_The Duomo_--_S. Giovanni in Fonte_--_Biblioteca
Capitolare_--_Vescovado_--_St Anastasia_--_Piazza delle Erbe_
The cathedral church of Verona is said to date from between the eighth
and ninth centuries. The period of its erection cannot be stated with
certainty, and beyond the fact that it was first dedicated to Sta. Maria
Matricolata nothing definite relating to it can be affirmed. It was
nearly completed in its primitive state in 806 under Bishop Rathold,
though it was considerably heightened in after years. The building
itself is a mixture of the Lombard style with Gothic and Italian
introduced--a mixture eminently satisfactory in its results
notwithstanding the divergence of style. Ruskin speaks of it as follows,
when, after six months’ close study of Byzantine work in Venice, he came
again to the Lombard work of Verona and Pavia. “(Verona)--Comparing the
arabesque and sculpture of the Duomo here with St Mark’s, the first
thing that strikes one is the low relief, the second the greater motion
and spirit, with infinitely less grace and science. With the Byzantines,
however rude the cutting, every line is lovely, and the animals or men
are placed in any attitudes which secure ornamental effect, sometimes
impossible ones, always severe, restrained, or languid. With the
Romanesque workmen all the figures show the effort (often successful)
to
[Illustration: SOUTH DOOR OF THE DUOMO]
express energetic action; hunting chiefly, much fighting, and both
spirited; some of the dogs running capitally, straining to it, and the
knights hitting hard, while yet the faces and drawing are in the last
degree barbarous ... the Lombard building is as sharp, precise and
accurate as that of St Mark’s is careless. The Byzantines seem to have
been too lazy to have put their stones together; and, in general, my
first impression on coming to Verona, after four months in Venice, is of
the exquisitely neat masonry and perfect _feeling_ here; a style of
Gothic formed by a combination of Lombard surface ornament with Pisan
Gothic, than which nothing can possibly be more chaste, pure, or
solemn.”[41]
A temple dedicated to Minerva is said to have stood here originally, and
traces of this can yet be seen, though in point of size there is no
difference whatever between the Pagan temple of the past and the
Christian church of to-day. The outside decoration of the apses is very
beautiful, and is formed of a frieze of carved and decorated work
running along the upper lines, and giving an idea of care and finish to
the exterior that is very effective. The chief entrance in some ways
recalls that of St Zeno. It consists of a beautiful canopied porch, with
two columns resting on colossal griffins, while around are scrolls, and
carvings, and devices, not of such interesting workmanship as those at
St Zeno, though from some lines on the archivolt they claim to be the
work of the same man, one Niccolŏ of the eleventh century. Those
lines are as follows:--
“Artificem quarum qui sculpserit haec Nicolaum
Hunc concurrentes laudent per saecula gentes.”[42]
On each side of the door, and close to it, stand the figures of Roland
and Oliver, the paladins of the Carlovingian age, who stamp alike their
romance and epoch in lasting forms of stone on the grand façade of the
Duomo of Verona. Around them are grouped Old Testament saints, while in
the architrave above are the medallions of three crowned women, who were
once supposed to represent Faith, Hope and Charity. They are however
three queens who gave generously to the church, namely Bertranda,
Charlemagne’s mother; one of his wives; and Ermengarda, the wife of
Desiderio, the last of the Lombard kings. The façade, with its rows of
small columns set so as to show to advantage the noble proportions of
the building, is very impressive, and it is interesting to follow the
traceries of former windows and speculate over the effect which this
west front was once intended to have shown.
The lateral door on the south side is wonderfully fine, and belongs to
the earlier and purer date of the building. The polychrome marbles about
this doorway prepare the eye for some frescoes of a very early date in
the lunette above, while yet higher up and of a still earlier date is a
statuette of the Virgin, which may rank as one of the finest of that
period in Verona.
The interior of the Duomo is Gothic in its character, and is a very good
example of how that style of architecture was then treated in Italy. The
ceiling is ugly in its mistaken intention to represent “the starry
firmament on high” here set forth in a painted blue curtain meant for
the vault of Heaven with gilt stars upon it. The shape of the building
is cruciform, and supported by columns and capitals of different forms
all made of marble either from Verona or from the East. In the first
altar to the left on entering is a picture by Titian of the Assumption.
