Old Continental TownsGallichan, Walter M. (Walter Matthew)
History
Old Continental Towns
Gallichan, Walter M. (Walter Matthew)
Cities and towns -- Europe; Europe -- Description and travel
Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Bonfigli, and Pinturicchio are represented in the
secular buildings and churches of the town. An altarpiece by Giannicola,
one of Perugino's pupils, should be noticed.
But perhaps the most important of the paintings are Fra Angelico's
"Madonna and Saints," "Miracles of San Nicholas," and "The
Annunciation."
Perugino's frescoes in the Exchange (Collegio del Cambio) are very
beautiful, depicting the virtues of illustrious Greeks and Romans.
"Perugino's landscape backgrounds," writes Mr Robert Clermont Witt, in
"How to look at Pictures," "with their steep blue slopes and winding
valleys are as truly representative of the hill country about Perugia as
are Constable's leafy lanes and homesteads of his beloved eastern
counties."
In the museum of the University, we shall find a number of antiquities
of pre-Roman and Roman times. The Church of San Severo must be visited,
for it contains a priceless early work by Raphael.
The Piazzi del Municipio was the scene of many conflicts in the
troublous days of Perugia. Here the austere Bernardino used to preach,
and here were held the pageants of the popes upon their visits to the
town. Around this piazzi is a network of narrow, ancient thoroughfares,
with many curious houses.
The Piazzi Sopramuro is one of the oldest parts of the town. In this
vicinity is the ornate, massive Church of San Domenico, with a
magnificent window, and the Decorated monument of Benedict XI.
Passing through the Porta San Pietro, we approach the Church of San
Pietro, considered to be the oldest sacred building in the town. It has
a splendidly ornamented choir, and in the sacristy are some remarkable
works of Perugino. The belfry of this church is of very graceful design.
About three miles from Perugia, towards Assisi, are some Etruscan tombs,
with buried chambers, a vestibule, and several statues. This monument is
of deep interest. It is a family cemetery of great antiquity, and the
carvings are of exquisite art.
FLORENCE
_Firenze la bella_, the pride of its natives, the dream of poet and
painter and the delight of a multitude of travellers, lies amid graceful
hills, clothed with olive gardens and dotted with white villas. In the
clear distance are the splendid Apennines. Climb to the terrace of San
Miniato, and you will gain a wide general view of this great and
beautiful city of culture and the arts. The wonderful campanile of
Giotto rises above the surrounding buildings, rivalling the height of
the cathedral; the sunlight glows on dome and tower, and the valleys and
glens lie in deep shadow, stretching away to the slopes of the
mountains.
Very lovely, too, is the prospect from the Boboli Gardens, and finer
still the outlook from Fiesole, whence the eye surveys the Cathedral,
the Baptistery, the Campanile, the noble churches of Bruneschi, the
Pitti Palace, and many fair buildings of the Middle Ages.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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