At the Panorama, _Florence_ is in the upper circle, and _Milan_ in the
lower one. The main attraction of the latter is the celebrated
cathedral, which forms, as it were, the nucleus of the scene. The point
of view has been objected to, as the spectator is placed about mid-way
up the cathedral, and thus looks down into the streets and squares of
the city; but, it should be remembered, that he also enjoys the distant
country, which he could not have done had the view been from the area of
the city; and, as we have before said, the beauty of the _paysage_ is
one of the perfections of Mr. Burford's paintings. Its present success
may be told from the _Description:_

"Beyond, the eye ranges to an immense distance over the rich and fertile
plains of Lombardy, Piedmont, and the Venetian States, luxuriant with
every description of rural beauty, intersected by rivers and lakes, and
thickly studded with towns and villages, with their attendant gardens,
groves, and vineyards. The Northern horizon, from East to West, is
bounded by the vast chain of the Alps, which form a magnificent
semicircle at from eighty to one hundred and twenty miles distant, Monte
Rosa, Monte Cenis, Monte St. Gothard, the Simplon, &c. covered with
eternal snow, being conspicuous from their towering height; towards the
South the view is bounded by the Apennines, extending across the
peninsula from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic; and on the South-west,
the Piedmontese hills, in the neighbourhood of Turin, appear a faint
purple line on the horizon, so small as to be scarcely visible; the
purity of the atmosphere enables the eye to discern the most distant
objects with accuracy, and the brilliant sunshine gives inconceivable
splendour to every part of the scene; each antique spire and
curiously-wrought tower sparkles brightly in its beams, whilst the dark
foliage of fine trees, even in the heart of the city, relieves the eye,
and produces a beautiful and pleasing effect."

The cathedral will be recollected as the finest specimen extant of
pointed Gothic architecture, and termed by the Milanese, the eighth
wonder of the world. It is entirely of white marble, and its highest
point four hundred feet from the base. A better idea of its minute as
well as vast beauty will be afforded by the reader turning to our
engraving of the exterior in vol. xiv. of _The Mirror_. It is
successfully painted in the Panorama, although it has not the dazzling
whiteness that a s