“Among the striking features of the Florentine palaces are the handsome ornaments of bronze or wrought-iron which adorn the façades of many of them. These were called _fanali_ or _lumière_, and were not, as one would naturally suppose, ornaments that a man might place on his house according to his individual taste, but they were the visible testimony of the public recognition of great deeds. On festive occasions, these _fanali_ were provided with great pitch torches, whose crackling flames gave a merry aspect to the whole neighbourhood. Amerigo Vespucci addressed the account of one of his voyages to the Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini, with whom he had formerly been on intimate terms, and the latter procured a decree of the Republic, in accordance with which _fanali_ were sent to the family palace of the Vespucci, and kept burning day and night for three days. “The most beautiful of all the Florentine _fanali_ . . . are those which adorn the corners of the famous Strozzi Palace. They are of wrought-iron, and were made by a smith who enjoyed a local celebrity, not only on account of his masterly work, but also because he carried on his business on a strictly cash basis; nay, went further, and refused to work for any one who did not prepay, in part at least, for his order. Thus he received the name of _Caparra_, or Earnest-money.”—_Florentine Life_, by W. B. Scaife, p. 58. There is one thing in this legend which alone would seem to guarantee its being an authentic or old tradition. In it Niccolò appears as a man who is eminently grasping, and who takes care to get his money in advance. And he was in reality so noted for this, that, as Scaife declares, he went further than dealing on a cash basis—and so got the nickname of Caparra, or the Pledge—so well did he know the value of cash. _Il martel d’argento rompe le porte di ferro_, or— “A hammer of silver, as we see, Breaks the iron gates of poverty.” THE GOBLIN OF LA VIA DEL CORNO “Oh for one blast of that dread horn, On Fontarabian echoes borne, When Roland brave and Olivier, And every paladin and peer At Roncesvalles died.”—_Walter Scott_. “The Korrigan who ever wears a horn.” The Via del Corno is a narrow street passing from the Via del Leone. I have found the following story in reference to the origin of its name, which, if not authentic, is at least amusing and original: LA VIA DEL CORNO. “There was in what is now known as the Via del Corno an ancient palace, which a long time ago was inhabited only by a certain gentleman and a goblin. {21}