. Italian backgrounds. ory, andthat room in the Martinengo palace where INIoretto,in his happiest mood, depicted the ladies of the lineunder arches of trellis-work backed by views of thefamily villas—make it noteworthy even among Ital-ian cities; and it has, besides, its beautiful town-hall,its picture-gallery, and the curious court-yardspainted in perspective that are so characteristic ofthe place. But in summer there is a strong tempta-tion to sit and think of these things rather than togo and see them. In the court-yard of the hotel,where a fountain tinkles refreshinglj^ and the un-bleached
. Italian backgrounds. ory, andthat room in the Martinengo palace where INIoretto,in his happiest mood, depicted the ladies of the lineunder arches of trellis-work backed by views of thefamily villas—make it noteworthy even among Ital-ian cities; and it has, besides, its beautiful town-hall,its picture-gallery, and the curious court-yardspainted in perspective that are so characteristic ofthe place. But in summer there is a strong tempta-tion to sit and think of these things rather than togo and see them. In the court-yard of the hotel,where a fountain tinkles refreshinglj^ and the un-bleached awnings flap in the breeze of the electricfans, it is pleasant to feel that the Victory and thepictures are close at hand, like old friends w^aiting onones inclination; but if one ventures forth, let it berather to the churches than to the galleries. Only atthis season can one appreciate the atmosphere of thechurches: that chill which cuts the sunshine like aknife as one steps across the dusky threshold. When [ 36 ]. A MIDSUMMER WEEKS DREAM we entered the cathedral its vast aisles were empty,but far off, in the dimness of the pillared choir, weheard a drone of intoning canons that freshened theair like the sound of a water-fall in a forest. Thencewe wandered on to San Francesco, empty too, where,in the sun-spangled dimness, the great Romaninothroned behind the high altar. The sacristan drewback the curtain before the picture, and as it was re-vealed to us in all its sun-bathed glory he exclaimedwith sudden wonder, as though he had never seen itbefore: E stupendo! E stupendor Perhaps hevaguely felt, as we did, that Romanino, to be appre-ciated, must be seen in just that light, a projectionof the suave and radiant atmosphere in which his owncreations move. Certainly no Romanino of the greatpublic galleries arrests the imagination like the INIa-donna of San Francesco; and in its presence onethinks with a pang of all the beautiful objects up-rooted from their native soil to ador
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectitalydescriptionandt
