Giovanni da Bologna, at a later period, executed for the Guild of Judges and Notaries the statue of St. Luke, which occupies the first niche on the eastern front, while that of St. Peter on the north side is by Donatello, who did it for the Guild of Butchers.

The Guild of Shoemakers instructed Nanni di Banco to carve a statue of St. Philip for the second niche on the north front, and the Carpenters and Masons employed him to erect a group of four uncrowned saints martyred under Diocletian. An anecdote, which proves what a great influence Donatello possessed over the artists of his day, is told in connection with this work. When the saints were finished Nanni discovered that they were too big for the niche, and he consulted Donatello, who promised to help him out of his trouble if he would give a supper to him and his workmen. Donatello set to work, and after knocking off portions of the shoulders and arms of the four saints, brought them into such close contact that they could be placed in the niche without difficulty. It will be seen from the foregoing description that Or San Michele is a true sanctuary of Florentine art. In the interior, which, like the exterior, is the work of successive generations, the magnificent shrine of Orcagna, representing the history of the Virgin, first attracts our attention. The first altar to the right is modern, while that consecrated to St. Anne dates from the close of the last century, in the centre being a handsome group of St. Anne and the Virgin, by San Gallo, an artist with something of Michael Angelo's manner.

Simon da Fiesole had decorated the rear altar for the Guild of Grocers, but it has been entirely renovated, and, except for the handsome vaulted roof and Oreagna's shrine, the interior has not the attractions of the exterior. Still there is no sanctuary in Florence more venerated, the sacred picture of Ugolino helping to inspire the people of the present day with the same respect which was shown it in the Middle Ages. There are two curious legends, also, in connection with the group of the Virgin and Child, by Simon da Fiesole. One of these is that a Jew having, in 1493, struck them a blow on the face, he was pursued and stoned to death by the children of Florence, an inscription at the base of the statue commemorating this occurrence. It was reported again in 1628 that the Virgin had been seen to move and blink her eyes, and as the plague occurred in Florence two years later, this was of course said to have been a presage of the calamity.

THE LOGGIA DEI LANZI

Concurrently with the work which was being carried on in Or San Michele, Oreagna was assisting in the building of the Orvieto Cathedral, where he spent the year 1300; but so much pressure was put upon him that he did not remain there long, and returned to Florence, the first important work which he undertook after that being the "Loggia dei Lanzi." According to Gaye and Ricci, who are the most trustworthy authorities, this work was begun in 1374, but Italian dates of this period are never to be relied upon altogether. The building of the Loggia was interrupted by war and civil dissensions during a period of ten years, but Baldinucci, in his "Libro di Ricordanze del Proveditore Stieri," referring to the sums paid to the sculptors who assisted in carving the statues above the Loggia, shows that considerable progress must have been made in a short period. It was thought at one time that Orcagna, had carved the statues of the four Cardinal Virtues, but Gaddi and Giovanni Seti are now known to have executed those of "Fortitude " and "Temperance," if not the two others.

The Loggia merits a somewhat detailed description, for it is an open-air Tribune, holding much the same position as regards sculpture as the famous Uffizi Tribune does in respect to painting. Orcagna, by the substitution of full for pointed arches, made an innovation in architecture which was generally followed.

The principal characteristics of this handsome building are boldness of design, elegance, and strength; it consists of three open arches with three pillars, enclosing a platform raised six steps above the square.

The Loggia was originally designed to protect the citizens from the weather during the discussion of public affairs. About 1541 Cosimo I. brought to Florence a Swiss Guard composed of two hundred soldiers, and the name De' Lanzi dates from this period, the derivation being from the word Lancer. Not that the Loggia was occupied as a guard-house, like that on the Piazza of St. Mark at Venice, but there was a barrack close by, and there is no doubt that the soldiers on guard at the Palazzo Vecchio paced up and down before it. The first captain of the Swiss Guard was named Fuggler, and his men were quartered first in the Fortezza da Basso, then in the Medici Palace, and finally on the Piazza itself. The Swiss Guard was only abolished in 1745, and its uniform was similar to that of the Pope's Guard at the Vatican.

The aspect of the Loggia has changed with time, though its architecture has undergone no modification, the various pieces of sculpture being placed in it as they were executed. Michael Angelo urged Cosimo I. to continue the colonnade all round the Piazza, but the idea was not carried out on account of the expense. The oldest of all the works of sculpture placed in the Loggia is beyond question Donatello's "Judith," though it was not originally intended to occupy its present position. An engraving of the sixteenth century shows that it then stood in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. Its transfer to the arcade of the Loggia is due to a circumstance of historic interest. It was executed in the first instance for the Medici Palace, and when Pietro de' Medici was expelled it was placed at the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio and the following inscription carved upon the pedestal : "Exemplum Sal. pub. rives posuere, 1495." In 1504 it was replaced by Michael Angelo's "David," and subsequently transported to its present position, which, according to Gualandi, the Bologna art critic, it has occupied for nearly four centuries.

The two colossal marble lions which stand at the foot of the staircase have only been there since 1780; one of them is very ancient, while the other is by Flaminio Vacca.

"The Rape of the Sabines," a superb composition by Giovanni da Bologna, which stands out finely against the architectural background, was not originally intended to represent that subject. Francesco de' Medici requested that the artist should call it "The Rape of Andromeda by Phineus," but Borghini, the learned critic, suggested "The Rape of the Sabines" as more appropriate, and Giovanni represented that historical episode upon the base of the pedestal. He was eminently fitted for the work of decorating spacious buildings of this kind, and among his other compositions is "Hercules n slaying the centaur Nessus," carved from a single block of marble, and remarkable for the precision of the anatomy and the life-like attitude of the two figures. This group was not specially intended for the place it occupies, but it forms a fitting pendant to "The Ajax and Patroclus," a restoration of a Greek sculpture placed there by the architect Poccianti.

Last of all comes the masterpiece of Benvenuto Cellini, a bronze statue representing Perseus, which has all the characteristics of the eccentric genius by whom it was cast. Perseus is represented as having just severed Medusa's head. from the trunk, which is writhing beneath his feet, while he, with a calm air of triumph, holds up the head with one hand, his sword grasped in the other. The base is ornamented with a series of bas-reliefs, the four sides containing niches, in which are small allegorical statues. There are few more interesting stories than that in which Benvenuto himself relates how the cast of the statue was made. The Loggia, as it now stands, occupies a page in the history of Florentine art, which, instead of lying hidden in museums and galleries, is spread out in the full light of day, beneath the blue canopy of heaven, and with a whole population to admire its beauties.