"The spirit of Antiquity, enshrined
In sumptuous buildings, vocal in sweet song,
In pictures speaking with heroic tongue,
And with devout solemnities entwined."
--WORDSWORTH, "_Bruges_."
Or' San Michele is a very beautiful church in the Italian Gothic style in
the Via Calzaioli. It was originally a market or stable below and a barn
or granary above, whence some derive its name from _Horreum Sancti
Michaelis_, and others from the Italian _Orto_, a garden, a term also
applied to a church-congregation. "The statues and decorations on the
exterior are among the best productions of the Florentine school of
sculpture." As that of Saint Eloy or San Eligio, the blacksmith, with
great pincers at an anvil, in a sculpture representing a horse being
shod, is the most conspicuous on the facade, the people have naturally
concluded that the church was originally a stable or smithy. The legend
of the place is as follows: