THE BARGELLO.
The chief magistrate of Florence in very early times was the Podestà. This office was created in 1207, and the judicial functions were entrusted to the officer so named, who (owing to the mutual jealousy of the internal factions) had to be a foreigner, elected for six months, or later for a year, like mayors elsewhere. Even after the Guilds had introduced their commercial oligarchical system, the Podestà still retained his judicial position. In 1255 (earlier than the building of the Palazzo Vecchio) the town began to erect a castle for its magistrate, known at first as the Palazzo del Podestà, but handed over later to the chief of the police under the Medici Grand Dukes, from whom it derives its usual modern name of the Bargello. The existing Government has fitted up the interior as a museum of plastic and minor arts; and it is, therefore, now officially described as the Regio Museo Nazionale. But nobody ever calls it by any other name save that of the Bargello. It is one of the sights which is absolutely imperative.
Take the Via del Proconsolo, from the Piazza del Duomo. On the left as you descend is the Bargello. Stand opposite and examine the façade and tower. The portion that faces you is the original building (restored). The part at the back is a little later. It takes at least two days to see it cursorily.
The entrance hall, a fine specimen of a vaulted secular interior of its age, contains suits of armour, helmets, etc., the designs on many of which are worthy of notice. Most of them belonged to the Medici family. Also firearms, swords, and other weapons, among which notice a splendid cannon, cast in 1638 by Cosimo Cenni, with the Head of Medusa, the Florentine lion (the Marzocco), the Medici balls, and other devices. Last cabinet, helmet and shield of François Ier of France, of Milanese workmanship. Round the walls are a series of escutcheons. The room to the left, beneath the tower, contains a continuation of the same collection.
BARGELLO (PALAZZO DEL PODESTÀ).
Enter the courtyard, with its central well and fine open loggia, a remarkable specimen of secular architecture of the thirteenth century. Note the round arches and the columns of the pillars. Also the escutcheons of former Podestàs which surround the court, and the effective triumphal arch on the staircase. Nowhere else in Florence do we feel ourselves so entirely transported to the city and age of Dante. The arms of the quarters of the city in the loggia have the names of the wards to which they belong inscribed below them. Note for future guidance: you will see them elsewhere. The best view of the picturesque quadrangle, with the beautiful loggia on the first floor, is obtained from the corner opposite as you enter.
The works of sculpture (some of them second-rate) which surround the court are sufficiently described on their official labels. Notice those by Niccolò di Piero Lamberti and by Piero di Giovanni Tedesco, from Or San Michele, as throwing light on Donatello’s beginnings. Also, Giovanni da Bologna’s Architecture, on a fine Renaissance base with Medici balls and feathers; and a Penitent Magdalen in the desert, where the sense of form of the sixteenth century has triumphed over the earlier asceticism which dominated the subject. Baccio Bandinelli’s Adam and Eve have the feebleness and vapidity which pursue that ambitious but ineffective sculptor’s work. Michael Angelo’s *Dying Adonis, however, is a fine though confused piece of sculpture, with a noble face, and well conceived hands. Giovanni da Bologna’s *Virtue triumphant over Vice shows the French tinge of feeling and the usual merits and failings of its powerful but theatrical artist. Michael Angelo’s *Victory, unfinished as usual, is one of the figures intended for the Tomb of Julius II., of which the so-called Fettered Slaves in the Louvre were also portions. Between the two last is a handsome Renaissance doorway, with symbols of St. Mark and the familiar Venetian inscription: “Peace to thee, Mark my Evangelist.”
The door opposite the entrance to the court gives access to two small rooms on the ground floor, with fine fragments of sculpture, mostly mediæval in the first, and sufficiently explained by their labels. The first room has, over the door, a noble Gothic canopy, with Christ and saints, originally on the façade of Santa Maria Novella. Notice to the left the arms of the wool-weavers, the lamb of St. John of Florence. In the centre, 90, is a Bacchus, perhaps by Giovanni dell’Opera. To the right of it, a fine Renaissance wash-hand fountain, above which are good figures by Simone Talenti. 50, 51, 52, a fine Madonna, and Saints Peter and Paul, with their symbols, brought here from the old Porta Romana. Close to them are two marzocchi, or Florentine lions. I do not call attention to most of the works in this room because they are sufficiently described by their labels: but almost all should be noted and examined, particularly those of the School of Andrea Pisano.
