Walks in Florence by Susan and Joanna Horner 2
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mmmi -V'.: :•'. AO-2 mk mm <■• * ft'/ fti ^ I m&mm 3gSg |S|S WALKS IN FLORENCE VOL. II. //- J-/J9 Front iipice. U. Marzocco , by Donattllo. WALKS IN FLORENCE By SUSAN and JOANNA HORNER WITH ILLUSTRATIONS VOL. II. STRAHAN & CO. 56, LUDGATE HILL, LONDON 1873 \The Right of Translation is reserved..] LONDON : PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO., CITY ROAD. CONTENTS OF VOL. II CHAPTER I. PACK San Firenze — Vicinity of Sta. Croce. .. I CHAPTER 11. Sta. Croce — Architecture ..... • IS CHAPTER III. Sta. Croce — Monuments ..... • 25 CHAPTER IV. Sta. Croce — the Pazzi Chapel — Inquisition. , , . 40 CHAPTER V. Sta. Croce — Frescos CHAPTER VI. Pia Casa di Lavoro — The Villani • 76 CHAPTER VII. Sta. Maria in Campo — Sant’ Ambrogio . 87 VOI.. It. I± VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGB The Protestant Cemetery, &c. 98 CHAPTER IX. Convent and Church of the SS. Annunziata .... 113 CHAPTER X. riazza of the SS. Annunziata — the Innocenti .... 129 CHAPTER XI. Convent of Sta. Maria degli Angeli — Palazzo Ginori . . . 135 CHAPTER XII. Convent of San Marco , . , « . . . . 13 1 CHAPTER XIII. San Marco — Library — Church 171 CHAPTER XIV. The Via San Gallo — The Palazzo Strozzi 180 CHAPTER XV. Palazzo Rucellai — Piazza Sta. Maria Novella . . . .192 CHAPTER XVI. Sta. Maria Novella . 206 CH APTER XVI I. Sta. Maria Novella — ( Continuation ) 223 CHAPTER XVIII. The Via della Scala — Bridges ....... 239 CONTENTS. vii C H APTER XIX. PAC.B Via de’ Bardi — Porta San Giorgio 254 CHAPTER XX. Sta. Felicita to the Piazza Soderini . 274 CHAPTER XXL Fondaccio di Santo Spirito — San Felice 286 CHAPTE R X XII. Santo Spirito 295 CHAPTER XXIII. The Carmine, &c 304 CHAPTER XXIV. The Boboli Gardens — Palazzo dei Pitti 321 PUBLIC GALLERIES OF FLORENCE. The Academy: — First Room 332 Second Room 352 The Pitti Gallery: — Large Rooms 367 Small Rooms 399 Tabernacles 408 Manufacture of Pietra-dura 412 Egyptian Museum.— Etruscan Remains .... 416 Museum of Natural History 440 vol. 11. c LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. II. — ■' ♦ ■i 0 Marzocco, by Donatello Frontispiece. Fresco by Giottino, on the Staircase ok the Filar- monica, Via Ghibellina Face page 76 Annunciation, by Luca della Robbia, Hospital of the Innocents 129 Porta San Nicolo 254 Forms of Etruscan Vases 427 Digitized by Googli J c \ WALKS IN FLORENCE. CHAPTER I. SAN FIRENZE.— PALAZZO GONDL— LOGGIA DEL GRANO. —PIAZZA CASTELLANI.— PONTE ALLE GRAZIE. — VICINITY OF STA. CROCE. 'Y'HE Piazza di San Firenze, south of the Bargello, is in the shape of an irregular triangle. At one corner is the entrance to the Via de’ Librai, a continuation of the Via del Proconsolo, which took its name from the book-stalls near the Badia, where the Benedictine monks probably formed the principal reading public of Florence. Beside l the Bargello stood the Church of San Apollinare, long since demolished, which at one time gave its name to the piazza ; here Beccheria of Pavia, Abbot of Vallombrosa, was executed in 1258. Beccheria was a notorious Ghibelline, whose fac- tion had been defeated, and the leaders, Uberto degli Uberti and Mangia degli Infangati, beheaded in the Orto di San Michele.* Trusting, however, to the immunity of his sacred office, Beccheria ventured to enter Florence; * See “ Or San Michele,” chap. xii. vol. i. VOL. II. B 2 WALKS IN FLORENCE. but was seized, charged with hatching plots against the State, put to the torture, and, in spite of his protests and appeals, beheaded in this piazza. His name has been im- mortalised by Dante, who placed him beside Count Ugolino among the traitors in the “ Inferno : ” — “ Se fossi demandato altri chi v’ era, Tu hai dallato quel di Beccheria, Di cui sego Firenze la gorgiera.” * The Church of San Firenze is supposed to occupy the site of a Roman Temple of Isis ; but, more probably, of a build- ing connected with the Amphitheatre. The remains of the foundations and of some broken columns were excavated in 1772, when a noble statue of a Roman senator was dis- covered, which is now in the Palazzo Gondi. San Firenze was one of the oldest churches in the city; but in 1640 it was ceded to the Fathers of the Oratory of San Filippo Neri, who undertook to enlarge the monastery attached to the church ; the families of Magalotti and Mancini pulled down their towers to afford more room, and the work was commenced in 1646 ; but whilst it was still incomplete the last of the Serragli family died, and bequeathed his vast wealth to the Fathers with one condition, that instead of using it to enlarge their own dwelling, they should include all that had been already built in the church. The facade was added in 1732, and partakes of the bad taste prevalent in that century. The interior of San Firenze * “ If thou shouldst questioned be, who else was there. Thou hast beside thee him of Beccaria, Of whom the gorget Florence slit asunder.” Longfellow's Translation. Digitized by GoogI SAN FIRENZE, ETC. 3 is handsome, and contains several modem pictures of merit The Palazzo Gondi is a good specimen of the architecture peculiar to Florence. It was built in 1501, after a design by Giuliano di San Gallo, who was