PART II. THE TREASURES OF FLORENCE. "There be more things to greet the heart and eyes In Arno's dome of Art's most princely shrine, Where Sculpture with her rainbow sister vies" -Byron. PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA. Statue of Cosimo I, by John of Bologna. Fountain of Neptune, by Bartolommeo Ammanti, said to mark the spot of the execution of Savonarola. PALAZZA VECCHIO. Now the Town Hall of Florence. From the tower, a good view of the city. Platform where was placed the Ringhieri, decorated with sculpture. The Marzocco, or lion of Florence, by Donatello. In the Courtyard, a fountain of red porphyry, by Vasari, surmounted by a statue of a child with a dolphin by Verrocchio, and Arms of the city of Florence; by Bandinelli, a group of statuary, Hercules and Cacus, which was much ridiculed at the time of its completion. Inscription on the walls made when Savonarola proclaimed Christ king of Florence. Stairway with inscription in Latin and in Italian, naming the architects who had some share in the erection or the alteration of the palace: Arnolfo di Cambio, Pisano, Michelozzo, Bandinelli, Vasari and others; and also an inscription expressing a welcome to the princess who was to come as a bride to the Palazzo when it was the abode of the Medici in the year 1565-Joanna of Austria. Poor Joanna, we shall notice her statue, never finished in her honor, but now used as "Abundance" on the heights of the Boboli Gardens. Her husband, Francesco dei Medici is remembered only in connection with Bianca Capella. The Council Chamber, that was to have been decorated by Angelo, Leonardo and Bartolommeo, but whose works were never completed; instead it is decorated with frescoes by Vasari -the subjects being historical and showing the portraits of famous men. Vasari raised the roof, which has since been carved by Majano, and he otherwise altered it for Cosimo I. The Council Chamber had been made by order of Savonarola, who presided over affairs of Florence in it when the Medici were banished. His statue is now placed there. In that same room Cosimo I was proclaimed Duke of Tuscany, in 1569. "We paced through frescoed Council-halls Dim with the dust of buried ages; We lingered near the gorgeous walls Where winds the train of Eastern Sages.' Suite of rooms of Eleanor of Toledo, decorated with frescoes by Ghirlandajo, Botticelli, Filippino Lippi and Perugino. Suite of rooms of Pope Clement VII. Suite of rooms of Pope Leo X, with frescoes introducing persons of his court, including Michael Angelo. Chapel of St. Bernard, now called Capella dei Priori, from the fact that Savonarola received Holy Communion there the morning of his execution. On its walls are frescoes by Ghirlandajo. Doorway of bronze attributed to Donatello. Statue of Victory, from the design by Michael Angelo. LOGGIA DEI LANZI. Made from designs by Orcagna. Judith, by Donatello; Perseus, by Cellini; Rape of the Sabine Women, by John of Bologna; Hercules Slaying the Centaur, by John of Bologna; Antique statues which were removed hither from the Medici Villa at Rome; Statue of Polyxena by Fedi-the four figures of the group were produced from a single block of marble. A promise was given that the group should never be reproduced. CASA MACHIAVELLI. No. 16 Via Guicciardini, near the Palazzo Vecchio. PALAZZO UFFIZI. Built by Vasari, also the portico degli Uffizi with many statues of famous Tuscans. The statue of Cosimo is by John of Bologna. The Magliabechiana Library now united with the Pitti Library form a National one of 200,000 volumes. On the second floor of the Palazzo is a circular suite of rooms, one of which is the Tribune, containing the rarest gems of the art collection. One of the five precious marbles, the Venus de 'Medici, was found in Hadrian's villa, Rome, and was brought to Florence by Duke Ferdinand. It is described thus by Byron: "There, too, the Goddess loves in stone, and fills Of heaven is half undrawn; within the pale We stand, and in that form and face behold What mind can make, when Nature's self would fail; And to the fond idolaters of old Envy the innate flash which such a soul could mould. We gaze and turn away, and know not where, Dazzled and drunk with beauty, till the heart |