round arches, on massive rectangular piers, throws a deep shadow on to
the sarcophagi of the men who were Sigismondo's companions in his
peaceful hours. These sarcophagi are placed between the piers, well
above the spectator, on the basement which is built out from the brick
wall of the original Gothic cathedral. Like the façade, this grand
colonnade and its base are lined with white marble. Among the sarcophagi
is one which contains a trophy brought by Sigismondo from the East.
The civilisation of the Middle Ages produced a curious phase of religion
that showed itself not only in the Church, which distributed the bodies
of Christian martyrs all over the country and robbed the catacombs of
Rome for sacred relics in order that they might be adored in other
places, but also in the action of the great nobles, who, to gain a
little immortality, brought back from distant wars all they could lay
hands on that might redound to their heavenly credit. In the case of
Sigismondo it was, let us believe, a love of literature that prompted
the theft of the bones of the great Platonist, Gemisthus Pletho, and
placed them in the stone chest under one of Alberti's arches. There they
rest near those containing the remains of kindred natures whom the
warlike noble claimed as intimate friends.
The interior of the Tempio consists of a nave with side chapels and an
apsidal choir. The roof is good open woodwork. There are four chapels on
either side with the original pointed vault and groining. The Gothic
arches which open on to the nave are covered with classic ornament. The
spandrils are coloured green and are embossed with shields and a
splendid floral design. The wall spaces between each chapel, as well as
the west end, have a wonderful arrangement of very beautiful Corinthian
pilasters that rest on a sculptured frieze with a blue ground on which
are shields bearing the I and S. From this frieze depend floral festoons
on bands of green and red, with medallions of coloured marble beneath.
At the bases of the pilasters are figures holding shields. The whole of
this design is executed in a grey stone of the same colour as that in
the illustration. The piers of the arches of the two first chapels on
either side are enriched by figures of knights and dames; the third by
beautiful panels of nymphs and children carrying garlands, &c., on a
light blue ground reminiscent of the Della Robbia. The fourth chapel on
the south side has figures symbolical of the months of the year and the
signs of the Zodiac; while that on the north has figures of saints on
its piers, to which, instead of the usual classic bases, elephants of
black marble have been substituted. The first chapel south is dedicated
to S. Sigismondo, who sits on two of these great beasts. The Malatesta
crest is above the altar. On one wall are delicately carved figures of
angels drawing aside curtains from a crucifix; repeated on another,
where the angels in even better attitudes part the curtains from a small
closed window that looks into the Sanctuario. So delicately cut are
these beautiful figures that the art which produced them seems almost
plastic. The Sanctuario is closed and contains a fresco of Sigismondo
Malatesta kneeling before his patron saint. The next chapel appears in
the illustration. It is dedicated to S. Michele, whose figure above the
altar is supposed to be a portrait of Isotta. She is interred in the
tomb which the sketch shows. During the life of Sigismondo's two wives
she was his mistress, but at the death of the second he married her and
the record of their wedded life is a happy one. Her tomb is borne by
elephants on brackets and is surmounted by a knight's helm with the
Malatesta crest above.
[Illustration: ISOTTA'S TOMB IN THE CATHEDRAL, RIMINI]
The first chapel on the north side of the nave has a tomb placed high up
on the wall, which contains the remains of as many of Sigismondo's least
famous ancestors as he could lay hands on. The chapel is known as the
Capella dell' Acque from an ancient statue of the Madonna which
represents her as sending down rain. On the base of the pillars of this
chapel are portraits in low relief of Sigismondo. The low brow, hooked
nose, and cruel mouth tell one plainly that the sardonic expression of
the face does not belie the character of this extraordinary man. On the
wall to the right of the west door is his tomb, which, considering the
part he played in the history of his day, must be acknowledged as very
simple and plain.
The other chapels are full of the tombs of the illustrious members, male
and female, of the House of Malatesta.
Along the length of the nave in front of all these chapels runs a
splendid marble screen or balustrade. At every fourth pillar, on the
marble rail, stands a charming little cherub resting on a shield or
holding a bunch of flowers or basket of fruit. The screen of the last
chapel on each side is of red Verona marble and is perforated by the
elephant head of the Malatesta and gorgeously designed arabesques in
circles. From one end to the other the screens stand out from the
chapels into the nave, and are raised two steps above the red-tiled
floor. Such are some of the features which go to make the Tempio di
Malatesta one of the most extraordinary cathedrals in Italy.
