The Badia and Dante Chapter XIV The Bargello Chapter XV S. Croce Chapter XVI

By Mino da Fiesole, in the Badia David.

Giotto did not live to see even his tower completedit is the unhappy destiny of architects to die too soonbut he was able during the four years left him to find time for certain accessory decorations, of which more will be said later, and also to paint for S. Trinità the picture which we shall see in the Accademia, together with a few other works, since perished, for the Badia and S. Giorgio.

No dome to the cathedral, first of all; no S. Lorenzo church or cloisters; no S. Croce cloisters or Pazzi chapel; no Badia of Fiesole.

In this picture Dante stands between the Inferno and a concentrated Florence in which portions of the Duomo, the Signoria, the Badia, the Bargello, and Or San Michele are visible.

I say no more of the poet here, because a large part of the chapter on the Badia is given to him.

Florence seen from this eminence is very redso uniformly so that many towers rise against it almost indistinguishably, particularly the Bargello's and the Badia's.

1295in this room is far finer and sweeter; but at the Accademia and the Badia we are to see him at his best in this class of work.

His best work is a fresco at the Badia of Fiesole.

CHAPTER XII "Aërial Fiesole" Andrea del SartoFiesole sightsThe Villa Palmieri and the "Decameron"Botticini's picture in the National GalleryS. FrancescoThe Roman amphitheatreThe Etruscan museumA sculptor's walkThe Badia di FiesoleBrunelleschi againGiovanni di San Giovanni.

On the bank in front is the Villa Palmieri, and on the picture's extreme left is the Badia of Fiesole.

CHAPTER XIII The Badia and Dante Filippino LippiBuffalmaccoMino da

This church is known as the Badia, and its delicate spire is a joy in the landscape from every point of vantage.

The Badia may be said to be the heart of the Dante quarter.

The façade of the Badia of Fiesole and the church of S. Miniato can also remember Dante; no others.

Of Mino I have said more both at the Badia and at Fiesole.

Everything about it is beautiful, as the photograph which I give in this volume will help the reader to believe: proportions, figures, and tracery; but I still consider Mino's monument to Ugo in the Badia the finest Florentine example of the gentler memorial style, as contrasted with the severe Michelangelesque manner.

It is called Brunelleschi's masterpiece, but I prefer both the Badia of Fiesole and the Old Sacristy at S. Lorenzo, and I remember with more pleasure the beautiful doorway leading from the Arnolfo cloisters to the Brunelleschi cloisters, which probably is his too.

This was painted, say, in 1280, as an altar-piece for the Badia of S. Trinità at Florence.

The society was known in the city as the Buonuomini (good men) of S. Martino, the little church close to Dante's house, behind the Badia: S. Martin being famous among saints for his impulsive yet wise generosity with his cloak.

Pico dabbled in the black arts, wrote learnedly (in his room at the Badia of Fiesole) on the Mosaic law, was an amorous poet in Italian as well as a serious poet in Latin, and in everything he did was interesting and curious, steeped in Renaissance culture, and inspired by the wish to reconcile the past and the present and humanize Christ and the Fathers.

The Bargello is hidden, but the graceful Badia tower is seen; also the little white Baptistery roof with its lantern just showing.

It is not quite of the rank of Mino's in the Badia; but it is a noble and beautiful thing marked in every inch of it by modest and exquisite thought.

L'abate si chiamava Chiaramonte, Era del sangue disceso d'Angrante: Di sopra a la badia v'era un gran monte, Dove abitava alcun fiero gigante, De' quali uno avea nome Passamonte, L'altro Alabastro, e 'l terzo era Morgante:

Tiraboschi, Girol: Storia della Badia di S. Silvestro di Nonantula, etc. Modena, 1784-1785.