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

''Of all the fairest cities OF the earth
None lie so fair as Florence"
So sang a poet who had not seen
Geneva or Naples or Washington or
Topeka. And yet he was not much
farther from the truth than poets usu-
ally are. For Florence italian FIR
ensel is fair city, if not the fairest.
There are mountains on every side of
it, and the Arno flows through it, and
it has broad clean streets and a splen-
did park and a noble cathedral and
beautiful monuments and solid blocks
of lofty and substantial houses, and
the finest picture galleries in the
world. 1t is good fortune that leads
one there even for day or two, and it
is no wonder that artists and poets
have found it a favorite dwelling
place.
Florence has had long and event.
full history-see the Encyclopedia
and every bridge and open square and
juttiDg wall could tell its story of sud-
den brawl and fierce conflict and cruel
torture. But it is quiet enough now
and the summer visitor finds little to
remind him of the centuries of strife
and the weary years when the city
was given over to "battle, murder and
sudden DEATH" He will find much
though to remind him that for seven
hundred years, in spite of all the
blood and tumult, Florence has been
the prolific mother and the munificent
patron of the Princes of Art. He may
go into the church, Santa Maria Nov
ella, for example, and have a jolly,
round-faced monk with a funny little
black cap on the back of his head,
show him with infinite pride, Gina
bue's Madonna, which has been FAM
Gus for 800 years, and acres and acres
of frescoes, done in the 18th 18th and
18th centuries by Cigoli, Allori, Tito,
Poecetti and dozen Others,-all of
which are very ugly and only interest
ing because they serve to show how
far we have come. And then he can
60 to San Marco, church and monas-
terry, where he can see other acres of
frescoes hy Fra Angelica and Fra
Bartolommeo which are very celebrat-
ed and which, while bad in drawing
and worse in perspective and worse in
are really very good in
coloring. He will see i'm this monas-
terry, too, the two little cells once used
by Savonarola when he was shaking
up things in a very lively manner here
in Florence with the desk and the i
chair just as he left it, and a photo
graph of him-dark skin, highcheek
bones, big nose and mouth like an In
dian-snd his rosary and his manu-
script Bible and a great many other
things that were his. And in anoth-
er room of this monastery he will find
of volumes gathered togeth-
sr from the Monkish libraries all over
Italy and each one almost priceless. II
with what eager curiosity 1
cooked for the first time at the one H.
animated Bible that is kept under
slass case in the National library at
Here are hundreds of
hese books, monstrous volumes two
eet and half long and two thirds as
,road and five inches thick, bound in
wood and iron, the heavy parchment
caves adorned with the most marvel
Gus pictures-the art is lost now-and \
He'd in with the sacred text, all done q
" hand and with infinite labor and e
atience, the ink as fresh and the col 9
rs all as bright as if they had been a
ut on but yesterday. Those old a
monks did not loaf all the time. b
Leaving San Marco it is only few |,
tops to San Lorenzo-saints are thick |.
r than fieas in Italy, and that is put b
ing the case as strongly as I know b
ow,-contaiping the gorgeous chapel u
18th the tombs of the Medicis, design 81
i and built and decorated with paint C
lgs and sculpture by Michael Angelo.
Te are not much accustomed in N