FLOGEL FLORENCE. 



213 



FLOGEL, CHARLES FREDERIC, a distinguished 

 German scholar of the last century, was born. 1729, 

 at Jauer, in Silesia, studied theology in Halle, and, 

 after several other appointments, was made professor 

 at the academy for noblemen at Leignitz, where he 

 remained until his death, in 1788. He published a 

 History of the Human Understanding (Breslau, 1765; 

 3d ed. 1776); History of the present State of Litera- 

 ture in Germany (Jauer, 1771); History of Comic 

 Literature (Leignitz and Leipsic, 178487, 4 vols.), 

 a work of very great merit. It contains an essay on 

 the comic and the ridiculous ; a general history of 

 comic literature ; the history of satire ; a description 

 of the most eminent satirists of ancient and modern 

 times ; and a history of comedy in the widest sense 

 of the word. In the account of comic literature are 

 contained, The History of the Comico-Grotesque 

 (farces at Christian festivals, comic feasts and comic 

 societies), ibid. 1788 ; History of Court-Fools, ibid. 

 1789, second vol. of the preceding work, and the 

 History of the Burlesque, which was published after 

 the death of the author in 1794. 



FLOOR TIMBERS, are those parts of the ship's 

 timbers which are placed immediately across the keel, 

 and upon which the bottom of the ship is framed ; to 

 these the upper parts of the timbers are united, being 

 only a continuation of floor-timbers upwards. 



FLORA (Latin ; with the Greeks, Chloris) ; the 

 goddess of flowers and blossoms, of grain and the 

 vine. She was the wife of Zephyrus (west wind), 

 and is represented as a beautiful female, with a 

 wreath of flowers on her head or in her left hand ; in 

 her right hand she generally holds a cornucopia. The 

 Floralia were celebrated in her honour at Rome with 

 much licentiousness. In botany, Flora signifies a 

 catalogue of plants, as, in zoology, Fauna signifies 

 a catalogue of quadrupeds. 



FLORAL GAMES. See Jeux Floraux. 



FLOREAL (month of flowers) ; the eighth month 

 in the calendar of the French revolution. It began, 

 April 20, and ended, May 19. See Calendar. 



FLORENCE, (Italian, Firenze), capital of the 

 grand duchy of Tuscany, and seat of the govern- 

 ment, situated in a beautiful and fertile valley at the 

 foot of the Apennines, 130 miles NNW. of Rome, 

 and is unequally divided by the A mo into two parts, 

 which are connected by four stone bridges. The 

 climate is mild and healthy. Amidst the turbulence 

 of the middle ages, Florence rose to a degree of 

 wealth and power which placed her far above all the 

 neighbouring cities, and which, principally through 

 the influence of the Medici, enabled her to render 

 them her tributaries. The character of those times 

 gave the city the appearance it still wears. The 

 buildings are generally calculated for offence and 

 defence, which the civil wars of that period rendered 

 necessary ; but, though the architecture is destitute 

 of the peaceful elegance of the Grecian style, which 

 Palladio revived in Vicenza and Venice, it is charac- 

 terized by dignity, simplicity, and solidity. Such, 

 for instance, are the palace Pitti (the residence of 

 the grand'duke, with the celebrated gallery), adjoin- 

 ing the Boboli garden, which is delightfully situated ; 

 the palaces Strozzi and Riccardi (formerly Medici) 

 and the irregular old senate-house, in the principal 

 square (Piazza del [Granduca). It is to be re- 

 gretted that the exterior of most of the churches 

 is unfinished ; but, in the interior, the architec- 

 ture and decorations are generally executed in a 

 highly finished style. The cathedral (la chetra poll- 

 tana), a gigantic fabric of the thirteenth century, the 

 whole exterior of which is cased with black and 

 white marble, is adorned with a lofty dome, the work 

 of Brunelleschi. By its side rises the graceful tower, 

 from a design by Giotto ; and opposite to it stands 



the ancient baptistery (lattisterio) , with brass doors, 

 by Ghiberti and Andrea Pisano. The cathedral is 

 described in the work La Metropolitans Fiorentina 

 illustrata (Flor., 1820). The church of StJLorenzo 

 contains the splendid but unfinished mausoleum of the 

 princes, the monuments of the two Medici, with the 

 celebrated statues of Day,Night,Twilight, and Dawn, 

 which immortalize Michael Angelo. In the adjoin- 

 ing convent is the Laurentian library, inestimable for 

 its treasures in codices and manuscripts. The church 

 of St Croce contains, besides, a rich collection of 

 monuments, both of ancient and modern art, the most 

 magnificent mausoleums of the distinguished dead ; 

 among which are those of Michael Angelo, Machia- 

 velli, Galilei and Alfieri. The churches of St Mark, 

 St Annunciata (which contains many works of Del 

 Sarto), St Maria Novella (in which are the finest 

 works of Cimabue and the earlier Florentines), St 

 Spirito, St Trinita, are admirable monuments of art, 

 and are adorned with some of the most beautiful 

 fresco-paintings of ancient masters; among which 

 those of Masaccio, in the church del Carmine, are 

 still rich objects of study to the modern artist, as they 

 had previously been to Da Vinci, Michael Angelo, 

 Raphael, &c. In the palaces, also, there are gal- 

 leries and collections of works of art of every de- 

 scription. The palaces Corsini, Gerini, and particu- 

 larly Pitti, which last has recovered the treasures 

 that had been carried to Paris, and among them the 

 Madonna della Sedia, are rich in fine paintings. But 

 not only these, but perhaps all the collections of 

 Europe, are eclipsed by the gallery of the grand duke, 

 which is equally distinguished for the number and 

 value of the works it contains. (A collection of 

 sketches from this gallery has been executed in 100 

 parts, by the conservators Zannoni, Maltalvi and 

 Bargigli, under the direction of Pietro Benvenuti). 

 Of antique statues, some of the finest are the Venus 

 de' Medici, the Two Wrestlers, the Young Apollo, 

 the Dancing Faun, the Whetter, the Hermaphrodite, 

 the Group of N iobe, Amor and Psyche, &c. Of the 

 paintings, the finest are the works of Raphael (the 

 Fornarina, a holy family, John in the Wilderness, 

 pope Julius II.); the Venus of Titian, paintings of 

 Michael Angelo, Correggio, Fra Bartolomeo, &c., 

 which are in the Tribune. An account of them is 

 given in the Real Galleria di Firenze, incisa in Car- 

 tonni (Flor., 1821). The collection of nearly four 

 hundred portraits of the most celebrated painters, by 

 themselves, is unique. There are also collections of 

 antique and modern bronzes, medals, and valuable 

 gems. All these treasures of art are gratuitously 

 exhibited to every body, and are open for the use of 

 students. The academy of fine arts, which, under 

 the direction of Benvenuti and Raf. Morghen, pro- 

 duces able artists, has an excellent gallery, chiefly 

 composed of old Florentine paintings, that have been 

 transferred from secularized convents and churches. 



The literary institutions are not less celebrated. 

 Here are a university, the Academia Della Crusca, 

 the academy of Georgofili, &c. Besides the Lauren- 

 tian and many other private libraries, among which 

 that of the grand duke contains the most valuable 

 works of modern literature in all languages, there 

 are the celebrated Marucelliana and Magliabec- 

 chiana, of which the latter is very rich in manuscripts 

 and rare printed books. > The museum of natural 

 history, in forty rooms, contains large mineralogical, 

 botanical, and zoological collections, and masterly 

 anatomical preparations in wax, made by Clement 

 Susini, under the direction of Fontana. In the 

 hospitals of St Maria nuova and St Bonifacio, a large 

 number of young men, under the guidance of able 

 teachers, pursue the study of medicine theoretically 

 and practically, and enjoy the benefit of medical 



