[H]You that walk in the path of love, cast a look upon these walls, where in April 1266, was born Beatrice Portinari, etc.The house of Giovanni Battista Strozzi, named the Blind, the great scholar and philosopher of the 17th century, was beautifully decorated. I remarked also Frescobaldi’s, the friend of Dante, which stands in the Via Maggio, and not far from it, on the Piazza Santa Trinità, the house in which Robert Dudley, an English mathematician of the 17th century lived, whose memory still survives in Florence.In Sta. Maria Maggiore, I observed a tablet which marks the spot where Brunetto Latini, Dante’s master, is buried. Under the name was written the following line from the Divina Comedia, which is deservedly considered a grander and more lasting monument than any that could be erected in marble:“M’insegnavate come l’uom s’eterna.“[I][I]You taught me how a man becomes immortal.On the Piazza del Duomo, is the “Sasso di Dante,” a stone upon which the great man often sat in meditations, as lofty and grand as the glorious Dome on which he was silently gazing.In a niche in the wall over that spot, was placed the bust of Dante, surrounded by laurel wreaths and flowers. The Piazza dei Signori, looked magnificent and most beautiful of all that partwhich is formed by the Loggia dei Lanzi, under whose noble arches are placed some of the finest works of art: the Theseus by Benvenuto Cellini, the Rape of the Sabines by Giovanni di Bologna, and others. This gem of architecture is at all times splendid, but now its walls were covered with the most exquisite Gobelin tapestry, after designs by Michael Angelo. They represented the history of Adam and Eve, from their creation to their expulsion from Paradise.The greatest care had however been bestowed on the decoration of the Piazza Santa Croce, where the inauguration of the national monument to Dante was to take place. This piazza is a large oblong space, whose houses were covered with flowers and rich red silk hangings, and the background was formed by the splendid marble façade of the church of Santa Croce. The piazza had been boarded and carpeted all over, and raised seats were erected for the spectators who had obtained tickets. When these seats and the windows round the piazza were all filled, principally with ladies, in the most elegant spring toilets, the effect was the gayest imaginable.Behind the seats were placed thirty-eight paintings imitating bas-relief, illustrating the life of Dante. The first represented him when, nine yearsold, he first saw Beatrice, in the house of her father; the last showed his burial in Ravenna. There were also the portraits of about forty celebrated contemporaries, translators, or commentators of Dante.Round the piazza were placed rich banners of Florence and Tuscany, the poles of which were festooned with wreaths of laurels and flowers. On the pole of each banner was placed a tablet with some verses from the great poem of Dante; many of which anticipated the great political and religious events of the day, for the accomplishment of which 550 years ago, Dante had longed with passionate desire. I noted down a few, which I will transcribe here.Soleva Roma, che’l buon mondo feo,Duo Soli aver, che l’una e l’altra stradaFacean vedere, e del mondo e di Deo.L’un l’altro ha spento, ed è giunta la spadaCol pastorale: e l’un coll ’altro insiemePer viva forza mal convien che vada.[J]Purgatorio, Canto 26.[J]Rome, that turned once the world to goodWas wont to boast two suns, whose several beamsCast light in either way; the world’s and God’s.One since has quenched the other, and the swordIs grafted on the crook; and so conjoinedEach must perforce decline to worse, unawedBy fear of other.Cary’s translation.
[H]You that walk in the path of love, cast a look upon these walls, where in April 1266, was born Beatrice Portinari, etc.
[H]You that walk in the path of love, cast a look upon these walls, where in April 1266, was born Beatrice Portinari, etc.
The house of Giovanni Battista Strozzi, named the Blind, the great scholar and philosopher of the 17th century, was beautifully decorated. I remarked also Frescobaldi’s, the friend of Dante, which stands in the Via Maggio, and not far from it, on the Piazza Santa Trinità, the house in which Robert Dudley, an English mathematician of the 17th century lived, whose memory still survives in Florence.
In Sta. Maria Maggiore, I observed a tablet which marks the spot where Brunetto Latini, Dante’s master, is buried. Under the name was written the following line from the Divina Comedia, which is deservedly considered a grander and more lasting monument than any that could be erected in marble:
“M’insegnavate come l’uom s’eterna.“[I]
[I]You taught me how a man becomes immortal.
[I]You taught me how a man becomes immortal.
On the Piazza del Duomo, is the “Sasso di Dante,” a stone upon which the great man often sat in meditations, as lofty and grand as the glorious Dome on which he was silently gazing.
