said he to Signor Gualdi. The other made no answer hour?" said I to the gondolier. "I cannot guess, Sir; but by a low bow. Yet you look,' he continued, but, if I am not mistaken, it is the lover's hour."like a man of fifty; and I know this picture to be "Let us go home," I replied; and he turned the prow of the hand of Titian, who has been dead one hun- homeward, singing, as he rowed, the twenty-sixth dred and thirty years. How is this possible?' 'It is not easy,' said Signor Gualdi gravely, to know all things that are possible; but there is certainly no crime in my being like a picture of Titian's.' The Venetian perceived that he had given offence, and took his leave. strophe of the sixteenth canto of the Jerusalem Delivered. Note 52, page 51, col. 1. The young Bianca found her father's door. Bianca Capello. It had been shut by a baker's boy, "In the evening he could not forbear mentioning as he passed by, at day-break; and in her despair she what had passed to some of his friends, who resolved fled with her lover to Florence, where he fell by asto satisfy themselves the next day by seeing the pic-sassination. Her beauty, and her love-adventure as ture. For this purpose they went to the coffee-house here related, her marriage afterwards with the Grand about the time that Signor Gualdi was accustomed Duke, and that fatal banquet at which they were both to come there; and, not meeting with him, inquired poisoned by the Cardinal, his brother, have rendered at his lodgings, where they learned that he had set out an hour before for Vienna. This affair made a great stir at the time." her history a romance. The Capello Palace is on the Canale di Canonico; and the postern-door, la porta di strada, is still on its hinges. It opens into one of those narrow alleys so numerous at Venice. Note 53, page 51, col. 1. It was St. Mary's Eve. Note 47, page 50, col. 1. A Frenchman of high rank, who had been robbed at Venice, and had complained in conversation of the This circumstance took place at Venice on the first negligence of the Police, was on his way back to of February, the eve of the feast of the Purification the Terra Firma, when his gondola stopped suddenly of the Virgin, A. D. 944, Pietro Candiano, Doge. in the midst of the waves. He inquired the reason; and his gondoliers pointed to a boat with a red flag, that had just made them a signal. It arrived; and he was called on board. "You are the Prince de Note 54, page 51, col. 1. "E'l costume era, che tutte le novizzie con tutta la Craon? Were you not robbed on Friday evening?- dote loro venissero alla detta Chiesa, dov'era il ves I was. Of what? Of five hundred ducats. And where were they?-In a green purse.-Do you suspect any body ? I do, a servant. Would you know him again? Certainly." The Interrogator with his foot turned aside an old cloak that lay there; and the Prince beheld his purse in the hand of a dead man. "Take it; and remember that none set their feet again in a country where they have presumed to doubt the wisdom of the government." Note 48, page 50, col. 2. La Biondina in Gondoletta. Note 49, page 50, col. 2. Those Porches. In the Piazzetta. "C'était sous les portiques de Saint-Marc que les patriciens se réunissaient tous les jours. Le nom de cette promenade indiquait sa destination; on l'appellait il Broglio."-DARU. Note 50, page 50, col. 2. Then in close converse. covo con tutta la chieresia." - SANUTO. Note 55, page 51, col. 1. Her veil, transparent as the gossamer. Among the Habiti Antichi, in that admirable book of wood-cuts ascribed to Titian (A. D. 1590), there is one entitled Sposa Venetiana a Castello. It was taken from an old painting in the Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista, and by the Writer is believed to represent one of the Brides here described. Note 56, page 51, col. 2. San Pietro di Castello, the Patriarchal church of Note 57, page 51, col. 2. Well are they known, the galliot and the galley. "Una galera e una galeotta."-SANUTO. Note 58, page 52, col. 1. Laid at his feet. They were to be seen in the treasury of St. Mark I am indebted for this thought to some unpublished very lately. travels by the author of Vathek. Note 51, page 50, col. 2. and he sung, As in the time when Venice was herself. Goldoni, describing his excursion with the Passalacqua, has left us a lively picture of this class of men. Note 59, page 52, col. 1. And through the city in a stately barge. "Le quali con trionfo si conducessero sopra una piatta pe 'canali di Venezia con suoni e canti."