It is not easy to appreciate the delight of Mr. Wilde and his coadjutors at
this triumphant result of their researches; nor the sensation produced, not
merely in Florence but throughout Italy, by this discovery of a veritable
portrait of Dante, in the prime of his days. It was some such sensation as
would be produced in England by the sudden discovery of a perfectly well
authenticated likeness of Shakespeare; with a difference in intensity
proportioned to the superior sensitiveness of the Italians.
The recovery of this portrait of the "divine poet" has occasioned fresh
inquiry into the origin of the masks said to have been made from a cast of
his face taken after death. One of these masks, in the possession of the
Marquess of Torrigiani, has been pronounced as certainly the
_original_. Several artists of high talent have concurred in this
opinion; among these may be named Jesi, the first engraver in Florence;
Seymour Kirkup, Esq., a painter and antiquary; and our own countryman
Powers, whose genius, by the way, is very highly appreciated by the
Italians.
Pages:
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234