There is little else to attract the visitor to Rimini, unless it be to
undertake a visit to the tiny Republic of S. Marino. A pleasant day's
excursion may be taken to this quaint little stretch of territory which
is so picturesquely situated on a spur of the Alban mountains a few
miles from the city.
FERRARA
At the foot of the Euganean hills, those hills which stand like
sentinels detached from the northern ramparts of Venetia, and guarding
the tract of country that stretches eastwards to the sea between Rovigo
and Venice, are the ruins of a castle--the Castello d'Este--whose lords
at one time played a prominent part in the history of Italy. Of Lombard
origin, these Margraves of Este had ruled the surrounding country for
three centuries prior to 1452, in which year Pope Paul III. created
Borso d'Este Duke of Ferrara, and the family, as long as it lasted, was
thenceforth inseparably connected with the subject of this chapter. More
honours were bestowed on Borso when the Emperor Frederick III. gave him
the titles of Duke of Modena and Reggio, and he held the domains of
those places as fiefs for his overlord. Borso's grandson Alphonso
married the notorious Lucrezia Borgia; but to Azzo d'Este, Margrave of
Este in the year 1110, belongs a greater claim to fame. Scion of a
junior branch of the Welfs or Guelphs he succeeded to the Duchy of
Bavaria on the death of his grandfather, the last male representative
of the elder branch of the family, and from his off-spring grew the
Guelph Houses of Hanover and Brunswick, from the former of which is
descended our own Royal line. In the sixteenth century the Court of
Ferrara was second to none in Europe for its patronage of the Arts and
Literature, and the House of Este will always be handed down to
posterity as one that did much to raise the culture of Italy to a very
high pitch.
In the centre of the city, surrounded by a moat and entered by two
bridges which span it, the great pile that Ferrara's rulers erected
stands haughtily four-square, with four immense towers at the corners.
Here in safety dwelt those mighty princes who brought renown to the city
that lay around and beyond; and here in a dungeon below the level of the
water, Duke Niccolo III. caused his wife and her paramour, who was one
of his own natural sons, to be put to death; a tragedy which gave Byron
his subject in the poem "Parisina." This huge fortress, like most of the
other buildings in Ferrara, is constructed of brick. Ferrara's streets
are wide, and though its palaces and houses do not rise to any great
height, the gardens behind them, enclosed by high walls, give an air of
spaciousness and aristocratic bearing that attest its former importance.
Most of these palaces and houses are decorated with beautifully moulded
brick or terra cotta courses; and the well-proportioned windows on their
flat street fronts create the impression of great space, which is the
chief characteristic of Ferrara. There is one important building,
however, which is constructed of stone, the Palazzo de' Diamanti, so
called from the peculiar facets of the material with which it is built.
Ferrara possessed a school of painting of its own, and it is in this
palace that the best examples have been placed. The great palace of the
Bentivoglio family, where many celebrities have lodged, has a heavy
stone cornice and baroque decoration on its vast brick sides. The Casa
di Ariosto, built by the poet himself in the years 1526-28, and in which
he died, with an inscription on its walls he composed, is another fine
house. The hospital of Sta Anna, a most beautiful red brick and terra
cotta building, has cloistered courts; and the cellar which was Tasso's
prison for five months until he was removed, still a prisoner, to a
better room, can be seen. In the _castello_ itself Calvin the reformer
found an asylum, befriended by Renée, the wife of Duke Ercole d'Este,
who paid forfeit for her temerity by being separated from husband and
children by a Papal Bull.
The Cathedral was begun in 1135, and its exterior belongs almost
entirely to that period. The west façade is a very good example of
Lombardo Gothic. It is divided into three equal portions each of which
is surmounted by a gable containing what was at one time a wheel window.
