Proceeding from the Sala dei Cinquecento to the Sala d' Udienza, one goes through a beautiful marble door by Benedetto da Maiano, the style of which does not harmonize with the rest of the room, having been brought from the Medici Palace, to which it belonged. There still remains to be seen the chapel of San Bernardo, beautifully painted in fresco by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, but it has lost much of its beauty by having been fitted up for the use of the municipality. The present Council Room, decorated with a series of beautiful frescoes by Bronzino, which are skilfully distributed over the whole of its surface, has preserved a grandeur and unity not often found in buildings converted to modern uses ; but it is distressing to see rooms so associated with the history of Florence partitioned off and degraded into municipal offices. Their destruction can only be a question of time, and it is to be regretted that walls so bound up with the ancient history of Tuscany have not been saved from this last indignity.

THE LOGGIA DEL BIGALLO

No one can pass by the corner of the Corso Adimari without having his attention arrested by the delicately carved arcades of the Bigallo, formerly a simple oratory of the Misericordia, and now an orphan asylum. This beautiful building is the work of Niccolo Pisano, one of the greatest men of the thirteenth century, whose career will be found detailed at length in the chapter on Florentine Sculpture.

Before the erection of this monument, the site upon which the Bigallo stands was occupied by the tower in which the dead were deposited for eighteen hours before burial. It was the tallest building in Florence, being 230 feet high, and in the course of one of the struggles for which Florence was notorious, the Ghibellines had it pulled down ; according to the tradition instructing the architect who was employed to demolish it to arrange so that as it fell it would crush the Baptistery of San Giovanni, which was used as a meeting-place by the Guelphs; but whether this story is true or not, the Baptistery escaped destruction.

The Bigallo consists of two open arches, forming an angle with the street, and a small porch leading to a sanctuary closed by iron gates. The design of the arches is exquisite, the mouldings and decorations are in admirable taste, and on the walls may still be traced, though dimmed by time, the outlines of frescoes, sometimes attributed to Gaddi, but really the work of some artist of the fifteenth century.

Three statues of the Virgin and two saints decorate the exterior, while over the altar of the chapel is a life-size statue of the Virgin and Child between two angels with Jewish turbans on their heads, formerly believed to be by Pisano, though documents recently brought to light by Cicognara prove that they were executed by Alberto Arnoldi of Florence about 1360. A predella by Ghirlandajo and numerous other frescoes complete the decoration of this exquisite little building, which successive restorations have not deprived of its leading characteristics, and which derives not a little of its attraction from its position at the corner of the piazza where stand the Baptistery, the Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore, and the Campanile.

The document which registered the decision of the municipality of Florence to erect the cathedral church in 1294 is of historical interest, as testifying to the generous spirit of the Florentine people. Its tenor is as follows :

"Believing that all the acts and undertakings of a people which prides itself upon being of illustrious origin should bear the impress of grandeur and sagacity, we command Arnolfo, director of the public works of our commune, to prepare a model or drawing for the building which is to be erected in place of the church of Santa Repasts. He is bidden to display a magnificence which human power and skill can never surpass. Whatever a Government undertakes should correspond with the generous impulses of the citizens whom it represents, and this point the architect employed to build our cathedral must bear in mind."

The name is evidently meant as an allusion to the lily in the city arms. The ceremony of laying the first stone took place on the 8th of September, 1298, Pope Boniface VIII. being represented by his legate, Cardinal Pietro Valeriano. Arnolfo's design was a Latin cross with a nave and side-aisles opening into each other by four pointed arches. In the centre of the space, under the dome, was the choir, with an octagonal enclosure and an altar, and in each of the small recesses there was a rectangular chapel.

Arnolfo died in 1310, when the building had not got beyond the capitals upon which the roof was to rest, and in 1332 Giotto was appointed to carry on the work which for two hundred years was under the supervision of the greatest architects of the day.

To Giotto we owe the beautiful addition to the cathedral known throughout the world as the Campanile, which was built in 1334 on the foundations of the little church of San Zenobio. It is nearly 280 feet high, or about 30 feet less than Giotto had designed, as the spire, like that of St. Mark. at Venice, with which he had intended to finish it, was not built by Taddeo Gaddi, who succeeded him. The Campanile is divided into six sections, the first two, which can easily be seen from the ground, being decorated with bas-reliefs executed by Giotto himself, Andrea Pisano, and Luca delta Robbia. There is no little analogy of sentiment between these bas-reliefs and those of the famous fountain at Perugia. Above these two divisions are niches for statues, among those placed in them being the four Evangelists, by Donatello, and on the principal southern facade four prophets, three by Andrea Pisano, and the fourth by Tommasso di Stefano, surnamed Giottino. Upon the eastern and northern sides of the tower are saints and patriarchs by Donatello, Nicolo di Piero of Arezzo, Luca delta Robbia, and Nanni di Bartolo. One of the Evangelists mentioned above is the celebrated Zuccone," the "bald" St. Matthew of Donatello, a work which he esteemed so highly that he was more than once heard, while engaged upon the statue, adjuring it to speak; while, by way of emphasizing a statement, he would say, "By the faith I have in my Zuccone."

Charles V., when he entered Florence after the siege, is reported to have said that the Campanile ought to have a case made for it, so that it might be shown as one would a jewel." In the belfry, which commands a splendid view of the city, there are seven bells, the largest cast in 1705 to replace one which had got cracked weighing nearly eight tons.

The most illustrious of Giotto's successors was Filippo Brunelleschi, who, as has been described in a previous chapter, began the superb cupola in 1421. This was his magnum opus, exceeding in boldness of design and harmony of detail all other works of modern art. The cupola, as is generally known, is double, the inner wall being spherical, so that between it and the outer one there is room for the staircases, bracings, and chains which help to make the work more durable. Michael Angelo took this as his model when constructing the dome of St. Peter's at Rome, and Leo Battista Alberti for his unfinished temple at Rimini. It was not completed until fifteen years after Brunelleschi's death, Andrea del Verrocchio, the sculptor of the Medici tomb in the old sacristy, designing and executing the ball, and Giovanni di Bartolo the scroll on which the cross rests. The church contains several monuments, including those of Giotto, erected by Benedetto da Maiano by order of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and of the celebrated organist Antonio Squarcialupi, who was a favorite of Lorenzo, and whose epitaph was composed by his patron. Aldobrandino Ottobuoni has his sarcophagus near the Servi door, and it is believed that Poggio is also buried here.

The walls are somewhat bare, but the building contains many works of the highest order by Donatello, Michelozzi, Ghiberti, Della Robbia, Sansovino, Bandinelli, and Andrea del Castagno. It was near the Servi door that Domenico di Michelino painted in 1465 the portrait of Dante which was ordered by the Opera del Duomo as a tardy tribute to his memory. Dante is represented in a red toga, crowned with laurel, holding in one hand his poem, while with the other he points to the Inferno. The inscription states that the execution of this fresco was suggested by Maestro Antonio, of the order of Franciscans, who had given public readings and explanations of the Divine Comedy in the Cathedral.

In this wonderful building, so closely associated with the history of Florence, was enacted the opening chapter of the Pazzi conspiracy, and it was in the sacristy that Lorenzo took refuge after the death of Giuliano. The medallion of Pollaiuolo (see chapter on Giuliano de' Medici shows what was the appearance of the octagonal choir then standing beneath the dome. The facade of Santa Maria del Fiore was completed in 1887 from designs by De Fabris.