Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-02-10
monial enhancement here

| "Ash Nhat POI tiSdihi pei SOh put
considered it to his advantage to
marry another. But whether Mr..
| Trentonove's friend Intentionally de-
ceived him, or has been unable to
carry out his part OF the contract, the
| embarrassment is none the less. The
story sounds very much like one of
Boccaccios tales.
The chevalier emigrated to the
United States. opened studio in the
! city of Washington. and took out ma
turalization papers for two important
reasons-first, because he would not
be compelled. as an American citizen.
to pay duty upon his works of art
shipped from Florence to the Unit
ed States. and. second. because he
could get divorce in our country
without difficulty. AS soon as the
law would allow it he appealed to the
courts of the District of Columbia
and decree was granted in his favor
on the ground of desertion. The par
ty of the other part made no defense
and was not represented at the trial,
and the proceedings were conducted
with as much secrecy as possible. but
upon returning to Florence the cheva-
lier is Mortified to discover that the
authorities do not recognize DEGREES
of the American courts in matrimonial
matters. In Washington he is a gay
grass widower in Florence he is still
married man, and if he should again
enter into the blessed bonds of matri-
mony he would have to close up his
studio here and remain outside the
boundaries of his beloved Italy, or
the discarded Florentine lady might
send him to jail for bigamy He IS
now endeavoring to negotiate com
promise, and the premature publica-
ton of his engagement to Mrs. Lane
has seriously interfered with his
plans.
The architecture of Florence is sup
posed to furnish the best examples in
existence of all the different schools
of that art, and the greatest archi-
tects that ever lived have left the
imprint of their genius upon the
crooked streets of this old city. 1t
is unfortunate that the buildings can
not be seen to better advantage. 1t
is difficult to explain, when the world
is so wide and there is so much va
cant area in the valley of the Arno.
why men who had the money and the
taste to erect such magnificent build
ings should have placed them where
they cannot be seen. Only few OF
the finest structures, such as the Pitti
Palace. the Palace Vecchio and that
incompatible group of architectural
gems, the cathedral. the baptistry and
the campaside. cannot be seen to ad-
vantage because of the open spaces
around them.
The Florentines preserve their sa-
cred places, both because they regard
them as ideals and because they are
source of great pecuniary profit. The
largest item of revenue for the city
comes from tourists. and the $50
American citizens alone residing in
Florence paid taxes last year upon
$7S2,000 worth of real estate. There
are thirty-two large estates owned by
Americans, and the English colony
Is even more numerous and wealthy.
There has been considerable com
plant because some of the historical
such vandalism has been trifiing COM
pared with what has occurred in the
city of Rome. The Florentines have
not torn away historical structures to
open boulevards and build hotels and
apartment houses, as has been done
in Rome. for. although the city has
grown considerably within the last
half-century the Industrial and com
mercial interests have adjusted them
selves without great damage to the
architectural monuments. The hest
specimens and nearly all the import
ant historical places have been care
fully spared, while houses of special
interest, such as those of Dante, Tas-
so. Boccaccio. Calico. Toscanelli and
the great artists have all been care
fully marked and some of them. like
that in which Michael Angelo lived,
have been converted into museums
and arc open to the public.
Michael Angelo, the greatest of all
artists, and a poet and musician as
well as a sculptor, painter and archi-
tect, was born in the little suburb of
Caprese, but came to Florence when
a child and lived at the house num-
bered 20 on the Via Nuova, where the
caretaker shows you sketch of a
human head said to have been drawn
by him with chunk of coal when
he was boy Of 9. He studied and
developed and did his first great work
in Florence, and had reached his fame
when the pope induced him to go to
Rome and assist in carrying out the
plans for beautifying that city. He
died in Rome at the age of 80 and
his body was stolen by the agents
of Duke Cosimo Medici because Pope
Plus ~. refused to send it to Flor
ence for burial. His former studio
has been fitted up with great care
and is full of his works. The walls
and ceilings have been decorated with
frescoes by his disciples, portraying
scenes in his life. The collection in
cludes the original sketch OF the
Last Judgment his most famous
picture and many other drawings.