Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . ona. And then came the Renaissance, andgave to the town two such men as Sanmichele and Fra Giocondo, to whom somewondrous palaces, and a few of the most beautiful churches, owe their origin. Butthe warlike character of the town, which is the central point of the famous Quadri-lateral, soon resumed the upper hand, and the battles at the close of last century,and the later conflict between Austria and Italy, are betokened by the fortifications ofto-day, with their staring cannon. So the past of Verona reveals itself to our eyes. The Piazza dei Signori, however
Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . ona. And then came the Renaissance, andgave to the town two such men as Sanmichele and Fra Giocondo, to whom somewondrous palaces, and a few of the most beautiful churches, owe their origin. Butthe warlike character of the town, which is the central point of the famous Quadri-lateral, soon resumed the upper hand, and the battles at the close of last century,and the later conflict between Austria and Italy, are betokened by the fortifications ofto-day, with their staring cannon. So the past of Verona reveals itself to our eyes. The Piazza dei Signori, however, onwhich we stand, belongs exclusively to the Middle Ages: here dwelt the rulers of the city,Mastino and Alberto of the race of Scaliger; here stands the Palazzo del Consiglio,where the Council of Five Hundred sat, and in front of whose hall are ranged the statuesof five worthies of antiquity who called Verona their home. These are Pliny, Catullus,Cornelius Nepos, Macer /Emilius, and Vitruvius. The pure forms of the noble building. juliets house. VERONA. 39 are very attractive. Not without awe do we stand before the monument of Dante, whichadorns the middle of the Piazza, for the sublime singer dwelt four years within thesewalls as the guest of Can Grande. He himself was a Ghibelline who held immoveably bythe Emperor, and the Scaligers also followed the same side. The eagle which rises ontheir coat of arms above the ladder, was the Imperial eagle. Wheresoever in Verona you come upon noble historic monuments, they are almostsure to be connected with the name of this family,—with their lives or their death; butthe finest of all is their tomb. It is hard by the Piazza dei Signori, and may be consideredas an appurtenance of the church of SantaMaria Antica, in whose courtyard it standssurrounded by iron railings ; not hidden in adark gloomy vault, but rising high and freein the midst of life. According to Villani,the Scaligers had their origin from a pettytradesman of Montagua, w
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