The second room, on the left wall, contains a beautiful series of *reliefs, gravely injured, narrating the life and miracles of San Giovanni Gualberto, founder of the Vallombrosans, by Benedetto da Rovezzano. (They come from the tomb of the saint in the monastery of San Salvi, and were recklessly destroyed by imperial soldiers during the siege of 1530.) 93, San Giovanni Gualberto delivers a monk from a demon. 95 shows the miracle of San Pietro Igneo passing through the fire. 101 is San Giovanni Gualberto on his bier, Faith and Charity at the sides, mourning. 104 represents the translation of his relics from Passignano, with cure of the sick as they pass (an epileptic boy particularly fine). In 107, heretics attack the monks of San Salvi. These exquisite works, Benedetto’s best (1506), deserve the closest attention. (See Perkins’s “Tuscan Sculptors,” and Mrs. Jameson’s “Monastic Orders.”)
On the end wall is a noble *mantelpiece, also by Benedetto da Rovezzano, classical in style, representing apparently Apollo, Pluto, and Jupiter (?). This is also one of the most exquisite works of Renaissance sculpture. On the left of it is Michael Angelo’s unfinished *Bust of Brutus: the inscription explains that he had not the heart to finish it after Florence lost her freedom: but then, he seldom finished anything. On the right is Bandinelli’s insipid Cosimo I.
On the right wall, 123, is a beautiful * *Madonna and Child by Michael Angelo, an early work; not a sacred face, but calm, matronly, and beautiful, like a high-born mother. Here, also, are several reliefs by Pierino da Vinci, Leonardo’s nephew. 124, a Masque of a Satyr, attributed without due cause to Michael Angelo, is ugly and repulsive, though not without cleverness. In 128, *Michael Angelo’s Bacchus, the pose of the figure is not entirely worthy of the great sculptor; but the head and some other parts are most masterly. 133 is a beautiful Madonna and Child, with infant St. John the Baptist of Florence, by Andrea Ferrucci. Beside it, 131, is a *beautiful tabernacle, of perfect proportions and workmanship; beneath it, a good reduction of Michael Angelo’s Leda. 134, Antonio Rossellino’s (?) lovely *tabernacle for the elements, with adoring angels. All the Renaissance decorative work in this room deserves the closest attention, especially the two exquisite *niches, on either side of the doorway, by Benedetto da Rovezzano. Baccio Bandinelli’s portrait relief, 136, has rare merit for this vapid sculptor.
Go out into the courtyard, and mount the stairs, noticing as you go the numerous escutcheons and memorial tablets of city officials and others; pass under the triumphal arch: and enter the loggia on the first floor, with its vaulted roof spangled with Florentine lilies. This gallery (the Verone) contains a collection of bells, many of them with fine reliefs and interesting or amusing inscriptions.
Enter the First Hall, fitted up as a museum of the works of Donatello. Many of the best originals in Florence are here collected: beside them are placed for comparison casts from Donatello’s work in other cities, such as the equestrian statue of Gattamelata at Padua, etc. Among the originals, one of the most important and interesting is on the left wall, the Marzocco, or lion holding the Florentine lily, which long stood in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, but is now replaced by a copy.
In the centre of the room, to the left, is *the David, in bronze, a fine but rather early work, when the master had not yet arrived at his final conceptions of plastic beauty. The pose is a little too self-conscious; the young victor places his foot too proudly on the head of Goliath; and the shepherd’s hat shades the face ungracefully: but the nude is good, and the work is still most original and charming. Note how this subject of David colours Tuscan sculpture of the Renaissance. Fine relief on Goliath’s helmet — representing Victory. To the right is an Amorino, also in bronze, with the open mouth and pose of the hands so characteristic of the sculptor.
On the wall opposite the entrance is a beautiful bronze bust of a young man, with exquisite cameo of Victory; near it, a * *charming relief of an open-mouthed young St. John the Baptist: close by, a *coloured bust of Niccolo da Uzzano, powerful, but unpleasantly realistic. Then, the penitent St. John the Baptist in the desert, a work which should be compared with the wooden Magdalen of the same type in the Baptistery. Recollect that here Donatello is not aiming at pure plastic effect, — certainly not at beauty, — but is endeavouring to realise an ascetic ideal in accordance with the needs and aims of sculpture. In both these St. Johns, the parted lips are highly characteristic. Compare with the plaster casts of two others, at the base of the Gattamelata statue; also with the older type by the first right window. On the end wall is the original * *St. George, from Or San Michele, now replaced by a copy. This is a very noble realisation of the soldier saint, the ideal of chivalry, remarkable for its mingled valour and purity. Observe how brave and bold, and yet how modest. In this work, Donatello first knew himself. Beneath is a relief of St. George and the Dragon, with the exposed princess, a charming figure, looking on in the background. This last little work may well be compared with the Michel Colombe in the Louvre, as representative of Italian as opposed to French feeling. Compare it also with the plaster cast beneath the Deposition.
DONATELLO. — ST. GEORGE.
By the entrance wall is David with the head of Goliath, in marble — a fine early work whose face should be compared with that of the St. George. In the attitude, which is graceful, there is a little too much of conscious jauntiness. Later, Donatello attains to more modest courage. Close by, a bust of Genevra Cavalcanti, in bronze, is a successful rendering of an unattractive personage. All the casts and originals in this room should be carefully compared with originals elsewhere in Florence. Nowhere else in the world does so good an opportunity exist for becoming acquainted with the style and spirit of this prince of early Renaissance sculpture. Compare particularly all the St. Johns, young and old: and note that some of the former are the boy ascetic in the desert, while others are just the joyous young patron of Florence. These two boyish figures, St. John the Baptist and David, lie at the root of Renaissance sculpture in Tuscany.
The Second Hall, very dark, contains chiefly tapestries.
The Third Hall, once the Audience Chamber of the Podestà, has a collection of bronzes, pictures, and small decorative objects (the Carrand Collection), impossible to enumerate in close detail, though many of them deserve the greatest attention. It was given by a French benefactor, and is quite as largely French as Florentine. On the entrance wall is a fragment of the School of Taddeo Gaddi, with St. Michael the Archangel and St. Catherine; above it, a quaint Judgment of Paris; higher still, an early example of the Florentine group of the Madonna with St. John the Baptist. The opposite side of the door has several interesting pictures, Coronation of the Virgin, Christ and the Magdalen, Decollation of a Saint, and a charming triptych with Madonna and Child and Florentine saints, reminiscent or prophetic of Filippino Lippi. The Noli Me Tangere, St. Veronica’s Towel, and others, are well worth notice.
