The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-04-29


 the great carved oal1en chests, the only wonder is, where in the world did al
 these elegant things come from; after
 all they are but the remnant of the past
 glory of Florence; they bear the same relation to the works of art which were
 to be found in Italy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as bit of quiV- ering sea foam on the beach bears tc
 the great ocean from whence it came. There Is in one of the rooms fine collection of coins from the year 1900 to 1850, and an assortment of seals and Gobelein tapestries which will bear mi
 mute study. In the fourteenth century
 the courtyard was the place of execu-
 ton, and the belfry still contains the mournful bell which used to toll when a
 criminal was executed.
 Right across the street from the Bar
 gello is the church of La Badia,
 which was founded as long ago as 1000 A. D. There is a. beautiful wooden cell
 Ing in this church which is very much
 admired. There is also a fine old Ma
 donna by Mino de Fiesole which was painted about 1460. The exquisite pam eI representing St. Bernard and the Vir-
  finest frescoes in Florence. Some of my readers may ask why do frescoes pre- dominate in the churches and palaces of Italy? Many great painters, although they painted in oil on canvas and wood, considered fresco superior to oil paint ing. Even Michael Angelo, when Pope Paul III. tried to persuade him to paint the Last Judgment in the Sistine chap el in oil, replied that oil painting was work for women and idle persons, and that great artist refused to paint the picture except in fresco, and he carried his point By the way, for the great work with all it's details on the ceiling and rear wall of the Sistine chapel Mi chael Angelo was paid three thousand ducats (about seven thousand dollars), which is less than a common decorator could obtain at the present time,
 A short walk from the Via Proncosolo will take us into the Via Ghibellino, and there let us enter the historic old home of the great Michael Angelo him self. A descendant of the famous ar tist about two hundred years ago found- ed here a collection of pictures and things of interest connected with his ancestor, and later the last descendant by his will left the house and it's con- tents to the city of Florence. And the Buonarotti gallery, as 1t is called, is now one of the public museums of the city. Here are arranged many works of M Angelo. One of the first objects to meet our eyes is a relief, a very ear ly work of his representing a battle of the Lapithal and Centaurs, and in this same small room are works of Della Robbia and others; in the next room may be seen original drawings and sketches by Michael Agnelo. Here are the studies for the Sistine chapel and drawing of the whole of the Last Judg- ment, also the plans and elevation of the New Sacristy of St. Lorenzo and many other architectural plans. In an adjoining chamber are eighteen scenes from the great masters life by painters of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies. These are of the greatest in- terest to all who admire the genius of the man, the architect, painter, sculp- tor, or call him what you will. To my mind he was one of the grandest men that this world has ever seen. In these sketches on the walls of the room we see him presenting himself to Pope Paul IT. at Rome. He was once called to Constantinople; here we be- hold him refusing the invitation of the Turks Again we behold him present. ing Leo x. with the design for the fa- cade of St. Lorenzo. Here we see the brave hero experimenting the fortifca- tions of Florence; 8 portion of these are still to be seen near San Miniato An other sketch shows M. Angelo arriving at Venice. How the Venetians must have rejotced at this visit of man of such power, culture and refinement.
 Again he is represented with the mod el of the cupola of St. Peters as he pre- sents the design to Pope Paul ".
 Again he sits quietly composing poe try. A striking sketch is the one which him sending back the mon sy which had been sent to him by Paul III. as the price'of the model of St. Pe- ter's. At last we come to the death of the aged man; he had lived his eighty eight years of usefulness to his fellows, ! very long life had been his, and the world was much better for such a noble fife.
 His remains repose in St. Crocet his l name lives and his memory is fragrant lot in Italy only, but in every part of l he world where true art is loved and l cherished.
 How strange 1t is that the great men )f history brighten and shine and dis l lppear in death, while mountains and | 'ivers and the very stars themselves continue to live on as if forever. A treat man like Michael Angelo bright | ms and scintillates like a planet of the | lrst order and then disappears, while | 'Arcturus and Orion and Sirius and the | 'leiades still shine in their courses lear and young as when the shepherds irst noted them in the plain of Shinar."
 There are other rooms in Michael I Angelo's home where there are beauti- u1 paintings which represent historic cenes, and many relics abound which emind us of their former owner. 1 'here are many models and casts to be cen which were designed by the great rtist. The library contains many DOT raits of distinguished Florentines; hese were mathematieians, theolo- ians, poets, philosophers, and what ity can show finer array of men of enius than Florence?
 Tn a very small study where Michael ngelo used to delve, is shown a wax -atuette of the famous David and lany autographs of M. Angelo and ome paintings and majolica ware. We