our admission fee and enter the Castello. 
 
 The original building on this site, of which some small 
 portions yet remain, was erected by Filippo Visconti, but. 
 was destroyed by the blind fury of the people during 
 the brief republic of which I have spoken, and which lasted 
 from 1447 to 1450. 
 
 In 1452 Francesco Sforza, fourth Duke of Milan, com- 
 menced to rebuild it in order, as he stated, to ornament 
 the city, but really to overawe its people and provide a 
 place of security for himself and his treasure, and the 
 work was continued by his successors in the dukedom 
 right away down to 1536. Each ruler in succession re- 
 sided here, and each made alteration and additions to 
 the buildings, besides calling in the aid of the artists of 
 the time to decorate its walls and to prepare paintings, 
 hangings, and furniture, with which to beautify its rooms. 
 During the times of the Spanish and French dominion, the 
 Castello was treated simply as a fortress, and its residential 
 character was lost ; and then after the time of Napoleon it was 
 converted into barracks, and was so used down to 1893. From 
 that year commenced the new history of the building. It 
 passed into the hands of the Municipality of Milan, and a 
 scheme of careful restoration was at once set on foot. The
 
 THE SFORZA AND VISCONTI INFLUENCE 65 
 
 most learned architects and antiquaries of the time were 
 called in to examine the building, and to decide whether 
 or not its original character could be restored. For many 
 years the process has been going on, and the result is that now, 
 thanks to the extreme care taken in the work, very much 
 of the original building is to be seen, and we can realise 
 what sort of a palace it was in the time when, in the days 
 of Milan's greatest glory, it was the residence of Duke 
 Ludovico il Moro and the place where he received Leonardo 
 da Vinci and held his brilliant court. 
 
 Very much damage had been done to the Castello during 
 the time in which it was occupied as a barracks, and white- 
 wash had covered over all the decoration of its walls. All 
 the useless fortifications have now been removed, the old 
 walls have been made up, the whitewash has been re- 
 moved, walls have been cleaned, staircases and doors long 
 ago forgotten and covered up have been revealed ; the 
 original plan of some of the rooms, altered by successive 
 military occupants has been restored, and every possible 
 care has been taken in the work, in order that as complete 
 a view may be presented to the spectator of the arrangement 
 of the original palace, and of the appearance of the rooms 
 when occupied by the Sforzas. 
 
 The building has now been fitted up as a Museum, and 
 the contents of the old Museo Civico have been brought 
 into its rooms, and arranged in its long galleries, making 
 it one of the most attractive places in the city. The con- 
 tents also of the Museo Archasologico in the Brera will 
 be found here. 
 
 I am not proposing to take you all round this Museum, 
 as to do so would need a great deal more space than I have 
 at my command, but there are certain things connected 
 with the history of the city that I want you specially to 
 notice, and so these I will mention as we walk together 
 through its rooms. The first contains in its two compart- 
 ments objects that relate to the pre-Roman and to the 
 Roman, Greek, and Etruscan periods. They refer to the 
 
 whole of the Northern part of Italy and not exclusively 
 
 E
 
 66 MILAN 
 
 to Milan, and, interesting as they may be to one who is 
 making a special study of that period of history, I reconi 
 mend you to give to the contents of the glass cases only a 
 passing attention, and to devote the short time you have 
 to objects of greater general interest. 
 
 In the second room is placed mediaeval sculpture of 
 a period earlier than the fourteenth century, and you will find 
 many fragments of carved stone-work and of mosaic that 
 have belonged to ancient churches in Milan now either 
 altered or destroyed. On the ceiling of the third room, 
 you will find the first piece of interesting fresco decoration. 
 It represents the Resurrection of Christ, and is a Milanese 
 fresco, belonging to the later half of the fifteenth century, 
 and in the lunette are to be seen the Sforza arms. This 
 room was a chapel, but is now called the room of Balduccio 
 da Pisa, on account of the fragments of his work which it 
 contains. There is in it a part of the faqade of the Church 
 of Sta. Maria in Brera, which he carved in 1347, including 
 statues, bassi relievi, and capitals. 
 
 The fourth room is an open portico, under which stands 
 the *tomb of Barnabo Visconti, who was dethroned, im- 
 prisoned, and, it is believed, afterwards killed by his nephew, 
 Gian Galeazzo, as I have already related to you. This fine 
 tomb used to stand in the Church of San Giovanni in Conca, 
 which has now been destroyed, and was brought from the 
 church to the Museo Archaeologico, and thence has been 
 removed to its present position. ^It is a fine equestrian 
 statue, the work of Bonino da C^n^ione, and was made foi- 
 the duke, during his lifetime. He is represented as in 
 full armour, and below the figure are reliefs of the Cruci- 
 fixion, the Coronation of the Virgin, and a Pieta together 
 with figures of the Doctors of the Church. Barnabo was 
 a terrible tyrant, and his subjects hailed their deliverance 
 from his cruelty, when Gian Galeazzo attacked and im- 
 prisoned him, and the sculptor has ably presented the 
 appearance of a man who was merciless and despotic. All 
 the remaining sculpture in this portico is of the same 
 period as this fine monument, and the work of the school
 
 THE SFORZA AND VISCONTI INFLUENCE 67 
 
 of Campione. The tomb of Regina della Scala, of the 
 celebrated Verona family, the wife of Barnabo, was probably 
 by Campione himself, but the remaining tombs and statues 
 are the work of pupils. 
 
 Room five is entered from this portico, and this apartment 
 was the Ducal Private Chapel, and has an elaborate fresco 
 upon its ceiling. The representation is of the Resurrection 
 of Christ, as in the other chapel, and with it the Eternal 
 Father in glory, surrounded with angels. The arms of 
 the Sforzas also appear within garlands, and the initials 
 of Galeazzo Maria Sforza. The work is attributed to Stefano 
 de Fidelis, Giovanni Montorfano, and others, who were 
 working at that time in the palace. The entrance doorway 
 of the Bentivoglio Palace, which stood close to the de- 
 molished church of San Giovanni in Conca, should be 
 noticed as when, a little later, we come to look at the Church 
 of San Maurizio, we shall consider the history of the 
 Bentivoglio, who, when exiled from Bologna, came to 
 reside in Milan, and employed Luini to decorate the church 
 dedicated to St. Maurice. 
 
 The seventh room has a splendid blue ceiling, bearing 
 upon it the ducal arms and the initials of the Duke 
 Galeazzo Maria, GZ.MA.DX. MLI. QVINTVS. 
 
 The contents of this room belong to the second half 
 of the fifteenth century, and the chief piece of interest is 
 the large alto-relievo, which is supposed to represent the 
 Sibyl Tiburtina announcing to Augustus the birth of Christ. 
 It is an original work of Agostino di Duccio, whose best 
 work is to be found at Perugia, upon the faqade of the 
 Church of San Francesco. The relievo was brought from 
 near Rimini, from a place called Covignano, and although 
 it is neither Lombard nor relates to Milan, yet I must 
 ask you to look at it, as it is a very fine piece of work by a 
 rare artist. A medallion will be found in the same room re- 
 presenting the profile of Bianca Maria Visconti, and another 
 oval medallion is attributed to the celebrated Donatello. 
 
 Room number eight was probably decorated specially 
 for Bona di Savoia, the wife of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, as
 
 68 MILAN 
 
 it bears her special emblem repeated all over its walls. 
 The room is decorated in a deep-red colour, with a diaper 
 pattern all over it of a white dove with radiating flames, 
 and the motto "A bon droit." It contains many fine pieces 
 of sculpture, both in marble, stone, and wood, of the work 
 of Giovan Antonio Amadeo, who worked in 1482, and of 
 Christofero Solari, whose work was a little later in date, say 
 from 1490 to 1522, and of their pupils. Of Amadeo's work, 
 there is a fine circular alto-relievo representing the Nativity, 
 originally the tomb of Santi Mario, Marta, at Cremona ; and 
 of Solari's work, there is a figure of the Flagellation, which 
 is worthy of notice. 
 
 The ninth room contains one of the great treasures of 
 
 the collection, the main portion of the *tomb of Gaston de 
 
 Foix, Governor of Milan, who was killed at the battle of 
 
 Ravenna in 15 12. This monument was the finest work of 
 
 the great sculptor, Agostino Busti, called il Bambaja, who 
 
 "^ flourished between 1480 and 1548. The monument was 
 
 commissioned by Louis XII. of France when he was in 
 
 possession of Milan, and was to have been placed in the 
 
 Church of Sta. Marta attached to an Augustinian monastery, 
 
 where actually part of it was erected. In 1522, the temporary 
 
 dominion of the French came to an end, and Francesco 
 
 Sforza regained his throne. The work of erecting the 
 
 monument was then stopped, and it was never really 
 
 '* completed, as the church was soon after this pulled down, 
 
 4^-- its frescoes removed to the Brera, where they may now 
 
 s^ be seen, and the fine tomb broken and dispersed in various 
 
 directions. The main part, this exquisite sleeping figure 
 
 , -I of a brave knight, was removed to the Museum in the 
 
 ^ Brera, whence it has been brought into its present position 
 
 ^ here ; smaller portions have been secured from other collec- 
 
 fI\tions, and placed near to it, while yet other portions still 
 
 remain in certain private collections. It is interesting to 
 
 think that two of the very finest recumbent statues in 
 
 the world are connected with Ravenna— this one of the 
 
 j warrior who perished near to the city, and the one, even 
 
 U. finer still, of Guidorello Guidorelli, which is still in the
 
 THE SFORZA AND VISCONTI INFLUENCE 69 
 
 Museum at Ravenna. This latter is one of the very finest 
 works that it is possible to conceive, albeit the production 
 of an unknown sculptor, or if belonging to the person to 
 whom it is attributed, then the work of a man who only 
 produced one great work and is only known by that. The 
 statue of Gaston di Foix, is worth most careful examination, 
 and also the ornaments, statuettes, and portions of friezes 
 by the same sculptor that are near it, arranged in the posi- 
 tion they once occupied. 
 
 A youthful work of the same sculptor is to be found near 
 by, in the tomb of the poet Lancino Curzio, and in the 
 centre of the room are yet other works by Bambaja, includ- 
 ing an exceedingly fine Flagellation of Christ and some 
 splendid pilasters. In the same room is the tomb of Bishop 
 Bagaroto, the work of Andrea Fusina, 15 19, from another 
 suppressed church, that of Sta. Maria della Pace, whilst in 
 the second half of the room are some later works, belonging 
 to the second half of the sixteenth century and the period 
 of Sansovino and Michel Angelo. One medallion in that 
 part of the room must not be overlooked, that of the 
 Madonna and Child, the work of Pierino da Vinci, of about 
 1550, a work of surprising merit and beauty. 
 
 Lombard terra-cotta work fills the tenth room, and the 
 use made of this material in architecture is well exemplified 
 in the collection of fragments that can be seen and studied 
 in the room. 
 
 We now go outside and up a staircase, and enter the long 
 galleries that occupy the upper floor. 
 
 There is not very much that need occupy your atten- 
 tion in these galleries unless you have plenty of time to 
 spare, and care to linger in front of the cases. I do 
 not mean that they are not interesting, but the contents 
 do not relate to the purpose of this book. You will 
 find a good collection of pottery, much of which is local, 
 and some very fine pieces of the lustred majolica ware of 
 Gubbio Deruta and Casteldurante. You will see some fine 
 enamels, Venetian glass, carvings in wood, some important
 
 70 MILAN 
 
 furniture, bronzes, hangings, and tapestry, all of which will 
 enable you to form an idea as to the appearance of the 
 houses of the Italian noblemen in the times of the Renais- 
 sance, but to describe all these things would be beyond my 
 purpose, and I shall leave you to look at the cases by your- 
 self and learn all you can from the labels attached to each 
 article. 
 
 In some ways the most important room, except the picture 
 gallery, is the one lettered G, in which is arranged a collec- 
 tion of drawings, paintings, maps, and printed papers re- 
 lating to the past history of the town, and in this room you 
 can spend some useful time. Omit altogether the room 
 lettered F, as the modern paintings that it contains are not 
 worth your consideration, and you will only waste time 
 looking at the enormities that the present Italian painter is 
 able to produce. 
 
 Finally, we come to the last room, the Picture Gallery, but 
 befoi'e you enter it, as you have not yet seen any pictures in 
 Milan, I am going to ask you to sit down on one of the seats 
 in an adjacent room, or just inside the picture gallery, and 
 read the few remarks that I want to make about the Lom- 
 bard school of paintings. Bear in mind, please, that it is 
 only by reason of the exigencies of circumstances that you 
 begin your study of Lombard art in this room. It is not 
 at all a good place in which to begin, and if you take my 
 advice you will not do so, but will retrace your steps down 
 the gallery without entering the room at all, and begin your 
 study with me in the Poldi-Pezzoli gallery or in the Brera, 
 but if you are really pressed for time and feel that you 
 cannot afford the time to return to this gallery again, or do 
 not want to spend another lira now that you are in the 
 gallery, then you must enter the room, but do, please, pay 
 me the compliment of first reading what I have to say as to 
 the art of Milan and of the district around the city.
 
 MILANESE ART 7I 
 
 , n. MILANESE ART 
 
 - 7^-' 
 The Lombard school of art really begins with Vincenzo 
 
 Foppa, although it is possible that he had studied at Padua 
 
 under Squarcione. When we come to Padua, we shall see 
 
 one of the only two pictures which it is absolutely certain 
 
 Squarcione painted, and which marks the commencement 
 
 of an era. 
 
 We need not go any further back than Squarcione, who 
 was born in 1394, and whence he obtained his inspiration 
 we cannot tell. He stands out as one of those founders of 
 a school, one of those great leaders, who were an originat- 
 ing force, a living inspiration, and from his influence came 
 not only the school of Padua, but also indirectly that of 
 Milan. 
 
 Squarcione appears to have been a traveller, and to have 
 journeyed through Italy and Greece, studying the methods 
 and works of the ancient masters, and accumulating a large 
 collection, not only of drawings and studies from the antique, 
 but also of casts and of original works. He appears to have 
 thoroughly embued himself with a love of the antique, a 
 passion for Greek and Roman sculpture, and to have had a 
 strong opinion that the only right foundation for the study 
 of art was to base it upon a knowledge of ancient sculpture. 
 
 Returning to his home in Padua after his wanderings, and 
 believing that even if he could not himself paint as he 
 desired, he could teach others who were more gifted than he 
 was, to do so, he opened a school, and is said to have quickly 
 gathered around him over one hundred pupils. 
 
 From the very first the influence was that of antique 
 sculpture, and hence the hardness of outline, the sternness 
 of treatment, the classic beauty, the love of detail, and the 
 straining after a fuller knowledge of the art of perspective 
 that characterised the early work of the school. Greek 
 beauty was the ideal, and a true representation of the human 
 form was what was aimed at. From this school, whose 
 special features we shall have to more carefully consider
 
 72 MILAN 
 
 when we come to Padua, arose those important artists, 
 Mantegna and the BelHni, great creative minds whose works 
 take the highest rank. 
 
 From it also arose the Milanese school, but in this case 
 there was another influence that has to be considered, that 
 of Pisanello. From him comes the quality that belongs to 
 the illuminator, to one accustomed to the fine minute work 
 of the artist who painted miniatures upon vellum, and was 
 employed to decorate the books of devotion for the religious 
 houses, and from him also comes the broader treatment of 
 detail that belongs to the medallist, as it was in that branch 
 of art that Pisanello was most celebrated. From these 
 diverse influences, therefore, sprang the Milanese school. 
 It seems likely that Foppawas an actual pupil of Squarcione, 
 but he resided in the district of Brescia, which was full of the 
 influence of Pisanello ; and as his work has some affinity with 
 that of Bono, who certainly worked with the other pupils of 
 Squarcione in the Eremitani chapels in Padua, and who yet 
 signed himself as a pupil of Pisanello, we take it that these 
 two men, Foppa and Bono, worked together for a time. 
 Foppa's work is clear, well defined, and full of sharp detail. 
 His figures are somewhat crowded, but on the whole well 
 arranged ; his love of detail, jewellery, and fine clothing is 
 very evident ; and his colouring, although somewhat pallid, is 
 rich and subdued. Side by side with Foppa at the head of 
 the Milanese school comes another man — Zenale, who does 
 not appear to have been a pupil of Foppa's as was at one 
 time supposed, but an independent worker, who derived more 
 from the teaching of Pisanello than did Foppa, and who ob- 
 tained practically nothing from Squarcione and the Paduans. 
 Buttinone was an artist who worked with Zenale and 
 many of the works attributed to the former master are the 
 joint production of these two friends, Buttinone's work 
 being marked, as has been well said, " by an austerity and 
 dryness from which the suaver Zenale is free." Following 
 Foppa came a number of other artists who belong to his 
 school and derived their art more or less from him. Foppa's 
 own work we shall see in the Brera, Zenale's in a chapel in 
 
 )
 
 MILANESE ART 73 
 
 Sta. Maria della Grazie, Buttinone's in the Brera. Montor- 
 fano, Bevilacqua, and Civerchio are followers of the same 
 school, and all of them can be studied in Milan. Montorfano 
 was the painter of the vast Crucifixion that we shall see in 
 Sta. Maria della Grazie opposite to the Cenacolo of Leonardo. 
 Bevilacqua. will be found in the Brera, where a Madonna 
 and Saints, dated 1 502, is to be seen, and this same gallery 
 contains the work of Civerchio. A far greater man, how- 
 ever, than either of these was Ambrogio da Fossano, called 
 * * Borgognone, who is perhaps the most typical of all the 
 Milanese school, and whose influence is marked upon all 
 who succeeded him. His aim was a very high one and his 
 singleness of purpose very striking. Never on any occasion 
 did he paint a secular subject, always confining his eneigies 
 to sacred story. He painted more than thirty Madonna 
 pictures and the Coronation of the Virgin four times. St. 
 Ambrose, the Bishop and Patron of Milan, is to be constantly 
 found in his pictures, and the whole character and aspect of 
 his work is one of profound devotion. The abnormal pallor 
 of the faces is a distinctive mark of his work, especially at 
 the beginning of his career, but in contrast to this is to be 
 noticed the extreme brilliancy of the carpels and draperies 
 that he uses to foil the greyness of the faces. He was a 
 prolific worker, and his pictures will be found to constitute 
 one of the features of the Milanese galleries, and can be 
 readily distinguished as his work is so very different from 
 that of any other of his contemporaries. He was not only 
 a painter but an architect, and his work is to be found 
 in designs for glass windows, intarsia work in choir stalls, 
 and in many of the architectural features of the Certosa 
 of Pavia, which is a perfect museum of his work. Bramantino 
 was another pupil of Foppa's, but derived more important 
 instruction from Bramanle, the architect, from whom also he 
 took his sobriquet. He is better known in Milan by his 
 work in fresco than by his paintings, and when we come to 
 examine the early fresco-work in the Brera we shall dis- 
 tinguish much that is the work of his brush. He was also 
 a portrait-painter and in that capacity is known in England
 
 74 MILAN 
 
 by reason of a fine series of heads belonging to Mr. Willett, 
 which originally formed part of a frieze, and which are set in 
 a characteristic architectural background. 
 
 ** Leonardo da Vinci must, of course, be mentioned in 
 any review of the work of the Milanese school, although he 
 was a Florentine and his art belongs to that school. It was 
 only by an accident, so to speak, that he passed twenty-five 
 years of his life in Milan and influenced so profoundly the 
 local school and modified its development ; but inasmuch as 
 his name is so associated with the history of the city and 
 his greatest work, or what remains of it, is in Milan, he must 
 not be overlooked in this summary'. The influence of 
 Leonardo is the crucial point in the study of Milanese art. 
 Certain of the Milanese school fell entirely under his influ- 
 ence, accepted him as their teacher, and merged their own 
 identity in his, taking their place simply as his pupils and 
 followers, and so fully adopting his methods and ideas as to 
 become Vincians rather than Milanese. Of this group we 
 may mention Boltraffi.0, Cesare da Sesto, Marco d'Oggiono, 
 and Gianpetrino. All these men were such close students 
 of Leonardo as to absorb his style and to make use of his 
 little devices in such a manner that their work is being con- 
 stantly confused with his, and also the productions of each 
 man with those of his companions. 
 
 As a contrast to this group there is another one which con- 
 tains the names of artists who, at one period of their work, 
 fell under the Leonardo influence, and who for a time adopted 
 his teaching and used his characteristic features and methods, 
 but who possessed such strong personal character that they 
 were able to pass out from the Vincian influence, reassert 
 their own positions, and take the place in art for which their 
 own qualifications had fitted them. In this group we may 
 place not only those already named, as Zenale, Borgognone, 
 and Bramantino, but the greater individualists of the school, 
 Luini, Sodoma, Solario, and Gaudenzio Ferrari. Foppa 
 alone stands quite outside the Leonardo influence as it 
 appears to have flowed all around him without touching 
 him in the very least.
 
 MILANESE ART 75 
 
 The gigantic power of Leonardo, his restless activity, his 
 tremendous and most varied genius, and the support that he 
 received in the highest quarters, could not fail to have an 
 influence upon Milan and its art. We do not learn, how- 
 ever, that Leonardo ever had a studio or bottega in the 
 ordinary sense of the word, nor is it very likely that he would 
 have gi\'en to such training the needful time or patience, but 
 his works influenced everybody. They became the rage 
 and the fashion, and to be Leonardesque was to be popular 
 in those days. This is not the place into which to enter 
 upon an account of the master or his works ; all that can 
 be found in other books. But we shall be interested as 
 we wander through the galleries of Milan to notice how the 
 Leonardo face is to be seen in the works of other men, 
 how the long "greyhound" eyes and mouth were adopted 
 by other men, and how constantly the grouping and arrange- 
 ment of the figures is that first suggested by da Vinci and 
 copied, varied, and modified by his followers. If we have 
 time it is even of greater interest to take one particular 
 painter, such as Luini for example, and to notice how in his 
 early work he was influenced by Borgognone, Bramantino, 
 and Foppa, how he gradually fell under the power of Leo- 
 nardo and was lessoned in his ways, and how gradually he 
 allowed his own spirit to have its full play and his own 
 individuality to exert itself, so that eventually he cut him- 
 self adrift from the da Vinci influence and stood out in his 
 own proper position as an original artist of great merit. 
 This line of thought I have tried to adopt in my book on 
 Luini, and to that I must refer you for a full account of this- 
 works of thi artist who more than any other has left his 
 mark upon Milan. 
 
 Leonardo is naturally the chief attraction in the world of 
 pictures in Milan, and his Cenacolo stands out as one of 
 the world's masterpieces — wonderful and sublime, full of 
 pathos, and as an original conception unequalled ; but Luini 
 is pre-eminently the Milanese painter, and in Milan it 
 is to his works that we ought to give the lion's share of 
 attention.
 
 76 MILAN 
 
 Sodoma fell under the Leonardo influence for a short 
 time ; but he soon passed a\\'ay to Florentine influence, and 
 eventually settled down as a Siennese painter, so that his 
 work need not greatly concern us in Milan. Solario will 
 be chiefly known to us by his portraits and by an important 
 picture in the Poldi gallery, but with him there was not the 
 complete Milanese quality, as Venetian teaching entered 
 into his art, and he was also influenced by what he saw 
 when he went into France to paint at Gaillon. 
 
 Gaudenzio Ferrari and Luini are the most entirely 
 Milanese painters after the days of Foppa and Borgognone, 
 and to them it will be well to give our best attention. 
 Gaudenzio 1 have elsewhere called the Rubens of Milan, on 
 account of his fondness for strength of limb, and round- 
 ness of flesh, and of the fieriness of his colour. He is an 
 exuberant painter, dramatic and powerful, and he loved scenes 
 of movement and those in which the strength of the body 
 could be well set forth. Luini, on the other hand, was a lyric 
 painter, never dramatic, never heroic. His work is marked 
 by tenderness, devotion, simplicity, childlike religious sym- 
 pathy, and all his pictures are serious, calm, and serene. 
 
 The dominant features perhaps of all Milanese art were 
 first, their' seriousness, their religion, their tenderness, and 
 secondly, their high finish coupled with the love of elabo- 
 ration and '■ the patient rendering of detail" that was inborn 
 in a Lombard painter. Great originality will not be found 
 in the pictures of this school. The Lombards were not 
 men of exuberant imagination, and with the exception of 
 Gaudenzio, seldom aimed at the heights of fancy or dramatic 
 composition. They are to a man painters of religious scenes, 
 very slightly concerned with the classics, and allowing the 
 humanistic movement to pass on over their heads. They are 
 rich, deep, and delicate colourists, not great at dense effects 
 of shadow, not great in gorgeous colour ; Solario alone by 
 reason of his Venetian commissions attaining to grandeur 
 in colour ; but their work is always impressive, able " to 
 create a mood," and distinguished by great thoughtfulness 
 and tender religious conscientiousness.
 
 MILANESE ART 77 
 
 Now that you have read these few words whicli are by 
 way of introduction to the study of Milanese art, I will 
 allow you to enter into this final room in the Castello, only 
 repeating my advice given you a few lines back that you will 
 do well to leave it until you have been to the Brera and 
 have seen more pictures, and that then you will the better 
 appreciate what you will find in this gallery. You will see 
 in this room a good example of Foppa!s work distinguished 
 by his curious hardness, his clearness of outline, and his 
 sculpturesque effect. You will find the head of a man by 
 Borgognone^ with the pallid face of which I have spoken, a 
 Gianpelrino full of Leonardo influence, and a very interesting 
 Sodoma of an archangel ; but the remaining pictures will 
 only unsettle you in giving a survey of Lombard art, as they 
 belong to quite other schools. There are good examples 
 of men so different as Crivelli, Vandyck, Correggio, and 
 Tintoretto ; and I shall not take you round the gallery more 
 than to point out the half-a-dozen Milanese pictures that are 
 just inside, as the others which are fine of their kind you 
 can study without me, and you will find them all out by 
 their labels, and are welcome to spend as much time as you 
 like in looking at them. 
 
 Having now finished the Castello, let us begin to study 
 the art of Milan, and although it is somewhat Irish to adopt 
 such a course, let us begin by looking at the picture which 
 I have already told you does not belong to the Milanese 
 school at all. 
 
 A walk of three minutes takes us from the Castello into 
 the Corso Magenta, and to the Church of Sta. Maria 
 della G-razie. 
 
 Ere we go in, the building of the church is worth attention. 
 It is a good piece of Lombard work, and the west front, 
 with its brick and terra-cotta work, is worth attention. 
 The feature of the building is, however, the cupola, which 
 is the work of Bramante, and is marvellously fine with its 
 mingling of red brick and marble in the rows of windows 
 beneath an open arcade.
 
 78 MI LA N 
 
 The ■**Cenacolo of Leonardo is in a separate building, 
 the Refectory, into which you go by a separate door, over 
 which you will see the word " Cenacolo," and at which you 
 will pay your lira, unless you possess the pass which is 
 granted to artists by the Syndic of Milan if they are staying 
 in the city and desire to paint in the galleries. At the end 
 of the long room is all that remains of the great fresco. 
 There is hardly anything left of the original work. 
 
 The plaster has flaked, the Refectory has been flooded 
 over and over again, the smoke of the adjacent kitchen 
 when the Refectory was in use has injured the fresco, 
 restorers have worked their wicked will upon it, the friars 
 ha-\e cut part of it away, the French have used the room 
 as a stable and afterwards as a hay store ! Everything has, 
 in fact, been done from as early as 1500 to injure that great 
 work, and yet, despite it all, there is still a wondrous beauty 
 about it, and as you sit down in front of the great ruin, 
 you will not fail to be impressed with the sublime conception 
 that is before you. 
 
 It is, indeed, most unfortunate that Leonardo adopted 
 a new method in the production of this picture, in his eager 
 desire to try experiments both with pigments and with 
 vehicles. Unable to work with the rapidity and determina- 
 tion that painting in true fresco demanded by reason of 
 the speed with which it dried, or else anxious to labour slowly 
 with the utmost care and patience at a work which required 
 all his attention, he discarded the customary methods of 
 fresco, and, painting in oil upon a ground of plaster prepared 
 with a priming of white lead, he adopted a method which 
 speedily proved the ruin of the picture. From the very 
 earliest times it began to suffer by reason of the oil colour 
 flaking off from the plaster, and the catastrophes that 
 followed but completed the disaster that had begun during 
 the artist's own life. 
 
 There is hardly a square inch that now remains of 
 Leonardo's own work, and perhaps a portion of the table 
 close to the central figure, and a small portion of the face 
 of the Christ are the chief pieces that are left in anything
 
 MILANESE ART 79 
 
 like original condition. These parts bear a greater amount 
 of finish than the rest of the work, and more closely re- 
 semble in technique the oil paintings that still remain of 
 Leonardo's work. There is, however, left the general scheme 
 of the picture, and many of the heads are of great dignity 
 notwithstanding the constant restoration to which they have 
 been subjected. The conception was one of great beauty, 
 and the original work when first completed must have been 
 a triumph of skill and a marvel of pathos. Now it is but 
 a ruin, and we can only tell what it was like by regarding 
 the contemporary copies inade by the pupils of the master, 
 Solario and Marco d'Oggiono, which are in the same room. 
 The fresco on the opposite wall is by Montorfano, and is 
 dated 1495, but two figures in it — those of il Moro and 
 Bianca Maria his wife, which the custode will point out 
 to you — were the work of Leonardo himself, and are quite 
 readily to be distinguished in technique from the rest. 
 
 Montorfano was a pupil of Foppa, and the Paduan in- 
 fluence can be seen in this his greatest work. 
 
 We shall see in the Brera presently the sketch for 
 the head of Chi'ist in the Cenacolo by Leonardo, and be 
 able to realise from that how lovely the central head must 
 have been when first it was painted. ^ •'**■ 
 
 As you are so close to the Church of Sta. Maria della 
 Grazie, you will no doubt desire, when you have examined 
 the Cenacolo, to enter the church. I cannot honestly advise 
 you to spend a very long time in the Refectory, as there 
 is so little to be seen of Leonardo's work, that beyond 
 an impression of emotion and beauty you have little to 
 gain. You will realise, no doubt, the fine harmony of the 
 group, and the way in which all the figures are held 
 together by the dismay that is common to all. You will 
 appreciate the grand simplicity of the composition, the 
 var)'ing emotions of the apostles, the serene dignity of 
 the Christ, and as you have no doubt been familiar all 
 your life with reproductions of the work, you will be 
 able to identify the figure of each apostle. Of the artistic
 
 8o MI LA N 
 
 value, of the pictorial quality, of the technique, or of the 
 colour, you can now gain no idea ; and the only object in 
 remaining long in the room is to allow quiet meditation 
 to create in your mind that emotion that the artist desired 
 should arise, of the dismay and astonishment of the little 
 band, and of the calm resignation of the Christ Himself 
 
 Leaving then the Refectory, we make our way into 
 the church. There are but two things that deserve 
 your attention within the building. In the fourth chapel 
 on the 7i. there are some grand *frescoes by G-audenzio 
 Ferrari, which will perhaps help you to understand why 
 I have called him the Rubens of Italy. They are full of 
 strong, powerful work, almost fiery in colour, and evidently 
 the work of a man who gloried in painting flesh, limbs, 
 muscles, and was full ot exuberant fancy, and delighted 
 in representing movement. Much of the work is really 
 fine, and it is evident that in these frescoes Gaudenzio 
 Ferrari put out his utmost skill. We are told, but there 
 is not very much foundation for the story, that this chapel 
 was painted in competition with Titian, as if the work in 
 the chapel had been approved, the artist was to have the 
 commission for the altar-piece for the same church, but 
 that the work of Titian was preferred, and the Crucifixion 
 now in the Louvre was painted for this church. There 
 is grave reason to doubt the accuracy of this story, but 
 whatever was the reason, it is quite clear that in this 
 frescoed chapel we have Gaudenzio at his very best. Now 
 cross over the church and enter the dark chapel in the 
 L. aisle close up to the altar rails, and in it you will find 
 a much damaged fresco by Zenale, with many portraits 
 of the donor's family in it. This fresco, although dry and 
 hard and somewhat uninteresting, will show the fondness 
 for profile portraits \\hich is a mark of the work of Zenale, 
 and which is doubtless derived from the work of Pisanello 
 in the medallic art. 
 
 You can leave the church by a door close to this chapel 
 which will take you round at the back of the choir and out
 
 MILANESE ART 8i 
 
 into an entry where you will probably find a woman sit- 
 ting at work or some children at play. Ask them for 
 the custode of the Old Sacristy, and he will take you 
 across the little square entry to the room which you 
 seek and which is always locked up. In this sacristy 
 you will find a very curious series of paintings on the 
 cupboards all around the room and these are worth your 
 inspection. 
 
 They are not the work of Luini, although your guide will 
 probably assure you that they are, but at the same time 
 they are of his period, and they illustrate the work of some 
 unknown man who must have had a genius for decoration 
 of a very high order. The panels are all painted in imitation 
 of intarsia work, and although the idea is not good and is 
 contrary to the canons of art, yet there is such a wealth of 
 design in them and the execution is so clever that it is 
 well for you to see them. The room is in very bad order 
 and the cupboards have been much injured by weather and 
 wet, but you will not regret spending a short time in ex- 
 amining them, and be amused at the quaint animals and 
 figures that are contained in the designs. 
 
 We will now come out into the Corso Magenta and, 
 leaving the Church of Sta. Maria della Grazie behind us, 
 I want you to walk down the street for a few minutes and 
 stop at the ** Church of San Maurizio on the opposite 
 side of the way. 
 
 In this church you will find the best work of Luini that is 
 to be seen in Milan, and there is an interesting history 
 connected with its decoration. In the neighbouring state 
 of Bologna there was in 1462 a great ruler known as 
 Griovanni Bentivoglio. He was the representative of the 
 Holy See in that district and was supposed to rule for 
 the Pope, but he had made himself practically master of 
 the state and city of Bologna and ruled with a stern sway 
 as though it was his own kingdom. He was a great patron 
 of the Fine Arts, and adorned the city with many sump- 
 tuous buildings and decorated them with the finest works
 
 82 MILAN 
 
 of the Bolognese painters. In 1506 the Pope, Julius II., 
 determined to take over the control of the Patrimony of 
 St. Peter into his own hands and rid himself of the powerful 
 Governors who had assumed regal state. He proceeded 
 against Bologna, captured the city and drove out Benti- 
 voglio, who fled to Milan. Bentivoglio had married a Sforza 
 and hence claimed protection at the hands of the ruler of 
 Milan, who allotted to him the palace that stood near to 
 San Giovanni-in-Conca the entrance portal to which we have 
 just seen at the Castello. Bentivoglio died in Milan and 
 was buried in the church in which we now stand. His son 
 Alessandro was at the time of his death absent in France, 
 pleading his father's cause before the French king, and 
 begging for help to enable him to regain possession of 
 Bologna. He could not however obtain any material help, 
 as the friendship of Pope Julius II. was at that moment more 
 important to the king and to the Emperor than anything 
 else, and so Alessandro returned to Milan. He had married 
 Ippolita Sforza and they had one daughter, who entered the 
 convent of nuns attached to the Church of San Maurizio 
 and took the veil in that church. Alessandro Bentivoglio 
 and his wife, desiring to adorn the church with which their 
 only child was connected and which contained the tomb 
 of their father and in which they themselves expected to 
 be buried, employed Luini, who was at that time at the 
 very zenith of his fame, to carry out the series of frescoes 
 that are before us, and the commission was a notable one 
 and well did Luini carry it out. The frescoes cover the 
 screen or eastern wall of the church. The altar-piece is not 
 his work, but it extends on either side of it and above it 
 right up to the baldacchino and crucifix. On the right is a 
 lunette representing Alessandro (who was at that time 
 about 54) kneeling and holding a book of devotions in his 
 hand, while around him are grouped St. Benedict, St. John 
 the Baptist with his lamb, and St. John the Divine. Below 
 this lunette and divided from it by some delightful borders 
 of decoration are the figures of St. Justina of Padua and St. 
 Ursula (or St. Dorothea) standing one on each side of the
 
 MILANESE ART 83 
 
 tabernacle, whilst below it and between the saints is a cherub 
 bearing symbolic torches. 
 
 On the opposite side is a similar arrangement. In the 
 centre is Ippolita Sforza and around her are three saints, 
 St. Scholastica, St. Agnes, with her lamb to balance the 
 lamb on the other side, and St. Catherine. A fresco of the 
 Holy Redeemer takes the place of the tabernacle on the 
 other side, and below it is the same cherub mourning be- 
 cause the torches he was bearing so joyously on the other 
 side have now gone out for ever. On each side this time 
 appear St. Apollonia and St. Lucia with their emblems. 
 High up above the lunettes is a third tier of decoration. In 
 the centre is the Assumption of the Virgin with numerous 
 saints grouped around her empty tomb watching her as 
 she ascends to heaven. On the right is a scene representing 
 the attack upon St. Maurice and the martyrdom of the saint, 
 who kneels in the foreground and is being beheaded by a 
 huge executioner. On the left is a similar fresco, repre- 
 senting in the foreground King Sigismond presenting the 
 church to St. Maurice, who in this picture stands aloft on a 
 pedestal. In the background King Sigismond himself 
 suffers martyrdom by the sword. 
 
 Having looked well at this lovely series of frescoes go 
 into a chapel on the Z., the one nearest to the altar rails, and 
 passing through it go in by a door in the eastern wall be- 
 hind the screen at which you have been looking. You will 
 now find yourself in the nuns' part of the church, now en- 
 tirely deserted, and you will find that Luini's commission 
 was not only to adorn the church but also to decorate the 
 nuns' choir. 
 
 The frescoes here are in very bad condition. Many of 
 them are invisible, and doors have been cut through two of 
 them to their very serious injury. There are, however, 
 nine fine frescoes to be made out, all of which represent 
 scenes taken from the life of Our Lord. 
 
 One of the most lovely, now almost destroyed, represents 
 the Marriage at Cana in Galilee, and is treated in a mystical 
 manner symbolising to the nuns the Divine union of Christ
 
 84 MILAN 
 
 with the consecrated rehgious. The bride is the daughter 
 of Alessandro and Ippohta, and the bridegroom is St. 
 Maurice. 
 
 Below these scenes is another series of saints, including 
 St.ApoUonia, St. Catherine, St. Roch, St. Sebastian, St. Agnes, 
 and St. Lucia. Even yet we have not seen the finest work 
 of this great artist in the church, and now we return into 
 it and pass over to the right side into the //lird chapel, 
 which was decorated long after Luini had finished the 
 work we have just been examining, and was in fact not 
 painted till 1530, almost at the end of Luini's life. 
 
 The donor of the work and founder of the chapel was one 
 Francesco Besozzi. 
 
 The work was completed, we know, by the 15th of August, 
 1530, but Besozzi died in 1529, and therefore did not hve to 
 see the wonderful frescoes executed in his chapel. 
 
 In the altar-piece we have a marked example of Luini's 
 earnest desire to avoid the creation of any feelings of horror 
 or repulsion in the minds of those who worshipped at the 
 altar. \M c^^'>'il<f -n-^^, ^"^ ^-^ '^A^t^/-^***-*^ '^' -Hc'^^ ^'.u,-.<, "iJit-t^L 
 
 The subject which was selected by 'Besozzi' was that of 
 the **Flagellation, but Luini did not attempt to represent 
 it in customary form. He characteristically chose to depict 
 the unbinding of Our Lord from the column after the dread 
 scourging had taken place. 
 
 To use Mrs. Jameson's expressive phrase, " Christ is 
 strengthless and fainting " from the torture. The barbarous 
 soldiers are loosening the ropes that bound the victim to 
 the column, and Our Lord, in the very act of falling 
 to the ground, is being roughly supported by one of the 
 men. 
 
 The bodily weakness, almost triumphing for a moment 
 over the intense mental courage, is finely expressed, and 
 to those who served or knelt at the altar, the picture would 
 always be an enkindling of deep sympathy, of profound 
 pity and compassion, and of wonder at the sorrowful sight. 
 Close at hand stands St. Lawrence, robed in a deacon's 
 tunicle and wearing the stole across his breast. With one
 
 MILANESE ART 85 
 
 hand he carries a clasped book and a pahii, the other hand 
 he stretches out, pointing to the Divine Sufferer, and with a 
 piteous expression of grief directs attention to the central 
 scene. 
 
 On the other side is a majestic figure of St. Catherine 
 leaning upon her wheel. She lays her hand tenderly upon 
 Francesco Besozzi, who, in the garb of a lawyer, and hold- 
 ing his rosary between his clasped hands, kneels humbly by 
 her side, gazing in great reverence at the figure of Christ. 
 Behind the saints are tall, armed warriors, and near by are 
 the clothes of the executioners and the vesture of Christ, 
 while on the floor are the scourges. 
 
 High up above this representation are two smaller scenes, 
 divided by the column which passes right through the 
 picture. These two smaller pictures, each containing only 
 two figures, appear to refer to the Easter Resurrection. In 
 one St. Peter is approached by Mary Magdalene, who 
 points to the open tomb and the Roman soldier, and in the 
 other Our Lord appears to Mary in the garden in His risen 
 form, and forbids her to touch Him. 
 
 The sides of this chapel are occupied by two frescoes 
 depicting the legend of St. Catherine. In one fresco is seen 
 in the distance the destruction of the four wheels by the 
 angel of God, and the slaying of the executioners and 
 three thousand people by the fragments that flew around. 
 In the foreground is St. Catherine kneeling in prayer, asking 
 that she may be strengthened for the terrible death that at 
 that moment was before her. 
 
 In the other fresco is seen the decapitation and burial 
 of St. Catherine. Meekly kneeling in the foreground is 
 the saint, while above her towers a gigantic executioner, 
 brandishing the sword with which her martyrdom is to 
 take place. Near at hand are Roman guards. In the 
 distance is Mount Sinai transfigured in burning light, and 
 in the midst of the light angels are placing the body of 
 St. Catherine into the marble tomb prepared for it. 
 
 The curious feature about these two frescoes is that, 
 according to Matteo Bandello, the face of St. Catherine
 
 86 MILAN 
 
 is that of one of the most celebrated and most wicked of 
 women of the time. 
 
 Bianca Maria was the beautiful daughter of one Giacomo 
 Scappardone by a Greek wife. She married first one of 
 the Visconti family, but he died and she retired to Casale. 
 A little later on she became the wife of the Count of Cellant, 
 but after a few months of married life they had a serious 
 quarrel, and the Countess fled to Pavia, where, according 
 to Bandello, she lived a life " over free, and little 
 honest.' 
 
 One of her lovers was Ardizzino, Count of Ma\ino, who 
 was violently in love with her, but she gave him up and 
 attracted to herself .Sanseverino, Count of Gaiazzo. Having 
 won his affection and obtained his promise to gratify all 
 her wishes, she tried to persuade him to kill Ardizzino, 
 whom now she thoroughly hated. He pretended to assent, 
 but did not intend to carry out her desire, and left her in 
 horror. 
 
 She then returned to the desire for Ardizzino, and, in 
 order to be revenged upon Sanseverino, used her utmost 
 power to attract back again her previous lover, and then 
 having won him to her side again, proposed to him to kill 
 Sanseverino. 
 
 She succeeded no better with him, as he was likewise 
 horrified at her cruelty and fled from her, and meeting San- 
 severino afterwards, they revealed to one another the manner 
 in which she had tried to cajole each into killing the other. 
 Still the revenge of this terrible woman was hot and burning. 
 A foolish youth, a Sicilian, one Pietro di Cardona, fell 
 into her toils, and she worked her wicked will upon him. 
 A long and untrue story of the previous cruelty of Ardizzino 
 inflamed his anger, and to win her enduring affection he 
 undertook to execute her wishes. 
 
 With a band of twenty-five men he met Ardizzino, Count 
 of Mavino, and his brother Carlo, and set upon them and 
 murdered them both. The Duke of Bourbon, who was at 
 that time the titular ruler of Milan, had Pietro arrested and 
 thrown into prison. Then Sanseverino came forward and
 
 MILANESE ART 87 
 
 told the whole story, and the city rang with the intelligence 
 of the crimes of this famous beauty. 
 
 Pietro by some connivance was allowed to escape from 
 prison, as it was evident that he was only a tool in the 
 hands of his mistress, and a man of very weak intelligence, 
 but the Countess of Cellant was beheaded as the penalty of 
 her crime. 
 
 This was the story that was in every one's mouth at the 
 time Luini was working at the Besozzi Chapel, and he made 
 use of the beauty of the wicked Countess, and painted her 
 fascinating features in his representations of St. Catherine, 
 and so perpetuated her memory and the story of her crime. 
 
 In the roof of the chapel appear the two sibyls, Agrippa 
 and Erithrea, and angels bearing the emblems of the 
 Passion, the crown, the nails, the spear, the sponge, and 
 other emblems, and these mighty spiritual beings are gazing 
 down upon the scene of Christ unbound from the column, 
 and their faces are expressive of great pity and of comfort. 
 
 The whole wo/// of the decoration of this chapel, dis- 
 missing the mere accident of the use of the Countess of 
 Cellant as a model, seems to be that of suffering without 
 fault, and of heavenly comfort given to the sufferer. The 
 sufferings of Our Lord, of St Catherine, of St. Lawrence, 
 of the Apostles at the empty tomb, of Mary Magdalene in 
 the garden, were all meritorious sufferings, not the result 
 of the sin of the sufferer, but for the purification of the soul. 
 All these sufferings were blessed from heaven, all the 
 sufferers received heavenly comfort and eventually the 
 reward of martyrdom, and this scheme of thought seems to 
 be the idea upon which the selection both of the frescoes 
 and of the standing figures is based. If, as some writers 
 state, the figure to the left of Our Lord is that of St. Stephen 
 the martyr rather than St. Lawrence, the 7Jiofif is not in 
 any way altered, for each saint suffered martyrdom for his 
 faith, was comforted by angels, and received into glory. 
 
 In this church you will have gained such a complete 
 knowledge of the best work of Luini that when you come 
 to find his work in other churches you ought to be able to
 
 88 MILAN 
 
 recognise it. It exists in many buildings in Milan and we 
 shall, ere we leave the city, see it in the Brera and Poldi 
 galleries and also in the Borromean Palace, but in no other 
 place will you have so good an idea of the sweetness and 
 tenderness of the artist as you will in this church, unless 
 you are sufficiently interested to travel to the towns of 
 Saronno, Legnano, and Lugano after you leave Milan. 
 
 I shall just briefly refer to these towns at the end of this 
 part of the book. 
 
 It will be well for you when you leave this church to 
 go to the Brera, but do not do so if you have come to the 
 aftei-noon or are at all tired, as the Brera Gallery is a large 
 
 and a tiring one, and you must not attempt to try to see 
 
 ■^ it at the close of a day of sight-seeing, but should start fresh 
 
 "^ in the morning to visit it. 
 
 You will find a tram from the Duomo that will take you 
 
 s^ to its very door. Take the Porta Volta tram, the one which 
 
 '„ bears the word Cimitero upon it, as there is another Porta 
 
 >^ Volta tram that does /w/ pass the gallery. 
 
 You will not find it an easy galleiy in which to study, as 
 
 the numbering of the pictures is very confusing and follows, 
 
 ^_ no consecutive order at all. The official catalogue does not 
 
 _^ make the matter much plainer, as it has its own system of 
 arrangement, and when to this you add the fact that the 
 pictures are not hung either chronologically or in schools, 
 and you notice that constant rearrangements are taking 
 place, you will realise that you are in one of the most 
 puzzling of Italian galleries and one which is responsible for 
 more strong words than any other into which I have ever 
 been. I will try to point out to you, room by room, which 
 are the most important pictures that it contains. In the 
 vestibule and corridor are the frescoes that constitute one of 
 the greatest features of the collection. I should rather have 
 said that they 7i/ere there, as when last I visited the gallery, 
 in October, there was hardly one to be seen and the great 
 majority of them had been taken down and stacked away in 
 a store-room, whilst the corridor was being redecorated. I
 
 MILANESE ART 89 
 
 was told it might be some weeks ere they were le-hung, or il 
 might be months, so that whether you will find them in their 
 places when you come to use this book I cannot tell. I hope 
 that you will, as many of them are very beautiful works. 
 
 There should be a whole series of * * frescoes by Luini 
 brought from a villa called La Felucca, near to Monza, 
 where he worked for some time, quite at the beginning of 
 his career. Of these the most important is 52, the Burial 
 of St. Catherine, one of the loveliest works that Luini ever 
 did. The saint is being carried to her tomb by three flying 
 angels, who, with tender care, carry their sweet burden to 
 Mount Sinai. There are other frescoes from the same house 
 as (10) a Child on a White Horse, (11) Three Girls playing 
 at Forfeits, (39) the Metamorphosis of Daphne, (57) a 
 Sacrifice to the God Pan, and (70) the Israelites preparing 
 for their Departure from Egypt. Then there is another 
 series of works by the same artist, brought from the various 
 suppressed churches of Milan, notably Sta. Maria della Pace 
 — the old Monastery — and Sta. Maria di Brera, as well as from 
 a Carthusian house in Milan known as San Michele alia 
 Chiusa. Those from della Pace represent scenes in the life 
 of the Virgin and are very charming : (5) represents the 
 Madonna and St. Joseph returning from their Espousals. 
 They are hand-in-hand, and the scene is exceedingly pretty. 
 (19) [lY.B. — I am following the order in which the works were 
 arranged in the room when last I saw them] is St. Joseph 
 chosen as the Spouse of the Virgin, (42) is the Madonna 
 Visiting Elizabeth, (43) the Presentation, (51) the Birth of the 
 Madonna, (53) the Meeting of St. Anna with St. Joachim, 
 (63) the Education of the Madonna, (69) the Presentation of 
 the Madonna to the High Priest, and (73) the Dream of St. 
 Joseph. These frescoes should, of course, be hung in the 
 order in which the events depicted in them took place, and 
 in that case the numbers would run as follows — 53, 51, 63, 
 69, 19, 5> 73, 42, 43, and 51. 
 
 There is also a fragment from the same church (E13) 
 representing the Madonna in the act of blessing a nun, and 
 several portions of other decoration, especially of angels.
 