The central part has a good porch somewhat similar in design to the one
at Verona. The semicircular arch is borne by columns supported by two
dwarf figures bent double with the weight of their burden; they squat on
the backs of lions, one of which holds a bull and the other a ram
between its forepaws. Above this is an open gallery with very beautiful
twisted pillars and quatrefoil piercing in the three arches. In the
spandrils of these, and of earlier date, are bas-reliefs of the dead
rising from their tombs, and over them at the base of the canopy above
are reliefs of the Life of Our Saviour, the Virtues, the Vices and Seven
Mortal Sins, as well as the Day of Judgment. The two flanking parts of
the façade, one of which appears in the illustration, have each three
tiers of arcading. The lowest is composed of nine rounded arches with
four-sided columns grouped in triplets, which are enclosed by three
pointed arches. The next tier is of nine pointed arches; and over this
are four pointed arches deeply recessed. Following the line of the gable
is an extremely effective gallery of elegant double columns and pointed
arches, one of the great features of Pisan Gothic so prominent in
the churches of Lucca. Near the base of this wall in a curious pilgrim's
dress with a pleated skirt is the figure of Alberto d'Este.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL, FERRARA]
The whole of the south wall has a double range of arches which very
pleasantly break the monotony of so vast a space of yellow brick. The
grand _campanile_ at the south east-corner was put up by Ercole II., and
is composed of four tiers of round arches on columns with Corinthian
capitals. The alternate bands of red and cream toned marble with which
the exterior is faced give a good decorative effect to this big tower.
The interior of the Cathedral has been modernised and painted to
represent carved stone. Whitewash, generally the alternative to painted
imitation of something substantial in construction, is perhaps
preferable to this form of deception as it does not really interfere
with the proportions of the architect's design. Here, however, the
really fine proportion of the interior is almost destroyed by the
obtrusive colours of the false marble walls, and the representation of
bosses and capitals. The semicircular choir by Rossette was built in
1499 and has a ceiling covered with a fresco of the Last Judgment by
Bastianino, who was one of Michael Angelo's favourite pupils. This
fresco contains portraits of many of the painter's friends who are
depicted in Heaven, while those with whom he was not on good terms are
enduring the tortures of another place.
In the piazza outside the Cathedral a market goes on all day long
throughout the year. It is difficult to analyse the feelings of folk who
in the bitterest of weather unfold their great umbrellas over the fruit
and vegetables exposed for sale. But so it is in Ferrara during November
when the accompanying sketch was made, and every morning sees a thick
coat of ice on the moat surrounding the castle. For although the good
people wrapped themselves in heavy cloaks and thick coats and shivered
over charcoal stoves, they still sat under their umbrellas. Habit breeds
custom and custom lasts for ages.
The old city walls afford a delightful promenade of four miles or more
in length. On one side, the town seems to be right in the middle of a
huge market garden above the trees of which long red roofs and towers
rise upwards. On the other, at this time of year, the last leaves from
rows of poplars and plane trees may be seen gently falling to the ground
in the tranquil frosty air, and when at rest forming a glorious carpet
of russet and orange. Great teams of oxen, six couple to a team, are
straining hard at the plough that cuts deep furrows in the stiff soil.
The trees have long ago been trimmed and the peasants now turn their
hands to the cutting of clay--that stiff clay through which the oxen
toil--for brick-making. Ice covers the water in the fosse, and although
the sun shines brilliantly and the malarial mosquito is no more for at
least eight months, one soon realises that Ferrara is better in the
spring than in late autumn.
RAVENNA
Ravenna is one of those ancient cities the origin of which is lost in
the mist of ages. It is, however, no guess work to say that in the days
before the first unknown settlers found their way to the spot which
became their permanent home, the fertile land in which it now lies
embowered was a vast waste of waters and salt marshes. The first
inhabitants of this dreary region drove piles into the mud, and erected
their dwellings on such foundations as these afforded. Wooden piles will
not last for ever, and the subsequent buildings that were put up, pulled
down and replaced, have accordingly suffered in stability. When the
march of Rome carried her legions north, Ravenna was encircled by a
seagirt wall, and a Roman colony was established which became in
Pompey's day a first-class naval station. Alive to the great strategic
value of the city the Emperor Augustus constructed a new and second
harbour capable of holding two hundred and fifty ships, which he named
Portus Classis. This he connected by a canal with one of the estuaries
of the river Po. Portus Classis lay three miles south of Ravenna, and
between the two there soon sprang up a connecting link, the town of
Cæsarea. The Emperor Honorius made Ravenna the capital of the West, and
both he and his celebrated sister Placidia resided there.