employed by a wealthy merchant, Giuliano Gondi. The cortile is surrounded by graceful columns supporting arches, but is most remarkable for the staircase, with its fine balustrade, and curious variety of delicate ornamentation in animals and foliage. At the head of the interior staircase, leading to the principal apart- ments, is the statue of the Roman senator, taken from the supposed Temple of Isis. A magnificent chimney-piece, the work of Giuliano di San Gallo, adorns the large entrance- hall, round which are hung family portraits. The most dis- tinguished of these are : — Maddalena, daughter of Simone Gondi, who married one of the Salviati, and who, by the marriage of her daughter Maria with Giovanni de’ Medici delle Bande Nere, became the grandmother of Duke Cosimo I. •, Giuliano de’ Gondi, sumamed II Vecchio, who was employed in various affairs of State by Catharine de’ Medici, and by her sons, Charles IX. and Henry III., as well as by Henry IV. of France. Giuliano refused a pension offered him by the King of Naples for services he had rendered that sovereign, because he did not consider the citizen of a free republic could honourably accept money from a foreign prince. He founded this palace in 1501 ; and towards the close of his life he built the noble palace behind the archbishop’s residence, which afterwards became the property of the Orlandini. The scruples of Giuliano do not appear to have been shared by his descendants, who were frequently in the pay of France, and were created 4 WALKS IN FLORENCE. French generals, admirals, governors of provinces, and even archbishops. The celebrated Cardinal de Retz was of this family. Passing behind the Palazzo Vecchio, we reach apiazzetta in which is the Loggia del Grano. This shelter for the com vendors was built in 1619 by the Grand-Duke Cosimo II., whose bust is in front, and who employed the architect Giulio Parigi, a pupil of the still more celebrated Buonta- lenti. The Loggia del Grano is an elegant structure, con- sisting of a vaulted roof, resting on columns, with an upper chamber, lately converted into a theatre. The pavement of the loggia is raised a few feet from the ground, and here, until within a few years, was held the corn market. A narrow street connects the Loggia del Grano with the Piazza de’ Castellani or de’ Giudici. At the right-hand comer, facing the river, stood the Castle of Altafronte, which was purchased by one of that name from the Ghibel- line Uberti. The land attached to the castle extended some distance eastwards, and Altafronte bestowed a portion on the Franciscans, who thereupon commenced their church of Sta. Croce. The descendants of Altafronte sold the pro- perty to the Castellani, whose name has been erroneously supposed to refer to the office of Chatelain or Governor of the Castle of Altafronte. In 1558 the Grand-Duke Cosimo I. purchased the Castellani palace, which had risen on the site of the old castle, and removed thither the Tribunal of the Giudici a Ruota, which had previously held its sittings in the Bargello ; the lawyers attached to this court had their chambers around the piazza. In i860 the piazza underwent another change : the palace of the Castel- lani became a Government office, and opposite, where once SAN FIRENZE, ETC. 5 stood a tiratojo, was built the Banca Toscana — the Bank of Florence. Several of these tiratoji once existed in the city, which, as the trade in woollen cloth diminished, gradually disappeared. The tiratojo in this piazza was attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio. On the parapet beside the river is a small tablet, with a Latin inscription, to the memory of a horse which belonged to the Venetian ambassador, and which was killed during the siege of 1529 by a shell from the Prince of Orange’s camp, beyond San Miniato. The bridge higher up the river, with its singular row of detached houses, was built in 1235 by Rubaconte da Man- della, a Milanese Podestk of Florence. He employed Lapo, the father of Arnolfo de’ Lapi, for the work. This same Rubaconte caused Florence to be paved with large diagonal stones instead of brick. The bridge is thus alluded to by Dante, when describing the position of the Church of San Miniato on the hill above : — “ Come a man destra, per salire al monte Dove siede la Chiesa, che soggioga La ben guidata sopra Rubaconte.” * The bridge had originally nine arches, but in 1346 two were included in the mill-dam which was on the left bank of the river, but which has now been filled up to form part of the new quay. The little chapel on the right bank once * “ As on the right hand to ascend the mount Where seated is the Church that lordeth * O’er the well-guided, f above Rubaconte.” Longfellow's Translation. T La ben guidata — the well-guided — is ironically spoken of Florence. 