The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 4, July, 1851Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 4, July, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
"The walls shine brightly, and with varied hues, in the
great chapel behind the high altar. The fresco paintings
present to us the most eventful circumstances of Gustavus
Vasa's life. Here his clay moulders, with that of his three
consorts. Yonder, a work in marble, by Sargel, solicits our
attention: it adorns the burial-chapel of the De Geers; and
here, in the centre aisle, under that flat stone, rests
Linnaeus. In the side chapel, is his monument, erected by
_amici_ and _discipuli_; a sufficient sum was quickly raised
for its erection, and the King, Gustavus the Third, himself
brought his royal gift. The projector of the subscription
then explained to him, that the purposed inscription was,
that the monument was erected only by friends and disciples,
and King Gustavus answered: 'And am not I also one of
Linnaeus's disciples?' The monument was raised, and a hall
built in the botanical garden, under splendid trees. There
stands his bust; but the remembrance of himself, his home,
his own little garden--where is it most vivid? Lead us
thither. On yonder side of Fyri's rivulet, where the street
forms a declivity, where red-painted wooden houses boast
their living grass roofs, as fresh as if they were planted
terraces, lies Linnaeus's garden. We stand within it. How
solitary! how overgrown! Tall nettles shoot up between the
old, untrimmed, rank hedges. No water-plants appear more in
that little dried-up basin; the hedges that were formerly
clipped, put forth fresh leaves without being checked by the
gardener's shears. It was between these hedges that Linnaeus
at times saw his own double--that optical illusion which
presents the express image of a second self--from the hat to
the boots. Where a great man has lived and worked, the place
itself becomes, as it were, a part and parcel of him: the
whole, as well as a part, has mirrored itself in his eye; it
has entered into his soul, and becomes linked with it and
the whole world. We enter the orangeries: they are now
transformed into assembly-rooms; the blooming winter-garden
has disappeared; but the walls yet show a sort of herbarium.
They are hung round with the portraits of learned Swedes--a
herbarium from the garden of science and knowledge. Unknown
faces--and, to the stranger, the greatest part are unknown
names--meet us here."
A palace of Gustavus Vasa's:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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