 90 MILAN 
 
 From the Old Monastery there is a noteworthy fresco of the 
 Resurrection (24) in which it will be well for you to notice 
 the skilful use that the artist has made of yellow colour, 
 which is so used as to give the effect and sparkle of gold 
 though no gold is actually used. A remarkable picture comes 
 from Sta. Maria di Brera (47), one of the few that Luini 
 signed, and depicting the Virgin on a throne with Saints 
 Anthony and Barbara on either side. This work is dated 
 1 52 1. A dignified figure is that of St. Thomas Aquinas (40), 
 in which the artist has departed from his usual flat effect 
 customary to fresco of that period and has represented the 
 folds of the dress by deep heavy shadows. 
 
 I must not go through all these frescoes seriatim^ but I 
 advise you to do so and to study them carefully as they re- 
 present the Milanese school at its best and are well worthy 
 of attention. One or two other men must, however, be men- 
 tioned. (71) is by Foppa and is far more archaic, stiff, and 
 formal in its modelling that these at which we have been 
 gazing. Do not forget that in this fresco we have the work of 
 a much earlier man than Luini, and therefore that the freedom 
 which the latter artist attained must not be expected in the 
 work of Foppa. We shall find that the figures are con- 
 strained, and we shall notice the sculpturesc^ue effect that 
 was obtained from drawing from classic models rather than 
 from actual life. Bramantine's work is numbered 4, 9, and 
 8, and you may also add (41), which is certainly not the work 
 of Luini, although attributed to him in the catalogue. Then 
 you will come to the frescoes of Gaudenzio Ferrari — vigorous 
 strong work, full of movement and powerful in colour. Notice 
 especially 25, 30, and 32. 
 
 Room L 
 
 We now enter Room L, and, commencing on the R., notice 
 the following pictures : — 
 
 83. Virgin and Child, Bevilacqua, a very rare master, 
 signed and dated 1502 ; a somewhat harsh picture, stiff and 
 formal in arrangement, but of good colour, and interesting
 
 MILANESE ART 91 
 
 for the skill shown in the pavement and in the very careful 
 arrangement of the draperies. 
 
 95. The Archangels and Satan, an ordinary work of 
 Marco da Oggione. 
 
 96. A Youth with St. Anthony. A much finer work of 
 this same Leonardesque painter, signed, but very unpleasant 
 in colouring. 
 
 87 dts, St. Jerome, is a very pallid work of Borgognone. 
 
 87. Virgin and Child. A gorgeous picture which was at 
 one time attributed to Zenale, but is now known to be the 
 work of Bernardino de Conti. Eastlake calls it a preten- 
 tious picture, and so no doubt it is, but it is at the same time 
 a very bold piece of effect, and as the work of an artist who 
 was more a painter of portraits than of altar-pieces and of 
 whom very little is known, it is of interest. 
 
 75. The Assumption and Coronation, a large and note- 
 worthy work by Borgognone, well arranged and balanced. 
 The Virgin is in the midst, within a vesica-shaped glory, 
 ascending up to heaven attended by angels ; beneath are the 
 Apostles, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and other saints. 
 Around this picture are six pictures by Foppa, all at one 
 time given to Zenale, when we knew less of the work of 
 Foppa than is at present known. They are figures of saints : 
 76. St. Clara and St. Bonaventura ; 77. St. Jerome and St. 
 Alexander ; 78. St. Louis the Bishop and St. Bernard ; 79. 
 St. Vincent the Deacon ; 80. St. Anthony of Padua ; and 81. 
 the Virgin and Child with Four Angels. All are apparently 
 the portions of one altar-piece, and although they are not 
 beautiful, yet in them is to be found the nucleus of Milanese 
 art, and the strange formality that distinguished the art of 
 Foppa, founded as it was upon classic sculpture. 
 
 82. Noah Derided by Ham, is an oil painting by Luini, 
 and is only interesting as an early work of the artist before 
 he had learned to use the medium rightly. In this same 
 gallery we shall see his picture of the Madonna with the 
 Rose-hedge, which will reveal to us how skilfully he could 
 paint in oil later on in his life ; but with all his skill there was 
 a want of spontaneity about his productions in oil that places
 
 92 MILAN 
 
 them on a far lower level than is occupied by the fresco-work. 
 This picture is powerfully drawn, and the unpleasant subject 
 is dexterously handled. 
 
 96, we have already named. 
 
 107. Martyrdom of St. Catherine, is by Gaudenzio Ferrari, 
 and has all his failings in crude, hot colouring, exaggerated 
 strength of limbs, and violent action. It is powerful, dramatic, 
 and definite, as Gaudenzio always was, but the picture 
 cannot certainly be called an attractive one. 
 
 Room II. 
 
 In this room we must give up the idea of confining 
 our attention to pictures of the Milanese school, and look 
 only at the important pictures regardless of the school to 
 which they belong, inasmuch as there are to be seen 
 several really fine works belonging to different dates and 
 different schools brought together in a certain grand con- 
 fusion in one room. 
 
 159. The Coronation of the Virgin, is Umbrian, but long 
 before the days of the painters whom we usually associate 
 with the name of that school. It is by Gentile da Fabriano, 
 one of quite the early artists of Umbria, who is usually 
 known by his Adoration of the Magi which is in the 
 Academia in Florence. It is a signed picture, but is not a 
 good example of this archaic master, who partook of the 
 character of Fra Angelico in devotional aspirations without 
 rising to his heights of beauty, and who seems to have 
 exulted in the free use of plenty of gold and the most 
 brilliant of colours. 
 
 In this work he uses a gold background and surrounds 
 the figure of the Eternal Yaihev with angels with rich red 
 wings. 
 
 Missing for a moment 162, we shall find in the next 
 picture, 161, and in the four that surround it, as well as in 183 
 and 180 on the opposite side of the room, some more Um- 
 brian work, some of the portions of one altar-piece that with 
 inexcusable carelessness are scattered all over the Brera,
 
 MILANESE ART 93 
 
 instead of being united into one place where the effect 
 desired by the artist, Niccolo Alunno, could be understood. 
 180, the Madonna and Child, is signed and dated 1465. 
 The other panels represent various saints : r65 being St. 
 John Baptist ; 165A, St. Peter; 165B, St. Jerome ; 165c, St. 
 Francis ; 183, St. Bernard ; 160, St. Louis; and 161, Christ 
 with the Cross ; whilst in other rooms there are three other 
 parts of the same work. The Umbrian school ranges itself 
 around certain towns, which each had its own little following 
 grouped around some one central master. Foligno was the 
 home of this Niccolo, and he was, it is possible, a pupil of 
 Benozzo Gozzoli, but it is to his influence that the later 
 Umbrians owed such sturdiness and power as some of them 
 possessed. In his early days Perugino must have derived 
 some of his power from Niccolo. His was a fierce spirit, 
 very far removed from the sweetness, tenderness, and 
 harmony of the earlier masters. His was an uncompromis- 
 ing realism which is at times almost painful in its stress, 
 but all this sternness was of the greatest value in giving to 
 those who succeeded him and who were influenced by him, 
 some of the sturdy truth which the Umbrian later school 
 lacked, and which allowed it to degenerate into a fanciful 
 lackadaisical mannerism towards its close. 
 
 This seems a good deal to say about these hard, stern little 
 pictures, especially in the room which contains the great 
 Bellini, but it is the evolution of one group of artists from 
 another that I want you to realise, and to do that you will 
 have to look at some pictures that may not seem at first to 
 be interesting. The picture that we missed a moment ago 
 (162) must be regarded not on its own merits but as the 
 precursor of far greater works. It is a Madonna and Child 
 with saints, by two brother artists, who worked together and 
 who signed their pictures with their joint names. They 
 were of the Vivarini family, or Antonio certainly was, and 
 they may be considered as the founders of the Venetian 
 school. The question of influence is a curious one, as there 
 is evidently the influence of Gentile, whose work we have 
 just seen, and who was brought to \'enice to carry out with
 
 94 MILAN 
 
 Pisanello some extensive schemes of decoration (now all 
 destroyed), and at the same time there is a strong German 
 type about the faces and in the architecture that belongs to 
 the school of Cologne. The harmony and richness of the 
 colouring foreshadows the quality of the Venetians who 
 were to follow, and whose special characteristics were 
 pageantry with grand colouring and harmony over all. 
 
 In i68 we see this exemplified, "**St. Mark Preaching at 
 Alexandria, by Gentile Bellini. Here, although the artist 
 had a subject that he might well have treated in an accurate 
 manner with correct representations of buildings and persons, 
 accurate in architecture, costume, or colour, he has not 
 troubled to do anything of the kind ; but thorough Venetian 
 as he was, he has simply and frankly painted a fine pageant 
 picture, artistically charming, historically quite absurd, but 
 well composed, excellently grouped, delightful in colouring, 
 and a typical fine Venetian picture, as decorative as it well 
 can be. He is said to have so far conformed with local 
 practice, as to have introduced the portraits of some of his 
 fellow-citizens into the crowd around the preacher, but in all 
 other respects the work is one of decoration and artistically 
 admirable. Other Venetian pictures in this same room 
 are — 
 
 172. Adoration of the Magi, by Palma Vecchio. 
 
 177. The Appearance of St. John to Galla Placidia in the 
 church she had built in Ravenna, by Rondinelli, a pupil of 
 Bellini. 
 
 191. A splendid Cima, and 189 and 193, two works by 
 Carlo Crivelli. The Ciina is a large picture which is named by 
 Vasari, and is one of the two fine works by this artist which 
 are in the Brera. He derived his name from his habit of 
 representing the hills of his native place in his pictures, and 
 they can be well seen in the exquisite landscape that is in 
 the distance in this picture. He was a pupil of Giovanni 
 Bellini, and his works have often been taken for those of his 
 master. He excelled in single upright figures and in quiet 
 simple colouring, and in this picture there is very little real 
 colouring, but a quiet harmonious effect that is of great
 
 MILANESE ART 95 
 
 distinction. The saints are St. Peter Martyr, who most 
 peacefully bears the knife in his head, St. Augustine, and 
 St. Nicholas. Vasari tells us that Cima died young, and 
 seems to have thought that had he lived he would have done 
 finer work, but there is little that needs improvement in this 
 calm delightful picture. On either side of it are the two 
 works by that curious artist. Carlo Crivelli, in whose works 
 the Brera is peculiarly rich. After looking at them it will 
 be well for you to go on into Room VI., as there you will 
 find the remaining three portions of the same work, all 
 brought from the Church of San Domenico at Camerino in 
 1810. Room VI. is actually next to the room in which you 
 are, but to get to it you will have to go into the next Room 
 III., and then go through IV. into VI. Having looked at 
 it, then continue your steps right on down through VII., 
 VIII., and IX. into X. and XI., and pass into the Oggioni 
 gallery, and there you will see a magnificent work by this 
 same artist, and by these means you will gain a better idea 
 of his work than by standing only before these two little 
 works in Room II. I am not going to advise this course of 
 action in every case, so you need not begin to think that I 
 shall quite tire you out in this gallery, but in one or two 
 cases it is, I think, advisable, and therefore I hope you will 
 follow my advice. 
 
 The Camerino pictures although from the same church, 
 were not painted at the same period of Crivelli's career. 
 The altar-piece in Room VI. is the earliest, and is dated 
 1482 ; the Crucifixion in Room II. is about 1485, the Oggioni 
 one is dated 1483, and the Virgin and Child in Room II. and 
 the Pietkover the Coronation in the Oggioni Gallery are the 
 very latest works that we have of this artist, and are certainly 
 not earlier than 1493. 
 
 Hence we have in these pictures different periods of the 
 artist's work. As has been so well said by Professor Rush- 
 forth, all Crivelli's capacities for strong drawing, the attitude 
 andgrouping of his figures, the expression of dignity and grace, 
 and general decorative effect are all to be seen at their best in 
 the 1482 altar-piece. The figures are united in a single com-
 
 96 MILAN 
 
 position, and each figure is full of earnestness and devotion 
 and very expressive in its pose. It is one of the artist's very 
 finest works. In the Crucifixion we see a falling off of power, 
 as the two figures at the foot of the Cross are peevish in ex- 
 pression, but the landscape is one of the most charming that 
 Crivelli ever produced, and is just such a "prospect as may 
 be seen from any of the hill towns," in Crivelli's native district 
 the Marches of Italy. In the Oggioni picture we find the 
 very latest period of Crivelli's work. He has here given 
 up the habit of representing isolated figures of saints in 
 separated panels, which characterised his very early work 
 and with which we ate famihar from the pictures by him in 
 the National Gallery and has combined groups of figures in 
 one single frame. In this great Coronation we find a unity 
 of composition, a wealth of detail, and a glory and richness 
 both in gold and colour that is remarkable and magnificent ; 
 and then in the last work, the Virgin and Child of Room II., 
 we have the consummation of all this glory of decoration. 
 There is a statuesque Madonna, splendidly posed and 
 grandly draped, seated beneath a canopy of the most 
 gorgeous colour, a picture crowded with detail, and 
 wrought with the finest of effect — a typical piece of Venetian 
 decoration of the most perfect order combined with a fine 
 religious presentation of the Madonna and Child. 
 
 We are now on the opposite side of the room to the one 
 on which we entered, and close beside the Crivellis are 
 two noteworthy pictures ; 195 is by Timoteo Viti, the pupil 
 of Francia, and the artist from whom, according to one theor)-, 
 Raphael derived so much inspiration. I am not going to 
 comment upon this picture, for if I do I shall speak 
 against the theory that I have just stated, but to me it is 
 not Raphaelesque, and it is cold and unimpressive in its 
 effect. The theory will need more than this picture to con- 
 vince me of its accuracy, but I warn you that this statement 
 is flat heresy on my part. 
 
 197B. The Virgin enthroned with four saints, is, however, 
 a very important work by Luca Signorelli, which is signed
 
 MILANESE ART 97 
 
 and dated. It was painted for the Church of San Francesco 
 in Arcevia, a town still noted for the possession of many of 
 Signorelli's most famous works, and the Madonna and 
 Child, although much repainted, are still of great beauty and 
 serenity. Almost /oo great a serenity and want of interest 
 is seen in the four saints St. Simon, St. Jude, St. Bonaventura, 
 and St. Francis, who surround the throne, and who betray 
 the hand of an assistant rather than the work of the great 
 virile master of movement that Signorelli was. There is a 
 stateliness, however, about the group, a sweep of line, and a 
 grandeur of composition that renders it a noteworthy work. 
 We have now one only picture to examine in this room, and 
 that is 315, a delightful picture by Liberale da Verona of St. 
 Sebastian, evidently drawn in Venice, and worth careful 
 examination as it is full of nervous life and activity, and the 
 people are admirably depicted taking an intense interest 
 in the scene. 
 
 Room III. 
 
 We now pass into Room III., in which there are some 
 fine Venetian pictures. 
 
 209, 215, and one over the door, 233, are all by Bonafacio, 
 and are rich and important works. You will at once see 
 that none of them in the very least degree presents the 
 scene which it is intended to depict in the surroundings 
 that should belong to it. They are all frankly anachron- 
 istic, thoroughly decorative and poetical, and must be 
 considered from these points of view rather than as repre- 
 sentations of Scriptural events. 209 is the Infant Moses 
 Presented to the Daughter of Pharaoh, and 215, the com- 
 panion work, represents Christ Recognised by His Disciples 
 at Emmaus. The third work is of the Woman taken in 
 Adultery. 
 
 In 215, the head of Our Lord is a specially fine conception ; 
 
 but with this exception there is nothing that is religious in 
 
 either picture. The colouring is gorgeous, the figures are 
 
 full of grace and charm, and the contrast of tints in the rich 
 
 colour scheme is masterly. Few pictures will appeal more 
 
 G
 
 98 MILA N 
 
 to a lover of grand, powerful colour, than the 233 hanging 
 over the door. It is simply superb in its way, and in group- 
 ing and composition will well repay careful attention. 
 
 By Paolo Veronese there are also several works in this 
 room. The Supper in the House of the Pharisee (213) will, 
 of course, attract the greatest attention, by reason of its 
 enormous size. Here, again, is a splendid piece of decora- 
 tion, a picture in which the figures are well arranged and 
 grouped, and in which the scene as the artist has imagined it 
 is well presented. There is no trace of religious feeling about 
 it, and no attempt to produce such an emotion. It is simply a 
 fine picture of an interesting event, which the artist considered 
 held good possibilities for pictorial representation, and for 
 the exhibition of his powers of grouping and colour, and 
 which he has accordingly treated as well as he could from a 
 mere pictorial standpoint. The colouring is delightfully rich 
 and subdued ; there is dignity about the figures, notably 
 about the Christ, and there is a unity in the picture, a 
 common expression of interest in the spectators, that is not 
 always apparent in Veronese's works, and which redeems this 
 one from the charge of being commonplace that has been 
 given to certain other of his works. 
 
 219, 220, 221, are three parts of another huge picture done 
 by this same Titan amongst masters. The centre-piece is 
 somewhat confused in arrangement, and too crowded with 
 figures, and the colour of it has, from some mysterious reason, 
 assumed a cloudy and dull effect ; but the two side wings are 
 in their way excellent, and having only one or two figures in 
 each of them, and those representing bishops in full canoni- 
 cal attire, are by their simplicity foils to the crowded and 
 tumultuous centre. There is a dignity about St. Gregory, 
 St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and St. Ambrose which is excel- 
 lent, and although the angels above their heads are not 
 supernatural beings at all, but simply human musicians with 
 wings, yet the effect of these two groups on either side of 
 the central scene of excitement is undoubtedly good. 
 
 227 is another fine work, even more grand and dignified 
 than the other. St. Anthony is seated upon a very high
 
 MILANESE ART 99 
 
 throne, St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian stand on either side, 
 and below them is a lad bearing the Book of the Gospels. The 
 idea is simply to represent these three saints in an imposing 
 manner for the church dedicated to St. Anthony on the 
 island of Torcello, whence the picture came, and the effect 
 is obtained with power and dignity, and the object therefore 
 gained. As Eastlake points out, the draperies are somewhat 
 clumsy, but the grandiose effect of the work is undeniable. 
 208 and 229, also by Veronese, need not detain us. 
 
 217 is by Tintoretto, and no one else could have painted a 
 picture so full of power that is so entirely lacking in senti- 
 ment. Here is a gloomy scene painted in the densest of 
 shadow, with a straining after pathos and an utter failure 
 to gain a single particle of it. It is not a work that you will 
 care to dwell on for long. 230 is a finer work, but here 
 again there is simply no feeling. A'grand piece of colouring, 
 an effective picture, a clever piece of grouping, an ingenious 
 arrangement of shadows, a dignified piece of masterly de- 
 coration, and no more. 
 
 There is an important big picture standing upon the floor, 
 which has, on the occasions of my last two visits, been 
 covered up. It is 234, and by an unusual artist, Girolailio 
 Savolda, a native of Brescia, and as his works are rare, the 
 picture is worth your inspection if you can get it uncovered. 
 As a scheme of colour it is remarkably good, and the land- 
 scape behind the Apostles is quite charming, being most 
 carefully and thoughtfully painted. 
 
 There is plenty of open air in the picture, plenty of space, 
 and the figures, both of the Madonna and Child, and of the 
 angels and saints, are represented with dignity and admir- 
 able effect, whilst the faces of some of them are full of ex- 
 pression and are quite beautiful. The picture is altogether 
 a fine one, and one that I always return to with increasing 
 pleasure and delight. 
 
 ROOiM IV. 
 
 In Room IV. there are three works by Titian, none 
 of them of supreme rank. They are 247, 248, and 249.
 
 loo MILAN 
 
 Room V. 
 
 Room V. is the most important in the gallery. 
 - 267 is the well-known **crayon study for the head of Christ 
 in the Cenacolo, and is the only work in the gallery by 
 Leonardo. It is undoubtedly genuine, and is certainly 
 beautiful, but it is not worthy of the extravagant praise that 
 has been lavished upon it. It is only a very slight sketch, 
 a masterly one in effect, it is true, but it has been so damaged, 
 that its beauty consists more in what you read into it than 
 in what there is actually in it. 
 
 106 is by Solario, and a typical Milanese work. It is, of 
 course, very Leonardesque in its arrangement, and in the 
 aspect of the Madonna with her downcast eyes, but it is 
 charming. It is signed and dated 1495. 
 
 Next to it are two Cossas which are not numbered, and 
 which represent St. Peter and St. John Baptist. They are very 
 good examples of Ferrarese work — dry, angular, and full of 
 the excellent architecture and rich ornament that is so 
 specially characteristic of that interesting school. They are 
 almost suggestive of Crivelli in their eccentricity. Close to 
 them hangs another unnumbered picture, by another close 
 student of Leonardo, the always charming Boltraffio. There 
 are the patron and his wife who commissioned the picture, 
 and above them in the air the usual cherubs, but there is a 
 delightful feeling of devotion about the picture, and a 
 wonderful care in the painting of the velvet and details, 
 and, with all, a remarkable interest and sympathy in the 
 composition. 
 
 106 Ms, by Gaudenzio Ferrari need not long detain you. 
 It is, of course, decorative, but too strong in colour and over- 
 strained. 
 
 282 dis, is a good Sodoma, very characteristic of that lusci- 
 ous painter who was so unequal in his productions and only 
 occasionally rose to the highest rank. This is a very sweet 
 picture, perhaps a little over-sweet, but the action of the 
 Divine Child with the lamb is so charming and delightful 
 that much may be forgiven to a painter who could imagine
 
 MILANESE ART loi 
 
 and depict a scene such as this. The colours are very 
 transparent and Hmpid, producing a brilhant effect, and 
 the picture has another interest as representing the artist 
 at his very fullest Lombard period early in his career, long 
 before he had settled in Siena or derived any characteristics 
 from the men whom he afterwards met in other parts of Italy. 
 
 282 is the Madonna and Child surrounded by cherubs, by 
 Mantegna ; but 273 is a far more interesting work by this 
 same master, who is also well represented by a superb 
 **picture that hangs opposite to it, 264, St. Luke and 
 various saints. 
 
 We have not yet met with the works of Mantegna in our 
 survey, but when we come to Padua we shall see this artist 
 at his best, in the Church of the Eremitani. Perhaps it will 
 be well to cross the room and look first at the altar-piece 
 that came from the Church of St. Justina in Padua (264), as 
 it is the earliest piece of the artist's work in the gallery. 
 Notice the classic dignity of each figure ; strong, well 
 balanced on its feet, erect, with admirable draperies 
 easily flowing in voluminous folds around. Notice also 
 that with all this classic statuesque dignity, derived from 
 Squarcione, there is a surprising amount of care given to 
 the details, and yet, with all the minuteness of attention 
 given to them, they are never allowed to usurp the place 
 that belongs to effect and to make the picture niggling in 
 its character. The details of background will repay your 
 attention, and all the little items of the costume of each 
 saint, but after you have examined all, the impression of 
 that noble seated figure of St. Luke and the four standing- 
 saints that are around him will be the most lasting one 
 upon your mind. 
 
 Now back again to the other side, and you will see the 
 effect of the art of Mantegna when in its most severely 
 scientific mood. The **Dead Christ, 273, is one of the 
 most extraordinary works in this gallery. It is foreshorten- 
 ing carried out to its extreme logical issue, and was ap- 
 parently done as a /our deforce. It is quite a triumph, 
 perfectly accurate, conveying all the effect that is desired,
 
 I02 MILAN 
 
 and a work of most masterly skill. It is not pleasant, 
 nor is the treatment reverent, nor does it in any way 
 produce the emotion of devotion, or the sense of sadness 
 or sympathy, which such a picture should produce ; but it is 
 extraordinarily clever, and, being all in monochrome, the 
 eftect is the more striking. 
 
 262 is the first of the two pictures by Signorelli (262 and 
 281) in this room, and it is interesting to know that these 
 are the only two pictures by Signorelli that we are sure 
 were executed in his early days before his fortieth year. 
 Both came from Fabriano ; both are of the same size and 
 shape, and probably they both belonged to the same altar- 
 piece. There is much that is interesting about them. 
 Neither the Christ nor the Madonna possesses that grace 
 or dignity to which Signorelli afterwards attained. The 
 Christ is peculiarly ignoble, but the main characteristic of 
 each picture is the attention that the youthful artist has 
 given to anatomy, to the painting of flesh and to] the repre- 
 sentation of the effect and power of muscles. Both pictures 
 are broadly painted, firm, solid, and definite in their 
 modelling, and with well-massed shadows. 
 
 Between these two works hangs a good characteristic 
 picture by Borgognone, Virgin and Child with St. Clara 
 and a Carthusian (262 dis), very pallid in the faces. 
 
 Then we come to the chief picture in this room, the 
 Sposalizib by Raphael (270), signed and dated 1504. 
 
 Please dismiss from your mind when you are looking at 
 it that it was a reminiscence of his master Perugino's work, 
 the celebrated Sposalizio at Caen. That picture was not, I 
 contend, painted by Perugino at all, but was the work of 
 Lo Spagna, as I have tried to show in my book on Perugino. 
 Therefore, all the arguments as to the vast improvement 
 that the youthful Raphael executed in the idea started 
 by his master, and the manner in which he, adopting the 
 scheme of Perugino, transformed it into a work of the 
 highest genius, fall to the ground. The Caen picture was 
 painted long after this one, and was taken from it, rather 
 than itself deriving any influence from the one at Caen.
 
 MILANESE ART 103 
 
 Vasari himself says as to this very picture that " in this 
 work the process of excellence may be distinctly traced in 
 the manner of Raphael, which is here refined and greatly 
 surpasses that of Pietro Perugino." The surprising feature 
 about this fine work is the fact that it was painted by an 
 artist who was only twenty-one years old, and that its per- 
 spective is absolutely perfect. It is so simple, so judicious, 
 so refined, that it is difficult to speak too highly of the genius 
 of the man who at such a tender age produced it. Its 
 colouring is delightful, and the technical merit of the picture 
 is remarkably high, as can unfortunately be quite readily 
 seen by comparison with the numerous copies which are 
 always to be found in the same room with it, and which fall 
 so terribly short in merit from the triumphant success of 
 the original work. For grace, dreamy refinement, and 
 charm of colour, Raphael never excelled this early work. 
 Another work by Costa (328, Adoration of the Magi) next 
 meets our eye. Ferrarese, most complete in its archi- 
 tecture, and in the metallic stiffness of its draperies, and 
 strangely fantastic in the costumes, it is not so interesting a 
 work as we have already seen by this artist on the other 
 side of the room. 
 
 Then we come to the Bellini (261), a life-sized picture of 
 the Madonna and Child, quiet and peaceful and delightful 
 in its colouring, a very representative example of the artist's 
 best work. We have in the next room another work by 
 Giovanni Bellini (284), painted at the same period of his life 
 as this Madonna and Child, and it will be well to pass into 
 that room and look at the Pietk, whilst our minds are open 
 to remember the Madonna and Child. In these pictures, 
 Bellini, as Mr. Fry has said, has begun to free himself 
 from the Paduan influences that cramped him and has 
 begun to find his own personal scheme. The drapery falls 
 in large masses, and the picture is in full broad planes of 
 easy sweeping brush-work. This is not, however, the 
 essential side of the conception, and in the study of mere 
 technique we must not overlook the emotion of the picture. 
 It is very tender in each of these works. In the Pieta
 
 •A 
 
 104 MILAN 
 
 the sorrow is profound, but not a torrent of tears or a cry 
 of agony, but a sadness that is touching in its intensity ; 
 and in the Madonna there is a foreshadowing of this same 
 sadness, a deep thoughtfulness in the face of the Madonna, 
 an anticipation that ahnost extends to the features of the 
 Child, and which, combined with the quaint "flavour of 
 archaism, the suavity and the grace," of Belhni, that are 
 in these two works, " fully realised for the first time," unite 
 in the production of most fascinating pictures. 
 
 264 we have already mentioned. 
 
 A Correggio hangs next — an Adoration of the Kings — lent 
 by the Cardinal from the Arcivescovado ; a rich glowing 
 picture, full of movement and colour. 
 
 Then we come to the very attractive Luini **(265), the 
 finest, perhaps, that he ever painted in oil on panel, a 
 Madonna and Child with a beautiful background of roses. 
 It is a very pleasant picture, exquisitely finished and quite 
 charming in its grace, sweetness, and tenderness, and in 
 the wonderful motherliness that distinguishes the Madonna. 
 
 A very pictorial Carpaccio, 288, of St. Stephen Disputing 
 before the Synagogue, most carefully painted and marked 
 by all the artist's distinction and character, is next, and 
 then a fine restrained portrait by Titian, and we have 
 finished this wonderful room in which every picture is worth 
 study, and which contains not only the chief gems of the 
 Brera, but more works worthy of distinctive attention than 
 any other room in the galleries of Europe that I know. 
 Everything in this room is at such a high level of interest 
 that you may well spend many hours within its walls. 
 There are some interesting primitives in the vestibule 
 opposite, but we will pass into Room VI. 
 
 Room VI. 
 
 The Crivellis we have already seen, and also the Pietk 
 by Bellini, but we have two pictures to look at. 297 is the 
 late Bellini of the Madonna and Child painted near the 
 close of his career in 1 5 10. It is one of the latest of his works
 
 MILANESE ART 105 
 
 that we possess, and is marked by the greatest refinement, 
 delightful colouring, and marvellous grace both in attitude 
 and in expression. Near to it hangs a splendid work by 
 Cima (300), faulty only in the face of the child at the foot 
 of the throne. St. Peter is seated upon a throne wearing 
 full pontifical vestments, St. John the Baptist and St. Paul 
 stand near, and the child angel is at the base. The com- 
 position is that of the usual triangle, but not so stiff as 
 many of these arrangements are, as the two side figures 
 stand well away from the central throne. The colouring 
 is impressive, well modulated, and rich in effect, and the 
 picture is altogether one of the finest in the gallery, and 
 a fine example of the Venetian artist at his best. 
 
 Room VII. 
 
 Room VII. contains, in 306, one of the only three works 
 known by Francesco Verla of Vicenza, one of the followers 
 and probably a pupil of Squarcione. It is a signed and 
 dated work done in 1511, and represents a Madonna and 
 Child with two angels and two saints. Verla was only a 
 third-rate artist, but his ideas of colour were fine, and as 
 a scheme of colour the picture is worth noting, the contrast 
 of deep blue in the Virgin's mantle with its green lining 
 against the inner robe of gold and red, being particularly 
 effective. There are two other charming Carpaccios in this 
 room depicting two scenes from the legendary life of the 
 Virgin, her dedication and her marriage ; a little more formal 
 than usual, but replete with graceful work, telling the story 
 in a charming naive manner (307-9). A powerful work by 
 Paris Bordone (306 Ins), representing a man and woman, the 
 latter in a green costume, and three fine portraits by Lotto, full 
 of character, grandly drawn, and robed in sumptuous costumes 
 (253-4-5), complete all that is notable in this room. 
 
 Room VIII. 
 
 In the next Room, VIII., the important work is the 
 Annunciation by Francia, a delightful picture, which has,
 
 io6 MILAN 
 
 however, been very much cleaned. It is very quiet and 
 simple in its idea, full of delightful open space, and with a 
 charming landscape in the distance (334)- There is a 
 picture by the Ferrarese Dosso Dossi in the same room (333), 
 and some strong, powerful works by Guido, but there is 
 nothing else that need detain us. 
 
 Room IX. 
 
 Room IX. contains a sunny bright Rembrandt (449). 
 
 Room X., a good Rubens, and a noteworthy Van Dyck of 
 St. Anthony of Padua with the Madonna and Child, but you 
 do not come to Italy to learn about the Flemish masters. 
 
 In Room XI. you will find the later masters, Domenichino, 
 Parmigiano, and others, but I shall not advise you to spend 
 any time with them. The Crivelli in the Oggioni Gallery we 
 have already seen, and in this room there are some more 
 fine works by Luini. A Madonna and Child with St. Anna, 
 which you will examine as you leave the gallery, and then 
 we shall consider we have seen all the pictures that are 
 deserving of special attention in the Brera Gallery. 
 
 There are yet two more galleries to be seen in Milan, 
 which you must not miss, one of which, the Poldi-Pezzoli 
 Gallery is the most important gallery for Milanese pictures 
 in the city. It is in the Via Morone, a side street, which 
 connects the Corso Vittorio Emanuele with the Via Ales- 
 sandro Manzoni. As you leave the Brera you will walk 
 down the Via San Giuseppe into the Via Alessandro Manzoni, 
 cross the road, and turn down the Via Morone. It is not 
 more than eight minutes' walk from either the Duomo or 
 the Brera. The collection was formed by the late Cav. 
 Giacomo Poldi-Pezzoli, who bequeathed it to his native town, 
 and it is one of those choice collections of fine things that 
 could only have been brought together by a man of good 
 means and excellent taste. It has -jvts^ recently been re- 
 arranged by Dr. Gustavo Frizzoni, and the new catalogue is 
 not yet issued, and there are only hand lists in the various
 
 MILANESE ART 107 
 
 rooms to denote what the pictures are. The old catalogues, 
 which are still on sale, are useless save for reference, and 
 there is no guide-book which describes the rooms as they 
 are now arranged, so that I will give you a short guide to 
 each room without entering into full descriptions. I have 
 .added the old numbers to the pictures, in case you possess 
 one of the old catalogues and want to use it, or to refer to 
 other guide-books. 
 
 Room I. Fine Oriental carpets, tapestry, and one good 
 picture (50), Madonna and Child with three saints, by 
 Ippolito Costa of Mantua. 
 
 Room II. A portrait by Domenichino (56), of a Cardinal, 
 and some beautiful Oriental stuffs. 
 
 Room III. 
 
 A most lovely portrait by Piero della Francesca (21), quite 
 one of the greatest treasures in the gallery. Notice how 
 exquisitely the eye is painted, how lovely the hair is, and 
 Nvhat a perfect outline is given to the face. It is a simple 
 convincing likeness, and one of the most charming that can 
 be conceived. Authorities differ as to whether it was 
 painted by Piero, but I do not know of any other man who 
 could have produced so fine a portrait at the time that this 
 was painted. It represents the wife of Joannes de Bardi. 
 
 In the same room is a Botticelli (17), authentic, but very 
 much restored, representing the Madonna and Child ; and, 
 near the entrance, a fine work by Bocatis, which is worth 
 attention. 
 
 This room also contains some splendid china, both 
 Oriental, Dresden, Capodi Monti, Chelsea, Wedgewood, 
 Derby, Vienna, and Berlin, some remarkable bronzes, some 
 superb Oriental ware mounted in ormolu, and in a case in 
 the centre many examples of enamel, and notably two 
 enamel paxes, some specimens of niello-work of great rarity, 
 and the hood of a cope of very rich work.
 
 io8 MILAN 
 
 Room IV. 
 
 Room I V. contains the great Flemish altar-piece that is 
 one of the glories of the place, and which is attributed to 
 Quinton Matsys. The Annunciation is in the centre, and on 
 the right are four saints, St. Gregory, St. Anthony the 
 Abbot, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. John Baptist, and on 
 the left, the two St. Catherines, St. Francis, and St. Jerome. 
 Close to it hangs (24) a figure of a saint by Luca Signor- 
 elli, a fine figure, full of movement and swing ; beyond it is a 
 St. Catherine, by Borgognone, very pallid ; and then a charm- 
 ing little triptych, over which controversy has waged for some 
 time. It has been attributed to different persons in turn, but 
 now Dr. Frizzoni has pronounced it to belong to Mariotto 
 Bertinelli, and to have been painted in 1500. In the centre 
 is the Annunciation in grisaille, and on either side are St. 
 Catherine and St. Barbara. In this same room are some 
 early enamels, notably a twelfth-century chasse and cross, 
 and a thirteenth-century chasse and censer. There is also 
 some good Venetian glass. 
 
 First Picture Room. 
 
 We now enter the first picture room. 
 
 1. Madonna and Child, by Cesare Tamaroccio, the 
 only signed work knoA\'n to exist by this rare Bolognese 
 master (136). 
 
 2. Deposition from the Cross, by the school of Botti- 
 celli (35). 
 
 3. The Meeting of the \'irgin and Elizabeth, by Antonio 
 Pirri (140). 
 
 4. Not yet in position. 
 
 5. Madonna and Child with angels and saints, a Brescian 
 work that has been attributed to Moretto (142). 
 
 6. An Allegory, by Giulio Campi (48). 
 
 7. A Portrait of a Noble Youth, by Salviati (73). 
 
 8. St. Michael, by Moroni (44).
 
 ^f I LAN BSE ART 109 
 
 9. An unknown Florentine work, representing the Nativity, 
 signed 1501, Luce OPVS (75). 
 
 10. A very lovely Woman, by Palma (144). 
 
 11. A Young Man, by the school of Botticelli (62). 
 
 Room II. , 
 
 1. Samson and Delilah by the school of Michele da i 
 Verona (146), with a false signature of Carpaccio upon it. 
 
 2. St. Sebastian, by Antonio Pirri (67), signed. 
 
 3. St. Anthony of Padua, by Moroni (79). 
 
 4. Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, by the school of Lorenzo 
 Credi (97). 
 
 5. Madonna and Child with angels, by the school of 
 Verrocchio (64). 
 
 6. A Crucifixion, by an unknown artist of the sixteenth 
 century. 
 
 7. A Saint, by the Murano school (37). 
 
 8. Madonna and Child, by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (113). 
 
 9. A Pietk, by the school of Verona. 
 
 10. A Pietk, by the school of Filippo Lippi (148). 
 
 11. St. Apollonia, by the school of Murano. 
 
 12. Madonna enthroned with Child, by Vivarini ; notice 
 the rich raised work and the gorgeous Venetian colour- 
 
 ing (83). 
 
 13 and 14. Saints, by the school of Alurano (39 and 41). 
 
 15. An Annunciation, by Palmezzano. 
 
 16. A Hermit, by Stefano da Zenio. 
 
 17 and 18. Saints, by the school of Murano (40). 
 
 19. An Annunciation, by an unknown artist of the four- 
 teenth century. 
 
 20. The Crucifixion, a fourteenth-century work (132). 
 
 21. Madonna and Child enthroned with two saints. 
 Early Sienese work (143). 
 
 22. An Allegory of Charity, an interesting work, by 
 Cosimo Tura, or of his school (94). 
 
 23. A ver)' dignified Figure of a Friar, by Fra Barto- 
 lomeo (131).
 
 no MILAN 
 
 24. St. Anthony of Padua, by Francia, a charming little 
 work (114). 
 
 25. A Saint, by Cosimo Tura. 
 
 26. A Madonna and Child with two angels, by Perugino. 
 
 Room III.— Venetian Work. 
 
 1. Portrait of a Venetian Senator, by Vittore Carpaccio 
 (127). 
 
 2. St. Bernardino of Siena, by a Paduan artist (76), 
 
 3. Madonna enthroned with the Divine Child, by Fogo- 
 lino (93). 
 
 4. Portrait of a Man, by Cordegliaghi. 
 
 5. Portrait of a Gentleman, by Girolamo da Santa Croce, 
 a pupil of Bellini (18). 
 
 6. A very Giorgionesque work, by Carriani, representing 
 Madonna and Child with saint (133). 
 
 7. Madonna and Child, by the school of Domenico Moroni 
 (108). 
 
 8. A Sick Person visited by a Physician, by Bonifacio (99). 
 
 9. Madonna and Child, St. John Baptist, and a Prophet, 
 by Lorenzo Lotto (86). 
 
 10. St. Jerome, by Montagna (98). 
 
 11. St. Paul, by the same artist (100). 
 
 12. The Flagellation of Our Lord, by an unknown artist 
 of the sixteenth century (107). 
 
 13. Madonna seated, being crowned by two angels, and 
 holding the Divine Child, cherubs playing on various 
 instruments near by, by Alvise Vivarini (i47)- 
 
 14. .\ touching pathetic Piet.H, by Giovanni Bellini, signed 
 
 (149)- 
 
 15. Head of a Youthful Saint, by Cima. 
 
 16. The Blood of Christ received by St. Francis, by Carlo 
 Crivelli (20). 
 
 17. St. Sebastian, by the same artist (78). 
 
 18. A Piet<\, by an early Muranese artist, possibly 
 Vivarini (22). 
 
 19. The Madonna, by Montagna (122).
 
 MILANESE ART lu 
 
 20. The Head of a Saint, by Bonsignori (i 1 1). 
 
 21. Portrait of a Man, by the same artist {77). 
 
 Room IV.— Lombard Work. 
 
 A^.B. — This is the most important room for you. 
 
 1. St. John Baptist, by Solario. 
 
 2. Ecce Homo, a very sad picture, by Andrea Solario 
 (106). 
 
 3. St. Anthony the Abbot, by the same artist. 
 
 4. Madonna and Child, by Bernardino da Conti, or the 
 Umbrian school (112). 
 
 5. Madonna and Child with two angels, by Borgognone, 
 unmistakable from the gold background and the very pallid 
 faces (121). 
 
 6. A stern portrait of Francesco Brivio, by .Ambrogio de' 
 Predis (19). 
 
 7. Madonna and Child, by Boltraffio, a very attractive 
 work (109). 
 
 8. A hard statuesque Madonna and Child, by Foppa, very 
 characteristic (31). 
 
 9. St. Sebastian, by Marco da Oggiono, quite without 
 feeling (124). 
 
 10. A Holy Family with two angels, by Andrea Salaino 
 ' 1 23). 
 
 11. The Nativity, a fifteenth-century Lombard work, by 
 an unknown man (92). 
 
 12. Madonna and Child, in the manner of Gaudenzio 
 Ferrari. 
 
 1 3. The Madonna, by Gian Petrino. On the reverse of 
 this is another work — A Lesson in Geometry (84 /n's). 
 
 14. The Appearance of the Madonna to Ludovico il Moro, 
 Milanese fifteenth-century work. 
 
 1 5. Virgin and Child with saint, by Gaudenzio Ferrari. 
 
 16. Virgin and Child, by the same artist. 
 
 17. St. Jerome, a youthful work by Luini (85). 
 
 18. St. John the Baptist, by Andrea Solario, signed, and 
 dated 1499, a fragment of a larger work (26).
 
 ,12 MILAN 
 
 19. Madonna and Child, by Borgognone (134). 
 
 20. The Rest in Egypt (signed Andreas de Solario 
 Mediolanensis anno 1515), by Andrea Solario (130). 
 
 21. The Annunciation, a Lombard work by an un- 
 known master (91). 
 
 22. St. Catherine with her Wheel, by Andrea Solario (29). 
 
 23. Madonna and Child, by the same Artist (128). 
 
 24. Christ with the Cross and the Madonna, by Luini, a 
 very fine work (125). 
 
 25. A Madonna, by Boltraffic 
 
 26. St. Stephen, by an unknown Lombard artist (129). 
 
 27. St. Jerome, by the same (120). 
 
 28. The Marriage of St. Catherine, a delightful work, by 
 Luini (16). 
 
 29. Not yet in position. 
 
 30. St. Anthony of Padua, by an unknown Lombard artist 
 
 (135). 
 
 31. St. Ambrose, by the same (119). 
 
 32. Madonna and Child with a lamb, by that noted copyist 
 of the ideas of Leonardo da Vinci, Cesare da Sesto (138). 
 
 33 and 34. Four Doctors of the Church, by the Lombard 
 school (i 37-1 41). 
 
 35. Tobit and the Angel, by a follower or pupil of Luini. 
 The original drawing from which this is done is in the 
 Ambrosiana (84). 
 
 In a room by the entrance are five rugged works by 
 Tiepolo, which are interesting ; six by Guardi, a portrait by 
 Ribera the Spaniard, four other Spanish works, and two 
 curious reliefs in plaster. 
 
 The Ambrosiana, which I have already mentioned, is 
 almost the only important sight that we have left to see in 
 Milan. 
 
 It is a Library and picture gallery, which was founded in 
 1609 by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, who was Archbishop 
 of Milan. It is open every day, but on Wednesdays the 
 pictures can be seen without fee. The Library is a very 
 important one, and contains a good collection of ancient
 
 MILANESE ART 113 
 
 works, including some of unusual rarity and value, in all 
 nearly 200,000 in number. It is open to the use of scholars, 
 and every courtesy is shown to those who come from a 
 distance and desire to consult its treasures. The librarians 
 are men of learning and culture and take the greatest 
 pains to assist all who make use of the Library, but it is 
 essentially a place for scholars, and to the general reader or 
 casual student is of no service. 
 
 In printed books of the fifteenth century it is wonderfully 
 rich, and contains perfect copies of many works which can 
 be consulted in other libraries in Europe only in an im- 
 perfect condition. 
 
 One of its greatest features is its collection of ancient 
 manuscripts, especially some which go back to the seventh 
 and eighth centuries, and are written in early Celtic char- 
 acters in Gaelic and in Erse. Besides these there is a 
 great collection of Palimpsests— ancient MSS. upon vellum 
 from which the characters of an earlier MS. have been 
 partly effaced, and from which many important fragments 
 of the Classics have been published. Here also can be 
 seen one of the volumes containing the drawings of Leonardo 
 da V'inci, the remaining thirteen volumes of the series 
 having been stolen by the French and retained in Paris 
 after the treaty of peace. 
 
 The autograph letters from Ariosto, Tasso, Galileo, 
 Petrarch, and Lucrezia Borgia are of interest to those who 
 care for these things, but the most important sight to be 
 seen on the ground floor of the building is the Sala della 
 Santa Corona, which contains the great **fresco by Luini. 
 
 You will enter this hall from one of the Library passages 
 and the fresco covers the entire end of the' room. It was 
 painted for the Confraternity of the Holy Crown, a 
 charitable society which still exists in Milan, although under 
 altered form, and which met regularly in this room for its 
 consultations and to discuss the arrangements to be made 
 for relieving the sick poor, which was one of the chief con- 
 cerns of the Confraternity. In order that the symbol of 
 the Order might be always kept in view and the members 
 
 H
 
 114 MILAN 
 
 might remember and strive to imitate the humility, patience, 
 and compassion of the Redeemer, this fresco was painted 
 in 1 522, and Luini never did a more impressive work. 
 
 It is a magnificent devotional picture, and the central 
 figure, placed upon a regal height, is indescribably fine. 
 The fresco is divided into three parts, which are separated 
 by crown-wreathed pillars supporting the roof under which 
 the dread tragedy is being enacted. In the centre is the 
 majestic figure of the Redeemer seated upon a throne 
 raised above three steps. His hands are bound, He is 
 crowned with a terrible crown of thorns, and His face is 
 that of a patient, dignified sufferer content to endure the 
 pain and cruelty that He may open the door of the king- 
 dom. Around Him is a crowd of violent and merciless 
 executioners, who are striking Him, jeering at Him, and 
 insulting Him in every way. Above are wondering angels, 
 overwhelmed with sorrow and unable to understand the 
 meaning of this most mysterious scene of suffering. The 
 other two compartments of the picture beyond the dividing 
 columns have each in the foreground six kneeling figures 
 of men, probably important office-bearers in the Confra- 
 ternity in the time of the donors of the work. Their faces 
 are full of dignity and power ; it is quite evident that they are 
 all portraits, and they are masterly in conception, in beauty, 
 and in strength. These twelve figures are really so grand, 
 that unfortunately they take away the attention from the 
 central figure on the throne. Above these kneeling figures 
 are other groups, St. John the Divine pointing out the 
 scene to Our Lady, and on the left, other figures drawing 
 attention to the tragedy that is transpiring. Above each 
 group hangs the crown of thorns, beyond is a hilly land- 
 scape, and at the very back is a cavern in which St. Peter 
 is depicted kneeling. Above the fresco are the words, 
 CAPVT REGIS GLORIAE SPINIS CORONATVR. 
 
 Upstairs are the pictures of which there is no catalogue. 
 
 Rooms I. and II. contain engravings only
 
 MILANESE ART 115 
 
 Room III. 
 
 Room III. has three notable works. 
 
 54. A Borgognone of the Madonna and Child with four 
 donors and four female saints. The grouping is remarkably 
 good, and the gold background and pallid countenances very 
 characteristic. 
 
 Near it is a little Francia representing the Almighty 
 Father, and near to that is a work, ascribed to Botticelli, of 
 Madonna, Infant Christ, and Angels, of extraordinary power 
 and beauty, which I am quite disposed to accept as a genuine 
 work by the master himself. 
 
 In the little room leading out of this room and in the one 
 beyond it there is nothing that need detain us. 
 
 Room IV. 
 
 The next room contains a great treasure, the Cartoon, 
 by Raphael, for his "School of Athens" in the Vatican, 
 a very interesting work in black chalk on grey paper. It 
 should be compared by you with a good photograph of the 
 finished fresco in order that the changes made by the artist 
 may be recognised. They are not very many in number, 
 but are of the greatest importance, as in almost each instance 
 they take the form of additions to the original idea, and 
 such additions as greatly improved the scheme of the artist. 
 Four figures are added to the original drawing, and in every 
 case greatly to its advantage. 
 
 In this room there are also some interesting pictures. 
 '■^28 1 is the Holy Family, by Luini, which is the only work 
 done by that artist that can be said to be a copy of the work 
 of Leonardo da Vinci. This picture is evidently taken from 
 the cartoon by Leonardo that now hangs in the Royal 
 Academy in London, but Luini has added the figure of 
 St. Joseph to the group in order to prevent its being a copy 
 of another man's work, and has in this way somewhat im- 
 proved the balance of the composition. 
 
 ^283 is a^very lovely Luini, a half-length figure of Christ
 
 ii6 MILAN 
 
 ■V <? .-/ 
 clad in a wfette robe, and having His hand upraised in the 
 
 attitude of benediction. His hair is long and curly, and 
 
 falls on to His shoulders. 
 
 **284 is an exceedingly sweet picture, but very much 
 damaged. It is one of Luini's most attractive works, and 
 represents St. John the Baptist playing with a lamb, and 
 leaning his head against the body of the lamb^ m^^'^ *Zru.»^- 
 
 272 is an interesting work by Bramantino. 
 
 269 is a Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist 
 which is ascribed to Luini, but a part of which only is the 
 work of the master, and the remainder is the work of some 
 pupil. 
 
 261 is by Boltraffio, and is of two lovely heads. 
 
 262 is an important drawing by Gaudenzio Ferrari. 
 
