I Was Much Disappointed In The Chapel Of St. Lorenzo.
Notwithstanding the great profusion of granite, porphyry, jasper,
verde antico, lapis-lazuli, and other precious stones,
representing figures in the way of marquetry, I think the whole
has a gloomy effect.
These pietre commesse are better calculated
for cabinets, than for ornaments to great buildings, which ought
to be large masses proportioned to the greatness of the edifice.
The compartments are so small, that they produce no effect in
giving the first impression when one enters the place; except to
give an air of littleness to the whole, just as if a grand saloon
was covered with pictures painted in miniature. If they have as
little regard to proportion and perspective, when they paint the
dome, which is not yet finished, this chapel will, in my opinion,
remain a monument of ill taste and extravagance.
The court of the palace of Pitti is formed by three sides of an
elegant square, with arcades all round, like the palace of
Holyrood house at Edinburgh; and the rustic work, which
constitutes the lower part of the building, gives it an air of
strength and magnificence. In this court, there is a fine
fountain, in which the water trickles down from above; and here
is also an admirable antique statue of Hercules, inscribed
LUSIPPOI ERGON, the work of Lysippus.
The apartments of this palace are generally small, and many of
them dark. Among the paintings the most remarkable is the Madonna
de la Seggiola, by Raphael, counted one of the best coloured
pieces of that great master.
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