The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1879-01-04

/ without an exception go through hTBe Barue
to an ordinary house, and in the wood shed ad
joining gaze in admiration on large stone horse
trough, which, without the slightest foundation il
fact is called the Tomb of Juliet. Nothing cal
be less romantic and after one fair view of tn
supposed wonder it begins to dawn upon us tha
the whole thing is one of those numerous device
which are so common to get money out of the un
iniated traveller. 1t does not require vivid i'm
| agination to realize that the oficious attendan
who is jingling money in his pocket, is laugh
ing at us as party of ninneys while he smiles ST
blandly on us as we quickly take our departure
There is probably no city in Italy which is oI
the whole so pleasing to travellers and in which 81
many cultured foreigners live as Florence. Be
sides being city of palaces, and beautiful drives
it is the birthplace and home of art. Her many
beautiful churches, her numerous and rich CALLER
les of art and her hundreds of studios and artists
make her a favorite home of literary and cultured
people. The art collections in the Ufiz and Pitt
Palace collections are themselves the work of weeks
to study carefully and Ofvolumes to justly describe
In the church of St. Lorenzo is the chapel of tht
Medici family said to be the most expensively
constructed tomb in the world excepting only one
| in heather temple in India. Florence has been
the birthplace or home ofmany distinguished men
and their homes are yet pointed out to the
| traveller.
In 1870 prince of one Of the ruling families Of
India died suddenly in Florence and his body was
burned just outside the city with all the forms and
ceremonies of the Hindu religion, and magnif-
| cent monument erected on the spot. Not far out
| of the city is the tower,
"Where Galleo sat at night to take
The vision of the stars"
and the villa where in his old age he was visited
by Milton. With but this brief and passing men
ton must leave thee, Florence, "The most beau
tful city in the world" as more than one traveller
has called thee, but may we never forget the many
pleasant days we have spent enjoying thy varied
beauty.
Every one can remember the picture of the
Leaning Tower of Pisa which used to be in all the
biographies, and 1 can well remember that l
thought there was something supernatural about
it that kept it in this position right in the very
face of natures law, and when climbed its $50
feet and looked over the side and saw myself
hanging in the air 13 feet outside the base, the
SppeE9atural impression was not in the eaS4t r0f
the impression that the tower has commenced tip
ping over. 1t is supposed that after the structure
was commenced one side settled and that in finish
ing it care was taken to make the lower side the
lighter so that the center of gravity Of the whole
mass might not fall outside of the base. Galileo
used this slanting tower in his experiments in de-
termining the laws of gravitation. The Baptistry
of the Cathedral is circular building and is cele-
brated for its marveously beautiful echo. The at
tendant sounds the four notes. do, mi, sol do, and
the whole dome seems to fill with echoes and re-
echoes, and before they have died away he repeats
the notes, and the two echO-chOruses are heard
blending and combining for nearly minute.
Near this is the Burial GrOuud quaint inclosed
structure remarkable from the fact that after the
loss of the Holy Land the arch bishop had 53 ship
loads of earth from Mt. Calvery conved here in
order that the dead might rest in holy ground.
There are many other things ofinterest in this old,
decaying city but we must leave them and come
father up the coast to the finely situated city of
Genoa, which has been celebrated from all time
for it's excellent seaport. 1t was famous in the
middle ages and the modern city is by no means
insignificant Whileit has many churches, palaces
and galleries, it has of special Importance to
a casual visitor but many which are well worthy
of the attention of the art critic who has time at
his disposal. 1t is associated in the American
minds chiefly as the home of Columbus, and the
traveller is shown his palace and two statues OF
him, one of them very fne
From Genoa ride of less than hundred miles
northward brings us to Milan, the capital of Lom-
bardy the second city in Italy in population and
the most prosperous 1t and Turin show eviden-
| ces of being largely modern cities, most OF the
streets being wide and well paved, and many of
the buildings very fne Since the revolution OF
1852 no cities in Italy have made such rapid i'm
provement as these two. The rich plain in which
the city is situated has been fought for by French,
| Austrians and Italians from time immemOrial.
| The battle fields of Lodi and MarengO where the
| great Napoleon such signal victories, and OF
| Magenta. the military glory of Napoleon III are
| all near the city, While Milan has cared for her
material prosperity she has not neglected her op-
portunites for art and o-day is vigorous rival
of any city in Italy in these matters. Milan, the
grand, is noted the world over for her wonderful
cathedral which is the largest and finest gothic
church in the world 1t covers an area OF about
| two and a-half acres, and is distinguished more
for its exterior decorations than for the beauty OF
| its interior
| There are positions from which the views across
the Cathedral disclose a wonderful number OF
great pillars and gives an impression Of massive
| ness which I do not remember to have received In
anv other Cathedral. The chapel ofSt. Borromeo
| underneath the church is rich in work in silver
| and in precious stones.
But it is a visit to the roof and spire of this
| great Cathedral which calls forth our wonder and
admiration. The roof, which is of blocks of solid
| marble is such a labyrinth of turrets, butment'
and elaborate ornaments of every kind that guides
are generally sent up with the parties to prevent
| them from wandering around and losing the way
From the platform of the spire the view is proba-
bly the finest to be had from any church tower in
the world. The broad plain of Lombardy which
lies below us is seen to be bounded on the north
by the best known of the Alps, and on the south
I
| Turin, the lofty Mount Gents can be distinguished
| Not the least interesting of all is the wonderful
roof which we look down upon, with its Thousand:
of pieces of statuary, for it is said that when tht
decorations are completed there will be 10000
marble figures, mostly on the outside Ofthe build
ing, and more than half of these are already IL
place. There is small engine on the roof FOL
hoisting material and houses in which the work
men cut the marble. The roof is almost city II
itself.
In one of the inferior churches is the celebrated
Last Supper, by Vernando de Vinci, one of thu
best known and most admired of the great paint
ings of the world. 1t has unfortunately received
very bad treatment and is now very much injured
Probably no finer face of the Savior has ever beef
painted and yet the great artist himself said tina
he was not able to realize on the fresco his con
ception of the heavenly beauty and grace of tn
countenance. There was a very beautiful copy o
this picture in tapestry at the Paris Exposition.
The Gallery of Victor Emmanuel, covered ar
cade, with shops on each side, costing more thai
81, 500. 900, is the finest building of its kind il
Europe. When its 1000 gas jets are lighted il
the evening it is as brilliant place as one cal
well imagine.
When Napoleon 1. constructed that wonderful
military road across the Alps, by the Semplol
pass, he proposed to continue it to Milan and ter
inmate it in the city with grand triumphal arch
and indeed he commenced the arch, but met hi