The first case contains bronzes of the Renaissance and earlier, including, end, a grotesque Old French St. George and the Dragon, with other quaint equestrian figures. On the side toward the window are beautiful Renaissance bronzes: Hercules and Antæus, Plenty, Pomona, a Satyr, mostly by Riccio, a beautiful Amorino, an affected sixteenth century Venetian Fortuna, a fine Mars, Hercules, etc. I do not enumerate these, or the works on the window wall opposite them, among which note a very quaint Marriage of St. Catherine, but all deserve detailed inspection. On the right wall, farther on, are exquisite Flemish panels, an Annunciation, an Adoration of the Magi, a Presentation, etc., etc.; among them, a good Madonna by Hugo Van der Goes. In the next case, centre, are early mosaics, Limoges, and otherwise; a fine crosier, 648; 649, an admirable San Marziale; 650, a reliquary, with the Maries at the Sepulchre; 654, another, with saints and angels; 667, the four Evangelists with their symbols; a good crucifix, Madonnas, etc. I leave these to their labels. At the opposite side is a fine German Flagellation. All need close inspection. The third case contains exquisite ivories, which must be similarly examined by the spectator in detail. On the left side, 175, is a quaint group of Mercury and Polymela, with Venus and Adonis; 164, Triumph of Love; beneath, combs, etc., very curious: identify their subjects. 154 is a quaint Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate, with Stem of Jesse; French art of the fifteenth century. 153 is a characteristic Burgundian St. Catherine, trampling on her persecutor, of a type which will be familiar to visitors to the Louvre. 97 and 98 form a delicious Lombard fourteenth century diptych, with the Nativity, Annunciation, Visitation, Adoration of the Magi, and their visit to Herod. Note this closely. Beside it, 123, is a charming French casket, subjects amply described on labels. 99 is a French diptych, with scenes from the life of Christ, all obvious except the top right hand compartment, which has the common French subject of the Last Judgment, with Resurrection beneath and Christ enthroned above between angels holding the instruments of the Passion, with the Madonna and St. John (or Sainte Geneviève?) kneeling on either side of him; this is exactly like the tympanum of Notre Dame and the Sainte Chapelle. 95 and 96 compose a similar early French diptych, including a Coronation of the Virgin. Notice the regal and affected French type of Madonna. I mention a few only of these beautiful works, but the visitor should inspect and identify each separately. On the opposite side, 60 and 61, are early French chessmen, kings. 26 is an Italo-Byzantine casket, with antique subjects; above it, 93, a quaint French Annunciation. 91 and 92 are French Madonnas. The type will be familiar again to visitors to Cluny and the Louvre. Beneath, 42, is an exquisite early German altar-front of the eleventh century. 24 is a beautiful Byzantine eighth century figure of the Empress Irene. 19, 20, 21 are Roman works of the intermediate period between the classical and the Byzantine or Romanesque art. All these should be closely studied; the Adam in Paradise, naming the beasts, is extremely luminous. Inspect also the little panels beneath them. 35, the Maries at the Sepulchre, is particularly interesting. In some of these works, such as 35, 37, and 38, we get early forms of subjects afterward conventionalised by Christian art. Search in these for the springs of later motives.
The last case contains arms and armour.
The door at the end has an early (fourteenth century) coloured relief of the Madonna and Child, adored by a Podestà, in the lunette — the Authorities of Florence bowing to Religion. It gives access to Hall Four, the ancient Chapel, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen. The walls are covered with sadly damaged frescoes, now scarcely discernible. The end wall, with window representing St. John the Baptist, has a fresco of Paradise, attributed to Giotto (more likely a pupil), like Andrea Orcagna’s fresco of the same scene in the Strozzi chapel at Santa Maria Novella. This is interesting to most people chiefly because of the (over-restored) figure of Dante to the right of the window below. But the work itself has also high artistic value. The right wall has frescoes from the life of St. Mary Magdalen, the dedicatory saint. Only a few figures of the frescoes can now be recognised. But the series once ran thus, and can still be identified on bright days, beginning at the top to the left. First, the Magdalen at the feast in the house of Levi; second, the raising of Lazarus; third, entirely gone, Magdalen at the Crucifixion; fourth, the Maries at the Sepulchre; fifth, Christ and the Magdalen in the Garden; sixth, the Angel feeding the Magdalen in the Cave in Provence; seventh, St. Maximin bringing her the last sacrament; eighth, the death of the Magdalen. (I can find no trace of the sister subject, St. Mary of Egypt, mentioned in many guide-books: the opposite wall has the miracle of the Merchant of Marseilles, as at Santa Croce.)
To the left of the empty space once occupied by the altar, is St. Jerome in the desert; right of it, Madonna and Child, by a scholar of Ghirlandajo. The case between contains fine articles of church furniture, including a Last Supper, with Christ washing the feet of Peter. The room also contains other interesting objects: Madonna and Child in painted wood by Dello Delli (?); a crucifix with the lamb of St. John the Baptist in the centre at the back; and a few old mosaics.
The small room beyond the chapel has an early fresco of the Madonna and Child, a good vaulted roof, and several interesting bits of early needlework, the subjects on which should be carefully noted. On the entrance wall, the angels lifting the Magdalen in the desert.
The next room, the Fifth Hall, to the right, contains on the end wall (avoid it) some ghastly illustrations of the plague, and other works of a similar character, in coloured wax. The centre case has ivories of later dates, some of them excellent in execution, but uninteresting for the most part in design and treatment. The best are two St. Sebastians, probably votive plague-offerings. In the centre is a fine early triptych, with saints (all easily recognised) and scenes from the Passion. A few early works at the farther end of the case also deserve close attention. In the centre case are glass objects, which examine individually. To the right are Limoges enamels; to the left, nautilus shells, mounted as jugs and vases. In the next case are ivory works, Oriental and other, which are merely ingenious and nothing more. The taste of most of them is execrable. In the last case is fine silver work. Observe in all these rooms the fine ceilings, frescoes, and internal decorations. As at Cluny, but even more so, the building itself is here one of the best parts of the museum.
The next room, the Sixth Hall, contains bronzes, reliefs, and statues of the early Renaissance. All these deserve the closest attention. To the right of the door is a St. John the Baptist in the Desert, by Michelozzo, an early example of the comparative abandonment of the merely ascetic ideal. Compare and bear in mind all these various Baptists: their importance is fundamental. Right of the door is also a fine bas-relief by Bertoldo, of a battle between Romans and barbarians, inspired by the antique, and full of classical feeling. The Victories and nude figures to right and left are especially admirable. Above it is a good bust of the Duke of Urbino; beneath, a reliquary of St. Protus and St. Hyacinthus, by Lorenzo Ghiberti; fine flying angels. The case, beyond, contains fine imitation antique and Renaissance statuettes. In the centre of the room, is * *Verrocchio’s beautiful bronze David with the head of Goliath, one of its sculptor’s masterpieces. The head foreshadows Leonardo; the curls are delicious; the easy assured pose may be compared or contrasted with the Donatello and the Michael Angelo. The thin veined arms, however, — perhaps of an apprentice model, — are evidently influenced by the ascetic mediæval ideal: compare the figures in Verrocchio’s (painted) Baptism of Christ in the Belle Arti. The whole attitude of this David, in spite of its meagre limbs, is striking and graceful. This work should be looked at in contrast with Donatello on the one hand and with Michael Angelo and Benvenuto Cellini on the other.
On the end wall are * *two gilt bronze panels, the sacrifice of Isaac by *Brunelleschi and * *Ghiberti respectively. These were the panels which were sent in by the two artists as specimens of their handiwork in the competition for the Second Gates of the Baptistery in 1402. The superiority of Ghiberti’s design in composition and plastic calm is very apparent. At the same time, the elements of conventional treatment common to the two scenes are worth close comparison. The positions of most of the actors and accessories are fairly constant. Observe the quiet strength and repose of Ghiberti, contrasted with the bustle and strain of Brunelleschi. One is like a sculptor’s work, the other like an engineer’s.
Beneath these is Lorenzo Vecchietta’s fine *recumbent statue for a tomb, in which a successful attempt is made to put greater naturalness into this type of monument. Above is a good Crucifixion by Bertoldo.
On the wall to the right is a Crucifixion, by Donatello, partly gilt. All the attitudes in this admirable scene are worth careful notice. Observe at how much earlier a date sculpture succeeded in emancipating itself from conventional trammels than did painting. No contemporary picture has the freedom and ease of the Roman soldier nailing the feet of the Impenitent Thief nor of the long-haired Magdalen in the foreground to the left, nor of the semi-nude figure with shield beyond it; nor of St. Longinus (distinguished by his halo) with his hand to his mouth, just above the last-mentioned figure. Study closely this admirable relief. It will well repay you.
