Pictures in Umbria

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of it. Going past the cloisters of the cathedral, we traversed the street beyond them: on one side is a fragment of an old

uilt out from the walls, their grey stone making a pleasant contrast to the brilliant red and orange of the flowers blossoming in pots plac

transport some of them to the front wall of his newly-built London dwelling. He went to the owner of a house possessing several of the brackets, and offe

ANT'

e the same as the nose on the face, fixtures. To possess the brackets, the Signore Inglese must purchase the entire front of the Palazzo, it is built al

mping and dancing on her little bare feet, chattering, as it seemed, to the doorpost. She was trying to

i so winds and twists that we were told we were too far north, so we turned at a sharp an

a; in this Perugino's house is marked by a tablet. There is nothing special in the appearan

hich on this side overlooks the deep valley below Porta Susanna, and forms one point of the Cupa. We had to pass by the

eadiness for to-morrow's festa; then, by a quaint little street with flights of brick steps leading down into most picturesque

NA DI

ancesco, beside which is the matchless fa?ade of

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the exquisite sculptures. These seemed to us finer, both in design and execution, than any Della Robbia work we had seen. We were gla

SAN BER

, formed by tongues of flame containing a figure of the saint, said to be the best existing likeness of him. Four flying angels placed diagonally on either side of the Vesica seem to float as they offer their musical sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Six of them are playing various instruments; the expression in each countenance is var

ERUBIM, SAN

e of these heads are missing, but those which remain are exquisite studies of baby faces, each with its own special expression, some roguish, others sweet and loving; one

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ngs and soffits showing delicately sculptured ornament; they are repeated below, and there are still other angels of the Heavenly Choir, playing musical instruments

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listens for the sound of their instruments, in meet accompaniment to their chants, or to the hymns of the cherubs, who above and beside them are singing a cho

PERUSIA

of this gem of Perugia; mere words can only sketc

effected in its morals by the preaching of San Bernardino; only a few years after his death,

n orphan, he was tenderly reared by three aunts, all excellent women. He, unlike his great prototype, seems not to have shared the fashionable vices of other

f plague, which seem almost to have emptied the convents, sweeping off the monks and nuns who gave up their lives to tend the sick in hospitals. In most of the Italian states and cities the descendants of devout Christians had become fierce and brutal, as unrestrained in appetite as they were murderous and lawless in deeds

tual Order of San Francis, and had signalised his courage by nursing and ministering to the plague-stricken inmates of the hospital in Siena. This

o determined by God's help to evangelise his country, and to rescue souls from evil by the winning power of love. He decided to begin his crusad

ness that this was mere excitement, and that the souls of his listeners were yet to be won. One day he told his congregation that he proposed before long to show them the Evil On

ce; every one of you does that Evil One's bidding." He then pointed out seriously, and with much pathos, the sins that reigned among them, and implored his hearers to renounce their evil practices. The effect of his words was wonder-striking. Families who had lived in hatred of their fellow-citizens for more than a generation, hurried forward, and, c

Satan tempts you to ensnare mankind to their ruin; bring hither your cosmetics, your perfumes, your false tresses, and

laden with the vanities denounced by the preacher, and, like the Florentin

, which had always commanded admiration; she felt that this would prove a worthy offering. Ta

, with a smile of contempt at her own superstition; she was closing the lid, when suddenly the beauteous tress sprang up and struck her violently on the cheekbone. She c

turbing news, returned to Perugia. He exhorted his former penitents to seek after the grace and the love which had once been granted them, and at the close of

held up the conversion of the people of Perug