Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1894-12-13
Powerful Florence.
By MISS ALCISDA ALLEN.

- -AiSo Ai-IINDa ALLEN.
Florence, the city of flowers
What an enehantment there is in the
very name itself! AS our lazy train
slowly rolled over the Tuscan plains
L found myself peering through the
darkness to catch glimpse of the
city so famous in song and story. A
short drive brought US from the sta
ton to our hotel, where the sleepy
clerk assigned us rooms with admir-
able promptness. A glance at the
furnishings of our spacious room,
with its crimson velvet carpet, its
crimson draperies, heavy gilt mould.
ing and red and gilt furniture, con-
vinced US that We were in a typical
Italian hotel where the artistic
natives delight in rich colorings.
Next morning we awoke to find the
city respondent in a flood of sun
ilgnt. The Arno, spanned by its
half dozen bridges, winds pictures
quely through the city, dividing it
into two unequal portions. AS in
all medieval towns, the streets are
narrow and crooked-some of them
are hardly so wide as a modern re-
ception hall. The people have the
olive compilations and dark eyes OF
the south, though they have cleaner
faces, wear better clothes and seem
more progressive than in some other
Italian cities.
The shop windows are lovely.
The Florentine mosaics are famous
all over the world. They vary in
size from the tiny cuff buttons to the
immense slabs for tables and
mantels, and in coloripg from the
grave, Quaker-like shades to the
brightest blues, green's and yellows,
ait blended in one harmonious piece
Of inlaying. But | was more interest
ed in the marble displays than in the
mosaics. The statues and statuettes
are exquisite. Copies of ancient
masterpieces are bewitchingly sur
rounded by groups of the three iates,
dancing fauns or beautiful children.
The veiied figures, initiating in
marble the effect of the most fiImy
gauze thrown over the face, are ex-
quisite pieces of workmanship. The
silk shops have elegant displays.
The shop-keeper always has three Or
four prices for each article, and if
you object to ali of these he fre-
quentlv asks: "What will you
give??" and shows a readiness to ac.
cept your price.
Florence was for ages an art CEN
ter. The Tuscan school, which ex-
erted such a wide influence on
European art, reached its highest
development there; and the three
great masters, Raphael, Michael
Angelo and Leonardo da Vinci spent
their best years in Florence. The
Pitt and Ufizzi Palaces contain
priceless treasures in both painting
and sculpture. Corridor after corri'
dor are crowded with portraits OF
illustrations, characters, drawings by
the great masters, old Etruscan urns,
choicest bronzes and cabinets OF
gems. Halls, paved with many col
ored marbles and beautified with
arabesque ceilings, contain such
treasures of sculpture as the Venus
de Medici. the Niobe group and
Canova's Venus, and such famous
paintings as Raphael's most cele-
hrated Madonnas. In the halls de-
voted to the different schools there
is an excellent opportunity for the
student of art criticism to compare
the different manifestations of artistic
genius. What a striking contrast
between the dramatic Florentine, the
contemplativeSienese,th the formal and