In 493 Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, who had extended his conquests
southwards over the Alps, captured the city, and Ravenna then became the
capital of the Gothic kingdom. During his reign, a reign marked by
absolute religious toleration, Italy was at peace for thirty years.
Ravenna must have been at that time some miles from the coast. Jordanes,
the historian, has handed down the fact that its celebrated Pineta, or
Pine Forest, was in existence in Theodoric's day. Justinian, who drove
out the Goths with the help of Belisarius and Narses, left the
administration in the hands of the latter, who became the first Exarch.
The Exarchs of Ravenna practically governed the entire Italian kingdom;
even the Popes were subject to a rule which lasted one hundred and
eighty-five years. In 1512 the Italian war that followed the League of
Cambray brought a French army under Gaston le Foix into Romagna, and the
bloodiest battle ever fought on Italian soil took place not far from the
city; Gaston losing his life towards the close of the engagement at a
spot marked by an obelisk.
It is, however, in early Christian Art, nowhere so well exemplified as
in the mosaics of Ravenna, that interest is chiefly centred. More than
fourteen centuries have come and gone since the first of these wonderful
wall decorations were placed where they remain to-day. And though
Ravenna and its celebrated Pine Forest are inseparably connected with
the immortal Dante and the poet Byron, and though the sarcophagus and
tomb of the former, tucked away in a corner of a little piazza, draw
many a pilgrim to worship at his shrine, Ravenna lives in its mosaics
and will continue thus to live as long as the walls last on which they
are encrusted.
Theodoric's great basilica possesses one that is universally accepted as
the finest in the world, but the church of S. Vitale is enriched with
the most splendid of all. Close to S. Vitale is the mausoleum which
Honorius' sister, Galla Placidia, built in the form of a Latin cross for
herself and her husbands. In its way it is one of the most perfect gems
of good taste in mural decoration extant. The interior walls are lined
with rare marbles. The arch over the entrance has a mosaic of the Good
Shepherd and His Sheep in subdued greens and greys. The vault of the
first arm of the cross is covered with a most glorious blue ground out
of which shines a multitude of stars in white and gold; this leads the
eye in a perfect harmony of colour to the blue-green ground of the dome,
whereon the four Evangelists and their symbols are portrayed in white
and a dull red. The sarcophagus of the Empress still remains in the
recess beyond, and in the lateral arms of the cross are those of her
brother Honorius and her second husband Constantius III. These three
stand exactly in the same places as they did fourteen hundred years ago.
The mosaic above Placidia's tomb represents Our Lord with an open book
in one hand and a cross in the other. In the centre is a gridiron
towards which He proceeds. On the left side a sort of tomb or cupboard
stands open disclosing on its shelves the bodies of the four
Evangelists, their names being written beneath each body.
In the other recesses stags are seen drinking at fountains, and birds
and arabesques cover the beautiful _tesseræ_ groundwork. The soffits of
all the windows, which are filled with thin slabs of alabaster, are
adorned by a deep red, and a black and white pattern on a gold ground.
[Illustration: RAVENNA]
S. Vitale, the building to the right in the sketch, was erected in the
reign of Justinian by Archbishop Ecclesius on the spot where S. Vitalis
suffered martyrdom. Like most of the early buildings of Ravenna it has
suffered from the nature of the ground on which it stands, and is
buttressed up and held together by great iron ties and clamps. The
interior is a vast circle with a domed roof supported by eight arches
and the same number of piers, between which are semicircular two-storied
recesses. These are divided by three arches with plain columns that have
double capitals. A circular aisle extends round the lower part of the
church carrying a gallery above. The brick walls, against which are
placed many ancient sarcophagi, were originally covered with slabs of
marble, and as S. Vitale and most of Ravenna's other churches are now
_monumentali nazionale_ it is to be hoped that marble may some day once
more line this effective interior.
