Chapter 24

155. 5. "Voi che avvisate," etc. Ye who behold this painting Think, weigh and consider Upon the merciful God, supreme creator, Who made all things in love. He fashioned that angelic nature in new orders, In that resplendent empire of heaven. Motionless Himself yet the source of all motion He made everything good and pure. Raise the eyes of your mind, Reflect upon the ordering Of the entire globe and reverently Praise Him who has created so well. Think that you also may taste the delight Of living among the angels, where all are blessed. In this scene also we see the glory of the world, The base, the mean, and the lofty.

188. ii. "arts of Florence." The arts or guilds of Florence formed the basis of the government of the city. They were of two orders, the greater and the lesser. The seven greater arts were: Lawyers (St Luke), the Calimara or dealers in foreign cloth (St John Baptist), money-changers (St Matthew), woollen manufacturers (St Thomas), physicians (Virgin Mary), silk manufacturers (St John the Divine), and the furriers (St James). The lesser arts were fourteen in number, including armourers (St George), locksmiths (St Mark), farriers (St Eloi), drapers (St Stephen), shoemakers (St Philip), butchers (St Peter). They were admitted to the full citizenship in 1378.

199. 21. "Da che prosperitade," etc. "Since every happiness has abandoned us, Come death, the cure of every grief, Come and give us our last meal."

200. 3. "Ischermo di saveri," etc. "Knowledge and wealth, Birth and valour, all Are alike powerless against his strokes."

212. 10. "the Duke of Athens." Walter de Brienne, a Frenchman, elected captain and protector of Florence in June 1342;. he endeavoured to become master of the city, but was expelled in the popular rising referred to.

239. 31. "the Bavarian." Louis of Bavaria, the emperor who died in 1347.

241. 3 "_a secco_." Fresco painting in secco is that kind which absorbs the colours into the plaster and gives them a dry sunken appearance.--_Fairholt_.

263. 31 "affair of the Ciompi": the name given to the rising of the lesser people against the powerful guilds, resulting in a wider distribution of the powers of government. The lower classes won and appointed Michele del Lando as their Gonfaloniere. Ciompi means the lowest classes.

265. 14. "200,000 scudi," worth about £44,444, 9s.