ndated by rain to such an extent that the vengeance of God was
inferred, and, casting about for a reason, the Florentines decided
that it was because Jacopo had been allowed to rest in sacred soil. A
mob therefore rushed to S. Croce, broke open his tomb and dragged
his body through the streets, stopping on their way at the Pazzi
palace to knock on the door with his skull. He was then thrown into
the swollen Arno and borne away by the tide.

In the old refectory of the convent are now a number of pictures
and fragments of sculpture. The "Last Supper," by Taddeo Gaddi, on
the wall, is notable for depicting Judas, who had no shrift at the
hands of the painters, without a halo. Castagno and Ghirlandaio,
as we shall see, under similar circumstances, placed him on the
wrong side of the table. In either case, but particularly perhaps in
Taddeo's picture, the answer to Christ's question, which Leonardo at
Milan makes so dramatic, is a foregone conclusion. The "Crucifixion"
on the end wall, at the left, is interesting as having been painted
for the Porta S. Gallo (in the Piazza Cavour) and removed here. All
the gates of Florence had religious frescoes in them, some of which
still remain. The great bronze bishop is said to be by Donatello and
to have been meant for Or San Michele; but one does not much mind.

One finds occasion to say so many hard things of the Florentine
disregard of ancient art that it is peculiarly a pleasure to see
the progress that is being made in restoring Brunelleschi's perfect
cloisters at S. Croce to their original form. When they were turned
into barracks the Loggia was walled in all round and made into a series
of rooms. These walls are now gradually coming away, the lovely pillars
being again isolated, the chimneys removed, and everything lightly
washed. Grass has also been sown in the great central square. The
crumbling of the decorative medals in the spandrels of the cloisters
cannot of course be restored; but one does not complain of such
natural decay as that.

CHAPTER XVI

The Accademia

Michelangelo--The David--The tomb of Julius--A contrast--Fra
Angelico--The beatific painter--Cimabue and Giotto--Masaccio--Gentile
da Fabriano--Domenico Ghirlandaio--Fra Angelico again--Fra
Bartolommeo--Perugino--Botticelli--The "Primavera"--Leonardo da Vinci
and Verrocchio--Botticelli's sacred pictures--Botticini--Tapestries
of Eden.

The Accademia delle Belle Arti is in the Via Ricasoli, that stree