Lippo Memmi
In 1894 Couperus joined the editorial board of "De Gids"; other members were Geertrudus Cornelis Willem Byvanck (a writer), Jacob Nicolaas van Hall (writer and politician), Anton Gerard van Hamel (professor in the French language), Ambrosius Hubrecht and Pieter Cort van der Linden. In September 1893 Couperus and his wife left for Italy for the second time. In Florence they stayed in a pension close to the Santa Maria Novella; here Couperus wrote in November 1893 a sketch, "Annonciatie", a literary description of the painting of the same name by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi in the Uffizi gallery. In December Couperus and his wife visited Rome, where Couperus wrote "San Pietro" (his impression of St. Peter's Basilica), "Pincio", Michelangelo's "cupola", "Via Appia" and "Brief uit Rome" ("Letter from Rome"). In these works, Couperus gave references to the works he had read about Rome: "Ariadne" by Ouida, "Rienzi" by Bulwer, "Transformation" by Hawthorne, "Voyage en Italie" by Taine and "Cosmopolotis" by Bourget. In February 1894 Couperus travelled to Naples and Athens, and then returned to Florence, where he visited Ouida. Couperus and his wife returned to the Netherlands, where Elisabeth Couperus-Baud made a translation of George Moore's "Vain Fortune"; they went to live in the house at the Jacob van der Doesstraat 123. During this time Gerrit Jäger committed suicide by drowning. Couperus now started working on what was to become "Wereldvrede" ("World Peace") and wrote a translation of Flaubert's "La Tentation de Saint Antoine".