French author--a book published in 1836? Read it, for it is truly
curious. It is divided into three parts, and expounds mysticism in
mystic language, somewhat less obscure than in the ancient works
of like kind. In the first part he introduces a certain Louis
Lambert as expounder of mysticism; in the second he introduces
Dante at the school of Sigier in Paris, “al Vico degli Strami,
Sillogizzando invidiosi veri”:[90] in the third he introduces a
nephew of Swedenborg, _female and male_, a fantastic and changeful
being, Seraphita-Seraphitus; and she-and-he expresses herself in
terms fit to set the soundest head in a whirl,--and says among other
things: “L’union qui se fait d’un _esprit d’amour_ et d’un _esprit de
sagesse_ met la créature à l’état _divin_, pendant que son âme est
_femme_ et que son corps est _homme_; dernière expression humaine où
l’esprit l’emporte sur la forme, et la forme se débat encore contre
l’esprit divin.... Ainsi _le naturel_ (état dans lequel sont les êtres
non régénérés), _le spirituel_ (état dans lequel sont les esprits
angéliques), et _le divin_ (état dans lequel demeure l’ange avant
de briser son enveloppe), sont _les trois degrés_ de l’exister par
lesquels l’homme parvient au ciel.” (Vol. II. p. 102.) And so on to
a large extent. What seems to me most noticeable is to see Dante and
Swedenborg put on the same footing. And Reghellini says plainly that
Dante was a Freemason (_vide_ Vol. III. pp. 48, 49). And Ragon affirms
the same (pp. 290-332)....
Your most attached
G. ROSSETTI.
NO. 3.--FROM THREE LETTERS FROM SEYMOUR [BARONE] KIRKUP TO
GABRIELE ROSSETTI
[Mr Seymour Kirkup, an English painter and man of letters established
in Florence, became an enthusiastic adherent to Rossetti’s scheme of
Dantesque interpretation, from reading his Comment on the _Inferno_
and his _Spirito Antipapale_. In his later years he was made a Barone
of the Italian Kingdom, and he died at a great age towards 1880. The
following extracts relate chiefly to the deeply interesting discovery,
in which he bore a very principal part, of the portrait of Dante by
Giotto in the Chapel of the Podestà, in the Bargello of Florence.]
A.
FLORENCE, _12th September 1840_.
MY VERY EXCELLENT FRIEND,
Yours of the 22nd July came safe with the Sonnet, “O della mente
eterna immago e prole.” It is very beautiful. It is capital. Let me
thank you very sincerely, and let me congratulate you on Germany being
about to enjoy the benefit of your invaluable discoveries. Every new
country is a triumph of your cause; and, whilst all Europe will be
benefiting by your genius and learning, Italy alone remains without
an Italian edition of the original Italian work on the great luminary
of Italy and of the world. In Florence there are too many obstacles:
the priests, and the antiquated routine imbecility of the Crusca. The
word-mongers are all envious. They are true bran, and well sifted from
the fior di pensieri. They are old, and find your success a reproach,
and in this country all hue and cry raised against innovation is
supported by force. The tone of the court and the police is carried
into the Academies. Well may you say “L’Italia invidia omai fin la
Turchia.”
I have delayed writing in the hopes of sending you a sketch which will
interest you, but I have hitherto been disappointed. We have made
a discovery of an original portrait of Dante in fresco by Giotto!
Although I was a magna pars in this undertaking, the Jacks in Office
have not allowed me yet to make a copy. Sono tanto gelosi, most likely
afraid I should publish it and prevent some friends of their own
reaping all the profit they hope from that speculation.
I was the person who first mentioned to Sig. Bezzi, a Piedmontese and
friend of Carlo Eastlake’s, the existence of the portrait under the
whitewash of three centuries. We were joined by an American, and we
three undertook at our expense to employ a restorer to uncover the
walls of the old chapel in the palace of the Podestà in search of
the portrait--mentioned by F. Villani, Filelfo, L. Aretino, Vasari,
Cinelli, etc. Nothing but the constancy and talent of Sig. Bezzi could
have overcome the numberless obstacles and refusals we met with. He
wrote and spoke with the persuasions of an advocate, and persevered
with the obstinacy and activity of an Englishman (which I believe he
now is). He alone was the cause of success. We should have had no
chance without him. At last, after uncovering enough of three walls to
ascertain it was not there, the Government took the task into their
own hands, on our terms, with the same restorer, and in the fifth wall
they have succeeded. The number of walls is six, for the chapel has
been divided in two--(magazines of wine, oil, bread, etc., for the
prisoners).