It is a grand painting, and has evidently gained a certain value in the
eyes of the Veronese by having been carried off to Paris by Napoleon I.,
and restored to Verona after that grand pilferer had left Europe and
most of his selected goods behind him. The frescoes above the high altar
were designed by Giulio Romano, and executed by Torbido in 1534. The
rounded colonnaded screen in front of the high altar forms one of the
chief features of the church and is extremely beautiful in its way. It
was designed by San Micheli, but is not altogether in keeping with its
Gothic surroundings, being essentially classic in its plan and
execution.
[Illustration: SIDE DOOR OF CATHEDRAL, VERONA. DETAIL OF COLUMN]
On the top of the screen is a beautiful bronze crucifix by Giambattista
da Verona, whereon are the arms of Bishop Ludovico Canossa, in whose
episcopate it was set up. There is evidently some fine work both as to
marbles and paintings on the altar immediately to the proper right of
the high altar, but an ugly, modern erection (said to be temporary) in
front of the organ shuts out all the light and leaves the fancy free to
speculate over glories that perhaps do not exist. The organ itself, a
good specimen of “barocco” work, is richly decorated, and its doors are
painted by Felice Brusasorci. Close to it, but lost and hidden by the
stand above mentioned, is the Cappella Maffei, with some good, though
small paintings by Francesco Morone; and some frescoes by
Falconetto--indeed the best work done by this latter, signed by him and
bearing the date 1503, is to be found among these frescoes.
The altar beyond the high altar and to its proper left, is known as that
of St Agatha (1353), and contains a lovely tomb partly Gothic, partly
Renaissance. A few of the bones of the saint are buried here, the rest
are interred at Catania. Below these relics again lies the body of Sta.
Maria Consolatrice, a sister of St Annone (bishop of Verona in the
fourth century), who was brought here in 1807 when the church which was
named after her, and where till then her body had rested, was
suppressed.
The last altar to the left coming out of the church contains part of a
picture by Liberale having for its subject the Adoration of the Magi. Mr
Selwyn Brinton says of this picture: “He (Liberale) was living between
1489 and 1490 in Verona, when he painted the Adoration of the Kings in
the Duomo, with a rich landscape. Here he is still the miniaturist in
feeling; his drawing careful, but unsound; his action quaint and
startling; his bright colours thrown together without harmony; his
background exuberant in detail.”[43]
Leaving the church by a small door in the left hand corner we come into
all that is left of the first church of Sta. Maria Matricolare, from
which the cathedral actually took its name and which it retained till it
was sunk in that of Duomo. The remains of this church consist now of
only six columns with capitals of Lombardo-Byzantine style; and from
here we pass into the adjoining small church of S. Giovanni in Fonte,
which served in past times as the Baptistery. It has a magnificent
octagonal font in the centre, carved out of a single block of Verona
marble, on which a series of bas-reliefs, well worth studying, represent
in humorous and quaintly primitive carving scenes from the early life of
our Lord. Within the octagonal font is a smaller one in quatrefoil
shape, wherein the priest was wont to stand and submerge the catechumens
who presented themselves for baptism. A painting by Paolo Farinato,
representing the baptism of Christ, stood formerly over the high altar,
but has now been moved to a side wall, where other works by Giovanni
Caroto, Falconetto, and an unknown pupil of Brusasorci, are all
hung--and hung too high. Falconetto’s picture is an extremely fine one,
recalling in composition, feeling and colouring--at least, as far as can
be made out at such a distance--the school of Gian Bellini and the great
early Venetian masters.
From the little church of S. Giovanni in Fonte we turn away to the left,
and keeping always in that direction, having gone round a corner or two,
we reach the cloisters of the cathedral. They recall in some way those
of St Zeno, though not altogether similar in arrangement. Here the bases
and capitals are united, each pair as at St Zeno being cut out of a
single block, while on the side nearest the church the pillars are
double--an effect that is remarkably beautiful and striking.
