Sienna, resting on the top and brow of a hill, looks picturesque from
below. The railway station lies in a hollow, and the road up to town
is steep. We drove to the Grand Hotel, which, though not mentioned
in Bædeker, unless its name has been changed, is in by far the best
situation of any, its windows looking down upon the public park and
across to the fort or citadel; while, to add to its attractions, it is
kept by a worthy English landlady, and is consequently possessed of
all English comforts. We had an hour to see the town before dinner, at
which we enjoyed its famous Chiante wine presented in flasks.
* * * * *
The following morning, having engaged a guide from the hotel, we
desired him to take us to the places of most interest. Accordingly,
he led us through the long, narrow main street of Sienna, where there
is scarcely room for two carriages to pass, and no footways, and
all paved, according to Italian mode, with large flagstones. There
are shops in this street, and, I think, nowhere else, but of a very
inferior description. It terminates near the Collegio Tolomei, which
we entered to see a large gallery of the old masters, including some
good paintings, one especially by Perugino. From this we proceeded
to the cathedral, which is built in alternate courses of black and
white marble, the façade very richly ornamented. The interior, though
highly adorned, is not so rich in works of art as the Cathedral of
Pisa. The interior pavement, composed of marble mosaics, representing
Old Testament scenes, had unfortunately been so much worn by the
worshippers’ feet as to require to be boarded over for protection;
but a part of the boarding is removed, to allow the visitor to see
a portion as a specimen. We were shown into the library, which is
surrounded by huge illuminated tombs, some of which lie open for
inspection. It is a great lofty hall, ornamented by sculpture and by
large frescoes, executed by a fellow–pupil of Raphael, his great master
having been said to have had a hand in the designs. These frescoes are
very bright and perfect, and were among the best we saw anywhere in
Italy. Leaving the cathedral, and just looking in at the baptistery
below, we crossed over to the large open place called the Piazza
Vittorio Emanuele. Here a curious sight met our eyes. A dentist, who
had been driving through the town in a carriage and four, with a band
of music to congregate the people, stood on the box of the carriage
among a crowd of people, and was gratuitously extracting their decayed
teeth as fast as the unfortunates could pass up to him. The patient was
seated, a moment’s inspection, the tooth (probably the right one, not
impossibly occasionally the wrong one) was drawn and tossed into the
air among the crowd; the person so operated on descended, relieved, on
the other side, and in a twinkling another unhappy one took his place
to be similarly treated. We understood that the operator was paid from
some charitable source.
* * * * *
Several public buildings are situated in the Piazza, and among them
the town or public hall, containing many frescoes and paintings,
through which we were conducted. A very high, slender–looking tower or
campanile rises from it, and is one of the most prominent objects in
Sienna. Leaving the town–hall, we walked to the Instituto delle Belle
Arti, which contains a collection of old paintings, particularly of the
school of Sienna, principally interesting to the student; thence to the
large Church of St. Domenico, where are various paintings, and among
others, frescoes by Sodoma.
* * * * *
The places which we thus visited were among the principal in the
town, and they showed that several days might profitably be spent by
students and lovers of art at Sienna. Returning to the hotel to lunch,
we afterwards crossed the esplanade or public park to the citadel, and
enjoyed the views of the surrounding country from the battlements. The
walls are high, with deep fosses. I think it was here for the first
time we saw the Italian soldiery; and besides those stationed in the
fort, there was a large force in barracks outside the walls, in front
of which the soldiers were being drilled. The Italian soldier is of
small stature, generally young or even boyish–looking, as if newly
conscripted. The uniform—a curious mixture of hot and cold attire—is
a blue cloth surtout, and white canvas trousers and gaiters, with a
black–glazed, round, broad–brimmed hat, adorned with a bunch of cock’s
feathers, and stuck upon the one side of the head—a most unmilitary and
unbecoming head–gear. The undress, a cap covered with white canvas, is
an improvement.
* * * * *
The following morning we left for Rome. There is not much of interest
by the way, unless it be that the railway runs by the river Tiber
more than half the journey; but as we approached our destination, we
strained our eyes in eager longings to catch the first view of the
glorious old place. Rome, however, is not imposing at a distance.
Almost the only object which catches the eye is the dome of St.
Peter’s. At length we passed slowly through the Campagna, skirted
an ancient aqueduct and some other ruins, entered the walls of the
fortifications, and in a modern railway station were deposited in the
grand old Eternal City.