The Seventh Hall, beyond, contains the work in bronze of the High Renaissance up to the point where it verges toward the Decadence. Among so many noble works as are contained in this room, it is difficult to make a selection: besides, very few of them need explanation. Note, however, the Ganymede and the eagle, attributed to Benvenuto Cellini, with its admirable ease of poise, and its perfect equilibrium. (Compare with similar antiques in the Uffizi.) Also the Antoninus Pius, which is a successful fifteenth century imitation of the antique. Look at Daniele da Volterra’s *bust of Michael Angelo; and, close beside it, Sansovino’s Christ in Glory. In a glass case is Cellini’s sketch in bronze for the Perseus of the Loggia dei Lanzi, differing slightly in detail from the model finally adopted. Beside it is an admirably executed but not pleasing bust of Cosimo I., a subject to try the greatest sculptor. Beyond, again, is a *wax model of the Perseus, differing much more markedly from the form at last adopted; further on, * *Cellini’s original relief for the base of the Perseus, the Release of Andromeda, now replaced in the Loggia by a cast: a most beautiful piece of consummate metal work. Close by is a fine Venus by Giovanni da Bologna; also on the end wall his Galatea, a successful figure. All the small works on this wall should be carefully noted. In the centre of the room, Giovanni da Bologna’s celebrated *Mercury, too often copied, perhaps the lightest work in bronze ever executed. Its poise is wonderful. It seems to soar naturally. But reproductions have vulgarised it. Fine bronze candelabra and other works. I omit many fine specimens of sculpture, such as the copy of the too famous Farnese bull. Do not overlook the handsome wooden ceiling.
The stairs to the upper floor are in Room V., with the late ivories. Go back to it.
The first department at which we arrive, Room I., has a fine timber roof, and is decorated with several original frescoes, those on the end wall, left, being attributed to the ever dubious Giottino. That to the left, a fragment, probably forms part of a Joachim expelled from the Temple (?). To the right is a Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate, — only Joachim and the two servants with the rejected offering remaining. Compare with other frescoes of corresponding scenes, and you will be able to judge of these identifications. In the centre is a Madonna and Child, with Florentine saints, greatly injured.
GIOVANNI DA BOLOGNA. — MERCURY.
The entrance wall has beautiful Della Robbia Madonnas, with crowning hands, angels, and other features. Two of these are the favourite subject of the Madonna Adoring the Child. The face of the * *central one is inexpressibly beautiful. Beyond the door is a Madonna supporting the dead Christ, by Ghirlandajo, a fine fresco; further on a fresco of Justice, between two suitors, attributed to Rossi; beyond the window a Madonna and draped Child, of the later School of Giotto.
On the end wall are more Della Robbias; above, by Giovanni, Christ and the woman of Samaria; beneath, by Andrea and Luca, Madonna and Child. In the earlier type (Luca and Andrea) the figures are usually white on a blue ground: later works of the same school (Giovanni, etc.), such as the Christ and the Woman of Samaria above, are in polychrome, and less pleasing.
On the left wall, returning, are Christ and the Magdalen in the garden, of the later period; beneath, in the predella, St. Francis receiving the stigmata (compare with pictures), the Resurrection, and the Maries at the Tomb. Beyond the window are more Della Robbias; a charming little Annunciation, good Ascension, a Madonna adoring the Child (with delicious baby St. John of Florence), a Nativity, and a lunette of St. Augustin. After seeing these Della Robbias, look out for similar lunettes and medallions over the doors or arcades of Florentine houses and churches (Ognissanti, Hospital of San Paolo, Innocenti, etc.). Beyond the next window, again, is a Madonna adoring the Child. In this room (with the next) you have the best opportunity afforded you of learning to admire and love the Della Robbias, especially Luca.
LUCA DELLA ROBBIA. — MADONNA.
