A TOMB AT RAVENNA 



he carved this figure of Guidarello in his last sleep. 

 He may have been present when the warrior's corpse 

 was brought home from Imola amid the lamentations 

 of the people and the tears of Benedetta. This at 

 least is the impression that we receive from his work. 

 The good knight lies on a richly draped bier, clad in a 

 complete suit of armour, with his helmet on his brow 

 and the collar of knighthood on his neck. The coat 

 of mail is adorned with lion heads, and his hands, in 

 their steel gauntlets, are folded over the long sword 

 which reaches down to his feet. Only the vizor of 

 his helmet is raised, and the dead warrior's face is 

 exposed to sight, as if it were but yesterday that the 

 fatal blow had fallen and put an end to his life. The 

 head has dropped a little on one side ; the eyes are 

 closed, and the lips parted with an expression of 

 momentary pain, as if the bitterness of death had 

 not quite passed away. <{ I have never seen so mar- 

 vellous a work of art ! " exclaimed the historian of 

 Florence, Gino Capponi, when he stood before this 

 tomb at Ravenna. " The expression of the face gives 

 the effect of a violent end with a truth and reality 

 that are sublime beyond words. It is the very life 

 of death/* l And so much did the Florentine patriot 

 admire Tullio's statue, that he kept a cast of Guida- 

 rello's head in his study to his dying day. 



1 Marco Tabbarini, Gino Capponi^ p. 233. 



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