Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/360

318 and Madonna with the rosary, Guido Rene's Cleopatra, Rubens's Results of War and Sacred Family, and Van Dyke's Charles I. of England and his Queen are among the most important pictures of this priceless collection, Canova's famous Venus is in this Pitti gallery.

The Uffizi gallery is located near the Piazza della Signoria which is the central square of Florence. A short way from this square leads to the Duomo or Cathedral of Florence. The Florentines commenced it in 1298 A. D. with the intention of raising a monument which would outvie all previous structures, and it was not till the fifteenth century that this splendid edifice was completed. It is a superb building of brick encrusted with white and black marble which gives it its curious outward appearance. To my eye, however, a building of such vast dimensions looks finer and purer in white marble like the Taj of Agra or the Cathedral of Milan than in marbles of different colours. The roof of tiles too takes away from the beauty of this building.

Close to the cathedral is the Campanile or Belfrey also of variegated marble, and light and graceful in appearance. The work on the marble is so exquisite the Charles V. said of it that it ought to be kept in a glass case! It is 275 feet in height. In front of the cathedral is the Baptistry also of variegated marble and splendid bronze gates. The figures on these bronze gates represent scriptural events and are so exquisitely done that Michael Angelo declared