Read "Santa Croce, Florence" by Esther Singleton online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
JOHN RUSKIN
Your Murray's Guide tells you that this chapel of the Bardi della / Libertà, in which you stand, is covered with frescoes by Giotto; that / they were whitewashed, and only laid bare in 1853; that they were / painted between 1296 and 1304; that they represent scenes in the life / of St. Francis; and that on each side of the window are paintings of / St. Louis of Toulouse, St. Louis King of France, St. Elizabeth of / Hungary, and St. Claire, -- "all much restored and repainted. " Under such / recommendation the frescoes are not likely to be much sought after; / and accordingly, as I was at work in the chapel this morning, Sunday / 6th September, 1874, two nice-looking Englishmen, under guard of their / valet de place, passed the chapel without so much as looking in.