 263, a drawing by Luini, and then on the other side or 
 the door is the original drawing in Indian ink, heightened 
 ■ with white, for the picture of Tobit and his father and the 
 angel, which we saw in the Poldi-Pezzoli Gallery. This 
 drawing is certainly by Luini, but the picture is not his work. 
 An interesting Presentation by Tiepolo near by, and a fine 
 Bassano deserve attention, and on two stands are some 
 admirable drawings by Leonardo. The next room is 
 full of drawings by various masters, but I have no means 
 of telling you about them as they are not grouped or 
 numbered, and there is no catalogue of them. They 
 will all repay attention, and amongst them you will find 
 a lovely one by Mantegna, a part of the Triumph of 
 Caesar, and several by the Lombard artists, including 
 beside Luini, Cesare da Sesto, Boltraffio, and Bernardino 
 dei Conti. 
 
 If you have time it is worth while going on a Tuesday 
 or Friday afternoon (the only times when the palace is 
 open to visitors) to the Palazzo Borromeo, close behind 
 the Ambrosiana, as the building is interesting and some 
 of the pictures that it contains are important. It is the 
 only remaining example in Italy of the Italian-Gothic palaces 
 that once abounded in the city, and it is interesting as
 
 MILANESE ART 117 
 
 having belonged to the family by whom it was built in 1444 
 down to the present time. 
 
 In a room on the ground floor are some very curious 
 frescoes belonging to the early sixteenth century, depict- 
 ing games and other diversions, and upstairs are the 
 pictures. The most notable are those by Luini, who was 
 largely employed by the Borromeo family, but they are 
 in poor condition and are not well seen, and with them 
 there are several works by his pupils which should be 
 separated out and put into another place. The rooms 
 are full of curious odds and ends, some fine things and 
 a good deal of rubbish, but there is no attempt at arrange- 
 ment, and, in fact, the rooms are just as they have been 
 filled by the family in the course of many years, and are 
 only shown to the public as an act of grace, by reason of 
 their possessing certain fine works which interest students. 
 The house is occupied by the family, and it is an old 
 retainer who is in charge of the rooms and keeps them 
 dusted, and to whom it is well to give a small gratuity, 
 although there is no charge for admission. 
 
 155. A fresco of the head of the Madonna is the only 
 work by Luini, in the first room, but 51 is a Lombard 
 work ; 60 and 89, a Madonna and a Holy Family, are 
 very Luinesque in character, and might if more carefully 
 examined in a good light after the present accumulation 
 of dirt had been removed from them, turn out to be genuine 
 works by that master. 18 is by Rubens, and 156 is a 
 good Venetian picture. 
 
 In Room II., 25, *Madonna and Child ; 47, *Salome bear- 
 ing the Head of St. John the Baptist, and 68 (which stands 
 out in the room), Susanna and the Elders, are all by Luini, 
 and deserve attention. The Susanna is a very fine work, 
 and the head of the old bearded man by the tree is 
 supposed to be that of Luini himself. 
 
 ** 36 is a very lovely small work by Pinturrichio, signed 
 and dated 141 4, having the same border to it which appears 
 upon the famous frescoes in the Library at Siena. 
 
 39. The Marriage at Cana is attributed to Mantegna, and
 
 u8 MILAN 
 
 is a delightful picture. 41 is a Virgin and Child, by Bor- 
 gognone, and near by are some other pieces of what has 
 evidently been in its time a complete altar-piece. 72 is 
 by Boltraffio. 
 
 The third room contains a good many drawings, but 
 none of them are of supreme importance. There are also 
 some autograph letters from artists, including Rubens, 
 Guido, Poussin, Vasari, and Borgognone, which might, 
 if examined, yield some important information as to the 
 lives and history of these great men. 
 
 F. EXCURSIONS 
 
 There are many excursions that you can take in the 
 neighbourhood of Milan, if you have time to spare, but there 
 is one that you are bound to take ere you leave for another 
 town. The Certosa of Pavia is so superlatively fine that 
 to miss it would be a very serious error, and one which I 
 beg you will not make. 
 
 You can, if you like, go to Saronno, and see some very 
 fine work by Luini and Gaudenzio Ferrari, and if you have 
 time the excursion is one well worth taking. There is only 
 one church to visit, and it is close to the railway station, 
 and in a morning you can go to Saronno, see the church, 
 and return by midday. The church is called the Santuario 
 della Vergine and is an effective, handsome building. 
 The interior of the cupola is decorated by Gaudenzio, 
 and the subject is the heavenly host playing upon various 
 instruments. It is a grand conception, worthily carried out, 
 and Ferrari is seen at his very best in this work. The 
 colouring is rich and fine and the composition is superb. 
 
 Near to the choir are four splendid ** frescoes by Luini 
 representing the Marriage of Joseph and Mary, Christ Dis- 
 puting with the Doctors, the Presentation in the Temple, 
 and the Adoration of the Magi. 
 
 Below the drum of the dome are two fine figures of St. 
 Roch and St. Sebastian, and in the apse of the choir are
 
 EXCURSIONS 119 
 
 two standing figures of St. Apollonia and St. Catherine, 
 whilst outside, in the passage leading to the priests' house, is 
 one of the very loveliest things that the artist ever did— a 
 ** lunette depicting the Nativity. 
 
 These frescoes will delight you, as they are specially 
 fine and are in excellent condition, and to see them the time 
 is well spent, as they are works of the highest merit. 
 
 If you wish to see the finest work of all that Luini did 
 you must go out another morning to Legnano and see 
 the ** altar-piece in the parish church. Choose a bright 
 day, as the picture is not well hung and can only be seen 
 sideways ; and as the church is not an easy one to find, call 
 first at the Caffe Mantegazza, close to the station, and you 
 will find a most courteous proprietor who speaks English 
 and who will send some one with you to show you the way. 
 The church is only a few minutes' walk from the station, and 
 on your return you cannot do better than have some lunch 
 at the Mantegazza house and inspect the delightful museum 
 that Signor Mantegazza has, with infinite care, brought 
 together in one of his rooms, and which contains many 
 treasures which he has rescued from destruction, and which 
 have important bearings upon the history of his little 
 town. 
 
 The altar-piece is a large panel depicting the Madonna 
 and Child, surrounded with smaller ones on which are 
 painted figures of saints, and framed in by a large lunette 
 at the top depicting the Almighty Father, and by a predella 
 at the base of nine panels wrought with most wonderful 
 skill. The whole picture is of rare beauty, certainly the best 
 work painted by that fascinating artist, and yet one which is 
 very seldom visited and deserves to be much better known. 
 You can see it and return to Milan in the afternoon quite 
 easily. 
 
 Another excursion is to the Cistercian monastery of 
 Chiaravalle, a splendid example of Lombard architecture, 
 standing close to the station of the same name, and having 
 within its church a great fresco by Luini, of much beauty,
 
 no MILAN 
 
 some splendid stalls, and some very fine tombs. If the 
 trains serve, you can see this church on your Avay to the 
 Certosa and then continue your journey ; or, if you are going 
 to Lodi or to Piacenza, you can take it on the way and see 
 it between two trains. 
 
 Whatever you see, howe\'er, do not lea^'e unseen the 
 Certosa di Pavia. You had better go to the Certosa station 
 by rail, or, if the weather is fine, you can go from Milan all 
 the way by steam tram from the Porta Ticinese. Arrived there 
 you can Avalk to the monastery in fifteen minutes, or you can 
 take a carriage for a very small sum at the station, as there are 
 sure to be some vehicles in M-aiting. (Do not go on to 
 Pavia station, but get out at the Certosa station.) You 
 will arrive at the most splendid monasteiy in the world, and 
 cannot fail to be delighted with what you see. 
 
 The monastery is now a public monument under the 
 care of the Government, and the monks have been driven 
 out of their lovely home, and you will therefore be escorted 
 round the building by an official guide, who will point out 
 to you the chief objects of interest. The building was 
 founded in 1396, by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, as an atone- 
 ment or penance for the imprisonment and murder of the 
 infamous Barnabo Visconti, of whom I have already told 
 you. Gian Galeazzo, you will remember, dethroned Barnabo, 
 whose tomb you saw in the Castello, imprisoned him, and 
 eventually put him to death, and he was then ordered by 
 the Church, as an act of expiation, to found a monastery, and 
 he determined that it should be as sumptuous as he could 
 make it. He is himself buried within its walls, and you will 
 see his tomb. Visconti and those who succeeded him spared 
 no pains to make the building as fine as it could possibly be 
 and employed all the artists of Lombardy upon its decora- 
 tion. There is not space enough in this book for a full 
 description of the building, and you will do well to buy the 
 admirable little book that Signor Beltrami has written 
 about it and peruse that \\'hen you ha\'e been round the 
 place. The west front was the -work of Giovanni Omodeo,
 
 EXCURSIONS 121 
 
 but is said to have been done from the designs of Borgognone. 
 The reliefs on the entrance doorway are well worth examina- 
 tion, as they depict the foundation of the house, the granting 
 of the charter by Pope Alexander III., the consecration 
 of the building, and the funeral of the founder in 1433. 
 Passing through this splendid door, you enter the famous 
 church. The guide starts on the left side in his progress 
 round the church, taking you from chapel to chapel. In the 
 second chapel once hung the splendid altar-piece by Perugino 
 that is now at the National Gallery, and in place of it there 
 are now copies of the original pictures in the centre and two 
 side wings. The panel in the centre of the upper row, 
 representing the Almighty Father holding a globe, is, how- 
 ever, original, and is the only piece left of the altar-piece in 
 the chapel. The four doctors that are now^ on either side 
 are by Borgognone. 
 
 In the sixth chapel on this same side is a fine * altar-piece 
 of St. Ambrose with other saints, by Borgognone ; an ex- 
 cellent work of fine colour and characteristic pallid faces. •• ; 
 
 You will notice in each chapel as you pass what splendid 
 marble was used, and how exquisitely each altar was inlaid 
 with pietra-dura work, and how \ery fine and costly are the 
 columns of marble that adorn the sides of the altars. Each 
 chapel has a good picture as its altar-piece, but I have only 
 drawn attention to the two important ones. 
 
 Coming out then from this series of chapels, we enter the 
 transept, and in front of us is the * tomb of Ludovico il 
 More, and his wife Beatrice d'Este. The effigy of Beatrice 
 was ordered by her husband in 1497, when she died in 
 Milan, and was designed, it is said, by Solario, and although 
 she was buried in this church, the monument was set up in 
 the Chuich of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, with the decoration of 
 which Ludovico was so intimately concerned. In 1508, 
 Ludovico died and his efifigy was added to the tomb, but 
 the whole was not removed to the Certosa till 1564. It 
 is a splendid tomb, and in the richest manner of the 
 Renaissance. Near it are two fine candelabra, and above 
 in the apse is a splendid fresco by Bramantino.
 
 122 MILAN 
 
 At the opposite end is the *tomb of the founder, Q-ian 
 Galeazzo, and this also had a curious history. 
 
 Gian Galeazzo died near Milan, and was buried in the 
 Cathedral in that city in 1402. In 1442 his body was 
 removed to the Certosa, but no tomb was set up over it and 
 the present monument was not commenced until 1490, and 
 not completed till 1 562. By this time all knowledge of the 
 position of the grave had perished, and, therefore, when the 
 tomb was actually erected in the Certosa, there was no 
 tradition as to where the grave of the great founder really 
 was, and the tomb was placed in the transept as a suitable 
 position for it. 
 
 The monument is an extremely rich one, having a superb 
 canopy over the recumbent statue, and upon it six reliefs 
 representing the most noteworthy events in the life of the 
 ruler. 
 
 Close by the tomb, in the vault of the apse, is another 
 
 '^' fresco, by Eorgognone, as in the opposite apse, and this 
 
 one represents Gian Galeazzo kneeling, and surrounded 
 
 by his children, offering to the Madonna the completed 
 
 church. 
 
 The Old Sacristy and the New Sacristy are close at 
 hand, and both rooms are entered by very fine doors, over 
 which are wonderful reliefs. In the New Sacristy there is a 
 * Luini of St. Martin dividing his Cloak with the Beggar, 
 which is over the door ; and in the Old Sacristy is a paint- 
 ■ ing of St. Augustine by Borgognone. The choir which is 
 between, is entered by splendid doors, which are worth ex- 
 amination, and which are covered with reliefs depicting the 
 chief events of the life of St. Bruno. The choir itself is most 
 gorgeous, the reliefs on the walls, the rich carving in marble 
 all around, the superb carved altar rails, the bronze cande- 
 labra, all being of glorious beauty, the seated children in the 
 screen, and the bronze work that surrounds them being 
 specially wonderful. Over the altar is a splendid tabernacle, 
 and close to it some magnificent stained glass is to be 
 noticed. The intarsia work in the stalls of the choir must 
 not be overlooked.
 
 EXCURSIONS 123 
 
 The Lavatory contains a grand fountain that, Hke every- 
 thing else in this treasure-house, is of rare beauty, and 
 opposite to it is another work by Luini, a dehghtful and 
 very attractive Madonna and Child. The service-books that 
 are exposed to view in the New Sacristx' must not be over- 
 looked, as many of them contain most lovely miniatures, and 
 richly decorated borders of great beaut)'. The little cloister, 
 called the Chiostro della Fontana from the splendid terra- 
 cotta fountain that stands on one side, opens out of the 
 cloister, and is of fascinating beauty. It is composed of 
 fifty round arches, and on the terra-cotta frieze above them 
 are children playing upon musical instruments. The door- 
 way by which we enter is a masterpiece of carving in 
 marble. 
 
 From this cloister we pass into the Refectory, with its 
 fine woodwork and a superb cornice round the room. 
 
 Thence we pass the door of the Library, into which 
 visitors are not admitted without a special order, and on 
 into the G-reat Cloister, around which are the tiny separate 
 houses in each of which dwelt all alone a Carthusian monk. 
 The **Great Cloister is of brick, and is unequalled in Italy, 
 the moulding of the brickwork being of the greatest beauty, 
 and the view of the church seen from this cloister very fine. 
 There is an exquisite door that leads from it into a pergola, 
 and on all hands are to be seen evidence of the determina- 
 tion of those who built this monastery that everything was 
 to be an object of beauty. Even the knockers of bronze 
 that adorn the doors are beautiful, and when we return into 
 the church and have passed down the other series of chapels 
 and can walk up the nave, the *great metal screen will be 
 found to be not the least wonderful of all the works of art in 
 the church. The combination of bronze, iron, and brass of 
 which it is composed, makes it a magnificent object, and 
 seldom did metal work produce so grand or so rich an 
 effect. 
 
 As we return down that second series of chapels on the 
 right of the entrance, a lovely fresco of a Madonna and 
 Child will be noticed over the door by which we enter,
 
 124 MILAN 
 
 that is, the one nearest to the high altar, and on the other 
 side of the same door a similar fresco of St. Catherine of 
 Siena, both the work of BorgOgnone. In the next chapel 
 (sixth), in which is a picture by Guercino, the pietra-dura 
 altar front is specially well worth attention. In the fifth 
 chapel is another fine work by BorgOgnone, who can 
 really be better studied in this Certosa than in any other 
 building, representing St. Sirus, the first Bishop of Pavia, 
 enthroned with St. Stephen, St. Lawrence, and two bishops, 
 and inscribed, Sanctus Sirus Primus Epis. et Patronus Papie. 
 In the next chapel, the fourth, is a very lovely **altar- 
 piece by the same great master, representing the Cruci- 
 fixion and the Maries standing at the foot of the Cross, and 
 with many angels around. This is signed and dated 1490, 
 and is perhaps the finest altar-piece in Certosa. The second 
 chapel has an altar-piece in which his hand is again to be 
 seen. The central part of the picture is by a rare and most 
 interesting master, Macrino d'Alba, a man of little imagina- 
 tion, who can onl\' be properly studied either in his native 
 town of Alba or in the gallery in Turin. 
 
 This is his earliest altar-piece known, and is dated 1496, 
 but the Resurrection above it and the Evangelists at the 
 wings are the work of BorgOgnone. 
 
 And now we are back at the place at which we started, 
 and as we leave the Certosa have time to look again at the 
 porch, and admire the wonderful beauty of the West front, 
 and then stroll back to the station, obtaining some lunch 
 if we need it rather at the inn near to the station than at 
 the expensive restaurant close to the Certosa, and then back 
 to Milan, arranging to leave the following morning for 
 Verona.
 
 3 , t-5 
 
 VERONA 
 
 A. INTRODUCTORY 
 
 THE main feature about Verona is its tombs. In no 
 other Italian town can be found such a magnificent 
 series of grand tombs, mostly standing out of doors, 
 as in this delightful city. Not only the rulers, but the nobility 
 and the wealthy traders of Verona were all determined to 
 have superb monuments, erecting them in many cases during 
 their own lives, and devoting to them all the genius and 
 thought and skill that in other cities were given to the 
 erection of churches, or to the painting of pictures, or to 
 decoration. The group of Scaliger tombs that we shall see 
 in this city is quite unrivalled in beauty in Europe, while 
 even more lovely is the Castelfranco tomb at St. Anastasia's 
 Church, which is in its way the most perfect monument in 
 Italy. 
 
 This is the main feature of the art of Verona, and we shall 
 notice expressions of it wherever we go in the city, and in 
 nowhere else save in Bologna shall we see this love of fine 
 out-of-door monuments carried to the extent that it is here. 
 The next thing to notice in Verona is that its position is so 
 fine, so surprisingly strong, and so placed as regards the 
 Alps that the city has always been a fortified place from 
 Roman times down to the present, and that it has had 
 several successive series of fortifications built for it, the 
 marks of which still remain. We shall be able to trace its 
 history by means of these fortifications easily, and then, 
 lastly, we shall find in Verona churches built of brick that 
 are quite unrivalled, and which have given an importance to 
 
 las
 
 126 VERONA 
 
 the city in all books of architecture, and which draw students 
 to admire it from all parts of the world. We have, there- 
 fore, plenty to see in this place and must be prepared not to 
 hurry over our sight-seeing, but to do it leisurely and well. 
 
 B. ROMAN VERONA 
 
 First of all as to its Roman history, and to visit the ** Arena 
 its greatest Roman monument. As you enter the city in 
 the omnibus you will not fail to see this great Amphitheatre, 
 which you are bound to pass on your way into the town. It 
 is a most impressive erection, perhaps more so than the one 
 in Rome, by reason of the perfect condition of its interior. 
 Great care has been from quite early times bestowed upon 
 it, and it has been the duty and the pride of each chief 
 magistrate, from the thirteenth century downwards, to spend 
 some money upon this splendid old ruin, keeping it in as 
 good condition as time would permit. The outer part was 
 much injured on two occasions by earthquakes, and of the 
 external arches only four out of seventy-two remain, but the 
 inner circle is complete. The most imposing view of the 
 building is to be obtained from the roof of a neighbouring 
 house, when the vast extent of the erection can be appreciated, 
 but as you will probably not have the pleasure of this sight, 
 the next best thing is to enter it and walk all around it from 
 the top tier of seats. It is nearly one-third of a mile round, 
 but the only way to appreciate this distance is to walk it. It 
 will hold 23,000 persons, and when full, must have been 
 most imposing in appearance. I am not given to details 
 in the way of figures in this book, as those can be found in 
 other guides, but I think it is needful to mention these to 
 you that you may adequately understand the magnificent 
 proportions of the place. Let your companion go down into 
 the middle of the floor space and then regard him from your 
 position on the top and you will see how vast is the depth 
 of the great building, and yet mark how easily, how well, 
 every person could see the spectacle without obstructing
 
 ROMAN VERONA 127 
 
 in any way any one else and how quickly the whole place 
 could have been filled or emptied of its spectators by 
 the sixty-four entrances to it. If it happens to be one of 
 the occasions of public rejoicing when you are in Verona 
 you will probably see the old Arena full of people, as at 
 times it is still used in the summer or early autumn for 
 exhibitions of feats of horsemanship, or for spectacular dis- 
 plays, and on those occasions the very rare treat is to be 
 welcomed of seeing an Arena as it used to look in times long 
 past when crowded with a demonstrative audience. You 
 will, however, be able to realise in your own mind, even 
 when it is empty, the look of the place when the Roman 
 Emperor or his representative sat in state, and when gladia- 
 torial conflicts took place within its walls, and when the wild 
 beasts were allowed to attack the defenceless Christian 
 martyrs in this very spot. 
 
 After remaining for some time within these stately walls, 
 pondering over their history and the greatness of the nation 
 that built them, I want you to go right to the other side of 
 city to see the remains of a *Roman theatre that have 
 been discovered. Ask for the Ponte Pietra, which is an 
 important bridge in the bend of the river Adige which flows 
 all around the city, and then, crossing this bridge, turn off" 
 to the right for two minutes' walk, asking for the Teatro 
 Antico. You will be sure to see a boy who will gladly, for a 
 penny, fetch the good woman who has charge of this ruin, 
 and she will show it to you. There are two portions of it 
 to be seen, and therefore when she has shown you one, 
 do not go away as if you had seen all, but follow her to 
 another door not far off and then underneath the houses 
 you will see a more important part of the building that has 
 quite recently been uncovered. Altogether there is not 
 a great deal to be seen, but some of the rows of seats, part 
 of the stage and a room behind, also a portion of what is 
 supposed to have been a family box, as it still bears the 
 name of its owner over its arch; can be seen. It is interest- 
 ing to notice the canals by which the water for nautical 
 shows was introduced, and to see the corridors which ran
 
 128 VERONA 
 
 beneath the rows of stone seats. The theatre is set in the 
 side of a hill and much of it was excavated out of the 
 rock, and the natural formation of the hill was skilfully 
 used in planning the building. For years all trace of the 
 existence of this place was lost, and it was re-discovered 
 through the energy of a Veronese antiquary, who expended 
 a considerable sum some thirty-five years ago upon buying 
 and pulling down the houses that covered the site and in 
 digging out all that can be seen of what must have been in 
 its time a very important theatre. 
 
 From these ruins I want you to retrace your steps and go 
 back into the town, not visiting the churches that are so 
 close to you on this side of the river, but coming back to 
 inspect some more remains of Roman work, not forgetting 
 however, as you recross the river, to notice how beautiful 
 the city looks from that bridge, and how splendidly you can 
 see the fine architecture of the great Church of St. Anastasia 
 that stands out on the opposite side of the stream. Back 
 we come into the Corso Cavour down which runs the 
 tramway, and then crossing the street we shall see at the 
 entrance to the Piazza Borsari the archway or Porta that I 
 have brought you to see. We are now looking at /ater 
 Roman work, executed in the time of the Emperor Gallienus, 
 about 264, and forming part of the fortifications that I have 
 told you the Romans built around this city. This is the 
 chief entrance gate on those fortifications, and at one time 
 it had upon it in large bronze letters an inscription com- 
 memorating the tyrant who caused it to be erected. The 
 letters are gone long ago, but from the marks they left 
 behind them the inscription has been read. The arch is a 
 double one and curiously unlike in its architecture the plain 
 stiff dignity that marked purer Roman work. This one 
 has pediments over the archways, and similar ones higher 
 up over the smaller arches that adorn the upper part, but it 
 is an impressive grim old arch standing to face the world. 
 It will be well to notice marked upon it a date, September 
 17, 1882, which date you will get accustomed to seeing in
 
 ROMAN VERONA 129 
 
 many parts of the city, even inside the churches. It marks 
 the highest point reached by the waters of the Adige on the 
 occasion of the greatest flood that has ever happened in 
 the history of the city ; on which occasion, owing to the river 
 being choked with ice, the water spread all over the city to 
 this terrible height and did a vast amount of injury to 
 buildings and caused much suffering and distress. Jump in 
 now to the tram as it passes you and in two minutes you 
 will be in the Via Leoni, and at the corner of a side street 
 you will find the remains of one more Roman archway, the 
 Porta Leoni, with a Corinthian column on either side of it, 
 and above them three windows with pilasters. 
 
 We shall see other Roman remains in the museum, but 
 for the present this is all that we shall inspect-of that period. 
 Following the Roman came the Goths, and beyond the 
 river we can find the remains still of the huge walls built 
 by Theodoric, in triple courses of brick and stone, 
 which are now covered by the more ornamental walls built 
 upon them by the Scaligeri, who crowned them with the 
 forked battlements that can be seen from all parts of the city 
 and on all sides. These walls and battlements you will 
 see better when you take a carriage from Hotel Europa, as I 
 most strongly recommend you to do after the galleries close, 
 say at 4.30, and drive out around the city high up above the 
 rivei-, passing out of the place by a great gate called the 
 Porta San Giorgio, and driving for a while along by the 
 tram line that goes to Trento, and then returning towards 
 the Castel San Pietro up to the Castel San Felice, and 
 right on towards the Porta Vescovo and so into the city. 
 The Castel San Pietro that you will see is part of the 
 palace of Theodoric, and the Roman style of its building 
 will be noticed. The other Castel that lies so much 
 higher and commands the whole district is part of a much 
 later system of protection invented and built by the great 
 architect Sanmicheli, of whom I shall have more to say 
 later on.
 
 I30 VERONA 
 
 C. VERONA UNDER THE SCAUGERI 
 
 I want you now to give some attention to the story of 
 the city in mediaeval times, and it will be well therefore 
 if we go briefly over the history of the place together 
 ere we set out again for a walk through its streets. This 
 history is very much connected with the great family of 
 the Scaligeri, an old Veronese family dating back to 
 the eleventh century. The city was, of course, originally 
 Lombard, but it fell under the sway, in the thirteenth century, 
 of a cruel despot, named Ezzelino da Romano, and it was his 
 cruelty to certain members of the Scaligeri that brought 
 them into notice. Ezzelino died in 1259 ; and in 1260 the 
 people of Verona resolved again to be free, and raised 
 Mastino della Scala to the position of Capitano del Popolo 
 He was the head at that time of his family, which was 
 reckoned as one of the chief aristocratic ones in Verona, and 
 he had been serving against his will in the army of the 
 tyrant. He ruled over Verona for fifteen years and then 
 was murdered by the members of a conspiracy formed from 
 those who hated him, ^md who gave as their excuse for the 
 deed his unwillingness to bring to justice a man who had 
 offended them. So little was their excuse accepted by the 
 \'eronese that the place where the foul deed was done was 
 at the time and is still down to the present day called 
 "volta barbara." Mastino was succeeded by his brother 
 Alberto I., who had for some previous years ruled in 
 Mantua, and who was a peace-loving and enlightened ruler. 
 In his time the rule that was temporarily placed on the 
 shoulders of Mastino was given over to the Scaligeri family 
 in a much more complete fashion, as the chroniclers record 
 that the words of the people to Alberto were, "Viva Alberto 
 assoluto oggi e per sempre ! " Alberto ruled from 1277 to 
 1 301, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Bartolommeo, 
 who died in 1304. Upon the death of Bartolommeo the 
 second son, Alboino, came to the throne, and he surrendered 
 up his power as Capitano del Popolo to the Emperor of the
 
 VERONA UNDER THE SCALIGERI 131 
 
 Holy Roman Empire in token of his supremacy, and re- 
 ceived it back, granted to him and his descendants, as Vicar 
 for the Emperor Henry VH. Alboino was a man of poor 
 heahh, and he associated with himself on the throne his 
 brother, a much more powerful man, Francesco, who was 
 styled joint Vicar for the Emperor with Alboino. In 131 1 this 
 Francesco, called, for some unknown reason, Can Grande 
 (the Great Dog), succeeded to the entire rule, owing to the 
 death of his brother, Alboino, and he ruled till 1329 in the 
 most brilliant manner. He was succeeded by his nephew, 
 Alberto II., who lived but one year ; and then came 
 Mastino XL, who died in 1351. Following him came Can 
 Grande II., who was murdered in 1359, and was suc- 
 ceeded by his brother. Can Signorio, who died in his turn in 
 1375 ; and then followed a time of confusion, and in 1389 
 Gian Galeazzo, as we have already seen, captured Verona. 
 At his death it fell into the hands of the ruler of Padua, 
 Francesco H. di Carrara, and in 1404 both cities were 
 taken by the Venetians and remained associated with the 
 Republic of Venice down to the time of its fall in 1797, 
 when it was overthrown by Napoleon. 
 
 We have in Verona, therefore, to do with a regular 
 succession of rulers of one family, lasting from 1259 to 
 1389, and covering the time of the greatest prosperity 
 of the place. Francesco, who was called Can Grande, 
 was the greatest of these rulers, and his court was 
 one of the most magnificent in Italy. Dante was received 
 by him, and in that way he has rendered his name 
 ever famous. Mastino II. was at one time in his life an 
 equally popular and wealthy sovereign, as his sway was felt 
 from Lucca to Vicenza and Padua, and as far also as Parma, 
 but he went into warfare against the Visconti and lost much 
 of his possessions. Can Grande II. and Can Signorio were 
 successful monarchs, and again Verona took a high position 
 and the arts received attention, and the city was beautified ; 
 but then followed the time of confusion and the glory of the 
 Scaligeri was over for ever. Let me now take you round to 
 the little out-of-doors cemetery in which these great rulers
 
 132 VERONA 
 
 lie buried. We will pass into the central piazza of the city, 
 the picturesque Piazza delle Erbe, cross it to the Palazzo 
 del Ragione, and pass by the Via Costa into the Piazza dei 
 Signori. Here lived the Scaligeri in the palaces that 
 surround the square. Their chief seat was what is now 
 called the Palazzo del Consiglio, and in that building is the 
 family chapel. On the S. side are two other buildings, 
 now called the Tribuna and the Prefettura, built as palaces 
 by Mastino and Alberto, but now used for civic purposes, the 
 chief part having been adapted as a prison. 
 
 The Via Arche will take us to the **tombs which 
 stand close to the little Church of Sta. Maria Antica, 
 which was the family burying-place for the Scaligeri, and 
 within whose walls they had worshipped for generations. 
 Notice all around the tombs a fine railing of iron trellis- 
 work, in which is conspicuous the Scala or ladder, the 
 family badge. It is all buckled together and is therefore 
 not rigid, but can be moved by the hands and is extremely 
 fine wrought-iron work. To enter the enclosure we have 
 to pay a small fee, and then have an opportunity of looking 
 around at this singular assemblage of tombs. In the corner 
 as we go in, on the left, is the double effigy of Mastino II., 
 the ruler being represented on horseback on the summit of 
 the pyramid, and recumbent in death below. Next to it are 
 three tombs in a row, Can Grande II., Alboino I., and 
 Bartolommeo. Then in the far corner is the splendid tomb 
 of Can Signorio. Away to the right in the open courtyard 
 is the tomb of Alberto, nearer the church that of Mastino 
 I., then higher up Alberto II. also called Giovanni, and 
 over the door of the church is the sarcophagus of Can 
 G-rande I. This last tomb is also a double one, like the one 
 we first saw, but the sarcophagus rests upon huge figures 
 of dogs from whom he had his strange sobriquet, and who 
 are represented by the sculptor as supporting the shield 
 on which are the ladders. Mark the dignity of the horse- 
 man on the right, high up on the apex, and also the beauty of 
 the carving on the archway and cusps o\er the recumbent
 
 VERONA UNDER THE SCALIGERI 133 
 
 figure. Having gone all round and noticed this great group 
 of rulers buried in the midst of their people in the full sight 
 of all who were to serve under their successors, return for a 
 while to the tomb of Can Signorio over in the corner of the 
 courtyard. It is one of the finest things that the fourteenth 
 century produced in its later and more florid period, and 
 was the work of Bonino da Campiglione, whose name can 
 be read in the inscription above the two E. columns, in 
 which he records the fact that he was not only the designer 
 of the stately pile but also the sculptor who carved it. 
 Notice upon the square pilasters, the figures of the warrior 
 saints, St. Quirinus, St. Valentine, St. Martin, St. George, 
 St. Sigismond, and St. Louis, and above them are the 
 figures of the Virtues, Faith, Prudence, Charity, Hope, 
 Justice, and Fortitude, while above all is the equestrian 
 figure of the ruler himself, and in the midst, recumbent upon 
 his sarcophagus, appears the same man still in death. 
 
 Mark very specially the beauty of the iron railing that 
 surrounds the whole, and upon which is to be seen in all 
 directions the symbolic ladder. Having examined these 
 tombs, let me recommend you to walk down the Via 
 Sottoria, which is by the side of the church, to the Church 
 of Sta. Anastasia, which is close by, and stands by the 
 river, and then ere you enter it stop and look up on the 
 left, and over the entrance to a courtyard by the side of the 
 church, you will see the most perfect **monument in Verona, 
 the one which Ruskin, with pardonable enthusiasm, calls 
 "the most perfect Gothic monument in the world — pure and 
 lovely, my most beloved throughout all the length and 
 breadth of Italy — chief as I think among all the sepulchral 
 marbles of a land of mourning." 
 
 It is far older than the florid piece of work to which we 
 have just been giving attention, as it belongs to 1320, and 
 was erected to the memory of Guglielmo da Castelfranco, 
 the friend and close adviser of Can Grande, and a generous 
 helper in the decoration of the neighbouring church. It is 
 severely plain in its design, but charming in its perfect 
 truth and accuracy and in the balance and proportion of all
 
 134 VERONA 
 
 its details. From the platform which rests upon brackets 
 supporting it on the summit of the wall rise four fine 
 columns of white marble surmounted with decorated heads, 
 and beneath them is the red marble sarcophagus standing 
 on the backs of two couchant lions, on the top of which 
 is the recumbent effigy of the celebrated lawyer. Rising 
 from these four columns, is the simple canopy, a Gothic 
 arch richly cusped, on which is a pediment and pyramid all 
 decorated slightly with carving in the most perfect taste. 
 The structure of the whole erection is clearly revealed, and 
 the four columns are steadied, as Ruskin points out, by bars 
 of iron, which form a part of the original design, and are 
 delicately wrought all along their surface with a charming 
 running pattern. The great simplicity of the whole of this 
 monument may not permit all its beauties to be revealed at 
 once, but stand still, look it all over with your field-glasses, 
 and tell me where it is possible to improve it in any respect^ 
 or where it is possible to remove an item from its decoration 
 without spoiling the whole, and then the more you gaze the 
 more you will appreciate the subtle beauties of this most 
 exquisite work. There are three other fine tombs of the 
 same family within the little courtyard, but there is nothing 
 in Italy which you will see that in its way will equal the beauty 
 of this monument, which reveals the hand of an artist of the 
 highest merit, albeit his name has perished and only his 
 work remains. 
 
 D. THE CHURCHES OF VERONA 
 
 Now, to begin our study of the churches of Verona and to 
 understand their architecture, we must commence with the 
 * * Church of San Zeno, which is situated right at the opposite 
 end of Verona to where we are now standing. The church 
 is on the extreme edge of the city, and if we are pressed for 
 time, we had better drive to it, as it will take us quite half- 
 an-hour to walk, but if we walk, then the better way is to go 
 riglit down the street opposite to Sta. Anastasia, which is
 
 THE CHURCHES OF VERONA 135 
 
 the Corso Cavour, through the Borsari gate, on past the 
 Castel Vecchio, and turn round by the river and follow its 
 course, till we see the great campanile of the church before 
 us, and then turn off to the left to it. The church is a 
 twelfth-century one, and is in practically its original condi- 
 tion. The entrance doors are even older, and the bronze 
 reliefs, which are not beaten work but cast, are about the 
 oldest things of their kind in the country. They are attri- 
 buted to the ninth century, and represent in the very 
 boldest and most archaic manner scenes from the Old 
 Testament. There are forty-eight of them fixed to the 
 massive doors, and they are interesting as the very begin- 
 nings of an art that was destined to have such a future. 
 Now look up at the front, and you will see that the portal is 
 richly sculptured with various scenes. The one over the 
 door is said to represent the deputation sent to St. Zeno by 
 the Emperor Gallienus, and all around are various scenes 
 from Bible history each explained by some short verses 
 carved underneath it. 
 
 On the top of the door-posts are represented the twelve 
 months, and on one of the side panels underneath the first 
 set of scenes on the right is the well-known representation 
 of the Emperor Theodoric riding headlong, as a wild hunts- 
 man, to the devil. The ingenious craftsman who is respon- 
 sible for all this work in 11 40 has left his name in the 
 carvings, and we still read, " Salvet in eternum qui sculpsit 
 ista Guglielmus," as in the bronze castings just named we 
 find the maker's name, Figarolo, recorded with the same 
 prayer. 
 
 Now let us enter the church and find a building so simple, 
 so good, so mysterious, that we are at once attracted by its 
 beauty. We step down into this splendid nave, and look 
 right up to the raised choir with its curious screen, along the 
 front of which are a row of figures of the Twelve Apostles 
 sculptured in the fourteenth century. In the centre is the 
 wide flight of steps stretching down into the crypt, and on 
 either side of it are the two smaller flights which lead up to 
 the choir itself.
 
 !36 VERONA 
 
 The chief object to be seen in the nave is the huge Coppa 
 di San Zeno, an enormous cup of porphyry measuring nearly 
 fourteen feet across, and said to have originally stood outside 
 and have been used for washing the feet of the pilgrims who 
 came to the shrine. The local legend relates that the devil 
 brought it as an offering to San Zeno, and, not obtaining his 
 desire from the saint, attempted to carry it back, but was 
 prevented from so doing by the orders of the Bishop and 
 had to leave his treasure behind. It is a very grand piece 
 of porphyry, and is doubtless of great antiquity. Having 
 looked at it, and noticed the altar-piece by Torbido, a some- 
 what crowded arrangement with fat plump figures on the 
 first altar to the right, let us walk up the nave and descend 
 into the cr)'pt ere we go to the choir, as I want you to 
 notice how curiously the columns which support its roof are 
 carried right up through the roof on either side and form 
 piers in the choir above. Many of the columns have remains 
 of fresco upon them and are worth attention. At the very 
 end is the modern shrine of San Zeno, surrounded by a 
 railing which was erected in the fourteenth century, and 
 which, like the railing around the Scaliger tombs which we 
 have just seen, is not rigid, but is buckled together quite 
 loosely, so that it gives to the hand and can be shaken to 
 and fro. It is most skilfully made and should be examined. 
 
 Ascending from the crypt we climb the steps and find our- 
 selves in the choir. The statue of the patron saint in marble 
 on the right is a very venerable one, going back to the ninth 
 century, and having the special peculiarity that the saint, 
 who was a fisherman, is so represented, and has a fish of 
 silvered wood at the end of his rod. On the opposite side is 
 a statue of St. Proculus, a piece of fourteenth-century work, 
 and of about the same date are the quaint frescoes that can 
 be seen over the arches of the choir and elsewhere. The 
 fine picture that hangs to the right of the choir is an 
 important work by Mantegna, depicting the Madonna and 
 Child with angels and eight saints. The architectural 
 work, the flowers, and the fruits are all most characteristic, 
 and with the strangely complicated draperies clearly mark
 
 THE CHURCHES OF VERONA 137 
 
 the work of Mantegna, amongst whose pictures this one 
 holds a very important place. The predella pictures are 
 copies. The carving on some of the capitals is worth notice, 
 and was done by the same sculptor who left his name on 
 his work in the crypt — Adamius. 
 
 We will now turn and leave this delightful old church, 
 specially representative of the Middle Ages, and the more 
 impressive as it is built of an arrangement of delightful yellow 
 stone, brick, and marble, characteristic of the buildings of 
 Verona, which we shall notice in almost every church as 
 we walk about the city. Here we specially mark it, as we 
 have not seen this method of building before. The frame- 
 work of the rose window and the quaint colonnade in the 
 centre of the west front are, you will notice, of marble. 
 
 Pass now outside the church and turn down the little 
 passage by the left into the Cloisters, which are of remark- 
 able beauty and were built in the twelfth century. Notice 
 how curiously the twin columns that surround them are joined 
 at the top and bottom by a short horizontal piece of marble, 
 which was not attached but was part of the original block 
 of marble, and carefully left by the carver as he formed the 
 columns, increasing his labour considerably in order to show 
 his skill and leave a quaint feature which adds to the ap- 
 pearance of the united columns. In many cases this little 
 attachment has been broken away, but it will be found in 
 a great many places round the cloister. Away on the side 
 opposite to the one on which we enter is a sort of room in 
 the arcading, supported upon columns of different diameter 
 and having at its ends columns of quite large size united, 
 as are the others, by this same sort of tongue. This place 
 originally held a large bowl or trough containing water 
 at which the monks could wash, and it seems likely that it 
 was raised above the ground and perhaps approached by 
 steps as the columns denote the existence of some vessel of 
 great weight that needed strength to support it. There are 
 some fine tombs in this cloister, two close to one another in 
 the SE. angle, having upon them the ladder, the crest of the 
 Scaligeri, and containing the remains of certain important
 
 138 VERONA 
 
 members of that family, one of whom was prior of the Con- 
 vent of San Zeno. In this cloister you will also find a small 
 chapel in which are some interesting remains of carved 
 stone-work from the neighbouring church. The adjoining 
 Campanile is one of the finest in Italy, a most stately tower, 
 ha\ing near to the top a double gallery of arches and sur- 
 mounting that a spire with four corner turrets. It stands 
 quite alone, in the manner of the Veronese campaniles, and 
 gives great dignity to the church. On the opposite side is 
 a quaint brick tower, which was a part of the monastery 
 that adjoined the church, but originally belonged to an 
 important dwelling that tradition says was the palace of 
 King Pepin, the son of Charlemagne. It is crowned with 
 the Ghibeline swallow-tailed battlements, which are to be 
 seen all around Verona, and is said to have been the first 
 building that had these ornaments and from which all the 
 others derived them. 
 
 When we leave San Zeno, if we are to pursue our examina- 
 tion of the churches in any thing like chronological order, 
 we ought to go right away to the extreme other side of the 
 city, cross the Adige, and visit San Stefano ; or else we should, 
 if on that side of the river, see that venerable church first ere 
 we come to San Zeno. But to walk or drive backwards and 
 forwards is not, under ordinary circumstances, a wise thing 
 to do, and means the waste of a great deal of time, and as 
 we are near to an interesting church and shall not have 
 occasion to come into this part of the city again, it will be 
 well if we go from San Zeno to San Bernardino before 
 we return into the city. 
 
 If, therefore, we cross the piazza to the Via San Giuseppe, 
 cross that street, and continue down the Via Lungo San 
 Bernardino, we shall arrive in a very few minutes at the 
 church that we seek, and shall enter into a small cloister in 
 which is a door that will admit us into the church. I f the 
 cloister is closed, as is sometimes the case, then ring the 
 bell and a monk will admit you and will open the church. 
 We have now left the venerable days behind, and are in a 
 fifteenth century building, of which the chief sight is the
 
 THE CHURCHES OF VERONA 139 
 
 **Capella Pellegrini, the work of the great Veronese 
 architect, Sanmicheli. The custode will open it for us, 
 and we can enter this lovely little circular chapel. It is 
 rather a mental strain to so suddenly leave the solemn 
 mysterious grandeur of San Zeno and jump to the stern 
 refined beauty of this classical building, but I think if you 
 will sit down and look round the building you will not fail 
 to admire it. It is considered to be one of the most beauti- 
 ful examples that can be found of pure classical ornamenta- 
 tion, and although not absolutely perfect, as the purists in 
 architecture will tell us, yet it is very nearly so, and contains 
 much refinement of treatment with pediments, pilasters, 
 mouldings, and cornices which are all of the Corinthian order 
 of exquisite grace and delicacy. Notice the decreasing 
 squares in the dome, all in such perfect proportion, the 
 shells above the recesses, the spiral work on the columns, and 
 the well-planned entrance doorway and the cornice over it. 
 Sanmicheli was one of the great men of Verona and an 
 undoubted genius. He was mainly a military architect and, 
 as I have already stated, was responsible for the later forti- 
 fications of the city, and we shall also see his work in some 
 of the palaces and bridges of the place ; but he never executed 
 anything finer or more characteristic of his great love of 
 classical detail than this little chapel, square on the outside 
 and circular within, upon which he bestowed the very best 
 of his skill. 
 
 The chief of his work is in Verona, but some of his build- 
 ings are to be seen in Venice, a fine church in Orvieto, and 
 fortifications as far afield as Corfu, Cyprus, and Crete. 
 
 We will now retrace our steps towards the city, as in this 
 church there is nothing else that need detain us unless we 
 are particularly interested in the painting of the Brescian 
 Morone, whose work we can see at the fourth and fifth 
 chapels and near to the choir arch ; but as we enter Verona 
 we ought to notice the finest of the gates that Sanmicheli 
 erected— the Porta Palio. 
 
 We can walk from San Bernardino by the fortifications 
 and come to this fine gate, an ingenious example of the
 
 I40 VERONA 
 
 combination of the beauty of Corinthian architecture with 
 the needs of miUtary fortification. We then go straight 
 down the Via Porta Palio to the Castel Vecchio, a grand 
 fourteenth-century fortress built by Can Grande II., of 
 which the exterior only remains in original condition. 
 There is no need for you to enter the building as all the 
 interior has been adapted to modern use, but you will do 
 well to stay and admire the impressive exterior, " noble and 
 picturesque," as it has been well called, and adorned with 
 those great swallow-tailed battlements of which I have 
 before spoken. 
 
 On our way back to Hotel Europa we shall pass several of 
 the palaces that Sanmicheli designed for the great Veronese 
 families. They are not now, as a rule, occupied by the 
 families for whom they were built, and some of them are 
 degraded into the position of stores or cut up for small 
 dwellings, but they retain their old names, and their fronts 
 well illustrate the variety and skill of the great architect who 
 designed them. We shall pass three of them in the Corso 
 Cavour : the Palazzo Bevilacqua, with a row of busts over 
 the windows and spiral columns between the windows over 
 the balcony. This is on the right, and opposite to it is the 
 Palazzo Canossa with a row of statues on the roof; and 
 almost next the Palazzo Portalupi, which is a good example 
 of Ionic design. 
 
 I want now to take you over the river to see the little 
 * Church of San Stefano, which, as the original cathedral, 
 ought to be seen before we enter the present cathedral, and 
 which in some ways might have been our starting-point 
 in our survey of the churches of Verona. We cross the 
 Ponte Pietra, the same bridge as we crossed on our way to 
 the Roman theatre, but turn in the opposite direction to the 
 theatre— that is, to the left— and in a minute are in front of the 
 church. It is sure to be locked, as few persons visit it, but 
 a boy will fetch the old woman who has the key. 
 
 The appearance of the church will recall San Zeno, but 
 it is plainer and more archaic. The crypt is said to have an 
 antiquity taking it back to the eighth century, and the church
 
 THE CHURCHES OF VERONA 141 
 
 was certainly founded over an older one in the eleventh 
 century, and part of the architecture is of that date. The 
 round arches in the crypt reveal their great age, and the 
 curious frescoes that adorn them belong evidently to the 
 period before the twelfth century. 
 
 The feature of the church is, however, the choir, which 
 will be found of quite unusual construction, and posses- 
 sing in it the throne for the bishop, and beyond the choir 
 is yet another older choir forming part of the original 
 church and also decorated with frescoes. More than 
 twenty of the bishops of Verona lie buried in this church, 
 and from an architectural point of view, it will be found to 
 be not only one of the most interesting, but certainly one 
 of the most puzzling in its complication of choirs. 
 
 Perhaps, as we are close to it, we may as well walk on 
 and see San Giorgio in Braida, a church which stands close 
 to the Porta San Giorgio, and which is again the work of 
 Sanmicheli. We saw his work after leaving San Zeno, and 
 therefore it will not be serious if, after leaving San Stefano 
 we again change the current of our thoughts by looking 
 at his classical dome. The Church of San Giorgio is a 
 good example of his florid style, not nearly so fine as the 
 Capella Pellegrini and not nearly so pure in style, but very 
 effective. 
 
 There are some good pictures in the church. The Tinto- 
 retto over the door you cannot see, it is hung too high and 
 the light is impossible ; but the altar-piece is a fine work 
 of Paolo Veronese, very decorative and effective. It is not, 
 however, entirely the work of the master, but was finished 
 by his pupils, and is therefore very unequal in its merit. 
 There is a beautiful Moretto to be seen over the fifth altar 
 to the left, and the work of his rival Romanino, which has 
 been divided into two parts, near the organ, representing 
 the Martyrdom of St. George. The great Veronese artist, 
 who began as a miniaturist, Grirolamo da Libri, can also 
 be studied in the church. At the fourth altar on the left and 
 over the fourth to the right, is an important work by one of 
 his pupils, Brusasorci.
 
 142 VERONA 
 
 In the Girolamo da Libri the three angel faces are of 
 exquisite beauty ; two of them are singing, and the third is 
 playing on a lute. 
 
 Now we will return over the Ponte Pietra, or over the 
 Ponte Garibaldi if, after looking at San Giorgio, we have 
 wandered on a few steps to the Porta San Giorgio and 
 passed through it ; and by either bridge we reach in five 
 minutes the Duomo. 
 
 It will at once remind us of San Zeno, and very much of 
 it belongs to the same date as that church, notably the 
 porch at which we make our first stop. There are the same 
 two sets of columns resting upon the backs of mystic 
 animals — in this case griffins ; and over the entrance and 
 around are reliefs as we saw in San Zeno, but not so fine or 
 so interesting. On the porch appear the two strange figures 
 of the warrior guards of Charlemagne, well known as the 
 Paladins Roland and Oliver in story and legend, the one 
 armed with a sword and the other with a mace. These 
 were carved, so the inscription states, in 1135. 
 
 The feature of the interior is the curved marble screen, 
 with its stately colonnade surmounted with a splendid cruci- 
 fix in bronze, by Gian Battista da Verona. The marble 
 screen was designed, as no doubt you will have realised, by 
 Sanmicheli, and is a charming example of his refined work. 
 On the right of it is the tomb of St. Agatha, a Gothic 
 monument dated 1350, which in the sixteenth century was 
 enclosed in a lovely Renaissance framework. 
 