In a niche in the wall over that spot, was placed the bust of Dante, surrounded by laurel wreaths and flowers. The Piazza dei Signori, looked magnificent and most beautiful of all that partwhich is formed by the Loggia dei Lanzi, under whose noble arches are placed some of the finest works of art: the Theseus by Benvenuto Cellini, the Rape of the Sabines by Giovanni di Bologna, and others. This gem of architecture is at all times splendid, but now its walls were covered with the most exquisite Gobelin tapestry, after designs by Michael Angelo. They represented the history of Adam and Eve, from their creation to their expulsion from Paradise.
The greatest care had however been bestowed on the decoration of the Piazza Santa Croce, where the inauguration of the national monument to Dante was to take place. This piazza is a large oblong space, whose houses were covered with flowers and rich red silk hangings, and the background was formed by the splendid marble façade of the church of Santa Croce. The piazza had been boarded and carpeted all over, and raised seats were erected for the spectators who had obtained tickets. When these seats and the windows round the piazza were all filled, principally with ladies, in the most elegant spring toilets, the effect was the gayest imaginable.
Behind the seats were placed thirty-eight paintings imitating bas-relief, illustrating the life of Dante. The first represented him when, nine yearsold, he first saw Beatrice, in the house of her father; the last showed his burial in Ravenna. There were also the portraits of about forty celebrated contemporaries, translators, or commentators of Dante.
Round the piazza were placed rich banners of Florence and Tuscany, the poles of which were festooned with wreaths of laurels and flowers. On the pole of each banner was placed a tablet with some verses from the great poem of Dante; many of which anticipated the great political and religious events of the day, for the accomplishment of which 550 years ago, Dante had longed with passionate desire. I noted down a few, which I will transcribe here.
Soleva Roma, che’l buon mondo feo,Duo Soli aver, che l’una e l’altra stradaFacean vedere, e del mondo e di Deo.L’un l’altro ha spento, ed è giunta la spadaCol pastorale: e l’un coll ’altro insiemePer viva forza mal convien che vada.[J]Purgatorio, Canto 26.
Soleva Roma, che’l buon mondo feo,Duo Soli aver, che l’una e l’altra stradaFacean vedere, e del mondo e di Deo.L’un l’altro ha spento, ed è giunta la spadaCol pastorale: e l’un coll ’altro insiemePer viva forza mal convien che vada.[J]Purgatorio, Canto 26.
Soleva Roma, che’l buon mondo feo,Duo Soli aver, che l’una e l’altra stradaFacean vedere, e del mondo e di Deo.L’un l’altro ha spento, ed è giunta la spadaCol pastorale: e l’un coll ’altro insiemePer viva forza mal convien che vada.[J]Purgatorio, Canto 26.
Soleva Roma, che’l buon mondo feo,
Duo Soli aver, che l’una e l’altra strada
Facean vedere, e del mondo e di Deo.
L’un l’altro ha spento, ed è giunta la spada
Col pastorale: e l’un coll ’altro insieme
Per viva forza mal convien che vada.[J]
Purgatorio, Canto 26.
[J]Rome, that turned once the world to goodWas wont to boast two suns, whose several beamsCast light in either way; the world’s and God’s.One since has quenched the other, and the swordIs grafted on the crook; and so conjoinedEach must perforce decline to worse, unawedBy fear of other.Cary’s translation.
[J]
Rome, that turned once the world to goodWas wont to boast two suns, whose several beamsCast light in either way; the world’s and God’s.One since has quenched the other, and the swordIs grafted on the crook; and so conjoinedEach must perforce decline to worse, unawedBy fear of other.Cary’s translation.
Rome, that turned once the world to goodWas wont to boast two suns, whose several beamsCast light in either way; the world’s and God’s.One since has quenched the other, and the swordIs grafted on the crook; and so conjoinedEach must perforce decline to worse, unawedBy fear of other.Cary’s translation.
Rome, that turned once the world to goodWas wont to boast two suns, whose several beamsCast light in either way; the world’s and God’s.One since has quenched the other, and the swordIs grafted on the crook; and so conjoinedEach must perforce decline to worse, unawedBy fear of other.Cary’s translation.
Rome, that turned once the world to good
Was wont to boast two suns, whose several beams
Cast light in either way; the world’s and God’s.
One since has quenched the other, and the sword
Is grafted on the crook; and so conjoined
Each must perforce decline to worse, unawed
By fear of other.
Cary’s translation.