4

ANECDOTE OF THE ORIGIN OF

finding leisure for the work.... He seemed in speaking on the subject to be himself of this opinion; but still to feel no inclination to consign the task to another. That the Cavaliere Buonarroti would himself make the best and most satisfactory editor to this much wished-for publication, there can be no doubt; but it is a work that should not be delayed. Even the poems alone, so peculiar, so Michael-Angelic as they are, would be a benefaction to the public, for which they would be very grateful, and which it is a pity to keep from them any longer.

Many of the earliest efforts of Michael Angelo, both in painting, and sculpture, are to be seen in this family museum. and I could not help regretting, notwithstanding the honourable place assigned it among the marbles at the Ufizj, that his head of a Satyr, wrought from a bit of marble given to him by Lorenzo's gardener when he was only fifteen years of age, was not preserved here; for it is well known to be the first morsel of marble upon which he ever tried his chisel.

Some of the sketches in chalk, and pencil, which we saw here are admirable; and when looked at as thoughts have an indescribable degree of interest. There is one of which Signore Buonarroti told us the following anecdote :-When his great ancestor hastened to Florence in the time of her utmost need, in the hope of aiding her threatened citizens by fortifying the height on which stood

HIS PICTURE OF THE

"FATES."

5

the convent and church of San Miniato, the utmost promptitude and dispatch in the execution of his plans were necessary to render them available against the arrival of the expected enemy.... The frightened citizens laboured at the works he was carrying on with a zeal made up of patriotic feeling, personal fear, and willing obedience to his commands. . . . Among the labourers thus employed to burrow away the earth which it was necessary to remove, an aged woman particularly attracted the attention of the manyheaded giant who was putting forth his strength for the protection of the city he loved; .... this old woman worked with a vigour, that seemed to have its origin in her mind at least as much as in her limbs; and the speaking features of her coarse but resolute countenance, appeared so expressive in the eyes of the painter-sculptor-poetarchitect, that he made a drawing of her. . . . This sketch had a character in it which suggested to him the idea of the mystical capriccio of the Three Fatal Sisters; and in looking at the sketch, it is easy to trace not only a close resemblance to one of the heads in the picture, but also that intense earnestness of mind which served to awaken the imagination of the artist into the mood that produced them all. I never saw an ébauche that I more heartily wished to possess.

I must not attempt any enumeration of the many charming sketches that are here preserved,

6

DEFICIENCY OF CHURCH MUSIC.

nor venture upon any description of the exquisite rilievo medallion for which princes have sought to barter.... but in vain; neither that, nor any other of the precious gems contained in these rich apartments, appear at all likely to pass from the hands of their present possessor; who evidently appreciates their value too justly, both as a man of taste and a Buonarroti, to render it probable that this unique museum should ever be mutilated while he lives.

During our last visit to Florence we took a great deal of trouble to find out when and where we could hear the best church music; but, excepting the two grand masses at the Duomo, which I have already mentioned, we were uniformly disappointed. Nor have we been more fortunate during our present stay. Mass after mass have we attended in the course of these two visits, and that in all the principal churches of Florence, without hearing anything that deserved the name. This has the more surprised me, because the greatest lady in the land is a devout Catholic, and, as well as the Duchessmother, is a liberal patroness of everything connected with her religion. The reigning Duchess has the honour of having in some sort resuscitated a female saint, who hardly appears to have been much heard of till her Royal Highness brought her into notice. A multitude of medals

LEGEND OF SANTA FILOMENA.

7

have been recently struck in honour of this Santa Filomena, which are said to be worn by all the troops. The legend of this saintess, who it seems was of Roman extraction, states that, her pre-eminent beauty caught the eye and won the heart of Dominican; but rather than consent to yield herself to his imperial, but dishonourable, pursuit, she chose the alternative of being drowned in the Tiber. For this she has been rewarded by a place in the Romish calendar, and has of late been drawn forward from the holy crowd of martyrs by the piety of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, who has selected her as her patroness saint.... A friend of ours chanced to be present not long ago at the inauguration of this holy virgin's picture, at a church in Tuscany; and listened, of course, with great edification to an elegant discourse, in which the life and death of the fair vestal was narrated with great animation; and in that florid, and somewhat verbose, style, which the extempore preaching of the Romish Church is apt to generate; but upon changing his place a little to some point of vantage, from whence the interior of the pulpit became visible, our friend perceived within it two of the little priestlets whose youthful faces form so strong a contrast to their solemn dress. These two reverend children were crouching at the feet of the preacher, the one holding a written paper, the other a lamp, the

8

A ROMAN CATHOLIC PREACHER.

light of which was thrown strongly on the manuscript.... Having made this leading discovery, he perceived that from time to time the animated and seemingly inspired eye of the preacher fell, and was raised again, in all the impassioned animation of extemporary composition. For my own part, I consider the holy gentleman to be perfectly excusable for this little innocent fraud, as in my opinion it is infinitely better to pro duce an "impromtu à loisir," than to utter crude thoughts, or unweighed phrases, from a pulpit... and even in the matter of narrating a Popish legend, I hold it to be better that it should be written before it is spoken; nevertheless, I

• ...

...

lament that so holy a man should be forced to have recourse to so ludicrous a cheat. It would be better to reform the matter altogether, and to let the Roman Catholic congregations profit, as our own do, by the well-weighed eloquence of their preachers.

I have found time amidst all my innumerable engagements to pay another visit to my friend Powers, and found him greatly delighted by a visit from Thorwaldsen, and by the approbation which the veteran had bestowed upon his Eve. . . . While relating with great animation different observations which had fallen from the great man, he pointed to the mark of a finger which he had left upon the clay when indicating a trifling alteration in