 There are some pictures which are worthy of notice. An 
 Adoration of the Kings, by Liberale da Verona, on the 
 second altar to the right ; and in the first to the left, a cele- 
 brated Assumption, by Titian, which was considered worthy 
 to be carried off in the beginning of the century to Paris, 
 and was later on restored to the church. The most im- 
 portant thing in this cathedral, after the delightful classical 
 screen, is the font, and that occupies a separate building- 
 attached to the main one. There is a passage leading to 
 it on the left of the choir, and the custodian will take you 
 into what is termed the Church of San Giovanni in Fonte,
 
 THE CHURCHES OF VERONA 143 
 
 where will be found the enormous **font, a huge block of 
 reddish-yellow \'erona marble, covered on the exterior with 
 delightful Lombard twelfth century reliefs depicting the 
 early life of Our Lord. It will be well for you to walk 
 round this font and carefully examine all the reliefs upon it, 
 commencing with the Annunciation and completing the 
 series with the Baptism, as they abound |in quaint humour 
 and tell their stories in a charming naive manner. In the 
 centre of the huge font, evidently intended for the immersion 
 of a considerable number of persons, is a smaller quatrefoil- 
 shaped enclosure, also of marble, in which the officiating 
 priest stands and which he enters, as the attendant will 
 most graphically describe to you, by a set of steps and a 
 movable platform which extends over the larger font. 
 There is a chapel to the right in this church which is covered 
 with rich fresco-work, and is worth mention. Now come 
 outside and look at the cloisters which, like those we have 
 already seen, are composed of columns in pairs, but not 
 arranged quite as those at San Zeno are, in this case the 
 bases and capitals of each pair of columns being united. Each 
 pair is, however, cut out of a single piece of marble as we 
 saw the others were ; and on one side of the cloister the 
 beautiful arcading is double. Notice also ere you leave 
 the place the remains of a fine mosaic pavement which 
 has been discovered, and which you can look down upon 
 from one place where it is exposed. It is, of course, Roman 
 work, but whether it belonged to some thermae or to a 
 temple cannot yet be determined. 
 
 Now for Santa Anastasia, which we passed by before we 
 went to San Zeno, and which we must now visit. We pass 
 round the Duomo by the Church of the Font, and pass the 
 Archbisliop's Palace, entering for a moment into the front 
 court of that palace in order that we may see the rear part of 
 the Duomo and San Giovanni in Fonte, which look remarkably 
 picturesque from that garden. In the Archbishop's Chapel 
 there are some pictures by Liberale, but I have never been 
 fortunate enough to see them, as on each of the occasions on 
 which I have been at the place the chapel has been in use
 
 144 VERONA 
 
 for service, and, as it is small, I have preferred not to go in 
 to see the pictures. You may be more fortunate than I have 
 been, and if so, I shall be glad to hear your opinion as to 
 these works. In some ways Liberale is the most interesting 
 artist in the school of Verona and we shall remember his 
 picture of St. Sebastian in the Brera, in which the back- 
 ground is a scene in Venice with its palaces and canals, and 
 in which we noticed the people taking so keen an interest in 
 the spectacle. Follow the Via del Duomo and it will bring 
 us right to the church that we seek. 
 
 The *main doorway is of extreme loveliness, and the 
 brickwork of all the exterior is of special beauty, the mould- 
 ings worked in brick, and the rich decoration on the fa9ade 
 in the same material, making the church notable even in 
 this city of fine brick and marble churches. The interior 
 is notable for its scheme of decoration, much of which, espe- 
 cially about the vaulting, is contemporary with the building. 
 Probably at one time it was entirely covered with fresco 
 decoration, sufficient of which still remains to give a fine 
 effect and to suggest how superb must have been the original 
 appearance. Note the curious fact that no gold is used in 
 this interior decoration. Another important feature of this 
 church is to be noticed at the second and third cliapels on 
 the right, which will be found surrounded by very rich carving 
 in stone and marble. The designs of these arches which 
 frame in the altars are splendid, and include living creatures 
 such as lizards, frogs, tortoises, birds, and flies, all set in the 
 midst of fine flowing arabesque work, and sculptured in the 
 most perfect manner, so deeply undercut as to stand out in 
 quite wonderful relief 
 
 As you enter you will not fail to be attracted by the 
 grotesque humpbacked figures that bear the holy-water 
 StoupSj one of which, that on the right, was carved by Ales- 
 sandro Rossi, father of the humpbacked (Gobbino) painter, 
 and the other by the father of Paolo Veronese— Gabriele 
 Caliari. 
 
 In the second chapel on the right are some very early 
 frescoes by that interesting Veronese artist, Altichieri,
 
 THE CHURCHES OF VERONA 145 
 
 representing Knights of the CavaUi family kneeHng before 
 the Virgin, in which the horse (Cavallo) stands as a sort of 
 rebus on the family name ; but as we shall see more of this 
 artist's work at Padua, I will defer any comments upon him 
 until we reach that place. 
 
 The terra-cotta reliefs in this church merit attention. 
 
 The Ji///t altar on the righf^ the one facing down the 
 church, contains a curious coloured piece of terra cotta, repre- 
 senting the Entombment, in which the anguish of the faces 
 is particularly well presented. In this same chapel there is 
 a good piece of quaint iron-work in the form of a lamp. 
 
 Other terra-cotta reliefs are to be found in the Capella 
 Pellegrini on the left, and are fifteenth-century work depict- 
 ing the life of Our Lord. 
 
 Of the pictures in this church, the most noteworthy is the 
 *"fresco by Pisanello which is over the arch of this Capella 
 Pellegrini, and which is unfortunately not in good condition 
 and too high up to be properly seen and appreciated, but as 
 a good work of the great medallist, whose influence was so 
 important and so far reaching, it deserves attention. 
 
 In the right transept is a fine work by Girolamo dei 
 Libri, representing the Virgin with St. Thomas Aquinas and 
 St. Augustine, a Dominican friar, and the two donors of the 
 picture. It is a very architectural work with pointed arches, 
 and the painting of the marble mosaic and wreaths is very 
 characteristic of the master at the middle of his career. In 
 the fourth chapel on the left is a Descent of the Holy Ghost, 
 by Giolfino, a dark, rich, noble work ; and on the second on 
 the left is another picture by the same painter of St. George 
 and St. Erasmus, somewhat cold and stiff. Notice the 
 donor of the work peeping over the altar. Mark the delightful 
 pavement in this church of red, white, and grey marble, and 
 the great variety of its designs and patterns. 
 
 K
 
 146 VERONA 
 
 E. THE ART OF VERONA 
 
 It may be well perhaps, on leaving Sta. Anastasia, to go to 
 the * * Picture Gallery instead of continuing our walk round 
 the churches, as we have already seen certain pictures in 
 the churches that we have visited and possibly have not any 
 very clear idea as to the school of Verona and its chief men, 
 and a visit to the little Pinacoteca will enable us to arrange 
 our ideas in clearer form and to study the characteristic 
 features of each artist. To reach it we pass over the Ponte 
 Navi, which is the bridge over which the tram-line goes, and, 
 in fact, the tram will take us to the very door of the Palazzo 
 Pompei in which is the collection of pictures. It is just the 
 other side of the river, a minute's walk to the right on cross- 
 ing the bridge, and the palace is a good building built by 
 Sanmicheli and bequeathed by its last owner, Count Pompei, 
 to the city as a picture gallery. The lower part of the 
 building is what is termed rustic-work, and is plain, rough 
 squared stone-work, which by its simplicity affords a pleas- 
 ing foundation for the elaborate Doric work which is over it. 
 Before we enter the gallery it will be well if I give you 
 a short note on the Veronese painters. I need not refer to 
 the very earliest men, the painters in fresco, whose archaic 
 works we have seen in the crypt of San Zeno and in San 
 Stefano, but will begin with the work of the second half of 
 the fourteenth century in which first we see the influence 
 of Giotto in the paintings of Altichieri and Avanzi or 
 Avanzo. We have just seen frescoes by Altichieri, and, as 
 I have already stated, we shall find more and better work 
 by him in Padua. It is not easy to distinguish the work of 
 the two artists as they were together in almost every im- 
 portant scheme of decoration, and their characteristics have 
 not yet received the close attention at the hand of an expert 
 to enable the part that each friend took in the fresco to be 
 determined. They were, of course, influenced or inspired 
 by Giotto, whose work was in their time the subject of much 
 attention, and whose frescoes in the Arena chapel they must
 
 THE ART OF VERONA 147 
 
 have closely studied ; but, as Layard points out, they must not 
 be taken as followers or pupils of Giotto, as they preserved 
 their Veronese character in the deeper, fuller colouring, 
 brighter in tone and more sparkling than Giotto's, and in 
 the more solid forms that they depicted, less idealised than 
 those of Giotto and with more roundness and bulk. In 
 their hands dramatic energy began to be first clearly seen 
 in fresco, and marked individuality in each figure to be 
 apparent. With them must be mentioned one Martino, who 
 did some noteworthy frescoes, which are in the gallery 
 which we shall see presently, and then we come to Pisano, 
 or Pisanello. His chief work in Verona I have just 
 mentioned, and we shall again see his fresco-work in San 
 Fermo with his signature, but he is specially known for 
 his skill as a medallist and his wonderful painting of 
 portraits, and from him the idea of portraits in fine profile 
 was certainly derived and it can be traced in his followers. 
 Labouring with him in Venice was Gentile da Fabriano, 
 whose work we mentioned in the Brera, and whose love of 
 relief work in his pictures, glorious combination of colours, 
 and passionate fondness for gold and brilliance and glow 
 so clearly distinguish him. Both he and Pisanello were 
 fond of introducing birds and other creatures into their 
 works, and this habit they handed down to their successors. 
 Following him in the regular series of painters that 
 worked in Verona we come upon a man named Domenico 
 Morone, whose son, Francesco, was much more noted, and 
 whose work we shall see in the gallery and to much greater 
 advantage in the Church of Sta. Maria in Organo to which 
 I will take you later on. He is a delicate and graceful 
 painter and his colouring is strong and full in power while 
 his ideas of well-balanced composition are notable. We 
 shall see presently a charming composition of his, a Madonna 
 and Saints in fresco, delightfully grouped, now in the gallery 
 (560), but at one time on a house near the bridge which we 
 have just crossed. Then we come to Liberale, who was 
 educated as a miniaturist, and who never lost his love of fine 
 detail and his power of representing it. In the gallery we
 
 148 VERONA 
 
 shall see some of his work in this way, and many fine 
 paintings by him in oil. Bonsignori was his pupil, and 
 inherited from him the love of architectural details that 
 distinguished the master together with a force and strength 
 that is his own. 
 
 Giolfino, at whose picture of St. George and St. Erasmus 
 we have just been looking, was also a pupil or a follower of 
 Liberale. He is a very unequal painter, and at times, as 
 in this very work, part of the picture is done with energy, 
 excellently drawn and powerfully coloured, and part of it is 
 stiff and formal. As a rule his shadows are too dense and 
 so his pictures lack attractiveness. Another man who can 
 only be studied in Verona is Caroto, whose masterpiece we 
 shall presently see in San Fermo. He is a remarkable 
 master, very rich in colouring, powerful in drawing, and 
 curiously partaking of the Leonardo style in his work. 
 There are portions of his fresco-work yet to be seen in the 
 streets of Verona, especially near to the Church of St. Thomas 
 of Canterbury, and he can be well studied in the Church of 
 St. Eufemia. The most poetical of all the Veronese school 
 is Girolamo dei Libri, who, like Liberale, was educated 
 as a miniaturist, and derived his sobriquet from the books 
 which he decorated. He is really a fascinating man, and 
 his pictures are laden with the delights of the earth — fruit, 
 flowers, music, and landscape of rare beauty. He can be 
 well appreciated in the gallery at whose doors we are still 
 standing. His contemporary was Cavazzola, whose real 
 name was Paolo Moranda, a very earnest, strenuous painter, 
 who moved away from the realistic attitude of his prede- 
 cessors and began that method of full decoration, great 
 style, and powerful colouring that was characteristic of 
 Paolo Veronese and so of the Venetian school. Cavazzola 
 was a very brilliant colourist, but his colouring did not 
 assist the emotion of his pictures, and when at times he 
 rouses a deep pathos and a tender sympathy by his com- 
 positions so well conceived and so ably drawn, it is his 
 colouring that is not equal to the occasion and prevents the 
 picture being a complete success. Torbido is still more
 
 THE ART OF VERONA 149 
 
 Venetian, partaking of the character of Giorgione, and 
 probably studying under him in Venice. He is closely 
 connected in art with Liberale, under whom it is supposed 
 he had his first instruction, but he is a worker of peculiar 
 interest and deserves to be better understood and appreci- 
 ated. His works have had the high distinction of being 
 confused with those of the most poetic of all painters, 
 Giorgione, and even now there is some doubt as to a por- 
 trait we shall see in the gallery in Padua which has been 
 attributed. to each master in turn. 
 
 Lastly we come to Brusasorci, another pupil of Liberale, 
 and one whose influence on Veronese can be seen. He 
 was an artist who loved full flowing wine-like colour and 
 great showiness ; and then at the end is Farinato, who is a 
 late man, dry and somewhat uninteresting, delighting in big 
 pictures, dull colouring, and deep shadows. Paolo Veronese I 
 need only name as he really belongs to the Venetian school. 
 
 After therefore this long digression, sitting on the door- 
 step of the gallery, or at all events waiting in its porch, I 
 will allow you to enter, and we will see what we can learn 
 from the masters of whose works we have been speaking. 
 We shall find in this gallery several notable works that 
 do not belong to the school of Verona at all, but are of 
 sufficient importance to be noticed, and so I will go round 
 with you, as I have done in the Milanese galleries, and 
 point out the chief pictures that deserve attention. There 
 is no catalogue of the gallery that can be purchased, only 
 hand screens in each room. 
 
 Room L 
 
 34. An early Perugino, one of the earliest works known 
 by this master, and representing a Madonna and Child 
 with St. John and two angels. A part of this work is by 
 a pupil, but the central portion is marked by the spirit of 
 the master. 
 
 32. Madonna and Child and St. John, by Titian ; also an 
 early work.
 
 150 VBRONA 
 
 Room II. 
 
 155. Madonna and Child with two saints, by Francia ; 
 a dehghtful work by this charming Bolognese master, 
 signed. 
 
 86. Presentation in the Temple, by Giovanni Bellini ; a 
 very charming work, signed. 
 
 93 (under it). Adoration of the Magi, by Perugino ; a 
 late work. 
 
 88. Holy Family, by Andrea del Sarto ; much cleaned. 
 
 97. A Portrait of a Man in black, by Antonio Moro ; a 
 splendid representation, truthful and powerful. 
 
 120. Madonna and Child with St. Joseph, by Perugino. 
 
 121. An Annunciation, by Garofalo ; a gay, bright picture 
 by this delightful Ferrarese artist. 
 
 150. The Death of a Saint, by Lo Spagna, the pupil of 
 Perugino and the painter of the Sposalizio at Caen. 
 
 117 (over the door). A Pietk, by Montagna ; worth 
 attention. 
 
 Room III. There is nothing in this room that need 
 detain you. 
 
 Room IV. 
 
 240. Madonna and Child Sleeping, by Giolfino ; cold, hard, 
 but full of e.xpression. 
 
 250. Christ Washing the Feet of his Disciples, by Boni- 
 facio ; good picture, fine colouring, but no reverence at all 
 in it, just a fine piece of decoration. 
 
 252. Madonna and Child with St. Sebastian and St. 
 Roch. 
 
 253. Baptism of Christ. Both of these works by Giro- 
 lamo dei Libri. 
 
 238. St. Anthony, by Brusasorci. 
 
 Room V. 
 
 This is the really important room for you to see. 
 
 There are two works by Cavazzola in this room, from
 
 THE ART OF VERONA 151 
 
 which you will be able to get a good idea of his power, and 
 of the decorative value of his work. 
 
 The most remarkable of all is perhaps 335, a Madonna 
 and Child with St. Francis and St. Dominic, and below SS. 
 Elizabeth, Bonaventura, Louis, Ivo, King Louis, and Elzea- 
 rius, together with the Contessa de Sacco, the donor of the 
 picture. The movement in this work is rather awkward and 
 the grouping formal, but the work is a fine and impressive 
 one without doubt. 
 
 Near by are a wonderful series of works, 292, 3, 4, 5, re- 
 presentations of Saints ; 298, the Scene of the Doubt of St. 
 Thomas ; 303, the Flagellation of Christ ; 305, the Washing 
 of the Feet ; and 308, the Crowning with Thorns — all highly 
 decorative works, well drawn, powerfully conceived, and not 
 'acking either in expression or pathos. Critical investigation 
 ma)' discover that the forms lack muscle, that the draperies 
 are hard, and the movements are formal, but the pictures 
 show an important master at his best and illustrate his 
 methods and his power. 
 
 339 is a delightful Girolamo dei Libri, a Virgin and Child 
 with St. Joseph and the angel Raphael and the youthful 
 Tobit, of rich Venetian style of colouring and splendid 
 accessories. This is a signed work. 
 
 333 is by the same master. Madonna and Child with St. 
 Andrew and St. Peter, and showing the Baptism in the 
 distance, and under it is 334, a splendid Cima of Madonna 
 and Child with two saints, full of the delicate refinement that 
 marks the best work of that artist. 
 
 343. Over the door is a good Caroto, rich and lovely. It 
 depicts the Three Archangels with Tobit, and is a signed 
 and important work. 
 
 Two other Carotos are in this same room — 325, Ma- 
 donna and Child, and 300, the Washing of the Feet — and 
 in these his Lombard style can be seen and the curious 
 affinity marked that he has with such men as Luini and 
 Solario. 
 
 A fine Moretto portrait, 287, must not be overlooked, as it 
 is a really good work, and a signed and dated one, nor must
 
 152 VERONA 
 
 296 be forgotten, as in this Madonna and Child with two 
 saints Torbido is thoroughly Venetian. 
 
 Having looked at these pictures we turn our attention to 
 what hangs opposite to them, the fragments of miniatures 
 from service-books executed by the two great Veronese 
 artists, who trained themselves by this work, and very lovely 
 we shall find some of this miniature work to be, and full of 
 interest bearing upon the later productions of these two 
 men, Liberale and Libri. 
 
 Room VI. 
 
 The chief picture in this room is the 351, a very fine work 
 by Carlo Crivelli, representing the Madonna and Child with 
 angels, and signed by the artist. The hair of the Madonna 
 has been restored, otherwise the picture is in good condition. 
 392 and 394, the Deposition and the Bearing of the Cross, 
 are by Cavazzola, and are the finest works by the master in 
 the gallery. They were painted in 15 17, as shown by the 
 inscription, and are full of dignity and pathos, but are not 
 aided in their expression by their colouring. 
 
 365 is a Crucifixion, by Jacopo Bellini, a solitary, grand 
 work ; and 376 (Resurrection) is attributed to Squarcione, 
 and is certainly of his school, and may conceivably have 
 some of his own work in it. There are two very curious 
 early anconas in this room that should be marked. 355 is 
 by an unknown man called Turone, signed with his name 
 and dated 1360, and will therefore take a place at the very 
 beginning of Veronese art. The other one is equally early, 
 and is signed Stefano da Zevio, and dated 1363 (374), 
 and these two pictures are evidence of the existence at a 
 very early date of a school of painting in the city from 
 which descended the men whose paintings we have been 
 examining. 
 
 In the remaining rooms of the gallery you need not stay, 
 as the pictures are not worthy of your consideration after 
 these greater ones which we have studied, and most of them 
 are by later or insignificant men,
 
 OTHER CHURCHES AND A GARDEN 153 
 
 In Room XII. there are frescoes, some by Paolo Veronese 
 important to a close student of his art, and a delightful one, 
 by Foppa, of an angel ; also the fine Morone fresco (560) of 
 which I have spoken, and frescoes by Caroto, IVIartino, and 
 Giolfino ; but beyond these, 3'ou may pass Rooms V^II. to 
 XIII. and leave the gallery. 
 
 F. OTHER CHURCHES, THE PIAZZA, 
 AND A GARDEN 
 
 We will no\\- make our way to San Fermo, one of the 
 finest brick churches in Italy, built in the Veronese fashion 
 of alternate rows of brick and marble. Outside we shall see 
 a fine tomb of the regular Verona fashion under a canopy, 
 and attached to the side of the church on the left of the 
 entrance. It is to the memory of Fracastoro, the chief 
 physician to Can Grande, and a man who was held in high 
 repute, and who in his own special science was far in 
 advance of his compeers. The door by which we enter is 
 the one at the left of the church, as the chief central door 
 (close to the tomb) is but seldom opened. The interior is 
 remarkable, as there are no aisles, and the roof, which will 
 not fail to attract attention, is of great beauty. It is made 
 of larch, and finely decorated, producing an excellent effect. 
 The chief treasure which the church contains is unfortu- 
 nately far from being complete, but is in a chapel opening 
 out from the north side. It is the tomb erected by Giulio 
 and Raimondo delle Torre to the memory of their father 
 Girolamo and their brother Antonio. The father and son 
 were both of them leading physicians at Padua, and taught 
 in the University, and the monument is by Riccio, a Paduan 
 architect. It is of marble, and has upon it some very grand 
 bronze ornaments, but the best of these works were carried 
 off to Paris, and still remain in the Louvre, and are replaced 
 on the tomb by copies. What there is, hoAvever, of the 
 original is of great beauty and refinement, and demands 
 careful attention. Having looked at this, let me take you
 
 15^ VERONA 
 
 into the Chapel of the Sacrament, which is a large one on 
 the left, and we will look at the masterpiece by Caroto 
 which I have already mentioned. It is signed and dated 
 1528, and is by far the best work that this very unequal 
 artist ever did, and is of glorious rich colouring. It depicts 
 the Madonna and Child with St. Anna, and below are four 
 saints, St John, St. Peter, St. Roch, and St. Sebastian. The 
 pulpit is worth attention, as the canopy is the work of an 
 important artist, Barnabo da Modena, who lived and died in 
 Verona and whose tomb is close to his pulpit in the fourth 
 chapel on the right, with a recumbent figure upon it. He 
 is said to have carved the tomb during his lifetime, and 
 placed it in the church in the place that had been allotted 
 to him for a burial-place. There is a fine work by Domenico 
 Morone, near the choir, of three saints, and there is a work by 
 Torbido in his pre- Venetian style in the third chapel on 
 the right, but the chief sights in this church are the building 
 itself, the Caroto, and the splendid tomb. 
 
 Now let us cross again the Ponte Navi as if we were 
 going to the picture gallery, but turn in the opposite direc- 
 tion to the left, and go along the Via Scrimiari and the Via 
 Seminario to the Church of Sta. Maria in Organo, and at 
 once ask for the Sacristy. As we enter it we shall see a 
 lovely painting by Girolamo dei Libri, a Virgin and Child 
 with St. Catherine and St. Stephen, a sunny picture full of 
 delightful work. The architecture, the leaves, the fruit, the 
 effect of sunlight, all render this altar-piece, which has un- 
 fortunately been injured by cutting, one of the most charming 
 pictures by Libri to be seen in Verona, and if you look well 
 at it you will get an idea of his fascination that will help you 
 to understand him and appreciate the beauty of his work. 
 Now turn into the ** Sacristy and here you will find the 
 best examples of Francesco Morone, and a most charming 
 room. All along the wall are half-length figures of Olivetan 
 monks in their delightful white habits, recalling the famous 
 series painted at Monte Oliveto by Sodoma, and in the 
 lunettes are portraits of the Popes who sprang from that 
 Order. The decorative effect of all this is quite lovely,
 
 OTHER CHURCHES AND A GARDEN 155 
 
 but the finest piece is to be seen far up in the corner, half 
 hidden by the cupboard. It is a portrait of the clever monk 
 who did the intarsia work in this church, Fra Giovanni, 
 who died in 1520, and who was one of the greatest masters 
 of this method of working that Italy ever produced. The 
 inlaid work in this sacristy and also in the choir is all 
 his doing and very remarkable it is. Go carefully round 
 both series of panels and mark them well. You will 
 notice how important they are from another point of view, 
 as they represent scenes in the city that have long since 
 altered, and scenes in Rome, and are therefore permanent 
 records of matters of fact. When the great flood over- 
 took Verona in 1882 these fine pieces of wood- work 
 were in the greatest danger, and were in fact at one 
 time entirely covered by the torrent, but were rescued as 
 very precious treasures, and carefully cleaned from the 
 mud and water, and we are still able to appreciate their 
 beauty. Notice also the crisp carving near to the intarsia 
 panels, which is also the work of the same monk, and do 
 not hurry away from these panels, as they are as fine of 
 their kind as you will ever see. Amongst the views you 
 will see the Arena, the Castel San Pietro, the various 
 houses of the Order near by and at Siena, both interior 
 and exterior views, the Porta Borsari, the Castel Vecchio, 
 and the streets of Verona showing even the floods that have 
 always been one of the chief troubles of the city. 
 
 Having studied all this work to your heart's content, then 
 turn attention to some of the other treasures in the church. 
 There is a splendid candelabrum in the choir of the monks, 
 carved out of walnut wood by another monk, one Fra 
 Giacomo, who spent his life doing in his spare time this 
 splendid work. It is well worth attention. In the third 
 chapel is another painting, by Francesco Morone, represent- 
 ing the Madonna and Child with St. Augustine and St. 
 Martin, signed and dated 1503, and in the right transept is 
 a good example of the pictures of Guercino of St. Francesca 
 Romana, not as unpleasant as that artist's pictures so often 
 are. The choir is painted by Farinati, and by Brusasorci,
 
 156 VERONA 
 
 and the painting by the latter is worth your notice, but that 
 of Farinati lacks expression and interest. As you leave the 
 church, notice the Campanile which was erected from the 
 design of the clever monk who did the intarsia work that 
 you have just been admiring inside. 
 
 Now I want to give you a pleasure of quite a different 
 kind. We will leave churches and pictures for a while and 
 see nature. From this church go along the Via Giardino, 
 stop at the * Palazzo Giusti and go into the entrance 
 court and cross it and ring the bell at the gate for the 
 gardener. A charming young woman will at once admit you 
 into the garden, which by the great kindness of the owners 
 the public are allowed to visit, but which very few persons 
 see as the privilege is not generally known. You will find 
 before you a magnificent avenue of tall cypresses, and on 
 either side beds of flowers of glowing colour. Pass up the 
 avenue by the little paddock in which are some charming 
 tame deer and gazelles, and continue up the ascent until you 
 come to a staircase in a sort of summer house. Ascend this 
 and you will find yourself on a higher level yet of the garden, 
 and then continue to ascend and you will eventually reach 
 another summer-house which also you can ascend if you 
 like, but if you have done enough climbing then sit down 
 and rest and look out over the incomparably lovely scene 
 before you. Hardly any city is more lovely in its situation 
 than Verona, and from this garden you look all over the 
 place. You mark the Adige, source of life and also source 
 of danger to the Veronese, winding its way in and out of the 
 city. You see the rear view of San Fermo, stately in its 
 deep red brick-work, and you gaze right out to where the 
 lovely Campanile of San Zeno points towards the sky. You 
 can see the Duomo and St. Anastasia and many other of the 
 churches, but you can hear not a sound, and around you are 
 the trees, and above you is a glorious blue sky, and, believe 
 me, you are gazing upon one of the fairest views that you 
 will see in your travels, even finer, because more varied and 
 richer in colour, than the view over Rome from the Pincian 
 Hill. You are welcome to stay as long in these gardens as
 
 OTHER CHURCHES AND A GARDEN 157 
 
 you may please, and if you have brought any lunch with you 
 can eat it as you sit on the high terrace close to the wall of 
 the top summer-house, and then with your field-glasses you 
 can sweep the horizon, finding every moment some new 
 sight upon which to feast your eyes. 
 
 I said that I was not going to bother you as to views, but 
 this is the exception to my rule, and I make it because it 
 enables you to see what a good Italian garden is like, and 
 because you can gain it without any long staircase and with- 
 out entering into any stuffy tower. Sit for a moment and 
 think over the sights we have seen. We have commenced 
 with Roman times, and have seen the Arena, the Theatre, 
 and some mosaic pavements ; then we have moved on to the 
 Gothic times and the period of Theodoric, not forgetting 
 that period of Gallienus which is very much later than 
 the time that saw the early Roman buildings, and from the 
 Gothic times we have come to the eighth and eleventh 
 century in San Stefano and then to the twelfth in San 
 Zeno. We have noticed Lombard work in the reliefs that 
 we have seen in the porches, on the huge font, and inside 
 some of the churches ; and then we have seen the thirteenth- 
 century work in the building of St. Anastasia and many 
 of the palaces. A little later on we have seen San Fermo, 
 and then the series of tombs which grew richer and 
 richer as the Renaissance came on, and from the exquisite 
 simplicity of the plain sarcophagi came the Gothic refine- 
 ment of the Castelbarco tomb, followed by the florid Can 
 Signorio tomb. In the fifteenth century during the 
 Venetian domination we have seen the work of Pisanello 
 and his successors, and then, as the Renaissance opened, we 
 have seen its influence in the successive artists of the 
 Veronese school, in the workers in intarsia, in the architects, 
 leading on up to Sanmicheli ; in its painters in miniature 
 and in its carvers in wood and stone. We have followed 
 the art of Verona from the early frescoes in San Zeno 
 down to the dry and uninteresting work of Farinato who 
 died in 1606. And now let us descend from our elevation 
 and go and spend a time in the famous Piazza dell' Erbe,
 
 158 VERONA 
 
 which, more than any other part of Verona, reflects its 
 grandeur and shows the moving Ufe of the city as it now is. 
 
 We leave the garden reluctantly, as it is so lovely, and 
 giving the fair custodian a trifle as we go out, pass again 
 into the busy city. If we have time we can visit the 
 Church of San Nazaro e Celso close by, and see a lovely 
 work by Bonsignori, a rich Montegna, and some interesting 
 works by Farinato, and the earliest fresco-work in Italy 
 after the period of the Roman catacombs. We can look on 
 our way back to the hotel at the Church of St. Thomas of 
 Canterbury, and see the tomb of Sanmicheli, and some 
 paintings by Brusasorci, and notice the curious frescoes on 
 the houses near by, and we can see some lovely tombs out- 
 side the Church of SS. Apostoli close to the house where 
 Giolfino lived which is still covered with the remains of 
 fresco-work (near the Porta Borsari). In Santa Eufemia 
 we can see another superb tomb, fine even in this city of 
 grand tombs, and supported on great carved brackets, and a 
 very curious early fresco by Stefano da Zevio, and we can 
 see two more fine tombs in the Church of Santa Maria 
 della Scala, a little church in the Via Scala, with a 
 delightful portico. 
 
 None of these sights we need see, although all are 
 well worth seeing, but the **Piazza dell' Erbe we mus^ 
 see. I would recommend you to go early in the morn- 
 ing when the market is in full swing, as then the 
 gaily coloured umbrellas are all up over the stalls 
 with which the piazza is filled, and the place is much 
 more picturesque than in the afternoon when it is cleared 
 up, and the gossiping old women with their fruit and 
 vegetables and animals are all gone ; but whenever you 
 see it and at any hour of the day it is charming. It 
 was the Forum in Roman times, it became the centre 
 of the city in the Scaliger period, and from it the laws 
 were promulgated ; and then in the time of the Venetian 
 domination it again took high place, and from it were the 
 decrees of the great Republic announced, and even now all 
 the life of Verona centres around this piazza. Notice the
 
 OTHER CHURCHES AND A GARDEN 159 
 
 fountain in the midst, which was originally erected by a 
 Lombard king, it is said, in the tenth century, but was 
 enlarged, beautified, and supplied with a better supply of 
 water by Can Signorio in 1370. Mark the little open Berlina 
 in the very centre where the Scaligeri took the oaths before 
 their people, where the laws were promulgated, and where 
 sentences were pronounced, and then further on see the tall 
 column of red marble on which is the lion of St. Mark, the 
 symbol of the power of the great Republic. When the rule 
 of Venice over Verona ceased, the lion was gladly over- 
 thrown, but it has since been replaced, as now it is only a 
 symbol of a memory, and does not stand for the sign of a 
 great power. 
 
 All around the piazza are fine buildings. On one side 
 is the Casa del Mercanti with its arcade, which was 
 built by Alberto I. in the year of his death, and was opposite 
 to his own residence. At the end of the piazza is the 
 Palazzo Maffei (or Tresa), which has a very curious and 
 well-designed circular staircase which you can see if you 
 walk into the courtyard, and at the corner is the Palazzo 
 dell Ragione, now used as a Court-house. Turn down by 
 this palace along the Via Costa and you will be in the next 
 piazza. Piazza dei Signori, looking once more at the palaces 
 of the Scaligeri, now called the Tribunale and the Prefettura, 
 which are on its south side. Opposite to them is the Loggia 
 or Old Town Hall, which was erected from the designs of 
 another clever monk, one Fra Giocondo, and is one of 
 the loveliest buildings in Italy, very rich in fine detail. The 
 effigy of the monk can be seen on the left corner pillar. 
 He was an excellent architect, and designed many buildings 
 in Verona, and even went as far as France, besides working 
 in Venice and Rome. His sculptured decorations are always 
 rich and graceful. You will mark the Annunciation in bronze 
 over the portal, a good work by Girolamo da Campagna, 
 and then up above it you will see the statues of the famous 
 men connected with the city, Pliny, Catullus, and others. The 
 fine tower opposite will attract attention, and the splendid 
 staircase leading to it, and close by the Scaligeri Palace is a
 
 i6o VERONA 
 
 delightful courtyard that is worth seeing, and in which there 
 is a covered staircase under an arcade of good brick- work. 
 
 You will notice that I have said nothing as to the Tomb 
 of Juliet, and it is because that which is now shown as the 
 tomb is a shocking fraud, and the original tomb has long 
 since been destroyed. There is not even a house that can 
 with any degree of certainty be called the residence of 
 either family, whether Montague or Capulet, and all that are 
 pointed out by officious guides may be taken to have nothing 
 whatever to do with the family or the story. There is plenty 
 to see in Verona without wasting time, money, and emotion 
 in looking at frauds.
 
 /2J. 
 
 PADUA 
 
 A. INTRODUCTORY 
 
 THE work of Giotto in the little Arena Chapel at one 
 end of the town and the cult of St. Anthony of 
 Padua in the great Church of II Santo at the other 
 end form the chief attractions to this little city, and render 
 it so interesting to the art student, the ecclesiologist, the 
 architect, and the antiquary. They overshadow all other 
 attractions in the place, but they do not complete the Hst 
 of all that is noteworthy in Padua, and this we shall soon 
 ascertain for ourselves as we move about its quaint and 
 curious streets. It is strange that, although the city bears 
 the name of Padova la Dotta and is of the greatest antiquity, 
 yet of its earlier history there is scarcely any trace remain- 
 ing that we can find, and we have from existing remains to 
 begin our investigations, not with the Roman period of its 
 life, but with the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Its 
 origin is attributed by Virgil to Antenor, mythical king 
 of Troy and brother of Priam, and you may perhaps be 
 recommended by some guide to go and see what is termed 
 the tomb of this gentleman ; but as it is very doubtful as 
 to whether he had an existence at all, and the tomb that 
 bears his name is quite as late in date as the ninth or 
 tenth century, I do not recommend you to visit it. There 
 is no doubt that Padua in the time of the early Caesars was 
 a most important and a very wealthy place, but its wealth 
 excited the cupidity of its enemies, and it was repeatedly 
 attacked and overthrown by the Goths and other barba- 
 rians, and to their destructive power we owe it that Padua 
 contains no monuments of its Roman age that are of 
 
 i6i L
 
 i62 PADUA 
 
 importance. You will find some few things in the Museum 
 when we reach it, but there is nothing of supreme im- 
 portance such as we have seen in Milan or Verona. In 
 the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, however, it took a 
 position that we can appreciate by many evidences, but 
 although in the strictest chronological order we ought to 
 begin our work in Padua by the Palazzo della Ragione, 
 which is the chief of its buildings and was begun in the 
 twelfth century, yet so all-important in the history of the 
 place are the frescoes in the Arena Chapel, and so closely 
 are they connected with the history of this Palazzo della 
 Ragione, that I suggest we commence with them, and on 
 leaving our hotel turn to the left and find this little shrine 
 of the art of Giotto. 
 
 B. GIOTTO IN PADUA 
 
 The Chapel of the Madonna dell' Arena stands close to 
 the Church of the Eremitani near to the centre of the city 
 and within three minutes' walk of either of the chief hotels. 
 It is situate in an oval garden, which still preserves the 
 outlines and site of the ancient Roman arena, and it was 
 erected in 1303. There was, in all probability, an earlier 
 church than this one upon the site, and Ruskin tells us that 
 the place had been used for mystery plays connected with 
 the festival of the Annunciation before this church was 
 erected. 
 
 Its founder was one Enrico Scrovegno, the wealthy 
 son of an avaricious father, Rinaldo, whose evil life 
 and cruel usury caused him to be selected by Dante for 
 mention in the " Inferno," in the seventh circle of which he 
 placed him. Rinaldo was clearly a man of very bad char- 
 acter, and Dante speaks of him in language of withering 
 scorn ; but his son, probably desiring to efface the memory 
 of his father's unhappy life and also to atone for his sins, 
 erected close to the fortress which he had built in the Arena 
 garden this charming little chapel, and sent for Giotto to
 
 GIOTTO IN PADUA 163 
 
 decorate it for him. It is said that he was assisted in his 
 enterprise by a religious Order called the Cavaliers of Mary, 
 of which Order he is supposed to have been a member, and 
 which was established to protect the dignity of the Virgin 
 against the attacks of heretics. In all probability, as Lord 
 Lindsay was the first to suggest, the chapel was built for 
 the use of this Order, and in it were its ceremonies con- 
 ducted, and hence the reason for the subjects that Giotto 
 was given for his series of frescoes. Giotto came in to 
 decorate the chapel in 1306, but whence he came or how 
 Scrovegno knew of his work, we cannot tell. 
 
 I must not in this place go into a lengthy statement as to 
 the history of this great master who revolutionised art ; 
 but a few words will not be out of place on the change 
 which he wrought. Ruskin, whom it is quite impossible to 
 overlook when Giotto is to be considered, and to whom 
 every student of art is deeply indebted for his able studies 
 of this place and its frescoes, states that the three innova- 
 tions of Giotto consisted in " the introduction A, of gayer 
 or lighter colours ; B, of broader masses ; and C, of more 
 careful imitation of nature than existed in the works of his 
 predecessors." 
 
 As to the first, he draws attention to the depth of the 
 colours in the Byzantine paintings, in mosaics, and in manu- 
 scripts, and the contrast that Giotto's work affords to all of 
 them. As to the second, to the broad masses of colour in 
 the draperies of Giotto's work contrasting with the minute, 
 almost niggling, style of those who preceded him ; and as to 
 the third point, which is " the great strength of Giotto," to 
 the study of nature, that he introduced the "gestures of 
 living men, the incidents of everyday life, and the portraits 
 of living persons," which he was the first to use in fresco 
 work. The comparison which Ruskin makes in more than 
 one place in his writings between the Pre-Raphaelite move- 
 ment in England and the movement initiated by Giotto is 
 an important and inspiring one, and helps us to understand 
 both the opposition which the innovators received in each 
 case and the widespread influence which flowed from their
 
 i64 PADUA 
 
 determined efforts. The work of a man like Giotto must 
 always be interesting to the world. He was one of its 
 greatest men, one of its chiefest masters ; " not only," as 
 Ruskin states, "an accomplished artist, but the undisputed 
 interpreter of religious truth by means of painting over the 
 whole of Italy." Amongst other qualities that we ought to 
 notice in these frescoes are the following : — 
 
 Giotto never painted any other than religious subjects, 
 and we shall find nothing profane or connected even with 
 heathen mythology in his works. 
 
 He painted with a broad free hand and without any of the 
 delicacy of finish that distinguished those who followed him, 
 such as Fra Angelico, Benozzo Gozzoli, or even Altichieri. 
 
 He tells his story very simply, with as little in the picture 
 as is needed to explain the meaning, and with no recondite 
 symbolism or elaborate imagery. His scenes can be 
 easily read and interpreted, and his symbols are simple and 
 easy to be understood. 
 
 His colouring is bold, grand, and impressive, albeit light 
 in tone, and, again to quote Ruskin, " he has a truly mediccval 
 love of dividing his picture into quaint segments of alter- 
 nating colour." 
 
 Finally, his works have no elaboration of shadow, but are 
 direct and true, and they never contain any pictorial 
 accessories which do not necessarily belong to the telling 
 of the story, but go straight to the point, and having told 
 what is desired should be learned, leave the illustration at 
 that point and do not elaborate it for the sake of effect. 
 
 I have, as usual, kept you waiting outside the door 
 of the chapel sitting on the step of the door, whilst you 
 read what I have had to say. I will allow you now to 
 enter and we will study together this unrivalled series of 
 pictures. 
 
 You will be struck on entering by the extreme plainness 
 of the building. It is a simple oblong, with six tall windows 
 on one side and a plain wall on the other, and Giotto's 
 decoration covers the whole whether walls or roof The 
 subject of the whole of the coloured panels is the life of
 
 GIOTTO IN PADUA 165 
 
 Our Lord and the life of the Madonna, while below, in 
 chiaroscuro, are the Virtues and their antagonistic Vices. 
 At the west end is the Last Judgment, and on the eastern 
 wall is a Christ in Glory. The choir is not by Giotto, but 
 by one of his pupils or followers, very probably by Taddeo 
 Gaddi. The chapel still belongs to the descendants of the 
 family of its founder, and a custodian is placed in charge, 
 who dwells in the house in the garden, and who is a well- 
 informed man, and he has useful catalogues to lend to 
 visitors. 
 
 The series of subjects is as follows, the notable ones being 
 marked with an asterisk (*) : — 
 
 1. The Rejection of the Offering of Joachim because he 
 had no children. 
 
 2. Joachim Retires to his Sheepfolds. 
 
 * 3. The Appearance of the Angel to Anna. A delight- 
 fully simple naive scene in which the humility of Anna is 
 clearly shown. 
 
 4. The Sacrifice of Joachim. Notice that the sacrifice 
 is actually being burned, and the white skeleton entire) 
 " not a bone broken,'" is on the altar, also that the hand 
 in the sky personifies the Creator. 
 
 5. The Appearance of the Two Archangels to Joachim, to 
 tell him that his great desire would be accomplished. 
 
 *6. The Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the gate. 
 This is a very charming, sweet picture, full of tenderness. 
 
 7. The Birth of the Madonna. 
 
 8. The Presentation of the Madonna. Notice, as Lord 
 Lindsay points out, that the Madonna is not a child, but 
 " a dwarf woman," as the painting of childhood was one 
 of the later achievements of art, and in Giotto's time was 
 not possible. 
 
 9. The bringing of their rods to the High Priest by the 
 marriageable men. Mark the skilful way in which the face 
 of the priest is painted. 
 
 10. The Watching of the Rods before the Altar. 
 
 * II. The Betrothal of the Virgin. This scene, which was 
 to be the prototype for so much that is beautiful in Italian
 
 i66 PADUA 
 
 art, deserves careful attention, as in a small space and 
 with few figures, Giotto has succeeded in giving a solem- 
 nity and seriousness to the scene which is very marked. 
 The anxiety of Joseph, the timidity of the Virgin, the disap- 
 pointment of other suitors, and the astonishment of one 
 of them are all very noteworthy. 
 
 ■^ 12. The Return of the Madonna to her Home. Mark the 
 slow, solemn swing of the procession as it steadily moves 
 along. 
 
 13 and 14. The Annunciation. These two panels are 
 on each side of the archway separated as was so often 
 the custom one from the other by the archway. The angel 
 is marked by great dignity and serenity, the Madonna 
 is quiet, calm, and humbly kneels to receive the mystic 
 message. 
 
 We now commence the lower tier of panels, having com- 
 menced at the altar and come round to it again. 
 
 * 15. The Salutation of Mary and Elizabeth. A homely 
 scene, so natural, so true to life, so tender, that words are 
 not needed to express its beauties. 
 
 * 16. The Nativity, and the Appearance to the Shep- 
 herds. Mark how the Madonna is herself attending to her 
 first-born babe, and notice the delight of the angels and 
 their movements. 
 
 17. The Offering of the Magi. The camels are comical, 
 but no doubt the best attempt that Giotto could make of a 
 beast that he had never seen, but the kingly dignity that he 
 gives to the whole scene is remarkable. Ruskin points out 
 that an angel stands to receive the gifts which the king 
 himself would just touch in token of acceptance and then 
 pass on to his attendant. 
 
 18. The Presentation in the Temple. Notice how curi- 
 ously the Child is struggling to leave the arms of the old 
 Man and return to His Mother, so perfectly natural, and so 
 true to life. See also the angel coming to give the message 
 to Simeon, and mark the scroll carried by Anna which 
 bears the words on it : " Quoniam in isto erit redemptio 
 seculi" (Since in Him shall be the redemption of the race).
 
 GIOTTO IN PADUA 167 
 
 19. The Flight into Egypt. The effect of its being night 
 is well conveyed by the dense black of some of the draperies, 
 and by the unusual arrangement of the lights. 
 
 20. The Massacre of the Innocents. An unsatisfactory 
 panel. 
 
 21. Christ in the Temple. Too much injured to be pro- 
 perly seen. 
 
 22. The Baptism of Our Lord. Both Perugino and 
 Francia seem to have adopted in their treatment of this 
 subject the idea set in this panel by Giotto. In this more 
 than in any other scene is the influence of the old mosaicists 
 of Ravenna to be seen. It is more purely Byzantine than 
 any other of the panels. 
 
 23. The Marriage at Cana in Galilee. 
 
 * 24. The Raising of Lazarus. This is one of the finest 
 scenes in the series, the astonishment and almost repugnance 
 of the bystanders is so well represented, the fright of others, 
 and the pallid whiteness of Lazarus, who so evidently is only 
 just returning to life. 
 
 25. Our Lord Riding into Jerusalem. 
 
 26. The Expulsion of the Traders from the Temple. 
 
 27. Judas receiving the Money from the High Priest. 
 Mark the demon behind the traitor. 
 
 Now we commence the third tier. 
 
 28. The Last Supper. This is quite a different scene from 
 those which were painted later on by Italian artists. There 
 is here no sign of excitement or anxiety, and the moment 
 has evidently not yet arrived when the tragic words have 
 been spoken. Giotto has just represented here a quiet party 
 of friends saddened by the thought that their Head is about 
 to leave them, and engaged in serious conversation. 
 
 * 29. The Washing of the Feet of the Apostles. Notice 
 that this takes place in the same room as the foregoing 
 scene, and that the Twelve Disciples are present as, accord- 
 ing to Giotto's idea, Judas had not yet left. 
 
 30. The Kiss of Judas. Mark how Giotto has represented 
 the traitor, not as a foully wicked man, but as a fat, stupid 
 fool.
 
 i68 PADUA 
 
 31. Christ before Caiaphas. 
 
 32. The Scourging of Our Lord. The patience of Our 
 Lord under suffering appears to l^e the chief thought in the 
 artist's mind. 
 
 *33. Christ Bearing His Cross. A wonderful fresco, in 
 which the central figure stands out sublimely from all those 
 around it. Mark the taunts of the men who stand near, and 
 also the way in which the women are roughly held back 
 from approaching too close. 
 
 * 34. The Crucifixion. The figure of the Magdalen at the 
 foot of the Cross appears in almost every Italian repre- 
 sentation of this great scene. Mark also the hand of the 
 centurion pointing up at the Cross. 
 
 *35. The Deposition from the Cross. A wonderful scene 
 of sorrow, one of Giotto's most touching and pathetic re- 
 presentations. Evei-y figure in this picture is worth 
 attention. 
 
 *36. The Resurrection. A very lovely fresco. The 
 angel is beautiful. The Christ is full of dignity, and the 
 Noh' nie tangere is well expressed by His action. Mark 
 also how thoroughly asleep the soldiers are, and how natural 
 are their attitudes. 
 
 37. The Ascension. Notice how, as Ruskin points out, 
 Giotto has shown the entire figure ascending up to heaven, 
 and not a part only, and also note how the curved lines, 
 both of the figure and of the two groups of angels, give the 
 appearance of slow, swinging, upward movement that is so 
 desirable in such a scene. 
 
 38. The Descent of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Having gone round the entire series very carefull)- and 
 without hurry, let me beg you to return again to the altar, 
 and begin on the left to examine with equal care the 
 symbolical paintings that adorn the lowest tier of the walls. 
 There is no doubt that in some of the coloured frescoes 
 Giotto had the assistance of some of his pupils, although the 
 idea in every case is entirely his own, and probably the 
 greater part of the execution \ but it is a tradition in 
 the chapel that whatever he may have received in the
 
 GIOTTO IN PADUA 169 
 
 way of help as to these works, he did the symbolical 
 paintings entirely himself receiving no aid from any one 
 with them They are arranged in pairs, each pair being a 
 Virtue and a Vice contrasting one with the other on 
 opposite walls, and therefore it is desirable that you 
 should move from one side of the chapel to the other in 
 your examination of them in order to fully understand their 
 teaching. The Virtues look towards the Christ in Glory, 
 but the Vices in the opposite direction, towards the Last 
 Judgment. 
 
 1. Prudence. Janus-headed, gazing at a convex mirror, 
 and holding a pair of compasses. 
 
 I A. Folly represented in the dress of a fool. 
 
 2. Fortitude. A resolute figure, clad in armour and wear- 
 ing the skin of a lion, waiting behind her shield on which is 
 a lion and the broken heads of spears, and armed with a 
 weapon with which, when called upon to use, she is prepared 
 to defend herself. 
 
 2A. Inconstancy. A girl trying to balance herself upon 
 a whirling ball and falling in the attempt. 
 
 3. Temperance. Mark the bit in her mouth and the care 
 with which she is binding the sword which she holds into 
 its scabbard that it shall not be readily withdrawn. 
 
 3A. Anger. A furious woman tearing open her clothes 
 and doing herself bodily harm. 
 
 4. Justice. This and its opposite Vice are much more 
 elaborately symbolical than those which precede them. 
 Justice is seated upon her throne holding the scales one in 
 each hand. In one is represented an angel crowning the 
 good ; in the other an executioner slaying the criminal with 
 a sword. Below her feet is a panel in which various 
 persons are going about their business in a happy, pros- 
 perous manner, proving the security of good government. 
 
 4A. Injustice. Here is a giant sitting at the door of his 
 castle, but the path up to him is overgrown with thorns and 
 briars. His countenance is of a forbidding character, his 
 fingers are terminated with claws, and he holds a hook in 
 one hand and a sword in the other. Below, in the predella
 
 lyo PADUA 
 
 panel, can be seen murders and assaults, the miseries of a 
 weak and cruel government. 
 
 5. Faith. She grasps the cross in one hand, and in the 
 other holds a scroll on which are the words of the Apostles' 
 Creed. At her feet she tramples upon the various objects 
 connected with astrological lore. 
 
