A little below the ruin of the amphitheatre is the site of a house where Dante Alighieri dwelt. All is smiling and open, and beautiful;-" meet nurse for a poetic child!"— and I could fancy him seated here amid the glories of an evening sun, indulging his muse, in scenery as lovely as his own paradise; seeking a happy sequestered moment from the strife of Guelfs and Ghibellines, and planning his " Divina Commedia," the offspring of an original and sublime genius.

And beyond this is the village of Arcetri, where Galileo spent the residue of his days. He had injured his sight by the nocturnal air, and became blind about three years before his death. But one who was the first to see the wonders he had seen was favoured far beyond other mortals. What a moment must that have been' in which he first used his telescope! With the true avarice of genius for knowledge, he seized all the discoveries of other men; and we are told by his biographers, "that in 1609, hearing that Jansen, a Dutchman, had invented a glass, which made distant objects appear near, he constructed an instrument by which objects appeared magnified a thousand times. Turning this instrument to the heavens, he was astonished. On the surface of the moon, he saw lofty mountains and deep valleys; the galaxy, a crowded assemblage of stars; Venus, with phases like the moon; the figure of Saturn oblong, consisting of three parts, two of which were ansæ, or extreme parts of the ring; Jupiter surrounded by four moons; and on the sun's disc, he perceived spots, from the motion of which he inferred that the sun revolves on its axis:" for this glorious vision-this light-ignorance and superstition soon plunged him into the dark cells of the Inquisition at Rome. At the age of seventy, he was committed a prisoner to the

apartments of the fiscal.

He was, however, at length, allowed to return to Florence, where he died at his favourite villa of Arcetri, in his seventy-eighth year.

Descending from the beautiful hill of Fiesole, we looked into the cathedral, in which I remarked nothing particular but the number of confessionals. It is said to have been formed from an ancient temple.

We one day wandered along the banks of the Arno to the Palazzo Strozzi, on its southern side. The gardens wind up a pretty hill, covered with cultivated and wild flowers, overlooking the Val d'Arno, and the whole Pianura de Sesto, down nearly to Leghorn; and from its sides you see nearly all the country palaces of Il Grand' Duca, with the villas and olive-grounds of the gentry. A shrubbery separates it from a monastery, inhabited by rich cavalieri who live sequestered here. The sound of the convent-bell came swinging across the little valley very pleasantly; the most beautiful cyclamen bordered our path, and a profusion of lovely flowers covered the pasture. Having now satisfied our desire as to getting on the heights about Florence, our earliest visit was to the Royal Gallery; our chief object, the Venus. May I confess that my first gaze disappointed? but, as it proves on intimacy with everything truly valuable, I soon became sensible to the treasure of art before me. One could fancy that Eve came thus from the hand of her Maker; it is modesty as well as love personified; it is the image of a pure and lovely being; it is the woman of Milton, before infirmity of thought had stained her cheek, I was struck with the silence that reigned in the tribunal; the tongue and eye of folly seemed for once abashed. This statue was found at Tivoli, in the villa of Adrian. On the base is the name of Cleomenes,

26

TRIBUNAL GALLERY.

son of Apollodorus. It was removed from the Medici Palace at Rome, to Florence, by Cosmo III. It is four feet eleven inches high, and leans a little forward; the right knee is a little advanced, the left hand is before the body, the right across the bosom; the head inclines a little to the left shoulder; the face is turned from you; the expression of the countenance varies with your position. The figure is rather plump; the flesh appears as if it would receive the impression of your touch. The marble has rather a yellowish hue. I did think the head rather small in proportion to the other parts; there is the utmost elegance in every part of the form. On the base is a Dolphin and a Cupid. L'Arrotatore, or the grinder, is on the right hand of the Venus: the muscles and the expression show great skill; he is sharpening a knife. His mind seems elsewhere, gone up to the Gods for direction. On the left is the group of the Wrestlers or I Luttatori, and near them the Fawn and the Apollino: all these statues are beyond praise, combining all the beauty of nature with every thing that is wonderful in art. The pictures of the Tribunal are likewise admirable. An Endymion of Guercino seems a moonite indeed, indulging some happy reverie-such ease -such distinction between the intellectuality, possessed in sleep, and the nothingness of death-what may that dream be, is suggested as one gazes. I did long to pack it up for England. A Virgin, by Guido, seemed to embody the thought, "Mon espérance est au dela." Two Venuses, by Titian, were only too natural. The whole of this galleria it would require a separate volume to describe. Statues, pictures, portraits, sarcophagi, busts, cinerary urns, bronzes, terracotta vases, are in endless numbers, and of most ingenious workmanship. The Salone della Niobe contains

the celebrated group brought from Rome. The figures are evidently not all by the same sculptor. Niobe is justly called un capo d'opera: the dying daughter is also exquisite; there are sixteen figures, and they are thought even to be more ancient than the time of Praxiteles-certainly it was before sculpture had ceased to pourtray agony. One can scarcely conceive anything more sublime and dignified in deep suffering. In the same room are paintings by Rubens, Lely, Van Dyck; also the portrait of Galileo, by Subterman.

In the Salone dei Frati, all the great masters in painting, and thousands of original outlines, are found; then follows the Salone dei Ritratti de' Pittori, containing excellent likenesses of all the modern poets and painters of Italy, quite a treasure for observation.

We now entered la Scuola Veneziana. Exquisite colouring and the most brilliant invention were on all sides of us. St. Caterina, by Paulo Veronese, Gesù Morto, in chiaroscuro, by Giovanni Bellino, were inexpressibly beautiful. The second Venetian school contained beauty that cannot be described, and art that it requires a life to attain. The Gabinetto delle Pietre Preziose is full of camei, of mother of pearl, diamonds, and topazes, the workmanship yet more precious than the material. All the intagli in cameo of the family of Augustus are most beautiful. One cameo is considered of great worth; it represents Theanus watching the palladium of Troy. The French, Flemish, and Roman school follow. With that of the Florentines, indeed, I felt quite a barbarian amidst this galaxy of genius.

CHAPTER IV.

The Medici-The Duomo-The Church of Santa Croce-San

Lorenzo.

THE name of the Medici is so closely connected with that of Florence, that one is continually looking on every side for the effect of their era, and of the genius of the men of learning whom they encouraged.

Cosmo I. was son of John de' Medici, born in 1519. He had a numerous offspring. John, the eldest, at the age of seventeen, was raised to the dignity of cardinal; Gorcia, then but fifteen, stabbed him to the heart, on a hunting party. The dead body was soon found, and the death was ordered by the Duke to be attributed to apoplexy. But he commanded Gorcia to prepare for death, and at the same instant snatching Gorcia's dagger, plunged it into his bosom, and laid him by the corpse of his brother: their mother survived the loss only a few days. Cosmo was the founder of the Florentine academy, and laid the foundation of the gallery; and, at Pisa, he formed botanical gardens. The government was republican, directed by a council of ten, and a chief executive officer, called Gonfaloniere.

Cosmo was chosen to head the republic: he collected round him men of science, and procured many manuscripts of the Greek, Latin, and oriental languages. He passed