6 WALKS IN FLORENCE. contained an image of the Virgin and Child, which was held in peculiar veneration, and gave the name “Alle Grazie” to the bridge. It was founded in 1372 by one of the Alberti family, whose arms — the Fetters — are carved on a shield at the corner of their palace, opposite. There were likewise three chapels, dedicated to Sta. Caterina, Sta. Barbera, and ' San Lorenzo, but they have all disappeared. The small houses at intervals, which give this bridge its peculiar character, were built in the fourteenth century by ladies of distinction, under the direction of one Monna or Madonna Apollonia. These ladies, scandalised by the loose morality of convent life, immured themselves here, receiving their food through the windows, and were known as the Romite — female hermits — of the Ponte Rubaconte. Their number increased so rapidly, that they were at length obliged to remove into a convent near Sta. Croce, called, from their vows, the Murate, or Immured. The hermitages, thus abandoned, became the dwellings of poor artisans, and in one of them, in 1646, was bom the poet Benedetto Mengini. He became a priest in Florence, and went to Rome, where he gained his celebrity under the patronage of . Queen Christina of Sweden. He died in 1704.* From the quay which bears the name of Alberti is seen one of the most lovely views of this neighbourhood : the weir, the suspension-bridge, and the Porta San Nicolb on the opposite bank ; beyond, the heights of the Mozzi and Boboli gardens, skirted by the city wall with its Middle- Age towers; and still more distant, San Miniato al Monte * These houses will probably be soon demolished in order to widen the bridge, and the chapel will be transferred to one of the adjoining houses of the Alberti. s SAN FIRENZE, ETC. 7 and San Francesco, bounded by the ranges of mountains and forests of pine and beech of Vallombrosa. The street leading from the Ponte alle Grazie to the Piazza di Sta. Croce was formerly composed of the palaces, towers, and loggie of the Alberti family, who were regarded with especial favour by Cosimo de’ Medici and his de- scendants; the most celebrated was the author Leon Battista, who was also an artist, and constructed the foun- tain of Trevi at Rome for Pope Nicolas V. In the adjoin- ing street, the Borgo Sta. Croce was the residence of the painter and author, Giorgio Vasari. The Canto delle Colonnine, at the comer of the Borgo Sta. Croce, was originally part of a loggia of the Alberti ; its projecting roof, resting on columns with quaint old capitals, was at one time the workshop of Nicolo Grossi, sumamed Caparra (pledge), so called by Lorenzo de’ Medici because he refused to undertake any commission without receiving a part of the payment in advance. His delicately-wrought iron fanali, which adorn the external comers of some of the Florentine palaces, are among the finest works of the kind in existence. Near this spot was the Porta dei Buoi, in the second circuit of walls, called thus from the cattle market which was held here. Opposite this loggia is the former chfirch of San Jacopo tra Fossi, which stood between the ditches of the city walls, but which has long ceased to be used for sacred purposes. It was built on part of the site of the Roman Amphitheatre, which extended from San Jacopo to San Firenze. San Jacopo had three Gothic naves, and the principal entrance was in the alley leading from the Piazza dei Peruzzi to the Canto dei Soldani. In 1170 the church was bestowed on 8 WALKS IN FLORENCE. the Vallombrosian monks of San Salvi, whose monastery was outside Florence ; but in 1531 they were deprived of San Jacopo, which was transferred to the Augustinians, as a reward for their adherence to the Medici. Between the Palazzo Vecchio and the Piazza de Sta. Croce are houses belonging to the family of the Peruzzi. They were built on the site of the Roman Amphitheatre, whose circular form is retained in the piazetta, where shields bearing six pendant pears mark the former residences of the Peruzzi. In this amphitheatre, San Miniato, to whom the Lombards dedicated not less than thirty churches, was twice exposed to wild beasts in the reign of the Emperor Decius. The Via delle Burelle, or dungeons, immediately behind San Firenze, was so named from the dens of wild beasts which were kept here for the games of the circus ; and as the dens were not destroyed till many centuries later, they were occasionally . hired by the Signory from the Peruzzi and other families to whom they belonged, and used as State prisons, when there was an excess of prisoners. After the battle of Campaldino, in which Dante took part, seven hundred and forty human beings were thus immured. Yet, dreadful as this may sound, these caverns could not exceed in horror the prisons of the same, and even a later period, of the Totter of London, and of other European countries, where torture and cruel executions were as common as in Florence. At the corner of the Via de’ Cocchi, near the Via Anguillara and of the Piazza di Sta. Croce, was the Porta delle Pere, alluded to by Dante in the sixteenth canto of his “ Paradiso : ” the remains of a hinge on one side of the Palazzo Cocchi marks its exact position. Part of the quarter SAN FIRENZE , ETC. 9 of the Peruzzi bears the name of Borgo de’ Greci, and is sup- posed to have been so called when the Byzantine Emperor and his brother, the Patriarch of the Greek Church, were lodged here in 1436; in which year Pope Eugenius IV. held a Council at Florence in the hope of reconciling the differences between the Greek and Latin Churches ; which Council is commemorated on a marble tablet in the choir of the cathedral. The Emperor and Patriarch were met by the Signory at