The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1891-09-18

America to thinking of Italy as the
mother of any great man. But here
was one man who was a great archi
tect, a great sculptor, Q great painter
and a better than average poet, -
man with four souls, some one hal
truly said--and he was an italian
Some of the finest of his work, in arch
litecture, sculpture and painting, IL
here IN Florence and the more one see.
of it the more one is impressed with
/ the idea that it must be good deal o.
a country after all that could produces
such genius.
From San Lorenzo it is not far te
the cathedral which has the mosi
beautiful facade of any building L have
vet seen i'm Europe. 1t is of black and
white marble from bottom to top and
is ornamented with dozens of the most
perfect statues. 1t is all bright and
new having been finished In 1886 and
is a wonderful combination Of all that
is pleasing in art and architecture
The cathedral is farther noted as hav-
| ing the largest dome in the world,
while the baptistry which stands just
in front of 1t contains the wOrld-fam-
Gus bronze doors of Ghiberti, which
Michael Angelo said were worthy to
be the gates of Paradise. Near the
cathedral is the Piazza Vecchto where
the monk Savonarola was first hung
and then burned, as readers of George
Eliot's "Romola" will surely very
wildly remember.
Speaking of "Romola" reminds me
that saw the little church where the
story began and the big church where
its author was married. The former
is very pretty little sanctuary away
up on high, tree-covered hill to the
southeast of the city, from which I
had a magnificent view of the sur
rounding mountains, the round valley,
the town with its domes and towers
and enclosing walls, and the winding,
shining river, which from the distance
is indeed "the silvery Arno, /" although
on nearer view it is as yellow and tur-
gid: as the Tiber. The latter, called
S. Croce, is one of the great churches
of the city, rich in paintings and
statuary. The tomb of Michael An
gelo is here, magnificent thing, and
a very beautiful monument has also
been erected to Dante, the city thus
honoring in death the citizen whom
living she drove into exile. There is
a monument here also to Machiavette,
the great political economist, and to
Princess Charlotte Bonaparte and to
numerous other distinguished Floren-
tines. And the ceiling and walls are
covered with priceless paintings by
the most famous of the Florentine
artists.
In following the footsteps of George
Eliot one is reminded that one of the
best-beloved of her countrywomen
lies buried here. The grave of Eliza
beth Barrett Browning is in the little
Protestant cemetery just outside of the
city, marked by plain but rich mar
BILE sarcophagus, bearing no inscrip-
tions but the initials "E. B. B." The
odore Parker is buried here also, his
grave marked by simple marble slab
inscribed with the name, place and
date OF birth, place and date of death
Of our great great-hearted preacher.
But the browning glory of Florence
is her art galleries, the Uffizzi and the
Pitt. The Medicis were O pretty |
tough lot in the main and they pluck
ed Florence with ruthless hand.
But they knew good artist when
they were introduced to him and they
knew good picture when they. saw it.
And for these reasons, because they
had taste and the power to pluck, the
Florence of today has the finest paint
ngs in the world. The two galleries
ire in palaces, separated by the river,
md half mile or more apart. But a
covered passage way leads from one
% another and this is hung with pic
lures so that one may take long walk
With the finest paintings demanding
his attention at every step. 1t is inn
possible to describe oil paintings, of
course. The masterpieces of the
worlds greatest artists are here.
That is all that can be said.
Florence has no great artists now, to
axe the place of Ghiberti and Dona-
clio and Del Sarto and Michael An
'elo; but it certainly has hundreds
nd thousands of the most skilled
vorkmen in the world for its shops
re filed with the most beautiful and
nticing mosaics and statuary that I
ave yet seen. Florentine mosaic. is
ntirely different from Roman mosaic,
he figures being inlaid in the former,
Thile the latter is entirely made up
{ separate pieces. 1t is hard to un-
erstand how pieces of one kind of
tone can be let into another stone '
nd the surface yet remain so smooth I
nat the sense of touch cannot discov- G
, the fracture. And yet that is what I
done by these Florence artists, and /
he results are beautiful beyond all t
The dearest wish of ev-