[Illustration: DETAIL OF SIDE DOOR OF DUOMO, VERONA]
The Duomo forms a centre around which clusters much that is interesting,
though the time for investigating these various sights will not in
reality take long. In the Piazza on the left hand side facing the chief
portal stands the Biblioteca Capitolare, a library belonging to the
Duomo, and containing some 18,000 volumes in all. The date of some of
the treasures contained here is what constitutes the value of this
library, and enhances its worth and interest to an untold extent. It is
said to be even superior to the Vatican as to the number of the old
codexes which it possesses; and which--not including fragments of the
fourth century--date from the fifth to the ninth centuries. It was here
that Petrarch discovered the letters of Cicero. Niebuhr brought to
light the institutions of Gaius, compiled in the reign of Caracalla; and
men of letters of all nations and languages find scope here for research
and labour. The value of these codexes is incalculable. The greater part
are membranous, many of them being palimpsests, others being written in
purple having the sacred names inscribed in gold and silver, and all of
them offering fields of discovery whereof students (many from England
but more still from Germany) are not slow to take advantage. This
library contains besides treasures of varied sorts, for here may be seen
the baptismal certificate of Prince Charles Edward, the young pretender,
dated “Roma, ultima Dicemb. 1720.” A most friendly and learned
custodian, Don Antonio Spagnolo, is only too pleased to show the
treasures committed to his charge and to explain everything relating to
his priceless and loved books to all who are interested in such matters.
Opposite this library stands the old disused church of S. Pietro in
Cattedra, with a statue of St Peter over the doorway, and some graceful
windows of the cusped arched order belonging to the fourteenth century.
Close to the Duomo again is the church of St Elena, containing some
pictures by Falconetto, Felice Brusasorci, and Niccolŏ da Verona; but
the chief interest attaching to this church is the tradition that Dante
held here the conference in Latin in which he treated “of the elements
of earth and water” (De duobus elementis terrae et acquae); if indeed
that much disputed treatise is by him, a point much questioned in these
days.
Passing round by the east front of the Duomo, and gazing again with
admiration on the frieze running round the apse, a work which speaks so
plainly of an earlier date than the interior of the church, we come to
the Vescovado, or the Bishop’s Palace. This has been altered and
rebuilt at various epochs, chiefly about the year 1356; and within its
walls Bishop Ognibene received Pope Lucius III. who died here in 1185
when his successor Urban III. was immediately named in his stead. The
doorway leading to the palace is a very beautiful bit of work, having
the date MD.II. inscribed on it and said to be by Fra Giocondo of
Verona. It is of a later date than the walls which support it on either
side; and leads in its turn into a striking courtyard with columns and
arches of the fanciful Cinquecento style. Inside the Episcopal Palace
there is a beautiful predella in the chapel by Liberale consisting of
three paintings which represent the Adoration of the Magi, the Nativity
of our Lord, and the passing of the Blessed Virgin. There is also said
to be a picture by Caroto in the palace, but this is kept in a room not
generally shown to visitors.
Several palaces belonging to the old patrician families of Verona are to
be found in the neighbourhood of the Duomo. In the Via Pigna stands the
Palazzo Miniscalchi, the work of the great architect Michele San
Micheli, and adorned externally with frescoes. These latter which have
suffered outrageously at the hands of would-be restorers were originally
by Torbido, and ranked as some of the best work he ever did in that way.
The rest are by Giambattista Zeloti.
Not far from the Duomo stands the church of St Anastasia, a church that
owes its being to the Dominicans, to Guglielmo da Castelbarco, to
Alberto della Scala, and to Pietro Scaligero, bishop of Verona. This
church is a beautiful example of the brick and marble work that abounds
to such a remarkable extent in Verona, and dates from the second half of
the thirteenth century. The façade of unfinished brickwork is rich in
mouldings and decorations--equally of brick--and sets off the fine
portal which leads into the
[Illustration:
CHURCH OF ST ANASTASIA FROM THE ADIGE SHEWING THE HOUSES WHICH
STOOD THERE BEFORE THE _muraglioni_, BUILT TO DEFEND THE TOWN
AGAINST THE INUNDATIONS OF THE ADIGE, WERE ERECTED
]
church, and which is bilateral. The great wooden double doors are very
fine, and the carvings in marble, together with the frescoes in the
lunettes above, give a sense of great richness and finish to this
principal entrance of the church, in spite of the incomplete condition
of the façade. The original plan was evidently to have faced it all with
slabs of marble, or more probably with panels in relief, to some extent
no doubt like those now seen at the side representing scenes from the
life of St Peter Martyr. These latter however are of a later date than
the brickwork of the façade, as is also the Renaissance ornamentation
round the doors.
