Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1898-05-11
FROM OVER THE OCEAN.
Sightseeing in Italy Florence, Ven
ice, Verona, Pictures, Palaces.
Extracts from letters to the editor.


The order in which we have told you
about the different cities we have visited
has been rather mixed, but now we will
try to straighten it out, and finish with
Italy before we start out for "new worlds
to conqunr".
Fro Geneva we reached Turin via
MODAL and the Mount Cents pass, then
spen or two days each in Turin,
Gel, and Pisa. In Rome we were three
We altogether, two before going
to -,l., es and one on the way back, and
OF to Florence Zone week..
T. .,aples and its environs we devoted
tW weeks; Venice, Verona and Milan
h'ee taken ten days together. From
hpl,, after seeing the Lakes Como, Sugar,
an Maggiore, we go through the st.
Gptthard pass to Lucerne, thence on to
Basle, and Freiburg, Strassburg, Baden
Baden. Heidelberg, Worms, Mainz,
Frankfort on the Main, Coblenz, Bonn,
and Cologne.
We are hoping that the weather, which
for the last few days has been very rainy,
will clear, for then the ride to Lucerne
will be very interesting. When riding
through the big tunnel it seems like any
other long tunnel, but it does seem queer
when you think OF its being from 5000 to
5000 feet below the summit OF the st.
Gott hard mountain. The tunnel is about
nine and one-fourth miles long twenty
eight feet wide, and twenty one feet
high. 1t is lined entirely with masonry.
1t takes twenty minutes for the slow
trains to go through and sixteen for the
express.
As we go north the change in the
weather is very Marked here it is very
much as with us at this time OF year; the
vegetation is per haps little more in adj
vance, but four weeks ago i'll Naples it
was as warm as our May or June-that is
in the daytime; at night, or after the sun
went down, it always grew very chilly.
An English lady who has lived for several
years in Florence and Rome told us
always to walk on the shady side OF the
street il possible, thus preventing getting
heated before going into those cold stone
galleries and museums.
AT first we didn't dare to drink the
water; we had heard much about its
being impure, but on making inquiries
We found that since the Improvements
have been finished the water in Rome and
Naples is very good. They say also that
the heat in Rome during the summer
isn't at all excessive, not bad New
York. / don't wonder the Neapolitans
are more or less lazy; We even noticed
that he climate had little effect on US;
we lost little OF our enthusiasm to read
Baedeker and run around looking up
monuments, triumphal arches, relics of
saints, etc.
FLORENCE.
One good thing about Florence is that
most of her important paintings have
been collected in the Pitt and Utfici pal
aces, SO that it isn't necessary, as it is in
Rome, to visit no less than dozen diff
ferent galleries and churches in order to
see just the chief treasures.
Within the last two months there has
been new attraction in Florence; it
can't exactly be called new either, as it
dates from l472. 1t is new inasmuch as it
has been hidden and forgotten for CEN
turtles. 1t was rediscovered Feb. 3, 1898.
1t is fresco by Domenico Ghirlandajo
representing the Madonna with out
stretched arms blessing the members OF
the Vespucci family who are kneeling at
her feet. The fresco is in the Vespucci
chapel in the church of Ognissanti Gan
Saints. Amerigo Nespucci, whose tomb
is in the same chapel, is represented as
kneeling at the Madonna's right hand.
In looking over some Of the old manu-
scripts of the church mention was found
OF this fresco, but no statement as to
where or in which part OF The church 1t was.
Search vas begun, and every conceivable
thing moved, and at length it was found
in very good preservation behind the
altar piece, which has covered it for
wears. 1t is valuable as being portraits OF
this family, Amerigo being then young
man, several years before his journey to
America, and as being such a well-pre-
served fresco Of this great artist.
Florence has several fine old castles,
the principal being the palaces of the
Uffici, Pitt, Riccardi. the so-called
Bargello and the palace Vecchio. The
Pitt was built by Luca Pitt, the opponent
of the Medici, whom he hoped to Guido
in external splendor by building the
prandest castle ever built by a private
citizer. 1t was the residence of the royal
family when Florence was made the cap
ital after Turin, in 1865 to 1870, and now
contains the renowned picture gallery.
This gallery is remarkable as con-
tanning SO many masterpieces. Among
its greatest treasures are Raphaels two
Madonnas-the Madonna OF the Chair,
\ and the Madonna del Granduca (grand