praying for the soul of one who evidently must already be in glory. In
order to put some bounds to these extravagant services, many people of
a devout character have in all ages prayed in their wills that they
should be carried to the grave in the simplest manner, sometimes in the
habit of a Franciscan, or mendicant friar, and that only a few pounds
should be expended upon their burial.
[Illustration: FIG. 41.--_Costumes worn by King Philip II. of Spain and
his attendants in the funeral procession of his father, Charles V. The
group consists of the King; the Herald of Spain, of the Order of the
Golden Fleece, who walks in front; of the Duke of Brunswick, the Duke
of Arcos, Don Ruy Gomez, Count of Milito, and finally the Duke Emmanuel
Philibert of Savoy. Mark that the hood was only worn by the heirs of
the deceased._--From the "Sumptuous Funeral of Charles V. at Brussels."
(Antwerp, 1559.) Collection of M. RUGGIERI, Paris.]
The Italians, and especially the Venetians, spent enormous sums upon
their funeral services, which were exceedingly picturesque; but as the
members of the brotherhoods who walked in the procession wore pointed
hoods and masks, so that, by the glare of the torches, only their eyes
could be seen glittering, and as it was the custom, also, for the
funeral to take place at night, the body being exposed upon an open
bier, in full dress, the scene was sufficiently weird to attract the
attention of travellers, perhaps more so than anything else which they
saw in the land _par excellence_ of pageant. Horace Mann, in one of his
letters, thus amusingly describes the funeral of the daughter of Cosmo
III., Grand Duke of Tuscany:--
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--_Funeral of the Infanta Theresa of Spain,
Dauphiness of France, at Notre Dame, 1746._--From the original
engraving of COCHIN.]
"There was nothing extraordinary in the funeral last night. All the
magnificence consisted in a prodigious number of torches carried by
the different orders of priests, the expense of which in lights, they
say, amounted to 12,000 crowns. The body was in a sort of a coach quite
open, with a canopy over her head; two other coaches followed with her
ladies. As soon as the procession was passed by Madame Suares's, I went
a back way to St. Laurence, where I had been invited by the master of
the ceremonies; here was nothing very particular but my being placed
next to Lady Walpole, who is so angry with me that she would not even
give me the opportunity of making her a bow, which for the future,
since I see it will be disagreeable to her, I will never offer to do
again."
[Decoration]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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