Room II., at the far end of this one, contains more Della Robbia ware, of various ages; over the door a florid Annunciation, not so successful, somewhat vulgar in its colouring; right of the door, a Nativity, with shepherds in the background, ox and ass, little St. John of Florence, and adoring angels. Notice the inscriptions. This work exhibits the declining taste of the sixteenth century. The faces of St. John and the Madonna should be compared with the infinitely more beautiful works by Luca and Andrea in the previous room and in this one. Note in each case to which of the family each work is attributed. The best are by Luca, then Andrea, while with Giovanni the type degenerates. At the end wall is a dainty tabernacle, with angels, for holding the elements; above it a charming Madonna; in the centre, a *beautiful lunette with delicious angels adoring the Madonna. Beneath it is a good Andrea, circular Madonna; right and left, charming Lucas. To the left is a debased Madonna in a circle. On the window wall, opposite the door, is a Madonna della Misericordia, crowned as usual, and sheltering votaries under her mantle. (Look out in future for this specialised type of Our Lady.) Between the next windows is a Virgin between two saints (Anne and Giovanni Gualberto), with donors, by Giovanni, better than his wont; above it a Deposition with St. Mary Magdalen holding her box of ointment; to the left, a pretty little group of the infant Christ and the boy Baptist, rather coarsely executed. Between the second and third windows are St. Joseph, with his budded staff, and St. Augustin. In the next group of subjects observe again the boy Baptist of Florence, twice repeated, and the Ascension, with Christ in a mandorla. The Coronation of the Virgin, beyond, has *the Madonna by Luca, with later added angels in the worst style of the family. Between the fifth and sixth windows is a rather theatrical Resurrection; above it, an equally theatrical Christ and the Magdalen. This again indicates the declining taste of the sixteenth century. So do the Madonna between two saints (James, Giovanni Gualberto), and the Miracle of St. Benedict beyond it. On the end wall is an ill-coloured and unpleasing late Nativity; above, St. Ursula, crowned as princess and with her palm of martyrdom. The Christ and the Magdalen over the door is sadly decadent. Returning along the other wall an unpleasing Pietà is passed. Between the first and second windows is a frieze of Christ and the Sacred Blood, and saints in niches, Sebastian, Magdalen, Baptist, and Matthew the Evangelist with book and angel. The combination seems to indicate a votive plague work.
Between the second and third windows are more pleasing examples: Madonnas adoring and otherwise; a good St. Catherine; dainty boy Baptist; and a good portrait of a lady. The support of the central Madonna, by Francesco di Simone (with the face of Christ on St. Veronica’s towel, and charming cherubs), is worth notice. In the centre are specimens of fine Italian ware of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The subjects and decorations of many of these are well worth notice.
Room III., below the steps, very dark, contains tapestries and glass. On the entrance wall are three beautiful coloured Madonnas; near the window, another. These charming works need no explanation, but should all be noticed for their truth and beauty.
Now traverse again Rooms II. and I., and arrive at Room IV., at the end, containing sculpture, chiefly of the earlier Renaissance.
To the right of the door is an Orcagna (?), Music, on a beautiful twisted column, recalling those in Or San Michele. The figure is one of Orcagna’s ideal representations, and very charming.
Over the door is a late Della Robbia; beyond the door are terra-cottas. Observe here, once more, the dominant influence of the youthful St. John the Baptist, who colours so much of Florentine Renaissance ideals. Here is a *beautiful little statuette by Michelozzo of the boy Baptist starting for the desert. Observe the difference between this subject and St. John in the desert. Then there is a *statuette, by an unknown Florentine of the sixteenth century, of the young Baptist as a recluse; the alternative treatment; beyond it, a baby St. John, with his mouth open; another by Rossellino, much injured. On the same wall are two Penitent St. Jeromes (note the lion), companions to the St. Johns and Magdalens; as well as copies in terra-cotta by Niccolò Tribolo of Michael Angelo’s Night, Dawn, etc., in the New Sacristy at San Lorenzo. Note likewise a good head of *Piero de’ Medici, by Verrocchio, and other portrait works.
By the left wall is a very quaint early Christian sarcophagus (of the fourth century), with a slight Oriental tinge in its sculpture; in the left compartment is Jonah cast out by the sailors; in the right compartment, Jonah returned to land by the whale. The same subject occurs on an ambo at Ravello. Notice the corner faces, with caps recalling the Mithra reliefs. Above is a bust by Rossellino; a curious early Tuscan Crucifixion, with St. John and Madonna; Madonna and angel; Madonna and Child, by Alberto d’Arnoldo; and a quaint early relief of San Frediano of Lucca. Here also is a *good portrait-bust by Benedetto da Majano; higher up, a picture of the school of Andrea Pisano, Madonna and Child, between patron saints of Florence; on the left, Santa Reparata, with her red-cross flag; on the right, St. John the Baptist.