 5A. Unbelief. A man who turns his back upon the 
 message from heaven which the Almighty Father holds out 
 to him, but moves to the flames of fire, turning his gaze 
 towards an image of Idolatry which is tied round his neck 
 and to which he is bound. His eyes are overshadowed by 
 the broad brim of his helmet so "that he shall not see." 
 
 6. Love. She receives gifts from Heaven and gives them 
 out to others. Her face is full of joy, and she stands upon 
 the treasures of the earth. 
 
 6a. Envy. An old woman standing in flames ; her fingers 
 are those of a wolf, and she has the ears also of that terrible 
 beast. A serpent comes out of her mouth, and turns to bite 
 her face, she attempts to grasp, and fails, and her face bears 
 a most malignant look. 
 
 7. Hope. She rises, stretching out towards the crown 
 which the angel is bringing to her, and her feet leave the 
 ground as she rises up from the earth to " things above." 
 
 7A. Despair. A woman who has hanged herself at the 
 instigation of the foul spirit who has come for her soul. 
 
 There yet remain for examination the Christ in Grlory 
 over the arch of the altar, and the Last Judgment on the west 
 wall. The former is not in good condition, and it is hardly 
 possible to make out whether it is intended for a representa- 
 tion of the Christ or of the Almighty Father, but it is 
 believed to be the Christ. All around are throngs of ador- 
 ing angels. The Last Judgment derives its special interest 
 from the little group in the centre, quite unconnected with 
 the general character of the work, in which Enrico Scrovegno 
 is seen accompanied by a monk, perhaps the one in whose 
 custody the chapel was first placed and who was to officiate 
 at its altar, presenting his chapel to three angels or arch- 
 angels, who are receiving it at his hands and addressing him.
 
 GIOTTO IN PADUA 171 
 
 We have now seen all that is Giotto's work in this chapel, 
 and a few more words as to its value may not be out of place. 
 It must not be supposed that these frescoes are beautiful in 
 the ordinary sense of the word. It will yet be found on 
 careful examination that they are most beautiful, and herein 
 is, of course, the paradox. The drawing is quaint and 
 inaccurate, the figures are wooden, and some of them 
 almost lifeless. The buildings are absurd, and are supported 
 upon long attenuated columns that would not hold the build- 
 ings in their position and would fall by reason of their very 
 length and weakness. The animals are quite ridiculous. 
 Many of the persons depicted are too long, too thin, and 
 ha\e no proportion and no proper form. The colouring is 
 in places weak, the grouping is poor, the scenes at times 
 almost laughable in their quaint conceit — and yet these 
 frescoes are among the world's greatest treasures ; have 
 been visited with eager desire and studied with profound 
 attention by all the great artists of the world ; have received 
 the closest attention from students ; and are reckoned as chief 
 amongst the works of the earliest Renaissance. What is the 
 reason for all this attractive force ? Why are these frescoes 
 so important to the student ? I hope that having gone 
 round and looked at them, some part of the answer to this 
 question will be found in your own mind. 
 
 It is not only because in Giotto we have the very be- 
 ginning of the art of painting ; that in him we see the 
 precursor, the innovator, the original genius, and that in 
 his work we see the origin of that vast Renaissance move- 
 ment that was to spread all over Italy and produce so 
 many wonderful paintings, buildings, and sculpture, although 
 that aspect of his work is an interesting one ; but it was 
 because in his frescoes we have the work of a man of pro- 
 found reverence, of absolute truth, and of consummate know- 
 ledge. From the stiff formalism that had clothed the art 
 of painting in rigid lines Giotto broke forth. He represented 
 things as he saw them, to the best of his ability, with the 
 best of his knowledge, and in a simple, direct manner. 
 
 He was all the time profoundly reverent as to the
 
 172 PADUA 
 
 character of the scenes he was painting, but he never forgot 
 the claims of his art, and with that marvellous insight that 
 he possessed, he seized hold instinctively of the essential 
 in drawing, and left alone the purely accessory. 
 
 His work is straight to the point, clear and incisive as the 
 note of a bell, firm and definite, so that it can almost be felt 
 and taken hold of ; telling its story in so distinct a manner 
 that its meaning never can be missed, significant, earnest 
 and intense, and therefore by its very convincing truth, it 
 appeals at once to the mind of the man who studies it. It 
 conveys to him the knowledge that here is the message of 
 an artist who has a gospel to proclaim, and who has the 
 power to demand attention at once and create an emotion 
 suitable to what he has to say. 
 
 There is nothing in these frescoes that is not needed, 
 there is no line without its purpose, nothing in the way 
 of wasted energy, and as the Castelbarco monument at 
 Verona was so plain, so severe in its lines, and yet when 
 investigated was found to be so complete in all its details 
 and so perfect in the way in which it illustrated its own 
 erection and stability, so in the same way are these frescoes 
 complete as works of art although the work of a man who 
 knew but little about drawing or perspective. Giotto was but 
 at the beginning of the long road of painting. He had never 
 seen such creatures as he introduced into his frescoes, but yet 
 he presented his message with that absolute truth which 
 makes it convincing, and which proves an insight into life 
 and a knowledge of human nature marking him out from 
 his fellow-men. 
 
 Gaze on these silent walls, eloquent with all the story 
 painted upon them 700 years ago, which has remained 
 to teach the greatest men of each successive century, and 
 realise how noble a man was the happy, bright, popular 
 Giotto who laboured here in this little room, doing his best 
 for the prince who had commissioned his work, putting his 
 whole heart into the labour, and working for untold genera- 
 tions to admire and to love that expression of his genius 
 with whicli he clothed the bare walls.
 
 GIOTTO IN PADUA 173 
 
 The decoration of the chapel is, besides all this, a work 
 of the greatest charm in its general effect. The beauty 
 of each panel has not been sacrificed to the effect of 
 the whole, the co-relation of panel with panel and colour 
 with colour has never been forgotten ; and to throw up 
 the works in colour to greater effect, the architectural 
 character of the lowest tier, with its marble-like pilasters 
 and its grey symbolic scenes so bold and strong, was 
 specially prepared that the entire decoration might be 
 welded together. 
 
 Above is the deep blue sky, represented dotted with 
 numberless stars, from which the prophets gaze forth. 
 
 The whole thing is complete, nothing has been forgotten, 
 and there is no room in Italy or in Europe that is so worthy 
 of attention as this little Chapel of the Arena, nor any which 
 has excited the eloquence of the greatest of the writers and 
 speakers of the world, and with so much reason for all their 
 eloquence. 
 
 Beauty alone, to return to my first paradox, is not the 
 emotion that is produced by a burst of colour, or the con- 
 templation of an absolutely perfect work of art. It is pro- 
 duced by " a multiplicity of symmetrical parts uniting in a 
 consistent whole." As a great writer has said, it is " multitude 
 in unity" ; it is the result of the qualities of truth and rever- 
 ence, and that which is untrue or irreverent can never be 
 truly beautiful ; and therefore while perfection is not to be 
 looked for in the Arena Chapel, truth and reverence are to 
 be there so strikingly found that beauty follows as a needful 
 consequence. 
 
 Let us now go into the choir, which is painted with the 
 histor>' of the Virgin'as is the larger chapel, but the scenes in 
 which the story is told are far inferior in interest to those of 
 Giotto, are deeper in colour, and are not marked by the same 
 earnestness that distinguishes the master's work. Behind 
 the altar is the tomb of the founder, who died in exile in 
 Venice in 1320, but whose body was brought to Padua and 
 buried in the chapel which he had erected. 
 
 Turn to the left and you will find yourself in the sacristy,
 
 174 PADUA 
 
 and there you will see a statue of the same man standing 
 under a Gothic niche with hands clasped and eyes raised, 
 and dressed, not as a prince, but in the ordinary costume of 
 the day. The inscription reads : " Propria figura Dominici 
 Henrici Scrovegni militis de I'Arena." 
 
 C. AFTER GIOTTO, AND THE WORK OF 
 DONATELLO 
 
 When we leave this little chapel two minutes' walk will 
 take us to the Church of the Eremitani, which is an Augus- 
 tinian church of the thirteenth century. In its great, simple 
 nave, large in extent for preaching, you will find some 
 interesting tombs that are worth attention. At the west end 
 on the left is that of Jacopo Carrara, fifth Sovereign Lord of 
 Padua, and on the right, his father, Ubertino, fourth Lord. 
 
 These two tombs are practically all that is left of one of 
 the greatest families of Padua, which provided for the city 
 nine successive supreme rulers. As we stand before their 
 tombs, it may be well for us to briefly review the history 
 of the city. 
 
 I ha\-e already told you of the story of its origin, which we 
 can dismiss as a myth, but we may start our survey from, say 
 450. At that time it was ruled by the Huns under the famous 
 Attila. Then it fell under the rule of the Goths Odoacer and 
 Theodoric, but was captured by the Greeks in 540. 
 
 A little later on the Goths took the place under Totila, 
 but a second time it went back to the Byzantine Empire, 
 being captured by Narses in 568. Then later on we find 
 it a Lombard city, rising in revolt against its Lombard king, 
 Agilulph, and having to be recaptured by him, when it was 
 severely damaged by fire and siege. After the Lombards 
 came the Franks, and then in the eleventh century we find 
 the city to a certain extent independent and ruling itself by 
 a general council. Out of that grew as usual the competi- 
 tion of certain families for supreme control, the jealousy of
 
 THE ARTISTS AFTER GIOTTO 175 
 
 other families, and the gradually increasing power of those 
 who were able to accumulate wealth and influence, and the 
 internecine warfare that always grew out of such competi- 
 tion. In about 1175 we find that one of these families had 
 come to the chief position, and that the first Podesta of 
 the city was one of the great D'Este family. The rule 
 of the Podesta was but for a short time, and then Padua 
 was united to the Empire, and Ezzolino da Romano, of 
 whom we have before heard, ruled the place as Vicar for 
 the Emperor and practised his vilest cruelties in it. He 
 died in 1259 to the great satisfaction of the inhabitants, 
 and then began another short period of independence and 
 prosperity. At this time the city flourished and its power 
 in arms also increased, and Vicenza became a dependence 
 of Padua. Then its wealth and position attracted the at- 
 tention of Can Grande I., ruler of Verona, and Padua was 
 captured by him and became a dependence of Verona. 
 
 This only lasted till 1318, and then the bravery of the 
 Paduans, who were led by the patriotic Jacopo da Carrara, 
 freed the city from the yoke of Verona. Now commenced 
 the Carrara period, as, in return for his skill and prowess, the 
 citizens of Padua elected Jacopo to the post of Lord of the 
 city. From 131 8 till 1405 — with the exception of two inter- 
 vening years, 1388 and 1389, when Gian G-aleazzo Visconti 
 held the place— the Carrara family gave Lords to Padua ; 
 but they have not left the signs of their rule, as did the 
 family of the Scaligeri in the neighbouring city of Verona. 
 The Carrara were a warlike race, constantly struggling to 
 increase their boundaries and to capture the neighbouring 
 cities, and there was great jealousy between them and the 
 rulers of Verona and Vicenza. They were not an artistic 
 family and they did not greatly beautify Padua, but they 
 did give considerable assistance to learning, and the Univer- 
 sity flourished during their reign. There was also constant 
 conflict between Padua and her great and powerful neigh- 
 bour, the Republic of Venice. Unceasing warfare went on 
 between these two rivals, Venice coveting the rule over 
 prosperous Padua, and the Paduans fighting for their
 
 176 PADUA 
 
 freedom. In 1405 the great Republic was the conqueror, 
 and Francesco Carrara and his two sons were taken prisoners 
 and were brought to Venice during the Dogedom of Michele 
 Steno. In 1406, to the great disgrace of the Republic, the 
 last rulers of Padua, independent sovereigns although they 
 were, suffered death in the prisons of the Council of Ten 
 by the orders of the dreaded Council of Three, and then 
 Padua became an appanage of Venice and continued in 
 that position till the fall of the Republic in 1797. It was 
 ruled by Venetian nobles, a Podesta, and a captain, and 
 possessed a modified power of self-control with regard to 
 internal affairs. It flourished more during this period than 
 it had done under the Carrara family, as Venetian rule was 
 fair although hard, and the Paduans became satisfied and 
 happy under the fatherly regulations of the Republic. 
 
 We can gain an idea of the features of the Carrara rulers 
 as we look at these tombs, as the faces are full of expres- 
 sions of pride, and the monuments, each under its mag- 
 nificent canopy, are impressive memorials of a great and 
 powerful race. 
 
 There are other notable monuments in this church, especi- 
 ally a fine one on the le// by Ammonati, erected in 1 583 by 
 orders of a professor of law, Benavides, who, not willing to 
 leave to his successors the task of erecting his monument, 
 had it put up during his lifetime. In the sacristy there is 
 also an important monument to the painter, Paulus de 
 Venetiis, 1429, in which the master is represented lecturing 
 to his pupils, who are as old as himself, but only about a 
 fourth of his size ! The chief sight, however, in this church 
 is not a tomb, but is to be seen in the second chapel to 
 the right of the choir. Here are to be found some im- 
 portant frescoes by Mantegna, done when he was quite a 
 young man. 
 
 We have already when in Milan heard of the founder of 
 the Paduan school, Squarcione, and here in the Pinacoteca 
 we shall see the only picture which is quite certainly by his
 
 THE ARTISTS AFTER GIOTTO 177 
 
 hand. We have considered his influence and the powerful 
 classical bend of his mind, and have seen how he gathered 
 around him a school of younger men originating the Paduan 
 school of artists. 
 
 Here is the work of his chief pupil, done doubtless 
 during his pupilage, but revealing how great a genius that 
 pupil was to become. The love of classical art which was 
 the passion of the master had descended to the scholar, but 
 what a vast improvement is here to be seen over the rough 
 hard, stiff, angular work of Squarcione, The statuesque char- 
 acter which was derived from the study of the antique is 
 also fully revealed, and the love of fine detail, which was a 
 part of the art of Mantegna, but which he never allowed 
 to overpower the bold effect of his conceptions. Mark 
 the true perspective, the power, dignity, and, as a modern 
 writer has well, said, "the almost monumental grandeur of 
 the single figures, and of the whole composition," and see 
 how far in one short life the school has progressed from 
 the very elemental work that characterised Squarcione. 
 
 In considering the Paduan school of which such good 
 examples are before us, we must not overlook the fact 
 that there were earlier men painting in Padua than the 
 Squarcionesques. When in a few minutes we reach the 
 great Church of St. Anthony, we can see the best work of 
 two men already mentioned, Altichieri and d'Avanzi. 
 But besides these two there were others, notably Griusto da 
 Padua and Guariento, who worked in the early fourteenth 
 century ; and ere we leave this church, in order to have an 
 idea as to the beginning of Paduan art, we will step into 
 the choir and shall there see the work of Guariento. The 
 frescoes are quaintly symbolical and allegorical, and then 
 above these curious astrological pictures are others repre- 
 senting scenes from the life of St. Augustine. None of them 
 are really beautiful, but they are rather quaint and odd, 
 possessing their chief interest from the fact that they 
 represent the beginnings of Paduan art before the classical 
 element had come to take possession of it. 
 
 M
 
 178 PADUA 
 
 We will now leave this church and go off to the middle 
 of the city to see the Palazzo della Ragione, which I men- 
 tioned at the beginning of our walk. 
 
 This building, which is known to the Paduans as** II 
 Salone, stands close to the University, and between the 
 two piazze in which vegetables and fruit are sold. It was 
 originally erected in the twelfth century, but has been re- 
 peatedly injured by fire. It forms one entire side of the 
 Piazza dell' Erbe, stands completely upon open arches, and 
 has a loggia around it. The great thing to see is the 
 enormous hall upstairs, and to reach it you go into the 
 Via del Municipio and find an iron gate, at which is a porter 
 who will gladly take you up many stairs into this enormous 
 hall, which is said to be the largest in the world unsup- 
 ported by pillars or arches. It .is the work of Fra Giovanni, 
 a friar who had been in India, and had there seen the roof 
 of a huge palace which pleased him, and of which he made 
 a careful design. The Paduans, desiring to erect some 
 great work that should surpass anything done by their 
 neighbours, commissioned him to roof their hall, which up 
 to that time had consisted of three separate rooms with one 
 gigantic roof, and the friar well accomplished his task. The 
 room, which is hardly ever entered now save by visitors, 
 contains the famous model made by Donatello for his 
 equestrian statue which we shall see close to II Santo, and 
 the presence of this wooden model enables us to form a 
 better idea of the size and proportions of the place than 
 could otherwise have been possible. The walls were 
 originally decorated by Giotto, but all his work perished in 
 a fire which took place in 1410, and the present frescoes 
 date from immediately after that fire, when the walls were 
 restored and re-decorated by the local artists of the time 
 under the influence of the work of Giotto. 
 
 The frescoes are very curious and show how fond the 
 Paduans have always been of astrology, a science which the 
 influence of their important University no doubt helped to 
 popularise. Here in these frescoes the astronomy of the 
 day, which was in effect astrology, is well illustrated, and in
 
 THE ARTISTS AFTER GIOTTO 179 
 
 combination with the stories of Holy Writ and the allegori- 
 cal representations of the Elements, the Virtues, the Vices, 
 and the Temperaments, are depicted all round the room in a 
 certain strange confusion, the problems in astronomy that 
 are depicted being so arranged in position that successive 
 seasons should illuminate them through the windows that 
 are in the walls. At the entrance are two Egyptian 
 statues that Belzoni, the celebrated discoverer, presented to 
 his native town, and then at the other end towering up to 
 the roof is the gigantic model of the horse that Donatello 
 prepared for his equestrian statue, and which is here care- 
 fully preserved. In some ways it is even finer than the 
 statue of Gatta Melata which we are on our way to see, 
 and by its very rugged grandeur and its strong sense of 
 movement, power, and strength forms a most impressive 
 object. We can inspect it at close quarters in this hall, and 
 then in a few moments we shall see high up above us near 
 the church the statue itself, and be able to appreciate it from 
 the position it was intended to occupy. The hall is altogether 
 an imposing apartment, and is of such antiquity and such 
 proportions that it is well worth the trouble of seeing. 
 
 Now we will move towards the other end of Padua to see 
 the remarkable church of *''*'I1 Santo, as strange a con- 
 glomeration of Oriental and Byzantine and pointed archi- 
 tecture as Europe can produce. 
 
 To the right of the west front stands the ** bronze 
 statue of Erasmo da Narni, called Gatta Melata, and one 
 of the two supreme equestrian statues of the world, the 
 other, of course, being the Colleone »ee at \'enice, the work 
 of \'errocchio. It is exceedingly fine, incomparably so, 
 a magnificent work ; both horse and horseman are admir- 
 ably adapted one to the other. It is, as Hope Rea has 
 said, "a magnificent presentation of a sagacious warrior, 
 cool, determined, commanding, and is filled with that subtle 
 suggestion of individual character which it is Donatello's 
 special triumph to achieve." 
 
 The action of the horse is that of ambling, both feet on
 
 i8o PADUA 
 
 the same side moving together, and this action, as the same 
 author points out, it has in common with the bronze horses 
 of St. Mark's, and also with the horses on the frieze of the 
 Parthenon. This was the ceremonial pace, specially fitted 
 for serious occasions. 
 
 It was the first time in the Renaissance that such a 
 statue was produced, and Donatello had nothing but the 
 evidence of classic work and his own supreme powers to 
 enable him to conquer all the difficulties that beset so great 
 a problem. He began it in 1446 after completing the 
 decorations of the altar of the church, and he completed 
 it in 1453, having successfully studied the anatomy of the 
 horse, conquered the difficulties of how to model so large 
 and so imposing an object which was to be seen at a great 
 height, and arranged for the casting of a huge mass of 
 metal greater than had ever been used before. 
 
 Let us now look round the exterior of the church. Accord- 
 ing to tradition it was the work of Niccolo da Pisa, who in 
 the thirteenth century was called in by the Paduans to erect 
 as fine a church to the memory of their great saint and to 
 enclose his remains as could be built, but it is more than 
 doubtful whether the great Pisan architect had anything to 
 do with the building. As already stated, it is a strange mix- 
 ture of styles, but has been built by some one who had 
 an intimate acquaintance with St. Mark's and who desired 
 to give to his creation some unusual otiire features that 
 should recall that Cathedral and yet give this church char- 
 acteristics of its own. The eight cupolas do this most effec- 
 tually, and the effect of the mingling of styles is not without 
 its charm. Near to the west front against the wall stands 
 the tomb of Rolando Piazzola, a strenuous opponent of the 
 Emperor Henry VII., when he strove to acquire the rights 
 of the city and add it by force to the Holy Roman Empire. 
 It is under a Gothic canopy of delightful simplicity. 
 
 Now let us enter and we shall find ourselves in a very 
 imposing edifice full of altars, and always crowded with 
 people, who throng its altars, especially the one dedicated 
 to II Santo where his body rests.
 
 THE ARTISTS AFTER GIOTTO i8i 
 
 We will go at once to the High Altar, passing for a while 
 St. Anthony's Chapel in order that with the recollec- 
 tion of Donatello's monument fresh in our mind we may 
 see his work for the decoration of this **High Altar. It 
 was reconstructed in iSg6 by Signor Camillo Boito, the 
 then architect of the restoration, as a previous generation 
 had removed it from its original position, taken it to 
 pieces, and placed the reliefs that were made for it in 
 different places. They are now all brought into their proper 
 positions. 
 
 The angels playing on musical instruments now form the 
 front of the altar ; above these are two reliefs of the miracles 
 of the saint, two symbols of the Evangelists, and a Pieta ; 
 and then again, higher up, are the seven life-sized figures 
 of saints and in the midst a grand rugged crucifix. At the 
 back of the altar are the two other reliefs of the miracles, 
 two more symbols of the Evangelists, and in the centre a 
 large Entombment in terra cotta which is in striking contrast 
 with all the bronze and with the fine yellow marble in which 
 the bronze panels are set. Perhaps the greatest works of 
 all are the reliefs of the symbols of the Evangelists, which 
 are of remarkable beauty, splendidly drawn, especially the 
 Ox and the Lion, full of decorative value, and of direct 
 force and power. The children who are in the twelve 
 panels along the front of the altar are very important, and 
 should all be studied. One of them is of that strange, 
 half-childish, and half-mythical being that is special to 
 Donatello, and had been conceived by him originally for 
 the pulpit which he executed at Prato, but the others are 
 simply delightful child angels playing on instruments, and 
 created in masterly relief with great expression and charm. 
 Of the statues the St. Francis is by far the finest, a strong, 
 vigorous, rugged figure, thoughtful, and not without a 
 tenderness and sympathy of expression suitable to a re- 
 presentation of so loving a saint. The four rehefs depict 
 celebrated scenes in the life of St. Anthony : the miracle 
 of finding the misei-'s heart in his money chest ; that of healing 
 a young man who, in remorse for having struck his mother,
 
 i82 PADUA 
 
 had cut off his own foot ; that of causing a newly born babe 
 to speak and so establish the innocence of its mother ; and 
 finally, that of an ass who, though starving, recognised the 
 sanctity of the Host and refused to eat it, and in this way 
 convinced an unbeliever. In all of them there are powerful 
 architectural backgrounds composed of rigid lines and well- 
 filled spaces from which the characters of the stories which 
 are presented stand out with expression that is quite re- 
 markable in such minute work, crowded with details of great 
 beauty, but which are never allowed to confuse the main 
 issue or to injure the decorative value of the panel. Re- 
 straint and reticence mark all the work, and a fine sense 
 of decoration, with a perfect knowledge of what the material 
 in which he worked was capable and of wherein it would 
 fail. In the centre is the superbly modelled crucifix, and 
 behind it the strong, bold work in terra cotta which is so 
 pleasing as a foil to the bronze. 
 
 Now let me take you into the chapel which is opposite 
 to that of St. Anthony, and which is decorated with fresco 
 work by Altichieri and d'Avanzi. It is called **the Capella 
 San Felice, and having been originally dedicated to St. 
 James, has his story in fresco by these interesting early 
 Paduan artists on its walls. There are two tombs in this 
 chapel, one to the wife of the second Lord of Padua, Marsilio 
 Carrara, and the other to the founder of the chapel ; but all 
 the remaining space is covered with the decoration forming 
 what Crowe called " the noblest monument of the pictorial 
 art of the fourteenth century." It will be well for you to 
 go round all the pictures in this series, some of which are 
 taken from the legendary life and some from the Scriptural 
 story relating to St. James, and mark how these followers of 
 Giotto have developed the dramatic power, how well the 
 story is told and with what simple force and directness, and 
 also how much deeper and richer are the colours used, and 
 what a fine decorative effect is obtained. Both artists appear 
 to have worked together on this chapel, but the work of 
 d'Avanzi can be distinguished from that of his friend by its 
 greater minutepess of detail, and by the striking way in
 
 THE ARTISTS AFTER GIOTTO 183 
 
 which he distinguishes faces one from the other, giving to 
 each a character of its own. Akichieri is considered to be 
 the greater artist of the two, and to be the better and more 
 skilful draughtsman, but his companion evidently had not 
 only the greater insight into character, but the greater 
 power to represent such character in his work. They are, 
 of course, followers of Giotto in the way in which, with 
 an absence of accessories and with a plain simple truth, 
 they narrate their story ; always keeping in view the 
 final result as a piece of decoration as well as a pictured 
 narrative. They are strikingly original in their ideas, and 
 you will mark, having so recently come from the Arena 
 Chapel, what progress these frescoes show in knowledge of 
 atmosphere, movement, proportion, and height of figure, 
 and in composition and grouping. 
 
 It would, I think, be well for you as soon as you have gone 
 round these frescoes to leave the church (returning in a few 
 minutes), stepping outside the main door, pass around one 
 side of the square on the left to a door leading you into 
 the Capella San Giorgio, the key of which the custode of 
 II Santo will produce, and following him in, look at the 
 work of these same two artists which covers the walls of this 
 chapel. Here you will find the story of St. George, together 
 with scenes from the lives of St. Catherine and St. Lucy, 
 and some New Testament subjects. Behind the altar is 
 the Crucifixion, and above it the Coronation of the Virgin, 
 and close to them, on the left wall, a fine picture in which 
 are members of the family of the founder of the chapel 
 kneeling before the Madonna. These frescoes were done 
 some five years later than those at which we have just 
 been looking, and mark still further progress. The Cruci- 
 fixion is far finer than the one in the Capella San Felice, 
 as there is more expression in the faces, a clear desire to 
 give a supernatural aspect to the scene, and a greater realisa- 
 tion of the ability to group the figures in a natural manner, 
 that each should take its part clearly in the central event' 
 of the picture. There is not the poetry that Giotto possessed 
 in so supreme a degree, but there is more dramatic force,
 
 i84 PADUA 
 
 There is not the intense feeling of devotion, the deep religious 
 spirit, the nervous trembling of excitement born of profound 
 belief which is characteristic of Giotto, but there is a reach- 
 ing out to greater pictorial effect, a desire to render the scene 
 as it actually was, and to paint each spectator as he actu- 
 ally looked, and there is power and skill in modelling, in 
 painting draperies, and in arranging shadows that is very 
 noticeable. Many of the frescoes are in bad condition, 
 others are in good preservation, but all are worth attention, 
 and mark another milestone in the progress of Paduan art, 
 which we shall see passed again as we go into the picture 
 gallery in the town. 
 
 Let us now return into the church, and turn to the 
 Capella del Santo. It is a sixteenth-century chapel, partly 
 the work of Sansovino, and is very richly decorated, but 
 nothing that it contains is of a specially high merit in the 
 kingdom of art, and therefore it was that I wanted you 
 first to see the other chapels. You will always find this 
 chapel full of worshippers, as the Paduans are a very re- 
 ligious people and devoted to the cult of their saint, whose 
 remains lie in the altar by the side of which stand two fine 
 silver candelabra, good fifteenth-century work by the hands 
 of a local artist, Parodi. 
 
 There is a fine tomb against the second column to the 
 right in the nave, and in the third chapel on the same side 
 there is a tabernacle, covered with reliefs by Donatello, 
 which is often overlooked, and in which also the fine gates 
 and two grand red marble tombs should be noted. 
 
 In the sacristy there is some beautiful intarsia work 
 which is well worth seeing, and if you can get the 
 cupboards opened some splendid vestments and some fine 
 examples of the goldsmith's art are to be seen, and then in 
 the cloisters close by there are more fine tombs. From the 
 cloisters you gain a charming view of the church, and can 
 form your opinion whether you agree with a numerous body 
 of writers who speak of it as ugly and bizarre, or whether 
 you agree with many other writers, with whom I must 
 confess to have more sympathy, who regard it as an
 
 OTHER SIGHTS AND PICTURE GALLERY 185 
 
 interesting and original work which is impressive, strange, 
 and quaint and attractive from its very originality and from 
 the contrast it affords to the usual type of buildings, and a 
 high tribute to the genius of its architect. 
 
 U. OTHER SIGHTS AND THE PICTURE 
 GALLERY 
 
 There are not many other churches to be seen in 
 Padua. The Cathedral has no special features, and 
 the tombs and pictures that it contains are not of much 
 importance. The Baptistery is a more interesting building 
 as it is thirteenth-century Lombard work, and recalls a 
 similar one at Parma, which, however, is finer, and has 
 the advantage of being better placed. This Baptistery 
 loses dignity from being so close to the Duomo. Its in- 
 terior is impressive, as it is entirely covered with frescoes, 
 which are the work of two other early Paduan artists, 
 Giovanni and Antonio da Padua, of whom little is known, 
 and whose chief works are these frescoes. Their date is 
 about 1370, and they were painted at the cost of Fina Buzza- 
 carina, wife of the ruler of the city, Francesco Carrara, and re- 
 present stories from the Old and New Testament depicted in 
 a very quaint, naive manner, very dark and rich in effect. 
 
 The only other really important church to be seen is that 
 of Santa Giustina at the extreme south of the city, not a 
 great way from II Santo, and situate close to the delight- 
 ful Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. This large open space, 
 which must be passed to reach the church, has a lake in 
 the middle surrounded by trees and crossed by a bridge, 
 and around it are a number of statues of those important 
 persons who can be said to have any connection with 
 Padua, or were educated at its University. The Church of 
 Santa Giustina is built above some catacombs in which 
 are the remains of early Christian martyrs, SS. Giustina, 
 Prosdocimo, and Daniel, and there are some curious altar 
 fronts and other pieces of carving to be seen in them.
 
 i86 PADUA 
 
 The choir contains some excellent wood-work which forms 
 the stalls, and in the inner choir, which belongs to a far 
 older building, are other carved wood stalls decorated with 
 unusual and remarkable intarsia work. 
 
 When you leave this church I want you to follow the 
 method that we adopted at Verona and see a garden, 
 but this time not for a magnificent view but for a dif- 
 ferent reason. In Padua is the most ancient *Botanical 
 Garden in Europe, one which was arranged in 1543 and 
 which has belonged to the great University of Padua ever 
 since, and has had connected with it some of the most 
 eminent botanists in the world. It was founded by the 
 Republic of Venice, and from it sprang all the other botani- 
 cal gardens which have been so important in acclimatis- 
 ing exotic trees in Europe and in helping on the study of 
 botany. It is close to the church and known as the Orto 
 Botanico, and well worth visiting. There are many plants 
 in it that will interest you only if you happen to be a 
 botanist, but the garden is so lovely and the majority of the 
 trees and shrubs are in such fine condition and so well grown 
 that I am sure you would enjoy a stroll through its walks. 
 
 The grandest tree is a magnificent palm, which is enclosed 
 in a house by itself, but there are many other fine exotic 
 trees with which we are now familiar, but which were intro- 
 duced into Europe early in the eighteenth century, first 
 planted here, and thence have spread in all directions. The 
 groups of medicinal plants are also worth attention, and 
 in the long building near the garden is a very complete 
 Botanical Museum and Herbarium. Admission is free, but 
 it is well to give one of the gardeners a gratuity when you 
 leave the place. To obtain admission, you will have to pull 
 the bell at the gate, and to go out you will need to do the 
 same, as the gates are locked behind you when you have 
 entered, to prevent — so the custodian informed me — the 
 entrance of tramps or dogs. You will probably only find 
 half-a-dozen students in the place, and have it pretty much 
 to yourself. 
 
 The University, which the Paduans always speak of as
 
 OTHER SIGHTS AND PICTURE GALLERY 187 
 
 II Bo from the sign of the ancient tavern, the Ox, on which 
 the original buildings were erected, does not contain much 
 that will interest you. In the entrance court you will notice, 
 as you will see with better effect in Bologna, the arms of the 
 various students, dating away back to the fifteenth century, 
 and in the museums, if you are disposed to pay them a visit, 
 you will find all the ordinary collections that such museums 
 possess, and notably a fine collection of local fossils, and a 
 superb series of Roman coins, but I think that the picture 
 gallery will be found of greater importance than the museums, 
 especially as when we arrive in Bologna I want you to spend 
 more time than we have hitherto given to museums in the 
 very fine one in that city. 
 
 To the Pinacoteca let us therefore go. It is close to II 
 Santo, and not five minutes' walk from the Botanical Garden. 
 
 There is not any catalogue to be obtained, but one is in 
 preparation, and, as usual in Italian galleries, the pictures 
 are " in course of arrangement." You will get accustomed 
 to this expression as you go through Italian galleries, as 
 just at this time there is a mania for rearranging galleries and 
 preparing new catalogues, and if only the work was to be 
 done by those persons who really understand pictures, or with 
 the advice of such experts as Dr. Frizzoni, Mr. Berenson, 
 Dr. Ricci, Mr. Cook, or Professor Venturi, the result 
 would be delightful, but in many cases the work is left 
 to the custodian of the gallery, who often has not had 
 either the requisite experience or the needful knowledge to 
 be able to name and arrange his gallery in an accurate 
 manner. 
 
 Room I. There are five pictures in this room that merit 
 attention. 50 and 56, which are on either side of the door, 
 and which were originally numbered 416 and 417, are the 
 fronts of two cassone or marriage chests, the other portions 
 of which, having no decoration upon them, I found in an 
 adjoining store-room in pieces. They are attributed to 
 Giorgione, and I think with good reason, and represent 
 scenes connected with the legends of Adonis.' 
 
 1 Giorgione, by H, Cook (Bell & Sons, 1900), p. 56,
 
 i88 PADUA 
 
 They are delightfully painted, are splendid in colour, and 
 full of sunny effect very characteristic of the great master, 
 while to those who know his pictures, the trees, the distant 
 hills, the grouping of the figures, and their very forms will 
 be eloquent of that versatile genius. There are two other 
 panels by Giorgione in this same gallery also representing 
 mythological scenes, one of them being Leda and the Swan, 
 but although they are numbered 42 and 43, I cannot tell 
 you in which room to find them, as at the time of my visit 
 they were on the floor with their faces turned to the wall and 
 the attendant seemed to have no idea as to where they were 
 to be hung. In many ways they recall the cassone panels, 
 as the landscape in them is most beautifully painted, 
 although on a very minute scale, but they are gems of loveli- 
 ness and the figures of the man and woman in the second 
 one are charmingly idyllic and naive in their sentiment, very 
 characteristic of the lyrical manner of Giorgione.^ 
 
 33 is a good picture by Marco Basaiti, a most interesting 
 Venetian master, of whom very little is known save that he 
 was a follower of Vivarini. It represents the Madonna and 
 Child with St. Peter and St. Liberale and three angels, and 
 is signed MARCIVS BAXAITI. The saint has been called 
 St. George and also St. Paul, but I think there is little doubt 
 that it represents Giorgione's favourite saint St. Liberale. 
 
 The Palma Vecchio, of a Madonna and Child with two 
 donors, although provided with a signature, must not be 
 accepted as a genuine work by that master. It is a counter- 
 part, as Morelli first pointed out, of a picture at Berlin, 
 equally untrustworthy, and is only a school work, and is, I 
 believe, so being labelled at the present time. 
 
 49 is a delightful picture of a Virgin and Child with St. 
 John the Baptist and a donor, evidently a work of the 
 school of Lotto, but not by Lotto himself. It was at one 
 time numbered 116. There are also some works of early 
 Venetian art of the Vivarini School in this room that are 
 worth attention. 
 
 In Room II. are two works by Bonifacio Veronese, a 
 1 See Cook, p. 90.
 
 OTHER SIGHTS AND PICTURE GALLERY 189 
 
 Nativity, 166, and a Madonna and Child with SS. John the 
 Baptist, Sebastian, Jerome, and Francis, decorative pictures 
 with rich voluptuous colouring. 
 
 In Room III. there is nothing worth attention. 
 
 Room IV. contains the most interesting picture in the 
 collection, 399, the altar-piece in five divisions with SS. Lucia, 
 John the Baptist, Jerome, Anthony, and Giustina, each in 
 their own niche, and with a rough landscape behind, which 
 is the work of Squarcione. It has been much injured, and 
 has also been in places repainted, but it is of extraordinary 
 interest as marking the very beginning of the true Paduan 
 school, hard, classical, rude, but possessed of much dignity 
 and reser\e, and delightful in its statuesque pose and in its 
 charm of colour. 
 
 Near to it is 381 (once called 781), a school picture of just 
 the same period, in which it is probable the master had a 
 hand also. It is more stiff and formal, and is an Adoration 
 with St. John the Baptist and St. Jerome. Possibly both 
 works were done for an altar dedicated to St. Jerome as he 
 appears so prominently in each. 
 
 Another early Paduan work is 385 (or 12 16) in which again 
 St. Jerome is an important figure. 
 
 397 is a fine work by one of the Vivarini, and around it 
 are two panels belonging^ to it. The St. Peter is a grand 
 figure with a fine head, and the draperies, tiara, and keys 
 are superbly painted. It is a charming piece of work of 
 the rigid, hard Crivellian school. 
 
 In Room V. neither of the Bellinis must be accepted as 
 works by the masters whose names are attached to them, 
 although both are Venetian pictures of good merit. 415 
 (1273) bears the name of Jacopo and 425 (658) the name 
 of Gentile. The former is clearly by Rondinelli. 
 
 439 is a fine head by Antonello da Messina, and there 
 are two terribly sickly works in this room by Sassoferrato, 
 over which the custodian goes into raptures, and which are 
 sentimental to the last degree. 
 
 In Room VI. there is a very attractive Portrait, 454 (659), 
 of a Youth, which has been for years attributed to Giorgione,
 
 igo PADUA 
 
 and has a signature to that effect upon it which may or may 
 not be false. It is now generally given to Torbido, and so 
 close is the resemblance of the face to that of the Shepherd 
 Boy at Hampton Court which has been called the work of 
 Giorgione, that Mr. Cook, in refusing to accept the latter 
 as by Giorgione, draws special attention to the resemblance, 
 and is disposed to attribute each work to the hand of 
 Torbido. I must confess that it goes hard with me to 
 resign the Shepherd Boy as a genuine work by Gior- 
 gione, and my own feeling is rather that in this head 
 of a youth we have the fifth work by Giorgione that the 
 Paduan gallery possesses, rather than a work by Torbido. 
 It came originally from the Church of Santa Giustina, and 
 while there was always known as a picture by Giorgione. 
 It was given to the church by a Venetian lady under 
 his name, so I was told at the church, and perhaps some 
 day a search amongst the papers of the church will reveal 
 some further information as to this very interesting portrait, 
 and by such means the question, not only of its identity, 
 but also of that of the Hampton Court picture which it 
 so closely resembles, may be set at rest. 
 
 I am disposed to think that this very youth can be re- 
 cognised as seated under a tree, in the cassone front by 
 Giorgione (56) which we saw in Room I, 
 
 There is an interesting Garofalo (710) in this room, very 
 Ferrarese in its trees and buildings, somewhat cold in its 
 colour for this master, and having in one corner a mysterious 
 scene which appears to resemble a man struck by lightning, 
 and which should be the means of revealing the history of 
 the picture, which was very likely a votive altar-piece. 
 
 You should also see in this room two fine old frames, 
 one of which encloses the Boccacino, which is itself rather 
 a good picture. 
 
 We now enter the big room at the end of the gallery. 
 
 Right at the end of it is a glorious Romanino, a superb 
 picture. The Virgin is being crowned by three angels above, 
 while below are grouped SS. Benedict and Giustina on the 
 right, SS. Prosdocimo and Scholastica on the left, and
 
 OTHER SIGHTS AND PICTURE GALLERY 191 
 
 below the throne seated on the step is a lovely child angel 
 playing on a tambourine. A Pietk and four saints are above 
 the altar-piece in a lunette, and the predella contains a 
 charming tondo of the Holy Innocents and two saints. 
 It is fully signed and dated, and was originally in the 
 Church of Sta. Giustina, and is perhaps the very finest 
 picture that Romanino ever painted, full of rich vibrating 
 colour and superbly arranged. 
 
 765, near to it, is also by Romanino, and came from the 
 same church. It represents, the Madonna and Child with 
 St. Benedict and St. Giustina and a lovely angel, and is 
 also very rich and deep in colour. 
 
 A rather interesting picture in this gallery is a copy, by 
 Longhi, of the Francia at Ravenna, which he has signed and 
 passed off as his own ! ! 
 
 Finally, the fresco by Girolamo da Santa Croce is worth 
 attention, and is another picture from Sta. Giustina, in which 
 the saint is seen with St. Benedict. The master is better 
 known for his copies of the work of Cima than for his own, 
 which are not of striking importance, but of which this is 
 one of the best that I know.
 
 /.•J- .3 
 
 BOLOGNA 
 
 A. INTRODUCTORY 
 
 BOLOGNA was originally an Etruscan city, and evi- 
 dence of its importance in Etruscan times can still 
 be seen in the place. In the Middle Ages it was an 
 independent city, governing itself and giving much attention 
 to the erection of important buildings, and strengthening 
 its position. It was a powerful city as it increased in 
 prosperity, and was a serious enemy in the field. As we 
 shall see later on, it had some great successes in warfare. 
 In the fourteenth century it was attached to the Holy See, 
 and from that time was ruled nominally by the representa- 
 tives of the Pope. The Bentivoglio family, however, ob- 
 tained such large wealth and power as practically to make 
 them into independent princes, and under the rule of 
 Giovanni Bentivoglio, who reigned for some forty years, 
 the city flourished and became an important place for the 
 cultivation of the liberal arts. The desire of Griovanni 
 Bentivoglio was to adorn and beautify his city, and to 
 attract to it the greatest craftsmen of the times ; but he was 
 a despotic ruler, and raised a great deal of bitter feeling 
 against him in the place. His tyranny and independence 
 became at last so serious that Pope Juhus II. came against 
 the city, drove him out, reinstated the Papal power, and 
 ruled the place by legates who were more directly respon- 
 sible to the Holy See. Bentivoglio fled to Milan, and to 
 prevent his return the exasperated people destroyed his 
 palace, and many buildings that were important in the city. 
 From the time of Julius II. the place remained attached 
 to the Patrimony of Peter and was ruled from Rome until 
 
 the events of recent times. 
 
 192
 
 ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN TIMES 193 
 
 B. ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN TIMES 
 
 In considering the history of Bologna we have to deal 
 with a state of civilisation far earlier than that of the 
 Romans, and the oldest that has yet come under our atten- 
 tion. The history of the Etruscan nation is still very 
 largely a matter of mystery. We do not know for certain 
 whence came the people who spread over Italy, and whose 
 twelve cities acquired so great a renown. 
 
 We cannot yet read with an absolute knowledge or accu- 
 racy the inscriptions that the Etruscans have left behind 
 them in such vast numbers, nor can we always interpret to 
 our complete satisfaction the legends on the tombstones that 
 are found or the writing within the tombs. Many mysteries 
 still surround this most interesting people, chief amongst 
 them being the difificulty of their language ; as we have 
 yet to discover such a memorial as the Rosetta stone, which 
 proved in the case of the Egyptian hieroglyphics the long 
 sought for key to the mystery. 
 
 Some day, perhaps, we may find some similar treasure, 
 written in the quaint Runic characters of Etruria, which will 
 once for all settle the disputes over the meaning of those 
 inscriptions that now afford so much scope for discussion. 
 
 We have plenty of evidence as to the life and habits of 
 the Etruscans, thanks to the discoveries that have been 
 made, and especially to the treasures that have been found 
 in their great cemeteries and in their graves. The museums 
 of Perugia, Chiusi, and Bologna enable the student to realise 
 how rich a nation Etruria must have been, and in what a 
 high state of civilisation and luxury her people lived. Their 
 artistic knowledge must have been very considerable. 
 Their jewellery, bronzes, and vases show great beauty both 
 of design and workmanship, and the ornaments in vast 
 numbers that are found testify to the love of decoration 
 that characterised this interesting people. There is noth- 
 ing barbaric about their work. It shows a pure love 
 of design, a refinement that is Greek in its nature, and 
 
 N
 
 194 BOLOGNA 
 
 a delicacy of workmanship that is surprising. Especially 
 careful they seem to have been with their dead, and very 
 particular as to preparing fine tombs for them, decorating 
 the interiors with important sculpture and fresco decoration 
 of a rude sort, and then burying with the dead^ money, 
 ornaments, jewels, and vessels of various kinds for their 
 use in some unknown region, which now enable us to 
 understand somewhat of the habits and customs of the 
 nation. 
 
 In the **Museo Civico, to which it is well that we should 
 make our first visit in Bologna, we shall find in the fenf/i 
 room a magnificent collection of Etruscan remains. The 
 room is a very long one, finely arranged and well lighted, 
 and is filled with what has been discovered near to Bologna. 
 Here we can see the graves as they were opened, and the 
 arrangement of them can be studied, whilst in cases 
 around are the treasures that have been taken from this 
 gigantic cemetery. There are vases of considerable beauty, 
 bronze ornaments, notably mirrors, of the most exquisite 
 design, sometimes covered with dainty engraving and at 
 other times inlaid with metals, such as silver. There are 
 brooches, fibulae, rings for the finger and ears, in gold, 
 silver, and bronze ; there are ornaments of all varieties in 
 glass, often very lovely in colour, and varied in effect by 
 mottling, cloudiness, clearness, or device. Necklaces are to 
 be seen in plenty, and important collars in silver and gold. 
 There are bronze vessels of all kinds, both for domestic and 
 for sacrificial use, and some of the bronze jars are covered 
 with delightful chased work, depicting scenes from the 
 history of the people. Tombstones stand all around the room, 
 many of them covered with strange inscriptions which have 
 only been partially deciphered ; and altogether there is such 
 an effect of wealth and prosperity as enables us to better 
 appreciate the genius of the Etruscans, and to realise how 
 great a nation possessed the soil upon which we now stand 
 away back in the mysterious days preceding the foundation 
 of Rome. 
 
 The old names for Bologna, Felsina. which is still used
 
 ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN TIMES 195 
 
 on books, and for scents and soaps used in the city, and 
 Bononia, which survives in legal documents, and was used 
 by the artists of the Renaissance, were said to have been de- 
 rived from the Etruscan rulers who founded the place and 
 gave to it their names. Another interpretation of the word 
 Bononia derives it from a certain ruler in Roman times ; but 
 in any case it has a considerable antiquity. 
 
 Of actual Roman remains in the city there is not very 
 much, but in this same museum can be seen plenty of 
 evidence as to the Roman occupation of the place. In the 
 entrance hall may be found some Roman tombs and statues, 
 also a collection of pieces of terra-cotta, with remains of 
 mosaic decorations and portions of columns of various build- 
 ings. There is a series of fine milestones from the great roads 
 that lay through Bologna, and other stones on which are 
 to be found records as to the movements of certain legions 
 and as to the places where they were stationed in the 
 neighbourhood. Upstairs, in Room IX., can be seen some 
 objects in glass and bronze, with candelabra, statuettes, and 
 ornaments that w-ere found in the neighbourhood of the city, 
 together with a great variety of other Roman objects that 
 have no immediate connection with Bologna. 
 
 In the city there are only two important things which relate 
 to Roman Bologna. One is the great Piazza, around which 
 are grouped the chief buildings, and which occupies the 
 site of the Roman forum, and has been constantly called in 
 mediaeval times " The Forum," although, save that it is an 
 open space and has always been so, it retains little trace of 
 its original occupation. The other remains are to be found 
 built in various places in the ancient Church of San Stefano, 
 which is the oldest church in the city, and which was built, 
 so historians say, upon the site of a Roman temple, and has 
 incorporated into its structure various pieces of undoubted 
 Roman work. 
 
 We know that the terms of the second triumvirate, 43 B.C., 
 were settled in Bologna, that Antony and Octavius Lepidus
 
 196 BOLOGNA 
 
 visited the place, that it was a seat for a time of the Imperial 
 power, and that, during the Second Empire, it was a favourite 
 residence of the Emperor and Court, and that four hundred 
 years after Christ, it resisted the attacks of Alaric the Goth, 
 who was defeated by the Roman forces at its gates ; but of 
 all this stirring time we have hardly a stone in its place to 
 remind us, and little, save the portions of the old Roman 
 walls and bits of the fortifications around the city, still 
 stands as a memorial of Roman Bologna, 
 
 Of Lombard times there is little more to be seen. 
 
 The only important relic that stands to tell us of those 
 early times is the font in the centre of what is called the 
 Atrio di Pilato, which forms one of that curious assemblage 
 of churches under one roof which is now termed San 
 Stefano, and which we shall visit presently. It bears the 
 name of a Lombard king, Luitprand, who lived in 744. 
 Beside it there are some columns in another of these churches, 
 called Santa Trinita, which are Lombard, and in all pro- 
 bability yet another church under the same roof, called San 
 Sepolcro, preserves the shape and appearance and is built 
 upon the site of a Lombard erection. 
 
 We then have to make a big stride to the Middle Ages 
 when Bologna became an important independent free city, 
 having been governing itself from 960, with more or less 
 freedom, and growing rapidly into a strong powerful 
 place. 
 
 * * San Stefano, to which already so much reference has 
 been made, is so strange an agglomeration of churches and 
 so ancient in its building, that it is to it we will turn our 
 steps in order to see what can be learned of the very earliest 
 work in Bologna in the Middle Ages. 
 
 The leaning towers are the most notable objects in a 
 general view of the city, and close to them branch out five 
 great streets, and the church which we seek is in one of 
 these five —the Via San Stefano. 
 
