"_Columna Florentina_.--Prope Sanctae Trinitatis aedem ingens et
sublimis columna erecta, cujus in fastigio extat justitia. Eam
erexit Cosmus Magnus Dux, cui per urbem deambulanti, illic de
victoria renunciatum fuit quam Malignani Marchio in Senarum finibus
anno 1555 contra Petrum Strozium obtinuit."--_Templum Naturae
Historicum_, Darmstadt, 1611.
"Vesti una Colonna,
Le par una donna."--_Italian Proverb_.
The central spot of Florence is the grand column of granite which stands
in the middle of the Piazza di Santa Trinita, in the Via Tornabuoni,
opposite the Palazzo Feroni. It was brought from the Baths of Caracalla
in Rome, and erected in 1564 by Cosimo I., "in commemoration of the
surrender of Siena in 1554, and of the destruction of the last liberties
of Florence by the victory at Monte Murlo, 1537, over those whom his
tyranny had driven into exile, headed by Filippo and Piero Strozzi. It
is surmounted by a statue of 'Justice' in porphyry, by _Ferruci_," says
Murray's Guide-Book--the Italian declares it to be by _Taddi_, adding
that the column was from the Baths of Antoninus, and was a gift to Cosimo
I. from Pius IV.
There is a popular legend that once on a time a poor girl was arrested in
Florence for having stolen a chain, a bracelet, or some such article of
jewellery of immense value. She was thrown into prison, but though there
was collateral or indirect evidence to prove her guilt, the stolen
article could not be found. Gossip and rumour constituted ample grounds
for indictment and trial, and torture did the rest in the pious times
when it was generally taught and believed that Providence would always
rescue the innocent, and that everybody who came to grief on the gallows
had deserved it for something or other at some time, and that it was all
right.
So the girl was executed, and almost forgotten. When a long time after,
some workman or other was sent up to the top of the column of the Piazza
Trinita, and there found that a jackdaw or magpie had built a nest in the
balance or scales held by Justice, and in it was the missing jewel.
This is an Italian form of "The Maid and the Magpie," known the world
over from ancient times. The scales suggest a droll German story. There
was in front of a certain palace or town-hall, where all criminals were
tried, a statue of Justice holding a pair of scales, and these were not
cast solid, but were a _bona fide_ pair of balances. And certain low
thieves having been arrested with booty--whatever it was--it was
discovered that they had divided it among themselves very accurately,
even to the ounce. At which the magistrate greatly marvelling, asked
them how they could have done it so well, since it had appeared that they
had not been in any house between the period of the theft and their
arrest. Whereupon one replied: "Very easily, your Honour, for, to be
honourable, honest, and just as possible, we weighed the goods in the
scales of Justice itself, here on the front of the _Rath-haus_."
It is for every reason more probable that the bird which stole the jewel
of the column was a jackdaw than a magpie, and it is certainly fitter
that it should have been thus in Florence. "It is well known," says Oken
in his "Natural History" (7 B. Part I. 347), "that the jackdaw steals
glittering objects, and carries them to its nest." Hence the ancient
legend of Arne, who so greatly loved gold, that she sold her native isle
Siphnos to Minos, and was for that turned by the gods into a daw (Ovid's
"Metamorphoses," vii. 466). As a mischief-making, thieving, and
chattering bird of black colour, the jackdaw was naturally considered
evil, and witches, or their imps, often assumed its form. In fact, the
only really good or pious bird of the kind on record known to me, is the
jackdaw of Rheims sung by Ingoldsby Barham.
According to Kornmannus, the column was placed where it now stands,
because Cosimo was in the Piazza Trinita when he heard the news of the
surrender of Siena.
* * * * *
After I had written the foregoing legend, I found the following: