are neglected: it is a great pity, for
it is a fine building and in a beautiful position. The celebrated Bianca
Capello, a Venetian by birth, and mistress of Francesco II de' Medici,
Grand Duke of Tuscany, used to reside here.

FLORENCE, 27th August.

I am extremely well pleased with my accommodations at the hotel where I am
lodged. Mme Hembert, the proprietor, was once _femme de chambre_ to the
Empress Josephine; she is an excellent woman and a very attentive hostess,
and I recommend her hotel to all those travellers who visit Florence and do
not care to incur the expence of Schneider's. There is an excellent and
well served _table d'hote_ at two o'clock, wine at discretion, for which,
and for my bedroom, I pay seven _paoli_ per day. This hotel has the
advantage of being in a very central situation. It is close to the _Piazza
del Gran Duca_, the post-office, the _Palazzo Vecchio_, the Bureaux of
Government, the celebrated Gallery of Sculpture and Painting and to the
Arno. It is only 300 yards from the _Piazza del Duomo_, where the Cathedral
stands, and 600 yards from the principal theatre _Della Pergola_ on the one
side; while on the other side, after crossing the _Ponte Vecchio_, stands
the _Palazzo Pitti_, the residence of the Grand Duke, at a distance of
seven or 800 yards.

The _Piazza del Gran Duca_ is very striking to the eye of the northern
traveller; the statues of the Gods in white marble in the open air would
make him fancy himself in Athens in the olden time. The following statues
in bronze and white marble are to be seen on this _Piazza_. In bronze are:
a statue of Perseus by Cellini; Judith with the head of Holofernes by
Donatello; David and Goliath; Samson. In white marble are the following
beautiful statues: a group representing Hercules and Cacus; another
representing a Roman carrying off a Sabine woman. The Hercules, who is in
the act of strangling Cacus, rests on one leg. Nearly in the centre of the
_Piazza_, opposite to the post office and in front of the _Palazzo
Vecchio_, is the principal ornament of the _Piazza_, which consists of a
group representing Neptune in his car or conch (or shell) drawn by
sea-horses and accompanied by Tritons. The statue of Neptune is of colossal
size, the whole group is in marble and the conch of Egyptian granite. This
group forms a fountain. There is likewise on this _Piazza_ an immense
equestrian statue in bronze of Cosmo the First by John of Bologna. The
_Palazzo