Evening star., 1914-02-08
TOURISTS ON BEATEN TRACK.
What They Miss in Italy-0ut-o of
the-Way Monuments.

FROM tHe bpstoil iFaHstT!pt
An interesting test of the relative popu-
larity of the various galleries, museums
and ancient monuments of Italy is afford
ed by the official statistics of the admis-
sion fees lcveled during the financial year
1912-la published in the BoIletino d'Arte
for 1913 for the first time The. first
place is taken neither by Rome nor by
Naples. but by the doges' palace at
Venice. which had nearly 1tp 100 paving
visitors at one IRA each dnc stat sites
of free admissions are not giVeul, the
picture galleries of the same city having
5000 visitors, and the archaeological fnu-
scum only 1900. One may doubtless
explain the popularity of Venice by its
nciGhborhood to the northern frontier. and
its consequent accessibility to Germany
and Austria. That The Eenetians them
selves visit the Palazzo Ducale in large
numbers is az Improbable as the sup
position that the ban. of the visitors 10
the National Gallery are Londoners
We ma. too, tnat 1T Milan Leonardo
/ da Ninci's Last supper had over 5000
visitors the Brera picture gallery near4y
5000, and the Certosa Iii PaNia u oUl.
Milan, however. must take the fourth
pace. or even the fifth, the second be-
longing to + orence, where the gallery Of
the IffIzi claims nearly 71.tnt visitors d
the Pitt nearly 10000, the Med ci clapeI.s
$500, the Bargello 3, 900. the academy
Cor sai cry of ancient and modern arU
'to,'b, lne museum OF ST. Mark nearly
26.oOD. but the archaeological museum only
30 o-odd. Pompeii lad s,mc 7Gloo visi
tors at ~ lire head. while the National
Museum at Nap attracted over 6I,1to.
The comparative lack Of interest III
archaeological museums leaves il uncertain
whether Rome should really take only the
fourth place, lur here the most attractive
and famous galleries Of pictures and
sculpture. and the rooms which contain
Raphaels S masterpieces in fresco. belong.
not to the safe, bur to the papal aGthorl-
ties But IL is 4 little surprising; that the
Forum should be abe to tota only just
over 4o'th iaitofs and the Palatine only
31,tD: the baths at Caracalla, the
other hand, which are someW hat more re
Hadr:an's vi la had over l4.ooo. Much is.
| no DOUBT. due TO the fact that neither
the fliZi III Florence nor the AfuS.o Ma
Zionale in Naples can be seen N une visit
without a severe attack OF mental lndI-
gestion but it is a little difficult to ex-
Naples and Florence, especially after the
interest the recent discoveries in the
Forum and on the Falatine have excited.
y Stddy OF the whole list oeS far to
SHOW how little tourists in ltay have
even now become accustomed 10 d!verge
from the beaten track. When We leave
the cha med circle of the few places
have just mentioned We find that the pic
| ture gallery of Bologna has had less than
! I,bb visitors. that the museum ut Turin
| had less than 5000 visitors. while the
! PalaZZo Duca t at Mantua and the pic
/ ture gallery at Parma have had only q
! little more than ..0,Rl visitors apiece. Mo
| dena has Jared far worse, with only 4Ii
! lire to the credit of its gallery. and the
! lowest level is touched by the archeo-
] logical museum at Anacona, with only IS
/ lire to its credit