-SANUTO. Note 60, page 52, col. 1. the Rialto. An English abbreviation. Rialto is the name of the island from which the bridge is called; and the Venetians say il ponte di Rialto, as we say Westminster-bridge. We were no sooner in the middle of that great lagoon which encircles the City, than our discreet gondolier drew the curtain behind us, and let us float at the will of the waves. At length night came on, and we could not tell where we were. "What is the In that island is the Exchange; and I have often Note 69, page 54, col. 2. walked there as on classic ground. In the days of Antonio and Bassanio it was second to none. "I sottoportichi," says Sansovino, writing in 1580, “sono This village, says Boccaccio, hitherto almost unogni giorno frequentati da i mercatanti Fiorentini, known even at Padua, is soon to become famous Genovesi, Milanesi, Spagnuoli, Turchi, e d'altre na- through the World; and the sailor on the Adriatic tioni diverse del mondo, i quali vi concorrono in tanta will prostrate himself, when he discovers the Eucopía, che questa piazza è annoverata fra le prime dell' ganean hills. "Among them," will he say, "sleeps universo." It was there that the Christian held dis- the Poet who is our glory. Ah, unhappy Florence! course with the Jew; and Shylock refers to it, when You neglected him-You deserved him not." he says, Signor Antonio, maný a time and oft, "Andiamo a Rialto"-" L'ora di Rialto"-were on There is a place adjoining, called Rialto Nuovo; and so called, according to Sansovino, "perche fu fabbricato dopo il vecchio." Note 61, page 52, col. 1. Twenty are sitting as in judgment there. The Council of Ten and the Giunta, "nel quale," says Sanuto, "fu messer lo doge." The Giunta at the first examination consisted of ten Patricians, at the last of twenty. Note 62, page 52, col. 2. -that maid, at once the fairest, noblest. She was a Contarini; a name coeval with the Republic, and illustrated by eight Doges. On the occasion of their marriage, the Bucentaur came out in its splendor; and a bridge of boats was thrown across the Canal Grandé for the Bridegroom and his retinue of three hundred horse. Sanuto dwells with pleasure on the costliness of the dresses and the magnificence of the processions by land and water. The tourna Note 70, page 54, col. 2. He built his house. "I have built, among the Euganean hills, a small house decent and proper; in which I hope to pass the rest of my days, thinking always of my dead or absent friends." When the Venetians overran the country, Petrarch prepared for flight. "Write your name over your door," said one of his friends, "and you will be safe." "I am not so sure of that," replied Petrarch, and fled with his books to Padua. His books he left to the Republic of Venice; but they exist no longer. His legacy to Francis Carrara, a Madonna painted by Giotto, is still preserved in the cathedral of Padua. Note 71, page 54, col. 2. See an Essay on his Character, lately written by a Note 72, page 54, col. 2. Affirming itself to be the very bucket which Tassoni in his mock heroics has celebrated as the cause ments in the Place of St. Mark lasted three days, of war between Bologna and Modena five hundred and were attended by thirty thousand people. Note 63, page 53, col. 1. I have transgress'd, offended, wilfully. It was a high crime to solicit the intercession of any Foreign Prince. Note 64, page 53, col. 2. the Invisible Three. years ago. If true, it is in wonderful preservation. Note 73, page 54, col. 2. Commonly called Domenichino. Note 74, page 56, col. 2. Among other instances of her ascendency at the The State-Inquisitors. For an account of their close of the thirteenth century, it is related that authority, see page 52. Note 65, page 53, col. 2. It found him on his knees before the altar. Note 66, page 54, col. 1. Florence saw twelve of her citizens assembled at the Court of Boniface the Eighth, as Ambassadors from different parts of Europe and Asia. Their names are mentioned in Toscana Illustrata. Note 75, page 56, col. 2. A chapel of the Holy Virgin in the church of the A remarkable instance, among others in the annals Carmelites. It is adorned with his paintings, and all of Venice, that her princes were merchants. Note 67, page 54, col. 1. And from that hour have kindred spirits flock'd. Note 68, page 54, col. 1. the great artists of Florence studied there; Lionardo da Vinci, Fra Bartolomeo, Andrea del Sarto, Michael Angelo, Raphael, etc. He had no stone, no inscription, says one of his biographers, for he was thought little of in his life time. Se alcun cercasse il marmo, o il nome mio, A tradition. Note 76, page 56, col. 2. Note 77, page 56, col. 2. Hadst plagued him sore, and carefully requiting. Such as condemn'd his mortal part to fire: At home, abroad; still and as oft inclined To eat, drink, sleep; still clad as others were, (So says the Bard, and who can read and doubt?) Sit thee down awhile; A more dreadful vehicle for satire cannot well be conceived. Note 78, page 56, col. 2. To fire. In 1302, he was sentenced, if taken, to be burned. Inferno, xix. Note 80, page 56, col. 2. Nor then forget that Chamber of the Dead. He was the father of modern painting, and the master of Giotto, whose talent he discovered in the way here alluded to. "Cimabuè stood still, and, having considered the boy and his work, he asked him, if he would go and live with him at Florence? To which the boy answered that, if his father was willing, he would go The Chapel de' Depositi; in which are the tombs with all his heart."