The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-01-11

the creations of his skill. All the figures
he left are bold, athletic herculean. No
succeeding artist has ever initiated him
with success. His individuality is so
powerful, his statue so elevated, his CEN
tire of gravity so far removed from the
sphere Of general gravitation, that to fol-
low him causes vertigo, and the imita-
tor exposes himself to terrible fall. One
needs but to go into st. Peters after hav-
ing gazed at the works of Michael Angelo,
to see, In the violent and exaggerated
statuary there, the utter folly of mediocre
artists trying to copy the unique and al
most superhuman genius of Michael An
gelo, who must remain the wonder of the
artistic ages-like Dante, like Shakespeare
in hterature-alone in his inaccessible
solitude. Florence was also the theatre
of Savonarola's labors-that reformer so
strangely commingled in nature, part seer
and part worldling-that political Fran
co.'s d Assis, who invoked saints and an
gels, recommended fasting and penance,
renewed the imitation of Jesus Christ,
and who at the same time summoned
Machiavel, called up traitors, advised i'm
position, crime, and assassination, and re-
stored the likeness of the Caesars. Time,
however, would fail to tell of the noble
names Florence has bequeathed to i'm
mortality, and the imagination cannot
conJure up the glorious men of the Tus-
can Republic who ornamented this city
with immortal works of genius, or who
presided as magistrates, distributing re-
wards to merit, decreeing peace or war,
and ruling the affairs of State.
R,1t e II.
man, though presented in such noble pro-
portions in Florence, and sigh for the
handiwork of the great builder and artist
from whom man has borrowed all the
glory of his art. We place Just value
on the tumultuous life of the town, when
compared with the silent freshness of the
country, yet the heart is never quite sat-
ished within us until we have quilted the
city with its monuments of stone, and
terminated each day with an excursion
into the country. The picturesque en-
vlrons of Florence admit of endless per-
egrlnatlons of this sort, but we cannot
avoid reference to one excursion which
should by no means be omitted by the
traveller.
We. passed the gate of Santa Croce,
and the mills and falls of the Arno, and
wandered along the shady banks of the
river. What a fresh and beautiful situa-
ton Through the orchards and the lilacs
now now stripped of their foliage we perceived
the waters sparkling against the banks or
rolling peaceably amongst the branches OF
the oslers which bent over the current.
Farther on, on hill covered with vines,
rose some elegant casinos, which broke
the blue lines of the rocks of Fiesole,
crowned with their Tuscan walls; while
the near fields, divided by rows of reeds,
presented the appearance of varied cul-
tlvation. On the opposite side of the
plain the gazer's eye rests on the deep
but elevated pass through which the boil
ing waters of the Mugnano force their
way through a channel of rock and mar
Bile; while beyond the evergreen woods
the Apennine Alps lift themselves against
the sky, their SUBMITS capped with snow
AS we proceeded we perceived before
The City of Fiesole,
situated on the table-land of the noun
tain and between the two swellings of
the hills, with its public square, it's an
clent cathedral, remarkable for its lofty
beltry-the more modern buildings of the
archlepiscopal palace and the academy
while further down, road the windings
OF which follow the bend of the hill, leads
along the rocks which supported the an
clent Etruscan fortress, where we now
behold the church, the convent, and the
vast garden Of the monks of the order of
st. Francis. On the perfumed hills of
Flesole one may enjoy the beautiful skies
OF Italy in all their plenitude, and borrow
fresh life from the vivacious air of its
heights. The complete absence of every
vapor permits one to see and trace in the
minutest detail the plain of Florence with
It's palaces, It's high towers, and it's domes,
colored by the vivid light of sun cloud
less, and ardent even in its setting. So
near does the distant city seem in this
illusive air, that one almost conceives that
ne must hear the confused murmur of
voices and the noise of mechanical occu-
patllons amongst the inhabitants of the
capital.
But the most interesting prospect IS
that which includes the remains of Fie-
sole, once a proud city, but now ruin,
and aftordlng few means Of judging Justly
of what it formerly was. Temples. nal
aces, theatres, are all swept awayEtbe
very tombs are violated--and the inscrip-
tions and monuments of art have been
all destroyed or carried away. Yet we