the Porta San Gallo, and conducted hither with great pomp and ceremony. This supposed origin of the name Borgo de’ Greci has, however, been disputed, as the street is said to have once been inhabited by a family of the name of Greci. The Piazza di Sta. Croce was formerly the theatre for all public games, probably derived from old Roman days, when the games of the circus were exhibited in this neighbourhood. Here in the fifteenth century a famous tournament was held, which has been immortalised by Politian in a poem in honour of the feats performed by Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici. But the Piazza di Sta. Croce was especially used for the national game of calcio, or football, thus described by an author of the seventeenth century : “ The games of the Florentine youth in spring are the palla and the pome — throwing the ball and wrestling ; in summer, swim- ming; in autumn, the chase; and in winter, the calcio — football. The calcio is supposed to have been an ancient Roman game, since a Greek author, Julius Pollux, in a book written a.d. 177, and dedicated to the Emperor Commodus, describes it precisely as it has since been played in Florence. Though the name calcio — a kick — may lead to the inference that the game was played with the foot, the great force with 10 WALKS IN FLORENCE. which the ball had to be hurled obliged the player to use his hand. The number of players was fifty-four, young and active men, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, as both strength and agility were required. All the ladies and gentlemen of Florence, as well as the populace, assembled to witness these games. The players adopted a costume which, whilst graceful, allowed the free use of their limbs. The season for the calcio was from January to March, both because the temperature was cool, and because it was the time of Carnival. When the two parties into which the fifty-four players were divided were ready for the onset, the Tuscan trumpets sounded ; the balls were made of leather, and filled with air.” * This game was of sufficient importance to be noticed in various works of prose and poetry. During the siege of 1529, the Florentines, in order to defy the enemy, held the calcio here as usual, and even placed the trumpeters on the roof of Sta. Croce, exposed to the hostile missiles. Luckily for them, the unskilled gunners of those days vainly sent their shot in this direction from the Giramonte, or circle of hills beginning with the Poggio Imperiale, where the Prince of Orange had his camp. The last game of calcio was played in the Piazza di Sta. Croce in 1739. The piazza was not always the scene of amusements. Here, in 1250, the first Parliament or meeting of the people was held; and here, in 1342, Walter de Brienne, Duke of Athens, when sheltered by the monks of Sta. Croce, con- vened a meeting of the populace to rouse the poor against the rich. The Priors of the Republic took alarm, and * See “ Discorso sopra il Giuoco di Calcio — Memoria del Calcio.” Fiorentino, 1 688. SAN FIRENZE, ETC. ri offered De Brienne greater power and privileges on con- dition of his swearing not to infringe their liberties, and to hold the proposed meeting in the Piazza della Signoria, under the supervision of the Government; and Walter de Brienne accordingly rode forth, leaving his retreat among the friars, and with a hundred and twenty armed followers at his back, he started for the Palazzo Vecchio, there to commence his reign of terror. The last great public spectacle in the piazza was held at the centenary of Dante’s birth, 1864, when the statue of the poet, by the sculptor Pazzi, was unveiled in the presence of the King of Italy and of the assembled Florentine people. Deputations from all parts of the Peninsula, carrying banners, paraded the piazza — the Lion of Venice and the Wolf of Rome draped in mourning, because then forming no re- cognised part of the Italian kingdom, and none could then anticipate that in less than six years their deliverance would be accomplished. The fountain in the piazza derives its waters from a source near Arcetri, and is carried to Sta. Croce across the Ponte alle Grazie. Around the piazza are palaces which once belonged to distinguished families — the Barberini, one of whom, Maffeo, was elected Pope in 1623, under the name of Urban VIII. He was the persecutor of his countryman Galileo, and was guilty of nepotism to as great an extent as any who ever occupied the pontifical chair. The Seristori Palace was built after a design by Baccio d’ Agnolo, for one of the Cocchi family. The ground-floor has three arches, resting on little rustic columns ; the upper storeys are adorned with columns of the Doric order. The Palazzo Stufa, once Antellesi, when it belonged to the Antella family, was 12 WALKS IN FLORENCE. designed by Giulio Parigi, and is covered with frescos, which were all executed in one month. Among the artists employed were Domenico Passignano, Matteo Rosselli, and Giovanni dr San Giovanni. Their work is almost effaced, which may partly be attributed to the hasty execution. Traces may be discovered of three children supporting the shield of the Antella family over the door, which was painted by Giovanni di San Giovanni ; an amorino with a