As a rule, indeed, I particularly admired the
Florentine buildings, which seemed to me to possess a much more
decided _national_ appearance than the palaces of modern Rome.

The picture-gallery of this palace numbers five hundred paintings,
most of them masterpieces, among which we find Raphael's Madonna
della Sedia. Besides the pictures, each apartment contains gorgeous
tables of valuable stone.

Behind the palace the Boboli garden rises, somewhat in the form of a
terrace. Here I found numerous statues distributed with much taste
throughout charming alleys, groves, and open places. From the
higher points a splendid view is obtained.

The palace degli Ufizzi, on the Arno, has an imposing effect, from
its magnificent proportions and peculiar style of architecture.
Some of the greatest artistic treasures of the world are united in
the twenty halls and cabinets and three immense galleries of this
building.

The Tribuna contains the Venus de Medicis, found at Tivoli, and
executed by Cleomenes, a son of Apollodorus of Athens. Opposite to
it stands a statue of Apollino.

In the centre of the hall of the artists' portrait-gallery we find
the celebrated Medician vase.

The cabinet of jewels boasts the largest and finest onyx in
existence.

The Palazzo Vecchio resembles a fortified castle. The large
courtyard, surrounded by lofty arcades, is crowded with paintings
and sculptures. A beautiful fountain stands in the midst; and two
splendid statues, one representing Hercules and the other David,
adorn the entrance. The glorious fountain of Ammanato, drawn by
sea-horses and surrounded by Tritons, is not far off.

In the Gherardeska palace we find a fresco representing the horrible
story of Ugolino.

The Palazzo Strozzi should not be left out of the catalogue; it has
already stood for 360 years, and looks as though it had been
completed but yesterday.

In the Speccola we are shewn the human body and its diseases,
modelled in wax by the same artist who established a similar cabinet
at Vienna (in the Josephinum). In the museum of natural history
stuffed animals and their skeletons are preserved.

The traveller should not depart without visiting the "workshops for
hard stones," where beautiful pictures, table-slabs, etc. are put
together of Florentine marble. Splendid works are produced here; I
saw flowers and fruits constructed of stone which would not have
dishonoured the finest pencil. The enormous table i