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PALAZZO VECCHIO.

the Palazzo Vecchio. This building was erected 1298, and was the dwelling-place of the Gonfaloniere. In 1540, when the republic died, it became the palace of Cosmo I. I know few buildings that can compare with it in dark, awful grandeur. The battlements are massive, and the overhanging machiolations, and the tower springing up from their support, give it an imposing air, such as I have seen nowhere else. All around are wonderful things. There, is an equestrian statue of Cosmo I.; there, a fountain of Neptune. Near this fountain, in the days of the republic, stood the Tribune. Here is the glorious David of Michael Angelo; and there, as a match, is Hercules destroying Cacus, by Bandinelli. The David is far the finest, and belongs to the same class of statuary with the Medicean statues just alluded to in the sacristy. Here are large porticos, which you ascend by steps, and in front a spacious square. On these porticos are some wonderful pieces of artistic excellence. There, at the corner, stands the Perseus of Benevenuto Cellini, the casting of which is so graphically recorded in his life. At the other end, as a match-piece, is the Rape of the Sabines, by John of Bologna. Judith slaying Holofernes, by Donatello, is a pretty bronze, but small. Here are several colossal females, lions, &c.

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