Cathedral Cities of Italy

by W. W. Collins

The first chapel on the north side of the nave has a tomb placed high up on the wall, which contains the remains of as many of Sigismondo's least famous ancestors as he could lay hands on. The chapel is known as the Capella dell' Acque from an ancient statue of the Madonna which represents her as sending down rain. On the base of the pillars of this chapel are portraits in low relief of Sigismondo. The low brow, hooked nose, and cruel mouth tell one plainly that the sardonic expression of the face does not belie the character of this extraordinary man. On the wall to the right of the west door is his tomb, which, considering the part he played in the history of his day, must be acknowledged as very simple and plain.

The other chapels are full of the tombs of the illustrious members, male and female, of the House of Malatesta.

Along the length of the nave in front of all these chapels runs a splendid marble screen or balustrade. At every fourth pillar, on the marble rail, stands a charming little cherub resting on a shield or holding a bunch of flowers or basket of fruit. The screen of the last chapel on each side is of red Verona marble and is perforated by the elephant head of the Malatesta and gorgeously designed arabesques in circles. From one end to the other the screens stand out from the chapels into the nave, and are raised two steps above the red-tiled floor. Such are some of the features which go to make the Tempio di Malatesta one of the most extraordinary cathedrals in Italy.

There is little else to attract the visitor to Rimini, unless it be to undertake a visit to the tiny Republic of S. Marino. A pleasant day's excursion may be taken to this quaint little stretch of territory which is so picturesquely situated on a spur of the Alban mountains a few miles from the city.

FERRARA

AT the foot of the Euganean hills, those hills which stand like sentinels detached from the northern ramparts of Venetia, and guarding the tract of country that stretches eastwards to the sea between Rovigo and Venice, are the ruins of a castle—the Castello d'Este—whose lords at one time played a prominent part in the history of Italy. Of Lombard origin, these Margraves of Este had ruled the surrounding country for three centuries prior to 1452, in which year Pope Paul III. created Borso d'Este Duke of Ferrara, and the family, as long as it lasted, was thenceforth inseparably connected with the subject of this chapter. More honours were bestowed on Borso when the Emperor Frederick III. gave him the titles of Duke of Modena and Reggio, and he held the domains of those places as fiefs for his overlord. Borso's grandson Alphonso married the notorious Lucrezia Borgia; but to Azzo d'Este, Margrave of Este in the year 1110, belongs a greater claim to fame. Scion of a junior branch of the Welfs or Guelphs he succeeded to the Duchy of Bavaria on the death of his grandfather, the last male representative of the elder branch of the family, and from his off-spring grew the Guelph Houses of Hanover and Brunswick, from the former of which is descended our own Royal line. In the sixteenth century the Court of Ferrara was second to none in Europe for its patronage of the Arts and Literature, and the House of Este will always be handed down to posterity as one that did much to raise the culture of Italy to a very high pitch.

In the centre of the city, surrounded by a moat and entered by two bridges which span it, the great pile that Ferrara's rulers erected stands haughtily four-square, with four immense towers at the corners. Here in safety dwelt those mighty princes who brought renown to the city that lay around and beyond; and here in a dungeon below the level of the water, Duke Niccolo III. caused his wife and her paramour, who was one of his own natural sons, to be put to death; a tragedy which gave Byron his subject in the poem "Parisina." This huge fortress, like most of the other buildings in Ferrara, is constructed of brick. Ferrara's streets are wide, and though its palaces and houses do not rise to any great height, the gardens behind them, enclosed by high walls, give an air of spaciousness and aristocratic bearing that attest its former importance. Most of these palaces and houses are decorated with beautifully moulded brick or terra cotta courses; and the well-proportioned windows on their flat street fronts create the impression of great space, which is the chief characteristic of Ferrara. There is one important building, however, which is constructed of stone, the Palazzo de' Diamanti, so called from the peculiar facets of the material with which it is built. Ferrara possessed a school of painting of its own, and it is in this palace that the best examples have been placed. The great palace of the Bentivoglio family, where many celebrities have lodged, has a heavy stone cornice and baroque decoration on its vast brick sides. The Casa di Ariosto, built by the poet himself in the years 1526-28, and in which he died, with an inscription on its walls he composed, is another fine house. The hospital of Sta Anna, a most beautiful red brick and terra cotta building, has cloistered courts; and the cellar which was Tasso's prison for five months until he was removed, still a prisoner, to a better room, can be seen. In the castello itself Calvin the reformer found an asylum, befriended by Renée, the wife of Duke Ercole d'Este, who paid forfeit for her temerity by being separated from husband and children by a Papal Bull.

The Cathedral was begun in 1135, and its exterior belongs almost entirely to that period. The west façade is a very good example of Lombardo Gothic. It is divided into three equal portions each of which is surmounted by a gable containing what was at one time a wheel window. The central part has a good porch somewhat similar in design to the one at Verona. The semicircular arch is borne by columns supported by two dwarf figures bent double with the weight of their burden; they squat on the backs of lions, one of which holds a bull and the other a ram between its forepaws. Above this is an open gallery with very beautiful twisted pillars and quatrefoil piercing in the three arches. In the spandrils of these, and of earlier date, are bas-reliefs of the dead rising from their tombs, and over them at the base of the canopy above are reliefs of the Life of Our Saviour, the Virtues, the Vices and Seven Mortal Sins, as well as the Day of Judgment. The two flanking parts of the façade, one of which appears in the illustration, have each three tiers of arcading. The lowest is composed of nine rounded arches with four-sided columns grouped in triplets, which are enclosed by three pointed arches. The next tier is of nine pointed arches; and over this are four pointed arches deeply recessed. Following the line of the gable is an extremely effective gallery of elegant double columns and pointed arches, one of the great features of Pisan Gothic so prominent in the churches of Lucca. Near the base of this wall in a curious pilgrim's dress with a pleated skirt is the figure of Alberto d'Este.

The whole of the south wall has a double range of arches which very pleasantly break the monotony of so vast a space of yellow brick. The grand campanile at the south east-corner was put up by Ercole II., and is composed of four tiers of round arches on columns with Corinthian capitals. The alternate bands of red and cream toned marble with which the exterior is faced give a good decorative effect to this big tower.