The precise date of the painting is not known. The poet looks about
28--very handsome--un Apollo colle fattezze di Dante. The expression
and character are worthy of the subject, and much beyond what I
expected from Giotto. Raphael might own it with honour. Add to which
it is not the mask of a corpse of 56--a ruin--but a fine, noble image
of the Hero of Campaldino, the Lover of Beatrice. The costume very
interesting--no beard or even a lock of hair.
A white cap, over which a white capuccio, lined with dark red showing
the edge turned back. A parchment book under his arm--perhaps the Vita
Nuova.
It is in a group of many others--one seems Charles II. of Naples.
Brunetto Latini and Corso Donati are mentioned by the old authors.
I send herewith a pamphlet by Prof. Nannucci--very curious and very
interesting respecting Dante--and a dose for the Crusca.
I wrote to you by Mr Craufurd, who took charge of the medal, and sent
two pamphlets by him, one for Mr Taylor--and two letters of thanks,
one to him and one to Mr Lyell; but I fear by what you say in your
last letter you have never received them. Mr C[raufurd] is a friend
of Eastlake’s, who can perhaps get them for you. I liked Mr Taylor’s
book[91] very much indeed, and am very grateful to you and him.
Yours most sincerely,
SEYMOUR KIRKUP.
B.
FLORENCE, _14th September 1841_.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
By the time you receive this, I hope that the portrait of Dante, for
you, will be in London.
The gentleman who has taken charge of it was in such haste to leave
the country (from the consequences of a fatal duel) that I had not an
opportunity for writing.
You will receive, in fact, three portraits. They are as follows:--
No. 1. A drawing in chalk, on light-brown paper, of the face as large
as the original. I had intended to write a memorandum on it, but in my
hurry it was forgotten. Perhaps you would have the kindness to add it,
if you think it worth while--viz.
“Drawn by S. K., and traced with talc, on the original fresco by
Giotto; discovered in the Chapel of the Palazzo del Podestà, Florence,
on the 21st July 1840, before it was retouched.”
No. 2. A small sketch in water-colours, giving the colours of the
dress, and the heads supposed to be of Corso Donati and Brunetto Latini.
No. 3. A Lithography by the painter and restorer Marini, who uncovered
the painting. This is made on a tracing by himself.
I thought it useful to send you these in order to give you a better
idea of this very interesting discovery--Dante, under 30 years of
age. With respect to No. 1, it is fixed with glue-water, and will
not rub out with common usage. The only thing it is liable to is the
cracking or bending of the paper, which sometimes in a face alters the
expression.
Since I drew it, I have had the mortification to see the original
retouched, and its beauty destroyed. You will perceive that the eye is
wanting. A deep hole in the wall was found exactly on that spot, as if
done on purpose. It was necessary to fill it that it might not extend
further: not content, they ordered Sig. Marini to paint the eye on
it, and he has daubed over the face in many parts, to the ruin of its
expression and character. It is now 15 years older, a mean, pinched
expression, and an effeminate character, compared to what it was. It
is not quite so bad as the lithography I send you, but not far from
it. When I saw what was done, I asked a young man, his assistant, if
it was done with colours in tempera, and he assured me, with a boast,
that it was in bon fresco. If so, Dante is gone for good. But I have
still hopes that he spoke only of the eye, and many of my friends
think it can only be accomplished on the old and hard painting by some
distemper-colour of glue, size, or egg; and, if so, a damp cloth fixed
on it for half-an-hour will bring it all away without injuring the
original fresco. I mean to take my time, and perhaps some day I may
restore Dante to himself a second time. I had the principal part in the
late discovery.
The lithography I send you is exceedingly unlike and incorrect,
although a tracing. In shading and finishing he has totally lost
and changed the outline, if he ever had it. It is vulgar, old, and
effeminate--the contrary in every respect to the original. The
Florentines of to-day cannot draw, nor even trace. Think of what such a
hand would do, if allowed to paint over it! and that has been the case.
