The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-20 00:00:00

The Dante Festival,

(FROM. THE TIMES' CORRESPONDENT.)

FLORENCE, May 15.

The impression made upon the public of Florence I
by yesterday's festival seems to be in all respects
quite as favourable as that which I myself received
from it. There was no hitch of any kind, not the
slightest disorder; the best feeling prevailed among
the Florentines, as well as among the foreigners and
Italian strangers whom this great occasion has
brought together, and whose numbers I have heard
roughly estimated at 100,000. This may be a mere
guess, but it is quite possible that it is not over the
mark. Every nook and bed in the town has been
taken up, and numbers of the lower class of visitors
slept in the street. Provisions threatened to run
short, and the bakers had to work day and night.
The arrivals in Florence by the Leghorn line
alone amounted to 8,500 persons yesterday and
the day before. Considering that the main ob-
ject of all these strangers and of a great part
of the Florentines during the three days of fes-
tivity is to move about and amuse themselves,
it was obviously judicious to provide outdoor
entertainment. in spacious localities. A better
behaved and more gentle multitude it would be im-
possible to find, and during two hours' ramble last
night through the crowded and illuminated city not
a single instance of rughness, not the slightest rude-
ness came under my observation. As regards yes-
terday morning's ceremony I have little to add to
what I wrote immediately after its conclusion.
Italians and foreigners all seem to have been alike
delighted with it. It is looked upon as a national
jubilee, and as a pledge of future harmony among
the people of Italy, and the papers to-day are loud
in rejoicing and congratulation. Besides the banners
and deputations of the Venetians and Romans,which
I find were applauded all along the line of the pro-
cession as warmly as by the throng in the Piazza
Santa Croce, those of Turin received similar marks
of respect and good will. It is to be hoped the good
feeling thus manifested will soon come to be shared
by Milan and some other places now accused of
jealousy and unjust dislike of the Piedmontese city
to which Italy owes more than she can easily repay.
If Italy completes and preserves that unity and in-
dependence to which she aspires,and to which nearly
all Englishmen earnestly desire that she may attain,
she will owe it in a great measure to the sacrifices
and struggles of Piedmont. Many marked with plea-
sure the kindly feeling yesterday testified to the dele-
gates of the former capital. As to the beauty of the
sight afforded by the square of Santa Croce all who
were there are agreed, and those who saw the pro-
cession in its passage through the streets are equally
loud in admiration. The effect of the great number
of banners was extremely fine. There were upwards
of 700, all, as far as I saw, of silk, and as the breeze
waved them their folds mingled and blended and
formed a continuous line of gorgeous colours and
gilding, the whole permeated, as it were, by the
sparkling sunlight. A great many of these banners
have been offered, and others probably will be, by
the provinces, communes, associations, and corpora-
tions to which they belong as presents to the munici-
pality of Florence, which will treasure them in
memory of a day of general gratification and good-
will. I omitted yesterday to mention that with the
municipalities of Florence and Ravenna, which
closed the procession, there walked a descendant of
Dante, Count Sarego Alighieri. Also that the Gon-
faloniere, Count. Cambray Digny, who yesterday,
in accordance with time-honoured tradition, bent
his knee before the King, was attired in the costume
worn by that high dignitary in the days of the old
Florentine republic. The statue of Dante, which is
in white marble, is not yet finished, especially as
regards the pedestal, and; when the fetes are over
it will be enclosed from public view until completed.
The King appears to have been pleased with it, for,
by his own impulse, he conferred the Maurice and
Lazarus decoration upon the sculptor Pazzi.
The general application of gas, while increasing
the beauty and brilliancy of illuminations in cities,
has given them a sameness of character from which
it is rather refreshing to meet with a deviation. It
is now some years since I described to you the illu-
mination of Turin, on occasion of the festival of the
Statuto, when the whole of the Via di Po is converted
into a huge parterre, where flowers and globes of
brilliant colours float, seemingly unsupported, in the
darkness, their light reflected on crimson draperies
above. It is a business of several days to prepare
these illuminations, which are got up with extraor-
dinary care and completeness, and the effect pro-
duced is hardly to be surpassed. Equally beautiful
are those of Florence, but in a style so different as to
forbid comparison. The means here employed are
simpler. The effect is quite as striking in its way.
Flat clay saucers, and glass vessels resembling very
large wide-mouthed oil flasks, or, a better simile, like
goldfish jars with a capacious neck added on and
tall in proportion to their contents, are the unpre-
tending apparatus here employed. A tin collar
round the neck and a tin loop, like a pail handle,
facilitate suspension from hooks driven into the
wall. Within each jar is placed an oil lamp, thus
thoroughly protected from the wind, and they are
usually suspended in clusters of three, five, or more.
The flat clay saucers are rather apt to be puffed out
by even a light breeze, such as last night extin-
guished a few of those in elevated situations. The
Palazzo Vecchio was well lighted, and the effect both
from distant points and from the square of the Sig-
noria was very fine. From the square the specta-
tor, standing near the building and looking up, did
not see the flame of the lamps, but the portions of
the wall and architecture close to it, and upon which
its most vivid light fell. The effect was peculiarly
beautiful, almost that of transparency, and as if the
light were within the stone. Next in prominence to
that massive and magnificent structure came the
lofty tower of the Bargello, the upper part of which
when gazed at from below seemed saturated with
light proceeding one knew not from whence. The
illumination of the cathedral was rather indicated
by a few lights than fully carried out. There was a
good reason for this ; the municipal authorities are
naturally unwilling to sully by the smoke of so
many lamps the delicate materials of that wonder-
ful edifice which has bestowed a well deserved im-
mortality on its architects. The whole gigantic
front of the splendid Pitti Palace, now occupied
by the King of Italy, was illuminated in a most
remarkable and effective manner, all the principal
outlines of the building and the arches of the win-
dows being thickly set with the large glass lamps
above described. The great regularity of the deco-
ration and the immense surface thus covered com-
bined to convey to the spectator an impression of
grandeur and vastness, and he felt that the style
of illumination was in perfect harmony with the
general colossal character of a building of which the

walls contain blocks of stone, or, rather, masses of
rock, such as Titians might have shrunk from hand-
ling. The light, although only that of oil, was so
dazzling that it was a relief to look at it through
smoked glasses. Striking as this spectacle was, a
still more attractive sight was afforded by the illu-
mination on the river. Three bridges, the Vecchio,
the Trinita, and the Carraia, as well as the adjacent
banks of the Arno, were profusely lighted up, and
the effect, especially when viewed from the centre
bridge, was very novel and beautiful. Along the
parapets, close to the water's edge, and in covered
arches just over the stream, the flaming cups were
ranged in rows, the light from them and from those
upon the bridges reflected threefold upon the placid
Arno, which scarcely a ripple stirred. It fell upon
the surface of the river in long and brilliant lines,
in effulgent cones and blades of light, which shone
the more each time the stealthy night wind ruffled
the tranquil water. Crowds assembled on bridge
and bank to view the fairly-like spectacle ; in the
principal streets and across the bridges the strings
of vehicles seemed interminable, and although the
do,y had been very hot and fatiguing, and nearly
ev cry one had risen soon after dawn, midnight was
no• t far off when the multitude began to disperse.
Even after 12 the streets were noisy, and many
of the lights still held out and music was heard
upon the squares, and the cafes drove a roar-
ing trade until some hour of the morning which
I cannot _of my own knowledge particularise.
Although not all the houses were lit up, the
private illuminations, in addition to those of the
public buildings, were very general. Several of the