Occidit obscænæ Veneris contagia vitans Moribus ambiguum major an ingenio Sic jacet, heu patri dolor et decus-unde juventus The tombs of the learned Greeks who fled before the last and worst of barbarians, the Turks, and fixing at Florence established the seat of the Grecian muses in Etruria, awaken many a pleasing and many a melancholy recollection. The honors heaped on these illustrious exiles, the enthusiasm of their numerous disciples, and the propagation of their language delight the imagination even at this distance of time, and do credit to the taste and feelings of the Italians of that vivid era. But who can recollect without regret, that the schools which they opened are shut, that the divine language which they taught is neglected, and that a race of savage invaders are now endeavoring to suppress the dialects of Greece and of Italy, in order to substitute the flippant jargon of France in their stead, and replace the solid bullion of ancient wisdom by the base tinsel of Gallic philosophism. Thus has this restless and overbearing nation twice attacked the cause of literature in Florence; in their first visit, they plundered and dispersed the Medicean library and cabinet; in their second, they not only repeated the same sacrilege, but attempted to stop for ever the two great sources of science and of literature, the languages of Plato and of Cicero. PALACES. The remark which we have made above relative to the churches of Florence is still more applicable to the palaces, few of which ୮ are calculated to inspire interest, either from their grandeur or magnitude, when compared to similar edifices in Rome. To which we may add, that the Tuscan style, mixed as it generally is in these buildings with much of the rustic, is dull and heavy, and gives them a sullen appearance better adapted to monasteries or even prisons than to palaces. The Palazzo Strozzi, and even the archiducal residence the Palazzo Pitti, though grand, regular, and extensive edifices, fall under this censure. The Palazzo Corsini on the quay is perhaps an exception. The Palazzo Riccardi is said to be erected on a plan of Michael Angelo; it has however a better recommendation to notice. It was built by the first Cosmo de Medici, and was the residence of that family in the happiest and most glorious period of its history, when its wealth was the produce of its industry, its honors the voluntary tribute of public esteem, and its power the affection of its country. The house of Cosmo and afterwards of Lorenzo, was then truly the palace of public wisdom the Curia of the Commonwealth, and at the same time the abode of the Greek, the Latin, and the Etruscan muses. It was in process of time honored by the presence of emperors and of pontiffs, and of kings and of princes; it was decorated by the first artists in succession, and may with propriety be considered as the temple of virtue, public spirit, and science. When we enter it the recollection of all the virtues and honors of the first Medici inspire veneration; as we advance we seem to see the heroes and the sages of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries rising successively before us, and claiming * Palazzo della Ragione, an appellation given in Italy to the townhall or place where the magistrates assemble. the homage due to their exertions in the cause of science and literature. " Hospes," says the inscription which presents itself to the stranger on his entrance, "Mediceas olim ædes in quibus non solum tot principes viri, sed et sapientia ipsa habitavit, ædes omnis eruditionis, quæ hic revixit, nutrices .. Gratus ve nerare. It must appear surprising, that a sovereign of this family should have sold a palace so intimately connected with the history of its fortunes, not only the incufabula gentis,/» but a monument of the most honorable period of its existence. But Ferdinand II. lived at a time when the Medicean princes, then a degenerate race, had lost in the effeminacy and pride of sovereignty, even the memory of the virtues that made their ancestors great, and were probably indifferent or perhaps averse to trophies and monuments that only reproached them with their vices and their indolence. The Riccardi family, the present proprietors of the Medicean palace, are not unworthy of such a residence. It still remains the repository of the arts and of the wisdom of antiquity, and its gallery and library, open to public inspection, continue to announce the spirit, the judgment, and the liberality of its inhabitants. One of the most remarkable edifices of Florence, and perhaps the most beautiful in its kind in Europe, is the Ponte della Trinita, built of marble and formed of three elliptic arches; it was erected by Ammanati, and is universally admired for grace and airy lightness. THE GALLERY. It now remains for me to speak of the celebrated gallery which has occupied the attention of so many sovereigns, and forms the distinguishing and most honourable feature of Florence. The general appearance of this city is equalled by many and surpassed by some Italian cities, but its gallery stands confessedly in the second place, and yields only (if yet it yield) to the unrivalled collection of the Vatican. I am aware that in speaking of both these famous cabinets I am enlarging rather upon their past than their present glory, and need not inform the reader that the masterpieces of the latter have been transported to France, and that those of the former have been conveyed by a well-timed precaution to Palermo. The Medicean gallery therefore when we visited it was stripped of its principal ornaments, and presented so many vacant frames and unoccupied pedestals, that we found ourselves more disposed to regret its absent than admire its present beauties. Among the former were the Venus of Medicis, the Faun, the Wrestlers, with sixty other ancient statues, the most perfect in their kind now at Palermo. Many others, of nearly a similar description, have been transported to Paris. The paintings, at least the masterpieces, have shared the same fate, and for the same reasons have been either removed to Sicily or sent to France. The gallery, however, could not be said to be a dreary void; many statues and many paintings still remained, excellent in their kinds, and capable singly of giving reputation to any transalpine collection. We will now proceed to a more minute account, and begin by the edifice itself. It was erected by the orders of Cosmo I. in the year 1564. Georgio Vasari was the architect; it is built in the form of the Greek п, and is more than five hundred feet in length; the court enclosed between the wings is sixty-four feet in breadth. This court is regular in all its parts; on each side is a gallery supported by Tuscan pillars, one end opens on the great square; the other borders the Arno, and is terminated by a large arch which unites the two buildings and forms the communication. The magnitude and regularity of this edifice are alone capable of giving it a majestic appearance, but in other respects it is liable to much criticism; for, not to object to the heaviness of the order itself, the gallery is too low, the pillars too far from each other, the entablature too cumbersome, and the whole colonnade quite buried under the vast superstructure which it supports. On entering this edifice, and ascending the staircase, (for the gallery is in the upper story,) we are pleased to find the vestibule adorned with the busts of the Medicean princes its founders, who seem to preside over the entrance as the tutelary divinities of the place, and claim from the traveller as he passes before them the acknowledgment due to their munificence. These princes occupy the first part of the vestibulum; the second part contains various antique altars and two remarkable trophies. The gallery occupies the whole length of the building on both sides, and the end or space that forms the communication. Each wing of this gallery is four hundred and sixty feet in length, and the part that forms the communication is more than one hundred; it is about twenty-four in breadth, and nearly as many in heighth. The ceiling is painted in fresco, and represents in one wing various mythological subjects, in the middle and the other wing, conspicuous persons and events remarkable in the annals of Florence. These paintings are only interesting inasmuch as they are connected with the history of |