It is a misfortune when the direction of the fine arts is in the hands
of an ignorant man, chosen only for his _Nobility_! Our Direttore with
his cleaners has been the ruin of paintings in the Galleries, since I
have been here, to the value of £60,000 or £80,000 sterling--and the
money is the least part of the loss. When I mentioned to you that my
drawing was a secret, I only meant that, if known here that I obtained
access to make a tracing by bribery, it would compromise those who had
assisted me. You are welcome to show it to whom you please, and _do
whatever you wish with it_. But I recommend you not to give it away,
for it is the _only_ copy that has been made to my knowledge before the
fresco was retouched, except the miserable lithography which I send;
and, if so bad a copy was produced by the help of tracing, and from
the original in its pure state, nothing very good is to be expected in
future. The eye in the said lithography was, of course, added by the
copier. You will perceive by my drawing that the outline (the eyelash)
remained, which was fortunate, as it gives the exact situation of the
feature.
We are in daily expectation of the arrival of The Book of Mystery.[92]
I am doubly anxious, from the distinguished honour you have conferred
on me. The Marquis and the Professor are full of gratitude to you, but
the Frenchman (_entre nous_) seemed to confer a favour rather than
receive one. And so great a one! _Gente francesca!_
The scientific meeting of Florence commences to-morrow, and ends on
the 8th Oct. It opens with a grand Mass of Spontini, in the Church
of S. Croce. Galileo’s shrine will be the favourite of the four
great Tuscans--besides whom, there is a host of secondary stars: F.
Barberini, C. Marsuppini, Leonardo Aretino, Lami, Mascagni, Alfieri,
Rinuccini, Alberti, etc., etc., etc.
Do you know the Improvisatore Regaldi? and his _Carme a
Firenze_--written about three years ago. There are some lines on the
subject of S. Croce.
God bless you, my dear friend, and allow me once more to thank you for
all your kindness, and to subscribe myself
Most sincerely yours,
SEYMOUR KIRKUP.
Best remembrances to Sig. Carlo (Eastlake, his name in Rome).
* * * * *
The name of the bearer of the portrait is Plowden. He is a banker of
Florence, and may be heard of at Messrs Harris & Farquhar, Bankers, of
London. He will send it you, I hope, or leave it himself.
C.
FLORENCE, _5th February 1843_.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Let me add my thanks to the rest of the world for the mental enjoyment
afforded by your _Beatrice_. My share is the greater for the handsome
and honourable mention you make of me. I am proud of your approbation
and good opinion, and am doubly grateful for the rank in your esteem
which you have so generously bestowed on me. The book has met with
unusual success here. It has converted many. Whether the name has
attracted the public, or the compactness has excited the idle, or the
cheapness the economic, or all together, I know not, but it has been
much read and admired. Italians and Tramontani are all full of it. I
think in general they are grateful for the light; although it destroys
a romantic illusion, which has been much cherished, especially on this
spot, but which they cannot now entertain, except at the expense of
adhering to an absurdity, or rather many absurdities. Some, however,
are too far committed, and have too much vanity to acknowledge
themselves wrong--the vulgar and the selfish in particular.
For my own part, I have found the Ragionamento in part a renewal and
condensation of what I had already learned from your former works,
divided and spread through them. In this first Ragionamento you have
not given the demonstration (I suppose it will follow in a succeeding
one) of Boccaccio’s fault respecting May-Day, which is so complete and
curious in the _Misteri Platonici_....
The most important of your decisions is confirmed and strengthened in
this volume: I mean your identification of Beatrice and Filosofia.
Your three reasons at the top of p. 20 are new and unanswerable. How
completely Dante blindfolds the superficial reader (which I was, till
you taught me to fathom him) by making one believe that the lady at
the window was _mundane philosophy_, and that Beatrice, or _Divine
Science_, reproaches Dante in Purgatory for having yielded to her
attractions for a short time....