The interior is dignified and fine, consisting of a nave and two narrow
side aisles, separated by twelve columns, and terminating in an apse of
five divisions. The eye is at once caught, though not perhaps attracted,
on entering by the holy water stoups, which consist of two humpbacked
figures, grotesque in the extreme, and that stand one on each side
immediately under the two first columns. The one to the left was carved
by Gabriel Cagliari, the father of Paolo Veronese; the other on the
right is the work of Alessandro Rossi, the father of the humpbacked
painter, Giambattista Rossi known as “Gobbino,” and on it is inscribed
the date of 1591. The Gothic vaulting of the building is fine, and had
the frescoes that once covered it but remained to this day, the effect
of colour and symmetry (which is striking even now when many of the
frescoes have disappeared) would have been enhanced a hundredfold.
Several fine altars are ranged on either side of the church, many of
them raised on classic lines; others again being a mixture of classic
and Renaissance. The first altar on the right hand side, that of the
Fregoso family, is Corinthian, and is reckoned by
[Illustration: HOLY WATER BASIN IN ST ANASTASIA
FIGURE CARVED BY GABRIEL CAGLIARI, FATHER OF PAUL VERONESE]
Vasari as one of the finest in Italy. It was both designed and
sculptured in 1565 by Danese Cattaneo. The second altar is adorned with
a good deal of “finto bronzo,” and is a mixture of Renaissance and
classical work that harmonises very happily. High up and hardly to be
seen even with glasses is a fresco attributed to Mantegna. It is said to
have been “executed with the utmost care”; but no judgment is possible
in this case from below. The third altar is again one of those
successful blendings of the Renaissance and classical styles, where rich
carvings in marble and stone are shown off to untold advantage in their
setting of severe lines. Here again we have to take on faith the
statements as to some frescoes of Caroto of the date of 1470, though too
high up for mortal sight or sense to presume to criticise. There is also
here an entombment ascribed to Liberale. The fourth altar is built on
the lines of the Arco de’ Gavi, and is of interest and service as
setting before us, with very slight deviations, a model of that famous
arch as it once stood close to Castel Vecchio. This altar was erected by
Fiorio Pindemonte in the year 1539, and has a fine picture of St Martin,
one of the last works of Gian Francesco Caroto.
The chapel known as that of the Crucifix is particularly interesting. It
is entered under a beautiful archway of rich Lombardesque carving in red
marble, and over the altar hangs a wooden image of our Lord on the
Cross, of a very remote date, and by an unknown artist. On the left
facing this crucifix is a most curious painted terra-cotta
representation of the Entombment. The expression on the faces of all who
are taking part in the sad and sacred task is marvellously given, and is
full of character and feeling. Over the next altar belonging to the
Centrago family is a picture, in a lovely frame of the same date, of the
Madonna and Child, enthroned with St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas, by
Francesco Morone (1474). It is also ascribed sometimes to Girolamo dai
Libri. Very beautiful too is the decorative festoon of carved flowers
round the altar. The Gothic tomb and the frescoes at the side belong
probably to the same family; and no doubt the very attractive old couple
whose portraits are at the bottom of the painting were the donors of
all in that chapel. This same chapel, which stands in a kind of transept
of the church, leads into one of the divisions of the apse where the
Cappella Cavalli is. It is decorated with frescoes of a very early date,
which have been in turn ascribed to Altichiero, Giotto, Morone, and
Liberale, and representing knights of the Cavalli family kneeling before
the Virgin and Child, with other warriors in attendance. Below the
frescoes is the mausoleum of the knight Federigo Cavalli. There is also
here a fine tryptich of our Lord in the centre, with St Jerome on one
hand and St Gemignano on the other. In the niches are carved figures,
with paintings in between by Liberale.
