Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/135

Rh what they are. They stand together, take interest in each other, love one another; and this is charmingly expressed on the stone, though with a certain want of technical skill. A marble pillar very richly adorned gave me more new ideas.

Laudable as this institution is, we can plainly perceive that the noble spirit of preservation, by which it was founded, is no longer continued. The valuable tripod will soon be ruined, placed as it is in the open air, and exposed to the weather toward the west. This treasure might easily be preserved in a wooden case.

The Palace of the Proveditore, which is begun, might have afforded a fine specimen of architecture, if it had been finished. Generally speaking, the nobili build a great deal; but, unfortunately, every one builds on the site of his former residence, and often, therefore, in narrow lanes. Thus, for instance, a magnificent façade to a seminary is now building in an alley of the remotest suburb.

While, with a guide whom I had accidentally picked up, I passed before the great solemn gate of a singular building, he asked me good-humouredly whether I should not like to step into the court for awhile. It was the Palace of Justice; and the court, on account of the height of the building, looked only like an enormous wall. Here, he told me, all the criminals and suspicious persons are confined. I looked around, and saw that round all the stories there were open passages, fitted with iron balustrades, which passed by numerous doors. The prisoner, as he stepped out of his dungeon to be led to trial, stood in the open air, and was exposed to the gaze of all passers; and, because there were several trial-rooms, the chains were rattling, now over this, now over that passage, in every story. It was a hateful sight, and I do not deny that the good