The superb mosaics on the vault of the Choir and Tribune are of the
sixth century, and as fresh to-day as when first put up. The semi-dome
of the apse has a fine gold ground on which the Almighty is enthroned on
a globe with Archangels around. Above them float crimson and blue
clouds. He gives to S. Vitalis, who stands at His right hand, the crown
of martyrdom; on His left is S. Eutychius offering a model of the
church. The vault of the Tribune itself is decorated with one of the
most gorgeous arrangements of colour in arabesques and birds that could
be imagined. On one wall is a fine mosaic of Justinian surrounded by
courtiers, and S. Maximianus with two accompanying priests. The
Emperor's robe is deep purple embroidered with gold and mother-of-pearl,
those that the others wear are white and gold with coloured edging. On
the opposite wall is the Empress Theodora attended by the ladies of her
court. Here again the costumes give a fine colour note, and the
expressions on the different faces, which are very Eastern in type, are
remarkable. A curtain forms part of the background of this mosaic, and
is, curiously enough, green, white and red, the Italian colours of the
present day. On the arch are half-lengths of our Saviour and the twelve
Apostles, and the two martyred sons of S. Vitalis, SS. Gervasius and
Protasius whose remains rest in the church of S. Ambrogio in Milan.
All the angles of the mosaics are rounded off as in S. Mark's at Venice
and elsewhere. But in S. Vitale they are patterned with bands of
distinct colours, and do not interfere with the general effect as they
do in S. Mark's, where the brilliant gold catches the light and
accentuates the angle. The whole colour scheme of the decoration is
green and white relieved by a dull purple, black and deep red set on a
rich dull golden ground. However much one admires the later mosaics of
Venice and Torcello, Palermo and Monreale, the palm for beautiful colour
must be awarded to the glorious art of Ravenna.
At the bases of the columns in the Choir stand the celebrated pagan
bas-reliefs called the "Throne of Neptune." In both, a sea-monster lies
extended beneath the throne of the god. That on the right has a winged
figure holding a trident; in the other, two figures bear a huge conch
shell. Sea-horses, dolphins and shells, crowded in between Corinthian
pilasters, form the lower panels which two nude boys bear on their
shoulders staggering under the heavy weight.
Ravenna's cathedral contains nothing of any architectural interest, as
it was rebuilt in the bad period of the eighteenth century. The original
edifice, which was erected by S. Ursus in the fourth century, was known
as the "Basilica Ursiana." The Archbishop's Palace adjoins the east end,
and in it is one of Ravenna's earliest places of Christian worship. The
little chapel to which we refer was probably built about 430 and was the
work of Peter Chrysologos. With the exception of painted restorations to
some of its frescoes it is to-day just as it was when the decorators
left it more than fourteen hundred years ago. In the vestibule leading
to the chapel one may see the ivory throne of S. Maximianus. This fine
specimen of sixth-century art is covered with little ivory panels on
which bas-reliefs tell the history of Joseph. In front of the seat are
the Saint's monogram, the panels beneath representing the favourite
theme of our Lord as a shepherd amidst his sheep, with the four
Evangelists attendant. The four legs of the throne appear to be solid
ivory; those at the back go right up to the top and must at one time
have been splendid tusks.
To the north of the Cathedral is the Baptistery. The mosaics of the
fifth century which line the interior are in a very light key of colour,
the scheme employed being light blue, white and gold. Situated between
the eight arches of the octagon are sixteen bas-reliefs of the prophets
executed in a cream-coloured marble. The arches themselves are composed
of two members, one within the other, the outer of which is gold edged
with white; and the inner has a remarkably fine quality of blue
_tesseræ_. In the centre of the dome S. John is seen baptizing our
Saviour, who stands in the waters of Jordan surrounded by the twelve
Apostles. The font, which stands on a fine inverted Corinthian capital,
was at one time a vase in the Temple of Jupiter. This Temple was
situated on the site of the Baptistery, and eight of its columns form
the support of the octagon arches.
The cathedral, which is the church with a dome in the illustration,
possesses one of the round towers peculiar to Ravenna. The date of these
towers is uncertain, but is probably the eleventh or twelfth century.
Insecure foundations have caused most of them to tilt to one side--note
the angle of the Torre del Pubblico in the sketch--and necessitated a
great deal of restoration.