By the side of the Cavalli chapel stands that of the Pellegrini family,
panelled with terra-cotta reliefs, the work of a German, in 1400, whose
name is unknown. There is a fine figure of a pilgrim (a play upon the
family name, and emblematical of their badge), who kneels in the corner
with his hands clasped fast in prayer. The most precious thing in this
chapel was a fresco by Pisanello, which fortunately is now being removed
from a position where it could not be seen, and, worse still, where it
was suffering from damp, to a place of safety in the sacristy. It
represents St George about to mount his steed after he has slain the
dragon and freed the princess.[44]
On the proper right of the high altar is a large equestrian statue of
Cortesia Serego (1432), who was the brother-in-law of Antonio della
Scala, and also his general. The florid decorations around the statue
are of carved wood. The frescoes round that again are probably by
Francesco Bonsignori, while those still higher up are sometimes ascribed
to Stefano da Zevio
[Illustration: MADONNA AND SAINTS. ST ANASTASIA
ASCRIBED ALTERNATELY TO FRANCESCO MORONE AND GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI]
(1332). The adjoining chapel owned by the Lavagnoli family, though also
known as that of St Anna, contains some frescoes, unfortunately much
injured, in the style of Mantegna. The next chapel, that of the Salerno
family, where there is a fine Gothic monument to Giovanni Salerno, is
used as the belfry. What with the mass of hanging ropes, and the storage
of church furniture that lumbers up most of this chapel, it is not easy
to form a right opinion of some fine old frescoes said to belong to the
first half of the fourteenth century, or to do more than lament the bad
condition in which they are kept. In the sacristy stands the rescued
fresco of St George by Pisanello, and a fine picture by Felice
Brusasorci, while outside the sacristy are some frescoes by an unknown
hand sadly retouched with startling colours. In the Capella del Rosario
is a picture of the Madonna and Child between St Dominic and St Peter
Martyr, with the portraits of Mastino II. della Scala and his wife,
Taddea da Carrara, kneeling at the base of the picture on either side.
The tradition that once ascribed this picture to Giotto has now been
completely done away. The Flagellation here is by Ridolfi. The next
chapel, that of the Miniscalchi family, is rich in Renaissance and
classical decoration, and possesses a good picture by Giolfino of the
Descent of the Holy Spirit (1518).
The remaining altars in the church have no objects that claim any
special attention, and after a study of so much that is beautiful and
absorbing, it is almost a relief to wander away, noting only once again
the glory of the entire church, and observing with pleasure the very
effective and simple design of the pavement at our feet in its threefold
pattern of grey and red and white marble.
Immediately outside the church on the right hand side stands the tomb of
Guglielmo da Castelbarco, the friend and councillor of Cangrande della
Scala--and a friend too to Verona, in that it was his largess that
contributed chiefly to the building of St Anastasia and of that of S.
Fermo as well.
[Illustration: TOMB OF GUGLIELMO DA CASTELBARCO]
This munificent patron of Verona (who was besides its Podestă
deserved to have what has been justly termed the most perfect monument
in the city where the finest monuments existing in Italy are to be
found. Ruskin indeed has pronounced it to be, “the most perfect Gothic
monument in the world”; and again he alludes to it as “pure and lovely,
my most beloved throughout all the length and breadth of Italy--chief as
I think among all the sepulchral marbles of a land of mourning.”
Four columns of white marble surmounted by sculptured capitals bear the
canopy, which is formed of a simple Gothic arch, richly cusped and
adorned with a decorative piece of carving in harmony with the purity of
style which marks the whole of the monument. Under the canopy lies the
effigy of the dead magistrate, a recumbent figure laid on the top of a
red marble sarcophagus, which rests in its turn on the backs of two
couchant lions. The whole is bound together by bars of iron along whose
surface a delicate tracery is outlined. An effect is thus obtained of
wonderful strength and grace: for besides the sense of security given by
these bars, the eye is carried along their linear decoration to observe
still more forcibly the perfect symmetry and proportion of the monument.
No name exists as to the author of this masterpiece, but in this case
surely it may be asserted that the good he did is not interred with his
bones, but that it lives after him, a beauty and a joy for ever.
Three other tombs stand beyond that of Guglielmo da Castelbarco and
immediately outside the adjoining church of St Peter Martyr. The first
is that of Guinicello de’ Principi of a noble family of Bologna, and
bears the date of 1273; the next is that of Leonardo da Quinto, the
learned jurisconsult alluded to in chapter vi., and one of the witnesses
to Cansignorio’s will in 1375; the last is to a member of the Dussaimi
family. Speaking of these tombs Ruskin says: “Whose they are is of
little consequence to the reader or to me, and I have taken no pains to
discover; their value being not in any evidence they bear respecting
dates, but in their intrinsic merit as examples of composition. Two of
them are within the gate, one on the top of it, and this latter is on
the whole the best, though all are beautiful; uniting the intense
northern energy in their figure sculpture with the most serene classical
restraint in their outlines, and unaffected, but masculine simplicity of
construction.”[45]
The small church of St Peter Martyr close by was once a part of the
convent of St Anastasia. It was endowed by the Knights of Brandenburg,
whom Cangrande II. summoned to his assistance in 1353, and of whom his
special body-guard was formed. Some of the portraits of these knights
can be seen in the paintings of their gracefully proportioned church,
which was also enriched by several frescoes, the most remarkable being
that of Falconetto above the high altar. This is a strange rendering
under symbolical emblems of the Incarnation: the Blessed Virgin being
seated in an enclosure with all manner of quaint beasts around her,
while the Babe descends from Heaven in a halo of light. A crucifix said
to be by Giotto, but of a far earlier date, hangs above Falconetto’s
painting, and around are other frescoes by Badile. In front of the
church of St Anastasia and at the side of that of St Peter Martyr is a
statue in white Carrara marble to Paul Veronese; designed by Della Torre
and executed by Romeo Cristiani. It was erected in 1888.
