A VISIT TO LA VERNIA 



mens of this pottery may still be seen at the Museum, 

 and since the bronzes discovered here have been moved 

 to Florence, these, with a few ancient inscriptions, are 

 the only traces left of Etruscan and Roman remains. 

 But in treasures of thirteenth and fourteenth century 

 art Arezzo is rich. It has a noble Duomo, one of the 

 earliest and most interesting examples of Italian Gothic 

 architecture, bearing a close resemblance to S. Maria 

 Novella of Florence, and containing, among other 

 choice sculpture, the famous tomb on which the 

 battles and sieges of the warrior bishop Tarlati are 

 represented. In another quarter of the town, on the 

 picturesque old market-place, is the ancient shrine 

 of S. Maria della Pieve, whose fantastic front of 

 twisted columns and arcaded apse have won a new 

 claim on the interest of this generation as the " pillared 

 church," of Pompilia's soldier-saint, Giuseppe Capon- 

 sacchi, Canon of the Pieve. Lastly, we have in S. 

 Francesco a storehouse of the noblest mediaeval art 

 from the chapel where Spinello's archangel flashes 

 down upon us with his drawn sword, to the choir 

 where we find the wonderful series of frescoes by the 

 hand of a painter who amazes us by his mastery of 

 form and effect, while he fascinates us by the deep 

 poetry and spiritual force of his conceptions. If 

 Arezzo contained nothing but these scenes from the 

 legend of the True Cross by Piero della Francesca, 

 it would be well worthy of a visit. When we have 

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