On the window wall is a sepulchral figure of a bishop, flanked on either side by naïve Romanesque reliefs of Christ and St. Benedict, and the Call of Peter and Andrew; above them, the *Apostles, of the school of Andrea Pisano.
On the right wall is a *lifelike bust, by Rossellino, of Francesco Sassetti, full of character; to balance it, a *bust of an unknown fifteenth century Florentine, with thick under lip, instinct with keen penetration; the sculptor unknown. Between them is a * *fine relief by Verrocchio, from the tomb of Francesca Pitti Tornabuoni, the only one now remaining of this fine series. The treatment is thoroughly antique. The figures represent: on the right, the death of Francesca in childbirth, with attendants mourning and tearing their hair; to the extreme right, the new-born infant; on the left, the child brought by its nurse to the widowed father. This is one of the earliest examples of such entirely classical and almost pagan treatment, which culminates in the frank paganism of Riccio’s fine bronzes in the Louvre. Above is a *charming Virgin and Child, of the School of Verrocchio. Another, with a curious head-dress, by Rossellino. Also three admirable portrait-reliefs, sufficiently described on their labels. That of *Francesca Sforza is full of character.
VERROCHIO. — VIRGIN AND CHILD.
Room V. contains works in marble of the High Renaissance. On the entrance wall, left of the door, is a fine bust of a Florentine lady. By the left wall is a charming little St. John, starting for the desert, by Rossellino. Note again the marked difference of attitude between a St. John setting out and a St. John in the desert. On the same wall are a *Virgin and Child, by Verrocchio; a half-length portrait-statue of a lady, by the same; a relief of Faith, by Matteo Civitale; above, two apostles of the school of Andrea Pisano, and farther on, a *dainty bust of a child, by an unknown fifteenth century Florentine. Above it is a candelabrum, one of a pair by Benedetto da Majano, decorative work and children in his most charming manner. In the centre of the wall is a round relief of *the Madonna adoring the Child, by Rossellino, with shed, ox, and ass, St. Joseph, shepherds, etc., and a delicious ring of baby cherubs; beyond, a young St. John, by the same, intermediate between the ascetic and later joyous treatment. A *Virgin and Child, with gilt background, by Mino da Fiesole, has near it another, closely resembling it in type, by a scholar of Mino, in a delicate frame of pietra serena. A portrait-bust by Desiderio da Settignano, an exquisite little *tabernacle for the elements of the Eucharist, with troops of guardian angels, somewhat marred by unpleasant perspective, and, close by, Mino da Fiesole’s little Cupid, for a fountain, are also by this wall.
On the end wall are numerous reliefs of the period verging on the Decadence; a Crucifixion of St. Peter, by Della Robbia, very much injured; and a Justice, by Benedetto da Majano. The other works, including the Liberation of Peter, by Luca della Robbia, explain themselves or are explained by their labels.
By the window wall is a rather coarse early Florentine Coronation of Charlemagne, partly restored in plaster. Beyond it, a Tabernacle by Mino da Fiesole, architecturally very pretty; and in the centre, Michael Angelo’s unfinished David (or Apollo); a *young St. John, by Benedetto da Majano; and a Bacchus, by Jacopo Sansovino, which is really its pagan Renaissance equivalent. (How readily the one passes into the other is well shown by the Leonardo in the Louvre.)
By the entrance wall, again, are *three good portrait-busts and a charming Madonna and Child, by Mino da Fiesole. The bust of *Piero de’ Medici (nearest the window), with the swollen look, is admirable and lifelike. His imitation of the antique, in the young Marcus Aurelius, may be compared with the St. John the Baptist and the Bacchus.
I have said little of these works, again, merely because they do not need explanation. What they most require is appreciative study. Observe in this hall the fine wooden ceiling.
Room VI. has a good collection of seals, and some singularly ugly Gobelins tapestry.