Following the Corso St Anastasia we come to the Piazza delle Erbe, the
market-place of Verona, where chatter and merry gossip together with the
sale of flowers, vegetables, plants, owls, birds, and other strange
wares go on in as picturesque and original a setting as can be found
anywhere. The whole of the
[Illustration: PIAZZA DELLE ERBE]
Piazza is spread with large white umbrellas, that look like unfinished
tents, and that contrast admirably with the sea of colour which flows
beneath, and which varies from the many tints worn by the chattering
vendors to the hues of the fruits and flowers it behoves them to sell.
In the early morning the bustle and stir is at its height; trade is
brisker than at any other time, and the life and movement then going on
give a character to the place, hardly to be imagined by those who see it
for the first time in the afternoon, when the folded umbrellas, the
silence and tidiness where all was business and animation, give no real
or correct idea of the Piazza. The historical interest which centres
round the Piazza delle Erbe is as great as its picturesque attraction.
In the days of the Romans the Forum stood here, and the shape of the
Piazza is still that of a circus, though the modern houses around have
somewhat narrowed the “periferia.” Before the Amphitheatre was built it
was here that the gladiatorial fights were held. At the northern end
stands the column of St Mark, which was placed there as has been said at
the period of the League of Cambray at the moment when Verona was
restored to the rule of Venice. It is formed of a single block of
marble, bearing aloft the winged lion, which represented for so many
years the dominion of Venice over the town of Verona. This mark of
supremacy, raised in 1524, was destroyed at the moment of “Les Pâques
Véronaises” in 1797; but in 1888 it was replaced, no longer as a sign of
thraldom or submission but a graceful homage to “the days that are no
more.” Below the column stands the fountain erected according to some by
King Alboin, according to others by King Pepin in 807, and for which
Berengarius introduced the water supply in 916. Its use as a fountain
was not however really brought about till Cansignorio in 1370 rearranged
it on thoroughly working and practical lines. This water supply is
probably obtained from one of the great thermae or baths of the Romans,
and is surmounted by a statue in Greek marble known as “Madonna Verona.”
According to an inscription now preserved in the Museo Lapidario this
statue was placed in its present position in the days of the Emperor
Theodosius (380) by the Consul Valerius Palladio. The motto in “Madonna
Verona’s” hands is: “est justi latrix urbs haec, et laudis amatrix,” and
was put there after the peace of Constance in 1183, the year in which
Verona was declared free.
A little further down is the Tribune or “Berlina,” set up in 1207, from
where public decrees were formulated and sentences of death were
pronounced. Here too in the days of the Scaligers was the spot where
they took their oath of office. The buildings around are for the most
part of interest. Immediately to the north of St Mark’s column is the
Palazzo Trezza (formerly Maffei) a fine block of masonry though of
Barocco style--the upper part is very inferior--and containing inside a
curious spiral staircase. Close by this palace stands the “Torre del
Gardello” set up by Cansignorio, where in 1370 he placed the first clock
that struck the hours in Verona. To the left looking down the Piazza,
stands the Casa dei Mazzanti, where Albertino della Scala lived (1301),
and decorated externally with frescoes by Alberto Cavalli of Mantua in
the style of Guilio Romano. On the other side of the Piazza are houses
with frescoes by Liberale and Girolamo dai Libri; and beyond them is the
old house of merchandise, the Casa dei Mercanti of the year 1301, in red
marble, now restored and still used as a Chamber of Commerce. Almost
opposite it rises the grand tower of the Lamberti, or as it is sometimes
called of the Municipio, to a height of 273 feet. There is hardly a
guide-book to Verona that does not say that this tower was built by the
Lamberti family; a statement however that has no confirmation in any of
the archives or city documents, where no mention of even a family of the
name of Lamberti belonging to Verona is to be met with.