 The first church which we enter is comparativeh- un-
 
 ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN TIMES 197 
 
 interesting, and is called the Crocifisso Chureh. The only 
 thing worth noting in it is the pulpit, which is twelfth- 
 century work. From this church we enter a sort of en- 
 closed passage, which has been arranged so as to form 
 a separate church, called the Capella della Consolazione, 
 and then from it, down some steps, into a crypt under 
 the Church of the Crocifisso called the Confessione, 
 which is of eleventh or twelfth century work. The 
 Cloister close by this church is very charming, and the 
 upper gallery is supported by twelfth-century round arches 
 on twin columns. 
 
 The next church to be entered is that of Santa Trinita, 
 which is also twelfth - century work, Lombard in style, 
 and has very ancient columns in it. Thence we pass 
 into an open court around which is a colonnade, and in the 
 centre of which is the font already named, which bears the 
 name of Luitprand upon it. It is called the Atrio di 
 Pilate, and on the left is an enclosed chapel containing a 
 fine picture by Giacomo Francia, the son of the great 
 Francia, and a very remarkable crucifix, painted in 1370, 
 by Simone de Bologna, an artist who devoted the best of 
 his energies and almost all his time to painting such objects 
 of devotion. From this court opens out another small 
 chapel called the Hall of the Lombards, in which are 
 preserved the keys of the city of Imola, captured by the 
 Bolognese in the year 1328. 
 
 Leaving this church, a step takes us into another church, 
 called San Sepolcro, which is a still earlier building going 
 back to the tenth century, and in which, a hundred years 
 later, San Petronio was buried in a tomb copied from the ap- 
 pearance of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. This church 
 is circular, as were so many of these very early ones, and is 
 supported by seven columns, which are said to have be- 
 longed to the temple which originally stood on the site, 
 and to have been left in their original position when the 
 church was first erected. The brick column which now 
 stands in front of each was added in the twelfth century or 
 thereabouts. The walls are of brick and the whole structure
 
 198 BOLOGNA 
 
 has been but little altered since its original erection. Some 
 of the columns are of great beauty. 
 
 Lastly we enter the Church of SS. Peter and Paul, 
 another twelfth-century church, in which can be found many 
 portions of Roman work that belonged to the original temple. 
 This quaint, dark church contains the tombs of two saints, 
 martyrs, St. Vitalis and St. Agricola, in very early sarco- 
 phagi, which are probably contemporary with their martyr- 
 dom in the ninth century. It has also the /r^;/ processional 
 cross of the saints which is upon the wall to the rights and 
 on some of the columns can be found portions of curious 
 fresco-work. A fine altar-piece by Lorenzo Costa stands in 
 it at present, and the windows should be noticed as they are 
 composed of transparent marble. It is now only used as a 
 mortuary chapel. 
 
 This is altogether a strange and somewhat bewildering 
 assemblage of buildings, all clustered together and one 
 leading out of the other, built upon a sacred site, and con- 
 taining amongst them almost all that remains of the very 
 earliest history of the city. 
 
 C. BOLOGNA IN ITS DAYS OF 
 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 The history of Bologna during the Middle Ages is bound 
 up with that of the struggle between the Guelphs and 
 Ghibelliiies, in which the city remained constant to the 
 Guelph side thoughout. 
 
 A reference has already been made to this warfare on 
 page 138 and it involved a struggle between the powers of the 
 Church and those of the Empire. Bologna had always been 
 a devoted daughter of the Church, and her sons were noted 
 for their religious fervour. The characteristic still remains, 
 and in Bologna will now be found a strong attachment to the 
 Holy See and a devotion amongst the people of exceptional 
 importance. At the same time it has always prided itself 
 upon a strict observance of its motto of " Libertas," has been
 
 BOLOGNA IN INDEPENDENT TIMES 199 
 
 advanced and intellectual, and able to reconcile with a 
 clear opinion and freedom of self-government in local affairs 
 a deep attachment in matters spiritual to the Supreme 
 Pontiff. Its tenacity in the support of the Guelphic cause 
 led to serious warfare, which continued for a long space. 
 One of the greatest battles ever fought between the rival 
 forces, was fought near to Bologna in 1249, and the com- 
 mander was one Filippo, who was Podestk of Bologna. The 
 natural son of the Emperor, King Euzio of Sardinia, was 
 in command of the Imperial forces, and when the Ghibellines 
 were defeated he fell into the hands of the people of Bologna, 
 who carried him in triumph to their city, lodged him in the 
 Palazzo del Podestk, and although they treated him well as 
 a royal prince, kept him there a prisoner for twenty-two years, 
 refusing with the haughtiest disdain all offers for ransom 
 which the Emperor his father made, and at his death in 1272 
 giving him a place of sepulture in their most sacred spot, 
 the Church of St. Dominic. 
 
 Few things so pleased the Bolognese as this capture of 
 King Enzio, and their ability to retain him their royal 
 prisoner despite all the efforts of the Emperor and his allies 
 to have him released. For many years after the death of 
 the king, the people of Bologna continued to boast of their 
 power and prowess, and on the monument that was erected 
 over his tomb they congratulated themselves in the most 
 amusing manner over their skill and determination. 
 
 Later on in the thirteenth century the state of confusion 
 into which Bologna had come, owing to the pride of her 
 people and the constant conflict between her chief families 
 for supreme controlling power, led to her losing the com- 
 plete independence upon which she had prided herself, 
 for the more important adherents of the Guelph party, 
 fearing that the city would be torn asunder in the struggle 
 and lose all its position, appealed to the Holy See to de- 
 clare a definite supremacy over it. This was done by Pope 
 Nicholas III., who visited the place in 1277, reconciled 
 the rival parties, and was accepted as over-lord by the 
 populace, who gave him a very hearty welcome.
 
 200 BOLOGNA 
 
 Bologna was then ruled by Papal legates, and this rule 
 continued in name down to 1506, although the later rulers 
 of the Visconti and Bentivogli families considered their 
 position more that of supreme and hereditary sovereigns 
 than as Vicars for the Holy See, which they actually were, 
 until Pope Julius II. gave them very clearly to understand 
 their rightful position. 
 
 In our consideration of the long period that is included in 
 the course of events just stated it is well to commence with 
 the two leaning towers that dominate the city, and which 
 are such strange and prominent objects in the landscape. 
 The reason for their erection is not known, but the Bolognese 
 historians attribute them to the pride of certain great families 
 who desired to raise these edifices that they might stand for 
 ever and commemorate the power and wealth of their 
 builders. The taller tower was started in the early twelfth 
 century by the Asinelli family, the smaller one by three 
 brothers Filippo, Oddo, and Marco Grarisenda at about the 
 same time. They may have been built as belfries, or it may 
 have been intended to attach to each of them some great 
 palace to which they should act as campamVes, but in all 
 probability they were no more than triumphal monuments, 
 erected to show the dignity and vast means of those who 
 built them, and who erected them in competition with each 
 other. Probably they were intended to be encased in marble 
 as were the western fronts of so many churches in Italy, but 
 the cost was found too great, or the builders died before 
 the completion of the work, and their successors did not 
 feel inclined to waste more money upon them. I do not 
 recommend you to climb the stairs in order to obtain the 
 view, as although the sight is extensive and varied, the effort 
 to gain the top is a serious one, and the result is not 
 commensurate with the pains. As outlooks in time of war- 
 fare they were no doubt very useful, and probably the original 
 idea of their erection arose in that way. Their inclina- 
 tion took place early in the history of their erection, possibly 
 as the result of an earthquake, or by reason of the loose 
 character of the soil or the insufficiency of the foundations,
 
 BOLOGNA IN INDEPENDENT TIMES 201 
 
 and the builders tried to rectify it as their work progressed, 
 and eventually, finding that it was not serious, carried up the 
 tower as high as they could, preventing the inclination 
 increasing by various ingenious devices in the brickwork on 
 the opposite side to that on which it leaned. 
 
 The other great tower in Bologna, that which crowns the 
 Palazzo del Podestk, was erected for another purpose, 
 having been put up, when the first attempt was made to 
 rescue King Enzio, in order that a sharp look-out might be 
 kept and the safety of the illustrious prisoner ensured. 
 
 The foundation of most of the churches of Bologna 
 belongs to the thirteenth century, that of San Petronio, the 
 largest, being a hundred years later in date. 
 
 The Church of San Domenico is, perhaps, the most im- 
 portant one in the city, and its foundation belongs to the 
 period just named, but it has been so altered, restored, and 
 practically rebuilt, that it is difficult to discover anything 
 in it that belongs to the original structure. On our way to 
 it, we shall mark the two fine tombs that stand out in the 
 piazza, and the two statues near to them. The statues of the 
 Blessed Virgin and of St. Dominic are seventeenth-century 
 work, but the tombs belong to a much earlier period. 
 
 They are both of them thirteenth-century work, and were 
 erected to the memory of important citizens of the city. 
 
 The one near to the church, in which the sarcophagus 
 rests under an elegant colonnade, supported in its turn 
 by a series of tine columns and crowned with a pyramidal 
 roof, belongs to one Roland Passagieri, who in 1250 was 
 head of the notaries of the place, and who was selected 
 to write the letter to the Emperor in reply to the one which 
 he sent to Bologna imperiously demanding the release of 
 his son Enzio. It was mainly on the advice of this Roland 
 that the citizens determined to show their power by re- 
 taining the king as their prisoner, and he was selected 
 to convey to the Emperor their decision, which he did in 
 a letter so strong and haughty in its expressions, and withal 
 so well expressed, that it was quoted by many writers of
 
 202 BOLOGNA 
 
 his day with approval as a model of what such a letter 
 should be. 
 
 The citizens, feeling that Roland had given to their city 
 an added lustre of glory and dignity, gave to his remains 
 a magnificent funeral, and buried him in a prominent 
 position, erecting over his burial - place this delightful 
 monument. The other similar tomb, which stands near 
 to the house in which the deceased person resided and 
 which is plainer in its structure, was erected a little later 
 on to another notary who appears to have been a friend of 
 the great Roland and his successor in office, and who was 
 a member of the noble house of Foscherari. 
 
 Let us now enter the church and proceed at once to 
 the large chapel on the r/^/i^, which contains the** Area 
 di San Domenico one of the greatest works of Niccolo da 
 Pisano. 
 
 St. Dominic died in Bologna, and when he was canonised 
 his bones were translated to this church, and placed in the 
 sarcophagus which the great Niccolo and his pupils had 
 sculptured for the purpose, and the subjects of which are 
 the chief miracles attributed to the saint. The actual " area " 
 only, is his work and that of his pupil ; the predella carvings 
 and the canopy having been added three hundred years 
 later. As an early work of the great master the sarco- 
 phagus is well worth careful attention, as it marks the com- 
 mencement of a new spirit in art, and the beginning of that 
 movement which had its full fruit in the great pulpits in 
 Pisa and Siena, and in all the varied sculpture of Giovanni 
 and Andrea di Pisano, who followed the great Niccolo. 
 There is a dignity and force in the reliefs on this tomb and 
 a graphic power of telling the story that is not to be seen in 
 the later works by Alfonso Lombard!, which were added in 
 1532. The kneeling angels in front are of different date. 
 That on the /e/^ is by Niccolo dell' Area, who also did the 
 wreaths of fruit held by the children on the canopy, and 
 derived his sobriquet from his success with this work, whilst 
 that on the ri^/zi is said to be an early work of Michel 
 Augelo, who also carved the figure above of San Petronio
 
 BOLOGNA IN INDEPENDENT TIMES 203 
 
 holding the church in his hand. These figures betray none 
 of the fiery spirit of the master, nor none of his paganism, 
 and if they are his work at all, they belong to the very 
 beginning of his career. 
 
 It is known that Buonarotli was in Bologna when Pope 
 Julius II. entered it in triumph, but this sculpture belongs 
 to an earlier period than that, and there is but little 
 evidence to connect it with the great Florentine. 
 
 Above the tomb can be seen a fine fresco by Guido Reni, 
 one of the really impressive works of this invertebrate artist, 
 whose huge creations, spread over such vast spaces, are to 
 be found in profusion in his native city, and who is buried 
 in this very church. 
 
 The other important sight to be seen in this church, when 
 a careful attention has been given to the reliefs on the tomb 
 of St. Dominic, consists of the stalls in the choir, which 
 are the work of two Dominican friars, Fra Damiano da 
 Bergamo and Fra Antonio Asinelli, the latter a member of 
 the family who built one of the leaning towers. 
 
 They were carved and inlaid in the si.xteenth century, and 
 the intarsia work, representinga cycle of scenes from Scripture, 
 is of the highest merit and excellence. The same two friars 
 worked in the sacristy, inlaying the entrance door and the 
 cupboards in which the vestments are kept, and they are 
 said also to have carved the two statues of the Virgin and 
 St. Dominic, although, if the inscription on one of them is to 
 be accepted, they were made from a tree planted by St. 
 Dominic himself, and therefore may well have been made 
 long before the period of these two good friars. 
 
 Near to the choir, in a chapel to the rt£-/U, is to be found a 
 ver)' fine * picture by Filippino Lippi, representing the 
 Marriage of St. Catherine, and signed and dated 1501. It 
 was painted for the donor of the picture, who is to be seen 
 in one of the corners of it. The ** silver reliquary in 
 which the head of St. Dominic is preserved was made in 
 1373, and is of considerable beauty, the chasing, which repre- 
 sents scenes from the life of the saint, being remarkably fine, 
 but this treasure is so seldom to be seen that it is useless
 
 204 BOLOGNA 
 
 my describing it. Only once a year can it be exhibited, 
 and even then it is not easy to come sufificiently near to it to 
 be able to appreciate its beauties, and only the production 
 of letters of introduction from the highest of ecclesiastical 
 authorities will obtain for the visitor a special view of the 
 relic and its silver shrine. 
 
 One more thing must be noted ere we leave this church, 
 and that is, in the /?/? transept, opposite to the tomb of King 
 Enzio, a portrait of St. Thomas Aquinas by Simone da 
 Bologna, which it is authoritatively stated is an actual like- 
 ness of the saint painted from a lost original some eighty 
 years after the death of St. Thomas and retained in this 
 church ever since. 
 
 We will now leave the Church of San Domenico and 
 return into the Piazza, or Forum, already mentioned. 
 
 It is one of the most impressive squares in Italy and 
 contains some remarkable buildings. Adjacent to it is the 
 Piazza di Nettune, containing a fine fountain, which was 
 first erected in about 1560 when San Carlo Borromeo was 
 legate for the Pope in the city, and was one of those bene- 
 ficent works that the great Cardinal was so fond of initiating. 
 The Church of San Petronio, which has never been com- 
 pleted and is only a portion of what was intended to be 
 built, occupies an important position in the piazza, and 
 opposite to it is the Palazzo del Podestk, where Enzio was 
 confined and in which, in 1410, the conclave met when 
 Pope John XXIII. was elected. The great hall upstairs is 
 now used sometimes as a market hall and often for local 
 exhibitions. In this building Roland carried on his duties, 
 and here still do the notaries meet in their own room, 
 in which are contained many of their records, others hav- 
 ing been removed to the Library. Here are preserved 
 a vast quantity of papers which can, I am able to 
 testify, yield information of the greatest importance as 
 to Bologna, and which would well repay a systematic 
 examination.
 
 BOLOGNA IN INDEPENDENT TIMES 205 
 
 On the left, as one stands in the square facing San 
 Petronio, is the impressive Palazzo Comunale, over the 
 entrance of which stands the bronze statue which really 
 represents Pope Gregory XII., who was a native of the 
 place, but which has been turned into a figure of San 
 Petronio in order to save the figure from the destructive 
 ideas of the mob who ruled the city during the revolution of 
 1796. The building is used^ as a Government office, and 
 its architecture is composed of a great variety of styles as it 
 has been so altered from time to time that little of its original 
 pointed work remains. There is nothing of consequence to 
 be seen inside, save a fresco by Francia, to which I will 
 refer later on, and which you can see another day when we 
 consider together the art of that great artist. Opposite to 
 this Palazzo Comunale is a fine portico or colonnade known 
 as the Portico de' Banchi, down which we have already 
 passed to the Museo Civico, and we will now pass again 
 beyond the door of the Museo and turn in at the next door 
 in order to visit the Archiginnasio. 
 
 This was the original University building, although not 
 the first place in which the education for which Bologna 
 has always been famous was taught, as long before the 
 sixteenth century Bologna had a learned University, but 
 did not possess any central building in which the work 
 could be carried on, and it was therefore conducted all 
 over the city in separate detached rooms taken in dif- 
 ferent houses by the professors. In 1562 Cardinal Carlo 
 Borromeo, to whom not only Bologna but so many 
 other towns in Tuscany owe great privileges, being 
 papal legate in the place, found that a grievous state 
 of affairs existed owing to the want of a central 
 college, and he erected this Archiginnasio, and placed 
 all the professors in it. Here was the important work 
 of education carried on till the seventeenth century, but 
 the chief rooms are now filled with the fine library, 
 known as the Biblioteca Comunale, admission to which, 
 if you are a student, can easily be obtained. I want
 
 3o6 BOLOGNA 
 
 you, however, to enter this delightful building in order to 
 see the many thousands of coats of arms which adorn its 
 walls and galleries and which are the heraldic achieve- 
 ments of the past students and professors, and seem to 
 cover every available space, producing a remarkable and 
 quaint decorative effect. 
 
 There are the remains of the College Chapel to be seen 
 opening out of the court, the walls and ceiling of which are 
 covered with fresco - work by a local artist of the late 
 sixteenth century, but it is the arms which are spread about 
 in all directions that are the sight of the place, and some of 
 them are so well painted as to be works of art of consider- 
 able importance. 
 
 Now let us return into the square, mount the flight of 
 steps, and enter San Petronio. 
 
 We have here an unfinished fourteenth-century church, 
 the chief building that was started in the days when 
 Bologna was free. If completed it would have been a most 
 imposing building, but one quite out of proportion with the 
 importance of the city, as what we shall see in its interior 
 is only that which was to have been its nave and two aisles, 
 and the church was to have extended very much further, 
 with a chancel, sanctuary, and Lady chapel, and to have 
 had north and south transepts each side. 
 
 The work of its erection was continued down to 1659, 
 when it came to an end, partly because there was a growing 
 feeling against the expenditure of any more of the town 
 money upon the church, and partly because it was con- 
 sidered that to carry out the [original plan would be to 
 cripple in effect other buildings, and would involve the 
 destruction of part of the Archiginnasio and some fine 
 houses that stood near to the church. 
 
 Ere we enter we must give some attention to the exterior, 
 as the central doorway especially is worth notice. It is 
 entirely the production of Jacopo della Querela, the noted 
 sculptor and wood-carver, and was done in 1495. The 
 archway is covered with reliefs which embrace various 
 scenes from the Old and New Testament, over thirty
 
 BOLOGNA IN INDEPENDENT TIMES 207 
 
 figures of patriarchs and prophets, and representations 
 of the Madonna and Child with San Petronio and San 
 Ambrogio, the patrons of the city. The left and right door- 
 ways are the work of other artists, Tribolo and Alfonso Lom- 
 bardo and their pupils, and are almost equally fine, notably 
 the Resurrection under the left archway, which is a remark- 
 able piece of carving, telling its story with a clearness and 
 force that is worthy of note. 
 
 The interior of the church is impressive on account of 
 its vastness and by reason of the great size of the columns, 
 their height, and the subdividing of the arches ; and it is 
 rendered still more so by the presence in the aisles of some 
 interesting mediaeval crosses that originally stood at the 
 various gates of the city, and have been removed into this 
 church. One of them goes back to the twelfth century, and 
 all of them are curious and quaint. The frescoes in the side 
 chapels are effective but of very little importance, but there 
 are some fine pictures in the church by Costa which are 
 worth looking at, and will repay attention. In the sixth 
 chapel on the r/£-/t( is a St. Jerome, in the seventh on the /e/t 
 a Virgin and Child, dated 1492, and in the fifth on the /e// 
 an Annunciation. The Virgin and Child is an especially 
 fine picture and I will refer to it later on again. 
 
 The painted glass in the fourth chapel on the right 
 should be noticed. It is by a glass-painter of Ulm, and 
 was made in 1491, as the date on it proves. There is also 
 some good glass in the same chapel, in which the Virgin 
 and Child by Costa is to be found, and in the next chapel, 
 which contains the Annunciation, is to be noticed some 
 fifteenth-century intarsia wood-work and a curious pavement 
 of enamelled tiles of about the same date, which is as early 
 as anything of this kind in tile-work is known. 
 
 The fine marble screens which are to be found in each of 
 the chief chapels are also notable, and it will be remarked, 
 as a curious feature of the church, that there are two 
 eighteenth-century clocks standing in the aisle on the left 
 as one enters, which give respectively the mean and the solar 
 time. Close to them on the pavement is the meridian line.
 
 2o8 BOLOGNA 
 
 Attached to the church is a small museum called the 
 *Museo di San Petronio and containing some important 
 objects. The first room contains only plans and designs 
 for the building by many noted architects, including Palladio, 
 together with a model of the church in wood as it was 
 originally proposed to be built. There is also above the 
 mantelpiece a curious picture of the fifteenth century, attri- 
 buted to Marco Zoppo, evidently Bolognese, and representing 
 the Virgin and Child with saints, and there are certain 
 quaint astronomical instruments. 
 
 In the inner room is a fine collection of sacred vessels, 
 many of them of great age and interest. Especially note- 
 worthy are the chasses, or reliquaries, of the fourteenth 
 century, composed of ebony and ivory inlaid with precious 
 stone and crystal, and also the curious reliquaries of a 
 century later, which were made from still older ciboria 
 transformed into reliquaries. Some of the chasses, notably 
 78 and 79, contain fine enamel-work, and many of them are 
 of great beauty. There is also a collection of the ancient 
 vestments of the church, some fine illuminated service-books, 
 a splendid Pax and Monstrance, and a volume containing 
 an autograph manuscript respecting the book of Psalms by 
 St. Anthony of Padua. On the opposite side of the room 
 is to be found part of the unrivalled collection of books of 
 music that belongs to this church, and which extends from 
 the sixteenth century down to recent times. 
 
 From San Petronio I want you to go to two other churches 
 which contain thirteenth and fourteenth century work worth 
 attention. 
 
 If you are at the Hotel Brun, as is probably the case, you 
 turn to the left on leaving it as if you were going away from 
 the town, and turn down by the side of the hotel and in a few 
 moments you will be close to the Church of San Francesco. 
 You will not fail to notice as you approach the church the 
 three important tombs that stand in the street, one of them 
 nearly hidden by a house, which will recall those two
 
 BOLOGNA IN INDEPENDENT TIMES 209 
 
 which we saw in front of San Domenico. These also are 
 erected to important men who were notaries and judges in 
 the thirteenth century, and although they have each of them 
 come under the hand of the restorer and show signs of 
 having been "done up," yet they are interesting examples 
 of the important tombs that the members of this notable 
 college of lawyers were so fond of having erected. They 
 were all three of them built in the middle of the thirteenth 
 century. The church which stands so close to them has 
 passed through many vicissitudes, and has in turns been a 
 church, a barrack, and a custom-house, and is now again 
 held by its original possessors, the Franciscans, who have 
 restored it. The Campanile, which is the original work, 
 is worth notice, and the effect of the interior conveys the 
 impression that was given by the original architects of a 
 great, high, open church ; but there is little of the old work 
 that has not been restored out of all character. Part of the 
 reredos is original fourteenth-century work, but it has been 
 added to and altered, and is now not worth study. The 
 other church which I want you to visit is Santa Maria dei 
 Servi, and is in the Via Mazzini, one of those four streets 
 which branch out from near to the leaning towers, and is 
 really not far from San Stefano, which is in the next 
 street. 
 
 The main feature of it is not inside the church, but outside, 
 and is the delightful colonnade called the Portico dei Servi, 
 which occupies the square in front of the church. 
 
 The church, as its name will tell, is a Servite one, and this 
 colonnade was built by one of the Generals of the Order, Fra 
 Manfredi of Forli, who lived in 1390, and who erected this 
 series of graceful arches of marble in order to beautify his 
 church, to provide a place for the people to meet and to listen 
 to sermons, and to give them, as he states, " a place where 
 they can sell their goods and learn the lessons of the life of 
 the Servite saint, San Filippo Benozzi, at the same time." 
 He was a skilful architect, and has done his work with 
 remarkable ability, and is buried in the church for which he 
 worked so hard, at the back of the choir, having died some 
 

 
 210 BOLOGNA 
 
 four years after the completion of this colonnade. Inside 
 his church you can see if you like, in the tenth chapel to the 
 right, a marble wine jar, of charming design, which has 
 been in this church since 1370, and was given by the Sultan 
 of Egypt to another General of the Order, one Fra Vitale, 
 as having been used at the marriage at Cana in Galilee. It 
 is preserved in a cupboard near the altar, and is a very fine 
 marble jar undoubtedly of great antiquity. 
 
 D. BOLOGNA UNDER THE BENTIVOGLIO 
 AND THE HOLY SEE 
 
 The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries witnessed the times 
 of the greatest splendour for Bologna, and during that 
 time most of the important churches and palaces were 
 erected. 
 
 Notably amongst them is the great Church in the Via 
 Zamboni of San Giacomo Maggiore, which contains the 
 chapel of the Bentivoglio rulers, who were supreme for so 
 long a period in the city. The chapels in this edifice extend 
 all round the east end behind the high altar, and the 
 Bentivoglio one is the eighteenth from the right and at the 
 extremity of one of the aisles. In it is the important ** altar- 
 piece by Francia, which that artist painted in 1449, and 
 which is one of his most celebrated works. It is usually 
 covered and the chapel locked, but it will readily be exposed 
 to view by the old woman who has charge of the place, and 
 who is to be found as a rule in the church. Few pictures 
 that are to be seen in these northern towns are more beauti- 
 ful than is this one, in which the Virgin and Child are sur- 
 rounded by the patron saints and protectors of the place. 
 The figure of St. Sebastian especially is finely conceived, 
 and the angels that are grouped around the central figure 
 are of great sweetness and beauty. Above the altar-piece 
 is an Ecce Homo by the same artist. Near by in the 
 same chapel is a quaint work by Lorenzo Costa, repre- 
 senting the founder of the family with his wife and children
 
 BOLOGNA UNDER BBNTIVOGLIO RULERS 211 
 
 engaged in adoration, and close to it is an alto-relievo 
 of 1458, representing Annibale Bentivoglio on horseback, 
 by the sculptor who did some of the work on the tomb 
 of St. Dominic, and so obtained his name, Niccolo dall 
 Area. 
 
 The founder of the family lies buried opposite to the 
 Bentivoglio Chapel in a tomb by Jacopo della Querela 
 which was originally intended for a Ferrarese Doctor, but 
 was adapted by Annibale for a tomb for his father. The 
 effigy is upon an inclined plane. Antonio Bentivoglio 
 was a notable judge, and it was his son Annibale who, 
 ruling as the Vicar of the Pope, took to himself a degree of 
 power which made him almost independent of the Papacy. 
 Annibale's] son was the Giovanni Bentivoglio who ruled in 
 1450, and who was driven out of the city by the victorious 
 Julius II. 
 
 In the chapel there are also to be seen other frescoes by 
 Costa, representing scenes from Petrarch, Triumphs, amongst 
 which is one that is specially noteworthy depicting the 
 Triumph of Death. The old woman who opens the chapel 
 will now take you round at the right through a door, and 
 down some steps into the disused Chapel of Santa 
 Cecilia, also founded by the Bentivogli, and containing 
 the only frescoes that remain in Bologna by Francia, who 
 did so much fresco decoration in the city. The Chapel 
 of Santa Cecilia is covered with the work of Francia, 
 his friend Costa, and their pupils, the two scenes near 
 to the altar, depicting the marriage and the death of 
 the saint being the only ones from the master's own hand. 
 Costa did the two next to those by Francia, and the re- 
 mainder are by other Bolognese painters, who were their 
 pupils. All of them have suffered much by reason of the 
 damp and the indifference of the custodians for many years, 
 but in 1876 they were carefully repaired, and a method of 
 preservation applied to them which prevented continuing 
 and arrested the further progress of the injury. Giovanni 
 Bentivoglio reigned in Bologna for some forty years, and 
 this chapel was one of the many works with which during
 
 iia BOLOGNA 
 
 that long period he beautified his native town. It was com- 
 menced in 1 48 1, but for some reason or other, the work was 
 stopped for some time, and the building was not completed 
 till 1504 when the work of decoration began, and this was 
 continued during some years and completed before 1507, 
 The scenes which the master himself painted are represented 
 in the midst of local scenery, and so strong in Francia was 
 the desire to be accurate that the very situation in which 
 the marriage is taking place, with its hills and buildings, 
 can be identified in the present day.^ 
 
 Returning through the passage and chapel to the church, 
 there are yet a few things which it is well to notice. In the 
 fifteenth chapel, in which is preserved for veneration a 
 minute fragment of the True Cross, stands an important, 
 very early altar-piece, divided into many compartments, 
 representing the Coronation of the Virgin, painted by 
 Jacopo Avanzi. 
 
 Near to it is an early crucifix, by Sinione dei Crocifissi, 
 to whom I have already referred on page 197. The other 
 notable picture is in the eighth chapel (always counting 
 from the right), and is a work by another Bolognese artist, 
 Innocenzo da Imola, to whom we will refer later on. It is 
 a really beautiful picture, painted in a Florentine manner, and 
 recalling the work of Raphael, who was his master. 
 
 Coming out now into the Via Zamboni, we will cross the 
 street and pass down the one opposite to the church, the 
 Via Marsala, which will take us to the Church of San 
 Martino Maggiore, in which are certain other notable 
 pictures. Opposite the door in the first chapel on the left is 
 the chief one, a Madonna and Saints, by Francia, which 
 is set in a frame which is also the work of the master, 
 and is a very fine example of those grand frames 
 which are a feature of Bolognese paintings, and which 
 Francia delighted to devise. The whole altar-piece is the 
 work of this master, including the Pietk above, and the 
 1 " Fraacia." by G. C. Williamson, 1901 (Bell & Sons).
 
 BOLOGNA UNDER BENTIVOGLIO RULERS 213 
 
 Ecce Homo below, and the painting of the arms of the 
 family who were the donors of the work on the frame itself. 
 The picture is thoroughly Ferrarese in its arrangement, 
 being pyramidal and set upon an open arch through which 
 can be seen a sweet landscape beyond. The four saints 
 are, St. Sebastian, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Bernardino of 
 Siena, and a fourth saint, who is called St. Roch, but is 
 not I'epresented with his usual emblem, and is, I think, 
 erroneously given this name. It is a fine picture, painted in 
 glorious colour, glowing with light, and very dignifiied in its 
 conception. Lower down the church on the same side, and 
 close to the high altar, is a work by * Perugino, represent- 
 ing the Assumption, a mannered work, not by any means one 
 of Perugino's satisfactory pictures but undoubtedly his own 
 painting, as the record still exists of his coming to Bologna 
 to oversee its erection in the church where it still remains. 
 The only other feature in this church which requires notice 
 is the glass in the round window over the altar, which re- 
 presents St. James, and is from a design by Francia, and 
 delightfully rich in colour and charming in drawing. Two 
 more windows by the master will be found when we go to 
 the Church of the Misericordia. 
 
 One other church remains to be seen, and that is San 
 Giovanni-in-Monte, which is near to San Stefano, standing 
 back in a very short street up an ascent fiom the Via San 
 Stefano. It is desirable to see this church, as it contains 
 two works by Costa which are very beautiful, and which are 
 also characteristic of the Ferrarese treatment of landscape, 
 with its rolling distant view of hills and valleys carrying on 
 the eye from distance to distance, as in Umbrian pictures. 
 In the seventh chapel on the rz'g'/it is a Virgin enthroned 
 with saints, and in the choir a lovely Virgin between 
 God the Father and God the Son in the sky, and with 
 six adoring saints below, set in a very charming landscape. 
 These pictures were both painted in the same year, 1497, 
 and are particularly characteristic paintings by this master. 
 
 There are other churches in Bologna in which treasures
 
 214 BOLOGNA 
 
 will be found, hardly one without something well worth see- 
 ing and many of them quite rich in paintings, but I have 
 taken you to the chief ones, and the others you must visit if 
 you are staying some time in the place and desire to obtain 
 a very clear view of Bolognese painters and their works. 
 They are not so important as the ones that I have named, 
 and therefore I leave them. 
 
 The palaces of Bologna are often extremely fine in their 
 architecture, and will be noticed by you as you go along the 
 streets. A very important one is the Palazzo Bevilacq.ua, 
 where the famous Council of Trent held two of its meetings 
 when driven away from Trento by fever. It is said to have 
 been designed by Bramantino, and stands close to the 
 central piazza, and the iron-work of its gallery, over the 
 entrance and also inside the quadrangle, is of considerable 
 beauty. One of the quaintest houses in Bologna is the 
 Palazzo Isolani, in the Via Mazzini, with its strange over- 
 hanging front of woodwork supported by huge wood beams. 
 
 All over the city will be found important palaces that are 
 worth notice and they are a feature of the place, revealing 
 the wealth and importance to which, in its Bentivoglio days, 
 it attained. 
 
 Another feature of the city is to be found in the arcades, 
 which extend in all directions, and enable the visitor to pass 
 under cover from one point to another almost all over the 
 city. 
 
 Perhaps ere we leave the sights of the place it will be well 
 to return for a short time into the Museo Civico, which we 
 visited at the beginning of our sojourn. 
 
 It will interest you to notice in Room XIV. the collection 
 of ancient musical instruments, which is as important as 
 any in Europe and contains very many instruments of great 
 rarity. Bologna has always been a great place for music, 
 and it now possesses one of the finest libraries of old music 
 in Europe, and many of the instruments preserved in the 
 case on the wall opposite to you when you enter the room 
 are local and historical. The viols and viorbas, trombas and 
 arcilutes, should be noticed, as it is very seldom that these
 
 THE ART OF BOLOGNA 215 
 
 quaint things which appear so often in Italian pictures can 
 be seen. Some of the Hebrew tombs in Rooms XV. and 
 XVI. are worth attention, also notably the one of 1562 in 
 which Pietro Canonici is lecturing seven persons, and four 
 others are to be seen peeping over the wall. The Zambeccari 
 tomb in Room XVI. commemorates a man who was an im- 
 portant member of that family who patronised Francia in so 
 satisfactory a manner. 
 
 Then lastly in Room XVII. notice the unrivalled series of 
 ancient Guild books which are open in the cases, and which 
 commence in 1286 and continue down to the sixteenth 
 century, providing a marvellously complete history of the 
 guild life of the place, full of the deepest interest to historians, 
 and only waiting for some great scholar to devote his whole 
 life to their investigation, and to open up a narrative that 
 is likely to be of considerable importance. Many of the 
 illuminations in these books are admirable and quaint in 
 their naive simplicity. 
 
 E. THE ART OF BOLOGNA 
 
 The art of Bologna is an imported one, having come from 
 Ferrara, and originated with Francesco Cossa, who removed 
 from that city to Bologna in 1470, and settled in the latter 
 place. 
 
 There were, of course, painters in Bologna before that 
 time, such as Simone dei Crocifissi, who has been mentioned, 
 Marco Zoppo, and the school of miniature painters who are 
 represented by Franco Bolognese, who lived in the early 
 fourteenth century. 
 
 Until, however, Cossa left Ferrara, there seems to have 
 been no regular school of artists in the place. An even 
 greater and more important link between the schools of 
 Ferrara and Bologna is to be found in Lorenzo Costa, who 
 came to Bologna in 1483, finding Cossa already there and 
 in the full swing of work, 
 
 Costa formed a close friendship with Prancesco Francia,
 
 2i6 BOLOGNA 
 
 the goldsmith, and they decided to Hve together, occupying 
 different floors of the same house, and from these two men, 
 who were certainly not so much in the position of master 
 and pupil as in that of friends helping one another, came 
 the greatest works of the school. 
 
 Francia was already well known as a clever goldsmith ere 
 Costa came to the place, and he was also a typefounder and 
 an engraver, but he speedily became more notable as an 
 artist than he had been in either of the other crafts, although 
 he always signed his pictures as Atirifabc?-^ or goldsmith. 
 
 He worked largely for the Bentivoglio family, and many 
 of his best works still remain in the city, and when his 
 patrons were driven out from Bologna, he stayed behind 
 and continued to work for Pope Julius II., who was glad to 
 employ so clever a craftsman. 
 
 Francia was well ad^'anced in years when he first took 
 to painting, and it is possible that he might never have de- 
 veloped his powers had not Costa come to Bologna ; but he 
 was too old a man to become a pupil of the Ferrarese master, 
 and there is as much evidence of Costa taking from Francia 
 as of Francia absorbing from Costa when the works of the two 
 artists are compared. In se\xral cases they worked side by 
 side at the same altar-piece, each doing his ow^n part of it, 
 and these separate panels when compared bear eloquent 
 testimony to the genius and close friendship of the two 
 rivals. 
 
 Francia's work is noted for its full, rich colouring, its 
 sweetness, its deep and intense pathos, and its truth and 
 accuracy. He delighted in ornament and in jewellery, and 
 painted it with loving care and attention, and he also loved 
 to represent actual objects, such as vestments, crosses, and 
 personal ornaments, and to paint them with such accuracy 
 that they can even now be identified. 
 
 He has affinities with the Umbrians, and especially with 
 Perugino ; and as I have shown in my book on this artist, 
 there is every probability that he met Perugino in Bologna 
 at the very time when this Umbrian influence can be the 
 more clearly traced, as the great Umbrian master spent
 
 THE ART OF BOLOGNA 217 
 
 some days in the city, in order to superintend the hanging 
 of certain of his pictures ; and in all probability the two men 
 met, and had intimate conversation as to the art which they 
 both practised with such skill. 
 
 Timoteo Viti was a pupil of Francia, and left him in 
 1495, returning to Urbino, where he is supposed by many 
 eminent critics to have had a great influence upon the youth- 
 ful Raphael. His works are rare, and are reminiscent of 
 the manner of Francia his master. 
 
 Other Bolognese masters who deserve notice are Inno- 
 cenzo da Imola, another pupil of Francia, and afterwards in 
 the school of Raphael, with whom, it is known, Francia was 
 on terms of closest friendship ; also Tibaldi, who left 
 Francia for Michel Angelo ; Primaticcio, \\ ho went to Giulio 
 Romano ; Abate, and others. 
 
 Francia had, it is said, as many as two hundred pupils, 
 and his influence therefore spread far and near. 
 
 Quite a new school arose in Bologna some fifty years 
 after Francia had died, started l^y Ludovico Caracci, 
 who, with his relatives, Agostino and Annibale, settled 
 down in the place in 1589. He was by no means a great 
 artist, but he seems to have possessed the power of 
 teaching to an important degree and his pupils became 
 famous. The motto which he adopted as the title for his 
 academy was, " Those who regret the past, despise the 
 present, and aspire to a better future." The days were past, 
 hov\'ever, for anything like a great inspiration, and it was 
 the period of huge canvases and frescoes, dense shadows, 
 large powerful figures, heavy draperies, sombre effect in 
 colour, and a greater attention to the effect of the picture 
 as a whole than to the beauty of the individual faces or 
 forms. The simplicity of the older masters had gone, their 
 fervour and devotion had given place to quite other ideas, 
 and pathos too often degenerated into sentimentality, and 
 fervour into exaggerated contortion. 
 
 The three Caracci were very different one from the other. 
 
 Ludovico was slow, heavy, determined, with very little
 
 3i8 BOLOONA 
 
 inspiration, but plenty of knowledge and great ability to 
 teach others what he could not perform himself. 
 
 Agostino was a very skilful engraver, a correct draughts- 
 man, and a poetical man, who was learned in the stories and 
 legends of the classics. His engravings are more important 
 than his paintings, although his masterpiece, which is in 
 Bologna, and which we shall see presently, is a grand and 
 dignified work. 
 
 Annibale was more truly a genius than the other two, 
 but he was of a restless and turbulent character. 
 
 His works possess more true pathos than do the other 
 paintings of the school, and are not only powerful but 
 sometimes even inspired and inspiring. He was great as 
 a painter of landscape, and devoted much time and atten- 
 tion to the landscape backgrounds that were so important in 
 his paintings. 
 
 The Caracci had a pupil who was a profounder genius than 
 his masters. Guide Reni, and who, if he had only contented 
 himself with a few works and those of real inspiration, would 
 have been a really notable master. He stands out with 
 Domenichino and Alhani amongst the host of men who 
 worked in the Caracci school as representative of distinct 
 genius, but is head and shoulders above his two companions. 
 At one time his pictures were greatly in demand, and he 
 was one of the most popular of 'old masters. Now he is 
 suffering from an equally unmerited amount of opprobrium. 
 
 His works are so numerous as to prove that he had a 
 large number of clever pupils to whom he allotted the minor 
 portions of his gigantic compositions, but he himself was 
 capable of flights of genius that were all the more impressive 
 by reason of the ordinary level of his regular work. He was 
 fond of huge imaginative scenes, dull neutral tints, black 
 dense shadows, and idealised abstractions that were neither 
 human nor divine. 
 
 Guido was a man of tremendous energy, extreme clever- 
 ness, and considerable executive genius, but his productive- 
 ness was far in advance of his abilities, and his pictures are 
 at times both in ideas and colouring distinctly unpleasant.
 
 THE ART OP BOLOGNA 219 
 
 Domenichino was a sentimentalist, Albani a copyist of 
 other painters' ideas, and with them the school passed away, 
 and Bolognese art was no more. 
 
 It has been necessary to refer at some length to these 
 Mannerists or Eclectics, who formed the Decadence of 
 Italian art, because they originated in Bologna, worked in 
 that city, are connected with it, and their works are so well 
 represented in its gallery so that no sketch, however brief, 
 of the art of Bologna is complete without them. 
 
 Taken as a whole they are extravagant and theatrical. 
 Their origin was due to the great demand for pictures, the 
 haste with which they were painted, the small sums that 
 were paid for them, and the desire on the part of those who 
 commissioned the paintings to cover very large wall spaces 
 with effective bold decoration. 
 
 Certain characteristics belong to them all. 
 
 The technique, in the case especially of the Caracci 
 and their immediate followers, is accurate and satisfactory. 
 In drawing and in colour they are often very near to per- 
 fection, but there is no originality, no breathing spirit of in- 
 spiration to be found. Nature is not studied save in the 
 landscapes in the paintings of Annibale, and there is a 
 feeling of sham and imitation in trees, in rocks, hills, and 
 valleys. The figures sprawl over the canvas, and are not 
 clothed in silk or in satin, but merely in drapery, which 
 is monotonous, vulgar, and commonplace. There is no 
 delight in painting jewels, ornaments, armour, or weapons 
 with accuracy and feeling, but they are merely represented 
 or suggested, but not painted in the true way in which the 
 old masters painted them. 
 
 The pictures are full of terror, horror, and cruelty ; they 
 aim to excite and impress, or else they abound in such 
 exaggerated sweetness as becomes cloying and unpleasant, 
 and is suited in its way to attract a vitiated taste and a 
 voluptuous sentimentality. 
 
 Here and there stand out pictures which are mannered 
 to a less degree, and are to a certain extent truthful, but 
 on the whole the school is marked by degeneration, which
 
 220 BOLOGNA 
 
 was, in the hands of Carlo Dolci and Sassoferrato, to 
 attain to the lowest depths of false sentiment and unnatural 
 feeling. 
 
 Having thus glanced at the main features of Bolognese art, 
 let me take you to the gallery in which you will find every 
 side of it represented, in rooms particularly well lighted, 
 arranged, and catalogued, and specially convenient for study. 
 
 The tramway down the Via Zamboni passes the door of 
 the gallery, and this tram can be reached by another one 
 which passes the door of the Hotel Brun, so that if you 
 desire, as the gallery is at the other end of the town, you can 
 ride to it all the way. After passing upstairs and through 
 the turnstile, it will be well for you to walk on through the first 
 few galleries till you reach the chief room, which is lettered 
 E., and in that room begin your studies. 
 
 Room E 
 
 In this room is an unrivalled collection of the works of 
 Francia, which are the chief gems of the gallery, but per- 
 haps it will be well for you to go to the left wall first, and 
 see the paintings by Cossa and Costa. 
 
 64 is by Cossa, signed in full, and was painted by him in 
 Bologna for the Commercial Guild of the day to adorn 
 their chapel. It is harder than the work of Costa, more 
 formal, dull in colouring, not free from forced and awkward 
 contorted attitude, and somewhat rigid in its expression. 
 The kneeling donor, Alberto de' Catanei, is a notable figure, 
 and the head of the patron saint of Bologna, San Petronio, 
 is worth particular notice. The whole conception is severe, 
 quiet, strong, and simple. The effect is that of dignity and 
 restraint. The slight knowledge of decorative effect and of 
 anatomy is compensated for by the admirable grouping 
 and the stern truth of the picture. It is very Ferrarese, 
 and forms a starting-point in our surve}'. 
 
 Of the work of Costa (65, 392, and 376) we do not find 
 such satisfactory examples as those we have already seen in
 
 THE ART OF BOLOGNA 221 
 
 the churches, notably those in San Giovanni-in- Monte. 
 San Petronio (65) is a dignified figure, bearing in his hand 
 the city of Bologna, and having with him St. Francis and 
 St. Dominic. 376 is a Marriage of the Virgin, and 392 a 
 Virgin and Child seated. All three are signed works, the 
 last named being the eariiest, 1491, San Petronio 1502, and 
 the Sposalizio 1505. Costa is weak in colour compared 
 with his friend, there is a timidity about his drawing and a 
 weakness about his faces, |while the draperies are often 
 poor in colour, cold and greyish in tone ; but he is not- 
 withstanding all this a really great master, a very accom- 
 plished painter, who loses something of his attractiveness 
 when brought into such close contact with Francia, but who 
 is always inspiring, enlightening, and sumptuous, with a 
 great love for beauty, a quiet religious dignity, and a charm 
 can easily be felt. 
 
 Now turn round to the opposite wall and look at the 
 works of his friend. The earliest work in this gallery by 
 Francia is not a painting at all but is in niello. Item 586 
 is a frame containing two works in metal, each intended as a 
 Pax, and worked by Francia in what is called niello. The 
 little one is adorned with the arms of the Sforza and 
 Bentivoglio families, and was probably intended as a 
 wedding gift from Giovanni Bentivoglio to his bride Ginevra 
 Sforza. It| represents the Crucifixion, and is set within an 
 arch bearing an inscription, and having above it a repre- 
 sentation of Christ spreading out His wounded hands and 
 with an angel on either side of Him. 
 
 The other Pax is a later one, and depicts the Resurrec- 
 tion, and has on it the arms of the Felicini family and 
 Ringhieri family, and was, like the first named, probably 
 intended for a wedding gift. 
 
 These two panels of silver were prepared in the following 
 way. The design was cut with a sharp tool on the metal. 
 A solution of borax, to act as a flux, was brushed over the 
 metal plate and thoroughly worked into the incised lines. 
 A prepared powdered amalgam of silver, copper, lead, and 
 sulphur was then shaken on to the plate so as to cover it
 
 222 BOLOGNA 
 
 completely. The plate was then heated over a charcoal 
 fire, more amalgam being added as the powder fused upon 
 any defective places. When the powder had become 
 thoroughly liquid so as to fill up all the lines, the plate was 
 allowed to cool. After that the plate was scraped down 
 so as to remove all the superfluous amalgam, leaving only 
 what had filled up the incised lines, and then, lastly, the 
 whole plate was carefully and finely polished till it pre- 
 sented the appearance of a smooth metal surface with a 
 design upon it in grey-black lines. 
 
 The method was a very favourite one, and was used for 
 decoration of vessels of all kinds, especially those that were 
 used at the altar, and was sometimes still further enriched, 
 as in the case before us, by the addition of coloured enamel. 
 In process of time, it led to the discovery of the method of 
 engraving, and the earliest prints that were made were 
 niello proofs used by the niellist as tests of the progress of 
 his work. 
 
 It was in this way that Francia began his success as a 
 niellist first, and then afterwards as a painter, but he 
 always retained the ideas of a niellist and a goldsmith, 
 and we shall be able to trace this habit of thought and 
 action in his pictures. His earliest painting in this 
 room is probably the Crucifixion that is near to the works 
 of Cossa and Costa on the wall close to the door. It is 
 373, and it will at once be noticed that the draperies are 
 stiff and formal as if made of metal, that the hands are hard, 
 and that the amount of fine detail in the picture bespeaks 
 the goldsmith rather than the artist. 
 
 The picture which Vasari calls the first that Francia 
 painted is 78 and is dated 1494, but it is quite inconceivable 
 that it was the initial work of the artist, as he must have 
 painted many works ere he could have acquired the 
 dexterity and skill that enabled him to paint this very 
 lovely one. 
 
 It was done for Francesco Felicini, and introduced into 
 it can be seen the jewel that Francia did for the same 
 church, that of the Misericordia, for which this altar-piece
 
 THE ART OF BOLOGNA 223 
 
 was painted, and which he was requested to introduce into 
 the painting. It is a Madonna and Child with Saints 
 Augustine, Monica, John the Baptist, Francis, Proculus, 
 and Sebastian. Mark the love of detail that is so clear in 
 this picture, not only in the jewel, but in the cope worn by 
 St. Augustine, the clasps of the book, the chain worn by the 
 donor, the staff carried by the bishop, and the decoration 
 on the steps of the throne. Such details will always be 
 found in the pictures of Francia, painted with infinite care 
 and attention and yet never allowed to detract from the 
 right understanding of the picture, but treated as accessories 
 with just the discretion that they needed. 
 
 The picture which hangs so close to it was done soon 
 after this one, and was the result of the great satisfaction 
 given by Francia to the Bentivoglio, by the altar-piece 
 painted for the Church of San Giacomo which we have seen 
 earlier. This one was done for the son of the ruler, one 
 Antonio, who was Archdeacon of the city, and was part of 
 an altar-piece commissioned from the two painters, Costa 
 and his friend, for the Church of the Misericordia. 
 