swan, by the same artist, has been greatly admired, as well as an old man in the centre of the lowest tier of paintings, who is supposed to represent the father of Nicolb da Antella, the first owner of this palace. Within, are paintings by Pocetti ; and in the garden behind, a statue by Giovanni Bologna. A marble disk outside, below the third window, counting from the Church of Sta. Croce, marked one of the extremities of the line which divided the parties engaged in the game of calcio. In an apartment beneath the roof of this palace, once in close proximity to the Inquisition which held its sittings in the Monastery of Sta. Croce, is now a Protestant school, established on the principles of the British and Foreign Schools of England, admitting the children of members of all persuasions. South of the Church of Sta. Croce, and parallel with the river, is the Corso dei Tintori — the quarter of the dyers, who held horse-races here on the anniversary of Saint Onophrius. Young lads ambitious of being admitted into the guild were made to ride the horses, as a first step towards initiation. In the Borgo dei Tintori, beside the garden of the friars of Sta. Croce, at one time lived a painter, II Rosso, a disciple of Michael Angelo. Vasari relates that II Rosso possessed an ape, which became a great favourite with one SAN FIRENZE , ETC. '3 of his apprentices, called Battistino, who employed the animal to steal the friars’ grapes, by letting him down by a rope into the garden, and drawing him up again with his paws full of fruit. A friar who missed the grapes set a trap for rats, but one day catching the ape in the fact, he took up a stick to thrash him ; a struggle ensued, in which the ape had the best of it, and contrived to escape ; the friar, how- ever, summoned II Rosso to appear before the judges, and his favourite was condemned to have a weight fastened to his tail. A few days afterwards an opportunity occurred for revenge : the friar was performing mass in the church, when the ape was made to climb the roof of his cell, and, in the words of Vasari, he “ performed so lively a dance with the weight at his tail, that there was not a tile nor vase left unbroken, and on the friar’s return a torrent of lamentations was heard, which lasted three days.” CHRONOLOGY. A.n. Alberti, Leon Battista 1475 — 1520 Amphitheatre, Roman, excavated 1772 Baccio d’ Agnolo 1462 — 1560 Beccheria, Abbot of Vallombrosa, executed . . . 1258 Calcio, Game of, played last 1739 Cosimo II 1609—1620 Council of Florence — Eugenius IV. . . . . 1436 Gondi, Palazzo, built 1501 Grano, Loggia del, built 1619 Grazie, Ponte alle, built . 1235 „ ,, two arches diminished . . . 1346 ,, Chapel of the, founded ..... *372 II Rosso 1496 — 1541 Mengini, Benedetto 1646 — 1704 14 WALKS IN FLORENCE. A.D. Parliament of the people in Sta. Croce .... 1250 Paasignano, Domenico . 1560 — 1638 Retz, Cardinal de 1614 — 1679 Rosselli, Matteo 1578 — 1650 San Firenze ceded to the Fathers of the Oratory . . 1640 „ rebuilt 1646 „ facade built 1732 San Gallo, Giuliano di 1485 — 1547 San Giovanni, Giovanni di 1590—1638 Urban VIII., Pope ....... *623 CHAPTER II. STA. CROCE. Architecture. VXf HEN St. Francis visited Florence in the year 12 n, he found several brethren of his newly established Order, who had already formed themselves into a community beyond the Porta San Gallo. Their numbers rapidly in- creased ; and when, in 1 288, the family of Altafronte bestowed on them a tract of marshy land, with a hospital upon it, near the Amo, they removed thither, and built a small chapel, which they dedicated to St. Anthony. This chapel, consisting of one simple cross-vaulting, may still be seen beneath the choir of the Church of Sta. Croce. That same year, 1288, Pope Gregory IX., who had canonized his old friend Francis of Assisi, took this little community of Fran- ciscans under his special protection. The Church of Sta. Croce was commenced by the friars nine years later, on the Day of the Holy Cross — the 15th May, 1297 — when the foundation stone was laid, and Arnolfo di Lapo was employed to make the design. As Arnolfo, who had at the same time been commissioned to undertake Sta. Maria del Fiore, laid the foundation stone of the Florentine Cathedral the following year, 1298, these two sacred edifices rose simultaneously. 16 WALKS IN FLORENCE. Unfortunately for the early history of Sta. Croce, the archives of the monastery were nearly all destroyed by the floods from the Amo, which took place in 1333* and in 1557; but the scanty records which remain inform us that in the year of the foundation, Cardinal Matteo d’Acqua- sparta, general of the Franciscan Order, proclaimed an indulgence to whoever should contribute money for the pious work.! We also learn that in 1320 the church, though still unfinished, was opened for public worship; that in 1334 Giotto was chosen master of the works; and that in 1371 a Board of six citizens was appointed by the Signory of Florence to superintend the building both of the Church of Sta. Croce and of the Cathedral. Political disturbances caused some delay, and the friars were obliged to resort to fresh devices to raise a fund for the continuation of their church : they were assisted by two of the guilds, or arti — the Mercatanti (merchants), and the Calimala (dealers in foreign wool), who undertook to collect the required sum. The exterior of Sta. Croce has little left of the original construction. On the northern side is a porch, under which are some curious early monuments ; the front, however, continued a wall of rough masonry. In the fifteenth century one of the Quaratesi family offered to defray the expenses of a handsome iagade, but appended the condition that the arms of his family should be introduced among the orna- ments ; to this, however, neither the friars nor the Board * This flood is recorded in a Latin inscription on a tablet on the Ponte Vecchio. f Cardinal Matteo d’Acquasparta is mentioned by Dante in his “ Paradiso,” as having relaxed some of the severities of the Franciscan Order. — Paradiso, canto xii. v. 124. STA. CROCE. n would consent, and the munificent donator accordingly withdrew his gift of 100,000 golden florins, and assigned the money for the construction of another Franciscan Church, near San Miniato al Monte, which he dedicated to the Saviour, San Salvador.* A layer of green and white marble, at the base of the facade, is all that remains on Sta. Croce to commemorate Quaratesi’s generous intention. In 1834 Lorenzo Barlolini, the celebrated Tuscan sculptor, urged upon the Government the completion of the exterior of this noble church in a manner worthy of the interior; but want of funds again prevented the undertaking. Preparations were, however, made for a future fagade, by the removal of a block of masonry in front of the church, popularly called the “ Massa di Sta. Croce.” This Massa was the remains of a campanile, commenced after a design by Frangesco di Giuliano di San Gallo, in 1549, at the north-western angle of the edifice, and which was the second attempt, and failure, to erect a belfry for the church, after the first had been destroyed by a great storm in 15x2. The Massa di Sta. Croce was left un- touched for nearly two centuries, an ugly projection on the wall, frequently used as a hiding place for thieves. The present campanile, at the eastern extremity of the church, was built in 1842. After the removal of the Massa di Sta. Croce, the design of the sculptor Nicola Matas was chosen for the newfagade; • This church is known as Michael Angelo’s Bella Villanella, from its simplicity and beautiful proportions. The design was by Cronaca ; but as he was only eleven years of age when Quaratesi died — 1466— San Salvador was not built until many years after the death of the founder. VOL. II. C 18 WALK'S IN FLORENCE. the expense was reckoned at 25,000 scudi (£ 5,600 ), a sum impossible to have been raised, had not an English gentleman who had long resided in Florence, the late Commendatore Sloane,* offered to advance as a loan 3,000 scudi (£700), and thus enabled the Government to begin the work. On the 21st August, 1857, the foundation stone was laid with great solemnity by Pope Pius IX., in the presence of the Grand-Duke Leopold II. and his family, and of an immense concourse of spectators. That same day the Commendatore Sloane converted his loan into a gift, and subsequently added to the sum, until, on the completion of the facade, his contribution alone became upwards of twelve thousand pounds sterling. Matas raised upon Quaratesi’s base of green and white marble, a facing in the same style of the old Florentine sghero- nata, which when mellowed by time will have a more agree- able effect than it has now. Over the three doors Matas has introduced pointed arches and canopies, crowning the whole with pinnacles of white marble. The statues and bas-reliefs were added by Giovanni Duprd of Sienna, Aristodemo Costoli, Francesco Giovanozzi, Luigi Fabbrucci, and Pietro Giusti. The relief above the central door is by Giovanni Dupr£ ; it represents the Exaltation of the Cross, whilst above it, by the same artist, is a most beautiful statue of the Madonna. The rose window is left free, and the monogram of our Saviour in yellow on a blue ground is placed above the Madonna. Two angels in bronze support the cross at the apex of the central pinnacle. The gates are also in bronze; * The Commendatore Fran9esco Sloane, an active and generous benefactor of Florence, died at his villa of Careggi, October, 1S71. STA. CROCE. 19 the subject of the central gate is the Via Crucis, divided in twelve compartments from designs by Emilio Santarelli. The fagade was uncovered in the presence of Pope Pius IX. in May, 1863. The interior of Sta. Croce is a good example of the style of Arnolfo di Lapo, more remarkable for ingenuity of con- struction than architectural invention.