-VASARI. of the Medici, by Michael Angelo. Note 81, page 56, col. 2. That is the Duke Lorenzo. Mark him well. He died early; living only to become the father of Catharine de Medicis. Had an evil spirit assumed the human shape to propagate mischief, he could not have done better. The statue is larger than the life, but not so large as to shock belief. It is the most real and unreal thing that ever came from the chisel. Note 82, page 57, col. 1. On that thrice-hallow'd day. The day of All Souls. Il dì de' Morti. Note 83, page 57, col. 1. It must be known-the writing on the wall. Perhaps there is nothing in language more affecting than his last testament. It is addressed "To God, the Deliverer," and was found steeped in his blood. Note 84, page 57, col. 1. The first Grand Duke. Note 85, page 57, col. 1. The President De Thou. Alfieri has written a tragedy on the subject; if it may be said so, when he has altered so entirely the story and the characters. Note 86, page 57, col. 1. Of the children that survived her, one fell by a Of Cimabuè little now remains at Florence, except his celebrated Madonna, larger than the life, in Santa Maria Novella. It was painted, according to Vasari, in a garden near Porta S. Piero, and, when finished, was carried to the church in solemn procession with trumpets before it. The garden lay without the walls; and such was the rejoicing there on the occasion, that the suburb received the name of Borgo Allegri, a name it still bears, though now a part of the city. Note 91, page 57, col. 2. Beautiful Florence. It is somewhere mentioned that Michael Angelo, when he set out from Florence to build the dome of St. Peter's, turned his horse round in the road to contemplate once more that of the cathedral, as it rose in the grey of the morning from among the pines and cypresses of the city, and that he said after a pause, "Come te non voglio! Meglio di te non posso!" He never indeed spoke of it but with admiration; and if we may believe tradition, his tomb by his own desire was to be so placed in the Santa Croce as that from it might be seen, when the doors of the church stood open, that noble work of Bru neleschi. Note 92, page 57, col. 2. -that church among the rest. Santa Maria Novella. For its grace and beauty it was called by Michael Angelo "La Sposa." Note 93, page 57, col. 2. Those who assembled there at matin-prayers. In the year of the Great Plague. Like thee I will not build one. Better than theo I cannot. Note 105, page 58, col. 2. Down by the City of Hermits. Il Sagro Eremo. Note 106, page 58, col. 2. Hands, clad in gloves of steel, held up imploring. It was in this manner that the first Sforza went down, when he perished in the Pescara. Note 107, page 58, col. 2. What follows is a description of the Cartoon of Pisa. Note 108, page 59, col. 1. And lo, an atom on that dangerous sea. Petrarch, as we learn from himself, was on his way to Incisa; whither his mother was retiring. He was seven months old at the time. Note 109, page 59, col. 1. O ego quantus eram, gelidi cum stratus ad Arni Note 110, page 59, col. 1. Towerless. There were the "Nobili di Torre" and the "Nobili di Loggia." Note 111, page 59, col. 2. Giovanni Buondelmonte was on the point of marrying an Amidei, when a widow of the Donati family made him break his engagement in the manner here described. The Amidei washed away the affront with his blood, attacking him, says Villani, at the foot of the Ponte Vecchio; and hence the wars of the Guelphs Ghibellines. La Verdea. It is celebrated by Rinuccini, Redi, and the and most of the Tuscan Poets. Note 101, page 58, col. 2. Note 102, page 58, col. 2. His cottage (justly was it call'd The Jewel). Note 103, page 58, col. 2. Milton went to Italy in 1638. "There it was," says he, " that I found and visited the famous Galileo, grown old, a prisoner to the Inquisition." "Old and blind," he might have said. Galileo, by his own account, became blind in December, 1637. Milton, as we learn from the date of Sir Henry Wotton's letter to him, had not left England on the 18th of April following. See TIRABOSCHI, and WOTTON'S Remains. Note 104, page 58, col. 2. They rise within thirteen miles of each other. O Buondelmonte, quanto mal fuggisti Le nozze sue, per gli altrui conforti! Note 112, page 59, col. 2. Dante. It had been well, hadst thou slept on, Imelda. The story is Bolognese, and is told by Cherubino Ghiradacci in his history of Bologna. Her lover was of the Guelphic party, her brothers of the Ghibelline; and no sooner was this act of violence made known, than an enmity, hitherto but half-suppressed, broke out into open war. The Great Place was a scene of battle and bloodshed for forty successive days; nor was a reconciliation accomplished till six years afterwards, when the families and their adherents met there once again, and exchanged the kiss of peace before the Cardinal Legate; as the rival families of Florence had already done in the Place of S. Maria Novella. Every house