 The lunette by Costa is still in the church, but so high 
 up and in so bad a light as to be almost invisible, and the 
 predella we have already seen in Milan. With a view 
 I suppose to subordinating his colour scheme to Costa's 
 cooler and quieter scheme, Francia has substituted for his 
 customary rich colouring a colder tone, and this has been 
 intensified by the " rifacimento " to which this work has 
 been treated. The persons who are introduced into this 
 picture are not only Antonio the donor, who is kneeling in 
 adoration and who is depicted, as he has but so lately 
 returned from the Holy Land, in the garb of a pilgrim, but 
 opposite to him Girolamo Pandolfl di Casio, his great 
 friend, who had been on pilgrimage with him, and who was 
 a poet and had received the laurel wreath, and also St. 
 Joseph and St. Augustine, and a person who is called 
 St. Francis. 
 
 We must not go round each of the pictures in this room in 
 full detail, or we shall not have any space for the considera-
 
 224 BOLOGNA 
 
 tion of other rooms, but Francia is so much the greatest 
 artist represented in the gallery, that it is well to devote 
 special attention to him, even if others suffer thereby. 
 Number 80 is a very lovely picture representing the 
 Madonna and Child with four saints, and here the effect 
 of colour is remarkable, as it is mainly green in its varying 
 shades, and green can be found all over the picture, each 
 shade harmonised in a wonderful manner. This work is 
 called the Manzuoli altar-piece, having been commisioned 
 by a lady of that name ; the angel in it is of peculiar 
 beauty. 
 
 The strange crumpled effect of the draperies upon the 
 ground near to the feet of each figure is due to the influence 
 of Costa and is Ferrarese, but as Francia developed he 
 left this odd mannerism behind him, and we do not find it 
 in his later works. 
 
 The Scappi altar-piece (372), painted for Giovanni Scap- 
 pus, belongs to about the same period, and represents 
 St. Francis and St. Paul with the Madonna and Child. Of 
 the Annunciation there are two paintings in this gallery, 
 79 and 371, the latter being the earlier one of the two. 
 It is dated 1500, and although a little crowded in arrangement 
 is a very lovely picture. The four saints are grand figures, 
 St. John, St. Francis, St. Bernardino, and a warrior saint, 
 either St. George or San Proculo-Soldato. It was painted 
 for a Franciscan church, and therefore has the arms of the 
 Order upon it. Notice also the painting of the birds and 
 plants which are always in Francia's pictures depicted 
 with such accuracy and such care. The other Annunciation 
 is a later one, simpler in character although not so late, and 
 therefore not so simple as the one that we saw in Milan. 
 Here there are only two saints, one on each side of the 
 Madonna, and the quiet calm expression of the face of 
 the Virgin is very delightful and attractive. This work (79) 
 is a very grand piece of colour, red in all its tones, and 
 exemplifies one more of Francia's characteristics, the love 
 he has of making one colour tone all the effect of the 
 picture and give the key to its colour scheme.
 
 THE ART OF BOLOGNA 225 
 
 We have seen how green tones the Manzouli picture, and 
 appears even in the shot colour of the vestments in the 
 mantle, the lining of the vestment, the armoury, the hills, 
 the columns, the dragon, and the throne. We may notice 
 a blue effect in the Bentivoglio Adoration of the Child, 
 a brown in 372, a reddish grey in 78, and here we find red 
 taking the same chief place. There are other works by 
 Francia in the room which require attention. We may look 
 at the early Pietk (83), full of tender pathos ; at the delightful 
 Madonna and Child (499), with most characteristic beauty 
 in the face of the Virgin, and gay, bright, irresponsible child- 
 hood expressed in the Divine Infant ; and we may look at 
 the quaint votive predella (82), small and full of strange 
 mystical teaching, and painted for the Church of the 
 Misericordia by a donor to commemorate the event to 
 which I have given some attention in my book on this 
 artist. Having now gone round all the chief works by the 
 great artist in the room, it will be well to look at those 
 painted by his son and successor which are above them in 
 the higher tier numbered 84, 85, 86, %7, and 588. In them 
 will be seen the same idea of glorious colour that char- 
 acterised the father, but it is harder and cruder in tone, and 
 Giacomo has not abiHty to melt one hue into another that 
 his father possessed in so pre-eminent a degree. There is 
 far less originality, much more stiffness, and a lacking in 
 inspiration that is very marked ; and after a careful ex- 
 amination of the father's works, you will not care to devote 
 much attention to the son. 
 
 We \\\\\ now leave this room, but if you are sufficiently 
 interested in Francia to carry your investigation further, I 
 can recommend you to visit the Church of the Misericordia 
 which is outside the walls of the city, just beyond the Porta 
 Castiglione, and which was in Francia's time the most 
 popular church in Bologna, and the one for which many of 
 his greatest works were painted. In it you will find the 
 part of the altar-piece done by the two friends which Costa 
 painted, a curious fresco by Francia, and above all some 
 
 P
 
 226 BOLOGNA 
 
 lovely stained glass in two circular windows that were 
 designed and coloured by the artist. Then in the Archigin- 
 nasio, in the inner Library, you will be shown the earliest 
 work of Francia that remains in Bologna, a Crucifixion, 
 which is very full of the goldsmith characteristic, and is 
 curiously hard and angular in its draperies and limbs. It 
 is redolent of the niellist to a greater extent than any 
 other work. In the church of San Vitale ed Agricola 
 in the Via San Vitale you will find a very archaic sacred 
 picture to which Francia has painted some angels playing 
 on musical instruments, placing his canvas over the original 
 picture, which can be seen through a large oval in it, 
 and adding his delightful angels at the desire of the people 
 who worshipped at the church, in order to give additional 
 honour to their favourite Madonna. 
 
 Another interesting work of the same artist can be found in 
 the Palazzo Comunale, in the building over the entrance of 
 which can be seen the figure of the Pope, which I told you 
 was transformed into that of the San Petronio. It is upstairs 
 on the first floor, and is a fresco painted on a wall to com- 
 memorate the safety of the city during a terrible earthquake 
 of 1505, and is undoubtedly a genuine work of the master's 
 own hand, and has an interesting inscription underneath it. 
 Lastly, you may care to see a work of Francia's early days, 
 a Madonna and Child which is in the third chapel on the 
 right in the church of San Dominico, and which has orna- 
 mental crowns of metal-work attached to its canvas, quite 
 spoiling the picture, and which it is very difficult, if not 
 impossible, to see adequately unless you can get the glass 
 door which covers it opened. Its position is over a very 
 important altar at which several miracles are said to have 
 been wrought, and by reason of which this extra adornment 
 was given to the picture. 
 
 All these pictures, and the quaint shield made by Francia, 
 with some delightful niello-work around its border, preserved 
 in the house of the Rodrigrez family and not often to be 
 seen, will be found fully described in my work on Francia, 
 but are noted here in case that you may care when in
 
 THE ART OF BOLOGNA 227 
 
 Bologna to make a fuller study of this artist and his works 
 than the space of this book will allow me to set forth. 
 
 We will now leave the Francia room and return back into 
 the next room, called D. 
 
 Room D 
 
 The chief picture in this room is the celebrated work 
 of Raphael (152) representing St. Cecilia, which is con- 
 sidered the chief ornament of the gallery. The guides with 
 persistent importunity will seem to begrudge every minute 
 that you give to other works, unless you give what in their 
 ideas is a proper attention to this picture, which they seem 
 to think is worth in merit all the others put together. It has 
 unfortunately been so terribly restored that whatever beauty 
 it once possessed is very much a matter of the past. The 
 sky has been scandalously repainted in the roughest manner 
 and all the delightful cherubs which filled the heaven, as 
 they do now in the Madonna di San Sisto, at Dresden, and 
 which can yet be seen in the sketches for this Santa Cecilia, 
 have long ago disappeared, and therefore one of the greatest 
 beauties of the composition has gone. The face of the 
 Magdalen who stands by the side of St. Cecilia is still one 
 of great loveliness, but the process of transferring the picture 
 from panel to canvas, and the repainting of many of the faces 
 has ruined the rest of the work. The picture was painted 
 for Elena dal' Oglio, a relation of Cardinal Pucci, in 15 13, 
 and finished in 151 5, and was intended for a chapel of 
 St. Cecilia in San Giovanni-in-Monte, where now in the 
 transept close to the grave of the donor, a copy of the 
 picture hangs. The faces must all have been very lovely, as 
 traces of great beauty can still be perceived in them, but at 
 no time can the work have been one of Raphael's greatest 
 successes, by reason of serious errors in its composition. 
 Deserting the accepted method adopted by artists of his 
 period, notably by those of the Florentine and Bolognese 
 school, of painting inanimate objects from the object itself 
 and with accurate detail, Raphael in this picture gave a free
 
 228 BOLOGNA 
 
 rein to his imagination, and so spoiled the very feature of 
 his picture which he desired should be important, and which, 
 in the hands of such a man as Francia, would have been 
 delightful. 
 
 Not one of the musical instruments is correct. The viol 
 has its strings broken and yet the bridge stands upright, 
 although nothing is holding it, and the tail is yet strained 
 out in the proper direction ; the pipes of the organ are falling 
 out of the frame as no pipes could possibly fall were the 
 Portable Organ held in the position in which the saint holds 
 it, and with the connecting string broken ; the wooden pipes 
 are broken across at just their strongest parts, where by no 
 possibility could they have broken ; and even the viol is itself 
 broken where it is not in the least likely that it would have 
 sprung, and in a manner into which the wood could not 
 possibly go. 
 
 The design is Raphael's, the composition is delightful, 
 and one of the faces is fine, but more than that I cannot 
 with any honesty say ; and as regards real art, there are 
 many pictures in the room that we have just left that are far 
 finer and far more instructive than is Raphael's St. Cecilia 
 in its present condition. 
 
 Opposite to it hangs a lovely * Perugino painted for the 
 same church of San Giovanni-in-Monte, representing the 
 Virgin in glory with four adoring saints, St. Michael, St. 
 Catherine, St. John the Divine, and St. Apollonia. The 
 St. Michael is the same figure as appears in the Certosa 
 altar-piece in the National Gallery, but perhaps finer in figure 
 and more refined in beauty (mark especially the hands) than 
 in that celebrated work, while the other three figures are 
 stately and impressive in their calm, isolated composure. 
 The picture was painted in 1498, and in the following year I 
 have ascertained that Perugino visited Bologna to see to the 
 hanging of the picture, and there no doubt met with Francia, 
 who was at that time in the full pursuit of his art. 
 
 To that meeting I attribute much of the Perugino influence 
 that appears" in the works of Francia, or else to an earlier 
 visit which the great Umbrian paid to Bologna.
 
 THE ART OF BOLOGNA 329 
 
 Other noteworthy pictures in this room are 61, a very fine 
 Cima of the Virgin and Child, a lovely BeUinesque picture 
 in its original frame and signed by the artist in full ; some 
 interesting works by Imola, notably 216, a dreary picture 
 but of pleasing colour ; 292, a very Raphaelesque picture, 
 too rosy in colour ; and 89, a very effective work ; 210 is by 
 Giulio Romano ; 198 is by Vasari, author of the " Lives of 
 the Painters" ; and 145 is by Tintoretto. 
 
 Room C 
 
 There is nothing in Room C which need detain us for a 
 moment, as all the pictures that it contains are by the various 
 lesser men whom Bologna produced in such numbers. 
 
 Room B 
 
 Room B represents the Caracci and their school. 
 
 Of Ludovico the founder there are — 42, Madonna and 
 Child ; 43, Transfiguration ; 47, Conversion of St. Paul ; 
 48, Madonna in Glory and others ; but all of them are 
 marked by extravagance, contortion, dense shadows, and 
 dreadful faces. Mark especially the Madonna in 42. 
 
 By Agostino there are — 34 and 35, hot, dreamy, and 
 theatrical, although good in tone on the whole, and accurate 
 in drawing. 
 
 By the greatest man of the three, Annibale, there are 
 many works. 36 and 37 are examples of mere beauty, some 
 lovely faces, a delightful truth and accuracy in drawing, 
 fair colouring, but an entire absence of spirituality or in- 
 spiration. 
 
 Still later men are represented in 206, 207, and 208, 
 which are by DomenicMno, very theatrical, mystic pictures, 
 emotional, powerful, strong, but lacking in any gentle spirit, 
 or in true devotion. They are exciting pictures, full of 
 horror, especially 208, which appeals only to the lower 
 emotions of pain and terror, and yet there is a grandeur 
 about them, and ability and skill are marked in the tech- 
 nique, handling, and grouping. Mark in 207 the presence
 
 230 BOLOGNA 
 
 in the hand of each person of a rosary, and the mystic 
 character that the artist has given to the composition. 
 
 The other important pictures in this room are still less 
 satisfactory from an artistic point of view, and belong to a 
 still later man, Guercino. The pathos in them is artificial 
 and ignoble, the colouring and lighting unearthly and exag- 
 gerated, the shadows absurdly dense, and the composition 
 theatrical. 
 
 Room A 
 
 Now let us enter the first room A, which is given up 
 practically to Guido, by whom all the chief works in it were 
 painted. The finest one is undoubtedly the rough sketch 
 for the *Ecce Homo (142), which is far finer than the 
 finished picture, bolder, more truthful, less emotional, and 
 less forced in pathos. The chief work in the room is the vast 
 Madonna della Pieta (134), which represents the Virgin 
 and Child, and the chief saints connected vi'ith Bologna ; 
 and beneath them, as in Francia's fresco of the Madonna 
 Terremoto in the Palazzo Comunale, a view of the city 
 with its walls and towers. There is no doubt that at times 
 Guido proved himself to be really great. In style and 
 colouring he was at times delightful, but he never could 
 keep up to the high level throughout a picture, and in this 
 one there are parts which are merely silly sentiment. The 
 picture is, however, interesting and imposing. 
 
 In 135, the Slaughter of the Innocents, it is horror that is 
 depicted and not grief. There is no pathos in Guido, unless 
 it appears in the Ecce Homo sketch ; all the rest'is theatrical. 
 
 The banner picture (138) must not be overlooked. It 
 was painted to be used as a processional banner, and is 
 certainly a good composition, and better in colouring than 
 others ; but it was too quickly painted for the artist to be 
 able to put much conscientious work into it, and there is 
 very little feeling to be discovered in it. 
 
 In this room there is, however, one really fine picture 
 of quite a different school (360), in the centre of the room, 
 the work of Niccolo da Foligno, called A.l.unno. Here is
 
 THE ART OF BOLOGNA 231 
 
 the work of a man of another age, deficient, if you like, in the 
 knowledge that these later men possessed, but full of de- 
 votion and reverence, having plenty of time and plenty of 
 desire to paint a picture that should tell the story that existed 
 deep down in his own mind, and which he felt he must 
 translate into colour to the best of his ability, and then offer 
 as an expression of devotion to Her in whose honour it was 
 painted. It was done in 1482, a very early date compared 
 with what we have been examining. It is strange, weird, 
 and perhaps hard, but there is an inspiration in it which all 
 these vast canvases of the later time wholly lack. 
 
 The Corridor 
 
 Now let us return through the whole suite of rooms again 
 into the Francia room, and leave it by the other door turning 
 into the corridor for a few minutes. 
 
 Here we are amongst the Primitives again. We shall 
 not find accurate drawing, we shall notice strange colour 
 and technique, and a gradual striving after better things, 
 but we are back again from the times of theatrical trickery 
 to the times of devotion. 
 
 205 is an important early Venetian work by the Vivarini, 
 1450. 
 
 102 is by Griotto, simple, direct, telling its story well ; just 
 the faces and no more ; quite a delightful work. 
 
 202 is said to have been painted by that local saint of high 
 repute, St. Catharine Vigri, and represents St. Ursula. It 
 is a picture of 1450- 
 
 Then there are numerous works by Avanzi, by early Bolog- 
 nese men, by Lippo Dalmasio, Simone da Bologna, and by 
 unknown artists ; but this little gallery will repay some careful 
 attention, and will quiet you after the overwhelming effect of 
 the later pictures, and enable you once again to correct your 
 ideas and gather up your scattered thoughts into focus. 
 
 Only the first part of this gallery (entering, that is, from 
 the Francia room) will need attention ; all the rest can be left 
 out entirely.
 
 232 BOLOGNA 
 
 F. EXCURSIONS FROM BOLOGNA 
 
 If there is sufficient time it is well for you to try and see 
 the old Olivetan church, called San Michele in Bosco, that 
 stands about two miles from the Porta d'Azeglio. To do so 
 you have to write to the Director for an order, and at your 
 hotel you will be informed to whom to address your letter. 
 The order is sent to you the next day at your hotel, and the 
 church can be seen on certain days only. Its position is 
 superb on the top of a very high hill, and it can be easily 
 reached by going most of the way by tram, and walking the 
 remainder of the distance. 
 
 On arriving, one word of caution is needful. The whole 
 convent is now occupied as an orthopaedic hospital, and the 
 order admits you first to this hospital, of which the authorities 
 are very proud ; and unless you are very determined and firm 
 in your decision only to see the church and the frescoes 
 that you have come to see, you will be first of all taken 
 through the hospital, and worried by the sight of horrid 
 instruments, operating rooms, wards, nurses, and poor cripples 
 with all sorts of terrible complaints. 
 
 The system is to take the visitor through all this dis- 
 tressing sight in order to obtain for the custodian a fee 
 before you are allowed to enter the deserted church, which 
 the authorities consider of far less importance than their 
 hospital, with all its instruments of torture. If you are quite 
 firm in your refusal, however, to cross the steps of the hospital, 
 you will be taken into the church through a lovely doorway, 
 the work of the celebrated Peruzzi, passing two exquisite 
 holy-water basins, and will see some fine intarsia work in 
 the stalls. The cloister contains some interesting ruined 
 frescoes by the Caracci much more important than their 
 paintings, and in the refectory you will find a very attractive 
 series of views of all the houses of the Order, forming a 
 charming decoration. There is not very much in all to be 
 seen, but the excursion is worth taking, as the exterior of the 
 church is good, its position delightful, and the frescoes in
 
 EXCURSIONS FROM BOLOGNA 233 
 
 the cloister and those in the choir by Innocenzo da Imola 
 are important in the history of Bolognese art. 
 
 Another excursion that can be made is to the Certosa, 
 which is now used as a Campo Santo. This also can be 
 reached by tram, with a short walk from the point where the 
 tram stops. The actual cemetery is not interesting, but the 
 Carthusian church has some excellent stalls in it, some 
 good fresco-work by Ludovico Caracci, and is an interesting 
 piece of fourteenth-century architecture. Close to it will be 
 seen the beginning of the interminable colonnade, which 
 leads, after nearly three miles of walking under cover, up to 
 t"he Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, the most 
 sacred place in the neighbourhood. The church contains 
 the miraculous picture said to have been painted by St. 
 Luke, and regarded with much veneration ; but besides that 
 there is only an early \\ork of Guide to be seen, and the 
 view to the visitor, which is of great beauty, is the chief 
 attraction. 
 
 There are many delightful drives about the outskirts of 
 Bologna, and some interesting villas that can be visited if 
 time and inclination permit. 
 
 /
 
 c^ 
 
 RAVENNA 
 
 A. INTRODUCTORY 
 
 RAVENNA is like no other town in Italy. It stands 
 quite apart from all others and is entirely distinctive. 
 It can be compared with no other place, and the page 
 of history which it illumines is lighted up by no other place 
 in the world. To properly understand it, Ravenna is the 
 only guide, and since the time of the city's great prosperity, 
 it has practically stood still, has crystallised with all its relics 
 about it, and now it reveals them to the visitor who steps 
 back in Ravenna to the very early centuries, from the fourth 
 to the eighth, and finds that the whole history of the place 
 is in those early times. 
 
 In Roman times it was not so much one town, as a 
 collection of three, which were so closely intertwined as to 
 be one in completeness. There was Ravenna proper, there 
 was the port of Classis founded by Augustus, and then there 
 was the long line of houses called Caesarea, which connected 
 Classis with Ravenna. Of this last, nothing but a church 
 and a few cottages remain ; of Classis, only the great basilica 
 of Sant' Apollinare in Classis and a few cottages close by ; 
 and only Ravenna, itself much shrunken from what it was, 
 now stands to tell us of the past glories of the place. 
 
 The chief history of Ravenna, however, commences with 
 the time of Honorius, the son of Theodosius, who reigned 
 from 395 to 423 over the Western Empire, his brother 
 Arcadius taking the Eastern. 
 
 Honorius, whose reign was one long warfare with the 
 Goths and other barbarian people who were at this time 
 
 increasing in their power and desire to obtain the country, 
 
 234
 
 INTRODUCTORY 235 
 
 and who attacked Rome over and over again, removed his 
 Court from the Eternal City to Ravenna and made that his 
 capital, and, sheltered behind its malarious plains and its 
 watery flats, lived in a greater security than he had done in 
 Rome. Here was the seat of the Roman power during, not 
 only his reign, but that of his son Valentinian III.,Majorian, 
 and others (Emperors only in name) who succeeded him. 
 
 In 475 after the death of the last of these nine puppet 
 Emperors, Romulus Augustulus, there was a barbarian ruler 
 in the person of Odoacer, and he held his court at Ravenna, 
 as by that time Rome had been sacked by the Vandals, and 
 the last important link that bound together the two empires 
 had been broken. 
 
 Then a new power came into play, that of the Ostrogoths, 
 and Ravenna was besieged by Theodoric, the king of the 
 Ostrogoths, who had invaded Italy. For three years he 
 attacked Ravenna, and at last by a blockade forced Odoacer 
 to surrender the city, and slew him. 
 
 Theodoric reigned in Ravenna for thirty-three years, 
 and to him many of the greatest buildings in the place 
 owe their existence. Here he was buried, and here his 
 tomb (despoiled of its contents) still remains a monument 
 to the devotion of his daughter Amalasuntha, who was 
 murdered a few years after her father's death. 
 
 Once again came a change of scene. 
 
 The death of Theodoric, who was a strong ruler, was 
 followed by the accession of successors who were weak 
 and unable to hold together the united Gothic kingdom 
 which Theodoric had by his own prowess and skill brought 
 into existence. 
 
 A powerful monarch was now on the throne of the 
 Eastern Empire, reigning at Constantinople in the person 
 of Justinian, and he desired once again to unite Italy to 
 his dominions. His great general, Belisarius, went forward 
 with a powerful army, and in 536 regained Rome. The 
 Goths made a strong attempt to retake it, but were beaten 
 off, and retreated to the powerful stronghold of Ravenna,
 
 236 RA VENN A 
 
 whither Belisarius promptly followed them. Here he found 
 there was disaffection, and a strong sense of dissatisfaction 
 with the Gothic king, Vitigis, who had allowed himself to be 
 overcome, Belisarius attacked Ravenna, and by the help 
 of those who were disaffected was enabled to enter the 
 place and take it. The Goths thought that he would, with 
 the capture of Ravenna, himself assume the chief power in 
 Italy, but he was true to the Emperor who had sent him, 
 and once again was Ravenna united with the Roman Empire. 
 Amalasuntha had, soon after the death of Theodoric, placed 
 herself and her kingdom under the protection of Byzantium, 
 but now the union was completed. 
 
 Then for a couple of hundred years Ravenna remained 
 united to, or dependent upon, the Empire, which ruled 
 from Constantinople, and was governed by a series of 
 exarchs, commencing with Narses, who was the successor 
 of Belisarius. 
 
 In 728 a fresh ruler came upon the scene, as the city 
 was taken by the Lombard king, Luitprand, whose name 
 we have seen on the font in the Atrio di Pilato in vSan 
 Stefano in Bologna. 
 
 He captured first the city of Classis, which was still the 
 port of the city, and then marched against Ravenna and 
 took it. His successor, Aistulf, reigned in Ravenna, and 
 then he in his turn was driven out by the Franks under 
 Pepin, and then the city was given over by his successor, 
 Charlemagne, to the Holy See, and became the initial 
 portion of the Patrimony of St. Peter. 
 
 Charlemagne visited Ravenna, carried off from it a brazen 
 statue of Theodoric and the marble columns of his palace, 
 and decided to build the new cathedral which he was 
 erecting at Aix la Chapelle on the model of San Vitale 
 in Ravenna. 
 
 From his time, with certain intervals, Ravenna remamed 
 attached to the Holy See. The intervals were during the 
 thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. In the
 
 INTRODUCTORY 2j7 
 
 thirteenth century for a time a certain Pietro assumed the 
 dignity of Duke of Ravenna, and his son followed him in 
 the titular dukedom. Then the Emperor Frederick II- 
 came against Ravenna, and, driving out the dukes, held 
 it for a time ; but in his turn he was driven back by the 
 forces of the Pope, and Innocent IV. attached the place 
 once more to his possessions. In 1275 another change of 
 a temporary character took place as an important local 
 family, the Polentani, came to eminence and position, and 
 ruled Ravenna, nominally in the name of the Pope, ostensibly 
 as a republic, but actually as a kingdom of their own. 
 Their rule did not last for a great while, and then the 
 citizens, finding that the Papacy had other matters in hand 
 that were occupying attention, placed themselves under the 
 protection of Venice in 1441, and were well and wisely ruled 
 by the great Republic for some sixty years. Again in 1 509 
 Ravenna was given back to the warrior Pope, Julius II., 
 by the Republic of Venice, which was unable to hold it 
 any longer, and once again Ravenna had its old rulers. 
 
 But three years after this event the neighbourhood was 
 the scene of a great battle when Louis XII. with his forces, 
 under the command of Gaston de Foix, attacked Ravenna, 
 and in 15 13 was fought the battle of Ravenna, at which 
 Gaston de Foix was killed, and which gave the victory to 
 the French, although their terrible losses at the hands of the 
 Papal and Spanish forces did not permit them to follow up 
 the victory. 
 
 This was practically the last event of importance that was 
 a part of the history of Ravenna, and from that time it 
 remained down to that of our own as an important city, 
 sometimes the chief and at other times the second in import- 
 ance in the state of Roniagna. It has thus had a very 
 eventful and moving history. Its strong position at the mouth 
 of its river and surrounded by vast watery plains, and with 
 the sea up to its very doors, and, gradually leaving it, 
 converting its shallow part into a morass and then into an 
 unhealthy flat land, has been its strength ; while the difficulty 
 of approaching it and its out-of-the-way position has enabled
 
 238 RA VENN A 
 
 it to retain and preserve the monuments in which it is so 
 rich and which relate so exchisively to its very early history. 
 It is Gothic, Ostrogothic, and Byzantine history that we 
 can learn in Ravenna, as of its later history little remains ; 
 but in Gothic and Byzantine monuments, no other town is 
 so rich and no other place can so perfectly set forth the art 
 and craft of that period. 
 
 B. THE CHURCHES AND MOSAICS OF 
 RAVENNA 
 
 The oldest buildings in Ravenna are the Baptistery, 
 that stands close to the Cathedral and is also called San 
 Giovatini-in-Monte ; the Chapel of the Archbishop, which 
 is in the rear of the Cathedral, and the Cathedral itself. 
 
 To these it is well that we should first address ourselves. 
 
 They all stand within five minutes' walk of the Hotel Byron, 
 to which all visitors go, and we will commence our inspection 
 with the ** Baptistery, which is in its way one of the most 
 lovely as well as one of the most interesting buildings which 
 the city will have to show us. 
 
 It is said to have been founded by the good Archbishop, 
 of the See, Neon, in the late fourth century, and ornamented 
 by his successor, some fifty years after its erection. It is a 
 very simple, plain building of octagonal form, with the plainest 
 of brickwork decoration upon it, and a delightful tent-shaped 
 roof of red tiles. 
 
 Inside it is a perfect glow of colour and glorious decora- 
 tion. The mosaics of Bishops Neon and Maximian still 
 gleam as brilliantly as they did when first erected, and as a 
 composition the whole scheme is wonderfully fine. 
 
 In the centre of the dome is a representation of the 
 Baptism, with the name of the Elver Jordan clearly marked, 
 and then around this central circle is a still larger one with 
 the Twelve Apostles, each bearing a crown and having his 
 name near by. 
 
 These twelve figures are of surpassing dignity, and
 
 THE CHURCHES AND MOSAICS 239 
 
 appear to move round this dome with a swing and grace 
 that is very remarkable. They are rather tall and not so 
 well proportioned as other mosaic figures which we shall 
 see hereafter, but they are wonderful examples of such early 
 work, and are specially interesting, inasmuch as they have 
 never been restored and are in the condition in which their 
 makers left them. 
 
 Below them is yet another circle of mosaic decoration also 
 untouched, and representing the four books of the Gospels, 
 open upon four altars, and between them four thrones of 
 dominion with crosses. Around the Baptistery ai'e eight 
 columns, and from them rise spandrils which are covered 
 with mosaics of gold wreaths on a blue ground of grand 
 effect, and between them, on oval backgrounds of gold, are 
 eight prophets draped in white garments. 
 
 Above them rises another colonnade, composed of eight 
 arches, each subdivided into three more, the central one 
 of which contains a window and the two side ones figures 
 in relief, which are probably made in a species of plaster- 
 work. 
 
 From the tops of these eight large subdivided arches starts 
 the band of mosaic work that contains the thrones and 
 altars. 
 
 The mosaics on the arches that rise from the eight marble 
 columns have been restored in 1897 and 1898 by the 
 authorities in Florence, and therefore on/}' the design and 
 character of this work is genuine, but all the rest is untouched 
 and the whole effect of this brilliant, sumptuous decoration 
 is very wonderful. 
 
 There are four inscriptions around the Baptistery in 
 mosaic relating to Baptism, and between some of the arches 
 are set fine examples of porphyry and marble arranged in 
 geometric pattern. In the centre is the huge font, which 
 was intended for Baptism by immersion, and to which is 
 attached a curved ambo or pulpit in which the officiating 
 priest would stand. The font is of white marble and has 
 slabs of fine porphyry. 
 
 It will be noticed that this building is considerably below
 
 240 RA VENN A 
 
 the level on which it was first erected, and the bases of the 
 columns are to be found covered by the floor, which has 
 been raised. This is a feature of buildings in Ravenna 
 which will be constantly noticed, and is the result of the 
 character of the soil, which is marshy and wet. This par- 
 ticular building is several feet below its right level and is 
 still falling. 
 
 On its roof is to be seen, at the very apex, a metal cross 
 bearing the following inscription, which records its erection 
 by Archbishop Theodorus in the later part of the seventh 
 century: "DEDONIS DEI ET SCE MARIE. F. F. 
 LERVNT TEMPORIBVS DN THEODORO APOS- 
 TOLICVM." 
 
 Near to the door can be traced the monogram of Bishop 
 Neon. 
 
 We will now cross the road and enter the ** Cathedral, 
 which in its foundation is as old as the Baptistery, but has 
 been so entirely altered and rebuilt that nothing of the 
 exterior save the detached Campanile remains of the 
 original building. The interest of this building consists in 
 what it contains, notably in the sacristy the ** ivory chair 
 of St. Maximianus, which was made in the early part of 
 the sixth century, and save for its being carried away to 
 Venice in looi has been in this church ever since it was 
 first made. It was certainly made by Orient craftsmen, and 
 has in the front the monogram of Maximianus Episcopus, 
 and around it fine delicate carvings of St. John the Baptist 
 in front, the Evangelists on the right and left, and the 
 history of Joseph at the sides, and the miracles of Christ 
 at the back. 
 
 Some of the panels are missing, and are replaced by poor 
 copies, one of the missing panels is in Milan, and another 
 in Rome, others are in Naples and in Pesaro, but it is 
 not known what has become of the rest of them. 
 
 The carving is clear and well defined and full of character, 
 and the panels are surrounded with delightful arabesque
 
 THE CHURCHES AND MOSAICS 24T 
 
 decoration of an excellent character. This chair is one of 
 the great treasures of Europe, of exceptional interest, and 
 should be carefully examined. Have it turned round so 
 that you can see it well and appreciate its delightful work. 
 The scenes of Joseph in Prison and In the House of Poti- 
 phar's Wife, are especially quaint and interesting. Mark 
 the peacocks in the border, and the excellent manner in 
 which all the carving is undercut. 
 
 In the same sacristy are preserved the exquisite cope which 
 belongs to San Giovanni Angeloptes, who was Archbishop 
 of Ravenna in the fifth century, and which was remounted 
 in the ninth or tenth century, and is of great beauty. 
 The griffins and lambs on the cross of cloth of gold are 
 delightful. 
 
 There is also to be seen the altar-cross of Sant' Agnello, 
 archbishop in the sixth century, which is of silver and 
 enamel, but it was altered in the sixteenth century, and 
 only a part of what one can now see belongs to its very 
 early history. 
 
 Leaving the sacristy we shall find a more important relic 
 of this archbishop standing close to the high altar, in the 
 ancient processional cross of silver. This bears upon 
 it in relief the Crucifixion, God the Eternal Father, the 
 Madonna, St. John, and St. Mary Magdalen on one side, 
 and on the other, St. Apollonia, and the symbols of the 
 Evangelists, with an inscription recording that the name of 
 the engraver who decorated the ancient cross with these later 
 reliefs in 1366 was Andrea. 
 
 Behind the altar will be found, fastened into the wall, two 
 curved pieces of marble, which were, as the inscription upon 
 them tells us, part of the ancient amdo or chair used by Sant' 
 Agnello in the original Cathedral, in the sixth century ; and 
 also some pierced marble slabs that were over the remains 
 of martyrs in the Confession of the original Cathedral, and 
 which date back to the same remote time. 
 
 Then there are four splendid stone sarcophagi to be 
 seen, two in the second chapel on the right, in which were 
 buried Sf. Exuperantius and St. Maximianus (to whom the 
 
 Q
 
 242 RA VENN A 
 
 chair belonged), and two in the transept, in which were 
 buried 5/. Barbatian, the confessor of Galla Placidia, and 
 Sati Rinaldus. These are sixth-century cofifins, having upon 
 them the bay leaves of conquest and honour, the palms of 
 victory, two saints bearing their coronals as an offering to 
 Christ, and candles with the Cross and the Host on the ends. 
 We shall see many more of these splendid tombs ere we 
 leave Ravenna, and recognise on them the love of symbolism 
 which characterised their makers and the period in which 
 they were made, and which was the method of teaching that 
 was so needful in those early days. 
 
 Let us now turn round to the back of the Cathedral, pass 
 under an arch, up some stairs, and enter the **Chapel of 
 the Archbishop, which is connected with the Duomo. 
 
 The anteroom through which we pass to gain the chapel 
 is filled with ancient Roman remains and interesting early 
 Christian inscriptions, and beyond it is the chapel. 
 
 St. Pier Cristologo was archbishop in the early part of the 
 fifth century, and he it was who built this chapel and had 
 it decorated in mosaics, and his monogram, in the curious 
 entwined aiTangement that is so often to be seen in Ravenna, 
 is to be found in mosaic in an arch of the chapel, and is com- 
 posed of all the letters forming the word Petrus. 
 
 The mosaics in the ceiling of this chapel are the original 
 ones of the fifth century, and have only been repaired in 
 places where some bits of the work have dropped out by 
 reason of the damp. 
 
 There are four glorious angels, and opposite to them the 
 four symbols of the Evangelists, then there are two repre- 
 sentations of the Christ with the Twelve Apostles, six on 
 either side, and it should here be noted as a curious fact, 
 that in these early Ravennese mosaics, the Apostle St. Paul 
 is included with the twelve. The names are easily seen to 
 be SS. John, James, Peter, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, 
 Matthew, Thomas, James (the less), Thaddeus, Simon 
 (Zelotes), and Paul, omitting Judas and Matthias.
 
 THE CHURCHES AND MOSAICS 243 
 
 Then on the right are six male saints, Damian, Fabian, 
 Sebastian, Chrysanthus, Chrysologus, and Cassianus, and on 
 the left six female saints, Cecilia, Eugenia, Eufemia, Felicitas, 
 Perpetua, and Daria, with the sacred symbol between each 
 three. The reason of the introduction of San Casstano, was 
 that he was the patron and protector of Imola, the good 
 bishop's native place, and that consequently, San Pier 
 Cristologo had a peculiar devotion for that saint. 
 
 The faces are full of calm dignity, those of the Christ 
 especially, and on the drapery are the words, "EGO SVM 
 VIA VERITAS ET VITA." 
 
 The ceiling has upon it crosses and birds, and the whole 
 decoration is wonderful in beauty and effect. 
 
 Behind the aliar are other mosaics of the Madonna in 
 the centre, inscribed " SCA MARIA," and two saints, one on 
 either side, San Vitalis and Sant' Apollinaris. These are 
 much later mosaics, belonging to the twelfth century, and 
 were originally in the Cathedral, whence they were brought 
 to this chapel in 1796. 
 
 The frescoes, which are by Luca Longhi, are of no import- 
 ance. To those who are interested in manuscripts it may 
 be well to mention that on the floor above there is a small 
 but very choice library of MSS. and papyri, but it is not 
 well for any save experts to trouble to visit it, especially if 
 you are pressed at all for time. 
 
 The pavement of the chapel is worth notice, as it is com- 
 posed of that charming mingling of marble and porphyry 
 that is known as " Opus Alexandrinum " and which was so 
 popular at this period. 
 
 In pursuit of our chronological arrangement, it will be 
 well for us when we finally leave this group of fascinating 
 buildings to go to the north of the city into the Via San 
 Vitale, and without entering into this fine church yet, pass 
 it by and go into the **Tomb of the Empress Galla 
 Placidia, which lies behind it, and is also called the Church 
 of San Nazaro e Celso. 
 
 I must warn you, however, that the mosaics in this
 
 244 RA VENN A 
 
 interesting place are being restored, and that the building 
 itself has been so restored and repaired as to present quite 
 a fresh appearance, so that but little can be seen of the 
 original edifice. 
 
 It is called "a well-preserved monument," and un- 
 doubtedly in some ways that is so, as the original idea of 
 the place, its plan, its arrangement, can all be seen exactly 
 as they have always been ; but the " rifascimento " to which 
 it has been exposed has taken away from the structure that 
 feeling of antiquity that is so needful in order that the right 
 impression may be made by a building. 
 
 It is said that in the repair of the mosaics only those 
 portions that have dropped out are being supplied new, but 
 it is more than that, as tessera: are being used in the new 
 work that are of a kind which the old mosaicists never used, 
 and the colours are of a different tone from the old ones, 
 and the work is more rigid, exact, and true than was the old, 
 and so much the more mechanical. Even if it were not so, 
 new work can never be the same as old. It is a copy of 
 what has preceded it. It is not the original creation of the 
 artist's mind, and although it is very difficult for us in 
 England to fully appreciate the desire of the Ravennese to 
 repair the destruction caused by the damp, yet it seems 
 better to us to allow the damage to be seen and recognised 
 than to spend great sums in making it up, and so taking 
 away from the entire scheme that charm of untouched anti- 
 quity that it possessed for so long a period. The constant 
 visits of tourists to Ravenna have not done the place any 
 good, and now the work of renovation is going on in the 
 city at so great a rate that soon there will be little left that 
 has not been restored. There is no doubt that in the past 
 these monuments have suffered much, and that they will be 
 glorious in the future, brave with fine marble and mosaic, 
 but they will be copies of what has been rather than grand 
 and impressive originals ; and where it is difficult if not 
 impossible to tell what has been repaired and what has not, 
 the whole work is likely to suffer in public estimation, and 
 I think rightly so.
 
 THE CHURCHES AND MOSAICS 245 
 
 Outside, the tomb has been scraped and done up, inside 
 the walls remain very much as they were as far as the 
 springing of the arches, but the workmen are now covering 
 up the bare walls with slabs of Siena marble, restoring, as 
 they inform you, the walls to what was their original con- 
 dition of beauty. The cupola is covered entirely with mosaic 
 which was a few years ago untouched, but is now being 
 " touched up," as it is called, and mingled with the old work 
 is modern mosaic, which is brilliant and showy. 
 
 The designs certainly are the old ones and are very fine, 
 and ;jiuc/i of the mosaic is old. In the dome is a cross in 
 the centre upon a ground of blue stars, and at the four 
 corners of the dome are the symbols of the Evangelists 
 grandly presented. Over the door is Christ as " The Good 
 Shepherd," and opposite to it, behind the altar (which at 
 this moment is put away in San Vitale while the work is 
 going on), is another representation of Our Lord casting 
 heretical books into a fire, so contrasting two of the main 
 elements of faith — that of love for the sheep and that of 
 condemnation of error. Around are figures of the prophets 
 or apostles, probably the latter. The influence of classic 
 art is very clearly to be seen especially in the two doves 
 drinking from the vase which is a thoroughly classical device, 
 and also in the stags at a fountain, and in the arabesque 
 decoration of the ornaments around the arches and within 
 their vaults. The little chapel is a wonderful glow of colour, 
 and with all its restoration, we must be thankful that so 
 fine an example is left of the work of the mosaicist. We 
 can feel the influence of the Oriental love of colour, im- 
 planted upon the classical ideas of fine design, and in its 
 deep jewel-like blue, its solemn dull red, its gold circles, its 
 masses of pure unearthly white, it seems to shine as with 
 the fierceness of fire, and the light travels over its broken 
 surface revealing new charms with every fresh position. 
 It is but a tiny chapel, but it contains, besides its mosaics, 
 the tombs of two Caesars, the only ones which now stand 
 in the position in which they were originally placed of all 
 that long line of rulers ; and at the end, near to the stone
 
 246 RA VENN A 
 
 sarcophagi of Honorins II. and Constantius II., is the 
 Tomb of Galla Placidia herself, who built the chapel. She 
 used to be herself resting within that tomb, and there for 
 eleven hundred years she sat, robed in state, and wearing her 
 crown, but as the Renaissance crept into Italy, she, emblem 
 of an earlier art, perished through the carelessness of some 
 children, who in 1577 introduced a lighted candle into her 
 tomb, through the hole that may yet be seen at the side, 
 and in a moment everything was consumed — Empress, robes, 
 cypress wood chair, and all. Now there only remains the 
 huge stone sarcophagus, those of the two Emperors and two 
 others, one of which has the bones of young Honoria, 
 daughter of Galla Placidia. 
 
 Ravenna owes other buildings to the genius of Galla 
 Placidia, who was sister to Honorius, and who, having 
 been the wife of the Gothic king, had as her second 
 husband, Constantius III., and whose son became Valen- 
 tinian III. 
 
 She founded the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista 
 in 420, out of gratitude for preservation during a storm 
 on the voyage to her capital, Ravenna, when she was 
 coming from Byzantium, but beyond some fragments to be 
 found in a chapel dedicated to St. Bartolomeo, there is 
 nothing of the church of her period to be seen. 
 
 The relief over the door of St. Giovanni Evangelista, 
 which commemorates the vow, is of thirteenth or fourteenth 
 century date, but contains in it a part, although small, of the 
 far older stone which may have been contemporary with the 
 church. Inside on the left of the entrance in the corner is 
 an ancient marble chair, which belonged to the Abbot 
 Benevento, of 1267, and near to which is a curious terra- 
 cotta group of the Madonna and Child with angels, belong- 
 ing to the sixteenth century. 
 
 The marbles in this church and in the one of San 
 Giovanni Battista in the Via Girolamo Rossi, which Galla 
 Placidia erected for her Confessor, St. Barbatian, whose 
 sarcophagus we saw in the Duomo, are of great beauty,
 
 THE CHURCHES AND MOSAICS 247 
 
 especially some of verde antico, which are at the altar of 
 this latter church. The Campanile of San Giovanni Battista 
 should also be noticed, as it is an ancient one and belongs 
 to the original church, but the interior of the church has 
 been so modernised as to be hardly worth attention, and it 
 is in fact only the Campanile outside and the marbles 
 inside that make it worth attention. 
 
 Galla Placidia built also Santa Croce, which stands close 
 to her tomb, and in which she worshipped, but which is 
 now not worth visiting, and its Campanile alone stands to 
 recall its founder, and then her medals and coins can be 
 seen in the Museum, as she held Imperial power for a while 
 and exercised a very real and determined sovereignty over 
 her people in Ravenna. 
 
 The Church of *San Francesco, which stands close to the 
 hotel, is another building well worth notice, and if evidence 
 is needed as to the soil on which Ravenna stands and of the 
 imminent danger that threatens some of the buildings in the 
 city, let me recommend you to look down into the crypt under 
 this fine church, which will be found actually full of water. 
 
 The sights of this church are not many, the chief per- 
 haps being the tomb of San Liberio, which is the altar of 
 the chapel at the extremity of the right aisle, and which is 
 a sculptured sarcophagus of the late fourth century. It is 
 still used as it has always been, so conservative is the 
 Church in Ravenna, and on the altar the Mass is said in the 
 same fashion in the twentieth century as it was when first 
 the saint was buried there, and with the same words. 
 
 The slab of dark red Verona marble that is upon the 
 floor close to the entrance door, dated 1331, seems quite 
 modern beside the other treasures of the place. It com- 
 memorates a Lord of Ravenna, one Ostasio Polenta, who, 
 being a tertiary of the Franciscan Order, was buried in the 
 habit of the Order, and is so represented on his tomb. His 
 face is worth attention ; it is a very fine piece of sculpture. 
 The name of that family will always be remembered in 
 connection with their kindness to Dante and also for the
 
 248 RA VENNA 
 
 fact that Francesca da Rimini was the daughter of Guido 
 da Polenta and a descendant of this Ostasio. 
 
 The General of the Order, who died in Ravenna of fever 
 in 1405, is buried on the left of the church, and a similar 
 slab of marble covers his tomb. He was over ninety years 
 of age, as the inscription states, and yet it says that his 
 death was very unexpected, and he himself anticipated a 
 much longer life I 
 
 All the marble in this churcli is worth notice, especially 
 the two lovely columns at the chapel of the Cross, the 
 second on the right. San Francesco is a very popular 
 church in Ravenna, and will be found thronged with people 
 at the early masses, and engaging the attention of numerous 
 priests ; and on the great festivals of the saint, notably on 
 1st and 2nd of August the church is almost inaccessible 
 by reason of the people who crowd it for the " Perdono di 
 San Francesco." 
 
 The Church of Sant' Agata in the Via Mazzini dates 
 from about the same period, having been erected by Bishop 
 Exuperantius in the fifth century, and bearing his monogram 
 cut into the second column on the left. The similar mono- 
 grams of two other archbishops, Sergio and Agnello, can be 
 seen in the archway of the altar in the nave to the right. Both 
 of these saints are buried beneath the altar. The pulpit is 
 from a pagan building and appears to have been cut from a 
 piece of a marble column. It was, it is said, discovered in 
 the ground close by the church at the time of the erection 
 of the building. 
 
 This church is principally notable for the beauty of the 
 marbles that it contains, and which comprises M^/o anf/co, 
 cipollino, porphyry, granite, and several fine Greek marbles, 
 and the capitals of the columns are also well worth attention, 
 and some of them are of considerable importance. 
 
 We must pass on, however, to another period of the history 
 of the town, and see what there is that recalls the Ostrogoths 
 and their Emperor Theodoric in Ravenna.
 
 THE TIME OF THEODORIC 249 
 
 C. THE TIME OF THEODORIC IN 
 RAVENNA 
 
 Of the *Palace in which Theodoric once dwelt there is 
 but httle to be seen. The ruined walls, for they are no 
 more, are close to the Hotel Byron in the Corso Garibaldi, 
 straight up from the hotel. There is only left a great mas- 
 sive wall with some marble columns, eight above and two 
 below, supporting the brick-work, and some crumbling walls 
 and remains of arches and windows behind it. All that 
 was good was carried away by Charlemagne when he 
 visited Ravenna, and all the fine marble columns (in this 
 city of fine and rare marbles) were taken off and dragged 
 away across Italy to Aix-la-Chapelle and placed in the new 
 cathedral which Charles the Great was erecting, and which 
 now is one of the most interesting buildings in Germany, 
 and the only one that has to do with the period which can 
 be studied in Ravenna. Marble and mosaics, porphyry and 
 bronze, carved stone, ivory and silver work, all were carried 
 away to Aachen, and nothing now remains since the eighth 
 century, when Charlemagne came to Ravenna, to tell us of 
 the home of Theodoric than these bare walls, and a porphyry 
 bath that ve shall see in the museum. 
 
 Of the work of Theodoric there is much evidence remain- 
 ing, and it is of a splendid character. 
 
 A dozen yards from the Palace stands the **Cathedral 
 which Theodoric built for his Arian bishops. 
 
 The very mention of this great heresy shows how strangely 
 Ravenna has seemed to crystallise around itself events and 
 controversies that the rest of Europe has forgotten. 
 
 The whole nation of the Ostrogoths was Arian in its 
 belief. Arius had long been dead, the Councils of Nicaea 
 and of Constantinople had been held, and had pronounced 
 against his heresy. Athanasius had fulminated his thunders 
 against it, and the Nicene doctrine had been confirmed, and 
 within the Church the heresy could no longer be said to
 
 250 RA VENN A 
 
 exist ; but it rested longer outside the Catholic Church, and 
 now that the influence of Theodoric became the paramount 
 power in Ravenna, Arianism began to raise up its head. 
 
 Theodoric was but thirty-three years master of Ravenna, 
 and therefore his Cathedral was consecrated very soon after 
 its erection by Sant' Agnello the Archbishop, for Catholic 
 uses, but it and the Baptistery, which we shall shortly visit, 
 were originally erected for Arians to use. 
 
 The Cathedral which we are about to enter is called 
 Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, but originally it was dedicated to 
 San Martino, and we shall soon have proof of that fact. 
 It was " new" more than a thousand year ago ! In its time 
 the bones of the saint whose name it now bears rested far 
 away in Classis, whence they were removed (or said to have 
 been removed, as some of the historians state) for fear of 
 capture by the Saracens ; and now they rest again, according 
 to the best of belief, under the altar of the church at Classis, 
 in whose crypt the bones were first laid. 
 
 The church has, however, lost its older name and retained 
 its later one, and as the New Sant' Apollinare we shall 
 visit it. It is bare and plain on the outside, with a simple 
 dignified Campanile, but in the interior is the finest in all 
 Ravenna. 
 
 It is hardly possible to conceive of anything more 
 wonderful in the way of decoration or more beautiful than 
 the long line of saints and virgins which stretches from 
 end to end of the church. The saints are headed by St. 
 Martin, and move forward in rhythmic array towards Our 
 Lord, who is seated on a throne attended with angels, at the 
 end of the long frieze that extends over the arches. There 
 are, after St. Martin, SS. Clement, Sixtus, Laurence, Cyprian, 
 Paul, Vitalis, Gervasius, Protasius, Hippolytus, Cornelius, 
 Cassianus, John, Ursinus, Namor, Felix, Apollinaris, Deme- 
 trius, Polycarp, Vincent and Pancras, Chrysogonus, Protus, 
 Jovenius, and Sabinus, names which recall the very early 
 church and some of the sainted bishops of this very see. 
 
