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4 December 1880 — Florence | |
Saturday. 4th [December 1880]. Henry went out to see Sir James Hudson. I remained at home & wrote to James the coachman at Consple to Mr Nicolson & Sir Wm Drake. Old Spence called & begged us to go to his studio in the afternoon. Henry returned at 12 & took me in a cab to the Donatello Exhibition of tapestries, lace & original drawings in the Refectory of Sta Croce. We were very much pleased & interested. The tapestries representing the History of Adam & Eve were very fine. We returned home for lunch at 1. Found Ld & Ly Galloway at luncheon. They had arrived yesterday eveng & are staying at this hotel. Directly after lunch we drove to the Palazzo Vecchio to see some of the 500 pictures wh had been pulled out of the garrets & were exhibited in the Gt Hall– There was nothing really fine but many portraits curious for costume. There was one interesting one of Leicester or Sir Wm Raleigh—we were not sure which. From there we went to 39 Via Panicale Old Spence’s Studio—& met his son in the next door studio. Saw old Spence’s studies from St Mauritz & some pretty peasant girls there & a fine view of Monte Carlo not finished. Then Mr Campbell Spence took us to a studio at the bottom of the house where a man had a fresco of Fra Angelico & some other things to sell– From thence we went to a picture restorers & saw a Carlo Dolci on sale for wh they ask £700 & wh is thought of for the National Galley. Henry did not care abt it very much. It is highly finished but weak—the Adoration of the Magi. Then we went to the Palazzo Capello in the Via Maggio to see an old picture by Macchiavel to be sold & some tapestries from Rafael’s cartoons—& then parted with Mr C. Spence & returned to the Hotel. We found Giovanni had moved us up to rooms on the 2nd floor & so we hope to sleep quietly tonight wh we have not done since we came here. Mrs Sloane came to see us & sat an hour or more with us talking over all our mutual friends. We were sorry to hear that poor Mme Vigliani has gone out of her mind. After that Mrs Colnaghi called. Her husband has gone to Rome for a few days– Dined at 7. | |
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