I am so engrossed by your work that I am carried away and not
answering your very kind and most friendly letter. A thousand thanks
for it. I know how your time is filled, and have always wondered how
you can get through all. I fear even writing you, but you desired
me to send you all I think of _Beatrice_. My letter would be long
indeed if I touched on all its beauties: I should copy the book.
There are many additional discoveries in the weaving of this mystic
web which the book is rich in. You still surprise those whom you have
already convinced. You are certainly an extraordinary Unraveller--a
Disentangler--and I will say that, notwithstanding the dry task of
unpicking knots, tight-drawn on purpose to resist skill and force, you
have performed it with a skill and elegance that render it exciting
and delightful to follow.
You desire all my “opposizioni.” Lord help me! Can I find an error or
two of the press?...
I am longing for the next Ragionamento; I don’t know if others want
much more to convince them, but in general the first part seems to
have had that effect.
Mr Lyell judges me, as you do, too partially. All I have learned I owe
to you; and I confess to you that I have often found it difficult,
even with your powerful help, to remove the substantial screen which
Dante has built up _purposely_ to conceal and protect his secret. But,
when I think of you, who have, alone and single-handed, knocked over
so many formidable barriers, and shown us the gardens and roses, the
groves, the apples, the laurels, the olives, the flowers, the stags,
and all the magic machinery of secret romance, I am lost in thinking
how you found your way in such a labyrinth, and what immense and
curious courses of reading you must have gone through, turning all you
obtained to the accomplishing your will and determination to penetrate
an untrod region, without a track or vestige to guide you. I wish I
had the ability to write a description of your _Misteri_. Perhaps I
could be of use in lending a hand merely, as I have studied them much;
but _my_ tools are paint-brushes, and I am not practised in the art
of writing. My education has been too defective for me ever to have
ventured in print. A weak defender is more dangerous than a strong
opponent, and all I could hope would be perhaps to hit on some thought
that might have escaped others; but without some help from the third
heaven (which a good friend of mine knows of) I should not be able to
clothe it so as to render it decent.
I observe what you say on the subject of necessary reserve on certain
subjects. You are quite right. You cannot be too careful in your
situation and with your family. From your letter I see that your
opinions are nearer mine than I supposed. But, as I am living out of
the world and am perfectly free from it, I can safely be as explicit
as I please. I have no reserve, and, if ever _the_ cause require a
word beyond the customary and necessary limits, call upon me to say
it, or say anything for me against priestcraft and kingcraft. That is
my religion.
I don’t wonder at Mr Lyell’s exultation at your _Beatrice_. There are
some master-touches amongst the new proofs, both in matter and manner,
both close reasoning and light....
The three pomegranates in Giotto’s fresco are so uncertain in their
appearance, from injury and time, that I was doubtful about them, but
a word from you decides the question in my mind. They are chipped and
much obliterated; and, from their seeming a sort of double outline,
and no shade or colour but the yellow drapery on which they are
painted, I took them for an embroidery on the breast of the Barone.
Some remains of fingers and stalk, however, had led the Florentines
to consider them as melograni, and they were puzzling their brains to
find a meaning....
Your whole-length portrait of yourself is full of nature and
character, and therefore it must be very like: I thank you for it.
And here is mine:--a little thin old man, 54, formerly dark, now very
grey. Fond of fun, but not often tempted to indulge in it, and seldom
depressed. Living alone in an old tower with two dogs only--a servant
coming daily for a few hours. Disliking much to go into company, and
especially to dress in cold weather, being slovenly even in my younger
days. I live very temperately and never take wine. I am very active,
more from lightness than strength, for I feel the effects of years and
illness. Just now I boast, for I have had extraordinary health this
autumn and winter. I paint a little, and read a good deal. I ought to
do more in both, with opportunities and perfect liberty, but I am slow
and stupid. My memory, too, is weaker than it was.
Lord Vernon has twice desired me to present his best compliments and
remembrances to you. He hopes you have received his book (through
Molini). There is an outline in it from my tracing of Dante’s head,
and, though it is not very correct, it is the best yet done....
When will your new edition of _Iddio e l’Uomo_ come out? I admired
it much in its former state. Forgive the length of this letter, and
remember me to Eastlake and Keightley.
Believe me, with sincere affection,
Your faithful friend,
SEYMOUR KIRKUP.
