DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61893#0267
Ch. VI.
THROUGH ITALY.
§39
French. It is a large and well-built city. Its
cathedral is Saxon : the town-house, with some
other public buildings in the great square, are
Gothic. Several churches, particularly that of
St. Agostino, are of fine Roman architecture,
and some adorned with paintings of great cele-
brity. The square is ornamented with two
brass equestrian statues; one of the celebrated
Alexander Farnese, the other, of his brother
Fanuccio: they are much admired, particularly
the former, for attitude, animation, and drapery.
Many of the convents, some of which are now
suppressed, seem to have been magnificent.
The neighborhood of Placentia is, perhaps,
more interesting than the town itself, as it has
been the theatre of many bloody engagements.
The first, and most remarkable, occurred shortly
after the foundation of the city, about three
miles from it, and its scene lies on the banks of
the Trebia. We visited the spot, with Livy as
our guide, and I need not add, that we found
his description extremely accurate. It must
indeed be observed, in justice to the great
writers of antiquity, that their pictures so re-
semble the objects which they are intended to
represent, that a traveller might imagine they
had always been sketched on the spot itself, and
in the very heat of action. The banks, though
THROUGH ITALY.
§39
French. It is a large and well-built city. Its
cathedral is Saxon : the town-house, with some
other public buildings in the great square, are
Gothic. Several churches, particularly that of
St. Agostino, are of fine Roman architecture,
and some adorned with paintings of great cele-
brity. The square is ornamented with two
brass equestrian statues; one of the celebrated
Alexander Farnese, the other, of his brother
Fanuccio: they are much admired, particularly
the former, for attitude, animation, and drapery.
Many of the convents, some of which are now
suppressed, seem to have been magnificent.
The neighborhood of Placentia is, perhaps,
more interesting than the town itself, as it has
been the theatre of many bloody engagements.
The first, and most remarkable, occurred shortly
after the foundation of the city, about three
miles from it, and its scene lies on the banks of
the Trebia. We visited the spot, with Livy as
our guide, and I need not add, that we found
his description extremely accurate. It must
indeed be observed, in justice to the great
writers of antiquity, that their pictures so re-
semble the objects which they are intended to
represent, that a traveller might imagine they
had always been sketched on the spot itself, and
in the very heat of action. The banks, though