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Page 12
"But, my boy--" began Mrs. Douglas.
"Oh! I will do it all if only the girls will climb the Campanile and
Galileo's Tower with me and it does not interfere with our drives and
walks. If this is to become an �sthetic crowd, I don't wish to be left
out," laughed Malcom.
A morning was decided upon for the first lesson.
"We will begin at the beginning," said Mr. Sumner; "one vital mistake
often made is in not starting far enough back. In order to realize in
the slightest degree the true work of these old masters, one must know
in what condition the art was before their time; or rather, that there
was no art. So we will first go to the Accademia delle Belle Arti, or
Academy, as we will call it, and from there to the church, Santa Maria
Novella. And one thing more,--you are welcome to go to my library and
learn all you can from the books there. I am sure I do not need to tell
those who have studied so much as you already have that the knowledge
you shall gain from coming into contact with any new thing must be in a
great degree measured by that which you take to it."
"How good you are to give us so much of your time, Mr. Sumner," said
Barbara, with sparkling eyes. "How can we ever repay you?"
"By learning to love this subject somewhat as I love it," replied Mr.
Sumner; but he thought as he felt the magnetism of her young enthusiasm
that he might gain something of compensation which it was impossible to
put into words.
* * * * *
"Are you not going with us, dear Mrs. Douglas?" asked Bettina, as the
little party were preparing to set forth on the appointed morning.
"Not to-day, dear, for I have another engagement"
"I think I know what mamma is going to do," said Margery as they left
the house. "I heard the housemaid, Anita, telling her last evening about
the illness of her little brother, and saying that her mother is so poor
that she cannot get for the child what he needs. I think mamma is going
to see them this morning."
"Just like that blessed mother of ours!" exclaimed Malcom. "There is
never anybody in want near her about whom she is not sure to find out
and to help! It will be just the same here as at home; Italians or
Americans--all are alike to her. She will give up anything for herself
in order to do for them."
"I am glad you know her so well," said his uncle, with a smile. "There
is no danger that you can ever admire your mother too much."
"Oh!" exclaimed Barbara, as after a little walk they entered a square
surrounded by massive buildings, with arcades, all white with the
sunshine. "Look at that building! It is decorated with those dear little
babies, all swathed, whose photographs we have so often seen in the
Boston art stores. What is it? Where are we?"
"In the Piazza dell' Annunziata," replied Mr. Sumner, "and an
interesting place it is. That building is the Foundling Hospital, a very
ancient and famous institution. And the 'swathed babies' are the work of
Andrea della Robbia."
"Poor little innocents! How tired they must be, wrapped up like mummies
and stuck on the wall like specimen butterflies!" whispered Malcom in an
aside to Bettina.
"Hush! hush!" laughed she. "Your uncle will hear you."
"This beautiful church just here on our right," continued Mr. Sumner,
"is the church of the S.S. Annunziata or the most Holy Annunciation. It
was founded in the middle of the thirteenth century by seven noble
Florentines, who used to meet daily to sing _Ave Maria_ in a chapel
situated where the Campanile of the Cathedral now stands. It has been
somewhat modernized and is now the most fashionable church in Florence.
It contains some very interesting paintings, which we will visit by and
by."
"Every step we take in this beautiful city is full of interest, and how
different from anything we can find at home!" exclaimed Bettina. "Look
at the color of these buildings, and their exquisite arches! See the
soft painting over the door of the church, and the sculptured bits
everywhere! I begin, just a little, to see why Florence is called the
_art city_."
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