The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 367, January 8, 1887Various
General
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 367, January 8, 1887
Various
Children's literature -- Periodicals
The Certosa is magnificently kept, and in order to make it even more
“smart,” the old pavement has been replaced by a very bright mosaic
one, which reflects the church like glass. But of all, the choir is
the most magnificent, the tabernacle and altar-screen being sumptuous
sixteenth century Renaissance work, and on either side of the altar the
walls are decorated with rich sculpture.
In the transepts are two monuments, viz., those of Gian-Galeazzo
Visconti, the founder of the church, and of Ludovico Moro and his wife,
Beatrice d’Este.
Gian-Galeazzo Visconti was the most celebrated of the great Lombard
family of Visconti, who practically ruled Milan for over a century
and a half. So great was the power of this family, that they at times
subjected nearly the whole of Northern Italy, and Gian-Galeazzo,
after completely defeating an army sent against him by the Emperor of
Germany, and after having captured by degrees the whole of Lombardy,
was about to declare himself King of Italy, when death put an end to
his ambition in the year 1402.
Gian-Galeazzo Visconti was the founder of Milan Cathedral and the
Certosa of Pavia, and, as before mentioned, a superb monument has been
erected to his memory in the latter church; but this monument was more
than half a century in construction, by which time the people had
forgotten where the prince had been buried; and thus the body of this
great man, who had defeated numberless armies and caused to be erected
two of the most sumptuous buildings in Europe, lies no one knows where.
The son of Gian-Galeazzo ruled in Milan upon his father’s death, after
which the Sforza family succeeded, and held power until the middle of
the sixteenth century, when the emperor, Charles V., who was practical
master of Italy, handed over the duchy of Milan to his son Philip.
After leaving the Certosa, the two bachelors hired one of the light
one-horse carriages, of which there are always a number outside the
church, and drove to Pavia. That drive was most pleasant. It was a
lovely spring day, with a brilliant sun, though not too hot, and the
country was all aglow with bright colour.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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