* He was required to build a church large enough to contain the vast numbers who sought the confessionals of the Franciscan friars. Cold and severely simple in his decorations, Arnolfo has, however, succeeded in leaving an impression of solemn grandeur, by vast space and long lines of perspective. The form is that of the old Roman basilica; the long nave and two short transepts make the Latin Cross. The eastern extremity is divided into nine chapels, the apse being only an enlarge- ment of the central chapel. The length of the nave is divided by seven pointed arches resting on octagonal columns ; the clerestory above is sup- ported by brackets, between which are windows of coloured glass. The ceiling of the nave and aisles is composed of beams, which were originally coloured in soft harmonious Saracenic tints, now in the process of restoration. The height of the columns and the wide span of the arches made it unsafe to impose any great superincumbent weight ; Arnolfo therefore constructed gable roofs, with stone gutters to prevent water settling and causing decay. The pavement is brick, with many marble sepulchral slabs. The architectural proportions of Sta. Croce have been injured by the removal of a step, which, like that of Sta. • See “ Cicerone von Jacob Burkbardt,” i860, p. 143. 20 WALKS IN FLORENCE. Maria Novella, raised the pavement of one-third of the nave towards the eastern extremity. This part was further divided from the body of the church by a screen, such as is found in most English cathedrals, with gates — regge — which term was exclusively applied to the doors shutting out the congregation from the Holy of Holies, where the priests performed the sacred ceremonies. Dante calls the gates of Purgatory, regge* The choir belonged to the wealthy family of the Alberti, whilst the chapels within the transepts and round the choir were the property of other distinguished Florentines, who caused them to be decorated with frescos, and placed iron gratings before those containing marble monuments. These frescos were painted by Giotto, Giottino, Memmi, Lippi, Taddeo Gaddi, &c. &c. In 1512, the storm which destroyed the first campanile and broke the roof of the church, likewise damaged the choir, which was still further injured by a flood in 1557. The friars, seconded by the Board of Works, petitioned the Grand-Duke Cosimo I. to be permitted to remove the screen, and carry the choir into the apse. Their request was granted, in spite of the remonstrances of the Alberti, who were thus deprived of all their rights within the church, except that of interment in the space once occupied by the choir. The chapels which had been attached to the choir were destroyed, and thus some valuable works of art were lost ; an Enthrone- ment of the Virgin, by Ugolino of Sienna, after lying neglected for centuries in the dormitory of the monastery, was sold for a mere trifle, and found its way in fragments to the Ottley Collection in England.} * “Purgatorio,” canto ix., v. 134. t See “ Crowe and Cavalcaselle,” vol. ii. p. 53. STA. CROCE. 21 When the choir was removed, the frescos on the lateral walls of the church were ruthlessly sacrificed to make room for chapels, constructed by Giorgio Vasari along the whole length of the nave, which were bestowed on families who had been deprived of their chapels around the former screen. All that remains of these paintings are the figures of St. John the Baptist and St. Francis, by Andrea del Castagno, near the Cavalcante Chapel. The Baptist is drawn with Castagno’s usual dry hard outline, and has all the appearance of starvation given with characteristic realism. It was probably painted soon after the artist’s return from Rome. For many years banners were suspended over the illus- trious dead, but, by order of the Signory, they were after- wards carried into the clerestory gallery, where they hung until very recently, when they were finally removed from the church. One of the most beautiful objects in Sta. Croce is the pulpit of white Seravezza marble, which a wealthy Florentine merchant, named Pietro Mellini, commissioned Benedetto da Majano to execute about the year 1493.* Benedetto is much commended by Vasari for the skill he displayed in attaching this pulpit to one of the columns of the nave, in which he inserted a spiral staircase. The reliefs, surrounded by an elegant framework of marble, are especially beautiful. The scenes represented in five compartments are taken from the life of St. Francis : — Pope Honorius III. confirms the rules of the Franciscan Order; St. Francis passes un- scathed through a fire, in the presence of the Sultan ; he * Near the little corridor of the Ufhzi Gallery is a fine bust of Pietro Mellini by Benedetto da Majano. 22 WALKS IN FLORENCE. receives the Stigmata at La Vemia, in the Casentino ; his dead body is exposed in the Church of Assisi — one of the finest of the series; and, lastly, the martyrdom of his followers in Mauritania. Small figures, seated in niches of red marble, represent Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, and J ustice. Over the western door is a bronze statue of St. Louis of Toulouse, which was formerly outside the church. This saint was the son of Charles of Anjou, King of Naples, and of Maria, a Hungarian princess, and nephew of King Louis IX. of France. When only fourteen years of age he with his two brothers were delivered as hostages to the King of Aragon, and he spent several years in captivity. The cruel treatment he received in Spain appears to have quenched all that might have existed of worldly ambition in his gentle nature, and on regaining his liberty Louis re- nounced the throne of Naples in favour of his brother Robert, and assumed the Franciscan habit. Two years later he was made Bishop of Toulouse by Boniface VIII., and died at the age of twenty-lour. He was canonized by Pope John XXII. in 1317.