The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-11-06

scripture scene, the work being wonder
fully fine and delicate. Inside we wit
messed the baptism of some Uery young
children, the custom being for the father
and grandmother of the child to bring it
here as soon as possible after birth; it
seemed a very dangerous thing to do;
one father was very young, evidently
from the higher classes. 1t was laugh
able to see him try to handle the little
bundle of humanity. In the rear of the
church of San Lorenzo is the world
famed Medici Chapel. lined with the
richest of marbles. The great square
Campanile, nearly 300 feet high, built by
splendid marbles, and beautiful statues
and bas reliefs that adorn it. The
Church of Santa Croce is called the
pantheon of Tuscany" from the cele-
brated men buried there, among whom
are Michael Angelo and Calico. 1t is
especially interesting from the heavy
coat of whitewash, which, on account of
jealousy, was applied to the walls and
ceiling, covering some particularly fine |
frescoes painted by Giotto; a deed of |
vandalism which has covered with shame
the name of Vasari, himself famous
artist, by whose orders it was done.
Efforts were made a few years ago to
scrape the whitewash from the frescoes,
but it only resulted in spelling the one
on which it was tried; lately, however,
an acid preparation has been discovered,
very costly, but which cleans off the
coating, leaving the picture uninjured, ,as
fresh and beautiful as the day it was
painted so this deed, inspired by jeal-
ousy, has kept these frescoes safely for
the present generation. The contrast
between the uniform white and dismal
appearance of most of the interior and
that part restored is very great, the roof
beams which have been cleansed are of a
rich brown, The city pavements are
peculiar, consisting of stones from one
to two feet square, set diagOnally. very
easy for carriages to roll on, but hard on
the horses, as there is so little fOOt-hold;
cutters and sidewalks are scarce, but the
streets are kept very clean. AS far as
| beauty was concerned | was disap-
pointed in Florence, perhaps my eXpec-
tations were too high, but as an art CEN
| tire there is no question as to its position,
in addition to all its historical points.
Besides the galleries mentioned there is
another nearly as large, the Academy
of Fine Arts" containing many master
pieces of painting and sculpture. Each
| church possesses so much of historic and
| artistic interest, and they are so filled
| with the works of the old masters, among
which are some of the finest decorative
sculptures in the world, that | have no
space for detailed account of them.
The city is also full of historic places,
among which are the old church of San
Mineato on the hill behind the great ter
race already mentioned, the houses of
II af 20 - A npafF nG
pucci, and of Calico, the old monastery
where dwelt Fra Angelica and Savan-
arola, and the square where the latter
suffered martyrdOm.
Near Florence we saw the first olive
trees, which grow from II to 20 feet
high, in large plantations, set closer to-
gether than trees are in our orchards !;
people who had never seen them before
would mistake them for willows. The
first ripe fig we had was at Venice, we
had no idea what they were, so unlike
are they to the dried and pressed figs
we get. The pulp of most of them is a
decided pink, and the taste is not much
to be proud of. Florence being inland
is hotter in summer than Rome, as Rome
is hotter than Naples, although each city
is much further south than the other,
} nearness to the ocean accounts for the
, difference in temperature. Most people
are afraid to 90 below Venice in the
summer, but we did not find it any hot
ter than in any inland American city
during long spell of clear hot weather;
! Naples was almost bare of tourists and
! nearly all the hotels were closed. Rene
} is no further south than New York and
in hot dry weather the malaria caused by
} winter rains disappears, and while there
| l.,
I schools have holiday whenever snow
J falls, which has only happened once IN AZ
years), the winter climate is chilly and
! the conveniences for heating are very
few, mostly the handsome but nearly
useless porcelain stoves. Rome is l9t
} miles from Florence, the route was
: through the outlying foot hills OF the
, Apennines, then over a rolling country
: crossing the River PO and many smaller
streams, all dry at the time except the
+ Pc; finally following a branch of the
Tiber through valley for about 80 miles
to Rome. Very little land in Italy has
| been left in grass, so very few cattle are
D seen. the same is true of Germany and
5 | France. All are of cream white, never
: any other color: most of the ploughina
J is done by the white oxen, sometimes as
l many as four yoke are attached to one
. plow. We passed great many vine
yards and olive groves, in most grain ano
. corn were planted between the rows OF
D trees. In Italy vines are grown differ
5 emily from those in Germany OF Switzer
l land; in these places they are fastened tC
stick, and grow upright to height OF
only four or five feet, while in Northern
Italy stats are put across the uprights
Z up which the vines climb and spread
: themselves over these supports, the
4 grapes hanging through the spaces; il
t other parts of Italy the olive trees are
made to act as the supports, the vines
| hanging from tree to tree like chain
{ making the vineyards look very
: pretty; but we miss the greer
l grass, something they cannot have eX
9 cept during the rainy season, in that dry
| country. The carts we passed on the
y road were queer things, the wheels very
: large, the shafts long and heavy ant
1 projecting out over the back of tn,
Q middle horse; an extra horse on eacl
Q side, hitched to the cart outside the
, shafts by light harness, somewhat az
they would be If driven tandem. Th'
l saddle on the centre horse was fearfulll
Q and wonderfully made, very large
= usually covered with brass, and with ;
Q small steeple like projection sticking W
n into the air, often with plumes attached
Q Many Of the roads showed how ancien
e this country was, they were worn dow
s several feet below the surface, resembling
Z; canals.
: l thought as we neared Rome, of al
T the various peoples who had passed
8 through that valley since that city wa
o founded, for everything looked so old
Q so finished In the immediate vicinit!
n OF Rome the rolling hills were yer!
T brown, entirely bare of trees, anC
r scarcely house 10 be seen; it looked
k like forsaken land. All was excitemen
+ as we tried to catch view of Rome; Il
y think we were so near the wonderful
d External City" which is so thorough,
c intermingled with the history of tn
!, world. The first impression as the trail
e rushed into the great station fiashinl
g with electric lights, and by the wa
y electric lights are very scarce com
G modify in Europe, we all said why thi
IS is modern American city, an opinion
70 only heightened as we drove owe
!; smoothly paved streets, and betweel
Q rows of great new cream-colored build
10 ings. A. G, SHERRY,