S A DAN B! DEM] OGG OF TH T TUE OF TE, , L IE E U FFI Z I . WITH DA NTE IN MOD ERN FLORENCE MA LA ! B! R! E. C 1 WITH TWENT! -EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS NEW ! ORK ON COMPA N! E . P . D U TT 31 WEST TWENT! -THIRD STREET L. H m“ LA MIA AMIGA ” m1 8 umAm ’ mi lo o mio m o mre Tu oe estro e lo t I fo ll hmthe fo tin of tb feete o w o g y t th mI e ra h " i h n so mth t er a m That w y e ni g y eete. Bo nus !) Su ns“ . PREFACE ’ ” I m Land of H rt s Desire. ade il rima e to the eo p g g E. Ho r t o n. Un vo n e dans lee lieu o uDante a ve mest y g c ” — Au rknt . nne perp etnelle illustratio nde so npo ene. l 'r must he confessed that there is something slightly disappointing to the Dante lover at first sight in the aspect o f modern Florence. has 0 He journeyed thither as a pilgrim, h ping to discover fo r himself the City that the Poet s so dearly loved and so pa sionately hated, and he is at once confr onted with buildings that f did not exist, at least in their present orm , o f an: in the thirteenth century, with works i u that Dante never saw, and w th streets thro gh which by no possibility he could have passed. a f Spre d out be ore his eyes, and visible to his o c s o f m st a ual glance, lies the Florence the M n f c edicea period, the Florence o the Decaden e, and th e Florence o f United Italy. The City is still so beautiful in spite o f the m any changes PREFACE f re- it has known, that he eels inclined to echo f u the words o the Emperor Charles, q oted by “ Isaac Walton, and say that it is too pleasant " to be looked upon but only on holidays, but no t it is not the City he came to see, the City where the greatest o f Florentines was born. It will take some time to learn that the Florence o f to -day is in reality a palimpsest ; that under the writing o f later scribes lies the original manuscript ; that if he will be at pains to sear ch fo r trac es o f the Divine Poet they may be found, even though six centuries have come and gone since he passed away into exile. The object o f this little book is to help the reader to r e-construct as far as may be the f Florence o Dante , and to gather together whatever is still left in the City that will ' serve to throw light either on the B iatuo ' mmedza o f . Co or on the history the Author In the last chapter an account will be found o f the manner in which Florence Repentant has sought— all too late— to reconcile herself to s the son who, while living, she so ruthles ly f " thrust out into the cold world, that lay uori, beyond his birthplace. MA R! E. LACY. mm1 1 2. 1 ” 3 , 9 CONTENTS I . THE CIT! o r r un Po r t Ta x Dam- mr an o r F RENCE I I. Qu LO I II. THE Praz z a DEL Duo u o . AN MI E E T E B IV On S CH L , H n c n w, AND z V m Pan z o ac c o V. Tux CHURCHES o r r u n Farms s T RT r mT I. DmAND HE A o s n V ur ' ' VII . Fla me: Rs p z N rAN r INDEX LIST OF ILLU STRATIONS - ' ‘ r m STA run o r AN I B av DemL o ms o r THE U r D , , o ' FLORENCE As a n o n SAN MrNi Aro AL MONTE. Cc c x Do wn OS'I’BLLO “ m: Vn u r . IL Po c c o m Po w r mA E RAZ I E R mc mAND AN Vrn o Po s LL G ( v o ), S ' MrmA r Ar. M m o o A'ro Vac c mo Mu c [reu ni n r SAN MxNiA'ro AL Mo m o o CAs: EG I Au mnmAmn R N R o EC ST UCTI N m D L O O 1 91 : ' x rmo n r BAPTI T ! . V E o S ER osr no ANTICO BAP r rsu o ' “ r! o r e r v. IL m h um s n a . AN o o n S GIO VAN!" new : o r Duo uo hu mo r: o r e s't u r A'r PISA n wm , s o o FONT ' mVI I. D r A Po m; Bo u I u S rUt o r cr. uo o mx MA LD o N . ma r o Co uNu ss u A r Tusc A v Mom Cmmc n o r 011 SAN Mrc nu r Ea mn o r o xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TORRIONT o r THE GUILD o r W001 . ExTRRIOR o r THE PALAz z O DEL Po po no, WITH THE T mTII V A o o r R ACC PORTRAIT o r DANTII IN Tm: A RLn i r THE B RG o, B o n RR-p AINTINo TRA ITI N RT AIT r D NTR r D O AL PO R o A , B ORCACNA. SANTA MARIA NOVELLA INTRRIOR o r SPANISH CHAPEL. S ANTA MARIA No a LA TunTRIUMPH o r ST. TNOII As AquINAs . SANTA MARIA NOVELLA N N S. I TT . THE RR UNCIATION o r ST. FRA CI G O O SANTA Tm; R EL I B AN UC LAI MADONNA, C MA UE . S TA MARIA NOVEL“ 0 0 o 0 0 O 0 0 0 ' ‘ DRATII o r ST. FRANCIS. GIOTI O. SANTA CROCE “ ” Tux CAMPANILE. ORA IIA GIOTTO IL GRI DO ’ T ns R V N A INTTRIOR o r DANTE S o . A E N D II PAINTING o r DANTE. av O RNIco DI MICHRLINO. DUOMO MONUMENT To DANTE. S ANTA CROCR NATIONAL MONUII TNT To DANTR. PIAz z A SANTA CROCE INTRODU CTION f R m ns Flo re nc e is the daughter o o e and Etruria the So — i me s c in h o rse o f o f Go d having as n so any oth r in tan es t e c u ’ — ’ th dau h er of mn. this world s histo ry wedded e g t s e BEFORE beginning the task set before us it would be well in the first instance to devote our attention to what Dante has to say concerning o f the origin his native City, and then, taking ' ivina mdz D Co me a fo r the guide, make a slight sketch o f her history down to the middle o f the thirteenth century. In no par t o f his writings does the Poet describe in so many words the founding o f ' o nmto Florence, but in the C he speaks o f her as la bellissima e famosissima figlia di Roma — the most beautiful and famous o f the many daughters o f Rome ; and it is evident from other passages in his works that he loved to regard her as an offshoot from the great Mistress o f the Wmorld . This is not to be wondered at when we re ember in what high estimation the writer B INTRODUCTION Co mmedia o f the held Ancient Rome, how he looked upon her as an antitype o f that Eternal City where the earthly head o f the Church o f f d God was a terwards to be enthrone , nay more, that he beheld in her a symbol o f Paradise as— b o f itself. He believed Aene y reason the position he occupied as father o f the Roman — o f people to have been worthy, like St. Paul, a 1 o f special revelation, spoke Heaven as that f “ Rome where Christ Himsel is Roman , and did not hesitate to apply to the Cruc ified f “ “ Saviour the title o Sommo Giove, supreme o f Jove . It is Virgil, the Poet the Empire, who leads him tenderly through the gloomy circles " i o f o f Hell, and the m lder shades Purgatory, never quitting his side, until amid the glories n o f the ear thly Eden, huma understanding gives place to Divine Wisdom, and Beatrice herself appears before his longing eyes. Dante wished with all his heart that primitive Florence had been wholly peopled by colonists o f from the banks the Tiber, but he was obliged was reluctantly to confess that this not so, and that a portion o f her population came to her — from Fiesole, that town which sadly diminished in size and importance— still clings to a hillside ’ n II 1 . i . I f. 3 rtrg r u n. 1 02. a [bid VI. I I s0 TH E MAKING OF FLORENCE t e m s hr e iles to the north o f the pot no w o c c u pied by her great desc endant.