on the occasion was hung with tapestry and garlands of flowers. Note 113, page 59, col. 2. Sucking the poison. genius have been produced in times of tumult; when their speed in the morning; and at supper was gay every man was his own master, and all things were beyond measure. When he retired, he sent for her open to all. Homer, Dante, and Milton appeared in into his apartment; and, pressing her tenderly to his such times; and we may add Virgil.1 Note 115, page 59, col. 2. In every Palace was The Laboratory. bosom, slipped a cord round her neck. Eleonora appears to have had a presentiment of her fate. She went when required; but, before she set out, took leave of her son, then a child; weeping As in those of Cosmo I. and his son Francis. Sts- long and bitterly over him. MONDI, Xvi, 205. Note 116, page 59, col. 2. Cruel Tophana. A Sicilian, the inventress of many poisons; the most celebrated of which, from its transparency, was called Acquetta, or Acqua Tophana. Note 117, page 60, col. 1. The Cardinal, Ferdinand de' Medici, is said to have been preserved in this manner by a ring which he wore on his finger; as also Andrea, the husband of Giovanna, Queen of Naples. Note 118, page 60, col. 1. One in the floor-now left, alas, unbolted. Il Trabocchetto. See Vocab. degli Accadem. della Crusca. See also Dict. de l'Académie Française. Art. Oubliettes. Note 119, page 60, col. 1. Poggio-Caïano, the favorite villa of Lorenzo; where he often took the diversion of hawking. Pulci sometimes went out with him; though, it seems, with little ardor. See La Caccia col Falcone, where he is described as missing; and as gone into a wood, to rhyme there. Note 120, page 60, col. 1. With his wild lay The Morgante Maggiore. He used to recite it at the table of Lorenzo, in the manner of the ancient Rhapsodists. Note 121, page 60, col. 1. Note 122, page 60, col. 1. But lo, the Sun is setting. I have here endeavored to describe an Italian sunset as I have often seen it. The conclusion is borrowed from that celebrated passage in Dante Era già l'ora, etc. Note 123, page 60, col. 2. when armies met. The Roman and the Carthaginian. Such was the animosity, says Livy, that an earthquake, which turned the course of rivers and overthrew cities and mountains, was felt by none of the combatants. xxii, 5. Note 124, page 60, col. 2. And by a brook. It has been called, from time immemorial, Il Sanguinetto. Note 125, page 61, col. 2. An allusion to the Cascata delle Marmore, a celebrated fall of the Velino near Terni. Note 126, page 61, col. 2. -no bush or green or dry. A sign in our country as old as Shakspeare, and still used in Italy. "Une branche d'arbre, attachée à une maison rustique, nous annonce les moyens de nous rafraîchir. Nous y trouvons du lait et des œufs frais; nous voilà contens." - Mém. de GOLDONI. There is, or was very lately, in Florence a small wine-house with this inscription over the door, Al buon vino non bisogna frasca. Good wine needs no bush. It was much frequented by Salvator Rosa, who drew a portrait of his hostess. Note 127, page 61, col. 2. This upper region, a country of dews and dewy Of that old den far up among the hills. Caffaggiolo, the favorite retreat of Cosmo, " the father of his country." Eleonora di Toledo was stabbed there on the 11th of July, 1576, by her husband, Pietro de' Medici; and on the 16th of the same lights, as described by Virgil and Pliny, and still, I month, Isabella de' Medici was strangled by hers, believe, called La Rosa, is full of beautiful scenery. Paolo Giordano Orsini, at his villa of Cerreto. They Who does not wish to follow the footsteps of Cicero were at Florence, when they were sent for, each in there, to visit the Reatine Tempe and the Seven her turn, Isabella under the pretext of a hunting- Waters? party; and each in her turn went to die. Isabella was one of the most beautiful and accomplished women of the age. In the Latin, French, and Note 128, page 61, col. 2. Many of these circumstances are introduced into a Spanish languages, she spoke not only with fluency, landscape of Annibal Carracci, now in the Louvre. but elegance; and in her own she excelled as an Improvisatrice, accompanying herself on the lute. On her arrival at dusk, Paolo presented her with two beautiful greyhounds, that she might make a trial of 1 The Augustan Age, as it is called, what was it but a dying blaze of the Commonwealth? When Augustus began to reign, Cicero and Lucretius were dead, Catullus had written his sat Note 129, page 62, col. 1. Perhaps the most beautiful villa of that day was the Villa Madama. It is now a ruin; but enough remains of the plan and the grotesque-work to justify Vasari's account of it. The Pastor Fido, if not the Aminta, used to be ires against Casar, and Horace and Virgil were no longer in often represented there; and a theatre, such as is their first youth. Horace had served under Brutus; and Virgil bad been pronounced to be Magnæ spes altera Romæ. here described, was to be seen in the gardens very lately. |