 Then opposite to them is a long line of Virgins, twenty-one 
 in number, who bear crowns, and are bringing them up to
 
 THE TIME OF THEODORIC 251 
 
 Our Lady who, in similar fashion to the Christ opposite, is 
 seated on a throne and attended by angels. 
 
 The virgins are SS. Eugenia, Savina, Christina, Anatolia, 
 Victor, Paulina, (?) Daria, Anastasia, Justina, Felicitas, Per- 
 petua, Agnes with her Lamb, Vincentia, Valeria, Crispina, 
 Lucia, Cecilia, Eulalia, Agatha, Pelagia, and Eufemia. 
 
 At the opposite ends are, on the side with the virgins, a 
 representation of the city of Classis with ships and the sea, 
 and on the other side, with the procession of saints, the 
 Palace of Theodoric, with the word Palatiunij and the Church 
 of San Vitale. 
 
 The procession of virgins is headed by the Magi, who are 
 hastening forward with their gifts. 
 
 The figures of Our Lord and Our Lady are very similar 
 in style. Christ has his hand upraised, in the act of bene- 
 diction, and the Virgin bears in her arms the Infant Child. 
 Both are seated and are attended by four angels, grand 
 stately figures in white draperies. Above these long pro- 
 cessions are windows, and between them tall mosaic figures 
 of Apostles and teachers, and then above that again are two 
 long series of scenes from the Life of Christ as follows : The 
 Cenacolo, Mount of Olives, Betrayal, Denial, Sanhedrim, 
 Judgment of Herod, Second Denial, Judas and the Bag, 
 Pilate. Calvary, the Entombment, the Scene at Emmaus, 
 Christ in the Midst of His Disciples ; and then on the other 
 side as follows : The Healing of the Cripple, the Herd of 
 Swine, the Healing of the Paralytic, the Parable of the 
 Sheep and Goats, the Calling of St. Matthew, the Pharisee 
 and the Publican, the Raising of Lazarus, the Woman of 
 Samaria, the Woman with an Issue of Blood, the Blind Man 
 Healed, the Draught of Fishes, and the Feeding of the 
 Multitude (two scenes). 
 
 These mosaics have been from time to time repaired, but 
 a most careful account has been kept of all that has been 
 done, and a large drawing of the entire mosaic has been 
 prepared by the government officials in which, by means of 
 different colours, every piece of repair is noted and can be 
 distinguished.
 
 252 RA VENNA 
 
 In looking at this' important record, which has been drawn 
 with the utmost skill, and from close examination of the 
 mosaic I was much interested to notice that the repair and 
 alteration in the two large groups of the Christ and the 
 Madonna have been very few, and that practically that part 
 of the mosaic remains as it was when first erected by Theo- 
 doric 1 300 years ago ! The heads of the three Magi, part of 
 the heads of two of the angels on one side, a portion of 
 the draperies of two of the angels on the other side, and a 
 small part of the throne are all the portions that have been 
 restored, so that this triumphant representation of the Christ 
 and the Madonna, in which Our Lady is enthroned as is her 
 Son, and in which she is gWen the Gospel side of the altar, 
 stands as it did, when erected in those early days, and shows 
 the teaching of the Catholic Church in the fifth and sixth, 
 centuries with an absolutely and unerring proof 
 
 Further evidence of the immense antiquity of all this 
 work is to be marked in the fact that the Crucifixion is not 
 included at all in the scenes depicted, as in the beginning 
 of the history of the Church a representation of this dread 
 event was never given. The scenes from the Life of Our 
 Lord above the windows have received no restoration at 
 all, and are entirely original. The whole effect of this 
 sumptuous decoration is very wonderful, and can be com- 
 pared with nothing else in Northern Italy ; and even at 
 Monreale or in Palermo, where other superb mosaic-work 
 is to be found, nothing will be found so dignified, so im- 
 pressive as these sweeping processions of saints and angels, 
 and the grand stately figures above them, and the biblical 
 stories so quaintly set forth. 
 
 The church is worth returning to again and again, and 
 if it is visited on a sunny day, the glow and sheen of this 
 mosaic work will never be forgotten. 
 
 The pulpit is worth notice for its curious early-Christian 
 sculptures, and in the last chapel on the left will be 
 found a sort of museum which contains a fine portrait of 
 Justinian in mosaic, the tenth-century marble chair of the,' 
 abbot who ruled in the church, a perforated screen that; 
 
 I
 
 THE TIME OF THEODORIC 253 
 
 originally protected the remains of St. Apollinaris in the 
 Confession, and some fine examples of marble and por- 
 phyry. 
 
 When we leave the Church of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, 
 it will be well for us to visit the other important build- 
 ings that were founded at the same time by Theodoric, 
 e.g-. the Baptistery of the Arians, which is now called 
 Santa Maria in Cosmedin, and the Church of San Spirito, 
 called also San Teodoro. 
 
 They are close together, and stand in a small street, Via 
 Paolo Costa, just out of the Corso Garibaldi, three minutes' 
 walk from the church that we have just left. 
 
 There is nothing special to be seen in Santo Spirito save 
 some columns of fine marble which have curious capitals 
 bearing Latin crosses, and it may be well here to draw 
 attention to the marbles that are to be found all over 
 Ravenna in almost every church, as no city in Italy with 
 the exception of Rome has such fine examples of the 
 rarer * * marbles. 
 
 There is a little book called " The Handbook of Ancient 
 Roman Marbles," by H. W. PuUen (Murray, 2s. 6d.) which 
 ought to be in the hand of every traveller in Italy, and 
 which will be found of special interest in Ravenna. 
 Murray's Handbook names many of the rarer marbles 
 of Ravenna, such as the eighteen columns of Imezio, 
 four of bigio antico, two of cipollino^ and four of the very 
 rare cipollino rosso, which are all in the Duomo, and by 
 the aid of it and this little book the tourist will find a new 
 interest in tracing out the names of other beautiful marbles 
 which adorn the churches of Ravenna. There was a great 
 demand for the more precious marbles in these churches, 
 and it is well to look at them, as generally they are quite 
 lovely and often of the greatest rarity. 
 
 In this particular church in which we now are there are 
 columns of bigio aniico in different varieties, lovely grey 
 marbles with blackish, bluish, and smoky-grey mottlings ; 
 but besides these columns the only special thing to see is
 
 254 
 
 RA VENN A 
 
 the ancient pulpit in the fourth chapel on the le/i, which 
 was probably an amdo rather than a pulpit, from which the 
 Gospel was read. 
 
 The portico rests upon three columns, of which two are 
 Istrian marble, and the other from Greece. One of the 
 inside columns is of that lovely marble known as Verde 
 Sanguigno, which is a green serpentine with stains of blood 
 red. The church was originally dedicated by Theodoric to 
 his patron San Teodorico, but in the time of Archbishop 
 Sant' Agnello was restored to the Catholic Church, con- 
 secrated, and dedicated to Santo Spirito. 
 
 Opposite to it is the Baptistery which belongs to it, still 
 called the Baptistery of the Arians, but which also was 
 renamed when consecrated as Santa Maria in Cosmedin, 
 that is, "ornamented." There is nothing to see in the 
 interior save the fine mosaic which covers the dome, and 
 represents the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan. These 
 mosaics were erected after the Baptistery became Catholic, 
 and date therefore from about 560. The river is depicted 
 as a pagan river god holding an urn from which the water 
 issues, and the Christ is standing in it. All around as in 
 the other Baptistery are the Apostles, including St. Paul, 
 each of them carrying his crown of glory and martyrdom 
 save the two Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, who bear, 
 the one the keys and the other the sword. They are 
 moving around the circle towards an altar which is throne- 
 like, and has a cushion and a cross upon it. 
 
 The ancient font has disappeared, having, it is said, been 
 cut up when the other Baptistery was taken over for use, in 
 order that there should be baptism at no other place 
 than in the chief Baptistery, and that all should be done 
 canonically. The slabs that formed this font were used in 
 the decoration of other churches in the place. 
 
 Finally let us go out and see the **Tomb of Theodoric, 
 called also Santa Maria della Rotunda, as that also was 
 converted into a church. It is about half a mile from the
 
 THE TIME OF THEODORIC 255 
 
 gates of the city going out from the Porta Serrata, and is a 
 very prominent object as the train comes into Ravenna. It 
 cannot fail to be seen, as from its great size and unusual 
 appearance it is very noticeable. It stands now in a small 
 garden and has a custodian of its own, who charges a small 
 fee for admission to it. 
 
 It was erected, as I have already said, by the daughter of 
 Theodoric, Amalasuntha, who appealed to Justinian for 
 protection after her father's death. It is a very mysterious 
 building, and very little is known of its history. 
 
 The great mass of Istrian stone which covers its roof is 
 a marvel in itself, as its huge size and weight (nearly five 
 hundred tons) must have rendered the operation of placing 
 it in position one of supreme difficulty. 
 
 The inscriptions upon it have been added at a later time, 
 and there is no evidence for the story that at one time there 
 stood statues of the twelve Apostles upon this roof, on the 
 projecting perforated handles that are round about the mass. 
 The word that we have used by which to designate them 
 probably is the right one, and they were used, we believe, to 
 move the great stone into its position. Beneath the stone is 
 the sepulchral chamber in which at one time the bones of the 
 great monarch were deposited, but in the revulsion of feeling 
 that followed upon his death, and when all his churches 
 were consecrated to the Catholic faith and the heresy of 
 Arianism exterminated, the remains of the Emperor were 
 taken from his tomb and buried elsewhere. 
 
 Beneath this room is another, in the form of a cross, 
 with an interesting west doorway, which was, it is believed, 
 intended as a burying-place for other members of the royal 
 house, and was actually used as the place of sepulture for 
 certain notable personages. It has been recently cleared of 
 the water that for years filled it, and can now be readily 
 inspected, and to architects will offer some interesting evi- 
 dence of the method of vaulting an arch adopted in the 
 days of its erection, and of the admirable manner in which 
 the doorway is arranged by means of huge stones notched 
 and double notched into one another.
 
 256 RA VENN A 
 
 Every arch is erected in this way, and the whole is built 
 with the greatest ingenuity and strength. 
 
 The stairway by which one ascends to the upper room 
 was added within the past century, but originally there was 
 a sort of colonnade around this upper part, portions of which 
 yet remain and are to be found inside the sepulchre. It is not 
 known how access originally was given to the upper room. 
 
 The huge roof was cracked by lightning, and in this way 
 the accuracy was proclaimed, it is said, of an old legend 
 which foretold the death of the monarch by lightning, as the 
 flash destroyed most of his remains and the cypress-wood 
 chair in which the Emperor was seated in his robes, and left 
 only bones remaining, which a few months afterwards were 
 themselves to be scattered in other burying-places, by the 
 zeal of those who extirpated his heresy. 
 
 The tomb now stands as a dignified erection, imposing in 
 its size and strength, and in the summer, when encircled 
 with creepers and surrounded by flowers, it is a peculiarly 
 beautiful sight, and seems then to belong far more to the 
 living than to the dead. 
 
 The period of the time of Theodoric in Ravenna is the 
 most important of its history as regards the prosperity of the 
 people. He was a man of the sternest impartiality, a great 
 lover of truth and justice, an upright warrior, an honourable 
 ruler. He took great interest in his people, encouraged them 
 in their enterprises, assisted them in the cultivation of their 
 fields with loans of money, and with protection and labour, 
 and during the few years in which he resided in Ravenna 
 the place flourished. This great massive tomb is a fitting 
 emblem of so strong, so resolute, and so noble a monarch, 
 who but for his unfortunate attachment to a deadly heresy 
 would have been one of the greatest monarchs that the 
 times had produced.
 
 JUSTINIAN AND THEODORA 257 
 
 D. JUSTINIAN AND THEODORA IN 
 
 RAVENNA 
 
 Succeeding upon the times of Theodoric came, as we have 
 already seen, the rule of the Roman Emperor Justinian, 
 and to that time belong the three remaining buildings 
 which we must visit in search of mosaics. 
 
 The archbishop of the see was Sant' Ecclesio, and the 
 first church that he appears to have had erected was Santa 
 Maria Maggiore, in the Via Gaetano Monti ; but save for 
 some fine marble columns and a curious seventh-century 
 ambo or pulpit there is nothing of importance in this church, 
 and its Campanile is all that remains of the original 
 structure. 
 
 Close to it, however, stands the fine Church of * * San 
 Vitale, which the same archbishop built on the site of the 
 martyrdom of San Vitale, and which was consecrated by a 
 succeeding archbishop, St. Maximian. 
 
 It contains the finest mosaics in Ravenna, and will, when 
 the present work is completed, be specially remarkable. It 
 is always somewhat distressing to find a church in the hand 
 of the restorer, but in the case of San Vitale the work is 
 being done so carefully, and the additions to the original 
 structure were of such surpassing ugliness and covered up 
 so much fine work, that very much of the customary dis- 
 content is not only driven away when the work is examined, 
 but is turned Into approval. 
 
 The architect, a learned Professor Bocci, has made many 
 important discoveries in the church, revealing much of the 
 older work that had become covered up, and showing which 
 was the original entrance, besides exposing some decoration 
 of great merit ; and as on account of the wet it was needful 
 to do something with the church, it is well that the repair 
 has fallen into such good hands. 
 
 The hideous painting which now disfigures the interior, 
 
 will, I hope, be removed. There is a petition being got up 
 
 to the Government to order this work to be done, and 
 
 R
 
 258 RAVENNA 
 
 in the interests of the building, it will I hope be suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 The church is octagonal, with a choir, and has eight fine 
 pillars, which divide the central space from what may be 
 termed the ambulatory. These columns are adorned with 
 capitals of great merit and beauty, and those above them 
 in the second storey are still finer. The lower part of the 
 columns is covered with fine slabs of marble, which have 
 been reversed by later builders, and set against one another 
 to form huge splayed patterns, and in this way the decora- 
 tive value of the original work has been set at naught. It 
 is possible, now that the work is in progress, to ascend not 
 only into the upper storey, from which the best view of many 
 of the mosaics is obtained, but higher, even into the roof, and 
 so appreciate the extreme ingenuity with which the building 
 was erected and the splendid manner in which the work 
 was done. The roof is circular, as is in fact the whole 
 church above the upper storey. 
 
 It is, however, in the choir that the chief interest of this 
 church consists, and in the mosaics that adorn it. They 
 were done in the early sixth century, and have been tampered 
 with but very little. They differ materially from the mosaics 
 in the Baptistery, into which we first went ; and which are a 
 century older, as the former are bolder, stronger, and more 
 in broad full outline than are these, which are fuller of detail 
 and finish, and devote much more attention to features and 
 ornaments. 
 
 The most remarkable ones are inside the apse at the 
 back of the altar, which, as in all these early churches, 
 stands out away from the wall in the chord of the arch. 
 
 On the left is the Emperor Justinian, holding a sort of 
 basket in which are gifts, and having on one side of him 
 the archbishop with two attendant priests, and on the other 
 two attendants in w^hite and some soldiers. The archbishop 
 holds a cross in his hands, and the priests with him hold 
 the book of the Gospels and the censer, and are evidently 
 deacon and subdeacon. 
 
 Opposite to this panel is another one depicting the famous
 
 JUSTINIAN AND THEODORA 259 
 
 Empress Theodora bringing her chalice or cup of gifts, and 
 attended by her ladies, who are clad in rich costumes, and 
 by two acolytes, to whom she is giving her gifts for them to 
 present at the altar. 
 
 The colouring of these superb mosaics is splendid, as clear 
 and as fresh as when first done, and glowing with light. 
 
 In the apse itself is Our Lord between two angels, St. 
 Vitale standing on His right and receiving from a seraph 
 a crown of glory, and on the left St. EutycMus presenting 
 the Church to Christ. 
 
 On the arch are Our Lord and His Apostles, with SS. 
 Gervasius and Protasius, sons of San Vitale, of whom we 
 spoke when in their church in Milan, which is now called 
 Sant' Ambrogio. 
 
 Close to the altar above the two beautiful columns with 
 fine perforated heads are other scenes : — 
 
 On the right the offerings of Abel and Melchizedek ; 
 Moses tending the sheep of his father-in-law ; Moses on 
 Mount Horeb ; and Moses taking off the shoes from his feet 
 at the burning bush, a hand in the sky denoting the Father. 
 
 Opposite to them are : The Sacrifice of Abraham ; the 
 Angels who visited Abraham and Sarah ; Moses on Mount 
 Sinai. 
 
 There are also the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the 
 four Evangelists with their emblems. 
 
 The ancient Greek relief called the "Throne of Nep- 
 tune," which is to be seen close to these mosaics, is on 
 the right, the one opposite to it being a copy made at 
 a recent date. The original one is very fine and full of 
 power and dignity. The splendid columns of this church 
 are all worth examination, not only because of the beauty 
 of the marble, but also for the sake of the delightful open- 
 work capitals which surmount them. 
 
 Having finished at the Church of San Vitale, it will be 
 well for you to obtain a carriage at the hotel and drive out
 
 26o RA VENN A 
 
 to the grand old Church of ** Sant' ApoUinare-in-Classe, 
 telhng the driver to take you on your return homewards to 
 the Church of **Santa Maria-in-Porto Fuori, which will be 
 described by me in the next chapter. When you have seen 
 these churches you will only have the Museum and Picture 
 Gallery left and the tomb of Dante, and having seen them 
 you will be able to rest with the assurance that you have 
 seen all the chief sights of this fascinating city. 
 
 We will therefore journey off together now to the site of 
 the ancient town of Classis, which we saw depicted in 
 mosaic in the Church of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, and about 
 which at the beginning of our visit I gave you some in- 
 formation. We have to drive some three and a half miles 
 towards Rimini across a wide flat marshy plain, in the midst 
 of which now stands this fine church, the sole remaining 
 building of the once important port of Classis. 
 
 At one time all the plain between the two cities was filled 
 with habitations, and the important city of Csesarea filled 
 up the district that was between Ravenna and Classis, 
 almost touching its neighbour on either hand. Now all is 
 gone, and of Caesarea nothing that was in its great basilica 
 of San Lorenzo remains on the site, and only some 
 splendid columns which stand in the Church of Santa 
 Maria-in-Porto remain of all its treasures. The basilica 
 stood till the sixteenth century, but was then destroyed, and 
 now the site of Ctesarea is a bare plain. As soon as we 
 cross the Ponte Nuovo, which is over the united rivers of 
 the Ronco and the Montone, and was erected by the 
 Cardinal Legate Alberoni, we get a sight of the imposing 
 basilica to which we are going, and as we drive up at its 
 doors and look at its very bare uninteresting front, we are 
 given no idea whatever of the splendour that is within. 
 
 It is well to notice over the doorway that there still remain 
 the Roman bronze hooks that were used to support the 
 velarium^ or curtain, that at one time, for great festivals, 
 spread itself over the entrance. It is also well to mark 
 the great Campanile, stately and simple, and peculiarly 
 Ravennese in its structure and in the severity of its architec-
 
 JUSTINIAN AND THEODORA 261 
 
 ture. It was probably erected more as a watch-tower and 
 ornamental structure and perhaps partly as a place of retreat 
 that would be strong than for the purpose for which such 
 towers are now erected, as bells were not used in the early 
 days in which these towers were erected and did not come 
 into use for a century after their time. 
 
 We may well look upon it mainly as a watcll-tower. 
 
 On entering the church (which is readily opened by the 
 old man or woman who seem to be the only inhabitants of 
 this deserted spot), we shall be at once struck by the 
 majesty and dignity of its size and proportions. The walls 
 are green with damp, and the church has a strange deserted 
 and forlorn look, standing as it does now, far away from all 
 population, a monument of times long passed away. I would 
 recommend you on entering it to retain your cloak or coat, 
 and even to put on extra covering, as the interior strikes 
 often very cold, and a chill can be quickly obtained within 
 its walls. Go forward at once to the high altar and look 
 at the mosaics that adorn the apse. They are the latest 
 that we have yet seen, but the word " late " in Ravenna only 
 means the sixth century, and these splendid mosaics are 
 considerably over a thousand years old. Very little indeed 
 has ever been done to these mosaics, and they shine out to- 
 day as they did when first erected twelve hundred years ago. 
 They are extraordinarily full of symbolism. 
 
 The upper part is said to represent a symbolic treatment 
 of the Transfiguration or of the appearance of the Divine 
 Son. The face of Christ is to be seen in the centre of a 
 large cross which stands upon a blue star-studded sky, and 
 pointing towards it is to be seen a hand which typifies God 
 the Father. Above the Cross is the Greek sacred monogram, 
 on its arms the letters Alpha and Omega, and at its foot the 
 words " Salus MundiP Moses and Elijah occupy places 
 on either side, and the three sheep below typify the Apostles 
 SS. Peter, James, and John. In the centre can be seen the 
 patron saint of Ravenna and Classis, Sant' Apollinare, 
 preaching to the faithful, represented as a flock of sheep. 
 
 The figures between the windows are four of the greatest
 
 262 RA VENN A 
 
 early archbishops of the see, Saints Ecclesius, Servius, Ursus, 
 and Ursicinus. 
 
 The scenes on the left and right wall are as follows : On 
 the right are the sacrifices of the Old Law, those of Abel 
 with the Lamb, Melchizedek with Bread and Wine, and 
 Abraham with his Son. 
 
 Opposite is the demand of Archbishop Reparatus from 
 the Emperor Constantinus IV., for freedom for his diocese, 
 a demand which the Emperor, attended by Heraclius and 
 Tiberius, granted as represented by the scroll which he is 
 handing to the courageous bishop with the word upon it 
 '•'■Privilegia!' This mosaic is later still than the other, having 
 been put up in 668. 
 
 On the rood arch are yet other mosaics depicting the 
 Christ with the Evangelists (represented by their symbols) ; 
 the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, from which flocks of 
 the faithful (as sheep) are ascending towards our Lord ; and 
 below the Archangels St. Michael and St. Gabriel, St. 
 Matthew and St. Luke, and some splendid decorative 
 borders. Before leaving the elevated altar notice the ancient 
 throne of another sainted archbishop, St. Damianus (688- 
 705), which has been cut in half and used to form the ends 
 of the sedilia for the clergy, on either side of the high altar. 
 The Baldacchino of the altar is modern, but the four columns 
 which support it are of a rare black-and-white ancient 
 marble from Egypt, which is of great beauty in its markings. 
 It is well also to notice the long Latin inscriptions which 
 are all around the wall of the choir, and which relate the 
 story of the Church and the events which attended the 
 removal of the remains of the patron saint from this church 
 into Ravenna and back again. 
 
 It is unfortunately impossible to enter the crypt, which is 
 one of great beauty, the columns supporting the roof and the 
 pavement being particularly interesting and of fine and rare 
 marble, but the whole cr>'pt is full of water even up to the 
 step of the doorway, and care must be taken when you look 
 in at the door that forms the entrance to this crypt that you 
 do not step down into the unwholesome green water. The
 
 JUSTINIAN AND THEODORA 263 
 
 um is in the crypt in which at one time were the remains of 
 the saint, but they now rest safely below the stone of the 
 altar. There is a splendid bronze grating also in the 
 crypt. 
 
 For a long period these precious bones were buried in a 
 sort of Confession which is in the centre of the nave, and 
 which takes the form of a small altar, dedicated to the 
 Blessed Virgin, which was erected in the sixth century by 
 Archbishop Saint Maximianus, but in the twelfth century the 
 remains were transferred to the crypt. 
 
 All around the walls can be seen the portraits of the 
 various archbishops of this important see of Ravenna, 132 
 in number coming down to the latest occupant of the see, 
 but these portraits were some of them originally in mosaic, 
 and below them were splendid marble slabs all of which 
 were carried ofif in the middle of the fifteenth century by 
 Sigismondo Malatesta when he was erecting the famous 
 Temple at Rimini. The present portraits were painted 
 after that time in order to commemorate as far as possible 
 the original series of mosaic ones, and have been added to 
 from time to time ever since. 
 
 The splendid marble sarcophagi all round the church will 
 attract attention. There are ten in all. The first is of San 
 Teodoro, who lived in 688, above which in the wall is an 
 inscription relating the benefits conferred upon the Church by 
 Leo III. The second has upon it the representation of Our 
 Lord and the Twelve Apostles. The third is that of Grazioso 
 (784-788), the fourth that of John VI 1 1. (777-784). The fifth 
 is an unknown one of the sixth century, and has two peacocks 
 upon it. The seventh is that of St. Felix (706-723), and is an 
 important work. The eighth is a seventh century one, and 
 near it is a celebrated inscription commemorating the pen- 
 ance of Otho III., who passed forty days in^this basilica. The 
 ninth is an unknown one, and the tenth is that of John V. 
 (607-613). 
 
 Behind the second, on the left, is the place in which for a 
 time the bones of Sant' Apollinare were hidden in the wall, 
 as the inscription commemorates.
 
 264 RA VENN A 
 
 At the entrance to the chapel which stands at the end of 
 the left aisle is a curious tabernacle, which is said to belong 
 to the seventh century, and is now over a fifteenth-century 
 altar, which was erected, as the inscription tells us, by one 
 Petrus, a priest, in honour of Sant' Eleucadio, third arch- 
 bishop of the see. 
 
 The basis of the columns which support the nave arches 
 will be found far below the level of the present floor, and 
 their lovely grey colour should also be noticed as distinctly 
 worthy of attention. 
 
 The splendid pine wood, or Pineta, which lies beyond 
 Classis, is worth visiting, if you have plenty of time, or part 
 of it will be seen from the rail if you travel on from Ravenna 
 to Rimini. It has been celebrated for centuries, partly 
 because of its position in the midst of this dreary flat marsh, 
 and partly for the great beauty of many of its oldest trees. 
 Dante sang of the beauties of this Pineta, and Boccaccio 
 made it the scene of many of his stories. It is full of attrac- 
 tion for the artist, but situated as it is in the midst of a 
 malarious district, the greatest care must be taken by persons 
 who desire to settle for a while under its magnificent trees, 
 and use its charms as the inspiration for their pictures. We 
 will now leave Classis thinking of all that the city has seen, 
 and remembering that once here rode at anchor the greatest 
 fleets of the Roman Empire, where now there are but a 
 few cottages and a great and magnificent but lonely and 
 deserted church. 
 
 £. FRESCO-WORK AT RAVENNA 
 
 The fresco-work in Ravenna is not of any special extent or 
 of very great importance, but it must not be overlooked. 
 
 We know that between 131 7 and 1320, Giotto was at 
 Ravenna staying with his friend Dante, who had taken 
 refuge in the place, and the great artist has left behind him 
 many marks of his residence. The Church of Santa Maria- 
 in-Porto Fuori, to which we drive as we turn from Classis
 
 FRESCO-WORK AT RAVENNA 265 
 
 back into Ravenna, was said at one time to be decorated 
 throughout by the frescoes of Giotto and two of his pupils 
 who worked with him in the church. 
 
 The decoration was the gift of a notary, one G-raziadeo, 
 who, in 1246, provided a sum of money to defray the work 
 in this church to which he had a pecuhar devotion, owing to 
 his close attachment to the Holy House of Loreto, which at 
 that time had control of the building. It is known that 
 Maso da Faenza, Rastello of Forli, and a Ravenna artist, 
 one Giovanni, worked in the church, but nothing can be 
 definitely proved as to the work of Giotto himself, although 
 the character of much of the work that remains would indi- 
 cate his hand or at least his instruction. 
 
 The following may be suggested as the subjects of the 
 frescoes that remain, but many of them have so perished that 
 it is not easy to determine what they represent. The work 
 of Giotto himself, will, I think, be found in the choir. 
 
 T/ie Nave. — On a wall to the left, Madonna and Child 
 with four saints, and also St. Julian. 
 
 T/ie Rood Arch. — The Redeemer in the centre, Antichrist 
 and the Martyrdom of certain saints on one side, and on the 
 other the Angels cutting off the Head of Antichrist, and below 
 the scenes of the Blessed and the Condemned. There are also 
 the heads of San Ciriaco of Ancona and San Zeno of 
 Verona. 
 
 The Choir. — On the ceiling, the Evangelists with their 
 symbols, and the Doctors of the Church. The right wall, 
 the Coronation, the Death, and the Assumption of the 
 Madonna, and near by, Our Lord instituting Holy Com- 
 munion, the Massacre of the Innocents, and a scene 
 representing a monk and a lady in a balcony, supposed to 
 represent St. Francis and St. Clare. 
 
 On the left wall, the Birth and Presentation of the 
 Madonna, in which the last two figures on the right are said 
 to be portraits of Giotto, and of Guido da Polenta, the 
 protector of Dante. 
 
 Left Chapel. — Pope Giovanni asking permission of Theo- 
 doric to build a church ; the Imprisonment of the Pope for
 
 266 RA VENN A 
 
 disobedience to the orders of the Emperor, and the Martyr- 
 dom of some unknown saint. 
 
 IiT£-/t^ Chapel. — St. John baptizing a King ; the preaching 
 of San Pier degli Onesti, and his consolation of the suffering 
 and troubled people ; scenes from the life of Saint Matthew, 
 his call, martyrdom, and death ; and figures of angels and 
 saints. 
 
 At the end of the apse, the three Maries and the unbelief 
 of St. Thomas, and in front of the Chancel arch, portraits of 
 Sant' Apollinare, and Sant' Antonio Abate. 
 
 The depth to which the church has sunk in the soft 
 marshy ground can be seen by examining the bases of the 
 columns, and as the whole church is very damp and malarious, 
 it is not advisable to stay long in it or to enter it without an 
 extra wrap. 
 
 The Campanile will attract attention as it rises out of the 
 remains of an ancient Roman pharos, or fire-house, the 
 primitive lighthouse that was used to guide the ships into 
 the neighbouring port of Classis. 
 
 Having looked at these quaint and almost perished works, 
 and remarked on the curious plaster relief haloes which the 
 saints bear, and the naive and attractive way in which the 
 stories are so simply and yet so decisively told, let us 
 drive back into the city to the Church of San Giovanni 
 Evangelista into which we have already been and ex- 
 amine the ** frescoes in the fourth chapel on the left, 
 which are most certainly by G-iotto, and are all that remain 
 of his work inside the city walls. They represent the 
 Evangelists and the Doctors of the Church, and are of 
 unusual interest, although in places they have been touched 
 up. The figure of St. Matthew mending his pen is quite 
 delightful, and all the others are full of quaint conceits 
 which cannot fail to recall the Arena frescoes. The figures 
 are those of SS. Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory, and Jerome, 
 and the Evangelists, SS. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
 
 MUSEUMS AND PICTURE GALLERY 267 
 
 F. THE MUSEUMS AND PICTURE GALLERY 
 
 We have not much space in which to describe the 
 Museums of Ravenna, and fortunately for us they do not 
 demand as much space as those of other towns save for 
 one or two special things. 
 
 In the first room in the gallery the two works by Rondi- 
 nello are the only important ones, and they are quite 
 beautiful, especially the one with the Madonna and Child, 
 SS. Catherine and Jerome. 
 
 Rondinello was a pupil of Bellini, and worked much at 
 Ravenna and at Forli near by. His colour is sweet and good 
 and his pictures are well composed. 
 
 There are two works of Luca Longhi in this room. 
 
 In the next is a crowded and powerful Vasari, entirely 
 lacking in pathos. 
 
 A little farther on we enter the room which contains one 
 of the treasures of Ravenna, the ** recumbent statue 
 of Guidarello Guidarelli, by Tullio Lombardi. As there 
 is a small pamphlet issued by Dr. Ricci concerning this 
 statue to be obtained in Ravenna, I will not in these pages 
 enter into any statement as to who he was, or respecting 
 the sculptor who executed the statue, satisfying myself with 
 stating that the warrior died close to Ravenna, and that 
 the statue is, in my opinion, one of the two finest in Northern 
 Italy. The head is a little constrained in position and 
 could not have fallen quite as it does in the marble, but 
 when once this criticism is made, there is little more to 
 be said, as we shall be gazing at one of the most marvellous 
 effigies of the sleep of death that was ever executed. The 
 warrior is at peace, he is in a sound sleep, but never to 
 wake again, and the eyes fill with tears as the full meaning 
 of that sleep is gathered up, and as one gazes at the placid 
 and wonderful sleeping form. 
 
 In the fifth room there is a fine work by Alunno (202) 
 and an interesting work by Fiorenzo (211), and in the 
 room beyond there is a very curious collection of pictures
 
 268 RA VENN A 
 
 which it seems specially suitable to find in Ravenna. It is a 
 collection of Byzantine paintings, Eastern, Russian, Greek, 
 some of them of great beauty and in wonderful order, and 
 others possessing that strange resemblance one to the 
 other and all to a fixed model that characterises the sacred 
 pictures of the unchanging Eastern Church. Numbers 269, 
 284, and 222 may be mentioned as specially important, but 
 the little room contains many works of interest and is well 
 worth inspection. 
 
 From this picture gallery we pass into the Museum 
 close at hand. 
 
 It is contained in the building of the old Carthusian 
 monastery of Classe, and includes the Church of St. 
 Bomuald in its extent. Opposite to the entrance door 
 is the *tomb of the Exarch Isaac, which was originally 
 in the Church of San Vitale, and which was erected to his 
 memory by his wife Susannah, and has a long inscription 
 in Greek upon it recording his fame, both in the East and 
 in the West, and lamenting her own terrible bereavement. 
 It was erected in 645, and is a fine marble sarcophagus of 
 the regular Ravenna shape, and has upon it reliefs of the 
 Adoration of the Magi, the Raising of Lazarus, and the 
 Delivery of Daniel from the Lions' Den. The strange caps 
 of the Magi should be noted, as they wear them also in the 
 mosaic we have lately seen in Sant' Apollinare Nuovo. 
 
 Under the dome of the church is the great porphyry 
 bath which was once in the palace of Theodoric, and 
 used to be styled his tomb. It is said to have once con- 
 tained his ashes, and to have been in the mausoleum, but 
 it is quite evidently a fine Roman bath, and probably had 
 no connection with the burying-place of the Emperor, but 
 may of course have been used by him in his palace, where 
 until recently it was preserved. 
 
 Close to it stands a fine Renaissance shrine of 1547, and 
 a beautiful Lavabo fountain. 
 
 In the sacristy in the museum, the gold ornaments in
 
 MUSEUMS AND PICTURE GALLERY 269 
 
 Case I. are worth attention, the illuminations, the splendid 
 pastoral staff, and the cover of a thurible. In Case II. the 
 ivories are of great importance and of high merit. There 
 are also some fine vestments. The gold ornaments have 
 evident connection with the Gothic possession of Ravenna 
 and with the time of Odoacer. 
 
 Some exquisite perforated panels will be seen, some 
 fine capitals, some portions of mosaic, and of inscriptions a 
 great many, some of which are of the greatest archaeological 
 importance. On the whole the museum is one of unusual 
 interest, and contains many things that, given plenty of time, 
 it will be worth your inspecting, and will be found to give 
 information as to the past history of Ravenna. There is no 
 catalogue of it to be obtained. 
 
 I may perhaps add that as a memorial of the time when 
 Ravenna belonged to Venice the great ruined fortification 
 walls will be found of interest. 
 
 We have now only one more sight to visit, but it is the most 
 disappointing one, as in no way is it worthy of its purpose. 
 
 The **tomb of Dante stands close to the hotel, and is a 
 place of pilgrimage to every visitor, but it is a poor, un- 
 important building, distinguished by no artistic merit, of 
 debased architecture, tawdry effect, and almost vulgar ap- 
 pearance. It contains the undoubted remains of one of the 
 world's greatest men, and it is altogether unworthy to 
 contain them, and utterly unsuitable for its high purpose. 
 
 The tomb itself, the inscriptions and the urn, are all fairly 
 good in execution, but for so supremely great a man they are 
 an unfitting memorial, and the building in which they are 
 contained is only rendered important by reason of the 
 sacred ashes which it holds. 
 
 N.£. — Hotels recommended : — 
 
 Milan : Hotel de la Villa. 
 Verona : Hotel Europa. 
 Padua : Hotel Fanti. 
 Bologna : Hotel Brun. 
 Ravenna : Hotel Byron.
 
 INDEX OF NOTABLE NAMES 
 
 AND 
 
 '. ru,~ ■>.•' .jTb. 
 
 Abate. 217 
 Adige River, 127 
 Agata, Santa, Church of, 248 
 Agnello, Sant', 241 
 Aistulf, 236 
 Aix la Chapelle, 236 
 Alba, Macrino d', 124 
 Albani, 218, 219 
 Altichieri, 144, 146, 177 
 .>Alunno, Niccolo, 93, 230, 267 
 
 3 
 
 J. 
 
 'Amalasuntha, 235, 255 
 
 
 Ambrogio, San, Church of. 
 Ambrose, St., 41 
 Ambrosian Liturgy, 61 '' 
 Ambrosiana Library, 112 TVi- 
 Anastasia, Sant", Church of, 133 
 
 143 
 
 Angelo, Michel, 202 
 Angeloptes, San Giovanni, 241 
 Antenor, 151 
 Anthony, Saint, 161, i8i 
 ApoUinare, Nuovo, Church of, 250 
 Apolhnare in Classe, Church of , 260 
 Apostoli, SS., Church of, 158 
 Aquilliuus, St., 34 
 Aquinas, St. Thomas, 204 
 ArchVjishop's Palace, Verona, 143 
 Archiginnasio, 205, 226 
 Arena Chapel, 162 
 Arena, Verona, 126 
 Arian Baptistery, 253, 254 
 Arian heresy, 249-250 
 Aribert, Archbishop, 56 
 Asinelli Tower, 200 
 Ataulphus, King, 32 
 Avanzi, 177, 212, 230 
 
 '■' ' [) ^(?^ 
 
 Bambaja, 69 'f<^' 
 
 Bandello, Matteo, 85 
 
 Barbarossa, Emp. Fred., 31, 36 
 
 Bartolomeo, Fra, 109 
 
 Basaiti, Marco, 188 
 
 PLACES 
 
 Belisarius, 235 " • 
 Bellini, 94, 103, 104, 150, 152 /x 
 Bentivoglio Family, 81, 192, 2^1 
 Benozzi, San Filippo, 209 
 Bernardino, San, Church of, 138 
 Besozzi, 84 
 
 . -Beviiacqua, ■j;^, 90 
 Boccaccio, 264 
 Boltraffio, 74, 100, 112, 116 
 
 .-.Bonifacio, 97, 188 
 'Borgognone, 73, 91, 102, 112, 115, 
 
 121, 124 ' -i-ll- /r 
 
 Borromeo Palace, iiy'. 
 
 Borromeo, San Carlo, 28, 59, 204 
 ^yy I* Botanical Garden, Padua, 186 
 " ' Botticelli, 107 
 
 Bramante, 77 
 
 Bramantino, 73, 116, 214 7 v.- /"J-/; 
 
 F.rera Galleiy, 88 
 
 Brivio, Stephano, 39 _ ;, 3 
 
 Brusasorci, 149 
 
 Buttinone, 72 
 
 Byzantium, 236 
 
 C^S.^REA, 260 
 
 Campagna, Girolamo da, 159 
 Campione, 66,;.^' 
 Caracci, The, 217, 229, 233 
 Caradosso, 60 
 Caroto, 148, 151 
 Carpaccio, 104, 105, no 
 Carrara Family, 175 
 C'arricciolo, 57 
 Casio, Pandolfi di, 223 
 Castelfranco, Guglielmo da, 133 
 .Castello, Milan, 64 
 Cavazzola, 148, 151 
 Cecilia, Capella Santa, 211 
 Cecilia, St., 227 
 
 Cenacolo at Milan, 3S,-vJ. '^"^7, 
 Certosa at Bologna, 2^3 
 Certosa, The, 54, 119.,^^".-' 5 
 270 ■ ' 

 
 
 ■7i tS^ 
 
 ^r-Z-Cn^ INDEX , 
 
 Charlemagne, 236 
 Chiaravallo, 119 
 Cima, 94, no '03*" 
 Civerchio, 73 
 Classis, 260 
 Colleone, 179 
 >>Constantius II., 246 
 Conti, Giovanni, 35 
 Correggio, 104 
 Costa, 207, 211, 213, 215, 220, 
 
 223 ' 
 Cossa, 100, 215, 220 
 Cremona, 68 
 Cristologo, St. Pier, 242 
 Crivelli, 94, 95, 104, 152 
 Croce, Girolamo da Santa, igi 
 
 Dalmasio, Lippo, 231 
 Damianus, St., 262 
 Dante, 264, 269 
 
 Domenichino, 107, 218, 219, 229 
 ., Dominic, Saint, 203 
 ^TDominico, San, Church of, 202, 
 
 226 
 Donatello, 178, 179, 181 
 Dossi, Dosso, 106 
 Duccio, Agostino di, 67 
 Duomo, Milan, 30, 6i .; > . 
 Duomo, Padua, 185 
 Duomo, Verona, 142 
 
 Enzio, King, 199 
 Erbe, Piazza dell', 158 
 Eremitani, Church of, 174 
 Etruscan nation, 192, 193 
 Eustorgio, San, Church of, 36 
 Eutychius, St., 259 
 Exuperantius, St. , 241 
 
 \!^7^ ^-r r>-rt '^Z. 
 
 7 Farinati, 149, iss, 156 
 Felice, Capella San, 182, 183 
 Felicini, Francesco, 222 
 >fermo, San, Church of, 153 
 Ferrari, Gaudenzio, 76, 80, 92, 
 100, 118 //■= ^' y^ --,?. . 
 Fiorenzo, 267 
 Foix, Gaston de, 68, 237 
 Foppa, 71, 72:-«(.v^ ■jif.-f'l-c o . 
 Fracastoro, 153 / '1 
 
 Francesco, San, Church of, Bo- 
 logna, 208 
 Francesco, San, Church of, Ra- 
 venna, 247 
 Francia, 105, 115, 150, 210, 212, 
 
 215, 220, 222 -;.'. , • 
 Frederick II., 237 
 
 271 
 
 Galla Placidia, 33. 24^ 
 Garisenda Tower, 200 
 vGatta Melata, 179 
 Gervasius, St. , 42 
 Ghibellines, The, 138, 198 
 Giacomo, Fra, 155 
 Gian Galeazzo, 54, 122, 17; 
 Gianpetrino, 74 
 Giorgio, San, Church of, Verona, 
 
 141 
 Giocondo, Fra, 159 
 Giolfino, 148, 150 
 Giorgio, Capella San, 183 
 Giorgione, 187, 188, 189 
 Giotto, 162-173, 264, 265, 266 ^ 5 . 
 Giovanni, Battista, Church of, 247 
 Giovanni, Evangelista, Church of, 
 
 246, 266 
 Giovanni, Fra, 155, 178 
 Giusti Garden, 156 
 Giustina, Santa, Church of, 185 
 Giusto da Padua, 177 
 ' Graziadeo, 265 
 Gregory XL, 205 
 Guariento, 177 
 Guelphs, The, 198 
 Guidorelli, Guidorello, 68, 267 
 Guido, 218, 230 /f 
 Guido da Polenta, 265 
 Guild Books, 215 
 
 Hebrew tombs, 215 
 Honoria, 246 
 Honorius, 234 
 Honorius II., 246 
 
 Imola, Innocenzoda,2i7,229,233 
 Innocent IV., 237 
 Isaac, Exarch, 268 
 Isolani, Palazzo, 214 
 
 John XXIII., 204 
 Juliet, Tomb of, 160 
 Julius II., 192, 237 
 Justinian, 235 
 
 Lanini, 49 /??; . 
 'Lombardi, Alfonso, 202 
 I Lombardi, Tullio, 267 
 ; Leoni, Leone, 57 \ 
 
 , Legnano, 119 v 
 
 Liberale, 97 ^. 
 
 Libri, 141, 145, 150, 151, 154 y 
 Lippi, Filippino, 203 .-^r^ imtv 
 
 Lorenzo, San, Church of, 30 
 Lotto, no. / .)*■
 
 27^ 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Louis XII., 237 
 
 Longhi, 191, 267 
 
 Luitprand, 196, 236 ,.^^J;^r^ 
 
 Luini, 28, 50, 81-89, i°4i' *i3i 
 -n ■ 115, 117, 118, 119, 123 yf,(j;;f. J I, 
 / )-,. . . 7--' 
 
 Maffei, Palazzo, 159 
 
 Magi, Adoration of, 36 
 
 Magi, Tomb of, 36 
 .Malatesta, Sigismondo, 263 
 ' Mantegna, loi, 136, 176 
 
 Manzuoli altar-piece, 224 
 
 Marbles of Italy, 253 
 
 Maria in Cosmedin, Church of, 
 
 253. 254 
 Maria-in-Porto, Church of, 260 
 Maria-in-Porto Fuori, Church of, 
 
 260, 264 ,..V.:,, -.'rrr^,, 
 
 Maria, Sta. , della Scala, 158 ' ■ 
 Maria, Sta., in Organo, 154 
 Martino, San, Church of, 212 
 Matsys, Quinton, 108 
 Maurizio, San, Church of, 67, 81 
 Ma.\iniian, St., 237, 241 
 Michele, San, in Bosco, Church of, 
 
 232 
 Misericordia, Church of, 223, 225 
 Montorfano, 67, 73 7-, 
 Morone, 147, 154, 15^' 
 Moretto, 108, 109, 151 
 ; Moro, Antonio, 150 
 'vMoro, II, 121 
 
 Narses, 236 ' ' 
 Nazaro, San, Church of, 243 
 Nicholas III., 199 
 Niello-work, 221 
 Neon, 237 
 
 ODO.A.CER, 235 
 
 Oggiono, Marco d', 74, 79, 91 
 
 Onesti, San, Pier degli, 266 
 
 Ostrogoths, 235 
 
 Oiho, Archbishop, 56 
 
 Otho II., Emperor, 60 
 
 Palma, 109, 188 
 
 Palmezzano, 109 
 
 Palliotto, The, 4i.-i.%','>i. ', 
 .. Pantheon, The, 34 
 ''/'Passagieri, Roland, 201 
 
 Pelh^grini. 58 
 
 Pellizone, Andrea, 59 
 
 Pepin, 236 
 
 Perugino, 102, 103, 149, 213, 228 
 
 Peruzzi, 232 
 
 Peter Martyr, St., 38 - ) _ 
 
 Petronio, San, Church of, 205, 206 
 
 Philip IV., 59 
 
 Piazzola, Rolando, 180 
 
 Piero della Francesca, 107 
 
 Pineta, 264 
 
 Pinturrichio, 117 
 
 Pisa, Niccolo da, 180, 202 
 
 Pisanello, 72, 145, 147 
 
 Placidia, see Galla 
 
 Polenta Family, 247-248, 265 
 
 Poldi-Pezzoli Museum, 106 
 
 Porta Rorsari, 128 
 
 Portinari Family, 37 
 
 Predis, Ambrogio da, 40 
 
 Primaticcio, 217 
 
 Protasius, St., 42 
 
 QuERCiA, Jacopo della, 206, 211 
 
 Ragione, Palazzo, 159 
 Raphael, 102, 115, 227 
 Reparatus, St., 262 
 Rimini, Francesca da, 248 
 Rodriguez Family, 226 
 Romanino, 190, 191 
 Romuald, St. , 268 
 Rondinelli, 267 
 Rubens, 76 
 
 Salaino, hi 
 
 Salone, II, 178 
 
 Sanmicheli, 139 
 
 Santo, II, 151, 184 
 
 Saronno, 118 
 
 Savoia, Bona di, 67 
 
 Savolda, Girolamo, 99 
 
 Scala Family, 66, 130, 132 
 
 Scappardone, Bianca, 86 
 
 Scappi, altar-piece, 224 
 
 Scrovegno, Enrico, 162 
 
 Servi, Santa Maria dei, Church of, 
 
 209 
 Sesto, Cesare da, 74.'f-; 
 Sforza Family, 28, 53, 64, 82, 221 
 Signorelli, 96, 102 <(!- 7. 
 Sodoma, 76, 100, 154 -//^..yr 
 Solario, 68, 79, 100, iii,'-/'* •■" 
 Spirito Santo, Church of, 253 
 Squarcione, 71, 152, 176, 189 
 Stefano, San, Bologna, 195, 198 
 Stefano, San, Church of, Verona, 
 
 140 
 
 Tamaroccio, 108 
 
 Teodorico, San, Church of, 254
 
 INDE X yi^-t-^j^j^^,.^,^^ (f 5 , 273 
 
 Theatre, Roman, 127 I Verona, Gian Battista da, 142 
 
 Theodora, Empress, 257 [ Veronese, Paolo, 98, 149 
 
 Theodoric the Goth, 58, 129, 235, j^vVerla, 105 
 
 254. 256 
 Theodosius, Emperor, 50, 234 
 Tibaldi, 217 si . 
 
 Ticinese, Porta, 35 
 Tiepolo, 112 
 Tintoretto, 99 
 Titian, 99, 149 
 Torbido, 148, 152, 190 
 Torcello, 99 
 
 Torre Family, 52, i53,~/'-5. 
 Trezzo, Castle of, 31 
 Trivulzi Family, 62 .^<^0 , 
 Tura, Cosimo, 109 
 Turone, 152 
 
 'Valentinian III., 235 
 Vasari, 267 
 Venice, 175, 237, 269 
 
 Vinci, Leonardo da, 74, 78, iooO'o"?73 7> 
 Vinci, Pierino da, 69 ' 
 
 Visconti Family, 28, 35, 40, 52, •"/ 
 
 66, 119 , '; ; -^ ; 
 Vitale, San, Church of, Bologna, 
 
 226 
 Vitale, San, Church of, Ravenna, 
 
 257 
 Viti, Timoteo, 96, 216 
 Vitigis, 236 
 
 Vittore, San, Church of, 51 
 Vivarini, The, 93, 109, 110,189,231 
 
 Zamboni, Via, 220 nr CjlMUritw^, r<A 
 
 Zenale, 72, 80, -"f. 
 
 Zenio, Stefano da, 109, 152 
 
 Zeno, San, Church of, 134 
 
 Zoppo, Marco, 208 
 
 ■/' 
 
 THE END 
 
 Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &^ Co. 
 Edinburgh is' London
 
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