* This statue is the last executed by Donatello, who did not value his own work greatly, and it is certainly one of his most inferior productions. He has represented St. Louis in the same attitude as he is painted by Taddeo Gaddi on one of the pilasters of the Capella Rinuccini, in the sacristy of this church. When Donatello was reproached for having made so indifferent a statue, he replied it was good enough for a man who had been so dull as to exchange a kingdom for a monastery.! • See life of this saint in Mrs. Jameson’s “Monastic Orders.” t See Vasari, “ Vite dei Pittori — Donatello.” STA. CROCE. 23 The rose window above has a Deposition in coloured glass, after a design by Lorenzo Ghiberti, and over this is a stone tablet containing the monogram of our Saviour, by San Bernardino, which was formerly outside the church. San Bernardino was bom in 1380 of a noble Siennese family, and assumed the Franciscan habit at twenty-five years of age ; it is related of him, that when preaching to the people he held a tablet before him on which the monogram of Christ was inscribed within a circle of golden rays. A man who earned his livelihood by the manufacture of cards and dice was reduced to sore distress by the reformation of manners produced under the influence of San Bernardino, who accordingly suggested, as a compensation, that he should manufacture tablets similar to that he had invented, and sell them to the people. The man took his advice and prospered. The original tablet was, by permission of the Signory, placed on the fagade of Sta. Croce, with great ceremony, by San Bernardino, in 1437. Around it he caused to be inscribed in Lombard characters the following words: — “In nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur caelestum, terrestrium et inferorum.” CHRONOLOGY. A.D. Amo overflowed 1333 ,, „ again •*•«••• *557 Benedetto da Majano 1442 — 1497 Bernardino, St., bom ....... 1388 Church of Sta. Croce commenced 1297 „ „ opened for public worship . . 13 20 24 WALKS IN FLORENCE. A.D. Church of Sta. Croce, choir destroyed . . . . 1557 „ „ fa9ade finished .... 1863 „ „ Giotto, Master of the Works . 1371 Francis, St., came to Florence 1211 Ghiberti, Lorenzo 137^ — 1455 John XXII., Pope 13 * 6 — 1334 Louis, St., of France, died 1297 CHAPTER III. STA. CROCE. Monuments. CTA, CROCE has always been a favourite place of inter- ment, but for many past years it has been reserved for the illustrious dead — the Westminster Abbey of Florence. The gates at the western extremity are surrounded by monu- mental slabs, most of which bear the names of remarkable men, belonging to the present and the last century. Two are dedicated to the Targioni Tozzetti, father and son, the elder of whom published his “ Travels in Tuscany,” “ Viaggi in Toscana,” with an account of the physical condition and natural history of his native province : the younger is well known as an eminent botanist and horticulturist. To the left of the entrance is a portrait in relief of the numisma- tician, Domenico Sestini, bom in Florence in 1730, who travelled in the East, and made a collection of coins. He was afterwards appointed Royal Librarian by Princess Elisa Buonaparte, Queen of Etruria ; and on the restoration of the Grand-Duke Ferdinand III., he was confirmed in this office. He died in 1835. A small slab, higher on the wall, has the effigy of Daniel Manin, the Venetian patriot. By birth a Venetian Jew, 26 WALKS IN FLORENCE. whose family had become Christian, he received at baptism the name of their patrons, the Manins. Young Daniel early imbibed a hatred for Napoleon, to whose ambition Venice had been sacrificed at the Peace of Campoformio, when the last Doge, Manin, had been forced to abdicate. As he had been educated for the bar, he was well able to appreciate the evasions of the spirit, as well as of the letter of the law, and the unjust practices of the Austrian rulers, so intolerable to the educated classes of Italy. In 1847 he was arrested for having protested against the illegal acts of the Government. He was liberated by the people during the Revolution of February, 1848, and borne in triumph round the Piazza di San Marco. He then learnt that a constitutional government had been proclaimed at Vienna, and that he himself was chosen to lead the revolu- tionary movement in Venice. After the expulsion of the Austrians, he was elected President of the Republic. His courage, honesty, and zeal, united with moderation, as well as his great talents, enabled him to retain his influence over his fellow-citizens during the long siege. When Venice fell, Manin retired to Paris, where he died at the age of fifty- three, ten years before the liberation of his country from a foreign yoke had been accomplished. His remains were carried to Venice in 1870. The first chapel to the right of the entrance belongs to the Buonarotti family. Here repose the remains of Michael Angelo, who died in Rome in 1564, in the ninetieth year of his age. Pope Pius IV. endeavoured to retain his body, but the Florentines had it secretly conveyed to his native city. The night after its arrival, it was borne to Sta. Croce by the members of the Florentine Academy, and his cata- STA. CROCE. 27 falque was displayed for several days to crowds of visitors. 