NO. 4.--LETTERS (OR EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS) FROM GIUSEPPE
MAZZINI--ELEVEN TO ROSSETTI, AND ONE TO ANOTHER CORRESPONDENT
The following are the only letters from Mazzini that remain among my
father’s papers--except some other three or four, too trifling to be
printed. The originals are naturally in Italian; the translation is
mine. Letters A. and B. relate to a certain Galassi and Vantini, whom
I do not remember, but the letters explain themselves well enough.
Mention is also made of a “little book” by my father, which was _Rome
towards the Middle of the Nineteenth Century_. Letters C, D, and E,
refer to a school which was got up in London, by some leading resident
Italians interested in the lot of their fellow-countrymen, for the
instruction of the poorer and hitherto much neglected members of
the colony--organ-grinders, plaster-cast vendors, models, waiters,
journeymen, etc. The ice-cream purveyor did not exist at that remote
date. This school, held in the Hatton Garden quarter, went on for
some few years, dignified by the countenance of Mazzini, and greatly
indebted to the practical work of (among others) Filippo Pistrucci,
who was a painter, teacher, writer, and improvisatore, brother of
the celebrated medallist. Rossetti of course concurred, but without
taking any very active part. Letters F, G, and H, refer mainly to a
MS. which my father wished to send to Paris--being, I take it, the
selection of his poems, many of them youthful, which were published
at Lausanne, under the title _Versi_. There is also some mention of
the Conte Giuseppe Ricciardi, named on p. 91 of the present book.
He belonged to the Mazzinian sect, but sometimes kicked against the
traces, and one can see in the correspondence that the great chief
found him on occasion a little exacting and tenacious. Letter I has
reference to a _fête_ which Signor Giovanni Antonio Delavo, who had
erected a villa on the site of the Battle of Marengo, got up on the
anniversary of the conflict. He had induced my father to write a poem
for that commemoration; and Mazzini, it seems, was invited to obtain
the insertion, in some English newspaper, of the poem, or of some
other writing connected with the occurrence. In this letter, and in
the following one (J), the observations about political events deserve
notice. The final letter (K) seems to belong to a late date in 1848,
and to imply that various Italians, including Mazzini himself, had
addressed the Swiss Diet in consequence of some complications arising
out of the Italian military reverses, in conflict with the Austrians,
towards the close of that memorable year of unmeasured hopes and cruel
disappointments.
A few notes of my own on minor points are appended to the
correspondence.
Besides the eleven letters to my father, I give one letter, of far
larger purport, which is quite unconnected with my family. It was
lately purchased by a daughter of mine, simply as an autograph. On the
purport of this document I need not enlarge, as it speaks for itself.
It stands numbered at the close “15” in Mazzini’s handwriting, and
would seem therefore to be one missive in a sustained correspondence.
The recipient (or some one) has written upon it in Italian, “Letter
from Giuseppe Mazzini”; moreover, the peculiar handwriting is quite
unmistakable. It bears no date, and, for reasons readily surmisable, no
postmark. In the course of the letter the addressee is spoken of as “My
Corso”: I presume, therefore, that his surname may have been Corso, but
this _might_ also be a Christian name, or might merely mean “Corsican.”
A name is written by Mazzini on the back of the letter; it has been
partly inked over, and looks to me more like “Mr Clare” than anything
else.
The letter shows that the addressee had some relations with Vincenzo
Gioberti, the celebrated Churchman and Minister of State, whose leading
work, _Il Primato d’Italia_, was published in 1845. Perhaps 1846 or
thereabouts may be the date of the letter. It mentions Tommaseo, a
multifarious man of letters, whom English people may remember as having
written the inscription on Casa Guidi, Florence, for Mrs Browning;
Buonarroti, a member of the house of the great Michelangelo; and
Bozzelli, the Liberal politician in Naples, who came to precarious
power in 1848. My father has mentioned him on p. 98. Libri appears to
be the Librarian of that name, settled in Paris, who succumbed under
a charge of serious frauds. The names of Malmusi and Bianco are not
recognized by me.
A.
4 YORK BUILDINGS, KING’S ROAD, CHELSEA.
_28th March 1841._
MY DEAR SIGNORE ROSSETTI,