instance, and one with which Mr. Harford must
have been acquainted, is that afforded by the tombs of the Scaligeri at
Verona, where, on the monument to Can Signorio, of the latter part of
the fourteenth century, appear Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, and other
allegorical figures.

Again, in speaking of the old basilica of St. Peter's, he speaks of the
unusual _Orientalism_ of this the principal church of Western Europe,
whose entrance is towards the _east_ and the altar to the _west_. Now
this _Orientalism_ is by no means unusual in the churches at Rome.
Indeed, it seems to have been the rule of building for the early
churches,--and Santa Maria Maggiore, San Giovanni Laterano, San
Sebastiano, San Clemente, and innumerable others, exhibit it in their
construction. The priest, officiating at the altar, which stood advanced
into the church, looked toward the east.

Again, Mr. Harford says, "The pencil of Giotto was employed by Benedict
XII. in the year 1340"; but he does not tell us how the pencil answered
the purpose for which it was employed in a hand other than its master's.
Giotto died in 1336.

Such are specimens of errors of statement. We can give but a
very few examples of the numerous mistranslations we have
marked,--mistranslations of such a nature as to throw a doubt over the
statements in every portion of the book. In a letter to Luca Martini,
thanking him for a copy of Varchi's commentary on one of his own
sonnets, Michel Angelo says: "Since I perceive by his words and praises
that I am esteemed by the author to be that which I am not, I pray you
to offer such words to him from me as befit such love, affection, and
courtesy." This Mr. Harford translates as follows: "And since I am
almost persuaded by the praises and commendations of its author to
imagine myself to be that which I am not, I must entreat you to convey
to him some expressions from me appropriate to such love, affection, and
courtesy."--Again, writing to Benvenuto Cellini, to express his pleasure
in a portrait bust of his execution, which he had just seen, he says:
"Bindo Altoviti took me to see it--I had great pleasure in it, but it
vexed me much that it was put in a bad light." Mr. Harford renders:
"Bindo Altoviti recently showed me his own portrait, which delighted
me, but he little understood me, for he had placed it in a very bad
light."[A]--Again, in another letter, Michel Angelo says: "Teaching him
that which I know that his father wishe